The Cyborg with Alzheimer's

A short story I wrote in 2014

By Luis Alberto Fierro

(c) 2014 Luis Alberto Fierro

Francisco woke up with a strange sensation that autumn morning of 2041. He felt his body heavy, dense, as if lethargic. When he looked down, he discovered to his horror that his entire body was metallic, from his torso and arms to his legs. He couldn't quite make out his nose, which seemed to give off an unusual glow.

In horror, he got out of bed and went to a mirror; then, his shock was even greater when he realized that his entire face was also robotic, a mixture of plastic, metal, wires, and - what was most alarming to him - that dark black spheres with red pupils were where his eyes should have been. eyes.

He really didn't understand what was happening to him, nor how he had gotten to that room, which seemed to be in a hospital or nursing home for the elderly. He tried to scream, but only a robotic noise came out, like the one the physicist Stephen Hawking used to make when he spoke.

He realized that he did not remember many things. Only a few images of his childhood and youth came to mind, but he remembered almost nothing of his later years, and, in truth, he didn't even know how old he was. He had the feeling that he must be at least 70 years old, but he didn't really know what year it was, or where he was.