Five days later, I’m sitting in the cafeteria with Angie across from me, Mimi’s unattached head on the table between us. “Hey, Angie?” I speak up, my voice nervously trembling. “How soon could you get me an appointment with your endo?”
“I think in two weeks?” She chews her next bite thoughtfully.
“And how long will your surplus pills last me?”
She swallows, the corners of her mouth curling up ever so slightly into a smile. “A month.” She takes out her phone and quickly types something. Mine buzzes shortly with a text notification, containing a name and phone number.
“Thank you.”
The head opens its eyes and mouth, and they remain stationary. “It still feels weird that I need to relay movement to this thing through your phone’s bluetooth. Can’t those guys at the fabrication lab work faster?”
“Be glad they didn’t dip into the uncanny valley with this thing. At least not too much.” I point at the head with my fork, its eyes roll.
“Should have just given me a Daft Punk head. Would be slightly appropriate, too, since they got cyborgised after their equipment blew up in their face according to lore.” Mimi sighs. “Not having shoulders to shrug with sucks.”
“Figuring out you can’t carry on living without medication sucks too, you know,” I shoot back. “Quit whining though, we’re going to the fab lab after lunch to see their progress. You know all this, Ms. Perfect Memory Recall..”
She rolls her eyes again, seeing as that’s one of the few expressions she can make with only a head. “Yes yes, because you’re having me work as a personal assistant instead of just letting me vibe. Wake me up when we’re there.” She closes the eyes and mouth of the head, and I shake mine.
I groan. “I’m a bit jealous, you know. She gets any body she wants, and I have to work with this flawed foundation.”
Angie shrugs. “Oh hush, it’s a cute foundation. Oh, and after you’re done at the fab lab, come by my place. A package arrived today, and I want to make up for my exploration of sexuality with you with an exterminatus.” Her wink says all I need to understand.
I thank whatever higher power exists that I wasn’t swallowing anything. “Deal.”
She waves at me as I finish my meal and leave the table, Mimi’s head under my arm. I walk through the freshly fallen leaves that Carl the Groundskeeper hasn’t had a chance to deal with, and they crunch under my feet as I approach the fabrication lab. The entrance is like an air lock, the moment I get through the second pair of doors my ears are assaulted by the sounds of running machinery. I lift Mimi’s head above mine like a trophy and everything stops.
“Fucking hell, who built her temporary face muscles like that?” One of the engineers asks, looking around. A freshman raises his hand in embarrassment. “Kyle, for fuck’s sake, Uncanny Valley! Ever heard of it?” The one calling Kyle out moves towards me, grabbing Mimi’s head out of my hands. It’s not something she has difficulty with, with her extra half foot of height that she has on me, plus the thick soled iron toed work shoes she’s sporting.
“Heya Siti.” I follow her to her workbench where she deposits Mimi’s head.
“It’s nice to see you again, Emily. You too, Mimi.” She addresses my pocket instead of the head, which blinks and tries to yawn. “I see Kyle skipped the cute cat yawn stage straight into eldritch beast.”
“I didn’t expect her to want to yawn!” Kyle calls out from across the hall, right before he hides as Siti shoots him a look.
“I’ve managed so far,” Mimi begins, looking up at Siti from her position on the workbench “what’ve you got together for me this time though?”
“To be honest, not much. It’s a miracle Kyle was working on this head when you asked us for help.” Siti runs her hands through her cyan dreads that she’s keeping in check with a bandanna. She then begins pointing around the hall. “Clark was figuring out prosthetic arm options, he might have one to remote control and try out.” She switches her target. “Mary has been hard at work figuring out how to give you proper kinesthesia and Nat’s been busy with other senses. I think they’re hoping to recreate the screaming robot comic at one point.”
“I don’t think I have any more reasons to scream now, little miss this-is-to-prove-you-wrong over here appears to have conceded to my point.” Mimi rolls her eyes and Siti smiles.
“Who bet work week?” Siti calls across the lab, earning one raised hand.
“Robin bet too, but they’re tutoring their crush today.” The one who raised their hand calls back, and I sigh.
“How many of you bet on me admitting I’m trans to myself?” All hands shoot up at my question. “Assholes.” I chuckle, before I take a couple deep breaths. “Okay, so how long until Mimi has a body to exist in?”
“At least a hand, so I can flip people off.”
I mean, it's not a bad stopping spot, but it is saddening... I hope you do get around to it, when you can!