Games of Chance: When Numbers Fail

Twenty Three

"Go on... I'm listening," Juliana closed out of her spreadsheet and turned around on the bench to face Max. 

"Oh, dear," Max's expression grew grave as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Alright. What I'm about to tell you is not a pretty tale, and I can't claim that I was always on the right side of it. You have to promise not to judge." 

"You know I'm in no position to do that," Juliana chuckled humorlessly. 

"Mm," Max nodded. "Well, it all started in grad school when I first met Maddie. I remember seeing her and immediately being blown away by how intelligent and put-together she was. She was one of those rare people who knew how to talk to people and knew what she was talking about- the kind of smart person who could make you feel smart. When she got her job at Thornton Tech and I realized we were going to be working together, I knew I wanted to be with her. My dad liked her too, and he doesn't like anyone. It was all going perfectly - I was going to ask her out, and then... Adam showed up." 

"Adam... wasn't that the cyborg Thornton built?" 

"Yeah, there's a part of that story we don't tell," Max sighed. "The human brain Maddie's team used to build Adam... it wasn't donated to science." 

"Oh," Juliana grew pale. "I'm not an American, but I know that must break all kinds of laws." 

"That wasn't how we planned it - I swear," Max shook his head. "Adam was the last person I'd expect Maddie to end up with, but their relationship took off so fast. One day at lunch, Maddie was telling me about the cute new guy in HR, and before I could blink, they were spending every weekend together and I was...back in the friendzone, as they say these days."

"And Adam was... human at this point, correct?" Juliana clarified. 

"Yep. He was as mortal as they come," Max replied with a touch of distaste. "Skinny, awkward kid who looked like he lived in his mom's basement. There wasn't anyone at Tech that didn't love him, though - I didn't personally know him very well, but I hear he was one of those people who tipped well, paid for everyone's drinks, stayed late at the office to cover for his coworkers with sick kids. You know, an all around do-gooder kind of guy." 

Juliana nodded with understanding, thinking back to all the times Chase had flown over to Arcana City just to crash some lucky kid's Project PROB-themed birthday party. It's hard to compete with an all around do-gooder kind of guy. 

"A few months passed, and I was actually beginning to reconcile myself to the fact that I would never get my chance with Maddie. That was when it happened. It was around dinner time and I had just gotten home from work when Maddie called me. I remember picking up the phone and immediately knowing that something was terribly wrong - I'd never heard her sound so terrified. She was sobbing and struggling to speak, but no matter how many times I asked, she refused to tell me what was wrong over the phone. She insisted that I meet her in her lab at Tech headquarters, so I got in my car and drove over as fast as I could. I'll never forget what I saw when I got there." 

Max paused to collect himself and Juliana stood up from her bench, trying her best to show her support. Though he maintained a stoic expression, she could see the vivid memories dancing behind his eyes. This was obviously an incredibly painful story for him to tell. 

"Maddie was standing right over there." Max pointed at a long, steel table a few feet away from the workstation Juliana was at. "Her lab coat was splattered with blood, and her gloves were drenched in it up to the elbows. On the floor was a bag of... human remains, and on the table was something her team had been working on for years: an artificial body made entirely out of metal. She'd unscrewed the forehead plate and was staring into the empty head cavity. I called out her name, but she didn't respond. She kept looking from the android body to a glass box in front of her, as if she was in some kind of horrible trance."