Perfect Completion

20250208

Prompt from DailyPrompt.com

stainless steel scissor
Photo by Wendy Scofield on Unsplash

“Doctor?”

Percy sighed. “No, I don’t have arms for you yet.”

His creation shifted in its vat. While the tinted glass hid the most ghoulish aspects of its half-assembled face the murky shape was still disquieting. He was thinking about getting a curtain to cordon off his work area.

“No arms?”

The voice was technically perfect. Perfect vocal cords from an opera singer. Perfect mouth from a movie star. Perfect tongue from a multi linguist narrator. But even setting aside the distortion from the fluid there was some element to the voice which relentlessly niggled at him. He would have to take it apart and try to troubleshoot again.

“No, I haven’t found the right arms. Not yet.”

Honestly. Could he find a brain that contained patience and splice that in? This thing was so whiny.

“But those people on your slab, they all have arms. And cheeks. And livers. They have everything. Why can’t you give it all to me?”

“Oh, for - we’ve been through this.” Percy glared at the vat. Then looked away as his creation pressed against the glass. “Those materials were suboptimal. Unacceptable. I’m still hunting for the perfect parts.”

His creation gave a gargling sob. “I want to be complete. Not perfect.”

Prompt was the last two sentences.

Subscribe to Leeron Heywood Writing

Don’t miss out on the latest issues. Sign up now to get access to the library of members-only issues.
jamie@example.com
Subscribe