Free Copper Visions by Elizabeth Bruner

incorporate mechanical limbs.”
    “He was never able to test such a hypothesis and declared any attempt to create test subjects immoral. Which would be, I assume, your motivation for offering to help with the mine.”
    “There are enough unscrupulous people that I would merely have to advertise for test subjects to have bodies at my door but yes, quite aside from the complication such a scheme would create, I did find the thought of deliberately causing harm to people to be distasteful.
    “His later writings were on the mechanical nature of bones and joints. There's not much of a moral question there. I do wonder, though, why you keep referring to Doctor Alexander as my father.”
    “I suppose that's how I've always thought of him. In some of the interviews he gave, he referred to you and the others as his children. It wasn't until he began referencing you in his professional work that you were referred to as his creations.”
    David turned to examine a wall of arms, some with beautiful etchings and gold inlay. “You've made quite a study of Doctor Alexander, Doctor Blue.”
    “I promise, I did not start out with that intention. Only, in the course of my studies on limbs and their replacement, did I come across some early interviews he did,” the doctor said. “I found it interesting how much the writer obviously admired his subject. Such glowing descriptions and the pride he had in you. He really does make a fascinating study.”
    “I can imagine he does, he lived an extraordinary life on the continent and was a pioneer in the field of applied mechanics. I'm sure the fact that he began studying the field late in life and in the wilds of Bharat merely adds spice to the stories people tell about him.”
    “An anthropologist turned engineer after the rather tragic loss of a beloved younger wife to a mysterious illness she caught while assisting him with his studies. One would think he would become a doctor if he was going to change fields of study. It would be more logical if his goal was to keep somebody else from dying.”
    “Yes,” David agreed. “That would have been a very logical change if that was his goal. Since he did not, I imagine he had other motivations.”
    “Do you? If you have any insights to Doctor Alexander's motives, I would be most interested in hearing them. He never did give a satisfactory answer when people asked.”
    “I can't pretend to have any insight into Doctor Alexander beyond what could be easily observed by those close to him. The death of a much loved spouse can change a person, certainly. The study of anthropology is, essentially, a study of people. When his wife died, I think the good doctor chose to withdraw from people. Were he a peaceful, restful type of person, I'm sure he would have returned to his estate to read and hunt. Afflicted, as he was, by a mind in constant need of work, he threw himself into the study of a new subject.”
    “And carved his own little empire among the people he likely held responsible for his wife's death.”
    “They'd respected him before he was married and welcomed his wife with open arms. She wasn't the only person to die during that rainy season. Really, he had more in common with them than he had to hold against them, and they supported his research more than paid assistants back home would have.”
    “Do you think it has anything to do with his search for their gods?” Doctor Blue asked.
    David turned to face the doctor. “It might. He was the first person to venture into the jungle in several generations. I believe they considered it a spiritual journey to become a part of their tribe and he was embraced as one of them when he returned.”
    “It had nothing to do with what he found in the jungle?”
    “According to the official stories, Doctor Alexander found nothing of note in the jungle.”
    “Come, David, we both know the official story is a lie, and a poorly constructed one, as well. He would have found something worth speaking