The Brazen Bull

He powered up the bathtub and thought about where he had been for the last forty-eight hours. Today had been his first day back at work after a two week vacation. Even though it had only been six months since his last accumulated time off, He felt like they’d called him back to work too early. The tub began preparing a typical end of day wash, rinse and steam. He considered a vigorous eucalyptus infusion but he didn't feel like trying to force himself into a mood. He wanted to dwell and Cedar felt right for that. Half mindedly he made his other selections and as the water began rising through the perforated floor, He started removing his clothes and tried to settle on what he was going to think about.

He was slightly worried about his performance at work today. Carlson took notice of his lack of attention and he felt the extra monitoring his slight inability to focus had warranted. He wasn’t too nervous though, he’d always been a diligent worker. What was one day of airy thoughtlessness against sixteen years of credible work? Still his anxiety remained stagnant. He began the work of putting it out of his mind. Besides, he would much rather think about his vacation, which had been wonderful.

The bathtub audibly alerted him that it was full. He checked the temperature settings one last time before stepping in. He got comfortable and closed the lid.

In reality he had spent the majority of his vacation as he always did. Sitting on his couch catching up on what other people were doing. He hadn’t made the effort to visit anyone. It was always rushed and after all the evaluations and clearances required, he was too exhausted for the actual trip. His mother had had a birthday, but now he couldn't recall what one it was. He sent a message but had waited until the day of and didn’t get approval on time. It arrived the next morning. His mom had said she understood in her reply and gently chided him for not putting in a request to visit. Mainly she just wished him well and filled him in on what he already knew she had been up to. Most of the rest of his time was spent eating like a king or wandering around outdoors with nothing to do, just like he preferred, but by far the highlight of the vacation was his trip to the Zoo. It was on his last day off and only the third day the Zoo was open after being closed since he was a child. His performance ratings had been high enough to qualify for the lottery and his name was drawn with one-hundred and fifty-thousand others to be the first week of visitors. There had been more reopenings lately, he figured some bot finally proved the statistical benefits of engaging leisure time for the working population. The Zoo was made in a way where the animals almost seemed part of the crowd. You could wander through and get incredibly close to the exhibits with seemingly nothing in between you. The creatures within these shadow boxes learned quickly the illusion that was their freedom and paid little mind to the people. Despite his strong affinity with these animals, the experience proved to be more relaxing than he had assumed. He was sure it was exactly what he needed before going back to work the next day. That was before his encounter with the girl. Now he wasn’t sure about much of anything.

The gentle current created by the tub’s jets was a soapy maelstrom engulfing his body. An alert reminded him to wash his hair so he carefully tipped his head back and rubbed his scalp for almost two minutes before the water began to recede so that the rinse could begin.

He first noticed her slightly in front of him as they both walked through a savanna. Her gait was more of a meander than anyone else's. The rest of whom were methodically following paths through the exhibits and seemed somewhat bored with their observations. He was already unconsciously matching her steps when she turned into a rainforest that was directly adjacent. She unexpectedly paused to inspect some sort of insect on the trunk of a tree, he could have gone around her easily but the look in her face wiped his mind clear and he just stopped. “Hello” she said after a moment. She touched the transparent wall that separated them from the habitat and informational panels appeared. She continued, still more interested in the bug than him, “It’s a Praying Mantis. you don’t have to wait for me to take a look.” She reached out without looking away from the screen and pulled him over by the shirt. Dumbfounded, he looked over at the mantis. it looked back at him with probing eyes that took up the majority of it’s head but yielded zero insight into its intentions. She, on the other hand, was focusing the total awareness of her being onto the pious little insect. When he finally turned his head to see her, the genuine passion in her eyes struck him so hard he felt like stone come alive. It took him a second to recuperate and by the time he had, they were in a conversation. At first, he was reserved and uncomfortable like always but they talked long and sincerely enough for him to enjoy it for the first time in recent memory. They walked together through the invisible corridors surrounded by more biodiversity than most people would encounter in their entire lives. They talked about the animals periodically but really they only noticed each other. To his amazement, he lost track of time.

He heard the rumble of steam building inside the tub. Just as the clean water that was running over his body disappeared, the space filled with a thick hot haze of Cedar scented fog.

When the wall nearest to the girl finally lit up with a departure notice, the life drained from her face. Instead of saying goodbye, she pulled a locket out from under her shirt. it was the kind that opened, two halves of a heart snapped together and suspended from a chain. Laura must have given her permission to wear a piece of jewelry after one of her annual evaluations. When she handed it to him, he was too shocked to say no. With a stern face filled with either stubborn hope or meditative denial, she said; “Here, If you see me again, I want you to be able to recognize me.” Then turned around and left before she received a second notice. Immediately after she left He had been angry at himself for accepting it. He didn't even know if she had been cleared to give it away. He considered just dropping it on the ground right there, but after some ambivalence, he shoved it in his pocket out of frustration. After a while his thoughts drifted away from it as he continued touring the hyperbolically sealed copies of the wilds Earth once knew. He had opened the locket later that night when he found it in his pocket while walking up to his door. It had a picture of her on the left side and a mirror on the other. He had paused for a second where a tree blocked the camera on the porch. He knew there wasn’t really a way to hide, he just needed to do anything to soften the presence of surveillance so he could sleep at night. trying to seem disinterested, he spent a second looking at her face. Then his in the reflection next to it. He casually shut it and walked into his house, placing the locket on the table by his door, where it still was now.

He was suddenly aware of how hot the steam was. He checked the internal display, it said 106.4 but it felt hotter. Sometimes the tub over compensated for cold weather. He adjusted it down to 98 to give himself a break

He had planned to give the locket to Carlson before his shift this morning but had forgotten it, although only after thinking about it all last night. Maybe he could look at it one more time before he turns it in. Everyone was graded on a curve, so the system tolerated a certain amount of anomalies. He couldn’t know for sure but he felt like he was still well within the parameters. He wanted to try and remember her face. He knew the chances of seeing her again were almost nothing, especially with what kind of behavior alerts their conversation yesterday must have produced. If it happened though, he wanted to be ready. His worries began to sink back in. He has to remember to bring it tomorrow. If he gives it to Carlson in the morning then keeps his head down and focused on work for the next few weeks, he should be fine. He wondered if his Laura had collected data on the girl. Then he realized that it must certainly have, and transferred it to Carlson as well. He had been taught in his last session of school to think about each system as an individual, but he wasn't sure if that was true anymore. It was hard to get information in between education camps. He thought about the class A sentients he knew of. Carlson and Laura constituted the majority of his oversight. He came across other systems occasionally if he had problems during his commute or his health became a concern but not often really. Most of his interactions were with lower level processors. The tub for instance was a class C, he guessed. just like his toilet or climate system, barely automated passed a toaster.

The steam was making it hard to think. He checked the temperature again, 102.6, but it was definitely hotter than it had even been before.

A story he had once heard entered his mind. it was either Greek or Roman, he didn’t know, but he was certain of the name. The Brazen Bull. A king, bored of his usual methods of torture, commissioned a knew device. An inventor, eager to impress the tyrant, presented his contraption some time later. A Bronze chamber in the shape of a Bull with a door on the side and a space underneath for a fire. While presenting his contraption, the inventor explained that a system of tubes was installed in the bull’s throat so while the victims slowly sizzled, their screams would be distorted into a crude bovine-esque moan for the torturer’s entertainment. On hearing this, the king decided he wanted a demonstration. He volunteered the inventor to provide the moans. With the Inventor locked inside, a fire was built and his wails rose with the flames. Once a proper volume was reached, the king was satisfied and the inventor was released. then, somewhat redundantly he thought, thrown off a cliff. The story ended with the king overthrown and being cooked alive by his successor inside his beloved bull. He imagined how cold the bronze would have been when the sadistic monarch was first placed inside. how long it would take for heat to move from metal to skin, then skin to bone.

When he opened his eyes the steam was impossible to see through and He was now wetter with his own sweat than with the water around him. His heart began to race as the surface of his skin started to sting. He went to open the lid and heard the lock. Click