Lena did not sleep. She powered down.
One moment she was sitting at the desk, listening to the thump-thump-thump of the earth. The next, the sun was hitting the window. She hadn't closed her eyes. She hadn't dreamed. She had simply ceased to function for eight hours, like a server going into standby mode.
She stood up. Her joints didn't creak. They clicked. Metal on metal.
She looked at her hands. The grey had spread. Past the wrists. Up the forearms. It wasn't bruising. It was stone. Her skin had lost its texture. No pores. No lines. Just smooth, cold surface.
She walked to the bathroom. She turned on the tap. The water roared. She stuck her hand under the stream.
Scalding. The gauge on the wall said sixty degrees Celsius.
She didn't feel it. She watched the skin turn pink. Then whi
