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Samantha.
    “Yes, sir, we are… his friends, that is, not his family,” August said fearfully. “Is somethin’ the matter?”  
    “I’m afraid so,” the doctor replied. “Would you two please follow me to my office? We’ll talk in private.”
    They both got up in a daze and followed Dr. Granger into his private office to hear what was more than likely going to be awful news.

Chapter 5
    THREE MINUTES

    “Ok, Doc, hit us with the bad news,” August said, worried at how Samantha would take the news of John passing away while the two of them sat out in the waiting room. She would probably be devastated they weren’t there to say goodbye and offer comfort as he died.
    “Well, as you are aware,” Dr. Granger stated in an emotionless monotone, “Patient Hill was struck by an AutoCar yesterday afternoon right here on West Main Street. His prognosis is not a good one, I’m afraid. It’s more than likely going to be fatal. There is not much we can do for him at his age. He’s got multiple breaks, internal bleeding, and some other irreversible trauma. We’ve been able to stabilize him thus far, but it won’t continue for long, I’m sorry to say.”
    “Oh thank the Lord!” Samantha exclaimed. “He’s not dead already. Sweets, I thought you brought us in here to give us the bad news. I was scared we wouldn’t get to say goodbye.”
    “Yeah, me, too, Sam,” August admitted, taking her hand in his. “Doc, why the hell did you lead us to believe he was dead?”
    Dr. Christopher Granger blinked at them in confusion, and said flatly, “I wasn’t aware that I did. I brought you two in here to show you the one and only option available to save Patient Hill.”
    “Why on God’s green Earth do you keep calling him Patient Hill?” Samantha asked angrily. “His name is John. Call him John!”  
    She wasn’t big on clinics. They creeped her out a little bit, and this cold, mechanical way of referring to a living, breathing human just rubbed her up the wrong way.
    “It’s clinic policy that we never use the Patient’s first name,” Dr. Granger explained. “It might lead to emotional attachments, and with the business we’re in, dealing with sick and dying people… it’s easier to use a formal title. I do apologize if it offends you, but such is life.”
    “Such is life? John is in there dyin’, and you’ve brought us in here to tell us ‘such is life’? I sure hope you have somethin’ better up your sleeve than that, jack,” August said, growing more agitated at this man’s demeanor.
    “Look, I don’t know why you two are so upset,” the doctor said, dropping his professional voice, and adopting a more casual tone. “You barely know Patient Hill, right? It was my understanding that you only just met each other yesterday. Isn’t that true?”
    “Yes, sir, it is true. But he’s a good and kind man, and we’re upset that this is happening to him. Gosh, people today are too ok with people dyin’. Whatever happened to empathy?” August asked, growing louder and more upset.
    “Calm down, sweets. Alright?” Samantha said, squeezing his hand. “Now, dDoc, you mentioned earlier that you wanted to talk to us about a way to save John’s life?” Samantha added, prompting the doctor to change the subject. She couldn’t handle the sad state of society today where death is seen as an acceptable way to ease overpopulation.  
    The government doesn’t make citizens kill each other on TV or anything silly like that, but when someone dies, people tend to accept it and move on without a period of mourning. Samantha and August both thought it was unfair to the people who passed and the people left behind who loved them.
    “Yes, yes, I did,” Dr. Granger said, slipping back into his cold, professional tone. “But I don’t want you to think about it as a way to save his life; it is a way to preserve his mind. Last week, Montek revealed their new division, Montek.Automaton. This new division is the