History Literature / MachineMan

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Quite literally. [[spoiler:The Manager dies when Charlie kicks him through the window.]]

* {{Fetish}}: Lola Shanks has... a thing for amputees. She sure gets excited when Charlie says that he doesn't care about a natural look and picks the robotic-looking Exegesis Archion. Later on, she spends a lot of time feeling over Charlie's ArtificialLimbs, too, [[spoiler:and over Carl's arms for that matter]].

* PoisonousFriend: Cassandra is all kinds of this to Charlie. She claims to have his best interests at heart but is clearly only looking out for Better Future.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Charles Neumann recalls both [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower Charles Atlas]] and John von Neumann (one of the greatest mathematicians in modern history), and doubles as a BilingualBonus -- [[spoiler:Neumann is German and literally means "new man"]]. Plus, it just sounds cool.

* DiseaseBleach: [[spoiler:The {{cyborg}} security guard Carl almost kills Cassandra and everyone else at Better Future.]] Afterwards, Cassandra's hair is "the color of ash".

-> Scientist Charles Neumann loses a leg in an industrial accident. It’s not a tragedy. It’s an opportunity. Charlie always thought his body could be better. He begins to explore a few ideas. To build parts. [[BadassTransplant Better parts]].

-> Prosthetist Lola Shanks loves a good [[ArtificialLimbs artificial limb]]. In Charlie, she sees a man on his way to becoming artificial everything. But others see a madman. Or a product. Or a [[SuperSoldier weapon]].

''Machine Man'' (Not to be confused with the [[ComicBook/MachineMan Marvel Comics character]] or the [[Series/SeiunKamenMachineman Japanese TV Superhero]] of the same name) got its start in 2009 as a serial. From March to December, the author (Max Barry, of ''Literature/JenniferGovernment'' fame) released one page a day, freely accessible; the material was later adapted into a full-length novel, which was released in 2011. The serial can still be read for free at [[http://maxbarry.com/machineman/page.html?p=1 the author's website]], user comments and all. This article is about the novel, which [[AdaptationExpansion differs]] from the serial in a few ways. They both have the same basic story, though.

The blurb above describes the story quite well. Dr. Neumann is an engineer working at a cutting-edge company called Better Future. One day, he steps into a piece of machinery called the Clamp and loses his leg. Better Future provides excellent insurance, though, so he gets a top-of-the-line prosthesis! In the process, Charlie also gets to meet Lola Shanks, prostethist, and immediately develops a crush on her. It's just a normal psychological reaction in a high-stress situation, but he doesn't mind. Unfortunately, as it turns out, the artificial legs currently on the market are ''all'' awful. So he builds a better one. That works out well, but he's still frustrated -- sure, he has a great leg now, with pathfinding and all, but what good is that while his remaining meat-leg still limits him? He does the only logical thing in his situation and [[SelfHarm puts his other leg into the Clamp as well]].

The hospital is less-than-understanding, of course. They put him on suicide watch. What's worse, they won't let him talk to Lola again. The Better Future shareholders think he's on to something, though. He gets his own department and essentially unlimited resources to develop a new product line of Better Parts - for the general market, of course, but also for himself. Charlie is happier than he has ever been, and looks forward to being able to continue upgrading himself at his own leisure.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Charles Neumann. Recalls both [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower Charles Atlas]] and John von Neumann (one of the greatest mathematicians in modern history). Doubles as BilingualBonus. [[spoiler:Neumann is German and literally means "new man".]] Plus, it just sounds cool.
* BadassTransplant: Dr. Neumann begins with one, then a pair of powerful prosthetic legs that can not only leap tall buildings InASingleBound but also kick down reinforced steel doors. His team also designs powerful arms that end up [[spoiler:attached to the security guard Carl]].
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Better Future is dismantled. The artificially enhanced employees are forcefully [[NoTranshumanismAllowed brought back to 'normal']], but it's stated that people are more enlightened nowadays (which is 6 years later). Lola survives, though, as does Charles Neumann -- albeit [[BrainUploading as a box]]. Still, the ending is essentially optimistic, and it's strongly implied that Charles will be able to build himself a new body in time.]]
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Charles repeatedly tries to explain that no, he doesn't enjoy chopping parts off people, it's just a necessary step in the process of improving someone. Also, he refuses to replace his eyes, but not because of the {{Squick}} but because he didn't build the replacements and thus doesn't know how they work.
* BodyHorror: First Neumann loses his right leg in an industrial accident, and builds a better prosthetic replacement. When he realizes he's done a better job than evolution, he returns for a matching set. That is truly only the beginning.
* BrainUploading: [[spoiler:Neumann eventually ends up like this.]]

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Played with, a little. The only managers with any plot relevance are Cassandra Cautery (middle management) and the Manager (CEO, NoNameGiven). [[spoiler:Cassandra has a ''wicked'' case of [[IJustWantToBeSpecial augmentation envy]] and, later in the book, doesn't even bother hiding her contempt for Charles' department. Also, after Charles Neumann kills the initial Manager, he's apparently replaced with an almost identical executive. Really, the new Manager even looks similar.]]

* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Really, what did you expect? ''Of course'' this shows up, although the book is at least honest enough to extend it to regular prosthetics and there's a HandWave involving neurons adapting to new functions. [[spoiler:Carl says his arms started talking to him. Charlie, in the end, starts referring to himself as "we", but that's after a ''copious'' amount of near-death experiences, brain damage and after essentially being reduced to, well, a head.]] Note that [[spoiler:this is ultimately {{subverted|Trope}}, apparently, as society's attitude towards artificial parts is stated to be changing.]]

* DudeWheresMyRespect: Cassandra Cautery has a problem with that. "Nobody ever thanks the middle-managers."
* EmotionSuppression: Dr. Neumann is not very emotional to begin with. However, [[spoiler:after mapping his emotional responses with an MRI, he chemically suppresses any traces of guilt or regret]].

* {{Fetish}}: Lola Shanks has... a thing for amputees. And she sure gets excited when Charles says that he doesn't care about a natural look, and picks the robotic-looking Exegesis Archion. Later on, she spends a lot of time feeling over Charles' ArtificialLimbs, too. [[spoiler:And over Carl's arms, for that matter.]]
* FreudianExcuse: Lola's [[spoiler:father deliberately self-maimed himself in a series of industrial accidents to collect insurance and pay for Lola's HeartTrauma replacement]]. As a result, Lola as an adult finds men [[spoiler:who've lost body parts]] irresistible and works in prosthetics.

* HopeSpot: ''Perhaps Lola and I could build anonymous lives in some tiny Canadian snow town. Lola could bake pies. I could grow vegetables. I would be the man with no legs and the half-hand who was a scientist once. The townspeople would find me aloof but grow to respect me. They would call me Doc.'' And then [[spoiler:Charles accidentally steps on a dog. Dr. Angelica (at whose house Charles and Lola are hiding at the time, and who hated Charles to begin with) snaps and turns him in to Better Future]]. Ouch.
* KickTheDog: While he's not a villain and the whole thing happened in a moment of panic, [[spoiler:Charles asking Cassandra to "get rid of Carl" because those artificial limbs are for nobody but himself, ''after'' Carl's arms have already been amputated,]] is just ''cold''.

* LackOfEmpathy: Dr. Charles Neumann has virtually no empathy whatsoever at the start. This goes further as he [[spoiler:starts replacing his body parts with Better Parts]].

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Dr. Neumann's department is divided into four competing groups: Alpha, Beta, Gamma... and ''Omega''. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope They never show up again]].]]

* NoSocialSkills: '''Charles'''. In spades. He's completely incapable of small talk. Most of the engineers have shades of this, though.
* NoTranshumanismAllowed: Dr. Neumann gets in an industrial accident and loses a limb. He designs his own prosthetic, which he deems to be better than the organic limb, and decides to start replacing all of his limbs, one by one. Naturally, society as a whole can't handle this, and the central conflict of the book is between his desire to slowly replace himself with better parts and societal attempts to stop what is viewed as a SelfHarm behavior. [[spoiler:In the epilogue, it's stated that the augmented employees were "brought back down to normal". Apparently, this is considered shameful now, so perhaps the trope was ultimately {{averted|Trope}}.]]
* ObstructiveBureaucrat[=/=]PointyHairedBoss: {{Discussed|Trope}} and, ultimately, {{subverted|Trope}}. Cassandra Cautery is a middle-manager with a generic job title and no function Charlie can identify, but she gets things done.
* PhlebotinumRebel: [[spoiler:Carl the guard]] becomes one. [[spoiler:Bet you were expecting that first spoiler tag to say "Dr. Neumann", huh? Yeah, that's not what happens. Carl is set up to be something of a HeroAntagonist, except Dr. Neumann then tears him apart.]]

* ProfessorGuineaPig: Neumann doesn't design any artificial limbs he wouldn't try out himself.

* SelfHarm: Dr. Neumann is ''not'' exhibiting self-harming behavior, he's just trying to get rid of a few performance bottlenecks, sheesh.
* StartOfDarkness: The whole first half could be read as one, right up to the point where the person in question kills someone and escapes with military-grade hardware. [[spoiler:Except that's not what happens. Still, if you left off at the point where Dr. Neumann and Lola Shanks escape from Better Future, you'd have a wicked backstory for a comic-book AntiVillain.]]
* SuperSoldier: This is mentioned now and then, as a possibility. [[spoiler:Better Future eventually starts building them. Carl is given prototype arms. Charles Neumann, after being recaptured, is crammed chock full of military prototype hardware.]]

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The year is never given, but the protagonist uses what seems to be a 2012-style smartphone. He's not all that old, too, and he is stated to own a few reference books he "hasn't touched since Google", so the book can't be taking place all ''that'' far beyond the 2010s.

''Machine Man'' (Not to be confused with the Marvel Comics character or the [[Series/SeiunKamenMachineman Japanese TV Superhero]] of the same name) got its start in 2009 as a serial. From March to December, the author (Max Barry, of ''Literature/JenniferGovernment'' fame) released one page a day, freely accessible; the material was later adapted into a full-length novel, which was released in 2011. The serial can still be read for free at [[http://maxbarry.com/machineman/page.html?p=1 the author's website]], user comments and all. This article is about the novel, which [[AdaptationExpansion differs]] from the serial in a few ways. They both have the same basic story, though.

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Played with, a little. The only managers with any plot relevance are Cassandra Cautery (middle management) and The Manager (CEO, NoNameGiven). [[spoiler:Cassandra has a ''wicked'' case of [[IJustWantToBeSpecial augmentation envy]] and, later in the book, doesn't even bother hiding her contempt for Charles' department. Also, after Charles Neumann kills the initial Manager, he's apparently replaced with an almost identical executive. Really, the new Manager even looks similar.]]

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Charlie's department starts out with roughly twenty people, divided into four groups. Only Jason and groups Beta and Gamma really make regular appearances, though.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Quite literally. [[spoiler:The Manager dies when Charlie kicks him through the window]].

-->[The] novel is much longer than the serial and departs from it in several ways. That's partly because the serial was a first draft, and therefore terrible, but also because the formats are so different. The serial was a collection of cliffhangers; the novel I hope is deeper and less tricksy.
* ArtificialLimbs: These... play a quite central role, for obvious reasons. Specific examples include the bucket-on-sticks public option ("for war veterans abandoned by their own government"), the state-of-the-art Exegesis leg prothesis, the augmentations Charles and his team build (especially the Countours, which he wears for most of the book) and the Z-Specs[[spoiler:/Better Eyes]].

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Better Future is dismantled. The artificially enhanced employees are forcefully [[NoTranshumanismAllowed brought back to 'normal']], but it's stated that people are more enlightened nowadays (which is 6 years later). Lola survives, though, as does Charles Neumann -- albeit [[BrainUploading as a box.]] Still, the ending is essentially optimistic, and it's strongly implied that Charles will be able to build himself a new body in time.]]

* BrainUploading: [[spoiler:Neumann eventually ends up like this]].

* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Really, what did you expect? ''Of course'' this shows up, although the book is at least honest enough to extend it to regular prosthetics and there's a HandWave involving neurons adapting to new functions. [[spoiler:Carl says his arms started talking to him. Charlie, in the end, starts referring to himself as "we", but that's after a ''copious'' amount of near-death experiences, brain damage and after essentially being reduced to, well, a head.]] Note that [[spoiler:this is ultimately subverted, apparently, as society's attitude towards artificial parts is stated to be changing.]]

* HopeSpot: ''Perhaps Lola and I could build anonymous lives in some tiny Canadian snow town. Lola could bake pies. I could grow vegetables. I would be the man with no legs and the half-hand who was a scientist once. The townspeople would find me aloof but grow to respect me. They would call me Doc.'' And then [[spoiler:Charles accidentally steps on a dog. Dr. Angelica (at whose house Charles and Lola are hiding at the time, and who hated Charles to begin with) snaps and turns him in to Better Future.]] Ouch.
* KickTheDog: While he's not a villain and the whole thing happened in a moment of panic [[spoiler:Charles asking Cassandra to "get rid of Carl" because those artificial limbs are for nobody but himself, ''after'' Carl's arms have already been amputated]] is just ''cold''.

* NoControlGroup: Better Future has a laboratory's worth of scientists testing out an entire LINE of Better Parts on themselves. Better Spleens, Better Eyes, Better Muscles...
* NoNameGiven: The Manager. He's always referred to like that, capital M and all. [[spoiler:Same for his successor.]]

* NoTranshumanismAllowed: Enforced. Dr. Neumann gets in an industrial accident and loses a limb. He designs his own prosthetic, which he deems to be better than the organic limb, and decides to start replacing all of his limbs, one by one. Naturally, society as a whole can't handle this, and the central conflict of the book is between his desire to slowly replace himself with better parts and societal attempts to stop what is viewed as a SelfHarm behavior. [[spoiler:In the epilogue, it's stated that the augmented employees were "brought back down to normal". Apparently, this is considered shameful now, so perhaps the trope was ultimately averted.]]
* ObstructiveBureaucrat / PointyHairedBoss: Discussed and, ultimately, subverted. Cassandra Cautery is a middle-manager with a generic job title and no function Charlie can identify, but she gets things done.

* SuperSoldier: Mentioned now and then, as a possibility. [[spoiler:Better Future eventually starts building them. Carl is given prototype arms. Charles Neumann, after being recaptured, is crammed chock full of military prototype hardware.]]
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Discussed.
--> "Well, we needed psychologists. But we didn't get any because we're full of engineers, and engineers think psychologists are witch doctors." I didn't say anything. Psychologists are witch doctors.

The blurb above describes the story quite well. Dr. Neumann is an engineer working at a cutting-edge company called Better Future. One day, he steps into a piece of machinery called the Clamp and loses his leg. Better Future provides excellent insurance, though, so he gets a top-of-the-line prosthesis! In the process, Charlie also gets to meet Lola Shanks, prostethist, and immediately develops a crush on her. It's just a normal psychological reaction in a high-stress situation, but he doesn't mind. Unfortunately, as it turns out, the artificial legs currently on the market are ''all'' awful. So he builds a better one. That works out well, but he's still frustrated - sure, he has a great leg now, with pathfinding and all, but what good is that while his remaining meat-leg still limits him? He does the only logical thing in his situation and [[SelfHarm puts his other leg into the Clamp as well]].

(Needs some wiki love, particularly wrt indexes.)

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:The Manager.]] See below.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Better Future is dismantled. The artificiallly enhanced employees are forcefully [[NoTranshumanismAllowed brought back to 'normal']], but it's stated that people are more enlightened nowadays (which is 6 years later). Lola survives, though, as does Charles Neumann - albeit [[BrainUploading as a box.]] Still, the ending is essentially optimistic, and it's strongly implied that Charles will be able to build himself a new body in time.]]
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Charles repeatedly tries to explain that no, he doesn't enjoy chopping parts off people, it's just a neccessary step in the process of improving someone. Also, he refuses to replace his eyes, but not because of the {{Squick}} but because he didn't build the replacements and thus doesn't know how they work.

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Played with, a little. The only managers with any plot relevance are Cassandra Cautery (middle management) and The Manager (CEO, NoNameGiven). [[spoiler:Cassandra has a ''wicked'' case of [[IJustWantToBeSpecial augmentation envy]] and, later in the book, doesn't even bother hiding her contempt for Charles' department. Also, after Charles Neumann kills the initial Manager, he's apparantly replaced with an almost identical executive. Really, the new Manager even looks similar.]]
* [[CrazyCatLady Crazy Dog Lady]]: Dr. Angelica, it turns out.
* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Really, what did you expect? ''Of course'' this shows up, although the book is at least honest enough to extend it to regular prosthetics and there's a HandWave involving neurons adapting to new functions. [[spoiler:Carl says his arms started talking to him. Charlie, in the end, starts referring to himself as "we", but that's after a ''copious'' amount of near-death experiences, brain damage and after essentially being reduced to, well, a head.]] Note that [[spoiler:this is ultimately subverted, apparantly, as society's attitude towards artificial parts is stated to be changing.]]

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Quite literally. [[spoiler:The Manager dies when Charlie kicks him through the window.]]

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Dr. Neumann's department is divided into four competing groups: Alpha, Beta, Gamma... and ''Omega''. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope They never show up again.]]]]

* NoSocialSkills: '''Charles'''. In spades. He's completely incapable of smalltalk. Most of the engineers have shades of this, though.
* NoTranshumanismAllowed: Enforced. [[spoiler:In the epilogue, it's stated that the augmented employees were "brought back down to normal". Apparently, this is considered shameful now, so perhaps the trope was ultimately averted.]]

* PostCyberpunk: Human augmentation, check. Ominous megacorporation, check. [[spoiler:Super soldiers and private mercenaries]], check. [[spoiler:Said megacorporation collapsing, the CorruptCorporateExecutive being brought to justice and the augmentations being eventually accepted by general society - check.]]

* SelfHarm: Dr. Neumann is ''not'' exhibiting self-harming behaviour, he's just trying to get rid of a few performance bottlenecks, sheesh.
* StartOfDarkness: The whole first half could be read as one, right up to the point where the person in question kills someone and escapes with military-grade hardware. [[spoiler:Except that's not what happens. Still, if you left off at the point where Dr. Neumann and Lola Shanks escape from Better Future, you'd have a wicked backstory for a comicbook AntiVillain.]]
* SuperSoldiers: Mentioned now and then, as a possibility. [[spoiler:Better Future eventually starts building them. Carl is given prototype arms. Charles Neumann, after being recaptured, is crammed chock full of military prototype hardware.]]

* NoTranshumanismAllowed: Enforced. [[spoiler:In the epilogue, it's stated that the augmented employees were "brought back down to normal". Apparantly, this is considered shameful now, so perhaps the trope was ultimately averted.]]

''Machine Man'' (Not to be confused with the Marvel Comics character or the [[Series/SeiunKamenMachineman Japanese TV Superhero]] of the same name) got its start in 2009 as a serial. From March to December, the author (Max Barry, of JenniferGovernment fame) released one page a day, freely accessible; the material was later adapted into a full-length novel, which was released in 2011. The serial can still be read for free at [[http://maxbarry.com/machineman/page.html?p=1 the author's website]], user comments and all. This article is about the novel, which [[AdaptationExpansion differs]] from the serial in a few ways. They both have the same basic story, though.

''Machine Man'' (Not to be confused with the Marvel Comics character or the [[SeiunKamenMachineman Japanese TV Superhero]] of the same name) got its start in 2009 as a serial. From March to December, the author (Max Barry, of JenniferGovernment fame) released one page a day, freely accessible; the material was later adapted into a full-length novel, which was released in 2011. The serial can still be read for free at [[http://maxbarry.com/machineman/page.html?p=1 the author's website]], user comments and all. This article is about the novel, which [[AdaptationExpansion differs]] from the serial in a few ways. They both have the same basic story, though.

-> Prosthetist Lola Shanks [[FetishFuel loves]] a good [[ArtificialLimbs artificial limb]]. In Charlie, she sees a man on his way to becoming artificial everything. But others see a madman. Or a product. Or a [[SuperSoldier weapon]].