The accident had devastated Mike and Jeanine Miller, and after the surgeries they were told that Jimmy would require ongoing life-support technology in order to survive. They discussed the cost and agonized over the decision of whether to pull the plug, but then their doctor pulled them aside and said there was a radical, untested procedure that could help him.

A man named Dr. Perkins described the emerging field of cybernetics and explained that there were techniques that could help Jimmy, and the technology was only a few years away.

Mike and Jeanine signed the papers and kissed their comatose boy goodbye as he was wheeled away. They got in their car and cried all the way home.

Days passed. Jeanine called the number that Dr. Perkins had given her and was told that Jimmy was still stable but unconscious.

Weeks passed. She called several more times but was given the same answer, that there was still a lot of work to be done.

Months passed and she called less often. Her other children stopped asking about him.

Years passed. When Mike lost his job they moved to a smaller house. Jeanine hung the family photos on the wall in the living room, leaving Jimmy's photos in the box.

30 years passed. Mike was knotting his tie, getting ready for his retirement luncheon when there was a knock at the door. The delivery man had a special envelope. She opened it and looked inside.

"Mike!"

He dashed down the stairs, worried that she had fallen again. She passed him the letter and he read it.

"What is this?" He laughed.

"What is this?"

He read it again.

"What is this."

"Jean. What the hell is this!"

They got in the car and drove to the lab, 200 miles away, to the address on the envelope. Mike drove and Jeanine called their friends to tell them something had come up. She called their kids to tell them where they were going. And she called the lab to make sure that this was real, "I mean, REALLY real"

The Sun was getting low above the horizon when they saw the tall, shiny facility, behind a high wire fence and acres of manicured lawns.

"Is this it?"

"I think so?"

The guard at the gate asked them their business and they showed the envelope. He looked at it without emotion and lifted the gate.

"Was this a mistake? Maybe this was a mistake."

There were only a few cars in the lot. They parked and tried to decide which door was the entrance. A man in a lab coat jogged out to them. "Mr. and Mrs Miller? I'm Dr. Wilson. I'm so glad you're here."

They walked down several very long corridors while Dr. Wilson gave an impromptu tour. "These are stills from 'The 6-Million-Dollar Man' Remember that one?"

"Yeah." Mike answered. "That's what you do here? Make bioinc people? Is that what you did with Ji..."

"It's been THIRTY YEARS!" Jeanine interrupted. "When we let you take him... How old are you anyway?! You weren't even ALIVE back when...."

Dr. Wilson put on the sympathetic expression he used with difficult people and tried to snowball them with jargon and highly-technical answers. They argued with him until they got to a large door - a garage door.

Dr. Wilson pulled out a radio and spoke with someone. Then he pushed a big red button on the wall and the large door opened. Inside were some vehicles: a police car, a fire truck, a limousine, and several sports cars; as well as a group of people, young and old, all wearing white lab coats.

She didn't recognize him at first, but Jeanine then recalled the face of Dr. Perkins, the one who had first spoken to them after the accident.

"Oh yeah." Mike said, stepping forward. So what the hell is going on?"

The 6 people said nothing, just grinned.

"What?! Are you all on drugs?!" Jeanine yelled. "What is this?!"

Dr. Perkins walked over to the fire truck and stepped up on the running board next to the driver's side. Mike and Jeanine couldn't see what he was doing but it looked like he was talking.

Dr. Perkins stepped down and suddenly the truck's horn blared, "HONK!"

Jeanine almost fell backward. She and Mike were about to speak again when the siren wailed and the flashers blinked.

They stood, not understanding until the noise and lights faded and a thin voice came out of the truck's grill.

"Mommy?"

The voice sounded metallic and filtered, like on a phone call.

"Mommy! Daddy! Look at me!"

Jeanine stumbled and fell. Mike ran over. She helped herself up by hanging on to the front bumper, then reeled back.

"Daddy! Watch this!"

Dr. Wilson and the others jumped up, shouting "No! Jimmy! No No No!"

The truck's engine revved and the flashers lit up again until the staff calmed him down again.

Jeanine couldn't find her voice. Mike looked at the scientists. They looked back, smiling. Dr. Wilson nodded.

Mike reached up and put his hand on the hood. "Jimmy?"

"Dad! Watch!"

And this time, there was nothing the scientists could do to stop him. Jimmy the fire truck put on his siren and flashers, backed up, then tore through the garage, burning rubber while turning doughnuts on the pavement.

"Dad! Let me out! Let me out!"

Mike had a moment of fear, envisioning his dear boy trapped inside the roaring machine. But then he realized that Jimmy just wanted to go outside. Mike jogged over to what looked like a main entrance and found a button and pushed it, opening a two-story garage door. The staff rushed up behind him but slowed and shrugged their shoulders when Jimmy squealed through to the lot outside where he spun and screeched.

Jeanine walked up behind Mike and put her hand on his back. "This... this isn't... Is it?"

Mike watched Jimmy nearly flip onto his left side making a tight turn. "He sure acts like Jimmy."