[Original Novel] Little Robot, Part 21

^{Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17
Part 18
Part 19
Part 20}

The plastic shattered, its faux hair splitting into a dozen pieces and falling away to reveal a now dented metal framework underneath.

It lurched towards me and seized me by the wrists. I shouted at it as the two of us struggled, while the robot calmly informed me of unprecedented deals on coastal condos.

I’d be dead already if it weren’t for the fact that home robots are only as strong as they need to be in order to perform basic chores.

Far from the towering, unstoppable masses of stomping metal depicted by science fiction of the prior century, modern domestic robots are mostly plastic and have roughly the same upper body strength as a teenager.

I wrestled free of its grasp and bashed it again with the hammer. I then tripped and toppled backwards, the damaged but determined machine falling on top of me.

With my free hand I just kept bashing at its head until its face shattered as well, falling away to reveal a pair of cameras, a speaker positioned behind the faux mouth and a stack of circuit boards with neatly organized wiring trailing down into the neck.

That’s when Odie burst out of the closet. Siren piercing the air, the imposing spider-like machine clambered over to the two of us and asked if I was in need of assistance. In that moment I realized it was programmed to recognize human intruders, but not robots.

“Odie! Listen to me!” I shouted as the ad robot clawed desperately at my face and neck. “There’s a robot on top of me! Do you see it?” The arachnoid metal cylinder beeped twice, then declared it was performing a visual analysis.

“Just fucking shoot it Odie! I’ll try to hold the head still! Shoot the head!” With all of my strength, I grabbed the unruly machine which had me pinned by the neck and pushed the head up to give Odie a clear shot.

One of his cameras honed in on it, finalizing the firing solution before the twin prods of his projectile taser blasted forth. When they made contact with the exposed, dented head of the ad robot, a shower of sparks burst forth and it suddenly went limp.

I lay there for a while, heart still racing, struggling to get my breathing under control. Odie asked whether the threat was now neutralized.

With tears of relief welling up in my eyes, I thanked him and affirmed that it was. “You’re a good robot Odie. No, the best. You’re the best robot.” He repeated “I AM THE BEST ROBOT”, then headed back to the closet.

I pushed the now thoroughly fried robot off me, its arm falling to one side like that of a rag doll. I fought to keep my composure, thinking back to that screaming woman running down the street just outside. To the spastic chef robot. Then I remembered the window.

Busted open, nothing to prevent another unwelcome visitor from climbing inside unless I acted quickly! As I snuck a glance outside to see if any more were approaching, I saw several flashes from the window of the building across the street accompanied by muffled pops that I now realized must be gunshots. I’d only ever heard them in movies before.

As I looked on, a man in a blood stained shirt with a pistol in one hand opened the window and climbed outside onto the fire escape.

I could just make out the silhouette of a humanoid robot through the open window brandishing a pair of scissors. The commotion attracted five other robots, two from the alley and three from outside an adjacent closed diner.

The man didn’t appear to notice as he let down the ladder and descended it. I wanted to shout some sort of warning, but also didn’t want to attract any more robots to my own apartment.

So I just quietly watched, hand over my mouth, as the pack of robots grabbed hold of him the minute he reached ground level and set about furiously stabbing him.

His shrieks echoed down the street. Somehow he managed to pull free, but he didn’t make it far. A police robot, one of those crude little trash can looking things with a turret for a head, abruptly put a bullet between the man’s eyes.

He slumped backwards, spasming subtly as the rapidly growing pool of blood beneath his head reflected light from the streetlamp.

I ducked out of view. Fighting back debilitating fear, hurriedly working out my options. Could I summon an autocab? Would it even show up? It didn’t earlier.

I probably wouldn’t be able to reach it before that police robot shoots me. Where could I run to anyways? As yet, I had no idea how widespread this phenomenon was.

My phone buzzed. On silent mode, mercifully. I checked the caller ID, still mildly surprised the cell network was working properly in light of what I’d just seen. Madeline! I ordered Odie to guard the living room, then crept into his closet after he clambered out and answered the call.

“Oh thank god you’re awake! They’re killing everybody! Robots, everywhere. Just...tackling anyone they can catch and murdering them with whatever weapon they can find. It doesn’t make any sense! I’m on my way over to you now, I figured if anybody knows why this is happening-” Static followed, then the call dropped.

I cursed myself for not interrupting her. For not insisting she stay in her own home, blockade the doors and windows, then get ahold of a baseball bat or something.

I wracked my brain trying to remember whether I’d seen any gun shops nearby. I’m sure that fucking ad robot could’ve recommended one.

While I waited for her, I broke down my workbench into planks and used the hammer and some nails to barricade the open window. Given the circumstances I felt pretty sure Maria would be understanding about it...providing she’s not dead.

A few minutes later I heard tires screech as Madeline’s electric city car came to an abrupt stop just outside. She sent a text message asking which apartment I was in. I sent back the answer. When I heard her soft but rapid knocking on the door, I hurried to let her in.

Once her eyes adjusted, she choked back a scream and grabbed me by the arm. I realized it was the first time she’d seen the inside of my apartment...which is of course full of robots. I took hold of her and whispered assurances that none were recent enough to be affected.

That calmed her somewhat, but she still wouldn’t take her eyes off them as she explained what happened after we parted ways earlier. “When I headed back downtown to cover the disturbance, there was a police blockade.

I could hear heavy semiautomatic gunfire a few blocks down, but couldn’t see anything from my position. I filmed as much as I could before the cops ran me off, then headed for my place to edit what little footage I managed to capture.”

She spoke in panicked whispers, the two of us huddled against the door as if to hold it shut. “I have a domestic robot. Ad supported, cleans up while I’m out, that sort of thing.

It was...waiting for me. I keep a piece on me in case things turn ugly while I’m on assignment, but I’m not terribly well practiced with it. I wasted half the magazine before I managed to put a round in its head, but it just kept coming.”

---

^{Stay Tuned for Part 22!}