Servo 27:1
Servo 27:1
The elevator doors opened and we wandered out. I looked at the placard indicating the direction of the apartment numbers. “This way,” I said softly, pointing. We went to the right. The door was not far. Stopping in front of it, I paused to gather my courage. I knew Liza and her parents, they were nice people. But would my sister be happy to see us? “Well?” Rory pressed. “You gonna ring the doorbell?”“I’m getting to that.” Just as I reached my hand forward, the door opened and there she was. “Suz?”She stared at me like I was some sort of space alien. “Jonah? Rory? What are you doing here?”“Ummm, we came to rescue you,” I replied meekly.“Rescue?”“Uh huh.”“Well, as you can see, I’m just fine. I don’t need rescuing.”I looked around. “Where’s Otto?”Suz shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know.”“He came here with you, right?”“Yes. But we were together maybe a week and he split. Haven’t seen him since.”“Oh.”“Dad wants you to come home,” Rory said.“What? What are you talking about, Rory? Dad’s dead.”“He is, but he isn’t,” I replied.She stepped out and closed the door. “Jonah, have you lost your mind too? Did the Outer States brainwash you into a dumb teenager?”I bit my tongue. The comment welling inside me wanted to come out, but it would be worthless to send the jab in Suz’s direction for fear of pushing her away again. “No, he’s alive—kind of.”“Dad’s a bot.”Suz regarded Rory. “A bot?”“Jonah got that old bot in grandpa’s barn working and loaded all of Dad’s memory sticks into it.”“And just how can that be Dad?”I lowered my head slightly. “There was a terrible storm and the barn got hit by lightning. When I went out the next morning, the bot was…alive.”“You expect me to believe that?”“No, I want you to see him for yourself.”“He’s here?”“Outside, hiding.”“If he’s a bot, what reason does he have to hide?”“When was the last time you saw a Model 106?” I watched my sister’s brow furrow in concentration. “Mmmm maybe never?”“Why would that make a difference?”“Have you noticed things are different here?”She looked past me out a window. “A little.”“The nights are darker—less streetlights, and there are battle bots roaming the streets.”“They told us it was to save electricity.”“What about the bots?”“The Ministry of Enforcement said they’ve had problems with outsiders breaking into the city and stealing things.”“And you believe this?”“Well, Otto and I got in pretty easy.”“Dad thinks it’s something far more sinister.”“Oh, like what?”“Another war.”She laughed. “Seriously?!”My patience was wearing thin. “Will you come with us?”“Where?”“To see Dad.”“Fine,” she huffed and threw up her arms. “This is silly.”We took her down to the ground level and outside. I guided Suz toward a large shrub that was against the building. “Dad?”“Here,” he said, poking his head between some branches. “Hello, Suz. Good to see you again.”I never saw my sister go a paler shade of white. Her knees looked like they wanted to buckle.“You can’t be,” she stammered. “You’re dead.”“The body may be gone, but the mind is still pretty much here. Thank your brothers for that.” He emerged from the brush. “I’ve been very worried about you.”“I’m okay, really. I’ve been staying with Liza.”I watched tears well up in the corners of her eyes and trickle down her cheeks.“Why are you crying?” said Dad.“I don’t know!” she sobbed.He carefully embraced her. “It’s okay, I’m sure you don’t fully understand yet.”Suz crumpled against him and cried hard. I stood guard with Rory hoping that no one would see us. The streets were strangely vacant. “Dad?” I said softly. “Should we go back to the treehouse?”He looked around. “That might be a good idea.”As we made our way back to the relative safety of the park’s treehouse, I kept a watchful eye out for battle bots. The sheer size of the mechanical monsters scared me. I’d only seen images of them in school and their ferocity left me with several nights of bad dreams. Why were the citizens of the Inner States so willing to let these harbingers of evil stalk their peaceful streets? Dad froze in his tracks. He held Suz by one hand, partly I think to keep her from bolting and partly because he had missed her so much. “Battle bot!” he said, nearly yanking Suz out of her shoes as he raced for cover. Rory and I were right on his heels. We took refuge behind a delivery van parked at the curb. If there was a way to become invisible, I wanted to conjure the technology right now. Battle bots were armed with an array of sensors capable of detecting light, noise, infrared, and even very slight motion. “Shhh, don’t move and don’t make a sound,” Dad said, crouching as low as his metallic skeleton would permit. Around the corner of the building it came. The ground under my feet reverberated with each of the monster’s strides. It stopped in the street on the opposite side of the van. I could hear it scanning the area, its servos making little clicking sounds as the body and “head” rotated. Servidyne designed the bots to be tougher than the average bot. And they were bigger—standing nearly eight feet tall. Their skeletons were not clothed in smooth fancy composite materials; everything was in plain sight: wires, actuators, servos, memory core, the works. One might think it would make them vulnerable to attack, but that was far from an accurate assumption. Each component was housed in specially designed and hardened black-colored casings making the bots virtually impenetrable. And each was armed with an array of weaponry capable of mass exterminations.I held my breath for what seemed hours. Finally the bot moved on. We remained as statues until the noise faded. The street was quiet. “Whew,” Dad said, standing up. One of his knee joints squeaked loudly and we froze, fearing the return of the behemoth. Several more moments of silence ensured our safety. “That was close.”
The elevator doors opened and we wandered out. I looked at the placard indicating the direction of the apartment numbers. “This way,” I said softly, pointing. We went to the right. The door was not far. Stopping in front of it, I paused to gather my courage. I knew Liza and her parents, they were nice people. But would my sister be happy to see us? “Well?” Rory pressed. “You gonna ring the doorbell?”“I’m getting to that.” Just as I reached my hand forward, the door opened and there she was. “Suz?”She stared at me like I was some sort of space alien. “Jonah? Rory? What are you doing here?”“Ummm, we came to rescue you,” I replied meekly.“Rescue?”“Uh huh.”“Well, as you can see, I’m just fine. I don’t need rescuing.”I looked around. “Where’s Otto?”Suz shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know.”“He came here with you, right?”“Yes. But we were together maybe a week and he split. Haven’t seen him since.”“Oh.”“Dad wants you to come home,” Rory said.“What? What are you talking about, Rory? Dad’s dead.”“He is, but he isn’t,” I replied.She stepped out and closed the door. “Jonah, have you lost your mind too? Did the Outer States brainwash you into a dumb teenager?”I bit my tongue. The comment welling inside me wanted to come out, but it would be worthless to send the jab in Suz’s direction for fear of pushing her away again. “No, he’s alive—kind of.”“Dad’s a bot.”Suz regarded Rory. “A bot?”“Jonah got that old bot in grandpa’s barn working and loaded all of Dad’s memory sticks into it.”“And just how can that be Dad?”I lowered my head slightly. “There was a terrible storm and the barn got hit by lightning. When I went out the next morning, the bot was…alive.”“You expect me to believe that?”“No, I want you to see him for yourself.”“He’s here?”“Outside, hiding.”“If he’s a bot, what reason does he have to hide?”“When was the last time you saw a Model 106?” I watched my sister’s brow furrow in concentration. “Mmmm maybe never?”“Why would that make a difference?”“Have you noticed things are different here?”She looked past me out a window. “A little.”“The nights are darker—less streetlights, and there are battle bots roaming the streets.”“They told us it was to save electricity.”“What about the bots?”“The Ministry of Enforcement said they’ve had problems with outsiders breaking into the city and stealing things.”“And you believe this?”“Well, Otto and I got in pretty easy.”“Dad thinks it’s something far more sinister.”“Oh, like what?”“Another war.”She laughed. “Seriously?!”My patience was wearing thin. “Will you come with us?”“Where?”“To see Dad.”“Fine,” she huffed and threw up her arms. “This is silly.”We took her down to the ground level and outside. I guided Suz toward a large shrub that was against the building. “Dad?”“Here,” he said, poking his head between some branches. “Hello, Suz. Good to see you again.”I never saw my sister go a paler shade of white. Her knees looked like they wanted to buckle.“You can’t be,” she stammered. “You’re dead.”“The body may be gone, but the mind is still pretty much here. Thank your brothers for that.” He emerged from the brush. “I’ve been very worried about you.”“I’m okay, really. I’ve been staying with Liza.”I watched tears well up in the corners of her eyes and trickle down her cheeks.“Why are you crying?” said Dad.“I don’t know!” she sobbed.He carefully embraced her. “It’s okay, I’m sure you don’t fully understand yet.”Suz crumpled against him and cried hard. I stood guard with Rory hoping that no one would see us. The streets were strangely vacant. “Dad?” I said softly. “Should we go back to the treehouse?”He looked around. “That might be a good idea.”As we made our way back to the relative safety of the park’s treehouse, I kept a watchful eye out for battle bots. The sheer size of the mechanical monsters scared me. I’d only seen images of them in school and their ferocity left me with several nights of bad dreams. Why were the citizens of the Inner States so willing to let these harbingers of evil stalk their peaceful streets? Dad froze in his tracks. He held Suz by one hand, partly I think to keep her from bolting and partly because he had missed her so much. “Battle bot!” he said, nearly yanking Suz out of her shoes as he raced for cover. Rory and I were right on his heels. We took refuge behind a delivery van parked at the curb. If there was a way to become invisible, I wanted to conjure the technology right now. Battle bots were armed with an array of sensors capable of detecting light, noise, infrared, and even very slight motion. “Shhh, don’t move and don’t make a sound,” Dad said, crouching as low as his metallic skeleton would permit. Around the corner of the building it came. The ground under my feet reverberated with each of the monster’s strides. It stopped in the street on the opposite side of the van. I could hear it scanning the area, its servos making little clicking sounds as the body and “head” rotated. Servidyne designed the bots to be tougher than the average bot. And they were bigger—standing nearly eight feet tall. Their skeletons were not clothed in smooth fancy composite materials; everything was in plain sight: wires, actuators, servos, memory core, the works. One might think it would make them vulnerable to attack, but that was far from an accurate assumption. Each component was housed in specially designed and hardened black-colored casings making the bots virtually impenetrable. And each was armed with an array of weaponry capable of mass exterminations.I held my breath for what seemed hours. Finally the bot moved on. We remained as statues until the noise faded. The street was quiet. “Whew,” Dad said, standing up. One of his knee joints squeaked loudly and we froze, fearing the return of the behemoth. Several more moments of silence ensured our safety. “That was close.”
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