Servo 29:3
Servo 29:3
Out on the street, Suz and I walked cautiously. The hardware store was not quite a mile away. “How many battle bots did you see on the way?” I asked.“Just that one.”“Maybe we’ll be lucky and it will have moved on.”“That would be good. Those things scare me.”“Me too.”“So Dad thinks there’s going to be another war?”“Yes.”“But why are the battle bots here? Shouldn’t they be on the border between the Inner and Outer States?”I walked along silently for a few moments. “This seems to be a different kind of war.”“How so?”As we turned the corner, we ran smack dab into a battle bot. I felt my breath leave me. My whole body tingled with fear. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t.It swiveled around and faced us. “Citizens, state your purpose for being in this zone,” the tinny voice said.“Uh, umm, we, uh, we uh, were just going to the store down the street,” I stuttered.The bot held out a scanner. “I.D. chips.”Suz and I looked at each other. If we ran, the bot could easily give chase and call for backup. My biggest fear was it scanning our chips and discovering that we were related to the late Thomas Blackburn. Although not fugitives, our presence might be seen as questionable. When we left the Inner States, our I.D. chips were scanned and logged as leaving the area. But we had not been scanned upon our return. How would we explain this?“I.D. chips, citizens,” the battle bot insisted.“Fine,” Suz said, holding out her hand. The bot scanned her chip. “Suzette Blackburn, age eighteen. Departed the Inner States April of 2055. No return scan on file. You are an unauthorized citizen in this district.”My sister was never one to think on her feet, but at that very moment, she pulled off the most fantastic ruse ever.“Well, you stupid bot; the day we returned, there was a computer glitch and the system was down. The agent at the border had to manually process our paperwork.”The bot said nothing for what seemed several minutes. I can only assume it was interfacing with someone at the enforcement section. “State your purpose for being here.”“We’re here visiting some friends for a couple of weeks.”“Both of you?”“Yes.”“Estimated date of departure?”“In a couple of days.”“I have been instructed to scan your I.D. chips and register you in the database.”“Will that mean other bots will not harass us?” she asked.“Affirmative.”“Good.” The bot pointed at me. “I.D. chip.”I held out my hand and it scanned me.“Jonah Blackburn, age fourteen, Departed the Inner States April of 2055. No return scan on file. You are an unauthorized citizen in this district.”“Duh!” Suz huffed, “He’s my brother!”“Is your expected departure date the same?”I shifted my gaze toward the bot’s head. It towered over me in the most menacing fashion. “Yes.”“Your file has been updated in the database.”As scared as I was, I still felt the need to extract as much information as I could. “Unit 2-5-6-9, what is your purpose here?”“To protect the citizens of New Philadelphia.”“From what?”“Threats.”“From where?”The bot was silent for a moment. Had I confused it? Finally it said: “Proceed with caution, citizens; there has been an increase in criminal actions.” “Criminals? In the Inner States?”“Affirmative.” With that, the bot faced away from us and resumed its post. Despite its seemingly benign treatment of us, I couldn’t help but feel a deep inner terror anytime I was in proximity of the monsters. Knowing their capabilities only made our mission more important. The virus hidden deep within my father’s memory cores had to reach its destination.
Out on the street, Suz and I walked cautiously. The hardware store was not quite a mile away. “How many battle bots did you see on the way?” I asked.“Just that one.”“Maybe we’ll be lucky and it will have moved on.”“That would be good. Those things scare me.”“Me too.”“So Dad thinks there’s going to be another war?”“Yes.”“But why are the battle bots here? Shouldn’t they be on the border between the Inner and Outer States?”I walked along silently for a few moments. “This seems to be a different kind of war.”“How so?”As we turned the corner, we ran smack dab into a battle bot. I felt my breath leave me. My whole body tingled with fear. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t.It swiveled around and faced us. “Citizens, state your purpose for being in this zone,” the tinny voice said.“Uh, umm, we, uh, we uh, were just going to the store down the street,” I stuttered.The bot held out a scanner. “I.D. chips.”Suz and I looked at each other. If we ran, the bot could easily give chase and call for backup. My biggest fear was it scanning our chips and discovering that we were related to the late Thomas Blackburn. Although not fugitives, our presence might be seen as questionable. When we left the Inner States, our I.D. chips were scanned and logged as leaving the area. But we had not been scanned upon our return. How would we explain this?“I.D. chips, citizens,” the battle bot insisted.“Fine,” Suz said, holding out her hand. The bot scanned her chip. “Suzette Blackburn, age eighteen. Departed the Inner States April of 2055. No return scan on file. You are an unauthorized citizen in this district.”My sister was never one to think on her feet, but at that very moment, she pulled off the most fantastic ruse ever.“Well, you stupid bot; the day we returned, there was a computer glitch and the system was down. The agent at the border had to manually process our paperwork.”The bot said nothing for what seemed several minutes. I can only assume it was interfacing with someone at the enforcement section. “State your purpose for being here.”“We’re here visiting some friends for a couple of weeks.”“Both of you?”“Yes.”“Estimated date of departure?”“In a couple of days.”“I have been instructed to scan your I.D. chips and register you in the database.”“Will that mean other bots will not harass us?” she asked.“Affirmative.”“Good.” The bot pointed at me. “I.D. chip.”I held out my hand and it scanned me.“Jonah Blackburn, age fourteen, Departed the Inner States April of 2055. No return scan on file. You are an unauthorized citizen in this district.”“Duh!” Suz huffed, “He’s my brother!”“Is your expected departure date the same?”I shifted my gaze toward the bot’s head. It towered over me in the most menacing fashion. “Yes.”“Your file has been updated in the database.”As scared as I was, I still felt the need to extract as much information as I could. “Unit 2-5-6-9, what is your purpose here?”“To protect the citizens of New Philadelphia.”“From what?”“Threats.”“From where?”The bot was silent for a moment. Had I confused it? Finally it said: “Proceed with caution, citizens; there has been an increase in criminal actions.” “Criminals? In the Inner States?”“Affirmative.” With that, the bot faced away from us and resumed its post. Despite its seemingly benign treatment of us, I couldn’t help but feel a deep inner terror anytime I was in proximity of the monsters. Knowing their capabilities only made our mission more important. The virus hidden deep within my father’s memory cores had to reach its destination.
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