Servo 32:3
Servo 32:3
Two days passed and things were at the pinnacle of readiness. Otto and I had thoroughly tested every part of Dad’s systems. He was good to go. Now all that remained was to get him to the collection point so he could be taken to Servidyne. I waited impatiently in the hotel room while Suz and Otto went to the facility to inquire about bringing Dad in. They wanted to make sure nothing bad was going to happen to him when they dropped him off. “What’s taking them so long?” Rory asked as he lounged on the bed.“I dunno,” I replied, “I hope Otto didn’t get stopped by a battle bot.”“He’s using his fake name, right?”“I hope he remembered.” I glanced over at Dad, who was standing by the window. “Think they’re okay?”He turned. “What?”“I said, do you think they are okay?”“Unsure. This whole plan concerns me.”“You’re not the only one.”The door opened and Otto strolled in, followed by Suz. “Well?” I said.“I think we can pull this off,” Otto replied. “But we need to act soon.”“How soon?” “Like now.”Dad approached Otto. “Now?”“From what the guy told me, Servidyne is going to start collecting old bots for reclamation.”“Destruction, more like. I know what that means.”“He said right now, they are still repairing them. Next week, however…”“Then we must go.” He went to the door. “Otto?”“Yeah, okay.”I went to Dad and stood in front of him. “Please be careful.”“You know I will.”Without thought, I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him as tightly as I could. Rory and Suz joined in. A couple tears rolled down my cheeks. I couldn’t bear to lose the father I’d already lost once before. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He gently pried us off. “I’ll be careful, I promise.”When the door closed behind him, I went to the window and stood watching. I hoped it wouldn’t be the last time I’d see my father. There was no backup for him, no way to reproduce him again if he was lost. He was as unique as he’d been when flesh and blood. Below on the street, I saw Otto hailing a cab. Dad stood next to him, looking tense—if you could call it that. A cab arrived and he paused, looking up at our hotel window. He gave a slight wave before climbing in. At that very moment, I felt like my world was collapsing. I watched as they drove away, disappearing around the corner a few blocks down the street. There was a nagging ache in my stomach; I feared the worst. If Servidyne was starting to reclaim old bots, Dad would have a huge bullseye painted on him. We’d done our best to camouflage him as a newer bot, but if anyone started poking around, the gig was up. The plan was for him to get into the facility, but discreetly excuse himself from the repair section and get to the mainframe computer. Once in, he could upload the virus and hopefully make an escape while everyone was in a panic about the system. Best laid plans…“Are you going to watch?” Rory asked. He was sitting on the bed with my tablet.“Yes. Although we’re powerless to help.”“I know. It stinks.”I sat down with him and he slid the tablet over so we could share. The video was grainy, but not as bad as I’d expected. We could see him looking out the window of the cab, buildings going by. In the background, I could hear Otto and Suz talking quietly. The tablet beeped and a message appeared in the lower right-hand corner:
Are you receiving me?
“Hey, it’s Dad!” Rory said.I quickly typed: Loud and clear—signal is good.
He replied: Excellent. I’ll keep you informed on what’s going on.
Rory uttered an audible sigh. “Let’s hope the signal strength holds.”“Can’t see why not, there are transmitters all over the city,” I said, watching the video feed. “They only way we could lose him is if Servidyne has some sort of shielding in the building.”“Oh, do they?”“Dad doesn’t think so. The bots there all run on the shared connectivity drives.”“Let’s hope that’s the case. It would be bad to have done all this and lose him.”We watched as the cab stopped at the collection center and everyone got out. I could see Otto paying the driver while Suz stood next to Dad. He kept his head moving so we had a great view. The door to the building opened and a younger looking man walked out. He nodded to Otto. “So this is the bot you were telling me about?”“Yes,” Otto replied. “It’s like we have a front row seat in a play,” Rory said.I held an index finger to my lips. “Shhhh! Let’s listen.”The man looked Dad over. “It’s certainly seen better days. Sure you don’t want it reclaimed and get a new one? The 255s are state of the art.”“No, no, we like this one,” Suz said. “It’s been with us for quite a while and has all our profiles down pat.”“Suit yourself, but there might be a few software upgrades we can install to make it run better.”Otto waved his hand. “A simple diagnostic panel will be fine for now.” “All right. Since it’s Friday, and late, they won’t get to the bot until Monday.”“And you can assure us that it won’t get mixed up with those being reclaimed?”“I’ll put a tag on it to make sure.” He shook his head. “What is it with you folks and old bots?”Suz cleared her throat and lifted her head slightly. “As much as technology is nice, bots like this become part of the family. See, we lost our parents a few years ago, and this bot has made all the difference. It has many fond memories stored in its memory core that we cherish. So you must exercise the utmost care when dealing with this bot. Got it?”“Yes, yes, I understand.” He nodded. “We’ll take the best care of it.”“Thank you.”Rory and I watched as Suz and Otto got back into the cab and left. “Oh, no, they didn’t use the story we’d come up with. If they scan Dad and find out he’s been reported missing, what’s going to happen?” I said, feeling my heart pounding.“I dunno. Maybe they won’t scan him.”Dad was led inside the building and placed in a line of ten other bots. The man went to a desk, retrieved a sizeable tag with a piece of wire, wrote on it, and attached it to Dad’s chestplate. “All right, let’s turn you off to conserve battery,” the man said. He reached behind Dad’s head. We heard a click and the video feed went dark. A message appeared on the tablet:
So far so good…
Two days passed and things were at the pinnacle of readiness. Otto and I had thoroughly tested every part of Dad’s systems. He was good to go. Now all that remained was to get him to the collection point so he could be taken to Servidyne. I waited impatiently in the hotel room while Suz and Otto went to the facility to inquire about bringing Dad in. They wanted to make sure nothing bad was going to happen to him when they dropped him off. “What’s taking them so long?” Rory asked as he lounged on the bed.“I dunno,” I replied, “I hope Otto didn’t get stopped by a battle bot.”“He’s using his fake name, right?”“I hope he remembered.” I glanced over at Dad, who was standing by the window. “Think they’re okay?”He turned. “What?”“I said, do you think they are okay?”“Unsure. This whole plan concerns me.”“You’re not the only one.”The door opened and Otto strolled in, followed by Suz. “Well?” I said.“I think we can pull this off,” Otto replied. “But we need to act soon.”“How soon?” “Like now.”Dad approached Otto. “Now?”“From what the guy told me, Servidyne is going to start collecting old bots for reclamation.”“Destruction, more like. I know what that means.”“He said right now, they are still repairing them. Next week, however…”“Then we must go.” He went to the door. “Otto?”“Yeah, okay.”I went to Dad and stood in front of him. “Please be careful.”“You know I will.”Without thought, I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him as tightly as I could. Rory and Suz joined in. A couple tears rolled down my cheeks. I couldn’t bear to lose the father I’d already lost once before. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He gently pried us off. “I’ll be careful, I promise.”When the door closed behind him, I went to the window and stood watching. I hoped it wouldn’t be the last time I’d see my father. There was no backup for him, no way to reproduce him again if he was lost. He was as unique as he’d been when flesh and blood. Below on the street, I saw Otto hailing a cab. Dad stood next to him, looking tense—if you could call it that. A cab arrived and he paused, looking up at our hotel window. He gave a slight wave before climbing in. At that very moment, I felt like my world was collapsing. I watched as they drove away, disappearing around the corner a few blocks down the street. There was a nagging ache in my stomach; I feared the worst. If Servidyne was starting to reclaim old bots, Dad would have a huge bullseye painted on him. We’d done our best to camouflage him as a newer bot, but if anyone started poking around, the gig was up. The plan was for him to get into the facility, but discreetly excuse himself from the repair section and get to the mainframe computer. Once in, he could upload the virus and hopefully make an escape while everyone was in a panic about the system. Best laid plans…“Are you going to watch?” Rory asked. He was sitting on the bed with my tablet.“Yes. Although we’re powerless to help.”“I know. It stinks.”I sat down with him and he slid the tablet over so we could share. The video was grainy, but not as bad as I’d expected. We could see him looking out the window of the cab, buildings going by. In the background, I could hear Otto and Suz talking quietly. The tablet beeped and a message appeared in the lower right-hand corner:
Are you receiving me?
“Hey, it’s Dad!” Rory said.I quickly typed: Loud and clear—signal is good.
He replied: Excellent. I’ll keep you informed on what’s going on.
Rory uttered an audible sigh. “Let’s hope the signal strength holds.”“Can’t see why not, there are transmitters all over the city,” I said, watching the video feed. “They only way we could lose him is if Servidyne has some sort of shielding in the building.”“Oh, do they?”“Dad doesn’t think so. The bots there all run on the shared connectivity drives.”“Let’s hope that’s the case. It would be bad to have done all this and lose him.”We watched as the cab stopped at the collection center and everyone got out. I could see Otto paying the driver while Suz stood next to Dad. He kept his head moving so we had a great view. The door to the building opened and a younger looking man walked out. He nodded to Otto. “So this is the bot you were telling me about?”“Yes,” Otto replied. “It’s like we have a front row seat in a play,” Rory said.I held an index finger to my lips. “Shhhh! Let’s listen.”The man looked Dad over. “It’s certainly seen better days. Sure you don’t want it reclaimed and get a new one? The 255s are state of the art.”“No, no, we like this one,” Suz said. “It’s been with us for quite a while and has all our profiles down pat.”“Suit yourself, but there might be a few software upgrades we can install to make it run better.”Otto waved his hand. “A simple diagnostic panel will be fine for now.” “All right. Since it’s Friday, and late, they won’t get to the bot until Monday.”“And you can assure us that it won’t get mixed up with those being reclaimed?”“I’ll put a tag on it to make sure.” He shook his head. “What is it with you folks and old bots?”Suz cleared her throat and lifted her head slightly. “As much as technology is nice, bots like this become part of the family. See, we lost our parents a few years ago, and this bot has made all the difference. It has many fond memories stored in its memory core that we cherish. So you must exercise the utmost care when dealing with this bot. Got it?”“Yes, yes, I understand.” He nodded. “We’ll take the best care of it.”“Thank you.”Rory and I watched as Suz and Otto got back into the cab and left. “Oh, no, they didn’t use the story we’d come up with. If they scan Dad and find out he’s been reported missing, what’s going to happen?” I said, feeling my heart pounding.“I dunno. Maybe they won’t scan him.”Dad was led inside the building and placed in a line of ten other bots. The man went to a desk, retrieved a sizeable tag with a piece of wire, wrote on it, and attached it to Dad’s chestplate. “All right, let’s turn you off to conserve battery,” the man said. He reached behind Dad’s head. We heard a click and the video feed went dark. A message appeared on the tablet:
So far so good…
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