Stanley Duncan's Robot: Genesis by David III (korean ebook reader .txt) 📕

after the large crater dug into the side of his shaved head. A scar snaked out underneath the eye patch on his left eye and slithered up his forehead. “We’ve acquired the target.”

“Excellent,” said Evan. “Is it intact?”

“Perfectly so.” Cratos gave a dry cackle. “We would struggle to put a dent on this one.”

“What are you talking about?” said Shannon. “Another android?”

“Brutus is more than just another android,” said Cratos. “He was designed by the legendary Stanley Duncan and is nearly impervious to attacks.”

Evan filled up another glass. “I’d like to see how powerful he is. When do we get to watch him fight?”

“That,” said Cratos, fidgeting with the cattle prod in his hands, “might take some time. Duncan’s programming needs to be carefully overwritten. As things stand now, Brutus acts as a sentry.”

“So, put him in the ring and let him guard it against an onslaught of abominations.”

“It’s trickier than that. The program has a fail-safe to prevent this sort of manipulation. Its functionality is limited to a narrow radius of its owner, and, unfortunately, he’s dead and gone.”

“So, reprogram it!” said Evan.

“Exactly what we’re working on. We’ve experimented by uploading its software protocols onto some of the AI animals that we’ve gathered. While we’ve met with some success, there have been a few incidents.”

“Of course, there were,” sighed Evan. “What

happened?”

“The cats escaped.”

Evan responded with a deathly stare.

Cratos grew paler. He pointed to several scars on his hands and calves. “We tried to stop them, but they were vicious.”

Shannon choked on her water. “You got clobbered by a clowder?”

“Two of us died trying to stop them.”

Shannon stared down at her feet, cheeks pressing into her eyes as if to hide away her shame. “I’m sorry.”

Evan caressed her head. “How soon can you get Brutus operational?”

“Within the week.”

“Make it so,” said Evan. “If you aren’t competent enough to handle this task, I’ll find someone who is.”

“What about those fearsome felines?” asked Shannon. She was drunk and couldn’t stop herself.

“I have a feeling that everything is going to work itself out,” said Evan.

“People are going to get hurt,” she said.

“That happens in war.” Evan glanced at Cratos. “But I know we’ll do everything in our power to minimize civilian casualties.”

“Of course.”

Evan twirled his phone between his fingers. “Fortunately, despite the small setback, everything is still going according to my plan. It’s only a matter of time before we are rid of the abominations for good.”

Dan’s movements went from good to flawless. His intellect exploded, and his behavior changed radically.

Stanley broadcast his achievement through Morse Code, using a straight key.

“What’s that beeping?” asked Dan.

Stanley brought the device into the living room and explained that he was sending out messages. “Using short and long sounds, you can send and decode messages. No matter the medium, if you can send out binary pulses, you can transmit data.”

Dan ran his fingers across it, quickly becoming adept at using it. Within a minute, he’d sent a message. “But this tech is, like, a million years old. It’s primitive compared to a video livestream.”

Stanley twitched, floored at how quickly Dan had picked it up. Using his hands, he clapped the message, “Amazing.”

“Thank you,” replied Dan in tongue clicks.

Stanley wrapped his arms around Dan. Squeezing him with love, he started to think of what message he could tap out against his back. But as he did, he wondered when he had learned Morse Code and why he still used it. No matter how hard he tried, he could not remember. He became so bothered by it that he needed to quickly abandon the thought and the continuation of the game by Dan, whose noises had lost their playfulness and become overwhelming. Sitting in the chair by the window, Stanley watched the cars speed by.

“Why don’t we go outside?” asked Dan.

The words stunned Stanley. It was the worst thing he could have said.

Heavy breaths fogged up the windowpane, obscuring the outside world. Stanley stared into the glass cloud, hoping the question would likewise disappear and be forgotten.

Dan picked up a chair from the dining room and placed it next to Stanley’s. Mounting it in reverse, he rested his arms on top of the chair’s back. Calm eyes pierced into Stanley.

“What!” barked Stanley, his own anger startling him. The recent changes in Dan had been challenging, but none of them had been so precarious. Didn’t Dan know how dangerous it was?

“Let’s go outside.” The words escaped Dan’s lips so gently.

Stanley turned toward the traffic in front of the complex, the familiar buzzing modulating his mood like soft AI music playing in a psychiatrist’s office. Dan had no clue how cruel the outside world could be. He was better off here, away from the cold chill of Marshfield’s gales and glances. “Let’s not.”

“Why not? We haven’t been outside since I arrived.”

“For good reason,” snarled Stanley. “It’s not safe out there.”

“In broad daylight? We’ll be fine.”

Stanley made no reply.

“Tell me you don’t want to go out, and I’ll drop it.”

Stanley wanted to be left alone. With furled lips, he shook his head as he stared through the window, the circular patch of fog almost completely faded. His nose poured across his face as if it were a melting candle. A fiery memory, frozen in time, seared him through and through. For two decades, he had been haunted by how cruel people had been. Stanley’s arrogance and carelessness had cost someone their life, and every vile glance since then reminded him of it. And these people were even worse to machine life. With Stanley, they stopped at words and glances. But for the cyborgs and androids, they perpetrated horrendous acts of violence. Beating them to death, setting them on fire — Dan wanted him to be okay with it?

“Hey,” Dan whispered, placing his hand on Stanley’s shoulder.

Stanley slapped it off. Jumping to his feet, his heart fiercely beating against his rib cage, he shot Dan a challenging look. He knew what was best for Dan. Cyborgs had been targeted for