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

mechanical devices lined the shelves, and a litany of electronic chaos filled a table at the center of the room.

“As you can see, I’m a tech enthusiast.” Frank motioned to the cat head. “This was one of my toys until it went missing one day. Where did you find it?”

Stanley sighed. “At my condo. It went haywire and attacked my neighbor.”

“Goodness. Was anyone hurt?”

“Yes,” said Dan. “Our neighbor was sent to the hospital, and her cat was killed.”

Frank’s eyes lit up. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” said Dan.

“How could you use a recalled machine like this, knowing that it was dangerous?” Stanley looked down at his balled fist and relaxed it. He didn’t come here to start a fight.

“I knew it was risky, but I thought there wasn’t much harm in having it run patrols around the store.”

Dan sifted through the heap on the table. “Were you having security issues?”

“Not really. Life here isn’t exactly eventful. You saw the biggest security risk we face: a few kids goofing off.”

“Then why run patrols?”

Frank shrugged. “For fun.”

“You could have taken better precautions,” said Stanley. There was anger in his voice.

Dan’s eyes widened. “Social protocol,” he whispered.

Stanley waved him off.

“I did all I could,” said Frank.

Stanley hated excuses, especially when it came to someone else’s safety. “This model was decommissioned because it was unsafe. ‘Doing all you could’ would have been not deploying it at all.”

“So, then. what should he have done? Destroy it?”

“Don’t start, Dan.” There was fire in Stanley’s voice.

“I’m sorry,” said Frank. “I didn’t think.”

“No, you didn’t,” said Stanley.

Frank pressed his finger against the back of the cat’s severed head. “I wanted to see this incredible piece of technology — it’s not like I have the budget to purchase the latest and greatest cyborg.” He glared at Stanley, whose face was red with fury.

Stanley decided it was a good time to stop criticizing the big man.

Frank took the chip out. “So, are you going to try to use this footage to sue me? Is that what this is about?”

“Not at all,” said Stanley. “I have enough money to take care of me and Dan for the rest of our lives. Plus, all our injuries have been healed.”

“Well,” said Dan, stretching out the word as if it were a horn signaling a penalty, “except Boots. You can’t bring back the dead.”

Frank looked at them warily. “So, what is this about?”

“We want to know what caused your cat to attack us,” said Stanley. “If there is someone out there putting dangerous malware into artificial intelligence, it’s our duty to stop it.”

“Have you been living under a rock?”

“What do you mean?”

“Wait a minute. You did get authorization to have Dan, right? He’s not out here walking around unregistered, is he?”

“It’s a free country,” said Stanley. “Anyone can purchase an android or cyborg and do as they please.”

Dan gave him a look.

“Within reason, of course.”

“Um, yeah,” said Frank. “I’m beginning to think that broadcast with those boys wasn’t the best of ideas.”

“If we want to change the world,” said Dan, “people have to know who we are.”

“But that’s …”

“What?” asked Stanley. He was beginning to think Frank was hiding something.

“It’s nothing,” said Frank, a little too quickly.

“Get it off your chest, already,” said Stanley.

Frank frowned. “I get that you two are here to make a difference in the world, and I’m not trying to judge. But, I’m sorry. I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t comply with the law — the unofficial regulations — and get Dan registered. But, whatever. It’s up to you.” He let out a sigh. “Now, I can access the data. Is that what you want?”

“Please.”

“All right.” Frank inserted the chip into his tablet; then he placed it on the table. “Let’s see what sort of mess this little kitty got himself into — unless you have any advice for being more cautious.”

Stanley resisted frowning. “Go ahead.”

Shannon sighed when she saw Evan approach, with that confrontational look in his face. His eyes narrowed slightly, and his nose flared. He pulled up a picture of Dan on his phone and showed it to her. “What do you see?”

She saw a young, handsome Asian man but didn’t know how to respond. Evan had been extra violent lately, and she didn’t want to fail any of his tests. “A happy man buying some groceries.”

Evan repeated her answer and then asked, “Good looking?”

“Um, well, you know.” He was definitely a lot more attractive than she dared to admit.

“No, Shannon. I don’t know. That’s why I asked.”

Her toes curled from the tone he was using with her. It was definitely smart not to screw with him right now. But she couldn’t figure out if that meant telling the truth or pretending like he wasn’t so damn handsome.

“Spit it out.”

“He’s good looking, alright? He’s. Good. Looking.”

Evan glared at her. “I see.”

Shannon felt like she’d answered incorrectly. Her relationship with him had grown too toxic, and she needed to find a way out. Fast. Handing the phone back, her finger slid across the screen. A horrendous image of a bloodied woman bound to a street sign appeared on the screen. Was it the same woman she had clothed and checked into the fuse-farm — who had been a cyborg?

Evan turned to the other police officers at the table. “The abominations are attempting to infiltrate us, taking forms more human than ever. Stanley Duncan, Marshfield’s freak show, has taken it upon himself to purchase some top-of-the-line devilry, no doubt to do disgusting things to it. He’s been parading it around town in open defiance of our wishes.

“I want this abomination captured. We need to send a message to unite all Americans, but under no circumstances can it be traced back to us. We are going to corrupt his system and send him on a murder rampage. It’ll look like Duncan is a domestic terrorist who had programmed two abominations to destroy Americans: Dan and Brutus. This will get the attention of the top brass, and