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

falling branch. Once he felt it, he kicked it away, careful not to split it. The world twisted around him as he spun. He desperately scanned for something to stop his fall, but there was no nearby branch. Nothing to grab hold of. “Move!”

The boy didn’t budge.

Not comprehending what was going on, Dan took off his shoes, spreading both arms to his side, and whipped them forward as hard as he could. The force propelled him backward. He landed several feet from the boy, breaking his fall with a roll.

“You nearly squished me!”

Dan’s heart was beating hard. Getting up, he felt a sharp pain in his ankle. “Sorry about that.”

“You were incredible.”

“Thank you. I shouldn’t have shown off and taken those risks. You could have been hurt.”

“It happens.”

“Aren’t you afraid?”

The boy shrugged.

“Not even a little?”

“Why would I be afraid?”

Dan shook his head. “Because you would be feeling a lot of pain!”

The boy took a vial out of his pocket. “No, I wouldn’t. Just chug this down, and I’d be fine.”

“What’s that?”

“Nanites in fuse.”

“You’ve had fuse before?”

“Don’t you think I tried to climb the tree already? I fell so many times, I had to give up. That’s when I found you online.”

“So, you’re high right now?”

“Not high. There’s barely any fuse in here at all. Only enough to get rid of the pain.”

Dan limped over to look at it, holding it in his hand. That’s why the boy seemed fearless.

“You look hurt. Drink it.”

As he held it, he thought about fuse-farms and how many people had fused out for good. “I’m fine — it’s just a sprain.” If this stuff was as addictive as he had heard, who in their right mind would give it to their kid? “Where are your parents?”

Dreadlocks-boy juggled the ball in the air with his feet. “They’re fused out. I’m all by myself.”

“So, who takes care of you?”

“Nobody. I’m a ward of the state.”

Dan motioned for the ball, catching it in his hands. The pain was worsening, and he could already feel it swelling. He tossed the ball back to the boy, who returned it with a kick. “So, do you have a social worker checking on you?”

He shook his head. “Better than that. I’ve got an app.”

“An app?”

“Yeah. I can order all the food I want, and all I have to do is a video check-in every day.”

“What about school?”

“School’s stupid. Why would I go there and be bored all day when I can stay home and play?”

“To learn. To meet new friends. To make the world a better place. There are so many reasons!” Instantly, Dan knew that an entire generation of children were facing this same dilemma. Frank was right; these children needed help.

The boy shrugged.

They continued playing with the ball for a while. Every other return kick, the ball would stray too far from Dan’s reach. He could hop a little to try to catch it, but he didn’t want to put too much weight on his ankle. “Here, try kicking like this …”

After the explanation, Dreadlocks-boy’s kicks continued to improve. Soon, he wasn’t missing any returns — which was good for Dan, because the pain in his ankle had worsened to the point where he couldn’t stop thinking about drinking the vial. “Where did you get that medicine?”

“From the app. I order it when I need it. The tracking information on it prevents me from having more than three.”

“May I?” If it didn’t cause the boy to become addicted, it should be fine for him. Plus, it was issued by the government, so it had to be safe. Unless Jean Morrison’s wild conspiracy theories were true.

He nodded.

Dan popped the top off and drank it down. It tasted like bitter honey, unpleasant enough to make Dan not want to guzzle another for entertainment. Very quickly, he felt his body become strongly nauseous. Was this normal?

“Don’t worry — the icky feeling will go away soon.”

Sure enough, a warm sensation spread out from his stomach until his entire body felt like it was glowing with happiness. The nausea was completely gone, and he felt full of energy.

The boy handed the phone back. “Thanks for your help.”

“Contact me again if you need anything else!” With this energy flowing through his body and his ankle feeling well, he decided to have a leisurely stroll home.

Sitting at his computer, Stanley searched on Amazon for the latest and greatest 3D printer and the materials he needed to create a comfortable suit of armor that would protect Dan while he was out in the world.

The phone rang.

“Hello, Frank.”

“The footage has been restored, and I’ve gone through it all and cut out all the unimportant footage. But, I have to tell you, it’s not pretty.”

“Can’t you run another filter on it?” Stanley was still researching designs and materials. He needed something that would stop a bullet.

“No, that’s — the video is gory. There are some brutal scenes. I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to see it.”

Stanley hesitated. He didn’t want to get involved, but this is what Dan wished. “It’s all right. Send it over.”

Minutes into the video, Stanley couldn’t take it anymore. There were first-person accounts of brutal battles against cats — mostly biological — who were being ripped apart. He knew that the last few minutes must have contained the attack on Glenda and Boots, but Stanley refused to watch it. There were sickos out there enjoying this sort of violence, making sport of it. And it wasn’t only cats that were being forced to battle — there were mutilated androids being abused as well. Dan had dared to venture into a world where hordes of insane men greedily waited to swallow him up. Stanley wasn’t going to let that happen.

The phone rang again.

“Hello?”

Slow, heavy breaths scratched out of the speaker.

“Frank?”

The eerie breathing continued.

Stanley ended the call. He sent Dan a text asking where he was but got no response.

Another call came in a few minutes later.

“Leticia, who is calling?”

“The caller is unknown.”

Stanley sent