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

Without answering, without looking back, Shannon hopped in the car and shut the door.

Dan looked down at the barrel of the gun. His body was spent, unable to move. He didn’t have the strength to say goodbye to Stanley. Watching the anger in Brad’s eyes as he pulled the trigger —

A blast came from the Coliseum. The front door exploded, and Brutus emerged, his face partially restored.

“How’s that possible?” Calculations ran through Dan’s mind, all of them producing insane results. “I torched his face off.”

Stanley twitched. “Brutus has multiple CPUs, memory devices throughout his body, and a unique set of nanites that regenerates them. You have to destroy them all at once, or he’ll recover.”

Evan tapped the gun against the window. “Shut up.”

Dan sighed. If only he had completely disabled him when he had the chance.

Brutus darted at Brad, who quickly responded by ordering it to halt — but it didn’t listen. Brad had barely dodged a death blow from the war-hammer when a swift kick caught him in the ribs, sending him to the ground coughing up blood. Brutus wasted no time in attacking the deputy.

“Let’s see how you defend against amorphous bullets,” said Evan, aiming his gun and firing two shots.

Brutus blocked them with his hand.

“What the hell!” Evan emptied the clip into him, but Brutus blocked every shot.

Dan tried to move, but there was no strength left in his body.

Evan dodged a punch with lightning speed. Brutus unleashed a front kick that would have shattered Evan’s femur had he not vaulted backward to the top of the cruiser. Brutus’s foot crushed the car door, encasing it in metal. Stanley wiggled down against the cruiser floor. Evan took the miraculous opportunity and scurried to the trunk. He barely managed to get out a canister of gasoline before Brutus bore down on him. There was nothing Evan could possibly do to avoid getting clobbered.

“A robot may not injure a human …” said Stanley.

“Or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm,” continued Brutus, stopping in place.

Evan soaked Brutus with gasoline. “What did you do to him, traitor?”

“A little security measure I installed, just in case something like this happened.”

Brutus threw up a red liquid.

“Nanites,” said Stanley. “He’s purging himself from the inside out. Next he’ll short-circuit all his processors.”

Smoke billowed out of the android’s nose, ears, and mouth. Slamming the war-hammer into his ankle, Brutus burst into flames. He continued to destroy his legs until he fell over, a fierce inferno blasting out of his body twelve feet into the air.

“He won’t be able to revive himself,” said Stanley.

Evan went over to Brad and injected him with nanites. “You okay?”

Brad got up slowly. “I could use a drink.”

“Me, too,” said Evan. He pulled Stanley out of the car. “Excellent job, Duncan. Now, be a good American, and install that program on your abomination — without the self-destruct option.”

“Why would I ever do that?”

“Because if you don’t, Brad and I are going to hold you over this fire and cook you alive.”

“Never!” said Stanley. “That would be the same as killing him.”

Evan took the can of gasoline and held it over Stanley’s head. “Your life or his.”

Dan watched Stanley tremble. “He’s not bluffing. If you don’t give him what he wants, he’s going to kill you.”

Brad pointed a gun at his Dan’s head.

Evan shook the canister. “Choose.”

Stanley’s body relaxed; his face became peaceful. “I’d gladly die to save Dan’s life.”

Evan grinned, letting a drop fall on Stanley’s nose. “You, of all people, should know how much this is going to hurt.”

“I’m not afraid.”

“That’s funny.”

Stanley looked him dead in the eyes. “Go ahead, then. Get on with it.”

Evan guffawed, drenching Stanley with gasoline.

Falling to his knees, Stanley prayed, coughing and gagging as the fumes and gas seeped into his mouth and nose.

“Stop!” shouted Dan. “I’ll do what you want — just let Stanley go.”

Evan took a step back. “Of course.”

Dan struggled to speak. “I know you want to use me as an excuse to abolish my kind. The world will be the judge of that. Just promise me you’ll kill me before I hurt him or anyone else.”

“I promise to kill you and not touch a single hair — the few that he has left — on his head.” He emptied out most of a syringe of nanites and tossed it to Dan.

After ingesting it, Dan slowly got to his feet.

“Don’t trust him!” shouted Stanley.

Evan punched him in the face. “Better hurry up, before I change my mind. Oh, and if you self-destruct, the deal is off.” He took out his camera and began to film.

“I’m sorry, Stanley,” said Dan, “that this was the only way I can repay you for the life you have given me.”

“Blah, blah, blah,” said Evan. “We don’t have all day.”

“It’s done. I’ve updated my code to use the assassination software according to your voice command,” said Dan. “Any second now, I’ll lose the ability to — ”

Evan shoved Stanley toward him. “Prove it. Kill Stanley Duncan.”

Dan kicked Stanley hard in the stomach, sending him to the ground. He dove on top of him, landing punch after punch.

Evan circled them with a greedy scowl, his hands holding his phone.

Blood poured down Stanley’s face. Dan grabbed the war-hammer and raised it into the air. He was one brief swing away from destroying the man who’d given him everything. He tried to stop himself but failed. Tears flowed down his face. Every attempt to bypass Stanley’s code was futile. The program had locked him out completely. He tried to apologize, but the words refused to come out. His arms trembled, delaying in the air for too long — there had to be a way to break free.

“I forgive you,” said Stanley.

Dan felt the resistance in his arms disappear. This was it. He should never have trusted Evan. The war-hammer plowed through the air — and stopped.

“What the hell?” asked Brad. “Is it out of batteries?”

Dan was shaking.

“He’s self-destructing,” said Evan,