David Ring III - Stanley Duncan's Robot

“I’ll show them to you later. Meanwhile, I’ll stay hidden in the apartment below. It’ll be okay.”

“I hope so.”

Less than twenty minutes later, Dan received the package. No addresses, just a taped-on QR code at the top. It was much bigger than he expected. Opening it up, he saw why — the damned helmet.

Brad took the war-hammer and holstered it against Brutus’s back. Tilting his neck, he poured a half-full flask down his throat until it dripped out. The painful pulsations in his head dulled. “It’d better be ready.”

Cratos scurried beneath the giant android like a cockroach. If he wasn’t such a useful bug, Brad would have squished him for the fun of it. “Yes. Yes. Of course. It’s ready.”

Staring face to face with the android, Brad’s thirst for blood grew. Memories of Michaels’ dying screams pierced through him. The light from his eyes had vanished before he got a chance to say goodbye. There was no room in this world for half-breeds. If you sympathized with the abominations, then you were one of them. “I’ve changed my mind. I want everyone in there dead.”

“Everyone? Are you—” Cratos clasped his mouth shut. “Yes, of course. I’ll make sure there are exclusions for you, Evan, and anyone else you want.”

Brad wanted to knock out the rest of Cratos’s teeth. “Bring the armless abomination out. I want to see it suffer. Give the crowd some fun, and then pit it against that pathetic excuse of a man that Shannon dragged in.” Turning to leave, a small, pale fist slammed into his chest.

“What are you, crazy?” said Shannon. “They’ll be hundreds of children there. And Larry—”

He grabbed her wrist and lifted her into the air with one hand. “Don’t mess with me.”

“Evan would never order this. What is he going to do when he hears about it?” Shannon squirmed, unable to break free of Brad’s one-handed grip.

His eyes narrowed on the bitch. “Then I’ll have to make sure he doesn’t hear about it.”

Cameras from androids and drones captured Dan’s every step as he walked up the immaculate stairs to the high school. A red carpet had been newly rolled out, and an ornamental fabric had been draped across the ceiling. Exceptional student drawings of machine life adorned the windows. The feeling was intense, and he could only imagine how much Stanley was suffering at home.

The principal was waiting for him at the top of the stairs. “Are you ready?” There was an alertness in his eyes that Dan couldn’t distinguish as excitement or fear.

Dan nodded, wishing he didn’t have to do this alone.

Brad tied Shannon up to a chair in the VIP room. Her attempts to control him were pathetic. She needed to learn that sleeping with the boss didn’t make her the boss. “Enjoy the show.”

“I won’t let you get away with this.”

“Little Shannon’s going to stop me?”

“Not me. Evan’s going to kill you.”

“We’ll see what he has to say after he hears about you coming in with another man.”

She shook her head. “He was a patient at the fuse farm.”

“That’s desperate even for you.” He laughed, slammed the door behind him, and went in search of an up-front seat by the plebs. Cratos was going to bring the abomination out any minute. When Brad had whetted his appetite, he would leave for the high school, ordering Cratos to send Brutus along after him — arriving with a murderer wasn’t a good idea. He would miss part of the Coliseum show and Shannon’s reaction to her new boyfriend getting mauled, but he would have a prime seat for the high school slaughter. Of course, he wouldn’t let everyone die. He and Evan would use their police authority to stop the abomination in its tracks, blaming everything on Duncan.

People would praise him as a hero, but he didn’t care about that at all. He would spend his time drinking in the Coliseum, making Teddy pay for what he had done. With the durability of its tin-can body and the exploitability of its toaster brain, Brad would be free to spend the rest of his life watching Cratos torture that abomination.

The dark room throbbed with the roar of distant applause.

Pain filled Teddy’s body. Too exhausted to get up off the frigid concrete floor, he glanced around and saw powered-down and destroyed androids surrounding him on all sides. They were all mutilated, their body parts transformed into weapons. Machetes, saws, and hammers replaced limbs. Faces were marred with cuts, burns, and other deformations. He was in Marshfield’s Coliseum, which he had seen in countless fight videos on the dark web. If he didn’t get out of there soon, they were going to slaughter him. Not only had he failed at killing Brad, but he’d let that fiend do this to him. Brad had to pay, and Teddy would not rest until he had cut him up with his own hands.

Shackles pulled at his feet as he tried to move his legs. Looking down, his shirt sleeves were scorched and half gone. Horror screamed in his bio-mechanical heart. His biceps terminated in cauterized stumps. Since waking up, the hands and fingers he had felt moving were but phantom limbs. He was crippled once again.

Cratos walked through the door, brandishing a cattle prod. “Get up. It’s show time.”

“Screw off.”

Cratos laughed, electrocuting him with the prod. Bright pulses of light lit up the room as Teddy spasmed on the ground. “I love my job.”

Teddy got up. Even with the shackles on his legs and his strength depleted, he could kill this man right now if he wanted to. But who knew what was waiting for him beyond the door? He needed to comply until he found a clear way out.

Cratos walked behind Teddy. The hole in that idiot’s skull must have destroyed a quarter of his brain. “Walk faster!”

A strong bolt of electricity sent Teddy crashing to the floor. “If you unshackle my legs, I’d be a lot faster.”

Another zap.

“Keep your mouth shut, or I’ll fry you to death right here and now.”

The shock had disoriented him, undoubtedly screwing with the circuitry throughout his body. His legs felt like they were made of concrete. Lumbering through the hall, Teddy imagined kicking Cratos to death. He passed through a metal doorway into a giant room filled with cheering idiots. Loud music blasted through his body, and flashing light blinded him.

“Go on — get your toaster-ass into the ring.”

As he was climbing up, several men surrounded him. The music faded, and a booming voice filled the air. “All right, everyone — you know the rules. One punch each, and the man with the best punch wins.”

The first of the contestants stepped up.

Teddy stared down at him.

The man swung hard.

Teddy shifted his head back slightly, dodging the punch.

The crowd roared with laughter.

“We got a feisty one here tonight,” said the announcer.

The man tried to take another shot but was restrained.

“Pathetic!” The chains pulled on Teddy’s ankles. If he was going to die here, he was not going to go down without a fight.

Cratos jabbed the prod into his head but didn’t shock him. “Brad tells me he plans to slowly return you to your former paraplegic self. But in the meantime, you’re to be a good slave.”

“I don’t belong to anyone.”

“You’re wrong about that,” said Cratos. “You see, that computer is quite a funny thing. It can cause you extreme pleasure or extreme pain.” Grinning, he held the prod inches from Teddy’s face and zapped it. “Usually when I torture someone, I get so excited. I can’t stop myself, and my playthings pass out or die before I’ve finished having my fun. But not you. I’ll drag you through an unending hell! I’ll chop off your arms and legs! I’ll keep you alive by force-feeding you through a tube — just so I can keep torturing you forever! With that little computer in your head, I’ll make you feel pain like you’ve never felt before. You’ll be begging me to stop — if I’ve let you keep your tongue. Oh, now that I think about it, I’m rather fond of the idea of receiving binary pleas of mercy.”