David Ring III - Stanley Duncan's Robot

The van stopped, its AI system compelled by the police order.

“I’m going to kill him,” said Teddy.

“He’ll shoot you down in seconds.”

“I’ll kick him to death.”

“No. Get Maple to temporarily override the AI driving while I distract him.” Dan got out of the van, giving Teddy no time to argue. When his feet hit the ground, three bullets slammed into his chest.

“Abomination!” shouted Brad, running toward them.

Teddy slammed his bare stub into the window. “No!” Shots blasted through the van window, narrowly missing him as he dove down.

Brad stood beside Dan’s body. “Come on out, Teddy. Don’t be a pussy.”

The van lurched forward — functional once again — and then ground to a halt. Teddy hovered by the door.

“Get down here and fight me, cripple.”

Dan grabbed Brad’s leg, tripping him to the ground, and then got on top of him. The gun flew across the pavement. “Go!” Rubbing his chest, Dan was assured that his ribs had been bruised but not broken. The bullet had not penetrated the armor. Stanley was a genius!

Teddy looked between Dan and Brad hesitantly. Turning around, he let out a sharp shout, and the van sped away, ramming through the roadblock.

Brad punched Dan in the face. “You’ll pay for letting that murderer escape.”

Dan grabbed his arm, wrapping his leg around Brad’s neck and cutting off his circulation. He squeezed with all his might. “Oh, please. Pot calling the kettle black. Don’t you see it? That man is practically a replica of you. He’s your damn son. If he’s a murderer, then it must run in the family.”

“Liar.” Brad pried Dan’s leg off and then crushed his collarbone with a punishing elbow. Getting to his feet, he ran toward the gun.

Dan dashed forward and kicked it across the parking lot. His eye was swelling shut, and he felt like he might pass out at any moment. With his strength decreasing by the second, he knew he had to end things quickly or he’d be dead. Turning around, he stared defiantly at Brad. “As big as you are, and you still need a weapon to defeat me.”

“You really think you can go toe to toe with me?”

“Stop talking and come at me, coward.”

Brad charged, blind with rage. Dan shimmied to the side, putting all his energy into a final attack, and unleashed a wheel-kick to his stomach. The blow knocked Brad to the ground, where he lay gasping for breath.

Stars spun, and Dan nearly keeled over. After grounding himself, he limped toward the gate. Another cruiser screeched to a halt, blocking his exit.

Deputy Evan Wilcox.

Stanley screamed from the backseat, slamming his chained hands against the window. “Run!”

Evan got out of the car with his gun drawn. “Get on the ground, toaster.”

Stanley burst into tears when he saw Dan struggle to stand, blood dripping across his swollen eye. He had heard about the destruction at the Coliseum from the police radio and knew that Dan must have been involved. Every second of the ride over had been filled with dread. “Do what they say, Dan.”

“I don’t trust them.”

Evan took another step toward Dan. “It’s simple. Trust me or die.”

Stanley felt the cuffs biting into him and hoped Dan wouldn’t do anything stupid. “It’ll be okay.”

Lying down on his stomach with his hands behind his back, Dan flashed a look at him, his face full of pain.

Stanley averted his eyes.

Evan carefully approached Dan, dropping a knee on his back and cuffing him. “Get your fat ass off the ground, Brad.”

Brad stumbled over and kicked Dan.

“Stop!” screamed Stanley.

They cuffed Dan’s ankles together and let loose a torrent of kicks.

Stanley pulled at his cuffs, desperately trying to rip them off.

Blood shot out of Dan’s mouth.

“Shoot him in the head,” said Evan.

Stanley closed his eyes and felt the blast shake the cruiser.

Shannon haphazardly threw handfuls of clothing into her expensive suitcase — a gift from Evan, who had treated her like a queen once upon a time. She dumped a drawer full of jewelry into it — who would she sell it to? Running into the kitchen, she took a chef’s knife and jammed it into her purse, stabbing the bag of fuse. “Shit!”

Dumping everything out, she quickly toweled it all off. The bag of fuse was empty, but there were two full syringes left. She saw the engagement ring there, staring back at her like a challenge she had long buried, and she put it into her pocket. Seeing the Fermi arrive, she tossed everything back in her purse and ran outside, slamming the front door shut.

Predictably, her neighbor pushed open the blinds and called out to her. “Going to see the action?”

“What?”

“It’s all over the news. A terrorist attack at the old nightclub.”

The Coliseum. “None of my business.” She threw her luggage into the trunk.

“I hear the deputy is going to burn him alive, like he did to that other abomination.”

Shannon felt her flesh crawl, but she told herself not to get involved. The image of the bound cyborg that resembled her forced itself through her mind. Evan was unpredictable. Without her, there was no telling who he was going to hurt. The question forced its way out anyway. “Who?”

“Stanley Duncan’s robot. You know he touches them, right?”

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.