The door opened a moment later and Savant let Meagan into the room.
Jake jumped enough to send a few aspirin flying from the bottle. “Savant, what the hell?”
“Your message said you weren’t here,” Savant said. “I knew you were here. You were wrong. And I thought you should know that.”
Jake pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew Glitch had intelligence issues and accepted them. He wasn’t sure about Savant. Whenever the man did something like this, it could be a lapse in his social skills or it could just be him being a dick. He could never tell. “Get out, Savant.”
Savant led Meagan into the office. “Sorry for the mix up, Miss. He gets confused sometimes.”
Meagan smiled as Savant closed the door behind him. Then she turned to Jake and put on the faux pout. It worked for her. “Are you avoiding me, Mr. Ashley?”
Jake waved for her to sit down and took a handful of aspirin. “It’s been a long day. Or two. Or whatever.”
“I see. I just figured between this and you not showing up for your award last night, that maybe you didn’t like me.”
“Was that last night?” Jake put his face in his hands and groaned. “I’m sorry, Ms. Mouret.”
Her pout turned into a well-constructed smile that had probably cost her a fortune. It was money well spent. “I’m just putting you on, Jake. We had a wonderful time at the ceremony anyway. But I felt I needed to come over and do this right.”
“What do you mean?”
She stood and put on her presentation voice. “For valor and courage in the face of what some may call progress, and for the betterment of humankind, we the members of the Society for the Preservation of Humans present this award to Jake Ashley.”
Jake felt himself blushing. There was no telling how he would have reacted in front of a crowd. “I, um, I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t say anything yet,” Meagan said. “I haven’t handed you the award.”
“Oh.”
Meagan reached into her bag and removed a small statue. With a well-rehearsed motion she handed him the award.
Jake took it and rolled it over in his hand. The golden statuette featured a man standing over the wreckage of a fairly generic robot. The figure held the machine’s head in his hand. “Wow, that’s… Thank you for this.”
“No, thank you for your service, Mr. Ashley.” With this she sat back down and resumed a more normal tone of voice. “But it looks like we owe you another one, doesn’t it?”
“What? No, really. This… this is more than enough thanks. I’d hate for you to go to all that trouble.”
“Oh, it’s no trouble at all. We have an awards ceremony every night.”
“Really. I don’t think I…”
“Don’t be so modest. I know why you couldn’t make the ceremony. It’s all over the feed today. You stopped that train. You saved hundreds of lives and exposed the machines for what they truly are. Killers that will stop at nothing until they control every aspect of our lives.”
The aspirin wasn’t working fast enough. His headache hit at about the same time his patience ran out. “That’s enough, really.”
“Jake. You’re the hero of Green Hill. Again. And it must be recognized.”
“Please. No.”
“I insist.”
“You know what?” he snapped. “There’s been a little bit too much insisting going on lately. You’re insisting. My uncle’s insisting. Clients are insisting. Bigwigs are insisting. Girlfrie… others are insisting. And only once did it end up being any good for me.”
Meagan was cowed by his outburst. Her eyes got soft and she reached across the desk to put her hand on his. “I can understand your frustration. Your uncle told me what’s going on with the shop and all.”
“My uncle? I’m beginning to wonder if he talks about anything but me.”
She smiled, but only for a moment. The autotune in her voice disappeared and her voice was more sincere than he’d ever heard it. “Jake, don’t you see what’s going on?”
“The world has turned against me?”
“Not the world, Jake. The machines. It’s the uprising. The revolution is beginning and it must be stopped. If they all turn on us at once we’ll never stand a chance. We have to put a stop to them now before it’s too late.”
“A world with no robots?”
“That’s right. It’s the only natural way.”
Jake chuckled and caught her glare. He needed to make a joke fast. “I’ll admit it would be nice to a have a morning of robots not trying to kill me.” It didn’t have to be a good joke.
The smile and the autotune returned. “Wouldn’t it? A world without robots…”
“Look, Meagan. Can I level with you?”
“Of course.”
The phone rang but he continued. “You’re insane. Nuts. Bonkers.”
“Your uncle…”
“I’d stop right there. The fact that you’re dating my uncle isn’t going to be the start of a successful argument against crazy.”
Jake picked up the phone and ignored Meagan’s mean face. It was the first genuine expression he’d seen from her.
“Hello,” Jake spoke into the receiver.
“Jake, it’s me,” Hailey said.
“Hi, hey I…”
“No, this isn’t about that. I know where Donovan is. I think we should go talk to him.”
“Fine.”
“I thought it would take more convincing.”
“Normally it would, but I just insulted a crazy old bat and she’s about to throw a hissy fit from the highest levels of society so I could use some fresh air.”
“You did? What did she say?”
“Nothing yet, she’s waiting for me to get off the call. She looks pissed though and I don’t want to be here when she tells me off. Where should I meet you?”
Hailey gave him the address and Jake hung up.
Meagan gasped as the receiver hit the hook and held her hand to her chest. Another practiced move. “Well, I never.”
“Sure you have. Probably a lot. People are never going to give up their bots and go back to doing things for themselves. To think that parties and awards are going to change that is delusional and since you throw them that means you’re a whack job.”
She gasped again.
“Now if you’ll excuse me, Ms. Mouret, I have to go meet with a man that might have tried to kill me. I want to know if he meant it or not.”
12
Jake and Hailey weren’t the only ones there to meet Sheldon Donovan. A mass of people lined the sidewalk in front of his apartment building. Security guards held them back, forming a corridor from the front door to the waiting limo. As soon as the man stepped from the building, the excitement erupted and the lines began to crumble.
The crowd pushed forward shouting, fawning, and some fainting as “The Man Who Changed the World” stepped into their presence.
The security guards struggled to hold them back but finally managed to restore some order as Donovan greeted the crowd with a wave and a wink. He shook a dozen hands, posed for a couple of quick pictures with fans, and offered no comment to several reporters that were asking him about the latest rumors concerning the latest starlet.
Not everyone was a fan. Several protesters with the group Objective: Deactivate began to chant, “Flip the switch,” dragging two fingers down through the air at the end of each repetition because it looked like they were turning off a light switch.
A group called People for Peaceful Proposals chanted, “Beat the bots like bitches,” and threw their fists at anyone who came near them because they were generally violent and disagreeable people.
One member of the Coalition of Confrontation screamed, “Go shots all robots,” because they felt that rhyming was more important than clarity of message.
Despite the fans and detractors, Sheldon Donovan finally made it to the edge of the street. He raised his hands and the crowd settled down enough for him to shout, “Than
k you, everyone. I couldn’t do it without you.”
“Go shots all robots!”
“You,” he pointed to the singular member of the Coalition. “You I could do it without. You’re not helping anyone. Even yourself.”
“Go shots all robots, man. Go shots all robots.”
“Right. Anyway, thank you all for your support. Now if I could ask you all to take a step back from the curb, I see there is a street sweeper headed this way and it appears to be a ZUMR. So you should all back up because otherwise it will probably try to kill you.”
The crowd laughed and took a step back.
As the mass of people moved, Jake saw the machine in question moving slowly along the curb. Sheldon may have taken a cheap shot, but it wasn’t out of the blue.
“What a bastard,” Hailey said. “How could he say that?”
“He sure knows how to work a crowd,” Jake said. “It’s the old give ‘em what they want.”
“What the hell is he thinking? He’s fanning the flames of a fire that will burn ZUMR and DRT.”
“No one ever said he was a smart genius.”
“Thank you, everyone, and keep reaching for tomorrow.” Sheldon waved once more and turned to get in the car as the crowd erupted in applause.
Jake cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Hey, Sheldon!”
The informality was enough to catch the CEO’s attention. Donovan stood and spotted Jake in the crowd. He smiled and waved Jake over.
Jake turned to Hailey and said, “Let’s go. Be nice.”
Hailey crossed her arms and cocked her hip. “Be nice?”
“Or don’t. I guess it really doesn’t matter.”
They moved through the crowd with the aid of Donovan’s security team and made it to the car.
Donovan held out his hand. “It’s good to see you, Mr. Ashley.”
Jake didn’t take the hand. “Can we bother you for a ride?”
Sheldon smirked and held the door open.
The door closed as the street sweeper passed by, sucking up dirt and using several tentacles to feed any litter into a chipper that would tear up a paper cup or a dropped transmission with the same efficiency. Sheldon was right. It was a ZUMR.
“Wow, you billionaires even get cleaner streets than us regular folks.”
Sheldon laughed and signaled the car to move out. “Everything in life is timing. And lucky for you, time has not run out on my offer. I take it you’ve reconsidered? Herman must have delivered my message.”
“He did.” Jake reached into his satchel and pulled out a piece of charred plastic. He tossed it to Donovan.
The man caught it and looked at Herman’s melted face. He nodded a couple of times and said, “I take it you didn’t like my offer.”
“I’ve had better.”
Donovan rolled down his window and tossed the Val-8’s face out into the street as the limo passed by the street sweeper. A mechanical arm plucked it from the air and fed it into the chipper. “Still a rather harsh response, don’t you think? You could have just said no.”
“I found it a little hard to say no with Herman’s hand around my throat.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Herman tried to kill me.”
“He was supposed to return your sad little bicycle and make you an offer on your shop.”
“He returned my sad little bicycle and tried to kill me. And then he burned down my apartment. Well, the fire was mostly him.”
Sheldon pointed a finger at Jake that tended to stab at the air as he spoke. “That’s impossible. My personal servants have stricter protocols than the law requires. They are completely incapable of harming anyone or anything. I know because I write the code myself.”
Jake pointed back and mimicked the stabbing motion. “Maybe on the update you could include a line about not attacking me and lighting my apartment on fire with me and the cat in it.” He stabbed a few more times for effect.
Donovan lowered his voice. “Is the cat okay?”
“Forget the cat. The cat’s a dick, okay. The cat’s not the point. It’s not even my cat.”
“So why bring it up?”
“I didn’t! You brought the cat into this!”
“Both of you shut up about the cat!” Hailey exploded. “The point is we know what you’re up to, Donovan.”
The man leaned back in his seat. “And what is that, Ms. Graves?”
She looked at Jake. He nodded and she turned back to Donovan. “You’re sabotaging ZUMR machines to make your own look better to government contractors.”
“Wait,” Jake said. “We’re here because he tried to have me killed. I thought that’s where you were going with it.”
“What? No!” Hailey shook her head. “We’re here to confront him about the conspiracy.”
“That’s not why I came. I came about the killing me thing!”
“But that’s a part of the conspiracy.”
“No, it’s the one thing that throws a wrench into YOUR conspiracy.”
Donovan snapped. “Both of you shut up! I am not sabotaging ZUMR and, Jake, why would I want to kill you hours after I tried to buy your company?”
“Because he wouldn’t sell,” Hailey said. “And he probably annoyed you.”
“What?” Jake asked.
“Said something to set you off,” Hailey added ignoring Jake. “Some comment or insult. It’s why he’s unemployable.”
“I have a job,” Jake snapped.
“Yeah, one you gave yourself.”
Sheldon watched the argument go back and forth. “What the hell is wrong with you two?”
“Us?” Hailey said. “You’re the killer here.”
“That’s enough of that. The only thing I’ve done is try to buy Jake’s company.”
“Why?” Jake asked.
“I want to buy every company. Your competitors haven’t been going out of business, Jake. I’m buying them out. The real profit is in service, not hardware. You little mom-and-pop shops are killing me in the after market segment.” He turned to Hailey. “I’m not a villain, Ms. Graves. I’m greedy.”
“But you still want ZUMR to look bad.”
“Of course. But they don’t need my help.” Donovan examined their expressions and appeared hurt. “Do you really think I would kill people to make a little more money? That goes against every line of DRT’s Social Responsibility Pledge.”
Jake and Hailey said nothing.
“Stop the car,” Donovan said. “Jake, I rescind my offer to purchase your shitty company. And Ms. Graves, I will be contacting Jack about your accusations. Now if both of you will please‑”
The car shuddered, crunched, and threw all three of the passengers about as the street sweeper collided with the rear of the limo. The rear window shattered and the roof began to collapse as the machine rolled onto the back of the car.
Jake dove for the door. It wouldn’t open. “Open the doors, Donovan!”
Sheldon Donovan opened his mouth to shout the command when the street sweeper’s tendrils reached into the car and pierced his body in several places.
Hailey screamed and Jake screamed louder as the tendrils tried to pull Donovan through the narrowing rear window.
Jake fumbled for his phone as he and Hailey both tried to back away from the rear of the car. “Kat? Are you seeing this?”
“We’re seeing it,” Kat responded from the nearby Beast.
“Are you doing something about it?”
“Sit tight.”
“Doors open,” Hailey shouted.
The car did not respond.
“Doors open!” She shouted again.
Jake tried to smash the window, but the security glass was too much. “Is your team out there?”
“Why would my team be out there?”
“I told my team to follow us in case something went wrong.”
“Well I didn’t think of that!”
Jake pulled the gun from his coat and pointed toward the machine a
s it continued the struggle to pull Donovan’s corpse into the shredder.
“Shoot it!”
“I can’t shoot past Donovan.”
“Shoot it!”
“You shoot it. Where’s your gun?”
“They’re against corporate policy. Now shoot it. He’s dead.”
“I still don’t think it’s right to shoot him!” Jake turned and fired at the window. The bullet penetrated half an inch and stopped.
“It’s bulletproof, you idiot!”
“Stop yelling at me!”
The limo shuddered again as the sweeper withdrew its tendrils from Donovan’s body and backed up. What at first looked like a retreat became a fresh assault as it charged forward and began to pick apart the car around the occupants.
Large sections of the roof were rent and pulled away.
“Get on the floor,” Hailey said as she pulled him to the floor of the limo.
Jake lay on his back and prepared to fire as soon as a target presented itself. “Kat?”
There was no response.
“Kat?!”
Savant answered the call. “She’s busy trying to stop this thing, Jake.”
“And how’s that going, Savant?”
“It’s hard to tell with these things. You know that.”
Another portion of the roof ripped away in a screech of metal. The hole would have been large enough for them to escape if it wasn’t for the multiple tendrils reaching through it.
Jake fired at the slender metal arms and missed several times. He fired again and one twitched.
“Good shot.”
“Thanks.”
The struck arm retreated through the roof and three more took its place. They stretched the hole wider and reached for the pair on the floor.
Jake looked to Hailey for a suggestion.
She shrugged. “Um… play dead?”
The tendrils shot forward.
Jake grabbed Donovan’s corpse and pulled it on top of them.
The sweeper pulled the body toward the roof and stopped.
“Do you think it knows I tricked it?” Jake whispered.
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
After a sudden seizure the tendrils went lax, collapsed and dropped the body.
Donovan fell hard on the couple, knocking the wind from each of them.
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