Stanley Duncan's Robot: Genesis, David III [best ebook reader android .TXT] 📗

hate crimes — violent, disgustingly horrible crimes. The idea of Dan ever being targeted disgusted him. “Why do you have to make this so difficult?”

“Me — being difficult? I’m trying to help you.”

“If you want to help, then don’t ask me about going outside.”

“Is that what you really want?”

“Yes! And as far as I’m concerned, we’re never going outside. It’s just not safe.”

Unabated, Dan stared at him with a radiant smile that lit up his entire face like the morning sun.

Stanley spun around, unable to hold the stare any longer without collapsing into some unavoidable conclusion that he would soon regret. No — here, inside the condo, they were safe. They could continue to sequester themselves. Ordering food online. Talking. Watching movies. Playing games. This was safer.

He could invite Glenda over again. Dan would appreciate that. A dinner party — she could even bring her cats. That way, Dan would be safe. He had to keep him safe.

The phone rang.

“Leticia, who is calling?”

“Unknown,” she said.

“Of course,” Stanley muttered. When the ringing persisted, he had her mute it. Seconds later, it rang again. This time, he had Leticia connect them.

“Stanley Duncan?” said a raspy voice.

Something about the voice of the man on the other end of the line bothered Stanley. He switched from speaker to a headset. “Yes?”

“I’m going to need you to modify a program you created.”

“Sorry, but I’m not available at the moment. Furthermore, I don’t appreciate you calling me at my home. I have a business website and email for a reason.”

“This isn’t a request.”

“I’m hanging up.”

“I have your address. I’d hate to have to come over and discuss this in person.” The man rattled off Stanley’s home address.

Stanley twitched. Dan came over and stood near him, a look of concern on his face. Stanley shooed him away impatiently. “What sort of changes do you need?”

“You are to modify Brutus’s sentry mode, overriding all safety restrictions and conditional fail-safes.”

“Are you kidding me? Do you realize how dangerous that is?”

“Furthermore, update it with active zones and targets based on facial identification.”

Stanley covered the microphone with his hand. “And turn it into an assassin? You’re out of your mind.”

“You have forty-eight hours to create a public repository, seven days to finish it all. Fail, and there will be consequences.”

The line went dead. Stanley’s vision focused on Dan’s concerned eyes. Something terrible was coming.

“Happy Birthday,” said Maple, her small robotic body offering the best semblance of a smile that it could. In her tiny hands was a beautifully decorated cake, black and white laces, with two strawberries.

Teddy Perkins scowled. “Stuff it. I told you I didn’t want a damned cake.” Though today was his eighteenth birthday, eating a stupid cake was the furthest thing from his mind. Unlike other boys, he wasn’t getting a new phone or having a grand party — Teddy was getting a new body.

“Let’s go!”

Maple rolled him out of the house and into a Fermi, lifting his frail body out of his wheelchair and then into the car. Despite her looks, she was immensely strong.

At the hospital, an android checked them in. “How may I help you?”

“Surgery for Teddy Perkins,” said Maple. “Full body remodification and neural prosthesis installation.”

“And the boy’s parents?” asked the receptionist.

“Left me to rot,” Teddy said bitterly. “All they gave me was this robot, some money, and a half-assed goodbye. But I’m finally eighteen and don’t need their permission to get the surgery anymore.”

“This is an older-model android,” said the receptionist. “Your insurance qualifies you for a new model every two years. Shall I — ”

“No!” hissed Teddy. He enjoyed the ridiculousness of having a twelve-year-old-looking humanoid tend to his every need, and he had grown accustomed to berating her daily. Maple was the everyday target of his cynicism and sarcasm and never complained about it. She was the only companion he needed. “Just tell me where I need to go.”

She directed him down the hall.

The only humans walking about were patients. Most people didn’t work, but Teddy’s mother did. She made sure Teddy had enough money to do whatever he wanted. He had all the video games — they stopped producing them a few years before. Expensive foods. She’d even told him that she would support his decision to go on fuse if he wanted to.

A policeman walked down the hall, snarling at Teddy.

Teddy’s jaw tightened. Anger flooded his mind. He hated police, especially Brad Jenkins, who he was sure had spread the most vicious lies about him. Teddy wanted to walk again, but that wasn’t the main reason he was getting this powerful new body.

Brad was the reason his life had become so screwed up. Teddy’s childhood had all been a lie. He had discovered the truth after hacking into his mother’s emails when he was eleven years old. Brad, his biological father, had gone berserk, changing from a sweet man into a maniac. He had called his mother “a whore” without any evidence and claimed that he wasn’t Teddy’s father. When he tracked down Brad to confront him, the selfish prick had lied his ass off and then pushed Teddy down a flight of stairs, leaving him to rot. The words Brad had said — “Your mother’s a lying bitch” — rang in Teddy’s ears for hours as he lay on the floor, unable to move. Despite the fact that Teddy looked exactly like the man, Brad still couldn’t see past his own bullshit.

The android nurse came to bring Teddy to the operating room.

“I will wait for you in the waiting room,” said Maple, her face showing that uncanny smile that had once given him nightmares.

“Like I care,” said Teddy. He knew it would take a few days after the surgery to move around correctly, so he still needed to rely on Maple. He didn’t mind her or any of the androids. He had adjusted to being around only robots. In fact, he preferred them. He hated his parents. What were they good for, anyway? His single-parent