the hit was just seconds away almost too much for his logic gates to handle. He heard them clicking inside his carapace, and gears moved inside his head as the optics zoomed in on the Corsair’s gloved hand and the prize it held.
The other robots, knowing the hierarchy, fearing the might of Robbie and his Rating companions, fell into line behind him in silence. While most were happy to fight out territory elsewhere, there would be no skirmish here, not in the red light, in the presence of, if not their King, then his royal servant.
Robbie bowed his head, and gears whirred inside his head as his voice box came to life.
“GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENN.”
The Corsair nodded in return; his black metal face was expressionless, but switching spectra to penetrate the opaque glass of the Corsair’s goggles, Robbie could see the eyes behind the mask. He wondered what kind of a man he had been, to be so strong to have resisted and overcome conversion in the Naval robot yards and to have sworn to help those less fortunate than he on their journey back to humanity.
“WHENWILLITBETIIIIIIIIIIIME?”
The Corsair chuckled behind his mask, and when he spoke it was a sibilant whisper.
“Soon, my brother, soon. Soon we will be ready to go downtown, and claim that which is rightfully ours.”
The Corsair’s black fur coat moved in the wind as he began dispensing the green to the King’s loyal subjects.
TWENTY-NINE
Rad retraced his steps at a run. He remembered a short journey from the underground workshop to the furnace room, but now it was confusing, with more doors and turns that he’d noticed coming the other way. All he could do was try not to think too much and hope his subconscious knew the way. He was too busy worrying about how long the locked door behind him would hold out against the King, however damaged the robot was.
Rad burst through the green door, into the workshop. He turned, but the corridor behind him was silent, with no indication the King had managed even to climb the stairs of the furnace room yet. Rad threw the door closed behind him.
“Kane, buddy, time to go.” Rad raced to Kane’s side. The former reporter blinked and squinted at Rad, and began to shake his head. Rad waved his hand and turned to scan the workshop.
“Oh no,” said Rad. “No, no, we’re going. That guy who calls himself a king? Turns out he’s just the same as the Corsair, one of our metal friends. Aha–” He spied a long crowbar-like metal rod among the robot parts and grabbed it. Then he returned to Kane’s machine and began trying to force the two seams of the machine apart.
“Rad, listen to me,” said Kane, his voice a dry, cracking croak. “We can’t leave, not without–” His voice dissolved into a dry cough.
The metal rod slid against the smooth surface of the machine, Rad almost connecting his chin with it as he fell forward. He swore, readjusted his grip, and tried again. This time he got purchase and forced the end of the rod into the seam. There was a click, and a small gap formed, from which shone a bright light. Rad frowned, gripped his hands together, and tried to leverage his weight. He puffed his cheeks out as he worked.
“We ain’t got much time,” said Rad, teeth clenched. “I did some damage to our robot friend and locked him in the other room, but he’ll get out eventually.” He heaved again. “Although a robot with a robot servant, now, there’s something. Seems like they’re building some kind of society of their own.”
“Rad!” Kane said. “There’s someone in the other machine!”
Rad paused, his eyes scanning the other machine. The robot’s head was turned away from him, and at the base of the neck he could see brown hair bunched under the edge of the metal.
Rad yanked the rod from Kane’s machine and it snapped shut again, cutting the light out. Rad felt the room spin a little but got to the other machine. The one holding Special Agent Jennifer Jones.
He carefully rolled her head so she was looking at the ceiling. What he’d thought was a robot head was actually a mask or helmet, hinged at the top, held together with simple pins. This close, he could see Jennifer’s eyes through the holes in the mask. She sighed, and Rad could see her teeth through the slot mouth.
“OK, OK…” said Rad, his hands moving over the mask, locating the pins holding