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ROBOT IN DISTRESS
Fanny DiGrassi
"Name and Serial Number" she demanded.
"Sam-I-M-3233347" he replied in a dim voice.
"I am Lucy-Juicer 3696969 and I will do what needs to be done."
She put her hand on his brow to read his stats.
"Your charge is at 0.23%. You will not make it to the next charge
station. I will have to perform an emergency field re-charge. Let me help you
lie down."
She rubbed her thumb between his ambulatory units releasing his
extension. Putting a hand behind his back she lowered him gently until he was
lying supine on his back. His extension was lying against the metal thigh
looking old and deflated, so she wrapped her hand around it sending a gentle
electric spark through her palm. His response was sluggish but she was glad to
see that there was one. Were he to deplete his battery completely, all of his
short term memories would be erased and he would need some kind of therapy in
order to re-establish personality continuance. She sent another gentle charge
into his extension and this time she got the response that she was looking for.
Two prongs popped out of the tip of his extension and she wasted no time.
Straddling him, she fitted the two prongs into her pelvic socket. She had never
performed a field re-charge so she opened a channel to central.
"Central, this is Lucy-Juicer 3696969. I need guidance."
A few passers-by stopped to witness the operation.
"Status report" replied central.
"Sam-I-M-3233347 is at 0.23 charge. I am performing field re-charge. I
have deployed he extension prongs and plugged them into my pelvic socket and I
am proceeding."
Lucy reached down to a button located on inch above her pelvic socket.
"Applying rotational friction to pelvic receptacle knob.
Receptacle bi-valve widening to allow extension insert.
Commencing lubrication to allow non-damaging insertion.
Extension is inflating at a slow rate. Applying a second static
discharge."
She wrapped her fingers around the extension and allowed a trickle of
static electricity into her fingers. Sparks started flying generating a buzzing
noise but she got the desired reaction. The extension inflated to a more rigid
state allowing her to pull it in, with her retracting her socket.
"Wow, it's just like fucking" said one of the by-standers.
A pre-teen, out shopping with her mom, joined the circle of watchers.
The mother grabbed her arm and pulled her away.
"Mom, it's just a charging unit doing her job. We learned about it on
school" complained the young girl.
"Well. it looks indecent" said the mother "I don't want you to see
this."
"Extension fully inserted. Commencing re-charge" said Lucy.
She started an up and down pelvic motion applying friction to Sam's
extension. At first it was very slow, but gradually the motion started creating
a clanging sound.
Kind of like a large metal gate slamming shut. She kept her hand on his
brow reading his numbers. It was not working.
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"Central, this is not working. The charge is being applied, but the
energy loss is slightly bigger that the intake."
"Are your chest units active?"
"That was not in my protocol."
"It is part of the latest software boost. Apparently, you have received
the hardware upgrade but not the software boost. You need to come in right after
completion to receive it. Perform manual activation by pressing on your chest
knobs simultaneously. That will close the circuitry and stop the leak."
Lucy did as instructed and the two conical chest units started spinning
with a rapid motion and sound that was alternating between that of a drill and a
buzzing saw. Sparks started flying from one knob to the other. The watching
pedestrians, who have multiplied in the meantime applauded and raised a moderate
roar.
"Thank you central. The additional circuit is doing its job."
It didn't take long before Sam started responding to the charge
stimulus. His pelvis started arching slowly at first, but picking up momentum as
the charge was getting higher. Lucy's pelvis was keeping track and responding
with the same frequency. Within the span of 10 minutes the pistoning action
increased incrementally, turning into a trembling blur. The noise level
increased accordingly, reaching the loud decibels of a large pneumatic
jack-hammer. It served as a warning to the pedestrians who started moving
further back from the action. A flashing circle appeared on the pavement and
central opened a loud audio channel.
"Warning, warning" announced a very loud voice "all entities are to move
to a distance of at least 50 meters from the epicenter. Anyone within the
flashing circle is inside the danger zone."
The warning was not really necessary. Everyone had retreated beyond the
perimeter of the flashing circle.
"Applying final super-charge" said central.
The jack-hammer racket as well as the motion continued while Sam's body
rose from the pavement to a standing position. Lucy did not let go and she rose
with him. Her ambulatory units were now wrapped around Sam's waist and her
manual units clenched behind his back. It caused her rapidly spinning chest
units to be pushed against his chest adding a sharp screeching noise to the
cacophony. Sam lifted his hands and face to the sky, while Lucy shifted her gaze
upwards as well.
"Five, four, three" said Central.
With an almost imperceptible velocity, Sam's feet lifted from the
ground.
"Two, one" continued Central.
Sam's feet were now almost five inches above ground. The combined noise
level seemed to have increased yet again and it all sounded a lot like a large
supersonic jet getting ready for lift-off.
"Zero" said Central and a large bolt of electricity struck the two
robots. The majestic bolt seemed to come out of nowhere.
The two robots picked up speed and rocketed skywards just as the first
thunderous sonic boom resounded. Within 3 seconds it was followed by a second
one as Sam and Lucy reached Mach one and just like that they were out of sight
and a blessed silence descended on the now empty street. A few drops of
lubricant oil and hydraulic fluid marked the charred and cracked pavement
testified to the momentous event, but they were not going to be there much
longer. The cleaners showed up within minutes.
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