The Events of the Convention

7 - The not so normal stuff

Liam had a headache.

He wasn't sure why. But it had been there since he'd woken up. A twinge in his right temple, like a tiny nail being slowly pushed into his skull. His leg hadn't stopped throbbing, either, although the pain had dulled enough to be manageable. At least I can still walk on it.

That, combined with the eerie quiet the building seemed to be shrouded in, made it make perfect sense that the trilling of the phone made him jump out of his stool. "AGH- Ouch- What the heck, Reg. You've never called me before... Hello?"

"Hey, man. It's Reg."

"I assumed so. What's going on, bud? I didn't expect a call."

"Yeah, well, tonight might be a special case, man."

"What do you mean?"

Reg took a long breath. "Well, first off, the normal stuff. Congrats on makin' it through your first week, man. Real proud of ya. And Foxy's doin' just fine, man, so whatever it was ya did worked. I think Veronica's gonna give you a raise. That, and she wanted ya to move the big gift box in the storage closet and the file cabinet in your office to the back room."

"The one that's... boarded off? Which you expressly told me not to touch?"

"Yeah, well, she's the boss. Seemed real adamant about it, man. I'd just do it."

"Okay... what's the not normal stuff?"

"Well, man... working the dayshift's tiring, more so than the night shift sometimes. Ya get the odd fight, some kid gets into the kitchen or backstage, the odd moron spills their food all over the place. But that kinda thing's manageable, man. It doesn't bother me. And sure, I hear nasty stuff sometimes, man, but I've learned not to let it bug me. Most people never act on it."

"Let me guess. The keyword here is 'most'."

"Got it in one, man. I didn't hear too much, but this one guy was standin' in the corner on his phone for at least an hour, starin' at the bots. I don't know what they're plannin', man, but it can't be good. I heard him referrin' to at least three other guys and a boss."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm sayin', break-ins don't tend to happen. But when they do, I find out. And if they meant their words, man, you're gonna have one hell of a night."

"So... what do I do?"

"You've got a taser, man. If anyone gets in, try to get 'em knocked out. I can be there at two in the morning if you need me. I'm not leavin' while my family's up, man, they'll try to come with and I- I can't have that, man. I can't."

"Okay. Okay. I can do this. What about the police? Aren't they-"

"Yeah, 'cause they'll believe that a bunch of people are here stealin' robots. Well. Guess they might. But more likely, man, they just won't care. This ain't the shiny side of town, if ya hadn't noticed. They've got more important stuff to do."

"Alright, I get it. I've gotta do this myself, then. I can do this."

"If you need me, man, call me pronto. Good luck."

Reg hung up the phone. Liam sat in his stool for a moment, his mind reeling. A break-in? Really? I've never been in a fight in my life. Not one that I won, anyway. I always just sprinted away before anyone could get a hit on me. The taser felt heavy in his pocket. But I don't have to hit them hard. I only have to hit them once. Right? Is that how these work?

Can I really do this?

"Yes." Liam bonked himself with his flashlight. "Yeah, I can do this. I promised that they'd be safe as long as I'm here. Got to keep my promise. Got to keep them safe." His eyes flicked to the room behind him. "Well. Gotta do my job first, so I don't get fired, heh. The gift box in the storage closet..."