The Paradox Corridor

Chapter 6: The Time Robot

James whirled around.

"Andrew? Amber? You're alive?!?" he cried. He hugged both of them, trying (and failing) to hold back tears.

"Alive, and extremely dangerous." answered Amber, lifting the gun in her hands. She looked at the confused robot, who was justifiably surprised that it had not succeeded in killing them.

"Alright, robot, know what these are?" asked Andrew, pointing his gun at the robot. "These are state-of-the-art laser guns, capable of destroying an entire army in one shot. Snack on that for lunch. If robot's even eat at all, which I suppose isn't likely." James looked closer at these "weapons of mass destruction". He realized with a thrill of horror that they were just the guns from laser tag. His friends were bluffing.

"Retreat or be destroyed!" yelled Amber. The robot hesitated, confused as the tables had just seemingly turned on it. Then, once again, the cold voice spoke, this time unaccompanied by darkness.

"They are only bluffing, you fool. Kill them. Kill them all..." it hissed. As the voice faded, the robot faced them, this time ready to attack. It reached its right arm down, and pulled its halberd off of the sheath on its right leg. The blade of the halberd was a majestic silver, with intricate markings all over it. James wasn't an expert, but it definitely looked ancient, although obviously on a much larger scale than normal halberds. It stood there for a moment, then pointed the halberd at them, let off a huge burst of pressurized air, and charged. Lightning flashed behind it as everything seemed to slow down. James' body reacted like it had been ready for this for ages. He sprung forward and rolled just under the edge of the blade that could have done him in had he been a little slower. Andrew and Amber both jumped as the sword came close to them, and landed (somehow or another) right on top of the blade. They managed to stay standing somehow on top of the halberd as the robot swung his sword around in circles, trying to shake them off. How they were able to stay standing James had no idea, but he had other things to worry about. The robot shot at him again, but it was slightly off balance because of it's wild halberd swinging. James jumped and rolled as the shot blew up one of the many attractions inside the Mills. James' roll had left him behind the robot, which he prepared to use as his advantage; with strength far more than he had ever possessed, he picked up a piece of rubble and hurled it at the robot's head. Luckily for him, it connected with the robot, and not his friends, and it stumbled forward, dropping its halberd as it did. Andrew and Amber stumbled off of it, looking dazed but otherwise okay.

"Are you guys crazy!?! How did you manage to STAND on a halberd...while it's being whirled around?!?" cried James as the robot roared in anger and picked up said halberd.

"You're welcome!. And...I don't know!" shouted Andrew back.

"Nice scream, by the way! I didn't know your voice went that high!" yelled Amber. "Whoa, this guy looks like he's not messing around anymore!" Indeed, the robot raised its cannon arm, and prepared to fire. The three friends dove out of the way of the explosion, once again excelling their natural ability of gymnastics (well...except maybe Amber). The robot then leaped into the air and slashed down with its halberd, cutting a small hole in the ceiling and barely missing them. At that moment the three friends realized just how screwed they were.

"Guys, there's no way we can kill this thing" whispered James,"We have to get out of here!" Amber and Andrew nodded.

"One, two, THREE!" James hissed. He and his friends immediately charged toward the exit. Just to make sure, they turned around to see if the robot was chasing them. They didn't see it anywhere, but, after all, it was only a quick glance. Then they turned back around...and promptly ran into the robot's leg. They fell down, heads on fire, gazing up at the dark, now-emotionless metallic head of their executioner. The robot trained its cannon on them, and prepared to finish them. Thinking fast, Andrew lifted one of the laser tag guns, and shot at the robot's eye. Amber followed Andrew's example, and shot at the other eye. James was completely confused. What in the world would they do? He watched as the large laser came out, and directly hit the robot in the eyes. It didn't hurt the robot, of course, but it did temporarily blind it. It raised both of its arms to shield its eyes, (just like a living thing would, noted James) and there was its mistake. Its cannon went off, but instead of being aimed at James, Amber, and Andrew, it was now pointed at the ceiling. It blew an enormous hole in the ceiling, and rubble began to fall, mercilessly hammering the robot. The three friends ran away from the rock slide, and watched as it stumbled forward, then collapsed, and was soon covered in unforgiving stone. The three friend looked on as the robot disappeared from view.

"Holy crap..." whispered Andrew, jumping up and down. Amber and James somberly as their former executioner being destroyed by it's own hand.

"What the hell just happened?" asked James after a while. "Am I just dreaming? There's no way any of this is real."

"It can't be a dream, because we're all awake. I think. Although, I will admit, however, that robot was certainly...DREAMY!" replied Andrew. Normally, this would have garnered laughter from James, but he stayed silent. They all just stood there, their minds reeling at the events that had happened that day.

"James...I'm not sure why, but I think that this is real. Just...trust me on this, OK?" asked Amber after she thought for a while.

"OK, lets just assume for a moment that this is all real. But what are we going to tell the world? That evil robot's exist? That we blew up the Mills?" asked James.

"I don't know, I mean, we are at the crime scene, I guess, but it wasn't us, and I really don't want to go to prison" Amber said rapidly, suddenly growing nervous

"Technically, it was our fault the robot shot the ceiling" Andrew put in helpfully.

"Shut up, Andrew, you're not helping" James said. "In all seriousness, what should we say to everyone? I mean, it's not like it's a small incident. And anyway, if we told them, they wouldn't believe us. I think-" But the rest of his sentence was cut off by the sound of falling rock. Hearts in their throats, they all whirled around, and saw the one thing they never wished to see again: the robot, slowly but determinedly rising out of the wreckage. It flexed its arms menacingly, and trained its arm on them. Suddenly, they all heard a strange, clicking sound, like ice breaking apart. The robot tensed, and it's metal armor began to fall off, one piece at a time, the horrified machine unable to do anything to stop it. It was an interesting thing to note that this was the third time the robot had shown emotion. James noted this as more and more pieces fell out, and the robot's insides were revealed. It was the strangest thing they had ever seen. The robots' insides were compiled of a crap ton of different things put together in the strangest arrangement. The robot's true body was a conglomeration of old wooden spokes and other old machine parts, such as a simple pulley system and a lot of wooden gears. James estimated that all of these were used in the medieval era. Other parts of the robot were comprised of metal gears and things used in everyday machines, including motors and pistons and such. The majority of the robot (about half of it) was made up of futuristic looking pieces, complicated and pristinely clean, everything indescribable. A metal sphere rested in the center, most of the cables connected to it. All of these parts were meshed together in a way that surprised the onlooker that the robot even worked at all. To say it simply, the robot was formed of the past, present, and future. The "time robot", revealed for what it really was, growled in frustration. It limped back, even its normal bodily functions malfunctioning, its body sparking at different times. It looked up, and, with quite some effort, turned back into sparks, which then faded away into the clouds, leaving its various metallic armor pieces behind.

"It-that-it was...a time robot!" breathed Andrew after some time.

"Really? A time robot? You couldn't think of anything more creative?" asked Amber sarcastically. The day had been so impacting on her that she was beginning to sound like Andrew, a thought that scared her a little

.

"Hey, you know what? I don't have much to go off of!" replied Andrew.

"I think that title is appropriate." said a soft voice from behind them.