Chapter 4: The Graveyard Shift

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As she walked down the hallway with her flashlight, Officer Vanessa was on the lookout for her missing partner, Rickey

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As she walked down the hallway with her flashlight, Officer Vanessa was on the lookout for her missing partner, Rickey. She had a feeling that something was amiss, especially after being attacked by a staff bot and hearing her partner screaming in the distance. She quickly made her way toward the source of the noise, her gun at the ready to assist.

"Rickey! Are you okay?!" Vanessa's voice echoed through the room, but there was no answer. Suddenly, she saw Rickey in the clutches of another staff bot, its metallic grip tightening around his head. "Vanessa! Ayuda! Ayuda a mí!" Rickey's voice was laced with panic and desperation.

Vanessa aimed her gun at the staff bot and pulled the trigger. The 9mm rounds fired out of the gun's barrel with a loud bang, the bullets traveled faster than sound and went straight through the staff bot, punching holes through its body. Vanessa shot her gun 6 times, with each shot striking the bot, and it soon let go of Rickey and collapsed.

When the threat was neutralized, Vanessa rushed over to her fallen partner to examine the damage on his body, his abdomen was sliced open, and the wound was deep enough that some intestines were dangling out, a sight that shocked Vanessa.

"Rickey! What the hell happened to you!?" Vanessa said

Rickey grunted in pain before gasping out the words "Those... staff bots... attacked me and Joey... we didn't... h-have our guns and... we... were overpowered"

Vanessa was shocked to hear about the staff bots attacking them. "How is that even possible?" she exclaimed. "Those bots are not designed to harm anyone, even intruders. It goes against their programming." She paused to think about how attacking someone with lethal force, including intruders, was strictly against their programming.

Rickey, who was injured and bleeding, weakly replied, "I don't understand. We were wearing our outfits and badges, and they even scanned our faces. Could it be a glitch in the system?"

"No," Vanessa replied firmly. "A glitch wouldn't cause this. Someone is behind this."

Rickey coughed again and said, "Vanessa, I don't think I'll make it. You should go on without me. It'll only slow you down."

"No way," Vanessa said determinedly. "I don't leave anyone behind," She said, even though she knew Rickey didn't have much time left.

As Rickey began dying before her, he looked up at her and said one last thing before death took him, "Tell... my family, Jose, Miguel, and Lucia... I... *stifled sob* love them..."

Vanessa gazed at Rickey with a somber expression. The scene was undoubtedly tragic, but she had witnessed worse in the past. Despite not knowing Rickey very well, all their previous interactions had been pleasant. He was a kind and decent person who deserved better than this.

Suddenly, Vanessa heard radio static, followed by the voice of her colleague Joey on the radio, he sounded like he was panicked. Vanessa snatched the radio off Rickey's body, and soon said into the radio, "Vanessa here! I read you!"

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