Jester Book 1: Abduction

Ch 14 Part 4: Plans

Sorry.

A simple one-word response but the best they could do in this situation. To think that her creations would be so rebellious. She really needed to learn how to program obedient and innovative A.I. Not just one or the other.

Pam rolled her eyes as she made for the front door. It was cool outside that night. A still expanse disturbed by the never-ending hustle and bustle of her junk bots. Her arms raised to her face blocking the massive floodlights that were scanning the grounds all night long. A security bot rolled past her and quickly went on its way after noticing who she was. It was much of the same as she drew ever so closer to the massive square warehouse sitting in the middle of the walled-off scrapyard.

When she made it to the back door of the factory she turned back to see Enigma dragging Clear by his half flesh ear. The boy was adamant about staying at Jessie's side. She continued careful contemplation of how to remove that pesky rebel spirit without losing that special nugget of personality she wished to keep.

With a scan of her finger, she entered the bright inside of her workshop. Where Jessie had it all integrated into her admittedly tiny room, Pam's warehouse was three times the size of their home just a few meters away. It was mostly comprised of massive metal machines with various robots rushing back and forth operating and running maintenance. There was a main office in the far back where she conducted most of her quality tests. It had smaller instruments dedicated to stress tests and alignment checks. Then there was a second door she had to pass through that showed her true office with a desk and laptop. It was admittedly bland with no decorations or flair.

She opted out of taking a seat and instead stood firmly behind her desk. When the two robotic brawlers entered she pressed a button under her drawer. The windows turned black and the door locked behind them. She moved to a cabinet and opened the middle drawer. Inside was another small switch that sat within the rails. With a flick, the floor on the westward wall began to fall down as if creating steps. She didn't bother beckoning them as they were sure to follow close behind.

The descent went down for nearly a minute. They were deep below the darkest pits of Starr Park. So far down even the old subway system could be heard running overhead. She had one final bit of encryption to work through in the form of a traditional keypad. A four-digit code unlocked one final hinge and allowed them into the hidden bunker.

She came up to another small office with an assortment of desks and equipment scattered across them. There were papers haphazardly strewed everywhere. On the floors, the walls, inside of the crevices of processors. If there was space or weight it was holding down some paper.

There was a large plexiglass window the size of an expensive flatscreen television. It stretched wall to wall and gave visuals to an open floor akin to the gymnasiums of a local high school. Enigma dragged Clear along as they made their way down the steps to the auditorium below. Pam took a seat and retrieved a set of glasses from her drawer. She rolled over to another station with a magnifying glass and a welding kit. A small metal attachment waited for her to work on once again.

Below Enigma kept a hold of Clear's arm as they navigated the semi-active hanger. A soft tune and simple murmurs could be heard from the robots lounging around in the massive expanse. On either side were a set of doors with small nametags on them. Each one seemed customized to the preference of the Brawler that was housed within. One door named Pin Cushion was covered in scratches. A cracked window on the door had a shard of jagged metal lodged within it. One could see all the walls were covered in shrapnel and the bed was torn to pieces. There was a single cactus on the nightstand that was left intact though.

Its inhabitant was sitting in the middle of the hangar poking at a centipede that had managed to pierce the air-tight chamber. Its body was a bland cylinder that looked like sheet metal had been dyed in a rush and quickly dropped over the chubby cactus's body. The top of his head was covered in dents made from shoddy craftsmanship. His eyes were irregular circles and a mouth formed from stabbing violently until a jagged smile could be formed. A bright light was emanating from these wholes that put the little critter below him under the spotlight. His arms and legs were sectioned similar to the robot's Starr Park pumped out like clockwork. Though with fewer individual segments his realm of flexibility was more like a Roc-Em Sock-Em Robot than a human. However, the robot formerly known as Spike still had on a pretty vest. Instead of his soft lavender, he had a dirty shade of eggshell white. The sleeves had been torn off from his rough movements and hung onto his shoulders for dear life.