The Adventures of Will Irving: Automaton Trouble

Chapter 38

As Alastair turned onto Magnolia Street, the giant automaton finally came into view.

"You weren't kidding, Anne," Will said as he bent forward to look through the windshield. "I knew it was gonna be big, but..."

In the distance, they could see the automaton towering over the Emporium, which had already been partly destroyed. One of the automaton's feet was buried in rubble, while the other stood atop a crushed vehicle on 1st Street. Just as Arthur's schematic had shown, the hulking piece of machinery was easily over ten stories tall and looked like a giant version of Atticus, only it was metallic silver instead of black.

About half a mile from the Emporium, Alastair stopped the car where a number of other police vehicles had blocked off the street.

"This is as close as we can get," Alastair said.

"Close enough," Will replied as he opened the door and got out of the car.

Anne got out of the car and ran over to a male officer who was standing by the barricade of police vehicles.

"Where's Canton?" Anne asked.

"Over there," answered the officer, pointing toward a patrol car on the opposite side of the street.

"Will, over here!" Anne shouted, motioning for Will to follow her over to the patrol car to which the officer had pointed.

Will and the others ran across the street and met Anne near the open passenger door of the patrol car, where Chief Canton was sitting, holding a slightly-bloodied towel to his head.

"Chief, we're here!" Anne greeted. "Are you ok?"

"We got a little too close. That damn thing started ripping that building apart, and some of the debris smashed into our car," Canton explained as he pointed down the street to where his patrol car could be seen, the front end mangled by a large chunk of building. "I'll be fine."

Chief Canton stood up slowly and stepped toward Will.

"So you know how to shut that thing down, Irving?" Canton asked.

"Yes, sir," Will replied.

"Well, out with it, son!" Canton said impatiently. "We don't have all day...that thing's already begun to unleash hell!"

"Max and I can stop it," Will stated. "We just need to get inside its head where the controls are located."

"What?!" Canton exclaimed. "Are you crazy?! Its head?!"

Suddenly, the giant automaton began to speak.

"Salley! Come and face me, you bastard! Or if you don't have the balls to be a man, I'm more than happy to hunt you down, you worthless piece of shit!" the automaton boomed. "By the end of today, your corrupt empire will be nothing more than a pile of rubble!"

"Sir, I don't think we have time to go into all the details," Will stated. "You'll just have to trust me."

"There's no way I can let you go in there...that thing will crush you," Canton argued.

"Chief, we can't even make a dent in that thing!" Anne interrupted. "You heard what it just said, and you've seen what it can do. We need to stop it now, and I believe Will can do it...I'd trust him with my life..."

Chief Canton puffed a disgruntled sigh.

"What do we have to lose?" Anne said with a shrug.

"What do you need from me?" Canton finally asked Will.

"Nothing," Will replied. "Except to make sure that no one shoots us or tries to interfere."

"We can do that," Canton agreed.

"Thank you, sir," Will said as he turned to leave.

As Chief Canton began to bark orders to all the officers, Will, Claire, Max, and Anne all made their way to the edge of the barricade.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Anne," Will said.

"You're welcome...and I meant what I said. Be careful up there, Will," Anne said. "We'll do what we can to help."

Anne then turned and trotted back over to join her fellow officers.

"Is your transceiver on?" Claire asked.

"It is now," Will replied as he pressed a button on his wrist transceiver.

"Good," Claire said. "I'll be able to keep tabs on you both from here with my handset...We're all on the same frequency. If that thing decides to move, we'll be right behind you."

Will smiled, took Claire's hand, gave it a warm squeeze, and then kissed her cheek.

"Alright, Max, let's go!" Will said as he turned and began running toward the giant automaton.