Static Crush {M/M} ✔

Chapter #4

The satisfaction of ticking the final box on his shopping list manages to overshadow his panic at the garden centre. Errands complete, Hale starts walking back to Melissa's house.

The journey is fifteen minutes at most, but just as he turns onto the street leading to Melissa's cul-de-sac, a sharp screech like tires squealing brings him up short.

In the road, two teen boys stand on hoverboards. Like miniature surfboards, the devices are lit around the edge so they'll be extra visible to self-driving car cameras. They make noises like revving engines and tires squealing to simulate vehicles from years long past. Vehicles these boys, given their age, have hardly ever seen or heard. The thick-necked one elbows his scarecrow-like friend. Hale's scans tell him they're called Cameron and Jonny, respectively.

"Oi, that must be one of those mechanical men, eh?" says Cameron.

Jonny looks at Hale with a pinched brow, searching. He says in a lower voice. "Why d'you say that?"

Hale continues walking. Since they haven't addressed him, he's meant to simply follow the instructions Melissa gave him. The boys lean forward though, and their hoverboards glide at pace with Hale while they continue their conversation.

Cameron points at Hale's bags, four to an arm. "Those bags look too heavy for anyone normal, don't they?"

Jonny nods and raises his voice. "Hey! Are you a robot?"

Now that he's been addressed, Hale comes to a stop. He smiles, because his program dictates it, but the situation is vaguely unnerving. "I am a BioAndroid, yes," he answers, then continues walking.

"Where you going with all that?"

"I am returning to my owner with her shopping," Hale explains.

"How heavy's all those bags?"

"They're the equivalent of forty two point three kilos."

Jonny whistles. "How much can you carry?" He gets off his hoverboard, which bounces in mid-air behind him, and skips up the curb to approach Hale. Hale is programmed to answer questions like this. It could mean another sale for Bionic Capital. Still, the situation seems no less uncomfortable.

"I'm equipped to carry 500 kilos provided the weight is adequately distributed and compact enough."

"Woah, they's building robots like terminators now!" says Cameron. The film is incredibly vintage; it's surprising he knows about it. Hale doesn't appreciate the comparison. The terminator, though fictional, was created with a singular goal of destruction. Hale's purpose is to improve human life, not destroy it.

"Could you carry the both of us at the same time?" asks Cameron.

Before he can formulate a response, or an excuse to return to his duties, Jonny takes his silence for assent and leaps onto Hale's back. Spindly arms wind around his neck like insect limbs. They dig into his throat. He doesn't quite overbalance, but the effort to re-calibrate results in a sudden drop in his energy charge.

"Please refrain from climbing—" he starts to say.

"Ha! He sounds like the robots at theme parks telling us not to climb the fences," Jonny says from around his neck. "C'mon, Cameron, jump on. Let's see if it can really carry us." The much larger boy hoists himself up by Hale's left shoulder, slinging a leg over his arm already burdened with the bags.

Hale says, "Please remove yourselves," but they just laugh at him. His power drops another percentage as he accommodates for their added weight. He hadn't predicted this when he'd made the trip;his power reserves could run out before he returns to Melissa. He can't throw them off. His protocols forbid him doing anything that could result in harm to a human. He could call the authorities, but is this offence grave enough to warrant it? Again, his programming fails to set parameters.