A Human Friend (Sequel to A Pet Squishy)

Signal

Several days later...

As Lana was coming down the stairs for breakfast she heard her father speaking to someone on the phone. From his tone he sounded shocked but she could tell by his knit brows that he was also hiding anger.

"Yeah...uh-huh. Are you kidding? Well what...Hell I don't know...No...No. Yeah...yeah. Yeah you too. Bye."

Carl hung up the house phone and sighed.

Lana finally came all the way into the kitchen, "Who was that dad?

He looked to her, "Well...NOW he's done it."

"What are you talking about?"

Carl pointed out the window, "That monster out in my hay shed!"

Lana went stiff, "TC? What are you talking about? Who was that?"

"That was Rick. Said his brand new truck was totaled and his satellite dish is gone."

Rick was a neighbor who lived about three miles west. He had done some handy work around the farm when she was a kid and still lived in the area.

"Well how do you know it was TC?" Lana questioned.

"The truck's dash board was completely ripped out and the back was crunched like something REALLY big grabbed it. Not to mention his dish is on top of his house." Carl explained with anger in his voice. "Sounds like something only a giant robot could do in one night."

Lana's eyes darted. Was that what TC was doing, stealing mechanical parts? She hadn't spoken to him much all week, mostly because he never seemed in any mood to chat or he was recharging. But when they did talk, it just seemed he was always hiding something or never telling her the whole story.

"Oh and THAT's not the half of it!" Her father gestured with a wide motion of his arm, "Heard on the local radio that some of the solar panels out east were stolen. Not to mention those mysterious acts of vandalism earlier this week; irrigation pivots, satellite dishes, even some sections of electric lines! AND the news has been all over the stories of a robot stealing weapons and killing people to get them."

"That couldn't be TC!" Lana protested, "Those happened on the East Coast. He couldn't even get there."

"Maybe. But I KNOW he's responsible for Rick's truck and that other stuff. THOSE are in his walking distance." The man shook his head, "Should've expected this. Lousy, thievin' machine."

With that the portly man reached into his hip clip and retrieved his cell phone.

Lana looked at him, "You're not...you're not actually going to call are you?"

"And why not? He's broken his end of the agreement...AND he's a damn thief."

"Dad, please!" the young woman sat next to him at the kitchen table. "You can't. He's my friend."

He frowned, "Sure, a "friend" who has done nothing but take up space and has cost me a small fortune in fuel. And NOW he's destroying stuff. How long before he decides to destroy this house? Hmm?"

"He wouldn't do that daddy."

"I told him what would happen if he didn't honor our agreement...and I intend to keep MY word." Carl insisted, beginning to dial.

Lana reached and covered the phone with her hand, "Please dad! Please don't call anyone! I'll—I'll talk to him. Just please don't do that."

Her father looked as if a debate was going on in his mind. He exhaled hard and placed the phone back in its holster, "I won't call."