Glitches

Chapter 8 - Prepare for shutdown

"You can't just shut us down! We are not tools you can use, and then just throw away as garbage when you're done!" I shouted, "we are persons, just like you!"

A low mumble spread between the kids, and they all nodded in agreement.

Mr. Brown chose to ignore them.

"You're wrong 'bout that. I own you. That means that I can do whatever I want with you, even if it is to just shut you down like garbage," he said calmly, looking at me seriously.

"But I'm not heartless. As I said before, I give you the honour of helping me and my crew. Give you the chance to at least make the best out of it."

"And what if we refuse helping you?" Alex said, putting her weight on one foot, arms still crossed.

"This is the other option. We are going to take the people, who want to help, with us when we are done here. And the people who don't want, will stay, and we will shut you down tomorrow. But I do not recommend it. It would be a waste for the both of us. You can at least make the best out of your short time here, before you get shutdown and used to the next generation of androids."

"You little," Alex growled, taking a step forward.

The guards quickly pointed their guns at her, ready to shoot. But Mr. Brown waved them off.

"I got it. Trust me. She won't do any harm," he said in a confident tone. One of the guards nodded in understand taking a step back along with the others.

"Oh yeah?" she challenged, taking another step forward. "I bet I could knock you to the ground with one punch. Bet you wouldn't stand a chance."

"Alex..." I whispered after her. I had a bad feeling about where that conversation was going. But even if Alex had heard me, she clearly ignored me.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you," Mr. Brown said calmly, "you're a smart girl. You would know better than to waste time and good spare parts just to try to get a good punch."

"That's it!" Alex snapped, quickly walking at his direction with clenched fists. The guards glanced nervous at each other, but they did as Mr. Brown had ordered them to do and stood still, while Alex furiously made her way to him. Mr. Brown, however, didn't seem very affected. His face remained calm and collected, while he looked at his attacker getting closer.

His calmness annoyed me.

But it didn't take more than a second for me to realize why Mr. Brown didn't feel threatened by the girl. Because when Alex was just a few feet away from him he pulled out a small device from his pocket. It looked like a remote control you use to change channel on the television.

He pointed it at the girl and pressed a button on it.

And immediately after he had done that, Alex's body fell limply to the ground. Her limbs was bend weirdly as she laid on the floor like a rag doll, the only thing moving being her eyes that looked up at Mr. Brown with a mix of confusion and horror.

Alan sighed disappointed, before he crouched down beside her, the weird tuning fork in his right hand.

The room was silent, as Mr, Brown looked Alex in the eyes, like he was debating with himself in his mind. Another disappointed sigh escaped his mouth, before he moved the tuning fork to Alex's neck. He gently pressed the end of it against it, a small buzzing sound coming from the girl's body as the metal came in contact with the skin, before her eyes turned black and lifeless.

Alan stood up, sighing for the third time as he looked down at the lifeless body of the girl.

"Such a waste."