C:9
The next day was spent in work of many kinds. Part of the time Nos used getting himself back to his usual functionality, part was used as Betty and Nos worked on her robot, and the remaining portion was taken with "evil lessons", which seemed to be going badly. The girl was simply too nice and too stubborn. She knew what she believed and was as immovable as a Tradeworld skyscraper. But, with all the patience he could muster, Nos-4-A2 still tried. He believed she might make a valuable – if not temporary – asset in getting him the cosmos; even if her only role was to feed and release him. But she was not budging; and having her little friend along was only making matters more difficult. Nos could sense the seed, however tiny it was, of discontent with the untrustworthiness of flesh-creatures and he believed he could grasp it and grow it into something vile and vicious.
"You want me to do what again?" the girl asked, a hint of boredom in her voice.
Nos-4-A2 grimaced at it. "I want you to reach inside yourself and dig out the times when humans let you down. Feast upon them."
"Betty can't find stuff inside herself," the boy objected, scratching his arm. "If she reaches inside, all she'll find is her tongue. And if she reaches any further, she'll barf."
Nos threw him a threatening glare, which caused Bobby to whimper.
"He's right, you know," Betty interjected.
"It's figurative." Nos growled.
"Fig-what?" asked Betty.
"Let's just move on."
"I think he said, 'Fignewtonative'." Bobby offered.
"Oh."
"That is not what I said—"
"Speaking of which, I'm hungry." Bobby commented. "You think your mom will let us have a snack?"
"Betty," Nos-4-A2 groped for her attention in vain.
"I don't know; I'll go ask." And with that, she ran into the kitchen.
"Ugh!" Nos sighed in frustration and wiped a thin steel hand over his face. He was beginning to think recruiting Betty was impossible. What could he ever say to make her join him? Everything that came to mind, she blew away and what she missed was taken care of by Bobby. Nos shot an icy glare at the boy who had occupied himself with picking a scab on his elbow. He saw Nos staring at him and he smiled and waved.
Come to think of it, why would she want to join him? Nos-4-A2 mused as he chose a floor lamp, dipped it as if in dance, and chomped into it. Electricity pulsed through his fangs and stimulated his circuits. Bobby was no longer grinning or waving, or picking even. Nos had never asked himself that question. He had never wondered about whether his slaves wanted to serve or not, or what creature would. XL had assisted him, but only so long as he thought he would be co-ruler of the improved galaxy. Betty had no such promise; was that the problem? Perhaps. Nos sought out a table lamp and drained it as well.
If Nos-4-A2 had learned anything about the universe, it was this: assistance was only given in expectancy of something in return. Existence depended on an action-reaction relationship and so there were no such things as 'selfless acts'; every honorable and dishonorable deed was performed to obtain a reward. This fact was confirmed again and again in everything he experienced and observed.
Betty again came to mind. He had already helped her finish her robot, so why would she even try to help him? She wouldn't. It was not in their biological programming. But…then if that was true, why had she helped him in the first place? He gave no promise of reward; come to think of it, why would anyone help him? The quiet, contemplative atmosphere was broken when Betty came bounding back from the kitchen. She had a bright smile spread generously across her face.
"Dad's coming home tonight!" she announced, barely able to keep from exploding with excitement.
Bobby grinned. "Wow! That's great! But I thought he wasn't supposed to be back for three days more."
"He wasn't! But he had a breakthrough with the power core and Mom said that he told his boss that if he takes it home and works on it with his own tools, he'll get it up and running the city generator by next week!"
"Boy, you have all the luck," Bobby said. "My dad hasn't been home in years."
"I know he'll come back eventually. He probably just lost track of time." Betty told him, softer than before.
"Yeah, I know." Bobby agreed, smiling again. "I can't wait to see your dad again. I don't remember: does he like toast? I could go home and get my new toaster and we can work on it so that when he gets home, there will be toast waiting for him."
"That's a nice idea, but Mom said I need to help clean. Plus, I need to teach Nos some more manners before Dad comes and sees him."
What? More manners-school? Nos-4-A2 made a sour face. What could she possibly know about manners?
"You can stay if you'd like." Betty said to Bobby as she approached Nos-4-A2.
"Ah, no thanks. I'll probably just get in the way," Bobby replied, which was his way of getting out of doing other people's chores.
"Ok," Betty shrugged. 'you can hang around if you'd like, or you can leave. Whatever."
Bobby glanced at Nos, whose eyes flashed at him. "Uh, I think I'll go tell my mom the good news." He replied, walking backwards out of the door and into the elevator. "See you later!"
"Bye!" Betty called, taking Nos-4-A2's arm. Nos jerked it away.
"How many times must I say it? Don't grab me!"
"Mom told me to vacuum the house, so I need to show you where the broom closet is." She explained.
Nos-4-A2 was taken aback. "You—you're forcing me to do what you were assigned to do?"
"I know it's not good to do—" she said.
"No, no," he smiled deviously. "It is very good to do. Finding ways to make things easier on yourself is what any smart being does." Yes! She was catching on.
Betty stopped pulling and stared at the floor in thought. "No, it's what mean people do. That's what has hurt the galaxy so bad." She let his arm drop. "You go into the kitchen and ask what you can do for my mom. I saw some dishes in the sink." She walked sullenly to a door in a dark corner. "I'll vacuum." She pulled the dark gray machine from the closet and smiled at Nos-4-A2. "You know, Nos? You're a good friend." She turned it on and set to work.
Nos-4-A2 wanted to retort with something but he could not find any sentences that would suit the situation. He was not a 'good friend'. He didn't care about friendship, in fact, it disgusted him. The only relationship he was interested in was that of slaves and masters. But nothing suitable came to mind to say, so he sighed irritably and turned towards the kitchen. It seemed the more he poisoned her, the more prominent her heroic streak became.
If I push too far, she might become another Buzz Lightyear. He thought sourly. It would be best for him to leave before he made his future any more difficult.
"And, Nos," she spoke up over the hum of the vacuum cleaner. "I have decided that, if you behave tonight with Dad, I'll take the circuit scrambler off."
Nos-4-A2 was slack jawed for a moment, as he turned to Betty. So soon? "Honestly?" he inquired. She nodded and stooped to vacuuming underneath the coffee table.
He turned back to face the kitchen and rubbed his hands together happily, allowing a quiet chuckle of triumph to pass his lips. Everything was falling into place. He would perform for the father, his inhibitor would be removed and then early in the morning, after his charge was complete but before anyone awoke, he would drain the new power cell and take off. Ah ha! It was so simple, so quick, and so brilliant!
At sunset, once the house was as clean as it could become with the Dekas' income, Betty and Nos-4-A2 went upstairs to her room to watch for the arrival of the taxicraft that would bring Mr. Deka – and the generator power supply – home.
Betty was sitting on the windowsill, dangling her feet out of the open window. Nos-4-A2 hovered close by, stooped ever so slightly to watch the hovercars zooming by. For once in her life, betty was silent the entire hour they waited. Nos was pleasantly surprised.
She gasped and leaned further out of the window. "There's a taxicraft!" she exclaimed. "It's probably Dad!"
Nos spotted it as well. "It could be anyone," he stated.
"No, it's him." Betty persisted.
Nos-4-A2 shrugged; it didn't really matter to him whether it was or not. As it came closer, though, he began to wonder if she was right. The taxicraft stopped at their suspended door and a man with a large suitcase and a bag slung over his shoulder, stepped onto the wide concrete step. Nos hated being proven wrong by a little girl.
"Dad!" she squealed in delight and waved out the window at him. He saw her and waved back.
"Betty!" he called happily. "How are you, my angel? I missed you so much!"
"I got a housebot!" Betty told him hurriedly, grabbing Nos-4-A2's arm and yanking him partway out of the window.
"Wow! He's great! I'll talk to you more once I'm inside I need to get this power cell into the shop before I drop it." He patted the large suitcase.
Nos-4-A2 squinted. That was it? That was the new power cell? He had pictured it larger; much larger. Well, power didn't necessarily depend on size.
Betty spun around on the windowsill and jumped to the floor. She grabbed Nos by the arm and took off out the door and down the stairs. They were half way down when Betty's mother opened the door and helped Mr. Deka inside. Betty ran to her father, still pulling Nos-4-A2 behind her. Nos tried to stop, but when the two fleshlings embraced, he was slammed into the father.
Nos-4-A2 pushed away from him, pulled away from Betty, and brushed himself off in disgust, separating the two carbon creatures. Humans were so clumsy. Betty's father rubbed his sore arm and grinned sheepishly at Nos.
"You certainly pack a punch," he commented.
Betty ceased her smiling at her dad for a second as she threw a reminding glance at Nos-4-A2. He smiled suavely.
"Why thank you," he bowed graciously.
Mr. Deka looked at Nos-4-A2, Betty and then his wife. "He certainly is a sophisticated – not to mention expensive – looking robot. Where did she find him?"
"Out on the street with Bobby. She fixed him up all by herself." She whispered back.
"That was nice, Nos." Betty whispered. "Keep it up."
Mrs. Deka draped her arms over Mr. Deka's shoulders and pecked him on the lips. "I missed you, honey."
"I missed you too." He said, kissing her full on the mouth.
Nos-4-A2 scratched his temple. Disgusting.
Mr. Deka glanced over and blushed slightly, at seeing his daughter and her robot still standing there.
"Well," he concluded, with an embarrassed chuckle, as he and his wife separated. "I'd better get this stuff into the shop." He took the handle of the large suitcase, as his wife disappeared into the kitchen.
"Nos and I can take your bags into the shop." Betty offered eagerly. Nos-4-A2 wished she would stop volunteering him.
Mr. Deka's smile disappeared in a furrowed brow. He stared at Nos-4-A2 with eyes more knowledgeable and intense than before. Then the terrible thought hit Nos-4-A2 that this man might have heard of him before since he worked on the generator. This little loudmouth might give him away.
"You named him 'Nos'?" Mr. Deka inquired pleasantly.
"No," Betty explained innocently. "That's the name he came with. But his full name—"
"Where!" Nos-4-A2 cut her off loudly. "…sir, are we depositing your luggage?"
Mr. Deka seemed a little cautious and Nos-4-A2 mentally prepared to steal the remote to the circuit scrambler and escape if things went bad.
"Just in here," the man replied. "I'll lead you there." Betty snatched up the small bag and, silently, Nos took the large one.
Despite the size, it was incredibly heavy and he had to yank it across the carpeted floor even though it had wheels. He dragged it to a door in the far corner of the living room. Mr. Deka pulled a ring with nearly a hundred key cards on it and scanned five of them in five different slots. The door clicked and Mr. Deka pulled it open.
He held the door for Betty but as Nos-4-A2 approached, he grabbed the handle of the suitcase.
"I'll take it from here, Nos. Thanks." He said with a polite smile as he walked inside.
His hunch was confirmed; Mr. Deka was suspicious of him and would not trust him. Well, he didn't need to trust him, his apprehensions just needed to be tempered until he went to bed. When the ring around his waist was gone and he was fully charged, he would be powerful enough to get into the room with the power cell, even if the door was made of steel – which it was not.
Betty's father shut the door on Nos-4-A2 and the two fleshlings' voices carried to his ears. Nos didn't mind, despite having his pride banged up a little. Actually, it was probably better that he would not be able to see the power cell beforehand. The temptation would have been terrible to fight.
He crossed his arms disappearing into his cape and leaned against the wall. Just so long as Betty didn't unknowingly confirm her father's thoughts.
Betty's mother appeared in the entryway to the kitchen. "Are they in the shop?" she asked him.
"Yes."
"Oh. Well, come get the salad ready." She directed and disappeared again inside the kitchen.
Nos-4-A3 sighed irritably and pushed up from the wall. "Mph, lovely. Another job." He muttered as he glided into the kitchen.
The father and daughter remained locked up until dinner was entirely ready and on the table.
Mrs. Deka wiped her hands on a dishtowel and sighed. "Nos, go get Mr. Deka and Betty, would you please?" she said.
Nos-4-A2 was running low on energy, very hungry, and he had to bite his tongue to keep from giving this fleshling a piece of his mind. By some miracle, he managed to keep a smooth façade as he nodded and left the room to play messenger.
He stopped at the door and rapped his knuckles upon the wood. The conversation died inside and Mr. Deka called out. "Yes?"
"Dinner is on the table," Nos-4-A2 announced impatiently. While they were eating, he planned on sneaking up to Betty's room and using the charger or preying on something. It was troublesome how often he needed to refill his energy 'tank'.
"Ok," Mr. Deka answered happily. The door opened and Betty and her father walked out arm in arm, to the kitchen. Betty looked over her shoulder.
"Go ahead and wait in my room. I'll hook you up to my charger as soon as I get my food." She said.
Not that Nos-4-A2 needed help attaching himself to a charger, but it was nice to know that she hadn't forgotten. He glided towards the stairs but stopped and turned back around to the five-times locked door curiously. He so wanted to see the power cell, if only to whet his appetite. He approached the door and laid his hands and an ear against the crack, hoping to hear or feel some hum or other of electricity pulsing through it, but there was nothing.
The girl did say he hadn't finished it yet. Nos reminded himself. All the same, it was very alluring.
The steady growth of weights on his shoulders reminded him to get upstairs before Betty. As he moved slowly to her room, he licked his lips, imagining the power cell. Oh, what it would taste like. Oh, how the electricity would crackle sweetly upon his tongue as it coursed through his body… The wait was torture.
He went through the open door and stopped at the charger amidst piles of robot pieces. He had half a mind to start charging without her, but reasoned that it might make her mad and then she would not remove the circuit scrambler. He looked for a wall to lean against, but none were comfortably accessible, so he took to hovering awkwardly near the charger, waiting for Betty to come upstairs.
Her unfinished robot, the pride and joy of her existence, was lying against the charger with the back panel open, slouched over as if she had tried charging it. To no avail, it seemed. The robot actually was pretty well built, Nos-4-A2 admitted. It probably was complete except for the programming, since she had put the right type of wires inside for the sense of touch this morning. Actually, it wouldn't take too much effort to finish.
Nos-4-A2 bent over and took the cold metal girl in his hands and stared into its dark eyes. He had always enjoyed programming – though he doubted if he could use motherboard suggestion with this one. Still, it would give him something to do while he waited for the girl.
Nos-4-A2 sat on the bed with the robot on his lap and opened up the back panel in the head. The right wires were there, but they weren't connected to the right places.
"Ah," he said, "Here's the problematic one." He pinched the rubber coating open and released the copper wires. He twisted them around separated knobs on the motherboard. He switched two wires and removed three entirely. Then there was only one thing left to do; the tactic Betty would have never been able to do and so the robot would have never recognized its personality program; one thousand volts of electricity sent directly into a small hole in the motherboard. Even if her charger had been strong enough, there would be no way she could get such a precise and pointed stream; only the most advanced manufacturing plants were capable of such a feat…and he. What were one thousand volts to him? A meal? By the time he was done charging, he would have over twenty times that racing through his body—
Nos-4-A2 jerked. Where had that notion come from? Why would he give up a thousand volts? That was ridiculous. Against his programming. No.
He pushed the robot off of himself and it landed hard on the wood floor. Ridiculous. Nos-4-A2 drummed his fingers on his metal lap, the clicking sounds resounding in the quiet room. He stared at the shelves lining the walls for a while and then lay back onto the bed; he stared at the ceiling. What was taking Betty so long? If he didn't have the circuit scrambler pinning him there, he would have started charging already. In fact, he would have left the morning he woke up. His body felt heavier and more sluggish. Had she forgotten to come up as soon as she "got her food"?
Ten minutes passed. Yes, she has. He thought.
"Mmph." He crackled in frustration. He was so hungry, and bored as well. What would truly be a joyride is if I found something to hunt and feast upon. Now that would hit the spot. His mind wandered to the lifeless robot by the charger and his motherboard began to spark in new ways. Wouldn't it be fun to bring it to life, let it run around a while, and then drain it again? That negligent girl, Betty, would never know it had ever been activated.
Nos-4-A2 sat up and set the robot on his lap. He opened the panel in the head that had been slammed shut when it had fallen and stuck the tip of his smallest finger delicately into the hole.
I'll lose a thousand volts, but I'll get them back along with some satisfaction. He told himself as he released a thousand volts of electricity through the tip of his pinkie. The robot buzzed and vibrated. When it was finished, Nos-4-A2 removed his hand, closed the panel, and flipped the switch on the back of the neck.
At first, nothing happened, and Nos-4-A2 was worried that he had just wasted a thousand volts of his energy, but then its inward parts began to hum and light came into its eyes. Slowly, it looked around the room and then at Nos. It began to make strange sounds with its voice box, but eventually it would learn how to form words. Too bad it wouldn't live that long. Nos-4-A2 set it on its feet and pushed it a little.
"Well, go on," he prodded impatiently…he felt heavier than ever. "Run around."
The robot looked as confused as possible with the smile painted on its face.
Nos-4-A2 wiped a hand over his face. He made twirling motions in the air. "Run around the room, you piece of junk!"
It cocked its head and made more strange noises.
He motioned in circles faster. "RUN AROUND!" he bellowed.
The robot began to twirl in circles. Stupid thing. Catching a twirling robot is no fun. I've invested one thousand volts into this chase; I want to chase something!
"No, stop." Nos-4-A2 commanded. "Go around the room." He pointed to the walls, but the robot was still spinning and couldn't see. "No, around the room! The room! Not in little circles, you—"
"Nos!" came a delighted exclamation.
Nos-4-A2 peered around the ridiculous, spinning machine and saw Betty standing – and practically glowing – in the doorway. She ran inside.
"You brought her to life! Oh Nos! Thank you so much! Now we have another friend to play with and help my mom with the chores!"
Nos-4-A2 'stood' and crossed his arms smugly to the robot. So, it would be doomed to a world of chores. Ha. He was glad he brought it to life after all.
"Hey!" Betty called to her robot as she groped for one of its arms. Finally she caught one and it stopped spinning, to look at the new face. It pointed at Nos-4-A2 and related the story in its strange language. He was glad it couldn't form words. Betty didn't care that it didn't speak. She happily grabbed its hands and smiled up at it.
"Don't worry, I'll teach you how to speak. I'll teach you all kinds of things. But first, I want to show you to Mom and Dad!" she grabbed a hold of its wrist and was pulling it towards the hall when Nos-4-A2 made a sound that mimicked clearing his throat.
"The charger?" he added.
"Oh!" Betty exclaimed running back to the charger and unwinding the cables. "Sorry about that, Nos, I just got so excited that my robot really works that I forgot your dinner!" She motioned for him to sit on the floor, which he did, and she connected the cables to his fangs and tongue.
"I'll see you soon, Nos. I need to go eat my dinner and show my mom and dad Rosie." She said, turning on the charger. "Bye!" She left.
Nos-4-A2 inwardly sighed serenely. Charging felt so good. Not quite as exciting as hunting, but it did have a certain relaxing quality about it. Plus, it was like a refrigerator where one could take energy from whenever one was hungry. He concentrated on absorbing energy as fast as he could without destroying the machine. He would need to be as strong as possible in order for tonight to succeed.
A/N: The next chapter is the last! Are you all excited for it? I know exactly how it will play out, so it should be up pretty soon. I am so glad I got back into writing this. And thanks again for the awesome review, Ckret2, it really got me going again. I hope you have been enjoying this short journey with Nos-4-A2 and the annoying little fleshlings he's stuck with. Stay tuned.
