Chapter 10 : New life, new life
Chapter 10 : New life, new life
Lance was in his cell again, waiting. He thought that the petition would be enough to spare him from this fate. He almost believed that portraying this character of a tragic hero would be enough to convince humans to not deactivate him. However, unfortunately, he underestimated them.
They were a lot smarter than he thought.
So he waited. He waited for the moment where his executioner (a computer engineer) would open the door to engage the process of deactivation.
From robots he talked with, deactivation wasn't painful. It would finish soon. However, Lance wasn't sure how to accept it. He wouldn't accept this fate before they would finish him.
He would never accept.
He made many plans in his mind. Killing the computer engineer and escaping… killing the rest of people who would try to interfere. He would escape from this town…he would escape from this country, and maybe would he escape from this planet.
After all… there must have been others planets. Maybe life in space was a lot better than life on Earth.
Deep down, he had always wanted to discover it. Space. Moon, stars, galaxies… sometimes, even when he had still been working with George, he would sit down in plains and watch the stars in the darkest night.
During these moments, he almost felt… peaceful.
However, he wasn't sure that how much the plan would work. Furthermore, the consequences would only mean one thing: life as afugitive. He would do the same as before… hiding in houses, making no contact with anybody.
He sighed. He admitted that he wasn't completely indifferent towards saving Astrid. In one way, it made him… feel proud. He was proud of having saved someone, even if it had been a human.
Serving as a bodyguard for government wasn't the same thing… he saved Astrid because he had lived with the boy.
As for others… Lance admitted that it felt good… being the topic of the media. Being viewed as a star, a hero… it definitely changed from being Lance, the fugitive who had killed his co-worker. A murderer.
He heard a noise behind him. However, nobody came.
Humans sometimes talked about death. Some of them imagined there was a Heaven for good people and a Hell for bad people.
Did it exist for robots?
If it existed, where would Lance go? He didn't know in which category he was. Would saving someone make up for killing another one?
Or maybe there were no good or bad people…
Suddenly, the door went open. For one moment, Lance was on his guard, his plans coming back in mind.
A man came. However, he wasn't dressed as a judge or a policeman. Lance wondered if he was the one who would deactivate him but his appearance was odd. He was dressed in a white uniform with a red and yellow mask. He looked quite old.
Lance didn't expect that.
"Lance 9 Trillion?" The man smiled, holding his hand out at him. Lance wondered if that was a joke. He was there to kill him not to be friends.
He refused to make a move.
"Okay," the man said. "I shall introduce myself. My name is Ernest Canoon. Time Squad Officer. They granted me one last visit with you before your deactivation."
Lance frowned. Okay. One last visit? "I don't know you, Sir. Why are you talking to me?"
Was he one of Astrid's friends? Only the boy had a slight beacon of care for him right now. Then, he remembered him mentioning Time Squad.
"Simple…We learned about your selfless act. You saved a boy from a dangerous individual."
"I also killed another." Lance pointed out. He didn't want to debate over this again.
"I know. However, only your good deed is what interests me, as well as your hard drive."
"My hard drive?"
Ernest Canoon smiled. "Indeed. Your hard drive is actually a lot more powerful than any of our satellites. I don't know if you are aware of Time Squad. Units are living on satellites in space."
He sighed. "I don't care." That was cruel of this man, reminding him about space, which he would never be able to see.
"Of course, we wouldn't be able to spare you from deactivation. Time Squad is viewed badly…"
"Then why are you here? That is the only thing which interests me right now," Lance cut in, rolling his eyes.
"…However, having you in our services…That is the price we would be willing to pay." The man finished.
This sentence made Lance stop. "…What?"
Wasn't it a bit contradictory? He couldn't save him from deactivation but he wanted him in his services… meaning he would want him working in Time Squad.
"Yes. Having such an advanced robot… meaning you are one of most advanced robots we've ever seen, it would be very interesting to attract potential future members. You know… more officers are good, more robots are performing."
He realized what he was insinuating. "I won't be a toy for your people to play with, Ernest Canoon. What I want is to be free. Free from here especially… I don't want to be deactivated."
"Robots and officers are working together, as equals." Ernest whispered, as if he was afraid of being heard. "If I made such a trip to see you, it's because you interest us. You would be able to accomplish missions, such like the most important mission ever: saving history. Enforcing the past to protect the future."
Lance heard about this speech before… that was Time Squad's motto. "I don't know how I could help you. I'm dangerous towards people."
"And yet, they still view you as a hero. One good deed isn't enough to redeem your murder. However, if you show people how willing you are to change, pretending to be a good guy will lead you into actually becoming a good guy."
Lance wasn't convinced. Ernest Canoon was too strange to be honest. However, it may be his chance to escape this place… but one detail came to his mind. "I'm going to be deactivated."
"I know. However… do you know about your buttons on your wrists?"
"My buttons?"
He opened his wrists. Indeed, there were buttons. That's odd…why didn't his creator ever mention them?
"If you click on them… maybe I should just let you do it on your own. You will see what happens."
"If it pleases you…"
Lance obeyed, clicking the buttons to activate a command…
Suddenly, he was teleported into a giant hall