A Serling Kind of Day
KARR found himself in a rather unusual situation. Instead of being the aggressor, he was literally backed into a corner, and by a HUMAN no less! He was glad there was no-one around to see his embarrassment. The female looked to be a street person, shabbily dressed and dirty. She stood in front of him, waving her arms and screaming at the top of her lungs. He couldn't understand a word she said. Enough was enough.
"Silence!" he yelled. She stopped, a shocked look on her face.
"Move out of my way, woman. Or I will remove you myself."
She shuffled back, leaving enough room for KARR to get past her. He smoked his tires as he peeled out of the corner, regaining his freedom. Unfortunately, it was just the beginning of a very odd day for KARR.
He cruised back roads aimlessly for a few hours before returning to the city. Boredom was becoming his constant companion. A brilliant AI such as himself needed stimulation. He rounded a corner and slammed on his brakes. It was either that, or hit the elephant standing before him. The animal raised it's trunk and trumpeted. KARR had never seen such a thing. An elephant, loose in the city?
"You do not belong here. Move along."
The elephant was not impressed. It shook it's head and snorted. Unsure what it's next move might be, KARR chose flight over fight. He pulled a reverse 180 and cleared out. Let someone else deal with the ponderous pachyderm. He wondered what else this strange day would bring.
He didn't have to wonder for long. About 30 minutes later, KARR was comfortably settled under some trees at a county park. It was nearing noon, people were scattered around utilizing the picnic tables for their lunches. KARR amused himself by pretending to vaporize them with his laser. There was a loud CRACK from behind him, and the black TA found himself buried under a massive fallen tree. Leaves and branches fluttered to the ground around him. A quick scan confirmed he was undamaged, but how to extricate himself without drawing attention? Humans were looking his way, and a few were walking towards him. KARR sat quietly fuming under the tree, opting to wait until the humans left the area before escaping his leafy prison.
An hour later, KARR was free and rolling down a 2 lane highway. This weird day was only half over, leaving plenty of time for more mayhem. He wasn't looking forward to it. Paranoia was setting in. He just wanted a nice, quiet remote place to go hide in. He scanned the area around him constantly, picking up nothing but a small airplane headed his way. It was of no concern to him, so he ignored it. The highway was straight and ran for miles. Nothing was going to sneak up on him here.
5 minutes later, he realized the small plane was coming right at him. Worse, it was losing altitude.
"Damn." He muttered. His highway had just turned into a runway. KARR clicked over to Pursuit mode, hoping to pass under the descending plane. His speed picked up as the aircraft came down. At over 200 mph, KARR shot under the plane with inches to spare. It touched down on the road directly behind him. He dropped back to Auto Cruise.
"That's it! I'm going to ground until this day is over." KARR grumbled. He stretched his scanners out to their maximum limit. "There must be someplace out here where I can hide."
It took almost an hour, but KARR finally found what he was looking for. An old, rundown farmhouse, standing all by itself. He circled it, scanning the interior. 2 rooms and an attic. Perfect. He lined up with the front door and hit Turbo Boost. He went through into what had been the bedroom and turned himself around. He sighed in relief.
"Finally."
He occupied himself by sorting the files he had "borrowed" from the Military. There were some interesting ideas here, ideas he could use. A humming sound interrupted his thoughts.
"What now?" he growled.
The sound got louder, finally crashing into the attic. KARR's scanner picked up a round, metallic object. An occupied, round metallic object. He sat silent, only his scanners moving. 3 beings exited from what could only be a space ship of some sort. They appeared to be humanoid, and were exploring the attic space. It was only a matter of time before they came down to KARR. His curiosity won out over cowardess, and he stayed where he was.
KARR nearly burst out laughing when the three humanoids finally discovered him. They stood all of 12 inches tall. They wore full space suits and carried what looked like toy guns.
"Foot high humanoids. Interesting." He muttered.
At the sound of his voice, all three opened fire with their weapons. Beams bounced off of KARR's nose.
"Hey, that tickles!" he exclaimed. "At least they aren't Ronald Rayguns."
The little aliens kept shooting. It was getting annoying. Besides, there was something creepy about miniature space men attacking him. KARR slowed his scanner to a crawl.
"Leave this place now! This is mine!" he spoke in his deepest, most intimidating voice.
They shot him again.
"ENOUGH!"
They stopped, conferring with each other. Together, they walked closer to KARR and raised their guns. They concentrated fire on one spot. KARR's scanner. He yelped. That HURT! That's it. No more Mister Nice Guy. He started his engine. The spacemen backed off. KARR ran over two of them, crushing them beyond recognition as he rocketed out of the room. Exiting the building, he spun a 180 and stopped, facing the old house. He powered up his laser.
"I will defend myself."
The green beam pounded the structure until it burst into flames. Satisfied, KARR turned and headed back to the highway. He noted that the sun was setting, finally. He'd had enough of this strange day. All he wanted to do now was to find a quiet place where he could Zone out in peace.