Toby rose to his feet, angrily brushed a tear from his cheek, and left the holo-booth.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE SAFETY INSPECTORS
Brad strode into the robot workshop and cleared his throat. “Ladies and gentlemen”, he announced, “the show will commence in exactly one hour. Can everyone please make their way to the studio for Marty’s briefing.”
He turned to leave then saw Caitlin standing on her own at Toby’s workstation. “Where’s Toby?” he asked.
“He had to take a call on the holo-phone.”
“Well you’d better go and get him. The briefing starts in five minutes.”
Caitlin nodded and followed Brad towards the exit.
At the doorway, Lloyd and Dale were lurking outside, still dressed in their white lab coats. They saw Brad and Caitlin approaching and ducked out of sight behind a stack of boxes containing Destroy All Robots goodie bags. They passed and Dale turned to Lloyd anxiously.
“Hear that? We’ve only got an hour!”
Lloyd looked through the door into the workshop. “That’s plenty of time to sabotage one of these robots.”
“How?” asked Dale. “We’re gonna just walk in, are we? Dressed like a couple of brain surgeons?”
Lloyd pursed his lips. The doctor’s coats had been a bad idea, he had to admit. He had somehow picked up the idea that all the roboticists would be wearing white coats, maybe from the doctors he’d seen at the hospital or the mad scientists on the late-night, creature-feature TV shows. But it turned out that everyone was either wearing their normal clothes or a uniform. The only people that dressed the same were the production crew, all wearing identical Destroy All Robots baseball caps.
“We need to somehow blend in”, said Lloyd thoughtfully, glancing at the stack of boxes beside him. He reached for a goodie bag, ripped it open, then rifled through its contents; a souvenir brochure, a toy robot key ring, a plastic Robot Alliance medal. “Yes!” he muttered, pulling out a Destroy All Robots baseball cap.
“Neat!” said Dale, grabbing a goodie bag for himself. They both quickly stripped off their white coats, stuffing them behind the goodie-bag box and put on the baseball caps. Dale adjusted his cap, pulling the brim low, so it concealed his face. “How do I look?” he asked, turning to Lloyd.
“Like an undercover cop”, said Lloyd, flipping Dale’s cap up again. He turned and strolled confidently into the robot workshop. Dale pulled the cap brim over his face again and scurried after him. Lloyd scanned the line of workstations and headed for Eve, seeing she was the only robot unattended.
Dale trailed after him, glancing self-consciously at the competitors attending their robots. “Even if we can take out one of their robots, what makes you think they’ll let us put our minibots in the fight?” he whispered.
“Work it out, lame-brain! They’ll be a robot down, won’t they? How are they gonna find a replacement in an hour?” Lloyd advanced towards Eve who was still standing in her recharging bay, the overhead florescent strip lighting gleaming off her silver face.
“So what are we gonna do to her?” asked Dale.
“How come I’ve always gotta be the one with the ideas?” said Lloyd, exasperated.
Dale frowned at the array of power tools on Toby’s workbench. His expression brightened. “Hey, why don’t we use the minibots on her?”
Lloyd nodded and pulled out the nanobot syringe. He approached the robot and Eve’s green eyes glowed at him impassively. He hesitated, suddenly feeling nervous. “There you go”, he said, passing the syringe to Dale.
“What am I supposed to do with it?”
“I dunno, just jam it in her head or something!”
Dale tentatively raised the syringe. Eve’s eyes seemed to follow him and he faltered.
“What are you waiting for?” asked Lloyd impatiently.
“She’s not switched on, is she?”
“Of course not.”
Dale turned back to Eve, eyeing her mistrustfully. He snapped his fingers several times and Eve gazed unblinkingly ahead, like someone who had been hypnotized. He loudly clapped his hands in front of Eve’s face and several of the other competitors looked over.
“What are you playing at?” Lloyd hissed. “We’re supposed to be keeping a low profile.”
Dale pointed accusingly at Eve. “She moved, I saw her!”
“Oh give it here.” Lloyd snatched the syringe from Dale and inserted the needle into Eve’s ear. His knuckles whitened as he prepared to depress the plunger…
“What’s going on here?”
Lloyd spun around and saw Toby and Caitlin standing at the doorway. He grinned sheepishly. “Um, hi”, he said, quickly hiding the syringe. He extended his other hand. “Lloyd Tunney, production assistant.”
“For the show?” added Dale helpfully, pointing at his Destroy All Robots baseball cap.
“Of course they know it’s for the show”, said Lloyd irritably.
Toby looked at Dale and Lloyd, bemused. “So what are you guys doing?” he asked, looking at the nanobot syringe.
“What are we doing?” repeated Lloyd, his mind working furiously.
“Safety checks”, said Dale.
“Safety checks?”
“Yeah, safety checks”, said Lloyd. “All part of network policy now, spot checks to see if your robot is… you know…”
“Safe”, finished Dale lamely.
“Yep, no problem here”, said Lloyd, giving Eve’s head an authoritative tap with the syringe. He nudged Dale and they started edging towards the door.
“Hang on a minute…”
“That’s one safe robot”, said Dale reassuringly. They broke into a run, charging out of the workshop.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THE ARGUMENT
Toby made to go after Lloyd and Dale and Caitlin grabbed his arm. “Come on, we’ll be late for the briefing.”
“Who the hell were those guys?”
“We’ll find out later. Come on.” Toby reluctantly followed Caitlin out of the workshop.
“So what did your brother have to say?” asked Caitlin, striding down the corridor.
“Nothing much.”
Caitlin gave Toby a sideways look.
“He wants me to pull out”, he admitted.
Caitlin nodded slowly, saying nothing.
They reached a junction and turned left into the main building. They continued down the corridor in silence and Toby shook his head angrily. “I can’t believe PROUD are making such a big thing of this”, he grumbled. “What’s their damn problem? I went to great pains to disguise the fact that Eve was built from cyber-prosthetic parts.”
“Toby, you sprayed her silver!” Caitlin laughed. “I really don’t think that’s going to fool anyone.”
Toby looked at Caitlin, annoyed. “You sound like you’re sticking up for them.”
“I’m not sticking up for anyone. All I’m saying is that maybe you should listen to your brother.”
They turned left again into the studio wing and walked through a set of double doors into the studio itself. All the contestants, actors and production crew were crowded at the end of the studio, which had been turned into a makeshift hospitality area. Trestle tables were lined against the wall, stacked with bottles of lager, soft drinks and bowls of potato chips. On the other side of the studio, banks of lights and TV cameras were trained on various studio sets, including the interior of the Toymaker’s secret base from the prologue.
Caitlin headed for the makeshift bar and grabbed a couple of canned drinks, passing one to Toby. “Thanks”, said Toby, snapping open the can. He leaned back against the bar and surveyed the crowded room. All of the other contestants were already there, taking the opportunity to get to know each other. De Coza was drinking with the three biker girls at the other end of the bar, guzzling back the free lager. Bubba, Billy-Bob and Thumper were sitting together, laughing and joking. Coach Kennedy was deep in discussion with McBride by the door. Only the Scannell twins kept to them
selves, clutching identical mineral water bottles.
De Coza caught Toby’s eye and muttered something to the biker girls, and they all exploded with laughter. Toby quickly looked away, turning back to Caitlin. He saw she was staring moodily into her can, swirling the drink around.
“What’s up?” he asked.
Caitlin shrugged, not looking up. “Can I ask you something?”
“What?” said Toby warily.
“Do you think your mother could build a cyber-prosthetic robot like Eve?”
“I guess”, said Toby, seeing where Caitlin was going with this.
“So why didn’t she?”
Toby didn’t answer.
“Why didn’t she enter her own robot and try and win the prize money?”
“Caitlin…”
“You know why, don’t you? Because she can see the bigger picture. All the disabled kids who are going to get called cyber-freak in the playground, all the—”
“I’ll show you the bigger picture”, Toby interrupted, suddenly furious. “I’ll make it real simple for you.” He turned to the bar, grabbing a handful of lager bottle tops. He slammed one down on the table. “Okay, ‘X’ represents a woman who’s just learned her baby is going to die a slow and painful death.” He slammed a second bottle top on the other side of the table, diagonally opposite the first. “‘Y’ represents said son who against all the odds has managed to beat the disease. Now, working logically, lets plot the most direct course between these two coordinates.”
“Toby, come on, this isn’t—”
Toby interrupted Caitlin, slamming down another bottle top. “‘X’ tries to find a cure for ‘Y’, her pioneering research creating a whole new branch of cyber-prosthetics.” He slammed down another bottle top. “Launches her own specialist cyber-prosthetics clinic that benefits thousands of disabled people.” He slammed down another bottle top. “Ploughs every penny made from the clinic to continue her research.” He slammed down another bottle top. “Comes close to finding a cure for ‘Y’. But then the money runs out.” Toby indicated the gap in the row of bottle tops. “We seem to be a bottle top short? I wonder what we can do to fill that gap?”
“You can’t think like that, Toby.”
“Who says I can’t?”
“Life isn’t black and white.”
“So this is why you came here!” Toby said angrily. “To try to talk me out of competing!”
Caitlin glared at Toby. “I’ll see you later.” She turned and walked out of the studio.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
MEET THE TOYMAKER
Toby started to go after Caitlin then saw Marty pushing through the crowd. The conversation died down and there was a smattering of applause from the competitors and production team.
“Thank you. Thanks.” Marty said, grinning. “Okay everyone, there’s someone I want to introduce to you.” He glanced over to the Toymaker set. “Hank? Get over here.”
A black, leather-clad figure joined Marty, his face concealed by a sinister leather mask. “Ladies and Gentlemen”, announced Marty dramatically, “I give you: the Toymaker!” He paused, letting the good-natured boos and catcalls from the competitors and crew die down before continuing. “Take a good look at him because he’s about to slip away to his secret hideout somewhere on this island. First team that finds him gets the bounty, a cool 10 million bucks.”
There was another burst of applause from the competitors, followed by drunken cheers and wolf whistles from the biker girls.
Marty smiled, allowing everyone to have their fun before putting on his serious face. “But let’s follow the rules, guys. Remember in the show you’re supposed to be acting as a team, fighting the Toymaker’s robots, yeah?” He looked meaningfully at De Coza. “No fighting each other’s robots when you think the camera’s not on you. It confuses the viewers and puts people at risk. Which brings me neatly to the main subject of this briefing: safety. You’ve all signed disclaimers outlining precisely what perils you’ll be facing on the show. However I think the most salient points bear repeating.”
Marty walked over to the Toymaker’s set and pointed to the main lever on the futuristic console. “When you saw the Toymaker pull this lever in the prologue, he activated every one of his robots on this island for real. And let me tell you guys, these mechanical meanies are scary. They have all been programmed to follow one directive only; to respond to whomever or whatever they encounter with the utmost aggression. Similarly, the robots you’ve brought with you have been stripped of all the usual safety inhibitors. Every robot competitor has been programmed, firstly, to protect itself, secondly, to obey the orders of its owner, and finally to do whatever it takes to win the show. There is nothing in its programming to prevent it endangering the lives of human beings. In short, each and every single robot on this island is a potential killer. So that said, let’s meet your lifeline out of the jungle.”
He beckoned Stacey over and put his arm around her shoulder. “To the viewers at home this is Stacey Lasalle, war correspondent, covering the attack on the Toymaker’s island. But to you she’s the production safety officer and your passport back to civilization. She knows the safe areas in every robot combat zone on the island. So follow her orders to the letter, okay? Failure to do so will result in disqualification, injury or death, not necessarily in that order.” He paused, surveying his audience gravely, then broke into a smile. “Okay, lecture over. You’ve got 20 minutes before we need you back with your robots. And good luck. We’ve got a few surprises waiting for you!”
Marty stood down, modestly acknowledging the smattering of applause. The crowd dispersed and Toby started making his way towards the studio exit, planning to look for Caitlin. De Coza sauntered over to him and Toby was amused to see that he was wearing the plastic Robot Alliance medal from his goodie bag, carefully positioned so it covered the Refuse Department badge sewn into his green overalls.
“Well look who it isn’t”, drawled De Coza. “Boy wonder with the bacofoil girlfriend. She’s ranked second-to-favourite, so I hear?”
Toby heard the challenge in De Coza’s voice and nodded confidently. “That’s only because no one’s seen her fight yet.”
De Coza smiled at Toby’s cocksure attitude. “I admire your spirit, sonny. But let me let you into a little secret. I’m gonna win.”
“You think so?”
“I know so.”
“Suit yourself. We’ll soon find out who’s right, won’t we?” Toby said, pushing past De Coza.
De Coza stared after Toby, furious at being so casually dismissed. He lunged at him, grabbing his shirt and slamming him against the wall. “You never asked me how I know I’m gonna win”, De Coza growled, breathing beer fumes into Toby’s face.
“How are you going to win?” gasped Toby.
“You know the rule that says our robots must be built from parts specific to our own industry?”
Toby nodded. He’d had to be particularly inventive trying to get around this rule in creating weapons for Eve. A robot built from cyber-prosthetic parts didn’t give much scope for weaponry.
“Well I’ve found a loop-hole”, De Coza giggled. “Marty’s agreed to classify the remains of any robot I destroy as trash. You know what that means, buddy? I’ll be able to cannibalize the parts for the next fight.” He laughed triumphantly. “Dumpmaster can’t lose!”
Toby looked underwhelmed and De Coza’s laughter died away. He raised his fist, infuriated by the look of quiet confidence on Toby’s face.
“Is everything okay over here?” someone called.
De Coza turned and saw that Bubba, Billy-Bob and Thumper were all looking over. He contemptuously pushed Toby aside and stalked away.
Toby exhaled and smoothed down his shirt.
“You okay, kid?” asked Bubba.
Toby nodded, embarrassed. He reached for a fresh can of soda and casually snapped it open, trying to appear less shaken than he really was. But all the time he was watching De Coza out of the corner of
his eye as he drunkenly weaved through the crowd towards the exit.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
THE SOLDIER
De Coza made his way towards the robot workshop wing, still clutching his bottle of lager from the studio. He took a long swallow and belched loudly, the sound echoing down the corridor. He wasn’t drunk yet, but he knew he wasn’t far off. He wondered idly if he would still do what he was planning if he were sober, then put the thought out of his mind. Something had to be done about that kid’s robot. Sure, everyone was saying that she was only ranked as number two because she was a wild card as no one had seen her fight. But what if there was another reason? What if someone knew something he didn’t? That insolent look Badernoch gave him made him very nervous indeed.
He turned right into the robot workshop wing and saw a couple of goofy-looking production assistants, one fat, one skinny, heading towards him from the opposite direction.
De Coza glanced after them curiously then walked into the robot workshop. He swiftly scanned the long room and grunted with satisfaction; the place was deserted. Pulling a screwdriver from his leather tool belt he advanced towards Eve…
Sudden footsteps echoed down the corridor. De Coza ran to the door and swore; it was the girl that Badernoch had brought with him. He slipped out of the workshop and ran in the opposite direction, ducking into the holo-phone booth. He’d give her a couple of minutes then go back and deal with Badernoch’s robot.
De Coza settled back into the chair and took another swig of lager. He gazed at the blank holo-screen, his thoughts turning homeward and suddenly he realized he wanted to give Chuck a call. He hadn’t seen his son for at least three or four months, even though he only lived a couple of blocks away from him in Brooklyn. He hadn’t missed him, had barely thought about him, but now he was on the other side of the world he had an overwhelming urge to speak to the boy.
De Coza frowned, trying to recall his ex-wife’s holo-phone number then punched in the digits. The phone started to ring and De Coza took a final swig from his bottle before hiding it behind his chair. Chuck didn’t like to see his daddy drinking.
The electronic ringtone cut out mid-bleep and the hologram of a tough woman with too much make-up materialized. She frowned at the sight of De Coza lolling in the chair. “Oh it’s you”, she said.