*evil laugh*
3
Notes:
Okay, so it’s been FOREVER since I was back with an update! I apologize, but I was sucked into a different story idea for a while and could not find the time to work on both. #writerproblems
Hopefully, little by little, I can keep returning to this. Although I kind of want to tell you about my other idea. Stay tuned for the ending notes to learn more! XD
ROWAN
A crash startled Rowan awake. His first thought was that he’d had a nightmare and fallen out of bed, but as he took stock of his surroundings, he saw that he remained under the sheets.
Scanning for an intruder, unlikely as that was with his advanced security system and Milo as basically a walking backup, it was only then that Rowan heard the rain, saw a flash of lightning outside, and was once again startled by the quick roll of thunder that followed.
A storm. It was loud, close, and…shit, the clock on the nightstand read 4:43AM but had been disrupted, blinking to indicate a power surge, which was impossible because it was synced to Milo.
Bolting out of bed, Rowan raced for the living room, only to skid to a stop when he reached the doorway and stared in horror at the carnage. The window was shattered, with glass all over the carpet and a streak through it like a bolt of lightning had blackened it. That had to be what had happened because the charging station was sparking, the docking port fried and also blackened, and Milo lay in a heap on the floor.
Rowan’s instincts were to run forward, but he was barefoot and didn’t want to experience that on glass.
After rushing first to the front door to grab his shoes, Rowan hurried back, moving careful but swift over the wreckage untilhe reached Milo and rolled the bot closer to him. Milo wasn’t damp, though the carpet in front of the window looked soaked and the wind coming in from the storm made Rowan shiver.
He shivered harder when he saw that Milo’s eyes were open but not glowing, just dim and dead.
“No… a one in a million chance, and the lightning hits you?” Rowan lamented.
Scooping Milo up from the floor, Rowan carried the bot to the sofa. Milo was heavy, but no heavier than a man of the same size, and one benefit to Rowan’s behemoth figure was his strength. He propped the bot on its side to check the port on its back. It looked just as fried and blackened as the connector in the charging station, with little fissures branching out along Milo’s skin like lightning scars.
Rowan couldn’t even peel the skin away to open the panel where he had implanted the surge protector. It was all fused together now. He would need to remove a whole section of Milo’s back to replace the port,ifthe bot was even salvageable.
Tentatively, Rowan ran a shaky hand across the damage. Anguished to imagine a life without Milo, he leaned over the bot to check for signs of life, and a spark jumped at him, shocking him like he had touched an electric fence.
Milo’s body jerked, eyes illuminating as it experienced an all-over seizure from the reboot.
“Milo!” Rowan exclaimed, allowing the bot to take its time righting itself and sitting up as it blinked rapidly.
“Initializing… Processing… Conducting emergency protocol diagnostic…” The bot sat still for several seconds, then turned abruptly to Rowan, its eyes looking even more vibrant in the dark. “Master? How did I get here? I was at the charging station. I have no memory of moving to the sofa.”
“The storm.” Rowan sighed in relief that Milo seemed okay and was talking normally. “A bolt of lightning came through the window and knocked you out.”
“To the sofa?”
“No, I carried you to the sofa.”
“Oh…” Milo looked around, almost like it was confused. It could misunderstand commands, but Rowan had never seen it look confused before.
“Milo, what did your diagnostic say?”
Milo did not respond, but continued looking around the room.
“Milo?”
“Yes, Master?” Milo turned to Rowan with an uncharacteristic jump. “Will you repeat the command, please?”
“What did your diagnostic say?”
The gears in Milo’s eyes twisted and turned in competing directions. “Aside from a slight power flux throughout, all systems appear to be within normal levels, though the charging port and non-factory surge protector you installed are now non-functioning.”
