This is address 794 Henley Avenue. Business name: Barbed Wire. We received a report that one of your employees was the victim of a crime. We are here to prevent another crime from occurring.
The manager frowned and scratched the back of his head. “Ummm, thanks. But we’re fine. We don’t need any type of protection.”
We are here to prevent another crime.
“And I said we don’t need any protection. So, you guys are dismissed. Or whatever the codeword is to get you to leave.”
Unfortunately for the club manager, the bot simply repeated itself.
We are here to prevent another crime.
Despite the repeated robotic statement, the manager continued to try and get the bots to leave, his face growing redder with each attempt. But the P-Bots remained steadfast, refusing to budge from the line they’d formed in front of the Barbed Wire’s front door. As a result, no one was going inside the club. People walked past the bots, quickening their steps until they reached the club next to it. Some even crossed to the other side of the street to avoid them. The patrons who exited the Barbed Wire nervously edged around the P-Bots before rushing off to their car or the next location.
Stardust leaned over to whisper to Zielinski. “Notice anything wrong with this scene?” He waited as Zielinski scanned the area, hoping he would see the problem.
His brows drew together. “No one is stopping here.”
“Yep. People come to the Playground for a good time. They don’t want to get hassled while pursuing their fun,” Stardust said in annoyance.
Zielinski nodded in understanding. “Even though everything here is legal, no one wants to walk past the P-Bots to go into the club.”
“You got it. And I think it’s time we made them move along.”
He stepped forward but Zielinski grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
“What are you doing?”
Stardust tilted his head to the side, staring at Zielinski as if his goal should be obvious. “I’m going to get those bots out of here.”
“They’re not hurting anyone.”
“Maybe not physically. But they’re hurting the wallets of the people inside who are just trying to make a living.”
Zielinski shook his head. “That’s not enough reason to go and tangle with a police force. And Strong asked us to report in if there was any change. We should contact HQ and find out what action they want us to take first.”
Stardust glared up at his partner. He couldn’t see his eyes behind those green lenses but the hard set of his jaw made it clear he wasn’t going to budge on this. “I don’t need your help to take down those damn bots.”
“Maybe you don’t. But do you really think taking them on will be the best move? They’ll send reinforcements to triple their presence in the area, which would be even more damaging to business—the Barbed Wire’s and all the clubs and bars around it.”
What Zielinski said made sense but Stardust didn’t want to admit it. “You don’t know that.”
“I could be wrong. But why risk it?”
Since Stardust didn’t have an answer for that he cursed under his breath. Damnit. His first instinct was to rush in and knock those metal heads together. But Zielinski had a point. He didn’t want to cause additional trouble for the clubs on this street by doing something that would end in a truckload of P-Bot reinforcements.
“At least wait a few minutes to see how this plays out.”
“Fine.” Stardust relaxed and resumed his position leaning against the party bus.
While they’d argued, several of the Barbed Wire’s staff had come outside to see what was going on. One of the bots turned and faced the small group of employees. The purple light in its visor slid back and forth, as if it was scanning them. Apparently, itwasscanning. Because the light stopped moving, locked onto a familiar blonde woman. Stardust recognized her as the mugging victim they’d saved the night of their first patrol together. The machine broke rank from the line of P-Bots, marching through the knot of people with single minded purpose until it stood in front of her. It reached out and latched onto her arm.
Positive identification has been made to victim 87358. Please come with us for questioning.
The woman reared back, tugging ineffectually against the hold the bot had on her arm. “What the hell? I’m not going anywhere with you damn robots. I already gave my statement to the police.”
But like earlier when the club manager had tried to get the P-Bot to leave, it refused or was unable to listen to her. It maintained its hold on her arm without budging, no matter how hard she pulled to get away from it. Some of her coworkers tried to help get her free. One of them pushed the P-Bot. It took a single step back to maintain its balance but didn’t release its vise-like grip on the woman’s arm.
By now people from the clubs surrounding the Barbed Wire had started to gather across the street, watching what was going down. It didn’t take long for the growing crowd to get agitated. Voices grew loud, expressing their dislike for the P-Bots and their presence in the Playground. Someone yelled across the street.
