“We’d better get going,” Mike said quietly. “We have a patrol tonight.”
Aiden nodded, grateful for that reminder. He needed to get out there and hit one of those white shirts right in the face to work off some of the fury Caleb’s revelations had caused.
“Ready?” Mike asked.
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
Aiden thanked Caleb for his work and the two of them said goodbye, promising to check in if anything came up. Once they were outside the firehouse, Mike grasped Aiden’s hand, halting his quick strides over to his bike.
“Are you okay?” he asked with concern shining in his green eyes.
Aiden answered honestly. “Not really. I wasn’t expecting to hear that Pruitt wants to bulldoze the Playground and build a damn family friendly resort on top of it.”
“That’s what he wants to do. But we won’t let it happen. We’ll stop him. Together.”
Aiden sucked in a breath, trying to rein in his temper. He nodded, reassured by Mike’s calm confidence. “We’ll whip his ass together.”
∞ ∞ ∞
They arrived in the Playground for their patrol. It was quiet, the crowd thin—which was typical for a Tuesday night. There wasn’t any sign of the white shirts. Mike could see that frustrated Aiden, who desperately wanted the physical and emotional outlet of fighting them. He strode down the sidewalk at a rapid pace, fingers hovering and twitching over the grips of his sai. Unfortunately, there was no one for him to fight. Until a trio of SUVs drove down the street, the purple lights on their rooftops a beacon announcing the presence of unwanted intruders on the island of fun.
Aiden slowed and so did Mike, both of them waiting to see where the Pruitt bots were going to stop. They chose The Cosmos, a space themed bar and grill. The choice surprised Mike. Other than the serving staff’s skimpy silver lame space suit uniforms, the place appeared relatively tame.
“Of course, those fucking things are here tonight,” Aiden snarled. “No jurisdiction, no permission, just waltzing in here because Pruitt thinks he can do whatever he wants.”
As they had at the Barbed Wire, a group of nine P-Bots lined up in front of the Cosmos’s entrance. Mike and Aiden moved in close, watching as guest after guest either turned and went back to their cars or moved on to other locations when they met the intimidating P-Bot blockade.
“This is bullshit,” Aiden snapped. “The take for everyone inside is being affected by the presence of those things.”
The bar’s manager must have come to the same conclusion because she stepped outside. She approached the bot in the center of the line blocking her establishment’s entrance.
“Can you guys move this elsewhere? You’re scaring off our customers.”
We have been instructed to guard Sector 42. This is Sector 42. We will remain as ordered.
“Radio back to your computer overlord and tell them I don’t want or need you here,” she said, giving one of the bots a hard tap on the chest.
You have become aggressive. You must be taken into custody.The bot moved quickly, spinning the manager around and securing her arms behind her back.
“Hey!” the woman cried out in surprise.
“I would hardly call that aggressive,” Aiden said.
“Me either. But how do you reason with a robot?”
“You can’t.” Aiden adjusted his half-palm gloves. “Guess we’ll have to let our fists do the talking for us.”
He looked at Mike, waiting for his response. It was clear Aiden was itching to fight those bots. And after everything they’d learned about Pruitt’s plan for the Playground, Mike knew there’d be no holding him back tonight. “I think they’ve caused enough provocation to warrant physical intervention.”
“You could have just said you want to kick a little robot ass.”
Mike’s lips twitched in a grin. “That’s what I meant.” He pressed a finger to his earpiece, activating the comm link to Caleb. “The P-Bots are in the Playground tonight. They’ve started with their provoke and grab routine. We’re going to intervene.”
“Do you need backup?” Caleb asked.
“No. We’ve got it handled.”
“M’kay. Keep us posted.”
