The Watch - Part 31

As expected the arena was packed with people. There was a massive queue, stretching for hundreds of people, bending this way and that, and around corners. When I joined the queue, I didn’t want to lose my space, as there were many uncountable amount of people joining behind me, and I knew that I would have to wait for an exceptionally long time more if I left just for a second. I took my spot in the queue, and I was not going to leave it until I reached the front gate.

‘It would be better off if we got a drink and something to eat,’ a woman behind me said. ‘We’re going to be waiting here for a very long time, and so I’m going to make the most of it. By the time we’ve refreshed ourselves, the queue would have died down a bit,’ and they left. Somehow, I doubted that.

I could see a fair way down before the queue turned the corner, and I noticed that there were a few robots waiting as well. I watched as a human asked his robot to keep his place in the line whilst he took his son to the toilet. The helpful robot nodded, and waited with the humans. Seeing that display of helpfulness, made me think just how difficult it had been before. This made me think about how beneficial it would be if we had robots back in my home world. That thought slowly evolved and now I'm thinking about how far into the future it would be before the first robot would enter someone’s house, helping them like the ones in this world.

I got thinking about a lot of things as the queue started to move. They must have opened the doors and letting a few people through at a time. They were rather quick with their processing; as soon as the queue started, it never stopped, and it wasn’t long before I turned the corner, then the next, until finally rounding the third and seeing the doors.

‘Name?’ the woman at the entrance asked when it became my turn to be processed and enter the arena.

‘Sebastian Spence,’ I answered. I wasn’t sure why I was nervous, but my voice was a little shaky. However, the woman didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary to question me about it and just checked her virtual clipboard filled with hundreds and hundreds of names. She scrolled down to the 'S' and found my name.

‘You’re in the middle,’ she said, pointing to where I need to go. ‘Row, J, seat fourteen.’

‘Thank you very much,’ I said smiling as I entered the arena, heading in the direction she pointed in. It was an immediate change of atmosphere. The arena was an open top area, open to the elements, but I could see that it does have a hydraulic roof for when the weather changes. Hundreds and hundreds of seats circled around a gigantic stage. An uncountable amount of people was already seated, talking and, or sorting out their belongings, waiting patiently for the event to start in another half an hour or so. As I walked forwards, I could see another queue of people, waiting for the event guide. This queue wasn’t that long, so I decided to get myself one before finding my seat.

‘Five pounds, please,’ the robot said getting a fresh event guide out of one of his boxes behind his counter. I handed him the money and he gave me the guide. I thanked him and headed off to my seat.

Once comfortable, I opened the event guide and started to read the statistics of the war robot that will be demonstrated right here, in front of my eyes this very afternoon. The event guide basically told me everything that B.O.B explained back at the house when reading off the poster, but in a more technical language. In the centre of the book, a picture that extended across both pages, which showed me what the robot looked like. It was truly something that looked like it had just come from the pages of a comic book. It was designed to represent an incredibly strong person if he had the suit vacuumed packet around his body. He stood in an upright pose with text boxes surrounding him, explaining his weapons. He has a laser in his wrist, rockets on his back, in his chest and in his legs – the one in his chest was, stereotypically, the strongest of all the weapons – and two swords, one in each arm that shoots out when it needs it. He has been painted with the traditional army colours, which made it actually look rather cool, if I do say so myself. It has been programmed with the very latest software, enabling it to be a professional fighter in many different styles of fighting, and every weapon he has in his arsenal. Just from looking at a picture of this robot, it made me feel as if I don’t want to go up against it.

As I was reading, the place filled up before I knew it and the introductory music started, making me jump slightly. I placed the book down beside me and, incredibly excitedly, watched the event unfold.

‘Ladies and gentleman,’ a disembodied man’s voice boomed from the many speakers surrounding the arena. ‘There have been many before it, but none has been as powerful as it.  Twice as powerful. Loaded with weapons that will make any robot quake in its bolts.’ I like that phrase. ‘I present to you, an exclusive look at the one and the only, Destruction Cyborg three-thousand.’

The ground opened up, revealing a hole the size of four humans standing about an arm's-length apart. The music changed from introductory instrumental, to epic orchestral, complete with a raging choir. As the platform rose, the robot was slowly revealed. It was an awesome and a half. It rose up, spinning, allowing everyone to see it all at once. It looked ten times as cool as it did in the picture. The nerd inside me was ecstatic. I couldn’t help but drop my jaw in awe. When the robot had finished rising upwards, and with the platform continuing to spin, it started to move. It moved its left arm up and saluted to the crowd. Everyone, all at once, burst out cheering, clapping, and whistling. I sat in silence, trying to fathom what just happened.

Everyone was so distracted with cheering, clapping and whistling, that no one saw the man who had introduced the robot walk on to the arena floor. They only noticed him when he stood directly beside the robot and started to speak. The moment he said the first word, the audience stopped immediately, ready to listen to everything he had to say.

‘For one night only, for your eyes only, we will be demonstrating the most advanced robot in the world. Personally I prefer to say showing off.’ The audience laughed. ‘We will be showing you its fighting capabilities by going up against a range of holograms, both humans and robots. Next it will show you its targeting system by having it target three, very small red dots over the other side of the arena. So, without further ado, let’s get this party started.’ The audience cheered once more as, one by one, the holograms appeared on the arena floor and the war robot walked into place.

It was a sight that I will never forget. With perfect precision, without missing a single beat, the robot was able to out punch, out kick and out manoeuvre every holographic human and robot. And when it came to targeting the very small red dot, it did so without anyone getting worried that the missile would suddenly lose direction and plummet into the crowd. The robot had built up their complete trust.

And then it went all wrong.

From up above, loud music disturbed the demonstration. Everyone looked up and saw something descending into the arena. It would have been an awesome part of the show if it was actually planned, but I knew it wasn't due to the puzzled expression on the announcer’s face. He stared at the descending human like shaped object with the same amount of curiosity as the audience did. It was another robot. This was similar in appearance to the one on display, but it was a little taller, and didn’t look as if it wanted to make friends. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that was the case, but there was something about the way it looked, and of course the way in entered that made it feel as if something was going terribly wrong.

‘Er…,’ the announcer said, ‘can we help you?’ It was an instant reaction. The other robot raised his arm up, ejecting a sword from his arm and aiming it at the announcer’s throat, not cutting it, just close enough to make him not move an inch otherwise he would be ending up in hospital without a throat. The audience gasped and screamed.

Destruction Cyborg 3000’s eyes glowed red and lunched at the intruding robot. It appeared that is exactly what the other robot was waiting for, it casually stepped to one side, making DC3000 miss it's very first hit of the day. It didn’t take long before a full on fight was on.

Both robots were attacking each other, but the intruding one out performed the other one, easily managing to hit without getting hit itself. And when it found an opening, it took the opportunity and struck Destruction Cyborg 3000 in the chest, then head, making it fall to the floor in pieces. The audience was silent. I couldn’t believe what I had just saw. The most powerful robot in the world, beaten easily. Then it turned towards the audience.

‘People of this arena,’ a deep voice issued from the robot's mouth, ‘take this as a warning that we are not to be messed with. If you try to challenge us, you will face the consequences. I want you to spread that message as far as you can. If you move without my saying so, you will be used as a lesson on what not to do.’

I just sat here, watching everything unfold, not moving for fear of being targeted. There was that sensation of want in the back of my mind. I want to do something. I want to show that robot it should not have come here.

Ever so subtly, I navigated through my watch, picking what I feel is necessary to do what I am about to do, which is borderline I haven’t got a clue.

I pressed the button to activate the watch. My clothes changed. My physical attributes changed.

This was time to make my move.

‘Hey,’ I shouted, standing up. All eyes were on me. The robot turned to face me. I felt a small twinge of nervousness hit my stomach, but I was confident enough that I can do this, I was able to push that away.

It was now or never.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)