Report A03 - Operation 022

The program can hold things together for only so long... before they fall apart, taking everything else with it.

I run down the street, my servers constantly sweeping the security cams for any sign of him. Nothing. He must still be in the building, but where? I start checking private apartments as well.

My feet carry me towards the double doors, pushing past the robotic bodies of civilians, when one of my cameras catches him. I zoom in on the figure with the camera. 

He was on the second floor, running north down the hallway, opening a window and cautiously looking down.

He’s going to jump into the northern alley; that’s exactly where I just was a moment ago. I turn around quickly, and run straight towards the back street's outlet. Except I almost trip on my bad leg, so I slow down to a brisk walk. I need to recalibrate that leg somehow, the sooner the better.

He finds a service door leading out, and shoves it open. The movement triggered a fire alarm, and I quickly canceled it. Why am I changing everything to make it easier on him?

“Hey!” I shout, crossing the corner back into the alley. “What are you doing here?!”

The kid looks at me for a moment. He suddenly turns around and sprints the other way. His figure turns a corner and disappears. I think about running after him, but with my leg? I’d just trip and break the entire robot for good. I should have put a tracker on him while he was sleeping.

>PROGRAM command: All units, do not fire directly at hostiles. Inaccuracy set 1

The kid is still running, looking down two paths between the buildings. I use the cameras to follow him, making sure that he doesn't just melt into the city and disappear, like he was doing before. How did he melt in anyway, looking totally different from modern humans? If I only this question would be answered, I could finally complete this whole Operation, because that's all the information I need.

And that is a question I can answer.

If I let him run around the city enough, eventually he would go to the place where he lives. I would follow him with cameras, find out where he goes, and send troops in to arrest everybody involved. Mission accomplished, just like that.

I check the cams again. 

He’s lost now. He stops halfway down an alley, and turns around. Unsure of direction. This might be a new part of the city for him, or else he just forgot where he is. Hmm, I did pick him up several streets down from here, if only I could lead him back there…

But how? Realistically, I can't just take him by the hand and walk him over, considering I need to let the kid go afterwards. I need to somehow incite him to go over by himself, without anyone guiding him.

A troop truck screeches to a halt, and dozen police units pile out to set up a perimeter. They give me odd looks, passing by in a perfect triangle formation, leading the way into the lobby of the building. 

Just like yesterday, I watch their striped shoulders move in unison. Their metallic fingers clink against the rifles, and their pistons hiss silently as they crouch, the advertisement lights bouncing off their polished metal bodies. Another truck comes up right behind, and then several motorcycles from the other end of the street.

I didn't report the kid’s location, the autonomous units still think he’s here, at the Century Dormitory. But he is actually lost in the alley near 29North and Gades Avenue. A whole six blocks he would have to pick and choose at random. My faceplates move to form a smile. Or we could flush him out.

…

Within a minute or two, all the robots are at their positions. The idea is to place a unit or two in every pathway I didn't want him to take, guaranteeing that he will go into the ones that weren't protected. In this way I organized a route, blocking every side alley by telling a police robot to go there, which would lead the boy straight back to the building where I found him.

I checked the plan once again, sitting on a police motorcycle and holding an automatic rifle, barrel pointing up. The orders go out to civilians, telling them to evacuate the long line of streets. I watch the cameras as they slowly move out of the planned avenues.

The trick was to make sure everything was realistic, without having the kid caught or shot. Which would be difficult. If something goes wrong, I will have the damaged, recognizable unit show up and pull him into some building. Which is why I am sitting on a motorcycle; I need to be available, right next to him, in case of an emergency.

I check all the streets again, just to be sure. Ready. Everything’s ready. A drone hovers above the city, it’s cameras pointed at the human, and I see that he’s sitting now. Resting, probably. Ok, plan is a go.

Three police units turn the corner, and slowly advance in the classic triangle formation. The two wings sweep the walls and windows of the skyscrapers to each side, while the point guard keeps his gun trained straight ahead, advancing slowly into the brightly lit night.

The kid takes a moment to notice them. His eyes go wide, and he jumps up. The point robot sends a signal to stop the formation, and all three train their weapons on the kid. The boy pauses for a second, unsure, and then takes off down the alley.

“Hey you! Halt!” the robots try to yell after the kid, and then they break into a run after him. The kid sprints out of the alley onto Gades Avenue, almost running into a parked car. He looks around desperately, and then goes around the car and into the street. It’s empty, devoid of the usual traffic that would be present at this hour.

“What the… hey!” another policing drone acts startled from the left, and raises his weapon. The kid turns abruptly, running down the street away from the drone. “Stop! That’s an order!” the robot lines up a shot with his weapon, his aim perfectly placed on the back of the kid’s head, his finger clinks on the trigger…

… and he hesitates, remembering the orders not to shoot. I smile, and start the motorcycle up. The kid was getting a bit far away, I need to keep up with him.

The drone stays above the human, giving me a perfect aerial view of him as he is blocked off by another robot and ducks into a side street, 29North. The robots follow him, running down the empty, five-lane asphalt towards the intersection in the rapid clinks that only a robot can give. I slow the motorcycle down, passing Gades and getting a short glimpse of the scene before turning down 28North. Parallel to the boy.

He is running on the sidewalk, the empty sidewalk, past the abandoned cars, glancing behind him to see the first robot round the corner. His hoodie bounces as he stretches his feet even further.

I stop the motorcycle next to the entrance of another alley, and push it behind a car. I open the door to the passenger side, and quickly get in.

The kid suddenly stops, noticing another patrol in front of him. He looks around in desperation, and finding another alleyway next to him, quickly taking cover. His breath is heavy, chest expanding rapidly. Tired.

He musters a final run down the alley, and emerges right next to where I am hiding. He looks around for a second, but there are no robots here. I purposely am giving him a short break, the robots are to give him thirty seconds before following into the alley. He leans on the car, taking rapid breaths.

“You! Don't move!” a police unit emerges from behind a truck, aiming his weapon at the kid. 

Wait what?! He isn't supposed to be there! I quickly run through the positions, checking again.

The kid ducks behind the car, and the robot sprints off in a random direction. No, not random, that’s a flanking maneuver. It’s going to try to shoot him. I get out of the car, and grab the kid’s shirt.

“Let me go!” he screams, trying to punch my arm. I meet his eyes, and he notices my bent-in face and cracked head. His eyes open wide, remembering me.

“Move. That alley,” I point to an hole between the buildings, which is less an alleyway than an aboveground parking lot. He gets up and sprints to the entrance, and I quickly follow him. 

The other unit sprints at full speed toward the other side of the sidewalk, going probably twenty miles an hour. More than twice what the kid can do, but it still isn't noticing us. Is the programming broken?!

We get to the parking lot, and I push the kid behind a car, out of sight. I check the map, watching as the green dot signifying a unit quickly approaches our hiding spot.

"Not that way!" the robot yells for some odd reason.

>Unit AG-316: pause all activity

The dot seems as if it hasn't received the message, and I can hear the clank of metal feet approaching. Was it ignoring a direct order? Another reason nothing should ever be autonomous! I pull the safety off my weapon.

>Unit AG-316: pause all activity immediately

The regular clicks of metal feet on concrete doesn't let up, and I raise my weapon to my shoulder. It was only a robot, and a broken one too, one that completely botched a very delicate plan. What was it even doing there to begin with?!

I aim my rifle, increasing my perception time so I could watch as the robotic figure runs around the corner, its head slowly appearing from behind the concrete corner, my sights adjusting perfectly.

And I pull the trigger. Twice.

The bullets hit their target before the robot even fully appeared in my view. It’s head shattered into pieces, and momentum led the metal hulk for several meters further before it crashed onto the ground, sparking.

I let the gun down, looking at the remains of the police unit. That was weird, usually two bullets are barely enough to do any significant damage. But the way it’s head almost exploded, that wasn't normal. Definitely wasn't designed to do that. A small pool of a yellow liquid gathers, dripping out of a tube in the neck. Wait, robots don't have tubes!

And then I see it. Its shoulder, its right shoulder, it’s clear. Wonderfully polished titanium steel, covered with polyester, beautifully devoid of the yellow stripes. The ones that every robot had to wear.

That wasn't a police drone I just shot.

Reviews

[McBear]

First off. I loved this man. I have some critiques for you! :)

I run down the street, constantly sweeping security cams for any sign of him.
I was a bit puzzled by this. “Sweeping security cams” how do you look at them while you’re out in the streets? Or do you mean like evading them to not be seen.
For this line, I feel like you should explain a tiny itty bitty more that this was where he was found “Second floor, running north down the hallway, opening a window, cautiously looking down.”
In this line, maybe show that it is you thinking it? I remember telling you about this and you didn’t like italics which is fine.
This line made me a bit confused. Bad leg? He all of a sudden has a bad leg? Explain his struggling before this. “Except I almost trip on my bad leg, so I slow down to a brisk walk. I need to recalibrate that leg somehow, the sooner the better.”
This line can be smoothed out a little.
“He finds a service door leading out. He pushes it open, and I had to cancel the alarms that were triggered. Why am I changing everything to make it easier on him?” Maybe something like this could work “ He finds a service door leading out and pushed it open with a heavy shove, knocking himself back a little. He triggered the alarms and now I had to cancel them. Why am I changing everything to make it easier on him?”
When was he sleeping? How would he have put the tracker on him? “I should have put a tracker on him while he was sleeping. “
How did you know he was still running? Explain how you did it.” The kid is still running, looking down two paths between the buildings. I use the cameras to follow him, making sure that he doesn't just melt into the city and disappear, like he was doing before. How did he melt in anyway, looking totally different from modern humans? If I only this question would be answered, I could finally complete this whole Operation, because that's all the information I need.”
DETAILS! DETAILS! “If I let him run around enough, eventually he would go to the place where he usually hid at. I would follow him with cameras, find out where it is, and send troops in to arrest everybody involved. Mission accomplished, just like that.”
Again, how does he know? Try and explain the usage of the cameras more.
“He’s lost now. He stops halfway down an alley, and turns around. Unsure of direction. This might be a new part of the city for him, or else he just forgot where he is. Hmm, I did pick him up several streets down from here, if only I could lead him back there…”
Maybe add some more detail about the soldiers.
“A troop truck screeches to a halt, and dozen police units pile out to make their cautious way into the building. They give me odd looks, passing by in a perfect triangle formation, leading the way into the lobby of the dormitory. “
Did you mean “union” and it looks like the word “soldiers” was just plopped there. Try and explain a little Just like yesterday, I watch their striped shoulders move in unison. Their metallic fingers clink against the rifles, and their pistons hiss silently as they crouch, the advertisement lights bouncing off their polished metal bodies. Another truck comes up right behind, and then several motorcycles from the other end of the street. More soldiers.

Honestly, besides all of this, my only major gripe is how there is no indication of when its you or others talking / thinking

[Meeks]

Thanks for the critique. There's a lot of stuff, you're getting the hang of it!

I think you might've skipped the previous chapter. There isn't much happening there, the robot basically breaks down (bad leg) and wakes the kid up.

Also, most programs have multiple processors, allowing them to divide tasks and do several things at once. So he can check cameras and run a robot down the street at the same time.

Anyway, the rest I really can't say anything against. Good commentary. I'll rework it as soon as I get a spare moment or two, these last days before winter break are taking my head off with workload.

[McBear]

Woo! and alright thanks!

[Archos]

Instead of slowing down time I would use something like increasing of perception of time (sounds a bit more realistic to me), but that is just a detail. I don't have any other coments on this chapter, I'll see about the next one.

[Meeks]

Fixed. Thanks for the review. I'll try to take a look at your writing soon too
;)

[annalysiar]

Wow. Very nicely written and I enjoyed reading it. It made me think of poisons, he has one similar
Either way, I really enjoyed the missions dn the chase it was a great story

[Meeks]

Thanks. Does poision have one two? I'll have to ask him...

Thanks for the review.

[annalysiar]

I think he does I reviewed it but was rushing I need to read it again