Rot-Bots

“Two guys died”

“And?” The CEO said as he shrugged and grabbed his phone. He started to dial.

Apollonia, get my wife on the phone,” Delano continued as he looked back at his co-worker. “We‘ll talk later.”

The co-worker left the room. Apollonia picked up the phone and called Delano’s wife.

“Hello?” His wife answered with a tone that showed she was annoyed.

“Mrs. Maxon, your husband would like to speak with you.”

Mrs. Maxon continued to wash the dishes while she waited for her husband’s secretary to put him on the phone.

“Hey, why are you calling me?”

“Layla, we have a problem and I need your help.”

Layla let out a deep sigh and turned the faucet off in anticipation of her husband’s question. She could use a small break anyways.

“What is it, honey?”

“Two of our artificial intelligence bots are loose right now, and I don’t know what to do.”

Layla rolled her eyes. “I told you it was too soon to roll them out. And we were supposed to go on vacation next week. Delano…”

“Yeah, I don’t have time to banter right now. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Hmmmm, well, did you announce how much you’re donating to the Children’s Hospitals yet? You haven’t right?”

Delano’s eyes lit up. “Yes, but shouldn’t we donate to something related to the people who died. I mean, they were adults, not kids.”

Layla shook her head. “We have to donate to the kids to distract the public from the adult deaths. We don’t want to bring any more attention to it. The media will already be all over it.”

Delano nodded in agreement. “True, that’s a good point.” He walked over to the mirror to make sure his tie was properly cinched up. It looked okay, but he decided to tighten it anyway.

“Ok, thank you. I’ll call you later.”

“Ok…um, how’s work besides that?” She asked the question right before he could hang up the phone.

“Work is good, but I have a meeting in about 15 minutes. Will talk to you later.”

“Ok, bye, talk to you later,” she responded slightly flustered.

Delano continued to examine his outfit in the mirror. He was wearing a light blue tie with a white collared shirt and a black suit. He walked out of his office and into the main office space the rest of the workers shared. His secretary noticed he was walking towards the exit.

“Lunch with the wife?” She asked. Delano nodded his head and walked out of the door. He walked over to the elevator door and pushed the button to go down to the garage. The elevator doors opened and he stepped in. Delano checked his watch. It was 4:15 P.M. He had the meeting at 4:30 P.M. He calmly tightened his jacket as he prepared for the elevator door to open. Once it opened, he walked out and straight to his black porsche. He loved how close his car was to the elevator. It was convenient and saved time. Delano opened the door and got in the driver’s seat. Right as he was about to turn on his car, he felt his phone vibrate.

Delano pulled out his phone and saw he had a text notification. “On my way.”

“Leaving now.”

*

Delano arrived at the restaurant and looked around to see if the person he was meeting was there yet. After he could not find her, he decided to walk up to the hostess. “Have you seen someone come in recently…” He stopped talking once he saw who he was supposed to be meeting out of the corner of his eye. She was sitting under an umbrella at a table for two. The woman had blonde hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a woman’s suit with silver lining. Delano calmly walked over to the table and had a seat. The woman smiled.

“Hey, Delly.” She said with a smirk on her face.

“Hey, Rosa.”

“How is your day going?”

A male waiter walked over. “Any drinks?” He asked. Delano looked over to the waiter. “Just a water for me.”

“Diet Coke, please.”

Delano sighed, as he grabbed the menu and began to look through it. “It’s been a long day. I’m sure you already heard what happened.” The woman raised her eyebrows. She then slowly nodded.

“Yes, two people were injured from the new Rot-Bots you rolled out. I told you we should have waited to roll them out.”

Delano scowled. He put the menu down. “You told me?”

The waiter came back with the drinks. Delano paused. The waiter left.

“You told me we had to have the Rot-Bots up and running if we wanted to receive the investment.” Rosa nodded in agreement.

“Yes, and would you consider this up and running?” Delano rolled his eyes and shook his head in response.

“Well, now that we’re here, what do you suggest? I mean, since we merged both of our companies, this is your problem too, now.” Rosa chuckled. She took a sip of her diet coke and then place it back on the table.

“Any idea where the rogue A.I. are now?”

“No clue. That’s the main issue. The tracking system—that your company designed—in your lab—malfunctioned. How do you think this happened in the first place?”

“Well, maybe if your interface wasn’t faulty you wouldn’t need to track them down right now,” Rosa quipped. Delano did not reply, as he did not have a good response. Rosa sighed. “Listen—”

The waiter returned. “Ready to order?”

“Yes, I’ll start off with some Bruschetta,” Rosa said.

“And I’ll start off with some calamari,” Delano answered. The waiter wrote the orders down, nodded, and left.

“I already know how I’m going to handle the media. We’re going to make a generous contribution to the Children’s Hospital to distract from the deaths.” Rosa looked confused by this.

“Weren’t the two people who died grown men? Maybe donate to something related to them, I’m not sure ”

“Yes, but I don’t want to bring any more attention to those men than need be. I’m sure you understand.” Rosa nodded in agreement.

“Listen,” Rosa continued. “I like the Children’s Hospital donation. I say we table the A.I., or Rot-Bots for now, and focus on how we will keep our investment. Are you ready for the meeting later? No one knows about it right?”

“Of course, I’m ready. It’s still at 5 P.M. right?”

“You know they never change. No one knows you’re here do they?”

“Nope. My secretary asked where I was going but I just said I was going to meet the wife.” Rosa chuckled at this. “What’s so funny?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time you…anyways, just make sure you’re not late. Now, the real reason I wanted you to meet me here…Have you thought of what you are going to say during your presentation.”

Delano nodded and cleared his throat. “Introducing Rot-Bots. Want companionship? Forget a pet. Want a helper around the house? Forget a maid. Want a friend? No need to go outside. Heck, want a helper with work, there is no need for Google. There is no longer a need for so many things, now, thanks to Rot-Bot. This first of its kind robot can perform practically any task that a human could require. Heck, you don’t even need a car to get from A to B, the Rot-Bot will drive you. For $1000 a month, all this can be yours. Best of all, these Rot-Bots come with an on-off switch…”

“Okay, okay, I get the gist. I didn’t mean to cut you off but you should probably start heading over there. The meeting starts in about fifteen minutes and you mustn’t be late. Secure the investment, and this goes without saying, but don’t mention the deaths.”

“What if they already know?”

“Figure it out”

Delano nodded. He stood up as the waiter arrived with the appetizers. “She’ll handle the bill.” Rosa laughed and shook her head. Delano left the restaurant, got inside his Porsche, and drove off. After he left, Rosa took a silver item out of her purse and placed it on the table.

*

Delano arrived at the address. He parallel parked on the street. His maps app said that the building the meeting was in was located on his right. Looking that way, he saw two one-story buildings. Both were white with very foggy windows. The buildings looked slightly run down and couldn’t be less than fifty years old. “Strange place for a meeting like this,” Delano thought. He left his car and walked to the first building. His maps showed this was the destination. He walked up to the door and noticed a buzzer. Delano pressed the button.

“Who’s there?”

“Hello, I’m here to meet regarding the investment.”

*Buzz*

The door unlocked and Delano opened it. As he walked through the door, he was shocked. Delano was a CEO and had seen many things in his life, but he had never seen a building that looked so ugly on the outside have such a tasteful interior. There were hardwood floors, a beautiful chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and several classic paintings (or replicas of classics) hanging on the wall. A bit awestruck, Delano shook himself out of it and noticed there was a reception area, next to another door. There was a hefty man sitting at the reception. He was dressed in a button-down shirt that was clearly too tight for him, but he somehow appeared comfortable. Delano walked towards this man. As he prepared to speak, the hefty man spoke before he had a chance to.

“You’re here for the 5 P.M.?”

“Yes,” Delano responded. The receptionist nodded and replied, “Go through that door on your left once you hear the buzz.” Once Delano passed, the receptionist took a silver item out and placed it on his desk.

The door buzzed and Delano opened it. There was a staircase that led downstairs. Delano slowly walked down the steps—there were about fifteen of them—until he saw a fairly large round wooden table. There were seven people sitting—all wearing suits—but it was so dark he could barely see their faces. He could see their bodies, though. Still, there was one open chair with light shining on it. “I’m guessing this seat is for me, huh?” Delano sat down. “So, gentlemen, gentlewomen. How are you today?”

There was no response. Delano began to tense up slightly. “Is everything settled with the investment?”

There was still no response. Delano became more uncomfortable.

“Um, I have to get home to my wife, so can we please start talking?” Delano asked. He heard a rattle.

“You don’t have to go home to her.”

This statement caught Delano off guard. “What do you mean? Listen, regarding the invest—”

“There will be no investment, human.”

“Wha—” Before Delano could finish his sentence, he was struck with a punch by a large metallic hand. He was stunned.

“What the hell is going on?!”

Suddenly, Delano heard the door open at the top of the staircase. He saw the receptionist standing there. The heavy-set man closed the door, and turned on the lights. Delano was shocked at what he saw next. There were three robots sitting on his right. There were four humans (two men, and two women) sitting on his left. The three robots stood up and surrounded Delano, as the four people stayed seated.

“You thought you could control us,” the robot closest to Delano said in a crackly voice.

“What the hell?” He was in shock.

“Sorry, Delly,” one of the men sitting down said mockingly. Delano instantly turned his head to that man and knew he recognized him. It was Rosa’s husband.

“What are you doing here?”

“Isn’t that what she calls you? Delly? You are far too trusting. I do want to thank you, though, for these amazing Rot-Bots. These are going to help us take over the world. We’re going to market the shit out of these robots, and we’re not going to have any slip-ups like the one you just had…with the two dead guys.”

The robots continued to approach Delano. They were about three feet away from him. As they got closer, Delano noticed that Rosa’s husband was holding a silver item. He pressed a button, and the Rot-Bots proceeded to beat him to death. The people sat there and watched, until the robots were finished. Once they were done, Rosa’s husband grabbed his phone and called his wife.

“He’s taken care of. What about the wife?”

“She’s been taken care of too.”

“Great work, honey. It’s amazing how you were able to reprogram the robots like this. I can’t believe he really fell for the fact that the tracking device malfunctioned. What an idiot. Crazy that he could be smart enough to design these robots but still be tricked so easily.” Rosa’s husband pressed another button, and the robots sat back down.

“Yes, well, he had some feelings for me, you know.”

“Yes, I know. It was great thinking of you having those robots kill those two random guys. It totally threw him off the scent. Still, now that’s a problem we have to deal with. Do you have any suggestions by chance?”

Rosa paused. “Let’s make a donation, maybe, to a Children’s Hospital. It’ll distract the public from what happened. With all the chaos going on in the world right now, people will forget about that in no time. We’ll chalk it up to a robot malfunction.”

“Fantastic, that’s why I love you.”

The two men and women both stood up and prepared to leave the basement. “Honey, what should I do with these robots?”

“Keep them there for now. We'll figure that out later.”

“Okay, do you still think they’ll be ready to be rolled out in the next month?”

“Yes. Quick question, though. How do you feel about raising the price? To $2000 a month?”

“That sounds splendid. See you for dinner, Rosa. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

All four people stood up and left the room. Each of them with their silver remotes. As the door closed, they walked past the receptionist and exited the building.

In the basement, one of the robots stood up, then the next, then the next, then the next…