SAD ROBOT: an autobiography of my unfortunate existence

92. HIDING OUT

92. HIDING OUT 

"We can't go back to my place," Beth says as Nat continues to drive. "He knows who I am. They're gonna come pay me a visit, I can guarantee it."

"Yeah, especially with how suspicious you acted when you totally bolted right outta there!"

Beth swats Nat on the arm. "Well what would you have done in that situation?"

"I'm just jostling you, Bethie; you did the right thing. Got out of there as fast as you could. And didn't even get lost in that hospital!"

"I concur with Natalie," I pipe in from the backseat. "You accurately assessed the situation and chose a course of action befitting of what was at stake. I believe you acted intelligently."

"Yeah. What Hiram said."

"Well, thanks then. But he's still going to come after me. He almost certainly likely has someone already posted at my apartment. He's had tons of time to get my information somehow already. Maybe he's already inside, sitting at my kitchen table waiting for me to show up, hoping that I had a certain robot tagging along with me that I was intending on letting hide out in my apartment."

"Which you have been," I point out.

"Yeah. And Bridget's probably given the guy all the information she could. I'm pretty sure she at least knows your first name. And maybe that's all that creep needs. With that he could track down your connection to me, find your last name and where you live."

"Damn," Nat clenches her teeth.

"So your place isn't safe either, Nat. Not for Hiram. And we can't be too foolish. We screw up, we lose Hiram. It's not worth the risk. We have no idea who or what we're dealing with."

It is after dark now. 10:17 p.m to be exact. We can't go back to Beth's place nor to Nat's place for the reasons Beth has laid out.

"Perhaps I should just turn myself in. I'll willingly say it was by the idea of the two of you and hopefully their organization will give you a handily large cash reward for all your troubles."

"Don't be stupid," Nat shoots back at me.

Beth looks over to her. I can tell a sense of friendship passes between the two of them. Beth is glad she has Nat on her side. A true sister, no biological relation necessary.

I too am glad that I have the two of them on my side. I have never known anyone to willingly put themselves in harms way for someone such as myself. Humbled may be a descriptor at least partially accurate as to how I am feeling.

We stop somewhere so that the two of them can withdraw some cash from a banking machine. They've decided that they are going to split the cost of a hotel room for the night and decide what to do further in the morning.

From where the banking machine was, Nat drives several blocks further and picks out a hotel at random. We do not have to worry about my presence, all hotel accommodations are robot-friendly. This has been so for quite some time now. People bring robots along with them for overnight stays for a myriad of reasons. It is not out of the ordinary in the least to see a robot of any particular class trailing behind a guest.

The three of us enter a more budget-friendly hotel, though budget-friendly is only in comparison to the other nearby accommodations. None of them are particularly budget-friendly by any stretch of the imagination.

Nat and Beth split the one night cost and collect a pair of access keys from the robot at the front desk who courteously wishes them a pleasant evening.

The room itself is fairly standard. Only a single queen sized bed - the two had decided to take the single bed room, it being the cheaper option - is all that is needed. I did not need such a spacious arrangement, only a plug-in to charge myself up and an out of the way corner to tuck myself into.

Nat starfishes herself onto the bed with a loud plop.

"Now what do we do?" she says up to the ceiling.

Beth sets herself down into one of two chairs at a small, round table. I move off to the side of the room, locating one of the power outlets.

"I don't know," Beth puts her head in her hands, "but we'll come up with something."