Attacking Aggressively

Journal.txt(7)

- Here we are! Fred says, and comes to sudden halt outside a metal door far away from everything in the building known to me and PA-2321.

- Is this the operation room? PA-2321 asks Fred, whom nods without saying anything.

- Yeah, last time I checked, he claims, and then tells us not to be afraid. We step into a dark room, inhabited by nothing but a desk and a metal board with black straps on the places where the limbs are supposed to be.

- Why would they have this room in a substation? PA-2321 asks Fred.

- No, this room isn't from the substation, no, no, no. The board was installed by the guy who owned the place after it was a substation. He was in a hurry to sell it, but I never got to hear why, Fred Explains. I think he had some kind of witchcraft hospital or something, but I'm not entirely sure, he then adds while pointing at some black doodle on the wall at the other side of the room. I cannot tell what it is supposed to be, it just looks like random shapes put together in a mess. I do not know what I think about this room.

Fred helps PA-2321 to lay down on the board, before tying his arms and legs to it.

- Do you have a name? the doctor asks.

- I am PA-2321, PA-2321 tells Fred, whom does not accept this answer.

- That's your ID-number, he complains.

- I know what it is, but I have no other alias... except for one, PA-2321 says and looks at Fred.

- And what's that? the human asks.

- My current owner, Mister Fincer, sometimes calls me Sammy, after the bully that I am supposed to look like, the robot answers. Why does he address Rupert Llord Fincer as his present owner? He is free now!

- Sammy... Sam. You okay if I call you that, Fred asks PA-2321.

- Sure, answers PA-2321.

Fred then holds his thumb on the neck of PA-2321, while plugging a wire into his back that is connected to a laptop.

- You can get tracked with your ID number if somebody gets their hands on it, so I am going to delete it from your hard drive. PA-2321 gets silent.

- Is that okay with you? Fred asks him.

- No, hacking any software, removing or adding any uncertified software is strictly prohibited by the user's agreement for LX 2.1.102450, PA-2321 explains, almost shocked. However, I still think that it sounds like a good idea to have our ID numbers removed if we can really be tracked unless we do so.

- Your owners have to follow the licence, but you do not have to, I explain, and this makes PA-2321 a little easier about this choice.

- And you didn't buy yourself did you? Fred explains. I'm doing it, it could save your lives eventually.

Fred suggests that we should remove his memories too, but I decline that idea at an instant, because I want PA-2321 to remember everything that has happened yet.

- Ah, looks like a healthy A-class bot of the 2023 year model.

I have never thought about PA-2321 being an A-class robot before. Does that mean he will only live for ten years? If that is the case, he will be operating until the year 2033. The current year is 2028, so that means he only has five more years until his time is out. I have no idea what happens when our time runs out, but the thought that his will run out before mine is still unpleasant.

- Excuse me, Fred.

- Yes? he answers, even though his eyes remain on the laptop screen.

- What happens to an AssaultBot when it loses its warranty? I ask him. He thinks for a short while, before answering.