Reboot

Part 3

Of course not. You may now climb onto my back.

Sara tucked the note into a pocket along with the others and looked the robot up and down. "How will I..." her words faded out as Reb. 16 gracefully lowered it's body nearly to the ground, the 'elbows' of the legs sticking up high. Sara still found it unnerving how much it resembled a spider.

"Here goes," she muttered under her breath and gingerly climbed onto the robot. The surface of Reb.16's body was rougher than Sara thought it would be, allowing for good traction and was slightly translucent. Dark shapes and shadows suggested complex inner workings of the robot. She noted that the source of the white light was not from a single external light bulb, but rather numerous little lights built into the surface in a ring around the edge of the robot's cylindrical body. These lights dimmed when Sara climbed on, exhibiting thoughtfulness on the robot's part.

Sara decided the best position was to sit with her legs bent, boots planted firmly, and arms out to her sides with palms flat on the rough, gritty surface to maintain balance.

"You should think about adding handles," Sara suggested once she was settled. "I'm ready," she said, patting the robot, uncertain of how she should treat this new 'friend'.

Reb.16 paused a moment longer, as if to make sure Sara was truly ready, before easing up, it did not rise to its former height, as if again being considerate of Sara (who was nervous of being smashed into the ceiling and wasn't that fond of heights to begin with).

"Do you mind if I call you just Reb?" Sara asked.

There was a crackle from the remote.

"I'm going to call you Reb," she decided.

Reb began down the hall, stooping low to go through the doors. Sara was surprised at how smooth a ride it was, the main body of the robot hardly moved at all but remained steady and even. From her vantage point Sara examined Reb's legs with interest; they were not what she had first thought they were (like everything else she had encountered in the past fifteen minutes). The legs seemed to be designed to telescope, like the antennas on old radios. There also appeared to be a second joint further down the legs that remained straight, Sara supposed that if the first joint was like an 'elbow', then the second was like a 'wrist', and the robot was just walking around on its 'knuckles'. The thought made Sara grin, and she marveled at the craftsmanship and design of the robot; whoever had made it was a genius! She was more than curious to have a peek inside the robot's main body to see how it all worked.

Before long they reached the steps that Reb had mentioned; water gently lapped at the second step. Sara tensed as Reb started down the steps and entered the dark water, slowly going deeper and deeper as they descended. Before they reached the bottom of the steps, Reb paused and slowly raised its body higher to stay out of the water, it brought Sara dangerously close to the ceiling. She grunted her discomfort and rolled onto her stomach to lie flat. She patted Reb twice, "I'm good," she assured it, and Reb continued onwards.

With the sound of Reb's legs on the floor concealed by the water, their journey through the basement was eerily silent. The silence of a deserted city wasn't new to Sara, but it felt different when being shared with a giant, spider robot.

The hallways were wide enough to fit the robot, (probably designed that way) and Reb moved about without hesitation. Sara frowned when Reb extended a leg and hooked a metal shelf that's top shelf was above water. Reb moved the shelf along with them, suggesting it was on wheels.

"Taking that with us?" Sara asked pointlessly.

After several minutes and many hallways, Reb turned down one that had a plastic strip curtain. The plastic was very badly discolored, and Sara didn't' want to touch them, but Reb parted them to either side as she passed through.