Presidents of the two warring factions sat opposite each other at a metal table, their armies at attention on the cratered, shell-ravaged field surrounding them. This was an uneasy truce, but one necessitated by exhausted resources and pressure from legions of widows and childless mothers.
General Xod stood a few paces behind President Stants, trying to ignore the tight, starched collar of his dress uniform. He turned to his Lieutenant, Combat Protocol Droid 008. “Looks like this bloody mess is finally at an end, Ocho.”
The droid didn’t reply, its single optical sensor was scanning the enemy, President Cahn, as he read the peace treaty holographically projected on the table. Security Status Alpha was still in effect, so the droid remained on high alert, its twin .50 caliber shoulder-mount machine guns locked and loaded.
The General lifted his chin to stretch his neck when a large fly buzzed his ear and he reflexively swatted it away. He watched as the blue-black insect circled the air in front of him then flew straight for the table, hovering a moment before landing just inches from where President Stants rested his elbow.
President Cahn also saw the fly and slowly raised one gloved hand, then slammed it down on the table to dispatch the creature.
Realizing how this sudden action could be perceived by the droid, the General yelled, “Ocho, stand down!”
But it was too late.
The droid let loose with both barrels, effectively vaporizing President Cahn from the waist up.
President Stants remained seated, too shocked to even wipe away the blood splattered across his face, while the armies on both sides of the field readied their weapons and opened fire.
As General Xod unbuttoned his collar and drew his sidearm, he snarled at the droid, “If I get out of this alive, I swear I’m turning you into a toaster!”
Poor, Ocho. Old programming is hard to break, I suppose.
Bonus points if you can identify the three thinly-veiled references to popular sci-fi movies and one vague reference to a tv show. (Hint: I used some creative spelling.)
You can see my robots for January and February by going to my Robot-A-Month page.
