A Choice Of Lotteries – Part 4
Written by John Ink2Quill
www.ink2quill.com

A CHOICE OF LOTTERIES – PART 4

By

John Ink2Quill

INT. Milan Café – Day

Nalime and Betty watch as the two agents confront Rusty. Two men dressed in black suits stood in front of Rusty with only a round table between them while the two robots watched from the open kitchen doors. They are taller than average with skin smooth and shiny as if it was plastic. They look like living dolls with slicked back blonde hair and skin like porcelain. 

Man in Black 1:

He holds up his wrist while he speaks and a hologram of a spinning globe of blue light shows his ID.

“Let’s make this official for the drone. Hello Rusty Smith. I’m Officer Robbs from the Technology Enforcement Commission.”

Man in Black 2:

He thrusts his wrist forward while he speaks and his hologram of blue globe ID spins next to Officer Robbs.

“And I’m Officer Machoir.”

Rusty:

He slams the flats of both hands on the table in front of him and strands of his thinning gray/ light brown hair fall in front of his face. He closes his hands into fists and rests them on the table. He speaks slowly, emphasizing each word through closed teeth.

“We’ve gone over this already, many times before. I. DO. NOT. WANT. ANY. OF. YOUR. UPGRADES. NOW. FUCK. OUT.”

Officer Robbs:

He takes a deep breath and puts one hand on his wrist, over his watch.

“Listen Rusty. You’ve been whining about this for far too long. The laws have changed, and TEC has started getting serious about environmental issues.”

Rusty:

He jerks himself up and his knuckles rise off the table.

“That’s BS. This has nothing to do with the environment and you know it. Why force people to constantly buy the latest technologies and productions. You’re lying. Both of you.”

Officer Machoir:

He crosses his arms and leans his head forward as he speaks.

“It’s not us. We’re just doing our jobs and you should do your duty as a citizen.”

Rusty:

He looks Officer Machoir up and down recognizing his office mannerisms and he sneers at him.

“I have rights and I’ve broken no law. So gtfo you traitors to life!”

Both Officers walk around the table toward Rusty and approach him from both sides. Before they reach him Kupro and Drato burst through the kitchen doors and pull Rusty back, away from the table by the arm.

Drato:

“Don’t get worked up Rus.”

Kupro:

“Yeah Rus. We’ll take it to the Tech Rights Bureau.”

Rusty:

He rolls his shoulders and yanks both arms free from the grips of Kupro and Drato at once.

“They can’t protect us. Their only job is to make things look fair and that we have rights and recourse to justice when we don’t. They never do shit!”

Kupro loses his balance and tries to steady himself by flailing around his intact arm. He takes several steps and falls to the floor.

Officer Robbs:

He points to Kupro on the floor and says with a smirk.

“You have rights Rusty. This pile of scrap metal on the other hand.”

Rusty:

He leans over to help Kupro up.

“And you have no problem with that? You don’t see anything wrong with that?”

Officer Robbs:

He walks around Rusty and kicks Kupro down.

“Absolutely not.”

Officer Machoir:

Grabs Rusty by the shoulder.

“Don’t do anything stupid Rusty. It’s just a droid.”

Betty:

Her hands shake and she gets up, walks toward the officers. She points a shaking index finger at Officer Robbs then Officer Machoir. She pulls an ID sphere from her pocket and holds it up. A green globe hologram reveals her identity and that she works for UNI.

“Just a droid? Really? I think you boys are overstepping your authority. I work for the United Networks International and I am telling you that you are overstepping your authority.”

Officer Machoir:

He takes a step back.

“We’re just doing our job.”

Betty:

She points at Kupro who is being helped up by Rusty and Nalime.

“You call kicking a Rusty’s droids, doing your job?”

Nalime:

She steps forward and sticks her finger directly in Officer Robb’s face.

“You better watch yourselves because they’re talking about revamping the Sentience Laws to include the over-engineered.”

Officer Robbs:

He takes a step back and smirks.

“Yeah. Right. Everyone is engineered to some degree. And calling people ‘over-engineered’ is a slur. Just like if someone called you ‘under-engineered’.”

Nalime:

She coughs a laugh.

Betty:

She walks between Officer Robbs and Nalime pointing her index finger at Officer Robbs.

“It’s absolutely true that the Sentience Laws are being reconsidered. And if you boys don’t pick up your poop and leave, now, I will put in a request that your sentience be re-evaluated.”

Officer Machoir:

He squints and slowly shakes his head.

“That can only be done with factory made droids and we are not factory made. Furthermore, your insinuation is an insult and a slur which we will take to UNI and file a complaint against you.”

Officer Robbs:

He points to the drone outside the window then twirls his index finger at the group.

“Yeah. Guess who’s getting a complaint filed against them? And guess who should be getting a nasty fine any time now?”

Betty:

Her face turns from pale to red. She holds up her green ID Sphere and dictates into it.

“Send an email to the Legal the Department of Robotic Environmental Commission.”

Officer Robbs:

He looks at the green hologram and holds up one hand then points at Rusty and says.

“We’re leaving now. When we come back, we’ll have a warrant to take your droids.”

Officer Machoir:

He looks at the green hologram sphere and takes several steps back toward the door.

“You can always use the Droid Protection Law to gain immunity from crimes by having your droids take the fall for you. Of course, this would mean we take them.”

Rusty:

Rusty picks up a chair and holds it up as if to throw it at the officers.

Nalime:

Nalime makes a cross with her index fingers at the officers as if to ward off vampires.

The R.E.C. Officers:

The R.E.C. officers ignore Rusty and leave as the drone on the other side of the window disappears into the sky.

***

End of Part 4

FIN

John Ink2Quill

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