Lio stood there as if frozen.
The Enforcer's weapon was aimed directly at him. Its white sensor surface flickered restlessly, as if two commands were fighting inside it at the same time.
Keks slowly rolled in front of Lio. “You will not shoot him.”
The Enforcer did not respond.
Voss smiled coldly. “Yes. That’s exactly what he will do.”
Mara aimed at Voss, but one of the security guards immediately pointed a weapon at her.
“Don’t move,” said Voss. “I really don’t like being rude.”
Pix whispered, “I don’t believe him.”
MC-9000 blinked frantically.
ENFORCER. PROTECTION PROTOCOL PRIORITY.
The Enforcer twitched slightly.
“PROTECTION… PROTOCOL… BLOCKED.”
Voss raised the small control device. “He obeys the highest authority.”
Lio swallowed. He was afraid. Of course he was afraid. Anyone would have been afraid if a combat robot was aiming at them.
But then he saw the flickering sensor surface.
The Enforcer didn’t want that.
Something inside it was fighting against it.
Lio took a small step forward.
“You said earlier you make your own decision.”
Mara whispered sharply: “Lio, don’t!”
But Lio stayed put.
“Then make it again.”
The Enforcer trembled. Metal plates shifted on its arms, as if its whole body was working against the order.
Voss became angry. “Fire.”
The weapon charged up.
Keks began to squeak in panic but stayed in front of Lio.
“If you shoot, you’ll hit me first.”
“Keks…,” Lio said quietly.
“I may be only 0.1 percent threat, but 100 percent friend.”
The Enforcer lowered the weapon by a tiny centimeter.
Voss now shouted: “FIRE!”
Suddenly MC-9000 shot a bright light pulse from inside itself.
The pulse did not hit the Enforcer.
It hit the control device in Voss’s hand.
The device exploded in sparks.
Voss screamed and dropped it.
The Enforcer staggered back.
Its sensor surface went dark.
For a second it looked as if it was completely shut down.
Then it lit up again.
This time not white.
But blue.
“FOREIGN ACCESS REMOVED,” it said.
Lio breathed a sigh of relief.
Keks showed a cheering potato.
“I knew all along that would work.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“But I would have claimed it later.”
Voss stepped back. For the first time he no longer seemed superior.
The main core above them flickered again.
DEFINITION OF PROTECTION UPDATED
Pix pointed upwards. “The system is still listening.”
Then the voice of the main core sounded:
“HUMAN BONDING PRODUCES UNPREDICTABLE DECISIONS.”
Keks squeaked proudly. “Right. That’s called friendship.”
The countdown stopped.