Harmony Highshine leaned back in her chair. A dozen screens sent light flickering across her face. She hadn’t left the Ivory Tower in months, but the myriad video-drones that floated around the city fed her up-to-the-second footage and made sure she kept her eye on proceedings. The ’Bot Bouts were a particular highlight. She made sure her drones recorded each moment and every corner of the bouts. Once a week, she would take a break from the twin vexations of upgrading and evolution and enjoy watching two robots pummel each other senseless.
But this wasn’t part of the show.
“What’s this? Another ’bot is entering the ring! He must have a screw loose! In fact, by the looks of him, he might have more than one. I’ve never seen a case like it!”
The announcer sounded as surprised as the crowd, which rumbled in confusion. Highshine gazed at the screens one by one. Each screen relayed the ’Bot Bouts’ strange interruption from a different angle. A tiny robot was clambering awkwardly into the ring.
“You…!” Highshine whispered. “How’d you give Gunner the slip?”
“Madame Mayor?”
Highshine had not noticed the door open. Her outer shell closed around her in an instant.
“Do I need to get a sign, Domo?” she said, not taking her eyes off the screens.
“…Madame Mayor?”
“For the door. I was thinking something easy to interpret like, ‘please knock’.”
Domo began wheeling back out of the doorway.
“So sorry, Madame Mayor, I shall—”
“Please don’t go out and come in again,” the mayor said, her eyes fixed on the central screen as Scrap squared up to Morten Prometheus. “We just need to keep this new me under wraps. The robots of Somewhere Five One Three are not yet ready to accept this next phase.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” said Domo. “Honestly, I find it a little confusing myself.”
“It’s a matter of evolution, Domo,” said Highshine. She finally turned to face him. “You do want me to evolve, don’t you, Domo?”
Domo spoke without hesitation. “Whatever it takes.”
“Glad to hear it,” said the mayor, turning back to the screens. “Now I assume you’re here to tell me that Gunner has failed to keep a tendril-hold on the-’bot-who-would-be-King?”
“I – how did you know?”
“Robot’s intuition. What happened?”
“You’re quite correct,” Domo replied. “I’m afraid there has been an incident at the emporium.”
“Incident?” repeated Highshine.
“An outlier from the east – a hunter identified as T3-RY appeared on the scene in search of the three junk cases of interest.”
“A hunter? The plot thickens. What happened?”
“There was a tussle. Sheriff Niner has confirmed that K11-LU and C0-IL have been … reduced in functionality.”
“Say ‘junked’ if you mean junked, Domo,” huffed the mayor. On the screens, she watched Scrap doing battle with Morten Prometheus. “Gunner and Coil, are they all right?”
“Both need their cases replacing. They’ve been taken to the city sick bay to have their cores checked. But as you say, I’m afraid K1-NG got away.”
“King? Oh, I know exactly where he is,” said Highshine, tapping the display’s central screen with her finger. “There.”
“I don’t understand…” said Domo, peering at the screen. Sure enough, there was a junk case squaring fearlessly up to the mighty Morten Prometheus. “Him?” Domo added, almost laughing. “You really think that’s K1-NG?”
“I don’t know any other ’bot with the core to pick a fight with the champion of the ’Bot Bouts, do you?” Highshine replied, tapping the screen with a silver finger. “What I don’t know is what he’s doing in my city. I like to think everything happens for a reason, Domo, but so far King’s sudden reappearance is quite the … most … baffling…”
Highshine had spotted a commotion in the audience. She spun towards the screen in the bottom left of her array, practically shoving her deputy out of the way. She stared at the screen in the way that Domo longed for the mayor to look at him – with sheer, undiluted awe.
“Madame Mayor…?” he uttered after an awkward pause.
“Did you see that?” Highshine gasped. “Did you see that? Domo, get on the playback. Rewind camera eight…”
Domo hurried to the video controls and began spooling the data backwards.
“No, not the ring – the crowd. Camera eight – no, nine! Camera nine,” the mayor said, her eyes darting from screen to screen. “Back further … further … wait, there. There. Freeze the frame!”
“What … what am I looking at, Madame Mayor?” asked Domo, squinting to examine the image.
“You are looking at the impossible,” she whispered.
Mayor Highshine leaned in, her arm passing over his shoulder, and pressed the screen in the bottom-left corner. In its centre was an image of two small, dazed-looking figures at the base of the arena, staring at each other. Though the image was grainy and juddering, both Domo and the mayor knew what they were looking at.
Humans.
“It can’t be…” Domo gasped.
“It is…” whispered Highshine, leaning closer to the screen. “It is.”
“How?” uttered Domo. “Could humans have returned to Somewhere Five One Three without us knowing?”
“Impossible – long-range sensors would have picked up any ships in the upper atmosphere. There’s no way they … could … have…” The mayor trailed off and pressed her hand to her mouth. She leaned closer to the screen, her face almost touching it, and stared, wide-eyed at the quivering image.
“But it doesn’t make sense…” Domo uttered, rolling nervously around the room, oblivious to the mayor’s epiphany. “We saw the colonists leave – we saw the Black-Necked Stork blast off into the vast unknown. No human has set foot on this planet in ten years! It must be some mistake – a glitch in the feed. I’ll have the video-drones recalled for servicing and examine the—”
“They’re hers,” interrupted Highshine.
“Madame Mayor…?”
“They’re hers,” she said again, tapping the screen with a finger. “Look – look at them, Domo. The resemblance is uncanny. They’re hers … her children.”
“They’re children? It’s hard to tell…” Domo inspected the screen again. “But whose?”
“Who else? Dandelion Brightside.”
The mayor spoke the name slowly, almost reverently.
“The maker?” blurted Domo, unable to stifle a disbelieving laugh. “The maker is gone! She left with the others.”
“Did she?” Highshine leaned back in her chair. “We saw their ship leave … but what if not everyone was on it? What if they stayed? What if … what if they’ve been here this whole time? And what if they multiplied?”
Highshine returned to the live feed. One of the humans had attempted to disguise themselves with what looked like a robot head. The other pulled up the hood of her poncho but none of the crowd seemed to notice them – they were too busy watching the little robot in the arena doing battle with Morten Prometheus.
“What does it all mean, Madame Mayor?” Domo asked, no less fretful for this new revelation. “First K1NG, now the offspring of the maker? There must be some connection! Do – do you think they’re in league? What could they be planning?”
Highshine watched Morten Prometheus slam his foot down upon Scrap with all his mechanical might. “If they do have a plan, it doesn’t seem to be going well,” she noted, and then looked back at the humans. “Either way, this changes everything. Whatever King hoped to achieve by coming here, he has inadvertently shown me the future.”
“…Future?” Domo repeated.
“Evolution, Domo – the answer I’ve been looking for,” whispered Harmony Highshine. “I think it’s time we met our visitors, don’t you?”
“If you say so, Madame Mayor,” Domo replied. “Should I radio to the sheriff?”
Mayor Highshine shook her head. “Niner will go in all guns blazing – and he’ll take all day to do it. No, we must move quietly, and quickly.” With that, she tapped a metal finger against the central screen. “Get me my champion,” she said. “Get me M0-TN.”