A Defect Through and Through

“No, Mister Holton!” Noah screamed, cupping his mouth. “What’s going on?!”

Axel coughed and covered the camera with his coat, concealing the view. “N-No,” he croaked, “You two, turn it off!”

I jumped off the sofa and shook the tablet. “Holton, you bastard!” I hollered. “Are you seriously dying to a random robot?! Get the hell up! Only I get to kill you! You hear me?! Stay alive until then!”

The detective hoarsely laughed. “Kiddo, you sure are something else, but seriously, turn it off!”

“Why the hell should we? Tell us what’s happening over there!”

“These creepy robots are still after—ugh!”

The camera blurred as the android kicked the detective and ripped his device off. It inserted one of its fingers into a port, forcing Axel’s device to turn on our camera and reveal our faces in a holographic screen.

“Missing test subject, Noah Rosaly, detected,” the robot confirmed, scanning us and our background. “Estimating location: third floor of—”

I instantly hung up the call and spewed curses, pacing around the room. “Why the hell did that box freak call you a missing test subject?”

“I-I don’t know?!” Noah squeaked, trembling. “I don’t know anything at all!”

I groaned and messaged my head before shooting out a wire toward the house’s router. “Fine. We’ll figure it out when we get there.”

“Radio? What are you doing?”

“Buying us time. Our location’s been more than likely compromised.”

“Wh-What does ‘compromise’ mean?”

“It means we’ve lost in hide-and-seek.” I drew back my wire and opened a few holographic panels. “Hurry up and get ready to leave. I’ll give you no more than five minutes.”

“Ehh?! Five minutes?! That’s too short!”

“Would you rather wait around and fight my rivals off? They’re probably on their way right now.”

In the end, Noah reluctantly decided to use the toilet and stuff his tablet and some snacks in his backpack. While I waited, I used this time to lay out some traps and cover as many of our tracks as we could. For a nine-year-old, I had to respect his situational awareness which got him ready within only half the time I gave him. It must have been developed pretty well after witnessing so much violence.

I was first and foremost an android working for someone else, so other people’s business shouldn’t be a concern. And yet, the fact that an innocent kid like Noah became well-acquainted with danger because of misfortune… didn’t sit well with me.

…Was this why I was considered a defect? Was this why my creator abandoned me?

I was… I was first and foremost someone else’s android. My main goal right now was to eliminate Detective Axel Holton. How the hell did I end up in this situation, protecting a random kid instead? Wouldn’t it be more effective to ditch this brat? No, wait, this stupid collar wouldn't let me stray from him anyway. I couldn't even hack it since it had no port. God, how did I screw up on this mission so badly?

“You useless pile of waste.”

I flinched.

“Forget it. I don’t need you.”

I gritted my teeth, swiped away all the tabs, and rubbed my forehead. I swore under my breath and paced around, frequently glancing at the nearby window.

What should I do? Was I still on the right track? What exactly was the correct way to go with this?

“Radio?”

I snapped out of my thoughts and faced him, his expression calm but leaking hints of anxiety. He already wore his backpack, hands gripping on its shoulder straps.

For a second, I imagined him confronting the androids alone in this apartment, crying and screaming as they dragged him away. For only a moment, I envisioned myself going through a similar scenario, paralyzed and thrown into a shredder.

…To abandon him would make me no different than my creator.

With this thought, I snatched him and tossed him over my shoulders.

“Woah!” said Noah. “W-Wait, are we going to fly?!”

I approached a window and slid it wide open. “Hang on tight.”

Noah wrapped his arms around my neck and squeezed his eyes shut. I activated my boots, slid out the window, and promptly soared away into the sky.

“Uwaaah!” Noah screamed, squeezing his arms so tightly that he practically had me in a chokehold. “S-Slow down!”

“Urk, stop strangling me first!” I croaked, gripping his arms. “I got you! Relax!”

I halted my flight and hovered mid-air, giving the brat time to adjust to the new experience. He still clung to my neck, wholly quivering. I patted his arms and said, “You’re fine. Breathe.”

When he sensed that we stopped moving, he curiously opened an eye, only to gasp and bulge his eyes wide open. “Woooaaah!” he shouted, observing the view. “We’re so high up!”

When he finally loosened his grip, I coughed and gasped for breath while he took in the scene, eyes sparkling in wonder. “Wow,” he breathed, “the city looks so pretty!”

“Hmph, it looks way better at night.”

“Oh, I can imagine that! I’ve seen some videos about those giant 3D fishies flying around the city before! Hey, big bro, can we fly again when it's nighttime? I want to see all the lights up close!”

“First of all, stop calling me that. Second, no.” I expanded the radar on my watch. “We’re going to see that detective.”

“Okay... What are you doing?”

"Trying to locate him," I said, tapping my watch. "His device was tampered with." And I couldn't even analyze the blurry background. Talk about frustrating.

"Isn't he back at that museum?"

I glanced over my shoulders, raising my brows. "You can tell from that blur?"

"Yeah, I remember the floor patterns. It's definitely that museum we went to last night!"

"Seriously?"

"Yep! I'm sure of it!"

Huh, this kid was more observant than I thought. Maybe he truly did have some potential to be an investigator after all. "Alright, hang on tight."

Noah nodded and closed his eyes, holding me tightly as we soared at lightning speed.

⫿⫼⟁⫼⫿

Axel grunted in pain as he slammed against a wall, knocking over some chairs. He wasted no time pulling up a force field and blocking a shower of laser bullets aiming at his head. “G-Geez, you guys are more brutal than that kid,” he said in a raspy voice, counting a small number of cubic, dark, and eerily humanoid robots of various sizes surrounding him. “Heh, for them to send so many of you means I’m close to the truth, eh? Good to know!”

He whipped out a rifle and fired back, successfully shooting down only the smaller androids of the group, but with the bigger ones clad in tougher armor, he could only drive back so much. Even a seasoned fighter like him could barely confront one, let alone a whole group. 

He clicked his tongue and took off from his position, dodging a thick, purple laser on time. More androids shot out similar beams of light, carving the museum walls as they followed the detective around the room.

Axel coughed and clutched his chest. “Damn, I really am getting old,” he muttered. He wiped off a bead of sweat and continued to duck for cover, returning fire as much as possible. Whenever he grew close enough, he’d whip out an electrical blade and slice their throats, temporarily disabling them before they regained their balance.

With sluggish reflexes and ragged breaths, Axel changed direction and bolted toward the nearest escape route, an intersection, only to skid to a halt when an android arrived there first. It raised its rifle toward him, charging up another laser.

“Crap—!”

Before it fired, a blur of a new ally swooped in from behind and immediately kicked it away.

That new ally was unfortunately me.

Axel dropped his jaw as I fired lasers and knocked back a few more robots close by before I landed beside him.

I clicked my tongue and squinted at the detective. “I can’t believe I’m saving your sorry ass this time,” I grumbled. “You better make this worth it.”

His shock quickly turned into amusement, nodding approvingly. He pushed himself back on his feet and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with me, brandishing his gun. “Well, I’m still alive. That’s worth it, eh?”

I rolled my eyes. “You owe me an explanation of your side of your investigations, down to every detail.”

“Sure. Before I forget again, what’s your name?”

“Radio Jam.”

“Gotcha. Alright, Radio. Let’s do this.”