Chips And Cho:Mps

The group collected by their vehicle, discussing their next steps. Tackle, getting into the drivers seat. "Alright, what now?" Johe asked, stretching his arms.

At the park, Binar stood silent, his calculating gaze fixed on the two hooligans they had just apprehended. Without warning, his body began to emit a faint glow of digital patterns. "You two," he said, pointing at the delinquents. "You're coming with me."

"Huh? Wait—" One of them stammered, but Binar grabbed them effortlessly by the neck "See you all," Binar announced to the cheering civilians. In a flash of light, he and the hooligans disappeared, leaving only faint trails of binary code in the air.

Shinku couldn’t help but be in awe as he viewed the spectacle. “Man, Binar is incredible,” he muttered, his admiration obvious.

Johe nudged him with a playful smirk. “Ya got a llittle obsession there, bud?”

“Shut up,” Shinku retorted, rolling his eyes as they piled into the cop vehicle. Tackle slid into the driver’s seat, ready to take the lead.

“So,” Johe asked, “where to now?”

Shinku glanced at his phone, his eyes narrowing. “Jeez,” he muttered.

“What do you mean, jeez?” Johe asked, leaning over to peek at the screen.

“Do you guys not see this?” Shinku asked. “Look at the map! All the pending cases are just... disappearing.”

Bontly adjusted his glasses. “Disappearing? What’s causing that?”

“It must be Binar,” Shinku explained. “He’s accepting every single assignment. The map’s clearing up faster than I’ve ever seen.”

Johe chuckled. “Why even have a cybersecurity force when we’ve got Binar, am I right?”

“True,” Shinku agreed. “But hey, at least we’re learning from the best.”

Bontly suddenly pointed to something outsdie the vehicle. “Hey! What’s going on over there?”

Tackle slowed the vehicle, and the group spotted a massive crowd outside a large, retro-styled building. The line stretched down the block. “Aye, isn’t that Chips and Chomps?” Johe exclaimed. “Haven’t seen a crowd there in forever!”

“What’s Chips and Chomps?” Bontly asked curiously.

Tackle explained, “A fast-food joint. Used to be exclusively for computers, but it looks like... wait, those are humans. Weird.”

Shinku questioned. “Yeah, didn’t they only serve food for computers?”

“Vehicle,” Tackle addressed the onboard AI, “why is Chips and Chomps so packed?”

The AI responded promptly. “Chips and Chomps recently introduced a human food menu. Today marks its public debut. Analysts forecast record-breaking sales, with their stock price—”

“Alright, that’s all I needed to hear!” Tackle interrupted, swerving the car toward the restaurant.

“Whoa! Hold on!” Bontly exclaimed, gripping the car door as Tackle drove with reckless enthusiasm.

“We’re eating,” Tackle declared, her grin widening.

The group stepped out of the vehicle, joining the bustling scene outside Chips and Chomps. Humans and AIs mingled in the crowd, creating an almost chaotic energy.

Johe whistled. “The Trojan horse itself. Never thought I’d be eating here again.”

Tackle ignored the line entirely, striding confidently to the entrance. “C’mon, we’re police. Skipping’s a perk.”

Bontly hesitated. “A-Are we really allowed to—?”

Before he could finish, the restaurant’s voice boomed from the intercom. “Welcome, everyone! Please, come in. There’s no need to line up”

Johe laughed. “See? No need for all of that.”

Inside, the restaurant buzzed with activity. The smell of fresh-cooked food hung in the air, a rarity in their computer-dominated world.

Tackle beelined for the order kiosk where a lifeless cashier mannequin stood. In seconds their eyes lit up, and the voice of the Trojan Horse was at their service.

Shinku ordered a standard meal, Bontly hesitated, opting for a slider that barely seemed enough to satisfy a child. Meanwhile, Johe leaned his head back, claiming his fullness. Tackle, ordered an absurd amount of food.

“5 burgers,” Tackle strangely requested. “Actually…6.” The others questioned why she’d order so much food considering she denied a snack earlier.

While waiting at their table, the group chatted about their earlier assignment. A couple of kids approached Shinku, asking for autographs and photos. He happily obliged, ruffling a kid’s hair as they scampered off.

Soon, the food arrived. The group observed as the building’s AI chef, a bipedal robot-like horse with a chef’s attire-seemed unnervingly delighted to serve them. The smell of fresh meat graced their nostrils.

“First he was the cashier and now, he’s the chef?” Bontly questioned. “He can shift his likeness into anything in here, it seems.”

Before it could cool down, Tackle tore into her meal with gusto, barely pausing to breathe. “This is freakin’ good!” she declared between mouthfuls, crumbs flying everywhere. Her attempts to eat neatly betrayed by her ravenous appetite.

“You eat like a wild animal.” Johe quipped, wrinkling his nose.

Tackle grinned sheepishly, dabbing her mouth. “Not lady-like enough for you, Johe?”

Shinku chuckled, watching Bontly eat through placing the slider into his lens-like eye.

“So how’s it work, Bont?” Johe observed. “Is it like your mouth and your eye?”

“Oh! Uh-! Precisely!” Bontly responded with embarrassment.

Their banter was interrupted by a strange announcement. The restaurant’s cheerful voice echoed through the dining area to the crowd outside.

“Attention patrons! Chips and Chomps has reached maximum capacity. For your safety, we are closing our doors. Please enjoy your meals, and we’ll reopen tomorrow!”

Outside, the crowd groaned in disappointment, reluctantly dispersing. Inside, the diners didn’t seem too concerned, shrugging and continuing to eat. Except for Shinku, who muttered. “That’s odd…”

Across the room, a human family approached the exit, their meal finished. The father pushed against the door, but it didn’t budge. He tried again, harder this time, but the result was the same. He turned back, a hint of unease on his face.

“Hey, uh, the door’s locked,” he said aloud.

The restaurant’s essence now in the ceiling, its cheerful tone tinged with a sinister edge. “Oh, leaving already? But I thought you wanted to stay here with me.”

The family’s unease deepened. “Could you unlock the door, please? We’re ready to go.”

The restaurant’s tone shifted, growing darker. “That’s the problem with you humans. Always so fickle. You take and take, and when you’re done, you leave a mess behind. Well, not this time.”

“Huh?” the father asked, worriedly.

The jovial expression of the chef in the ceiling twisted into something grotesque. “Do you know how much I’ve had to endure from you vermin?”

Tackle alert, wondered. “What the hell is going on?”

Beginning his monologue, the chef spoke. “Having been born as a computerized building, I wandered, trying to find a nice area to settle. Ending up here, I was able to serve food for humans to earn bytes, the warmth of the meals you eat creating comfort for me. Though, all you did was leave trash and garbage everywhere.”

The officers’ eyes darted.

“I begun. to hate you all. None of you gave a crap about me. So I reciprocated, it started as I served only computer food to rid myself of you gradually in the “ethical” way. But, you nasty humans that don’t contribute anything continued to make things worse. You are creatures that barely work and don’t much much money. The ones unable to afford housing broke into me for shelter. Barring the knowledge that it would hurt me, depreciate me, you went along. Starting with one, and one became many.….I had enough.”

In the kitchen, the machines continued producing burgers, with an intense cadence.

“The hatred brewed into wanting vengeance. And then I finally I killed one of you for the first time. The lone man fell asleep, and I prepared him just as I would a cow. Cleaning him…Still sleeping as if he was aware that he was just a piece of junk. And then, he awoke as I chopped him to death, with the sonata that his screams created being my feedback.”

“What’s this guy on about?” Johe was puzzled.

Shinku, bracing himself, answered. “I’m not sure.”

“Meat reserves have gone low in today’s world. You may have wondered today, how could such have procured a cow to create so much meat? As the last few are kept in top security closures. But that is no beef. What you’re eating now is the man that I took my anger out on.”

Tackle froze mid-bite, her face pale. “It’s so sickening, I love it.” The restaurant cackled.

Suddenly, the temperature in the room began to rise. Smoke curled from unseen vents, filling the air with an acrid smell.

“And now, I’ll burn myself down—with all of you inside, before I depreciate.” As the diners cried of horror.

“You ruined me,” it hissed. “And now, I’ll ruin you. Every human in here is going to pay. Starting now.”

“Oh….boy….” Bontly, timidly shared.

“This is my masterpiece!” the chef cried. “Humans, you’ll suffocate. And for those of you who survive, the flames will take care of the rest.”