The Evolutionite Chronicles Book Two: Dagger and Shadow Ninja in: Welcome to Las Vegas

by Timothy P. Callahan

  Daniel swung his right leg around and kicked his foe in the head, sending an intense pain through his ankle, his leg and his knee. The robot’s head hardly moved, reminding Daniel he wasn’t fighting a human and anything that could hurt a person wouldn’t matter. He needed to damage the robot, needed to find a weakness to exploit.

  The robot thrust his fist forward, and Daniel ducked it. He tried to grab the arm, hoping to toss the robot out the window as well but missed. Another fist piled into his ribs, lifting Daniel off the ground. He lost his breath. Another fist hit him in the stomach and whatever breath he had left was gone.

  He staggered, walking backwards toward the bathroom trying to breath when the robot lunged forward, tackling him to the ground.

  Tanaka’s robot sat up and was met with a foot to his face. The head slapped down onto the floor. Then the robot brought its legs up, rolled onto it shoulders, and using its hands, sprang up to land on its feet. Tanaka whistled, impressed. “Nice. You do gymnastics when you’re not connected to the mother-ship?”

  The robot charged forward and Tanaka easily dodged it, sending its head through the wall. Tanaka jumped back into his room to see the robot’s head and body in the other room. He looked around and found his sword on the floor, knocked around in the battle. He unsheathed it and brought it down with all his might onto the robot’s neck, slicing the head from the body. The robot body went limp and the head rolled under the bed.

  Tanaka looked just in time to see the last robot tackle Daniel into the bathroom. He jumped over the bed, his sword held over his head, and brought it down as hard as he could. The katana got stuck in the low ceiling and Tanaka, his momentum carrying him forward, fell on top of the robot, knocking it off Daniel and into the sink where they fell into a heap of bodies.

  “Teleport him!” Daniel yelled.

  “Where?” Tanaka asked trying to untangle himself from the robot who was also trying to take his head off.

  “Anywhere!”

  Tanaka touched the robot who then appeared outside the window where he plummeted to meet the other three robots on the parking garage below the building.

  Tanaka sat up while Daniel leaned against the bathtub. Both were breathing hard, Daniel still struggling to catch his breath.

  “Dear lord,” Tanaka said, “will you please put on some pants?”

  Daniel looked down at his naked body and tried to laugh but it only came out in short coughs. When he could finally talk, he pointed to Tanaka’s bloody mouth. “You need to see a dentist.”

  Tanaka played his tongue over his teeth. “Oh man. My beautiful smile!”

  “By the way,” Daniel panted. “Where did you teleport Grace?”

  Tanaka gave Daniel a bloody, toothless smile. “Put some pants on and I’ll take you there.”

  “You teleported her to a strip club?” Daniel asked shaking his head. Both he and Tanaka were dressed in full uniform. Tanaka had his katana strapped to his back, while Daniel had his katana strapped to his side with his buckler shield hooked onto his belt.

  “She was naked, wrapped in a blanket. I don’t know that many places here in Vegas. I’ve been here more than once, and I had a good mental image of it. Plus the girls all seemed nice, so yeah, at that moment, I decided to teleport her here.”

  “Well, when you put it that way I guess it makes sense. Come on, let’s see if she’s—” Daniel stopped dead in his tracks and looked at the bouncer at the door. He focused his senses toward him, listening carefully. “That guy’s a robot.”

  Tanaka pulled his Katana out while Daniel grabbed his buckler shield. Together they walked toward the bouncer who stood from his stool. Daniel flung his shield with lighting speed. The razor-sharp blade hit the robot in the neck, slicing the head off and embedding itself into the wall. The body fell to the ground, sparks shooting from the neck hole. Daniel walked over to his shield and pulled it out from the wall. He closed his eyes and stretched his feeling outward toward the club. “I’m sensing a lot of danger for us inside this club.”

  “Do you think there’s more robots?”

  “I don’t know. Too many people, too much noise to be sure right now who’s a robot.”

  “How did you know he was a robot?”

  “His heart was too steady, I’m starting to recognize the sound of the gears moving, and his skin smelled like plastic.”

  “Do you think the strippers are robots?”

  “Robot strippers?” Daniel asked.

  Tanaka tilted his head, his brow scrunched in thought. “Would it be robot strippers, or stripper robots?”

  Daniel paused and lowered his shield. “I don’t know. I would think it’s robot strippers.”

  “But it could be stripper robots, right? I mean, a robot stripper brings to mind someone who steals a robot and breaks it down for parts.”

  “That’s true,” Daniel said. “So, we’ll go with stripper robots.”

  “Or Stripperbots!”

  Daniel smiled. “I like that. So, stripperbots it is.”

  Tanaka raised his sword up in front of him, ready to fight. “So, let’s go kick some stripperbot ass.” Then, in a low voice he said, “Sorry I teleported your girlfriend into a den of stripperbots. You ready?”

  “Yeah. We’ll go in, I’ll point out the stripperbots and we’ll take care of them. Remember, if you’re not sure and it’s attacking you try not to kill it. I really don’t want to hurt anyone too badly.”

  “Right,” Tanaka replied stepping forward, kicking the door off its frame.

  Inside the loud, darkened room, groups of people sat behind tables or a bar. Daniel did a quick count and came up with fifteen patrons, three topless and one barely clothed woman danced on the stage.

  “Eighteen,” Tanaka said.

  “Yeah, that’s what I got too.”

  “How many robots?”

  Daniel closed his eyes and reached out with his senses. The heartbeat of the men at the bar were steady, too steady, no difference in beat pattern. The two topless strippers on the bar were also too even to be human, while the third’s raced quickly, human for sure.

  Daniel’s danger sense went into overdrive, and when he looked up he saw the men at the bar standing, looking at them, then charging.

  “Robot!” Daniel yelled, drawing his katana, and with a backward slice, lobbed the head off the first robot he encountered.

  Tanaka impaled the robot in front of him in the chest, the katana blade stuck out its back. He placed his foot on the robot’s chest and pushed, sliding its body off the blade, tripping up three of the robots coming after him.

  Daniel spun around, and with his buckler, sliced through the face of another robot. Its plastic skin drooped down, not affecting the robot at all, so he stepped back, placed his sword over his head and swung down, splitting the robot’s skull in two.

  The men from the table and the two stripperbots joined the group for the fight. The human stripper screamed and ran in the back. Daniel noticed the DJ following; he was human and smart.

  One of the men at the table charged Tanaka. Daniel heard his heart, smelled his sweat, and knew he wasn’t a robot. “Human!”

  Tanaka, his sword coming down to slice the man in half, paused for one split second before turning his blade to the blunt end, hitting the human square in the neck. The man stopped his charge, and Tanaka spun around, his leg high in the air, and smashed his foot onto the man’s jaw. The man fell to the ground spitting up blood.

  “Robot!” Daniel yelled as the stripperbot attacked.

  Daniel ducked under a punch thrown by one of the humans at the table. Using the flat part of his shield, he lifted his arm upward quickly and powerfully, striking the man under the chin. His head snapped back and he fell onto his back. He moved on the floor, writhing in pain.

  Tanaka picked his attacker up and threw her at the dance floor. She slammed into the pole, bending it at a severe angle. The ceiling the pole has been connected to fell down on the stage, trapping the stripperbot under a
pile of rubble.

  Daniel ducked and rolled forward as the other stripperbot threw the body of a destroyed robot at him. He sprang up and thrust his katana blade into the stripperbot’s bare right breast, then sliced downward, splitting her body into two parts. Sparks flew as both sides fell to the ground. He quickly turned to see someone try to hit him with a piece of wood from a broken stool. He grabbed the hand, noting the attacker was a human, then twisted as hard as he could. The man flipped onto his back. When he landed, Daniel finished him with a swift kick to the chest, breaking a few ribs but otherwise leaving the man alive.

  “We can’t take them all,” Tanaka yelled as he punched another human in the nose.

  Daniel looked around and realized they had barely put a dent into the attackers. He was getting tired, and Tanaka looked almost spent as well. He looked at the back and saw the room to the ladies dressing room. That’s where the DJ and the human stripper had run to. “Teleport over by the door, I’ll meet you there!”

  Tanaka teleported over to the door while Daniel took off for it. Jumping over tables and knocking down chairs slowed his pursuers. He jumped off the table closest to the door and flipped into the air. Landing on his feet, he turned to see the humans running out of the building and the remaining robots running toward him.

  “That makes the fight easier,” Tanaka said, closing the door. He locked it with a deadbolt. The robots started punching the door, trying to knock it down.

  “That won’t last long,” Daniel said. He turned to see Grace, the human stripper, and the DJ all standing between rows of makeup stations. Grace wore a blue robe and slippers, the white hotel blanket thrown to the side. She looked at Daniel, her eyes wide with fear. “What the hell is going on?”

  “Destructo, he’s got more than one robot working for him. He’s got an army.”

  Shaking her head, on the edge of panic, she yelled, “Why did your brother send me into this mess?”

  Daniel turned to Tanaka, who was on the phone. “Yeah. You heard me right. Stripper robots. Daniel and I are calling them Stripperbots. I know, funny right?”

  Daniel cleared his throat. Tanaka held his finger up to keep him quiet. “So, you’re on your way? How long? Oh, that fast, huh? Great, see you in a few.” He hung the phone up then turned to Daniel.

  “Who was that?”

  “A friend,” Tanaka replied. He turned to Grace. “Look, I’m sorry about this. I had no idea. The girls here were so nice to me, figured they would help you when you appeared. Plus, this is really the only place in Vegas I know well. Well, this and our room, but that place is trashed now.”

  Grace looked at Daniel, who simply shrugged.

  The door cracked as the pounding continued. Daniel stepped back and put his shield in front of him. Tanaka simply sat in a chair and looked at himself in the mirror. He smiled. “Damn, my mouth looks bad. Do you think the dentist can fix this mess?”

  “Tanaka, you might want to—” Daniel stopped when he felt the ground shake. Not like an earthquake shake, more like an upstairs neighbor running around kind of shake. He looked over at Tanaka and smiled. “When did you get in touch with him?”

  “When you were getting changed. I called him, told him to meet us here. He wasn’t that far when I told him we were in trouble.”

  Daniel relaxed. “Kind of wish he was here a few minutes ago.”

  “In retrospect, I should have called once we figured out the bouncer was a robot. Live and learn, right?”

  “Who are you talking about?” Grace asked. The pounding on the ground grew louder. The rhythmic thumping like an Olympic runner sprinting the finish line. “Oh, him. I just met him.”

  “He’s getting closer,” Daniel said. “He has a hard time stopping, and I don’t want to be here when he come crashing through the door.”

  The robots, hearing the growing sound, stopped trying to knock the door down.

  Tanaka stood from the chair and walked over to the group. “All right, hold hands, I’ll get us out of here.”

  “Do you think the robots know what’s happening?” Daniel asked.

  “I don’t think they have a clue.” Tanaka replied as he closed his eyes.

  The group appeared outside on the street just in time to see David Lee, AKA Charger, crash into front of the strip club. The sounds of him rampaging through the place could easy give the phrase ‘bull in a china shop’ new meaning. A grinding metal sound sent a shiver down Daniel’s spin, like fingernails on a chalk board.

  A robot head was tossed from the hole and into the street where it rolled to Tanaka’s feet. He picked it up and looked at the head. “It’s so lifelike.”

  “Too lifelike,” Daniel replied watching as David tossed a robot body through the roof of the club. It fell fast, landing on the street and breaking apart. “I would bet money they were modeled after real people.”

  “Do you think the real ones are alive?” Grace asked.

  “I don’t know,” Daniel replied. “I think if we find Nancy, we’ll find that answer, too.”

  “So, where’s Nancy then?” Tanaka asked, ducking as a metal arm flew past his head.

  “I don’t know,” Daniel said. “But we need to figure out how to find her.”

  David walked out of the hole he created holding the body of a robot. He grabbed the ‘bot by its right and left arm then pulled with all his strength. The robot let out a little screech, like feedback from a speaker, before it sparked and died.

  “Damn,” Tanaka said. “I really wish he were on our side all the time.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Nancy slowly opened her eyes when she thought she heard some pots and pans clanging together. For a moment, while the haze of sleep was still in her mind, she thought she was a young girl at home, waiting for her mom to make her Sunday breakfast. She took a sniff of the air, hoping to smell some bacon and eggs. Instead, she got the oily smell of machine parts. She remembered what happened and her eyes snapped open. She felt for where the arrow punctured her chest and instead found her arms and legs strapped to a table. She looked around. The darkness enveloped her. The only light came from what looked like two large hanger doors about a hundred yards from where she was. The sound wasn’t of pots and pans, though; instead it was the sound of someone hitting metal with a metal hammer.

  “Ah, you’re awake.” The flat monotones voice said. It was like listening to an early version of a text to speech software program. “Forgive my voice, my audio processor was damaged in a fight recently with your ex-husband.”

  She sat up as best she could and looked around. In the dark, she saw a figure moving around. Two red dots floated back and forth in unison. Eyes, she realized, and they were both looking at her. “Do I know you?”

  “Oh, yes. You do.” The body moved toward a switch located on a naked steel beam. He flipped it and the building lit up.

  The figure standing in front of her wore a dark black trench coat that touched the ground. His face was hidden behind a hood which covered his head and face with a dark shadow. He was tall, but not so tall as to be noticed in a crowd. He moved oddly, as if being pulled by a string attached to the ceiling. Everything about his look told her he must be a man, but something seemed off, as if he was simply trying to act like a person. Despite what he said, she did not know who he was. “I don’t know you.”

  “You know me.” He took the hood off.

  She gasped at his face. Scattered patches of skin and dark hair covered his head like weeds growing out of steel. Yet, even with his hideous look, there was an air of familiarity about him. “Turing?” she asked.

  “Yes, at one time, I was he. But, today, you shall call me Destructo.”

  She wanted to laugh but feared if she did this robot would kill her. “Yeah, I should have guessed.”

  “Indeed,” Destructo replied, whipping his trench coat around. He walked over to a work bench. “You were lucky I found you when I did. Lucky, I was able to get you out of that hospital.”

  “Why?”
Nancy asked testing the restraints on her bed. “Why did you kidnap me?”

  Destructo lightly tapped on the object in front of him. Nancy was unable to see what it was, unable to determine exactly what he was doing or why. “Kidnap you? No, my dear, I rescued you. Had the doctors given you a further exam they would have discovered the truth and I’m not about ready to have that happen yet.”

  “Rescue me? What are you talking about? What would the doctors have discovered about me?”

  Destructo finished the work on his bench and turned around. In his hand he held a metal ribcage. “That you are a robot, my dear. Don’t you remember?”

  Nancy shook her head no. “I am not a robot.”

  “Yes, you are.” Destructo walked over to her. He pressed a button on the table then stepped back.

  From between her breasts, Nancy felt and heard her skin slowly rip open. She looked down in shock but felt no pain. Blood poured out from the opening and splattered onto the floor and into a drainage vent. After several more seconds, her ribs stopped opening. She heard her heart beating, speeding up rapidly as it would for a normal human being. Destructo walked back over to her and pulled on each half of the ribcage, disengaging them from her metal spine.

  “What the hell?” Nancy said. “What the hell? How can I be a robot? I remember things, I remember being a person. I don’t remember... My god, what did you do to me?”

  “I made you the perfect replica of a human. You are the peak of my skills. You are the one that I have spent my entire existence trying to make.”

  “But... I remember Tanaka, I remember Daniel, I went to school with them. I grew up. I remember being a child. I—”

  “Hush up. This is very delicate work.” He opened her rib cage by the sternum then slid the two halves apart. Skillfully he re-attached the ribs to the spine, snapping them into place.

  Nancy found she couldn’t talk. He told her to hush and she did, just like that. It was a command and she followed it. She had to follow it. Something insider her mind said that he was the boss, that he was the one to give commands and she must follow them.