章節 36: A Bot of Trouble
It turned out that the Chancellor was a rather devoted fan of the Dreamscape. He had gone back and found Queen Bee's very first duel, and noticed how the estoc had been imperceptibly manipulated by its wielder.
Although the duelist had never used her aspect again in the Dreamscape, that paired with other clues and information had led Gui to the correct conclusion.
The Chancellor was very good at constructing information. There was no telling what other secrets he held.
Venster escorted the couple back to the elevator and then left them on the floor which held Fort's office. "I do hope to see both of you soon!"
When he was gone, the Deputy Director and the professor walked along in silence. When they reached the appropriate door, Fort invited Noble inside.
"I will get back to the Academy now. I need to make sure that Bee Two is alright, and I have a sparring match with Sarai in a couple of hours." Noble took a step away from the man.
He caught her hand. "Let me walk you to the front gate, at least," Fort offered, his eyes pleading with her.
"I have already messed up your entire day. Please complete whatever work you can. Don't let me delay you. I know the way out." The professor pulled her hand away slowly. She could feel her husband's sadness, but that did not change her resolve.
"Noble, I…" Fort stopped short as Noble shook her head.
"We cannot have this conversation here. Tonight." Noble leaned forward and kissed her husband on the cheek before turning away and floating towards the elevator.
Whatever the Deputy Director wanted to say, it would have to wait. It was likely to make either his employer or herself upset, and Noble would like the privacy of her own home to properly share her thoughts.
She also wanted time to collect her thoughts. For she had many, many thoughts…
So she floated to the front gate alone, waved to the enigmatic Praised, and headed back to her place of work.
As soon as Noble was on the Academy grounds, she put in her best float-running into effect. The closer she had gotten to her office, the more her mind had drifted to the fate of Bee Two.
The dear AI had only done what it was directed to do. How much would the wipe do to the rest of the android's system?
Although it was silly since Bee Two was not alive, Noble wished she had been there to oversee the process and let the AI know what was happening. Instead, the professor would be stuck picking up the pieces of whatever remained. It was a devastating prospect.
Blazing past a faculty member who obviously wanted her attention, Noble pushed open the door to her classroom ready for anything.
Or so she thought.
"Help!" A man called out desperately to the professor. His feet dangled from the floor as he struggled to free himself. "The android has gone rogue! On second thought, save yourself! Get help, please!"
Noble crossed her arms. "Bee Two, put the nice man down."
"Nice man, my circuits! He wanted to place his hands on my parts. I do not care what level of authorization he has, I am not opening my back panel for him!" The AI glared at the man, causing him to shiver.
"As I explained to this…er, lovely android…I was only trying to do my job. I got a notice rescinding my orders almost an hour ago, so all I want to do now is leave!" The government technician grunted his exasperation.
Walking down the steps of the tiered desks, Noble spoke more firmly. "Bee Two, put the man down and let him go in peace."
"Professor," the android looked ready to go toe-to-toe with the Awakened on this point.
"He just said he will not touch you." Noble was not willing to argue. She could feel the technician's panic, and she didn't want to cause him any more stress by drawing out the situation. "Let go. Now."
For a moment, it seemed like Bee Two might ignore a direct order for the second time. But in the end, the android opened its alloy palm and released the vice-like grip that had been suspending the technician by his shoulder.
The man dropped into a heap before crawling as quickly as he could away from the persistent robot which had held him captive. Taking shelter behind the professor, he tried to use the lady's desk to pull his shaky legs to stand.
Noble politely ignored his plight as she continued to face the AI. "Go take a rest Bee Two. I will handle this."
"Androids don't rest," Two Bee reminded her automatically.
"You know what I mean." Noble tapped her foot in the air lightly.
"Yes, Professor." Two Bee's shoulders drooped slightly, then the AI lurched forward once at the technician. He flinched. "Don't even think about touching me again!"
Turning on two perfectly formed heels, Two Bee marched to the wall, entered the nook, and slammed the panel shut.
"I'm Professor Noble. Are you hurt?" Noble turned to the man crouching behind her.
With her help, he stood and straightened his back. "Name's Cecil," the technician rolled his shoulder experimentally, "and the only thing hurt is my pride. I have never had a robot get the jump on me like that."
"Bee Two isn't just any robot," Noble couldn't help but smile. "But I am sorry that you were assaulted."
"Let's keep that between you, me, and the wall if it is all the same to you," Cecil touched the side of his nose.
"Understood," Noble looked at the panel and frowned. "I suppose you were not able to complete your orders then."
"No," Cecil began to collect his tools. "But like I said, the order was rescinded by a higher authority, so it is just as well. Oh and between you, me, and the doorframe," the technician lowered his voice after a furtive glance to the panel, "I would just as likely quit as go near that android again. Worse than a nightmare creature, that one is."
"You must not have met many nightmare creatures," Noble chuckled.
"Just the same, I will be off. Best of luck professor. With that AI around, you are going to need it!" He held out a datapad for her electronic signature.
Noble hesitated, but after reading that the document said he had come but not done any work, she put her name to the pad.
"May we never meet again, ma'am," Cecil tipped an invisible hat, picked up his toolbox, and marched from the room.
'That is the second person today who has said they never want to see me again. I hope it isn't a pattern.'
Moving to the datapad locked in her desk, Noble checked over Bee Two's logistics from afar. Seeing that everything was in order, the professor pressed the button to release the panel.
"It's alright. He's gone."
Bee Two poked a lifelike head out of the nook and scanned the room. "Good."
"And I think your access might be restored now," Noble added.
"Good." The android froze, checking the validity of the statement. "It is."
"Good." Noble felt better knowing things had returned more or less to normal.
"Good." Bee Two repeated. "You know what isn't good?"
Noble pinched the bridge of her nose. "What?"
The android pointed to the time. "You are late for your sparring match with Sarai."
"Again?!"
Just as quickly as she came, Noble fled her own office.
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