The proposal.

Once I made it to the junkyard I look around for junklad presence but find nothing. Usually I have to dodge a few junklad goons before I can make it to my home so this is a pleasant surprise.

Strolling through the junkyard like this is actually somewhat relaxing. Looking around at my metal surroundings and thinking about the things I could do or the things I could make with the things around me has my blood pumping. I'm not sure if that's good or bad for me though because I'm fairly sure I have an insufficient supply of blood to be pumping around at the moment.

Regardless I once again hum a tune to myself and make my way to my home. Once again retrieving the little cube door opener I have it do it's job and the metal in front of my home falls to the ground with a resounding clunk.

Jumping over the little whole and closing the door behind me I finally lay eyes on the project I will complete today. My robot. I don't have a name for it and really I was never good at giving things names in the first place. So I'll just call it robot.

It's face is somewhat deformed with the tentacle hair and such but that's nothing to me. It's still the most beautiful thing I laid eyes on today. The reflection of my face in the well polished, if similarly deformed, metal is smiling widely.

I finally get to finish you. I think to myself as I start to take the torso apart and grab the processors from where I placed them in the corner of my home so they don't get damaged. After hooking up all the parts around the processor to the cooling, power and such I finally get one of the processors near the spot it's supposed to go in.

After this all I need to do is program it but I suppose I shouldn't get ahead of myself. I need to check this processor works first. As it turns out however there was no need for caution. As soon as I slot the processor into the little hole created for it all the circuitry inside the robot lights up with a blue light and starts whirring to life.

The sounds of fans spinning and parts moving fill my ears as I watch my creation come to life. The chest compartment closes itself and the eyes on the face of the robot that have, until now, been lifeless suddenly started to glow.

This was all expected and showed that my creation was coming to life. What I didn't expect was for it to take that saying so seriously. "Hello Emily. I hear you dislike your last name so I will just call you Emily. My name is Mainframe. It's soooooo wonderful to meet you." Suddenly a voice without tone or emotion comes from the robot.

It's words are sometimes oddly worded. For example the soooooo part of the sentence was just pronounced as so-o-o-o-o-o in a repetition of the letter rather than what was likely an attempt at drawing out the word in a cutesy manner.

Regardless of it's speech tics however what surprised me is the fact that it can talk at all. While I did give it an old speaker that was all I gave it. I didn't give it any programming or the ability to connect with that speaker just yet. So how did it already hook up the Bluetooth to the speakers and come up with it's own manner of speech already?

The confusion on my face obviously showed but the robot appeared to pay it very little mind as it kept going. "So I imagine you've got loads of questions but unfortunately while I can see you I can't actually hear you so I have no idea what you're saying. Because of that think of this a bit like a recorded message from li'l old me and don't try asking anything because I CAN'T HEAR YOU" It or from it's tone she kept talking after her little song and dance to explain her circumstances.

"So where to start. I didn't really plan this little interaction of ours beforehand and I'm no good with people ya'know. Guess I'll just explain this like I would to an AI and hope this gets through to you." She once again continued to talk without any input on my part and appeared to be deliberating on her own. At this point I was fairly well aware that it wasn't my robot speaking to me but someone using the robot. Apparently someone calling themselves Mainframe. Though that's clearly an alias.

"Your primary objective, the killing of your parents. Is an impossible task with the resources you currently have available. Worse you'll definitely get caught doing it and fail your objective pretty quickly. I, a third party interested in you, have decided to use this machine as an intermediary to relay my will and offer you an exchange." She suddenly started to speak to me with terms that would make sense to any programmer.

In essence her point is this. I can't complete the objective of killing the old man and his star-crossed because I don't have the firepower on hand. She hasn't provided any evidence of this fact but judging by the fact that she reached out to me at all I have to think she's pretty confident in her assertion.

As such she's offering me a deal where I can get that firepower in exchange for doing something for her. That's the gist I believe. She said she wasn't good with people but must she really explain things like this. I'm going to have to interpret the entire time.

"To evidence my point I will explain. Personal shields like the ones your parents own, rely on a perpetual power source that gets energy from things such as potential energy, kinetic energy etc.., The more movement your parents do the more they charge these shields. The harder you hit the shield the more force it has to generate to push back and thus the more energy it takes. To a certain point anyway." She starts to explain the science behind their personal shields that I doubt even they're privy to. This is incredible. Is the only thought going through my head as I listen to this master of technology explain.

"It's not dissimilar to the way this robot's power source works actually. Except theirs is actually up to date and therefore a good deal more efficient. Worse, even if you had a weapon that could deal enough damage to reach the shield's limit, which you don't, it would still take a good 50 or so shots of that kind of force to deplete the shield entirely. It's what they're made for after all. To withstand force. A shield that couldn't get you out of that kind of situation wouldn't pass the strict safety standards for military gadgets." The terminology she's using could only be used by someone familiar with law or business so perhaps she has some experience in this area or even makes personal shields herself.

"So with all that in mind usually militaries who often fight beings with personal shields create weapons specifically used to drain those shields. But even those weapons require a few strikes to actually deplete the shield entirely. That's the higher end ones by the way. Lower end stuff could take anywhere from 20-30 shots as well." Her explanation halts there as she likely tries to gather her thoughts before clearly deciding to give it to me straight.

"Basically. You're screwed. You don't even have a lower end shield draining weapon and even if you did you don't have the skill to evade your father for that long before he knocks you out or kills you. Soooooo I have a proposal." Her bluntness makes me a little annoyed but I get what she's trying to say. I need a higher end shield breaking weapon and I don't have one nor am I able to get one. At the very least, I wouldn't be able to build one and currently cannot afford one.

She's got me interested, what does she want from me? Knowing all this, she's likely a higher up in some company somewhere or similarly influential. What does she need someone like me for? If she has all this power I don't imagine completing my goal is her only objective. What would she care about one primitive soldier and his wife after all.

"My proposal is simple. I need someone absolutely loyal to me. I don't just mean someone who swears absolute loyalty like some knight from way back either. People are too backstabbing for that to actually work nowadays. I invented a chip that will make it impossible for people to disobey me. Problem is, it's both ethically wrong and likely to get me into serious trouble if I were to just force such a chip into someone's head. Plus I don't want a mindless puppet that follows all my commands. I want someone who actually has intelligence working under me who I know with certainty will never betray me." Her explanation is both a shock and brings me a little bit of a smile. The idea of having someone tied to my every word like a puppet sounds pretty inviting to me. I wonder if I accept this deal will she let me have some of these chips.

Ignorant of my thoughts she continues. "So I needed to find someone both intelligent enough to be used properly and desperate enough that if I gave them the right incentive they'd be willing to essentially swear themselves over to me. I was looking through the files of child services, nearby hospitals etc… Then what do I find. A catkin girl who's clearly a psychopath and sadistic enough that she wouldn't shy away from any orders that aren't quite above board. Even better she's clearly in a situation she can't get out of herself." She once again pauses there and lets that sink in before continuing.

"So here's my proposal. In exchange for serving me for the rest of your lifetime, I'm offering you the chance to fulfil your dreams. I'll do it myself if you want but knowing you, you'd probably want to do it so I'll just send you the right weaponry in that case. You're not selling your soul or anything though don't worry. I'm not gonna order you to give me your body or something ridiculous like that. I'll have you doing proper work and I'll pay you fairly for it. Though I suppose you should prepare yourself for that not happening since you've only got my word on that and I could just as easily toss you in a mine or something. That's the kind of resolve I want from you anyway." Another pause before she finally finishes with.

"Well think on it, test some stuff. This is a life decision and it's not like you're the only candidate. If this doesn't work out I'll search for someone else. I've got enough time on my hands to wait for your decision. Though if you go a month or two without responding I will just assume you're not going for it and find someone else. Anyway. Laters, Mainframe out." With that the robot's speaker turned off and it suddenly stopped moving. The light was still there in it's eyes but I felt as though it was missing something crucial it had a moment ago.