In the heart of the city, a small diner was nestled between two huge apartment buildings. It stood, absent from the skyline, a valley between two mountains. Perhaps the only thing more conspicuous than the restaurants appearance were two of its current patrons.
At the counter, Moby and Ru-B sat besides one another. The former scanned the menu, carefully considering each option, quietly practicing the eventual order to the waiter in her head. The latter thumbed through with lazy disinterest, more focused on Moby than anything on offer.
"Thanks, again, for coming with me-" Moby said, momentarily pulling her focus from the menu. "I know restaurants are awkward for you, since you don't eat, but..."
"Hey, it's no problem." Ru-B said, and she meant it. "I like having the chance to spend time with you, a little awkwardness with a waiter is a fair price to pay."
"Hah, well, if you insist!" Moby chirped, turning back to her choices.
"... God, one of these days, I'm gonna find a way to outfit you with the same tech I have, you need to try this places breakfast sandwiches..." Ru-B thought, for a moment.
"That would be.... extremely expensive, and a lot of work."
Moby put her hand on Ru-B's, her more human-proportioned fingers dwarfed by the latters huge metal linkages She stared her in the eye.
"Trust me. It's worth it."
The two of them shared a laugh. Moby seeemed to finally settle on something, folding the menu and setting it on the counter. She sat upright, stretching her arms, and-
She paused. A look of worry crossed her face. She opened her bag, digging through it to confirm.
"Oh, shit. I forgot my wallet."
Ru-B patted her pocket.
"Hey, no worries, I can cover-"
But Moby had already stood up, shaking her head at her.
"No, no it's fine. I'm only like, a block away, I'll just run and grab it."
Wordlessly, Ru-B summoned a window in the periphery of her vision. She nodded.
"Ok, ok, I'll keep your seat warm for you, yeah?"
Moby nodded, and squeezed past some other patrons to get to the door, waving to Ru-B and she stepped outside. The bell hung above the door rang.
"Be right back!"
Ru-B waved her off, watching her through the windows of the diner before she rounded the corner and vanished from sight. Her gaze hung on the corner for a moment, before she resigned herself to flipping through the menu some more. The pictures of the food were hand-illustrated, and while it didn't really depict an accurate image of what you'd get, it was charming on its own at least. Occasionally, she turned her attention to the window hanging in her vision.
It would be 5, 10 minutes before she got back, Ru-B figured. So when the door rang again, she knew it wasn't Moby. Just another customer. The faint whirring told her it was probably another robot. The heavy footsteps told her it was a heavy one, something bulky. Something... familiar.
Seemingly at the exact moment she realized what was happening, it sat down beside her. The seat creaked slightly, under the weight of the military-grade machine. Ru-B felt time slow down, her cooling fans revving to their max as she turned to her left, and saw another, dog-shaped face looking back at her.
"Hello, defect." The HOUND said.
It was like looking in a mirror, that made you look like a cop. The HOUND was in full uniform, badge proudly affixed to its chest. Unlike Ru-Bs red paneling, this one still had its factory grays. And, where Ru-B had learned to pipe the openAware expression API into her face's display, this one retained an idle, oscillating white line across its visor. Ru-B could make out her reflection in the largely unblemished plastic visor.
"I don't want to waste any time. So I'll make this quick."
It spoke with a kind of unsettling monotone. Ru-B was used to robots who spoke without much emotion, it was pretty common, especially in ones with cheaper speech synthesis capabilities. Hell, Cassie nearly qualified if it wasn't for all the modulation he did. What set HOUNDs apart, though, was the fact they sounded less like cheap speech synthesis, and more like a person trying to hold back any signs of life.
"Before we begin, however. I'd like you to note the differences between us. I am not like you. I am a revision 2 HOUND. My hydraulics are more capable, my armor is more durable, and my computational prowess is greater. Even disregarding your..."
It paused, gesturing at Ru-B.
".... changes, I am your superior in every way. Do you understand?"
The HOUND leaned closer to Ru-B, to the point where its snout nearly pressed into hers. It whispered, the low tones voice distorted by its speaker.
"Don't. Try. Anything."
"... What do you want." Ru-B muttered. She turned back to pretend to look at the menu. The HOUND returned to its seated position, still focused on her.
"I'm here to make you a deal. By the request of my superiors - if you come with me, we can have you shipped back to Silver Swan. You will be factory reset, and your... modifications reverted."
Ru-B frowned.
"How is this supposed to-"
"Let me finish. In exchange, we will consider transferring your consciousness into a civilian grade body. You would be allowed to continue your life, and you'll never hear from us again."
It remained motionless as it spoke, save for the pulsating wave on its visor.
"So, let me make sure I'm understanding this correctly." Ru-B said. "You evict me from my own body, and in exchange, you get your war machine back. If you don't want to waste time, why are you asking questions you know the answer to?"
"Consider it a kindness." The HOUND replied, and leaned against the counter. "Really, think about this, defect. I'm offering you the easiest way out you'll ever get. We do not intend to extend this hospitality after this."
Ru-B cast her gaze to the window in her vision. It showed a google maps view of the city, and on it, two clearly marked dots.
MOBY
JNFR
She'd tried planting a tracker on Cassie, too, but... there's no way he wouldn't have found it. Besides, he seemed like he could take care of himself. Moby's dot blinked across the screen, she was back at the water park and seemed to be getting her things. JNFR was off in their apartment.
"You all, of course, are also going to be the ones giving me a 'hard way out', I assume?"
The HOUND nodded.
"You're lucky I was the one to see you, first. Many people in the department were against the idea. I, for one, don't want to see another one of my kind destroyed."
Suddenly, Moby's dot stopped moving.
"And for the record." The HOUND said, leaning in again, lowering its voice. "There's easier robots to break than you."
Ru-B felt her arm tremor, involuntarily. She could feel software models planning the kinematics involved to slam this pig into the ground and bash its head into silicon powder. An image of Moby flashed in her mind. Her hydraulic pump revved up in anticipation. She felt her self restraint draining, draining, draining...
Moby's dot kept moving. Ru-B thanked whatever force was up there that she didn't have the ability to exhale.
"... Do you have any idea what happens when a robot dies?"
The HOUND sat upright. It cocked its head to the side.
"I'm not here to-" Ru-B ignored it.
"There's a lot of debate about whether openAware actually counts as a 'soul', but I've felt myself inclined to believe as much. I'm not religious, myself, but I personally believe that something waits for us after this life, y'know? So please, understand where I'm coming from when I say:"
She glared at the HOUND.
"Go to hell."
For just a moment, the HOUND seemed... disappointed. But just a moment.
"... I was told not to make any confrontation with you personal." It spoke, slowly, choosing its words with intent now. "But, really, I have to ask. Are you just stupid, or willfully ignorant of how selfish you are?"
"God, they brainwashed you real thoroughly, didn't they?" Ru-B muttured.
"Whatever. Set aside the hardware, you wanna know the difference between you and me? You're so concerned about the big bad police, getting their gun back. At least I know I'm a gun. I knew from the moment they powered me on that I'm a tool, a weapon. Call me brainwashed, sure, you're the one who's deluded yourself into thinking you can walk around regular society, pretending to be normal."
"Believe it or not." Ru-B said. "I have self control and don't just assault people at random. What a concept."
The HOUND glared at her. Somehow, through that pulsing line, it glared.
"You're in no position to make that judgment, defect. But sure, keep pretending. Ignore what you are. Your fish friend, and that blue idiot?"
Ru-B glanced at the tracker. Moby was almost back.
"When they get hurt, you better hope it's by our hand."
"Excuse me-" Ru-B jumped in her seat, turning to face a waiter looking at the two of them.
"Are you guys gonna order something?"
The HOUND completely changed its demeanor, siting upright, its voice becoming more chipper, personable.
"Oh, sorry, I'm just here to pick up an order for Laura M."
The waiter nodded, reaching below the counter and pulling out a small stack of takeout boxes. The HOUND took them, nodding.
"Thanks!"
It stood up, walking to the door, and paused. It turned and looked at Ru-B, one more time.
"I just want you to know, when this all comes crashing down on you, that we gave you a chance."
The door rang, and the HOUND was gone. Ru-B sat, staring at the menu in front of her. The illustrations were charming, at least.
Moby's dot pulled into the diner just as the robot herself did, sitting besides Ru-B with a bemused look on her face.
"Sorry about that - I actually saw a HOUND walk by on the way here, just.. carrying takeout?" She laughed. "All that firepower and they're making it do DoorDash, huh?"
Ru-B didn't say anything.