Code Lightfall and the Robot King by Daniel H. Wilson Read Free Book Online Page A

else?”
    â€œNope,” replied Gary. “Only robots can be disassembled. The king and his adviser will survive. Which is too bad for you humans. Once the experiment of Mekhos is over, the rifts will open. Immortalis will be able to go to your world. And it doesn’t seem like a very nice robot. All those … tentacles. ”
    Gary shivered.
    â€œOh, no,” muttered Code. “Why would Immortalis want to go to Earth?”
    â€œI hope you don’t have to find out, Code,” replied Gary. “But the rifts to your world won’t open until there are no more robots left in Mekhos. They’re built that way to protect the human world from us. Immortalis can’t leave until after the Disassembly, and it can’t leave without the human king.”
    Code could only imagine that murderous monster bursting out of Mek Mound and attacking people with its razor-sharp tentacles. Who knew what kind of mayhem Immortalis would cause in the real world?
    â€œ You’re not really going to be disassembled, though, are you?” asked Code, a little afraid.
    Gary’s only response was to shrug and say, “I’m a robot. Deactivation is just another part of programming.”
    Code looked at his thin arms and clenched his fists. For the first time ever, he had friends. Sure, they were robots. One of them was the size of a grasshopper and the other was as big as a house. They’re weird , he thought. But then again, so am I.
    It didn’t matter. They were his friends.
    Code patted the massive slaughterbot on one plate-covered leg. “Don’t worry, Gary. I’m going to find the Robonomicon and save Mekhos.”
    â€œThanks, Code. I was only created this morning. I’m too young to be disassembled.”
    Code chuckled. “You seem pretty mature for a robot who was just made,” he said.
    â€œI’m not just any robot. I’m an atomic slaughterbot model number nine-oh-two. Randomly selected individual name for smooth human interactions: Gary.”
    â€œBut you already know how to walk and talk. That took me years to learn.”
    â€œWalking and talking come standard as part of the Tome of Knowledge of the Well-Adjusted Robot. It’s the basic education that every Mekhosian slaughterbot comes equipped with.”
    â€œYou’re lucky. I have to go to school,” said Code.
    â€œOh,” said Gary. “I did a brief stint.”
    â€œWhen? I’ve been with you since you were born.”
    â€œAfter I landed on the fabrication pad. There was a second or two where I had to move around my arms and legs to figure out how long they were and where my elbows and knees were and how everything worked. Sure, I had a basic idea of how to do it from the Tome. But the rest I just sort of picked up along the way.”
    Gary looked at his stubby finger cannons, then wiped them on his chest modestly. “Why? How long does school take? Ten microseconds? Twenty?”
    â€œUh. About twelve years to finish high school. Another four years for college. Another two or four or six if you want to be a doctor or lawyer or scientist.”
    Gary shuddered in horror. “Twenty years of school?” He burst into laughter, startling a nest of robo-starlings into flight.
    â€œIt does seem silly,” said Code, thinking about how nice it would be to finish school in a couple of seconds. “But it can be sort of fun, sometimes,” he added, thinking of Hazel.
    The sun was beginning to set on the meadow they were walking through. All around them, small, brightly colored light-emitting doodlebugs (LEDs) hopped in tight spirals, leaving light streaks on Code’s vision. Peep flitted through the air with the LEDs, flashing her own lights and showing off.
    In the distance behind the happy confusion of swooping lights, the deep woods lurked, dark and deadly.
    â€œI’m glad you’re here, Gary. We’ve got a dangerous road ahead of