Prologue

The Captain's eye glinted in the moonlight. He could smell his prey. The mixture of electricity and metal signaled that there was a robot near - the one he had been hunting. He lived for the hunt. It was the only time he felt alive anymore. Six years since the accident. Six years since his only love was ripped from him by that machine! He had a debt to pay and he was going to do it one robot at a time...

The Captain waited in the deserted alley. He could hear the robot approaching, its metal feet clinking on the pavement. The Captain's heart began to race as his palms became sweaty. Almost... almost... wait for it...wait for it, the Captain thought to himself. As the robot was about to pass, the Captain stepped from his hiding place in the shadows.

"Stevebot!" the Captain roared. The robot, startled, turned around.

"Are you Stevebot?" the Captain repeated.

"Uh," said the robot as it fumbled to compose itself.

The Captain carefully studied his adversary. Its features were almost human. Its face and arms had what appeared to be skin covering them. Its eyes were grayish green with almost a hint of sentient intelligence behind them. The Captain chuckled to himself. This robot was clearly trying to fool him. He marveled at how human-like the manufacturers had made the model. They even saw fit to include flaws. There was a scar that marred part of Stevebot’s left eye and it stumbled and slurred its speech as if it were drunk. What clever programming, the Captain mused to himself.

“Well?” the Captain shouted once more.

“Uh, my name is Steve…but –“

“I knew it!” raged the Captain. He pulled from his cloak an electro-baton. I have to make the first hit count, I won’t get another shot. He knew that usually the CPU was housed in the head (an attempt by the creators to imitate the human anatomy). He aimed his blow at the temple. With all his might he brought the baton down trying to pierce the tough metallic hide that he knew was lurking under that fake skin.

The robot had no time to scream. It fell as blood and brains splattered on the pavement. The Captain recoiled at the sight. He wondered if he had made a mistake. Was this an innocent man that lay sprawled before him? Had his bloodlust/ battery-acid-lust gone too far? Was his pursuit of vengeance robbing him of his humanity? Was he no better than the machines he hunted?

As he contemplated these complex questions something drew his gaze. His blow had rattled loose Stevebot’s left eye. It lay on the ground twitching and sparking. It was a prosthetic eye, a replacement eye that was near as good as the original.

He was more machine than man. I did him a favor, the Captain thought to himself. He wiped the blood from his baton and took a long swig from his flask. Another night, another f----ing robot.

Next Episode: Danger!! Stranger!