Chapter 4.3 (2/2)

She started looking for the one that operated this robot, but saw no one.

“Autonomous?”

“No, it’s not that good. Remote control. Someone is directing him from a distance.

“Pioneer…”

“Perhaps.”

The roar of a truck’s engine was heard. Hearing it, Dingo hid in the shadows with his laptop. A truck slowly drove out from the rubble. Lazlo was behind the wheel.

“There he is. He came earlier than we thought.”

“I’m going down.”

She pulled out some rope and fasteners from her backpack. She attached the rope to the fence and to the descending device on her hip before beginning to descend from the building. Angela reached the ground almost immediately. She ran towards Dingo who was sitting with his laptop.

“Are you tracking him?”

“Yep. He arrived at the meeting place.”

Angela looked at the screen. The camera showed a large intersection between the skysc.r.a.pers. Lazlo’s truck was parked right there. The same robot they saw earlier stood in front of the truck. Picking up one of the manipulators, it signaled him to stop. More robots appeared on all sides of the truck. Some were of the same model and one was a large cargo model.

“How many are there…”

“Don’t ask me. Plus, these aren’t just the older models. He built them from different parts. He must have access to the old technologies.”

“Do you have any idea of who could’ve done this?”

“Not at all. These days, anyone that can restore these robots could easily become a king around here. But he’s just hiding and suspiciously building something…”

Dingo made a serious face.

“He’s a real villain.”

Lazlo climbed out of the car with a briefcase. The robots surrounded him. Lazlo raised his hands, to show that he wasn’t hiding anything. There was a fake smile on his face, hiding his fear. No matter how many times he came here before, he still couldn’t get used to these strange robots. He put the briefcase on the ground and opened it to reveal a white container full of ammonium nitrate.

One of the robots stepped forward and a.n.a.lyzed the contents through its camera. It pulled out a manipulator. It seemed that it was ready to accept the goods. Lazlo closed the briefcase and placed it on the manipulator. The cargo robot took the briefcase. Inside were electronic schemes and parts. He put it on the cargo platform.

“It’s just like Lazlo said.” Dingo said as he looked at the screen, “There’s n.o.body. The exchange was entirely handled by robots.”

“But why?”

“Who knows. Maybe he’s just shy.”

The robot with the briefcase started to leave. It went down into the subway near an intersection.

“What’s down there?”

“The entrance to the subway. There’s an underground railway system left from a long time ago.”

“Can people really still ride there?”

“Only robots can. Wow, they returned the railroad into working condition.”

“But it’s interesting, where will they take all this?”

“That’s true. But luck is finally s.h.i.+ning upon us.”

He made a few operations and the screen changed from the camera to a signal transmitter.  They were receiving a radio wave signal. Back in Lazlo’s store, when Dingo was touching the contents of the case, he placed a pulse transmitter wrapped in aluminum in the ammonium nitrate.

“Well… It was lucky that I had such an anachronism.”

“Quickly, follow him.”

Angela stood up. Dingo rose after her, unplugging the cable from the computer. They headed for the land rover parked nearby.

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