Today is Episode Eight of Unbiased Law, a robot drama set in 2111.  As humans are phased out of the system of law, robots replace them becoming purely black and white in their dealings with the public. Crime is down, and almost eliminated completely due to the accuracy rate of the droids. However, after one man in prison is found innocent, the law system is thrown into question. If one robot can make these errors, how do they know more won’t… or already have?

If you’re just tuning in, Episode One is here feel free to catch up and then return to this Episode! Enjoy!

As I peered into the window of the house I noticed Ms. Del Mar, rather Ms. Radlem, was sitting exceptionally still in the main room. I watched her for a few hours before my energy reserves showed they were getting low. I made my retreat to a nearby street and called a cab. I needed to get to my office and fast. As the cab driver blathered on about something no human or robot would care about, I felt compelled to just grab my gun and rush back. No energy meant the possibility of a shut down while attempting to apprehend the suspect, which never ever went over well. I can still remember the first time it happened.

As police officers we didn’t always have dependable backup. Some police were on the payroll of the guys we were trying to apprehend and sometimes they just didn’t feel the need to call in. That was one of many reasons we began employing droids against crime. As I trained and programmed a fair number of droids, I felt that we should take them for a test run one day against a rather large organized crime bust. As we pulled up, I remember we needed to have them surrounded so I sent the droids to surround the place. As we made our move the droids dropped into position, however one robot collapsed to the ground as dead weight. As the criminals and the police both paused for a moment to survey the situation, suddenly one of the other droids dropped his gun and his arms swung to it’s sides. The criminals watched as the droids dropped one by one, all because I had forgotten they needed charging every night. Then a shootout began, which cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of droids and two police officers. It was a tough lesson to learn but I immediately programmed into every droid to calculate out how far away they were to their normal charging station and warn them when they were getting low.

The cabbie pulled up to the alley behind my office and I transferred him credit without thinking. I ran into the office and rushed to my charge station, barely making it with five percent to spare. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to needing to recharge, I miss recharging using food most of all. As I lay in my bed, I stared at the ceiling with thoughts of the days events racing through my head. In the morning I would need to go to the morgue and check out the body of Ms. Radlem. If it indeed proved to be her, then I would need to figure out who this other blond lady would be. Suddenly I have a ghost in the machine moment. These moments are memories that are not on file, but a retelling of a moment in a very brief  manner. Almost like emptying out the cache, but not quite. My mind takes me back to sitting in my car with Ms. Del Mar. She mouths something but no audio to go with it. As I try and read her lips, I can make out a few words. For my Father… As suddenly as the moment began it stops and I’m brought back to the world. If that was a true ghost in the machine moment, then she said that to me right before she shot me. But that would mean that she is the daughter of Radlem in prison… but that girl is dead. So many unanswered questions, so little time. As sleep takes me I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

The charge goes quick and when I wake up I realize my nanite face has gone into standby mode. Nothing like having a head like a brick of lead in the morning. As my gears sputter and cough to get my head off the pillow, the nanites kick back in. I look at myself in the mirror. A man in a robot suit wearing a man’s face. Jesus, I feel like those Dutch nesting babushka dolls; a thing, inside a thing, inside another thing. As I get my things together before leaving, I grab my gun. I’m not going to forget that again. I grab my wallet and some cash from my desk. Hopefully I can get some answers today.

As I return to the bullet proof class cage for Radlem, he appears looking a bit grim and shaken. I fear he may have heard about the death of his daughter. “Is everything alright Mister Radlem?” He looks up at me and stares me direct in the eye. “There are probably robots in this very room.” I remember saying that to him the last time we met. He leans in and presses his forehead on the glass. “In fact how do I know you’re not a robot?” He looks so menacing I believe he could kill, at this point just with a glance. “You can’t ever be sure-” He cuts me off. “Yes I can.” From his jump suit he produces what looks like a spoon, however when he hits it on the table I realize what it is. A high pitched frequency, designed solely to deafen and destroy robot audio receivers. As I hear the rather loud hissing and cut off of my audio I watch as Mister Radlem begins speaking again. As I watch his lips I see him mouth the words, My girls will get me out of here, you can count on that.

As I leave the room, I realize immediately how much I relied on my hearing. I decide to head to the morgue and subsequently the doctor to see if he can fix these audio receivers. The cab ride over is actually pretty relaxing as I cannot hear a thing the cabbie says. I feel like people who ride in cabs are supposed to be the acting shrinks for these human drivers. As we pull up I just finish writing a note to the doctor explaining the situation. When I find him, he’s bent over a table examining the remains of a robot. He sees me and starts to speak when I hand him the note. He smiles and turns me around. In moments my hearing is back on, but everything seems so loud. “Well thanks for bailing me out again Doc.” The Doctor looks at me. “You pay taxes nowadays, don’t thank me.”

I ask him about Radlem’s daughter and he takes me over to her. She is just as beautiful as the woman who shot me, but definitely not as alive. “I swear this is the woman that shot me, but I saw her identical twin at the old Radlem house.” The doctor doesn’t seem all that surprised. “This girl got here with nanites in her body. It seems as though a lot of her was rebuilt too, just like you.” I stare down at the girl laying on the cold table. Beautiful and we had something in common, of course she had to die. The doctor continues on, “But something wasn’t right, I found a wireless transmitter in her skull, connected to her brain. I don’t know what a human would or could use it for, but it was there nonetheless.” I stared blankly, seemingly straight through the table. I know what she could use it for.

That’s it for today’s episode, I hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoy writing it! Also, I was wondering what everyone has been thinking of the episodic content and if they think I should continue on with more stories perhaps once either of my two features here end! let me know in the comments or email me! Thanks!

Today is Episode Seven of Unbiased Law, a robot drama set in 2111.  As humans are phased out of the system of law, robots replace them becoming purely black and white in their dealings with the public. Crime is down, and almost eliminated completely due to the accuracy rate of the droids. However, after one man in prison is found innocent, the law system is thrown into question. If one robot can make these errors, how do they know more won’t… or already have?

If you’re just tuning in, Episode One is here feel free to catch up and then return to this Episode! Enjoy!

With no police commissioner, the police force would report to another robot who didn’t like humans very much. This particular robot had been recommended for the same award I was but even the commissioner believed that he couldn’t leave the force. He was too much of a danger to humans as it was, but at least on the force there were guidelines and accountability. I know I would have to find Ms. Del Mar and fast. I decided the fastest way would be to talk to the man behind bars to see if he was linked in anyway shape or form, and tonight I would camp outside the discard graveyard to see if I could tail her. I just hoped it wouldn’t be dangerous for me in my current state.

As I made my way to the man at the core of this whole issue, I realized I didn’t even know his name. After explaining myself at the prison, the guard made me sign a whole tree worth of forms, and then let me in to see him. As I looked at the man at the center of it all, I didn’t feel sorry for him. No. I realized that this man was behind the whole thing. As I looked down at the sheet with his name on it, I tried to think about what to ask first. “So, Mister Radlem. It seems you’ve been wrongfully accused however you’re still in prison. Why do you think that is?” The blond haired man beyond the bullet proof glass scoffed. “It’s because no one can trust robots. Every day a robot is burrowing its way into your life. Taking jobs, lives, and running our society. It is high time we take back what is rightfully ours, before they just say that they’re in charge now and we can’t do anything about it.” I looked around cautiously and leaned in. “I know what you mean, there are probably robots in this very room. In fact how do I know you’re not a robot?” Mister Radlem looked confused but proud of my response. “You’re probably right, there could be robots here.” He motioned for me to come closer and he began whispering to me. “But what no one knows, is I still have family on the outside. They’re helping to get me free.”

They’re helping to get me free. The last words Mister Radlem was allowed to speak to me. Apparently we got too close, so his time was cut short for the day. As I thought about it more, I contemplated my decision to wait at the discard graveyard tonight. I needed to investigate this guy’s situation first. Who was his daughter. Where was she now? I decided to do a little old school investigating. To Radlem’s house under the cloak of darkness, that is how I’d get my information.

After some quick searches I found his house no problem. It was a dark and dingy hut of a house. But it’s not the building, but what’s inside of it that makes it a home. As I snuck around the back, I found a window partially open and decided to let myself in. No broken windows? This night was looking up. I hopped on through and into the home, seeing many photos of Radlem and what looked to be Ms. Del Mar. Hmm, Del Mar… Radlem… If I was human, maybe I would have seen that earlier. As I looked around I found so much evidence that Del Mar was actually Radlem’s daughter it wasn’t funny. Case closed. As I left, I shut the window behind me and continued on my way. That seemed easy, too easy.

As I waited in the bushes for what felt like forever, I could only be too grateful that I was a robot now and didn’t have to worry about bathroom breaks. Finally a car rolled up, looking extremely familiar. As I reached for my gun, I realized something. I was such a worthless robot, who has ever heard of a robot with no memory? I forgot my gun in my office. Of all the stupid… oh, she’s really close. As I focused on her face, I realized it was her. The media proclaimed “Serial Number Killer”. How stupid. Just because she is killing robots doesn’t mean they had to say serial number. The media gets less and less creative every year. As I watched her enter the house, I knew I would have to wait. No gun, and she had already killed me once. I wasn’t about to let that happen again.

Today was going a bit too smoothly, so I would have to have something throw a wrench into the works. No gun means no glory for me, but I could still report her. As I called it into the station they gave me some trouble. “What do you mean Radlem’s daughter is the Serial Number Killer?” I knew I would shock them with that news. “I have video evidence of her murdering a robot and leaving another one at the discard graveyard.” The voice on the other end of the line sounded even more shocked. “That’s impossible sir. We filed her death certificate over a week ago. The woman you are accusing has been dead for over a week.” Now it was my turn to be shocked. As I hung up with the police, I thought about who could be in the house and who had been visiting her father in prison?

That’s it for today’s episode, I hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoy writing it! Also, I was wondering what everyone has been thinking of the episodic content and if they think I should continue on with more stories perhaps once either of my two features here end! let me know in the comments or email me! Thanks!

Today is Episode Six of Unbiased Law, a robot drama set in 2111.  As humans are phased out of the system of law, robots replace them becoming purely black and white in their dealings with the public. Crime is down, and almost eliminated completely due to the accuracy rate of the droids. However, after one man in prison is found innocent, the law system is thrown into question. If one robot can make these errors, how do they know more won’t… or already have?

If you’re just tuning in, Episode One is here feel free to catch up and then return to this Episode! Enjoy!

The courthouse corridors were wrought with quiet robots and angry lawyers trying to prove their client’s innocence. I couldn’t be bothered to eavesdrop on any of their conversations. I needed to get into the security office. After finding out the Judge had been tampered with he allowed me to copy his logs from the day of the alteration. I ran the log transparent yet in my view to see where he had gone that day. As I retraced his steps I had found myself just outside another judge’s office where a camera was actually just down the hall. With the time stamp and the location all I needed was the actual video footage.

As I arrived before the door to the security office, two rather large robots moved between me and the door. “Sorry sir, no access.” I paused and looked to the two of them. “I’m on a case investigating the modification of a judge in the wrongful imprisonment of a human. I need access to the logs that are in that room.” The robots looked at each other and then back to me. “Sorry sir, no access.” Now as an ex human I had some thought processes that other robots don’t, like learning programming languages so I could hack into other robots wirelessly. Just as I turned the corner and loaded up one of such programs, suddenly there was a huge group of people making their way into the courthouse. I watched as the Mayor marched into the hall, completely surrounded by news reporters. The robots burst into action, rushing to aid the Mayor in his fight, like watching a salmon swim upstream… or more like a waterfall. I decided to make my entry into the office.

As I entered the small room, a small robot was positioned with many arms and cameras focused on many keyboards and television screens. “You are unauthorized human. You… wait. You’re not human. I detect nanites?” I had loaded a disabling program just in case, but decided to roll with his questions. “Yeah, the face is entirely nanites. I’m a robot in disguise hiding from a killer.” The tiny bot shifted and focused multiple of his cameras on me. “Robot in disguise?” I laughed, “Yeah, but I’m no Transformer.” The robot stared blankly at me, his cameras focusing and refocusing in some sort of confusion. A public service robot would have gotten that. “Alright, so I need access to the camera log dated…” Before I finish my sentence, the robot has the information on screen and a prompt for upload to my data banks appears in my view. “I know, I just read your memory. You’ve had an interesting life, and now you’re potentially the only thing that can help robots remain in their position of power.” I nodded and thanked him, but then my human curiosity got the best of me. “Help the robots? I’m trying to keep a war from starting to save everyone.” The robot made some sort of laughing sound and waved me off. “Sure thing ex-meatbag.”

As I left the security office I loaded the footage of the judge walking down the hall. It seemed that he was followed by a familiar looking blonde walking with a cane. As she approached his backside she raised the cane for only a moment and passed straight by. It was subtle enough to be overlooked by a security droid, but for me it was definitely a clue. Especially knowing what I know about that lady. My thought process loads the image of Ms. Del Mar with the gun to my face and I know she’s at least committed one other crime, two if I count the random email I received. It would be almost impossible to find her, especially if she keeps dumping bodies at the discard graveyard. Where would I begin looking for her, where would she turn up and should I risk waiting for her at her dumping zone?

As I left the courthouse I found the Mayor standing at the top of the large staircase making a speech to the news crews and public who had gathered before him. As he stood staring at the microphone, I wondered what he could possibly be reporting about. As the crowd watched on, he cleared his throat and began. “Today my fellow citizens is an ill omen in the relations between ourselves and the robots who govern our laws and risk their existence every day for our well being. It appears a recent robot murderer has finally made their presence known and has been upgraded to serial killer. For some out there, you believe ending a robot’s existence is not the same as ending a human’s. You would be wrong. The penalties are treated exactly the same and you will be punished as if they were humans. As of four fifty three pm today, our beloved police chief was found dismantled and stripped of his electronics. Luckily for us, his final act was to erase his memory banks and we found the blank memory core left in a ditch not far from his remains. If anyone has any information at all on this or any of the other robot related violence as of late, I encourage you to call the police station or even our government hotline. We don’t need your name, just your information. Thank you for your attention in this matter.”

That’s it for today’s episode, I hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoy writing it! Also, I was wondering what everyone has been thinking of the episodic content and if they think I should continue on with more stories perhaps once either of my two features here end! let me know in the comments or email me! Thanks!

Today is Episode Five of Unbiased Law, a robot drama set in 2111.  As humans are phased out of the system of law, robots replace them becoming purely black and white in their dealings with the public. Crime is down, and almost eliminated completely due to the accuracy rate of the droids. However, after one man in prison is found innocent, the law system is thrown into question. If one robot can make these errors, how do they know more won’t… or already have?

If you’re just tuning in, Episode One is here feel free to catch up and then return to this Episode! Enjoy!

The courthouse felt like a second home to me, I’d testified so many times in cases I was hired for that the guards joked about getting me my own passcode for the building. However today would be different. As I marched in the front doors I made eye contact with the guards as I walked toward the robot security screening. “Whoa there sir, you’re going to need to take the other screening entrance just over there.” As the guard pointed, I realized he determined I was human. “I don’t know how to put this, but I definitely need this side.” The guard looked confused and agitated. “Sir, this side is for droids, that side is for humans. There are no metal detectors on this side because of the amount of metal in a droid, so we can’t let humans pass through here as the scans could harm them.” I looked around and then asked if I could speak to him in private. The guard looked to the other guard who nodded and we made our way to the security office. As I closed the door behind me, I made sure he was watching me. “I didn’t want to blow my cover, but…” I removed the hat and the nanite mask much to the guard’s shock. “Magnus?!” He managed to utter, and then he looked me up and down. “How did you look so human?”

After a short explanation and putting my face back on the guard walked me around the human side security sensors and smiled. “I heard you got shot, was kinda worried you wouldn’t be coming through any more.” I met his glance and nodded. “Yeah, being shot in the face is a blast. Just one of those moments you cherish forever. Thanks and I’ll be seeing you around.” As the guard walked away I made my way to the room where they were holding the judge who had convicted an innocent man. In the darkest halls of the building, three floors below ground level, I finally found the room and the guards had been given the heads up I was coming. “Magnus, good to see you, I assume you’re here to solve another case?” I smiled and nodded. “Here’s to hoping.” As they let me enter the room, I overheard them talking about my face. “For a robot he’s not looking too bad hey? Wonder how they got his face so realistic? How did he know what a smile was and when to do it?”

“So you’ve finally come.” My attention is immediately drawn to the robot sitting on the cot in front of me. “Yes your honour, I’ve come to…” He holds up his hand in protest. “Please, I’m hardly a judge now. Ask your questions and lets see this through. If anyone can get me free, it’s you Magnus.” I didn’t think he’d recognize me with the mask, but he is a judge who is programmed to see through lies and deceit. “You convicted an innocent man to prison and now that it’s being challenged, I’ll need full disclosure.” The judge nodded and I started my questioning. “It was said in the news that the case was extremely simple, the man you persecuted was found at the scene of the crime holding the murder weapon, with the victim’s blood on their clothes and their skin under the victim’s nails.” The judge shrugged, “That is indeed what happened, but apparently he wasn’t the killer.” As I paced back and forth I began wondering about the fact that it may have been a set up.

“So the man in prison beat the polygraph? He confessed to killing her and it read that he was telling the truth?” The judge seemed confused still by the whole scenario. “Yes, and when the new man stepped forth the only reason we now consider him the murderer was he knew specific details about the scene of the crime that not even the man in prison knew despite his being at the scene of the crime.” I began to feel uneasy, it was beginning to look like humans were challenging the law, proving they could beat us at our own game. “So this new man is the murderer then? Or could the other man have relayed the information to him somehow and they are both trying to get out and stay out of jail?” Staring off into space, the judge muttered something and then focused back on me. “I’m sorry Magnus, I really don’t know what happened. I remember thinking the man I placed in jail couldn’t have been the murderer, but then there is a gap in my memories and suddenly I remember thinking he was guilty and it was one hundred percent, without a doubt.” Something inside my own mind clicked, and I reached for the judge.

“What are you doing?” The judge leaned out of my reach, but I managed to catch him. “I need to see if you’ve been tampered with.” As I looked over him I could find no parts out of place. I switched to other scanners but still nothing was showing up, not a fingerprint out of place or anything. As I ran my hands over his head in defeat, I felt a small magnetic residue on the back of his head. As I looked closer, it seemed someone placed an extremely tiny, yet focused magnet on the back of his head. Just enough to scramble some memories. If the person was smart enough to do that, they could easily have found a way to alter his memories without the judge knowing. It seemed I would have to retrace his steps to the day of his gap in memory.

That’s it for today’s episode, as the investigation heats up in two days time the Serial Number Killer strikes yet again.

Today is Episode Four of Unbiased Law, a robot drama set in 2111.  As humans are phased out of the system of law, robots replace them becoming purely black and white in their dealings with the public. Crime is down, and almost eliminated completely due to the accuracy rate of the droids. However, after one man in prison is found innocent, the law system is thrown into question. If one robot can make these errors, how do they know more won’t… or already have?

If you’re just tuning in, Episode One is here feel free to catch up and then return to this Episode! Enjoy!

As my charge completes, the daylight nearly incinerates my visual processing core. I always try to lay down to charge, but apparently I went into sleep mode staring straight at the window. That wouldn’t have been creepy to anyone walking by, not at all. I unplug and make my way to the computer, processors still adjusting to the abnormally bright sun. No new emails, that’s always a good thing. Some days you prefer for business just not to be booming. As I check the news however I stumble upon a headline, “Serial Number Killer” just below it reads “Robots missing all over town as serial killer kidnaps and disposes of at least five public service droids.” Strangely enough, I think the number is six, I was supposed to be the first. I guess I’ll have to keep it on the down low until I can work on that case.

I turn off all the lights, lock the door and then make my way into the back office area. Stooping to open my safe, I find my brown fedora tucked under a nearby end table. Well, one case solved today, I wonder if I can make it two? As the safe clicks open, a large silver box covered in dust is all that remains within in. I couldn’t remember if I kept anything else in here, so I guess not. Placing the box on the table, I blow the dust off and open it. I stare into the case, and my human face stares back at me. “Hello Jonathan.”

Let me explain, I wasn’t always a robot. Well, it’s complicated… but there is a reason I was allowed to leave the force. I used to be one of the officers on the PAID training force. I was a human who took to cybernetic implants very well. You see in the early days of implants, most bodies rejected the nanites, tiny robots poured by the millions into your system. Each robot type had a purpose. Some were meant to cure cancers, others to  repair cell tissue, others to enhance performance; But the entire time almost no patients survived any of the tests. It was very secretive as they were testing on live human subjects, but the government gave the program the green light. I never agreed with the program, until one day.

It was a routine exercise, distract and deploy, except today the gunman in the liquor store had more than we expected. The exercise we had activated dozens of times, but normally the gunman had a pistol or rifle. I was supposed to distract the hostage taker while robots flanked him from all sides until he would just give in from the sheer number of ways he could die. This guy though, he looked ragged but he had something I had never seen before. The weapon looked like a television remote, and at first I didn’t think anything of it. As I made my way toward him, talking all the way, one of the hostages shouted for me to look left. I didn’t move, until the gunman nodded. The body down the aisle was still smouldering. Suddenly, this feeling of unease came over me. I’m going to die. As the robots deployed their part of the deal, the gunman who normally gives up, decided he would rather die than go to prison. I didn’t feel a thing as I burst through the front window of the liquor store. As I came to rest on the ground, I’ll never forget the look on the poor officer’s face who got to me first. Then I blacked out.

When I awoke, I was amazed to see I was in amazing shape. I jumped up and skipped around. I was alive! Eventually my doctor came in and sat me down. He explained that the nanites were repairing my body, but in doing so they converted a lot of blood and bone to tissue. My bones had apparently been replaced with metal now. I thought this was too awesome, I was becoming a robot! I continued returning to the doctor for check ups and apparently my body was handling the nanites just fine. However the nanites were working their way toward my brain and if they found something else to maintain, there was a possibility of brain damage. I underwent the emergency surgery and came out just fine, at least it felt fine. Until I realized I couldn’t feel the bed below me, or the fabric of the sheets. I ripped the sheets off to find that my body had been replaced with that of a droid’s. What the hell is going on?! I jumped up and I saw my head floating in formaldehyde and there’s just something about seeing that kind of image that really knocks you out.

When I awoke, there was a doctor and a government official standing over me. The news was the nanites had completely rebuilt the outer hull of my body, and has rebuilt ninety percent of my muscle mass. This took my bones and a lot of blood to manage. However, the remaining ten percent could only be rebuilt from primary body tissues, I couldn’t have a donor. Sadly it would come from my brain or my heart, and without those obviously I wouldn’t be alive. Instead, the government had fast tracked a program of developing robot people. What that means is they hooked my brain up to a computer, let it absorb all the data and then it uploaded it to this robot’s memory banks. They said it would take some getting used to, but I was one hundred percent machine now. Congratulations they said. I was the first.

As I stared at my old face, I remembered  the first few months. The face was a nanite representation of my entire head. That meant if my thought process was to move my ears, it moves them only as much as I would have been able to before. I couldn’t bend my own memory and limitations, so if my tongue couldn’t touch my nose, it wouldn’t now. The doctor put it on and pointed me to a mirror. It was remarkable, I looked human in head only. The doctor recommended I try and blend in more with robots and use the face only to remind myself that I was human once. But now, I needed it to blend in among the humans, in case my killer happened to spot me.

The face fit naturally and I put on a pair of gloves to hide my hands. Donning my hat, I slipped out the back entrance and into the alley. As I stared up into the sky, it felt strange to know today I would be perceived as a human again after so long. Did I even remember what it would be like to be a human? I flagged down a cab and hopped in. The driver was a robot and I had hoped it would be my cab driver from the other night, but not so lucky. “Where to mac?” I thought about my joke, and brushed it off. “The Courthouse please.” The cab driver nodded and pulled out. I immediately panicked, Oh no, robots transfer other robots their fare, but what do humans do these days? The cab driver caught me in the rear view. “You ok back there? You’re looking a little pale, don’t you throw up!” I looked around anxiously, Pale? What does he mean? Is my face broken? As we got a few blocks from the Courthouse I got even more nervous, and my brain apparently told my face to gag. The cab driver slammed on the brakes, “Get the hell out! I just detailed this car and I’ll be damned if you’re going to throw up all over it meatbag!” As I jumped out I realized my face was giving away my thoughts. This would take some getting used to.

That’s it for today’s episode, the investigation begins with the courthouse however I hope today’s piece was satisfactory enough! Feel free to email me or comment below!

Today is Episode Three of Unbiased Law, a robot drama set in 2111.  As humans are phased out of the system of law, robots replace them becoming purely black and white in their dealings with the public. Crime is down, and almost eliminated completely due to the accuracy rate of the droids. However, after one man in prison is found innocent, the law system is thrown into question. If one robot can make these errors, how do they know more won’t… or already have?

If you’re just tuning in, Episode One is here feel free to catch up and then return to this Episode! Enjoy!

As I leave the police station I find myself trying to piece everything together. Was my own shooting connected to the sudden surge of distrust in robot officers? As I near the door, I am suddenly brought back to the fact it is a downpour outside. I ask the receptionist if she can call me a cab, I need to get back to my office to start focusing on this new case I’ve been assigned. Waiting by the door, I can feel the moisture in my joints and gears. The rain always bugs me mostly because it reminds me I’m getting old. Most detective droids have short life expectancies, sometimes a gun shot will tear a droid beyond repair. I managed to survive over ten fatal gunshots while in service, well… now it was eleven. I was granted exemplary service for thinking outside the tin can around our memory banks. More so, I was actually being rewarded for being a self-preservationist. Suddenly I hear a honking and I am brought out of my deep thought processes. It seems my cab has arrived.

As I rush into the cab, the cab driver greets me with a wave. I look at his license, F4R-13Y, Transportation Droid. He looks at me in his rear view mirror and nods. “So, where to Mac?” I meet his gaze in the mirror. “Do I look like a Mac to you? I’m more  PC.” I hear the driver snicker a little and he nods. “Well played. You’re not like those other officer droids, they can’t download a sense of humor. You public sector?” I shrug, “In a sense, take me to one thirty seven fifty ninth ave.” I look out the window at the downpour. “I don’t remember it ever raining this much.” I catch the driver looking back in his rear view. “I don’t think it ever has, probably an ill omen for us droids. By the way, some people call me Farley instead of that code on my license.” I nod in acknowledgement, then lean forward to introduce myself. “I’m Magnus, nice to meet you Farley. Isn’t it strange how some droids actually develop through social stimulation while others seem to just remain constant?” Farley snickers again as he makes a left hand turn. “Yeah, it’s kind of sad that we managed to develop a taste for humour and manage to hold a conversation. So many droids can’t. Makes us lucky I guess.” I lean back in my seat and stare out at the rain. “Yeah. Lucky.”

I transfer Farley the fare and I bid him farewell. As I stand in the rain watching the cab drive away, I get half my fare transferred back to me. If I could smile, I would. It’s always great to meet another personable robot, makes me feel like we still have hope out there. I rush into my office and take off my wet clothes, tossing them over the waiting room seats. I don’t have to wear them, it just helps to fit in. As I sit at my desk I find three new emails. The first one is fantastic, Enhance my manhood. Well, I’d love to. The second one is even less important to me, make up and designer brands at fifty percent off. Incredible. Internet’s been around over a hundred years and this garbage still exists. The third one just has a video file and only one thing in the body of the email: from a concerned passerby.

As I stare at the email, every ounce of it reeks of virus but I can’t help but open it. The video is exceptionally grainy and very low quality, but the audio seems intact. I can hear the rain but the street is almost too dark to notice the rain falling. As I watch I see my car tail lights pull up, suddenly there’s a large flash and the door opens with Ms. Del Mar pushing me onto the side walk. I look closer. I zoom in on the body on the side walk and then replay the video. As the body slides out, I realize that isn’t my body. It’s another robot! As she pulls away, I watch as other robots rush up and dismantle the victim on the ground. As they rush away nothing is left of the victim. I pause for a moment, pretty confident I know where that place is. It’s a graveyard for old robots, discards as we call them. The discards are robots who have no further use in society, so they are shut down and if they’re too old to be recycled, well… they go here. It was rumoured that a robot had himself shut down, but only to reactivate later. This robot was supposedly a human hater, and he wanted to reactivate some of the robots there and start an army. It seems everyone is trying to start a war these days… good place to hide a body though.

End of Episode Three! I’d love to hear any feed back on today’s story and feel free to be brutally honest. Email me, or comment, either one is fine! I hope that everyone enjoyed today’s episode, I’ve been trying to keep them short so I can go over them and ensure their quality. Also, the next episode will happen once again in two days and it’ll mark the start of Magnus’ investigation! For now thanks for reading!

Today is Episode Two of Unbiased Law, a robot drama set in 2111.  As humans are phased out of the system of law, robots replace them becoming purely black and white in their dealings with the public. Crime is down, and almost eliminated completely due to the accuracy rate of the droids. However, after one man is placed in found innocent after spending a few years in prison, the law system is thrown into question. If one robot can make these errors, how do they know more won’t… or already have?

If you’re just tuning in, Episode One is here feel free to catch up and then return to this Episode! Enjoy!

PS-Also I know it’s a bit late but I’ve posted my short story for this week here! You will most likely see this link again tomorrow!

As I lay here in the puddle of water and oil, I watch the tail lights to my car disappear into the torrential downpour. Will anyone notice me? I see the light come on for my power cell. Normally we never see that, as droids we have our regular maintenance. The repair droids make sure we’re in tip top shape, and our power cells get replaced every time without a disconnect. It seems she hit mine. Ms. Del Mar, if that was her real name, when I wake up I’m going to…

A droid stands over me, staring closely at my face. What happened? Where am I? Why am I immobile? The droid realizes my visual interpreters are working and he stands up straight. “Hello Magnus, I’m the doctor at the police station. It seems you’re a detective and a former member of the Police Artificial Intelligence Detectives. Any idea how you ended up on our doorstep with a bullet hole in your face armor?” I pause a moment but nothing appears in my recent memory banks. It seems they’ve been wiped cleaner than a newly built robot. “No Sir. I have no memory, not even in my reserves.” The doctor looks closely at my face again and tinkers with something. Suddenly I can feel my legs and arms come online. He nods and spins whatever tool he is holding. “You should be good to move now, and try updating from our network, you should have some firmware upgrades.” I sit up and see if I can connect to the network. What’s this? A password? “Umm, doc, what’s the password?” He is already heading for the door by the time I ask, but he turns to me. “Your password? It’s written on your old ID badge in your wallet.”

I fumble with my wallet, and find the ID badge. I find the password and enter it into the prompt, connecting… Still connecting. Finally, I’m granted access. Now, where would this update be located? Maybe it’s… And before I know it my thought process is interrupted. “You Have Mail.” I really have got to change that, I think the doctor installed the most basic system possible. An email, from myself? Ten minutes ago? Let’s load this up.

“Magnus, If you’re reading this it means you’ve been shot in your memory core. I’d explain everything but it’s way easier to access your old self and install the backup. You’ll understand in a minute. Sincerely, Magnus.”

Well that was odd. I enter the link at the bottom of the email and it takes me to a file. Download? Of course! I wait a few moments as the file transfers. Wow, apparently I am about to remember a lot, four hundred and thirty seven zettabytes worth of memories. Installing. Rebooting.

When my visuals come back online, I leap to my feet. I’m not in my car, I’m not sure where I am or what’s been going on. After a brief survey of the scene, it appears I’m in the police station doctor’s shop. Well, it seems everything is going as well as it could. I guess I got my email, considering I’m back to my old self. I shake the reboot off and leave the room. As I open the door, a droid rushes to my side. “Sorry Magnus, but I can’t let you leave just yet… especially with no face plate. I reach up and touch where the plate should be. Oh, cords… got it. “You must be the doctor who patched me up?” The droid nods, and he responds with confusion in his voice. “You don’t remember me? I told you to update only moments ago!” I fix my tie and suit jacket. “I didn’t update, had a quality backup. I’m good as new, mentally at least.” The doctor nods. “Well at least that’s good news, but once we get your face plate back on the Commissioner wants to see you.”

Moments later I’ve got a shiny new face and all my memories, like nothing happened. Now… to find out who Veronica Del Mar is and put her in prison for murder and the theft of my car. I restored that car myself. But first, I should probably see the Commissioner. As I walk into his office, I overhear part of his conversation. “Yes. Yes. I will get my best on it now Sir. Yes. Sorry. No. I do not know what will happen if the judge is found guilty. I know. Unbiased Sir. I will. Goodbye.” The Commissioner looks up to me. “M46-NU5, welcome back. I require your service.” I survey the room, wishing he had possibly dragged that out a bit longer. “You want me to investigate who shot me Sir?” The Commissioner shakes his head, and motions for me to close the door.

“Off the record mode, M46-NU5.” The Commissioner has never been in off the record mode, at least that I’ve seen. I stand still as a coat rack, awaiting what terrible news he has for me. Suddenly, he slams his hand on the desk leaving a solid dent behind. “Magnus, you have been working your own firm for a decade or so now, correct?” I am startled by the question, not where I was expecting him to go. “Yes Sir. A decade indeed.” The Commissioner stands and I detect his scanners surveying my entire frame. “Magnus, I need you to listen and listen closely. Droids are in trouble if we do not solve this promptly and efficiently. Have you heard of the man wrongly convicted and sent to prison by a robot judge?” I had heard of it, but not much. “I know little about it, but I’m guessing things aren’t going well?” The Commissioner shakes his head. “Let me bring you up to the current news.”

“A droid judge was proceeding over a case in which a man was caught at the scene of a crime, holding the murder weapon with the victim’s blood all over him. It seemed evident that the man had committed the crime. Upon further analysis, the man had scratch marks and the victim had his skin under her nails.” The Commissioner looks at me, as if he expects me to interrupt, then continues. “It was too easy. Too default crime. We all speculated it may have been staged to put a light on us. We put the man through the polygraph and he passed. He admitted he had done the crime.” I take my moment to interrupt. “So, it was by all definition a completely solved case.” The Commissioner nodded in agreement. “However, once he was convicted and placed into prison a man came forward stating he was the real murderer. We put him through the polygraph and he was telling the truth. He explained some details that were not released to the public. We realized then we had been tricked. The humans are trying to start a war against us.”

End of Episode Two! I’d love to hear any feed back on today’s story and feel free to be brutally honest. Email me, or comment, either one is fine! I do know that today’s episode isn’t as much of a cliffhanger as the last, however I believe it is definitely a good point to end on. Our main character has died already, people are framing robots and the mystery woman is on the run. Will Magnus find out what we already know, or will the moments after he uploaded his back up be lost forever? Tune in for Episode 3 in two days! Thanks for reading!

I mentioned before about wanting to do some more creative work, especially on this blog. I was having trouble filling the page every day but for me I need to. The consistency to update every day is normally where I break; if I make an excuse one day, then it gets easier day after day. So I have instead switched the focus of this blog. Yesterday you saw a more autobiographical entry, where as today I’ve decided to take you into an episodic piece of fiction. I decided that I would alternate between autobiographical entries and fiction. That will happen every day until one or the other finishes. I may keep the fictional series to ten episodes, but I suppose we will see when or if we get there!

Today’s piece is set one hundred years into the future, where police and courts have been replaced with robots. Black and white with no gray area; These robots govern consistently and cannot be bought out. Suddenly, one man is found innocent after he has been imprisoned and people begin to question why he was wrongly convicted. As the first “mistake” made by the robots is blown out of proportion, it seems people are losing faith in this form of the law. Robots are the only officials left after twenty years of consistent service, will people allow robots to govern other robots?

The rain pours down over the city, as if an attempt to wash away the mistakes of an artificial intelligence. One judge, makes one mistake. That’s how this all began. As I peer out the front window of my office, I realize that this is going to change things. I’ve been operating a detective business almost all of my eleven years in operation. I lean on the window frame and I find myself staring at the metal of my hand. It was ten years ago that I was allowed to start my own business. I load the file associated with the date.

“For exemplary service, Police Artificial Intelligence Detective M46-NU5, has been granted the approval for his application to operate an agency dealing with individual problems.” Commissioner Alpha 6L3-N13 looked me up and down. “M46-NU5, will you continue to comply with regulatory and preventative maintenance diagnostics?”

I stare straight ahead and nod. “Yes Sir.”

The phone rings in the background and I pause the load. It is strange now after loading that file, how he sounds so machine like. I pick up the phone and look back to the window. “Artificial Intelligence Detective Agency, Magnus speaking.” The voice on the other end sounds as soggy as the scene outside my window. “Is this the robot detective?” That is an accurate description, however it doesn’t register as polite by my records. “I suppose that is what I am, who am I speaking with?” Through the sobs on the other end comes a sweet sound, like oil for my audio receivers. “Veronica. Veronica Del Mar.” I pause for a moment, saving that voice file to memory. “What seems to be the problem Ms. Del Mar?” The voice comes through the line again, but this time in hushed tones. “I’m at the corner of one twenty seventh and fifty third. Please pick me up, I’m in the phone booth.” The line goes dead before I can reply.

I get my umbrella out and head to my car. I hate nights like these, just don’t feel comfortable in the pouring rain. Makes my joints stiff. As I turn on the headlights I see a man scurry into a nearby house, it only seems strange because he was just standing in the rain. I ignore it and pull away, that phone booth is only a few blocks from my office.

In no time I see the booth standing amid the rain, a small sanctuary for a sweet voice. As I pull up, I see someone inside the booth but can’t make any details out, the rain is obscuring my view. I push open the car door and the person from inside the booth rushes out and sits in my passenger seat. She pulls her jacket back from her head and I see a most attractive female. She is asymmetrical and her beautiful blonde hair is styled neatly. Her make up is somehow unaffected by the rain, and accents her features perfectly. My voice crackles, likely from the moisture in the air, “So where to Ms. Del Mar?” She turns to me with a smile, but suddenly it turns to a look of rage. She pulls a gun from her purse and sticks it in my face. “The Police Station droid. Make it snappy.”

For the first time in many years, I am glad that I cannot feel fear. But if I were able to, I think it would be how I would feel now. Nevertheless I am concerned with what a gun that size would do to my memory banks. We drive down fifty third and the woman never takes her eyes off me. I can see a slight trembling in her trigger finger, my concern always growing for my memory. As we get close to the station I find an old wireless connection and connect. I login to my home computer and begin uploading a backup of my mind to it. The time estimate for the upload comes in at about four minutes. Stupid Windows Seventeen, I only have four hundred and thirty seven zettabytes of data to transfer. It’s just never fast when you need it to be. I begin to slow the car down and pull off to the side before getting to the station. Suddenly Ms. Del Mar knocks on my head with the gun. “I said to the Police Station droid, not near it.”

A notification appears in my view, apparently the estimate was wrong and it went faster than estimated. Once again I say, stupid Windows. I send a quick email to myself from my computer and schedule it to send in approximately ten minutes. Hopefully I’m still active, but judging from my surroundings, the chances are slim. I pull up to the front of the Police Station and Ms. Del Mar looks up at the building. “Thanks for the getaway car…” I turn to her, looking straight down the barrel of what seems to be a hand cannon. “You don’t have to do this.” She doesn’t even flinch. Her eyes stare me directly in the face. “This is for my father, sorry, it’s nothing personal.” The bullet tears through the protective armor and I begin to feel the power draining from my view. She opens the door and shoves me onto the side walk and into the rain. The last thing I see are my car’s tail lights disappearing into the night.

End of Episode One! I’d love to hear any feed back on today’s story and feel free to be brutally honest. Email me, or comment, either one is fine! Also I got word my review is up thanks to the awesome folks over at TnT Gaming Voice! You can check out my review for Fallout: New Vegas (PS3) here but for today thanks for reading!