Malfunction (1st Place)

“Mom, do something!  The moron keeps dumping my plate in the garbage.”

“And that’s a problem?” His mother lifted a brow as she dropped her purse and keys on the counter. 

“It is when I haven’t had a chance to eat it.” Dustin’s eyes rolled toward the ceiling, a move he had perfected upon turning thirteen.  “I sat the plate on the table and turned around to grab a coke. Next thing I know the moron’s scraping my food in the trash.”

“Look, I’m going to go take a shower.  Tell your father when he gets home.”  Angela headed for the stairs, calling over her shoulders, “And stop calling him a moron.  His name is Andy.” 

“Mom! Dad will just take him out to the workshop and tinker with him again.  Nothin’ will be fixed.”

“Then, you do something... anything. Just leave me out of it.” 

“Seriously? Anything?” but his Mom had already turned the corner and Dustin brightened. “I’ll take that as a yes.”  He turned and studied the android his mom had affectionately named Andy over twelve years ago.  “Andy? Let’s visit the workshop, shall we?”

A whirling noise indicated the unit followed Dustin through the door into the garage.  He settled onto his recharging station and awaited instructions.

“Power down, Andy.”  Dustin picked up a hammer and muttered, “I’ve got some work to do.”  The unit’s head whirled three times before returning to fixate his one good orbital socket on Dustin.  If he didn’t know better, he’d swear fear flickered across its face before following the command. 

*****

Unit 5342’s automatic reboot occurred at 0300.  His self-diagnostics identified several new dents near his cortex and two broken hinges on his left digits.  His frame could not withstand more.  Logic dictated his next action.   

Eliminate the threat.





Word Count = 299



Submitted for

Daily Flash Fiction Challenge  (13+) Enter your story of 300 words or less. #896794 by Arakun the Twisted Raccoon

Word Count Limit = 300