《Max's Calliope》


 Chapter 1: The FuzzBall

    A pink fuzzy fur ball rushes down the misty mountains steep slope. Tumbling down with no sense of the objects around it, it hits eight different obstacles each collision making a catgirl ghost rise from the ball. As the rolling projectile approaches the bottom of the mountain, it collides with a rock too big to pass and gets flung into the air at an alarming speed. After flying for what seems like an eternity, it reaches a stop by crashing into the city''s eastern gate. The pink fuzzy fur ball unravels itself and gets up, a 1.5 meter tall half cat half demon or Neko dusts herself off, with a high pitched lispy voice she says ¡°Wow! That hurt a lot!¡±.


    The Neko gets up off the newly crushed door and casually strolls into the town. She thinks to herself ¡°Jeez, I hope the city dwellers are kinder than Kikobecause I think I¡¯m down to my last life.¡± strolling through the town she passes a grimy old robot sitting offline next to a trash can, but she willingly ignores it. ¡°HEY!¡± a deep raspy voice calls out, The Neko snaps back in shock and stares at the newly reactivated robot ¡°Errrmhello?¡± she meekly replies. The robot that was covered in grime gets up and wipes off what he can to look at least semi-presentable, he then puts a small cube into a furnace-like cavity in his pentagon shaped torso.


    As the cube enters the cavity the furnace chomps down like a beast consuming its prey, in one fell swoop. With the newly found nourishment, the furnace opens its mouth and produces a single red flame that stays steady in the empty carapace that is his torso. ¡°Woooow.. how¡¯d ya do that!¡± says the Neko shedding all signs of shyness ¡°Oh, that¡¯sjust my furnace.¡± the robot nonchalantly replies ¡°Do all metal men have a furnace in their chest?!¡± she asks with sparkling eyes. The robot looks astonished that the little girl standing before him called him a metal man ¡°Metal man.. metal man¡­ metal man!? what does that even mean? Is it some new type of insult or slur invented when I was gone?¡± a thousand different questions go through the robot¡¯s mind ¡°uhh¡­ oh my god! are you in a logic loop!?¡± she innocently asks.


    The robot stops over thinking the girl¡¯s statement and replies ¡°What? No, those are only in the movies. Any real robot has an ¡®if¡¯ statement in his programming to stop exactly that. Besides, I¡¯m not a robot I¡¯m a human whose body was cursed to become like a robot.¡± the catgirls eyes sparkle with an intensity fiercer than the gravitational pull of a neutron star ¡°Dear god what have I done..¡± he thinks. The robot tries to move away from the little girl, but his body refuses to obey his commands instead it stands as still as a statue.


    Desperate, searching for anything that might help him, The robots gaze gets drawn to the sidewalk beneath him. Observing it for a moment he comes to a shocking realisation ¡°The pavement is moving!¡± he screams in his mind. ¡°Wait a damn second, the pavement isn¡¯t moving, I am!¡± still in shock Max tries to find a logical reason behind this ¡°Could it be.. could her eyes sparkle so violently that it produces its owngravitational pull? If so the petrification of my electronic body is probably due to flares of energy!¡±. ¡°Stop!¡± he yells, She stops staring at him with her sparkling eyes and looks confused ¡°I¡¯ll tell you whatever you want but please, god, for all that is holy stop staring at me like that!¡± he yells. Regaining control of his body the robot begins to count all of his fingers and toes, with both of them accounted for they sit down on the pavement and begin to talk.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°So! What are you, who are you, where did you come from and whats good to eat in the city¡± she asks, sparkles begin forming on her eyes ¡°W-wait! No sparkly eyes, for the safety of the city!¡± she looks disappointed but marches on with a smile ¡°Well first of all my name is Max I¡¯m a person that was cursed into becoming a robot, the only human thing about me is my brain and eyes. I came from a farming village that used to stand here, and I¡¯m a damn robot how would I know?¡± rambles Max. ¡°Aha! Is that a contradicting statement I hear!?¡± yells Gabby. ¡°In the first part of your explanation you so obviously outlined how your body is cursed to become like a robot but your eyes and brain remain un-enchanted and intact. You then retorted you are quote-unquote a damn robot¡± she calmly explains ¡°Who the actual hell cares¡± thinks Max ¡°Fine what am I then?¡± he says sarcastically ¡°Well, I guess you¡¯re a cyborg, part human and part robot.¡± she says with confidence. ¡°Jesus Christ¡± Max murmurs ¡°Fine¡±, Gabby stares at max with a look of pure glee obviously proud of her accomplishment.


    ¡°So now that you¡¯ve decided what I am wanna know a little fact about me?¡± asks Max ¡°Sure!¡± replies Gabby cheerfully ¡°Well I¡¯m a bit different than normal robots-¡± he says getting cut off by Gabby ¡°But you¡¯re not a robot you¡¯re a cyborg¡± she quickly inserts ¡°Alright, alright, See normalcyborgsuse average C-class power-cells to power themselves but me being the special little-cursed snowflake I am, Use credits instead¡± he explains. ¡°Credits? What are those?¡± Gabby asks, Max gets up and rummages around in the trash that he used to sit offline beside; He pulls out a ski mask, a black stick that¡¯s in the vague shape of a gun and a small silver cube with a red circle on the bottom. Max puts on the ski mask and shows gabby the cube ¡°This cube is called a credit they¡¯re the currency normal people use.


    Once you get a hundred of a colour they fuse together to create a higher colour cube, this one is the lowest.¡± he explains ¡°So you need to eat those with your furnace to live?¡± she asks ¡°Yeah I do, too bad I don¡¯t have enough to live for more than a dozen minutes..¡± he replies. Max slouches and looks at the ground with a face of pure sorrow ¡°I hope to god this works because I didn¡¯t lie.¡± he thinks. Gabby looks at him with a look of discernmentlooking past max straight into his soul. After some time of staring she gets up and smiles ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll help you.¡± She says, Max covers his face and whimpers ¡°T-thank you..¡± he lets out, a sinister smile appears on his hands, ¡°Got her.¡± he thinks.

 Chapter 2: The Heist

    Two figures, one tall and masked one short but covered with fur, stand in front of a nameless jewellery store ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± asks the shorter figure ¡°Nope.¡± replies the taller figure. The figure rushes forward and smashes through the glass double doors of the store. It looks like a plain pentagonic robot, wearing a black ski mask and appears to be holding a gun, he raises it and directs it towards the store clerks head ¡°Hands up! You should know how this works, keep your hands up and you won¡¯t be hurt but put¡¯em down and something is gonna come rushen to your head.¡± he yells. The store clerk is visibly shaking and does as the masked robot commands ¡°Now number two!¡± the robot calls out to no response, ¡°Number two?¡± he yells again.


    Still pointing his gun towards the store clerk he backs off to the double doors, the masked robot turns his head to his accomplice ¡°Gabby that¡¯s your cue.¡± he whispers ¡°Oh! then you should¡¯ve called me by my codename!¡± she retorts ¡°Goddamit fine, Go forth¡­ Master¡±. Gabby smiles and runs into the store without a thought she then looks back at Max ¡°So what now?¡± she asks innocently ¡°What now? What do you mean what now? Grab the jewellery!¡± he yells. Gabby thinks for a moment then replies ¡°But isn¡¯t that stealing?¡± she asks.


    ¡°What? Of course, it¡¯s stealing.¡± says Max, Gabby reveals a look of shock and sternly says ¡°Stealing is wrong I¡¯m not helping you.¡± ¡°My god Gabby we¡¯ve been over this! Either you help me grab some jewellery or I die. So are you going to help or not?¡± he barks out, Gabby turns around and mumbles ¡°I don¡¯t want to help you steal but you¡¯re my friend¡­ I don¡¯t want you to die¡­¡± Gabby lays on the floor and curls up ¡°But I want to be a hero..¡± Max looks at Gabby fighting a moral dilemma due to him and for once he feels remorse ¡°Look, Gabby you don¡¯t have to do anything. Just sit back and we can walk in a few minutes¡± he says.


    Gabby looks at max with glowing green eyes ¡°You..¡± her voice rings through the jewellery store ¡°Just don¡¯t understand!¡± a wave of green energy pulses out with each word, Gabby¡¯s body starts shimmering and slowly starts disappearing into thin air. ¡°What the actual fuck just happened¡± Max yells. Sirens suddenly blare off in the distance ¡°Oh shit its the police!¡± Max¡¯s head snaps over to the cashier who now has one hand lowered under the counter ¡°You sonuva bitch!¡±. ¡°You activated the silent alarm didn¡¯t you?¡± he accuses, the frightened but determined shopkeeper replies ¡°Y-yes, yes I did.¡± ¡°You realise I have a literal weapon aimed at your head.¡± ¡°N-no, you have a black stick pointed at my head!¡± Max throws his gun shaped stick as fast as a torpedo straight at the cashier¡¯s forehead ¡°You¡¯re an absolute idiot.¡± the cashier collapses unconscious.


    The sirens in the distance draw closer ¡°Goddammit Gabby you better just be invisible ¡± says Max, he gets on his knees and starts patting around the area Gabby disappeared ¡°Aha! Found you!¡± he exclaims. Max picks up the still invisible Gabby and steps towards the storefront, a blaring siren rings through his robotic microphone and through to his human brains ¡°Oh shit they¡¯re already here?¡± he thinks, Max rushes to the western back of the store and starts fiddling with a panel on his left hand. Max¡¯s left-hand screws off and a stump with a small barrel protruding is left on his arm, he points it towards the wall.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Small particles of energy start radiating towards the tip of the barrel eventually combining into a golf ball sized mass of energy. Max takes aim with his left arm and stabilises it with his right, he presses a button on his panel and a metal pole strikes out from the barrel breaking the ball of energy, the ball turns into a beam that melts a hole in the wall. Max aims the laser in the outline of a door, the laser itself barely has enough power to finish the job as it cuts out abruptly at the very end.


    Max re-attaches his arm and knocks the newly created door down with his feet, he picks up Gabby and walks into the alleyway. After walking for about five minutes max arrives at a park with a few trailers at the northern end and a car wash at the southern end, he finds shade under a nearby tree and sits down ¡°Gabby I know I pushed you in there.¡± Max begins to power down ¡°But I just want you to know I¡¯m sorry¡± Max¡¯s metal eyelids lower along with the rest of his limbs and the small flame in his furnace burns out.


    Max with all of his senses disabled is left to his thoughts ¡°I wonder if that kid is alright.¡± he thinks. After an unknown period of time Max¡¯s limbs randomly spaz around as his brain is confused with the newly found control but after a few moments he regains his calm and opens his eyes to see a pink Neko staring at him from an uncomfortably close distance with concern plainly written in her eyes ¡°You¡¯re alive!¡± Gabby yells ¡°Ya¡¯know I wasn¡¯t expecting that.¡± she mumbles under her breath.


    A hand pinches Gabby¡¯s neck skin and raises her away from Max ¡°You better be worth the trouble, hero.¡± says an elderly man. The elderly man while obviously old thanks to his white hair has no visible wrinkles or creases on his face; he is wearing a Hawaiian floral pattern shirt and pitch black shades ¡°Hero? I¡¯m no hero; actually, I¡¯m fairly certain I¡¯m a villain. I mean the whole attempted robbery thing may have dented my karma score.¡± says Max ¡°A hero isn¡¯t a goodie-two-shoe symbol of hope and order, It¡¯s just a title given to those who act against true villainy when push comes to shove.¡± the elderly man replies.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I know you probably saved me and I¡¯m sorry to disagree with you but did you just gloss over the fact I tried to rob a god damn jewellery store?¡± ¡°Look I¡¯m not gonna say you¡¯re a hero or even can become one but when your friend is confused and hurt, ignoring you did that to them, you come through.¡± Max frowns and looks at the floor then back up to the old man ¡°Let me guess Gabby told you that?¡± says Max ¡°She told me her version of the story and I choose to believe it. But enough about that, I have a proposition for you.¡±