No more Heroes: Similarity and causality

Rank 10: Democrobot

Beeeeeeep.

"Hello Mr Argo. The election is drawing near. Have you decided on your vote? If not, please allow the labour party to make the most of your precious vote. Thank you, and have a nice day."

The same message, four days on the run, always at 9AM on the dot. Jordan had enough trouble sleeping as it was, this new propaganda push wasn't going to help any. The election for the town's MP was coming up, so far as Jordan knew there were four candidates, all of them probably as slimy and sneaky as their competitors. His views on politics were pretty concrete, just don't get involved. Unless it was something that affected him directly, that was a different matter.

So as the potential for another lie in morning was wasted, he rolled off the bed and into a pizza box, face first, with a few slices of bacon and sausage left behind in it. He rose up, cheese now stuck to his face and stumbled into the bathroom, going about his daily wash as bacon chunks clogged the drain. With a little sigh, he stumbled over to his window and shifted the curtain away. Bright sunlight bathed him and his little hellhole. It was such a nice day…shame his mood wasn't as fair.

He thought about the day ahead as he dressed. Vespia hadn't been returning his calls recently, so she was out. He could go and see Dojo, get some more training in. Or maybe go and see that blacksmith. Still, did he really want to spend what could've been a free day, training?

So he decided to take a walk for a change to enjoy the weather. He took Singing Death with him too, just in case Melissa pulled a surprise battle on him or if anyone was feeling cocky. The hot sun rays lashed over his face and he felt awash with warmth. It made a nice change really, refreshing ironically enough. The streets seemed empty today, only the odd passer-by coming through. He wondered why briefly, was everyone still in bed and he'd gotten up earlier than he'd thought?

He dropped into Isaac's place when he passed by, the heat and smoke holding little effect over him thanks to the hot day. The figure of Isaac lumbered over with a broad grin.

"You've come far since I last saw you." He chuckled, slapping Jordan's shoulder a little too hard, still meaning well.

"Yeah. I'm close to the top now, and then I can get out of this mess." He felt confident in his words now.

"11 now isn't it?"

"Yep. By the way, you think you can upgrade my sword at all?" he asked casually, slipping Singing Death out so the blacksmith could examine it. After a moment of tilting it and looking down the blade, he concluded

"It's held out well so far, but I can meld in some stronger metal to give it more of an edge. It'll be heavier though." Jordan pondered this for a moment. A stronger blade was always good, but if it were heavier, would he have trouble swinging it?

"Sure, go ahead." He eventually replied, slipping a hand into his pocket for his wallet. Ten minutes of banging and hammering later, the wallet was £85 lighter.

"Good luck with your match today!" Isaac called just as he was out the door, blade now cradled in its sheath again. His words made Jordan fumble and turn back.

"Match today? What makes you thi-" as if on cue, his mobile rang. After a brief sigh, he picked up and answered.

"Yeah?"

"Enjoying the sun today?" asked Melissa, oddly informal for a greeting from her.

"Well I was until you called." Jordan snidely replied.

"That's no way to talk to me now, is it?" she goaded him, but he was having none of it.

"Just shut up and tell me where to go." He heard a noise of annoyance from her end and he enjoyed a little grin of victory.

"Head into the square, his speech should almost be over now." Jordan frowned slightly. Did this mean this was going to be another public fight, TV broadcasted and all?

"On my way." He said and hung up, before she could. Another little victory he enjoyed as he made his way to the square.

"And, in conclusion, I will continue to support and protect this community, if I am elected your MP!" finished a public speaker, whom Jordan noticed once he arrived in the square. There was a cheering crowd gathered in front of a stage. Standing onstage with a microphone in hand was a smartly dressed but odd figure. His suit was deep blue with light blue pinstripes, and he wore white gloves on both his hands. His leather shoes were black and polished to a mirror shine, glinting slightly in the sunlight. All this seemed normal, until Jordan spotted his face. His entire head was sleek and silver, metallic and inhuman. Around his facial area, an octagonal screen was situated, dark green contrasting with the silver. On his face, there were brighter green pixels, which seemed to be displaying facial expressions, for example they were in a grinning formation right now. Jordan concluded he was either a robot, or some kind of strange musician with a fetish for overly complicated lit helmets. He took note of the oddly large silver suitcase resting by his left leg.

"Now, are there any questions?" the speaker asked the crowd, a reporter dressed in the worst shade of brown possible stood up high.

"Mr Democrobot, you've sa-"

"Please, just Democrobot." He cut in quickly, offsetting the reporter.

"Uh, fine…but, what do you have to say regarding the unrest regarding your uh…status." He seemed nervous just to talk about it.

"You're referring to my status as a machine." Democrobot summarized unflinchingly. "I have not hidden this fact from the community and those who support me. I believe this country is a far more tolerant society than it was years ago, and that even machines may one day find a proper place in society, aside from all the scaremongering. I believe in freedom, my friends. Freedom for us all." That really set the crowd off as they clapped and applauded him, and the journalist crumpled his notepad in defeat. The crowds started to leave, splitting off left and right, as the politician was left standing at the podium, as Jordan approached in a vague attempt to look daunting. He still needed practice.

"Quite the public speaker. Is there a specific program for that in your CPU?" Jordan joked. Democrobot just continued to smile pleasantly…well as pleasantly as green pixels could look anyway.

"It is part of who I am, my friend. A part of my being."

"But you're a robot. You have no being, you're just a mechanism." The smile faded as the two pixels at the corners of his mouth formed a straight line.

"I'm more than that. I've been accepted as a member of this community, and of this country. They do not see me as a machine, they see me as one of them."

"But you AREN'T one of them." Jordan stressed, wondering just how far he could push this seemingly calm and collected MP. "You're nothing but metal and programming, no matter how much anyone 'accepts' you. You know you can't leave that behind." Two pixels raised as his eyebrows made him look cross.

"You're here to battle me, Jordan Argo, not to engage in political discussion."

"Now you're dodging my questions." He retorted sharply. "Answer me. Do you ever think they'll really accept you?" The machine was quiet at this. His face remained unchanged for the longest time…but then, the pixels at the side of his mouth rose again, forming a wicked smile.

"Whether they do, or they don't, I'm slated to win this election. Once I'm MP, I'll change this community. In fact, I've already been helping it from the shadows, by erasing the lowest links of the class chain. Like yourself, for instance." Upon these words, he picked up his briefcase and twisted the handle 90 degree's clockwise, and sliding it down the case, oddly enough making a second handle appear further down, which he took hold of.

"So, you think that be cutting through the assassin ranks, you're cleaning up the town?" Jordan sniggered. It did make sense, but coming from a machine, it sounded like a bad sci-fi film plot.

"It's interesting how a machine can have a greater concept of justice than a human can, isn't it?" he seemed to taunt as his heavy briefcase's front end suddenly unclicked and flipped round under the case. From inside, a long barrel began to slide out, large enough to contain a man's fist, rounded and dangerous. As it drew fully out and began to spin, Jordan's heart sank as he realized just what the machine's weapon was.

Upon this discovery, he ran for it, leaping behind the nearest bit of cover he could find, in this case a collection of metal bins, as he heard the storm of gunfire charge up and bullets clip his heels. The mini gun spun down as he was hidden for now. He could hear the machine approaching him. He had to move, and soon.

Fast as he could, he was up and running for the nearest building. He heard the whirr of the mini gun spinning up again, and made a dive just as the bullets raked over the ground. He crouched as he tried to come up with a plan. Running and hiding wouldn't save him, he had to take action if he was going to survive this. The machine was approaching, heavy clanking footsteps on the earth, weapon in hand. Jordan's brain buzzed as he crept along the wall, keeping close to avoid any attacks, ducking around the corner. He took to running, round the other two corners of the building, intent on striking Democrobot from behind. As he rounded the corner again however, he found Democrobot lying in wait, barrel spinning. With a sharp yelp, he leapt back behind the wall, barely missing the tornado of bullets.

"Seems you can talk the talk, but not walk the walk!" the machine mocked him as the storm paused and he approached the hiding assassin. Jordan rethought the situation as he ran along another wall. Needless to say, a straight up fight would land him in shit, fast. He had to take the machine by surprise, it was his only chance. So, he ran back across the square and hid behind the podium the politician had spoken from. He heard the machine round the building's corner and trudge across the square. He knew he was hidden...he couldn't be seen...so, why could he hear the mini gun spinning up?

The assassin dived as the swarm of bullets soared over his head, rolling to his feet and running hotfoot behind the nearest cover, in this case a brick wall.

"Did you not suspect a machine would have infrared sensors, Mr Argo?" Jordan swore, as his plan for sneaking up on him seemed to go out the window. Jordan grumbled and began to rethink his strategy… he couldn't take him from behind then. The only other option was… from above. So Jordan began to run, going behind the building and looking for a way up. He came across a drainpipe with brackets that looked brand new. Deciding that this was his best bet, he leapt onto the pipe and began to climb, awkwardly shuffling up the pipe, trying to keep a strong grip, and only just managing to get onto the roof. He crouched low and listened, hearing the footsteps of the heavy machine below him. He crept over to the lip of the roof and peeked over, spying the machine walking below him. Without hesitation, Jordan drew his blade and leapt over the edge, feeling his mojo flow into his blade. But as he fell, the machine looked up and swung his weapon up, blocking the blade with the gun's heavy barrel. The two pieces of metal clashed in mid-air, but Jordan's blade kept going, sliding through the hefty barrel like a hot knife through butter. The machine's pixelated face became one of surprise as his weapon was useless, whilst Jordan landed and prepared for another strike. The machine quickly hurled what remained of his weapon at him and backed up slightly, as Jordan's blade sliced through it. Jordan stood there with a cocky smirk on his face.

"Tables have turned machine. What'll you do now?" The pixels shifted into an evil grin as the machine rolled up his left sleeve, pulling it back to reveal more of his sleek metal arm.

"This now, Mr Argo." He tapped his wrist twice, and the midsection of his forearm lifted up out of the rest of his arm, and from a hole at one end, a strange cylindrical device popped out, which the machine seized with his right hand, drawing it out. With the click of a button, a shaft of blue light erupted from the small device, shining brightly as it seemed to form a blade.

"A beam katana…" Jordan stood there, shocked. He'd heard about those, seen them on the covers of tech savvy magazines, but he'd never seen one up close. Now we would get a crash course in dealing with them, as the machine swung the bright blade at him. The beam blade met Jordan's sword mid swing and the weapons were locked for a few moments, Jordan glaring at those green pixel eyes of his.

The robot broke their stalemate as he stepped to the left and turned the beam katana off, a Jordan found himself falling forward, only just managing to steady himself in time. The beam katana was back on and swinging for his neck and Jordan twisted quickly to block, pushing back on the machine in an attempt to overpower him. It failed spectacularly as the machine shunted him back and brought his blade in for a stab at Jordan's chest. He managed to sidestep in time and strike at the machine's back, his blade sinking into the mechanical flesh beneath, tearing the suit too. Democrobot twisted on the spot and struck at him again, Jordan jumping back to avoid it. Democrobot ran at him, blade raised high, bringing it down onto Jordan, who only just managed to block in time. Thinking fast, Jordan ducked out under the machine as the beam missed him, and slashed at the machine's side, making another gash in the machine.

"Insolent little…" the machine mumbled as he swung his arm, almost decapitating Jordan had he not ducked in time. Democrobot's swings kept coming, slashing faster than Jordan could keep up with, choosing to dodge instead, side stepping, ducking and weaving around the flashing blade, the swings getting a little too close for his liking. Jordan ducked under another blow and struck his blade on one of his legs, causing enough damage to make the machine go down on one knee, as his leg sparked from the damage. He tried to finish the fight then and there, attempting to plunge the blade into the machine's screen, only to have him fight back, blocking his attack and punching him hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. It felt like someone had smacked him with a iron girder as he collapsed back, gasping for breath and dropping his blade.

Both assassins stayed down for a while, recovering from the attacks. But it was the machine who was first back up, looming over the crouching Jordan and raising his blade to end the fight then and there.

"Goodbye, Mr Argo." He sneered, as his blade came down. But Jordan had been clever. Concentrating all his strength into his blade, he swung it hard at the machines legs while remaining crouched. The blade cleaved through both of the machines limbs and sent it toppling onto its back with a simulated cry of surprise. One down, Jordan made his move, leaping up and raising Singing Death high, before striking it down into the machine's face. The blade pierced the glass, the wires, the circuitry, and the metal on the back. Democrobot sparked and fizzed as he tried to get up, finally going still as his circuitry died.

DEMOCROBOT

DEAD

With a flourish, Jordan redrew his blade from the machine's husk and slipped it back into its sheath. He turned to leave, before something caught his eye. The glowing blade that Democrobot had used. He bent down and picked it up. The katana felt light in his hand, but nice and sturdy. No doubt that blade would be a deadly weapon too… So, Jordan turned off the blade and pocketed it, deciding to keep the trophy for later battles. He left the square then and there as the machine's body continued to buzz. Jordan rubbed his chin and wondered how he should spend the rest of the day. He ended up stopping by a café for a sundae. He deserved a treat after all, not everyone kills a machine assassin often.