Read Code Lightfall and the Robot King for Free Online Page A

spectacles on its face and scowled down at the page.
    â€œCan I have that back, please?” asked Code, reaching for the paper.
    The robot held up one dismissive clamp. Code stood there frowning, too polite to just snatch the paper away. Peep zoomed past and shot angry beams of red light that the half-blind robot simply brushed away. “Scanning that design for you just now, sir.”
    Another clawed arm popped up over the robot’s shoulder and a beam of blue light shot out. It rapidly traced the contours of the drawing. Wherever the blue light touched the paper, it burst into flame. In a matter of seconds, the page sprinkled to the floor as burning confetti.
    â€œHey! That was mine!” said Code.
    â€œVery well, sir. We will be delighted to help you. Here in the fabrication tank we like to say that nothing will stand in our way and we will stand in the way of nothing. That includes the creation of your—how do you call it?—atomic slaughterbot.”
    â€œWhat-bot?”
    â€œIt really is a strange choice. Probably extremely dangerous, but honestly who am I to judge?”
    â€œWait,” said Code.
    â€œI’m just a simple, lowly clerkbot with a cracked frame and half a battery. I’m in no position to criticize your actions based upon what horrors you may or may not unleash upon yourself, the world, and the universe at large through your own blind ignorance, selfishness, and/or insanity.”
    â€œJust stop for a second,” said Code.
    â€œEh? What I mean to say to you, sir, is this and only this,” said the clerkbot, raising one wavering clamper and placing it over Code’s mouth to prevent him from speaking. “One atomic slaughterbot, coming up!”
    The clerkbot slapped a bell on top of its own head. Ding!
    Now the huge machine in the middle of the room began to shiver and rumble, and wild light sprayed onto the walls. Code fell to the ground, shaken off his feet. The pitted surface of the metal slab began to glow: deep dull red, bright cherry red, orange yellow, yellow white, brilliant white, and, finally, dazzling white. Before his eyes, the slab liquefied, forming a white-hot swimming pool of molten metal. Code held on to the wall while the entire smoldering room hummed and thrummed, quaked and quivered. It felt as though the whole castle were about to shake apart.
    The giants are sure to hear this , thought Code. Code motioned at Peep to come back, but she ignored him and cavorted merrily through the air. She seemed to be enjoying the mayhem.
    Discouragingly, the clerkbot scurried through a small door and slammed it shut. Code heard a thunk as the door was locked securely from the other side.
    Code flattened himself against the wall as the ponderous microscope machine kept up its crazed activity. Motors whined as the machine whipped back and forth, tracing intricate shapes onto the glowing liquid with pulsing blue lasers. As the lasers etched patterns onto the slab, a shape began to rise up out of the liquid. A menacing form slowly emerged, growing foot by foot into a dark, towering figure.
    Finally, it stood motionless and huge in the middle of the room. The machines died down. The lasers stopped. A nozzle sprayed cold swirling clouds of gas onto the slab, cooling down the liquid metal. The room became completely silent and filled with dense mist.
    Code heard a low, frightening chuckle boom off the walls. Something was alive on the slab. This situation has gone from bad to worse , thought Code. And now to worst!
    After a few seconds, the mist slowly began to clear.
    Stray drops of molten metal rolled across the floor, but the slab was no longer empty. Standing there like an armored statue was a real version of the atomic slaughterbot from Code’s drawing. The thing was over twelve feet tall, with short, awkward legs and long, apelike arms that hung nearly to the floor. It had a tiny head perched high up on its body. As Code watched, his creation