Read I Heart Robot for Free Online

tear-ducts.
    “The best.”
    “I wish I could feel like that all the time,” she says.
    “Like what?” I loop an arm around her trembling shoulders.
    “Like –” She struggles with the words. “Like I’m alive.”

Tyri
     
     
    The bass reverberates in my chest making my ribs thrum a constant tremolo. Mom would have an aneurysm if she knew where I was, but she doesn’t. No one does, and that’s as exhilarating as it is terrifying. Loosening my braid, I tumble into the crowd, bashing up against the sweaty bodies of vagrants and delinquents. I’ll marinate in disinfectant later. Right now, only the music matters as it tears up conventional harmony, tossing in augmented chords that make my bones ache.
    The guy with the viola thrashes the instrument, ripping dissonant squeals from the strings. I fling my arms to the sky, dancing and losing myself in the music. I’m no longer Tyri Matzen, no longer a disappointment or failure. I’m singing, swaying blood and electric nerves. I’ve never felt so alive. Through my bangs, I glimpse the viola player and for a moment, he meets my gaze as the bow scissors back and forth.
    I dance until a pause in the thumping bass makes me aware of my vibrating moby. Twenty-six missed calls over the last three hours: several from Rurik, a few from Asrid, the rest from Mom. There’s also a text from Mom in her eloquent SMS speak:
    T, its L8. R U OK? Call ASAP.
    It’s almost two in the morning, hours past my curfew. Mom is going to spit roast me if she hasn’t already expired from panic. I hurry back the way I came, trusting my feet to retrace my steps. Writhing shadows detach from the walls. A gang of kids follows me, whispering as I stumble through the dimly lit streets.
    “Mom.” My moby dials and Mom answers out of breath after the first ring.
    “Tyri! Are you all right? Rurik called when he couldn’t find you. Do you know what you’ve put me through young lady? Where are you?” She’s having a conniption.
    “I’m still in lower Baldur.”
    “Rurik’s been out looking for you for hours.” Mom launches into a tirade about responsibility and how selfish I am for disappearing. As if she had a clue. The fact that Rurik cared enough to be out looking for me is more comforting than I expect.
    “Mom, I’m calling Rurik. See you at home.”
    The kids behind me are catching up. I take the turn that should set me back near Olof’s, instead I’m facing a dead end alley. Geography is my weakest subject; I should’ve known I’d get lost.
    “Rurik.” The call goes through as I turn to face my pursuers.
    “Are you lost, miss?” The one with a buzz cut asks.
    “No, just waiting for someone.”
    Rurik answers, “Where are you?”
    “Near Olof’s I think.”
    “I’m tracking you. You okay?”
    “No.” My voice quavers with fear.
    “Hold on T. I’ll be there in a minute.”
    “Want us to show you home, miss?” Another boy asks in an identical voice, right down to the quiet sibilance at the end of every word.
    “Spare a krone for the homeless, miss?” The third one speaks. Except for a difference in hairstyle, the boys are exact replicas of each other. They raise their hands in unison and reach toward me. Their tatty sleeves pull back and reveal neat codes blackening synthetic flesh. W-8-60s. Entertainment bots probably used as body doubles. They should be wearing orange armbands. If they’re not, that means they’ve gone rogue. Fear pushes my heartbeat into overdrive.
    The androids advance and I rummage through my handbag for a weapon. Asrid’s spare hair comb is the only viable option. Feeling like an idiot, I wave twenty centimeters of plastic at 200kg of steel and electronics.
    “Hurry, please.” I shout into the moby.
    “Almost there.” Rurik must be on foot if he’s tracking my GPS signal through the alleys.
    The kids lunge for me, tearing at my bag and clothes. I go down, losing the comb and driving my elbow into the cobbles. Fireflies swarm across my