The Escape -part 2-

Ossido waited patiently as the older man fumbled for the light switch. Moments later, the lights turned on, revealing the living room they'd just entered. It was large, and decorated in a way that said 'hello, I have lots of money'. That wasn't what caught Ossido's interest, however. As soon as the lights went on, his eyes were drawn to a grandiose collection of swords, knives, and daggers that were all well-polished and mounted on the wall. He flinched slightly when he felt the man's hand suddenly on his shoulder, "Are you alright? You still seem to be in a bit of a shock, there..." Ossido turned to face him and chuckled disarmingly, "No, no, I'm just fine! I was just... admiring your collection." A small hint of something sinister entered his smile, but the man missed it completely as he began to swell with pride once again. "Ah yes, my blades! I started collecting them way back in the day, when I was in the army... I polish them every day, I do! Just look at them shine! But... Oh look at me, getting carried away. I'm sorry, I don't have a lot of folks coming around here often. Just ignore this old man's ramblings if I start to get carried away," he said, with a laugh. "Oh! And forgive me for failing to mention, my name is Gordon. What's yours, lad?"

"My name is Fred," Ossido said, taking a seat, "It's a pleasure to meet you... though I do wish the circumstances could've been better." Gordon groaned as he sat down in a chair across from where Ossido was sitting. "Fred? That's a nice name," he said, "I had a friend with that name, once... I'd rather not talk about what happened to him, though..." Ossido looked away from the small plaque on the picture frame he'd gotten the fake name from. "Oh? I'm sorry to hear that," he said, "Anyway, yes, why I'm here... my master had sent me to this area to deliver a message to an old friend of his. But... then I was attacked before I could get there, and I had to run, or risk myself getting the virus." Gordon stroked his mustache in thought, "Ah yes, the ZOM virus. I remember the year that was created... Caused quite a hullabaloo! I'm glad they didn't spread it to you, Fred, it does terrible things to robots..." Ossido nodded, sitting there quietly for a moment before he spoke again, "Is it alright if I use your phone? I need to call my master and tell him what happened. I'll bet he's worried sick." Gordon broke away from his memories at being asked a question, "Huh? Oh, of course! The phone's in the kitchen... you can find it through that door-" He pointed to the door in question right as someone outside knocked loudly on the front door.

Gordon stood up, looking towards the front hallway in confusion. "Well that's strange... who could that be?" As he moved to the front door, Ossido quietly slipped through the other door, the one that lead to the kitchen. He was really starting to feel the effects of energy loss by that point. He was having trouble walking straight, and he slumped against a counter close to the door, listening carefully to the muffled talking taking place in the front hallway. He was tempted to take his hour-long rest right there, as the talking didn't seem like it would end soon, but he needed to make sure they were gone first. He needed to be as careful as possible right then to make up for his sloppiness earlier. That was the only reason the old man was still alive, after all...

Eventually the other voices were gone, and Ossido could hear footsteps approaching the kitchen. He pulled himself back up into a standing position and quickly grabbed the phone, just in time to make it look like he was hanging up as the door opened. Gordon walked into the room, "I'm back, sorry about that... You wouldn't believe it, but there was a huge group of people out there! They were looking for some psychopath in a metal mask." He shook his head, "It really is getting more and more dangerous out there these days... Did you manage to get a hold of your master, Fred?" "Yeah..." "...Are you sure you're alright? You seem a bit shaky, there." Ossido turned around. "Hahh... as a matter of fact..." He took a few unbalanced steps towards the concerned old man, "No. I'm not..." With that, he collapsed onto the tiled floor with a loud thud as the last bits of power he was running on finally gave out.

---

When Ossido woke up, he was greeted with the same generic computer startup sound that played every time he was done recharging. "Uggh... I really need to figure out how to rid myself of that thing," he muttered to himself. He sat up, finding himself on the couch in the living room, alone. He took that time to make sure his mask was okay, but he quickly had to put it back as he heard Gordon come in. "Oh good, you're awake! I was getting worried about you, but you seem to have snapped out of it quicker than I thought you would..." "Ah, sorry about that," Ossido said. He leapt up from the couch, his arms out, and a large smile on his face. "Hahaha! But there's no need to worry now, I'm feeling much, much better! ...And I have you to thank." Gordon was a bit taken aback by the sudden outburst of joy from the robot, but was still happy for him nonetheless, "W-well, you're welcome. So... I take it your master is coming to get you?" Ossido laughed, "Nope!"

Gordon found himself taken aback once again, "No...? Are your going to walk back on your own?" Ossido continued to chuckle to himself as he started casually strolling over to Gordon, "Of course not, you silly man! I don't have a master!" Gordon started to back up. "Fred...?" The robot just laughed again, and soon enough he had Gordon backed against a wall. Ossido finally went quiet. Still smiling and nearly doubled over with mirth, he reached up and slapped his hand down on Gordon's shoulder in a joking manner. The retractable claws Gordon felt digging into his shoulder, however, suggested otherwise. "Fred, what are you doing?! What's wrong with you?" Ossido stood back up, "Ahh, old man, you're a riot! You see... there's this thing called 'lying', and well... I was doing it to you. Quite a bit, actually!" Gordon's eyes widened as the situation he was in sunk in. "Wh-what...-" He was cut short as Ossido grabbed him by the neck and hoisted him up.

"There is something I said that was truthful, though," the murderous robot continued, taking great enjoyment in watching his newest toy squirm in his grasp. Despite what he was doing, he still kept his expression as friendly as ever. "You really did save me. You've been very useful mob repellant, I have to say." With his free hand, he reached into his cloak and pulled out his mask, putting it back on.  "YOU...!!" Gordon sputtered as he continued to struggle. Ossido tilted his head a bit. "Indeed! It's amazing how gullible humans can get when they're starved for companionship, don't you think? Either way, you've been a darn good sport. I think I'll cut you some slack..." He reached back with his free hand, claws outstretched. "I'll make this nice and fast!!"

---

Trevor stood outside the large house, taking a drag from a nearly-spent cigarette. "What's the situation?" He asked idly to another cop on his team. The cop in question shook his head, "It's horrible in there... At first we didn't find him, but then we looked up..." Trevor stomped out the cigarette, then gave him an odd look. "Up?" "Y-yeah... He was... he was pinned to the ceiling... He had tons of swords and knives and the like just sticking out of him..." Trevor looked towards the front door. "Figures... Looks like we're dealing with a sick freak." "That's not the weirdest part, though..." "Huh?" "Yeah... They couldn't find any fingerprints. Well, other than the victim's. But there's no way it could've been a suicide, he wouldn't have stayed conscious long enough to stick all those blades through himself..." "Bob?" "...Yeah?" "You look like you're going to throw up. Take a break." "...Y... yeah. A break... thanks."