Chapter 10 · Continued
Back to the Factory
The driver stood nearby waving his arms as he argued with an officer.
Jane sat forward. “Oh my God. That’s the truck you were in, Cam. And that’s the driver.”
Cam and Chris both turned toward the television.
“One of the Moo Mart delivery units was recovered near the scene with minor damage. The second unit is believed to have sustained heavier damage and remains missing.”
The broadcast switched to an on-site reporter standing outside a brightly lit convenience store.
Behind her, a massive sign read:
MOO MART VARIETY STORE • GAS STOP • BOWLING • HAIR SALON • LAUNDROMAT
“This is Sarita Pollock reporting live from Moo Mart at Highway 27 and County Road 12. I’m here with owner Ganesh Varma.”
The camera shifted toward a stressed-looking man clutching a folded sheet of paper.
“Mr. Varma, can you tell us about the missing delivery unit?”
“Yes. He is about this big.” Ganesh held his hands apart, indicating something roughly the size of a large cooler. “My wife and I call him Chester.”
He gave a brief, nervous laugh before becoming serious again.
“Our bots were delivering our healthy and very tasty yogurt and ice-cream products when the accident occurred. Now Chester is missing.”
Ganesh held a photocopied picture toward the camera.
“Please keep an eye out for him. The children love Chester. He waves at everybody.”
The blurry image showed a small yellow delivery bot with a smiling cartoon cow painted on its side.
Ganesh tapped the picture. “See? Very happy cow.”
The broadcast abruptly returned to the studio.
“And in local sports tonight, a youth soccer game ended in multiple arrests after a fight broke out between parents in the parking lot—”
Jane stared at Chester’s blurry picture on the television.
“Your name is Chester,” she said softly. “That’s cute.”
Then she froze.
“What?” Chris asked.
Jane looked back at the screen. “They never said a word about Cam.”
The room became quieter.
Cam remained near the television, watching the broadcast with an unreadable projected expression.
“They wouldn’t,” Chris said after a moment.
Jane looked at him. “Why?”
“RCAM isn’t going to announce that an experimental beta unit disappeared from one of its trucks. The police may not even know he was part of the cargo.”
Jane glanced toward Cam.
“So as far as the public knows, the only thing missing is a yogurt robot.”
From beneath Seymour, Chester announced, “MOO MART EXPRESS VALUES PRODUCT SECURITY.”
Chris looked at him. “Apparently, not enough.”
The next morning, Jane and Chris woke to the smell of fresh coffee.