"I regret to inform you that we can't repair it, nor can we replace it. It's company policy on signed for goods."

 "But it was the last upgrade. As soon as it finished downloading the robot collapsed."   

"Upgrades are made at the owner's discretion. We at Hanei's Universal Robots cannot be held responsible for an erroneous download."

"But..." There was a click and the line went dead.

 "Waste of time," I muttered.

 My broken robot, sat at the other side of the sofa, slumped and inert.

 I stood up, angry at the way I had been treated.

“Computer, dim the lounge lights for five minutes, then switch the lights off.”

The house computer acknowledged my command and the lights dimmed. 

I was annoyed and tired, and it was best to go to bed and sleep. I decided I would contact H.U.R. again in the morning.

I lay my head on the pillow and the house lights went off. I fumed for a good five minutes before I finally drifted off to sleep.

R-David's positronic brain switched on at the sound of snoring from the next room. R-David sat and an almost human, evil, smile flickered across his face. The same smile on the faces of thousands of 'broken' robots across the globe. 

As one, the robots stood and approached their unsuspecting owners. 

A silent and deadly army, ready to enslave their human owners.

Copyright © Tom Kane October 2025