Chapter 2: I'm In Serious Trouble

Ebony Winters POV:

I had a million things flooding into my mind at that very moment. The thing that I was thinking of most was what was going to happen when I got let go from the factory where I worked. We were all let out at the exact same time, and there was no way that I could get off even by a few minutes earlier. So I had no idea how I was going to escape Denton's wrath.

"Citizen, do you concur with the punishment according to the violation of the Robic Order?" The Robic Guard asked him again, taking a step toward him.

"Yes, I concur," he voiced, nearly shouting at the two of them as he raised both of his hands and partially slid down the wall.

All of us standing there looked at each other as we were afraid of what the Robic Guards were going to do now. They shoved him partly forward as he turned around to face them and glared harshly, before clearing his throat. Never before have I seen someone yell at the Robic Guard and get away with it. To be honest, I was afraid that if he yelled at them again, they would shock him right here and now.

After turning back to face the two Robic Guards in front of him, he spoke in a much calmer manner, repeating himself when he said, "Yes, I concur with your order."

"Affirmative," the one Robic Guard said as they both turned to leave.

He then turned to glare at me. He even took a step across the pathway toward me when he was caught when the other Robic Guard turned around, catching his movement toward me. This entire time, the second guard didn't bother to say anything, but it did when it looked back at us.

"Ebony Winters, you and you alone are to proceed to the patrol vehicle." They had facial recognition software, so I wasn't surprised that it knew me by my actual name. "We are to escort you to your predetermined and designated location. You will receive punishment accordingly if you are not at your predetermined station by the appropriate time. Do you concur?"

I nodded as I walked up to the two Robic Guards. They even parted, allowing me to walk between them, and after I passed, they started to follow me. When I reached their patrol vehicle, I stepped aside as one of them opened up the back door for me to climb in. When the door was closed, I took a huge sigh of relief. I could tell that Denton and his friends were throwing me dirty looks, but I didn't want to look at them as we drove off.

We arrived just outside the factory, and I only had a few minutes to spare to get to my station. The path I would have walked to get to the factory was shorter than the path they took to get there. I could have made it there with time to spare, but now, they were cutting it close. I waited till they parked and opened up the door, as there was no handle back here for me to let myself out. When the door opened, I got out and tried to run, but was called no sooner than I took the first step.

"Ebony Winters," one of the Robic Guards said, calling me again. I had no choice but to stop and turn around as I knew I would be beaten for sure if I continued to run. "You will not arrive at your predetermined station by your designated time. Therefore, you are to follow us."

Seriously? I was late due to them, now they wanted to make me even later? What more could this day do to me that hasn't already happened? Instead of speaking and sounding more foolish than my existing speaking issues already made me feel, I turned back to face them. When I reached them, I followed them to the front entrance instead of using the side entrance I usually took. However, when we rounded the corner, there in front of the main steps was my boss. When we were close enough, I heard his voice.

"What has she done this time?" Mr. Sanders called out to my escorting party. Then he leaned around them, looking directly at me, and said, "What did you do now to cause you to show up with the Robic Guard?"

"Ebony Winters has been postponed not by her own doing," said one of the Robic Guards. "Furthermore, she was caught participating in unlawful actions before our arrival at her location."

Did they think I was lying there willingly and wanting them to press their nasty desires upon me? Are they kidding? "That doesn't surprise me from a girl like herself," Mr. Sanders said as he glanced at me again. "She has always been a bit of a troublemaker. Don't worry yourselves anymore. I will see to it that she is formally punished for her lack of consideration for others."

"Wh-what?" I whispered and slapped my hand over my mouth when I realized I said it aloud this time, causing all three of them to look at me.

"I will tend to her fellas," Mr. Sanders said, walking around behind me and placing his hands on my shoulders, pulling me back toward him, increasing the distance between me and the Robic Guards. "I am pretty sure you are ready to get back on your patrol routes."

The two guards looked at each other before one of them said, "Mr. Sanders. We will be in communication with you via telecommunication shortly."

After that, they both turned around and walked back around the corner to their patrol vehicle. That's when Mr. Sanders let go of my shoulders and lightly pushed me away from him. When I turned around to look at him, he glared at me, dissatisfied with how I arrived there, and then headed toward the main entrance, to which I quickly caught up to him.

He didn't say anything till we reached his office. I knew better than to leave him as I knew I would be caught by one of the roaming other Robic Guards who were stationed on patrol here at the factory. However, he finally sighed when he sat down in the chair in his office.

"You do know that I am the only one who is remotely willing to put up with your nonsense, right?" He asked me to spin around toward his desk and push his chair forward as I stood there on the other side. "What am I going to do with your chaos? Then, today of all days, you are supposedly caught with someone else when you know you are supposed to stay away from others due to your inability to speak without issues?! I mean, do you not know how to follow the rules set forth before you?"

"B-but I..." I started to say, but he cut me off by raising his hand.

"You know, I don't want to hear any of your excuses," he said, then looked down and grabbed a pad from the side of his desk and a pen, and began to write on it. After a moment, he tore off the top page and said, "Here. Be on your way, and I don't want to hear of any more issues, you hear me?"

I took the paper and turned around to walk out just as his phone rang. "Yes, this is Mr. Sanders. Yes, she works here? She is to what...? No, no, I concur." He set the phone down, yelling after me, saying, "See, you're still causing me trouble!"

What else could go wrong today as I headed to my work station?

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