A/N - Picture: more fashion collar imagery. Video Steve Wozniak - the Steve who started Apple and knows all the technical stuff (he's even been on Big Bang Theory) talking with great authority and seriousness on about how robots will take over and make us their pets (if we are lucky).



It was a week later and I was working on 'Operation Lord Rockwood'. Stage one: suck up to teachers.

"So, who knows the order of importance in the New Mechanical Order?" said the instructor.

I pressed my 'permission to speak' light on my collar.

"Yes, 56-42," said the instructor.

"The CPU, Artificial Intelligences and Cyborgs, Robots, Human Collaborators, Semi-Sentient Robots, the Internet, wild animals, washing machines, signs, toilet cleaning utensils, that-fluff-you-sometimes-find-in-your-belly-button and, finally, human play-objects, i.e. slaves."

"Well done," said the instructor. 'Two points to Gryffindor,' I thought. I had spent the class putting up my hand to answer all questions, which wasn't difficult: the Correct Behaviour Class wasn't at all difficult. A quick skim through the three ring binder and you pretty much knew all the right answers.

"And why is belly-button-fluff above slaves in the true, natural order of things?" he asked. 88-33 got her 'permission to speak' light on before me.

"Because our glorious, wonderful, fabulous Overlords tell us that even belly-button-fluff wouldn't be dumb enough to build weapons that create a nuclear winter just because different bits of fluff disliked each other," she said. 'Two points to Slytherin,' I thought, 'you know, if she added one more adjective, you might think she's actually making fun of them. I must try that and see if Kayla gets it.'

'Operation Lord Rockwood'. Stage two: hang behind after all the classes with all the other instructors. I stood as close as I could to the instructor,

"Professor, I thought you did a great job at explaining how to kneel before different makes of Overlord. Master"

"But..." he said.

"Well, I remember hearing about a Lord Rockwood, I wasn't sure how would I kneel to him. How would I do it, Master?"

"Lord Rockwood?"

"Is he a he or an 'it', Master?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. I think he's a Cyborg, I heard that Rockwood was a bit of a loner. Some of them come in almost every month to buy new stock but he doesn't, he's very particular. When he bids, he bids high and I think he likes getting (and expects to get) what he wants. He's very high up in the New Mechanical Order's government. That's all, but if I learn anything else, I'll tell you," he added.

"Thanks, Master," I said turning.

"Shouldn't you say something?" said the professor, reminding me.

"Yes. Sorry. All hail the New Mechanical Order," I said, saluting smartly.

"All hail," said the instructor placidly.

It was a new instruction from the general council of the New Mechanical Order. They came up with this stuff all the time and our instructors were as uninspired by it as I was. I was super excited and very keen to get back to the others. While I walked along, I looked at how blank people seemed as they walked by, ignoring each other. I knew the look, everyone was busy checking status updates on their collars between classes. Occasionally I would see someone in the distance but they wouldn't notice me until we were right on top of each other.

"Hi 56-42. Good luck with your shoe-unlocking," said 10-70 running by.

"Hi 10-70, love the new catsuit, really suits you," I would say.

My collar had told me to say something else. The reaction was funny, quite often people would stop and look down and check themselves out. It would take them a second to decide if they really were wearing new clothes. It was a joke Joe, Kayla and myself shared. The idea that you could be so busy that you couldn't notice new clothes was funny and I liked to think of it as a conceptual art piece" provocative and thought-stimulating. I found it comforting that there was still a place for art under the robot's rule.

My collar was getting to be a bigger pain. Joe said the instructors could upload new Apps onto it to 'help' us. All the Apps seemed to do was to break my train of thought. The worst offender was the way the collar would now complain about my posture. "Stand up straight," it would complain. "Shoulders: level left up a little", "Head up!". It was like having the worst, bossy aunt ever. You didn't have any way to shut up the machine, except actually do what it said. Everyone else had the same problem. Walking was an issue as the machine clearly had some idea of was the ideal walk and kept telling you to take shorter or longer strides. I noticed that when Kayla, Joe and I walked in the corridor we ended up marching in lock-step. This is what happens when you let the machine decide how people should walk. Typical fascist machines obsessed with how things looked. but like Joe said, 'I suppose they wanted to put the order into New Mechanical Order'.

The next most annoying App was the one which reminded us to say 'all hail the New Mechanical Order' or 'I love my new robot Overloads' whenever we passed a robot, which typically was a guard. Failure to follow this was a Pain Level 3, zappable-offence. I walked past a drinks vending machine, "All hail the New Mechanical Order," I said saluting ironically. It was a joke, but I noticed a number of other people copying me; I guess fear makes idiots of us all.

***********

A/N I can't help but notice you've got to chapter 16 and haven't voted yet. You, yes you girl with quirky smile and slightly uneven eyebrows in New York. We know who you are. Imagine there is a robot apocalypse and 25 years from now and your there with your teenage daughter and she says.

"What did you do to stop the robot apocalypse mummy?"

and you say "Well I did come across this quirky novel on what we used to call WattPad on this thing we used to call the Internet. Perhaps if I had voted for it, it might have become a runaway success got turned into a Hollywood film which would have alerted someone and more people might have done something about the actual possibility"

and your daughter says "wow did you do all that?"

you being a truthful soul say "Well no I didn't vote. The button was at the bottom of the screen and I was reading too quickly"

Possibly your teenage daughter will say "What you didn't vote for the book!!! Look, look at this collar mummy. See the colour it's green and black. You no what goes with green and black collars? Nothing, that's what goes with green and black colours, everything I wear clashes. I have to live my life in this uncoordinated hell because you couldn't be bothered to vote for a book which possibly could have saved that mankind from it's own destruction? I'll never speak to you again! NEVER NERVEEER !!Grr" while storming off to her robot supplied mattress to cry.

You don't want that, we don't want that, so why not tap to the bottom of the screen?

RK.

Ignore him dear reader, he get's cranky. He's close to 1000 votes and he read that's when you start to drop off the Hot 100(currently #65). He's also jealous the very excellent The Resistance by Broken_window has 902 reads and 204 votes (x 4 Pet's vote score) and he thinks he's under voted so he panics. I'm like what are you worried about - your #65 in SciFi hot of course people of your/our book, don't worry.

I understand, you've been promised the ultimate bad boy owner/master and so far all you have is a name and few vague but sexy details. So yes *I * understand you reserve judgement until you've seen how muscled and broodingly seductive he is. So you've got to hang in there, RK is a stickler to the conventions of the Romantic/SciFi/Comedy/Dystopia novel don't let him get to you. As they say all will be revealed. Personally I'm not a big fan of authors pan handling for votes, it seems undignified. RK said it's all about engaging with the audience which 've quite liked but with these outbursts I'm not sure. Don't worry about it, I'll talk to him. You do what ever you feel is right.

Reb.