Sweet Tooth Chapter 2

A Robot With A Sweet Tooth

         Tears rolled down Pominsky’s fat round hamster cheeks.
         ‘ It’s not so bad,’ said Pominsky realizing, ‘ we can fly to the moon, there is a shuttle every half an hour. Grab the biggest bag we got Trevor,’ announced Pominsky running for the door and then stopped as the television which had followed him, as TV’s do in 2099, announced the breaking news; ‘ Chaos at the shuttle ports as thousands of people scramble for a place to travel to the moon and the canyons of sugar. All shuttles have been grounded, the moon is out of bounds.
         ‘ No!’ screamed Pominsky running at Trevor and delivering another heavy kick. ‘ It’s all your fault.’ And then picked Trevor up by his antenna and swung him into the computer-bot.
         ‘ That’s it,’ said Pominsky having another brain wave, ‘ computer.’ The computer-bot flickered into life and shuffled to Pominsky so he may use the device.
         ‘ Teleportation!’ said Pominsky and waited for the computer to change its screen, but the computer-bot answered, ‘ not recognized.’
         ‘ Don’t play stupid,’ shouted Pominsky and punched the screen. ‘ Teleportation is my mother’s secret password so we can access the Secrecy Ministry where she works, and teleport to the moon. I already know about the teleportation machine. Let me in computer NOW!’
         ‘ Not recognized,’ answered the computer-bot.
         The news reader made a further announcement on the television-bot, ‘ The Secrecy Ministry would like to announce that there is no such thing as a teleportation device, so please can people stop smashing computer-bots.’
         ‘ Liars!’ screamed Pominsky, ‘ my mom knew all about this plan she must have done. She works at the Secrecy Ministry, and it was a secret to steal all the choclate and sweets.’ Pominsky turned to Trevor once more.
         Trevor braced himself for another kick.
         ‘ You’re going to the moon,’ said Pominsky with an evil eye.
         ‘ Me! How?’ trembled Trevor.
         ‘ On the back of a fire work,’ said Pominsky, ‘ no, shoot you to it out of a canon. Or a giant catapult. Or I will throw you up there. I don’t care how you get there, you’re bringing me back some chocolate or I will crush you!’ screamed Pominsky, grabbing Trevor by his antenna again and dangled him out of the 12th floor window of the family apartment.
         A rising noise from the street below gathered in intensity, and Trevor gasped as he saw a computer-bot pushed out of a 9th floor window and crashed to the street below. This was the result of taking sugar away from people. They were taking it out on robots. A panic had started.
         What would have been an unthinkable act just half an hour ago, was now the first thing that came to a humans mind. The robots took the sugar, it was they who would pay with their lives. And Trevor dangled still in the loose grip of his master Pominsky.
         No one was playing football or cricket or basketball now, the parks were empty. The normally happy faces of shoppers browsing the shops for clothes and jewelry, had been replaced with frowns and anger and frantic searches rampaging through the city for sugar and sweets. When none was found the nearest robot bought it.
         Appliance-bots; food blenders, toasters, ovens and microwaves were smashed with baseball bats as they ran for cover from the elephant people.
         Service-bots; car-bots, moto-bots, bus-bots, plane-bots and train-bots, digger-bots, road laying-bots, crane-bots, boat-bots, and DIY-bots were re-wired to crash into each other and destroy themselves.
         And Butler-bots, the loyal servants of their master’s, who never answered back, or hit or cursed at all, who would only encourage you in all you tried to do. Even walk you to school and help in class with difficult subjects, played any game you could think of to play with your rules. Enjoyed your laughter and wiped away your tears. They were the metallic brother to every human being. And they were being smashed alongside the toasters and the cars.
         Pominsky and Trevor looked at each other.
         ‘ Please don’t smash me master,’ pleaded Trevor.
         The television-bot ran over to Pominsky as it was programmed to do because the president of the world was about to speak to appeal for calm.
         ’ People of the world, this is the greatest year in human history. Humans play, not work. We are free and have the technology to visit and explore new worlds. Money no longer exists, because we are all credited with the success of the human race and our reward is every man, woman and child has the right to own any thing we people can invent,’ the president went on.
         ‘ But for one exception. We as people have grown fat. Too large for our own good. So for that reason I imposed the diet, and instructed your robots of all varieties to collect all the sugar that is making us fat, and blasted it to the moon where it will stay for a whole year. I cannot let this destruction of robots go on. So I have ordered that in ten minutes time all power to every robot of all varieties will be switched off. And will remain off. To teach us all how to do things for ourselves again.’
         Pominsky grabbed the television-bot with his free hand and flung it out the window. ‘ Trevor if you can’t think of a way to get me some chocolate I will drop you.’
         Trevor’s eyes glowed as they always did when his hard drive whirred into motion, picking over information to find an answer, and he found one. But it was classified information.
         ‘ Well,’ said Pominsky impatiently, releasing two fingers of his grip on Trevor’s antenna.
         ‘ I have an answer, but it’s classified,’ said Trevor.
         ‘ What you mean classified?’ asked Pominsky.
         ‘ Well a butler robot cleans up for humans and sometimes we see things we should not,’ explained Trevor. ‘ That kind of information we cannot speak of, it is private.’
         Pominsky released another finger from his grip and now only held Trevor with his little finger, ‘ bye bye Trev.’
         ‘ I couldn’t tell you private information about a secret time machine,’ cried Trevor.
         Pominsky pulled him into the window, stunned. ‘ Time machine!’
         ‘ I have seen all the plans as I cleaned up your mother’s study room,’ said Trevor. ‘ There is no need to go to the moon, I can travel back in time to get chocolate.’
         ‘ YOU!’ said Pominsky, ‘ I’m the one that’s starving to death.’
         ‘ Only metal can travel through time, your mother did experiments, I saw the notes,’ revealed Trevor.
         ‘ Where is this time machine?’ asked Pominsky.
         ‘ It is the clock face of Big Ben,’ said Trevor, ‘ and it is activated by a mobile phone kept in her desk.’
         ‘ If you are lying you are recycled bean tins for sure Trev,’ threatened Pominsky, walking a quick step, or running as he would call it, to his mother’s study room and raided each draw but one, and found no mobile phone.
         So Pominsky used Trevor’s leg as a levering iron to snap the lock on the last remaining draw un searched, and there was the mobile phone.
         ‘ What do I do? How does it work Trev?’
         ‘ Enter the year you want to travel to, and the mobile phone number of a person in history to call, and once that person answers, you go back in time. But you have to be standing in front of the clock face of Big Ben, that is the aerial of all time. But we don’t have a phone number for a person in the past,’ added Trevor.
         ‘ I will make one up,’ said Pominsky.
         ‘ But I could end up anywhere!’ said Trevor.
         ‘ So. Just get the chocolate Trev.’
         ‘ There is one problem I don’t have an answer to,’ said Trevor.
         ‘ What? No problems Trev. What?’
         ‘ In two minutes the world government is about to switch off all the power to robots every where,’ said Trevor, ‘ and without power I can’t go anywhere.’
         ‘ Trevor my mother is a very secretive lady. Lucky for us she’s rubbish at keeping secrets,’ said Pominsky, who feverishly twiddled the dial on a safety deposit box loosely hidden behind a painting on the wall.
         Pominsky opened the door, and took out a velvet pillow with a silk square draped over it. Pominsky lowered the pillow, and removed the silk square to reveal…
         ‘ What is it?’ asked Trevor. The object was blue and shaped like a tooth, one very big tooth.
         ‘ This Trev, is a sweet tooth!’ said Pominsky. ‘ Open wide.’
         Trevor opened his mouth and Pominsky slotted the sweet tooth into place, underneath his bottom lip so the blue tooth stuck out like a teething baby’s first tooth. And with a trembling hand Pominsky mustered all his will power to lift the one and only square of dairy milk chocolate on the planet, and place it into Trevor’s mouth.
         Trevor didn’t eat food, he was made of steel, yet something was happening. A feeling like none he had ever had the pleasure to feel. A melting sensation.
         Suddenly all the robots, the television, the toaster and oven and microwave the Vacuum cleaner all suddenly drained of power and wilted to motionless objects.          But not Trevor. Momentarily his power drained, his eyes faded and dimmed to a flicker and he too wilted down, but then, started to regain power. His arms and head raised back up and his eyes burned bright in the dark room. And Trevor shivered with delight. As the chocolate melted in his mouth for the first time and tingled his sweet tooth, he could taste it. And what a wonderful taste. What a wonderful world to have such an experience. Trevor bounced into the air and shouted out, ‘ more chocolate!’
         ‘ There is no more Trevor,’ Pominsky reminded him. ‘ Remember, it’s all on the moon. And the only way we have of getting some chocolate, is by you traveling back in time, and bringing me and you back a years worth of sugary delights to see us through the 12 month ban.’
         Trevor chomped on the remnants of the chocolate in his mouth, and felt an overwhelming urge, a craving to taste it again.
         ‘ Then what are we waiting for!’ cried Trevor, who went to run for the door but was scooped up by Pominsky who thrust him into his back pack.
         ‘ All the robots are powerless Trev, keep your head down until I reach Big Ben,` and zipped up the happy little butler-bot in his back pack and slung him over his shoulder.