Robot Warriors by Zac Harrison Page B

Kaal and Emmie in one of the centre rows.
    Up on the stage stood the ten robots that had made it through the Black Tunnel Test. They looked very small next to the three grim-looking, unknown machines that stood nearby.
    Despite their futuristic casings and blinking lights, the machines looked somewhat familiar. One had huge, crushing, vice-like arms, another dangled a flat weight from a glowing green force-cable above an X mark, and yet another had a track leading up to a wide flat wall.
    Even more worrying were the three Examiners who hovered nearby, holding strange devices in their manipulation fields that looked like laptops with egg whisks welded on.
    “What are those things?” John wondered aloud. “And why do you think we’re up here instead of down there?”
    “Well, they haven’t given us our controllers back,” Kaal mused. “So I guess they want to see how well our robots do on their own.”
    “I don’t get it,” Emmie frowned. “What can a robot do without an operator?”
    John felt uneasy looking at the big machines. Where had he seen them before? Something he’d watched with his dad...
    Then it came to him: Top Gear. These machines looked like car-crash testers.
    “Oh no,” he said. “Guys...”
    “Waaaait,” Emmie said. “I get it! They’re going to smash them up, aren’t they?”
    Before John could say anything else, Master Tronic stepped onto the podium. “Welcome to Round Three! As you can see, the Examiners have been kind enough to assist me with the judging for this one.”
    A tense silence hung over the hall. Nobody was ever glad to see an Examiner.
    “This round measures robot strength and durability,” Master Tronic continued. “Each robot will be put through its paces in a series of punishing tests. Six lucky robots out of these ten will make it through to the semi-finals. The remaining four –” and here his metal skull throbbed ominously – “will not be so lucky.”
    “Those are pretty good odds,” Kaal whispered to John. “Better than fifty per cent...” But in spite of his words, he was rubbing his hands together nervously.
    John could guess why. Kaal had needed to make Laserdon quite lightweight, to allow him to fly. And only the most robust robots would survive this round, that was certain.
    “And the first robot to be tested, determined by random chance, is...”
    John held his breath.
    “Super-Rover, built by John Riley of Earth!”
    “Oh, great,” said John, burying his face in his palm. “I don’t know if I can watch this.” He felt Emmie squeeze his shoulder.
    An Examiner picked up Super-Rover in its manipulation field, placed him carefully between the two vice-like crushers, and backed away. The little robot’s tail was still wagging from the last round, unable to stop. Somehow, that made this even worse.
    “Begin!” Master Tronic declared sternly.
    The arms of the vice closed. John didn’t want to watch, but he couldn’t make himself look away. There was a long, drawn-out crrrrrunk as Super-Rover was squeezed. A high-pitched electronic sound came from somewhere inside him.
    It’s just his servos adjusting, John thought. But it had sounded exactly like a sad whine.
    After far too long, the arms of the vice separated. John watched gloomily, expecting his robot to topple over like a piece of scrap. But although his tail was wagging much more slowly and one of his ears was bent, Super-Rover was still working!
    “Go on, Super-Rover!” Emmie yelled suddenly. “You can take it!”
    The watching students burst out laughing. A few of them even clapped and cheered.
    Unfortunately for Super-Rover, the tests were far from finished. The Examiner placed him on an X mark beneath a flat-bottomed metal weight.
    John winced. He knew exactly what was going to happen next. And sure enough, there followed a loud CLANNNNGGGGG.
    The Examiners looked at the readouts on the machine and made notes. Master Tronic nodded to them.
    The weight reeled back up. Super-Rover