Law

The pipe slowly went up again, only to come back down once more.

There was yet another striking sound.

Drops of blood jumped in the air before they meet the others already on the floor.

This time, it took a few seconds for the victim to regain conscience.

- Please, stop…

But nothing did, and there was nobody else around able to do anything.

The pipe slowly went up again…

And then the doorbell rang.

The culprit paused as if waiting to see if someone would ring again.

Someone did.

Moments later, the door would open and two officers would be surprised to see someone so calm still in bloody clothes and still holding a pipe.

So surprised that no one said a word for a few seconds.

- Well… Can I help you?

- Uh… We received some calls from your neighbors…

One of the officers slowly went for a gun.

- Oh, please, there’s no need for that. Follow me.

The two officers went in and the door closed behind them.

They followed and they looked around. None of them had ever seen something like that or had been to such a luxurious place.

They walked down the stairs into the basement.

No sooner did they see the victim panting on the ground than they were being handed a paper.

They read it, looked at the victim, and then at each other.

They faced the attacker again, still holding the pipe.

- Well…?

The senior officer took a deep breath, paused for a moment, and finally handed the paper back to its owner.

- We’re sorry to disturb you, sir. I would recommend you keep the noise down, so as not to distress your neighbors. We’ll show ourselves out.

They hurried back up as if rushing not to hear the sound of the pipe striking again, as it most surely would.

- Aren’t we going to do anything?

- What, you think there’s something we can do? I think the law is very clear about all this…

And it was.

You pay for your robot, you do with it as you please, AI or not.

As they walked past the large living room, they both felt the looks from the myriad of other robots upon them.