☆ ⁺ « 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐂𝐈𝐃 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋
★˚⋆ YOU, TRISH, AND NARANCIA WAITED outside the hulking banquet hall for ten minutes before coming to the conclusion that there were no humans to overpower and force your way inside with. There were no servers or cooks or delivery people to impersonate to sneak into the ball. Everything was being carried out by sleek and coldly efficient bots. Great for the guests, but less great for you.
Zero's venue was actually being hosted in the remains of what had once been a grand space-cruise ship, permanently docked on the Hub, never to be flown again. The thing was practically built for parties, so it couldn't have been too hard to refurbish it for the ball. Trish told you the cruise ship had been modelled on the centuries-old Titanic, complete with a pool, multiple floors, antique light fixtures, the works. Whether that was bad luck or not remained to be seen.
"Still no humans," Trish murmured to her earpiece. The stream of bots you'd been watching unloading boxes from the outside delivery trucks was like a never-ending line of ants. Zero must have jacked every available bot on the Hub for this joint. Until—
"Is that Asswipe?"
You were more surprised than anything to see the Inspector suddenly emerge from the ship. He wasn't in uniform and didn't have anyone else with him. For a few minutes, he simply stood there, watching the bots go about their work. Eventually, he stretched out a hand, stopping one bot in its tracks. He pulled out his holopad, downloading some data from the bot before heading back inside and leaving the bot to swivel around confusedly.
"What was that about?" you asked Coco.
[ NOT SURE. GA'S SHOULD BE HANDS-OFF FOR THIS BANQUET. CHANCES OF SUCCESS HAVE JUST GONE DOWN 0.078%. ]
"I'm sure it's nothing," Narancia said. "Asswipe's always snooping around doing something. Man couldn't take a day off if he tried."
[ ALRIGHT. START THE ALTERNATE PLAN THEN. ONE OF YOU GET DOWN THERE AND SWIPE A BOT. INSERT THE DRIVE I GAVE YOU AND WE'LL GO FROM THERE. ]
"I got this, Cap," Narancia said, rising from where your hiding place. "Me and the boys used to mess with the bots all the time back in the Academy. I know how they work."
He was dressed like you and Trish in the slim-fitting black pants and crew coat that had become Passione's unofficial uniform. His Stand radar had remained fixed around his face since you'd gotten here, still only displaying the three carbon dioxide circles of the crew.
"Is that how you got expelled?" Trish asked blandly. Narancia scowled at her, then jogged off down the slope, approaching the bots.
Bots like these were programmed to carry out one task and didn't give a damn about much else. Thanks to that, Narancia was able to snag a bot from the end of the line and tuck it under his arm like a quarterback. You and Trish watched with bated breath as he ducked behind one of the trucks, pried off the bot's control panel, and messed around with its insides. He released the little bot back to its buddies after a moment, and it puttered back into the line heading back inside without too much trouble.
Was the drive Coco had given you actually working?
[ WEIGHT CAPACITY EXCEEDED! ] The little bot shrieked suddenly. The bots around it paused as the rogue bot began rolling in circles and bumping other bots out of the way. You caught sight of Trish's stricken face out of the corner of your eye as the bot ploughed down the line and began ransacking the crates it was supposed to be bringing inside.
YOU ARE READING
KISMET ─ vento aureo.
Fanfiction☆ . kismet ─ with virtually nothing left in their credit account, a gang of space thieves turn to the richest man in the galaxy to give them a job worth millions. too bad those never come easy, even with stand abilities and a pretty-faced crew...
