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One might believe that having two robo-cops stationed near a body of water was a disaster waiting to happen (and quite a few citizens of the city would agree with you), but the future is now! Long-gone are the days of poor, unsuspecting suntanners having their parasols stolen while they napped. Hasta-la-vista, getting sand kicked on you by some rowdy child while their mother is attempting to keep her baby afloat in the saltwater!
...
Well, that was the plan, at least... to have a tall robot with a mechanical pooch to patrol the beachside to keep people from being mildly-irritating... it sounded good, in theory! Yet, the robots proved to be quite expensive, and only one pair was stationed at this beach.
So, despite their efforts, sand was still being kicked on the innocent and parasols were still being nabbed by the guilty.
Byte & Barq were usually content in knowing this because they knew they still had much to learn. They knew they would get better over time-- they were actually quite a new unit! But I say 'usually' because... well...
They were in hot pursuit of a group of three young boys. One had stolen a swimmer's book, and the other two had grabbed three people's shirts and shorts. Luckily, no misdeed was too small in the LED eyes of these two do-gooders. An extendable arm shot-out from the mouthlike compartment in Barq's head, the 'hand' attached to it shaped like a claw you would find in a rigged arcade game.
The pinchers just narrowly-missed one of the boys' shirts, which prompted obnoxious laughter from the trio.
Fret not! Byte & Barq would never cease the chase! These taunts meant nothing!
One of the young men that had been at a considerable distance in front of the robots stopped and turned around. He was holding a red shirt, holding it to the side and giving it a wave like a luchador. A robotic 'bark'-like sound came from Barq's speakers, and the single wheel of which he rolled on sped-up, propelling the bucket of bolts forwards towards where the shirt once was. The young man pulled it up right at the last second, with a little: "Don Flamenco!" before he snickered and began running in the opposite direction.
Byte was preoccupied with the two other boys, who continued the chase until both abruptly turning just before hitting a wall of dirt. They blew raspberries with their mouths, and it was too late for Byte to change his course. He was spiralling-into the cliff-face despite his best efforts, and he soon found himself on the ground, covered in grass, pebbles and dirt.
Barq gave a little sound of alarm, immediately heading towards his taller companion's side. The boys ran-off without a hitch, but that was alright... they would simply be temporarily suspended from visiting the beach!
A note of that was filed-away in Byte's internal hard drive as miniature wiper's deployed from the top of Byte's facial visor, clearing away the grime. His head turned to acknowledge Barq, who'd rolled-up to his side and barked once. The taller robot pat the top of his smaller companion's head, turning his own head a full one-eighty degrees to analyze the horizon the boys had escaped into.
If he were human, he thought, this would be the point where he would sigh and say: 'We'll get 'em next time, buddy.', like they did in the movies.
For now, however, he could only push himself up to his feet and initiate a full-body shake, to help clear his joints of any sand or rocks. Without a second more to mull-over the failure of their duties as protectors on this humble beach, the two unanimously decided to resume their patrol.
It wasn't long before another distraction met the duo.
Barq was the first to see them. He tried to keep his cool, but the red light atop his head began to flash. This attracted the attention of Byte, who was oblivious to the two approaching figures.
"What is the problem, Bar--"
"Excuse me, sir, do you know where the Pooch-Friendly Café is located?"
Suddenly, both Byte and Barq stood at attention. Now the two donned the same flashing light on their heads.
Before them stood a rather-ordinary human woman and her dog. She wasn't dressed for the beach, sporting a seafoam-green tank top that matched the collar on her small, hairless dog's neck. Buttons decorated the side of her purse, with various designs and logos.
Both of the robots remained silent. The data within their internal processors was being jumbled and mixed rapidly, until finally settling-down enough to feed some data containing a response to Byte's vocal processor. An arm lifted and swung around to point in the direction of the boardwalk. "South-west." if either Byte or Barq were human, they would have grimaced at the crackling sound suddenly present in Byte's mechanical voice.
The woman smiled, glancing at the light atop Byte's head and then to his canine companion. A hand lifted to her mouth, like she might giggle at any moment. Her dog sat in the warm sand, staring wide-eyed at Barq. It was all very cliché.
Suddenly, Byte found the urge to speak again, despite his programming making it difficult.
"May I sug-sugg--" his voice looped, as if trying still figuring-out the right way to word his next offer, "May we suggest The Kennel Club only five buildings to the right? It-it-it--" Byte stopped mid-sentence when the chiming laughter of something delicate made it's way to his audio-recognition software. For Byte & Barq, the half-beat of silence afterwards was grueling. They were both still at attention, Byte's arm still extended.
Then, the woman spoke-up. "Thank you, you were very helpful!"
Her dog stood and neared Barq, sniffing at him curiously. The K-9 unit felt the secondary battery in his nose heat-up. The woman mocked standing at attention and gave a silly little salute, giggling at herself as she did. "At ease, erm... robots! You performed well today!"
Somehow, Byte managed to relax his stance despite his processors' data mixing-itself up. Barq, however, stayed as he was. The lights shining on both of their heads was still quite the give-away that they weren't completely on their game.
Despite the woman seeing this, and being amused by it, she decided to let it go. It was probably hot out, and these robots needed to go somewhere to cool down, right? And why was she trying to talk to these robots in the first place?
With a hesitant, unsure wave, the woman's smile dropped and she walked past the beach cops towards the direction she'd been pointed in.
A full minute passed by. The Byte & Barq's lights went dark once again, and steam was released from a little hatch on their backs. After that minute had gone, Byte turned his head to acknowledge his canine companion.
They shared as much of a 'knowing look' two robots could share, and resumed their patrol from where they'd left-off.