Tarboy: Malpractice, 1

A door opened to reveal a small room. As the light from behind the door bled into the room, it's bare contents were made known. A small bed, as well as a table, and a shelf. A robotic hand crept from behind the door to the light switch, illuminating the place where the owner lived. It was a tiny one-room house he inherited from his grand father. His grandfather. The owner sniffed. He still missed him, despite him dieing long ago. If only he had quit that stupid obsession of his earlier, he may have...... No. What's done is done. Nothing is ever going to change that. And every day he still hears that hauntingly cheerful voice.

"You wanna hear about a REAL hero, Billy?"

Those words. Why did his grandad have to tell him that story? It ruined both of their lives, with the way his grandad told the story. Billy looked down at the room in desperation. Somehow, Egz found out, and although he knew the Tar was now harmless because of it being incomplete, that didn't stop him from taking his blame out on the small family. Billy's grandad needed maintenance badly in his old age, and because of him lacking the quality care the higher ups get, it mainly resulting in him just getting by, until Egz made the decision to bar all of the grandad's maintenance's. With that, Billy witnessed his grandfather's health rapidly decline, to the point that Billy forced his grandad to use the boy's own sessions, much to the guilt and dismay of the elder.

"Billy, I can't use any more of your sessions! It's not right!
"It's fine, Grandpa. You need them more than I do."
"No, I don't. You're getting rusty. It's worse than mine. Don't worry, one missed maintenance is going to be fine for me!"

All that was left the next day was an empty metal shell and a small note. Only one sentence was on it.

"Billy, hide the Tar."

Billy closed the door, and leaned against it. He slumped to the floor. He was tired. After his grandfather died, he had to quit school to get a job to make the payments for the tiny house he inhabited. His parents died long ago in an accident, leaving him to get his own finances. Uneducated robots weren't exactly high in demand, so the only decent job he could get was his grandfather's old job. Janitor of all buildings in sector A5. This only got him barely meeting ends, and having enemies in high places didn't help either.

Egz knew Billy still had the tar. And though he never asked Billy directly to give him the jar, Egz still made Billy's life hell. All the other janitors couldn't even begin to comprehend why a high-life bureaucrat would do so much to make a 12 year old robot work so much, let alone why the 12 year old was working in the first place.

A small beeping from a small rectangular on Billy's waist alerted him that is was time for a job. He felt grateful for the small reprieve, albeit a short one. As he went to gather his items, he pulled up his pager, which told him of where he was to begin work. Another "special" request from Egz, only this one actually made Billy stop.

His next destination was Egz's personal office.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Billy looked at the large metal door separating him from Egz himself. Although he never met Egz in person like this before, he made sure to make his presence known to Billy. A small knock echoed throughout the empty hall, and almost in dramatic pause, the door swung open.

Inside was a large desk, with an equally long wing-back chair behind it. Sitting in that chair was Egz, cigarette lit and held between his fingers. "Ah, Billy!" He began, almost nonchalantly, "You're here. Start with the floors." As Billy pulled out his broom, he began to sweep in small motions, collecting the dust of the floor. Billy said nothing. As much as he wanted to strangle Egz there and then, he would be executed instantly.

This piece of info did not stop Egz from talking, however. "So, did you hear the great news, Billy? Runt just announced me his next-in-line. So if he dies, I get to manage the entire sector!" He sounded giddy from the excitement. "All of the A sectors, all under my command. I actually have Tarboy to thank for that. If he wasn't so stupid as to fall into that trap, I would have never gotten that promotion! But, you know, your grandfather didn't have to collect the Tar, it's almost borderline Kleptomania!"

Billy winced. Egz continued. "Speaking of your grandfather, how is he doing?" Egz chuckled, and blew a large puff of smoke from his mouth. Billy said nothing. He didn't want to appear weak in front of Egz. Egz wasn't taking it. "I asked you a question, Billy. I expect you to answer it."

"He died." Billy snapped quickly. "He missed a maintenance session, and his body didn't hold out for the next one." He finished cleaning the floor, and made way for the exit. "Billy! I never said you could leave!" Egz pointed to a large shelf, all filled with different items, from plaques to medals, to god-knows-what random junk pieces of twisted metal. "Clean that shelf as well, and be careful about it.

Billy sighed. He pulled out a small feather duster and began dusting. Egz continued his conversation. "You know, it's kind of funny, now when you think of it. Tarboy was supposed to be the hero, but if he was never alive, your grandfather may have still been alive." Billy gritted his teeth. He wanted to speak, but doing so would have been a futile act. "I know, I know, you're probably thinking, why would it be Tarboy's fault? Well, when your grandfather collected all that tar, he was technically stealing from corporate property, so I had no choice but to bar his care plan. But, don't worry, his barring was considered compensation for stealing, so it's now your property." Egz took a long, drawn out, puff of cigarette smoke, almost as if savoring it. "But just think! If Tarboy never had his rebellion, and gotten himself melted, your grandad would never have stolen that tar in the first place!"

Billy winced. He just wanted to leave. Egz took another puff. "Though I find it kind of sad to see a twelve year old working so hard. You had to throw away all of your dreams, just to get a measly janatorial job, and an equally measly house." Billy grimaced. 'You're not sad,' He thought, 'You get off on this kind of crap.'

"Oh well, what's done is done. Oh, forget about cleaning the top two shelves, we both know you're still not tall enough to reach up there, even with a step ladder." Egz looked around the office. "Actually, I think you did a...... somewhat decent job. Here," Egz flipped a coin at Billy, who caught it easily. "Have a tip. Oh, and that one metal jumble, second to the right? Take it. I insist."

Billy quickly walked up to the shelf, and grabbed the metal piece, about the size of a older bot's clenched fist. He walked to the large door and grabbed his things, and just as he was to make it back out, Egz called after him. "Oh, and Billy, there's a special surprise for you in your locker. You really should look at it sometime."