CB-Delta decided he had no use for this alley pest. He activated his weapons. The boy tensed, eyes open wide. CB-Delta pulled the trigger.

Nothing.

He recharged and fired again. Nothing. He looked at his guns. Rusted. He had been laying there so long that nature had already started eating away at him. He couldn’t remember who he was or where he was from, and now he was already half destroyed, and to top it all off, he had attacked a civilian for no reason. He put down his guns. He was about to walk away, when suddenly he couldn’t move. He became aware of a tiny buzz in the back of his consciousness. Then all he saw was green.

Jake was just about to run for his freaking life from the robot with issues, when it picked him up and threw him into the street. “Holy crap!” He yelled as he flew through the air. Today was obviously not a good one for him. He hit the street, slid and rolled. He was very confused from all that had just happened. Did that robot’s eyes just change green? Does he have multi-personality issues? Why am I just sitting in the street?!?! Jake looked just in time to see the front bumper of a brand new red mustang. His first thought was that it was a very nice color for a mustang, then he panicked. He was just about to be a cherry Jello, when he was pulled into the air again. Next thing he knew he was back in the alley. The robot had saved him. Of course. Because what else would an insane robot do? Jake wobbled to his feet. He noticed the robots eyes were not green anymore. Jake decided that it was time to go.

CB-Delta was about to apologize, when the boy started to make a run for it, but before he could, CB grabbed him by his jacket and lifted him of the ground.

After realizing he wasn’t going anywhere, Jake stopped moving his legs, and prepared to get thrown into the street again.

“I’m sorry I threw you into the street.”

At the word “I’m” Jake flinched. He was rather surprised to hear the robot talking. “Who the heck are you, and why wont you let go of me?!?!” He shouted flailing his arms, feeling like a piñata.

“I am CB-Delta. I apologize for my actions. My memory cache has been erased, and I think something is wrong with my coding. I am trying-” Before he could say another word, his eyes turned green.

“Oh, heck no.”

Next thing Jake knew he was being swung in every direction. This is what he gets for not living an honest life. Jake thought of about fifty things he would enjoy more that experiencing one hundred G’s. Jake was about to loose consciousness when he stopped swinging. He looked at the robot. “Okay…” he was out of breath. “You have got to stop that.”

“Again I apologize. What is your birth name?”

Surprised by the sudden question, and still a bit bashed up, Jake remembered that he didn’t know his birth name. If the robot had asked him his name, he could have just answered “Jake.” But he didn’t know his birth name. Too dizzy to explain everything, he just answered. “Jake.”

“Well I apologize Jake. I didn’t intent to do any of those things.”

Jake was unsure about that, and the apologies didn’t really help flip his brain back over. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t intend to throw me into the street. That really makes me feel better. By the way, Can you let me down?”

CB-Delta’s vision turned green again. He struggled with it, and triumphed. Once he regained his vision, he saw Jake on the alley floor. Jake slowly lifted himself up. CB-Delta realized what he did, and apologized again. Sort of. “Oops.”

“Alright!” Jake said, sure that he was in hell. “I’m out of here!!!” He started walking into the back of the alley. He had had enough of that robot CD delta guy. He was going to go into his cardboard box, and not get back out till tomorrow. He found his chair, which was made out of stacked cinderblocks, and started to read the days paper. He heard a clank as a can was nudged by a robot foot. He sighed and turned to see CB-Delta hiding behind a nearby dumpster. “What do you want now!?!” Jake said standing up throwing his paper down. “Is it really so important that you torture me!?!” There was a silence as Jake waited for a response.

“I don’t know where to go. I have no memory stored of any resting place, permanent or temporary. I do not even have a name in my data banks. May I request to stay with you?”

“Yes.”

“May I stay with you?”

“No.” Jake sat back down, and started reading.

CB-Delta looked around the alley. All across the walls were random articles of clothing hanging from ropes in a clothesline style. “What are these clothes for?”

Jake sighed. “I’m homeless. That means I don’t have a house or clothes. Since I don’t have clothes, I have to steal them, and since I am banned from any store, I have to steal them off of people.”

CB-Delta scanned the various articles. Jackets, shirts, jeans, a skirt… !!! “What’s with the skirt?”

Jake stood up, red, and shouted at CB. “I get desperate during winter!!!” He stood there glaring at him.

“I apologize.”

“I know you apologize!!!” Jake was rather flustered. He though of how nice it was to be thrown around compared to this. Besides, it was only once.

CB-Delta was quiet. He did not mean to offend. “Can I make it up to you? I really need a place to stay and will do anything to help.”

Jake’s better side, knowing how he felt when no one helped him, decided to show him some sympathy. He couldn’t live with him, but the rusted armor CB-Delta had was going to eventually fall off, and he would probably die from exposure. Maybe he could offer him something else for cover. “I can get you something to replace your rusty armor, but after that you need to get out of here.”

CB wished he could stay, but he was constantly hurting Jake, and understood him not being okay with that. He accepted and they took off his armor, and looked for clothes for him.

After an hour of searching, there was nothing that worked for CB-Delta. They were sure he would just have to put his old stuff back on. Jake told him to keep looking, and went over to the pile of rusted metal from CB-Delta. He was about to gather it up, when he spied something. An emblem on one of the shoulder plates. It was a picture of the world, with a pair of wings, and the letters, USG. Jake blinked. He had seen this before, but where? It was something from his past, but what? He had to find out. He stood up, and turned to CB-Delta. He was about to speak, but what he saw stopped him in his tracks.

CB was standing there, dressed in cardboard boxes. He had taken a sharpie and added a face. “How does it look?”

Jake was stunned. “It looks…” Then he remembered the emblem. “Great! It looks great. By the way, you changed my mind. You can stay with me for a while.” Jake was overjoyed. He could find out who he was.

CB was overjoyed. He could find out who he was. He was about to thank him, but just before he said something, his vision turned green. He struggled, but was unable to gain control. The buzzing was very loud, and CB could barely hear a faint scream. After about two minutes of green, CB was finally able to gain control of himself. He could feel his fingers again. When he could see, he looked around the alley for Jake. He found him thrown into a pile of trash, wearing a skirt. When asked by CB-Delta why he was wearing it, Jake cursed.

“We have got to do something about that!!!” Jake yelled. “Come on!” Jake said walking to the entrance of the alleyway.

“Where are we going?”

“I know a guy who can fix you.”

“But Jake.”

“No buts! You are coming with me to get that bug removed!”

“But Jake!” He said, standing on the sidewalk in front of the alleyway.

“But what!?!?”

“Your still wearing a skirt.”

Now, Factpile, you will get to try something new. This time, not only can you select the next part of the story, but you can also submit an ORIGINAL CHARACTER!!! This is a contest where the winning character gets to be featured in the next part! The rules of the contest are below.

Rules for your character:
No blood.
Needs to be relatively sane.
Nothing profane.
The randomer, the better (Example: Human sized technician squid/octopus, composed of lava, with a bad temper.)
I will not consider your character without you submitting an idea about how the story should go.
Pictures would be nice, but not required as long as you have a good description.
Email your submission to Sos@steepledog.com ( Make sure you subject it with “OC Submission” otherwise spam blocker might get it.)

Submit away!!! Please… really… submit…

Thanks.
Samuel Black