It was his second visit to the extrasolar planet to carry out maintenance.
He was hoping that this trip would be more of a break than the last one. That had been drawn out big time by his being given the wrong microchips for the spaceport’s upgrade. It had been a disaster, with him being stuck in limbo for a week on standby, waiting for parts. Although this job was only a two-day stint, he figured he’d have all of the second day to be a tourist. He’d been told that the city had lots to offer with artificial intelligence technology being widely used. As long as he was careful not to enter the slum sector, he’d be all right. Apparently, many of the failed robotic projects had resulted in rogue automatons going AWOL. They now controlled a small shantytown on the edge of the city. This was now an area forbidden to humans.
The first day went well, with no hitches occurring during his carrying out the repairs. The second day was all his. He used the audio guide book to move around the city. He’d had a fascinating day by the time he was due to return to his sleeping quarters. Whereas the guide had been an excellent help during the day, he found that the navigational system was playing up on his return. He knew enough to know that there was some kind of interference concerning the directives he was receiving. It was at the point where he realised that the surroundings were no longer familiar and that he was definitely lost that it happened.
Walking past several large, rundown hangers, he heard a door creak open behind him and before he could turn he felt a blow to the back of his head. He had obviously been out cold because when he came to he found himself strapped to a table and surrounded by several androids all jabbering incoherently to one another. As far as he could tell they were excited. They fell silent and stood aside when the apparent leader approached.
The battered-looking robot picked up a scalpel and giggled.