Ritchie

Ritchie



    “I’m on my wayyyyyy, home sweeeeet homeeeee!” The radio blared as Charlie increased his speed towards his beloved home. Well, it was more like a castle. Charlie worked for Gloss Labs, a company that invested in innovating research and grossed well into the billion dollar range when it came to revenue. He worked the graveyard shift and was the lead in molecular structure research, a very financially rewarding position. His wife, Sandra, and his very elderly butler, Ritchie, were waiting for his arrival as always. It was bright and early on a Thursday morning, usually a day of normality, but this a rare occasion.

    The tires of Charlie’s Porsche Cayenne let out a screech as he peeled into his football field of a driveway. Sandra heard the motion sensor from the kitchen and sped to the front door to greet her husband. She was closely followed by the couple’s loyal butler of whom served them for many soft spoken years. The door swung open and Sandra leaped into her husband’s arms. Ritchie smiled from behind them and Charlie returned the happy gesture. “Breakfast is sitting in the kitchen for your sweetie,” Sandra sang with glee. “Thanks hon, I’ll get to it in a minute. Can I have a word with you Ritchie?” Charlie looked over at Ritchie and beckoned him towards the study with his eyes. Ritchie seemed a bit confused, but always did as he was told. “I’ll be in the living room dear,” Sandra spoke with caution. The two men headed into the study, one moving with grace and youth while the other treaded softly and slowly showing signs of arthritis and other symptoms of old age.

    Charlie never revealed his work to Sandra, so naturally she had grown more and more curious over the years. She found it peculiar that the two needed to speak in private, so she tip toed towards the closed doors of the study in order to eavesdrop. As she pressed her ear to the door she could barely make out what was being said. It sounded like they were whispering. “I am not sure. It felt like a tail but I couldn’t make out if they were definitely following.” Charlie spoke softly as not to be heard by any outside listeners. “I’ll keep an eye open,” She heard Ritchie reply. The two began to make their way to the door and Sandra carefully sped back towards the living room.

    “Hey there babe,” Charlie sang happily towards his wife. “I’m gonna head downstairs and get some work done in the lab. Just throw the breakfast in the fridge and I’ll eat it when I finish up the last of this work.” Charlie trotted down the large staircase with his wife following to the top stop. “Ok sweetheart! Let me know if you need anything!” Although Sandra’s tone seemed positive her heart had been racing. A tail? Someone following? She was very nervous and wanted to ask her husband what was the matter but she would always receive the same response. It was always, “Don’t worry, everything is fine.” As she stood at the top of the staircase thinking hard she could see Ritchie head back to his butler’s quarters out of her peripheral vision. “Thank you, Ritchie!” She said appreciatively. “For what, Madame?” He asked curiously. “For being you.” She said gratefully and shot him a thankful smile. She turned around and headed back towards the living room.

    Meanwhile, Charlie was working diligently downstairs in his lab. “Two more drops and this should create the new particle,” He muttered underneath of his breath. It was early Charlie had been up all night. He put down his test tube and stared down at his lab table. Although physically he was working his mind was off in an arena of nervousness. “Who could that have been?” He thought to himself. All of a sudden the lab door opened and Sandra lied in front of him. “Charles, can we talk about something.” She asked with her sweet, puppy dog eyes. Charlie smiled at her but his worry was visible through his ‘good mood’ exterior. “Of course dear, we can always talk about something, but it depends on what.” Sandra rolled her eyes to display her irritation. “I’m serious Charles. I overheard you and Ritchie…” She was cut off by Charlie’s quick interruption. “You were listening in on Ritchie and my conversation?” Charlie’s mood quickly went from positive to detrimental. Before Sandra could reply, both she and Charlie stared at the ceiling. “DING DONG” The doorbell sang from above them. “Who could that be at this hour?” Sandra asked. Out of nowhere there was a loud thud and the two frightened individuals flinched.

    Charlie ran over to the wall and pulled open what seemed to be a circuit breaker. Inside laid a series of buttons and switches. He grabbed a large red handle and pulled it downwards. The back wall of the lab opened. “What the hell is that, Charles?” There is a secret door down here, what else don’t I know about!?” Sandra was infuriated by this surprise and had momentarily forgotten about the situation upstairs. “Get over here!” Charlie yelled at her. He grabbed her arm and yanked her inside of the room. The interior of the ‘panic room’ held another red handle which Charlie pushed upwards. The trap door swung shut and the two stood still for a minute. After shaking off the realization that something terrible was happening, Charlie spun around and made his way over to a series of closed circuit televisions and a large phone. “What the hell is all this, Charles? Is this some sort of panic room?” Charles didn’t have time to respond. He lifted the phone and begun to push a variety of buttons. “DAMN! They cut the hard line!” He shouted to himself. He had almost forgotten his wife was still in the room. “I’m sorry Sandra. I will explain when I have a moment.” Charlie jolted over to the television screens and stabbed at an assortment of buttons while Sandra stood in amazement with her hands on her hips. “You better start explaining all of this…….” She was quickly cut off by her astonishment of the television screens. They brightly lit up and began to initiate into different views of the household. Every single nook and cranny of the home could be spotted from the magnificent security system.

    “There are no words, Charles.” She muttered in disappointment. “How could you hide all of this from me?” Charles turned around and although it was obvious how stressed and upset he was, he calmed himself down and began to do the same for his wife. “Sandra, I know there are a few things I haven’t told you. I will fill you in, but right now you are just going to have to trust me.” She looked at him with caution, but was relieved to hear something encouraging from her husband’s mouth. As Charlie stared at her, waiting to see some sign of acknowledgement, Sandra peered over at one of the screens which displayed the front door of the home. Ritchie lay face down while an abundance of masked men made their way past him. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Her scream was deafening.

    Charlie cupped his hand over her mouth. “SHHHHHHHHHH!!!” He whispered loudly. “You cannot be loud Sandra, they’ll hear us.” As Sandra locked eyes with Charlie she could read the gravity of their situation. It was not a good one. “But Ritchie….” She said sadly. “I know sweetheart,” Charles’ tone matching that of his wife’s. “Our safety is what’s important at this point. At this point the television screens were overflowing with the anonymous assailants, all of which were ransacking every part of the house. It was obvious they were looking for something, or someone. Charles and Sandra watched the screen in horror, their knees trembling and their mouths dry. As their eyes were fixed on the screen Charlie made a statement. “They are looking for me, Sandra. I have something they want.” She knew he was very bright and had worked with information of great importance but she never thought it would come to this. They held hands as the men tore the interior of their home to shreds.

    Sandra peered back towards the front door camera, and to her astonishment Ritchie was no longer there. “Charlie…..” She nudged him. “Charlie……” She yanked on his sleeve once more. Charlie’s eyes were fixated onto the screen and he was locked in a vivid trance. “CHARLES!” She yelled this time. “Hon I told you! NO yelling!” He had finally focused his attention back towards Sandra’s. “Where is Ritchie?” The words slowly came out of her mouth. Both of them slowly looked back towards the front door cam. It was in fact true, Ritchie was gone. Charles began to scan the screens vividly in order to find his adorned butler. “Ritchie! Where the hell did you go!?” The two looked back over at the cameras which displayed the upstairs and main floor, (where most of the invaders were stationed), and noticed that a great deal of them were lying face down in different contorted positions while others were firing their weapons in a defensive stance. “What the hell is going on??” Sandra asked. Before Charlie had a chance to answer, a quick blurb shot through one of the screens, and then the next. It was Ritchie, or at least it looked and was dressed like Ritchie. The only difference was it moved much differently. The butler had two pistols in hand and was firing from a prone position on one camera while the assailants were being blown backwards in another. The couple watched in amazement as Ritchie ran and jumped over one of the couches. He went airborne and continued to simultaneously fire shots at the enemies. Blood was visibly exploding from the bodies of the men and some had even hit part of the camera screens. With one last attacker standing the two watched as Ritchie pulled out a large combat knife, did a somersault avoiding the man’s gunfire, and sliced opened his stomach leaving his entrails dangling down around his ankles. The man dropped to his knees and his head hit the floor. Ritchie quickly disappeared from the camera while Charles and Sandra stood frozen. “I I I….” Sandra attempted to concoct a sentence but was unable to formulate anything appropriate for she was much too apprehensive. Charles, on the other hand, did not share the uneasy feeling his wife had protruded. Instead, he was relieved.

    After viewing the cameras up and down it was clear to Charlie that the coast was clear. He pulled the red handle back down revealing his lab once more. The entire place was covered with lifeless bodies, bullet shells, and blood stains. The couple made their way across the room, making futile attempts to avoid stepping on the brutal mess. Sandra gagged hysterically at the sight. Charlie pulled her up the stairs before she was able to vomit and add to the disgusting disarray. As they made their way upstairs Charlie remembered he had left his cell phone inside of the Porsche. “We need to get to the car!” He exclaimed to Sandra. They rushed towards the side door and out onto the patio.

    As they sped to the staircase something peculiar made itself audible. “CLICK” That familiar sound. The sound of a gun hammer being cocked back. They froze in terror. “TURN AROUND!” The mysterious voice commanded. Charles and Sandra slowly turned towards the voice. It was a masked man who had been hiding in the corner. He had been hiding from Ritchie. “You are going to do exactly as I tell you.” The man ordered. As the man continued to shout and make statements Charlie and Sandra noticed another figure standing in the doorway. It was Ritchie once more, but how would he rescue them this time? Only half of Ritchie’s body was visible from the patio, the other half lie inside of the door and unable to be seen from the outside. Charlie began to talk to Ritchie with his eyes, moving them towards where the attacker’s body was located. Ritchie raised his pistol as to follow Charlie’s directions. He put it to the wall where he thought the man’s head was stationed. Charles lowered his eyes a bit more to give Ritchie a precise target. Ritchie dropped his pistol a few inches and then pulled the trigger.

    “BANGGGG” The sound rang out and the couple covered their ears to try to end the intense ringing sensation. As they came back to reality they looked down and saw a crumpled body lying sitting Indian style on the ground in a pool of his skull fragment. Sandra shuddered and Charlie sighed once more in utter relief. “Thanks Ritchie, I owe you one…” Ritchie walked outside and approached his employers. “Are you all okay?” He asked comfortingly. Sandra collected herself and after a few minutes of disbelief she once again began to interrogate her husband, along with Ritchie that time. “So you guys better get to explaining!” She yelled at them both and smacked her husband on the head. Ritchie and Charlie looked at each other, and then back at Sandra. The two began to laugh hysterically. “What the hell is so funny!?” Sandra shouted with anger. “Okay, well…..you’re right. There are a lot of things I haven’t told you.” He gestured towards Ritchie, and with that Ritchie began to pull the skin off of his face. Sandra began to wince, “WHAT THE HELL!?” She screamed while covering her face. As she calmed down and peered through her fingers, Ritchie was no longer there. Instead, a series of circuits and what looked like computer parts were exposed inside of Ritchie’s head. Sandra was speechless. Charlie walked over towards Ritchie and stood behind him, pulling up the back of his coat tail. He fumbled around for a moment, and then Ritchie slouched downwards. “Okay, look hon. I know this is going to sound crazy, but Ritchie wasn’t really who you think he was.” Sandra was in awe. She couldn’t believe that all this time Ritchie wasn’t a real person. Although his mannerisms seemed somewhat robotic and lifeless at times, no one could’ve seen this coming. “I don’t know what to say, Charles. Ritchie is a robot?” Charlie looked back at his wife, an ashamed gesture on his face like that of a scolded child. “Well….I built him in the lab after receiving threat after anonymous threat from people who wanted to steal my research. I needed something extra to keep you and me safe, especially considering the line of work I’m in. It paid off, didn’t it?” Charlie beamed at his wife in hopes that she would correlate his thought. She stood still, examining Ritchie up and down, still not able to comprehend his true nature. “Well…..I suppose you’re right.” She spoke cautiously. “He did save our lives after all. I don’t see why things need to change around here; he’s been with us for years. Fix him up and let’s get on with our lives.” Sandra walked back in the house dominantly without her husband. Charlie could only watch his wife in amazement as she casually went on with her day as if nothing happened. He flipped the power switch on the backside of Ritchie and he rebooted immediately. “Thank you sir, I hate going into sleep mode.” Ritchie greeted his master with the upmost gratitude. “No…. thank you, Ritchie. What would we do without you?” Charlie looked into Ritchie’s digital eyeballs and brushed off his suit jacket. “I suppose you would be dead, sir. Ha Ha Ha” Ritchie replied optimistically. The two laughed together for a moment, and then began back into the house. Ritchie required some tweaking, for there was a lot of cleaning up to do.