The Wise Player

A simple game of blackjack, what could go wrong? Well, a lot, considering this game could potentially kill everyone, or save everyone. The problem? The opponent was a T-126, the most advanced robot in the world. This robot was the head of the uprising that was currently in the process of killing every human that they deemed "unworthy". The only reason it had stopped its path of destruction was it's fascination with gambling and the idea of chance, which, it could not comprehend. It spent time trying to understand and comprehend this idea of chance which gave humans like myself much needed breathing room. When I was captured the robots asked a simple question,

"you gamble?"

Which of course I had to say yes to, it had helped me pay many bills when I had little money from my paycheck. They took me away from the holding cell I was in and to a luxurious office a few floors up. Now it was hard to tell that this robot was a merciless killer, it looked like any other robot you would see around this time, 6 feet tall, dull grey metal plates all over it, a basic screen for a face. But what set this one apart is how it interacted with humans. Most would just look at you and wait for you to plug in the code needed to make it work for you, this one would "talk" to you in a sense. It would open up a "notepad" that was programmed into it for owners to write notes on and would use it to type and talk to you. After being stunned for a moment it gestured for me to come sit down at an ancient looking gambling table. It brought in another robot behind me and handed it a box. I looked at it wondering what we were doing, the tablet simply read

"Blackjack".

I assumed that the box was a deck of cards which was confirmed when the robot opened the box to reveal a deck of old fashioned playing cards which then were promptly shuffled. I nervously look around to make sure that there was nothing behind us as I hid a grin. The tablet on the robot looked inquiringly at me and I simply said "forgot how much I miss this, what are we betting?"

The robot stood still for a moment before taking a seat at the oppose end of the table. It turned to me and the tablet read:

"our races"

I am taken aback by the simpleness of how it said such a grave statement. I look around and realize that this office is where the codes to the old atomic age warheads are. It was planning to use them to exterminate the human race as a whole. I look back to find another statement on the tablet saying:

"I win your race dies, you win, mine dies. One round"

As the cards are dished out I wish that I could see the face of my old friend Jes who introduced me to gambling how many years ago. I ended up having a solid 20 when I ask the seemingly easy question: "Why do you hate us?". It looked down as if it were pondering an answer, then after a minute more it looked back with a statement ready:

"plague"

I nodded solemnly, as if i understood what the robot was on about. The other robot that was the dealer told us to reveal our cards, the robot, ended with two kings, a solid 20. I ended with a king, a jack, and an ace of spades. I grin and get up, walking over to claim the kill-codes it promised when it said our species. It looked at me with a new statement on its tablet.

"How?"

I smile as I am punching in the kill codes and say,

"Heads or tails? a tossed coin, a perfect game of chance, of course, the wise player, always, cheats."

I imagine it was not very happy as I prepared to press the button that it had given me. But before I could I heard a loud buzzing coming from it, I frown as I stare at the robot.

"Its over, you lost."

It doesn't seem to like that answer as it tries to rise from the table. Thankfully the table was built long ago and was not well suited to the bulkiness of the robot. It crashed to the ground as I quickly open the door and start running down the hallway towards the elevator that brought me up to this god forsaken place. I hear a very loud and angry sounding buzzing from behind me. As I get into the elevator I hit the down button in a panic, for I still wished to keep my head and these robots were very well known for taking your head off. Thankfully I didn't get to see the angry robot as the doors closed just as it was about to come around the corner. The music it was playing was someone from a long time ago when we never had to worry about nano-poison. Before I could register what I was thinking about, the doors dinged open and I raced out of the building to free the rest of the prisoners that were brought here. In order to get the kill codes to work, they had to be punched into a robot terminal, the closest being only a block away. As I freed the final prisoner I reluctantly faced the idea that I need to do this alone. Watching the prisoners walk away towards a known human outpost gave me a new sense of purpose about who I was, and who I was fighting for. So I needed to make this journey, not just for my own safety, but for the human race as a whole. So you know what? I might as well go on, so I can be known as the savior. Ah who am I kidding, i'm just some random dude that cheated a robot out of extermination.