Today
Danny sat impatiently in the waiting room of the La Perditan airport. It was going to take him two connecting flights to get to Melbourne. Another drawback of living on a tiny island that only had two international flights per day.
He looked at his ticket again, purchased in the name of Gil Ellis to get around the new law keeping him on the island. Every now and then he glanced over his shoulder, certain that airport security was going to pounce on him at any second.
He watched people coming and going around him, keeping his eyes down and not talking to any of them.
Above him, a workman was suspended from a harness in the ceiling, working on some of the building's ventilation pipes. He only caught Danny's attention when the harness snapped, and the workman screamed. He shot his arm out and grabbed the dangling end of the harness strap, staring in terror at the floor below.
The airport had a very high ceiling. The man would surely perish if he plummeted. What was anyone to do?!
Danny remained seated, tearing his gaze away from the situation above. He stood slowly and stepped forward, then remained just standing.
A noise from outside caught Danny's attention, and the attention of everybody in the terminal.
It started as a low buzz, then soon grew into a high pitched whine. Everybody covered their faces as one of the huge windows shattered, and a silver streak entered the room. The streak headed straight for the dangling workman, plucking him from danger then heading slowly downwards.
It was then that everybody got a glimpse of the newfound saviour.
It was about three feet long, and made entirely of shining metal. At its front was a shiny silver squirrel's head, and at the back was a squirrel's tail. The tail was raised, and poking out from beneath it was a small propellor that seemed to enable the creature to fly.
The robotic squirrel lowered the worker slowly to the ground, then landed softly beside him.
People around the squirrel cheered. A small child hugged the robot.
"Mummy, it's cold..." The child said.
"Cold... and heroic!" The child's mother yelled. She was met with several nods of agreement.
"Thank you!" The workman said.
"Robo Squirrel is happy to help." The squirrel replied.
"Gee, Robo Squirrel... you sure saved my nuts!" The man added. Everybody laughed.
"Robo Squirrel does not understand. You do not have nuts of any sort."
"It's a joke, Robo Squirrel!" Somebody said.
"Searching database... searching... searching... Nuts is a euphemism for testicles. Robo Squirrel gets it! This joke is adequate."
"Oh, Robo Squirrel!"
