Birdie--Tatianna

I pulled into the parking lot. The tall, sleek building towered over me. I’ve seen it many times before, but I couldn’t help but marvel at the sight of it.

“It’s state-of-the-art stuff,” my wife had said when she first brought me here. “The inside looks like it came straight out of a sci-fi film.”

I grabbed my wife’s spare keycard and left the car.

My wife and her team worked on things that people like me could only dream of. Sometimes she’d tell me a bit about their projects.

"Our client wants us to create robots," she said a few weeks ago. “Robots?” I said.
“Yep.”
“What for?”

“We...actually don’t know. All we know is that the client had hired someone else to make the robots, but they weren’t satisfied with the product so they hired us to redesign them. The robots themselves are more like toys, but the AI they have is incredibly advanced. It’s...strange, but we’re getting paid a lot, so.”

“Huh,” I said, and never thought about it again.
Until now.
The front lobby was in disarray. All the chairs were flipped over, and papers

littered the front desk. “Hello?” I called.

Nobody answered.

A chill crept up my spine. The reason why I came here was to check on my wife. She hadn’t responded to any of my calls. What happened here?

I pushed back my thoughts and pushed forward. I knew my way around the lab. I’m sure the rest of the building is fine...

It wasn’t.

Every room I went to looked like it got caught in a hurricane. All the computers laid broken on their desks. Papers were torn to shreds or burnt. Chairs

laid broken on the floor. The broken remains of half-finished robots covered the tables. Did someone rob the place?

I stepped in something. I looked down.
Blood.
The blood made a trail that led out of the room.
Why is there blood?
I followed the blood out of the room and down the hallway. The blood led to

a scientist lying on the floor. A giant metallic rod pierced the back of his head.
I almost puked. There was another body at the end of the hallway as well. What in God’s name happened here?
I ventured further into the lab, discovering more unspeakable horrors. I

reached the point where I couldn't take it anymore. I have to turn back. Something moved.

I turned around. The door behind me was ajar. Did the sound come from there? I felt my pockets for my phone but felt nothing. I searched the ground but to no avail. "Great," I mumbled. "The one time I needed to use the emergency service, I leave my phone in the car."

I looked back at the door. A sane person would run away and call the police, but something compelled me to move toward the door and open it.

Like all the other rooms, the entire place was in disarray with broken furniture and dead bodies. On the left wall were giant glass cabinets. Each one contained half-finished toy robots.

All except one.

One of the cabinet doors laid shattered on the ground. The cabinet itself was empty. I stepped over the glass and looked around. A large pile of papers laid on one of the desks. I grabbed the topmost paper and read the title.

“Experiment #29: Birdie.” Below the title was a picture of a stuffed tabby cat plush with a red bandana and big black eyes.

I continued to read. Birdie was one of the robots that the client commissioned to fix. The robot worked fine, but its AI was broken. The plush has reportedly ran off many times and has accidentally harmed personnel.

"Harmed personnel?" I whispered. How does a faulty robot accidentally harm someone?

The sound of running footsteps echoed from outside. I quickly crawled under the nearest desk. A sharp, high pitched scream sounded, and then cut off.

Ice crept up my spine. I inched out from the desk and stood up. A body laid in front of the door I came through. A blade pierced her neck, and blood pooled beneath the wound.

I forced myself to swallow. This is b​ ad​, r​ eally bad​. I need to leave this place immediately.

A figure leaped onto the body's back. Dark red blood stained its striped orange fur. A bright red bandana hung around its neck. Its large, dark eyes scanned the room.

It saw me.

"Birdie," I whispered. The thing jumped onto a nearby desk. It titled its head at me. I pressed myself against the wall, and something poked my back. I glanced behind. A light switch.

I looked back at Birdie. It narrowed its eyes and stepped forward.

I shut off the lights and ran. I didn't dare look back. I turned a corner and saw a green exit sign at the end of the hallway. I sprinted toward the door, pushed it open, and closed it as silently as I could. I leaned against the door and listened.

Nothing.
I took a shaky breath and stood up. “Oh my God,” I panted. “This is real.”
I need to get out of here. The only way out now is through the stairs.
I started going down the stairs but I tripped on my foot. I tumbled down, my

head hitting the rails. My vision blurred. A sharp pain shot through my left wrist.

I landed on my side. My head ached, and my body felt numb. The pain shot through my wrist again, jolting me upright. Lights danced around me. I rubbed my head with my left hand, and the pain spiked again.

I shook my head, and my vision cleared. I looked at my left wrist. I bit my lip from the pain. Great, I sprained it. Grunting, I pulled myself up and continued going down the stairs.

I arrived at the ground level. The exit door greeted me at the end. I sighed in relief.

The door behind me swung open. Birdie leaped from the bar handle, holding a metal rod in its mouth. I ran for the exit door, but the plush jumped in front of me, slowly forcing me back through the other door and into the lab.

I tried to run but tripped.

The plush narrowed its large, dark eyes and lunged at me. I knocked it down just in time. I clenched my teeth and looked around for anything that I could use as a weapon.

A broken glass vase laid a few feet away from me. I grabbed the largest piece and turned around.

Pain shot through my right knee. I yelped and fell to the floor. Birdie climbed up my body and wacked me on the side of my head. My eyes watered, and my ear began to ring. Birdie jumped off me and discarded the metal rod for a shard of glass.

Glass.
It looked at me and angled the shard toward me.
It inched closer. I wiped the tears from my eyes and gripped my own glass

shard. The cold tip of the plush’s glass touched my face.
I jabbed my glass piece into Birdie’s head with all the force my injured body

could muster. The plush fell to the ground.
I ran back into the emergency exit and left the building.

The door led me to the back parking lot. There was a gate to the left of me. I hobbled over to it, and it opened. I made my way to my car and sat in the seat.

Everything hurt. My wrist, my hand, my knee, my head...

I leaned against the car seat and allowed myself to think. All those brilliant minds are now dead. And my wife? Is she...

I shook my head, making my headache worse. No, no, I can't think of that now. I need help, professional help. This accident needs to be reported. I grabbed my phone from the cupholder and dialed 9-1-1.