Steve looked through Reckoning’s eyes and could see that his sensors read a fire in close proximity. He moved the X-Box controller stick 180 degrees, making the robot who was at a long distance away turn around to face the direction the fire was in.
Steve noted the readings. From his wheelchair outside on his balcony, he directed the robot using his VR setup to go to the fire. The robot flew above the triple-decker home, and looked down on the roof. It hadn’t cave in yet, but someone was lying there on the roof. Someone naked.
Curious, Reckoning was aimed down to the fire. The man who lay in the flames had his eyes closed, a blissful look on his face. Reckoning got as close as he dared to the flames.
The man’s eyes snapped open. “You!”
Reckoning had never seen this man before. The man sat up, and when he did, the roof let go – but the man flew up on a burst of flames, yelling, “I’d know you anywhere, boy!”
Reckoning had no speaker, and Steve watched helplessly as the man on fire tackled Reckoning. The X-Box controller shook in his hand, and he tried to right the robot as it was pushed head-downward into the flames. He fired the boots, tried to turn, but the man was too big, too heavy, and they both crashed through the building.
That part of the building collapsed on itself. Reckoning was not built to resist fire, and was soon overloaded. The fire filled Steve’s vision, and he tore off the VR glasses. Panting, he looked at the controller.
He already knew what had happened. He knew he had lost.