Robot and Frank Page #4

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lose that again.

Maybe we can just do the casing

portion as a research project.

And if I've covered everything so

that it's basically zero risk?

You would have to be

very thorough, Frank.

I'm a strict judge.

Okay.

Okay.

I know exactly who the

first mark is going to be.

What a maroon.

How come you didn't have anything

to say to that other robot?

I do what I'm programmed to do.

Were you programmed

to have this conversation

or to work in a garden

or to pick locks?

All of those things are in

service of my main program.

What about when you said

that I had to eat healthy

because you didn't

want your memory erased?

I think there's something more

going on in that noggin of yours.

I only said that to coerce you.

You lied?

Your health supersedes

my other directives.

The truth is, I don't care if

my memory is erased or not.

But how can you not care

about something like that?

Think about it this way.

You know that you're alive.

You think, therefore you are.

No, that's philosophy.

In a similar way,

I know that I'm not alive.

I'm a robot.

I don't want to talk about how you don't exist.

It's making me uncomfortable.

Unbelievable.

Hello.

Yeah? Hello.

Frank, it's me.

What's going on in there?

Uh, nothing, nothing.

Hey, how are you doing?

I'm fine.

Um, I came for dinner.

Remember?

Oh, yeah. I didn't forget.

I'm working on it. Why don't

you come back a little later?

I can't believe

I'm still doing this.

I was supposed to retire

when I was 30.

Retire?

Yeah, from all this stuff.

And I did. Then they busted me

on that tax evasion bullshit.

I predict the lovely couple here

will be leaving any minute now.

I don't think so, Frank.

When I got back that first

time, I couldn't stay retired.

I remember, Hunter found all

my picks and threw them away.

I just bought new ones.

Like I thought.

Impressive.

I missed the pattern.

That's right.

The human brain,

a lovely piece of hardware.

I'm very pleased

with your progress, Frank.

Planning this burglary

was a great idea.

Thanks.

We need to do this job

in a couple of days.

There's going to be a window of time when

they're gone. That's when we move in.

I can't promise I'll allow

the actual burglary,

but I'm glad to see

you so enthusiastic.

Oh, yeah. I haven't

felt this good in years.

Come on, let's arm wrestle.

Okay. Ready.

One, two, three.

What do I do, Frank?

You better see who that is.

Hi, there.

Maddy.

Daddy!

Hey!

Hi!

What a surprise.

And then I just thought, why not

just book a ticket to New York

and I can visit Mom, too,

and she thought it would be a good

idea for me to check up on you.

Would you like me to bring

in your bags, Madison?

No.

No, thank you.

Let the robot

get your damn bags, honey.

Daddy, that's why I'm here.

I thought about what you said

and I'm going to stay with you.

What did I say?

I'm saving you.

What did you just do?

I got the password from Hunter.

He's got a password?

He does.

Come on. I have a million

pictures I want to show you.

Oh. Turkmenistan.

I mean, amazing, amazing.

I fell in love with the people.

They've been through so much.

And there's such a need for the

kind of nanoloan finance non-profit

like the kind

I'm talking about.

But I really need to nail

the grant proposal.

And I thought, what better place to

write than this old place, you know?

That's why it's so perfect.

It's so beautiful, but so sad.

But so beautiful.

Hey, buddy.

Wake up.

What's your password?

One, two, three, four.

Come on, we got to get moving.

We're going to

miss our window. Huh?

Morning, Daddy.

Morning.

Are you hungry?

Yeah.

I went shopping.

I got you Cap'n Crunch.

The robot used to make me

a really great breakfast.

I went out and got all this.

Come on, honey. Why don't we

just wake the little guy up?

He can cook,

he can do the dishes.

No, no.

I am going to do it.

You can't just whisk away all your

responsibilities on your robot, Daddy.

Hey, hey!

What are you doing?

I'm hungry.

Okay, let me

make you something.

Damn it, Daddy, stop!

Let me make you something.

Fine. I want lasagna.

Okay. Okay.

I can do lasagna.

This lasagna looks like crap.

Well, it's penne.

I'm going into town.

I'm going to eat at Harry's.

Daddy, Harry's is gone,

remember?

And I spent an hour

making this.

What are you talking about?

I ate there last week.

Would you just eat it, please?

How long are you

going to be here?

As long as you need me.

I'm fine.

Dad, what did you do

in the bathroom?

Seriously.

It's your cooking.

Very funny.

The robot and I used to go

in to town just for fun.

That's good for you and the robot. I'm tired.

It's too late for town.

Okay. I'm going

to go to sleep.

Fine.

If you go shopping tomorrow,

I'm out of Q-tips.

This place is a dump.

Madison.

Hey, Daddy.

I'm just finishing cleaning up.

Are you really?

Yeah, I just got so sick of the

mess that I pulled an all-nighter.

Who are you kidding, honey? You

turned the robot on, didn't you?

The robot?

I didn't turn the robot on.

I can clean a kitchen.

I'm an adult.

This place was a pig sty last night.

Look at it now.

Please turn him back on.

No, I'm not going

to turn the robot on.

You're not?

Fine, then, here.

Why don't you clean this up?

Daddy! You don't think

I can do anything?

The robot is not

your servant, Maddy!

You don't turn him on and

off like he's a slave!

Okay, I did it! Okay?

I used the robot!

I'm sorry! I just want to help you!

I don't know what to do!

Okay, all right. Calm down, it's okay.

I'm sorry.

I shouldn't have yelled.

It's just that...

It's not you. It's not you.

I need him.

No, you don't.

I do.

You don't understand.

I need him.

What do you need him for?

He's my friend.

Dad.

Hi, there.

So, we'll let it help us out

with a few little chores,

but we can't get

too reliant on it, okay?

Okay.

Thanks, honey.

We got to move soon. Tonight.

The window's almost closed.

I will listen to

your proposal, Frank,

and make my decision,

as we agreed.

I did this for years. Years.

And I developed my own system.

Always worked alone, so nobody

knows it but me. Until now.

Who, When, Where, and What.

First, the Who.

The lovely couple

are Ava Lee and Jake Finn.

Married three years.

The money's on her side.

She's a lawyer. He's a

consultant, whatever that means.

They own this house

and an apartment in the city.

They spend just about

half their time here.

When they're out here, they always leave

for some kind of event or vacation.

That's our When.

That brings us to What.

As in, "What are we stealing?"

She has at least two pieces

that have to be in that house.

But how to go in?

That's our next

Where. I found the plans

on their architect's site.

I have our entry path

sketched out.

I have 10 possible exits,

20 different scenarios,

alarm trip, dogs,

houseguests, et cetera.

It's all set.

But what about the How?

A home like this will have

an advanced security system.

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