Kitt had mentioned bodies. From the sound of it, there were several bodies to worry about. Ryobi sighed heavily. How many friends had he lost already? Worse, how many of his friends were now enemies? The information that the robot provided was of little more use than confirming Ryobi’s fears. Worse, he was to go to the Captain’s office.

The request seemed simple enough. To the bot, it was entirely innocuous; but to Ryobi, it represented several choices, any of which could end up with him dead. If Captain Burchill had sent Kitt, that meant he was either attempting to find who he had left, or was trying to locate those who were fighting against the prisoners. He could be behind the attack himself, or he could be another unwitting victim. If the Captain was responsible, then going to the office was a death sentence. If Ryobi did not go to the office, Kitt would relay that information as well, giving away his location. Assuming the worst case could help Ryobi stay alive, but it could also turn him as ruthless as the criminals he wished to return to their cells. 

It was a classic case of damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Before Ryobi could make any decision, he definitely needed more information. He began to slowly move towards Kitt, explaining himself in a way that he hoped the robot’s programming could handle. “There was a prison riot, Kitt. The prisoners all escaped, but worse, they must have had help. There is no way that a breach like this could happen without someone pulling some strings. That person would need to be someone with clearance at least as high as I have, understand? It is possible that anyone above my position could have done this as well. So before I come with you, I have to ask a few questions to make sure it’s safe. First, did the Captain send you? And second, ignoring the part of your programming that tells you to do what your superiors ask, are you absolutely 100% certain that the Captain had nothing to do with the break?” 

He was at the grate near Kitt now, but kept the closed bars between him and the bot for the time being. For all he knew, the robot was given orders to kill him when he got close. Of course, the Kitt he knew wouldn’t hurt a fly, but things were different now. A little healthy paranoia never hurt anyone, right?