An Otter's Wetwork

    "Hey there. You might've noticed we added a pool area for the kids. It really helped with sales, especially in the summer. We even added a new animatronic for it. It's the little otter over by the slide. I know what you're thinking but don't worry, she's waterproof. Try not to lose sight of her for too long though, she's slipperier than she looks. If you do happen to lose her, just listen, she's usually got water trapped in her joints. So if you hear water dripping... just keep an eye on her."

    It was another phone message for the night guard. The guard sighed to himself and cursed his luck. "Another fucking death machine to keep an eye on, just what I needed." he thought to himself. He pulled up the tablet and flipped through the cameras. Just like the message said, there was a new feed installed for the pool area. Flashing the lights, he spied the animatronic in question standing by the foot of the ladder to the slide. "You don't look so bad. Kinda cutesy even." he mused, then he switched feeds to check on the others. The main bots were on the stage. That's good. Captain Grab-Ass was in the cove, and didn't seem to even be awake yet. Also good. The guard relaxed in his chair and stretched out. Seems he had nothing to worry about. The new bot shouldn't be any trouble at all. It is at this point the guard heard a faint splash. "Here we fucking go." the guard spat, as he pulled up the tablet. After checking the cove and the stage, he flipped to the pool area feed. Then he flashed the lights. The otter was still there, only, not where it should have been. It was now sitting at the top of the slide. In fact, if he was seeing things right, it appeared to be wet already.

    "Great." he said grimly, as he noted that the otter must be about as fast as the accursed fox was. He would remain tense as he kept an eye on the place. A few hours went by pretty uneventful. Until he flicked the door light on for a moment, to see the otter leaning in, partially obscured by the door frame. At this proximity he noted how much smaller the thing was compared to the others. He also found himself thinking it was kind of adorable the way it looked at him almost timidly. But he shook it off and hit the door button. The door slammed shut, and the otterbot made a squeaky noise as though in exclamation. With the door closed, the guard came to a startling realization. How would he know when the bot is gone? The window is nowhere near large enough to display that area to him, and he can't use the trick of spotting its shadow for the same reason. If he wasn't before, he was definitely sweating now. He didn't have enough power left to just keep that door closed the remainder of the night. Then he listened closely, as he remembered what was said about the water dripping. Realizing he couldn't hear any, he tentatively opened the door. Nothing happened. He flicked the light, and couldn't see anything. He checked the other bots on the camera lightning fast, then looked back at the door. The new bot was small enough that he knew it could easily be just around the door's frame as the blind spots were that much easier to abuse with its size. He would have to approach the door and get a better look himself. Flicking the door light on, he peered outside and looked around. Again, nothing. He breathed a sigh of relief and sat back in his chair, wheeling back until it hit the desk behind him. The desk, he learned as something struck him in the back of the head, the otter had been standing on the whole time.

    He woke with a start, to the feeling of movement along the floor. Lights were still popping in his vision from the hit he took, so he still had to get his bearings. He looked down and saw that he was tied to his chair. Then he noticed that he was being pulled along via rope, by the otterbot. The bot, as he now noticed, was wearing a towel now. That must have been how he didn't hear it sneak in. The guard immediately tried to plead to be let go, but the robot was undeterred. Over and over, it kept responding that it needed a partner. The guard did not understand until he was pulled to the pool area. Amidst the guards protests, the diminutive bot brought him in his chair to the pool's incline, and then let go of the rope. The chair slowly began to descend the incline. The guard immediately panicked and struggled as best he could. Thankfully, the chair tipped over at the water line with a crash, and a small splash. Again the guard's vision blurred, as he had smacked his head off the hard floor of the shallow end of the pool's bottom. He didn't notice that the otter had untied him. He didn't notice that he had been pulled further into the water. His vision finally cleared as he realized he was now in the deep end with the small robot. A machine who had a vice like grip on his legs and weighed much more than he would have thought. As the water filled the guard's lungs, all he could make out was the otter's eyes. Pinpricks of white, burning in the darkness.