When Mina approached the police station, the chief was waiting for her at the front entrance. Wrapped tightly in a brown detectives coat with a mom length brown bob, the chief eyed her with great amusement. "Well well well," she said, chuckling as Mina stepped out of her taxi. "Couple of firsts for me today! You as well."
Mina trembled over the boisterous demeanor of Rita O'Law. It couldn't mean anything good for her client. The chief was quite proud at her ability to apprehend criminals.
"What is it?" Mina asked, playfully sticking her finger between her lips. "Did you finally wax your mustache off completely?"
"That isn't a stache," said the chief pointing to her upper lip. "Being a brunette yourself, you know we just have dark hair! No, guess again, smart Allie!"
"Umm...can I buy a vowel?" Mina answered.
The towering chief leaned forward with a look of superiority. Her teeth gleamed brightly in the daylight. "This is the first time I put a robot behind bars!"
The chief lifted her hands robotically. "When I took him in, on the grounds of being a suspect in the Christian DeChamps case, he pleaded, 'Beep Boop, don't arrest me. I will be dismantled in prison by savage man machines'!"
Rita O'Law boldly struck out a pose with her hands on her hips. "And I said, tell it to a mecha-jury. For not even machines are above the law!"
Mina slapped her hand over her face. It conveniently covered the fact she was rolling her eyes.
'The chief is so thick and unhip with the kids she doesn't realize Todd Matinee isn't a robot!' she thought.
Rita continued to grin and boast like a proud cop. "I'll tell you this, Hawkins. The robot thinks he can get away with the inanimate object excuse. But I've heard it all. Perhaps now that I'm arresting robots they can change my title to Robo-cop!"
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"That's great," Mina said, feigning interest. "What was the other first?"
The chief looked a bit confused. "Well, I'm just confused that this is the first prisoner I've had with fangirls. There's a rather rotund girl here to see Mr. Robot and a strangely buff spikey haired lady with washboard abs. I swear, you could slice orange peels on those!"
"Trudy and Star!" Mina exclaimed. They had clearly gone to see that Todd Matinee was okay. Mina blew out a sigh of relief. 'Its good they're here,' Mina thought to herself. 'I'm gonna need all the Defunkt knowledge I can get!'
***
The way-too-proud-of-herself chief led Mina into the telephone room where Trudy and Star sat across from Todd Matinee, conveniently wearing his Mantron helmet. Before Rita left she whispered to Mina, "And please ask Miss Blonde Spikey Fit Girl her regiment! I could use a new one!"
After promising that there would be no promises, Mina approached her friends. Trudy was in tears. "PLEASE MINA! MANTRON IS INNOCENT! YOU NEED TO SAVE HIM!"
Star, surprisingly was too. "Don't let my childhood go to prison, Mina!" she clamored, tears pouring out of her blue eyes.
"I'll try my best, ladies!" Mina said and she picked up the telephone.
Matinee answered. Not in his French voice but rather his nerdy robot one. "Attorney sighted. Commencing phone call!"
"Uh hi, Todd," Mina asked tentatively. "Not sure if acting like a robot has helped or hurt your case yet. But you sure fooled the chief. DeFunkt is a bit past her generation. Though she might like Kraft-Twerk!"
"Affirmative," Todd chimed. "I am glad she arrested me. I believe we robots have souls and the ability to commit good and evil too. However, I am innocent. I did not murder my comrade, Ladbot."
"That's what I like to hear!" Mina said with a wink. "Please keep saying that in court. And I will support that with empirical evidence!"
Thomas removed his mask with a sigh. He began speaking with his human French accent. "Thank you, Madame. Unfortunately, there is a very strong case against moi. Sadly, someone came forward. Someone close to my partner Christian. Someone who would gladly like to see moi incarcerated in zee slammer!"
"Who?!" The trio demanded.
The door creaked open and the most outrageous woman entered. She was dressed in a pink and white corset and a lace front powdered wig. Her face was beat so hard, she rivaled the sheer whiteness of a powdered donut. An upturned nose and a mole above her upper lip signified that she was very aristocratic, snobby and...French.
"Bonjour, you silly, silly Americans," she scoffed in a deep guffaw.
Todd gasped. "And here she is..."
"Who?" Mina demanded.
"Christian's ex girlfriend, Mademoiselle Monika Krepes!"