Changing Channels

The Headline's face flickered to life.

His song was playing, he was playing it. 
 On stage, surrounded by an audience, surrounded by his friends, his bandmates.

Then the hum began, as it always did,  in it's universal tone. Filling the CRT with images and the speakers with noise.

Patrons of the Mall remain oblivious to this frequency but eventually they will succumb.


The Headline was still playing his song.


*BANG*
              *BANG*

The Headline had been shot, He could feel it as he collapsed to the ground. The crowd began to disappear as curtains closed around the band, sheltering the injured robot in darkness.

*Clang!*
              *Clang!*
Rang the Clock-Tower,

The Headline's face flickered to life.
The performance was over,  maybe it had been for a while. The Headline could not tell..
Alarmed, and confused, he remained completely still.
The electronic puppet had no way of crying, it was not in his design. 


Sensors indicated his bandmate Maximum Overdrive was looking at him, noticing the unseen distress, checking for errors in The Headline's processes.

>MxO  : Abnormal behavior detected, requesting status report.
>THL  : SYSTEM: O.K.  PROCESSES: O.K
>MxO  : Confirmation..
>
>MxO  : Confirmation..
>THL  : WHO AM I?
>MxO  : You are The Headline.
>THL  : I AM THE HEADLINE.
>
>MxO  : Confirmation..
>THL  : I AM THE HEADLINE.

Completing his duty, Maximum Overdrive powered off for the night.

The Headline powered down as the lights shut off at the quiet, empty mall.