Waterbot

 Waterbot rolled down the street looking like a tall white garbage can. He had three legs underneath the great white cylinder of his body. The wheels negotiated the cracks and bumps in the walk well enough, but now and then Waterbot could feel a bit of his precious cargo spill inside him. He was old.

He stopped on each corner, calling out, offering water to passing humans. "Water here. Clear, clean, cool water.  It's free. It's delicious. Water here!" Most had their own drinks. Others jostled him aside as they hurried on their way. And it was raining.

"I'll take some water," one young man said. His friend tugged at his arm, urging him on to whereever they were headed. Waterbot stopped, opened the front doors in his chest with a soft  hydrolic hiss. He reached in, plucked up a paper cup and filled it from a faucet that seemed to come from beneath his neck. Then his arm extended outward and he offered it to the man.

"Here you go, sir. Delicious, clear, clean, cool water! Free of charge."

"I changed my mind," the young man said, and threw the water back in Waterbot's face. He crumpled the cup and threw that in Waterbot's face too. Then he strutted off into the crowd. Waterbot extended a hose from his left side and vaccuumed up the crumpled cup.

"Water," he called. "Delicious, clear, clean, refreshing water. Free of charge. Who wants water?"

"Out of the way, stupid bot!" an annoyed-sounding woman said. She shouldered him so hard in her haste, he nearly fell over. He corrected his balance though, and resumed his call. "What a waste of electricity! Nobody even drinks water anymore! Why are we paying taxes for this nonsense?"

"Delicious water," Waterbot said. "Would you like some water, miss?"

"No! Get out of my carsin' face!"

Waterbot rolled on.

And then he saw a couple of young men in an alley. He paused and turned toward them.

"Delicious clean, clear water, gentlemen. Would you like some water?"

"Sure," one of them said. "I'll take some." And then he laughed.

Waterbot rolled toward them, scanning the path for obstacles as he went. When he reached them, he opened his chest and began to repeat how delicious and clear and clean the water was as he reached for a cup. But one of the boys kicked him right off his legs. His gyrosensors tilted and he struggled to right himself, but the lateral force exceeded the gravitational pull on his counterweights, and he tipped over. He hit the pavement with a crash. His precious water began bubbling out of his storage tank, pouring out onto the dirty concrete of the alley, which washed from black to grey as it passed over.

"I request assistance, sir. I seem to have fallen," Waterbot said.

"Here's your assistance!" the boy said, and he began kicking and stomping Waterbot with his heavy red boots. His compainion laughed and joined in.

"Stupid bot! Who needs your carsin' water!"

Then they grabbed up two-by-fours and laid into his external structure with those as well.

"Please, sir," Waterbot said. "You'll harm my external structure." And then he added. "Set me upon my wheels and you can have some delicious, clear, clean, cool water. Free of ch-"

That's when a swing of the man's club smashed out his voice box. The rest of his requests and offers came out sounding like record scratches played through a tin-can telephone.

By the time they were done, Waterbot was destroyed. They walked off laughing, wearing his paper cups like devil horns.

The technician found Waterbot the next day after a brief search. He was the last of a discontinued model from a cancelled program. The tech stood over him for a brief sentimental moment, wondering why there was a lump in his throat.

"Ah, well. You did good service, Waterbot," he said by way of a eulogy. Then Waterbot was swept up into a crate and hauled off to be recycled into something more useful to society than a robotic water fountain.