MAX HEADROOM: R&D and World War 3
Edison walked into Control at Network 23 with his camera gripped in one hand.
"Morning, Edison," Theora said from her desk. "Murray's just stepped out for a moment. But he left me a message. Cheviot wants us to cover Zik Zak's new mall opening."
Edison shook his head with an annoyed huff. "I'm not a commercial shill. I am a legitimate reporter. My job is…"
"Your job is to keep this network running. The same as everyone else here," Murray said.
"My job is to keep people informed about important things that are happening. Let Janie Crane do it."
"I'm covering the scumball game, Edison," Janie called out.
"There has to be something more important than a shopping mall," Edison said. "This just seems like a red herring to me. What are they trying to distract us from?"
"I'm sure it's just a slow week," Murray said, placatingly. "They happen."
"Well, I'm going to ask Bryce if he can find something," Edison said, leaning over Theora's chair. "Punch in his number and we'll see what he says."
Theora tapped in the number for Bryce's vu-phone. The image of Bryce's lab came up on the screen. But Bryce was not there.
"Maybe he overslept? Try his bedside phone."
Theora tapped it in. The bed was also empty. It had been stripped. The walls were free of Bryce's usual posters. One drawer stood open. It was empty. Theora suspected the others were as well.
"He's gone," she said, sounding worried. "You don't think Cheviot fired him?"
"I hope not," Edison said, also concerned. "Maybe he's just updating his studio and he went to get rid of the old stuff he doesn't want anymore."
"But his clothes?" Theora looked up at him. "It doesn't make sense. Something's going on."
Four hundred miles from Network 23, Bryce sat in the back of a modified Bedford QL. He was dressed in a pair of camo pants and a black t-shirt. There was a chain around his neck with a pair of dog tags bearing his name and simple medical info for any medics who might need to treat him in the future.
He was not alone. Jenny was there from Network 66. Her hair was done up in a severe braid. She was identically dressed as were the others in their group.
Jeremy, whose lab was in World One was conversing quietly with Alan who up until that point had worked with BreakThru TV.
"We're not cut out for military stuff," Jeremy was saying. "We're super-adept at mental strategy. But when it comes to physical violence, we're light years out of our league. They never should've drafted us."
"We'll be okay," Alan told him. "We're probably just being conscripted to handle inventing stuff for Good Ol' Tom."
"If we are, it means our base of operations will always be in danger of invasion," Jenny pointed out.
"She's right," Bryce agreed. "We need to learn to defend ourselves. Not just mentally, but in physical combat as well. And we should learn armed combat as well. I don't think any of us knows how to handle a weapon at this point."
"My uncle showed me a rifle he once owned," Jenny offered.
"Military?" Alan asked hopefully.
Jenny shook her head. "Just a standard hunting rifle. He used to hunt deer before the last global conflict."
"Won't be of any help," Jeremy told them. "The weapons the armed forces use are much more powerful. They don't have as nearly as much recoil as the old movies suggest, but that doesn't mean they don't have any. You won't fly back across the room if you fire a lot of them. But you will still break your wrist or in extreme cases dislocate your shoulder if you fire them incorrectly."
"Sounds like we need to build up our upper body strength as well as learning proper handling," Bryce guessed.
"Or maybe we need to use something with less recoil," Jenny suggested.
"Are you thinking of laser guns?" Bryce asked. "This isn't a science fiction movie. The best lasers they have right now only remain coherent for a range of ten feet. If we face an aerial assault, we're going to need a lot longer range than that."
"There is nothing with a longer range," Jenny pointed out. "And I don't think they're going to give us the stuff we need to make it. We've got no choice. We'll have to learn bullet-grade weapons combat if we're going to survive this."
"Unless…" Bryce said. He paused and looked at Jenny. "You didn't happen to bring that mobo-com you were fiddling with?"
Jenny handed Bryce a small rectangular device. "Just finished it last night. I don't know if it will connect with standard vu-phone service though."
"Careful," Alan warned. "If they suspect you're contacting anyone…"
Bryce punched in Theora's control desk vu-phone.
Theora frowned as her vu-phone signalled a call. "Hello?" she asked, hoping Murray wouldn't come over and scold her. "I'm sorry, but control is not permitted…"
"Theora," the voice was garbled and there was no picture. "It's Bryce."
"Bryce! My god, where are you?"
"I can't tell you that," Bryce apologized. "But I can tell you that I'm okay for now, and I'm not going to be back for a while. So tell Cheviot to find someone to fill in for me."
"Bryce…"
"Theora, I need you to look something up for me. Find out what happened to the old Turing-Thompson lab."
"You mean the old weapons lab?" Theora asked, horrified that Bryce would be asking about guns, which is what he seemed to be interested in.
"Yes, that's the one." Bryce said. "They were working on something called the RS40-G just before the war ended. I need to know if the lab is still around and if any of the stuff they were working on still exists in a usable state."
"That's dangerous stuff you're talking about, Bryce," Theora said, firmly. "Why do you need to know?"
"I can't tell you," Bryce replied. "You just have to trust me. It's important. I have to go."
"Bryce…" Theora said as Edison approached her. But the signal was gone. "Bryce… Bryce?"
"Where is he?" Edison asked.
"I couldn't trace him," Theora apologized. She looked up at Edison. "I think he's in trouble. He was asking about the RS40-G."
"The prototype long-range laser-bazooka?" Edison asked. "Why would Bryce want a weapon?"
"I don't know," Theora replied. "He claimed he couldn't tell me. Edison, we have to find out what's going on. If he's in danger we have to help him."
"We will," Edison said. He was worried to death about his friend, but he was also happy to have something more important than a shopping mall to worry about. "Do you have the address for that place Bryce was asking about?"
Theora looked it up. "It said it was torn down years ago." she said, looking disappointed.
Edison looked the same for a moment, then a thought hit him. "You don't think they had a secret underground storage room? Something the bulldozers might have missed?"
"The only way to find out is to go there and find an entrance of some kind. Unless you can find someone who used to work there."
"No," Theora said. "I don't think it would be a good idea to get too many people involved. I get the feeling that Bryce's contact with me was against the rules. We can't risk them finding out he called. We'll have to find the entrance ourselves. If there is one."
