Disclaimer: Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot
belong to Dark Horse comics and Sony (I think.) Either way, they
aren't mine. I'm not doing this for profit, (Hah! As if.) so don't
bother suing me, I have no money anyway.
A/N: // // signifies thoughts
This is only the second piece of fan fiction I've ever
written. Feel free to leave reviews... And wish me luck. I think
I'll need it...
Big Guy and Rusty the Boy
Robot: Tin Men
Chapter
1: Starting Point
"Awe,
man..." Lt. Dwayne Hunter stared morosely at his reflection.
Tugging idly at several strands of silvery hair amid the brown, he
sighed in resignation, "How did this happen...?"
Mack
snorted derisively from his position in the doorway, "Comes with
the territory." He pointedly ran his fingers through thinning
gray hair, "When you're saving the world every other day, you
rack up the stress."
"Just
be glad you're not going bald," Jo snickered. "Besides,
it's a good shade of gray."
Dwayne
looked up into the mirror. "Excuse me?" He asked her
reflection.
"It's
not the flat gray. It's that nice silvery one. You know, the one
that makes you look... distinguished," she declared with a
flourish of her hand.
"Him?
Distinguished?" Mack indicated the younger man with a jerk of
his thumb, "You're kidding, right?"
Dwayne
cast his two crew mates a withering glance before turning back to the
mirror for one last look. //Nope. Still there.// "I'm too
young for this..." he muttered.
"If
you're done admiring yourself, General Thorton wanted you shore side
when they question Poindexter," Garth leaned past Mack as he
passed the room, "You'd better get going."
"Yeah,
yeah... I'm coming," Dwayne grumbled, grabbing his flight jacket
and following Garth out into the hall.
"I
can't believe there's still another Legion robot roaming around..."
Jo shook her head as a gesture of incredulity, "After all the
trouble they've caused and all the time we spent stomping them..."
"We?"
Dwayne raised an eyebrow with a crooked smile.
"Hey,
you'd be nothing without us," Garth lightly jabbed his friend
with an elbow.
Holding
his hands up in a mock gesture of surrender, Dwayne chuckled, "Okay,
okay. Give credit where credit is due. Where would I be without you
guys?"
"Probably
in pieces... scattered all over the planet," Mack called over
his shoulder, "Then again, I sure wouldn't want YOUR job."
"Sir,"
a young man saluted the group as they walked on to the deck, "Plane's
fueled and ready to go."
"Nice,"
Dwayne nodded in thanks as he climbed into the cockpit.
"Hey,
don't forget to fill us in later!" Jo called.
"Like
I could ever keep you guys in the dark," Dwayne adjusted his
flight helmet.
"Right,
we wouldn't want to miss any details..." the young woman grinned
mischievously, "You'll have to tell us all about how nice Dr.
Slate looks today."
"What?!"
scowling, Dwayne decided it would be safest to ignore the comment as
he closed the cockpit's hatch, "Geez... They're never gonna let
that rest, are they...?" Jo's jest had undoubtedly been sparked
by the casual remark about Dr. Slate's appearance several days ago.
For some reason, the rest of the Pit Crew had latched on to the
statement as if it had been a proclamation of undying love.
//Go
figure...//
***
*** ***
***
"So...
You're saying that number Seven is just like other six?"
General Thorton anxiously leaned forward in his chair next to the
hospital bed. He was clearly troubled by the prospect of another
Legion robot running amok.
"Up
to a point... There were many significant differences, though,"
Dr. Roland Poindexter said cautiously, "He was never really
finished... but what was done was... experimental."
"What
do you mean?" Dr. Slate took a small step forward.
"I
intended number Seven to be... different, to be more advanced,"
Poindexter gestured weakly, "It was going to be a... test. I
wanted to see just how far the technology could go..." The
trauma of the past months he had spent in captivity showed on his
features.
"That
doesn't sound promising," Dwayne commented dryly, his arms
crossed over his chest.
"But
you said it was never finished..." Erica cut in.
"No...
The body wasn't... but the programming was. The other six all
suffered from the same problem... their AI's overpowered the emotion
grid. You've all seen the results... I was sure I could find a
solution - a way to make the two elements cooperate rather than
conflict."
"How
successful were you?" Dr. Slate asked.
Poindexter's
face betrayed his enthusiasm for his work, "I was making
excellent progress. Number Seven was exhibiting all of the most
basic emotions... happiness, anger, sadness... He was even beginning
to tie some of the more complex emotions into it's intellect. Seven
showed a certain amount of... pride in its advanced intelligence..."
Dr.
Slate frowned. While she understood how a robotic creation could
take on a special meaning for it's creator, it bothered her that Dr.
Poindexter constantly referred to the Seven Legion robot as "he."
She feared what the man's strong identification with the dangerous
machine might mean in the future.
"If
this thing doesn't have a body, though, it's not a threat... right?"
Thorton watched the wounded doctor carefully.
"That's
the trouble..." Poindexter began, "When the Legion raided
my lab, they took what I had completed of Number Seven... among other
things."
"Damn..."
Thorton pinched the bridge of his nose in a gesture of consternation,
"What're the chances they didn't decide to "help"
their pal along?"
"Oh,
probably not very good, General," Dwayne uncrossed his arms and
moved closer to the bed, "So what're we going to be up against,
Doc?"
"I
can't be sure. If the Legion... assisted him, they could have made
any number of modifications. But Number Seven is far more
sophisticated than they were. I can't imagine he would have
submitted to meddling by inferior machines..." Poindexter
murmured.
"Sounds
like it's got quite an attitude," Dwayne said.
"As
I said, Number Seven was rather... proud of himself."
"The
Legion would only have needed to supply Number Seven with the
necessary equipment..." Dr. Slate warned.
"If
the Legion took Number Seven, where is it?" Dwayne gestured to
indicated his frustration, "We took the base apart and didn't
find any sign of a seventh Legion robot. Dr. Slate and the others
went through every last file in the system and came up with zilch."
"It's
possible that Number Seven may have returned home..." Poindexter
said thoughtfully.
"You
mean, back to your trailer?" Dr. Slate offered.
"Precisely.
There were unfinished components for him still there..."
"Uh...
It was destroyed..." Thorton averted his gaze, "The Legion
didn't seem to want anyone poking around there."
"Oh
dear..." Poindexter breathed, "That's terrible... All my
equipment..."
"It
also leaves us with no clues," Dwayne muttered.
"Please...
I have another concern," reaching up, Poindexter gently touched
the Lieutenant's arm, "There was a young man named Matthew... He
is my... assistant. I'm not sure what happened to him... It's
entirely possible the Legion could have taken him..."
"Hey,
don't sweat it, Doc," with a reassuring smile, Dwayne patted the
older man's hand, "We'll find the kid. We didn't see him in the
Legion's headquarters, so I'm sure he's just decided to hide out and
lay low for a while."
The
doctor grimaced, "I hope you're right... I wouldn't be able to
forgive myself if something happened to him..."
"I'm
afraid the Legion takes priority over your missing person, Dr.
Poindexter," General Thorton stood, "Right now we need to
find out if that robot really is still roaming around... I'll have a
squad search the area near the Doctor's home. Other than that, we
may just have to wait until this robot makes a move..."
As if
on cue, the Big Guy Signal wailed. "Maybe we won't have to wait
after all," Dwayne raised an eyebrow as he turned and ran out of
the room.
"Be
careful!" Dr. Slate called after him.
"Aren't
I always?" Dwayne winked at her over his shoulder.
With a
resigned sigh, she sat down in one of the vacant chairs, "I only
wish..."
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