Left out in the Cold – Chapter One
It seemed like whenever anything serious was going on in the galaxy, their team was the one chosen to deal with it. Oh, a space mummy is attacking Capital Planet? Send Team Lightyear! Mutated vegetables wreaking havoc in suburban homes? Team Lightyear will get to the source of it! Robot injustices of any sort? Team Lightyear is the perfect team for the job.
This particular mission happened to be more robot injustices. Specifically, robots had been going missing and turning up days later with major components of their AI missing. It was Team Lightyear's task to figure out who was targeting those robots and stop them before they harmed anyone else. Buzz was determined to stop whatever villain was behind it, Booster was excited to help save the day, and Mira was glad that they'd be able to help with something big like this. XR, on the other hand, was worried.
Being the only robot on their team, and even the only official "robot ranger" in Star Command, XR found it easy to understand what the victims might have gone through. Worse, XR found it easy to imagine the same thing happening to him. Now, he wouldn't call himself "paranoid" but it was clear that robots were the target and he was a pretty big target when it came to machines.
"Oh, why do they always send ME when the victims are robots?" XR asked, just loud enough for the rest of his team to hear his complaints. "Why can't they send Team Crockett or even Team Vok?"
Buzz glanced over his shoulder back at the small robot. "Now, XR, you know we're assigned to these missions since you have the best understanding how other robots work."
"Besides..." Mira laughed, clearly finding her current thought to be funny. "It's not like it's another energy vampire or something."
"Oh, ha ha." XR's sarcasm made it evident how unfunny he thought the statement was. "Does everyone seem to forget that I'M a robot? What if whoever's doing this goes after ME? Let me tell you- They take my AI chip and I'm caput. That's the ONE thing about me that the LGMs can't replace."
"Really?" Booster looked over at his best friend, a little concerned. "Why not?"
XR crossed his arms, kicking at imaginary dirt on the floor. Actually, there might be actual dirt there; the star cruiser hadn't been cleaned recently. "They don't even know how it's programmed," he told Booster. "So, they have no idea what gives me my lovable personality."
One could just sense Buzz and Mira rolling their eyes at the thought. "Don't worry, XR," Buzz did his best to assure. "No one is going to go after you. After all, going after a space ranger is a criminal offense."
XR blinked, trying to register the meaning behind Buzz's words. "What, like these other robot attacks aren't...?" He watched as Buzz and Mira glanced nervously at each other and even noticed Booster look down at his panel to avoid eye contact. "Wait- What?!" The robot threw his arms up, completely shocked. "Are you saying these attacks were LEGAL?"
"Of course they're not legal, XR," Buzz quickly answered. "Whoever's responsible will have to face theft and vandalism charges."
Frowning, XR lowered his eyebrows in uncertainty. "Not kidnapping and assault...?"
Mira spoke up then, choosing her words carefully. "XR, these robots were all owned by organics... The owners weren't the ones attacked, so they can only file charges for theft and property damage."
"What?!" This conversation was just one shocking fact after another. "People still OWN robots in this day and age?"
"But, aren't you owned by Star Command?" Booster asked, genuinely confused.
"I don't think I am," XR answered, hands going on his hips. "I'm on the payroll!"
Buzz let out a sigh that sounded condescending. "I think you might be getting too emotional about this. It's not like the robots were found seriously damaged..."
"They had AI components missing!"
"They're robots." The answer was said as if it excused everything. "Their owners can have those parts replaced."
XR pouted and crossed his arms, knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere in this argument and that it was better to just shut up now. He was lucky to work for Star Command where they'd fix him up no matter what (or so he hoped), but he knew that some robots wouldn't have that luxury, even with owners. And the fact that they were owned in the first place? Of course they would be on a planet like Tradeworld. He'd expect such a travesty from that planet.
They landed soon after and split up into two groups to investigate the area and search for evidence. XR made sure to stick with Booster, knowing his best friend would be more tolerable to be with at the moment.
"I'm telling you, big guy," he sighed, "this just isn't fair. It's like robots don't even get fair treatment. Y'know, sometimes I can see why Flint went crazy and trapped all of those organics."
Booster gasped a bit and looked over at him. "You're not going to do THAT, are you, XR...?"
The robot shook his head quickly. "No, no, of course not! I like organics too much for that! But, y'know... Sometimes I feel like you guys don't even care every time I get beat up or destroyed."
"But, you can be put back together by the LGMs," Booster argued. "I mean, it is bad that you get blown up all the time, or get torn apart by wild animals, or lose parts, or..." The Jo-Adian trailed off for a moment when he saw his friend's grimace. "Or, all of that! But, you can be repaired each time! Organics can't do that..."
"Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt to get blown up," XR answered with another sigh. "Doesn't mean it's not terrifying getting attacked by robot eating vampires and put under their mind control and then have my own friends act like it's no big deal!"
Booster frowned, though this time he was clearly worried. "Gee, XR... I didn't know you felt that way..."
XR frowned as well. Personally, with how Booster was all the time, he hated to see the big guy with a frown. "Well, I dunno..." He needed to change the subject... "I guess I never thought to bring it up before... J-Just forget about it, okay...?"
"Well..." Booster seemed unsure at first, but then shrugged. "If you say so..."
At that moment, their communicators beeped and Buzz's voice came over the line. "Booster, XR, I need you two to meet up with me and Mira... We, ah... Found another one."
The two glanced at each other and then simultaneously activated their jetpacks, going off to find their teammates. They found Buzz and Mira in the middle of an alleyway. Mira held up the new robotic victim and read off its serial number while Buzz copy down the number into a datapad.
"What's going on?" Booster asked as he landed.
"If this robot is like the others, then it will have an owner," Buzz explained. "I'm searching through the register owner's database to find them." After a moment, there was a ping and Buzz read the name and address. "Ah, good. The owner lives nearby. Booster, Mira, you two take the robot back to the ship for evidence. XR and I will go tell its owner what happened.
Mira and Booster saluted and then grabbed onto either end of the robot, carrying it out of the alley. XR watched, twiddling his thumbs, just staring at the robot. A hand landed on his shoulder and he jumped.
He looked up to find Buzz staring down at him. The human jutted a thumb over his shoulder, signaling for them to get going, and XR saluted, activated his jetpack again. Buzz did the same with his jetpack and soon the two were off.
They got to the apartment complex where the robot's owner was supposed to live and went up to the proper floor. As they neared the flat, they could hear a conversation that gradually got louder and angrier the nearer they got. Finally they came across the source of the argument, a man and a woman, and it was clear they had to step in before it got worse.
"Woah, woah, calm down," Buzz interrupted, gently pushing the man and the woman away from each other. "There's no need for fighting..."
The man huffed up and pulled away from Buzz and the woman. He turned and stormed off, glaring at XR with a sneer as he left. The robot couldn't help but wonder what that was about, but he figured it wasn't important at the moment.
Buzz shrugged and then looked at the woman again. "Ma'am, are you the owner of a robot with a serial number 1004RN-R0M?"
"Yes," she answered, nodding. "I suppose you're here because you have some news about him?"
"Yes," Buzz replied solemnly. "Perhaps we should go inside for this conversation."
The woman nodded and stepped aside to let Buzz and XR in. Soon, the three of them were seated around a table and Buzz explained where they found the robot and what condition it was in.
"Can you tell us when you last saw your robot and what it was doing?" Buzz asked.
She nodded. "Yes, I can. Ser-G, a Service Gofer, was doing errands for me. It might not be helpful, but I last saw him leaving this apartment complex to go off and get supplies. He was on his way to Capital Planet."
Buzz frowned as he listened to the woman. "I see. We'll have to figure out when exactly he was attacked..."
XR frowned as well, but for different reasons than his teammate. "May I say, you don't seem very torn up about this...?" He got a scolding look from Buzz and chose to ignore it.
The woman sighed. "Well, no... Truth be told, I was expecting something like this to happen. I've been getting threats lately. Random phone calls telling me to get rid of Ser-G or they'd do it for me. I had to disable my phone service to stop the calls. I can't leave the planet, so Ser-G goes out for me to get supplies. He leaves for a few days at a time and was supposed to be back this morning. He didn't show up, so I was about to go downstairs and borrow a phone to contact Star Command. But, my neighbor and I got into an argument before I got very far."
"Hmm..." Buzz raised his brow in question. "And what were you and your neighbor arguing about?"
"Oh, this and that. He's part of the Coalition for Organic Life Dignity. He thinks I should learn to 'fend for myself' instead of depending on a machine. He thinks I'm crazy for being worried about Ser-G in the first place when he's 'just a robot.'"
"Well, that's not very nice." XR crossed his arms, suddenly understanding the glare he got. "What did robots ever do to him?"
The woman shrugged, shaking her head. "Who knows...?"
Buzz nodded. "Alright, ma'am, thank you for your time. We'll let you know if we find out anything new. Come on, XR, let's get back to the ship." He got up and headed for the door. XR got up as well, but paused to look up at the woman.
He waggled his eyebrows and grinned at her. "Hey, if you like robots and you're free this Saturday..."
"XR!" Buzz called out before the robot could eve finish his sentence.
"Alright, sheesh, I'm coming!" XR hurried to catch up with Buzz.