And so I managed to binge watch the entire "Lost in Space" reboot series on Netflix over a weekend. Which was a lot of fun. I've seen maybe half an episode of the original series from the 60s and about fifteen minutes of the movie they made in the 90s, so I didn't have that many expectations going in. But I rather enjoyed it. I have no idea what they might have in mind for a second season, but my brain is already spouting theories and ideas. And that means a new story for my loyal readers.
So get ready for some wild guesses and theories combined with a plotline. Will all of this be completely disproven the moment a second season shows up? Definitely. But that doesn't mean that I can't have some fun playing with some ideas before that happens.
Xenorobotics
After the attack on the Resolute sending the entire colony group into an unknown galaxy, their time on a hostile planet on the brink of destruction, and the Jupiter-2 being flung into yet another star system, the Robinsons and their companions had already learned far more about the universe than they expected. But the lessons didn't stop there. The immediate aftermath was equally educational.
Will knew the celestial shapes outside their ship, a drawing in the dirt and a warning from the Robot ensuring that he recognized where they ended up. And once they investigated a little and discovered the glowing power core/engine/possible-computer-and-guidance-system from the alien spacecraft, brought onboard by Dr. Smith or Harris or whatever her real name might be, had integrated with their systems, they could draw a few conclusions and educated guesses. The glowing orb brought them to the system and it probably wasn't accidental. Behaving as if it was still on its original ship, it was most likely trying to return to where it came from and brought Jupiter-2 along for the ride.
On the one hand, the Robinsons didn't have to worry about running out of fuel anymore. Their mother and Don were still trying to figure out how it worked, what kind energy it was actually producing, and how it was interacting with their systems without frying something vital, but they had power and plenty of it. Not to mention the theoretical capability to cross vast distances that the Jupiter-2 was never designed for and artificial gravity. Unfortunately, they were also stuck with an alien autopilot in a star system that was clearly described as a "danger."
The next thing that they learned was that whenever they fell through anomaly to this new corner of space, they didn't come through alone. Will couldn't hide his reaction when his Robot half-scared everyone by finding his way back onboard, still online after his fight with the other machine. Apparently he was pulled through when the Jupiter-2 jumped across the galaxy.
And even if the Robot possessed a limited vocabulary and unusual thought processes, he understood the alien technology better than anyone. Once Will asked for his help, the Robot deactivated whatever the glowing core was doing and gave them back control of the Jupiter-2. But possibly due to the engine being in a completely foreign spacecraft than what it was meant for, the Robot couldn't seem to do anything to help them return to the Resolute or even Alpha Centauri. They were still lost.
Penny was the one who discovered the next important issue for the group. There were seven humans, an alien robot, and a chicken on the Jupiter-2. That was seven (or eight, counting Debbie) mouths to feed. And while they might have enough MREs for the present, it was a limited resource and they had no idea how long they might be lost. They would need to find a new source of food or they might have to resort to eating the chicken. And Don already stated that Debbie was off limits and if they were going to be reduced to eating anyone, it better be the lying con artist who was lucky not to be tossed off the Jupiter-2.
Their best idea was to raid the supply of seeds that every Jupiter module was supplied with and set up a garden onboard, using the 3-D printer to make the containers. Freshly-grown vegetables and occasionally Debbie's eggs for protein would help prevent starvation for however long it might take to get back. But in order to grow their food, they needed some form of soil that wouldn't be hostile to life that evolved on Earth and that involved landing on one of the planets in the star system and running some chemical tests. And that's when they learned exactly why the Robot told them that the entire place was dangerous.
Their first encounter with the local species revealed a lot of information about the alien race. Like the Robot's original form, they possessed four arms with three-clawed hands and a pair of legs on each side working in tandem. Sections of their exoskeleton around their heads could change colors to create various patterns that seemed to be combined with strange warbles and screeches as part of their form of communication. The fact that the "Spider-people" (as Penny described the multi-limbed and unnerving aliens) couldn't speak any human-based languages was probably the only reason that Dr. Smith didn't try to sell them out for her own benefit.
There was also the issue that the aliens seemed to absolutely hate other species, a fact that the Robinsons and company soon discovered the hard way. The aliens also appeared to defend their technological advances aggressively, reacting very strongly whenever their technology fell into someone else's hands. Even with their distinctly inhuman behavior, reactions, morality, logic, objectives, and thought processes, there was enough evidence to draw at least that conclusion. Especially once everyone realized that these aliens were the creators of the Robot and the ultimate secret of humanity's ability to achieve intergalactic travel.
The Spider-people sent the Robot after the Resolute, the ship powered by one of their energy cores scavenged from the so-called "Christmas Star." And then they sent a second one to retrieve the glowing orb from the crashed ship of the first robot, the energy core now integrated into the Jupiter-2. And with their first face-to-face encounter upon meeting the Robinson family and company, the aliens did not respond any better. Especially since the Robot's loyalty now firmly seemed to belong to Will, which made him yet another piece of technology in the hands of another species. And like in the previous circumstances, the Spider-people attempted to either retrieve their technology… or destroy it so no one else could have it.
The group barely escaped alive, the Robot taking quite a bit of damage and everyone else getting little battered in the process. But they survived that first encounter and learned plenty from it.
They were more careful after that. Whenever they landed to work on repairs, to allow their potted vegetables to get some natural light, to investigate possible leads on ways back to where they belonged, to gather resources, or just stretch their legs and get a little time outside the Jupiter module, everyone tried their best to avoid attracting attention. Not that the Spider-people seemed to occupy every single planet or moon in that stretch of space. But they couldn't avoid all contact. There were other encounters.
They were fairly educational though. The aliens were highly advanced, their technology surpassing humanities' in a variety of disciplines. From energy sources to space travel to their extensive work at terraforming the various planets and moons into something they could inhabit (a bit more oxygen than humans needed, but still survivable), the aliens were experts. But it was their robotics that truly posed a threat. And they weren't all identical creations, though they seemed to share a universal base form that mimicked their species' body shape. The machines were designed for specific purposes.
The Robinsons quickly learned that their Robot was the equivalent of a scout or a spy in design. Not exactly how humans would design one for the purpose, but close enough for comparisons. The aliens designed their Scout model to be obedient, capable of problem-solving, adaptive to unknown situations, but not a machine for war. The Robot's weapons turned out to be the aliens' equivalent of the most basic equipment. As Dr. Smith described with that "I'm clever and might be able to use this information to my own benefit later" expression on her face, they sent the first and second robot to retrieve the energy cores from the Resolute and then their own crashed spacecraft because the aliens wouldn't consider humans enough of a threat to use anything more dangerous.
Another aspect of his design that they figured out eventually was that unlike the engines of their spacecrafts or their other robots, the aliens made the Robot and the others of his model more difficult to detect and locate with normal sensor arrays. They were built for stealth and minor combat. Perhaps not as stealthy as humans might have tried to achieve, but certainly stealthier than some of the other robots.
The robots that were with the Spider-people during that first encounter were what the Robinsons later referred to as Guards. They were fast, strong, and with thicker bodies that were perfect for blocking anyone from reaching the aliens. Even sharing the same general shape as the Robot's original form, they were a little taller than Will's friend and their heads seemed more like an upside pyramid than the rounder shape. And their bolts of light and heat that they fired from their hands were more powerful than those used by the more familiar Robot. The only reason that the Robinsons managed to escape alive was because the Guards were more reluctant to leave the Spider-people undefended, keeping the robots from giving chase.
Another variation that Penny found on the third planet was robots designed for construction. They were bulkier and sturdier than Will's Robot. And they were the strongest physically that humans had encountered by that point, though it seemed to come at the cost of their speed. While they could probably be dangerous up close, the Builders were less inclined to give any notice as long as no one interfered with their work.
But Dr. Smith, who seemed to have just as much insight into the alien thoughts of the Spider-people as she did everyone else she met and tried to manipulate, said there would be at least one more kind. That if they hated other species so much, there would have to be at least a model build for combating those they hated. And if that was true, it would have to be stronger, more durable, and better armed than even their Guards.
It made logical sense. And absolutely no one wanted to risk meeting such a machine.
But the Spider-people and their robots weren't the only things that they encountered in their explorations of the star system. Strange wildlife, dangerous terrain, and other alien races were scattered across the different worlds and proved to be just as hazardous at times. They always needed to be ready to face whatever might be thrown at them. Sometimes they would have a peaceful visit on the newest planet or moon, but most of the time… they ended up surviving by the skin of their teeth.
The latest planet was a dark, overcast world with perpetual lighting sparking through the clouds, but rain rarely seemed to fall on the barren landscape. The ground was made of dark gray rocks and dirt while the only plants that they'd seen so far were tough purple vines that wrapped around the tall stone formations. The various mesas, buttes, and thin towers of stone that stretched towards the sky occasionally housed ancient ruins dug into the stone. But whoever lived here in the past were clearly no long around, probably because of the Spider-people. The Robinsons knew that the oxygen levels weren't within the species' preferred range (though still safe for humans), but that wouldn't stop them from attacking their neighbors.
It wasn't the most picturesque planet, but it didn't seem to have any large dangerous animals or aggressive natives. Nothing had tried to eat anyone yet, so it was already better than the last world. They wouldn't be happy staying there for long, but the relative safety was a nice change. It also gave them an opportunity to work on repairs and maintenance for the Jupiter-2 without fear and to explore in search of useful resources.
That was what they were working on that day. Don was going over the module's systems while Penny and Dr. Smith worked on cleaning some of the parts, the girl keeping a close eye on the woman as they worked. Penny wasn't completely happy about it, but no one trusted the woman on her own even if she did help get the two men back onboard with the harpoon. So Penny took on the task while their parents were checking on one of the closest ruins. They hoped to get some of the remaining technology working and either bring it with them or at least learn something from studying the long-lost alien civilization.
And after realizing that there was an abandoned mine weaving through one of the taller stone buttes and that there could theoretically be materials used to keep the Jupiter-2 running smoothly, Will volunteered to investigate. And by "volunteered," he mostly suggested the idea after his parents were already gone and managed to convince his sisters into the idea. After all, he would recognize the ores and such easier than the anyone else. Judy came along to supervise and to drive the Chariot there. And of course, the Robot joined them, providing protection and any muscle that might be needed.
They all had varying levels of confidence in the Robot due to both the way he'd saved several of them at different points and the various instances of him harming people. Understanding the Robot wasn't easy for any of them. Not only was he a machine rather than a human, but he was also an alien machine. But Will liked to think that he understood the Robot a little better than most.
Since Will saved him, the Robot tried to return the favor by protecting and obeying the boy. He wasn't certain how the Spider-people intended for their creations to operate. He didn't know if the reaction was normal. From what little that the Robinsons had seen without being noticed, the aliens didn't treat the robots the same way that they did each other.
But Will considered the Robot to be a friend and always tried to treat him like that. With the exception of one instant where fear and guilt won out after his dad was hurt and he didn't know what else to do, Will tried to protect the Robot from harm and harsh judgment. And even that single exception where he betrayed his friend's trust still bothered the boy, nightmares and guilt eating away at him when his thoughts dwelled on that day. But Will did his best. He talked to his quiet companion, included him in everything possible, and even taught him to play catch.
Maybe that was why that even after the Robot temporarily aligned with Dr. Smith after the boy's betrayal and then the second robot attack, the Robot still returned to Will in the end. Because Will always tried to treat him as a person.
According to Penny, his behavior reminded vaguely reminded her of Asimov's Laws of Robotics. First and foremost, the Robot's primary concern was keeping Will alive and safe. The other humans were of secondary concern, though Will did think that he was starting to like them a bit more. And as long as it didn't interfere with the Robot's attempts to protect him, he would obey anything that Will told him to do. No matter what the boy told him, the Robot trusted him and obeyed. Even self-preservation wasn't enough to override Will's orders.
Like walking off a cliff. He hated it even as he made the Robot do it. But Will was trying to do the right thing to protect everyone after what happened to his dad, ensuring that he couldn't hope that the attack on the Resolute was a fluke. It made him doubt that the Robot had truly changed enough to be safe. But Will would never do it again. He would never hurt his friend like that again.
The Robot walking right behind him protectively, Will and Judy worked their way through the mines that honeycombed the stone structure. A path wove around the outside, overgrown with the thick vines and finally reaching an entrance halfway up the towering butte. The only light came from the siblings' flashlights and the soft glowing panel that served as the Robot's face. Thankfully, the tunnels were tall and wide enough that Judy didn't seem to feel trapped. She still wasn't comfortable with enclosed spaces.
Most of the mining equipment was long gone or in pieces, but there was enough evidence for them to realize that the original inhabitants didn't carve out the mine with pickaxes and explosives. From what Will could guess, they dissolved away the gray stone to expose the metal ore. He'd love to figure out the chemical reaction responsible.
The three of them kept walking deeper into the tunnels, the heavy footsteps of the Robot echoing through the emptiness. The pair quietly chatted about what the original miners might have looked like, how they might have dissolved the stone to create the vast tunnels system, how much trouble they would be in from their parents, whether or not Judy had a crush on Don (and whether or not she was in denial about it), and what they would do that evening when they got back to the Jupiter-2. The atmosphere felt calm and relaxed as Will and Judy wandered through the darkness. It was nice to explore without worrying about the alien wildlife trying to kill them. So far, it had been the safest planet that they'd found since leaving Earth.
But the casual and easy conversation instantly vanished when the Robot stopped walking and said, "Danger. Will. Robinson."
The slow and stiff words immediately put them on alert, Will and Judy freezing in place as they tried to spot the threat in the shadows. They'd stopped at an intersection of multiple tunnels, resulting in a surprisingly large and open space with only a couple of old crates of abandoned metal ore to fill it. Their lights raked over their surroundings desperately. The Robot might only use a handful of words, but he knew how to recognize a dangerous situation. He didn't immediately try to shove Will into a corner to protect the boy though. The Robot instead turned his head back and forth, searching for something.
Placing a hand on Will's shoulder, Judy quietly said, "We should get out of here."
"Y-yeah," he said, nodding slowly and taking a step back.
As they tried to ease their way back, they strained their ears for the slightest hint of trouble. What could it be? Did one of the local aliens survive, hiding from the Spider-people in the mines? Were there large predators on the planet after all? Or maybe the Robot could detect seismic activity early enough that the humans wouldn't feel anything yet? There were dozens of possibilities and no way to know for certain until disaster struck.
Cautious and keeping an eye on the swirling pattern on the Robot's face in case he could pick up a clue from it, Will and Judy continued to slowly back up. Each step was nerve-wracking. Neither of them could see or hear any hint of a threat. Everything looked just the same as a moment ago. The only way to know about the unidentified danger was the Robot's warning and how even his limited body language declared that he was on alert. Well, more alert than normal.
As they managed to creep back enough that Will and Judy were behind the Robot, they boy said, "Come on. We're leaving. If there's something dangerous here, then we'll just go back to the Jupiter module."
The Robot didn't respond to his request, which told them more than a few inflectionless words ever could. Judy took her brother's hand, pulling him close. Will could feel his heart pounding in his chest and filling his ears with rapid thumping. There was something in the darkness, lurking in the caverns and keeping out of the path of their flashlights. And between the high ceiling and the wide tunnels branching off, there were plenty of places to hide.
A huge black shape lunged out of the darkness almost too fast to see, metal screeching as the Robot intercepted and was knocked to the ground by the impact. Will yelped in fear and pain as Judy yanked his arm, pulling him desperately away from the threat. His sister didn't stop until she dragged him behind an old container filled with metal ore, the only source of cover in sight.
Struggling not to slip into a panic attack, Will peered over the top of the container. His dropped flashlight illuminating the scene, he could spot their attacker now as the Robot climbed to his feet. Dull black plates with spikes, four arms with dagger-like claws, and a now-glowing red panel, a new form of the Spider-people's machines loomed in the darkness.
When the Robot fought against the other Scout on the Jupiter-2, it seemed like a relatively fair fight. Especially since it seemed surprised by the Robot aligning with the Robinsons. Combing his limbs into two arms and two legs left them thicker, a useful trait as he struggled with his opponent. And they were similar in mass, giving neither an advantage in weight. The difference in the number of arms in the fight didn't end up as the deciding factor. It ended as mostly a draw as they both tumbled out of the module.
The first encounter with the Spider-people and their Guard robots was less even. For the first several moments, the swirling patterns and limited sounds hinted at a rather heated argument from the aliens. Even with inhuman body language, Will could recognize that they were trying to order the Robot. And when he refused to obey them, the three Guards tried to kill the entire group. It was chaotic, violent, and brutal. The Robot didn't quite hold his own, even when he managed to simplify the fight to a single machine at one point while Will's father managed to distract another and Don and Judy caught the attention of the third. But the Robot managed to keep alive as everyone fled the scene. Though he wasn't in the best condition afterwards.
But this was nowhere close to an even match. The new robot was built for war, even when the general body shape remained relatively constant across the different models. It was tall, almost enough to make their Robot look like a child in comparison. Its shoulders were broad and all four arms were thick, giving the impression of a professional fighter or a football player. The dark plates that helped camouflaged it in the darkness twisted up into thick spikes that ran down the back, near the joints of the arms, and across the top of the head. The head itself was elongated with a triangular screen, the red glow swirling with agitation as it argued with the Robot in their strange and inhuman language.
Will felt Judy tighten her grip protectively on his hand. He was shaking. Not only were he and his sister in trouble, but it was terrifying to watch the Robot standing at his full height and the other machine still looming over him. Both of them faced each other while the glowing panels shifted patterns rapidly. Will could feel the tension in the air.
And then the tension shattered. The Warrior model dove for the Robot, its upper arms aiming for his head with glowing hands. Yellow bolts of heat and energy barely missed their target, the Robot grabbing the deadly limbs and pushing them away just enough as he was knocked back down again. Its other arms pinned him to the ground, a predatory sound joining the bright red screen. His arms shook as he pushed against the larger figure, like an undersized child struggling against an older bully.
"Get up," Will begged quietly. "Please. Get up."
His screen flickering hints of red within the blue, the Robot's hands started glowing yellow with the heat as he activated his own weapons. But unlike when he fought against his fellow Scout, it didn't immediately start melting through the metal in his grip. Its thicker plates resisted the extreme temperatures. It pushed down, turning the clawed hands in the Robot's grip until they were on either side of his head and the other set kept the Robot from pulling himself out from under the Warrior. Will saw its hands starting to glow, preparing to melt the Robot's head.
"No," the boy shouted, the word torn from his throat in desperate horror.
In a movement that Will could barely see in the darkness, the Robot managed to get his footing back under him enough to shove back and unbalance the other machine. The Warrior stumbled back enough for him to escape, allowing the Robot to press the attack.
Jolting bolts of light and heat flared in the shadows and metal scraped and screeched against each other. Fast and violent movements were partially concealed by the darkness as the metal figures clawed, struck, fired at, and threw each other into various surfaces. Will felt the ground shake slightly as they slammed one another onto the ground viciously. The boy couldn't tell which one was which most of the time, the thin flashlight beam not enough, the darkness too thick and the opponents moving too fast. Only the brief glimpses of blue let him know that his friend was still alive.
Pulling his arm, Judy shouted over the sounds of battle, "We have to get out of here."
"We can't leave him."
"He wants to protect you. As long as we're here, he can't escape himself without putting you in danger." Judy flinched at a particularly loud crash, accompanied by a sharp crack of stone. "And you know he can't beat that thing. We have to go now."
She was right. Even as his heart rebelled against the idea of abandoning him, Will knew she was right. As long as he was close to the danger, the Robot wouldn't stop. He wouldn't try to save himself and escape.
This time when she pulled his arm, Will reluctantly followed. A little unsteady due to the floor shaking with the rough impacts, the siblings stumbled as quickly as possible towards the tunnel they'd come down before.
"Danger."
Something slammed into them, knocking the pair rough to the ground. Will managed to roll with the impact enough to look behind them. Exactly where the siblings were a moment and arms outstretched from pushing them, the Robot was pinned to the cracked floor with the Warrior perched on his back, its claws digging into his shoulders and sides. And no matter how alien or robotic, Will knew a cry of pain when he heard it.
With a swift and rough motion, the Warrior model yanked the Robot around onto his back and pinned his arms against his side to retrain him. The larger machine seemed to glare down into his featureless face. Will crawled backwards a little, trying to put some distance between him and aggressive figure, but he couldn't bring himself to keep going. Not when his friend looked so helpless, the Robot straining against the larger machine's grip.
Sudden and vicious, the Warrior yanked the Robot up slightly and slammed him back down. Hard. Then he did it again. And again. And again. Fast, brutal, and ruthless, the Warrior model kept going even as the stone under them cracked further and further. Each impact shook the ground enough to rattle Will's teeth. If the boy wasn't already paralyzed by the thought of leaving, the vibrations would be enough to keep him from climbing to his feet. And when it lifted the Robot, Will could see dents from the repeated impacts.
Will needed to say something, do something. But his body refused to respond, his heart trying to pound out of his chest. He heard Judy calling his name, but he couldn't look away from the brutal scene. He barely even noticed his face was streaked with wetness.
The Warrior abruptly stopped and released its grip with its upper arms, the lower limbs keeping the Robot pinned. The clawed hands now free, the yellow glow of the charging weapons returned. And just a merciless as before, it opened fire at his chest at point-blank range. Will flinched back, shielding his eyes briefly against the sudden light. But he couldn't block out the violent and painful sounds. Nor the smell of hot metal.
The Robot managed to wrench one arm free for a moment, trying to force the Warrior away. But his shaking limb could barely move the large machine's burning hand and the Warrior quickly pinned him back down again. Even with his durable metal plates, the damage to the Robot's chest was extreme. Will's own chest ached as his breathing hitched. The boy could see the Robot's struggles weakening.
Then he jerked up, smashing his head against the Warrior's. It yanked its head back and the glowing heat died down, the larger machine too startled by the strategy that Will suspected the Robot learned by watching Don.
Judy grabbed his shoulder and tried to pull her brother across the cracked ground. But he couldn't. He couldn't move. He couldn't leave. Will couldn't help, but he couldn't abandon his friend.
The brief lull only lasted a moment before the Warrior model recovered, its bright red screen somehow looking more agitated. Then, using the two arms not occupied with keeping the Robot restrained, it stabbed down. With a screech of metal and an inhuman sound of agony, the Warrior plunged its dagger-like claws into his chest.
"No!" screamed Will, tears rolling freely down his face.
He shoved himself to his feet, not even thinking about what he was doing. But something shifted under them, further cracking. Will stumbled and fell to his knees as the Warrior dug even deeper, the sounds inescapable. Not even another sharp crack from the damaged floor could block them out.
A pale blue glow joined the other weak lights in the darkness. The Warrior pulled back its clawed hand slowly, the sounds of something breaking and snapping joined the rest of the noise. And then Will saw what it pulled out of the Robot's chest.
In its tight grip, the Warrior held a glowing blue orb about the size of a baseball. It looked like a miniature version of the alien technology now integrated into the Jupiter-2, providing power to it. And if it served a similar role in the Robot as it did on the spacecraft, then—
Another loud crack rang out and didn't stop. It kept growing louder and the ground was shaking. The Warrior model looked up sharply from its opponent's dimming panel. Then it practically threw itself off the still figure, reaching safety just as the broken stone crumbled beneath them.
A scream tore itself form Will's throat as the ground vanished beneath his feet, Judy echoing him as they plunged deeper into darkness. Strong arms wrapped around him, trying to shield the boy as they fell.
And as sudden as it started, it ended with a crash.
Yeah, I know. That was a rather evil cliffhanger. But it happens. Especially when I'm writing. But this gave me a chance to explore the possibilities of the Robot trying to face something outside his normal weight class and work out some theories. There's a whole universe of stuff waiting to be developed in this series and I don't want to wait for the second season.