The Big O and all of its settings and characters are owned by Bandai Visual, Sunrise, and Cartoon Network.
THE BIG O:
ACT 36
WHAT WE REALLY WANTED
Chapter Two: Reinstatement Orders
"Get emergency teams over to the black megadeus!" Colonel Dastun ordered as the gold megadeus retreated. "Keep the reporters back! Shepard! Take your men and form a perimeter! Get this area cordoned off immediately!"
Dastun sighed and looked back at the fallen giant. The black megadeus was on its back. Both of his arms severed off at the forearms. And a hole was drilled through the crimson collar at the top of the chest that protected the cockpit. Fortunately only the tip of the drill had actually penetrated, but the shrapnel from Big O's crimson collar would be lethal!
Dastun was distracted by the sound of some commotion behind him. "Huh?" He looked over his shoulder and was surprised when a slender figure riding a bicycle jumped off one of the massive mobile howitzer vehicles and over his head. His surprised men cried out and leveled their rifles at a slender girlish figure in a reddish black dress pedaling away towards the fallen megadeus at over forty miles an hour. Dastun bellowed into his walkie-talkie. "Stand down! Stand down! Repeat: Do not fire! All units hold your fire!"
Dastun looked through his binoculars to see the red-haired teenage girl reach the Big O and climb up severed forearm and shoulder of the fallen megadeus. Soon she was dashing across the crimson collar and entered the hole in Big O's chest to entire the control room. "That has got to be R Dorothy Wayneright," the grizzled officer muttered.
Dorothy slid down the depression made by the gold megadeus' drill, slipped through the narrow hole and landed on the sturdy metal ring that encircled Roger's chair. The entire chamber had tilted ninety degrees and Roger was lying unconscious in his seat. His face was bleeding from numerous tiny cuts and he moaned and fidgeted as he lay on his back, looking sightlessly forward at the sky.
Dorothy's mouth moved at hyperspeed as electronic gibberish escaped her lips. The barrette in her hair extended out to reveal a DVD drive as eight metal tentacles ending in sharp needles emerged from the base of Roger's chair.
Dorothy climbed off the podium and onto the chair with Roger, spreading her legs and straddling the unconscious negotiator. She put her arms around him as four of the metal tentacles snaked their way into the gap behind her barrette and the rest of the metal cords pierced Roger's back.
"Contact has been made," she said in a soft emotionless voice.
Roger was in a library filled with burning books. A flaming book fell off the shelves titled The History of the World.
"Roger!" Dorothy's voice called.
A group of bald children stared into the flames.
"Roger!" the girl called again.
A squad of Big O's marched through a burning city as megadeuses of other models fired lasers out of their eyes.
"Roger! Snap out of it!"
In the real world, Dorothy grunted in frustration before tilting her head to one side and pressing her lips against his gibbering mouth.
"Roger," Dorothy's husky voice whispered in his ears as he embraced the little android and pulled his new bride close to him.
"Ah!" Roger cried. Dorothy was dangling over the edge of Big O's open cockpit, clinging to Roger's hand for dear life. As she reached up with her free hand, her dainty fingers slipped out of his. Roger couldn't even hear himself screaming as he saw the terrified girl falling down to the malevolent ooze below, her white dress fluttering like a billowing ghost. "DOR…THEE!" he shrieked.
His eyes snapped open and he saw her face pressed close to his.
"I'm right here Roger Smith," she said as the metal tentacles retracted out from the gap in her head. "There's no need to shout," she added as her barrette slid shut.
"Dorothy!" Roger gagged and shuddered as the other tentacles removed themselves from his back and disappeared under his chair. "You were falling! You were dying! I lost you!"
"I'm right here Roger."
He hugged the little android, tears escaping the eyes he was squeezing shut. "I lost you-I lost you-I lost you," he chanted.
"No you haven't," she assured him. "I'm right here."
"Where are we?" he whined as he fought to control his shivering.
"We're in the cockpit of Big O," the little android informed him. "You were incapacitated and the yellow megadeus severed both of Big O's arms. You really need to stay awake when you're driving Roger Smith."
"Guh! Whuh?" Roger sputtered before he laughed hysterically and hugged Dorothy again. "Oh Dorothy! Don't ever change!" He kissed her on the cheek before he cackled like a maniac.
Outside Dastun and O'Reilly were surprised to see gigantic cranes and a pair of crawler transporters hauling an enormous flatbed trailer converge on the fallen megadeus. "What are they doing here?"
From his tower in the central dome a stout man in his fifties wearing an expensive suit smirked in triumph. "At last," he smirked. "Exactly what I've been waiting for." He picked up a telephone. "Hello this is Lester Young. Get me in contact with Colonel Dastun."
Back in the harbor district a young officer approached Dastun carrying a field telephone with a long cord spooling away from it. "Phone call for you Colonel," he said as he offered his commanding officer the phone.
"Dastun," the grizzled veteran grunted as he took the phone. "Mister Young! What is the meaning of this? You mean to tell me…"
Back at his office at Paradigm Headquarters Lester Young was a picture of confidence. "Colonel Dastun. You and your men will assist my people with collecting the pieces of the black megadeus and transporting it back to Paradigm Headquarters. It is essential for the security of the city that we get it up and running as soon as possible. My predecessor had a hangar hidden under the central dome that he used to assemble the white and red megadeuses he used to attack the city. We can use that to get the black one repaired."
"What about the pilot?" Dastun growled. Even though he knew the Paradigm Corporation's new chairman knew the identity of Big O's operator, he didn't want to say Roger's name over an open line.
"See that he gets the medical attention he needs," Young instructed. "I want him in my office as soon as he is discharged from the hospital. Keep his identity a secret if at all possible and tell your men to keep the media away. Is that understood?"
"Perfectly sir," Dastun sighed. "I'll make sure your orders are carried out."
"Satisfactory," Young said before he hung up.
Dastun stared at the telephone for a moment before handing the phone back to the officer that gave it to him. At least Young seemed interested in protecting Roger. Maybe this wasn't a total disaster but the chairman sounded too smug this to be good news.
Inside the black megadeus the control room trembled as numerous cranes attached hooks to Big O.
"Hey! What's going on?" Roger protested.
Dorothy rolled off him and jumped down to the back wall below.
"They're stealing Big O!" Roger cried. "They can't do that!"
"Roger, we have to get out of here or they'll take us too," the girl informed him.
Roger grit his teeth and growled in frustration. "I'm coming back for you Big O," he muttered as he rolled out his chair.
Outside, the workmen cried out in alarm as smoke belched out of the fallen megadeus to blind them completely.
Roger pedaled Dorothy's bicycle away in the confusion as the tiny android ran alongside him. Roger's face was flushed and his nostrils were flaring. This had to be the most humiliating thing that Beck had done to him yet! One way or another he was going to get back at the wily criminal for this!
There was nothing he could do as Big O was moved to an enormous flatbed trailer and carried off like a fallen warrior on his shield.
In the heart of the city, outside of the shattered geodesic domes that once protected the neighborhoods and estates of the rich, stood a spacious tower that was formerly a bank before the disaster that left Paradigm City without memories. It was built over the nexus of the underground transportation system that Paradigm had enjoyed until four decades ago. The suites at the top floor were decorated like a Victorian mansion; the roof was a patio that had tasteful sculpture and a garden.
Roger was at his desk speaking into the phone. His coat, gloves, and tie were gone and his shirt was rumpled with a few buttons open towards the collar. Dorothy was hovering nearby attempting to apply two inch long adhesive bandages to the shallow cuts on his face. "Yes, I want to speak with Lester Young!" he barked into the phone as he waved the girl off him. "No I don't want to hold! I've been on hold for… dammit! They put me on hold!"
"I'm sure they will contact you eventually Roger," the girl assured him.
"Dammit," Roger hung up the phone. "I hope you're righ…" He was interrupted when the telephone rang. "Hello!" he barked. "This is Roger Smith! Who is this?"
"Roger it's me," Colonel Dastun's voice told him. Back at his office at Military Police Headquarters, Dastun was sitting behind his desk speaking into his telephone. "I've been trying to reach you for twenty minutes, but all I get is a busy signal. Young wants us both in his office as soon as possible. Are you all right?"
"I'm all right," Roger grumbled into the phone. "I just need to get something out of my system. I should be there in an hour."
"See you there, kid," Dastun nodded.
Roger slammed the phone again. "I've been on hold for almost an hour," he seethed as he covered his face with his hand. "If I would have been smart and just hung up…" He stopped and sat up straight abruptly, the frustrated and impatient man had gone, the determined and steely eyed negotiator had returned. "Norman!" he called.
A tall elderly man wearing an archaic tuxedo, an eye patch, and a magnificent handlebar mustache entered the office carrying a hanger with a freshly pressed double-breasted black suit on it. "Change of clothes sir?" Norman Burg asked.
Soon Roger and Dastun were in Lester Young's office at Paradigm Headquarters. Roger noted that the room was decorated exactly the same as the office at Young's home, right down to the chairs and divans facing the large mahogany desk.
"Gentlemen, take a seat and we can begin," said the portly executive seated behind his desk.
"Were does Paradigm get off confiscating Big O?" Roger demanded. "If you think…"
"Sit down sir and do not speak until you have collected your thoughts!" Young thundered back. "Do you think I invited you here to listen to you dribble? Sit down Mister Smith; I prefer eyes at a level! Unless you wish to arrange your thoughts in some cell I suggest you control yourself!"
Roger bit back his remark and both he and Dastun sat. Young drummed his fingers as he watched Roger struggle to regain control of his emotions. The negotiator closed his eyes and counted to ten. Twice. Finally he opened his eyes and spoke in his professional 'negotiator' voice. "Why did you take Big O?"
"Did you expect me to leave the black megadeus lying in the street?" Young snorted. "Your friend Mister Beck seems to have a talent for the collection and repair of broken megadeuses. That scenario is unacceptable. I took the liberty of taking the megadeus to a secure location."
"You sure did," Roger muttered.
"It was not I but you who made that step necessary Mister Smith," Young declared. "The operation of the black megadeus against the yellow one was disgraceful. Did you suffer mechanical failure?"
"No," Roger grumbled before he could stop himself.
"Pilot error then," Young decided. "Don't blame yourself Mister Smith it was bound to happen. Maintaining and operating the black megadeus is too great an endeavor for any one man. Your record thus far is nothing short of miraculous."
"Thanks," Roger grunted.
"Fortunately, I have a solution that should satisfy all parties," Young announced confidently. He opened a drawer on his desk and pulled out a legal envelope and tossed it in Roger's direction.
"What's this?" Roger asked suspiciously.
"Your reinstatement orders Mister Smith," Young informed him. "Effective immediately your commission has been reactivated and you are hereby promoted to captain and placed in charge of a top secret special project answerable only to Colonel Dastun and myself."
"What?" Roger snarled in disbelief. "Dastun, did you know about this?"
"I swear Roger, I did not," the grizzled officer insisted.
"That is because I haven't given him his orders yet," Young said as he pushed a second legal envelope across the desk in Dastun's direction. Dastun rose from his seat and collected it while trying to get the expression of astonishment off his face.
"You can't do that," Roger protested. "I resigned! There has to be a war declared or a state of emergency to reactivate me and you know it!"
"Oh there is a state of emergency," Young assured him. "The black megadeus has been defeated. The gold one is still at large. The city is helpless. You are hereby reactivated and promoted, captain."
"This is ridiculous," Roger snorted.
"No sir, what is ridiculous is the notion that a private citizen can command such a powerful weapon and be answerable to no one!" Young leaned forward and tapped his finger on his desk for emphasis. "The idea that our fair city should be dependent on someone who does not answer to it is absurd! Why my predecessors didn't confiscate the megadeus earlier is a mystery! I assure you sir that I will have order in my city with or without your cooperation! Is that understood?"
"You can't make me pilot Big O," Roger insisted.
"Oh Mister Smith, but I can," Young scowled dangerously. "If you refuse to do your duty, I shall expose your identity to the property owners of the city and let them sue you for damages!"
"Sue me for damages?" Roger raised an eyebrow. "For what?"
Young opened a file. "July eighth of last year," he read. "The black megadeus appears under Houston Street and destroys Canterbury Apartments while emerging from below the ground; August twentieth, black megadeus causes street to collapse under the Upper West Side Dome; October fourth, black megadeus appears under a warehouse owned by Phips and Sons Rental; need I go on?"
Roger's only response was to stare at Young in slack jawed amazement.
"Fear not Captain Smith, the Paradigm Corporation will take responsibility for any damages that may incur during the course of your duty," Young assured him. "The city will also provide you with immunity from persecution from past liabilities you have incurred in the past. In return you will return to active duty and assume control of the Big O Project and submit to any orders or regimen that Colonel Dastun finds necessary to inflict upon you. Let us face facts: He's the only officer on the force you will listen to, am I right? I know you do not trust me and in light of the actions of my predecessors that is understandable. I assure that in this administration, skullduggery is used only as a last resort. We will regain control and restore order to this city so it can have a chance to rebuild. Paradigm City cannot survive a repeat of the abuses it has suffered in the past and I for one refuse to let our civilization perish on my watch. Do I make myself clear, gentlemen?"
"Perfectly sir," Dastun said as he rose from his chair and saluted.
"Then I won't keep you," Young nodded. "My dinner is almost ready. My assistant will show you out."
On a desk filled with hourglasses a phone rings. Roger's hand picks up the receiver and a sinister voice says:
Next: Roger the Soldier