Chapter 4: Into the Lion's Den

Sheen's Log Stardate 74

Dear Grandma,

I must say that I grow tired of awaiting Nesmith's completion of the fixing of my spaceship. He is slow, complains sometimes, and questions my genius ability (which he thinks I actually have). My friend Jimmy back home, would have finished the rocket months ago, wouldn't have complained because he loves doing this stuff and wouldn't have questioned my genius ability (which he knows I don't actually have). I must say I miss, Jimmy, but I sort of like Nesmith more because he has more patience and doesn't put my life in danger. I enjoy living to the extreme when I'm in control of it though, so I put my own life in danger sometimes anyway. For example, I go tornado jumping with Aseefa. It's an incredible experience and Aseefa is incredible too! I've never met a more awesome girl. No, I haven't forgotten Libby, she's just a different kind of awesome than Aseefa. Libs resides in clear waters, whereas Aseefa swims with the sharks. Sometimes I miss my Queen of Funk, but in the meantime, I have Aseefa to hang out with! A girl that I don't really miss is Cindy. That girl had some serious anger issues. She once made Carl cry for two days, which was totally mean (but also awesome). I'm pretty sure Jimmy's into her though, even though he denies it. How you can like a girl who is constantly trying to bring you down is beyond my comprehension, but Jimmy does just that (maybe he's the one with the problems). Anyway, life on Zeenu is still pretty good. I accidently broke Dorkus's house again (hahaaa Dorkus). I get the feeling that he might not like me sometimes. Of course out of everyone, I still miss you the most, Grandma, and I cannot wait to tell you of my adventures in person.

Once they reached the top, they were greeted with an awe striking yet shuddersome view. The plants were flower heads as far as the eye could see. However, they still weren't exactly flowers, for they resembled the clamps in stuffed toy claw machines with thin cylindrical chimes as anthers and thick strings surrounding a needle as a pistil. The movement of the wind through their pedals caused the chimes to rub against the strings, sending a whimsical tune for all to hear. The boy genius's mouth gaped open in amazement. "This is astonishing! These biological organisms have been mechanically manifested. The question is: by whom?" he wondered aloud.

Above them, the orange sky transformed into a rich red and the plants' musical tune stopped. A deep gurgling noise arose from within the plants and their heads opened wider to reveal giant mouths with hundreds of teeth. Instead of a sweet lullaby, a piercing shrieking sound erupted from them and they began to sway this way and that. The kids screamed, frantically trying to descend one of the plant's stem. Once they had their feet on the ground, they ran for their lives towards the spacecraft. Between breaths, Jimmy yelled, "Gas planet! The music could have been some sort of behavioral mechanism to attract prey, so that during the night cycle they can feed!"

Cindy yelled back alongside him. "Oh yah what was your first clue, King Cranium? I knew this was a bad idea, RUN!"

They were almost at the ship when suddenly the ground gave way beneath their feet and the gang fell into a black abyss.

When Jimmy opened his eyes, he was exceptionally confused. The room was a bright white. Not only the lighting, but also the entire room was white, with its white walls and white furniture. At the foot of the couch he was lying on, a white jumpsuit was laid out neatly for him with a pair of black combat boots. He checked out the room with a perplexed look. There were no windows, only a white door. His mind started reeling at the numerous possibilities that could explain this situation, even the thought of death. That thought royally upset and worried him, and he vowed that if that were the case he would haunt Sheen forever. He sighed though, because even though he was angry with Sheen for blatantly ignoring his warnings, he blamed himself even more for not getting through to him. He slipped on the suit and approached the door cautiously. There was no handle or button. He hesitantly reached out and ever so slightly touched the door's surface. It sprung upwards and he leapt backwards. His jaw dropped when he saw what lay behind it: a massive underground metropolis.

Spacecrafts whizzed by, flights of moving stairs and air tubes hung from everywhere, fountains oozed purple liquid and lounges were spread here and there. He stood in disbelief when something touched his shoulder making him jump. He turned around to face some kind of cyborg. He opened his mouth to yell, but a wiry hand clamped over his face. It made some kind of static beeping noise, let go of him and wheeled away. Jimmy froze watching it. When the machine realized that Jimmy wasn't following, it went back over to Jimmy and nudged him in the direction it was going. Jimmy slowly obeyed the machine, walking down the gliding stairs and around several corners, to arrive at a lounge. He was incredibly relieved to see Cindy and Libby already there. He ran over to them, and when Cindy saw him, she quickly stood up to greet him. Jimmy ran right into her, scooping her into a tight hug. "Leaping Leptons, I'm glad to see you're okay," he breathed.

Cindy grinned widely. "Why Jimmy, that's so sweet. We were worried about you too," she giggled.

Jimmy snapped out of it at hearing her say the word 'we' and saw Libby on a couch smirking while giving him a little wave to remind him of her presence. He released Cindy, blushing furiously and pulling at the collar of his suit. "So umm…I-er…how are you guys? I see you two are sporting this culture's fabrications as well," he babbled.

Yanking at the material enveloping her, Libby scoffed, "Can you believe these things? These suits have absolutely no freedom of expression. Oh and where the heck is Carl?"

Right on cue, Carl emerged from around the corner with one of the machines shoving him along. Carl hummed in delight and in his hand was a container filled with the purple liquid. He gulped the stuff dry and waved at his friends. "Oh hey there you are guys! Have you tried this? It's so filling!" he smiled happily.

Jimmy, Cindy and Libby's faces crinkled in disgust, repulsed by the audacity that is Carl's stomach. Jimmy shook his head trying to picture Carl out. "Alright, so now that we're all together again, do any of you know what's going on?" he asked.

Cindy shook her head as well. "No, Libby and I were just talking about that, and we have no idea," she responded.

No one bothered asking Carl his opinion, because his answer was rather obvious. It was as if the fleshy robots heard the gang's wonders and closed in on the kids, forcing them into another white room. Behind them, the door slid closed and in front of them hung a large blank screen. The four friends looked around but there was nothing else in the room other than them. The screen zapped on and an image came into focus. Jimmy, Cindy, Carl and Libby gasped in shock at the enemy laughing before them: King Goobot.

Jimmy ran to the screen and slammed his fists against it. "I should've known we'd run into you again! How did you get out of the Cretaceous period?" he spat.

King Goobot sneered, "Always underestimating me, Mr. Neutron, but that will soon change."

Jimmy shot the alien scum his own look of loathing. "What in puking Pluto is this place and what are these mechanical creatures?" he demanded to know.

King Goobot was silent and simply watched the four children. Jimmy backed away from the screen and stood in front of his friends, unsure of how to deal with this situation. He had never seen Goobot at such ease, and it worried him. The King spoke quietly yet firmly.

"Why James, you are on the planet, Mariscus. Once upon a time, it used to be quite a ravishing place. As functional and pristine as possible, their empire reigned with an iron fist, not only their land, but also most of the galaxy. Their leader was rather greedy and paranoid though, and refused to settle for anything less than perfection. His power and worldly views made him grow mad, for it is impossible to rid of imperfection on an imperfect world. In a moment of utter insanity, an idea struck his mind. Virtual intelligence and machines were the closest to achieving the dream of possessing no error. He could choose which species were the strongest, and convert them. Therefore, what could be a better way to live than to be one of them?"

Jimmy and his friends looked at the fleshy mechanical things around them in horror and thought about the plants outside. They had a feeling they knew where this was going. Jimmy gulped, "Are you telling us that these are the people of Mariscus?"

Goobot smiled, "Precisely…but that is not all. They knew they couldn't convert their children, because their minds weren't mature enough to handle it, so they piled them in a rocket and jettisoned them to a life sustaining planet where they could grow and come back if they wished. However, when the children landed on the new planet, they couldn't come back. The ship had suffered unforeseen damages on the way, so they lived out their lives there. Do you know what that planet was?"

Jimmy opened his mouth to respond, but closed it. It couldn't be. Goobot leaned forward and glared at them from the other side of the screen.

"Earth," he concluded evilly.

Jimmy shook his head. "You're telling us that some of our ancestors were Mariscian?" he puzzled.

Goobot clapped, "Well done, James, of course that's what I'm saying. Their very blood courses through your very veins. That gene of 'perfection pursuing' will someday consume one of your people and your race shall fall to the same fate. You can't help it, deep down in each of you, you are too aware of your flaws and pick yourselves to pieces over them. It's your destiny."

Jimmy rolled his eyes. "Well our fate doesn't help explain what ended up happening to the Mariscians," he pressed.

Goobot sighed, "Unfortunately, they omitted their own intelligence during the conversion and embraced complete virtual intelligence, which was a grave mistake. For you see, computers cannot do anything unless they are programmed to do so, they cannot function without an operator. Sure, they do what they do with as little flaw as possible, but they have no control. That is where we came in. We assumed control and most of them served as…well quite a nice snack for Poultra. We knew there were more of them though, when we found the plans for their children. Therefore, we set off to find them and finally centuries later, your little message contraption lead us straight to you and your doom."

Jimmy yelled at the screen with fury. "You'll never get away with this Goobot!"

Goobot pouted, "Oh but Neutron I'm afraid I already have. Not only my people, but the next five planets as well, for we are all part of the same united federation. Under my lead, we will stop at nothing to vanquish that putrid home you call Earth, ta-ta!"

The screen went blank and the creatures, which they now knew to be Mariscians, began closing in on them. They had walked into the lion's den, and were hearing the roar.