Thank you, to all those who reviewed! I can always use some cheering on. This chapter has a little less awesome "Chiro the Silver Monkey" in it as it is just the way the episode played out. Also, many things will be revealed about Antauri in this chapter.
Antauri was in the kitchen, cutting up dried carrot rations. It was his night to cook, and he most certainly was going to make a vegetarian option. The door opened to reveal a concerned Nova. She walked up to him.
"Um... Antauri?"
"Yes Nova." Antauri replied, not taking his sight off of the knife.
"I... we are all kind of worried about you," Nova said sincerely, "Ever since the Alchemist's Lab..."
"I am fine, Nova." The black monkey assured her.
"But that monster on Cryptovania," Nova pointed out, "It hit you directly! Sprx and Otto had terrible burns after that fight!"
Antauri was beginning to get annoyed. It was nobody's business but his own! His head snapped to Nova, "I am fine!"
Nova didn't respond, a look of terror on her face. It took the black monkey a second to realize that it wasn't directed at him. He looked down at the cutting board to see that he had cut a finger off.
Their arms and hands may have been robotic, but they were still supposed to feel through them. That was why they had cyberstatic nervous systems in the first place. Of course, they could easily repair most damage to their arms. Antauri picked up his finger and held it up to its respectful spot on his hand. Cables came out to grab the small appendage and repair the damage.
"You... y-you didn't feel that?" Nova tripped over her words in disbelief.
"Nova..." Antauri mumbled, "I am perfectly fine..."
The Super Robot flew through the Cosmos. It had been nearly a week since the incident on Cryptovania, and Gibson had calculated the most likely coordinates of the Dark One Worm. Nearly the entire team had gathered in the control room.
"Set course for the Dega System," Chiro set calmly, "If the Skeleton King Worm is anywhere, it has to be there." As he pressed the enter key, the alert sounded and the engines cut off.
"Strange..." Gibson looked over a control panel, "The Super Robot isn't responding to our commands..." He furiously tried to get the massive machine to work.
On the heads up screen, the course on the star map changed, setting the Robot to head in nearly the opposite direction of their intended destination.
"Is the Super Robot..." Nova muttered, "Is it changing it's own course?"
The Robot stopped, turned sharply, and activated its Hyper Boost.
"Let's check the navigation system," The silver monkey suggested, "Maybe it's down?"
The rest of the team nodded and they headed down to the computer room. Bathed in the eery red light of the largest computer on board, the team stood around Otto as he inspected the brain of the Robot.
The green monkey looked up and shrugged, "It's not the computers. But, you're not gonna believe this: The Super Robot is overriding our commands."
Everyone looked up at the wall of calculating machinery in front of them. How was that possible?
"So you're saying..." Chiro started, "It's... thinking for itself?"
"Perhaps there's more to the Robot than meets the eye." Antauri suggested.
"You gotta be kidding me, Antauri," Sprx shook his head, "I mean, it's a machine! It's probably just broken."
"I feel that I must agree with Sprx on this," Gibson nodded, "Technically speaking, machines can only appear to be alive."
Chiro cleared his throat nonchalantly, but Antauri spoke, "Appearances can be deceiving, Gibson."
"Look," Sprx said to Antauri, "What you see is what you get. Machines cannot have a soul."
"I'm getting a little uncomfortable with this conversation," Chiro waved, "I'll, uh... I'll see you guys later." He was about to walk out when the alarm sounded.
The team headed to the control room as fast as possible. When there, they found that whatever had called for the alarm to sound was too large to fit on the heads up screen.
"What is that?" Chiro asked.
"I don't know," Otto said in a worried tone, "But it's gearing up to attack us!"
The enemy ship, which looked like some sort of giant insect, opened its front bay doors. A large beam fired, surrounding the entire Super Robot. At that moment, the artificial gravity inside the Robot was shut down.
"It's got us in a tractor beam!" Sprx exclaimed as the Robot was pulled closer and closer to the massive vessel.
As the gravitational effects of the tractor beam wore off on the inside of the Robot, The Monkey Team regrouped.
"Otto," Chiro got up after falling to the floor, "Stabilize the Robot!"
Otto forced his way up to the control panel, "This should do it!" He pushed a lever and the Robot fully stabilized, the gravity returning to a comfortable setting.
The monkeys gathered at the heads up screen. They were being pulled towards the gigantic construct.
"What is that thing, Gibson?" Nova practically demanded from the blue genius.
He scanned for any biological signatures, but found none, "Life signs are negative, so I theorize that it's some form of automated craft. It may believe us to be hostile."
"Us hostile?" Sprx asked incredulously, "That thing looks like some sort of terminator death droid bent on blowing up the Cosmos!"
"Don't jump to conclusions, Sprx," Antauri said with his arms folded, "We should at least attempt to communicate."
"What do you wanna do?" Sprx asked with a smirk, "Make friends with it?"
Chiro opened a hailing frequency, "Attention exploration craft, we are the Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce. We are not your enemy."
The heads up screen flickered as a face appeared on it. It was a virtual face, but appeared to be human, "Greetings, Hyperforce. I am VX-808 Modular Computer Tracker Probe from the Tellis Star System."
"Why do you have your tractor beam locked onto us?" Gibson asked.
"Because you originate from the planet Shuggazoom, of course." VX-808 replied.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Nova wondered as they were pulled into the craft. They passed through a massive corridor, the Super Robot nothing but an ant compared to the size of the area.
"This is starting to freak me out." Sprx said in a worried tone.
"Whoa..." Otto stared in awe at the huge metal walls with circuitry running down them, "Pretty neat. I've never seen technology like this before!"
They accessed one of the windows in the command center and used it for a better view. They entered a massive room that had generators and computers all around it. Automated repair drones moved around along cables and machines, continuing their never ending lists of tasks. The team then passed over a very familiar droid.
"Is that what I think it is?" Nova asked, looking at it.
"It's Skeleton King's Droid TV Monster!" Chiro confirmed, "The Probe must have picked it up along the way."
They didn't notice the screen on the droid flicker to life, if only for a few seconds.
Not too long afterwords, they were flying through a computer room towards a colossal orb, possibly the actual computer of the Probe.
"Allow me to clarify as to why you are here," VX-808 said as they approached a screen on the large computer, "I am the last survivor of an advanced race of mechanical life."
"You mean, your people are all machines?" Otto asked.
"Correct," VX confirmed, "Were machines. We're no longer. An undead entity from your world has destroyed our planet."
"Skeleton King..." Antauri muttered, "We were tracking him down when you intercepted us."
"As I am now intercepting everything that comes from Shuggazoom," VX continued, "And neutralizing it."
The Monkey Team were wide eyed in shock. Did he just say...NEUTRALIZE?
"But we're after Skeleton King, too!" Chiro exclaimed.
"All organic life that has come into Skeleton King is corrupt," VX explained, "And as such, it must be eliminated."
Clamps shot out of the walls and grabbed the Super Robot by the arms. As it struggled, two more clamps shot out and grabbed it by the legs. Chiro looked at the rest of the Monkey Team.
"Everyone to their posts!" He ordered, "Hyerforce go!"
The monkeys rushed to their respective elevators and went to their vehicles/appendages. The Robot entered combat mode.
"Full power team!" Chiro ordered, still wincing at the feeling of the jack entering his data port, "Let's get out of here!"
The Robot tore out of the constraints on its arms, only to be threatened by several more clamps.
"Firing eye beams!" Antauri called, activating the machine's optical lasers. It took down several of the tentacle-like clamps, but it was then attacked by the same devices originating from VX's brain.
As they swerved, dodging the restraints, Chiro called out an order, "Aim for the computer brain! Launch mega missiles now!" The Super Robot turned and fired a wall of missiles from its arms at the approaching metal tentacles, destroying every target except for the brain.
"This robe thing is too powerful!" Nova called out.
Finally, four electrified restraints grabbed the Robot by its wrists and ankles. They tensed to prevent any further escape.
"It's got us!" Otto cried out, "Can't... break free...!"
As the Super Robot was moved directly into VX's line of vision, the AI's eyes began to look odd.
"It's hacking our controls!" Gibson analyzed. As the Robot began to overload, Antauri had an idea.
"Switch into vehicle mode, team!" He ordered.
"No can do..." Sprx replied, "That machine's overriding our systems! We're toast!"
As the Robot was forced into submission, a magnetic grip rose up and attached to the center of the chest plate. Then, a drill from inside the grip cut a small hole in the Robot. Tentacles then entered through the new entrance and grabbed the Hyperforce. They were roughly pulled out, and the Robot ripped apart.
"The Robot!" Otto cried.
The Hyperforce was then pulled down to a gigantic microscope. They were covered in some kind of gel-like substance and scanned.
"What are you doing?" Chiro demanded.
"Discerning what you are: flesh or machine," VX answered, going over the data, "Robotic simians are interesting, but virtually useless... You are to be disposed of." He paused over for a second over Chiro, then stopped over Antauri, "Interesting... You are organic, yet you lack any necessary organic systems. You have skin and internal organ systems, but your mind is completely mechanical... A curiosity."
"Wait," Nova said, "Did you say 'disposed of' earlier?"
The gel-like substance evaporated away and the floor opened up beneath them. The Hyperforce fell into the dark pit. As they fell, two large clamps came down and snatched Chiro and Antauri. They were pulled back up into the odd laboratory.
"Monkey Team!" Antauri called as he was being pulled back.
"Guys!" Chiro called with him.
They were then held in the clamps. A screen greeted them with VX-808's face. He scanned Chiro first.
"You are the one they call Chiro, are you not?" He read the silver monkey's memories, "You are one hundred percent machine. You may be of some use to me." He then scanned Antauri, "And you are Antauri... The oddity..." He looked at the brain again, "You are ninety five point seven two eight percent machine. The only organic matter in your body is nothing but meaningless organ systems and skin. It will be disposed of eventually. But your mind, being one hundred percent mechanical, could be of some use to me as well."
"Antauri..." Chiro looked at the black monkey, "What's he talking about?"
"Chiro! Antauri!" Nova called as she fell. The four monkeys were all shouting as they fell to what seemed like their doom. However, there seemed to be an opening at the bottom of the pit/tube and they fell into a massive junk heap.
"Ugh..." Otto pinched his nose, "What's that smell?"
"Gross!" Nova climbed her way out of the sea of junk, "Where are we?"
"It appears to be..." Gibson sniffed the air, "Some form of waste disposal unit."
"Oh great!" Nova threw her arms in the air, "We're gonna get trashed?"
"Not trashed," VX-808 said as a screen descended into the disposal room, "Recycled, into organic fuel. But please remain calm, I will assimilate your more useful robotic parts."
"Heh," Sprx smirked, "I got something you can assimilate!" He used his magnets to toss a chunk of metal at the screen, "Ya freakin' Probe!" The metal did no damage.
"Indeed," VX responded, "Goodbye, flesh entities."
Otto tried to cut through a wall, but to no avail. He deactivated his saws and turned to the rest of the team, "This trash can's invulnerable! I can't cut through!"
"If only Chiro and Antauri were here..." Nova sighed.
"Hah!" Sprx scoffed, "Chiro's probably pals with that thing by now. And Antauri... Why did he take Antauri again?"
"The Probe said that Antauri's mind was completely mechanical..." Gibson thought, "I have a feeling that if Chiro has been assimilated by now, Antauri has as well."
Nova shivered at the thought and Otto lowered his head. Sprx began to feel guilty, "Well, knowing Antauri, he probably figured out a way to escape... Right?"
"I hope so..." Gibson muttered. He then lifted his head with new found courage, "We must get out of this place, or else we'll never know."
The four jumped when there a head shot out of a pile of junk. It was a robot. When it spotted the Hyperforce, it climbed its way out of the trash and made its way over to them as fast as its treads could carry it.
"At last!" It cried happily, "I have some company! Oh how I've missed conversation!"
"O...kay..." Sprx mumbled and looked at Nova. After all, Antauri did declare her third in command.
"Hey," She greeted the small droid, "We need to get out of here. Would you happen to know a way out?"
"Indeed I do!" The machine answered gratuitously, "But you're not gonna like it." It gestured towards a giant shredder on the opposite wall with a wide mesh behind it. The Monkey Team's jaws dropped.
As it turned on, two blades spinning in opposite directions to ensure that whatever passed through it wouldn't come out in one piece, bits of junk began to move over to it. The small droid was pulled away from the Monkey Team and went through it. A loud scraping sound ensued. Outside, the little machine's head was miraculously intact.
"I'm free!" It exclaimed with a sense of victory, "FREE!"
Back inside the shredder room, the blades had reached their peak velocity, and junk was rapidly being disposed of. Gibson tried to destroy the blades by firing his beams at it. It only caused several orbs of energy to come flying back at them, just barely missing the team.
Sprx dodged an orb just in time, "Watch it, Gibson!"
"Sorry..." He rubbed his head.
"C'mon guys!" Nova called from higher 'ground'. The two bickering brothers just climbed up the mountain of junk to regroup.
Meanwhile, at the Probe's laboratory.
"Let us go!" Chiro tried to break out of the massive interface restraint.
"Struggling is futile," VX-808 said, "Your phasing abilities have been nullified. Your powers deactivated."
"Release our friends!" Antauri demanded, "Skeleton King is our enemy as well!"
"Yeah!" Chiro agreed, "Haven't you heard the saying: The enemy of my enemy is my friend?"
"A pointless argument." VX disagreed.
"How is it pointless?" Chiro asked, struggling once again.
"Logic dictates that you will say anything to save your friends from destruction," The Probe explained, "And I must destroy all organic life!"
"Don't you see?" Antauri said, "By destroying life, you're becoming what you hate the most: Skeleton King!"
"He's right!" Chiro agreed, "All you're doing is helping him!"
"Skeleton King?" The screen flickered, "SYSTEM ERROR! SYSTEM ERROR!"
"Wait..." Antauri figured out what was happening, "You're infected by some sort of virus! Your system is being corrupted by TV Monster!"
"Preposterous," VX denied the black monkey's words, "TV Monster has been deactivated. Observe."
A panel slid up and the limp (?) form of the Skeleton King Droid was suspended within Antauri and Chiro's line of sight.
"It does look like it's deactivated..." Chiro seemed convinced.
"Don't fall for it, Chiro," Antauri said, "Something is very amiss, here."
VX-808's screen went fuzzy as the virus took hold, switching the graphic between the human face and Skeleton King's face. The black monkey's eyes widened as he learned how correct he was.
"No!" He called out to VX, "Can't you see? It still lives!"
"Machines do not live," The Probe denied, "We are simple servants of our programming," He moved both monkeys over to his brain, "Unfortunately, it appears that both of your programming has been severely flawed."
"What are you doing?" Antauri demanded. He and Chiro were dropped by the mechanical arm and clamped to stationary holders. Cables were then plugged into the interface restraints, making both monkeys cry out in pain.
"I am assimilating you into my core central processing unit," VX said, "Soon, your knowledge will be added to my own."
"A-Antau-ri!" Chiro cried, "Wh-what's..."
"Fight it Chiro!" The black monkey ordered, "Do not let him take your programming!"
Both monkeys cried out as VX's screen flickered again, the pixelated laugh of Skeleton King just barely audible over their screams.
In the waste disposal room, Nova, Otto, Sprx, and Gibson were running for dear life, resisting the pull of the shredder fan. Gibson, falling behind, tripped over a flying piece of debris. Nova ran back to grab him.
"Otto!" She called, "Try to get through to Antauri or Chiro!"
As they continued running, Otto tried both monkeys, but neither answered.
"I'm not getting anything!" He called back.
"Don't you get it?" Sprx asked, "They're gone! Antauri's probably rubbing elbows with the Probe! Judging by how he's been acting the last couple of days, he might have planned this all along!"
"How could you say that, Sprx?" Nova was shocked, "There was obviously something wrong with him, but he didn't turn on us. He wouldn't turn on us!"
"Wait!" Otto stopped the brewing argument, "I'm getting a signal! But it's not from Antauri or Chiro... Jumping Gigawatts! It's from the Super Robot!"
The Super Robot had gained consciousness. It pulled itself together and repaired the damage caused by what it had believed to be the most careless machine it had ever encountered.
Once together, it stood up, seeming to stretch as it did so.
"Fascinating," VX observed the Robot, "The machine had revitalized itself. Its programming must be quite advanced..."
Antauri put his pain aside, "Mark. My. Words. The Robot will stop you!"
"I highly doubt it." VX replied darkly.
As the Super Robot went to move, it was surrounded by holo-screens with VX-808's face. It looked around at the screens.
"So," The Probe said, "You've discovered a will. Interesting... A will that will soon be broken!" The screens faded and the security systems activated. Drones dropped from pods in the ceiling and made their way to the Super Robot.
Size wise, these machines were no larger than a human, and only lightly armored. They fired at the Super Robot with powerful laser bursts, forcing it to activate its shields.
"You are more intelligent than I had anticipated." The Probe observed. The drones jumped up to fire at the head, the only part not covered by the shields. They all fired at once, knocking the Robot down.
"You are terminated, Robot." VX announced.
The Robot, not yet deactivated, opened a chute and released drones of its own. Blue and black metal orbs slightly larger than a robot monkey. They spun until they reached a velocity that they appeared as disks. They then fired laser rounds like machine guns, taking down every one of the Probe's drones in the surrounding area.
Back in the waste shredding room, Sprx and Otto had turned to banging on the walls with everything they had. They paused that the voice of the Probe.
"Organics," He announced, "Your machines are resisting me. Perhaps you should witness their defeat." A screen lowered, showing the Super Robot fighting the drones.
The Super Robot had gotten back up and was walking to a point it deemed necessary. As it walked, its own drones gunned down the enemy drones.
"I didn't even know the Super Robot had those things..." Otto said.
Now the drones were either on the defensive or just all out fleeing. It didn't matter though, as the Super Robot just gunned down every thing that moved. Everything from its drones to finger missiles to mega missiles, it was going to save its crew.
It stopped at what appeared to be a wall. But, appearances are deceiving. The colossal door opened.
"It is not over yet, machine!" The Probe declared.
A gigantic robot on wheels rolled in. It was easily over a hundred times larger than the Super Robot. As it came to a stop, it fired its own eye beam, cutting through all of the Super Robot's drones.
The Robot lifted its hands and fired massive flames from flamethrowers. The hot fire only licked the outside of the machine. The enemy robot moved forwards, the Super Robot jumping to attack its head. The Probe's giant droid needed only to smack it down.
As the Robot tried to get up, it was smacked into the air by the droid.
"Can you not understand, Robot?" VX asked, "Organic life was but an evolutionary set back!"
The droid approached the downed Super Robot. It's chest cavity opened up and it fired blue flames at it.
"Only mechanical existence matters!"
Antauri and Chiro fought with all of their might. It was no use, as their mental programming began to stream over VX-808.
"Observe," The Probe said, opening a screen, "Your friends will soon be nothing more than fuel and scrap metal!"
In the shredder room, the four monkeys found it futile to attempt escape.
"End of the line..." Sprx muttered.
"There is no need to fight for survival," VX said to them, "Your robot vessel is finished."
"No!" Otto shouted.
"And your mechanical companions will soon be assimilated!" The screen showed Antauri and Chiro. Chiro appeared to be unconscious, if not...
"I'm sorry, team..." Antauri mumbled weakly before more of his programming was accessed.
"Antauri!" Nova cried.
"Leave them alone!" Sprx shouted.
"Soon, they will be one with me!" The Probe exclaimed, "As will you all!" The screen receded back into the ceiling...
The Super Robot tried to get back onto its feet, but the enemy droid kept beating it down. Finally, the Robot's anger reached a fever pitch. Its back plate lifted up, but the Hyper Boosters weren't there, instead it appeared to be a compact cannon. The barrel extended in such a fashion that it was only a couple feet wide at the tip, which was only inches away from the enemy robot's face. The weapon resembled an artillery cannon. A large ball of energy gathered at the tip and fired in a brilliant explosion, destroying the enemy robot's head.
"...What...?" If he could feel honest emotion, VX would have been very surprised, "How is this possible?"
The cannon's barrel receded and the Robot switched to its boosters, shooting up to the massive droid. It stopped a falling smack as it caught the highly inflexible arm and ripped it clean off of the shoulder, tossing the appendage aside.
The Robot then flew at the droid's chest used its hand to tear straight through the metal. It pulled the power generator and crushed it in its hand. The Probe's giant machine fell to the ground, 'lifeless', so to speak.
A screen lowered behind the Robot, "You are not a machine! The only logical explanation is... is... IMPOSSIBLE!"
The Super Robot punched the screen, destroying it. It then flew off to its intended destination.
Sprx turned to the others, "Gibson, I wanna take back all the mean things I've ever said about you... well, most of them anyway..." He looked at Nova, "And N-nova?"
"Yes Sprx?" She looked at him in a way he had never expected her to.
"I... I just have to say..." Her turned away as he noticed her begin to tear up, "I-I..."
He stopped when he heard the shredder slow to a stop. The whole wall seemed to shake as the ceiling was ripped off. The four monkeys looked up. They smiled gratefully as the Super Robot offered its hand.
"Boy!" Otto laughed, "Are we glad to see you!"
As the Robot opened its hand, Sprx took off with his rocket pack.
"Sprx!" Nova called after him, "Where are you going?"
"There must be a way to defeat your super robot..." VX looked at Chiro. Amazingly, Antauri had hung on this long. He was still fighting with everything he had, which was quite a bit. VX lifted Chiro's helmet, exposing his computerized brain, "The secret must reside in your mechanical brain. I will remove that secret!" A data reader lowered with a needle and entered one of the nodes in the brain.
"Let them go!" Sprx shouted as he zoomed over to Chiro first. Antauri could hang on a little longer, right? Sprx fired a gigantic arc of electricity at the restraints around Chiro. The energy transferred to the silver monkey and reactivated him.
Chiro burst out of the restraints, grabbing his helmet. He put it on his head and gave a smirk before disappearing. A large cut appeared on Antauri's restraints and the black monkey broke free, levitating in place. Chiro reappeared next to Antauri with his rocket pack activated. Both monkeys gave Sprx a thumbs up before...
"Interloper!" VX launched missiles at the red monkey, knocking him down to the web of cables below.
"Sprx!" Chiro called as Antauri dived down to grab the red monkey.
"SYSTEM CRASH IMMINENT!" VX cried, "SYSTEM CRASH IMMINENT!"
"C'mon guys!" Chiro called as Antauri picked up Sprx. They flew for the exit.
"There is no escape!" The Probe shouted, firing more rockets after them. He continued shouting "SYSTEM CRASH IMMINENT" as they approached the exit. A large metal hand blocked the missiles from the three monkeys.
With some difficulty on Chiro's end, he and Antauri phased into the Robot's control room. After Antauri laid Sprx on the ground, he and Chiro passed out. Antauri muttered before complete unconsciousness, "The Probe... is finished..."
"Don't worry guys," Otto assured them as he and Gibson caught the two, "We gotcha."
Outside, the Probe's computer brain was evacuating, disconnecting itself from the ship and flying out an emergency hatch.
"Uh oh..." Otto said as he noticed the control panel, "He set the ship to self destruct! We got four seconds until detonation!"
Without any commands, the Super Robot turned and flew out as fast as possible. As they approached the exit, Nova noticed something, "The explosion's gaining on us!"
"System shut down imminent!" Gibson warned, "The Robot's overheating!"
They made it out just as the front of the ship exploded. The rest followed soon afterwords. The explosion was so large that it nearly blasted the Robot across the Cosmos. Though they had dodged the explosion, a large chunk of debris hit the Super Robot in the back, sending them rolling forwards. The Robot restabilized itself in the new debris field and turned to leave as quickly as possible. It was as if the machine was eager to pursue its former goals.
As the Robot flew through the Cosmos, the Hyperforce had gathered in the computer room once again. Otto had several data cards in front of him, but he didn't seem to have a conclusion in mind.
"Well..." He began, "I've checked it from to to bottom. The Super Robot doesn't have any protective programming. But there wasn't a malfunction, either."
After plugging a few data cards back into their slots, Gibson turned the green monkey, "I have to agree with you, Otto. The Super Robot never flew off course. It simply knew that we were going in the wrong direction."
"What?" Nova asked, "How is that even possible?"
"Maybe Antauri was right," Chiro smiled, "Maybe the Super Robot really is more than just a machine!"
Antauri nodded, "Life -even mechanical life- is always full of surprises."
"Alright!" Sprx smiled, "I'm gonna be the first to admit it! You were wrong, Gibson."
"I was wrong?" Gibson asked incredulously, "But it was you who said-" Sprx slapped his hand over Gibson's mouth.
"That machines could have a soul!" Sprx finished his sentence, "And yep... you were wrong... Yep! Wrong!"
"And it's okay to be wrong, Sprx?" Antauri asked, bother he and Chiro glaring at the red monkey.
"Uh... once in a while..." Sprx meekly smiled.
Chiro looked around, "I wanna know more about the Super Robot. Like what makes it think? How is it alive? Does it know who created it?"
"All valid questions, Chiro." Antauri nodded, "And yet, when those questions are asked, you must also think about yourself."
They began to go about their normal business when Gibson approached Antauri, "Antauri, if you wouldn't mind... could you come down to my lab, later? I wish to examine your newer components."
Antauri sighed, the secret he had learned by himself had leaked out because of that Probe. The secret that made him feel... scared of himself. He nodded at Gibson, "Yes, I'd be glad to."
In the wreckage of the Probe ship, VX was trying to rebuild. The virus was still in his system, glitching him up every now and then. As his tentacles grabbed the TV Monster and pulled it in, the vile piece of machinery came to life. It allowed VX-808 to assimilate it. An odd phenomena occurred as the Probe brain fused with the Skeleton King Droid. They morphed to each other until a compromise was formed.
"New program activated," The machine said in Skeleton King's voice, "Trajectory locked. Mission objective: Hunt down and destroy the Hyerforce."
The new machine began to make its way to complete its singular mission...
"This is... Amazing!" Gibson smiled as he examined Antauri's 'brain', "And you're saying that your entire consciousness and memories were transferred to this brain within minutes?"
"I can understand your excitement, Gibson," Antauri sighed, "But this is unnecessary."
Currently, the black monkey was on an examination table, his helmet removed and new robotic brain exposed to any and all prying eyes. Everyone was in the lab, a little confused as to how this could have happened.
"Gibson?" Nova stepped forward, "About what happened the other night. Remember what I told you? Could this...?"
Gibson's face went straight, "Well... It could be possible that his cyberstatic nervous system wasn't calibrated for this brain. That would give him a form of idiopathic neuropathy that would make him completely numb."
"So he couldn't fell pain?" Sprx asked, "That's awesome!"
"He wouldn't be able to feel anything at all," Gibson said sternly, "He would only feel electrical shocks large enough to wake his nerves for a moment."
Antauri's eyes widened. Sometimes he did wish that he were the smarter, but with intelligence came duties that he wouldn't wish to have. Now, he felt stupid for not anticipating this! For not thinking about the consequences of not telling anyone!
"Is there any way to fix this?" Antauri asked.
"Nothing to it," Gibson smiled, "Just stay still." His right hand became a multitool for a task in this field. He inserted a pin into the nodes of the brain, "Just a little tweak here..." He put a live wire into the central node, "Now, you're going to feel a little jolt..."
Antauri locked up as he felt what must have a hundred volts of electricity pass through his body. He was pretty sure that sparks were coming out of his tail. And, as quickly as the pain had come, it was gone. He felt a pinch on his shoulder as Gibson tested to see if it worked. The real pain began afterwords. At that moment, Antauri took a deep breath, entering his calm state and ignoring the pain. He turn to Gibson, "I think I would like to have my burns treated, now..."
The others smiled, Gibson preparing whatever he would need.
I can't believe I wrote this in less than a day! It would have taken less time, but it was movie night tonight. I'm not sleeping for weeks, though. The Woman in Black is freaking terrifying! Even if the ending did suck...
Anyway, Stranded Seven is being written as of now. Look forward to it!
