Automan and all character names therein are owned by the American Broadcasting Company. Doctor Who is owned by the British Broadcasting Company. All characters are fictional and resemblance to any persons living or dead is coincidental. No copyright infringement is intended.

Automan: Re-Resolution

by Sailor Chronos

Chapter 6

She was in for it the following day when she arrived at the police station for her shift. Her superior was justifiably angry when she informed him about her presence at the 'crime scene' and that she had been unable to catch the only suspect. "In all the years you've been on this force, you've never missed a bust!" he grumbled. "You must be slipping, Baines."

"Sir, the man ran like an Olympic sprinter! I had absolutely no chance of catching him. Especially in the dark!"

He levelled a finger at her. "Since you're the only one who saw this person, I want you to handle it. See if you can get anything out of that new facial recognition software that we have."

After thorough searching of the database, she couldn't find anything. Then she turned to the Internet. She found a description that appeared to match, but when she followed the link, the page had been removed.

Suddenly her cellphone rang, using the ringtone that she had set for calls from her home number. "Oh great," she grumbled. "Allison decided to let herself in again." Her younger sister believed that having the spare key was like having permanent permission to enter the house any time she wanted. But when Lina picked up the phone, it displayed a text message. CALL AUTOMAN.

She gasped. How could he have tapped into her phone? Thinking back, she remembered that she had left her computer running last night. When she had finally arrived home she was too tired to do anything other than go to sleep, then in the morning had left for work in a hurry. Now that Automan was active again, he could learn about the new resources available to him and easily track her down.

Rezzing him up from here wouldn't be a big problem. Her home computer was still on and she had a telnet application running in the background, just in case she ever needed to access it from the office. All she needed to do was to use her personal encrypted passkey. As for power, the building's auxiliary generator was massive and could well handle the load.

Quickly she ensured that she was the only occupant of the room. Then she logged into her home computer and typed the required commands.

The floor vibrated, but nobody else took notice; this was L.A. after all, and small tremors happened frequently. The office lights dimmed, but again, it was ignored. Only Lina knew what was really about to happen.

Cursor burst forth from the screen. "Hello, Cursor!" she said.

Automan appeared in a corner of the room, smiling. "Hello, Lina."

She let out her breath that she hadn't realized that she'd been holding. "Hello, Automan. I'm glad to see that the blackout last night didn't cause you any harm."

"Not at all," he reassured her. "I simply returned to my world. And I must say I'm impressed with your system!"

"High praise coming from you," she said, grinning.

Appearing quite excited, he said, "There's so much to learn! There are new computers, networks; a sheer wealth of information!"

"I knew that when I activated you," she said. "But let's focus, please. Why did you tap into my cellphone? Because you figured out that you could?"

He arched his eyebrows. "I found something interesting after I had a chat with a few security computers. That man we saw last night is apparently working for a military organization based in London England called the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. He goes by the pseudonym 'Doctor'."

"What's an English secret agent doing HERE?" she asked, incredulous. "A few power failures can't be important enough for that!"

"He certainly seemed to think so. I suggest we try to track him down."

She was mildly surprised at his suggestion, and shook her head. "We? You don't have to do this; I thought you wanted to get back to Walter."

"You reactivated me. Think of it as my way of thanking you. Besides, I'm a crime-fighter. I can't indulge in personal pursuits while there's a case to solve."

Lina nodded her thanks, and waved at his shining blue form. "Well, you can't go outside like that," she began before a knowing smile crept across her face. "You know, I think it's time that Federal Agent Otto J. Mann made his reappearance."

"Say no more. Cursor!" Cursor bounced around Automan a few times, and in seconds he was wearing a dark three-piece business suit. Only glowing blue stripes on his collar and cuffs indicated his true nature.

"Nice!" Lina complimented. "There's just one thing: it's afternoon. Will you have enough power?"

"The power company's computer was kind enough to tell me that there've been many upgrades to the grid recently. I should be all right, at least until the appliances begin to turn on for the evening."