The world swam back into focus as he was being hauled down a short hallway, the toes of his boots dragging the floor before he had the sense of mind to get his feet back under him. He felt sick, woozy, and his right arm from the shoulder blade to the shoulder as well as everything below that was aching so deeply Engineer wasn't able to accurately pinpoint where the pain was originating from, not with his head feeling like it was stuffed full of cotton.
The walls were a cream color and looked washed out under the harsh lighting of more tubular shop lights and amazingly the floor beneath him was polished to the point he could see his reflection in the linoleum, could see how he had unconsciously pulled his right arm in tight against his chest.
His escorts were two dour-faced men who hardly paid him any attention even as they opened a door and shoved him in ahead of them; this place smelled of fresh Spackle and Sheetrock, and Engineer blearily blinked as he took in the room - it was small, square, and four feet ahead of him he could see where freshly installed galvanized metal bars stretched from wall to wall with a heavy door in its middle. It looked exactly like a prison cell with only a lone light bulb that was near the door they'd just entered from; he glanced up to the ceiling to see a few places where there might have once been light fixtures but were now covered and patched over.
One of the men opened the barred door and again Engineer was roughly shoved inside, stumbling a bit and dropping down to a knee as the room seemed to tilt under him.
That bastard...that goddamn bastard had drugged him.
The light inside the cell was pathetically dim and he jumped a bit as the barred door was slammed shut and locked, the sudden sound as loud as a gunshot in the silent room. He lifted a hand to hold his head but halfway there just...
...just...stopped...
And stared in a sort of numb amazement as he took in the bandaged stump where a hand should have been.
No hand. No fingers, no thumb...no palm, no hand at the end of his right wrist.
The realization and shock at the sight wasn't enough to completely throw off the rest of the drugs in his system but it came pretty damn close - the shock was quickly overwhelmed with an immediate sense of disbelief and an outright, burning anger rose in such a sudden wave he felt his stomach clench.
He spun around to glare at the door, awkwardly reaching out with his left hand to keep himself upright as the sudden change in facing threw him off balance.
Drugged, and maimed, and...'unharmed' his ass! That goddamn, dirty, shit-sucking LIAR.
Engineer grit his teeth and shut his eyes, dropping to sit in the floor and just...breathe.
Of course Zane had lied. He'd be an idiot to expect anything BUT lies out of that bastard's mouth. Hell, he hadn't expected to wake up at all twice now...
Sane. Ha. Yeah, right.
For several minutes Engineer simply sat with his right arm held in tight against his chest, his left hand carefully curled around the end of his stump, aching and trying to get his thoughts organized.
God...what now...what to do now? His team probably knew he was missing by now but how would they know where to even begin looking for him? Even HE didn't know where he was at the moment, and while he was no stranger to physical harm he didn't count his chances for escape to be very high, especially not...now. Earlier in the office, with the Spybot directly behind him and nothing but his own fists, all he could have hoped for there was maybe going down swinging, and now...
He stared down at the white bandaging. Yeah...any chance he might have had had just been greatly reduced. Going out fighting and trying to take the bastard with him might be his best option at this point. It would at least save his team some trouble later on...
He inhaled, held it a moment, then blew out a heavy sigh. All right...all right. This was just another problem, and solving problems was what he specialized in.
This "prison cell" was clearly a new addition if the smell of the paint and the Spackle were any indication. He carefully shuffled on his knees toward the bars and rested his hand on them; they went from floor to ceiling and there was still dust around the base of the bars that was no doubt left over from drilling into the floor, confirming without doubt that these were an incredibly recent installment. They were also too close together for him to even dream of squeezing through, and as he shuffled along to check he confirmed they were very solidly anchored in the floor and walls - the ceiling was out of his reach but he could only assume he'd find them unyielding up there as well.
It was then he turned to look around the small space within the cell; the lone light bulb above the door wasn't very bright but it was bright enough for him to make out what looked like another person curled up in the corner across from him.
Well, not quite curled up. They were laying on their left side and from here he could see their left pantleg was rolled up with the leg heavily bandaged around the knee - that leg was stretched out while the other was bent at the knee and pulled in close, the person laying with arms wrapped around their form. The only other defining features he could make out in the dim light was long dark hair and an overlarge, loose shirt.
Engineer could take some comfort that the person in the corner didn't remotely resemble any of his teammates, but that didn't answer the question of who this person was or why they were stuck in here with him.
Finally feeling steady enough to stand he used the bars to rise to his feet, then he cautiously approached the figure in the corner.
"Hey, you alive down there?"
At first he didn't get an answer and was debating nudging the person with his foot when finally whoever it was stirred with a pained grunt and turned their head just enough to squint up at him.
"...Dell?"
"It's quite a miracle, isn't it?"
The Spybot didn't reply from where it stood against the wall nearest the door, choosing instead to silently watch as Zane moved around a workbench earnestly tending to the Medicbot laid out before him.
"I never imagined they'd leave one intact...they were quite fixated on destroying you all. It even looks like they tried repairing it - Mr. Conagher's doing, no doubt. I doubt anyone would have the expertise needed to do such a thing...I am skeptical anyone else would even have known how to turn my creation on," Zane snorted.
The Spybot's head turned to track as Zane moved back and forth, wielding tools and chattering. It assumed its creator desired conversation of some sort but it did not feel inclined to speak unless spoken to - empty, needless words were a waste of time and effort needed to string them together.
"...yes, yes, I can see where Conagher did some repairs and replacements. Not nearly so elegant as I would have done but it appears he did his best considering he hasn't the vision I do."
A flickering feeling of annoyance rose in the Spybot; it flagged the emotion for deletion, but then considered how the feeling tied in with the vanity it was observing now and removed the flag a moment later. After a moment of further consideration it ultimately decided it didn't care for this conceited jumble of words, especially considering the man was bragging about his skills when his mission was not yet completed.
"Now, tell me again - you are certain you do not know where the others might have gone?"
"No sir," the Elite replied. "The others left in a separate vehicle. I stepped forward to take advantage of the situation presented and thus captured the sole remaining human. It was clear they were relocating - the truck the lone human was near was full of supplies. I destroyed them."
"Excellent forward thinking, though I wish you'd applied a bit of that and investigated where the others were going," Zane sighed.
"I did not have orders to do so."
Zane snorted. "You didn't have orders to bring Mr. Conagher to me, yet you did."
"Actions were justified - it did not disadvantage me or place me in a position to fail my mission. Investigating the location of the others did not fall within mission parameters and would have only increased chances for mission failure."
The man gave the Spybot a bit of a frown. "Remind me to adjust your logic centers, you have become far too literal and rigid."
"Yes sir."
Zane fell silent and remained silent for several hours, throwing the whole of his attention into his work; the Spybot watched as the man used spare parts meant for it on the Medicbot instead. It felt a brief flash of anger - those were ITS legs, after all - but then decided being angry over something so juvenile was a waste of energy.
Finally, Zane cleaned his hands off and connected a few final wires; the Medicbot whirred to life and spent a few silent moments observing its surroundings.
"There we are...welcome home, my dear creation."
Victor sat up and looked first at its arms then down at the newly attached legs before turning to face Zane. "Greetings, sir. May I ask where I am and also the whereabouts of the Engineer who was with me?"
"All in due time, all in due time," Zane chuckled. "Tell me, how does it feel to be whole once again?"
The Medicbot turned at the waist and braced itself on its arms, then shifted its legs around and stood; its eyes blinked slowly as it ran internal checks. "I am quite happy to be mobile again."
"Good, good..." Zane inhaled deeply and clasped his hands together, shutting his eyes a moment with a faint grin. "This gives me great hope, to be handed such a useful tool when I believed you destroyed. Please, I must know: how did you survive the dam?"
"The Engineer called for a ceasefire. His fellows spared me," Victor replied. "I have - had - been in his care ever since."
"I see...and what did Conagher have you doing?"
The Medicbot's eyes blinked on and off quickly. "He did not have me doing anything. We spoke often and he was repairing me."
Zane raised an eyebrow at him. "I find it difficult to believe he was keeping you as merely a pet, my dearest. What did you speak about?"
Here Victor paused, if only briefly. "Many things. Many topics. A lot about myself and robotics, how I functioned and how other robots functioned. I asked questions about humans and human nature and he readily answered them." Having said that, it found itself wondering at a new feeling rising in it - it was uncomfortable and fidgety, and it did not have a name for it.
Zane's expression went neutral. "I see...so Conagher has knowledge on your inner workings and likely has applied that knowledge toward disabling your lesser brethren, if that fool Mann is still flinging those things en masse at those mercenaries." He went silent, arms crossed and foot tapping, lips pursed as he thought.
Victor too was thinking; specifically it was trying to find a name for the emotion it was experiencing. "Sir, if I may ask again - where is the Engineer?"
Zane waved a hand in dismissal. "Not your concern at the moment. I will need to review your memory banks and see exactly what you have shown and taught Mr. Conagher. If need be I will have to adjust your security measures and defenses...a headache, but not one I'm unwilling to risk - I need you both," he said, looking first at Victor and then at the Spybot. "There are not words to express how elated I am to have recovered you."
The Spybot remained silent and Victor simply nodded.
Zane moved about the room and began returning tools to their proper places, asking further questions here and there about the Medicbot's time in the Engineer's care. Victor answered each one but as more questions kept coming it finally hit upon the name of the feeling it was experiencing.
Betrayal.
A strange and hurtful word, and Victor could not tell which man - Zane or the Engineer - the word best belonged to.
That the door had opened was surprising. That it had opened on its own was really surprising.
But that paled in comparison to the surprise of seeing Sniper already within the room.
The lanky male was standing at a computer console within the large, cavernous room beyond the steel door; he was dirty, sweaty, and favoring his right leg, and didn't speak as the others carefully inched in and spotted him.
He didn't even move much, just pointed over his shoulder toward the furthest wall where a huge, roughly hewed hole in the rock and dirt was visible near a pile of metallic wall panels.
"...how?" was all Pauling asked, looking between him and the hole.
"Was walking the perimeter outside," Sniper replied. "I didn't see a damn thing, but I stepped on it - someone tunneled out of here, hid the opening afterward. I fell through it, straight down."
"Scout, go check the tunnel," Pauling ordered before giving the room a quick look. "...whatever was down here was big."
"What in Sam Hill..."
Shiloh slowly and painfully pushed herself up to a sitting position, staring wide-eyed at him.
"Shit...shit, Dell-"
"What the hell is going on?" he asked, dropping down to a knee next to her.
"I- this is really you, right? Not the robot?"
He huffed out a sigh, rubbing his hand over his face. "Let's not mention that damned thing..." He eyed her up and down, taking in the bruises, the bandaging, her haggard look and the dark circles under her eyes. "Good gravy, what happened to you?" Suddenly his missing hand didn't seem so physically painful...
"Well," she said, chuckling weakly, "I took a sprint through the woods, a dive off a waterfall, got fished out and kidnapped from a hospital, then I tried to escape and ended up jumping off the side of a building and then got shot in the knee."
He stared at her a moment, then shook his head and ran his hand over his scalp. "Good to...see nothing really changed about you."
She chuckled again at the strained smile he offered her, then dragged herself around to lean against the wall with her legs stretched out ahead of her. "Ow, ow...I'm guessing you already saw-"
She abruptly stopped and he could easily see her gaze drop down to notice his missing hand. "Yeah, we met," he replied sourly.
"Oh my god..."
Engineer shook his head. "Not worth worrying about right now. How'd you get mixed up in this again? How'd he even find you? I thought you were supposed to be heading to the east coast."
She snorted. "Pfft, yeah, right...no, I lied about that. I was ordered to lie about it."
"...why?"
With a grunt she pulled her right leg up and wrapped arms around it, resting her chin on her shoulder, peering at him. "It's...dumb, really. A dumb story. The short version is, I got suckered in by your Administrator, told to lie to you guys, lied to in return, and until - geez, I don't know how long it's been, a week maybe? Until maybe a week ago I was living in Colorado under a new name and identity." She reached up to lightly tug at her black hair.
"Colorado? What did you agree to that got you sent out there?"
Again she snorted. "Your boss offered me three choices at the dam - work for her, live my life somewhere under her 'protection' or, and I quote, 'bullet and a shallow grave.' I didn't want to get into anything I wasn't capable of doing so I turned down the job offer, and she...framed the second offer like she was offering to get me my identity back. My ACTUAL identity. Instead, she gave me a new name, new identification, and shipped me off to a park in Colorado."
He slowly shook his head as he listened. "Huh. That's some dirty business there."
Shiloh shrugged, frowning. "Yeah, well...I chose it, I was going to live with it the best I could."
As she fell silent again he let his head fall back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling as he idly massaged his right forearm; the damn thing was still aching and just thinking about it pissed him off.
"Are..."
He brought his gaze down from the ceiling and turned to look at her again as she started speaking once more.
"Are the rest of them...all right? I mean, no one's died or gotten hurt since I left?"
Engineer nodded. "They're all right, or at least they were before I got nabbed. Hard telling, now."
She nodded, then looked down to his maimed arm again; he didn't move as she carefully put a hand just above the bandage's edge on his arm. "Are you all right?"
Now it was his turn to chuckle. "You're the one who looks like they were on the wrong side of a fist fight, and you're asking me if I'm all right."
"I didn't lose a limb, Dell. ...god, I'm so sorry."
"Don't worry about it, I'll...figure something out," he said after a moment's pause.
"No, it's- did he offer you the same 'help me and save your team' deal that I got?"
Engineer snorted. "Yeah. A big heaping helping of shit if you ask me."
"God, seeing you now - maybe I should have taken the deal, I could have at least played along and then warned you all."
"Shiloh, he told me I'd be staying as his guest, unharmed," he replied flatly. "We can see where that got me."
She gently squeezed his arm, lightly banging the back of her head against the wall. "Hindsight..."
"This isn't hindsight, I really doubt he would have played straight with you - he sure as hell didn't with me. Don't blame this-" he pointed at his missing hand, "-on yourself. You said you tried escaping, how far did you get?"
She let out a bitter-sounding chuckle. "Not far enough, obviously...he had me up in a room on the third floor. I made them think I'd climbed out through the ceiling then ran out the door when they left it open, got up to the roof and was climbing down the guttering when they got organized. I didn't make it ten feet from the building before I got shot."
He nodded at that. "All right...tricked them pretty easy?"
"Easily enough, I guess. I mean...it worked."
"All right, that's good. We're going to need clever, we're going to need thinking like that if we're going to get out of here." He gave the room another look before turning back to her. "You know this place, don't you?" She nodded in response. "All right, what do we have? What's our options?"
