Law & Order: Leanbox

The Lynx

by Derald Snyder

Part 3- How We Got Here

LEANBOX BASILICOM

SEPTEMBER 17, 1:05 PM

"I've brought them, Lady Vert," said the CPU's bodyguard, Peach C. Macintosh, as she escorted Detectives Crisco and Green into the room.

"Thank you, Peach," Vert nodded. She was sitting at a table along with Rei Ryghts and Chika Hazozaki. "Would you like some tea, gentlemen?"

"No thanks, I brought some water," Eddie said, taking out a water bottle.

"Sure, why not," Bennie accepted the offer as he took his seat, Chika standing and pouring a teacup for him.

"Well, now that everyone's here, Chika, could you contact the DA's office?" Vert requested. This the Oracle did, Allen Curmudgeon's face soon appearing on a holo-screen. "Good afternoon, Allen."

"Good afternoon, Lady Vert," the old man greeted. "I just heard about the verdict. Good work, Miss Ryghts. I knew your alibi checked out, but we had to put you on trial in order to satisfy the citizens of Leanbox."

"I-I understand," Rei nodded. "I g-guess I s-still haven't c-completely overcome m-my reputation as a psychotic f-final b-boss..."

"Yeah, well, I didn't really want to testify against you, but I saw what I saw," said Eddie.

"We were trying to keep it from getting out," explained Bennie, "but obviously, the guy who owned the storefront that caught the unmasked Lynx on-camera had other ideas..."

"Maybe I should go give that guy a tongue-lashing later," Peach offered.

"Perhaps... as long as that's ALL you do," said Vert. "Now then, the reason I've called you all here is because I believe The Lynx may be connected to an incident involving Rei a few months back... To be blunt, I have reason to believe that this thief, may be in fact, a clone of Rei Ryghts herself."

"A clone?!" gasped Eddie.

"Ah," Curmudgeon nodded, "You must be talking about the laboratory that was shut down by the army about two months ago..."

"OK, now you lost me," Bennie cut in. "You mind rewinding and explaining things from the start?"

"Of course," Vert nodded. "Rei, if you would care to begin?"

"Yes ma'am," Rei acknowledged. "Well, it all started with a case I handled in Lowee way back in mid-April... I was defending a bounty hunter who had run over a local sheriff with his mobile tank by accident... As it turns out, the whole trial was a set-up by a robot assassin who was trying to get my DNA sample for an unknown party. So after I destroyed that bitch, I was put under armed escort by Lady Blanc to pre-empt any other attempts by these people to get my DNA... But nothing else happened for a month and a half, so we started to relax... but that was just the opportunity they were waiting for..."

LOWEE CITY SUPERMARKET

PARKING LOT

JUNE 6, 2:13 PM

Rei walked out of the store with a bag of groceries, humming to herself. (About time we had some warm weather,) she thought to herself as she walked out to where Jacob Fredrick's vehicle, SOPHIA-2 was parked.

Unbeknownst to her, however, a man was observing her over the top of a newspaper he was supposedly reading. Coming to a decision, he tossed the paper aside... before activating his rocket boots, a knife appearing from between his second and third knuckles, which he used to slash Rei across the stomach!

"Agggghh!" the lawyer cried as she fell to her knees, her groceries tumbling over the asphalt as she grabbed her torso. Looking up, her eyes widened in horror as the man tore off his hair and face, revealing a metal skull.

"I am Unit NJ-02," the robot announced, "I have come to avenge the death of my sister unit NJ-01."

('NJ'? As in 'Nala Janeway'...?) Rei's mind raced. But before the robot could attack again, he was blasted from behind!

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Jacob Fredrick's voice echoed over the parking lot as SOPHIA-2 closed in.

"Nghh! T...tactical retreat!" cried NJ-02, as he quickly turned and flew off. The mobile tank only stopped long enough to discharge Sophia Grove, before taking off after the offender.

"Rei! How bad is it?!" The robot girl asked as she ran up, carrying a first-aid kit in one hand.

"I d-don't th-think it's th-that bad," the former goddess grunted.

"OK, just lay flat on your back, and I'll try to bandage you up," Sophia instructed as she took out some gauze...

Meanwhile, NJ-02 was flying through the streets of the city, turning this way and that to try and throw off his pursuer, only for SOPHIA-2 to easily match his every move. The robot tried flying over a crowded intersection, only for the mobile tank to easily jump over the people's heads without any further ado.

"You have got to be kidding me!" NJ-02 gasped in disbelief, as he tore off a piece of his shirt, using the cloth to wipe the blood from his knife. He needed to get this sample to his masters, or all would be lost! Gripping the cloth tightly, he said, "Divert all power to thrusters!" Another rocket emerged from his back and fired, finally putting some distance between himself and Jacob. It wouldn't be long before he reached the delivery terminal...

(Where is he going?) Jacob thought as he revved his tank's engines. Then it occurred to him! (Crap! He's trying to deliver Rei's blood to his masters, so they can make their own CPU!) He then saw the robot touch down and start running towards the terminal. Jacob made another leap with his tank to cover the distance, then switched on the PA. "EVERYONE, OUT OF THE WAY!" He switched the tank's main firing mode to CANNON, before charging energy...

Most of the NPCs had fled upon seeing NJ-02 running at them. The robot quickly threw the bloody cloth into the transport chamber, before entering the coordinates...

SOPHIA-2 fired an explosive shell.

NJ-02 pressed the TRANSMIT button.

The shell made impact.

KA-BOOOOOOOM!

...Needless to say, the terminal was reduced to rubble. Jacob then donned his helmet, before exiting the cockpit. "Stay back, everyone!" he ordered, his Blaster Rifle at the ready as he slowly approached...

Amidst the debris, NJ-02 replayed his recent memory in his mind's eye- seeing the bloody cloth vanish- and smiled to himself. Mission complete. Now there was only one thing left to do...

As the young hunter moved in, his eyes went wide as he heard the words, "Initiate self-destruct." He barely had time to cross his arms in front of him before NJ-02's reactor went critical and exploded, knocking Jacob off his feet from the shockwave, slamming hard on his back and skidding a few feet.

WARNING: Energy levels at 12.5%, the alert popped up on his visor. Recharge highly recommended.

"Ugh... Thanks, Dr. Grove," Jacob groaned in pain. "You sure... built this suit well..." He then felt his helmet removed, as several NPCs gathered around him in concern...

LEANBOX BASILICOM

SEPTEMBER 17, 1:37 PM

"So in the end, Jacob Fredrick failed to stop that guy," Bennie surmised.

"N-not for lack of t-trying," Rei said.

"...Unfortunately, the fact that he destroyed the transport terminal out of desperation made it harder to track where the robot had sent the sample," Vert lamented. "We did eventually narrow it down to somewhere in Leanbox, but we had no idea where to begin looking... until we got lucky about a month later."

"We got an anonymous tip," Chika spoke up, "that somebody had come across a laboratory that was experimenting with creating artificial CPUs, along with the approximate location..."

"So I had Peach contact her Army boyfriend," Vert stated, "You remember him, don't you?"

"Petty Officer First Class Adrian Johns, right?" Eddie nodded.

"Bingo," Peach nodded. "Anyway, Lady Vert had Adrian put together a strike team from his unit, and they went in and shut down that lab with extreme prejudice."

"But not before they'd managed to make a successful clone," Bennie guessed.

"That depends on your definition of 'successful,'" Allen Curmudgeon cut in. "We managed to cut a deal with a few of the scientists, and they allocuted that they had managed to make a stable clone, but threw her out on the street once they realized she wouldn't be able to access HDD, due to Rei Ryghts' own negative reputation."

"So this clone pretty much had no choice but to take on a life of crime, is what you're saying," Bennie summarized.

"So what happened to the scientists that didn't plead out?" Eddie asked.

"Tried and convicted, all of them sentenced to life in prison," Allen answered, "The ones that did plead out got a chance of parole for good behavior..."

"But if they threw the clone out on the street, that must mean they were planning to do something else with Miss Ryghts' DNA," Eddie deduced.

"They did," Allen nodded, "But you'd have to ask Petty Officer Johns for further details... unless he confided in you, Sergeant Macintosh."

"Yeah, he told me what happened," Peashy nodded. "He said when they busted in to shut the lab down, the scientists were conducting another experiment..."

SECRET LABORATORY

JULY 29, 10:03 PM

A woman's screams echoed from a pod-shaped machine, as the needles containing Rei Ryghts' DNA withdrew, the inside glowing brightly... So focused were the scientists on the pod in question, didn't notice the doors sliding open behind them...

"FREEZE! Leanbox Army!" Before any of them could react, they were either being restrained or tossed to the ground by Army soldiers, clad in full green metal body armor.

"Shut that machine down!" The unit commander ordered one of the scientists who had been pinned against the control panel.

"We can't!" The man protested, "Once the sequence is initiated-" He promptly got punched out by the commander mid-sentence.

"Somebody shut that thing down!" yelled the commander, "by any means necessary!"

"I'm on it!" Adrian answered, pulling out a double-pronged energy blade as he ran behind the pod, swinging and forcibly cutting through any wires he could find. The machine whined in protest, before shutting down from losing its power source, the woman's screams subsiding as well.

"Good work, Adrian-118," the commander nodded in satisfaction. "Now get that woman out of there!"

"No problem, Commander!" Sergei acknowledged as he stuck his bayonet into the door, prying it open just enough so he could grab it with his fingers. "Oy, Adrian, comrade! Help me out here!" The petty officer came over along with a few other soldiers, and together managed to pry the pod open, a young, nude woman tumbling out, moaning in apparent agony.

"Someone get a stretcher!" Adrian yelled, before gently cradling the woman in his arms as her eyes blinked open. "Hey, just hang in there! You're gonna be okay..."

"Who...?" the woman grunted.

"We're the Leanbox Army," Sergei spoke up. "It's OK, you are safe now. These bastards can't hurt you anymore..." He indicated the scientists who were being cuffed and hauled out.

"Oh... thank you..." the woman sighed, before coughing slightly...

LEANBOX BASILICOM

SEPTEMBER 17, 2:10 PM

"That poor woman," Chika sighed as she shook her head.

"So, did she survive?" Eddie Green asked.

"From what I heard, yeah," Peach nodded. "Gave her a full medical exam, and she was fine, thank the goddesses..."

"We put her into witness protection, for her own safety," Allen Curmudgeon clarified. "But seeing as she technically has nothing to do with The Lynx's case, I'm not inclined to release her name or location at this time..."

"Look, while I appreciate the backstory," Crisco interrupted, "How is this gonna help us catch the perp?"

"Well, you know," Eddie mused, "just 'cause that clone got thrown out on the street by those scientists, doesn't mean they didn't have friends or relatives that she might've stayed with... I mean, it's a long shot, but we might as well give it a try..."

"Well, normally I'd say that's a waste of time," Bennie mulled, "but last time I thought that about what you were doing, you almost caught the lady. So I'll defer to your judgement this time, partner."

Green couldn't help but smile with pride at hearing that as he stood up. "Well, we'd better get on it then," he said as drained the last of his water bottle. "After all, the sooner we find that clone, the sooner Miss Ryghts here can leave and go back home."

"I appreciate that, Detective Green," Rei nodded with a slight smile. "G-good luck w-with your search..."

"I wish you good luck as well," Vert concurred.

"Thanks, Lady Vert," Eddie acknowledged as he and Bennie turned and left the room...

*To be continued...*