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Chapter 5: Coincidence?
Dwayne sprawled in a chair, head back, staring at the ceiling of his hotel room. So far, he had managed to get through two and a half weeks of his leave. After his long talk with Dr. Slate, he had decided that it might be best to get out of the city for a while and really relax - - no distraction, no technology, no people... He had spent four days at a cabin in the woods, doing nothing but fish and commune with nature. //I am SO bored...//
He had intended to spend more time there, but discovered rather quickly that the lack of... well, anything, just wasn't what he wanted. Truthfully, he missed the excitement of being the BGY-11's pilot. After fighting evil acid spitting aliens from other dimensions, just about anything else was too tame. //Man... Have I turned into an adrenaline junkie? Maybe I really DO need this vacation... If just to learn how to live like a normal person again.//
Dwayne turned the new thought over in his mind for a while. It had been a long time since his life had been "normal." The beginning of the BGY project had marked the end of that. Since then, he had been charged with keeping an important secret, one he couldn't share with even those he trusted most. //So... What does a normal person do?//
Reached over to the small side table, Dwayne picked up the remote and turned on the television. What he saw brought him to his feet. A newscaster was shouting into a microphone, trying to be heard over the sounds of battle. Behind her, Big Guy was locked in combat with a strange looking mechanical creature. It wasn't like any robot Dwayne had ever seen. Four skeletal arms branched off a triangular torso and a spherical head seemed to rotate freely on it's broad shoulders. While it was considerably smaller than Big Guy, it was still able to fend off the larger robot.
"Downtown New Tronic City has become a battle field!" the reporter informed the camera, "No one's sure where this robot came from or what it intends to do. All we can do is hope Big Guy and Rusty can stop this monster before it causes more damage."
Dwayne recognized the buildings in the image and quickly turned off the television. He ran out of the hotel, letting the door slam shut behind him. //So much for normal...//
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"Get back! Everyone move back!" armed guards herded the crowd of bystanders away from the fighting. The precaution wasn't really necessary as the citizens fled from the chaos. General Thorton and his soldiers stood at the ready, watching the battle from a safe distance.
Dwayne shouldered his way through the crowd towards the General. A soldier grabbed his arm and attempted to pull him back, "I'm sorry, sir, but you can't go past... Oh... Lieutenant Hunter!" The young man looked rather embarrassed, "Sorry, sir. I didn't recognize you..."
"No problem," Dwayne gave the man an encouraging pat on the shoulder, "Didn't expect you to."
"What's going on over there?" Thorton demanded. When he saw Dwayne, he frowned, "What the hell are you doing here? You're on vacation!"
"Sorry, General, but it's kinda hard to miss a 15 foot tall robot being bashed around downtown," he commented dryly.
Thorton grunted in acknowledgment as he turned back to the fight, "What do you make of that?"
Dwayne shook his head, "I don't know... I've never seen anything like that... It didn't say anything?"
"Hell no! Apparently it was more interested in blowing up buildings than making small talk." The General cringed as a skyscraper toppled under the impact of the Big Guy.
"Why hasn't Gar... er, Big Guy moved this out of the city?" Dwayne asked.
"Tried to. Monster didn't bite. This thing seems to just want to destroy things."
Watching Rusty dodge a laser beam, Dwayne frowned, "That's strange... It must have SOME kind of agenda... This is just random destruction." Another building caved in as the mysterious robot was flung into it.
"Maybe you should tell IT that," Thorton grumbled, "Damn thing's making a mess!"
Big Guy, having long ago expended his supply of ammunition, had taken to using his fists. Grabbing the other robot by one of its arms, Big Guy smashed it into the pavement, leaving a massive hole in the road. "This thing is tough..." Dwayne murmured as it bounced back to its feet, "It doesn't seem to be taking any real damage..."
Studying the machine with a practiced eye, the Lieutenant sought anything that might be a weak point. As Rusty fired a beam of protons, Dwayne noticed the rogue machine used one of its arms to cover something on its torso, a small, glowing, blue sphere on its right side. It dawned on him that it wasn't the first time the robot had done so, either... "General... Can you get a hold of... Big Guy?" Dwayne asked slowly, forming a plan.
"No, as a matter of fact, we can't," Thorton answered, "That... thing is producing some kind of jamming signal. All our communications are out."
"Damn..." Dwayne watched the robots for a moment longer before making a decision. "Rusty!" he hollered, "Rusty! Down here!"
The diminutive robot turned upon hearing his name. His eyes swept the crowd before spotting the Lieutenant's frantically waving arms, "Lieutenant Dwayne!" Rusty flew to the human, "What're you doing here?"
"That's not important," putting an arm around Rusty's small shoulders, Dwayne pointed towards the dueling machines, "Do you see that blue light?" Rusty nodded affirmatively, "The robot seems to be trying to protect that spot. I need you to tell Big Guy to make sure it can't do that anymore. Once he distracts the robot, give that spot everything you've got, okay?"
"Well... If you're sure..." Rusty said reluctantly.
"Trust me, kid," Dwayne gave the boy robot a pat on the back before sending him back to the fight. Thorton raised an eyebrow, but didn't speak. Watching anxiously, Dwayne saw Rusty say something to Big Guy who's enormous metal head swiveled in their direction. The enemy robot didn't waste the opportunity to land a blow to the Big Guy's midsection. "Geez, Garth..." Dwayne hissed in disapproval, "Be careful..."
Recovering quickly, Big Guy caught the robot's two right arms, one in each hand. He struggled to maintain his hold as Rusty began to charge up. A bright green glow surrounded the boy robot's hands as he released a blast. "Yes!" Dwayne shouted enthusiastically as the shot struck right on target. The blue sphere exploded in a shower of sparks. Staggering, the menacing machine shuddered to a halt before collapsing completely.
"Well, Lieutenant, ever thought of coaching?" General Thorton asked idly, hands clasped behind his back.
"Only if I can't play," Dwayne answered with a grin.
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Dr. Slate examined the remains of the mysterious robot. It was mostly intact, a fact which she had commented favorably upon. At the moment, the machine was laying stretched out on the floor of one of Quark's robotics labs, "Looks like you got a direct hit to it's power core."
"I figured it had to be something important for the robot to protect it like that," Dwayne told her. He stood of to the side with his hands in his pockets.
"You weren't even supposed to be there," Garth pointed out, "But I'm glad you were."
"I might not have noticed if I'd been... er..." Dwayne glanced at Rusty and rephrased his comment, "Its easier to notice things like that if you're not in the middle of the fight..." Rusty was still too excited about his victory over the dangerous machine to pay any attention to the human's slip of the tongue.
General Thorton ignored the others and focused on Dr. Slate's analysis, "So... Where did this thing come from?"
"I have no idea," she admitted, "This technology is very advanced. The closest thing I've seen are the cybernetic implants created by Number Seven. There are some similarities... but..."
"But?" the General motioned for her to continue.
"There's no Operating System. All of the Legion machines had a very sophisticated OS. This one just seems to have been programmed to blow things up. There's not even a logic circuit..." Dr. Slate sat back on her heels, "Why would anyone build something so sophisticated just to destroy things?"
"Looks like that's the question of the day," Thorton muttered, "So there's nothing else distinctive?"
"Well... There's this..." picking up the lower left hand, Dr. Slate showed him a strange plate in the palm. A short, slender spike, more a needle than anything, protruded from the smooth surface, "I'm not entirely sure what this is supposed to do... It's not big enough to be a weapon."
Dwayne leaned over to get a closer look at the hand, "Well, I guess that's some kind of a relief. Though, that is kinda weird."
Dr. Slate let go of the arm with a sigh, "I'll need to do some more tests, but I don't know if I'll find anything." Rising to her feet, she walked over to the General, "I'm afraid we might never know where this came from."
Nodding in acceptance, General Thorton thanked her, "You've done your part, Doctor. All I'm immediately concerned about is that this thing isn't roaming around now."
"You don't need to worry about it with me and Big Guy around," Rusty declared proudly.
"Yeah, you did a great job, kid," Dwayne grinned at the boy robot, "Where would we be without you?"
"Awe... shucks..." Rusty ducked his head, embarrassed by the attention. Garth gave the robot a pat on the head, chuckling.
As the others discussed what to do next, Dwayne knelt down next to the mysterious machine. He studied the components for a while before lifting the top left arm to inspect it more closely. Instantly, the hand jerked and closed about his arm. Dwayne gasped and tried to free himself only to be pulled forward. He felt something sharp being driven in the back of his neck. Dimly, through the pain, he heard the voice of his friends as they tried to fight off the machine. A strange feeling washed over him, as if someone was looking through his brain just before he slid into unconsciousness.
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"Lieutenant Hunter... Can you hear me?" an unfamiliar voice cut through the darkness as he struggled to awaken himself.
"Urrgh..." was all Dwayne could manage to say.
"Thank God..." someone in the background said. //Garth?//
Experimentally, he opened one eye but quickly shut it again when someone decided to shine a bright light in it, "Aghh..."
"Lieutenant, please open your eyes if you can," said the stranger.
Reluctantly, he obeyed, opening first one and then the other. His vision was blurred, but began to clear as he tried to focus on the faces hovering over him, "Ow..."
Dr. Slate, on his left, look relieved, "Lieutenant..."
"What happened?" Dwayne asked as he attempted to sit up. He immediately thought better of it when the throbbing pain in his head intensified, "Ugh..."
One of Quark's medical doctors stood directly over him, "You shouldn't try to move."
"Yeah... Thanks. I figured that out," he groaned, "What the hell happened to me?"
"We're not exactly sure..." Dr. Slate answered, "The robot used that metal spike on you..."
"It stuck me in the back of the neck?" Dwayne was puzzled, "Why? And how? I thought Rusty blew out its power source..."
"He did... And we don't know..." Erica told him, "I can't find any kind of back up power supply..."
"Lieutenant Dwayne, are you okay," Rusty's youthful voice cut in.
"Uh... More or less..." he responded, "I think a little less rather than more..."
The doctor instructed several EMT's to begin moving the Lieutenant, "Don't worry, Lt. Hunter. You're going to be fine. There doesn't seem to be any serious neural damage and the wound isn't that serious."
Dr. Slate gave his hand a quick, gentle squeeze for reassurance, "We'll take care of things here. I don't think the robot is going to be hurting anyone else now. Rusty was rather... exuberant about stopping it this time around."
Casting his glance to the side, Dwayne noticed pieces of metal debris scattered about the lab, "I can see that..."
"Well, Lieutenant, looks like you've earned yourself some more hospital time," Thorton commented with a wry smile.
Dwayne rolled his eyes, "Oh goody... This time around, maybe you could sneak me a decent meal. I'm getting sick of hospital food."
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