Loonatics: United
Compromised System
Episode 150: Effervescence
Darkness reigned, the dim light of the several sets of LEDs was all that could be seen, of green, yellow and red color, seeming to be from workstations, consoles and other kinds of machinery. That was until a large transparent tube got revealed by the red light that came from its inside, precisely from the bottom of the base that supported it. The tube contained a male white tiger, floating in a viscous liquid, he had several thick veins over his body, of a light pink color, throbbing continuously, a black wire was attached to his belly and he wore metallic briefs. Three more tubes got revealed one by one a few moments later, revealing a wolf, a bull and a deer, all of them also male and white furred, with the same characteristics of the tiger.
A monitor turned on, showing a log in green, pixelated letters. 'Gestation phase…complete.' The tubes got drained from the inside, making the subjects fall over, not making any expressions or sounds. The wires detached from their bellies, leaving a navel on each one of them. The muscular subjects got onto their feet, then they saw messages displayed in their minds. 'Gamma' was displayed in the mind of the tiger, 'Delta' in the wolf's, 'Zeta' in the bull's and 'Theta' in the mind of the deer. Having assumed their names, another message appeared. 'Auxiliary forces. Purpose: Homeland Security. Mission 001: Terminate potential threats.'
"And where exactly do you plan to store all of this scrap?" Duck asked Tech while pointing at the thirty six battle bots that were standing next to the ship.
"I don't sell crap, bird, don't speak if you don't kn…" Sylth got interrupted.
"I said 'scrap', not crap, genius." Duck clarified while rolling his eyes up.
"We'll store them in my room, I'm gonna sleep in the cockpit." Tech responded.
"Are you sure they're gonna fit, Doc?" Ace asked.
"Barely, but yes." Tech replied while taking out a black remote that had a touch screen. "And fortunately for us, I just need to set up some stuff in the interface and they will walk into the ship by themselves." He said while manipulating the remote.
"That's scary as hell man." Duck opined.
"Oh, I remember a movie where a robot gets sentient and kills the crew of a cargo ship, very scary…and funny sometimes but not intentionally." Rev commented.
"Uhm, thanks Rev, that makes me feel way less scared!" Duck said with sarcasm and annoyance.
"So we're really doing this." Akinyi said while looking at the robots and the Leviathan. "Going to war, against an AI."
Lexi chuckled as she was standing next to her. "Believe me, we have dealt with weirder situations."
Tech had set up the interface of the remote successfully, the robots entered the ship one by one by Tech's command. "Ah, I love technology." He sighed blissfully.
"You're weird." Duck mocked.
After all of the robots got in, the two Maniacs, Slam, Lexi, Rev and Duck entered the Leviathan. Ace and Tech stayed outside just to do the courtesy of thanking Sylth. "It was a pleasure to do business with you, Tech…again." Sylth smirked at him.
"Thanks for the help, Sylth." Ace extended his hand and Sylth shook it firmly.
"I did this for the juicy money I will get with Tech's patents, you don't have to thank me." Sylth said while making a gesture of greed with his hand.
Tech sighed. "We have to go." He turned and walked towards the ship followed by Ace.
"Goodbye to you as well, Loonatics." Sylth said rather offended, crossing his arms while watching them enter the ship. Tech activated the systems of the Leviathan and accelerated, heading towards space. When losing sight of them, Sylth headed back to his warehouse.
Ace was in the cockpit with Tech, sitting on the copilot seat. "Do we set the route to Rojus already? Edison and Vale aren't in the best state yet."
"Hm, maybe we can go back to the toller and stay there until they are completely cured." Tech looked at Ace, not getting his hands away from the control sticks. "But just one day, we can't afford losing more time."
"I agree." Ace nodded then looked at the front, gazing at the stars. "Look for the closest toller, maybe there's one around." Ace stood up from the chair and patted Tech's shoulder, then walked away from him, exiting the cockpit after so.
Tech activated the autopilot with the press of a button, then he started to look for tollers near their location, displaying a map on the large windshield. He started to do his search, his eyes widened as he remembered he had to check something important. "Duck's blood, dang it." He got onto his feet rapidly, as he had taken a blood sample from Duck and left it analyzing.
Duck was laying down on his bed, with both hands behind his neck, looking at the ceiling. He let out a sigh. "So bored." Duck started to whistle a song, but that bored him right away. "This sucks, I'm gonna see what the oth…" He stopped talking to himself when switching his gaze to his backpack, which was laying on the same corner. "Maybe…just a quick shot." Duck got off the bed, then he walked towards the bag and knelt down before it, opening it and taking out the cassette tape shaped device, getting it on his nostril and before he could press the button, the door of his room opened.
"Trancer!" Tech exclaimed with rage while walking towards Duck, grasping the cloth of his suit on the upper back area and lifting him up. "Your blood is infested with trancer!" He looked down and saw the device on the floor, as Duck had dropped it when his comrade got in. Tech shook his head and growled at him. "You brought that crap to my ship! Are you retarded or what?! This is poisoning your body!"
Duck pushed him, frowning at him. "What I consume is not of your business!"
"Yes it is! It's my job to watch over your health!" Tech exclaimed.
Ace entered the room. "What the hell is going on?!"
"This idiot is using trancer!" Tech answered.
"What is that?" Ace inquired.
"Nothing! You two go away, now! Or I'll force you!" Duck threatened.
Tech ignored Duck's warning and approached Ace. "It's a drug, a very harmful one. I found it in his blood…" He looked at Duck over his shoulder. "...and caught him in the act."
Ace stepped aside and walked towards Duck. "Why are you doing this, Duck?"
"I need it!" Duck exclaimed with a lump in his throat.
"That's ridiculous! You're gonna throw away all of that crap rig…" Tech got interrupted.
"Tech, shut up!" Ace ordered and looked back at Duck. "Why do you think you need that?"
"That's not of your business." Duck's voice had started to break. "Now, get out." Duck cooked an orb on his right hand and raised it warningly. "Don't say another word, just get out, it's all you need to do."
Ace and Tech felt very worried as they couldn't be sure if he was being serious about his intentions. "Duck…uncook that thing, I'm gonna talk with you, alone, I'm not mad at you, no one is…" He looked at Tech with an imposing gaze of warning, then glared back at Duck. "…let me, please, I just want to help you." He took a step at the front.
Duck backed his arm, frowning at Ace, with a tear running across his face. "I'm gonna do it, Ace! Don't make me!"
Ace had his arms raised, he slowly sat down on the floor with his legs crossed, having his gaze locked on Duck's. "Let's just talk, as friends, okay? I promise you, I'm not gonna judge you man, but we have to talk about it."
Duck kept the orb ready for a long moment, then he let out a sob and finally uncooked the orb, sitting on the floor with a great feeling of shame.
Ace lowered down his arms. "Tech, go back to the cockpit, I need you there." Tech snarled and exited the room reluctantly, the automatic door closed by sliding upwards.
