Chapter 2
Monday, January 20th, 1986
Hill Valley
3:21 P.M.
"Hey Doc?"
"Door's open, Marty," Doc called, not looking up from the piece of tentacle he was working on. "Come on in."
Marty and Jennifer walked in, holding hands. "Hi," Marty said cheerfully. "How goes Project Octopus?"
"I'm making excellent time," Doc said proudly, finishing up his work on the current section of tentacle. "Of course, having a time machine helps with that tremendously. Not only am I able to visit the future for parts and tools, I'm also able to slip back in time and put in more hours. I think I might actually be done with this by the end of the month."
"Did you meet up with our future selves again?" Jennifer asked, looking very curious.
"Yup. You're doing very well for yourselves." Doc grinned up at her. "Even thirty years later, you're still acting like a couple of teenagers."
Jennifer giggled as Marty blushed. "Glad to hear it. The kids are okay too, right?"
"Doing just fine." Doc flexed the section of tentacle, then slid it in on itself. "Although I was a little startled to learn that Marty Junior has been renamed."
"Jennifer and I got to talking about it after we showed her the time machine," Marty shrugged. "It just seemed too egotistical or something. Especially since our daughter's named after me too."
"We're not sure yet what we'd like to name our son, but right now it's a toss-up between Norman and Douglas," Jennifer added.
"I see. I won't ruin the surprise then." Satisfied with his work, Doc picked up the section of arm and carried it over to the harness sitting nearby.
Marty frowned as he looked at the device. The harness was basically two curved pieces of metal, with small metal locks on either side. Sticking up from the back was a long metal spine, with what looked like a series of small needles attached to each side. The back of the harness also contained the four sockets for the arms. Two lay limp beside it, having already been attached. As they watched, Doc fitted the beginning of number three into its place. "Hey Doc?"
"Yeah?"
"How exactly is this thing gonna work? I don't see any way to control the arms."
Doc grinned, looking very much like the stereotypical mad scientist. "I'm going to control them like Doc Ock did after his accident -- telepathically." Marty and Jennifer looked baffled. "Here, let me explain. I decided right away that the dials Doc Ock originally used were too primitive to act as proper controls. You can only move two arms at a time, and without any real fluidity. That sort of defeats the purpose of using them as laboratory aids. With me so far?" Marty and Jennifer nodded. "Good. I saw that the telepathic control he exercised after his accident would be an excellent way to control the tentacles. The only question was, how do I set up that situation?" Doc patted the metal spine. "I found my answer in the future, with the advance of nano-technology and cybernetics. Using the information I found, I came up with this design."
"But how does it work?" Marty repeated.
"Simple, really. The spine serves as a neural link between my brain and the arms." Doc touched a button on the harness. The needles on the spine shot inward. "These needles will embed themselves into my spinal cord, and feed microscopic wires into my cerebellum. The connection will allow me to control the arms via thought." Doc pressed the button again, causing the needles to withdraw.
Marty winced. "Ouch. That sounds -- painful."
"A necessary sacrifice for science," Doc shrugged.
"But -- there's gotta be some other way to do this, Doc. You're sticking needles straight into your spine!"
"Besides that, I remember reading in biology that humans couldn't handle any more limbs than they already had," Jennifer added, chewing her lower lip. "Something about the brain not being able to recognize them."
"Excellent point, Jennifer," Doc conceded. "I knew about that too. To circumvent it, I took a page out of the actual octopus's book. You see, octopi actually have a sort of mini-brain in each of their arms that helps them to move. The main brain can decide, 'I want to go left and up that rock,' and the arms can find their own way there. My mechanical arms will work on a similar principle. Each will have their own artificial intelligence program. My brain will give them directions, and they will devise their own ways of following them." Doc turned back to attaching the tentacle, but noticed the teens shared an uneasy look. He rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on kids, not all AI is evil."
"Doc, you saw The Terminator!"
"That's the movies, Marty."
"Yeah, and this is the comic books. How do you know they won't turn on you?"
"I've done my homework, kid. Look." He tapped a glass chip at the top of the metal spine. "This inhibitor chip will keep the AI from accessing any of my higher brain functions. They've also been programmed with a modified version of Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. This will ensure that I will be in control of the arms at all times. They'll even protect me in times of danger, unless I clearly override them. They aren't about to go around attacking random people."
"Well, you're the Doc, Doc," Marty said, capitulating. "I'll trust ya. Although I still think you should try something other than that creepy neural link thingy."
Doc patted his shoulder reassuringly. "I know what I'm doing, kid."
Jennifer cautiously touched one of the limp arms. "So, what will these arms be able to do?"
"Well, I'll only know their full potential by wearing them. But I designed them with the comics in mind, so I can extrapolate from those." Doc picked up the upper right arm and manipulated it, a bit like a puppet. "This three-finger 'flower' design allows for quite a bit of dexterity on the part of the arms. They can manipulate objects with precision, always a must in lab work." Doc playfully made the tentacle strike at Jennifer's head. "They'll be able to lift about two to three tons with adequate bracing. And, they'll be able to move at roughly 50 miles per hour if I need them too." Doc grinned. "I could even use them as a giant fan, if I so wished. I'm also customizing each tentacle with its own special inner attachment. For example--" Doc pushed back the outer pincers of the tentacle, pushing forward a smaller set of pincers. "This particular tentacle has two sets of pincers, one for regular objects, one for smaller objects the larger pincers wouldn't be able to handle. The other one I've completed has special wiring that allows it to tap into power and phone lines."
"That's pretty cool," Marty said, dutifully impressed. "Guess you'll never have to worry about a power outage again."
"Just as long as it's caused by my circuit breakers and not by the power company. The third one will have a inner tentacle -- sort of like a lasso for grabbing onto things too large for the pincers. I'm not sure what the fourth tentacle will have yet."
Marty shook his head. "Well, this is definitely bitchin', Doc. So they'll be able to do everything they could do in the comics, right? Scale walls, throw cars, etc?"
"I don't see why not. Although I think it'll be highly unlikely they've ever be put to that use. These are specifically for lab work."
"Yeah, that's what the original Doc Ock said," Jennifer said, half-teasingly.
"Well, I have no intention to become anything like him. I'm certainly not going to be experimenting with any radioactive chemicals." Doc and Marty both gave a shudder. "Great Scott, I'm thankful for Mr. Fusion. That plutonium was more trouble than it was worth."
"I'll say. I'm just glad those terrorists are in jail and can't come after us."
"Me too. Although going through that trial wasn't much fun either."
Jennifer didn't like the turn this conversation was taking. Marty and Doc always got depressed for a long time after talking about the Libyans. She tried to steer the subject back toward the tentacles. "So, uh, how long are the tentacles going to be, anyway?"
Doc perked up again. "I struggled with that for a long while. The length varies widely in the comics, you know. I finally decided on 4 1/2 feet for a minimum and 13 feet for a maximum. That will allow me both to walk around comfortably with them retracted, and reach over to my lab area while at the kitchen area."
"Wow. I bet they'll be heavy."
"Oh, indeed they will. That's why I've taken up weightlifting."He motioned in the general direction of a bench and some weights. "By building up my muscles, I should be able to better handle the weight of the tentacles." Doc suddenly laughed. "Did you two come by just to grill me about my project?"
"Nah, although that part was fun," Marty said with a wink. "Actually, Doc, we came here to get you away from the project for a little while. You've been working on this thing 24-7 for the past few weeks. I'm worried you'll forget what sunshine looks like."
"Ridiculous. I'm fine, Marty."
"You may think you're fine, but I know better. You go off into your little science fantasy land, and I find you drooling all over your notes one day because you didn't go to sleep. And when you wake up, you're all concerned about your notes rather than you."
Doc scowled. "My notes are important. They don't deserve to be drooled on."
Marty chuckled. "All I'm saying, Doc, is that you deserve a break sometime."
As if to underscore the point, Einstein padded over, holding his leash in his mouth. Doc looked at him a moment. "Et tu, Einstein?"
Einstein dropped the leash, barked twice, and gave his master a pointed look. Doc sighed and smiled. "Well, I suppose I have become rather obsessed," he admitted, kneeling down and scratching his dog behind the ears. "I apologize if I've been ignoring any of you. But my inventions are very important to me. I like to see them through to the bitter end."
"Hey, it's okay, Doc, we understand. You're an inventor. This is what you do. Not like we haven't dealt with this thing before. No big deal."
"I'm glad to hear that. But you're right, I probably should get away from this for a little while. It could help clear my head and give me some fresh ideas on what I should do." He clipped on Einstein's leash. "Fancy a walk around Oak Park?"
Marty grinned. "Sounds good to me."
Monday, January 20th
4:56 P.M.
Doc walked up to his front door with a spring in his step. He felt wonderfully refreshed. Walking around with Marty, Jennifer, and Einstein in Oak Park had been just what the doctor ordered. With the pace he was going at to complete the arms by the end of the month, he had begun to feel extremely dragged out. But the past hour of sunshine and fresh air had revitalized him wonderfully. His head felt clearer than before, and he was eager to get back to work. He fumbled with the key to the front door for a moment, then managed to get it open.
The first thing he noticed as he walked in was a mysterious draft winding about his legs. The second thing he noticed was that his house and lab were in total disarray. Doc's eyes went wide as he saw that a couple of his windows had been smashed, and the garage door pried open. Glass and wood splinters were scattered all over the floor. His books and papers were everywhere. Pieces of precious equipment had been thrown around, and now mixed with the glass on the floor. For a long moment, Doc could only stand there, numbly taking it all in. Great Scott. I've been robbed.
He managed to get his brain back into gear, and made his way across the room to the garage. Both the van and the DeLorean were still there, luckily -- and so was his safe. Doc frowned. A good portion of emergency cash was in the safe (as well as his most secret papers on the flux capacitor), but it hadn't been tampered with at all. Why would a thief ransack my house if they weren't going to bother with the safe? he wondered, going back inside. What were they looking for? Were they just van--
Suddenly, something in his mind clicked into place. And Doc realized what had been stolen. Frantic, he raced for the phone and dialed. He twisted the cord tightly around his hand as the phone began to ring. "Come on, kid, pick up."
Finally, there was a soft click, and then Marty's familiar, "Yo."
"Marty! Marty, you have to come over here, the unthinkable's happened!"
"Huh? Doc? What happened?"
"The arms. They're gone."