Chapter One
Darkness. That's all the creature knew. Impenetrable darkness. Even with visual enhancement, it could not resolve anything worth looking at. So, it merely stared into the inky blackness that surrounded it.
It had lost track of how long it had been this way, but knew it must have been years. It was nothing short of a miracle it was still alive after all that time, considering the manner of it's initial arrival on the planet. Now, death seemed a viable alternative to it's current situation. But death also seemed out of it's reach.
It was suffering, more mentally than physically. Now, perhaps for the first time in it's life, it felt a strong feeling of despair.
Under his mask, Slade was grinning.
He had spent weeks searching for a location such as the one he was in now. And now, all the wonderful contents were at his disposal.
He was in an abandoned bunker of some sort, which stored items that were unknown to the general public. The "items" were pieces of alien technology, brought from various locations around the world.
The place used to be under heavy guard, but it was closed down several years ago and sealed shut, never to be opened again. Or so the original owners thought.
Now, the contents were being rummaged through by the fiend, who intended to use them in his newest schemes. And one of those first schemes was to destroy the Teen Titans.
Age has resulted in a failure in most of the lighting, but it worked reasonably well. Plus, Slade also had his own flashlight, which he brought to illuminate his way, since it was midnight. He put in whatever he deemed useful into a large cart and pulled it along, the wheels making a squeaking noise that echoed through the warehouse.
Much of what he found was various bits of technology that could be integrated into his various technological wonders. Others were apparently weapons of some sort. Or at least he hoped so. He certainly wouldn't be surprised if one or more of the items he found were actually hairdryers.
The cart was nearly full when he spotted something in the far back corner. Slade was curious, and so took a closer look.
It was a large steel box. Despite the blotches of rust on it, the thing appeared strong and secure. Whatever the thing was for, it was built to last. Slade was even more curious as to the contents of the box.
The thing was secured with a large lock, but Slade has tools to deal with that. Once he removed it, he slid back the bolts that held the door closed, and opened it. What was inside more so surprised him, rather than frightened him.
It was a robotic-like thing, held in place in the box with thick chains.
The top was a dome, with lights on either side and a metal stalk of some sort on the front. The stalk had a black object at the end, roughly shaped like a pear. The end of that had a glowing aperture. Perhaps this was a camera of a sort?
Below that was a cylindrical section that appeared to be covered with perforated black material. It reminded Slade of a speaker grill. That, or an air filter. Metal rings formed gaps in that section.
The 'torso', as it were, appeared to be covered in narrow metal plates running vertically, and had two appendages; a long metal, telescoping rod with what looked like a suction cup at the end, and a short, rather stubby device that looked like an energy weapon of some sort. Slade was wary of that.
The large 'base' of the robot was a multi-faceted structure, covered with spheres. It was nearly half the height of the robot, which Slade figured was close to six feet tall.
The base came to a point at one end, the front of the robot, and was broad at the other. The bottom of it was something like the bumper of a car, and followed the same design as the rest of the base. The general shape was similar to a short, stubby raft.
The robot's design as a whole reminded Slade of the carrier platform used by the villain known as The Brain. Slade wondered if this robot here was the inspiration for the evil genius's design.
Seeing that the 'eye' of the robot was glowing, Slade assumed the machine was still active. He approached the thing, but there was no reaction. He knocked on the dome.
"Can you hear me?" he said.
The dome jerked, and the stalk moved a bit.
"Who...are...you?" it said slowly in an electronic, staccato voice. As it spoke, the two lights lit up in sync with it's speech.
"My name is Slade. I have found you here. What are you?"
"I...am...damaged."
"What is your purpose?"
The machine hesitated. "To...survive."
Slade was intrigued. "How do you survive?"
"By...conquering...inferior...species."
Slade nodded. "I survive that way too."
"Do...you?" the machine asked.
"Yes! And I would be willing to help you leave this place and help you achieve your goal."
The machine looked away from Slade. "I...am...dying." it said with an air of sadness. "I...do...not...know...if...I...can...help."
"What do you need?" asked Slade.
"You...have...given...me...what...I...need. A...companion."
"You are in need of a friend?"
"Yes."
Slade felt compassion for the machine. He was also intrigued a machine would feel a need for companionship. He had no idea that such a feeling was possible for an artificial intelligence construct. Then, he reminded himself that he was in a vault of alien artifacts, after all.
The machine stared at Slade intently. "Perhaps...if...you...touched...me...I...might...feel...better."
"How would that help?" Slade asked.
"The...touch...of...flesh...is...comforting."
Slade was suspicious of the machine's intentions, but felt obligated to comply with the thing's request. He removed the gauntlet off his right hand and placed his palm on the dome of the machine.
Surprisingly, it felt warm, rather than cold. Slade felt comfortable as he touched the machine. Then, he felt a tingling, as it there was electricity pulsing through his hand. He was puzzled at this, but did not remove his hand. Suddenly, it felt very hot and painful.
Slade yelped in pain as he jerked his hand back. He saw a faint glow of his palm print on the machine's dome. Then, to his dread, he saw the thing become more active; it was moving about, straining against the chains.
Then, it spoke in a loud and active voice.
"Genetic material extrapolated! Regeneration process commencing!"
The thing seemed stronger as the chains began to give way, snapping with a loud bang. When it was free of the chains, it left the box and scanned the room.
"What do you want?" asked Slade. "And just what are you?"
The thing ignored him as it approached an electrical panel. It extended it's arm to it and then began hitting the panel. It did this repeatedly until the faces fell off. Then, it rammed it again, this time causing a short circuit. Electricity arced through the air and enveloped the machine. The thing began screaming.
Slade wondered if the thing intended to kill itself. But then he saw that the damage and corrosion of the thing was fading, replaced by bright, shiny, new material. It looked as if it was repairing itself!
"What in god's name are you!" Slade yelled.
The machine backed away. Gone was its dilapidated state. Now, it gleamed, like something new. There was no indication of damage or age.
"Power absorption accomplished! All systems repaired and fully functional!"
It then looked at Slade and approached him slowly.
"What is it you want?" Slade asked it.
"You have freed me. Now your usefulness is at an end!"
"What!" he exclaimed. "What sort of gratitude is that? I saved you from this place! Our interests are the same!"
"Maybe so." replied the machine. "But that does not change the facts. You are still inferior. However, since you request a gesture of gratitude, I shall endeavor to make your death painless."
"Some deal." Slade deadpanned.
"Do not despair." the machine continued. "You do not die in vain. You will die for the cause of the Daleks!"
Before Slade could question the creature, it interrupted him by screaming "Exterminate!"
Then, a brilliant beam of energy shot out. Slade was struck in the chest by it. When the beam subsided, Slade had collapsed in a heap, dead.
Satisfied, the machine left the vault, searching for the exit. It had a lot of work to do.
