The noise was horrendous. The loud crash that ripped through the air caused Duke to nearly jump out of his skin as he dropped the pad he had been writing on and the woman that had been talking to him about their latest mission gave out a scream.
It was supposed to be an easy mission. They were investigating a technology leak of all things and Duke had driven out to the suburbs to interview the receptionist for the company under fire.
He had barely taken note of the school bus that rolled by, lights flashing and stop sign already flipped out to stop traffic coming from both directions. A herd of children had gotten off… Duke had barely been aware of the laughing and screams of excited children who were looking forward to taking on the weekend, head-on.
Not until the woman he had been interviewing abruptly gasped, her expression filling with terror and a moment later that crash…
Duke whipped around and his stomach dropped… There was a child on the ground in the middle of the street, who was sobbing. It took him a moment to realize that she wasn't hurt. Just scared. Two more children had been in the street but had already darted to the side as the bus driver quickly bolted her way off of the bus to run around and check on the child, still on the ground.
The source of the crash was only three feet away from the little girl. A red sports car had come around the bend, moving at well over the speed limit. From the way car parts were scattered across the street, Duke would have had to have guessed he was going well over a hundred.
He would have mowed down every one of those children. He had never gotten the chance.
Attack Beast… Had been parked on an intersecting street just at the edge of the property line of the woman he was interviewing. The truck had calculated the event and come up with one solution.
He hadn't given a warning that he was about to do it. Not even an alarm on Duke's comlink. He had just cranked his engine and rolled forward, taking the full impact of the vehicle to his left side. It was hard enough that he had been pushed to the side from momentum alone and it looked like he had been the one to knock the little girl down. But the sports car was totaled… How many times would an armored F-150 go through what looked like was once a Ferrari? As many times as it wanted…
Duke left the screaming receptionist and hurried past where the bus driver was pulling the sobbing child out of the street, to hurry over to the driver's side door, which had taken the impact. The driver of the sports car had gone through the windshield and was laying across what was left of the hood of his car. His head had impacted Beast's door, the vehicle having T-Boned Beast, the driver flying out and taking the same impact.
He swallowed down the bile in his throat that always came with being the first on the scene of an accident with obvious casualties and laid his hand on Beast's hood.
"Beast, report" He barked out, a little concerned the truck hadn't spoken yet. Had his CPU been rattled by the impact? Beast was designed to take a lot more than a Ferrari.
"Driver is dead, with an obvious head trauma. CPR will not help. The girl has a contusion on her right side where she made impact with me and a laceration to both knees where she made impact with the asphalt. The dark haired boy has a contusion to his right arm, again where he made impact with me, but the impact was far milder. The blond boy has no injuries." Beast reported, matter of factly.
Duke nodded, automatically reaching out to check for a pulse of the one who was lodged into Beast's side. Of course he found nothing. He wasn't surprised and Beast had already told him that. He just needed something to do with his hands. No, CPR wasn't going to help. Half of the man's head was con-caved in… Blood, bits of bone fragments and brain matter were plastered across Beast's side and dripped down the door and what was left of the Ferrari's hood.
"Call 911 and get emergency services out here." Duke ordered.
"Already done. EMT's are on their way." Beast responded in that same, crisp, matter of fact voice that didn't sound at all like him. There was no come back. No sarcasm. Just crisp, obedience.
Worry flared up in Duke as he laid a hand on Beast's hood… Belatedly realizing he had just put a bloody handprint on the truck, before he gave a slow nod. "Give me a rundown report of your systems."
"Obvious structural damage to the driver's side. The neuro net on that side has not been damaged though…" Duke flinched in sympathy at that. If memory served him correctly, the neuro net was what allowed Beast to feel his surroundings. That meant that the truck was in pain. No wonder he had no snappy comebacks. Or maybe it was just the seriousness of the situation.
"My front axle is out of alignment I won't be able to drive out of here. Scanning systems are operational, as is communication but my guidance systems are partially down."
That made sense. A great deal of his guidance systems were located on the driver's side. That meant that auto cruise was down. Not that Beast was driving anywhere, anyway.
"Weapons systems are completely down." Beast then reported, gaining a nod from Duke. Probably for the better. They didn't need a cannon going off during all of this.
"Call Kyle and let him know what happened, and let the mechanics know we're going to need a tow truck." Duke ordered, a glance around given before he leaned in.
"Are you alright?" He asked softly, gaining a soft rumble from the truck.
"I am operational." Beast reported, causing Duke to frown.
"That's not what I asked." Duke pointed out and finally the truck relented a bit.
"There's a dead guy stuck to my door like a bug on a windshield, what do you think?" The truck snapped, and Duke slowly drew in a slow breath of relief as he gave Beast's hood a pat.
"It'll be alright, Beast. Just hang in there." Duke offered, quickly moving away from the truck to check on everyone else. The little girl was still sobbing and more people were gathering. Including the mother of the little girl who was checking her over for injuries, the woman looking close to hysterics herself.
Now that the girl was no longer in the bus driver's hands, the driver was on her phone, contacting the school board to get another driver to come get the kids still on the bus home, who were all staring out of the window with looks of shock and disbelief.
Duke realized, belatedly that from their angle they were all getting a really good view of the carnage of the wreck. Duke cursed and silently moved over to grab the bus driver's arm. The woman, an older, stout lady gave a start and met his gaze, mid conversation.
"They can see the accident." Duke stated firmly, pointing up towards the bus windows.
She followed his gaze to the horrified expressions and children plastered to the windows and her expression turned horrified. "Oh God… Wanda, I'mma have to call you back." She said into the phone, quickly running back around into the bus. Duke turned away from the bus for a moment, his attention going back to the receptionist who had turned several shades of white, before she seemed to shake herself out of it, quickly jogging towards the bus.
"Linda! Linda, the kids can go to my house." She called, getting a nod from the bus driver who was quickly herding kids off of the bus and away from the accident until they figured out what to do. Linda couldn't exactly leave the scene of the accident… But they didn't want the kids there either. Duke's witness hurried back into her house, opening the door as the first line of shocked children marched inside, followed by the bus driver.
The next few hours seemed like a whirlwind of activity. The police got there first. They talked to Duke and then after some awkward conversation… Talked to Beast.
That was normal when it came to having to explain to local law enforcement, what their vehicles were… They tried to avoid it if they could, but in cases like this, they couldn't. The police had been amazed with that… Patted Beast's hood and told him he was a hero. That he had saved the lives of three children and yes it was a shame but he did what he had to do. All the things you tell a person in that impossible situation, Duke noted.
They had then promptly agreed that it was best they put in the official report, that Dukes' truck had lost its parking brakes at the right time… An act of God.
They had gotten some ID on the dead guy… He was sixteen… He also lived close by.
They knew that because his mother had driven up on the scene… Recognized the car and very quickly pulled over. Duke had been in law enforcement before his time with TKR. There were things a person never grew accustomed to. Accidents like this one, were one of them. The second was that gut wrenching sound a mother made when told her child was dead. It was animalistic and came right up from the pit of the stomach.
Just like that, the man… No… The child with his head wedged into Beast's driver side door, was a person. Someone's baby… Someone's everything. Gone because he needed to see the potential of what his brand new sports car could do.
It was a birthday gift.
From his father.
His mother hadn't wanted him to have it. She had wanted him to drive a more sensible car but his father was trying to prove something. They had been divorced for four years and his father tended to swoop in with lavish gifts a couple times a year to make up for the rest of the time he was off in a free and single lifestyle. The car had been one of those gifts.
Duke was still waiting for the coroner when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He whipped around, relief washing over him when he found himself looking at Kyle.
Duke quickly caught Kyle up to speed as the rest of the team arrived. Trek went to check on Beast… But stopped cold at the sight of the body, the young genius quickly turning on a heel and heading in the other direction. The rest of the team pretended not to notice the young man introducing a bush to his last meal. It was his first fatal car accident. Duke silently noted that very few rookie cops could walk up to an accident like that and not have a similar reaction to their first really bad wreck…
He was surprised that Erica fared a little better. She walked up to the accident and took the pictures that FLAG would need, verifying everything that the police had already written down.
"The police are gonna say in their official report that my truck lost its parking brakes. An act of God." Duke explained to Kyle, silently rubbing his temples for a moment. "That car… Would have mowed down those kids. But the driver was just a kid himself."
Kyle nodded and silently reached out to give Duke's arm a squeeze. "Beast did the only thing he could do. He saved those kids' lives." Kyle offered softly. "It's horrible that someone else's child went out like that… But what else could he do?"
Duke nodded to that, a deep breath taken in before Trek came back, looking a little pale.
"You alright Trek?" Duke asked, gaining a nod.
"Yeah I just… I've never seen anything like that up close before." Trek explained, and Kyle nodded, silently patting the young genius on the back.
"Happens to the best of us. I'm sure Duke didn't walk up on his first car accident and go right to work either." The blond offered, trying to at least make the younger man feel a bit better.
"No I didn't. Mine was actually worse than this. I'll tell ya about it sometime, if ya want, but right now you might wanna let your stomach settle. But I did about the same thing." Duke explained, drawing a faint smile from Trek.
The smile quickly vanished though as the young man cleared his throat. "How's Beast doing?"
"As well as can be expected," Duke said, a nod given towards the truck. "He's been real quiet unless spoken to, which isn't like him… But when I pressed a little, I did get his normal snappy comeback so I think he'll be alright. I'm just worried about him now. He hasn't said a word since that kid's Mama showed up."
Trek nodded, a worried glance shot to Kyle, who looked oddly stoic at that.
"What?" Duke asked slowly and Trek fidgeted nervously.
"I know… This definitely doesn't seem like the place but we need to know. Did you order Beast to drive out into the street?" Kyle asked softly, gaining a surprised look from Duke.
"No, I didn't. I didn't even know it was happening until I heard the crash." Duke said, gaining a nod from Kyle and Trek and more worried looks. "What is it? None of this was anyone's fault. Beast did what he had to do, with what he knew. I wouldn't have been able to call that shot in his place." Duke pointed out.
"That's the point, I'm afraid." Kyle offered softly, silently directing them a bit further away as Jenny joined Erica. As Erica took pictures, Jenny talked to the police to find out what their official report was going to be and where it needed to be sent.
"Beast shouldn't have been able to make a choice that would harm a human life." Trek explained, gaining a confused look from Duke.
"He's armed to the teeth! What does FLAG expect? Besides, he's fired at people before and some of it has resulted in people dying." He pointed out, then paused. Had it? He had been working with the foundation for a year… Sure Beast had used his cannons to blast through walls but had it ever cost a human life?
Kyle gave a knowing nod as he seemed to read Duke's calculating look. "During Kitt's time as an active vehicle, Kitt was programmed never to take a human life. Our vehicles can but only under direct orders. Remember when you and Beast were on that island with the doctor who was going to release a virus onto the planet? Beast fired on the pilot with full intent, that he knew it would kill her but he missed… And that was under your direct orders. The vehicles cannot make that choice, without a direct order."
"If anything he should have gone into a sort of paradox and been unable to make the choice. Frozen until it was all over… Without a direct order from you, he shouldn't have been able to knowingly endanger the life of the man in the sports car… He did the right thing. Please don't think that I'm criticizing Beast… I wouldn't have been able to make that choice…" Trek explained, hesitating for a moment.
"But?" Duke pressed, gaining a worried look from Trek.
"FLAG… Might have something to say about it."
Duke gave a pause, having never once considered that even in the realm of possibilities. Beast had saved the life of a child… What the actual hell?
"What was he supposed to do? Let a car mow down those children?" Duke blurted out, then gave a shake of his head. "No. Beast did the right thing. I'm not gonna let him go down for this. I'll just tell them that I ordered him to do what he did."
Kyle looked sympathetic, and shook his head a bit. "In what time? Beast's onboard cameras will show that you were nowhere near Beast when the crash happened."
Duke nodded slowly, thinking for a moment. "Then I'll tell them it's a standing order. I'm a cop, cops think of things like that. In the scenario that a child is in danger, always save the child first."
Trek and Kyle exchanged a long look before a slow nod was given. "You could do that but Duke… If the vehicles are able to break through programming barriers… We need to know." Trek explained, glancing over towards Beast. "I'm not saying he's in trouble. I'm not saying, FLAG is even going to be angry but they'll be… Concerned…"
"I need you to be prepared for that." Kyle explained gently. "They might want to take Beast away."
At the look Duke gave him, Kyle raised his hands and shook his head. "Not forever! They'll just want to run some tests… But we need to be prepared for that."
"Bullshit!" Duke snapped, gaining a few odd looks but Kyle was stoic as ever. "Beast didn't do anything wrong. It was a hard choice. I would have made the same one if I were in the driver's seat."
"If you were in the driver's seat, Beast wouldn't have allowed you to make that choice. He wouldn't have risked your life and the full impact was on the driver's side." Trek pointed out. "But it's more than, that Duke… FLAG already had their eyes on Beast."
Duke frowned, silently going through their missions in his head. Sure Beast was always a little head strong but… Nothing that would cause FLAG to take note… At least he hadn't thought so.
"Duke… Have you ever heard Beast curse?" That… Threw him off guard. He frowned at Trek and for a moment, gave the man a look that clearly asked if he had lost his mind.
Beast's language could be absolutely foul. Duke had him limited to a dailey PG-13 rating system. He could say as many damns, shits or hells as he wanted but he got one fuck a day and was expected to use that word wisely.
"Of course. That truck has a mouth on him, you know that. He picks it up from me, he picks it up from the mechanics… Hell, just this morning he called some driver a few things that can't be repeated in polite company…" Duke mused, gaining a worried look from Trek. "What?"
"Duke, that can't be programmed in. I mean, it can… But it's hard to program situations into vulgar language when it's used like that. I mean, he can repeat the words but he's using them correctly. In context. That's a knee jerk response that the vehicles were not programmed with. And it's not just that. He has tastes in music and tv and sports that are polar opposites from yours. I mean… Plato loves t.v. but he watches what I watch. Domino listens to music but it's more to Jenny's taste. Even Dante likes to read books, but they're books that Kyle tends to enjoy as well. That can all be pushed towards the personality scan that all of us went through. I don't think it is, but it's enough that it makes FLAG happy." Trek said, a deep sigh let out. "It's a sign that he's feeling emotions, Duke… It's an emotional response. That's going to scare the crap out of FLAG on its own. They've already taken notice but this? They're going to take notice."
Duke gave out a deep breath and nodded, glancing over to where Beast was still parked. The coroner had arrived. He was taking more pictures. Jenny was crouched down in front of Beast, talking to him. He couldn't hear it, but he just knew the truck was giving her that near purr he always picked up when she was around.
It wasn't easy to push Beast off as just a truck… How many people had a truck that flirted endlessly with a pretty lady? He had always figured that Beast's flirtatious nature was picked up from him during the scan. Hell, he noticed a woman when she walked by… He had noticed Jenny. Erica too. Though with Beast, Jenny was the 'love of his life' so to speak and Erica was like a kid sister. He watched out for her. He didn't go on and on over her, the way he did Jenny.
Was that emotional too? Was his partner actually feeling those things?
"What will they do to him?" Duke asked slowly.
"I don't know." Kyle admitted, a shake of his head given. "Maybe it won't happen. Maybe we're overreacting but… I want you to be ready because something like this… I don't want to scare the other vehicles. I don't want it to worry Beast."
Duke nodded and for a moment he felt as if the world had just slowly sank out from under him. This… Could get bad quickly…
xXx
"Damn, Beast. Your whole driver's side panel is crushed in. Good thing, Duke wasn't sitting behind the wheel." Gil commented, earning a sour look from Trek.
"Well he wasn't. And he saved three children in the process." Trek pointed out firmly, a worried look given towards Beast. The truck hadn't said much since he was towed back in. Really, not since the driver of the sports car's mother had shown up.
"Hey, Gil can ya give us a minute? I want to go over Beast's response times and make sure everything is good with his CPU."
Gil gave a surprised look but nodded at that. Not about to argue if he wasn't needed. "Sure. Just let me know if you need anything."
Once Gil was gone, Trek leaned in a bit so that he was pretty close to Beast. "Come on tough guy, tell me what's really going on in that CPU of yours.
"What the hell do ya want me to say?" Beast snapped, gaining a smile from Trek.
"Oh I don't know. I mean… For me… It was the first time I've really seen a body. Or been to an active scene like that. I threw up in a bush. Completely embarrassing but no one mentioned it. Kinda grateful for that. It must have been a hundred times harder for you. Want to talk about it?" Trek pressed.
"No." Was the flat and firm response.
Trek shrugged a bit at that, a nod given. "Alright, suit yourself. Are you feeling any pain? I've got the neuro net off, so you should be alright…"
"No, no pain. Little odd though. I'm used to feeling things around me." Beast mused, a nod given from Trek.
"I imagine that is a little odd, when one of your senses cuts out." Trek mused, a glance then given to Beast, for a moment staring through his windshield as if there was a face staring back at him, a thoughtful expression crossing Trek's features.
"You know Beast…" Trek ventured after a moment. "I think what you did was kinda bad-ass. I mean… The impact could have shaken your CPU loose and you didn't think about it, you just did it. And you saved those kids in the process. You're a pretty amazing truck."
"Of course. I'm Attack Beast." The truck offered in his normally snappy attitude. But to the trained ear… The truck sounded uncertain.
"Well… Just in case there were any doubts." Trek went on, a soft chuckle given. "That was pretty amazing. I know making that choice wasn't easy… And I know you'll remember it for a long time. But, I hope you know that we're all here to back you up if you need one of us."
Beast was quiet for a long moment and for a minute Trek thought he might be ignoring him. Beast wasn't much for sentimental stuff. But after a moment, the truck gave out a low growl and a soft 'Thanks kid' that caused Trek to smile.
The pair fell to a companionable silence for a moment while Trek carefully checked over Beast's CPU. The protective casing had held beautifully. It looked like all of the damage done to Beast was entirely structural.
Trek was still working when the garage doors opened and the ramp was dropped down, causing him to frown and poke his head up out of Beast's hood. A black SUV pulled in, which of course drew attention. The license plate told them it was a FLAG vehicle. The vultures were striking fast…
"I'll be right back." Trek assured Beast as he silently scooted down from the stood he had been standing on, just to get to Beast's CPU and walked over to where the SUV had stopped and a tall, serious looking woman was getting out of the driver's seat, a short, stout man getting out of the passenger's seat.
"Hey Dante, call Kyle would ya?" Trek shot to the silver SUV before giving the two FLAG agents a bright smile. "Hey there. Welcome aboard, can I help you with something?"
"You might. I'm Rachel Evans and this is Rick Bines. We need to speak with your superior. Kyle Stewart?" She pressed and Trek opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by a voice behind him.
"I'm right here." Kyle called as he walked down the catwalk stairs. That was quick… Dante must have already called him, the moment they pulled into the garage.
"Good morning Kyle. Nice to see you." The woman… Rachel, greeted, her smile wide though Trek silently though that smile looked a bit like a shark's grin…
"Good morning. What can I do for you?" Kyle questioned, getting right to the point. Something that shark woman seemed to appreciate.
"Well, we have a few things we need to discuss. If we could speak somewhere a little less out in the open." She pressed, gaining a nod from Kyle who silently gestured for her to follow him.