A mostly white and black robot's eyes light up, as it stands. At that moment, Markus Tan, an Asian American man in a business suit, walks past the robot and stands next to it, "Nexus Next-Gen Robots. The literally next generation in robotics and artificial intelligence, fused together."
Markus looks to the robot, as a static field flickers around it, "Each equipped with a solid light holographic projector field that simulates a completed human appearance."
The static field stops flickering, with the robot now looks like a man with dark hair in a business suit, and white and black earpieces, which have a blue circle light on both sides.
"The Next-Gen Bots designed to be our helpers, our teachers, our friends," Markus continues, as the Next-Gen Bot looks to him.
"Nice to meet you…" the Next-Gen Bot looks at Markus, as his POV analyzes him with geometric shapes appearing over him, before an ID key of him appears on her POV. "Markus Tan."
Markus looks to the Bot, "And nice to meet you too."
Markus looks ahead, with a smile, "Next-Gen Bots are truly the future."
Appearing over Markus are the words: "Next-Gen Bots Brought To By Nexus Technologies".
The Next-Gen Bots commercial is paused on a computer screen, as a chat window opens to the side.
VALKYRIE20: It's only been two months, but Next-Gen Bots can be found everywhere in Neutron City.
VULCANray: Gotta admit, Markus wastes no time.
VULCANray: So what's the plan?
VALKYRIE20: The same.
VALKYRIE20: Keep a watch.
VALKYRIE20: Prepare for the waste.
VULCANray: Next-Gen Bots are the future.
VULCANray: Make you wonder what kind of future it will be.
"Accessing, pt. 1"
On a long city street, Albert, a young African American man, is riding his bicycle between a couple slow cars. Albert continues to peddle as he looks up and sees a large digital billboard that flashes the numbers "9:43".
"It's that late already," Albert says, staring at the billboard while still peddling.
Suddenly the bike's front wheel hits the edge of the sidewalk, with Albert flipping off his bike and lands on a pile of trash bags behind a garbage truck.
Albert sighs, "Not the best start…"
A male Next-Gen Robot, or NG Bot, mechanic named Macki is kneeling in front of the bicycle, turning a wrench at the bike's front wheel. He then stares at the wheel, as his POV analyzes the wheel and the bolt connecting it.
"There, that should do it," Macki says.
"Thanks a lot," Albert walks over, adjusting his bicycle helmet.
Albert looks at the digital billboard which now reads "9:56".
"And I'm officially late for my first day at Nexus Technologies," Albert sighs.
"Nexus Technologies," Macki repeats, as he places his wrench into a toolbox and closes it up.
"Yeah, it's my dream job, although I'm just a low-level programmer," Albert says, as he watches Macki stand back up.
"Your bike's repair is finished and ready to go," Macki tells him. "And… good luck at your job."
Albert smiles, "Thanks, for everything." Albert gets on his bike and rides. "Have a good day."
Macki watches as Albert leaves, before looking at his hand and then raises it as a wave.
At the same time, someone is watching Macki from across the street, covered in shadows.
At the tall Nexus Technologies headquarters, Lila, a female NG Bot, and Markus, an Asian American, both wearing business suits, are walking through the large lobby.
"This is all the data you requested on the Zero-1 Project," Lila hands a tablet to Markus.
Markus smiles, as he scrolls through the data, "Excellent. Very good." Markus starts to hand the tablet back to Lila. "Have it transported immediately."
"As you wished," Lila takes the tablet.
At that moment, Albert rushes into the lobby, with the large automatic doors sliding open for him.
"Not too late, not too late," Albert mumbles to himself, as he hurries and undid his helmet's strap, before he trips and falls down in front of Markus and Lila, both of whom stopped suddenly and look down at him. Albert looks up to see them, "M-Mr. Tan…"
From Lila's POV, she analyzes Albert's face, with geometric shapes appearing over him, before an ID key of him appears on her POV, "Albert Reece. A Nexus Technologies programmer, starting his first day, today."
"Yeah, th-that's me," Albert gets onto his feet and holds down his helmet. "Mr. Tan, I'm sorry for being late and for my… entrance…"
Markus sighs, "Just be more careful here on out."
Markus and Lila walk past Albert, who turns to watch them, "Yes, Mr. Tan. I will, definitively."
Albert turns back and notices a keycard lying on the ground, with a yellow and black stripe on one side, he picks it up and turns back, "Mr. Tan! Mr. Tan!"
Albert runs back out of the sliding doors to find Markus inside a limousine as it drives away, with Albert holding up the keycard.
"Mr… Tan," Albert lowers his hand before turning to enter the lobby again, staring at the keycard in his hand.
He then looks up to see a large TV on the wall, with a female NG Bot reporter, "The first carnival including NG Bots employees and performers are set to open in just a few minutes, and the CEO of Nexus Technologies himself, Markus Tan, is set to appear…"
Albert turns away and looks at the keycard, smiling, "Perfect, I can return it at the carnival."
He then walks off.
A chat window opens.
VALKYRIE20: I have intercepted the transport route for the Zero-1 project.
VULCANray: Good. I will get it.
VULCANray: Whatever it is.
VALKYRIE20: I think it requires some fitesse.
VALKYRIE20: To avoid getting caught that is.
VULCANray: Should I be insulted?
VULCANray: Fine.
VULCANray: If I don't grab it. Then what?
VALKYRIE20: Don't worry.
VALKYRIE20: I will handle it.
VULCANray: You sure?
VULCANray: If you get seen.
VALKYRIE20: I won't get seen.
A large transport truck with "Nexus Technologies" written on the side is driving down a street before stopping in front of a red light.
The truck's driver raises an arm on his door, "Hey, man, do you think we'll get replaced by those NG Bots?"
"No way," the man in the passenger's seat starts. "They might be incredible and all, but there's no way they would be as efficient as us, who had years of experience."
Unknown to the two, their sideview mirrors start to move on their own, no longer pointing at the rear of the truck.
"Yeah, guess you're right," the driver smiles. "You have to be ready for anything on this job and you just can't program that."
At the same time, the screen on the dashboard, which includes the words "rear camera" on it, starts to flicker before stopping.
In a nearby alley, someone wearing a ballcap to hide their face is holding a tablet. On the tablet are three screens, one shows the image of a traffic light with the red light on and the words "hacked". The second screen shows the image of the transport truck with the words "hacked". The final screen, including the words "transport truck rear camera", shows two video images of the street with one labelled "realtime" and the other labelled "looped".
The person then looks around the corner at the truck, before running to the back of it. They place a small device onto the truck's electronic lock and press a button. After a few seconds, the button on the device lights up and the person opens the back of the truck.
Inside the truck is a case seating on a podium, under glass, in the center of the truck.
After a few more seconds, the traffic light finally turns green and the transport truck drives ahead, unaware of the person walking back into the alleyway, carrying the case.
They reach the opposite end of the alley and notice a monitor in a nearby store showing Markus on the screen.
"Markus Tan had just arrived at the NG Bot carnival…" the NG Bot reporter's voice says.
Markus is standing next to the male NG Bot ringmaster, with Lila to his right, as he waves at a large crowd of people, including the NG Bot reporter, surrounded by different stands and a rollercoaster in the distance.
"Thank you, everyone," Markus starts. "And I hope this carnival is just the start of the kind of entertainment our NG Bot brothers and sisters are capable of."
"We will work to the best of our abilities," the NG Bot ringmaster says.
"That, I'm sure," Markus places a hand on the ringmaster's shoulder.
"And to cap our grand opening, there is no better way than with our strongman, Muscle!" the ringmaster announces.
A shirtless, male NG Bot walks over, flexing, "Nice to meet everyone, I am Muscle."
A young boy takes a step ahead of the crowd, "If you're a robot, how can you be a strongman? You don't even have any real muscles."
Muscle grins, "I might not have any real muscles, but…"
The NG Bot then reaches down and lifts the ringmaster by the foot, who struggles to remain straight, "I do have strength, multiplied!"
"Wow…" the boy becomes impressed, starting to clap.
A round of applause follows, as Markus smiles and backs away with Lila, and Muscle and the ringmaster waves at the audience.
At the rear of the cheering audience, Albert walks over, looking around, "Mr. Tan has to be around here, somewhere…"
He then looked at the keycard in his hand, before walking ahead.
A few minutes later, Muscle is off to the side, bending a piece of iron to applause from a couple, before they start to walk off.
Muscle waves at the couple, "Enjoy the rest of the carnival."
A hooded figure walks over to him, "Are you really contend putting on a show for humans?"
"Of course, I am," Muscle starts to turn to the figure. "It's what I was programmed for."
The hooded figure then places a Viral Encoder, a large gray mechanical device, with a rectangle-shaped hole in it, onto Muscle's waist, before a belt shoots out of one side and connects to the other side.
"Let's fix that," the hooded figure says, as Muscle's eyes glow slightly.
The hooded figure then holds up a green keycard, a Virus Key, with the image of a mantis on it, and inserts it into the Viral Encoder.
"Mantis Key! Corruption!"
Muscle surges with energy, with him flickering before his real NG Bot appearance is revealed, and then cables shoot out from the Viral Encoder and cover him. The cables start to retract, revealing green and silver armor, a pair of large, scythe-like daggers in both hands, and a large mantis-like head.
"I am Mantisbot. Ready to terminate."
Mantisbot raises one of his daggers and charges. He swings the dagger at a couple people, causing them to break up and screams, before he strikes at the side of a stand, knocking off its roof. More people start screaming and running, as Mantisbot charges after them.
The hooded figure takes a step forward, raises his head enough to reveal his face, a Causisan male named Tye, "There's you go, fulfilling your true purpose."
Back in the alleyway, the transport truck's thief is tabbing at their tablet, while in front of the case, opened and seated on top of a trash can. They press the tablet's screen, with the image of a grasshopper appearing.
"Disaster had just struck," the NG Bot reporter's voice says, causing the thief to turn their head and see on the monitor, the reporter is talking to the camera as people are running in fright from Mantisbot in the background. "A NG Bot seems to have gone on a rampage, attacking anyone and everyone in sight."
The thief then closes the case, grabs it and starts running with it down the nearby sidewalk.
Back at the carnival, people continue to run from Mantisbot, as explosions go off behind him.
At that moment, several NG Bots, without any holograms, stop several feet in front of Mantisbot and aim large blasters at him.
"Nexus Technologies, NG Bots security!" one of the NG Bots announces. "Put your hands up."
"If you insist," Mantisbot raises his arms.
Suddenly, cables shoot out of Mantisbot and connect to the NG Bots, causing them to surge with energy, before a faceplate falls down over their heads.
"From security bots to Corrupbots," Mantisbot lowers his arms, as the newly hacked Corrupbots turn around.
A couple more NG Bots security arrive and aim their blasters, with one addressing the Corrupbots, "Halt! Your programming had been corrupted and must be shut down."
"Show them what you think of that, my Corrupbots," Mantisbot instructs, as the Corrupbots start charging and firing their blasters.
The NG Bots security start to return fire and charge ahead, with one of them getting blasted a couple times and drops its blaster.
A Corrupbot blocks a NG Bot's blaster with its own blaster, before swiping away its opponent with the blaster.
Another NG Bot is blasted by a Corrupbot, followed by a third NG Bot blasting the Corrupbot.
Another Corrupbot fires its blaster, as explosions go off behind it.
Albert steps out from behind a building, looking around, "What's going on?"
He looks ahead to see the young boy from before running from a couple Corrupbots, when he trips and falls down. The boy turns to see the two Corrupbots aiming their blasters at him.
Albert quickly runs over, grabs one Corrupbot's blaster and holds it up as it fires, while kicking the other Corrupbot's blaster to the side.
"Security-grade NG Bots?" Albert realizes, as he struggles with the Corrupbot's blaster. "What are you doing?"
The Corrupbot pushes back with its blaster, knocking Albert down, next to the kid.
"He's not too talkative," the boy comments.
"No kidding," Albert adds, before the Corrupbot starts to aim its blaster at them.
Albert quickly sweeps the Corrupbot's leg, causing it to fall down and fires its blaster at the other Corrupbot, which falls down damaged.
Albert then helps the boy to his feet, "You better go."
"Right, thank you, mister," the boy says, before he runs off.
Albert watches as the boy leaves before turning to see the first Corrupbot returns to its feet.
"I don't want to hurt you," Albert says.
The boy runs between a pair of buildings, passing the thief, who watches him go, before they look ahead to see Albert and the Corrupbot, as it aims its blaster at him. The thief then sees a dropped blaster on the ground.
The Corrupbot takes another step toward Albert, before it is blasted off its feet. After looking at the damaged Corrupbot, Albert turns to see the thief, keeping their face downward to hide it with the ballcap, holding the blaster.
Then a couple explosions go off around Albert, who stumbles back a step and then looks ahead to see Mantisbot slowly approaching him.
"What are you doing?" Albert asks. "The first law of robotics says they can't harm humans or allow harm to come to them. NG Bots can't break it."
"Some rules are meant to be broken," Mantisbot says, before he fires laser blasts from his eyes, causing explosions to go off around Albert.
Albert spins to the side, as explosions continue to go off, before he finally falls onto the ground. He then looks up to see Mantisbot aiming a dagger at him.
"I saw what you did just now, playing the role of a hero," Mantisbot starts. "Congratulations, your final act was a heroic one."
Mantisbot raises the dagger up and starts to lower it.
Suddenly, Mantisbot is blasted a couple times, before he turns to see the thief, keeping the ball cap low to hide their face, aiming their blaster at him.
"Another hero?" Mantisbot says, before he fires laser blasts from his eyes.
Explosions go off around the thief, knocking them off their feet, with the ball cap going flying. The thief, now lying on the ground, looks up, revealing them to be a Hispanic woman with long black hair. She then fires the blaster, blasting Mantisbot.
"Come with me, if you want to survive," the woman, Lucy, returns to her feet and fires the blaster again.
Albert returns to his feet and runs over to Lucy, who fires another blast, before she, with the case in hand, runs away with Albert.
Mantisbot looks ahead to watch them, and takes a step.
"Halt!" says a security NG Bot, as it and another NG Bots approach Mantisbot with their blasters.
"Good," Mantisbot turns and starts to approach them. "I was running out of Corrupbots."
Albert falls down onto his butt, catching his breath, "I don't believe this is happening…" Lucy stands next to him, and turns to look down at him. "This has to stop."
Lucy looks from Albert to the case.
Two Corrupbots aiming their blasters at him.
Albert quickly runs over, grabs one Corrupbot's blaster and holds it up as it fires, while kicking the other Corrupbot's blaster to the side.
Lucy looks over to Albert, "He does appear to possess a heroic spirit, however…"
"I don't want to hurt you," Albert says.
"What are you doing?" Albert asks. "The first law of robotics says they can't harm humans or allow harm to come to them. NG Bots can't break it."
Lucy continues to watch Albert, "He believes so much in the NG Bots, it could be blinding…"
She then notices Albert's clenched fist is shaking, "Are you… okay?"
"NG Bots are supposed to be the future," Albert says, before he returns to his feet and watches the distance as explosions go off. "By working with humans, they can seek out that future, but this… its just a nightmare."
Lucy continues to watch Albert, "But still… he might be able to make a difference. The difference we need."
Lucy then lays down the case and opens it, revealing the Zero-1 Transbelt, a mostly black device with a nearly green circle on the left side, with a silver arrow-like design in the center and a red arrow-like design on the ride side. Next to the Zero-1 Transbelt is a green Data Key with an image of a grasshopper on it.
"Do you want to stop it?" Lucy asks.
"What? Yeah, of course," Albert quickly says, as he looks over to her.
Lucy hands him the Zero-1 Transbelt, "Then put this on."
"Put it on?" Albert takes the Transbelt, looking at it. "What is it?"
Albert holds the Zero-1 Transbelt in front of his waist, when a belt strap shoots out of the right side, wraps around him, and connects to the left side. Albert then looks ahead, as he becomes wide-eyed.
Lucy turns to him, holding the Data Key, when she realizes he is staring blankly ahead, "Are you okay?" Lucy waves a hand in front of Albert's face, but there isn't a response. "Hello?"
"Interface Link completed."
Lucy looks at the Transbelt, before Albert starts to blink and shakes his head.
"A mental link?" Lucy realizes. "An instantaneous knowledge download."
"Okay, that was… weird…" Albert places a hand on his head.
"Do you know how to use the Zero-1 Transbelt?" Lucy asks.
Albert pauses for a moment, lowering his hand, "Yeah, I do."
Lucy holds up the Data Key, "Then use it."
Albert takes the Data Key, looks at it, then steps forward. He holds the Data Key to the front of the Transbelt.
"Accessing."
The N2 Satellite in space looks a beam down at Earth.
A large mechanical grasshopper lands in front of Albert, with Lucy stepping back.
Albert holds up his arms, pressing the side of the Data Key, with a key folds out, "Access Code: Zero-1!"
He inserts the Data Key into the side of the Transbelt, "Rising Hopper."
The grasshopper then turns into energy and flies onto Albert's body, as from glowing, blue energy a mostly black suit forms on him, with the grasshopper energy turns into yellow armor for the suit, and a black case appears in his right hand.
Lucy nods her head slightly, "You are now… Zero-1 Rider."
"Zero-1 Rider?" dropping the case, he holds up his arms and crosses them. "I like that."
Mantisbot walks up and sees him, "What this? A costume party."
"Okay, you need to end this rampage," Zero-1 Rider says, before he runs off.
Lucy watches as he goes, before noticing the case on the ground.
"I have a better idea, why don't you cut out," Mantisbot holds up his scythes, as Zero-1 Rider charges.
Zero-1 Rider blocks Mantisbot's arm, before punching him in the chest, knocking the bot onto a roll across the ground.
Zero-1 Rider looks at his fist, "Did I do that?"
"Yeah, you're also testing my patience," Mantisbot returns to his feet and charges.
Zero-1 Rider performs a side kick, sending Mantisbot flying backward.
"We can still end this peacefully," Zero-1 Rider runs ahead.
Mantisbot turns, dodging Zero-1 Rider, "I prefer to end you." Mantisbot spins around, striking with his scythes, but missing. "Not peacefully."
Mantisbot strikes with his scythes, before Zero-1 Rider kicks him. Mantisbot tries two downward strikes, but Zero-1 Rider catches his arms and then pushes him back. Mantisbot pulls his arms free and then strikes at Zero-1 Rider's feet, with the Rider jumping up to dodge.
Zero-1 Rider lands and turns, "What…" He then looks down, realizing he's on top of a rollercoaster. "What am I doing up here?!"
He places his foot on the railing, looking at his leg, "Talk about serious jumping power."
"Try dodging this!" Mantisbot shoots a large beam from his head.
"I think I'll take the direct path," Zero-1 Rider jumps off the rollercoaster and flies right through the large beam, with his arms crossed.
Upon getting closer, the beam dissipates, with Zero-1 Rider landing and punches Mantisbot, knocking him back a couple steps.
Suddenly, a scream causes Zero-1 Rider to look over to see a couple Corrupbots are chasing several people.
"What?!" Zero-1 Rider says, as a kid falls down and looks to see the Corrupbots approaching her. "No!"
TO BE CONTINUED…