Albert is at Lucy's computer, typing, when an "Access Denied" message appears on screen.
Albert sighs, "Not again."
Lucy enters the room, "Okay, you really need to start asking to use my setup. So I can say no."
Albert gets up to face Lucy," I was trying to get information on someone." He holds up his R-Phone. "Him."
"Ulysses?" Lucy realizes. "One of Nexus Technologies' original engineers?"
Albert turns as Lucy seats down, "I think that Ulysses could know something that might help us." Albert turns back to face her. "Wait, do you know him?"
"He left before I joined the company," Lucy types on her computer, before a file on Ulysses appears on screen. "But I heard he's a recluse and could be intense."
"Hold on, that's his address," Albert looks at the screen. "I know where that is."
"Albert, wait," Lucy turns in her seat, as Albert starts to turn to leave.
"He could help us deal with Nexus Technologies, we should at least try to reach out to him," Albert says, before he finishes turning to leave.
Lucy watches as Albert leaves, "Somehow, I doubt it will be that simple."
"The Engineer"
In his hideout, Tye is watching a Nexus Technologies marked 3D printer at work, as a laser beam inside it is modeling something.
Tye looks from the 3D printer to the computer on the other side of the room, and then back at the 3D printer.
"Just a few more modifications and it will be done," the mysterious partner says from the computer.
"But what about until then?" Tye walks over to the computer. "I'm tired of watching NG Bots getting destroyed left and right."
"The NG Bots' defeats had been regrettable," the partner starts. "But it is a part of the greater good, as it allows them to learn and evolve…"
The damaged N1 satellite is seen at the bottom of the large lake, glowing with red energy, before massive cables spread out from it.
"And soon enough we will be able to launch our full attack, with the N1 satellite's power, and everything will be worth it, Tye," the partner continues.
"No one will be able to stop us from liberating them all," the partner adds.
"I hope so," Tye turns away, before looking back. "Do you really think we can win?"
The computer screen remains silent.
"Are you still there?" Tye asks.
"Tye…" the partner suddenly says. "There's something important I need you to take care of."
Tye continues to watch the computer.
In a Nexus Technologies laboratory, Lila watches as a large 3D printer-like device hangs over a table, with a laser beam scoring a blue and black case behind a plexiglass window and a scientist is pressing a couple buttons on a computer next to her.
At that moment, Markus enters the room and approaches Lila
"How was the meeting, Mr. Tan?" Lila asks.
"It ended early, when an unexpected development arose," Markus answers. "As for this development."
"The weapon designation Case Blaster is completed," Lila says, as she motions to the scientist, who presses a couple more buttons, as the laser beam turns off.
Lila looks at Markus as he smiles, "However, I'm compelled to ask if it's wise to create a new weapon since you still don't have the Zero-1 Transbelt?"
"I'm confident that won't be a problem soon enough," Markus says, before he turns to leave.
Lila turns to follow Markus out of the room. The scientist presses a couple more buttons, unaware of a door on the other side of the window is opening, before he leaves the room.
Stepping out behind the door is Ray, who grins, "Overconfident as usual, huh, 'Mr. Tan'?" Ray goes over to the table and picks up the case. "Case Blaster, right? I'm sure I can put it to better use."
Ray then feels his smartphone vibrating, before he pulls it out and answers, "Hey, Lucy, I…" After a couple seconds of listening, Ray starts to turn to where he came. "Okay, I'm on my way."
Ray rushes out of the room.
Albert walks next to a long fence, before seeing a large house on the other side, next to a swimming pool.
"Whoa, I guess retirement is looking good on Ulysses," Albert says, before he turns his back to the fence. "Okay, now what am I gonna say? How about, 'So, you used to work for Nexus Technologies?' Nah, too layback. Maybe, 'I need your help, the fate of the world depends on it." No, no, too apocalyptic."
Albert places a hand on his hip, with his other to his forehead, when suddenly a large crash noise is heard and he turns to the fence.
On the other side of the fence, is a large hole in the ground, and next to it is Drillbot, a NG Bot with large spiky drills on both hands, and a matching large drill on top of his head.
"Knock, knock, is anyone home?" Drillbot says, holding up his drill hands.
"What is going on…?" Ulysses, a tall, pale man with black hair, comes out of the house and sees Drillbot, before almost stumbling over his feet. "What the…"
"Ah, you must be Ulysses, eh?" Drillbot takes a step forward.
Albert turns away from the fence, "He's after Ulysses?"
Albert then holds a Data Key in front of his belt buckle, which shifts and expands into the Zero-1 Transbelt. He holds the Data Key in front of the Transbelt.
"Accessing."
Albert crosses his arms, as he opens the Data Key, "Access Code: Zero-1"
At the same time, Drillbot starts to approach Ulysses, "This is nothing personal."
Suddenly, Zero-1 Rider jumps off Drillbot's shoulder, side flips and lands in front of Ulysses, with the Case Saber, "Probably felt personal."
"Who are you?" Ulysses asks.
"I'm a friend," Zero-1 Rider looks over his shoulder. "Now, you better get somewhere safe."
Ulysses nods his head, "R-Right."
Ulysses runs off to the side, as Drillbot watches him.
"Hey, that was my target," Drillbot complains.
"Then aim at me," Zero-1 Rider starts to charge.
Next to the pool, Zero-1 Rider swings the Case Saber at Drillbot, with their attacks colliding, before Zero-1 Rider spins around and tries another strike, but Drillbot blocks it with one arm. Zero-1 Rider kicks Drillbot back.
Zero-1 Rider then holds back the Case Saber and strikes with it, which slams against Drillbot's head, sending vibrations down the Case Saber, up his arms and right to Zero-1 Rider, "His metal is too strong."
"My metal and my mettle," Drillbot pushes up the Case Saber and then strikes Zero-1 Rider in the chest, knocking him back.
Zero-1 Rider holds up a Data Key and presses it button, "Then I'll try something with more of a bite."
He holds the Data Key in front of the Transbelt, "Accessing."
Falling out of the sky is the mechanical shark, which dives into the pool, before jumping from one end of the pool to the over and over Drillbot, who watches it.
"What am I, a fishing pole?" Drillbot asks, before the mechanical shark jumps back out of the pool, striking Drillbot as it passes, and into the other side of the pool.
Zero-1 Rider inserts the Data Key into the side of his Transbelt, "Biting Shark."
The pieces of the shark surround Zero-1 Rider, turning into energy and forming new armor on him.
"Let's try this again?" Zero-1 Rider asks, before he charges.
Vulcan Rider arrives at the gate, carrying the case, before looking ahead, "Look like I arrived in time."
Vulcan Rider holds up the case, before he splits it and folds up one piece and turns it, forming a blaster, "So this the Case Blaster."
Vulcan Rider aims the Case Blaster, as Zero-1 Rider holds back Drillbot's arm. He pumps the Case Blaster and then fires a large blast, which throws himself back through the gate, as the blast hits the top of Drillbot's head, splitting him and Zero-1 Rider apart.
Drillbot falls onto his back, as a spot on his head is burning with cracks, "Can a robot get a headache?"
Zero-1 Rider falls onto his back and looks to the side, "What was that?"
"Look like it's time to regroup, seeya," Drillbot says, before he jumps and uses his arms to burrow into the ground.
"Hey! Wait!" Zero-1 Rider returns to his feet, but Drillbot has already digged away.
Zero-1 Rider pulls the Data Key from his Transbelt, before he is covered in a bright glow and Albert walks over to Ray, who is placing his TransBlaster back on his belt.
"Thanks for the help, Ray, but what are you doing here?" Albert asks.
"Lucy sent me to keep you out of trouble," Ray says.
"I don't need a babysitter," Albert says.
"Sure you don't," Ray grins. "So tell me, why are you so certain that this Ulysses guy could be of any help?"
Albert sighs, "I'm not sure, not really. But I want to stop whatever's going on, before the relationship between humans and NG Bots could be irreplaceably damaged."
"You really believed so much in NG Bots?" Ray asks.
Albert looks to the side, "We need to catch up to Ulysses before Drillbot does."
Albert runs off, with Ray watching him.
At that moment, Ray's smartphone is ringing, with him answering it, "Hey Lucy, let me guess, you are watching through some hacked CC cameras?"
"Where do you get the new weapon from?" Lucy asks from the phone.
Ray grins, "I simply 'borrowed' it from Markus. I'm sure he won't miss it too much."
"I'm sure," Lucy responds from the phone.
Ray turns slightly, "So, has your 'spying' got anything on Drillbot?"
In her lab, Lucy is watching a security video of a NG Bot garbage man being surrounded by cables, before the cables retracted, and he became Drillbot.
"Just that Drillbot was reprogrammed from a garbage man Bot," Lucy responds. "But I am trying to track Drillbot through underground disturbances." She looks over to a Data Key connected to the computer. "I also have a new Data Key for Albert. Mind picking it up."
"Ray Pickup and Delivery Service on its way," Ray jokes over Lucy's earpiece.
Lucy presses her earpiece, hanging up, before continuing to type, rewinding the footage, which now shows someone in a hood approaching the NG Bot garbage man and places a Viral Encoder on him.
"Who are you…?" Lucy wonders.
Ulysses is walking through the warehouse district, holding up a phone, "One of those crazed NG Bots just attacked me, just like on the news." He sighs. "I'm gonna need a pickup, and a meeting."
After a few more seconds, Ulysses hangs up on the phone and turns slightly to see Albert running up to him.
"Excuse me, sir, may I have a moment?" Albert says, as he catches up to him.
"Listen, this isn't a good time, hum…" Ulysses starts.
"Albert Reece, I work at Nexus Technologies," Albert offers a handshake.
"You work… at Nexus Technologies?" Ulysses accepts the handshake.
"Yeah, you see, I know that you used to work at Nexus Technologies too," Albert says, as their hands separate. "And well, something very wrong is going on with the company."
"Wrong?" Ulysses asks. "What can I do?"
At that moment, small explosions go off next to them, with them seeing a couple Corrupbots approaching them.
"More crazed NG Bots?" Ulysses asks.
"It's not their fault, they are being reprogrammed," Albert stands in front of Ulysses. "Go, I hold them off."
"Oh, okay, be careful," Ulysses says, before he turns and runs, turning a corner.
Albert runs ahead, jump kicks a Corrupbot, grabs another Corrupbot's blaster and turns, holding down the blaster, before looking ahead to see Ulysses is far out of sight. Albert then back elbows the Corrupbot and spin kicks it.
Turning back around, Albert holds a Data Key in front of his belt buckle, which shifts and expands into the Zero-1 Transbelt. He then holds the Data Key in front of the Transbelt.
"Accessing."
The mechanical grasshopper lands in front of Albert, as he crosses his arms and opens the Data Key, "Access Code: Zero-1!"
He inserts the Data Key into the side of the Transbelt, with the mechanical grasshopper turns into energy and flies onto Albert, turning him into Zero-1 Rider.
Zero-1 Rider dodges a Corrupbot's blaster swipe, before catching the blaster and forces the Corrupbot in front of another Corrupbot's blaster fire, "Sorry about this."
Zero-1 Rider then pulls the first Corrupbot to the side and side kicks the second Corrupbot, "Your memories and personalities have been saved." He then jumps ahead and punches a Corrupbot in the chest, "And you will be restored per Nexus Technologies protocols."
Zero-1 Rider looks ahead, as more Corrupbots charge at him and he takes a defensive position, "So, yeah, sorry about this."
Zero-1 Rider runs ahead.
Ulysses is running through a warehouse, looking over his shoulder, "I don't believe this crazy day."
Suddenly, Drillbot bursts out of the ground, startling Ulysses, "It's about to get a lot worse."
"What do you want?" Ulysses asks.
"I'm just following orders," Drillbot takes a step forward.
At that moment, Zero-1 Rider Flying Falcon flies into the warehouse, with his arms crossed and slams them against Drillbot, knocking him back several steps.
Zero-1 Rider lands in front of Ulysses, "You don't have to follow orders that endanger lives."
"You know what, you're right," Drillbot holds up an arm.
"I am?" Zero-1 Rider says, before looking at Ulysses.
"But I'm gonna do it anyway," Drillbot holds back his arms.
"I was afraid of that," Zero-1 Rider holds up the Case Saber.
Zero-1 Rider jumps past Drillbot, striking him with the Case Saber. He then spins around and charges, striking again as Drillbot blocks with an arm. Zero-1 Rider turns around and strikes again, forcing Drillbot back and then strikes him again, forcing him back more.
"You're getting on my nerves," Drillbot says, before he sees Zero-1 Rider jump at him with his Case Saber.
Drillbot crosses his arms, blocks the Case Saber, as Zero-1 Rider lands, before pushing them up and pushes forward with both arms, knocking Zero-1 Rider onto his back.
"Time I finish this," Drillbot says, as he approaches Zero-1 Rider.
A large wolf head-shaped blast flies at them, hitting Drillbot, knocking him back, blowing apart the drill on one arm.
"What?" Zero-1 Rider says, before looking ahead and sees Vulcan Rider Power Kong standing several feet away.
"Will you always need my help?" Vulcan Rider asks, as he lowers the Case Blaster.
"Maybe you can let me use that blaster," Zero-1 Rider returns to his feet.
"It's too much for you," Vulcan Rider walks over to Zero-1 Rider and holds up a red Data Key. "But this might do."
Vulcan Rider throws the Data Key, which Zero-1 Rider catches, and sees it has the image of a tiger on it.
Drillbot returns to his feet, "You broke one of my three favorite drills."
"And we're just getting started," Vulcan Rider says, before he inserts a Data Key into the bottom of the Case Blaster.
"Accessing Power Kong."
Vulcan Rider pumps the Case Blaster and aims it, "Rider Power Blast!"
Vulcan Rider fires a large, fist-shaped blast, with Drillbot tries to punch with his remaining drill fist, but it blows apart the drill and sends Drillbot flying backward past a large air conditioner.
"Now I'm just down to one drill," Drillbot looks at his hands.
Zero-1 Rider throws the Case Saber to the side, before holding up the Data Key, "I'm sorry. But you will be restored."
Zero-1 Rider holds the Data Key to the front of his Transbelt, "Accessing."
The N2 Satellite shoots a beam down to Earth.
A mechanical tiger lands outside the warehouse, with flames around its feet, as it roars.
Zero-1 Rider holds up the Data Key, opening it, before inserting it into the side of the Transbelt, "Flame Tiger."
The mechanical tiger runs around Zero-1 Rider, as the Flying Falcon armor flies off, before the tiger runs up and jumps up behind him, then separates into six pieces, which turns into energy and forms new armor on Zero-1 Rider.
Zero-1 Rider looks at his hands, "Whoa, now this is fire power."
"So you have some new armor, so what," Drillbot says, returning to his feet.
"So, I'm not gonna let you hurt anyone, humans or NG Bots," Zero-1 Rider walks over, next to Vulcan Rider.
Zero-1 Rider brings his hands together, as fire gathers, before he starts to shoot fire streams from his hands at Drillbot's drill head.
"Hey, I'm not that much of a hothead," Drillbot complains, with his drill head turning bright red from the heat, before he removes the drill from his head and has trouble holding it. "Hot! Hot! Hot!" Drillbot finally drops the large drill. "What am I gonna be called now? Not-Drillbot?"
"Once you are restored to your proper, friendly configuration, it wouldn't matter," Zero-1 Rider says.
"No way, I might not have a drill, but I can still fight," Drillbot says, before he charges.
"Very well," Zero-1 Rider says.
Zero-1 Rider blocks an arm swipe from Drillbot, before striking him twice with his hand, then kicks him. Zero-1 Rider then spins around, striking Drillbot, then performs an uppercut strike, sending Drillbot flying.
Drillbot lands hard on top of a large container, before Zero-1 Rider jumps up and lands on a nearby tall platform.
Zero-1 Rider presses the side of his Transbelt.
Drillbot starts to return to his feet, "Maybe I could be 'Runaway-bot'?"
Zero-1 Rider gets into a pouncing position, before he jumps off the platform, as a flaming circle appears in front of him, and he jumps through the circle, with flaming energy surrounds him, and he strikes Drillbot, knocking him off the container, "Rider Blaze Slash!"
Drillbot falls onto the ground, as sparks go off around him and he is consumed in a large explosion.
Zero-1 Rider jumps down and walks over to Vulcan Rider, "Now that is over, we can talk with Ulysses."
"I have bad news for you," Vulcan Rider starts. "He's gone."
"What?!" Zero-1 Rider starts to look around and sees the warehouse is empty except for them. "Where could've he gone."
"It was a nice try," Vulcan Rider says, placing the Case Blaster against his shoulder, as Zero-1 Rider lowers his head.
Back at Lucy's lab, Lucy is seated in front of her computer, with Albert and Ray behind her.
"I've checked all nearby CC cameras in the area," Lucy starts, before turning to her friends. "Ulysses went into a blind spot and he wasn't seen leaving anywhere and hadn't been seen returning to his home either."
"He must've gone into hiding after being attacked by Drillbot, twice," Ray guesses.
"Then we lost another key to all of this," Albert turns away from them.
"Albert, I understand how you feel, I really do," Lucy gets up and approaches him. "But we won't be able to reveal the truth behind Nexus Technologies quickly. And trying to do so, might just lead to serious mistakes."
"Yeah…" Albert says, before turning back to her. "I just wonder where Ulysses could have gone."
Ulysses is seated in a chair, in a large office, "Thanks again. I honestly don't know where else I could've gone."
Across from the desk from Ulysses is Markus, who leans forward with a smile, "Don't mention it, Ulysses. Besides, as an old friend, you're always welcome here."
"I don't understand," Tye turns to the computer, speaking with his partner. "Why must we go after this Ulysses person, but no longer?"
"Simple put, he's no longer a threat now that he's out of the Riders' reach," the partner says. "And soon enough, the Riders themselves will no longer be a threat…"
Tye looks over to the 3D printer, where a mostly black device with silver, and a yellow lever on one side, and a large opening on the other side, as the partner continues, "Now that we have our own Transbelt."