Twelve: The Ballad of Scary Mary

Hey, so, this episode is basically Solomon just pondering what happened last episode. I considered calling it eleven and half, but…nah.

Solomon had expected Lance, Ilana, and their robot to move immediately. He would even have bet they never went back to their house, and even if they did, it would only be for a short time. He had spies stationed nearby to keep an eye on the place, even though Solomon was now forced back into zero contact with the aliens.

So when he returned from his visit with his superior and was told his spies had seen the two aliens and their robot return to the home, and still hadn't left, he was surprised. Perhaps they had material they needed to retrieve before moving—but they didn't leave. Lance was constantly glaring out the windows, watching and guarding. Ilana seemed to spend more time upstairs. The robot, in his hologram disguise, went outside and checked the dampening markings planted there for their security system. The large front window of the house was almost always shaded now. Solomon's spies had trouble getting close looks, but Solomon kept their surveying the house. He wanted to know instantly if they left.

But they didn't leave. They stayed, and went to school on Monday like nothing had happened. Assured that they weren't going to disappear, Solomon drew his spies back from constantly observing. He didn't want them to get caught.

Why would Lance and Ilana stay where they were? Now they knew about G3. G3 had kidnapped them, tortured them, manipulated them…surely they wanted to keep out of G3's reach. Solomon's agents had attacked the house before and could do it again. So why would Lance and Ilana stay where they knew they were vulnerable?

He had no means of answers now. Lance and Ilana saw G3 as a threat to them, and would be mistrustful of any encounter.

Perhaps Solomon could find some clues to their actions in the recordings of when he did have them captured. He currently sat in his prime computer room, a small, dim area filled with hologram-screens and full access to the entirety of G3 knowledge. Whenever Solomon needed to juggle multiple missions and jobs, or review reports or video feeds, he did it here. It was private and had everything he needed at his fingertips.

The red tint of Solomon's googles mixed with the blue and green light of the holo-screens. The rest of the room was completely black, the walls were impossible to see, making it feel infinitely large. The keyboards and control panels, glowing light blue, completely surrounded Solomon.

He moved through the security feed, first watching Lance's interrogation. One of Solomon's most aggressive agents had been chosen for that task. Solomon wasn't surprised to see Lance hadn't said a word. The interrogator had gotten a little too rough for Solomon's taste…perhaps that hadn't been the best call.

He knew when he ordered the interrogation that it wasn't the right thing. To harm the aliens would destroy chances of building an alliance with them. But if there was a chance that Lance and Ilana were a threat, invaders or otherwise harmful to earth, shouldn't G3 find out by any means necessary? Wasn't it better to be safe rather than sorry?

It was when Ilana was threatened that a bit of fear sparked through Lance's face. And only moments after, Lance escaped, easily taking on the four G3 agents in the room.

Solomon watched Lance continued to fight his way out, occasionally rewinding to study Lance's martial arts form. Solomon gnawed the inside of his cheek slightly, pondering whether or not to ask his superior how Lance knew how to fight like this. He decided against it, for now; his superior was still angry at him.

Solomon watched the video of him first speaking to Ilana. He again wished he'd had a longer time with her. But Lance was very protective of her and they were apparently difficult to separate, as Lance had broken out to protect her. They obviously cared for one another; was that a sibling bond, or were they actually siblings? Solomon saw no familial resemblance between them, but he knew nothing of the alien genetics.

Now it was too late to try and wheedle information out of Ilana. After being betrayed by Kane, she would be far more suspicious. Solomon had wasted the opportunity.

He paused the recordings, taking a moment to center himself and dispose of the feelings of regret. Now wasn't the time. He would study this first.

Solomon reached the part where he had led Lance and Ilana through the maze of G3 HQ. He played the part he hadn't heard, when Lance and Ilana had whispered to each other behind him.

"Can we really trust this guy?" Lance asked the other alien.

"Do we have a choice?" Ilana asked back.

That was it. Solomon was slightly disappointed there hadn't been more. He pushed through the recordings, again observed Lance and Ilana's fighting style. There were no other words Lance and Ilana said that Solomon hadn't already heard.

Finally he reached the point where he gave Lance and Ilana their watches back. What spectacular technology—how were their armored suits stored in the watches? What was it like to be inside them, piloting them?

For the next few hours he replayed through that fight. He observed each armor's weapons—Ilana's golden armor seemed better designed for defense and precision attacks. She had shields, but it seemed she could only attack when the shields were down. She had a quick laser that could be shot from her forehead, and a much more powerful laser that came from her chest. The stronger laser, however, seemed to need a few seconds to charge. Solomon wondered if the lasers or the shields ever depleted their power.

Lance's armor was built for intense combat. He had an incredible amount of missiles and bullets that never seemed to run out. In his armor's leg compartments where Solomon knew his sword was, there were a few other pods with other possible weapons.

The robot, when it arrived, did not seem to have shields or weapons, but relied on its speed and solid form to ram opponents aside. Solomon was still annoyed that he hadn't known about the robot until this encounter. It had been vital to Lance and Ilana's escape, and if Solomon had been prepared for it, perhaps they would still be on this ship.

The robot was obviously supposed to protect the two aliens. It had been very aggressive when G3 first abducted Lance and Ilana, and hadn't stopped once in its pursuit of them. The moment the signal of the watches had been allowed to broadcast, the robot had come.

There was a small report from security agents that before it had arrived at HQ, the robot had broken into the old G3 base, before this current one in the upper atmosphere was finished. The ground base was long abandoned, and there was nothing there anymore. Still, the robot had triggered alerts by entering, and those signals had been sent here, to the current base.

The robot had explored the base before the scientists had allowed the watch signals to broadcast, and then immediately came here. Still, it showed how close the robot had come to finding G3 HQ on its own.

And then Titan. Solomon watched its formation frame by frame and was still awed. The giant robot was supreme and magnificent, a blend of all three. It was easily stronger than the two armors and robot combined.

How was it controlled? Lance, Ilana, and the robot made it up. Did each control certain parts of it? Did they take turns? Or did they cooperate?

Cooperation and teamwork made the most sense. When Titan had played the children's song on teamwork, Lance and Ilana had been in a fight. Their conflict must have hindered Titan. Perhaps that had also been the case with the six-armed monster.

Solomon tilted his head and pulled up another screen. Two pictures were before him; a paused security tape of Lance and Ilana in G3 HQ, and a picture of Titan. Earth's defender relied on how well these two got along.

They were polar opposites. Ilana was bright, youthfully naive, and friendly. She trusted easily and was kind and reasonable. She showed concern for those who were hurt, even strangers, as she had with Kane. Lance on the other hand, was dark, mistrustful, and aggressive. He had endured the brutal interrogation and hadn't cracked in the least. It was him who convinced Ilana to leave Kane behind.

It made sense that they would fight often. And yet, they also worked well together. Besides the fact that Titan had defeated many monsters despite the conflicting aliens inside it, Lance and Ilana obviously cared a great deal about one another. They defended each other, whether Lance did so with his advanced fighting skills or Ilana with her energy shields. They trusted each other. Lance had obeyed Ilana when she had wanted to bring Kane along, but Ilana had followed Lance when he had wanted to leave Kane behind.

Solomon found that he trusted them to put aside their differences and defend the earth as Titan. They'd done so for this long. With the extent of their care for each other, sibling or not, there couldn't be a better team. In a way, having the two of them inside Titan was the best of both worlds; idealistic and realistic.

Solomon had expected that, once Lance and Ilana thought their identities revealed, they would act differently. They obviously wanted to blend in with humans, so it made sense they would put up an act when around humans. Behaving as children would was the most unassuming.

Yet from Solomon's observations as Kane, they were not pretending. Ilana truly was sweet and innocent, and Lance really was moody and defensive.

They were both truly children.

It was no disguise, cover-up, or ruse. They were young. Why aliens would send two children to another planet, alone? Didn't they know the dangers?

Dangers like G3?

Solomon closed his eyes for a moment and leaned back. He'd done horrible things to them. He'd known it'd been wrong and awful, but he'd done it anyway. Earth was in danger and he had needed to know why. But in doing so, he may have destroyed any trust that could have been bridged between G3 and these aliens, the only defenders strong enough to protect earth.

Solomon was startled out of his thoughts when he got an alert and instinctively recomposed himself. He needn't have worried; no one was communicating with him. It was merely a report on how Titan escaped. After the massive damage done to the Titan prison, examination on its weaknesses had been secondary to rebuilding it. G3 had to repair its flooring so the entire base didn't overbalance and tumble out of the sky.

Bringing his mind back to earth, Solomon moved a new holo-screen before him to examine the report. The information confused him; somehow Titan had gotten into the frequency codes for their gravity containment generators. The scientists who sent the report were baffled; it was as if Titan just had the codes. How? The robot had broken into the old G3 base, but the codes weren't there. How did the aliens get them? Those codes were supposed to be secured.

Once Titan had gotten the frequency codes, it had redirected the energy to increase its mass and broken through the floor. That explained what Titan had done to get away, but not how.

These aliens obviously still had a few tricks up their sleeves. G3 didn't understand them enough to fight them, or force answers out of them. And after this disaster, Lance and Ilana wouldn't want anything more to do with G3.

Solomon couldn't blame them. He'd seen these aliens as secretive enemies, but G3 hadn't behaved much better. They had attacked children. And while Solomon was willing to do anything to protect earth and humanity, harming children was something he would at least hesitate to do. He had never thought he would need to when he helped G3 begin with his superior.

He had been too rash. Too enamored with the opportunity to catch the aliens, that he hadn't seen the best way to handle them. Lance and Ilana had been right in reach. Their home had been easy to break into. And then, when the opportunity to capture Titan presented itself, again Solomon had snatched at it without thinking.

Rather than subduing and torturing the aliens, Solomon should have tried trust first. They were obviously hiding something, he knew it, but now why would they give answers to someone who tricked and hurt them?

His superior had been right. Solomon should have waited.

Next time, if there was a next time, G3 wouldn't be as cruel.

Solomon pulled up a holo-screen and began to order a new alien containment cell to be built. One that was kinder and equipped to provide for their needs. One that wouldn't be threatening or traumatizing.

Thirteen: The Demon Within

Solomon waited a long time before sending the retrieval team to pick up the next monster. He did not want there to be any G3 encounter with Lance and Ilana. There had been one monster before now, but Titan had completely obliterated that one. There was nothing to retrieve.

From his spy reports, the young aliens seemed to be calming down. From the occasional images he got of them inside their home, they seem to have completely relaxed once again.

Solomon did not normally have his spies survey the insides of the house. The agents kept outside and alerted Solomon whenever a resident was leaving. But he had ordered a day where his agents looked through the windows to see what was going on. He was pleased of how Lance and Ilana had returned to normal. Lance did not patrol the windows anymore and Ilana came downstairs when she wanted to read again.

Still, Solomon had his agents return to distant observance after that.

When his retrieval agents finally moved in to investigate the latest alien crash, they discovered a ship.

Solomon waited as the alien ship was lowered from the hovercraft into one of the hangers of G3 HQ. It was not a huge ship, like the cockroach-like one belonged to the red alien or the one who's metal Steel had confiscated. It was a small, tadpole-shaped ship that had two seats…one of which was occupied.

The head of the ship was an orange glass dome. But the dome was broken; something sharp had been thrown and had shattered through the glass, impaling the creature inside.

The weapon that had destroyed the ship was gone, but the alien body was still inside. As his agents removed the dome, Solomon locked his gaze onto the new creature's pale, limp corpse. It was grotesque; had it been like this before it had died? The top of its head was transparent, showing its brain. It had four webbed arms, attached to each other by a veil of skin. Sharp, uneven fangs jutted out of its mouth, and two pairs of eyes blankly looked up from its chin.

Agents moved towards the body with caution, but the monster was certainly dead. Solomon wondered how intelligent it had been—mindless like the giant monsters? This one was at least smart enough to pilot a ship. Around its seat were numerous levers and controls. It seemed like a complex system, and from the creature's position sitting before these controls, it must have understood how to use them.

This was an interesting deviation from the usual animalistic monster. It would have to be researched further.

Solomon turned away as the ship and the creature were moved to G3 labs. Lance, Ilana, and their robot were still protecting earth from these creatures. Solomon hid his small sigh of relief. A part of him had been clenched in worry that, in their anger over G3's treatment of them, Lance and Ilana might refuse to defend earth anymore. But they still did.

Solomon was grateful for that.

Fourteen: I Am Octus

Solomon was reading the usual daily report on Lance and Ilana. Sometimes it felt odd to read something that appeared so normal most of the time. It certainly did now—the aliens had visited an art museum today.

He skimmed the report thoughtfully, and watched the recording of them at the museum. His agents no longer spied on Lance and Ilana twenty-four seven, but kept an eye on them whenever they left the house. They weren't followed all the time, but any facial recognition on any camera was taken by G3. This time, for example, G3 watched them through the art industry security cameras. Solomon wondered idly if they had art where they came from, and if so, what it was like.

Solomon noted a third with them; a pale, large human that looked to be in his teens. But Solomon recognized the familiar form and build—rectangular. Much like the third target the night G3 had broken into the Lunis household, who had turned out to be the robot.

Solomon found himself doubtless that this was the robot in a different hologram. He didn't understand why it wouldn't be using the grown-man disguise—wouldn't that fit in just as well? Why did it matter if a robot appeared younger?

A thought struck him, and Solomon pulled up a holo-screen. He looked up Sherman High School's students, and sure enough, in a class photo was the robot in this teenage form. Right with Lance and Ilana.

The robot's student form was called "Newton." This had to be a persona so the robot could join its masters in the High School. Interesting. How many disguises did it have, Solomon wondered? Did they all have the same shape?

It was good to know about this one; another thing to spy on, another identity to watch out for. Solomon browsed through the robot's school information and was unsurprised to see its grades were completely perfect. Solomon added it to the watch list and returned to watching the footage of the aliens in the museum. They were speaking with each other, but the footage didn't come with recordings.

"Sir." Solomon looked up at an approaching agent. "Something is happening in France."

Solomon turned off the screens immediately. It had been two weeks since the last alien landing—which meant another one would probably come soon. "Has the portal activated?"

'Portal' was the G3 label for the place where the aliens came through to earth. It was nearly impossible to detect, only ever opening for a few seconds. It was so high above earth that the creatures that came from it could land just about anywhere. Sherman was easily the most common place, however.

"No, sir," the agent said. "But the population of an entire village in France has sudden become completely still and unresponsive, as are all those who enter the area."

Solomon began to move, the agent walking by his side. "Assemble a recon team and get all our scientists on this—now."

"Yes, sir."

A few minutes later, Solomon entered a lab where his scientists were buzzing about, trying to gather information. They had nothing to work with—no specimens to study. Anyone who got too close to the village was affected too.

Solomon whipped up a holo-screen and watched data pouring in. At first he thought he was only looking at a picture—but it was a video. People were frozen. They might as well be statues.

"Sir," a scientist spoke up softly. "The cameraman of that feed has also been affected. He's frozen too, but we can still see through the camera."

A com in the room buzzed. "We've landed in France, outside the village. Setting up scanners now."

Solomon patrolled around the lab, watching the readings over his scientists' shoulders. There were no toxins in the air, no signals that G3 could detect…

"The French military is approaching nearby," an agent on the field reported over com. "They know to let us handle—"

It wasn't like the agent was cut off. The signal was still clear. It was like the agent himself had just decided to stop talking.

A sense of unease entered the room, like thick air.

Solomon stepped forward. "Agent, report." There was nothing. "Recon team, report."

The room was still, listening for anything. Solomon tapped on a computer and activated the recon team's agent cameras. In one, he saw his agents in the night. Their scarves blew in the wind, but they did not move.

There was an intake of breath around him as his scientists saw the screen.

"It's spreading," whispered a scientist.

Solomon whirled on them. "Move." And immediately they got back to work.

Solomon glanced back at the agent-cam and something caught his attention: birds. Doves. They lay limp on the ground, wings outstretched as if they'd been flying. They had been frozen, too, in the middle of their flight, and fallen to the ground.

A horrible, horrible vision passed through his eyes; frozen pilots. There were thousands of aircrafts in the sky at a time. If the pilots of these crafts suddenly froze, those huge, high-speed planes would fall all over the earth.

Including this base.

Solomon activated his com. "Put everything on autopilot," he ordered.

"Sir?" an agent asked confusedly.

"Now," Solomon's voice had gone deadly. "Everything."

"Yes, sir!"

He made another call. "Use G3 authority to ground all flights," he instructed. "Any plane, helicopter, anything that flies, get it on the ground, worldwide, as fast as you can."

"Yes, sir."

"Sir!" a scientist called Solomon's attention. The man pointed to the agent-cam and Solomon saw that something was moving on screen—the robot.

It was using its eye as a flashlight, bright yellow against the subtly glowing blue of its energy body. It looked right into the agent-cam. Right at them.

The room froze; as if afraid the robot was looking right through to them.

"The G3 guys are here also," the robot said.

"What are they doing?" That voice was Lance's; it was full of static, a recording of a recording. Lance couldn't be there and not be frozen. The robot had to be speaking to him over a communicator, from far away. According to Solomon's spies, Lance and Ilana were back at their house. They must have sent the robot to inspect…clever of them.

Lance's voice had been full of notable spite. It seemed the alien was still fuming over G3's abduction of them. Solomon felt a small twist of guilt through his focus on the current situation.

On-screen, the robot turned away from the camera and looked around at the other frozen agents. "Nothing."

The robot looked back and forth at the agents and Solomon wondered what it would do—try and hack the G3 technology? Take vengeance while the agents were vulnerable?

The robot walked away. Solomon could briefly hear its footsteps before they faded away. It was gone.

Solomon was glad the aliens were aware of the problem, and were looking into it themselves. But G3 had its own work to do.

"Get back to work," Solomon ordered. His scientists quickly turned back to their computers.

Now for the most important contact. Solomon pulled up a holo-screen that was one way, hiding his message as he typed it up and sent it. "We need your help."

His superior took an achingly long time to respond. "There is nothing I can do."

Solomon's hands became fists. "You must try. Can you find out what's causing this? Or how to stop it?"

Another horribly long wait. "Not in time."

"Sir, we're losing contact with more and more of Europe," a scientist called fearfully. Solomon clenched his hand into a fist.

"What can we do?" Solomon sent.

"Nothing you are not already doing."

Solomon typed in furious anger, his gloves fingers almost banging against the keyboard. "We are all about to be frozen. The aliens might be, too. All of earth will be helpless."

Solomon forced himself to remain entirely still as he waited for a response. He was extremely tempted to tap his foot or fingers. Every second, the energy that was causing this frozen hypnotic state was getting closer. He felt the time slip by, like water through his fingers.

Finally; "Not all."

Solomon frowned at the response. Did his superior know someone who was immune? How? "Who?"

This response came fairly quickly. "The aliens' robot."

The robot? It would be alone, and as far as Solomon had seen the robot hadn't shown particular strength in battle like Lance and Ilana had with their armored suits. If both of them were frozen, too, Titan would be unable to form. Without Titan, there was no way to fight the monsters.

The robot was only one thing that could withstand this, and it wasn't even alive. The robot was expected to protect earth on its own?

Solomon couldn't even think of a reply to send to his superior.

And then—there was something odd.

His vision flashed black for the smallest of seconds, like someone had briefly turned off the lights in the room. His heartbeat skipped once, his lungs became dry, his hands felt stiff all at the same time.

"—it," came over the coms.

Solomon looked up, confused. Some of his scientists had stopped their work and also looked alarmed. Others were continuing like nothing had happened. That odd feeling, and that sound of the agent. Had the agents in France been unfrozen?

Ping. Solomon looked at a new message from his superior. "It's passed."

Solomon was confused. He looked at the agent-cam he still had up and was alarmed to see that it was suddenly daylight. His agents were looking around, alarmed and confused.

"Sir?" One agent on screen lifted a hand to the side of his helmet. All the scientists looked up, now.

The date and time in the corner of the screen had changed—by a few days.

Solomon could guess what had happened, but he was skeptical. He hadn't felt like he had been frozen for days. He wasn't hungry or thirsty.

His men were all looking to him questioningly. He paused, still arguing with himself, before he gave up and embraced the truth. "It's over."

An alert popped up. There was a new report of a monster attack in Sherman. Solomon pulled it up and saw on-screen Titan fighting a huge bat-like creature. Titan held a bow, and was knocking arrows to fire at the creature.

This monster had to be what caused this. Solomon watched, unmoving, as Titan aimed true and the arrow blew it up.

It was finished. The creature was destroyed. There was hardly any of its body left to fall back to the ground.

Nevertheless, Solomon pulled out his com again. "Assemble a retrieval team."

He turned away and left the room. The robot had handled it…all on its own.