Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of Toonami.


THE INTRUDER

Episode 6: Pardon Our Dust


"The nearest facility is seven light-years from here," Sara informed TOM as she marked the location on a universal map with a blinking dot. She lit up another point on the map to make their current position relevant. "There."

"Great, right in our backyard," TOM said with no small amount of sarcasm. "Punch it and call'em up." He was slouching in his chair, taking advantage of how much better it fit him now. Once Sara had set them on course, TOM strode to the communications room. His mood was improved slightly by the fact that he'd reached it more quickly than he would have earlier that day. He pushed a button to open a comm channel. "StarPower, this is the Absolution."

A silver client liaison with a humanoid shape and a thin visor with light gleaming from within it appeared on-screen. "Hello, Absolution," she greeted in a synthesized, singsong voice.

"We're on our way to you as we speak, but I've lost an engine," TOM explained. "We may take a while. Can I get Parts and Service?"

"One moment please." Her image was replaced by a stocky, yellow, rubber-skinned robot with a gasmask-like face.

"Parts and Service," he said gruffly.

"Yeah, this is the Absolution, L-Class Deep Space Explorer. We've lost our starboard engine and need a replacement. We won't be there for about ... I dunno, a month?"

"Okay, so ya want Designs?"

Why would I want to pick new designs? TOM thought, already confused and worried that this would be more difficult than just placing the order and flying there. "We'd actually like to get the same one we just had."

"Yeah, the model you have's been recalled due to some instability that showed up after a period of time. They'd get fluctuations, intermittent power outputs ... that kinda thing."

"Well, we never had any problem."

"Uh-huh ... I've got other lines on hold, so d'you want Designs or would ya like to call back?"

"Okay," TOM sighed, "what else have you got?"

Sara received the images the PS droid sent. She produced them on three different display screens and used their mechanical arms to group them next to the window showing the visual link to the PS manager. One of them, the Talon ST, was sleek and hefty. The other two, the Vermeer Mark IV and the Harper GT88, had a much narrower appearance, but showed equal style. TOM glimpsed over them, thought for a second, and said, "We'll call you back."

"Suuure thing." The comm channel clicked off.

"Which one do you like?" TOM asked his companion.

"I don't know," Sara replied. Engine styles weren't exactly her thing, since her job was just to run them. She decided to download their technical aspects later to see which ones fit into her systems most comfortably. "Either way, we've got to get two."

TOM thought for a minute until an idea sprang into his mind. "Why don't we just leave it up to the Toonami viewers?" he suggested, motioning to the engine models. "We can put these babies up on the website and let them vote it out. I mean, we're always on the lookout for ways to let the fans participate, and they're the ones who're gonna be seeing the outside of the ship every intro, so, right?"

"Not a bad idea," Sara commended. "Let's do it."

"Great," TOM said, gently pumping his fist. "Are there any surviving Clydes?"

"We have three."

"Send one down. I'll make the announcement."


Weeks later, still trailing smoke from the explosion, as well as gasses and chemicals that were used in some of the ship's mechanical systems, the Absolution reached the StarPower deep space facility. It was a towering superstructure that actually dwarfed the Deep Space Explorer. A few extended sections rotated slowly around its complex, scepter-shaped main body. Nearer to the bottom were metal-and-glass docking sleeves, all big enough to accommodate the largest ships that had been built to this day.

The Absolution glided carefully into one of the structurally ribbed docking sleeves, the stars remaining visible through reinforced glass that was built into its framework. Walking back into the communications room, TOM watched through the panoramic window as deep-space construction machines swarmed about the place. Everything within the facility appeared slow-moving, but it all proceeded without a hitch. He reached the disc-shaped platform and called up Parts and Service again.

"Hey, this is the Absolution, we're ready. We want a pair of the Talon ST's."

"Aw, really?" the PS manager said, as though scoffing at a foolish idea. "I could'a sworn you were gonna go for those Harpers. Way more efficient, y'know."

"Hey, the people have spoken and we need a pair of the ST's," TOM insisted, tapping the screen that the engines were displayed on.

"Alright, but it'll take a while."

"Whatever," TOM said offhandedly.

"I'll get the 'bots on it right away."

Glad to be finished dealing with that guy, TOM retreated into the ship to get busy on some other repairs. Meanwhile, an army of construction droids and scrap carriers spilled into the maintenance bay and headed for the damaged exterior of the Absolution.


Not much longer than a week was needed for the repairs and the port engine replacement to get done. Eventually, everything was hooked up, sealed up, and polished off. TOM, who hadn't been happy about sacrificing a piece of his ship, let alone sending its perfectly-functioning companion piece to the scrap heap, had let the idea grow on him after checking out the ST's technical specs. Then after his first real look at them, a twin pair of sleek, gleaming powerhouses fixed up and ready to go, he'd been psyched.

Jogging up to his chair, he seated himself. "Well, I guess that's it," he said eagerly to Sara.

"New engines are online and ready to go," Sara replied, knowing how much he wanted to get them moving.

He mimed cracking his knuckles. "Man, I can't wait to open these babies up!"

The svelte, silver client liaison droid appeared on-screen with Sara. "Absolution, you're clear to launch."

"Acknowledged," TOM said, throwing her a casual salute.

A low, thrumming pulsation reverberated through the length of the ship. It was soft enough to fade into the back of the mind but strong enough to be noticed in sound and feeling. After a second, it settled into a steady, vibrating hum that was so soft it almost felt like a mental massage. The Absolution began a smooth glide out of the bay. The Talon ST's were ever so gentle, but TOM could easily feel their immense power just waiting to be pushed up.

"This is awesome!"

These engines were stronger and more sensitive than any TOM had ever felt. The silver-and-blue starcraft accelerated a few notches, finally clearing the docking sleeve and leaving the StarPower facility behind.

Also left in the ship's wake, though not a single person noticed it as it drifted by, was a tiny red glob that was floating languidly and harmlessly through the cold vacuum. Soon, the red matter passed beyond sensor range and vanished, perhaps forever or perhaps not, into the black, infinite cosmos.

~fin~


Post Script: The staff for The Intruder went above and beyond the financial limits they had to create it, and I'm so glad they did. It was a great revolution in interactive television, and totally worth all the effort. If only more people had been into it, TOM and Sara may even have had their own animated series today. We can dream, can't we? That's one thing Toonami let some of us know.

Thanks for checking out my third Toonami fanfiction. I hope you enjoyed it. Remember, the revolution has been televised.