Epilogue from Chapter 2

Ro turned to Zee and she could see the renewed hope in his eyes. She clapped him on the shoulder and gave him a huge grin.

"Come on tin man. Looks like there's somewhere we need to be."

CHAPTER THREE

The drive from Grant Park to their new destination didn't take them long. The coordinates from the blueprints led them to the outskirts of Montrose district; part of New Gotham.

They found an alleyway a few blocks from their intended location where they could run reconnaissance undetected. According to the blueprints Batman gave, their target was underneath a large logistics warehouse registered under CATCORP.

Zee had said something about it's location being "very clever". Ro knew he was right. An industrial area would be void of nosy pedestrians and with the amount of traffic coming in and out of the place, parts and operable synthoids could be easily shipped in and out without anyone being the wiser. It was a good cover.

It took them two days to observe the movement going in an out of the facility before Zee was confident enough of their success rate of infiltration. In those two days, Ro grew really fond of the camper craft. It was cozy, mobile and she could definitely see the appeal of a home on wheels. She made herself comfortable in the camper craft, in between making food for herself and learning surveillance techniques from Zee.

Finally, it was go time.

As Ro prepared herself mentally for the task ahead, she observed her synthoid friend. She knew that Batman had restored hope in him but she was worried. Disappointment was a constant in their lives and hope was a double edged sword, even more so for her best friend because he had more to lose.

"Don't get your hopes up too much Zee. We didn't even see him or his assistant enter the compound. Even if we see him we might not be able to get to talk to him if our previous experiences are anything to go by."

She put her fingers on his and squeezed them in hopes that the gesture would cushion possible disappointment even if she knew he couldn't feel the emotion behind them. Zee felt the pressure and recognized her intent.

"I know Ro, but he's alive and I have to see it for myself. Even if we come away today without speaking to him, just to see him in person and know that he is safe gives me certainty that our freedom is still possible."

He smiled at her and squeezed her fingers back before letting go. Her spirits were lifted by his optimism.

"Okay. If this is really it Zee, have ever thought what you might do once you're free?"

"I thought we would find your parents. We agreed."

Her mood dampen again. "What if they can't or don't want to be found? I mean they left Casey and me for a reason."

Zee put his arm around her in comfort.

"Maybe we can at least find out what that reason is, if you want to."

He noticed the furow on her brow and the angst in her eyes and poked her in the her side in an attempt to snap her out of her foreboding thoughts.

"What about you? Have you thought about what else you might want to do when you have your freedom?"

She was glad for the change of topic.

"I was thinking of finishing school. It would be nice to do something normal for once."

"Well, you should look forward to that then," he said twinkly before planting a kiss on her forehead.

Despite herself Ro giggled slightly, her mood lifted once more. It felt like someone had tapped her forehead lightly with the flat side of a metal ruler. Up till now she still wasn't sure how he'd managed to make that kiss he gave Tiffany as Adam Heat so convincing. Maybe it just had been a very successful illusion.

They went through the plan again for the last time and waited for the time to execute.

Security had been double than what had been on the Gnosis; the government was keen not to have a repeat of the Gnosis incident. Guards were disguised as shipping workers but their poise and demeanor screamed government agent. Getting inside the compound was no problem. The real challenge was to get through the restricted area where the entrance to Selig's operations was.

They assumed the identity of two exterminators they had seen entering the compound yesterday it appeared that CATCORP had a rat infestation. They had come and gone on foot, so Zee assumed that the pest control company was within the vicinity. Ro used the holographic bracelet that Dr Edmund had given her the day they thought Selig had died. They pretended that they had come back to check on the traps 'they' had left behind and were let through the checkpoint without any trouble.

Zee had hacked CATCORP's computer database and gotten the info that there was a large shipment of argon that was scheduled to be moved into the restricted area today at this time. Zee knew that argon was a key component in the creation of synthoids (Ro didn't bother asking for more details) so he knew that the shipment of that size was meant for Selig. Once inside the main building, they had quickly located the shipment and morphed into argon tanks and got delivered in with the rest of the shipment.

They were in. They discretely skulked away from the tanks of argon and quickly morphed into agents Rush and West and sought out a scientist to ask where Selig's office was under the pretext of having official NSA business with him. The young Asian man was all too happy to point them in the right direction. It was a positive sign, Selig was there.

Selig's office was on a steel platform high above the production floor which was connected to a series of isolated offices via a series of metal stairs and bridges. This must have been intentional to give Selig a bird's eye view of the entire operation. When they got there, there was no sign of Selig or his assistant. They tried to spot them from their vantage point and saw Selig walking absentmindedly towards them with his assistant tailing not far behind him. This time Zee wasn't taking any chances. The instant Dr Selig entered his office Zee walked directly up to him, lost his holomorph and told Selig who he was.

Selig had been ecstatic! Well... not at first.

Before Zee could finish, Selig screamed for his assistant who had burst into the room a split second later firing a laser gun at intruders. Zee jumped in front of Ro to shield her from the blasts, but not before a shot grazed her thigh. Ro bit back a cry of pain, she knew Zee had more important things to worry about right now. Donoso advanced on Zeta (it seemed like insanity to Ro, a woman of her size and build could not possibly take on a synthoid hardwired to assassinate on command. The goverment couldn't possibly be paying her THAT much!)

She lifted a metal stool from her left and started to swing it at Zee's head. Her first attempt connected with a loud "CLANG" and Zee's head damn well near detached itself from it's core cables. Ro had no doubt that if Zee was human in that instant, he would have had one hell of a concussion.

Zee backed up, assessing his situation. He did not want to hurt Donoso yet he did not understand how Donoso could possibly be this strong. He looked over at Selig, contemplating his next move. He did not want to use force on either of them but Donoso's fortitude was proving to be an obstacle. He dove in at her waist trying to pin her arms to her side in hopes that would be enough but Donoso was too quick for him and had planted a kick square in his chest, trying to drive him into the wall behind him. Zee caught her foot with his hand and tried to throw her off balance by anchoring her foot to his chest but Donoso was already mid air with a roundhouse kick aimed at his head which Zee only blocked in time with his free hand.

It was clear that she was trying the most effective method to get Zee offline, which was by disconnecting his 'brain' to his body.

Zee went on the defensive only blocking her attacks while standing his ground, mostly because he did not want to harm anyone and also to protect Ro who was still behind him. Out of the corner of her eye Ro noticed that Selig was edging towards the door. She ducked out from behind Zee and barred the door with her physique.

Hey, she may not be a synthoid but she was pretty sure she could hold down an old man if she needed to.

Seeing the look of fear on Selig's face, Ro tried to pacify him.

"Tell her to stop! Look, we mean you no harm! Zee's innocent! We can prove it!"

The fear in Selig's face gave way to confusion instead. He simply stared at her in apprehension.

"Please, Zee's been searching for you for a long time. All he wants to do is talk."

He could see it in her eyes, she was in earnest. He turned around to regard the scene behind him. Donoso had somehow managed to bend a metal leg from the stool around Zee's torso, incapacitating him. Zee had not resisted and instead had pretended to shut down. He strategized that if they believed he was not a threat, he would eventually get a chance to talk to Selig.

"Oooh, wouldn't wanna get on her bad side," Ro cringed.

With Zeta taken care of, Donoso turned around and locked eyes on Ro. Ro let out a yelp and threw her hands in front of herself for protection. Donoso started towards Ro, but before Zee could do anything, Selig stood in front of Donoso and told her to stop.

Donoso looked at him in confusion, "Dr. Selig they could pose to be a threat."

"I am not injured Andrea, as you can see. Now I believe they are not here to hurt me, so please, release Zeta."

Donoso hesitated, but did as she was told. She walked back over to Zee, and unbent the metal leg around Zee like it was a marshmallow. Ro dropped her jaw in astonishment as Zee got back up and regarded Donoso in confusion. Selig went to his desk and swiftly wrote something down on a piece of paper and clasped Zeta's hands as he gave it to him.

"It's not safe for you two to be here, meet me at this address in two hours. We'll talk there".

Zeta morphed back into his Zee persona before Selig with an expression that Selig can only recognize as gratitude. As they exited the compound, Zee had a smile on his face. They were finally one step closer to freedom.

- end of chapter three -