CHAPTER V

Innocence Lost

"Lost are we all if we allow our anger to illuminate our way. For the flame flickers brightly and briefly, long enough to leave us trapped in our own darkness."

R.D.M.

Noreen Wakeman's lab

A soft swoosh, faint, only audible due to the dead calm suffocating the room. Dr. Noreen Wakeman slowly ran her hand across a round bulb of metal protruding from a slab of metal laying atop her work bench. Her trained eye captured every detail as she surveyed the damage to her greatest creation, her masterpiece, her..., "Oh, Jennifer..." A small tear fell upon the warm steel, wisping faint vapor as it slowly disappeared. Sheldon deactivated the Silver Shell. The chest split apart and slid open. Immediately, he shot out, rushing over and grabbing Nora by the shoulders. He tried to regain her focus, "Nora! You have to pull it together! If we act fast there's a chance-!"

"No..." She interrupted his plea.

"No? No? What do you mean NO?" Sheldon retorted. Nora's mind was still reeling from the sudden influx of emotional trauma, "No, we...we have all the time in the world." She wiped away another tear before finishing, "The damage has been done. We must remain calm and examine the situation carefully." Sheldon calmed down a bit. He knew she was right about that much at least. It would be easy to make a mistake if they rushed into the repairs.

"OK...OK, what do we do now?" Sheldon asked worriedly.

"I need a moment to gather myself before we begin..." She pulled a hefty set of keys from her pocket and examined them one by one until she found the one she was looking for. A rather odd looking key, old in it's design. Sheldon watched the old woman as she made her way to her computer station and used it to open a rusted, and dusty old box. She reached in and picked out a small, rectangular shaped box that read "Macbarrel" on the package. She carefully struck the object against her palm several times and then tore off the plastic wrapping, opened the box and pulled out a long slender item. She placed the odd thing in her mouth, then looked around, hastily searching for something.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Sheldon asked. It was then Nora spied her Bunsen burner. She lit it's flame and ignited the object before replying.

"You know...Back in my day..." She paused to draw in a deep breath. The tip of the odd thing glowing brightly as she did, "Well over 50% of the world's population partook in smoking." Gray wisps flowed from her mouth as she spoke.

"Cough! Cough! Yeah, I know! That's why the World Government outlawed smoking years ago..."He responded rather annoyed, "Before I was even born."

"Sheldon, do you think of me as a intelligent person?" She looked at him with a stare that could be mistaken for aggravation.

"Well, yeah. Your work in the field of robotics laid the frame work for technology as we know present day." He looked back at her, a little puzzled by her question. Nora placed her hands behind her back and glared at the Silver Shell suit, sitting just behind Sheldon. After a few moments of observing the battle suit, she turned her focus back to Sheldon. Nora approached him, purposely positioning herself well within his comfort zone. She stared straight up his chest, into his eyes with a look of malice. The cigarette nearly touching his chin, "Then what the fuck makes you think I wouldn't know you hacked into my private computer network?" Sheldon backed away from the noxious fumes and verbal assault spewing from the small woman.

"You-you don't understand!" He pleaded.

"Further more, you seem to think I wouldn't recognize the designs used to upgrade the Silver Shell!" She interrupted, pulling the cigarette from her mouth and pointing it at his creation.

"I had no choice! I had to be able protect her from Axle!" He became more desperate for her understanding the more he talked, "My intentions were pure! I just...Didn't want anything to happen to Jenny...I..I love her."

"Ah...Good intentions indeed." Nora retorted, "The affections of my daughter." Another long drag, "You know, I always hoped secretly that she would choose to be with you. You had a good head on your shoulders but, you've made a terrible mistake, hiding behind your creation to deceive her. You should be ashamed." her words were cold, harsh, and rife with disappointment.

"Nora, I-I didn't mean for it to come across like that! I was..It's just-!" Sheldon fumbled over his words.

"While we're on the subject of my daughter, back in my Skyway hey days, one of my greatest skills was being able to look into situations beyond what others see..." She puffed out a small cloud, "Judging by the damage on your suit, I presume you had some level of involvement with her current condition." Nora backed the teen against his on creation, bellowing smoke in his face as she spoke, "I know you wont lie to me Sheldon. So, tell me. What do you know about this?" Sheldon swallowed hard under her gaze then lowered his head to the floor.

"I-I-there was a fight between Axle and I...Jenny got distracted by us and didn't and notice the meteor until it reached the atmosphere . I turned out to be another robot! It landed at Brad's house and killed his family...We couldn't stop it! It called itself DV-1! Axle sacrificed himself to save her...She took his power core out of desperation...She defeated him but..." Sheldon's voice hung low on the air, weighted down by sad words as he gave the slab a quick glance.

"I will see what information I can retrieve from Jennifer's memory banks. Now..." Another long overdue drag, "You will hand over all the information you've stolen pertaining to Axle and my daughter or..." Another deep inhale, "...you will find out what I did in Skyway before a fancied robotics." The heavy stomp of a now active X-J8 insured the teens cooperation. He quickly turned around, reached into the suit and pulled out the hard drive.

"He-here. That's everything I have..." Sheldon handed over the hard drive with an I'm sorry expression.

"I will give you the benefit of the doubt but, I suggest you leave before Bradly wakes." Sheldon hastily retreated back into his Shell, "Do not return, until you realize the error of your actions." With that, he exited the lab. After a moment of starring at nothing in particular, Nora glanced at XJ-8, "How did you reactivate?"

"My sensors indicated excessive stress levels emanating from you. Data showed the most likely cause to be the person you were exchanging dialogue with. I also detected that XJ-9 had been deactivated, leaving the Earth defenseless." The 8ft tall deep purple droid explained in a heavily digitized monotone.

"Impossible. I removed the auto-activation function from all of you when you were decommissioned." Nora stated, half asking.

"I knew and understood your reasons for shutting us down, but I felt that there may be need for abilities one day. So, I created a priority routine to reactivate if my sensors detected any disturbances in reference to what is important to me." XJ-8 explained.

"Astounding...You are equipped with a prototype version of Jennifer's C.P.U. and OS...So, it makes sense that you could learn to do such things but..." Nora took in another breath, "What is of great importance to you?" Nora asked.

"My family." Nora flicked the ashes from her cigarette reflexively, taken back by the answer from XJ-8, "Mom...Will Jenny be OK?"

"I-I..." Nora watched as the bits of burned tobacco and paper drifted downward and landed on the floor, "I don't know..."

The sky's above Tremerton

The Silver Shell streaked across the sky at top speed, Sheldon, still lamenting from his argument with Nora, inside. He had little time. Sheldon activated his radar as soon as he left, Skyway had surely detected the fight and would be in route to the scene, collecting everything for examination, "Damn..." The radar confirmed his fears, they had already arrived. Shell touched down, unnoticed, a few yards away from an officer. He watched them loading Axle's body into an aircraft. Feeling that he could negotiate with them, he approached the man, trying his best to not sound suspicious, "Greetings honorable sir!" Shell cheerfully spoke, "I would like a word with your superior officer." The cadet looked at the giant before him with an annoyed face.

"You need to step back sir. This is a restricted area." Shell glanced back at the craft as it's engines fired up. His only hope to retrieve Axle was about to fly away. He stepped around the young man, in an attempt to catch the craft before it took off, "Hey! I'm ordering you to stand down or I will fire!" Shell looked back at the man with that cold, unchanging expression.

"I'm sorry...I understand you have a job to do but, this is something I have to do..." With that Shell sprinted towards the ship. The cadet fired off a few rounds which alerted everyone else and all officers opened fire. The bullets bounced off in all directions with metallic pings. He ran to the right wing of the aircraft and punched the engine, exploding it on impact and crippling the aircraft.

"Captain! We're under attack by an unknown!" Lieutenant Morris called out to his superior. Commander McKinley stood from his post in the cockpit.

"Get the heavy artillery! We'll defend the cargo until death!" McKinley ordered.

"We don't have the proper forms to ask for clearance to fire the heavy guns sir!" Morris replied.

"Screw clearance! Get that damn RPG!" McKinley demanded. Morris obliged, although begrudgingly. Shell had beaten a hole in the cargo bay door. His massive hands forced their way in, grabbed the edges, and spread the hole wide enough to fit his massive bulk. As soon as Shell forced half his body inside, he was greeted with a face full of military grade explosives. The force of the explosion threw him backwards out of the craft several yards, landing on his back. He immediately recovered and sat upright.

"I guess it's time to test my prototype..." Sheldon activated his own modified power core. A sickly green hue enveloped the Shell. Bullets melted into green slag before they even touched him.

"Sir! We have a major problem! According to scans, this guys a walking nuclear reactor! Radiations at a lethal level!" Morris exclaimed.

"My god..." McKinley uttered, watching the robot stand again. He suddenly felt a bead of sweat run down his cheek. He rubbed his moist brow and looked at Lieutenant Morris, he was sweating as well.

"Sir...He-he's coming this way..." Morris's warning reset his focus to the lumbering behemoth, "It's the S-silver Shell!" Morris exclaimed, "We don't have any vigilante engagement forms!" Morris shouted. Looking to McKinley, he noticed him sweating heavily and his skin had turned a sickly yellow.

"There's no need for that crap now..." McKinley gasped. He began to feel weak in his knees but, he stood firm from shear will. The weight of the RPG caused Morris to fall over. The closer Shell came, the faster the radiation broke down their body's. McKinley knew in the back of his mind that this would not end well. He took the rocket launcher from Morris who had quickly started losing strength from the radiation's effects. Carefully, he loaded another round, mustard all of his strength, and shouldered the weapon. The Shell stepped back inside the cargo bay, McKinley waited until Shell was fully inside before firing, "Hey, fuck face!" Shell stopped at Axle's body, he only had time to glance at McKinley before the rocket struck the aura around him. The shield protected Shell but, reflected most of the explosion back towards the officers. Morris and McKinley both, were catapulted from the cargo bay, through the cockpit door and out of the front windshield of the transport. Shell stood unharmed as the smoke cleared. Taking a moment to contemplate what had happened. Two high ranked, highly respected Skyway officers dead, a transport craft destroyed and at least twenty eye witnesses outside to identify him.

"I-I didn't..." The true implication of his action began to sink in, "There's no going back now." Shell continued speaking as he scanned what was left of the ship, "I made a mistake by acting to rashly but, I will amend it..." He could hear the men outside taking up position around the wreckage as he found what he was looking for, "There you are." Axle's power core. Locked inside a containment box. He simply punched through the container and pulled out the core. With the core in hand, he approached Axle's body, it had fallen off the table and onto the floor in the explosion. He rolled him over, his chest was still open from earlier. Carefully, he placed the core back in.

SYSTEMS STARTING... ...COMPLETE. POWERING ON.

The words flashed across Axle's field of vision. His eyes began to focus on his surroundings. Slowly, he leaned up into a sitting position, metallic grinding sounds resonated from his body as he moved. His repair nanites had deactivated when he removed his core. He looked around at the damage and fire, slowly his optics fell on the Silver Shell, "Shell...Where the hell am I? Where's Jenny?" Axle asked.

"You are in a Skyway transport. You were on your way to being disassembled in one of their top secret labs." He took a short pause before continuing, "Jenny is deactivated."

"No...No that can't be.." Axle couldn't believe what he heard. His last memory file played in his C.P.U. Fire, screams, and darkness, "Oh no...It's my fault..." He lightly uttered.

"You destroyed my love...Ruined my friendship...My life...I hate you." Shell spat through invisible teeth.

"Then why did you you save me?" Axle questioned.

"Because..." Shell lowered his voice, "Skyway is known for their incompetence and would most likely do more harm than good with the tech...I know your from Cluster Prime. The only way to fix everything, is to deactivate you!" Axle's eyes grew wide as his systems finally completely booted up. His sensors flashed a warning across his H.U.D. Shell was emitting extreme levels of radiation, lethal levels. Axle had just enough time to activate a weak energy shield before a massive foot sent him flying through the transport, shattering the shield like glass. The force carried him through the woods for miles. Trees exploded with every hit. Axle skidded and bounced to a stop just outside of Jonesville, an unbelievable 10 miles from where he was hit.

"Son of a bitch..." Axle muttered, "When I get my hands on him..." He tried to stand but fell to his knees. The nanites were using what little oil he had left to repair his body. Warning: Incoming projectile. He looked up just in time to see three missiles barring down on him. Another energy shield barley saved him. The Shell landed with a crushing force just in-front of him.

"I use to be a good person...I lived day by day for science and...Jenny..." Shell's voice hung low, "I wasn't perfect, I just wanted her to notice me...And you...You killed her...YOU KILLED HER!" The Shell growled again as he flexed his huge muscles, "She made me feel...Wanted...She was the reason I pulled myself out of bed in the mornings!" It was clear Sheldon's emotions had reached their limit, "If I'm going to be this story's tragedy then at least allow me to fight and die with what little honor I have left! " He screamed as he charged Axle. With little time or choice, Axle deactivated his repair systems and turned his core up to 25%, "I don't want to live in a world without her! So, by all means, kill me if you can!" The sound of thunder could be heard for miles as the two bots slammed into each other, clasping their hands tightly as each tried to over power the other. Sparks and lightning flashed where the two different radiation auras connected. Axle, letting loose his grip, ducked down and slammed his shoulder into the Shells torso. He activated his rockets and quickly carried him a mile into the air and just as quickly slammed back down to the Earth in a massive explosion of fire.

Axle pinned down Shell in the crater, "Sheldon! This is not the way to set things right! Think about what your doing!" He pleaded.

"I have thought about it! You've taken everything from me! Either I'm going to kill you for that or your going to have to kill me!"

"Your angry! I get it! You need to calm down!" Axle pleaded once more, but Sheldon's emotions had consumed him. Shell fired a burst of nuclear energy from his chest, sending Axle high into the air. He caught himself in time to feel a sharp pain in his stomach along with the sound of scraping metal. He soon realized Shell had produced a sword from his forearm and impaled him.

"Tell me...does a robots life cycle flash before its eyes as it deactivates?" Shell asked with mock concern. Axle hardly heard him over the warnings going off in his C.P.U.

ABDOMENAL HULL BREACH DETECTED. REPAIR SYSTEMS OFFLINE. DAMAGE REPORT... ... OIL PRESSURE AT MINIMUM. MECHANICAL SYSTEM FAILING. EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN IN FIVE MINUTES... ... OVERRIDEN... ... ACTIVATING CRISIS MODE...ERROR. ACTIVATING REMOTE CONTROL.

"ANSWER ME!" Shell demanded. No response. Axle starred blankly into the distance, "Then die in silence." Shells eyes began to glow purple as he charged his lasers. A fully charged shot to the head at point blank range would do massive damage. As he fired, Axle tilted his head back to avoid the blast. Shell watched in shock as he tilted his head back to face him. Slowly, an evil grin appeared across his face. Shell was too distracted by this to react. Axle turned the power core up to 50%. An intense wave of heat blasted the shine right off of the Shell. Clouds dispersed in all direction. He then grabbed the arm he was impaled by, jerked it out and ripped it off. He quickly spun in a complete circle, using the gathered momentum to ram the sword through Shells breast plate. Sheldon gasped as the sword barely missed his head. He quickly focused his optics on Axle's face again. He still had that odd, evil smile.

"Sssshhhellll-dddduuunnn." Axle called out, in an oddly digitized female voice. A strangely familiar voice.

"That-that voice-!" Sheldon exclaimed.

"You've been very bad Shel-dun, placing your fleshy nose where it doesn't belong..." Axle brought his hand up to The Shells face, "I can't have you transmitting data back to anyone..." He fired a white hot blast from his hand and blew a three inch hole through the Shell's head. The Shell fell from the sky with a heavy thud. The moment he impacted, Axle landed, in a crouched position on his abdomen, "Come out, come out wherever you aarrrreee..." Axle purred, still with a female tone. He smiled as he began pulling and ripping away Shell's armor until he reached the prize inside. Axle was a little shocked by what he saw inside. Sheldon Oswald Lee, was using an oxygen mask, breathing heavily, sweating profusely, his skin a sickly yellow. He slowly reached up and unsnapped the mask,

"You win...Vexes...claim your prize..." Sheldon gasped out, "I knew the Hive was behind this somehow...I just didn't know to what extent..." Axle slowly scanned the pitiful thing shivering in-front of him.

"Very intelligent fleshling. DV-2 is merely a pawn in my final plan for revenge against the Earth and XJ-9." Axle hissed.

"Jenny's dead...You won... The Earth is defenseless." Sheldon wheezed.

"HAHAHAHA! You fool! Not only have you destroyed yourself with your own creation, you've underestimated Dr. Wakeman! A mistake I will never make again..." He spoke as he scanned the Silver Shell suit.

"What..wheeze...do you mean..." Sheldon questioned as best he could.

"You didn't have XJ-9's plans for very long did you? Mrs. Wakeman installed a secret hard drive in XJ-9's C.P.U. It backs up every byte of data accumulated, calculated and recorded. It's encased in titanium and ceramic, it survived." DV-2 grabbed the rim of the hole he had ripped in the Shells chest as he spoke. Faint sounds of twisting metal landed on Sheldon's ears as he spoke, "Dr. Wakeman is a worthy mental opponent..." Sheldon could only watch as DV-2 slowly began crushing the holes edges together, sealing the gap, "She will rebuild Jennifer, stronger...But not as strong as I..." Sheldon's vision became dimmer, as the hole shrunk, "With DV-2, I have already fooled Dr. Wakeman into trusting me and seeing you as a threat! Soon, I will force her to watch as I finally defeat Jennifer in one on one combat!" DV-2 smiled as the hole grew a little smaller, "In between now and then, I will ruin every aspect of her life! I've already destroyed her relationship with the human Brad. Next, it will be her family!"

"They'll stop you..." Sheldon whispered.

"No...They won't...DV-2 alone is powerful enough to deal with whatever defense the humans can muster. Once the population has been thinned, my army will move in. And then...Then XJ-9 will fall at my hands! A glorious final battle! And your going to help me." Sheldon's vision went dark as the final glints of light faded away, "You doomed your body by rushing the upgrades to your suit. Improper shielding from your own power source, but your mind is just finnnne..." DV-2 purred as he lifted The Silver Shell above his head. Sheldon could only guess his fate as he felt the steady progression of G-forces pulling him to the back of the suit, "Welcome to the Hive Shel-dun." DV-2 flew with Shell high into the atmosphere, leaned back, and threw Shell into space. After a moment of smiling, DV-2's face slowly turned blank. His body began a limp free fall.

"REMOTE CONTROL TERMINATED. RESUMING NORMAL OPERATING FUNCTION... ...COMPLETE. POWERING ON.

Axle's vision snapped back. He was loosing altitude fast. He immediately activated his flight system, just in time to streak a few feet alone the ground and back up into the sky. He skimmed through his damage report as he plotted a course to Jenny's house, "What happened? Where's Sheldon?" He asked the sky as he tried to playback his memory files. ACESS DENIED. Was his only reward, "Damn it...I don't have time for this! I have to get to Nora before I breakdown..." Axle continued, "I'll figure this out later." He continued his flight in silence.

The Wakeman residence

Bradly Carbunkle moaned as he slowly leaned up into a sitting position on Nora's living room couch. He ran one hand through his hair, the other rubbed his blurry eyes as he stretched to wake his body. His eyes focused on a steaming cup of coffee with a note folded underneath. He grabbed the cup and lightly sipped as he read the note.

"Come downstairs into the lab. We have much to discuss."

He tossed the note back on the coffee table with a flick of his wrist as he stood and headed towards the lab. Sounds of heavy machine work grew louder as he enter. XJ-8 stood to acknowledge his presence. Nora noticed her action and stopped her work. Bradly saw the mass of melted metal as he stepped off the staircase. He walked beside the bench holding Jennifer's remains and set the coffee down. Somehow, he knew what he was looking at. The three remained silent as each starred at the heroin's unjust monument, "How..." Brad began with a slight quivering lip, "How did this happened?" Nora set down the crowbar she had been using to pry Jenny's C.P.U. housing open. They all looked at the gruesome sight of oil and bent metal as Nora began to talk.

"Jennifer borrowed Axle's power core to defeat the monstrosity that..." Nora trailed off a bit as proper words eluded her, "She let her emotions overwhelm her and thus, was unable to control the power." She looked at Bradly as she noticed he seemed to recall the events just before his nap, "I want you to know Bradly, I phoned an old friend in Skyway. They've already cleaned up the area and are arranging a memorial service next week." Bradly shook his head to let her know he understood, "I'm-I'm sorry for your loss. I knew your father back in Skyway, he was a good man. His actions in the first Intergalactic War saved hundreds of lives."

"Yeah...sniff...I know." Brad sobbed a little as he spoke, "It was my favorite story. Poor Tuck..."

"Your father always said ( A mans worth is measured in actions, not inches. ) He always told the new recruits that." Nora said. Brad smiled a little. It quickly went away as he looked again at what use to be Jenny's head. Nora had cut and pried on the large bulb until she had an adequate sized hole. Chard black abd oil covered wire's hung over the edge to one side.

"What are you doing to her?" He asked.

"I placed a back up system for all of Jennifer's data in the center of her C.P.U. All information automatically downloads into this hidden hard drive if damage levels reach a certain degree." Nora explained as she reached inside Jenny s head, grabbed a small, shinny sphere and ripped it out.

"So, she's OK? I mean like, she will be?" Brad asked with a small ray of hope showing in his red eyes. Nora remained quiet for a moment as she examined the object.

"If your asking, can I rebuild her...The answer is yes. The problem is all of the connection points to the hard drive have been destroyed. It will take some time to figure this out. In the mean time, XJ-8 will be recommissioned. The Earth needs some level of defense in her absence." Nora informed.

"So, XJ-8 gets recommissioned until Jen gets back?" Brad asked, "What happens when you get her fixed?"

"I haven't decided on a time line for her recommissioning but, she will remain active until I can solve this problem." Nora said lightly as she looked up at XJ-8, "Bradly...I know the coming times will be rather difficult. I was aware of how close you and Jennifer had become. You can stay here as long as you like." Nora offered with a smile.

"Thanks Mrs. W, but I got something else in mind." Brad wiped his eyes as he stood up straight, "Here recently we kinda grew distant...we couldn't be as close as we wanted to be..." He trailed off.

"I know. Society hasn't helped either. Your relationship was very taboo." Nora said.

"Yeah...I guess..." Brad placed a hand on the slab as he continued to speak, "Goodbye Jen." He removed his hand and looked directly at Nora.,"Thanks for everything, but I got to do something. You guys take care."

"Where are you going?" Nora asked.

"To get a measurement..." Was his only reply as he exited the lab, leaving Nora to her work. Nearby, Axle flew in low under any kind of radar. He landed in Nora's backyard and enter through the back door. Trying to manage the stairs leading into Nora's lab, he lost his balance and tumbled down them, crashed through the door and sprawled out onto the floor with a loud clang. XJ-8 immediately armed herself.

"Stand down XJ-8, my word Axle! Sheldon made it sound as though you hadn't survived!" Nora exclaimed.

"I'm still ticking...Barely..." Axle replied in a weak metallic voice, "Oil...I need oil."

"Right away!" Nora sprang towards her personal stock, but Axle stopped her.

"No...I need to be submerged in it." Nora pointed to a few large drums of oil. XJ-8 grabbed one, ripped the lid off and began filling the tank used to create the new XJ-10. Axle scanned the scene while the tank was filling, "Jenny..." He said as his eyes fell on Nora.

"I'm afraid she is not with us anymore." Nora sadly replied.

"No...She's here...I can feel it..." Axle replied. Nora looked at the hard drive she had been holding.

"This...This is all that remains. She is in here, but I have no means of access to her. All connection points have been to damaged. I don't know-"

"Give it to me!" Axle demanded and cut off Nora, "Please...I can save her...My C.P.U. can access and house the data...I can get her out." Nora was a little taken back. She looked at Axle, then the drive several times, "Please...you have to trust me..." After a tense moment of holding the hard drive protectively, Nora surrendered.

"OK..." She walked over and placed the drive in Axle's hand and stood back. Hope and worry in her eyes. Axle brought the orb to his chest. With a loud shriek, his chest slid open, exposing vital parts. He forced the object in amongst the parts and closed his chest.

"Now...You have to put me in the oil." He informed.

"Are you sure about this?" Nora looked confused and worried.

"My nanites...They will...Bond her hard drive to my systems...She will share my body and mind...When XJ-10 is complete...I can upload her program into it..." Nora looked at Axle still unsure, "You can trust me...Nora..."

"Alright, XJ-8, place him in the tank." XJ-8 scooped Axle off the floor, hovered over above the tank, and slowly lowered him in feet first.

"I'll need to power down. Take me out tomorrow...It should be done then." With that he disappeared below the black sludge. Nora was still unsure of the whole situation. She remembered the hard drive she retrieved from Sheldon. She took it and plugged it into her computer. The computer quickly displayed video files taken by Sheldon while spying on Jenny. She soon came across the encrypted signals he intercepted from space to Axle, "Well..these will take awhile to crack.." Nora said as she began typing furiously. XJ-8 sat down on the floor beside her to watch.

The Carbunckle residence

Brad could see all the Skyway officers at work as he approached the scene. The car and the bodies had already been taken away. Dump trucks were parked in the yard as workers threw debris from the wrecked house into the back of the truck. Every slow step brought him closer home. Each foot step made his blood hotter as memories played through his mind of days now lost, "Hey!" A deep, commanding voice called to him. Brad ignored him at first, "Hey, son you can't be here-oh shit..." The man lost his words for a moment as he approached Brad from the side, "I'll be damn! Your Bradly Carbunkle right? This is your place?" Silence said it all as a single tear slid down Brads left cheek, "My name is Dale. Your father trained me...Listen, you need to come with me." Another moment of silence and finally a response.

"Under one condition, I get a shot at the Hive for what they've done." Brad said sternly. Dale saw the fire in his eyes and had to stop himself from smiling.

"Got a attitude on you! I read your file on the flight over here. You were a Skyway cadet for a short time, your obviously in great shape and your last name carries a lot of weight around here. I think we could use you." Dale said with a hint of satisfaction in his tone.

"Use me? For what?" Brad asked somewhat coldly.

"It's on a need to know basis and we can't talk about it out here. Come with me." Dale placed a comforting and directing hand on Brads back. Pointing him to a blacked out Humvee. Dale stopped at the vehicle and opened the door, "One more thing, what makes you so sure this is the right decision?"

Brad looked Dale right in the eyes and spoke, "A mans worth is measured in actions, not inches. I want to see what I'm worth." Dale couldn't hold back the smile this time as Brad climbed in first. Dale followed behind and shut the door.