Astro spun towards the voice, and found himself facing the full-sized three-dimensional projection of a tall slender man with silver-streaked hair and deep hypnotic eyes. He was dressed in a plain black suit.
"Who are you, sir, to be calling me your anything?" Astro asked sharply in Suenisian.
"All in good time," the man said with a dismissive wave. "I must congratulate you on the completion of my little puzzle. I suppose that being a robot was of immense assistance to you. No human ever came close to solving it."
"You indeed set me up. Already I do not like you."
The man laughed. "A robot with fight. Excellent! But what you may think of me is of no consequence in the end, for I intend to make myself your master. Then you will accomplish my will regardless."
"Over my dead body!" Luna growled over the link.
"You may begin, gentlemen," the man said, and two other men, in white lab coats, appeared from the opposite side of the room.
"Yes, Holy One," said the plumper of the two with a bow. Then he said to the other man, "Please trigger the stasis field, Safi."
"Yes, Dr. Pendrada."
Astro felt a sharp tingle over his whole body, and when he tried to move, he could only do so very slowly and with a great effort. "This isn't good," he linked to Luna.
"No duh! I'm calling Dr. Elefun and see if he can tell me anything about this."
Astro couldn't use his mouth, so he tried a transmission to a nearby computer. "What is the message you are intending to have me deliver?" he asked finally, causing the three men to spin around to the source of the voice.
"Hm, that is very clever," said the projected man, turning back to Astro. "Very clever. You are an amazing machine. I salute your builder. As to my message, it is that I, Dr. Cedillo Mella, sent one and possessor of the spirit of the great god, have come to bring peace to the world, and deliverance from all who would steal human freedom."
"And do you intend to take over the world to do that?"
"Intend?" He shook his head and smiled knowingly. "Not at all. I already possess the world—not by war and the spilling of people's blood, but peacefully, by financial power and political reform." He spread his arms. "Those who own the largest companies in the world are all my willing disciples, and with their immense wealth they have been able to remove unbending regimes and put amenable ones in their places."
"I doubt that you have defeated Wesaimin yet."
Mella laughed, and it sounded more sinister this time. "My little robot—you see, Wesaimin was my first victory. The wealthy people there followed me willingly, even spreading my word through the media—my superstars! Those who opposed me we were able to put to sleep, as they allowed themselves to be distracted by the search for prosperity and comfort. It was no contest from the outset."
Astro groaned. That was what Hamegg and Dr. Elefun had been so worried about from the beginning with Metro City, and he hadn't got it till now.
"We have merely been awaiting the right time to announce our victory," the man continued. "That time has come. Very shortly I will be sending you out to announce my arrival to the world."
"Why did you choose me?"
"There are those who have seen you as a type of saviour, especially after your seemingly miraculous defeat of Leader Orkan. With you under my control, the last hope of the unholy ones is shattered. Peace and freedom will be absolute."
"Absolute garbage," Astro said sarcastically.
Dr. Mella scowled. "Enough of this idle chatter!" he snapped. "Begin the reprogramming."
"Yes, Holy One." Dr. Pendrada stood over a panel while Safi peered at a computer display.
"All is ready, Doctor," Safi said after a moment.
"What?" linked Luna. "Reprogram? Ahhh, what do I do, Astro?"
"User request: emergency processor shutdown, complete," he replied, and promptly powered down.
"Astro!" Luna linked frantically in General Devan's office back in Gattshier. "Oh no. He's gone sir," she said hesitantly to Devan and slumped in her chair. "Now I don't know what I can do."
"Gone? What's that supposed to mean?"
"He shut down his processor. He's not running any more."
"Why would he do that?" the general asked.
"As you heard, they were going to reprogram him. It's the only way we know to protect our computers."
General Devan frowned. "So he can no longer do anything to save himself, isn't that right?"
"... Right."
He slammed his fist onto his desk and swore, then began to pace. After a minute, he stopped and turned to Luna. "Who is his master?"
"Me. Why?"
"Can you override his actions, or does that require his administrator?"
She felt like a little child in the face of this disaster. "I don't know. I've never had to use my authority with him before."
"Do you know who his admin is?"
She nodded. "Dr. Tenma. He programmed us."
"Excellent." The general whipped out his phone. "Lieutenant! Head over to Robovale pronto and fetch Dr. Tenma for me!"
"He did what?" said Dr. Mella.
"He shut down, Holy One," answered Dr. Pendrada. "We cannot communicate with a dead computer."
"Well, reactivate him!"
"I do not know how he is built or programmed, and you already understand how sophisticated a machine he must be. To intervene incautiously could be extremely hazardous to our plan."
"Very well. Proceed as you think best, and if his status changes, contact me immediately."
"Yes, Holy One." The two of them bowed deeply as Dr. Mella flickered out.
Luna sat dejectedly as General Devan got Dr. Tenma up to speed on the situation. At one point, she idly tried the link.
"Luna?"
"Astro! But how did you turn yourself back on?"
"Um, I don't understand what's going on, but I'm not on."
She quickly interrupted Dr. Tenma and the general, and repeated her conversation with Astro.
"I don't even pretend to understand your link," said Tenma when she was finished. "But if his soul is in the core, then perhaps that's the level he's working at."
"That makes sense," linked Astro.
"But why couldn't you link like this with Orkan when he was a blue core?" Luna asked. "Why doesn't he remember what he used to be?"
"I don't know, but maybe it was because I had to modify his core so much."
Dr. Tenma leaned forward eagerly. "I've got a theory, and I'd like to test it."
"Sure Dad," Astro replied through Luna. "What is it?"
"Luna," he said, "see if you can command him to do something."
"Huh?" she said. "With his computer off-line?"
"Try to use your link to operate Astro's other systems like a puppet."
"Oh I get it. I'll try."
"No," linked Astro after a minute. "I think you're trying too hard. Um, think of me as one of your arms or something."
"Okay." She moved one of her own fingers a little bit.
"That's it!" Astro linked excitedly. "Now disable your motor functions so you can run me without you moving. I think we've got a way out of here!"
"Alright," she linked.
"But we better wait until these two aren't paying attention before we try anything. And remember, you're my eyes and ears too."
"How are you thinking of getting out of there?" Luna linked a while later.
"I remember there's a window not far from where I'm standing. When we're ready, I want you to turn my computer back on, jump me out of that window, then give me a soft landing. By that time my computer will be back on line."
"You want me to fly?" Luna whimpered.
"Um, yeah. Sorry."
"And I don't have rockets, or the ... other stuff. How can I control you?"
"Oh, right." Astro then said through Luna, "Dad, can you give Luna the programming for my rockets?"
"I'll have to get Elefun to send me the backup files," replied Tenma. "It shouldn't be a problem, but why is it necessary? Can't you leave the way you came?"
"That's way too slow; they'll just catch me again. If we're going to spring me out of here, I've got to fly."
"Ah, yes. I'll get right on it, Son."
"He's already won the war," muttered General Devan, drumming his fingers on his desk, as Tenma began the upload to Luna. "How? And he claims to already be ruling Wesaimin. How could we have missed it?"
"He hid it in full view," Astro said through Luna. "It was there for all you humans to see, but you were more interested in the latest computerized gimmick, most exotic art work, or the snappiest lottery. But don't feel too bad; even us androids didn't see it, and we don't even care about that kind of stuff."
"That's not very consoling," said Devan, who leaned back in his chair. "Tell me, Astro: What's he after?"
"Divinity, I think. Adversary once offered us androids the chance to be rulers of the world, and we turned him down flat. If Mella's linked up with Adversary, then he's bought into that offer, and here he is now, playing god, with all the power and wealth and glory that supposedly goes with it. And all his followers are collecting the rewards of their faithfulness to him."
"What of everyone else?"
"They're just pawns in his game, except for the people who follow the real God; he hates them because they won't—we won't—play the game."
"How do you even know there's a God out there?"
"He's talked to some of us androids a few times, and Adversary's even terrified of him; Luna and I could feel it."
"Are you sure it was God?" General Devan asked. "Couldn't there be another explanation for your experiences?"
"Let's just say that when you meet God, there's no doubt. I can't explain it any better than that?"
"So it's your concept of God versus Mella's."
"No, it's no contest. You know Mella's version stinks: he's killed people; he doesn't know everything; he's just a human. What kind of god would need to manipulate all the world leadership to proclaim him president of the world? What kind of god would even care? I mean, when the real God came to Earth as a man, he had nothing to do with riches and fame and all that. He just got down to business and was what he was, not caring what people thought of him. He never even tried to rule the world, at least not like Mella's doing."
"'The real God'." Devan chuckled ironically. "You say that so confidently. How do you know?"
Luna sat silently for a minute, then Astro said, "I trust him, that's all. I don't trust Mella with my phone number."
"But there are so few who believe in your God, and the world's gone after Mella. You're saying you're right just because?"
"Listen, General; just watch. If Mella is God, then everything will settle down and everyone will be happy, because he's promising to give them what they think they want. If he isn't God, it's going to kill them, just like in Metro City."
Tenma stood up and stretched. "Interesting comparison, Son." He patted Luna on the shoulder. "All done. You can fly now."
"Ha ha," said Luna grimly. "Very funny."
"Okay," Luna linked to Astro a couple of hours later. "Dr. Pendrada's gone out to get something to eat, and Safi's doing some research into your power system—on the other side of the room, it sounds like ."
"This is so weird," Astro replied. "The only way I know what's going on here is through our link."
"Don't worry about it," she said. "I've got it all under control. Now, blue energy, like Dr. Elefun told me." She felt his hands light up, then there was a flash and surge in the stasis field. It started to collapse, and an alarm went off. "Oh crap," she muttered. "Okay, forget stealth mode!" After commanding Astro's computer to power on, she glanced around for the window.
Just as Safi dashed over to see what was going on, Astro suddenly ran, did a hand spring off of the table, and dove feet first through the window.
"Ack!" Luna squeaked as they tumbled high over the street below. "I can't stabilize!"