《MIGHTY ROBOT 28》 Prologue: A Brief History of the World after the Tear Appeared The Tear appeared many times in recorded human history, creating many of the myths and monsters that populate all of storytelling. It hasn¡¯t, however, appeared as closely or as prominently to the world as it does now. People around the world looked up to the sky one day and saw a large, maddeningly many colored, kaleidoscopic tear in the blue of daylight and the black of night. The Tear solicited many different responses around the world. Some called it a sign from god, others called it different portents of doom, plenty regarded it with small indifference as they went about their lives, and still more needed their curiosity sated. The ones who needed their curiosity sated eventually sent a probe out into near space where the Tear was located. The world watched with bated breath as the probe drew nearer and nearer to its goal. A giant, colorless hand stretched out from the Tear and caught the probe at the end of its flight. The hand stretched to impossible lengths from the Tear and gingerly placed the probe back on its starting place on Earth and disappeared as quickly. This deeply unsettled everyone who bore witness to it. Some reported seeing a great eye looking down on the earth as the hand stretched from the Tear. Still, even more phenomena occurred with the Tear¡¯s arrival. The things that go bump in the night, the things from the dark reaches of human imagination, burst forth from the shadows with renewed life and preyed upon whatever unfortunate happened upon them. The Weirdborne, as they came to be known, also heralded the return of magic to the world. Words of power came unbidden to the minds and mouths of some and fireballs, lightning bolts, magic missiles, and more sprang forth from the ether. The words would be collected into dictionaries and put to the use of licensed magicians in the business of slaying monsters and other ventures. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Ascended Humans would also come to be known in the world, their genes similar to baseline humans but with the added feature of superpowers. With great power comes great responsibility, and with superpowers came superheroes to answer the call. With superheroes comes super villains as well, and even then there are plenty who did not feel the call of either side and used their powers as they saw fit to meet their own ends. Super science came into the world as well. Great marvels of weaponry, engineering, medicine, and more. Much like magic, it came to the minds of many unbidden. the marvels they built would be put to ends both beneficial and nefarious. The government, for its part, handled these changes as they came while dealing with more mundane problems. Climate change has ravaged the countries of the world, rending the coastal areas ruined because of flooding, the increased heat killing many that could not find the comfort of air conditioning, uprooting many from their homes as the environment around them collapsed and betrayed them. The world governments tried to reverse the changes with magic and superscience, but try as they might, the resulting wasteland was made worse. This is to speak nothing of the Great Consolidation, wherein populations of people were consolidated to megacities in an attempt to generate revenue and stop the hemorrhaging of tax dollars on rural areas and states. All of these things happened in the time after the Tear. It was a time of possibilities. It Lives! It Walks! It Serves and Protects! ¡°Where¡¯s our money, doctor?¡± one of the henchmen asked, gun drawn and at the ready. In some small corner of this Earth full of superheroes, villains, mutants, monsters, tyrants, rebels and more, a man worked on destroying the world. In the darkness of his lab, Dr. Allister Sean worked on his latest robot, humming We''ll Meet Again by Vera Lynn. Sparks flew as he welded the robot''s motors, circuits, chips, processors, and wires as a god sews life into its creation. He had the last of the hardware installation automated by his computer, turning his attention to the other monitors at his disposal. The monitors displayed lines upon lines of code and complex algorithms, imbued with the knowledge Sean¡¯s creation would need when it entered the world. To anyone who wasn¡¯t the doctor, the code and algorithms on the screens were nigh incomprehensible but the other things on display held much more interest. The monitors showed embezzled accounts, laundered money, suspicious shipments of questionable goods, the social media of recently disappeared and/or dead persons, from rival gangs no less, location tracking, various rackets going on, arsons commuted, and so on. From those windows those people would have concluded that the Smith Gang were linked to all those events and others. However, Sean regarded these topics without much care, letting the computer automatically compile the necessary information he needed. He only had the windows up because he planned on leaving the Smith gang at this very moment and then selling them out to the next gang. His attention was focused on the code and algorithms. They were for the robot, a bruiser capable of leaping great heights by Sean¡¯s design. The robot should be finished soon and then it¡¯s on to the next one. ¡°Doctor!¡± again the henchmen shouted. The thunderous crack of his door tearing from its hinges broke the doctor from his work. A shaft of light cut through the darkness and an angry voice ordered the doctor to stand up as a line of fools entered and pointed their guns at him. The doctor had thought that the Smith gang would become wise to his diverting of their funds to his wallet sooner rather than later. He reminded himself of the people he was dealing with and stood up. Took the idiots long enough, Allister thought. The gang members angrily told the Doctor about how they discovered his activities, how the doctor was embezzling the gang¡¯s funds, and how they were going to dump his body in the river and leave no way of identifying the ¡°poor bastard¡±. The doctor, despite not really caring, would not have any of that. He had more important things to do. ¡°At least let me go out with a bang,¡± answered the doctor. He pushed a button on the computer and the wall behind the line of fools exploded, taking them all out. The doctor grabbed an Uzi, shook the still attached arm off the grip, and went about packing and saving his work, keying a command on his gauntlet to have his van come pick him up. The doctor heard others coming towards him, peeked out the hole in the wall, and shot nonchalantly at them, forcing them to take cover as the doctor waited. The garage door opened and the doctor had the unfinished programming saved to the robot¡¯s memory and loaded the robot in the back of the van. He hopped in and peeled out of the Smith hideout, hoping to lose the gang in the evening traffic, ducking, weaving, and crashing through drivers along Neo-City One''s neon lit roads. That hope of escape was dashed as he saw a couple of speed bikers gain on him. He fired uncaringly at them with his pilfered SMG and pushed harder on the accelerator. A few gangsters fell down as the doc shot them but like a hydra, more took their place. To add to his troubles, they brought out the sports cars on him. Cars and bikes both gained on him, guns aimed and at the ready. Bullets peppered the back of the van and the doctor shot back in earnest. He had killed those fools who had seen his Robot 28 and he wasn¡¯t going to let anyone else in on his little project. He almost lost control as the van violently swerved to the side. These idiots are sideswiping me! Sean regained control of the van and swung back at them, their exchange continuing as bullets flew the doctor''s way and they both did their deadly dance through traffic. He shot one of the drivers dead. The car spun out of control and caused a pileup cutting off some of the doctor¡¯s pursuers. Allister smirked at the chaos. He needed to lose these fools or else his plans would go south fast. He activated the autopilot on the van and took aim with the Uzi, this time aiming to kill the remaining henchmen. His concentration broke when the back doors of the van were torn from their hinges Shit, the doctor cursed as the situation escalated quickly. One of the speed bikers jumped into the van and made their way to the front of the van, knife drawn and eager for blood. Allister turned in his seat and shot the man dead, their body flying out the back of the van and onto the pavement. His robot was exposed now! He was frantic as he stood to cover it back up. A car crashed into the side of his van and it swerved to the side again, knocking the doctor off balance. He thankfully grabbed a hold of some netting or he would have hit the van floor hard. A stray bullet must have hit a latch because the robot¡¯s bindings had come undone! The doctor stood and moved to fire at the other driver but he was tossed again to the side violently. The robot went flying out of the back of the van. They were on an overpass and the doctor watched in horror and anger as his robot plunged into a dark neighborhood alleyway. He had to get Robot 28 as soon as possible, but first he had to lose the meatheads in the other gang¡¯s territory. Thankfully no supers were on his tail this time. The doctor leapt back to the front of the van to avoid any more bullets coming his direction. He had to lose them. He would have to lose his current robot body double and soon. --- Dad¡¯s probably worried sick about me, Maria thought to herself as she stepped off the bus from university. Then again, he could be late coming home like usual. It was close to dark outside. Maria Cervantes, age 14, finally reached her stop after the freeway pileup caused her bus to change routes. She trudged back to her home, thinking about her day. She wanted to tell dad about all the stuff she did today and how she passed all her tests. She wanted to talk to him about her Technology and Ethics paper she was working on for Professor Ryan Casting. Not that it mattered anyway because her dad would not be home to notice. He almost never was home when she got back from school and when he was home he was always so tired. She was halfway down the block from her home when she saw something glint in an alleyway not too far from home. After checking to make sure she was safe, she sauntered over to the glint and saw that it was a fully assembled, humanoid robot. Why is a robot in a place like this? she wondered. Maria looked right and left to see if anyone was coming to claim the robot. She rushed back home and climbed the creaking stairs to her room, scaring her cat Momo in the process, and grabbed her tool bag and hydraulic wagon, quickly disassembling and reassembling the robot in her room. She cleared space in her room by moving her laundry and toys and tech junk to the side, again surprising the cat. Once it was fully reassembled, she stood in awe of the robot, thoughts of specs, programming, and hardware crossing her mind. She searched for a logo or a serial number or some sort of identifying information on the robot. She didn¡¯t find any such thing. She popped the chassis on the robot''s head, took a connector cable and plugged it into the hard drive, thinking that maybe the information was in the robot''s memory. She found nothing of the sort. She couldn¡¯t even identify what kind of robot it was. It was simply called Robot 28. Along with the robot¡¯s identity, she found incomplete code, puzzling at what she saw. She saw a program designed for 3D movement that worked in conjunction with rockets in the robot¡¯s back and calves and the cable fists in its arms. She saw a very complicated block of code called ¡°The Learning Method¡± and judging from what she saw, it was primarily based on the robot''s function, coding, and hardware. The Learning Method also allowed for hardware and software changes as well based on experience collected. She stared agape at other specs as well. The actuators were rated for 25 tons of heavy lifting maximum. The ultra-tensile steel cables in the robot¡¯s gorilla-like arms were rated for high amounts of g forces. The robot had rockets for fists which could attach to the cable reels in the arms, the pistons on the robot¡¯s elbows acting as a sort of primer. The fists were also designed to become electrified. The way the robot interacted with Wi-Fi made it untraceable. Still more was impressive about the robot. Whatever this robot was, it was unique. She sat with her head in her hand, again she wondered what kind of bot it was, but still had no answers. She sat for a while pondering and researching. She heard the front door open and a tired voice say ¡°Maria, I¡¯m home.¡± Maria looked at the clock and realized that she had been looking over the robot for too long. Dad! She rushed down the stairs to apologize. She found him still in uniform passed out on the sofa. She breathed a sigh of slight relief at the sight of this, grabbed a blanket and covered him where he laid. She made an easy dinner (frozen pizza!) and placed the plate on the coffee table in front of the sofa. She was back at her desk again, her cat sitting on her lap, mulling over everything. She looked upon a picture of her and her father when she was young. She was five years old and dad had just graduated from the Military Police Academy. They were both smiling. Do you think we¡¯d both be smiling still if we knew what was coming then? she wondered. An idea flashed across her mind, heavy gray clouds parting for a moment of clarity. She gently set Momo off to the side, she had been surprised enough already, and tapped away at her computer which was still connected to Robot 28. She couldn''t find any identifying info on the robot, and whoever lost it hasn''t shown up to claim it. Why not? Why shouldn''t she do it?. She was going to make the robot a police officer. --- Allister surreptitiously watched his old gang search the burning wreck of his van, hoping that they hadn¡¯t discovered that the thing that looked like him was actually an elaborately built mechanical doppelganger. The Sean that was watching them search the van was also a doppelganger, eavesdropping on the gang¡¯s conversation and communications network. They hadn¡¯t said anything about his robot. Not yet at least. After the punks left the wreck, the doppelganger crawled out of its hiding spot and made its way to the territory boss¡¯s hideout. The doppelganger had one hand gripped on the pistol in its pocket, the doppelganger¡¯s eyes and the goggles that covered them scanning the area across the infrared, x-ray, and visible light spectrum for any threat. He only saw a few stray cats and a dead body, disfigured beyond recognition. The other hand held a suitcase with his portfolio to present to his new boss. He transmitted a copy of his old gang¡¯s data to another data drive, burning his original drive with the expended doppelganger. Finally, after much deliberation, the doctor finally arrived at the front door of the next boss¡¯s hideout. Sean pondered the most tactful way of introducing himself. He kicked in the door and proclaimed loudly, ¡°Boss! I have something to show you!¡± To an observer viewing this situation out of context, the scene would have been hilarious. The capos, grunts, legs and police officers on the take looked positively comical as they pulled out their pistols, shotguns, SMGs, rifles and other firearms, primed them, cocked them, and pointed them at him. The boss looked like he was about to have a heart attack, clutching his chest and gritting his teeth; it brought a smile to the real Allister''s face. The boss regained his composure after assessing that the doctor was not a threat. ¡°State your business, friend.¡± ordered the boss, ¡°What is it that you can offer that won¡¯t make me and my pals fill you full of holes?¡± The doctor smiled and pulled out a flash drive from the suitcase and tossed the drive to the boss. The evidence that the doctor had gathered should speak for itself. The mob boss had the flash drive looked at for explosives, and when none were found, the boss had the drive plugged into a throwaway computer to see the files in store. The boss¡¯s consternation at the evidence showed when he found the thing the doctor wanted him to find. ¡°What is this and how did you get it? Who the hell are you?¡± the boss said. The doctor gave his cheshire cat smile. ¡°My name is Dr. Allister Sean, information specialist and technology expert extraordinaire. These are the plans that I had pilfered from my previous gang, the Smiths, when they tried to kill me. They are looking to take over your territory,¡± said the doctor matter of factly. He left out his role in planning them out. The doppelganger¡¯s voice modulation masked the real doctor¡¯s delight. ¡°Why are you doing this?¡± asked a capo. Others chimed in with the whys themselves. One of them asked what was in it for the doctor. The doctor still had that smirk on his face. ¡°They have something of mine, a very important something,¡± answered the doctor. The boss asked what that something was. ¡°My back pay,¡± Allister lied. ¡°And why should I trust you?¡± asked the boss. The doctor wouldn¡¯t trust himself either if the situations were reversed. The doctor worked his charm to weasel his doppelganger¡¯s way into their hearts. ¡°I have delivered their plans to you, and I can help you get back at them. I want what¡¯s due to me and I am willing to go to any lengths to get it back. Those people are our enemy, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend,¡± he answered. It was a half-truth, what the doctor told them. The doctor had a long list of enemies he betrayed, from the two-bit hoods, to fool superheroes, and would-be supervillains. --- Maria¡¯s eyes strained to stay open as she stared at the lines upon lines of code she made for the robot. Building a police bot was a lot harder than she thought it would be. She had worked at it for days with only the minimal amount of sleep and it showed on her. Tabbing back and forth between notation and coding took up a lot of her time. It was only after much experimenting that she got the hang of it all. She was working on the arrest algorithm when she rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock and saw that dad would be coming home in a few minutes and made her way to the kitchen to make dinner. Probably soup or chili, she thought. As she climbed down the stairs, she saw a light coming from the kitchen. She peeked around the entryway to the kitchen and saw her dad making dinner. She decided to surprise her dad. ¡°Hey dad,¡± she shouted. Marco Cervantes, a policeman, jumped when he heard a shout come from the entrance to the kitchen. He turned to his daughter, giggling at him, and smiled at her. ¡°Hey Maria,¡± he said warmly to her, silently cursing himself for jumping at Maria¡¯s surprise. ¡°Why are you home so early? And you''re making dinner too?¡± asked Maria. ¡°Did something happen?¡± Marco placed a lid on the pot, sighed, and lowered the heat on the stove. He and Maria sat at the dinner table, a solemn look on his face. Where to start? ¡°You know about what happened the other day? On the highway?¡± he asked. Maria shook her head. ¡°Well,¡± Marco continued. ¡°The boss is having us on extended duty because of the gangs ¡ªMaria, wait!¡± She stood up and rushed to her room and slammed her door. Marco waited a few minutes and trudged after her, hoping Maria had cooled down enough to listen to him. Marco tried to open the door but it didn¡¯t open. Maria must have propped her regular desk chair against it. Marco sighed and sat with his back to the wall. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Maria, so sorry,¡± he lamented. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I had to cancel our fishing trip. It can¡¯t be helped. Please, I don¡¯t want you to be upset about all this. I have the time now and I want to spend it with you, before I have to go.¡± What I would give for a boyfriend, girlfriend or even the ex to be here right now, Marco thought to himself. He thought of his family and his heart sank even further. What would they think of this? Marco heard Maria sob silently on the other side of the door. She opened the door and stepped out of her room and embraced her father. ¡°I¡¯m sorry too dad¡± she said. She couldn¡¯t hold back the sobs though. Marco smiled warmly at her. They then had dinner and watched one of Maria¡¯s favorite shows. The show was about a team of superheroes fighting for justice. --- Sean sat in his van steaming about how the past few days went. It had taken longer than he had anticipated to build his workshop with the new mob boss and it had taken longer still to assemble the spider drones. It took even longer to get the locks and swivel chair. The boss asked too many damned questions each time, which Sean explained as being necessary for his work. The doppelganger¡¯s mood had been placid, but the real doctor sat exasperated far away from all this and started having second thoughts about aligning himself with this boss. The money had to be extracted from him quickly. For now, though, he had to focus on scouting the dock and telling the gang members, the Chucks as they called themselves, where to hit the Smiths. It was the dead of night, all was quiet in the docks, except for the army of spider drones stalking the shadows of the docks, sending live video feed to the doctor and the gauntlets of the Chucks, marking the spots they needed to hit. Sean sat in the safety of his van, plotting. A pip on his screen told him that the Chucks were in position. The doctor moved his drones into position and gave the hoods the go to commence the siege. He saw one of the Chucks open fire on an unsuspecting Smith and sat back and relaxed as all hell broke loose. He moved one of his drones away from the shootout to search for his Robot 28. Next time, he would install the tracker first so something like this never happened again. He hated guessing games. The spider drone crawled around the battleground of the dock, looking for where they had stowed his robot. He checked the insides of open crates, lasered open others, the nearby warehouse, and checked the inside of the ship the Smiths were using. As the battle raged outside, the doctor could not find any sign indicating if they had his robot. He thought that maybe the Smiths might have moved his robot to a new base, when a shaft of light pierced the darkness of the room the drone was in. The drone scurried out of the light and behind a crate, peeking over with its extendable camera to see what disturbed the doctor¡¯s work. It was a Smith member, fighting off the encroaching Chucks. However, it wasn¡¯t just any Smith member, facial recognition identified them as one of those who chased the doctor down the highway the other day. The doctor smiled to himself. He signaled the Chucks to evacuate the ship and pressed a button on his rig to set his drone to explode. The screen of the corresponding drone turned to static and then finally black, a far off boom accompanying the spectacle. The doctor moved to the driver seat and made his way out of the docks. The police were on their way. --- After they ate dinner and finished watching their movie, Marco offered to help Maria pack her stuff but she refused, saying that she knew what to pack and that she¡¯ll call Rebecca ASAP. There was something off in how she said it however. ¡°I got this dad,¡± said Maria. Marco shrugged and washed the dishes before going to bed. The next morning, he drove Maria to school and they talked about what was going to happen in school today, from tests to homework. Marco didn¡¯t understand half the technobabble she rattled off but tried his best to piece it together from what she told him. Marco said his goodbyes to Maria and drove off for work. From what was told to him on his way to the station, a gang war between two rival cartels lead to the bombing of a nearby dock and Marco was needed to interrogate the thugs apprehended at the crime scene. Upon arriving at the station, he made his way to the interrogation rooms and met with his first suspect. His first interviewee was a balding, stout man. He was fairly muscular and sported a growing stubble on his chin. It was Ronny, a repeat offender currently on parole, which he is currently in violation of. ¡°How many times has this been, Ronny?¡± asked an exasperated Marco to the interviewee. ¡°Good morning yourself, Sergeant Cervantes,¡± replied Ron as Marco started the recording device. Marco read Ronny¡¯s information and the circumstances of his arrest, which Ronny verified. Now to get to the meat of the situation: Who set off a bomb off in the docks? ¡°C¡¯mon pal, what makes you think I know anything?¡± replied Ron. ¡°Ron, you do know people. Tell me who they are and you¡¯re free to go, I¡¯ll even get you some leniency with the parole court,¡± offered Marco. ¡°There you go again, sticking your nose in business that doesn¡¯t concern you,¡± retorted Ronny. ¡°It becomes my business when people get hurt, doesn¡¯t matter who they are.¡± ¡°C¡¯mon, cut me some slack here. I was just doin¡¯ as I was told.¡± ¡°Doing as you were told resulted in dead gangsters and thousands in property damage.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Ronny said nothing. ¡°You¡¯re not making my job any easier,¡± said Marco. ¡°Do you know how bad this is for you? You could be looking at life without parole.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not my fault!¡± ¡°Then whose fault is it? You¡¯re looking at a long time in prison because of this.¡± ¡°I ain¡¯t no snitch! Where¡¯s my lawyer?¡± shouted Ron. ¡°You¡¯re in violation of your parole! I am offering you leniency with the court here if you cooperate with me,¡± said Sergeant Cervantes cool as he can. Ronny took a deep breath and told Sergeant Cervantes the circumstances of the bombing, about how a new member had joined the Chucks not too long ago offering their technological prowess in exchange for help getting an item of his back from the Smiths. He never said who or what caused the explosion however. Marco dismissed Ronny to his holding cell and had the next few detainees brought in for questioning. The detainees also verified what Ronny said about the incident, however there was an addition to the story: a spider-like drone crawling around the dock. Strange, thought Marco, why wasn¡¯t this mentioned in Ronny¡¯s story? Could this be another supervillain? Marco had Ronny brought back to explain this discrepancy. Ronny had his lawyer with him. ¡°Spider drones? Never heard of them¡± said Ronny after his lawyer whispered in his ear. ¡°Seriously? You¡¯re gonna start pulling this crap now?¡± riposted Sergeant Cervantes. ¡°And here I was thinking we were being cooperative and--¡° ¡°My client doesn¡¯t need to answer anything not pertaining to his current situation, Mr. Cervantes,¡± interjected the lawyer. ¡°Your client is also complicit in the bombing of a dock,¡± countered Sergeant Cervantes to the lawyer, ¡°Furthermore, if he complies¡ª ¡° ¡°There will be no such thing, Mr. Cervantes,¡± stated the lawyer coolly, ¡°I¡¯m frankly surprised by your continued naivet¨¦.¡± Marco hid his indignation from the lawyer¡¯s reproach. ¡°I¡¯d like to imagine your boss would like to get to the bottom of this as much as I do,¡± retorted Sergeant Cervantes. ¡°There were some of his people on that boat.¡± ¡°Rest assured that it is being taken care of, but your concern is appreciated all the same,¡± said the lawyer as a condescending smile crossed his face, a frown crossing Marco¡¯s. The lawyer checked his tablet, ¡°If you¡¯ll excuse me, I believe this interrogation is at an end.¡± He got up to leave but was stopped by Marco when he raised his hand. ¡°Just one question before you go,¡± he petitioned. ¡°That guy you mentioned before, did he build those drones?¡± The lawyer gave a sidelong glance at Ronny. The lawyer pulled at his suit and stated, ¡°I haven¡¯t a clue what you are talking about, Sergeant Cervantes. Have a nice day, chap. Ronald, if you please, you¡¯ve made bail.¡± Ronny and the lawyer made their way out of the interrogation room, the latter patting Marco¡¯s shoulder on his way out. Marco¡¯s frown only deepened as they left. --- Meanwhile, in Sean¡¯s lab, the rig monitors were alight with code, algorithms and 3D models as the doctor dove into his next project. Despite not finding Robot 28 just yet, the doctor continued his labor of destroying the world, pious as a monk. This next robot would be another another brawler like R28 but different this time. Robots 27 and 26 had been modeled on jet aircraft so perhaps R29 would be a brawling helicopter. His mind wandered while he worked, deciding to make the 30 series themed around animals. He typed a note to himself as a reminder in the future. A knock broke him out of his work induced stupor. He pulled up the camera to see who was at the door and saw that it was the boss. He alt-tabbed out of his work and made a big show of unlocking his door, inviting the boss into his workspace, the real doctor frowning as he watched through the doppelganger¡¯s optics. ¡°We have a problem,¡± said the boss. ¡°Oh god, I have to kill again don¡¯t I?¡± muttered Sean. ¡°Pardon?¡± asked the don. ¡°What¡¯s the problem that you need me for?¡± asked Sean. He glibly thought that he was going to have to patch up the network security systems or some such menial labor. In the short time since joining the Chucks, he built a sense of loathing for the mob boss as well. The boss took a seat in the doctor¡¯s revolving chair and lit a cigar. Dick, thought the doctor. The mob boss drew and blew a puff of smoke and began to explain. The real doctor watched all this in disgust. Smoke was hazardous to the health of his electronics. ¡°You know a Sergeant Marco Cervantes?¡± questioned the boss. When he didn¡¯t get an answer, he continued. ¡°Guy''s a real pain in the ass when it comes to people like us. He¡¯s a nobody, really. He¡¯s gunning for you, pal,¡± the boss stated. That got Sean¡¯s attention. ¡°Oh my, whatever did I do?¡± ¡°Guy thinks maybe you saw something with one of your drones and might know what caused the explosion at the docks. Or you caused it yourself hell if I know.¡± ¡°I know nothing,¡± Sean lied. ¡°How long has this thing with Sergeant Cervantes been going on?¡± ¡°A long time, buddy,¡± the boss puffed out. ¡°So why haven¡¯t you done anything to him?¡± ¡°We aren¡¯t that big an operation. What¡¯s more, the risk of going after a cop or his family is too high. None of the bigger operations have had much success in this either.¡± Either they¡¯re stupid or he¡¯s that good, thought the doctor.¡°Bigger operations didn¡¯t have me,¡± boasted the doctor, ¡°You said this guy was small time and you do have some police on your side. Why not put him in his place?¡± ¡°What do you have in mind?¡± The doctor pulled the boss away from his desk and hunched over his computer to do a little research on this Cervantes. After a few minutes the doctor struck gold. ¡°He has a daughter. Why not kidnap her and hold her for ransom? She should be getting out of school in a little bit,¡± stated the doctor. The boss raised his eyebrows and gave a small smile. He got up and began making calls to his underlings and exited the doctor¡¯s workspace. The doctor returned to his work, thoughts of being quit of his new boss swirling in his head. He looked back to the information he pulled up on the sergeant¡¯s daughter and gave it a look over. She was quite brilliant for her age, displaying a great aptitude for robotics and computer sciences. She was even studying under his old mentor, Doctor Ryan Castings. The doctor felt pity for her for but a second, then shrugged off the guilt and returned to his work. --- School was close to ending as Maria entered her last class. She sat next to Rebecca, an upperclassman, five years her senior and her best friend, as the teacher prepared for his lecture. Rebecca became Maria¡¯s friend at a time when she was still new to university. As time went on, they bonded over their shared love of manga and video games and movies. Their parents knew and worked with each other, Rebby¡¯s parents being lawyers. The class they were in was Calculus III, Rebecca¡¯s least favorite class. Rebecca turned to Maria with her normal sly grin and asked, ¡°You got the notes from yesterday¡¯s class? I had to skip out because of band practice.¡± Rebecca was one to care for her music, almost to a fault. Maria smiled and dug into her backpack but paused, forgetting the notes for a moment. Rebecca asked her if something was wrong. Her mind had drifted back to Robot 28. She gave Rebecca her notes but Maria found it hard to concentrate on class, the teacher¡¯s lecture turning into so much background noise. Class ended and the students exited the classrooms with much gusto. That feeling of bother hadn¡¯t left Maria when she left class that day but she was on the verge of discovering why when Rebecca burst her thought bubble. ¡°Are you feeling alright, Maria? You seemed a bit off during class today. Do you have everything packed? Need to go back home and get something?¡± asked Rebecca. Home? That¡¯s it! She could head home and fix whatever it was that was bothering her so much. She had been working so hard on it for the past few days that she was ready to compile him and show him off to dad. ¡°Oh yeah! I forgot something at home, I think I might need to take the bus today to go get it,¡± excitedly answered Maria. ¡°Oh I¡¯m sure me and my mom could go get it with you when she comes pick us up,¡± said Rebecca as she smiled at her friend. ¡°No, I wouldn¡¯t want to impose!¡± nervously exclaimed Maria. This caused Rebecca to raise her eyebrow. ¡°Maria, is there something you¡¯re not telling me?¡± she pried. ¡°You¡¯ve been acting odd lately and it¡¯s making me worry. What is it? I¡¯m your friend, you can tell me.¡± ¡°What¡¯re you talking about?! It¡¯s nothing really!¡± said a flustered Maria. Rebecca looked on her with her raised eyebrow and said, ¡°You¡¯re certainly making a big deal about nothing. Come on, ¡®fess up.¡± Maria could only stammer an ¡°um¡± before Rebecca burst out laughing. ¡°It¡¯s okay, dude,¡± said Rebecca, ¡°I know what¡¯s up. You probably forgot your programming homework and it¡¯s saved to that PC rig I gave you. We¡¯ll talk later okay? Make sure you call me when you get home!¡± Maria laughed giddily as she made her way to the bus, with thoughts of R28¡¯s programming on her mind. When the bus dropped her off at her stop she rushed home and up to her room and turned on her PC and pulled up R28¡¯s programming and called Rebecca. She checked her arrest algorithm, which was fine, then she checked the 3D Urban Movement Program, which was fine, and she checked the communications protocols, which needed working on, and she checked combat protocols, which really needed working. The electro-fists weren¡¯t set for a certain charge and she didn¡¯t want her robot to kill anyone on accident. Then there was the question of who the robot would obey and she decided on having it follow the orders of her and her dad only for now. She even developed plans for a wrist communicator. She typed away at her computer for the longest time when she got a call from Rebecca saying that she¡¯s on her way but traffic was gridlocked. She and her mom would be a while before they could get to her and that they already told her dad about the delay. That wasn¡¯t the case for some thugs making their way towards Maria¡¯s home. --- Marco seethed while he patrolled. The judge had denied his warrant to search Ronny¡¯s boss and the unit had Marco tasked out to a nonviolent sector. He hit his steering wheel, swearing under his breath. Everything seemed normal for the most part and his reports have been uneventful until he saw a car with tinted windows and no license plates on it. His suspicion kicked in even though he wanted to believe that the vehicle was going to the DMV. They wound their way through Neo-City One, Marco taking care not to tail the car too closely. The drivers in the other car must have caught on and bolted through a traffic light. He remembered the text he got from Rebecca and he rushed to reach his home before that vehicle did. He turned his siren on, sweat beading on his brow and he thought of the worst-case scenario. After all this time, have I finally gone too far? He chased after them. Maria finally finished Robot 28. Days upon days of labor and her bot was complete. The combat systems were fully operational, the vocal and communications systems were functioning, the 3D Urban Movement Program was fine-tuned, the arrest protocols were ship shape, black, white and gold adorned the robot, and the mechanisms were in prime condition. She stared in awe of her robot, this Robot 28 she had found in an abandoned alleyway on her way home! She was so excited she started to compile all her work. She hit the compile button and a loading bar took over the screen. She beamed at the thought of surprising Rebby, her parents, and her dad. The bar was close to fully loaded when she heard the front door slam open. Why was dad here? Was he angry with her? Quietly she tiptoed to her door and opened it. She crept silent as a mouse to the top of the stairs. What she saw was not her dad but complete and total strangers ransacking her home. One of them went up to where she was at and upon seeing her and shouted, ¡°There! Grab her!¡± Maria scrambled to her room. A bullet shot out and cut her escape short as a piece of the wall burst out. In that short time, a goon had sprinted up the stairs and Maria was hoisted in the air. Maria fought and kicked with all her might but could not break free of her captor¡¯s grasp. She shouted for help as loud as she could. ¡°Shut it, brat!¡± the thug told her, ¡°You have only your dad to blame for this! So, pipe down or you¡¯ll really make me wanna hurt you.¡± She heard sirens outside her home. Dad! ¡°Now, we¡¯re gonna go outside, put a sack over your head and we¡¯ll wait for your dad to meet our demands! Got it?¡± the thug spat at her. Maria was too distraught to give an answer and cried. She regretted not going to Rebecca¡¯s when she had the chance. She prayed for a miracle. --- The robot booted up immediately after its programming had completely compiled. It ran a systems check and confirmed that everything was operational and at optimal capacity. Its auditory receivers picked up sirens and other sounds occurring outside its immediate vicinity. The robot exited out of the room and walked towards the origins of those sounds. When it arrived at the stairs, the optics system registered a person staring outward to a light source. The person was holding a gun and the robot¡¯s auditory systems registered a threat coming from the direction of the light which went, ¡°If you ever wanna see your daughter again, you¡¯ll do exactly as we say and wait for further instructions, you damned cop!¡± The robot made its way down the stairs and asked the person at the bottom, ¡°Citizen, what seems to be the problem?¡± The person rounded on the robot, raising his voice and gun in alarm, screamed and started firing at the robot. Combat protocols took over and the robot punched its assailant, sending him flying into the opposite wall and knocking him out cold. The robot turned towards the light source and saw a thug with a hostage in tow, turning now to face it. The thug and the hostage looked perplexed as to what happened until the hostage, a teenage girl, yelled at the top of her lungs, ¡°Robot 28! HELP!¡± The robot raised its fist and launched it at the thug before he could lift his firearm and point it at the girl. The rocket punch connected with the thug¡¯s face, collapsing him to the floor and the girl stood up and ran to the light source. --- Marco could not believe what had happened in front of his eyes. The two thugs that had tried to kidnap his daughter were disposed of by some unknown force and his daughter was rushing towards him, unscathed. He rushed to his daughter and embraced her, glad she was safe. He turned to the front of his house and stared awestruck. It was the unknown force that had saved his daughter, the unknown force which had deftly crushed her kidnappers, the unknown force she called out to. ¡°Dad, er um¡ªSergeant Marco Cervantes, meet your new partner,¡± his daughter said, extending her hand to the machine standing on their porch. There it stood. A machine unlike any other. Its ultra-strong arms akimbo, its chassis shining in black, white, and chrome, a gold police badge adorned the plating on the chest of the most powerful, most advanced machine known to man. ¡°Greetings, Sergeant Cervantes, I am Robot 28. I am here to serve and protect,¡± proclaimed the mighty Robot 28. --- The real Allister sat fixated to his screen for what seemed like an eternity, his mouth agape at what his spider drone was transmitting to him. Maria Cervantes actually had his robot and what¡¯s more, had completely transformed his Robot 28 from what it was originally intended to be; a fighting machine bent on destruction. Any other person would have been some mixture of anger and/or distressed but for the good doctor, he was impressed and rather proud. Here was a fine engineer who took his robot and turned it into something magnificent and could very well be a challenge for him. He wasn¡¯t so sure about the police officer but he had every single bit of confidence in her rag tag team nonetheless. He must have been sitting in awe for too long because his double was signaling on the monitor that the mob boss was talking to it and that a response was needed. Oh yeah, I did forget about that imbecile didn¡¯t I, thought the good doctor. The doctor¡¯s patience with the little man had worn thin and he decided that he would end their professional arrangement right then and there. ¡°So what¡¯s the plan now, smart guy? This is still your mess!¡± barked the soon to be deceased. ¡°Just give me a minute,¡± said the double as it typed away at the computer, ¡°And there we are, all of your financial assets are now mine and my coding work has been sent to my other double!¡± proclaimed the doctor. ¡°What?!¡± shouted the closer-to-being-dealt with boss. ¡°Consider this my resignation,¡± said the doctor nonchalantly. The double picked up the protesting mob boss with inhuman strength and soon the screen turned to static as the double blew up and leveled the warehouse it was in. The real doctor gave a sigh of relief and moved on to his next project. Destroying the world is busy work, but first he would have the fine engineer. --- Marco had to cancel his fishing trip with his daughter because of a mob war. There were plenty of things he wanted to do with his daughter that plenty of other families did when they had the time and money. However, Marco didn¡¯t have either of those things. Nor could he consider his life moving forward something resembling anything normal anymore. The robot, Robot 28, came into his life after rescuing Maria from inside his own home during an attempted kidnapping, knocking the kidnappers both unconscious he hoped. And Maria called it his new partner. What the hell is going on here? he thought to himself. He called for an ambulance for the kidnappers and checked their pulses, relieved that their hearts still beat. He looked at the robot¡¯s gorilla-like arms and pondered at the damage the robot did to the two men. Just what the hell is going on? He had seen plenty of the damage Neo-City One¡¯s Military Police Force and criminal element could do to each other and to bystanders but the things the robot did to the two kidnappers gave Marco pause. The robot smashed the jaw of one kidnapper and destroyed the ribs of the other, indenting the latter on his wall. He assessed the man¡¯s breathing, noticed how short his breaths were and his face turning blue. The man¡¯s lung is collapsing! He immediately set to popping the man¡¯s lung. He located the space between the third and fourth rib and stabbed the needle into the man, a sharp hiss coming out, stabilizing him. He stared at the man indented in his wall and set about taking him down. The ambulance came minutes later and Marco explained to the EMTs what had happened, excluding Robot 28¡¯s involvement and telling Robot 28 to hide beforehand. He radioed into the station, telling his boss that he¡¯ll be in later to report the attempted kidnapping. But first he had to talk to his daughter. ¡°How are you doing, mija?¡± he asked her. ¡°I¡¯m fine, dad,¡± she answered. Marco smiled, but deep down he still worried for her. Maria looked her dad in the eye and smiled. ¡°I¡¯m fine, really.¡± His frown deepened, his worry palpaple. ¡°Why weren¡¯t you over at Rebecca¡¯s house, like we agreed on, Maria?¡± ¡°Because of¡­ because¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not mad at you.¡± ¡°Because of Robot 28,¡± she stated. Robot 28 had come down the stairs after the EMTs had left. Marco looked in awe at the bot. She built that? Only 14 years old, and she built that? What else have I missed? ¡°How did you do this?¡± Maria explained everything, of how she found the Robot in an alley near home and the days she spent working on it. As she told him this, his shortcomings as a parent crawled on his back and took over his thoughts. He beamed with pride at her accomplishments and criticized himself harshly for not being a better parent to her. Maria wanted to help him because he almost never made time for her and he couldn¡¯t make time for her because of the MPs. His problems had become hers. But on the other hand. This robot had come at the perfect time and saved his daughter and for that he was grateful. The robot would need work, thinking back to the smashed jaw and broken ribs it had inflicted on the criminals. This will be a problem moving forward but he had every confidence in Maria¡¯s engineering prowess to work on fixing it. The last thing he wanted was excessive force. And the potential for the Robot to learn was there. He could teach it the right things! But still. The Robot could learn the wrong things just as much as it could learn the right things. His department had its fair share of bad apples, and Sergeant Cervantes worried about the robot being treated like equipment, being traded around between them all. Some of his fellow police officers were in deep with the mobs. Some should never have been police officers in the first place. And then there were the people in charge. His unease grew like a malignant weed the more he thought about it. What of the Robot¡¯s original creators? Maria told him that she couldn¡¯t find any manufacturer¡¯s data within the Robot¡¯s memory. Then there were the Torchbearers. Rebel fighters fighting for a democratic society in the worst ways possible. What if the robot goes crazy? What if the people never trust the robot? What if after what if after what if plagued him one right after the other, one damn thing after another, so many jack in the boxes waiting to be sprung. Everyone¡¯s going to want a piece of them. He had spent his life leading up to this point trying to do as much good as he could in Military Police and trying not to let the system chew him up and spit him out. His heart sank further and further. There is no way this can remain a secret. ¡°Um, dad, you uh doing okay?¡± stammered Maria. Dad had stared in silence at the bot for a while. What was he thinking? She hoped she did the right thing. Marco finally got out of his head, looked at her and patted her head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing, Maria. I¡¯m proud of you,¡± he said. It was Maria¡¯s turn to be doubtful of her father. ¡°It¡¯s going to be okay, dad,¡± she said, smiling. He raised his brow, and he smiled. The reassurance between them felt real now. They made dinner and waited for Rebecca to come over. Marco went to the police station to set up some appointments with therapist for Maria¡¯s sake. The boss even gave him 3 days paid leave to spend with Maria. ¡°You should have killed them,¡± admonished his boss. ¡°Were it me and my family, I would¡¯ve wrought furious vengeance on them.¡± ¡°You of all people know that I avoid killing if I can help it,¡± replied Marco. ¡°You¡¯re too soft on these animals, Sergeant Cervantes.¡± Had I been able to investigate Chuck''s boss, we wouldn¡¯t be having this conversation now would we. You threw me under the bus and my daughter almost got kidnapped. Marco slid a file to the boss. ¡°My report, sir.¡± The Boss waved him away and Marco left. He went home afterwards, Robot 28 greeting him at the door. Marco frowned, his concerns coming back. He was determined to see this through to the end. He wanted to leave a better world for his daughter than the one he inherited. This robot would help with that. He looked at the robot. ¡°You, me, and Maria are going to do great things together. Let¡¯s see what you got,¡± he said. He spent the next three days with Maria working with the robot on how to police the streets, seeing what the robot can and can¡¯t do, calibrating and recalibrating, keeping the robot secret from the public eye in the meantime. Maria built a set of wrist communicators for them so that they can call on R28 at anytime. Everyone¡¯s going to want a piece of them, and they¡¯ll be ready. Enter robot 28! Defender of Neo-City One! While Marco took care of his daughter and her kidnappers, another gang gathered in the ruins of the old city. They did not gather to commit a crime, but to continue the revolution. Their mole had told them that the government had authorized increased military spending for the war effort, pulling money away from domestic programs and social security. The losses those programs would face would be supplemented by a lottery, but the funds generated would be liquid, and given how liquid funds were treated before didn¡¯t inspire much confidence in the rebels, the Torchbearers. They planned to strike an arms factory, the same one the budget increase targeted as their spies in government reported, and burn it to the ground tonight to prevent the production of new weapons. A map of the area was spread out before them, strike points labeled around the perimeter of the facility. The magicians and Ascended Humans among them in the team would strike here and there. Their main players would be the one with superspeed and the one with electrokinesis. As they attacked the factory, they were to evacuate the workers and set up the incendiary device at the main support beam, destroying the factory. Harry would be the one to do it. Their roles known, they grabbed their weapons, rode out to the site, and waited for the signal. They maintained radio silence. The signal came and they moved out. However, not all of them moved on the objective for one of them had been taken hostage by Doom¡¯s Highwaymen. The factory guards knew the Torchbearers were coming and had stepped up their patrols. They had no idea when and where the Torchers were going to strike though. A Torchbearer knocked out a guard. Then another guard got taken out. A guardsman caught a Torchbearer before they could incapacitate another guard. Then the bullets started flying. The TB kid caught by the Highwaymen told them about what was going on under duress and got butted in the face with a rifle for their trouble. More weapons, more slaughter. Then the fighting escalated into a battle. A highwayman jumped a guard and a Torchbearer as they fought, stole their weapons and killed them both. A Torcher shot the highwayman who killed their friend and got gunned down by a guard. Inside, the alarm blaring, Harry fought his way through the compound, shooting his gun into the air, causing panic, evacuating as many people as he could. He reached the place he needed to set the incendiary device without much trouble, but something felt off as he arrived. It was completely empty. His hair stood on end as he surveyed the desolate space, its silence betraying no secrets to him. He felt that someone was watching him, turning around to face what stalked him. Nothing greeted him. He turned his back again and saw a man standing in his way. The man had an arrogant air about him, his face showing utter contempt for Harry, the man¡¯s eyes showing a hunger for blood. Harry stood frozen for what felt like an eternity. His arms trembled as he raised his gun, and then the man spoke. ¡°Do you really think that you¡¯re going to kill me with that pathetic thing?¡± taunted the man, his voice filled with dry arrogance. The man grinned, ¡°Believe me, others have tried and failed.¡± Harry pulled the trigger and fired at the man, the bullet hitting its target. The man touched his wound, unfazed, regarding the wound as one does an insect. A shadow fell across the man¡¯s face, but his eyes glowed through the darkness, twin yellow orbs of evil . The man stepped closer, his form changing with each step. The man¡¯s face contorted to form a snout, the bones making audible, sickening cracking sounds, his teeth grew sharper and sharper, his hands stretched into paws with razor-like claws at the end, his form became bent but more massive as muscles grew and swelled, skin warping and quaking from the transformation, the hair on his body grew thicker, coarser, and darker, his back hair became grey, the tailbone became its namesake as a short tail formed. What stood before Harry could not be guessed to have been a man had they not witnessed the transformation themselves. The dread realization dawned on Harry, his heart gripped by a cold, pulsating, evil hand. He had only heard rumors of such things. He was fighting a Beast Sapien, a human combined with the DNA of an animal and a shapeshifter! The man¡¯s clothes were in tatters when he reached the trembling Torchbearer, revealing the Beast Sapien to be a honey badger. The man-badger wore a murderous grin and raised his sharp paw and swiped at the despairing Harry. Harry barely dodged the badger¡¯s swipe, the claws leaving a gouge in the concrete. The badger-man growled and chased after him. Harry ran to the place he needed to place the incendiary device, dead set on fulfilling his mission. He had no hope of beating the thing that hunted him! A splitting pain in his back broke his desperate sprint and Harry collapsed to the ground. Blood pooled where he lay. He shakily turned his head to face the thing that hit him. The badger-man¡¯s eyes glowed in the shadows, his claws dripping with Harry¡¯s blood. Harry mustered what strength he had and crawled away, leaving a smeared ruby trail behind. The badger-man let out a bored sigh and stepped towards his prey. His doom upon him, Harry reached into his jacket and pulled out the device. It was set to a timer, but it also had a function for instant detonation. The badger-man sensed something was amiss but did not quicken or impede his pace. Harry rolled over, and the badger-man stopped in his tracks. The badger-man gasped and jumped away as the Torch kid pushed the detonation button. The explosion¡¯s shockwave hit the badger-man like a truck going above highway speeds. He flew across the room and hit a wall, leaving a badger-man shaped hole with him inside. He eventually freed himself, the fire had spread far and fast in the short time it took. The factory started crumbling about him and the badger-man wasted no time in fleeing. He ran at a dead sprint down hallways teeming with Torchers, Highwaymen, and fleeing factory workers, the badger-man slicing through them all in his mad dash to escape the collapsing factory. He escaped just as the factory fell in on itself. The fighting between the guards, Torchbearers, and Highwaymen raged on despite the collapsing factory. The Beast Sapien may have failed at protecting the factory but there was still work to be done. A highwayman fell at the hands of a Torchbearer, the badger-man stepping towards them with murder in his eyes. The kid panicked at the sight of him, and screamed as the badger-man cut them down. Another Torcher saw what happened and yelled at their friends to retreat from the enemy Beast Sapien. The Torchbearers and Highwaymen scrambled up the hills to reach their vehicles, the badger-man chasing them. He caught and killed a few of them before they got away, the dust their cars and motorcycles kicked up getting into the badger-man¡¯s face. He snarled and shook the dust away with murderous irritation. The badger-man¡¯s ears perked when his phone rang. He reached into the pocket of his torn pants and pulled out his phablet and saw that it was his boss. ¡°Talk to me,¡± he said. ¡°Basil, what¡¯s your status?¡± said the voice on the other end of the line. Aw crap, thought Basil. ¡°Well, the terrorists got away, the factory is destroyed, and a few torchies and highwaymen are dead,¡± answered Basil. Basil¡¯s boss cussed him out, but he did not pay any attention because he could not care less as he pantomimed his boss, his clawed, red stained hand making a yapping gesture. The boss ordered Basil to wait for an escort via helicopter. He morphed back into his regular human self and went to the designated spot for pickup. He sat there, annoyed and bored out of his skull, until the chopper came for him. He became familiar with the backs of his eyelids as he rode the chopper, his stomach growling, thinking of what he would have for dinner, when he arrived at the base. Now comes the debriefing, Basil thought to himself. He delayed going to the briefing upon arriving. He passed data miners and wiretappers combing through the citizenry¡¯s everything as they searched for potential deviancy, walked by the genetics labs decrypting the Ascension gene, detoured through the cafeteria and saw nothing appealing, wound his way through the facility and finally arrived at the briefing room. When he opened the door, his handler was there along with her. Basil furrowed his brow in disgust. Emily Juno, director of the National Intelligence Program¡¯s Interrogation Program and Overseer of NeoCity One. Cruelest bitch in the system. If she noticed the look he gave her, Emily did not seem to care. ¡°Care to explain yourself,¡± she asked. Basil told Emily everything that had happened at the factory and his escape from the collapsing building. Emily stirred from her seat at the end of the debriefing. She looked him in the eye, her eyes changed from grey to yellow. ¡°Is that all, Basil?¡± she asked in a voice colder and crueler than arctic snow. Basil drew back in fear. He did not mean to do that. He did not want to do that. Basil¡¯s guts twisted into knots, his pain welling up into a scream that would not come. He doubled over on the floor, his guts still twisting as she stepped forward. ¡°Do you know the sort of damage you¡¯ve allowed to happen?¡± she asked, her cruel, arctic demeanor now a simmering, barely contained white hot rage. ¡°The timetable for our weapons program has to be adjusted thanks to you and those terrorists and it¡¯s all your fault! Because you got careless!¡± She drew a whip and flayed him without mercy. As a final gesture, she drew back her foot and viciously kicked the bloodied Basil in the gut. Despite the vitriol with which she attacked him, Emily kept her anger in check as she disciplined him. She could not afford to kill him. Basil is an asset, one that had cost the government a pretty penny in gene therapy alone. She finished after a few minutes. ¡°You are getting half rations for your failure.¡± Basil seethed in his cell, cursing that bitch Emily. Just what was that? Could she be a telepathic Ascended? Aren¡¯t those illegal? He paced around his cell, breaking from his contemplation when his cell door hissed open and a cart rolled in. On the cart was a small pile of raw meat. Basil¡¯s stomach growled. After a few minutes, the guards came to clean up his bloody mess. Basil didn¡¯t sleep well that night because the food was awful. Emily took her medicine with her coffee in frustration. Using her powers on Basil taxed her body fiercely, a fact not uncommon among psychic Ascendants. Thank goodness for super science. God dammit, Basil. Honestly I should have let you starve tonight. She surveyed the field of monitors, looking for any sign of possible Torchbearer activity. The mole hadn¡¯t told them anything useful as to how the Torchbearers came in contact with him, so the dataminers trawled through the mole¡¯s social media, bank statements, everything for any suspicious activity. He withdrew $100 and spent that money at a superstore, getting lunch, some groceries, and a throwaway phone. Perhaps the data on the throwaway can be used if they could find it. She would have to have the mole¡¯s associates interrogated again. The security cameras caught him using the phone, but they didn¡¯t catch the number he entered or what the conversation was about. The mole had then put the phone down to reach into his tote bag for a bag of lunch, a man then grabs the mole¡¯s phone, the mole gives chase, and is then out of sight of the cameras. The man wore a scarf and face mask, negating any facial recognition software from identifying him. Emily looked on with indifference and slight concern. Her telepathic flailing of Basil left her with Basil¡¯s callous attitude. The effects of her Ascended abilities should have worn off after taking her medicine but they persisted after 30 minutes. Perhaps she should see her doctor about this. There was also the matter of the Highwaymen to consider as well. The wastelanders had journeyed further into the Neo-City One area than they have in a long while. How did this happen? Why did this happen? She looked at the schedule and decided that they were tomorrow¡¯s problems to mull over. Riding John trembled as he stood before Doom. John¡¯s brothers had scoured the wasteland, fighting off horrors that lurked in the dark, finally locating him in a junkyard, scavenging fuel for his motorcycle in a vain attempt at escape. They dragged him at the back of the caravan, forced to walk back to camp. They threw him before Doom¡¯s feet as he sat in his chair in the center of the auditorium. Doom picked him up and drove his fist into Riding John¡¯s face repeatedly. Doom the Highwayman rammed his fist into the face of his former raider captain, his full weight behind each punch, drawing blood from Riding John until the last drop was expunged. Finally, Riding John fell to the floor, a dead bloody mess. Doom shook the gore from his arm, a servant boy rushing with towel in hand to clean him. His captain had returned with nothing, and so Doom took his life for his failure. He turned to his followers, the Riders of Doom, with a glare in his eyes. ¡°Why did Riding John die tonight, my brothers?¡± he asked them, his voice booming through the stadium. He was met with silence. ¡°He died because he was a coward. He proved himself weak like those in the city. He cost us weapons we could have used in conquering Neo-City One!¡± The crowd of riders stirred. He heard murmurings condemning Riding John. ¡°Riding John came to us, thrown out from the city because of what he believed in! He was just like you! He hated his neighbors! He hated how the government coddled the undeserving! The city was a breeding ground for criminals and weakness! There are many like him trapped there, unable to fight for fear of the government crushing them. We found him lost in the wasteland, took him in, and raised him to be our raiding captain. ¡°However, Neo-City One never loosed its grip on Riding John, its weakness a wart on this country. So what better way to strike back at the city than to steal its weapons and turn them on the people? To purge the weak! And he failed us, my riders, my brothers. But his failure will not stop us from achieving our dream,¡± Doom proclaimed. The crowd stirred even more, their energy and rage becoming more palpable. Good. ¡°We will go on! Nothing will stop us! We will take the city one way or the other. Neo-City One will know the wrath of the Highwaymen. They will know the wrath of the people they forgot at their gate!¡± The crowd roared when Doom finished. The crowd¡¯s energy filled Doom. He dismissed them as he told them where to meet up next. The wastelanders dispersed into the wasteland, Doom journeying alone in his own way. He rode to Neo-City One, slipping through an unfinished, unwatched, section of Wall and plotted his next plan of attack. Three days later after the attack on the factory, overcast skies greeted Neo-City One. The data buses sparked to life on kitchen tables with the morning news, the main headline of the day was President Steven Schmidt¡¯s approval of the budget proposal, authorizing an increase in military spending. The talking heads then turned their attention to other matters. There was also a storm warning today, pedestrians were advised to take caution in case the alarm sounded. In other news, the Cubs lost the World Series again, losing out to the Giants for a third year in a row. William Atherton, a clerk at First National Bank and an avid fan of the Cubs (despite all the reasons not to be given the current line up), half listened to all of this as he got ready for the grueling, lousy Monday ahead. After preparing his breakfast, a fried egg, cheese, and ham sandwich with jelly, he set off for work and got stuck in the Neo-City One traffic. Horns and tempers flaring in front of him, William looked off to the side and saw the construction equipment and workers near the wasteland, building the Wall as usual. Lessons from his school days came to him unbidden, of how the Great Plains dried out and the dust bowl created havoc with the city in the form of damaging and noxious dust storms and tornadoes. Neo-City One was built on the ruins of the old cities that fell victim to the storms in the early 20XXs. As he stared out towards the Wall, he spied a couple of cuties in a coup and whistled at them. They gave him the finger and drove off. He gave them the bird back, but felt his impudence in the gesture. He arrived at the office ten minutes before his shift began and made his way to the break room for a cup of coffee. He chatted with his friends about the usual stuff, plans on getting the new videogame, how their dates went, and cravings for pizza from the shop on First Street. William made his way to his desk and the daily grind ensued. The day ran away from him and soon it was late afternoon, the skies had parted the clouds, and business was winding down. The scenery outside of the bank showed signs of dying as well, the ebb and flow of people coming into the bank having all but receded to almost blessed nonexistence. The clerks waited with their heads in their hands waiting for the clock to strike five when a red car pulled up the sidewalk in front of the bank. Two men in ski masks leapt out of the vehicle, one brandishing a rifle and the other holding a pistol and an empty bag. They entered the bank and ordered everyone on their stomachs. The clerks hit the floor, William hitting the silent alarm on the way down. One of the robbers, the one with the pistol, saw this and yanked Will from the floor and forced him at gunpoint to fill the bag with as much money as he could. The crony with the rifle was standing by the entrance and shouted to hurry with the money and hostage. The robber with the pistol grabbed Will by the collar, rushed for the car, and threw him into it. The wail of the police sirens came into ear shot. The car peeled out its parking spot, smoke flying from the screeching tires, and the chase was on. In one of the police cars, Marco chased the red car alongside his partner in the other car. They sped their way from First Street and Lincoln Avenue, a hail of rifle rounds pelting the cop cars. Marco fired his pistol in an exchange of gunfire and his partner in the other car pulled up to the rear of the vehicle to try to spin them out. The robbers forced his partner to back off with a few well placed rounds and they both wound their way through Neo-City One, entering Roosevelt Street, exiting on Jerry Boulevard, turning on Stanley Way, and so on. Marco¡¯s sense of worry grew as the chase went on, until a shadow passed the hood of his car. Marco smiled and ordered his buddy to back off. ¡°What? Why?!¡± they asked. ¡°Something big is coming,¡± he answered. As the cop cars receded, the bank robbers grew perplexed by this curious move from the police, but they couldn¡¯t think long on it as something big crashed into the front of the vehicle, sending it spinning out of control. Car alarms blared and heads swam in dazed confusion as the robbers worked to recollect themselves. They didn¡¯t wait too long to come out of their stupor. ¡°Come out with your hands up!¡± someone shouted, their voice amplified as if by loudspeaker. The robber in the driver¡¯s seat groaned and looked up at the person yelling at them. His eyes widened and his mouth hung agape at what he saw. It was a robot with the number 28 emblazoned in bright red numbers on its right shoulder, colored black and white, like a cop car. The robot stalked towards them. The robber in the driver¡¯s seat ordered his partner to take their hostage and money and escape while he dealt with this thing. He grabbed his rifle and fired at the oncoming robot. The robot marched on, undeterred by the shots fired. The robber broke out into an icy sweat and fired again, but the robot marched on, closer, closer, one ponderous footfall after the other. Sweating, heart feverishly drumming in his ears, the robber kept firing, his voice ringing out in shrill horror as the machine lumbered forward. Finally, the robot reached the driver and punched him out through the window. Robot 28 moved towards the alleyway the other robber made off with hostage in tow. The robot rounded the corner and halted. The robber had the pistol pointed to William¡¯s head. The robber threatened to shoot William in the head if the robot came any closer. The robot raised its fist and fired a rocket punch to the face. The robber fell, a collapsed heap. William stared in a mixture of awe and fear, disbelieving what had happened before him. He had never heard nor seen a robot in Neo-City One or anywhere else for that matter. He was broken from his train of thought when the robot moved towards him. And then it spoke to him. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Citizen, are you injured?¡± asked the robot. ¡°I-I-I¡¯m fine,¡± stuttered Will as the robot picked up the unconscious robber and the bag of money. ¡°Then follow me, citizen, and I shall lead you to safety,¡± stated the bot. Was this thing some sort of superhero? Again history lessons came unbidden to him, as there hadn¡¯t been any new superheroes in a while, their heyday being the early days of the Tear in the Universe. The sound of sirens and the sight of cop cars and news vans greeted the robot and former hostage as they stepped out of the alleyway. The robbers were handed off to police custody and the money was given to Sergeant Cervantes to return to the bank. Then the reporters swamped the robot and William. They asked about what had happened, what was it doing here, where did it come from, why did the robot get involved, and a whole host of similar queries. ¡°I am Robot 28,¡± answered the bot, ¡°I am a police officer in Neo-City One PD. I am here to serve and protect the people of this city.¡± ¡°Who made you?¡± asked a reporter. ¡°I was made by Maria Cervantes to serve this city and Sergeant Marco Cervantes¡± stated the robot. It pointed to the police officer at the back of the crowd and the reporters swamped him with their questions. Will felt slightly incredulous but was grateful for the lack of attention paid to him. ¡°Sir, what does it feel like to control the most advanced crime fighting machine in the force?¡± ¡°Mr. Cervantes, is your daughter working for the military?¡± ¡°Sir, what does this mean for the future of the city?¡± Marco looked upon the crowd and said at the top of his voice, ¡°I will answer all of your questions later. Right now, I need to take these criminals to the station, return the money to the bank and talk with my robot.¡± The crowd dispersed and R28 walked towards Marco. It asked for an evaluation on its performance on the mission as per its programming requirement. ¡°Not bad but you could have done better, R. Twenty-Eight,¡± responded Marco, ¡°Let¡¯s start with how you stopped the robbers. You caused plenty of damage by causing the car to spin out. Next time, try lifting a car up from the ground when you catch it. Also, pull your punches next time. We are trying to minimize damage. While you¡¯re at it, try not to frighten the hostage when you¡¯re rescuing them.¡± ¡°Understood sir,¡± replied R28. The Learning Method compiled new criteria for its algorithms and parameters to its programming as Marco detailed how the Robot should act next time it encounters a situation like this. The Learning Method recalibrated the robot¡¯s punches to not be as devastating to a regular human. Further changes were made, the robot devising new means of stopping a car chase and compiling data on how to ease a distressed hostage. The information was then written into the robot¡¯s programming, overwriting some of the programming and supplementing the rest. The Learning Method then ended its process, waiting for the signal to reactivate when the time came. ¡°My daughter should be getting out of school right about now, go get her and take her to Rebecca¡¯s place, we¡¯ll talk more after that,¡± Marco told R28. The robot leapt into the air and zipped its way through Neo-City One to Maria¡¯s school, Lincoln University. A student was asleep during the entirety of the lesson. This didn¡¯t bother Professor Ryan Castings. However, what surprised him most was Maria Cervantes¡¯s behavior, who was also asleep for his lesson as well. He pinged her desks, startling them awake. ¡°Maria, could you explain to me what I was just talking about?¡± inquired Professor Castings. Maria started from her sleep and looked up at the board. She looked for a few seconds and gave Professor Castings the answer. She tripped over her words as she answered, but was more or less right. She normally spoke with more clarity of thought however. The students rose from their desks, class just ending as Maria finished. They filed out of the door, chattering amongst themselves while Professor Castings called Maria to his desk as she made her way to leave the classroom. ¡°Maria, is everything alright?¡± asked Ryan. She had been absent from the previous three days, following her attempted kidnapping. Her face was sullen, mollifying Ryan even more. Maria is a brilliant kid, Ryan thought, answering his questions with confidence and enthusiasm and yet here she was, looking embarrassed when by all rights she shouldn¡¯t be. His old heart went out to her. ¡°Is there anything I can do to help you?¡± he asked. He knew of several social services that could help her, but he wondered if they were still around to help her. ¡°Do you need more time to--?¡± he continued. ¡°Oh no, no, no, professor!¡± spouted Maria, shaking her head, ¡°You don¡¯t have to do anything! I¡¯m holding up well!¡± She tried her best to feign nonchalance but Professor Castings was still unsure. ¡°Are you sure? Have you seen a counselor about what you¡¯re going through? I am looking out for your health after all.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, professor, but thanks all the same,¡± she said with a nod, still beaming her smile. His worries were put to rest, if only a little bit. He smiled back. She scampered off to the parking lot to meet with Rebecca. Later that day, he heard the news about Neo-City One¡¯s newest protector and who it belonged to. He wasn¡¯t alone on that. Emily Juno had watched the news clip of Robot 28 repeatedly for hours on end. Her secretary had pulled up Marco¡¯s file in the 30 minutes she had given them. How did this happen, under her nose no less? She had Marco¡¯s file splayed out on her desk to review. He stood at six foot two and weighed 200 something pounds. He was exceptionally fit for his age, maxing and surpassing his peers in physical tests consistently ever since he first enlisted. He has gotten in trouble with his station on multiple occasions over failure to perform duty and fighting the other officers. The fights concerned unlawful arrests and searches made on the spot, procedure, and whatnot. Some of it was justified seeing as how some of the other officers were later shown to be connected to some of the mobs in Neo-City One. The other fights with the other officers were less detailed. The officers he confronted would then transfer over to other units in the city. She furrowed her brow in consternation. Can this man be trusted? Perhaps she would find out for herself. She looked at the list of employees on staff now, looking for those technically literate in computers, robots, and AI. She called a few and then settled on George Rivera. He had a bachelor¡¯s in Computer science with a minor in AI development. The small, late twenty something Latino accompanied her to the car silently. She gave the directions to the driver and they made their way to Marco¡¯s house. They wound their way through the neon lit, neo art deco lined streets of Neo-City One, eventually arriving at Marco¡¯s house. This neighborhood is in dire need of redevelopment, thought Emily with a frown. She huffed and stepped out of the car onto the cracked sidewalk. She surveyed the area around her and some kids that were playing outside (In this heat?) scrambled out of sight. The garage to Marc¡¯s house was open and she spotted him working under his vehicle. The robot was with him as well. Good. ¡°Good afternoon, Mr. Cervantes,¡± she started. He rolled out from under the car and then stood up. The file did not lie about his physical appearance to be sure. If her father were here, he would say that Marco was built like a linebacker. She had to lift her head up to look the man in the eye. They sat in the living room of Cervantes¡¯s hovel and she noticed a break in the wall. She¡¯ll have to ask about that later. She asked her questions about how he came to have this Robot and was told of what had happened in the past few days. Now for the heart of the matter. ¡°In our files it shows that you have had conflicts with the other officers in your unit. Would you care to elaborate as to why?¡± she had asked him. Just what sort of man was Marco that he had fought his fellow officers so many times but wasn¡¯t kicked off or even lost rank but still be punished all the same? "Who wants to know?" he asked. Juno pulled out some files from her black leather purse. Marco looked surprised at the thickness of the file. She started with Hank Rodgetts. Marco told her the circumstances of what had happened, of how Hank was getting rough with some kids hanging around some corner. Hank had ordered the kids to empty their pockets and Marco, then a deputy, had tried to get them to move along citing a lack of probable cause. Rodgetts insisted on searching the kids'' pockets and moved forward on them, but Cervantes stepped in between them. Rodgetts tried to punch Marco but was instead laid out when Marco threw him over the shoulder. The kids were gone when Hank hit the ground. Hank then broke his hand punching Marco out. Hank was moved to Wall duty a month after the incident with Marco. "Why did you stop Rodgetts from searching those kids?" Emily inquired. In Hank''s report he had said the kids looked suspicious and speculated that they may be up to something. "They weren''t doing anything wrong. They were just minding their own business," answered Marco. "What makes you so certain?" "I heard about Rodgett''s history of wrongful searches yielding nothing and figured history would play out as it did before. The kids were scared of him and I think he was about to go off on them. I stepped in before anything bad happened to them." Emily Juno cocked an eyebrow."Why?" she asked with the faintest hint of sterness. Can this man''s judgement be trusted? What of his robot? she wondered. Can they be my assets? The military police were called into Neo-City One to deal with the city¡¯s crime problem and had been occupying it for the past 14 years and yet the crime has not gone down despite all that. "I joined the MPs to help people and in order to do that we need to be a better police force," answered Marco with all sincerity, ¡°I grew up in these streets. Times are hard on everyone and with R-28 under my control I can make something worthwhile for everyone.¡± "How do you suggest doing that? This is all rather unprecedented," she said. "A robot wouldn''t be too far out of the question," replied Marco. It would be another tool in the arsenal. "That wasn''t what I was referring to. What is your idea of making the military police force better?" His answer would make or break the little venture. She had dealt with enough traitor as it is. Marco took a deep breath and began, "For starters, me and my robot would work on getting people to trust us. We can do that by getting rid of the bad cops." "And who would they be?" "Some officers are in the pocket of the mobs. Others don''t inspire a lot of trust." "Why is trust so important, Sergeant?" "If people trust that the officers won''t hurt or kill them, they''ll be more likely to cooperate. So many lives have been cut short by bad cops." Emily¡¯s brow furrowed and she gave a terse hmph. News stories of cops getting rough and killing suspects and the subsequent protests that erupted came to mind. Traitors and protesters were some of the last things she wanted as Overseer. "Your robot looks like it can do serious damage to anyone or anything it hits. Why would that be a problem?" "I believe in proportional force. My daughter and I are working on that." Now for the robot, Juno thought. But where to start? "How do you learn?" interjected George. Thank you, Mr. Riverez, mused Juno with a smirk. "I am programmed with textbook knowledge of the law and review each mission for improvements from Sergeant Marco and Maria Cervantes," the robot answered. "And how are these reviews conducted?" probed Mr. Riverez. "We provide the robot with a review after every mission. We just did one over the bank robbery from today," said Marco. "What does that look like?" asked George Riverez, leaning in. Emily listened with great interest. Before Sergeant Cervantes could begin, the door opened and in came Maria. ¡°Oy¨¦ papa, what¡¯s a limo doing in front of our--oh,¡± she said. An awkward silence followed as Maria stood by the doorway. ¡°Hola Maria, this is Overseer Emily Juno and Mr. Riverez. They''re here about your robot," said Marco, breaking the silence, gesturing towards his guests. "We were just asking about how your robot learns, would you care to explain it to us?" asked George. She sat next to her dad and began to explain what she knows about the Learning Method and the modifications she made programming the robot. "So as far as software and algorithms are concerned, the three of you hash it out between yourselves? And hardware modifications beyond maintenance must be worked on together?" queried Mr. Riverez. "That''s correct, yes," answered Maria. "You have an impressive daughter on your hands, Mr. Cervantes," mused George. "Thank you Mr. Riverez. I grew her myself," stated Marco, not the least bit proud. Best to leave off with a joke. "You can call me George," said George. He chuckled at the joke Marco had made. They could use some work, but they can be my assets. I¡¯ll let this experiment play for as long as it needs to, Emily mused. Marco''s sincerity was enough to convince her. She took special interest in Maria. She was ultimately more valuable than Marco and the robot alone. "I believe you are a man with lofty ambitions, Sergeant Cervantes," remarked Emily Juno. You wouldn''t even be here if I didn''t have the robot but that is water under the bridge now, he thought. He gave her a smile and shook both her and George¡¯s on the back and watched them leave. Maria looked at her dad and said, ¡°They seem nice.¡± ¡°He seemed nice,¡± answered Marco. Cute even. Oh god that was his ex-wife talking. She would not be wrong on that. Oh hell, what would Miranda think about the robot? His smartphone rang just as soon as he thought of that. "Hey Marco," said an all too familiar voice. "Hi Miranda," answered Marco. They talked at length about everything that had happened today and the past few days. Miranda was especially livid at the attempted kidnapping. She wanted names but Marco assured her that they wouldn¡¯t be a problem because their boss was found dead in an exploded complex. The police were still investigating the crime scene. She wanted to talk to Maria and Marco obliged her. ¡°Hola mama,¡± said Maria. She was always happy to talk to her. She was too young to remember his and Miranda''s painful divorce but no love was lost between mother and daughter. Marco hadn''t talked Miranda for, what, about a few years now? The old feelings hadn''t come back while they talked. Maybe he moved on. Maria and Marco turned toward the house for dinner, the former still gabbing on and on with her mother. Emily Juno was not the only one with a vested interest in the Cervantes family. Other eyes were on them during their interview. Robot 28''s debut had turned many heads. The Torchbearers were still mourning their dead when they heard of the military police''s newest member. The leaders called a meeting among themselves immediately. "How could this have happened?" one asked. "Were we too late in attacking the weapons factory?" asked another. "Could this have been where the money has gone?" questioned Fox. "What is that thing capable of?" That last question unsettled them all. That thing wrecked the robber''s car during their bank heist and came out of it without so much as a scratch. And it shrugged off rifle rounds like they were nothing. The few magic users could probably damage the robot, but there wasn¡¯t a way to compare it to the few Ascended Humans in their ranks without risk of capture. "Just who are these people anyway?" asked Hunter. "They''re good people. I know them," interjected Princess. "We can trust them." "Just because you think we can trust doesn''t mean we should," retorted Fox. "Mr. Cervantes is a good man. He''s the cleanest MP in Neo-City One." "But-" snapped Fox. "Princess is right," interrupted Ghost before Fox could continue. "I''ve examined everything I can find on him and he seems clean." "Why didn''t you lead with that sooner? Even if he is as good as you say he is, what do we do if we cross that robot?" asked Fox with as much calm as he could muster. "None of our magic users or ascended humans stand a chance against it." "I could make us something to even the odds,¡± offered Hammer. "It''ll take some time, but without any specs, I can''t guarantee anything." "Maybe we don''t have to destroy the robot," said Princess. "We aren''t taking any chances," replied Fox, arms crossed over his chest. "Get on it, Hammer." "Fox, what is it going to take to convince you that they''re good people?" said Princess flatly. "I would have to see for myself if they can be trusted. Ghost, I want you on this. This meeting is adjourned," admonished Fox. And so, they went their separate ways for the night, returning to their homes in the city. Princess did not sleep well that night. She did not want to lose any more of her friends. Doom shook with pure, white hot rage as he learned of the new development coming from Neo-City One. There on the screen were Robot 28 and his hated enemy, Sergeant Cervantes. That man alone was responsible for Doom''s situation. And that for all the things Cervantes has done, the military decided that he, of all people, should have a robot! The perfect weapon. That thing was being wasted on him! How could this have happened? Doom needed to make a speech to his riders. Assure them of his determination to bring the city down and of their rightful place on this earth. He would have needed five minutes if one of his riders hadn''t interrupted him from his train of thought. "Leader Doom, we''ve got trouble at the front gates!" shouted a highwayman. "Out with it then!" barked Doom as he shoved past his rider and grabbed his shotgun from the rack. His rider trailing behind him, he learned about what was going on. Some man dressed in a lab coat requested an audience with Doom. Their base, an abandoned military bunker, was meant to be hidden from everyone. Again, he asked himself how this could have happened? He ripped open the door to the outside, pumping his shotgun and pointing it at the intruder. The man in the lab coat before him stood nonchalantly over the writhing bodies of his guards. "You have ten seconds to tell me why I shouldn''t kill you," glowered Doom. "You look like a man who has problems and I am a man who has solutions to them" said Dr. Sean as he stomped on a guard''s face and then walked towards Doom. "How do you know what my problems are?" "You''ve seen the news, right? That robot''s the new hot buzz in the city. If that girl can make it, it stands that she can make more. It''s elementary, it''s simple," offered the good Dr. Sean. "We kidnap his daughter." Doom glared at the man before him, his grip tightening on the grip of his rifle. "How?" he asked. Dr. Sean smiled and began to explain. On the Frontlines! In the Streets of Neo-City One! They began their work in earnest. Marco introduced Robot 28 to his unit and trained the bot on procedure, routine, and weapons handling. Marco emphasized the first two heavily during their training. Weapons handling went by quickly due to R28''s built in mechanical prowess. Maria built an in-leg holster afterwards. Marco made sure that the robot had nothing but rubber bullets for his weapon. Maria meanwhile went to school and therapy under guard. At school, she still made time for her friend Rebby. She tried to keep the surreality of her situation from getting to her. "You got the notes from differential equations?" asked Maria. "Here ya go dude," said Rebby as she handed Maria her notes. The cafeteria was its normal level of busy as Maria focused on snapping photos of her friend''s notes. "Yo, Rebby!" shouted someone not too far away. A girl with blonde hair sat next to Rebby with lunch and coursework in hand. Maria noted that the girl''s coursework was focused on journalism. "Hey Sarah," said Rebby, head in the palm of her hand and a smile in her voice. Sarah was Rebby''s other best friend. They have known each other since middle school. Maria got acquainted with her second hand but did not know much about her otherwise. "So, who''s your celebrity friend?" asked Sarah playfully. "Oh come off it," said Rebby, lightly pushing Sarah''s shoulder. The three of them talked about their day today at university, their teachers, the classwork and the projects they were working on. "Hey, if it''s not too much to ask, is it okay if I can interview you for my class assignment?" asked Sarah. The abruptness of the question took Maria aback. Oh god dammit, thought Maria. "Sure," said Maria. What''s the worst that could happen? Sarah pulled out a pen and notepad plus an audio recorder, and the absurdity Maria had been avoiding the whole time came front and center. Sarah clasped her hands together and asked, "Why make your robot a police officer?" Maria breathed in deep, took a moment to collect her words and began, "I wanted to help my dad. He always comes home tired from policing Neo-City One." Sarah scrawled some notes in her notebook and continued, "Why''s that? You could have done literally anything else with it." "Maybe, but it''s my dad," said Maria. "Alright. How are you going to do that?" asked Sarah. Maria explained again how she programmed the robot to only listen to her or her dad and to react with proportional force, not for the last time. Sarah made her notes and continued. "Okay, but that doesn''t answer my question. How are you going to go about doing what you do? What are your ideas of justice and how does the robot tie into it?" asked Sarah. "My dad has always said that you can''t have justice without compassion, mercy, and understanding." "How so?" asked Sarah "He describes it like this: offering compassion to the victims, showing mercy as often as possible, and understanding of the law. He works close with Rebby''s dad, who is a lawyer," said Maria. "That''s right," said Rebecca Sarah nodded and scratched more notes in her notebook. "Can you go into further detail?" asked Sarah. "My dad is working closely with the robot on procedure: from handling people with mental illness, providing care and resources, and performing community service. We don¡¯t want anyone getting hurt if we can help it and we''d like people to trust us. What I''d like to do is add predictive elements on top of the police work," said Maria. ¡°Don¡¯t you see any problems with that? How are you going to make that work? What sort of data are you using? How will you keep the robot from profiling people?" asked Sarah. That¡¯s a lot of questions, thought Maria and she said as much. She started scratching the back of her head, a habit she picked up whenever she was nervous. ¡°I don''t have a crystal ball and can only solve each problem as they come along and work towards a long lasting solution. As for how I''ll make this work, I''m using statistics from a wide variety of sources and having them compared against each other. That should keep the robot from profiling people, alongside working with my dad," explained Maria, hoping her anxiety didn¡¯t come across Sarah in her answer. "What happens when this program expands beyond just you and your dad? How will you handle that?" "We don''t know yet. We''ll cross that bridge when we get there." Sarah scratched more notes into her paper. "What time is it?" asked Maria. Rebecca pulled out her phone and told her. "Oh crap I gotta get to class!"said Maria, raising her hands to the sides of her head. She snatched her bag, pencil case, planner and notebooks and rushed off to her next class, telling her friends adios. Sarah''s phone pinged as Maria left them. It was from Rebby, aka Princess. Sarah, aka Ghost, glanced at Princess and swiped open her phone. Do you believe me now, Ghost? said the message. Sarah rolled her eyes and texted back, She''s a good kid, Princess. There''s still her dad to worry about though. Rebecca nodded, and they went their separate ways for that day. Maria went home after school and told papa about what happened at school. Marco told her he was proud of her. The next morning, Marco went through his morning exercises as he normally does. Five minutes of pushups, twenty weight lifting exercises as dictated by his chart, fifteen minutes of abdominal exercises, followed by a run. He did this everyday of every week. He told Robot 28 to hold down the fort when he went running. He did his stretches and ran. He ran fast for a bodybuilder, if anyone in the neighborhood ever caught sight of him, rain, snow, or sunshine. If they ever did, it was like watching a jaguar giving chase. The streets were normally empty this early in the morning, leaving Marco to his solitude, just the way he wanted it. As his pace quickened, his thoughts became serene like an open grassy glade on a clear day, his nose filled with cool dawn air, any pressing thoughts he had disappearing to the back of his mind. As he ran past a tree he heard a twig snapping. Was someone following him? He stopped and turned around. A cat had stopped midstride as it was leaving the tree. He looked around and saw the top of someone''s head peeking over the top of someone''s roof. He knelt down and beckoned the cat towards him and saw his follower sink lower down the side of the roof. He turned and ran again. As he ran, he peeked behind him and saw that he was indeed being followed. They wore a mask, their slim figure dressed in attire that blended with the neighborhood. What did they want from him? They obviously weren''t headed for his home, and even if they did, they''d have the robot to deal with. As he analyzed his pursuer he noticed that they had a hard time keeping pace with him on top the rooftops. He rounded the corner and sprinted down the road. When the mysterious pursuer arrived, they found no trace of Marco to their shock and bewilderment. Marco, having sufficiently lost his follower, continued his run a few minutes more and ran back home. He checked his phone and saw that he broke a personal distance record. He then turned his attention to making breakfast and his mail. Marco received his first paystub since he got the robot. His pay issues had been resolved. Marco ran the numbers through his head and his pay covered food and expenses in full and the final number left him money enough to pay for the wall that R28 broke when he activated. He smiled, he was out of the hole. He and Maria had their breakfast, said their goodbyes, and he and R28 got to work. They patrolled the beat of Neo-City One. Marco could feel the eyes of random passersby as they walked on by, the sight of a policebot still strange and new to the citizens. They ran into a couple of homeless people and directed them towards shelters that would have them. The city had made an ordinance directed towards reducing the number of homeless but had not allocated funds to do so. Publically funded shelters were and still are at max capacity. He did not want to think about the privately held ones. Marco and the Robot peacefully resolved altercations, played soccer with some teenagers, and other things. Later on in the day, the two of them stopped a robbery at a drugstore. Robot drew their pistol on the quick and shot the gun out of the perp¡¯s hand. As Marco cuffed the man, some medication rolled out of the perp''s pockets. The trial revealed that it was a prescription made out to their mother. They could not afford it. Marco winced at that. The next day on the beat, Marco and R28 had to stop another officer from roughing up some kid for the crime of just standing on a corner at the wrong time. The police officer had to take remedial lessons on probable cause again. That same day, they had to stop another officer from planting drugs on a suspect. That officer was put on probation, pending a drug test. To Marco¡¯s anger, the officer quit the same day and never got the drug test. The third day was their most stressful yet. An armed bank truck carrying servers with personal bank information was attacked by the Torchbearers and most of the money inside had been stolen through data transfer. Marco and Robot 28 arrived when the Torchers were leaving and gave chase. The two of them managed to catch a couple before the rest disappeared. In another part of town, the Highwaymen had bombed a black neighborhood, a fire springing to terrible life in their wake. Robot 28 provided what help it could to the firefighters. There were no casualties, thankfully. Later on, Marco made a trip to hit up his friend Detective Arno Chen who was investigating the murder of the mob boss who tried to kidnap Maria. "What have you got for me, Detective Chen?" asked Marco as he walked up to the remains of the blown up warehouse. "We haven''t found much of anything," said Detective Chen, thumbing a lighter at the tip of his cigarette. Arno told Marco about the recent questioning of some of the mob boss'' associates in the intervening days since the explosion. They did not want to cooperate. "Any reason?"asked Marco. "None," answered Arno. "I got a guy who owes me," said Marco. "Guy violated his parole by joining a gang and is out a lawyer anyways." "I ain''t talking without my lawyer," said Ronny. Marco gave Ronny his new lawyer''s contact info. Ronny was taken aback by this, but soon started cooperating. They went over the information from their first interrogation all those days ago plus the information regarding the blown up warehouse and Ronny''s dead boss. "Any idea why your friends aren''t talking?" asked Marco. "Beats me," answered Ronny, scratching the back of his head and eyeing the robot nervously. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "The robot does not have a lie detector built in," said Marco. "But we are recording our conversation. Anyways, you think this has anything to do with that doctor that came to your gang''s hideouts?" "The guy was particular, I''ll give ya that. Guy just wanted tech, stuff for explosives, while providing us with support." "What can you tell me about working for that man?" "The stuff we got him he personally filed the serial numbers off or made untraceable some other way. Guy kept to himself most of the time. He would only talk to the boss," said Ronny. And now he''s dead, thought Marco. "I think it was him that suggested we kidnap your kid. Sorry about that," said Ronny. Marco scowled, clenching his fist, an audible cracking of the knuckles breaking the otherwise silent apartment of Ronny. "What is his name?" "He said his name was Dr. Allister Sean," answered Ronny. At least now I have a name, thought Marco. "Blowing someone up seems a tad extreme for a botched kidnapping. There must have been something more to this." "Maybe. Nothing personal," said Ronny. Marco asked Ronny for a description of the doctor. Ronny described him and soon Marco was looking for a thin, caucasian man with messy brown hair and foggy goggles. Marco told Ron "thanks for the info" as he walked out the door. The rest of the day went by uneventfully on their beat, and Marco and R28 went home afterwards. During dinner, Marco told Maria about the day they had but nothing about the investigation. As Marco sat on the foot of his bed, thinking about all of this, his muscles ached and his spirit soddened. Having a robot on patrol made some things easier but not everything. He was no less exhausted from his job. He went to sleep because he had to. Ronny, for his part, went on about his day after his run-in with Sergeant Cervantes. He hit his favorite bar, swung and missed with some women there, got a black-eye after drinking too much and getting into a fight, and called his parole officer an asshole. He went home after spending enough time at the bar. He flicked the too damn bright lights on and was greeted by some loud scuttering. Damn rats, he thought. He grabbed a broom to kill the rat but found some sort of tiny spider-like robot instead. "What the-" Ronny was no more as his apartment building was blown sky high. He apparently did not get the memo not to snitch on the good doctor. The resulting fire took out a lot of the building before the firefighters arrived. Hank Rodgetts did not look happy to be in Overseer Juno''s office, despite coming in of his own volition. "Why does that man deserve that robot?" spat Rodgetts. ¡°Hello Mr. Rodgetts, what brings you into my office?¡± asked Juno politely. God damn I hate the military¡¯s open door policy, she cursed. ¡°Why do you trust that man with that robot after all the things he did?" he asked again, anger seething. "That man has a history of insubordination and acting on his own. The people he''s helped are nothing but criminals!" "From what he''s told me, Marco believes differently, Mr. Rodgetts." ¡°That kid that blew up the weapons factory was one the kids Marco let get away when he punched me out.¡± Ms. Juno pressed her fingers, eyebrow raised. "Go on," she said. "I recognized him from the news," continued Hank. "The people he''s lenient on go on to commit even more crimes." Emily had not reviewed Sergeant Cervantes'' arrest record when considering his fitness to have the robot. "I noticed this trend after I had been moved following our fight," continued Hank. He went on to list as many examples of Cervantes'' leniency leading to further crimes being committed. Grocery store robberies, muggings, bank heists, manslaughter, the list went on and on. Hank went into great detail in all of them, possessed with a hatred almost palpable. Overseer Juno retained his skepticism through Hank¡¯s tirade. "Knowing all this, do you still trust that man?" asked Rodgetts, red in the face. "Perhaps, but I assure you that he is being closely monitored. The work he is doing is critical to our project here. I plan on seeing this experiment through to the end," said Juno. "What happens when your experiment goes awry?" asked Hank Rodgetts with an edge in his voice. "Are you done, Mr. Rodgetts? I have other matters to attend to," said Juno in a dismissive voice. It took all of her energy not to roll her eyes at this small man, and even more energy not to use her psychic powers on him, despite what points he''s made. Hank''s nose flared, he huffed, dismissed himself and all but stormed out of the building. Emily Juno keyed for Cervantes'' arrest records for review once Rodgetts was long gone. Mr. Rodgett cherry picked his examples to argue his deceit. Emily Juno spent the rest of her day in deep seeded annoyance. Hank crossed a garbage can as he left Overseer Juno¡¯s office, picked his pockets and dropped a small, metal sphere, along with some garbage he carried around with him in the bin. This sphere had been designed by the doctor for some espionage work. It would do its job come nightfall. That night, Hank received a text with details on Sergeant Cervantes'' next few patrol beats and the schedule of Maria¡¯s guard. He smiled at the thought of his revenge. Doom will come for Marco¡¯s family soon. The next few days came like any other. Marco did his morning exercises. Someone stalked him on his run and again he evaded them. He and Robot 28 went on foot patrol. They planned to provide the policebot with a motorbike eventually. On their patrols, they made a few arrests, stopped police misconduct, and interacted with citizens. Marco kept in contact with Detective Arno as his investigation went along. Arno discovered that the materials used in the bombings of Ronny and his boss came from outside Neo-City One, out in the wastelands. "Anything else you found on our man?" asked Marco. "Nothing so far outside of his university," said Arno. "He apparently went to the same school your kid''s going to. He wasn''t part of any extracurriculars nor was he close to anyone during his time there." "What about the names of his professors?" asked Marco. "All gone, except for one," said Arno. "A Mr. Ryan Castings." That¡¯s one of Maria¡¯s teachers, Marco thought."Thanks for the tip," replied Marco. He checked the time. Maria should be heading home soon. He and Robot 28 made their way to Lincoln University. Bus rides stopped feeling normal for Maria after she activated Robot 28. The presence of her guard was something she relegated to the back of her mind as she focused on her schoolwork. She found it hard to concentrate, her mind going back to her interview with Sarah and Rebecca the other day. It has only been a few days and still she kept mulling over her answers. Was she doing things right? Did she give the right answers? Could she future proof Robot 28 well enough? Pap¨¢ said he was proud of her but the doubt still lingered. She needed something to get her mind back on track but settled for people watching the rest of the way home. The people gave her furtive looks or otherwise ignored her. She checked her weatherapp and saw that a massive dust storm was headed for the city. The bus made its stops and people got on, off, or waited for the next bus. This next stop, some men boarded with guns out in the open. Maria stirred, her unease a lump in her throat and she feared the worst. One of them pulled a gun out and pointed it at the driver. They shouted for her. They shot her guard as he stepped to defend her. Maria saw blood spurt out and pool about him as she ducked from view. The armed men at the front still shouted for her. Heart pounding in her ears, her eyes darted this way and that for an escape. She spotted the emergency exit and forced it open, toppling out the side of the bus and onto the crowded sidewalk. She landed on her feet and bolted like a rabbit chased by wolves. She did not look back as she ran, hoping to disappear into the crowd. She heard her pursuers getting off of the bus and pulled out her phone. She called papa and told him what had happened. Over the shouts of her pursuers she heard the loud thunder of motorcycles. She hoped that those motorcycles did not belong to Doom. She ducked into an alleyway to hide behind a trash can but soon saw one of her chasers coming for her from the side she entered. The man fell with a dead thud, a needle in his neck, thrown from above. As the man fell, Maria saw that they bore the skull of Doom¡¯s Highwaymen. Maria''s savior landed before her soon after. They were clad in black with their face hidden, like a ninja, and extended their hand towards her. "Come with me and you''ll be safe," said the ninja. The ninja sounded like a woman. Maria turned and ran the other way. She ran into the other Highwayman before she could exit the alley. Their arms shot out quick as a cobra in an attempt to grab the screaming Maria. The ninja struck the Highwayman down just as quickly as they did the other one. Maria took the opportunity to run in a different direction. She heard the ninja call out for her and still she did not turn to look. The thundering of the motorcycles quickened her pace. She ducked inside a department store, running towards the back, her ninja friend behind her. She found a good hiding spot where she could see and not be seen. She held her breath as the ninja ran past her, but still she waited, the minutes stretching tortuously long. The thundering of motorcycles had come closer since she last heard them. She made her retreat when she felt her safety was assured, creeping out of her hiding spot and making her way to the entrance of the store. Her relief was short lived as something, someone yanked her off the ground. It was the ninja. "Let me go!" she shouted, fighting her way out of the woman''s grip. The ninja kept running at a breakneck pace despite carrying Maria. "If I let you go, you''ll be captured by the Highwaymen," said the ninja, her voice calm and collected in spite of their shared peril. Maria wanted to argue and fight about her kidnapping still, but she saw the Highwaymen pulling out their guns having just arrived. "Look out!"shouted Maria as the ninja girl leaped for a grated fire escape in an alleyway. She threw Maria onto the landing, and Maria in turn ran up the steps as fast as she could. The ninja followed after her, the Highwaymen further behind them both. They made their way to the top of the building, Maria panting and trying to catch her breath. "We''re gonna have to jump to the other building," said the ninja. "Are you nuts, I can''t make that jump!" said Maria. "You''ll just have to trust me on this!" said the ninja as she grabbed the protesting Maria and leapt towards the other building. The ninja tucked and rolled with Maria and they ran towards the maintenance door. A pair of shadows raced past them, cutting Maria and the ninja off from the door. The shadows belonged to two highwaymen with jump packs strapped to their backs. The ninja stepped in between Maria and the henchmen, their club at the ready. The highwaymen pulled out their knives. They charged at each other, striking with deadly intent. The ninja kept the two henchmen at bay, knocking the knives out of their hands with her club. Still the battle went on, the highwaymen pressing the ninja and Maria back towards a ledge. They moved in on the ninja whenever they spotted an opening but the ninja beat them back with a fierce blow of her cudgel. One of the highwaymen broke off to the side and grabbed Maria, the other tackling the ninja. The highwayman with Maria flew to the ground and soon threw his quarry into the back of a waiting truck, a black bag over her head. When did they get jump packs? thought Sarah as she struggled against the Highwayman as they flew through the air. She pulled out her knife and stabbed it into the mechanism of the jump pack. She launched into the open air as the highwayman spun out of control and smashed into the side of a building. Sarah landed on her feet, running to where Maria was taken and watched with dismay as the Highwayman violently threw Maria into the car. They peeled off as soon as she was stowed. Sarah leapt to the other building, launching a grappling cable and swinging towards their car. More Highwaymen on jump packs charged towards her and she in turn kicked them out of the air. She swung towards another building and chased the car throughout town. She saw the shadow of Robot 28 swinging above her. "I''m on my way, keep running!" he told her. That was minutes ago even though it felt like painstaking hours had passed by. His sirens blared nonstop as he ran every light on his way to getting his daughter. He followed his daughter''s tracker on his GPS, swerving in and out of traffic and taking as many shortcuts as possible. Robot 28 followed overhead swinging from building to building on its powered jump jets. "We have company, Sergeant Cervantes. There is someone dressed in black swinging from the rooftops and Highwaymen on jump packs," said Robot 28. "Stay on target, take them down if they get in your way!" barked Marco. His brow broke into a cold sweat as he scanned for the car with his daughter inside. There! He found it! He radioed R28 to focus on the car he was chasing. He pushed his foot down on the pedal and rammed the rear of the other car, aiming for a controlled spin out. A highwayman on a motorcycle shot his driver side window out and Marco had to duck out of the way from the glass, almost spinning out of control. He saw the highwayman ready their pistol again before Robot 28 swooped down, grabbed them off their bike and threw them into another highwayman on a jump pack. Marco sped up in another attempt to spin the other car out. Again he was met with resistance from the highwaymen, but this time the person dressed in black saved Marco from them. He turned his focus again to the other car. Someone in a skull mask climbed out onto the roof of the other car, wielding some sort of giant rocket hammer with a circular handle in the middle of the shaft. It was Doom. Doom pointed at Marco and swung his hammer like a golf club and sent an energy volley at Marco''s car. Marco swerved out just in time to see the energy volley decimate the part of the road he was on. Smoke rising from the craters behind him, Marco pulled out his pistol and opened fire on Doom. The bullets deflected away as Doom spun his hammer in front of him, the circular handle in the middle acting as the rotor. Robot 28 landed on the trailer of a semi-truck and opened fire on Doom''s unprotected flank. Doom flinched as the bullets struck his unprotected side but soon regained himself once he saw the bullets did no harm to him. The distraction was all the Robot needed as it launched itself at Doom from the trailer of the semi. Doom prepared to swing his hammer when a knife from the ninja R28 reported earlier lodged itself into his shoulder, forcing him to keel over. The robot was almost upon him but Doom recovered quickly and swatted Robot 28 with a mighty blow from his hammer. The dust storm! If they lose them now, they''d never be able to catch them! Marco radioed the wall watch to shut down the section of the wall Doom was speeding towards. He was met with silence. Marco''s knuckles turned white as he accelerated down the road. They will not get away from him. A bomb went off as the Highwaymen sped into the dust storm beyond the wall. "No!" Marco shouted. "Maria!" Marco''s heart sank as the rubble crashed in front of him on the road, cutting him off the highwaymen. The dust storm beyond the rubble swelled and surged and Marco knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could not rescue his daughter now.