Blizzard
Base Zero, Antarctica
Dr. Brachis
shuddered as she materialised inside the main
entrance hall to Blizzard Base Zero alongside Damien
Sinclair, Satoshi Kakeru and two 'Gears' - very
basic, humanoid robots designed solely to do
Satoshi's bidding. She shuddered not just from the
realisation that she had lost her long struggle
against the former director of operations on Science
Island or the realisation that he had more
than likely already destroyed the island and the
Earth Defence/Leadership Directorate headquarters in
Japan - she had too much practice bluffing to allow
that sort of thing to overtly bother her. She
shuddered mainly because of the effects of
teleportation using raido energy; her
internal organs shifted and fused together, then
separated, leaving her feeling decidedly unwell.
"Satoshi...
Remind me to fire my travel agent," she said.
"Cute,"
Satoshi replied. He turned to Sinclair. "Put her
in with Nagura. I will deal with them later." He
walked away, and Sinclair took hold of Brachis' arm.
Rose Brachis shook her head in disappointment. She
had had some faith in Damien Sinclair; she
was not the man she trusted most, or thought most
capable in the duties of a member of the Science
Island guard - but she never expected him to turn
traitor so quickly.
Sinclair led Brachis
along a winding, downward-sloping hallway, through
heavily-fortified walls and into a small,
glass-encapsulated viewing area. Through a large
glass window Brachis saw a cube-shaped pit, with
enough light to make its sole occupant visible.
Nagura... she
thought.
Sinclair opened a
door and pushed her through it, then pulled it closed
behind her. Brachis was alone, but she could not turn
back; her only option was to follow a dark corridor
which led into the pit. She did, and several minutes
passed before she found herself standing beside Dr.
Nagura.
He sat on the floor,
but was not restrained in any way. He seemed calm - too
calm, Brachis thought, for a prisoner - and when
she looked at him more closely she saw dark veins
throbbing beneath the skin on his face and arms. He
blinked slowly, and she could see the same veins on
his eyelids.
"Scott...?"
she said softly.
"Rose,"
Nagura replied. "They got you? Then... Science
Island must... be destroyed."
Brachis nodded.
"And the...
EDD?"
Brachis nodded
again. "I think so. I'm not certain."
Nagura's dropped his
head forward, and his chin touched his chest.
"You
understand... I had no... choice?" he asked.
"What?"
"I had to...
help them."
"I don't know
what you're talking about."
Nagura shook his
head. "They are... in my head. A bug... I cannot
fight them. And..." his voice trailed off.
"And
what?"
"Jinsei... he
promised to restore... my son... to life."
Dr. Brachis stepped
back in surprise. "W-what...? Scott, Ian is alive.
He's hiding in New Orleans, with Sei and - "
"Not...
Ian," Nagura said. "My other son. My... real...
son."
Dr. Brachis could
not believe what she was hearing. She had known
Nagura Scott for a long time, and that was the first
she had heard of a son. She knew, like most of
Nagura's other colleagues, that Ian was adopted, and why
he was adopted. The revelation of a biological
child was almost more than she could accept.
"Scott... you
need to snap out of this, whatever it is,"
Brachis told him. "We need to get up and find a
way out of here. You know this place better than
anyone. Is there any - "
"Don't be a
fool," a man's voice interrupted. The voice came
through speakers set into the walls, and Brachis
immediately looked up at the small viewing area she
had passed moments earlier. A man stood there, a man
with red skin, clad only in body-hugging black
shorts.
"We haven't
been introduced," the man continued. "I am
Jinsei. And Doctor Nagura will be staying here."
"I'm
Rose," Brachis replied.
"A sweet name.
I bet you smell nice, and if you don't... I can
change that."
"I also have thorns,"
Brachis said.
"Ouch. You're a
clever one," Jinsei said, "but you see,
Doctor Nagura has come along to our way of thinking.
He has joined us willingly... and even if he did not,
the electronic bug we have placed in his skull would
make him our slave. As you will be, soon
enough."
"I wouldn't
count on it," Brachis said.
Jinsei shrugged.
"If you want to feel you have a chance, I won't
stop you." He walked away.
"Oh,
Scott..." Brachis groaned. "What can we
do...?"
She looked at Nagura
again and saw that he had changed. The dark veins had
faded, especially those on his face, and he was
sweating excessively. His right hand fumbled inside
one of his pockets, and he finally pulled out two
small items, which he handed to Brachis.
The larger of the
two items was a small, black-and-silver metal robot,
approximately two-inches tall, with a screw driven
through the centre of its body. She turned it over
and saw, on its back, five thin, horizontal slots.
The other item was
something with which Brachis was very familiar - a
translucent blue raido shard.
"They did
not... search me... when I was captured," Nagura
said. "Miko... and Jinsei... are not very
smart." He tried to smile, but failed. "I
do not... serve them willingly. Jinsei has... changed
me. From the inside... I am more... submissive, more
evil."
"You're
fighting them now!" Brachis exclaimed.
"Keep fighting! Whatever Jinsei's done, you can
- "
"No,"
Nagura said simply. "The electronic implant...
is blocking Jinsei's... power. But it is... failing.
Soon... I will be what... he has made me. A
sadistic... monster."
"Scott -
!"
"Listen,"
Nagura said. "That robot... it was here when...
I found the base... two years ago. It was... the
basis of... Project: Roboman."
"What...? You
never declared this to the EDD!"
"They would
have... confiscated it. Her," Nagura
explained. "She is... aware. Intelligent."
"She looks like
a toy. What do I - "
"The screw
in... her chest. It is... connected to... a central
processor. I had to... deactivate her... to avoid
detection. Tighten it... to reactivate...
her..."
Doctor Nagura's head
slumped forward, and his skin began to tighten and
change. The dark veins reappeared, more darkly than
usual, and Brachis watched closely as the bug beside
his right temple was pressed hard against the skin.
She could see that as the veins became more
prominent, the bug would be crushed.
"Nagura!"
Brachis looked up in time to see Jinsei walking into
the room. She quickly closed her hand around the
robot and the raido shard, as Jinsei took
Doctor Nagura's hand and helped him to his feet.
"Director Satoshi needs you now."
Jinsei pulled Nagura
forward, and the doctor followed automatically...
like a zombie. Brachis knew there was nothing she
could do to help him; not imprisoned within Blizzard
Base Zero, so she simply glared at Jinsei as he
walked away and, once she was sure he had left, she
opened her hand.
Tighten the
screw. Activate the robot. And then...?
Brachis pressed her
index finger against the screw in the tiny robot's
chest. There was nothing remarkable about it; the
head of the screw contained a thin slit into which
she easily inserted her fingernail, and turned her
finger clockwise. The screw tightened without
resistance and after a moment or two dim blue lights
appeared where the robot's eyes should be.
"Who are
you?" the robot asked. Its voice was
surprisingly loud and clear for something so small.
"Where is Doctor Nagura?"
"Scott's been
captured and - you can speak? English?"
Dr. Brachis was surprised.
"Of
course!" the robot answered cheerfully.
"I've been watching humans for two hundred
years!"
Two hundred
years...? Brachis thought. No. I don't have
time for this.
"My name is
Rose Brachis. I am a friend of Doctor Nagura. We have
both been captured and - "
The robot stood up
in the centre of Brachis' palm and pointed at the raido
shard. "Duh. Why don't you just teleport
out of here?"
"I can't!
Please, just listen to me!" The robot crossed
her legs and sat down. "Doctor Nagura is under
the control of someone who has taken over this base.
We can't fight him - he has an army at his disposal.
But we have someone who can help us, too."
"Where's
Sei?" the robot asked. "He can
tele - "
"You know
Sei?" Dr. Brachis interrupted.
"Of course I
know Sei! I helped cr - wait. You don't seem to know
much, Miss Rose. Are you sure you're Doctor
Nagura's friend?"
Brachis nodded.
"Yes. Now, no-one knows you are here. Can you
escape? Go to Sei, he's in a city called New Orleans,
with two others using some of Doctor Nagura's
equipment. They can fight!"
"I can track
any of Doctor Nagura's technology!" the robot
said. "It's all based on us!"
Us? No, I'll
have to ask later. When I'm not a prisoner.
"I'm Cog, by
the way!"
Brachis smiled.
"Nice to meet you. So what do we need to do to
get you out of here?"
Cog pointed at the raido
shard again and turned around. "Slide it
into one of those slots, and I can 'port out."
Brachis picked up
the shard with her free hand but paused a few
centimetres away from Cog's back. "Cog,"
she said. "When you see Sei, I need you to do
something for me."
"Sure!"
"Don't tell him
I am here. Or Doctor Nagura. Just... tell him
Director Satoshi has taken over the base, and that
it's time he told the others what's going on. Tell
him we are safe and that I will contact him myself as
soon as I can."
"But... Miss
Brachis, that doesn't seem like a good idea. If Sei
doesn't know you're here - "
"Scott and I
will be fine, Cog. Please... just do as I've
asked."
"... okay, Miss
Brachis."
Dr. Brachis gently
slid the raido shard into the topmost slot
on Cog's back, and the tiny robot faded away amid a
shower of blue energy.
Elsewhere in
Blizzard Base Zero, Jinsei led Doctor Nagura away
from the Chamber, where Doctor Brachis remained a
prisoner. They hurried up the spiralling hallway, and
Jinsei remembered how much he hated his earlier time
spent in the base disguised as 'Doctor Smith'. At
least now, Satoshi allowed him to modify one small
area of the base to his own liking, but it was still
an almost wholly artificial environment - and Jinsei
was determined to leave the place forever once his
master's plan was finalised.
Satoshi met them at
the end of the hall and walked with them into the
centre of the base. What Doctor Nagura recognised as
the former data analysis hub of his laboratories - a
large, circular pit filled with rows of computers and
desks and hard-working scientists - had been
completely changed, to accomodate row after
perfectly-straight row of skeletal robotic warriors.
"These are my Gears,
Doctor Nagura," Satoshi explained.
"Not quite as impressive as your designs, I
know. No artificial intelligence in these ones... but
then again, you are the only one to have created a
wholly intelligent robot..."
Jinsei scowled,
while Nagura remained silent and still.
"They serve
their purpose well enough," Satoshi continued.
"If they were intelligent, I am not
sure I could have forced them to sacrifice themselves
on Science Island and in Tokyo." He tapped the
right side of Nagura's head. "Not without
implants like yours, at least."
"What do you...
want from me?" Nagura finally asked.
Satoshi began to
walk and motioned for Jinsei and Nagura to follow.
The walked along the edge of the round pit. They
moved down a narrow corridor into a small room which
had been stripped of all furniture and decoration,
leaving only a large robot in the centre of the room.
The robot was taller
than any of the three men, none of whom were short.
It was also wider, and not skeletal like the generic
Gears. Its body was formed by thick metal tubes and
pipes, all connected through a central humanoid frame
- it looked to Nagura almost like a cross between a
human and an octopus, and it did not take a robotics
genius to determine that the tubes were weapons; he
looked closely and saw bombs and energy weapons
concealed within.
"This is Buki
Robo," Satoshi said. "I have tried to give
him intelligence." He lifted a small box that
had been concealed on the ground behind the robot.
Inside were several small, identical microchips which
Nagura immediately recognised as his own design.
"Jinsei tells me you used these in your
robot. I cannot make them work. You will give Buki
Robo intelligence, Doctor Nagura, or I will kill you.
Do you understand?"
Doctor Nagura
nodded. He did understand, and he was going
to help; his transformation at Jinsei's hands, as
well as the villain's offer, were enough to guarantee
that - but even so, the implant in his head, despite
getting weaker with each passing moment, would have
ensured his compliance.
Satoshi handed his
captive the box of microchips, gestured to Jinsei and
left the room.
NEXT: Gear
vs Gears!
