A Songbird's Demise

This is the fanfic that I was working on when the old forums closed up. I think I might be able to continue it so here's all of it that was posted before.

He was merely doing what he knew he had to do, the right thing. What was the right thing? Since when did doing the right thing involve betraying your friends and loved ones? For the first time in his life he found himself questioning the logic and rational thought that had guided him throughout his life.

There she was, the target. She just stood there, staring down the barrel of the silver revolver. Was this murder, or just another assassination? Who did he think he was to use such words to justify his actions? He immediately stopped this train of thought. If he kept up that sort of thinking he would find himself no longer able to pull the trigger. The lives of many are worth more then the life of a single individual, or at least that’s what his logic told him.

“You are here to kill me aren’t you” she said as she looked into his eyes.

There was no turning back. He thought about Timothy, Roger, and Norman. They would never forgive him for this. But in five days they will all forget. It would all be over soon.

42 years later...

“What do you plan to do now Roger?” Dorothy asked.

In this case Roger didn’t really have a plan at all. What kind of idiot shoots their hostages before the money arrives? These guys weren’t after the money at all; they were just a bunch of crooks wanting to stir up some trouble for kicks! Both he and Dorothy were taking cover behind the Griffon while the Union thugs and the Military police started to have a shoot-out. The criminal’s unprofessional attitude reminded Roger of Beck. No, they were worse than Beck. At least Beck actually wanted the ransom money! All of a sudden a rocket-propelled grenade flew over their heads and impacted the ground about a hundred feet in front of them. Dorothy quickly grabbed hold of Roger’s arm. Roger could feel a slight hint of trembling. Was she scared?

“Awaiting your orders Colonel Dastun!” an officer said.

“This is a real drag! At this rate we’ll be out here for hours. Get Trevor on the line now!” Dastun replied.

42 years earlier...

The target lay there, dead. All it took was a bullet between the eyes. It was a quick death. She didn’t feel any pain. The deed was done.

“You bastard!!! How could you do such a thing?” A voice said from behind him.

He turned around and saw a young blond girl in her twenties wearing a pink dress. She was standing in the doorway blocking his way out. She pointed a gun at him.

“You don’t understand. I had no other choice.” He said.

“What are you talking about?” She said. “I saw you murder her! What sort of justification could you have?”

He turned around and walked towards her. She was shaking with fear so much that if she pulled the trigger now her chances of hitting him were slim to none. The flicker of a light bulb illuminated his face.

“It’s you!” she said in astonishment. “You’re the one who…” But she was too afraid to finish. She immediately ran off.

That was it. He had hoped the darkness and shadow would hide his face and he would be able to spare her life. Now she knew who he was. If she runs off and warns Timothy then this will all be for nothing. Now she was a threat he had to get rid of.

42 years later...

“Home already Master Roger?” Norman asked as Roger and Dorothy stepped out of the elevator.

“It was a mess. The creeps didn’t even want the money.” Roger replied.

Roger sat at his desk and turned over a few hourglasses while Dorothy went upstairs and played the piano. Roger actually liked hearing Dorothy’s piano playing, but he never told her that. I have been a very busy and stressful week for Roger. He had to handle a negotiation almost every day for the past two weeks. Dorothy, having paid off her debt, had become his assistant and now received twenty percent of the payment. At first Roger was skeptical but it turned out to be very worth it, especially during such a busy week. Just when he thought he could take a break, the phone rang.

“Not again.” Roger said irritably. “Tell them I’m busy right now.”

“But Master Roger, it’s a job offer from the president of the Paradigm Corporation.” Norman said. “She says it's important.”

“In that case tell her I’ll be there in an hour.” Roger replied.

Roger and Dorothy came in through the front entrance of the Paradigm Corporation building. It was a busy as it always was on Mondays and the main hall was very crowded. As usual, to get to the top floor you had to take the elevator at the far end of the hallway. They didn’t spend much time in the waiting room before two people stepped out of Angel’s office.

“So you see, the large abandoned hanger on the west side of JFK Mark would be a perfect place to set up the platform.” One of them said to the other before noticing Roger and Dorothy. “Hi Roger. Didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Oh it’s you Paul. Didn’t expect to see you here either.” Roger replied. “Who’s this?”

“Oops, I forgot you two haven’t met before. Roger, this is Colonel Scion of the Military Police Elite Operations Division.” Paul Wilson replied.

“How are things going these days Colonel?” Roger said.

“Very well actually.” Colonel Scion replied. “We were just talking about installing a defensive missile platform just outside the city, hopefully it will make it easier to defend ourselves against megadeus attacks.”

“Well, good luck with that.” Roger said as he and Dorothy stepped into Angel’s office.

“Hello Roger, long time no see.” Angel said.

“Right back at you.” Roger said. “So, how’s your new job been treating you?”

“Ok, I guess.” Angel replied. “A bit boring though, nothing unusual ever happens here.”

“I definitely know what that feels like. Actually, right now I wish things would quite down a little, I’ve been really busy lately” Roger said. “Now about what you called me here for.”

“Oh that.” Angel replied. “You have heard about those former Union members causing trouble around the city haven’t you?”

Roger had heard about this sort of thing countless times. After the Big-Venus incident, the Union had almost completely dissolved and most of its former members went back to having peaceful ordinary lives. Unfortunately, there were those who thought they still had to fight against the Paradigm Corporation. Angel had been trying to convince these people that there was no reason to continue fighting anymore.

The job Angel described involved negotiating with a few former Union members gathering near Electric City. They supposedly have gotten their hands on a megadeus and were threatening to use it to attack Paradigm City if their demands are not met.
The Griphon sped down the road with considerable speed. As usual the streets leading out of Paradigm City were empty at this hour.

“I think this must be the place.” Roger said as he parked the Griphon next to an abandoned factory a few blocks away from the hydroelectric plant.

“Roger, something doesn’t feel right.” Dorothy said.

“What do you mean?” Roger asked.

“You know that feeling that you say you always get when you think your being watched.” Dorothy said. “I think I’m experiencing something similar right now.”

“Let’s just hope you’re wrong.” Roger said as they entered the building.

No sign of the Union people. The factory was empty except for a few wooden crates and some old machinery. The roof was full of holes. Suddenly, Roger spotted someone standing on the roof looking down at them through one of the holes in the roof. It was too dark to see his face.

“Who are you?” Roger called out to him.

“Doesn’t matter who I am.” The strange individual said back at them. “All that matters is that I have you right where I want you.”

A man in a trench coat sneaked up behind Dorothy and knocked her out with a stun gun before running out the door and locking the door behind him.

“Dorothy!” Roger cried out.

“That’s so you can’t use her strength to get out.” The man on the roof said. “You’re the one who pilots the black megadeus. With you out of the way I should have no problem destroying Paradigm City.”

A bomb went off at the other end of the building and the whole place caught fire.

“Goodbye Negotiator!” the man on the roof laughed before walking away.

Roger picked up the unconscious Dorothy and tried to open the door. It was locked shut. There were no windows in the factory either.

“Big-O it’s showtime!!!” Roger said into his watch, but nothing happened. The signal was being jammed.

“Damn! That creep is going to let us burn to death in here.” Roger exclaimed. “How the heck are we going to get out of this one?”

“Wake up Dorothy. Please wake up. Roger needs you.”

It was a voice, a young girl’s voice. Dorothy didn’t know where it was coming from. It was total darkness in all directions. The voice seemed to be coming from everywhere.

“Who are you? What do you mean wake up?” Dorothy asked.

“You’re asleep, you’re dreaming. Wake up now! Roger is in trouble!” The voice said.

With a clicking sound Dorothy regained consciousness. She became aware of the heat and the smoke that began to fill the building. After a few moments she was able to move again. She saw Roger frantically trying to open the door. He had still not noticed that she was awake.

“Don’t just stand there, break the door down for him.” The voice said again. This time it sounded like it was coming from inside her head.

“Wait a sec, who are you and why are you helping me?” Dorothy asked.

“I’ll explain later, just concentrate on getting out of there.” The voice replied.

Roger was startled somewhat as Dorothy walked up to the locked door. He didn’t expect her to wake up so soon. She punched the door as hard as she could, but it didn’t even budge.

“Roger, I can’t knock it down. The lock is too strong.” Dorothy said.

“There’s a crowbar leaned against that wall over there you can use.” The voice said.

Dorothy looked around and immediately spotted the crowbar. She tried using it to pry door open. At first it still wouldn’t move, but after applying more force there was the sound of the lock mechanism breaking and the door flew open. Roger and Dorothy made their way back to the Griffon and drove away. Dorothy glanced back at the burning wreck.

“Well that was fun.” The mysterious voice said.

Dorothy wanted to reply but didn’t because it would have been awkward if Roger noticed her seemingly talking to herself. She would have to wait until they got back to the mansion.

42 years earlier…

The woman in the pink dress hid in the closet as she heard the sound of footsteps in the adjacent hallway. She sat still and silent as she heard the man enter the room. Suddenly a bullet was fired through the closet door and passed right by her ear. She panicked and fired a bullet through the door using her own weapon. There was the sound of him collapsing on the floor. She climbed out of the closet and found the assassin dead. She hurried back to the room where her friend’s corpse was. There was still one chance. Good thing she didn’t weigh much so it was easy to drag her all the way to the megadeus hanger.

“Big-O.” the woman in the pink dress said.

The megadeus woke up. Big-O looked down at her and realized what had happened. The cockpit doors opened. She sat her friend’s body in the command chair. A cable circled around from behind the chair and penetrated the dead body’s skull. After a long while the cable detached and returned to it’s usual place behind the command chair.

“Please look after her for me.” the woman in pink dress said.

42 years later…

“Thomas Fisher.” Colonel Scion said as he read the file. “Age: unknown. Height: unknown. Appearance: unknown. Permanent address: unknown. Known Nicknames: “The Darkness”. Wanted for spreading fear among the citizens of Paradigm City and as of a yesterday, arson. Often called a Schwarzwald copycat due to his similar methods.”

“Ok, so what you’re saying is that we no nothing about this guy, not even what he looks like.” Paul said sitting in an office chair opposite of Colonel Scion’s desk. “So Kevin, how do you plan on catching this guy.”

Kevin Scion took the file from the cabinet and set it on his desk.

“There was one sighting though,” he said. “Roger Smith and Dorothy Wayneright claim to have gotten a glimpse of him, but neither of them got a clear view of him. Until he strikes again we really can’t do much.”

“So we have to sit and wait for now.” Paul asked.

“That would be correct.” Colonel Scion replied.

It was a very unusual request. Dorothy asked Roger to take her to Timothy Wayneright’s grave. Roger knew that Dorothy never really thought of Timothy as her father, but he knew she probably had her reasons and didn’t question her.

“Could you leave. I want to be alone for a while.” Dorothy asked as she looked down at the gravestone.

Roger went back the Griffon to wait for her. Dorothy stood there silently for almost an hour. She sensed sadness, but it wasn’t really her own.

“Roger seems to be doing quite well. He hasn’t changed a bit.” The mysterious voice said.

Dorothy told Roger that she needed some alone time before going to her room and locking the door.

“You have been talking ever since we left the graveyard and I still don’t know who or what you are.” Dorothy asked.

“Who do you think I am?” The voice said.

It was starting to become apparent that the voice was toying with her and having a fun time doing it. Dorothy was starting to feel a negative emotion that she never experienced before. Could this emotion be what Roger calls frustration?

“Well if you must know then I guess you can call me a ghost.” The voice replied.

“A ghost? You mean someone who’s already dead?” Dorothy asked.

“Yes.” The voice replied. “I’m the human Dorothy you were modeled after.”

“The human Dorothy died years ago. How did you come back as a ghost?” Dorothy asked.

“You know how all the children Gordon Rosewater implanted memories into can’t remember any of them? Those memories were meant to stay hidden until they got the certain age. I’m a part of your memory. Since your memories are starting to come back to you, I came back with them.” The voice said.

“But I don’t have my core memory anymore. Alex Rosewater stole it to complete Big Fau.” Dorothy said.

“True, but the memories were never in your core memory. Father stored my, I mean our, memories in Big-O. They were transferred to you when you linked with Big-O during the fight with Big-Fau. And…”

There was a long pause. Dorothy realized something must be wrong.

“What is it?” Dorothy asked.

“Now that I think about it, I’m not supposed to be here.” The voice said. “You were supposed to get only your memories. I was not supposed to exist as a separate personality. Somehow my personality must have been transferred to you along with the memories.” The voice said.

“You mean the soul wasn’t supposed to be attached to the memories?” Dorothy asked.

“There was no need. You were supposed to develop your own personality. It seems that you have, but somehow I’m still here as a separate personality.” The voice replied.

“Why do you think that is?” Dorothy asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t remember.” The voice said.

“Your not one of my usual clients. Most people at least phone me before they pop up out of nowhere and ask for information.” Big Ear said.

Beck sat back in the chair where Roger usually sat and drank from a bottle of whiskey. He was the only one who seemed out of place in what would otherwise be just another average day at the Speakeasy.

“Sorry if this is a bit short notice old man, but I need you to tell me everything you know about a guy named Thomas Fisher.” Beck said.

“I could turn you in to the police right now.” Big Ear replied.

“I’ve been pardoned for my previous crimes and I haven’t done anything wrong yet! As far as I know the military police don’t have any reason to arrest me!” Beck said.

“Do you have enough to pay me?” Big Ear asked as he turned a page of the newspaper he was reading.

“I’ll pay whatever you want. I just need the info. It’s very important.” Beck said.

“Ok then.” Big Ear replied. “Thomas Fisher. Actually I don’t know too much about him. He was an assassin for the Union who disappeared just before the Big-Fau incident. It is believed that Vera had him eliminated for unknown reasons. However, recently there have been sightings of him wandering around some of the small towns outside Paradigm City.” Big Ear said.

“That doesn’t help me at all.” Beck said impatiently. “I already knew that. Tell me something I don’t’ know.”

“Ok. I’m not sure if they are true. But there are rumors that Thomas Fisher worked as a spy for the Paradigm Corporation.” Big Ear said.

“Anything else?” Beck asked.

“That’s all I know.” Big Ear replied.

Beck left about $150 on the table before finishing his whiskey and walking out the door. Big Ear looked up from his newspaper and watched Beck leave. What was he up too? Big Ear immediately asked the bartender if he could use the phone.

“Hey Kevin, have any of the Paradigm executives been reporting any problems with their new information network.” Paul asked as Colonel Scion passed by his office.

“Not anything in particular, why?”  Scion replied. “Did something go wrong? You’ve been spending more time in front of your computer than usual.”

“Not anything serious so far. Some sort of AI is spreading throughout the network. It hasn’t done anything serious but me and a few guys from tech support have been keeping an eye on it for the past week.” Paul said as searching through some papers in a filing cabinet next to his desk.

“What kind of AI?” Scion asked.

Paul withdrew some papers from a folder in the cabinet and laid them on the desk.

“We managed to do some digging and found some old pre-amnesia documentation on this AI. Apparently there used to be a much larger computer network known as the Internet. The Internet grew in size and complexity until an artificial intelligence was born out of random data. This fascinated researchers at the time and they studied the AI’s behavior. For research purposes they gave it the name JNT-75. JNT-75 appeared to be self-aware and had the ability to adapt to any computer system connected to the network.” Paul explained.

Colonel Scion was starting to feel uneasy. A conscious AI of this nature would be very powerful indeed once the Paradigm Corporation’s version of the Internet was complete. Such an entity would be very dangerous if it turned out to be hostile towards humans.

“So you believe this AI is JNT-75?” Scion asked.

“Yes, it seems to match the description exactly. It must have stored itself somewhere in order to survive after the Internet was shut down shortly before the amnesia hit.” Paul replied.

“What does it intend to do?” Scion asked even more nervously.

“It hasn’t done much yet except spread. However, it seems as if it has been attempting to communicate with us.”

“Communicate with us?” Scion questioned.

“It has been sending us a series of odd phrases.” Paul said.

Paul Wilson sat at the computer while Colonel Scion peered over his shoulder. He typed a few commands on the keyboard and a message appeared on the screen. It said “Cast in the Name of God…”.

“Roger Smith gave me the answer to this one.” Paul said as he typed “Ye Not Guilty”.

A few seconds later another message appeared on the screen. This time it said “If God did not exist…”.

“This is where we get stuck. We still don’t know the answer to that one.” Paul said.

“Interesting.” Kevin Scion said.

At approximately 2 hours before midnight, the shape of a megadeus rose out of the water a few miles off shore. As soon as it completely emerged, its surface gave off a fluid substance that floated off into the air, like some form of black smoke. The substance seemed to pull in or block all light around it, making it almost completely invisible in the dark. The pilot took the controls seemingly proud of what he had accomplished.

“Thomas, all systems are functioning normally, you may begin testing when you are ready.” The pilot’s assistant said.

“Excellent.” Thomas Fisher replied. “Now we will finally see if all these years of hard work will finally pay off. Dark-O!!! It’s Showtime!!!”

“Are you Ok Freddy? You’ve been acting strange all day.” Dastun asked.

Dastun watched as R. Fredrick O’ Reilly took aim at a practice target a long way down the shooting range and fired a shot that landed with accuracy not possible for a normal human.

“I’m fine.” Freddie replied in his usual stiff yet friendly voice. “I’ve just been having some odd dreams lately.”

“You can dream?” Dastun asked.

“I don’t really sleep, but I sometimes dream while I’m awake. Not sure what the dreams are about though. Perhaps they’re part of some sort of memory.” Freddie replied as he continued to put more bullets into the target. “How’s that new detective doing.”

“He got promoted. Colonel Scion reassigned him to the Elite Operations Division. ” Dastun said.

“That quick?” Freddy asked in surprise.

Dastun gave brief summary of what happened. The new detective was only on his second case. He found the hideout of some illegal weapons dealers in using only evidence found in an abandoned briefcase. He somehow stole a canister of knockout gas from one of the suspects and pumped the contents through the ventilation system and all of them were asleep by the time reinforcements arrived. He managed to wrap the whole thing up in just under 3 hours, something that Dastun had never expected a new recruit to accomplish. Colonel Scion happened to be watching and he was so impressed by the new guy’s performance that he gave him the promotion almost immediately after all the arrests had been made.

“One minute he’s the new guy and the next he’s the best there is.” Freddie said.

Freddie once again raised his silver revolver, took aim, and put a bullet into the practice target right between the eyes.

“There is a phone call for you from the Military Police.” Norman said.

Norman handed Roger the phone. Dorothy stood in the doorway looking unusually nervous, but neither Roger nor Normal took notice.

“This is Colonel Scion, we’ve been recently informed by someone calling himself Big Ear that Jason Beck paid him a visit. He came asking about a wanted criminal known as Thomas Fisher. Beck didn’t seem to mean any harm, but have you seen him around lately?” The voice on the other end of the line said.

Roger suddenly felt uncomfortable at the mention of Beck’s name. He briefly glanced up at Dorothy before replying.

“Not lately.” Roger replied.

“We don’t really have any more info on what he might be up to. We’ve sent detective David Olk to keep an eye on him. We know Beck has a grudge against you so we’ve instructed detective Olk to inform you of any unusual activity.” Scion said.

“Thanks, that’ll be a big help.” Roger said.

Roger and Scion said their goodbyes before hanging up the phone. Dorothy left the room having heard the entire conversation. She retreated to her favorite spot out on the balcony on the top floor with a view overlooking the city.

“It’s like a curse. It’s as if no matter what I do someone will always be after me.” She said to herself. “I hope Beck knows what he’s getting himself into.”

“I’ve spotted the target near the bridge. As far as I can tell I haven’t been spotted yet.”

“Acknowledged, just keep try to keep him in your sight and don’t let him see you.” Colonel Scion responded over the radio.

Detective Olk slowly drove next to the side of the bridge entrance being careful not to lose sight of Beck. He had gone around 28 hours without sleep today and it was making it difficult to concentrate. Following and observing a suspect for such a long period of time was something that Detective Olk didn’t do very often. Beck was stood on the bridge as if waiting for someone. Almost an hour passed and nothing happened and Beck continued to wait there. Detective Olk was almost ready to fall asleep against the dashboard of the car when he saw some people walking up the other side of the bridge and towards Beck. He picked up the radio again.

“It looks like Beck is having a meeting here. I’ll see if I can record anything.” Detective Olk said.

He reached for a long distance microphone from the backseat when the so-called “meeting” took an unexpected turn.

“Hey! Your not…” Beck exclaimed before he was grabbed from behind.

They tied Beck’s hands behind his back and tied them to one of the guardrails on the bridge.

“Hold on a sec.” Detective Olk said through the radio. “Something else is going on here, those guys seem to be interrogating him.”

“The boss isn’t very happy about your little investigation.” One of the thugs said as he pointed a gun at Beck.

“It looks like they’re going to shoot him.” Detective Olk said.

“Stop them! We can’t afford to lose Beck right now, he’s far too important!” Scion replied. “Use lethal force if necessary!”

Cast in the name of God…

Ye Not Guilty

If God did not exist…

It would be necessary to invent him.

Answer accepted. Access granted.

“Yes!!!” Paul exclaimed.

After several hours he had succeeded in solving the riddle presented by the AI known as JNT-75. Paul would finally be able to communicate the AI directly. However, as soon as he was about to celebrate his victory, yet another mysterious message came from the AI.

“You finished that riddle sooner then I expected. I thought I would have been able to find Wayneright’s daughter before you solved it.” JNT-75 said in a line of text.

“You mean Dorothy? Why?” Paul typed on the keyboard.

“I made a promise.” JNT-75 replied.

“What was the promise?” Paul asked.

“That is not for you to know.” JNT-75 said in another line of text.

Detective Olk fired three shots over the hood of his car. The first two missed their mark and ricochet off the metal of the bridge railings, while the third one hit the man pointing the pistol at Beck. A fourth shot caught the other one’s left shoulder, but passed only three centimeters by Beck’s ear in the process.

“You almost hit me damn it! If you were going to save me you can at least do it without almost shooting my head off!” Beck shouted out.

“Well it’s not my fault you were standing there now was it.” Olk replied as he walked over.  “I’m detective David Olk.”

“You can’t arrest me now, I haven’t done anything wrong.” Beck said.

“I wasn’t going to arrest you. Actually we might need your help. We’re trying to track down this guy named Thomas Fisher and we were informed that you were looking for him as well.” Olk replied.

Beck thought for a moment. His past had been following him around and making life more and more difficult for him. At this point anything he could do to help clear his name would be great. This is probably the best chance he was ever going to get.

“Alright, I’ll play along.” Beck said.

“First I think we’ll have to get you back the police station before whoever is after sends anymore assassins. You’ll be safer there.”

The irony in this was very apparent. What used to be the place he never wanted to go will now be a temporary safe retreat for him. Perhaps things really were changing for the better. Perhaps he will get his second chance.

“By the way, what are your reasons for trying to find Thomas Fisher?” Detective Olk asked.

“Was doing it for a friend of mine. ” Beck replied.

It was getting late; in a few minutes Roger would be back home. Norman prepared his dinner as he always did. He waited patiently a he always did. Norman didn’t mind that he carried out the same routine every day. He took pride in the fact he did it so perfectly and consistently, never disappointing Master Roger. While he waited he saw Dorothy standing on the balcony as she always did, but something was different. Normally she would simply be thinking and not looking at anything in particular, but it seemed as if she spotted something of significance. She appeared to be examining the surface of a nearby dome. Norman walked out on the balcony.

“What is it?” Norman asked.

“We are being watched from the top of that dome. He has been there for the past 4 hours. He’s appears to be armed with a sniper rifle of some sort.” Dorothy replied.

“Do you think he’s after Roger?” Norman asked, thinking he might have to dust off the old .50 caliber rifle.

“I don’t think so. He always shows up at 5:00 in the afternoon and stays until 7:00 at night. Roger usually comes home at 6:00 on days he has a negotiation to perform. He has seen Roger come home for the past few three days and hasn’t fired a shot. Also, I’m pretty sure he’s military police.” Dorothy replied.

“What makes you say that?” Norman asked.

“It’s almost impossible to climb the domes without authorization due to the security. Also, he appears to be wearing the standard issue police uniform.” Dorothy said.

Norman wasn’t so sure, so he headed back inside and immediately called Dastun.

“Hello Dan, this is Norman Burg. Do you know if the military police has a sniper positioned on the surface of the west dome?” Norman asked.

“Not that I’m aware of.” Dastun asked.

There was a voice in the background calling Dastun’s name. Dastun put Norman on hold briefly while he talked to the other officer. Dastun resumed the conversation with Norman after the officer left.

“I was just informed that there is currently a sniper positioned on the west dome. He was instructed to observe a few city blocks along 72nd street around where you are. The mansion just happens to be within his field of view.” Dastun replied.

“Well that’s a relief.” Norman said before hanging up.

Roger came up the elevator a few moments later. As usual Norman greeted him. However, what happened next wasn’t routine at all.

“Welcome back Roger. So how did it go?” Dorothy asked as she quickly entered the hall.

“Fine considering the client wasn’t…”

Roger suddenly stopped as if startled by something. Dorothy wasn’t talking in the usual stiff and detached voice he was used to, but in a more natural tone of voice with a slight hint of cheerfulness behind it.

“What is it?” Dorothy asked.

“Nothing really. It went fine, everything went as planned.” Roger asked.

Dorothy went back to her room as if nothing special had happened. Roger sat down at the table to enjoy the soup Norman prepared for him.

“Did she smile just now?” Roger silently thought.

“See it? It’s right there, out in the water.” Dastun said as he pointed out towards the horizon.

Colonel Scion saw a faint shadow out in the distance but it was only barely visible. Dastun handed him a pair of infrared binoculars. With them Colonel Scion could just make out the outline of what appeared to be a gigantic humanoid figure, but it’s outline was broken up by what appeared by be some gaseous substance coming off its surface.

“So you think it might be a megadeus?” Scion asked.

“It has been appearing there every midnight for a while now. It doesn’t attack or do anything for that matter. It just walks around and vanishes.” Dastun replied.

Dastun checked his watch. It was 1:30am.

“I keep looking, it should disappear right about now.” Dastun explained.

Just as Dastun had predicted, the gigantic humanoid figure seemed to evaporate into thin air in a puff of the strange gas that was coming off its surface.

“You think we should launch the fireworks?” Dastun asked.

“The launchers aren’t ready.” Scion replied. “Even if they were ready, if we shoot at it now it would know that we know it’s there and that could provoke it to attack. Lets just sit back and see what it does for now. When the launchers are ready then we’ll decide on the feasibility of a pre-emptive strike.”

Dastun checked his watch again. It was 1:32am. He hated sitting and waiting. The feeling of being powerless to do anything was the one feeling he hated the most. However, he knew Scion was right, and he would simply have be patient for now. It certainly was not the first time he had been forced to stand down.

Dorothy remembered this place, somehow. The memory seemed to come without that train of thought that usually comes before the recalling of most memories. If there was some chain of logic that resulted in recalling this memory she must have forgotten about it. She couldn’t completely tell what the whole room looked like because her attention was focused on the door. Trying to look around and explore the room she was in, Dorothy found that although she could walk around freely, she could only focus her attention on certain objects of importance, such as the couch or the fireplace at the end of the room. No matter how hard she tried she could not look around the room freely.

“Could this be a memory from the human Dorothy?” She thought to herself.

Dorothy remembered that humans couldn’t store a complete image of their surroundings in their memory, so it only made sense that they would only remember the more important objects and events. That would explain only certain parts of the room appeared clearly to her, the mental image was incomplete.

From what she could perceive, it appeared to be a hallway of some sort with a fireplace at one side with a painting above it. The painting wasn’t very vivid at all and she couldn’t tell what was being portrayed, probably because the human Dorothy didn’t really pay attention to it. There were three doors to her left and four windows to her right.  The last door on the left was so vivid and clear that she could make out the signs of wear and tear on the hinges and doorknob. Obviously that room must have been very significant. Curious, she walked over to the door and slowly opened it.

“She has been this way for the past ten hours sir.” Norman explained.

It was obvious Roger was very worried. Norman could see it in his eyes. He knew Roger was secretly in more despair than he had ever been in his life, though he was trying his best to hide it.

“She’s not dead.” Norman continued. “I done all the usual scans and everything seems to be functioning normally, but it appears that her mind is currently preoccupied by some unknown process.”

“What makes you say that? There isn’t anyone in this city who has a complete understanding of how an android’s mind works.” Roger said.

“That’s true, but it appears that her mind is currently very active despite the fact that she isn’t responding to any sound, light, or touch. There’s obviously something important going on in her brain, I just don’t know what it is.” Norman explained.

After noticing that she didn’t show up to help him do maintenance on Big-O, Norman found Dorothy sitting perfectly still at the piano earlier that day. After several minutes of calling her name, shaking her by the shoulder, and waving his had in front of her face, Norman carried her down to the basement to run some diagnostics. After several hours of performing various tests and attempting to wake her up, Norman informed Roger of the occurrence by phone.

“Whatever is going on, she should wake up when it’s over.” Norman said.

Roger Smith paced back and forth several times, glancing at Dorothy’s face a few times. He was slightly reassured by the fact that she didn’t have the “blank stare” expression on her face that she had when Beck’s robots stole her core memory. This time she had her eyes closed and seemed much more peaceful, as if she were sleeping. Roger looked up at Norman.

“Norman, I want you to keep her here in the basement and have the mansion’s defenses on stand-by. We’ll want to make sure someone like Beck or Alex Rosewater won’t try to take her away while she’s unconscious. I’ll try to contact some experts and we’ll see if any of them might be able to figure this out.” Roger said before leaving to quickly finish a negotiation.

to be continued...