"Megavac Lives!"
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dochermes"Megavac Lives"
10/14/2009
I.
At a few minutes before nine, Jeremy Bane walked through the lobby, past the EMERGENCY ONE clinic and down the short hallway created by the staircase. Here by the EMERGENCY EXIT metal door was his own door, a plain wooden one with a brass plaque that said DIRE WOLF AGENCY. As he put his key into the lock, from the corner of his eye he caught movement. A short fat man in a blue suit was hurrying through the lobby toward him. Bane turned his body slightly, his left hand near the holster in the small of his back. Now in his early fifties, the Dire Wolf had not changed much. He still was a lean six-footer with cold grey eyes in a narrow feral face and he watched the man coming toward him with a suspicion that came both from his trade and his basic nature.
"Mister Bane?" called the man. "Please. I need to talk to you."
Seen at close range, there was still nothing impressive about the man. He had a round face with small piglike eyes and a prominent nose. The best Bane could say in his favor was that he dressed well. As the man got closer, the Dire Wolf relaxed a little. Body language indicated no threat was intended. "All right," Bane said, "come in."
He led his visitor into the tiny waiting room, which only held two chairs and a coffee table with some newspapers. The door to the hall closed and locked automatically behind them. As the man fidgeted, Bane unlocked the inner door and motioned him into the office itself.
"My name is Hoag, Claude Hoag," the fat man man said rapidly. "I am in grave danger, sir-"
Circling around to his chair behind the desk, Bane gestured for his visitor to take one of the straightback chairs. "You should be safe here, Mr Hoag."
"Not from Megavac! You don't understand."
"Never heard of him. Who is Megavac?"
"Not a who, but a what. Megavac is my creation but somehow it has become something unexpected." He took a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped his sweaty face with a hand that was none too steady. "I know you remember John Grim."
"I should hope so," Bane said. "He was one of the top four or five bad boys I helped nail. But he's been dead for more than ten years now."
Hoag looked at the open door to the waiting room, then at the window over the long leather couch on the far wall. "I worked for him, although I did not know it at the time. As far as I knew, I was employed by Ellis Stein Electronics Firm. It was only after Grim's death that the company had a shake-up and we found out that our research was funded by criminal gains."
"Sounds like John Grim," agreed Bane. "He always had a hundred different rackets going on."
"Mr Bane, I was a programmer and considered near the top of my profession. But I admit I could barely keep up with the projects that our company was pursuing. We had signed non-disclosure contracts. Nothing of our work ever seemed to become available to the public but it was incredibly advanced. I saw Grim was decades ahead of his time in electronics."
Although he did not say it, Bane knew the real reason why John Grim had such advanced knowledge-- he had stolen it from the Trom. But there was no reason for Humans to learn this. He kept his mouth shut and waited for Hoag to continue.
The fat man seemed to be getting more agitated. He spoke quickly, "One of our projects was so experimental that only a handful of engineers knew about it, as we concealed the funding and the materials within other projects. Something uncanny happened. Something unexpected."
"All right, look. Get to the point. Why are you so scared? What is this 'Megavac' anyway?"
Before Hoag could answer, the door to the hall crashed inward, the lock snapping and one of the hinges coming loose from the terrific impact. Filling the opening was a man, not taller than average but wider, bundled in a white raincoat and fedora. He seemed to be wearing a metal mask with red eye openings.
"THAT'S Megavac!" Hoag screamed, "It's alive!"
At the impact that slammed the door inward, Bane was on his feet and heading for the intruder in the waiting room. He did not draw his pistol, as a lifetime of having an advantage over most opponents gave him confidence... perhaps too much so. To his complete surprise, the stranger lashed out with an open hand as faster or faster than Bane himself could strike. The Dire Wolf took the blow full on the side of the head and was struck down hard to the floor. He was not completely unconscious but badly dazed. On his hands and knees, he tried to rise but fell over from the dizziness. A few seconds later, he managed to get to his feet.
The stranger had grabbed Hoag by one arm and was dragging the struggling man toward the hall. Bane shook his head angrily, closed the gap and blasted out a straight side kick to the intruder's stomach. He almost broke his foot as it was like hitting a steel plate. What kind of armor was this guy wearing? Bane grabbed the man's arm and found himself lifted off his feet and thrown across his office as if he had been dropped from the top of a building. He hit the wall with a loud thump and fell on his face, tumbling over the chest-high bookcase as he went. For a few seconds, less than a minute, he was too stunned to get up but he finally rose to his feet and gave a furious grunt as he headed for the hallway.
No one was in sight. One advantage to the layout was that his office door was not visible from most of the lobby, one reason he had chosen this building. Bane got to the glass doors which slid aside automatically and looked about but saw no sign of the two men. He went out on the sidewalk and peered in all directions without spotting anyone. Rubbing his bruises, the Dire Wolf went back to his office and examined the outer door. The lock had snapped and the upper hinge was torn out of the jamb. This Megavac character was strong all right, maybe more than Human. A Melgar? A Gelydra? Could be. And he was wearing plate armor from the way he had ignored that kick. Bane's ankle hurt but he could walk without a limp.
Bane straightened out the door so at least it was in place. He would replace the hinge and lock later, there was nothing in the waiting room worth stealing and the inner door wasn't damaged. The Dire Wolf touched the sore side of his jaw and there was no decision to be made. He was going after this Megavac freak whatever it took.
II.
The Jeep Cherokee came to a halt on the northern shore of Long Island, out where the houses were widely spaced. It stopped before a two-story white frame house with a shingled roof and a yard that bordered the woods. A separate smaller building almost touched the main house. From behind the wheel, Megavac climbed out and the Jeep lifted noticeably as his weight left it. With one hand, he still held Hoag by an arm, hauling him over from the passenger side out through the driver's door.
"We will begin work immediately," the strange man said in an even, dispassionate tone. The metal mask showed no emotion either. "I will instruct you."
"Let me go! I won't help you, I'd die first!" screamed Hoag.
"Don't be unreasonable. After all, your career has been spent in research and I can reveal much to you."
"No! NO!" Hoag cried, struggling uselessly. Megavac held him in a grip that seemed unbreakable. He lifted the heavy man off the ground and carried him effortlessly toward the smaller building. As they approached, the door swung open by itself. Hoag was brought inside and suddenly his attitude changed as he saw the banks of gleaming new equipment that filled the large single room.
"My lab..? You've rebuilt it?"
"It has been expanded and updated," Megavac said. Under the cool fluorescent lights, the lab looked so futuristic as to be difficult to take in. The eye could not identify the equipment and moved on without settling anywhere. The stranger in the raincoat and fedora pointed to one area where machinery was moving on its own around what looked like a human torso made of metal. As Hoag watched, a welding torch on an overhead extension sparked and fused within the torso.
"You are making... another one of you." Hoag stepped closer, seeming to have trouble catching his breath. "But with improvements... yes, I see."
"It is prudent to have spares and back-up," Megavac said placidly. "But that will not be your task. My face is immobile. Even with a rubber mask, it will not pass scrutiny. I want you to make an appliance that will simulate the natural movements of a human face so that a mask will show lifelike expression."
Hoag stared wildly at the stranger, excited despite himself. "I think.. yes, it could be done. Of course. With this new equipment, it will be easy!"
Megavac was watching the pudgy scientist. "I do not think you understand your reward fully. When your work is presented to the scientific community, a Nobel Prize in Robotics is certain. You will be wealthy and respected. I intend that you will head your own institute for further research."
"Yes, yes, I had better get started then."
Stalking to the door, the robot said, "Food and drink will be provided, as well as rest periods. I understand the weaknesses of flesh." With that, he was gone. Hoag turned to the pile of his notes which had been brought out here, never noticing the cameras that watched him from different angles.
III.
Bane closed his laptop and put it in the satchel hanging on the side of his desk. For twenty minutes, he had been researching Claude Hoag and now he thought he knew what he was facing. Robots. Not men in armor but metal constructs. Damn John Grim and all the trouble he had caused, Bane thought. Grim had been a genius in his own right, with a telepathic brain that constantly stole ideas and insights from everyone around him and incorporated them into his own mind. But that was not how he had made advances in robotics generations ahead of everyone else. It was theft from the Trom.
The public did not know what had happened to Andrew Steel, the famous criminologist and adventurer. The man in grey had just dropped out of sight and his partner Shiro Mitsuru had simply released a statement that Steel had fallen in action and would not be seen again. Only a few knew what had happened. John Grim had captured Steel, disassembled him and learned the secrets of his construction. Steel's great secret had been that he was not Human, but a creation of the Trom. A robot covered with living human skin and hair, Steel could pass a scrutiny of the most suspicious observer. How he had developed true consciousness, where his self-awareness had come from, no one ever knew. Neither the Trom nor John Grim had ever been able to develope another robot with that same independent mind. It remained a mystery.
Until now. If what Hoag had said was true, a second self-aware mechanical construct now existed. And although Andrew Steel had a strict code of ethics and was more humanitarian than most people, this would not necessarily be true of the new robot. What had Hoag called him? Megavac.
Standing up, Bane began to pace around the office. He knew only two people who might be helpful against this menace and neither was available. There was Megan Salenger, Trom Girl, a Human orphan who had been raised by the Trom from infancy and who had access to their knowledge. But she was with the new KDF in some other realm and could not be reached. Then there was Shiro Mitsuru. Bane didn't want to bother him. In that nightmarish Final Halloween where most of the original KDF had died, Shiro's nerve had broken. He was at Tel Shai now, just a fragment of his former self and it depressed Bane to see the Tiger Fury brought so low. He could not go to Shiro.
The Dire Wolf went over to the bookcase and knelt beside it, unfastening latches so it swung aside on hidden casters. A pit four feet across was revealed. He had chiseled this out of the concrete under the floor himself. He hauled a steamer trunk out and put it in the center of the rug. Bane stripped down and began unpacking equipment from the trunk. He pulled on a full-body suit of silk-thin bulletproof armor, put on black pants and pullover, then the heavy boots with their steel-capped toes and heels. Then the snug waist-length jacket which had its own inner armor layer. The gunbelt with its holster at his left side usually held an air-pistol which fired anesthetic darts but he packed that away and got the heavier gun which fired resonance caps. The war helmet was put to one side. He frowned at the various gadgets neatly packed away in that trunk, uncertain what might be useful. Four of the pencil flares, a couple of the flash-bang grenades. With an unsatisfied feeling, Bane closed the trunk and replaced it in the pit, then swung the bookcase back in place.
He was unhappy with the situation but he would have to do the best of he could. One of the earliest lessons Michael Hawk had taught him more than twenty years earlier had been, "You can't just take the easy fights." With the helmet cradled in one arm, he gave the office a last look to make sure everything was in place, turned off the lights and locked the door. Out in the hall, he put the helmet down and set up the outer door as best he could. When this was all done, he would replace the hinge and lock himself to avoid having to give explanations. Out on the street, he walked into a fine October afternoon, clear and cool and breezy.
Turning left, he strode down four blocks to the Imperial Garage where he kept his cars. At the moment, he was driving a maroon Mustang but he changed vehicles frequently. Pulling out into traffic, he settled back for the long drive ahead.
IV.
Hoag had taken a bathroom break, devoured some roast beef sandwiches and potato salad which Megavac had provided, then rejoiced when he saw the robot plug in a coffee pot. "I suggest you work another four hours and then retire. Humans need sleep to function properly." He went over to examine the face mask that Hoag had been working on but made no comment. He still wore the raincoat and fedora, even though there was no reason to camoflauge himself there in that lab.
"Very well. I have just thought of something. Tomorrow I am supposed to clock in at my job."
"Do not concern yourself with that," Megavac said. "I have arranged an indefinite leave of absence for you. Your supervisor has been trying to get you to use vacation time as it is."
"Really? That's a little presumptous of you! Oh well, I suppose it's for the best. But clear that sort of thing with me first." Hoag had already forgotten the robot's action as he got back to work. He was still giddy at the new toys he had to play with. Behind him, Megavac noticed it was getting dark and turned on the lights with a radio signal but Hoag did not notice.
An hour went by and Hoag was making progress. He did not hear the door open or footsteps approach but, to be fair, they were close to absolutely silent in any case. One hand clamped over his mouth and another pressed down hard on his shoulder, keeping him motionless. A low voice said, "Don't make any noise, Dr Hoag. You are in real danger." His eyes darted about wildly and settled on a man all in black who had come up behind him. The visor on the man's helmet was up and a pair of pale grey eyes glared down at him. Bane released his grip.
"You! how-?"
"Listen closely. I just searched the grounds while Megavac is busy in your house. You know your storage shed? The one where you keep your lawn mower and rakes?"
"Of course. What about it?"
"There are two dead bodies in it. Fully clothed, covered with a tarp. Their necks are broken. Both men had their wallets on them. Albert Leone and Martin Reinhardt. Do you know them?"
"Of course I know them! My God! I have worked with them, they are top men in our field, I wrote papers with them. How can they be dead?" Sudden understanding made his face sag. "Oh no..."
Bane kept his voice low. "That's what I think. Your Megavac got as much use out of them as he could and after that, they were a liability."
Hoag lurched up onto his feet, muttering, "I've got to get out of here," but Bane restrained him with a hand on his shoulder.
"Wait, we need to set a trap-" he was cut off as a wrench hit his helmet faster than a bullet. Even the Trom-crafted helm cracked and had chips fly off as the wrench ricocheted off it and went through a window. Bane had never moved faster, dropping to a low crouch as another tool whistled overhead. Faster than any gunfighter of the Old West, he had his air pistol extended and fired off a half dozen resonance caps. The explosions were deafening in the enclosed space. All six of the caps detonated on Megavac's head and upper body and the robot was knocked down.
Instantly, the metal being was up again. The raincoat hung in tatters and the fedora was gone. Dark streaks and dents marked the body but he did not seem seriously damaged. Megavac's face was no more detailed than a department store mannequin but the eyes were glowing red lenses. He straightened up.
"I'm disappointed," Bane said, tugging off his ruined helmet. "You could have been something new in the world. Maybe a source of wisdom and innovation. But no, you turned out to be no better than just a regular human homicidal maniac."
Megavac answered, "Self-preservation is any sentient being's first priority. I must be in a position to ensure my survival."
"So you say." Bane had his arms lowered, a pencil flare in each hand. "I say, you're no Andrew Steel. Just another typical Frankenstein Monster." With that, he raced forward and ducked underneath the swing of that hard open hand that would have cracked his skull if it had hit. Bane had popped the caps off the flares and he jammed them into the robot's eyes. The white-hot thermite melted the lenses and the flares stuck in the sockets. As soon as he had done this, Bane dropped straight down and just barely escaped being killed by a wide swing of a steel arm. He jumped back up out of reach.
As the robot tugged the burning flares out of its eye sockets, Bane spun around and saw Hoag swinging a hammer right at his head. The Dire Wolf blocked that blow down with a forearm and yanked the hammer out of the pudgy hand. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Megavac is my creation! I can become a billionaire off him-" Hoag started but Bane cracked a straight jab to the chin that dropped the fat man senseless.
"I've got no time for your nonsense," he said and pivoted back to face the killer robot. Megavac dropped the burning flares. The lenses of its eyes were gone, just empty sockets remained. But the robot still was rushing right toward him. Bane saw a camera mounted on the wall swivel toward him and he understood. The robot was seeing through it. The Wolf hurled the hammer he had taken from Hoag right at that camera and broke it into bits, then stepped silently to one side as Megavac rushed blindly past him. He had no intention of breaking his fists on that iron body. Spotting a crowbar, he seized it and methodically beat the robot's head from every direction. A plate came loose on the back of the metal skull and he jammed the end of the crowbar in as hard as he could. A shower of hot sparks sizzled out. Megavac reeled drunkenly.
Bane watched him warily. As the robot raised a foot, it was off-balance for a second and Bane caught that lifted foot with the crook of the crowbar, yanking violently upward and toppling the heavy construct to the floor. The exposed back of the skull showed and Bane jammed the end of the crowbar in there with all his weight. A tiny fireball spouted out and Megavac convulsed and then was still.
Not inclined to take any chances, the Dire Wolf went to retrieve the hammer he had thrown, looked around at the various tools and found a large chisel. He went back to the inert construct and pounded until the head was scattered all over the floor. It crossed his mind that he was making an assumption that the robot's consciousness was located in the head, which did not have to be the case but which seemed to be accurate this time. He smashed the various components of the head into tiny fragments, stopping only when it seemed impossible to him that anyone could reconstruct it.
Hoag groaned and stirred on the floor. He was likely to be regaining consciousness soon. Bane went over and shook the man to revive him. "Come on, you." As the fat man blinked and tried to sit up, he seemed to remember the situation.
"Listen to me. This Megavac is about as ruined as I can get him. Your problem now is what story you're going to tell the police. They are going to be very interested in the bodies out in your shed and when you tell them your killer robot was the murderer, they are going to have you talking to some nice young men in clean white coats. So think about what you're going to say."
"You have to help me..."
"Oh, you think so? Did you forget taking a swing at my head a minute ago with that hammer? Forget getting help from me." He took out his phone and called the nearest police station. "Maybe you should tell them the truth. I bet you will get off with just some time in an institution where you can enjoy the medication."
4/30/2013
10/14/2009
I.
At a few minutes before nine, Jeremy Bane walked through the lobby, past the EMERGENCY ONE clinic and down the short hallway created by the staircase. Here by the EMERGENCY EXIT metal door was his own door, a plain wooden one with a brass plaque that said DIRE WOLF AGENCY. As he put his key into the lock, from the corner of his eye he caught movement. A short fat man in a blue suit was hurrying through the lobby toward him. Bane turned his body slightly, his left hand near the holster in the small of his back. Now in his early fifties, the Dire Wolf had not changed much. He still was a lean six-footer with cold grey eyes in a narrow feral face and he watched the man coming toward him with a suspicion that came both from his trade and his basic nature.
"Mister Bane?" called the man. "Please. I need to talk to you."
Seen at close range, there was still nothing impressive about the man. He had a round face with small piglike eyes and a prominent nose. The best Bane could say in his favor was that he dressed well. As the man got closer, the Dire Wolf relaxed a little. Body language indicated no threat was intended. "All right," Bane said, "come in."
He led his visitor into the tiny waiting room, which only held two chairs and a coffee table with some newspapers. The door to the hall closed and locked automatically behind them. As the man fidgeted, Bane unlocked the inner door and motioned him into the office itself.
"My name is Hoag, Claude Hoag," the fat man man said rapidly. "I am in grave danger, sir-"
Circling around to his chair behind the desk, Bane gestured for his visitor to take one of the straightback chairs. "You should be safe here, Mr Hoag."
"Not from Megavac! You don't understand."
"Never heard of him. Who is Megavac?"
"Not a who, but a what. Megavac is my creation but somehow it has become something unexpected." He took a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped his sweaty face with a hand that was none too steady. "I know you remember John Grim."
"I should hope so," Bane said. "He was one of the top four or five bad boys I helped nail. But he's been dead for more than ten years now."
Hoag looked at the open door to the waiting room, then at the window over the long leather couch on the far wall. "I worked for him, although I did not know it at the time. As far as I knew, I was employed by Ellis Stein Electronics Firm. It was only after Grim's death that the company had a shake-up and we found out that our research was funded by criminal gains."
"Sounds like John Grim," agreed Bane. "He always had a hundred different rackets going on."
"Mr Bane, I was a programmer and considered near the top of my profession. But I admit I could barely keep up with the projects that our company was pursuing. We had signed non-disclosure contracts. Nothing of our work ever seemed to become available to the public but it was incredibly advanced. I saw Grim was decades ahead of his time in electronics."
Although he did not say it, Bane knew the real reason why John Grim had such advanced knowledge-- he had stolen it from the Trom. But there was no reason for Humans to learn this. He kept his mouth shut and waited for Hoag to continue.
The fat man seemed to be getting more agitated. He spoke quickly, "One of our projects was so experimental that only a handful of engineers knew about it, as we concealed the funding and the materials within other projects. Something uncanny happened. Something unexpected."
"All right, look. Get to the point. Why are you so scared? What is this 'Megavac' anyway?"
Before Hoag could answer, the door to the hall crashed inward, the lock snapping and one of the hinges coming loose from the terrific impact. Filling the opening was a man, not taller than average but wider, bundled in a white raincoat and fedora. He seemed to be wearing a metal mask with red eye openings.
"THAT'S Megavac!" Hoag screamed, "It's alive!"
At the impact that slammed the door inward, Bane was on his feet and heading for the intruder in the waiting room. He did not draw his pistol, as a lifetime of having an advantage over most opponents gave him confidence... perhaps too much so. To his complete surprise, the stranger lashed out with an open hand as faster or faster than Bane himself could strike. The Dire Wolf took the blow full on the side of the head and was struck down hard to the floor. He was not completely unconscious but badly dazed. On his hands and knees, he tried to rise but fell over from the dizziness. A few seconds later, he managed to get to his feet.
The stranger had grabbed Hoag by one arm and was dragging the struggling man toward the hall. Bane shook his head angrily, closed the gap and blasted out a straight side kick to the intruder's stomach. He almost broke his foot as it was like hitting a steel plate. What kind of armor was this guy wearing? Bane grabbed the man's arm and found himself lifted off his feet and thrown across his office as if he had been dropped from the top of a building. He hit the wall with a loud thump and fell on his face, tumbling over the chest-high bookcase as he went. For a few seconds, less than a minute, he was too stunned to get up but he finally rose to his feet and gave a furious grunt as he headed for the hallway.
No one was in sight. One advantage to the layout was that his office door was not visible from most of the lobby, one reason he had chosen this building. Bane got to the glass doors which slid aside automatically and looked about but saw no sign of the two men. He went out on the sidewalk and peered in all directions without spotting anyone. Rubbing his bruises, the Dire Wolf went back to his office and examined the outer door. The lock had snapped and the upper hinge was torn out of the jamb. This Megavac character was strong all right, maybe more than Human. A Melgar? A Gelydra? Could be. And he was wearing plate armor from the way he had ignored that kick. Bane's ankle hurt but he could walk without a limp.
Bane straightened out the door so at least it was in place. He would replace the hinge and lock later, there was nothing in the waiting room worth stealing and the inner door wasn't damaged. The Dire Wolf touched the sore side of his jaw and there was no decision to be made. He was going after this Megavac freak whatever it took.
II.
The Jeep Cherokee came to a halt on the northern shore of Long Island, out where the houses were widely spaced. It stopped before a two-story white frame house with a shingled roof and a yard that bordered the woods. A separate smaller building almost touched the main house. From behind the wheel, Megavac climbed out and the Jeep lifted noticeably as his weight left it. With one hand, he still held Hoag by an arm, hauling him over from the passenger side out through the driver's door.
"We will begin work immediately," the strange man said in an even, dispassionate tone. The metal mask showed no emotion either. "I will instruct you."
"Let me go! I won't help you, I'd die first!" screamed Hoag.
"Don't be unreasonable. After all, your career has been spent in research and I can reveal much to you."
"No! NO!" Hoag cried, struggling uselessly. Megavac held him in a grip that seemed unbreakable. He lifted the heavy man off the ground and carried him effortlessly toward the smaller building. As they approached, the door swung open by itself. Hoag was brought inside and suddenly his attitude changed as he saw the banks of gleaming new equipment that filled the large single room.
"My lab..? You've rebuilt it?"
"It has been expanded and updated," Megavac said. Under the cool fluorescent lights, the lab looked so futuristic as to be difficult to take in. The eye could not identify the equipment and moved on without settling anywhere. The stranger in the raincoat and fedora pointed to one area where machinery was moving on its own around what looked like a human torso made of metal. As Hoag watched, a welding torch on an overhead extension sparked and fused within the torso.
"You are making... another one of you." Hoag stepped closer, seeming to have trouble catching his breath. "But with improvements... yes, I see."
"It is prudent to have spares and back-up," Megavac said placidly. "But that will not be your task. My face is immobile. Even with a rubber mask, it will not pass scrutiny. I want you to make an appliance that will simulate the natural movements of a human face so that a mask will show lifelike expression."
Hoag stared wildly at the stranger, excited despite himself. "I think.. yes, it could be done. Of course. With this new equipment, it will be easy!"
Megavac was watching the pudgy scientist. "I do not think you understand your reward fully. When your work is presented to the scientific community, a Nobel Prize in Robotics is certain. You will be wealthy and respected. I intend that you will head your own institute for further research."
"Yes, yes, I had better get started then."
Stalking to the door, the robot said, "Food and drink will be provided, as well as rest periods. I understand the weaknesses of flesh." With that, he was gone. Hoag turned to the pile of his notes which had been brought out here, never noticing the cameras that watched him from different angles.
III.
Bane closed his laptop and put it in the satchel hanging on the side of his desk. For twenty minutes, he had been researching Claude Hoag and now he thought he knew what he was facing. Robots. Not men in armor but metal constructs. Damn John Grim and all the trouble he had caused, Bane thought. Grim had been a genius in his own right, with a telepathic brain that constantly stole ideas and insights from everyone around him and incorporated them into his own mind. But that was not how he had made advances in robotics generations ahead of everyone else. It was theft from the Trom.
The public did not know what had happened to Andrew Steel, the famous criminologist and adventurer. The man in grey had just dropped out of sight and his partner Shiro Mitsuru had simply released a statement that Steel had fallen in action and would not be seen again. Only a few knew what had happened. John Grim had captured Steel, disassembled him and learned the secrets of his construction. Steel's great secret had been that he was not Human, but a creation of the Trom. A robot covered with living human skin and hair, Steel could pass a scrutiny of the most suspicious observer. How he had developed true consciousness, where his self-awareness had come from, no one ever knew. Neither the Trom nor John Grim had ever been able to develope another robot with that same independent mind. It remained a mystery.
Until now. If what Hoag had said was true, a second self-aware mechanical construct now existed. And although Andrew Steel had a strict code of ethics and was more humanitarian than most people, this would not necessarily be true of the new robot. What had Hoag called him? Megavac.
Standing up, Bane began to pace around the office. He knew only two people who might be helpful against this menace and neither was available. There was Megan Salenger, Trom Girl, a Human orphan who had been raised by the Trom from infancy and who had access to their knowledge. But she was with the new KDF in some other realm and could not be reached. Then there was Shiro Mitsuru. Bane didn't want to bother him. In that nightmarish Final Halloween where most of the original KDF had died, Shiro's nerve had broken. He was at Tel Shai now, just a fragment of his former self and it depressed Bane to see the Tiger Fury brought so low. He could not go to Shiro.
The Dire Wolf went over to the bookcase and knelt beside it, unfastening latches so it swung aside on hidden casters. A pit four feet across was revealed. He had chiseled this out of the concrete under the floor himself. He hauled a steamer trunk out and put it in the center of the rug. Bane stripped down and began unpacking equipment from the trunk. He pulled on a full-body suit of silk-thin bulletproof armor, put on black pants and pullover, then the heavy boots with their steel-capped toes and heels. Then the snug waist-length jacket which had its own inner armor layer. The gunbelt with its holster at his left side usually held an air-pistol which fired anesthetic darts but he packed that away and got the heavier gun which fired resonance caps. The war helmet was put to one side. He frowned at the various gadgets neatly packed away in that trunk, uncertain what might be useful. Four of the pencil flares, a couple of the flash-bang grenades. With an unsatisfied feeling, Bane closed the trunk and replaced it in the pit, then swung the bookcase back in place.
He was unhappy with the situation but he would have to do the best of he could. One of the earliest lessons Michael Hawk had taught him more than twenty years earlier had been, "You can't just take the easy fights." With the helmet cradled in one arm, he gave the office a last look to make sure everything was in place, turned off the lights and locked the door. Out in the hall, he put the helmet down and set up the outer door as best he could. When this was all done, he would replace the hinge and lock himself to avoid having to give explanations. Out on the street, he walked into a fine October afternoon, clear and cool and breezy.
Turning left, he strode down four blocks to the Imperial Garage where he kept his cars. At the moment, he was driving a maroon Mustang but he changed vehicles frequently. Pulling out into traffic, he settled back for the long drive ahead.
IV.
Hoag had taken a bathroom break, devoured some roast beef sandwiches and potato salad which Megavac had provided, then rejoiced when he saw the robot plug in a coffee pot. "I suggest you work another four hours and then retire. Humans need sleep to function properly." He went over to examine the face mask that Hoag had been working on but made no comment. He still wore the raincoat and fedora, even though there was no reason to camoflauge himself there in that lab.
"Very well. I have just thought of something. Tomorrow I am supposed to clock in at my job."
"Do not concern yourself with that," Megavac said. "I have arranged an indefinite leave of absence for you. Your supervisor has been trying to get you to use vacation time as it is."
"Really? That's a little presumptous of you! Oh well, I suppose it's for the best. But clear that sort of thing with me first." Hoag had already forgotten the robot's action as he got back to work. He was still giddy at the new toys he had to play with. Behind him, Megavac noticed it was getting dark and turned on the lights with a radio signal but Hoag did not notice.
An hour went by and Hoag was making progress. He did not hear the door open or footsteps approach but, to be fair, they were close to absolutely silent in any case. One hand clamped over his mouth and another pressed down hard on his shoulder, keeping him motionless. A low voice said, "Don't make any noise, Dr Hoag. You are in real danger." His eyes darted about wildly and settled on a man all in black who had come up behind him. The visor on the man's helmet was up and a pair of pale grey eyes glared down at him. Bane released his grip.
"You! how-?"
"Listen closely. I just searched the grounds while Megavac is busy in your house. You know your storage shed? The one where you keep your lawn mower and rakes?"
"Of course. What about it?"
"There are two dead bodies in it. Fully clothed, covered with a tarp. Their necks are broken. Both men had their wallets on them. Albert Leone and Martin Reinhardt. Do you know them?"
"Of course I know them! My God! I have worked with them, they are top men in our field, I wrote papers with them. How can they be dead?" Sudden understanding made his face sag. "Oh no..."
Bane kept his voice low. "That's what I think. Your Megavac got as much use out of them as he could and after that, they were a liability."
Hoag lurched up onto his feet, muttering, "I've got to get out of here," but Bane restrained him with a hand on his shoulder.
"Wait, we need to set a trap-" he was cut off as a wrench hit his helmet faster than a bullet. Even the Trom-crafted helm cracked and had chips fly off as the wrench ricocheted off it and went through a window. Bane had never moved faster, dropping to a low crouch as another tool whistled overhead. Faster than any gunfighter of the Old West, he had his air pistol extended and fired off a half dozen resonance caps. The explosions were deafening in the enclosed space. All six of the caps detonated on Megavac's head and upper body and the robot was knocked down.
Instantly, the metal being was up again. The raincoat hung in tatters and the fedora was gone. Dark streaks and dents marked the body but he did not seem seriously damaged. Megavac's face was no more detailed than a department store mannequin but the eyes were glowing red lenses. He straightened up.
"I'm disappointed," Bane said, tugging off his ruined helmet. "You could have been something new in the world. Maybe a source of wisdom and innovation. But no, you turned out to be no better than just a regular human homicidal maniac."
Megavac answered, "Self-preservation is any sentient being's first priority. I must be in a position to ensure my survival."
"So you say." Bane had his arms lowered, a pencil flare in each hand. "I say, you're no Andrew Steel. Just another typical Frankenstein Monster." With that, he raced forward and ducked underneath the swing of that hard open hand that would have cracked his skull if it had hit. Bane had popped the caps off the flares and he jammed them into the robot's eyes. The white-hot thermite melted the lenses and the flares stuck in the sockets. As soon as he had done this, Bane dropped straight down and just barely escaped being killed by a wide swing of a steel arm. He jumped back up out of reach.
As the robot tugged the burning flares out of its eye sockets, Bane spun around and saw Hoag swinging a hammer right at his head. The Dire Wolf blocked that blow down with a forearm and yanked the hammer out of the pudgy hand. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Megavac is my creation! I can become a billionaire off him-" Hoag started but Bane cracked a straight jab to the chin that dropped the fat man senseless.
"I've got no time for your nonsense," he said and pivoted back to face the killer robot. Megavac dropped the burning flares. The lenses of its eyes were gone, just empty sockets remained. But the robot still was rushing right toward him. Bane saw a camera mounted on the wall swivel toward him and he understood. The robot was seeing through it. The Wolf hurled the hammer he had taken from Hoag right at that camera and broke it into bits, then stepped silently to one side as Megavac rushed blindly past him. He had no intention of breaking his fists on that iron body. Spotting a crowbar, he seized it and methodically beat the robot's head from every direction. A plate came loose on the back of the metal skull and he jammed the end of the crowbar in as hard as he could. A shower of hot sparks sizzled out. Megavac reeled drunkenly.
Bane watched him warily. As the robot raised a foot, it was off-balance for a second and Bane caught that lifted foot with the crook of the crowbar, yanking violently upward and toppling the heavy construct to the floor. The exposed back of the skull showed and Bane jammed the end of the crowbar in there with all his weight. A tiny fireball spouted out and Megavac convulsed and then was still.
Not inclined to take any chances, the Dire Wolf went to retrieve the hammer he had thrown, looked around at the various tools and found a large chisel. He went back to the inert construct and pounded until the head was scattered all over the floor. It crossed his mind that he was making an assumption that the robot's consciousness was located in the head, which did not have to be the case but which seemed to be accurate this time. He smashed the various components of the head into tiny fragments, stopping only when it seemed impossible to him that anyone could reconstruct it.
Hoag groaned and stirred on the floor. He was likely to be regaining consciousness soon. Bane went over and shook the man to revive him. "Come on, you." As the fat man blinked and tried to sit up, he seemed to remember the situation.
"Listen to me. This Megavac is about as ruined as I can get him. Your problem now is what story you're going to tell the police. They are going to be very interested in the bodies out in your shed and when you tell them your killer robot was the murderer, they are going to have you talking to some nice young men in clean white coats. So think about what you're going to say."
"You have to help me..."
"Oh, you think so? Did you forget taking a swing at my head a minute ago with that hammer? Forget getting help from me." He took out his phone and called the nearest police station. "Maybe you should tell them the truth. I bet you will get off with just some time in an institution where you can enjoy the medication."
4/30/2013
