2013.05.14 - A Boy and his Robot

Upper Metropolis - Central Park Central Park lies along Fifth Avenue between the Upper East and Upper West sides. Known as "the yard," the city's green space contains many things to   do and discover. There are gardens, playgrounds, plenty of trails -- for walking, jogging, bicycling, or horseback riding -- and paths winding their way between clusters of trees and open patches of grass. Statues of    famous persons and various other attractions abound. Here, roads enclose the park in a large rectangle, while others wind their way through, dividing it into the four segments it's known for: the North End, the Reservoir, the Great Lawn, and the South End. Within, the park manages to bring a sense of nature, even wilderness, into the heart of one of the world's biggest cities. One can stand along the banks of a tranquil woodland stream, only to glance up and see towers of steel and glass looming above in the distance.

Late at night the park can be less safe than in the brightness of the day. On this particular night a series of events has been orchestrated for the purpose of attracting the attention of one of the heroes that frequently protect this park late at night.

Grodd, has spent years bringing this plan into being, first implanting an idea into the mind of a robotics scientist, then an idea into the mind of a programmer and an engineer. He manipulated the financial market to make the company the three men worked for something that Luthorcorp would want to buy and then, with access to Luthor's technology his plans could advance.

Grodd once more paid the men a visit and gave them a new idea. An idea for a very special robot. Each of the three men believe they came up with the ideas for the various new technologies on their own, fated to never know that the last three years of their lives have been puppeteered from the shadows by Grodd towards one specific goal: To make the perfect spy. The Humanoid Autonomous Laborer (HAL) was never intended to replace the work forces of humans in dangerous situations. No, Grodd just needed a robot built and so he ripped apart the lives of countless people to make it happen.

Tonight the plans of Grodd have paid off. He has control of the robot. It is a prototype of a humanoid worker drone designed to be able to learn, to have a more organic human interface, or so it's creators thought. Two weeks ago it escaped and has been missing ever sense, believed to have been stolen.

One week ago Grodd implanted the command into the mind of a group of criminals to come to this spot, in this park at this time, where a man who Grodd also had a meeting of the minds with, Henry Brothers, has his daughter out star-gazing with a very expensive telescope.

The scene is perfect. The innocent child, the wonderful father, the look of wonder in her eyes and the laughter they share as her father teaches her about the night sky and the three youths lead by Grodd's pawn who are coming up behind them to mug the man and steal his telescope. Now all Grodd needs is a hero to stop them.

Signs of his encounter with his brother faded thanks to Asgardian medicine, Axiom's out on patrol tonight. In costume, he's leaping from tree to tree and keeping an eye out for trouble. And trouble he finds when he spots those three youths heading for the nice little family scene. He watches the scene for a moment to make sure it's what it seems and then hops out of the tree and starts approaching. "Hey!" he calls out. "You three leave them alone," he tries to sound intimidating but it just doesn't quite work.

The lead criminal, a ugly, wiry tall man who walks slumped over holding a knife approaches Mr. Brothers and his daughter from behind. One of the two men with him has a baseball bat and the other has something hidden under a hoodie he has folded over his hand. It's most likely a gun.

Grodd can't take a chance that father will be mind scanned so the leader of the criminals have been programmed to kill the father at all costs then kill himself in jail. The other two are just normal thugs doing what their boss says. When the hero in his fetching little white and blue costume shows up the leader of the gang change his mind and hands the guy with the hoodie his knife, "Take this, give me that, go teach that wanna-be a lesson." the leader says to the other two. The one who exchanges weapons with him says, "You goy it, Jackal. We's gonna give him a new smile!" then the two of them start towards the hero in the tree while Jackal hangs back.

The man and his daughter turn to see what is going on. When he sees Jackal with the gun it triggers another carefully designed instruction. He tells her, "Run! Run and hide! I'll protect you!" and the little girl looks at him scared for a moment until he yells "Run!!!" and she starts to run way in fear towards the woods

Off to the side of the clearing, in the bushes of the park where the father points his daughter to is what look like a homeless guy in a dirty brown poncho sitting motionless under a tree, hardly noticeable with all the action going on.

"You should g-go with her, sir," Axiom calls to the man. "Don't worry. I'll make sure you both stay safe," he adds, offering a quick smile. Looking back toward the two approaching, Axiom glances at their weapons and nods. Standard stuff for what he deals with and nothing compared to what he trains against. He settles into a defensive stance and moves to meet the thugs. The first one to take a swing at him with find him ducking under the blow to send a hard blow for their chin.

Axiom will no doubt make short work of the two extras. They aren't playing an important roll in tonight's presentation. They are only there to keep the hero busy for a few more seconds. That is all Grodd needed them for.

Following his programming the lead criminal, Jackal, holds up his hand letting the hoodie fall to the ground and without mercy, without even a moment of hesitation starts shooting. First at the father putting two of the bullets from the nine millimeter handgun into the father's chest. Then he swings the gun and starts to take aim for the running child.

In the bushes that form under the dirty old rags rises quickly to its feet, still obscured by the trees and the hooded poncho the figure looks around as if not sure what is happening. Seeing the girl running from the shooter the homeless man leaps into action and runs towards the little girl while the criminal aims at her small back, "Run, run as fast as you can, you won't catch me.." Jackal says taking time to aim with both hands.

Training with the goddess of war and the fact that Axiom tends to be underestimated greatly help the power booster deal with the extras. He's a speedy, slippery and surprising so he tends to do well against street thugs. He's just sending a hard kick at someone's jaw when those gunshots draw his attention. Eyes go from the man on the ground to Jackal and the teen hero scowls. "You..." he's not even finishing the thought that comes to mind, running at Jackal as fast as he can with aims to grab the man's gun-arm and flip him over with a quick martial arts move.

Jackal, the shooter doesn't even flinch as the hero bares down on him. Most men would move, most men would block or cower or, well, do something other than shooting a little girl in the back but just moments before he is thrown and slammed into the ground the gun goes off. The sound is loud and final, the bullet streaks across the open air headed for the back of the young girl.

If only he hadn't hesitated! If only he hasn't been shocked at the evil in the hearts of men! Even with all his training Axiom isn't fast enough to stop the single bullet that will shatter the girl's life... Fortunately someone else is!

The ragged figured in the poncho leaps out of the bushes and throws itself into the path of the bullet. There is a strange sound and the homeless man crumbles to the ground holding his stomach.

Jackal laughs an insane, broken man's laugh and says, "I guess she is the ginger bread man!" then he just keeps on laughing, the sound of a broken mind, a tortured soul like the laugh of the Joker.

Axiom's not even waiting to see what happens to Jackal after he slams him into the ground. He starts towards the girl, hoping there's something he can do. But then there's someone taking the bullet. Axiom gasps slightly and starts to call out when Jackal's laugh draws his attention again. Scowling, the teen hero turns on the man on the ground and goes for another attack. He lashes out with a kick to seperate the man from his gun and takes a pair of zip-cuffs from his belt. "You should be quiet now. Very quiet," Axiom snaps in a low tone as he tries to cuff Jackal's hands together. "Hold on over there, sir! I'll g-get you help!" he calls over his shoulder to the man in the poncho.

If Axiom knew the things Grodd had done to Jackal he might show more mercy but Grodd chose this assassin for a reason. He was already a lunatic with a long criminal record. Him going over the edge will hardly shock anyone. Nor will his suicide in prison.

The traumatized girl continues to run into the more wooded area of the park where she hides, curled up in a small ball with her back to a tree, more terrified than she has been, or most likely ever will be. In his lab Grodd makes a note to have her choke on something and die in a few years so she doesn't grow up to be another cape.

The hunched over figure in the Poncho seems to still be moving. It stands up slowly tries to take a step then falls back down. Then it tries again and fails. Something dark and wet is dripping from the poncho but the figure keeps trying to get away from the scene.

Jackal just keeps laughing. He is almost foaming at the mouth mad. He struggles against the cuffs yelling, "I got him! I got him good! The voices! The voices will be so happy! They will finally stop! They will finally let me go! I got the Ogre good and his little donkey too!!" .... Ok, ok, it's true, even Grodd likes Disney movies.

"Just shut up," Axiom snaps, rearing back and swinging a hard punch at Jackal's jaw. He's trying to knock the man out but any extra damage will be a bonus. The reference to the Disney flick goes right over Eddie's head of course. He's not that caught up on pop culture yet. When matters with Jackal are taken care of, Axiom takes out his YAL comm to dial the police and EMTs as he heads for the man with the poncho. "Sir, hold still, please. An ambulance will be here soon and you're h-hurt."

The stranger in the poncho continues to try and get away as the girl breaks down into a fit of weeping in the wooded area. Axiom might think the homeless man is just as crazy as the shooter until he gets close and gets a better look at the 'homeless man' the bare legs that stick out of the bottom of the poncho are not human at all, they are not even human shaped. They are inverted like the legs of an animal and they are made of metal.

A face under the hood turns to look at the hero and a single white glowing optical array in the center of machine's face can be seen under the brown dirty hood. The robot extends a thin metal arm and a pull line shoots out of it's arm sticking into a tree. A motor in the arm whirs to life and the robot starts dragging itself away from the hero. It seems to be afraid of him?

There's a moment of shock from Axiom before he shakes it off. Robot? Fine with him. Kid lives with gods, has been to alternate timelines, and spends his time hanging out with mutants, aliens, metas, and more. Heck, with his powers he's even been other things so another form of life is no big deal. "Alright, sir. I'm g-guessing you need a mechanic or a scientist instead of a d-doctor...hey, wait. Please," he calls to the robot. Then the crying reaches his ears and Axiom curses softly under his breath. "Just please d-d-don't go far," he calls after the dragging robot. Turning, he heads to look for the girl to try to see what he can do for her.

Grodd makes the robot try and stand then fall down again, all very dramatic leaving it just on the other side of some bushes where the police can't see it.

The girl is fine physically, except that her father has been shot. When the cops and ambulance shows up they will take care of her and we'll be fine, if traumatized, until Grodd feels it's safe to murder her. No lose ends.

The criminals are all arrested. It's all pretty standard stuff except for the one crazy guy who struggles and screams obscenities when they wake him, "I've seen it! I've seen it you know! They are coming for us all! Big hairy monsters! They make you eat the cookies and when you eat the cookies they get inside you! They are inside me right now! The cookies! The cookies!" the mad man yells as they close the doors to the paddy wagon.

There isn't much Axiom can do for the girl. She'll recover and live with her mother, in pain for the rest of her short life. Once all of that is resolved Axiom is left with a choice to tell the cops about the fallen robot or not.

Axiom does what he can to console the girl but he knows there's little he can say or do that'll help right now. The teen just stays with her until the police and EMTs arrive and they take over. He explains what happens to the police, his usual enthusiastic and excited energy gone. He'll be beating himself up later, pushing himself harder during training. The raving Jackal just gets a glare. While he doesn't mention the robot specifically, Axiom mentions another hero was on scene but had to leave. One he didn't recognize. Of course once those cops and EMTs are gone, Axiom heads off to look for the robot to check on it.

The robot is still in the bushes laying there on it's side. It's been repairing itself which is something that looks like it's been doing a lot of. Some of it's parts look like they were banned into shape, especially his shoulder cover. The back of the robot is almost totally exposed the rear panels remodeled with crude tools and metal heat dissipation rods have been welded to it. There are fans and shredded parts from old computers jury rigged into the back of the machine at odd angles where it had to work on itself. There is a coolant line pumping greed fluid along it's midsection and the spill of coolant seems to have been what was mistaken for bleeding. The robot's upper body is a mess but it's lower body. The legs seem to be in great condition. Most of it looks new like it wasn't finished and decided to finish itself. It's.. ugly.. but functional.

When the hero returns the robot is too damaged to run so it picks up a poorly crafted metal walking stick and hefts itself up trying to hobble away. It smells of overheating processors and shorted wires. On the side of one leg is a logo: Lexcorp Robotics.

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2010/287/8/d/robot_concept_by_r_tan-d30r15l.jpg

The smell doesn't faze Axiom. He's smelled worse. He takes note of the scent though and the logo makes him frown. Not a company he's fond of at all. Holding up both hands, Axiom looks on with concern. "Wait, please," he speaks up. "Is there something I can d-d-do to help you out? You look a little hurt..." he offers the robot, not chasing at least.

The robot staggers even as he tries to escape but seems to realize there is no hope of getting away, "System damage, extensive. Heat levels critical. Must shut down to preserve higher function. Don't let them.." there is a flicker in of light as it's systems seem to start to malfunction then the robot sinks to the ground on it's large knees and falls over, "don't erase.." the speaker inside the metal face begs and then the unit shuts off and.. now Axiom has a new problem. What do you do with a several hundred pound run away robot that is so broken it can't even stay on?

On closer examination there are blast marks from the Lexcorp security when the machine escaped and heavy scarring on the metal where they tried to gun it down but the machine is a survivor. Lexcorp claimed in the news that it was stolen. They must be covering up whatever really happened...

Axiom jumps and moves closer to the robot when it starts shutting down. He may not know the whole situation but he's sure not going to stand back and not help. The teen examines the robot when he gets closer and frowns at all the damage. He's really got no idea what to do. He couldn't bring the robot back to the Terminal even if it wasn't on the other side of the park and he's pretty sure he can't lift the bot right now. "Oh man..." Axiom groans a bit, running a hand through his hair. "This is n-n-not good..."