“Hello, again. I’m glad to say that the assessment phase is now completed. Each of you has decided on your future plans and I wish you the best. I wanted to personally apologize for the extreme conditions recently. However, you all got a full education of what it is like to be a hero, a BADGE agent, and a member of ATLAS. I couldn’t have planned a better demonstration of all those facets. However, I would never have put you in that kind of danger on purpose. I thank you for your calmness and ability to follow directions clearly. Now, those of you who have joined ATLAS, you will follow Arx to the ATLAS area where he will begin you orientation and hand out your class assignments. Those who have joined BADGE as a hero recruit, Agent Justin will lead you to a classroom for your orientation. All others who have decided not to accept our offer will be taken by Dr. Henderson to the laboratory section of the station. She will guide you in understanding how to control your powers while you live a normal life on earth. Again, thank you.”
David clapped along with the others and then watched the room break up into sections. The number of people who joined ATLAS surprised him. Before he could find his group, Red Fury walked up to him.
“I understand you made your choice?”
“I did, sir.”
Red Fury rubbed the back of his neck with one of his four arms. “Sorry to hear you’re leaving. You have real hero potential.”
“Why would you say that?”
“I saw how you instinctively helped the old lady during the crisis.”
“I just made sure she got to the bay. That wasn’t superhero stuff. I hardly used my new powers. I could have carried her before I got super strong.”
“Look, being a hero isn’t about having powers, it’s about doing what is right instead of what is easy. You saw a person at risk and you instantly did the right thing.”
“I guess. But, after that crisis, I realized I was not ready for this life.”
“No one is. Training, practice, and experience make us all seem ready for anything. But even I get a knot in my stomach when there’s a class ten distress signal.”
“Really?”
“Sure, I ain’t made of ice. I know how to feel fear.” Fury put two hands on David’s shoulders, “Just know, suppressing your powers isn’t permanent. If you decide to give this a try, BADGE will take your call. I know you can be an asset to us and the world.”
“I... I will think about that. Thanks.”
“Good luck.”
Nova walked over at that moment, “Son, you need to...“ His comm activated and EB yelled through it.
“NOVA, WE GOT PROBLEMS!”
“Sorry,” Nova said and walked away. “What is it?”
David looked back, unsure what to think of Director Nova looking uncertain. A kind woman approached, “Ah, David, good. Come with me.” He knew her. She gave him a complete physical when he arrived as part of his assessment.
Nova stepped into the Operations room with Gar and Justin standing in command while EB hopped up and down near Nova.
“I told you this would happen. We should’a blown that ship up the moment we saw it. Then again, it probably wouldn’t have blown up too easy. Whatever. You see! You see! A Legion Deathbot!”
Looking at the main monitors, Nova saw an ancient robot standing outside of Purgatory Penitentiary.
“I haven’t seen one of those in centuries.” Nova whispered.
Justin asked, “What is it?”
“A LEGION DEATHBOT!” EB bellowed.
Nova said, “EB is right. That is a robot from Legion. At least, back when Legion sent those things in to pre-test a world. They stopped that practice eons ago. It looks damaged.”
Justin said, “Our sensors show it has suffered damage from the crash. And it appears to be... rusted. I didn’t think Legion tech could rust, but this one is in terrible shape.”
“My guess is that this robot is at least a thousand years old. It can’t be in good condition. What is it doing?”
Gar said, “Talking to the prison.”
“What?”
Justin clicked a button and a monitoring station outside the prison let them hear the deep, metallic
“It has been repeating that for five hours.”
“Why weren’t we notified five hours ago?” Nova asked.
“Interference from the wrecked piece of the ship near the prison. As it cooled down, their signals got through. But, so far, it has done no damage.”
“It will,” Nova said. “Tell Purgatory to enable the diffusion shields.”
Justin sent out the message.
Gar asked, “What are the diffusion shields?”
“They block sensors from reading inside the prison. We normally don’t need to use them, only when someone is searching for a secret prisoner. Its purpose is to seek the strongest people and attack them. It is reading the villains inside purgatory pen. If we block that, then it might stop sensing them and head back for its ship.”
EB happily added, “Which is in a billion atoms right now, so it will be lost and confused. Easy target!”
“My thoughts exactly.”
Justin said, “Purgatory Pen has responded. They have activated diffusion shields.”
Everyone watched the screen as the robot continued challenging the prison. The energy barrier around the prison changed to a bluish color. The robot stopped moving for a moment, its eyes changed to green, and it turned and walked away.
“Got you.” Nova whispered.
“WOOT!” EB hopped around the room. “That deathbot’s brain is now scrambled eggs.”
Justin asked, “What do we do now?”
“Now, its systems will search for the ship’s communication signal, which doesn’t exist. Until it contacts the ship, it will continue to search. Send some heroes down to assess it and take it out if possible.”
EB asked, "Won't it detect heroes if we send them down? I want it blown up, but those deathbots were really, really nasty pieces of work."
Nova answered, "Now that we have confused its initial search for an opponent, the computer should be searching for a new signal to give it another command. Since there are no Legion signals on Earth, it won't get the command. So, it won't be searching for opponents any longer."
“Don’t you want to alert Perth?” Gar asked.
Nova said, “No. This is no longer a viable threat. We scared the world with a class ten warning. I don’t want to rattle frayed nerves this soon. Just tell our team to be discreet and find a way to either destroy or at least deactivate that robot.”
“On it.” Justin pressed his comm and started handing out orders.
Nova said, “I’m ready to turn in for the night.”
“Me too.” EB hopped along with him. “I could use a good, stiff drink after these past few days. I’m think’n a double thick hot chocolate with loads of marshmallows. You?”
“A bed and a good book.” Nova walked into the lift with EB.
David sat in the passenger seat of a BADGE shuttle as it zoomed toward the planet. He leaned over slightly to get a better view out the front window. This was likely his last chance to be in space, and he wanted to enjoy the experience. Around him sat four other heroes.
“So, you heading back home?” A woman asked.
“Yeah. But I’m still thinking about joining.” He was hesitant to admit this.
She gave him a friendly smack in the shoulder. “Don’t feel blue about struggling. It’s a big choice. We all gave it loads of thought.”
“Sure. But I’m one of only three that gave up on the chances. And the other two are both over eighty.”
“We all lead our own lives how we want.”
He wanted to change the subject. “Why are you heading down? Joining a league?”
She said, “No. Brevis, Kal, Jolt, and I are working with Captain Aqua. He’s our instructor. We have a field assignment to deal with some broken robot. Nothing special. We get a trip to Australia out of it, so that’s nice.”
A man in a blue spandex suit with a flowing cape stood in the aisle. “Okay, people. This shouldn’t be a big job. But, this robot is old Legion Tech, so it won’t be a walk in the park either. Reports are that its systems are confused, and it is meandering. If all goes well, we can knock it down and shut it off before dinner. Questions?”
David said, “Are we going to stop by Detroit before we get to Australia?”
“Oh, sorry. No, we’re going to be dropped off first. Then, the pilot will take you home. Sorry about the big detour. We only had a few shuttles that didn’t need repair after the explosion in space damaged their systems.”
“No problem.” David sat back, wondering when he would get home.
“Sir, we have an issue.” The pilot announced.
“What?”
“The robot appears to be heading into Perth.”
“What? Has BADGE seen this?”
The pilot punched in a command and got nothing but a strange buzzing sound. “I can’t get BADGE.”
Jolt looked at a device on his suit and said, “No, this isn’t good. There is a powerful jamming signal coming up from the planet.”
Captain Aqua said, “Legion always enjoyed killing communications.”
“Should we return to the station?” The pilot asked.
“No, this could be a real danger. Sorry, people, this looks like it’s going to be a bigger fight than I thought. Get us to that robot and then get back to the station.”
“Understood.”
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