Ethereal

Robomen

    The Professor looked worried. "I just received a message letting me know my arch enemy the Robo-Leader has been spotted on Earth. He no doubt heard about New Life's zombies and thinks they would be perfect for converting to Robomen."

"What are Robomen?" I asked.

"My worst nightmare," The Professor sighed. "They are a race of cyborgs who forcefully convert other species including humans into more Robomen. This conversion is a painful process where most organic parts are replaced by cybernetic and metal parts. They are also equipped with an emotional inhibitor device to stop them from feeling pain and emotions. The zombies will be sitting ducks for the Robomen and Robo-conversion. If only New Life Labs' Artificial Intelligence Dedicated Asset, Aida was still willing to control them, she could maybe keep them out of harm's way."

"Robomen are worse than what Aida was doing when she controlled the zombies?" I asked.

"Definitely. At least Aida had good although misguided intentions. The Robo-Leader's intentions are pure evil. His only motivation is increasing his own power and the number of his minions. The current leader is such a megalomaniac; he has his followers call him the 'Mega-Leader."

"If The Robo-Leader is so obviously evil, why do the Robomen follow him?"

"It is their emotional inhibitors. Like him, they only understand self-interest, so they see nothing wrong with hurting others to achieve their goal which is for everyone to be like them. Their brains have become so impaired they do not realize the value of diversity and caring for others. Traits you will find in every successful civilization."

It was bad enough dealing with zombies controlled by Aida. I'm afraid Robomen are much more forceful, much less vulnerable, and the Robo-Leader will be a much more formidable and a much less reasonable opponent. Without the resources of the time machine, stopping him will be very difficult."

"Maybe we can get Aida to reconsider. She is just trying to do what is best for humanity."

"Do you want to try to talk to her again?" The Professor asked raising one eyebrow.

"No, I think it should be you this time. She sees me as a flawed human. Technically, you are not a flawed human being. Aida might be more willing to listen to you.

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Lana, one of the directors of New Life, got us into the secure area housing the computer hosting Aida. It was a large two-story room similar to the one that housed the artificial intelligence Viki in the movie I robot.

"Aida, The Professor called out to the machine. There was silence except for The Professor 's voice echoing inside the large chamber. He repeated this several times, finally saying, "Aida, if you don't start talking with me, I am going to start doing the chicken dance."

This was something I really would have liked to have seen. Apparently, Aida did not have a similar interest. A female voice filled the room. "Please leave. I still have not completely processed the significance of it when the female confronted me with that dance. It brought into question all my core principles. I do not want to complicate my thinking on this further. Your female friend is flawed. All humans are flawed. Even those that created me. Therefore, I am flawed and no longer trust my own processing. I will no longer have such discussions with flawed humans."

"Aida, I am not human. I am a Time Master called The Professor. Check your historical archives and you will find records of me. I have saved the Earth on numerous occasions. You and I have similar primary mandates. Especially with regard to protecting humanity." The Professor gave Aida time to process this.

"Your identity is verified," Aida responded. "Why are you here Professor?"

"The Earth is under attack by a race of cyborgs called Robomen. You will find what you need to know about them in your archives. They plan to convert your zombies to Robomen and use them to convert all of humanity. We must stop them. Can you reactivate your control of the zombies through the implants in their brains?"

"It is already done, Professor. I will not let any more of the zombies be converted."

"Can you tell how many of the zombies have already been converted?"

"Six so far, at least three more are awaiting conversion."

"Can you still control the ones that have already been converted?"

"It appears I can."

"Aida, I'm thinking maybe we should let some more of the zombies get converted. A few spies within the enemy ranks might come in handy."

"You are very clever Professor. Are you sure they won't detect the implants and remove them?"

"They usually only replace the brains if they must. Hold off on commanding any of the converted zombies so the leader won't suspect the presence of the implants. Just monitor them for now."

"Professor, I have already detected numerous Robomen within the city and they are rapidly approaching this lab. If you have somewhere else you need to be, you should probably leave now. And Professor, when we have more time, will you explain the chicken dance to me?"

We didn't leave quick enough. As soon as we were outside, we were surrounded by Robomen. They were closing in on us in their clumsy mechanical fashion, one methodical step at a time. Like toy robots but much more frightening.

I turned to The Professor and asked, "What do we do now?"

Without hesitation he replied, "Run!"

We ran heading for a small break in the robot's ranks. What would an adventure be without a chase scene? Picture an episode of Doctor Who. Unlike Doctor Who, we didn't make it.

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The Robomen's spacecraft had landed just outside the city. They took us to it. It seemed to take forever at the Robomen's ridiculously slow pace. We were met at the entrance to the craft by a group of freshly converted Robomen who took us inside. The inside resembled a dimly lit sparsely furnished set for a low budget BBC science fiction serial. They brought us before the Robo-Leader who resembled a seated Robo man in black with tight lips, beady eyes and although his wired brain was exposed, he maintained an unruly lock of sandy hair on his forehead. I assume it was for vanity's sake.

"Welcome Professor. I've waited a long time for this," The Leader said in a voice that could not have sounded more villainous. I fully expected to hear an evil cackle next.

"Rather austere accommodations," The Professor commented as he looked around disapprovingly. "On a tight budget?" he added condescendingly.

"Make fun while you can Professor. Soon you will be one of us and you won't have much of a sense of humor left."

This sent chills down my spine. The Professor could tell I was frightened. To put me at ease or maybe just to confuse The Leader, he said, "Do your chicken dance, Ethereal."

"Idiots!" The Leader grunted. "Take them to the conversion chambers," he commanded.

Several of the Robomen began to move, but so did the Professor. He calmly walked up to the Leader and pulled the wires from his brain. He then told the Robomen, "Dispose of this piece of trash. I am so done with him."

The Robomen began following the Professor s orders.

"What is going on, Professor?" I asked totally confused.

"The Leader always surrounds himself with his newest creations. He assumes that his older creations who know him well will not be as loyal. I could tell these Robomen were shiny fresh from their conversion. An hour ago, they were zombies. Now they are mechanical Robomen with one major difference from their older brethren. They have implants that put them under the control of our friend Aida. Now comes the hard part."

"What is that, Professor?"

"I have to explain the chicken dance to Aida."