Tick Tick Tick (Cyborgtron story)

[Paragon Vanguard]

 

Maurice Feldon looked over the cyborg's hardware before glancing up at him with a smile. 
"I see you have new teleportation cybernetics implanted. Unless I miss my guess, these are from the auction house?"
David Hatchinson nodded, "It helps to get me around the city quickly when needed."
Maurice chuckled only slightly, knowing that many heroes auctioned items they found, in order to support their income. Equipment could be expensive, especially if one of them decided they wish fight the more equipped criminals. 
"It all checks out. How is that Ouroboros program working? I know you said it was clunky and did not interface well."
"It will do," Cyborgtron offered a smile. "Whatever power is obtained through the strange symbol causes problems with other programming, especially my teleportation ones. It does not seem to effect my defenses though."
Maurice looked at the symbol but simply shook his head, not knowing enough about it all to even venture a solution. His only solution would be to remove it, and never use it again. He had no intention of ever venturing to such a place, and could see no good in others using time travel. 
"We can remove it if necessary, but other than that I would suggest using it cautiously."
David Hatchinson had been a well decorated officer, before a bomb tore him and his world apart. The city council petitioned the federal government to have experimental cybernetics used on him, and the operation was a success. They then had a program introduced to keep him under their control. They justified this because the cybernetics were experimental. However, with the help of his wife, David Hatchinson overcame this program, and they eventually relented, and removed it. Maurice tended to Cyborgtron's check ups, his lab on the lower floor of City Hall. His system was working as well as it had 10 years ago, yet Maurice did not like to see unknown programming attached. However, neither he, nor the council, nor the federal government, had any say over Cyborgtron. The hero won his suit in court to be a free man, and the government had to help him maintain his cybernetics. It helped that Cyborgtron's wife, also a hero, was a well known lawyer. 
"Thank you Maurice," Cybortron said offering a smile. He was a friendly, kind man. Maurice knew him to be a true hero, someone who thought of the good of others over himself. Of course they were in a city of heroes, and many like him could be found. 
"No worries, and remember what I said about the Ouroboros program," he reminded the cyborg. 
Cyborgtron simply shook his head and left, Maurice knowing full well that if he felt it was necessary, the cyborg would use the program, even at his own detriment. 

Cyborgtron walked through the base, the sound of his metallic feet hitting the floor echoing throughout. He could never hope to sneak up on anyone, they all knew when he was near. Of course he was built like a tank, so sneaking was not something he deemed necessary. Well, not often. 
"Where is everyone," he asked, the giant Tim looking back from the huge chair he was sitting in. The huge chare that he made look small. 
"Your wife and daughter are off the radar," he said, meaning they were on personal errands. David knew this already, but did not say anything. He knew they were shopping in one of the new stores built in Skyway. 
"Uhm, Deathbinder is on Peregrin Island, he did not say why. I decided not to keep track on him, but his relay is still on and I can track it if you wish."
Cyborgtron shook his head, and waited for the rest of the report. 
"Shock Therapy and the Twins are dealing with some gang activity in King's Row, but they said all is clear, and only awaiting PPD," he finished, then shrugged after that. 
The cyborg nodded, looking at the map of the city. There were no real hot spots. PPD would put up the warning at times for those heroes able to monitor. They had a police scanner fed directly to the base, as well each individual member with their own scanners for the precinct they were currently near. 

Cyborgtron had left Titan Tim to his monitoring duty, something they took turns doing week to week. All members could be summoned, including the one monitoring, if need be, but day to day activities usually did not require such. They were Justice Fighters, and they were willing to help, from the beat cop, to the president of the United States, to the United Nations, if need be. They were registered in every way possible, making their team legal to practice in most states across the country. Their base however was in Paragon City, and it was a city that seemed to attract enough crime to keep them busy. 
David entered his own private quarters, shared with his wife and children, which branched into their different bedrooms. However, he was not coming here to rest. He then entered his personal monitoring station, in hopes to catch his wife before she left Skyway. There were some personal items he was hoping she could pick up. The equipment was basically a private phone service, something he had put together. It could not be monitored by any outside source. It was for private family moments, not to be shared with even his team. They all lived and breathed Justice Fighters, even his kids were junior members, but there was something about the privacy of family that was needed. He was about to call them when he saw the red flashing light. Titan Tim needed him, and that always meant trouble, somewhere. 

Edited November 20, 2020 by Paragon Vanguard

[Paragon Vanguard]

The bank had been robbed before, but Vault Reserve, to his knowledge, had not. It was high tech security, even though it did not appear to be from the outside. The thought was, that the vault and the safes within were so secure, armed security was minimal. Of course there were always those that strove to test something that seemed impossible. No doubt, this was one of those times. 
"Glad you are here," detective Rogers said. He was a middle aged black man, polite and kind, but always to the point when it came to his job. While Cyborgtron was on good terms with most officers, he really liked Rogers. They were actually friends that worked together on the police force, before Cyborgtron was maimed in the line of duty. They seldom visited now, and usually only saw one another at times like this. 
"What are we looking at?" Cyborgtron stood behind the police units and barricades, but if it was a two bit thief with a gun they could hardly harm him. 
"I don't know. He said he has some kind of bomb, and is willing to kill the civilians if we move close."
"Do we know for sure he has a bomb," Cyborgtron asked, even as he began to scan the place with his heat seeking cybernetic eye. There were six people inside, but he could not tell who the potential bomber was. 
"No. We have not seen him yet, he called us on his cell phone and reported what he was doing."
Cyborgtron nodded at first, then looked to the detective, even as the thermal seeking mechanism shut off. 
"He called?"
"Yes, he called 911 and reported what he was doing. Possibly before he even entered, but we can't be sure. He said everyone inside is safe, but if we try to enter he will blow them all up."
"Credible?" 
Detective Rogers shrugged, "I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine. He hasn't spoken to any of us, hasn't made any calls since, and no one has exited the building."
"There are six people in there that I could tell," Cyborgtron said. There were cases where he could not see the criminal, even with his thermal imaging.
"That's more than we knew," the detective replied, writing the information down. 
"I guess I should make contact with him," the cyborg said, but was also asking. He was trained in negotiating. 
"Your credentials are better than mine these days," the detective said. Cyborgtron looked over to see if there was some kind of negativity in his face to that. There was not, but he still wondered if Rogers resented his position with the federal government. He just nodded to that, and approached the building. 

"You rang," the middle aged man said, standing just in the doorway. He was heavy set and balding, nothing like what Cyborgtron thought. 
The cyborg approached the door, and before he could look in the man came out, very suddenly. 
"I am called Cyborgtron," he said, holding his hands chest level and out in a show of non-aggression. It was quite comical, if the situation was not serious, considering the cyborg was a walking weapon. 
"I know who you are. I know what group you belong to. I know you were an officer. I know ...I know...I know...." the middle aged man said, his smile growing broad. 
"You do not appear to have a bomb," the cyborg said, looking the man over. "Am I to assume you do not, and that this is simply a way to get some attention for something?"
"No, you cannot assume such," the man said. "I am Ticking Bomb. Tick tick tick, and if you make a move toward me or to enter, I will blow everyone up."
In a city of super powered people, it was hard to not take the man serious, even if Cyborgtron doubted. 
"You know all about that don't you. Blowing up. Kaboom. You aren't really a super, you are a machine."
Cyborgtron looked the man over, and began to think this was something personal. He did not recognize the man, but surely this guy had a grudge.
"It's hard to tell if that upset you, you know, you are not very expressive. I suppose it is hard to do when half of your face is made of metal."
"So you have explosives inside, do you have demands," the cyborg asked, refusing to be drawn into an argument with the man. 
"No, I do not. My only demand is do not enter. It is very important that no one enters. You have to understand that," the man said, his voice now low as if someone was listening. "Do you understand that?"
Cyborgtron didn't answer, instead he looked past the man to the building. 
"If we are to take you serious, you will have to give us something. At least tell us what we are dealing with."
"A bomb....tick tick tick.......a bomb." the middle aged man replied, looking past the hero to the officers and civilians all lined up to watch the show. "A bomb doesn't know, does it. It doesn't care. The only thing it cares about is exploding. It is those that use the bomb that have demands. If the bomb is walking and talking, tick tick tick, why should it care. It has only one demand, that it explodes."
"Are you the bomb," the cyborg asked, looking at the man, skeptical of him living to this age and having been a human bomb. 
"I am, and no one needs to be harmed," he replied, backing back into Vault Reserve. 
"But they will," he said with a smile, before the entire building exploded outwards, knocking the 500 pound cyborg off of his feet and flinging him through two bus stops before smashing him into a police unit. 

 
 

[Paragon Vanguard]

He had ringing in the one ear that was actually his, the cybernetic ear on the other side was fine. It was capable of handling such a noise, as his body was of handling the explosion. His natural eye was unable to focus, but his cybernetic eye was feeding him plenty of information. Detective Rogers was standing over him asking him if he was okay, and there was smoke and debris everywhere. Apparently the explosion was enough to knock him out for a moment, even though he had programs still running in his mind that retained the information, and fed it to him as memory.
No one in the building could have possibly survived, this memory was telling him. Memory of the human bomb exploding, the gore it produced for a brief moment before even that pretty much disintegrated.
The cyborg gained his footing fairly easy and fast, the mechanics smooth and efficient. It was Rikti technology, at least some of it, and it was far beyond human in most functions. In fact, getting to his feet was so fast it caused Detective Rogers to step back, even though he was in no danger. 
"I guess you are, okay," the man said, then looked behind him at the building. There was no fire. The explosion was pure energy. Officers, followed by medics and firefighters, were rushing into the building. Cyborgtron was sure that was not a good idea, but it was not his call. There was no way of knowing if the integrity of the building was compromised. 
"Come on, you should get checked anyway," Detective Rogers said, but the cyborg shook his head no, and looked to the building. 

"There was nothing you could have done," he added, before heading to their command truck, no doubt to call his superiors. 

"Are you okay," the woman asked, and she was dressed as a nurse. It seemed a bit odd, a nurse and not a medic, but she may have been on her way to work, or on her way back. 
"I am fine, my components protect me, even the human looking part of me," he said, assuring. 
"Good, because that was some explosion. Those people in there," she said, frowning deeply. 
Cyborgtron looked to her face. She seemed truly worried and that bothered him, because maybe she blamed him, even if Detective Rogers did not. 
"You are not to blame," she said, as if reading his look. Something hard to do considering his face was mostly metal. "However, I cannot say the same for these first responders. They seem to let us down all the time."
"I don't agree," he said, kind of shocked that a nurse would say such. 
"Well, anyway, I should get inside. Tick tick tick, time is wasting," she nodded reassuringly, with a pat on his arm. 
Cyborgtron watched as she hurried in, her tick tick tick not sitting well with him. He evaluated the situation outside, before moving toward the building himself. As he closed distance, another explosion sounded. This time the cyborg did not fall, but only stopped in his tracks, completely stunned at the horror that just occurred. 

 

Edited November 20, 2020 by Paragon Vanguard

[Paragon Vanguard]

The pretty blonde reporter stood in front of the blown out building, at a distance hardly considered safe even now, 8 hours later. The Vault Reserve sign was still standing, even though it was now covered in debris and dust. 
"As you can see we are the scene now, PPD only now allowing reporters to get this close, and only if we have the proper insurance clearance."
"What is it like there on scene, Trish?" The male talking head from their studio asked, a look of deep concern on his over make up'ed face. 
"It is quiet here now, most officers and first responders have left, with a smaller crew here to keep lookie lues at a distance."
"What is the feel on the scene, what are they telling you," the male head asked. 
"We have spoken to some first responders, off record of course, but it looks as if some unknown group is behind this. Possibly targeting first responders, or, more likely, the hero that showed up. We cannot confirm this information as it is an ongoing investigation, but it also has not been denied. The hero," she said, looking down at a paper she held just below camera shot, "Cyborgtron, confronted the responsible party, and moments later he detonated.....but we are not sure what. The second suspect, now dead, entered the building after first responders were inside, and also detonated some unknown bomb."
"So you are saying it may appear that the suspect, or suspects, knew the hero involved?" The studio reporter furled his brows, barely able to get his forehead to wrinkle under the make up. 
"Off the record, it appears it may be the case. We have been unable to garner an interview with the hero," she looks back down to her notes, "Cyborgtron."

"Just turn that off Mike," Tim said, a deep frown on his face. 
"Man, she is pretty, but she sure is dumb," Mike said, shaking his head in frustration. "The boss had nothing to do with this, and she knows it."
"Maybe she knows, maybe not. She is simply reporting what others have told her, so she is not lying." Anson White, code named Storm Cloud, said with a look of concern. 
"That is her way of getting around it," Mike complained. 
Anson said nothing, but merely turned to his own business on the computer, even as Mike turned the news off. 
"We won't get any straight answers there," Mike said. 
"I still have friends in the media, I am trying to get what they know about this, even as Cyborgtron is speaking with the PPD," Anson assured Mike. Anson worked as a meteorologist before becoming a full time member of the Justice Fighters. 
"He may not get many straight answers there as well," Tim said, but it was not as accusing as Mike was. 
"They have to protect their investigation, and we are not officially being called in to help. Our charter allows us to patrol, to assist when needed, but we are not allowed to step over the PPD or any local law enforcement," Anson said, not looking up from his computer screen.
The others just looked over to him, but said nothing else. Anson knew their charter by the letter, and would point out their directives without hardly thinking on it. Even now he only said what he said without really engaging the group, or taking his mind off of the computer screen. Still, it ended the conversation. 
The others simply nodded to what Anson said, before breaking up and going to tend to their own business. 

Cyborgtron and his wife, Electric Lady, stepped into the mayor's office. The chubby man offered a wide smile, before realizing this was a somber moment and frowned, wrinkling his brow and shaking his head in sorrow. 
"I am so sorry this occurred, and I hope you are okay," the mayor offered. 
"You wanted to speak to me?" The cyborg asked, as always, getting straight to the point. 

[Paragon Vanguard]

"How can they think you are even remotely responsible for this," Electric Lady complained, as the two climbed into their SUV to head back home. 
"They don't think I am responsible, they just want to understand what happened. It may have happened because of me being there, but I don't think so."
"You were there to help," his wife said, shaking her head and looking out to Paragon City. 
 Cyborgtron just nodded. He had other worries on his mind, aside from how this was being viewed and reported, like, why did two people, who did not seem to be working together, come to blow themselves up? Who where they? 
"You know the woman said the same thing the man said, tick tick tick." He said out loud, causing his wife to look over to him. 
"They were obviously working together, but you had no way of knowing that at the time."
"No, I did not, and I guess you are right, I could not. She was there as a nurse, and it appeared she was known by the first responders. They let her through to help. Of course she was not there to help," he said. 
Electric Lady looked over to her husband, who was focused on traffic at the time. She felt for him. He would shoulder this as if he was at fault somehow, but she was not so sure that it had anything to do with him. 
"You did what you and the rest of us do. You were there to help. We are commissioned by the federal government, as well as state and city to assist law enforcement. You did nothing wrong," she offered, knowing where his mind was going on all of it. 
"That is not what people will think," he said, and she knew he was right. There were always those that would use this tragedy to make him and other heroes of Paragon City look bad, others that would use it to sell their news or as click bait on the internet. There was no denying what he said. 
Electric Lady simply put her hand on his shoulder as he quietly drove them back to their base. There was nothing more to say on the subject.