Robotic Intrigue [Drössel]

[Elenaphant]

He was driving along with Medic in the seat next to him, doing a standard patrol as he explained to her what to expect. A bit of how sometimes it was a bust and nothing went down, a bit of how it was important as a deterrent for crime, and of course what they should do should they spot something was what made up the talk thus far. The rule while she was still a rookie was to stick by him and let him handle most of the fighting. She was back up, but given that her prime function was as a medic he of course wouldn't bar her if there were any civilians who needed help—that he had seen first hand she was good. Besides, civilian safety was their first concern anyway.

Talking to Drössel was something of a one-sided conversation, at least if there were any third party to witness it. It took some time for Cyborg to get used to the fact that there was a voice inside his head that he could hear, but not respond to with his own thoughts. It could look pretty crazy actually. Thankfully on this side of town there weren't many cars to bear witness to the cybernetic hero talking to a cute robot, and soon his attention went to keeping his eyes peeled anyway.

Then someone jumped on the roof of his car. “What the--” he called out, hitting the breaks and rolling down the window with a button to his side door. “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!” he spotted that this crazy guy who dared dent his car was holding a briefcase. “Oh I see, you've got something important there. Medic, we're going after him.” Cyborg told her as he parked the car on the side of the street and got out. The T-Car beeped as security functions went online.

“Catch me if you can, losers,” the unnamed crook with guff tossed over his shoulder as he ran straight for a warehouse. They always went for the warehouses. This one was operational, but it was after hours so no personnel on site. It was filled with boxes though—lots of boxes. Darn sneak could hide behind any one of the towering packages. Cyborg shone a light, looking around left and right. “Do your scanners pick anything up?” he asked his fellow Titan.

In the meantime, the crook was running down a level in the basement of the warehouse, where lockers and a few offices were. He skidded when a figure appeared before him, darkened by the shadows in the lack of light, the sole eye looking down at him. Rather than look frightened, he looked relieved. “Got them here boss, just like you said,” he informed with a grin. “I got the briefcase too, so what now?”

“Now,” Slade said as he stepped forward, grabbing the guy by the forearm. “You scream.”

The man's eyes widened. “Wh-wha—AAAAAAAAAGH!”


Tag: Empathy

[Empathy]

Cyborg's lessons were not falling on deaf ears. The young robot listened and nodded when he explained the deterring nature of patrols. Her hair was bent down and rested against the comfy seat of the T-car. At some point in the conversation, she turned her head around, lifted her right index and asked:

@{Mentor Cyborg}
"And when should we contact the relevant authorities? I have the emails of nearly all the hospital staff."

Her hair raised itself just a bit as she waited for Cyborg's response. But a loud crashing sound interrupted them. Looking up and turning on her X-ray, Drössel saw a human skeleton crouching on top of the car. Cyborg was yelling at the man. Medic interpreted his tone as concern.

@{Upset Cyborg}
"Fear not: the subject is in perfect health despite his fall!"

The man with the briefcase then slid down and made a run. Drössel could now get a full visual on the potential patient. Besides the obvious signs of physical exertion, he seemed in prime shape. But Medic's diagnostic was cut short as the T-car made a sharp turn. It then stopped abruptly. Cyborg jumped out of the car, telling the new Titan that they were in hot pursuit.

@{Cyborg}
"Understood. I shall pursue the fit man with the briefcase!"

Her right arm stretched out, index pointing in the direction the man was running to. As Cyborg started running into the warehouse, Drössel followed suit. The two titans entered the busy warehouse a few moments after the shady character's reply.

@{Mentor Cyborg}
"I do not recall losing the briefcase. Or what did the man refer to?"

Hands lifted into the air, palms facing up as if to say 'I have no idea what he meant'. Cyborg then told her to scan the area. She quickly switched to X-ray again, sweeping through the large room. She then turned around to Cyborg to report back. With the X-ray still on, the robot could clearly see the parts of him that were human, and the ones that were cybernetic.

@{Soon-to-be-disappointed Cyborg}
"Unfortunately, I cannot locate the not-loser man. My medical X-ray can only pierce through one wall. He may..."

The message was interrupted as Drössel tilted her head down. A muffled scream had just come from below. X-ray eyes widened before turning back to her fellow Titan.

@{Cyborg}
"Two human skeletons. One running away, north. Other subject has fallen to the ground. I think he is hurt."

Medic's legs were already twitching to go see the man left behind. If Cyborg didn't say something quickly, she'd just dash to the stairs at the end of the room.

[Elenaphant]

Cyborg whipped his head and turned his cybertronic eye toward the sound of someone in pain. Suddenly, with that, what was a chase turned into a situation. "Let's move," he replied. Maybe it was another guy who had just double-crossed his partner in this. It wasn't unheard of, but this was where her medical expertise would come in handy. "You tend to the victim and restrain him; I'll chase the other guy."

That was the plan. Now it was time to mobilize. He ran down to the end of the storage space where he had heard the scream, and realized there was a staircase leading down to the basement. He had to hop over a few of them to save time, but he got down to the level. What he saw was the guy he was chasing in one of the room, really banged up. He looked bent out of shape, and when he looked up at Cyborg he pleaded for help. Doing a quick scan, he saw that the briefcase he was missing. Just as he suspected. "Don't move from this position unless I call you." That was when they split up.

All according to plan for Slade, who had something set up for Cyborg once he reached it. He would chase a bot down however far, and in the meantime Slade would chance a visit with an intriguing new addition to the team. He did have to thank his associate, both being bait and providing the tools necessary to... really get to know her. He held the steel briefcase by his side as he walked back once the hallway was clear, to darken the frame of the door that was, as of that moment, Medic's only escape. "I'm not interrupting a delicate procedure, am I nurse?"

[Empathy]

The two Titans rushed down to the basement where Drössel could still see the hurt man. Her attention was focused on the medical emergency. Multiple fractures and internal injuries. Pain level high. Left leg broken. She didn't share the information with Cyborg, even though he could probably guess the gist of it. The man was lying on the floor holding his stomach and dragged a leg that was bent the wrong way. Medic nodded to Cyborg's instructions. She had a plan.

@{Titan Cyborg}
"I shall heal critical damage, then put the subject in stasis."

Drössel wasn't confident in her ability to prevent the man from escape once he was fully healed and in an adrenaline rush. That, and healing the broken leg would be easier in a more controlled environment. The medical robot thrust her glowing hands at the man's stomach.

@{Hurt man}
"Please refrain from moving. You will feel an artificial adrenaline rush."

After sending the message, Drössel turned her head around. She caught a glimpse of Cyborg as he dashed in pursuit of the missing suitcase. The moment was so short she could only send the message:

@{Cyborg}
"Good luck."

The patient in front of her groaned loudly as some ribs mended themselves. "What are you doing to me?" He sounded more scared than anything else. Drössel moved her glowing hand around, rubbing it around the man's trunk.

@{Hurt man}
"I am accelerating your natural healing process, one organ at a time. Please do not move your leg."

The man's internal organs were not in a critical state anymore. The robot's hands moved down to the poor bent limb. The glow had stopped, as she needed to make sure the bone healed back in the right shape.

@{Hurt man}
"This will hurt."

Medic was about to use her strength to straighten out the man's leg. Her plan wasn't to completely heal it here, but make sure there weren't any mechanical complications before she put the man in stasis. As she was about to make her move however, a voice boomed behind her. Drössel would have ignored it -she couldn't respond without turning her eyes away from her patient- if it weren't for the man's look. He had been scared before of the white robot. But the criminal was completely terrified by the man behind the voice. State unstable. Fear hormones interfering with high adrenaline levels. That was bad.

The titan pinned the man's bad leg with her left hand, starting to put it into a painless stasis in the process. As she did that, the robot turned around to face a masked man. She didn't know him, but could venture from her patient's reaction and the steel briefcase, that he was the cause of her patient's pain.

@{Orange-and-black mask}
"The patient is in no immediate medical danger. Please refrain from terrorizing him."

"I can't. I can't feel my leg anymore!" The man yelled as he started to pull at his leg. Drössel turned around again to find a fist rushing towards her face. She barely managed to dodge it.

@{Overreacting patient}
"I have put your leg in stasis and removed the pain. Your hormonal levels are completely out of whack. Please calm down."

That was easier said than done. There were more punches into the air. The man was recovering strength in his upper body, and couldn't feel anything in his lower. It made for a very annoying situation for the Medic. Duration of adrenaline rush remaining: five minutes. Drössel couldn't face both her subject and the man behind her. She wasn't sure which one was currently a bigger danger to the patient. She connected to her T-communicator, but found no reception in the basement room.

"I need to get out of here. Let go of my leg!"

That prompted her to face the other way again, to the sole exit of the room. Her head then turned up to the intimidating mask.

@{Orange-and-black mask}
"Who are you?"

[Elenaphant]

The man's struggles were a rather pitiful sight. There, a robot was healing him, but all he could think of was running away from him. Probably a smart reaction, and in its own way useful to Slade; the more trouble the injured patient caused, the more time the Medic would have to spend here. He closed the door behind him and the light in the room became significantly reduced, causing the double crossed crook to flail even more wildly if it was possible. He'd cause greater injuries to himself if he kept that up.

A voice came up in his head, a very unusual experience. He preferred to be the one invading the minds of others. He quite liked that capability. It only cemented his wish to possess her secrets even more. "If you don't know me, then you really are new to the team," he said lightly, a hidden smirk behind his face. Didn't the rumours go that their leader cried his name as often as the little boy cried wolf? The thought was amusing, but this wasn't about Robin--not this time. This time, a rather ingenious creation was before him, and he wanted her bad enough to stage this little farce.

"I require your help," he said as he approached. "But the only way to help me..." he continued as he set down the large briefcase with a click. The side opened, revealing many tools, very unfriendly to a robot like herself. "Is to let me inside you."

The sound of the buzz saw was enough to drown out the other, human noises in the room.

[Empathy]

The masked man didn't answer Drössel's question. Instead, he closed the door, plunging the room -and her patient- into deeper darkness. Drössel barely had time to adjust her eyes to the new luminosity when flailing hands hit her back. In normal times, Medic's core would have worried about bruises. But right now, Drössel found she couldn't turn her head away from the masked man.

Danger level: extremely high. Her robotic mind was going systematically through all her sensors. Peak muscle mass. Multiple sharp metal objects present. And that was before the man showed off his little tool box of evilness. At that point, her patient just screamed his lungs out.

@{Masked Man}
"I cannot allow that. At least, not until my patient is fully healed."

And safe. Which she was starting to doubt was possible with this man around. There was a small moment where time seemed frozen. The screaming patient, the raging buzz-saw an the calm demeanor of the villain gave Drössel electronic goosebumps. Her core quickly took over however.

With one swift movement, she turned around and grabbed her patient's head. Both palms were glowing furiously as she was trying to stasis his mind. The man's voice faltered as he slumped down, body not receiving any brain signals anymore. The medic promptly scooped up the human. The featherweight body dangled like a broken puppet as her stasis field crept across it. A second later, and the robot was facing the masked man in a pounce-like crouch. She was eying his weapon, while checking out the status of the door behind him. Could she just force it open?

@{Masked Man}
"This subject needs medical attention. What will make you let me heal him?"

Drössel was weighting all her options. Dashing for the exit, playing for time while she may heal some of the man's injuries. The final option was haggling. The masked man seemed interested in her. Maybe that was something she could trade for her subject's safety.

[Elenaphant]

She did seem to prioritize her 'patient', just like he had been informed. The sawing stopped for a moment. Why use brute strength when she was willing to negotiate? "That's much better," he said, seemingly pleased by her question. "I want to find out how you work, what your components are. Some dis-assembly required." That seemed to be his terms. Though, they had to hurry; Cyborg would not leave his new teammate for long. He could not afford to wait for long if he intended to have his goal.

"That man's life for your compliance as I take apart all your secrets... What will be then?" It was the kind of deal that no pramatic person should make; one that Slade would never comply to himself, but the righteous functioned under different laws of reason.

[Empathy]

The response from the robot was immediate.

@{Masked Man}

"Deal."

Priorities being priorities, Drössel quickly moved around the hurt man. Her hands did the glowy healing motions around the man's limbs. In this position, she could look at the masked man while healing her patient. She couldn't protect him as effectively if the villain renegaded on his word, but her core was happy with the tradeoff for now.

@{Masked Man}
"Healing process will be over in two minutes. How will you guarantee his safety?"

The idea of trading her own life for that of a human was completely natural to Medic. Her creators had put no emphasis on self-preservation, instead relying on pure durability -and maybe a twinge of sympathy from humans- to make sure their world take-over attempt had some shell-life.

@{Masked Man}

"Which one of my medical features is of particular interest to you?"

Unfortunately, like most Asimovian robots, Drössel was much too helpful for her own good.

@{Masked Man}

"Only my creator knows how they were built, but I have some technical information stored outside my core."

This didn't mean however, that the Titan didn't keep trying to ping Cyborg for help.

[Elenaphant]

When the deal was struck, Slade regarded her carefully and then put down the buzz-saw. There didn't need to be violence when he could just be given when he wanted; the injured man notwithstanding. He had two minutes to negotiate. That would also give him enough time to escape before Cyborg came around. He could handle the half-machine just fine, but Slade wasn't in the mood to entertain far inferior fighters. "I will leave him here, and you and the Titans can decide how to protect him," Slade said when she asked how to ensure the safety of her patient.

"Tell me where your creators are located, and the technical information you possess. That man is of no importance to me; but you blueprints are. I am particularly interested in your ability to put people into stasis." That would be a fine addition to his army. His own body was self-regenerating so the idea of using technology to heal wasn't as appealing to him as it was stopping people in their tracks by touch alone.

"Are you able to provide me what I need now...before your partner returns?" Slade knew that the Titans could communicate to each other. His own robot was informing him that Cyborg was giving up chase and returning. "We can arrange another meeting. Just the two of us." Slade was aware offering her this opportunity could be interpreted as a risky situation on either side, but what was business without a bit of risk?

"One way or another, I will get what I want. Consider that carefully as I offer you this man's life in exchange."

[Empathy]

Slade's proposed terms led to a nod of approval from the medical robot. Her hands kept glowing, concentrating most of the entropy on the hurt man's leg. Her hair fell slightly as she was asked about the AI consortium. Her allegiance to the group was flimsy, and much weaker than her core.

@{Masked Man}
"My creator lives under a nuclear reactor to the north of Metropolis."

She didn't mention the security systems. The way the man dismissed his fellow human's life distressed the medic. She also saw what the masked man was aiming for. Unfortunately, her nature made it hard to refuse the information she did possess. She hesitated for a moment, trying to buy time before her core kicked in.

@{Masked Man}
"I manipulate entropy. My stasis is created when I remove all entropy, shutting down chemical reactions. I replenish my Thelium reserves when using my powers this way, but deplete my Realium reserves. My entropy accelerator has the opposite effect."

Which meant that as long as she had enough power, she couldn't really run out of either of the stuff. But she could require time to reverse her reserves if using one of the powers too frequently. The prospect of another meeting with the man made Drossel's hair raise in alarm.

@{Masked Man}
"I doubt you will need more information from me."

Not when her creator could provide him with so much more. Drössel could unfortunately see how Mr Mask would get along with some of the factions of the consortium. Hopefully her own faction was still in control. The titan's hand stopped glowing, as her systems registered the patient to be in perfect health. Adrenaline was coursing through his veins, growing with every second until he woke up with jump in the air, eyes wide and completely bewildered.

@{Patient}
"Please refrain from sudden movement. You are in an artificial adrenaline rush. You will require a great need of rest."

The man was at a loss. He seemed surprised to find himself here, as if he didn't remember what had happened. Then, slowly, realization crept up on him. Drössel placed herself between him and the masked man.