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Ultratech Brazil: Reactor Room

     “Easy now, we’re here.”  Orchid said, as she brought the almost dead Fulgore-X through the door to the Reactor Room.  She had her arm around him and supported the over 500 pound robot the best she could.  They slowly made their way around the large reactor in the center of the room, and Orchid set the cyborg down facing the back of the room.
     “Okay, now what do I do?”  Orchid asked.
     Fulgore-X pulled his jumpsuit top down.  “Open panel number 38 behind me and pull out all the fiberoptic cables you find. Then, take one end of each cable and plug them into the access ports on the reactor.  There should be around seven or eight.”
     “Okay.”  Orchid did as she was asked, pulling out a bundle of cables and inserting the ends into access ports on the reactor.  Meanwhile, Fulgore-X depressed the glowing mark on his left breast.  His chest plates spread outwards and opened up.  Similarly, the armor plates on his back also opened up.  Fulgore-X reached behind himself and further opened the back plates.
     “Now hand me the cables.”  Fulgore-X instructed.
     “You’re going to try to do that yourself?”  Orchid asked.  She handed him the cables anyway.
     “I’ll manage.”  He made a few blind stabs, trying to connect the ends of the cables into the exposed ports on his back.
     Orchid watched him for a few seconds, shaking her head.  “Just let me do it.”  She insisted.
     Fulgore-X glanced up at her.  “No.  I don’t trust you.”
     Orchid opened her mouth to protest, then thought better of herself.  “I don’t blame you.  But sabotaging you would be kicking myself at this point, so I’m not going to do anything funny.”
     Reluctantly, Fulgore-X gave her the cables.  Orchid took them and plugged them into the cyborg.  Almost instantly, he sat up, reenergized.
     “Feeling better?”  Orchid asked sarcastically.
     “Much.”  Fulgore-X replied, almost yelling the answer.  He made sure to power up all of his plasma energy cells before anything else.  He was still leaking, and the new plasma wouldn’t last long.  However, it was delaying his death; hopefully long enough for him to get repaired.
     “You know,” Orchid pondered, “I was thinking, now that you’re powered up, couldn’t you use your weapons to just blast through a wall so that we could escape?  That would be easier.”
     “I cannot.  I’ve sustained too much damage through this whole ordeal, and my weapons systems are no longer at peak efficiency.”
     Orchid shrugged.  “Just a thought.”
     From where he sat, Fulgore-X extended his right arm.  From out of nowhere, blue energy began to swirl around his open palm.  Suddenly, a beam of plasma energy burst from his hand, shooting up through the second floor grate, and harmlessly hitting the ceiling.
     “What are you doing?”  Orchid asked.
     “What else?  I’m draining the plasma energy.  It’s a super plasma storm attack, but I’ve lowered my conversion rate and dropped the potency.  It’s no more harmless than a flashlight.  This is the quickest way to drain the plasma.”
     “How long will it take?”
     “Don’t worry; it will be finished before then.”  Fulgore-X reassured her.
     Orchid glanced up at one of the video terminal interfaces on the reactor –

    Orchid sat down next to Fulgore-X, and sighed.  She was tired, and hungry.  Her eyelids felt heavy, as if someone had attached weights to them.  She wanted to go to sleep, but that didn’t seem like the best idea for the time and the place.  She needed something to think about, something to focus on.  She looked at the super plasma storm that Fulgore-X was generating.  Stray strands of plasma swirled around the beam.  It lit up the area around them too; a light, glowing blue.  Looking at the beam, Orchid could almost see straight through it.
    “It’s amazing.”  She commented.  “Something so beautiful could be so destructive.”
     Fulgore-X only glanced at her.  “If you say so.”
     “Don’t you have any appreciation for things of beauty?”
     “Not really.  It’s a super plasma storm; a highly destructive, wide range energy attack meant for neutralization or termination.”
     Orchid shook her head.  “You just don’t get it then.  I’m sorry for you.”
     “Don’t be.  I’m fine the way I am.”
     Orchid shot him a look.  “Are you really?”
     Fulgore-X cut his eyes towards her.
     “You know, I’m curious.”  Orchid continued.  “When you didn’t know who you were, and you were in that village, living with those people, what do you think of that?”
     “What do you mean?”
     “I mean, how do you feel about your time there?”
     “It was…..an experience.”
     “That’s it?  Just ‘an experience’?”
     “It was an interesting experience.”
     Orchid snorted.  “The gift of life is wasted on you.”
     “You’re one to talk.  I’ve seen the way you act around others.  It’s almost as if you’re trying to hide from the world.”
     “That’s not true.”
     Fulgore-X raised an eye.
     “Okay, okay.”  Orchid conceded.  “Maybe once, I was like that.  But I’m trying to change.  Provided I ever get out of this damn building alive.  Hey, when did you get so talkative, anyway?”
     “You started it.”  Fulgore-X said.
     Orchid didn’t bother to respond.  Instead, she closed her eyes and rested against the reactor.  Perhaps silence would be nice for a while.  Perhaps.  But, with silence, Orchid became acutely aware of everything that was around her.  Even though all of the rejects had been killed, her nerves were still on edge.  Besides, Jeremiah was still out there.  And she couldn’t really be sure that Fulgore-X’s countdown of when the reactor would explode was even remotely accurate.  The reactor could blow up any minute, even now perhaps.
     Maybe conversation wasn’t such a bad idea after all.  But Orchid couldn’t think of anything to say anymore.  Truthfully, there was one question, one thing that had bothered Orchid ever since she saw the first Fulgore cyborg.  However, she couldn’t ask it.  It didn’t seem appropriate.  Orchid racked her brains, trying to think of something better, but nothing would come.  Throwing caution to the wind, Orchid decided to ask her question.
     “Say Fulgore-X…..”
     “Hmm?”
     “You know, there’s something I’ve been wondering about for quite some time now.”
     “What?”
     Orchid half laughed, not completely convinced that she was really going to ask it.  “What’s the deal with the ponytail?”
     Fulgore-X looked up, as if he was trying to catch a glimpse of it.  He sighed and shook his head.  “It’s a long story.”
     “Well, I’m not going anywhere.”
     Fulgore-X shook his head again.  “Fine.  It goes back to the origin of the Fulgore cyborgs.  Everyone seems to think that it was Dr. Parkins who was responsible for creating Fulgore.  Although he did most of the work, and he was the project chair, he didn’t come up with the concept.  The concept was actually created by a doctor by the name of Scott Fulgore.”
     “Ah, so that’s where the name comes from.”  Orchid said.
     “When Sheridan originally came up with his plan for world domination, he wanted an army of cybernetic soldiers.  However, current limits in technology made this an impossible dream.  As an alternative, Sheridan turned to genetics.  However, Dr. Fulgore was intrigued by the cyborg concept, and he continually thought about it.”
     “What was the biggest problem?”  Orchid asked.
     “Well, a cyborg could be made, but not the way Sheridan wanted.  Sheridan wanted a cyborg that would be human in almost every way.  He wanted them to have intelligence and the ability to make their own quick and calculated judgments.  He wanted them to be able to experience emotions and feel pain.  Sheridan had created a data rod, which contained all of the programming for the cybernetic brain, but the Ultratech scientists couldn’t put that together with a body, or create the systems Sheridan wanted.
     “Although the technology didn’t exist, Dr. Fulgore continued to study the specifications, and record his thoughts and ideas.  He was making a lot of progress, but he would never see it become anything more that a concept.  Dr. Fulgore was killed in the accident that created Cinder.
     “Dr. Fulgore and Dr. Parkins were close friends.  After Dr. Fulgore’s death, Dr. Parkins continued his research.  Although he still couldn’t realize Sheridan’s dream, he found that most of the concepts could actually be utilized by integrating them into a human body.  Dr. Parkins presented his idea to Sheridan, and he was given the go-ahead to create a human/cyborg hybrid.”
     “Let me guess; that was Jeremiah.”  Orchid said.
     “Right.  At first, The Jeremiah Project was a real Ultratech project.  But, only a few months into it, the scientists realized that it took too much time, effort, and resources in order to make just one of these human cyborgs, let alone an army.  However, Dr. Parkins kept the project alive because, while they worked on Jeremiah, they were able to solve a lot of the missing puzzle pieces concerning a real cyborg.  Just before Jeremiah was completed, Dr. Parkins was able to gather enough data to finish Dr. Fulgore’s research, and at least make a good effort at building a cyborg.  He proposed the project to Sheridan, and it was almost instantly approved.  In honor of his dead friend, Dr. Parkins decided to name the cyborg ‘Fulgore’.  Thus the Fulgore Project was born.”
     “So, Jeremiah was nothing more than a guinea pig.  Hmm.  No wonder he’s so disgruntled.”  Orchid observed.  “But, that still doesn’t explain the ponytail.”
     “I’m getting to that.”  Fulgore-X sighed.  “Dr. Fulgore had a young daughter named Jessica.  He had told her that he was working on creating a robot, which excited the young girl.  She drew pictures of what she thought the robot should look like, and Dr. Fulgore hung a few up in his office.  Although the pictures were various in their types of design, there was always one constant; all the designs had a long, blond ponytail.  Jessica had a ponytail of her own; no doubt she was mimicking this in her drawings.
     “Although Dr. Parkins had a detailed systems specification, he had no ideas for the exterior.  He was sitting in Dr. Fulgore’s office for inspiration, when one of Jessica’s drawings caught his eye.  With no better ideas, Dr. Parkins decided to go ahead and use the drawing for the exterior design.  For whatever sentimental reasons, he decided to keep the ponytail.”
     Orchid was grinning.  She couldn’t help giggling either; she didn’t even try to contain it.  “You mean to tell me, the big bad Fulgore cyborgs, yourself included, are modeled after a little girl’s drawing?”
     Fulgore-X cut his eyes towards her.  “So what if I am?”
     Orchid completely lost it.  She started laughing hysterically.  She threw her head back against the reactor, folder her arms across her stomach, and just let it come.  “I….I….I’m sorry…..”  She started to say, but couldn’t finish.  After a good minute, she finally calmed down, somewhat.  “I’m sorry, I just find that incredibly funny.”
     “Well, I’m glad I could bring a little sunshine into your day.”
     Orchid shook her head, still giggling.  “I’m sorry, I’m just done, that’s all there is to it.  I’m stuck here in this hellhole of death, next to you of all people, sitting next to a big ticking bomb that will kill me unless I catch a lucky break, and I’m just done.”  Orchid broke out into another laugh.
     Quietly, and perhaps involuntarily, Fulgore-X let a little snicker slip though.
     Orchid pounced on it.  “See, it is funny.”
     “I’m done too.”
     Orchid cracked up again.  Eventually, she brought herself back down again.  “See, sometimes, you just have to laugh at life’s little absurdities.  I swear, I’m a character in some sort of science fiction soap opera.  There’s probably organ music in the background somewhere we can’t hear.”  Orchid paused to try and remember how long it had been since she last laughed like that, not counting her previous outburst in the men’s bathroom.  After a little brainstorming, she realized that she had never laughed like that.  At least, not a real one.  She had faked one several times, as an agent on a mission, but she had never really had a good laugh like that on her own.  In her lifestyle, there wasn’t a whole lot of room for fun.  In what spare time she had, Orchid never used it to pursue fun or recreation.  She found it incredibly ironic that she was having the most fun of her life (if one could call it that) with a brutal killer, and one of her mortal enemies.  Just another one of life’s little absurdities.
     Suddenly, the door to the Reactor Room slid open slowly.  Both Fulgore-X and Orchid sat up immediately.  Although much of Ultratech Brazil’s systems were malfunctioning, the door wouldn’t just open on it’s own like that.  Some sort of living presence was required.  It didn’t require a whole lot of thought for both of them to figure out who it was, but they withheld assumption until they both stood and turned around, laying their eyes on the uninvited guest.
     “Jeremiah.”  Fulgore-X said flatly.
     Jeremiah fully entered the room.  He stood on the other side of the reactor, and smiled.  “Ah, so this is where you two have been hiding out.”  He looked around.  “It’s nice, quaint.  Personally, I would have chosen the rec room in Section 14A, but different strokes I suppose.”
     Fulgore-X clenched his right fist, extinguishing the super plasma storm beam that was coming from his hand.
     “Fulgore-X?”  Orchid turned to him.  “What are you doing?  We don’t have time for interruptions.”
     Fulgore-X only glared at Jeremiah.
     Jeremiah inhaled deeply, and exhaled with a smile.  “You know, I’m really disappointed.  I mean, I can understand why you would be reluctant to finish our fight, with what happened the last time and all, but still, I thought you had more honor than that.  But, what can I expect from a Fulgore cyborg?”
     Orchid scoffed.  “You can’t be serious.  Wait a minute, you don’t know, do you?”
     “Know what?”  Jeremiah asked.
     Orchid’s eyes widened, in surprise.  “That this building is going to explode, that’s what!  When your jolly band of rejects attacked the Ultratech workers, you damaged the reactor.  It’s going to explode and there’s no way to fix it.”
     Jeremiah seemed to be processing her words.  “Hmm, that would explain the inverted plasma shield that was around this building.”
     “Was?”
     “I disabled it, of course.”
     Orchid was in disbelief.  It took her several attempts before she was able to get words out of her mouth.  “This is not going to be an ordinary explosion.  This is going to be a small plasma bomb explosion.  Which means that when it goes, it’s going to take a big chunk of South America with it.”
     “Well, that’s unfortunate.”  Jeremiah said, emotionless.
     “Look, that’s why we’re here, Fulgore-X and I were trying to stop the explosion!  If you don’t let us continue, all three of us will be killed, along with a lot of innocent people.”
     “You know, that is a really nice story.  Did you come up with that just now, or have you been saving it?”
     “It’s not a story!  I don’t care about your stupid vendetta, in fact, us three can have a free for all when this is over.  But we have to finish, or we’ll all die!  Let us finish this…..please…..”
     Jeremiah thought it over for a brief minute.  “You make an excellent plea, you do, I commend your performance.  But, even if I believed you, the end result would still produce one dead Fulgore, and that’s all I care about.  Either way, I’m happy.  So I’m afraid I’ll have to pass.”
     “What?!”  Orchid screamed.  “Dammit you fool, you’re cursing us all to death!”
     Beside her, all of the cables that had been plugged into Fulgore-X were automatically ejected from his body.  Fulgore-X reached up and depressed the mark on his chest; his armor restored itself to its normal position.  He zipped up his jumpsuit top as well.
     “Fulgore-X, what are you doing?”  Orchid asked the cyborg.
     “If he wants a fight, he’ll get one.”  Fulgore-X said, never taking his eyes off Jeremiah.
     “Fulgore-X!”  Orchid protested.  “We don’t have time for this!  Even if we did, you’re in no condition to fight!  You’ll lose for sure!”
     “It doesn’t matter.  He’s annoyed me for the last time.”
     “Ooh, big words.”  Jeremiah cooed.  “But can you back them up?”
     Fulgore-X stepped forward, around the reactor so that it was no longer between him and Jeremiah.  Orchid followed.  “What is your problem?”  Fulgore-X asked.  “I’ve done nothing to you; I never even saw you before today.  I don’t care about you.  What do you want from me?”
     Jeremiah smiled, his eyes narrowing.  “That’s simple.  I want you to die.”
     Fulgore-X only stood, clenching his fists tighter and tighter with every second.  Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Orchid assuming a fighting stance next to him.  “What are you doing?”  He asked.
     “The quicker we get rid of this guy, the better a chance we have of still surviving this mess.”  Orchid said.
     Fulgore-X closed his eyes and shook his head.  “This is my fight.  Stay out of it.”
     Orchid gave him a strange look.  “Are you suicidal?  There’s no way you can win on your own!  Even you know that!”
     “I don’t care.  This is my fight.”
     “And what about the plasma?  We’re not done draining it yet!”
     “Leave it to me; I’ll take care of it.”
     “Don’t be stubborn!  You need my help!”
     “I said stay out of this.  Now go.”
     Orchid bit her bottom lip, and let out a frustrated breath.  “Fine.  Get killed.  See if I care.”  She stormed away, going over to the wall on her left, and sitting down on the steps that lead up to the second level.  She threw her head into her hands as she realized that, despite her efforts, this would probably be the last half-hour of her life.  She should have been sad, or angry, but all she could feel at the moment was an intense frustration that consumed her wholly.
     Jeremiah laughed.  “Perhaps you should have let her help you.  It might have been a fair fight.”
     If Fulgore-X could, he would be smiling.  “You underestimate me.  A fatal flaw, I assure you.”  He went into a ninja fighting stance, and narrowed his eyes.  “I’ll see you dead before this day is done.  This I swear.”
 
 

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