Trial & Tribulations of a Good Doctor

A

Alarice

Guest
Original poster
On a ship about to make port, in a cabin, a blonde-haired little girl and a burly Frenchman stood, facing each other. The blonde-haired girl was dressed in old clothes and her face was streaked with dirt. She had a satchel she was now holding in front of her, the leather was old and worn.

The burly Frenchman had stubble on his cheeks and a hard glint in his beady eyes. His clothes were stained with sweat under his arms and he smelled like he hadn't taken a bath in weeks.

"You better not go back on your word to Doctor Soulstein. He doesn't like it when people disappoint him," she said coldly.

"Ohohoh, so he sends a child as a messenger! A stupid idea! I've killed men stronger and larger than you, little girl!" he snorted as he turned to the cabinet behind him. He pulled out a bottle of vodka, and a shot glass so he didn't catch something appearing out of nowhere behind Selene.

The bot whispered something to Selene. Her face changed from haughty to something that could only be defined as cold professionalism. The Captain turned and saw something ... a blur, a shadow? But then it was suddenly gone and he was convinced his eyes were playing tricks on him.

"You idiot! Those agents are here to mess up his work! He's not going to be very happy!"

"Listen, you stupid little girl," the Captain growled. He suddenly crossed the distance between them, grabbed her by the arm with one hand and began to shake her. "I am the Captain here. And you--you are stuck here, your stupid Doctor is miles away, and it's time I showed you how I treat insolent little bitches!"

Selene pulled away as he released her and went staggering backwards. She glared up at him. "You will regret that," she hissed.

The power suddenly went out. The ship was plunged into darkness. The Captain wasn't in the least bit phased.

"Ha, your little tricks don't scare me! Where are you, you little brat?!" The Captain stepped forward and began moving his arms around in the general direction he remembered the blonde girl had been. He stopped when he heard something, like something metallic striking the floor, as if someone had dropped coins on a steel plate, and it was close. "Huh? What are you up to?"

A light suddenly went on in front of him. It was low to the ground and it looked like a flashlight--no, wait, an eye! The Captain squinted at it. "Huh? What the--?" The lights suddenly flicked back on and the Captain found himself staring into a strange machine, that looked so much like a giant cat. It was its eye he had seen in the darkness but now he noticed the strange barbed tail it flicked behind it.

The Captain was reaching for his gun tucked into the back of his pants when the machine struck. It severed the hand holding the shot glass with only its tail. He cried out in pain and clutched his arm, staggering away from it in the small, cramped cabin. He began to swear in French.

Selene stood as Snuggles turned its head to her. She smiled and patted it. "Thank you, Snuggles!" She looked at the Captain and that smile disappeared. Snuggles turned away from her and fixed the Captain with its glare. "Now kill him."

Snuggles lay low to the ground and suddenly pounced!

... And the cabin walls splattered with blood.

***
Meanwhile a group of men were infiltrating the ship. They had been sent to investigate and retrieve information, with as little casualties and collateral damage as possible. One of them was a man named Glaive Illarion, specializing in reconnaissance. They moved as a team, groups of two breaking off, taking out--but not outright killing--whoever crossed their paths. Glaive and his partner made their way to the captain's quarters. The other teams were headed to the bridge and to the cargo hold for the ship was supposedly carrying illegal human cargo.

Glaive lined up outside of the door and motioned at his partner. Their orders were to retrieve some encrypted information. When they pushed the door open, they only had time to glimpse the mangled pile of flesh against the wall.

"Holy mother of--" Jake muttered. Suddenly something appeared in front of him and Glaive. Men dressed in ninja outfits and they were everywhere. The power went out. Shots began to fire all over the ship.

... And the screams began.

***

Five minutes later ...


The ship exploded in a ball of flame and debris were scattered everywhere!

It seemed there were no survivors.

... But fate has a strange way of doing things.
 
A debris reined down into the cold water of the harbor dozens of dark shadows moved in the water, silent and virtually invisible.

In the Lab things were far from quiet. The sound of metal grinding on metal, the crackle of electricity, and the cursing of a self-proclaimed genius.

"An entire shipment and almost my darling Selene..."

The scientist wrung his hands. and we watched the feed, the bow of the ship disappearing quickly below the dark surface.

"Such a waste, such a waste. I would have gifted them with such power. Such a waste." he turned back to the large barely humanoid gleaming metal figure that hung suspended from thick chains in the scaffold in which it had been built. A few smaller machines still scurried over its armour plating. Dr. Soulstien snapped his fingers three times and a on the wall a hatch opened and a small, ten-legged box crawled down the wall and onto the table coming to a halt withing reach and with a small cloud of white vapor the box opened and the scientist reached inside and picked up the metal cup within and as the box crawled away he sipped looking at his latest creation.

"No matter, there are plenty more. The loss of a single ship means nothing." the hand not holding the glowing drink came to rest on a pink glowing canister, and with a soft clinking sound he drummed his fingers on it. "Soon... I made a promise and my dear daughter would not be happy if I took it away from her. We must be patient."
 
As soon as Selene returned, she was running back into her Daddy's lab. Danger was a big part of her business. She had accepted it a long time ago. What she wouldn't accept so well, would be if the Doctor had gone back on his promise and started without her.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Snuggles was back in her satchel and now fast asleep. She felt dirty and icky but she could wait to take a bath! She found her Daddy still hard at work. She stopped behind him and lowered her head in defeat. "I'm sorry. The mission was a failure. I lost all of your test subjects."
 
Soulstien rested a hand on Selen's head. "No matter, you're safe and there are fewer agents out there. The captain was becoming a liability and there are always more souls." His other hand curled around the canister and he carefully lifted it from its cradle.

"Now dear your teat." He dropped the canister into her hand and guiding her with a hand on her back pointed her towards the large hulking form of his latest creation, far larger than any of his previous machines.

"Remember that agent you caught for me? Its time he got his new body, and since you caught his you should give it to him."

In the center on the robot's chest has a hole the exact size on the canister.
 
Selene nodded. Daddy was right, as usual. He always knew where to find more test subjects and people like that idiot captain were a dime a dozen. Of course, it also helped when there were fewer people out to stop the Doctor, even if the agencies still kept coming.

Her eyes grew wide when she looked at the canister and she took it slowly as if afraid she'd drop it and break it. This would be her first time doing this and she was really excited. It was always fun to help Daddy and she couldn't help but remember capturing Agent Pureshadow for him. It had been one of those surprise encounters; he had never seen her coming.

Selene looked up at the metallic body as Doctor Soulstein gently guided her toward it. "He's perfect, Daddy," she said in awe. If only other people understood him and the great work he was doing. They wouldn't try to oppose him. But people were stupid when it came to things they didn't understand. It was a lesson ingrained into her mind.

She stepped up the short ladder to the robot's chest and slowly inserted the canister into the cavity. Once the canister was in there securely, she stepped down, hearing the clicks and buzzing as the robot body accepted its latest addition.