Wonder Heroes 4.0

by Ahlquist, Steve

  “How about you Lin?” asked Susan, “Is everything all right?”

  “Yeah,” said Lindsey, a little too quickly, “Why?”

  “Is it Paul?”

  Lindsey smiled. “We broke up.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s stupid,” said Lindsey, her hands calming down, “I’m the one who broke up with him, but now I’m the one who’s all upset.”

  Susan smiled and hugged Lindsey. She missed so much about her old life now that she was a Wonder Hero, but as she hugged her best friend in her old dorm room, she realized that what she missed most of all, now that she was on an all male team of superheroes, was a female friend to talk to. Not for the fist time she wondered why she had ever agreed to try on the Wonder Gauntlet.

  “This is the Wonder Giant.”

  The Wonder Heroes, dressed in their color coded jumpsuits, were assembled in the center of the hanger on Level Seven, where the awesome and powerful vehicles assigned to each of them were kept. Matt, Wonder Hero Ultra, was leading the tour.

  “When we first received the Cassiopeian technology in early 2015, the six of us were given the Wonder Gauntlets for dealing with threats of what we might consider ‘normal’ or human scale, but threats come in all shapes and sizes, so we were also given access to the Wonder Base, and to the six vehicles parked around us.”

  Theodore leaned in close to Kalomo. “Like we don’t already know this.”

  Kalomo nodded. “Me and my brothers learned all this in the comics.”

  Matt looked past Susan and Jay, who were listening politely, and straight at Kalomo and Theodore. “Look, guys, I know this is old news, but we need to cover it. The General thinks we should formalize our training, and I agree.”

  “Sorry, Matt,” said Kalomo.

  Matt nodded and continued, “There are six vehicles, each capable of air or space flight. When all the vehicles are operational, they can be combined to become a giant robot, which we call the Wonder Giant. Of course, since Danielle Walker, Wonder Hero Blade, went missing last year, we haven’t had a pilot for the Kick-Blade, and summoning the Wonder Giant has become impossible.”

  Matt frowned, pushing away thoughts of his lost teammates.

  “Each vehicle has slightly different capabilities,” Matt continued, “Jay, you pilot the Onyx Torso, which houses all the heaviest weaponry, and can generate the most power and most shielding. It’s a little bulkier and slower than the rest, but does, contrary to popular belief, have FTL capabilities.”

  Matt led the team to the large, colorful crimson and ultramarine vehicles. “The two fists, Imp-, I mean Crimson and Ultra. The fists are heavily armored, built to take punishment and deliver a lot more. They come packed with offensive weaponry; pulse energy and missiles mostly. Also, Ultra can generate an energy shield and Crimson an energy sword, at least in Wonder Giant mode, any way. These ships form the arms of the giant…”

  Matt led the team towards the Golden Kick and the Kick-Blade, “…and the Kicks provide the legs. The kicks are faster than the rest, point 999 light speed, plus short range FTL. Moderate weaponry, but like I said, fast.”

  Matt gestured at the strangest looking vehicle here, resembling a large alien head. “Finally we have the Skull. We tried naming it after Wonder Hero Light’s call sign, but that didn’t really work. Terry hated all the suggestions and we just took to calling it the Skull. She’s yours now, Kalomo. The Skull has a good weapons system, a great battery of sensory apparatus, and the most advanced mobile computer system in the world. If you ever find yourself out of contact with Wonder Base the Skull’s onboard computer could be used, in a pinch. All Wonder Giant systems are routed through this ship.”

  Matt paused for a moment, and then smiled. “So what do you say to taking these out for a test drive?”

  Jay punched his fist into his palm. “Hell yeah!”

  “I say yes to that,” said Theodore with excitement.

  “We won’t go too far,” said Matt, summoning his Wonder Armor and walking towards the Ultra Fist. The rest of the team followed suit, and armored up in flashes of colored light. “Just a quick trip around the moon and back. Hopefully we can go a day without a problem.

  Ten billion years ago, the first life forms inhabiting planets that orbited the first generation stars of our universe ventured into space, colonizing distant planets, and maintaining gigantic intergalactic empires. Inevitably these empires encountered each other, and soon, despite all efforts to avoid it, the first interstellar wars began.

  The wars were fought by species long gone, their stars now decayed or collapsed into black holes best avoided. One by one, these vast intergalactic empires fell and the species that comprised them met with inevitable extinction, until all that was left was their machines: their robots, built for war, meeting each other in the cold recesses of space, and programmed for annihilation.

  Time passed, and one by one even these great and powerful alien robots eventually broke down, pulverized by the sands of space, and eventually they, like the species that created them, were gone and forgotten.

  Some of the more resilient battle robots found ways to survive. Their bodies pulverized, the warrior robots stripped themselves of every scrap of armor and every bit of weaponry, until they were nothing more than the relentless math that drove them: a handful of electrons in a program of destruction. They were the Aierta, the ghosts of robots, the angels of death.

  Time is relentless, and ravaged even these now mythical creatures. Ancient legends of the Aierta were soon relegated not to history but to myth and stories for children, or became fodder for holographic entertainments. Among discredited historians and crypto-exobiologists it was speculated that there was a possibility of some Aierta being still out there, still spinning their programs of death and war, waiting to meet with a physical being that could support their programs of destruction.

  There were tales, impossible to prove, of otherwise rational beings suddenly becoming possessed of a bloodlust that drove them to killing and conquest, or of animals suddenly throwing off a million years of evolutionary conditioning to go on a spree of atypical hunting and destruction, but they were tales only. No amount of dissection could prove the existence of the Aierta, who were after all, little more than a loose collection of mathematically directed electrons contained in a weak magnetic field, but the Aierta were real, and so it was that a cadre of Aierta happened upon on an intersect course with the Earth. The powerful magnetic fields of the planet both magnetically dragged the phantom aliens forward and tore at their subtle electron integrity. As ten Aierta passed through the Earth’s ionosphere, four were overwhelmed and swept away by the massive barrage of television, radio and cell phone signals that enveloped the world.

  The six surviving Aierta were then absorbed into likely vessels. Each Aierta found an inhabitable body and each body provided a platform from which to conduct war.

  The sun was setting earlier and earlier in Menlo Park, New Jersey as Claudia DeRezney, fashionable dresser and underpaid mortgage broker, took her twelve-year old golden retriever Vuitton out for her post dinner walk. Winter was approaching and Claudia dreaded the idea of taking these walks in the dark, in the cold, and even in, shudder, the snow. Still, she stood patiently, plastic baggie in hand, as Vuitton did his business in the tall grass by the fire hydrant. She did not see the sparkles of light that descended around her, but she felt the ever so slight touch of something, feathery light, inside her head when suddenly her cell phone vibrated, and the touch was gone, and instantly forgotten.

  The caller was her ex-husband, and she made a face as she decided not to answer it, as she had promised herself to never answer calls from him in the future. It was a promise she was destined to keep. The sparkles of light, so subtle they were almost subconscious, descended upon the dog Vuitton, and lacking the slight electromagnetic disruption of the cell phone, Vuitton’s mind was quickly overrun and reprogrammed by the Aierta. The dog’s mind became a
breeding ground for programs of war, unfolding and expanding with remarkable speed. Vuitton’s memories were sifted and prioritized. Enemies were calculated, and battle capabilities were measured.

  Claudia DeRezney felt the leash go slack in her hand, and tried to say, “No!” but her voice was cut off as Vuitton leapt at her and tore at her throat with his jaws. She died in the grass next to the vibrating phone. Vuitton stared at her body, and with weak eyes but strong senses of smell and hearing, assessed the strengths and weaknesses of humanity. Then, when satisfied, Vuitton followed his nose and ran, dragging his leash behind him.

  Twelve people were attacked in the next two hours. Three died. The police eventually cornered the twelve-year old Golden Retriever, not knowing that the poor creature was running programs of destruction ten billion years old in its brain. The dog expired in a hail of gunfire.

  As the city of Menlo Park tried to make sense of the tragedy, the Wonder Heroes flew their Wonder Vehicles back from their trip around the moon. What happened in New Jersey was not significant enough for any of them to be alerted. It was a terrible event that made the news and except for those who had friends and relatives affected, no one gave the event much thought.

  At 3am the next morning, police discovered a stolen eighteen-wheel truck abandoned in a parking lot near the Middlesex County Medical Examiner’s Office. Police were alerted to the vehicle because the offices nearby had been broken into. The security tapes showed two suspects, a young woman and man, later identified as teen runaways Jaimie Karasik and Kyle Jensen. The pair had stolen the truck in upstate New York, and driven six hours straight. They entered the building, murdered the sole guard on duty, bypassed a series of alarm systems, and stole one item…

  …the brain of the golden retriever Vuitton.

  Wonder Heroes 4.13

  In the early morning hours alarms sounded throughout Wonder Base. Within the apartments of the Wonder Heroes the alarms were firm yet gentle and just irritating enough to wake one from a deep slumber without undue irritation. Theodore found himself pulled out of a terrible dream. An enemy that seemed both terrifyingly familiar and completely alien was stalking him, and he had no defenses. Wonder Hero Gold bolted upright in bed, his eyes wide with terror and sweat streaking down his forehead. Dismissing the dream from his mind Theodore stretched his right arm for a satisfying pop in his shoulder. He still was not used to sleeping with the attached Wonder Gauntlet and no position felt comfortable.

  The lights came up, and the Wonder Computer calmly explained the emergency, something to do with a problem at a robotics research facility. Theodore made his way into his bathroom and splashed water on his face to clear his mind. A look at himself in the mirror caused him to jump back in horror. The face that looked back at him was not his own. Blinking, Theodore looked again, and saw his own face staring back, breathing heavily. Theodore shook his head and summoned the Wonder Armor, instantly forgetting the bad dreams.

  “These two robots were originally part of a team of three,” said Matt, Wonder Hero Ultra, quickly briefing the Wonder Heroes en route to the teleporters, “Each robot had a function: killing, destroying and crushing. Don’t ask me what the difference between destroying and crushing is, these robots seemed to know. After we got through with them there wasn’t a lot left of Destroy, but Kill and Crush were salvageable. At Wonder Base we removed the robot’s weaponry, and had the bodies in storage until about three months ago, when the USC asked to study them. Without armaments they seemed harmless enough, so we allowed it.”

  “Maybe it’s a coincidence,” said Theodore, leading the team onto the teleportation pad, “the problem might not be the borrowed robots.”

  Jay was, as usual, the last on the teleporter. “No such thing as coincidence, Teddy.”

  Susan noticed Matt rolling his eyes and smiled: it was difficult to take Jay seriously sometimes. Then she saw Matt’s gaze fall on Theodore and quickly looked away, the trace of a frown playing across his lips. Susan knew that Matt was still dealing with the betrayal of Harlan Flicker, and that it was difficult for him to look past the golden armor and see Theodore, not Harlan underneath. Matt was the strongest person Susan had ever met, but recent events had shattered his world and she did not know how to help him.

  A second later the room was empty as the team teleported away.

  The Columbia Campus of the University of South Carolina, even at 8am was usually a bustling, vibrant experience. The sky was clear and the sun was out, but there were no people, and the birds were strangely quiet. In a flash of rainbow colored light the Wonder Heroes appeared out of nowhere. Susan noted a lone black squirrel watching them, and saw books scattered about the campus and some papers blowing past, evidence, perhaps, of a hasty evacuation. Susan saw smoke rise from behind a building; her sensors told her that a small police van had crashed there, but she could locate no immediate threat.

  Kalomo jogged up a few steps of the wide stairway leading into the building that housed the robotics lab, his right hand up, bracing for an attack. “I can hear stuff going on inside. Sounds like machinery, but there’s some kind of shield affecting my sensors.”

  Matt leapt up the stairs, and stood next to Kalomo. “There’s not much our sensors can’t penetrate.” Matt concentrated and extended his sensors as powerfully as he could. “You’re right, though. I’m getting nothing.”

  Jay was getting fidgety. “I’m feeling awfully exposed out here, guys. Maybe we should go inside the lab…”

  “I don’t like going in when we don’t have a clue what’s going on…” Matt said, before an incoming communication from General Rumpole interrupted him.

  “Okay Heroes,” said the General, “here’s an update. Inside that lab we’ve got two teenagers, a regular Bonnie and Clyde team.”

  “Human?” asked Matt.

  “As far as we can tell,” said the General, “they killed a trucker in New York, a security guard in New Jersey, and broke into a military base outside DC before coming here. They might have their hands on some high-tech alien weaponry.”

  “They’re blocking our sensors,” said Matt, unsuccessfully trying not to let the team hear the small tinge of worry in his voice.

  There was a pause, and then the General said, “I’ve got no information on that. I don’t know where they’d get that kind of capacity. We might be talking alien possession here, or some other weird alien tech. Proceed with caution.”

  Matt nodded and said, “Right.” The team stood ready for orders. No one moved.

  Susan stepped forward and touched Matt on the shoulders. “Should we go in?”

  “I don’t like this Susan. It feels wrong.”

  “True, but we can’t wait out here.”

  Matt looked at Susan and she could see the uncertainty in his eyes. The faceplates of the Wonder Heroes were opaque to the world, but semitransparent to each other when viewed straight on. “What should I do?” he asked.

  “Lead the team in,” said Susan, “We stay together, and cover each other. Post one of us outside the sensor block field, just in case.”

  “Okay,” Matt nodded and then said, loudly, “Theodore! You’re staying here; alert us if the situation changes. Everybody else, follow me, stay close, but not too close.”

  Matt started up the stairs and Susan Jay and Kalomo followed. The doors were locked from within but Matt easily forced them open with a minimal application of the Wonder Armor’s strength enhancement.

  “Great,” mumbled Theodore to himself, “I’ll stay here, out of the action.” He plopped down on a wooden bench and watched the black squirrel watching him. “Awesome.”

  When the rest of the team entered the Robotics Research Lab Theodore could no longer track them, but his sensor’s did detect movement from the back of the building. He jumped to his feet, scaring the squirrel into a tree, and took to the air on a blast of golden energy. He soared over the three-story building and could see four figures, two human and two robot, fleeing from the
building and heading for the parking lot.

  On his Wonder Visor Theodore received confirmation that the two humans were Karasik and Jensen, wanted for a string of crimes and murders. The robots were Crush and Kill, curiously operational despite extremely low power signatures. Jaimie Karasik was carrying an alien, bazooka-like weapon in her hands.

  “They’re escaping out the back!” said Theodore, but received no answer from his teammates; whatever was blocking the team’s sensors was also blocking their comms.

  Deciding it was up to him, Theodore swooped low, brought his gauntlet to bear, and fired a sharp beam of golden energy at Crush. The shot was well placed. The robot was under armored, so Theodore was able to blast the legs out from under it, sending the top of the robot, torso, arms and head, clattering to the pavement.

  Alerts flashed across Theodore’s visor and he had less than a second to realize that the girl, Jaimie Karasik, was targeting him with the alien bazooka. Theodore’s visor went black as a too bright flash of energy overwhelmed it, and he heard a sound like thunder. There were no known terrestrial weapon that could harm someone wearing Wonder Armor, and Theodore had an instant of soon to be dashed comfort in that fact before the blue bolt of lightning-like energy caught him in the chest and gripped him. The bolt of living energy writhed like a snake with a fighting rat in its jaw, arcing Theodore high into the air, before curling abruptly and slamming the Wonder Hero into the ground.

  Underground lawn sprinklers were shattered, and water sprayed and began to fill the man-shaped crater the held the unconscious form of Wonder Hero Gold.

  Inside the Robotics Research Lab, the Wonder Heroes were cut off from outside communication, and had no idea of the events occurring outside. Their sensors now only worked within the confines of the building, and they detected no life signs, but several potentially dangerous robotic systems, terrestrial, rather than alien, in design.