He thought he would ask the men what they wanted to do. He still had a bit of ringing in his ears from the nanites and a kind of buzzing vibration that encompassed his whole body. Other than that he felt perfectly fine. In fact he seemed to be thinking more clearly than he ever had before. Dorien went to Hector first because he was the bravest. Do you think we ought to investigate this further or turn back now and go for repairs? Well boss, said Hector picking up a niode spanner and carefully latching on to a niode to be realigned, our supplies are dwindling rather badly, but I suppose there is still a little fight left in us. If we can get these temporary repairs done will be in reasonably good shape.
Canned Heat chimed in but was not as optimistic, what are you talking about Hector look at this gash in my armor plating, one more hit like the last one and it will opened me up like a can of sardines. My shields are glitching and two of them are off-line altogether. Not to mention all the loose connections in my neural net. Those harmonic disruptors have made quite a mess of things!
Dr. No was listening but busy with repairs of his own on his foot actuator. Sparks added that more than half of his weapon systems were down and that repairs and alignment would be a few hours away...
At best.
Flash Frozen seem to be the only one unaffected by the attack but was badly shaken up and running diagnostic checks on his AI. How's the supplies Dorien questioned ? If you mean our ammunition, Hector injected we have a small supply but if the fight goes on longer than the last one, we will be down to chucking potatoes at the enemy. If on the other hand, you mean our food supplies he continued, we have about a day or two tops, and that is if we ration it.
Okay Dorien exclaimed, you men go on with your repairs and I'll take all this under advisement and let you know my answer later. Keep me informed and let me know when the repairs are done. I'm going to find a clear space on the other side of the room and do some repairs of my own. It seems that my A.I. has been acting a little funny lately and humming some sort of tune. I'm going to try to get to the bottom of that and see what other damage there is.
Dorien climbed once again into his Torrent and closed the hatch behind him. Addressing the Voider 550 he asked who wrote the tune that you were humming just a short time ago? What is the name? And who is it by?
The Voider 550 was silent for a short moment and then said The Who.... No, interrupted Dorien I said who is it by? The Who said the Voider 550 sounding more annoyed than ever. Are your circuits fried? I said who wrote that tune! The Who, said the A.I. very slowly and then proceeded to tell him that they were a musical rock group that were popular on earth in the 60s and 70s. Oh...... said Dorien catching a clue, and what was the name of the song? We Don't Get Fooled Again came the reply from the A.I. Where did it come from? Ask Dorien.
Voider 550 continued, apparently it was downloaded about the same time as the nanites that overtook this Mech, at least that's what the time index on the entry indicates. Do you think it is probable that it is some kind of a clue about our metal Cylindrical benefactor?
98% positive came the reply from the A.I. There is however another entry in the data banks about a fictional science fiction character named Dr. Who but I need a little more time to scan all the TV episodes for more clues. It seems that it ran for several seasons and the actual doctor kept changing.
See if you can pull up the lyrics to that tune, it may give us some additional clue's. Oh.....and run a self-diagnostic on yourself. Sir, I've already run the self diagnostic on myself and I assure you I'm perfectly fine. However, if you insist, I will run another one, perhaps the results will be more to your liking this time the AI said with a sneer.
Dorien was alarmed by the AI's tone but figured that under the circumstances it was probably justified. So he decided to check the vid screen on his wrist pad to see how the repairs were coming along. One by one they all reported on the repair progress, all that is except for Flash Frozen who was busy pacing back and forth like a duck in the shooting gallery.
Hey! Flash! Dorien screamed your digging a trench in the floor. Flash frozen was startled by Dorien's voice, but stopped and he started to chuckle. Guess I'm a little worried about what your decision might be he said shamefully. Looking intently at the trench he exclaimed, man that's going to leave a mark!
Relax son, I've decided to head home, I think we've done all the damage we can do here for now and it's time to move on. I assembled you guys to protect me while I was mapping the Niode gates but it seems that this unusual excursion has gotten way out of hand. I'm going to turn all this data over to the scientist's that are on Novum just as soon as we get back home. Let's see if they can make sense out of all this. Now let's go tell the good news to the others said Dorien as he slapped the back of Flash Frozen.
Upon telling the others Dorien asked the men if their temporary repairs were good enough to last until they reached the base of the steps, there they could be totally repaired with the help and supplies of the rest of their team.
One by one the battered and war-torn crew packed up their supplies and gear and marched for the steps with Dr. No limping along for it seemed that his foot actuator was beyond repair at the moment. Clanking and clattering down the winding steps of the tower the crew seem to be as silent as they were when the ascended and left to their thoughts. No doubt the events over the last few days has been exceedingly stressful and alarming and is not without a good many questions.
Dorien was having thoughts of his own and wondering to himself whether he would be making a return trip to this strange tower portal made by Kellek and Droh ….I mean a time machine and a time portal together in one and Kallek and Droh together in the same place and working in conjunction with each other? The thought of it all made shivers run up and down his spine and the implications of all that could be done on all timelines and in all places was just as mind blowing as it gets.
Dorien was sure that he hadn't heard the last of this tower's power and it very well could explain some of the strange movements of Kellek and Droh In the future.
Upon reuniting with his team at the base of the steps Dorien and his team was relieved and glad to be going home at last.
Submitted by Marrianne Stewig #687261