[The Mansion, Val Venezuela Special Zone]

[January 21, 2023]

The quick stomps of a dozen people echoed in the hallway. The powerful lights illuminated the concrete corridors as they stomped through. This bunker was a simple, deep, mazelike laboratory.

“Their bodies have a layer of organic matter. Much like a glove, it is a shell of skin,” Doctor Akagi explained as they entered the hallway’s end.

The blast doors opened to reveal a room with a dense, clear wall. The other side was a set of operating tables with the robot bodies.

“Their construction is simple but robust. It matches various known designs and then blended together. We are not sure exactly what they based the tech on, but what is sure… is that these are infiltration units. They can pass a basic surface-level scan, but not a complex one,” Sue explained as she stopped by the far wall.

The many other technicians and glanced at the newcomers, but bounced back to work. The Supreme Leader was not a rare sight in these parts. He had been semi-regular as each new incident required his attention.

He was a welcome sight, as his very presence usually meant fresh donuts and coffee were now on site. A chipper group went back to dissection. The technicians were using remote, robotic arms to work. They dissected and documented the robotic bodies.

I stared at the central holo-screen. It showed someone cutting open a body and peeling away the flesh. Each cut revealed more of the chrome machine underneath.

I blinked at the perfect representation of a T-800. It didn’t have a weight lifter’s body, but it was a definite movie-perfect robot. Someone currently labeled it OM-08, and they showed the human ID beside it. They predicted the human KIA.

“So are they all identical?” I asked as I looked from the screen to the operating room. I stared at the row of some odd ten work tables active. They sealed another forty on the side of the room. Each one locked down and then secured.

The ‘transparent’ wall was a fancy display. The operating room was a sealed concrete box, designed to withstand explosions. A small-scale, non-nuclear explosion.

In case of a containment breach, like robot uprising, a company of Black Turtle Legion was onsite. They got stationed in various rooms and the whole site could completely lockdown.

There was more than enough firepower here to make sure problems didn't stay a problem. They would get dealt with immediately.

“Yes, in several of the other bases we hit that day, it was the same outcome,” Sue said as she nodded.

She gestured back to the holographic screen in the center of the room. The video changed.

It showed video feeds from the six simultaneous attacks. Five were simple raids requiring only two or three dozen soldiers.

Captain Apone oversaw the largest raid. His team also encountered the largest robot forces with twelve in two locations. The Command center and the power room.

“Any confirmation about their objectives?” I asked as I watched the videos. It showed the various aftermaths of robot vs human firefights.

Our combat gear was much stronger than these OM robots. Though their durability was impressive. Unless a critical location got damaged, they could continue fighting.

Robots? Drones? Units? Hmmmm. We needed more research into their designs.

“Aside from the total culling of human life on base, they didn’t leave. We are not sure if they got abandoned, or perhaps it’s a trap,” Sue said as she stared back at the operating room.

“We could have also interrupted their retrieval,” Candice chimed in as she stared at the screen. The video had transitioned back to the dissection.

“Yes, that is a probable theory. The human bodies were fresh cadavers. The murders occurred roughly one to two hours before our arrival,” Sue agreed. She tapped at her wrist and changed the screen yet again.

The screen showed the human dissection and the various readings from them. The data highlighting how each person had died, and roughly the time frame since their death.

“So we got to worry about… a robot upgoing?” Starfire asked as she floated around the giant screen. She watched with the fascination of the ongoing dissection of robots.

On Tamaran they did not use robots, but they had a deep history of fighting them. Alien invaders, or simple warrior challenges. She herself had fought

“I believe you mean uprising,” Kara corrected as she scanned the units. Starfire blinked and nodded along. Human language was both complex and inconsistent.

Lead-laced shielding sometimes obscured her X-ray vision. She assumed these the critical components. They were cute for crude robots. They were no Brainiacs.

There were a lot of capacitors in these units. Enough to render basic EMP attacks useless. Coupled with the backup circuits, it hinted towards a military design philosophy.

I rubbed my forehead. Great. Robot uprising. Skynet was probably around the corner. Except Skynet was an outright simpleton when compared to the world. A place where many, many supervillains ran around unsupervised.

“Enough. This is an annoying concern for now. Onto the real reason that I am here,” I growled out and took a deep breath. Candice shot me a look.

Damn, I was acting like a child again. These were my friends. I was taking it out on the wrong people.

“Sorry. Please lead me to our guest,” I said with a soft smile. They were the real reason I was here today.

Candice winced at my sweet tones. Sue's usual smile vanished as her face hardened. We left the room.

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Chapter 51: Robot Upgoing