E03: Freebuild: Meet Dr. Lobotomy! (September 10, 2014)

Join us as we edge slightly closer to the point where Max becomes the red cybernetic Hero in the picture! Go Aurelia!

Junior Agent arrives at a landing bay on the space station known as "the Bucket," an experimental medical facility in orbit of Qoter. The bay is dark, cold, and quiet. He was guided to the bay by electronic beacons and pre-recorded messages, and finds the darkness unsettling.

Junior Agent: "Hello? This is Special Agent Silas Spencer. Is anybody there?"

His voice echoes around the hangar.

The sound of an automatic door opening resounds through the chamber, but Junior Agent sees no one. He hears the throbbing hum of a small antigrav motivator entering the room, and draws his weapon. A shadow moves toward him.

Agent Spencer drops his weapons as he recognizes the shape of a standard GI Autoscout. The machine scans him, emits some satisfied-sounding bleeps and bloops, and then moves aside.

Another door opens to a brightly lit corridor. Junior Agent sees some humanoid silhouettes and hears the stomping of heavy, almost metallic boots.

A severe-looking man with slicked-back hair and a glowing, artificial red eye smiles broadly and waves. He is leading a procession that includes a standard Robotroid and other artificial constructs.

Dr. Lobotomy: (in a warm voice, but with a slightly sinister accent): "Greetings, Special Agent Silas Spencer! I am Dr. Lorrio Botticelli. Welcome to the Station for Biological Understanding and Creation of Intensive Treatment. I'm sorry there was no one here to meet you. I did not expect you would arrive so quickly. That must be one fast ship you have there."

Junior Agent:"Yeah, it's pretty fast for a catering van. Belongs to the subject. Hopefully you can extract the location of the package from him before he...um...expires."

Dr. Lobotomy:"Yes, Isotopium 7 can be quite dangerous in the wrong hands. We wouldn't want the Marauders getting their hands on it...or Gods forbid, the Aurellians."

Junior Agent:"Yeah that'd be- hey! How'd you know what he was supposed to deliver?"

Dr. Lobotomy: "I may be fairly sequestered out here, but still, I can put two and two together I think. A quantity of Isotopium goes missing from a reactor on Qoter. And then a short time later your Agent Colt contacts me to perform an emergency...interrogation. Believe me, Agent Spencer, Imperium Intelligence does not contact me often, or lightly. So I figure the package must be the missing Isotopium 7. Even the small quantity stolen would be enough to power a capitol ship indefinitely...or create quite a devastating explosion."

Junior Agent: \*stunned silence\* "Yeah that about sums it up."

Dr. Lobotomy: "Then we must get started right away. Allow me to introduce to you two of my...associates."

Dr. Lobotomy: "This is Doctor Facelift, and the fellow in blue is called Burn Victim"

Junior Agent: "Uh...Facelift? Burn Victim..."

Dr. Facelift: "Hello!"

Burn Victim gives the slightest of nods.

Dr. Lobotomy: "A bit whimsical, I'll grant you, but these two gentlemen chose their names themselves. It is a tenet of the Galactic Imperium that a man can reinvent himself with perseverance and hard work. Here at the Bucket we take this belief quite literally. These two are more than capable of helping me with my procedure...which reminds me. Is this your first trip to Qoter?"

Junior Agent: "I'm afraid I haven't been able to leave Earth yet, not so soon after the Shift. So...yes?"

Dr. Lobotomy: "I suspected as much. I'm afraid you'll have to be inoculated. There are some bacteria on Qoter which have recently mutated. Not deadly, but quite debilitating. Here we go...won't hurt a bit."

Dr Lobotomy produces a syringe filled with a milky blue fluid and unceremoniously sticks Junior Agent in the arm.

Junior Agent: "Ow!"

Dr. Lobotomy: "Well, won't hurt much in any case. There is a second injection, so hold still"

Dr. Lobotomy produces a second syringe.

Junior Agent: "Hey, that one's glowing!"

Dr. Lobotomy: "And so it is. Just a catalyst to help your body activate the imnuoboosters. It actually has quite a short half-life once it's mixed with human blood."

Dr. Lobotomy: "Well, now that we have that unpleasantness out of the way, we can get down to business. Doctor Facelift, Burn Victim, go ahead to the surgical suite and get things set up."

He turns toward the blue and grey Robotroid.

Dr. Lobotomy: "TS-12, have these drones take the subject to the suite. Initiate Cinder Protocol. Burn Victim is quite familiar with it, so let him take the lead."

TS-12: "Burble burble...Zorc tuk swzzz."

And so the drones pick up Maxwell Bauer's stasis capsule and follow Dr. Facelift and the others through a door at the far side of the room.

Dr. Lobotomy: "Come, Agent Spencer, you may accompany me to my changing room. We'll take a shortcut that will allow me to show you some of the work that we do here. After that you can observe the interrogation procedure and see that we here in the Bucket are not quite the monsters we are made out to be. ASR-10, you shall accompany us as well."

ASR-10 "Zurgle tk tk tk."

Junior Agent: "Do we really need an armed Robotroid with us?"

Dr. Lobotomy: "It is of course protocol to have an armed guard present at all times. Not necessary, of course, but you'll find that we do everything by the book here. Living guards, human and otherwise, often feel uncomfortable with the work we do here, so we began using Robotroids long before the Shift. Plus, they're very good at lifting heavy objects. Shall we?"

Junior Agent: \*sigh\* "Lead the way Dr. Lobotom...I mean Dr. Bottice---that is to say..." \*clears throat\* "Lead the way sir."