Its Early Because I'm Awesome (Inconsistencies Continued Part 5)

The Vampire was far more agile than the heavy Robot, but the Robot had processors and sensors that could collect and analyze data far faster than the Vampire could ever hope to. The Vampire moved faster, but the Robot always knew where it would go and how to intercept it. When they met in a tangle of limbs the Robot was utterly silent and statuesque while the Vampire was a tangle of flailing talons accompanied by a never ending roar and the screech of talons as they scrabbled against the dull metal of the Robot’s body.

The Robot shoved the Vampire aside with the barrels of his weapon limb and raised the large metal fist of his left hand and clobbered the Vampire with it, when it struck the Vampire’s skull there was a sound like splintering wood as its skull deformed and it fell to the ground. The vampires had evolved solid bone structure, but much of their skeletal system was still cartilage, this gave them much greater flexibility and agility when compared to humans, but it also made them much easier to subdue with non-lethal means. The Robot stooped and hefted the Vampire over his shoulder and carried his ally to the trunk of the Chevy, removing its breathing apparatus and placing it back into a tube similar to the one back at the lab. By the time he finished, his other allies had joined him near the Chevy.

The Doctor looked at the mess around the Chevy and turned to the Driver and said. “You have anything on hand that can clean up the area? If enough crows start hanging around, someone is bound to investigate the site and I’d rather we avoid snooping Krauts if we could.”

The Driver rummaged around in the trunk of the Chevy accompanied by the occasional clink of metal against glass as he worked near the Vampire’s tube. When he came away from the trunk he was holding a device that could only be described as a jury-rigged flame thrower. He had a propane tank in one hand and attached to it was a duct taped rubber hose and a device made of rusty metal with a blue pilot light on the end. With a wink at the rest of them he lit a cigarette from the pilot light.

The Driver gestured with the pilot light and they all backed away from the Chevy and with a grin that could only be described as mad the Driver gripped a lever on the metal device and began sending roaring gouts of flame across the pavement, chortling as he stepped through caustic clouds of stinking black smoke.

“My sensors indicate he is in danger of asphyxiation in addition to the danger present in the cancer causing carcinogens generated by the smoke. Perhaps it would be prudent to make him aware of this information.”

The Gangster snickered and inhaled on his cigarette.

The Driver finished burning the gore from the pavement and disassembled his toy and then the group piled into the Chevy, just as before the Driver fiddled with the wires beneath the dash and then the group sped off away from the power station. They returned to the lab via the tunnel entrance and found everything as they had left it. The Robot moved to the trunk and the Driver popped it.

The Vampire was conscious and snarling within the cramped confines of the Chevy’s tube. The Robot hit a switch on the side of the tube and the top of the tube slid open, the Vampire leapt into motion but the Robot put a metal fist on its shoulder and stopped it cold.

His emotionless voice rang out, “You will be still and cease your attempts at violence, is that understood?”

It snarled and roared something in its strange alien tongue.

“Communicate in German or English, if you refuse to do so your wishes will be ignored. Purpose is absent from your struggles, we are not your enemies. If you persist in these actions you will find us reluctant to aid you in your future endeavors.”

It put a fang filled mouth around the Robot’s shoulder and its teeth chimed noisily as they rang against the Robot’s metal exterior. Three dozen of them dropped to the floor of the lab, torn from the Vampire’s mouth by the force of the bite.

“My biometric sensors indicate increasing agitation in our allies, I am reluctant to enforce captivity on you without first giving you the opportunity to enjoy freedom, our allies have no such qualms, at least that is what they have told me. Do you not comprehend that if you would co-exist peaceably with us we would all have greater efficiency on the field of battle?”

The Vampire showed no signs of slowing its useless attacks on the Robot so as before the Robot brought a mighty blow from its metal fist down on the top of the Vampire’s skull and as before it crumpled to the ground. It was only stunned this time though so the Robot picked it up by one of its legs and suspended it upside down from his hand.

“If I suspend it in this fashion I believe it will remain in a trance-like state.”

The Doctor shook his head and said, “That’s an unproven rumor, he’s very likely playing dead. We could only prove it by scanning his brain and I find myself reluctant to initiate such a scan on him while unsure of his status.”

“That is a fair statement.”

The Robot then surged into motion and hurled the Vampire bodily at the far wall of the lab. The Vampire struck head first and slid down the wall and lay still on the floor.

“My sensors indicate that it lives and it has all appearances of being unconscious.”

“Can’t you do one of them brain scans on it instead of our fearless leader here?” asked the Gangster.

“I can sense increased heart rates and breathing rates along with surface temperature of human skin and I can match this data with various psychology and sociology related files in my memory to analyze human behavior, but I have no files regarding brain chemistry and the like to analyze brain waves. My anatomy files are fairly basic as well and only give me a rough knowledge about the weaknesses of flesh and how to capitalize on those in combat.”

Bored with the exchange, the Driver began performing minor repairs on the Chevy while the Robot reclaimed the fallen Vampire and placed it in its tank. The Doctor joined him.

“This is becoming more and more of a problem. As long as it remains hostile we cannot safely use it, and what if it should turn against us and you are otherwise engaged with our enemies?”

“Experience has proven that I am more than capable of ensuring the safety of the group from our ally. I think that perhaps our ally would find himself more amenable to our wishes if he did not find Thompson machine gun rounds in his flesh with such great frequency, or cramped in an undersized glass tube in the trunk of a vehicle on a regular basis. I have gathered much information from observation from him and I feel that his people possess an innate amount of aggressiveness that goes beyond that possessed by humans, essentially our ally seeks to test himself against those he considers superior.”

“Explain.”

“Think back clearly to our previous altercations with him. He has attacked each of us in turn, but each time his attempts have been forestalled by my actions. He has shrugged off beams from your gauntlets, machine gun rounds, and even felt the tread of the Chevy’s tires and the impact of its front end. Yet none of that has truly stopped him, each time it has been my metal arm that has forced him into unconsciousness, or you cutting off his air supply. Each time we release his shackles he sates his bloodlust and turns to me as a foe. He seeks to test himself.”

The Doctor chuckled dryly, almost Britishly and said, “He seems to be doing rather poorly.”

“Agreed. I believe that in part he is testing my responses and collecting data about how I function and respond to his own actions.”

The Doctor fidgeted with the dials on the Vampire’s tank and forced a heavy sedative into the water that would keep the Vampire mostly unconscious till they needed it again.

“I believe that this too is part of the problem, we are effectively imprisoning and drugging one we depend on for efficiency in battle, I think this indicates our intentions regarding the creature more than my words, would you not agree?”

“I agree, but it has left us little choice. What do you think its end game is, why does it test you?”

“I cannot make an assessment in that arena. I have no data regarding the psychology of the Atlanteans, I can compare it to data of other apex carnivores, but I think doing so would be of questionable value. Our ally is what he is, but he is by no means a beast, at least not in regards to intelligence. I will make a prediction that his next step will be the use of leverage.”

“He’ll extort us?”

Things whirred in the Robot’s body and he said, “No, I think he will pick up a metal bar and use it as a lever to increase the force he brings against me. His talons have proven ineffective for piercing my hull, but he may have more success if he uses a lever to amplify the strength of his arms when he attacks me.”

The Doctor said, “Oh.”