At this very moment Chad Lazor was walking down a corridor towards the tech department. He had always dreamed of going
down this way. To be outfitted with their innovative and secretive designs, to be given his own sidekick, these were things
that had until now seemed so impossible that he acted as though he didn't even want them.
Still, he couldn't conceal the growing speed of his steps. He identified himself to the key panel and the door slid open,
revealing a warehouse that seemed to stretch on to infinity. A woman in a white lab coat approached him. "So you're Lazor?"
She asked. "You don't look like any of the other guys who's tried to capture Ignacius Lux..." At the mention of this name
a hush fell over the room. Even the blasters that were being test fired seemed to silence themselves in respect, or fear.
All he could do was nod. From this point on Chad was received with reverence. Some seemed to look at him with genuine admiration
but many of the older techies gave him sad, almost regretful looks and tried to hide away some of their prized inventions
as if Chad were a thief. He was stunned to silence for a moment, as if the quiet that had fallen had carried him away with
it. Finally he answered haltingly. "Y-yes, I think that's me... I was sent here to get a partner and perhaps..." He paused,
as he knew that adding on the last part was something the captain hadn't mentioned, but which he very much desired. "some
hardware?"
The woman looked him over and nodded, gesturing for him to follow her. There was a wall lined with strange tubes and as
she tapped a button the tubes were lit and became translucent. Each one held a human being, or at least what seemed to be
a human being. Chad stared down the wall, looking over forms of males and females, old and young, all clad in the same Gbay
corporation jumpsuit.
"Why are all these people in cryostasis? Are you pairing me with a criminal or something?" Lazor asked warily. His tour
guide shook her head as she moved back to his side from the panel. "No, these are androids. We used to have human or Mirabellan
sidekicks paired with each of our veteran hunters, but they began to be killed off too quickly after... after Lux went rogue."
She said this with a look of pain in her eyes that was unfathomable. Chad could tell that she had known many of those killed
during this dark time.
"You mean Lux has killed that many bounty hunters?" Chad asked, starting to feel rather nervous. "It wasn't only Lux really.
Most of our bounty hunters are loners by nature and dont like having sidekicks although company policy demands it. Those that
weren't killed in blaster fights met with unfortunate and mysterious accidents. After a while we just switched to androids.
At least try to keep yours for a week or so before it 'accidentally' falls off a cliff or jettisons itself or whatever." She
said in a half scolding tone.
"Huh? No way you've got the wrong guy. I'm glad to have a side kick. I mean this is my first job and I might need the--"
He was stopped when the science officer started, her voice sounding with horror and disbelief. "You mean they're sending you
after Lux on your first mission? For the love of Bezzlespot who's wife did you molest?"
Chad assured her that he had done no such thing and told her about the captain's reasons for sending him. She sighed and
fell silent for a while. Suddenly she looked at him as if in appraisal and her face took on a new look of resolution. "Sometimes
it takes a plucky youngster to get the job done. Sometimes the most unlikely person is best for a job. I've never seen that
happen, so I think we'd better hedge the odds a bit. Normally we give bounty hunters some older units..." She said as she
gestured to a wall.
"Those look perfectly fine..." Chad said, certainly not wanting to insult what might well be the work of his benefactress.
"Oh they operate well enough. The elderly looking one there is just two weeks from retirement and whenever we send that model
out it always fails to return in one piece. The others are just cheep standard rookie models that don't do terribly well either.
Now since you plan to keep your unit entact I think we can move to the more advanced models." She moved down the way and Chad
hurried to follow.
She gestured to a thin yer sturdy looking man in one tube. "This is our middle android. It's pretty much the standard issue
we give to people if we figure they'll need some amount of help. He's got proficiencies with a good number of weapons, he
can pilot a lot of shuttle type devices, he can lift moderate loads and he knows a good deal of trivia. The only drawback
is that he's not particularly great at anything, though he is well rounded." She moved on and Chad followed quietely.
"This model is what we call the tough guy. It can use any weapon known to the corporation and it's also programmed with
several hand to hand fighting styles. It can lift about a half of a ton with little trouble and comes standard equipped with
a bothersome Austrian accent. Unfortunately we weren't able to program him with a great deal of knowledge, he's mostly only
useful in a firefight." Chad, heterosexual though he was, couldn't help but admire the android's sculpted physique and the
size of the guns strapped to its body until something more interesting pulled him away.
"And this is our token love interest model." The science officer explained. "After so many of the male models died at the
hands of bounty hunters of the same sex we figured we should try a model with more feminine features. She dosn't have the
lifting ability of the tough guy, and we couldn't fit in as much combat proficiency, but this unit has the highest survival
rating of anything we've built. She's an expert in infiltration and can move quite quickly, as well as being able to pilot
almost any craft in the known universe." Chad simply nodded his head as he stared at the robot's impressive features and half
listened to the science officer.
"You'll probably be in a great deal of combat so it would likely pay for you to take out the tough guy model. It's the
most logical pick. Are you even listening to me? Do you know there's a Bassanian mucus burrower laying its eggs in your rectum?
Dammit! Pay attention and stop ogling Melanie!" The woman cried as she tried to pry Lazor's arms from around the tube. "Oh
alright take her with you! We'll get her booted up and load the missions specs to her hard drive."
The woman flipped a button and the android disappeared down a chute, snapping Chad out of his daze. The scientist whiped
a bit of drool from the tube and gave him a dissaproving glance. "Sorry about that ummm..." Chad stared at her ID badge. "Dr.
Winters."
She merely nodded and gestured for him to follow. "It's ok, that model has odd effects on males, and some females... Anyhow,
I think we should get you some gadgetry and introduce you to your fellow bounty hunters, Agent Lazor."
The use of this title before his name sent tingles up Chad's spine. As a claims investigator his job had been to find out
whether or not people deserved refunds, hassle the galactic parcel service, and occasionally return money to buyers who hadn't
received their products. This job had gained him a great deal of scorn, and certainly not any respect. Now he was an agent.
Now he was somebody. He nearly laughed with delight as he followed Dr. Winters.
On to Chapter 8
