Dynamic Patrol: Gel-Squad (Remastering!)

Chapter 5: Droid

As the door whooshed open, Tommy stood by the chart table like a deer in headlights; he was understandably shocked because he firmly believed there would be no crew on board. He gritted his teeth as he frantically searched for a rapid solution, a place to hide. It was easy to jump behind one of the consoles. Or he could morph into one of the cracks, but that door opened so incredibly fast that there was no time to hide. He decided to meet whoever was on the other side and discuss things like two sane people. When the door opened, it was like time froze, and the adrenaline-filled Tommy's vitalum quickly. Despite not having a heart, he still felt anxious, but Tommy was prepared to explain his presence there.

He'd even planned to ask for the assistance of the crew members who were coming in. "It isn't what it looks like... I'm not trying to make things worse. I'm trying to help." Tommy raised his hands as if to signify surrendering. He made eye contact with who he assumed would be on the other side of the door. He was even more confused when looking straight past them at the bulkhead toward the end of the corridor. His eyes darted left to right before they finally drifted down to the deck, where he spotted a droid—one of the 490 robotic crewmen.

It was two foot three tall as far as height was concerned. The droid did not give Tommy a second glance or even a first glance. It just went straight to its duties. It carried an antibacterial cleaning spray bottle and a rag in its claw-like grabbers as it moved to the heights it could reach. It sprayed the monitors and the surrounding areas and then wiped them with silent proficiency. In some way... it looked cute; it was small and lacked the large, large, unfriendliness of a heavy-lifting droid or an escort droid; it was likely a domestic model, reprogrammed for basic cleaning tasks. Tommy didn't consider it a threat. It was probably the only one online right now. All alone.

For a while, Tommy watched it go about its business. He couldn't help but feel sorry for it. After all, the droid was in solitude up here. He was sure it couldn't get lonely, but he habitually projected his emotions onto objects like robots, which made him unusual with his people. Tommy rubbed his chin as his attention was again redirected to the ship's map. If he were reading it correctly, he only had an hour and a half until the next bubble, so he would have to work fast. He scratched the idea of trying to repair the ship, figuring that would take too much time, which was something he very much did not have; he was only one squirrel, even if he were a shapeshifter. Instead, he was more concerned with turning off the autopilot and steering the ship in a safer direction.

He attempted to do so multiple times, but every time he attempted to access helm control, the computer told him he was 'unauthorized personnel,' much to his annoyance. He looked over at the droid again, who was still doing its cleaning tasks. "Don't suppose you'd know how to turn off the autopilot?" He asked playfully with a grin. "Autopilot is enabled from dry dock. And can only be disabled by authorized work crews." The droid replied in a monotone voice. It sounded more female than male. But voice permitters aside, Tommy looked at the droid in wide-eyed surprise; he was not expecting a response from his mechanized friend. He wasn't even irritated by the fact that it was the same response the main computer gave him, just differently worded.

"You can talk?!" Tommy said, moving around the table and stepping right into the droid's path, which paused its cleaning tasks; it had no choice but to look directly up at Tommy, making 'eye' contact; the droid then responded. "Yes, it is a standard feature in all service units. Basic linguistic transmission is the most efficient way to communicate with most species. I was waiting for you to speak so my universal translation matrix could determine what language you spoke. Fortunately, it was Earth-style English. But your species is not in my database. Yet I have files containing the information of 351 planets and the species living on them. Will you explain this inconsistency?" Like most droids, this one was straight to business, probably a good thing too, because they were on course to collide with one of those blobs again soon, and they had no time to waste. "Well, uh. My planet is pretty new to this Council, so that's probably why your database isn't updated." Tommy informed.

"I see. What is your business in the command section? Passengers are to stay within the designated areas of the ship." There it was-- Tommy knew sooner or later someone would ask what his 'business' was. He just didn't expect it to be some robot. He decided to be honest. It's not like he was doing anything sinister. "I'm trying to stop the ship from exploding. I'm an official member of the Dynamic Patrol Hero Subdivision. I know I'm not supposed to be in this area. But, you see. My world is in danger.. and I'd rather get there in one piece if it's all the same to you." He replied, being sure to sound incredibly pained by the fact his planet was in danger, which was easy because he was not acting out those feelings. They were real. And if this droid had any sense of empathy. It would let him continue.

The droid did not respond at first. It just looked up at him. It looked up for about a minute before swiftly moving behind him. Since it couldn't reach up all the way, it settled for Tommy's lower back, digging its claws into his skin as it attempted to push him out of the room. "I am sorry, but unauthorized personnel are prohibited in crew areas. I am going to have to remove you from this section. Should you resist, I am authorized to restrain you."

Tommy was shocked. He struggled to plant his heels into the floor because the robot insisted, and its strength was relatively minuscule but very unending. "Hey--! Didn't you hear what I said? Dynamic Patrol? Doesn't that override your protocols or something?" Said Tommy as he was being moved out of the bridge and into the corridor once again. "Impersonating members of the DP is considered a court martial offense. It will be added to your list of charges." The droid responded sternly as it continued trying to force Tommy out. "You're hurting me! Okay, That's it," Tommy exclaimed; he melted right out of the droid's grip using his powers. He morphed into a wave of orange and black goo and flowed over the droid's head and back near the NAV table, reforming solid to take a defensive position. The droid stared blankly as it rotated to face Tommy again, "I warned you. But you have left me no choice."

The droid quickly approached Tommy's new position while deploying a taser; it applied some voltage, which got the taser sparking viciously. Tommy threw his hands up in defense, but the droid took that as a threat and fired its weapon. Tommy attempted to dodge and force the robot out of the room, but he was struck by what felt like a lightning bolt. The farthest he got was a desperate hand grip and a scream in pain as he was forced to release his solid form and revert to a fully gelatinous puddle on the ground. The droid crossed the bridge. Examining the floor, the last thing Tommy heard before losing consciousness was what sounded like a sigh, which was almost emotional.