Advanced Robotics

CHAPTER 6

Lupin, Jen, Joe, and Vikki planned to visit the ruins of Moscow.
During the Russian civil war that divided the former country into
several different noble-ruled territories, the city was destroyed and
is now a Chechnyan military base. Access is restricted to even former
citizens and the border is heavily guarded. It would be impossible to
get a flight from Hawaii to the Chechen republic, but they could
switch planes in Japan and fly to Latveria from there. Joe and Vikki
still had no idea what it was they were looking for, but they agreed
to go for Zaroff's sake. They first flew home to Chicago. After a few
nights, everybody got acquainted with Vikki and planned the trip.
"Okay, is everybody packed?" asked Lupin.
"Yeah, we have enough clothes and money." said Joe.
"No, I mean what weapons are you using?" said Lupin.
"Umm, what the fuck do you mean by that?" said Vikki with her eye twitching.
"Oh, that's right hun, they haven't been on any spy adventures like
us. Here, I always carry around dual pistols and Jen here uses an SMG.
Joe, Vikki, do you have any preferences?"
"Wait a second dad! You're about to offer your son and an
inexperienced minor lethal weapons!" stated Joe. Lupin pondered this
for a moment.
"…Yeah, so?" he asked.
"I love you. Ooh! Ooh! Can I use an AK-47?!" squealed Joe.
"Good choice! I'll check the storage shed for one. Vikki, do you have
any specific thing in mind?" asked Lupin.
"Umm, I don't really like guns, or killing people, so could I like,
use a hammer or something to knock them out?"
"That's perfectly normal, hunny," said Jen comfortingly, "Here, I'll
find you a nice mallet." She handed Vikki a little hammer. She handled
it with discontent.
"Umm, this won't do much, got anything, well, bigger?"
"Uh, sure, check in the shed." Jen said, a little confused.
They went out back into the storage shed, just a little shack where
you would store a lawn mower or something, and opened it up to find
the whole thing loaded with different arms. In the back were various
swords and non-firearms. Vikki found a huge sledgehammer that looked
too heavy for even Joe.
"Ooh! This one looks perfect!" she screamed. Joe and his parents
snickered softly. Then to their amazement, Vikki picked it up and
swung it around with one hand, testing it out, and smashed it to the
ground, rattling the shed and cracking the floor.
"No freakin way did she just do that!!!" Lupin stared with shock.
"Way to go, Vikki! I'm so proud of you!" Jen said with satisfaction.
"Well, it looks like this won't be such a boring trip after all." Joe
said, still not believing what he just saw. There was still the
problem of getting a flight. With airfare rates being as low as they
were even though the tragedy of 2001 was over ten years ago, they
could easily score a flight to Japan, but they all carried lethal
weapons, and security won't even let people with metal zippers or
shoes on planes, so they had to somehow charter a private jet outside
of the country. Now THAT was expensive. There was no way they could
pool enough money for a trans-pacific flight. This is where Joe came
in. He was now well acquainted with all sorts of machinery, including
aerodynamics. With the right materials, he could build a plane big
enough for the four of them. He went right to planning a diagram that
night in his old room in Lupin and Jen's house. He expected them to
leave by next month, in July. As he diligently worked, Jen quietly
watched outside of his doorway. While she stared, Lupin walked up
behind her.
"He was right. Dr. Robotnik's theory was proven correct over the last
few years. Joe will finish his work. He will bring back communism
using the talents he was given." whispered Lupin to Jen. She turned
around and Lupin, for the first time in a while, saw doubt and sadness
in his wife's eyes.
"Lupin, this is wrong. What have we done? We came to this free
country, yet our son was enslaved by our own choice to have the world
imprisoned. We have committed terrible crimes against this boy, and
have kept him from knowing about it for twenty-one years. We are
terrible parents, choosing one crazy old fool's ideas over the free
will of our son!" cried Jen. Lupin was taken aback by this remark.
"Dr. Robotnik was a great man! Do you know the suffering of the
Russian people? No, you were that damned bastard Romanov's little
secretary! Let me fill you in, he took over Russia, killed my best
friend and mentor, and now has the ENTIRE population working in his
Romanov Robot factories out of fear of his damn power to fire them and
let his android cronies take care of their whole families!"
"How is that different from your Goddamn premier?!" she yelled, and
then ran crying from Lupin. He stormed off in a fit of rage and
slammed his door. Joe sat there, listening the entire time. What the
hell did he just hear? Something about him being enslaved all of his
life and him bringing back communism. What the hell did that mean? Why
would they think he would want communism? And they mentioned Romanov,
the head of the largest robotics corporation in the world, Romanov
Corporation. Was his mom that guy's secretary? Whoa! But his dad said
he's evil and making the Russians suffer or something. Wait a minute,
that name, Dr. Robotic or something. Zaroff had also mentioned him.
This was getting confusing! There was a sudden knock on the door. Joe
looked up from his work. By the doorway stood Vikki, in a button-down
shirt and shorts.
"Joe," she asked, "were your parents just fighting back there?"
"No, that was just Santa meeting the tooth fairy, who was suffering
from pms. Of course it was my parents!" he thought. "Yeah, I dunno
what it was about though. Some more useless shit, I guess."
"I wish I could remember my parents," she started quietly, "I was put
into a foster home when I was only seven. I was taken out by grandpa.
I knew he wasn't really my grandpa, but I didn't care back then. He
was kind to me, never scolded me, and took me to school. I had to
bring up my strength, though. I had to get food or work when grandpa
got sick and old. I don't know where I would go now that he's gone, if
you and your parents didn't let me stay with you guys, I don't know
what I'd do."
Joe listened to her, then thought about what life would be like if he
actually didn't have parents. Sure, Jen and Lupin would keep secrets
from him a lot, but they were there to feed him, to care for him when
he needed them most. He looked up, and for the first time, gazed into
her eyes and seeing more than a little girl. She had been through hard
times that he had never known. He stood up, walked over to her, and
took her in his arms. He looked at her, and she looked at him.
"Vikki?" he asked.
"Yes, Joe," she said quietly.
"So, you're not my cousin?" he asked her.
"Umm, I guess not," she said confused.
"And you're how old again?" he asked sternly.
"Uh, seventeen?" she was now really confused and kind of disturbed.
"Shit," Joe thought to himself, "I'll have to tell dad that she isn't
my fucking cousin and we can't have a fucking sex scene-!" before he
could finish his thought, Vikki took him and kissed him with
passionate desire. "Scratch that last part," he thought as he put his
arms around her, and they got lost in each other's lust.