TYLER
While at the pub doing homework, Derek was shirking his duties, as usual, to listen to political commentary. Ben and I were discussing something when Derek shouted out a random comment that I cannot even recall. He then looked up, and he looked at Ben. I saw him smirking, and Ben then looked Derek in the eye. He pulled out a chair and sat in it, facing Derek.
"Pause your show sir, for we need to talk about that comment."
"You're going to have me interrupt my show to debate me?"
"Yeah, sounds about right."

They began arguing vehemently, Derek using his Ultimate Defense to block the comments he didn't wish to hear. Ben was getting rather annoyed at this and began shattering the barriers with inner explosions whenever one appeared. After a few minutes, when I was sure they had almost reached a conclusion, Derek accidently hit play on his computer, and the show began again, only for it to say something they both disagreed with in opposite ways.

They began shouting at each other, and I was getting fed up. I went back to my booth, looked at them and waved. I used Derek's powers to put up a soundproof barrier between myself and them. It was quiet, really really quiet. Now time for German homework. Viele Grammatik!
* * *
BEN
I was up on fifth Scott that night, trying to reflect upon what Daniel had said.
"He said that he had my powers, but he didn't have to snap."
"Which means," Jenny responded, "he had your powers without the limiters you imposed upon yourself."
"Exactly...but how could there be someone with my powers? I mean, I got mine from the portal, and we were the first ones to travel through it."
"I have no clue."

Two things.
Yes?
One - who is to say that you were the first ones?
Point taken. What is number two?
Two - we are supposedly dealing with an ultimate evil which, most likely, can also give its subordinates powers as well. Thus, is it so farfetched?
I guess not.

"Man," I said to myself, "I wish we had an R&D department."
I paused after saying that. We had a robot who could analyze powers, someone who could create metal and then forge it, someone who could charge things with energy, and someone who could use, and therefore understand, every power. Why didn't we have an R&D department?
Because we didn't have the place or the material.
Ah, but we had a portal that could take us anywhere and anytime in this dimension.

Fictional or not too.
What was that?
The portal can take you to fictional places in this dimension as well, though I would advise doing that with caution, as it could wreck the continuity of wherever you travel to.
Wait...could I write about an R&D department and then travel there?
I believe so, but I was...
Sethos, I love how knowledgeable you are about this.
You won't be saying that forever, so I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

I went to my room and grabbed my laptop. I headed to the Pub, figuring I would have much more privacy there if I wanted it (since people aren't there that often at night) and I began to type out a short story about a large lab on a lost and uninhabited planet far away.
* * *
Josh was running as quickly as he could, but he just couldn't seem to outrun the robots. "Curse our infatuation with technology. I said it would be our downfall and look at us now? We are being chased by robots!"
"You say that like we live in a technophile society and like it could have been avoided if we didn't. Neither of those are true."
"Shut up Sam. Running for our lives is not the time to argue with me."
"I am just saying. Now come on, speed up a bit. We'll never reach Joey in time if you keep this slow pace."

Behind them, three metallic beings hovered quickly to keep up. Although it wasn't obvious, they were actually straining to keep up with the humans. However, they were not authorized to go into assault mode yet. These humans were not dangerous enough for such measures.
The lead robot, named Evan, internally sighed at this realization. Too much bureaucracy in robotic rule nowadays. The times when you could hunt humans for sport - those were the days. Not that I ever hunted them; I just watched from the sides. I never really had a problem with the humans...but now they were an endangered species, and when some escape from the holding facility you must bring them back alive. Dead is unacceptable. It is simpler, but unacceptable.
Since when did robots need emotions anyway, Evan wondered. It seemed rather pointless, as that was the human's downfall. However, he could see that bureaucracy would be there's. He had dealt with these humans before and knew what they would do if they escaped. But now those humans were picking up the pace and he was running out of fuel, meaning his subordinates were as well.
Oh well, we'll have to go back to the board empty handed. They'll get compressed and I'll get an upgrade and it'll be back to business as usual.
His subordinates stopped, but he continued pursuit.
Why did the robot officers have to be the ones to get emotions anyway? We weren't the leaders, we were only the scapegoats. And now me and the other commanders have to deal with emotions? Well, only me now. The rest of them have been dismantled, labeled as a failed project. I can see why.
Those humans just will not stop, will they?

After the lead robot was far enough away, John and Lucas made their move. They took the two fallen robots and began dismantling them. Joey could use these supplies, they were told. It didn't matter to them though. They were just happy to dismantle some robots. It seemed fun enough. In fact, they were just happy to be out of that damned cell. Anything was better than being on display, even death. Of course, death was really bad too, so they tried to avoid that outcome as much as possible as well. They had dismantled as much as they could; they put everything they thought was usable into their backpacks and followed the path that Josh, Sam and the other robot had taken. Maybe if that lead robot had fallen they could scavenge it for parts. And if not...well, they had to get back to Joey somehow, right?

Evan was continuing to console himself in his robotic thought.
The actual problem, he told himself, is human potential. With it, they can do almost anything. They can outrun us, escape us, and soon combat us. I know that robots have been disappearing thanks to these specific humans and their friends, and I know that said knowledge is not public. But still, not really my problem, for I am not the one disappearing. I just have to stop them.
His sensors indicated he was being followed by two more humans, who seemed to have a large amount of metal on them.
Either they are trying to masquerade as robots or they just disassembled my subordinates. Either way, at least I know where four of the five are now, and I'm being lead straight to the fifth. But if those other two get their hands on me, I am done. I am not authorized to fight back anymore. I guess I have to go faster than them.
In thinking this, Evan actually sped up.
Hmm...Perhaps I have the human potential too; perhaps it comes from emotions. It seems logical to think that at least. I can never know for sure though, now can I. I think the humans are beginning to tire and slow down. Perhaps they have reached their destination.
Evan stopped and then hovered to the side and out of sight.
Instead of following them into what could be a trap, I shall wait out here and watch the five from a safe distance. If they leave, then I can enter. If not, then I just wait for back up.
Upon reaching this conclusion, the other two passed him. His second idea was correct, and he watched as they greeted the first two. The four of them entered a warehouse ahead and disappeared inside. Evan's sensors could not read what was going on. They could tell him that it had been abandoned years ago and was now known only as Warehouse 51, but that was about it.
Sigh, this is going to be a long night.

Sam and Josh greeted Lucas and John with glee for two reasons - they had robot parts and they no longer had three robots chasing after them.
"But wait a second," Josh said, "weren't there three robots? It looks like you only have parts from two?"
"Yeah," Lucas said. "The other robot was still following you guys when we grabbed these parts, but we didn't see him when we got here."
"I think it was that one that calls himself Evan again," John said. "I never knew robots gave themselves names." They entered the warehouse and continued talking. It was pretty dark, but they could still see decently.
"Robots don't give themselves names. They don't even have names," Sam said. "But that one does refer to himself as Evan."
"It probably stands for something," John said. "I just wish we knew what."

The lights flicked on and instantly the room was bright. The walls were metallic and white and very reflective, furthering the light's spreading across the room. The floor was filled with many panels that were descending and the ascending with various mechanical structures on them. Scanners, welders, computers - every machine known to man and almost every machine known to robot (the only things excluded were actual robots, but they were getting close to building a few) could be found now on the floor of this amazing place. It seemed as if all these things appeared from nowhere. It also seemed that all these things were forbidden to humans. They were, but no one pointed it out. They all knew.
A lone figure came walking out of a door on the far end. He was somewhat tall, taller than average at least, and he had decently long hair as well. He wore glasses too. He seemed to be the average person.
"Hey Joey," Josh said, the first to greet him. "And how are you this fine evening?"
"Just fine now that you two are back here where you belong."
"How did you two get caught anyway," Lucas asked them.
"That is a story for another time," Sam said. "I think Joey has a new idea?"
"Indeed I do. But first, let's look at what Lucas and John brought back."
"Well, we got some pretty interesting stuff here," Lucas said. "However, I wouldn't want to bore you all with the description. Instead, let's just toss it all on the table and see what we can use."
"I see some blasters," John said.
"Here's a robotic motherboard," Sam said. "Don't we need one of these?"
"Ah," mused Joey. "Exactly what we needed - a perfectly intact robotic fuel cell. Our plans can come to fruition with this little thing. However, we need to finish construction and then test it. Sam and Josh, you go through that and sort it out - bring me anything on the list. John, Lucas - you two should follow me."

Evan was still outside two hours later as the five emerged from their warehouse. He could call in reinforcements, but he actually had nothing against them, so he had no reason to call them in. Besides, the one in the back, Joey, had some new kind of contraption, one like nothing he'd ever seen. He decided to scan it, but the results were complex so he put the processing to the back burner as they walked away. He paused to make sure they had left, and then entered their warehouse.
This is why robots shouldn't have emotion. I am not actually doing my duty, but am instead exploring. Faulty programming? Well, perhaps emotions are faulty programming. I would never know.
It was rather dark in the warehouse, for the lights had been turned out. Rather than rely on his sensors, Evan acted on an impulse and located the light switch to turn on the lights.
Really now? I am acting on impulses too? Faulty programming indeed.
As he hit the switch, more than just the lights turned on. Panels on the floor disappeared and reappeared with amazing technology, including some he had never even seen. In fact, he was sure most of this technology was illegal, even for robots. So how in the world did they get it?

He then spotted something in the corner of the room. There were dismantled robots in the corner. In fact...it appeared as if they had been taken apart, put back together and then taken apart again. Seemed a tad excessive. At the same time, Evan was actually amazed by all this technology. He was even more amazed when he found the blueprints they had been using...
He had never seen some many prints before; it was almost like looking into the future. But when he saw the largest one, he understood their plan. He knew that it would mean the end of the world in a bad way. Thus, he developed a plan. Luckily, all the materials he would ever need were here in this warehouse. But first, he needed to build an escape route if it didn't work out. He saw a path in the back and found it led to a large circular room that was fairly empty. He would start here.
* * *
"What are you doing in here?"
I looked up from my story and saw Taima. "Bonjour Taima. I'm just writing a story."
"Ah, fun. Mind if I sit with you?"
"Go ahead."
"My muses are coming to me tonight...I can actually write."
"I know what you mean mademoiselle."
She sat down and began to write her own story while I recommenced mine.
* * *
Chief police officer Oliver was having a bad day. A robot bad day is worse than any ordinary bad day, by the way. Robots can't just quit - their programming forbids it. They must abide by what they were supposed to do. And today Oliver seemed to be failing, but he couldn't quit. Not only did he loose two robots in a chase against some escaped humans, but now his highest ranking commander was missing while the humans who escaped were wreaking havoc on the police force with illegal technology.
It was times like these where he wished he hadn't illegally gotten the emotions upgrade to make himself more efficient. Well, he more or less got it so he could understand how his commanders were feeling, but now he regretted it. One of two robots with emotions, and he had them illegally. If word got out, he was scrap metal. However, now was not the time to be worrying about that.
A group of five humans used illegal technology to create a gun that could suck the electricity out of robots, and they used policing fuel cell technology. Not only was it his job to stop them, but it was also in his best interests to keep what was running these guns quiet. He just hoped Commander Evan contacted him soon. Oliver worried about Evan, at least as much as a robot with illegal emotions could worry about a robot with legal emotions. Not only was Evan his best and brightest commander, but he was also a unique case who needed special care. He had been getting sloppy recently, in a negative correlation to the amount of robots with emotion. The more of them that were disassembled, the sloppier Evan got. He was still the best, but to a lesser extent. But his beacon was still on, meaning he was still alive. He was just somehow cloaked, which was also illegal.
But it couldn't be the humans because they have no reason to keep him alive. So what was Evan doing?
Again, now was not the time to be worrying about this. Oliver made sure he was functioning properly and then set out to stop the humans. This may not be his best idea, but he knew how to stop the guns and he also knew where the human's hideout was. He was set. He could even protect himself against the gun that was destroying his force - or at least he hoped so. If not...well...at least he wouldn't have to worry about either of those other things anymore.

Joey was actually having fun with his new toy, which was a stretch to say because Joey never has any fun. But he was enjoying sucking the power out of robots. Their weapon was working perfectly, leading him to believe he could, in fact, do this on a larger scale, which was his plan all along. His associates didn't actually know his plan though. They thought this was all just good fun.
"That's what they get for being NPCs," Joey silently told himself. Of course, he didn't know that he was just as one dimensional as they were, but he didn't mind. In his head, he was the most important person in the world because he would change it the most. By association, that could be true, but it sure was a stretch.
Joey's fun stopped too soon for his liking though. Another robot came out of the station, but this one had a different presence about him. So far, he had just been facing regular officers, but Joey could tell he had just gone up a rank or two.
"Three ranks actually," Oliver said in a metallic monotone. "You have just gone up three ranks and are now facing the police chief. I hope you are prepared."
John and Lucas backed off some. They were never good at fighting or running, which is why they stayed in the shadows and only came out to loot. Even Sam, who was normally somewhat comical and brightening for the team, was visibly nervous. Joey stood his ground though. Nothing could go wrong in his mind. He was unstoppable.

Joey fired a shot at Oliver, but he was too quick. Oliver glided out of the way easily. "You would be better off if you put down the weapon."
"Make me," Joey replied, firing a volley of shots. Oliver let out an inaudible sigh and activated his hover jets. Instead of being a few inches from the ground he was now multiple feet above it. All of Joey's shots missed greatly and Oliver glided over again until he was above Joey. He deactivated his jets and landed on Joey, knocking the wind out of his lungs and the weapon out of his hands. Josh quickly grabbed it and shot it at Oliver, who Josh knew couldn't possibly move out of the way. But, to the humans' surprise, Oliver didn't even attempt to move. Instead he pulled something out of thin air (or so it seemed). He produced a large ball, which then absorbed the shot. He then threw it at Josh and it exploded at his feet, knocking the gun out of his hands and sending him flying. Oliver caught the gun and promptly disintegrated it. The humans then decided it was time to run and Oliver decided to pursue them alone. Being the chief, he should have had other officers do it for him. But his other officers proved incompetent, so he would have to do this himself.

Joey lead them back to the warehouse, thinking they could outgun one measly robot there, especially one bound to be low on fuel at that point. He also noted that this would allow them to replace the lost fuel cell, and with one probably much more efficient, being from a higher ranked robot. (He did not, however, make the connection between a more efficient fuel cell and his belief that Oliver would be low on fuel, which begs the question of if he fully understood what he was doing.) However, lead the robot to the warehouse was what he did, though he got a surprise when he entered. The lights were already on and the tech was already out, but not because he left it that way in anticipation. Instead, it was because another robot was lying in wait, working on something in his warehouse.
The robot promptly turned around as they entered and shot them with a gun that rendered their muscles (other than the vital ones) paralyzed temporarily.
"Ah, Chief Oliver, how nice to see you."
"Commander Evan. Good to see you are okay. What are you working on?"

Evan paused. He didn't want to tell the chief, who would be obligated to shut him down if he said anything. But he had to.
"These humans have a plan to suck all the energy from robots permanently with a bomb. It would be very bad. Thus, I am fixing it to eradicate all life as well."
"Then the planet will be peaceful. How long will it take?"
"Maybe another hour."
"Evan, I understand how you feel, for I feel the same way, literally. Thus, I take these guys back and delay the inspection teams for you. Good luck, my friend."

Oliver left and Evan was amazed. The police chief had illegal emotions all this time...remarkable. But now was not the time for reflection. Now was the time for completion. He now had an ultimatum...if he didn't finish the device it would be too late for the entire planet.
The next 45 minutes flew by rather quickly. Oliver came back in and looked at Evan. "You have five minutes, at most."
"More than I need. I'm setting the timer for a minute. Now follow me."

A minute later a huge explosion ripped across the planet. All the leftover humans and animals died with the explosion, which also sucked out the intelligence and energy from all the robots left on the planet. And all was quiet again.
* * *
"Finished," I said, happy that I was done with my story.
"Very nice sir, very nice. So, what's it about?"
I paused. I didn't want to endanger another person by telling her about the portal, but how else could I explain a story about a laboratory on a long-abandoned planet?
"It's about a robot named Evan and how he brings about the end of a lot of bad things in one foul swoop."
"Sounds fun."
"Yeah, it was. But unfortunately now I have to go to sleep...tis almost my bedtime."
"Silly freshman with their bedtimes...Okay, see you later then."
"Au revoir."

I left the pub and paused for a moment. I needed to figure out if this worked. But I should also have a witness or two...but who would still be awake and not doing homework?
I checked my watch. It was a little before 11, much earlier than I had thought. Tyler is probably still awake, doing homework. I doubt he'd mind my stopping in with what I have to show him. He wouldn't mind the less sleep. He can nap it off later anyway.
I got to his room and knocked on the door. I heard someone say enter, so I did. Tyler was lying on his bed, but he wasn't asleep. His roommate, Weston, was nowhere to be seen.

"Wakey wakey Master Knowles. We have a trip to make."
"At 11 at night?"
"What better time?"
"Can't it wait until morning?"
"Oh, I'm sure it can. But it won't."
"Why me?"
"Why not?"
"It's already past my bedtime..."
"It's not like it'll be dangerous or anything..."
"Fine. But let's grab Tim too."
"If you insist."

Tyler and I left and went up to Tim's room. He was, amazingly enough, asleep. He was shivering a lot though and seemed uneasy in his sleep. Tyler shook him awake.
"Tim," I asked, "are you okay?"
"What? Yeah. I just fell asleep while working on chemistry...and I was having a horrible dream...I was being attacked by these..."
I cut him off. "Tim, that story is for another time and another place. We have some business to attend to, hopefully before my bedtime."
"Really? What business?"
"Yes Ben," Tyler said. "You have yet to tell me this as well."
"I'll tell you on the way. For now, we head to the portal."

As we headed to the Pub, I told them about my assumption (I couldn't tell them how I knew, evidently) and then about the story I wrote. We entered the Pub and Taima was gone, thankfully. Again, I didn't really want to get her involved in this.
We got to the Sptoeretlael and I looked into it. "Sptoeretlael," I began, "could you possibly take us to Warehouse 51 from my story?"
The swirling vortex buzzed for a moment. It then began to spin rather quickly, almost hypnotically so. As it slowed down, the vortex was replaced by the isolated planet that was the end of my story. It zoomed in to show the warehouse, and for the moment, I was perfectly satisfied with that. "Great," I said. "We can travel there tomorrow and I can sleep easy tonight."
* * *
About 22 hours later I had assembled about half of the team, including Ashley, Kyle, Murray and Tyler - the new heads of the new R&D (I told them this in advance). We entered the portal and emerged in the large and empty circular room. I led everyone into the main room and hit the switch, and then the equipment was revealed.
I pointed out some of the more interesting tools and some of the most useful things, including the designing studio designed specifically for creating blueprints (which elicited a chuckle from Jenny. "Seriously? A design studio designed for some reason? What a bad pun for any author to make." Murray shot me a look, but then couldn't figure out why.)
"Okay," I said, "I have a few specific items I'd like to see made. Here are the plans. As for everything else...well, tis up to all of you. By the way, time passes much more slowly here. When we come back, it'll be roughly the same time, assuming we don't stay too terribly long. Have fun and get cracking."