The news was spreading all around the small ADD outpost. There had been another clash between ADD and Archanius Alliance forces. A typical battle between agents and a squad of robots attempting to steal the women from a small village. But this attack had been a rousing success. Not only had everyone in the village been rescued unharmed, but several of the robots in the squad had been damaged and taken as salvage.

And they weren't ordinary robots. These were models from the personal army of the mysterious high-ranking Alliance member known only as "RLS-90". No one had ever seen this alien, only the powerful vessel he traveled on and the various robots that served as his "public face" so to speak. But he was well known across the galaxies for his ruthlessness and his technological genius. To get to study some of his creations first hand would be a once in a lifetime chance for any engineer.... Provided they were in with ADD enough to actually get their hands on those robots.

Abruptly called off of shore leave. Five hundred miles deep into the Kavarian Death Race, a cross-country travail the size of a continent, in terrain as dangerous as the Amazon, wind whipping past at dozens of miles per hour, wrapped tight around rumbling engine. You can bet she wasn't happy about that chirp in her ear. Till she heard the name at least. The Kaiser Soze of the space engineering community. a regular myth among grease-monkeys. RLS-90. She was a little surprised they called her in for robotics work. But hell, she didn't protest.

Four hours later and she was stepping off ship onto a research station a few planets over. An exotic, spicy trail of alien smoke followed the tightly rolled cigarette as she briskly strode down the corridor, still squeezed into the black bodysuit from her ride, a holographic series of menus extending in front of her, staying in step with her as she skims over the relative documents. Her assistant falls in step with her, a mousy, timid little red haired thing. ADD bureaucracy. She'll send her away early and often, kid will just get in the way. She's just lucky they didn't send in a larger tech crew. She strides through a labyrinth of steel corridors, the bustling of lab workers dwindling as she moves further into the bowels of the station. Until finally, her secured silo looms over her, workers gone, all the gear and the toys already unloaded. She taps fingers on the door code and the heavy steel doors slowly creak upward, flood lights from the high ceiling spilling geat yellow light on the inside.

And she stares on, grinning like a madwoman, joint clenched in her teeth. "My babies! Meet your new mother!"

The robots' reaction is a bit underwhelming- no response at all. But of course that's to be expected considering the beating they took in the battle. Five of RLS-90's Model 09s rest around the room, in various states of damage. The most intact one is resting on a table in the center of the chamber with a toolbox already nearby. There's a hole through its gut and the display screen on its chest is shattered, but the rest of the innards appear functional.

And rolled into the corner is a new model that made its debut in the attack- no one has ever seen this one before now. A silver orb the size of a medicine ball, scratched up and dented and still giving off the occasional pathetic spark. According to the reports, during the battle it hovered effortlessly and extended dozens of metallic tentacles fitted with gripping claws, lasers and tractor beams. Far more weaponry than something that size should be able to hold.

She drags off the joint, snapping her fingers at the assistant, carelessly inconsiderate, smoke trailing from pink lips. "Coffee. and a cheeseburger." She can't even look at the girl, she's so enraptured. Eyes glaze over the orb, ever so briefly, ever so unimpressed. She's not interested in weapons. At least, not weapons she can't ride. These robots, on the other hand....

She saunters in front of the robot, head tilted to the side, hands on hips, lips pursed in consideration. Fingers stroke up the metal cheek, grinning pleasantly. "I guess Skynet came early this year, huh?" Fingers curl over the bottom row of teeth, teeth that could snap her finger in half with no force, seeing if she can open the jaw manually, get a look at the thing's brain.

The jaw gradually creaks open as Kate applies force to it. There isn't much to see though. But there is a release catch at the back of the throat to make the brainpan open up. It's a mass of circuitry and near microscopic wiring of amazing complexity. It doesn't seem to be damaged, which is lucky for her research. But if the brain isn't broken, how did the robot fail and get captured? And.... are there lights lit up in there, or is it just her imagination?

Meanwhile as the harried assistant is rushing off to fetch Kate's fast food, the orb stops sparking. As Kate continues to ignore it, it shifts position ever so slightly. It pauses to see if the inventor has noticed, then moves silently another foot or two toward the door the assistant left through. There it stops again. If Kate looks up, she may not even realize that it's moved such a short distance.

She doesn't look up. No, not at all. Too caught up in the wiring of this thing. She doesn't even glance down as she extracts her cigarette case from the satchel at her side, lights up the joint. Her arms are thrust up the rib cage of the cyborg, pushing firm breasts upward in the skin-tight suit, face kissing distance to the faux-Terminator. "Hn." she posits as she examines the lights. A click of her tongue and a holo-menu pops to life in front of her. "Still active. Whatever they did to this sturdy little bastard, they didn't kill it..." Her words click as print across the menu. The implications take a while to hit her, so deep in her examination of the thing, toying with wiring, picking apart the jumbled bundle to piece apart how this thing works. Robotics aren't her field but a machine's just a....

FUCK! It hits her. Her head twists over her shoulder to look for the assistant. "Our friend here is just hibernating!" The girl's gone. Damn. She turns back on the robot, studying its face, pouty girl lips inches from steel. She murmurs, "What are you doing here....?" A contemplative pout. It's possible that there's some sort of major short keeping the thing out of action. On the other hand.....

(sorry this took so long! finally catching up- you wouldn't believe this year I've had.)

The other hand makes its move. The robot that Kate is examining moves like lighting, grabbing her wrists in an iron grip. It starts to sit up on the table, twisting her arms up to make it harder for her to struggle. All around her the supposedly damaged robots are rising up, sparks coming off in places but otherwise completely functional. The four robots from around the room begin to close in on the table, ready to block any route of escape.

The worst part is yet to come though. From behind the agent, a high-pitched sound comes from the silver orb. With a sudden bright flash her holomenu sputters and vanishes, and any other communication devices she has on her start to malfunction as well. A deep voice comes from the robot that's holding Kate. "Ah, I see the signal jammer is working just as I'd planned. Good, good. I hadn't had a chance to test it on ADD machinery yet, but the theory was as always flawless."

((What a pleasant surprise! I'd forgotten all about this scene! Don't worry... I've just come back as well))

There's no time to react. Before she can even blind, the robot's fingers are clenched over her wrists like vises. Even held at her sides she wouldn't have much means to struggle, beut before she can even register her surprise, her arms are wrenched upward, whole body pulled to attention, breasts jiggling in tight bodysuit, every line of her body in streamlined display. There's a blink and she's already routing through the neuro-interface. "ADD Command, this is Kate Mercury. We have a---godammit!", cut short as, just like that, the display blinks out of existence, the constant twitter of information she's grown accustomed to dropping into blissful silence. No static. No nothing.

Eyes scan the workshop as best as her field of vision will allow, wiggling left and right in the robot's hold, testing its grip. The joint flares red between her teeth, lips twisting up sardonically. "Well, well, well... RLS-90, I presume."

The robot's eyes scan up and down Kate's slender form as she squirms in its grasp. One of the others reaches out and closes its brainpan up again. "Now don't sound too excited to meet me." it replies with a smirk in its tone. "And you.... Kate Mercury. My goodness. I've been following your career since that incident on Quartus IV, when you and your Coyote ran rings around my Alliance associates.... I consider it quite a compliment they chose you to examine my hands here."

Kate's hands are pulled together above her, and from behind one robot locks something around her wrists- a pair of magnetic handcuffs. It grabs the chain between the cuffs and lets the robot before her release her. It crosses its arms and leers at her. "I'm sure you already realize that this entire setup was a trap. So I'll be brief. I require information on the ADD. Passwords and access codes for certain networks and databases. You can tell me the things I want to know now, or you can tell me... eventually." The robot's skull-like face twists into an even darker grin. "Frankly, I almost hope you choose the latter."

She clucks her tongue, amused, despite herself. Wrists squirm back and forth in the grip of the cuff, held together, twisting shoulders upward, back arched forward, chest thrust forward, ass poking deliciously against the tight uniform like a ripe peach. The best she can hope for right now is to keep her faith that little dolt of a technical aid has the good sense to go and run for help rather than walk right back into the trap. Her voice drips sardonically. "Oh, RLS, it's an honor, truly. But I always hoped the circumstances of our first meeting wouldn't be so drenched in BDSM trappings. I guess you're a Heavy Metal fan, huh?"

Of course it was a trap. She's kicking herself that she didn't figure it out earlier. Stupid, curious Kate, too greedy for new tech to think things through. God, girl, how could you let yourself get trapped so easily? The creature keeps talking and she just slowly grows irritable, cold, arch lift of her brow, lips slowly peeling into a sneer, gums exposed. "Excuse me?" She barks out an incredulous laugh. "You have the most brilliant engineer in the ADD's design corps in your grips and you want CODES? You want PASSWORDS? Jesus.... I'm offended. Seriously. Why don't you get your leering robot goons off of me, un-cuff my hands, and me and you talk about this like civilized engineers. I'm sure me and you can work out a mutually beneficial arrangement, all by ourselves, without the nosy, prying eyes of ADD command around to eavesdrop."

The robot that RLS is speaking through smirks at Kate's casual response. Definitely a fiesty one. Whatever way this meeting goes is going to be interesting, he can tell. He snorts and turns to one of the other robots. "I give her a bit of praise and she lets it go to her head," he tells it with a mocking laugh. "Brilliant, yes, for a human. But how much do you honestly think you can offer me? I have made breakthroughs your society could only imagine...." He leans in close to Kate, red eyes shining ominously. "But my goal to take down the ADD remains. much as I hate to admit it, they still outweigh me in terms of brute force. And your idiot employers have managed, by some supremely lucky break, to stumble on an encryption method resistant to my methods. That is the only reason I would lower myself to this level."

A few seconds pause. RLS leans back "Then again...." he says, almost to himself. "As inferior to my own as it is, your talent is still impressive. I am never one to cling to an old plan when a better one can be found. The cuffs stay... for now. But if you have something sufficiently intriguing to offer, I may be willing to make an 'arrangement' after all." The robot behind Kate lets go of the cuffs, allowing her to bring her hands down in front of her.

It's a small victory. At least she's not forced to stand in that awkward, revealing positions, but her wrists are still held together, settled into her lap with the most poise she can imagine. Eyes dart furtively back to the door, trying her best to engineer an escape out of the situation, but the situation doesn't appear very optimistic. "Tsk, tsk. Puny little monkey meatbags put together an encryption system your brilliant robotic mind can't yet crack. That must be absolutely infuriating for you." Eyes shine venomously, meeting the robot's gaze, lips twisted up in a snotty, willful smirk. "You really think it's just as easy as asking a girl for passwords and codes? Please. I'm a grease monkey - a grease monkey who's barely trusted by high command, besides. Sure, I'm a useful tool for them, but I'm certainly not trustworthy enough to share higher level access codes with. I'm given the barest essentials to work with and that's it. I'm not privvy to high security clearance by a longshot."

Fingers wiggle to rub at her wrists, pink where they were so rudely wrenched around by the cold steel of the robot's fingers. Eyes drift over the gang of humanoids thronging her. "You put me in a bad situation, boss. Aside from access codes, which I have no clearance for, I have no idea what you want, not the slightest inkling of how I might be useful to you, but either way, you're certainly barking up the wrong tree... However, if you could give me some sort of hint towards your intent and motives, it could be greatly beneficial for you to have a mole on the inside of the operation, hm? Someone to be your hands and your eyes?"