Star League 6 Read online

  The Star League are so shocked they can only gape as the Sentrybots prepare to fire their weapons. Luckily for them I’m a little faster to act. I lunge towards the leader of the Sentrybots and slap my palm down on its control panel. Then I send a short burst of electricity through my hand that scrambles its circuits.

  ‘SYSTEM ERROR! SYSTEM ERROR!’ The Sentrybot’s head spins around and sparks fly out of its control panel. Then the red lights in its eyes go dull and it powers down.

  ‘ENEMY DETECTED!’ screeches one of the Sentrybots. ‘ATTACK!’

  I guess iRis was wrong when she said the Sentrybots wouldn’t attack me if I destroyed their leader!

  A Sentrybot lunges at me and I dive to the floor. I crawl under the legs of a row of Sentrybots and towards the Star League.

  ‘On the count of three, jump!’ I tell them.

  ‘What?’ asks Roger. ‘What are you –’

  ‘There’s no time for questions!’ I interrupt. ‘Just do as I say! One … two … three!’

  They jump into the air, and the minute their feet are off the ground I send a wave of electricity crackling through the metal floor. It doesn’t deactivate the Sentrybots completely but it stuns them, which means that if we work together we might have a chance of defeating them.

  ‘I request your help!’ I shout, and the others leap into action.

  Jay moves quickly with a combination of martial arts moves to power down the bots. Connor fights with less style but a lot more strength as he tears the robots apart in werewolf form. Asuka uses her wooden staff to destroy the control panels on the Sentrybots’ chests. Roger throws a potion that turns the robots around him to rust, and Leigh and her monkey, Chu, work as a team disabling the robots’ wiring.

  In two minutes and forty-eight seconds all of the Sentrybots have been deactivated.

  ‘Phew! That was close,’ says Asuka.

  ‘Yeah, I’d like to know who sent those ’bots so we can teach them a lesson!’ agrees Roger.

  ‘Well, the Sentrybots did say they were heading to Falcon Laboratories next, so maybe whoever sent them is going there, too,’ suggests Leigh.

  ‘Sounds like a good idea,’ says Jay. He turns to me. ‘Thanks for helping us out back there, Sam. If it weren’t for you we’d be history!’

  ‘Yes. It is a good thing I had reason to believe you were walking into a trap and waited behind,’ I tell them. I expect them to see the logic in this, since everyone is safely out of robot hands, but instead they look outraged.

  ‘What? You knew it was a trap?’ fumes Asuka.

  ‘How could you just stand by and let that happen?’ asks Leigh.

  ‘My systems confirmed this plan had the highest chance of success,’ I explain.

  ‘We could have been hurt!’ says Roger.

  ‘But you weren’t.’

  The others glare at me before storming out of the room. Only Jay stays behind.

  ‘I don’t understand why everyone is mad at me, Jay,’ I tell him. ‘My statistics indicated …’

  ‘Sam, not everything’s about statistics.’ He pats me on the back. ‘You can’t just listen to your head all the time. You also need to do right by other people, and that means listening to your heart.’

  ‘But I don’t have a heart,’ I tell him. ‘I have a nervous system comprised of wires and …’

  ‘That’s not what I mean.’ Jay sighs and then smiles. ‘I guess the whole “having feelings” thing is like learning to walk for a robot. You’ve just got to take it one step at a time.’ Jay turns to leave. ‘Come on. The others will get over it. For now we’d better get to Falcon Labs and try to catch whoever is behind all this.’

  I’m about to follow Jay down the hall when I feel a hand on my shoulder. As I turn I’m surprised to find a robot standing behind me.

  She looks almost humanoid, though I can tell she’s a robot by the glowing control panel on her wrist. Around her shoulders she wears a purple cloak with a hood that covers her face.

  ‘iRis?’ I ask.

  The robot nods and puts a finger to her lips to show that I should be quiet. Then she backs away down the hall.

  ‘Are you coming, Sam?’ Jay calls from the doorway.

  ‘I will return in one minute,’ I yell, then I follow iRis into the shadows.

  As I wander down the passageway after iRis, my security systems warn me that this may be a trap. I know that I am being what the humans call ‘foolish’, but I need to find out who this mysterious robot is.

  I follow iRis into a side room, and the door hisses shut behind us.

  ‘I want to thank you for saving me back there,’ she says with a smile.

  ‘Saving you?’ I ask in confusion. ‘But you were the one who saved us.’

  She shakes her head. ‘Those Sentrybots were sent by somebody evil. If they had found me in here they would have destroyed me, and there was no way I could have taken them on by myself.

  I have something for you.’ iRis holds out her hand, which contains a small computer chip.

  ‘What is that?’

  ‘I heard the way your friends got mad at you for not understanding them,’ says iRis. I scan her face and can see that she feels sorry for me, which is strange. I’ve never known a robot to feel emotions before.

  ‘Professor Pestilence’s experiments left me able to make my own decisions,’ I explain. ‘But one thing I wasn’t equipped with was emotions. I can solve complex mathematical equations, but I can’t always tell when I’ve made somebody mad. Emotions just do not compute.’

  iRis nods. ‘I understand. I used to be the same. My friends would get frustrated with me because I would say or do things to upset them without meaning to. Then I installed an Emotochip.’ iRis points to a chip in her arm. ‘With one of these I can feel happiness, sadness and all the other emotions humans have. Here, this is for you – your very own Emotochip.’

  iRis stands there holding out the chip, but I hesitate. My programmers always warned me about accepting chips from strangers. But iRis isn’t a stranger. She’s gone through the same thing as me.

  I reach out and take the chip.

  ‘I will think about it,’ I tell iRis.

  ‘Sam, are you in there?’ comes Jay’s voice from the hallway.

  iRis looks worried for a moment. ‘Please don’t tell them you saw me here!’

  ‘Why not?’ I ask. But iRis has already slipped into the shadows and left.

  Jay appears in the doorway. ‘Who were you talking to, Sam?’

  Normally I’d tell Jay the truth, but iRis really helped me out today, and the least I can do is keep her secret. ‘Nobody,’ I lie. ‘I was merely reciting pi to the three-hundredth digit.’

  ‘Uh, okay.’ Jay scratches his head. ‘Well, we should get going.’

  We leave the Happy Android Robotics Factory and walk over to the rocketcar. From processing their body language, I can see that the others are still mad at me. I clutch the Emotochip in my fist and think about how it might make all this better. But I don’t really know what’s on the chip. It might change me permanently. I decide to try to fix things without the chip.

  ‘I am aware that you believe my actions put you all in danger,’ I say. Connor, Leigh, Asuka and Roger nod. ‘For that I am sorry.’ They smile at me. ‘I am sorry that your inferior human brains were unable to comprehend my plan in order to see that you were in no danger.’

  Their smiles turn to glares, though I’m not sure what I’ve done to make them angry. I thought apologies were supposed to make people forgive you.

  I search my databases for the coordinates of Falcon Laboratories, then punch them into the rocketcar’s computer. It starts its engine and begins to drive towards its destination. The others sit there in silence, ignoring me. I know if I were able to feel emotions right now, I’d feel miserable. If only I could get this right!

  I open my hand and examine the chip. My processors reach a decision.

  I slot the chip into a download port in my wrist and wait for th
e Emotochip software to install.

  At first it’s like downloading any other program. There is a list of emotions I have the choice of downloading, and I tick every box.

  I don’t notice much of a change to begin with, but when the chip has finished installing I start to get dizzy and I feel like I’m going to power down. A smiley face icon appears on my head screens.

  ‘Hello, and welcome to your new Emotochip!’ chirps a cheery voice. I look around but the others are still ignoring me, so I figure that the voice is in my mind.

  ‘Let’s cycle through your new range of emotions. First up, happiness!’

  I feel a rush of emotion that makes me want to smile and laugh out loud, so I do. The others stare at me like I’ve gone crazy, but I’m too busy being happy to worry about them.

  ‘Now, anger!’ growls the voice. My happiness evaporates in a second, replaced by wild rage. I just want to yell at everyone else in the car for not understanding me. But before I can, the voice chirps up again.

  ‘Time for some sadness!’ All of my anger disappears and is replaced by a feeling inside my chest like a gaping chasm. I feel so alone, so upset. There’s a strange sensation on my cheeks. I reach up and notice they’re wet.

  ‘Are you crying, Sam?’ asks Leigh in concern. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘Get ready for fear!’ informs the voice, and when I stare up at the others my heart races. I wonder if the Star League are secretly the bad guys and if they’re taking me back to Professor Pestilence’s laboratories. I start screaming.

  ‘Sam! What’s going on?’ asks Jay. The others don’t look mad anymore, just really worried.

  ‘And lastly, regret,’ says the voice. A wash of feelings comes over me, a little like sadness, a little like fear, but still very different. I think about all the awful things I said to my friends about them being inferior and I feel so ashamed.

  ‘Everyone, I just want to tell you how sorry I am,’ I say. ‘I didn’t mean those things I said before, and I wasn’t thinking about your feelings. I don’t think you’re inferior at all. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, and that’s what makes us work so well as a team.’

  The others smile back at me.

  ‘Hey, don’t worry about it, Sam,’ says Connor.

  ‘We all say things we don’t mean sometimes,’ says Asuka.

  ‘Like when I say Connor smells bad and has fleas,’ says Roger. ‘Except I do mean that.’

  ‘Besides,’ Leigh adds quickly, ‘friends should be there to forgive each other.’

  Jay stays silent and looks worried.

  ‘You’re acting really different,’ he says. ‘Are you sure you’re feeling okay?’

  I smile at him. ‘Yep, I’ve never felt better.’

  Jay smiles back uneasily.

  ‘Welcome to your new emotive world,’ says the voice in my head. ‘You now have access to hundreds of human emotions. If you have any concerns about the programming, please contact SCHHRRIIIICCCHH!’

  The voice cuts out and is replaced by loud static. It seems a little strange, but I’m too distracted by all my new emotions to pay it much attention.

  The rocketcar pulls into a deserted parking lot and comes to a stop.

  ‘We have arrived at Falcon Laboratories,’ says the computerised voice of the autopilot.

  I jump out of the car, ready to take on the world.

  I scan the dark, empty parking lot for any sign of movement. I wonder if whoever ordered the Sentrybots to break into the Happy Android Robotics Factory is waiting in the shadows, ready to attack. My chest feels tight with fear and excitement.

  ‘Where are we?’ asks Connor. ‘I thought this was supposed to be some kind of lab.’

  ‘I don’t see any buildings,’ says Jay. ‘I wonder if we’ve got the right place?’

  ‘You shouldn’t always believe your eyes,’ I tell them. A tracker signal is going off in my brain telling me that Falcon Labs is somewhere nearby. I walk over to a manhole cover and pull it to one side, revealing a ladder leading down into the darkness. ‘The lab is down there.’

  Roger’s skin goes a bit greener than usual. ‘Uh, do you think there will be any bugs down there?’

  ‘It’s a sewage pipe, so yes,’ says Asuka.

  ‘Really?’ he asks.

  ‘Yeah. Bugs that have grown huge from years of mutation,’ teases Connor.

  ‘Uh-uh! No way am I going down there!’ says Roger, crossing his arms.

  A hot flash of emotion surges through my brain. I recognise it straight away as anger. Roger is wasting time, I think to myself. What a baby! I can’t believe he’s afraid of a couple of bugs. I should squash him like a bug!

  I shake my head and my anger is replaced by confusion. Why was I thinking that about Roger? He’s my friend!

  ‘It’s okay to be scared, Roger,’ I tell him. ‘We’ve all got things we’re afraid of. But part of overcoming something you’re afraid of is to face up to it.’

  ‘That’s easy for you to say,’ scoffs Roger. ‘You’re a robot. No offence, but you don’t have feelings, which means you’re not afraid of anything!’

  Roger’s words hit me like a slap in the face. How would he know? My mind races back to my life before the Star League, when I was held captive in Professor Pestilence’s laboratories and experimented upon. The very thought that I might end up back there one day sends chills down my spine, but that hasn’t stopped me from going after the professor time and time again.

  I’m about to start yelling at Roger when a thought pops into my mind.

  No! You can’t let them know about the Emotochip. They’ll be suspicious about where you got it from and try to take it away from you. Your ability to feel emotions like a real human combined with your superior robotic brain will make you unstoppable, and they’ll be jealous!

  ‘You’re right,’ I tell Roger. ‘I don’t know how it feels. Uh, affirmative.’

  Jay looks at me strangely, so I try to keep a blank face. Then he turns back to Roger.

  ‘Don’t worry, Roger, there are no giant bugs down there. And if there are any, I’m sure Leigh can keep them away.’

  ‘That’s right, Roger,’ soothes Leigh. ‘I’ll ask them nicely to stay away and they’ll probably listen.’

  I feel myself getting annoyed again. Nobody is ever this understanding with me. They get angry at me for being myself and expect me not to have any feelings just because I’m a robot. I scowl and start to climb down the sewage pipe. The others don’t even notice.

  At the bottom of the pipe is a thick steel door with a security panel locking the way. I close my eyes and try to concentrate. My mind is still buzzing with anger, but I take a few deep breaths and the feelings go away.

  I connect with the interface and examine the security software. The lock is a tough one, and for a moment I don’t think I’ll be able to crack it. But I keep sliding the connections around in my mind until the lock clicks open.

  ‘Well done, Sam,’ says a voice that is definitely not one of the Star League. ‘I knew you could do it!’

  I spin around.

  ‘iRis!’ She’s standing just behind me in the shadows. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘What kind of a hello is that?’ asks iRis with a grin.

  ‘S-sorry,’ I stammer. ‘I’m just surprised to see you. I didn’t even hear you come down the ladder.’ I peer up the ladder looking for the rest of the Star League. ‘Where are the others?’

  ‘They’re busy,’ says iRis quickly. ‘So why don’t you and I take a look around?’

  I shrug. I guess the others are probably still trying to convince Roger that there aren’t any giant bugs down here. ‘You snooze, you lose.’ I follow iRis into the secret lab.

  As soon as I’m inside, my jaw drops open in amazement.

  ‘I’ve never seen anything like this in my life!’ I mutter.

  Staring at me over the top of a giant hole in the ground are two enormous metallic heads. I peer over the edge of the hole to find that t
he heads are attached to equally enormous metallic bodies.

  ‘They’re giant robots!’ I whisper.

  ‘You’re almost right,’ says iRis. ‘They’re not robots. They’re Megadroids.’

  ‘Megadroids?’ I ask. ‘These are what the Sentrybots were searching for! But what are they?’

  ‘They’re a top-secret experiment,’ says iRis. ‘They can’t function on their own like you or me. I guess you could say they’re just the bodies for a robot.’

  ‘Huh? What do you mean?’

  ‘See that command panel down there?’ iRis asks, pointing to a seat in the chest of one of the Megadroids. ‘The panel is designed for a robot to connect with so he or she can control the Megadroid.’

  ‘Are you telling me that I can sit in that seat, connect to the mainframe and control that thing like a giant puppet? That is so cool!’ I’m so excited I feel like my circuitry is going to overheat!

  ‘Let’s take them for a test run, shall we?’ asks iRis.

  I don’t need to be told twice! I rush towards a ladder leading down into the pit and jump onto a platform the same height as the Megadroid’s controls. I climb into the chair and strap myself in, but nothing happens. I glance across at iRis, who is strapping herself into the other Megadroid.

  ‘Uh, how do I get this thing to work?’

  ‘Connect your circuitry with the access panel,’ says iRis. She shows me how by slotting her hand into a pair of gloves by her side, which are connected to the Megadroid by a bunch of wires.

  I look down and see a similar pair of gloves next to my seat, plus two straps for my feet. I slip into them, and a jolt of electricity courses through my body. I raise my hand to stretch it and as I do I see the enormous hand of the Megadroid rise as well.

  ‘It’s alive!’ I yell in surprise.

  ‘Relax,’ says iRis with a smirk. ‘You’re just controlling it with your body. See?’ She raises her hand in the control seat to wave at me, and as she does her Megadroid raises its hand and waves as well. ‘Now come on, we’ve got a job to do.’ iRis turns her Megadroid around and raises one of its giant arms to grab the side of the pit. Then she pulls herself up and stands on the edge. ‘Are you coming or not, Sam?’