It turns out the steel and glass from the domes would be recycled into building the new headquarters for the Survey Core Alliance in the cove Big O showed us the night of our wedding. A nice hanger was built for the Bigs, now called The Three Knights. Of course, the SCA also has small, mechanized unit as well to provide support. However, they're still land base. Beck's been analyzing Big Duo and Big Fau's systems, trying to see if he can make a smaller version of them to use in exploration of the world around us, but he cannot recreate the power source the Bigs use. Though, he told me one time, he's not complaining. It's better that the knowledge of Dark Matter has been lost to time rather than remain hidden. He's confident he'll find a suitable substitute for his research.
Four years ago, the SCA sent two separate scouting teams and they found Big Duo and Big Fau in the Wastes. They were in rough shape, but were intact, including having their core memory. We spent about a year restoring them. Beck became the pilot of Big Fau, although reluctantly. However, Big Fau had chosen him as his pilot as no one else could get close the output of numbers we got during the tests we conducted with him. We had been summoned a few times over the years to deal with some giant robot threats in the city when MP's mecha force couldn't contain the problem. Though the new mecha unit headed by Dastun is tougher than nails. Every so often, if Beck or myself are out conducting tests, we'll head nearby to the action and watch, just in case if the Military Police need us.
During the week, Dorothy and I are negotiators and board members of the hospital that had now been built. Dr. Plebanski is busy as always, making sure things are running smoothly, with Carlye as her right hand, although she'll stop being an administrator from time to time and go back in the field. She delivered all of my kids so far, except for one. On the weekends, Dorothy and I founding members of the SCA. It truly has grown into a large organization that I'm proud of. We've explored quite a bit of the surrounding territory of the PEF, discovering new wildlife, plant life, and pockets of human settlements that have so far been friendly to us.
Out of everyone, Dorothy and I have the most kids. As Beck put it, "we've been busy." Beck and Yumi have one of their own, Marcus, two years younger than the twins, and are expecting another, a girl they have decided to call Anna. Angel and Dastun had Elizabeth, a year younger than the twins. When we get together, we have to rent a large space for the kids to run. We had two more after the twins. Robert followed a year later after the twins, conceived during our honeymoon, and the pregnancy was rather difficult for Dorothy. We were more careful afterwards with the extracurricular activities. We took some time off before we had another, Daniel, now a year old. Daniel had been born three weeks early. During a training exercise, Beck and I were testing new components in Big O and Big Fau, assessing their strength. Dorothy was on the observation deck and while fighting, we sent a shockwave that shook the deck, knocking her down. The force of the fall caused her to go into labor early. Had Dastun and Angel not been there… we would've lost him and Dorothy. Though the labor was difficult, Daniel and Dorothy were fine and because of Dastun and Angel's actions, Dorothy and I agreed to name our son after Dastun. I never seen Dastun flustered after we told him, which was mildly amusing.
But, even with kids and being negotiators, Dorothy and I still find time for one another…
"Roger…"
"Mmm?"
"Really?"
Roger was kissing Dorothy on her neck and working his way down. He raised himself on their bed, looking at her. They had put the kids down for a nap and Norman was outside, tending to his garden at their retreat outside of Electric City. In other words, they had a brief moment all to themselves and had retreated to the bedroom, enjoying the quiet. Roger smirked.
"I don't understand what's so funny," said Dorothy, raising her eyebrow.
"Sorry. We have a moment, and I didn't want to waste it."
Roger curled up close to Dorothy. Dorothy caressed his face and kissed him on the cheek.
"This is nice too," she said smiling.
Roger smiled. "Yeah, it is."
He sighed. Four years they had been together, married. Roger felt like he had blinked and fast forwarded from their wedding day. Technically, they had been together for seven years, Dorothy had once pointed out to him. Roger had no retort, in part because he became flustered, which made his kids and Norman laugh.
It was a beautiful fall day. The weather was turning cool, and they had the windows in the bedroom open, enjoying the breeze. Roger held Dorothy close, Dorothy holding his arms. Both were starting to feel sleepy until both of their comms went off at the same time. Roger groaned.
"I swear if it's Beck…" he muttered, "Smith here."
"Roger, can you come down to HQ? Beck found something." It was Dastun.
"Is it him being a worry wort about the bridge?" Roger asked as he sat up, sliding on his suspenders.
"Uh… well… no. We might have a bigger problem."
Roger was now fully awake.
"How big?"
"Like monster big."
Roger looked at Dorothy, who was looking at him, alarmed.
"What's the threat level?"
"Four, maybe five."
Roger grimaced. "I'm on my way."
Roger shut off the comm link, leaning over the bed to find his shoes. Dorothy got up herself, putting her shoes on.
"Level 5 threat? But that's… the same classification as Big Gamma…"
Roger was putting on his tie, finishing the knot.
"Can you find Norman? We're taking the kids. I'm not taking any chances. Silver lining, it's just Beck being a worry wort."
Dorothy finished adjusting her hair. "I can. But, what if it's… actually real?"
"Then we'll deal with it," and he gave her a small kiss on the cheek, "I have Big O and you by my side. We defeated Big Gamma. If this is a level 5 threat, we'll meet it and defeat it too. I have faith in you and Big O."
"And I have faith in you, Roger."
She smiled at him and left the bedroom to go find Norman, while Roger finished getting ready.
***
Roger was driving the Griffon with Norman following closely behind in Dorothy's car. With all the kids, plus Norman, they had to take two cars on the weekends to their retreat. Roger and Dorothy would head to the meeting grounds while Norman would take the kids to barracks as they were still sleeping.
They finally reached the base, Roger and Dorothy showing their IDs as the guards let them pass, followed by Norman. They drove a little further down, Norman taking the road to the left, Roger taking the right. Roger drove a little further and pulled up near a yellow convertible and pink sedan.
"Angel's here. So that means…" Dorothy observed.
"It's serious," said Roger, frowning.
They stepped out, shutting the doors, walking quickly to the elevator in front of them.
"I know Beck can be worry wort, Roger, but…"
"I know, I know. I'm looking at this from an objective standpoint. Dastun knows better than to throw that Level 5 threat around me."
They stepped onto the elevator, hitting the button for the top floor. Dorothy noticed Roger tense and moved over to him, rubbing his shoulders. Roger realized what she was trying to do and relaxed.
"I'm sorry," he said, giving a weak smile, "I don't mean to worry you. Just…" he sighed, "At least you and the kids are safe. That's all that matters."
Dorothy gave him a small smile. "We'll be fine, but let's not jump to conclusions. Let's see what's going and go from there."
The elevator sounded off and they both stepped off, walking down the hall where a group of people had gathered. Roger recognized them at once and so did Dorothy. Angel was here with Dastun, along with Beck and his wife, Yumi, holding Marcus close to her. Vice President John Batter was deep in discussion with Beck and Dastun. Lucy was standing against the wall, silently observing.
"Can we be sure though?" Vice President Batter asked, with a note of worry.
"No, we can't. Not without additional testing. But that would involve trying to catch the damn thing…" said Beck, getting irritated.
"If it's actually a sea monster, Beck," said Dastun, "We need more concrete proof than what the scans Roger and you took the other day and today. We can't put the cities on full alert with a lack of evidence… Roger! What took you?"
"Kids, sorry. What's going on about a sea monster?" asked Roger.
"Let's step inside the meeting room. Beck's prepared a presentation for us."
Roger groaned, but stifled it when he felt Dorothy rub his arm. He gave her a small smile and followed everyone inside, sitting at a chair, along with everyone else. Beck remained standing as he dimmed the lights and turned on a projector, showing the images Roger had taken the other day being compared to a different set.
"After some observations on the photos we took regarding the stability of the bridge, I went back in Big Fau to confirm my findings. These are pictures that I took today. Something's moving the column."
Roger folded his hands, resting his chin on top of them as he set his arms on the table. Indeed, the sea floor had shown signs the column had been moved additionally to the right of the spot where Roger first had taken the photos.
"And we can confirm that it was none of our units, the MPs, or a stray boat?" asked Roger.
Beck nodded. "I checked everything, Smith. The Military Police still have the bridge shut down, routing traffic to the other two bridges across the bay, but this bridge is the main connection point to Electric City as well as it's the most outer one at the entrance of the harbor."
"And there's been no earthquakes, tremors, or indications the ground has shifted?"
"I checked those too. I'm positive this hasn't been moved related to man, robot, or geography. There's something… out there…"
Roger closed his eyes, massaging his brow.
"Generally, there would be tracks, or some evidence left behind if it was a sea monster. Have you found anything related to that?"
Beck moved the clicked on the presentation and showed one of the columns scratched up, lines parallel from one another, looking jagged. Too narrow to be claw marks, but maybe teeth marks? They were there the other day when he was on the sea floor. Roger sighed, shaking his head.
"I stand corrected then. Looks like a sea monster. That's not man or robot made at all. And this is coming from personal experience fighting them."
Vice President Batter spoke.
"Our concern right now is for the citizens and properties closest to the harbor and bridge. We're in debate whether we should issue an evacuation order for the next few days, at least until we can find this… thing, and figure out what it is."
Angel nodded. "I'm in agreement with my colleague. Our people and their safety need to come first, Roger."
"But issuing the order would only cause panic," said Roger, "And that panic would spread to other areas of the city, causing chaos and then of course, it probably would reach Electric City. Dastun, is it possible to perhaps add more MP patrols to the harbor areas so that if it does come to evacuation, the MP can be in position to help and protect as many people as possible?"
"I'm stretched thin, Roger. I can pull from the academy, but they're rookies. I can pair them with more experienced men, but…. I wouldn't be able to cover all the areas affected, without pulling from other areas and they're short as it is." Dastun pulled his hat over his head, frustrated.
Dorothy, on the other hand, was deep in thought and turned to Lucy who was standing beside the President.
"We haven't had any issues with giant monsters since… the last reset. Is it possible that there's another scientist out there who could've possibly made this, and it just got loose?"
Lucy shook her head. "Sven Maurisky was the only scientist besides Eugene Grant who had the memories to create such beasts. Both are dead. The New World Order… well… they tried to get Maurisky to come back and… well… the doctors… they actually carried out the sentence themselves. And Grant was killed by his chimera. It could be possible that there's another scientist out there with those same memories that we haven't found yet. But in the reports we have from connecting with other human settlements around Paradigm and Electric City, no one has come close to the technological know-how of those two."
"So, there's a possibility this thing's… natural?" asked Beck incredulously.
Beck's son, Marcus, was wandering around the table as Yumi was taking notes from the meeting to record for record. He ambled over to Roger, Roger smiling, picking him up and setting him on his lap. He began to play with Roger's tie.
"It's possible. I mean, we haven't explored the whole world, just the surrounding areas. Our issue has been… oof! Strong grip, buddy," Roger chuckled, moving his tie from Marcus' grip and over his shoulder, "As I was saying, our issue has been we can only create robots that operate on oil and walk/run above ground. We haven't found a decent fuel source to make ones yet to fly or sail over large distances. So, we're limited in our exploration because we have to account for the return journey. There's also the fact we haven't explored the sea as much because we haven't had the need to go across the ocean yet. We're still trying to discover all the things on land."
Roger began bucking his knee, making Marcus giggle. Roger smiled at him then looked back at the screen, his smile disappearing.
"So, why are we here, Beck? You're the machinist for the SCA and invoked the emergency clause."
"Crow Boy, I never fought giant monsters. You're kinda the only expert we have in that area. I'm asking you what we should do. I need to stabilize the bridge before it comes down, but the fact we have something out there trying to move the column is a risk to anyone I put down there to fix it. Then of course, we have the people to consider like the President and Vice President mentioned that live along the harbor side. I guess, I'm calling a vote. I would like you on behalf on the SCA to negotiate with this beast and protect Paradigm and Electric City."
Yumi took her fingers off the keyboard of her typewriter and grabbed pen and paper to record the vote.
"All those in favor of aye?"
Everyone except Roger and Dorothy raised their hands.
"All those in favor of nay?"
Roger and Dorothy still didn't raise their hand. Yumi raised an eyebrow.
"Are you two abstaining from the vote?"
Dorothy shook her head. "I'll make my decision once my husband makes his. I'm still on the fence."
Roger sighed and he stopped bucking his knee. He picked Marcus up, stood up, and walked over to Yumi. He gave Marcus to Yumi before sitting back down, deep in thought. There were too many unknowns with this case, and many things were riding on them to protect the cities once again. Roger looked at Dorothy. He had tougher cases before, but he knew he and Dorothy could solve this one. Roger nodded at Dorothy, who returned his nod with one of her own.
"What are the terms in which you would find acceptable in order for negotiations to conclude?"
Beck looked to the Madam President and Vice President.
"I defer that to you two."
They both nodded at him and turned to face Roger.
"We humbly ask you to save our city and people once more. Please conclude them in any way you feel is necessary."
Roger smirked, taking Dorothy's hand into his own.
"I vote aye. I accept the terms of the contract providing that…"
"I too as well vote aye," said Dorothy, smiling at Roger. Roger shook his head.
"We accept the terms of the contract. Understand, we're concluding negotiations by defeating this beast, unless it displays some sort of sentience. Dastun, if you can, please do your best to cover the areas that'll be affected.Beck, get the Bigs ready. I'll radio Norman and ask him to help. In the meantime, I'll help Dorothy with running system checks on both the Bigs. I think between Big Fau and Big O, we can manage the threat."
Beck smirked. "You got it."