"Computer?" said Max sitting in the pilot's chair.
"Yes, Magistrate."
"Please confirm the identity of the young lady in front of me."
"Of course, sir. The young lady's name is Eunice, no last name. She is less than two years old, although her biology is consistent with that of a 15 year old human. "
Eunice stood still, with her hands behind her back, waiting for the computer to complete the analysis.
"Human?" It may seem like a silly question, but in Max's experience, the phenotype does not always match the biological reality.
"No, sir. Eunice is a Unitrix, a primitive version of the Omnitrix, built by Azmuth. The Unitrix, unlike the Omnitrix, is capable of storing the DNA of only one species, in this case, Homo Sapiens."
The Magistrate observed the girl. He had the impression that he knew her in some way, but could not say where, nor why.
"Why is your name not strange to me?"
"I have met your grandchildren before, Magistrate," said Eunice. "I am actually the result of a genetic randomness in Gwen's DNA."
"Eunice! Now I remembered," Max rose from his seat and walked towards her to greet her. "They told me about you! Especially Ben."
"Sorry to invade your ship like this, sir, but I had no choice."
"I understand!" he said with his characteristic smile, "But how did you get in?"
"I remotely hacked into the ship's computer and added myself to the crew list."
"That easy?"
"Actually, yes..."
"Not that I'm distrusting you, young lady, but..." Max raised his head so that his voice could be heard throughout the room "Computer!"
"Yes, Magistrate."
"Tell me the number of members on the ship at this moment."
"Yes, sir, just a moment." A short pause, followed by "Only two, sir. The Magistrate and Miss Eunice."
"Right, thank you." Max turned to Eunice and continued "I hope you understand that if the system failed once, it can fail again."
"I understand."
"Okay, now explain to me: What happened to Azmuth? Isn't he on a research expedition?"
"No, Magistrate. Azmuth has not left Galvan Prime for months."
"So Fahtzi lied."
"It wouldn't be the first time, although I don't know what the Prime Manager said to you, so..."
"He said that Azmuth was not contactable and that-"
"In that respect, he didn't lie," she interrupted.
"What do you mean, he didn't lie?"
"Azmuth is under arrest, Magistrate. The Galvanic Council has arrested him."
* * *
Max's ship redirected its course. They landed on Galvan-B, the dark moon of Galvan Prime.
To humans, the change in the ecosystem of Galvan's moon - which ensured it became the mechamorphic environment it is today, with all the life made of the metallo-organic matter that populates it - may seem like a story thousands of years old. Something close to the dinosaurs. For the Galvanians, on the other hand, with a much longer life span, Galvan-B became what it is today last week.
As soon as the ship landed, a blackened liquid covered the outer surface of the ship. It did not alter its structure in any way, but ensured that everything took on the metallic-black color with green circuitry details characteristic of the site. Another important point about the ecosystem of this moon: once a vehicle or object is coated with the metallo-organic life of Galvan-B, no tracking system is able to differentiate it from a tree or a rock in the environment.
"Very well, young lady, we have landed where you recommended," said Max, "you may begin your explanations."
Eunice was standing with her arms crossed and her back resting on one of the cabin walls. She stepped away from the wall and as she walked around the cabin, she began to talk:
"It all started about a year ago...."
"Terrestrial or galvanic?"
"Terrestrial. "
"Okay, continue."
About a year ago, little rumors started leaking out of the labs about Azmuth's newest invention. According to these rumors, the Omnitrix creator was planning to create an even more advanced version of the device. Some even began to announce the emergence of a Ultimatrix.
"Of course, with the rumors, so did the concerns." said Eunice "The Magistrate well knows what happened when the Omnitrix was created."
"Azmuth was chased, his ship was attacked by Vilgax and he was forced to launch the Omnitrix on Earth, hoping that I would be able to get the device."
"Exactly. Although his plan at the time didn't work out so well, since it wasn't you who got the Omnitrix, fortunately, the device fell into good hands."
Max was silent.
Although Eunice was "almost human" at times, the behavior of humans was something too complex for her to understand. Max's silence at this moment, for example, was one of those moments.
"Please continue," Max asked.
"Sure."
"When these rumors reached the ears of the Galvanic Council, the fear of a new attack by 'Conquerors' like Vilgax again hung over the heads of the leaders of the Galvanic Council. According to them, it was necessary for the Council to take action for the sake of protecting everyone."
"And how did Azmuth react to all this?" said Max.
"In the worst possible way, of course. He hates it when people say that his creations are weapons, or anything like that."
"I remember him always saying that the Omnitrix is actually a huge database of species."
"And it is! "
"And I believe you. And in Azmuth too..." Max stared at the ground as a way to distract his vision so that his thoughts could walk more freely "But let's be honest, we're talking about a device with enormous destructive potential. If he intended to build something even more advanced, I understand the Council's fear."
It was Eunice's turn to be silent. Her expression was uncertain as to whether she had made the right choice in asking Max Tennyson for help.
The Magistrate found the silence in the room strange. As soon as he looked up into the young woman's face, he understood what was happening.
"This doesn't mean that I agree with the Council's attitudes, Eunice, please don't misunderstand me! It's just that I've lived long enough to understand why people take certain actions."
"I..."
"Please don't worry, just keep going. If I'm going to help you save Azmuth, I need to understand the whole context first."
"All right... So... Where was I? Ah, after I awakened and met Ben and Gwen, Azmuth brought me to Galvan Prime and entrusted me with the task of Assistant to his laboratory. For that reason, I was able to follow the unfolding of this whole situation more closely than anyone else."
First, there were the unplanned visits from Council members, often seeking to make Azmuth give up the idea of building that Ultimatrix. Then it was the news stories and reports questioning his choices and, at various times, presenting him as a senile, selfish old man, capable of sacrificing everyone's well-being for the sake of his experiments. Until the worst that could happen, happened.
"What happened?" Max asked.
"The prototype was stolen from the lab."
"But how? "
"We don't know."
"Don't tell me that they suspected Azmuth and that's why they arrested him?"
"At first, no. Because there were images from the security cameras that showed the real culprit entering and leaving the laboratory."
"Let me guess: Albedo."
"That's exactly right! How did you know?"
"He is one of the reasons that made me come here... Now everything is making more sense. But if Albedo was responsible, why was Azmuth arrested?"
"The fact is that Albedo did not commit just one crime that night. In order to steal the Omnitrix he had to escape from prison first."
"Still, it doesn't make sense for them to arrest Azmuth. Unless..."
"Unless they suspect him of being responsible for Albedo's escape," said Eunice.
"But we're talking about the Great Thinker and Scientist Azmuth, that theory doesn't make any sense!"
"It really doesn't, but as soon as the Ultimatrix was stolen, the Council and the media went crazy!"
"If they were afraid before, then they should be in a complete panic now..." said Max.
"At first, Galvan Prime practically isolated itself from the rest of the universe, both to keep the technology from escaping the planet, and to ensure that information didn't leak out that technology like this was out there."
"So we, the Plumbers, were not aware of any of this."
"Exactly. Then the investigations and accusations began. It was not known if Albedo had made it out of Galvan Prime, so the police forces started searching and questioning practically everyone. The planet went into a state of siege."
"But Albedo is not on Galvan, he is on Earth!"
"He escaped! But how?"
"I ask you! Isn't the planet sealed off?"
"Yes..."
"Well?"
"I'm sorry, Magistrate, but I have no idea how he escaped."
"That's fine, my dear. And Azmuth, what happened next?"
"As I said, the police began to start searching the planet. Even in the laboratories..."
"He must have hated it."
"More than that, sir, he literally barred anyone who did not work there from entering the laboratory!"
"I can imagine what happened afterwards..."
"Council, media, population... Everybody thought that he used Albedo to take the technology off the planet."
"What a great..." Max thought for a moment about the possible words he was going to spit out at that moment, "Crap!" The one he left in his mind was less friendly.
"About a week ago, the cops raided the lab and took him into custody."
"Was anyone else besides him arrested?"
"From the lab?"
"That."
"No. It seems that Azmuth was foreseeing that this was going to happen sooner or later and dismissed everyone days before. And considering that no one else knew the details of the project besides him, it turned out that no researcher who was questioned was able to provide any 'useful' information."
"What a mess..."
"You don't even know!" Eunice rolled her eyes.
"And now, what are we going to do? I believe that if you came to find me, at least you already have a plan in mind."
Eunice smiled. Yes, she did.
"Just to confirm, will you help me?"
"Of course! Although Azmuth will never admit it, we are more than acquainted. Besides, I have issues to resolve that only he will be able to help me with."
"Issues?" Eunice asked.
"One thing at a time, young lady. First, your plan. "
"We will sneak into the prison and rescue Azmuth. The moment we come out, we will probably face resistance."
"We will need a proper camouflage and enough firepower to face an army. Have you thought about this?"
"Yes, I have! So we'll use this!"
Eunice pulled from one of her pockets a small cube of black metallic material, with the same green circuitry details, which at this moment covered the entire external surface of the ship and the moon they were on.