Chapter 108: Enter: THE FORBIDDEN ZONE!

Chapter 108: Enter: THE FORBIDDEN ZONE!

It was starting to get dark when I drove to the Forbidden Zone. I honestly had no idea what was waiting for me in there, but it was almost certain to be very dangerous, probably atomic-powered, and almost certainly related to robots and/or scorpions in some way... at least, if Mobius' general modus operandi remained consistent.

On the plus side, it was impossible to miss the place: like the Think Tank dome in the center of the crater, this was also a large dome, almost identical in size and shape. The only real differences were the fact that it appeared to be growing out of (or built into, at least) the sheer cliff-face lip of the crater, and it was illuminated by at least 6 bright red spotlights aiming straight up into the sky. The whole dome seemed to pulse with an ominous and foreboding red light. It looked almost like the fortress of a supervillain.

Things got even more red the closer I got. The only way into what (I hoped) was the entrance at the base of the dome was a narrow, twisting, rocky canyon just barely wide enough for the deuce to squeeze through. The edges of the canyon walls were lined with strangely glowing red crystals, and occasionally I would glimpse a streak of red lightning arcing from one crystal to another out of the corner of my eye... and it never seemed to do it when I was actually looking at the crystals, which just made it seem all the more stranger.

"Hmph," I grunted out, bringing the deuce to a stop. There was a concrete structure built into the rock face, almost like a tunnel - a rounded, half-moon shaped tunnel that cut right into the mountain above it. It appeared to be just large enough for a deuce-and-a-half. Several red lights were mounted in the ceiling, and two metal grates were situated in the concrete floor of the tunnel. Beneath the metal grids were more red lights, complete with a steadily rising cloud of steam that seemed to evaporate when it got more than two feet away.

All in all, this tunnel seemed very suspicious. Ominous as well, but mostly suspicious.

"This seems very suspicious," I said aloud. Roxie and Stripe both nodded their heads, Roxie barking in agreement, and Stripe letting out a low squeak. I rolled the deuce forward, eventually bringing it to a final stop in the middle of the tunnel, and killed the engine. Silence took hold for a few seconds as I popped open the door and looked around.

"This is supposed to be the entrance to the Forbidden Zone, right?" I asked aloud. "So... where are all the robo-scorpions?" That's what was really confusing me. If Mobius was truly this evil dictator supervillain person that the Think Tank thought he was, then he should at least have those robot scorpions protecting the entrance to his fortress, right? But there weren't any to be found.

Roxie barked as she leaped out of the cab, Stripe clinging to her back, and made straight for the entrance to the base. I followed her, and looked up at the massive sign above the door. Unlike some of the other labs that only had an X-number, this had several words stamped above the door as well:

X-42: Giant Robo-Warfare Testing Facility

CAUTION: Live-fire exercises in progress when RED lights activated!

"That's certainly unequivocal," I said with a chuckle. Obviously, I was in the right place... but that still begged the question of where the robo-scorpions were. I was expecting some kind of exterior defenses... but no. Not one. Not even a measly turret to try and bar my entry. Had he pulled them all back to defend the inside of the facility? That was probably it... so why was I feeling like I was forgetting something? I shook it off and hopped into the back of the deuce.

"! !" Sasha exclaimed. "We are at fortress of Doctor Mobius, ?" The minigun barked and let out a panting noise. I nodded, trying to decide what I should bring.

"Certainly seems that way. You know anything about the X-42 labs?" I asked. I was starting to feel like Sasha was more useful for his tactical advice than his ability to fire 10,000 rounds a minute.

"Yes... X-42 is lab with robot scorpions..." The gun growled menacingly. "You will need big gun. Biggest guns, with lots of power. Something that will make the tiny metal bugs explode into tiny metal pieces!"

"That's all I needed to hear..." I nodded, turning to my left. In a flash, I grabbed Elijah's Tesla cannon off it's mounting, hefting it easily with my cybernetic arm onto my shoulder. I turned, and was about to leave... and then grabbed a few plasma grenades and the holorifle as well. I leaped out of the back and made straight for the door. "C'mon Rox! Let's go kick Mobius' ass!" Roxie barked, and Stripe squeaked from his perch on her back.

The door clunked with the sound of some kind of heavy machinery, and pulled apart like the mouth an angry behemoth, complete with jagged interlocking metal teeth. When it opened fully, it led into darkness. I made my way forward without hesitation, switching on the nightvision in my eyes as I walked. It didn't really reveal much - just enough for me to see the edges of the tunnel I was walking down.

THUD.

"The fuck was that?" I asked, looking around just on reflex. It's not like I could properly see anything anyway.

THUD. THUD.

There was an end to this tunnel I was heading down, I could see that much. Some kind of light... I rushed forward, Roxie at my heels. Whatever was making that sound was huge, I could tell that much. But other than that?

"Attention: Visitors!" A voice bellowed out over some loudspeakers somewhere above my head. That definitely sounded like Mobius. "Combat experiment is now in progress! Please, put on your goggles and take your Rad-X now, because the show... is ABOUT! TO! START! NYA-HA-HA-HA-HAA!"

As soon as I reached the end of the tunnel, an immensely bright light flooded my vision. I was practically blinded, and reached up to clutch at my face. I slowly cracked my eyes open, making sure that my eyes had gone back to normal. Looking up, I saw a horizontal line of four enormous lights pointing straight at me.

"The X-42 Giant Robo-Scorpion... IS ALIVE! IT'S ALIIIIIIIIVE! AH-HAH-HAH-HAH!"Mobius yelled as I looked up... and up... and up. I finally realized where I was: a giant cavernous room, with a roughly hexagonal floor, and right in the center of that floor was a robo-scorpion larger than anything I'd ever, ever seen before! The four lights that made up its eyes were easily 20 feet off the ground now. The red-painted pincers were large enough to take the deuce and snap it in half like a twig! Hell, even the legs were wide enough to crush me completely underneath them. "Awaken, my pet! Initiate your search-and-destroy protocol in the name of all that is MOBIUS!"

The giant tail hove into view from above the robot, and pointed straight down at me. Panels on the end of the tail opened up, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Light flooded out of the tail and my ears were filled with a massive low frequency hum.

"FUCK!" I yelled, running as fast as I could along the edge of the chamber and away from the robot. The hum got louder and louder until finally it exploded in a cascade of noise, lighting up the whole chamber. The whole ground shook like it was hit by an earthquake. The noise died down enough for me to hear the Geiger counter on my Pip Boy furiously clicking away, even as I kept running.

I looked around, trying to find something I could use that could give me an advantage against this ridiculous metal behemoth. All around the room, I could see catwalks, connecting metal observation rooms scattered all around. Every so often, there was a set of stairs leading up into the twisting, turning maze of catwalks criss-crossing the walls.

The ground shook again, amid a cacophony of sound from giant hydraulics and gears. I skidded to a halt, spinning around in place and brought the Tesla cannon resting on my shoulder to bear. The giant robot was slowly turning, and hadn't quite managed to face me again. I braced my feet, and took aim at the closest (biggest) target on the robot: the claw.

Five beams of bright blue light cut through the air out of the Tesla cannon, one after another, kicking up clouds of dust around my feet. The beams struck the claw and slashed into the metal chassis, creating great gashes of molten slag along the outer edges... but other than that, there didn't appear to be any real damage.

"What's this?" I heard Mobius' voice echo through the speakers. "Oh! It looks like the target drones got activated!" I looked up, and sure enough, some flying robots that almost looked like eyebots dropped out of the ceiling and started firing lasers at the robot. There were maybe 10 or 12 in all, and thankfully, they seemed to draw the attention of the giant robo-scorpion. "Oh, how cute! They're engaging the X-42 Giant Robo-Scorpion! Let's see the shrapnel fly!"

That's when I saw something very strange: Roxie's head was visible inside one of the observation boxes on the other end of the chamber. Had she turned the target drones on somehow? Hell, she can drive a car, why not?

The whole chamber shook again, as the robot scorpion slammed a huge claw into one of the walls, crushing an eyebot underneath it. I started running again, just as it fired the giant laser at another of the eyebots. The whole chamber lit up, and the Geiger counter spiked again. As I scampered up one of the stairs, I saw something that looked very promising: when it fired, something opened up on the robot's spine. It looked like a vent...

"OH-HO! Activating the laser turrets now, are you?" Mobius yelled again over the speakers; sure enough, several turrets dropped out of the ceiling and started shooting lasers at the robot. "Such a pitiful attempt at resistance! I laugh at your attempts to bring down the X-42 Giant Robo-Scorpion! Ha! HA, I SAY!"

I ran up to the highest catwalk I could find, and nearly lost my balance as the metal observation box ahead of me was obliterated by a giant claw smashing into the wall. Shrapnel flew everywhere, and the concrete wall behind was turned into a fine grey cloud of dust. This was my chance! I ran straight for the claw. It started to pull back, breaking off huge chunks of metal and concrete as it passed. I kicked off the catwalk and leapt...

I hit the top of the scorpion claw running, and just kept going. The claw was so huge that it couldn't move all that fast. I managed to stay upright long enough to leap off the claw and onto the main body. Result! I ran straight for the middle of the robot, right near where I'd seen the vent on the spine, and did my best to steady myself against the swaying, rocking motion of the robot moving around.

My eardrums were assaulted by an enormous exploding sound for half a second, and then everything was drowned out by a ringing noise that consumed everything. The tail had fired again, and rendered me temporarily deaf. A large vent (easily three feet wide and two feet high) popped open beneath my feet, and blasted me in the face with a burst of scalding hot air that very nearly knocked me off balance. I held firm though, and aimed the Tesla cannon right into the vent and squeezed the -

Nothing.

I'm sure I yelled out some kind of curse, but I couldn't hear it. The damn Tesla cannon was out of ammo! I couldn't waste any more time. I pulled one of the plasma grenades off my chest, primed it, and tossed it into the vent mere seconds before it snapped shut.

"But... everything you've told me..." I clutched at my temple, absentmindedly stroking the bullet scar. "This doesn't add up. Your plan... even your name. 'Mobius.' Like a Mbius loop..." The floating robot brain started to laugh, slowly and softly.

"Doctor Mobius," he said smugly. "Yes, rather catchy, isn't it? It's my name. My new name, at least. Overwrote the old one. This name is as real as you or I, although I believe your brain expressed similar incredulity at the nature of such an appellation. 'Oh, someone's been watching too many Old World science fiction movies,' it said to me." Mobius laughed again. "I believe it meant me. I must admit, I have a vulnerability for holotape fantasies of planets and robots and all that is forbidden. As for the name I was born with? Like the Think Tank, we were all reprogrammed to forget them. Take on new names. It enforces the recursion loop in our perception programming."

And just like that, a huge puzzle piece hit me in the face.

"You reprogrammed their names... as part of a recursion loop?" I asked. "What, to trap them?"

"Now, 'trap' is a rather harsh word," Mobius bobbed around me again. "Like 'excrement.' Not an inappropriate word, but still - rather harsh. But... yes. I did take some liberties with their programming. And my own. It's alright, they don't remember. I certainly didn't myself until you said 'trap.' And then, I said 'excrement,' and then..."

"A recursion loop is designed to prevent the flow of information," I said, finally starting to really get it. "So, that means..." Mobius nodded his tank again.

"The Radar Fence that I built to keep the Think Tank hemmed in wasn't really enough. They kept testing the thing, probing it's defenses and capabilities. Eventually, they would have found a way to disarm it." Mobius started to float away from me again. "I suspect that I have several Plan 9's in place, but I may have coded myself to forget them, just in case... You see, that would almost certainly result in a fate worse than death. Or even worse!"

"A fate worse than a fate worse than death?" I deadpanned. "That's pretty bad..."

"Indeed it is! So I had to do something else to keep them occupied here. Or, as you like to say, 'trapped.' I prefer to have those Plan 9's in place, just in case the Plan 7's fail."

"Klein... Mobius... Zero's a circle... 8 is an infinity symbol on its side... Dala's name comes from a mandala..." I counted my fingers as I rattled the names off. "They're all loops. Loops to enforce the recursion programming. I think I get it now..."

"0, you figured it out," Mobius said with a chuckle. "No pun intended. Dr. 0... which isactually not his real name multiplied, since you can't multiply his real name in the first place... Oro-bor-ous, Klein... They have all forgotten themselves. And not only themselves, but the world. Sense of time. History. All that is left is what's here. I reprogrammed their chronometers, geometers, and cartography programs. This is now their world. Here. The Big MT. It was a merciful lobotomy, really, thinking back to it. They were my friends, but... sometimes they would take things too far. And the world isn't really ready for that kind of too-far-thing-taking. That's my professional opinion, anyway. And I am told that I was once quiet professional."

"Minor detail," I said, holding up a finger. "But a snake devouring its own tail is 'Ouro-borus,' not 'Ouro-borous'."

"Really." Mobius stared at me. "It is certainly so unlike me to make an error in anything I do." I let out a chuckle, and shrugged.

"Fair enough. Well, alright. So if you lobotomized the Think Tank, why continue terrorizing them?"

"Quiet simple, really! Despite their many failings, they are rather bright. 200 years swimming in fish-bowls haven't done any favors for their sanity, but they are the 'Think Tank' for a raisin. That, I didn't change. Without something to distract them, make them afraid, they would simply de-deuce what had happened. And when they start deucing it up... But then you came along. The final variable solved. They saw that their world was larger than they perceived. Bacteria, finally able to see its host."

"But I wasn't the first," I said, trying to work it out as he spoke. "There were other visitors. What made me different?" Mobius nodded again.

"Yes, there have been other visitors to make them doubt their perceptions, but you are the only one who dialed back their monitor-micro-magnifiers. You were irrefutable proof that there was a world outside. And then there was the whole 'brain' fiasco. Such an unpleasant business, that, but I was forced to take more drastic steps. You see, your brain had a... a special kind of... uh... a wrinkle. A unique-ity that they had never thought to try in all their countless escape attempts..."

I ran a hand along my temple again... and brushed the bullet scar.

"The bullet that went into my brain..." I said aloud, my eyes going wide. "Are you trying to tell me that if Benny hadn't shot me, then I would've turned into one of those mindless lobotmites, running around in the crater?"

"Yes..." Mobius said, nodding his tank again. "Yes, very good. I should have Mentats ingest you instead of the other way around. Heh, heh... Mmmm... Mentats. In any event, you showed up at the Think Tank, and because you had suffered a cranial injury in just the right place..." Mobius let out another cough. "Bullets in the head are usually much more fatal, and yours was a light case of bullet-head-itis. But... it was enough for the Auto-Doc in the Sink to change its programming to fix the problem. And the brain extraction technology worked. For once. That gave the Think Tank the knowledge its brains shouldn't... couldn't... sh'couldn't possess. With that knowledge, the procedure can be reversed. If they obtain that procedural data, then they can use it to mush and modify their cranial selves into hosts and slip past the Radar Fence. I'm sure of it. And once they go off the reservation..."

"Then they can inflict their particular brand of 'science' on the rest of the world..." I said, finally understanding his plan. Maybe. "Wait, hang on. Klein said that they had the idea to get the three technologies after your broadcast. Was that a coincidence?" Mobius whole tank shook.

"I consider 'coincidence' to be profanity. Along with the words 'astrology,' 'herbal tea,' and worst of all... 'luck.' So, watch it, Mr. Potty Mouth. My threat broadcast was designed to instill - and install - fear. And along with the emotional download, other data rides the fear carrier wave. It prompted them to focus on retrieving those technologies and bring them to 'attack' me. And coincidentally... pardon my language... all those technologies are needed to put a brain - your brain, possibly - back into its skull. Properly, that is."

"Yeah, I figured that much out already... Was there any other data transmitted in your threat broadcast?" I asked, my eyes going wide. If they were trying to get the technology to put their brains back in their bodies, then that meant...

I fear I may have made a dreadful mistake.

"Oh, yes! My overly aggressive chemmed-up broadcast was designed to keep reinforcing the 'forget,' 'fear,' 'rinse,' and 'repeat' program. Oh, and the 'get me the things to castrate your only possible escape attempt!' Yes, that was a good one. But I couldn't delete you or your arrival anymore than I could the other visitors. Only so much Science can do when you started talking to them. You're really quiet difficult to ignore, you know. It's because you're... well, bah!" Mobius laughed again. "You're really rather intriguing, if you'll forgive an old brain for saying so."

"But..." I gulped. "The Think Tank downloaded the schematics, not the items. They can rebuild them from the schematics, put their brains in bodies, and then get out!"

"Oh," Mobius said flatly. His tone of voice didn't really change. "That means my plan is a total failure. Blast. That is unfortunate. Oh, well. At least I tried!"

"But... isn't there something we can do? Something I can do? I can fix this!" I said, starting to wonder if I actually could. I mean... they were mad scientists after all...

"Your brain might have some ideas... Yes, in fact I think it mentioned something about a plan to deal with the Think Tank, once you found your way here. At least, I think it had a plan. It certainly wanted to deal with them, at least. Your brain is a responsible sort. Doesn't want mad scientists running around everywhere..."

"Yeah, mad scientists seem to be the cause and solution to all my problems lately..." I grumbled, looking back up at the drum at the top of the stairs. "I guess... I should see what my brain wants..." Even the words felt odd. They shouldn't. Everything in this place was nuts, a little more insanity couldn't hurt.

"Indeed," Mobius called out as I made my way to the stairs. "Yes, the, uh... the goodbye part of our little chat then. Uh... Goodbye! Oh, please mind the equations on the floor, would you? Thanks awfully."

Roxie let out a strange sort of whimpering bark next to me as I walked away from the mad brain. I looked down, and both she and Stripe seemed to be shaking their heads. I couldn't help but agree with that sentiment.

"Sue, you've been awful quiet here," I said aloud to the stealth suit I was wearing. "I could use a fresh perspective. You want to weigh in?"

"Not really sure what I could add..." Sue said eventually, just barely soft enough for me to hear. "Apart from wondering aloud if this is what going mad feels like. Is this what going mad feels like?"

"Well, if you are going nuts," I said with a laugh. "You're gonna be in good company. I'm starting to wonder if perhaps the safest place to hide here in the Big Empty is insanity after all..." I laughed again, shaking my head. This had certainly been a strange day.

And yet... how little did I know of just how surreal things were about to get.

I arrived at the top of the stairs, and approached the tank. There was a hiss of gas as I approached, and suddenly the top half of the drum seemed to split open. The lid raised upward, and with a mechanical whir, a glass bowl appeared from the inside of the tank... and inside, floating in the biogel and connected to the bottom of the tank by a series of wires was a brain.

"Well, well, well," a synthesized voice from somewhere in the tank exclaimed in a slightly British accent. Was that what my brain sounded like? "Look who finally decided to turn up. It's about damn time!"