The Good Doctor: Origins Ch. 05

Every day for the next two weeks Rob continued his training. After the first week, Rob had completed training with Turbo to his satisfaction. After that he began spending more time with Brick and his progress continued at a faster pace.

Halfway through the second week, after a particularly tiring sparing match, Brick had decided that Rob had learned all he could from him (in record time) and said that he could begin training with The Wraith in long range weapon use and energy projection.

On his first day Rob was instructed to select a long range weapon and found a rather mundane looking hand gun that seemed to be of Engineer's design. He discovered rather quickly that it was powered the same way as his blades; all he had to do was focus his energy into the grip and pull the trigger. The projectiles were blue like his blades and seemed to be made of the same energy. They did not carry as much force as a traditional bullet, but they pierced soft and hard materials better than one, and thus could still do some serious damage. The fact that the gun had unlimited ammo was also a clear bonus.

The Wraith and Rob trained with the gun; but also in energy projection. After using a variety of meditation techniques to "allow his energy to flow", Rob found that if he concentrated hard enough and was in an excited state he could produce balls of blue energy of the same substance as his blades and bullets using his bare hands. The energy balls were hard to handle, but they carried a great deal of power and could be useful for getting out of a tight spot.

So it was after another week of training that Rob was finally deemed "field ready" by Giovanni. Coincidentally, he was assigned to Nurse Sweet as her "field agent in-training" until he proved himself capable of handling assignments on his own. Rob was sure that he would advance quickly through this rank as well.

But there was a problem....there were no field missions for him to go on.

Giovanni informed Rob after he was declared field ready that they would be taking a "wait and see" attitude for the time being and would just be keeping surveillance on Trapjaw's movements. This of course meant that Rob couldn't really do anything and he spent most of his time honing his skills for when he was actually needed.

What little time Rob did not spend on extra training, he spent with Nurse Sweet. After the second time the two had slept together, a budding relationship began to grow. Rob was finally able to see beneath her hard exterior, and began to enjoy the person she really was.

More and more often the two of them could be seen cuddling on the couch in the living room or, in contrast, sparing in the Training Room. There was rarely a moment where the two were apart. The closer they got to each other, the less Rob thought of leaving The Corps and the more he started to embrace his new life.

It was during the weeks following the completion of his training that Rob learned more about Nurse Sweet and The Corps:

The Corps was founded in the early 1970s in response to a new and growing threat.

Crime rates were at an all-time high across the nation, and conventional police forces could not keep up with it. Fortunately, a young man named Giovanni Vespucci formulated a plan. In college he had studied archeology. After a mysterious expedition in Siberia he developed the amazing ability to manipulate matter around him. After this discovery, Giovanni sought out other people with extraordinary talents. He believed that if properly trained these people could benefit humanity.

After he left college, Giovanni gathered some of the people he had sought out together and revealed his plans to them. Out of the sixteen people he managed to find, four decided to give his plan a shot.

The original members of Giovanni's group were given code names and called The Wraith, Engineer, Top-Shot, and Slade. They were considered the founding members of what came to be known as The Corps. The group started out assisting law enforcement in Giovanni's home town of Highfield, Texas. The locals weren't too keen on allowing some 'weirdos' to control there already minimal crime rate. Of course, their attitudes changed when the crime rate dropped to 0% in Highfield in three months. Even traffic violations seemed to disappear.

The Corps was a small town success story that managed to reach the desk of Wes Wise, the then current Mayor of Dallas, Texas. He managed to get a measure passed in the city that allowed the use of "specialized" law enforcement. It was under the official title of "The Dallas Corps of Special Law Enforcement" that The Corps got their current title.

Wise managed to get The Corps a sizable budget which Engineer utilized to design and build weapons and utilities specially designed for the Corps' members; as well as a few specialized vehicles. By then The Corps had added even more members and its future was looking bright.

Dallas' crime rate dropped exponentially and cities across the nation demanded their own branches of The Corps. Giovanni responded by spreading members throughout the nation in major cities. America's war on crime seemed to be coming to a close until The Corps itself managed to undo everything it had accomplished...

In the early 1980s members of The Corps began to view their abilities as a way to get rich or gain power. They used violence and manipulation to achieve these goals and Giovanni was unable to stop the cancer spreading through his beloved group.

A civil war broke out among the members of The Corps. Battle lines were drawn and The Corps was split between those who supported helping humanity and those who supported exploiting the 'normals'.

From then on, the needs of law enforcement were set aside, and the remaining members loyal to Giovanni struggled to put down the growing threat the rebel members were creating. In 1986 The Corps finally seemed to have the upper hand, and was about to make their final move in crushing the super villains when everything fell apart.

Slade, a founding member of The Corps, had been secretly supporting the villains, and sabotaged Giovanni's final plan. A trap was laid and a vast number of Corps members were killed including Top-Shot, another founding member.

Outraged, Giovanni took matters into his own hands and in an astonishing display of his powers managed to carry out his plan and crush the villains and defeat Slade. The effort crippled him however, and he always walked with a limp and tired easily from then on.

The aftermath of the civil war was detrimental to The Corps that Giovanni had worked so hard to create and save. Public opinion towards them had turned 180 degrees, and they were viewed as a menace to society. The widespread destruction the battles between The Corps and the villains caused had a key role in creating this switch in the publics' eye, as did the steady rise of regular crime while The Corps was distracted.

In response, their funding was cut, and they were deemed vigilantes and punishable by law if caught carrying out any more law enforcement. Giovanni was too drained from the civil war to fight these measures, and he moved The Corps out of the cities. Most of the members returned to normal lives, but those who refused to leave moved into Giovanni's family estate and a bunker was built underneath to house their equipment and train any new members who came along.

A few years after the collapse of The Corps, Engineer began to go insane and left, only to be collected by Trapjaw and Sydney soon after.

By the time Rob was rescued by Nurse Sweet, the only two founding members of The Corps remaining were Giovanni and The Wraith. They had continued their search for extraordinary people, knowing that villains still existed throughout the nation. In secret, The Corps carried out small scale missions to reign in any remaining villains. This was usually relatively easy to accomplish, but Giovanni knew that it took only one very ambitious person to tip the balances and plunge the world back into chaos.

Nurse Sweet was the last member before Rob to be initiated into The Corps. She was working as a nurse in the burn unit of a large hospital when things went horribly wrong.

While Nurse Sweet was changing the bandages on a patient, the dressings she was applying suddenly burst into flames. Soon the entire bed, including the patient, was engulfed in fire. As hard as she tried, Nurse Sweet was unable to stop the fire and by the time the fire department arrived the entire unit had burned to the ground.

Horrified at the tragedy and wracked by survivor's guilt, Nurse Sweet became a different person. She became unable to form meaningful relationships with anyone and she became withdrawn and emotionally affectless.

Two years after the incident at the hospital, a bar she was visiting burned to the ground. A year after that, a motel she was staying at.

It was after this third instance that The Corps found her. With their help, she discovered that she had the ability to manipulate fire. At first she was consumed with overwhelming guilt, knowing that all three fires had been her doing. But with Giovanni's guidance as well as support from the other members of the Corps she was able to overcome these feelings and learn how to control her power.

Now she was one of Giovanni's top agents. Her most important assignment to date had been to spy on Trapjaw's operations. Her initial reports had shocked Giovanni, and when he found out what had become of Engineer and what they were planning he had become deeply concerned.

When Rob was created, Giovanni instructed Nurse Sweet to collect him and return to base.

After Rob learned all about the Corps and his new partner he finally felt like he belonged there. He believed in what the Corps stood for and more importantly, he had found someone whom he cared about...

**********************

Engineer was ecstatic. While Rob was training at Vespucci Manor, he had been busy getting ready to mass produce Bio-B0t On3. For weeks he toiled away in his basement lab, preparing for the day when he could finally throw the switch and unleash his army upon the world.

Giovanni had called him obsessed...

Engineer had saved that little man's life on more than one occasion and had been the sole reason why the Corps was even able to function! But Giovanni had taken everything from him. He had kicked him out of his home and threw him on the streets. If it wasn't for Trapjaw, Engineer would probably be dead by now.

Now he would show Giovanni and the Corps his true power...the power of the mind.

"I heard you have good news."

Engineer turned from the main computer screen to see Trapjaw, Sydney Morrison, and Rachel White standing near the doorway to the huge room.

"Yes! Excellent news! It's finished!" Engineer nearly skipped over to the small group in his excitement.

"Well it certainly looks impressive." Morrison was saying, scanning the room.

Nearly every square inch of space was given up to complicated looking machines. Some were simply big metal boxes with gauges and buttons all over. Others were giant vats filled with unknown substances. Dozens of robotic arms were suspended from the ceiling, poised above conveyor belts that snaked through the entire room.

In the center of the room was a giant metal column that ran from floor to ceiling. A conveyer belt fed into the top of the column and another lead out of it, near the bottom. This then met up with the main maze of belts at a t-junction.

"What's that for?" Rachel White asked, pointing towards the column.

"That's where the magic happens." Engineer explained, "Their brains are manufactured and then fed into the column. Then the brain's programming is uploaded inside and configured. What comes out of the bottom is a fully functioning, conscious brain capable of complex thought."

"But not TOO complex?" Trapjaw asked.

"The Bio-B0ts are designed to be unconditionally loyal to their masters."

"Then what's the point of the brain?" Miss. White asked, "I mean, couldn't you have just built mindless drones?"

"The brain, Miss. White," Engineer began, "is to allow the Bio-B0ts to plan and adapt. We give them an objective, and they accomplish it through the power of thought."

"Amazing! Simply...amazing!" Morrison was saying, "This whole set up...it's everything I hoped for and more. You certainly put my money to good use!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Sydney. The damn thing still has to work." Trapjaw said, though secretly he was very impressed with what Engineer had done.

"Speaking of which..." Engineer said, walking over to his main computer, "I was just about ready to throw the switch. Modifications from the scrapped Bio-B0ts are complete as per your request, Sydney."

Morrison had insisted Engineer's prototype was TOO advanced and thus too expensive. Thus, Engineer had removed some of the weapons and modified the body's design to make it more economically feasible. Nevertheless, Bio-B0t On3 promised to be a formidable machine, capable of everything they wished for...and more.

"Well let's not waste any time!" Sydney said with a huge smile.

Trapjaw rolled his eyes. Typical...only a view weeks ago Morrison was giving him grief about that lout Rob, and now he was as giddy as a schoolgirl. Engineer had better not disappoint...

"Moment of truth..." Engineer said as he typed away at his computer.

With a low hum the various machines started to come to life. Hidden gears grinded away and the vats started making sucking noises as their contents were fed through tubes. The robotic arms twitched to life, and poised themselves above the conveyer belts, ready to perform their tasks.

After a moment, the conveyer belts began moving slowly. The hum of the machines was then joined by the clang of metal on metal and the zap of welding and soldering.

Various pieces of black material were rolling along some of the belts. On others, robotic arms were piecing together computer circuits and other complex systems. Shiny, smooth spheres were being fed into the central column. After a few minutes the first of the finished brains emerged. The previously smooth sphere was now lined with circuitry.

Nobody save Engineer could keep up with the assembly and it wasn't until the small man gave an excited squeak did they know that a final product had finally been produced.

The trio followed Engineer through the maze of belts and machines to a large door on the far wall. A corridor led from a larger-than-average machine into the wall next to the door.

The group passed through the door and four pairs of eyes doubled in size. They found themselves in a huge rectangular room with high ceilings. To their left, the corridor from the other room formed another doorway, and through this door came the fruits of Engineer's labor.

A row of Bio-B0ts marched from the corridor towards the back of the room. There a line was already forming from right to left where the Bio-B0ts stood shoulder to shoulder. The line continued to form until it was fifteen units wide and then they stopped coming through the corridor.

"Bio-B0t, present yourself." Engineer said.

The last Bio-B0t to have come through the door walked towards the four people and stopped a few feet in front of Engineer.

It was a truly bizarre sight to behold. The Bio-B0t was about six feet tall and had been designed to look like a human male. The muscles in its arms, legs, and torso were distinguishable and looked very human. The thing was far from human, though. Its entire body was composed of a black material that reflected no light off its surface. Where a human male's penis would be, there was nothing but smooth transition between leg and torso. In fact, its entire body was on smooth expanse of black. While major muscles such as the pectorals, abs and biceps were defined, the creature lacked a belly button or distinguishable veins, joints, or ligaments.

What was most bizarre was its face...or lack thereof. Sitting on top of the Bio-B0ts shoulders was a head shape, but there were no facial features, not even a nose or mouth. The entire front of the head was just a smooth black expanse like the rest of its body.

Clearly Engineer had designed Bio-B0t On3 for function rather than appearance. A human-like brain required a human-like body, but that was all. There was no need for wasted space and material, so Engineer had opted out in making it more relatable to humans.

"Bio-B0t On3 presenting." The creature said. The voice was male and not unpleasant and originated from its chest rather than its head.

"My name is Engineer, I am your creator and master. You do as I command."

"Accepted."

"Astonishing." Sydney said and took a step towards the Bio-B0t.

"Please step away, human." It said and raised an outstretched hand in the universal "stop" gesture.

Sydney frowned and took a step back.

"My apologies, Sydney, but he needs to be taught social interactions." Engineer explained.

"Well get it done quickly, and test its functionality while you're at it. I want this thing up and running in three days time and all its kinks worked out by then."

"Apparently we're finished here?" Trapjaw said as Sydney turned to leave.

"We have work to do now that we've accomplished this goal." Sydney explained as he strode through the door without looking back.

Trapjaw rolled his eyes and turned to Engineer, "Good job. And don't mind him...his usefulness has almost dried up." And with that, he and Rachel White followed Sydney out of the lab.

**************

It was late when Brick went down to the Training Room. The past few weeks had been exhausting for him and this was the first time he had a chance to train without Rob. The kid learned quickly, and Brick had to give it everything he had whenever they trained together. At the end of every session, Brick would be sweating profusely and Rob wouldn't even be breathing hard. Eventually Brick gave up and told Giovanni that he had nothing left to teach him, even if it had only been two weeks' worth of instruction.

Giovanni didn't seem surprised by the news and Brick knew that was because he knew more about the kid than anyone else.

Brick had come to the Corps ten years prior after bringing down a construction site. On that particular day, the job supervisor had been being enough of a pain in the ass to annoy even the always-joyful Brick. Instead of confronting his boss, Brick decided to take his frustration out on a support beam by giving it a good whack with a sledge hammer.

A few days later, Brick had awoken in a hospital to find that the ten story building he had been working on collapsed on top of him. He was the only survivor. Giovanni had visited him a few days later and recruited him to the Corps.

While Brick mused about his own initiation he almost tripped over a figure sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"Jesus! Sorry, Wraith!" He smiled down at the woman in the white cloak.

"Think nothing of it, Brick. I was just finishing up meditation anyway." She stood up and faced the giant man.

Her thick auburn hair cascaded to her shoulders in long curls. In the rare occasions she lowered her cloak's hood The Wraith's beauty was a sight to behold. Once Brick asked why she always wore her hood up and she had responded in telling him that is was to keep unwanted attention away from her. Brick knew better. Her eyes were pure white, lacking an iris or pupil, and she was secretly ashamed of them. Brick didn't understand why; he thought they were the most beautiful eyes in existence.

"I didn't think you'd be awake this late." Wraith continued.

"The new recruit's been taking up all my personal training time." Brick explained.

"Ah yes. I found myself running into a similar predicament whilst training him." She nodded.