jadedjada

Title: His Heart is Steel, Part 4
Summary: We look into the universe from which everyone’s favorite mechanical monster first originated. A meeting is placed and a plan is set, as we begin the series of events and inner turmoils that cause the once lovable Pollo to become the evil, vengeful villain known as Mechakara.
Characters: Pollo, Linkara, Marzgurl, Iron Liz, Angry Joe and Lisa Foiles.
Warnings: Um...not much, actually. Comparatively, this is pretty tame. Still some angst, though. And swearing.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, all characters belong to their rightful owners.

Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here, and Part 3 is here. Enjoy!

Was Linkara crazy?

It wasn't an unfair question. Indeed, as he quietly ate his dinner in the living room alongside Iron Liz, it was a question he himself pondered with quite some fascination.

He hadn't seen Spoony or Insano since the incident last night. They were both busy in the lab all day working on that teleporter, while Linkara was with Liz doing inventory on all their supplies. In a way he was relieved by this; it meant that things would have cooled down some by the time he got to apologize for what he'd said. And he did feel awful about it, without question. He hated upsetting the Doc like that, especially after all he'd done to try and atone for himself. Yet he found it was something he had a hard time avoiding, and for that he was truly sorry.

Even so, the thing he really couldn't stop thinking about was his magic gun, which he still held protectively around his person even as he ate. He dare not let it out of its' sight now. Insano finding out the truth behind it had set him more than a little on edge. What if he decided to tell people about it? Well, they might not believe him, for starters. But what if he still had the proof? What if he convinced them? Would they side with Linkara, and want to help him protect the little girl? Or would they decide that Insano had it right, and demand he hand her over to him? And what would he do then? He just didn't know.

And then there was the other element of it...what if Insano was right?

The thought would never have occurred to him during the argument last night, when he was too busy being defensive and scared to think with any rationale. But now, as he'd had some time to review the situation, he realized that the scientist wasn't completely out of line. After all, he had been out of sorts when his crew died, to say the very least. What if something in his mind snapped that night? What if the “dream” he thought he'd had was no more than a hallucination brought on by his depression and grief? What if he'd never pulled the trigger after all? What if there was no little girl??

It was a possibility. Not a possibility he wanted to entertain much, even now. But it was a possibility. And it nagged at him relentlessly, every minute of the day, tearing him between the responsibility he felt over his team and his mission, and the fact that he just felt so sure...

Linkara realized that Liz was staring at him with concern. He must have looked deep in thought. He smiled at her reassuringly, and she smiled back. Then they went back to eating.

Responsibility...now there was a word that seemed to have all kinds of different meanings these days. Linkara was responsible for everything that went on around here, and had been since day one. Nobody ASKED him to do it, or made a big thing out of the matter. It just sort of came naturally that he was the first to act. He contacted everyone in the Channel Awesome community and told them to gather where he was, and they agreed without question. He and his crew built the base they were living in, and nobody was surprised to see it. The time came when they needed organization, a system to live by in order to survive. And just like that, without a hitch, he was chosen to lead them all. The unanimous choice. The obvious choice.

Because that was just how Linkara was, right? The good Samaritan, the hero. The natural-born leader. Everyone seemed to know it. Linkara thought that he knew it too.

So why was he feeling so lost?

Liz cleared her throat loudly, gaining his attention. “Uh, Linkara?” she asked, looking behind him. “You have visitors.”

Linkara turned to see Marzgurl standing a few feet beside him. She stood stiffly, looking dishevelled and tired as usual, but also with the indication that she had something very important to say. Behind her were Angry Joe and Lisa, still carrying their weapons on them from the afternoons' work, looking considerably more laid back than their appointed general. Lisa waved at him cheerfully.

“Hey there, guys!” He said, standing up. “How did scavenging go today?”

“Oh, we kicked some robot ARSE out there!” Joe shouted, “ARSE! With a capital hard R! ARRRRSE!”

“Arse, matey!” Lisa piped up.

Joe shook his head. “See, that doesn't quite work the same, cuz there's no context...”

“Linkara.” Marzgurl interrupted sharply. Joe and Lisa instantly clamped up. “There's something important I...we wish to discuss with you. Something that's of very high concern for everyone.”

Linkara swallowed thickly. His hand involuntarily twitched towards his gun holster. “What kind of concern?” He asked, feigning casualty.

“It's about Pollo.”

“Oh.” Relief swan over him, and he hoped it didn't show. “Yeah, how is the little guy anyway? I've been meaning to check up on him, but I've been busy with inventory and-”

“He was acting very strangely today, sir.” said Marzgurl, “He was stumbling around, and he didn't seem to be paying much attention to half of what I was saying.”

Linkaras' brow furrowed. “That doesn't sound good at all. I thought for sure he would've gotten better after the nights' rest...”

Marzgurl hesitated a little. “There's more.”

“More?” Now he was really confused. “What more could there be?”

“He was talking all cryptic-like!” Joe chimed in, “Like, he started saying how he wanted to escape, and he called Marz here an error and shit.” Then backing down from Marzgurls' disapproving glance just a bit, he added “Or so she tells us, anyways.”

“Yeah, it was really weird.” added Lisa, who evidently didn't get the idea that she and Joe weren't supposed to be talking. “Apparently he said it was just because he was tired. But tired people don't just start talking crazy, do they? I mean, I know Pollo's not technically a person. But still...”

“Our concern,” said Marzgurl, “is that maybe there's something more wrong with him than just simple fatigue. That maybe something else is affecting his mind.” Here she raised her eyebrow pointedly, and with disdain Linkara realized what they were getting at.

“Something else. Something else like PAOLA, maybe?”

“It could be.”

“No it couldn't.”

“If I may,” Marzgurl was annoyed now, “It really could. We don't know for certain how those overriding capabilities of theirs work. What chances can we take? He wasn't acting normal, Linkara. And if we don't do something about it, he could get worse. He could...he could...”

“He could assimilate us like the borg!” Shouted Lisa.

“Foiles, please.” Marzgurl hissed in reply.

Lisa stiffened her back and started goose-stepping, swinging her arms in a very poor imitation of an android. “We are the PAOLA. Beep-beep. Resistance is futile. You will all be forced to wear sexy Jerri Ryan cosplay outfits. Beep-bloop.”

Marzgurl was fuming. Joe was close to hitting the floor with laughter.

“I have a question.” Liz said, raising her hand. “Why are these two even here?”

“Apparently so they can act like lunatics.” Linkara replied, rolling his eyes.

“Hey that's not true.” Lisa stopped goose-stepping. “Marzgurl talked to us about the whole thing while we were out scavenging. We all agreed that it was an issue we wanted to bring to you.” She turned to Joe. “We wanted to help. Right, commander?”

Joe glanced at Linkara, looking a bit nervous and apologetic. “Actually...I was kinda just here to act like a lunatic.”

Lisa facepalmed. Marzgurl slapped Joes' hat off.

“Alright, enough.” said Linkara. “Listen, Marzgurl. If Pollo were going to be affected at all by PAOLA, he would have by now. It's been almost a year. I'll check with him, see what exactly his problem is. But I'm telling you right now the guy's not about to commit mutiny on us.” His eyes narrowed. “And you will not treat him as though he is. Understood?”

At this Marzgurl only became agitated. “Don't you get it? He was acting like a freak! He sounded exactly like those other piece of shit robots we fight every day, and I would know, because I actually go out there! I know what he can become! We can't trust him!”

“You're out of line, Marzgurl!” Linkara snapped angrily. Liz, sensing trouble, stood up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder, calming him down. “He's going to talk to him.” She said calmly. “That's really all you can ask. If I were you, I'd drop it and go back to my duties.”

“That's an order, Marzgurl.” Linkara added. “Joe and Lisa, same to you.”

For all her faults, Marzgurl never ignored an order. She immediately backed down. “Fine.” She said icily, and stormed off. Angry Joe and Lisa stood there for a moment, feeling awkward.

“Look, man,” Joe said anxiously, “I like Pollo. I really do. He's a cool little dude. I just know that there's a threat with robots and stuff...”

“Not with Pollo.” Linkara said shortly. “As you were.”

Joe paused for a bit, and then nodded. The two walked off, beginning to chat casually as if there had been no drama.

“You know, I really do think I could pull off a Seven of Nine cosplay. I've got the hair. Maybe if conventions ever come back when the world is rebuilt...”

“Hell, you could just wear it on my show. You in skin-tight spandex, that'll sell.”

Linkara sat down with a sigh the moment they were gone, feeling exhausted. Iron Liz sat down beside him companionably, and tried to smile.

“You shouldn't get too worked up about it.” She assured him, “It's just Marzgurl, after all, you know how she is. I don't think she understands how to be sensitive about things anymore.”

“Yeah, I guess.” he responded solemnly, before looking up at her with a depressed sort of nostalgia. “You remember how laid back she was before all this started? How friendly? She used to act like she looked up to everyone...not in a weird way, like Film Brain. In a way where you just knew she respected you. But now...now she's just...cold, all the time. Cold, and unenthused. Even when she's angry, she's not really angry, just...loud. I wonder if she even feels anything at all these days.”

Liz nodded sympathetically. “Things like this change people. Apocalypse, war, death, all of it. There's so much she's seen that we don't know about. It's a long way here from Texas, after all.”

Linkara could only nod in agreement. The two of them sat there for a minute or two before he stood up again. “I oughta go find Pollo.” He said, heading for the hallway. “I really was worried to hear what Marzgurl said about him. I wonder if...”

He stopped. It turned out he didn't have to look very far.

Pollo was hovering very close to the ground just inside the doorway closest to the living room. Linkara could tell from the way he was shaking that he'd heard every word they'd said.

“Ahh.” Liz winced, seeing the little robot. “Um...I just remembered, there's some...inventory-type stuff I forgot to do in the weapons room. I should probably head on over there and...inventorize.”

Liz hurried out. Linkara was quiet for a bit, looking down at where Pollo stood trembling. Then he smiled, ever so hesitantly, and got down on his knees so that they were level with each other. “Hey, little buddy.” He said softly. “I take it you heard the news?”

Everyone
on this base thinks I could be evil. Pollo responded. Despite the fact that he had a strictly monotone voice, Linkara could always hear between the lines. In this case, he could tell that he was incredibly hurt.

“Not everyone.” He said, “Just a few people. And they're absolutely crazy for thinking it.” With that he placed his hand gently on the robots back, and pulled him into a hug. He smiled as he felt his shaking subside.

I'm truly sorry for what happened with Marzgurl. He heard Pollo mutter. I don't know why I said what I did. I had thought the night had cured me of my ills, but then I got...so stressed. She was shouting at me, and I suppose I lost my temper. It was wrong, and I apologize.

“Hey, it's okay.” Linkara said, letting him go. “We've all been there with Marzgurl. Hell, I was just there with Marzgurl a few minutes ago, you saw me. It took Liz calming everything down to prevent a real riot from going down. Would have been ugly, I'm telling ya.” He laughed, and Pollo relaxed even more.

Then you do believe me?

“Of course I believe you! I trust you, Pollo. And you trust me, right?”

Of course.

“Then believe me when I say you don't have anything to worry about. I would never let anyone mistake you for anything less than a hero, even on this base. Never mind the fact that you're a robot! You're my robot, and that's what matters.” He patted Pollo on the head and stood up. “Besides, soon all this stuff about PAOLA will finally be behind us. And none of us will have to worry about a thing anymore.”

Silently Pollo rose up from the ground, seemingly more confident in these words. Then he looked up at Linkara and said something he did not expect. Linkara...do you think you could tell me what happened between you and Doctor Insano last night?

Linkara gave a start that he hoped to God Pollo didn't notice. “Um...Insano?” He said hastily, his heart pounding, “Nothing happened with Insano! What made you think something happened with Insano?”

Well, I noticed that both you and he were acting very strangely during the meeting...

“That was nothing.” He answered quickly. “Just a little bit of confusion, that's all. Turned out Insano was joking. Ha ha, you know him right? He never was good at lightening the mood.”

Weak, Linkara thought to himself, weak-ass alibi. There was no way Pollo wouldn't see through that.

Pollo stared at him for a moment, a long moment in Linkaras' mind. Very well, he said finally. Thank you for telling me. I shall return to the lab now and see if Spoony and Insano need any more help. With that he turned to leave.

Surprised by this, Linkara called after him. “Does that mean you're feeling better now, Pollo?”

Pollo turned back, and his eye glowed just a little. Absolutely, he said. And then he left.

Linkara watched him head out, feeling stunned. Then the reality of it hit him, and he felt like an idiot. Of course Pollo believed his story. Pollo would believe any story Linkara told him, no matter how far-fetched. It wasn't in his programming or anything, it was just what he did.

Because he trusted him.

Linkara sighed again and turned towards the weapons room after Liz. As he did so, he realized he had placed his hand tightly on his gun holster again. He didn't take it off.

Maybe I am crazy, he thought with chagrin.

And indeed, maybe he was.