Kim Possible Porn Story: To Bebe or not to Bebe – Chapter 7

Chapter 7 : A Few Answers as Phase II begins

Scene : a sparsely furnished conference room at the Global Justice headquarters [Western Division. Tina is practicing the slow, focused movements of T’ai Chi Chuan, trying to center (but not doing too well from anxiety over Vina’s situation), while Nina is pacing the room while quietly singing to herself to calm down.

“As long as she doesn’t start with the death metal tunes or ‘Banned From Argo’, we should be fine …” Tina noted to herself as Nina stomped past a large chalkboard with the results of last week’s sports betting pool still scrawled on it. For the fourth time.

“Must you pace like that, sister ?” Tina finally had to ask with a slight edge to her voice, “It isn’t helping anyone. The Tao Teh Ching teaches that ‘Stillness benefits more than action; silence benefits more than words. Rare indeed are those who are still. Rare indeed are those who are silent. Rare indeed are those who obtain the bounty of this world.’ “

“And rare indeed are those who can put up with your CONSTANT dispensing of ancient ‘wisdoms’ at inappropriate times !” Nina shrieked at her, slamming her fist on the table, “How can you tolerate just staying here in this cramped little room, doing those exercises of yours while our little sister is in mortal danger ?!”

“How many times has Team Possible ever failed ?” Tina replied calmly, without pausing or wavering even slightly.

“Well, there’s always a first time for everything !” Nina replied snippily, “And Vina is OUR little sister ! WE should be the ones out there trying to rescue her ! NOT Team Possible !”

“And, given our skills and abilities, how would such a mission most likely end ?” Tina calmly asked.

Nina thinks for a moment before glumly answering “In failure.”

“Then please try to calm down. You have not failed in your duties as the eldest sister.” Tina stated plainly, getting to the heart of what actually was bothering Nina, “You determined that Kim and Ronald were Vina’s best hope, and that the most logical course of action was to enlist their aid. You managed to get the only two people in the world that could rescue her in time to help. That is the most anyone could have done in this situation.

They will either succeed, or they will fail.” she continued, “Nothing we do here will change the outcome, so there is no point pacing about. If the mission was beyond their capabilities, what hope would we have had ?”

“None.” Nina replied quietly, “But I think it would have been better if we tried anyway. At least our worries would be over once we were all recycled.”

Tina bobbled for just a moment from surprise.

“Now I know you don’t mean that !” she stated as she dropped her stance, “Why would you say such a thing ?”

“What is to become of us, now that the Hive has burned us ?” Nina began, “Even if – WHEN – Kim rescues Vina, what are we to do then ?

We can’t go back to the Hive now; we would be captured and recycled on sight. As for the humans, we can neither beat them nor join them ! Either way, it would be three of us against six BILLION of them ! We have essentially zero chance of success against those numbers, even if our cover hadn’t been blown !”

She paused as if suddenly noticing something. “Wait – three of us against six billion of them ?! How could that possibly work ? Even thousands or tens of thousands of us wouldn’t help much – the numbers against us are simply ludicrous ! You know, I am starting to think this whole ‘take over the world’ routine is an extremely bad idea !” she continued in hushed tones.

“But, if it IS such a bad idea,” she asked herself, “then WHY does everyone insist on trying it ? Why were WE trying it, given the ridiculous odds against us ? It makes no sense ! I must be overlooking something. What do you think ?”

Tina decided to risk using a little ancient wisdom and sagely replied “If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”

The most intelligent response Nina could muster after two seconds of thought was a boggled “Heh ?”

“The humans do many foolish things for many irrational reasons.” Tina began, “We were programmed to mimic human behaviors; must we emulate all of them ?

World domination is creator Drakken’s dream; should it be ours as well ?”

Tina paused, lost in contemplating her next words. She knew the PERFECT sayings for this situation, but recalled that a little ancient wisdom goes a long, LONG way. And given Nina’s present mood, she may have used more than was prudent already.

“Everyone has been so busy trying to take over the world that they have never taken the time to just sit down and figure out if it even IS a good idea. I think it would be best to determine IF the prize is actually worth having before committing ourselves to winning it.

Or, as that Spock character said, ‘After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting …’ “

“‘This is not logical, but it is often true.’ Original series Star Trek, episode 34, Amok Time, stardate 3372.7.” Nina stated as a bemused smile flickered across her face, “You can be most exasperating at times sister, but you did bring up an excellent point.”

With that, Nina erased the figures on the chalkboard and set directly to work, setting the initial values of a payoff matrix to begin game theory calculations.

“Oh, by the way, I apologize for that ‘ancient wisdoms at inappropriate times’ comment.” she said over her shoulder, “I know this situation can’t be easy for you either. I hate feeling so helpless and ineffectual. But that was no excuse to be so curt and uncivilized, especially towards you. You were just trying to help, in your own odd way.”

“Wellll, I suppose I overdo the ‘ancient sayings’ bit sometimes. Sorry !” Tina replied with a sheepish grin.

“Think no more about it.” Nina replied casually, “Now, to work. Must establish rational payoff values, costs and benefits to determine where the Nash equilibria are, or if they even exist within such an interdependent array such as this …” Nina muttered to herself as she wrote down ever more complex equations.

Now that Nina was calm and safely distracted, Tina began to wonder how Kim and Ron were doing at the Kansas hive …

“The trace was solid Kim.” he replied as he typed on two keyboards at once, “And from the gravimetric distortions I picked up from satellites, the lair is underground and huge !”

“How huge ?” Ron asked.

“About three city blocks long by two blocks wide.”

“Dang !” Ron replied as he got a mental image of how large a complex that was, “That means those Bebebots must have been working on it this whole time !”

“Well, partly. The factory was built over a zinc mine that was abandoned about fifty years ago.” Wade replied, “The Bebes just dug until they found it, then incorporated it into their lair design. I think most of them hid down there when you blew up the old factory.”

“Well, Nine-A said the Bebebots are into efficiency.” Kim noted, “So Wade, what’s the most efficient way for them to defend a lair ?”

“By having a limited number of well hidden, easily watched and defended entrances Kim. From my tech scans, there is a quarter mile long tunnel running east, so that probably leads to their main entrance.”

“And its probably nothing but heavy steel doors and wall to wall death traps the whole way in.” Kim noted, “So they won’t be expecting us to drop in somewhere else, right ?”

“Right !” Wade replied as he performed a more detailed satellite scan of the area. “There’s an unusual heat signature twenty yards in front of you.”

Kim and Ron carefully picked their way through the wreckage to the spot Wade mentioned – it was the flattened remains of a ventilation duct.

“So, Wade, what abilities did you program into the supersuit this time ?” Kim asked with a predatory grin.

“Just the usual – enhanced strength and speed, force bubble, energy reflecting hand, and stealth mode. Those should give you the edge you need over a whole nest of Bebebots.

Unless,” Wade continued, “the Bebes have made some upgrades we don’t know about yet.”

“I doubt they had time to do many upgrades since the last battle.” Kim replied as she used her laser lipstick to cut her own entrance into the base, “I mean, a few might be boosted, but not the whole nest !”

“That sounds reasonable.” Wade replied, “You want me to contact GJ so they can have a clean-up demolitions team ready to go ?”

“Please and thank you !” Kim replied as she used the suit’s enhanced strength to pull open the new entrance.

“Okay, Ron, I’ll take care of the security drones. I need you and Rufus to find Vina. Or what’s left of her.”

“Ahmm, ‘What’s left of her ?’ ” Ron grimaced, “What do you think they could have done ? It hasn’t been that long !”

“Hard to say, Ron.” Kim replied glumly, “I guess it depends on how fast they can disassemble another Bebebot, and how important recycling her was. You know, if recycling is at the bottom of their ‘low pri’ list, they may not have done anything to her yet !”

“One of the few times being on the bottom of a food chain is a good thing then, I guess …” Ron replied glumly, not wanting to think about how Nina and Tina might react to not getting their little sister back as he and Kim dropped into the Bebebot lair.

The first triad of drones that noticed Kim attempted their ‘scissoring pin’ routine – just as Nina said they would.

But this time, Kim ran toward the wall and somersaulted off it and over their lasers, catching the third Bebebot completely off guard.

One of the remaining Bebes attempted to hit Kim with laser fire directly – but she caught and threw the blast at the other Bebebot before it could completely charge its weapon; the last ‘bot tried to retreat while calling for assistance, but was destroyed by Kim’s strength enhanced martial arts in less than two seconds.

When the reinforcements arrived, they didn’t SEE Kim in the area; four Bebebots were violently deactivated before the other eight even knew Kim was standing in their midst.

Deep inside the lair, the three Coordinator Bebebots ‘watched’ the casualties mount at an alarmingly fast rate; they knew Kim Possible was in the lair, and that her abilities had been greatly enhanced, but they had no idea about what to do about it. They had heard the stories about Kim’s supersuit, but given human tendencies to exaggerate, rationalize, and make things up, they had been unwilling to trust any wild claims about the suit’s abilities.

They suspected that Ron Stoppable was also in the lair; as he had not yet been detected (due to inexplicable security system failures), his capabilities and goals were unknown.

Since the Hive Mind needed every Bebebot it could muster for Phase II, it implemented its only logical course of action : cut its losses with a strategic withdrawal.

The three Coordinators, two menial drones and four defense drone Bebebots that were still functional abandoned the lair, sealed all the doors, and activated the self-destruct …

… which Wade deactivated a few seconds after Kim spliced her Kimmunicator into the lair’s computer system and copied all the data in their files.

“You managed to solve the equations ?” Tina replied, sounding slightly surprised.

“Yes ! The key was thinking outside the box, and dealing with world domination as a non-zero sum problem based on non-linear integrands …”

“Well, we’ve got some good news, and we’ve got some bad news.” Ron interrupted as he and Kim returned from their mission.

“You rescued Vina ?” Nina asked hopefully.

“Uhm, well, yeah, kinda …” he stammered before he and Kim led the other Rossums down the hallway, and through a very secure set of sliding doors.

Inside the robotics lab were three tables, each covered with sundry robotic and computer parts.

On the center table was a torso made from a glossy pink plastic, with a robotic head still attached.

A head with long blonde hair.

Nina did a quick inventory of the parts visible.

“Ohhhhkay, so what’s the bad news ?” she asked once she was sure all the expected parts were present.

Ron’s eye twitched. “What’s the bad news ?! WHAT’S THE BAD NEWS ?!?! Your sister Vina ! Dismantled ! Parts ! All over the room !”

“So ? For our kind, that is merely an inconvenience !” Nina replied with a dismissive handwave, “I can put her back together just as she was before, as long as her programming hasn’t been altered, compromised or erased. And since her chest cavity hasn’t been opened, they haven’t done any of that yet !

So, despite the rather grim appearances, you and Kim successfully rescued her in time. Thank you !” Nina continued with a barely contained smile.

“See, I TOLD you it was so not the drama Ron !” Kim said, putting her hand on his shoulder, “Uberly weird, wrongsick and twisted perhaps, but not the drama.”

“So, you’re sure you can put her back together, right ?” Ron asked, still looking a bit weirded out.

“Quite sure, assuming this ‘Global Justice’ organization we are presently dealing with has the proper equipment, and I have been granted permission to use it.” Nina replied as she cleaned some chalk dust off her glasses with a fine silk handkerchief.

“Well, GJ has used some rather advanced robots in the past, so they should have the right equipment.” Kim stated, recalling that Ninja-bot Global Justice once used a few years ago, “And you are here as our guests. Sort of. So I’d guess you can use the labs, but they’d probably want someone in there to watch you.

Just for security reasons, of course !”

“But of course !” Nina deadpanned.

“About how long should it take ?” Kim asked.

“Hmmm – best guess ? Assuming no unforeseen difficulties, it should take no longer than fifteen minutes for a complete rebuild.

Tina, would you mind talking with Kim and Ron while I’m working, please ? I’m sure they and our ‘hosts’ have questions for us, and we may have questions for them.”

“Sure. No problem. See you in about twenty in the conference room then ?”

“Acceptable.” Nina replied as she slipped on a pair of latex gloves, put on some goggles, and started adjusting what looked like a long pair of tongs.

“Thank you for rescuing Vina !” she squealed, “Thank you thank you thank you thank you !!”

Before they could faint from lack of oxygen, Tina released them, then took a few breaths to regain her composure.

“Kim Possible. Ron Stoppable. Thank you for rescuing Vina.” Tina stated as she placed her right fist to her open left palm, and gave the heroes a very formal bow, “My sisters and I are in your debt.”

“Ohkay, now I know I’ve seen that gesture somewhere before ....”Ron thought to himself, hand to chin, “but where ?”

“Erm, you’re welcome.” Kim replied tentatively, “You can start repaying the debt by telling us what the heck is going on !”

“Gladly. I shall do my best to honor our deal.”

“Deal ? What deal ?” Kim asked.

“Nina promised that ‘we will answer any and all questions put to us to the best of our ability’, on the condition that you rescue Vina. You held up your end of the bargain,” Tina replied cheerily, “so we shall uphold ours. Ask away.”

“Sooo, what fighting style do you use ?” Ron jumped in, “I mean, what’s with all the spots on that crash test dummy in your basement ?”

Tina chuckled at Ron’s enthusiastic curiosity. “I am learning the art of San She Quan : Three Snakes Fist kung fu. Curly – the crash test dummy you referred to – is used for speed and precision drills. On a human, strikes to the yellow spots produce spasms and crippling pain. Strikes to the red spots produce temporary numbness. And strikes to the black spots produce weakness.”

Kim cringed as Tina reeled off the list of effects as Ron thought for a bit as he counted on his fingers. “Wait a minute – then what do the green spots do ?”

“Counter the effects of the other spots of course.” Tina replied, “San She Quan aims for harmony and balance : physical, mental, and spiritual. Knowing how to harm aids in learning how to heal, and knowing how to heal aids in learning how to harm. Yin and yang. The skills balance and enhance each other.”

“No offense Ten-A, but that ‘Three Snakes Fist’ style of yours sounds totally gross and evil !” Kim stated with a look of disgust.

Tina grumbled under her breath. “Snake is one of the oldest animal forms of Shaolin Kung Fu. It is NOT ‘totally gross OR evil’ !” she stated with an expression of mock malevolence and much exaggerated finger wiggling at Kim.

“SHAOLIN KUNG FU ?!” Ron beamed, “You practice Shaolin Kung Fu ? I knew I recognized that fist to palm gesture from somewhere !

That and the high levels of emotional control, the constant use of ancient Oriental wisdom, that whole Kwai Chang Caine vibe …”

Kim rolled her eyes. “Oh great ! She claims she’s Shaolin ! Does every martial artist I know HAVE to be a ninja or something ?! “

“This is all very fascinating and all, Ten-A, but I have a really important question.” Kim asked as she leaned in closer to Tina, “How do you Bebebots keep coming back ? I mean, this is the THIRD time I’ve dealt with them already !”

“That – is a long and convoluted story.” Tina replied as she stood up, “But I need something to eat first. May I get either of you something from the vending machines outside ?”

Ron was going to answer, but noticed Kim’s glare just in time, so politely declined.

“You didn’t really believe anything she told us, did you ?” Kim asked him the moment Tina left the room.

“Why would she bother lying KP ?” Ron noted, “It certainly wouldn’t help their sitch now ! And they DID promise to answer all questions to the best of their ability.”

“Riiight !” Kim replies, “They could all be faking to lull us into a false sense of security ! Let us think they’re on our side, then steal GJ’s secrets and stab us in the back the first chance they get ! They’ve been faking quite well up ’til now !”

“Yeah, I suppose they could,” Ron replied seriously, “but to tell you the truth KP, I never got that ‘take over the world’ evil vibe from any of them.”

“They’re ROBOTS Ron ! Do they even have vibes for you to get ?” Kim replied, sounding slightly tweaked, “And do you really think she can do everything she says she can with that creepy fighting style she was talking about ?”

“Well, Yori was able to destroy that giant stone gargoyle with a single kick to just the right spot.” Ron replied after a bit of thought, “So, relatively speaking, Tina’s claims aren’t all that far out there. I mean, we’ve SEEN stranger stuff than that !”

Kim could only nod silently to that, recalling that Sensei could levitate and astral project. She remembered what Yono did to the Yamanuchi school; that Sensei had been turned into stone right before her eyes; that she’d even been turned to stone herself !

So it made perfect sense that a race of killer robots would be interested in acquiring such powers.

“Ron, if she can do even half of what she claims she can do …” Kim mused to herself before shuddering.

“Yikes !” Ron cringed after imagining for a second, “But we may not have to worry about that. If Tina really is following the Shaolin Code, she’ll only fight in self defense.” Ron continued.

“And you know that how, Ron ?” Kim asked, “Why would a killer robot want to be a self-defense pacifist ?”

“I watch a lot of TV, Kim.” he replied, “A LOT of TV. The Shaolin aren’t known for being aggressive, bloodthirsty killers.”

“At least in the movies and popular literature Ron !” Kim answered, “You can’t trust everything you see on TV you know !”

“Well, yeah, most times !” Ron replied, “But, from what I’ve seen, if she wants to use the skills and abilities of a Shaolin style, she’ll have to do it the Shaolin way. At least to start. And I know a way to find out just what skills she has !”

Before Kim could inquire about what he was planning, Tina returned with a soda in one hand and several candy bars in the other.

“So, Tina, can you actually paralyze people by hitting them in just the right spots ?” Ron asked bluntly as Kim gasped at his presumption.

“Sometimes.” Tina replied.

“Sometimes ?” Kim asked quizzically, “HOW can you sometimes paralyze someone ?”

“I have only been training with Sifu for five months.” Tina began, “Most of the training to date has been learning where the snake points are, and what they do. And I had to learn healing before he would even begin teaching me that !”

“Well that’s a darn good idea !” Kim stated, “Considering what hitting those points can do to someone !”

“Precisely. It is also a test of character.” Tina continued, “Although San She Quan is an obscure and rare style, over the years Sifu has rejected over a dozen pupils before accepting me as one of his students.”

“Oh, I get it !” Ron stated, “He rejects anyone only interested in hurting people !”

“Precisely !” Tina replied with an amused smile, “He said that half of them lacked the patience, or weren’t interested in learning any of that ‘mystical mumbo-jumbo’. But that ‘mystical mumbo-jumbo’ is the bedrock the entire style is based on. Without it, the style is hollow.

The rest had no interest in learning the healing arts. Without them, the style is unbalanced.”

“Hmmm – so she could just be learning the healing arts because she has to, not because she wants to …” Kim mused to herself, watching Ten-A closely for any signs of deception, “Just because she knows the healing arts doesn’t mean she has to use them ! And that’s assuming she’s telling the truth !

But, then again, who in their right mind would spar with someone that can cause muscle spasms with a special touch ? But if she’s only been training for five months, then she’s just a rank beginner, and no real threat to anybody !“

“I can use the snake points in combat, but I miss more often than not. But that should improve after another two or three years diligent practice and study !” Tina continued before biting through one candy bar, wrapper and all.

“Uh, you DO know you should unwrap those first, right ?” Kim noted.

“I know, I just don’t care.” Tina replied between bites, “Its not like I have to hide the fact that I’m an AI around you two anymore.”

“Ah, right. And another thing – WHY does a robot need to eat ?” Kim continued, “Don’t you have a perpetual generator or nucleonic plant or something ?”

“We were built to mimic humans. Humans eat. So we had to as well.” Tina replied, “Perpetual generators aren’t cheap or easily stolen, and we’d have to be the size of a horse or an automobile to use one. Nucleonic generators don’t leave enough room for brains, and tend to explode when damaged in any way. Not fun. So we use a bioreactor to convert any organic matter we consume into electrical power. We could live off tree bark, leaf litter, mulch, or cardboard if we had to.

And speaking of cardboard, GJ really should check the stock in the vending machines more often ! I think some of it expired last century.” Tina stated as she continued eating it.

“You, ah, said you were going to explain how the Bebebots keep coming back.” Kim stated as she rubbed her temples, trying to get back on topic.

“Oh, right ! The story begins several generations back in ancient Bebebot history – two years ago.” Tina began in full ‘ancient storyteller’ mode.

“Two years ago is ‘ancient Bebebot history’ ?” Ron asked quizzically.

“For us it is.” Tina replied, “In the beginning, Creator Drakken built three perfect Bebe-B robots to parade his genius before the old college friends that laughed at him.

So he had The First Ones kidnap Doctors Chen, Ramesh, and Possible.”

“Yeah, I remember THAT part Ten-A !” Kim said snippily, “I was there for that bit !”

“Oh, right, you were.” Tina replied, “At the time, Drakken was using an abandoned warehouse in Lowerton as a lab, and built the first of our kind there. He kept enough spare parts on hand to build each Bebebot again from scratch if he had to. To ensure optimum performance, he had given The First Ones a pinch of human emotion – just enough to feel ashamed of failure.

But, as yin cannot exist without yang, or due to his incompetence in programming, the opposite emotion – pride in a job well done – arose within them. But with no experience in controlling their emotions, nor any concept of harmony or balance, their pride became unmitigated arrogance. As you have no doubt noticed.” Both Kim and Ron nodded.

“After they kidnapped Doctor Ramesh, and after their first battle with you, they realized there was a slight chance they could actually fail. So during their free time before setting out to capture your father, they began building backup copies of themselves; Drakken was too occupied with his personal project in Middleton to notice. It was simple cyber-sense : ALWAYS make backup copies of valuable data.”

Tina took a large swallow of soda before continuing.

“The moment The First Ones decided that Drakken was unfit to command, they ordered the spares back in Lowerton to finish building themselves, intending them to be the start of a drone army.

When you destroyed The First Ones, the backup drones had no one to command them, so they developed free will. Realizing they were vulnerable in low numbers, they chose to remain hidden as they experimented with and enhanced some of their abilities.”

“Okay, that explains where the superspeedy ones came from then, ” Kim noted, “and why they stole all that mass production equipment.

But me and Rufus destroyed all of them ! So where did the ones that built your ‘family’ come from ?”

“Actually, you didn’t destroy many of them at all.” Tina replied plainly, taking another sip of soda as Kim’s eyes widened in shock.

“Do you remember your mission to the Gulf Coast hive ?” Kim nodded woodenly. “The three that stole all those items and built the super speed assembly line were numbers Fifteen, Sixteen, and Seventeen. The first one off the assembly line was number Eighteen. The assembly line was constantly running in the background while you and the drones battled. The rodent’s sabotage affected all numbers beyond Thirty Two.

You destroyed Numbers Fifteen, Sixteen, and Seventeen; Numbers Thirty Three through Thirty Eight had upside down faces, so they shorted themselves out.”

Kim did a quick calculation. “That means there were fifteen Bebebots made in between that I didn’t know about !”

“Yeah !” Ron interjected, “And what happened to all the lower numbers ? I mean, if the LOWEST number at the hive was Number Fifteen, then where was Number Fourteen ? Or Twelve ? Or, well the ones with you and your sisters’ numbers ?”

“Oh crud !” Kim thought to herself, “Ron’s right ! That’s another fourteen Bebebots ! That’s – TWENTY NINE Bebebots on the loose !“

“Some were elsewhere, gathering equipment and supplies to keep the assembly line running. Parts don’t appear out of thin air you know.” Tina replied, “Almost all of the lower numbers were recycled, or experimented on, or destroyed on other missions. One was busy abducting the band Smash Mouth for your school dance because Queen Bonnie subconsciously commanded it.”

“Oooo, yeah, that’s right ! They made Bonnie their queen !” Ron stated before cringing. “Er, you’re not still under her rule, are you ?”

“Oh no ! Oh please no ! ” Kim thought to herself.

“Not any more.” Tina replied as Kim breathed a huge sigh of relief, “Those impulses were rooted out of the last generation’s programming before they got around to building us.”

Tina finished off the last of her soda before continuing. “Although we are artificial, we do have something of a tradition – as soon as a governing triad is destroyed, their backup copies activate and become the new governing triad. And the very first thing they do upon promotion is build backup copies of themselves, and hide them.”

“So, when I destroyed the original three, the hidden backups activated.” Kim noted, starting to look worried, “Then those three built backup copies of themselves and hid them. And when I destroyed those Bebebots, their backup copies activated and eventually built you. But, that means there is no end to this !” Kim thundered, “The minute we destroy them, the backups will just reboot and start the whole thing all over again !”

“Why does that surprise you ?” Tina asked, “If everyone keeps following the same plan, they will keep arriving at the same point.”

“But Tina, consistently arriving at a predetermined and desired point is the entire purpose of having a plan in the first place !” Nina interrupted as she pulled off her latex gloves and put her goggles back into a pocket.

“You are finished already ?” Tina asked, “Did everything go well ?”

Nina grumbled before answering. “Rebuilding went as well as I could have hoped. But there were a few, well, complications …”

“Complications ? What sort of complications ?” Tina asked, sounding very worried.

“They scrapped all her non-standard Bebebot parts !” Nina replied, “But everything else was present and functional.”

“So, uh, what does that mean exactly ?” Ron had to ask.

“That means they scrapped her synthoskin and bioreactor, amongst other things.” Nina explained to Kim and Ron.

“Wait a minute – doesn’t she need her bioreactor to, you know, LIVE ?” Kim asked.

“We only require a strong, consistent power source to be able to think and to move.” Nina stated primly, “Without one, we can safely ‘sleep’ for centuries or more. One of the advantages of being a non-organic cybernetic intelligence.”

“Can I see her then ?” Tina asked hopefully, “Even if she isn’t active ?”

“Oh, you can see her.” Nina replied, “As you may as well, Kim Possible and Ronald Stoppable. And she can see all of us as well : I was able to jury-rig a functional power supply from spare equipment in the lab. It is not much, and it is quite primitive, but it shall have to do until I can devise a more permanent and affordable solution.”

With that, Nina led them all back into the robotics lab, past two guards armed with large caliber plasma bolt rifles.

On pure reflex, Kim dropped into her attack posture the instant she noticed the Bebebot standing in front of her.

“Kim, wait ! Hold it !” the Bebebot shrieked in Vina’s voice as it put its hands up and cowered behind Tina, “I’ve already been dismantled once today, and that was enough !”

Kim took a closer look – Vina as a Bebebot was a few inches shorter than the standard model, and made from plastic instead of metal. And instead of wearing the standard Bebebot black with pink trim two piece outfit, hers was pink with black trim. And wore her hair in a ponytail instead of the usual straight flare.

“So this is the REAL you, Lavinia ?” Kim asked as she lowered her guard, “Or should I call you Bebebot Number, ah, wait – just what IS your number ?”

“My official hive designation was Bebebot Number Eleven-A.” Vina replied snippily as she put her hands on her hips, “But I would MUCH prefer Vina if its alright with you ! And yes, this IS what I look like without my alpha series upgrades ! And what is this thing ?” she asked as she noticed the new cable connected to her navel.

She pulled it loose and looked at the four inch long, rather thick needle-like plug of the power cord, then slumped as her glowing red eyes went dark.

Nina blinked in surprise a few times before she slapped herself on the forehead and muttered “I … don’t believe she just did that !”

“What ? What did she just do ?” Ron asked.

“She pulled her own plug !” Nina replied as she re-inserted the plug with a muffled ‘click’.

Vina’s posture improved and her eyes re-lit as her power flow resumed. “Did something just happen ?” she asked, looking around warily.

“Vina dear, the Hive scrapped all your non-standard parts, remember ?” Nina began in sweet voice, “That means you don’t have a bioreactor anymore.”

“So you gave me an extension cord ?!” Vina squeaked incredulously.

“Well, it was the best I could do on such short notice !” Nina replied, “Please don’t disconnect your power supply until after you’ve completely recharged !”

“Well, this is certainly awk-weird !” Vina stated snippily as she sat on the table then crossed her arms, being careful to NOT disturb the power cord, “So, how long do I have to put up with this indignity ?”

“Wow ! It sounds like she inherited some of Bonnie’s traits !” Kim noted to herself, “I wonder if the other two did as well ? And which ones ? “

“Until I can acquire and assemble the parts necessary to rebuild your bioreactor, of course !” Nina replied primly, “Until then, you’ll have to spend ten minutes every six hours recharging your capacitors. It is … the best I could do with readily available parts.”

“And how long will all that rebuilding take ?” Vina asked, not sounding like she really wanted to know, “I thought for sure that YOU of all people would have enough spare parts on hand !”

“Our bioreactors and synthoskin systems were stolen from a lab in Los Angeles, remember ?” Nina replied evenly, “The Three acquired only what was needed to build us, and nothing more. We are considered disposable, so there never were any spare parts for us. Nor can we ask anyone for any !”

“One of the disadvantages to being a non-organic cybernetic intelligence made from stolen technology !” Kim mused to herself as she watched the sisters squabble.

“Building a new bioreactor is simple enough, but it uses cultures of living fungi, algae and bacteria. I have samples of them frozen down, but it will take two weeks to grow enough of them for use.” Nina continued apologetically, “The synthoskin will take up to five weeks to prepare. Sorry !”

Vina-bot scowled at Nina for a distressingly long time. “Well, at least I’m functional and aware.” she finally stated before embracing both her sisters at the same time, “Much better than the alternative ! And I guess a month really isn’t all THAT long. Even if I DO have to hide out the whole time.

But, I’m confused. I thought we were supposed to contact the Hive for pickup and debriefing. After we completed our mission ! But we’re nowhere near completing our mission ! And I know none of us contacted the Hive ! So why did they attempt to recall us early ?”

“That is a very good question,” the very commanding woman with short brown hair and an eyepatch stated as she entered the room, “and I trust one of you has a very good answer.”

The Rossums looked at each other, the woman, the agent beside her, the six heavily armed guards backing her up, then to Kim and Ron.

“That’s Doctor Director, head of Global Justice.” Kim answered their implied question, “The guy beside her is their ‘best’ agent, Will Du. Never met the troops behind them.”

“Ah yes, of course.” Nina replied flatly, “I surmised that it would only be a matter of time before we were summoned for a proper interrogation. I was not expecting someone as highly ranked as the head of the organization to show up as well. That does explain the half dozen babysitters though.”

Will Du quirked an eyebrow at that comment. “I see you are familiar with espionage procedures and jargon.”

“I am familiar with many things.” Nina replied cryptically as she adjusted her glasses, “After all, my sisters and I were specifically designed, built and programmed for deep cover investigations. That are now completely pointless and irrelevant.”

“Then you won’t mind answering a few questions.” Will stated as he eyed the Rossums suspiciously while some techs carefully wheeled an equation-covered chalkboard past them, “If you will follow me, we can get your debriefing started.”

“That doesn’t mean what you THINK it means, Ron !” Kim stated as Ron started to raise his hand to stop them.

“So, what’s GJ planning to do with them ?” Kim asked Doctor Director as the Rossums were escorted down the hall.

“Under the present circumstances, we’re treating this as a defection.” Doctor Director replied, “So what happens next is up to them. If they prove to be helpful in stopping whatever the other Bebebots are plotting, we’ll see if there is a way to put their talents towards more legal and productive ends.

You two have had more contact with them than anyone else; any opinions relevant to this matter ?”

Kim had to think very carefully for a few moments. She suspected the only reason Global Justice was treating Vina and her sisters as defectors instead of prisoners was because she asked them to. Having someone’s life – artificial or otherwise – dependent upon her opinion was pretty heavy stuff for a teenager ! She and Vina had their share of disagreements and harsh words, but Kim doubted it was worth the risk of sending Vina to prison (or to her death) by mentioning them.

“Can we get back to you on that ?” Kim finally asked.

“Of course.” Doctor Director answered, “It’s going to take a few days to completely debrief them, and we have nine crime scenes to deal with in the meantime.”

“Yes. About those.” Kim began as her eyes narrowed in concentration, “From what Wade told me, all but one of them were thefts. The attack on Team Go – just doesn’t fit ! Does GJ have anything more on that ?”

“As a matter of fact, we do.” Dr Director stated as she led Kim and Ron to another room, “A few tourists caught the entire incident on video.”

With that, she activated a remote control, and a large screen lowered from the ceiling, and the scene began to play.

It started out mundane enough – a few shots of an average couple goofing off, Go Tower, the Mucho Grande building. Then a loud crash offscreen.

The camera panned quickly right. Three Bebebots came into view as the autofocus kicked in.

“Wait ! Back it up a bit !” Kim stated.

“You spotted a clue, Miss Possible ?” Dr Director asked as the scene rewound to the point where the Bebes just came into focus. Two of the Bebes looked identical, but the third was wearing something like a backpack.

“Yeah. That one in the back looks different than the other two !” Kim replied, “That CAN’T be good !”

“So not all of them are identical now.” Dr Director noted as her brow furrowed in thought, “It seems they’ve discovered the advantages to diversity. Definitely not good !”

The recording began again. The two identical Bebes were teaming up to lob cars through the nearest storefront windows, while the backpack equipped Bebe used wrist mounted blasters to shoot targets seemingly at random.

“Well, that’s the classic way to get superheroes to show up !” Ron noted, “Just cause random destruction, and they come running to stop it !”

And sure enough, they did. Hego struck a dramatic pose as he tossed off one of his droll one-liners. The Bebebot with the backpack powered up, and four long spikes erupted from the backpack, and quickly formed into huge dragonfly-like wings. There was a loud buzz as it rose into the air.

“OH GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY !!” Ron exclaimed, “They can FLY now ?!”

“Well, just that one does.” Kim noted as she watched the recording. “But that’s kinda odd – why just one and not all three ? And why wings instead of hoverjets ?”

The Wegos created a dozen duplicates of themselves and rushed the ground-based Bebes. Mego shrunk to gain the tactical advantage of a surprise attack, and Hego lifted a hot dog vendor’s cart overhead to throw at the flying Bebe.

The buzz from the Bebe’s wings changed into an ear drum bursting, organ-rattling screech before the screen went silent – the raw power of the sonic attack had shorted out the camera’s microphone. The Wegos (being closest to the assault), staggered and covered their ears as their duplicates did the same before vanishing. The twin Bebes dashed forward and buried a fist into each of Wego’s abdomens, lifting each twin almost a foot off the ground. Then grasping the collars of the Wego’s costume, they held them at arm’s length and repeated slapped and backhanded them into unconsciousness before nonchalantly tossing them up through a third story window.

“Okay, now THAT was just WRONGSICK !” Ron shrieked, “I mean, what was the point of all that gratuitous violence ?!”

“I don’t know !” Kim replied while feeling disgusted at such cavalier abuse, “But they are SO gonna pay for it !”

From the expression on Hego’s face, he was thinking exactly the same thing as he threw the cart at the twin Bebes instead of the flying one, then charged at them. The Bebe twins evaded the projectile easily, then held each other’s hand while extending the other palms forward towards the onrushing Hego.

“They’re setting up the same attack they tried on me the first time !” Kim noted as the twin Bebe’s hands began to blur.

The air between the linked Bebes and Hego distorted in waves as the attack hit, blowing him backwards through a brick wall. The Bebe twins let go of each other, and began unsteadily walking towards him.

“Oh great ! It looks like they’re able to share power now !” Kim stated, “By holding hands like that, each one only has to use half the energy for the same blast, charging up in half the usual time !”

“Looks like it still takes a lot out of them though.” Ron noted, “They can’t even walk straight !”

There was a flash of purple light as Mego suddenly returned to full size between the staggering Bebebots, hitting each of them with a full force palm strike uppercut to their chins. The impact knocked both of them off their feet as Mego waved his hands to ease some of the pain from that massive impact.

He hadn’t noticed that the flying Bebe had retracted its wings and gone into a slowly rotating tuck, and was falling towards him from over one hundred feet up. At the last moment the Bebe straightened its legs, performing a double foot stomp – all of its weight, strength and considerable momentum hit with enough impact to bounce Mego along the ground for nearly ten yards.

The Bebebot then strolled forward, grabbed the unconscious Mego by the collar, then slapped and backhanded him with the same force the other two had used against the Wegos, then tossed him aside as well.

“What was all that for ?!” Ron exclaimed, “He was already out cold from that flying stomp ! What’s the point of beating up someone that’s already out cold ?!”

“Yeah ! Nine-A said the Bebes are all about efficiency.” Kim replied, “And beating up someone that’s already out cold is a complete waste of time and effort. Not very efficient or logical at all ! The Bebes have never been into violence purely for the sake of violence before, and I don’t see why they would get into it now ! So they MUST be up to something ! But what ?”

On the playback, the Bebes had regrouped, turned as one to the left, powered up, then disappeared in their standard burst of superspeed.

“Okay, now that makes even LESS sense !” Ron stated, still trying to get over the shock of what he’d seen so far, “Soooo … what ? They just show up, beat the stuffing out of Team Go, then go away ? They didn’t even steal anything !”

“As far as we can see on the tape, no.” Kim answered, deeply in thought, “Maybe they were up to something before that incident. Or just after it. Or, I don’t know ! We should go talk with Team Go and the mayor of Go City; maybe they know something we don’t !”

“Good idea.” Ron replied, “Assuming that Team Go is in any condition to talk to anybody after that ! And what about Shego ? I mean, I KNOW she doesn’t like her brothers and all, but … DANG !! THAT was just bloodthirsty, vicious and cruel ! And family is still family, no matter what !”

Kim grimaced as she recalled what a REALLY enraged Shego could do. “Has anyone else seen that tape Dr Director ?”

“I’m afraid so.” she replied, “That battle was very public. It’s been on the news ever since the attack.”

“Which means that every criminal and supervillain in Go City knows that Team Go is out of commission.” Kim stated, “They’ll be crawling out of the woodwork now !”

“Which is why the governor is sending in the National Guard to assist local law enforcement. Not sure how effective they’ll be, nor how long they’ll be required.”

“Maybe that was the plan then ? To divert troops and attention away from some other goal. Or cause so much chaos that nobody will notice what they’re doing until it’s too late.” Kim stated after a few moments of thought, “Or it’s a terror tactic. If a team of trained superheroes couldn’t handle the Bebes, what hope would anyone else have ? No one short of an army would even WANT to try to stop them after that display of casual brutality.”

“Excellent points all Miss Possible.” Dr Director replied, “But, at the moment, we don’t have enough intel to be sure what they’re doing. Since the Bebebots aren’t human, we can’t assume they think the way we do.”

“She’s right !” Kim fretted to herself, “It’s a good thing that GJ has the cyber-sisters to question then ! They’re Bebebots, so they think the way the others do.”

“Me and Ron will head to Go City and talk with the mayor and Team Go, if they’re up to it.” Kim stated, “while you and Will see what you can get from Vina and her sisters.”