Alice Action and the Wolfdroids in Amazons & Archers by Timm Gillick - HTML preview

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Prologue

It was an evil planetary outpost, and only I knew that. Not sure why no one believed me, it's not like I'm a nutcase. I'm a scientist. Robotics. Yet not one person I talked to at Arcadia Station took me at my word that Tanglewood Outpost was evil, so I had to prove it.

The name is Action. Alice Action. No idea why I said it like that. Think I heard it in a story somewhere. I used my skills in robotics to create three companions to assist me in the lab, and on my many adventures. Alpha, Beta, and Omega, my Wolfdroids. Cutest, toughest, smartest things on four legs. Or two. Depends if they're standing. I'm not being very clear.

I created the Wolfdroids as part of a new double action security and science project I was working on called Project Intense. Don't look at me like that, I didn't name it. The muckety muck higher ups at Arcadia Station did. Anyway, they wanted to add some robots to the workforce, something that could pull a double duty since they didn't need to sleep or eat. I looked at my needs at the lab and saw I needed help with security and a couple extra pairs of hands to move things around. Alpha, Beta, and Omega were the results.

All three can run on all four legs, or stand and walk on two. Their front paws have extendable fingers and an opposable thumb that retract when in wolf mode. With actual hands, they can manipulate tools like a human, or wield a weapon. Not that they really need anything other than their Laser Eyes or Power Howl.

Alpha was my first Wolfdroid. He's the leader of the pack in both size and brains. He's furthered my understanding of robotics by leaps and bounds in the past three years, further than I would have gotten in ten without him. Sliver-white in color, he stands six and a half feet tall when bipedal, just over four when on all fours.

Beta is the runt of the group (but don't let him hear you say that), standing at only five feet and four inches when bipedal. He is the speedster and the spy in the pack. He's matte black in color to absorb light and hide in the shadows. In silent mode, he can walk across broken glass and you'd never hear him coming.

Omega is almost a mix of the two. As the "youngest" he is the jokester of the pack. Standing five feet, ten inches upright, and three feet three on all fours, his golden shine lets him stand out, even when he doesn't want to, which is almost never. He provides distractions, conversation, and a sense of humor, not always at an appropriate time.

As for me, I have blond hair, a fondness for the color blue, and a love of getting into situations I probably shouldn't. My parents were both scientists. Dad is part of the ruling council here at Arcadia Station, and Mom... well Mom is an Amazon, and this story involves her in ways I wish it wouldn't.

You see, the Amazons were indigenous to this planet when Arcadia Station was built about fifty years ago. They were actually colonists from a previous colonization project that mostly failed a hundred years before Arcadia Station, but no one knew that until just a few years ago. A peaceful co-existence always existed between the Amazons and the Arcadians until the current Queen, Anza, rose to power.

Outside Arcadia Station is mostly forest. The Tanglewood is its name, and as Arcadia Station grew, Tanglewood shrank. The Amazons were fine with this as they didn't need much space. When the previous Amazon Queen, Callista, died at the age of 72, her youngest daughter killed her two older sisters to gain the crown. She had had enough of losing ground to Arcadia Station and wanted it back.

She set her Amazons on a quest for something that would help them take back some of Tanglewood, and one of them found something. That's where I come in because I was on the expedition that discovered it when the Amazons found us.