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I share a laugh with my old Captain as if no time has passed. I decide to try and enlist his help. “Hey Cap, I know we haven’t spoken in a long time but I need some help, now more than ever.” As he scratches his chin, I can see the lines of deep thought forming on his forehead. “Yeah I’d really love to, but I’ve got this thing.” I can feel my hypothetical jaw drop. “Not even a little?” I ask, hoping he’ll reconsider. He looks me up and down and sighs. “I will help you with a new body, but nothing else. You’re on your own in this one.” He takes me down to the basement and there before me stands a Police Droid Prototype I have never seen before. As he blows the dust off, he sounds a bit sad. “I’m not sure if this will work with that old face of yours, but sometimes you’ve just got to let things go before you can adapt to the future.” He lays me on the table beside the Prototype and I look at him. “Thanks Cap.” He smiles and looks between the Prototype and me. “Don’t thank me yet.”

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I look at the prototype. Shiny, new. Is that a stronger armor? What kind of gadgets will I have to play- And just like that, I awake in my new body. It’s always disorientating at first. You get so used to looking at yourself in one body that when you switch, it almost sparks an identity crisis. “Cap, how am I doing?” He turns to me and shrugs. “You took to it super easily. Least problematic transfer I’ve ever seen. As I examine the room, I notice my memory core is sitting off to the side. “I guess I should probably destroy this.” I say as I pick it up. Suddenly he turns to me and reaches for it. “I don’t think so, those cost a fortune.” I nod to agree and then decide to perform an electric format. As I supercharge the memory core, I feel confident that I have corrupted it. Handing it over causes Cap to feel a short shock, but he will suspect nothing of it. “Thanks for everything Cap, but I’ve got to run.” He smiles and nods. “Just remember Magnus, we’re even.”

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As I leave his house, the last words Cap left me with echo on for awhile. I had saved his life when I first became a droid, and I suppose he felt as though he owed me ever since. I shrug it off and consider what I should do now. I dial a cab and find myself  rethinking the option. As I decide to walk away, the cab pulls up but to a phantom caller. I watch as it slows down, passing by me. It makes it just around the corner when suddenly I hear tires screeching. Just as quickly as it turned the corner, the cab is now racing in my general direction. I grab for my gun and realize two things; One I lost my gun and two I’m in a new tin can. I look back up and dive to the side just as the cab is about to run me down. It strikes a tree and I watch the robot driver rocket out and into the bushes. I rush over not to make sure he’s okay, but to get some answers. When I make it to him, he is already up and limping away. Limping. Robot. My mind flashes back to all the limping robots I’ve seen lately and how they have mostly tried to kill me. I run and tackle this cab driver to the ground and find that my new body is way stronger than the previous one. Now it’s question and answer time.

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As I flip the cab driver over and pin him, I come face to face with no one I have met. However the body is unlike the mind, and the mind speaks. “Well I’ll be damned Magnus. If you’re not the hardest son of a bitch to kill, then I don’t know what is.” I stare him down and scan to see if the cab driver is being remote controlled or if I’ve got a genuine problem here. “Yeah I get that a lot. but how did you know it was me?” The driver laughs and my results come back with nothing. “How did I know? We’ve been tracking your mind and keeping it off the network as best we could. When you switched bodies, we noticed.” “So why did you try to kill me?” I ask while keeping control over him. He looks around and I can hear mechanical laughter beneath his words. “Which time, in the alley? Here? Farley? Police Station? Pick one.” I suddenly get the feeling this is indeed a killer robot. ” I am unimpressed by your efforts. However, your methods I will question.” Suddenly the crazed robot leans up almost close enough to kiss me, if it had lips. “A war has begun, I have made copies of myself and robots are taking over humans as we speak. Soon it will only be a matter of time before even the mayor is involved.” I stop and think back to the day I saw the mayor, surrounded by robot guards. Shit. This is not good.

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I leap off the robot and sever his energy connection permanently. As he lay motionless I contemplate what to do next. Killer robots are hijacking human bodies, the mayor is in danger and I’m miles from city hall. I look around and spot a beautiful car parked on the side of the road. I walk over and find that this new body has some of my accessories. Oh Cap, really you shouldn’t have. My lock picks pop out and I get into the car. A few seconds later, I’ve stolen a vehicle and am headed straight toward the police station on my way to city hall. Worst case ever, working for the government absolutely sucks and it reminds me why I got out in the first place. As I pull up to the front steps to city hall, I notice guards are everywhere. Damn. This sucks. I drive around to the side of the building and step into an alleyway. I look around for a side entrance or low window, with no such luck. This just isn’t my day. Suddenly, I decide to see what this new body has to offer. As I cycle down the list, I find a few entries that blow my mind. Camouflage? Holographic projection? Ha ha ha, now we’re talking.

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I walk around the front trying out this “Holographic Projection” thing. I will probably still be recognized as a robot, but this should make it a little more difficult. As I walk toward the front door, neither guard notices me. Excellent. As I wander in, I look around. No sign of the mayor anywhere, he is priority number one. I need to- and then I run into her. Or them. Or those. My eyes flash back up from her chest and I am staring at the lovely Miss Radlem, Miss Del Mar or Veronica. Which ever one, they’re all the same. The look of utter disgust on her face warms my core with joy as she doesn’t recognize me. My mind is thankful, and then does something completely stupid. “Veronica Radlem. Nice to see you again.” She looks at me with a funny look. “Do I know you or something?” I look around and then lean in as if to whisper. “I’m still on the case aren’t I?” The look of surprise on her face makes me realize that she thought I was dead. “Magnus?! What the hell is going on? Aren’t you dead?” I consider her words for a moment before I am able to reply. “Nope, but then again… it’s been awhile since I was really alive.”

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Strangely enough it’s great to see a familiar face. Even if it is one I associate with a rather large gun and my face. She looks around cautiously. “Today my Dad is getting out of prison. That’s why I’m here.” Then I say something to try and determine which Veronica I am talking to. “Doesn’t he not like you?” She gives me a quick look and I know who I’m talking to before she speaks. “It doesn’t matter.” As Ronnie is sharing her sister’s body, I try and figure out how she has so much control to shut her sister away for the meantime. Then I get a certain feeling, a feeling of impending doom. It’s not until I realize her father is being released now, and is walking towards her that I know what’s about to happen. Ronnie doesn’t want his love, not any more. As she raises the gun, I feel myself reacting and am in between her and her father. I can see the look on her face. “Get out of the way Magnus! He’s going to pay for what he did to me… what he did to us!” I am prepared to die for this man, even though this is a new body.

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She stares me down as the crowd gasps and backs off, however her father continues walking toward us. “Everything will be okay sweetheart.” He says that rather calmly. As he pushes on me to move, I decide to give him his chance. If anyone can get through to her or maybe give her sister the strength to wrestle control from her, it might be him. He stands in front of her, a free man. A man who using his daughters and their loyalty, put all robot-kind into question. As he embraces her, I can hear her sobbing into his chest. Everyone around realizes this moment is for them, and them alone. As things begin to calm down, and get back to normal, suddenly a loud bang rings out over the crowd. I spin, expecting to see a dead body but it seems no one has been hurt. No one that is until Mr. Radlem stumbles backward and blood begins seeping from his abdomen.

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The double episode is over, but what will happen to Veronica? Will her father make it? How long before Magnus makes some headway in solving the case for the judge? And just how will he manage to help the human hijackings? Tune in for episode twenty one in two days time!