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“Radlem? What the hell are you doing here?” I managed to get out. Radlem laughs maniacally. “Heh, you know something Detective? I like you. You’ve got some brass coming down here. But now you see the huge issue. There’s two people in here, not as easy as just jacking in and figuring out the solution to your problems. That’s why I kept him around, to keep this mental safe zone for both of us. Oh and because he’s extremely stubborn.” The two share a glance and Glenie smiles. “I’ve been alive this long, why bother dying?” I shake my head and shift my gaze between the two. “Well this is quite the problem considering none of us in here are robots. So now what?” Radlem grins a champion’s grin. “Well we sit here because you can’t gain control, and let the factory get overrun. It’s a shame really, no more humans might make the world a little less boring. But once you become a robot, you begin to lose your appetite for flesh. Don’t you Detective?” I stare at him, trying to figure out what he’s getting at.

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“Well I suppose it’s about time this ship has one less Captain. ” Glenie looks to me and nods. “I’m going to allow you to absorb my knowledge into your own memories here. Sadly, I don’t know where he has the codes or controls for the discards he copied himself into… but if I’m tired of fighting.” With that Glenie dissolves and I black out for only a second while my own information updates. I turn to Radlem who appears intrigued and frightened. “Hmph, no matter if you two share memories, he knew nothing anyway. But be careful, you are inside the front doors of my mind.” He turns and walks out the door, slowly closing it behind him. Just before he closes it he calls back to me, as I rush toward it. “I’ve got a surprise for you.” The doors close just as I burst through them and into a room that looks dramatically different from the room Radlem walked into.

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As the doors open, I notice the room has changed to a dark bedroom. It’s large and there is a huge bed with what seem like curtains around it. I walk over and throw them open, and on the bed lies Veronica, scantily clad in some lingerie. She leans up to me and I can feel her hand on my skin. I can feel. Tremors of pleasure slide down my entire body, causing goosebumps all over. I try and ignore the feeling, try and ignore her, but she is so beautiful and it’s been so long… too long. This is probably all fake, everything… but it feels real. As I sit beside her on the bed, I slide my hand up the back of her neck to her hair. She is so soft, her hair so smooth, smells incredible. It’s the equivalent of a drug. I pull her in for one passionate kiss. I feel her pressing against me, I feel her warmth, I feel… I feel… My mind feels invaded. Glenie flashes in my mind as if to say “What are you doing?” I lean back from Veronica and she stares at me. “What’s wrong? I came here just for you… My Dad wanted…” Her words fade as I stop listening and start focusing. This feels real, but I need that one thing that makes it not. I slide my hand down her stomach and find no wound, no nanite repairs. It’s entirely consistent. I leap off the bed and shake my head. “I’m sorry, but you’re not who I thought you were.”

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I stagger out of the room confused and dazed. I close the door behind me and picture the room that Radlem escaped in to. I think hard, and when I open the doors, the bed is still there. I close them again and focus harder. The walls, picture the walls, the floor, the colors. It’s the hardest thing I have ever done, trying to forget the touch and smell of a beautiful woman. When I open the doors, I see Radlem walking up a staircase. and as he reaches the top, the stairs disappear. He turns back to me and smiles. What a huge jerk, so cocky and arrogant. I’m going to punch him once I catch him. I walk forward and attempt to figure out how else I can get up. Nowhere to climb, nothing. I stand back by the door and stare forward. Suddenly a thought pops into my head, probably from Glenie. Try and imagine the stairs are still there. But believe it. I step forward where the first step was and there’s nothing. I step back and look down. Believe it. I take a deep breath and begin stepping where I remembered the stairs, and make my way to the top. I look back down and the stairs aren’t there at all. Man… it’s probably for the best I’m only a copy, I’d probably need some heavy therapy after this.

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As I make my way down the hall I see Radlem notice me and move left. I chase after him but when I look left, he’s not there. It’s just a wall. I look around, and suddenly I’m clubbed from behind. I spin from the wall and catch Radlem swinging at me. As we tussle, I force him back and get in an extremely satisfying swing. He drops to the floor and sprawls, completely unconscious. I notice as he lays face down, there is a weird thing on the back of his head. It seems to be a jack in port. Damnit. Dare I go further into the rabbit hole? Ah screw it, I only live once… and only for a little bit. Make the most of it! I kneel down and jack in, and find a matching one on the back of my own head. Strange enough, but who the hell knows at this point. I copy myself with no overwrite and after it completes I step back. I stare at the unconscious body before me… now what?

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I wake up in a dark room with only a safe in the middle of it. I’m a copy of a copy… do I matter at all? I know what I have to do, but do I really care? Sighing heavily, I pick myself off the floor and stare at the safe. On the other side of it, lies the unconscious body of Radlem and Veronica. Could they both be in here together? I help Veronica up and she smiles, despite a bruised cheek and a bloody lip. “You’ve got a mean right hook.” She whispers to me. “Help me over to the safe, I know the code.” As we stand there, I stare at Radlem as Veronica opens the safe. She cracks the door on it and looks up at me. “I’m so sorry for everything. None of this should have happened.” She hands me a small white envelope. I stare at it and look back to Radlem. Something catches my eye. Another jack. What else could he possibly be hiding? I open the envelope and read the code: “Victoria Radlem” I turn to Veronica and her mouth is open. “That’s my mother’s name. Why would he use that as his password, especially after the things he did to her?” I shrugged. Sadly there was only one way to find out. I find the jack on the back of my head and jack in again. What is real? What is fake? How far up do I have to go?

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When I open my eyes, I’m sitting in a chair across from Radlem. We’re sitting with a desk between us and it seems we’re in an office. I look around and everything is frozen, as if I’ve just appeared in a snapshot, or picture. I stand up and look around. Everything seems familiar. Everything seems too familiar everything… I turn around and Radlem has a letter opener and he’s swinging it at my throat. I manage to dodge but the fight gets dirty fast. I kick him in the groin and I can tell it hurts, but when he grazes my arm, my mind almost explodes from the shock of feeling pain. The mind makes it feel so real, so agonizingly real… Radlem and I fight back and forth, punching, kicking, eye gouging, wrestling and hitting each other with whatever we can grab. Suddenly he pushes me onto the desk, and pins me, and he laughs in my face. “It looks like I get to keep control of my body and you will have learned nothing.” The word stings and I fight to break free. Suddenly he shoots back in pain and when I sit up, I see him spinning trying to get the letter opener out of his back. Standing there is a woman who looks like Veronica, but older. She is absolutely stunning, and I can’t help but stare. She meets my gaze. “Take my daughter’s mind with you, and go to the Commissioner’s office with my name. Everything you need will be in the safe there and you already know the code for that.” I suddenly black out.

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I wake up face down in a dark room with a safe. Veronica stands over me and… so do I. “Well that’s trippy. As I sit up, Magnus and I share a look for I too… am Magnus. “You or I have to take her with us.” We both look at Veronica and I suddenly have an idea. “Alright, Veronica, the information you need is entirely written down on this paper, read it and then take it with you to the next level. You and I are going to switch.” Veronica seems confused but goes along with it. “Okay, but this is really confusing.” Both Magnus and I look at each other. “Try being us right now.” After some switching around I find that I’m still in Radlem’s body. “What the hell?” Veronica stares at me and points a gun to my face. “Sorry, Magnus here, looks like you’ve still got to die in his body for the body of Magnus to go up again.” He pulls the trigger and I am blinded like a camera flash.

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I stand in the hallway staring at Radlem’s body stirring in the hallway. I have no idea what’s gone on in there, so I prepare for the worst. As he gets up I prod him with the gun. He looks at me but in a completely different light. “Magnus?” I stare at him confused. “Yeah?” Radlem smiles and it creeps the ever loving hell out of me. “It’s me, Veronica!” After a short time of her explaining what happened I decide we have to switch. After the switch is done, I stand up and look at her in my body. “You had better take care of that thing.” She smiles at me from my own body… and that unnerves me even more. She manages to laugh it off, no matter how awkward things are. “So, it’s strange being in your body. I wondered what you were really like as a human.” She looks down to the pants and lifts them out to inspect the goods. “Not bad Detective.” I stand up and stare at her. “Yeah, well that’s the past. Now I’m all chrome baby.” I shoot her a final smile from Radlem’s body and toss myself from the window.

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I watch into the distance as the factory ignites in flames. We’re not going to make it. Well at least I know we did our best, I sent the best man I could in. Suddenly Glenie stirs and I ready the gun. Confusion erupts from the helpless robot on the ground. “Magnus? What’s going on? Where are we?” I don’t even know what to do or say. “Who are you, I’ll ask the questions, where’s umm… Magnus?” Glenie struggles on the ground. “Why can’t I move? It’s Veronica! Please help!” I stand the robot up, completely confused as to what the hell just happened. “So… if you’re here, where is my copy?” Veronica’s voice came across loud and clear. “No time, we have to go to the Commissioner’s Office and stat!”

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Veronica fills me in on the way there and I can hear Cletus in the driver’s seat so excited. Hell this was probably the most exciting thing that has ever happened to him. Well, I couldn’t argue that, this week was pretty ridiculous for me too. We pull up and I slam on the emergency brake and jump out before the car even stops. One of the guard robots tries to stop me and I blow past him as if he was standing still, well, he might have been. I rush down the hall and tear into the Commissioner’s Office, slamming the door behind me, and tossing a filing cabinet in front of it and then I examine the room. Hmm, where’s the safe, where’s the safe. Stupid girl never told me where the safe was! I look around frantically trying to find it and then I spot it. Behind the desk, but below a filing cabinet. As I stare at the numeric keypad, it’s asking for four digits. I think to myself and try Glenie’s numbers, G13-N13, 1313. The code buzzes and doesn’t give me access. I hear people and robots banging on the door and I try and think. What number could I possibly know?

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I think about all the four digits I’ve come across that would have been relevant to Radlem. Then I think about what Veronica told me. I say her mother’s name aloud, just to see what happens. A small painting shifts slightly, and I stand moving it aside. It reveals a picture of Veronica and on the back it says V3R0-N1C4. I rush to the safe and enter 3014. It clicks and inside is a small server, hard wired to a cellphone and a car battery. I simply pull the phone off the connection and watch as the programming running on it reports an error. As police flood the room, I explain the whole situation to them. They don’t buy it and I’m arrested for a list of things so long I don’t bother to listen. It’s not until the Mayor walks in hours later with a few bruises and a broken arm that I begin to listen again. “It’s okay, the army at the factory has stopped. You may be telling the truth.” The Judge in the cell beside me rushes forward. “Does that mean we’re finally free?” The Mayor nods slowly. “Yes, but you will be retired. Even though you may not have been responsible for this, putting you back into your position would harm the image of our courts. It seems people will be headed back to leadership and decision making roles for the next few years until this investigation is completely over.” The door to my cell opens and I walk out and shake the Mayor’s hand. “Thank you sir.” He smiles at me with a large grin. “No Magnus, thank you.”

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I head out to my car and notice the duo still sitting there, mostly because they are unable to move. “So what took you so long?’ Cletus says as Veronica grumbles something under her breath. I laugh and shake my head. “You know what, I think I’m going to take some time off to fix you two up. After all, Veronica, we’re going to have to find out where your body is and get you back into it. That’ll probably be a case in itself.” She sighs from Glenie’s body. “Well, whatever just get me out of here. I’d like to be able to walk and move again soon.” As I stared at the two friends I had made, I considered the fact that despite my solving of this case, many issues still remained. It would only be a matter of time before robots and humans were headed to war again. But for now, a little peace and quiet sure as hell wouldn’t hurt.

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This doesn’t have to be the end of Magnus’ story! If you really liked this story arc and the crazy case it followed, please feel free to comment on here, email me, message me on facebook, send me a carrier pigeon, I don’t care! I would love feedback! So please please please comment on this entire twenty five episode story and let me know your thoughts! Thanks for reading!