by Paul Bristow
“There are five,” said the robot.
“So I gather,” said Mr Finn, “though possibly not quite that many now…”
The Tin Jimmy’s light bulb eyes flickered. “What do you mean?”
“Your friends, the superhero guardians? I’m afraid I’ve had to stop them causing trouble. Permanently.”
The robot’s eyes now flashed angrily. “Impossible. You do not know where they are.”
“Of course we do. They are at the Sugar Sheds getting the last sigil,” said Mr Finn. “When I worked out that all the sigils had been hidden in old buildings, I put the oldest buildings in town under surveillance. It’s not hard when your company’s main job is knocking down old ruins to build new office blocks.”
“What have you done to them?” asked the robot, struggling to move under the net.
Mr Finn looked at his watch. “Well, it was a stroke of luck that last sigil being at the docks right by Destiny. And Resilience, Evolve and Chronos are on their way there too. Just to be sure. It’s a shame it has to end like that. If no one had got in our way, we could have found the sigil coins without anyone getting hurt. So actually, if you think about it, it’s their own fault.”
The Tin Jimmy shuddered angrily. “You are mistaken.”
“I suspect you were supposed to be a diversion today,” said Mr Finn, “but actually, it turns out we need you more than all the other sigils anyway.”
The robot blinked silently, the net sparking and fizzing against his metal body. “What do you need me for?”
“Well, Jimmy,” said Mr Finn, “don’t you know? You yourself are the key that all the other sigils need to work. Finally I can finish the job my father started, with or without your cooperation. You see, technically, we don’t need all of you, just your hand.” He gestured to a large workbench where there was a circular saw.
***
If Mr Finn had been listening properly, he might have heard a small gasp from one of the darker corners of the church. Kevin had heard enough. He had been watching and following Mr Finn since he saw the Phoenix sculpture come to life. Kevin didn’t understand everything he’d heard, but he knew it wasn’t good. Nice people didn’t threaten to cut up friendly robots who hung out with Cam and Megan.
Somehow, he was going to have to help without Mr Finn seeing him.
So it was really lucky that Kevin could turn invisible.
Chapter 40.
Bumps and Bruises
Cam had transformed the moment he heard the first splash. It was the only way he could be sure to get Megan out.
It didn’t seem like so very long ago that he had dived into the dam and could only turn into an otter. This time he knew exactly what the situation needed: fast, powerful, dangerous, shark-Cam torpedoed under the fast-rising water and found Megan. She was a little surprised, but Cam decided to take that as a compliment.
Megan grabbed a fin and braced herself for what she knew was coming. They could see the hole that had been smashed in the tunnel above, allowing the water to pour in. It wasn’t big enough for them both to fit through. So, together they charged back towards the closed steel hatch, which was now totally submerged. If they were going fast enough, and if the water pressure was on their side, they might be able to smash it open. If not, they were very likely to get splattered. Either way, it would be quick.
Cam swam up the staircase they had walked down less than half an hour ago and pummelled into the hatch. It gave way with a rusty shriek. Megan let go of his fin and tried to find her balance, but she was dizzy and her soaking wet clothes were heavy. Cam lay gasping in a puddle, changing back so he could breathe.
It had all been so scary and sudden that it took Megan a few moments to look up and realise that they were still in trouble. Polar bear-John was desperately trying to fight off the combined strength of Resilience and Evolve.
“Cam!” shouted Megan. “Gorilla!”
Without even turning around or getting up out of the puddle, Cam changed. Within seconds he had jumped on top of the freshly repaired Resilience. Megan flew at the beaming madness of Evolve to try and distract it from John, who she now saw was hurt. One of his front paws hung limply by his side, and his white fur was streaked with red. Evolve had clearly not fared much better – many of the sculpture’s internal spokes were badly bent or snapped entirely. It would not take much, or at least that’s what Megan hoped as she spiralled up into the shed’s rafters.
Evolve followed, clambering up the scaffolding on the back wall. Megan waited until it was almost at the top, then swooped towards it. Evolve lunged at her, grabbing uselessly at the space where she had been. Now off balance, the sculpture teetered and wobbled; it took only a swift kick from Megan, now sweeping in from behind, to topple it entirely.
With a crunch, Evolve smashed into the dusty cobblestone floor and was still.
Megan could see that Cam was holding his own against Resilience, so she flew to John, who had changed back to his human form and was slumped against one of the steel posts that supported the building.
“John, we need to get you away from here. Can you walk?”
John shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere; we’re not done here.”
Megan could see he was holding his side with his one good arm. “Are you ok?”
“Did you get the sigil?” he replied, ignoring her question.
“Yes… and we figured out where the last one is. It’s TJ; he’s not guarding it, it’s him. You are five. That’s what the Morse-code message meant.”
There was another crash and a brief shower of brick dust as gorilla-Cam swung Resilience around and bashed him into a wall. Resilience, at last, stopped moving.
“Hah. I suppose TJ forgot that too,” winced John. “Sarah must’ve expected him to tell us. She always did have a bit too much faith in that machine. Well, you’d better go get him then. Cam and I have got this covered.” John winked unconvincingly.
Megan sighed, knowing John was worse off than he was letting on. “Three guardians isn’t enough. There should be five of us.”
“It’s ok, Megan,” said Cam breathlessly, once again human. “You’ve got all the other sigils. We can finish this now if you go get him.”
Megan looked at her best friend, exhausted, wheezing and pale, then at John, broken and bleeding. Resilience and Evolve lay smashed and shuddering in the dust. She knew she had to take this chance.
“I’ll be quick,” she said, “promise.”
As Megan shot out of the warehouse doors and up into the blue, John smiled at Cam. “I hope you’ve had a big breakfast,” he said, “because we’re not done yet.”
Behind Cam, at the dockside, Destiny hauled itself out of the river, having failed to get rid of them by flooding the tunnel. Hundreds of metal scales tore into the resurfaced concrete walkway as it snaked over to them.
At the other end of the sheds, an alarm bell signalled the arrival of Chronos.
“Oh,” said Cam, “excellent.”
Chapter 41.
Friends and Foes
Megan had never flown so quickly, driven by fear for her friends back at the dock, and for what she was about to find. Something felt wrong. She had gone to the tunnels first, where TJ was supposed to lead Mr Finn, but there was nobody around. The Gaelic church was straight ahead now, and she hoped to find TJ standing outside with a captured Mr Finn. “Some Finn bothering you?” she had planned to say.
But nobody was waiting outside the church. Now, certain something bad had happened, she flew straight through one of the many smashed windows – and stopped in mid air. TJ lay on the ground beneath a wire net. Megan was so shocked by the sight of the crackling net over her helpless robot, she didn’t notice the Waterworx guards standing just below her.
“Megan,” said TJ, trying to struggle free of the net. But it was too late, the security guards had grabbed her feet. There were too many of them holding on for her to fly away. Mr Finn stepped out from the shadows.
“Hello Megan,”
he said. “Best tie her to something very heavy.”
“What have you done to TJ?”
“Nothing to worry about. I certainly don’t want to damage the fifth sigil.”
Megan’s face fell. How could he have known when they hadn’t?
“Now Megan,” said Mr Finn, “I’m guessing that you have the sigil coins I need. Once you’ve given me those, Tin Jimmy and I will take a trip under the river to unlock the shield Watt created. And I’ll claim my superpowered reward.”
Megan was barely listening; she was watching TJ twitch and shudder under the net. “You’re going to break him! Take it off. Please, I’ll give you the sigils! Don’t hurt him.”
Mr Finn gestured to his security guards. “Take off the net. He’s under my control now anyway.”
Megan watched as TJ was released. He stood slowly up, head and limbs still jerking slightly from the current. Mr Finn flipped open the panel at the back of the robot’s head.
“Leave him alone!”
“I was quite impressed at your handiwork,” said Mr Finn, looking inside. “You completely bypassed the command chip my father installed.”
“TJ was never his to control.”
“Oh really?” Mr Finn held up the severed Goozberri Five cable. “See for yourself.”
TJ’s eyes flashed green and red in response to Mr Finn’s voice.
“Now, where are the sigils, Jimmy?” asked Mr Finn. “Do you have them or are they hidden down some other rabbit hole in this miserable little town?”
“They are in Megan’s pocket,” said TJ.
“Could you fetch them for me please Jimmy?”
TJ walked to where Megan was tied. She squirmed away from him. “TJ, don’t do this. You’re a guardian, remember? This isn’t you.”
“He’s not a guardian,” laughed Mr Finn, “he’s a robot. I’m the guardian. Inventing has always run in the family, y’see. From me and my beautiful killer sculptures all the way back to James Watt and his… steam-powered tin man. Haven’t you guessed, Megan? I’m Watt’s great-great-great-great-grandson. And I’m sure we can all agree I am pretty great.” Mr Finn knew that gag would have gone down a storm with a better audience.
“So you see, the robot, the sigils, the shield, the superhuman powers… it’s really my birthright.”
“If you’re a guardian, you must already have superpowers,” said Megan, still not wanting to believe it. “Why bother trying to unlock Watt’s shield?”
“I do,” said Mr Finn, tapping his head. “Super-intelligence. Just like Watt. And being a genius is all very well, but sometimes you want a little something more. Hurry up Tin Jimmy, time to go.”
Megan couldn’t look at TJ as he reached into her pocket and removed the four coins. She was speechless.
TJ handed the sigils to Mr Finn, who smiled sarcas-tically at Megan. “Don’t take it personally. He’s just following his programming. He’s on the same control network as all my robots now. Phoenix!”
In the corner of the room, Phoenix stood up and stomped towards them.
“On you get, TJ,” said Mr Finn. “You and I are off for a trip ‘doon the watter’, as I believe they say round these parts.”
Megan watched helplessly as Mr Finn and TJ clambered onto the sculpture – until she felt a tugging at the ropes that tied her to some huge pipes.
“Shhh!” hissed a voice. “Stay still.”
Realising someone was helping her, Megan tried to distract Mr Finn. “TJ won’t let you do it. I know he won’t.”
Neither the robots nor Mr Finn noticed her moving as the giant bird began to launch itself off the ground. Megan threw herself towards Phoenix with all the force she could manage, but its massive wing struck her across the head, knocking her back to the ground.
Phoenix, with TJ and Finn on its back, smashed through the old church roof and into the sky.
The Waterworx security guards were still staring upwards through the massive hole in the ceiling, so Megan seized another opportunity. She flew at them, knocking them unconscious against the wall. “Ok,” she said, turning around. “Who’s there? Who helped me?”
Megan let out a small piercing scream as Kevin immediately appeared in front of her. She stepped back in surprise.
“Kevin! Did you… can you…?”
Kevin nodded. “Flying’s cooler though,” he said modestly.
“Not from where I’m standing,” said Megan, smiling. “I cannot believe we didn’t notice!”
“Yeah well,” said Kevin, “I’ve always been especially good at not being noticed.”
Chapter 42.
Heads and Tails
Up close, it looked much better than Cam had imagined it would. The sculpture he and Kevin had designed was actually rather beautiful, each scale individually crafted, glimmering like oil on water, throwing little rainbows across the cold stone floor. Although of course, as it turned out things would have been easier if they had gone with the stupid sugar cube idea instead.
Destiny loped towards them, and without thinking, Cam stood in front of John, ready to protect him. “John, can you change? You need to run.”
“I’m not leaving you,” said John.
“No, I was going to run too,” said Cam. “I just thought it was polite to let you go first.”
Cam glanced at the other toppled robots. Evolve was still not moving, but he could see the first sparks and flick-erings that indicated Resilience was gathering strength.
“John, we need to move,” Cam whispered.
Then there was a sudden crash and a shower of glass and brickwork as Phoenix smashed through the Sugar Shed roof and slammed down near Destiny. The serpent immediately stopped advancing on John and Cam and stood to attention alongside Resilience.
Mr Finn and TJ climbed down from Phoenix and walked quickly towards Destiny. John and Cam stood still, unsure of what was going on.
“You’ll forgive me for not stopping,” said Mr Finn, pointing what looked like a set of car keys at Destiny, “only we’re in a hurry.”
“TJ!” Cam shouted, but the robot walked straight past him.
There was a beep, and then a side panel on Destiny slid open, revealing seats and a large control panel. Mr Finn and TJ climbed inside. As he went to slide the panel shut Mr Finn looked up at the giant bird. “Phoenix, finish them off please. Resilience, Chronos, with us.” The serpent turned and sloped out of the sheds, splashing straight into the river while the other two robots stomped behind.
“Uhm, what?” said Cam.
Phoenix stepped towards them, preparing for attack.
Cam was just wondering if he could somehow change into an elephant, when Megan swooped through the hole in the ceiling and smashed into the robot. Caught offguard, Phoenix shook and then toppled. It writhed and slipped on the ground, unable to get up onto its skinny bird legs.
“Megan, what’s going on?” said Cam. “I feel like I’ve missed something. Lots of things actually.”
“Finn’s controlling TJ, he’s related to James Watt, he took all the sigils off me, and they’re going to unlock the gate.”
“Seriously? You were only away about ten minutes!” said Cam.
Kevin appeared next to Cam, smiling. “I know! It was crazy!”
Cam’s face went white.
“Oh… and I brought Kevin with me. He turns invisible,” said Megan. “He’s our number four!”
“Kevin?” said Cam. “That’s just great.” Happily the only person this fooled was Kevin.
“Just one more to go then,” said John, standing up carefully and keeping an eye on the thrashing Phoenix.
“Well, we don’t have time to wait,” said Megan. “You two need to get under the water and stop Finn. If you can force Destiny back up, Kevin and I will attack from above.”
Cam looked at John. “Meg, I’m not sure if…”
“I’m fine,” said John, “let’s go.”
Unconvinced, Cam followed John to the river’s edge and together they dived into the cold
black water, transforming as they went.
“What can I do?” said Kevin.
“There’s lots of wee dinghies and smaller boats over at the marina,” said Megan. “Any chance you could go invisible and ‘borrow’ one?”
Kevin grinned. “Brilliant.” He climbed down onto the marina walkway.
He didn’t see the girl out in the water, watching him. With a ripple, she turned and dived beneath the waves.
Chapter 43.
Toil and Trouble
Under the water, Mr Finn made the best of his head start. The sculpture-sub was already approaching the impact point of the meteorite, as shown on his father’s maps. While TJ steered the sub, Mr Finn was struggling to get into his atmospheric diving suit. It was a lot harder than it looked, but only the robot had seen him get tangled up and fall over, so it was totally fine.
As he and TJ emerged from the sub, he was struck by how horribly cold and dark it was under the river. It was difficult to see more than a metre or so ahead. However, he could make out the dark shapes of Resilience and Chronos already scanning the area for the lock. Watt’s notes had a few early design sketches of the piece, but no pictures existed of the finished device. Luckily, Mr Finn had brought someone who knew exactly what it looked like.
TJ walked slowly but purposefully along the riverbed towards a circle of rocks and seaweed beside Resilience. Mr Finn watched as TJ cleared away the seaweed and barnacles to reveal a huge rusted metal panel. It was covered with ornate circular symbols. This was it. The lock.
Right in the centre of the panel was a large round indentation with five smaller circles, presumably where the robot would put his hand and fingers. Around this circle, at each of the compass points, were four gaps that he guessed corresponded to the sigils.
Beautiful craftsmanship, thought Mr Finn. What a total waste to stick it underwater.
Mr Finn gestured to TJ, who nodded and slowly began pushing the sigils into the four compass points. As each one clicked into place, a little column of green bubbles burbled out from the riverbed in front of them. Mr Finn then pointed at the largest circle. The robot hesitated, just for a moment, before placing his hand into the grooves of the panel.
