Automan and all character names therein are owned by the American Broadcasting 
Company.  Doctor Who is owned by the British Broadcasting Company.  All 
characters are fictional and resemblance to any persons living or dead is 
coincidental.  No copyright infringement is intended.

Automan: Re-Resolution
by Sailor Chronos


Chapter 1

     Officer Carolina Baines was having a bad day.
     Not only had the burglar she had arrested the previous day been released 
with no charges filed against him, not only had her hairdresser botched the 
dye job and turned her wedge-cut hair brown instead of red, but she just lost 
most of her case report to one of the brownouts that had been plaguing the 
city for the past month.
     Granted, this was Los Angeles, one of the most populous cities in the 
country, but it seemed that these power shortages weren't normal.  She had 
grown up here and couldn't remember when the electricity had been this 
unreliable.  On average there were three or four of these sudden brownouts a 
week, and many people were scrambling to bolster their electronics with an 
Uninterruptible Power Supply unit or even a generator, herself included.  
Unfortunately her division HQ had the budget for neither convenience, and it 
was becoming commonplace for documents to puff into the ether when the 
computers went down.  Tempers were fraying and case backlog was increasing.  
Multiple calls had been made to the power company, but they insisted that 
all their equipment was in working order and they couldn't track down the 
problem.
     She decided to give up on the report and call it a day, intending to 
complete it in the morning.  After driving home to her modest townhouse and 
flopping on the sitting-room couch without bothering to change out of her 
uniform, her mind wandered.  Perhaps what the city really needed was some 
sort of expert on all things electrical; a specialized engineer perhaps.  
Someone who was very familiar with the city's electrical grid and computer 
systems, someone with the ability to track power fluctuations as they were 
happening...
     Someone like Automan.
     Lina sat bolt upright.  She hadn't thought of Automan for years.  If it 
hadn't been for him and his creator, she wouldn't be in the career that she 
was in now.
     Back in 1983 the Central Division's resident computer expert, Walter 
Nebicher, had made something very special that he called Automan.  The 
original concept had been a game that could help Walter solve criminal cases.  
But Walter wanted more than that: he wanted a partner who complimented his 
own abilities.  With a combination of computer power and an inadvertent tap 
into the electrical system, he created what he termed a hologram, but was 
really an electricity and light-based construct that could materialize and 
directly affect the physical world.  Walter's diligent programming even 
allowed Automan to learn, and over time he had become a quasi-independent 
being.
     Lina had discovered all this during the summer of 1984, when she had 
her first job at the division headquarters, serving as a computer intern.  
Most of the staff kept Walter at arm's length, thinking of him as too much 
of a geek.  But she had warmed to him very quickly, and considered him her 
mentor for the duration.  It was he who had inspired her to go into 
computer engineering in college, and later into the police force - mainly 
because of Automan.
     Having been an eager, impressionable 16-year-old at the time, she 
couldn't help but notice the tall, handsome man that was frequently seen 
in Walter's presence.  Around the department he was known as a federal 
agent by the name of Otto J. Mann who specialized in computers, much like 
Walter.  However she had stumbled upon his true nature one day while she 
was working on some algorithms on the mainframe computer in Walter's office.  
Walter had left a reference check running while he was out on a case, not 
expecting anyone else to enter the office, and Automan had appeared.  Both 
of them had subsequently sworn her to secrecy.
     The defining moment for her career occurred late in the summer.  She 
had volunteered to be a plant for a youth gang bust, since none of the other 
detectives looked young enough to pass muster.  Unfortunately she was ratted 
out and kidnapped before her backup could reach her.  Taking responsibility 
for the case, Walter and Automan found and extricated her before she could 
come to any harm.  Walter's assurances for her continued safety weren't 
enough for her parents, who immediately removed her from the internship 
before she had a chance to thank Automan properly; he had returned to his 
computer world as was his wont when he wasn't directly needed.
     Two years passed while she finished high school.  Six years in college 
for her double major of computer engineering and criminal justice.  One year 
of police academy.  Nine years in the job that she loved.  Not in all that 
time did she have (or make) an opportunity to see Automan again, even though 
she did still have a few friends at the division that she was in contact with.  
Too long.  Now she had no idea of what had happened to him.
     But how could she find out?


Chapter 2

     She started her search at the beginning: the original division where she 
had interned in 1984 and had met Automan the first time.  Over the next week, 
after a series of telephone calls and Internet searches, she found out that many 
changes had taken place there over the years.  In 1989, Captain E.G. Boyd had 
retired with distinction and Lt. Jack Curtis had been promoted to take his place.  
But shortly thereafter Curtis was forced into early retirement due to injuries 
sustained in a firefight while apprehending some mobsters.
     The new captain hadn't wanted the job, according to Tammy, an old friend of 
hers who was still at Parker Center; it had been foisted upon him by the police 
commissioner.  As a result, probably as a subtle dig at the higher-ups, he had 
arranged a complete remodel of the department, including a massive upgrade to the 
computer facility that took place over the course of a week while the department's 
computer expert was away.
     When Walter found out, he had been furious that he hadn't been notified so 
that he could help supervise the upgrade.  His precious mainframe - including, 
Lina realized with a terrible sinking feeling, the Automan program - had been 
dismantled and removed.  Due to the sensitive nature of the data it contained, 
nobody had been allowed to access it, not even Walter.  In response to the snub, 
he had transferred to another division.  Since that time, nobody had seen or heard 
from Federal Agent Otto J. Mann, and the crime statistics for the area had 
increased dramatically.
     Lina swallowed hard.  The streets of L.A. without Automan scarcely bore 
thinking about.  Perhaps Walter had kept a backup of Automan at his home and taken 
him to his new division?  Then she recalled Walter mentioning that because Automan 
required so much computing power and electricity to rez up, the hologram couldn't 
remain stable for long when directly initialized from Walter's home computer.  
That's why he had kept the core of the program on the mainframe and accessed it 
remotely.  With the mainframe offline and his own machine not powerful enough, he 
just wouldn't have been able to call up Automan.
     But that was twelve years ago.  Home computers now were more powerful and 
could store huge amounts of data.  She had to have some hope that Walter still 
had the program.  She had to find him.  More searches through county records 
revealed that he had married his long-time fellow officer Roxanne Caldwell, moved 
out of his apartment beside the marina and bought a small house in Maywood.  Once 
she had his address, it would be a simple matter to go there and talk to him.

     One sunny Saturday afternoon a few weeks later, she drove up to a modest but 
well-kept house and parked in front.  A little nervously she walked up to the door 
and rang the bell.  Would someone be home?  Would they even recognize her?
     The door opened, and a lithe woman with long wavy blonde hair streaked with 
grey stood in the entryway.  Her eyes widened and she took in an excited breath.  
"Lina?  Is that you?  What a surprise!"
     "Roxanne?" Lina asked, unnecessarily.  
     Her old friend hugged her.  "I can't believe it!  Come in, come in, have 
some coffee?"
     Lina went inside and accompanied Roxanne to a fair-sized kitchen and dining 
area, where a coffee maker was emitting a wonderful smell and a dishwasher was 
humming in the background.  "What brings you to our neck of the woods?"
     "I was thinking about you both the other day, and realized how much time has 
gone by since we last saw each other," said Lina.  "Your house looks terrific!"
     Roxanne grinned.  "Thanks.  It's enough to keep it clean, but certainly not 
as hard as police work!"  She laughed.
     They engaged in small talk for a few minutes.  It turned out that she and 
Walter had two tween-aged boys, both of whom were currently away at a cadet camp.  
One wanted to be a computer engineer, the other a police officer.  Walter himself 
had been promoted to Lieutenant and was in charge of I.T. at their division.  Lina 
took advantage of the first break in the conversation to ask, "Where is Walter?"
     "Where do you think?" was the amused reply.  "He's in the basement with his 
computers."
     At that moment, Walter Nebicher entered the room.  He had gained some weight 
- no doubt due to hours sitting in front of machines - and his wavy black hair was 
slightly grey at the temples.  But he had the same eager smile that she remembered.  
He too, greeted her warmly with a hug.  "So you're a full-fledged cop now, I 
understand," he said, having heard the tail end of the conversation.
     "I'm also a computer geek, just like you," she responded.  "I couldn't have 
had a better mentor than you, even if it was only for a few months."
     He laughed.  "Thanks.  So what brings you up here?"
     Lina stood uneasily for a moment, with her teeth clenched, then finally 
blurted it out. "What happened to Automan?"
     Their expressions became instantly serious, and an uncomfortable silence 
ensued.  "That's something that you two should discuss," said Roxanne delicately, 
and left the room.
     Walter stared at the floor for a second.  "How much do you know?"
     "Just about everything," she admitted.  "I happened to know where to look and 
which people to speak to about the restructure of our old office without ruffling 
any feathers.  Please tell me, do you still work with him?  You both helped me once 
when I got into that trouble during my internship, and I never forgot."
     His glare of fury and betrayal bored into her like a laser.  "Automan is gone," 
he said tightly.  "They rebuilt the computer room when we were on our HONEYMOON, for 
God's sake!  Then they wouldn't let me recover any of the data.  Security issue, 
they claimed.  I don't know where the storage drives are, or even if they still 
exist!"  He managed a smirk, a shadow of his youthful humour.  "My only consolation 
was the fact that nobody could access his program, since it was encrypted with a 
key that only I knew."
     "But you must have had your own personal backup," she pressed.  "For someone 
that important to you, you would have!"
     "Of course I did!" he shouted. "But I couldn't run it with the resources I 
had at the time."
     "But we do now," she pointed out. "Think, Walter!  Computers now are thousands 
of times more powerful than they were twenty years ago.  Not to mention the volumes 
of information available on the Internet!  If you still have Automan, why not 
activate him?  Think of what he could do; how much good he could accomplish!"
     He looked at her grimly, then said, "Don't you think I haven't tried?  For two 
years I tried to recreate the base code that I originally programmed, and even 
rigged a solar powered generator to the house to provide the extra power to rez him 
up.  I couldn't get it to work, even with a top of the line PC.  That old mainframe 
had more processing power and storage capacity, plus I could easily have forgotten 
some section of code that was essential to run him."  He sighed and wiped his face 
with one hand.  "Roxanne finally talked me into stopping, because it was consuming 
me.  All I wanted was to get him back.  He saved my life several times, you know."
     Lina cleared her throat, trying to stop tears.  "All this time I'd hoped that 
I could see Automan again, and thank him for what he did.  I couldn't have become a 
cop without him, or you.  But I hate to think that maybe, just maybe, he's still in 
his computer world somewhere, waiting in vain for you to call him."
     "This conversation is over," Walter said flatly.  "I can't set foot in that 
building again.  We have done our grieving for Automan and moved on.  Of course you 
are welcome to visit us, but please, no more mention of Automan.  It just hurts 
too much."


Chapter 3

     Despite what Walter had said, Lina couldn't leave it be.  There had to be some 
way to get to Automan.  She waited a few days, and then made a discreet inquiry of 
Tammy.
     "Since you first asked me," her friend said, "I've been keeping my ear to the 
ground.  The old hardware is still here, under lock and key.  Every so often there's 
been talk about scavenging the data, but it has been so long that they're afraid it 
might be too badly degraded to be of any use.  In fact, there was supposed to be a 
data recovery expert coming in next week, but he cancelled because of an illness 
in the family."  There was a conspiratorial pause.  "I remember how keen you were 
when you worked here, and thought you might want to take a crack at it.  I'll just 
mention that you're a computer whiz AND you've worked with mainframes of this type, 
so maybe you could get lucky."
     Two days later, she received a phone call from the division's computer 
department asking her if she could spare some time to help them.  Her captain gave 
the requisite permission, and she was more than happy to oblige.

     It felt strange to walk into the place where she had done her brief office 
internship.  The building was the same, yet it wasn't: the entire layout of the 
booking floor had been changed; the only area that was still intact was the 
captain's office.  The captain received her and noted her badge and credentials 
without a second look; of course he wouldn't know who she was.  Then she was 
escorted a few floors below to a climate-controlled room, where she was given a 
bunch of non-disclosure forms to sign.
     The head maintenance technician said, "Please understand, Officer Baines, you 
have strict instructions to recover any and all useable data from the mainframe, 
and transfer it to the unit that we've set up.  When you're done, make sure you 
wipe the mainframe clean; we are taking no chances that anyone else can 
potentially hack it."
     "I understand," she said.  "Just curious, why hasn't this been attempted 
before?"
     "Actually it has," admitted the tech.  "But whoever set up and used that 
system had locked most of it down tight with encrypted passkeys.  Nobody has been 
able to crack it.  Maybe you'll be the one, who knows.  Let's just hope that we 
don't have one of those brownouts while you're working."
     When she was left alone, she sat down at the main terminal.  Most of the 
room-sized mainframe was gone; only the main terminal and the data storage modules 
remained.  A simple system check told her that the total capacity was a few hundred 
megabytes: a huge amount in the 1980s, but a pittance now.  Her home PC would 
certainly be capable of rezzing up Automan.  She set to work, bypassing several 
security lockdowns using the passkeys that she remembered from her internship; 
chuckling at the irony that Walter hadn't reset them, but then again, perhaps he 
never had the chance.
     The data transfers went relatively smoothly, until she got to one module 
that she could not access, no matter what type of command that she issued.  This 
had to be what she was looking for!  With some nervousness she noticed that one 
security barrier had already been broken; it was a simple ROT13 code.  But this 
was a dummy.  The real lock was much more complex and sealed with a password.  At 
this point she noticed a small piece of paper tucked underneath the screen, with 
a bunch of words written on it: passwords that evidently had been tried by other 
people who had attempted to break the lock.  The last line on the note was a 
boldly-written "Good luck!!"
     But she knew Walter.  What word would he have used to protect the core 
program for his partner?  It wouldn't have been anything to do with Roxanne 
Caldwell since he had been working on the original project before she had come 
to the division.  What had he enjoyed the most prior to her entrance into his 
life?  Being a beat cop.  She started on that angle and tried several likely 
words, but was unsuccessful.
     Then she thought of using concepts related to Automan himself.
     HOLOGRAM - access denied.
     SUPERHERO - access denied.
     CRIMEFIGHTER - access granted!
     A multitude of characters flowed down the screen faster than she could read 
them, and finally stopped at a prompt.  This was it!  And either by some miracle, 
or the fact that the storage module had been so carefully preserved, all the code 
appeared intact.
     Lina didn't dare try to initialize the program here.  The system was nowhere 
near its former capability, so any attempt to call Automan could result in 
corruption of the program.  But she had come prepared.  Quickly checking the door 
and noting that nobody was in the hallway outside, she pulled a USB flash drive 
from an inside pocket.  It had cost her a pretty penny, but it would be worth it.
     However, the techs who had set up the transfer PC had anticipated something 
like this: there were no floppy disk drives or USB ports on it.  But there was a 
serial port, and Lina had a serial-to-USB adapter in another pocket.  It was a 
simple matter to install the adapter, do a complete data dump to the USB drive, 
then edit the PC's registry to remove any trace of the clandestine connection.  
Then she made sure that both the adapter and the precious USB drive were safely 
hidden in a secret false bottom of her purse.  Knowing the sensitivity of the 
data she had been handling, she wouldn't be surprised if her belongings were 
searched on the way out.  It didn't bother her; after all, she wasn't stealing 
this data, but returning it to its rightful owner.
     As she was completing the last few transfers and wiping the contents of the 
mainframe's storage modules, the tech entered.  He was absolutely amazed when she 
informed him that she had cracked all the passkeys.  "You must be one heck of a 
programmer to have done it," he praised her.
     "Or maybe a little lucky," she said with a shrug.  "It's done."
     Like before, she was escorted to the captain's office where she gave her 
report.  And as expected, she was made to submit to a search, but they found 
nothing out of the ordinary and she was allowed to go.


Chapter 4

     When she arrived home that evening, the first thing that she did was make 
sure that everything was in order.  She had spent a lot of time and money to lead 
up to this moment.  Her programming textbooks were in her study in case she needed 
them.  She went outside to fire up the generator in its sound-proof shed, then 
waited for the power input to stabilize before turning on her computer and watching 
it run its boot-up sequence.  All the other electronic equipment in the house was 
plugged into surge protectors and turned off, just in case.  Now, she hoped, she 
was ready.
     Extracting the USB flash key from her purse, she plugged it into the PC and 
transferred the data to a large UNIX-based hard drive that she had installed for 
the purpose.  She had known that she wouldn't be able to directly access the 
program.  It had originally been written on a UNIX-like system in an obscure form 
of Fortran, and later had morphed into its own language as a result of Walter's 
tinkering and Automan's evolving into a more complex being as he learned.  Wryly 
she recalled her classmates at school teasing her for learning several "ancient" 
programming languages, but she'd had good reason.
     The first thing she noticed among the data was an old backup file that had a 
date-stamp of April 1984, a month prior to her internship.  She made sure to keep 
that aside, just in case.  The most recent launch of the file was date-stamped in 
early 1990, so she typed in a command to display it.
     God, the code was complex.  Page after page of commands and subroutines 
scrolled past, but she scanned it until her eyes watered with fatigue.  It would 
take her months to learn all the ins and outs of this, much less make any 
modifications!  She decided to leave well enough alone, and when the display 
finally finished, she brought the system back to the master prompt.
     Now was the moment of truth.  She took a deep breath and typed AUTOMAN.
     There was a brief pause, and the screen displayed ENTER ACCESS CODE.
     Lina grumbled.  Another password?  It made sense, though.  Walter had gone 
to extreme lengths to protect his creation and friend.  The word could be anything, 
and despite her eagerness to see Automan she really didn't want to stay up all 
night guessing passwords.
     Then she had an inspiration.  If Walter had used the same password as the 
one he had set for the data lock...
     She typed CRIMEFIGHTER.
     ACCESS AUTHORIZED the screen flashed.
     The lights dimmed and the floor started to tremble, although not nearly as 
violently as she remembered from those times at headquarters.  Despite the 
soundproofing she could hear the generator outside revving up to its full RPMs as 
the power load increased.  The screen flashed again, and a brilliant multi-faceted 
sphere emerged to hover in front of her.  An encouraging sign!  "Hello, Cursor," 
she greeted it.
     Cursor twittered and zipped backward away from her, then flew to the open 
space in the middle of the room and spiralled downward toward the floor.  Lina 
stood up as the figure of a tall man slowly took shape.  His handsome face and 
short right-parted blond hair were normal enough, but from the neck down he was 
clad in what appeared to be blue plated armour that shone with myriad twinkling 
stars.  Once he was fully solid, the roar of the generator in the background 
lessened as the machine shifted back down to idle.
     He hadn't changed at all, of course.  Holograms didn't age.  Would he 
recognize her after all this time?  Nervously Lina said, "Welcome back, Automan."
     His eyes narrowed and he spoke in a rich baritone, "You do not match any 
facial or vocal samples in my system.  This is an unauthorized access of my program."
     "Wait!" she implored.  "Carolina Baines, LAPD, badge number 9409.  We met 
while I was a computer intern working with Walter Nebicher."
     Automan regarded her carefully.  "I do see a similarity."  He paused, as if 
comparing her face to that of the teenager in his memory, then smiled.  "Yes, it 
is you, although you're taller and there are subtle changes in your facial lines 
and hair.  It's good to see you again, Miss Baines."
     Lina let out a relieved sigh.  "Likewise," she said and held out her hand.  
"Call me Lina.  I wanted to thank you properly for your help during that gang 
incident."
     Automan accepted the proffered handshake, although it shocked her hand 
slightly with a static charge.  "I remember that, and you're most welcome.  I 
would do anything to help a friend of Walter's."  Then he looked around.  "Where 
IS Walter?"
     Now Lina hesitated.  "Automan, there's something you need to know," she said 
warily.  "Check your system clock; today's date is April 2nd 2002.  It has been 
eighteen years since you've seen me, and almost twelve years since you were last 
activated."
     He gave a brief look of confusion.  "Yes, you're correct."  His perfect blue 
eyes gazed at her.  "Can you tell me why?"
     With no embellishment she explained the sudden dismantling of the mainframe, 
and Walter's futile efforts to recreate him.  "When I asked about it, he was very 
upset.  He believed that your program was lost."
     Automan shook his head slowly and said in a soft voice tinged with regret, 
"All that time I waited, and Walter was alone."
     "Well, he's not entirely alone," Lina informed him.  "He ended up marrying 
Roxanne and they have a family.  But they don't like to talk about you, because 
you are missed so very much."
     He straightened up to his full height.  "I must find him," he announced.
     "He's not living at the apartment that you remember," she said quickly.  "But 
I know where he is now."
     The hologram smiled dazzlingly at her.  "Will you ride with me?"
     She nodded agreement.


Chapter 5

     Cursor rezzed up the Autocar as Lina locked the house.  She wasn't concerned 
about the generator, since it was on a timer and would shut itself down soon.  She 
couldn't help but marvel at the vehicle; although on the surface it resembled a 
black Lamborghini Countach with glowing blue pin-striping, she recalled that the 
car was much more than it seemed.
     When they started off, it didn't take long to also recall the fact that she 
was subject to physics whenever Automan took a turn at 90 degrees.  "I see Walter 
never corrected this aspect of your programming," she noted ruefully after being 
thrown against the passenger window.  The odd thing was that she had no bruises.
     Automan said with another smile, "Perhaps he had never felt it necessary.  
Your reactions are based on your normal expectations of living in the physical 
world.  But you are now in my dimension, a realm of space and energy."
     She tried to wrap her brain around that.  "So, theoretically, if I were to 
believe myself to be in sync with your world's rules... then I could have a 
comfortable ride?"
     "Correct," he said.  Then he scowled.  "I am experiencing a slight drop in 
my power... never mind, it's back to normal now.  That's very strange."
     Lina told him about the mysterious brownouts that had been occurring.  
"Nobody can tell what's going on.  That's what made me think of you in the first 
place: you of all people should be able to determine the source of these 
disruptions."  She smiled at her own foresight.  "It's a good thing I wired the 
generator into the house, so you could manifest without any trouble."
     "And I'm glad you did," said Automan.  "It feels good to be back in your 
world again.  Ah," he exclaimed suddenly.  "Another brownout, more pronounced this 
time.  Not quite enough to affect me adversely, but still a concern."
     "That's bad news.  Up until now, there've only been a few brownouts a week.  
This is the second one tonight.  It's getting worse.  Were you able to locate 
the origin?"
     "Yes, there appears to be an overload in progress at an electrical 
substation not far from here.  Hold on."  The car accelerated.
     They arrived at the substation minutes later, and as they got out of the 
car, Cursor de-rezzed it and came to a hover nearby.  The hum of electricity was 
clearly audible, and sparks were jumping across the towers.  "As a police officer, 
I should investigate this," said Lina, "but I don't think it's safe to go in there!"
     In the next moment, a figure emerged from the main bunker and jogged toward 
them.  He was tall, although not quite as tall as Automan, with brown eyes and 
hair, pronounced sideburns, and he wore a three-piece tweed suit under a long 
overcoat.  He gave a very surprised look at the glowing figure of Automan, then 
grasped Lina's hand and said, "Run!"
     She ran a few steps then stumbled; by the time she recovered, her hand had 
slipped out of his and he was already running ahead.  When he realized that she 
wasn't following, he pivoted on his heel and shouted, "Hurry!"
     "You won't make it out of the danger zone, Lina," Auto said urgently.  "You 
must merge with my form!  I can protect you."
     Lina had heard that Automan had some amazing abilities but had never 
experienced any first-hand, other than riding in the car.  But if Walter had 
trusted him with his life, so could she.  She stepped into him, and his body 
rezzed around hers.  Then he took off at a run, faster than she would have been 
able, joining the stranger's flight.
     The station behind them exploded, shards of metal and sparks flying 
everywhere.  Miraculously, nothing seemed to hit the stranger, and the pieces that 
happened to hit Automan merely phased through his electromagnetic field.  A tower 
sparked violently and fell down, dragging power lines with it, and the entire 
area plunged into darkness.
     Automan stumbled.  "I'm sorry, Lina, I-" His form de-rezzed from around her, 
causing her to fall onto the pavement, and he faded away.
     For a moment she lay disoriented from the sudden change in perspective, then 
the stranger switched on a flashlight and helped her get to her feet.  He brushed 
off the sleeves of his coat, and said in a tenor voice with a refined English 
accent, "Now that's settled, I suggest you move along.  I'm doing a dangerous 
investigation."
     "I don't think so," Lina said, grabbing his free arm and forcing it behind 
his back.  "Police officer!  You are under arrest for sabotage and destruction 
of state property.  You have the right to remain silent-"
     "What?  No, no, no, this won't do at all," he said, slipping out of her 
grasp easily.  "Believe me; you don't want to get involved with this, especially 
not with your electric-based holographic construct."
     Lina stared at him, open-mouthed.  How had he divined Automan's nature so 
quickly?  She got control of herself.  "Either you explain to me what just happened, 
or I'm going to put you into a whole lot of trouble!"
     "So sorry, no time to chat," the stranger said, and took off at a run.  
"Forget what you saw here!" he called over his shoulder.
     "Like hell I will," she muttered, and gave chase.  Unfortunately, he could 
run much faster than she could, and she quickly lost him in the dark.  Panting, 
she slowed to a walk.  It would be some time before she would reach home, and she 
hoped that Automan was all right.


Chapter 6

     She was in for it the following day when she arrived at the police station 
for her shift.  Her superior was justifiably angry when she informed him about 
her presence at the 'crime scene' and that she had been unable to catch the only 
suspect.  "In all the years you've been on this force, you've never missed a 
bust!" he grumbled.  "You must be slipping, Baines."
     "Sir, the man ran like an Olympic sprinter!  I had absolutely no chance of 
catching him.  Especially in the dark!"
     He levelled a finger at her.  "Since you're the only one who saw this person, 
I want you to handle it.  See if you can get anything out of that new facial 
recognition software that we have."
     After thorough searching of the database, she couldn't find anything.  Then 
she turned to the Internet.  She found a description that appeared to match, but 
when she followed the link, the page had been removed.
     Suddenly her cellphone rang, using the ringtone that she had set for calls 
from her home number.  "Oh great," she grumbled.  "Allison decided to let herself 
in again."  Her younger sister believed that having the spare key was like having 
permanent permission to enter the house any time she wanted.  But when Lina picked 
up the phone, it displayed a text message.  CALL AUTOMAN.
     She gasped.  How could he have tapped into her phone?  Thinking back, she 
remembered that she had left her computer running last night.  When she had finally 
arrived home she was too tired to do anything other than go to sleep, then in the 
morning had left for work in a hurry.  Now that Automan was active again, he could 
learn about the new resources available to him and easily track her down.
     Rezzing him up from here wouldn't be a big problem.  Her home computer was 
still on and she had a telnet application running in the background, just in case 
she ever needed to access it from the office.  All she needed to do was to use 
her personal encrypted passkey.  As for power, the building's auxiliary generator 
was massive and could well handle the load.
     Quickly she ensured that she was the only occupant of the room.  Then she 
logged into her home computer and typed the required commands.
     The floor vibrated, but nobody else took notice; this was L.A. after all, 
and small tremors happened frequently.  The office lights dimmed, but again, it 
was ignored.  Only Lina knew what was really about to happen.
     Cursor burst forth from the screen.  "Hello, Cursor!" she said.
     Automan appeared in a corner of the room, smiling.  "Hello, Lina."
     She let out her breath that she hadn't realized that she'd been holding.  
"Hello, Automan.  I'm glad to see that the blackout last night didn't cause you 
any harm."
     "Not at all," he reassured her.  "I simply returned to my world.  And I 
must say I'm impressed with your system!"
     "High praise coming from you," she said, grinning.
     Appearing quite excited, he said, "There's so much to learn!  There are new 
computers, networks; a sheer wealth of information!"
     "I knew that when I activated you," she said. "But let's focus, please.  
Why did you tap into my cellphone?  Because you figured out that you could?"
     He arched his eyebrows.  "I found something interesting after I had a chat 
with a few security computers.  That man we saw last night is apparently working 
for a military organization based in London England called the United Nations 
Intelligence Taskforce.  He goes by the pseudonym 'Doctor'."
     "What's an English secret agent doing HERE?" she asked, incredulous.  "A 
few power failures can't be important enough for that!"
     "He certainly seemed to think so.  I suggest we try to track him down."
     She was mildly surprised at his suggestion, and shook her head.  "We?  You 
don't have to do this; I thought you wanted to get back to Walter."
     "You reactivated me.  Think of it as my way of thanking you.  Besides, I'm 
a crime-fighter.  I can't indulge in personal pursuits while there's a case to 
solve."
     Lina nodded her thanks, and waved at his shining blue form.  "Well, you can't
 go outside like that," she began before a knowing smile crept across her face.  
"You know, I think it's time that Federal Agent Otto J. Mann made his reappearance."
     "Say no more.  Cursor!"  Cursor bounced around Automan a few times, and in 
seconds he was wearing a dark three-piece business suit.  Only glowing blue stripes 
on his collar and cuffs indicated his true nature.
     "Nice!"  Lina complimented.  "There's just one thing: it's after noon.  Will 
you have enough power?"
     "The power company's computer was kind enough to tell me that there've been 
many upgrades to the grid recently.  I should be all right, at least until the 
appliances begin to turn on for the evening."


Chapter 7

     "I think the first place to look should be that substation," Lina said as 
Automan drove smoothly through downtown traffic.  "That Doctor wasn't just running 
away, he was purposely going somewhere.  He might have had a vehicle."
     "There were no other vehicles nearby," Automan said.  "Most cars now have 
microchips in them, and I can sense them.  I admit it took a while to get used to; 
for you it would be like suddenly moving from the countryside to a large city."
     "Should I be concerned that you might be overwhelmed by the volume of 
information?" Lina asked.
     "Don't worry," he assured her.  "Thanks to Walter, my programming is highly 
adaptable.  You're right, however.  If we follow the Doctor's trail, we could 
find something."
     Most of the site had been cordoned off and was swarming with workers who had 
installed temporary power lines until the substation could be rebuilt.  Lina and 
Automan gained access easily with their police credentials, and she quickly found 
the spot where she had last seen the fleeing agent.  "He was running this way."  
She went off at a lope, followed by Automan.
     They ran up a small path between two housing developments and into a park.  
Several children were playing on swings; there seemed to be nothing out of the 
ordinary here.  "Lina?  Over here," called Automan.  He was examining a square 
of crushed grass that measured approximately four feet on each side.  "Something 
heavy was here, and it was generating a very strong electromagnetic field."
     "How can you tell that?" she asked with a bit of scepticism.
     "Do you know that lightning magnetically charges the air it passes through 
for a brief time?"  When she nodded he continued, "I can sense a high concentration 
of charged particles in this vicinity.  Whatever was here was more powerful than 
any generator I've ever seen."
     Lina was awed.  "How is that possible?  If the Doctor is connected to that... 
device, or whatever it is, that would explain a lot.  Still, the trail seems to 
end here.  He could be anywhere by now.  There are dozens of power stations in the 
city.  If he intends to 'investigate' another one, it will be next to impossible 
to find him until any damage is already done."
     Automan straightened up.  "Not necessarily.  Now that I have a 'feel' for it, 
I should be able to tell if the device is activated again.  As for range, may I 
borrow your cellular phone?"
     She handed it to him.  "Why do you need it?"
     "The country has a very accurate spy satellite network," Automan noted as he 
touched the phone's screen with one finger.  "I can send a request to the system 
to tell us when and where that particle signature shows up."
     Giving a short laugh Lina said, "I'll hate to see next month's phone bill."
     He smiled broadly, and she swore she could see laughter behind his blue eyes.  
"This service is no-charge."

     Later that evening, the Autocar was gracefully weaving through streets that 
were all but deserted.  Just as Automan had predicted, a signal had shown up on 
the GPS app on Lina's phone, and they were hurrying to intercept it.  "Let's hope 
that we don't spook him this time," Lina said.  "It might be better if we had a 
bird's eye view, but even your fancy car can't fly."
     "No, but something else can.  Cursor!" he commanded.
     Lina suddenly found herself sitting in the passenger seat of a helicopter, 
which lifted off the road and into the air above the city.  She felt like a little 
girl on her first airplane trip.  "Wow," she breathed.  "You and Cursor are full 
of surprises!"
     "Thank you, Lina.  However I must monitor the city's power consumption 
carefully.  If we experience another brownout, it could be disastrous."
     She shivered.  Dropping out of the sky was NOT a pleasant thought.
     After a few minutes Automan reported, "Coming up on the location now."  They 
were hovering over a small field near another electrical installation, and the 
chopper's bright spotlight shone on something that was quite out of place: a large 
blue box with a light on top.
     Automan brought the chopper to a neat landing, and when they got out, Cursor 
de-rezzed it.  "I can't find anything like that in my memory files," he said.  
"But it's putting out an incredible amount of vibrations."
     "I recognize that from police history," noted Lina as she indicated the sign 
on the roof that said 'Police Public Call Box'.  "It was used by police forces in 
the U.K. to make and receive emergency calls.  But with modern hand-held radios 
and phones, these boxes became obsolete in the 1970s."
     Auto said firmly, "That's no phone booth."
     "And you'd be correct," said a voice from behind them.  They both turned to 
see the man from the previous night.


Chapter 8

     The Doctor put his hands in his pockets and ambled toward the startled police 
officer and her friend.  "Ah, inquisitive, persistent humans.  Well, one human, 
anyway."
     Automan was surprised, and Lina said, "How can you tell what Automan is?  
More to the point, what are you doing here?  What does a UNIT agent have to do 
with L.A.'s power problems?"
     "Like I told you, the investigation that I'm doing is dangerous, and beyond 
the capabilities of local law enforcement."  He paced around them, examining 
Automan with interest.  "An electromagnetic humanoid construct with variable 
solidity, customizable appearance, and Level 3 artificial intelligence.  And 
THAT..." he poked at Auto's breast pocket with a pen-like device, and Cursor 
emerged unbidden, "is a spheroid energy projection with the ability to duplicate 
solid objects!  Whoever created you was beyond brilliant; I'm quite impressed!"
     Automan proudly straightened to his full height.  "My creator is very good 
indeed," he said.
     It was time to get back to the subject.  "Now then, Doctor, or whatever your 
name is, you'd better let us in on this top-secret mission of yours," insisted 
Lina.  "We're not going away, since we're already mixed up in it."
     "You wouldn't believe it even if I did tell you," the Doctor said.
     Despite herself, she laughed.  "I've a top-secret holographic A.I. for a 
friend.  You'd be surprised at what I'll believe."
     With a small sigh, the Doctor considered for a moment.  "Then you'd better 
come in," he said, and opened the door to the police box.
     Lina stepped forward and peered through the opening.  There was a large 
room inside, MUCH larger than anything ought to be given the size of the box 
itself.  "It's bigger on the inside," she whispered.
     "It's dimensionally transcendental," said both the Doctor and Automan 
simultaneously.  She glanced back at Automan, who hadn't moved.
     Seeing her hesitation he said, "I can't enter.  The field it's generating 
will disrupt my molecules."
     "I'll take care of that." The Doctor ducked inside briefly, then returned.  
"I removed the field from the door temporarily.  Come on."
     Once inside, Automan looked around with interest and Lina was absolutely 
stunned.  The interior was massive, with a coral-coloured hexagonal pattern on 
the walls and huge arches that accentuated the central structure that could only 
be a console of some kind.  
     Automan ran a hand reverently along one edge of the console.  "This isn't 
just a control system," he said.  "It's a computer."
     "The most sophisticated computer in the universe," agreed the Doctor.  "This 
Ship is called a TARDIS: Time and Relative Dimensions in Space.  It's capable of 
traveling to any planet at any date in that planet's existence."
     Cursor abruptly whizzed between Automan and the console, burbling agitatedly 
in a fashion that made Lina think it was jealous.  "Don't be like that," Automan 
admonished it.  "It's only polite to say hello to such a gorgeous lady."
     "Your friend has quite the vocabulary," the Doctor commented.
     Lina couldn't believe her ears.  "You understand Cursor too?"
     "Only some right now.  The circuits are still having trouble with it.  I and 
those I allow inside are automatically linked to the Ship's translator.  Soon 
you'll be able to understand any language spoken as if it were English, as long 
as the TARDIS is nearby."
     Despite her earlier bravado, Lina was having trouble taking it all in.  This 
man couldn't possibly be human; his tech was far too advanced for anything on 
Earth.  She decided the best course of action was to focus on the reason that she 
had come.  "Why are you here?"
     "Two months ago, an alien scout ship crashed in a remote area of California.  
The wreckage was never identified because the passengers scavenged what they could 
before escaping.  I tracked them here."
     "Aliens?" asked Lina, wide-eyed.  "They exist?"
     The Doctor nodded emphatically.  "Same as your friend does.  And these can 
be quite nasty: they're called Zibeni.  Creatures literally made out of electro-
plasmid energy."  He pointed at Automan.  "Getting too close to one would be 
devastating for you."
     "How many are there?" Lina asked.  "Or should we know?"
     "Fortunately there were only two.  I offered to take them home, but they 
found that electricity was the perfect food for them.  Where better to feast than 
the largest producer of electricity around?"
     Automan immediately understood.  "Then the brownouts were a result of the 
creatures feeding or moving?"
     "Correct.  If they are allowed to continue, they will grow too powerful and 
siphon away the entire supply, crippling the West Coast.  The fireworks last night 
were the result of my destroying one of them.  The other is still out there."
     Lina shot a worried glance at Automan.  No electricity meant no more Automan, 
since he depended on it for his existence.  "What can we do to help you?"
     The Doctor folded his arms.  "If you were clever enough to find me, I'm sure 
you'll find a way to help.  Clearly I can't stop you from trying.  But the best 
advice I can give is to keep out of the way."


Chapter 9

     Automan was oddly pensive as he and Lina watched the Doctor scour the area 
around the electrical station with some sort of hand-held scanner.  When Lina 
questioned him, he insisted that he was fine, but she was certain that the 
experience inside the TARDIS had rattled him.  As if anything could disturb a 
hologram.
     Finally she said, "Do you want to talk?"
     "I observed that the Doctor and his Ship appear to have an extremely strong 
rapport; is it possible to have emotional attachment to an object?"
     "Yes, Auto.  People place sentimental value on objects as well as other 
people, even though logically it's unnecessary.  For example, I still have a scarf 
that my grandmother made for me a long time ago.  The objects around you can define 
part of your character."  She glanced at him.  "Why are you asking this all of a 
sudden?"
     He turned to face her.  "The Doctor's assessment of me, while correct, 
emphasized that there are things that I cannot do.  I do know my own limitations, 
but I still have much to learn about human limitations."  He paused.  "I believed 
myself to be in love once."
     She stared at him, incredulous.  "You're kidding."
     "I am not programmed to kid," Auto said evenly.  "Ultimately I told the woman 
that a relationship between us wouldn't work, because we were from different worlds."
     Out of the corner of her eye, Lina saw the Doctor stop walking and stare down 
at the grass.  But she didn't think it had anything to do with his scans; he had 
obviously overheard their conversation and it reminded him of something painful.  
She turned her attention back to Automan.  "You'd be surprised at how flexible 
human emotions are," she said with a grin, trying to lighten the tone.  "Did you 
know that I liked you more than I should have when I was an intern?"
     "I did, which is why I was always cordial.  Given my previous experiences, 
I thought that was best."
     Lina had guessed as much, but even all these years later, for some reason 
it still rankled.  "You never thought that I would 'misconstrue your customary 
affability into expressions of affection'?" she said with some sarcasm.
     Behind them the Doctor gave a bark of laughter.  "The Mikado, by William 
Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan!  Oh, those two were a riot!"
     She glared at the Doctor and he raised his hands in surrender.
     The sarcasm was of course lost on Automan, who said, "No, I didn't.  There 
was no reason for you to doubt my sincerity."
     "Automan, I was sixteen!  A young woman spilling over with hormones; of 
course I was attracted to you.  But your programming should tell you that it's 
illegal for an adult to-" She hesitated for a split second, unsure if Automan had 
been made aware of the whole 'birds and bees' subject, then found a suitable 
wording, "-become too friendly with someone under the age of eighteen.  It would 
have cost both of us our jobs."
     Auto lifted his shoulders and averted his eyes for an instant: clearly he 
felt insulted.  "As a matter of fact I did know that, only I don't understand the 
reason why.  Walter always avoided the subject."
     "Regardless, I'm not a child any more, and I'm quite capable of deciding who 
I wish to be close to."  She turned and marched away; she needed to calm down.
     "Ah, the lovers' quarrel," said the Doctor breezily after she was a good 
distance away.
     "Hardly," said Automan, but when the Doctor only gave him an amused look, 
he continued, "Walter, my creator, described me once as an 'electronic display', 
a 'series of commands', and programmed to not fall prey to human weaknesses."  
He pursed his lips.  "But as I learned more about the human condition, I found 
myself able to experience emotion."
     "And I can understand your quandary," said the Doctor with a knowing 
expression.
     "How can someone with a double pulse and superhuman intelligence understand 
humans so well?"
     "Oh, I've been around them a while.  Let's look at you: you are a construct.  
You exist outside of the normal world, you don't change, and you don't age.  
Assuming you have the potential to exist long-term, any kind of relationship you 
have would seem fleeting."  He stared at the ground for a moment, and shrugged.  
"Rather like myself."
     "How so?" asked Automan.
     "As you have correctly surmised, I'm not human.  My species can live a very 
long time.  Even after death, my body regenerates and I become a different man, 
physically and mentally.  The memories and knowledge are still here, but... I'm 
not the man that I was before.  That's the reason why I never stay in one place, 
or keep my companions very long.  They age, and I don't."
     Automan had the impression that the Doctor wasn't telling him everything, 
but decided not to pursue the matter.  It was obvious that the topic was a hurtful 
one for him.  But one thing Automan was certain about: it would be best to not 
encourage Lina to form an emotional attachment to him.  She deserved a human 
partner, not a hologram.
     At that moment, both the Doctor's scanner and Lina's phone trilled: a strong 
electromagnetic signal was approaching.  "Aha! It's taken the bait!" said the 
Doctor triumphantly.


Chapter 10

     Lina returned at the Doctor's shout.  "What bait?  Your Ship?"
     "Exactly!  The TARDIS emits a lot of energy.  Park it near a ready source of 
electricity, and wait."
     "Hold on!" Lina protested.  "You're luring that Zibeni creature here to 
destroy another electrical facility so that you can satisfy some bizarre liking 
for pyrotechnics?  There has to be a better way!"
     "It will need to be done soon," added Automan.  "I calculate its arrival to 
be in-"
     "Ten minutes," said the Doctor at the same time.
     "That long?  Doesn't electricity travel at high speeds?" Lina asked, looking 
up at the power lines overhead.
     "Yes, but it's limited to the capacity of the transmission medium," explained 
the Doctor.  "In this case, the wires.  They had to be careful to not overload the 
system, or risk detection."
     "Then the alien might be subject to the same physical rules as electricity," 
theorized Lina.  
     The Doctor grinned at her.  "Trap it in a battery, or ground it, or both!" he 
said.  "Zinc oxide, manganese dioxide..." he started to rattle off the components 
of a standard battery.
     "Disconnect one of the storage batteries in the compound and ground it to a 
metallic fence," suggested Automan, indicating a long section of chain-link fence 
that bordered the nearby road.  
     His brown eyes practically sparkling with excitement, the Doctor whipped out 
the pen-like device that he had used earlier.  "Sonic screwdriver," he explained.  
"It's the ultimate lock-pick, among other things."  Running up to the station, he 
opened the padlocked gate and the main bunker with ease.
     Once inside, Automan made a request to the attending computer to isolate one 
of the batteries and reroute the current.  That enabled the Doctor to disconnect 
it without the risk of a lethal shock, and the two of them carried the unit 
outside.  From there, it was simple enough to wire it into the end of the fence.  
Lina was impressed at how they could work together so well, not to mention the 
superhuman strength they both possessed: the large battery unit would most likely 
have required a forklift to move. 
     "One last question, how to get it over here?" asked Lina.  "If it's after the 
electricity, there's no reason to come this way." 
     The Doctor said, "A few well-placed words and annoying frequencies from this," 
he brandished the screwdriver.  "It's trying to survive.  If it sees a threat to 
its survival, it will try to eliminate that first."
     "You'd risk your life?" she exclaimed.
     He gazed solemnly at her.  "You're a police officer.  You risk your life 
every day.  Fighting aliens is no different."  A low crackling sound began to 
emanate from the overhead lines.  "It's coming.  You and your friend had better 
leave!"
     Lina turned and ran, with Automan beside her.
     The crackling increased in volume until it became thunderous.  A large 
amorphous shape coalesced near where the Doctor stood.  At twice his height with 
purple jags of energy arcing inside it, it certainly appeared otherworldly.  
"Doc-tor," it rasped in a voice that sounded like modulated static.
     "I offer you one last chance," said the Doctor.  "I can take you home.  Stop 
feeding on this planet's electricity."
     The Zibeni's form undulated as if it were laughing.  "The people of this 
planet have many ways to provide themselves with power.  Why would I leave a place 
where I can feed indefinitely?"
     The Doctor switched on his screwdriver, and Lina swore that the alien 
recoiled for an instant.  "This planet belongs to the humans!"
     "Indeed," said the alien, and for a terrifying moment Lina realized that it 
was now looking directly at her.  "The humans and their power needs increase 
daily, but the supply does not.  Fewer humans would mean more feasting!"
     Too fast for her human eyes to follow, the Zibeni lashed out, sending a 
purple lightning bolt in her direction.  But Automan was there, standing in front 
of her with his arms outstretched and one heel dug into the soil in an attempt to 
either deflect or ground the electric charge.  He only managed it partially, 
screaming in agony before falling to the ground covered in purple sparks that 
quickly dissipated to the air.


Chapter 11

     Seeing his tragic mistake, the Doctor turned up the volume on his sonic 
screwdriver and the Zibeni screeched in discomfort and fury.  
     Lina was shaking, amazed that she was still alive, and sickened that Automan 
had risked destruction for her sake.  "Auto!  Are you all right?"
     He sat up with effort.  "No... My molecular integrity has been severely 
compromised... fifty percent and falling."  A look of intense worry crossed his 
face as he gazed at his hand, which briefly faded into transparency then reverted 
to solid.
     The Doctor was still holding off the alien with his sonic screwdriver, but 
barely.  "Get him away from here!" he yelled.
     Lina wasted no time putting her shoulder under Auto's arm and helped him 
struggle to a standing position.  Together they limped away, and she silently 
placed her trust in the Doctor, somehow knowing that he would stop at nothing to 
make sure of his companions' safety.  Behind them she could hear that he kept 
trying different frequencies, perhaps in the hopes that one of them would 
destabilize the creature enough for the improvised battery to drain it of its 
energy.
     "We've got to find you a power source so you can recharge," she said 
urgently.  "Can you pull more current from the electrical grid?"
     He shook his head as his clothes unexpectedly de-rezzed to reveal his 
shining blue body; only he looked fuzzy around the edges.  "It's worse than that.  
It completely scrambled my base code.  I'm decompiling."  He looked at her with 
a wistful expression, and winced in pain.  "I never thought it was possible.  
I'm... dying."  Then he smiled as if to reassure her.  "But what is death but a 
transition from one energy state to another?"
     Her body felt like it was turning to ice.  She had only just begun to know 
him again, and now it appeared that she was about to lose him!  Could a hologram 
really die?  She frantically used her free hand to dig her cellphone out of her 
pocket, and dialled her home phone number.  "Then upload yourself back to the 
computer and reboot," she suggested.  However the phone emitted the sound that 
indicated a full circuit.
     "It seems the satellite system is overloaded with signals right now.  I'm 
stuck until my remaining power runs down, and then-" The right side of his body 
suddenly de-rezzed for a moment, slipping through her hold, and he collapsed 
onto the ground.  She dropped to her knees beside him and instinctively tried to 
hold him as she would any human, but her hands passed through him.  "I'm sorry," 
he whispered, his blue eyes sparking.  "Integrity is forty percent and falling."
     A crackling roar sounded from where they had been, and Lina turned to look.  
The Doctor had finally managed to lure the Zibeni into the rigged fence, splitting 
its form in multiple directions, and ultimately forcing the energy into the 
battery.  Unable to absorb such an enormous amount of power at once, it exploded, 
sending sparks and shrapnel everywhere.  However what was left of the alien 
dissipated along the fence and into the ground.
     The Doctor had been knocked onto his back by the blast, but stood up and 
brushed off his overcoat before loping over to Lina and her electronic friend.  
"Now then, what..." he stopped.
     "Doctor!  His code is destabilizing and he can't use the satellite network 
to get back."  She tried to think of other options.  "We need to get him home, or 
at least to a computer and recompile his code!"
     One look at the stricken hologram told the Doctor that the situation was 
grim.  But how could he admit that to Lina?  He assumed  from her behaviour that 
she had very recently reunited with her old friend, only to get involved with 
this.  "I'm not sure that would work," he hedged.
     Lina glared at him and opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind, 
when Automan said, "He is correct.  Even if I returned to my world, there's no 
guarantee that my program would reinitialize correctly.  Thirty percent."
     Lina felt hope waning.  "But there's a backup!  Surely that-"
     "Lina," the Doctor said gently, "the backup you have might not be reliable.  
If by some chance it hasn't degraded and it does work, he will not be the same.  
It will be like... restoring a crashed computer from a backup that is years out 
of date.  He will not remember any of his experiences between the time of the 
backup and now."
     "True," Auto said, as his form wavered a bit, causing him to groan softly.  
"I will know Walter and Roxanne, the cases that we had worked on... but not you.  
Not the eager intern that had the department in an uproar..."  He smiled s
lightly, and Lina couldn't help also smiling at the memory.  Then he looked into 
her eyes, with a strange expression of wonderment, "And not the capable woman 
that you became."
     Tears started to fall from her eyes, but she refused to give up.  "What 
about your Ship?" she asked the Doctor quickly.  "You mentioned that it contained 
the most sophisticated computer in the universe."
     Auto smiled. "Ah yes, wonderful lady your Ship is.  She loves you, you know."
     The Doctor ignored the hologram's remark.  "It would still need the base 
programming code, which for a construct of this complexity would take weeks to 
replicate from scratch!  Judging by his rate of deterioration we have minutes at 
best!"
     A light bulb went off in Lina's head.  "We have the base code!  Before I 
initialized him the first time, I read the program."
     "You couldn't possibly-" the Doctor began.
     She cut him off with a wave of one hand.  "The brain is just an organic 
computer, right?  While I might not consciously remember every single word of 
code," she pointed to her temple, "somewhere in my brain is a snapshot of it."  
She took a deep breath.  "You also mentioned that your Ship has circuits that 
interface with the passengers' brains and translate the languages they hear."
     An incredulous expression dawned on the Doctor's face and he stared at her.  
"You're suggesting we can use the telepathic circuits to download the code from 
your brain into the TARDIS computer, and recompile him!  Brilliant!"  Then he 
sobered.  "But we can't get him there in time, it's too far away."
     "Couldn't you call the Ship to you?" Lina asked, desperation tingeing her 
voice.
     "Normally yes," he said, then reached into a pocket and withdrew his sonic 
screwdriver.  "But I discharged this completely while I was enticing the Zibeni.  
No more power."
     "I will do it," said Auto weakly, pushing up on one elbow and reaching out.
     "But Auto," Lina protested, "your condition!"
     "It will require only a minuscule amount of power to generate the signal.  
I can manage that much without accelerating the decompile process."
     Wordlessly, the Doctor held out the screwdriver.  Auto concentrated, 
focusing on keeping his hand solid so that he could hold the device.  He 
channelled the bare minimum required to power a recall signal, and the device 
beeped briefly.
     In the next moment, a sound rippled through the night air: a grumbling, 
grating, whooshing sound that was music to Lina's ears.  The TARDIS materialized 
a few feet in front of them.  Immediately the Doctor whipped out his key and 
opened the door, but Automan had fallen again, flickering badly.  His body began 
to fade.
     "Ten percent.  I'm... sorry, Lina," he said again, his voice now sounding 
scratchy.  "I can barely hold my cohesion now.  Your plan was excellent, but I 
can't make it to the Ship.  I must bid you farewell."
     "You have to make it!" she pleaded.  "We can't help you or touch you."  Damn 
those perfect blue eyes of his; she couldn't stop gazing into them.  "Listen.  
When under extreme stress, or when facing life-or-death situations, humans have 
been known to perform extraordinary feats of strength and stamina that they 
otherwise would be unable to do.  It's called WILL TO LIVE.  You are more than 
just a computer program.  You are a self-aware, thinking, LIVING entity who has 
friends who care about you!  You have a soul.  And I know you have the WILL to get 
yourself to that computer!"
     Automan looked up at her in surprise for a moment, and then his expression 
became one of absolute focus.  His barely visible body firmed up ever so slightly.  
Slowly, so slowly, he rolled onto his side, gathered his limbs underneath himself, 
and rose to his feet.  He took a step and stumbled, got his balance again, and 
then walked toward the TARDIS with lengthening strides.
     The Doctor slipped inside ahead of him and flipped some switches.  "Quickly!  
Place your hand in this slot here," he indicated a slot in the console that 
looked like it could have accepted index cards.  "Lina!" he called as she entered 
behind Automan and closed the door.  Place your hand on that grey panel there," he 
pointed at a different section of the console before typing furiously at a 
keyboard.  "Clear your mind.  Don't try to think of anything.  I've programmed the 
circuits to transfer the code."
     Lina practically leaped across the distance and put her hand firmly on the 
panel as Automan's hand phased into the reader slot.  She felt nothing except a 
slight vibration and warmth underneath her hand.  Then she got a feeling of... 
reassurance?  She was startled, but managed to not pull her hand away from the 
panel.  What was this?  Glancing across the console to where Automan was standing, 
she saw him looking at her with the kind of gentle reassuring expression that a 
man would use when gazing at his beloved... then he faded away.
     "Automan!" she cried out, horrified, before realizing something.  "Wait... 
he disappeared!"  A silly, elated grin broke out across her face.  "He disappeared!"
     "What are you talking about?" the Doctor asked, confused.
     "He faded, the way he usually does when his power is low!  He didn't 
de-resolve!"  She ran over to where the Doctor was standing.  "Do you think he's 
all right?"
     The Doctor indicated a screen that displayed the words AUTOMAN PROGRAM LOADED.  
COMPILING.  "We'll just have to wait and find out."
     With a shaky breath, Lina called, "Automan, please be okay!"


Chapter 12

     It was unlike any computer system that he had seen before. Instead of 
well-defined lines and pathways there were intricate curves and spirals, tiny 
sparks and immense star clusters, entire galaxies compressed into marble-sized 
forms.  Ten different faces gave commands in a language unknown on Earth, along 
with dozens of human images, mostly female.  In that one second, he knew what the 
TARDIS was, and he knew what the Doctor was.  Oh, the wonders that could be 
accomplished with this kind of power!
     "Automan, please be okay!" Lina's voice echoed.
     No, he couldn't stay.  He had friends who cared about him.  And he cared 
about them.  He sent a request to erase any trace of his program once he had been 
initialized, and received an affirmative response.  Then he waited.

     As the Doctor and Lina watched, the screen changed from COMPILING to COMPLETE 
and displayed a prompt.  With some trepidation, Lina typed AUTOMAN.  There was a 
pause, then the phrase ENTER ACCESS CODE appeared.  Her fingers now shaking, she 
managed to type CRIMEFIGHTER.  The screen flashed ACCESS AUTHORIZED.
     There was no shaking, no dimming of lights, and no subtle electric charge in 
the room; just the humming of the console.  Lina realized with growing wonder that 
given what the Ship could do, it had to take only a tiny amount of its power to 
generate a hologram, even one such as Automan.
     A bright, multi-faceted ball of light emerged from the screen and twittered 
at her, and she grinned from ear to ear. "Hello, Cursor!" she greeted it.  "How 
are you?"  Cursor bobbed up and down, then zipped across the room to an open 
space and spiralled downwards toward the floor.  In that spot materialized a 
welcome sight: a humanoid figure in blue grid-like armour that glowed with the 
light of hundreds of stars.
     Automan smiled. "Hello, Lina.  Hello, Doctor," he said.
     "Auto!" Lina joyfully ran over to him.  "You remember!  You're okay!"  
Unable to hold back her relief she reached for him, wanting to hug him, wanting 
to feel that he was truly there.  He nodded, effortlessly dampening the surface 
of his electromagnetic field so that she could touch him without being shocked, 
and returned her embrace.  "I was so afraid that you'd be lost forever," she 
whispered.  
     "Thank you for helping to bring me back," he said softly, before releasing 
her.  Then he lifted his eyes to the Doctor.  "And thank you too, Doctor; I am 
complete again.  I must inform you that I requested your Ship to erase my program 
from its memory.  At this moment, the only current version of my program is 
located in Lina's home computer."
     "Which will be backed up as soon as I get home," she said firmly.  "I'm not 
taking any chances of you being lost again."
     "Then all's well that ends well," the Doctor said, bounding to the door and 
ushering the two of them out.  "I really must be going."
     Lina scoffed.  "What?  You're skipping town?  After what just happened with 
that alien thing?  You've got some explaining to do!  Or do I have to arrest you?" 
she added in mock seriousness.
     "Nah, not much left to see," he rebuffed her.  "For all the investigations, 
the best that anyone could come up with would probably be an experiment with 
electrical effects that went out of control.  After all, this is Los Angeles."  
He grinned childishly.  "Hollywood's always coming up with crazy things."
     Now Lina genuinely laughed.
     "Doctor," Automan called before the other could retreat back into the TARDIS.  
"I experienced wondrous things in the past few days, and rediscovered what a 
special thing a friendship is.  You have met many people and made many friends, 
yet almost never have you gone back to visit after you left them.  Some might 
have spent their lives wondering whatever happened to the man who showed them the 
stars.  It would do you good to see them again.  'A man is never alone who has 
friends'."
     Lina glanced up at him in awe.  "That's from It's a Wonderful Life."
     The Doctor drew himself up and nodded his understanding, then shut the door.  
Automan put an arm around Lina's shoulders as the TARDIS wheezed and groaned, 
then dematerialized.


Epilogue

     One evening a week later, a black Lamborghini with blue piping stopped in 
front of the home of Walter and Roxanne Nebicher.  Two people emerged, one of whom 
was glowing a bright blue.  Then the car de-rezzed and turned into a flashing ball 
of light.  The ride had been thoroughly enjoyable, particularly since Lina no 
longer was pressed to the window by the g-force every time the car made a 90-degree 
turn: she finally had mastered the knack of tuning in to Automan's world.
     "Here we are.  They're expecting me and a date, but they don't know it's you."  
Lina turned toward Automan.  "Are you ready to see your partner?"
     "I've never been more ready," said Auto, with barely concealed excitement.  
"All that time I waited and wondered... now we're finally going to be together 
again."
     "I'd better remind you that he has aged and been through some rough times.  
He thinks you no longer exist, so I don't know what his reaction will be when he 
sees you.  It might be easier if you dressed for business."
     "Good point.  Cursor," he commanded, and straightened up to his full height.  
Cursor bounced around him and rezzed up a beige turtleneck sweater with navy blue 
slacks and dinner jacket.  His collar and cuffs were adorned with the usual 
glowing blue stripe.
     They went to the door and Lina rang the bell.
     The door was opened by Roxanne.  "Hi Lina, come in!  Who's..?"  The moment 
that she saw Automan, her hands flew to her mouth and she stared in amazement.
     "Hello, Roxanne," Automan said.
     She let out a small shriek, and then rushed back into the house.  "Wally!" 
she called.  "You won't believe this!"
     Lina discreetly took two steps backward to watch the reunion unfold.
     Walter strode into the entryway.  "What's..?" His voice trailed off.
     Automan said, with his usual smile, "Hello, Walter."  
     Walter's mouth fell open at the sight of his greatest creation and dearest 
friend, whom he had thought gone.  For a moment he was speechless, but then he 
swallowed and managed to say, "Automan?  Is that really you?"
     "Yes, Walter."  Auto cocked his head very slightly and Cursor appeared, 
spiralling around him once before darting away; giving Walter irrefutable proof 
of his identity.  "Lina found my program and reactivated me."
     Tears spilled from Walter's eyes, and he stepped forward.  He reached out, 
ostensibly to shake Auto's hand, but reconsidered and instead hugged Auto hard.  
Automan returned the hug gently, his expression joyful.  Lina was certain that 
if Auto had been programmed with the capability to shed tears, he would have 
done so.
     Walter let him go, and then Roxanne stepped up to hug Auto as well.  Cursor 
returned and hovered next to her for a moment, but didn't perform the antics that 
it once would have, as if it respected the fact that she was now married to 
Walter and was off-limits for flirting.  "Oh, go on," she said genially, giving 
Cursor permission to brush her cheeks before playfully batting it away.
     After wiping his face with his sleeve, Walter said, "Well, come on in," with 
a huge smile.  "I expect we have a lot to talk about."
     "We sure do," Lina spoke up.  "And do I have a story for you."  
     She didn't tell them everything.  How could she mention electrical aliens 
and a man who travelled the stars in a blue police box?  Instead she told them 
about getting herself into the position where she could access the mainframe's 
data, copying the information, and witnessing Automan's rebirth.  At the end she 
said, "Now I have a gift for you, Walter."  She held out a slim case that 
contained a DVD-ROM disk.  He accepted it with a quizzical look.  "It's Automan's 
core program, all of it.  Now you can call him from anywhere.  Los Angeles needs 
Walter Nebicher and Agent Otto J. Mann on the streets."
     Immensely touched, Walter had to clear his throat before saying, "Thank you.  
This means so much to us."
     "Indeed it does," said Automan in a grateful tone.  "And I must say that I'm 
looking forward to many new adventures."


                              THE END

     Audrey Seddon
     aka Blue Jean, Sailor Chronos
     October 2010


I would like to thank the following people:

John Mayo, my husband, for his support.

Lori "Autonwallyluvr" for writing some excellent fanfiction that got my own 
creativity flowing.

Martin Noble, author of the Automan novelization, for his insights.