Vivien Porter sat in her apartment, sipping a cup of tea. She glanced up as she heard a knock at the door. “Oliver, visitor.” she said.
Her computer station beeped… a holo-image formed, showing the feed from the front door’s security camera. Vivien smiled at seeing the three beings waiting outside her door. “Oliver, open.” she said.
Vivien stood up as the door to her apartment unlocked and swung open. “Hello, Kim. I’ve been expecting you. Both of you.” She turned, looking at Ron. “You I wasn’t expecting. You’re one of Kim’s friends, yes?”
“Yes ma’am.” said Ron. “Ron Stoppable.”
“May we come in?” asked Kim. “I have some questions for you.”
“About her?” asked Vivien Porter, gesturing at Shego.
Kim nodded.
“May I ask what her name is?” asked Dr. Porter.
“Shego.” said Kim.
“Ah.” said Dr. Porter. She turned and held out a hand. “Pleased to meet you, Shego. I’m Dr. Vivien Porter… You probably don’t remember me, but you might think of me as your mother.”
“Mother?” said Shego, confused, even as she shook Dr. Porter’s hand.
“Come in, sit down.” said Dr. Porter. “I have something to show both of you, that should make things much clearer.”
As Kim, Shego, and Ron sat down in the room, Dr. Porter went over to her computer station and knelt. “Oliver, compartment unlock… verbal password ‘True feelings, artificial hearts’.”
A camouflaged, armored panel opened. Behind the panel was a compartment, holding an old fashioned photo-album. Dr. Porter reached in and pulled the photo-album out. “Global Justice Internal Security would probably have a cow if they knew I had this.” she said, carrying it over to the table.
“Global Justice?” said Ron. “Why would they be involved?”
“Global Justice are the ones who commissioned the Global Operative project.” said Dr. Porter. “They said they wanted persocoms who would be able to function as agents.”.
Dr. Porter opened the book, showing a picture of herself, wearing a lab coat and standing next to a bulky, powerful looking man. “This was the first model.” she said, tapping the photo. “Hero Emulation, Global Operative. HE/GO for short. Dr. Justine Flanner created the body for it, while I created the Holistic AI Learning Facsimile unit that forms HE/GO’s brain.”
Dr. Porter turned the page. More photos showed HE/GO on a training range… In one photo, he was punching through a brick wall, in another he was using a weapon on a target range. “HE/GO’s body is considerably different from most persocoms. His bones, muscles, and skin are military-grade prototypes. When fully powered up, he can punch through almost anything.”
“But, what about Shego?” asked Kim.
Dr. Porter turned the page. Now there was a picture showing Shego laying on a lab table. “Global Justice was so happy with HE/GO they commissioned a second prototype… the Second Hero Emulation, Global Operative. While Global Justice was happy with HE/GO, I wasn’t. The HALF Wit is a major advancement of computer processing power, but it still is basicly just a powerful computer system. For SHE/GO, I created the Autonomous Emotive Learning Processor.”
“What’s the difference between the two?” asked Kim.
Dr. Porter turned to a different page; this one had a large photo of Shego, standing in a sterile looking computer lab. She was wearing a white surgical gown, and had a doll clutched to her chest. The doll had bright red hair and green button eyes. Shego’s face looked sad, hugging the doll for comfort.
Dr. Porter smiled. “Most persocoms, including HE/GO, have programs to simulate human emotions. While these simulations can be very realistic, they are still only simulations. Their emotions have nothing to do with how they act or what they do. SHE/GO was designed to learn emotions, as an integral part of her… they can even override her other directives, if her emotions are strong enough.”
“If you worked at Global Justice, why did you leave?” asked Kim.
Dr. Porter turned the page, revealing a very confused looking She/Go standing on a target range. She was staring at the pistol in her hands.
“I thought emotions would make her a better agent. It turned out Global Justice didn’t want robot agents… they wanted weapons disguised as persocoms.” said Dr. Porter. “Shego, when her powers are activated, can generate powerful plasma blasts. But her AELP made her ask questions about what her purpose was. She even said she wouldn’t kill, despite orders.”
“If she’s a weapon, how come she’s so small?” asked Ron.
“Heat-dissipation.” said Dr. Porter. “Shego’s plasma system generates a lot of waste heat when powered up. The smaller body made it easier for us to disipate the heat. If she was larger, the heat could build up too fast and damage her.”. Dr. Porter smiled sadly. “I was glad she was so small… it made me think of her as my daughter.”
Dr. Porter sighed. “When She/Go started to question her orders, Dr. Director, the head of Global Justice, ordered me to replace She/Go’s AELP with a HALF. I refused… and was fired.”
“So… they threw Shego out just because she had emotions?” said Kim. “Did that end the GO project?”
“Not exactly.” said Dr. Porter. “I still have a few friends in GJ. According to them, Global Justice created two new GO prototypes with special powers, and HALF wits. She/Go was… misplaced, during a transfer to a special facility.”
“What were they going to do to her?” asked Kim.
Dr. Porter sighed. “Dismantle her. Which they still will, if they get her.”
Kim gasped, moving closer to Shego and putting a protective arm around the diminutive persocom. “No way… Shego’s mine!” she said possessively.
Shego smiled and nuzzled at Kim. “Kimmy…” she said happily.
Dr. Porter leaned back. “Well… that’s all I can tell you for now, Kim.” said Dr. Porter. “I’ve been trying… on my own… to recreate the AELP, but Global Justice kept a lot of my notes. We’re deadlocked. They can’t recreate it without my help, and I can’t recreate it without them. So, She/Go is unique… the only persocom with the capacity for true emotions.”
Dr. Porter carried the scrapbook over to the panel. “Please…” said Kim, impulsively. “May I have a copy of that photo? With the doll.”
Dr. Porter smiled and took the photo out. She placed it on the computer scanner. “Of course.” she said. A small crystal, with a holo-composite image of Shego holding the doll, slid out of the computer. She handed it to Kim
“Did the doll have a name?” asked Kim.
“Kimmy.” said Shego, looking at the hologram, and then hugging Kim.
Dr. Porter coughed, then smiled. “Actually, she called it ‘Viv-vie’… but of course, those memories would have been lost when Shego was shut down. “
“Well…” said Kim. “Don’t worry, Dr. Porter. I promise to take good care of your daughter.”
Dr. Porter smiled. “Thank you, Kim.”
“Relax, Kim…” said Ron. “What could happen?”
Monty Fisk paced in his private sanctum. The floor, walls, and ceiling of the large room were painted bright banana yellow. Ideograms, painted in dark brown, decorated the walls. Set in the floor, in yellow and brown tiles, was a mosaic depicting a stylized monkey. Two large emeralds made up the monkey’s eyes.
“Sensei would never put an ordinary persocom against one of my monkey students.” said Monty Fist. “This Shego must be something different… special.”
He turned. “Bo-Bo, Jangles… put out the word on the In-Terror-Net. We need to find out everything we can on this Shego.”
The two monkeys, so addressed, nodded and rushed over to a computer keyboard.
Monty Fisk turned to his greatest student. Ook stood four feet tall monkey, his physique honed by Monty’s training. “Ook… for your fight with Shego, you may need an edge. More of an edge then my training can provide.
“Ook?” asked Ook.
“Oh, don’t worry. I already have plans for you.” said Monty. He turned to look at the door. “Isn’t that right, dear?”
A beautiful woman, her face and body testament to the skill of plastic surgeons (well paid for by Monty Fisk) entered the room. She was dressed in a brown furry dress, which clung to her every course. “Of course, Monkey-poo!” said the woman.
Monty winced. “Please, D-N-Amy, I have asked you not to call me that.”
Dr. Drakken approached the front gates of the Henchco manufacturing facility. A figure, wearing a dark green robe, followed him. The hood of the robe covered her face, but a bulge in the back made the figure look like a hunchback.
A large, holographic image of the head of Henchco appeared. Actually, it was just an image of the head of the head… Jack Hench’s head expanded to over eight feet tall. “Ah, Mr. Drakken.” said Jack Hench. “Finally here to pay your bill?”
“DOCTOR Drakken, please.” said Dr. Drakken. “I am a fully accredited mad scientist, you know. And actually, I thought I’d come here and buy your current entire supply of persocom soldiers.”
Jack Hench raised an eyebrow. “Really? That would come to over twelve billion dollars… assuming I was in the mood to sell to you.”
“I was planning on getting a volume discount.” said Dr. Drakken. “Like… free.”
Jack Hench began to laugh. “Oh, please, doctor. When have I ever given away anything for free?”
“Right now.” said Dr. Drakken. “Dark She/Go, attack!”
Dark She/Go pulled the cloak off. Underneath the cloak, she was wearing a skin-tight black latex body suit. A fierce looking green dragon was emblazoned on the front of the suit. On her back was a black backpack, with two cables leading from the sides of the backpack to the back of her hands.
Dark She/Go’s hands glowed bright green as she grabbed the heavily armored gates. The metal gates, designed to resist even hover-tanks, began to slump under the intense heat she was feeding into them. She shoved the half-melted gates open and strode onto the factory yard.
Metal pods rose from the ground, splitting open to reveal automated weaponry. Dark She/Go glanced around, then leapt into the air to dodge high explosive, armor piercing rounds. As the bullets chewed large craters into the concrete, Dark She-Go hurled two Plasma-Blasts at the nearest weapon pods. The weapons exploded, producing a dark cloud of smoke.
Dark She/Go landed in the cloud. The weapons that were trying to track her swiveled, unable to get a lock through the dark smoke. Protected by the smoke, she began casting plasma balls, relying on her memory of where she had seen the pods.
The smoke dissipated, revealing Dark She/Go standing in a field of destroyed weapon pods. Smirking happily, Dr. Drakken began to step forward. Dark She/Go held up a hand. “Dr. Drakken, stop!” she ordered.
Dr. Drakken frowned. “I give the orders. Do not tell ME to stop!”
Several more pods emerged from the ground, splitting open. These pods revealed seven foot tall metal robot soldiers. Although humanoid, the robots were not persocoms. Metal armor skin prevented them from being mistaken for human. The right arm, instead of having a human hand, was an energy blaster cannon.
Dark She/Go obeyed her programming to protect Dr. Drakken. She pounced, knocking Dr. Drakken down as the robots opened fire. Thanks to Dark She/Go’s tackle, the attacks missed. “I do when I haven’t finished disabling the defense systems.” she said. She turned and leapt toward the nearest robot.
Jack Hench frowned at the security monitor. What appeared to be a young teenage girl was pummeling her security robots. Whenever a robot tried to blast her, she twisted out of the way… most of the time, the robot only wound up shooting another security robot. Her fists, glowing green, easily punched through their high-grade armor as if it was tissue paper.
“Are you recording?” he snapped at an assistant.
“Y-yes sir.” said the assistant.
“Feed all the data into the computers. Find out everything you can on this girl.” Jack Hench said. He winced as the last security robot was cut in half, the fighting girl’s hand going through the robot like a hot knife through butter. “Contact our insurer, our current production run of persocoms must be declared a loss.” He frowned, watching as Dark She/Go began melting a hole through the front doors of the processing plant.
“What should we do now, sir?” said the assistant.
“We’re being robbed.” said Jack Hench. “What do companies usually do when they’ve been robbed? Call the police, you dunder head!”
Dr. Flanner watched the recordings from Henchco’s security system. “That’s definitely our She/Go prototype, ma’am.” said Dr. Flanner.
“What’s the backpack for?” said Dr. Director, indicating it.
“It’s probably a power supply in response to the sabotaged solar skin.” said Dr. Flanner. “It may also be how Dr. Drakken managed to accelerate She/Go’s response time.”
“Would she need the pack to function?” asked Dr. Director.
“No ma’am, not if it’s just a power supply.” said Dr. Flanner. “Of course, without the power pack, she wouldn’t be able to fight after more then a few blasts from her hands.”
“Ok.” said Dr. Director. “Keep track of all news feeds. If there’s any sign of She/Go, I want to know about it.”
“It’s too bad that we and the police didn’t get there in time to stop them, or to track where they went.” said Dr. Flanner.
Dr. Drakken landed the hover-transport truck on the landing pad by his latest lair. Dark She/Go, piloting the second truck, landed next to him. The back of both trucks were loaded with persocoms. After Dr. Drakken was done reprogramming them, they would be his new army.
“Honey, I’m home!” yelled Dr. Drakken excitedly as he climbed down from the truck.
Adrenna Lynn came out, holding up a portable computer screen. “Guess what… while you were out, I learned something interesting in an In-terror-net chatroom.”
Dr. Drakken frowned. “Adrenna, How many times have I told you about using the In-terror-net while on company time? In a sense, you’re stealing from me every time you do that! Granted, we’re both super-villains, you still need to practice some common business ethics.”
Adrenna pushed the screen into Dr. Drakken’s hands. “It’s about She/Go… the original.”
MonkeyKing: I’m looking for the 411 on a robo-girl named ‘Shego’
MotorManiac: Wow, with a name like that, I’ll bet she’s a babe!
WantARush: Shego? I might have some info… why do you want to know?
MonkeyKing: She’s going to be fighting one of my students soon. I want to know what makes her special.
WantARush: What type of fight? Where?
MonkeyKing: IF you knew anything of Tai Shing, you’ld know about the upcoming big match.
WantARush: Look, monkey boy… Shego is a Global Justice prototype that got ‘lost’. Someone has apparently managed to kidnap what I’ve rightfully stolen, and I’d like it back.
Dr. Drakken put down the screen. “Ah, excellent! Now, we know where the original She/Go will be… and we can skin her alive! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! -pause- How was that?”
“Four, I think.” said Adrenna Lynn.
Dr. Drakken sighed. “Drat… maybe I need to listen to Senor Senior Sr.’s audio-lesson on ‘Evil Laughter’ again.”