The Big O and all of its settings and characters are owned by Bandai Visual, Sunrise, and Cartoon Network.

THE BIG O:

ACT 37

MORE THAN YOU CAN CHEW

Big-O!

Big-O! Big-O! Big-O!

Big-O!

Big-O! Big-O! Big-O!

Cast in the name of God!

Negotiator

Ye not the guilty!

Android

We have come to terms!

Butler

Big-O!

Officer

Big-O!

Big-O! Big-O! Big-O!

Big-O!

Big-O! Big-O! -O! -O! Big-O!

Chapter One: Take It Off

Paradigm City is a city without Memory; some would say a city without morals. One day forty years ago the entire city forgot everything that happened before that day. The city became divided between the rich and the poor. The Paradigm Company, the corporation that rules the city, has absolute power. These days, there's nothing to stop the Paradigm executives from being a bunch of ruthless gangsters.

In an executive boardroom a number of rough looking men in pinstripe suits sat around a table, but it looked more like a party than a board meeting. Champagne was poured into long stemmed wine glasses, and raucous laughter was heard. "Let's hear it for Jason Beck huh fellas?" one of the men cheered. "If it wasn't for him we'd still be in jail for racketeering charges instead of pardoned and owners of Paradigm stock!"

"Yeah, the old board members lacked vision," another agreed, "but Beck didn't forget his friends!"

"What happened to Beck anyway?" the first asked. "He was king of the world, and then he vanished."

"I hear he went up against the megadeus," the second said over the din of the others. "He had all the money in Paradigm, and then he had to throw it all away trying to settle a score with an enemy no one can beat."

"The megadeus?" the first asked. "Why did he have to do that for?"

"He had to prove he was the king of everything I guess, but there are only two things you can count on in this life, death and the megadeus," the second shrugged. "Some things are just too big to tangle with."

A middle aged man with a military haircut entered the room. "Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to the Paradigm Company's newest chairman, Mister Enoch Browning! Let's hear it for Nucky everybody!"

"Aw right! Nucky!" the first gangster cheered.

"Speech! Speech!" the second one hollered.

A short skinny middle-aged man with protuberant eyes smiled to reveal his misaligned teeth. "Gentlemen, gentlemen," he grinned as he raised his arms at the partying men. "I'd like to thank you all for choosing me as your chairman. I know we all miss the late and lamented Jason Beck who got us out of prison and set us up with these cushy office jobs, but he's gone now and we have to move on. This is our chance to make something of ourselves and finally get respectable."

"Respectable!" a voice cried out. "That's a good one!"

"You ain't never gonna get no respect Sammy," Browning joked, but his eyes had a hard edge. "I'm serious. This is our chance. Our entire lives we've been scoungin' and killin' each other for any piece of the action that was too small for the Paradigm Company to care about, but right now we are the Paradigm Company. We got a chance to live like kings, or counts if any of that counts," he winked. "All we got to do is play it smart and we'll own this town until our children are old and gray. Ever since Rosewater died, Paradigm execs have been droppin' like flies, but we know how to survive! And we will not only survive, but prosper! If we play our cards right, there's enough of this city for everybody in this room. Our first order of business is to take care of our own and solidify our position, and that's what I'm going to do!"

This city, Paradigm City, is a city of amnesia. Nobody really knows what happened but forty years ago, every single person lost all memory of what had happened before. What they found was a city damaged by some kind of disaster and a populace with amnesia. But humans are adaptable. If they can figure out how to use tools and harness electricity, they can rebuild and begin anew.

He gazed at himself in a full length mirror and saw a handsome man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties. His broad shoulders, muscular build, and trim waist indicated both strength and agility. His jet-black hair with his strong jaw and high cheekbones on his boyish face made him the definition of 'tall, dark, and handsome'. Clad only in a pair of black briefs, he flexed his muscles and stretched. He had spent four days wearing that back brace and it was finally off. He felt great. There wasn't a trace of lingering back pain or whiplash. His amazing powers of recuperation had come through again. He spread his arms and flexed his muscles, smiling at the handsome young beefcake grinning back at him. Was there anyone else in Paradigm City who could claim to be such a manly Adonis of a man?

He sniffed the air suspiciously and then checked his armpits. Phew! Perhaps right now he was a bit too manly. He had cut down on his bathing after he had been injured and put in that back brace and now he was beginning to smell like a man. Before he got dressed it was time for a bath.

My name is Roger Smith. I live outside the domes in a former bank building I've turned into my home. As a professional negotiator, I'm one of the best and do very well for myself. Out in the concrete jungle that is Paradigm City it's anarchy but here in the safety and comfort of my home I'm the master of all I survey. Almost.

"Your bath is ready Roger," announced a slender teenage girl who was dressed in a reddish black dress that had a white ruffled collar and formal white cuffs. A set of black stockings and shiny black shoes completed her ensemble. Her red pageboy haircut was immaculate, her bangs broken by a black barrette. She offered him her dainty white hand, palm up. "I'll take your robe now."

"R Dorothy Wayneright, what do you think you're doing?" he sneered as he tightened the belt of his grayish black bathrobe. "Thanks for drawing a bath for me but the next part is private."

"Roger after your battle against Beck and his gigadeus four days ago, Norman and I divided the responsibilities," she said in her calm quiet voice. "Norman would repair Big O while I took care of you. You were injured."

"Yes, I was injured but I'm fine now," he insisted. "Maybe Beck and Jenny Grant were right and I really do have tiny robots in my body that repair any injury. I'm fine now and I don't need someone else to bathe me."

"Roger, there's no need to be embarrassed," Dorothy assured him. "I'm an android. It's not like I'm going to stare or anything."

"Yeah right," Roger snorted. "You've peddled that 'emotionless android' story far too often Dorothy, and I'm not buying it anymore. Your feelings run just as deep as anyone else's, maybe deeper."

"What's the matter Roger?" the girl teased in a deadpan tone. "Are you embarrassed about your body for some reason?"

"No, I'm quite proud of it," he smirked as he leaned forward to put his face inches away from the girl's. To her credit she didn't back up or even bat an eyelash, but he wasn't expecting her to. "Curious, Dorothy? It's tempting to satisfy your curiosity, but a gentleman doesn't expose himself to a young lady unless they're both consenting adults."

"I'm consenting," she insisted.

"You haven't even taken your Turing Test or your Rossum Evaluation yet!" Roger mocked. "You need those to prove to the city that you're a person! Until you pass those, you're the android equivalent of a child."

"You know I'm a person," she insisted.

"Yes, I do," he smiled as he held her chin with his fingertips, "and that's why it just wouldn't be proper to expose myself to a sweet, innocent, impressionable young lady like yourself."

"Roger since I was created I've been kidnapped, shot, taken apart, immobilized, forced to commit violence, and forced to see my father murdered before my eyes," she informed him. "I think I can survive seeing you naked."

"I promised myself that I would never join the long line of monsters who've hurt you in the past," he said gently, the levity gone from his voice. "I'm sorry Dorothy. I just can't take advantage of someone who's been hurt so many times before." His eyes ran up and down her slender form. "No matter how tempting it would be," he added in a playful tone.

"This isn't fair." She should have pouted, but as an android she did no such thing. "You're going to see my naked body today. Why can't I see yours?"

"So that's what this is about!" he laughed. "And here I thought that you were flirting with me because you don't have a sense of smell!"

"Now that your brace is off, Norman is going to start our advanced course on robotics," Dorothy announced. "The dissection of the remains of that homicidal android we call 'Red Destiny' is today. You're going to see everything my creator gave me, including what's inside. Can't I at least study the outside of your body? It's not like I'm asking for permission to cut you open or anything."

"Why are you picking on me?" he teased. "If you want to see a nude human so badly why don't you ask Norman to strip down?"

"Norman is a sweet old man who reminds me of my father," the girl explained. "I think of him as both a trusted friend and a mentor, and in addition he is highly skilled in robotics. For me that makes him the equivalent of a medical doctor. You on the other hand are a virile lecherous louse. For you to see my naked body robs me of both my modesty and my dignity."

"Lecherous?" he sniggered. "That's kind of harsh. I've been a perfect gentleman since you've moved in. I even gave up my wicked womanizing ways and everything. I like the 'virile' part though, but I think the reason I'm feeling virile is because I'm naked under this robe and there's a beautiful girl in the room."

"Norman wants me to study medicine as well as robotics," Dorothy announced, "so that I can look after you when he is too old to do it himself. I'll have to see your naked body sooner or later if I intend to take care of you."

"And you will when you're old enough, I promise," Roger teased as he kissed her forehead. "I'll make you another promise: If we ever find a dead Roger Smith you can strip him naked and cut him open so you can see how my body works, deal?"

"You really are such a louse Roger Smith."

Later, after his bath, Roger was dressed in a white shirt and black trousers that were held up with a pair of black suspenders. Once bathing and dressing was out of the way, he escorted Dorothy to the robotics bay and met their teacher, his valet, Norman Burg. Norman Burg was a tall gangly old man wearing an archaic tuxedo and a patch over one eye. Although his sparse white hair didn't cover his bald pate, he did have a magnificent handlebar moustache.

Lying on a table in the center of the room was a small slender form that was disturbingly familiar. The nameless android alternatively called 'RD', 'Red Destiny' and 'Agent D' was Dorothy's copy in every way, right down to the reddish black dress that covered her petite body. A few basic cosmetic repairs had been done to its head, making the inert android look exactly like a dead R Dorothy Wayneright.

Roger and Dorothy both froze in the doorway, but only Roger had a concerned expression on his face and gulped nervously. Little Dorothy was as still as death itself.

Norman cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Ahem, despite the grisly reminder of that horrific incident we have been blessed with an unparalleled opportunity. The android that Mister Beck reconstructed for the purpose of theft and murder shall now be used for the constructive purpose of teaching us how to care for one of our own, the lovely Miss Dorothy Wayneright. After all we've been through I think that we all agree for the need for hands on experience with Miss Dorothy's repairs and maintenance. Now that we're all here we can begin. If you'll help me undress the subject Miss Dorothy?"

Miss Dorothy turned and left the room without saying a word.

For a moment both men looked at the empty doorway before Roger muttered "I better go after her."

The Paradigm Corporation was being run out of a group of skyscrapers after the huge domelike structure that was the former headquarters had collapsed in on itself earlier that week. Paradigm Headquarters had been damaged by the fight between Big Fau and Big O a few months back, but it was the recent struggle between Big O and the gigadeus down in the foundations that had finally finished it off.

Colonel Dastun was a veteran officer of the Military Police safeguarding the city. A burly, heavyset man in his fifties, his horseshoe mustache and muttonchop sideburns were the most memorable things about his craggy face. Although currently in uniform, his hat was off exposing his bald head and the intricate network of scars on his dome. The reason his hat was off was because he was saluting Enoch 'Nucky' Browning in the Paradigm chairman's new office.

"Colonel Dan Dastun," Browning smiled exposing his unforgettable teeth. "So glad you could join me on such a fine morning as this. Well, well you made it to colonel. It's been a while hasn't it Dan?"

"Yes sir," Dastun nodded. "It's been six years since I took you down for racketeering."

"Yup," Browning nodded. "I was pretty sore about it at the time, but I'm not anymore. I didn't spend all my time on the weight pile like those other guys. I took classes while I was in the pen. Now I got a degree in business and I'm working on my economics major. How about that? You sending me up could have been the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Glad I could help sir," Dastun said.

"Hey, I hear you've done pretty well for yourself there Danny," Browning continued. "Stood up to the big boys and became temporary head of the Military Police. Wow. That took cajones. But you've been slippin' after that. I mean the city's been through two boards of directors since you took over, and three chairmen. My god! What the hell is the matter with you? This all in the same year! What the hell is the company even paying you for? Colonel Dastun, your fired. I'm afraid your service with the Military Police has come to an end. I'm just not convinced that you can keep the city safe for me and the citizens who depend on us anymore. Sorry pal. It's been a good run, but it's over. You're being let go. The Military Police is going in another direction. We're experiencing a change of executive management right now. You get the picture. Clean out your desk. If you go quietly you can have an honorable discharge and severance benefits and everything. Make any noise and I'll have you arrested for criminal negligence, do you get me?"

"Yes sir," Dastun nodded coolly. "I understand completely. I'll say goodbye to my men and clear out before the end of the day."

"Thanks Dan," Browning said as he cut off the tip of a cigar. "I'm glad we had this little talk."

On a desk filled with hourglasses a phone rings. Roger's hand picks up the receiver and a sinister voice says:

Next: Dorothy Exposed