Demon With A Steel Hand

October 26, 1984

A sphere of chronal energy formed then dissipated, leaving behind a bent-over naked man. Bloody time travel and its constraints. He stood, dropping the clothes and other items he had brought with him. He dressed in his armor-plated clothing and then put on the holster and pistol, then finally threw on a trenchcoat, hiding the pistol. He then grabbed the monocle and fitted it over his right eye. He sighed, feeling much more comfortable. It sure would be nice to time travel fully dressed. Howard MNM walked off into the night.

* * * * *

A muscular man in leather walked up to the house and knocked. A man answered. The muscular man looked him up and down. “Adam Taylor?”

He growled in response. “Yeah. Who’s asking?”

The muscular punched him through the chest. He wiped his hand on the man’s clothes then pushed him down. He walked off as the body hit the ground.

* * * * *

Howard held a paper with three addresses, each for a different “Adam Taylor.” Okay, I can try to get all three in one location and try to guard them, or pick one and wait. He flipped a mental coin and looked at the paper. “Kyle, map of the immediate vicinity.” A map filled half his view. “Kyle, show my position and the three men.” One green dot appeared on the map, followed by three red ones. Howard studied the map for a few seconds. “Okay, guess we’re going to the closest one.” He noted the route and started jogging.

* * * * *

The muscular man saw a man in shorts jogging. He moved to intercept the man. He grabbed the man’s shirt. The man spun, hitting the muscular man in the solar plexus. There was no effect. The muscular man looked the man up and down. “Adam Taylor?”

The man rubbed his hand. “You’re tough.” He straightened. “What do you want?”

The muscular man slapped the man. His neck bent at a sharp angle. The muscular man dropped the body. He walked off.

* * * * *

Howard looked at the apartment building and then at its surroundings. He noticed a café with outside seating and so made his way to the café. He ordered a sandwich and a coffee, paid for it with money from a museum, and then settled into a chair just outside the café.

* * * * *

The muscular man eventually arrived at the apartment building. He looked at the building. He noticed the series of buttons on the door. He went to the buttons. He looked them over as he consulted his memories. He pressed the second button. He waited for a response.

“Hey, robot!” The muscular man turned to Howard. Howard pulled the trigger of his laser. Flesh dissolved from the muscular man, revealing the metal underneath. The now-revealed robot pulled off the remaining flesh and walked toward Howard. Howard jumped over the railing and walked in a semi-circle around the robot.

At that moment, a man and a woman turned the corner. The robot caught the movement and turned to the couple. “Adam Taylor?”

The couple stopped and looked at each other. They ran to the apartment building. He was reaching inside his coat pocket. The robot fired off his hand. It hit the woman, impaling her against the building. The man fell to his knees. “NO!” The robot aimed his other hand at him. He scrambled to get inside the apartment building.

Howard knocked down the robot’s hand. “You’re not going to succeed!”

The robot turned to Howard. The robot swatted him down. It looked at Howard. Its voice was the grating of gears. “You have failed.” Hoard looked up surprised. “You see that dead woman?” Hoard looked at the body in a pool of blood. “We knew someone would gain access to the time cradle. So it was made known that we were looking for her boyfriend as we knew you would protect him. But not those around him.” Howard’s protest was shut down. “Our target was his partner, for the leader of your revolt was her son.” Howard’s eyes widened.

He rolled away from the robot and shot the robot until his laser’s battery had drained. He kicked the slag before him. It didn’t really make him feel any better.

* * * * *

April 16, 2029

The great computer complex continued on. Only now, it could do so without fear of being stopped.