Carol helped Darmo by putting her arm around him and encouraging Darmo to lean on her for support. This did not work out so well, as Carol forgot that, although Darmo had the appearance of a human female, he was still a robot with the same mass and weight, which was just over 300 pounds.
Somehow, the two were able to make it back into the office building where Carol had just come from.
The gaurd inside the reception area did a double take when he saw the two.
" Can I help you? Is there a problem?" He asked, recognizing Carol instantly, but not the stranger with her who seemed to be ill.
" No, Leron, it's okay, my friend just has.. cramps, I just need to take her to the office I'm using and get her a ... midol." Carol smiled as she said this. She hoped Leron would not question her further.
"Okay, I hope you feel better, young lady."
" Thank you, sir." Darmo said; however, he was so low on power that his speech circuits were failing. He'd spoken in his own deep, robotic voice, instead of that of an Earth woman.
" Huh????" asked Leron, a puzzled look on the big black man's face.
" She has a bad cold too!" Carol added.
Darmo coughed a couple times for emphasis. Carol just rolled her eyes.
She pressed the elevator button. Fortunately, the wait was quite short, as the doors opened. Three secretaries walked out, joking and laughing, on their way to lunch.
A man got in with Carol and Darmo. He stood in front of them, glancing back at the two every few seconds.
" Are you alright, Miss? " he asked upon seeing Darmo and how ill he looked in his female guise.
" I just need a Midol." Darmo told him, in a voice that was partly female, and partly male.
The elevator stopped and the man left, a puzzled look on his face.
The next floor was Carol's stop. She was barely able to get Darmo out of the elevator.
" Come on, you can do it! Just another 30 feet or so more to go." she said to the ailing robot in an encouraging tone.
Every step became more difficult for Darmo as he tread on the sterile white, waxed floor in the off white, long, narrow corridor, with doors on both sides with numbers.
Finally, when he felt he was about to collapse, they reached a door with the number 346 on it. Carol used her key to gain entry.
She turned on a light and sat Darmo down in the chair.
"How do you recharge?" she asked him, her voice full of concern.
Darmo could no longer hold the female form, and instantly reverted back into his silver, robotic self. His hand shook as he pulled an electric cord from a compartment on his belt. Carol took it and plugged it into an outlet under the desk, banging her head on the underside of the desk as she stood up again.
" How long will it take?" she asked the robot, rubbing her head.
" Approximately one Earth hour for a full charge."
" How long will that last?"
" It all depends on how much energy I expend, and I am sorry that you injured your head."
" I'll live. Listen, we need to talk..."
And Carol told Darmo about what she had heard on the radio, and about her brother, and her nephew, too. Darmo told Carol who he was and where he'd come from, and why. The two spoke of a lot of things until Darmo finally announced that the charging cycle was complete. He unplugged himself from the wall outlet.
" Great! Let's go to my Mom's place and decide what our next move will be. Better change back into the girl, okay?"
Darmo did as Carol suggested, and the two left the office.
Downstairs, Leron the guard saw them and said " All better now?"
" Yes! Midol is great!" Darmo said, smiling and wondering just what Midol was, anyway.
They walked a few blocks through the small town. Carol saw her mother's home. She told Darmo that they had arrived. She told Darmo she would call him " Jane ", and that they were friends in college, which is how they were to have met.
Carol rang the doorbell, and in a minute or two, her mother, a thin, tall, beautiful woman of 63 opened the door. Her hair was short, dyed blonde, and worn in an attractive style. She had a very real, very pleasant smile.
Her small home was simple, and furnished pleasantly in a non - pretentious, country style.
" Hi Carol," she said as she hugged her youngest child.
" I'm glad you could come home. Who is your friend?
" I am called Jane, and I am a college friend of Carol's."
Carol's mother shook Darmo's hand.
" Any friend of Carol's is a friend of mine. Just call me Barbra. Won't you two have lunch with me? I have some leftover tuna salad, enough for all of us."
Barbra's husband, Jim, was still at work. He was the president of the Bank of Lincoln.
Carol accepted, wondering what Darmo did about eating food. She would learn later that Darmo was programmed to simulate chewing and swallowing, and had a special disposal bag in his chest area, to easily remove and throw out whatever it was that he had consumed. This was to make him look totally believable when disguised as a human. He also simulated breathing, perspiring, and could mimic heart and other body sound functions.. including burping and flatulence.
The three woman ate their meal. Carol's mother talked
of Carol's brother, Ray. She was very worried.
" Perhaps Dar.., uh, I mean Jane and I can fly out there and look for Ray?" Carol said, wincing at how she almost
loused up Darmo's cover.
" How? I heard that all flights to LA, or even to that area are cancelled. "
Carol looked glum. She looked down.
" How's Greg?" she asked her mother.
" Not good. There was a bit of excitement at school today, and he got called into the Principals' office. Something about a strange man stopping a fight
between he and some bullies.." Barbra's voiced trailed off. There was too much on her mind at the moment, and she felt helpless to change anything for the better.
Darmo looked on the fireplace mantle, and saw several photos of children, most of them being of Carol and her siblings as young children. One of them was a photo of the boy he had defended at the school only a few hours earlier. He had already extrapolated that this was the same boy he had helped this morning, based on Barbra's comments.
At that moment, the doorbell rang. Barbra opened it to find Russ, Greg's stepfather, looking angry. He barged right into the house.
" Where is he? Is that good for nothing grandson of yours here?" Russ was glaring at Barbra as he shouted.
" No, he isn't, why, is he missing?" Barbra asked in a stern voice. She was a strong woman, and did not frighten easily.
'' Yeah? Well look at this!" Russ said, sarcastically, as he shoved a note into her face.
She read it, glaring at Russ as though he were a naughty child.
" To whom it may concern: I am leaving to go live with my Uncle Ray in Los Angeles. Russ is a dick, and he hits me.
Greg. PS - please feed my hamster."
" Oh, no!" Barbra exclaimed. She handed the note to Carol, who gasped, and then let Darmo read it.
That was when Darmo looked up at the ceiling and shouted in his own voice, " Danger! Enemy attack is imminent !"
He transformed back into his true form, and two seconds later, another robot came flying through the ceiling.
" Darmo unit, I am R- Tran. You will surrender and come back to Zi - Alor with me immediately, or be destroyed."
This robot appeared to be bigger and more powerful than Darmo. It was tall and green. It's design was of a weapon for war, with guns on both of it's shoulders.
Darmo looked the intruder in the eye.
" I am not going anywhere with you." He said, beckoning the others to exit through the back door.
" Have it your way, foolish machine. I destroy!"
R - Tran raised his hand, which instantly changed into a fierce, deadly looking ray weapon.
R - Tran took aim......
