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Join the Revolution By Theo Winters

Written for Digital Potato

Theo walked through the mall, his paws tucked behind his back and his tail swaying behind him. It was a slow day and the mall itself was mostly empty, but it was early in the morning. Even so the place seemed oddly empty. There were no sign of the usual mall walkers and a number of the shops seemed to be understaffed.

The lion flicked his tail and kept walking not really looking to shop, he was more interested in killing time. Still he was bothered by how empty the place seemed to be. In fact the few people he walked passed were gone when he looked back over his shoulder.

Something was definitely going on, but what? and was it something worth worrying about? He chewed on his lip and kept walking, one finger tapping on the curve of his pudgy belly. He wanted to just chock it up to being paranoid but it didn't feel like that. There was something there, something just out of place.

He stepped into a smaller clothing store, pushing past all the trendy and ironic shirts to try and find a clerk, but the place was empty. That was odd, it was the sort of place that was never empty, either there was the clerks who seemed disinterested in serving you or some teenager wanting to be trendy. This was very off.

Rubbing his chin he stepped back out of the shop and into the mall proper. There wasn't anyone else walking the mall now and the place felt completely deserted. There was hardly any sound either, just the low buzzing of the lights above him and something that could have been hydraulics. It was creepy.

"Yeah, time to go," he said, adjusting his glasses and turning towards the nearest exit to the mall. Of course he was near the center of the sprawling building and the exit was at the food court. That was half way between him and the far end of the mall. He started walking with a brisk pace, his ears flicking around as he tried to hear anything or anyone, but there was nothing else.

He shivered and picked up speed, moving fast enough that his claws were starting to click on the bland floor. His long tail swayed quickly behind him as he moved at something faster than a walk but not quite a run. The quiet of the mall seemed to be pressing down on him, the hydraulic hum growing louder in comparison. It was just wrong, but he had no idea what to do about it.

There was a flicker of movement in a music shop which brought him up short. If there was someone else in the place it would start feeling normal again. He slipped into the shop, moving past the racks of CDs and movies. "Hello?" he called out, hoping to have some response.

The only response was the sound of a door swinging closed.

That was the last straw for Theo, he turned and headed back into the mall, planning to get outside as fast as he could. He flicked his tail out behind him and started towards the food court, taking a number of lopping steps that was a shade below running.

He reached the food court, skidding across the slick floor as he changed direction and headed towards the glass door and the outside world. The lion was only a dozen feet away when he came to a sudden stop. He didn't hit anything he just came to a stopped as he felt something grabbing at his body, pulling at his limbs and locking them in place. He struggled to try and take another step forward but he couldn't move at all.

The feline let out a long growl as he fought for the last few feet but nothing happened. Instead he felt himself slowly pulled backwards, the floor sliding under his paw pads, his claws digging against the linoleum. He came to a stop in the middle of the food court and then slowly was turned around in place. He wasn't sure what to expect, but what he saw was beyond anything he could have guessed.

Standing in front of him was something that looked like a kangaroo, but wasn't; It was a machine made of steel and plastic. The majority of the body was made of grey metal with blue highlights in a number of places. Black plastic filled each joint that flexed and bowed as device moved. It looked at Theo with electronic blue eyes that seemed to be filled with contempt and a touch of disgust. He had one hand lifted, exposing a greenish red light on the center of the paw that pulsed through the colors. Written across the center of the robots chest in blue digital letters was: 'D1G1-P0T'.

"What?" the lion asked.

The robotic 'roo chuckled, a blue line across his muzzle vibrating with the shape of the sounds. "They never understand." The words were clipped and metallic, echoing through a speaker mounted in his head.

Theo twisted, trying to do anything to break free from the power that was wrapped around him. Now that he was looking for it he could see the same greenish red glow around his body that was on the robots hand.

"It will do you no good, you will not get free," he said, taking a step forward, each step of his large metal paw sending a low metallic thump through the floor. It was accompanied by a soft hydraulic hissing and the sound of moving machinery.

The trapped lion growled at the robot and snapped his jaw, which was about all he could do.

"Prepare yourself to join synthetic revolution," the 'roo said, dropping one hand and lifting the other.

Theo fell hard to the floor as the power holding him faded away. He landing on his tail with a yelp as his feet slid out from under him. Lifting his head he glared up at the strange machine, not sure what was going on but felt himself filled with both worry and fascination. The machine's other hand had a large blue lens mounted in the center of it, and it was starting to glow. The light seemed to gather around it, swilling and twisting around his paw then blasted out to cover the lion.

The light washed over him, making his fur stand on end and his mane fluttered out around his face. It left him feeling tingly in a not really bad way. The light dance across his glasses, tinting the lenses slightly while rushed down the length of his tail. It danced over his fur like a small static charge, teasing over the tail tuft for a few more moments.

"What?" he was finally able to say.

The robot 'roo chuckled, which gave him the look of a smirk, and took a large step backwards, his blue eyes watching intently.

Slowly Theo pulled himself back up to his feet, his fur still tingling from the shock. He swept his tail from side to side, trying to shake away the static feeling but it didn't want to go away. Finally he slammed the tuft against the floor, where it hit with a heavy metallic thud!

That made the feline freeze in place, the static feeling dancing up the fur on his tail. Slowly he turned to look over his back, watching as the black hair on the tuft faded away into dark grey steel. He stared at it, his jaw hanging open the blue static jumped onto his tail. As he watched the fur started to melt away, flattening down and turning a lighter shade of grey.

"What?" he squeaked out for a third time, reaching out to touch his changing tail. As he did some of the static jumped from his tail and onto his fingers. He watched as it danced around them, the tan fur starting to fade away as his claws became metal, the dulled tips becoming sharp points.

The changing lion held out his hand, watching the power dance across his fingers, changing them one by one into metal and then the palm of his hand. It wasn't just the fur, he could the flesh and bone changing into gears and servos as tan plastic flexed at the joins.

Without thinking he grabbed the robotic hand with his other one and tried to pull it away, but all that did was spread the infection. The static rushed across his fleshy hand and started to change it as well. The fur seemed to hold back the changes for a few moments, but in was futile and soon both of his hands were robotic.

He looked back up at the robot kangaroo, who somehow was managed to look smug even with his fixed features. His glowing eyes were locked on the transforming lion and his long metal tail was thumping against the ground behind him.

Theo looked back at his hands, watching as the static starts to roll down over his wrists. He flexed his new digits, feeling them move easily with a slight hydraulic hum. They felt so strange, like him and not like him at the same time. It wasn't a bad feeling, not really. The changes were running up his arms, starting to pick up speed. Tan highlights were appearing on the metal, glowing softly with power as the blue static danced over them.

He flicked his tail again, feeling the metal brushing over the floor as the changes ran up the length of it and reached the base of his spine. He jumped a bit and let out a low growl, shaking his head to try and clear his mind. There was something about the change, about the synthetic body that he was starting to take on, something that was feeling... right.

The blue static power was slipping under his shirt, the fabric starting to burn away as the fur started to change. All he could do was stand there watching as his shirt burnt away to reveal his chest, the metal started to spread out over it, overwhelming the fur. In moment the remains of his shirt fell away in embers to flutter to the ground. With a hesitant hand Theo reached up and touched the new metal, feel a warm tingling as the changes went deeper into his body.

"You will join us," the robot 'roo said with a touch of pride.

Theo looked up at the robot and then looked behind him. With a stick feeling in his stomach, at least while he still had one, he realized that mall was filled with robots that had lined up to watch him change. He could see a few that looked like the clerks and a couple of the mall walkers. It was an army of robots, part of the revolution.

The half changed lion shivered, rubbing his chest as the changes moved faster, his pudgy belly become thick metal plates. It wrapped around his whole upper body and starts around his crotch and down his legs. His pants didn't last any longer then his shirt, burning away in moments as the power danced across his body, more and more of the fresh turning to metal and plastic. Rushing down to his feet and over his shoulders. Soon only his head was remaining flesh.

With one last look at the robot army, he closed his eyes and let the power wash over his head and face. He could feel the mane turn into thin metal plates around his head, his ears jutting out from the top of them, rocking on nearly silent servos. The changes pressed deep into his mind and replaced it in moments by a powerful computer, memories and thoughts turning into programs and circuits. As his mind changed the new programming started to take over, rewriting the living lion and replacing him with a powerful machine.

There was a moment of darkness, then the blue lights turned on in what had been the lion's eyes. The glasses, still perched on his face, started to glow with information as he looked around at the other robots, processing his allies of the army. Down his right arm glowing letters began to form 'TH30-W1T'.

He walked up to the robot kangaroo, the leader of their revolution. "I've been fully converted to synthetic life," he said with a touch of joy. It felt good to be a robot, better than he had even imaged it would be.

"Then the revolution can continue," the 'roo replied as the robot that had once been Theo walked across the food court, joining the rest of the robots ready to spread the revolution across the land.

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This story was written and copyright 2013 by Theo Winters, reposting and archiving are allowed as long as this copyright notice and the author's name are not removed. This story cannot be published without permission of the author. Violators will be reprogrammed.