Kero stood on an outdoor balcony overlooking the vast kingdom around him. The forest to the west was as long and tall as the eyes could see. To the east laid the village of Kaltora and the homes of the middle class. Kero smelled the aroma of fresh kill that they were cooking. Boy, how he loved that! To taste fresh meat to him was a rare treat.

Kero shifted his weight, and took another sip of coffee. It tasted sweeter than usual. Must have put two much sweeter in it. Otherwise, he loved the taste. He checked the computer in his hand. He had some important work to do, and needed a breath of fresh air to get started.

This was no ordinary computer, but rather a highly advanced assistant. They were programmed by voice commands. They supplied a choice of personalities and "faces", and the rest was up to you.

"Hello Kero," The computer said in a calm soothing voice. "What would you like me to do?"

Boy he hated that. Computers were supposed to be a part of you, not an add-on. "Damn you. Don't you remember anything you dick-brain." He screamed at the computer. He knew this was fruitless.

"I'm sorry, sir. My memory was erased last week. Don't you remember?" Sure he remembered, but he would rather forget about it for the moment. A few weeks ago, the chips went bad and needed replacement. Unfortunately, this erases its memory, and all statistics. Kero hated re-teaching it all over again.

"This just came in." The computer screened showed an area of space he was not familiar with. The area was huge, and the weapons were all top-notch. All he could see was a vast array of ships of every size. The middle ship was familiar looking.

He asked to computer to supply him with data about the ship origin. "Sir. I am not sure where this image is coming from. Somewhere in deep space, they found your signal. I'm trying to..." The computer froze for a second, and then went dead. There was no life in its circuits. It seemed that something had either shut if off or destroyed a circuit. Kero was not sure what it was.

"Goddamn it, what a piece of crap." He shook the panel, but the computer did not turn on.

The cold started to make his fur feel cold to the touch, and knew it was time to go inside.

He turned around to see that his father, King Hebo, entered the balcony. "I see that assistant of yours has been giving you nothing but problems." He looked puzzled for a second, then quietly suggested, "Why don't you have Rando take a look at it?"

"He's already looked at it three times this month. Damn. I hate to ask him again." Kero was disgusted by now, and his face was full of anger.

Rando was a great robot. His talents were maintaining all electronic equipment around the palace.

"Look, it will serve no harm just to let him look at it one more time."

"Yes. But there was something really strange image." Kero was puzzled by what he saw and wasn't sure if he was the intended target.

His father was interested. Hebo ears twitched, and moved in to get closer. "What do you mean by image?"

"It was something weird. I never saw anything like this before. Great ships, large and small, moving somewhere in time." Kero tried to shrug off any bad thoughts. "It was probably nothing important. Besides, Rando can fix anything."

"I hope for you your sake your right." Hebo watched as Kero fled out past the balcony.

Rando was moving slowly down the hallway. This place was filled with statues and minuets of great leaders before King Hebo. The windows lined with flowing purple and blue drapes, so as to cover the sun in the afternoon. It was known to get hot in the summertime. Kero knew this was a great place to be seen.

His metallic armor shined in the late afternoon sun. He was no ordinary robot. In fact, he was the greatest robot in all of Callos. There were so many great heroic stories, that Kero could not think of one.

"Rando, could you look at this assistant again?"

Rando turned around to see Kero at his side. "I see, your computer went nuts again. What did you do it this time?" He turned to get a better look at his computer.

"I don't know. One minute its okay, the next it just freezes on me. I mean that really sucks."

"I understand Prince Topa." Rando took the computer in his hand. Suddenly, five or six hands come out to help him. Each one doing a specific function. One will hold a magnifying glass, one a screwdriver, the other a tester. It was amazing to see him in action.

Kero looked at all the great leaders in this area. He always imagined a statue of himself. This would make himself proud. All the people admiring his work. The sound of Rando caught him off guard.

"I found it, sir. It was a glitch in the system electromagnetic flow. It should be as good as new."

Kero, still in shock, was amazed at the speed of his repair. Then again he was always good at it.

Rando handed the computer over to Kero, who turned on the assistant. "Hello Kero. How are you?" The computer said. Kero was ecstatic, almost to the point of kissing Rando. He pulled back, check around and shook his hand. "Thank you Rando. This is going to be a great day."

Kero ran down the hallway, just as fast as he could. He knew that he had to tell his father about this.