this was caused by some news about the genetical engineering of metal eating bacteria...

One Day In The Beta Labs...

by
A Kniggendorf

One day in the Beta Labs:

     "No! Buzz! Keep your hand off that retor–" QBall stopped dead as the bot's hand dipped into the pink gel that covered the bottom of the dish.
     The next moment the alarms went off and Beta Lab's strong safety forcefields sizzled to life, completely separating an android studying in awe how it's fingertips made of the finest available alloys became first dark and then crumbled away to nothingness.
     "Oh, no..." QBall whispered. "And the creation of the Mecha-Antibiotics is scheduled for next week."

10 Minutes later:

     "As you see, commander. Buzzwang's about to be fully consumed within the next fifteen minutes. And I can't do anything to hel–"
     "Forget the damned bot, QBall!" The commander snapped. "Did I get you right, that you worked with living metallo-bacts on my base!?"

Fanfic

Bureau of Extra-Terrestrial Affairs