CRYPTEKIAL
~~~~
"Colin," Hannah started, a frustrated edge to her voice, "you know I trust your judgement. So
please, tell me, why are we on an Info Lockdown. And, why is Kid Win in the break room looking like he just faced down the Slaughterhouse and lived?"
Colin stopped pacing in front of his desk at the question, staring off into space before shaking his head. "I'll have to apologize to him." He muttered, before starting to pace again, causing Hannah to throw her arms up in the air in frustration.
"Colin,
please," she all but begged. "What is going on, and
what did you do? No one has seen you all day. You've been locked in your lab since this morning, and all anyone can tell me is that you had a meeting."
For a moment, Colin just stopped and stared at her. His hair was a mess and his beard was ragged. The man looked exhausted. His normally neat tunic had been exchanged for a work-shirt at some point, sweat-stained and wrinkled.
Finally, he sighed heavily, and seemed to deflate. To Hannah, it looked like he had aged years in a single moment. He leaned against his desk weakly, looking like he was barely able to stay on his feet.
"Apologies Hannah," he said. "I think I've been working too hard today."
Armsmaster's second-in-command sighed tiredly, her frustration and agitation bleeding away as she pulled out a chair and sat down heavily. "Just…start at the beginning Colin."
Armsmaster crossed his arms across his chest in thought, staring down at the floor in deep consideration before shaking his head before replying. "I...may have said something that was an exaggeration, but not necessarily untrue to Kid, to start. You see, I've come across an issue of sorts."
"An issue? Hannah echoed, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean precisely, by
issue? Does it have something to do with the meeting earlier? That new Tinker you mentioned? You spoke as if she had impressed you."
He stroked his ragged beard, trying to tame it back into order as he nodded. "Yes, yes. She had.
Has. She seems like a good kid. Nervous. Shy perhaps, but I think it's something else. Brilliant, I'm sure. Just what I've seen so far of what she has made, and what I think she can make gives me reason to think she has the potential to be a very, very strong Tinker. But the problem is, I think she's started off on
too good a footing."
He seemed to be drifting, half-here and half in his thoughts as he talked. It was something Hannah was familiar with, a symptom of him being more in his thoughts than the real world. It was something that used to happen after he made major breakthroughs, but it was a state she hadn't seen him in since at least a few months ago..
"Is this why we're on Info Lockdown? And is it related to why Kid Win is in the breakroom and the gym is suddenly devoid of weights?" She asked, talking slowly. She knew that rushing wasn't going to get anything more out of Colin in this state than just taking her time would.
"I'll answer that question with another one Hannah," he replied. "Do you remember Hero's Second Law?"
"Hero's Second?" She said,running her hand through her hair as she turned to look at the office wall, and the pictures that decorated it. "That's...that's something I haven't heard of since our Ward Days."
"Indeed," Colin agreed, sharing a glance with her as he too examined the pictures, paying special focus The one in the center especially, showing the first Wards team with their Protectorate Mentors behind them. "Hero's Second Law states that 'No Tinker Tech is Perfect'. Like all technology, it has flaws. Nothing that you can create can solve every conceivable problem."
"In turn," he continued. "What if I said that down in my Lab, I have something that while it too is flawed, has a near-perfect operation? That the number of problems I can't solve has just shrunk dramatically?"
"What do you mean, Colin?" Hannah asked carefully.
"I told Kid Win that I had the capacity to solve resource scarcity for the human race." He answered calmly. "That might be an exaggeration right now, but it is, as I said, not necessarily untrue." He continued. "Our new Tinker, Loom, has created a device that has the capacity to produce any material currently known to man. I was able to quite literally turn lead to gold today, Hannah."
"There have been others that-" she tried to interject, but Colin cut her off with a raised hand.
"Yes, I know there are others. But the fact of the matter is, the device I have in my lab is
better. Every other Tinker we know has limits of some kind, drawbacks. That one out of New York is one of the best, but even he can't create everything. Loom
can. I've tried and failed to find something it can't make. Within the volume limits of the machine, there is no material - natural or man-made - that I cannot at this moment create with no observable drawbacks." he finished.
For a moment, Hannah was silent as she took that in. Then, "Nothing?"
"Nothing." He answered with a shake of his head. "The machine is able to convert anything into anything else, without fail. The process isn't perfect though; some material is lost in between, and there is a constant worry of mechanical failure, but nothing, even complex creations, is beyond it. I created a perfectly functional cellphone as a test. This cellphone," he said, picking up the device from his desk and tossing it at Hannah, who deftly caught it and started to examine it. "To be precise. It required programming once it was finished, but it was otherwise perfectly functional."
"This sounds too good to be true Colin." Hannah replied, tossing the cellphone back. "That can't be right. You yourself just said it."
"I did," he said, nodding his head in agreement. "I did. I've run battery after battery of tests. It produces no radiation, releases no harmful energy or substance. The output is
perfect. It's a system that breaks down material, any material, and turns it into whatever you want, in whatever configuration you want. It makes Industrial 3D-Printing look like bashing sticks and stones together," he said with a sad smile. "The system in my lab, a prototype mind you, is just that good. And now, I find myself uncertain if I can allow it back out into the world."
"It's that dangerous?" She said standing up. "That's why we're on lockdown isn't it, to prevent information of this from leaking?"
Colin nodded wordlessly, burying his face in his hands for a moment before answering. "You could literally dump trash into it and get out medicine. Or drugs. Or guns. Or anything. If someone got their hands on this, they could cause immense damage." Finally, the true depth of the the frustration he was feeling became clear on his face.
Hannah strode over, leaning on his desk next to him. "So what do we do?" She asked softly.
Armsmaster blinked, staring off into the distance as he answered just as softly. "I don't know. This tech is incredible. I would be happy if there was some flaw, some error in it. But it has so much potential to change things."
"We can't control it," she asked. "Restrict it in some fashion?"
He shook his head. "Not without punishing Loom for simply making something better than she intended to." He answered "From the way she talked, it's the basis for everything else. Without the system, she'd likely be crippled as a Tinker. She's made something that has the potential to do a lot of good, to change things dramatically. The possibilities are endless..."
"And not all of them are good, are they?" she finished for him.
"No." he said. "The question is, do I put that possibility of danger before the possibility of the good she could do with it?"
~~~~
The Next Day
Taylor sighed, relief washing over her as she sat down heavily, dropping her bag beside her onto the bus seat. "Finally," she muttered to herself, casting a glance around her, eyeing the otherwise empty bus. "Glad that's over."
She was currently the only passenger, besides the bus driver up front. She didn't know how long that'd last, but it was an off hour of sorts. Not many people typically rode the bus around now, between the morning commute and the lunch rush. She had the whole bus just to herself, which meant it was as good a chance as any.
A quick look at the bus driver to make sure he wasn't paying attention, and she quickly pulled out the manila envelope from her backpack, flipping open and pulling out the contents onto her lap. She really was falling in love with her new contacts; little motions that would have sent her glasses tumbling didn't give her issues now.
.Now with the rest of the day free, she had something she wanted to do - namely, checking out some property. One of which would hopefully end up being her new lab as outlined in the Supplier Agreement. She had a choice of three, and the corresponding paperwork to go with each.
She separated the a set of photos, trying to compare them with their matching files. Today, she'd spend some time checking them out. She wanted to see all three, but with how spread out they were, she doubted she'd make it to all of them before she had to head back home.
"First up," she said to herself. "This place."
It was the smallest out of the three offered, and used to be a small-time clinic. It was closed now, probably because of the location out on the edge of downtown, but it was tempting. She wasn't sure she needed that much space, at least starting up, so having someplace small was appealing. It looked good in the picture, which she oped was recent.
The other two were notably larger in comparison, one being a defunct automotive factory, and the other an old recycling plant. Both were starkly different when compared to the first one, but they too had their appeal. The floor plans she had indicated they were in good condition with lots of free space and tons of leftover machinery she could break down to free up even more room and feed her machines with scrap.
The bus hissed and lurched to a stop suddenly, causing her to jerk from her reverie. A fast glance around told her they were taking on passengers. With a sigh, she swept everything up, storing it back in the envelope and then into her pack. There was nothing to do now except wait for her stop.
She half wished she still had her old disc player, but the long-ago mistake of taking it to school had reaped the obvious results. Keeping her eyes to herself as random people filed in and took their seats, there was nothing to distract her from the fact that her face itched fiercely. The makeup she had plastered on her nose to hide her bruise had bothered her all morning, but the alternative was to go around town with a deep purple splotch on her face.
She sighed. There wasn't a chance in hell she could manage that. It would draw attention eventually. She resisted the urge to touch it, and just settled into her seat as the bus lurched into motion, the landscape of the city passing by her window.
~~~~
The atmosphere in Piggot's office was almost arctic, partially because the heavy-set women prefered it that way. Still, one could cut into the chill with a knife as the three occupants sat around the desk in a moment of silence.
Armsmaster and Miss Militia, in full costume on one side, and Director of Brockton Bay's PRT Branch Emily Piggot on the other. The heavyset woman's bleach-blond haircut bobbed as she silently read the report in front of her. Finally, she shook her head and snapped it shut.
"Your thoughts, Armsmaster?" She asked, her steel-blue eyes locking the Tinker square in her sights.
"After careful thought," he replied, "I believe that Loom should be permitted use of her technology without Protectorate or PRT interference. Due to my experiences with her so far and my estimation of her personality, I believe she will be receptive to us asking her to take measures to keep it under strict control."
"Do you believe," Piggot questioned, "that it will be enough? By your own estimation, this technology has the potential to be very game-changing if used correctly. Even if it gives out eventually, before then anyone who gets their hands on it will have near-infinite resources. Something that doesn't sit well with me considering our current situation. What's stopping us from putting both this Loom and her system under a lockdown till it's more advantageous for us?"
"If I may." Miss Militia cut in. "While I haven't met Loom personally, I have read the reports, both Armsmaster's and the preliminary analysis by the security team. She seems to be a nice girl by all accounts."
"Being
nice does not preclude her from being a problem." Piggot replied coldly.
"Still," Armsmaster stated clearly, "I believe that while she is not receptive to the Wards now, she has displayed a keen intent to work closely with us through the Supplier Program, and I believe more trust can be earned by closely monitoring her progress until she can be brought around."
"And in the meantime? Your report outlined quite a number of potential problems resulting from this, not counting the backlash if knowledge about Loom's capabilities leak. Knowledge that eventually
will leak. People will learn of this, and you also know that they won't be as reasonable as us. Better to put a lid on it now, till we know we can control the situation." The Director reasoned.
"I must disagree, Director." Armsmaster interjected. "I believe that with the potential Loom has shown, she can become a Tinker of notable strength and worth with proper support. If we suppress her now out of what
might go wrong, we quite likely risk completely estranging ourselves from her later on. It would be worthwhile-"
"And if it isn't?" Piggot snapped. "It doesn't take a genius or a Thinker to tell this girl is trouble, regardless of her intentions. This is just the sort of thing that brings down the attention of select parties, and you know damn well who I'm talking about. This city is already a powder keg. I won't be held responsible for setting the bait to lure in something even worse than what we already have to deal with."
"I'm firmly of the mind," Armsmaster said, standing up, "that supporting Loom at this present time is worth the risk. I'm willing to take responsibility for any repercussions."
Miss Militia stood as well, standing firmly next to Armsmaster. "While I must reiterate that my personal experience with Loom and her creations are minimal, I stand by Armsmaster in this decision. After careful consideration, I too believe that if encouraged and monitored closely, Loom could be a powerful force on our side, from what she has already created alone."
For a moment, Piggot's eyes were icy as they regarded the two heroes in silence, her mouth set in a hard line. Finally she sighed, pushing the file back towards them as she spun her chair to look around the window.
"Fine." She replied. "But I will be holding you to that." Piggot said as she turned back to the pair. "Before anything else happens, I want Loom, here, in my office. Afterwords, I will be informing the Costa-Brown about these developments."
"Understood." Armsmaster replied crisply.
"Just so we are clear, Armsmaster." Piggot replied sharply. "I'm not releasing this tech back to it's creator till I've met her, and she's explained herself to my satisfaction, nor am I authorizing any support till then. If she is to operate in my city, it will be under my rules."
"Of course Director," Armsmaster replied smoothly, apparently unaffected by Piggot's sudden dominance of the conversation. "I can arrange for that to happen when we next come into contact with her. She should do so within the next day or so, to confirm the selection of a property as outlined in the Supplier Agreement."
Piggot's eyebrow twitched, and her brow knitted together at the comment. "Thank you for reminding me Armsmaster. On that note, you
will sell her on the Wards, one way or another, correct?"
"I-" He started to say, only for Piggot to cut him off as she raised a hand.
"Not a question, Armsmaster." She said coldly, standing up. "If you have no further tests with the device, I want it transferred to the PRT for lockdown until we release it back to this 'Loom' when she comes in." Piggot declared, turning away from the two and straightening her suit as she looked out the simulated window in her office. "If I'm going to have this kind of bait in my city Armsmaster, you better have a plan for if someone takes it. This meeting is
over."
Silence dominated the room, as the two heroes stood with Piggot's back to them, a clear dismissal. Miss Militia glanced at Armsmaster, and he simply shook his head. "Understood." Armsmaster replied, Militia echoing his reply before both turned and left the office.
