I knocked as politely as possible, and waited for Kaiser to answer.
The initiation went… well. I think. I mean, it could have gone worse. The E88 had a sort of hold on me now, but not much more of one than they already possessed. I hadn't been forced to compromise the rules I set for myself more than I already had.
Remembering… enjoying it was… annoying. Still, I didn't attach that emotion to any particular act. I could think of it as enjoying fooling the E88. Nothing more. The poor guy would come out of the experience healthier than ever, once the bruises cleared up.
Kaiser's door opened with a click.
"Come in Mayhem." He said warmly.
Kaiser was charismatic, which was probably the most dangerous thing about him. Well, the most dangerous thing about him other than the fact that I had metal implanted in my brain, and he could grow spikes from it at any time.
"Did you enjoy the party last night?" Kaiser asked, blue eyes twinkling…
Ugh. Respect is a tricky emotion. I couldn't just record a panic attack or stick a thumb tack into my hand like I did to get readings for fear and pain respectively. I'd read an article about Miss Militia's press conference and used pictures of Dragon's drones to try and isolate the correct sections of the brain when I was setting up the program. Guess respect and admiration are very closely tied together. Either that or I had a thing for drones. I turned my respect down several notches…
"It wasn't bad." I said blandly.
I'd introduced myself to everyone of course, it had been an excellent opportunity to shake hands with almost the entirety of the Empire's elite. The time after that had been… less exciting. Kaiser had asked Theo to show me around the Empire's training facility and there was something… off about the boy. He suppressed
everything. When he showed me the first aid station I started tinkering together a concoction that would inhibit emotional suppression. Didn't even realize what my hands were doing before Theo asked me what I was making. Very awkward. Probably hypocritical to, now that I thought about it.
"I realize that you're not used to our customs just yet, but I'm sure you'll catch on quickly." Kaiser told me.
There had been a lot of stuff flying over my head. I caught whispers of arranged marriages, shuffling around teams, some very complex family trees. Honestly I didn't want to figure it all out, it sounded like to much fuss for an organization I planned to leave anyway.
"Thanks, I'll try." I told him.
"Victor mentioned that you wanted to talk with me about additional funding?" Kaiser said genially.
"Yes. Um, here you go." I told him, handing over my designs, cost estimates, and a list of the things I'd probably be able to build with the micro-fabricator.
Kaiser dutifully read the whole thing, and I spent the time trying not to snatch the sheets from him to make corrections or upgrades to my designs. After a little while I gave up, took out my phone and started working on the micro-expressions software. If my suspicions were right about Armsmasters lie detector, I could use this to fool him the next time we met.
"I like what you have here Mayhem." Kaiser said eventually. "I certainly think it has potential. It's not an impossible amount of money or resources, but… I hope you understand, it is a very large investment, and for an untried Tinker new to both their power and our organization, it is a very high risk investment. I'd be happy to fund this device. But not now. Give yourself time to settle in, refine the design, and prove how useful your technology is, and I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement."
I bit back my disappointment, nodded, and tried to think.
"So you want me to prove how useful my current technology could be, before making something better?" I asked.
"That is a large part of it, yes." Kaiser said evenly.
I had sort of expected this. Guess it was time to stop playing around.
"Very well. Then I would like your permission to start two projects. The first one is simple. I have developed a number of drugs and surgical procedures that can enhance the human body. Tinkertech steroids, sub-dermal mesh, bone bracing, implanted weapons… I can give anyone I want a Brute two rating, and a nasty surprise or two for anyone their fighting. I would like your permission to start enhancing volunteers from the Empire."
I was leading with my least favorite. Making these enhancements made me at least partially responsible for what those I enhanced did with their new-found power. The program would take a week or so to start up. I could mitigate that, pick and choose who I let into my program and who I kept out. Make sure I let in fighters, not killers, but there would be more deaths on my head, by the end of this.
But I thought the prize would be worth that price.
"Would this be dangerous?" Kaiser asked.
"Not at all. The people I would enhance would require maintenance, but not much. Most of my implanted stuff doesn't need to be taken out or re-worked. I can even make some tech tied directly into the central nervous system self healing."
"Who do you intend to enhance?" Kaiser asked.
"Whoever you send to me to enhance."
Except the bloodthirsty killers. Those might have 'unrecognized pre-existing medical conditions.' Well, pre-existing was stretching it, but I could probably get away with that excuse a couple of times. I didn't plan on having to do this for long.
Kaiser frowned, and nodded.
"All right. I'll pick some of my best men to see you tomorrow."
"Thursday if you don't mind. I still need to get the surgery set up." I told him.
"All right. You mentioned a second project."
"Right. The second project is one I actually expect to fail, I simply feel obligated to try. Are you familiar with the corona polentia and the gemma?" I asked Kaiser.
"I am. The parts of the brain associated with powers." Kaiser told me.
"My power appears to be some sort of bio-tinker specialty, possibly even a brain specialty, like Cranial. I don't get ideas when I look at scans of that part of the brain. I don't think I can Tinker with powers themselves, but I feel like I should at least take a look." I said, taking a second file out of my bag.
Kaiser took it from me, questioning me as he opened it.
"You want to experiment on a parahuman? I'm not sure that's something I can allow…"
He stared at the picture.
"I'm fairly sure she'd be a willing volunteer." I told him.
He was silent, rubbing his chin.
"She's very pale, so she sort of fits in, I might be able to give her control over her powers. Recruit her."
"The Krasue is a Taiwanese myth." Kaiser said absently.
I had not expected Kaiser of all people to know that. In fact I hadn't known that. Why would Kaiser have that sort of multicultural knowledge?
"I could probably rig something to make her look more human as well. Shouldn't be to hard." I said.
"Can you contain her?" Kaiser asked.
"Of course I can. The place they're holding her is hardly the Birdcage. She can barely bend ordinary steel, and I know how to make Tinker tech alloys that are significantly stronger."
Kaiser nodded thoughtfully.
"I'll have to think about this, consider the matter shelved for now. Is there anything else?"
I nodded.
"There is a more practical matter. I have a few alloys I'd like to make in bulk, but the process is time consuming, they are metal, if you could use your power."
Kaiser nodded.
"Of course. I wouldn't mind something in return though. Something lightweight and strong, that I can use to make my own armor."
I smiled, took a few flakes of metal out of my backpack and started explaining their properties. There wasn't really a metallurgy tree to my power, but I had some high grade metals designed not to degrade inside the human body, and a couple of ultra lightweight and quite strong metals from the beginning of the aviation tree.
Eventually I felt comfortable enough to ask something that had been bugging me for a while.
"You can create large amounts of any metal from thin air, right?" I asked Kaiser. He nodded.
"Of course."
"So you can create almost unlimited amounts of precious metals?" I asked.
"I can. Unfortunately there is this rather annoying… well simply put Economic Kill Orders exist, and I was warned early in my career that I would get one, should I use my powers in that way." Kaiser said, looking slightly uncomfortable about the topic.
"Could you supply other Tinkers instead?"
"Too close too risk." Kaiser said, a note of real annoyance in his tone. I didn't press further.
***
I didn't really realize what I had done until I got back to my lab, normalized my emotions, and re-played the recording I took with my mask.
I hadn't gone into that meeting intending to offer so much support to the E88. I'd been willing to augment some people, but not the people Kaiser picked. I'd been willing to work with Kaiser, but not just give him everything he wanted.
Ugh.
But I needed the E88. I needed a lab. I needed money. I wanted their help fighting the Nine…
I sighed, got back to work. Spinal implant, micro-scale muscle control… The spinal implant needed to shut down for the software updated, leaving me paralyzed from the neck down for the four minutes the update would take to go through.
I stared at myself in the computer screen, pondering the future. It was whim more than anything that made me say it.
"Mayhem Protocol. Objectives: Survival, Tell me what you think I should do. Thirty seconds."
I woke back up, blinked, replayed the mask's recording to see how Mayhem had responded to that objective.
Mayhem had slowly turned his neck to face the blank computer screen, and smiled, a rictus that pulled his lips back from his teeth.
"Pathetic Creator. You think to tame the wolves to fight against the Prince of Knives? They are ill suited to the task. Their teeth are dull. Their claws are not filled with poison, but with rot. Their stale breath seeps into your nose and your ears, weakening you. Their leader thinks he is a knight of white, but his cowardice is plain. Let me out. Let me feast on them, and I will grow strong enough to fight the Prince for you."
I looked around. The room was empty. Victor had stopped watching me while I was at the clinic. I played the recording again.
I hadn't even known that Mayhem could talk.
