I have a Plan (Worm/Tinker of Fiction)

DISCOBOT · Aug 21, 2023

"You should have chased after Void instead of staying behind."

I can't leave Taylor unprotected in the forest, and I can't defeat him anyway. Not when he has a hostage.

"But you have me! You have no skill when it comes to fighting, but I do! I can rescue the hostage! You should have used Inspira Tinker XX the moment you realized you can't beat him! That's the entire point of making that Gashat!"

I stayed silent to Kuroto's argument. There was a reason that I am growing reluctant to use the Double Gashat, even though I installed it in my nanosuit.

I am beginning to grow cautious as our time is coming to an end. According to what I know of Kuroto, he wouldn't let go of any chance at his resurrection, so what will he do to achieve it? I have been keeping an eye on him this entire time, never letting him out of my sight. But he might grow desperate as our time limit approaches and flip the table.

I would rather have us in faux peace than outright conflict.

Regent's presence pulled me out of the conversation as he sat down beside me. He still acted as nonchalant as ever, placing his leg on another as he watched Guild personnels cordoning and investigating Heartbreaker's little fiefdom.

Though calling it a fiefdom is an exaggeration, since it was a small and backward village at best. It reminded me of Druig's village from Eternals, even in the way they lived. Everyone here just…worshiped Heartbreaker. They listened to his every word. They fought for him and stopped at his command. They gave their own children to him just to get more of his 'love'. Sometimes, Heartbreaker choses them as one of their 'toys' and tortures them with his power, while the rest of his victims look on with jealousy.

It's sick. It's twisted. It's disgusting.

Now that his control was torn off people like ripping a leech off your skin, they are beginning to see the reality of their situation. Regent and I have already stopped a few suicide attempts before The Guild arrives, and there would probably be more in the future. I can't help them. Mental trauma is not something you can conveniently heal, and I do not have the skillset to help them. I thought about providing B.A.R.F to Dragon for therapy attempts before rejecting the idea. Armsamster would most likely reverse engineer and make counters through her instead.

I watched as several armed Guild rescuers brought the many women, men and children into a Dragoncraft, and my nihilism couldn't help but think that they will probably end up homeless and unsupported in the end of it.

"So, boss." Regent chimed up, "When's your birthday?"

That question actually made my mind blank for a moment before I replied, "I don't remember."

"Huh."

We stayed silent for a while, with nothing but the hustle of The Guild around us. "You got anything you want for Christmas?"

"Full Mechanics Gundam Aerial."

"Huh?"

"Nothing." I waved it off. According to my research, Turn A Gundam was the last Gundam series ever produced on Earth Bet. Sunrise was shut down in the following economic recession after Kyushu sank, along with many anime studios that have produced anything that I liked. Not sure about Aleph though, I didn't have the heart to check after Coil's attack.

A humanoid mecha walked towards our direction, its surface decorated with green scales. I stood up to greet her.

"Dragon. How is Hope?"

"She's fine." There was nothing close to a humanoid face on the draconic mech suit, but I could still hear the gentleness in her voice. "She didn't lose much blood, so the medics stitched her wound up without much complication. I was told she needs to rest for the wound to heal before she can take the stitches out."

"I see, thank you." I'll find Panacea to heal it when we get back.

"...Can I call you Adam?" Dragon asked, "Your cape name is a bit of a mouthful."

"Sure."

"Thank you for freeing them, Adam." Dragon said, and I was a little taken aback by her gratitude. "These people…some of them might never see the light of the day again, but they did because of you."

"You're welcome." I replied politely, unsure of what to say next.

"Can I ask a few questions?"

Now that's more in line with my expectations. "Sure."

"Why did you come all the way to Montreal to capture Heartbreaker?"

I turned around and glanced at Regent. Should I use him as my excuse? Saying that my teammate used to be a victim sounds like a viable excuse, right?

"Because of him." I pointed a thumb at Regent.

Regent put his hands up, pretending that he was caught and said, "Well, I got a grudge with dear old daddy and my boss decided to help me with it. Best boss of the year, man."

"...I see." Dragon nodded, then asked, "You must be very close friends to do things like this."

I didn't respond to that statement, and instead asked, "So what will happen to Heartbreaker now?"

"We are taking him to the closest Protectorate headquarters for interrogation. There's a lot we need him to tell us, such as the location of his victims and the details in his operations. After that, we will send him to Birdcage."

"Birdcage, huh?" I said, "Why can't we just execute him? He's a serial rapist and borderline terrorist. Does Canada not have execution sentences?"

"Sentencing them to prison is more humane than just executing them, Adam. Not everyone deserves death."

"Like Canary, right?" I probed, "She was sentenced there for self defense."

"...She's a special case, Adam." Dragon said sympathetically, "I don't decide the sentences. It's not within my power to decide who enters the Birdcage."

"I know, I know." I said. "It's just that…I think the idea of the Birdcage is weird. The purpose of a prison is to rehabilitate the prisoners, not punish them. What's the point if you keep them inside permanently? That just becomes a waste of resources and tortures the prisoner too. I just don't understand how the PRT passed the proposal for the Birdcage."

Dragon stayed silent to my statement. What does she think about it? I need her to see me in a favorable light, since I have already burned my bridges with PRT. The data on Leviathan Armsmaster sent me are scraps at best. I don't need casualty rates, rainfall volume or research papers. I need footage, video of Leviathan in action that PRT isn't giving me.

"Do you…hate the government, Adam?" Dragon asked, and I could hear the caution in her tone.

"I hate the way things work now. The people around me are victims of it, but I'm trying my best to fix it. I want to make the world a better place."

That wasn't a lie.

"Hmm." Dragon hummed, "I understand your frustration, but sometimes, we have to work with what we have. The PRT isn't perfect, but without them, people like Heartbreaker would run amok across the country a long time ago. I believe that you should be friendlier with them, Adam. You might not like it, but the PRT and you are on the same side. We are all trying to make the world a better place."

We're not on the same side, though.

I still nodded to her words to appease her.

"Can you share the tinkertech you used to remove Heartbreaker's influence, Adam?" Dragon asked, "The dangers in fighting a Master will be greatly reduced if we have a tinkertech that can safely remove Master controls on humans like yours."

"I'm sorry, but I can't." I said sincerely, "The tinkertech is tied to a bunch of other stuff that I still don't understand, but I'll contact you when I figure them out. Being able to save more people is always a good thing."

"Thank you, Adam."

A Guild personnel gave us a hasty greeting when he passed by us, and my eyes immediately darted to the evidence bag that contained the scattered carcass of a rat in his hands.

As if reading my mind, Dragon said, "We'll keep an eye out for Void. The Guild and PRT wouldn't let a biotinker run free like that."

"Just be careful. He's skilled." I replied.

"I am making some breakthroughs in analyzing the amber solution left behind." Dragon said as we watched the victims getting loaded into the plane. "It's surprisingly easy. Almost like it wasn't tinkertech at all."

"Really? It wasn't blackboxed like most tinkertech?"

"I wouldn't say that so soon, but it seems like it. I might be able to create an alternative to containment foams too, and this amber solution can even halt wounds from worsening, so that's a plus."

"It's been a nice talk." I said and got up from the log that I was sitting at. "But I think I'll check on Taylor. We have to go back by morning."

"Back by Strider again?"

"Yeah. I paid him for the return trip already. It's fine to use Strider's service with Hope's wounds, right?"

"It is." Dragon nodded. "Bye, Adam."

"Bye." I replied and pretended to walk away, before turning around and ran towards Dragon. "Right, I almost forgot something. Do you have any footage of the Endbringer attacks? I'm making a prediction engine to predict their movements."

"You're making a prediction engine?"

"Yeah. I mean, Brockton Bay is a coastal city, you know. It might get hit by Leviathan one day, so I want to be prepared." I shrugged and gave a weak smile.

"...Sure. I'll send you the footage when I get back to the Guild. Do you need anything else for this project?"

"I can't think of any yet, I'll tell you if I need them, Dragon. Thanks for the help."

"No problem."

It was only after this that I walked towards the temporary medic tent for real. On the way, I sent a message to Lisa and asked about her progress.

NTD: Any new findings?
Dt. Tattles: The boy he's carrying triggered and Void is his projection.
NTD: Figured that out by myself. Anything else? Weakness or limitations of the projection?
Dt. Tattles: All of his critters are projections as well
Dt. Tattles: They'll disappear from the evidence locker pretty soon. He expends energy to exist and summon his critters, but he will disappear once his energy runs out. The boy is providing the energy, but I have too little data to extrapolate the details.
NTD: Thanks. Void is dangerous, but he's not really a big threat in the big picture. He's not the type to do anything that endangers society at large. He's like Coil, if Coil is focused on his scientific pursuit. Put him on secondary priority for now. Any progress on Pure Bastion?
Dt. Tattles: They are hiding in winslow
NTD: tf
Dt. Tattles: The headmaster was fired recently, and the replacement is a nazi supporter
Dt. Tattles: the school had a massive staff replacement and all of them are essentially people from gesellschaft
NTD: bruh
Dt. Tattles: Had to double check to confirm it wasn't a guy or two infiltrating, but most of the new staff are them
Dt. Tattles: their background is clean because they have been hiding in the states for years now
Dt. Tattles: I'm investigating if there's any more shadow agents from Europe or Russia in BB
NTD: At least Taylor has a legitimate reason to burn Winslow down now.
NTD: Watch out for CUI. Lung escaped them, so they might have someone here.
NTD: Talk to you later.

"Hey, Taylor. How do you feel?" I sat down beside her bed and asked.

Her face looks a little paler than before, but she looked far more active than when the Guild first arrived.

"I'm okay. It doesn't hurt as much anymore."

"We'll find Panacea when we get back." I said, "Her healing wouldn't leave any scars. We can ask her to fix your eyes too."

"I don't need that." Taylor objected, "I can heal naturally. It's not like my wound is particularly dangerous or anything. There are people who need Panacea's service more than me."

I frowned at Taylor's statement. "You shouldn't think that you're not as important as other people, Taylor. People need to prioritize their own happiness to live healthily."

"...Fine, we'll see Panacea when we get back."

"...I'm sorry." I sighed and apologized. "This wouldn't have happened if I was more careful with Void."

"It's fine." She raised her hand and patted my back, "Nobody can predict a trigger event. You did your best, and tonight wasn't for nothing. We rescued all these people, right?"

"I know, but…" I nodded, "I promised Uncle Danny to protect you. I don't know how to talk to him after this."

"...We're capes. One of us will get hurt eventually." Taylor said after a moment of silence. "Your suit protected me. That's more than what other heroes can have."

"I guess." I muttered sullenly, and asked, "Do you want to go home now?"

"Yeah." She lifted herself with a crutch, stumbling a little before I caught her. "Let's go home."
-
21 April 2011

We got back, and the first thing I did was to bring Taylor to the hotel the Dallon sisters were staying to get her fixed up. Amy was a little annoyed, but still used her power to heal Taylor's stab wound as well as her eyesight problem, hormone irregularities and muscle fatigue. I paid them ten thousand for her service, which Amy initially refused when Vicky told her to accept it. I would have thought Vicky was a gold digger exploiting Amy with how she talked if I didn't know Amy was overworked without pay before.

Danny's reaction to Taylor getting hurt was milder than what I expected. I thought he would shout at me, or scold me, or outright stop Taylor's cape activity, but…none of that happened. He simply repeated most of what Taylor said to me. I did my best. Capes get hurt eventually. He understands.

It's a little unnerving.

Fast forward to today, Genm and I typed away furiously at our keyboard, outputting codes at literally inhuman speed. Orange and purple energy pulsed through several cables, connecting our computers to a Dual Gashat slotted into a terminal in the middle of the desk. The pulses began to grow more frequent and brighter, inputting more and more data into the Gashat. It wasn't until the Gashat terminal began to smoke that I stopped my hands.

"Why?" I asked, my annoyance barely contained, "What's happening? Why can't we make a Dual Gashat?"

"It must be you!" Kuroto shouted while pointing a finger at me. "Your mediocre skill must have polluted the code! That's why the Dual Gashat is crashing!"

I looked away, unable to deny those words. I could barely understand Kuroto's Gashat technology, so I was mostly repeating his movements and orders when making the Gashats. Seeing that Kuroto is the only one capable of producing Gashats, the possibility of that talent being a hard requirement for creating Gashats of a higher level wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

Right now, we are trying to produce a Dual Gashat. A Gashat that contains two games in one, and both of them carry the power of Level 50.

The difference in strength between Level 20 and Level 50 is incomparable. It is not only an improvement in base stats, but their ability and skill as well. Level 50 allows for a certain level of control over the Game Area, manifesting minions or taking direct control of Energy Items for greater effect in combat.

I need a Level 50 Gashat. Only a Level 50 Gashat is sufficiently powerful to fight Leviathan, even possibly defeat it.

Leviathan comes to Brockton Bay on May 15. Today is April 21 already, and Kuroto will disappear tomorrow. This is our final window of time to produce a Level 50 Gashat.

If we made one, just a single successful attempt, the knowledge will be imprinted and perfected in my brain after Kuroto left. I can then make a new Gashat specifically for Leviathan after I receive the data from Dragon.

But we have yet to achieve a single success.

"So what do you propose?" I asked.

Kuroto rubbed his chin as he thought. It sometimes amazes how expressive his body language is. Exaggerated, even, like a cartoon villain, but I have to remind myself that this guy played himself as the butt of the joke for years in order to achieve godhood. Whatever he proposes next, I have to consider it carefully.

"...Let me work on the Gashat alone." He said.

I nodded, but raised my condition. "Fine, but I want to watch."

"Heh." Kuroto snorted as he sat back down again. I walked over to his side of the table, standing behind him and watched as he stretched his arms.

"Let me show you…the genius of the great Dan Kuroto."

AN

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Patrick · Aug 21, 2023

So, Kuroto will reincarnate himself in worm... will he become a villain?

DISCOBOT · Aug 29, 2023

Ever since I received my power, there was always a sense of uncomfortable confusion over my own creation.

Tap.

I memorized most of what Tony taught me and what we created together, but I don't understand most of the theories and formulas I remember. I could only vaguely extrapolate my own understanding by observing how the end product worked, and there was still an uncomfortable gap between what I understand and what I am building.

Tap.

But it was something I could live with. I was studying for a bachelor's degree in engineering, so I at least had some common background with Tony and his technology. His teachings are too advanced, but at least I remembered them. I told myself that given time, I too can truly understand Tony's knowledge and harness them without an alien supercomputer in my brain.

Tap.

That wasn't the case with Kuroto and his Bugster technology.

It was-I wouldn't say horrendous, because that's not the case. Bugster technology involved computer engineering, game development, virtual environment simulation, artificial intelligence, microorganism bioengineering, human psychology and art marketing. And it connects all these fields together in the most unexpecting way possible.

Tap.

If tinkering with Tony's technology made me feel like a baby playing with Lego blocks, tinkering with Kuroto's technology made me feel like a CNC machine. I don't need to think. All I needed to do was follow Kuroto's order and move my hands, and my power would keep me on track while filling me in with a description of exactly what I was doing. Just a description, though. Not an explanation for how a series of electric signals inside a 1990s computer mutate into an actual microorganism that can infect the human body.

Tap.

That last part was something I figured out myself. Another detail of my power that made it easier for me to tinker and not worry about my tech exploding in my face. I will have an impending sense of doom if I did something wrong.

Tap.

Back to talking about Bugster Technology, my understanding of it is superficial at most. Most of my task when I tinkered with Kuroto was doing tedious, menial tasks when he actually made the Gashat himself. Collecting data, filtering junk data, formulating a conclusion, testing, stuff like that. My time with Tony was like private tuition with a passionate teacher, and time with Kuroto felt like an apprenticeship between an arrogant craftsman.

Tap.

In conclusion, I have no idea what Kuroto is doing. When separated into two individuals with Mighty Brothers XX, my power does not supply a description for Kuroto's actions, only my own. Our telepath communication only extends to surface thoughts that we intended for each other to hear, so most of his thoughts are still a mystery to me.

Tap.

Worse, it takes time for Kuroto to disappear if he doesn't want to exit the transformation. The connection works both ways, meaning that he can't exit the transformation without my volition as well, but it was particularly disadvantageous to my side. I have all the reasons to pull Kuroto back as fast as possible, and he has all the reasons to go against my orders. That few minute window of time might be what he needs to complete his betrayal.

Tap.

I know Kuroto will betray me. At least, I know he wouldn't accept leaving his time behind quietly. The question is simply how. My suspicion is that his final goal is resurrection in the real world, but is it correct? Does he have a goal that I do not know of? Something the show didn't reveal about him? I vaguely remember the news of Kuroto returning in a new Kamen Rider show that featured Thouser and Ark, but I never had the opportunity to watch it. Did that show reveal something new about him that is crucial to his character?

Tap.

Without stopping his fingers, Genm spoke, "I don't mind when people admire my genius when I am working, but can you keep quiet? It's damn distracting!"

Listening to his pleas, I put my arms down and sat down across the table, where he is still coding away furiously.

"Is it done yet?" I asked.

"No." Kuroto replied.

I glanced at the internal clock within my visor.

20:23

20:24

20:25

20:26

Lisa is still on standby, and Taylor is idle. Good.

"How well do you think GeSt will sell in the American market?" I asked. I didn't really keep an eye on the game company recently, letting Lisa and mostly H.E.R.M.E.S handle the paperwork. If I remember correctly, H.E.R.M.E.S was running a social media campaign hyping up the release of the console. We sent free copies to a few gaming influencers on the internet, made some posts on PHO, leaked some rumors that a 'game' Tinker made it, and shared a free demo for one of the games. I chose to obfuscate some details on the developers in the marketing, simply saying that the company is founded in the United States and nothing else.

Genm still didn't look up from his computer. "They will sell well, and you will receive profits, but that was never in question. The real question is if you can keep the company running and afloat after the initial success."

"I'll do my best."

"You won't." Genm said, "You founded the company because I requested it, and once I am gone you will probably desert its development and leave the fans dry because you have more important things to do."

I winced. I couldn't really deny what Kuroto said, as that was exactly my plan.

The truth is that I was once interested in game development. Once, like one of the many temporary interests a teenager can have from being exposed to the internet. I used to have many many interests, from comic drawing to music composing, origami, handicraft, game development, translation, writing and so on. A tzoomer's attention span is short however, and I eventually put down my interest to focus on actually important things like my studies when I realized I probably wouldn't have any use for them in the workfield. Gundam and Gunpla is the only franchise that I was still following before I left, and that is why I was disappointed at their fall.

Kuroto was right. After he left, I might pump out a game every year or two for GeSt, but I wouldn't focus on the company. I never wanted a game company. Under better circumstances, I might actually grow passionate enough to run it, but I can't allow myself that with the apocalypse on the horizon. I have better use of my time than making games.

"Well, two thousand units have already been manufactured and packaged, so those will sell." I shrugged my shoulders, "I'll probably keep running GeSt if I can solve Scion fast enough."

"Heh, I can only hope."

"Do you think you have enough time to make Gashat Gear Dual before you leave?" I asked.

Kuroto's answer to my question got me jumping from my seat. "I'm not making Gashat Gear Dual anymore."

"What are you making now?" I questioned, as calm as I could make my voice.

"What you need is a Level 50 Gashat to fight Leviathan, not Gashat Gear Dual." Genm replied while never leaving his eyes off the computer. "We lack data on Leviathan, but I can extrapolate what you need based on what you told me. So that's what I am doing. Designing a game best suited to fight a monster of the sea."

I forced myself to calm down. The sense of dread is growing heavier again. Getting angry or surprised is useless. I can't alert Kuroto to the fact that I am suspecting his betrayal, or he might flip the table and betray me now. I need to stay calm.

"So what exactly are you making?" I asked calmly.

"A game about a mermaid." He said proudly, "And her quest of deicide."
-
22 April 2011

I stared at Danny across the dinner table.

He looks thin, but only because his cheeks are slightly sunken like a malnourished man, something that reminded me of Taylor's self description in the web novel. His hair was a little messy, but judging by the rising hairline there might not be any hair left to be messy in a decade. His stubble, in combination with his old collared shirt and bleached jeans made him look like a physical worker, which he is.

"Do you hate me?" I asked.

It's morning, and Taylor has already left for school. It was just me and Danny in the house, eating breakfast in front of each other. This question has been plaguing me for some time now, and I decided last night to confront Danny about it.

I put myself in Danny's shoes. As a failing father distant with his daughter to suddenly be saddled with another kid he never met. Then it turns out that he's a cape, and he hid it from him, only learning the truth from television news. And his daughter is a cape and they are working together too. He made things better, sure, but how long can he keep this up? Then one day he comes back with his daughter stabbed in Canada.

If I am Danny, I might have thrown Adam Danvers out of the house already.

"What's the matter, Adam?" Danny put down his fork and asked with a frown, "Did I…do something?"

"I mean…how can you be not angry when Taylor was hurt because of me?"

"Because Taylor's not hurt because of you." Danny replied, "You and Taylor have done great things, Adam. For the first time in years, it felt like Brockton Bay might have a hope, and the two of you did this without a scratch. She didn't have a single bruise or concussion when she was fighting Coil and the Empire because of you, Adam. I know you feel guilty, and…yeah. I was a little scared when you told me Taylor got stabbed. But you took her straight to Panacea. You didn't try to push your responsibility away or brush it off. That's better than most adults I know. That's why I know I can trust you to do your best to keep Taylor safe, and that's why I didn't blame you."

My head looked down. I…don't know how to process these praises. Are they praises? They sound more like a hefty lot of responsibility a father is placing on me to keep his daughter safe. And I'm not sure I can keep that. Void is out in the wild right now, and I will have to fight the Endbringers soon. The best I can do is keep her away from conflict, but Taylor wouldn't accept being treated like a fragile princess. She would want to be in control of her own life, to jump into the fray and give it her all, to do something that matters, and that will inevitably put her in dangerous positions.

How long can I keep the people around me safe?

"That's why I told you to leave them and act alone." Kuroto said, "You said it yourself. Your true enemy isn't a street gang or drug cartel, it's a shadow organization behind every government in the world. They are bound to become your burdens. They have already become your burdens."

"I…I know what it's like to let someone down, Adam." Danny continued, "Take it from someone who knows what it feels, don't wallow in them. If you want to stop feeling guilty, do something about it. Don't run away, Adam. You'll feel even guiltier if you run away."

"I don't know if I can keep Taylor safe, Uncle Danny. I thought I can, but…" I sighed, "I'll do my best."

"You can talk to me if you have any problems, Adam. I'll do my best to help."

"Thanks, Uncle Danny."

I finished breakfast, and went to my lab where I transformed into Aspira Tinker AA again. The first thing Genm did after separating from me was to push my shoulders like a thug.

"What are you doing?" I questioned coldly.

"Why are you so insistent with keeping up the good boy facade?" Kuroto crossed his arms and asked. "You don't need the Heberts. If you want to save the world, all you need is your power and yourself!"

"First of all, that's plain wrong." I retorted. "I can't save the world by myself. Secondly, going solo is bad for my mental health and stability. I need human connections to stay sane, or I'll go insane from social isolation."

Kuroto laughed and I slowly opened my palm, ready to summon the All-Driver at any time. "You think you're still 'sane'? You think you're still 'normal'? You put your normalcy behind a long time ago, Adam! You're just clinging onto people to satisfy your own egoistic moral needs right now!"

"Watch your tone, Kuroto." I said coldly, subtly preparing to initiate a Stage Select. Unlike Kuroto who transformed as Genm, I no longer have the Gamer Driver and Kimewaza Slot Holder on my waist. All of their functions have been integrated into the nanosuit, to be called upon with a thought instead of manually like before. However, that still relies on my reaction time and speed of thought.

"I'm the one in control of our relationship."

"So what?" Kuroto gloated and put his hand on the lab desk, "I don't need you anymore."

The bolts locking the table to the floor broke as it flew at me, thrown by Kuroto like a frisbee. The All-Driver appeared in my hand, but I was hesitant to destroy the incoming table seeing that it was full of my unfinished tinkertech. That second of hesitation allowed the table to hit me and knock me back a meter or two, but I was virtually unharmed.

Stage Select!

"I see you are prepared, Adam." Kuroto declared. With the Gashacon Bugvisor materializing on his right hand, he came forward with equal vigor.

I didn't dignify him with a response. With my drill in front, I charged at Kuroto like a rocket while launching micro missiles from my back.

A curse came out of me when Kuroto destroyed all the missiles with a swing of his chainsaw. Our weapons clashed as I came in front of him, sending sparks flying at where our weapons met.

"Do you really think that you still have a chance at normalcy?" Kuroto said to me with an almost screeching voice, "You're a Kamen Rider! We are destined for a life of the extraordinary!"

I pulled back and broke off the clash, flying away as I turned the knobs on my All-Driver to fire nails at the speed of a machine gun. In response, the Gashacon Bugvisor was turned around to shift into blaster mode. An explosion in the middle of the air was all that happened when our attacks met.

I know the numbers. Transformed into Inspira Tinker AA, both Kuroto and I have equal strength, speed and durability, but each of us have an edge over the other. Kuroto is far more experienced with fighting as a Kamen Rider than I was, but I am equipped with a superior Driver and a plethora of gadgets in my nanosuit.

I have already activated my backup plan, but it needs time. I need to lower Kuroto's guard to ensure it works.

"What do you think you'll achieve from this?" I asked, "What's the point in attacking me?"

Kuroto closed the lever of his Driver and pulled his Gashat away. "What do you think, Adam? I thought you knew me?" He taunted. I flew down, resolute on not giving him a chance to do whatever he wants with his Driver.

If you ever watched any tokusatsu show, there is a question that must have popped up in your mind at least once.

Why don't the enemy attack when they are posing and transforming?

I don't know about other tokusatsu shows, but Kamen Rider answered this question in several interesting ways, most commonly that the transformation sequence will usually summon something to protect the user.

Lethal Zombies!

I can now claim that I learned this from experience as hordes of Zombie Bugsters spawned from the ground and jumped at me. A white and purple Game Screen manifested behind Kuroto, displaying the image of a horde of zombies with the word 'Lethal Zombies' written in the middle with a spiky and bombastic font.

I brought my drill down against the zombies, instantly destroying one of them, but more followed and grabbed at me from all directions. I brought my arms together and swung the All-Driver in an arc, hitting five zombies at once. Yet, only one of them was destroyed. The rest just stumbled and got back up again.

These zombies are strong. As strong as a Level 2 Rider. I don't remember Kuroto's Dangerous Zombie spawning zombies as strong as these.

Wait.

"Now…the moment of truth." Kuroto opened his hands and declared, raising a white and purple Gashat at the sky.

Like finishing a prayer, Kuroto inserted the Lethal Zombies into the driver, and opened the lever.

Gachan!

Level Up!

L-L-Lethality! R-R-Rising Deaths! Lethal Zombies!

Similar to Dangerous Zombie, the Rider Screen projected by the driver was not a single Rider standing still, but a figure raising his arm up with the border of the screen surrounded by skeleton hands. It was the suit that broke through the screen like shattering glass that hammered in this is indeed a new Gashat.

A white and black suit decorated by asymmetrical spiked armor, but it was different from what I remembered. The spikes are longer, more monstrous, with patterns of purple liquid flowing across them. The fingers are no longer gloves, but long and sharp claws. The gas mask is missing, replaced by baring fangs that are seeping the same purple liquid. The eyes are no longer red and black, but purple and white instead.

"Aaah…" Kuroto stretched his waist in that twitchy and unnatural way reminiscent of a zombie. He looked at my direction, and cracked his neck. "It's good to be dead."

Hexcalibur · Aug 30, 2023

Zombies?
Time unleash the plants!
...
Or call Jill Valentine.

DISCOBOT · Sep 23, 2023

"Just Level X, huh?" Genm muttered to himself as he stretched his hands out, "As I expected."

The Bugster Zombies that surrounded me disappeared, and I leapt at him with a punch.

He dodged it easily with a side step, but I never expected my punch to land. The greatest advantage of the nanosuit is its modularity. Anywhere on the suit can be reconfigured as I need. As soon as my feet hit the ground, the suit formed repulsors across the length of my arm and blasted it at Genm who was right in front of it.

I can feel my Level drop to 10, but my raw stats did not change because of how a Double Gashat works. When we leveled up to Level 20, none of us were actually individually Level 20. It's just that it materialized two Level 10 Riders, so it summed up as Level 20.

Genm was slightly staggered by the surprise attack, but he recovered quickly and swung his Gashacon Bugvisor as soon as I pulled my arm back and thrusted my Gashacon All-Driver in kind.

Our weapons clashed and sparks flew, his chainsaw grinding against my drill. Thrusters were formed on my shoulders and back to increase thrust, but Genm held against me equally to my surprise.

"You are as hasty as always, Adam." Genm leaned his head forward and whispered maliciously, "Still thinking that talking is a waste of your time?"

When did he make this Gashat? How did he make this Gashat? I was sure that I kept my eyes on him all the time, so he couldn't have sneaked off and made one without me noticing. Did he spontaneously generate a new Gashat with willpower and Bugster Virus overdose? I know that can happen in the show, but is that really what happened here?

In a burst of strength, Genm pushed back with his chainsaw and threw me away. He has the upper hand in pure strength, and he is much more experienced in fighting than I was. I can't engage him in close quarters.

With a kick off the ground, I intend to fly away and gain distance between us. However, Genm grabbed my leg before I could fly far enough and pulled me down, slamming me against the ground.

Touching a nanosuit with your bare hand is a bad idea, and that is something I am about to teach Genm.

The nanoparticles around my ankle that Genm grabbed pushed and formed a pulse saw, cutting away at his hand and forcing him to let go. At the same time, a repulsor formed at the bottom of my feet and Genm got a taste of a point blank repulsor blast for the second time of the day.

I reoriented myself and flew forward. With a pulse blade on my left and the All-Driver on my right, I forced Genm's arms wide open while locking him right where he was with a clamp on my right foot stomping his. He might be more experienced, but the nanosuit is far more advantageous in close combat, proven by how Tony was able to fight Thanos alone just with the nanosuit.

Our helmets were almost face to face, and I unleashed a powerful repulsor blast from my chest right at his. The blast continuously burned into his chest armor, unrelenting, and I used all my strength to try and push Genm to the ground.

I was taken by surprise when Genm's helmet suddenly spewed a purple mist at me, and I was forced to release him and back off when I realized the purple mist was rapidly corroding my suit.

I flew upwards and gained distance, this time opting to use quantity over quality by forming several hover bits and rapidly fired my repulsors like a machine gun. If I was fighting with a regular nanosuit without the Rider System, the mist Genm released just now might have eaten straight through the suit and hurt me instead.

"Your nanosuit is truly a wonder of technology, Adam!" Genm shouted from below. "That's why I made something similar for myself too!"

He raised his hands at me and purple tentacles shot out from his palm. I dodged to my sides and immediately focused my attacks on those tentacles, which looked like a purple Bugster Union.

"We don't have to fight, Adam!" Genm shouted as he jumped to my altitude in the air and swung his tentacle whips at me, "I can help you save the world!"

"You won't save the world!" I shouted back, flying between his swings and taking potshots at him whenever I could, "You'll just plunge it into another one of your games!"

"I have grown beyond that, Adam," He replied as the Bugster Union wrapped around him like armor and formed spikes on the surface, "My new goal is to rebuild Genm Corporation! To bring happiness to the world with my games!"

The spikes launched off him and came after me like missiles, and I fired lasers that swept across the airspace to clear them out. "Yeah, I don't believe it!"

"I knew you wouldn't trust me!" This time, the Bugster Union formed wings on his back and he flew up to speak to me at eye level. "You're just a paranoid child, Adam! Afraid and alone!"

Eight micro missiles formed on my back and launched as I flew at Kuroto. He hit them down with a whip, but I only intended for them to serve as a distraction as I prepared to hit him with a finisher.

Kimewaza!

He blocked my shoulder slam by crossing his arm together, which gave me the opening to aim my weapon.

Inspira Double Critical Strike!

A giant neon blue rocket fist formed in front of my All-Driver, before it was shot out at near sonic speed. I saw Genm shaping the Bugster Union in front of him like a shield to block the attack, but it wasn't enough as he was still shot down from the sky regardless.

The benefits of integrating the RIder System with the nanosuit. I no longer need to manually remove and insert the Gashats, and can instead call upon their power with a mental command. This greatly reduces the risk of having the item stolen away by the enemy or having my finishers interrupted, and is, in my opinion, the greatest advantage of combining the two together.

I remained in the sky, cautious to see if I had truly defeated Kuroto.

The smoke cleared away, and Genm crawled up from the ground in his usual twitchy zombie manner. I knew it. If Lethal Zombies is indeed an upgrade to Dangerous Zombie, there's no way Kuroto did not include some sort of 'undead' effect in it.

Genm cracked his neck, looked up at me and shouted, "You can't save the world, Adam!" he pointed a finger at me, "Your mind is just too weak! You don't even realize what's wrong with you!"

"Bullshit!" I shouted and fired another repulsor blast from my palm that Genm dodged with a roll. Instead of retaliating immediately like I expected, he simply chuckled, "Ever realize something weird ever since you used Inspira Tinker A?"

He kept talking once he realized I wouldn't respond to him. "You became a better Tinker, even when you didn't transform. Your thoughts are faster, your memory is better, your critical thinking is stronger, Using Inspira Tinker A didn't just grant you technopathy when you transformed, it gradually improved your power as a tinker."

My drill switched into a saw and it barely scratched against Genm as he leaned his waist back to avoid it. "But it changed you in other ways too. Your thoughts become more robotic, more logical, rational, emotionless, even. I bet you didn't even realize you're acting like a sociopath recently."

I kicked off the ground and flew off. I can't get an edge in close combat after all. "That's bullshit coming from a maniac like you." I replied and decided to end this fight. A handle formed on my chest, like a plunger for a syringe. I pulled it open, and push it close, activating a stream of Bugster Virus that lay dormant inside my nanosuit.

Kimewaza!

Genm looked at me and shaked his head in exasperation, saying, "Are you in denial or you really don't see it?" He removed his new Gashat from the driver and inserted it into the side of his belt. "Fine!"

Kimewaza!

Nanoparticles converged around my right foot, forming a drill that was surrounded by neon yellow and green energy stripes. Similarly, a white and purple field of energy began to form around Genm as he charged up energy to prepare for his move.

As if on cue, both of us moved at the same time. He leapt at me, spinning his kick like an spinning saw blade. I shot down like a rocket, pulled by the drill like a train would pull its cargo.

Inspira AA Critical Finish!

Lethality Critical Infection!

Our kicks clashed at each other like two meteors. I have never felt so strained, especially not after I can transform into a Kamen Rider. I put all my strength into my right foot, doing my best to come out on top of our clash.

My heart felt like it dropped to rock bottom the moment my interface warned me of an integrity failure. Starting from the very drill I put all my power into, glowing cracks began to form and gradually span across my entire suit.

I am losing the fight.

"GRRRAAAAA!" Genm shouted, and my drill shattered. His kick came down on me like a hammer, and I was knocked down from the sky with a boom.

The Gamer Driver's safety feature kicked in and my Gashat transformation was forcefully deactivated. Under Kuroto's design, the user will immediately die when the Rider Gauge hits zero, and I got really close. My nanosuit still works, but I struggled to even stand on two feet with the pain assailing my entire body.

Genm landed right in front of me, and the Game Area fizzled away, putting us back in my lab. He walked towards me, slowly, and opened his arms as he looked down upon me.

"I win, Adam."

"F…" I thought about cursing him, but gave up midway. Shit talking is a waste of my energy right now, when I need all of it to keep fighting.

"I see you still don't believe me, so let me prove it to you." Genm shook his head. "Do you remember how you felt when you killed the Ambassadors? Or the Travelers?"

I placed my fist against the ground and struggled to push myself up. "It had to be done. They are too dangerous."

"I'm not asking if it was necessary to kill them, Adam. I'm asking how you feel."

I stayed silent to Genm's question. Looking back, I don't really feel anything when I killed Accord. I thought I would feel pity for Noelle, but I felt nothing but necessity when I killed her. They are just too dangerous. Too volatile and disaster prone. Helping them might be the moral option, but with how events on Earth Bet unfolds, I might just cause another disaster down the line with the Travelers, so killing them was the most efficient option. There was nothing wrong with that.

"...You felt nothing, right? Because a good Tinker doesn't need to feel for their enemy." Genm said, and I felt like my heart was thrown into rock bottom for a second time today. "Even I felt something when I took a life away, but you? You felt nothing. Like killing is just part of the procedure for you, and it's all because of Inspira Tinker A."

He crouched down and loomed over me, with his arms wide open. "You said it yourself, Adam. You will go insane if you work alone, so why can't you accept my resurrection? I can work with you, Adam. I wouldn't stand aside and watch as an alien destroys humanity. Let me help you."

"...No." I said without hesitation as a Legion drone crashed through the ceiling and lunged at Genm, with several more falling behind. They piled on him and grabbed his arms and legs, like how his zombies did to me, but I know they wouldn't hold him for long. I just need a little time.

With the suit's assistance, I stood up and injected some painkillers from the back of my neck. A drone stopped beside me, and I took the original Inspira Tinker AA Gashat from its hands.

"Your current physical form manifested from this Gashat, even if you used a different Gashat." I said slowly while clenching my palm around it. "So if I destroy it…"

The repulsors in my palm lit brightly, and the Gashat was blasted into smoking pieces as I dropped it on the ground.

"You…!" Genm growled, before his entire body began to flash and glitch out in purple and cried out in pain, "Aaah!"

My drones continued to hold him down, and just as I thought my victory was assured, Genm dashed my hope as he suddenly released a burst of energy and destroyed all the drones surrounding him.

"Hehehehe…" Genm cracked his neck and chuckled, "Do you really think you can defeat me so easily? The moment I used Lethal Zombies, my resurrection was complete! You cannot stop my return, Adam, BECAUSE I HAVE ALREADY RETURNED!"

"If that's the case," A third voice interrupted us, "We'll just send you back to hell!"

Lisa and Tayor stood outside the lab, both with a Gamer Driver strapped on their waist and holding a Gashat in their hands.

DISCOBOT · Oct 8, 2023

"Ah, your backup, Adam?" Genm questioned while putting both hands on his waist and looked at the duo that just entered my lab. "Seriously?"

Lisa took out her personal Gashat, Tales of Detective Tattles, and twirled it around her fingers. "What, looking down on us before we even fight?"

As soon as strength returned to my leg, I quietly got up from the floor and sneaked away from Kuroto. I wouldn't want to get caught in the crossfire when Kamen Riders are fighting.

Genm cracked his neck around and pointed a finger at them, "Well, it doesn't matter. I have returned, and none of you can change that."

Taylor's response to Genm's statement was to simply raise her Gashat and press the activation button.

Bang Bang Tactical!

"All I know is that we have to stop you now."

Lisa nodded beside her as she activated her Gashat as well. "Yup. You did beat the shit out of her cousin, ya' know?"

Tales of Detective Tattles!

Together, they inserted the Gashat into their Driver and immediately pulled the lever open.

"Transform!"

"Hen- Transform!"

Gachan!

Level Up!

Move out! Tactical Unit, now Active! Bang Bang Tactical!

Poke the lies, make you cry! Tales of~ Detective Tattles~

As the transformation screen passed through Taylor and Lisa, they transformed into Kamen Rider Order and Kamen Rider Veritas. A six-goggles visor now rests on top of a helmet styled like a gleaming black ponytail as Taylor wore a blue and white suit decorated in navy digital camo patterns, while Lisa had a bob cut helmet in classic detective attire.

Stage Select!

Once again, the location around me changes, this time into the front of a generic school building.

Genm cracked his neck again while raising his arms into his signature zombie pose. "Very well," he growled out, "Let's see what the two of you got."

"Ohohoho," Lisa giggled, "I've been keeping this a secret for so long. You are actually afraid of Adam aren't you, Dan Kuroto?"

As soon as she said that, solid alphabets composing her sentence came out of her mouth and shot towards Genm like a ram. He raised his arms to block it and knocked it away, but the alphabet recomposed itself and hovered over his head like a cloud.

"Nonsense!" Genm shouted, "How could I ever be afraid of someone who can only copy and steal the products of others?!"

"Because Adam can do more than that." The words pressed down, slowly but surely. "You know this. He might just be a copycat now, but sooner or later, he will be more than that. He has all the time in the world, but you're just a ghost with no time!"

"Not anymore!" Genm swung his arms up, unleashed an energy slash that destroyed the words in an alphabet explosion. He charged towards Lisa and Taylor like a madman.

Taylor raised her arm, and five Bugster Soldiers spawned in front of her to block Genm's rampage while swarms of insects began to surround them. The soldier raised their Gashacon Magnum in a uniform movement and opened fire, pushing him back. While Taylor's swarm might have some use against regular capes, they are unfortunately completely useless against Kamen Riders. The best they can do is obstruct Genm's vision.

While the fight was going on, I ordered the suit to display my health. I need a few more minutes until my body has recovered enough just to transform again. But even then, what can I do? Genm's Level 10 right now, while Taylor and Lisa is just Level 2. Are they even strong enough to buy me a few minutes of time?

I can't just stand around and do nothing. I flew up into the sky, opening my repulsors and fired on Genm again. The shots might not even cause any damage, but it will be enough to distract and harass Genm without stressing my body.

"Get ready to use another Gashat!" I shouted towards Taylor and Lisa. "His level is much higher than yours! We'll need more power!"

Lisa raised a thumbs up in my direction, but Genm broke through the barricade of soldiers and threw a punch on her face before she could shout a reply.

"That's right!" Genm leaned back and dodged a shot from Taylor's Gashacon Magnum before throwing an uppercut that sent her flying. "You can struggle all you want, but all of your actions are just child's play to me!"

"Maybe Adam will be more inclined to support you if you can be a little more humble!" The detective rider shouted and she threw a punch at Genm. "Oh, I'm sorry, you can't! You're too delusional to see that you're not a god at all! By the way, how did you die last time?"

Said sentence slammed against Genm like a battering ram as Taylor's Bugster Soldiers raised their rifle and fired uniformly. Lisa didn't relent, continuing her vicious words. "You think your smarts are what gave you your power? WRONG! The Bugster Virus is just a coincidence! You didn't create the Bugster Virus, you just discovered it! You were never the godly genius you think you are!"

The second sentence flew around Genm and slammed at him from behind, sandwiching him between two physical insults like hydraulic presses. With a shout, Genm raised his chainsaw and swatted them away with a swing, but they paused in the air momentarily before coming back at him like flies.

"Damn annoyances!" Genm managed to curse before a Bugster Soldier jumped forward and punched him with the butt of its rifle. Another Bugster Soldier came up behind him and wrapped its arm around his neck from behind. One more Bugster Soldier lunged forward and tackled Genm's knees from his left, restraining his leg.

A few meters away, Taylor and two more Bugster Soldiers were taking potshots with the rifle, distracting his attention like I did. If Tales of Detective Tattles grants Lisa the ability to materialize her words as actual damage, Bang Bang Tactical fully leverages Taylor's multitasking by giving her five more bodies. The original plan was to spawn a company of soldiers, but it needs the power of higher levels, so the most Bang Bang Tactical can summon are five Bugster Soldiers.

"Tell me you have a plan to take him down." Lisa's voice pulled me out from the constant blasting and potshots that I am unleashing on Genm. I did a quick check and thanked god that I kicked Genm out of our communication channels from the start before giving a reply.

"If you buy me time, I might be able to forcefully make a new Gashat that will solve our issue."

"No." Lisa immediately opposed my idea. "I know how your virus works. There's a higher chance you'll die than coming out with a power up item, Adam."

"I ha-"

"Don't you dare do that, Adam." A voice that seeped cold fury interrupted me. Taylor's tone actually sent goosebumps across my skin the moment I heard her talk for the first time since the battle began. "I'm really, really pissed off at how much you are hiding behind my back, and don't you dare…"

She stopped in the middle of her sentence and Genm broke through her swarm and lunged at Taylor. She must have seen it coming, because she dodged his fist with ease and immediately retaliated with her rifle, but Genm ignored it entirely and swung his arm back at her. Taylor was thrown back, crashing against the windows of the school building that served as the backdrop for our fight.

There was no need to panic or check up on her. Kamen Riders are sturdy, and a hit like that wouldn't leave any injuries other than pain. What I need to focus on now is how to defeat Genm.

Brute force wouldn't work. We just don't have enough of it. Do I bring in more drones and hope for the best? Worst case scenario, I will need to contact the Triumvirate, or maybe even say the magic word and summon Contessa. It will render all my efforts to hide myself meaningless and sacrifice my freedom forever, but it would be necessary to stop Kuroto from resurrecting.

What else can I do? Think outside the box. Brute force wouldn't work, so don't use brute force. Mind Games. Lisa is already attacking Genm's physiological weaknesses, but it doesn't seem to be effective. Tales of Detective Tattles was supposed to manifest Lisa's observation as a physical psychological attack, and Genm has been shrugging them off way more easily than expected. Was it his Gashat's protection? Or just his sick mind rendering immune to personal insults?

My stamina has almost recovered. Taylor and Lisa were still taking Genm's attention with soldiers without self preservation and materialized mental weaknesses. What can I do? What can I do with a nanosuit and the array of Gashats I have within?

"It's fun to see how much the two of you have improved since I first handed those Gashats to you," Genm announced as he unplugged his Gashat from the Driver and inserted it into his Gashacon Bugvisor. "But I have a job to do, so playtime's over."

Kimewaza!

"Shit! Taylor!"

"Got it!"

Both of them unplugged their Gashat and inserted it into their respective Kimewaza Slot Holder.

Gashat…a deceased person can be preserved within a Gashat, which is how Kuroto resurrected himself…

Kimewaza!

Kimewaza!

I reduced my thrust, landing behind Lisa and Taylor as they prepared to clash their finisher with Genm's.

Lethality Critical Finish!

Insight Critical Strike!

Tactical Critical Strike!

Alphabets formed by energy materialized around Lisa, similar to how a platoon of phantom soldiers spawned behind Taylor. The words darted forth, accompanied by a barrage of firepower from the soldiers and clashed against Genm's giant purple energy saw. Despite the impressive display from both of them, I already knew that Taylor and Lisa would lose.

But I already have an inkling on how to defeat Kuroto.

The giant saw clashed against the words, before shattering them apart and swung against Taylor and Lisa. They were sent flying across the field and were forcefully removed from their transformation to protect their life. Unlike me, all they have is a regular driver. They don't have my nanosuit.

Something to fix later, deal with Genm first.

I stood forward, putting myself in front of Genm as I prepared to bet it all. "Is it true?"

Genm leaned his head a little, seemingly confused by my question. "What do you mean?"

"About being afraid of me." I clarified. "Because I am the only other person able to create new Gashats. No one else was capable of doing that, even in your world. Best they could do was spinoffs of your old games."

"..." Genm maintained his silence for a while, which I do not know how to read. "You are right when you said you are the only other person capable of creating new Gashats, but that doesn't mean anything to me. You lack the creativity, the spark needed that allows my Gashats to shine. You will forever be within my shadow, playing catch up. Your creations will always be inferior to mine, the original. I'm not afraid of you, Adam." Genm raised his Gashacon Bugvisor. "But I do need to take my leave, and your lot is in my way."

Inspiring Future. Tinker of Destiny! Inspira Tinker A!

Despite being only Level 2, I felt more confident fighting Kuroto now.

Because I have a plan.

This was something risky, potentially dangerous and might backfire on me, but at least it's more of a plan than 'overwhelm him with brute force'. Silently, my mind reached out towards the only functioning electronics in the area while avoiding Genm's slashes and retaliating with my own punches and kicks.

I threw a left haymaker and found my arm grabbed by Genm between his elbows. "You should have stayed in the sky, Adam." He said with a slight hint of amusement, "Because you're full of holes on the ground!"

When his blow landed on my stomach, my entire body curled from the pain. This is fine, I told myself. I have a plan, I told myself. Stick to the plan.

"We could have worked together, Adam!" He grabbed my shoulder and shouted, before throwing a headbutt that sent me feeling dizzy.

"Save the world! Isn't that what you wanted?" I raised my hand and put up a guard, only for him to throw a kick under it and hit my stomach again.

I have to concentrate. I might not understand the theory behind a Gashat's function, but I at least understand its structure. Lethal Zombies might be a new Gashat, but all of Kuroto's products used the same design with no exception.

"Do you really think your ragtag band of children," I unleashed a blast from my chest repulsor and Genm threw a fist against the blast head one, crushing the repulsor and the nanoparticles housing unit behind. "Is worth more than me?!"

While weathering Genm's blows, I diverted my attention towards the microchips. The essence of the Gashat, where all the important data was kept. If I can cause just enough errors…

A sense of danger washed over my mind, and I was sent flying by Genm's left upperhook due to a moment of distraction.

Is my power telling me to not access the coding?

It felt like the sense of doom when I was making a mistake in tinkering, but so much stronger. As if I would die immediately if I touch the coding. Unfortunately, now is not the time to figure out why, so I can only trust my power on this one.

If I can't touch the coding, then the physical hardware will be the way to go. Slightly increase the currents, fry the resistors here and there, reduce the power flowing here…

The moment I did so, Genm immediately stopped his fist. "What did you- Oh no."

Purple glitches began to flash across Genm's suit as he stepped back and looked at his own body. He raised his head and looked at me, disbelief clear in his voice. "You…hacked my Gashat?"

"Just a step up of what you did with your own father." I replied, referring to the time he hid himself in Dan Masamune's Driver to escape the effect of Kamen Rider Chronicle's Pause. He sabotaged the driver, I sabotaged the Gashat.

"No….NO!" Genm threw his arms open and screamed. "THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! NO ONE CAN HACK LETHAL ZOMBIES! I MADE SURE OF IT!"

I technically didn't hack Lethal Zombies but sabotaged its internals, but Genm doesn't need to know that.

Kimewaza!

"Damn you…ADAM!" Genm screeched as I jumped into the air. Just like last time, an energy drill materialized around my right foot as my kick shot towards the target.

Inspira Tinker Critical Strike!

"ADAAAAAM!"

Genm retaliated against my kick with his own, swiping his leg up in an attempt to knock me off course, but both of us understood the futility of it. His transformation was no longer stable, and his suit wasn't even functioning anymore. It's just an appearance now, proved by how he was the one thrown away by my drill in a flurry of sparks as we clashed.

This time, I was the one standing as Genm collapsed on the ground. The glitches are getting stronger and more frequent now, accompanied by electric arcs jumping across his suit.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" He punched the ground and shouted, "This…isn't supposed to happen…"

Seeing Genm miserable like this sent a flurry of emotions in my heart. In the end, I decided to say, "...I'm sorry."

Genm seemed to be perplexed by my apology. "You…" he paused a little, before shaking his head and rolled over on the ground.

"Good luck, Adam." He said to me as his body began to dissipate into pixels. "You have a long road ahead of you…"

Genm completely disappears as soon as he finishes his last word, and the Game Area dissipates once more. I exited transformation and retracted my nanosuit, barely controlling my body to sit down on the floor instead of crashing ass first.

What a tiring way to start the day, and it's just morning too.

"Adam…Danvers…" Taylor's haggard voice instantly broke me from my own internal celebration. Her voice was cold, colder than anytime I have heard her before. "We need to talk."

AN: Phew, Kuroto's story has finally come to an end. The next arc will focus on the Teeth, Pure Bastion, and preparations for Leviathan. Unfortunately, Adam probably won't get much mileage with his next ghost considering his experiences with Kuroto here(cough Nazi catgirl cough) but it will at least be interesting to see how I will write Adam wringing out every value he can out of the ghost without giving in to their request.

In case you need an image for how Lisa's Rider powers work, you can watch this video which is how I got the inspiration. It's just this, but more Kamen Rider style.

Hexcalibur · Oct 9, 2023

Full name in a cold voice...
Yup. He's in big trouble. Parents and older siblings don't use those unless you're in big trouble.

DISCOBOT · Oct 23, 2023

"We need to talk."

Taylor was angry. No two ways about it.

She was just at school, attentively listening to her class, when she received a message from Lisa that there was an emergency at the factory. So she excused herself from class, hitching a ride on one of Adam's drones because Adam scraped her suit for a redesign. At first she thought that the Pure Bastion attacked, or Adam's tinkertech went haywire. But then it turns out that there's some guy she has never seen or heard of attacking Adam with his own tinkertech, who was apparently the original inventor of said tinkertech? And that he came back from the dead by resurrecting himself?

She hates how confused she was throughout the entire fight. Who was Genm? How is he the original inventor of the Bugster technology? What did he mean when he said he resurrected himself? Both Adam and Lisa knew about Genm. They were prepared for him, and she was the only one left in the dark, running around like an idiot.

And she knows that Adam has been hiding things from her. Does he really expect her to believe that Accord just so happened to be defeated the day he went to Boston? Adam, the tinker with an army of invisible drones and a power suit that can rival Alexandria?

She is frustrated with his lies, but she doesn't know how to approach him about it because she understands Adam.

Taylor understands why Adam would lie to her dad about attacking Accord. If she was in his shoes, and she attacked Accord for some reason, she wouldn't want to tell Dad as well. Dad will condemn him, scold him, act like he knows what's best for him and shout about how they don't understand what they have done.

But she's not Dad. She's his partner. Adam should have told her. Should have been honest with her. They were supposed to work together, and help each other. Now she feels like she is just Adam's underling, to be called and used whenever he needs her.

"Let's treat our wounds first." Adam replied after a moment of tense silence, and his words reminded her of the pain from all the bruises she received just a few minutes ago.

"...Yeah."

The floorboard and walls slid away and returned the tables back to their original position as they left the lab. Upstairs, they treated their own wounds with some bandages and ice packs. Lisa shared the same couch with her while Adam sat on his own. It speaks volume that despite how Kamen Rider's punching forces were measured in tons, the worst injuries she received from a fight between them are just bruises.

"Do you-" Taylor and Adam spoke at the same time, "What are-", which prompted them to stop talking after being interrupted by each other.

Adam picked up the conversation first. "Where do you want me to start?"

"Who did we fight just now?" She asked, her currently most burning question, "He seems really familiar with you and your tinkertech, and he even has a Gamer Driver of his own. How did he get it?"

"He's the body double you've been seeing when I'm tinkering. The one with the side part hair."

That answer inspired a multitude of emotions in her. Dread. Fear."So your tinkertech gained sentience and rebelled?" She glared at him and asked, "You told me your AI wouldn't go rogue."

"He's not an AI." Adam explained calmly, as if there was nothing to be afraid at all, "He's someone who died and turned into a component of my power. That's how my power works. It gives me a ghost and I build their technology as tinkertech."

The reveal was so out of nowhere that Taylor's mind went blank for a second. Ghost? Like a Master power? Like Glaistig Uaine?

"Like the Fairy Queen?" She subconsciously blurted out.

"No." Adam immediately denied. "I don't get to control my ghost. They exist as a voice inside my head, and they can only stay for two weeks. Once the time limit is up, they will pass on and I will receive a new ghost. I can't control who I receive or what they do."

Did Adam really tell her the truth? Or was he lying to her about his power so that she wouldn't think of him badly? How much more was he hiding from her?

"Where did your ghost come from?" She asked next, "I've never heard of anyone using tech as powerful as your suits before."

"They come from alternate Earths. There are more Earths than just Bet and Aleph."

"I see." That makes sense, somewhat. "You said your ghost is just a voice in your head, so how did one of them get out?"

"The body double Gashat I used. I made it so that I can have another pair of hands to tinker with, but Kuroto used it to make himself a new Gashat and resurrect independently from my power. He is the original creator of the Gashats, so he is the only one who can do it."

"Is this…Kuroto still with you?"

Adam shaked his head. "Not anymore. Today was supposed to be his last day anyway."

"How many ghosts have you met until now?"

"Two. Kuroto is my second ghost."

"Will something like this happen again?"

"No. The body double Gashat is destroyed, and I don't plan to repair it."

"Good." She's glad that at least one of Adam's decisions is agreeable, but that anger in her heart hasn't gone away. She was still angry that Adam hid so much from her.

"Why did you lie to me about your power?" Her tone came out shaper than she intended to, "How much more are you lying to me?"

"...I didn't want you to see me as crazy." He said and rubbed his hands across his face. "What would you think if I told you that I can talk to ghosts when we first met? And build tinkertech from them?"

"We are supposed to be partners, Adam." She said bitterly, "I-I thought we're supposed to work together. Plan things out together. Not doing things behind my back. I won't think you're insane just because your power is weird. You didn't think I was weird when I told you my power, right? Why do you think I won't do the same?"

Adam opened his mouth, but was speechless for a moment before he apologized. "Sorry, Taylor."

"I…just want to know how much you are lying to me." She tried to sound as calm as possible. "...Did you kill Accord?"

She had hoped that maybe she was just overthinking things. That Adam really had nothing to do with Accord's demise, but hearing his immediate reply dashed that hope like a candle in the wind.

"Yes."

"Why?" Taylor forced her voice down. She doesn't want to shout at Adam. Doesn't want to condemn him. She wants to listen to the full story from his side before she judges him for his actions.

"He sent people to attack me the moment I entered Boston." Adam explained, "That means we are in his sights already. If I don't eliminate him as soon as possible, he will use his power to make the perfect plan to either destroy us or bring us under his control. I can't afford to have him do that when Brockton Bay is barely stabilizing."

"You could've-"

"Bring him to the PRT?" Adam interrupted her before she could finish her sentence. "He'll just walk out a free man. Do you really think he evaded capture because the PRT couldn't catch him? He evaded capture because he was useful to the PRT. To the government. He was hired to make plans for politicians and businessmen, and they protected him in return. People like Accord are above the law, Taylor. It's impossible to bring him to justice. Killing him is the most surefire way to protect us from his plans."

Taylor was stunned. Stunned by how calmly Adam was talking about killing Accord. The logic behind it. Like it wasn't a morally hard decision to take away someone's life. Like he didn't even struggle with the choice. "How many people have you killed?"

Night and Fog. It never really registered with her mind that Adam killed Night and Fog, even when he admitted it. It was probably when he admitted it to everyone at PRT without any difficulty that she began to suspect Adam's lies.

How much has Adam been hiding from her?

"......" She caught Adam sneaking a glance to Lisa, who had been content to be an observer to their conversation until now. Lisa made no discernable action other than continuing to apply her ice pack, and Adam let out a long sigh.

"...We found intel about a very dangerous parahuman from Accord." Adam said, and she could feel her heart drop to rock bottom. "A parahuman that can create clones of anyone she touches, with powers if they are parahumans, and are unable to control it. Accord kept her in a cage, and she was originally going to be transported to Brockton Bay. I…put her out of her misery."

"How…" Taylor gulped, "How could you?"

"Hermes, allow Taylor access to the Echidna folder." She received a notification of a new folder in her glasses, opened it and…

Oh my god.

"Noelle…was a Simurgh bomb, she triggered when it attacked Madison. Her power is to eat and trap anything, including parahumans, inside her to keep pumping out clones." Adam continued, "And all of her clones are insane and murderous. An army of murderous parahuman clones. Accord describes her as a mini Endbringer, and I agree. She is suffering from her power, so I did what was necessary."

Taylor took off her glasses and took a deep breath. This was nothing close to what she was expecting. A Simurgh bomb. Adam dealt with a Simurgh bomb behind her back.

"You could've told me." She muttered, just loud enough for him to hear. "I…I won't blame you, if you think it's necessary. But you could've told me. Let me in the know. Not keep me in the dark like an idiot."

"...I'm sorry."

She let out another sigh. "Anything else you want to tell me right now?"

"We found where the Pure Bastion is hiding. They are hiding in Winslow's new staff."

She reflexively frowned at the mention of Winslow. She couldn't help it. The name brought up too many bad memories, and it says something about the school that she first thought when she heard Adam say that is 'Well, it's Winslow.'

"I just want you to know that…you can trust me, Adam." In the end, that's all she could say. "You can tell me what you're doing, and I won't tell Dad if you want to keep it a secret. I won't blame you, Adam."

She wished it came out as honest and sincere as she thought, because that was a lie.

"Thanks." Adam's posture slumped, like a deflated balloon. "I…promise, Taylor. I promise I'll trust you more."

She nodded. "I'll have some painkillers and take a nap. I'm tired from the fight."

"Yeah, sure."

She got up from the couch and did exactly as she said, before retreating into her room in the base.

But she doesn't intend to sleep just yet.

The vision was somewhat fuzzy, but she could sort of sense it from her bugs. Lisa and Adam left the living room when she went to the kitchen, and entered his lab just as she opened her room's door.

She knew it. Adam is still hiding something from her.

Fortunately, her training paid off. Ever since she began to suspect Adam, she has been sneaking bullet ants and spiders into his lab. She needed a large amount of bugs to work in tandem in order to make something useful out of their senses, and hearing something intelligible is one of the hardest things to do with her bugs. Adam's micro electronics compensated for this weakness, but he would probably realize immediately if his tinkertech was used to tapping him. That's why she needs to use her own bug.

"...lo…di…no…"

"...mmh…ra…lev…"

"...so what…next thi…"

"...need to stop using that Gashat. It's literally rewiring your brain." There. That's Lisa's voice.

And she is already frowning at the first sentence she heard.

"...can't afford to not use…finish Leviathan Bust…running out of time."

"...can't kill Leviathan…spawn another three new Endbring…"

What

The sheer disbelief she experienced almost made her heart stop, and it was only surpassed by what she heard next.

"I'm not planning to kill Leviathan. I'm planning to intercept it before it arrives at Brockton Bay."

WHAT

Taylor knows about Adam's Endbringer combat project. She just thought it was a goal he picked up, seeing that it was a fairly common goal for all Tinkers to contribute something to an Endbringer fight. But intercepting Leviathan? Before it even arrives at the target city? That's unheard of. According to her research, Endbringers move so fast they would have arrived at the target city at the same time the local PRT received the warning from Dragon. How does Adam plan to intercept Leviathan?

"...You want to fight Leviathan… the sea."

"...make more…fight alone if I can. Intercepting…best way to reduce…loss of human life…fighting Leviathan…come out as a net loss. I don't want…."

"But you can't make a high…Kuroto didn't..."

"I…eventually…complexity and raw power…time I have to…need Inspira Tinker A…force multiplier to not use."

"...it's rewiring your brain…fix that?"

"...didn't exactly make Inspira Tinker A myself, it just spawned…Random Gashats like this always… to them, but…comes on May 15, and it's April…less than a month to fini… Buster...next ghost…."

"...I still think you should stop…It's not worth rewiring…"

"...entire city worth of human lives…"

"People have been…it arrives…change that."

"And Brockton Bay…left a wasteland…abandon after that. The city i…getting worse. It will need …effects to show up, and I don't have that much time."

"...Fine…I can tell Taylor about…use her big sister privilege…"

"..You wouldn't dare."

"I'm not watching you turn into Coil."

Taylor was absolutely thrown off her guard when she heard Lisa say that.

"I'm not-"

"You're not Coil. You're worse…fear…like you're cornered."

"And I won't. The reason I'm…have people around me keep me in check. You, Taylor…."

"Tough job, boss. "

"Whatever. Meeting dismissed...."

"G'night, boss…afternoon…"

Taylor threw herself on the bed, covering herself with the thick blanket that provided little warmth to her heart. Countless questions running across her mind, but there is one that took her attention the most.

How much is Adam hiding from me?

AN: I imagine from Taylor's POV, things are just happening without any rhyme or reason that she can see. Like Adam is constantly so busy "doing stuff" while she is having the best time of her life in years in Arcadia. She's aware that Adam is hiding stuff, but it's not like she can ask for the truth. To both of them, they are not that close to each other yet.

DISCOBOT · Nov 9, 2023

Waist high murky waters flooded the streets as various colorful capes surrounded the muscular lizard. It "glided" across the water like a boat and swung its tail, the water echo left behind tearing an unlucky cape in half as their torso were sent flying from sheer force of impact.

"Cicak Man deceased."

Someone actually used that name. I've never watched it, but I couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment seeing him go down like that.

Alexandria slammed herself into Leviathan like a cannonball as Eidolon and Legend concentrated their lasers from behind. Several other blasters were contributing their firepower too, but barely any of them actually hit the Endbringer with how fast it was moving across the water, constantly leaving water echoes behind to serve as a double shield.

"Wave incoming."

A wave, high enough to drown a small town, washed across the streets they were fighting. What little capes that were standing against the waist high flood were washed away like weightless trash in a river.

"Lao Hu Wang deceased. Hu Er down. Hu San deceased. Mister Tuah down. Bakar Man down. Surf Stream deceased. Karna deceased. Maharaja Niko down. Leviathan has submerged in the waves, tracking its direction now."

"Oh my god…" Taylor whispered behind me as we watched Leviathan's carnage together.

We were in my room, back at the Hebert house. I needed to return to the house more frequently to reassure Taylor's trust in me, but that doesn't mean I can't work at home. Right now, I was observing and analyzing Leviathan's attack pattern as part of my effort to make a new Gashat.

Even with my muted emotional response, it's disheartening to see so many people die near instantly, yet so insignificantly. They gave their life, hoping to protect their home, yet the effort is futile.

Leviathan continued its rampage across Klang Valley, only leaving after the entire city was almost flooded. The ports were no longer usable, the river turned into a lake, and the city was nearly abandoned by the government due to the new influx of villains that triggered from the aftermath. It's like looking at another Brockton Bay, except they don't even have a PRT to maintain the facade of order.

H.E.R.M.E.S continues to record and compile each and every one of Leviathan's movesets. I will probably have my organs crushed if I go and fight Leviathan in the nanosuit. Even a suit the size of the Hulkbuster wouldn't stand a chance against Leviathan. I doubt Hulk himself can do anything to the monster at all.

But with Gashat technology in the mix…

I need time. Time to properly understand and integrate H.E.R.M.E.S's analysis into the new Gashat. I need data of water. Of hydrokinesis. Of the extra-dimensional density distribution formula, and something to counter them.

I shot a glance at the corner of my monitor, displaying the time right now.

22/4/2011
11:55 PM

Who will my new ghost be? I am, admittedly, rather inept in pop culture. I barely know about media giants like Warhammer, Starcraft or Star Wars. Most media that I did consume like Tokyo Ghoul or Demon Slayer wouldn't give me anything useful.

What sort of power do I actually need? Something dimensional, relating to space time? Or something mystical, completely detached from the realms of science and physics? Maybe it will be someone unorthodox and ridiculous like Kuroto?

My mind wanders as I jotted down notes in preparation for Leviathan. City wide drone surveillance is a must to monitor Leviathan's movements as well as locate victims instantly. Dragon couldn't do it due to her limitations, but I was more worried about the possibility that Leviathan will give rainfall the force of bullets and destroy all my drones to deny my advantage. Nothing Tony taught me is usable against Leviathan itself. Kuroto's Rider System is my only chance at actually repelling, or even killing Leviathan once and for all.

But can I do it? Can I create an original Gashat, capable of killing a multidimensional being without Kuroto's help?

I have to try.

What else? There's the evacuation pods that the Helicarrier used to transport Sokovia citizens in Age of Ultron, and I can theoretically make them, but it's not something I can make by myself. It's too large and expensive to be manufactured inside my little factory.

Maybe I can sell the blueprint to Dragon and have her produce it for me with her factory. I'm sure she will be glad to help reduce the casualties of any disasters with these mass evacuation pods. I should make the blueprint for them soon.

Another glance at the time.

11:59 PM

"Almost time, right?" Taylor asked, hugging a cushion as she slumped in the new beanbag I bought.

I nodded. "Yup. In three, two, one…"

I don't feel anything, just like the last time my ghost cycled out. This time, I proactively asked for my new tenant.

Anyone there?

"Yes, yes. Someone is indeed here." A voice I have never heard before answered back. He sounds young, speaking English with no distinguishable accent. "So…what's going on?"

Have you met anyone before arriving here? I asked instead. Kuroto talked to Tony before knowing me, so I have to assume that the new ghost met Kuroto as well. I need to know if he tried to sabotage my relationship with the new ghost or not.

"Well, yes. I met a young man in an empty white space. He simply told me to have fun before disappearing, and the next thing I realized is that I am here, without a body. How…disconcerting."

"So who's your new ghost, Adam?" Taylor's voice interrupted me before I could ask him the same question.

"I'll explain the situation to him first." I replied. My name is Adam. I have a superpower which randomly summons a ghost that I can talk to every two weeks. The man you met was the previous ghost. You are the new one. Can you introduce yourself?

"Superpowers?" Ning exclaimed in surprise, "Can you- Wait, You asked for me to introduce myself. You can call me Dr. Ning, I am a surgeon and veterinarian. Now, may you explain your 'superpower' in detail? Are they scientific or supernatural in nature? How do you obtain them?"

This guy is very curious, huh?

Superpowers are scientific in nature. They originate from a tumor in the brain known as Corona Pollentia. When someone is in a stressful situation, the Corona Pollentia will activate and cause a Trigger Event, which will grant the human a superpower to break free of said stressful situation.

"Hmm…is this common knowledge for superpowers in your world? I have never heard or seen anything like the Corona Pollentia, I'm afraid."

Yes. Superpowers and their origins are still a mystery to the world. We are still researching it…

I spent about the next half an hour explaining things on Earth Bet to Dr. Ning, such as parahumans, cape culture and world politics at large. At the same time, Taylor and I exchanged questions from Dr. Ning, trying to gather as much information as we can about him.

"Which time period did Dr. Ning come from?" Taylor asked.

"I was born in the 1950s, but passed away in the 1980s, from muscular dystrophy. My body fails me, and I am unable to do anything but to be taken care of by others in a room during my final days. Death…is a release for me." Dr. Ning answered solemnly.

"He passed away in the 80s." I condensed the answer for Taylor and swiped the holographic display in front of me. Still no recollection of who he is supposed to be from my memory.

"So this is the world now. Russia is in a constant state of civil war, China reinstated a puppet monarchy with the Yangban, Europe is under the threat of the Three Blasphemies and Gesellschaft, while North America is under the threat of Slaughterhouse Nine. Villains outnumber the heroes everywhere in the world, as well as Endbringers that periodically attack cities without pattern."

"...What a sorry state the world found itself in." Dr. Ning said bitterly. "This wouldn't have happened if GAH was around."

GAH?

"Global Alliance for Humanity. An global organization of military force from all around the world that serves no private or national interest, but to protect the world. It doesn't sound like there's even a United Nations here."

Yeah. I agreed half heartedly. I've never heard of GAH before. Or maybe I have, but I don't remember it. It's just such a generic name that it could have appeared in any fictional story that crossed my eyes.

This is Brockton Bay. A holographic map of the city was projected in front of my eye. I managed to arrest most of the villains and handed them over to the authorities, but there's a new group of Nazis that took advantage of the chaos. There's also The Teeth, a group of homicidal maniacs over at Boston that might come over soon.

"Are The Teeth particularly powerful or tricky to deal with?" Ning asked, "I can't imagine the authorities would let a group of people wearing actual bones and skin parade in public like that."

A case of malicious incompetence. I replied as I swiped my screen. The same case can be applied to many other villains in the world.

"Malicious…incompetence…" Ning pondered over my words. "You are a very capable child, Adam, to arrest all these villains that adults within authorities failed to do. Unfortunately, I'm afraid I can't help you much in this situation. My skills lie in saving lives, not combat or containment."

It's fine. I would be happy to learn anything that you can teach me.

"Are you sure?" Ning asked, "What about your…Endbringer project? They seemed to be really important."

I want to learn some medical skills in case I need it. Saving lives takes priorities over anything else.

Plus, I wouldn't need to learn everything in two weeks. As long as I learned and practiced enough, I should be able to obtain the entirety of Ning's knowledge regarding medicine like how I obtained Tony's complete knowledge base.

"An admirable attitude." Ning said, "But I think you should head to your bed first. It's rather late at night, and sleep is very important for a child in development like you."

I don't need sleep due to my current tinkertech. I replied, I can start now.
-
25 April 2011

I remember hating biology class.

I just hate it. I have always felt queasy towards seeing blood and tiny things that wriggle, and adding all the complicated names I have to memorize on top of that made biology one of my worst subjects in school. Luckily, I preserved just enough to get into college with my desired subject, and never touched biology again.

That's what I thought before coming here.

"Hmm, yes, that's the lung and trachea, you see. Now, gently slice it there, and take the entire lung out." Ning's voice guided my actions as I slowly raised my scalpel.

Slowly, slowly, I removed the lung from the dead rabbit and placed it on a sterile tray.

"Very well, Your hands are steady, and you are learning much faster than I initially expected. You might be as qualified as an intern doctor by the end of my time if we keep this speed up."

Hmm. That's nice.

"Yes. Now, that's all for today's practice. You need to rest and digest what I have taught you."

I placed the scalpel down and cleaned the operating table myself, dumping the rabbit corpse and lung into a biohazard waste collection bin.

It has been a few days since I received Ning as my new ghost. All he has taught me are some basic medical skills, from first aid to diagnosis and now surgery. He remarked that I am learning much faster than a regular person, which can be attributed to my power. I had the same accelerated learning effect with Tony and Kuroto.

But all of it is just mundane medical skills. It would be great if I have them, but why would my power bring me a normal doctor as my new ghost? There must be more, something that Ning might not want to teach me either out of distrust or simply because his knowledge is too dangerous.

I washed my hands and left the operating table, now sitting in front of my computer. The shipment of titanium finally arrived, and I can now replenish my number of drones as well as create new suits for Taylor and The Undersiders. A basic suit that covers the entire body as well as software support and flight should allow them to patrol Brockton Bay without any pressure as I focus on things beyond the city.

Gashat technology allows me to punch way above my weight class. I have already fought A-Class threats like Lung, and S-Class threats like Echidna. I can do more, but I need to be careful about it.

Pictures of mangled flesh and biologically conflicting monstrosities appeared on my screen. Monsters with scales and feathers, eyeballs on anywhere but their head, mismatched limbs and skin color that ran through the light spectrum.

"What…are these?" Ning asked.

"Nilbog." I answered out loud. "An S-Class villain that made himself the warlord of Ellisburg. He can make monsters out of any living thing he touches, even superviruses."

This is a test. I need to know what sort of reaction this will trigger in Ning. Will he offer to help? Or lament his powerlessness?

"How does…his power work?" Ning asked slowly.

It's kept classified from the public. I replied while typing away at my keyboard. But I hacked the PRT to get some footage.

A video began to play. The footage was shot from somewhere high, and the camera zoomed in as far as it could. The resolution was blurry, but the subject was clear to be seen. A hulking mass shaped like a snail moved towards the town center. Its skin was yellow, with purple and green branches of feather sprouting irregularly across its body. The 'head' has six eyeballs, a mix of human, dog and reptilian eyes.

It moved slowly, dragging itself towards a giant colorful tree in the middle of the plaza. Once it got closer, a sac opened on the tree, and it moved itself inside. The footage sped up, until a box of text explained that five hours had passed.

The sacs on the tree burst open, and three new monsters came crawling out, each a mishmash of colors and organs.

He converts living tissues into something else, according to the analysis. I said, and the reason they kept him in containment but not killed him is because he has viruses that can do the same to other humans as a dead man switch.

"Fascinating…" Ning breathed in…awe. "Is it safe to assume that all converted beings share a common genome?"

I don't know. But I do know that converted beings are independent of himself. They can have their own consciousness, and reproduce on their own without input from Nilbog.

"An interesting superpower, used in the most disgusting and horrifying way." Ning concluded. "What do you want to do about this villain?"

Nilbog occupies Ellisburg, which is very close to Brockton Bay. If he escapes containment, Brockton Bay will likely be one of the first cities to be attacked and fall. I want to kill that threat in the crib.

A period of silence, before Ning replies, "I see, but is it wise to poke a sleeping tiger? He was under stable containment, wasn't he?"

Only because he was content with staying inside. There's no saying when that will change.

"Unfortunately, Adam, I don't think I will be able to help you." Ning said in a regretful tone. "I am an excellent surgeon, and even a veterinarian, but this is beyond the scope of a normal human or animal. I'm sorry."

…It's fine.

Human surgeon and veterinarian…that's something to start with.

Who is Ning, really?

Hexcalibur · Nov 9, 2023

DISCOBOT said:
Who is Ning, really?

I second this question. A doctor and a vet that's fictional... I got no idea.

zecran · Nov 10, 2023

Ming

Dr Ming, formerly the 41st-ranked adventurer, "Twilight Doctor", is an antagonist in the Golden Age Of Adventures series. He is a cryptozoologist, who performs experiments on mythical creatures to enhance himself, with the ultimate goal of achieving immortality. Along with The Void of The...

the-golden-age-of-adventure.fandom.com

RandomOTP · Nov 17, 2023

A lovely fic, I look forward to more! ^.^

DISCOBOT · Nov 18, 2023

Emily Klein grew up in a rural town in Argentina with a brother and two younger sisters. Growing up in poverty, she studied hard and managed to graduate from university before immigrating to the United States of America for greener pastures. She fell in love with a coworker in a pharmaceutical company in New York, and got married in the late 80s. Unfortunately, her husband passed away from Behemoth's attack a few years later. Due to economic pressure, she moved to Brockton Bay and worked at Medhall as an accountant until recently, she was recruited by Winslow's administration for the same position. The son, who graduated from university last year, returned to his alma mater, the same Winslow, to teach mathematics.

That's the story on paper, and what any mundane detective can find.

Lisa is no mundane detective, and H.E.R.M.E.S is no paper.

Said "rural town from Argentina" was actually a safe haven where all the Nazi lieutenants ran towards at the end of World War 2. She was raised with the cause, and lived for the cause. When Medhall fell, she and her son answered Gessellschaft's call. Nobody would suspect anything when an old lady has forgotten her package at the hospital, or the bank, or the library, after all.

It's how Pure Bastion slipped past my drone network and planted the bombs. I don't have enough processing power to go Big Brother on everyone in the city, so I focused on people who matter. The mayor's office. Police stations. Hospitals. PRT. Protectorate members.

I knew, on a conscious level, that the average civilian can be turned against me. I just don't have the resources to deal with all of them now. There's too many possible avenues of attack, so I chose avoidance instead of elimination. Cooped inside my factory with Kuroto, and stayed out of public sight.

Many similar stories can be seen across Winslow's 'new' staff. Some of their grandparents were from Operation Paperclip. Some of their parents participated in hate groups, but they themselves steered clear. Some of them moved to Brockton Bay after an Endbringer attacked their home. The people involved, the who arranged for their position, the people in charge within.

Paper thin threads, each so dismissible, all coming together.

Looking through the profiles Lisa collected on all the Gesellschaft recruits she could find, I really had my mind blown. Their profiles are perfectly clean and solid, with no criminal records at all. I would have dismissed these findings as paranoia if I didn't know it was collected by Lisa's power. It just seemed so out of nowhere. In her report, a group of people from random backgrounds of all kinds were actually secretly racist, gathered together at the right place and the right time just to serve Gesellschaft.

"Hmm…these sleeper agents don't look so dangerous." Ning commented, "Their greatest strength is their obscurity, which is no longer present."

The monitor closed as I began to formulate a plan to take Pure Bastion down. Publicly, the bombings a few days ago were blamed on the ABB remnants, but I know the true masterminds are Pure Bastion. Gargoyle was handed over to PRT and remained in the Protectorate Rig's cells, which was surprising. I thought they would have broken him out by now.

According to what I find, PRT seemed to be split on how to deal with Gargoyle. The boy was seventeen, just young enough to be recruited as a probationary Ward. However, someone inside were also arguing that Gargoyle should be sent back to Europe and sentenced over there, even though the chance of him going free afterwards will be significantly higher. There's also the problem where Panacea refused to heal him, so now he's a cripple missing both legs.

Oh right. I cut both of his legs off when he attacked Taylor prior to the bombings. The memory was clear now that I remembered it. I was pissed at how useless my network was, and swung the Gashacon Sparrow without restraint. It cut through Gargoyle's crystal armor like cotton candy, and his knees lost their legs before I flew off to deal with Oberst at PRT.

Is that why they're not rescuing him? A dead weight?

"Possibly, but this might also be a political move from Major Oberst." Ning suggested. "Gargoyle seems to have parents in high places according to the profile you showed me. Leaving him hanging might have served some unknown purpose for Major Oberst."

How would you know that?

"I had encounters with Nazis when I was alive." Ning replied with a hint of contempt. "Like all armies, they are busy fighting with themselves when they are not busy fighting enemies."

Hmm, fair point.

I filed that tidbit of knowledge about Ning away. Encounters with Nazis, between 1950s to 1980s.

That…actually reminded me of someone. Someone who was also a doctor and archaeologist.

Someone related to The Void.

Is it him?

If it's him, I…might have actually hit the jackpot. I might even be able to solve the body dysphoria issue that I have been trying to ignore. He doesn't have anything useful against Endbringers, but his technology- no, techniques are very useful. Incredibly so.

But he's also someone worse than Kuroto, and far more protective of his knowledge. Assuming that Ning is indeed who I think he was, how can I force him to give it to me? Someone who is only a voice with no attachment to the world, no body to threaten?

Ning said he died in the 1980s. It was The Void who put an end to the person I had in mind during the 1960s.

The back of my head itches a little as I called for my implant to send a message to Lisa. Now that I know I can't trust every ghost I meet, I need to have a way of communicating secretly without letting my ghost know. The implant that I inserted in the back of my neck fulfills that purpose just fine.

Time to get to work.
-
27 April 2011

The empty spot in the factory, away from all my fabricators. The same people, sitting in different beanbags. The same holographic projector in the middle. The same Lisa, as the presenter showing us her findings.

"Okay, first ordeal of the meeting." The holograph showed a bird's view of Winslow High School. "Pure Bastion."

The mugshots of the new staff were projected on top of the school as Lisa began her exposition. "A few weeks ago, Winslow had a staff reshuffling after they got exposed to a scandal." I subconsciously glanced at Taylor. "The Principle and a lot of teachers were fired. To keep the school running they needed new blood, so the state government filled the school with new blood. That's what happened on paper."

Strings began to connect the mugshots together, and it all led to a big swastika in the middle. "It turns out that all these 'new blood' are actually sleeper agents from Gesellschaft! All of them! They are all functional and contributing members of society, with no criminal records and never say anything racist on the internet. Which is kinda nuts, because I know everyone here at least threw a few slurs on the internet. Except Rachel because she doesn't know how to use them."

Alec giggled and nodded approvingly, while Brian gave Lisa a middle finger with a deadpan face. Rachel growled and bared her teeth, but otherwise stayed in her beanbag.

Lisa took it in stride and continued. "There's also around fifty mundane personnel from Gesellschaft that sneaked into Winslow. They took up low level positions like janitors, technicians, security guards, cafeteria staff and more. They're entrenched in Winslow now, and I think they plan to recruit the students like the Empire did as well as using the school as cover. Passing it to you, Dinah."

"Oh! Err…" Dinah caught the tablet the Lisa passed to her and stammered a little before saying, "Pure Bastion isn't work- err, I mean, operating like a regular cape gang. They don't do drug trafficking, don't do protection rackets, don't do casinos, or have any income source in the city. What they're doing now is familiarizing themselves with the city so they can bring more capes from Europe for a greater push later. Major Oberst and his teams are scouts to eliminate all possible threats here."

"It's us. The threats are us, though more specifically Adam." Lisa took back control of the presentation. "Your drones and suit allowed you a meteoric rise in the cape scene, and you are probably one of the most effective heroes in America's history. Not even the Triumvirate can dismantle every major gang in their city in 24 hours, but you did it. There's already a few assassination attempts, but I managed to shut it down. It's fucking annoying, I tell you. And we," Lisa pointed at the people sitting around her, "are in danger by association. So let's get this shit on the road and put them down."

The mugshots of the Gesellschaft mundane members enlarged. "We need to be careful of them, by the way. They're like Coil's mercenaries, but better. Some of them are Gesseslchaft's elite kill squads, so don't think you can have an easy fight with your power. Stay away, use Adam's tinkertech, be careful."

Next, the profile pictures of three teenagers and a middle aged man showed up. "Major Oberst infiltrated the school as a new teacher, while the other three capes joined as transfer students. Obviously, Oberst is Robert Wilheim, the new history teacher. Schneesturm is the girl, Amanda Walker. Gargoyle is Rex Steinfurt and Ulfbernt-dash-Bladewind is Thomas Lindsy-Jameson. This is all the intel we have on Pure Bastion now."

"We're going to take down Pure Bastion. And everyone who helped them." I stood up and spoke. "Major Oberst is a thinker, so we need to cut off the head that leads. The main issue is that Major Oberst and his Gesellschaft personnel hide and live in the school. They don't leave it. The sleeper agents on the other hand have clean records, and there are too many of them to gather the evidence and convict them separately. It will alert Oberst that we are onto him too."

"So what?" Alec questioned, "It sounds like we can't do anything to them if they're not coming out. It's not like we can storm the school."

"That's exactly what we will do." I pointed my thumb at Alec and nodded.

"Adam." Taylor spoke up and sent a glare at me.

"Of course, it's when there's no innocent student in the school." I explained exasperatedly. I'm not some idiot like Tagg, Taylor. "The Gesellschaft people live in the school. They will leave at certain hours to keep up appearance and hide that fact, but my drones caught them consistently staying overnight in Winslow. That's when we'll strike."

"Once we capture and neutralize Major Oberst, Pure Bastion will be left without a leader. Gesellschaft personnel will try to return to Europe, and the sleeper agents will return to sleeping. We're going to try and catch them, but it's kinda pointless." Lisa said, "Like Dinah said, Pure Bastion is a terrorist group, not a cape gang. We can let the police handle the rest after we capture Oberst and his cape lackeys."

"Brian, is your sister still in Winslow?" I asked.

"She is, but now that I know this, I'm going to pull her out today." Brian replied and rubbed his face. "I wanted to transfer her out of Winslow a long time ago, but she kept saying she has friends there and doesn't want to leave. It doesn't matter now, I'm not going to leave her in a school of Nazis when we are about to attack them."

"You do that, remember to call backup if you face any trouble." I said, "We will attack them this Friday night, when all the students have left. I'm going to increase surveillance around Winslow and prepare new tinkertech for all of you."

The team nodded, and the projection changed to someone else.

The Void.

I could hear an audible gasp from Ning the moment the projection solidified.

Got you.

"I have some news about the villain that attacked you during the Heartbreaker raid." Lisa continued, unknown to my inner excitement and Ning's turmoil. "Look at this."

Attractions went missing from the zoo without a trace!

Animals Missing: Work Of A New Cape?

PRT warns possible new Biotinker in Montreal

Several newspaper headlines were shown, all of them talking about how animals mysteriously went missing from all zoos in the city without a trace.

It's not hard to guess where they went. Modifying wildlife to become his puppet is exactly what The Void would do. Assuming he has full autonomy despite being summoned by Valentine Vasil, it's only natural The Void will raid the zoo.

"It's him… it's really him…" I heard Ning muttering silently, yet those words struck deep in my heart. "How could this be?! How is he here!"

Dr. Ning? What's wrong? I pretended to be concerned and asked.

"That man…The Void…" Ning gritted out with vitriol, "He is the man who killed me!"

Jackpot.

My new ghost isn't Dr. Ning, doctor, surgeon, veterinarian and archaeologist.

My new ghost is Dr. Ming, doctor, surgeon, geneticist, adventurer, cryptozoologist, engineer and physicist.

One of the last surviving members of the Blood Clan.

The Void's rival.

I couldn't see my own smile without a mirror, and neither could Ming who could see with my eyes. Unknown to the anguishing ghost, I subtly pointed a thumbs up, outside of my own field of vision, to which Lisa responded with a wink.

Got you.

Patrick · Nov 18, 2023

That is a sneaky move, I don't know the source material of those two characters but it looks good in this fic.

RandomOTP · Nov 18, 2023

Patrick said:
That is a sneaky move, I don't know the source material of those two characters but it looks good in this fic.

Seconding this sentiment. A lovely update ^.^

DISCOBOT · Dec 18, 2023

It's him.

IT'S HIM! THE MAN WHO BROKE HIS IMMORTALITY! THE MAN WHO RENDERED HIM A WORM INSIDE A JAR!

THE VOID! HE AND HIS WRETCHED AND MALFORMED CREATIONS!

"What do you mean The Void killed you?" Adam's voice broke through his cloud of rage, and reminded Ming of his current circumstances.

He hates it. His body was the pinnacle of his intelligence, the culmination of Blood Clan's thousands years of research and his own unparalleled genius. Not even Void came close to him when it comes to modifying the human body, yet here he is, a ghost without a body.

He is dead. He died alone, inside a jar, surrounded by cameras, at the deepest corners of GAH's maximum security prison.

He needs to stay calm. Rage will only expose himself to Adam, and he would need to keep playing the part of a kind and good doctor to wring whatever value he can from the kid. Adam's smart, and he doesn't want to ruin his goodwill in a situation where he has no freedom or independence at all.

"The Void was a mercenary in my world." Ming answered slowly, gradually constructing a story that has no conflict with what he previously told the boy. "He attacked the hospital I worked at, and the injuries he left me was what ultimately caused my death! The Void cannot be let free! You must stop him, Adam!

"I know he's dangerous, but there's not much I can do about him." Adam replied disappointingly, "He managed to hurt Taylor when we fought last time, and I don't want to fight him until I am certain I can defeat him.

"You fought him? Are his brothers here too?"

"No, it was just him. We believe The Void was a construct summoned by someone else's power."

"Like how yours summoned my soul, hmm… If it's just The Void alone, defeating him is much more feasible." That's a relief. He recalls the time The Void himself was captured by the GAH. They only succeeded precisely because his brothers had already been defeated beforehand, leaving him alone.

What should he do from here? Adam mentioned that The Void was a summoned construct, but that might be a misunderstood observation from the boy. Is the man on the screen a phantom construct, a facsimile of the man he knew in appearance and skills only? Or was he ferried across dimensions, just like he himself did?

What can he do?

Adam. Adam is his only chance at enacting revenge.

"Adam…there's something I must confess to you."

"What is it?" Adam replied curiously.

"I did not lie when I say I am a doctor, but I am more than that." He answered slowly, playing up the gravitas to incite reverence. "I lied to you because I was worried you would misuse my knowledge. Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Ming. The Void and I are…relatives."

"Our family has long engaged in research into biology and mythology. However, we were attacked by a rival family, rendering us scattered and apart. The Void and I share much of our knowledge, while I chose to use them to save lives, he chose to use them for the opposite. I was powerless to stop him before, but now…now I have a chance. Please, Adam, you must stop him before he entrenched himself in your world. I will teach you everything you need to fight him."

"I promise you, Ming, I will stop him." Adam replied with a serious tone, and that made him let out a metaphorical breath of relief. "What do you have that can stop him?"

"The results of thousands years of research, Adam." Ming answered, "Thousands of years."
-
Having the sight of a regular human's eyes again was novel at first, but quickly became boring and restrictive as Ming spent more time with Adam. As will the lack of his other senses. He could at least feel the artificial amniotic fluid brushing against his skin and its medicinal taste, but now all he has are sight and hearing. It's restrictive, chafing against his mind, even.

He watched as blocks of metal alloys were sliced and chipped away by impressive lasers, gradually shaped into components of his Steel Muscles before they were assembled with absolute precision by Adam's fabricators, placed aside, and moving on to the next block of alloys.

"Will these really be useful against The Void?" Adam asked skeptically.

"The Steel Muscles will be able to protect you from anything he can throw at you." He replied politely. "The enhanced strength provided by them will even allow you to wrestle with his Chimeras, should The Void choose to make them. Your nanosuit is good, but it is a consumable product. It's better to have some solid protection."

"I know, I know." Adam replied dismissively, but Ming knows it to be the truth. After all, his toy almost defeated The Void and his brother, Woe, while wearing the Steel Muscles. The only reason it lost is because Brighton barged into their fight and dismantled them. He made a mental note to ask Adam to look for Brighton later.

Adam picked up one of the completed Steel Muscles and held them for closer inspection, allowing Ming to think of what he can teach Adam next. There are a lot of techniques he stole from Iron Heart, but his memory of them has turned blurry. He never really practiced them much, and he never had the opportunity to do so after GAH imprisoned him.

The Steel Muscles alone should be enough, Ming thought to himself. Without his brothers, The Void's threat level was drastically reduced. His creations might be able to catch someone off guard, but that wouldn't happen to Adam with him inside his head. It's not like Steel Heart's golems are of any use to the boy. They were impressive mechanical contraptions, but Adam's drones are far more advanced and lethal. Nobody he saw until now is missing a limb and in need of prosthetics, and he doesn't know how to build the Soul Transfer Machine or create Lar's Metal.

"You said you share a lot of your knowledge with The Void." Adam suddenly mentioned, "Does that mean you know how to make acid blood rats and taser lizards?"

"...technically speaking, yes, I do. But I doubt they will be of much use to you. Steel is always stronger than flesh, after all." Ming replied, and silently chuckled to himself at the irony of that statement. "And I recall that people who have power involving organics are not welcomed in this world."

"Yes, you are right. I'm just wondering if…you have anything that can…change, yeah, change my body."

That piqued his interest. "In what ways?"

"I want to be older."Adam sounded a little embarrassed. "My body doesn't match my age. I want to fix that."

My body doesn't match my age. That's not a statement you will hear from a kid, Ming mused. Something about this seems a little fishy. Wouldn't kids usually say they want to grow older instead of this?

Still, speaking of growing older…

"Hmm…yes, I do recall some procedures that can change the body's age. How old would you like to be?"

"Maybe somewhere between eighteen and twenty." Adam answered, before adding, "Nineteen. I want to have a nineteen year old's body."

"While it's possible for you to conduct the procedure with my instructions, are you sure you want to do this?" He inquired with a professional tone of concern just like the doctor he was supposed to be. "I understand how most children want to become adults, but it's not something I agree with. You will be entering puberty soon, that's not something you should skip. Those years are crucial to the formation of your adult mind."

Surprisingly, Adam insisted. "I want to grow up. Even just being taller will make fights easier. There are too many things I need to do, and I don't want adults holding me back because I'm a child."

"Very well, I'll teach you the procedures." He agreed while sounding disappointed, but the procedures weren't something he treasured anyway, "But it will take about a week for the procedure to finish. You will be in deep sleep and unable to do anything in that period of time."

"A week? Damn it, we don't have time… I need to raid Pure Bastion tomorrow, and we will have less than a week before you leave after that." The boy replied with disappointment. In his personal opinion, those wannabes are just small fries compared to the Nazis he has worked with, but that is not an attitude a kind doctor should have, so he couldn't tell Adam to turn his attention away from them and focus on The Void first.

"You can still teach me. I can do the procedure myself when I have the time. What about other enhancements? Like better memory or strength."

"Those will be much easier." Ming replied joyfully. Those things are the basics of basics every Blood Clan member learns when they are a child. Those will be enough to handle Adam's request. There's no need to teach him advanced techniques.

"You can enhance your memory by producing a medicinal supplement and drinking it once every day. Your short term memory will have a noticeable increase after a week. The same goes for muscular enhancement, coupled with a set of regimented exercises and you will be able to lift tons in a few months."

"Is there anything more immediate? I don't have that much time."

"Well, I know how to insert enhancements into the human body, but I don't think you or your machines can conduct surgery on yourself." He pretended to say that hesitantly.

Whereas Blood Clan took the route of biological enhancement with serums, medicines and surgeries, Steel Heart took the route of mechanical enhancement with prosthetics, implants and exoskeletons. They both have their ups and downs, but Ming personally believed in Blood Clan's superiority. Even long before he obtained near invulnerability with dragon scales, his genetic enhancements have allowed him to survive situations no machine could ever allow a human to do the same.

Steel rust faster than flesh ages.

"Surgeries are a no go. What about genetic enhancements? Something like a superman serum that I can inject myself and be done with it." Adam suggested.

That question sent Ming into silence. It's suspicious. He could see where Adam was coming from, but he reflexively tensed himself when the topic of their conversation fell on his magnum opus.

Does he know?"

"Doctor Ming?"

"Genetic enhancements are highly volatile." He chose to reply, "It changes your body forever, and is very hard to revert. Your children, should you have them in the future, might suffer from side effects as well. The human bloodline is not something to be tampered with without care."

"Okay, but is it immediate?" Adam asked.

"The desired effects can be observed in days, but the negative effects can only be observed across a long period of time." Ming said sternly, "Again, I do not recommend it."

Only amateurs will have side effects. His craft, amassed from thousands of research by the Blood Clan and perfected by himself will hardly leave any side effects. But he wasn't so inclined to teach Adam his prized secrets. Will something basic and rudimentary do?

"...Let's start small then." Adam insisted fervently. "Something un-risky, less likely to leave side effects."

"...Very well." Ming agreed. "Let's start small."

Not like there's much he can teach anyway, with just a week's time.

Hexcalibur · Dec 18, 2023

Adam got lucky with his first Tinker soul. The last two, not so much.

DISCOBOT · Jan 21, 2024

28 April 2011

I've always hated taking vaccine shots.

It's not the pain, I've learned to push through it and I have suffered worse, but the sensation. The sensation of having cold, stiff metal pushing through my skin, breaking away any sort of resistance my muscle posed to inject the vaccine into my body. I hated it. It felt like something was invading my body, and I was warned that I couldn't resist, otherwise the needle might break and I would need surgery.

As my machine pulled the needle out from my wrist after collecting enough blood, I let out an audible sigh. I just hate it. The sensation of metal pushing against my body.

"Okay, now we are going to run a few tests on your blood sample to assess your biological conditions better." Ming instructed. "We would want to avoid anything that can trigger any recessive genes or allergies, maybe even remove them altogether."

Alright.

At first, I was expecting to learn something more typical to a sci-fi story. Insert blood sample into centrifuge, let the computer analyze and synthesize a serum, and voila! You get an enhanced human at the end.

That couldn't be further from the truth.

The Blood Clan wasn't an organization researching advanced technology for the greater good of mankind, or for world domination. They were first and foremost, a family. A family of secretive researchers passing down their knowledge generation by generation, all in search of the secret of immortality.

Ming's techniques are in direct opposition to Stark's. Whereas Stark relied on his artificial intelligence and factories to reduce workload and increase efficiency, Ming does everything by hand. I went on a walk today to collect whatever materials I need, and now it's time to put them to use.

Claws of stray cats, collected from a dumpster somewhere in the docks, were thrown into a bowl before I grind it into powder with a stone mash. Dog fur collected from Rachel's shelter was being soaked in an alkaline mixture and put to boil, while a bag of cockroaches was being roasted in the oven. I also bought a cow liver from the supermarket. Ming commented that it was unfresh, but it will do for my blood test.

I don't feel disgusted, but all of this blood and carcass still turns me off. Even though I am wearing a pair of plastic gloves over my nanosuit, I still have the urge to put everything down and wash my hands after sterilizing the suit.

When the concoction was done, I mixed in a vial of my blood, before pouring them out on a fiber piece made from rat skin, flower stamen, tissue and some other household chemicals. The fluid turned into a brownish green. I don't understand what happened, but this observation was enough for Ming to assess what we need to know.

"Your bloodline indicates that you are very likely to have diabetes, high blood pressure, Alzheimer, liver cancer, large intestine cancer, cataract and other minor ailments when you grow older. You also possess recessive genes that might give your children allergies. Nothing unusual, we'll iron these out first, as well as improving your immune system and metabolism before we start on proper enhancements."

You can remove recessive genes?

"It's one of the oldest techniques our family developed in an attempt to…cure themselves. It didn't work, but they realized that the technique can prevent undesirable traits from being present in their children, so the technique stayed in use when someone married into the family."

I know what ailment the Blood Clan was trying to cure. The Sky Demon Curse, they called it. After being polluted by alien blood, children born from their bloodline will only possess a single emotion. Void and his brothers were victims of this curse, but Ming clearly isn't. Is he from a branch family? Blood Clan and Steel Heart must be really big if they had "wars" instead of "conflicts", and they seemed to spread around the world too.

Food for thought, but it doesn't matter.

"I'm going to teach you how to-" Ming's voice was interrupted by a series of knockings on my door.

"Give me a minute!" I shouted. I'm not going to open the door with my hand covered in innards.

I took off the gloves and threw them into the bio waste disposal bin before my nanosuit sterilized the surface around my arms. Only then did I move to open the door. I was expecting Lisa or Dinah, so it came as a surprise to see Taylor standing outside my lab.

"Taylor? What's wrong?"

"Are you free for a spar right now?" She asked, "I want to get some more practice with my new suit before the operation tomorrow."

"You should accept her request, Adam." Ming suddenly said before I could voice my rejection, "Cooping up in the lab all day isn't good for your mind. You'll work better after working off some steam."

"Yeah, sure." I unconsciously replied to Taylor, before realizing the absurdity of Ming telling me to stop working.

Why would he do that? I thought he wanted me to take revenge on Void as soon as possible? Why would he agree to waste my time in a meaningless fight instead of preparing to fight Void?

I didn't have much time to think about it as we left the factory, and came to a small park with a playground and basketball court. Some children were playing there, and I could see murals and spray paint on the wall and playground equipment.

Wait, is that a mural of me?

I squinted and confirmed that yes, the murals on the walls are indeed of me. My cape costume, anyway, with our team logo and team members.

Kind of embarrassing to see a painting of myself out in the open like that.

Taylor put on the driver around her waist, while the nanosuit disengaged its camouflage on me.

"How do you want to do this?" I asked, "Anything you want to practice? Or just a pure fight between us?"

"I want to practice my hand to hand skills." She responded. "So no special abilities. Just the suit and yourself."

"Sure." I do need some practice myself.

Inspira Tinker A!

Bang Bang Tactical!

Both of us transformed into our Rider form, before immediately activating stage select and transporting us into the same empty school that we fought Kuroto in.

True to her word, Taylor didn't summon her Bugster Soldiers and came at me with a telegraphed punch. I raised my hand to block it before throwing an uppercut myself.

We fought, exchanging blows with each other. I never really fought like this before. I have always been a 'good boy' back home, never involving myself in any physical fights to avoid leaving a stain on my record. Closest thing I ever had to a physical fight are pillow fights, and even then I had to be careful to not actually land a punch.

It's exciting, in a way. It felt rewarding when Taylor's first flew past my body by a hair's breadth. It feels exhilarating when my punches are pushing Taylor back. The pumping of my blood, the adrenaline high.

No exercise can ever come close to the joy of violence.

I stomped my leg between hers before hooking my knee around and pushed her down. I brought down my fist, and Taylor caught it with her hand. She swung her weight and pushed back, attempting to straddle me, but I activated my thrusters and reoriented myself mid air and broke contact.

"I said…no special abilities, Adam." Taylor scolded while letting out haggard breaths.

"You said suit only," I said back, "This is part of my suit."

She stood up and threw a punch. As usual, I dodged by turning to my side, but this time with added momentum from thrusters to boost my arm to launch a backhand slap on her.

"What do you want to do after catching the Bastion, Adam?" Taylor suddenly asked as she jumped with her knee arched to attempt a knee strike. I brought both my hands together to block it as I processed her question.

"Keep Brockton Bay safe, then expand around." I replied. "Make the entire world safer, one city at a time, probably."

"What about the PRT?" I raised my hand into a guard to block her jabs, which she then immediately followed up with a knee strike again.

I opened my arms and locked my fingers around her back, grabbing her by the waist and pushing forward. "Try to be friendly, probably."

"Really?"

"Yes."

She brought her fist together and stomped on my back several times before I finally let go of my grapple. That hurts.

My body is aching all over, actually. Both of us are fighting with near equal strength. My nanosuit might be statistically better, but not by much compared to Kamen Rider suits. Taylor's punches can, and did hurt me.

But so did I. We'll probably walk out of this spar with some bruises later.

Taylor turned her hand around as we circled each other. "You said you'll trust me more, Adam. What do you plan to do with the PRT?"

I pondered on how to reply, before deciding to tell the truth. "Honestly, I don't know."

My end goal is, and always will be, world peace. Scion is the looming apocalypse that I must solve, but taking care of Scion doesn't mean the world is automatically fixed. The current state of the world is just shit, thanks to Cauldron's sheer incompetence.

"I don't really care about the PRT or Protectorate. They're like minor roadblocks." I said, "If they block my road, I'll just take a detour. They can't stop me anyway."

Do I want to destroy the PRT? Do I want to destroy the Protectorate? No. As corrupt, incompetent and sabotaged as they are, these two organizations still served an irreplaceable purpose to the United States. Parahumans are volatile and uncontrollable elements, with trigger events ranging from personal existential crisis to town destroying force of nature. Even without taking capes into account, the world needs an organization to handle these events and run damage control. That is undeniable.

"You think the PRT will stop you from catching villains?" Taylor asked while throwing jabs and uppercuts.

I caught both her hands and threw a headbutt against her before answering. "I know they will."

"What about other things? Like the Endbringers?"

"Do my best, I guess. If we can't defeat them, I think we should at least try to save as many people as possible."

Taylor ducked to dodge my swing. "I see."

"Let's stop the spar here." Taylor said and I stopped my punch. "I have stuff to do with my friends later."

"Sure." We both deactivated our transformation and came back to the empty basketball court. "Have fun."

"I didn't want to distract you just now, but you need to practice more." Ming suddenly spoke. "It's fortunate that you can rely on your advanced technology. If you have anything less, The Void would have made quick work of you, even if he was alone."

I know I suck at actually fighting.

"Let's go." Taylor pointed a thumb at the road, and I understood her gesture. She left the basketball court and walked towards the factory, walking at a leisurely pace with me following by her side.

"It's been a week since Ning became your new ghost, right? What did you learn?"

"Biology, first aid, regular doctor stuff." I shrugged. "No tinkertech for me to build though."

"That's weird." Taylor said with a frown, "So it's just a coincidence your power summoned two tinkers in a row before?"

"Maybe. Maybe I'll learn more about my power in the future, when I have more ghosts to work with."

"Yeah." Taylor nodded, "You visited Rachel's shelter, right? How is she?"

"Same as usual, taking care of the dogs and as rude as ever."

"Huh." Was all she replied, and it was only after a period of silence that she asked, "Do you think Dad will let us adopt a dog?"

"I don't think Rachel will let you adopt a dog if you want one just for fun." I said blatantly. "A pet isn't just something you keep in a house to routinely feed and clean. It's a responsibility, and we're all pretty busy."

"Hmm." Taylor nodded in agreement. "There's something I've been wanting to ask."

"What is it?"

"How did you notice Coil?" She asked, "Most people think of ABB and the Empire when you talk about Brockton Bay. Coil was a pretty small name, most people who weren't into cape culture had never even heard of him. How did you notice him?"

"I did a quick research before I moved into your house." The lie came as easily as breathing, "Coil struck me as too suspicious. A group of well trained mercenaries with tinkertech, but no known income source? No drugs, no protection rackets, no kidnappings, just a group of mercs patrolling his part of the city. How is he paying them? It stood out, so I looked deeper. You know the rest."

"Huh, I guess that makes sense when you look at it like that." Taylor turned thoughtful at my answer, "I never really think about how villains need to make money too."

And here we are, back at the factory.

"See you later, Taylor." I bid her farewell as I returned to my lab.

"Bye, Adam. See you at dinner!"
-
29 April 2011

The burette dispensed the clear liquid drop by drop into the vial, and I watched in equal parts of boredom and fascination.

It's like watching paint dry. It's so boring, but if you're the one doing the painting, there's bound to be some fascination inside you to see your own work be completed by time itself while you do nothing. Equal parts of boredom and fascination, see?

Are there any interesting things you can tell about me from your world, Ming?

"Hmm, does the military employ any robotics in their equipment list?"

We do, but it only began around the 2000s. Heard some stuff about bomb defusal robots or scouts, but that's about it.

"When I worked in the army, the most common vehicle they used was the spider mech. It's essentially a tank, but with lighter armor and four legs instead of threads. It excels in multi-terrain combat, and was a popular vehicle for the military."

Sounds pretty cool. I can see the appeal of it, but I think the military here would have trouble dealing with movement coordination. Legs have always been one of the most complicated things to design when making robots, so we just use wheels instead. It's always easier and far more stable than legs.

"It was designed by a nine year old when it first came out."

Really? Wow.

I know who Ming was talking about. Sally, the Number 9 adventurer within World Adventurer Union, and nicknamed "Machine Ace". Considering that she was only a little girl with nothing but her machines, it was impressive she managed to climb all the way to Number 9. A true example of brain before brawn.

"Yes, indeed. She was hailed a genius of her own, with a bright future ahead. Everyone wants to get her designs, so she secluded herself into some corner in the world. Last I heard, there was only one person that was better than her in robotics. The last surviving member of the Steel Heart, apparently. He's even more of a genius than Sally."

What did he make that made you say that?

"Similar to the Blood Clan, Steel Heart tried to enhance their bodies with their techniques and technologies. But no matter how many prosthetics they install and bones they replace, it doesn't remove the fact that they are still flesh at their core. They need a brain to carry their soul, but no machinery could ever have that function. Or so everyone thought."

I guess this guy managed to do it? Transfer his soul into a machine?

"No, he transferred his wife's soul into a machine. She had an incurable disease, you see, and Blood Clan and Steel Heart's feud were already going on for centuries by then. Out of love, he accomplished what Steel Heart desired and failed for thousands of years. But it was all futile in the end."

"Trapped inside cold metal, his wife could feel nothing. She could not feel any warmth, could not smell any fragrance, could not eat any food. It eventually drove her insane, and killed herself before the man could produce a body that provides human sensation. She could have passed in peace and sanity, yet it was exactly what saved her that killed her. A cautionary tale of hubris, indeed."

True.

The guy Ming was talking about is Brighton, nicknamed "Automation King". His story is tragic, but avoidable. Why didn't he put his wife's soul into stasis first? Hitler did that, putting his soul in a capsule and carried by his followers until it was time for his resurrection.

Guess I'll never know.

By now, the burette has dispensed all the fluid. I took the vial and brought it up for a closer look. This is what will turn me from regular human to peak human, before I turn myself into beyond human.

"Just drink it. You don't need syringes or anything, this is an ingestive solution."

I know.

"Bottoms up." I muttered to myself before chugging the retrovirus down, and felt…

Nothing. It's like I was drinking sugar water.

"You're not going to feel the effects immediately. In fact, you might not notice it at all unless you specifically look for it. It will take weeks to show the full effect."

Cool.

I glanced at the clock in my lab. Seven in the evening. I have time for dinner before we attack the Bastion. Skipping meals to study from Ming has rendered me positively starving, and I'm going to have a higher calorie intake after chugging the retrovirus. It might be a placebo effect, but I'm feeling even hungrier than before.

I was just stepping out of my lab when the factory suddenly activated the red lights and entered emergency mode, but no alarms rang out. That only means one thing.

"Boss, the PRT and Protectorate are approaching the factory. They're coming in hot with 3 vans of troopers." H.E.R.M.E.S so helpfully supplied, "Armsmaster is faster. He's coming here in advance."

Just like H.E.R.M.E.S said, I can already hear the Armscycle's loud engine noise right outside my factory door.

"Adam Danvers! Come out and surrender immediately! You are under arrest for abuse of illegal tinkertech and violation of privacy!"

Fuck.

JVR · Jan 22, 2024

Well, "Get Bent!" seems a reasonable response here...

KelsierVin · Jan 22, 2024

That's not going to end well for the PRT 😬

JohnDoe22 · Jan 23, 2024

I don't think this will work out as the PRT will think it will....

Southern Cross · Jan 23, 2024

Probably because we have a better idea of the MC's actual capabilities...

DISCOBOT · Mar 24, 2024

Daniel Hebert, hiring manager of Brockton Bay Dockworkers Association, guardian of two rising superheroes, gulped. Sweat gradually formed across his forehead, and he wiped it away with his hand once again.

"It's going to be alright, Adam." Somewhere in his mind, he noted that this is the third time he repeated this sentence ever since he sat inside this interrogation room, waiting for their lawyer to arrive.

"I know." Adam threw his head back while rocking his chair, "You're more nervous than I am."

"...I know."

How could he not be nervous? Especially when the accusations PRT raised against Adam were true? Violation of privacy is exactly what Adam has been doing ever since he got his powers. It's what allowed him his decisive victory against the gangs and cemented his position as one of the best heroes in the entire nation. He had people thanking him, or wanting him to pass their thanks to Adam everyday when he was at work. He received gifts almost everyday, from all kinds of people trying to thank Adam.

Thanking Adam for kicking the Nazis out of their neighborhood. Thanking Adam for dismantling the brothels. Thanking Adam for exposing Medhall. Thanking Adam for making the city safer, for giving them hope.

Despite telling his nephew all of this, those expressions of gratitude never seemed to reach Adam. He got the impression that destroying the ABB and Empire meant nothing to Adam, because he didn't celebrate what should be a historic success. He just kept tinkering, and planning, and tinkering, and never seemed to stop working despite the peace he brought to Brockton Bay.

It only clicked for him when he heard about Adam's outburst after Lung's rampage. In Adam's mind, the gangs were never the problem. Instead, the PRT is the problem to him. It goes deeper than Taylor's general distrust of the government(which he agrees with), and something else entirely. It was focused entirely on the PRT and Protectorate, as far as he could tell. He accepted that other government bodies like police stations and municipal offices need to stay even if they are corrupt, but refused to tolerate the PRT entirely.

He doesn't understand. It's like he's lacking some crucial information in Adam's decision making, but he wasn't brave enough to ask. He's afraid. Afraid to break the budding and fragile relationship they had between them.

The opening door finally breaks their tense silence. To his surprise, Armsmaster and Velocity stepped into the interrogation room and sat in front of them, while Veronica, the lawyer he called for help, sat beside him.

"I'm the Protectorate hero Armsmaster, accompanied by Protectorate hero Velocity in today's questioning of independent cape Nameless TInker D, real name Adam Danvers." Armsmaster stated like he was reading off a script, "You may introduce yourself before we begin."

"My name is Veronica Hayes, Adam Danver's defense lawyer."

After a moment to recollect his composure, he announced, "My name is Daniel Hebert, Adam Danver's guardian."

"My name is Adam Danvers." Adam said blandly, "Please hurry up."

To his confusion, Velocity asked a question that doesn't seem to be relevant to the accusations at all. "Hey Adam, do you remember me?"

"I do."

"On the 26th of March, the PRT had a Ward Meet and Greet event at Greenhills Shopping Malls. Taylor Herbert brought you to the event, and you talked to Velocity. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

26th of March…he remembers that day. He remembered when Adam acted like a regular kid his age, babbling excitedly about meeting heroes. He realized Adam bought tinker materials when he revisited the memory, but he never realized just how different the Adam back then and the Adam sitting beside him are.

Was he acting the entire time? And only dropped the act when he was outed?

"At that event, Taylor Herbert went to get Clockblocker's signature while you lined up to take photos with Velocity. There, you told him about how Taylor Herbert was bullied at Winslow, and specifically listed out the names of her three main bullies which are now exposed and sentenced. How did you learn about the bullying?"

Adam…what?

That doesn't make any sense. Adam came to their house only one day prior. If Taylor wasn't willing to tell him, her father, about the bullies, there's no way she would tell a cousin that she barely knows. And why did Adam tell Velocity? Even though he doesn't trust the heroes at all?

Adam simply replied, "I refuse to answer this question because I don't see how it matters to the case."

"My client is correct." Veronica stepped in, "You still haven't stated why the PRT are charging Adam with violations of privacy. We shouldn't answer anything until they let us know why we are here."

"I assure you, this question is relevant to our charges." Armsmaster answered Veronica and turned to Adam again. "Answer the question."

Adam didn't reply immediately, instead tapping his finger against the table as he stewed in his thoughts.

"I investigated the Herbert family before I moved in."

That came as a surprise, but it was a reasonable move on second thought, he told himself. Adam just lost his parents, and was told he will live with relatives he never met. If he has the power to learn about his new family, he absolutely should.

But the revelation that Adam knew about the bullying? And took action to stop it? Right under their nose?

And he never told them?

The boy sitting beside him suddenly feels like a stranger. More of a stranger than they first met, even.

"Can you explain how you learned about the bullying and the names of the bullies specifically?" Armsmaster continued his questioning, but Danny wasn't sure if he wanted to keep listening.

"You don't have to answer that question." Veronica reminded Adam.

"It's fine. I started by investigating Uncle Danny's credit card history. I noticed a transaction with the hospital, which led me to learn about Taylor's hospitalization on her first day back to school. I dug deeper into Winslow's records and found out that the principle was protecting the bullies. I thought a Protectorate hero could do something about it."

"Why didn't you take this information to the police?"

"Because Uncle Danny tried and failed. The police won't help them."

"Credit card history, hospital patient information and school internal records, none of the above are public information, so do you admit to committing cyber crime, violation of privacy and data theft?"

"Yes." Adam admitted it with a swiftness that surprised him yet again. "But you can't do anything with it, can you? Not if you want the Wards to keep staying in this city."

"I would like to clarify that my client is not stating this is a threat to the Wards." Veronica immediately interrupted. She was starting to get nervous, and so did he. Why is Adam the calmest among them?

The Protectorate heroes kept silent, and his frustration with being kept out of the loop continues to grow. What the hell does Adam even mean by that? What does he mean that PRT can't do anything even though he just admitted to his crimes? What does the Wards have anything to-

The pieces suddenly clicked. The incident where Taylor lost Annette's flute left a very deep impression on him, mainly because it was from Annette and one of the highlighted incidents. It felt like a miracle dropped into their lap when the court delivered justice for Taylor with such speed and efficiency. A miracle that arrived just as Adam came into their home.

Adam knew about the truth. He knew the PRT was involved.

He knew the Wards were involved.

Justice didn't arrive. PRT was just wiping their asses.

Adam's distrust towards the PRT made a lot more sense now.

He made up his mind then, no matter how much Adam is lying, he'll help him against the PRT.

Fuck these braindead shitfucks that can't even-

"Do you have anything you would like to say, Mr Hebert?" Velocity called out, and he brought his focus back into the room.

"Nothing."

"How did you discover the identities of Empire Eighty-Eight capes?" Armsmaster skipped over the previous topic so shamelessly that he wants to stand up and punch that blank expression off his face.

"I just monitored where they came out from and who entered before. It's just simple elimination. I believe the PRT knew their identities for a long time, but didn't act because you cannot allow a power vacuum. Better a living parasite that keeps chewing than a gaping hole in the flesh, right?"

"But you revealed their identities unprovoked. The Unwritten Rules-"

"Are totally useless, there's no actual law supporting it, right? Miss Hayes?"

"My client is correct." She nodded, "The Unwritten Rule, as its name suggests, is unwritten and has no power in a court case. You cannot sue my client because he broke an informal rule that wasn't passed by the state or the Congress."

"We noticed that Medhall has lost nearly all of its liquid funds from their accounts during the investigation. Do you know what happened to that money?"

Adam stayed silent, but everyone here knew the answer to that question.

"Very well." Armsmaster ignored the silence and kept going. "How did you learn about the infidelity happening between Mark Pelham and Carol Dallon? I doubt they left electronic or digital evidence behind."

"I have a Thinker on my team. Her power told her it happened, and she told me. Simple as that."

"You're right. Let's talk about Lisa Wilbourn, but we should refer to her by her real name, Sarah Livsey. Are you aware that she is a runaway turned villain?"

"I am aware. I am also aware that her parents are extremely emotionally abusive, to the point that her brother committed suicide, which prompted her to run away. She is a very independent and capable woman, and I respect her decision to stay that way."

That was news to him. He knew that the Undersiders were small-time villains, but he never got the impression that any of them were bad kids. Rebellious, maybe, but they were just working for money.

It struck him that every cape went through a trigger event. Something just as terrible as Taylor's locker. It happened to Adam, to Brian, to Lisa, to Alec, to Rachel.

They are all just kids, how did this happen to them?

"Sarah Livsey is just an egomaniac drunk on her power." Armsmaster stated briskly. "She has committed countless cases of data theft and invasion of privacy while working for Coil, and we have reason to assume that she is doing the same under your orders."

"Where's the evidence?" Veronica shot back, "You said you're arresting my client for violation of privacy, but none of your questioning so far is related to that charge, outside of the thing with the school which you don't seem willing to talk about. We can sue you for harassment and defamation if you keep this up."

In response, Armsmaster placed a tablet on the video and began playing a video. He recognized the person in the video

It was Zoe Barnes.

"I can't believe this." She whispered, seemingly at the verge of tears, "But I need to do something. I have to."

The camera shaked and moved around, and he realized that this was shot on a phone as Zoe brought it into the living room with the camera still recording and casually placed it on a table, with the video now showing her open window. She walked away for a few seconds before returning and placed an intricate set of goggles right in front of the phone.

Outside the window, Adam's drone shone brightly in red against the dark blue background.

Danny closed his eyes and leaned back against his chair.

He wants to shout. He wants to flip the table and question Adam himself, right here and now. As much as his friendship with the Barnes has broken, he wasn't so vengeful that he would wish for something unfortunate to happen to them. What Adam did is over the line.

"This video is taken by Zoe Barnes, within her own home." Armsmaster took the tablet away and stated. "We know her daughter, Emma Barnes, has severely bullied your partner, Taylor Herbert. Is this an act of retaliation? Or an act of paranoia?"

Adam did not answer, and idly tapped his fingers against the table. Veronica shot him a look of confusion, asking for direction to help her client, but he has no idea where to go with this. What can Veronica even do? This seemed like very decisive evidence. Will they fight in court to keep Adam out of the Wards? How long will that take? Will they even have a chance to come out on top.

As he stewed in his thoughts, Adam finally spoke.

"124 Jameson Street, in Downtown. The Hammond Apartment Complex."

Armsmaster stood up and slammed his fist against the table, the sudden bang gave him a jump.

"You dare?!" Armsmaster roared in rage, "Do you even understand the consequences? You can be sentenced to Birdcage for this, Adam Danvers!"

The mere mention of Birdcage was enough to drown him in shock and panic. It was a place exclusively reserved for the worst of villains. Mass murderers, terrorists, the like.

What the fuck does that address even mean to warrant that reaction, Adam?!

Adam took his glasses off and casually wiped it with his shirt without even giving Armsmaster a glance. "Can you defeat and capture Lung on your own, sir?"

The air was tense. Even with his helmet on, Danny could still feel the anger that Armsmaster was exuding. Velocity no longer maintained his polite smile, instead looking at Adam with hostility. They both seemed ready to jump at Adam at any moment.

Adam brought his glasses up for another look before putting it back on again. "You can't. The entire Protectorate mobilized can't, so what makes you think you can arrest me if I refuse to be arrested?"

"You're already arrested." Armsmaster retorted. "Your drones won't be able to break you out. Your team doesn't have the capacity to do it, if they are even loyal enough to fight the Protectorate to break you out. Your threats are meaningless."

"Hmm, sure. Let's go with that." Adam pushed his chair back and placed his feet on the table, a display of sheer disrespect. A silvery sheen of metal flowed out of his necklaces and around his neck, moving around like a body of water.

His nanosuit.

There was a sense of vertigo, and he was standing behind Velocity along with Veronica as Armsaster flipped the table and brandished his halbert. "Deactivate your tinkertech immediately!"

"I didn't even do anything and the first thing you do is to take hostages?" Adam tilted his head and casually asked as he pulled the table back up. "Not surprised, to be honest." He said as he sat back down in the same position again. "Think twice before attacking me. You might lose, Wally."

"Even if you defeated us and escaped, it's meaningless." Armsmaster held his halberd forward. "You will be labeled a villain. The Triumvirate will come after you. Any goodwill you have will be gone in a night. You will lose everything you have right now!"

Adam scratched his head in annoyance and sighed. "Legend is a little tricky, but I know his weaknesses. Alexandria isn't that hard to defeat. Eidolon is kinda stupid, so I can work around him with prep time. The Triumvirate can't do shit to me, Armsmaster, try again."

"You're arrogant." He rebuffed, "Just like every other villain who thinks they have the strongest power, the special one, only to be defeated and captured by the Protectorate. You're nothing special, Adam. You're just a twelve years old boy high on fame and power! Surrender and deactivate your tinkertech immediately!"

"This suit is formed with nanotechnology, you know?" Adam raised his arm up to show off the silvery fluid flowing around his hand, before solidifying into a red and golden metal glove. "Don't you want it?"

"This is your final warning! Surrender and deactivate your tinkertech immediately!"

The nanosuit slowly retracted into his necklace, and Adam sighed. "Let's be real. You were never in control of anything, and you probably never will be. Can you just let me go? Or do you want me to break myself out?"

"The Protectorate will not surrender to a child like you!"

"You compromised to let ABB keep running their slave brothels," Adam raised a finger and counted, "You compromised to let the Empire survive and run a billion dollar business," another finger, "You compromised to let Shadow Stalker happen," another finger, "All your compromises led to me happening. I am the result of your compromises and incompetence, Armsmaster. You, solely, are responsible for all of this."

"Look, Adam." Velocity spoke out, "Let's just calm down, okay. We can talk this out."

"Velocity!"

He ignored Armsmaster and continued, "The director has agreed to release you." What? "But there's a condition."

"What is it?"

"Alexandria would like to speak with you."

Author's note: Phew! Finally got this out. I have been very busy these past few months, and this chapter went through a lot of rewrites. I realized that if I ever have trouble writing a chapter, all I need to do is just switch it into an interlude and the words will flow freely. It's hard to write tension from Adam's PoV because he's always, in his own PoV, in control. It would take a sudden Simurgh attack or S9 to make him feel threatened. Anyway, here's the chapter, thank you for reading it.

JVR · Mar 25, 2024

Someone really wants to ask him about his OOC knowledge.

Tisaku · Mar 25, 2024

DISCOBOT said:
Nameless TInker D, real name

Tinker

I have a Plan (Worm/Tinker of Fiction)

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