Invaders create Avengers [An MCU Quest]
- Thread starter K1ng
- Start date
- Sci-Fi Modern
kelgar04
Knight Watcher
- Location
- Here and no were
[X] Use the machines to enhance your connection to Extremis. You want no part of this world Killian is creating, but you need its power now. You can almost match a fully realised Extremis user as you are, with some tweaking, maybe you could go beyond…
- Location
- Philippines
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Use the machines to enhance your connection to Extremis. You want no part of this world Killian is creating, but you need its power now. You can almost match a fully realised Extremis user as you are, with some tweaking, maybe you could go beyond…
VE12
Would you kindly?
- Location
- Deep down bellow the sea
[X] Use the machines to enhance your connection to Extremis. You want no part of this world Killian is creating, but you need its power now. You can almost match a fully realised Extremis user as you are, with some tweaking, maybe you could go beyond…
- Location
- Iowa, United States
- Pronouns
- Him, His, He
[X] Use the machines to enhance your connection to Extremis. You want no part of this world Killian is creating, but you need its power now. You can almost match a fully realized Extremis user as you are, with some tweaking, maybe you could go beyond…
[X] Use the machines to boost the connection to your powers. Your powers have changed. They've become narrower, more focused, but no weaker for it. With some practise, who knows what your new limits are…
- Location
- The Void
[X] Use the machines to boost the connection to your powers. Your powers have changed. They've become narrower, more focused, but no weaker for it. With some practise, who knows what your new limits are…
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
Current votes on both forums:
- Spacebattles: 13 for power, 4 for extremis
- Sufficient Velocity: 8 for power, 6 for Extremis
Total: 21 for Power, 10 for Extremis
- Spacebattles: 13 for power, 4 for extremis
- Sufficient Velocity: 8 for power, 6 for Extremis
Total: 21 for Power, 10 for Extremis
- Location
- Depends on how much of a troll Zelretch is today!
[X] Use the machines to boost the connection to your powers. Your powers have changed. They've become narrower, more focused, but no weaker for it. With some practise, who knows what your new limits are…
K1ng
Reader of The Book of Vile Darkness
- Location
- Australia
Okay, slightly less then 24 hours later what are we at...
Winner is Power Boosting. Next chapter you'll start to plan your escape and what you're doing in the meantime.
See you all soon.
[] Use the machines to boost the connection to your powers. Your powers have changed. They've become narrower, more focused, but no weaker for it. With some practise, who knows what your new limits are… - 25
[] Use the machines to enhance your connection to Extremis. You want no part of this world Killian is creating, but you need its power now. You can almost match a fully realised Extremis user as you are, with some tweaking, maybe you could go beyond… - 13
[] Use the machines to enhance your connection to Extremis. You want no part of this world Killian is creating, but you need its power now. You can almost match a fully realised Extremis user as you are, with some tweaking, maybe you could go beyond… - 13
Winner is Power Boosting. Next chapter you'll start to plan your escape and what you're doing in the meantime.
See you all soon.
- Location
- Domino City
Well, the power boost is good, but I'm not as happy about the range malus.
Hopefully we'll get to switch between long/diffuse and short/focused modes later down the line.
Hopefully we'll get to switch between long/diffuse and short/focused modes later down the line.
Iron Man 3 - 6
K1ng
Reader of The Book of Vile Darkness
- Location
- Australia
47 Hours until misfire.
It turns out this little prison room was also one of Maya Hansen's labs. So, while they didn't have everything you needed on hand, they had enough for you to get started.
Sitting at a small table next where you'd been restrained, you reached over and grabbed a muffin off a plate. Your eyes on a laptop screen, you brought the muffin over and took a bite. Hmm, chocolate chip.
One of Killian's goons had brought them both in about ten minutes ago.
He'd also said that while the samples would take a few hours to get but you'd have plenty to read in the meantime.
The laptop had no internet (they'd actually taken out the network card, the bastards) along with no programs apart from a word reader and a video player. So there went the easy way out of letting Tony where you were.
You could still brute-force it into a communicator if you really wanted to, but you'd have to cannibalize the laptop to do so, which would be really freaking obvious. You glanced at the corner near the door. It hadn't taken you long to find the camera, though without your senses, there was most likely an extra one or two that you couldn't see somewhere else in the room. So, for now, brute forcing the laptop was off the table, at least until you'd gone through everything.
Though speaking of what you'd found… after going through the laptop you'd found thousands of documents and almost a hundred videos, all about Extremis, going back over a decade. It would take you more than two days to get through all this. Though while you were scrolling through, there was one entry you found that caught your eye.
Thankfully, you had the creator of the serum in the same room as you.
Picking up the laptop, and another muffin while you were at it, you stood up and moved towards Hansen. Taking a bite, you smiled as you tasted pure chocolatey goodness. They had been cold when they were brought in, and while you may have hated what horrors had come from Extremis, you were in no position to turn down any power you could get your hands on. And from what you'd seen so far of Extremis – control was power.
You had burnt the first one to ash. The second was mildly singed, and the third had scorched the root of your mouth, but was edible.
Using Extremis to heat muffins was a less exciting method of testing out your newly acquired ability to make fireballs, but this was the best you could do without setting off the people watching on the camera's. You resisted the urge to wink at said camera. Just because you couldn't see them didn't mean they weren't there. You had no illusions about how a fight against another Extremis user would go. At least without your armour.
Which is why you would focus on using what had already beaten Extremis before.
You had won. Your armour – your tech had beat Savin. It had beat the best Extremis had to offer. You just weren't willing to go all the way. But after seeing that look in Killian's eye…
"And how many have died for the sake of your progress?"
"Enough."
Now? Honestly, you weren't sure what you would do if you had the chance again.
No. Not if. Would.
You would get out of here.
These machines amplified your powers. They helped regulate Extremis. Either one could get you out of here, if taken to its natural conclusion. Extremis would be more immediately useful, but you couldn't trust it, not after watching Taggart die. No… you'd take the power that had you've used for months over the one you've had for fifteen minutes.
So, you'd practise. First with the laptop then with whatever samples they brought in. You froze as a wave of heat spread up your arm. You let out a breath as the surge dissipated. That was the other problem. You couldn't lead Killian on. You needed what he was offering to cure yourself so even if the supplies he brought in was enough for you to make a new suit, you'd have to hold off until you had a cure that you could take.
Still, you were getting ahead of yourself. Those supplies wouldn't be here for hours yet, so you should focus on doing the reading.
Hansen didn't say a word as you came up the stairs, though to be fair, she hadn't spoken since Killian left the room. Pulling up the chair, you set down the laptop.
Hansen doesn't respond at all, her gaze still riveted on the screen. Taking a quick look, you saw it was some kind of simulation involving a bunch of different coloured dots entering a human body.
You snapped your fingers in front of the screen.
Hansen blinked. "Oh, hi."
"Hey," you said back. Bringing your hand back, you took the opportunity to tap your finger on the monitor. It was a lot easier to reach out a second time.
Thousands of numbers bombarded you for a second before your power made sense of it all. It was a simulation of different concentrations of machines – the same one's circulating through your body in fact – trying to manage variant doses of Extremis.
With your powers you could see where each were heading. Explosions, every one of them. All with over a thousand machines. In each case, two machines would overlap at some point and disrupt each other, causing uncontrolled heat surges, and eventually – cascading failure.
And yet, you had over ten thousand and no overlaps.
Guess you had your power to thank for that.
"Do you need something?" Hansen asked.
You nodded. "Yeah." You opened the laptop and gestured to the screen, currently displaying the unsorted thousand plus files. "I have a couple of questions."
She turned away from the screen. "What do you want to know?"
"Well…" You clicked on a file, bringing up a familiar blueprint. By now, you could probably draw it with your eyes closed. "How about we start with this?"
On the screen, an image of a tiny machine, a nanite, stared back at you.
45 Hours until misfire.
"So, the nanites controls the changes Extremis does to the body?" You asked, mostly for clarification. By now you had a pretty good idea. After you got Hansen to start talking, she didn't stop. Over the past few hours, you had gotten a very thorough groundwork on the history of Extremis.
You now knew exactly what was in your body.
"Yes," Hansen brought up short video on the laptop. "Originally, I tried implementing the chances through Extremis alone, but it was… messy."
"I can imagine," you said. At that exact moment, one of the plants downstairs decided to explode. You ignored it. After the second explosion, you were used to it. The damn thing would regenerate in a minute anyway. "But how did that lead to the nanites?"
"Well, that was Killian's idea." Hansen admitted. "I couldn't get Extremis to alter the body with the new code without diluting it to the point where it was basically worthless."
New code? You made a mental note "So, you split the process. Extremis to change the body…" You said.
"And the nanites to regulate it. Yes." Hansen finished. "It was supposed to be a stop-gap until I could perfect integration with the serum alone… but it worked so well that we just kept it in."
And thank Thor for that. You would've been screwed if you didn't have the nanites to control Extremis directly. Your power could do a lot of things, but not alter your body without a machine cheat code like the nanites.
Hansen yawned. "Sorry, didn't get much sleep." She tabbed out of video, bringing back up the extensive Extremis library. "Anything else you want to go over?"
You shook your head. "I think I've got it. But I'm going to need to have a look at that code." Having a look at these things programming was basic sense. It'll give you an idea of how much you'll have to modify it. Plus, it'll tell you if it's possible for you to shut some of them off. Having around ten-thousand blips going off in your head every couple of seconds was starting to give you a headache.
"Sure." She brought up a new window. "Here."
"Thanks." You grabbed the edge of the monitor and adjusted it so it was directly facing you. As you grabbed hold, you reached out for the presence and made it yours. Your eyes twitched as while your gaze remained focused on the code, your senses scanned the fifty other classes connected to this one. You had been practising this new trick of yours every time you touched the laptop or Hansen's computer. It was getting easier to multitask with the machine while doing something else.
There was no internet connection on this computer either (you were starting to think Killian had trust issues) but Hansen did have a phone. At your current limit you could piggyback of a piece of tech for about ten minutes. So, your current plan was to touch the phone and get a message out.
Of course, if any of the equipment they brought in came with a wireless connection then there'd be no need for the phone. But you doubted you were that lucky.
As you continued to go over the code, something started to stick out at you. "Who wrote this?"
Hansen blinked. "Excuse me?"
"I mean, look at this." You pointed at what you were knew was the core programming for the nanites. "It's fantastic." Almost perfect even, in the same league as the code that made up JARVIS. You sure as shit couldn't make something this good, power or no. "And then there's this." You scrolled down. You were pretty sure you were looking at what controlled how the nanites distributed through the host body. "This is solid, but I think I can make it better." Well, not think. Know. Thanks power. Though you weren't saying that out loud.
And after comparing the two, you had a good idea of exactly what the new code was.
The look Hansen gave you reminded you of that time you saw two dogs fighting over a bloody steak that fell on the floor. "You can fix the glitches in the code."
"Well, yeah. I think so." You scratched under your chin. "I won't know for sure until I can see how compatible the nanites are with the code."
"You're not going to try modifying Extremis directly?"
"Maybe if I had a couple of months. But it's generally outside my area of expertise." You highlighted the code. "If I want to make any meaningful progress, the nanites will be the best way to go."
Hansen's smile was bittersweet.
"You alright?"
She nodded. "…I'm fine. I just-"
Whatever she was about to say died in her mouth as the metal door slammed open with a screech.
"Hey Dr. Hansen," a middle-aged man wearing a cheat suit walked inside. He waved a clipboard in the air. "We got everything the boy wonder requested, where do you want it?"
Boy wonder? That was a new one. You moved down the stairs and snatched the clipboard out of his hands. "Gimme that," your gaze on the clipboard, you pointed over to where the table was. It was the most open spot in the room, and you'd need the space. "Put the parts over there, keep the samples separate."
He looked at Hansen and let out a sigh after she nodded. "Alright, I'll bring it in." He pushed the door further open and three more people came in, moving crates secured in moving equipment wrapped in plastic and rope.
You stepped back and let them go past you while you looked down the sheet. Everything seemed to be in order, except you noticed a distinct lack of certain alien materials. "Where's the Chitauri samples?"
The moving guy shrugged. "That ain't coming around till tomorrow morning, kid."
Your fingers twitched. Shit. Smoothing your face over, you nodded. "Fine." Not like you could do anything about it. At least you would have plenty to work with in the meantime.
"I thought you were going to focus in the code?" Hansen asked from behind you.
"I am." You said. "But if I can't get it to work then the Chitauri tech will be a good backup plan." Also having a selection of Chitauri tech in the room will significantly expand your options. But you weren't going to say that part out loud.
"Anyway," the moving guy said. "Everything else you need should be there. Knock on the door if you need anything else. The boss said to give you everything you need."
You handed back the clipboard. "Alright. Let's get to work."
43 Hours until misfire.
Some of your nanites were different.
You didn't notice before, but now that you had a range of active samples to compare it to, you parsed through your own nanites and sensed that about a third were different from the rest. Their performance was identical, but their composition was, quite literally, alien.
Chitauri.
You didn't believe it at first. But after testing near a dozen times, you were sure.
You had Chitauri nanites.
How the fuck did you get Chitauri nanites inside your body! The only time you've been in contact with Chitauri tech recently was when you were adding it into your armour, and if you believed Killian and Hansen, it had melted… into… scrap.
…
Oh.
Ohhhhhhh.
So that was why you were naked.
42.5 Hours until Misfire
"Fair warning," Hansen said, eyes on her own computer screen. "But if you break out into a fit of maniacal laughter again, I'm going to taze you."
You stopped typing. "Hey, that was a one-time thing." You turned to look at her. "And maniacal? That's harsh."
Okay, so maybe after finding out exactly how you'd acquired so many nanites you'd gone a little mad scientist, but who could blame you? Each nanite was its own power source plus a core of materials. You couldn't remake your armour, you didn't have enough for that (you'd have to do the math on exactly how much of your armour you absorbed later), but you could re-create anything else in your arsenal. Plus, they still amplified your powers, so anything you did create would be a magnitude stronger. As soon as you had a cure ready, you could fight your way out of here. "Besides, I'm making a sci-fi serum in a basement, if I don't do an evil laugh every once in a while, is there even a point?"
Hansen snorted.
"Ah ha!" You pointed. "You do get it."
She rolled her eyes, exasperated. You seemed to bring that out in people.
The only sound for the next few minutes was the pressing of keyboard keys.
"…I'm still going to taze you."
39 Hours until Misfire
"Aaaaand done." Wiping your forehead, you hit enter and leaned back in your chair. Stretching out your arms, you cracked your fingers. After six hours of rewriting a couple thousand lines of code (not to mention the extra ten thousand or so you did with your power off-screen) your fingers felt like they were about to lock up and fall off.
It would take at s couple of minutes to compile. You knew it would work of course; it was mostly for Hansen's benefit. But you could continue with something more important in the meantime.
You brought up the specs for the nanites. After some trial and error of shutting down a couple at a time before a new batch moved in to fill the caps, you'd guess that each nanite covered a couple of centimetres. Now while that didn't sound like much, inside a human body that was huge. Now while the biology part wasn't part of your powers package, the original code from the nanite distribution gave you a good enough idea to do some power-assisted math.
After coming up with three different answers, you decided go with your most conservative guess. If you keep your nanite count around five thousand, you should have total cover from any heat surges. You'll keep it at six thousand to be sure, but if you don't see any change, then you should be fine to pull some more if you need it.
Still, that left you between four to five thousand of nanites to play with at any given time. That was nowhere near enough to rebuild your armour (your early estimates put that at around fifteen thousand) but it was more than enough to make two to three pieces of gear. All which would be amped up to eleven.
These nanites were stupidly easy to make as well, for you at least (thanks power). After you make a working cure you could break down all the computers and lab equipment for an extra couple thousand.
Assuming you had the time.
"How's it coming?" Hansen could be really quiet when she wanted to be.
You tabbed away from the nanite schematics. No need to give away your plans. "Good. The code's finished. After its compiled we can run it through a simulation. Actually, make that a couple of simulations." You amended. Can never be too careful with something you're going to inject yourself with. "How's the serum coming along?"
Early on you and Hansen decided to split the workload. You focused on the nanites, while she focused on Extremis itself. There wasn't much she could do to improve the serum itself; she had been perfecting the formula for over a decade, another twelve hours wasn't going to make much of a difference. But she could make multiple batches of the serum with her eyes closed while still answering any questions you might have had. And you did have quite a few. Your power solved the problem, it didn't always tell you how.
"They're all set." Hansen said. "When the nanites are ready they can go straight in."
"Fantastic." That was a load off your shoulders. The simulations would take a few hours and from what Hansen said putting the serum together would take most of the night but after that you're good to go.
Then you can fight your way out of here.
The computer pinged as the code finished compiling. The tightness in your shoulders loosened as 'No Errors' flashed across the screen. You already knew it would work, but it was nice to have confirmation.
Hansen smile was almost radiant. "You did it."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." You reminded. "We still need to run it through the simulation."
"Right… right." Hansen tried to look stern but the smile kept breaking though. "We should do that."
"Way ahead of you." You were already typing, loading the new code into the simulation program. As a new progress bar opened, you tiled your head back. "You're the expert with this software, how long is this going to take?"
"About an hour for each simulation."
So, five hours, and the actual making of the serum would likely take until the morning. You needed to be ready in case Killian decided the progress so far was good enough.
You're likely weren't getting much sleep tonight.
You'd trash the modified code as soon as they'd gone into the nanites. A nice fuck you should the worst happen. Even if Killian managed to kill you, he'd be back where he started. That was assuming you don't blow this whole place up on your way out.
Beneath your skin, Extremis hummed.
The sound of buzzing filled your ears. No, not the buzzing from the nanites. The buzzing of a phone on silent. You turned around just in time to watch Hansen fish her phone out of her pocket and read the contact name. The smile fell from her face and didn't come back as she pressed the phone to her ear. "Killian? Yes, he's holding up. We're making good progress. I think we might have a shot here." A pause. You shifted the chair slightly closer. "No, I can't leave. The serum still isn't finished, why?" Another pause. "…what happened?"
You couldn't hear a damn word Killian was saying, but whatever it was must have been bad as Hansen's expression slowly shifted into alarm. "That's impossible." Her eyes darted to you. "It wasn't him." She nodded. "I'm sure." Killian spoke again and you strained your ears and were able to pick up one word: Ascendency. Whatever it was meant something to Hansen, as her eyes widened in pure terror and she clutched her chest. "What? No! You can't!" There were a few seconds of silence, then a dial tone. Killian had hung up.
The phone slipped from boneless fingers.
It didn't touch the ground, but Hansen did. She collapsed, her legs giving out from under her. Both her hands covered her mouth, and her chest rose and fell in desperate gasps.
You hesitated, what where you supposed to do here? You didn't exactly have much experience with people having a panic attack and you had a feeling distracting her with a new tech idea wouldn't help her as much as it would with Tony.
Slowly, you put your hand out. When she didn't react you carefully and deliberately brought your arm forward until it was resting on her shoulder. Something to keep her grounded.
"Hey," you said soothingly. "It's alright. Everything's going to be okay."
"No." Her hands wiped her eyes. "No, it's not." Before you could say anything else, she shrugged off your arm and dashed towards the bathroom. The door slammed shut behind her, but the walls weren't thick enough to block the sound of her dry heaving.
What the hell did Killian say to her?
You looked down at your other hand. Enclosed in your fist was Hansen's phone. The call was recent enough for you to drag out the full recording. No noise came from the speakers but the entire call played in your head all the same.
And then he hung up.
The full call left you with more questions than answers. What was Tony doing in Tennessee? How did he find out about Extremis so quickly? What the hell was Project Ascendency? Exactly how many people was on this list Killian mentioned?
All good questions, and maybe you could get some answers. This phone had a network connection after all, and now, so did you.
The first thing you sensed where the cameras. Three. All wireless. Video, no audio. They covered most of the room, but there were several blind spots. You were temped to move to one of them and stay in it as often as possible but that would be somewhat obvious. No, as much as you'd prefer for Killian's goons not to have your eyes on you, you'd save the blind spot for when you really needed it.
But the cameras weren't what mattered now, it was the network they were connected to. Hansen wouldn't be in that bathroom forever so you'd have to be quick. As much as you'd like to answer every question you had you didn't have time for that. You'd focus on one thing, and make damn sure you found out everything about it that you could.
And there was no time like the present.
What do you focus your connection on?
[] Tony's in Tennessee? What the fuck? that makes it a bit harder to get into contact with him. But he's still connected to JARVIS, and you know where JARVIS is, he'll be able to pass along that you're alive and where you are. After all, JARVIS more than anyone else will understand you speaking with your power and not words.
[] Project Ascendency? You don't like that name. It sounds like the last-resort method that guys like Killian love to spring when all their carefully laid plans start collapsing around them. There must be a record here. If there is, you'll find it, along with everything else about this facility while you're at it.
[] As much as you'd like to help yourself with this opportunity, you can't. Skye is still out there. You don't trust that Killian really let her go. You need to find her, or hopefully – find out that Killian never had her in the first place. That video exists, and when you find it, you'll know just how real it is.
I was going to add in another scene, but these seems like a good place to stop. Plus, after two weeks I kind of just wanted to start fresh with a new chapter (and to reassure people that I hadn't abandoned this).
Now in other news, I've started a new Quest! Here's the link: For a Love of the Game [A Yu-Gi-Oh GX Quest]
It's a Yu-Gi-Oh GX quest if any of you are into that. Its only the first chapter in but the votes are still open. For anyone who knows the fandom, I would really appreciate it if you went over and read/voted. Because as you know, votes and discussion sustain me
.
2 Hour Moratorium. Feel free to discuss.
Good Luck.
It turns out this little prison room was also one of Maya Hansen's labs. So, while they didn't have everything you needed on hand, they had enough for you to get started.
Sitting at a small table next where you'd been restrained, you reached over and grabbed a muffin off a plate. Your eyes on a laptop screen, you brought the muffin over and took a bite. Hmm, chocolate chip.
One of Killian's goons had brought them both in about ten minutes ago.
He'd also said that while the samples would take a few hours to get but you'd have plenty to read in the meantime.
The laptop had no internet (they'd actually taken out the network card, the bastards) along with no programs apart from a word reader and a video player. So there went the easy way out of letting Tony where you were.
You could still brute-force it into a communicator if you really wanted to, but you'd have to cannibalize the laptop to do so, which would be really freaking obvious. You glanced at the corner near the door. It hadn't taken you long to find the camera, though without your senses, there was most likely an extra one or two that you couldn't see somewhere else in the room. So, for now, brute forcing the laptop was off the table, at least until you'd gone through everything.
Though speaking of what you'd found… after going through the laptop you'd found thousands of documents and almost a hundred videos, all about Extremis, going back over a decade. It would take you more than two days to get through all this. Though while you were scrolling through, there was one entry you found that caught your eye.
Thankfully, you had the creator of the serum in the same room as you.
Picking up the laptop, and another muffin while you were at it, you stood up and moved towards Hansen. Taking a bite, you smiled as you tasted pure chocolatey goodness. They had been cold when they were brought in, and while you may have hated what horrors had come from Extremis, you were in no position to turn down any power you could get your hands on. And from what you'd seen so far of Extremis – control was power.
You had burnt the first one to ash. The second was mildly singed, and the third had scorched the root of your mouth, but was edible.
Using Extremis to heat muffins was a less exciting method of testing out your newly acquired ability to make fireballs, but this was the best you could do without setting off the people watching on the camera's. You resisted the urge to wink at said camera. Just because you couldn't see them didn't mean they weren't there. You had no illusions about how a fight against another Extremis user would go. At least without your armour.
Which is why you would focus on using what had already beaten Extremis before.
You had won. Your armour – your tech had beat Savin. It had beat the best Extremis had to offer. You just weren't willing to go all the way. But after seeing that look in Killian's eye…
"And how many have died for the sake of your progress?"
"Enough."
Now? Honestly, you weren't sure what you would do if you had the chance again.
No. Not if. Would.
You would get out of here.
These machines amplified your powers. They helped regulate Extremis. Either one could get you out of here, if taken to its natural conclusion. Extremis would be more immediately useful, but you couldn't trust it, not after watching Taggart die. No… you'd take the power that had you've used for months over the one you've had for fifteen minutes.
So, you'd practise. First with the laptop then with whatever samples they brought in. You froze as a wave of heat spread up your arm. You let out a breath as the surge dissipated. That was the other problem. You couldn't lead Killian on. You needed what he was offering to cure yourself so even if the supplies he brought in was enough for you to make a new suit, you'd have to hold off until you had a cure that you could take.
Still, you were getting ahead of yourself. Those supplies wouldn't be here for hours yet, so you should focus on doing the reading.
Hansen didn't say a word as you came up the stairs, though to be fair, she hadn't spoken since Killian left the room. Pulling up the chair, you set down the laptop.
Hansen doesn't respond at all, her gaze still riveted on the screen. Taking a quick look, you saw it was some kind of simulation involving a bunch of different coloured dots entering a human body.
You snapped your fingers in front of the screen.
Hansen blinked. "Oh, hi."
"Hey," you said back. Bringing your hand back, you took the opportunity to tap your finger on the monitor. It was a lot easier to reach out a second time.
Thousands of numbers bombarded you for a second before your power made sense of it all. It was a simulation of different concentrations of machines – the same one's circulating through your body in fact – trying to manage variant doses of Extremis.
With your powers you could see where each were heading. Explosions, every one of them. All with over a thousand machines. In each case, two machines would overlap at some point and disrupt each other, causing uncontrolled heat surges, and eventually – cascading failure.
And yet, you had over ten thousand and no overlaps.
Guess you had your power to thank for that.
"Do you need something?" Hansen asked.
You nodded. "Yeah." You opened the laptop and gestured to the screen, currently displaying the unsorted thousand plus files. "I have a couple of questions."
She turned away from the screen. "What do you want to know?"
"Well…" You clicked on a file, bringing up a familiar blueprint. By now, you could probably draw it with your eyes closed. "How about we start with this?"
On the screen, an image of a tiny machine, a nanite, stared back at you.
45 Hours until misfire.
"So, the nanites controls the changes Extremis does to the body?" You asked, mostly for clarification. By now you had a pretty good idea. After you got Hansen to start talking, she didn't stop. Over the past few hours, you had gotten a very thorough groundwork on the history of Extremis.
You now knew exactly what was in your body.
"Yes," Hansen brought up short video on the laptop. "Originally, I tried implementing the chances through Extremis alone, but it was… messy."
"I can imagine," you said. At that exact moment, one of the plants downstairs decided to explode. You ignored it. After the second explosion, you were used to it. The damn thing would regenerate in a minute anyway. "But how did that lead to the nanites?"
"Well, that was Killian's idea." Hansen admitted. "I couldn't get Extremis to alter the body with the new code without diluting it to the point where it was basically worthless."
New code? You made a mental note "So, you split the process. Extremis to change the body…" You said.
"And the nanites to regulate it. Yes." Hansen finished. "It was supposed to be a stop-gap until I could perfect integration with the serum alone… but it worked so well that we just kept it in."
And thank Thor for that. You would've been screwed if you didn't have the nanites to control Extremis directly. Your power could do a lot of things, but not alter your body without a machine cheat code like the nanites.
Hansen yawned. "Sorry, didn't get much sleep." She tabbed out of video, bringing back up the extensive Extremis library. "Anything else you want to go over?"
You shook your head. "I think I've got it. But I'm going to need to have a look at that code." Having a look at these things programming was basic sense. It'll give you an idea of how much you'll have to modify it. Plus, it'll tell you if it's possible for you to shut some of them off. Having around ten-thousand blips going off in your head every couple of seconds was starting to give you a headache.
"Sure." She brought up a new window. "Here."
"Thanks." You grabbed the edge of the monitor and adjusted it so it was directly facing you. As you grabbed hold, you reached out for the presence and made it yours. Your eyes twitched as while your gaze remained focused on the code, your senses scanned the fifty other classes connected to this one. You had been practising this new trick of yours every time you touched the laptop or Hansen's computer. It was getting easier to multitask with the machine while doing something else.
There was no internet connection on this computer either (you were starting to think Killian had trust issues) but Hansen did have a phone. At your current limit you could piggyback of a piece of tech for about ten minutes. So, your current plan was to touch the phone and get a message out.
Of course, if any of the equipment they brought in came with a wireless connection then there'd be no need for the phone. But you doubted you were that lucky.
As you continued to go over the code, something started to stick out at you. "Who wrote this?"
Hansen blinked. "Excuse me?"
"I mean, look at this." You pointed at what you were knew was the core programming for the nanites. "It's fantastic." Almost perfect even, in the same league as the code that made up JARVIS. You sure as shit couldn't make something this good, power or no. "And then there's this." You scrolled down. You were pretty sure you were looking at what controlled how the nanites distributed through the host body. "This is solid, but I think I can make it better." Well, not think. Know. Thanks power. Though you weren't saying that out loud.
And after comparing the two, you had a good idea of exactly what the new code was.
The look Hansen gave you reminded you of that time you saw two dogs fighting over a bloody steak that fell on the floor. "You can fix the glitches in the code."
"Well, yeah. I think so." You scratched under your chin. "I won't know for sure until I can see how compatible the nanites are with the code."
"You're not going to try modifying Extremis directly?"
"Maybe if I had a couple of months. But it's generally outside my area of expertise." You highlighted the code. "If I want to make any meaningful progress, the nanites will be the best way to go."
Hansen's smile was bittersweet.
"You alright?"
She nodded. "…I'm fine. I just-"
Whatever she was about to say died in her mouth as the metal door slammed open with a screech.
"Hey Dr. Hansen," a middle-aged man wearing a cheat suit walked inside. He waved a clipboard in the air. "We got everything the boy wonder requested, where do you want it?"
Boy wonder? That was a new one. You moved down the stairs and snatched the clipboard out of his hands. "Gimme that," your gaze on the clipboard, you pointed over to where the table was. It was the most open spot in the room, and you'd need the space. "Put the parts over there, keep the samples separate."
He looked at Hansen and let out a sigh after she nodded. "Alright, I'll bring it in." He pushed the door further open and three more people came in, moving crates secured in moving equipment wrapped in plastic and rope.
You stepped back and let them go past you while you looked down the sheet. Everything seemed to be in order, except you noticed a distinct lack of certain alien materials. "Where's the Chitauri samples?"
The moving guy shrugged. "That ain't coming around till tomorrow morning, kid."
Your fingers twitched. Shit. Smoothing your face over, you nodded. "Fine." Not like you could do anything about it. At least you would have plenty to work with in the meantime.
"I thought you were going to focus in the code?" Hansen asked from behind you.
"I am." You said. "But if I can't get it to work then the Chitauri tech will be a good backup plan." Also having a selection of Chitauri tech in the room will significantly expand your options. But you weren't going to say that part out loud.
"Anyway," the moving guy said. "Everything else you need should be there. Knock on the door if you need anything else. The boss said to give you everything you need."
You handed back the clipboard. "Alright. Let's get to work."
43 Hours until misfire.
Some of your nanites were different.
You didn't notice before, but now that you had a range of active samples to compare it to, you parsed through your own nanites and sensed that about a third were different from the rest. Their performance was identical, but their composition was, quite literally, alien.
Chitauri.
You didn't believe it at first. But after testing near a dozen times, you were sure.
You had Chitauri nanites.
How the fuck did you get Chitauri nanites inside your body! The only time you've been in contact with Chitauri tech recently was when you were adding it into your armour, and if you believed Killian and Hansen, it had melted… into… scrap.
…
Oh.
Ohhhhhhh.
So that was why you were naked.
7000 Earth Nanites
3000 Chitauri Nanites
3000 Chitauri Nanites
42.5 Hours until Misfire
"Fair warning," Hansen said, eyes on her own computer screen. "But if you break out into a fit of maniacal laughter again, I'm going to taze you."
You stopped typing. "Hey, that was a one-time thing." You turned to look at her. "And maniacal? That's harsh."
Okay, so maybe after finding out exactly how you'd acquired so many nanites you'd gone a little mad scientist, but who could blame you? Each nanite was its own power source plus a core of materials. You couldn't remake your armour, you didn't have enough for that (you'd have to do the math on exactly how much of your armour you absorbed later), but you could re-create anything else in your arsenal. Plus, they still amplified your powers, so anything you did create would be a magnitude stronger. As soon as you had a cure ready, you could fight your way out of here. "Besides, I'm making a sci-fi serum in a basement, if I don't do an evil laugh every once in a while, is there even a point?"
Hansen snorted.
"Ah ha!" You pointed. "You do get it."
She rolled her eyes, exasperated. You seemed to bring that out in people.
The only sound for the next few minutes was the pressing of keyboard keys.
"…I'm still going to taze you."
39 Hours until Misfire
"Aaaaand done." Wiping your forehead, you hit enter and leaned back in your chair. Stretching out your arms, you cracked your fingers. After six hours of rewriting a couple thousand lines of code (not to mention the extra ten thousand or so you did with your power off-screen) your fingers felt like they were about to lock up and fall off.
It would take at s couple of minutes to compile. You knew it would work of course; it was mostly for Hansen's benefit. But you could continue with something more important in the meantime.
You brought up the specs for the nanites. After some trial and error of shutting down a couple at a time before a new batch moved in to fill the caps, you'd guess that each nanite covered a couple of centimetres. Now while that didn't sound like much, inside a human body that was huge. Now while the biology part wasn't part of your powers package, the original code from the nanite distribution gave you a good enough idea to do some power-assisted math.
After coming up with three different answers, you decided go with your most conservative guess. If you keep your nanite count around five thousand, you should have total cover from any heat surges. You'll keep it at six thousand to be sure, but if you don't see any change, then you should be fine to pull some more if you need it.
Still, that left you between four to five thousand of nanites to play with at any given time. That was nowhere near enough to rebuild your armour (your early estimates put that at around fifteen thousand) but it was more than enough to make two to three pieces of gear. All which would be amped up to eleven.
These nanites were stupidly easy to make as well, for you at least (thanks power). After you make a working cure you could break down all the computers and lab equipment for an extra couple thousand.
Assuming you had the time.
"How's it coming?" Hansen could be really quiet when she wanted to be.
You tabbed away from the nanite schematics. No need to give away your plans. "Good. The code's finished. After its compiled we can run it through a simulation. Actually, make that a couple of simulations." You amended. Can never be too careful with something you're going to inject yourself with. "How's the serum coming along?"
Early on you and Hansen decided to split the workload. You focused on the nanites, while she focused on Extremis itself. There wasn't much she could do to improve the serum itself; she had been perfecting the formula for over a decade, another twelve hours wasn't going to make much of a difference. But she could make multiple batches of the serum with her eyes closed while still answering any questions you might have had. And you did have quite a few. Your power solved the problem, it didn't always tell you how.
"They're all set." Hansen said. "When the nanites are ready they can go straight in."
"Fantastic." That was a load off your shoulders. The simulations would take a few hours and from what Hansen said putting the serum together would take most of the night but after that you're good to go.
Then you can fight your way out of here.
The computer pinged as the code finished compiling. The tightness in your shoulders loosened as 'No Errors' flashed across the screen. You already knew it would work, but it was nice to have confirmation.
Hansen smile was almost radiant. "You did it."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." You reminded. "We still need to run it through the simulation."
"Right… right." Hansen tried to look stern but the smile kept breaking though. "We should do that."
"Way ahead of you." You were already typing, loading the new code into the simulation program. As a new progress bar opened, you tiled your head back. "You're the expert with this software, how long is this going to take?"
"About an hour for each simulation."
So, five hours, and the actual making of the serum would likely take until the morning. You needed to be ready in case Killian decided the progress so far was good enough.
You're likely weren't getting much sleep tonight.
You'd trash the modified code as soon as they'd gone into the nanites. A nice fuck you should the worst happen. Even if Killian managed to kill you, he'd be back where he started. That was assuming you don't blow this whole place up on your way out.
Beneath your skin, Extremis hummed.
The sound of buzzing filled your ears. No, not the buzzing from the nanites. The buzzing of a phone on silent. You turned around just in time to watch Hansen fish her phone out of her pocket and read the contact name. The smile fell from her face and didn't come back as she pressed the phone to her ear. "Killian? Yes, he's holding up. We're making good progress. I think we might have a shot here." A pause. You shifted the chair slightly closer. "No, I can't leave. The serum still isn't finished, why?" Another pause. "…what happened?"
You couldn't hear a damn word Killian was saying, but whatever it was must have been bad as Hansen's expression slowly shifted into alarm. "That's impossible." Her eyes darted to you. "It wasn't him." She nodded. "I'm sure." Killian spoke again and you strained your ears and were able to pick up one word: Ascendency. Whatever it was meant something to Hansen, as her eyes widened in pure terror and she clutched her chest. "What? No! You can't!" There were a few seconds of silence, then a dial tone. Killian had hung up.
The phone slipped from boneless fingers.
It didn't touch the ground, but Hansen did. She collapsed, her legs giving out from under her. Both her hands covered her mouth, and her chest rose and fell in desperate gasps.
You hesitated, what where you supposed to do here? You didn't exactly have much experience with people having a panic attack and you had a feeling distracting her with a new tech idea wouldn't help her as much as it would with Tony.
Slowly, you put your hand out. When she didn't react you carefully and deliberately brought your arm forward until it was resting on her shoulder. Something to keep her grounded.
"Hey," you said soothingly. "It's alright. Everything's going to be okay."
"No." Her hands wiped her eyes. "No, it's not." Before you could say anything else, she shrugged off your arm and dashed towards the bathroom. The door slammed shut behind her, but the walls weren't thick enough to block the sound of her dry heaving.
What the hell did Killian say to her?
You looked down at your other hand. Enclosed in your fist was Hansen's phone. The call was recent enough for you to drag out the full recording. No noise came from the speakers but the entire call played in your head all the same.
Killian?"
"Maya, how is the project coming? Is Traveller living up to his end of the bargain?"
"Yes, he's holding up. We're making good progress. I think we might have a shot here."
"Excellent. Can you leave him alone to finish the rest?
"No, I can't leave. The serum still isn't finished, why?"
"Stark beat us to Tennessee before we could clean up the loose ends."
"…what happened?"
"He took down Brandt and the support team, Savin got away." Killian let out a deep breath. "Maya, Savin says Stark took them all down with a single kill-shot. He knows about Extremis."
"That's impossible."
"No, it's not Maya, and you know how."
"It wasn't him."
"Are you sure?"
"I am."
He signed. "Fine. I'll take your word for it for now, but that's not why I'm calling. I'm implementing project Ascendency."
"What? No! You can't!"
"This isn't a debate Maya. It's already been greenlit. Everyone on the list by tomorrow night. So, if you want to make sure the worst doesn't happen, you best work fast."
"Maya, how is the project coming? Is Traveller living up to his end of the bargain?"
"Yes, he's holding up. We're making good progress. I think we might have a shot here."
"Excellent. Can you leave him alone to finish the rest?
"No, I can't leave. The serum still isn't finished, why?"
"Stark beat us to Tennessee before we could clean up the loose ends."
"…what happened?"
"He took down Brandt and the support team, Savin got away." Killian let out a deep breath. "Maya, Savin says Stark took them all down with a single kill-shot. He knows about Extremis."
"That's impossible."
"No, it's not Maya, and you know how."
"It wasn't him."
"Are you sure?"
"I am."
He signed. "Fine. I'll take your word for it for now, but that's not why I'm calling. I'm implementing project Ascendency."
"What? No! You can't!"
"This isn't a debate Maya. It's already been greenlit. Everyone on the list by tomorrow night. So, if you want to make sure the worst doesn't happen, you best work fast."
And then he hung up.
The full call left you with more questions than answers. What was Tony doing in Tennessee? How did he find out about Extremis so quickly? What the hell was Project Ascendency? Exactly how many people was on this list Killian mentioned?
All good questions, and maybe you could get some answers. This phone had a network connection after all, and now, so did you.
The first thing you sensed where the cameras. Three. All wireless. Video, no audio. They covered most of the room, but there were several blind spots. You were temped to move to one of them and stay in it as often as possible but that would be somewhat obvious. No, as much as you'd prefer for Killian's goons not to have your eyes on you, you'd save the blind spot for when you really needed it.
But the cameras weren't what mattered now, it was the network they were connected to. Hansen wouldn't be in that bathroom forever so you'd have to be quick. As much as you'd like to answer every question you had you didn't have time for that. You'd focus on one thing, and make damn sure you found out everything about it that you could.
And there was no time like the present.
What do you focus your connection on?
[] Tony's in Tennessee? What the fuck? that makes it a bit harder to get into contact with him. But he's still connected to JARVIS, and you know where JARVIS is, he'll be able to pass along that you're alive and where you are. After all, JARVIS more than anyone else will understand you speaking with your power and not words.
[] Project Ascendency? You don't like that name. It sounds like the last-resort method that guys like Killian love to spring when all their carefully laid plans start collapsing around them. There must be a record here. If there is, you'll find it, along with everything else about this facility while you're at it.
[] As much as you'd like to help yourself with this opportunity, you can't. Skye is still out there. You don't trust that Killian really let her go. You need to find her, or hopefully – find out that Killian never had her in the first place. That video exists, and when you find it, you'll know just how real it is.
I was going to add in another scene, but these seems like a good place to stop. Plus, after two weeks I kind of just wanted to start fresh with a new chapter (and to reassure people that I hadn't abandoned this).
Now in other news, I've started a new Quest! Here's the link: For a Love of the Game [A Yu-Gi-Oh GX Quest]
It's a Yu-Gi-Oh GX quest if any of you are into that. Its only the first chapter in but the votes are still open. For anyone who knows the fandom, I would really appreciate it if you went over and read/voted. Because as you know, votes and discussion sustain me
.2 Hour Moratorium. Feel free to discuss.
Good Luck.
- Location
- Florida
I'm leaning either Ascendancy or Skye. I'll have to give it some more thought honestly.
- Location
- Depends on how much of a troll Zelretch is today!
Gotta admit that I'm leaning towards "[] As much as you'd like to help yourself with this opportunity, you can't. Skye is still out there. You don't trust that Killian really let her go. You need to find her, or hopefully – find out that Killian never had her in the first place. That video exists, and when you find it, you'll know just how real it is." since as far as Traveler knows she's a normal human, super hacker though she is, and knowing if wither the video is a fake and he can use that knowledge to call Killian's bluff and nullify the fake ace that Killian thinks he has, or he can try to figure out where exactly Skye is and can either save her or will know where to go to help her if he's not able to stop her from being injected with the Extremis.
- Location
- Florida
[X] As much as you'd like to help yourself with this opportunity, you can't. Skye is still out there. You don't trust that Killian really let her go. You need to find her, or hopefully – find out that Killian never had her in the first place. That video exists, and when you find it, you'll know just how real it is.
Knowing IC what Skye's status is will definitely affect how we act after breaking free. So will the other options, but Skye in particular is someone considered at risk and potentially in need of specific help.
Knowing IC what Skye's status is will definitely affect how we act after breaking free. So will the other options, but Skye in particular is someone considered at risk and potentially in need of specific help.
- Location
- Canada
[X] As much as you'd like to help yourself with this opportunity, you can't. Skye is still out there. You don't trust that Killian really let her go. You need to find her, or hopefully – find out that Killian never had her in the first place. That video exists, and when you find it, you'll know just how real it is.