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House Of Brockton Bay (SplicerWorm SI) by BatRou-Dawg
Misc » Book X-overs Rated: M, English, Supernatural & Drama, Words: 53k+, Favs: 29, Follows: 41, Published: Jan 11, 2023
9Chapter 6
Thoughts raced through my mind even as my fingers absently traced over controls that translated thought into action. A glance up, and I saw the subject of my work smiling back at me through the fully transparent membrane even as semi-transparent fluid started to fill it up. Rachel smiled at me even as the liquid flowed up, over her body and covering her head, tendrils coming out from the floor and ceiling of the tube as I watched. Needles on the tips of them pierced skin and began their intended processes, their tasks having already been programmed into them as I mostly made sure that everything was working as it was supposed to.
A moment passed in silence as I glanced around the Nursery, the various pods that dominated the walls of the fleshy chamber were full, but only two of them had fully grown Gorehounds in them. The remaining thirteen pods were filled with the same fluid that the others were, but thicker. It made it difficult to see within, far more so than with Rachel and her two main Gorehounds, mostly as a case of these Gorehounds still developing and maturing. An absent thought let me check on their progress, my power flexing as it ran its own check on them to ensure that no unexpected mutations had formed, but I found that they were still on track.
Taking a step back from the console, I sighed.
The thirteen new Gorehounds had been an idea that Rachel had put forwards last night, when we were discussion the augments that she wanted for both herself and her Hounds, present and future. The list had been extensive, and something that would take a fair bit of time to do, but wasn't something that I could rush given the sheer number of augments.
Enhanced bone and muscles, threaded Sub-dermal armor mesh mixed with Iron-laced bone plates, highly enhanced sense and the necessary reaction times to make use of them. All those and more were things that she had wanted for herself, along with her Gorehounds, followed by the ability to transmit sights and memories between herself and her Pack. Following that, she wanted me to look into giving certain Gorehounds certain skill packages and behavioral modifications, each designed with a purpose in mind even as she had considered the ideas I put forward. In turn, all of them had been upgraded with weapons, ranging from upgraded claws, bone blades and spikes, to miniature turrets mounted on their backs, salvo launchers of Bio-rockets and even an idea to give one of the Gorehounds Plasma Breath.
Sure, not all of the ideas were going through, but some of them would be, after they had been given some consideration once Rachel had come down from her pseudo-sugar rush of excitement at the possibilities. Of course, she figured that if she couldn't get all her toys, she might as well go big. As a result, no less than six of the Gorehounds in the pods were to be Maulers.
At that thought, I paused as I rubbed my face, a tired smile crossing my features as I remembered that discussion. Maulers were like the steroid-infused big brothers of Gorehound Breeds, with all their abilities scaled up and made even tougher. I could remember seeing no less than three types of them, and I remembered just ho deadly they sounded from their descriptions alone. Of the three, the first type were the Shredders, which were like a cross between an overly-enthusiastic puppy that had grown to be around 1.4 metres tall at the shoulder, and a living blender that only ran at full speed. Shockers were the next type, which were of a similar size, but had the added advantage of being cross-breed with overpowered Electric Eels with the power of a small sub-station behind them. Finally, there were the Cerberus, which were as one would expect, three-headed Gorehounds that were about 1.2 metres from shoulder to shoulder, and were toughened up to an insane degree.
Any one type of Mauler would be a difficult thing to fight, six of them would be nightmare fuel for anyone stupid enough to pick a fight with them. Something that I still didn't know was wise, but I knew better than to try countering it, given the argument that had sprung up around them, once Rachel had gotten the chance to fully learn of them. Hell, it had taken the better part of four hours, and a not-so-insignificant amount of bribing her with other augments, Host Armor and even a chariot, to get her to lessen her demands on them.
Turning around and walking out the room, I felt the smile cross my features as I shook my head of the thought. Just one Shredder would have been so hilariously lethal that I honestly failed to think of words to describe it, especially given that these things had Tank-like armor for skin. Two of the living blenders would probably be enough to turn every single Parahuman criminal and Hero into little more than mincemeat in an afternoon.
Fifteenof the things would probably rip the entire city to shreds in an afternoon, all while bolting around the place with all the energy of an overly excited puppy... Then again, the image of any number of villains and monsters that plagued Earth Bet being chased by a mob of overly eager Shredders was one that I found equal parts amusing and ridiculous. It was enough that I didn't shoot down the idea of not letting Rachel have her Maulers, but the sad, kicked puppy expression had almost physically hurt to see, hence the bribe.
Regardless, to have all the augments she wanted, plus her Gorehounds and Maulers, would require time. Time that the Packmaster had decided to spend in the tube, getting her augments completed, including one that allowed her to shape-shift into a rather impressive mimicry of a Lycan. The Host Armor was already in the works, as was her chariot that could be pulled along by her Gorehounds, leaving me with the mental image of her riding it through the streets of Brockton Bay, pulled by fifteen Gorehounds, and singing Christmas carols all the way. I had looked at the calendar and felt the cool air, Winter was still very much in the air with December coming rather fast. Even so, Rachel's augments would take a week to complete, plus all the other stuff, and my own trip to the PRT in that time to see about testing my Healing Fluid. Christmas was still a long way away, but it did make me consider what to do.
Shaking my head, I pushed such thoughts to one side, focusing on the present as I moved down the corridors of my lair.
I still had a lot of projects I wanted finished, and, if I remembered the timeline of Worm properly, the storyline was due to pick up soon.
I had to be ready for it.
XXX
Looking at the New Growths, I couldn't help but feel rather disappointed.
Of the two that had been allowed to run, only one of them had Triggered with any kind of Parahuman ability, causing pre-determined systems to take over and place the New Growth in question into a coma-like state, relocating the Mind state of the individual to a different, specially created, brain. A kind of waiting room that didn't have access to a power that could potentially result in a black hole suddenly appearing inside my base. The likelihood of something like that wasn't large, but I had taken to the side of caution, especially with powers that could twist the laws of physics like warm taffy.
Observing the two brains in question, I couldn't help but see the difference even as I picked through the data that had been generated by simulating the entire lives of two individuals over the course of a week. Not only that, but with how my ability to process data was only going to improve, the speed at which I could do this would only increase. Even then, I carefully read through all the data about the individual that successfully triggered, along with how the various guidelines I had set had affected said individual. The results were interesting, to say the least.
The results came back showing that the individual in question was female, a random code generator having selected that gender before running with it. Said woman had been through roughly 22 years of life before triggering, and being pulled out of the program shortly thereafter. Psychological analysis showed that the individual in question could only be described as a sociopath with a few redeeming features, namely her loyalty to those that had earned it and some level of emotional depth beyond the norm. In effect, shecouldfeel some level of emotions, but could also ignore them with an almost terrifying level of ease while also lacking most kinds of recklessness due to constantly needing stimulation. Not only that, but she was also slightly religious, not out of any true belief, but out of interest of how to categories her own existence.
If nothing else, it was an interesting result from the guidelines I had set out, resulting in a woman questioned everything around her, who wasn't afraid to use any means necessary to achieve her goals, and yet, was also one who mostly just went through the motions of life. She was looking for a purpose that she felt was missing, trying to find it by doing whatever took her fancy and charming her way through life. Mind you, she wasn't stupid by any means, with the equivalent knowledge of entire degrees condensed in her mind.
Still, looking at the information, I couldn't help but be curious about the results of this experiment since, by all accounts, the woman had the potential to be a time bomb if I ever let her out of the simulated space. A part of me even wondered if I needed to. I remembered the Mind wipes of Splicer, even the various Psychosurgeries of Eclipse Phase, now that I thought about it, and I considered the thought of simply wiping her personality and memories away, leaving a blank slate once more for me to work with.
However, as I looked at the brain, suspended in a vital fluid, I reconsidered.
The words of the accumulated data were clear; That this woman had found herself with a desire for a purpose, something to work towards. She was very intelligent, ruthless and had next to no remorse for anyone that was crushed underfoot. Honestly, it was a mindset that I felt would have fit in with Cauldron, if only because they needed people who could work as such, who knew the stakes and didn't care for right or wrong so long as therewasa Humanity left to determine such. With that in mind, I could see the use, especially if her power was one that complimented my own. Still, at this early a stage in the game, I'd take any support I could get.
For that reason, I rolled up my sleeve and took a seat. A chair made from a skeleton of bone rose from the floor, directed by my power as layers of fatty tissues and even a layer of fur started forming. By the time I sat down, the chair was complete even as I grabbed an organic cable and pulled it to me, a lamprey-like mouth visible on one end as I focused on a section of neck, causing virtually invisible seams to become visible as I pushed the cable to the port in the back of my neck. I felt miniature teeth clamp down on specially created tissue, pressure and the feeling of skin being broken as a connection was made, but no pain as I felt the addition as I closed my eyes and focused. Sure, I probably could have done something like this with my power, but I didn't.
I believed that this would require a bit of a... Personal touch.
XXX
She blinked.
Looking around, she couldn't help but wonder what was going on as a slight frown creased her features. She obviously felt alive, but her memory kept telling her that such shouldn't be the case, images of cars being flipped over in the battle between a stampede of Bio-Tinker creations that had escaped from control. She remembered the costumed idiots that called themselves Heroes trying to clean things up, trying to secure and contain them, and doing a rather poor job of it. Even from where she had stood, she had seen that the creatures were smart, and had expected them to find a weak point in the containment.
She just hadn't expected that weak point to be where she had been standing, next to a nearby apartment block as one of those monsters came barreling through the walls, not even slowing down as chunks of concrete had rained down upon the Sheep that had gathered for the slaughter. It was unfortunate that she had been caught in the slaughter itself, the last thing she saw being the underside of some massive creature's foot, it's clawed toes coming down to rake the ground...
No, she realized, that wasn'tquiteaccurate. There was...Somethingelse there, murky, but distinct and alien to what she had experienced. Instantly, she knew that something wasn't right with her, having long since learned several tricks to keeping her memory sharp and ensuring that she didn't forget things. Most of her memory felt as such, but this one piece was different as she focused on it while taking in her surroundings, her stance changing ever so slightly, a reflection of her study of self-defense.
It was a white void, a tiled floor with a semi-reflective surface while no ceiling was visible. Light seemed almost Omni-present, no shadows and everything seemed to disappear into the vast distance. Looking down at herself, she could see her attire hadn't changed from the moment of, what should have been, her death. Blue-skin tight jeans that hugged her curves, a pair of small, black, platformed boots with a slightly raised heel, a leather jacket that she had left undone and a tight top with a low-cut top underneath that seemed to stretch against her curves and generous bust. She felt no shame in what she was wearing, showing off what she had, especially if it got her what she wanted. Sure, she knew a lot of people would consider her a slut for showing off so much skin, let alone the sheer cleavage she showed off, but she hardly cared what others thought of her, especially the Sheep.
Still, seeing that everything was in one piece, her thoughts turned to other things, such as where she was.
"Been an interesting day, hasn't it?" The voice came from behind her with no warning, the suddenness of it being enough to override her usual aloft attitude as she spun on the ball of her foot in surprise. Wide-eyed, she looked at the source of the voice, her eyes going narrow as she took the person in question in with a quick glance, mind working to figure said individual out. From the voice alone, she could tell that it was a male, seeing him merely confirmed it as her eyes scanned up and down his body.
He was tall, just over six foot, but looked rather young, late teens to early twenties at the most. She could guess that he probably wasn't much older than she was, probably a year younger at the most, but that hardly helped her since she could easily see that he stood a good inch or two over her, even with the boots. His movements, as he seemed to walk towards her, were controlled, powerful and utterly without waste. Her mind immediately put that down to extensive martial arts training and physical strength that had probably been honed by years. Most of his body was hidden by a loose, long-sleeved top and an equally loose pair of trousers, both in black, his hands in pockets and what skin she could see was around the neck and head, showing who he was.
His expressions spoke of utter confidence in his abilities, a half-smirk on his face that told her he was amused by something. Hard features with a hint of softness gave him a distinct look while his skin seemed to lack any of the minor imperfections she was used to seeing in the crowds of Sheep. Brown, almost black, hair was cut short, and thick while his face utterly lacked any kind of facial hair, giving him an appearance one might find in the military, another face in the crowd there, but one that had the potential to be extremely dangerous, especially with the eyes he had. Steel grey eyes looked back at her, doing exactly as she was to him, as they flashed over her body, noting muscles and their tension even as she tried to appear relaxed and aloft.
She locked eyes with him for one long, eternal moment. She saw his half-smirk twitch further, turning into a full smirk as her frown deepened.
"Not in the talking mood, I take it?" The man asked, speaking again and his tone coming across as amused by the situation. She could consider a dozen different replies, a dozen different ways of getting information and figuring things out, but one response came to mind.
"... Given that I just died, I feel that I have a right to be in a 'mood'. Though, I'll admit that actually knowing where I am would probably help." She stated flatly, a slight glare in her eyes as they remained locked with her current conversation partner.
"Died? Hmmm, not quite. As for where we are, well, think of this as a... Waiting room, of sorts." He stated, causing more questions to come to mind, but she couldn't help but come to one conclusion from what had been said and implied.
"... Are you trying to say that your... What? God? And a waiting room? What am I waiting for? To die properly and not by being crushed under the foot of some hell-beast created by some idiot-savant of a man-child?" She replied, doing well to keep her tone flat, hiding the near caustic venom within as her equilibrium came back to her. The man seemed to hum once more in thought, tilting his head as he looked back at her.
"God? No, while I thank you for the ego-boast, I'll freely admit that I'm not eitheraGod, ortheGod. As what you could be waiting on, well, what else do people do in a waiting room, but wait for an Interview?" He asked rhetorically. Causing her to narrow her eyes at him further, trying understand what he meant by that as she cross her arms, pressing them under her chest and pulling them up, an old trick to try and throw him off balance by diverting attention, giving herself time to think.
"Oh, so if you're not God, then who, and what, are you? And if this is my interview, then what do I get if I pass?" She asked, slight interest was born from the need to know what was going on around her, to understand, but also to survive.
"Well, to answer both of those questions, I've got to ask, do you want the harsh truth, or the comforting lie?" He asked vaguely, avoiding both questions, drawing more of her interest at the deflection to another topic, but she already knew which answer she wanted.
"I'd rather know the score as it is, rather than how someone might think I could want it, helps prevent being blindsided by the stupid and ignorant." She stated, flashing her own smirk at the thought as the man nodded in turn. He gestured between them, and she felt her eyes widen as matt-white furniture appeared among them, him taking a seat as she took a second to fully comprehend things, helped along by her own understanding of Parahuman abilities.
"Good thing to, since I didn't really have a comforting lie prepared. Now, where to begin...? Tell me, have you watched the Matrix?" He asked after a moment of thought. Indeed, she had seen the movie after it had been imported from Aleph, certainly, it was a lot better than the various Parahuman-based media sources around. Admittedly, it didn't have as good reviews as it deserved, but she blamed that on the Machines in Eagleton. Still, the question had implications.
Implications that suddenly caused her to stop dead, eyes wide for the second time in their meeting as those implications became known to her. Seeing her reaction, the man nodded at her.
"Yes, I see you understand what I mean. Put simply, the world you live in, your entire life has been a simulation." He stated simply. For a moment, she honestly couldn't think of a response, suddenly being aware that her life, her existence had been a lie since birth. Absently, she wondered how many others existed like this. Was the entire Human race in this situation? Were Parahumans just glitches in the system? Was she even talking to another Human being or some machine appearing as such? So many questions rattled through her mind, not voicing any of them as she had trouble just trying to process it all before she slump back in her chair, feeling defeated and wondering what the point of anything was, if it was all just a lie.
"... Now what...?" She voiced quietly, her previous confidence gone in the face of the truth. The man seemed to hum in thought for a moment before continuing on.
"Now? Now I'll tell you the rest, then you can decide what purpose you want in life." The utterance of that word was enough to grab a hold of her attention once more, and refuse to let it go, her eyes looking back at the man as an idea suddenly came to her mind, a reminder of the ache she had felt, constantly drifting until she could find something to help her.
Who better to help her find a purpose than her Creator, for lack of a better word.
"First of all, no one else exists within the simulation you existed in. It was merely you, and you alone. Everyone else in there was created to help forge you into what was needed, for multiple reasons, but the main one that I can think of is to serve as a prototype for the creation of Parahumans. Yes, before you ask, Parahumans exist. Humanity is not stuck in a Matrix, and your simulation was created to reflect the current reality of the world. Now that you've Triggered, I can think of a number of different ways that this could go, but the choice in the matter rests with you." He stated simply as she stayed silent for a long moment, turning limited information into a more clear view-point of what she was in.
"And what are my choices?" Her creator shrugged at her question.
"The way I see it, you have four options. The first is that I can purge your personality and memories, effectively killing you as you are, but leaving your powers intact and usable. This is if you don't believe you can handle what you've been told, or what I will tell you later. The Second option is that I wake you up and remove your powers, then find a way to place you in the system, allowing you to live your life in the real world, but not having to deal with the added pressure of your new Parahumanity. Third option is that you simply walk out the door, powers and all, and live as you wish. I'm not going to force you to serve me, but for either of the previous two options, I'm sure you can understand that I'd put safeguards in place to prevent you from remembering what happened." He stated, counting the options off on fingers while she shook her head at the options spoke of so far. Option one wasn't something that she liked, since suicide always seemed to be the way out for cowards who couldn't handle the world without rose-tinted glasses. Option two wasn't much better, and option three was only marginally better, since she would have powers to assist her. However, both of those options left her with no further options in terms of survival. No job history, no Social Security number, no physical or digital records that she even existed.
"And option four?" She asked, already guessing what it was, but wanting to hear it from the Horse's Mouth, so to speak.
"Option four is that you come and work with me. A secondary goal of creating you, and others like you, was to create allies that could potentially assist me with the rather significant threat that's coming on the horizon." He stated as she recognized the word threat.
"And that threat would be... What? The Endbringers? Nilbog? The Slaughterhouse Nine?" She asked, slightly curious about what it was, since she could think of so many things that could be considered threats that it wasn't even funny. Her creator merely smiled at her, but she could see it for what it was, devoid of all humor that had once existed and deadly serious.
"Nilbog is an idiot with more power than sense. The Slaughterhouse Nine are fools trying to make an impact on history, driven by Jack's ego. The Endbringers are tools, puppetted by the subconscious will of the one considered as the Greatest Hero and driven by his need to keep his ego inflated beyond the pale. No, none of them, though one could argue that it is related to the Endbringers, since it relates to those that created them in the first place." He stated simply, once more implying much and showing a depth of knowledge that left her floundering for details and understanding. Suddenly, the gap between then was gone as he was leaning over the gap with a finger on her forehead, the same smile on his face as she felt... Something.
Then... Sheunderstood.
Facts and information suddenly unfolded in her brain. The true nature of Scion, orZionas he was actually called, became known to her as she learned of the Entities, of the Cycle, or the Shards and what powers truly were beyond abilities that could mold and alter the way Humanity interacted with the world around them. She learned of Cauldron, and the madness that followed them by not truly trying to understand what the Path they followed meant, or what awaited them. She learned of the PRT and Protectorate and how they were, in turn, Cat's paws to Cauldron through dozens of connections, favors owed and their own breed of artificially created Parahumans.
The flood of information came and went, assimilated into her brain as she understood why her Creator had made her, and was planning to make others. He needed allies, companions that he could trust not to betray him for any number of reasons while also providing assistance in preventing the end of the world. A few questions remained in her mind, but they were minor things compared to what she had learned. A timeline filled her mind of how things could go, explaining in no uncertain terms that Humanity, as it was, was hanging by a few threads that they were happily cutting through with a chainsaw for the sake of keeping their head in the sand. Cauldron helping this along all the while searching for a silver bullet to finally kill the Entities, one that they wouldn't find, and would leave to others to actually find.
All that and more made her decision easy, even as she accepted it, finally finding something that filled the ache in her chest. Looking at her Creator, she locked eyes on him even as he pulled back, clasping his hands in his lap and lacing his fingers, she smiled.
"... I'll take Option four." She stated happily, already eager for the challenge that awaited her as she considered what it could mean as she saw her Creator hold out an arm, a relived smile plastered over his own features in turn.
"Good to have you onboard..." He trailed off, the implied question there, but one she knew was redundant as she felt that he already knew her better than she knew herself. Sure, it might have been cheating, he might have engineered the entire encounter to encourage her to take that option, but it didn't matter, she had made her choice and she refused to even think of the other options. The fact he was being polite about it and waiting for her to introduce herself was merely another point to her belief that she had made a good choice.
"Cinder, Cinder Fall." She spoke as she clasped her Creator's arm. A flash of information and she knew his name as well as she knew her own, her smile grew as she continued.
"A pleasure to meet you as well, Jason Tenebris."
XXX
Disconnecting from the simulation, I felt the return to reality with a jolt even as I pulled the cable free, a slight grimace on my lips as flesh healed, pain not being present, but the feeling of regeneration wasn't one that I enjoyed. Still, Even with that minor annoyance, I considered that the day had been used productively as I rose from the chair, removing it with a slight application of my abilities as I sighed and turned back to the brains around me. Walking up to the console, I pressed a hand against it and felt the new connection, completely separate from the previous simulation as commands were given and the Mind state of the New Growth was returned to her original brain.
Almost instantly, I saw the changes as the Limbo-brain, as I had labeled it, went dead while the brain of one Cinder Fall came alive with renewed activity. That alone was enough to get me to snort in some manner of bemusement, the fact that the New Growth not only looked like Cinder Fall from RWBY, down to the same eye colour, hair style and even her name, but also had her personality; A rather interesting thing. How it happened, I had no clue, since I hadn't programmed any form of instruction into any of my Bio-tech that could have lead to this result. Absently, I wondered if it was the result of some kind of interference by the Shards themselves, but pushed that thought to the side. The implications, if true, were mildly unnerving, and had the potential to be a problem further down the line. Admittedly, they could already prove to be a problem since, from what I remembered of the source character, trying to control or manipulate her in any way, shape or form would be like playing with, both literal and metaphorical, fire.
Sighing once more, I needed the bridge of my nose at that as I moved over to the brain in question, activating my power once more to see about checking it over before putting it into a tube to grow a fresh body from. Idly, I considered the fact that Iwantedto play with fire in this case, that it would probably cut down on potential problems in the short term and help speed up a potential solution for Zion before he went nuts. I mean, sure, dealing with the other problems that plagued the world would come sooner or later, as practice runs, but, again, that was short term.
Long term... That was more uncertain.
Reaching out and connecting to the organic jar holding the Brain in place, I paused as I noticed a few oddities. For one, the vital fluid holding the jar seemed to be slowly draining away, it was being replenished quickly, but there was a noticeable space being generated by the action. For another thing, a layer of flesh was slowly growing on the brain itself, as seconds ticked by, I saw the flesh grow thicker and thicker, the beginnings of a skull of some description forming fast. Implications and theories pulsed through my mind as I realized that this had something to do with Cinder and her newly acquired power. Potential abilities followed at the speed of Transhuman thought as I acted quickly, partly wanting to see the result, and partly because I didn't want to see what happened when a Human body grew from a container several sizes too small and burst out.
A thought and a flex of power and the container suddenly grew and shifted, moving to the central floor of the chamber and growing until it was almost three metres tall, a metre and a half wide and full of vital fluid that was enriched with nearly triple the amount of nutrients, vitamins and minerals as were needed previously. The sudden action would damage the Bio-tech responsible for that particular jar, I knew, but I felt it was worth it, if for no other reason than to see what happened next, especially as I extended my Parahuman senses outwards.
Seemingly in response to the increase in raw materials in the tube, the process sped up exponentially. Flesh grew at an insane rate while bones grew from what seemed like nothing even as muscles, veins and nerves weaved themselves into existence and through flesh that I knew wasn't Human, or, at least, not baseline Human. My powers extended and showed me that as plain as day, showing me the muscle fibres, the sub-dermal armoring and the various different improvements that I could amazingly recognize as my own work, but better. Each piece I recognized was the same as my own, but better in how it worked, more efficient, smaller, more potent and a dozen other things as I watched it all come together, skin forming as hair grew out from said skin.
In total, it took less than two minutes for the process to be complete, allowing me to watch as the New Growth went from a Brain and stem in a organic jar, to a fully-fledged being that stood before me with a look of smug satisfaction, admiring her craftsmanship as she stepped forwards. The membrane walls of the tube not even proving a barrier as she stepped right through them without noticing before stepping further, a casual sway in her hips that I knew was natural and showcased her new body, one that now towered over me.
I knew for a fact that, in the simulation, I was taller than her, with a height of around 1.92 metres, despite the fact that my body was only eighteen years old, biologically speaking. Now, however, she stood over my by a solid twenty centimetres with a body that looked more sculpted than grown. Even without my powers, I could see and feel the hidden power that lurked under the skin, the appearance of perfectly toned muscles that were actually strong enough to bend Steel bars with a casual ease that bordered on the condescending. The graceful movements of every limb were only the outermost showing of the simple fact that her reaction times had been improved so far that even a blink would be enough for her to literally disappear from sight.
There were dozens of other improvements as well, things designed for her own use that I could guess she had come up with. An improved pheromone transmission system, a series of stingers based on those of a Jellyfish, the way she walked and looked. Hell, her beauty was the result of her work and it showed just how much to cared to use it, if I hadn't known her entire life story, I would have called it vain, and I still did to some extent, but I knew that she viewed it as just another tool in her box of tricks. With that in mind, I could see the appeal in enhancing herself as such.
Looking her up and down, I could certainly appreciate the work as she stepped out of the ruined tube, her form nude and dripping with vital fluids even as steam seemed to rise from her body and cause it to evaporate away. Supple feet padded nearly silently through pools of gathering liquid, stretching up to long, toned legs that seemed to stretch before meeting wide hips that connected, in turn, to a thin waist and allowed the lines of her body to draw the eye. My own eyes were no exception, as they were almost unconsciously pulled to her space between her legs, showcasing her recently dried folds, along with the utter lack of hair around it as I pulled my eyes away to move upwards. Along the way, I saw her toned abs forming into a shallow six pack while tracing upwards showed her large, perky breasts, both being sized for her figure, but being well into the DD, or even E, range while giving gravity the middle finger, cherry-red nipples on display for anyone to see.
And then, at long last, I came to her face, looking for all the world like the original Cinder Fall, her raven-black hair concealing one eye as the other one practically glowed a bright yellow/golden colour. An amused eyebrow rose up from the visible eye, along with the very visible lifts at the corner of her lips as she stood before me, hips cocked to one side, leaning on one leg and with an arm braced against a hip.
"See something you like,Cre-a-tor...?" She inquired innocently, emphasizing each vowel in the title that she had considered me as. Traces of her own thoughts still lingering in my mind from the simulation as I threw them off and tried to focus on the present, forcing down the very really attraction I was feeling for the physical beauty of what I had created as I mustered a response.
"Oh, definitely. Probably because you did one hell of a job with crafting this body of yours. Still, a pleasure to finally meet you in the flesh, Cinder." I stated with a half smile on my face, the feelings genuine as I offered a hand. Cinder stood straight at that, grasping the hand with her own as she displayed strength well beyond normal Human limits, allowing both of us to try crushing the hand of the other, but to minimal effect. Then again, neither of us was really trying, but the pressure we'd used was still enough to crush a baseline Human's hand into shards of bone and mutilated tissue. Cinder smiled at the greeting.
"Thank you, though, you can thank yourself as well. The information you gave me helped pin down my powers relatively quickly. From there, it was just a matter of understanding that led me to here." She stated as she let go of my hand and traced another over her body, seemingly pressing into the flesh at random points, probably testing something as I observed before she continued, tracing a hand down from her neck to her waist, seemingly to draw my eye once more.
"Admittedly, a lot of features I included came from your own work, but I did design a few original features in turn. Though, that was more out of wanting some of my own tricks than anything else, still good to have, but not necessary. Still, it works and I can live with that, but I wouldn't mind if you'd give me a hand with a more...Thoroughtesting of it's...Functionality, would you, Jason?" She asked coyly as I saw her stalk forwards with all the grace of a great cat, a panther was the first thing that came to mind. The way she emphasized the words was more than enough to get a raised eyebrow from me in turn, a twitch in my lip as I looked her in the eye, crossing my arms.
"I'm a straight, biologically eighteen year old male. I can honestly say that I'd have no problems with doing that, but at a later time, perhaps. First, I'll get some clothes for you and show you around. We can...Stress testsuch things later on, since neither of us is really lacking time, not to mention we can exchange notes on biological creations. Self-biokinetic, I assume?" I stated, somewhat dryly, before asking her, getting a nod in turn as she grinned slightly, showing just a hint of pearly, white teeth.
"Yes, along with what you'd probably consider a Thinker ability to understand Biological systems and how to improve them." She remarked as she stepped around and leaned against the railing of the room, her bubble-like ass pressing against the grown chitin and carapace as the fleshy molds practically molded themselves to the rail. I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that, curious about what she meant, but an idea was already forming in my head as I turned slightly, heading for a small Shell Vault in the side of the room where I kept bathroom robe, a good thing to have, especially after stepping out of an augmentation tube. Turning back around, I handed it to her as she slipped it on. Seeing my raised eyebrow, she continued her explanation.
"I can detect any biological system around me for... Let's say forty? Forty-five feet? Something like that. I can feel them and know where they are, but can't interact with them. Once I'm in physical contact with them, then I can see them beyond simply knowing that, say, a person is close to me. Of course, for your main question, it means that I can see any biological system and envision ways to improve it within myself, though, it's... Limited, for lack of a better word, to biological systems that I can see and interact with." She stated as I felt my mind come to a crashing halt at the prospect of hitting pay-dirt.
"So, just to be clear, you can take any biological system you've seen and envision ways of making it better, or more specialized, in any way you see fit within yourself, right?" I asked, getting a nod from the New Growth in question as she slowly tied the robe up, leaving it loose enough to allow a generous amount of cleavage to be on display.
"A bit too simplified for my tastes, but true nonetheless. Why?" I chuckled at her question as I gestured for her to follow me as we left the room, the doors opening with a slight flex of my power.
"I'm a Tinker that specializes in making technology based on biological systems, along with being a biokinetic, meaning that I can made things that should be biologically impossible, possible. You, on the other hand, can make what is biologically possible, practical. I'm sure you can see where I'm going with that, right?" I asked, amused by it I felt Cinder tilt her head, the feeling of knowing that she was behind me and how she was positioned being ever-present in the back of my head. Still, the New Growth seemed to get the implications quickly, though, I was surprised when she picked up the pace a bit. Two large steps followed as she ate up the distance between us before pulling a hand on my shoulder and pulling me around.
Enhanced reaction times and simply better muscles meant that I could react to a lot of things with mind-numbing speed, but I found myself drawing a blank when she instantly slammed into my, wrapping arms around my neck and practically dragging me up to her as she pressed her lips against mine. A moment later, her body followed as I felt her bust pressing into me, followed by her groin as my hands went on automatic and slide down to her waist, and her ass, by themselves. I felt her tongue slip into my mouth due to my surprise as she pressed herself further into me, trying to take full advantage even as I started clearing my head. As soon as that happened, I just reacted and went with it. None of the awkwardness as with Rachel, due to her confusing mental state, but still plenty of inexperience that I was sure Cinder saw all too well. She went with it anyway, letting me push her back into the wall as I cupped and squeezed her exposed ass, feeling her grind against my slowly growing dick, no longer being suppressed by my own desires to be able to think straight as I fought her tongue back, the two of us wrestling between our lips as I heard her panting, not out of breath, but certainly wanting more.
Still, it wasn't to last, as both of us pulled back, half panting and eyes lidded with want and lust, I could see hunger in Cinder's eyes, naked want and a eagerness to explore the possibilities of what we could do together. I suppressed an eye roll at that, mostly because I still remembered the DNA-computer generated report on her, of how she thought, and I knew that I was rapidly putting myself in position to be her new, and only, favorite person in her life outside of the simulation.
"... Perhaps... We can do some... Shared research... On the...Possibilities..." Cinder said, still panting as I felt her guide my head towards her neck, putting me in the crook of it as she lifted one leg and wrapped it around one side, allowing me to slip a hand under it as I nibbled at the connection between her shoulder and her neck. Pale skin met my gaze, lacking any imperfection and appearing normal, but I could feel and see the changes as nerve tissue grew more receptive to stimulus.
I honestly wasn't sure if she was trying to be subtle about it or not, but the attempt was failing as I realized just how far she was putting her sensitivity, but the effects were obvious as I saw her half-lidded gaze, her eyes practically glowing in turn as I paused long enough to speak.
"Sure... Research... After your settled and... Everything else..." I remarked with a dry tone in turn. I still wanted to cover a few ground rules and the like, but those could wait for a bit longer. Sure, some could argue what I was doing to be risky, especially with what I knew about her augments and powers, and what she knew of my own augments in turn, but I knew that it wasn't going to be a problem. Even as I kissed her, knowing that every pore of her skin held the same stingers as those on the humble Jellyfish, waiting to fire, I also knew that she wouldn't do so. I knew for one very simple reason, which were denoted in the report by six very simple words that had appeared at one point.
New Growth-Three Sanctions Applied Successfully
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House Of Brockton Bay (SplicerWorm SI) by BatRou-Dawg
Misc » Book X-overs Rated: M, English, Supernatural & Drama, Words: 53k+, Favs: 29, Follows: 41, Published: Jan 11, 2023
9Chapter 7
Pressing a hand against a section of exposed flesh, I felt the bioluminescence kick in as the connected doorway opened. The contraction of muscle groups allowing it to move near silently as I walked into the Bar, slipping passed the retracted walls of chitin and carapace. Behind me, Cinder followed easily, looking around with interest, letting me know that she was memorizing everything she could see, reaching out with her abilities as well, ensuring that she missed nothing.
After, reluctantly, pulling ourselves apart, I had chosen to give Cinder a tour of the Lair and show her around, giving her the cliff-notes version of the details that she probably picked up on her own. I had little doubt about the more detailed aspects of the base, having seen her own biology morph slightly when she saw some new aspect that she found interesting. The number of changes she had made after encountering a few Drones had been interesting, but nothing overly impressive beyond minor improvements to select systems. Another benefit had also been in interacting with the New Growth in turn, letting me learn more about both her and her power, even with the ghost of her file floating through my brain. One thing that had quickly come out was the fact that her ability to see biological entities was limited, even while she was in physical contact with them. The long and short of it was that she could only see everything within two metres of her point of contact before her view of a given biology simply cutout, which helped explain the reason that she had remained within two metres of me throughout the entire tour. Another thing I had learned was that, if another creature touched one she was in physical contact with, so long as it was within two metres of her own point of contact, then her sight could leapfrog to the new creature as well. We had talked about that idea, and had quickly brainstormed about the possibilities of how we could extend such biological vision ad infinitum through the use of creatures that were all in contact with each other, probably with lengths less than two metres.
Absently taking a seat, that idea had still spawned a few others that made me think of the possibilities of using it to create either a surveillance system, or something similar. I was still working on the exact details, even as I watched Cinder take a seat opposite me, leaning back in the seat even as she raised and crossed one leg over another. I could only give a flat stare at that, even as she kept a sly smirk on her lips for a moment before offering an unrepentant shrug at the action. The fact that I couldn't muster the will to be even slightly annoyed by it probably didn't help, especially given her repeated attempts to start her...Stress testingearly. A gesture, and a metre tall Homunculi came over with two glasses filled with drinks, an empty pair of cups, and a pitcher of water as it worked without a sound to put it all down before taking it's tray and leaving back to the side of the room. Cinder watched the small being with interest as it moved, her eyes most noticeably looking at what I knew were weapons, a mixture of Acid Nodules and Chemical Sprayers that could pour out an impressively lethal mixture of liquids.
A moment later, I took my own drink and took a sip, the taste of something mildly alcoholic being exactly what I needed at the moment to deal with the recent events of the New Growth. Cinder, in turn, picked up her own glass with some care and took a sip, a pleasant hum escaping her lips as the taste one of her favored wines met her tongue. She looked at me with curiosity present in her gaze as I offered a slight shrug in return.
"The simulation generated extremely thorough files." I simply stated unrepentantly, a half-shrug escaping me as Cinder raised an eyebrow.
"And you would admit that you manipulated me so brazenly...? Oh, you terrible fiend, to toy with this maiden's heart..." She jabbed as she mimed holding her heart, with no heat coming with her words as she seemed to smile even through her performance as I rolled my eyes.
"Not like I was being very discreet about it, since I'm pretty sure you figured that out within a few seconds of coming into the real world. Still doesn't mean that anything I said was any less true." I pointed out as I took another sip of my drink, savoring the taste once more as I remembered it from the life I had lived before being dropped into this Clusterfuck of a universe.
"Hmmm... True enough, though, I'll at least admit that you did a decent job of it." Cinder remarked as a compliment, she tipped her glass to me in a salute as I nodded back with a smile in turn.
"Thank you for the compliment of my skills. Though, skills and compliments aside, we still have a few things to discuss, so shall we?" I asked as I placed my glass down, sitting up and looking at her in the eye even as she put her own glass down with a look of interest.
"And what do we have to discuss, exactly? I thought we had covered much of it during the tour of the 'Lair', as you called this place?" Cinder inquired as she gestured to the ceiling, segmented plates of carapace acting as a room with braces of darkened bones being plainly visible above that, through gaps in the plating. I shook my head slightly at that before continuing.
"Key word there being 'much', not all. Honestly, there are only two things that I wanted to cover with you, the first being some ground rules." I stated as she raised an eyebrow, lips twitching down and a slight frown forming.
"Rules?" She remarked questioningly, not sounding happy about it as I considered if that was the right word with a tilt of a head before shaking it.
"More like guidelines, really. Simply things in truth, but things I felt should be covered just to ensure that we're both on the same page." I corrected as the New Growth nodded, gesturing for me to continue, less unhappy, but still curious about what I had to say.
"The basic gist of it is this: If you're going to kill someone, make sure you're thorough about hiding the body and ensuring that no traces can be used to track a connection back to me, you, or anyone else that may join us. If you're kidnapping someone to use as a Human test subject, please ensure that they aren't someone that will be noticed. If they are, please set up a suitable accident, with an equally suitable body-double, takes place to cover up any such events. Other than that, use common sense if you go out, and don't attract too much attention from either the authorities or the gangs for the wrong reasons." I explained as best as I could as I took another sip before carrying on.
"Likewise, you can either use a lab I set up for you, or one you can set up for yourself, but please ensure that anything you do within it isn't too dangerous to anyone else within the Lair. I don't want to have to clean up after an experiment gets free and destroys a section of the base before we put it down." I finished simply as Cinder nodded at the points I raised.
"All fair points, and reasonable ones as well. Though, one could argue that not being either thorough in the disposal of a body, or securing an experiment would be the height of foolishness, something that anyone with sense would avoid." She stated with a raised eyebrow, the unspoken allegation that I was calling her a fool floating in the air as I snorted at that little fact.
"I have found that it is better to be safe than sorry, especially when working with biologically enhanced creations that even the worst creations of Mother Nature couldn't match." I quipped in bemusement as Cinder snorted in turn as she sipped her wine.
"Fair. One can never be too careful." Cinder notes before looking at me as she cradles her drink for a moment. I watch her from the corner of my eye as she lets it swish around before stopping after a moment of thought.
"... You mentioned setting up my own lab, correct? What kind of considerations did you have in mind?" She asked as I grinned slightly, seeing the grin on her own lips as well as I copied her motion as we both leaned forwards, both getting ready to get down to the brass-tacks of the discussion in getting Cinder settled in.
It was a good talk.
XXX
Flying through the air above Brockton Bay, I took in the sights even as I took advantage of the thermals to keep myself up in the air. Looking down, enhanced vision let me see the details of the world with an ease that simply wasn't possible for anything that had evolved naturally. Nature didn't allow such optimized vision, never allowing something to go beyond the stage of 'good enough' if there was no longer an evolutionary pressure to see something improve in the first place. Human eyes were no different, without a need to improve them, natural evolution simply let them be as other aspects of Human biology evolved.
Skimming past a cloud, I swooped around the next before slowly circling and heading for the ground as the PRT HQ came into view. The massive building that seemed to dominate downtown Brockton Bay was something of a constant reminder of the PRT's presence in the area, probably as the means to try and act as a deterrent. Whether or not it actually worked as a deterrent was anyone's guess, but I was willing to lean on the side of 'no'. That probably wasn't helped by the fact that I could practically smell the drugs carried by some of the people in the back alleys of the area, or the gunpowder in the loaded guns of others.
Shaking my head, I pushed those thoughts away as I focused on more pressing details as the hand of my Host Armor slipped down to the case holding a series of vials and a larger tank of Healing Fluid. The case itself was made from a thick layer of bio-plastic, as touch as I could make it with layers of padding and a skeletal work of more bio-plastic to hold the various containers in place. The containers inside were a bit less impressive, bio-plastics made through a mimicry of an industrial process, transparent and allowing the cyan liquid to be seen. Absently, I still considered whether or not I wanted to keep that colour or change it to a crimson hue that glowed, if only for the fun of it. An amusing idea, if nothing else, but not on that anyone in the Protectorate would either understand, or take with good humor, considering that Uber and Leet were both in town.
Cinder had considered it an interesting idea, if only for the potentially amusing reactions. Then again, her interest in such things was mostly half-hearted, especially with other stuff on her plate, which was rather full with a mixture of her own projects, and some work she was doing for me. Said work was mostly in the way of making a number of bio-systems more efficient and more potent, even shrinking them down in size to allow for better usage of space. In just the few days since she had been de-canned, she had even managed to shrink Bio-Array down from its original size to something approaching portable. It was still bulky, but in the way of a fully packed rucksack, rather than a large car or small van. Along with that, there were a dozen small tweaks to efficiency for various different augments I had created, making them just a bit better all the while. Said upgrades were rather interesting in that they could be done via a simple injection of retrovirals that were targeted to make the changes, though, coming up with something that could bypass my sub-dermal armoring had been tricky.
A happy side-effect of that had been that Cinder had taken the idea and ran with it, using it to help set up the beginnings of her own, private, lab by creating a seed of organic matter from her own body and allowing it to grow from there. The actual process would take more time than my own methods, but the end product had been finished just the day before, where Cinder had practically skipped all the way to it and through the door. What she did inside her lab, I kept to her discretion, so long as she didn't do anything to endanger herself, me, Rachel or any other guests, I didn't really care. Even so, I had given her a lab-warming gift of a DNA-datacore filled with files and designs for some of my Bio-tech, including, but not limited to, general equipment, weapons, armor and augments of many types.
Needless to say, she was a happy New Growth. And that was before she saw some of my more...Experimentalideas...
With that thought, I came around in a final pass over the PRT building. Out the front of it, I could see a few dozen people gathering, picking out Armsmaster among the various individuals that had gathered and was clearly looking up at me. Next to him, I could pick out the figure of Miss Militia as she seemed to hold her ground next to her boss even as I came around and started to land, leaning back and starting to pull my wings in even as my feet touched the ground. Specially made muscle tissue and compress-able bone sections meant that I could absorb the impact with ease while leaving minimal damage to the surface of the concrete itself. I didn't want to play the game of 'Cops and Robbers', mostly because I knew it wasn't a game. I just wanted to focus on the bigger problem, especially since I knew that some of those same problems would only cause even bigger problems down the road.
"Good to see you once more, Armsmaster. A pleasure to meet you, Miss Militia." I stated, the voice coming from the Host Armor no longer slitted, but more normal, a slight lisp thanks to the shape of the throat and tongues, but not enough to be noticeable beyond a slight hiss in the back of the throat. Of course, the fact that the voice itself sounded like I was gargling gravel probably did a good job of masking it as I looked at the two Parahumans before me, nodding to them in turn. With my power, I could see Armsmaster twitch in minor surprise from the less slitted voice, but not much else. Miss Militia seemed a fair bit more effected, but seemed to push by it with practiced ease of having seen plenty of weird shit in her career.
"You as well, Dreadnaught. I trust that you were able to bring the samples you wanted to tested?" Armsmaster asked, his response was blunt and cutting straight to the heart of the matter as I nodded in response, my hand tapping against the case at my side.
"Forty individual samples in sealed vials with a larger container filled with three litres of Healing fluid, in case you wish to send smaller samples to other locations without opening the larger reserve." I stated simply as Armsmaster nodded, a slight smile present on his face at the efficiency of it, if I had to guess. Taking the case from my side, I undid the latches holding it shut and presented it for all to see. Armsmaster seemed to look over the different vials and containers even as I watched him pick one up and hold it close to his visor. I'd be willing to bet that he was probably giving it a look over with any sensors he might have, a thought that was proven to be possible as he waved his halberd over the vial in question before nodding.
"Everything appears to be in order, no sign of anything dangerous that my sensor array can't detect. Should be safe to take into the building for testing." Armsmaster stated as he put the vial back into its previous location as Miss Militia seemed to give her boss a distressed look before looking over at me, probably hoping to avoid alienating me by covering for her boss in some manner.
"I'm sorry about that, Dreadnaught. Armsmaster is just following protocol in that untested Tinkertech has to be scanned and checked to ensure it isn't dangerous before we let it into the building." Militia offered apologetically as I waved her off, closing the case and handing it to Armsmaster.
"I am well aware of the reputation of Bio-Tinkers as a whole, especially due to a notable few who have... Soured the reputation of anyone with similar abilities. I also am well aware of the Protectorate's history with such individuals, so I fully understand the caution that Armsmaster is taking, even if a part of me can't help but feel insulted by implications that my work isn't safe." I remarked, the gravel-like tones gaining an amused lift to them as I allowed a snort of air to escape through nasal passages, steam almost seeming to condense with it. Miss Militia seemed to relax at that, her body loosening up even as Armsmaster took the case as I handed it off to him.
"I'm... Glad that you're so understanding to our position. Once more, thank you for that." The Heroine remarked, relief colouring her voice even as I nodded along, showing my own understanding of the situation.
"No problem, Miss Militia. Though, if you don't mind, may I ask a question about the testing process?" I queried. Truth be told, it was something I was partly interested in due to the lack of any real information online. What I had found was a mixture of complaints and frustrated rants by Tinkers across the country about how the review board wouldn't let them build stuff. Most of it was decades old, back before things were run so tightly, but it was clear that they had quickly transitioned to keeping things more in-house. Sure, there were general statements that were available online for an overview, but most of them lacked any kind of detail beyond the anything that couldn't be boiled down to 'Tinker submits tech to either be approved or denied'. I see and feel Miss Militia glance at her boss for a second, said Tinker visibly paused for a second before continuing onwards. I could see the faintest indication of a nod, not enough to normally be visible, but when you have eyesight as enhanced as mine, such things tend to stand out like a sore thumb.
The fact that I can see his muscle groups contracting and stretching also helps.
"What exactly are you interested in? Keep in mind, we tend to keep a lot of information about our testing procedures confidential, as a matter of safety and security." The Blaster stated as I nodded.
"I'd gathered as much from what I'd seen online, though, I can guess why, but it's better to know than to make an assumption and then be fucked over by said assumption. Anyway, I've only got two questions. The first is pretty obvious, in that I'm curious as to why such details are confidential? The other question I have is how long will the process take? I tried researching both online, but, as I said, finding accurate information proved to be more difficult than one could think, with every official and unofficial summary I could find just boiling down to the same thing." I stated, noticing the way that the Heroine winced at my swearing, probably having gotten into the habit of avoiding such words to manage her image. I kept my smugness to myself, of course, one of the reason I wasn't planning to join the Protectorate was for the simple reason that I didn't want to be de-fanged by their PR department. Still, Miss Militia quickly put that behind her and moved forwards, her exposed features smoothing out to ensure that her expression and stance only showed what she was trying to put forwards; A happy, open and approachable 'Hero of the People'.
... For some reason, I felt like whistling the Russian national anthem.
"The reason for the classified nature of what may appear to be mundane knowledge, is primarily due to the potential for Villainous elements to take advantage of it. Early on, we used to make such information a matter of public record, but after the first few times where Villain groups infiltrated such review boards, such information was removed and made confidential, both to protect review personnel, and to prevent easy infiltration. To my knowledge, such attempts have only happened 27 times, with only nine of them successfully managing to steal Tinkertech while the rest were more focused on trying to prevent a given Tinker from expanding their capabilities." Amazingly, it was Armsmaster who explained it to me as he stood with the case in one hand, his halberd in the other and placed on the ground. I hummed in thought, following on from the new information, as Miss Militia picked up where the Tinker left, answering my other question.
"As for your other question; Typically, a review of Tinkertech, including testing, can take anywhere from three weeks, to three months. Reviews often have to be structured around individual pieces of Tinkertech to ensure it is safe to use, again due to the often individual nature of each piece of a Tinker to Tinker basis." I grimaced at that slightly, three weeks probably wouldn't be so bad, but I was hoping to have it so I could sell it soon. Having some money to use would be useful, especially to buy things that I couldn't produce myself. Even so, I'd still need to look into getting a hold of a Lawyer to ensure any contract I made with a buyer wasn't going to bite me in the ass. Considering the local area, and the laws regarding Vigilantes being able to confiscate a select amount of cash from criminals and gangs, I could always go that way and see about raiding a few storehouses. Already, a plan was starting to come together in my head, but I was interrupted by Miss Militia, as she kept going.
"However, due to... Recent events, and the enormous potential that your Healing Fluid provides, the review period for your biological Tinkertech has been shortened. Potentially to as little as a single week." The Heroine stated as I couldn't help raising some eye-ridges at that. I knew about the 'events' she was probably taking about, what with Behemoth attacking Havana in Cuba. Official casualty counts over almost half of the total population, just over a million people with at least a hundred dead capes, not to mention an entire city that was little more than a radioactive crater in the ground. Not only that, but Healer Capes were rare, and even Panacea could do so much, the capes might have already been healed, but I was willing to bet that a lot of other people were still going to be looking at a rather large reduction in their quality of life due to third-degree burns, missing limbs and other injuries. And that was without going into the fact that many of them had probably lost their homes and way of life.
"Understandable, and much appreciated. Though, if there is anything further that you need, please feel free to contact me. Though, keep in mind that I might not be able to reply to everything straight away, mostly because I might be busy dealing with other projects" I stated as I handed over a folded piece of parchment, an E-mail address having been written on it that I had created a day ago, one that I fully planned to only use when in contact with the Protectorate and when I was outside of my Lair, so as to prevent tracking attempts.
"Thank you, Dreadnaught. Though we should only need to contact you once the testing is finished, but we'll keep that in mind." Miss Militia stated as Armsmaster offered a single nod in agreement with his 2IC. Shrugging in response, I started to turn and head back, my wings already extending as I took a few steps away from the two Heroes.
"Then, I'll be off. Until we meet again!" I shouted as my wings spread fully, the sound of air being displaced thundered around me even as I caught the response of 'And you!' being shouted back as I rocketed into the sky. Non-standard senses mounted across my Host Armor let me know that Miss Militia was waving me off while Armsmaster had quickly had quickly turned and was power-walking towards the main entrance of the base, Miss Militia following behind him a moment later after she stopped waving after me. Once both were inside, I stopped keeping an eye on the PRT building as I turned my attention towards flying even as I activated the internal Bio-comm. unit built into my Host Armor.
"Hey, Cinder, how interested would you be in the chance to bankrupt at least one gang?"
XXX
"Shhh... Don't think, big boy... Just listen and do as I say... Do that, big boy, and I'll give you somethingrealnice... Doesn't that soundgood, big boy...?" Cinder whispered in a husky tone, her nose almost touching the nose of a drugged-up Merchant that was looking into her eyes as though he was utterly mesmerized by what he saw. Though, one could argue that he hardly had a choice with her pressing her enlarged bust against his chest, a hand around his jaw helping to keep his head pinned against the brick wall of the alley while keeping him from looking at anything but her. His own hands were currently hanging limply by his sides even as her remaining hand traced down his dirty body, sliding over his inner thigh and applying just enough pressure to get the right reaction. Said reaction was immediate to see, already dilated eyes suddenly dilate even further until it was nearly impossible to see the iris of either eye. Cinder had little doubt that if she let go, the idiot would have fallen to the ground without her hands keeping him up, but that could wait until after she got what she wanted.
A stray thought was enough as she started pumping out more pheromones that were tailored to make her seem more trustworthy, already helped along by the mixed batch of psychoactive chemicals that she had injected into the Merchant through her barbs.
"... Ye-Yeah... Yeah... real-l nish..." The Merchant replied, his voice slurred from the effects of a cocktail of a few different things that Cinder could already see working away on his brain, inhibiting his ability to lie, to feel frightened even with her looming over him, eyes glowing a hypnotic yellow, and putting him into a state of drowsiness that made him unable to connect the dots in what she was doing. All together, it put him in a very good position where he would answer the New Growths questions with the minimum of resistance.
"Now, big boy... I'm going to ask some questions... And you're going to answer those questions... You're going to tell me everything... And I'll give you somethinggoodafter each question..." Without hesitation, barbs fired into the Merchant, releasing their payload of a short-lived aphrodisiac, the effects of which being enough for his eyes to go cockeyed from the pleasure of the experience as Cinder applied a bit more pressure to the inner thigh that she gripped, helped along by the increased sensitivity that the pleasure was causing the Merchant as she saw his legs almost shake from the effort of standing.
"So... First question... You're a Dealer for the Merchants... Right...?" Cinder requested, her voice never losing the husky tone to it even as she peered at her prey, enjoying the little game even to get the answers she sought. Maybe it wasn't needed, but it was fun to toy with the little man in front of her, especially as he tried to nod frantically, stuttering out words in the same slurred voice while his eyes blinked lethargically.
"Yeah... I... I'm... Wiz da Merchantz..." Cinder nodded, releasing another burst of pleasure into the man as she grinned at the confirmation. She already knew the answer, of course, but getting a confirmation while touching her prey meant that she could see his brain light up, showing her how it looked when he was telling the truth as opposed to lying. Admittedly, she doubted that he would have been capable of lying to her in his current state, but one never knew, especially with what she had learned of the Merchants and their drug addictions. Still, she rewarded him with another burst of bliss before moving onwards.
"Good Boy... Now... Next question... The Merchants... They have a lot of dealers around here... Right...? Can you... Tell me how many...?" She asked, building up her questions as she started to rapidly condition the man to answer her questions with as little difficulty as possible.
"... I... I da'know... a-abot for-tie... Fortie... Fortie-something..." He answered, buzzed slightly from the bliss and liking it as he answered more earnestly, trying to be as accurate as possible as Cinder gave a slightly longer burst than before to ensure he understood, even if only unconsciously.
"Again,Good boy... And those forty of you... You must make... A lot of money over time... Right...?" Once more, the Merchant attempted to frantically nod his head, held in place by her grip of his jaw that made it nearly impossible for him to actually nod properly.
"...Y-Yez... Lotz oh cazh..." The Merchant Dealer hissed his answer, trying to say something that would get him another buzz even as Cinder's own smile grew wider even as she continued onwards.
"Once more,Good boy..." Cinder complimented, noticing how the man shivered from her voice alone, recognizing the effects as the conditioning seemed to take effect with little effort, but was reinforced further with a bit more bliss from her to the drugged-up idiot as he spilled his guts to her. Leaning in further, she went closer, increasing the amount of pheromones she was pumping out even further as she flooded the air with such a strong scent that it would have made an non-drugged idiot have a difficult time thinking straight.
"Now... Big boy... Last question... Where do you keep... All your cash...?" She asked as her hand traced over his thigh, gliding over his inner thigh in gentle circles as the nails of her other hand changed, sharpening and lengthening as they strapped along skin, channels forming to allow something to flow through them as she let some of her fingers slide down his exposed neck.
"... It... I-Itz... Itz in the Houze... Da Houze on Bakerz strit... Da une wih de... De borded windas... Numba... Numba siz..." Understanding him, if just, Cinder nodded with a smile on her face even as her finger nails suddenly plunged into both the major veins on either side of his neck. At the same time, Barbs fired from the pores of her skin and released their payloads into the idiot before her as she felt him lose control of his body, his eyes rolling up to the back of his sockets even as his lower head finally let out the load it was holding in for so long, drenching the inside of the man's pants and trousers with cum. Quickly after that, however, the man lost consciousness as sedatives took him to the realm of Morpheus while other bio-targeted chemicals went to work as she let him go, retracting her nails and letting the fool drop to the ground.
Crouching down, she placed a hand on the man's neck to ensure he was still alive, noting the chemicals in his brain were working to prevent his short-term memory from transferring into his long-term memory, so that he wouldn't even remember the last few hours. Perhaps it was a bit on the side of overkill, but Cinder felt that getting rid of too much was better than getting rid of too little, not that the Dealer would have missed much of his night since the end result was still probably the same; Passed out somewhere with vague, if any, memory of the previous night. A quick check of the neck wounds was enough to show that they had already sealed up and closed, leaving no visible sign of injury, and clue that could be used to track her. With that, she smirked smugly as she absently pulled a rag from her trouser pocket and wiping her hands clean even as she padded away, and around the corner, checking her surroundings to ensure that no one was watching her all the while.
Old skills came in useful, especially with her enhancements. A few tweaks and she was back to how she was after being 'de-canned', as Jason had nicknamed it. A tad bit shorter to not draw attention, but still fairly tall with all the right curves in all the right places. Even so, it was a bit of a balancing act to ensure that the compressed bio-mass she was moving around didn't get too close to the surface of her body, least someone notice that the illusion was only skin-deep. It was annoying, but a reality of her powers, one she was willing to live with as she twisted a bit of bio-mass in her shoulder into a Bio-comm. unit, quickly tuning into the right frequency as she sent a message.
"I've got location of one of their storehouses, probably has a metric ton of drugs and cash lying, but I didn't bother getting more than an address from my... Guide."Cinder sent, feeling impish as the reply came a moment later, words appearing in the back of her mind as memories and transmitted bias provided thought and tone, respectively.
"I have little doubt about that, since I know for a fact that you can be rather persuasive. Still, you need a hand with raiding the place?"Cinder allowed a snort as she heard the message playing through her mind, quickly composing her reply even as the traces of dry wit faded from her mind. Glancing up, her vision changed as she took a note of the stars through the cloudless sky, shifting visions to ensure that any light pollution wouldn't get in the way as she considered old information related to lunar cycles, constellations and their positions relative to her location and time of the year. An advantage of her enhanced brain allowed her to hold all of this information with ease, and with such clarity that she knew she could never forget something unless she wished to. Within moments, the knowledge had come and gone, but it served its purpose well enough as composed her reply.
"No need. It's still late at night, probably another eight hours until dawn and I doubt that these Merchants are going to be anything else than out-cold when I reach them. If they aren't, then I can go from there and improvise."Cinder sent back even as she picked up the pace slightly, moving out of the light of one streetlight before a twitch in her leg was enough to send her into the air after a quick check to ensure that no one was looking.
"Alright, just remember not to leave any evidence, or anyway for it to be tracked back to us. I don't feel like getting into a gang war anytime soon, especially when we both know there are bigger fish to fry."Jason replied, somber tone coming through even as Cinder mentally nodded at that, knowing that getting involved with the local population of adult-shaped children would do them no favors, at least, not without sufficient preparation and fortification.
"Will do, see you back at the Lair... With my Loot."Cinder sends before cutting off the transmission, severing the link even as she heard the beginnings of a reply, something she was sure was some promise of retribution, but one she knew lacked heat. The New Growth knew that it was just banter, just as her creator did, both knowing that good interactions helped them both build stronger relationships, and thus trust each other in the ways that counted.
Still, as Cinder silently slipped from rooftops, recalling street maps of Brockton Bay and judging direction based on Magnetic North before correcting for True North internally, she couldn't help but think about that. She knew that Jason trusted her, and that she trusted him, but she still felt as though she still needed to prove it, to work harder to show that she trusted him just as much as he clearly trusted her. The sheer fact that he gave her access to even a partially complete copy of his own, personal, database was a massive showing of trust on his part, one that he didn't need to make. Admittedly, she had a lot of the augments in it, but not all of them, some of them had been installed in his Host Armor while others included things that he was still working on. The sheer implications of just giving such a thing to her were enough to almost cause her brain to crash as she had hesitated in accepting what was, for someone like her, a literal armory of biological upgrades. All of which she had eagerly memorized with her augmented brain and retained even as she jumped across rooftops, and further into the night.
XXX
It took the better part of an hour to reach her target, but with it in sight, she had allowed herself to change, digging into the knowledge that she had eagerly absorbed even as she skimmed the edge of the deepest files in the repository that he had gifted her: The Experimental Designs.
Even as she stood, her skin replaced with biological armor capable of shrugging of anti-tank weapons, she still shivered when she considered what she had seen within the files she had been gifted as a sign of trust. Even her Thinker abilities seemed to stutter with some of the ideas for biological systems within, such things as being not so much impossible, but so advanced to make them insanely expensive to create, even for Biokinetics. Admittedly, Cinder was sure that the folder was only the tip of the iceberg for what Jason probably considered as Pie-in-the-sky ideas, but she knew that a lot of them could be used, could be made usable. Perhaps it was her way of trying to balance the scale, to show that shecouldbe trusted with the information she had been gifted, but it felt like something she needed to do, if only to even the scales between them. As such, she had worked through the ideas in them, ranging from simply impressive, to truly awe-inspiring as she remembered one such design in particular. One design for a biological combat construct that had been included as a kind of 'next generation bio-tech combat construct', as the file had called it. The file itself for these 'Makhai' was further split into sub-folders that contained such designs that she could barely understand half of the technical descriptions. And even with what she had, she could see that it was just a taste of what the Makhai were to be fully capable of, as she could see the missing links to other files that weren't included.
Still, it proved to be an enlightening experience, if only to highlight that the same person that had created these things had also created her. As it also showed just how seriously he was of taking on the threats that plagued this world, the threats that he seemed intent to kill. It was a humbling experience, to know that even what she had seen in those files, the masterpieces that Jason had created, weren't considered as such, simply seen as tools and iterations of tools to act as stepping stones to something greater. After seeing even a segment of the Makhai, Cinder struggled to imagine something better than them, but that probably was why she was a Thinker where Jason was a Tinker.
Shaking her head from such thoughts, she focused on the present; On her objective; On the possible resistance she might face. A thought and her arm reconfigured, changing to have multiple tubes connected to fast-twitch muscles to launch darts at a given target, each dart loaded with a cocktail designed to ensure both unconscious and memory lose in even the most brain-dead and drugged-up of Merchants. A quick check of her Thinker aspect and she nodded, a few tweaks and the system was ready as she silently dropped down.
Padded feet, shock-absorbing muscle layers and spring-loaded bones all worked together to ensure that her impact left no trace as she hit the uncut grass behind a small house tucked in next to a corner shop that looked close to shutting down. Vision shifting, night became day in her eyes even as she looked over the outside of the house before seeing an entry point on the top floor of the house, a window that had been cracked open. Hypersensitive ears helped her pick out the sounds of heartbeats from within as she felt bio-electrical pulses flowing in a steady beat, unlike the near constant buzz of live electrical wires that lined the walls. Already, the outlines of the number of Merchants in the building became apparent to her as she saw some upstairs, some on the ground floor, and a few sleeping in what must have been a basement.
It wasn't much, but it was enough for her to move on as a quick step launched her up a dozen feet before she clambered over a slate-covered roof and to the window. The window itself wasn't open wide enough for her to fit through, but a tendril extruded from a finger solved that problem after undoing the latch. Slipping inside a moment later, she left the window as she looked around, five Merchants lying on the ground or on half-ruined mattresses in filth-drenched clothes. Filtering the scent out, she loaded five darts before shooting each merchant, ensuring that they'd remain out of it for the next few hours, long enough for her to do her business and be gone. The darts themselves would biodegrade into nothing but more dirt inside half an hour, so no traces would be left beyond a bit more dirt.
With that done, she slipped out the room and down the corridor to the main hall, avoiding the floor in case there was a squeaky board that might wake someone up. Cinder knew that no one was awake, but it was better to be safe than sorry, especially as echolocation helped create a more complete map of the environment as she slowly moved from room to room. As the New Growth moved, she found more Merchants, more filth, empty bottles of spirits and the scent of sex and drugs filling the air. It didn't stop her from ensuring that everyone remained asleep, but it was a delay as she slowly moved downstairs, finding more Merchants sleeping on a sofa, one of them being within arm's reach of a shotgun as Cinder took special case to render him unconscious before moving on.
A quick count gave her fourteen Merchants, nine of which were already dead to the world, but another three still slept below as she carefully checked every room for any hidden compartments or items of interest before moving down, into the basement. In said basement, that was where she found what she was looking for.
On one side of the room, there was a single table, it's surface covered in clear plastic bags filled with various powders, needles with an assortment of liquids, and a dozen other things piled up on either the rest of the table or a half-rotten pallet that was haphazardly wrapped in cellophane. On another pallet, however, was her prize. Dozens of neatly stacked bags of money, sorted into large and small bills and tied with rubber bands. All surprisingly clean for a gang like the Merchants, but Cinder wasn't about to throw stones as she quickly shot the remaining Merchants before she went to work.
Later, Cinder climbed back out of the house through the same window, having spent half an hour of her life in the run-down house with nothing but the scent of sex, drugs, alcohol and sleeping, unwashed Merchants as her company. However, this was balanced by the fact that she practically skipped away several thousand dollars richer. A quick change of the ledger in the basement had been enough to ensure that it looked like someone was skimming from the top, rather than it being stolen. And even then, she doubted that they'd even consider that, probably not even noticing the difference in the morning.
Still, if they were too stupid to notice, then that just meant that Cinder could take advantage all the more.
Besides, while she happily accepted the clothes provided by Jason for working and living in the Lair, they werenotthe kind of thing that she wanted to be caught in public in. With that in mind, Cinder already started to consider what to buy, as a particular outfit came to mind, only causing the New Growth to smirk as she jumped a few rooftops before heading for home. A final jump gave her air long enough to grow wings, the quiet flaps of the massive limbs being far enough away as to no draw attention to her actions, or the idiots she hoped to steal from once more.
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