No.4212
>Date: October 30th, 2017
>Time: 9:06am
>Location: Meta-Gen Solutions, Sanctuary City - Financial District
>Some corporations within Sanctuary City have impressive campuses with multiple buildings, with dedicated building and offices for research and development. Other ones have much more humble footprints, Meta-Gen Solutions is one such corporation. Operating out of building that was clearly impressive when the corporation was founded decades prior, the business offers little available to the general public, instead acting primarily as a Meta-Human focused genetics research company.
>Deep within the bowels of the corporate headquarters, below ground level, are the corporation's American labs, each one dedicated to a different project, creating an underground "settlement" of research and development.
>Within one of the older labs, under the illumination of an old flourescent tube that can barely light up the room, a small woman with long black hair works away at a microscope, observing a sample under it. After a few moments of observation, the woman lets out a groan of annoyance and leans back away from scope, the change in position revealing a set of bags under her eyes.
>As the woman leans back, the door to the lab opens and a blonde-haired man enters, letting out a small chuckle as he sees the woman.
"Still no luck with the stabilizing agent?"
"I've been down here since Thursday trying to get something, anything-"
"Wait, since Thursday? Didn't they evacuate you?"
>The woman does a tired blink and looks over at the man with a look of confusion on her face.
"Evacuate?"
"With the attacks on Friday, they were right here in the Financial Sector."
"Oh, Friday. . . yeah there was an alarm but I unplugged it."
>The woman dismissively indicates over to a smashed alarm on one of the worksurfaces.
"Right, unplugged. . . remind me to never get on your bad side, M."
"Don't you fucking-"
"Oh right, you don't like that one."
"It was Q that did the gadgets, and we don't even do gadgets, we're-"
"Yes yes I get it, save it for the next social. . ."
>The man sits down at one of the other desks and takes out a laptop, booting it up.
No.4213
>>4212>The laptop boots up and the man opens up his emails, doing a quick scan of them, and stops as he notices the subject of one, which he reads more thoroughly."Hey, Morgan, how long do you think you need to work out the stabilizer issue."
>From across the room, the woman, Morgan, looks up from her work."At the current rate? Probably a few months."
"Well we've got two weeks."
"
What."
>Morgan makes her way across the room, shoving the man aside to read the email herself."You have got to be kidding me Arthur. . ."
>Morgan reads through the email herself."In light of the recent presidential announcement. What presidential announcement?"
"Ah, right, you wouldn't have heard the news if you were holed up down here, the President announced a whole load of new measures after the attacks on Friday."
"There were attacks on Friday?"
"What did you think the alarm was for?"
"Oh, right."
>Morgan moves away from the laptop and collapses on her chair, letting out a sigh of frustration and exhaustion."2 weeks?
Really? Who does the CEO think she is? We're not even ready for animal trials, let alone actual usage. . ."
"Hey, you've worked miracles before, that's why they hired you."
"Not this kind of miracle. . ."
No.4214
>>4213>Several hours later.
>Morgan groans as she throws away another sample, holding her head as she does. Seeing her reaction, the man, Arthur, walks over and puts a hand on her shoulder."Hey, why don't you get something to drink, you need a break. . ."
>Arthur pauses as he sees the condition Morgan is in."Well, actually, you need to go home and sleep for several days, but you're not gonna do that, so a break will have to do for now."
"But-"
"I've already got the machines synthesizing the next stabilizing agent, I'll come get you if something comes up while you're gone."
>Morgan looks around at the lab, then sighs."Fine."
>Taking off her lab coat, Morgan grabs a shoulder bag from below her workstation and opens the door to head out."If
anything happens while I'm gone and you don't contact me, I'll kill you and-"
"and no one will be able to find my body, I know I know. Now go rest."
>Morgan raises her hand to say something else, but decides against it, closing the door.
>After waiting for a few moments to let the sound of Morgan's footsteps down the corridor fade away, Arthur chuckles."She'll get herself killed with that mouth someday. . ."
>Arthur makes his way over to his own workstation, checking on some results from some of his own work on the mysterious project, and gets into a good flow of things, only to be interrupted as one of the machines in the lab makes a pinging sound."Ah!"
>Making his way over to the machine, Arthur carefully pulls out a vial of some sort of chemical, which he carefully takes over to Morgan's workstation, putting it in a stand next to the microscope. Reaching into his pocket, the man stops himself."She won't mind me confirming
one of these agents while she's gone, it'll just fail anyway. . ."
>Sitting down in Morgan's chair, Arthur has to quickly adjust it to his own height before taking out a fresh pipette and carefully extracting some of the serum, which he drops onto a fresh sample that he places under the microscope.
>Leaning over the device, Arthur looks through the viewfinder for a few moments, then steps away, grinning."It works. It works! Now we just need to start. . ."
>Arthur pauses, then sighs."We don't have enough time for trials, do we? But we can't exactly roll ahead with. . ."
>Arthur stands up and starts pacing, until he sees a drawer labelled "syringes".". . .it goes against every legal and ethical standard, but desparate times. . ."
>Arthur walks over to the drawer, taking out one of the eponymous pieces of equipment, and heads back to the vial of serum, which is he carefully inserts into the syringe.". . .call for desperate measures."
>Carefully lining up the syringe, Arthur injects it into his arm. . . No.4215
>>4214>A few minutes later.
>Morgan returns to lab, a coffee cup holder with two cups in it in her hand."So, I went up to the Java's in the lobby and got us some coffee, seeing as we're going to be here all night for the next few days I figured we need as much caffeine as possible - you still take 5 sugars, right?"
>Morgan waits for an answer from Arthur, then looks confused as she doesn't receive one, noticing that she can't see him either."Arthur? You there?"
>Putting the coffee down, Morgan walks around her workstation to see Arthur sprawled on the ground, unconscious."Arthur?!"
>Morgans rushes to the ground, checking the man's pulse, and lets out a sigh of relief when it comes across as normal, if a little fast.
>As she finishes with the pulse checking, Arthur groans, turning slightly as he opens his eyes."Oh. . . hey. . ."
"Don't 'oh hey' me, what the hell happened?"
>Arthur pulls himself up a bit so he's sitting down, ending up being slightly above eye level for Morgan in her kneeling pose."Oh. . . yeah. . . the stabilizing agent worked so I. . ."
>Arthur looks over at the syringe, which has now been crushed under his weight, and Morgan immediately picks up on the implication."Jesus. . . I don't even have the words to describe how stupid that is. . .
well?"
"Huh, well, what?"
"How are you feeling?"
>Arthur tests his arm a little, then shrugs."Normal, maybe a little better, hang on, let me try standing. . ."
>Arthur grabs the nearby workstation to pull himself up, only for the room to be filled with the sound of metal rending as his grip pulls it out of shape."I guess I'm more than a
little better. . ."
>Morgan grabs Arthur's face, moving it from side to side to inspect it, and then holds it in place so they're eye to eye."Arthur, you're a fucking idiot. But also, you might've just saved us both from being fired."
>Letting go of Arthur's face, Morgan stands up and starts heading to the door."You stay in here, and don't touch anything, I'm going to see if any of the physical examination chambers are free, ok?"
"Yeah, sure."
>Morgan steps out of the room and Arthur picks himself up, still managing to crack the floor as he puts too much force behind his hand.————————————————————————————————-
>Several minutes later
>Morgan returns to the room."Bad news, they're all occupied right now, but room 5 should be free in a few. . ."
>Morgan trails off as, once again, there's no sign of her colleague in the room.". . .hours. Arthur? Are you still in here with us?"
>Morgan walks around the workstation again to see if the man has collapsed again, but still finds no signs of him."Arthur?"
No.4216
>>4215>Time: 12:09pm
>Location: Sanctuary City - Financial District
>The usual sounds of the financial district's lunch break are interrupted as the doors of one of the banks explodes from their hinges, a rag-tag assortment of costumed characters bursting out through doorway as the door clatters down the steps.
>As the group rushes down the steps, two of the members, a large black man and a man in a cultist hood, high five. As the high five finishes, the group reaches the bottom of the steps and stops for a moment, trying to work out a direction."See? I told you, it's
our age now, they can't do anything to stop us, just like those MHA guys online said!"
>The hooded guy receives a stare from another member of the group, a small woman in a helmet of some kind. Even though her face isn't visible, it's still clear what kind of expression is on her face."Ok, sure, we're gonna be rich, but that's only
if we get out of here. So what's the big plan?"
>The man in the hood shrugs."Well I figured we'd just run as fast as we could before anyone turned up. . ."
No.4217
>>4216"The new-age criminals really don't try with presentation anymore, don't they?"
>A mechanized voice echoes out from above the costumed criminals, as a figure in a sleek black and red bodysuit and jacket swings onto a nearby lamppost - landing in a perfect crouching position, the figure points at the hooded man, stating:"I'm guessing you're the wannabe anarchist who got duped into thinking that armed robbery is somehow 'fighting the state'."
>Pointing at the large black man, he then continues:"And I'm guessing that you're the moneybags guy with more dollar signs than brain cells. Explains how you thought robbing a bank in broad daylight was somehow a good idea."
>Then pointing his finger at the woman in the mask, Arachnid's voice becomes more teasing and provocative, stating:"But you're the smart one aren't you? The silent and rational type. You know I bet you'd make a really good hero - that is if you were smart enough to not associate with these knuckleheads."
>Effortlessly front flipping onto the ground below, Arachnid assumes a spider-style spread stance near the ground, before slowly rising up to his feet. Crossing his arms, he then lays out the terms of engagement pretty clearly."OK, so option one is that you all give up prematurely and let me web you to the floor - so that the MRD have an easier time stopping you from further ruining your lives. Or we could go with option two, and I could knock some sense into you first?"
>Making a goading gesture with his gloved hand, Arachnid then says, in a very eager voice:"Please pick option two. Pretty please?"
No.4218
>>4217>The hooded guy looks at Arachnid, then turns around to the others."Oh hey, it's Anarchkid, guys!"
>The large man quietly takes out his phone and takes a picture, earning a sigh from the masked woman."
Arachnid, like a spider, and don't take pictures of the guy. . ."
"Why not? It's cool."
>The big man leans around the woman for a moment."It's cool if we take pictures, right?"
"We're carrying a load of stolen money, guys! He's going to beat us up if we don't run away."
>As the trio argue among themselves, the last member of the group, some kind of living mess of wires and metal, walks up to Arachnid and offers out a hand."BiLl. . . OPtIOn tWo?"
>As the. . . creature offers out its hand, it starts to develop a set of "quills" across its body. No.4219
>>4218>Arachnid looks at the creature and waves at it, before stating:"Yeah I'm not sure about that one. I appreciate the gesture though!"
>Arachnid then fires a large web net at the creature, ensnaring it - as he knows it won't keep the sentient wire creature for long.
>Leaping past the creature, Arachnid then lands on the side of the building's entrance, pointing down at the others as he says:"Seriously guys, what's your plan here? Even if you somehow manage to give me the slip, Speedrunner or someone else is gonna get you - 'cause your little payday gambit's being broadcast online right now."
>Tapping the side of his lenses, Arachnid emphasizes the fact that news crews are getting a feed of his silent recording of the figures, capturing their faces for all to see.
>Flipping down onto the floor beneath the opening and now standing in front of the large doors to the bank, Arachnid then stands up again as he points back to the webbed up wire creature, saying:"Your buddy Mechastein over there's probably gonna get out of that web net - but I'm not sure if you're all quite as 'flexible'. In that case, I'd suggest your next option be made after careful consideration of the situation."
>Arachnid then crosses his arms, waiting for them to make a decision, either give up or decide to fight - or try and bail. No.4220
>>4219"Wait, we're online? That's great!"
>The hooded man coughs and straightens himself up, his voice audibly lowering when he next speaks."My name is Tremor, and this is Power-Punch. . ."
>"Tremor" indicates to the large man, who gives Arachnid a little wave."Screamer. . ."
>The woman, "Screamer", does an exagerrated eye roll, moving her head to cover for the fact that her eyes aren't visible."and in the net is. . ."
>The creature bursts out of the net, accompanied by a "battle cry":"TWOoooOOOOOoooooOOO!"
"Bill! And together we're the. . ."
"Oh god no don't say it."
"Injustice Gang!"
>"Tremor" and "Power-Punch" both pull a pose while "Screamer" facepalms."God I wish I weren't with you guys right now. . ."
>Bill lunges at Arachnid, and "Screamer" takes the opportunity to press a button on the side of her helmet, causing it to open up to a void and unleash a pulse of sound at Arachnid from the other direction. No.4221
>>4220>Arachnid's ESP warns him of both attacks preemptively, with him leaning to the side - narrowly avoiding Bill's attack. As the mechanical wire being attempts to attack him again, Arachnid vaults backwards with a series of quick handstands - also avoiding the concentrated sonic pulse set by Screamer."Injustice Gang? Isn't that copyrighted or something?"
>As he lands on the ground, he then thinks to himself:{"I'm dealing with a bunch of jokesters. Probably around my age, thinking they can make a name for themselves."}
>Out loud, Arachnid then asks them:"You guys sure you wanna be known as a bunch of glorified bank robbers? Without parole, you'd be sent away for a good decade because of this!"
>He then leaps up into the air, narrowly avoiding more of Screamer's sonic burst pulses as he says:"No really! Doubt you'd wanna waste your best years behind a jail cell! So maybe consider doing the right thing here!"
>As Arachnid moves from car to car - drawing the attention of the villains further and further away from the crowded street of the bank entrance, he then says to himself:{"Financial crime in broad daylight. Dweebs broadcasting their position on live feeds. Me courageously confronting such devious criminals in the name of restoring order to the financial system?"}
>Arachnid thinks that last part to himself with heavy sarcasm as he continues leading the villains towards a less crowded area of the district, thinking:{"Seriously, where is she? This is right up her alley for her to drop in by now."} No.4222
>>4221"It's not copyrighted, I looked it up! It's just trademarked!"
>Tremor kneels down, touching the ground, causing the road near Arachnid to burst up in a pillar of concrete."Also, we have a plan for that, we just need to not get caught!"
>Still kneeling down, the ground in front of Tremor opens up, and he points at it."Quick, down here guys, spiders can't swim!"
>Tremor jumps down the hole, leaving the rest confused for a moment before Screamer looks at the hole."I hate this plan. . ."
>Screamer jumps down the hole, the sound of another scream soon following the action as she cushions her landing.
>Still not entirely sure what's going on, Power-Punch grabs "Bill", which seems to still be targeting Arachnid, throwing it down the hole before giving Arachnid another wave."It was nice meeting you. . ."
>Power-Punch jumps down the hole as well. No.4223
>>4222>Arachnid sighs as he mutters to himself, stating:"Well, at least I gave them a chance to just walk away."
>He then looks at his palm as it opens up a 3D holographic map of Sanctuary City, stating:"Now let's see how useful you are, Metal Man."
>Thinking back to the moment where Bill first rushed at him, and Arachnid 'narrowly' dodged - Arachnid's mind focuses on the small nanite device that his finger shot into him - a small short ranged tracking device.
>Now tracking the relative position of the Injustice Gang thanks to the glowing red sphere on the holographic map of the city, Arachnid then swings into the air - moving to cut them off at the nearest opportune point."This'll be fun, I bet. Can't wait to see how they're going to trip me up."
>Arachnid says, sarcastically as he fires another web line from his wrist bracelets - quickly swinging from skyscraper to skyscraper as he keeps pace with the quick movements of the Injustice Gang down below the city streets. No.4224
>>4223>The red sphere moves along the map, moving "through" buildings as the group runs along. . . ————————————————————————————————-
>Below ground
>The "Injustice Gang" (Name Pending) runs through the sewers, keeping up a good pace despite having to be careful about not slipping.
>As they run along, Screamer presses a second button on the side of her helmet, releasing it and revealing her face underneath. "Wow, great plan, Joe, you've got us running through a sewer!"
"You're meant to be the smart one, you go to college!"
"For engineering! Not for criminal plan making!"
"Then stop complaining!"
"I swear to god, if any of this gets in my coat, I'm gonna kill you - these things aren't cheap you know!"
"noT cHEAp! NOt CHEap!"
"See, Bill agrees with me!"
>The group rounds a corner."You're the one who found him in the junkyard, you probably programmed him to agree with you or something!"
"I didn't program anything into him!"
"Hey guys, could you stop arguing, it's making me nervous."
>Both Screamer and Tremor look over their shoulders at Power-Punch."Shut up Trevor!"
>As the pair go to turn back to keep moving forward, Screamer stops."Hey guys, Bill's gone. . ."
>The group stops, and a muffled voice suddenly comes from the wall."GOne!"
————————————————————————————————-
>On the 3D map, the red sphere stops moving. No.4226
>>4225>At the location where the gang had stopped, Screamer stands talking to the wall, with the others watching her, ready to run for it at a moment's notice."Hey. . . wall. . . could you give Bill back please. . ."
>Screamer groans."Why am I trying to negotiate with a wall? Trevor, can you break it down?"
>Power-Punch looks at Screamer, then at the wal, then shrugs."Yeah sure. . ."
>Power-Punch goes to punch the wall, winding it up, only for it to surround and "swallow" him, causing Screamer and Tremor to jump backwards from it."Hey, walls can't eat people normally, right? Because if they can I'll never be able to sleep."
"Walls don't normally eat people, Joe! It's-"
>Screamer catches a glimpse of Arachnid rocketing down the tunnel."Oh crap, we've got company!"
>Screamer starts waving at Arachnid."Hey, whoever you are, you don't want to be here! The walls are eating people right now, so you should probably go back the way you came!"
No.4227
>>4226>Arachnid comes to a halt, firing a web line up into the top of the sewer area - as he lowers himself down in front of Screamer with a yo-yo style pose. Once he's in front of her helmet, he then says:"I knew that something happened - full disclosure - I put tracker on your buddy as you all decided to hightail it from the bank. That tracker stopped right about….here."
>Arachnid says, pointing at the wall, as he says:"And the tracker hasn't moved far - so the good news is that your friend is still here. Somewhere."
>He then starts by firing a set of small concussive and technological devices at the wall, beginning a complex topological scan of the area."I'm doing a topological scan, checking for structural inequities, chemical and molecular irregularities - anything that could give us an explanation of what exactly's happening."
>Flipping gracefully down to the ground as he slowly rises up to his feet, he then states:"Besides, I said I was going to web you all for the MRD right? That includes your mechanical friend - wherever he is."
>Arachnid then takes out a small mechanical device, using it to further amplify the signal of the topological devices. No.4228
>>4227>A muffled voice comes from the wall."tRAckER yUM."
"I'm. . . uh. . . not worried about Bill, he can survive without breathing. . ."
>Screamer looks at the wall."Probably."
"The wall ate Trevor too!"
"Yeah, the wall ate him as well, and I don't think he can breath in concrete."
>As the scan finishes, it reveals the wall as regular brick and mortar once more, albeit with large sections for a metallic and organic object within it.
>With this conclusion, however, the three remaining outside of it begin to sink slowly. No.4229
>>4228>Arachnid notices the topological anomaly forming around him and the others, cursing to himself as he mutters:"Stay put. I'll try and figure something out."
>His mind races as he then considers the information. The cross section of the sewer wall showcases conventional building materials, reinforced sediment, concrete and other brick and mortar materials. However, his visor has the ability to interpolate images and filter them based on dimensional scattering - a sort of X-Ray vision. Within the vision mode of his lenses, he can see the constrained forms of both Bill and Trevor."There you are! Now let's try this."
>Holding out his hands, Arachnid presses a set of small buttons on his silk shooters with his wrist as he then fires off reinforced graphene cabling, hyper-condensed and packed with vibrational disruption generators. After firing the cabling lines with the spiked tips far enough into the walls - he then activates the seismic function of the tips - rupturing the entire wall and pressurizing it to the point of shattering. "Found you!"
>Seeing the now visible forms of both Bill and Trevor, Arachnid then looks down and fires a unique foam like substance - hydrophobic in nature and working to raise himself, Screamer and Tremor up higher.
>He then looks up and fires a series of explosive darts from his silk shooters - blasting the tops of the sewer network as rumbling comes from above. After a few seconds, light can be seen from above, as the Aurora - Arachnid's personal aerial machine, hovers in mid air - far above them all.
>Turning to Screamer, Arachnid takes her by the hand and says:"Ladies first. Remember to hold in your breath."
>Before she's immediately yanked up by the force of the Aurora's anti-gravity beam. She ends up in the backseat of the large aerial vehicle's interior - as Arachnid successfully tosses Tremor, Power-Punch and Billy onto a series of large cable harnesses that jettison down from the Aurora.
>Once everyone is fastened onto the Aurora, Arachnid then flies up into the air via his jet boots and lands in the cockpit of the Aurora - placing his gloved hands on the controls as glowing red nanocircuitry wires interact with the machine.
>He then quickly flies the criminals out of the area - while sending a message to his friends that the job is done. No.4230
>>4229>As Arachnid drives the silent aerial dreadnaught through the skies of Sanctuary City, it's soft pulsating red lights contrast with the bright blue atmosphere around it. The other 3 members of the working-title "Injustice Gang" are still safely fastened to pods built to withstand atmospheric pressures and sheer forces this powerful.
>Inside of the Aurora though, Arachnid doesn't look behind him at Screamer in the passenger seat. Instead he just asks a simple question:"So again I ask. What exactly were you all planning to accomplish by robbing a bank in broad daylight? You look like college kids - and unless tuition's going through the roof at SCU, I doubt this was about making ends meet. What were you guys trying to prove?"
>Continuing to fly the Aurora, Arachnid then takes a moment to sigh before saying:"Look, you all seem like decent guys. You didn't hurt anyone, and you don't seem to be the typical supervillain type that wants to take over the world. So because of that, I can let this slide if you all just decide to walk away from this criminal business. I'm telling you, after all of the busts I've made when it comes to criminal hideouts? The result is always the same. People go away and they do hard time for nothing."
>Gesturing with his hand to the side of the cockpit and the red tinted windows, Arachnid keeps explaining:"Their lives? Their futures? Their hopes? Dreams? Aspirations? All gone, dusted and blown out like a worn down candlelight. All because they thought they could hit it big with just 'one' good score. Because that's how it always starts."
>Falling silent for a few more moments, Arachnid then asks them again, stating:"So one more time. I can drop you guys off at the MRD and watch as your lives are basically over. Or I can drop them off at a volunteer center for wayward Metas, and I can drop you off back at SCU."
>Knowing the reaction that Screamer will respond with, Arachnid then says:"Tracker, remember? It also doubled as an audio listening device. 'You're meant to be the smart one, you go to college!' Engineering right? Not bad, I knew you were the smart one."
No.4231
>>4230>In the back, Tremor raises his hand, then goes off into an enthusiastic speech:"We're doing it because Metas can, the great tide is coming soon, the MHA guys said so!"
"Joe?"
"Yeah?"
"For the love of god, just shut the fuck up for once."
"ShUt thE FUck Up sHuT ThE fUCk uP."
>Screamer groans."Bill, you too."
>The mess of metal and wires blinks, but complies."I mean, I agree with Jess here. You guys might have a chance of getting out, but have you seen what they do to black guys in prison? I'd be in there forever."
>Screamer groans."Why did we ever let Joe convince us to do
anything. . ?"
"B-but what about the big Meta-Human dream?"
>Power-Punch looks at Tremor."Joe, we're literally in a superhero car right now, we're basically already arrested."
"B-but."
"Just shut up Joe, you get to keep your job at Java's this way, at least."
>Screamer turns to Arachnid."And for the record, tuition
is going up at SCU, by a lot. It's to pay for those new security measures."
"TUition uP tHIRty PERCENT tuITIon UP thirTY peRceNt!"
No.4232
>>4231>The Aurora, having dropped off the other members of the Injustice Gang, then makes its final landing - miles away from the campus of Sanctuary City University. As the sleek vehicle lands on the ground, Arachnid turns to his final passenger and tells her:"Not sure how much this is worth - but here's a good chunk of cash. Enough to finish the rest of your Engineering degree, with decent chunk to spare."
>Handing the metallic black and red container to her, which expands into a large reinforced nanoweave bag, it's revealed to have a substantial sum of money in the tens of thousands. He also hands her a small black and red circular gadget device - an encrypted comms device."Emergency cash in case I ever needed it for something. Don't ask. There's also a comms beacon encrypted to this specific frequency. Don't bother giving it to anyone else. They won't know the encryption if it detects anyone else's voice activation but yours."
>As he then leads Screamer outside, he then says:"If you're wondering why I trust you so much about this? Let's just say I may have some experience with 'higher education woes' so to speak. But you probably already guessed that. Later Screamer."
>Moving back into the Aurora, Arachnid then says to her:"Oh, and if you're going good guy now? Please don't use the name Screamer. There are so many punchlines ready for you if you keep it. Don't be a stranger!"
>Waving, Arachnid then pilots the Aurora, slowly hovering it up into the air - as it then instantly flies off at hypersonic speeds, a streak of black and ruby red in the skies above.
>From his cockpit seat, Arachnid then sighs and leans back in his chair, saying:"…..I wonder what she's doing right about now…."
No.4233
>>4232>Screamer looks down at the cash in her hand and shrugs."Well, at least I don't have to beg dad for more money, I guess. . ."
————————————————————————————————-
>Location: UP Tower - Sanctuary City Financial District
>Bella Blake sits at the head of a table of executives, several of which are dialed in remotely, represented by images projected on their chairs."
Shipments are struggling due to the situation on Isla del Oesta, the presence of the Fortunus in the area certainly isn't helping. Perhaps we could lobby the government to-"
>Another board member interupts."Fortuna is accusing the US of being complicit in the tyranny of the Oesten government, a fact which isn't helped by them being an ally - and certainly wouldn't be helped by us lobbying for military intervention. The situation is sure to calm down before long, best to wait it out."
"
Speaking of the government, what of President Underwood's new initiatives, surely we could increase our military contracts."
>Bella raises a finger to quiet down the speaker."President Underwood's proposals are, quite frankly, shortsighted, a fact that we officially advised him of before he announced them, getting publicly involved will be bad press for us, it's best for us to remain neutral for now."
"
Understood."
"Also, keep on eye on the Oesten situation, we don't want to be caught off-guard if things
do heat up there. If there's nothing else, we can continue this tomorrow."
>The image flickers and turns off, starting a chain reaction of the board members leaving, whether that is digitally or physically, leaving only Bella and one of the board members who was present digitally - a middle aged man with a metal prosthetic over his jaw."
Bella, is everything alright with you?"
"Hm? Oh, Uncle Al, everything's fine, why do you ask?"
"
You just seem. . . tired, piccolina, I hope this position is not getting to you."
"I've just had. . . a few sleepless nights lately, a mix of the situation currently and the weather, I think."
"
Still, make sure to get plenty of rest, ok? I can send Maria to cheer you up if you want."
>Bella waves her hand to dismiss it."It's ok, Uncle, you don't need to. . ."
>Bella pauses for a moment, thinking."Actually, that would be quite nice, but only if she's free, ok?"
"
Of course, keep safe, piccolina."
>The image shudders then turns off, causing the windows around the room to switch from a deep light-blocking black to clear, granting Bella a view of the city below her.
>Now completely alone, Bella presses a button underneath her desk and a display lights up."An alert. . ? Just a minor robbery, should already be handled."
>Bella presses a different button, and tries to open a line up with Arachnid."An alert for a robbery, really? Worried you couldn't handle some lowlifes. . ."
>Bella notices something within the information, then grins."
Arachkid?"
>A tone of amusement is very apparent in her comment. No.4234
>>4233>Continuing to fly the Aurora, Damian scoffs as his helmet dissipates in motes of glowing red light - as his wavy black hair covers his ruby red irises of his eyes; his concentration fixated on the aerial flight before him."What? I had to deal with a bunch of wannabe get-rich-quick shmucks - and one particularly smart engineering student. She's pretty smart from what I can tell, just stuck with the wrong crowd."
>Damian is silent for a moment before saying:"Besides, Arachnid was always a funny name. Couldn't do something like Spider-Boy though, think that's taken already."
>As the Aurora nears another curve, flying gracefully through the city, he then says:"So what's up with you? Still juggling corporate meetings about how to increase operational efficiency by 0.5% by gutting the local fishing economy in the pursuit of the almighty black gold? Or are you actually free? Because I just dealt with something strange."
>The Aurora then barrels down, flipping on its side as it slides between two thin buildings - reorienting itself horizontally as it continues its gentle ascent into the air."You ever come across walls that just….swallow people up? Asking for a friend. Because I'm pretty sure the city's sewer system isn't supposed to be alive. Last I checked."
No.4235
>>4234"The subject was the current geopolitical situation, actually. It's very VUCA, no thanks to your friends."
>Bella paces a little in her office, taking the opportunity to stretch her legs a little, her words being picked up with the same quality no matter where she stands.
>With Damian's comment about the sewer walls, Bella makes her way back to the display, and does several gestures."It should be normal brick and mortar in the sewers, I'm looking at the purchase orders for it right here, UP doesn't
just deal in oil, if you'd like to remember your history. Most of the original construction contracts for the city were handled by us - a lot of them still are."
>Bella looks through the digitised document, finding nothing out of the ordinary."That doesn't discount something from the Hollows, however, as much as the city government and MRD would like to claim otherwise, those are an unknown quantity, nobody really knows how far down they go."
>After another pause, Bella then adds:"Did you at least get a sample?"
No.4236
>>4235>Continuing to drive the Aurora with graceful execution and skill, Damian then lightly scoffs as he states:"What sort of an investigative detective would I be if I didn't get a sample? I recovered one from the quake darts that I used to save those college kids."
>Looking off to the side, he then sees a set of MRD Hovercraft just to his side - shocked at seeing him out in the open as he just blasts past them, at speeds faster than they could keep up with if they tried."Also, I'm not doubting that you do more than just oil, Bella. Just saying that being known as the robber baron oil tycoons isn't exactly sexy with modern generations. Especially ours."
>Looking back forward, Damian then takes the sample that he's placed inside of the scanner array of the Aurora, producing a 3D dimensional scan of all of the known information about the piece of rubble - molecular composition, surface area, refraction index with regards to light and more. "Here's the information that I've got from the sample so far. Not sure what else to make of it, since gen chem isn't my specialty. Nor physics. But here you go."
>Damian then presses a set of keys on the dual keyboards on both sides of his main console - using one hand for each keyboard set as he states:"Maybe you can figure out what we're working with here. Oh, by the way, you free for me to swing by? Or does that count as 'corporate espionage'?"
No.4237
>>4236>Bella looks at the data being sent over on the display."This isn't any material that should be present in those walls. You should recognise it, in fact, this is DNA. Very fractured, modified, and rocky DNA, but still DNA."
>Bella presses a button, and the door across the room locks."I need the actual sample, bring it here, no one should disturb us."
No.4238
>>4237>Damian sighs and exhales as he says to himself:"…Yeah I was kinda hoping it wasn't actually just polymorphic nucleotide sequences smashed into some rocky sediments. Welp, looks like my day just got longer - so I'm on my way."
>The Aurora then doubles its speed, producing a holographic red arrow trail - a flight trajectory towards the UP Building in Sanctuary City. As his speed increases, his reflexes perfectly adapt, making hairpin turns at hypersonic speeds as he reaches the building from above - now cloaked.
>As the cloaked Aurora opens up a hatch below for Damian to fall through - his appearance changes to that of Phantom, as his cloaked suit glides with a cape gently down below. Once he reaches the top of the building, he then flips onto the side of a window, scanning for the hatch that he regularly uses."You'd think I'd get a door installed for this by now or something. Though I guess the shareholders would wonder why a maintenance door got itemized in the budget - so I guess we can't all be winners."
>Crawling through the maintenance hatch, Phantom then enters Bella's office - gracefully triple somersaulting onto the edge of the chair in front of her seat, effortlessly. Looking up at Bella, he then says:"And my dad thought I'd be wasting my time trying out for gymnastics."
>Handing Bella the spherical metallic black pod containing the sample, he then says:"No really, how are you by the way? I know that I've been swamped, but I wasn't trying to, you know, ghost you or anything."
>He then sits on the chair like a normal person, easing down into the seat as he removes his cowl and shows his wavy black hair and ruby red eyes."So what do we have here anyways? Some kinda shapeshifter? Because I met one a while back and she….."
>Seeing Bella's expression, Damian then stammers:"Hey! It's not like that! She just wanted information!"
No.4239
>>4238>Bella seems to ignore the comments outside of the ones specifically about the sample, which she places in a recepticle that emerges from her desk."It's not consistent with a shapeshifter, the rock and sediment is contaminating it, rather than it replicating rock and sediment. No, whatever. . ."
>Bella pauses for a moment, then coughs, correcting herself."
Whoever this is, appears to have been turned into the very rock itself. As for who. . ."
>The display scrolls through a giant list of names, then flashes up a message to inform that there's no match."They aren't a Meta-Human, don't have a criminal record, and haven't needed any blood work or DNA tests. But I'm seeing trace elements of other chemicals in there. . ."
>Bella looks over the results."I'm seeing similarities to the Humor drug that's out on the streets, but modified, refined, whoever made this did a sophisticated job - which suggests corporate. Hoyokazi, Archeon, us, or Meta-Gen are the most likely ones for this."
>Bella glances over at Damian, guaging his reaction to her question."I assume your mother isn't dabbling in this, at least not on the record?"
No.4240
>>4239>Damian blinks for a second before his gaze lowers as he then says:"….I know I'm not supposed to say this, so consider this off the record as far as UP is concerned. You remember that giant green monster that rampaged through the city a while ago? The one who was trying to capture and kill those DataDrive executives?"
>Exhaling softly, Damian looks up at Bella, with his ruby red irises full of pain as he says:"….That was my dad. He felt inadequate and weak, since he couldn't protect my mom during the first attack on Archeon's premises. He saw Josh get fused with his Meta-Gene protoplasm and how he got his powers and kicked Hollow's ass. So he decided to do the same thing himself. He turned himself into that monster and Josh didn't realize that he was helping him do so - hethought it was a genomic repair treatment or something."
>Lowering his head as he rests his arms on his knees, Damian then looks at the ground, stating:"But the worst part was that as usual, all of this fucked up shit was my mom's doing. She knew my dad felt psychologically broken, and she took advantage of it to fuel her twisted experiments. Aiden's looking into it, and whether or not to do something about her - but she's also still one of the smartest geneticists on the planet."
>Looking back up at Bella, Damian then says:"Look, I'm sorry for dumping all of that on you - but sometimes it's hard to look yourself in the mirror when you know that your entire life was just one giant 'successful' experiment in bioengineering."
>Silent for another moment, Damian then sighs and closes his eyes for a moment, before he opens them and states:"…..Anyways, no. She's not handling any experiments with Humor. Either on or off the books with company resources - Aiden would know. My guess is probably Meta-Gen, and to be honest? They've always felt shady as hell to me - just like DataDrive do."
No.4241
>>4240"Parents are like that, sometimes."
>Bella's comment is scarily matter of fact."Meta-Gen, then."
>Bella snaps her finger and the display spreads out, revealing an impressive amount of information the corporation."Let's see if there's any relevant missing person's cases here. . ."
>The display pings and a case file comes up."Ah, there's one filed today, one Arthur Jacob - he's one of their geneticists. Not as famed as your mother, but a better track record with ethics - he's our most likely suspect for the owner of this, I think."
>Bella swipes her hand and the case file "pins" itself to a section of the display."I'm not seeing any information about any projects he was on, but I suspect they included one around our mystery chemical. All perfectly legal, of course, and if I were to hazard a guess, something the President is
very interested in."
>Bella's tone is very annoyed at the last part."We might find some signs of him at his home, or even on his social media. . . run that check please."
>The display starts scrolling through several websites."Perhaps our mystery man had a particular spot he liked to visit, something that could be imprinted on his mind - seeing as he's probably not quite in the right state of mind currently, swallowing people isn't something the mentally healthy typically do."
No.4242
>>4241>Thinking to himself for a moment, Damian then says:"What's the one place that a mentally conflicted Meta-Gene geneticist would go, when their world's feeling like it's being turned upside down?"
>Damian's eyebrows perk up at the mention of President Underwood however, as he then states:"Wait a minute. You're saying POTUS is caught up in all of this too? Of course he is - typical."
>Looking at Bella more intently for a moment, Damian feels his gaze drift off for a moment before he says:"….So uh, I know it's not really the best time to ask this - what with all the mentally unstable para-physical scientists running around and all that. But….."
>He then looks away, feeling somewhat awkward as his cheeks turn red."….You free over the weekend? There's this cool museum for anthropological history that opened up a few weeks ago. I figured a data connoisseur like you would be interested in seeing that."
>Damian still feels his cheeks flush red, as his black nanoweave outfit detects his increased heart rate. He instinctively feels with his fingers towards the black nanoweave material covering his neck, before he then says:"….Or not. It's no big deal - and this Dr. Jacob guy is obviously the more significant consideration right now."
No.4243
>>4242"Home - or somewhere special to them. Somewhere they can feel safe."
>Bela reaches under the desk and takes out a glove, putting it on and closing her fist, causing the display to close into it. After she opens her hand again, the display lights up, projected from it."And I doubt George is personally involved in this, the man's an idiot, but the DoD offered a variety of new fast turnaround contracts over the weekend after the events on Friday. It doesn't take much extrapolation to assume our chemical here is the result of one of those contracts rushing an enhancement project."
>Reaching into her pocket, Bella takes out a pair of sunglasses and puts them on."Cancel my afternoon meetings, something's come up, and prep the corvette, it's much less conspicuous."
>The display over Bella's hand runs through the command and confirms its completion as Bella walks to one of the office's doors."And of course I'm aware of that, I was at the opening party for it, it made the cover of
Fame. . ."
>Bella stops for a moment, looking at Damian."It might be nice to see it in a less formal setting though."
No.4244
>>4243>Damian looks up reflexively at Bella's decision to see the museum with him - his eyes flickering with excitement for a moment before he immediately regains his composure - stating:"Really? S-Sure! Yeah it might be fun visiting it as 'Nicole' instead."
>Feeling awkward, Damian then looks down at his outfit and says:"…..I'm guessing this isn't going to cut it for a drive. I'll meet you there if you don't want to have to explain the mysterious vigilante showing up in your office."
>Silent for a moment, Damian then looks at Bella again, his cheeks still flushing red. He then says:"….Unless you want to go check out the places of interest together or…..something like that?"
>Clearly out of his element, Damian taps his boot anxiously as he looks around the area, his eyes managing to look everywhere but Bella herself. He then notices portions of his wavy black hair getting into his eyes, and he slowly pushes them away, still red as a tomato. No.4245
>>4244"I would recommend not turning up dressed up in tights, yes."
>Bella presses a button to open the door, revealing a private elevator behind it."You're free to come along in the corvette if you have a change of clothes, if not, I'd recommend making your own way there. I wouldn't recommend wearing casual clothes over your outfit there, though, you appear to be overheating."
>Bella stands in the doorway, waiting for a response from Damian. No.4246
>>4245>Damian looks down at his sleek black suit and cloak, mumbling to himself:"….They're not tights. It's a complex interweave of nomex, kevlar and graphene nanocomposites- never mind."
>Putting his cowl back on his face and now pressing a button on his left glove, Damian watches as the entire suit slowly decomposes and flows like a wave of sentient black, red and grey liquid - back into his grey and red wristwatch.
>Damian then takes his glasses out from his proper black suit and places them on his face - with the custom refractive material making his eyes look sapphire blue now. After dusting his well-ironed pants, he then looks at Bella, stating:"Wait a minute, no one's going to ask questions about why you've got a handsome guy up in your office?"
>He says, walking towards her as he fixes up his black hair nicely. He then says quietly:"….Also sure, overheating. Yeah, let's go with that….."
No.4247
>>4246"I control who sees into my office, and this is a private elevator. Also. . ."
>Bella presses a button to close the elevator door once Damian is in."Many of those who have meetings with me could be described as 'handsome', wealth typically comes with access to personal trainers and the like."
>The elevator shifts slightly as it starts going down into the building's private garages. No.4248
>>4247>Damian crosses his arms in the elevator as he's silent for a few seconds. Afterwards, he then looks at Bella as he asks her a question."….Why
did you ultimately agree to work with me anyways? I'm pretty sure the others in the city had…you know…more experience - way higher scale to what they could do. All of that sounds pretty compelling."
>Looking back in front of him at the elevator door, Damian sighs as he places his hands in his black coat, stating:"Whereas I'm just plain old me. Not the best at anything."
>He then feels his heart rate increase again gradually as he then says:"I'm not complaining or anything either. Not at all. I just….."
>His voice trails off as he feels his heart push him to continue his statement."….I just wish I was more useful to you. More capable."
>Quickly, he stiffens up as his hands reflexively curl into fists inside of his pants pockets as he stammers a follow up response."Just in terms of tactical utility! That's all!"
No.4249
>>4248"Those others didn't try to blackmail me."
>The elevator keeps travelling down the building, taking its time even with its speed due to the height of it."Also, the majority of them would make for poor options, too much pride, etc."
>As Bella finishes the sentence, the elevator comes to a halt and the doors open to reveal an empty looking garage area.
>Walking through them, Bella stands before a bay, which opens up, a vehicle elevator coming up from below with a car on it, which she unlocks with a fingerprint.
>Getting into the vehicle, Bella presses a button on the dashboard and the elevator rotates, pointing the passenger side door at Damian for him to enter. No.4250
>>4249>Damian sits in the passenger seat of the corvette, looking around as he then says:"Well as far as I remember, you're the one who literally hacked my phone after you figured out my identity."
>Looking away, Damian then turns red in the cheeks again as he states:"…..Besides, maybe I wanted to make sure that I could rely on you not to screw me over. That's how corporate types operate, right?"
>Seeing the interior of the vehicle more closely, Damian then says:"Wow, you business CEOs really love your American made cars. Aiden's the same way with that old Camaro of his."
>Checking his phone, Damian sees a missing call from his mother, Dana. Narrowing his eyes in annoyance, he then puts his phone back in his jacket as he looks at Bella, asking:"So, where are we going first? The research scientist's house? Or somewhere else that you think that he might've frequented?"
>Muttering to himself, Damian then says:"….Besides, we could've just used the Aurora if you wanted too."
No.4251
>>4250>Bella rolls her eyes."He
would drive a Camaro, typical of his type."
>Bella puts her thumb against the side of the steering wheel, causing the car's engine to roar to life."Same with your 'Aurora', plus, I don't drive any vehicle I haven't taken apart the engine of."
>Bella revs the engine, then presses the button to open up the door to the outside."We'll check his home first, I haven't gotten any hits on his social media yet."
No.4252
>>4251>Damian looks at Bella with an amused look on his face, saying:"What? Thinking that I'm overcompensating for something by having a big aerial vehicle?"
>After hearing the comment about Aiden's camaro, Damian then stifles a laugh, stating:"I heard that his sister's friend told him the same thing. Probably why he turned it into a Lamborghini."
>Looking at Bella as she revs up the engine and explains the plan, Damian then asks:"Wait a minute. Aren't there going to be questions if the CEO of one of the biggest megacorporations in the world shows up at some random scientist guy's house - with a college student and intern at another megacorporation? Might seem a bit suspicious."
No.4253
>>4252"Thinking that I won't drive technology I don't know I can trust, actually."
>Bella keeps her eyes on the road."And you overestimate how many people actually know CEOs, and underestimate how a little disguise work goes a long way - people
want to assume that people like me stay in ivory towers. Besides. . ."
>Bella turns a corner."They don't even know who you are, as far as the news is concerned, you're a nobody."
No.4254
>>4253>Shrugging his shoulders, Damian briefly closes his eyes as he gives an unbothered expression, remarking:"Hey, as far as I'm concerned? That's a good thing. The less people who know I exist, the better. Since it means there's less of a chance they make the connection between the web head and yours truly."
>Now resting his cheek on his palm as he leans against the shotgun seat, Damian then remarks:"The Aurora would've gotten here by now, just saying. But I get it. 'Scary alien technology is scary and can't be trusted' or something like that. I suppose."
>Silent for a moment, he then looks at Bella, saying:"…..Wait, I forgot to ask you - was that manor that you mentioned a while back an old plantation manor? Because if it was, I really hope that your family's got a good PR team."
No.4255
>>4254"Lots of old buildings in the country are formerly associated with the slave trade, it comes with it being legal for most of the country's first century of existence."
>The entire time, Bella doesn't look in Damian's direction."Besides, West Virginia remained with the union due to supporting abolition."
>The car pulls around the last corner, and Bella slows down, pulling in to the side of the road in front of a dusty-looking apartment building.
>Once the car is fully parked, Bella gets out casually, putting on her sunglasses once more to hide her eyes and walking up to the building, where she stands in front of the door for a few seconds before pressing a bell for trades, causing it to unlock.
>Turning back, she indicates for Damian to hurry up. No.4256
>>4255>Damian gets out of the car, fastening his glasses on his face, as they quickly transition to darker tones - similar to sunglasses. Murmuring to himself, he says:"Wow, I'm really glad these were custom made."
>As he walks over to the front of the small complex, his eyes scan the area with a hint of trepidation in his mind. Genuine concern builds up in his brain, as he feels what could only be interpreted as a small, repetitive and continual 'pulsing' in his mind.{"Is that my ESP going off? But it's so faint….What could possibly be a problem for me here?"}
>Walking into the apartment after Bella, Damian then says out loud:"Hey uh, not to freak you out or anything - but I'm getting the faintest hint of potential trouble. Not really from the apartment, I think? But I'm not sure why that is."
No.4257
>>4256"Hm? Is that so?"
>Bella seems relatively uninterested in the comment, instead reaching into her pocket to take out a set of marbles that she drops on the floor, the polished balls travelling in different directions as Bella stands in one place, seemingly focusing on nothing."This man has a terrible sense of cleanliness, he really needs to tidy this. . . ah."
>Walking over to a dresser, Bella picks up a photo frame from it."Mason Memorial Park, built to memorialise the Genesis Day Protests."
>Bella holds out her free hand, the display from her office revealing itself from her gloved hand."That his mother died in, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that he likely goes there to feel connected to her - and we have few baser desires than connection."
No.4258
>>4257>Damian, upon hearing the last part of Bella's statement, says:"Yeah…..Nothing more basic than love. Platonic or….."
>Blinking behind his glasses, Damian then abruptly stops, before instead stating:"Erm…..I think we should probably go visit the park. Yeah….."
>Quickly regaining his composure, Damian then turns to walk out of the apartment building - doing his best to hide his flushed red face as much as he can. No.4259
>>4258"Love? I said connection. Love's just a made up term."
>Bella kneels down, letting the marbles roll onto her hand, and puts them back into her pocket."Mason Memorial, then."
No.4260
>>4259>From in front of Bella, Damian then says loudly:"I'm pretty sure most people show connections to others through l- never mind!"
>Sighing, Damian then shakes his head and mutters to himself:"Lost cause, Desmond. Just go with the flow and let her do her thing."
>Out loud, he then looks up at Bella as she walks out of the apartment complex, asking:"So what's the plan? Just look around until we find a disgruntled scientist grieving over the loss of his mother?"
>Damian crosses his arms, skeptical about the full extent of the plan that Bella seems to have constructed. No.4261
>>4260"We'll run ground tests in the area, first, if our missing scientist is there, we'll be able to pick up the chemicals mixed in his system - although, going by your story, there's a good chance he'll reveal himself before that."
>Bella presses a button, and the doors on her car open themselves.————————————————————————————————-
>In the distance, a woman watches the entrance to the apartment building, a set of various detecting devices and viewfinders on her head making her look like a spider. Watching Damian and Bella leaving the building, she leans back, pressing a button on the side of her helmet to open up a comm line."I've got unknowns leaving the target's home, should I engage?"
"Negative, keep on them as a tail, they'll likely lead us to the target."
"Understood."
>Tapping the button again, the woman moves to start following the car.————————————————————————————————-
>Location: Mason Memorial Park - Sanctuary City
>One of the smaller parks in the city, Mason Memorial Park is a fairly simple affair, being focused around a single hill with a grand tree growing at the top of it, a small seating area set up around the actual memorial that sits in the shade of the tree's canopy.
>Having parked outside of the park itself, Bella starts heading up the hill, once again dropping the marbles from the apartment, which roll out in different directions. No.4262
>>4261>Damian, walking beside Bella up until she gets to the top of the hill, looks around at the memorial with a sad expression on his face. He then says to Bella:"….You ever feel like we're not doing enough to keep people safe in the world? I mean outside of the 'other job'. Because I thought the world was supposed to be getting 'better' - moving past the conflicts that lead to innocent people dying."
>Damian is silent for a moment, before he sighs and then says:"….Just let me know how your test goes here. I need a minute to think."
No.4264
>>4263>Damian's ESP then triggers once again, the same familiar signal as before - but this time less constrained and more targeted and focused."….Ugh not again!"
>Aware of the fact that he might be watched, Damian quickly moves his feet, since he isn't trapped yet. He then quickly moves to Bella, stating:"Hey, same phenomenon. I can sense it. We need to get out of here if you've got what you needed. Because something tells me that we're being watched."
>Damian looks around, scanning the area with his telescopic vision, trying his best to see if he can detect any abnormalities in the area around him and Bella in the moment. No.4265
>>4264>Bella looks at Damian, her eyes invisible thanks to her glasses having gone completely black."We haven't got what I need, though."
>Bella snaps her fingers, and the marbles collect at the top of the hill, rolling towards where Damian was and getting themselves tangled up in the ground, whereupon they start sparking, causing the ground to shift.
>A surge of dirt comes up from the space where Damian was, forming the shape of a hand for a brief moment before breaking apart, then another one follows it, this time maintaining a solid form for longer. Then, a third surge happens, not going completely solid, but maintaning a cohesive enough form for it to be vaguely "human".
>Still standing in the same location, Bella looks up at the hulking form now in front of her."So there's enough in there to generate some semblance of humanity. . . We may be able to reverse this, given time."
No.4266
>>4265>Blinking, Damian then says to Bella under his breath:"Alright, got it. I'm guessing you've got some sort of molecular restructuring device back at UP or something?"
>Looking back at the large mass of material before them, Damian then says:"….Any suggestions for getting him there though?"
>Damian looks between the sludge humanoid figure in front of him, and the redheaded genius woman to his side. No.4267
>>4266"Doing that wouldn't do the trick. . ."
>Bella keeps on looking up at the shifting mass of dirt.". . .impressive, the serum will restore this form over time, it would need-"
>The mass raises part of itself, forming a new fist to crush Bella and Damian. . .
>Only for it to freeze in place as an object collides with it, forming a thick layer of ice over the fist.
>The mass turns what looks to be its head at the fist, then gets hit by several more objects, causing more parts of its body to freeze up."Who-"
>Bella turns to see a pair of advanced aircraft flying to the location, as well as the woman from earlier pointing a guide laser at the mass."
Meta-Gen."
No.4268
>>4267>Damian then groans as he then taps the side of his head, muttering:"Gee, thanks super sense. Could've told me some specifics about what I should've been looking out for!"
>Looking at Bella with a concerned look on his face, he then asks:"What's the plan then? Do we help the guy or let them take him? I'm not picking an option without agreeing with you on it first."
>Damian then looks intently at Bella, non-verbally asking her to make a decision - quickly before he has to decide on his own. No.4269
>>4268"We wait for an opportunity to take it."
>As Bella finishes speaking, the nearest of the two aircraft swings around, not landing due to a lack of space, but hovering close enough to the ground for its side door to open up - the bottom of it unfolding to create a set of steps.
>As the aircraft hovers in place, several security guards step out, and the woman makes her way over to them, waiting until the final key occupant steps out - an asian woman in a flashy suit, with flashy hair to match.
>Once the woman's out of the aircraft, the helmeted woman gives her a quick salute."As you can see, we've captured it, but-"
"Nonsense, nonsense! You did perfectly, I can handle this!"
>The woman waves off the soldier, who indicates for the others to start preparing to move the creature.
>Still flanked by her security, the flashy woman starts making her way over to Bella and Damian."My my my, I would recognise
that face anywhere! Bellatrix Janine Blake Junior, in the flesh!"
>Bella barely hides a look of disgust from her face."Kazumi Hoyokazi, your
reputation precedes you. . ."
>The woman, Kazumi, ignores most of Bella's comment, instead looking over Damian."Now you. . . I don't quite recognise. But I think I can see a resemblance to. . ."
>Kazumi thinks for a moment, clicking her fingers when the right thought comes to mind."Ah yes, that scientist, Daniel Desmond, any relation, perhaps?"
No.4270
>>4269>Damian raises an eyebrow as he crosses his arms, saying:"Supposing that I am related to Mr. Desmond, what's it to you?"
>Looking at the captured form of the mutated human, Damian then states:"Am I supposed to also assume that Meta-Gen Solutions is somehow involved in human experimentation?"
>Damian says, pointing at the sludge humanoid figure as it's being contained by the security guards. No.4271
>>4270"Oh, I just find it good to know who it is I'm talking to,"
>Kazumi flashes Damian a smile, one that does very little to hide the maliciousness behind it.". . .and I can assure you, I take good care to make sure everyone under my employee acts legally
and ethically, but if such experiments
were to be happening, we wouldn't be the only ones to do so, would we~. . ?"
>The comment seems directed at Damian, but Kazumi's gaze lingers on Bella for a for moments, her smile switching to a sly one."Now, of course, I
hate drama, so I'm not looking for any here today, but. . ."
>Kazumi lowers her voice, leaning so that she's near Bella's ear."
Bella Blake herself interfering in our retrieval operation, it looks an awful lot like
corporate espionage to me, and we wouldn't want to assume that, would we?"
>Bella is silent for a few moments, giving Kazumi an icy look, then seems to break."Come on, it's not worth it, let's go."
>Bella turns around, indicating for Damian to follow her."Yes yes, fly away home little birdies."
No.4272
>>4271>Damian takes one look at Kazumi, not getting a good sense from her as he then looks at Bella, stating:"Fair enough. Wasn't sure if you wanted to push the issue further anyways."
>As he walks away with Bella, Damian turns to her and says:"So, what exactly is your plan once we find 'an opportunity to take it'?"
>Damian then places his hands in his black jacket pockets as he states:"Whatever the plan is? I just hope it's a simple one, honestly."
No.4286
>>4272>As Damian and Bella walk away, Kazumi snaps her fingers, waving dismissively."Let's wrap this up, I have places to be. Important people to meet."
>Across the park, near her car, Bella looks back towards Kazumi for a moment."The plan is we wait for an opportunity. One will have to come up. . ."
————————————————————————————————-
>Time: 1:57pm
>Location: Meta-Gene Solutions - Sanctuary City, Financial District
>Deep below Meta-Gen's main building, in her (and previously Arthur's) laboratory, Morgan sits, unable to do any work as a security officer stands over her, making sure she does nothing.
>After what seems like an eternity to the woman, the door to the lab opens, and Morgan stands up."I can explai-"
>Another security officer steps through the door, holding a container with the unstable form of Arthur within it, which they place on the table.
>Behind the security officer, Kazumi steps through the door, and Morgan steps backwards."-sorry."
>Giving Morgan a smile, Kazumi looks around the room."There's nothing to explain, Arthur here got a little overzealous with the serum you're working on and tested it on himself - it wasn't quite ready yet but it's close. . ."
>Kazumi leans forward, her face right in front of Morgan's."-
right?"
>Morgan is silent for a few moments, then nervously speaks up:"Right."
>Moving away from Morgan, Kazumi claps, a smile on her face."Perfect. Just what I like to hear. Now, let's leave the good scientist here to extract what she can from the sample before we liquidate it, shall we?"
>The security officers look at each other, then at Morgan, then at Kazumi before moving out of the room, leaving her alone with Morgan for a moment."I expect big things of you, I only hire the best, after all. . ."
>With her final comment, Kazumi leaves the room, one of the officers shutting the door behind her, leaving Morgan to herself. . . No.4289
>>4286>With everyone else gone from the room, Morgan slips back into her chair, letting out a sigh of despair, tapping the container of flowing sediment."Arthur, you're an idiot. . . why did you have to get yourself killed. . ."
>Picking herself up, Morgan carefully lifts the container, placing it on top of one of the machines in the lab, which starts to whir as it works."Let's see what's in your. . . this. . ."
>As the machine whirs, trying to get an image of what is inside the container, a tapping sound comes from the glass, near where Morgan had tapped earlier. "Hmmm, looks like he picked up. . ."
>Morgan looks over to the container as she hears the tapping, noticing that some of the sediment has shifted away from the side, the only part touching the glass being a small "finger" that is tapping against it, echoing Morgan's earlier action."Arthur. . ?"
>Morgan leans towards the container, squinting to look at closer, only to jump back as the sediment forms a pair of "eyes" within it, looking back at her."Are you. . . alive in there? . . .tap twice for yes."
>The sediment is still for a moment, then taps the side of the glass twice.". . .I don't want to kill you, Arthur. . . but that's what I've been told to do."
>The eyes within the container shift, looking in the direction of the display for the machine, a gaze which Morgan follows.". . .the thing you picked up? What about it."
>The sediment within the container shifts away from the top, pushing up a small metallic ball."Oh."
No.4290
>>4289>Pressing a button to turn off the scanner, Morgan carefully removes all of the machinery between her and the lid of the container, stopping for a moment just before she goes to open it."You aren't going to attack me when I open this lid, are you? Because that would be a very stupid idea."
>The sediment taps against the side of the glass once."Ok then. . ."
>Morgan unscrews the top of the container, and places it to the side, before reaching in, the sedment shifting away from her side as she gets closer to the sphere, allowing her to pick it up unopposed.
>With the sphere in hand, Morgan closes up the container again."Don't worry, it's only temporary, I'm going to try and get you out of here, ok?"
>Placing the sphere down, Megan swings round a desk magnifying glass and looks over it in more detail.". . .I have no idea what this is, but I'm guessing it's electrical, somehow, right?"
>Across the room, the sediment taps the glass twice."Then, given it looks too small to work by itself, it's probably remote controlled, which mean, it needs a signal. . . or it could send a signal, so. . ."
>Morgan grabs a piece of paper and a pen, writing something down on it."I hope whoever's on the other end of this thing can read this. . ."
>Reaching around in one of her desk drawers, Morgan takes out some wires and a battery, pressing the wires together to produce a spark for a moment."Good, still works, which means. . ."
>Looking down at the writing on the paper, Morgan starts shocking the sphere at different intervals, deliberately.
>After a few loops of this activity, Morgan puts the impromptu electrical device back in the drawer, and pockets the sphere."Right, Arthur, I'm going to need a good excuse for how I lost you, so. . ."
>Morgan walks back over to the container, unscrewing the top."Go wild."
>The sediment within the container bursts out, smashing up the lab around Morgan. No.4291
>>4290>Time: 8:05pm
>Damian's, or rather, Arachnid's communicator lights up as a message comes through to it."[New lead on the creature from earlier, looks like one of my spheres got caught within it, just received a tracking signal, or rather a set of tracking signals, calling for an SOS at a given location. Meet at these coordinates:]"
>A set of coordinates, located within the Industrial District, follows the first message.————————————————————————————————-
>Time: 8:05pm
>Location: Sanctuary City - Industrial District.
>Now holding a smaller, but still fairly bulky container, Morgan carefully walks through the dark streets of the Industrial District, looking over her shoulder and to the side often.
>As she's looking to the side, Morgan comes to a sudden stop as she walks into something, or rather, someone, and stumbles backwards slightly, taking great care not to drop the container."S-sorry. . ."
>Looking up at the person she bumped into, Morgan goes silent as she notices that it's a large, muscular man, a prominent tattoo on his side, who grins as he looks down at the small woman."Lost, are we? Well, me an' the boys can help with that. . ."
>Morgan steps backwards, and the man follows her step by step.". . .for a price, 'course."
"I don't have anything I could give you. . ."
>The muscular man nudges his head at the container."That fancy bottle works, right boys?"
>Morgan nearly jumps as she hears a sound from behind her, revealing another two men.". . .or we could accept, alternative payment. . ."
>The muscular man grins, only for his grin to slip away as a burst of heat and light comes from behind Morgan, and the smell of burnt flesh accompanies the sound of one of the men falling over.
>Still in a state of shock, Morgan carefully turns her head to look over her shoulder, only to see a figure dreamed in shadow and flame holding the head of one of the men.
>Everyone remains still for a moment, then the figure disappears, reappearing right next to the second man behind Morgan, thrusting a large sword right through his chest as soon as they do, the man violently bursting into flames as soon as the blade penetrates his flesh.
>Her instincts kicking in with this move, Morgan scrambles to the side, just in time for the figure to dissolve into a cloak of shadows, a single hand emerging from them to intercept a fist from the leader of the group.
>Reforming around the hand, the figure closes their fist, crushing the muscular's man hand without letting go, the pain of which causes him to stumble.
>Standing over the muscular man, the figure seems to relish as he whimpers in fear before them for a few moments, then pulls on the man's arm, with two thuds coming from him soon after as he falls to the ground, dead.
>As the man falls to the ground, Morgan stumbles away, tripping over her own feat and ending up on the ground, turning around as she tries to scramble away, the figure stepping closer and closer to her.
>Seeing them right above her, Morgan whimpers and closes her eyes, expecting to receive a hit."P-please don't kill me. . ."
>Only for the hit to never arrive, instead finding the figure standing over her, silent and still. No.4303
>>4291>A web line suddenly shoots out from the top of a nearby structure - followed by a volley of condensed webbing spheres as a voice calls out:"You! How many bodies have you piled up since Megiddo?!"
>The voice of Arachnid, clearly strained, irritated and angry - quickly leaps down below, landing beside Morgan and quickly leaping back with her in tow. As Arachnid lands a few meters away from the figure, he lets go of Morgan and tells her:"You're the one who had the communicator right? What were you thinking going out into this place at night?! You could've been killed! Or worse!"
>Turning his attention back towards the infamous figure that he knows far too well at this point, Arachnid points a finger at them, angrily stating:"By
him no less. A wannabe hitman with a body count so large, it'd probably fit the entire state of New Hampshire itself."
>Now assuming a combat stance, Arachnid then says:"I'm gonna give you one warning, and one warning only. Screw off or you're going to regret it."
No.4304
>>4303"We have no other business here."
>The figure looks at Arachnid, then at Morgan, then just walks away, disappearing into the shadow of night.
>Still shellshocked down on the ground, Morgan looks up at Arachnid."I. . . I needed to get Arthur out of there. . ."
>Morgan brings the container up towards Arachnid for him to see. No.4306
>>4304>Still irritated and tensed up, Arachnid sighs and then turns towards Morgan, stating:"….That was your friend? Did something happen to him? An experiment with…"
>Remembering Kazumi's arrival earlier along with Bella's prior deductions about potential suspects, Arachnid's eyes then widen as he says:"….Meta-Gen. You work for Meta-Gen, don't you? Both of you do?"
>Pointing towards the container - he then says:"I'm guessing your friend, Arthur right? He was marked for 'disposal' by corporate, and you made a gamble to get him out of there."
>His compassion coming back to him, Arachnid then states:"….Alright, I think I've got the picture so far. Do you want me to find him for you? Because if your boss figures out what's happened and gets to him before we do? I don't think you'll be seeing him ever again."
>Arachnid lets the severity of his words fully marinate in Morgan's mind before he then taps the side of his helmet, bright red streams of information appearing in front of his lenses."If you're not against it, I can try hotwiring an impromptu method of tracking him - assuming he's not as solidified in his mass as I think he is. Or if not, I'm all ears for any other suggestions."
>Arachnid then stands in place, hands on his hips as he waits for Morgan to respond. No.4308
>>4306"No. . ."
>Morgan pulls the container in, twisting it around until she spots something, then spinning it a full 180 degrees and holding it up again."I
have Arthur here, I. . . I need to get him out. . . or at least get him somewhere where I can try to fix him. . ."
No.4309
>>4308>Blinking to himself, Arachnid then mutters under his breath:["So much for, wait for the opportunity to take it back from then, huh red?"]
>Crossing his arms, Arachnid then says:"Look, I think it's better if you just wait here for a moment. Someone I know is on the way - and let's just say they've got a knack for solving freaky scientific accidents."
>Tapping his helmet with his index finger, Arachnid then continues:"…Well, at least I think she does."
No.4312
>>4309"This one, I suspect, is better suited to your expertise."
>Apex steps out of the shadows, walking over to Morgan and the container, leaning down to look at it closer at it.". . .that's not good."
>Morgan looks over at Apex nervously.". . .what?"
"He's only hours away from breaking apart completely, it's surprising he's even lasted this long. . ."
>Standing back up, Apex starts thinking."The nearest place with equipment would be. . . crap."
>Walking over to Arachnid, Apex taps a set of coordinates into her wrist display, and shows them to him, blocking Morgan's view."Swing her to these coordinates,
fast, you'll find a laboratory under the ruins of the building, it should have advanced enough equipment for you and her to do what needs to be done. Do
not ask why it's there, why I know about it, or what it was used for,
understand?"
No.4315
>>4312>Arachnid stares at Apex for a moment as he says:"….I'm only agreeing with you on this because an innocent man's life is at stake."
>Grabbing Morgan and wrapping his arm around her waist, he then says:"Hold in a breath for the first pull, it'll be a quick swing. Don't worry."
>Arachnid then fires a silk line and propels himself and Morgan up into the air, immediately beginning to swing himself and Morgan towards the derelict building in question. It only takes roughly a minute for him to get there - as his suit's kinetic absorption function allows him to shield Morgan from the straight of the sudden acceleration and deceleration forces he projects.
>Lowering himself and Morgan down to the ground at the entrance of the ruined building, Arachnid then gestures her forward, stating:"Come on. I'm not risking someone's life with time as a luxury - because it's not."
>He then opens the door of the ruined building and moves inside, finding the hatch down into the lower levels by using his helmet's X-Ray vision mode.
>After helping Morgan down the hatch towards the lower levels, he helps her find a laboratory - walking inside of it as the lights faintly illuminate the area."Woah. She wasn't kidding when she said it was advanced."
>Looking back at Morgan, Arachnid then says:"Right. Your friend Arthur. You both experimented with the Meta-Gene right? In that case we're going to need to create some kind of serum and binding agent combination to stabilize his molecular structure and revert the Meta-Gene's effects."
>Looking around for a moment, Arachnid then says to Morgan:"It'd be best if I had a sample of his original DNA to start. Something like a hair or an item that has his fingerprints on it. Any sort of residual skin, hair or saliva will work. We'll need a frame of reference to design the reversing agent to work towards."
>Arachnid quickly moves to the controls as he begins typing rapidly at the keyboard, bringing up a holographic image of a human being, and a sample slate of DNA - the large macromolecule double helix strand appearing in a rotating form beside the human body.
>Internally, Arachnid examines the area more carefully, as memories start to return to his mind, causing his eyes to widen in a moment of shocking clarity.{"Wait a minute. Isn't this the same place where…."}
>Shaking himself out of it, he then thinks to himself:{"Never mind, I'll figure it out later."} No.4318
>>4315>Morgan places the container down on one of the sides, pressing a release for the top ready for when the time comes."No, it's much more complicated than that. . ."
>Making her way over to another one of the sides, Morgan blows off some dust and takes out a thumb drive, inserting it into a slot."Please work. . ."
>Part of the desk lights up, and a projection of a DNA sequence appears."I didn't modify the Meta-Gene, the point of the serum is to work even if it's not present, and to avoid the common weaknesses associated with the gene. No. . ."
>Morgan presses a button and the display changes."I
replicated it, but removed some factors, like your standard reversing agents. . ."
>Pressing the button again, Morgan changes the display to another slide."And no, I don't have anything of his on me, it's back at the lab, and we don't have time to break in and find some - especially not after Arthur wrecked the place."
>From the container, a tap comes as if to take credit."You have good instincts though, just, maybe back isn't the direction we need to go. . . what if we try to point the process in a different direction?"
No.4320
>>4318>Crossing his arms, Arachnid then says:"Are you saying that you want to alter his genetic structure in a different way? Like laterally?"
>Looking up at the DNA sequence, Arachnid then states:"Because if you designed your serum to work like a catch-all biological catalyst,
without needing the Meta-Gene, then you're right. There's no structural continuity in the DNA to allow a reversing agent to work properly."
>Now turning his attention back towards Arachnid, he then asks:"In that case, yeah - some sort of lateral shift in his codon structure could work. Assuming his mind is still stable enough to form coherence, there should be enough of his original genetic baseline codon structure for him to survive."
>He then looks at the DNA sequence structure once more, saying:"Well, going off of your design, and the general stability points for nucleotide-based codon transcription, I'd say that here, here and….here, are the main chirality points for modification of his DNA."
>Arachnid points to 3 basic areas of the structure, based on Morgan's own design - and says:"You're the mad scientist here Miss, uh……."
>He says, realizing that he's never asked her for her name. No.4322
>>4320"
Doctor."
>Morgan snaps, given her small stature, it seems to be a point of contention for her."Doctor McGowall. yes, it's Scottish, yes, I am from Scotland, yes. . ."
>Morgan sighs."No, I won't do the accent. Anyway. . ."
>Morgan presses a button, causing the image to shift, then points at a highlighted section."Can you try and find a DNA sequencer, and take a sample of Arthur for it, we'll need to get as complete an image as we can if this is going to work. This is just a demonstration slide, you see, not his actual genome."
No.4323
>>4322>Holding his hands up in the air, Arachnid then says:"Yep, got it doc. No misinterpretations here!"
>After hearing the rest of her request, Arachnid then states:"In that case,
Doctor McGowall - I can very much do that."
>Arachnid's lenses turn a bright ruby red for a moment as he then opens his hand and watches as a small component in his suit's arm begins glowing with a powerful ruby light - scanning through the glass in order to analyze the biomass's scattered DNA on a molecular level."Don't want to contaminate the sample - but I got the genetic sequence either way."
>Putting his hand near the terminal port of the console terminal, Arachnid then uploads the genetic sequence in various different formats - primarily an editing format that Morgan can use. As he backs away, he then says:"The stage is yours, Doctor McGowall. Do your thing now."
>Arachnid then places his hands on his hips as he watches the genetics expert get to work. No.4326
>>4323>Morgan whistles at the scanner in Arachnid's suit"Handy. . ."
>Bringing up the data from the scanner, Morgan presses a button, causing the sequence to move closer to her for a more in-depth study."What was it you called me, a mad scientist? Well. . ."
>Morgan turns to give Arachnid a forced look of confidence.". . .prepare to see mad science in action, then."]
————————————————————————————————-
>Time: 9:25pm
>After almost an hour of trial and error, with multiple failed attempts, and work from both Morgan and Arachnid, the display Morgan was using flashes green as it finishes running a simulation to indicate a potential solution has been found, and Morgan let's out a sigh of relief."All we can hope is that it works. . . and we're not too late."
>Walking over to the container of what remains of Arthur, Morgan carefully takes it over to one of the other machines in the facility, placing it down on an input port."This is
technically designed for modifying pure biomass, but I don't think an actual human-sized machine will work on him, so we'll have to make do. . ."
>Morgan presses a button on the machine and steps away."And now, we wait. . ."
>Turning to Arachnid, Morgan gives him a smile, the first genuine-looking one she's done the entire night."You did great, by the way, kid, you've got a future in the field if that's your goal."
No.4328
>>4326>Arachnid rubs the back of his neck, a gesture of genuine embarrassment and thanks as he says:"….Well, thank you Doctor McGowall. After the past hour of work? That means a lot coming from you."
>Looking back up at the machine, Arachnid then states:"Whatever happens, as long as he reconstructs as something tangible and stable, we can give your friend some semblance of his old life back. Hopefully."
>Hesitating for a moment, Arachnid then asks Morgan:"…..You've got a lot of experience with genetics, Doctor. I can't speak for anyone but myself - but I've taken an interest in genetics because of a family member of mine. It's hard to explain, but I've been defined by their work for all of my life…."
No.4330
>>4328"Some semblance of life, at least. . . he won't be able to go back to his old one - Meta-Gen security will make sure of that. . ."
>Morgan sighs, then raises her eyebrow at Arachnid's comment."It's not that much experience, but I appreciate the honesty. Family's why I got into the field too. . ."
>Morgan falls back into an old chair."I. . .
had an older sister, she had a rare condition. . . I wanted to cure it. . ."
>Morgan gives Arachnid a weak smile."I nearly gave up though, back when I was studying for my undergrad, we had a visit from Doctor Dana Desmond. . . she
looked polite on the surface, but I could just tell. . .
nasty woman. . ."
>Morgan waves her hand dismissively."Try not to get a job at the Archeon division, if you can, best to keep as far away as you can - not that I'm recommending Meta-Gen, of course, I mean. . ."
>Morgan indicates to the general surroundings."I'm in this situation because of them."
No.4331
>>4330>Arachnid flinches ever so slightly at the mention of Dana Desmond's name. Sighing quietly, he then says to her:"Yeah, I've learned not to trust people on the outside. It's the mess within that counts, unfortunately."
>Crossing his arms, he then states:"Well, if Archeon and Meta-Gen are out, I'm not sure how many places are left. Maybe UP I guess? Maybe that could work."
>Arachnid says this, as his face unintentionally blushes behind his helmet, as he thinks of his redheaded 'associate' once more. No.4335
>>4331"There's plenty out there, Valkyrie has a fairly extensive one if you're willing to move out of the US, or you could always go up to Canada if you want to leave the country but don't want to go
that far, they've always got work available."
>Morgan shrugs."But you don't need to worry about that, you're. . . what, 17? 18? Judging by how you talk. You've got years before you need to be properly considering it, a lot can change between now and then."
No.4337
>>4335>Looking at Morgan with genuine gratitude in his eyes behind his mask, as he exhales a breath he didn't even know that he was holding."….Thank you, genuinely. I don't know if I've ever been given that straightforward of an answer to a question before. I'm surrounded by a bunch of smart, but also frankly maniacal people."
>Thinking to himself, he then looks back up at Morgan, an appreciative tone layering the cadence of his voice as he says:"I know I can't ask you for a letter of recommendation after helping you restabilize a man's genome in real time - but it's the thought that genuinely counts."
No.4338
>>4337"I'd be happy to give you one, but you'd need to tell me who you are for that - and I'm not about doxx a kid. . ."
>Morgan sighs."God I sound old saying that. . ."
>Morgan chuckles."That's what I get for not wanting to throw someone into-"
>Morgan is interrupted by a loud wrenching sound from the machine as something starts expanding within it, breaking the confines of the container and hitting against the sides of the machine.
>The sound stops for a moment, but is then replaced by a loud thud of something hard hitting the metal, then another, until a hole appears on the side, a single rocky hand poking through it and wrenching it apart violently - granting enough space for the thing within to emerge.
>As the dust settles, the form of a bulky, rocky creature becomes visible, standing still for a few moments before speaking in a gravelly voice."So, how do I look?"
No.4339
>>4338>Looking up at the large geomorphic form of the man now standing before him, Arachnid then says:"….Well, you're looking pretty rock solid, I'll say."
>Silence fills the room for a moment as Arachnid then says:"Sorry, I had to."
>Shifting his stance to appear more eased up, Arachnid then says:"You're alive, if that helps. I'm not sure if this is all we can do - I'll try and see if we can…"
>Looking back at Morgan for a moment, Arachnid then says:"….Actually, hold onto this for a second."
>Arachnid then fishes a small black and red device out of his utility belt, handing it to Morgan and pressing it against her thumb. There's a brief flash of red light before Arachnid then drops the device into her palm."It's a gene-locked communications device. Sort of like the one my…partner…but on your friend here. Just higher fidelity, so to speak."
>Pointing at the device, Arachnid then says:"I don't need the letter of recommendation, but I do appreciate hearing advice from an actual adult for once - so, I'd appreciate more help from you if that's alright."