Man: Made Hero

Paragon Daily Herald – 15 Mar, 2004

UNKNOWN HERO FOILS RIKTI RAID ON PORTAL CORP. LAB

AP – In a brazen daylight assault, Rikti invaders attacked a remote Portal Corp. research facility in northeast Brickstown. However, when security forces arrived on scene there were signs of quite a battle. Security video shows an imposing white figure standing amid many fallen Rikti. No known hero resembles the man in the videos, whom authorities are said to be very interested in interviewing. A spokesman for Portal Corp. read an official statement stating that no lab documents or computer systems were compromised. He refused to comment on the nature of research being pursued at the facility or the identity of staff present. He disavowed any knowledge of the hero in white. Anonymous sources have confirmed that the lab was run by Dr. Ephram Manse, an early pioneer in the company's trademark teleportation technology. Manse, a vocal advocate of embracing alien technologies, was quoted earlier this month as "being close to a breakthrough that would render batteries obsolete." The body of an unidentified staff member was discovered at the scene, but the doctor and his remaining staff are presumed captured or slain. SEE RIKTI | A21

"The things we take for granted," he muttered as he considered his hand. He flexed it again experimentally.

The motion of fingers and thumb folded and behaved as a regular hand should, he could feel the brush of his fingertips against his palm, but he knew there was nothing at all human about it. The "skin" of his hand was a featureless white substance that felt and looked like marble. His entire body looked that way. No fingernails. No hair. He resembled a mannequin – well, except for his glowing eyes - and he could sense that beneath his featureless flesh, there were no bones –or muscle. Just more of that white…stuff.

"God," he despaired, "What have I become?"

It was not the first time he'd asked that question. It had driven him for the last few days – the question that had risen from the events of a week ago. Back when he was still just Jay Vandre, a scientist for Portal Corp and leader of Dr. Manse's primary R&D team. When the Rikti attacked, he had been forced to choose between death at their hands or the unknown effect of Manse's prototype Energy Portal. In that critical moment, he chose the unknown over a certain fate. But, instead of being killed outright, he had been transformed. His recollection of the first few days afterward was lost to him.

His awareness resumed on the roof of an apartment tower in Founders Falls. There, he found himself remade as a ghost-like caricature of himself. After a brief bout of disorientation and panic, he tried to make some sense of the situation. He found that his apartment had been completely cleaned out – Courtesy of his employers at Portal Corp, no doubt. He considered submitting himself to them, but discovered that they had declared him dead. His suspicion deepened that they might not act in his best interests if he turned himself over to them. No, he needed to know about himself before he surrendered his freedom.

That brought him to make a phone call to the one person he could think of that could help him without any fanfare. Dr. Elise Clay was a fellow college student and colleague at Portal Corp who was as brilliant in the field of particle physics as he was in high energy theory. She had promised to help him immediately and had somehow arranged to have an entire diagnostic lab at her disposal just a few days later.

That lab is where he sat now, alone in a large chamber on the edge of a ceramic work bench surrounded by an array of exotic probes and sensors. Crey equipment mostly, he noted with some disdain. Each machine had taken its turn poking and prodding him with various methods. They were silent and motionless now, but over the last hour they had each taken a turn at evaluating him.

"Uh….Hello?" he called out impatiently as he hopped down from the table. "We're done here, right?"

A speaker in the ceiling clicked and hissed static for an instant before a calm, female voice said "Yes Jay. Please be patient. I'm waiting for some data."

He'd seen her briefly at the facility entrance, but since then, she'd directed him around via the speaker system. He'd wandered through the corridors from one lab to another, standing in front of all manner of projectors and scanners at her request while she remotely operated all the equipment. He'd tried to make small talk initially, but aside from a few niceties early on, she was all business - Just like he remembered her in college.

"Now that we're through with the heavy lifting," she said through the speaker, "I can be a little more sociable. I saw the report on the news. Horrible. I'm curious though, about Manse's research. Can you tell me about it?" Her voice sounded strained, as if she were weary- or afraid. He began to regret coming. She was risking a lot to help him.

His initial reaction was to clam up. In corporate R & D, one just didn't casually discuss their research, but this project was more than over and he felt he owed her the reasons why he was here. Jay closed his eyes and began to speak. "Manse was trying to build miniature portals that would transmit energy instead of matter on demand from a central source. If perfected it would eliminate power lines and batteries and revolutionize dozens of industries."

"Miniaturization was the sticking point, obviously. The smallest matter portal currently is the military Tactical Portal which weighs in at a dainty six tons, but Manse was proposing demand- initiated, one-way, energy-specific portals the size of watch batteries. Our prototypes weren't even close to that, about four feet high. We were trying to iron out the over-flow and feedback issues - not to mention entropy, but I was ironing that out."

There was silence a moment. The speaker clicked again. "Then the Rikti teleported in."

"Yeah. My memory is a little fragmented from that point on. I just remember seeing them appearing and start shooting up the place." He paused a moment, sighing even though he had no functional lungs. "Th-They killed Kristi just like that. Cut her down right in front of me. We all ran after that. I didn't see what happened to Manse. I ended up stuck in the transmission chamber. No time to reconfigure the test sequence to a regular matter transport interface before they broke down the door. Had to go through. I…" He stopped for a long moment. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

There was a long pause before she broke the silence.

"Okay. I- Okay. I'm so sorry, Jay." Her voice was barely audible. "The results are in anyway. I-I have a stop to make, and then I'll be down. Meet me in the lobby."

"Sure, if I can remember how to get there." He grumbled.

Not long after, as he stood in the center of the lobby, Jay watched her approaching down the long, barren corridor. Elise was a petite woman, but her small frame housed a mighty intellect. She'd changed the style of her glasses since he saw her last, but otherwise she was the same as he remembered her. Brunette hair cut in a bob that, along with her glasses, made her look like Velma from Scooby Doo. She bustled just past the unmanned security station and stopped, placing what appeared to be a white cloth bundle on top of the desk while she turned to look at him.

She seemed leery of coming closer. "Forgive me the lack of warmth, Jay, you're producing about 1500 watts of unshielded microwave energy just standing there and I don't…"

"I understand," he interjected, eager to learn what she had discovered. "Tell me."

"Right. Let's get to it then. No sugar coating." She leaned back against the desk and referred to the PDA in her hand. "I don't have a lot to tell you that sounds like good news. You aren't a being of flesh and blood any longer- Pretty much as you surmised. You're made of something that acts like both matter and energy. You have mass, but you, apparently, have some direct control over it. I've dubbed it Protomatter – with apologies to Star Trek. I believe you're capable of converting that mass into energy and back again without effort, which violates or bends most of the laws of physics, but I can't be sure of that process given the limitations of the equipment here."

She touched the screen quickly to reference further. "The condition you're in appears to be stable. More detailed definitions are impossible because all the samples we tried to obtain from you dissipated as soon as they were extracted. I can only theorize that your body is a construct of your psyche. Don't ask me to explain any more than that unless I can have unlimited access to you in my own lab for about a month."

He shook his head slowly.

"I didn't think so. As far as your power is concerned: You are producing a phenomenal amount of energy. It would appear that you have access to energies that cannot possibly be generated from within your body. I'd tell you how much energy one of your blasts puts out, but you fused the sensors."

Jay grinned sheepishly. "You said try as hard as you can…"

She smiled wanly in return. "Going to have a hell of a time explaining how that happened." She still had that tone in her voice.

"Speaking of which-," he began worriedly.

"Don't worry," She quickly replied. "The security system is offline and I've purged the entire test database.

My notes will get wiped as soon as we're done. You were never here. And I can cover for the damage. You're not the only one with favors to call in-"

"-As evidenced by having a lab to yourself." He crossed his arms, suddenly feeling self- conscious about his appearance. "Any theories as to why my clothes last about six hours before turning to dust? I'm spending a lot of time naked and had to swipe a pair of pants from a clothesline on the way over here."

"It's that radiation you're constantly putting out, even though its non-ionizing," she said. "You're breaking down the fibers. I scrounged up a few jumpsuits they use in particle weapons R&D that should hold up to your sunny disposition. They're here on the desk."

"Thanks."

They were quiet a moment. Jay saw emotion flit across Elise's face. She looked as if she would cry, but recovered quickly. "What-"she began hoarsely. Clearing her throat, she tried again. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know, E. My options are somewhat limited. I'm not going to let myself be a lab rat for anybody. Getting a license to wear spandex seems like the obvious choice."

Jay headed toward the desk to pick up the jumpsuits. At first, Elise moved to get out of his way, but, impulsively, she went to hug him. "A quick dose shouldn't kill me." She mumbled as she clutched him. He was rigid with surprise. He'd had no human contact since the accident a week ago. He hadn't realized he missed it.

She stepped back quickly and gave up trying to stop her tears.

"I'm sorry" she whispered.

"E, please. Don't." He turned to go. Her compassion threatened to upset the fragile balance that he'd managed to achieve in his mind, coming to terms with his new circumstance. "Thanks again. I'll be in touch."

He left Elise and her tears behind.

But, it wasn't Dr. Elise Clay's compassion that had caused her tears; it was her betrayal.

She sat in the chair at the security desk and tried to regain her composure. Above her, the speaker hissed static and the voice she had quickly come to hate said silkily "So? Are our fears founded?"

"Yes. As you predicted, the wavelength of his energies exactly matches the ranges of background radiation left over from the big bang."

"Does he have a DNA signature?"

"None."

"Can we control him?"

"It seems unlikely. He's always been a loner. His only family member is a father he despises—"

"He came to you doctor." The voice interrupted. "What of that?"

"What of it?" She snapped. "This is the first time I've seen him in five years. We studied in college together and happened to get hired by the same company. We talk about once a year. We don't even exchange Christmas cards. Not a whole lot of leverage there."

She heaved a sigh and continued. "He's divorced from his humanity, since he's no longer a being of flesh and blood. He doesn't register pain like a human would. Nor does he suffer from human needs: Food. Water. Air. Sleep. His mind, however, seems to require a dream state and, periodically, he will simply shut down. You might have an avenue there."

"Can he be killed?"

She took a deep breath. She knew what depended on her answers. "He isn't technically alive. I suppose it might be possible to disrupt his energy enough to cause his form to lose cohesiveness."

"How might this be accomplished? I've heard of some things the Malta Group is developing…"

She allowed herself some defiance that showed in her voice. "I couldn't speculate, but I suggest you hurry if you plan to destroy him. I'm fairly certain he has access to all the background microwave radiation in the universe. His power may be limited only by his ability to comprehend his nature."

"Its non-ionizing radiation. Why should we be concerned?"

Inwardly cursing his ignorance, her anger and contempt edged through in her response. "It's a question of quantity- of intensity. Take water as an analogy: The difference between standing in a rain shower as opposed to in front of a fire hose or under Niagara-Freaking-Falls."

"Have a care Dr. Clay." The voice on the speaker paused for effect. "You've been very helpful thus far. If you continue to cooperate you may see your daughter again soon. If not…"

Elise sobbed.

He looked down at the rooftops of skyscrapers. The horizon was lost in the ever present maritime haze of the city. Sea birds soared beside him, veering away from this huge, lumbering interloper. Jay had a huge grin on this face. He was flying! If there were any benefits to his transformation, this topped the list: Realizing a fundamental dream of every child who ever tied a beach towel around their neck and jumped off the living room couch. Flying! The jumpsuit Elise had given him was made of some exotic material that fit snugly over his frame. It felt good to look more the part of a flying good guy instead of a half-naked freak.

Soaring over the gentle waves around Founders Falls, he pondered how one broke into the Hero Fraternity. Did you just walk up to the Masked Onion while he was crushing bad guys and saving the city and ask him the secret handshake? He had no idea. He'd paid scant attention to the lives of heroes in the city past the occasional news headline.

To break into that social circle, he was going to have to be proactive. Vaguely, he recalled something about a hero registry at city hall in Atlas Park. Maybe he would try there tomorrow.

While approaching the rooftop he now called home, he noticed a woman standing on the roof of the building across the canal from his. Strange. The woman was dressed in a neatly tailored black suit. Jay slowed to a hover just above the tar and gravel of the roof as he regarded her. She was staring back intently. He raised an ivory hand and waved. In response, she reached over her shoulder and, as if by magic, brought forth an exotic looking contraption.

"That's an odd looking camera," he mused as his feet touched down on the gravel.

She brought her eye to down to something that looked like a scope.

"That's no camera," he thought just as he felt the crushing impact of the shot. The power of the blast knocked him off his feet. He no longer had nerves, but pain was replaced by a sense of wrongness that seemed somehow worse. He felt himself… unraveling, as if he'd evaporate if he didn't focus his attention. Rolling to his knees, he faced his attacker. She had lowered the rifle to observe the effect of her attack, but when she saw him stir, her eye went back to the scope. He reacted almost instinctively, extending both arms and pointing his fingertips directly at his assailant's chest. During Elise's evaluation he'd done this as she'd sought to assess his power.

"Just point and shoot", he thought. Power flared blue-white from his hands and seared, laser-straight through the air between the two buildings. The beam just missed his assailant, passing harmlessly over her left shoulder. The assassin barely noticed his attack. Standing, rock steady, she fired again.

The impact forced him down once again. He landed on his back and skidded a few feet. Darkness began to encroach on his vision and he felt as if a giant hole had been punched in his chest. There was no way he would survive another hit. Sluggishly, he rolled over to his stomach and levered himself up as he watched her head again lowering to the gun sight.

Oblivion was the twitch of a finger away.

In this critical instant, he was oddly calm. He needed to change the conditions of the fight. Desperation shaped his need and his power fulfilled it. Unseen force reached out and enveloped his foe. In a flash of light, she vanished from the far rooftop and in that same instant; she appeared in a similar flash, directly in front of him.

Disoriented, her rifle fired wide, its awful energy dissipating harmlessly into the sky behind him. With all the waning strength he could summon, he lifted both fists high above his head and brought them down on her shoulders with a thunderous, bone-shattering thud. The assassin collapsed instantly and lay still.

Silence. So quickly, it was over.

He staggered away from her, dropping to one knee. He put a hand down to steady himself.

"Nice trick," said a voice from above.

Jay leapt up and whirled around with wobbly feet, fists clenched, ready for anything. In the air above him floated a man in black tights adorned with glowing white runes and symbols.

"Whoa there, Ace!" said the hovering figure with his hands held up. "I'm one of the good guys. I saw the fireworks and thought I'd take a peek."

Jay had seen him in the papers once or twice before, but couldn't remember his name.

"You don't look so good," the hero observed, watching Jay's almost comical effort to stand. He gestured and Jay saw green light spring up all around him. Suddenly, he felt great! He stood tall, his addled mind clearing.

"You still don't look so hot…" the hero continued with a grin. "But at least you're healed!"

Jay stood amazed. "How can you heal me when I'm not even flesh and blood?"

"Hmmm." A black wand with white tips appeared in the hero's hand. He scratched his bearded chin with one end.

"Could it be… Magic?"

Jay just stared.

"Huh. I figured you'd be brighter - must be a blaster. But that's OK. You've been through a lot. Crey snipers. Very nasty.

"Here." The magician flicked his wand and, in a shower of sparks, a black hat appeared, hovering in the air in front of him. With great flair he demonstrated that his sleeves were free of foreign objects and the hat empty. Then he slowly reached in, his arm disappearing impossibly far into the hat. Just as slowly, he removed a single small white business card. With continued exaggerated motion, he waved his wand and *POOF* the card disappeared. In that instant, Jay felt something in his closed fist.

He brought his hand up and saw the card. It was blank, but even as he began to point this out, letters began to appear on the card. He could soon make out what it said:

THE JUSTICE PROTECTORATE

Evil Cannot Hide From the

Guardians of Justice!

555-5150

When Jay looked up, The hero descended a few feet and stuck out his hand "I go by the name of The Great Defendo!"

Jay took it and shook it firmly. "Thanks."

"But you... you can call me The Great Defendo!" he added with a wink.

"Uh..."

The mystic took on an appraising look and leaned in toward him. "Sorry, I'm having fun at your expense. You look new to this, so take some good advice: Get a snappier outfit and a catchy name the news rags can spell right. This is dangerous territory for a noobie. You might want to hang with us for a while."

The magician began to slowly rise into the bright blue sky. "Call us when you're ready. Tell 'em The Great Defendo! sent you!"

Looking down, The Great Defendo! asked. "Have you figured out what we'll call you?"

Jay looked over at the marks on the roof from his struggle. The body of his attacker and her weapon were gone.

Without her footprints in the gravel, he might have convinced himself that he'd imagined the whole thing. Like it or not, he was a hero now. A catchy name wasn't really his style though, so he went with the obvious choice.

"Microwave."

"Well, the papers won't spell it wrong at least." The Great Defendo! said with a laugh as he flew out of sight. "Welcome to the club, Ace!"