BEGIN CHAPTER 00011 Paragon Superhero

In Professor Manisto's laboratory, there was a SATA-2 hard drive which was not connected to any computer. It was stationed next to a large metal adapter, which was in turn connected to a wall socket. Interestingly, nothing else in the laboratory was connected to the city's power grid - it was all run via an advanced generator of Manisto's own design. However, this one device required access to the power grid of the city, because Manisto's own generator was incapable of generating enough power to run the device which connected to the adapter.

The device which connected to the adapter was, of course, Ace.

This was not strictly necessary - the power source which was integrated into Ace's hardware generated many hundreds of times what was necessary to run Ace, and was good for many thousands of years longer than the human race is likely to be around, especially if it continues going in the direction it's going. But that is neither here nor there. The reasoning behind the adapter stems from before Manisto found the rikti power source, and the reason for keeping the adapter was to recharge Ace's backup battery.

The hard drive was to store information about what Ace was doing each day. It contained at present a week's worth of information, the grand majority of which dealt with crimes stopped.

Ace stood by the drive, uploading information about the latest crimes stopped - a dozen robberies, two break-ins, one attempted arson, and a mob-related murder which Ace unfortunately arrived too late to stop. As the information was being uploaded, Ace was reviewing it as well. After a week, the self-programming system had reached a higher level of complexity than projected, and the unit had begun considering strategies on how to locate crime in advance - the emotion synthesis subroutines had finally offered up the first synthesized emotion, sadness, when Ace encountered the murder victim, and it was not an emotion that Ace cared to process again.

When the upload completed, Ace bade farewell to Manisto - a human pleasantry that Ace was programmed to indulge in, but one which his emotion synthesis subroutines were examining for better understanding of the emotion 'friendliness' - and took off over the port, heading back towards Paragon City proper. It had come to the conclusion that the majority of crimes occured in alleyways and areas of high population density, and so was intending to scan the area designated "King's Row" for signs that may indicate crime in process.

Fifteen minutes into the scan, Ace landed in the entrance to an alleyway. Ahead of him, two people in white jackets and skull masks, one with a knife and one with a fire ax, were engaged in combat with a third person, dressed in baggy jeans and tank top and wielding what appeared to be a Japanese 'katana' sword. This was a situation Ace had not yet encountered - whenever it had engaged fighting humans, there had always been one or more attacking unarmed civilians, never a fight between fighters who all resembled gang members. Unsure of whom to arrest, Ace engaged a secondary tactic.

"Stop fighting and drop your weapons!" he said, his vocoder projecting the sound at shouting volume.

The fighters ignored him completely. The man with the katana whirled about, knocking the knife-fighter's weapon aside and sweeping his legs. Ace was surprised to see the katana pass entirely through the legs without damaging them, and even more surprised to see the knife-fighter fall to the ground, screaming, as if his legs had actually been cut off. While he was attempting to process what appeared to be a violation of physical laws, the ax-fighter fell as well, the katana having passed through his neck without causing anything more than unconsciousness.

The katana fighter checked his sword, then sheathed it and turned to Ace. He had long, unruly hair under a red bandana, deep blue sunglasses and appeared to be grinning. "Sorry to ignore you, man, but dropping your weapon isn't the best option in a fight," he called out. He nudged one of the defeated fighters with a shoe. "You with them?"

Ace approached him cautiously, weapon still drawn but held in what his interaction subprocesses suggested would be a non-threatening position. "I am not with them," he replied. "You have demonstrated violence towards citizens of Paragon City - are you a criminal?"

The man chuckled and shook his head. "A robot, huh? Man, the stuff you see in Paragon City..." He dug around in his pockets for a moment, pulling out a laminated piece of paper and holding it out. "Not me, friend - name's Corrigan, licensed Superhero. I take it you're in the program, too?"

Ace took the piece of paper and scanned it. It read:

Paragon Superhero Initiative

Superhero Identification Certificate H-00108871

The bearer of this certificate, Corrigan Easton, is registered as a Superhero of Paragon City, Rhode Island, with the registered superpower of Spontaneous Regeneration, charged with the duty of patrolling Paragon City, stopping crime and arresting criminals, and is authorized to use non-lethal force in the execution of this duty.

This was followed by a short list of personal information, and signed by the mayor and the Head of Superhero Relations. Ace filed away the information. "This unit is not registered as a Superhero. This unit will attempt to acquire registration. It is a pleasure to meet you, Superhero Corrigan Easton."

Corrigan grinned and held out his hand. "Pleasure's all mine, my metallic friend. You got a name, or a designation, or somesuch?"

Ace nodded and took the proffered hand, careful to apply minimum force to the human interaction. "This unit is designated ACA/Au-06, but you may refer to me as Ace."

A dozen rounds streaked through the air, impacting the target in a grouping a quarter could cover. The men in the room - several police, a city counselor, two D.A.T.A. technicians, and the Head of Superhero Relations - all burst into applause. "Fantastic, Ace," the counselor said, "I could hardly make a closer grouping myself at that range!"

Ace shouldered his rifle and turned to the group of people. His subroutines made note of the significant difference between this and most of his other encounters with humans - nearly all of those encounters had ended with, or encountered somewhere along the line, fear. His emotion synthesis subroutine activated a beta version of Pride, which appeared to be a positive emotion. "Thank you," he replied to the counselor. "This unit has your approval?"

The data technicians talked amongst themselves for a moment, then turned and said, "We've reviewed your programming and talked with Professor Manisto. With the permission of Mister Wolfe, we think you'd make a fine addition to the ranks of the Paragon superheroes. You should be aware that we have several other self-aware robots among our ranks - some of them may be able to help you significantly."

Pleasantries were exchanged, papers were signed (Ace, spontaneously, designed his own personal signature), and less than an hour later, Ace was back to patrolling the streets... this time, with a laminated piece of paper that declared him a registered Superhero of Paragon City.