Chapter 29
Yuki spent the day with Alley at her lab.
When he asked her how she got so smart she gave him an honest answer. "I cheated in that aspect. You see I have mom's power of absorbing the talent and abilities from others. Mine however evolved so I could take in the intellect of other people. I have absorbed from quite a few to be honest. One includes Dr. Genus here."
He was seated in the lab as Genus peered up from his work and nodded. "Very true, and she has used her gifts in far greater contribution to the world than I could have."
"Well, if I don't have power like that, then what can I do?"
"Reading for one, study up on what you want to learn and perfect it with your abilities. I know you are very crafty, Yuki. You LOVED legos when you were growing, piecing things together is part of what being a inventor and scientist!"
He thought it over. "Alley… what's a photographic memory you talked about before?" he asked.
Alley smiled. "Do you remember your first manga?" she asked.
He nodded. "That time I got reincarnated as a slime… yes…" he said.
"You read that when you were very small, just after when Amai Mask scared you and your siblings. Normally a mind that young wouldn't be able to read let alone recall what they read at that age." She explained. "If I were to ask you say… graphic novel volume 2, Chapter 7, page 17. What was on that page?" she asked.
"After the trial of Rimuru and the dwarves, the king is speaking with the man named Vesta about a potion with phenomenal healing abilities."
Alley then gave him this look, and a smirk. "I have no doubt if we gave you notes to read from both Genus and I… you would be just a smart as we are." She announced. "What do you say Genus?"
He smirked to the notion. "I would be nice to have a third perspective on things…" he said offhandedly. "Very well then…" he reached beside his desk, into a filing cabinet and took out a massive stack of papers! Yuki froze to the sight of them all. "These are my notes from the house of evolution. They will come in handy if you are going to help us combat against them." He explained.
"When you are done that, I will personally teach you how to read alien language." Said Alley.
Yuki gulped his pride, but wasn't quite interested in reading all that just yet. "Is… there something else I could do first?" he asked.
Alley paused. "Yes, in fact. I did promise to let you play with some of my 'toys' did I not?" She said with a smirk. "Come on Yuki, let's take you to the construction lab."
#
He was awestricken.
The lab was massive and he wasn't the only one within it. Yuki saw other heroes working on weapons, armor and costumes for not just themselves, but other heroes. "Pick your own work bench, take some stuff off the wall and if you need to borrow something from someone, just ask okay? Be careful."
He felt like a kid in a toy store. He picked out a table and just randomly grabbed things off the wall, metal, scraps, parts, wires, wheels and tools. He laid it all out and merely stared at his possessions. "Need some help kid?"
He looked up to a hero name Wild Horn. For a moment, the hero stepped back oddly. "Did I startle you?" Yuki asked.
"Damn, you look like Amai Mask!"
Yuki sneered. "Please don't say that, I want nothing to do with that guy." He pleaded.
Wild Horn merely nodded as he peered down at the table. "Interesting assortment… what are you hoping to make?"
"I don't know yet." Yuki said but began to think a little deeper. In his mind he could see the pieces falling into place, something was coming about. With that, he sat down and began to tinker with the objects at hand.
"Uh… okay… well… have fun" Wild Horn went back to modifying his weapons, Yuki on the other hand became absorbed in his work. Pieces began to fall into place, something began to amass in his hands and yet, he wasn't certain as to what it could be yet. He just kept compiling things together, twisting and winding them together until the very end.
When he finished, he found he had an audience of sorts. Heroes stopped what they were doing and were staring at what he created. "What… is it?" asked Gearsper.
Yuki paused as he looked about, the object was almost a perfect square, yet there were four holes on the sides. He placed his fingers into the opening, triggering the cube. The heroes watched in amazement as the metal folded out as if it knew what to do, it encased his fingers until his hands were covered in a thin layer of metal with a spike on the knuckle.
Yet when he looked at the other heroes, they appeared a little white in the face. "What?" he asked.
#
Alley came by a few hours later. Heroes had come and gone from the room, and yet Yuki remained. "He better have had lunch or I won't hear the end of it from mom." She walked into the room, but froze. The entire back end of the workshop was full of gadgets! "Yuki?" she asked in a bewildered tone.
He peered up from the table. "Hi Alley!" he said cheerfully.
"What is all of this?" she asked.
Yuki peered over his shoulder. "I don't know yet." He said and went back to work.
Alley began to pick up objects here and there, there were some that appeared to be a hidden weapon, others were trap and clamps that would trick a monster in getting ensnared into it. But mostly they were compact, portable gear for heroes to wear! Still, he did all of these in mere hours with no direction?
"Yuki… how about you work with some of my better toys?" she asked with a grin.
His eyes widened. "You have better toys?" as his smile grew.
"I do, but first, you get some lunch. You've been in here for three hours!"
#
Alley had to make sure he ate something, throughout lunch he was nearly too excited to eat anything. She had to warn him to have something or he won't be able to go to 'Alley's toy room' as she affectionately called it.
With that, he ate like an animal, shoving everything into his mouth using his hands. The room froze to the sight of it all until someone approached the table. "Uh… Alley, has Genus been cloning again?" whispered Stinger.
She paused at the thought as Yuki froze to the comment. "I'm nof a clome!" he protested with his mouth full.
"I'll speak of this another time Stinger, now isn't good for me okay?" she whispered.
He gave a very odd nod of his head before moving along. Yuki finished and washed his hands before insisting Alley keep her promise. With that, she led him back to her lab, but went farther down the hallway. "I don't let just ANYONE in here you know… in fact. I don't let anyone at all in here!" she even kept the room under lock and key! Yet as she opened the door, Yuki froze to it. Inside were gadgets and materials he has never seen before. Yet along the walls it appeared to be full of sand.
He paused and stared at it. "Sister…" he said offhandedly. "This isn't what I think it is…"
"It looks like sand to you, but you're right, it's not. These are nanobots I made!" she explained.
"Nano bots…" he whispered. "You mean like the ones that make our clothing and make it vanish when we switch forms right?"
"The very same!" she said proudly. "Now, these are the toys I am going to let you play with today. I am curious though what you could make with them."
Yuki paused and thought about it. "Well, I do have an idea for Yuuma. He wants to start a band, however if Amai Mask knew it was him… he would make certain he never gets heard of or see the light of day. Perhaps, I need to make him persona masks!"
Alley was intrigued. "Go on…" she said with great interest.
He looked about but nodded. "I need those, these things that look like sunglasses but without lenses" he insisted. Alley obliged, she kept old sunglass frames for a reason! She reached into one of the main junk drawers in her lab and presented him with the frames. From there Yuki went into a trance and began to work feverishly. So much so Alley tried to talk to him, but couldn't get a word out! He was lost to her until he finished.
"I'll be back in a while okay, don't work too hard and ask for help if you need it" she insisted.
As Alley left, she turned back. Yuki was in his own world, but there was such a smile on his face. He was happy doing this, that's all that mattered.