My preparations had begun 2 months ago and i was only now feeling equipped and trained enough to go to the prt HQ without looking like a clueless greenhorn. Before going I decided to do a final equipment check and to practice my presentation one last time. My suit doesn't look too bad for something built with household items and I have my secondary ability to thank for that, without it I would have had no choice but to become a protectorate hero just so I could have the materials to tinker with. With it, any material can be used for any purpose, clay can be used as a structural material, aluminum foil can protect me better than any commercially available Kevlar, wood can be made fireproof and most important of all, it eliminates the need for maintenance.
It also happens to be the main subject of the deal I want to strike with the prt and the most important thing I can bring to the table for now. My other pieces of equipment include head protective gear with inbuilt infrared and night vision visor, forearm and leg protectors made out of of reinforced aerogel covered in three layers of reinforced aluminum foil, the chestplate was made the same way. My undersuit was made with reinforced microfibers making me knifeproof if not bulletproof in my less protected areas.
I'm not really worried about injuries because of my secondary ability but I need to appear professional if I want the prt to take me seriously. My last pieces of equipment are a pair of electrified brass knuckles and a medium weight quarterstaff. At first glance my equipment looks to be in good condition but I still activate ''adaptive repair'' on them one last time before leaving.
My vehicle isn't something I even consider a piece of equipment, it's temporary at most and will be replaced the second I have a higher budget. It's isn't something I made from scratch, just a bicycle I bought and modified to have a lighter frame and better gears. I'm already designing a small one person car for when I have the materials to build it. I arrive in front of the prt HQ just as I finish the thought. It's 8:30 in the morning, 15 minutes before my appointment with the director. The date is the twenty third of may 2005 and my hero career officially begins today, the emotion I feel is a mix between excitement and apprehension.
Ready or not, I enter the building. The place is clean and the displays of the gift shop are packed with miscellaneous parahuman merchandise, maybe I too can have toys made in my image one day but for now I need to actually think about the coming meeting instead of daydreaming.
As I walk to the front desk the receptionist catches a glimpse of me and a look of recognition crosses his face, he must've been expecting my arrival any time soon because an escort arrives within seconds and I am brought to a waiting room just outside the directors office.
As I wait for permission to enter, I think about what i know about the director, she's and ex prt trooper who was injured in an unnamed mission and from the press conferences she did I can understand that she's a no nonsense, all business kind of woman meaning that I should cut the chitchat to a minimum and keep it professional if I want to give a good impression.
They let me bring my briefcase with me but I have no doubt that they have hidden scanners in the walls to verify that I'm not carrying a bomb, if him lucky then the rising star armsmaster himself will be there to scan it. It's always a good thing to get tips from more experienced tinkers, not that I think I really need it but any help is good. As my thoughts wander further and further from the meeting I hear a voice coming from the office telling me to enter.
As I enter the office, I catch sight of the director siting at her desk, a blonde woman showing the beginning signs of obesity, the second thing that caught my eyes was armsmaster's armour. It was a thing of beauty with a design so much sleeker than anything I could currently build. The small bit of his face that was visible showed a short goatee. My observations were finished just as I took a seat in front of the directors desk.
After a few seconds of silence the director fixed me with a hard stare and began speaking "you called a few days ago to tell us that you have a business proposal to give, unfortunately, you didn't deem it fit to give us any more information than this" she took a small pause and continued "now luckily for you, my obligations as director of the local prt include meeting with independent parahumans when possible" she said, then after another short pause
"however, in the future, it would be appreciated if you could give us more information before asking for a meeting. Now I hope for you that you have a serious proposition to give me and that you didn't waste my time. You have 15 minutes to convince me to continue dealing with you in the future" she finished
My posture had been getting stiffer and stiffer as she spoke, now that it was my turn to speak I brought my briefcase on her desk and began opening it, armsmaster and the director had a look of apprehension as I did so. They were probably suspicious of what I had in there. Once the briefcase was opened I turned it towards them to show its contents.
When they saw what was inside their looks quickly shifted from apprehension to confusion. After all, why the hell would I bring a briefcase containing glass panes, clay, shards of metal and a roll of aluminum foil to a business meeting. Before either of them could start to question me I started giving my presentation
"Those materials are not particularly relevant to this meeting but are necessary for me to demonstrate what I have to bring to the table" as I finished my sentence I took a bit of clay and took out the aluminum foil and started explaining what I was doing with them
"As you probably realized from my equipment, I'm a tinker. What you probably don't know is that I have a secondary power" just as I finished saying that, I had also finished shaping an object with the clay and covering it with aluminum foil "this secondary ability is something I like to call adaptive repair."
After taking a small pause to catch my breath and to examine the newly created clay figurine, I resume speaking.
"To demonstrate it, I'd like either of you to destroy this foil covered clay figurine in any way you want. Crush it, cut it or burn it into a puddle, do whatever you want with it" as I slide the figurine towards the director, armsmaster pulls out a small plasma cutter from somewhere and begins methodically destroying it into equal pieces.
Once satisfied with the damage done, armsmaster hands me back the pieces, they are deformed and scorched at the edges, it is destroyed to such a degree that I wouldn't know what the object originally looked like if I wasn't the one that created it mere seconds ago.
Once back in my hands, it doesn't even take a blink of the eye before the pieces are back in one piece and looking exactly as they had originally. As I look up I see that their eyes are slightly wider than before but I can see that they are still not sold although armsmaster seems to be realizing the possibilities of the ability.
Once done with my observation, I slide the figurine back to them and start speaking again, "as you can see, the destroyed object is seamlessly repaired, now that I have showed you the repair part of the name, I think it's time I explained the adaptive part of it" I took a small pause then continued
"Things that are repaired have more average durability than before and are particularly more durable against the general type of damage that broke them in the first place" I said.
"If armsmaster wants to test my claim, the figurine should take a bit more time and energy to cut than before. I'm also quite certain that by now armsmaster must have figured that my ability can drastically reduce the upkeep a piece of tinkertech and remove it entirely after some time" As I finished saying that, I can already see armsmaster nod at my statement.
Clearly seeing their interest, I decide to go for the coup-de-grace, "but that's not the main thing I want to propose. You see, my ability isn't manton limited, meaning that it can be used for healing" I said. The second I mentioned healing the director's posture stiffened just a tiny bit. I could understand why, there are only 16 known parahumans in America with a power that can be used to heal, with my appearance that number was now 17 and here I was offering my services to her department.
As her posture loosened I could see her face shift to a look of apprehension, she was probably thinking that my price for healing would be ludicrous, luckily for her, I preferred to play the long game. I'd heal for cheap and that would give me leverage in the future for more lucrative transactions with the prt. I continued speaking in order to keep my momentum going.
"my proposition is this, for 1 hour a day, 5 days a week, I will come and heal anyone you want me to heal for 200 dollars per person with the price doubling if the healing happens any other time than the scheduled time" I take a pause to breathe before finishing my offer, "furthermore, I would like to consult armsmaster at least once in the following month for help with my tinkering" and just to make sure to get the deal, I added.
"I'm also willing to submit myself to power testing if you're doubtful of my claims"
with my piece said, I wait for the directors response
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To say that the negotiations went well after that would be one hell of an understatement. Hell, the only thing that needed to be done was to write up the healing schedule and to clarify a few things before putting them in a contract. The deal was accepted and signed on within an hour of my sales pitch.
I think what really sealed the deal was the fact that I won't charge more than the regular cost to heal protectorate heroes. In a city like Brockton bay, keeping your heroes alive and ready to fight is an absolute must. All the better if you can do it cheaply.
The only thing that was even close to bad is the clause that stipulates that the contract is null if they don't like the results of my power testing session which doesn't really worry me all that much.
Said power testing session is to happen Monday next week at 10 a.m. all that I can do in preparation for it is to gather the notes I made on the adaptive repairs power and to show up on time at the given date. Other than that, the next few days are going to be my first patrols as a hero. My hero name is already chosen and my current costume will probably be the one I use for the foreseeable future. Tonight, I go on my first patrol under the cape name Everyman.
I just need to make absolutely sure I have everything ready before going out, the patrol route has been in advance so that I pass trough gang territory and I already built all of the most essential things that I might need ranging from portable cover and bulletproof cloak to tranquilizer and wound sealant. My main weapons are a pair of electrified brass knuckles but I've decided in advance to only use them once my repeating bolowrap is empty.
After all, hand to hand combat doesn't really bother me, What I'm worried about is the chance of getting sued by a criminal for using excessive force. It might happen anyway but at least then I can say the brass knuckles were my last resort. I also doubt that I'll have to fight more than 15 criminals at a time so I shouldn't run out of ammunition in one night.
I'll still bring a few extra magazines either way, better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it as my dad used to say.
The only thing that I might need but can't have yet is an electronic hearing amplifier which would help me detect criminal acts from further away but I don't have the tools or the materials to build it and my current design is too clunky for field use so it'll have to wait until after I build a universal 3D printer and a multipurpose machining unit.
After finishing my visual check up, I also use repair on my equipment just in case there's internal damage. I don't have a scanner yet so I'll have to do this every time before going out, or at least until my consulting session with armsmaster which I'm planning to use as an excuse to build myself a 3D printer with armsmaster's tools.
After the last of my equipment is repaired, I make my way out of the house and begin the long bicycle ride to the city, the calm ride trough the forest reduces my nervousness. I originally didn't plan on starting my cape career so early, I thought it wouldn't matter if I prepared for a few more months before going out, leviathan's attack on Newfoundland was a big wake up call for me.
It made me realize something, every second I spend slowly building up my tech without resources is a second I could have spent better by getting experience on the streets and obtaining resources from the prt. I just think that if I went to the prt 2 months ago, maybe I could have made a difference. I scoff to myself as I finish the thought, I should focus on stopping gangers and villains before deluding myself into thinking 2 months would have been enough to make a difference against an endbringer.
Technology takes time to build up and I'm not even sure if the strongest weapon I can think of has the strength to kill an endbringer without absolutely massive collateral damage. What's the point of killing an endbringer if you kill more people than you save in the process.
For now though, I just need to plan ahead. The first thing I'll need after I build a 3D printer is palladium, the other energy sources I can build are much harder to build and produce way less energy than the one that needs palladium. Once I have the 3D printer and the reactor to power my lab then I can start producing a micro factory and any other tools I need to create my first suit of power armor. It'll incorporate multiple different types of armored exoskeleton technology and will give me enough protection and offensive capabilities to fight low level brute. I'll also equip it with a much wider arrangement of non-lethal weaponry, that should allow me to neutralize the average gangster much faster than any of my current equipment can.
After about 30 minutes of riding through the forest, I arrive near the outskirts of Brockton bay. In another 10 minutes I'll be at the docks and I'll finally begin making this world a better place.
AN: this is the first story I post online, feedback would be appreciated and I hope you like my story. More chapters will be coming eventually but I don't have a posting schedule yet.