20/11/2021

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! You are the greatest!

The Emperor's Dragon
Fledgling 21

Izuku was working on the last chapter of his maths book when there was a beep. He frowned, and looked around before he realised it had come from his phone. Kurogiri had locked the send and receive functions but it was still a perfectly good calculator, and he'd been using it as that. It had beeped though, and the sound was for an incoming message.

His eyes flew to the top of the screen but there were no bars to indicate he was on a network. It still said SOS. Even so, Izuku tapped the screen to go to his message app. He blinked when he saw there was a message.

That wasn't meant to be possible.

First!

That was Mei!

Why is your reception off?

No, don't answer that. I don't need to know why you have a dark phone.

I finally got through!

Mei! Izuku sent the single word as a test.

First! The response came rapidly.

How did you get through? Reception is meant to be turned off. He really wanted to know. He'd toyed with the idea of hacking it but everything he read on that didn't make sense. He needed someone to teach him the basics if he was going to get into that sort of thing. Tomura, for all that he was good with electronics, was good with using them, not building them.

I hacked my account, with my mum's tools.

Actually our provider.

Then my account. I had to track where my provider was trying to send messages to you.

Then I made it look like my message comes from your provider

So it's not a message that relies on reception.

Or it does but since it thinks it's you, sending a message to yourself, it gets around the normal protections.

Or something like that. I think.

I don't really get how my mum's programs work.

Just that they work.

Izuku read the messages. She made it sound so easy. He somehow doubted it really was that simple. But it also seemed as if her Mum had some… less than legal software. Well, I won't tell, if you don't! He sent back. Can you send messages I send to another network, or another phone? He asked quickly. If Mei could send messages, then he could send a message to Ochaco and Hitoshi!

No can do, First.

I'm only seeing your messages because I opened the window for mine.

If I open the window for others, they'll notice that there is a window open.

Izuku tried not to feel disappointed at that. He expected it but he still felt a tinge of disappointment. He wanted to talk to his friends. He was thankful that there was one who'd managed to talk to him.

Anyway! I've done it!

It took a moment for Izuku to remember what Mei was supposedly doing. She was looking at respirator technology for him. That's fantastic! He sent back but he already knew he needed to know a bit more than just she'd done it. Had she made it smaller, more powerful? Had she made it more efficient?

Small, powerful, self cleaning!

And in a helmet!

Mei really did like typing fast but she answered the question he hadn't typed.

Thank you, he typed. But there needs to be other things in the helmet, he added. As much as he might like to avoid thinking about it, he knew that not all of the tubes that were poking into his dad were for air. There were some for medicine.

How injured is your dad? Mei replied.

Very injured, Izuku responded. But with a portable life support system, he should be able to enjoy life more. That's what it came down to.

What else needs to go in?

For once that was the only message.

Drug dispensers, and storage, Izuku wrote back. With injection points.

How many mils for each?

He frowned at that question. He didn't know. I'm not sure, Izuku admitted.

This is going to get bulky

I can shrink the dispensers and the injection points but I can't shrink the storages.

And there was only so much I could shrink the tubing.

I could have shrunk it more

But the air would have been under too much pressure

And that wasn't pleasant to breath in

He could sort of see how that would be the case. It would be too pressurised. Please do what you can, Izuku said. I won't be able to give back your Baby yet, he added. He wasn't even sure what the address was here!

First! For the investment you've given me, you can keep it, Mei wrote.

You are giving me what I need, Izuku wrote back. It's an investment. I am going to need the plans for the respirator, though since I can't have you send it either.

There was a pause before Mei replied. Izuku hoped he hadn't said anything wrong. I will still own the plans?

He didn't really understand the question. You made it, so you own it.

You paid for it, came the reply.

He'd have to do some research on what that meant. Dad had touched on something like this but it hadn't made sense. You made it, so you own it, Izuku sent again. I just want to use it. He wanted his dad to use it.

I can send them, Mei told him. A file popped up on his phone and Izuku clicked accept.

How long do you think for the drug dispensers?

How many will there need to be?

Izuku thought about it. His dad currently had two injection points into his neck and there was another one at the back and some into his cheeks. He wondered if they were painful. At least five, he replied.

I may have to reinforce the helmet to support all of this, Mei said.

That's okay, Izuku replied. He didn't care what it looked like, so long as it worked.

They sound easy, but it's going to take a while

I have to look at sanitisation for the injection points, and the tubing.

I have to look at storage, especially if any of the drugs require refrigeration

Then delivery devices, so that the right dose is given

Probably timers as well

I don't know

Izuku looked at the messages with a soft smile. He loved that Mei thought aloud as it were. He honestly hadn't considered some of those things. The Doctor just seemed to inject his dad but when you stopped to consider things, then the needles were sterile, and the tubing had to be. And he didn't know if any of the drugs stayed fresh because they were cold. You've helped a lot already, he sent her, trying to say that it would be okay if it took some time. Plus he knew she was his age, so it wasn't like she could do this full time.

It will probably take me a year or so

If your dad is going to use it, and rely on it, then I have to get it up to medical specs

That's okay, Izuku typed.

First, you are patient

Izuku smiled at that. He wasn't really. He wanted it now but that would be bad. He hadn't thought about some of the things Mei had. It was comforting that she was thinking about this so well. It meant that the finished product would be robust and wouldn't cause further harm. You are helping me, he replied.

I'm going to need some materials though, Mei told him.

He should have been expecting that. Mentally, Izuku ran through some calculations. He didn't really remember how much money he had left but it was for his dad, so it didn't really matter. How much will you need? If it was too much he could probably get the Doctor to work out something. The man knew his drugs.

Materials probably won't cost that much

It's the testing materials and kits that will cost

I will have to swab the parts to check for contamination

And then detect it.

That made sense. Izuku waited for Mei to do some internal calculations.

Maybe 50,000 for tests.

Izuku had found his investment records. Even if he gave her that much now, he still had lots left but he did note that he'd first given her 10,000 to actually learn. Everything since then had only been for materials. Take 70,000 because I haven't given you anything for your time, Izuku told her.

First! You keep giving me money for stuff I'm just playing around with.

Mel, you are helping me. And I know nothing comes for free! Plus, I can't complete my part of the bond now so you get compensated for that, he added.

Actually, does your solar vest need adjusting?

It did but since he hadn't been at school and he was unable to talk to anyone, Izuku hadn't worn it for a while. It does, but you can't get it to me at the moment, so that can wait.

He could almost hear her sigh through his phone.

All right, First. I'll get building on this for you now. And when you can, let me know and I can adjust the solar vest.

I will, Izuku sent back as he tapped to his account and forwarded her the money. Thank you, he sent the final words.

If this helped his dad, and he had no reason to believe it wouldn't, then… She could have the rest of the investment money, and he wouldn't even care if that meant he lost the little competition with his dad. This was more important.

No, thank you First, for believing in me.

Izuku just smiled at his phone.

-ted-

"All right, Izuku, I need you to hit the bag Gigantomachia is holding as hard as you can," Doctor Garaki instructed the teen.

The giant man was holding a punching bag that had been decked out with a series of sensors to measure Izuku's punching strength.

The boy complied and the Doctor noted down the number.

"Now I need you to lift as much weight as you can," Kyudai instructed, pointing towards the weights. "Be careful," he added the instruction.

They were going to test how Izuku adapted to having two copies of the same quirk.

The teen lifted an impressive amount of weight. "You are using your strength quirk?" Garaki asked to confirm.

"Yes," Izuku replied.

"Good. That's impressive," he told him, again noting down the number. Even accounting for the fact that Izuku was strong and fit without a quirk, it was still an impressive number. So many people forgot that a strong body really helped when using even physical enhancement quirks. It was like a multiplier. If your base strength was one, then multiplying by 10 only got you to 10 but if your base strength was 10, then it got you to 100. Garaki figured Izuku was about as strong as he possibly could be without the quirk. Training with Kurogiri and Gigantomachia ensured that.

"Now I need you to take the copy of the quirk from here," he said, pointing down at a small tube which had been wheeled in by Johnny. They were testing more than one thing here. Firstly was Izuku's ability with the quirk, but also his acceptance of an experimental form and of a copying technique.

The teen looked curiously at the tube and Johnny.

"Quirks predominantly come from people," Kyudai said, feeling the need to explain. "To copy them I make a cell culture, which contains the quirk, so that is just a mass of cells with a quirk," he said, pointing. Since Izuku didn't have to touch the culture, there was no need to expose any of it.

The teen nodded and for his benefit made a grabbing motion. Garaki couldn't see anything but he knew Izuku had taken the quirk.

"And Johnny is one of my early experiments," he continued when the small creature wheeled away the tube. "I'm quite proud of him."

"You created him?" Izuku asked, his eyes tracking Johnny as he disappeared into the warehouse.

Garaki smiled and nodded. "He has a warp quirk."

"That's amazing," Izuku breathed.

"Now, has the quirk settled?" he asked, instead of discussing his experiments more. He didn't want to get into details about them today.

Izuku nodded.

"All right, punch the bag again and then pick up the weights," he instructed.

Gigantomachia actually looked interested and held out the punching bag. Izuku frowned in concentration, before pulling his arm back and hitting the bag. Even without looking at the readings, Kyudai could tell the force was higher. The way Gigantomachia smiled confirmed it.

Izuku moved to the weights and immediately picked up the amount he had earlier. He put them down and added more weight and picked that up.

"Excellent!" Garaki exclaimed. "Even though it is the same quirk, you are getting benefit from it. I wonder if you will get the same benefit when it is absorbed?"

Izuku gave him a smile. It said without words that he hoped so but Kyudai was inclined to think that he wouldn't.

But strength quirks were reasonably common. It would not be hard to get others.

And that would also serve the same purpose.

They'd have to find out.

-ted-

"Doctor," Izuku said as he approached the old man.

"Yes, Izuku?" He replied absently. He was working on a few adjustments to one of the Nomu. This one felt incomplete somehow but he wasn't sure what it was.

"You've been working on life support for Dad, haven't you?"

That was a rather touchy subject. He was doing his best but Sensei expected better. Except he wasn't an engineer. He was a biologist! He could build things like life support but he was far better at using them. "I have, Izuku. There's still much work to go on it though," he added.

It would actually be easier if he could somehow transplant flesh and was currently, carefully growing several eyes for Sensei. He would, if allowed, then take the required scans to see if the man had the optic nerve still. If he did, then he would try implanting them.

"Could you look at a design for a respirator then, and know if it's good?" Izuku asked.

Kyudai stopped what he was doing and turned to look at the boy. That was not a question Izuku should have been asking. The motion prompted a further explanation.

"I have a friend who is interested in design," the boy explained. "She designed something for me." He'd looked at the plans and while he could sort of see how they worked, he didn't really understand why it was better. He could see the way the tubes were set closer together and how Mei had worked the battery pack in for the filters. The scrubbers were self cleaning but he thought, after reading about respirators, that it would be best to change the filters every week or so, which was far better than commercially available respirators.

Mei really was fantastic at this. He kind of felt like he was cheating her in a way. If this worked then he'd have to do something nice for her but he had no idea what. He might just have to ask.

"I can look at it," Kyudai said.

Izuku nodded and then pulled something from his pocket. It turned out to be a data card. He handed it to Garaki.

The Doctor pushed the data card into a reader and then opened the file. It was a design file. He looked at it for a few seconds following the lines of design. He saw the battery pack, and then the scrubbers and the tubing. It was very compact, and it was already designed to be worn around the neck.

The thing was, he couldn't tell, just from the design if it was functional or not.

"I can't tell, Izuku. It's compact, but I will have to build it before I can test if it will work," he explained.

"That's okay," Izuku said. "She promised me it works."

"It's got all the components to work," Garaki replied in a conciliatory tone.

"How long will it take to build?"

Kyudai looked at the plans, and then scrolled through the file. There was a list of components and he recognised most of them. "I should be able to get it done in a few days," he replied, looking at how it went together. He had all the materials. He just didn't necessarily have the time. "Then I can test it."

Izuku smiled. "It will work," he said confidently.

"I'm sure Sensei will be pleased," Kyudai agreed without actually agreeing. Izuku's confidence was good, but he would need to test it to be sure. And he'd need to put plating over the parts. They were exposed! If it worked then the Doctor knew Sensei would go into combat with it, and it would need protection. Or he'd go and see people and they didn't need to know that the mask was something more than an affectation. An appropriate set of plates on it would provide armor and disguise.

He was looking at the boy so he saw the way Izuku fidgeted at that news. "Could you… could you not tell him?" Izuku asked softly, looking at the ground.

Garaki frowned. "Why don't you want Sensei to know?" What had Izuku done wrong? Actually… how had he gotten the plans? He wasn't meant to be talking to anyone!

"We're competing," Izuku said. It made no sense.

"Competing?" Kyudai was even more confused.

"In investment."

Garaki's expression must have been enough to gain a further explanation.

"Dad gave me some money to invest. We are doing one set of investments together, and I have another one by myself. We are competing to see what one does best."

The Doctor blinked. The words made sense but… how was the eleven year old meant to compete against Sensei on investment? That hardly seemed fair. But it wasn't his job to deal with fairness. "And this is what you've invested in?" he asked.

Izuku nodded.

Kyudai sighed. "If it works, and Sensei doesn't ask, then I will not tell him," he agreed. If it worked, he thought that All For One wouldn't care where the design had come from.

"Thank you," Izuku said.

Garaki smiled at the boy. "You've done well. This is a good investment."

Izuku returned his smile. "I hope so," he whispered but it was not a sad statement, it was hopeful.

The Doctor hoped it would be true.

-ted-

So the first version of the helmet is in the Doctor's hands. Was he just humouring Izuku or will he try to build it?

And the test begins on the same quirk :D It's initially successful but Izuku is not his Dad and his quirk works differently. So we will see ... or actually that's misleading. You will see. I already know.

My discord is on this code: ZX2R5h2cEm FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out.

-ted-

Loved it? Hated it? Found a spelling mistake? Let me know please!