This took longer than it probably should have. In my defense, writing certain characters that are already well established in a series is probably the hardest part of any fanfic story.
Unless you don't actually care how you write them. In which case that's about thousands of bad fanfic stories in general.
Also, I keep getting these story ideas before dismissing them as I would have to stop writing this story in order to go write those, and I refuse to do that because then I'll likely keep doing that until I have so many dead stories I may as well be in general.
I mean, I could make a separate thread for the sake of posting said ideas, but I'm far to lazy to do that.
Also, also, real life problems. I would explain what's been plaguing me but I know better from past experience. I.E. When some asshole told me my life and my writings are separate and my attempts to justify myself is just an excuse.
Seriously, I fucking hate people sometimes.
Plus, this is kind of a filler chapter I guess. I mean it was originally just going to mostly be Wily working. I've kind of done it before with the "First" Chapter. Except unlike then, I didn't have enough topics to keep from simply writing what Wily's doing. Because that would make a great chapter right? "Oh look he's using a screwdriver to put metal plates together. GAZE IN AWE PUNY BRAINS!"
I can't help but feel this is going to be a terrible chapter.
Chapter 3
My Metal Boy!
"You want to make what?!"
"I literally just told you Mikhail. Why make me repeat myself?" I said without glancing to my computer.
It had not been very long since I got home and got to work on my newest project. Well, after I had to sit down and relax before my body betrayed me anyway. I know I've complained about my condition one too many times, but if I had to choose between suffering with what amounts to full body failure or creating a "miracle cure", I would rather suffer through it.
I'm in DC comics now for crying out loud! "Miracle" cures are never actually good.
But still, once I was sure my body wouldn't freeze up from overwork, I quickly grabbed my phone to call Mikhail about my idea and began to write down equations. Awkward as it was to write and talk with a phone on my shoulder, I eventually set it on speaker.
At some point, Mikhail got annoyed at having to try to talk over on speaker-phone, and simple started a video chat on my basement computer. By this point I had about a novels worth of equations and design notes scattered across my workbench, constantly going back through to rework them at times.
"Albert, you have an incredible mind so don't take this the wrong way, but you're insane!"
"Why? What's wrong with my Solar Core idea?! It's better than making a nuclear power cell!"
"First off; A nuclear blast would cause less damage then an artificial sun going supernova-"
"Theoretically." I cut him off in the heat of the moment. "After all, it wouldn't be a full scale model."
"And collapsing into a black hole?"
"...Point." I grumbled.
"Secondly; You haven't even run tests yet! You are literally doing the math right now!"
"That's not entirely a point against my idea. After all, I can't run tests until I have the resources to make it." I smugly added.
Mikhail just groaned in response.
"It'll be fine Mikhail. I wouldn't be a genius if I didn't see such obvious flaws."
"Oh, really? Does that include your prototype designs back in our college days?" He snarked.
I growled. That had always been a sore spot and he knew it. I mean, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Before I realized someone might make a superpowered robot army.
"Bottom line; I will make sure if something does happen, the Solar Core will simply be snuffed out like a candle. Assuming my math is right." I say as I go back through my notes. "So, am I getting my resources or not?"
I hear Mikhail sigh.
"Sorry, but I have my own project to do. Even if I could spare anything, this sounds like a project that would require more than a shoe box full of spare parts to make."
I cringed. Right, I forgot about that. Because my friends are working as legitimate scientists, they technically aren't allowed to send out their devices, tools, or the like unless it's to be studied or used at another site.
Which is quite the contrast to what I expected from DC universe. They're actually wary of the looming threat of villains, and have various security checks on all their staff, buildings, and resources.
I sighed and turned to the screen. "Right. Well, I'll make due somehow. No need to risk your job for me."
Mikhail chuckles.
"It's fine. We knew the risks, but you have a knack for making leaps in the scientific process. And besides, security like this hardly ever works in deterring villains, let alone stop them."
I snicker at that. "If I didn't know any better I'd say Ami was rubbing off on you."
"More like you are, you paranoid."
We fall into a quick laugh before going quiet for a bit.
"...So, how's the family?"
I didn't even bother trying to hide the awkward transition. I thought being reborn would have removed my anti-social hang-ups.
Guess some things never go away. Even though it's partly my own fault for wanting to keep from being found out by anyone.
Mikhail snorts, but goes along with it.
"Oh they're fine. Kalinka can get rather clingy at times, but it's understandable. I can hardly even get free time what with-"
There was a knock and the sound of a door opening on the other end, with Mikhail looking up from the screen.
"Doctor Cossack? We're ready to begin the testing phase."
"Bah, already? Very well, tell those monkeys to actually wait for me this time. We don't want a repeat incident."
"Of course."
I hear the door close before Mikhail speaks up again.
"Sorry, but it looks like my break is over. I'll talk to you again soon."
With that, the call ended.
Well, that wasn't bad. I at least got to talk with my old colleague for more that three minutes before he was dragged back into work. Better than how that usually goes. If that's the life of a scientist working for large scale companies, I am glad I'm starting off small.
Still, I would have liked some spare resources. But if Mikhails hands are tied, not much use crying about it.
It's not like I can't make due on my own, it's just going to put a strain on my already flimsy resources.
I take a moment to groan, then proceed to get back to my work. After all, I have to manage my resources, work the math, and build a a Solar Core to fit into my current project.
Actually, speaking of projects, I never asked Mikhail what he was working on.
…
Oh well, I doubt he could tell me anyway. Stupid security risks.
As the elevator stopped and the doors opened, Mikhail quickly walked his way down the catwalk. With a scrawny looking man of a lab assistant following shortly behind. The sounds of power tools echoing throughout the oversized hanger, all emanating from the right, towards a towering mech. Its mechanical face covered in shadows due to the lighting. Despite this, it's piercing red eye lights illuminate just enough to show its skull like features.
Upon reaching a crossing, Mikhail continued walking forward toward an overseer's office. The assistant finally deciding to speak up.
"D-doctor, wait! We're not supposed to-"
"Save it, Louie. This won't be long." Mikhail interrupted. "Go start without me."
Not waiting for a reply, Mikhail quickly stormed his way over to the office.
While he was tempted to kick the door in to show just how bad of a mood he's in, the guards next to said door would probably take exception to that.
One guard made a brief gesture to his companion before Mikhail reached them.
"May I speak with your 'boss'." Mikhail said through grit teeth.
"He's in the middle of a meeting." The guard on the right said.
Something Mikhail noted when he first got here to discuss the contract was the presence of some Army staff. All the soldiers and guards were wearing balaclavas. Maybe it's common place in the military, but that thought does little to ease his doubts.
Of course having spoken to a Mr. Morgan, it was made clear that this was a joint project. Before Mikhail could even make an outburst, Someone already beat him to the punch.
A simple little outcry of "not being in the habit of making any weapons of mass destruction" from someone among the crowd. Morgan assured them by simply saying it wasn't a super weapon they were to help make. "Just a simple cyber security update" He said.
And yet here we are anyway.
"It's about our little 'incident'." Mikhail stressed. Of course they would stone-wall him.
What was strange was how the incident only happened when, as his co-workers reported, they went to test the new virus protection program. When it failed, tremors started and the whole building erupted into chaos. It wasn't a complex virus either Mikhail noted.
It didn't take Mikhail long to fix the issue though. And when he did, the tremors stopped.
And yet the alarm bells in his head were still going.
Once things calmed down enough, Mikhail took a quick glance out the window of his work station to see saw what exactly happened.
The scene before him was a clear one. A giant war machine looked like it had torn through the military hanger across from them, but was currently at a stand still. With soldiers and engineers alike running around the thing in a panic. He half expected the mech to start shooting at everything, even go on a rampage.
But it never did.
It looked almost as if the robot had been...
… Turned off...
Mikhail felt his blood boil. He wanted nothing more then to march over to the general and bite his head off. But most of the guards said to "wait while we assess the situation".
Bullshit. They have windows. You'd have to be brain damaged to not see a connection between their failed test and a sudden rampaging death machine. Hell, they're not even bothering to hide the damn thing from plain site!
Although, that might be because it tore down the hanger doors leading to it.
Maybe Albert really was rubbing off on him.
Some might say it a coincidence, but Mikhail would prefer to know for sure.
Which leads to the current situation.
"As we said, he's in the middle of a meeting." the same guard said.
Mikhail let out a low growl.
"Either he makes time right now, or I'll personally cancel our contract!" Mikhail yelled.
"Or maybe you should be tossed in a cell." The guard on the left finally spoke up, taking a step forward in front of Mikhails face. "You're not authorized to be down here in the first place. So how did you get here? The guards should have detained you in a heartbeat."
"You're surprisingly understaffed. I can't imagine why." Mikhail nodded to the side, towards the mech.
"Frank, calm the hell down. I told you that someone probably saw the damn thing after it went berserk." The first guard casually stated.
Before "Frank" could retort, the office door opened.
"What's all the commotion?" The general asked, having stormed out of his own office, behind him was a portly man in a business suit.
Not how Mikhail wanted to start, but it would have to do.
"A word, Mister Morgan?" He said to the currently sweating businessman "Please?"
The commanding officer gave Mikhail a long look for a minute, before curtly nodding and showing him inside.
At least he could read the atmosphere. Because this was going to be a long discussion.
It had been merely three days after Brainiac's attempt on Superman's life. The repairs to the city were coming along decently, much to Superman's annoyance, thanks to Lex Corp.
Currently, the small league was holding a meeting now that there wasn't any major disaster happening to keep them occupied.
Needless to say, every member was present. The Flash, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and the Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart.
"- And according to Lex Corp., it should be roughly a month before everything is patched up." J'onn finished up.
"Man, you really must have gotten under Brainiacs skin this time." Flash said. "Still, that plan was way too complex. Why make some 'blackout' shield? Why not just wait until night or something?"
"There wouldn't have been much of a difference." Hal started. "I scanned the tech, the mech was remote controlled. Specifically, it was designed to command those drones. There wasn't enough room for any major weapon systems or to increase its overall strength."
"And since the shield went down, all that would have happened was Kara rushing in and tearing the thing into pieces." John said.
"Which brings us to the next topic of discussion; Who took care of the shield?" Batman started. "There was no evidence of alien tech capable of producing an energy shield anywhere within the affected area. At least none that we could be sure of. And no means of entry when the shield was active." Batman paused.
"Even the Zeta Tubes where incapable of getting us through. Which means whoever it was, they either managed to break through, or they were already inside."
"Still, I probably wouldn't be here now if it weren't for them." Superman said, before looking over at Batman. "I have an idea as to why you'd bring this up."
"And I can tell you're still naïve." Batman countered, already knowing what Superman was suggesting.
"I have to agree with Superman. We can't just assume whoever did this has ill intentions." Wonder Woman said.
"They managed to hack into Metropolis' security cameras to cover their tracks. Why would someone with 'good intentions' need to hide?" Batman pressed.
"Don't take the high road here, how many times have you done the same?" Hawkman pointed out.
"However, they forgot one part." Batman continued, ignoring Hawkman.
"Can't answer the man because he's right Bats?" Hal smirked.
"No, because it's irrelevant." Batman said. "And I never get caught."
He walked over to a computer terminal and pulled up a video.
"This was taken from a camera just outside a guard station."
It took almost a second, but soon a small yellow creature poked its head around the corner. With a few keystrokes from Batman, the video zoomed in on the creature.
To say it looked cartoonish wouldn't be wrong. It was basically a small pitch-black head on two yellow feet, it's eyes were cartoonishly large and it's silver metallic looking arms extended from the side of its head. It wore a construction helmet as well, which for some reason had "#1 Sass" written on it in black marker.
"Cute, is this supposed our mystery hero?" Hawkgirl asked.
"No, this was currently outside of the shield itself." Batman answered.
It took a moment, but Shiera managed to connect the dots.
"It's what hacked the camera grid?"
"Correct."
"Wait, what about the guard?" Flash asked.
"Reports claimed the guard was found stuffed in a locker, unconscious a few hours after the attack." J'onn answered.
"That little thing took out a security guard? How?" Flash asked.
Batman started the video back up.
After the creature took a brief look around, it rushed forward. Making a sudden turn into the room off to it's side. Then there was flashing lights, the sound of electrical discharge, and muffled screaming.
And then, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Replaced by the sound of shuffling fabric. Before long the same creature returned into view, dragging the unconscious guard behind it. It briefly fumbling with the locker door in the hallway, but eventually it opened. And then the guard was shoved inside the locker.
"Metmet." It said, performing a gesture similar to dusting off ones hands. Said gesture also produced a slight metallic clanging noise.
Wasting no time, the surprisingly dangerous little oddball ran back into the room off camera.
"This was the only piece of evidence we could find." Batman said.
"Well at least we know what to look for." Superman said.
"Do you honestly think it will be that easy?" Batman asked.
"Batman's right. Whoever that creature works for clearly knows what they're doing. An entire shield generator disappearing without any trace? There's a good chance they've already went into hiding." Wonder Woman added.
"Unless another villain attack happens." Superman replied.
"Which is why I've thought of a few countermeasures." Batman added.
After that, the meeting continued on for a few more hours.
As Dr. Cossack walked out of the office, followed by the general, the portly man gave a longwinded sigh.
"Having trouble Morgan?" A voice from laptop said.
"Yes, one of the programmers gave me a... 'very explicit' talk about lying to have them make weapons. And that was just after the Generals outburst too."
"And? Did you not explain that it was merely a minor accident with uploading the prototypes software into the system servers?"
"That just made him angrier. He asked why I wouldn't request them to hold off tests on the servers if it would have caused such damage. He then threatened to cancel our contract and-"
"Morgan. Relax. I can handle that. Nothing a little friendly persuasion can't fix. And maybe a pay raise or two."
"Yes, I understand. But-"
"Morgan, if he gave you that much lip then he's not worth the trouble. I'll have a word with his boss, and if he is still insistent on it, then I can pull a few strings and have him fired."
"Very well."
"Now as for the prototype itself, I have a few ideas. However, the size is far to great. I specifically asked you to make it big enough to fit any human, like a suit. What exactly are the engineers doing down there?"
Morgan cringed. "We had difficulty making a generator to fit the specified size without losing the necessary energy output."
"Had?"
Morgan nodded. "Yes, it took some work but we managed to make one generator small enough yet still capable of producing plenty of power."
"Good. Do remember I need a functioning model in a few months. Oh, and I already know of what to do with our cumbersome prototype. If you don't mind?"
"Of course, Mr. Luthor."
I have been working for a week straight. And finally... Finally! I have a working prototype Solar Core! I did make a few failures, but it's fine. I still managed to make a functioning prototype! And would you look at that! It's just the right size to fit snuggly into my prototype robot.
No, that doesn't sound right. This isn't some simple robot. It's the start of my many masterpieces.
Yes... a robot masterpiece...
"A Robot Master... Yeah, I like the sound of that!" I said, not unbothered by sounding like a giddy high schooler.
"Metehhht... Met-et-et?" My favorite little Metall said.
"Again with this? Relax Number one, I took power naps every so often. I don't need to sleep just yet!" I paused for a moment. "You know I should really work on giving you a name."
It rolled its eyes. "Met." It started. "Metmet, Met-tetete." It finished before walking upstairs.
"Hey! Language!" I snapped. "And I am not a 'Mad scientist' yet!"
After Number One left, I stopped to gather my thoughts.
Easier said than done when you've been working for a week straight with barely any sleep. Kind of ironic considering this is my paid vacation, "courtesy" of Lex Corp.
One whole week after Brianiacs little incursion. Is that the right word? Whatever, since the Brainiac incident Lex Corp. promised to begin repairs. So, as to not have people panic about losing their homes due to their work place being a current wreck, they gave everyone who needed them paid vacations.
Needless to say, they started with the bigger businesses. You know, the ones that give out bigger paychecks.
I'm sure some people are angry about that, but it makes sense. If they started with the smaller places, they would likely start bleeding too much money.
Granted I shouldn't complain myself, as this gives me more time to work. But It proves that this version of Luthor is still a danger.
Another problem is that I can't risk sending out scavengers, what with all the activity going on. To make matters worse, some people reported Batman in Metropolis and that just sent me into a paranoid frenzy. I had to order for a halt in my "surveillance" teams and back out of the camera grid.
Not to mention the amount of work to cover my tracks, from relay bouncing, to programming an entire network of firewalls. I also made an auxiliary computer. Well, I say computer but really I guess it's more akin to one of those sci-fi hacking devices. A black box I think they're called.
Sometimes I can't help but wonder if certain things existed back home or were just made up. Eh. Not like I can check now anyway.
I glance over to the shield. Almost finished but still need to apply my newly discovered "anti-projectile gel".
…No that name is stupid. I'll work on it later.
Then there was his weapon. Or what was once going to be his weapon. It wasn't anything special, just a handgun I bought for self-defense. Specifically, a Berretta M9. But after some thought, and the results of the solar core's energy output, I might be able to make something even better.
Hell, given enough time and resources I could make my own generator for my entire house. Except that might seem slightly suspicious. And I don't have much of either.
There was also the whole debate about the morality of making an A.I. and whether or not it was a good idea.
But then again I already walked in on Number One and a handful of my other robots watching The Terminator. So I think I've long since crossed that line.
Problems for later. Right now, I need to finish this project.
No, not just some simple project. I already have a name in mind for you my son.
"...Hmm?" I groaned, woken up from my awkward position on the workbench.
Except I don't know what woke me up.
I took a few moments to recollect what I was doing.
I'm certain I finished updating the security for my Robot Master. I was making sure he wouldn't be easy to hack. Afterwards I began making and integrating his new weapon systems, popped the solar core in as well.
No wait, I think that was a few days ago.
I take a brief look over my notes.
V.W.P. "Variable Weapons Program"...
When was this?
Oh right, It was after I finished plugging the solar core in. I turned it on to see the amount of power it could generate. Needless to say it was quite staggering. Then I think I got carried away with weapon designs and being flexible in combat.
After that... I think that was when I passed out.
I felt my stomach growl.
"May as well get some food." I mumbled to myself.
As I forced myself up, I felt my body protest. Likely because I was sleeping in a very uncomfortable way.
Once I shuffled my way up the stairs and opened the basement door did I finally realize something was off.
The sound and smell of someone cooking greeted me. While I could've simply wrote that off as Number One doing so for me, that idea was tossed because of two other reasons.
Firstly, I had to walk over a lot more wires and cables than usual to get up to the basement door. Which I barely acknowledged in my tired stupor.
Secondly, Someone was whistling. My Metalls are barely even capable of talking. Well, unless you count the constant "Mets". Whistling was more than likely not something they can do.
It was a catchy tune though.
I made my way into the kitchen. Although, I don't think I was fully awake to prepare for what I saw.
I stopped and couldn't help but stare at the familiar figure. A small child, no a teenager, was busy cooking. Occasionally he would run a hand through his rather large dark brown pompadour, whistling all the while.
He stopped whistling as he turned around.
And he smiled.
"Morning doc, I was just making breakfast." He said. Turning back to the stove. "Well, I guess it's more afternoon. You did sleep for a while."
I honestly didn't know how to respond. There was a swell of many emotions going through me. Pride, joy, confusion, worry. I just didn't know how to process all of this.
He turned back to me, and only then did I realize his eyes were overshadowed because of his oversized hair.
"Something wrong?" He asked.
That snapped me out of my reverie and I decided to sit.
"No, no, nothing like that." I said. "Just..."
I looked at him and smiled.
"Welcome to the world, Blues."