Chapter 5

Meet The Lobe!

Matt Grayson was in heaven. He beamed as he watched his boss admire his latest invention, it's sleek steel design gleaming in the light.

"Absolutely genius! I cannot believe I overlooked such a visionary for so long! What a fool I was!"

Armando Gutierrez smacked his forehead, aghast at his own idiocy as he looked over the marvelous device Grayson had just finished. It was out of character for his boss to admit to any wrongdoing, much less in such an open manner, but Grayson understood that this was an exception. He'd just solved the world's energy crisis after all.

"MacStew! Get over here, you brainless oaf! You could learn a thing or two from Mr. Grayson here. Why I ever put you in a higher position than him, I'll never know."

Roddy MacStew, who had been busy tinkering with a pile of rusty scrap metal, stumbled up from his chair and bumbled over to Gutierrez meekly.

"I guess the cat's out of the bag. I tricked ya Mr. Gutierrez! I used my idiotic Scottish accent and ridiculous skirt to distract you from my incompetence. All my supposed genius inventions and ideas, I stole from The Great Mr. Grayson, and labeled as my own! I was just so jealous of his intelligence, he's so much smarter than me!"

Roddy turned to Matt and fell to his knees, bowing his head in shame.

"Can you ever forgive me? I know I'll never be as smart or amazing as you, but it would be an honor if you would allow me to work under you, even as a lowly servant."

Before Matt could respond, Gutierrez fell to his knees as well, still clutching Grayson's device in admiration.

"I too, would be honored to work for you, Mr. Grayson! I would sleep well, knowing Apex Industries is in the hands of such a capable and genious man."

Matt leaned back in his chair thoughtfully, grinning at the sight of his former boss and co-worker cowering before him.

"I don't know...Why shouldn't I just leave and strike out on my own? What makes you think I want to deal with either of you?" He teased, holding back a laugh as the both of them seemed to panic at his indecisive demeanor. Gutierrez spun around to all his employees in desperation.

"Everyone! Beg with me! Without this brilliant man, our company will surely fail! We'll all be jobless within the week!"

All Grayson's co-workers all fell to their knees in fear, some of them even bursting into tears and openly weeping for him to stay.

"Alright, alright! I suppose, I'll stay. Can't have this company falling apart without me, now can I? Roddy! Get over here, I need somewhere to put my legs up."

Gutierrez clasped his hands in relief as Roddy crawled over so Matt could prop his legs up on his back. He nonchalantly leaned back in his chair and snapped his fingers, Gutierrez's secretary scurrying over to hand him a coffee and blushing as he pulled her into his lap by her waist.

"Now this is something I could get used to." Matt sighed, leaning over to the secretary for a kiss. Suddenly, one of his co-workers stood and began marching toward him defiantly. Before Grayson could demand he get back on his knees, the man got right up in Grayson's face and yelled. "Hey Graymatter, GET UP!"

"Wha-?!"

Matt Grayson jolted upright in his seat, spilling cold coffee onto his dress shirt and shattering his mug.

"Whoops! Sorry about your cup, man. Let me just-"

Grayson scowled down at his ruined shirt then quickly directed it at his apologetic looking co-worker, Stan Dupp. How dare he wake him up so rudely! Grayson slapped Stan's hands away from the shards of his now shattered coffee cup, angrily scooping them up himself. Stan held up his hands defensively, leaning away from Grayson as he glared.

"Hey! I said I was sorry! It's not my fault you were sleeping on the job. Are you even done with your package yet? Mr. McStew's been asking about it."

"That's none of your business! Now, because of you, I have to take care of all this!" Matt hissed, dabbing his shirt with some tissues from his desk and leaning down to toss the shards of his favorite coffee cup in the trash.

Stan's mouth set in a hard line, unimpressed at Grayson's sour behavior.

"So I guess I'll just tell him you're behind again, huh? All you do is sleep during work hours and snoop around Mr. McStews desk. I'm surprised he hasn't reported you yet. You're lucky he's so nice, or you'd be fired by now, Graymatter."

Grayson tensed up at the nickname and leveled Stan with another withering glare.

"Don't, call me that. And I don't snoop around McStew's desk either! I'm just making sure he's doing his job properly. Am I the only person in this building who's realized how incompetent he can be? He broke the coffee machine because he couldn't figure out how to use it last week! And he's the head of coding and development!"

Stan rolled his eyes as Matt ranted and crossed his arms when he called Roddy incompetent.

"He's our boss, Matt. He's supposed to be supervising us, not the other way around. And besides, if anyone is qualified to be assessing him, it's Gutierrez, not you. And he fixed the coffee machine, remember? It was so old it broke down while he was using it, so he made us all a new one. It makes way better coffee too."

Stan took a sip of his own coffee to emphasize his point, looking down semi-sympathetically as Matt tossed out his mug. He'd always told Grayson then someday something like this would happen if he kept falling asleep on the job.

"What do you have against him anyway? He's super nice, laid back, smart. He keeps you around, and you're tanking right now."

Matt steadily grew more and more furious as Stan casually sang Roddy's praises, shaky hands curling into fists, barely restraining himself from punching Stan in the mouth. Mr. McStew's so kind! Mr. McStew's so fun! Isn't Mr. MacStew the smartest man you ever met? Pah! Grayson would show them. He'd show them all! Once he'd convinced Gutierrez, MacStew would be kicked to the curb!

"Well, you can tell MacStew that-"

"Can tell me what?"

Stan looked up and smiled, Grayson freezing in his seat as Roddy MacStew walked over to their desks curiously. Stan looked over at Matt's horror stricken expression, and mercifully answered for him, aa Grayson seemed to currently be in a state of shock.

"He was just saying he wanted me to tell you he's a bit behind on work. Isn't that right, Matt?"

Grayson pursed his lips, but nodded, turning around to face Roddy as he looked down at him critically. His attention seemed to be drawn to his shirt, and it took Matt a second to realize he was looking his his coffee stain. He blushed and looked down, clenching his jaw in embarrassment that MacStew of all people had to see him like this. Damn it all!

Roddy was silent for a moment, then smiled sympathetically and nodded, clapping Matt on the shoulder roughly.

'S'all right Grayson! You look like you've been having a rough time of it recently, and your work has been flawless so far! Why don't ya head off home to take care of that shirt? I can get someone else to finish coding whatever you've got left of that package. You'll be paid for the whole day, so just relax so you can get your head back in the game."

Stan looked over to Matt expectantly, obviously seeing Roddy's suggestion as some kind of opportunity. Grayson grinded his teeth, face twisting in a vain attempt to not scowl directly at MacStew. Was he trying to be nice, insulting his work and telling him to go home? Just because he spent a little longer on his work, didn't mean he was bad at his job! It was all McStew's fault! Stealing his promotion, of course he'd been out of sorts! But that would all change soon…

Grayson plastered on a smile, hoping MacStew didn't see through it as he shook his head.

"Thank you for the suggestion Mr. MacStew, but I think I can finish the package myself. A little spilled coffee is nothing to get upset over."

Roddy looked surprised at Grayson's response, but quickly recovered and laughed loudly, slapping Matt's shoulder hard enough to send the scrawny man lurching forward.

"You always impress me, Grayson! See Dupp, this is why Grayson almost got promoted instead of me. He's a sharp man! Alright, you finish that package and send it to me when you're done. I want this Pinnacle Chip done by next week and this package is gonna make or break it!"

Matt barely covered the grimace the warped his expression at Roddy's careless comment about his promotion. He nodded as Roddy walked around the office to check on the progress of the rest his workers. After he was sure MacStew was out of earshot, he cursed bitterly under his breath and got to work on coding the rest of the package.

"You seriously should've taken his offer. You look like you could use it." Stan needled, looking over Grayson's ruined attire skeptically. He was all too aware of how spite drove his desk neighbor, and was sure his rejection of MacStew's offer was driven by it. Matt would cut off more than just his nose to spite his face if Roddy was involved.

Grayson's brows lowered in annoyance at Stans comment. He hunched forward, refusing to take his eyes of his screen as he worked. He wouldn't give MacStew the satisfaction of finding any mistakes because he had a nosey and annoying co-worker.

"And you should mind your own business for once, Dupp. If I want your opinion, I'll give it to you."

Stan didn't even bother feeling offended by Matt's comment, merely shrugging in a 'I tried!' manner and getting back to his own work. If Grayson wanted to be a ass, who was he to stop him?

"So, you work at Apex? I really love their new updated system! Recently, they've really been stepping up their game! I love my Apex computer, so I appreciate the good work you do."

Ira Fuse smiled sweetly at Matt, taking a sip of her strawberry shake as she spoke. She had brought her computer to their date when she'd found out he worked at Apex, apparently she'd been excited to show him some of her own coding work. She was a petite but cute looking blonde with short hair and green eyes. He barely contained his scoff as she chattered.

"Are you trying to impress me?" He droned with a sardonic frown, eyeing her laptop with a bored expression.

Ira's mouth snapped shut when he interrupted, raising her eyebrows in confusion she looked down at her computer screen.

"What do you mean?"

Matt rolled his eyes and pointed at her python shell mockingly.

"Do you expect me to be impressed with this? It's amature work at best, and all you've done is program something painfully simple. And this laptop? Did you get this just for this date?"

Ira flushed at he spoke, looking hurt for a moment before yanking her laptop away from him, closing it and shoving it in her backpack angrily.

"If you must know, I've been learning how to code for the past two months! I worked really hard to get this far, and I don't appreciate you talking down to me for it. And I got this laptop a year ago! Over 13 million people have Apex products of some kind, I brought my laptop because I thought it was a nice coincidence, not because I wanted to impress you! And even if I did any of this for you, wouldn't that be a good thing? Nice attitude by the way, I bet it does you a lot of favors. This date is over!"

Ira slung her bag over her shoulder, picked up her shake and got up angrily. Grayson gaped for a few moments as she made her way to to restaurant door, then scowled.

"Good luck find a man willing to deal with that attitude!"

Ira froze, the other restaurant goers not so subtly watching the drama falling silent. Ira spun on her heel, quickly making her way back to Grayson with murder in her eyes, her grip on her shake threatening to crush it. She stopped right in front of him, yanked her hand back, and threw her shake right in his face.

"You're a jerk."

Ira quickly marched out to her car, eyes wet and shake ruined, leaving Grayson frozen where he sat, strawberry shake dripping down his face and shirt. He blindly reached for napkins and wiped off his glasses, a shudder at the chill of the shake and his own shame leaving him too flabbergasted for words.

He looked around the restaurant, suddenly aware of the accusing glances and the whispers coming from the customers and staff. His face reddened in anger and he shot up, grabbing a fist full of napkins and tossing a 20 on the table as he made his way to his car.

This date was a nightmare, just like every other date he'd ever been on. What was he expecting? Every woman he'd ever courted was either shallow, stupid, or, like this one, a fake who only pretended to be smart! He'd known from the beginning of the date that she'd understood next to nothing about coding or technology, and only wanted to point out how pathetic she looked trying to impress him. If she really wanted to know about those things, she only needed to ask him. He actually knew what he was talking about.

Matt started his car, wiping his face roughly with a wad of napkins. He shouldn't have wasted his time with this stupid date anyway! With the Pinnacle chip near completion, he had bigger things to worry about. He'd barely managed to finish his package and send it to Roddy. He knew when MacStew finished with the chip, he'd only have a small window to enact his plan before it was produced and sent out for it's special limited Christmas release.

"When I'm done with you, MacStew, you'll wish Gutierrez had promoted me!"

"It's thanks to everyone's hard work and individual talents that today, I'm proud to announce, we have completed the Pinnacle Chip!"

Roddy popped the champagne as all of Grayson's co-workers cheered, pulling party poppers and pulling out rolling tables full of cake and party food. Matt scowled, watching the employees of Apex celebrate McStew's achievement as if it was their own. That's how he got you. He pretended that all his work was a team effort, then took all the credit for himself! He'd fallen for it once too, and look where that got him. Not promoted, that's where!

"Are you seriously going to mope around at a party?" Stan groaned, already preparing himself for some angst filled outburst from the sour looking man. Only Matt Grayson could find an excuse to hate on a party about the completion of a revolutionary leap in technology, five years in the making.

"I'm not moping. I'm not going to pal around like some empty headed idiot just because everyone else is."

Grayson watched MacStew as he poured wine out for the other party goers, intently watching for MacStew to pour himself a drink. He just had to wait for the Scottish idiot to drink himself silly, then he'd have his chance.

Stan looked at Grayson's intent expression worriedly. He seriously didn't know why he even tried with him anymore. They'd been good friends in their early days working together at Apex, but as Grayson quickly rose in the ranks, he'd left Stan behind. When Roddy came into the picture, everything changed. Grayson became obsessed with outdoing the man, and while it had looked like a playful rivalry to Stan, Grayson had been devastated when Roddy was promoted.

Stan supposed after seeing him so upset, he'd hoped they could reconnect, and that maybe Matt wouldn't be so distant after being knocked down a few notches. Instead, Grayson had become even more distant, and he'd treated Stan like a complete stranger. He even seemed to hate Stan's old nickname for him, Graymatter. It had been an in joke with them, considering his name and how smart he was, but now Grayson seemed to only see it as an insult.

"Well, I think I'll leave you two alone." Stan sighed, giving Matt a pat on the shoulder as he went to get himself a slice of cake, leaving his former friend to his obsession.

Matt didn't bother wiping the sweat off his brow as he typed, too focused on his current task. He only had so much time to finish inputting his virus, and who knew if someone would walk in? He'd been planning this for months, and now was not the time for mistakes.

Matt Grayson had realized sometime while fuming over at his desk that he had the perfect opportunity to ruin Roddy MacStew's career, and the Pinnacle Chip was the way to do it! He'd then spent every moment since, working day and night testing and developing a virus he could input into the Pinnacle chips code, and boy was it a dozy!

His virus, when applied to the finished product, would overload all the chips processes, totally destroying it and the computer with it! The property damage alone would ruin Roddy, not to mention the virus would appear so vague and complicated only he would be able to fix it! His plan was perfect!

Grayson would go to Gutierrez, tell him MacStew had allowed a flaw to remain in the chip, and when Gutierrez saw- Oh, he'd be so mad! MacStew would be fired on the spot! And even if he attempted to fix it, it would be no use! He'd be ruined, and Grayson would finally be-

*Ding!*

"Yes! Yes it's done!"

Matt stood from the main servers controls and let out a breathy laugh as the coding sequence blended perfectly with the rest of the Pinnacle Chip. Manufacturing would be starting in four days, and while it had been a challenge to hack into the finished product, he knew the results would be worth it.

Grayson straightened out his suit, then started to make his way to the door so he could head back to the party when the door knob suddenly turned and opened right in his face.

"Oh!"

"OW!"

Matt fell back side first into the hard ground, rubbing his now tender nose and adjusting his glasses.

"Grayson! Didn't expect to find ya here. Sorry bout that, let me help you up!"

Matt paled as strong arms pulled him from the floor, dusting him off roughly. This was the last person he wanted to see!

"Ma-Mr. MacStew! What-what are you doing here?"

"Could be asking you the same!"

Grayson stiffened, schooling his expression in hopes he wouldn't rouse suspicion. Who was he kidding? He'd been found! Roddy looked over Graysons suspicious demeanor, squinting as he looked Grayson in the eyes for what felt like forever, but was more likely a few seconds. Roddy then abruptly broke into a grin and patted his back roughly.

"I'm just joshi'n ya Grayson! Here! I want to show ya someth'in!"

Roddy dragged Matt towards the same server he'd been on just moments before, only serving to make Grayson even more anxious and MacStew started it up and logged into the Pinnacle Chips mainframe.

"You recognize this, right? Well, I'm about to show you what really makes this baby tick!"

Roddy pulled a thumb drive from his pocket and plugged it in and Grayson watched as package after package began uploading into the chips system.

"What is that?" Grayson inquired, leaning forward to try and read the package names quickly scrolling by.

"It's my secret ingredient! Keep this a secret, but I always put a good amount of extra work into my major projects to give everything an extra kick!"

Grayson let MacStew's words register for a moment before balking as he realized something.

"Wait! If you upload it now, then does that mean Gutierrez hasn't paid you for it? No over time?!"

Roddy laughed, pressing a few keys and closing the mainframe again as he pulled his thumb drive from its slot and put it back in his pocket.

"I do this for fun! It makes me happy to see my work really stand out, and it wouldn't be fair for me to get extra pay for something I do in my free time. I just want the Pinnacle chip to get the success it deserves, and besides, my add ons will only be giving it a little boost."

Grayson quickly tried to assess what effect Roddy's add ons would have on his virus, but MacStew distracted him by goodnaturedly pulling him back to the party.

"Enough about work, yeah? Let's celebrate a job well done! I'm real proud of ya Grayson, you really pulled through. I couldn't have done it without ya!"

Matt smiled nervously, ignoring Roddy's empty praise in favor of assassing his viruses success rate and doing mental damage control. There was a good chance MacStew's add ons wouldn't affect the virus at all. On the other hand there was a chance they might even strengthen it. How would that work out? Matt couldn't really imagine anything worse than the computer exploding, so who knew? Maybe it would cause a blackout?

"Three cheers to Apex!"

Matt grinned, accepting the wine glass Roddy passed him as they raised their glasses. Well, what's done is done, and he was sure he'd done his due. He glanced to MacStew and sipped his wine. Soon MacStew would be a nothing but a passing memory.

"To me, and the investments that pay off!"

Armando Gutierrez leaned back in his plush office chair, setting his feet onto his desk and taking a delicate sip of his favorite wine. Production of the Pinnacle chip would be starting in a few days, the preparations were already underway.

"Five years...And it's finally here." Gutierrez chuckled quietly to himself.

Gutierrez had been troubled by the lack of progress on the Pinnacle chip, to say the least. The original creator of the chip had been one of his star employees, until an untimely accident had left him in a coma, halting production to a stand still. All Gutierrez's attempts of reviving it had led to nothing but disappointment. He'd even considered canceling production all together. He'd only been given hope by the up-and-coming geniuses he'd employed last year, MacStew and Grayson.

Grayson had originally been his first choice, considering his intelligence and eager to please attitude. The only reason he'd been overlooked for head position for the project was because of his rivalry with Roddy MacStew. Roddy had everything Grayson sorely lacked. Presence, energy, great communication skills, determination. Roddy had the charisma needed to lead and Grayson had none. Gutierrez knew the moment he'd given MacStew the reins to the Pinnacle chips production that he wouldn't be disappointed. In a little more than a year, MacStew had created what Gutierrez knew would be the crown jewel of Apex Industries. Of course, he hadn't forgotten about Grayson.

Grayson had soured considerably after being overlooked for the promotion , and Gutierrez had decided to put that sour attitude to good use. He knew putting Grayson under MacStew would frustrate Grayson into a sort of spite filled competitive drive, and after monitoring his progress, could see he'd been right. Yes, Grayson had had the occasional hiccup once and a while, but a strategically placed pay raise here, some convenient words of encouragement there, and Gutierrez kept him carefully teetering on the edge of a rage filled meltdown, playing the desperate to please man like the moderately priced harmonica he was.

While some might see the treatment as cruel, Gutierrez knew it was for the best. Had Grayson been promoted, he'd have gotten a big head and inevitably proven himself more trouble than he was worth. Gutierrez had seen it before, and he would much rather deal with an angry but useful brown noser than a cocky nerd who was too big for his britches.

"Mr. Gutierrez?"

Gutierrez jumped, almost spilling his wine as he was startled from his thoughts. He turned to see one of his guards peeking into his office meekly. Gutierrez frowned, then nodded for him to speak.

"There's a Matt Grayson here to see you."

Gutierrez scowled, sighing as he took his feet down and set his wine aside.

"Speak of the devil...Send him in!"

His guard nodded, closing the door as Gutierrez straightened his suit and collected himself for the inevitable. He should have suspected Grayson would be upset, especially considering what a victory this would be for MacStew.

Grayson walked into his office with an air of urgency that worried him immediately.

"Mr. Gutierrez! I'm-I'm so sorry to have disturbed you while you were celebrating and-"

"Just get on with it, Grayson. What is so urgent, that you need to interrupt me while I commemorate the joyous occasion that is the completion of the Pinnacle chip?"

"That's just it sir! It's the chip, it-it has a flaw!"

Gutierrez stiffened, then motioned for his guard to shut the office door as he straightened and loomed over Grayson threateningly.

"A flaw, you say? And how is it, may I ask, that a flaw has made its way into the Pinnacle chip? What exactly is this flaw?"

Grayson shrank under Gutierrez's threatening air for a moment before clearing his throat.

"It's-It's a flaw that will fry the chip and the computer if activated. I discovered it a few days before the chips completion, but when I told Mr. MacStew he-He told me he'd ruin me if I told anyone! I wanted to say something, I really did! But I was so scared. I only hope you can do something before it's released! If that flaw gets out, Apex could be ruined!"

Gutierrez pursed his lips as he digested Grayson's words. On one hand, Grayson could be attempting to halt production and cast MacStew under a bad light in some pathetic attempt at revenge. On the other, if there really was a flaw (Made by MacStew or Grayson, that would be for Gutierrez to judge) he couldn't risk the potential backlash from the public. The Pinnacle chip was already facing critique for it's five year development, a flaw could be the final nail in the chips coffin.

Gutierrez scowled as he came to a decision, stranded so he could properly loom over Grayson's scrawny stature. Gutierrez leaned forward and hissed through perfect teeth.

"Listen to me, very, carefully. I will thoroughly investigate this flaw, but if I do not find anything? It will be your head Grayson. Mark my words."

Grayson nodded quickly as Gutierrez finally leaned back, straightening his suit once more and he sat down.

"Now get out of my office! Because of you, I have some business to attend to."

Grayson scrambled out of his chair, nodding as he was ushered out of Gutierrez's office by his guard and mumbling hasty 'thank you's as he went. Gutierrez sighed once again, eyes landing on his now flat glass of wine. He grumpily pushed the glass off his desk into the trash and picked up his phone. He pressed a special name in his contacts and stood once again, pacing slowly as he waited.

"Yes? Yes, hello again. Yes, there seems to be a bit of a problem with the chip. Well of course I mean the Pinnacle ship! Well- No, no I just need you to run some tests...All of them... Yes, even the test dummy...I can't have all my hard work fall apart now...Yes, well thank you...This weekend should be fine...Alright, I'll be seeing you then. Don't disappoint me."

Gutierrez hung up, pocketing his phone and turning to his window. He always found himself admiring the view from this window when things grew dark. It helped remind him of how far he'd come, everything he'd sacrificed, and what he was willing to do to keep his position as owner of Apex Industries.

"This chip is almost more trouble than it's worth...Almost."

Two Days Later!

Alec Tricity grabbed his phone with shaky hands as Andy Gravity hyperventilated into a crumpled paper bag. This was impossible! Totally unheard of! Inconceiva-

"Hello? Hello, is this you, Gravity? Why on earth have you called me at four in the morning?!"

Alec fumbled with the now sweat slicked phone and brought it to his face desperately.

"Gutierrez! Cheese and crackers, It's the chip it's-it's just-! You have to get here right now! You won't believe it! I don't believe it! It's just-"

"Calm down, man! Where is Gravity? Get him on the phone!"

Alec looked over to his partner as he fell into the fetal position and began to rock back and forth.

"He's...Well he not doing too good right now. But sir! You have to get here now! This chip's flaw-"

"So it does have a flaw? Damn It!"

Alec bit his lip nervously as he lightly nudged his unresponsive partner with his foot. Yeah, Andy was gonna need a minute, maybe an hour.

"No sir! Listen, there is a flaw but-It's not just a flaw! It did something! To the- You just need to get over here! I have to go, Andy needs me but- Get over here sir. Just-"

*Clack!*

"Shit!"

Alec hissed as he reached down to pick up his now shattered phone screen. He tapped it uselessly, but it was no use. Deciding he had more pressing matters to get to, Alec threw the phone aside and reached over to rub his partners back soothingly.

"It's gonna be okay, Andy. So we might have seen some super crazy stuff just now! No big, right? Mr. Gutierrez's gonna come over and tell us what's up, I'm sure of it! Then, he's gonna give us a biiiig pay raise, and we're going on vacation! Just you, me, and the hot, Hawaiian sun!"

Andy seemed to calm down a bit as Alec spoke, uncurling from his fetal position and tuning to Alec with bloodshot, haunted eyes.

"We played God, Al. It shouldn't be possible for something like that to even begin to assemble a consciousness and yet-"

Alec brought up his finger to Andy's mouth and shushed him softly, patting his back and shaking his head.

"We didn't play God, Andy. We just did some tests, and one of them brought up a...weird, result. Besides, how do you know we didn't just hallucinate it?"

Andy sat up and glared at Alec, then pointed to the decapitated test dummy in the other room.

"There is no hallucination related explanation that can convince me I didn't just see that dummy-"

"TRICITYYYYYYYYYY! Why am I here?!"

Andy and Alec's heads both turned in unison as Gutierrez came marching into their observation room with guards in tow. Alec shot up, pulling Andy up with him.

"Gutierrez! Thank goodness! I-I can explain! It's-Well, actually, I can't really explain-"

Gutierrez rolled his eyes at Alec's stuttering and turned to Andy expectantly. Andy nodded and turned to the monitoring screens.

"This is all the footage we have of the tests we did with the Pinnacle chip. All 15 camera angles. Our studies turned up virtually nothing until we typed in a certain sequence. Sadly, the computer that was monitoring the sequences is...out of commission at the moment, but we'll try to recover what we can."

Andy turned on three computer screens and fast forwarded past footage of a stationary test dummy sitting in front of a flickering computer screen. Gutierrez watched as the footage scrolled on by without incident.

"Around 4:15 at night while we took shifts watching for any response from the chip, we saw a very...It was startling to say the least."

"Just show me already!"

Gutierrez huffed in frustration as the screens continued to show nothing of interest. Andy grimaced, then nodded and after a moment stopped fast forwarding the footage.

"This...Is what we saw."

Gutierrez kept his eyes glued to the largest screen, which showed a wide view of the dummy and the computer, stationary as usual. Just as Gutierrez sighed and began to turn to Andy for a good talking to, all three screens flashed bright white. Gutierrez gasped, one of his guards stepping forward in shock.

"Is the screen-?"

"The screens are not malfunctioning, the light produced by the computer monitor was really that bright."

Gutierrez watched in confusion as the screens glowed dangerously bright, squinting in hopes of seeing whatever was happening to the dummy exposed to such oppressive brightness. As suddenly as the light began, it stopped, Gutierrez blinked the spots from his eyes and searched the screen. The dummy had slumped a bit, and the monitor and computer both looked fried, but that was it. Just an especially violent-

"Duuuuuh, where the shiny go?"

Gutierrez's jaw dropped as the dummy shambled onto its feet, scratching its plastic head and looking around with its eyeless face.

"Hey shiiiiiinyyyyyy! Shiny where are you? Whoops!"

The test dummy tripped over its chair, ramming its head straight through the flat screen computer monitor. One of Gutierrez's guards stumbled till his back was to the wall, the other ones eyes glued to the screen in horror. The test dummy flailed for a moment, then stood upright, wobbling dangerously with the monitors extra weight.

"Hey! Get this off'a me! Shiny! Save meeee!"

The dummy stumbled around on wobbly plastic feet, then was yanked back by the monitor cord.

"AHH!"

The dummy's head fell with the heavy monitor, the weight and impact of the fall knocking the dummy's head clean off. Gutierrez fell an odd mixture of amusement and horror at the sight. The dummies body fell in a lifeless heap onto the floor, and after a full minute of silence, Andy turned the screens off.

"...Alec and I called you a few moments later."

Gutierrez swallowed, attempting and failing to collect himself. He turned to his guards and gestured for them to leave, waiting as they filed out of the room quickly. He then turned to Andy and Alec.

"Do you have any idea how this happened?"

Andy attempted to respond, but could only open and close his mouth uselessly. Alec took pity on his partner and stepped forward.

"We think whatever caused that, reaction, was the flaw you spoke about. Whatever's inside that chip somehow overloaded and affected the dummy in a...unique way. We still need a lot more time to research its effects in different ways-And that's not even considering how long it'll take to find the correct sequence again! All we know, Mr. Gutierrez, is that what we saw, shouldn't be possible. This chip, however it's done what it has, is a scientific breakthrough in ways I can't even comprehend."

Gutierrez nodded seriously, eyes locking onto the tesy dummy he'd overlooked in the observation room.

"I understand...Can you tell me, in layman's terms, how do you think a human being would be affected by what the dummy experienced?"

Alec paused, face taking on a thoughtful expression. Before he could respond, Andy stepped forward urgently.

"There is no way a human being would be affected in the same way the dummy was. A human would probably die being exposed to that! Or worse. It looked like that beam of light gave the dummy, an inanimate object might I add, the ability to think and speak! If a human was exposed to the same thing, they might experience brain damage, severe burns, a concussion, maybe even insanity! And if not? What if they become some kind of mutated monster? The margin for error is too great to expose to humans, not without great risk to us, at least."

Gutierrez brought his hand up to rest under his chin, brow creasing in thought. He had many options, the most obvious ones being, discontinue the Pinnacle chip or get rid of the flaw. While to some, this would be the most logical course of action, Armando Gutierrez was a man who got where he was by thinking smart, not logically.

"You called this flaw a scientific breakthrough, Alec. Tell me, how much do you think one would want to research such an anomaly?"

Andy frowned as Alec thought Gutierrez's words over.

"With time? This flaw could easily change the entire world, and our understanding of reality as we know it. I would pay you to let me research it...But this was only a test chip. Aren't going to discontinue it? I mean, the chances may be slim, but if anyone was exposed to what we just saw, who knows what'll happen? You could get in real trouble."

Gutierrez smirked, Andy shuddering at his suddenly confident air.

"I see no reason to discontinue the Pinnacle chip over something...so unlikely. And why keep it's untapped potential from the public? I say let them have their chip, and in exchange, we get some free...volunteers, you could say."

Andy and Alec shared a knowing glance as Gutierrez spoke, both understanding what they were hearing would not be shared with anyone outside the current rooms occupants.

"You two will soon be tasked with researching this chip, and I want to be given reports every time you discover anything of interest or importance. I will provide the test subjects, when they occur, and you can research to your heart's content. I want to know the full extent of what this chip can do! Your first task will be re-discovering the flaws sequence!"

Alec and Andy nodded in unison, both straightening under Gutierrez's demanding presence. Gutierrez made his way to the door, then stopped to look back at the men.

"I expect this conversation to stay between us, unless you have any complaints?"

Alec shook his head furiously, then looked urgently to Andy, who paused for a moment before also shaking his head,

"Good. I'll be checking in with you two tomorrow. I won't be able to provide any more chips until production starts, so until then, I suggest you order some more dummies."

The researchers nodded as Gutierrez left them, gesturing for his guards to follow him from where they waited in the hallway. As Gutierrez left the research facility and made his way to his car, he couldn't help the small grin pulling at his lips. He'd known that the Pinnacle chip would be the game changer that would put Apex Industries at the top, but he hadn't even considered it would be this great!

He idly wondered who exactly had been at fault for the chips flaw, Grayson or MacStew? In the end, he could care less who had done it, as long as they continued to be useful, they were golden. And if they caused any trouble? He had ways of dealing with troublesome employees. Which reminded him!

"Remind me to send Adam Myway some flowers! He was the original creator of the Pinnacle chip after all. Ah, but don't trouble yourself with what kind, he's been in a coma for four years, so I'm sure he won't mind."

Gutierrez smiled as his tower came into view. Soon, Apex Industries wouldn't be just another tech company. It would be the, tech company, and Armando Gutierrez would finally have the power he deserved.

I want all my wonderful readers to know that I'll be updating with new chapters pretty frequently until I get to chapter ten, then I'll be updating monthly.

With this chapter, I changed timeliness and perspectives because I really like the Lobe as a character, and I wanted to give him a cool back story to go with his interesting personality. I also wanted to get into Roddy's life before the Pinnacle chip flaw and why the Pinnacle chip got a flaw in the first place. The idea of combining the two was too good to pass up, so Matt Grayson was formed! I want pre Lobe Grayson to represent all the high and mighty entitlement of smart people with big heads, so if you find Matt to be insufferable, don't worry, that's on purpose!

Thank you to Pichu, VoiardGremhaeld21 and ManiakoPixel for your awesome reviews!

VoiardGremhaeld21, I had to Google Firestorm and halfway through, I realized I'd seen him in the Flash. You're right about your assessment, especially the part about the Hulk. Freakazoid is still very much learning the ropes when it comes to his powers, especially his strength. The only difference is that Freakazoid and Dexter were one person originally, only separating because of the chip. I want to continue developing their relationship with each other, weather it's them becoming two different people, or one in the same, you'll have to see.

ManiakoPixel, I'm so happy you like the interactions between Dexter and Freakazoid! I was a little afraid people would find them annoying or disruptive to the plot. I really enjoy writing the dialog for these two, they bounce off each other so nicely! I also understand why you might not like Steff, she wasn't a very well fleshed out character in the original show. I want to give Dexter a love interest that actually interesting, so I'm making some serious adjustments to her personality and background. I hope you grow to like the Steff I make for this story!

Pichu, I totally feel you man! Dexter's family was one of my pet peeves when I watched the show. I know it was a comedy, so lackluster care and affection was funny, but I always felt bad for Dexter! In all honesty, even Dexter was shown to be this shallow, boring person outside of his Freakazoid related activities, so I wanted to seriously flesh out Dexter and his family before I introduced Freakazoid to the mix. I have this head cannon that Debbie and Douglas have favorite children, Dexter is Debbie's favorite, and Duncan is Douglas's.