Not gonna lie, this chapter is just weird

CW: Mentioned surgery, and infection. Grineer Xenophobia

"I believe that everyone understands one universal language: Money. Everyone respects the power of cold hard cash regardless of your race or creed. Food, water, shelter, travel, even drugs and sex. There is nothing that money cannot obtain because everyone has a price. The reach of money is truly… worldwide."
-Cai Dingxiang, CEO of Northland Innovations

==========================VI==========================

[I-Island, Central Tower, Floor 78, July 6th, 2242]

Quirks were both a marvel of genetics and an abomination in Tyl's eyes. It was enough to consider his old research boring by comparison. Not that he had any reason to continue with his research now that he was cured and the other Grineer survivors who knows where.

David had been kind enough to give him a whole floor on the artificial island's central tower. He didn't much care for the view, although it was nice to be in a lab that wasn't submerged hundreds of meters below the ocean. It kind of made his armored pressure suit (which he had been allowed to keep) unnecessary. Well, not completely unnecessary, since the chemical solution that he would be using for the clone vats wouldn't be pleasant to exposed skin.

He was still months, maybe a year off from any cloned organs. Tyl was fairly confident in that time estimate. Cloning things was easy if you knew how to do it, he just needed to understand how quirks affected the genetic code. Luckily, scientists in this universe weren't completely incompetent and he had decades of research to refer to.

The Human Genome Project, which was completed a few hundred years ago gave quirk scientists a starting point for mapping the Plus Alpha gene and other genetic changes brought on by quirks. Dubbed the Quirk Genome Project, it was completed about ninety years ago by Doctors Garaki and Buht. Unfortunately for Tyl, both men had clearly long since passed away. Garaki was disgraced from the scientific community despite his accomplishments for promoting conspiracy theories about some 'Quirk Doomsday', disappearing shortly after. Buht, on the other hand, lived a long and successful life, even fathering a few children before passing away. Sadly none of his children pursued his particular field of study, but were still renowned scientists in their own right.

Tyl would've loved to pick their brains about quirk genetics. From their textbooks, they seemed to be geniuses in the study of quirks. Alas, people here didn't have the long lifespans of the Orokin. At least their research was publicly, or at least privately available to I-Island in the case of more classified research. It was a refreshing change of pace from trying to snatch lost Orokin technology from the Corpus and Tenno.

"Mr. Regor? We finished setting up the sequencers. I need you to sign for this." A bushy hair engineer nervously asked him. The staff had to clear out the old equipment on the floor, and Tyl had requisitioned and designed the tools he would need for the job. He wasn't an engineer by any means, but he knew how to make cloning equipment.

He snatched the pen out of the man's hand and jotted down his name. "Now, how do I turn this computer on? How fast can it sequence DNA?" He asked impatiently.

"Well the power button is right there, and it should take… maybe a week per sequence? You can run three processes at a time though."

"A week?" Tyl shouted incredulously. "Why is it so slow? Can't it go any faster?" He turned away. "Unacceptable. Too slow. The science. Needs to be fast. Needs to be clean…"

"It's the most modern one we have… they don't make anything faster. We can only make supercomputers so small in such a limited space. If we could crack quantum computing…"

"Nevermind…" Tyl scoffed. He'd been spoiled by the Orokin's advanced technology. After shooing the engineer out of the room he booted up the supercomputer.

Windows Requires an Update. Restart? [Yes] [No]

An update? Well, with a computer this fast it shouldn't take long.

Installing update 1 of 234. Estimated time to completion: 6 hours 45 minutes.

Tyl's eye twitched beneath his helmet and he resisted an urge to fire his hand through the monitor. "DAMN YOU WINDOWS UPDATE!" He snarled, grabbing a stool and hurling it across the room.

"Pfffft!" A stifled snort of amusement alerted him to the presence of someone else in the room. His first instinct, naturally, was to prepare for an immediate attack. Constant Tenno, Sentient, and Narmer attacks on his labs had made him a little paranoid. Upon the sight of a familiar head of blonde hair, he relaxed.

"Ah, You. The Shield girl. David's daughter." Tyl snapped his fingers. "Melissa?"

Melissa smiled and set the food tray she was carrying down on one of the tables. "That's me! I brought you some food. Papa said you haven't been down to the cafeteria in two days."

Tyl blinked slowly, face hidden by his helmet. "Two days?" Had it really been that long? "Fascinating…" His stomach rumbled. He'd been ignoring his bodily needs of food and sleep for the past few days. No time for that, with all the research notes he had to ponder over. He didn't need sleep, he needed answers.

Melissa watched the armored man wander over to the table, removing his gauntlets with a click and a hiss as they depressurized. She hadn't actually spoken to Tyl before, not even after being saved by him. Papa had told her of his unique circumstances and where he came from, as well as what he used to do. He couldn't really be all that bad if he saved her though, right?

Tyl removed his mask, sniffing at his hands. It was hard to tell over the smell of chemicals but his hands reeked. Probably from being stuffed in the armor. He quickly washed his hands and sat down. Melissa had brought him a tray of fries and a burger from the I-Island cafeteria. "Mhm, this will do nicely." He grabbed the burger and took a large bite. The ability to consume food that wasn't nutrient-paste was something he enjoyed about his restored body. Delicious, rich flavors that his formerly cybernetic organs wouldn't have been able to process.

Melissa watched him eat and pulled out her notebook for her Full Gauntlet designs, plopping herself down on the seat across from him. Tyl looked up, glowing orange eyes appraising her with confusion. "You're still here?" He asked.

Melissa blushed sheepishly. "I never got to thank you for saving my life." She glanced over at his gauntlets. "And I wanted to ask you about those as well."

Tyl popped a handful of fries into his mouth and chewed, staring at her. "Your thanks are unnecessary." He bluntly stated once his mouth was empty. "I simply thought you were someone else that I owed a debt to. Nothing more."

"Oh…" she murmured.

"As for the gauntlets, do as you wish so long as you do it in here, and don't break them." Tyl chowed down on another handful of fries. "Was it you?"

"Eh?" Melissa jumped.

"When I first got here I was told someone was looking at my gauntlets. Was that you?" Tyl inquired.

"Uh, yes?" she responded cautiously. "I wanted to know how they worked for a project, and your gauntlets have materials not found on Earth…"

"Ah, so you're aware then." She nodded in confirmation. Tyl narrowed his eyes. "Bit young for a scientist. How old are you?" His only reference for someone her age was the Tenno girl, and Morgan was far older than she appeared.

"Sixteen, I turn seventeen this October." Tyl quirked an eyebrow. He really needed to memorize the months. "About three months from now." Melissa clarified, seeing his confused expression.

"Mmm." Tyl finished his meal and stood up to throw away his trash. "I doubt you will be able to replicate it. I've found the technology of this world to be… lacking."

"Do you know how to make it?" Melissa asked.

"No." Tyl snorted. "I'm a geneticist, not an engineer or armorsmith. My expertise is in the tools I use in the lab. I can do simple repairs, and that was for the old design."

"Weren't they designed as support gear for your quirk?" Melissa questioned.

David hadn't given many details on Tyl, other than he was from another universe, and had been freed from the control of the queens that governed the empire he was a part of. She knew that Tyl probably wasn't a great person, but her dad was giving him the benefit of the doubt that most of his negative qualities were a product of his genetic programming. However, Melissa was under the assumption that Tyl always had his quirk, and was thus unaware that Quirks did not exist in the Origin System.

"I didn't have a quirk before I arrived here. Those gauntlets were prosthetic arms." He held out his arm, disconnecting it from his body and letting it levitate with his quirk. The thrusters in the detached limb slowly maneuvered it until it floated in front of Melissa. "And now I can do this. Used to just be two arm-mounted gauntlets I could fire in a straight line and recall."

Melissa stared at him in shock. "You were quirkless?" Then she looked at his arm, splotched with mottled skin. "Then how… why do you have one now?" She blinked slowly. "Wait, did you say they were prosthetic?"

Tyl's detached arm fired up its thruster, spinning around before reattaching itself. "Slow down girl. One question at a time." He huffed. "Nobody where I came from had quirks, because they didn't exist there." He sighed, lifting his hand and wiggling his fingers experimentally. "And yes, they were prosthetics. I had to have them removed. I think before I came here, maybe sixty percent of my body had been replaced by machinery?"

Melissa paled. "Sixty percent?" She squeaked.

"Well, the limbs had to go, started to go bad, like a fruit. I had to amputate both my arms and legs because the tissue was going necrotic. You know how it is."

Melissa did not in fact "know how it is".

"Eventually you get used to the smell of rotting flesh, after enough dissections at least. Of course, that's what happens on the outside. Have you ever had an organ go septic?"

She shook her head, looking a little green and thankful she hadn't eaten yet.

"Wouldn't recommend it. Kidney was the first to go, nasty little thing. Damaged my lungs, but that's not what made me have to replace them. That was the tumors." He shrugged. "Lost my stomach, so I had to be fed nutrient paste instead of rations so that the artificial one would process it correctly. I made the mistake of eating solid food once, had to operate on myself to clean out the gunk."

Melissa gagged. "Can you… Uhm, not talk about that, please?"

"Oh…" Tyl scratched his head, suddenly realizing that maybe, just maybe, people didn't like to hear about rotting flesh and degenerative diseases in normal conversations. "Apologies…"

"It's fine," Melissa assured, still looking a bit sick. "Do you still have what was making you sick?" She asked worriedly.

"Not from what I could tell. My DNA is entirely stable now, and completely different from what it looked like before. I verified it myself under a microscope." Tyl explained. "Did your father tell you about my condition?"

Melissa shook her head.

"Ah." Tyl walked over to the other side of the room and rolled over a digital touchscreen whiteboard. "So, I'm a Grineer. You know that my people are all clones. We were created as a slave race for our creators, the Orokin." He drew a quick outline of a person. "Back then, we were strong, healthy. They even made us soldiers when they were invaded. Of course, when the Orokin fell that backfired on them horrifically, but we were free!" Tyl waved his hands in mock excitement. "Anyways, a thousand-ish years later you have the generations of clones that I'm a part of. Short lifespan, most don't even last ten years."

Melissa gasped in horror. "That's awful!"

"Eh, it is what it is." Tyl waved off her concern, which did not help her in the slightest. "We were cloned from salvaged Orokin tech. We emerged fully grown, pre-programmed with all the knowledge we needed. Serve the queens, kill those who oppose us because they are inferior."

Melissa recoiled. 'So that's what Papa meant…' Tyl sounded like one of those quirk supremacists she read about in history class or the Nazis from the pre-quirk era. Listening to him talk about it made her incredibly uncomfortable. It was a shame too, because he had such a soothing, smooth voice that would be perfect for a podcast.

Tyl noticed her discomfort. "Erm, not that I fully believe in that anymore. It's been… difficult trying to parse my true feelings from what I was programmed to think. I don't know why, but coming here purged all the programming I was born with." His gaze flickered over to Melissa. "So I don't think you're inferior to me at all… I just feel indifferent. You're just another person."

Another argument for nature vs nurture, Melissa supposed. Wait, did that count if you were born an adult?

"Anyway, we used the same Genes molds that the Orokin used, because we wanted to be pure. Sometimes we would splice in some Orokin genes for stability's sake. Eventually, whether it was just time, or some failsafe that they programmed into our DNA, it began to deteriorate." He drew another human, with squigglier lines. "So we made gene molds of the latest generation of clones, a clone of a clone if you will." Tyl drew several more figures, each more deformed than the last. "And then a clone of that clone, and so on."

"So cloning a clone is like a JPEG?"

Tyl turned to Melissa with a puzzled expression on his face. "Do I look like I know what a JPG is?"

"It's an image file type, and compressing it makes it lose quality," Melissa explained. "So if you keep doing that, it gets worse and worse."

Tyl squinted at her, then looked at his drawings, then back at her. "I don't completely understand the analogy, but yes." He sat down across from her. "And that is what happened to me. Coming here fixed all those problems. My work was aimed at fixing the disease, with mixed results."

"Mixed results?"

"Well, I had to use some of the treatments I developed on myself to extend my lifespan. Typical side effects like mild psychosis, increased aggression." He admitted with the same cadence of a narrator in a drug commercial.

"Oh my god!"

"What? I didn't have time to run a complete test. I probably would've died if I didn't. I know you're used to 'approval committees' and 'ethical experimentation' here," He said, making air quote motions with his hands. "Things were different then. Here? I have to submit papers, wait for approval. Can't even do human testing without passing trials." He huffed like a child being told they couldn't have candy before dinner. "But… I'd still take that over threats of execution." He ended with a shrug.

Melissa just sat there for a few seconds holding her head in her hands.

God…

Tyl was a disaster of a scientist. Brilliant, but with no people skills whatsoever. Putting aside the… questionable things he said, which were more of a product of his upbringing than his actual personality, he was just odd. Most scientists had their little eccentricities, especially when they got the chance to talk to someone about their field of study, but Tyl took the cake. At least he had a nice voice to listen to.

"And since my condition is cured, I decided that quirks would be interesting to study. Your father wants me to clone quirked organs. Something about helping the medical community. I don't particularly care about who my research helps, so long as I get to continue it." Tyl slipped his helmet mask back on. "Speaking of which… would you like to donate your genetic material for testing? With your father's permission of course."

That snapped Melissa out of her train of thought. "Uhm, I'm not sure if he'd let me but, I… I don't have a quirk, Mr. Regor."

"Quirkless… negative plus alpha gene resulting in the lack of quirk facto expression… hmmm…" Tyl mumbled out loud. "You!" He rushed over to the table, the eyes on his mask glimmering with intrigue as he appraised her. "Good genes, healthy. Does your family have any history of disease?"

"What- no? Huh?" Melissa stammered, caught off guard.

"Yes… that could work." Tyl paced across the lab while talking to himself. "Longer telomeres, no quirk, perfect for a control sample… excellent!" He whirled around and pointed at Melissa. "Would you like to be my lab assistant?"

"Eh!?"

==VI==

[I-Island, I-Academy Director's Building, David Shield's Office]

"What do you mean you're calling it off?"

David pinched the bridge of his nose. "I mean that we aren't faking the heist. Sam, I think that the World Heroes Association had a point in halting our research."

The older man's eye twitched. "But all our hard work, the recognition we would receive! You're just going to let them throw it all away?"

David sighed. "No I- Sam, just listen. If we went through with it we could be throwing our careers away, not to mention the damage that could occur if the Q.A.D falls into the wrong hands! No amount of fame or fortune is worth unleashing that can of worms on the world."

Samuel wiped his brow of the sweat that was rapidly accumulating as a result of his stress. "Professor, please reconsider. It's one of the greatest pieces of technology in the modern era! Think of all we could accomplish by supercharging a quirk! Someone like Elecplant could power an entire city for weeks! Heroes would be-"

"My decision is final, Samuel," David commanded. "We're not doing it, end of story. There are other, safer projects we could be focusing on." The blonde shuffled some of the papers on his desk, which Sam noticed.

"What, like that cloning nonsense that you've been sponsoring?" Samuel scoffed, a hint of jealousy in his tone. "You really expect that nobody to be able to pull it off? That Tyl Regor you hired doesn't have any qualifications. He doesn't even have a doctorate!" He huffed. What was David thinking, giving some no-name scientist who showed up out of the blue with uncorroborated research on cloning?

Even if the ideas Regor proposed did have merit, as other researchers looking over his ideas confirmed, it wasn't like he could solve what scientists had been trying to accomplish ever since quirks became focal in the scientific community. You would need decades of experience in the field of cloning for that.

Plus, Samuel was a quirk support engineer and thus wouldn't know the first thing about genetic engineering. Part of him was jealous of Regor for taking David's attention away from their plan to retake the Q.A.D. Even if there were other projects that he could get money and prestige from, it paled in comparison to David and his magnum opus. David had been all in on the fake heist before, and now he was getting cold feet?

"Fine." Samuel angrily conceded. "If you want to throw our greatest achievement away, who am I to stop you." With that, he turned and stormed out of the office.

David leaned back in his chair and exhaled loudly. He could understand how bitter and upset Sam was. They'd spent years working on the Quirk Amplification Device, and their reward for all that hard work? The WHA (and Council of Seven) telling them to can the project and lock up the prototype and research. Development of the device had been halted immediately and the headset was currently stored on the two-hundredth floor in the vault of I-Island's central tower.

At the time, he'd been furious. The Q.A.D was the one thing that could've helped mitigate Toshinori's dropping quirk levels. Ever since he'd been injured five years ago he'd been slowly losing the amount of time he could remain in his hero form. All the hard work he and Samuel had put into the device had gone to waste. They'd planned to fake a heist to steal the device back during next year's I-Expo so they could finish the device.

In hindsight, he couldn't believe he ever thought that would be a good idea. Toshinori never would've approved of his methods, and probably would refuse the headset out of principle. He could imagine now, how Toshinori would look at him, how Melissa would look at him, knowing that he resorted to conspiring to commit a crime.

But, out of random cosmic chance, he had another solution. One that could not only help Toshinori, but millions worldwide. Organ transplants had always been a problem for doctors, even before quirks. The patient needed a compatible donor, and even then they would have to take immunosuppressants their entire life. Quirks only compounded this issue with every generation as human bodies changed more and more. How do you find a compatible donor for a quirk that make your organs as hard as iron? Or god forbid you were like Agent Daniel with a mutation that changed your blood to be closer to that of an insect.

Tyl had claimed he could complete his research in one to two years. David was naturally skeptical but his eagerness won over his skepticism. The Grineer scientist had backed up his claims over the next few weeks by drafting up plans on the procedure he would use. Most of the scientists he'd reviewed couldn't understand most of it, mostly because of how advanced it was, but the general consensus was that Regor was a genius.

David wasn't a geneticist, he was a mix of a support gear, AI, and robotics expert. He could already think of other possibilities for Tyl's research. Skin grafts, lab-grown meat for consumption, and maybe even the ability to replicate and impart quirks themselves. The last one was a long shot even using something like CRISPR, and probably would raise concerns of quirk eugenics similar to those who engaged in quirk marriages in the past.

His train of thought was interrupted by the buzzing of his intercom. "Mr. Shield? There's someone from the World Heroes Association here to see you."

'Ah, that must be Agent Daniel here to check up.' He tapped the speaker button. "Send him in Charlotte."

He heard the door open and the sound of heels clicking. Did Charlotte escort Daniel here? He knew where David's office was. He spun around on his chair to greet the mantis mutant agent. "Ah, Daniel-" David froze upon seeing who it was in his office, paling immediately.

That was not Agent Daniel. It was a face he remembered, as she was the one who delivered the WHA's demands on the Q.A.D. Standing in his office was a young Chinese woman in a business suit with light blue hair and red-black horns jutting from her head. A woman that those in the government were wary of, especially those who were doing less-than-legal things. The Chief Auditor of the World Heroes Association, Ganyu Yuheng.

"Mrs. Yuheng! I wasn't expecting to see you here." David said, trying to compose himself and hoping that she didn't notice the sweat beginning to form on his brow.

"Mr. Shield. It's been a while." Ganyu's heels clicked as she walked over to his desk, setting down her briefcase and bouquet of white flowers she was carrying. She then took a seat across from him, giving him a friendly smile.

David eyed the flowers. "Visiting someone?"

"Oh, no those are lunch." She chirped.

"Ah…" David sweatdropped. "I see."

"Now," Her expression turned serious. "I believe you know why I'm here today."

A bead of sweat rolled down his face. "Tyl Regor?"

"Indeed. Did you think we wouldn't- hold on." She pulled a piece of paper with strange symbols inscribed on it, a talisman, he assumed. Mumbling something under her breath, the paper dissolved. "No one will be able to listen in on us."

"The room has been swept of bugs." He informed her. "It's meant for top secret meetings."

"I'm not worried about bugs, and now we won't be interrupted. Anyway, did you think we wouldn't find out about this, Mr. Shield?"

"Agent Daniel said he wouldn't report to the Association to protect Mr. Regor from the U.S Government."

"And he didn't. He informed the Council before he was suspended. He shouldn't have allowed his personal feelings to jeopardize operational security. At least he followed containment protocol." Ganyu raised an eyebrow. "But you knew we would find out eventually, didn't you?"

"I just wanted time…" David protested.

"David," She interrupted. "You aren't in too much trouble for going behind our backs, because they know you didn't do it out of any villainous intent." The Auditor pulled a file from her briefcase. "Are you aware of what the Grineer are? What they did?"

David gulped. "Yes, I am. I'm also aware that they were previously genetically programmed to obey without question. Isn't one of the World Hero Association mandates that people aren't responsible for crimes committed while under someone's control?" It was a policy shared by the Council as well.

"And yet you choose to trust him?"

His thoughts flashed to Toshinori, and his ability to see the best in anyone. "I do, mostly. I'm no idiot. Tyl is… unconventional at best, Human Resources incident at worst currently."

Ganyu raised a hand to her chin. "He's been adjusting well?"

"Yes, although no one is willing to work with him after short interactions. They say he's intimidating and erratic." All good scientists were a bit crazy, but Tyl was… an oddity.

"I see." the blue-haired woman opened the file and slid it across the table. "Now that we have that out of the way, let me inform you of what we know. On the night of April 25th, a strange storm formed over Japan. With it, an estimated two thousand otherworlders arrived. Currently, we have accounted for over twelve hundred of them. The only outlier was Mr. Regor appearing on I-Island."

David let out a low whistle. "That's a lot. And you don't know why it happened?"

"We know that their universe was destroyed by a cataclysm, thanks to accounts from a cooperative otherworlder. They also prepared files on potential threats that could've crossed over, including Mr. Regor."

David glossed over the file, a map of Japan with several red dots and several highlighted incidents of suspected and confirmed conflicts involving those from Tyl's universe. Most of the file was redacted since he didn't have clearance for it. "So, are you here to take him away then?"

"That remains to be seen. Daniel was right, he hasn't committed crimes in our universe, and although he wasn't in control of his actions we can't be sure of his intentions now."

"But Daniel-"

"Agent Daniel's quirk isn't reliable in discerning truth from lies, it can only tell emotional intent." Ganyu clarified. "I know that you are… invested in Tyl's research, and so is the Council and Heroes Association. If I can determine he isn't a threat, we will allow him to continue his research."

David breathed a sigh of relief. "That's reassuring. I figured it would be like the amplifier all over again."

"The Quirk Amplification Device could've been weaponized. Mr. Regor's research, as long as he sticks to what he told you and Daniel is true, could save millions, if not billions. The Council isn't foolish enough to let something like that slip past them." Ganyu reassured him. "The only worry is if he plans to clone humans fully to create a new Grineer army."

"That sounds more than reasonable. What do you need me to do?" David inquired.

"I'd like to meet with him and discuss his place here. Do you have a secure conference room?" Her stomach growled, and she blushed. "Preferably with a table meant for food."

[I-Island, Central Tower, Floor 78]

"You w-want me to be your assistant? Why?" Melissa stammered. "I'm not even in your field of expertise! Plus, plenty of other scientists could help you, like someone with an intelligence quirk…" She trailed off weakly.

"Bah! Your field of study is irrelevant." Tyl rebuked with a handwave. "All the others, they say I'm 'unstable' and 'difficult to work with'. They simply don't understand my process, trying to butt in with their ideas. But you, I can teach you how the science works. You're young, your mind is open to learning new things." His mind flashed to Melissa's Tenno doppelganger. Why was he thinking of that infernal brat at a time like this? No matter. Melissa wasn't Morgan, so he elected to ignore the thought.

Melissa would be useful for her quirkless genes. Finding someone young and quirkless was a rarity, and to have one so readily available would be a huge boon to his research. Her intelligence and engineering skills were just a bonus. That was no reason to concern himself with the strange conflicting emotions he was feeling.

"A-are you sure? I've taken a few classes on genetics at the academy, but my main focus is engineering and nanotech." She held up her notebook. "For support equipment."

"As I said, that doesn't matter. Whether you actually want to learn from me is up to you. But, let me sweeten the deal." Bleh, he felt like a damn Coprus merchant now. "You help me, and you can study my armor as much as you like. All I need in return is samples of your DNA and assistance with these infernal machines." He shot a withering glare at the updating supercomputer.

Melissa contemplated his offer. It wasn't a bad one, per se. She would get access to his armor whenever she wanted to, and not just his gauntlets. If she could figure out how to replicate the alloy the armor was made from, or at least a similar substitute if some of the metals didn't exist here, she could make the gauntlet much stronger.

Personally, she was a bit iffy. For one, would Papa say yes? She didn't feel like Tyl was dangerous. Odd, yes, but not dangerous. He reminded her of a family member at a gathering with no filter and didn't necessarily mean to be offensive but came across as rude or uncaring. If you didn't know Tyl's background, like the previous scientists he must've interacted with, one would assume he was trying to drive them away.

"Can I think about it? I'll have to ask my dad for permission too since I'm not eighteen yet."

"That's fine by me." He replied. Tyl then felt a buzzing against his leg, before realizing that it was a phone call. He needed to get that installed in his helmet somehow…

[I-Island, Central Tower, Secure Conference Room, Floor 100]

"Someone from the World Heroes Association? Didn't I already talk to them?" Tyl visibly deflated like a child being told they had to attend an event with their parents.

"I didn't exactly go through an official approval process the first time Tyl. Now we have to do this the right way." David elaborated. "She's waiting for us in the conference room."

Tyl pushed open the door to reveal a horned woman with blue hair with a bouquet shoved into her mouth, slowly chewing with a blissful expression on her face.

ゴゴゴゴ Munch Munch Munch ゴゴゴゴ

Tyl looked at her, then at David, then at her again. "David that woman is eating a bouquet." He whispered, voice laced with concern.

"It's her lunch," David said, as if that explained everything. It did not.

Tyl stared at him, raising a finger to object, but deciding to sit down at the table instead. The chair creaked under the weight of his armor.

"Tyl, this is Mrs. Yuheng from the World Heroes Association. She's here to officially confirm your place here." David introduced as Ganyu wiped her face with a napkin.

"I hope this won't take too long. I have research to get back to." Tyl harrumphed.

"It shouldn't take more than a couple hours." She replied. "My job is to confirm that you aren't a threat to world security and impose a few rules on your research."

Tyl rolled his eyes. "This again… so tedious. This is why I hate bureaucracy." He complained, pointedly glaring at the bureaucrat in the room. The armored man slumped back in his seat in resignation.

"Let me put everything on the table, Mr Regor. We know who you are and what you've done, and are willing to overlook most of it due to the circumstances of your creation." Ganyu stated. "This is the stance the World Hero Association has chosen to take for all otherworlder refugees. They are also attempting to find places for them to fit into our society and contribute their skills and knowledge should they choose to comply and integrate. Of course, that right is forfeit once they've committed a serious crime."

"So, you want me to continue what I've been doing?" Tyl asked, to which the Auditor nodded. "Then this meeting is a waste of time. This could've been conveyed to me in an email." Tyl started to stand up, only to feel a chill run down his spine. It felt like the room temperature had dropped.

"I'm not finished." Ganyu shifted her legs, and Tyl could see a gun holstered on her hip. She was eying him carefully, eyes glowing a faint blue as she used her quirk. "Sit back down, Mr. Regor."

Tyl could hear David's teeth chattering and realized that no, it wasn't his imagination. The chill he felt was the room getting colder. 'This woman… she's dangerous.' Even if he wanted to fight her, he didn't know what the extent of her ice quirk was. Plus, she came to the meeting alone, despite knowing how dangerous he was. His instincts as a soldier were telling him that she would be a difficult opponent.

He sat back down with a sigh of resignation. The frost forming on his armor began to disappear as the room returned to normal temperature. "This better be important." Tyl glowered.

"It is. Regarding the presence of two individuals." Ganyu pulled out two photos, one he recognized as Sargas, who was standing over the bodies of two heroes (or so he assumed since their bodies were pixelated). His helmet was partially melted and smoke poured out of his mouth. Probably a fire quirk, interesting…

The other was of a large armored Grineer with an oddly shaped helmet. This picture was taken from a security camera and showed the clone lying in a half-destroyed warehouse with a large fist indent in his chest plate. The timestamp in the photo indicated it was from a security camera. It looked like he'd been launched from a far distance and landed there.

"Ruk and Kril. So they survived. Hrmph."

"We know who they are from the reports. These photos were taken from the two locations they landed in, the day after the arrival of those from your universe. Radar tracked their flight path to Mt. Fuji, where they presumably were launched after an altercation with an unknown third party."

"And what does that have to do with me? Isn't Japan halfway across the planet or something?" Tyl had no idea where Japan was since it didn't interest him.

"I'd like to know, Mr. Regor, where your loyalties lie. Seeing as some of your superiors-"

"Sargas? My superior?" Tyl chuckled. "Don't make me laugh. We were all somewhat equal in terms of command structure, but we didn't listen to each other. We only obeyed the Queens, or someone relaying their orders." Like their liches or that legless parrot Hek. "Even if they were to approach me, I wouldn't help them. Their genes are cured, the same as mine. I imagine that Ruk is rather upset if he's lost his cybernetics. Those two," He pointed at the photos. "I am a scientist and a soldier, but them? They are warriors. Powerful. Dangerous. Taking away their loyalty to the Queens wouldn't change their nature. They are too prideful for that. It doesn't surprise me that they went villain." He shrugged indifferently. "So no, I'd rather not work with any of them again. Sargas is a prideful ass, Hek is woefully incompetent and egotistical, and Kril is slow. Even if the remaining Queen showed up, I'd probably strangle that Worm to death myself. So no, you don't have to worry about that. I'd much rather stay here, working on my research."

Ganyu wrote all that down. "And your cloning research is limited to organs? The previous report says you refused to clone humans in their entirety."

"Oh, given the time I definitely could clone a human, if I wanted a man-baby that is. Your world doesn't have the technology to impart information unless you used that knowledge crystal quirk David used on me. The sheer quantity of information needed for viable cloning would turn their brains to mush." If his migraine from learning a single language was anything to go by. "Then I'd have to worry about the resources needed to feed and house them. Such a hassle. Couldn't do it. It's too impractical. Also, I can't breed loyalty into them." He blabbered.

"Noted. One last question. If you were to clone a limb would it be able to be reattached?" She asked with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"I don't see why not, though depending on the site of the amputation the existing bones might need to be replaced. I've performed the surgery before, though the nerves require a special solution to heal correctly else the limb will have no feeling." The armored Grineer contemplated. "Which is something I should be able to replicate, although it would take longer."

"I see." Her mood brightened slightly. "I have a few more questions and we should be done.

==VI==

As it turned out, "A few more questions" turned out to be two hours of negotiation over regulations and restrictions on his research, and Mrs. Yuheng asking for more information on Tyl's brothers. By the time it was over, Tyl had awkwardly shaken the Auditor's hand before wandering back to his lab, mumbling something about Windows updates.

As Ganyu gathered her things, David approached her. "Is everything in order then?"

Ganyu nodded. "As you said, he was a bit difficult, but I don't see him becoming a problem in the future. I'll be reporting my findings back to the head of the Heroes Association and the Council."

"I see…" David shuffled, unsure if what he was about to ask was appropriate. "The limb cloning, that was for…"

Ganyu paused packing her briefcase. "Yes." She turned to face David. "Much like you and Yagi, I also have people I love who would benefit from his research. However, unlike Daniel, I will not let that affect my judgment of the situation. Although I do hope his research is successful." Ganyu smiled. "I must be going if I'm going to catch my flight. I'm already working overtime as it is." She reached out to shake David's hand, which he shook firmly. With a quick bow, she began to make her exit.

David sighed, letting the day's stress leave his body. That had gone far better than he had hoped. He started to return to his office, only to be interrupted by a phone call from Melissa.

"I'm sorry, you want to what?"

==========================VI==========================

Truly a cursed interaction of characters lol.

Ganyu is here, and in this setting she is not 3000+ years old. She's a few years younger than Endeavor. She is still half-Qilin/human though.
Chapter art is again done by Feerocomics. I'm going to try and get another chapter out before the end of the month, then Izuku's birthday party chapter in April. Not sure on how frequent updates will be next month as I am going full-time because I like money.

I just realized that I missed the 1y anniversary of the fic. Oops