Super Science
Ch 15: Protection
"Thank you for seeing me despite your busy schedule, Professor Egon.", Professor Cephalopod thanked his employer as he sat across from his desk. Doctor Orpington was accompanying him.
Sitting at his desk, Egon waved him off and graciously told him, "Of course, Professor Cephalopod. Now, what did you want to show me?"
Accompanying him were Izuku, who the octopus asked to join in the reveal, and Peet, who was eating out of a food bowl by the edge of his office desk.
Otto stood in his seat and explained, "As I'm sure you're very aware, this facility lacks Security. Don't get me wrong; cameras, locks, silent alarms, and bulletproof glass are all good. But with what we're doing, we need to be creative about hiding and protecting our assets. Catch them with their pants down, if you get my meaning.", he told him while pacing back and forth and talking like a drill sergeant.
Getting tired of the theatrics already, Egon sighs and firmly prompts him, "Yes, yes, just tell me what you've made."
The professor hops off his seat and skittles over to an object covered in a sheet he had brought. Grabbing it, he announces while ripping it away, "Presenting the Mimicutie!"
An ordinary lockbox made of standard-grade metal sat there. The sight of this did not impress either Egon or Izuku, who looked more disappointed and exasperated.
"A metal lock box?", Egon observed while shifting his glasses down to glance at the professor.
Otto said, "It's much more than that. Go ahead, put something in it."
Izuku and Egon looked at one another and shrugged. Izuku picked up the empty food bowl from Peet. Bringing the bowl over as the dodo honked in disapproval, the box suddenly sprang open. A mass of teeth and a long tongue snagged it up and swallowed it whole! After licking its lid, it burped.
"Woah!", cried Izuku as he whipped his hand away.
Egon sprang from his seat and scooped up Izuku, pulling him out of the perceived danger while Peet honked in fear and ran under Egon's desk! "It's alive!", he yelled before realizing and asking Otto in a small voice, "It's….alive?", to which he nodded.
"How did you make this?", Izuku asks as he hides in the living box from behind Egon.
"I mutated a Caulerpa Taxifolia with human flesh alongside several different Quirk Splinters that have been made recently by yours truly.", he explained with his ego showing.
"What a blowhard.", Doctor Orpington commented with an eye roll.
"Upon which a large flesh-like mass with teeth and eyes where they shouldn't be was born with a subconscious similar to that of a cat. I placed it in that lock box as a means of temporary holding, but it seems to have bonded and made the box a part of its body. After a few more tests and experiments, the Mimicutie was born!", he explained further in excitement and self-pride.
Egon looks between the octopus and the box and back to the octopus as he asks, "Okay, but how are we to use this…thing?"
Professor Cephalopod smiled with his eyes and told him, "I'm glad you asked. So long as the Mimicutie has a record of your scent, it will be completely docile. Anyone else will be ripped to shreds! It's the perfect tool to keep things we don't have the best confidence in and protect them by employing modern security science."
"How much can it hold?", Izuku inquired.
"As much as the box it inhabits.", the Professor answered.
"Can it change boxes?" asked Egon.
"I'm not sure about that. The object it inhabits becomes no different than the shell of a turtle.", the professor said.
"How can we get things out of it, and won't it just eat anything given?", Izuku inquired again.
The professor then tells him, "So long as it isn't organic, the Mimicutie can't digest it, which makes it a great organic waste disposal method! It can even safely dispose of radiation. As for how to get things out of it, I implanted it with a form of suggestive telepathy. So long as you think of the item in question, it will give it to you. So long as you know it's there.", he then walked up to the Mimicutie and said, "Observe."
Professor Cephalopod then holds out one of his tentacles, and the Mimicutie opens up while using its tongue to place a tightly sealed bag of fresh shrimp into said tentacle. To prove his point further, the professor then opens the new bag and begins to eat one shrimp after the other, much to the mixed amazement and disgust of all parties present.
"How do we care for it?", Egon wonders aloud.
Professor Cephalopod explains, "It only needs a cup of water every month, a consistent temperature, and something that's considered sunlight. Apart from that, it could go years without a meal. But it does eat meat primarily."
Egon sits back at his desk, removes his glasses, and rubs his eyes before breathing heavily. He sits there thinking for a while before placing his glasses back on, lacing his finger, and telling the octopus, "Okay, Professor. Stop whatever you're doing and mass-produce these things in different sizes."
As he nods, a thought crosses his mind, and just before the meeting ends, he says, "Ah yes, there is one more thing.", grabbing the man's attention, he tells him, "If attempting to maul their enemies to bits doesn't work, they have another defense mechanism."
Egon raises an eyebrow, then thinks aloud, "From what you've told me, I can only guess that the Mimi in Mimicutie is for its connection to the Mimic in DnD. But what about the cutie part? That must be its other defense mechanism!"
Professor Cephalopod nods and waves for him to follow while taking the Mimicutie away in a trolley. Izuku and Egon look at one another, shrug, and follow the invertebrate out. After that, they were taken to a testing chamber where the Mimicutie was placed at the center, and all the doctors and professors were safely standing behind the protective observation room. Professor Cephalopod brought out a shabby-looking robot, and after getting inside the observation room with them, he used a remote controller to make the robot walk over to the Mimicutie.
To which he looked at his coworkers and said with a pompous tone, "Observe."
The robot then began beating on top of the container, and the Mimicutie started to rustle and hiss. When it didn't stop, the Mimicutie jumped back and produced a set of long human legs wearing kitten-heel boots and fishnet stockings.
Professor Cephalopod smiles with his eyes and asks, "Impressive, no?"
Egon and Izuku stood there, mouths open in shock, while Doctor Orpingtonn glared at her companion with narrowed eyes.
After the initial shock washed over, Egon proclaimed, "Impressive!? That's two major awards in a box! How in the world is that supposed to be a defense mechanism?"
"Just watch.", Otto assured him.
Just then, the Mimicutie ran up to the robot like a drunk person and turned to its side. From there, it brought up its leg and began to produce a flurry of rapid kicks so fast that its legs couldn't be seen, and the robot didn't get blasted away during the entire exchange until the last one was he flew to the other end of the testing room. The Mimicutie then got into a low stance and began to spin like a top, closing the distance and catching the robot in a whirlwind of legs! And finally, the Mimicutie jumped into the air and came down feet first, puncturing a huge hole clean through the robot's metal body with both heels!
"Holy-.", Egon was about to yell a curse word until Izuku cut him off, saying, "Wow."
"What do you think?", Professor Cephalopod self-assuredly asked in his work.
Egon took a few minutes to process what he saw, remove his glasses, and rub his eyes. After that, he told the octopus, "I think it's crazy and just what we need. Like I said before, you have my permission. Just make sure they don't eat anyone by accident."
Professor Cephalopod nods with an eye smile and goes to retrieve his creation. He was leaving a flabbergasted Izuku and Egon with an exasperated Doctor Cluck with them.