Brockton's Celestial Forge

by Lord Roustabout

The Celestial Forge is the greatest combination of crafting powers in Jumpchain, meaning it is the greatest combination of crafting abilities in all of fiction. In Brockton Bay a forgotten side character's trigger event ends with him linked to the Celestial Forge rather than his intended shard. His expanding collection of tinker abilities drag him into the city's cape conflicts.

39. 33 Morning Training -Pre James Add Youth

Preamble James

James walked through the main hall of the private clinic. It was a place he had become familiar with through his careers, both of them. The Empire was fortunate that its business connections were more extensive and with more utility than the usual combination of brothels, drug houses, and front businesses that supported a typical gang. Then again, the Empire was anything but typical.

Depending on who you asked it was either a foothold in America, a political movement, a throwback to better times, or a façade used to dress up petty crime. James didn't concern himself with mission statements or the conceptual direction of the organization. An operation like this needed oversight to keep running, and that was what he provided. He kept the gears working in sync while other men made their proclamations and political speeches.

Speaking of which, the clinic's doors opened admitting an imposing figure in full armor trailed by a glowing woman in white. Max had arrived with Kayden, and he was making sure to parade her through the horrible cost of the night's operations. At this point it was mostly down to the foot soldiers who had accompanied the capes. Hookwolf and Stormtiger had already been treated by Othala, and Cricket continued her inane policy of refusing healing, a particularly asinine stance in this instance. It wasn't as if the concussion or other explosion damage would add to the girl's collection of scars.

Victor was also making rounds, using his lifetimes of acquired medical knowledge to tend to the injured. It was a wonderful display, and pure pageantry for the benefit of Purity. Some of this would help restore morale within the organization, but there was no way the Empire was coming out of this looking anything less than foolish. Not after losing so badly to a lone cape.

It was telling how a single change in circumstance could upset all previous conceptions of the balance of power. That seemed to be a developing theme within the city recently.

Still, watching the progression was like seeing a master at work. Max did know his craft, that was something James never doubted. He strode through the rows of beds looking as invincible as ever, his most powerful lieutenant once more at his side. He held just the right balance of distant grandeur and personal concern, stopping long enough to receive reports from the wounded and accepting their apologies with grace. It was the artistry that allowed him to transform the Empire into a cult of personality following Allfather's death.

He knew his role in this performance. This wasn't his way of command, not in general and certainly not with his subordinates, but he could respect the results and worked with his friend to facilitate the carefully crafted scene. As Kaiser and Purity reached the end of the treatment room Krieg stepped respectfully forward. Purity greeted him like an old friend and he altered his posture slightly to acknowledge the personal gesture.

As Max led the way into the clinic's office James could see the craning heads from treatment beds watching the scene. No doubt when they were back on their feet the word would spread through the organization with no prompting from the top. Purity was back. The officers were united. The Empire was at its peak, and more than ready to crush everything that stood before it.

Not exactly true, not in any respect, but a useful sentiment. Max was good at that. But there was the issue of balancing the appearance of strength with the ability to leverage actual power. An imbalance could be disastrous, and the same ego that made Max a charismatic leader could also overwhelm him at the worst possible times.

If that hadn't been the case there wouldn't be the need for this reconciliation.

He followed them into the office, catching the beginnings of Max's proposal.

"You're the only one who can do this. The Empire needs fresh blood. Strong blood. We've made neutral contact before, but you could actually bring her into the fold."

Kayden didn't seem thrilled by the idea, but she was hard to read. Even with the tinted lenses of his gasmask her power made it painful to look directly at her. James didn't know how Max always managed to hold eye contact without flinching, though he wouldn't put it past the man to accept damage to his eyes for a chance at power. The idea of him visiting Othala after every conversation with his ex-wife was darkly amusing in its own way.

"Max, she's never been stable. She acts like a cartoon villain half the time, and the other half she's going off on random attacks. Do you seriously think this can work? Even if I talk her around…"

"You will." Max assured her, reaching out and placing a gauntleted hand tenderly on her shoulder. "I know you can do this."

Kayden looked to the side, but didn't shift away from his hand. "If I can talk her around, how is this going to work? How are we actually going to work with her?"

Max's visored eyes glanced towards him and James stepped forward. "Victor has acquired extensive training on power counseling and control theory, as well as the best training and teaching skills available. With Othala providing durability he'll be able to help Miss Stillons develop control of her abilities without her presenting a risk to himself or others."

Kayden still looked reluctant, but Max pressed on. "It's a short trip to Stafford. I've made the arrangements, and Rune will go with you." Which would probably present their strongest chance of success. "The Empire needs this, particularly after tonight. If there's going to be anything left for you to take over, then we need this to happen."

James could see Kayden consider the situation, then give a slight nod. "Alright Max. I'll do it."

He nodded regally. "Thank you Kayden. Take all the time you need. Success is more important than our schedule." Which wasn't exactly true, but James knew what Max was trying to do. "I'll take care of Theo and Aster."

Somehow he made that statement seem fatherly rather than threatening, but Kayden still held back a flinch at the idea. She shook it off and looked up at Max. "I'll start making arrangements. I can head out in the morning."

She leaned slightly into his hand before breaking off and leaving the office, heading towards one of the clinic's more discrete exits. Max's demeanor changed slightly after she left. It wasn't a façade falling down, the man embraced masks of office with such passion that there was almost no difference between his public and private personas. He LIKED the grandeur of his office and worked as much of it into his daily life as he could manage.

That was probably what ended up straining his personal relationships. He couldn't imagine still being Krieg when home with Greta and the kids. But then again, for him this was a job rather than a lifestyle. His position didn't rely on the grandeur of his image, only the efficient execution of his duties, both to the Empire and to Gesellschaft.

The leader of the Empire turned to him and nodded. "Kayden will be able to accomplish this. Damsel of Distress will be in our ranks by the end of the week."

James considered the plan. "That may be true, but it will take more than a single annihilator cape to balance things."

"This isn't about balance, it's about consequences. In all his appearances Apeiron has bled to only one attack. All negotiations involve the carrot and the stick. We cannot even approach the tinker without the capacity to actually threaten him in return."

And it would be an implicit threat at most. The Empire couldn't afford to fight a war with Apeiron and the Asians, not even with all their forces rallied. In fairness, the same could be said for any organization in the city. The power blocks were being redefined with frightening speed and everyone was scrambling for their piece.

"Do you think that approach will yield results favorable to us?" He asked.

Max considered, though James knew some of that was just showmanship, exaggerated body language designed to convey his personality through his armor. "We won't be asking for anything but neutrality. I doubt Apeiron will be eager to add to his troubles. He's made his alliances and enmities clear. If we can prove we can offer resistance to any advance on his part I'm confident we can come to an agreement."

James considered the situation, likely for the hundredth time since the incident at the hospital with the New Wave girl. The amount of assumptions, corrections, plans, counter plans, and strategizing that had gone into this problem was mind boggling.

James shook his head. "Somehow this was simpler when people assumed he was your illegitimate son."

Max shook slightly with mirth at that statement. "If only. I can assure you, no teenage indiscretions of that nature were unaccounted for. Just evidence of the further incompetence of the PRT leadership."

The man looked off into the distance and James suddenly regretted bringing up the subject. "How is Theo?" He asked politely.

There was a pause before he responded, but James saw amusement in his eyes as he spoke. "You know, last night he asked if he could join a boxing gym."

James couldn't keep the surprise out of his response. "Theo?" He thought about some of the modern fitness centers that had sprung up near the boardwalk, basically day spas with veneer of athleticism, though that wouldn't explain Max's reaction. "What gym does he want to join?"

"Bay City Boxing." Max replied.

James blinked in surprise. "Vincent White's gym?" The boy's last match against Jerome Malcolm had been popular viewing in the Empire, and his victory had likely been a blow to the financial stability of every bookie in their territory.

It was a powerful image of the movement, but only on the surface level. Hookwolf had been ecstatic over that particular match and pushed strongly for an outreach, to the point that James had looked into Vincent's personal life. He kept his relationships discreet, likely to avoid retaliation from the ABB. The fact that the ethnicity of his paramour was unknown to the vast majority of the Empire had made him a popular rising star, though one that they would obviously not be looking to bring into the fold.

"Indeed." Max's voice was thick with amusement.

"My understanding was they were a fairly harsh environment." James offered. "Not to imply any offence, but I'm surprised Theo would express an interest in joining."

He could see more mirth in Kaiser's eyes. "There was an event yesterday, the debut of a new rogue cape. Heavily publicized."

"Ah yes, Garment?" James asked.

"Indeed." He confirmed. "No doubt they will be swarmed with applications. Still, with their reputation and standards perhaps Theo might receive some decent instruction before he drops out."

It was telling that Max didn't even extend a faint hope of Theo holding to this particular activity. James couldn't blame him. The boy was dutiful and obedient, as would be expected of growing up in the Anders household, but had clearly been overwhelmed by his father's personality and never developed on his own. It was unfortunate that such an outgoing man had raised such a closed off son.

"I wish him the best." James said honestly.

"As do I." Kaiser agreed. "On more serious business, what can we expect from Gesellschaft with respect to the current situation?"

James frowned behind his mask. "I'm afraid they are likely to be fairly reserved in their support." He saw the shift in his friend's eyes and elaborated. "Please understand, these are people who have lived under the threat of the Blasphemies for years. The prospect of another Mad Scientist tinker on an unpredictable trajectory has them on edge."

"Hmmm." Kaiser grunted. "I will admit that the surface level details seem concerning…"

Despite his mask James schooled his expression. They were more than concerning. Apeiron was on a trajectory to either burn out spectacularly or create an incident on the level of the aforementioned Blasphemies. There was a distant hope that he would level out, hit some resource or time bottleneck, but so far everything had leant towards an unchecked, unstable tinker.

"…but I have information that an equal portion of the recent disruption is due to the ABB's new thinker." He continued.

"March?" James asked. "I grant you, she is clearly underestimated by the PRT, but you can't hold her on the same level as Apeiron."

"On the contrary…" He continued. "I have received intelligence that Apeiron will be prioritizing action against March to the exclusion of other conflicts, including conflicts with established groups."

James gave Max a skeptical look. "Do you trust this intelligence?" He asked, as cautiously as he dared.

"It has come with certain assurances, mainly in the shared interest of avoiding a state of emergency being declared in the city." Max explained.

James nodded. That would be a nightmare for any established group, and would probably be the end of at least one of the power blocks in the city.

"Besides…" Max continued. "You can't look at tonight's calamity and tell me there was no thinker influence at play."

James frowned. The seemingly random encounter of Hookwolf's team leading to an unexpectedly dire situation, causing him to need to divert his forces and reinforce the brute with Victor, Othala, and Alabaster. Though calling it a reinforcement might be a bit generous considering Alabaster was constantly bombarded with explosions and Othala spent the entire encounter hiding behind an invincible Victor while he did what he could to mitigate the disaster.

The consequence was an undefended front of territory, an extended conflict with no meaningful resolution, and what could be at best called a narrow stalemate of a resolution.

James sighed. "I must once again offer my apologies for my performance this evening…" Max raised a hand to silence him.

"If what I have been led to believe about the ABB thinker is correct there was little that could have been accomplished." He dropped his head. "The operation was doomed once she set Hookwolf and Flashbang to cross paths.

James clenched his teeth so hard his jaw ached. Flashbang. Mark Dallon. The pathetic shadow of a man, exposed and betrayed by his wife. Everyone in the city expected him to wallow in his misery as New Wave collapsed around him. Instead he had opted to begin aggressively patrolling at night in order to avoid dealing with the turbulence of his own house.

The independent cape was approaching conflicts like a man with a death wish, for reasons apparent to anyone with experience with marital issues. The main problem was the man's staunch refusal to actually find an opponent with the capacity to end him.

New Wave based their entire organization on precise coordination and power interactions. He could remember the numerous times Brandish had popped out of her breaker state to scatter Flashbang's energy grenades across the battlefield, or Lady Photon coordinated her children like a crack flight team. It was everyone's assumption that without the support of the rest of the team any individual member would wither to uselessness, as had happened with Manpower.

That overlooked one minor detail. Flashbang was immune to his own explosions. It didn't matter if he used the non-lethal but still devastating concussive blasts, or the overpowering full force grenades, they affected the cape as much as a summer breeze. Without any teammates to worry about he could stroll into the battlefield wreathed in blasts, effectively an untouchable force of nature.

James had thought it amusing when he heard about Flashbang routing the Merchants on Saturday night. He was much less amused after living though that rain of explosions first hand.

"You believe March was able to coordinate tonight's actions to that level?" he asked.

The armored cape nodded grimly. "I do. From my information March is the primary source of the ABB's enhanced threat and Apeiron's primary focus. We just have to make sure we are on the right side, and in a position of power when the tinker makes his move."

James hoped his friend was right. It was a terrifying prospect, but explained a great deal about the past few days. It also shed a harsh light on the true conflict brewing. Of course the Empire wouldn't wait harmlessly on the sidelines. They would make sure to be well positioned when the time came.

He could only imagine the preparations Apeiron was indulging in as part of his desperate bid for supremacy. He shuddered to think what terrifying forces the unstable tinker must be wrestling with.

Hopefully it would be something they would be able to counter, when the time came.

33 Morning Training

I woke up groggy and in a fog of slowly fading sleep. I rolled over in the admittedly incredible bed, which was both a wonder in terms of comfort and a lack of need to sleep diagonally or curled up to prevent my feet from falling off the edge. Despite the creeping exhaustion that slowly receded from my mind I smiled. This was what mornings were supposed to be like. Yesterday's early chipperness had just been wrong. Getting out of bed was the battle that prepared you for the rest of the day, mostly by making all other conflicts seem inconsequential by comparison.

The actual reason for my lethargy was another matter. I flopped onto my back as I thought about it. One Thing at a Time had still activated, granting me great sleep in half the time. I still had my enhanced physiology, and from a physical side was still bursting with energy. I even had my various mental enhancements running in the background, including my implant which was receiving good morning messages from Fleet and Survey. No, this particular exhaustion was from a totally new form of exertion.

Designing that parahuman focus for Aisha had been exhilarating. I knew how significant it would be and I was desperate to get it to work. It was the first time I had used Arcane Craft, and I was just now realizing how strong that particular power could be. It was a power that scaled with my own skill, knowledge, and power. With the timescale I was working on I couldn't afford to slowly develop the art over months or years, so I had taken my best swing right from the start.

I'm not sure what convinced me to try for a more advanced Elven Enchantment. I suppose that since that could only be done upon creation I wanted to do the best job I could manage. I was already working with masterful skill, divine craftsmanship, and material of a quality beyond anything I could have hoped for. Still, I wanted to do everything I could, and that meant digging into the vocabulary of words of power and trying to redefine reality through Naming.

It had worked, but the process had taken more out of me than I expected. I had a sense this was an art that was traditionally developed over a lifetime. Diving into it full force within a day of gaining the power clearly had exposed some rough edges. Other forms of 'magic' had a kind of refilling gas tank, with that pool of magika that came with the Skyforge being the best example. Others were kind of just a fixed output that could be directed at anything with enough skill. Elven Enchantment was different.

It was an art that drew from some kind of spiritual strength. The first level, pouring energy into my creations, was trivial. Whatever was expended was recovered before the crafting process was completed. Using words to redefine reality was a different story. That had been a serious effort, and one I didn't pick up on until the effects settled.

It wasn't like something had been drained or taken away. It felt more like I had pulled a muscle in my soul. Like I tried to lift something too heavy for me with bad form. It wasn't permanent damage or anything crippling, but it was clearly the kind of work I'd have to be careful about. I couldn't casually redefine reality at a whim, and singing to the unseen was clearly well beyond me at this point. Actually, if not for my new 'demigod' nature I doubt I would have been able to pull it off.

That was the price of making an item that powerful. All the power I had extended was just enough to enchant a tiny item. It was Workaholic enhancing the size that brought the focus to full strength. And it was strong.

It was a tool specifically attuned to Aisha's power allowing her to enhance her control. And there was no limit on how far it could take that. With enough work Aisha could go from someone who could barely manage to hold back her power to having more precise control than virtually any other parahuman on the planet. It was the kind of growth without limit that really drove home how powerful my abilities could be when properly combined.

How many powers had come together in that single item? Arcane Craft, obviously, and also Elven Enchantment. Divine Child for magical work, helped by Dwarven Craft and Smithing. Do One Thing at a Time took the level of those skills and doubled them. Engineer helped in the design process and the Micromanipulators improved the quality of my craftsmanship down to a microscopic level. Gadget Master let me reduce a headband-sized focus down to a simple hair clip and Analysis let me ensure a complete lack of defects. Deranged Alchemist had made the magically resonant materials possible, facilitated by my Alchemist's Laboratory and further enhanced by the Skyforge and Volcano. The Volcano in particular had let me apply the magical properties of high grade celestial bronze to the already mythical mithril, and then further enhance the end result with the quality and capacity boost from Lack of Materials. Workaholic enhanced the size, and therefore power of the final product, producing an item with a density of enchantment I never would have been able to manage. It wasn't related to the strength of the item, but Bling of War, Decadence, Stylish Mechanic, Beauty in the Arts, and Tailor Made all improved the appearance of the final product.

Wow, it's no wonder my soul felt like it had run a marathon. I really hope I didn't give Aisha the impression that was the kind of thing I could churn out on a whim.

Still, I needed to actually get up. Even if it was barely 3:30am, I had slept enough that my mind was racing; it was only the weird existential non-corporeal part of me that felt worn out. It was quite reminiscent of all those times I'd have to pull myself out of bed after a terrible night's sleep. Kind of a weird situation of not being comfortable staying in place, but not really wanting to get up either.

Eventually Survey's constant status requests drove me from the covers and I crawled into the shower. The hot water helped with whatever strain my foray into higher level enchanting had caused, as did a steaming mug of perfectly made, natural energy infused Elven enchanted coffee.

The second cup helped even more. I was seeing diminishing returns on the third, but my consumption had momentum behind it at that point, helped by a hastily prepared but still excellent breakfast. By the time I poured my fourth cup I was ready to face the day.

Walking out of my apartment into my early morning workshop only served to pull back the comfortable fog that had kept me from dwelling on the events of the previous day. March was still a massive threat. There would be repercussions for how I handled that call with Alena. I could do nothing to resolve the mess with Taylor except wait for her call and hope I could work things out when I saw her. And the ABB was still a looming problem that I had agreed to avoid.

I reached out to Survey for an update on that particular situation. Rather than provide a digital transmission her avatar appeared on a nearby terminal and began presenting a summary of events.

"There have been reported conflicts involving the ABB, Empire, Merchants, and Coil's forces during the previous night. Lung made an appearance against the Merchants, singlehandedly routing the combined forces of the gang's capes and driving off a Protectorate response force. Several suspected Merchant assets were destroyed in his rampage."

She cut away to display a series of crime scene photos, mostly of burned out buildings in some of the worst parts of the Docks. The Merchants didn't have the most valuable territory in the city, but they still had enough assets to sustain a large gang and fund a tinker. I didn't know if this was a territory grab or some kind of scorched earth tactic.

"Oni Lee was responsible for three targeted bombings within Empire territory. Empire response was delayed or prevented by conflicts with Protectorate forces or independent heroes." There was a photo, no doubt front page for the morning's paper, of Dauntless raining lightning on Fenja and Menja while Miss Militia opened up with a machine gun in the background. It looked like it was taken from some recording system, probably on a PRT trooper, and cleaned up for release. Meaning someone had hunted through a pile of footage to find the shots that cast the Protectorate in the best light.

The fact that the encounter had no captures was evidence that things hadn't gone as well as they would have hoped. That wasn't an unusual turn of events for this city. It seemed most clashes ended with one side slipping away rather than a clear victory, and even the victories seemed to have said cape break out before long.

God, how long has that stalemate been drawn out? And how long have the people of the city just accepted that meaningless and destructive cape fights were part of the background culture?

Sadly, those meaningless and destructive fights were probably responsible for the entirety of Brockton's tourist industry. It sucked if you were living in them, but from a distance the mystique of heroes regularly participating in showdowns against villains drew people to this city. There were cities with stronger Protectorate branches that didn't have cape tourism, mostly because they didn't have the villain presence that let their heroes show off on a regular basis.

Goes to show, even with a shit dynamic people will find a way to make things work.

"Additionally, there have been reported sightings of March…" I refocused my attention on the screen. "Engaging Coil's operatives with the support of unpowered ABB forces."

There wasn't any footage of the encounter, but the reports Survey transferred were interesting enough. Coil's forces rarely took open action and had a reputation for excellence. It seemed whatever coordination they were under was either being compromised by March's power, or the ABB thinker had forced Coil's hand somehow.

The fact that the ABB forces were not mowed down was particularly telling. They didn't get away unbloodied, not if the reports were accurate, but take any rank and file gang member and put them against a trained mercenary with tinker tech and you normally won't even have a contest. From the looks of things this was something of a bloody stalemate, and likely one the ABB could absorb more easily than Coil.

I didn't like staying out of this, but Tattletale was right about the ABB keeping things limited to engagements with other gangs. While I would have loved to swoop in and deal with March the engagement would have been over by the time of the first report, and there was a real chance that my presence would escalate things in a way the city didn't need. The gangs could bleed each other out for a few days while I got a handle on my tech.

I turned towards the screen's video sensor. "Thank you Survey." The A.I.'s avatar made an excited nod, then winked out.

I took a breath and considered my current projects. The A.I.s needed another check-up, plus the scheduling of their parameter expansion. I also needed to check on Tetra. The fibers had been extremely excited about my new physiology, and I wanted to work out those interactions before I got into the field.

Actually, that kind of thing bore my own investigation. The Physical Sciences knowledge from my last power was as comprehensive as Skills: Physics had been. The in-depth understanding of biology presented my best chance for figuring out what the hell had happened to me.

It could also mean a world of difference to the Case 53s that would no doubt be showing up any day now. I really didn't want to have to turn away people desperate for help, and that meant properly diving into biological technology.

After all, it wasn't wet tinkering if you looked at it from a purely research standpoint.

I worked through my coffee as I headed down to the textile area. Apparently one of the duplicates had expanded it to include what could pass for a modest television studio. I watched as Garment demonstrated stitching techniques for invisible seams while Survey managed multiple cameras in what was apparently a live stream with better production value than most edited videos.

A quick check to Garment's Youtube page confirmed she had produced a frankly staggering amount of content since I okayed her sharing media from inside the Workshop. She was putting out more video in a night than most content creators managed in a month.

Checking the comments on one video it seemed people liked the lack of dialogue. Survey added captions to some of the videos, but the majority of it was just quiet workmanship. That was a popular opinion given fan playlists with names like '3 Hours of Zen Sewing' or 'Thread and Fabric Rustle Highlights'.

I was glad Garment had found an outlet, I just hoped this wouldn't cause any problems at a later date.

I waited for her to finish the video while drinking the last of my heavenly coffee. It really did fill that morning spiritual void, no matter what people might say. When she finished Survey directed her to me.

"Nice job on the videos. I saw your channel. It's looking really good." Garment preened slightly, then gestured towards one of the screens Survey was using. The A.I. pulled up a document from Youtube. I took a moment to read it over as well as checking it digitally.

"Uh, that's nice, but I'm pretty sure you need to get your accounts finalized before you can get ad revenue." Garment made a flippant gesture and I got the sense it was more that she was proud about qualifying than actually interested in monetizing her channel. I mean, she didn't really need the income, provided the start up loans could cover her initial expenses. Something to look into later, I suppose.

"I need to check on Tetra again, and deal with the core updates. I thought I'd take care of them at once, if you can help me with that?"

Garment gestured excitedly, then hurried over to hunt for something in her rows of outfits. I had a sinking suspicion regarding what she was going for.

"Yes to the training outfit, no to the barbarian outfit." I called out as sternly as I could manage. Garment wilted slightly, but gestured her agreement. I left her sorting through clothes while I headed up to the Alchemist's Laboratory.

The room had taken a notable shift towards the technical side since I'd last worked there. The lab automatically scaled with my level of skill and knowledge, and the science fiction level chemistry and biology from Skills: Physical Sciences had added a serious amount of high technology. Scanners, synthesizers, incredibly precise lab apparatus, and a host of support systems. It really did look like something out of a science fiction show, complete with touch screens on the terminals.

It was seriously useful for a host of applications, but I couldn't deal with them right now. Fortunately I had other options, meaning 'I' didn't need to be the one to deal with them. I grabbed one of the recently completed duplication potions and downed it in two gulps. The copies stepped out from me and turned around.

"Thanks for taking the potion before Garment put you in whatever getup she had planned." The first said with a smile.

"Yeah, well I thought you'd appreciate that." I assured him.

"Right," the second drawled. "And it had nothing to do with the fact that our twenty percent time is now six minutes long and you were afraid of what we'd get up to if you deliberately annoyed us?"

"I am not going to answer that." I stated impassionedly.

"You don't need to. We're all the same person." The first offered. "Don't worry, there's plenty to keep us occupied."

"Right." I replied as the Forge missed a connection to the Resources and Durability constellation. "What's first?"

"Genetic examination?" The first offered. Between my cybernetics and biotics workshop and the upgrades to the Alchemist's Lab we had all the equipment we needed for an in-depth examination, particularly with my new power for constructing comprehensive scanners.

"Should also upgrade the nanotech lab." The second offered. "Haven't really touched it since before the ABB attacks started, and we're going to need everything we can manage if we're going to take down March."

I nodded. "I'll get Tetra to the computer core and check on the A.I. development." The core would also need to be upgraded soon. It was good enough for the moment, but that was something where 'good enough' didn't really cut it. Too many systems were based on my ability to process data and coordinate work that it was probably the most direct powerup I had. Not enough to chase it with every new power, but a high priority when the general upgrades rolled around again.

"After that we should do some life fiber combat training." The second offered. There was a digital exchange between the duplicates.

"Uh, are you sure you can keep up?" I asked. Maybe if we duplicated the motoroid, but I had been able to throw it around with a much more basic level of life fiber exposure.

The duplicates exchanged a grin, then there was a gray flash and a voice came from behind me.

"I think we can manage it."

I spun to find both of my duplicates smiling at me, and noted the fading gray light around them.

"Aura?" I asked. My mind spun. I had only just started to grasp at that power without using the horrible weapon as a focusing aid. The idea of just pulling it out at will was insane.

"All that stuff we have to dig into to use it properly?" The first said. "Turns out it's a lot easier to deal with if you're not going to be around to dwell on it."

I blinked. That was a grim way of looking at things, but apparently whatever the safeguards were that kept my duplicates from freaking out over their limited existence also let them deal with the identity dependent aspects of Aura more easily.

"Well, that's… great?" I offered meekly.

"Oh, don't be jealous." The second scolded. "Go get your alien parasite with Garment and then we can have a giant superhero martial arts battle on top of the volcano, or something like that."

Okay, there was literally no way a person could stay glum in the face of a statement like that. After giving a quick blood sample for analysis I headed towards the Laboratorium, stopping in the entry hall to change into Garment's chosen workout outfit.

It still could have used a couple of square yards of material, but was decidedly better than advancing the field of Barbarian Chic.

Before I went into the Laboratorium I glanced at the tiny locker containing my wand. I twitched my fingers slightly, remembering the feel of power and comfort from holding that object. I had no idea if I could manage anything more than sparks with it, but I had a magic laboratory now. There was definitely a chance.

I made a note to follow through on that and then trailed Garment into the Laboratorium. The skulls were still working through Bakuda and Leet's technology, though had progressed to a fairly high-level analysis. We were near the point where destructive testing would be the only way to get additional information. Fortunately the items were small enough to be duplicated by my potion, meaning I could just copy them and hopefully tear them apart to my heart's content.

The skulls once again greeted me upon my arrival and I replied through my implant, using the interface protocols I'd learned from the throne supplemented by the intuitive understanding that had come with my new demigod status. It gave the place a much warmer feel than the cavernous architecture would indicate, with older machine spirits overseeing the rudimentary programs in simple tools and managed by the direction of the skulls.

Garment was waiting by the life fiber's stasis field with her gloves raised. I pressed against them and she folded her gloves over my hands. My awareness expanded as I shared Garment's skills, only now I was able to feel the exertion of her power thanks to the Dragon Pulse. As her gown was 'removed' and handed to the same cyber skull as before, who seemed to have now accepted that this was going to be part of its regular duties, I disabled the stasis field around the spool of fibers.

Immediately I could feel the pulses of excitement radiating from Tetra. There was a slight pull from the fibers towards me, gently restrained by Garment's power. Once again Garment wove the fibers into a delicate pattern across my body, holding them just above my skin.

It was interesting experiencing the process while being able to gauge Tetra's reaction to it. I'm not sure if this was a new aspect, perhaps related to my Divine Child power, or if the fibers had always reacted this way and I was only just now aware of it. The point was, the sensation I was getting couldn't have been further from the terrifying sense of desperate consumption that had come from that first unfortunate experiment.

Most of what I was sensing was eagerness. It was that boisterous excitement that you see in children experiencing the world for the first time. Tetra wanted to go and do stuff with me, and beyond that the enthusiasm was fairly general. I don't think the fibers had transitioned fully to sapience yet, but there were definitely complex mental processes going on.

It made sense. From the fibers' perspective every encounter with me had meant food, growth, and new experiences. The only detrimental experience was the exposure to the neural interface, and Survey had been able to mitigate the issues around that while simultaneously strengthening the connection. I was kind of proud of the way I had handled this. Tetra was the first lifeform that the Celestial Forge had produced and I wanted to handle it right.

Once Tetra had been settled in place I bid the Laboratorium goodbye and headed for the throne. Through my implant I received various updates from my duplicates on the status of their projects, assisted by Fleet and Survey. I acknowledged the information and moved to sit on the throne.

The first thing I did was resolve the remaining concerns Survey had from my call the previous day. It wasn't nearly as bad as it had been, but there were still some unanswered questions and less than sound theories being run to explain the severity of the reaction. The process was harder than I thought it would be, basically amounting to 'yes, family has bad reaction, because reasons'. Not the most comprehensive explanation, but good enough to resolve the lingering concerns.

Besides, I really didn't want Survey performing comprehensive analytics on my family dynamics.

Following that I moved to update the parameter expansion of the A.I.s based on new powers I had received. That was less of a concern with the privacy curtain in place, but it served the purpose of staggering their development to allow periods of stabilization rather than unchecked exponential growth. I had seen enough maladaptive strategies in the course of their development to learn how bad an idea that could have been.

After that I dug into the core programs of both A.I.s to assist with optimization issues. They were reaching a point of impressive advancement, but the combination of my skill level, throne, and time powers let me get a handle on the shape of their code and recognize any counterproductive adaptations.

At their level of development there was a genuine sense of relief and gratitude at the optimization of their algorithms. It was tied both to current performance and projected development. That was another important thing. Both Fleet and Survey were aware of their growth, and had real excitement concerning what they would eventually be capable of.

It wasn't anything concerning. No 'rule the world' Wargames or Skynet stuff. Fleet and Survey had broadened from their original purpose, but were still quite focused on the tasks they had been designed and worked to optimize themselves for. Survey wanted more information and analysis, Fleet wanted more vehicles and operation experience. It was a kind of endearing objective. The idea that Fleet could become an S-class self-augmenting A.I. and dominate the world to achieve his end goal; becoming the autopilot and drive assist in every vehicle on the planet.

I think that was the primary reason I had never seriously considered a combat A.I. as one of my projects. There was a difference between someone like Fleet who operated weapons as part of a separate objective, and creating an intelligence only for combat. It might be useful, but there would be a time when you wouldn't need to fight. Do you just explain that the A.I.'s purpose is no longer relevant? It's better to start from another point and broaden into areas than make battle the sole focus of an intelligent creature's life.

On that note, throughout the entire process the life fibers were once again shunted away from their physical state of absolute universe warping power and crammed into a mental space that was fundamentally alien to them. The difference was that this time instead of having to rely on second hand reports of a delayed image of my own brain I could directly feel Tetra's reactions to the process.

From the start Survey and Fleet were making contact and exchanging information. Well, in Fleet's case it was more informing the life fibers what portions of Survey's information deluge could be safely ignored, much to the annoyance of the other program. It proved to be a much less drastic experience than the last time I attempted this, with me providing an emotional link and the A.I.s providing a contextual framework.

By the time I was ready to disconnect, having burned through most of the duplicates' duration, Tetra was remarkably collected and showing signs of increased mental complexity.

Before I disconnected, Survey contacted me directly. "Tetra communicates gratitude for this exercise and wishes to express her desire to be included in further update cycles."

I restrained my surprise as I absorbed the message. "Her?"

There was a sense of gratification from the A.I. as she replied. "I was able to convey the recent development of personal identity and my justifications for my choice."

Which would explain the significant amount of data that Survey had been directing to the life fibers. It was impressive how much information Tetra could absorb, but the real notable thing was Survey's apparent satisfaction at finding someone who would happily entertain presentations of her most detailed analysis.

"She agreed with my assessment of optimal gender expression for prospective personal interactions." Survey concluded with a sense of pride.

"She wanted to be included so followed Survey's lead." Fleet's interjection was unexpected both for its length and the level of insight it provided.

There was also a minor sense of annoyance from Survey, but that was quickly brushed off. It was really interesting how the dynamic between the two, or I suppose three, of them was developing.

"Thank you Survey, and Fleet. Please convey to Tetra that I would be happy to include her from now on…"

I paused my communication as the Celestial Forge made a connection to the Toolkits constellation. The power was called Tool Kit. It gave me a tool kit.

Specifically it gave me a tool kit with a very specific purpose. It was specifically designed to allow the maintenance and modification of Veritech fighters. It was an unusual power, and incredibly specialized, completely useless without an actual Veritech to work on.

Fortunately this power came with a few extras, such as a simple emergency space suit and basic training in the use and operation of Veritechs. For some reason the set also included massively enhanced singing skills as a somewhat mystifying addition. Oh, and we can't forget the VF-2SS Valkyrie II main variable space fighter that just appeared in my Workshop.

Having this happen while connected to my interface was an experience. My computer core was able to track the shifts in my neurons as the operational knowledge and the still mystifying musical skills were downloaded into my brain. I had a slow-motion awareness of the shifts in the composition of the workshop, though no sensors were present in the new area as it appeared. Oh, and I was able to watch the normally sedate Fleet absolutely lose his shit.

Even before I could take a single action Fleet was directing every one of his drones to the new area. There was practically a traffic jam of miniaturized high end race cars as he rushed to see what the Celestial Forge had brought us. It was like a kid running downstairs on Christmas morning, only with more burning rubber.

When the drones reached the new hanger the A.I. became practically inarticulate, barely managing basic communication along the lines of "Go." And "Now.".

I really didn't need much prodding in that department. After a final check I disconnected from the interface throne and rushed towards the new expansion.

The more I thought about this new power the more things were falling into place. Well, not about the singing, that was still incredibly odd. What I meant was this power was the last in an association that had gone back to nearly the start of my cape career. Just like other powers that shared an association, Tool Kit was related to Bling of War, Fingers of Silver, Savvy Sultan, and Ambrosial Artificer. While a lot of those powers had seemed specialized when taken individually, they were coming together to create a more detailed picture.

It was probably the training power that took things over the top. That united stray hints of technology into a cohesive thread that I could follow, follow all the way to the monument that stood in my new workshop bay.

It would have been more impressive without the horde of cars cluttering the floor beneath it. That said, the helicopters actually were a nice touch. I don't know which duplicate built Fleet a set of 1/20 scale Apache attack helicopters, but he certainly seemed to be enjoying them.

The helicopters in question were circling a forty-five-foot-tall robot standing in a dedicated bay just adjacent to the aerospace division of my workshop. It stood, gleaming white and gray with red highlights, but a clear indication in its design of its alternate form. It turned into a space-capable fighter jet.

I had a transforming robot fighter jet. I didn't think it was possible to get something cooler than my F-18, but then the Forge dropped this into my lap.

I turned to see my duplicates rushing in after me. They were supposed to be on their 20% time, but had clearly aborted their personal projects for a chance to see the Veritech fighter. The exact nature of those 20% time projects was as concerning as ever, given the first duplicate had splatters of cooling molten gold across his clothes like a Jackson Pollock painting and the second was missing his left shoe for some unknown reason.

Survey had no explanation for me, but happily deployed drones to reassess the Workshop.

"We have a transforming robot fighter jet." The second said, looking up at the absolute beast of a machine. I returned his grin alongside the other duplicate and moved forward, stepping over the traffic jam of miniature high-end race and sports cars.

"I guess this means we don't need to do anything drastic to the F-18." I pressed a hand against the robot's chassis. I could feel the technology inside, not just from the familiarity granted by the set of related powers, but through my new innate connection to all things technical. I had a fundamental understanding of the technology. Honestly, I probably didn't even need that operation power to fly this. I could probably handle any vehicle on the planet to its peak level with this kind of insight.

"Thank goodness." The first replied. "Hey, when we got that jet did you ever think it would end up like a collector's project rather than a military asset?"

"What, tinker with it in our spare time, keep it pristine and only take it out on holidays and when we're going to car shows?"

I grinned at the second as one of the cars pushed its way to the front of the pack. Its headlights lit up, causing a hologram of Fleet's avatar to materialize next to me. Once again, not sure which duplicate was behind that, but it was a nice touch.

The hologram mimed the action of looking reverently over the newest addition to the workshop, then turned towards me.

"When are you installing the A.I. control system?" There was a pause, then he continued in a hopeful voice. "You are going to install an A.I. control system?"

"Of course we are." The gold splattered duplicate assured him.

"Yeah." Echoed the second. "We just need to get a look at the internals first."

I nodded. "You're getting that sense right? Now that all this is together?"

"Definitely." The second replied. "Just like the Engineer gear. Hybrid tech. Part human part alien."

The first laid his own hand on the robot. "Is it just me or does this feel kind of military-industrial?" He asked.

I looked over the vehicle, my Analysis power screaming at me regarding every design and manufacturing defect. "You mean that sense that it was built in the shortest timeframe by the lowest bidder?"

"That's it." The second echoed. "Stuff like this showing up has to be multi-universal effects, it's just the detail doesn't really line up with multiverse theory."

"Yeah." I admitted. I had been quick to assure Aisha, but the truth was a lot of this made zero sense. Still, zero sense was better than the negative sense necessary for the idea that I was pulling stuff from cartoons and young adult fiction.

I found the jet's interface frequencies and opened the cockpit. A quick look inside showed there was a simple enough modification to the autopilot that would make it able to load a remote copy of Fleet. The A.I. quickly tested the range of motion before shifting through Guardian and Jet modes before returning to robot form.

"Okay," The first duplicate called from the ground. "Definitely some disparate technology at work."

I checked his image in the robot's sensors and sent an inquiry through my implant. He just smiled and tilted the newly built visor.

"Thought we should actually have some tactical use for the new Analysis sensor, so we finally updated the visor." I looked at the image of my duplicate standing there with a rebuilt portion of my costume. He provided a sensor feed, and it was actually a fairly impressive range of information, something I had badly needed for a long time. I just had one question.

"Why does it look so angry?" I asked.

"It's not angry." The duplicate defended. "It's angular."

"Right." I drawled. "It's clearly more aggressively shaped. Is there any reason for trying to make us look more villainous?"

The duplicates just sighed. "Aura."

My stomach fell, but the second raised his hands in placation before I could respond.

"Look, there are protectorate heroes with edgier elements to their costumes. This works with the previous design, and frankly it might be the only way to stop Garment from pushing for a complete redesign."

A slight tug from the Gloves on my hands suggested that would be a temporary reprieve at best.

I wanted to argue more, but damn it they were probably right. I could see from the data that it was an excellent scanner, something I'd needed on a personal scale for ages.

I didn't even have to ask about Aura. Just from looking at the thing I could tell it was more inline with the type of personal expression that made Aura easier to work. I didn't have my duplicates' advantage of being able to dive into everything I held back and take refuge in the fact that I wouldn't have to deal with anything that got dredged up.

I sent a reluctant acceptance of the idea. I didn't like it, but the world was legitimately at stake. I could deal with some uncomfortable costume elements for that.

"Hey," The second called. "Do you think we could get this thing into the Laboratorium? It might be able to drive home that whole multi-tech question."

It turned out the answer was yes, provided you had three people modifying doorways with Alkahestry and an intelligent A.I. willing to navigate a meandering route to one of the Laboratorium's larger entrances, back towards the scanning bays clearly designed for vehicles. The process wasn't exactly fast, and did burn through the last of my duplicates' duration, but we got there.

It was always a little off putting seeing the duplicates disappear in front of me, which made the fact that they were usually off on their own projects something of a blessing. When they vanished so did every item they had duplicated, meaning the gold splatter and visor dropped to the ground when the first duplicate vanished, and the disappearance of the second duplicate also took his missing shoe with him.

I wonder if that piece of footwear suddenly vanishing had anything to do with the sudden calamitous settling of machinery in the automotive manufacturing area of my workshop that happened at the exact same time? Probably, but not something I could get into as I was coordinating transporting the Veritech to the Laboratorium.

At this point I should probably be used to the impromptu celebrations from the skulls and systems of my Laboratorium, but this was the first time I had experienced it with my new technokinesis. And apparently the first time I had brought a religious icon.

It seemed my Laboratorium really liked large complicated machinery, especially if it was human shaped. There was something about a machine in human form that hit all kinds reverent notes for the skulls and machine spirits. When they found out Fleet was piloting it things jumped to a whole new level as they rushed to greet the new 'Questor Imperialis'.

They quickly assisted in preparing one of the largest scanning bays for the Veritech while I assured the older machine spirits that I did not know what Knightly House the robot belonged to. Fleet moved the robot with dignified deference as he stepped into the bay and took position under the sensors. Once the initial scans came in I got a proper look at what was happening with this technology.

The scanner from my Analysis power was wonderful when it came to providing a detailed picture of something's physical makeup and tracking any magical energy at play, but its effects stopped there. It didn't actually have the capacity to process the information it collected. That was an area where the Laboratorium excelled, and I was reaping the benefits now.

The Veritech was clearly the result of two different technology bases. One was clearly human, and I'm not counting a quarter for that because that's exactly what it was. There was evidence of design elements and computer structures that were in use today. The other technology was substantially different, and it was like a handful of principles had been identified and grafted over the human technology.

This 'Over Technology' included a kind of energetic armor that took waste energy from the engines and used it to strengthen the fighter's fuselage. This was also the technology that got around the structural limitations of building a robot on this scale. There was also a set of high-power quick response motors facilitating the fighter's transformation and mobility in humanoid form. There was more evidence of the advanced technology in the Veritech's computer and weapon systems, but all of that paled in comparison to the vehicle's power core.

In jet-mode the Veritech looked like a conventional aircraft, but that was only skin deep. The thrust was provided by a pair of thermonuclear turbine reaction engines. I could not overstate the significance of this discovery. With the breadth of my technological knowledge I had more than a dozen ways of building a fusion engine, but none of them approached something like this. That was because, unlike every other kind of fusion engine, this didn't require reactive materials as fuel.

The engine had a coil of dimensionally-altered 'folded' carbon that allowed the generation of a heavy quantum effect that manipulated a plasma stream through super dimension spatial effects. The principles had been hinted through my related powers, but it was only through the full scope of what I'd obtained from the forge that I could properly understand the effect.

By using super dimension spatial manipulation the engine could induce pair-annihilation of mundane elements with no residual materials. It was beyond perfect nuclear fusion, generating nothing but energy, and it was used in a jet engine.

Well, currently used in a jet engine. I could already see the applications of this technology, from FTL systems to power generation to weapons of incredible power. It was an entire new field that I'd been skimming along, but finally opened up when I had a real example of the technology to examine.

The Laboratorium was excited about the discoveries, but they had more pressing concerns. Namely that the robot was naked.

Well, naked by their standards. From what I could tell, they regarded a machine like this with an armament of only one pair of anti-aircraft lasers as the equivalent of going out with a hand towel wrapped around your waist. I had to repeatedly assure the skulls and machine spirits that I would be increasing the amount of installed weaponry. And that no, I still did not know which Knightly House the Veritech belonged to.

The subject of redesigns also brought about action from more specialized skulls. Of course they insisted on applying another wax seal to the robot, but apparently there were a host of other banners, tabards, and accoutrements that they deemed necessary.

I beat a hasty retreat before Garment could start providing input on that particular project. If she decided that robot fashion was now a thing I didn't even want to imagine what the end result could be.

I downed another potion as the Forge missed the Magitech constellation. My duplicates looked down at their abbreviated training outfits, but didn't comment on them. Instead we took a moment to settle tasks and review updates from the previous duplicates. That lead to a rather perplexing set of results.

"What the hell am I looking at here?" It was more of a general inquiry since neither duplicate had any additional insight.

"Uh, well, it does seem like we still have a fully human genome, just with, you know, extra stuff." The first duplicate highlighted the results of the gene sequencing.

The 'extra stuff' he was referring to was some kind of metaphysical component to my genotype, apparently stapled on as a complete addition to my previous genetics. There was a physical manifestation of it as some kind of component of my blood, a kind of divine ichor that now represented a significant portion of my biology.

"So what does this mean in terms of genealogy?" I asked.

"Well, we could be whole human and half god, so you know, one hundred and fifty percent there. Or it could be a half god stapled on top of who we were before." The second offered.

"Wait," the first asked. "Wouldn't that mean that we are technically the child of Hephaestus and… our previous self? I mean, it doesn't look like we lost any genetic material, so how does the parentage work out?"

We shared a long glance between us before the second said what we were all thinking.

"So, everyone in favor of completely ignoring these questions?"

"God yes."

"Seriously."

"Not like it makes an actual difference."

"Right." I said. "Putting uncomfortable questions behind us, what's next?"

The second checked the master list with his implant. "Aisha's armor, Aisha's training, key equipment upgrades, which now include the Veritech upgrade work. Research on new technology, including stuff from Physical Sciences and that Overtechnology. Oh, and with Setup Wizard we can now use Elven Enchantment to enhance technical components."

"Interestingly, if we just use the first level it only counts as magic during the enchantment process, after that it's just a highly perfected product, so good to know for any potential magical interaction."

I nodded at the first. "Alright. What should I handle?"

They shared a look. "You should go train."

I blinked. "What, again?"

"It's not like we can be too prepared, and this other stuff is all busy work." The second interjected. "Also, if the divine aspects are going to interact with Tetra we need to know before we end up finding out mid-combat."

"You're also tying up Garment, so if you're not going to train it's not really fair to her." The first gestured to the gloves, but a slight tug suggested there weren't any ill feelings.

"Right," I conceded. "So general physical training again?"

"Well…" The second drew out the word. "We do have that volcano, and the active lava flows. And I know we've been thinking about it."

I wilted slightly. The thought had occurred to me, but I passed it off and assumed that some duplicate would probably try it during their 20% time. With both staring down at me I couldn't really deny the appeal of the concept. I relented under their gaze. It probably wouldn't be that awesome anyway.

I was wrong. There was nothing more awesome than this.

If I tried it with conventional materials there might have been some issues, but in addition to its other properties mithril was nearly frictionless when properly polished. A slight adamantium enhancement was enough to more than survive the heat exposure without any build up. Any lack of skill at the task was made up for by Do One Thing at a Time and the physical enhancement of my life fibers.

Seriously, it was the best time of my life. Something normal people could only dream of. I shifted slightly, and the mithril board turned lightly skimming over the thickly flowing liquid. The slope wasn't that extreme in most places, but there were points where I could shift between flows. After spending the duration of multiple duplicates, running back to the lab to refresh them between runs, I was familiar with the best routes. Still, that didn't make it any less exhilarating.

I kicked off a cooler patch, launching into the air along with a spray of rapidly cooling lava. The way my reflexes were enhanced meant I could perfectly control my descent as I guided the board back into the flow. There was a whole art to following areas of higher temperature based on the viscosity of the flow, something my demigod senses helped with immensely.

Tetra was also enjoying herself. I was still maintaining the nanite activation as a safety measure, but the drain was nothing like before and she seemed to be getting substantially more out of the connection. I leaned into a curve, sending a wave of lava against the side of the volcano before shifting for a straight run down to the Skyforge.

That was the best return route, and the most stable channel, though when it came to lava surfing down an active volcano 'stable' was a relative term. I kicked the board up just before reaching the Skyforge and was able to completely clear the eagle statue before landing on the platform.

At my signal Garment held off the life fibers and I shot towards the table. The drain might not have been as bad, but my appetite had expanded to a tremendous level. That might be a side effect of the divine thing. Classical gods weren't known for their temperance. Still, I was powering through a quantity of food that would have shocked and disgusted me if I hadn't become acclimated to this kind of experience.

It was the last run down the volcano, at least for this morning. I had other things to manage, things I couldn't hand off to my duplicates. I got a final check from the duplicates before they began their 20% time, then returned Tetra with thanks, had Garment disengage, and left to get myself ready.

Returning Tetra was an almost non-event. Whatever resistance the life fibers had to being separated from me was no longer based on that ravenous instinct. In fact, it was more like a lingering hug that Garment slowly peeled them away from. The whole thing was endearing, and I considered if I could manage working with Tetra without Garment on 'hand' so to speak. Just standing by might be enough to moderate things.

I finished getting showered and dressed just as my duplicates finished their 20% time, and it seemed at least one of them spent it working to add better lava surfing routes to the mountain. I smiled at that, but I had unfinished business from the previous day to get ahead of.

That's what led to me downing an invisibility potion, sealing the workshop, and slipping out my apartment. It was finally late enough in the day for people to consider it 'morning' rather than an extension of the previous night. That said, there was something creepy about a pre-six am city when you weren't seeing it through a haze of either recent or badly needed sleep.

I hurried through the streets towards the abandoned bakery's garage. A quick check confirmed nothing had been disturbed, so I slipped inside and opened my workshop before turning my attention back to the truck.

It looked nice. Way too nice. I needed to do something to get it into a shape that was believable for a night of work rather than what was effectively the complete rebuild and detailing that had actually happened. To that effect I retrieved the array of grease, dirty water, and other various supplies to facilitate my desperate disguise attempt.

It was actually more work getting the truck to look realistically run down than it had been to fix it, and I felt like I was basically dressing it up in makeup. The end result still had an inescapable rustic charm and looked like it had rolled out of an old cigarette commercial, but it could at least pass for a realistic product of human labor.

I took another moment to set up the garage to look like it had seen a night of work, sealed my workshop, and checked the time. Around six was a bit early, but I could leave a message, and beside Doug seemed like the kind of person who embraced the insanity of early mornings that my power had forced me into.

The call rang eight times before a groggy voice answered.

"Uh, hello? Joe?"

"Hi Doug." I did my best to sound tired. What I didn't feel in physical exhaustion I conveyed through mental stress and that lingering soul strain from my work on Aisha's focus. "Got an update on the truck."

"Jesus kid," There was a rustling sound before he continued. "You didn't pull an alnigher on this, did you?"

"No, no. I got it mostly squared away last night. I just came into double check things"

"Right." I wasn't sure he completely believed me. "So, how bad is it?"

"Well," I said with a heavy breath. "I got it running. It should be fine for a while if nobody messes with it."

"Seriously?"

"I've got everything set up. Just wanted to let you know."

"My God. Joe, you don't know what this is going to mean for Drew. Mrs. Gartenberg's going to be beside herself. We really owe you for this."

"Don't mention it." I really meant that. There was nothing tinker level about the work, but if someone looked too closely things might not line up perfectly.

"Seriously, thank you. We'll talk the next time you stop by the gym." I swallowed. That could be a problem. I could just barely hide my new build when it was nothing but excessive muscle tone. The broadening from Divine Child combined with further training meant baggy clothes wouldn't be enough. I would need serious concealment technology.

"No problem." I replied. "Not sure if I can get in today…"

"Don't worry about it." He assured me. "You just rest up. I'll be in for the truck later. Thanks again. I mean it."

"Yeah. I hope it all works out."

"We all do Joe. Take care of yourself."

I ended the call and let out a breath. Well, that was one loose end tied up. Now I just had about a dozen projects, including research into an entire new field of technology, plus potentially a whole day of waiting around for Taylor to contact me. At least I could head back to my apartment without the invisibility potion this time.

The sun was rising while I walked back to my apartment, banishing the remains of the twilight I had found myself in when I headed out. It still felt too damn early despite the fact that I had been up for hours. There was just no way around that. With One Thing at a Time I wasn't just a morning person, I was a crazy super morning person who completed projects before sane people had even put on the coffee.

They say power always comes at a cost. I just never thought it would be this drastic.

I was back in my apartment opening the Workshop again when I felt the Celestial Forge connect to a mote from the Quality constellation. Lathe of Heaven, a rather grandiose name for a power centered in equipment crafting and material enhancement.

Not to be flippant. It was an incredible power. It may actually rival Dwarven Craft in the level of skill it represented. The power covered masterful creation of all personal equipment. Even more advanced items like guns were included.

The crazy thing was that in addition to armor it included small items, charms, jewelry, sunglasses, that could be crafted with such perfection that they could actually have an enhancive effect, boosting strength, endurance, accuracy, efficiency of energy or adding layers of protection. It would have been amazing on its own, but when combined with my other skills and resources it reached an entire new level.

That was because the power also included an incredible mastery of the materials used in any craftwork, letting me enhance them beyond what should be possible. I could use normal bone to make a sword that would outperform steel or shape gold in such a way that it would be more durable than titanium. When using the metals and alloys I had access to I would be able to create some truly wondrous items.

Which also meant more projects. At least this would mostly be limited to my equipment. The materials work would be useful in my vehicles and industrial applications, but that could wait for the moment. I hurried to my Alchemist's Lab to down another duplication potion.

With potion duration at 30 minutes it was an easy method of time keeping. At a rate of two potions per hour the morning dripped by. Even with my time powers and two assistants there wasn't any lack of things to do. Particularly I had research to review as well as mounting avenues of crafting to carry through with.

It was kind of a situation where the more I did the more I realized I needed to do. The Veritech needed a more complete rebuild than what I had planned for the F-18, while the F-18 was being restored to classic if technically more advanced form during my duplicates' 20% time. I had an entire field of super dimension spatial theory to be explored and developed. Fold Carbon wasn't an easy material to work with or duplicate, even with my skill level. It didn't fully exist within the material universe, much like that paired lithium that was an aspect of Skills: Physics.

If I could get a handle on it the result would be infinite power that didn't require call beads or exotic fuel, and potential applications beyond most of my current technology. As such a good amount of the morning was allocated to research on that topic.

Well, reviewing the results of research. My duplicates still had an opposition to me partaking in scut work, so I continued training, practice, and other work that would yield real results while my duplicates crafted and conducted experiments.

I was left with the regrettable task of figuring out how I was going to manage cybernetic brain surgery. A summary of online reactions to my latest appearance only cemented the fact that the Slaughterhouse Nine would be here at some point. I needed to upgrade my implant, which meant I needed to be able to handle the surgery.

I spent a great deal of time on the throne blazing through medical books and theoretical scenarios. It gave me a great deal of context, but did nothing to settle my doubts about the entire endeavor. At the end of the day I was still cutting into my own brain. Well, realistically it would be one of my duplicates, but that barely made things any better. Even the expanded biological knowledge from Alkahestry and Skills: Physical Science didn't feel like enough for something like this. I mean, it was my brain after all.

I was probably on edge due to the fact that I was stuck waiting for Taylor's call. The morning was blazing by, well it was actually barely nine o'clock, but it felt like it was blazing by, and I hadn't heard anything. This meeting was something I'd been dreading even without the anticipation caused by the impending call. Letting it drag out was just getting to me, my duplicates and even my A.I.s.

When a call finally came I almost lept out of my skin, only to immediately reassess things when I realized who it was. I prayed this wasn't another disaster as I answered the call.

"Hello Aisha."

"You went lava surfing without me?" Her voice came from the image of the girl on the omni-tool display. The omni-watch I'd given her had video conferencing technology that she seemed to have taken to well.

"…Survey told you about that?" A quick check with the A.I. confirmed that was the case, along with a significant amount of other updates that had been provided. I would really need to talk to her about data access limitations.

"Yep, showed me the videos too." Aisha smiled. "Didn't know you could shred like that."

I felt my cheeks heat up when I remembered my behavior during that particular excursion. "That was due to special circumstances."

"Those 'circumstances' about that red stuff? That's from the Uber and Leet video, right? I never asked about that."

Honestly I was a little grateful for that. Yesterday had been full enough without getting into Tetra's nature with Aisha.

"That's right." I admitted. "It's a little complicated. I can explain it the next time you're over." Though hopefully I could avoid having to explain the Laboratorium along with it.

"Great." She grinned. "Any update on when I get my cape debut?"

I confirmed that Survey had at least checked for eavesdroppers and listening devices before making this call. That was a relief, but it seemed Aisha had been playing with the omni-tool like a new cell phone. There was already a terrifying amount of ripped music on the device and a growing media library. Oh, and the maximum display size for the tool turned out to be slightly bigger than her home tv.

I backed off before this turned from a security consultation into an invasion of privacy.

"Not for a while." Her face dropped at my news.

"Really?" She asked in a disappointed tone.

"Unfortunately." I replied. "It'll take at least a day before I have your hard suit ready, not to mention other equipment. Then I need to make sure you can handle it, because even with A.I. support there's going to be a lot of power behind it."

"A… day?" She said. "Right, power armor in a day."

"It's the best I can do." I replied. "Maybe sooner if I dropped everything, but there are too many projects…"

"No, a day is fine." She was holding back a smile. "I can wait out a day."

I nodded. "I've got some meetings with the Undersiders over the next couple of days, but I'll make sure to keep you up to date on progress and any developments in the city."

"Right, that's great." She glanced off at something. "Oh, Survey's been great, a real super help. Like seriously, thank you for this thing." She paused. "And for the hair clip. It's been a dream. Even comfortable to sleep in, didn't snag or come off or anything."

Well, not idly does craftwork such as that fall. "Don't mention it." I replied. "Just be careful."

"I will. Uh, check in later, and maybe lava surfing?" Her tone was light but she replied quickly.

"Not without that hard suit." That just made her smile wider as she waved through the display and closed the call.

I sighed. It was nice to know Aisha was holding up well and the hairpin was helping. There hadn't been even a hint of effort at containing her power. It was just that I still had to sit around and wait for Taylor. It was kind of infuriating how much this was bothering me.

The more time I had to dwell on it the worse it got. Really I just wanted this entire issue to vanish. It was too close to my past mistakes and was horrific in what it implied. I was just grateful Taylor knew it was a misunderstanding.

Huh. I probably had Tattletale to thank for clearing up that misconception. I guess I owed Lisa for that.

The problem was only made worse when I generated my next set of duplicates. They shared a glance before stepping in.

"Okay, seriously, you need something to take your mind off this, if just to get our minds off this." The first insisted.

I took a deep breath. "Well, I'm open to suggestions." Honestly, I didn't know what would be able to take my mind off of this mess.

The second raised a hand to his chin. "You know, we never had that giant superhero martial arts battle on top of the volcano."

…Okay, that might do it.

It wasn't something we could launch into right away. There was prep work on both sides. I worked with Garment to retrieve Tetra, though this time with her standing by rather than being worn. The result was a constant and very energetic reaction from the life fibers, but not an overpowering one. I still had the nanites activated, but I had a considerable grace period before the feeling of being drained really set in.

The setting of the stage was left to my duplicates, and turned out not to be so much on top of the volcano as in a cavernous hall that had been created with the help of Alkahestry. It was basically a mix between a gymnasium and a gladiatorial arena.

The place wasn't wonderfully lit, though I think that was intentional to draw attention to the glowing veins of lava behind the walls. I can tell you that would be a nightmare to set up, and probably would have been impossible without the help of my recent Physical Sciences power and the innate connection to the volcano that came with Divine Child.

The audience consisted of Garment and a single survey drone. Then one of my duplicates moved to have a word with the drone, and it began projecting a hologram of her avatar. Many times over. Soon it was joined by Fleet, packing the stands with copies of my A.I.s. Survey was cheering a lot more naturally than Fleet, who seemed to be running all of his duplicates on a continuous loop of about five different gestures.

I stepped out into the arena and faced down my duplicates. They stared back at me from across the hastily constructed but still immaculate battlefield.

"Alright, just to be clear, we're not expecting any actual damage here, right?" I asked my 'opponents'.

"God no." The first replied. "Enchanted volcano-wrought skyforged mithril adamantium with Juggernaut backing it up? I think we're going to be all right."

"Yeah, not that it really matters for us, but we've got a bit more durability since the enhancement from Lack of Materials, so we're good for whatever handheld weapons can put out." The second quipped.

I nodded. "So, just training?"

"That, and we wanted to try these out." With a glance between them each duplicate drew a pair of mass effect pistols, the ones that had been duplicated when the first complete rebuild was conducted. With mine they made the five created by Workaholic.

"So, blade vs blade?" I asked.

"It's more elemental than that."

It didn't take long to get the pun. I could already see the runes on the weapons. Specifically, the very different runes from what I used.

The first deployed his weapons into a pair of omni-blades, one with excessively flowy shape and the second with angular serrations. The reason for the design was clear as they surged with water and flashed with electricity respectively.

The second repeated the maneuver, only he had one excessively heavy blade and a second that curved in a series of angry arches. When his runes deployed his blades were wreathed in a cloud of scree and a layer of flame that was nearly painful to look at.

I took a moment to appreciate the showmanship before drawing my own pistol. As I deployed the omni-blade it hummed with wind magic, but was also accompanied by the projection structures I had incorporated from Leet's sword. With a flash a wide blade of plasma extended from the edges of the sword. I shifted to a two-handed grip and took a low stance.

It was ridiculous. The showdown was entirely fabricated and I loved it. I really needed to do more training like this. So many ideas that had been set aside were just waiting to be tried out here, and in an environment that was safer than any boxing ring.

A fluttering drew my attention and I turned to see Garment holding up a red scarf. With a flourish she cast it to the ground. As soon as the length of fabric touched the ground we all knew what it meant.

We all had the same base condition. I was running life fibers at an insane level, but my duplicates could use their auras more easily thanks to that whole 'not having to actually deal with things' advantage that came with a sub-hourly lifespan. The result was a clash between two very different but intensely powerful enhancement techniques.

Life fibers were stronger than what Aura was capable of, but that didn't mean the duplicates were pushovers. The way they moved under Aura's enhancement was excessive even compared to the physics defying aspects of life fiber enhancement. It was like they launched themselves with no reactive force or even directional movement. It was like their Aura served to drag them in the direction they wanted to go, rather than actually enhancing their bodies.

There was also the little aspect that none of us were even trying to defend. Everyone had the same enhanced shinpad reinforcing their clothes and body. Our weapons were good, but materials defense had lapped offense at some point. Beyond exotic effects nothing was punching through.

That didn't mean we weren't trying. One of the duplicates had written a point system that was running on our implants charting every decent hit, driving us to throw everything we had into the fight.

Wide sweeps from my blade sent arcs of energetic plasma at my duplicates faster than they could dodge. At the same time electricity and fire rained at me. Then they shifted so one closed while the other fought from afar. I quickly realized the effectiveness of that, as well as the frustration of fighting someone with my own level of elemental mastery.

The first duplicate was combining elemental effects into something approaching full weather control, basically an interior thunderstorm that had me trying and mostly failing to dodge lightning bolts while still sparring with the second. Shifting from the second to try to end the elemental onslaught quickly reminded me what happens when you mix fire and earth.

I was honestly fighting a volcano and a thunderstorm at the same time while wielding a plasma sword the same size as myself and being cheered on by a room full of holograms. There are times I really love my life.

Even with the exotic elemental attacks Tetra's power wasn't to be underestimated. Repeated screaming arcs of plasma scattered lava and storm clouds, clearing a path for me to charge in. I jinked between blasts of fire and ducked in for a devastating swipe against the second duplicate.

That's when I saw the five throwing knives bury themselves in the ground around me. At the edge of the arena the first duplicate grinned at me with his hand on a hastily drawn pentacle.

The volcanic rock beneath my feet exploded upward in a hand the size of a watchtower. Black stone fingers closed around me in a crushing grip and I pressed against them with all my might. I panted for breath and focused on the dragon pulse, both the energy transmuting the hand and the cycle of chi between me and Tetra.

With a creak of stone the fingers closed tighter. And the fibers burned brighter. The closing of the hand stopped. Then there was the sound of stone beginning to fracture.

Then my implant announced I was receiving a call.

The entire room went dead still.

That lasted barely a breath before everyone exploded into motion. The alchemically transmuted hand split open and I dropped onto the ground. Garment was rushing towards me, already peeling Tetra away from my body. The energy of the fibers left and I pushed back the mounting hunger as I drew up my omni-tool. In the background duplicates scrambled to put out fires and halt any progressive effects that could give the situation away.

I took a deep breath, decided things were good enough, and answered the call.

"Hello?" The entire arena was as quiet as a church.

"Hi, Joe" Taylor's voice came through the line. "It's Taylor. I think Lisa said I would be calling. Uh, I didn't catch you at a bad time, did I?"

Behind me the second duplicate dumped rubble onto an unusually persistent magical fire. I edged away from a bubbling pool of lava formed by a badly aimed attack as I responded.

"No, perfect timing, really." I watched another blob of scattered lava slowly descend from the ceiling like a drop of molasses.

"Uh, great. Okay." I heard her take a breath. "Look, I wanted to talk to you about that stuff. The stuff online."

"Right." I stumbled trying to figure out how to proceed. "We should sort that out."

I hated the words even as they left my mouth.

"Right." She echoed. "Okay, uh, it's probably best to meet face to face, right?"

"Right." I answered lamely. God I hated this.

"So, I was thinking…" Please don't be a restaurant. Or a coffee place. Or a park. Or… okay, I had no idea where it was appropriate to meet a teenage girl. "…we could meet at the library."

"The library?"

"The central one? Downtown? They have reading rooms, so if we go at like two o'clock there should be one free?"

"Right. I mean, great. We can do that." I swear, I'm blaming all of this awkwardness on the combat being interrupted and assuming I would be fine otherwise. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. "I'll head down early and get set up. I can text you the details?" Because my God did I not want this conversation to go on longer.

Wait, that was the whole point of this, right? Okay, fuck my life.

"Sure. Great. I mean, alright. I'll see you there."

There was a pause where we both stood there with the line open before I bit the bullet, said goodbye and hung up.

I sagged in the aftermath of the call as my duplicates approached me sympathetically.

"Hey, it's set. That's better, right?" The first offered.

I sighed. "I guess."

"Come on." The second said. "Let's try to get ready for this."

Right. I put this behind me and I could actually go online without fear, meaning I might actually be able to do something about this insanity around my cape identity, meaning I might actually be able to fix things for once.

Alright, wishful thinking is great. I just needed to focus on dealing with the current mess, then I could start tackling everything else I'd put my foot in.

It was the kind of thing that made me miss the times when I could just hide in the workshop.

---

Addendum Youth Guard

Youth Guard Notations – Wards ENE

April 19, 2011

Director Piggot has complied with the terms of the Youth Guard investigation, including the assignment of a temporary oversight officer. While all policies are being followed they have been consistently precisely limited to the exact terms of what is required by protocol. Given the situation in the city this may be somewhat understandable, but additional cooperation would be advisable to facilitate a non-hostile relationship. Barring that the transfer of Ward oversight to return to the Protectorate would be advisable.

The Case 53 Weld has been reinstated in a leadership position following an extended period of holding in medical observation. A gag order has been issued for several matters regarding ongoing investigations, but requests to restrict his communication privileges have been opposed and rejected. He had been given full license to contact other individuals while under observation by a member of the Protectorate or PRT representative. This policy was opposed under right to privacy, but it is within the purview of the PRT director.

Following an incident of excessive shift work Vista has been returned home on 24 hours leave. Evaluation of staffing records show either consistent excessive duty shifts or errors in record keeping going back several years. Records sent to Youth Guard headquarters for analysis. A period of leave may be necessary to meet downtime requirements.

Shadow Stalker has been continually evasive regarding details of her patrols, probation and civilian life. Repeatedly she defers to Agent Simmons, her PRT representative. Agent Simmons has been similarly evasive in providing records of Shadow Stalker's oversight. Ongoing recommendation is for the Youth Guard to act as a secondary representative in all matters regarding Shadow Stalker's treatment and conduct, as well as official access to all relevant records, effective immediately.

During her latest interview Flechette has raised the possibility that the villain March may have followed her from New York with the intention of pursuing a direct conflict. She also confessed doubt as to the PRT's evaluation of March's abilities and perceived threat within the ABB. These issues will be raised with Director Piggot at the next Youth Guard debrief.

The Youth Guard will be present as an observer during the meeting between Panacea and Lightstar to be conducted later today. This will be a primarily support role in accordance with master/stranger evaluation procedures. Additionally there are issues regarding the use of parahuman powers from a minor in promotional and charity capacities. If Panacea has been operating as a member of New Wave during her healing activities then the level of compensation owed to her under child labor statutes would be substantial. No evidence of the creation or maintenance of such a trust can be found. A clarification of Panacea's status within New Wave and the extent and nature of her charitable work should be conducted at the earliest opportunity.

Melissa Garrick

Youth Guard Representative

PRT ENE

Jumpchain abilities this chapter:

Tool Kit (Macross) 100:

Woah now, Sonny Jim! You don't expect to fix that machine with your bare fingers, do you? Don't go anywhere without the equipment you need to make sure that tech keeps on trucking! A handy dandy set of tools to accommodate for maintaining Variable Fighters. This will make things easier if you want to keep things in shape or just want to poke around and see what's inside!

Serene Sinatra (Macross) Free:

You're no slouch in the singing department, that's for sure. You may not be popular idol material, but no one's going to complain if you decide to sing along to a song or randomly bust out a tune with a voice like this. Who knows, maybe you could practice and get a little better?

Basic Training (Macross) Free:

Piloting a Variable Fighter can be pretty complex. There's all kinds of modes and maneuvers to worry about... with this, you won't have to worry so much. You'll know which button does what, and you won't end up turning into a mech when you need a jet. ...but I reserve the right to laugh if you mess up anyway

Space Suit (Macross) Free:

A futuristic, spandex space suit that will let you survive for 20 minutes in deep space. It's really more in case your vehicle gets stranded, but otherwise it's pretty darn cool looking.

Basic Variable Fighter (Macross) Free:

Your good ol' Fisher Price Veritechs! They may be the beginning, but they're classics and were the groundwork for future generations. Editions like the VF-1A Valkyrie (or its other variants), the YF-4, VF-2SS or the VF-4 Lightning III are made available for your stay here. It can transform in the atmosphere and operate in space, but it cannot reach escape velocity on its own. Comes with basic armaments and like all Variable Fighters can transform into a Jet, a Mech, or a 'middle' form called Guardian Mode.

Lathe of Heaven (Chrono Trigger) 400:

We're always going to need weapons, so the way I see it, you might as well get good at making them. Now? You'll be able to give old man Melchior a run for his money. Swords, guns, armor, even sunglasses - if it's worn or wielded, you can make it a masterpiece. You'll also learn how to make use of any material, bringing out its best qualities and minimizing its weaknesses. You could make bone sharper than steel, gold sturdier than titanium, and take a legendary material nobody's ever seen before, and figure out how to forge it, what to alloy it with, and how to craft that alloy into an impossibly sharp sword or some amazing shades.