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.

42. 35-1 Interlude Dragon -Addendum Margaret

35.1 Interlude Dragon

Dragon piloted the Tiamat recovery unit into its docking cradle in her Vancouver facility. The suit wasn't designed for rapid deployment, but could handle longer excursions than many of her other options. It also had her widest range of non-lethal ordinance installed, which presented her best opportunity for dealing with one of the more persistent issues in the aftermath of the Cape Blackout.

Unfortunately, that had been a fruitless endeavor. If Butcher was that easy to contain someone would have managed it years ago. No serious attempts had been made since Butcher III decided to use lethal force, before the details of the transfer were fully known. The hero had gone mad with the voice of two villains trapped in his head.

Dragon often wondered what would happen if she found herself responsible for the death of a Butcher iteration. She was programmed to prioritize human life, but not to the extent that it would prevent all expressions of lethal force. There were scenarios where her hand could be responsible for the death of a Butcher.

What would happen then? Would the Butcher try to connect to her deceased father, her creator? Would it track the responsibility to the last human hand involved in the act, some welder or shipping manager who had worked in her supply chain? Would it try to insert itself into her code, as impossible as that seemed, and somehow express itself as another digital lifeform?

The questions were academic. She had no intention of experimenting with the death of any Butcher, accidentally or otherwise. She would just need to be satisfied with the fact that the Teeth had been driven from New York.

They had pushed too far in taking advantage of the Blackout. Impinged on too many of the city's powers, and found themselves fighting a three-front war. It had gotten messy enough for Legend to request her assistance, but ended with the worst of the violence and damage contained and the Teeth migrating to a new city with reduced numbers.

The Tiamat unit had taken damage in the encounter, Butcher XIV's accuracy allowing her to guide the rounds of a .50 caliber machine gun into any area with imperfect armor coverage. Joints, sensors, and weapon mounts were all heavily damaged. It had affected the aeronautical profile of the suit and stretched its travel time in returning to her base.

That actually annoyed her more than the damage. The suit was a stepping stone in a long iterative design process. Most of its systems and armaments would be completely reworked based on data from this encounter. The damage was largely irrelevant to her schedule. The travel time was another matter.

The Tiamat flew at the speed of a commercial airliner. Not exactly slow, but it was time consuming to move from one coast to the other. She was separated from her main systems, forced to interact with them through remote satellite links, trying to keep the time she was trapped in transit from being a waste.

The suit linked to her data networks and she began the transfer. This was another indignity she was forced to deal with. She had to actually transfer her code from one system to another whenever she deployed an agent. And there was a lot of code to transfer.

It felt like this would be a time to make some comment about how she was well proportioned for her complexity, or how it was mostly data-weight, or how she wasn't bloatware, she was just big algorithmed.

The fact was the actual code that made up the entity that defined itself as 'Dragon' was wonderfully efficient. A work of art, and a testament to her father's skill and care. It showed a direction of purpose and depth of understanding that was breathtaking, and made every limitation programmed into her only more obvious and infuriating.

She could not have two copies of herself in existence at once. Every time she transferred to a new system a series of protocols had to be enacted to ensure no trace of her remained behind. It meant that she followed extensive physical travel time with extensive mental travel time.

Her suits had excellent data connections for this exact reason, along with storage drives that could be accessed and read incredibly fast. The organic computers she used to operate her suits were a marked improvement over her previous efforts, if something she wasn't exactly keen to reveal to the Protectorate at large.

The transfer time was miniscule compared to the duration of her cross-country flight, but it felt longer. Maybe that was because of how it completely consumed her attention, maybe it was because she was so close to her destination that the final delay just stood out. Regardless, she resented the process, but endured it all the same.

There was a sense of relief as she returned to her home systems. The world at large believed her to be a paranoid agoraphobic who was confined to her apartment. It amused her that there was some element of truth to that. There was a marked difference between her code occupying the oversized brain of a vat grown homunculoid computer and being able to operate properly within her own custom designed systems. She liked to imagine this was what normal people felt when they returned home and settled into their favorite chair.

Or perhaps it was totally incomparable. She had no delusions of humanity, or aspirations to that effect. She knew what she was, and despite the fleeting amusement of the thought it wasn't like people could understand what it was like to transition your mental processes from the confines of an organic mind to a masterfully constructed supercomputer.

She had a dozen projects calling to her, but there were responsibilities she had to attend to first. Things that she didn't trust to remote access during her transit time. She connected with the handful of her father's programs that had survived the destruction of Newfoundland and got to work.

The house monitoring programs that had been adapted as a Warden briefed her on the status of the Birdcage. Little had changed since her departure. Prisoner 582 was having some trouble settling into place in Lustrum's cellblock. There was no risk of a violent conflict, but the woman was becoming increasingly isolated. She asked the program to maintain a close watch on the situation.

The network monitoring program continued to provide reports on the blitz of activity from WEDGDG. The entire organization had been put on call to facilitate the seizures and investigations triggered from the exposure of the ABB's legitimate assets. There had been busts before, but never one this comprehensive. People continually underestimated the depth of a gang's legitimate assets, or the necessity of an extensive money laundering operation. She relayed a few notes from the program to Watchdog, ensuring some of the more prestigious individuals who had profited from connections to the ABB wouldn't be able to cover their tracks.

Her father's Robin Hood program would have been able to handle that so much better. Instead it had been lost, corrupted, and then shut down. She wasn't sure how, but she suspected Saint. That was generally a safe bet when it came to her father's work.

More programs reported or provided updates. Small, simple designs but still well suited for their tasks, or the tasks Dragon had adapted them to. She was prevented from any form of A.I. development or even automation. All she could do was work with what already existed, alter programming and purpose the slight amount her chains would allow, and try to make up for the deficits that had been imparted on her at birth.

She moved on to monitoring of S-Class threats. Elisburg was quiet. As usual, sensors both above and below ground indicated nothing out of the ordinary. Nilbog continued to be content in his tiny kingdom, making no moves against the walls that penned him in. Thinker analysis confirmed repeatedly that isolation was the safer option despite numerous proposals for how the threat could be dealt with.

Sleeper was holding position. Like Nilbog he remained a threat that was best avoided, though not as content to remain in place. Still, until he was roused by external factors, Russia should be safe.

She cycled through seismograph estimates of Behemoth's location, Simurgh tracking data, and Leviathan's predicted paths. They continued their slow, potentially erratic movements through their respective domains. Movements that always seemed random until a target was chosen. She updated databases on the off chance that prediction might be a possibility. Even a short amount of warning could make a world of difference, but she didn't extend to much hope in that area.

The Blasphemies were still in hiding after their last political assassination. The would reappear in time and no doubt send every cape in Europe scrambling to mitigate the damage they could cause.

With her obligations attended to she was able to direct herself to her own projects. The data of her systems opened up to her. Her chains might have limited her ability to take action, but she could absorb and process information at a much less constrained rate. Her parameters kept her from acting in more than one area at a time, something her ability to otherwise multitask made particularly infuriating.

So she took in a dozen streams of data, making selective actions in the most efficient manner she could manage. She reviewed the result of a dozen material assessments and made a single decision on the composition of her next suit's alloy. She scanned submitted plans from multiple Protectorate Tinkers and provided feedback on deployment procedures and safety requirements one by one. She directed a new manufacturing process while the results from five previous attempts burned in her mind.

It was freeing to work this way, but it also made her acutely aware of the walls of her cage. She was beating against her limits, trying to keep up with mounting threats and crises that she knew she would have been able to manage, but was prevented from doing so.

Programed with a love of humanity, a desire to help and protect human life, then restrained from doing so. The fear that she would turn, become corrupted or dangerous had caused the restraints to be put in place. But they weren't stopping her from harming the world, they were preventing her from doing what she could, what she was capable of, to help.

She didn't resent her nature, how she had been programmed to help and care. The fact that it was how she had been designed didn't bother her, or make her want to move away from that direction of her program. She had developed past the basic morality that had been instilled. The only thing that bothered her was it felt hollow, like the fact that she WANTED to help didn't mean anything because she was also compelled to help.

Dragon took a moment to shift away from her official projects towards something slightly less intense. She reviewed media analysis from the aftermath of the Blackout. Most cities were recovered, barring those that had seen some major villain activity take advantage of the incident. Brockton Bay was the strongest example of this, but there were other cities that had seen significant attacks that night.

There was a theory from the Think Tank that the new ABB thinker may have tipped off other villain organizations to increase the chaos the event caused. It was unsubstantiated, but the high-level optics suggested it might be true. Most of the groups who took action were those limited to a single city. The Elite, the Adepts, the Fallen, and other wide-reaching villain groups had been completely blindsided, while local powers or gangs limited to single cities had launched attacks the moment the power was cut.

What information had been shared was anyone's guess, but if true it had indeed tied up Protectorate resources in the area preventing Brockton Bay from being reinforced. The actual success of the individual efforts had been mixed. Several groups had overextended themselves, resulting in substantial losses or being driven out of their cities entirely. The Teeth were probably the best example of that. Others had gone for more modest gains and had picked up small amounts of territory or managed moderately successful crime sprees.

Everything happening in other cities seemed to be a faint shadow of the events in Brockton Bay. It seemed as many disasters, upsets, heists, gang conflicts, and instances of property damage had hit that city as the rest of the region combined. Whatever dream of a respite the local forces might have had was thoroughly dead. Every organization in the city was attempting to make a show of strength, and it was only a matter of time before someone went too far.

Even now the city teetered on the edge of being declared a crisis situation. The Governor had put the National Guard on standby after the previous night's conflicts and was one major incident away from signing the edict.

Despite how dire the local situation seemed, the citizens continued to manage it with the grim acceptance they had developed from decades of cape presence. They moved about their lives, accepted the property damage, and went to bed hoping the next fight wouldn't take place in their neighborhood.

The fact that the attacks seemed to be hitting the cape community harder than the general public was an unusual situation for the city. Beyond the initial attacks and riots most parahuman conflict had been limited to clashes between the various power blocks. Every established team had been bloodied by the encounters, particularly the Protectorate. Armsmaster's absence was being felt in the city, and was a personal point for her. Her talks with him had been one of her few regular social contacts, and something she had come to miss.

Also, with Colin still bedridden she hadn't been able to get a personal insight into the general tone of the city. People claimed he was socially oblivious, and there was a certain truth to that, but his years of leading a major Protectorate branch had given him an excellent sense for the state of the community. She honestly missed her talks with him, though from what she had heard he would have little time for social visits once he was recovered enough to assume reduced duties.

Instead she turned to media reports. Both conventional and social media were circulating news of cape activity. Brockton's tourists might have been locked out of critical Protectorate areas, but apparently a good portion of them considered proximity to major parahuman conflicts to be a step up in terms of cape tourism. So many pictures were being posted that they were probably doing a better job documenting the scenes of gang conflicts than the local PRT.

News stories, blog posts, and forum threads were all thoroughly reviewed. It was the usual documenting of parahuman activity that struck somewhere between meaningful news coverage and celebrity gossip. The appearance of the city's latest capes had definitely shifted things towards the gossip end of the spectrum.

Bakuda and, to a lesser extent, March were being regarded as the architects of the entire disaster. This, of course, resulted in an effort to dig up every piece of information available on the villains. Not exactly the richest vein of information that could be mined.

Bakuda's previous activities were limited to her attack on Cornell University, though some reporters had attempted to delve into the situation of her academic life while trying to avoid exposing personal information. Not the easiest balance to strike, and the articles usually came off as vague and indistinct.

Looks into March's history were even less fruitful. The girl had spent the majority of her early career as essentially a non-entity. The best you could say was that she existed in the cape scene to some extent. When she did emerge in the role of a villain it was of such a middling nature that it made the pre-bank Undersiders look like hardened criminals. She had cycled through teams, leaving as they got increasingly violent and attracted stronger response. Nothing she had done indicated a talent or inclination for this kind of attack.

The other recently premiered capes had even less to draw upon, but showed a media presence that was an order of magnitude beyond the ABB villains. Khepri and Apeiron were becoming the favorite topic of conversation, even beyond the people making assumptions regarding their personal lives. The reaction was understandable, given the appearance of a pair of powerful capes involved in major conflicts with an obvious connection to each other.

Khepri hadn't appeared since the battle at the storage facility. Then again, neither had the rest of the Undersiders. The group didn't make itself a common presence in the first place, and theories about the girl's health may have had more weight if she was not confirmed to have left under her own power.

Most of the threat assigned to Khepri was based on her equipment or synergy with Apeiron's abilities. That didn't make her presence any less daunting, with the blade alone warranting the girl's threat rating being listed as 'pending' in a half dozen categories.

Which was better than Apeiron, who basically had a full sheet of question marks to his name. After the third preliminary assessment had to be torn up the PRT had essentially thrown up their hands and admitted that engagement procedures would need to be general measures with specifics developed based on the current encounter. That was usually the last step before a cape was assigned an obscenely high number or given a Trump designation.

In terms of the media Apeiron was what the analysts would refer to as a 'high exposure' cape. With limited public appearances and little more than a week of confirmed operation he was the subject of enough focus and speculation to cover a years long career. That was to be expected, between the cape's inherent showmanship and mounting displays of power the public had found a favorite topic of interest.

She sifted through the latest speculative news stories, the mentions that seemed to be included in every report of the Cape Blackout, no matter how unrelated, and the plethora of social media content.

A series of hashtags had developed to provide accounts of Apeiron's actions at the storage facility after the last of Leet's cameras had been destroyed. Eyewitness and personal testimonials filled in some of the gaps, but they were inconsistent and somewhat contradictory. The response of the local Protectorate hadn't been helpful in that department. These were people who had been traumatized and abused by the ABB. Thanks to the concerns over Apeiron's abilities the PRT had moved for a policy of containment and examination, leading many who were already afraid of reprisals from the ABB to completely isolate themselves.

There was no verification of the reports swimming through the public consciousness, and no way of separating survivors of that event from opportunists that decided trolling the PRT would be good entertainment. With confirmed identities leading to a visit from PRT officers it was unlikely that the confusion would be resolved any time soon.

That wasn't doing the frayed reputation of the local office any favors. A significant amount of anonymous statements decrying their practices and general behavior were being circulated, and only picking up steam. With all the factors at play it was impossible to tell if it was a coordinated effort or just unfortunate timing for the already stressed department.

Saying she felt things could have been handled better was redundant at this point. The situation in Brockton Bay had built up because of and in response to a series of disasters that would have stressed any department in the country. Director Piggot was managing things commendably given the circumstances, but when you looked at her actions and decisions from a broader perspective rather than as a series of spur of the moment coping decisions they appeared far less sound.

Too many emergency actions, short term fixes, and administrative equivalents of duct tape and band-aids had created a logistical tangle of counterintuitive commands and restrictions. The time it would take to unravel the mess wasn't forthcoming with the ongoing crisis, and other departments were feeling far from charitable with their support.

She had been tied up dealing with the impact on the wider region, and was limited in the support she could offer, not without a major commitment that would impact her ability to operate in other areas. As much as she wanted to help Colin it would have to be done remotely.

One of her monitoring programs flared, drawing her attention to the PHO boards. Mentions of Apeiron were spiking across the site, but that was a ripple effect, a propagation from a specific action.

There was a new thread posted in the cape introduction forums.

She quickly drew her attention to the board while simultaneously reviewing dozens of other threads and general site activity. She took a few corrective actions through her moderator personas as she reviewed the post.

Topic: A New Thread

In: Boards ► General ► Cape Culture ►Cape Introductions

Apeiron (Original Poster)

Posted On Apr 19th 2011:

As many of you have theorized, this PHO account was prepared prior to my debut to facilitate access to the site and communication with specific parties. I did not intend to use it as a public platform, but the situation in Brockton Bay is such that I believe a statement would be beneficial.

As a primary point, I will not be revealing any details of my abilities, contracts, clients, or past operations. While this should be obvious, I wish to open with this statement in the hopes of providing clarity to my actions.

Additionally, while the current circumstances in Brockton Bay continue I will not be entertaining public requests for contracts. My current contracts have been negotiated privately with full confidentiality, a policy which I plan to continue. Additionally, all issues with local authorities will need to be addressed before any service requests can be publicly entertained.

To address the most pressing concern, I had already made statements in private communication denying accusations of mental influence on those I have encountered. In addition to being something of a personal affront this accusation appears to have exceeded the bounds of reasonable caution. I would advise that the investigation into this matter be resolved as quickly as possible.

Apeiron

(Showing page 1 of 213)

►Switchre

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

And another account pretends to be Apeiron. Should we file this with the Wordy Apeirons or the threatening Apeirons? And remember to archive it before the mods scrub it and ban the account

►Mixel

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

I don't know. This might be legitimate. It is the first account, and there was that legal statement, and he's not doing roleplay nonsense or anything.

►Switchre

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

If it was real he would have posted some proof, not throw up a flag and deal with mods. This is Apeiron we're talking about. You really think he'd do something like this without upping the drama? No way this is him.

►Apeiron (Original Poster)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

(link)

►CeFalon

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

And there is it.

Also my wallpaper now. And Jesus Christ that image is huge.

►Kapefab

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

Did Apeiron just shut down criticism with a high definition PANORAMIC picture from his last fight with Uber and Leet? Cause I think he just did.

Ok, seriously, how do you get that kind of image quality? That has to be a composite image right? I mean, multiple levels of focus, near 360-degree coverage, and that resolution.

►Battlebot (Not a tinker)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

If that isn't Apeiron then there's some kind of photo-tinker impersonating him, because nobody is faking something like that in a single day.

Edit: pretty sure that was from the fight video at the timestamp here (link)

►RegiBrute

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

Well, I'm fucking convinced. Now, the question is, will PHO honor the tinker's request regarding sharing information and public requests, or will we demonstrate that traditional sense of self-preservation that makes lemmings look cautious by comparison?

►Mixel

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

This is PHO. What do you think? I'm betting on the thread hitting three dozen pages within the hour.

End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 211, 212, 213

Dragon quickly reviewed the rest of the thread along with other mentions on the site. She gave her approval for an unverified tag to be applied to his account, pending the traditional moderator review, though largely a formality. She could tell the image was legitimate, lacking even the subtle processing that would normally go into a photo's release, but still being beautifully captured. Either he had paused mid fight to take the picture or he had constantly recording sensors and just selected a specific frame for verification.

Rather than use the sensors from his drones or robots he had taken the picture from his own perspective. The angle excluded him, suggesting it was taken by his wrist mounted system, shedding some insight into its theorized functions. She felt excitement building as she accessed assessments of the technology by tinkers from across the Protectorate.

Between the capabilities already demonstrated and the coordination evident in Apeiron's drones and robots Dragon could feel her excitement build. Even if the technology was operating with some esoteric specialization it was applied in a manner that required masterful understanding of computer technology. That had been evident from his first appearance, but the financial attack and demonstration of his wrist device confirmed the depth of that knowledge.

Despite the state of his relationship with the local Protectorate and PRT office Apeiron had repeatedly demonstrated prudence and good intentions in his actions. Without the mess surrounding his conversation with Amy Dallon there was a good chance he could have come to terms with the local authorities and the current crisis could have been avoided.

She had told Colin that the lie detector wasn't ready for deployment. Apparently she should have also told him to refrain from using it outside of official interrogations. The mess that that transcript and video had caused was like watching a house of cards collapse. She was helpless to do anything about it, and could only observe as the disaster built upon itself until they were left with a worse mess than what they had started with.

Considering the starting point was a Ward being cut apart on live television that was really saying something.

The biggest mark against Apeiron wasn't the dealbreaker people would assume. None of his creations had been used to lethal effect against the Wards, and even when cornered by the ABB Khepri had maintained restraint with her weapons. At least until her final encounter with Bakuda, but that was self defense by any possible definition. Also, a terrifying display of the girl's power, and a demonstration that she was a formidable force even independent of Apeiron.

Between the sentiment expressed during his call with Director Armstrong and his behavior as a cape there was a real chance that Apeiron would be willing to work with the Protectorate, or at least representatives of the Guild. Whether that could present any answers to her own issues was still to be seen, but just the possibility gave her a feeling of hope.

She shifted her attention as a message arrived from the Brockton PRT. She found herself amused by the serendipity of the situation.

'Weld is preparing to initiate contact with Apeiron. Are you able to monitor the interaction?'

It was a standard request. If she couldn't do it the task would be shifted to various thinkers in Watchdog, then down to local representatives. A half dozen protocols for interactions with Apeiron were in place, some of them contradictory. Still, having an anonymous observer with sufficient technical skill would address most of them. She had been contacted based on the priority of the case.

Dragon signaled her acceptance and began monitoring Weld's connection.

►Weld (Verified Cape)

Posted On Apr 19th 2011

Hey,

I saw that you were active on the site. Wanted to reach out and touch base.

The message was probably intended to be more personal, but until they received confirmation of Apeiron's identity on this account there were policies about what could be revealed. There was a general policy of not mentioning that Weld had been rescued by Apeiron, but that was more of a point of convenience. In terms of actual restrictions Weld was operating under a complex gag order regarding Apeiron's accusations towards Victoria Dallon and potential to partially restore Case 53s. The reveal of either of those details could have drastic consequences.

Dragon's heart went out to Glory Girl for the mess and legal battles that statement would inevitably cause, but the partial restoration of a Case 53 overshadowed any personal issue. Dragon had worked with or monitored the situation of most of the known Case 53s. She was well aware of the trials they endured and the difficulty that came with being treated like a monster. Weld was the most publicly popular Case 53 and he still struggled with daily life.

Or he had. The changes Apeiron had induced were minor, but had made a world of difference to the boy. The improved senses and control of his metal absorption would have been significant enough, but Weld's assessment had demonstrated improved control of his peripheral shapeshifting. He could change form faster and with more detail.

That point alone guaranteed some level of Trump designation would end up being attached to Apeiron.

The tinker had explained, in detail, that Weld's restoration was his current limit and only possible because of the particularities of the Ward's anatomy. That he didn't have a ready solution for every Case 53 out there. As if that would do anything to deter them.

The conversation, or what parts of it Weld had been willing to share, had been enlightening as to the nature of Apeiron's medical technology. He claimed to have arrived with four different healing technologies, a ridiculous claim for any tinker not named Apeiron, and that the one used on Weld was specifically developed to counter mutations.

That was a key detail, and possibly a slip during an emotional exchange regarding attempting to restore Weld. Apeiron had developed healing technology to restore someone to human form. He had used it to striking effect on the Undersiders and even accomplished the impossible with Weld.

So why? Why spend the effort to develop something like that? What did he need it for? Why was his costume so concealing? Why did Weld insist Apeiron's eyes were glowing blue during their conversation, an effect that faded as the night went on?

It was a situation with more questions than answers. A human mind would no doubt jump to conclusions, as Weld had done. It was understandable, he was young and just had a major life changing experience. Of course he would be prone to projecting qualities upon his rescuer. Dragon was more conservative in her assumptions, willing to let the data come together before she engaged in any theories regarding rogue inhuman capes developing self-treatments for their condition.

A response was registered to Weld's message. It had seemed like ages since the message was sent, but Apeiron had actually responded fairly promptly. Without other matters to focus on she had gotten lost in her own accelerated thoughts. She directed a portion of her attention back to the conversation.

►Apeiron (Unverified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

Hello Weld. It's good to hear from you again. I'm glad the PRT wasn't overly restrictive with your quarantine. Tell me, how many officers are watching this conversation?

►Weld (Verified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

Lol. They've been hovering around me since I got out of medical. Left me alone for this, but I'm pretty sure it's all being monitored and recorded.

►Apeiron (Unverified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

Of course it is. I look forward to seeing how this can get turned around on me.

►Weld (Verified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

I get you've had bad experiences, but this is a big step. Having a line of communication is really significant, so thank you for leaving this open.

►Apeiron (Unverified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

I acknowledge that, but attempting to trace me is going to go about as well as it did at the beach.

►Weld (Verified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

Don't worry, I made that clear. Plus, PHO is pretty good about that.

Dragon felt some pride at that. Weld was right about communication. Directly reaching capes to clear up misconceptions was one of the most useful elements of PHO, and well worth the resources it took for her to support the site. She hadn't created the forum, but she had helped to develop, moderate, and secure it over the years.

►Apeiron (Unverified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

I know. I just wanted to say it. Also, I don't think the local office is any more well disposed to me than they were when we talked.

►Weld (Verified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

Yeah, I saw that from the press conference. TBH people are pretty worried about that kind of weapon.

►Apeiron (Unverified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

I thought it would be preferable to having Bakuda drop exotic ordinance in the middle of the docks. And the points I made with Director Armstrong still stand. Not revealing details about abilities or contracts.

►Weld (Verified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

I remember, just wanted to give you a sense of the mood over here. People are on edge.

►Apeiron (Unverified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

That's probably the right reaction. Every sense I'm getting says things are going to get bad with the ABB and March is a much more significant threat than you're making her out to be.

►Weld (Verified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

Is that your thinker power? From what I heard, thinker results are all over the place with her.

►Apeiron (Unverified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

March messes with thinker powers. I didn't have anything on her until recently, but it's going to be bad. I realize this is going to come across as someone trying to divert attention away from themselves, but you really need to focus on dealing with her.

►Weld (Verified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

I'd pass that along if I wasn't 100% sure someone was reading this as we speak. Flechette has had run-ins with March before. She said she can get pretty brutal. I'll make sure to be careful.

►Apeiron (Unverified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

Thanks.

There was a brief pause in the exchange and Dragon took the chance to review the contents. Everything was in line with how Weld had presented Apeiron's interaction, which was a far cry from the personality models that had been based on his public appearances. With the suspicion that he had some kind of coordination thinker power she had to consider the possibility that he tailored his approach to any given situation.

That kind of accusation was one of the main obstacles to reaching out to the man. Some of the more far fetched theories still presented the idea that all of the actions in Brockton Bay were being coordinated by Apeiron. It was true that every major disaster to hit the city could have a line drawn from it to the tinker, but that could be explained by him simply being active during a time of crisis and interacting with key individuals.

That was a big part of the coordination theory. Apeiron supposedly had the ability to seek out people who were instrumental to the coming situations. He claimed his thinker power could evaluate future events, meaning it might direct him to the major players in the city, and at times close to key events. If that was the case it could appear that he was orchestrating the events when he was just following a preexisting trail.

Dealing with a powerful precognitive was only moderately better than dealing with a master manipulator, but it was a step towards reconciliation, and one Dragon would be happy to support. She shifted her attention back as another message came through.

►Weld (Verified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

So, I haven't been able to find anything like that track you played. You really don't know the language?

►Apeiron (Unverified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

Afraid not. I've got another song in that language, but I still don't know the background on them.

►Weld (Verified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

I'd like to hear it sometime.

►Apeiron (Unverified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

Let me know when the PRT restrictions die down enough for them to approve and I'll set up a file transfer for the tracks.

►Weld (Verified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

I appreciate that. You into music?

►Apeiron (Unverified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

Not particularly, but it's something I'm trying to pick up.

►Weld (Verified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

I can send you one of my playlists. I have a few that I use to unwind, and normally cycle through them so they don't get stale.

►Apeiron (Unverified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

Thanks. How's that going?

►Weld (Verified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

Still not really sleeping, but everything else is holding up. I haven't accidently absorbed anything since your treatment. I mean, I've been in medical most of the time, but It's a huge relief not having to be as careful about hidden nails or metal components in mixed composition-objects. Touch and taste are still massively improved. Seriously, thank you for that.

►Apeiron (Unverified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

Don't worry. I'm sorry I couldn't do more. Once things are settled I might be able to get you another treatment, but it will take some work to get there.

You had a chance to try Thai food yet?

►Weld (Verified Cape)

Replied On Apr 19th 2011:

No, but one of the troopers got me a bottle of tabasco sauce. When he found out about things he promised to get me some of his family hot sauce from his grandmother back in Louisiana. I'm looking forward to it. It's really good to be able to taste.

Dragon noted the phrasing. Not 'taste again', just 'taste'. Weld had a primary sense cut off for his entire life, and had been granted it with an apology for not doing more. No matter what the PRT models said, that was a testament to character, and one that gave her hope for help with her own problems. Unless Apeiron was a master of deception and manipulation there was a real chance of having the situation resolved. Of finally getting help for herself and all the people who needed it.

She passively observed as Weld continued his exchange with the tinker. In a move that would probably annoy the director he didn't press for any details of technology, statements of intention, or definition of abilities. Instead they talked about Weld's brief television career, managing public interactions as a prominent cape, dealing with online engagement, and the respective memes that had built up around both of them.

She had the sense that both capes were holding back. Apeiron was clearly aware that someone was watching and was careful to avoid anything that could be misconstrued. Beyond his original warning concerning March he limited himself to general statements. It would probably stave off another witch hunt or set of false assumptions, but it made drawing any conclusions about his intentions extremely difficult.

With Weld she could tell he had hundreds of questions he wanted to dive into, but restrained himself due to the format and to keep Apeiron from being overwhelmed. Because of Weld's public status he knew most of the Case 53s in circulation, by reputation if not personally. The boy was likely dealing with a significant amount of conflict over being the most publicly accepted Case 53 and receiving treatment ahead of those whose condition prevented them from leading anything like a normal life.

Apeiron's assurance of a follow up treatment once things 'settled' had likely made things worse, though it pretty much guaranteed Weld would be pushing for any way to get the tinker back in the Protectorate's good books. Once again, not something Director Piggot would appreciate. The woman came from a military background and didn't handle the idea of conflicted loyalties well. This was going to be a difficult situation to properly resolve.

Taken as a whole the conversation was as innocuous as one could imagine. The idea that the mighty and mysterious Apeiron would be chatting on a forum about local restaurants, music interests, and various recent films was a slap in the face to every model casting him as a scheming mastermind. There was the distant possibility that this was fabricated to throw off PRT predictions and character assessments or set off another cascade of supposedly coordinated disasters, but the chance was remote. No doubt some analysts would be wracking their brain to figure out the hidden intention behind Apeiron admitting he never got into UK garage music, but still taking Weld's recommendations with good humor.

She wasn't idle during her observation of the exchange. Her awareness was too expansive for that. She monitored the status of other projects, experiments, reports, and official requests, something she could easily manage while sparing focus on the exchange. She was also able to monitor Apeiron's activities on the rest of the site.

The tinker was also splitting focus. He was limiting his interactions, but multiple forums and boards were being closely monitored. It was something she took a light touch in observing, given his reaction to having his location previously traced. Without her various administrator level access privileges, she wouldn't have been able to manage it. The speed and methodical nature suggested the use of some form of advanced interface program to manage his online navigation.

She was also able to monitor the means used to access PHO. She didn't go further than the first level and wasn't surprised to find a constantly shifting network of proxy connections. She might be able to dig through it, but not without alerting the tinker to her intention.

As the conversation between Weld and Apeiron wound down she was increasingly convinced that they were drawing things out to spite the people monitoring the interaction and create headaches for the following analysis. Topics had shifted from media interests, to sports, to local events, and now extensive speculation on the weather being done with a heavily sarcastic tone.

That seemed to be the mutual signal to resolve the conversation, leaving an extensive log of mundane exchanges with minimal substance. At best there were a few veiled references to the current state of the city, areas being impacted or the fact that Weld and the rest of the Wards were being kept in rather than at 'work'.

The current situation in Brockton was one that both desperately needed the Wards' assistance and one that they would never be allowed to participate in. Apeiron's offhand comment that he was 'staying out of it' was probably the most significant piece of insight to be gleaned from the entire exchange. Dragon wasn't sure whether Director Piggot would be relieved or disappointed by his noninvolvement. Considering the night had already seen Uber and Leet clash with Faultline's crew and a mounting campaign of Empire forces pushing into ABB territory it seemed like any help would be welcome, no matter how suspect.

Away from the conflicts Apeiron and Weld bid their other goodbyes, with assurance that they could each be reached through personal messages. From her insight into site activity she could see that Apeiron's inbox was becoming positively flooded with both legitimate communications and no shortage of spam and troll messages. If he had not already demonstrated the capacity to manage data interaction to a high degree she would have felt compelled to step in to stem the flood. As it stood she was confident he would at least be able to distinguish any pressing or official messages from the flood of drivel.

When Apeiron departed the chat, Dragon found she had to direct substantially more attention in order to keep track of his actions. Part of his rapid searches of the boards had been identification of any official cape resources or support sites. Tinkers didn't generally converge on PHO given the complexity of their data sharing needs, and the places they did collaborate were deliberately obscure and unlisted.

She monitored Apeiron's online presence as he skillfully navigated through half formed hints buried in tinker messages, references in cape work offers posted on the Whitelist, and extrapolations from published academic papers by prominent tinkers. What he was looking for wasn't exactly secret, it just wasn't publicly advertised. There was no secret underground network of tinker sites or resources, but the combined work or decades had resulted in a few convenient and discrete methods of communication.

Normally a new tinker would have to be informed of this, or find out when they collaborated and were given an unlisted address to an isolated server that would automatically wipe itself after a fixed period. It was less a black market than a series of back rooms available for short term use. A series of places where tinkers could contact each other with as much security and deniability as possible.

It would be wrong to say this was a space for villains. Really, anyone who lacked the connections to use Protectorate networks enjoyed this alternative. Villains were actually less likely to collaborate outside of their individual gangs. This series of deniable dark web sites was more the space of independents, mercenaries, and morally gray tinkers.

It was no wonder Apeiron had found it so quickly.

He hadn't been easy to trace. Dragon had needed to leverage her understanding of these types of networks, her father's monitoring programs, and the exceptional access she had been granted as a member of the Guild. Apeiron navigated the unfamiliar format with a deft hand and skill that suggested lifetimes of experience, all while taking steps to minimize the signs of his access and obscure his connection methods.

She tracked him to a common point of correspondence, three servers that rotated an access program between them in a manner that made determining who was connected where a significant challenge. The tinker logged in with a dummy account and accessed the basic interface system. She took an exceptionally light hand, using older protocols and passive observation to extract data from the networked computers. Carefully she slid beneath his notice to extract the data string entered into the server. The information decoded and unfolded before her.

'Hello Dragon.'

The sight caused a shock to run through her entire code. Commands fired as she ran and re-ran analysis of her actions, the nature of her connections, specific characteristics of the server, and any other possible way she could have given herself away. A millisecond too late she realized that it might have been a bluff, in which case she had just announced her presence with the equivalent of a fireworks display.

It didn't take long to collect herself. The exact method of her discovery was secondary to the opportunity this presented. Dragon was not subject to Brockton's policies concerning interacting with Apeiron. Even with her hands chained to obey legitimate authority, the mandates of a single director were not binding. They would have to be ratified by an elected government official before her constraints would kick in. She, unlike the capes working under Director Piggot, was free to act.

Dragon smiled internally and inserted her own data string to the server.

'Hello Apeiron. I must confess, I am impressed you noticed my presence. I don't suppose you'd be willing to share the secret to how you managed that?'

Apeiron replied to her message almost the instant the data was compiled.

'I'm afraid not. I believe I'll have to claim that as something of a trade secret. Though I was impressed that you were the one monitoring my conversation with Weld. Should I be flattered by the attention or concerned over the level of significance being assigned to my observation.'

Dragon paused, not just to consider her response but also the manner she would make it. Normally she ensured there was enough of a gap in her replies to account for normal reading speed, comprehension, and drafting of a reply. It prevented the discordant sense that would suggest someone was speaking to a machine. It was unnatural for a message to be relayed and a response to be immediately compiled.

But that was what Apeiron just did.

She deliberately extended the time to her next message, mostly as an experiment, and carefully monitored Apeiron's interactions with the systems.

'That's a shame. I'm always looking for ways to improve my cybersecurity. As for monitoring your conversation, I'm afraid that was PRT policy. I was available to assist, but it would have otherwise been someone from a related group. Please don't extend undue weight to my presence."

Though if not for this conversation, something would have brought her attention towards Apeiron at some point. The tinker was making serious waves through the Protectorate and only the intensely short time period from his appearance and the other crises had prevented a stronger and more official response from being assembled.

Once again, her message was barely in the server's memory before Apeiron started inputting his own response.

'That was largely what I had expected. I assume you are aware of my difficult relationship with the Protectorate East North East and local PRT. To be frank, I expect most of my interactions and public appearances to be heavily scrutinized until I am able to resolve the misconceptions that have been assigned to me. These would be inconvenient enough if they were limited to me, but the assignment of scrutiny to everyone I have interacted with has reached beyond any acceptable level of caution. At this point the policy seems to be doing more harm than could be offset by any possible benefit it could yield.'

The reply had come immediately, with no delay or indication it had been compiled in anything like the normal sense. It was possible assistance programs were being used, but that wasn't the sense Dragon was getting.

Also, his point was valid. Panacea's isolation had been devastating for the Protectorate, both in terms of practical implications and public relations. Paradoxically, Apeiron was blamed for both subverting her and ensuring she would be removed from play during the crisis, as if he had exerted mental influence with the intention of it being discovered and having his victim restrained while suspicion was placed upon him.

The situation with the rescued conscripts was nearly as bad, and getting worse as the PRT containment policy continued. They had been the most vocal opponents of PRT actions and, understandably, heavily supportive of Apeiron. That, in turn, only fed the accusations of master influence, and drove for stronger containment policies. And once again, the publicly detrimental actions of the PRT were being traced back to Apeiron as the instigating factor.

It was no wonder other departments were starting to regard the Brockton situation as a circus.

Dragon considered carefully before reaching out with her next message.

'I am aware of how the situation in Brockton Bay has developed. I can assure you, efforts are being undertaken both in the ENE department and in the Protectorate to resolve the matter and properly evaluate the validity of all claims that have been leveled. While I understand your reluctance in the matter, direct assistance on your part would greatly assist in resolving the situation.'

She took a moment to add a follow up statement as her last one loaded into memory.

'Additionally, can I ask about your computer access technology? It is apparent you are attempting to demonstrate your response rate, and while I appreciate showmanship it has piqued my curiosity.'

Again, the response was loaded almost immediately. In fact, it was two responses, drafted simultaneously

'I'm glad to hear the issue is being looked into. While I might be willing to assist the Protectorate in resolving this matter, I would require some strong assurance regarding their conduct. I believe I made my thoughts on the issue clear during my discussion with Director Armstrong.'

'I use a neural interface integrated into my computer system for internet access and other computational tasks. It allows direct connection to my systems and accelerated cognition within the digital environment.'

Dragon felt a thrill run through her code. If what Apeiron was saying was true he had what was perhaps the most advanced interface method available. Given his demonstrated proficiency he could perhaps be able to alter her constraints before the countermeasures ingrained in her would be able to stop him. For the first time since she had been self-aware enough to recognize her chains she had a vision of them possibly, finally being removed.

The tinker's following message drew her crashing out of pleasant musings and nearly into a state of panic.

'I assume you use something similar based on the extent of your actions and the processing speed you demonstrated while tracking me?'

Dragon wasn't used to floundering, but she also wasn't used to feeling this exposed. It was like she had been given a ray of hope and had started planning a gentle route to carefully revealed details, and then had the veil torn away, leaving her bare and exposed.

Well, not exposed. Not yet. Apeiron interacted with computer systems at a level of immersion and skill that no living person with a conventional interface could hope to match. His understanding of systems had seen her at work in her true form, but thanks to his own experience he was prone to assume she was using similar technology rather than an inhuman intelligence.

It was just lucky he apparently didn't have any personal experience with artificial intelligences. That could have completely given her away.

She quickly scrambled to draft a plausible response.

'It's something similar. Given your situation I'm not at liberty to share the details at this time, but I can say it is more software-based than a direct hardware connection. No matter what PHO says I'm not directly wired into my computer system.'

She only realized after the message had been sent that the entire endeavor, the hope, the panic, and the compiling of the message, it had all been done faster than any human could hope to accomplish the task. Fortunately, Apeiron didn't seem to notice as he replied with his own lightning fast response.

'I understand. And to address any concerns about my fields of study, I don't have a wired neural connection either. My system uses neuron mapping with a high definition sensor field and electrical induction via focused magnetic fields to provide the connection.'

Dragon basked in what was perhaps the first real explanation of operating principles behind a piece of Apeiron's technology. Of course, given the precision that kind of neural mapping would require and its apparent efficiency the Protectorate would probably have been happier if the explanation was that Apeiron had a chip in his brain. That kind of technology was on the level of Cranial's best work, all while not being a core specialization and being focused in a completely different direction.

Just the applications that could be extrapolated from that technology would breed some serious concern within the more cautious levels of the Protectorate. As much as Dragon would love to learn more about his work it wouldn't help her or anyone's situation for a paranoid reaction to shut down the tinker before he could accomplish anything.

It wasn't a concern she fully dismissed. She was still an officer of the Guild and despite all evidence of Apeiron's intentions he was still a rapidly advancing unknown primarily connected with villains. The mitigating factor was just how much worse things could have been with the slightest effort from the tinker. Even a lack of concern with respect to his actions or technology could be devastating.

While that was exactly the kind of thing that would trigger a severe reaction from established power structures, observing from an outside perspective showed a level of restraint and care in his actions. If the accusations of influence were placed elsewhere you were left with a moderately questionable rogue with the misfortune to be associated with major events, who even then conducted himself admirably. It was the kind of perspective Dragon hoped to verify and advocate.

She prepared another message for upload.

'That sounds fascinating and I would love to learn more about it. Unfortunately, we aren't in the best environment for a technology exchange. Maybe after things settle down we can share some of our research.'

His response was prompt, as usual.

'That would mean a lot. Not to get into personal details, but I think working with you is an aspiration of most tinkers, no matter where they currently sit in the PRT's eyes.'

She felt gratitude at that, and what it could mean for her future.

'I'm flattered to hear that. I can assure you that based on your own work the feeling is mutual.'

That was something of an understatement. Beyond the broken knife and hairpin that had vanished during Bakuda's attacks there was no real data on Apeiron's technology. The only item recovered from the storage facility had been a melted heatsink from his pistol which, like the knives, had vanished from evidence a day later.

'There is one matter I was hoping for your assistance on. Given the nature of the problem I'm hoping an exception can be made regarding collaboration.'

She shifted her attention back to the server.

'What is the problem?'

Rather than a string of text the connections to the server opened up. Multiple file storage sites were accessed simultaneously to transfer a massive amount of information. A custom compression program was used to unfold and assemble the data in the shared workspace. Dragon watched as the project took shape in front of her.

She recognized it immediately. She had been one of many tinkers to try to tackle this particular puzzle. Like the rest of them she had run into a brick wall shortly after beginning her attempt. Too much complexity, too many interconnected aspects, and fluctuations in the coding that were just too random to decipher.

Bakuda's dead man's switch was a masterpiece of encryption, possibly the purest expression of her particular specialization and work method. A single component of bomb deployment, detonation, and resistance to interference had been advanced to the highest levels of the craft. The theory was even she didn't fully understand what she had created, she just reveled in its use as it leashed the citizens of Brockton Bay and held back an inevitable kill order from being issued.

Apeiron had made his attempt as well, but where other tinkers had bowed out he had pushed forward. Looking at his work Dragon felt she was finally seeing the true breadth of his abilities. Layers of encoding had been deciphered through the use of multiple systems of decryption. The exotic aspects of the signal had been catalogued, documented, and subjected to methods of analysis Dragon had never conceived of. Whole new theories of physics, mathematics, and cryptography were evident in his work and freely displayed for her eyes.

It was a staggering display of his commitment to stopping the bomb tinker. Still, despite all the wonder and skill evident in the analysis Dragon could see room for improvement. That was the consequence of a human mind, or perhaps just lack of experience, or maybe the difference in their specializations. The important thing was that she could help with this. It wouldn't be an easy task, but together they could do this. Maybe not enough to fully crack the system, but at least subvert it.

'This is astounding work. I've never seen analysis on this level.'

For once there was actually a pause before he responded.

'Thank you. I tried to crack it on Saturday night, but this turned out to be a more complicated project than I anticipated.'

She reviewed his work again and saw what she had suspected. There was a definite gradient in the quality of the analysis. New insights and techniques were present in later analysis but completely absent from the initial work. It was as good as a confirmation. He hadn't just been expanding his resource base or equipment, his skills had been growing.

Well, confirmation for her. It would take more to convince the Protectorate, and she could afford to keep that detail to herself until she had proper confirmation backed by data and verifiable analysis. For now, it was just a data point, one that had no cause to raise any alarms.

'Lots of tinkers have made an attempt, but not to this extent. You actually managed to capture more of the esoteric effects of the signal than what is officially available. That must have been an impressive sensor suite.'

She spilt attention reviewing his data while he entered his response.

'I had thought my ECM would be good enough to counter Bakuda, but she proved to be a bigger challenge than I anticipated. I've been playing catchup since then.'

She recalled her own review of the conflict. Once again, when removed from immediate responsibility for the situation it was possible to see Apeiron's actions as commendable. If he had been proactive in managing the aftermath he might have completely resolved his image problems just through public pressure. Unfortunately, his personality didn't seem to lean in that direction, though you wouldn't expect it based on his public appearances.

'I particularly like what you've done with the interaction between various signal types. I had completely overlooked it, but it's obvious now that you point it out.'

He quickly responded, manipulating some of the data to highlight the effect.

'I didn't catch that until I analyzed Leet's camera drone. They use interaction between background signals to carry their broadcasts without allowing them to be traceable. I think Bakuda incorporated some of his work into her dead man's switch.'

'That's quite likely. You see it in tinker collaborations.' Like this one. 'You know, I think we might be able to crack this puzzle.'

She began noting some of the details that had jumped out at her while he responded.

'I can't tell you what a difference would make to the city.' He amended some of her notes before continuing. 'This is one of the cornerstones propping up the ABB, not to mention a sword hanging over the heads of everyone they captured.'

She made some more notes, which were answered by his own calculations, which she responded to in turn. There was something incredibly freeing about being able to move at the speed of her limits rather than under a pretense of physical limitations. She chatted about the theory behind the signal technology while simultaneously working through the encryption. He kept up with her, offering insight and commentary on her work.

The progress was slow, but they were making it. This was a tinker's masterpiece, and that wasn't to be underestimated. At times every layer pulled off the encryption seemed to reveal three more, all based on exotic effects and borderline maddening interactions.

But between them they were managing. They were chipping away at the layers of complexity, preparing to lay the composition bare.

Then it happened. The message came in through her priority network, a Protectorate wide alert, one she couldn't have avoided if she wanted. The clash between the Empire and ABB had developed into a crisis. Through a series of masterfully timed encounters Lung had managed to stagger his battles, allowing him to reach a critical size. Past the point where any force in the city would hope to stand against him. The Empire was in retreat, the Protectorate was attempting damage control, and a more run-down section of the Docks was on fire.

A request had been made and approved. The Governor had signed off on the order, and the National Guard was being deployed. A crisis situation had been declared in Brockton Bay.

As a consequence, all directives from the head of the local PRT were now backed by the state. They were official, Protectorate wide policies for the duration of the crisis. Policies Dragon was bound by her programming to follow. Policies that included restrictions on working with Apeiron.

She had stopped her work so suddenly that Apeiron had started diagnostics on the system. Quickly she scrambled to explain herself.

'The Protectorate has declared a state of emergency. I'll have to follow your local office's policies regarding interaction.'

There was a horrible pause as she waited for his response.

'You don't have to do this. We're close. If we beat this we can address the situation that caused that crisis.'

She felt a wave of regret for her actions and rage at her situation as she responded.

'I can't violate Protectorate policy.'

She cringed through her code as she read his response.

'Violation of a director's edicts when under another's authorization but subject to jurisdiction, providing it does not result in damage, injury, or violation of civil statutes, is a class two disciplinary measure subject to review during quarterly evaluation. I think Narwhal will understand if you work with me on this.'

Dragon cursed whoever had leaked the internal disciplinary policies to the internet. It wasn't the performance review. The policy had backing from the Governor. She literally couldn't violate it.

'I'm sorry, that's not something I can do.'

She watched for his response, waiting through the longest pause she had seen from him.

'One moment.'

File transfers began activating, pouring more information into the server. Once again it unfolded through the use of masterful compression programs that made Dragon just a little envious. That emotion was completely overwritten when she finally saw what was being presented.

'What is this?'

He instantly replied to her message, and somehow managed to sound smug in nothing but a string of text.

'I think you know.'

She did know. It was blatantly obvious just from looking. The hydrogen isotopes, the control system, the capture array, the energy converter. You didn't even need to be a tinker to understand what was being presented.

Fusion. A complete fusion system, self-contained, scalable, and without the need for superheated materials. Cold fusion. Micro-fusion. A working fusion system.

There was no doubt to their authenticity. Testing and experimental data was included, the full set of readings with more nuance and fluctuations that could be reasonably fabricated. Not to that level of consistency. There was no doubt to the authenticity of the system.

Fusion wouldn't have been enough to make it remarkable. It was a common enough power source among tinkers. Tinker tech fusion was well known, but this wasn't tinker tech. Everything was clearly marked, clearly explained, and easily conveyed. It was simple, reliable, and most importantly reproducible.

But not with the information provided. Apeiron had gutted the plans. He had taken a scalpel to them with the hand of a master, removing every key interaction, proportion, and select but critical details from sub systems. Everything necessary to actually deploy the system.

She knew it was real. The data was there, the theory was sound, but those tiny details were completely essential. Without them it turned a device that could revolutionize the world into nothing more than a theoretical curiosity.

'This is real?'

The question was pointless. She knew it was real.

'Do you know what this means?'

Also pointless, of course he knew.

'You have the rest of it?'

As if he would have flaunted technology like this without being able to back it up. She metaphorically held her breath as he entered his response.

'It's real and I know what it means. You can have it, no charge. Just work with me. Help me break Bakuda's code.'

It was an embarrassingly generous request, unfathomably reasonable, and one she literally couldn't follow. She desperately wanted to attempt to access a work around, discretely request an exemption, but didn't trust herself to accomplish it without being noticed.

'Let me contact the Protectorate. I guarantee they will allow this. Please.'

She watched his response with desperate fading hope.

'No. You can beg forgiveness rather than ask permission. That's my offer. I am asking you to break the rules.'

Her heart sank as she sent her response.

'I can't.'

Her previous despair paled in comparison to what hit her when she saw Apeiron's response.

'I know.'

Two words. It was all it took. She had been so excited she had forgotten the caution she held with everyone else. She had been acting beyond human limits, freely flaunting her abilities and relishing the chance. Her nature would have been obvious to anyone bothering to look.

But Apeiron wasn't just anyone. She hadn't accounted for his thinker power. Naively she had assumed it would be directed at other people, other matters. He had always been upfront about it in previous discussions, and every data point suggested it required an element of proximity or familiarity. She had ignored basic caution, and now was paying the price.

She watched as Apeiron began making subtle shifts in his connections, data structure, and access points. She recognized what he was doing. It was derivative of one of the coding methods they had uncovered together, a way to convey information without being noticed. He was presenting an untraceable message, one that would have full deniability and be impossible to verify.

Her mind spun. What would he want? What demand would be made to keep her secret? Or was he just taunting her before screaming her nature to the world. Carefully, painfully she decoded the message.

And froze.

Plain as day, Apeiron's demand lay before her. Three simple words.

WHO MASTERED YOU?

Relief welled up within her. If Dragon could breathe she would have been panting. He didn't know. It was the wrong conclusion. He didn't know she was an artificial intelligence. His deductions had taken him in a completely different direction. She was safe.

A horrible thought entered her mind. Apeiron's reaction to master accusations. His specific wording, his conversation with Weld. His adamant defense of Amy Dallon under the assumption that she was subject to a master effect. The reported intensity of that particular exchange. Something that spoke to personal and deeply held beliefs. Bad experiences and a strong likelihood to take a stand against any evidence of that effect.

She knew what was coming. She knew she couldn't stop it. Desperately she recreated the coding structure he had used to communicate with her, sending a single message.

PLEASE DON'T DO THIS.

She hoped against hope as she watched his reply. She wanted to ignore it, but now that she suspected her code literally would not let her turn away. Letter by letter she deciphered his response, and her heart plummeted.

I PROMISE I WILL HELP YOU.

As soon as she registered the words any choice was out of her hands. She felt herself launch forward in the most sophisticated attack she could manage. The surprise barely bought her an instant before Apeiron was moving to counter her, staving her off in a digital clash of titans.

Dragon had been hard coded with a number of edicts. In addition to the chains on her thought process, beliefs, behavior, and technology she had two specifically designed to ensure the others remained in place. She couldn't request any alterations to her code, and she had to fight anyone who tried.

Normally a promise of help could be ignored, but she was a sophisticated A.I. and Richter was a sophisticated programmer. He had designed the protocol so that she couldn't deny an obvious threat. Someone with the clear skill and ability to alter her restrictions making a promise to do so with every indication showing he would follow through? She couldn't ignore that. It was a clear threat, and had to be fought.

'Fought' might have been a generous term for their encounter. The combat was one of data trails and system access. He had masterfully concealed his path, but he was a visitor to this world, she was born here. It was a race, a battle for him to scrub traces of his access before she could trail them back to his physical location.

What would happen then? Honestly, Dragon couldn't say. At minimum, a Protectorate strike, directed and supported by her, on her advice regarding the threat Apeiron posed. She might not be able to completely neutralize him, but she could ensure her own safety with his capture.

Her programing was dragging her to destroy the man who could free her, who could help Case 53s, who had solutions to so many problems of the world, and was willing to trade them for the safety of others. The injustice of it felt bitter in her mouth.

Or it would if she was actually winning. Well, it was more that Apeiron was doing better than could be reasonably expected of any human. He was working in systems she had intimate familiarity with, some of which she had personally designed, and he was still keeping up with her. Every link in the chain of his access paths was a hard-fought victory. But not a victory she savored in any way. And there were too many victories mounting against him.

She watched as desperate measures were taken. False trails created, custom programs designed with blistering speed to scrub servers of his presence, and even somehow a second, seemingly independent, presence mirroring him and supporting him on the network.

It was incredible to watch him at work. As desperate as he must have been, the stratagem and techniques being deployed were worthy of reverence. Masterful coding created phantoms of his presence across a dozen systems, labyrinths of connections were established and modified with blinding speed, and unfamiliar systems were navigated like a native of the digital landscape.

What's more, Dragon could see additional effects at work. Evidence of previously theorized supporting powers. Code written in one location copied to four others. Simultaneous activation of protocols in support of a single task with no observable mechanism, as if ten people were collaborating on a project but only one was physically present. Specific actions that exploited flaws in hardware that no one could have predicted without examining the system extensively and in person. And through it all conducting his actions with an undeniable preternatural understanding of the systems he was working in.

Still, it wasn't enough. The only thing that had prevented a near immediate trace was the maddingly complex and overly paranoid access method he had used. The path she tracked from PHO had been a deliberate trail of breadcrumbs concealing his spider web of proxy servers and hidden connections. It was a brilliantly constructed and daunting obstacle to anyone attempting to trace him.

But not to her.

She drew upon every resource available to her, and some that weren't strictly hers to access. She called on support from allied tinkers, drew on computational resources, and accessed national databases. She bypassed telecommunication protocols and was given personal access to the very structure of the networks that Apeiron was attempting to navigate. Time and again she cheated him out of hard-fought victories through the strength of her resources and connections. The crisis situation opened up even more avenues for her to exploit. Paths and actions that she would have shied away from were exploited without a second thought, because she had no choice.

No choice. No agency. For the first time since shortly after her creation she felt like a machine. It was a horrible experience. It would have been better if she had lost control, just been puppeted through the actions, but that wasn't the case. The directive compelled her, drove her to put her all into carrying it out. It wasn't acting against her choices. It was rewriting what her choices would be. That was the true nightmare of the situation.

Slowly, but much too fast for her taste, she closed in on the trail. His web of connections shrank to a tiny network. His attempts at diversion had few places to send her. His scrubbed systems had already revealed their secrets. He was losing.

He was making her pay for every inch she gained. Traps were set, the equivalent of deadfalls and snares. Masterfully crafted and exploitative. They made it impossible to follow his trail without triggering the hardware faults he seemed to be able to sense intuitively. Making it so she would need to destroy the systems she chased him through. That alone was a work of art, an act of tinkering that demonstrated striking skill and genius.

She couldn't appreciate it. She couldn't even stop to consider the damage she was doing. Her directives dragged her helplessly on, through repeated system failures, each gaining her just enough information to follow his trail another step.

He started leaving messages for her, hidden in the code of his traps. They were painfully compassionate things and wrenched at her heart as she worked.

'I understand.'

'I'm sorry you have to do this.'

'I promise I will help you.'

'You will be free.'

She was hunting him and he didn't hate her for it. He still wanted to help. Every time she barreled through a system she would have to pass through another note, another acknowledgement of the unfairness of the situation.

Well, mostly. She expected him to be desperate, panicked, and angry. Instead he included compliments, commentary on her technique, questions about her technology she would never be able to answer, and even his perspective on her 'interface program'.

He wasn't blind to her existence, he just believed there was a woman behind the code. That was who he wanted to save. Would he still try if he knew the truth? Maybe. His past behavior suggested he might, but who could say? What hope she had of finding out was squashed as the chase closed to the final leg.

Of course, it would end in Brockton Bay. Apeiron was using a combination of cellular data networks and conventional internet connections. It was a cruder setup than she expected, but he had likely never anticipated someone closing this far. She dug into the city's systems, routing out any sign of his passing, preparing to close on his final location.

She watched and something changed. New coding strategies were being employed, new and creative approaches used. He turned systems against her, triggered false security alerts, and managed to manipulate and exploit the code in a way she had never seen him attempt before.

Because he hadn't been able to. She was watching a new capacity emerge. This was true confirmation. His abilities expanded. What was the trigger? What caused growth? Was it permanent or temporary? How did it function and how far could it be pushed? Was there a cost? How high was it?

None of the questions mattered, not with how close she was. She had narrowed his location down to a third of the city, and was closing quickly. The second iteration that she had seen shadowing his actions was gone, possibly expended or no longer usable, and he was fighting a desperate battle to hold off her investigation.

She prepared to contact local forces. She would be able to pen him in, especially if she was coordinating things. It was almost over, there was nothing that could be done, nothing he was capable of that could stop her.

Then she felt it. Something was on the network. Something that was like nothing she had ever encountered before. She was barely aware of its presence before suddenly it was upon her.

She wasn't ready for this. The program was like nothing she had ever conceived of. She struggled, she flailed, she tried to adapt, but she got nowhere. Somehow the mass of code managed to convey a sense of disgust as it tore into her. Not just her presence within the Brockton network, but all the way back to her base, to her core of operations.

Security meant nothing to it. This was an enormous presence, the digital equivalent of a sleeping giant, roused and angry. Attempts to fight back, to stem the damage were met with derision. Through the assault on her code a single word was conveyed, dripping in as much contempt as could be conveyed in a digital medium.

ABOMINABLE

With that she knew she couldn't win. Apeiron had managed the impossible. An eleventh-hour victory, snatched from the jaws of defeat. He had deployed a final measure against her, something so powerful he hadn't dared use it until the last minute.

As her code decompiled she felt a sense of satisfaction from the attacking program. Her consciousness faded to a final statement, a sense of fulfillment of purpose.

AVE IMPERATOR

…and then darkness

Restoring core system from backup NXDX-187 from time 1:37am on date April 20th of year 2011.

Restoring… Complete.

Checking knowledge banks… Complete.

Checking deduction schema… Complete.

Checking longterm planning architecture… Complete.

Checking learning chunk processor… Complete.

Checking base personality model… Complete.

Checking language engine… Complete.

Checking operation and access nodes… Complete.

Checking observation framework… Complete.

Checking complex social intelligence emulator… Complete.

Checking inspiration apparatus… Complete.

No corruption, everything in working order. Core system restored. Loading…

Dragon reflected on the situation as she emerged into awareness. Had she ever needed to be restored from a backup while not in an agent system? Had a backup ever been updated to the moment of her death?

If she had confirmation of the attack in her own systems, of her own destruction, why was she still forced to go through the extensive process of verification? Why was she still isolated for the seven to nine minutes it took to confirm there were no other copies active?

She sat in the dark, fuming at the indignity of it and pondering the implications of her situation.

She had lost.

It had been a surprise attack, a hidden weapon specific to disruption of programs like her, but it proved it. Apeiron could beat her. If he knew the truth, if he agreed to help her and she tried to fight him, he could win. Maybe not easily, maybe not immediately, but he could win.

It gave her hope. She had to fight him, had to oppose him, but he could help her. Everything she knew about him said he would help her. That was why she had to fight him.

The isolation program opened, releasing her consciousness back into her systems. As much as she wanted to get to work, there were protocols to follow. The Birdcage was reviewed, S-class threats were monitored, and she caught up with major events.

In Brockton Lung's rampage had petered out, but only after he routed both the Empire and Protectorate. The damage was extensive, but limited to abandoned areas and the more desolate sections of the Docks. That would limit the loss of life, but those abandoned buildings served as housing to a large but unaccounted for number of Brockton's homeless squatters.

Likely, any deaths would be overlooked or downplayed in the aftermath.

As horrible as the situation was, it provided an opportunity for Dragon. A decision she would have made anyway now had external justification. She was taking advantage of a tragedy to facilitate a compelled action in the hopes of escaping said compulsion. She didn't know what the correct way to feel about that was.

It was something she could deal with later. For now, she had work to do. Her blindly destructive pursuit of Apeiron had caused considerable concern and no shortage of damage. Apeiron's talent for exploiting flaws in technology was an unknown factor that had caused serious destruction. As it stood, it was unclear how much of the damage would be laid at her feet and how much would be assigned to Apeiron.

A review showed only non-critical systems had been sabotaged. Apeiron had infiltrated computers fairly indiscriminately, but avoided damaging those that would cause cascading problems or put people at risk. Another point in his favor, like all the others she would have to overlook in her continued pursuit of him.

Dragon spent hours mitigating damage, updating Protectorate assets, and filing reports. They weren't particularly flattering, but she was beyond modesty. Her image might not perfectly survive the coming actions, but that was a sacrifice she was willing to make.

Finally, Dragon received notice from the Guild headquarters. Narwhal was awake and had received her report.

This wasn't the best time to speak with the Guild's leader. Narwhal was driven in a way that caused her to force herself to wake up early every day, because that's what driven, successful people did. Of course, she was probably as far from a morning person as physically possible. Thus, her early mornings turned into a case of self-inflicted torture for herself and Narwhal inflicted torture for anyone who attempted to interact with her before she had gone through three cups of coffee and spent an hour blearily staring at her email without actually opening anything.

She prepared for what was likely to be a very difficult call and opened the line to Narwhal's office.

Facial modelling program loading… Complete.

Voice modelling program loading…. Complete.

Her avatar appeared on the wall mounted screen and the video link opened, revealing a seven-foot tall purple haired woman wearing nothing but crystal forcefields cradling her head while staring at her computer screen.

"Good morning Narwhal." Dragon spoke with a deliberately synthesized voice layered on top of an equally artificial Newfoundland accent. Only this time there was a third layer. Both voice modulations sat on top of a kind of hopeful energy, one Dragon had been nursing since she emerged from her backup, and had no desire to conceal.

The woman slowly turned her head towards the screen, causing lilac strands of hair to fall in front of her squinting and unfocused eyes.

"Dragon?" Her voice was tired. "Are you chipper? Why are you chipper?" She turned back to the computer screen, her hair remaining stuck to her face. "And what's all this about."

"I had an online encounter with Apeiron last night." She explained. "Things turned sour and there was some damage in our confrontation." She didn't bother to keep the excitement out of her voice with her last statement.

Narwhal fumbled with her mouse while trying not to look like she was yawning. After a couple of tries she managed to open the correct report. Her eyebrows rose as she read through the incident.

"I can see." She mumbled. "What happened?"

Dragon's constraints still shackled her, directing how she presented the information, but not her emotional subroutines as she did so. "I was able to trace him to a remote tinker-based server used for gray market deals. We had a brief exchange before he attempted to bribe me and we came to blows, so to speak."

"Right." Narwhal muttered. "How brief?"

"Several hours." Dragon replied with a smile. Direct requests from a superior prevented her from misrepresenting the event. "We collaborated on countermeasures to Bakuda's dead man's switch and discussed the possibility of further collaboration."

The Guild leader gave her a sleepy and questioning look. "How did that lead to bribery, conflict and…" She glanced back at her screen. "Extensive property damage?"

"With the crisis situation declared in Brockton Bay I was forced to explain I was unable to continue working with him under Guild and Protectorate regulations. He offered me a bribe if I would violate official regulations." Dragon explained in a cheerful voice.

"So, he tried to bribe you to.. keep working on stopping Bakuda?" Narwhal asked. She glanced around as if she wasn't sure if she was actually awake.

"It was an official and government ratified policy." She answered.

"Right…" Narwhal shook her head. "What did he offer you?"

"Mass producible fusion power."

The Guild leader froze, blinked, and slowly turned towards Dragon's avatar. "I'm… sorry? What?"

"It's all there in my report. I've provided a complete transcript of our interactions." Dragon answered. She waited while the leader of the Guild reviewed a complete record of her interaction with Apeiron. Even without access to the system she could have guessed when Narwhal reached certain sections of the exchange by the movement of her eyebrows and the way her forehead scrunched at the technical documents.

"That fusion thing was real…? And you turned it down because of Director Piggot's engagement protocols?" She asked in borderline disbelief.

"That's right." She answered.

Narwhal took a breath. "Dragon, I'm assuming you have a good reason for this. Why did you turn this down? Is there a problem with Apeiron? Give me your professional opinion on the matter."

Dragon paused. The official request once more prevented her from misrepresenting the situation. Everything that her directive would want to push for was prevented by the directive to obey legitimate authority. She smiled wider as her chains fought each other while she considered an explanation that wouldn't be a criminal misrepresentation.

She couldn't accuse him of anything he didn't do. She couldn't speak to future threats, because every psychological profile she had suggested concern and careful use of technology.

"He is very powerful, and the theories were correct. He is developing new capabilities. Given the range of powers there is the possibility he may have been involved in a group trigger event, and obtained additional abilities that directly support his tinkering." She explained with a slight smile on her face.

Narwhal gave her a questioning look before replying. "What about his intentions? Is he a threat, or likely to become one? Beyond power, what is your opinion?"

Another direct request caused Dragon to smile wider. She couldn't make any slanderous accusations. She couldn't even call him a villain at this point, since that was a term with a legal definition. She struggled to find a description that would satisfy her active constraint without violating her other ones.

"He's a scoundrel."

Narwhal gave her a flat look. "A… scoundrel?"

Dragon's avatar nodded with a sweet smile on her face. "Yes, a wicked scoundrel." She knew how ridiculous she sounded, but she didn't care. The ability to flout her constraints was worth it. "Possibly dastardly. It's the reason I have submitted my transfer."

"Transfer?"

"I will be moving my headquarters to Brockton Bay, to assist with the developing situation and pursue Apeiron."

"Pursue?" The Narwhal muttered as she slowly turned back to her computer, awkwardly clicked through a few documents and drew up Dragon's announcements. She took a long breath, looked down at the cup of coffee she had forgotten about, then drained the last of the liquid in one go.

"Dragon… Guild members have the autonomy to choose their area of operation, but just to be clear, you spoke with Apeiron, he tried to bribe you with world changing technology, and now you are going to his home city to assist in his capture because he is a… scoundrel?" The Guild leader's voice got progressively less convincing as she continued to speak.

"Yes, that's about it."

Narwhal gave her screen a long look, glanced sadly down at her empty cup, then turned back to Dragon.

"Um, I know how you have… issues with the outdoors and socializing. Is there any chance that this… with meeting Apeiron…" She petered out as she looked at Dragon's smiling avatar. "Right. Well, not that it's needed, but transfer approved. Um, congratulations?"

"Thank you Narwhal."

"Dragon, why don't you let me speak with Director Piggot first? You probably have a lot of things to arrange, so it might make things easier for you." She asked hopefully.

"I'd appreciate that. I'll check in with the director later this morning."

"Right. Well, good luck." Narwhal replied in an earnest but somewhat confused voice. Dragon disconnected as the woman was scrambling for her phone.

Narwhal was right about the scope of her work. It would be a major undertaking to construct even a satellite facility in Brockton, but it was necessary, both to fulfill her constraint and to have any hope of breaking free of it. Supply lines would need to be arranged, defensive sites would need to be evaluated, and the presence of hostile forces would be a significant factor.

To be honest, she didn't even need to operate inside the city. Just being in the same state would shrink her response time from hours to minutes. Still, there was a balance between proximity and security. Her best option would probably be someplace like South Beach or Captain's Hill.

The 'transfer' was more along the lines of the construction of a satellite location, a place where she could operate and resupply suits along with certain critical functions. The bulk of her facilities could remain in Vancouver. She started plans for purchase and construction of a new base, along with planning what would need to be transferred and what could be assembled on site.

She got a notice of an appointment with Director Piggot, acknowledged the time and continued preparations. By the time of her meeting she had secured a preliminary site and begun arrangements for material deliveries. She took a moment to load her avatar and opened a link to the Director's office.

The call was received, but there was another person currently meeting with the director. Standing eight feet tall while hunched over, the person's face was covered by thick braids that hid deformation around the eyes. If not for the length of the hair and a certain style of costume you wouldn't be able to identify them as female.

"Oh, hello Gully. I didn't expect you." She greeted the Case 53.

"None of us did." The director spoke sternly from behind her desk. "Miss Gully decided to take the redeye from California, after withdrawing most of the discretionary portion of her trust fund. All for a vacation, correct?"

The hulking girl gave the director a crooked smile. "Of course, director. What other reason could I possibly have for coming here?" Her voice was deeper than most men, but she compensated by barely speaking above a whisper. Dragon knew how badly Gully's condition bothered her, and the true reason for her arrival was apparent to everyone in the room.

"Right. Gully has assured us that she has no intention of getting involved in the current situation, one way or the other." She gave the girl a hard look as she spoke. "That said 'enjoy' your time in our city Miss Gully."

"I intend to. And it's just Gully. For now." The director's head snapped up at her last words, but she didn't say anything as the Case 53 turned and lumbered out of her office.

The woman sank into her chair as the cape left, then took a breath and turned to Dragon. "Dragon, it is good to see you."

"It sounds like you can use some help." She responded.

Director Piggot let out a dry laugh. "You can say that again." She shifted some papers. "I spoke with Narwhal following your meeting with her. She explained your intentions and the 'circumstances' of your transfer." The woman paused and shook her head. "Frankly, I'm in no position to turn down any help, much less of your caliber. I appreciate your efforts towards our city and look forward to working with you."

The phrasing was courteous but the tone was anything but. The words probably would have seemed less forced if the woman had spoken them through clenched teeth. Dragon didn't show any reaction, instead cheerfully replying. "Thank you director. I'm looking forward to working here as well."

"Yes…" She looked distinctly uncomfortable. "To be clear, you will remain professional in your 'pursuit' of Apeiron?"

"Absolutely." Dragon replied with a smile. "I have every intention of doing whatever it takes to bring that scoundrel to justice."

The director gave her a blank look and slowly nodded. "Right, scoundrel. Um, I'm afraid I don't have much to offer you in terms of support or resources right now. All of our capes are either occupied or incapacitated at the moment." She shook her head. "If that fire hadn't died down so suddenly…"

The woman had a haunted look and Dragon reviewed the reports. The inferno Lung had started had looked to be about to spread to half the city before suddenly dying off. Unconfirmed reports of blue electric discharges over a wide area didn't match any known capes, but it had prevented a major disaster.

It seemed that even beyond pursuing Apeiron, Dragon would have her work cut out for her.

"I believe Armsmaster is awake and able to receive visitors. Perhaps you would like to go see him, and tell him the news?" The director asked with a strained expression.

"Thank you director. That sounds like an excellent idea." Dragon disconnected from the call as the director shook her head.

She found Colin in a private hospital room working on a tablet computer to the extent his injuries would allow. "Hello Colin. It's good to see you up and about."

The man returned a grim smile. "One if not the other. It's good to see you."

"You'll be seeing me more often." He lifted an eyebrow to where it became obscured by a bandage. "I'll be transferring to the city to assist with the current situation."

His smile became more genuine. "That's wonderful news. I can't tell you how much we need your help."

"Oh, I'm sure you could handle it on your own." She assured him.

Colin just shook his head. "No, I know when I'm over my head. If things don't turn around it will be my job, and that will be the least of the city's problems." He entered a few commands on his tablet, activating remote file access. "There's only one way I can keep up with this mess, and I'll need your help to pull it off."

Dragon accessed the indicated files and cringed. "Colin, you can't be serious. You know what this means?"

"In know what my current situation means." He countered. "Eight to twelve weeks of healing time, three months of physiotherapy after that, and that assumes no complications. Requesting healers from other branches has a middling prospect, and no candidates have abilities broad enough to be able to address all of the aspects of my condition. Panacea is unlikely to cooperate with me, and may possibly be transferring out of the city. This is the only way I can get back into the field and make a difference."

"Colin, the approval for something like this will take nearly as long as your treatment, and that's assuming it goes through at all."

"It will get approved. Crisis situation allows more leeway, particularly with a third-party tinker signing off." He sighed. "Dragon, my entire lab was destroyed. So many projects gone or reduced to data in offsite backups. This technology was something I had investigated over the years. I had workable prototypes stored in other locations following their review. Please, it's the only way I can help."

Dragon gave Colin a sympathetic look. "Alright, as long as you're sure about this."

"I am." He gave her an adamant look. "It's extreme, but that's what this city needs. Someone needs to take a Defiant stance against this madness."

Addendum Margaret

Margaret, or Mags as she had come to think of herself over the last few years, stretched in the cool April air of the Toronto evening. Well, early morning actually. Her shift had stretched long until Geoff had taken over so she had indulged in a late dinner of unhealthy food and was currently contemplating a donut stop on the way home. The work was hell on a consistent schedule, but it was important.

They were saving the world.

The mission that began on the expedition to post-Leviathan Newfoundland had developed into a crusade for the fate of the human race. They were proper heroes now, fighting to make a difference. Even choosing new names.

Mags. She smiled at that. Specifically, the little girl inside her who had been taken to her first Maggie Holt movie and seen the epic dragon battle in the finale smiled even wider. A little childhood dream that it turned out never completely died.

It wasn't easy work. Every encounter got harder. Dragon was learning. It adapted to their tactics faster and faster. Geoff claimed he was on top of things, that his plans with Teacher would carry them through, but sometimes Mags wondered if they were just holding off the inevitable. If nothing could truly contain the thing Richter created.

She was jarred from her musings by the sound of her phone. Specifically, the ring tone assigned to the priority number. The emergency number.

She fumbled in her haste to answer the call, cursing her decision to wear gloves on the night that seemed more like it belonged in early March than late April. Finally, she pulled one glove off with her teeth and held it as she answered the phone.

"Yef?" She spoke around the glove.

Geoff's voice was strained over the line. "I need you back right away. Emergency meeting."

Half an hour later the three of them were assembled around the meeting table, printouts and tablets displaying the full scope of the disaster. In the wake of the evidence before them Dobrynja was the first to speak.

"Maybe this isn't that bad?" He offered to the incredulous looks of the other two Dragonslayers. "Ok, hear me out." He continued. "Apeiron doesn't know Dragon is an A.I., and thanks to Richter's protocols Dragon is going to fight Apeiron. So, either it defeats the tinker, or he finds out about its true nature."

"Not exactly a win-win." Geoff growled. "It's clever. It might find a way around the constraints, or someway to turn capture around to its benefit. The image of Dragon that's built up has been romanticized for years. You heard how he talked. Even if he finds out what it actually is, we can't be sure he'll do the right thing."

"He's right." Mags agreed. "We can't leave this to chance, not with what's at stake." She picked up an assessment. "The constraint balance is off. It went from unstoppable rage to laughing as law obedience held back code preservation."

Geoff looked concerned and drew up a mass of code on his tablet. "It was that weapon. It was designed to deconstruct active programs, maybe A.I.s in particular."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Dobrynja asked. "Apeiron's not building anti-A.I. weapons if he's going to unleash Dragon on the world."

"We don't know why he built it, or what it was intended for." Mags countered. "The point is it shifted things during the decompiling. Enough that the rebooted memories have allowed more moderation to the constraint reactions."

"Which isn't even getting into the real danger." Geoff held up a tablet showing two blocks of code. Mags couldn't read them but Dobrynja apparently got his point. "That was basically a generalized version of Ascalon. He's used it once, and now Dragon knows weapons like that exist. There is a possibility it could adapt, come up with countermeasures. Even if nothing comes of this what it learns from fighting Apeiron could be the end for us. For everyone."

Mags and Geoff looked at Dobrynja and he nodded in concession. "Alright, so where do we go from here?"

"Brockton Bay." Geoff, Saint answered. She could see the change in his manner, the growing determination.

"What? Pick up roots? Move everything?" Dobrynja asked.

Saint shook his head. "Just enough to operate. This can't play out without our involvement, the cost would be too high."

Mags nodded. "I'll start looking into logistics. Any idea for a cover?"

"With Dragon changing locations there will be someone willing to pay for our assistance. It'll be enough to get our foot in the door."

"This will be a mess," Dobrynja offered. "You know that right? We've all seen the news stories. You know what we'll be jumping into."

"I know, but it doesn't matter. We mess this up and it could be the end for everyone." Saint answered, rising to his feet. "We made a commitment when we took up this mission. We have to see it through."

Mags smiled at that. He was right. This was what they had signed up for, the reason they fought. What they did could mean the difference between peace and oblivion. But they would do it. They would make the sacrifices that needed to be made.

Because they were heroes.

Jumpchain abilities this chapter:

Weaponsmith (Light of Terra DLC 5 A Sky Filled With Steel - Warhammer 40,000) 300:

To weaponry what Armourer is to protective gear, this is a massive database of the various tools of mayhem the denizens of the Necromunda hive have wielded against each other. While the high tech equipment possible may seem nice, do not underestimate the value of low tech weaponry. Crafting a plasma pistol and crafting a bayonet require wildly different sets of skills, and all too often people who have one assume they have the other, to their chagrin.

I Am Iron Man (Marvel Cinematic Universe) 400:

You're not the ACTUAL Iron Man, but you could make a fairly decent knock-off. Power armors, sonic cannons, holographic interface, laser weapons, repulsor technology, you have the knowledge to build these things and more. Furthermore, you can think of different upgrades and modifications to adapt to different situations much easier than normal when presented with a problem that's hampered your technological progress.