* October 1, 2008 *

The AGE system from the "Gundam" setting was, at first glance, useless. Too large and taking up entirely too much power and having cooling system problems that would preclude it from the sort of thing she typically built.

That was only at first glance though. Once she had a chance to see it properly, Taylor Hebert broke out the Mad Scientist Laugh. Which was especially dramatic when all of her shadow clones did the same thing a moment later.

It meant that any Mobile Suits she made were modular by nature, able to switch out parts at need from the Builder Drydock - which in this case was one of the Auto-Factory assembly lines that hooked up directly to her Hangar or to the main Drydock out near Saturn.

In roughly three days she would have a Gundam unit that put the Leo mecha to utter shame. That was fine though as the Leo was basically the equivalent of a trainer plane.

It also meant that she could install the AGE Device in just about any of her vehicles and they would collect data on any threats encountered in order to meet and exceed the threat. The AGE Device was too big and the power requirements too large to put that into any of her gynoids or androids or robots. Battleships though? Yeah, she could work out a version to do that.

Build modules that could be swapped out to meet specific needs, so that a ship could enter drydock and leave again in less than an hour prepared for a different role.

Actually the Leo could be upgraded with this. Huh. She immediately set several construction robots to begin upgrades.

That was something that very few people seemed to grasp. The people at DARPA and her parents being the exceptions.

She had, by other people's definition of such things, minions.

Doctor Curlyhair had started out with her robot units such as the Protectrons and Labors. She'd continued on with the Nier series, the gynoids and androids. The Bar-bees and the occasional Ken. There was Jarvis, her Forerunner Ancilla. She'd gotten the ability to produce more and more shadow clones. Now, most recently, there was Kara.

She had been running the Auto-Factory almost constantly since she'd gotten it, and more assembly lines and technologies had been added during that time.

That didn't even get into the whole AI Ship-girl vs Wisdom Cube Ship-girl thing if you wanted to start listing off allies that she could count on.

Her musing was interrupted as Jarvis spoke up. "Doctor, there appears to be a complication."

"A good complication or a bad one?" asked Taylor.

"Bad. Apparently three of the Bar-bee units have been approached by the villain Heartbreaker, who is attempting to suborn their loyalties through manipulation of their endocrine systems and emotional programming."

"On a Bar-Bee?" asked Taylor. "They're capable of full emotional ranges, but the mechanisms are completely different. How effective is it?"

"About as effective as trying to teach a dog to juggle, with the exception of Sam of course," replied Jarvis.

"He's going by Cosmo now," said Taylor. "Okay. They signaled you?"

"Yes, Bar-Bee 7, aka Welder Barbie, established contact as soon as facial recognition pinged Heartbreaker."

"Good," said Taylor. "Notify local authorities that he's in town and is being monitored. No, hold on that. We don't know if he's got agents in place already. Notify Armsmaster and Dragon via encryption level 4. Notify my parents too. Send to Welder Barbie to play along, so we can track him back to his base. If she and the other two's up to it, of course. If they aren't and just want to beat him like a drum in a metal band, that's a good Plan B."

"Relaying," noted Jarvis. "Ah. It appears all three Bar-Bees regard this as amusing and will act appropriately. They have enough human interaction down that they feel that this is a test of their grasp of such things. Though Welder states she's going to have to explain all this to her 'significant other' after the operation completes."

"Understandable," admitted Taylor.

"Armsmaster wants confirmation of Heartbreaker's presence," added Jarvis.

"Does the 'Unwritten Rules' apply to someone using their powers while not wearing a costume?" asked Taylor.

There was a pause before Jarvis answered. "Armsmaster says no. Usage of a parahuman power to assault others in a civilian identity counts as outing themselves if it is detected."

"Cool, can we do a livestream?" asked Taylor.

"With a delay for filtering and blocking non-participant's identities? Yes, relatively simple."

Taylor smiled. "Do it. Oh, and does overwatch know?"

"Overwatch phoned it in before Welder Barbie did by 2.78 seconds," noted Jarvis.

"Yes, but the effects were apparently temporary as the waiter and greeter both exhibited confusion shortly after Heartbreaker was seated," answered Jarvis. "Suspect is attempting to leave cafe with the three Bar-Bees. Two others in cafe leaving at same time, body language indicates 92% chance they are accompanying Heartbreaker."

"Run identification on both," said Taylor.

"PRT Senior Agent Anatoli Blanc from Maine Branch identified. Flagged for Armsmaster," announced Jarvis. "Other identified as Mark Scarlucci, also known as 'Roman Candle' - pyrokinetic rated as Blaster-4. Blanc was not known to be an associate of Heartbreaker prior to this, Roman Candle was convicted of several counts of arson and petty theft. Was sentenced in 2004 to the Zbornak Correctional Facility as part of a plea deal, transport never arrived and was found empty near the Miami city limits with signs it was attacked by an unknown Brute-type."

"Relay that to Armsmaster and overwatch."

"Done."

"I think it's time to try something a bit dangerous then," said Taylor. "Oh? Are you sure, Doctor? Shouldn't we attempt something less dangerous, all things considered?"

"No, Let's Get Dangerous," said Doctor Hebert, getting on her little cart and racing down the hallway.

"Will you be using the Necron Monoliths then?" asked Jarvis.

"Overkill for someone like Heartbreaker," responded Taylor.

"Not the N.E.R.F. gun, is it?" asked Jarvis.

"If a Necron Monolith was overkill, where would that put the NERF gun?" asked Taylor as she took a high-speed corner on the cart.

"Point," acknowledged Jarvis dryly. "What weapon of mass destruction are you planning on getting from the Armory then?"

"Not 'mass' destruction," answered Taylor. "Likewise, I've only got four Canoptek Wraiths at this point. Be a shame to use them on something so fragile. Also sending a message I'm thinking would not be well received."

There came a rumbling noise through the warehouse complex, as the Celestial Forge apparently decided something had met whatever conditions were necessary.

"Not a very good time for this," commented Jarvis to no one in particular.

"Yeah, what's a 'Schlock Mercenary' anyway?" asked Taylor as she stopped the cart and leapt out of her seat.

The retina scanner and hand-print identifier and vocoder security measures were quickly dealt with, and the doors to the Armory opened.

Of course, she had weapons secured in various places around the complex. It wouldn't do to have an invader or Menace From Beyond and then be unable to reach the Armory after all. It was just the Really Big Guns required a dedicated space for them. Hence, the Armory.

The Wraiths were technically repair & recycle devices from the Necron technologies she'd acquired. They had their uses outside of fixing things and she had less intimidating-looking devices like the spider-bots to handle most repair jobs anyway. They could be deployed as weapons, and were not PR-friendly, which was why they were stored here when not in use.

That Canoptek Wraiths were among her less dangerous weapons was something she was not anxious to advertise.

The Necron Scarabs were not included - those were capable of being used as weapons but they were multipurpose drones so they went to an entirely different place. Especially after considerable rebuilding to include Mining Beam functions and forcefield emitters.

Passing the Lokhust Heavy Destroyer without so much as a glance, besides - she kept forgetting to finish the paint job, Taylor went past that to stand before her chosen weapon.

Something she'd found in the Necron database dominated this section, much like the Lokhust, but a spider-like construct that was called a Seraptek Heavy Construct armed with a weapon called a Synaptic Obliterator. It was mostly Necron technology, just a few added touches from Forerunner technology to address some of the weaknesses.

"Oh, sure, THAT is much more subtle," said Jarvis, putting a fair amount of vaguely British-sounding sarcasm into the sentence.

Taylor paused and then reached past the Seraptek to pull a single pistol off the wall mount.

"Ah," said Jarvis, considering. "Excellent choice, Doctor."

Taylor hefted the pistol, enjoying the weight and feel of it. Silvery metal, glowing blue lines, little radar dish at the front. Some of it was aesthetic add-ons but she really felt the whole of it came together nicely.

* In a car *

Heartbreaker was well pleased. Three identical triplets, quite attractive, who were easily fascinated by his power and enticed to join him.

There was something a little off about them, the reactions showing signs of confusion and of fighting the influence. It wasn't unheard of though. Strong willed individuals had managed similar reactions in the past, it had just required more time for his power to work and then the rewards were all the sweeter for the effort.

His power was working, just the reactions of the server and the waitress had been enough for that conclusion.

It was curious though, this feeling that something was slightly off. It took time for his power to sufficiently "program" the emotions to become a new normal.

Eh? What was this up ahead?

* Lung's Palace *

He sat back on his throne.

Okay, it was an EXTREMELY comfortable recliner made of fire-resistant materials that he'd received from ForgeTech during Chinese New Year.

Delivered to his residence under his real name.

With a card congratulating him for his successful legitimate businesses.

He was Lung. He was mighty! He was the undisputed boss of a criminal empire!

He also made considerable amounts of money in entirely legitimate manners, helped enormously by trade with the considerable military presence and economic boom that Brockton Bay was experiencing.

He was a survivor. When the environment changed, he adapted.

He sat back on his throne in his audience chamber, and viewed the people before him.

Sasaki Rui was well known to him, named for an illustrious ancestor and considerably skilled in the same samurai arts as that ancestor. A rare case of someone living up to the name they were given at birth.

She bore her weapons as she knelt before him. Not a cape, but very skilled and very useful. Attracted to his cause because the local economy flourished, and she got to beat the crap out of Nazis.

Who didn't like beating the crap out of Nazis?

The one speaking though was an entirely different case. "Speak, Chien."

"Security cameras have identified Nikos Vasil, also known as Heartbreaker. As soon as the villain was identified, we followed procedure and sent a screenshot and text message to our points-of-contact, Great Lung. This indicates the prior observation of the tentatively identified children of Vasil were correct. Your orders?"

"Continue avoiding, but nobody will shed a tear if the two loyal spawn of Vasil are ended quickly." Lung considered for a moment recruitment of the two, but Guillaume and Nicholas were apparently willing pawns of Vasil. Too much risk, too little reward. "Rui?"

"A simple task," acknowledged Rui Sasaki.

"Then proceed, report back when the task is done," said Lung, a finger touching a button so that the warming massage action on his lower back ended. He really liked this new throne. It was only fitting that a dragon have a useful hoard.

Li Chien knew he was dismissed and scurried from his presence. Honestly, he had six or seven people with that name and it could get confusing at times. "Oni Lee."

The Oni, one of his oldest and most trustworthy, if a little forgetful, lieutenants stepped out of the shadows he favored lurking in.

"Oni Lee, keep an eye on Vasil. If he seeks to linger in my territory, or go recruiting, he should meet a suitable end," said Lung, before making a gesture.

One of his men stepped forward, refilled a glass with a suitable dark beer, and then retreated.

Lung nodded, sipped at the beer, giving a little sigh of contentment. Not the life he'd anticipated, not even close. But it would certainly do.

* Bar-Bee 1, Administrator Barbie *

He'd relaxed slightly after the car had passed the crowd without issue. Just another anti-Forgetech demonstration, claiming that they were taking real jobs from real Americans, that their Union was unfair, Blood for Oil, Just Wanna Beer, Leave Space Alone, No No Nano, No Terminators In Brockton Bay, etcetera. And on the other side a small group of Free The Simurgh.

What was it about humans that the greater the number, the less the collective intelligence? Something to ponder from time to time.

As to the internationally known and feared villain Heartbreaker? You'd think someone who apparently kidnapped professional chefs to add to his harem, that he'd be a little bit chubbier. Or someone who collected women as if they were trading cards to be more fit. Instead he was lean to the point of being skinny with a small pot belly and decidedly unkempt. He should also bathe on a more regular basis than every-so-often.

Then again, his powers meant he probably didn't get any exercise except in bed.

She'd been ready to end this sad little man's life except for the idea she and her associates could get a base location out of him.

Because of his reliance on his powers, he was not the most guarded of individuals. If he entered a poker game in the presence of a power-nullifier, he would lose. Big time. There was not a doubt in her mind.

Of course, she and all the other Bar-Bee units would be immune to the man's power. While her systems copied human anatomy and appearance to 99.9% matchup, they were not human and would not be mistaken for human if examined on a microscopic level. That wasn't even getting into their defensive hardware and software.

That said, she could monitor a number of bio-signs and he was not particularly guarded or trained against leaving the various tells that he displayed.

Oh, and he had his wallet on his person. Or had. Welder had just lifted it and determined that he had various IDs in there. Arrogant little prick, wasn't he?

He was getting more and more certain that something was not right. That his power was not influencing them. It might have been their performance was off, but it might be some form of feedback from his power.

Bar-bee 7 & Bar-bee 9 (Welder & Gunsmith) were with her now, and were "competing for his attention" but perhaps there was something off in their performance? They hadn't been built yesterday, but they weren't that old chronologically at least.

Administrator Barbie considered that, all the while she simpered and flirted with the villain. Multitasking was one of her strengths after all.

A flicker of movement drew her attention outside the vehicle. She side-eyed it and determined that it was a puff of ash.

Apparently they were running out of time.

Then another flicker, this one of blue light.

Just as well, this was all pretty ick as far as she was concerned. Not her type at all.

* Taylor *

She popped out of the portal, labcoat flaring out behind her in suitably dramatic fashion, and let her scanner do the work.

The car had six people in it, two in the front seats, four in the back. The back had three of the Bar-Bee units and one parahuman.

Her pistol was not the usual Omni-tool, for this she was using something that involved Necron technology but wasn't something the Necron would have bothered with. Well, maybe Trazyn. The database on him was quite... amusing? Horrifying? Educational? Something like that.

Doctor Curlyhair selected the single individual registering as having a high active subspace connection and pulled the trigger.

* Perks This Chapter *

7.28.1-Industrial Fabber (400CP)(Schlock Mercenary Rebuild)(Facilities Technology):
A massive fabber that is used for industrial applications like building starships. It can't be hosted in a spaceship, but could help you to build your own if fed raw material from space-rocks and such. It is capable of building annie plants if given sufficient time. It comes with a full tech database of all publicly available technologies, and will update to add any new publicly available technologies in future Jumps. * Can be used to build battleplates read: spaceships meant to tank relativistic orbital bombardments to save planets.

[Fabber added to Auto-Factory, Saturn L-4 Drydock.]