The Next Day
"Maybe bionics was a bad idea, huh?" Talon shouted, blocking another strike with his forearm, his muscles straining against the force. "Robots are one thing, but cyborgs? That was a terrible idea!"
"What are you talking about?" Penny's voice trembled, thick with emotion, her tear-streaked eyes wide with desperation. She barely had time to react before Talon seized her wrists, pinning her against the cold, brick wall.
"You know, I used to look up to my uncle," Talon said, his voice unsteady as he tried to make sense of it all. His grip on Penny's wrists remained firm, not out of malice, but desperation, he needed to finish. "But the more I think about it… no, the adults were wrong. The military was wrong for ever investing in this technology. And by the time Dr. Claw is finished, he's going to prove just how idiotic the government was for creating it in the first place!"
"What's going on?" Penny demanded, frustration creeping into her voice. She wasn't sure what Talon was getting at, was he trying to distract her just when she was so close to extracting crucial intel? But as he spoke, she realized he wasn't being evasive on purpose. He wasn't going to lay out Dr. Claw's plans for cybernetic warfare in plain terms, nor explain how it all connected to Chief Quimby's, General Sir's, or even Jeanette's disappearance. But with the pieces he was giving her, she was starting to put it together.
"Just like I said before...the adults who created all this," Talon said, a nervous laugh slipping through as his voice cracked. "They started it. They built the technology." His eyes shimmered with unshed tears, and for a moment, Penny saw not an enemy, but a frightened boy caught in something far bigger than he could control. "You don't think about it, do you?" he continued, his voice growing quieter. "What do you think's gonna happen with all that stolen tech he's been hoarding? It was meant for people... but in the wrong hands…" His voice trailed off, heavy with dread.
"People?" Penny yells, rubbing her sore, red eyes with the back of her hands after Talon finally releases her wrists. "Just tell me what you mean!"
"Penny, those people aren't coming back! None of them are!" Talon says, his voice a raw mixture of urgency and dread. "This isn't one of those times when you think you can take on my Uncle's criminal organization single-handedly!"
A heavy silence settles between them, thick and suffocating. It stretches, deepens, until Talon's voice cracks open again giving voice to his pain.
"What was the point?" Talon mutters angrily, glancing back at Penny. "Cyborgs didn't change anything! They didn't improve anyone's lives! They didn't make the world any better! Or else, why is my uncle's criminal empire still standing?"
Talon's denial used to be as thick as a brick wall. When his uncle, Dr. Claw, had been toying with an idea long enough to shape it into something concrete, it wasn't the first time Talon had seen his Uncle fixate on something. But this time was different. Dr. Claw had always been ruthless, always calculating, but now, there was an obsession behind his actions, something far more dangerous. He started collecting his enemies one by one, not to destroy them, but to change them. And that, Talon realized, was the most horrifying part.
His uncle had a few ideas at first, half-formed plans he'd back away from, but then it all became real when Dr. Claw began obsessively poring over the documents related to Professor Von Slickstein's work. The work that had initially fueled Project: Gadget. Talon couldn't be sure what exactly his uncle found in those pages, but he knew it didn't matter. Dr. Claw would read them over and over, from cover to cover, as if every word held the secret to immortality, to control. He'd found something more than just scientific breakthroughs, he'd found the keys to life and death itself.
For the longest time, Talon tried to push the reality of it away. The idea that his Uncle had access to something so powerful, something that could change the very fabric of humanity, he couldn't let himself believe it. But now, watching the way Dr. Claw moved, the way he spoke about the future, Talon couldn't deny it any longer. His Uncle's plan wasn't just to win, it was to control life itself, and Talon was starting to realize just how far that might go.
"That's insane," Penny croaked, her voice hoarse and raw from screaming. "Your uncle's lost his mind!" She wasn't sure she fully believed Talon's revelation, but the weight of everything sat heavy in her chest, leaving her unsettled.
"It was a mistake, Penny!" Talon shouted, his voice ricocheting off the narrow alley walls before fading into the night. "Inspector Gadget was a mistake and now look who's using it. Who's exploiting it. He finally understands the kind of power he has, and he's not going to stop."
Billy Thaw rubbed his sore, tired eyes as he thumbed through Professor Von Slickstein's documents for what felt like the hundredth time. At first, he'd been hesitant to bring any of it up to Talon, his older cousin had never taken kindly to having his worldview challenged, especially when it unraveled everything he'd been raised to believe. But now, after the late-night text Talon had sent, raw, urgent, detailing exactly how their uncle Dr. Claw planned to consolidate absolute power, Billy couldn't shake the weight in his chest. He didn't just feel fear. He felt sorry. Sorry for Talon, and sorry for the part they all played in letting it come this far.
Revelation after revelation continued to unravel within the Claw crime family, each one deepening the web of secrets they kept. Billy still wasn't entirely on board with the fact that he was related to an uncle who led a global terrorist organization. The truth unsettled him, ever since their grandmother had revealed the reality of his bloodline and the empire the Claw siblings had built from the ground up, he had struggled to come to terms with the legacy he had unknowingly inherited.
Their grandmother, who had long shielded Billy from the truth, finally decided it was time for him to choose his own path after discovering his direct connection to Dr. Claw. Even if it meant living under the same roof as his older cousin Talon, who knew far more about the inner workings of the criminal organization, there was a chance they could learn to work alongside each other, train together, and perhaps, in time, Billy could come to understand the legacy of his father's side of the family.
Billy, familiar with Plato's Allegory of the Cave, sometimes yearned for the shadows...craved them, even. Yet, at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder: what was the point of keeping secrets if they were destined to spill out anyway?
What was the point of Grandmother keeping this secret if it only meant he would have to confront his father's side of the family eventually? As the son of Dr. Thaw and the nephew of Dr. Claw, Billy was certain his name was already on the same federal watchlist used for high-profile terrorists. He had come to terms with it months ago. His name would never be associated with anything good or wholesome as long as it was tied to Dr. Claw.
With these highly classified documents in Dr. Claw's possession, handled obsessively by their uncle, he had achieved something unprecedented. The potential to unlock the very powers he sought. Talon and Billy now understood why someone would want control over the ability to fix what was broken, a technology originally designed for the battlefield. Professor Von Slickstein had intended to heal soldiers on the brink of death, but somewhere along the way, those plans had twisted into something resembling mad science. The time and precision it took to compile these notes, written with meticulous detail to grant something close to immortality, was chilling.
It was another fact Billy would be forced to accept as he stepped further into the world of adults. The reality was that the government had funneled money into this project. No matter how kind or gentle Professor Von Slickstein appeared, there was no such thing as an ethical or morally correct experiment. On one hand, science had done so much good for the human race. No one should have to endure suffering, and breakthroughs in medical science, like cures for AIDS, cancer, and vaccines, were evidence of its power for positive change. But Project: Gadget had its roots in military warfare and defense, a direction Billy wasn't too keen on supporting.
Given the nature of Dr. Claw's ideals, he aims to secure the upper hand by capturing the entire government division tasked with dismantling his criminal empire. By doing so, he ensures he will have enough leverage to create a power vacuum within the government. After capturing a key figure within WOMP, General Sir, who was not only a symbol of the unified government's commitment to eliminating Dr. Claw's empire but also their prime military strategist, the government is left vulnerable and without its most strategic leader.
"Heard Jeanette's been crying in her room… they keep her cooped up in there," Talon says, his voice heavy with concern. His gaze softens as he looks back at his cousin, who sits on the bottom bunk, both of them silently contemplating the fate of Dr. Claw's captives.
"Do you want me to talk to her?" Billy asks, adjusting his glasses with a push at the bridge of his nose. "Not that these notes give any indication that what our uncle is about to do will bring her any comfort." His stomach tightens at the thought of the horrifying reality of what Dr. Claw intends for them. They aren't just prisoners. They're subjects in his experiment, their lives forcibly extended to ensure his empire remains undefeated.
"Why not?" Talon says, clearly amused. "We're family now, remember? That's exactly what our uncle told us the day they were brought here. And family means telling the truth, no matter how much it hurts."
"I wish Grandma had been more honest with me," Billy says softly, his eyes drifting back to the towering stacks of classified documents related to Project: Gadget.
"But at least you had a choice," Talon huffs in frustration. "You could've gone back to that prestigious boarding school she wanted to send you to. But you stayed. You stayed to help them."
"By a very small margin," Billy kindly amends. "Remember, there's not much we can do now that our uncle has hired more personnel. We can try to comfort them, but right now, support is all they have… there is no way out."
"Makes you wonder though," Talon says, quietly contemplating existence and mortality. "Maybe some things should just stay dead. People talk about the afterlife, but with Project: Gadget, they don't get that. Their bodies are gutted, pumped full of drugs, and they're forced to relearn what it means to feel. But the real question is do cyborgs even get to die the same way we do?"
Billy rubs his temples, the weight of it this question pressing down on him. "Yeah, but we know Gadget's still Gadget," he says, looking over at the stack of notes. "Slickstein made sure of that. The whole point of these upgrades was to keep their consciousness intact. Gadget might have his body changed, but not his mind. His identity's still in one piece."
Talon nods but still looks uneasy. "Right, but what about the others? What if Uncle Claw has plans to mess with them? Maybe it's more than just turning them into cyborgs? What if he plans on using some kind of mind control to get them to do his bidding? I mean, if he wants to micromanage their lives, fine, but this... this isn't just about control. It's about stripping them of what makes them human."
Billy pauses for a moment, a sigh escaping his parted lips. "I don't think we need to worry about that. As far as we know, Gadget's still the same guy. The changes might be physical, but his mind, his heart they're still there. We just have to make sure the same doesn't happen to the others. That's the real fight."
"But what about Penny?" Talon murmurs.
"What about her?" Billy asks, crossing his arms against his chest.
"Maybe if the government had never started Project: Gadget, Penny wouldn't have to suffer the consequences!" Talon shouts, his voice trembling with anger. "Why the hell did they do this?!" As Dr. Claw's favored nephew, the one who always carried out his uncle's plans, Talon had thought this partnership would bring him satisfaction. Penny, being his age and part of Gadget's bloodline, had always been someone he got along with. But now, he couldn't pretend anymore. His breath became uneven and labored, tears streaming down his face. He had longed for Penny's love and admiration, but the thought of his uncle destroying her body the way he had Gadget's was something he couldn't bear.
"I don't believe you," Penny says, her voice trembling with a mix of horror and fear. "I... I mean, we can beat this. Together. If we just try hard enough."
"I'm not sure what else to do," Talon admits, his voice heavy with frustration. "What do you want from me? I can't make any promises, but I'll try. I don't know what to say, Penny. I... I can't promise you that I can stop him, but I can't pretend that this is right. If I have to destroy myself to keep you from being swallowed up by this...by the empire...then maybe that's what I'll do. I'm not saying I'll succeed, but I have to try. This... this isn't just about being part of his family anymore. It's about us. About what happens when someone like him has the power to control everything, even our lives. I don't know if I'm strong enough to fight him, but I'm not going to let you or anyone else fall like this without a fight. Even if that means losing everything."