Chapter 1.2.28 — Increased Security / Athena 1

All seven mutagen deliveries were happening in the next three days. At Athena and Venture’s suggestion, Emmett agreed to wait until Thursday to pilfer another shipment; none of them wanted to risk shipments getting moved or delayed.

Emmett spent the better part of Tuesday and Wednesday in class, doing schoolwork, and holing up back in his apartment to convert his radio locator so that it would track cell phones as well.

It wound up being easier than Emmett thought, especially with TINA to guide him through the process and bounce ideas off of. Emmett had wondered just how much use Dr. Venture got out of his AI assistant, but he quickly saw the benefits: TINA never needed a break, she could perform calculations many times faster than him, and she was a direct line to any of the lab’s resources and simulators.

It felt like Emmett’s room had become the lab. Like he’d never left.

But that wasn’t the strangest thing—

Emmett had started thinking of TINA as a she. That was interesting. When had he started thinking of TINA like that?

Throughout that first Tuesday, Emmett found himself coming back to that question, but never really getting anywhere with it. Did it even matter if he thought of TINA as a she instead of an AI? TINA had never expressed a preference one way or another, and clearly TINA had been designed with a feminine voice. Or maybe she chose the voice?

The questions began to make Emmett’s head spin, and eventually the work overtook him.

When Lock was gone, cloaked drones brought shipments of materials to the roof. And thankfully, when Lock was there, he didn’t ask too many questions. Lock was smart, but he either couldn’t follow most of Emmett’s work on electronics or just flat out didn’t want the explanation. He’d watch for a few minutes here and there, but then he’d disappear into his room to work on his own schoolwork.

Emmett and Lock exchanged a few sentences over the course of those three days, but that was it. They’d both been so busy that any idea of relaxation or fun had taken a backseat. Maybe after the semester was over and they graduated, things would be different between them. Emmett just didn’t have time to think about it right now—

Not when he had way more important things on his mind.

Besides the work at hand, Emmett found his thoughts drifting toward the next mutagen bust. So far, he’d found different knock-offs in each delivery and Venture still had the stash of previous finds… but Emmett wanted more.

Sure, the mutagen knock-offs weren’t legal or sanctioned or whatever, but they were an easy way for Emmett to get stronger. Maybe even easier than mechanical upgrades.

Emmett thought back to just two weeks ago, during the fight in the warehouse district. That unknown super had come out of nowhere. It had been utterly terrifying and one of the most awe-inspiring things Emmett had ever seen.

Emmett already knew first-hand what Mutagen-A could do to a person, and he’d seen Mutagen-X—the pinnacle of Gnosis technology. Well, supposedly the pinnacle of Gnosis technology. Who knew what other secrets Gnosis was hiding. They might have even more potent and dangerous mutagens that even Venture didn’t know about.

Emmett would be lying if he said he wasn’t tempted by the prospect of one day taking Mutagen-X. Something like that could take him right to Class 3. Then again, technology might be able to take him even further than that.

Even Mutagen-X couldn’t compare to seeing Paragon save Belport.

And there were tech supers that reached Class 4 and Class 5. If there was any chance that Emmett could become that powerful, he had to stick with technology and the paths that TINA had developed.

Eventually, Emmett had to push the thought aside and focus on his work.

Because the more Emmett thought about climbing the ranks, the more intoxicating the idea was.

~

By Thursday evening, Emmett’s radio locator had been converted to track both radios and cell phone signals. He prepared a cover story in case Lock was back, but Emmett’s roommate was nowhere to be found. So Emmett put his suit on under his black clothes, grabbed his backpack and equipment, and slipped out for a stroll, smirking as he went.

Something about the evening made him feel like a super—not just like he was running around the rooftops playing at it.

Dr. Venture briefed Emmett and Clara through their earpieces as they both converged on the drop point.

“Drones have intercepted six out of seven drop points. TINA already has access to the phone companies and is backtracing location data. We’ll crack the supplier’s location in the next twenty-four hours.”

Clara’s voice came through. “So what you’re saying is, we don’t need this bust.”

“This is gravy,” Venture replied. “Just don’t mess it up.”

Emmett asked, “Have you narrowed it down at all yet?”

“Patience is a virtue,” Venture said. “I’ll let you know when I have something.”

Emmett jogged the edge of the warehouse district and the Bay, just outside the drop point. From there, he donned his mask and skirted the alleys until he was two blocks away. Then he climbed up to the roofs and Venture guided him via drone the rest of the way.

By the time Emmett got to the rendezvous point with Athena and Clara, he was on edge. The trio knelt by the edge of the roof, Clara shimmering in her cloaked exosuit.

“There’s a lot more security this time,” Emmett whispered.

Athena peered cautiously over the edge and checked her watch. “Any minute now.” Meanwhile, Emmett and Clara kept low and scanned the surrounding roofs.

Of all the drop points, this one provided the least cover. They were surrounded by high roofs and even higher warehouses were only two blocks away. If it weren’t for Dr. Venture’s drones scanning the other vantage points, Emmett wouldn’t have felt comfortable sitting on the roof like they were.

Athena had once said it was a number’s game—that was why there was so little security for most drops and not enough guards to line the rooftops now. But that fact didn’t make Emmett feel any better.

If it was a numbers game, that meant that some drop points would have increased security—most drops had regular security, but the last shipment had been guarded by a super named Feedback.

Emmett’s prosthetic fingers twitched, and he briefly considered what forearm mod to equip first. In the end, he kept his whip equipped, since he was the most comfortable with it and it offered a good mix of reach and utility. Besides, he had his backpack and his utility belt on and ready.

“Van incoming.”

A few seconds later, their target turned the corner of the alley. The three crouched low behind the ledge of the roof and waited. As soon as it was beneath them, they would—

The roof access door opened with a squeal, and all three whirled around to face the newcomer.

The man peered out from behind the doorway and called something over the radio. His dark hair was slicked back like a security guard out of a movie.

Clara muttered, “So much for the element of surprise.” Clara raised her gauntlets, power already humming within her suit. A second later, she let loose a barrage of kinetic blasts that chipped away at the bricks. The man ducked back inside the door.

Emmett hurled a smoke pellet and it burst into a cloud around the stairs. “Athena, do you got this guy?”

“Yeah, no sweat—”

The roof lurched, and Emmett tumbled forward, but he didn’t fall. All three of them levitated up into the air. At first, Emmett thought it was telekinesis, but Athena’s long white hair and jacket were floating up as well.

Someone had reversed gravity.

They were only five feet off the roof, but Emmett’s stomach tumbled and he struggled to keep his orientation.

The smoke drifted up into the air, revealing the doorway and the newcomer. Now he stepped out of the doorway completely, revealing that he wasn’t normal security. His eyes were a brilliant white as he kept the three of them suspended in the air.

It was the first time Emmett had fought someone with anti gravity powers, and it would’ve been impressive but the man pulled out a pistol.

Athena held out her hands, forming invisible shields in front of them just as he pulled the trigger. Bullets slammed harmlessly into the shield. “Get the shipment!”

Clara rocketed upward, thrusters easily freeing her from the anti gravity effect. She shot another barrage at the super, causing him to duck back behind the door. She looped over in the air and flew down to the alley below.

Meanwhile, Emmett slung his whip and grabbed the edge of the roof, and hauled himself toward the alley. With his enhanced strength, Emmett went much faster than he intended. As soon as he dipped below the roofline, his stomach lurched again as gravity changed. A breath later, he had to grip the side of the warehouse to keep from slamming into the pavement.

~ ~

Athena hung in the air, facing the roof access door. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Mod and Arsenal disappeared over the edge of the roof. When her allies were gone, she concentrated fully on the task at hand.

Kicking this guy’s ass.

Though Athena’s shields were invisible to most, to her they hung brilliantly in her vision like thin blue crystal. She kept the wide barrier in front of her, and formed another behind her—she kicked off of it, diving forward through the air while pushing her shield forward, just in front of her.

Her enemy peered around the doorway, eyes widening at the sight of her. But he wasn’t a slouch.

Athena felt a tug as gravity shifted again. This time, instead of floating in the air, she lurched to the right.

Effortlessly, Athena formed another barrier to catch herself. She tumbled into a sprint and ran across the crystalline surface.

Not to be outdone, the other super fired off several shots at Athena while shifting gravity again—this time to the left. Athena flipped to reorient herself without missing a step and while still catching bullets.

The man sneered at her, clearly not having as good a time as she was.

Gravity shifted again, and Athena tumbled to the roof and caught herself in a crouch—

Except this time when she tried to stand, her muscles burned. Athena tried to run, but couldn’t. Weight pressed down on her and it felt like she was holding up a building. Gravity hadn’t just shifted, it had doubled—maybe even tripled.

Sweat dripped off Athena’s nose and she focused on standing and maintaining her forward barrier.

She finally looked up to see her enemy raising a hand toward her. His face was twisted into a mix of grimace and frustration; he was clearly struggling as much as she was. The gun was all but forgotten and hanging at his side—maybe he finally wised up and realized that a gun wasn’t going to beat her.

Despite the strain, Athena smiled.

She’d originally wanted to run up and knock the guy out, but he’d managed to stop her about ten feet short. But that was plenty close enough for her backup plan.

Athena didn’t need to raise a hand to summon another barrier. This one formed right beside her enemy—

Then slammed into him like a truck.

The super flew through the door and down the stairs. A second later, gravity went back to normal, and Athena breathed a sigh of relief as the weight lifted off of her.

With a flick of her wrist, she slammed another barrier into the metal door of the roof. Metal squealed as it was torn off the hinges and wedged into the stairwell. Unless the guy was strong enough to tear a hole in the roof, he wasn’t coming back up this way.

A groan echoed through the stairwell, but Athena didn’t hear any footsteps. If the super was smart, he’d sit out the rest of this fight.

Sounds of battle echoed from below. Athena turned and leapt off the roof to join the fight.

~ ~ ~