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Chapter 151 (4-18)

Watching how the force shield and later the thick metal had cut off him from the outer world, Robert signed with disappointment. It wasn’t the first he attempted to convince CSA and specifically Agent Bell in his words, but the result was the same – even if he managed to sow a seed of doubt, it wouldn’t change the outcome. Demonologist would still go rampage, ruining the city only to meet suicidal but futile resistance from the local enforces and superheroes. Robert noticed there was some effect in this early warning when he made this try for the first time.

Instead of walking toward the business center, the giant dragon was heading toward the lake with his prison in the center. However, that was it. The teams of supers and whole CSA firepower failed to stop the enormous monster, leading to the non-avoidable attack with nukes. The problem for Robert was a closer distance to the epicenter of the strike. Much closer. Therefore, seeing how the two tiny dots were approaching from above, Rob simply turned around and sprinted to the opposite side of the tall tower.

The bright flash caught him amid the jump, illuminating the whole world as if the second sun appeared for a fraction of a second behind his back. The following fall was long as the building was a really monstrous size. Unfortunately, despite his weight and wish, the shockwave was faster, blasting the building before he managed to land. The sudden strike with an invisible force that turned the monolithic structure into flying rubbles had simply blown him to the side, simultaneously shredding his body with stone fragments. Adding the effect of radiation that felt like a poison injection and the wave of intensive heat – Robert didn’t know how he had survived it. Luckily the second blast destroyed the laboratory, resetting everything, including the radioactive particles.

Robert still stubbornly tried to warn Sarah, using different approaches and arguments, but the effect was the same. At least he knew what to expect, observing the situation much closer to the edge. However, at this point, Rob felt like he was exhausted with CSA. Even his noticeable decrease in size barely helped as the problem wasn’t only in his inhuman appearance, but also in the state of his body. No matter how he wished, Robert couldn’t change the fact that his body consisted of a conjured metal. Adding the fact that he had no confirmed identity, was labeled as a potential criminal by appearing inside the restricted facility and couldn’t pass the questioning about killing anyone – Rob’s situation was dire in these circumstances. There was no chance for CSA to view him not as a potential threat, putting him in prison.

If I can’t use legal means or join a light side, why don’t I look at villains? Well, here goes all your desire to be a hero… Or the wish to abandon the principle of “the end justifies the means” … But there are millions of lives on the scales, so gather your shit and do the right thing, Rob. Even my death wouldn’t change anything as it doesn’t seem that my appearance in the portal had any impact on Demonologist.

He didn’t know the reason for the devastating event. It could be anything, starting from the newly emerged villain with mind-twisting powers and ending with the death of Sarah Bell, whose lost life might cause a hit on Demonologist’s sanity. However, to know it Robert had to be there, at the beginning, while being powerful enough to survive the upcoming fight. The latter could be partly resolved with the continuation of his squeezing training as increased body density made him much more resilient. The former was much harder as not only did he have to somehow leave the facility without being noticed, but also had some safe place to stay during the waiting period.

That wasn’t as easy as it might sound. With tight government control over supers and years of propaganda, the grayish albino-skinned man with no eyebrows and eyelashes was going to attract attention for sure. According to the words of several interrogated scientists, the whole prejudgment toward supers went so far that ordinary citizens avoided anything in their appearance that made them stand out – be it the color of their hair or weird clothes. And Robert would catch the glances for sure. Any following ID check would be a disaster, and he simply failed to see how he could quickly find and break into a random abandoned building to stay there and not be noticed by anyone. Robert couldn’t exactly pay for the silence. No, his best bet was to get a contact with local criminal circles… or even villains to find a proper hide-out. Maybe they could make him a proper document in exchange for some “labor” work.

It's just an assumption based on my imagination. I don’t know shit about the city outside. But it’s fixable – several… tens of loops and maybe I can find a way out. I only need to lower my height even more not to be recognized from a single glance…. I hope it will work…

Obviously, it didn’t. His long wait until everything was reset to the starting point after cleansing with a nuclear explosion did give him enough time to drop his height by approximately five more centimeters (2”). However, considering that it was a proportional decrease, Ron’s appearance was still far from being viewed as harmless. His muscular build with the face of a brute might not have looked as threatening as two with a half-meter tall man, but still worked against an image of a random passerby, accidentally caught by the experimental machine. And he tried putting his acting skills to the test each time just to convince the audience.

Dropping down from the portal in his first attempt, Robert continued whistling and making a wiping motion with closed eyes, as if he were in a shower. Acting for a few more seconds, Rob “suddenly” realized that there was no water, opening his eyes in surprise. Looking around in disbelief, mouth agape, he started to mutter.

“What is happening? Where am I?” as if searching for the answer, Robert started to walk only to bump into a force shield with his forehead, “what the fuck? What the fuck is going on?!” Shouting from the growing panic, he touched the invisible obstacle with his hand only to refocus his attention on his limb, “What have you done with me? Why am I albino?... and where the fuck is my hair? Answer me, God damn it!”

“I think it tries to behave like an ignorant human,” one of the junior scientists suggested, completely ignoring all of Rob’s words.

“We can’t be sure, Robert, but you might be close as it clearly knows our language and behavior,” the head of the group shook his head, before ordering, “Energy shield holds, so all attention on the scanners. The initial data looks fascinating…”

“What are talking about? Are you from CSA? Let me out!” Rob shouted, trying to put believable emotions in his desperate cry for help, “Just a minute ago I was in the shower before appearing right here… hairless and albino! I demand an explanation on why you have turned me into a super… into this ugly abomination of normality!”

“While the scanners are gathering information, I suggest you all to…,” a loud explosion from above interrupted the senior scientist, causing him to look at the ceiling with worry. An instant later the trembling came, shaking all facility. There was a short pause before it resumed. This time it didn’t stop on a single act as more and more shockwaves came, bringing the primal scream of the hungry beast from above. It immediately pushed everyone in motion, completely abandoning a “promising result” of the experiment still locked in the cell.

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Well, fuck. Let’s try again then… get out, smash the machine, repeat. Go!

“What is happening? Where am I?” as if searching for the answer, Robert started to walk only to bump into a force shield with his forehead, “what the fuck? What the fuck is going on?!” Shouting from the growing panic, he touched the invisible obstacle with his hand only to refocus his attention on his limb, “What have you done with me? Why am I albino?... and where the fuck is my hair? Wait… Is it you, Mr. Green? Bortson Green Junior? It’s me, Larry… I live down the street not far from you… I helped your wife with the car, and she showed your picture… Why am I here? What is going on? I want to leave…,” imitating as if he was suffocating, Robert started to breathe heavily, while the attention of the group was focused on the guesting scientist. Borston coughed, feeling quite uncomfortable under multiple gazes.

“I am not married,” this explanation was enough to return everyone back to the devices.

“It's surprisingly clever trying to deceive us,” the same junior scientist commented, once again confirming his chatterbox attitude, “Plus he knows our language, despite coming from another realm.”

Fucking liar! You told me you had kids and a wife, begging me not to hurt you! Okay, once again.

“Is it you, Robert? Robert Blonski? We’ve had several subjects at TRP University back in the day… Can you tell me what is going on? Why am I here? I was in the shower after training and booms… I am here. Man, what the fuck?” Covering his groin area, Rob addressed his namesake, before “finally” noticing his albino skin, “What the hell has happened to me? Did you... turn me into a super? That’s not cool! I wanted to join the military - was fucking trying so hard to grow some muscles to join them! What the heck? Fix it, bastards!”

Bumping into the force shield, Robert screamed from rage, for the first time being quite sincere in his emotions as the frustration was already accumulating through multiple time loops. Failing to convince them, he retorted back to “forceful questioning” the scientist, trying to get personal information in an attempt to use it. On the back of his mind, there was a thought about his decision to become a better man, but Robert shoved it aside for now, as to become one, he needed first and foremost manage to get out of the facility to find more information about the cause of Demonologist’s madness. He still tried to avoid the more brutal approach to getting answers, but that only led to more loops to go through. Still, the resets erased all the blood and suffering he caused to anyone, leaving only scars deep inside his own mind.

“Do you know him, Robert? The scanners are showing interesting data, and we’ve definitely made everything like before,” the senior scientist asked, thinking over the possibilities.

“Well, it can be just an imitation that used some psionic force to get information from the head,” answered the young man.

“What are talking about? It’s me, Hugh Tersmith… maybe not so lean and weak like before,” Rob’s hand ran over his now bald head, creating a shocked expression on his face, “where the fuck is my hair? What shittery have you done to me?”

“I indeed had a classmate with that name, but I barely remember him…,” now doubting his conclusion, the young scientist muttered. A moment later a loud explosion struck from above. Rob immediately started to plead to be released and for a moment he thought he would finally succeed, when his namesake hastily ran to the controlling panel. However, his boss had stopped him, gripping his shoulder. Despite the appearance of the trembles, that led the other group to scatter in panic, the man calmly spoke.

“Until the tests are done, he will stay inside. Moreover, under the shield, he will be in more safety inside than we are here. So, leave it, Robert, and let’s follow the emergency protocol.” Getting the nod from the namesake, they both sprinted away, barely avoiding the flying block from the ceiling. On the other hand, Rob simply sat at his spot, feeling depressed. After at least several dozen tries, all he got was the same result.

His changed appearance lessened the worries of the group, making him look not like a threat. However, the fear was replaced by curiosity. Considering his location in a real laboratory during the experiment, the scientists had enough capabilities from the set equipment to see that he wasn’t just a random human. It was almost impossible to miss that he was composed of metal. Robert simply couldn’t deceive them to release him. At most, Rob could drag the time, but then the senior researcher stepped in, always following the safety procedure.

Obviously, he could break out, but that immediately marked him as a potential villain. The first one to sell him to Sarah was Dr. Bronson. However, he wasn’t the only one as the others in the group would eventually tell the guards about him, warning CSA about the presence of another super inside the Facility. A dangerous super, as the set shield was strong enough to keep any weak empowered humans from getting out without a problem. It led to the single option to get from the laboratory while avoiding being noticed by CSA – Robert had to kill everyone before they ran away. Only this course of action made him invisible to the agent’s eyes at the beginning of the loop.

How is your attempt to become a hero going on? Like always, in the shittiest way ever?

Robert couldn’t lie to himself that it took a lot of effort to convince himself to do it – massacring everyone in the laboratory. Nope, it took none. However, Rob still felt sadness that the circumstances again and again were pushing toward the violence, even if he wanted to avoid it. Moreover, the thought that he would need to repeat multiple times was another challenge to overcome as this bloody act would only grant him temporary safety as he would still need to leave the place, which was even harder than convincing a group of scientists.

As always, good intentions may pave the way directly to hell… Firm your resolve and just do it, Robert. You wanted to be a hero, and nobody promised that it would be easy.

And he did it. Appearing from the portal, Robert immediately sprinted forward, already covering his fists with black plates coated in energy. A pair of lightning-fast strikes was enough to shatter the force shield, exposing the completely unprepared to such a sudden outcome of the experiment group. What followed was a real slaughter as unarmed and fragile scientists didn’t have even a single thought about resistance, immediately trying to run. Unfortunately for them, despite the huge Rob’s weight even in a decreased state, he was much faster. It took less than a dozen seconds to become a single living being inside the ruined laboratory.

Looking at his bloody hands and the devastated place, Robert closed his eyes, trying to calm his boiling emotions. It began harder and harder to justify the killing of an innocent and harmless people, who had no desire, nor power to fight with him. Moreover, it started to look like a cold-blooded murder because it was he, Rob, who decided to do it. There was no threat to his life, except being stuck forever in this time frame. However, the image of the city, turned into a wasteland together with all its citizens, appeared once again, replacing the bloodied walls of the laboratory.

The time loop will erase everything… It will erase… Yes, nothing is concluded until the final loop. If you decide to give up and simply die, the city will be still raised to the ground. So, it’s your choice to try and change it, becoming a hero… not for others, but for yourself, proving that you can be better.

A loud explosion with trembles that came a few moments later cut all his self-reflection, pushing him into motion. He had a world to save, and the heroic feat to do, which started in finding a way out without being noticed. Rob wasn’t going to stop until he found the right action sequence to achieve it. He had all the time in the universe.