The darkness started to clear as a blue loading screen lit up and finished filling, revealing a high tech interface with a body outline in a corner, identification labels for the various objects around, and the battery life.
[Battery: 100%]
Chase groaned as he felt his body stiff and frozen, while the memories of pain flooded back into his mind.
"Chase! Phew, you're alive. I was getting worried." Marcus popped up in front of him, although he looked a lot more sleepless with a slightly larger beard than the last time Chase saw him. Of course, the large bandage on his leg told a lot more.
"What?" Chase said.
"Remember? You fought the Technician and almost got yourself killed...again."
"The Technician…" Chase then jolted up from his bed. "The Technician!"
Marcus sighed. "Easy there. The Technician's been taken care of so you don't gotta worry about him...for now."
"What do you mean?"
"After the whole incident, I installed the virus into the Technician that would disable his powers and keep his conscience trapped in the robot body, then he was put inside a containment cell far from any advanced technology that he can get his hands on."
"I see. That's a relief."
"Yeah, but he sure did a lot of damage."
"How long has it been?"
"About two weeks now."
"Two weeks?"
"Yeah, I had to shut you down and put you on a life support machine so that you didn't die. In the meantime, I rebuilt a new body for you, after your last one got fried and ripped apart. I guess it was a nice distraction while my tower gets repaired."
Chase looked down at his body, it looked similar to his old one with the dark blue and black color scheme and the glowing rings were still around, but there were definitely a few differences.
"Oh, and I should mention. Your cyborg body wasn't the only thing that got damaged, you also suffered some brain damage along with...your heart." Marcus said grimly.
"My heart?" Chase whispered.
"Yeah, I had to replace a lot of it. I know you wanted to keep the last of your human parts, but keeping you alive was kind of my main priority."
Chase paused before asking a question that would only give him dread. "How much is left?"
Marcus hesitated. "About 10%"
Chase fell back in his seat, wondering if his feelings were really real. He’d lost so much of his human-side, that it felt weird. He didn’t feel any different, because at this point he was used to his robotic parts. And yet, somehow knowing that there wasn’t a lot left, felt terrifying.
Still, Chase was still human. Remembering Alice’s words, he still felt something, a warm beating in his chest, and maybe it was just the Zonar Core, but it still meant something. That fact alone helped him come to terms with this body for certain, and now all he needed to do was look forward, something he really needed right now.
"Hey, look on the bright side. You got some pretty awesome upgrades! You'll be able to do everything you need to do with double the efficiency and power now! Plus, I'm already planning a couple more upgrades and improvements in a few days so look forward to that!" Marcus said with a smile.
"Yeah." Chase said. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry. I just feel strange, knowing that I’m practically a robot by now.”
"Don’t sweat it, Chase. You’re stronger than you think." Marcus grinned, but there was clearly some unease.
Chase sighed and wanted to change the subject. Then someone else popped in his mind. "What about Alice?"
"Alice?" Marcus said. "Oh, she's alright. Suffered a few burns, probably from the Technician, and got sent to the hospital. But last I checked she was recovering alright, actually faster than the doctors expected."
"Good," Chase said with a sigh of relief. “She is a Zodiac Soul.”
“Wait, Alice has a Zodiac Soul?”
“Forest Rabbit, but she doesn’t like talking about it much.”
“Huh, I guess that would explain the quick healing.” Marcus stretched in his seat, while Chase continued to sit silently. "Well, I guess you're gonna be getting back to work soon huh?"
"No point in waiting."
"Mhm, well I guess I'll just be working on a more permanent solution to the Technician."
"Marcus." Chase said.
"Yeah?"
"You didn't clear my memory."
"Yeah," Marcus grimaced and shrugged. “No real point in doing that.”
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"Are you going to explain more of what happened?"
"Do you still wanna know?"
Chase didn't break his stare and Marcus just sighed. “Alright, well what do you want to know?”
Chase thought for a moment. “What happened to Raya?”
“I’m not entirely sure. After the Zonar Disaster, she went missing. Never was able to contact her, and her body was never found. Since she went into the facility shortly before the disaster…well you can probably make the most likely conclusion.”
“Why did you lose funding if the project was doing so well?”
“I’m not sure about that either. They said that we did enough for their satisfaction, but honestly, I think they were just too afraid. They didn’t understand exactly what we were doing and our results often seemed otherworldly. Lasers strong enough to burn through steel. Blue crystals are capable of making machines run faster than the speed of sound with little effort. Green medicine that could almost regenerate even the most devastating injuries. It was all great and they were the result of only a few years of work. But I think they also saw the negative implications of our research. We still knew frighteningly little about what we were doing, and the government must’ve been afraid of what we might find. We were all fine with it, although disappointed, but you can probably imagine how much that devastated Adrien.”
Chase looked down, mulling over Marcus’s story, and he was reminded of his own. “...It must’ve been hard…seeing a colleague you’ve worked so close with turn into a monster.”
“He wasn’t just a colleague, nor was he just a lead scientist. He was my friend, my mentor, someone I admired. All of them were great to me, and they helped me find my true passion in science, technology, and engineering. Without them, well, I’d probably still be a business major following my father’s shadow.”
“Losing all of them then…”
“Almost destroyed me. But I guess I kept going after all, but probably not in the best way.”
“At least you still took your chance.”
“You have a chance too, Chase.”
“I know…but I was so close not to.”
“I’m sorry, I’m telling you my tragic tale when you…”
“It’s fine, really. I did say it was time for us to face our pasts. I just…I think I understand how you feel. I lost my team after the incident, and the only one who I can honestly say is responsible…was our leader. My first friend, who helped me understand what I wanted to be in the first place. Back then, my team was all I had, and after we disbanded, I was lost…and I kept blaming myself for what happened…all those people massacred…I felt like I didn’t deserve to…” Chase trailed off, suddenly finding it harder to speak the next words, because he didn’t believe them anymore.
“Chase…” Marcus started to say quietly but looked him straight in the eye. “I didn’t give you this body just to make you useful. Admittedly, I originally created the armor because I had a vision for a strong mechanical knight that could protect people like an artificial guardian, so that other humans and soldiers didn’t have to risk their lives doing the same thing.”
Marcus grabbed a cup of coffee off a table and took a long sip. “Problem was a robot can’t do that job, because being a guardian requires a level of empathy to form a connection with the people they’re protecting in order to truly do a good job. So, a robotic guardian would never have worked, and if I just put in any old human in the suit well…that would’ve defeated the whole purpose of it.”
He stared into Chase’s eyes with a level of sincerity that Chase didn’t think he saw before. “Until I met you.” He set the coffee down. “You see, I still didn’t want to waste the armor, so I went ahead and distracted myself with looking for worthy candidates, though I never expected to go through with any. Until, Atticus recommended me to use you.”
“Headmaster Atticus Teller recommended me?”
“Yes, he did. I’ve been friends with him for quite a while. And he never fails to give some great advice, especially with you.” Marcus glanced away and took a breath. “When I first saw you…in your…container.”
“Not my proudest times…”
“Heh, well, I guess seeing you like that made me feel like there could be another purpose with the suit. The armor didn’t have to be armor, in fact with some configurations and added features it could become a full on prosthetic body. And well, you know it worked.”
“So, you gave this to me out of pity?”
“Is that really so wrong? But no, not just that. I guess…I’m not proud of the things I’ve done in the past either, nor am I that proud of who I am now. But I figured that the creation of your body could be one thing I could be sure was good for the world.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“No! No! You’re not a disappointment, Chase. Look, the bottom line is…I gave you this new body because I wanted to give you a second chance to live out your life doing what you always wanted to do.” Marcus took another deep breath and clasped his shoulder. “You wanted to be a hero, right? A guardian before. That’s why you stuck around at Highrise, and that’s why you took the steps to become one before you graduated.”
“That dream kind of ended during the explosion.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t want you to end it. I gave you this body because I knew you had the skills and the drive to keep fighting until your last breath for what you believed in. You had people that you cared about, people that you would give every cell in your body for, and your soul is special. That’s what a guardian should be and all you needed was another body that could match your spirit.” Marcus let go and leaned back in his chair. “I know you might not agree with me and that’s fine, but don’t be your own worst enemy, okay? There’s a lot of work for both of us, I admit. But if you keep at it, then I will too.”
Chase nodded. It was true, he didn’t completely agree with Marcus. He didn’t believe that he was that great of a person, nor was he strong enough to be the guardian the city needed. But he did need to hear it. No matter how many challenges he faced, he would keep fighting. And although he wasn’t perfect, especially with how he talked or worked with people, he’d still keep going and he’d do his best to make things right. “Thanks…”
Marcus smiled, “Well, I think that’s enough sappy stuff for one month.” He rolled his chair to a computer. “You’re probably going to wanna get back to work.”
Chase glanced at Marcus. “I would like to know. What are you going to do about the weapons and everything? The Tech—I mean, Adrien told you about the damages and dangers, you even said it yourself.”
Marcus sighed. “Honestly, I’m not sure. You probably want me to just completely shut it all down, but I don’t think that’s the best anymore. Criminals like the Black Dragons already have weapons in their possession, and you along with the PD also need the weapons to combat them. Plus, my Board of Directors are definitely going to be against that, since they’re the majority of the company’s profits. They usually let me do what I want, but attempting to shut down production will probably cause them to actually wanna kick me out. I know it sounds stupid, but there’ve been some close calls.”
“So do you at least have an idea of what you can do?”
“Best bet would be to slow down production, increase security, and maybe focus on safer and more defensive technology that could neutralize the weapons instead of trying to create even more.” Marcus looked at Chase, seemingly for approval.
“Sounds fine.”
“Yeah…but I need to prepare for Adrien. I’ll need to design a better containment chamber for him, but I doubt it’ll hold him for long no matter how tough I make it. I need to find a more permanent solution,” He grimaced.
“I’ll let you worry about Adrien, while I work on everything else.” Chase got up and tested his systems before gently walking out of the lab. “I have a feeling the Black Dragons will be much more of a problem.”
Marcus watched Chase walk away. "Where are you going?"
"Back to work." Chase walked out of the building and stepped into the streets. "But first, I need to visit a friend."