I had known that Red Tornado did most of his personal maintenance in his own room, but it was still surprising just how much equipment he had towards that purpose. His room was practically a second tech lab with all of the computers, waldos, fabrication stations, and diagnostic tools. As such, I had an entire workbench to myself as I worked on the latest bit of our joint venture. "I hope I didn't take away the tech lab's resources from you too much," I said over my shoulder. "When I first got here I assumed that no one else was going to be using it."
"It is no problem." Red Tornado replied, remaining still next to a computer which he was connected to by a cable. "The Mountain's tech lab was always meant to be a general purpose space to aid with missions, whereas my own technology is has its own peculiar specifications. It is much more convenient for everyone involved if I keep my own separate space for such matters."
"Alright, just let me know if you ever need something more general purpose." I said before I looked back to the workbench in front of me. My hands had split apart into over a dozen small appendages, each one tipped with some sort of tool or gripper. Held between the various mini-mechdendrites was the pile of circuits and metal I was working on.
It had started simply enough, with Red Tornado and I running into each other in the Mountain and starting some small talk. The conversation had drifted towards the human body he was working on, and the two of us started exchanging some ideas about it. We then realized that we both had some free time to spare, so we decided to put some work into it together. And that lead us here.
As I worked, I offhandedly said, "By the way, I forgot to ask but how did the conversation with Nabu go on your end?"
"As well as could be expected. Mostly he and I talked of mundane matters, catching up on history passed. Artemis… was not helpful, but things did not have the chance to escalate before you took the helmet off."
I grunted. "Not surprising. I only talked to him for a couple of minutes and he got on my nerves." I then mentally checked what I said and looked back at Red Tornado. "Err, no offense to Nabu."
"Nabu could be difficult for people to deal with in the best of times. His half century of isolation was unlikely to improve his social acumen."
"Was he… always like this? Did he say or do anything that seemed weird to you?" It was a longshot, but part of me hoped that Nabu was under some kind of influence that made him an inflexible jerkass.
"…He called himself Fate." I blinked as I stared at the android, who continued. "When he spoke through your body he referred to himself as Fate, not Nabu. When I first met him, Nabu disliked the moniker of 'Doctor Fate'. It was given to him by the U. S. Office of War Information when he joined the All Star Squadron, for promotional reasons. To see him use it now is… strange."
I turned to face him fully. "Do you think that the isolation affected him?"
"Perhaps, though I recall his behavior changed slightly in the years after the second world war. He came to fewer Society meetings, and what little social interaction he had with others dwindled. It wasn't until Kent stopped wearing the helmet five years later that Doctor Fate made regular appearances again."
I paused for a moment. "Was Mr. Nelson still operating at Doctor Fate after that?"
"For another two decades, yes. During this time he crafted and wore a half-helm made to boost Order magic. It was not near the power of the Helmet of Fate, but it proved a useful tool regardless."
"Really? Going to have to ask him about that next time we talk…" I muttered. Even if it wasn't a suitable replacement for Doctor Fate, having such a tool at our disposal would be a great help.
"Jacob," I returned my focus to Red Tornado. "While we are speaking on the subject, I feel I should ask: Would you consider being an 'interim' Doctor Fate? I know you have no interest in assuming the role permanently, but allowing Nabu some time to do his duties would likely soften his position. As well, I would consider it a personal favor."
I frowned. "I'll see how far I can take the interface next time, but I don't think that's possible. The halfway state we were in didn't let Nabu channel a lot of power through me. And I fear that the only way to increase that would be to cede more control over to him, which I am not willing to do." And that was assuming I even could take it farther than I had. At the very least I'd have to put more work into… let's call it my Thaumaturgy Operation Interface script.
Red Tornado bowed his head slightly. "Understandable, though I do hope you think about it. I fear that Nabu's behavior will not change unless he is granted some concessions."
I didn't have anything to say to that, so I instead turned back to putting the finishing touches on my work. While I had been working on Red Tornado's humanoid body, I had raised some concerns about his hardware. One thing about super-tech from the 1940's is that it is very unique, and doesn't really interface with anything else. The android had managed to kludge together some rough interfaces over the years (like the one he was currently using for the computer he was connected to), but he wasn't really an engineer, and he had difficulty keeping up with technological changes. So, I suggested that for his new body, it would be a good idea for me to teach him to integrate modern tech with his existing architecture.
Of course, that meant I also had to figure out how to do that, which meant some testing. And since the humanoid body wasn't ready yet, we'd have to test it on Red Tornado's normal body. We settled on the idea of crafting a small module to integrate into his frame, and I had just the thing in mind.
"And… there." I said forming my hand back into its normal shape and picking up the component I had just finished. About the size of a small apple, it looked like a mix of modern and mid-century electrical components, with several large capacitors running up one side and a custom connection port. "One electrokinetic module. It was an interesting exercise adapting this from the one's I made for my drones to your own body." The hardware architecture I had adapted from my own internal configuration of the aerokinetic core required less changes than I would have thought. I suppose the original had some similarities to Red Tornado already.
Red Tornado unplugged himself and walked towards me, gripping his front chest plate carefully as a soft clang preceded him pulling off a strip in the middle. I got a good view of his robotic 'ribcage' which housed many of his critical systems. Using mechadendrite fingers I carefully snaked the module under the main plate, moving the component through his internals before I slotted it into the side of his heart-like core. "It's in."
"Connecting to module… connection established. Installing drivers… complete. Running diagnostic…" Red Tornado was silent for a minute before he said "Complete. All systems nominal."
"Good to hear." Making sure the thing you made doesn't immediately fail is always a good step. "Think you can run a test?"
"After some simulations," Red Tornado said before he was still for a long minute, processing the data from his new attachment. Eventually he raised a hand in front of himself, and a few small sparks leap from his fingers. Other than that though, nothing. "As expected. The configuration of my effector emitters is incapable of propagating a large electric charge." He turned his hand so that the palm was facing upwards, and a small red tornado came into being. "But perhaps if I use it more indirectly, by increasing electrostatic reactions in a given atmosphere."
The min-tornado in his palm picked up speed, and as it did I heard a sharp crackle fill the air. Soon enough a saw a flash of blue lightning come from inside the funnel. More and more started to form before the entire tornado was framed by electricity.
I clapped my hands together. "Alright, now we're talking!"
Red Tornado held it for a few more seconds before he let the twister dissipate, the electricity puttering out as the wind died. A few sparks leapt off his hand, which he stared at for a second. "Hmm. I may need to increase my electrical shielding before I use this function to its fullest. However, it will be a useful option to have against harder targets."
"And more importantly," I cut it, "It proves we can adapt modern tech to work with your own."
"Indeed." He turned away from me and walked back to the computer he had been working on, tapping a few keys. "Now let us see if we can perform a similar feat for you."
While I had been working on hardware for the android, he had decided to work on software for me in order to reciprocate. Ever since Serling had finished my compiler I had been spending a lot of time studying my own source code, as it were. It was fiendishly complicated and ever changing (I was still running, after all), but I had already identified the parts that governed specific device configurations. As such, I wanted to see if I could inject some code from the resident wind android into my aerokinetic core.
And it seemed that he finished compiling the code package for my complier, as he then pulled a USB key from the computer he had been working on. He took it over to me. "It was difficult to determine which functions would work best with your… software systems, but I believe I have established the most fundamental principles and math."
I took the key and 'plugged' it into my arm, a port forming and downloading the data into me. In my personal dataspace, I felt the data flow into the 'staging zone' I had constructed before I shunted it towards the code that governed my aerokinetic core. I felt the code in me shift and change in response to the new addition, and it only took a few moments before it fully ingratiated itself.
"Seems to work," I muttered as I formed the aerokinetic core, but rather than assuming flight form I created several effector emitters beneath my limbs, keeping them otherwise human in shape. 'Effector' was the nickname I had given the field generating devices that Red Tornado had throughout his body (one which he had picked up), and were what he used to interact with the air around him. Mister Twister hadn't had anything like these on him, so whatever his equivalent was must have been centralized in his chest. Which Superboy had put his fist through. Well, time to see if I could fix that.
I powered up my systems, slowly letting the effectors take hold of the air. I floated off the ground, and then started to gently push myself using the air around me. I drifted left and right, stopping quickly when I willed it. Nice, guess I don't have to fully transform when I want to recreationally fly anymore, I thought before I extended my arm towards the far wall. But let's try something stronger.
Wind started swirling around me and compressed, funneling in around my right arm. It compressed as much as it could, the air visibly distorting around the limb. There was still a light breeze around the rest of me, but most of the force was contained in the cyclone around my arm. Carefully, I picked a wide open space along the wall and released.
The cyclone shot forward, only slightly losing cohesion before splashing against the concrete wall. A few loose objects in the room rattled, but I had kept the strength of the wind low enough that nothing got knocked over. When things died down, Red Tornado said "Very good. You have successfully emulated my functionality."
"Not quite to your capacity though," I remarked as I formed a small twister in my hand. I could tell that I would have some trouble scaling up to what I knew Red Tornado was capable of. Still, even if I couldn't managed the range or control that he could, I now had a lot more control over wind than I used to. "I'll have to run some tests and make some changes to optimize. But… this is still amazing."
"I am glad to hear it. Shall we go to the training room then?"
I almost said yes before I stopped myself. "You know what? That can wait till later. We shouldn't have our first real hangout day be all work."
"I see. Do you have something in mind?"
"Yep. A little show called Star Trek: The Next Generation…"
Kori moaned softly as my fingers worked the flesh of her lower back, the woman stretching out in pleasure in response to my touch. "Oh, I needed this…"
"That was obvious," I remarked as I continued my work. I had gotten used to Kori coming to find me around certain points in the day, so when that didn't happen I had gone looking for her instead. And found her face down on the common room couch, thoroughly exhausted. The warrior princess could handle any number of monsters, villains, and world ending threats, but nothing drained her resolve like mind-numbing bureaucracy. In this case, it was Wonder Woman exposing her to all the red tape that the Justice League had to deal with from the U.N.
And thus, I did the first thing that came to mind, which was to work out the kinks in her back. Which she certainly appreciated, though couch wasn't the best place for it. And that's how we ended up on her bed, me kneeling over her and Kori stretched out on her stomach before me with her hair splayed out beside her.
She was also, as the woman was often wont to be, nude. I hadn't even suggested it, she just stripped the moment we reached her room. And it wasn't like I was going to tell her to stop.
Resting her head on her arms, she glanced up at me. "I'll remember to come find you from now on, when things grow tiresome. Not that I haven't been already…"
"And don't hesitate to do it more," I said, moving my hands up her back. "It's in the interest of everyone that our intrepid leader is at her best. And the fact that I get to touch you all over is completely incidental." My fingers traced a line down her spine, causing her to shiver a little.
She hummed and looked forward. "You know, it was rare that I was physically touched by anyone when I was on Tamaran, at least by those other than my family or personal guards. The threat of assassination from Citadelian colluders was too high. It was why I was so excited to finally start my training with the Okaarans. The sheer physical contact I got from sparring the other disciples was the most I had ever had."
I paused for a moment before I said. "I'm sorry. It must have been rough growing up."
She shrugged. "It wasn't all bad. I was royalty, after all. I could get much of anything I wanted, so long as I earned it. I just wish I hadn't always been treated like…" she hesitated as she tried to find the words. "A petite princess."
My eyes traced a line down from her broad shoulders, past her well defined back muscles, and all the way to her callipygian rear. "Out of the many words I would use to describe you, petite is not one of them."
She chuckled and playfully swatted my thigh. I joked, but I knew what she meant. The term 'little princess' in Tamaranian referred to a princess of great importance politically, but had very little authority or self-determination. So, basically a princess on Earth. I tried to make her forget such negative thoughts by carefully kneading the muscles around her shoulder blades, eliciting another soft hum from her. I had to admit, I doing surprisingly well for how recently I had picked the skill up. Then again, a lot of thing become easier when you can form subdermal nodes that can vibrate any part of your body at will.
…Anyway, my hands then moved up to the base of her neck. "I don't know if I can get you anything you want, but if there's something in particular you have in mind-"
Kori waved her hand. "Oh, not you too. I already have plenty." She gestured to her room, currently lit by the sunset light coming from the far wall.
Kori's room was unique among the Mountain's personal rooms in that it had a window, a massive pane that showed a spectacular view of the ocean. The window was hidden from the outside by a false rocky outcropping when it was closed, and a holographic façade when it was open. I'm not sure who in the League had this room before, but it was perfect for a woman who preferred sunlight to staying in a cave.
She then looked at me inquisitively. "In fact, I think it is time that you received something. You have been taking care of this team, of me, non-stop. What do you want?"
"What do I want?" I paused. "I suppose I want millions of dollars, large amounts of highly advanced technologies, a mountain fortress lair, and friendship with the most extraordinary people on the planet."
"…You already have all those things."
"Great! Then I suppose now all that's missing now is a girlfriend," I said as I looked up at the ceiling, hand stroking my chin. "She would have to be beautiful, strong, kind, preferably with gorgeous red hair. But where could I find such a woman?" I looked back down at the naked beauty before me. "Oh hey, here's one. Man, things have really been working out for me lately."
Kori laughed and rolled onto her back, hands above her head as she looked at me with a helpless grin. "Being coy won't stop me from finding out what you want," She shifted a little as she said this, her hips moving to the side slightly.
Amazing how easily she could go from just lying there to lying there for me. "Right now the thing I want most is right here."
"Oh?" She replied, becoming coy herself. "Quite the prize you are after. I hope you're up to the challenge."
"I've faced challenges great and small already," I said as I leaned down towards her. "And I refuse to let something as minor as 'lack of biology' to stop me from appreciating you."
Kori smiled warmly for a moment, but then her expression slowly changed to something more somber. "Tell me what it's like."
I paused. "What do you mean?"
"What you feel. What it is like to be you, with the sensations you have."
I hesitated for a moment before I pulled back and started to say, "It's not that-"
I was stopped when Kori's hand darted up and covered my mouth. "Jacob, don't downplay it for my sake," she said, pulling herself up and kneeling before me. "Don't think I haven't noticed that you become perfectly still when you try to hide your distress. I won't stand for you trying to hide this from me." Her hand moved to cradle the side of my face, and her voice lowered to a whisper. "Please Jacob, I want to know."
I stared back at the beautiful face that looked pleadingly back at me, and there was no way I could do anything other than what she asked. My hand reached up to touch hers in kind, gently leaning my head into her touch. "I feel… like I'm missing a limb. Like there's a hole in me in a place I didn't know existed. To be honest, I don't notice it most of the time, but when I know I should be feeling something…"
Kori inched closer. "You feel detached, not as excited as you should be."
I shook my head. "Not quite, I feel emotions as strongly as ever, thankfully. But the physical response to those emotions is missing. My chest doesn't warm when I feel content, I never fall over from uncontrollable laughter… I don't get physically aroused when I look at you, even though my mind knows it should. I expect it even, like how you brace yourself for a heavy fall. But the impact never comes, and part of me just feels a sort of void wanting to be filled." I imagined it felt akin to phantom limb syndrome, except that it was my endocrine system.
"That's horrible."
"That's the thing, it's not all bad either. My gut never clenches in fear, my limbs never shake in stress, I never feel completely overwhelmed. If I'm being honest, it's probably one of the reasons I've been so successful at this superhero thing. I can avoid all of the normal stress of combat that I would experience as a human." A thought occurred to me and I let out a flat laugh. "There's a bitter irony. If I still had my nerves I probably wouldn't have had the nerve to confess my feelings to you."
Her hand slid down to my neck. "Jacob, don't exaggerate," She admonished. "You are not weak of will, certainly not so much that you would be unable to tell me how you feel." Her expression softened. "This… void you feel. Do you fear it will grow with time?"
"No. I'm worried that if I don't get proper senses back, someday I'll stop feeling it. That I won't miss having my old physical responses anymore." My eyes roamed up and down her body. "And I would much rather feel that aching lack when I look at you than nothing at all."
Kori hummed softly. "Yes, I suppose I can understand that. But you will become whole again. I know you will."
I nodded. "Probably. I mean, given the progress I'm made understanding my body, I pretty sure I can just make something myself eventually. I just don't know how long that will take," I sighed and turned away from her, my feet dangling off the bed. "I just… don't know what's going to happen to me, even if I get what I want. I've gotten so used to seeing the world in infrared and ultraviolet that I feel blind if I stop, and I've forgotten what it's like not to have complete control of my body. I have magical numbers dancing in my soul that let me feel something beyond myself. I felt like I'm more than I use to be… but I don't know what I'm going to become."
A pair of arms suddenly wrapped around me from behind, hands coming to rest on my chest. I felt Kori press into my back as she rested her head on my shoulder. "You will become something amazing. Because you won't let yourself be anything else. You haven't lost your humanity yet, and I refuse to believe anything in this world can make you."
I tried to say something, but the mix of her words and the feeling of warmth from her body against mine caused me to completely lose my train of thought. I tried to regain it several times before I gave up and my shoulders slumped. I cast a glance at her. "You know, it's really hard to brood when you do that."
"That is the point." She replied primly.
I grumbled, but my hand reached up to cradle the side of her face. "What did I ever do to deserve you?" I whispered, turning in her embrace so that I could kiss her. We held it for several long moments before we broke apart, and I turned to face her fully.
"Now," I said as my hand traced its way down the front her body, laying the woman back down on the bed. "Back to appreciation…"
And for then, it was enough.
=====A=====
A/N: It's not clear to me exactly when Red Tornado was made, so I'm going with that he was made and introduced to the Society in the early Forties.