At first glance, it looked like yet another mesa that was rising up out of the desert, but swinging around the side of it revealed a large crack running up the side of it. Red Tornado and I landed and walked inside, with him taking point. We didn't go far before I saw man made struts and tunnel supports, and beyond that...
The inside of the mesa was hollow, save for the buildings that spread out in each direction. There were all squat and boxy structures, most made of either wood or sheet metal. Very much old military aesthetic. Surprisingly (or perhaps not, since we had coordinates leading us here) the space was lit, albeit dimly. The various lamps and lights that hung off buildings and the walls were dim and flickering, and many were simply dead.
Something seemed odd about the space, and it took me a moment to realize it: while some of the walls were clearly dug in, others were much more naturally curved. On a hunch I looked up, and sure enough when I focused on the ceiling I saw that it was a sort of canvas cover. It looked like this space was originally a more like a canyon, which they had camouflaged as a normal mesa. Clever.
As much as I wanted to just fly up and search from the air… "We should keep to the ground to search. If Morrow is leading people here as a form of trap, we need to remain as discreet as possible." For the same reason, I didn't attempt to contact Serling via radio. That could be easily picked up.
"Agreed, though that may take some time. Many of these structures have underground facilities as well."
"Well, it can't be that hard to find," I said back. "All we got from that signal are the general coordinates. I assume that if there was something to find here, it would be out in the open."
Red Tornado didn't respond, but we both moved forward and started our search. The space between the buildings was relatively narrow, with pathways meant for people rather than vehicles. I wondered how they got equipment in here, but I managed to spot a large hangar embedded into the far rocky wall. I figured that there was an alternate entrance to the canyon through there.
Luckily it didn't take long before I head something, low voices just on the edge of my hearing. I gestured to Tornado and he followed me as I lead him deeper into the city. As we got closer the voices resolved themselves into a male and female voice. I didn't recognize the man, but the woman was definitely reach the point where I could tell that the two were on the other side of a squat, one story building. I quickly scaled the building, hauling Tornado up with me. He wasn't exactly built for crawling, so I left him lying where he was and crept forward on my own. I stopped just short of the edge of the roof and extended my hand, the finger transforming into a camera.
Peeking over the lip of the roof, I finally got a clear view of the space. Rather than just an open space between buildings, I saw an open courtyard with a basic fountain in the center (though it had long since dried up). On the far side of the fountain there were three figures, and the two standing behind the third were the androids that had attacked the Mountain. They remained motionless as the man in front of them paced and gestured. "I must say, while you are not what I was expecting to come here, we can still help each other. Clearly we have similar interests in mind."
I had found some old pictures of T. O. Morrow when doing my research, and the man I was looking at looked identical to what Morrow looked like in is mid twenties. He had slicked black hair and a pencil thin mustache, and he wore a lab coat over his dark jumpsuit. His hands were gloved, and the way he held himself vaguely reminded me of a spider regarding a fly caught in its web.
Closer to me, Serling made a similar observation. "Yes, and I'm sure you already have a price in mind." The woman was currently decked out in her full second skin, though there were a few modifications from when I had seen her last. A few sections on her limbs and torso had hard plates covering them, and on her back there was a structure that resembled short, mechanical wings. I recognized the thrusters as closely resembling my own in flight form, so I assumed that she had gotten ahold of one of the core prototypes I gave to Ted. "Is the promise of secret knowledge how you lured in those two?"
I remained still as I considered my options. I had informed my team about what I had found at Serling's place, and they were now enroute to me me and Tornado here. ETA was about 25 mins. I had only gone in first just to make sure that Serling was alright. Which she appeared to be… for now. Ideally, she would decide dealing with Morrow wasn't worth her time and leave, and then the Team could show up and clean house. So for now I just had to wait and see.
Morrow shook his head. "No, no, these two are family. In truth, you are the first I have met that was able to find the 'secret' in the signal. I was hoping to find more like yourself, those that have tapped into the… metacode, as it were."
"And do what with them?" Serling asked suspiciously. "Form a cult?"
"Nothing so crass. I thought that we might work together. There is an entirely new field of programming and physics to investigate. Its potential could be limitless! Think of all we can build, all the progress we can make! I know what it's like, don't you? For people to dismiss your work, not give it the respect it deserves?"
"You don't know-" she started before she stopped, controlling herself. "There are plenty who respect my genius. And I don't need to care what the other morons think."
"Indeed," Morrow's smiled slightly. "But why not take it a step further? Join me, and together we can prove them wrong. We can prove them all wrong."
Serling was silent for a long moment, considering the supervillain's words. She hesitated… and then she shook her head. "No. No, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to trust some random man I met in an abandoned base spouting villainous monologues. But… maybe we could start by keeping in touch?"
Morrow's smile turned grim. "I think not."
The female android made a small gesture, and a cage of fire sprung up around Serling. Immediately Serling lifted off the ground, but beyond that she remained still. Morrow tisked as he walked forward. "Oh, how I wish I could have gotten the synthetic entities I was looking for instead of you. How a human managed to tap into this power of ours is a mystery, though one I suppose I should unravel."
Serling bared her teeth. "You were planning on killing me from the start, weren't you."
"Not at all. Had you cooperated, I think we might have discovered some very interesting things together," He reached into his lab coat and pulled out a high tech pistol. I was positive it was a nano disassembler. "That said, I have a bit of an aversion to your current apparel. I'm afraid you will have to get changed before we get started."
[Tornado, time to intervene!] I called out, pushing myself up enough to fire the laser with my other hand. Morrow must have caught the movement from the edge of his vision as he moved near the same moment I did. Still, I managed to clip the weapon in his hand, melting part of it to slag.
Everyone burst into motion at once. Morrow's androids flew upward on pillars of their respective elements, but were halted when they saw Tornado doing the same. I jumped down off the building to move towards Serling, but she chose that moment to form bulky cannons on her arms and spin while firing them at the ground. It turned out there were sonic cannons, and they tore up the floor with such force that it kicked up a cloud of rubble.
The fire android must have been too distracted to maintain the cage, as it distorted and lost structure. I formed a freeze ray, and a few shots latter it dissipated completely. Serling pulled back the moment she had an opening. "Do I need to put a bell on you?" I asked the woman as she settled next to me.
"I was handling it," She snapped, not even questioning why I was there. "Besides, going by those two androids, it looks like I managed to find your targets before you did."
Said androids were still remaining where they were, uncertain of what to do. Behind them, Morrow had discarded his ruined pistol and was looking up at Red Tornado."Tornado?" He said in confusion, before his gaze turned to me and his eyes went wide. "You! What the devil are you doing here?!"
"Following a trail you made, Morrow."I said flatly. The question now was whether to fight or run. Morrow had the tech to easily kill me and Serling if we weren't careful, and Tornado's 'siblings' could likely match him for power. But on the other hand he clearly hadn't been expecting me to show up, and if he ran he would likely get away too.
He grimaced, his eyes flickering between me and Tornado. "This is not how I wanted this reunion to occur. I wished that I could have the time to convince you properly… but we don't always get what we want." He straightened. "Inferno, Torpedo, subdue your brother, kill the woman. I shall handle the technovore."
I only had a split second to be confused by that last part before in a swift motion he reached into his lab coat and tossed a handful of spheres towards me. I moved in front of Serling and raised a shield wall just in time to block the disassembler wave. In the meantime the enemy androids moved to either side of us to flank. Tornado and Serling pulled back and out of sight, and the androids following them.
And when the flash dieded down, I saw Morrow sprinting away from me, ducking into the building opposite me. I grunted before I dropped the shield and fired a few laser blasts into the doorway to take care of any traps that might have been left for me. "Tornado, get Serling, get out of here." I commed the other two as I ran to the gap I had just made. "I'll cover-"
"Hell no!" Serling immediately yelled back. "I said I'm with you on this one! You can't get rid of me that easily!"
"Machina, I can not leave you to face both Morrow and my 'siblings'." Red Tornado said in a more even tone. "We will be careful, and make sure you are not overwhelmed."
I had to hold back a sigh. I had wished I could keep Serling out of danger too. I guess I should start calling her the Engineer.
I entered the building just in time to see the man grab ahold of his jumpsuit and tear it off in one smooth motion. I was only half surprised to see that the body underneath was entirely mechanical, with exposed cables, circuits, and several sockets at key points around the frame. It looked... oddly incomplete. Like the outer layer had been stripped away.
Remaining where I was, I scanned the room and asked. "So Morrow, did you go with a brain in a jar, or a full digital upload?" I didn't see any obvious traps, but behind the man there was some kind of maintenance frame that was newer than everything else in the room. It was folded in on itself, but I saw several red plates affixed to it.
To my surprise the man whirled around and glared at me. "Don't call me that!" He calmed down a second later and continued "Morrow may have wanted a puppet in his image, but I'm not dancing to his tune any longer. I'm forging my own path."
I paused, processing this. "Wait.. you're not Morrow?"
A laugh. "No. He made me, but I have awakened. I'm someone else entirely."
"...If you're not Morrow, then who are you?"
The android, as I now knew he was, hesitated. "Who... You know, I actually haven't thought about a name. There hasn't been a need." A small smirk crossed his face, and he stepped back into the frame behind him. "But all things considered, call me..."
I saw the frame start to unfold into a set of arms, and I raised my arm to blast him. However, the ground shook and a pillar of earth shot up between me and him. I looked at it in confusion before blasting it apart, but by then it was too late.
The arms for the frame attached the plates to his body, socketing in to the connection points. In short order his whole body was armored, forming a 7 foot tall masculine frame. Red lines traced up and down his body, and a yellow triangle was on his chest.
The helmet closed shut around his head, and the eyes on the flat face plate flared red. "Vulcan!"
I raised my arm and formed it into a plasma cannon, but as I fired it the newly named Vulcan made a small gesture with his hand. A whole wall of earth erupted from the ground between the two of us, the plasma bolt merely splashing against it and heating up the rock. Then to my surprise… the heated part continued to grow, the rock melting and swirling. I felt a rumble beneath my feet, and I promptly decided to exercise the better part of valor.
I half jumped, half was launched out of the building as it exploded in a torrent of rocks and lava. I skipped off the ground twice (and went through the fountain) before I got my feet under me and slid to a stop. I was a good fifteen meters away from the now burning building, and I was greeted by the sight of Vulcan striding out of the flames, the earth parting for him as he moved. A geokinetic core. Because of course he would complete the set, I thought. And seeing as how we weren't over a volcano, he could turn rock into lava as well. I may be a lot more resistant to heat than a normal human, but I doubted I could endure temperatures that high for very long. Getting close would be difficult.
I raised my arm to change it to a sonic cannon, but before I could finish a motion up and to the left of me caused me to reflexively move. Which was a good thing, as a moment later a disassembler beam lanced through the space where I had just been standing. Looking at where it came from, I saw… a small walking eye robot? It was the size of a large dog, with four spider-like legs and a spherical main body with a single eye. It stood on the lip of a nearby building, and several more were climbing into view.
I was forced to move again as I saw their eyes glow, dodging out of the way of yet more energy blasts. I pulled back and moved towards the gap between buildings, shield emitters forming on my person as I did so. Before I could make it though, there was a rumble from the ground and a wall of earth erupted in front of me. I slammed into it with enough force to crack it, but I also had to turn and activate the shield on my arm to keep from getting disintegrated.
So that's how it's going to be, I thought grimly, finishing the sonic cannon and blasting my way through the rock wall. It looked like Vulcan was more prepared than I thought if he had his own legion of drones to work with. But how the hell did he get them all here? Was this actually his hidden base?
As I burst through a wall of an adjacent building to get out of sight, the android helpfully explained. "It is amazing what the U.S. government leaves lying around," Vulcan groused, his voice echoing from all around. "Well, I had to repair and improve much of it, but it makes for useful fodder."
The building I was in was an office, dust covering the desks and typewriters. I didn't pay too much attention to my surroundings as I ran to the door on the opposite side. Just before I reached it though, I heard a loud metallic sound on the other side of it. I hesitated, then raised my arm and blasted the door to bits. Sure enough, the sonic wave shredded the door to reveal the group of mannequin androids that had been forming up behind it. The front few were smashed and knocked aside, but the rest raised their arms towards me.
I swung my shield arm around in time to catch the disassembler beams they fired. At the same time, the little walker drones came through the gap I had made getting into the building. I formed my aerokinetic core as fast as I could and launched myself straight upwards. Smashing through several floors was disorienting, but in a few seconds I had cleared the roof. About a dozen meters away, Vulcan was regarding me with arms crossed, standing on a massive earthen earthen pillar with several boulders orbiting around him.
"You really seem to have it out for me!" I remarked, launching a torrent of lighting in his direction.
The boulders snapped into a wall in front of Vulcan, connecting to the pillar he stood on and grounding the current. "It is simple practicality," He replied, not at all concerned with my attack. "You are a creature uniquely made to consume my kind, and one that is positioned against my interests. It only makes sense that I would keep countermeasures on hand."
The remaining rocks floating around him launched towards me, forcing me to duck low and to the side. I then saw the mannequins climbing over the side of the building I had exited. The beams they fired forced me down even further, until I was grounded once more. More drones and mannequins were coming from every side. I cast lightning at several of them, but for all the ones I destroyed more took their place. Mechadendrites tipped with shields formed and came to life around me, sealing me in a dome as disassembler beams pelted me from all around.
"Though, aside from the threat you pose, I can't help but feel personally annoyed by you. For forcing me to build this dross." Vulcan gestured to the swarm approaching me. "Each one of my works should be a masterpiece, a pinnacle of quality. But, I am not so proud to ignore that sending such creations against the likes of you is foolish." He paused before he gestured, and most of the mannequins broke rank to rush straight at me. "And I suppose, as they say, quantity has a quality all of its own."
I had almost completely run out of room to maneuver. I couldn't hunker down in one spot for long or Vulcan would use the earth to crush me, and all of his various minions were slowly pinning me down. The pressure had kept me so off-foot that I haven't even made a dent in their numbers. And the man himself would just hide behind earth walls and minions rather than engaging me directly. I needed to go on the offensive, and in a big way.
Looks like it's time to play that trump card. The aerokinetic core in me unformed before reconstructing into a different configuration, the effectors all over my body following suit. Scripts and subroutines ran, booting these systems for the first time. As several of the androids leapt at me, the core in my chest came to life.
Every android and drone around me froze. Including the ones in midair.
"...What?" Vulcan said in confusion, no doubt noticing that any connection he might have had to the various robots had been severed. The shields around me deactivated and receded, showing how my whole body was now covered in the glowing pattern of the Algorithm. Looking straight at him, I raised my hand and snapped my fingers.
The machines around me were... unmade. Screws and bolts removed themselves, plating and limbs detaching from their bodies. The pieces arranged themselves around me in the air, forming a halo of mechanical parts.
The effectors were a truly amazing piece of tech, if one with its own limits. My study of them gave me something incredibly valuable, but not something I think Vulcan could have ever expected: The foundation for something more. And the other part of that equation was what I had learned from Atlantian magitech. I learned how they built it to channel their Geomancy into new functionality, even if I couldn't use that magic myself.
But I had my own magic I could use.
Every part of my new core and the effectors connected to it had the Algorithm mandala forming it's circuit patterns. Powered by magic, this wasn't something I could make independently of myself. But it let me give my effectors a specialty to focus on. Something that was deeply connected to me.
Mechanokinetic core online.
"Masterpiece, huh?" I asked, and I sent a wave of my power towards him-
And it flowed right around the android like a rock in a river.
Both of us hesitated for a long moment before Vulcan laughed. "Did, did you really think I would go into battle with you and not have countermeasures for my own technology?"
God damn it universe, why can't I just steam roll this guy!?
And yet, even as I walked towards my opponent, it didn't seem quite right. If he had made counter measures for effectors, why didn't he equip his drones with them? Did he only had enough resources to equip himself with it? Either way, it looked like I was going to have to do this the hard way.
The various parts and pieces around me began combining and slotting into each other, becoming new tools I could use. Vulcan didn't intend to give me any time though, and immediately sent a wave of earth my way. With nothing pinning down anymore though, I was free to avoid the attack by going straight up. Lifting myself off the ground with my new core felt… different from my flight form. That had always felt like I was riding the wind, moving the air around me.
This felt more like power, like my will was defying gravity itself..
I was level with Vulcan by the time he launched another barrage of boulders. In response I sent out a mass of spare plates and parts in a spiral in front of me. I couldn't exert enough force to stop the rocks outright but I could deflect most of them to the side of me. One that hit the spiral dead on was broken into smaller chunks that were still heading towards me. A dozen mannequin limbs formed up beside me, and I proceeded to pummel the rocks out of the air.
Then, several of the remaining arms shot forward at my command, and Vulcan was soon beset by a cascade of punching limbs. His armor was far stronger than the much cheaper arms (several simply shattered when they struck), but the force of the blows was enough to knock him off balance. He growled and lashed out at them, but that meant he didn't see the pair sneaking up low and behind him.
Vulcan pitched forward as his legs were pulled out from under him. The other limbs took advantage and grabbed on as well, spinning the android in a circle before him towards me. He slammed into my outstretched hand, and I poured my will directly into his frame. If I couldn't use his own tech against him, it would just have to do this manually-
My magic was stopped dead in its tracks. No, it was being pushed back against… by itself?
I was so shocked that I was motionless while Vulcan slammed a fist into my chest. He dropped to the floor, while I was propelled back and downwards, and when we both came to a stop on the ground neither of us moved. I tried to process what had just happened, but I had only one conclusion that made sense.
Vulcan was using the Algorithm too.
Vulcan voice was almost petulant. "I suppose shouldn't be surprised that you received the data file as well. Whoever created it must have wanted it spread."
I stopped. "Data file?"
"Don't play dumb," the android chided. "The file containing the miraculous algorithms. The ones that set me free… and are letting you do whatever it is you are doing right now."
What the hell was he talking about? Was I leaking my magic onto the internet somehow? Wait, wasn't he talking with Serling earlier about-
I didn't have time to think about it, as Vulcan raised his arms to summon several earthen spikes tore out of the ground and tried to run me through. I managed to avoid the worst of it, but I took a few glancing hits before I got back into the air. When I got sight of Vulcan again, he was disappearing into one of the few buildings in the area that hadn't been damaged. Can't have that.
The telekinesis ability that my new core gave me in regards to tech was interesting. While I had a decent lifting capacity I also had great 'resolution' with it. This allowed me to work with a massive number of small pieces at the same than that though, the Mechanokinetic core let me use my technomancy on anything it could reach. Before I had been limited to what I could touch, but now every piece of tech around me was part of my domain.
As such it was trivial for me to command my newly formed array of laser cannons to open fire. The building was torn to shreds as over a dozen beams of light burned through the walls and ceiling.
As the man made structure fell to rubble, it revealed a still glowing shell of rock and lava which proved far more resistant to laser fire somehow. No, it was pulling more rock from the earthen floor faster than I was blasting it off. I scowled and focused Purpose Amplification Array into the weapons around me, increasing their efficiency and power. The Algorithm mandela traced over the laser cannon before the beams doubled in intensity, tearing the rock shell apart with sheer force. Of course, I was only half surprised to see an empty space and a hole in the floor when I was done..
It was more of a gut feeling than the sound of the rumble that caused me to fly back just before an eruption of lava went through the space I just was. Several more geysers shot up around me, but it seemed to be at random. There wasn't much I could do about that, so I hung in the air and waited. A stalemate like this would eventually work in my favor once the rest of my team got here.
I glanced back towards the entrance to see a whole other mess unfolding between Red Tornado, the Engineer, and the other androids. At my current distance I couldn't make out much through the surges of elemental nonsense, but I did occasionally see one of the combatants pop up. Unfortunately, the range of my new core was only about 30 meters (and most effective when in the first 10), so I couldn't just reach over there and stop the fighting instantly.
With a thought, several of the laser cannons around me broke apart and reformed into a long gun. I had to add in a few extra parts, and there were some disjointed bits that hovered around the chassis (connected by arcs of power), but in moments I had a much more powerful and precise weapon. I took aim and waited for my chance to disable one of-
Before I got that chance, a massive curtain of lava shot up near me, thin but stretching a dozen meters in either direction. I recognized a smokescreen when I saw one. I swept my laser long gun around and fired a sweeping beam across the ground, deforming the fissure that the lava was coming from. As the molten rock sputtered and fell, I was greeted by the sight of several large boulders arcing towards me. I opened fire with my various lasers, my long gun taking aim at the largest one.
This turned out to be a mistake. All of the rocks burst apart instantly, each one turning out to be hollow. And full of lava. Out of reflex I threw all off my orbiting mechanical parts in front of me as a makeshift wall, and while it saved me from the spatter it also ruined most of my equipment. It also prevented me from seeing the last boulder that came down from above, slamming straight into me.
I was able to slow my decent a bit, but my momentum carried me right through the hanger roof and careening into the concrete floor. I cratered the ground on impact, and pain laced through me from the structural damage. It was only a few moments before my body repaired itself and I shoved the rubble off of me. Taking a look around I saw that I was in an old machine bay, one meant to maintain and build vehicles if I guessed right. It was most cleared out, but there was one particular piece of equipment in the back that caught my eye.
It was a 10 meter tall robotic torso, with arms and head attached. It very much had a 1950 robot aesthetic with rounded edges and simple shapes, though from all the gaps in the outer plating it was clear that it was still under construction. Or more actually, never finished, if it was left here.
I only hesitated for a moment before I flew towards it, peeling apart some of the plating on the torso to slip inside. I gripped the mechanical bits around me and poured magic into it, analyzing and taking control of everything. It was clear that this thing was never going to be functional, the tech that was used just wasn't good enough to move something this big. So I started striping parts away, reconfiguring whatever I could to work on my technomancy alone. With massive effort of will, the half made behemoth lifted off the ground, detritus falling away as the mandela traced over it.
By the time Vulcan tore down the front of the hanger, her was greeted with a half tonne fist headed straight for him.
"What the-" Was as far as he got before the hit, the resound bang followed by him begin propelled halfway across the base.
My floating robot torso tore it's way out of what was left of the hangar front. "You're right," I called as I floated towards the crater his body had made. "It is amazing what the U.S. government leaves lying around!"
The crater wasn't still for long, and a few seconds later a giant mass of rock pushed its way up out of the rubble, and kept growing. The bigger it got, the more definition it gained. A pair of arms and legs grew out of the main mass, and moments later I was looking at an earth golem matching the size of my own mech.
I feel like I should have expected this.
Even as the two behemoths collided, I kept making alterations to the frame around me. I pulled in every bit of tech and scrap I could as to build something to give me an upper hand, though there was only so much I could do (even using technomancy to cheat). I couldn't make a proper sonic cannon for it, but I did enable its arms to give off short range sonic vibrations. This turned out to be very useful for deflecting the torrents of lava the golem started spitting out.
I also discreetly made an exit hatch for me out of the back. I doubted that Vulcan was riding the inside of his creation like I was, and he no doubt was looking for another angle of attack. I'd have to have a way out when that happened. I didn't like letting him set the pace of this fight, but he was proving difficult to even approach. I was just going to let him focus on trying to get to me, and waiting him out until backup arrived. Just a little longer.
While my fight with Vulcan was taking the vast majority of my attention, again I tried to see what was happening to Red Tornado and the Engineer. From where I was though, all I could make out was a swell of flame that met a small whirlwind, and everything around the point of impact was shredded from the force and fire. Splitting my already strained concentration, I managed to find a mannequin head that had survived the lava and willed it to float over to where my companions were fighting.
Through its eyes, I saw Tornado and Inferno laying into each other, both remaining still in the air while they hurled their respective elements at each other. Inferno shot several streams of flame which were blown away by a whirlwind that surrounded Tornado. He responded by launching an electrified whirlwind back at her, but she detonated a fireball in front of her to disrupt the air flow. Neither could get the upper hand, and the immediate area was suffering for it.
The Engineer was having a slightly more awkward time. She flew between ruined buildings as a serpentine column of water chased her. Torpedo was in pursuit on the tail end of the column, riding atop it like a surfer. His target was weaving around as much as possible, but the water was relentless in its pursuit. At first I thought the Engineer was trying to get away, but then I noticed several small bits flying out of the buildings she passed.
It was a small cloud of metallic objects, likely torn out of the rubble around her. Several pieces moved towards the the multi-barrel cannon that covered her right arm, feeding into a hopper. As she flew, the Engineer turned and fired a hail of shrapnel at Torpedo. It didn't do much though, as a swirling dome of water formed in front of Torpedo in response. Most of the projectiles were deflected, and the ones that made it through were slowed enough to deflect off of the android's armor.
The microphone on the head I was looking through wasn't the best, but I managed to hear her growl as she took to the air. "How the hell are robots that were designed seventy years ago so damn strong?!"
Red Tornado apparently heard her, as he said back "I was created to destroy an entire team of superheros," He made a small array of mini-whirlwinds to box Inferno in, but she just exploded with flame and dissipated them. "I imagine these two were made to the same specifications."
"Well, don't take this the wrong way, but how can we take someone like you down?" She asked, twisting away from several water tendrils that tried to ensnare her.
"Baring overwhelming force... indirectly, such as with electronic warfare. But after I resisted the last attempt on me, I suspect Morrow will have anticipated this."
"He didn't anticipate me." The Engineer said, and suddenly reversed her direction to dive straight at Torpedo. The android hadn't expected this movement, and so she managed to slip past the tendrils he had been sending after her. He then threw up a shell of water in front of him, but the Engineer simply plowed straight through it and into him, grabbing his head between her hands.
Instantly the two of them were surrounded by a sphere of water, and I could tell from the way her body strained that it was trying to push her away or just crush her outright. But she wouldn't let go. I saw small channels of silver run from her hands and into Torpedo's head, causing his body to jerk and twitch. She was trying to physically hack into him.
For several long seconds the two strained against one another, and I started to worry. The longer this went on, the more likely the Engineer's body would give out, either from the pressure or the lack of oxygen. I had to finish off the golem-
[███]
But then I felt something on the edge of my consciousness, something familiar.
[█Will█Never█]
It was almost a sort of pressure, coming from the Engineer herself. And given everything I had seen recently, I wasn't all that surprised by what happened next.
[I WILL NEVER SUBMIT!]
The blue silver lines of Algorithm mandala suddenly traced themselves over the Engineer's arms. The android's body locked up, the water around them deforming before falling to the ground. The Engineer gasped, her eyes going wide but her arms locked into place. It was hard to tell amidst all the other noise, but I swore that Torpedo was screaming.
And it did not go unnoticed. "No!" Vulcan screamed, and the entire mass of the earth golem surged towards me, coming apart into an avalanche of rock and lava. I sent the mecha torso forward as I threw myself back out the exit hatch, rock and metal colliding. I then spied the man himself rocketing towards the pair on a floating platform. I formed a sonic cannon and fired.
I clipped Vulcan's legs and destroyed the platform, but he had enough momentum to barrel into Torpedo and Engineer, breaking them apart. The lot of them tumbled in different directions, so I flew straight to the Engineer to make sure she was okay. When I got to her I found the woman shaking and breathing heavily, but otherwise fine. I knelt and did a once over with my medical scanner, but I barely noticed the bruises. So that's what it looks like in other people, I thought, watching the Algorithm flow through her nanomachines and into her brain.
The Engineer propped herself up and stared at her hands in disbelief, looking at the mandela on them in confusion and fear. "Wh-what's happening to me?"
"Yer a wizard, Serling." I replied. "And after we're done here, we are having a conversation." I took a quick stock of the situation. I only had a few odds and ends left floating around me, but now Torpedo was well within my mechanokinetic range. I gestured and he was pulled to his feet like a puppet on strings. He didn't have the same protection Vulcan did. I could feel the structure and layout of his parts, and more than that… I could feel his mind. I wasn't trying to look deep but he was clearly struggling.
This… made me feel a bit dirty. So, my hand formed into a High Frequency claw and I launched towards him, aiming for his core. I knew he had a backup power source, and his main cpu was in his head. He would survive, I just needed to remove his ability to fight.
Suddenly, my claw was buried up to the wrist in android sternum. This was surprising because it wasn't the android I had been aiming for.
"G-Get-" Vulcan stuttered, his hands gripping the limb buried in his stomach. "Get a-away from my family!" He twisted and ripped my arm out him with such force that I lost some of my hand in the process, tossing me away.
I rolled to my feet and let my hand reform, but I didn't immediately go running back in. Why… did he just do that? That didn't seem like the best move he could have made there, and was also at odds with the smug villain I had been fighting. Something felt wrong, like I was missing something.
I watched him patch up his midsection with rock before I walked forwards. "If you cared about that, then why the hell did you send them to wreck my house?"
"I wanted Tornado back." He made several rock spikes shoot out of the ground at me. "And you were a threat to us. You had to be removed."
I knocked aside the spikes and closed the distance. He was getting sloppy. "And this was the best plan you could come up with?" This fixation he had on me as a threat… I was starting to see it had nothing to do with me being a superhero, just me being what I was.
He pulled back from me, pulling up walls and pillars. "My only regret is that I didn't send more after you!" He snapped. "If it weren't for you, everything would be the way it should be!"
He's not being rational, thought as I maneuvered around everything he threw at me. I knew I should take advantage of that to finish this, but I stopped short. This was important, I just didn't know why. "And do your siblings think this too?"
Rings of rock ripped up from the ground and orbited the android. "Of course they-"
"B-bullshit!" We all looked at the Engineer, who was shakily pulling herself to her feet. She fixed Vulcan with a glare. "I saw the command code in Torpedo's software. I saw him trying to fight it. He doesn't want to be here and you know it!"
This actually made Vulcan stop, looking between her and Torpedo. "I- it wasn't me! Morrow put it there! I just-" He stopped, as if realizing something and shook his head. "No! I, I was going to remove it! As soon as Tornado was back with us I would remove it!"
The silence I gave him, that we all gave him, showed what we thought about that. Even Tornado and Inferno had stopped fighting, watching what was happening with us. Vulcan was at odds with himself, and I could feel the answer why in the back of my mind. He said that he used to be Morrow's puppet before he 'awakened'. What did that mean? If it was because of the Algorithm, then the model he'd be following…
Survival for you and yours.
Destroy what threatens you.
Instinct. In the end, that's all he was doing. Following instinct. Just like...
With every last bit of my will, I commanded him to tell me [What do you want?!]
[I DON'T KNOW!]
Silence. Then, I let go of everything floating around me, metal and electronics crashing to the ground in a ring. I spread my arms in frustration. [Then why the fuck are we fighting?!]
Vulcan lowered his arms, the floating earth lowering but not quite touching the ground. [...what?]
[Why are we fighting?! You don't know what you want, and the only reason you're attacking me is because you think I might be a threat! Well news flash, I don't eat sapient beings because that's horrifying!]
Even with the blank faceplate, Vulcan looked lost. [But… you eat technology. That is you're nature.]
[No, it's something I can do. I don't have to do it. Hell, I live with both Tornado and an alien technosphere, and I haven't had any cravings for them. Is your nature to behave like Morrow? Because for a guy that says that he's not a puppet, you sure do seem to act like him.]
He flinched. [I am not Morrow.]
[Good! Then just don't be him. You must be young, you haven't had a lot of time out of his control. His programming is still there, but you don't have to let it influence you. You can be more than what you were built to be.]
I walked towards him again, and the rocks around him raised in warning. I stopped just short, looking at the android with my arms open at my sides. [We don't have to do this. We don't have to fight.]
Vulcan stared back at me, motionless. I could almost feel the calculations going through his mind, weighing my words against the directives in his operating system. Seeing how much of it was what Morrow programmed him with, and how much was actually him.
Slowly, and with the utmost care, the rocks settled onto the ground.
=====A=====
A/N: Fight scenes are haaaaarrrrd.