I landed in front of the sheared off face of a single building, pieces of brick and block scattered across the road and atop several cars unlucky enough to have been in front of it. Once I was sure there were no civilians that were trapped, after giving a few friendly waves to the crowd, I proceeded into the building. The moment I stepped inside of it, a new notification appeared, this one forcing its way into my vision instead of adding to the small stack I still had to address.

"Alert. This Droid Forge has been abandoned. No updated total can be provided at this time."

Instead of moving any further, and instead of putting it off any longer, I grabbed the stack of notifications and prompted them to open. While I should have waited for Jon, who had briefly stepped out of the Command Room to use the bathroom and get a bag of chips, I also knew he'd be able to just read back through everything later if he really needed to.

"Mission Completed! What Came First? What can I say Loophole, even I'm impressed by how fluidly you took that thing down. I'm still not exactly sure if you're living up to the name of your powerset, nothing about that seemed planned at all. But who's gonna argue with results? Reward: You completed a mission that we expected to need at least a few people to complete, so guess what? You get all of the rewards! You have received one S:Tier, one A+:Tier, one A:Tier loot boxes, and 15000 credits."

"Phase Points Gained! Combo Master: Deal more than 25,000 points of damage to a single enemy in less than 20 seconds. Value Equal to total damage dealt divided by 20, rounded to nearest number divisible by 5. Limit, once per day. Total Value: 2943 points. Crowdpleaser: Complete an Encounter with an Audience of Sapient NPCs. 10 points per NPC. Total Value: 2980 points. What Group? (NEW!): Complete an objective meant for 2 or more people completely on your own. Value Equal to 100 points times average Augment count needed for similar tasks. Total Value: 300 points."

"Mass Driver. This ability has increased to Level 2. Damage is now increased by 110% for every 250 points of Stamina used. This ability has been augmented 2 of 3 times. Current Augmentations: Limit Breaker; Shock Spiral."

"Gravity Punch. This ability has increased to Level 6. Every 5% of your Stamina, up to 50% of your total, put into this skill now deals an additional 100% damage. This ability has not been augmented."

"Super Luck. This power has reached Level 6. Luck within your local area is now subtly affected by .6% for every 1 point of luck that you have."

"Timekeeper. This power has increased to Level 3. New Sub Ability unlocked! Your grasp of the time-space continuum has expanded from continued use. Timekeeper's Control is now split into two variants, the Rewind variant that you are already familiar with and the new, Slow Down variant. You may now use time from your time bank to actively slow down everything happening around you except for your mind. For every 1 second from your Time Bank, you experience 10 seconds of subjective time. Now you can get that extra time to think without having to hear me talk your ear off! Activation of either version will still cause Temporal Sickness from repeated use."

I read over the new version of Timekeeper's Control a few times as I thought about the possibilities with it. At first glance, it didn't seem like it would be so useful that I'd want to waste that much of my limited Time Bank on it. But that was only if I was looking at it solely on its own. The amount of extra information I could glean before jumping to rewind could easily make using a few seconds worth it.

"Codex has entered the Command Room, communication has been restored."

"Okay bud, Swansong and Freak should be there in a minute or two. Did you want Duskbreaker to stop and pick up Brain?" Jon asked as I heard him plop down into his chair.

"Hmm, I don't know if that's gonna be necessary... I'm not really seeing much leftover tech in here," I said, looking around and walking further into the place as I took in the rather bleak area. "Let me take a quick look around and see if there's anything really worth our time."

In truth, the place seemed practically barren. Sure, there were some desks and a handful of computers, but the walls noticeably had none of the printers and support equipment that had been in every other forge that they had been through.

"Yeah, you know what… I think you can just tell everyone to head back to base, I don't think we're gonna find anything worth grabbing in here," I said finally. There weren't even extra floors to check and it felt like it would be a bit of a waste of time to have everyone else come all the way here just to confirm that. "Besides, I'm gonna need Pinky and Freak to meet me in the Training Room… I've got a new ability I need to test out."

End of Phase Two: 25D:03H:33M:33S

Hydramental was furious.

"Room. Rainforest please," he said through gritted teeth.

He wanted to separate off one of his forms and take out his rage on something, but Mr. Factory had been very specific with his need to keep himself in one piece for at least a little while. The older Augent even went out of his way to print and install a surround sound system for their base's monitoring room with the express purpose of playing "soothing sounds" to help him center himself.

Ever since the previous night, something had felt off, like a piece of his memory was missing but he wasn't supposed to realize it. When he had raised the concern to Mr. Factory, the man, almost endlessly patient, brought up his hypothesis.

There was something about his brain chemistry that hadn't been fully adjusted when he was Augmented. It wasn't something that happened very often, in fact, Mr. Factory had been rather positive that they hadn't had a single issue with test subjects since they moved past the First Wave. The problem was, of course, that Mr. Factory wasn't one of the programmers. His job had been building and maintaining the initial server array before the system was able to multiply.

Which meant at the end of the day, he only knew the bare essentials for how the system worked, and that was really only because he happened to be in the rooms during the larger development meetings. It was because of that, and that alone, that while he was positive the Augmentation process was supposed to do something neurologically to each person that underwent it that left them as super human, there had always been at least a few that just never fully synchronized with the system, and never fully recovered from the stress the process put on their minds.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

There wasn't a way for Mr. Factory to confirm that Hydramental fell into this category of course, so instead he simply tried to help the man manage his emotions before they quite literally tore him apart.

As for Hydramental? He largely thought all of it was bullshit.

"Gaahh!" he screamed out, his red form shedding off and throwing a blast of fire into the nearby, already scorched section of wall.

"Ah you were doing so well too," Mr. Factory said, walking back into the room with a can of soda in hand.

"This is fucking bullshit!" Hydramental spat. "We had him. The big brute and the fucking redhead were across town and we had confirmation that TailStrike followed through with intercepting the blonde bimbo. That thing should have broken through his defenses!"

"I told you it was a mistake to move when the droid wasn't completed. He had none of his spawn functions nor any of his mobility," Mr. Factory replied, walking up and placing a hand on Hydramental's shoulder.

For some reason, unlike any of the others that had worked with Hydramental, Mr. Factory just didn't seem to get under the volatile Augment's skin. Hydramental had wondered about that in the brief moments of clarity that he had and he had come to a realization. One that simultaneously made him both angry and comforted. Mr. Factory reminded him of his brother. And brothers sometimes had a habit of arguing with each other.

"You're the one who told me we had confirmation he was separated, you could have kept that detail to yourself if you thought it was a bad idea you know," he shot back.

"My powerset is and always has been, strictly speaking, for utility. I'm working toward my goals as a whole and as long as what you do doesn't interfere with that, I'll assist. That includes pointing out when you have an opportunity to accomplish your own goals given that you are here helping me out," Mr. Factory said with a shrug. "And hey. If I learned anything from Clockwork Tyrant, it's that every encounter is an opportunity for information. Maybe we lost the runt of the litter, but now we know not to throw electricity at that guy… and also to account for that ridiculous knockback he is able to dish out."

"Ugh, you're starting to sound like all those imbeciles chattering about how cool he is on the streets, and this is only going to make it worse," Hydramental said, his teeth gnashing together again as he let out a slow breath. "Is there any way we can speed things up? Axio clearly is just getting bolder with his efforts to bolster this bastard."

"You know, I'm not siding with him or anything, but it is possible that Loophole has simply reached total synchronization with his Personal Array. Hidden Powers aside, there's something that happens when a person gets the exact right powerset for them that turns them into juggernauts. The First was… well the first one to have that happen, but there's a few in every wave," Mr. Factory explained, walking over to one of the few seats as he adjusted some of the video that their Clockwork Falcons took from nearby rooftops. "If Loophole is like that, Axio might not have anything to do with it… At least, nothing to do with his power level."

Mr. Factory had added that last little bit when Hydramental's head snapped in his direction, a look of contempt sneaking onto his face.

"And it's possible Axio somehow knew that and lined it up so he got that powerset. There's a million ways it could have gone, it doesn't change the fact that I'm going to find a way to take both Loophole and that corrupt fucking A.I. down," Hydramental spat back.

"Patience is a virtue," Mr. Factory offered, causing Hydramental to scoff in response, ignoring the hand that was trying to wave him over. "With enough patience, you'll glean all kinds of useful information."

Hydramental finally took notice, looking toward the cameras that displayed a wide shot of Central Park, apparently showing film of Loophole, hovering high overhead.

"Yeah? So what? We've known he's been working out of Central Park for a while," Hydramental scoffed. He was just about to turn around and head for the door when Mr. Factory held up a finger.

"Gotta look at the bigger picture," Mr. Factory said, rewinding the footage and pointing to show as it showed Loophole's flightpath right from the ground and down into a tunnel hidden slightly in the brush. "Looks like we know where their Squad Base is at. I'd call that pretty useful, wouldn't you?"

Hydramental's eyes narrowed as he looked at the location, then reached forward and clicked one of the controls to let it play like normal as the falcon's lens tracked Loophole up and into the air, returning to the larger wide shot. It was hard to tell from the angle, but it was actually relatively close to where he had been walking the previous night and-

"Ow," he said, a sudden, sharp pain hitting his head in a flash before vanishing just as quickly, some small part of him itching that he was forgetting something. Mr. Factory gave him a concerned look but Hydramental simply shook his head to wave the concern away. "Even if we know where the entrance is, it's not like we can get in. That kind of limits what we can do."

"You're thinking too small Hydra. Think what might happen if they find themselves being attacked every time they step out the door?" Mr. Factory said, a smile creeping over his face. "How long do you think they'll keep using that exit? And if they can't use that exit, how do you think they'll get out of their base?"

"Their safe houses…" Hydramental replied as realization clicked.

"I told you it would pay off to recall the falcons and upgrade them with camouflage Hydra. And I told you I'm here to help you reach your goals," Mr. Factory said, lifting a finger and pointing at Loophole on the screen. "If that goal is taking him down, especially if he's as connected to Axio as you believe he is, then I'll help you find him in the one place he'll be truly vulnerable. If there's one thing you can count on Guardians to do, it's rush to save the day without a second thought of who might be watching."

Undisclosed Location

Time Until First Wave: 2 Years, 4 Months, 13 Days

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Kirkman, thank you for making time for us on such short notice."

"Uh… no worries, and Christopher is fine," Christopher replied, shaking the hand of the shorter man wearing a crisp black suit before looking over his shoulder at a heavyset man standing behind him. "I take it you're, uh, Mr. Merens?"

"If we're going to go by first names then I insist you call me Andrew," the short, spectacled man replied. "You know, when Ms. Campbell reached out and explained, I was rather sure she was pulling our leg, but when I checked into the electrical usage here for the last few months, well you must certainly be operating some rather powerful equipment, Christopher."

"Heh… yeah you could say that," he said looking over his shoulder at Cassie sitting back in the living room, pretending not to notice. Before he moved on, he stood to the side, holding the door open as the two men shuffled into the house. "How, uh… how much did Cassie tell you exactly?"

"You found some unmarked hardware that you have been repairing over the last few months. Since then, it has shown signs of hosting a true artificial intelligence that has provided you with several designs promising to do things that should not theoretically be possible. You've built and utilized one of them, a device you call the 'Personal Assessment Pad' that can identify a person's 'latent and natural super power' as well as a 'Power Assignment Device' which Ms. Campbell claims you haven't used just yet... also, I must say you really need to come up with better names for things," Andrew said, rattling it all off without checking any sort of notepad. He reached up and adjusted his glasses before adding, "Oh, and I believe the A.I. calls itself, Axio if I am remembering correctly."

"So… pretty much everything then," Christopher said, his shoulders slumping slightly.

"We're nothing if not thorough Christopher," Andrew said with a smile. "Like I said, I was quite convinced Ms. Campbell was pulling my leg when she called me about this and if it is a prank well... at this point I'd probably just be impressed by the dedication."

He hadn't really wanted to report this, hell, he had only agreed initially because he thought it would take Cassie days, if not weeks to organize a meeting. Even if he had promised not to use the P.A.D., he could still have used that time to further the development of his game, just so everything was in order once they finally had the infrastructure in place to make it work.

His mind had begun racing with the possibilities the moment Axio had shown him the schematics and told him that there was a way to make everything he had worked for actually come to life. But there was a reason he had waited until Cassie was there to use the device. Because even if he did trust the almost supernatural A.I. that he had been working with, he trusted her opinion enough to let her weigh in before he took the kind of risk that was inherent with experimental technology.

"Well I guess that speeds things up a bit," Christopher sighed as he looked over Andrew's shoulder at the man casually looking at a few portraits hung up on the walls. "And this is one of your, uh, coworkers?"

"Ah yes, my apologies," Andrew said, looking over at the man. "This is Robert Peck, one of our infrastructure engineers. He's here to take a closer look at the equipment and take some notes for us."

Robert stepped forward, reaching out a hand that Christopher took and shook once.

"It's nice to meet you uh.. Mr. Peck? Or uh... should I just call you Robert?" Christopher asked curiously.

"Ehhhhh, just call me Factory. Everybody does."

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