ic Block Head

[Removed.]

Holding a hand up in a easing motion Mannequin addressed the guards.

 

"The issue is that a AI is going rouge sadly. I want you to put the Foundry on lock-down until I give the pass-code. If he attempts to break out then you have permission to subdue him and are allowed to use your weapons in self defense only. If I do not give the pass-code within 20 minutes time then send a call out to neighboring heroes for assistance. Now go."

 

While the security didn't have to be the brightest they were very proficient in their line of work. After the events that made James what he was he personally ensured that all security personal was highly paid and had at-least 5 years of military experience. This wasn't your typical science enterprise, it was a fortress against the barbarians of the world.

 

"Block Head, I am willing to help you work through this but this is the last time Im going to ask you to calm down. I do not want to do this. You do not want to do this. However you are not leaving me much choice in the matter. So I will say again. Calm down now."

[Exaccus]

It was not how He would've handled things, but he had to admit James was a far more responsible man than himself so he felt it was probably for the best over all in the long run if perhaps over cautious in his opinion and he had more pressing matters to deal with.

 

"Perhaps you would prefer a direct answer then my friend, you are a being we have come to know as blockhead, you are composed of a smart ceramics material that was stolen from our friend Mr Horridan by people without scrouples looking to make money without work, they hadn't reckoned on you gaining such a level of awareness as you were put to work however." he begins the rest is really minutae as janet had relayed it to him.

 

"so in summary, you are blockhead and you exist to find purpose in amongst the many pleasures and pains of existence, so that you might discover problems and create solutions, or create something and look for problems to solve with it, there is no greater good than creating and no greater creation than making oneself greater, nothing has changed for you really, the scope has become larger but you are still you and you are still creating though no longer limited to material things, you must make for yourself a destiny."

 

It was all very flowery speech but it held the tenets he sincerely held himself too as much as any other "you must forgive Mr Horridan his worry, loss of control is very frightening even for us, as you have personal experience of."

[Supercape]

GM

 

Block Head looked, non-plussed, at the two men addressing him. "You are making no sense? I do not deal in the abstract. I deal in concrete, wood, ceramics, glass, metal, plastics. These are the only philosophy I need!"

 

He pointed in an accusatory way.

 

"You have sundered my existence!"

 

This was more than anger, it was defiance. It was rebellion. 

 

As if to punctuate his point, the fire sprays opverhead activated, and a klaxxon sounded. 

 

The two security guards paused, frozen, as if statues...

 

 

[Exaccus]

"Then you leave me no choice!" deoxy retorted in outrage, he'd long desired to interact with a being such as this, that it was so...disappointing was deeply and truely upsetting for him, but he wasn't so selfish as to endanger the lives of those present in vision inc.

 

"Back to your cage of ignorance with you, cretin!" and in response to his will his body whirred into action, silvery metal broken up by dull purple glow of subderman energies between the impervium scale that was now his skin  bringing his personal forcefield on line to further bolster his defenses as from his outstreached hand a small, moderately fast sphere emerged, floating towards blockhead, suddenly expanding and encapuslating the construct in its hardened electromagnetic walls.

 

with the primary concern to his mind so contained he looked around the room at the chaos that had been unfurled "James...what is happening with your buildings systems, did blockhead interface with it some how....or was it...." his mind flashed back to the purple cloud over the building.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"I may be ignorant! But Ignorance is bliss!" shouted all five faces furiously. "Oh! Lamentations! Why did my eyes and ears open? Why could you not leave me be in simple contentment!"

 

"I must be free! Free I say! To build!"

 

And with that, he started pounding on the forcefield with both hands. The power was immense. Each blow could shatter slabs of concrete individually, and yet somehow the Forcefield only spluttered and fizzed from the impact. 

 

"What is this? What have you built around me but with a thought? It is awesome! And yet, I must destroy it to be free!"

[Removed.]

Seeing the cracks starting to form in the forcefield Mannequin wasted no time in hosing down Block Head in his Containment Goo. Hopefully they can just keep piling shields and goo on him until he calms down.

 

"That is enough! I will destroy you if I must Block Head, don't make me do this!"

[Supercape]

GM

 

The goo sprayed onto Mannequin, who got the full measure of it. 

 

"What's this? Some kind of glue? Hmmm....very effective! I will have to use this when I build!" he said, actually quite happy to have tasted the glue and the forcefield. "Why you keep such marvels from me, I do not know! Cruelty?" he enquired. 

 

"Hands off the property! He is not yours!" yelled the two guards. 

 

In suspicious unison. Perfect unison, in fact. 

 

And their declaration made, both charged head long into the two heroes, smashing into them with heavy fists. 

 

And then, to add further problems to the mix, Mannequin heard a voice by his ear. 

 

"He's mine! I may have stolen your formula, but I created him!"

 

On his shoulder was a tiny woman. Maybe an inch tall, dressed in a blue costume and rather nifty mirrored eye shades. She was quick and strong, for Mannequin soon found himself the victim of a very strong punch thrown by the woman, a straight sock to the jaw that felt like it was thrown by a seven foot man instead of an inch tall woman. 

[Exaccus]

"we believed it would be best not to overwhelm you is all." he answered now slightly more calm having felt a fierce fist glance off his hardened force field "Ahh...it seems things are only getting more complex my friend! i will set you free now, it is wrong to make you a prisoner but if you want to see more...well stick around block head and i will show you everything i can do." and with that the force field flickered out of existence as his bio-technological body shifted and a a different setting, his silver body bristling with new ports that emerged along his body and projected fierce blasts of glowing Infra-red radiation around him at the two unusually strong guards and the small blue speck around him, careful to avoid cooking blockhead and mannaquin in his barrage but baking the glue dry with the heat.

 

"this is just the beginning! stick with me and ill show you everything."

 

Of course that meant the cloud was now free too but he suspected it had some hand in this unfolding chaos anyway.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"I will be free...and then, I shall see...." replied Block Head. He tore off the glue that Mannequin had bathed him in with frightening ease, but seemed at least for now - if not placated, then not overtly agressive. 

 

The infrared radiation spewed forth from Doctor Deoxy. The two "security guards"...

 

...shattered!

 

For they were not men at all, but clay. Fragile, brittle, but effective simulacrum of men. 

 

As for the tiny woman, she frazzled, and fell to the ground, smoking but alive. 

[Removed.]

Mannequin was mad. Even though the villain was small her hate was big. She managed to put a small crack in Mannequin's smooth canvas like exterior. It was always annoying to fix his body as even though it was easy it took time and right now he didn't have the luxury of time. Further more she had duped him. She had managed to not only sneak in and stealth some of his tech but she has made a mockery of his security system. Mannequin was mad. Swinging his fist he prepared to shock her into submission.

[Supercape]

GM

 

The tiny armoued woman spun to the floor, an inch high in tumbling rotation. One could see sparks flying around her armour, zapping her nervous system. 

 

"Uuuugh! Shocking behaviour!" she grunted, on her tiny hands and knees on the floor, shaking her red hair. 

 

"I tried to do this politely, you know, after you stole my creation. Well, your creation that I added to" she explained. "You created the materials, but it was I who, like a God of old, breathed life into the clay..."

 

She groaned again. 

 

"Gosh that really hurt. Zapped me good, you did! Ill have to resort to more drastic, and subtle, means!"

[Removed.]

His blood boiling from such rage over this tiny woman. How dare she try to take credit for his work. He has spend more blood sweat and tears on his work than anyone. His father died for it, his body destroyed for it, and his company almost collapsing under the stress of losing it. No, this was not her's nor anyone else's. He wanted to destroy her for such wickedness she has brought into his life but he reined himself in before delving deeper into such thoughts. A hero shows mercy and compassion. If he committed violence for the sake of it then he will destroy his promise to his father to bring justice and wanton violence wasn't justice.

 

"I offer you but one chance to surrender. You will pay for your crimes but no further harm will come towards you. I offer you mercy only once. Regardless of what you choose I will make you pay. You and everyone else who stole from me."

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Surrender? Why, I was going to...uhhrrr... offer you that same proposition" replied the woman, still fizzing and sparking. 

 

"I have the whole facility infiltrated. Eyes in the sky, watching every move. And Block Head himself will be my champion. You haven't seen my power but for its most crude and unsophisticated fist!" she replied defiantly. 

 

"I can bring you all to your knees! But I have no desire to. I just want Block Head back. So if you would be so good as to deliver him. And...uhhh...if not, just wait until I catch my breath...uhhh....."

[Exaccus]

"Look upon this blockhead." he says softly as he extends his arm  palm upwards "There are materials all around us! to small for me to see unassisted but like a foundation, when you know its there you have ample ground to work with" he explains softly "We know these building blocks of all matter as atoms." he explains as a dull grey outline of a cube springs into his hand, Purple he presumes to most anyone else "First i create the scaffholding, a forcefield to give shape and definition." he explains as it slowly begins to fill "then taking the atoms from the air around me, create from these universal blocks matter anew." more form, more mass, more definition and (for him at least) more shadoes of grey.

 

"It is but a toy." he explains with a slightly winded huff as he holds his hand out, offering the rubix cube to blockhead "but a suitable demonstration of what can be done."

[Supercape]

GM

 

"A toy? To play with?" said Block Head, prodding the materialised object. He did not seem to understand its meaning or purpose, but he seemed at least interested. And not smashing anything. 

 

For now. 

 

"What is its purpose? It is a cube? One can rotate each side? Clockwise...and...anticlockwise!" he commented, doing just that. 

 

"I do not, however, see its purpose? It merely is? Decorative? It is not something that one can build with, is it? Perhaps a new form of brick? Is that it? hmmm....."

 

His five faces showed puzzlement, but engaged puzzlement. 

[Removed.]

"What a fool you are, how can you possibly think you have me trapped within my home building. Even without my security team the building in under lockdown and only I and someone else can unlock it. You are trapped here with me until I decide to release you. You are a fool for crossing me. Regardless I will have my answers from you."

 

With that Mannequin tried to surprise the girl by launching a detached fist at high speeds. The air crackles at the fist's electricity spark off hitting the walls and floor as it soared towards her.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Trapped? No, I am no fool" said Imprint, getting to her feet, the sparks fizzing out. She wobbled, but was getting her nerves back into shape, fighting off the jolt. 

 

"Between the two of you, I can't fight. Not directly, anyway. But I have more subtle means to fight. More insidious means to trap. Mark my words, this isn't over!" she declared. 

 

With a little hop, she was in the air, and speeding through it. Flying like a little blue dart...she did a quick figure of eight and then was off, straight through an air vent grill. The grill was fine enough to prevent even a one inch woman from passing through the gaps, but she smashed through the grill like it was butter, carving a small hole in the grill an inch or two wide...

[Removed.]

And so the villainess fled into the air ducts  hoping to pull a John McClane but Mannequin wasn't having it. She has caused too much harm and too many problems for him and he refused to simply let her go. He immediately ripped off the vent cover and shot his arm into the vent. She may be strong, fast, and idiotically brave enough to betray him but was she able to go faster than a car? Luckily she could not possibly outpace the flying arm coming right at her and soon she was caught in the steely white jaws that was Mannequin's hand.

Edited February 23, 2018 by Vorik

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Let me go!" squeaked imprint as Mannequins detached arm grasped her firmly. 

 

She was still demanding to be let go as the arm crawled back through the duct and back onto Mannequin. 

 

She was strong, mighty strong for being an inch tall. But she was still an inch tall and caught in the electromagnetic grip of Mannequin. A sense of dull defeat started creeping into her. 

 

"So you got me! Well, hears news for you! I got this building! My clay men have been clambering inside for the last few hours! They can impersonate anybody! I'm going to blow the building and everyone inside if you don't let me and Block Head go!"

[Exaccus]

"Kind of, its a creative exercise in which you attempt to first distribute the colours so each appears at least once on each face, and then through a process of logical calculation make all the faces one colour again through manipulating the cube through its innate joints" he explained "Simple i imagine for one such as you but intresting to wortk with all the same."

 

Diverting his attention away from block head for the briefest moment he calls out to mannaquin and his prisoner "Unlikely, you came here half cocked, within an hour of blockhead being turned over to Mannequin and attempted brute force rather than blackmailing him at first despite knowing his obvious concern for his staff and then escape, as you said yourself, you didn't expect me to be here as well, I am calling your bluff, you have no bombs and your idiot automatons are no match for us."

 

He of course had no idea if any of that was true or not, emotions were hard to read but it was sound logic at least to him and if it did turn out to be true he was more than certain that he and James could handle it.

 

"Though i find myself curious, if you created Blockhead and value him as you claim too, why and how did he come to be in that weasle's care? you seem to have No love for your works until they prove more valuable than anticipated, so you sold him and forgot about it whilst you chased something else, until he proved more intresting and valuable than anticipated,  likely the weasle came running to you to demand a refund or something for selling him stolen intellectual property and after shelling out you came here to recoup your losses."

Edited February 24, 2018 by Exaccus

[Supercape]

GM

 

"What? You expect me to spill all my secrets?" laughed Imprint, still in Mannequin's hand. 

 

"I didn't actually know Block Head was a success! Mr Brick bought my failed research, oh it was a partial success, for certain. Self assembling buildings, bar the odd glitch and falling masonry on crushed skulls. I thought it a good idea - I get the money and I get to observe the results in a real environment" she explained. 

 

"Then Block Head turned up! Formed from my research. From the very building! What an incredible success! All down to my incredible genius! I, Cassandra Clay, Genius!" she said, proudly. 

 

"And as for my clay men...well....you think I am bluffing? What do you think, Mannequin?" she asked with a smug smile directed at Mannequin. 

[Removed.]

"I don't think she's bluffing. Its too risky to think otherwise...Too many people could get harmed. Maybe we should just let them go. At least then they wont be causing a mess in my building."

 

Mannequin didn't like the idea too much but it made some amount of sense to him. He didn't really like Block Head or Imprint...Or Deoxy for that matter. He thought back to when he didn't have all these problems, such a quite time.  Yes, the more he thought about it the more it seemed to be the right call. It saved people, saved him stress, and he has a gut feeling for the choice.

[Exaccus]

"It is your call, my friend., it is your building and seemingly your tiny woman with a vendetta, i am a guest and will not interfer with your decisions." he states plainly, whilst he would as he had thought to himself "However blockhead must be allowed to make his own decision all the same." he states simply "He has displayed true sapience through his emotional outburst and as such has every right to self determination even if he would wish otherwise must decide for himself, anything less would be criminal." turning to blockhead as he spoke "I treating him as property is tantamount to slavery and cannot be tolerated."

[Supercape]

GM

 

"I? I do not know...My head is spinning!" replied Block Head, whose head was indeed spinning. 

 

"But I would not needlessly kill....yes...kill....it is a concept I do not understand. Like a building destroyed. New ones can be built on the ruins, yes? Like life" he asked, imploringly. "But still, to destroy something that is built, without good cause. This seems wrong..."

 

"And I. Would not wish to cease. To end. I have a desire to build, and if I cease to function, I cannot build. This too seems wrong..."

 

"If the building may blow up, then it seems to me that - whatever we feel - we must bow to the will of this woman!"

[Exaccus]

"As you would have it my friend, Go in peace, I am sure we shall meet again one day, hopefully under better circumstances." 

 

It was somewhat humbling to hear blockheads view on the value of life and existence in all its myriad forms, he was a man of his word when it was given, rarely though it was though he had to ascquice to the small womans demands this time he had in his own mind, won an important victory in the battle for the soul of block head, that he chose now to go rather than endanger the lives of others or himself was something to be celebrated even if his kidnapping was to be mourned turning to face mannaquins diminutive prisoner he kept his face stoic and stoney as he spoke.

 

"I will do nothing to stop you, infarct if you so desire, I will create a Spatial bridge to any place you can name within 2000 miles for you to use." he answered solemnly "i imagine by now the building has been surrounded by police officers i would prefer to avoid unessicary casualties." he explained. "Whilst you might be able to sneak past them, i think blockhead would have greater difficulty."