ic Glass and Gold

[Supercape]

GM

 

For a man in his sixties, Treestock was very strong. All that dancing. 

 

He writhed and strained but could not break free of Replica. His arms locked in her grasp, her couldn't even get that magnificent golden gun to bear on her. 

 

The Glass woman circled around...

 

"LET HIM GO!" she shrieked, a horrible glassy voice of fear. 

 

And rage. 

 

Which ended with her right fist turning to a spike. And then, that razor spike ramming into Replica's back...

 

[Cubismo]

Synthetic skin and muscle gave way to the sharp spike of pure glass that left a huge, bloody gash on Replica's left shoulder.

 

The shear force of the Glass Woman's attack had taken Replica by surprised. She knew her outer epidermis would likely be damaged in the fighting, but she didn't think the material the Glass Woman was made out possibly could have been able to compromise her inner systems as well!

 

There was only one type of glass that she knew of that could of have possibly done that. 

 

A quick diagnostic revealed that while she was definitely damaged and would need repair, her vital primary systems were still operational. 

 

Still, even with that being the case, another attack like that could possibly leave her non-functional. She needed to act fast. 

 

Cuffing a pinned Treestock and inelegantly dropping him to the floor, Replica steadied herself for whatever came next. 

Edited August 11, 2018 by Cubismo

[Supercape]

GM

 

"What! Let me go! You can handcuff me!" protested Treestock, although all the evidence was quite to the contrary. Replica had indeed, with great skill, subdued him and applied the said handcuffs. 

 

He directed instead his attentions at the Glass Girl. "Help me!"

 

"Of course my love!" sang Glass Girl, her voice faint but almost melodic. 

 

She was fast, the glass woman - fast and agile. She slid to one side and then, in a quick movement, ran past Replica. She did not quite pick Treestock up, but rather scooped and shoved him towards the secret getaway tunnel. It was a bumpy ride for the old singer, who yelped and screamed as he was being manhandled (and at quite a pace...)

 

"My gun!" he protested as his shoulder crunched painfully into the side of the tunnel. But Glass Note did not understand, or did not care. His precious golden pistol lay on the floor of the basement, by Replica's feet. 

 

 

Edited August 11, 2018 by Supercape

[Cubismo]

Even without using her internal scanners or distance calculator Replica knew she'd be incapable of outrunning the Glass Woman.

 

She started to run down the escape route regardless. The tunnel had to end somewhere and Replica estimated, perhaps optimistically, that Treestock's injury would slow the pair down somewhat. If not she was determined to capture both of them, with or without the aid of the police. 

 

Speaking of which, Replica once again communicated with the nearby police with her uplink, tapping into their phones and texting them a message. 

 

Aaron Treestock and the stolen ASTRO Labs project have fled the disco using an escape route in the basement. Information on how Treestock came into possession of the project is on his computers in the basement. I am currently pursuing Treestock and the project. 

 

The text was dry, but Replica was clinical by nature. Besides, she need the cops to have straightforward info on what they were getting into. 

 

 

Edited August 13, 2018 by Cubismo

[Supercape]

GM

 

It was true that, in principle, the Glass Girl was faster. But the Glass Girl was also manhandling Treestock. Bruised and battered, she couldnt keep kicking him along like a football. Instead, she had to pick him up in her glass hands. 

 

She was stronger than she looked, but did not appear to have inhuman strength. She picked him up with effort, and slung him over her shoulder. Now encumbered, she was no faster than Replica. And possibly slightly slower. 

 

Replica dashed out of the escape tunnel onto a street of Freedom City. It was dark, a side road with only shadows and dim distant neon lighting. Not that darkness was any obstancle to her. Or, it seemed, to the Glass Girl. She was running, three of four dozen feet away, onto a main road...

[Cubismo]

Replica's prediction was right. Treestock was to much of a burden for the Glass Woman.

 

Despite having a headstart on her,  Replica was able to close the gap between her, Treestock and the Glass Woman relatively quickly.

 

The problem was though that the escape route went to a side street that led to a main road.  And the Glass Woman was only a few feet away from it.

 

It was late but there was a fair chance that pedestrians were still walking the streets. The moment of chaotic variables that their involvement would cause metaphorical made Replica's head spin.

 

She had stop the pair from reaching the main road and so Replica put her synthetic leg muscles into overdrive and attempted to charge the Glass Woman!

 

 

[Supercape]

GM

 

With the impact came the sound of tinkling glass - just magnified a hundred, nay a thousand fold. The Glass woman was fast, and strong, but not resilient. At least, not resilient to the mighty charge of Replica. 

 

She landed several dozen feet away, in a sprinkling of shattered glass. Half of one leg had broken off, and there were cracks everywhere. She wailed in pain and despair. 

 

More pressing however, was the explosion of razor-sharp glass fragments that followed the impact. Treestock took several, and a particularly nasty one - millimeteres thick at most, a foot long, was sticking out of his abdoment. 

 

"Hell, that't don't look good..." he muttered, on the floor, bleeding on to the road. 

[Cubismo]

Replica assessed the situation. Her charge had done the trick. The Glass Woman was down, one of legs shattered into pieces leaving her helpless. 

 

Treestock wasn't looking to good either. While the android's chassis managed to withstand the Glass Woman's sharp edges this time around, Treestock was not as fortunate.

 

Replica had grown to hate the man in the span of a single night, but that didn't prevent her from realizing that he needed, and even deserved, medical treatment. 

 

It was a simple matter to technopathically connect to Freedom City's emergency network and call EMS to dispatch an ambulance to her location and while she did she moved to Treestock's side and applied pressure to his wound. It was the most she could do while she waited for the police to finally catch up with her and EMS to arrive at the scene.

 

She still kept her eye on the Glass Woman though. She seemed disabled and incapable of fleeing from her again, but Replica wasn't taking any chances. 

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Save him...save him!" whispered the Glass lady, who seemed to be disintegrating before Replica's eyes. The cracks were multiplying and breeding, and shards of tiny glass littered the street. 

 

The traffic had come to a standstill, of course, what with the drama in the middle of the street. Replica could hear some sirens in the background, and of course some astute and quick witted bystanders were taking photographs and selfies. 

 

"Get off...get off! You are going to perforate something!" screamed Treestock as Replica pressed down. He promptly passed out from the pain (and arguably the blood loss). 

 

"Whats going on? Freeze? Who are you? Who is he?" shouted a police officer, gun trained on the action. He was a couple of dozen yards away, a big burly chap with a big burly partner, both keen to do their job!

[Cubismo]

That didn't go well. Replica hadn't disengaged her attack mode and still using her full strength.  If had an applied anymore pressure on Treestock's wound she could have very well killed the man!

 

Moving her hands away from a now unconscious Treestock, Replica stood up and faced the burly police officers. 

 

She raised her hands in an act of non-hostility to the officers.

 

"My name is Replica. Am a superhero investigating the disappearance of stolen ASTRO technology." She gestured to the Glass Woman only a few feet.

 

"That, I believe is stolen tech in question. I believe it gained sentience after being exposed to this man here, Aaron Treestock. I know this is all rather hard to believe but I've already notified other police officers about the situation and they should be arriving behind me soon to collaborate my story.

 

Replica wasn't much for prayer but right now he sincerely hoped that the cops before her believed her story. It would hardly do for her to get a bad reputation with Freedom City's police. 

 

 

[Supercape]

GM

 

"ASTRO? Damn nerds" muttered the Police officer, although he bit his lip soon enough. "I mean, ASTRO, Damn fine job!"

 

A quick word on the radio confirmed Replica's story. And right now, the Glass Girl had all but disintegrated, and Treestock was unconscious, so nobody could profer a different type of truth. 

 

"Ambulance is on its way ma'am. Looks like your man here got skewered bad" said the police officer who, whilst trained in basic first aid, felt that this was well beyond "basic" and well beyond "first aid", and rightly so. "Can't exactly read him his rights, but well make sure he answers some questions when he wakes up..."

 

He consulted on the radio again.

 

"Looks like we have some specialist coming in with regards to .... that..." he added, pointing at the shattered glass on the road. 

[Cubismo]

Given that there was only one true expert on mimetic glass on the planet Replica had a fairly good idea of who the officer was talking about. 

 

The Glass Woman was, to the best of Replica's limited understanding of the construct's nature, dying and doing so at an alarmingly fast rate.

 

And that was frankly unacceptable to the android. Despite her toxic obsession with Treestock the Glass Woman was an unique being in the universe. Created likely by accident and with little conception of what she was she still somehow managed to find the will to make own (albeit bad) choices and evolve from what she was intended to be.

 

It reminded Replica of, well, herself.

 

No. The Glass Woman was not going to die if Replica had anything to say about it.

 

Perhaps she could fixed or resurrected? Replica looked for Tweed to find out. 

 

 

[Supercape]

GM

 

Replica was half-right. 

 

In a matter of minutes, in a sprinkling of seconds, in a mound of moments, a car pulled up. It was, she noted, a rather beat up, second hand, completely unremarkable car. Either it was possessed by someone a little econonical with his or her economy, or it was driven by someone who wanted to draw absolutely no attention whatsoever. 

 

Out stepped a white-faced Archibald Tweed. "Oh my" he is comment, and several times he so commented. 

 

But the driver was another man. An unasmmunig middle aged man with spectacles and moustache, an inquisitive twinkle in his eyes, dressed in a rather bland jacket and turtleneck. Aside from his slightly seventies feel, he was, like his car, a man who looked quite ordinary. 

 

With Archibald looking awkward, the other man stepped in. 

 

"Allow me to introduce myself. Norris North. Doctor Norris North. I'm helping my freind Doctor Tweed out..." he said, firmly, whilst Doctor Tweed looked even more shameful. "Quite a little mess here..." he said, examining Treestock. The ambulance was surely only a minute or two away, but it seemed Doctor North was a medical doctor, and he performed some smooth first aid before looking at Replica. 

 

"Care to fill me in?" he asked. 

[Cubismo]

"Of  course," Replica answered calmly.

 

As Cynthia Wright the android knew Doctor North largely by reputation. Given how quickly he managed to stabilize Treestock it seemed said reputation was more that deserved.

 

"A scientist at Astro Labs informed me that one of their projects had been stolen and that an Aaron Treestock maybe responsible for the theft. Her name was Cynthia Wright, you may have heard of."

 

It was technically a lie, but Replica rationalized it as a necessary one. It would do for her co-workers to find out Replica and Ms. Wright were the same purpose now would it.

 

"Anyways, I infiltrated Treestock's disco and found a woman made of glass. I believe this Glass Woman was Tweed's project, as hard as that may be to believe."

 

Replica pointed to the unconscious disco singer. "I theorize that Treestock's singing somehow caused the memetic glass to be become self-aware and seek him out." 

 

She looked towards the remains of the Glass Woman. "She was obsessed with him and when I tried to convince her to return to ASTRO Labs she became hostile, eventually resulting in her trying to escape with Treestock using a nearby tunnel. 

 

"I was able to stop her but it seems the damage I caused her shattered her form," Replica said regretfully. "Is there anything that can be done for her?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Impressive" said Doctor Norris North, studying Replica carefully. "As for the glass...woman. Or thing. I am not sure I can. I am not sure anybody can" he said, studying it carefully. "It is, at least to some degree dangerous. And also potentially very useful. Is it sentient? Does it die? Many many unanswered questions..."

 

He gave Doctor Tweed a stern look. "And not, I think, questions that are entirely safe if left completely in the hands of ASTRO labs and our friend here..." he said. "Still, we shall do what we can, I am sure" he conceded. "I am no expert, but it may be that just as the form of the glass is mercurial, so is the cognitive architecture. Not that artificial intelligence is my area of expertise" he added, hastily. 

 

"However, I do have others to call in on in that department. And we always have ASTRO labs. Where, I suggest, we head now before this becomes a media storm" he suggested to both Replica and Doctor Tweed. "Unless you object?"

[Cubismo]

"Not at all. ASTRO Labs seems like just the place to answer those questions."

 

In truth, Replica was less than certain that was the correct course. She was still damaged after all from the Glass Woman's attack and going back to her secret lab for repairs would have been helpful.

 

Furthermore, going to ASTRO Labs, the very place where she worked, opened herself up to being identified by one of her co-workers.

 

Then again, looking at a very tired Dr. Tweed who seemingly had no idea that Replica and Dr. Wright was the same person, Replica wondered if that was as much of a concern as she feared. Human scientists could be very absent-minded when it came to matching faces she had observed. 

 

Ultimately, she went with Tweed and North to ASTRO Labs where this whole strange scenario first started.

 

She was ready to do whatever she could to repair the Glass Woman and cure her of her obsession if that was at all possible. 

 

 

 

 

[Supercape]

GM

 

Tweed, North, and Replica sat in the ASTO Lab's laboratory. Tweed was hard at work trying to analyse what went wrong - and, for that matter, what went right, with the mimetic glass. He was sweating profusely. North had threatened him with all sorts of legal infractions if he did not "comply". 

 

To one side, whilst Tweed worked, North sat with a cup of tea. He was a patient, relaxed man, although clearly clever. He was having a quiet (And secret) conversation with Replica. 

 

"Now, I'm guessing you aren't a regular super-scientist woman" he started, slowly and politely. "No need to worry. I'm not on facebook, I won't pas on your secrets" he said. "In fact, you may be just the kind of person I am looking for" he explained. 

 

"I work for the World Health Orginisation. And UNISON. Its...complicated" he started, scracthing the back of his neck. "You see, what with more and more disasters of potentially world-ending severity, everyone is looking for an answer. One proposal is something called the world exotic science taskforce. Or WEST" he explained. "We will be trying to pick up and investigate all types of threats before they materialise. From the Darwin-X virus to Terminus portals. The world needs people to stop the worst happening. Its a bit like how the world health organisation stops plagues and pandemics. We are going to try and do the same for all the scientific threats..."

[Cubismo]

A job offer to join a scientific taskforce was most definitely not a possibility that Replica had calculated happening today. Then again, neither was fighting a woman made of glass.

 

Replica clandestinely scanned North and cross-referenced his name and face across the Internet. She did the same for WEST. North seemed to be on the up and up, but Replica had no intention of joining an organization she knew almost nothing about.

 

While her scan commenced the android decided to ask North a couple questions about WEST. With Tweed to busy trying to understand what had caused the Glass Woman's strange evolution, Replica was left to ask the mysterious stranger himself what exactly WEST was all about. If she found that his answers were different than want she learned from her scan... well, hopefully North wouldn't press the issue. Replica surmised that she had nothing fighting for today.

 

"I want to ask you a few questions before I consider your offer. First. Is your organization secret? I've never heard of it before. Second. Do you ever plan on releasing your scientific findings to the public? Third. What happens to beings you find like the Glass Woman? Are they usually sent to facilities like ASTRO Labs or are they kept in some secret labs away from the public. I'm sorry if these questions are sensitive, but I'm going to need them answered if I'm going to join you."

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Secret? No. Not secret" said North, quite relaxed. "Unformed. Unadvertised. And thus often unknown. There is perhaps, a need for secrecy. Regularly publishing how this dimensional wormhole or this mutant virus nearly wiped out the planet would not really be in anyones interest" he explained. "But we are not a secret. And have no intention of being one..."

 

"This is all in the planning stage, you see. The principle is agreed on, but...well, I have 193 member states of the United Nations to deal with. Plus several international organisations. Plus...well, dealing with exotic science is important, but you can appreciate that many states and persons want to get their hands on novel science. Or at the least are paranoid about other states getting there hands on it. I have to deal with a few dozen intelligence agencies, both national and international, to ensure that no terrorists or spies are on my team...it is...in short....a collosal headache..."

 

He sighed. 

 

"The details are all being argues. I doubt there will ever be an agreement except for the most important one. The world needs protection from scientific anomalies that are now popping up every year or more. Any one could potentially be a catastrophe..."

 

He frowned. "Its my job to be a diplomat and a scientist. Its spinning plates. And I cant give you any easy answer as to what we do when we find the Glass woman. Try to negotiate. Play the diplomat. Our role is to protect the world...what we do with novel science is a matter for politicians, I am afraid..."

 

"Although Ill speak candidly. I personally would rather throw something dangerous into a bubbling pool of acid rather than let the world fight over it..."

[Cubismo]

Everything North said had checked out. All the data Replica was able to compile about him seemed to indicate that he was a hardworking scientist and diplomat that was doing the administrative equivalent on herding cats when it came to bringing WEST up and running.

 

His honest comments about destroying dangerous phenomenon did concern her though. Replica was a pragmatist but she'd much rather preserve the dangerous and extraordinary than see it destroyed. Then again, she had her limits, and could understand why North would be more cautious about such things.

 

The android thought it over. Joining WEST would mean being involved with an international organization where her actions and perhaps even identity would be scrutinized in a manner far more involved than her "typical" superhero activities. But Replica knew that it would also mean having the opportunity to see interesting new phenomenon from across the world. Freedom City was a hotspot for weird phenomenon but the world was the world. It simply couldn't compare to what she could see and learn from globetrotting.

 

Replica made her decision. She put on her best smile and stuck out her hand to North.

 

"Now that I know the finer details I must admit that I'm interested, Dr. North. I'll join WEST if you're willing to have me."

 

 

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Excellent" answered Doctor North, clearly rather pleased. 

 

"Now comes the tricky part. For me, rather than you. I have a ton of paperwork to fill out. Security clearances to check. Pen-pushing idiots to negotiate with, some of whom are paranoid, some of whom are incompetent. I regret to say many are both" he sighed. 

 

"I won't bore you with the details. Unless you find such monotony stimulating - something that would in fact label you as too psychologically unstable to do the job" he chuckled. "But to do what I need to do..." his faced twisted in displeasure at the tasks ahead "...I do need to know a little about you" he explained. 

 

He sat back and finished his tea. 

 

"For starters, what are you....?" he asked. This was not a threatening question, but a relaxed one. "For my benefit too, you understand. I need to know what your tricks are so I know who to call, and when. You can handle yourself, and have a good nature, this I conclude from your recent actions. Do you have any specialist area's of expertise?"

Edited August 29, 2018 by Supercape

[Cubismo]

It was an honest question, and so Replica gave North an honest answer. 

 

"Robotics are my main field of interest," Replica answered professionally. "As such, I'm also well-versed in the sub-disciplines of computer science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and AI development." 

 

Replica stopped for a moment before she continued. She wondered whether she should mention her talent for hacking and infiltration. It was only a few seconds, but for an android that could be a long time. 

 

"Along with those academic subjects I'm quite proficient at hacking into computer systems and infiltration tactics."

 

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Robotics, eh?" said North, tapping his chin. "Handy. We have all sorts of threats to deal with, and, yes, the development of Artificial Intelligence is on that list. Although I dare say robotic weapons and the like should be on it too. Imagine a rogue drone equipped with tactical nukes. Or self replicating robot soliders. Pretty much anything can be weaponised these days, and any weapon is, by its nature, a threat"

 

He stood up and shook Replica's hand. 

 

"Well, consider yourself on our list of consultants, madam. Im sure ill push through the paperwork. Even if it does take a long time..." he sighed. "Lets hope we don't need you. But, to be frank, in todays world, I suspect it won't be long..."

 

~ Fin ~