Published at 10th of February 2026 8:43 am

Chapter 7 A Show of Trust

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Are you sure you want to continue now? Kai asked me.

Yes, why wouldn't I be?

With Miles fate in the balance and the nuclear attack, I thought you might be too worried to focus, Kai replied. Clearly, I forgot who I was speaking to.

Joke all you want, Kai, but you should be glad you work for someone who is as reliable and focused as I am. There is nothing I can do for the city or for Miles, so why waste time dwelling on it? What I can do is observe the progress you've made and how best to utilize it. Now cut her arm off, I ordered.

Yessss, Master, Kai said sarcastically.

The circular table that Subject Four is strapped to rotates as the piston securing it to the floor pushes it off the ground. Her arms and legs are stretched out, with restraints on her ankles, wrists, and her head securing her to the table. He walks away and returns, pushing a truly massive curved machine on wheels. It has a computer console built into one side, and the rest of it goes up and curves out, ending in a sphere with dozens of bright white lights shining down onto the table. The top of it has eight mechanical arms that sprout up and over, giving the item a distinctly arachnid look. It's clearly an updated model of the surgical machine the doctor had in his original highway hospital chop shop. Kai rolls up the subjects sleeve on her right arm and starts wiping her bicep down with a disinfectant cloth. The doctor takes a marker out of his lab coat pocket and uses his metallic arm to draw a perfectly straight line.

A portion of his arm dissolves into dust, the nanite swarm flying over to hover around the patient's head. The cloud separates into tornado-like tendrils that fly into Subject Fours mouth, nose, and ears. I glance over at the tablet in his other hand, which has a translucent display of the woman's body. Tiny red dots are moving through her, the nanites spreading into every corner, settling into her organs, blood cells, and nervous system. His display changes again to graphs, numbers, and other charts, giving him real-time data on all of her vitals. Watching him in his element is impressive; he's a maestro conducting an orchestra. The light smile tugging at his lips is one I'm familiar with. The joy from your mind and body syncing up as every piece slots into place is one of the reasons I know my journey is worth it. I'll experience every part of the human equation.

Kai moves to the console, leaving his tablet on a nearby tray. The mechanical arms shudder to life as his fingers dance across the keys. A sawblade attached to one of the arms whirs to life. It bites into her skin, parting the flesh and musculature until it hits the bone. The high-pitched sound is so loud and unpleasant it raffles my teeth inside my helmet. Blood and bone dust sprays out, coating the blade and arm in red. Eventually, the saw gets through the bone and finishes cutting through the rest of the bicep. All the while, the patient remains unconscious.

Its a good thing Im standing far enough outside of the splashzone to not get her blood on me. Kai must have forgotten to mention the possibility to me. Shes so vulnerable. Completely helpless and at the doctors mercy. I cant help but let my mind wander about what kind of man I am enabling and encouraging. His inability to view patients as anything more than toys to play with would be alarming to anyone but me. Kai is a psychopath. But Im sure he believes the same about me. Hes mentioned before how terrifying he finds me, and his assumption that I would kill anyone who got in my way, which is obviously incorrect. If that were true, I wouldve murdered Tuesday. And I havent killed her yet.

So what is your plan here? I asked.

Do you actually care? Because I can explain it to you, but it feels like a waste of both of our time, he answered without looking up from his screen.

Do I?

Broad strokes.

Alright, he said, taking a breath and stepping away from the machine. Limb reattachment usually takes multiple surgeons, eighteen to twenty hours to accomplish. But since I am a surgical prodigy and an incredible Tinkerer, it wont take me more than an hour, tops. The procedure requires so much time, resources, and people because of the number of individual microsurgeries that have to be completed. Matching up nerves and veins, ensuring the bones are set properly, that your sutures are clean, and there isnt any debris or infection. My nanites can take care of most of those requirements, and my regular drones can handle the rest. I no longer need to directly hold a scalpel to operate. Because I have the actual time of the procedure reduced by such a large margin, it will allow me to test a few things, Kai answered.

He truly loves hearing himself speak.

Such as?

Whether I can speed up the recovery process from the reattachment. It normally takes months before they regain a semblance of the limb control they had before. Im also going to see how long I can keep the limb separated before the surgery is ineffective. There are a few other, less interesting experiments Ill try, but dont worry, Ive taken plenty of samples. Ill start attempting to reconstruct a new limb and see what sort of upgrades or changes are possible, Kai replied.

Grab four more subjects and cut their arms off as well; Kai, I want this to be your number one priority. I wont let anything get in the way of this. Nothing can impede our progress, I ordered.

You dont want me to take things slower? Some of the subjects might not survive the process, Kai warned.

I do not care. If today has taught us anything, its clear that the other Cowls groups arent content to keep the status quo as is. We cant fall behind. If you make us all stronger, then I dont care what the cost is; Ill pay the bill, I said, heading for the elevator.

I dont wait for Kais response; he has his orders, and I have more to do. I need to touch base with everyone.

Im back upstairs, above the Super Secret Base, and in the factorys conference room. That name is truly awful. I can only blame myself for not putting my foot down. I messaged Rorschach, asking her to meet me up here. Its been a while since the two of us have had a one-on-one conversation, and its long overdue. Of all the members of Momentus, she continues to be the one I have the least connection with. A light knock at the door precedes her entering the room. I welcome her in, acknowledging her with a slight incline of my head, but not getting up from my chair.

Rorschach, as always, is wearing a dress that must be tens of thousands of dollars. Its a backless, split-thigh, red number that matches her block heels perfectly. A necklace of black diamonds sits on her neck, three pairs of gold bangles decorate her wrists, but the real eye-catching detail is the fur cloak clasped over her shoulders. Split directly down the middle, one side is white as snow, and the other black as obsidian. Her face goes from a slight grimace to surprise when she sees it is only me here. She expected to see the others. Or shes happy that a certain person isnt here.

Rorschach, please, take a seat.

Nobody, she replied curtly. Are we not having a board meeting?

No, its only the two of us, I answered.

I changed the voice on my helmet to only be two voices overlapping, and not her own. She mentioned before how unsettling it is to hear herself, even if its mixed with several others. Anxiety is practically radiating off of her. Ive said before that she is in no danger from me, but she still doesnt believe me. She needs the same conversation that I gave Kai at the old base. Even if her face is expressionless now, I already saw the cracks.

So, why the fuck am I here? Is there something that you couldnt have just messaged me? She asked.

Truthfully, Im not a big phoe person. I prefer to speak to people face-to-face, or as close to it as possible, I joked. She doesnt laugh or even smile, letting the silence sit heavily in the room. Why are you so uncomfortable? Have I given you a reason to be so distrusting?

Whatd you call me here for? She asked, ignoring my question.

Answer my question.

Did you cause that explosion?

What? She thinks I had something to do with Aress bomb?

Are you serious? No, Rorschach, I didnt set off a fucking nuke in the middle of a populated city. You think I would do something like that? I asked.

Is it that surprising I might suspect you? Youre no stranger to killing, she said.

I am not a terrorist. The Olympians are the ones who set off the bomb. I sent Miles there to stop them. Clearly, he wasnt able to get there in time, but I did try to prevent this from happening. If I were planning on doing something like this, I wouldve put it to a vote first. And no one, not even Tuesday, would have agreed to use a WMD. I am trying to conquer the city, not raze it to the ground, I argued. This cant continue. She either needs to start believing in me or she cant remain alive. This isnt why I asked you to come here, but this takes precedence over the other topics. You have expressed opinions about my morality and my character before, but I thought we had moved past you having doubts about my leadership. What is it going to take for you to fully get on board? I cant have you half in and half out. There is too much at stake. Im not threatening you, Rorschach. I am genuinely asking what you require to start trusting me?

I already have her power; there is no reason to keep her around if shes constantly questioning me. She leans back in her chair, relaxing a tiny bit while she considers my words. This isnt a trick or any kind of deception; I would like to continue to work with her. But no one is irreplaceable. Minutes pass by. The good news is that it seems like she is thinking it over. Rorschachs nails drum against the table, the rhythmic tapping producing a trancelike ambience. What will you say?

I dont believe youre a real person. Like, underneath the creepy fucking helmet is a god damn monster. Just because I understand the reason for you hiding your identity doesnt mean that it isnt unnerving. You know everything about us, our real names, our faces, and where we live. But I dont know a fucking thing about you except for what Ive seen you do. And all Ive seen you do is hurt, kill, and scheme your way around everyone like some kind of fuckin puppet master. Im not trying to be a bitch and act like I have some moral superiority over you. Im a Cowl, and I willingly joined up with you, despite knowing what you had already done. Still, youre a scary bastard who appeared out of nowhere like the boogieman and just started brutally wielding authority, she admitted.

I understand where she is coming from. Her reasons are emotionally driven, but reasonable. I need to make a calculated risk. Elevens personality piece is gratitude; its time I started doing what I do best. Rorschach doesnt know that she currently has the emotional equivalent of a Trojan horse within herself. One that I can use to manipulate her. Pushing my seat back, I stand up and approach her side of the table. Worry flashes across her face, uncertain of what Im doing. Even though shes afraid, theres a dedication to being defiant that keeps her from giving in to the fear.

You make quite a few good points. I have given you reason to trust in my plans, but I havent given you a single reason to trust in me. Let me rectify that, I said, tapping my hand with the ring against my helmet. It falls off my face, transforming back into its mask form. I catch it and slide it onto the table. Hello, Cassandra. My name is Eryk, and I am indeed a real person underneath the helmet. I hope this can assuage your worries a bit.

Uhhhh. Wh-what the, Rorschach stuttered, unable to form a coherent sentence.

She could never imagine a world in which this happened. Ive created a scenario where she has no choice but to trust me now. For Nobody, who is so obsessed with his anonymity to the point of killing almost anyone who has met him, to willingly expose his identity, it will read as the ultimate show of trust. Ive turned a manipulative, selfish act into one that is selfless and honest. Checkmate.

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