Published at 12th of May 2026 6:20 am

Chapter 29 Debrief

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I was right about most of the details of Hassans ability. A Caster type with a Bruiser subtype, the primary ability is sending a pulse of energy that the user has to directly control via eyesight, which can be detonated at any point. It has a base travel speed that can be increased in exchange for less power and decreased in exchange for more power. While the power can be activated if the user is stationary, they can also create kinetic force themselves to amplify the energy pulses. In terms of drawbacks or negatives, there are a few. It can only travel across solid, uninterrupted surfaces, so my assumption about the water was correct. Fire would have the same effect, or sand, or honestly, a hundred different things. Its a testament to Hassans skill with the power to be able to accomplish so much. Only one pulse can be sent at a time, so you cant really use it to overwhelm a group of people.

The Bruiser aspect of the ability also isnt nearly as effective as I originally thought it would be from seeing it. It doesnt give any sort of durability increase in the truer sense of the word. Its actually kind of its own ability, given the need for it to be activated to work. If the user can time it perfectly within a five-second window, they can absorb blunt force and immediately transform it into a pulse. Said pulses explosion will be directly proportional to the strength of the absorbed attack, and it doesnt suffer from the usual detriment of exchanging explosive power for speed. Again, it shows the skill Hassan was able to cultivate. If he had gotten the timing wrong, Thirteens punch would have broken his arm.

Hassan's ability is middle of the road; it isn't the most powerful, but it isn't the weakest either. The personality piece is similar. Vindictiveness isn't necessarily a bad trait, but it could pose a problem if I don't keep it in check. The smartest play would be to instantly get rid of it, burying it inside a Subject. But I want to experience everything that other people do, even if its a negative or bad feeling. Living as a real human isn't all sunshine and rainbows; it's painful, beautiful, and depressing. Feeling sadness for the first time, that all-encompassing wave of melancholy that overtook me was one of the best experiences I've had since triggering.

Outside of the lab and now within the groups meeting chamber inside the SSB, Kai and I begin our debrief on the demonstration and the experiments.

Time for you to tell me what exactly you did to Subjects Thirteen and Ten, I said.

Kai is more than happy to explain. The man would have made for a fantastic lecturer if he hadn't had his medical license revoked. His eyes light up when he speaks about science or breakthroughs he's made in a way that nothing else can replicate. It's equal parts gloating and barely restrained joy to gush about what he's done. It's one of his qualities that I think I quite like.

Well, if you insist so fervently, I will oblige. I am not the type to deprive another of knowledge that they seek, Kai began.

Don't make me regret asking.

Okay, okay, jeez. You really know how to suck the fun out of something, Kai replied snarkily. But let's start with the upgrades I made to both of them. As you saw on my monitor, they both have two devices installed inside them, one at the base of their neck and the other attached to their spine. The machine on their neck is the command center. It is what allows them to transmit signals to the nanomachines inside them to activate. It is directly linked to their brain and is necessary for any of the abilities to activate. It transforms neutral inputs into commands.

So the rest of us would need these as well? I asked.

The idea of letting him graft a machine to my neck and attach it to my brain is an unpleasant pill to swallow. He could be lying about what it does. There's no way for me to even check to see if it does what he says it does. He could put any manner of fail-safes in it to take care of me. He could try to usurp control of the team from me. He could put a bomb in there and wait for the perfect chance to strike. Everything I've worked so hard to build with blood, sweat, and tears could be dissolved in an instant. I've trusted him to work on me before, but that was without any other options. Wait. He might have already done it. When I was recovering from Glow Guardians laser carving a hole through me, he could have put nanomachines into me without me knowing. Damn. And I can't even remove his powers to render them useless. Tinkertech isn't affected by the Tinkerer losing their powers.

Depends on what everyone wants. The more flashy augments require a control center, but if it's just some passive effects like blood clotting around wounds or a physical boost, then you wouldn't need one. But if you want to be able to do the majority of what you saw them do, you will need one, Kai answered.

That changes things drastically. I could opt out of the neck box and still get most of the benefits.

Sorry for interrupting you; where were you?

I was explaining the command center and the other mass you saw on the spine. The one located on the spine is the prototype synthesizer I've designed. It takes in nutrients and fats to alter them into other chemicals or energy for more strenuous programs for the nanomachines. For instance, when Subject Ten shocked Subject Two, it was a result of her synthesizer transforming lipids into an electrical charge. The problem with that particular modification is that it is a one-and-done attack. It completely fried all the bots inside her, leaving her with nothing but immobile pieces of metal strewn throughout her body. Im sure you noticed the sluggishness she exhibited; its because everything shut down. Obviously, that isn't in an acceptable state. However, it's definitely possible once I figure out how to properly insulate the drones while still allowing them to function, Kai said, talking to himself as much as me.

I almost ask a question, but I remember that he'll likely answer it at some point.

The other modification they both have is the coating that Thirteen made on his arms and hands, and the spike that Ten ejected out of her sole. It's just a much worse version of the program that I use for my arm, Kai said, moving his chrome arm and tapping his fingers on the table. My combination ability allows me to direct the nanomachines with much greater precision than other people. Every movement I make with this arm is a direct command. I haven't found a way to make it so other people can exercise the same precise motor control. It's certainly a head scratcher, but one that I'm confident I'll figure out eventually.

I'm not sure any of us, except for Tuesday, would be interested in having metal spikes pierce out of our skin. I was surprised that Ten didn't react at all, but I realized that you must've added painkillers to your chemical distribution system, I said.

Actually, no, I didn't. Subject Ten has shown a level of pain tolerance that had me originally assuming she had nerve damage or CIP. But neither was true. I did an MRI, and I mapped that she is feeling pain; she's just powering through it. Whatever she was up to before this, it certainly wasn't normal. The fact that she's willing to continue with the trials and all the surgery that entails speaks to her abnormality. Thirteen does feel pain, but he's on the same psychopathic spectrum that Tuesday is on. The man loves danger, violence, and pain. Thirteen is a bit of a lunatic with homicidal tendencies, but Tuesday is clinically insane by every single recordable metric. I gathered several brain scans of her, and she is constantly activating her power on herself, whether consciously or not, Kai remarked.

Thank you for the psychological evaluations that I didn't ask for. Worry less about what makes them tick, Doc, and more about making them superhuman. Continue telling me about their upgrades," I replied.

Fine, Kai huffed, blowing his bangs off his face. I finalized the exact level of blood cell oxidation that enhances their immune system, metabolic rate, tissue repair rate, and overall increases their physicality. They need less downtime to feel recharged, and they are less fatigued from activity. It's a complete success. I'm still tinkering with a way to fix the sleeping problem, he said.

My ears perk up at the mention of fixing sleep. The major barrier to my goals is that I still require sleep. If I had twenty-four hours a day to work on projects, I could solve so many problems.

You can make it so we don't need to sleep? I asked, happiness seeping into my tone.

Sort of? The problem is that I know for a fact I can solve fatigue for our bodies. But the human brain needs rest; the only way around that is to completely leave behind these flesh prisons and become majority cybernetic. No, what I'm working on is a way for our brains to enter a resting state that is significantly more efficient than our current one, or to just switch into a low-power mode. Tuesday's ability opens up the door for me to create more synapses in our brains; reengineering the neurons and possibly doubling the amount of nerve fibers and cells. The idea would be to turn our brains into even better supercomputers, so then during our resting period, we wouldn't actually sleep, we'd just be baseline human awareness and computational power. Imagine never forgetting anything ever again, or being able to recall every detail of a memory like you're watching it play out in real time. My preliminary tests on brain scanning back-ups are quite promising. The nanomachines would be constantly updating a perfect replica of your brain in the cloud. If anything ever happened to one of us where we suffered a severe head injury, you'd be able to load in the saved backup. We would be basically immortal, Kai raved.

There is no way in hell I would ever give anyone a scan of my brain. Let alone this madman. There's no telling what a backup of me would be like. Would it keep the personality pieces I have at the time of the upload? Or would it somehow change in the cloud when I get rid of a piece or add a new one? It also brings up the possibility of me regaining pieces Ive given away. If it is a perfectly cloned version of my brain and personality, then theres a chance I could finally get affection back. I could regain Vivienne and my friendship.

That is interesting; Im not sure I like the idea of brain backup files. It feels like were encroaching upon dangerous territory. The potential downsides of having someone get access to our brains arent worth the upside. Think of what Technologica could do with those. Immortality is definitely worth pursuing through cell rejuvenation and other methods, but none of which can be affected by her. She has shown how dangerous she can be if she gets her claws into our tech, I warned.

She cant get at the base. I made sure of it. I promise that she cant get us here, at least not without me knowing, Kai assured me.

Alright, dont make me regret putting my faith in you. What else did you do to them?

I did some slight alterations to their bones. Whenever a significant force is applied to any of their bones, a swarm of nanomachines is sent out to reinforce the connective tissue and fill any gaps caused by bone fractures. In addition, I have begun some testing to see if I can isolate and destroy the myostatin protein found inside the Subjects. If I can, Ill be able to start seeing what accelerated muscle growth can do. There are some futurist physiologists who have published papers about what the ideal bone shape could be for the next step of human evolution. All to say that I have many different projects in the works. So in relation to that, I would like to ask permission to do some field testing with the two Subjects, Kai asked.

Field testing? What did you have in mind? I asked.

I would like to see how they fare against some more Neuvohumans. To that end, Id like to take the two of them and assault the prisoner transfer of Shock&Awe and FrostWyrm. Id like to use that for my debut, Kai suggested. I will put killswitches in both Subjects, but I think going against some Probationary Heroes Union members would be a good test for them.

What is his angle? Hed normally never volunteer for a mission like that. What are you planning, Kai? Those suspicions aside, do I have any reason to deny him this? I asked them all to decide on a debut, and he has chosen one that directly benefits me and hurts the Union. I cant say no.

If you can draw up a decent enough plan on how you are going to accomplish it, then I will consider it. Vivienne will also look over it, and if she also okays it, then you can have your assault. You need to get with Rorschach for intel on who is actually doing the escort because I have reason to believe that they wont be sending the probationary team, I said.

Ill get started right away then, he said, standing up. Unless you need something else from me?

No, were done here.

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