Merely human [Action]

[machine_herald]

The warehouse from the outside looked just like any other along Venture City's harbor. Within, it was as surreal nightmare of technology. Surgery tables, industrial machinery, devices of incomprehensible purpose, and more filled it from wall to wall, leaving only limited narrow pathways through which one might walk. And it was through one of these that Viktor now paced, angrily.

They had laughed at him! He had offered them immortality, he had offered them the power of a god! He had asked for nothing in return and it had been thrown back in his face with mocking laughter! How dare they! They needed to be punished, nay, destroyed! In a fit of rage, Viktor slammed his fist into the slide of an industrial strength metal lathe and let out of a shout of frustration.

His henchmen, who had been passing the time playing cards, froze in surprise. No one said anything for several seconds that felt like an eternity. Eventually Viktor managed to unclench his fist and stared in vague interest at his own bloody knuckles. "These are the thoughts of a mere man, still bound by the instincts and rage of a wild animal. I am still too human."

Viktor turned slowly to the surgery table. No, they would not be punished. That was the beast snarling. They would be taught. Taught of the weakness of flesh, and then when they saw the truth, reinvented!

He spoke to the few cyborgs who had accepted his vision and followed in his footsteps without looking at them as he started walking towards the table. "We have much to do, my brothers. They think they can refused to learn, but I shall teach them even so. If they are blind, we must open their eyes ourselves."

...Over the next week or so, there is a minor crime wave, as half machine criminals appear at night to raid various research labs and industrial factories. They seem to be going for specific parts: atmospheric filtration units, armor plating, high power electrical generators, and other more esoteric bits of machinery. Someone has a very strange shopping list.

Viktor himself can sometimes be found on these raids, but even when not present any would be heroes will find those who have submitted to the glorious evolution to not be easy foes.

Comments

[electricalcurrent]

One particular raid on a research lab early in the week was met with something knew. A jetting figure. She landed in front of them as they were trying to leave, some distance back. She had a rifle in her hands as the suit of armor looked over at the cyborg perps raiding the place. She kept her rifle lowered: Even if it couldn't kill anyone, she preferred to keep trigger discipline. "How about you put that stuff back, all right?" Spark stated in her usual chirpy voice. "Cause electric stuff may stun normals, it's downright sinister to cyborgs," She said, as if this was an intimidation method to other tech users. It wasn't deadly, but attempts to disable normal arms and legs with it might result in loss of function until a repair. It shouldn't effect modifications to the essentials at least.

Though her being intimidating at 5 foot 6 inches might be difficult.

[machine_herald]

The leader, a tall woman with a mohawk and metal legs, glared. "Why side with the primitive organic humans? A machine like you should be on our side!"

[electricalcurrent]

She would make a decent argument if they were right in their assumptions. "And why exactly would I side with you?" She asked, incredulous. She saw no reason to reveal her cards yet. A few chitterings from Zapps had indicated they might gain information this way.

[machine_herald]

"We seek to be more like you: free from the weakness of the flesh! When we finish the Herald's plan, everyone will see the truth of the glorious evolution."

She explained herself with poor grace. Clearly she was a woman more used to action than words.

[electricalcurrent]

Spark was about to pull up her gun and start blasting. She had heard enough. Chittering though made her stop though. "Perhaps I agree. People should be more like me. Could I go see this Herald?" the high pitched female voice asked like she was reading from a cue card.

[former_endboss]

Viktor isn't the only one who's got a strange shopping list. Mir to, wants some of those components. So when they both show up within minutes of each other at the same place, there's bound to be a fight for the limited supplies they both desire.

The only question is, who shows up first?

[machine_herald]

Control rods for a nuclear reactor. Who knows what he needed them for, but when Mir arrived, she found Viktor standing in front of a massive secured door while a beam from the palm of his third arm was cutting through the hinges. He was flanked by two large, thuggish gentlemen, who had matching robot arms, one on the left and one on the right. He didn't even turn around when he heard her arrive.

"I'm sure you're here for a good reason, but I cannot be disturbed right now. Gentlemen, if you would escort our guest from the premises."

[sonicheart]

"Surely you've some respect for your fellow enhanced individuals?", came the next voice...

As someone Viktor definitely didn't expect to see coming from a shadow came into view. Sonicheart's outfit was distinctly more drab even than usual - entirely devoid of ornamental components, with a mask covering her lower face.

"We're here for exactly two Boron control rods. Allow us those, and the rest are yours with no fight. Refuse, and we will take them."

... And the words of an extremely pragmatic criminal mastermind - or was it minion? - were probably even less likely to come from the mouth of the healing-oriented Omegafriend.

[former_endboss]

Mir remained silent, her eyes and the top of her head covered by the heavy helmet she wore to protect her crude vintage cybernetics. Her suit was similarly devoid of markings, though embossed on the helmet, paint long ago chipped away, was the symbol of a fallen regime-the hammer and sickle of the USSR.

Despite the fact that this frail woman clung to Lori like an invalid, there was no doubt a certain power in her. A power that was not perhaps unknown to one like Viktor-a strength of will. She had no visible enhancement save that helmet-but it's mere proximity to the seat of thought hinted at her role.

[machine_herald]

The beam stopped as Viktor stopped to consider this proposal for a moment.

"...No. I'm sorry but I will be needing all of them."

[save_load]

In one of the higher end labs that Viktor's minions (and/or Viktor himself?) were raiding, they'd find that a certain young(?) woman wearing an odd cloak had snuck in before them and was already helping herself to some of the expensive gear. Oddly, whatever she picked up just seemed to disappear into her cloak.

She seemed a little perturbed when she discovered she wasn't the only one who got the idea to rob the place.

"What? Oh, come on, I was here first."

[machine_herald]

"Dibs don't count for much with the Herald."

The speaker was a young chinese man whose eyes had been replaced with zoom lenses. He had a much larger woman, probably related to him, standing behind him who had an extra pair of arms sprouting out beneath her normal arms and made of steel.

[save_load]

"Oh. Well, isn't that just thoughtful," the burglar sighed while eying their cybernetics.

"Say, how much do either of you or this Harold know about EMP?"

If she was lucky, she might be able to incapacitate one of them with a quick electric bolt. No sense in attacking just yet, though.

[machine_herald]

"That it's not terribly difficult to shield your mechanical components from, and that if we left such a glaring weakness, we certainly wouldn't share it with anyone else."

The larger lady narrowed her eyes slightly at Viktor's title being mispronounced, and started walking towards the burglar, while the smaller fellow continued, "But enough about that. We have need of some of those components you just stuck in your cape. Specifically..." And then he rattled off a short but accurate list of a few of the items she had stolen. "If you'll just hand them over, we can both go about our business without any further strife. I don't particularly care what you do to the REST of this place."

[save_load]

Alright, so that cut off one way to get out of this situation. But they inexplicably gave her another option

"Alright, first," the burglar pointed at the towering woman while scooting away a few feet, "You might want to back off before you end up damaging something your boyfriend wants.

"Second, you really expect me to just hand it over for nothing? Let's get something straight: Your shopping list isn't terribly important to me beyond money. It's obviously worth a lot more to you, because your boss wants it. You fight me, you're likely to break it and ol' Harold won't be happy with you."

The robed woman smiled, "Try anything funny and I start breaking everything on your shopping list. So, what can you offer me?"

She had doubts that these two actually had anything on hand that she'd actually want, but hey, it was worth a try?

[6billioncreditwoman]

Wednesday night around 10 pm saw Commander Shepard engaging in two of her most frequent pasttimes - enjoying crummy fast food in a foreign port, and accidentally stumbling across supervillainy.

Upon seeing a group of mysterious figures hopping a barbed-wire fence outside of a factory - especially since they didn't seem concerned with the height of the fence or the barbed wire - Shepard disposed of the last of her value meal in an appropriate receptacle and moved in a crouching pursuit. She wasn't in the right position to be properly stealthy, but she could at least try to avoid notice until the crooks gave a clue as to where they were going.

[machine_herald]

The shadowy figures gave no sign they had seen Shepard. The same one that had so easily jumped the fence went over and kicked a steel door in with a resounding clang.

This was followed by a heated argument with her compatriots. Probably about the huge amount of noise she just made.

[6billioncreditwoman]

Shepard was not normally a stealth expert, but she did her best to quietly climb the fence herself while they're arguing, handstanding over the barbed wire and dropping down quietly with a little help from her powers. She couldn't fly, but she can definitely fall with style.

Once inside the perimeter, she tried to get a good look at the (probably) criminals without approaching too closely.

[machine_herald]

She got close enough to hear a conversation between what looked like a lady with robotic legs and a man with robotic eyes.

"-vry person in four blocks must've heard that!"

"So what? It got us in, didn't it? We'll be in and out before anyone has time to react! Not like you doing it when every step takes half an hour!"

"Better to take your time than-"

He stopped, then looked straight at Shepard, despite her still being in the dark. "See what you've done now, there's already someone coming after us! Probably a hero with my luck!"

[6billioncreditwoman]

Ah, robotic eyes for extra creepiness. Why couldn't people just stick to normal limb replacement anymore.

"'Hero''s a strong word," Shepard said, unclipping the holster of her handgun, "but I'm gonna ask you to put your hands on your heads anyway."

[big_blue_boyscout]

And at one of those raids, they weren't just going to walk away with their prize. On their way out the door, the Cyborgs, and Viktor if he happens to be there, are going to find Superman standing between them and the exit.

"I'd put that back if I were you."

[machine_herald]

"Superman! I thought I might see you again, so I came prepared."

He unclasped a pouch from his belt, from which came a sickly green light that Superman was all to familiar with. He was still far enough away that he couldn't feel anything, apparently, but it might be a small piece.

Or it might be a green LED and a collossal bluff. Kryptonite isn't THAT easy to get your hands on.

[big_blue_boyscout]

The moment he sees the tell-tale light, Clark tenses visibly. There's a chance he's bluffing, but given Clark can't see through the lead-lined pouch, that's a toss-up. Given what Viktor's shown he can do, it's not impossible that he could have managed to get some Kryptonite.

"What's this all for, Viktor? Why turn all the robberies?" It's a stalling tactic. If Superman can get Viktor talking, there's a chance he'll slip up, and Clark can get the Kryptonite off the table.

[machine_herald]

"Because you've all turned against me! The system doesn't WORK, so I'll work outside it!"

While Viktor spoke, his henchmen continued loading gear into a van, though a little nervously. Sure the Herald was powerful, but.

Superman.

[big_blue_boyscout]

"You're a smart man, Viktor, but you're not acting rationally. You need help." Superman took a step forward.

"Tell your men to stand down and come quietly, and I promise you'll be treated fairly." He's appealing to Viktor, but his voice is firm. Clark's not letting him walk away with this stuff. A fight is the last thing he wants, Viktor. Please don't make him do this.