Victor could almost see the eye roll behind Mrs White’s mask as he walked towards Mister Black. Mister Black was alone, but the room was hardly empty. There was a table that was covered in papers as well as an electronic screen hooked up to the Trackbot. The alien power armour was a prize Victor received from his system and he gave it to Mister Black. As his crew was new, a lot of positions were still open, and Mister Black had decided to make Research & Development his own personal fief.

Victor didn’t mind even though he knew Mister Black’s power wasn’t related to mad science. Mad scientists were game changers, so they were always in high demand. Given enough time and resources, a mad scientist could outfit an entire crew and even armed the non-powered members. Almost everyone on Nexus had training of some kind, but when the grunts of a crew suddenly had access to super weapons, the strength of said crew would rise exponentially. As his crew was new, Victor seriously doubt he would be able to lure a mad scientist to his side and he had no wish to press-gang anyone into service. So, Mister Black had the job.

The man had an engineering degree and a superpower called Temperature Touch. The power allowed him to tell the temperature of his surroundings with a touch, which in simple terms meant the man was a walking thermometer. The man could tell you the temperature of any room he walked into. As superpowers goes, it was useless, but it proved surprisingly useful in the study of the Trackbot.

“Mister Black, you wanted to see me.”

“Yes, Master.” Mister Black directed Victor to the table and picked up a piece of folded paper. “I made some progress. With your permission, I would like some resources to make a prototype of this weapon.”

Victor took the piece of paper and unfolded it. The villain realized he was holding a blueprint depicting what looked to be a rifle. A very strange looking rifle.

“What is this?”

“This is the weapon installed on the Trackbot.” Mister Black pointed at the power armour and Victor saw the gun that had replaced one of the hands. He looked back at the paper and noticed the similarity. “I believed the aliens who designed the power armour used a loadout format for the weapons.”

“Loadout format? What does that mean?” Victor had claimed that the Trackbot was a Gap prize and that he knew nothing of the origin or design of the power armour. It was the best explanation he could think of to starve off any unwanted questions about where he got the power armour.

“It means the armour was designed to have different weapons,” Mister Black explained. “You can change the weapons of the armour to suit the situation you will be facing. If I must guess, the aliens must have a series of power armour like this Trackbot and each one of them will sport different weapons.”

“Oh,” Victor understood where his son-in-law was going with this. “You mean the gun isn’t integrated to the power armour but is an add-on.”

“That’s right. And because it is an add-on, I can reverse engineered it. Provided you allow me the resources.”

“You sure it isn’t super science?” Victor asked.

“I don’t think so.”

“You don’t ‘think’ so?” Victor was slightly alarmed by the answer. “You’re not sure.”

“Well, I honestly couldn’t tell you if it’s super science.” Mister Black admitted. “As you know, what we called ‘super science’ is just science our world hasn’t discovered yet. Mad scientists have powers that ‘inspires’ them. The inspiration allows them to make a jump in scientific advancement and create something that’s beyond our world’s current knowledge and capabilities. Most of the time, the mad scientists are unable to describe the concepts and theories behind their creation, but it is still science. With enough time and study, normal people will be able to understand the concept behind them.”

Victor didn’t quite understand what his son-in-law was saying, but crime lords don’t survive by admitting their ignorance. “Just get to the point. Are you sure you can reverse engineer the armour?”

“Not for the power armour.” Mister Black said. “It runs on some alien technology I can’t make heads or tails of. However, the gun is a different matter. It runs on steam technology. A strange advanced form of steam technology, but it is still steam technology. I am pretty sure I can reverse engineered it.”

“This blueprint is for a rifle though.”

“Yes, it is. I did some experiments and the gun on the Trackbot fired small metallic balls as if they are bullets. I managed to get an inkling on how hot the steam must be to fire these balls that hard. I need to study the mechanized principle behind the steam-gun in detail and that was why I needed to break it apart. Once I did that, I was able to duplicate the principle behind this alien steam technology. This blueprint is a draft I had drawn up.”

Victor smiled at the news. “You believe you can invent a new weapon based on this alien gun?”

“Yes,” Mister Black immediately replied. “A weapon that will be unique to your crew. With your permission, of course.”

Victor took a good look at the two-meter tall power armour standing at in the middle of the room. For the longest time, he had no idea what to do with it. Now, to his surprise, he did.

“Do it.” Victor said. “Also, draw up a series of steam-power weapons you can make.”

“Master Sweet Fist?”

“That stupid booklet H.A.V.E has said that it is important for villainous organization to have a theme. Something unique that serves as the identity of the group and make it easier for the public to remember. I am going to have martial artists, but martial artists with steam-power weapons also fit the bill.”

Mister Black’s eyes widen as ambition and fear warred. Fear won. “Wait, this blueprint is just a prototype. It may take months, maybe even years before I can make these weapons.”

“Then you better get started.” Victor said. “Make your prototypes, and make sure to have everything recorded. Weapons this unique will draw attention. Even if you fail, your records can serve as the basis for the advancement of this science. If people start asking, we can show them your records and blueprints for these steam weapons. Maybe even start a front company to sell them.”

“You want to sell them?”

“There’s no need for us to hoard the technology.” Victor said as he handed the blueprint back to Mister Black. “We are simple ordinary decent villains that are just here to get rich. And this advanced form of technology can make us very rich.”