Kaleb studied his regrown arm in the backseat of the HLO car. Rick and Robert had passed out while Deckart was up front schmoozing the driver. Kaleb tested his finger and joints. His arm felt good as new.

Checking his stats, he saw that his health was back up to its full 141. His defense was down to 8 without Shocky, but he could fix that with another shield. But did he want another shield? The Shield Mastery bonus was good to have but he could probably make some better armor. Best to do both Kaleb thought looking down at his backpack which held pieces of Shocky.

Shocky 2.0 is coming Kaleb smiled. They dropped Rick and Robert off first; The boys had an apartment together in downtown. Deckart was next since he lived in Bouldin, just the other side of congress avenue from where Kaleb lived. Kaleb put his head against the car window and watched the houses go by as he thought what he could do with a new shield.

“This you?” The driver asked as Kaleb looked out the front window to see his house. Standing in front of his house by his truck was Roy.

Roy was on the curb leaning of his truck. His truck’s bed was full of scrap metal and pieces of what look liked a leather sofa. The left side of Kaleb’s two-car driveway also had several lengths of sheet metal in a 2 foot-high stack sitting on it. But, what really surprised Kaleb was on the right-hand side of the driveway.

Kaleb nodded thanks at his driver and approached Roy. Roy stood up as Kaleb approached and seemed worried. Saying “Doc, What the hell happened to you?”

Roy’s gaze was traveling over Kaleb’s body with a mixture of disgust and awe. Kaleb looked down and realized he was covered in dirt and rat blood stained his lab coat. Thinking back on the rat Kaleb unconsciously ran his tongue along his sharp teeth. Roy was still staring at Kaleb’s appearance so Kaleb just smiled.

“Rat-man.” Kaleb said.

“Rat-man?” Roy just gave him a curious look.

“Better question.” Kaleb said pointing at his driveway. “What the hell is that?”

Roy shrugged his shoulders. “Dad said you wanted a car.”

Siting in Kaleb’s driveway was an ancient rust-covered four-door sedan. Kaleb thought he could see a gas tank of all things. Kaleb walked over to the car followed closely by Roy. He circled the large car, he saw the word ‘Dod’ on the back with several letters worn away. The driver and passenger side doors also had the word Monaco on them in raised letters.

“Dad said it used to be an old cop car. It even has a heavy grate between the front and back seat and the back doors don’t open from the inside.” Roy explained.

Kaleb just stared back and forth between the car and Roy. “How did you dad buy a car for 200 credits?!” Kaleb asked incredulous. Before Roy could respond Kaleb exclaimed. “And how old is this thing? It looks like this thing still runs on fossil fuels!”

“It was mid-conversion to a clean engine when the owner died. His family trashed it. So there’s no engine and George said it's from the 70s.” Roy said.

“There’s no way this thing is from the 70s!” Kaleb had to wrench the hood up, it screeched loudly as Kaleb confirmed that the car had no engine.

Roy scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Yeah, the 19… 70s.”

Kaleb dropped the hood shocked. “The 1970s!? That was old when my great-grandfather was alive.”

Roy looked a little annoyed. “Hey, you wanted a car! Dad got you a car.”

“For the scrap! I was expecting a car frame. This is a full car.” Kaleb yelled before he took a deep breath and continued. “How much did this cost him? I’ll pay him back. This is too much.”

Roy shrugged his shoulders. “It was 200 for the lot. Dad said George gave us a hell of a deal.”

“Why?”

“Why, what?”

“Why did you get a ‘hell of a deal’” Kaleb asked.

Roy smiled wide at that. “Dad… might have mentioned it was to help me with my future as a Super. George said we could get the same deal if we ever needed more scrap metal.”

Kaleb looked at the car again. It was a rust bucket, but it seemed to have all its parts and future deals on scrap metal was a nice added benefit. He had spent 200 credits and come out astronomically ahead. He’d have to buy a boat-load of rust remover and build an engine. George could help with that though probably at a discount. Kaleb’s mind raced, staring at the car and thinking of the possibilities.

“Hey, Doc. You ok?” Roy asked as he moved over to Kaleb’s side.

Kaleb snapped out of his reverie. “Huh? Oh yeah, just thinking about my plans. I didn’t expect getting a car. But I think we can work with this. Come over tomorrow and we’ll plan out what to do first.”

“Uhh, doc, I have school tomorrow.” Roy said. “But I could come over after.”

Kaleb nodded absently before he thought about the next day. “And I have my meeting with a trainer Farrah arranged. Ok, lets get this stuff in the Pit and we’ll pick things up tomorrow after you get off school. Plan a trip to George’s. If he is willing to give us a deal, I want to meet him.”

Roy nodded before his eyes darted to Kaleb’s regrown arm. “Hey, you got your arm back!”

Kaleb grinned wide and wrapped his new arm around Roy. “Yes, I do and now is when the real fun begins. I will need your help, Roy. We’re stepping up our game.”

Roy smiled back, looking excited. “Sure thing, doc.”

They dragged the sheet metal into Kaleb’s garage. Once they finished, Roy backed his truck up the driveway and separated the scrap into the different bins. Kaleb had started to help when he saw a message icon flash on his open laptop. The laptop was open on his workbench; he nodded at Roy and moved over to it.

Sure enough, when he opened his email there was a message from Farrah titled ‘sorry’ but he also had one label ADMIN. His eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he opened the email.

Dear player, it has come to our attention that you have activated the Nemesis System. Through no fault of your own, the system generated a sub-AI during your adventure in the tunnels. The system has dubbed the sub-AI ‘Man-rat.’ It seems your character’s physiology combined with your spectacular fight against Man-Rat (The office loved it.) the sub-AI deemed you worthy of being its Nemesis. Suffice it to say we were not expecting someone to activate the Nemesis System this early. The system is in place and working properly however we have not implemented the rewards for the first 10 players to activate the Nemesis System. We apologize for our ineptness. Please expect an appropriate award to be delivered to you via in-game means. We also held off on the system announcement until we informed you of the circumstances.

As soon as Kaleb finished reading a notification window popped up asking if he wanted to include his name in the world announcement. Taking his name out of the world announcement, Kaleb waited for it.

*World Notice*

A player has activated the Nemesis System for the first time. we will restrict information on the system until the first 10 players have activated it. Congratulations to the player who has remained anonymous.

The message repeated 3 times when it stopped Kaleb stood when he received another message this one was from the HLO office. It was his reward for the adventure in the tunnel.

*HLO Job Certificate*

Supers: Professor Pack Rat and Jericho Deckart

Job: Explore the tunnels for signs of the large rats invading downtown.

*Revised: Discover the fate of Gary Terrimen.

Outcome:

Discovered the body of Gary Terrimen.

Discovered The Rat King‘s main mode of conveyance.

The Rat King, A D-rank villain abducted the pair, and they discovered two points of access to his lair.

Discovered The Rat King’s partner: Man-Rat.

We have assessed Man-Rat as a C-Rank villain.

Professor Pack Rat defeated Man-Rat taking unnecessary risks and injuries. Actions under evaluation.

Recovered The Rat King’s Research

Rewards

Man-Rat–Captured. 2,000 credits

Rats (Various)–100 to 300 size dependent. 1600

Rafelos Kane’s research data–1500

Kaleb was salivating. He had just made 5,000 credits after one job. Granted, it was a pain in the ass job that got Shocky destroyed and his metal arm bent to shit. But, overall, it was a huge net win. Roy’s voice exclaimed over his shoulder.

“Holy shit, that’s some serious credits Doc.”

Kaleb nodded before he shook his head instead. “It will disappear as quick as I made it.”

Roy looked doubtful. “Really? How?”

“Look around. I need to find a lab. Not to mention I need the proper equipment if I wanna build better stuff.” Kaleb explained while he navigated to his workbenches shop function. “But first I need the important stuff.”

Roy looked at Kaleb’s shopping cart laughing. “Seriously Doc? Why do you need 20 lab coats?”

“They’re important.” Kaleb explained as he put skill books on chemistry and microbiology in his cart. “All the stuff in the bins?”

“Yeah, truck’s empty and we’re ready to work.” Roy said looking around the garage excitedly.

Kaleb shook his head. “No, you go home. You have school tomorrow. I will finish buying some stuff and get to sleep too.” Roy looked like he was about to complain before Kaleb added. “Trust me, you’ll have plenty of time. Last day of school is Friday after that I’ll have you running around so much you’ll be sick of me.”

Roy laughed. “Little chance of that, Doc.”

Kaleb clicked on several lengths of STF treated Kevlar. It was expensive, but he just needed enough for his back and chest. “I’ll take that as a challenge if you're not careful.”

Roy laughed again as he left the garage. “Whatever you say, doc. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Kaleb stood to walk Roy to his car. When the young man was driving down the street Kaleb closed his garage door and went back to his laptop. A few more clicks and he found the subject of his latest search. He could, indeed, buy a brand new car engine. Each used their own power source but guaranteed him they would work with any car in existence.

He checked his current balance: 2800 credits. An engine would cost him upwards of 800 credits depending on the variant he went with. He avoided the K-tech engine, more out of habit now. He went with the Elentia model, powered by a high-grade purple crystal. They haven’t led me wrong yet… except blowing my arm off. Kaleb thought as he clicked the buy button.

The shop notified him that his order was too big for a speedster. So he could split his order or wait on a truck. Choosing to split his order, Kaleb selected to have his engine delivered tomorrow afternoon. He walked into his kitchen and turned on his coffee maker before a knock came at the door.

Kaleb opened the door to see Chip, the speedster, holding his package. “Hey, Chip.”

“Hey professor.” Chip said glancing down at Kaleb’s wrist. “Uhh, Farrah off today?” Chip asked not looking in Kaleb’s eyes. Kaleb thought he looked nervous.

“No, we aren’t talking at the moment.” Kaleb said, watching the speedster.

Chip nodded before stopping then shaking his head. “Oh, that’s not good. A Handler and Super are partners. You have to have an open dialogue. And no matter what the Handler says you have to realize that they are just worried about you. They never meant to insult you.”

Kaleb stared hard at Chip before setting his package on his couch and getting in the small speedsters face. “Did she contact you, Chip?”

Chip nodded quickly. “She told me what she said. You know she didn’t mean-”

“I don’t ‘know’ anything. I’ve known her for less than 4 days and in that time she has questioned my every decision. She worries, that’s fine. But, to think I’m not a Super because I wasn’t lucky enough to have powers. I don’t need that. I’ll make do without a Handler before I deal with one who thinks they are better than me because they have powers!” Kaleb cut the speedster off.

Chip looked a little spooked at Kaleb’s tone before he sadly nodded. “I get it. Just… realize she has her reasons.” Chip gave Kaleb a pleading look before he disappeared in a burst of speed.

Kaleb huffed loudly. Shaking off his anger he went back inside. Kaleb grabbed a cup of coffee and set his pile of new lab coats aside. Picking up the Chemistry skill book, Kaleb absorbed the new skill. Getting ready to do the same with Microbiology something stopped him short.

*Notice*

You have 15 Skills. You can no longer learn skills through skill books. New skills must be learned manually or you can unlearn a skill.

“FUCK!” Kaleb yelled. Almost spitting out his coffee Kaleb brought up his skill list to see if he could drop something. “This would’ve been nice to know beforehand.” Kaleb groused.

Skills:

Genetics–Beginner Lvl 3

Mechanical engineering–Beginner Lvl 3

Gadget Mastery–Beginner Lvl 1

Shield Mastery–Beginner Lvl 2

Regen–Beginner Lvl 2

Dodge–Beginner Lvl 3

Toughness–Beginner Lvl 5

Endurance–Beginner Lvl 3

DIY Armorer–Beginner Lvl 1

Electrician–Beginner Lvl 1

Metalworking–Beginner Lvl 2

Robotics–Beginner Lvl 1

Throwing Mastery–Beginner Lvl 1

Weaponsmithing–Beginner Lvl 2

Chemistry–Beginner Lvl 1

Kaleb remembered he could combine skills but nothing else was Lvl 5. Plus he didn’t think the notification said he would lose his old skills. Transforming his skill wouldn’t help either. Kaleb stared at Throwing Mastery. He hadn’t expected to get that and once he learned Microbiology, he could probably learn it again. Kaleb absorbed the skill book on microbiology choosing to lose Throwing Mastery.

Kaleb finished his coffee and went back to the Pit taking his Kevlar. Setting the pieces Kevlar on the workbench, Kaleb looked over his Bruiser Armor. He had let the system generate it and the results were beyond sub-par. Kaleb stretched the fingers of his new hand before he dove into his scrap pile.

Luckily he found several sheets of aluminum that were the prefect size for what he needed. Using pop rivets and a vise he layered two sheets of aluminum and molded them into a chest piece. After he had the front and back pieces done, he took the Kevlar and riveted that to the inside his new armor. Since the Kevlar had been treated in Shear Thickening Fluid it remained flexible while still being strong enough to stop a bullet.

He had enough Kevlar for a pauldron after he finished the main armor. So he crafted one using a slightly thicker copper metal. He riveted the Kevlar into place and using nylon straps he cut up; he connected the armor together. He created a loop near his shoulder so he could take off the armor quickly if needed. He was about to put it on when a notification popped up.

*DIY Armorer skill level up*

Defense increased by 2

Blueprint drop rate increase: 3%

When he was done he checked its stats. Compared with the Bruiser Armor he was way better off. He decided to never use the automatic setting again for building his defensive equipment.

*DIY Body Armor*

Defense: +10 +2(DIY Armorer)

Upgrades: 0/3

Durability: 65/65

Pieces: 3/3

Grade: D

Description: Lightweight aluminum armor with a Kevlar lining. Light with good flexibility this armor is good when you want to keep on your feet. Doesn’t protect the legs though. Stay frosty. Or walk around while crouching.

Kaleb looked up at his clock seeing it was 10 pm. Finally deciding, he dumped Shockys remains out on his workbench. Finally getting a good look at it he found that the crystal housing was in good shape but the metal was bent and twisted. He saved the crystal and scrapped the rest tossing it into his metal pile. He looked around the garage while twirling the yellow crystal in his fingers.

He placed the old steel Hank Nova had secured for him on his work bench before he remembered his first try at building Shocky. He had built the shield then made it a gadget. This time he started with the blueprint. He went with a small circular design roughly a foot and a half big he had 8 copper bolts in a circle around the shield serving the same function as the original Shocky.

But he put another yellow crystal in the center of his shield. Protected with layers of steel and aluminum he left the crystal exposed. On his blueprint he drew an image of the shield being electrified. But also he drew the center crystal accumulating arcs of electricity and firing it off in a wide beam. He used assisted mode, but the shield proved easy to create. Dubbing the design Shocky 2.0 he brought up his new shields stats.

*Shocky 2.0*

Defense: 12+1 (Shield Mastery)

Electric Damage: 20

Electric Shot Damage: 35

Durability: 85/85

Chance to Stun: 15%

Failure rate: 10%

Research Point cost: 10

Upgrades: 2/2

A buckler modified to deliver an electric shock that can stun or fire a burst of electrical energy. Built upon the remains of the first Shocky.

Kaleb yawned loudly and took off his headband. He placed his new equipment on his workbench and grabbed his laptop. He locked down his lab and noticed the casing around his metal arm was still bent. He sighed. A problem for tomorrow. He thought. Kaleb attached his memory crystal to his laptop in the kitchen and set it to download all the footage and walked off.

The laptop beeped getting Kaleb’s attention. On the screen was a small message asking if he wanted to transfer the Kane file. Kaleb‘s eyes got wide, he thought Elias had deleted his brothers research from his crystal, but apparently he hadn’t. Kaleb transferred the research to his laptop.

He perused the research once it had downloaded. The doctor was a brilliant geneticist his research was amazingly advanced. Kaleb read through a few pages aided by his genetics skill.

*Genetics Skill Level up*

Your comprehension of genetics has increased. Increased research point gain when studying Genetics.

Increased chance at discovering hidden mutations.

15 Research Points earned.

It surprised Kaleb that he had gained a level in such a short amount of time, but when he checked the clock he realized he had been reading for over an hour. Deciding to finish the last paragraph, he found it related to Deckart.

The subject, Detective Deckart, is such an interesting specimen. He has no mutant abilities but his DNA shows he could accept the introduction of ANY mutation. He is a genetic blank slate. Ready to accept whatever I introduce. If I can recreate this in the rats, they would be unstoppable. Testing the Basilinoids DNA resulted in the same discovery. It is a curious circumstance, other mundanes I have tested have not shown this level of receptiveness. It is strange, but this could strengthen the rats, not to mention the master.

“Shit.” Kaleb said. The last thing he needed was his Nemesis gaining more powers. He needed to talk to the HLO about this. Then he realized that Elias already had this information. They would be on this already. He sighed loudly before thinking of Deckart. He had to tell Deckart about this later. It was past midnight already, he would contact him tomorrow. It had to because they were players, they could gain any ability they wanted. Kaleb wanted to know if they could only accept one mutation.

He shook the thought out of his head. He had made such a big deal about being a Super as a Mundane. Thinking about getting a mutation seemed wrong somehow. He yawned again and closed his laptop. He showered the dried blood and dirt off, switched on his heat lamps, and laid down on his bed, asleep before his head hit the pillow.