Kaleb quickly swallowed his shock and tried to understand what he was seeing. The Obadiah from the laptop video had looked to be in his mid-40’s. But the man standing before was closer to Roy’s age, at least in appearance. At the same time though, it was Obadiah. The wrinkles were gone, and the hair was less gray but it was the old Super.

Obadiah smirked, looking like his grandson, and silently reached his right arm across his stomach. He seemed to unpin something on his left side, near his underarm and a loud hiss echoed in the room. Kaleb watched in fascination as Obadiah opened his entire upper torso revealing…

“URGHK!” Kaleb had to keep reminding himself that he couldn’t throw up in-game.

He doubled over as he dry heaved, eyes still locked on the grotesque display before him. He couldn’t look away, it was both the most fascinating and horrifying thing he had ever seen. Inside Obadiah’s chest cavity was an amalgamation of science and biology. Machines circulated air through a lung-like sack of flesh, a half mechanical heart pumped duel-colored liquid through both veins and tubes, and the beginnings of his intestines were surrounded by a strange meshing.

Kaleb coughed loudly as he tried to talk. *Cough* “You’re a…”

Obadiah cut him off as he closed up his chest. “The technical term would be a cyborg. Although at this point I am a little more than a brain in a vat.”

Kaleb righted himself and studied Obadiah in his entirety. The cyborg looked amazingly lifelike. when he wasn’t displaying his innards. He had the same brown hair and eyes that his son and grandson had. Kaleb studied the cyborg’s eyes looking for other signs of mechanical parts.

“Looking for a soul?” Obadiah asked jokingly.

“Other signs of tech, actually.” Kaleb said seriously. “How long?”

Obadiah sighed loudly. “Close to 20-something years now, I think. After Hank gave up on being a Super. I went to Wolfgang with this crazy idea. To my eternal surprise, the old bastard agreed.”

Kaleb nodded as he circled Obadiah. “Do you even need the suit?”

Obadiah spun with Kaleb, indignant. “I am not a showpiece, Lizard! Eye’s forward!”

Kaleb stopped his circling and looked up to see Obadiah’s tired expression.

“No, I don’t need the suit anymore. Now when I am allowed out, I go out like this. Although it’s becoming less of a problem lately. There are far fewer people around that remember this face.”

“Wow, Lots to unpack there. How about we start with ‘allowed out’?” Kaleb asked curiously.

Obadiah smiled big and leaned against the nearby work table. “Wolfgang was always paranoid. Scared that the government was watching his every move. I should have known he was right. They knew what we had done almost right after he had accomplished it. A man, Simmons, approached me on my first night out with my new body, and he gave my an ultimatum: Work for them or they would make things difficult for Wolfgang and his company. After Wolfgang died Simmons clarified that my family would be next on the chopping block.”

“All over one cyborg?!”

“You don’t get it. I am essentially immortal. My brain still works but I process things through a Cerean-class processor in my brain’s left hemisphere. Ole Wolfy even upgraded my limbic system, so my memory is top shelf.”

“You don’t know how he did it?”

Obadiah looked at Kaleb like he was an idiot. “I was unconscious! Afterward he didn’t want to share his process. Probably because he was afraid of exactly what happened. The government has studied me six ways to Sunday and they still don’t know how he did it. Or even how I survived.”

Kaleb rubbed his jaw in thought. “Why not just take you apart?”

“Some of them wanted to, but luckily their scientist realized that they might not be capable of putting me back together. So far the fear of losing one immortal soldier has surpassed their greed for an army of people like me. But they do full-body scans and they can remove some simpler sections for repairs.” Obadiah explained.

Kaleb grinned wide. “And you can’t figure it out with your new big brain.”

Obadiah returned Kaleb’s grin. “Nope.”

Kaleb nodded before he asked another question. “Why not tell your family? Government forbid it or something?”

Obadiah’s grin vanished, and he looked down at his human-like hands. “Not really, I could probably meet them if I wanted...” He trailed off as he opened and closed his hands.

“But…?” Kaleb prompted.

“Call it a crisis of being. The only things that remain of Obadiah Nova are a few organs and his memories. Do I have a right to those memories? I remember holding my grandson after he was born. But these hands aren’t the ones that held him. Even my skin is new, bio-engineered for toughness and grafted to a metal skeleton.”

Obadiah stood suddenly and lifted the sleeve on his left arm and pointed at a patch of skin on his shoulder.

“Obadiah had a tattoo right here. He got it after the war to remember his fallen brothers. I never got it redone. It didn’t seem… right. I’m even smarter than the old Obadiah.”

Kaleb looked at the Obadiah cyborg and nodded. He could sort of get it, it was the Ship of Theseus thought experiment all over again. Eventually Kaleb shook his head free from the problem. Fuck it, this is a game, damn it!

Kaleb walked over to Obadiah, who seemed lost in thought, and punched the guy in his arm. A loud clang resounded through the dark room and Obadiah looked up quizzically. Kaleb was happy he used his robot arm because the blow sounded like it would have hurt.

“Either way, it’s their choice to accept you or not. You obviously want them too, but you have got to give them the chance. So either stop the identity crisis or leave your nuts and bolts by the door on your way out.” Kaleb admonished grinning.

*Congratulations*

Your affinity with the Obadiah Nova has increased to friendly.

Obadiah smiled wide as he reached a fist forward and tapped Kaleb on his chest. “Occam’s Razor, huh? It has a way of cutting through the bullshit. You’re right, though, they should know who it is they’ve been talking to.”

“So you have been keeping contact. Shouldn’t that tell you something?” Kaleb asked, annoyed.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll get the paperwork ready for a visit. My government minders love their paperwork. I’ll also have the deed for my old Hideout transferred into your name.” Obadiah said as he walked over to the Diagnostic Station and detached the small PCB from it. Doctor Kersait’s message long over.

Kaleb nodded as a bright light filled the room. He squeezed his eyes shut then blinked rapidly, trying to adjust his eyes. When he finished, it surprised him to find Obadiah standing in front of him holding out the small circuit board. The old Super clearly wanted him to take it.

“Considered this a bonus prize. The blueprints on here should make for some interesting reading. None of them work and even Wolfgang gave up on them but maybe you’ll have better luck.” Obadiah said.

Kaleb carefully took the circuit board stared down at it. They might be castoff designs, but they were castoff designs of what was probably a genius inventor. He could definitely get something from them. A thought occurred to him as he placed the PCB in an inside pocket.

“Who else knows about these?”

Obadiah smiled at him and placed a finger to his lips. “Let’s say: You shouldn’t show that around. Get me?”

“Got you.” Kaleb said, nodding.

“Good. Well then, my driver is waiting upstairs for you. He is ready to take you wherever you want to go.” Obadiah said turning to study the Mark VII Exosuit.

Kaleb nodded as he slowly reached down toward his waist. “So… We are finished?”

“For now. I’ll probably swing by for a visit when I visit my family.” Obadiah explained, not turning around.

“Good to know.” Kaleb said setting his Sun Gun to stun and aiming carefully.

*BZZZT*

The pulsing yellow energy collided solidly with Obadiah’s back and the cyborg lurched. Obadiah went stiff and fell forward comically, landing hard on his face. Kaleb strode forward confidently, flipped over the heavy man and looked down at the cyborg’s twitching face. Obadiah’s eyes were still open and his pupils were searching wildly around.

“THAT! Was for tranqing me. Jackass.” Kaleb said, smiling widely.

Obadiah narrowed his eyes up at Kaleb annoyed. Kaleb laughed loudly as he ran for the stairs. He could hear Obadiah struggling against the paralysis and suspected the old cyborg would break the stun soon. Sure enough, he was climbing the stairs when he heard.

“YOU LITTLE BASTARD!”

Kaleb just cackled loudly as he ran faster.