Chapter 3

Part Time Job 2

-:-

1 Hour Later

Theo’s Secret Lair

For the second time since the creation of his hidden base, Theo vomited into the fancy see through toilet bowl. All of his gastric juices flew into the toilet at torrential force

“Guh…. No matter how effective that secret exit is, it’s still disgusting as hell.”

Turn the clock to the end of Theo’s meeting with the HAA higher ups.

One of the campus laws of the HAA was that all personnel must pass through one of the 4 gates in order to enter or exit the campus. This was to confirm everyone’s identity and be given an ID that doubled as a device that kept the campus defense system from recognizing them as a potential threat.

This was a necessary security measure to prevent potential evil doers from sneaking into the campus.

Anyone without those IDs would stick out like a sore thumb in the eyes of the defense mechanisms.

Ideally, Theo would instantly be recognized as a trespasser the moment he entered any building with electricity or cross the view of the bajillions of hidden cameras scattered in the campus.

There were means around the defense system.

An example of which were areas that had absolutely nothing noteworthy of it such as the old wooden shed, vacant fields made after a demolition and a few others.

Mind you, there were still hidden cameras in those desolate areas, but nowhere near the rest of the campus. It was possible to enter or exit the campus secretly without tripping the sensors if you’re cautious enough.

When Vivi and Phoebe told Theo that the guidance councilors were looking for him, he expected that they were going to reprimand him for not passing through the gates.

This did not happen, and that set off alarm bells on Theo’s mind.

Maybe Theo was just being paranoid, but he felt like he was being watched the moment he left the guidance councilor’s office.

Theo had no intention going through the gates and right into the paparazzi shit storm.

He also didn’t want to use the option of asking his friends in the janitorial, cafeteria and laundromat department. They could lose their jobs by helping him.

With that in mind, Theo decided to use the secret exit that worked best in shaking off anyone or anything tailing him.

He sneaked into HAA’s waste management building, used transmutation to open up one of the massive septic tanks and dove into a whole pile of shit.

One of the walls of the septic tank was only 100 meters away from Vermilion City’s annoyingly large sewer system. All he needed to do was to transmute the walls until he got there.

Naturally, he covered up his tracks by transmuting the walls back to its original form.

From there on out, he would navigate the maze-like shit buffet until a certain dead end.

Behind that dead end was 20 meters of concrete followed by a massive vault door that symbolized one of 20 entrances to Theo’s secret lair.

It took Theo 1 hour to travel the sewers because he installed a few means within the sewers to make his travel quicker. Zip lines and makeshift rafts were his common means of travel underneath the surface.

All in all, Theo loved and hated using the sewers as an emergency exit.

He loved it because the only ones that could get to it via Theo’s route would be those who could use Midas Alchemy. And since Midas Alchemist was one of the more uncommon powers out there (only 4 in Vermilion City), the odds of people tracing his steps were very small indeed.

Besides, no sane person would willingly dive into an ocean of shit.

And if you add the fact that Vermilion City’s maze-like sewer system was the result of unplanned expansions, it would be the perfect place to get those pesky tails off your trail. Not to mention the added bonus that those said tails had a high chance of getting lost and eventually dying in such a puttered hellhole.

Now for the downsides.

Theo hated this particular secret passageway mainly because he had to dive into shit!

After his first failed attempt of exploring the sewers (due to excessive vomiting), Theo prepared a breathing apparatus near the start of this path.

Sadly, he has greatly underestimated the common rat’s ability to destroy his creations.

In the middle this particular trek through shitsville, Theo’s anti-stench mask malfunctioned. Upon closer inspection, it seemed that rats were able to chew through key components that kept the stench out of the mask.

Theo could repair it right then and there, but Midas Alchemy required massive amounts of concentration and materials.

Let’s just say concentrating in Vermilion City’s shitiest place was impossible. The stench made sure of that.

And besides, who would want to touch anything in the sewers?

Thus Theo was forced to swallow his vomit multiple times. He didn’t want to open his mouth at all. God knows what thing would fly down his throat by accident.

And thus, the millisecond he entered his secret lair, he dashed to the toilet and vomited his heart and soul out.

At the same time, a drone unleashed a firehose on him.

He then burned his uniform and took the next hour ‘disinfecting’ himself. He took a bath and scrubbed himself until his skin was bright red.

Next, he filled a bathtub with liquefied Omni Gel and took a long relaxing dip in it…. NOT!

He walked in a sewer filled with god knows what. This included many sharp things that punctured his skin quite a few times, bringing with it all manners of diseases.

The Omni Gel had powerful healing properties that could close any wound in seconds and was capable of curing nearly all diseases.

There was just one problem….. it hurts…. a LOT

“JUPITERS COCK! NEPTUNES FRIZZY BEARD! INVERTED NIPPLE! ROTTEN TOMATO FISH PASTE! ALADEEN MOTHERFUCKER!”

Theo shouted every curse that came to his mind as he plunged his entire body into the Omni Gel bath.

The good thing about the Omni Gel’s agonizing pain was that it was concentrated on the areas where there were wounds. This gave Theo an idea where he was hurt and how badly were his injuries.

Aside from the expected areas such as his legs and his arm, he was quite surprised that he had injuries in the back and his head.

When, where and how he received these injuries were unknown.

He got out of the tub wobbly, exhausted and teary eyed. Nothing like a bit of extreme physical pain to remind one’s self of how fragile a human was.

He went straight to bed without even dressing up.

“Next time I go to shitsvile, I’m doing it in my power armor!”

-:-

6 Hours Later

Theo returned to consciousness after the usual Black Bible related nightmare.

It seemed that the Omni Gel bath took more toll on his body than he initially anticipated. And if you add the nightmare into the mix, it would be no surprise if Theo was both physically and mentally drained.

Sadly, both sleeping and the omni gel torture were necessary steps to maintain the health of his body, but he wished that there was a more painless way to do it.

Theo got up, got dressed and went to the area on the third floor of his secret lair.

This area was named ‘The Workshop’ due to the fact that nearly all of his creations were constructed here. There were no tools that you’d expect from a place with such a name.

There were only 5 items in the Workshop: A large fridge, a plastic table, a plastic chair, a whiteboard and 20 10 meter diameter tungsten balls.

He took 20 energy bars from the fridge and ate them with gusto as he reviewed the to-do list he has written on the whiteboard.

Super cool hideout - Done

Infinite electricity (Archon Generators) – Done

Quantum Computer –Done for now

Every gun in existence –Done

High Energy Healthy Synthetic Food (Energy Bars)- Working progress (it tastes like nothing!)

Spy Cams of varying size –Done

Flying Drones of varying size –Done for now

Land Drones of varying size–Done for now

Power Armor –Constantly being upgraded

Medicine for Eternal Life – Working Progress (accidentally created Omni Gel)

Cloning Technology –Working Progress

Harem (blame anime for this one)- Impossible

Power Armor (or something similar) capable of Flight- Capable of construction but has no tech at the moment.

Weapons of Mass Destruction that can rival a nuclear bomb without using nuclear technology- Have plans but too massive to construct

Heavy Armor High Speed Weapons Platform- Have plans but too massive to construct

”Hmm… I cant believe how little improvement I made to my to-do list for last year… Especially the ‘Harem’ goal… and after all that boasting I’ll be the next Casanova to sis…. She’s going to exploit this embarrassment till the day I die… *sigh*”

Theo took a marker and added a few more items to his to-do list.

Cybernetic Implants -Done

Pay off massive debt –Working Progress

Make the world a better place –Impossible

Theo hasn’t exactly started on his cybernetics, but such things were easy to make thanks to his Midas Alchemy and Technomancery. It wont take him a few hours to finish it all.

Paying the massive debt was a bit of a sore spot for Theo. Fortunately, the frog faced doctor seemed to have some work for Theo that can put a dent into his debt.

Last but not the least, the ‘Make the world a better place’.

The last few days, Theo had come into grips of how inefficient his world was.

Just to clarify, the world was NOT a shithole filled with grief and misery. More often than not, the happy times were a bit more numerous than the sad times.

However, the world could have been so much more if everyone united under the goal of human advancement.

Unfortunately, the greatest barrier to humanity’s rise was humans themselves.

Humans were smart, ambitious, greedy and passionate. All they care about was their own personal gain would only do their best to achieve it.

Mind you, greed was not a bad thing. It was one of the main reasons why humanity has advanced so greatly in the first place.

The problem was that humanity often left their greed unchecked.

Democracy, which promoted equal opportunity for all, was anything but equal. Not everyone has a say in things and not everyone will get a shot at the top. This was because those at the top will make sure that they stay there.

Communism or Totalitarianism would have been ideal in terms of efficiency, but it was doomed to fail every single time due to the ones that had to make sure everyone was equal were merely humans. They were not immune to temptation.

And then there were the scum of society. These people were the poster boys of what would happen if they allowed greed to rule their lives. They would sink to any lows just to get what they want. They don’t care how many lives would be ruined in their selfish pursuits.

In conclusion: Humanity is Humanity’s ultimate enemy

The solution: NO IDEA!

Theo knew more than anyone that he was a snot nosed brat that had very little life experience. While he was smart in a way, that didn’t change the fact that his wisdom was that of a teenager.

And like any teenage brat, his future plans were as clear as a muddy water.

“Enough about that. One step at a time. First on today’s menu are replacements for my left arm and my right eye”

First up was his cybernetic right eye.

This was an easy one since he already had a design in mind.

He approached one of the large tungsten balls and scooped out a fist sized chunk like it was clay.

Viva la Transmutation!

The beauty of Midas Alchemy was how fast and how precise they can create.

In order create any high-tech device, most people need specialized equipment, electricity and specific parts made of different types of materials. These requirements needed to be ordered from outside sources, delivered to the maker’s doorsteps and only then can that person finally make the item.

Midas Alchemist bypassed these processes by using whatever was at hand and transmute it into the exact replica of the parts needed. They then could assemble the parts with very little effort.

Theo took about half an hour to create his cybernetic eye and a fancy cybernetic eyepatch.

Why make the eyepatch?

COZ ITS COOL!

The cybernetic eye was an almost exact replica of Model 101 Ocular Implant. It was a model created by Cyberdyne Cybernetics about 8 years ago.

Ever seen the Terminator movies?

Look into the eyes of one of those time traveling mechanical skeletons and you’ll see exactly what Theo’s eyes would look like once it was attached. It was very mechanical and quite ugly

The Model 101 was already antique in the fast evolving field of cybernetics. The current model from Cyberdyne Cybernetics was the Model X series which looked very much like an actual human eye.

Naturally, Theo’s Model 101 vastly outstripped the original’s specs by leaps and bounds. Hell, it even leaves the Model X series and even a fair bit of military grade cybernetics in the dust.

It had a fair bit of tricks up its sleeve, but the main selling point of this eye was the miniature quantum computer installed in it.

This was a weaker version of the quantum computer installed in the power armor of the famed hero Mechanicus (one of the founding members of the Heroic Alliance)

The eyepatch was an exact replica of the famed Snake Eyepatch created by Otacon Sunny Corp. approximately 23 years ago at the height of the Second Cold War. It contained the famed ‘Solid Eye System’ that was capable of Night Vision, Automatic Visual Item Identification and could even access the internet.

It was even capable of measuring a person’s body temperature, heart rate and sweat secretion via visuals alone.

While Theo’s Model 101 implant had all of these capabilities and so much more, he didn’t want to use it too much because the 101’s more fancy capabilities made use of Theo’s brain. It was extremely trying to keep the 101 using all of its capabilities all the time.

He wanted to reduce the strain on his brain as much as possible, hence the Snake Eyepatch.

It took Theo only 30 minutes to finish the Model 101 and the Snake eyepatch from a clump of tungsten.

This was the power of Midas Alchemy at full display.

The next thing he had to work on was his cybernetic left arm. This time, it was a little bit different.

Instead of a small clump, Theo used 5 massive spheres of tungsten in order to create the cybernetic limb.

It took him a little over 2 hours to complete the replica of an iconic cybernetic limb.

Visually, it was the exact carbon copy of the 3310N Jensen Combat Prosthetics created by Sarif Industries about 12 years ago. At this time, there were no more large scale wars, but there were many superhero vs supervillain fights in addition to the usual small skirmishes.

Despite being 12 years obsolete, 3310N has gained cult status for its extreme durability. Its simple design allowed staggering amounts of customization options to those who had enough technical know-how.

While the 3310N was no longer in production, numerous illegal makers have kept it in the battlefields through all these years.

The 3310N was dirt cheap (compared to the current gen), reliable, customizable and easy to create.

The main reason why Theo took 2 hours and 5 spheres of tungsten that weighed a few hundred tons to create the 3310N was because of one very drastic upgrade.

Instead of the standard light weight metal alloy, Theo’s 3310N was created by the toughest metal in human existence: the near invincible Adamantium

A brief crash course in Alchemy!

While there were tons of annoying technobabble and versions on how Alchemy actually worked, there was one law that every Alchemist accepted as indisputable fact.

This was the Law of Equivalent Exchange.

The short version of it was as follows:

‘In order to gain something, something of equal value must be sacrificed’

Nothing was free.

Everything has a price.

In order to create light weight adamantium 3310N cybernetic arm, Theo had to sacrifice 5 tungsten spheres that weight hundreds of tons.

To put it in perspective, the adamantium 3310N costed Theo almost 25% of the materials he has stockpiled throughout these years.

It was a painful investment, but a necessary one.

Now, aside from using a nigh indestructible alloy, Theo’s 3310N was powered by 3 Archon Batteries.

Another technobabble!

There was a very big difference between an Archon ‘Generator’ and an Archon ‘Battery’.

It was not the size that differentiate the two, but the capacity.

An Archon Generator could easily power multiple cities all by itself for all eternity. The main reason why Mechanicus’ power armor could fly because he was able to miniaturize an Archon Generator with such capabilities.

An Archon Battery could also generate power forever, but it couldn’t match what a Generator was capable off. Pretty much any Archon Generator that had experience a drop of power generation due to its miniaturization was labeled as an Archon Battery.

In layman’s terms, an Archon Battery was something like a rechargeable battery. After using up all of its charge, the machine powered by an Archon Battery would enter a recharge state where it couldn’t perform at peak efficiency.

The 3 Archon Battery allowed Theo to perform 3 attacks with super human strength at the price of a fairly hefty cooldown time.

Sounds amazing?

Not really.

While the 3 strikes at the level of those with super strength power was very cool indeed, it can only be used at melee range.

Remember that aside from the adamantium arm, Theo was only human. A vast majority of super heroes and super villains could kill him if they sneezed at his general direction. Going into melee combat with someone who could easily punch a hole through him was the height if stupidity.

The supernatural strength of the adamantium arm was something Theo didn’t want to put his faith on. It was good surprise attack weapon and he would use it sparingly.

The last upgrade Theo made to the 3310N was the addition of a large number of bus slots. This allowed him to easily connect a large number of external expansion hardware. It wasn’t as amazing as the other upgrades, but its added versatility went in line with Theo’s combat tactics.

Since he hasn’t made any of the external expansions yet, he had to make do with the adamantium arm’s default abilities.

One of these days, he swore that he’ll find a way to add a Rocket Punch function.

Why?

Coz its cool!

It doesn’t matter how impractical it was, Theo refused to give up on the coolness.

He shelved rocket punch for now.

He had one more thing to work on while his stamina could still take it.

Theo went to all of his Z49 Scout Armors and added some extremely tough and extremely hard to spot hidden cameras on the back of the head, base of the neck, both shoulders, stomach and base of the spine.

All of these cameras had all the capabilities of the Solid Eye System and then some.

These cameras allowed Theo a 360 view range with combat analysis, night vision, heat detection, movement detection, sound amplification and all that jazz.

Why did he make such an upgrade?

Just like his ‘Harem’ goal, this was inspired from anime. Specifically, a certain ninja anime where one character could see 360 degrees, see through walls and see those chakra nonsense.

Meh, its anime. Common sense and logic were as disposable as toilet paper.

Sadly, Theo couldn’t figure out how to get the X-ray vision to work.

A shame really. It would have many ‘scientific’ endeavors for purely ‘scientific’ purposes.

FOR SCIENCE!

*Insert perverted laughter here*

With a satisfied sigh, Theo made his way back to the bedroom part of his secret lair. He could go back to his now ghost town of an apartment, but he had no energy for the travel.

A fact about Midas Alchemy: It was extremely exhausting!

Midas Alchemy required massive amounts of energy from the user. Due to this, Midas Alchemist had extremely fast metabolisms and would regularly eat large meals that could put 10 sumo wrestlers to shame.

Remember the 20 energy bars he ate earlier?

Those had dangerously high amounts of energy. A normal human would die from a heart attack if they consumed 5 of those things.

The reasons why he ate those were because:

(A) His pitiful excuse lunch was not able to sate his hunger

(B) He was about to perform Midas Alchemy. He needed all the energy he could muster.

The energy requirement was also the main reason why Midas Alchemy was not used in combat. It drained gargantuan amounts of energy even when the users paced themselves in a safe environment.

Imagine what would happen if it was used in combat.

The Midas Alchemist would probably die from severe energy deficiency way before a bullet blows his brains out.

As such, Theo wanted to hit the hay despite the dangerously high energy meal he had earlier.

He texted the frog faced doctor that all his cybernetics were ready and they could begin the operation as early as tomorrow.

With all his goals for today accomplished, Theo went into another nightmare filled slumber.

-:-