Monday August 6th, 2018: 8:30 PM

  My mind was filled with the elemental forces of fire, as I awoke from my d?????????r???????????????????e????????????a???????????????????????m???????????????? today. The Black Butterfly had done as beseeched, and provided me with more ability to invoke the fire in my fighting style. I knew the slight changes to how I stood, to maximize my fire. I knew that I would need time and practice, to meld this style into my stance, but it would be worth it. The Black Butterfly left me with one cryptic, parting message, however, I should be prepared for what I have unleashed into this world.

  That startled me as I awoke, as I didn’t know exactly what she might have been referring to. I hoped that I would learn that it wasn’t automatically a bad thing. I got up, and Cal was already up, and surprisingly, in the main section of the Campaigner’s Tent. I told him that he didn’t have to be up here, if he didn’t want to, that the dorms now held the same enchantment. Cal sighed and said that he was just used to being my second. Something about that caught my attention, but I worked with him for his meditation, and we got ready for the day.

  I resolved that I was going to be as productive as I could today, so I took him with me as I checked in on Rex. Rex was asleep, in his tiny form, curled up at the base of the cauldron that was forming the Rooting Compound. Cal asked me what I was making, and I told him that if all goes well, it would be a gift for Thor. Cal was silent as I asked him if he could politely carry Rex up to the Campaigner Tent, as he had a long night. I verified that the compound would be stable and then went to get Cal and head down to collect the Mini-Avengers and head down to the second floor, with the “classrooms”.

  He worked with me as I instructed all of the Mini-Avengers to pick a room, and perform the same task as they did for the dorms, making the ten foot by ten foot rooms each thirty foot by twenty foot, with three walled off ten by ten rooms in the back. We can reconfigure them as each teacher desires. I told Cal that I had a special project for him, that one of the rooms in the “Physics and Engineering” classroom, would need a mesh of the Phoenix Core inlaid in the roof and walls, but set in deep enough so that a slide can be made to ensure that the level of directed heat can be decreased or increased as needed. Cal agreed and said that he would get on it as soon as the Mini-Avengers were done. I couldn’t quite place it, but something in his expression was off. I left him to watch the Mini-Avengers after that, and went to go get Donald from the cell.

  As I brought the Chisel and announced that I was unlocking the room for the day, Donald acknowledged that he was awake and aware. I told him that he would be free to go get breakfast on his own, and that I would be showing him his classroom later today. Donald said that he had not even told me that he was taking the position yet. I told him that I had believed in him, and he had already shown that he was working on a lesson plan. He asked me how he was going to end up even teaching, if he couldn’t be away from this room for long periods, let alone how was he going to teach whatever it was that I was doing that was breaking the laws of physics.

  I smiled and told him that he can see when he checks out his classroom in just over an hour. It was almost sunrise, and I told him that if he desired, and if he hurried, he could run up to the top floor and watch the sunrise, in the observatory. Donald asked if I would be escorting him. I told him that I trusted him to walk around a tower alone. I added that the only inhabitants of the building were Cal, Sera, himself, Rex, Bright-eyes and her kittens, Rex, and myself. I told him that I was certain that he would be fine.

  I left the cell unlocked for Donald’s first day of access to the building with full ability to come and go from his cell, until he was ready to go to his room that was being prepared. I did a sweep around the rooms and came to the realization that we needed to get a LOT done in the upcoming weeks, not the least of which is to get the teachers for the first class, let alone the students. Then there was expanding the labs, and the crafting spaces, and the combat/summoning spaces. Even at the rate that we are going, I don’t know if this will be a thing that is completed before the end of August. I decided to look to make a schedule, as it would be close.

  I walked up to the mess hall and got a good breakfast of bacon, eggs, and orange juice. Sera was there, picking at a plate of chocolate cake and brownies. I smiled and told her good morning. Sera looked up and smiled, before asking me if the rooms would be getting built out soon. I told her that I would be expecting that S.H.I.E.L.D. would be getting the linens and things soon, hopefully by the end of the day. Sera smiled weakly, and said that it is nice that the cot is so comfortable, but it would be better to not just have a sleeping bag.

  I thanked her for her input, and told her that I will take any input that she would be comfortable with providing for making the place more comfortable. Sera mentioned that there is not a lot to do, while we wait. I told her that it would be different today, as today she was going to be processed for the first class by S.H.I.E.L.D., so it would help keep her mind off of things, and that if she wants, she can go up to the tenth floor and check out the observatory any time she wants. I told her that Donald Gill is up there now, watching the sunrise, and that he would likely be coming back here shortly thereafter, if he didn’t just stay up there for an hour, soaking in the view.

  Sera smiled and said that he seemed like he had a troubled past. I told her that he had, and that he was just learning to get past it, and that I hoped that this teaching position helped. Sera was quiet for a minute, and said that there was something important going on, and that if I had not seen it, she felt that she needed to tell me. I asked her what was wrong, as I ate some bacon. Sera told me that Cal was really upset, that I had done so much for Donald, and that I had given Natalie so many things, and included her in fighting that Frost Giant, but not Cal.

  Before I could say anything, Sera continued, saying that Cal had admitted that he felt that it was stupid to feel this way, but that he just couldn’t get past how I had given Natalie such good items, and with him being my second, had not gotten anything like it. I chewed on this for a minute, and told her that I was very thankful for her ability to be observant, and willing to trust me with this, as Cal was not being slighted intentionally. I continued with telling her that I had something special planned for her, and something even more special planned for Cal, and that I would appreciate it if she could keep it a secret until I tell her otherwise, as I had wanted it to be a surprise, but that I was going to have to rush things further.

  Sera said that he would, and I made my goodbyes, and went up to the secret Aerogel Lab. There were Cal and Sera’s uniforms, made of the same material as Donald’s. Two sets for each, and I put them into the pocket of my Power Suit. Then, there was the extra special one, the Combat Armor, that had been done with more red and grey stones from the selection. Along with layers for a helmet that would need to be enchanted.

  I didn’t want Cal to be leaning on his equipment too much, but I can’t have him feeling unappreciated. This way, he would also see that going out to get the potatoes also helped him, not just Donald. I decided to get the Dedicated Wrights up here after they are done with the rooms, and get them started on the Phoenix Core, Galvanic Spark, Sonus Chord, Gelid Heart, and Blight Stone integration, along with a few pellets for some Continual Flame enhancements. His Cinnebar armor is going to be impressive, to say the least.

  A fair amount of time had passed, getting that ready, such that the classrooms were done. I summoned up a pair of Unseen Crafters to implement the changes and alterations that would be being made to the Cinnebar armor, so that things can be started before the Dedicated Wrights are even available, and I can use them for the enchanting. I had a secret project for them to work on that would continue into tomorrow morning. I walked down to the Physics and Engineering room, where Cal and Donald were standing, not saying anything to each other. I cleared my throat and thanked Cal expressly for his crucial help in this, and he accepted it a little sullenly.

  This put all of the facial reactions and bodily stance into complete clarity. It wasn’t just a sense of ill ease, it was an emotional reaction to the perceived feelings of being left to the side, and a fairly justified one at that. The Mini-Avengers were patiently waiting in a circle, and I whispered to them to head to the Aerogel room, as we had some work to do. With them gone, I thanked Cal again, and asked if he wanted to show Donald what he had the intellect to design for him. Cal seemed a bit hesitant at first and said he was only following my orders.

  I stopped him and said that I had only given him the baselines, that he was the one experienced enough in the Chisel of the Exquisite Craftsman to see them put to function. Cal seemed a tiny bit more approving, before he took the lead and showed Donald the extradimensional classroom. Donald asked him all kinds of questions about the space, the Phoenix Core grid, and the views from the room. I listened as Cal was showing Donald a lot of in-depth knowledge about the planar aspects. He has learned a lot, in a short period of time.

  As the tour wrapped up, I told Donald that he would be free to use either the room in the basement, or this room up here. He joked that the bed here was obviously more comfortable than the one in the cell. I laughed and told him he had the whole day to do whatever he wished, but he might be requested for a check in with Agents Smith or Peterson. Donald nodded and said that he would make himself available. I asked Cal if he could get Sera, and come with me to the future Student Affairs room on the first floor in an hour.

  Cal said that he would, and I thanked him, saying that I had some things to discuss with the both of them when I got there. I didn’t want to take too much time to wait, but I figured that giving him time to reflect either on his own, or with Sera, might help the situation a bit. I went up to the room that had his new armor, and the Mini-Avengers were there, waiting. We started on the enchantments, while the Unseen Crafters were working away on the physical upgrades I had requested. After an hour, the different magical enhancements I had planned were done, and it just left the improvements from the Unseen Crafters to finish up. I sent the Mini-Avengers down to the first Combat Room, to start getting the possibilities for others opened up, while I collected up the sets for S.H.I.E.L.D./firefighters and put them into the extradimensional pocket for the Alchemist’s Vest.

  I went down to the Student Affairs office, secure in the knowledge that I would be getting the two of them, Cal and Sera, something to link them to the school and thus show them the benefits of their own labor. When I got down to the room, they were both inside, and I went over to a desk, and started my mentally rehearsed speech. I told them that I didn’t want them to think that they had been forgotten in the rush to make something so that our physics teacher can walk around without giving unintentional frostbite. I pulled out the two complete sets of clothing, and presented them to both. I went through the properties of these, how they will keep them body temperature, and not allow them to get cold, or hot, and will help protect both from minor conflict related injuries.

  I told them that they are not required to wear them yet, but that they have time to change, if they desire, before Agent Smith gets here. I added that I would be inviting all of the Agents into the Mess Hall to enjoy a lunch, and that they were welcome to go before or after, or enjoy the lunch with us, as the case may be. I also added that they will be getting principal assistant recognition for the new item that we will be showing Agent Smith, a tactical version that might be put into production for firefighters, but that will not involve nearly as much work for you two. Sera asked me just how hot something could be without hurting you. I told them that I had guessed that you should be safe between negative two hundred degrees Celsius, and twelve-hundred degrees Celsius.

  Cal lifted it up and exclaimed that it weighed less than a pair of hiking boots, or a pair of jeans. I told them that I respected their efforts, and that by becoming members of this school, they get to join in on the fruits of it. Cal looked at me with a distinct change to his countenance. I told him that I would have to have a meeting when the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents get here, but then I would be able to talk more with him, but that Sera would likely have to do a documentation meeting with the Agents. I looked at my S.H.I.E.L.D. provided phone, saw that it was almost nine, and told them that I needed to head there now, that they can choose to try them on, or not.

  I left the Student Affairs office, and then went to the Offices portion of the building around the tower, and then stepped up to Agent Smith’s door, and knocked. Agent Smith’s voice was fairly strained when he told me to come in. I did so, and he was just staring at me for a minute, before he finally spoke and asked me if there was any reason why he would have gotten a personal call from Director Mack yesterday. I asked if it was due to the flash mob that I had stopped. “Stopped? You conjured a wall out of nowhere and shaped the stone into stocks!”, Agent Smith exclaimed.

  I sighed and told him that I still didn’t have sufficient handcuffs for many criminals. I added that I had told the whole crowd that they should drop everything and they could just leave. I didn’t even start to fire until the first one shot. Agent Smith shook his head, and said that Director Mack was rather irate, or at least he would be, if the MacArthur Center didn’t spin the stocks as a new social media spot. I asked if I presented S.H.I.E.L.D. with some technology for first responders, might that help a bit?

  Agent Smith looked at me with skepticism, and I pulled out one of the tactical suits and set it on his desk. Agent Smith picked it up and said that this was lighter than anything that he had really seen, but what does it do? Before I could answer, he asked me if it was enchanted? I cleared my throat, and told him that this was called “M.E.S.S.Y.” Fabric or “Mead Ethanol Substitution Spud Yard”. This Fabric is a variant of Bio-Aerogel where the starch has had the water substituted with the Mead Ethanol.

  I continued by telling him that, if the specifications were correct, it was a fabric that prevented the temperature transfer across layers. It was proof from at least negative two hundred Celsius, to over positive twelve hundred degrees Celsius. I added that the inner layer, the pearlescent glow fabric, was doped with Jade, Amber, and Silver, initially in an attempt to prevent it from being transparent. It generates the side effects of preventing static build-up, has thermal buffering, has the interlocking fibrous structure to create crack-bridges, and Anti-microbial action. It is perfect for a long wear skin contact layer.

  I continued by saying that the tensile strength is two hundred and fifty megapascals, has ten to the fourteenth power mega ohms of resistivity, a refractive index of one point six, a vibrational frequency of twenty kilohertz, and a thermal break of just two hundredths of a watt per Meter. I continued with the void chime layer being the tactical workhorse of the bi-layer material. The fabric has the additional properties of carrying a micro-current to provide active noise cancellation and ultrasonic cleaning, it absorbs thermal radiation rather than reflecting it, is chemically inert, has abrasion resistance to protect the material, and a thermal conductivity that spreads the heat around, rather than letting it concentrate. I continued with saying specifically that the surface hardness is nine on the Mohs Scale, an acoustic signature of five decibels, and is chemically resistant between zero point five to thirteen point five pH. The melting point of the fabric is sixteen hundred degrees Celsius.

  Agent Smith looked at me and said that he didn’t appreciate the joke. I told him that he can take them to the Fire Chief today, while I am not there, and have him run these suits through the ringer of tests. And, if he wants them, especially because they contain no PFAS, then I’d request that P.B.C. Healthcare gets the contract, and that S.P.E.A.R. handles the raw materials. Agent Smith spoke up and said that was the trick there, how much did these suits cost to make each, ten thousand dollars, fifteen, more? I told him that, from my calculations, it was around one hundred.

  Agent Smith balked and dropped the fabric, yelling that Director Mack wouldn’t greenlight one hundred thousand per suit, and no fire department has that kind of money for suits. I laughed a little, and corrected him that it was one hundred dollars per suit. Agent Smith looked at me like I was crazy. I told him that raw materials were one hundred dollars which are helped greatly by the bulk stones that S.H.I.E.L.D. got us. Agent Smith looked at me and said that he was going to take this to Fire Chief Wise, and if this performs as well as I say it does, we won’t be asked for a sale price. We might just be told yes.

  I told him that I didn’t mind working for the betterment of firefighters and first response personnel, I wouldn’t want it to be more than the average rate for their gear. Agent Smith nodded and said that he could understand that. I added that I would be working on additional aspects of their gear, to go with the Vector Visors that we had given them earlier, but that the Vector Visor Program would not be able to put out as many units as the turnout gear could. Agent Smith nodded and said that was the difference.

  Agent Smith perked up and said that S.H.I.E.L.D. was going to support the school a little bit more, and a lot of equipment and materials were going to be delivered today, for the up and coming students. I thanked him and pivoted that what the school will also need is some high quality teachers for eight subjects, and asked if S.H.I.E.L.D. liaisons could help get them here for a pitch. Agent Smith asked me what subjects, and I told him the eight subjects that were remaining to be filled, Agricultural Science and Resource Management, Applied Mathematics, Biology and Health, Chemistry and Material Science, Computer Science, Cosmology of the Nine Realms, Logic and Philosophy, and Mechanics and Ballistics. Agent Smith whistled, telling me that I wasn’t asking for much. I told him that I felt that we needed the best, in both staff and students, as we couldn’t waste time with people who don’t have the desire to do better, and the capability to understand how to do better. Agent Smith asked if I had any ideas about the people, and I told him that if he gave me five minutes, I could whip up a list.

  He told me that he had to make some calls, and that I could drop back by in five minutes. Then he reiterated to me that if this suit works as well as I claim, then he was pretty certain that the company would get REALLY busy. I thanked him and reminded him that Bob should be dropping off a batch of SEAL team firearms today. He nodded and I headed to the break room. I sat down at a chair at the granite table, and pulled out a pair of blank notebooks.

  I cast a Tears to Wine to convert a gallon of water into mead and took a drink. Then I cast Amanuensis and Page Bound Epiphany to create a list. I got eight pages of background, location, and possible triggers and pressure points. I had a total of thirty-two candidates, four for each field. I used the copied information, and pulled them out of the notebook, to give them to Agent Smith.

  Some of the suggestions were… odd. Just a single name, not a personal name and a surname, but just one, singular appellation. I reread the description for them, and saw how one of them was listed as a resident in Tonsberg, and another mentioned Kamar-Taj. I recognized the latter as somewhere that Wong had referenced when we were talking. I reviewed my notes for a minute before I thought about how I could make a decent offer for something like this.

  After three and a half more minutes, I got up and walked back to Agent Smith’s office. Agent Smith was just finishing up a call with someone, apparently Fire Chief Wise, and saying that, yes, he would be available for a two PM slot for a full destruction test. He looked at me and I shrugged, saying that I would manage being there. Agent Smith clarified that we would be there with four suits for a light destructive trial to ensure safety in the burn test, then a burn test if they pass, then a test to failure to check if the specifications are right. Agent Smith ended the call and asked me what it would take to make more of these.

  I told him that it required powdered minerals, more castings of Tears to Wine, and crucially, more potatoes. I added that this is not the only thing that we get from this process. Agent Smith looked at me oddly, and I told him to follow me, and that I had something to show the entire S.P.E.A.R. team. Agent Smith said that S.P.E.A.R. wasn’t confirmed yet, and I told him that by having a separate agency to S.H.I.E.L.D., at least in name, it might help with some of the headaches that Director Mackenzie is feeling. Agent Smith asked if I wanted all four of them now.

  I thought about it and said that it would be ideal if everyone was just available at noon, for lunch, as the eight of us can have our first actual business lunch in the mess hall. Agent Smith said that he would consider it, and asked what we were going to do about food? He chuckled that certainly it wouldn’t be all potatoes. I laughed and said that it would be handled, like a dream. Agent Smith shook his head, and said that we can do the full reveal of everything that this process begets at the company lunch.

  That seemed like the most logical solution, and I agreed to it. I told him that my new student of the school was going to be sent to go through their documentation shortly, so whom should I send her to. Agent Smith said that he would be busy arranging pickup for five suits for Director Mackenzie to get tested, so it would probably be Agent Peterson first. From there, it could be whomever she feels is best. I agreed and said that I would send her.

  Before I left, I let slip that Donald Gill had been offered the teaching position for Physics and Engineering. Agent Smith perked up, his eyes betraying that his mind was going a mile a minute, before he mentioned that he was going to request, on his side, to have a liaison to monitor his first classes, at least. I asked Agent Smith who he recommended, and he said he would probably recommend Agent Peterson. I nodded and said that she could probably do well in the role. I thanked him for his time, and said that I had to do a little house maintenance before the business lunch.

  We parted and I headed back to the tower, and along the way, I found both Sera and Cal back in the mess hall, they had both changed from what they had been wearing, into the new uniforms. Sera saw me and commented that this fabric was amazing. Cal perked up when she spoke and said that it really was great, and asked if it really did come from the potatoes. I shrugged and said that it was, and that if this was too odd, they really didn’t want to experience the process of making linen. I spoke up and told Sera that Agent Peterson, at the receptionist’s desk, was waiting to start her in-processing, and that it would be best if she left through the E-Bike Garage, and walked around to the front.

  Sera got up, smiled at Cal, and said that she’d be back as soon as she could. I asked Cal to walk with me as we had a task to complete. Cal got up and muttered something about more potatoes. I smiled and told him that no, it wasn’t buying or peeling more potatoes. As we walked I asked him about his experience with the variable environment in the Physics and Engineering personal rooms.

  Cal seemed a little reserved when he talked about how he had gone about it, but he explained everything as he thought about it. I told him that while we had a cell that could be used against someone who wielded the power of cold, that we should probably have something similar for someone with Heat or Fire based powers, and maybe something for people who use sound as well. I asked him how he would set up something for that. He went through some ideas and what we could do with the Gelid Hearts and the Sonus Chords. I nodded as we continued to walk up the stairs towards one of my personal labs on the eighth floor,

  As we got to the room, Cal asked what we were doing in the Aerogel lab, if we weren’t going to be working on more potatoes. I opened up the door and showed him his new armor. Cal was speechless for a minute, and I started telling him what all it could do. He looked at me when I got to the point where the armor could change the appearance to be anything, including clothing, and asked me if that means that he can wear it all the time. I cautioned him that just because the armor looks like clothing, doesn’t do anything to the feel or the added Phoenix Core or other energy stones. I told him that he can wear it whenever he wants, but I told him that I felt I needed to explain some things first.

  We sat down and I told him how I had wanted him to get the same kind of experience I did, when I was first learning to focus my abilities. I continued by telling him that I didn’t want him to focus all of his skills into using one piece of equipment, because equipment can always be destroyed. Cal listened intently as I explained that this armor wasn’t just given to him because he was my sidekick, it was because he needed to be safe while he was working on my great work for this city. Cal asked me what I meant, and I told him that all alchemists seek a great work.

  I elaborated that some seek to produce the Philosopher’s Stone, or the Elixir of Life, or the Emerald Tablets. I offered up that I was not limiting myself to just one of these things, that I was intending on working on extracting the dross of this city, excising the corruption present, distill the virtues to purify them, and exalt the populace. Cal listened to my quick speech and asked if anyone else knows this long-term goal. I told him that Amber has an inkling of it, but that he was the first that I had told in this specific detail. Cal nodded and seemed like he had softened a little before asking if he should keep this secret.

  I told him that there are many stories of those who want to stop an Alchemist’s great work, when they learn about it, and that I wouldn’t want anyone to get in the way of Cal’s growth for him to help with this even accidentally. Cal nodded and said that he can understand that. I told him that I was leaving him to get acquainted with his new armor, and that he should probably spend some time getting used to it and how the changes will affect his fighting styles. I got up and patted him on the shoulder, telling him that he is earning his gear, just like I did. Cal smiled and nodded, getting up to grab his new armor.

  I left him in the room, and checked in on the rooting compound in the alchemical room. It was doing good, but I knew that it would need other components sometime soon, but I didn’t know what they were yet. I closed the room again, leaving it to continue working away. I then went down to the combat room where I had sent the Mini-Avengers. When I got down there, I got them started on the process of chiseling in the runes that would surround the room to allow the ephemeral representations to be summoned, but remain in this room.

  After an hour, I left them to continue, knowing that they would continue working but would have to finish it tomorrow morning. I went upstairs and noted that it was an hour and a half before the “company lunch”. I decided that I was going to fulfill my requirements for Rex, and rushed out to the Harris Teeter, changing my gear to look like a regular outfit. I went to the store and looked for any fresh fish. I sighed when I saw that they didn’t have any whole fresh fish. I guess things are getting harder outside of the Norfolk area.

  I collected a bunch of different ”fresh caught” filets, and then walked around the rest of the store, to see if I needed anything special. I noticed that the pickings for potatoes were rather slim when I heard someone complaining about where all of the produce was. I thought to myself that I needed to work on further field projects to stabilize the city. I thought about the mess hall and decided that almost everything can be created by the nutritional unit. I went through the self checkout and paid using my S.H.I.E.L.D. phone.

  I headed back to the office/tower, and set the E-Bike back in the garage. I headed up through the Amicus Door to melded through it, heading directly to the mess hall. I put the filets into the chill box, and did a once over for the room. Everything was as ready as it could be. I went upstairs with a pair of filets and checked in on Rex.

  He was asleep and I tiptoed over in front of him and set a hunk of salmon in front of him. He sleepily woke up and chomped the fish filet reflectively. I smiled and left the other filet in front of him and told him that I was sorry that I didn’t have a whole fresh fish, the store was out. Rex got up and stretched, and before he could grab the fish, a flurry of furry filchers fell upon the filet. I laughed and said that there were more filets down in the mess hall.

  Rex stretched his wings again, and flapped up to land on my shoulder. I walked back to the Aerogel lab, and grabbed the extras that were recovered from the process. Some nice little recovered items from the “waste”. I stored everything in the backpack, and my extradimensional pockets. There was even more than I could carry, but at least this was a good sample of the items.

  With Rex on my shoulder, and the goods in my pockets, I walked back down to the mess hall with Rex being an overly large parrot. As I got to the mess hall, I saw Cal, Sera, and Donald were there, and Rex jumped off my shoulder to go glide over to a bench back. I told the four that I was going to go get the Agents, just as the door opened and Agent Smith came in, followed by the others. Agent Smith looked around and asked if the medieval theme was needed. I told him that it was just a little conceit to keep me grounded from where I was.

  The rest of the Agents looked around, and watched as Cal, Sera, and Donald all went to where the counter containing platters, bowls, and steins were stored, and then went to the Nutritional cube. Cal placed his hand on the cube, and vocalized that he felt like baked mac and cheese, just like his mother used to make, with bacon wrapped chicken, and a Doctor Pepper. He pulled out the plate, and it had exactly what he said on it. I appreciated the theatricality of his efforts. Sera followed suit, touching the cube and saying that she wanted mint ice cream on a double chocolate brownie and a chocolate milkshake. The Nutritional Cube produces exactly what she demanded.

  Donald matched the performance, saying that he wanted a twenty piece McNuggets with fries, and a large cherry coke. The cube produced exactly what he requested, and he took it out and went to the long table where Cal and Sera were seated. I offered up to the Agents that all they needed to do was put their hand on the cube, think of the word ”Cibus” and declare what they wanted to eat. I didn’t let them know that they could do it mentally. The four Agents followed suit, and Agent Daniel Cross was the first one to say that he wanted that stout that he remembered having way back.

  I snickered to Agent Smith quietly, telling him that Agent Cross was in for a little surprise. Agent Smith asked me what that was, and I told him that the Nutritional Cube will produce whatever food you require, however the spell behind it doesn't normally provide caffeine or alcohol. To solve those problems, I used two additional spells, Caffeination and Tears to Wine. Agent Smith asked me what that means. I told him that Agent Cross will be getting a slight boost to mental activities for the next ten minutes.

  Agent Smith asked if I had intended it to be able to provide alcohol to minors, and I said that back where I was from, it wasn’t a big issue, and that if it really is, I can add another aspect to remove the alcohol portion of the drink, if the person is under age or decided that they wanted “non-alcoholic” alcohol. Agent Smith nodded with the concession, and asked everyone how their meals were. Agent Peterson said that it was exactly like the meal from her commencement dinner with her family. Agent Cross noted that the stout was exactly as he remembered it. Agent Vance said that this even reproduced the vileness she felt when she asked for the Chicken a la King MRE.

  Agent Cross asked her why she had ordered that, and she said that she wanted to test it to see if it just made food better, or if it made it true. I laughed and said that this was a great test. Agent Vance laughed and said that with the Genesee beer she ordered, she can even pick out the tastes more. Agent Vance was tough enough to stomach through it, but when I told everyone that no matter what they had eaten, they had all gotten the same nourishment, she seemed a bit miffed. I told her that she could make up for putting herself through that, if she wanted, by stopping by and picking something else for dinner, or just a drink of whatever soft drink she desired, or alcohol if Agent Smith was okay with it.

  Agent Peterson asked how alcoholic the drinks were. I told her that they were on the “fine mead” or “fine wine” level of alcohol, but then I pointed to a couple of tuns that were at the side of the room. “Or”, I added, “You can go ahead and have some mead or wine flavored Ice slurry. Agent Peterson went over and grabbed some from the freezer, and took a taste. Agent Peterson seemed like she couldn’t stop herself when she said it tastes like summer and is smoother than any Italian Ice she has ever had.

  Agent Smith cautiously asked me what the purpose behind the Italian Ice is. I told him that the mead flavor is a “waste product” from the process for the Aerogel. Agent Peterson looked a little worried, and I told her that it was just the fractional distillation of actual mead while it was being distilled to a higher percentage of alcohol. It is completely safe, and just the result of the mead flavoring remaining with the water while the water is frozen off. I pulled out the other things that were from the “waste” of the process.

  I put the powdered nutrient powder from the mead ice that I dehydrated and explained that this is from the mead-ice that I dehydrated to be a powder that could be used for nutritional supplementation. I then pulled out some of the meal bars that had been made from combining the “potato” water that had been stripped from the potatoes and the peels, and then mixed with some of the powder, for them to try. I explained all of this to them as I set them out, and then pulled out the ream of paper that had been made from the skins of the potatoes. I invited everyone to try the items.

  After they each tried some of the powder and the meal bars, Agent Cross spoke first, asking what kind of amounts of production “waste” we got per each production run. I did the math and told him that for every three hundred pounds of peeled potatoes, when combined with the distilled mead that we create whole cloth, we got a ream of potato paper, two hundred and thirty-seven gallons of Mead Ice, over one hundred and eighteen pounds of the mead based nutrient powder, seven hundred of the four ounce mead and potato bars, over thirty-five gallons of medical grade ethanol, and the twenty-five suits. There were some audible whistles when I was done, and they asked if there was any actual waste. I shrugged and said that there was some steam that escaped, but once everything is cleaned and goes into the process, there isn’t much that isn’t usable. Maybe the ends or off-cuts of the fabric that can’t go back into the process due to length or size.

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  Agent Cross asked what I intended to do with all of this material. I shrugged, saying that I didn’t exactly have a storage method for all of this, so maybe P.B.C. Healthcare could market all of it to see if there is any desire for it. Agent Peterson said that she had an idea. We all listened as she explained that they could get a couple of carts, and give out free samples in the downtown area. Then we could see if there is any desire for it. I said that this is a great idea, and that we can go from there. I offered up that if this Mead dessert doesn’t take off, we can just get double the amount of nutrient powder and bars.

  The Agents all offered up different ways to market it, and what nutritional content it has, and Agent Smith asked if the residents of the Chrysalis and the Agents could work together to brainstorm this out, while he and I went to meet with Fire Chief wise, to get the testing done. I took Cal aside and told him that he can use any of the magical tools that he thinks are needed, and that I believed in him. After the short pep talk, I followed Agent Smith out to the parking lot. Agent Smith indicated that we could both go in one vehicle, as it might be quicker. I agreed, and got into the passenger seat.

  While we rode, I felt something was off, but couldn’t place it. There were not any major delays, so we arrived just fine, however, so I wasn’t sure what was bugging me. Agent Smith got out, and I followed, and he walked up immediately, and shook the waiting Fire Chief’s hand. I walked up and the Fire Chief shook my hand as well, saying that it was good to see me. I thanked him and said that I was glad to see he was doing okay in the continued chaos.

  Fire Chief Wise said that it was much better here than it was elsewhere. There was a lot of stabilization here, thanks to S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Smith repeated my earlier lines, that the real heroes were those doing everything day to day. I agreed with Agent Smith, and told Fire Chief Wise, that I knew that these were unbelievable claims, but that we would appreciate him trying them out. Agent Smith said that this was really just an evolution of some things that were figured out, but that the way that they were put together is really something else.

  Fire Chief Wise said that he would give it a try, if only because he was still trying to get more of the VECTOR Visors for his crew, and if getting this gear tested, pass or fail, gets him closer to that, he will do it. I asked him what he wanted the process to be. Fire Chief Wise said that he had planned that they were going to do all of the minimum safe testing first, to ensure that it can handle the minimums, and then they would try a simulated fire test, with my Visors included. Then, should there be no issues with the simulated fire test, he was going to run the Test to Fail portion, to see how they would do.

  The fire crew handled the ultra-light suit, with one joking that this weighs less than his turnout boots, let alone the whole gear, before placing it in the test oven. They took the temperature up to five hundred degrees Fahrenheit, and left it there. I told them to go ahead and grab another suit and try the next test, while we wait. They replied that it only needs to last five minutes. I told them to give it a half an hour at least, that part of the process that makes this fabric is at LEAST seven hundred degrees Celsius.

  The testers looked over to Fire Chief Wise for his position, and he just nodded, so they took a separate suit and set it over a gas burner, and set the flame to a yellow color and went to start the test. Agent Smith told them to go ahead to medium blue, and again, the agents looked at Fire Chief Wise. The Fire Chief asked if we were doing the test to fail first. Agent Smith said that this fabric was rated to sixteen hundred degrees Celsius, so that if it couldn’t handle five hundred degrees Celsius, it was worthless. Fire Chief Wise approved the deviation.

  They watched, ten seconds, fifteen, twenty, thirty, a minute, with no change. No flaming ever occurred. Fire Chief Wise asked what happens above sixteen hundred degrees Celsius. I replied that instead of burning, it flash vitrifies, and then dissipates into air, as most of the material is actually air. One of the technicians asked if this was an Aerogel based fabric. Agent Smith acknowledged that it was, and the Technician started talking about how he had just seen how a Chinese lab had made something similar, but that their version was plastic coated or something.

  Fire Chief Wise asked if that was a good thing or a bad thing. The technician revealed that the plastic coating was for waterproofing, but that it would have melted off LONG before they hit ten seconds. The Aerogel itself, however, would remain until it crumbled away. Fire Chief Wise asked Agent Smith about waterproofing. He looked at me, and I told him to set it up on a dummy, give it a blast, and then test it again, if he wants. It is bonded to a combination of minerals, not plastic, so he shouldn’t be worried about the test, but we should know the limitations, if there are ones.

  It had been five minutes, and the technicians looked into the oven, and said that it doesn’t look like there has been any shrinking. I told them to let it sit for the rest of the thirty minutes while we tested the other suit on the dummy. The technician absentmindedly went to grab the suit after the burner testing, and was about to jerk their hand back, when they exclaimed that it was cool to the touch. Fire Chief Wise rushed over and touched it himself, saying that he had never seen that. I told him that the harmonics of the mineral doping were activated by the heat, using it to vibrate the exterior and clean off the exterior, and that by performing work, it was removing the thermal energy from the layer.

  Seeing the importance of it, Fire Chief Wise decided to set up two tests for the suit that had undergone the gas burner test, right immediately after each other. He put the entire suit on a sandbag dummy, and hooked it up to the back of a pickup truck. The technicians looked at him like he was crazy, and he said that if he was going to test abrasion resistance, he was going to do it right. He pulled out and sped up quickly to thirty miles an hour, running circles around the pavement lot. While he was driving, I pulled out two of the Honey Spud bars, and offered them to the technicians.

  I handed another to Agent Smith, and one for myself, and Agent Smith and I took some bites, before one of the technicians asked if it was vegetarian. Agent Smith replied that it is vegetarian, but not vegan, as it includes honey. The first one took a bite and the second one followed thereafter. The first one asked where I got these. Agent Smith said that it is a new product line that P.B.C. Nutrition, a fellow subsidy of the P.B.C. Healthcare, similar to the P.B.C. Safety that made the suits and the Visors, put out to help people after the Decimation.

  The technician joked that he wouldn’t mind a crate of these for the next time he goes camping. Agent Smith said that the First Responders could easily have first dibs on buying batches of them, and from what we can see, they would have a shelf life of between three to five years, without preservatives. The second technician nodded, saying that the honey is what did it, isn’t it. Agent Smith just nodded in response. After fifteen minutes, Fire Chief Wise pulled back into the spot where he was.

  He got out and looked at the dummy that was dragged behind, and the technicians pointed to a path that followed him around. The pavement had been worn a little smoother where the suit had been dragged. The three of them flipped the sandbag dummy up, and saw no damage to it. The asphalt, on the other hand, had some slight wearing down in the dummy’s path. Fire Chief Wise said nothing, but immediately worked with the technicians to spray it down with the fire hose, full blast.

  Agent Smith and I sat back, and I still had that feeling that something was off, but now I could isolate that it wasn’t related to the tower or anything in it. The three fire department personnel sprayed the dummy for a full five minutes, and then cut the water off. They had only managed to clean off the remaining road dust. They pulled the suit off of the dummy, and took it back over to the gas burner. Another minute passed before they stopped.

  By then, the technicians were ready to take the other sample out of the oven. They did, and after a few seconds, it was back down to normal temperature. They took the measurements that they needed, and declared that there had been no shrinkage. Fire Chief Wise asked the technicians what other tests they should do before a life fire. One said that they could put the sensor dummy in the gear, and run it through a one thousand degree Celsius flash, to see how long it takes to heat up internally.

  Agent Smith asked how steady that temperature was. The technicians said that they can keep it within fifty degrees of the set point at all times. Agent Smith looked at me, and I nodded. Agent Smith told them to go to fourteen hundred degrees Celsius. The technicians looked at each other and then to Fire Chief Wise.

  The Fire Chief told them that this suit had handled everything they had thrown at it. We will keep the sensors inside the dummy monitored, and if there are any hints of temperature spikes or damage, we pull it out. The technicians nodded and started carefully suited up the dummy. While they were doing that, the Fire Chief asked us if it was possible to get this in blankets and the like for rescuing people. I told him that this wouldn’t be an issue at all, that we could easily make something that simple, but that I would leave all of the economics and logistics to Agent S.H.I.E.L.D. here.

  I asked Fire Chief Wise how long the flash test would be. He said that it is usually between seventeen and twenty seconds long. I asked him what a good result would be. Fire Chief Wise said that the best he had ever seen personally is a TPP of sixty, or thirty seconds until it reaches second degree burn temperatures. I nodded and said that we can start the stop watch after the first sixty seconds, and see how long it takes before you decide to stop the test to stop wasting the fuel.

  I handed him a Honey-Spud bar, so he could snack while we watched. The technicians lit the fire. Five seconds, ten seconds, fifteen seconds, twenty seconds, a technician yelled out that it exceeds NFPA requirements and hasn’t even gotten hotter than seventy degrees Fahrenheit. Thirty seconds, and the Fire Chief is absentmindedly chewing on the Honey Spud bar, and we started the time I suggested. Forty seconds, fifty seconds, a minute, a minute and a half, one of the technicians announced that it had finally increased a degree, to seventy one degrees Fahrenheit.

  By two minutes, it had spiked as high as seventy-four degrees Fahrenheit. Fire Chief Wise told them to stop the test. Fire Chief Wise asked how many of the suits we had brought. I told him five. He left and grabbed four fire-fighter trainees from class, and came back. He told them that they were going to try these new suits with him in a flash burn scenario.

  They all put the almost gossamer fabric on, with one asking if this was a new underlayer or something. He put a standard issue helmet with a VECTOR Visor equipped on the new recruit, after doing the same for himself, and led them to that same room. He yelled out that they were going to be doing a search and rescue operation in a burning refinery, that they had two minutes to find all five people. One of the trainees made a sign of the cross in front of themselves as the Fire Chief pushed through the doors. The team saw the blast of fire, but could see through it perfectly.

  They rushed in and found them in under thirty seconds. A good time for even an experienced crew. The Fire Chief came right over to us and had the IR meters check all surfaces. It all came back as reducing quickly to room temperature. The Fire Chief walked over to Agent Smith and told us that he had been chasing a “silver bullet” to keep people safe his entire career. He added that these suits work better than any he has ever tried, with the flexibility of wearing a jogging suit.

  One of the recruits said that this was less than even cold weather gear. I smiled and said that it would also keep their body temperature stable in that, too, down to negative two hundred degrees Celsius. Fire Chief Wise looked between Agent Smith and me, and Agent Smith nodded subtly. Fire Chief Wise asked us to stop bullshitting and cut to the price. How much is it going to cost him?

  I got distracted just then with that feeling growing stronger, like someone was sneaking up behind me. I backed away a little as the Fire Chief’s focus was on Agent Smith. Suddenly, I heard someone yelling “G.S.C” as four individuals in corrupted armor and the livery of the Grape Street Crips stepped out from the shadows. A fifth one appeared from nowhere, with inky purplish black energy bleeding off of him. He yelled out that the Grape Street Crips would be taking this shit, whether we lived or died.

  I saw that they had rifles that were not in any way similar to firearms that the gang had dealt with before. They had more of the corrupting purple energy convulsing through it, and from time to time zapping into their arms. Their armor had more of the purplish energy, and their shoes as well. There was only one type of energy that I knew could do that, and I didn’t need any of the firefighters behind me becoming wights. I yelled out to everyone to hit the deck, and slammed my palm down on the ground.

  A long, one hundred and seventy foot arched wall, ten feet tall, sprung up between me and the firefighters and Agent Smith. As soon as my palm hit the ground, my clothing changed back to the appearance of the Umbryl Zephyr, and I took up the new Style that I had learned in my sleep, and the Stance of Piercing Rays. My sudden change in appearance and the creation of a stone wall from nowhere must have given them pause to react, because they didn’t fire at me before I could cast a Mirror Image spell, generating eight copies of myself, and repositioning, using the opportunity to focus on the supposed leader.

  That must have been a sufficient trigger, because all at once, the five of them moved like ghosts, moving again with that corrupted shadow movement, and flanking me at a distance. All five then let rip with their eldritch obsidian rifles at me. Every single corrupted bolt lashed out towards me, and every single one popped a Mirror Image. I saw them wince from a little feedback from the shots, indicating that the weapon took something from them each time too. I invoked Searing Break, and fired two shots, one each at two to my left, while I moved in closer to the rest.

  Those two dropped while the other three, including the leader, repositioned and fired again, dropping my remaining three Mirror Images. I used Solar Reflection on the two that were to the right of me, bouncing off of one to hit the other, and dropping those two as well. That left just their leader and me. He used his shadow hopping ability to move away, around a corner, from what I could tell, and I rushed after him, right into his line of fire. He pulled the trigger, and I managed to get my pistol aimed right, and used Intercepting Shade to disrupt the shot and keep it from hitting me.

  The energy scored the ground where it hit, decaying cement from the negative energy. I aimed my pistol, and fired with all of my accuracy and a hint of extra firepower from Horizon Wind Lancet. The leader coughed up a little purplish black blood as he fell to the ground. I quickly grabbed him up, and went to recover the others. I checked over their gear, and found that there was a lot of… wrongness to their armor, weapons, and other items.

  I heard laughing from a cell phone in the possession of the leader, a dry raspy laugh. The voice told me that this was a good test of his new gear, and that he would recalibrate it for next time. The phone shorted out and exploded with a puff of purplish black energy. Just then, Agent Smith managed to make it out from behind the wall, having had to go around one of the buildings to make it. Not far behind him was Fire Chief Wise, and the four recruits, each armed with a fire axe of all things.

  I told them that the five of them had been dropped, and the scene was now secure. That relaxed them somewhat, when one of the recruits blurted out that I was Verdigris. I looked up at him in my faceless helmet, and said that, “Yes, yes I am. I am Verdigris, and I created the process for your new suits.” I added that I am sorry that I had to disrupt the layout of their structure, and if they want, I can remove it within a few hours of work. The Fire Chief looked at me a bit gobsmacked and asked me if that was the first thing I was worrying about.

  I looked over at him, and said that I had been thoroughly informed that I shouldn’t be performing acts of mass petrogenesis where it isn’t desired. Fire Chief Wise thought for a minute and asked if I thought it would be a good notion that people could carve their lost loved one’s names into the new wall that I had created. I told him that it would be a perfectly honorific sentiment. Fire Chief Wise looked over at Agent Smith and said that he could only thank me again for erecting the “Wall of Remembrance" for the community to start filling. I thanked him and asked if he needed a door or anything in it. He told me not yet, and that we can talk about it later.

  By this time, Agent Smith had stepped aside to make a couple of calls. After stripping off all of the corrupted gear from the gangers, they seemed to be MOSTLY normal, minus some corruption that they had already gotten afflicted with. I put the corrupted armor, gear, and weapons away in a box that I made out of a Stone Shape spell. The coffer was sealed shut, and I left the non-corrupted gear and weapons on top. I put the jewelry in a separate counter, and used my remaining volume of the Stone Shape to make manacles for the Grape Street Crips.

  Agent Smith asked about the items, and I told him that I had made a sealed coffer for the items, that can be put on the back of a flatbed. I showed him the five thugs, with their new wrist jewelry. Jonathan shook his head, and said that there would be a van to pick them up shortly. I asked him to politely transition the jewelry to the fund for the charities. Agent Smith laughed and said that after this deal, we wouldn’t need to worry too much about that much more.

  Agent Smith said that he was going to be getting a large amount of the raw materials, and the potatoes, shipped to the tower for tonight. He added that after Director Mackenzie got the specs that the Fire Department had collected, that he had authorized the creation of another bank of tactical suits, especially if I can find a way to decrease the vulnerability to that energy that the rifles shoot out. I told him that I would work on it, but it might take a little while. Agent Smith said that this was understandable, but that Director Mackenzie did hope to hear something soon. I nodded and asked how long we had to wait until the van would get here.

  Agent Smith said that they would be here within a half an hour. I sighed, and noted that I might have to contact Wong regarding this. Agent Smith asked me what I meant, and I told him that this seems to be very bad stuff, that Wong would need to know about it. He nodded, and I took that as approval and started to pull out my phone. Then I stopped and told Agent Smith that I had had a bad feeling since we left the Office. Agent Smith nodded slowly and then caught on.

  He asked me if my phone had left my pocket since we left the office. I told him that it had not. Just then, the Smart Watch that the Leader of the G.S.C. Thugs was wearing started emitting a digital laughter before exploding out from the battery. I asked Agent Smith if he trusted his phone. He told me that he didn’t trust anything digital anymore, after that.

  Agent Smith took his phone out of his pocket, pushed in a code, removed the sim card and the micro-sd, and asked if I could do anything to destroy it. I took the phone, set it up on the stone coffer, got into my Body of Night Stance, focused my Studied Combat ability on it, and then used Iron Fang Strike on my Cestus Punch. As my fist shot out, I pulverized the glass, shattered the chips, and punctured the battery. The second after my cesti retracted, the lithium battery overheated and exploded, taking the rest of it with it.

  I looked over at Agent Smith, and he nodded, grimly. I asked him what he would do about a new phone, and he said that after this, he wasn’t comfortable with S.P.E.A.R. being connected to the S.H.I.E.L.D. network anymore, so we would have to look towards getting something else. I noted that I can create some kind of network for the Agents, that I had already discussed this with… Natalie… and that she had already been included into it. The main problem would be that you couldn’t use it to connect to those outside of the network. Agent Smith said that we could use dead drops for that, or some other methods, but that we were going to have to figure that we would be on our own here shortly.

  I nodded and said that I would have to find a way to contact Stark. Agent Smith thought about it, and then gave me a list of what to say, when the news came to get the story of what happened. I asked him why he thought that the news would be here, as I heard vehicles approaching. “Easy”, he said, “because it is what I would do if I was trying to keep you busy and on the back foot. Expect someone to ask personal questions.”

  I thanked him and stayed in the area where reporters would show up first. They did, and there were some simple questions at first, and I answered them as I had been briefed. I gave the line that Jonathan said that Stark (or Pepper) would figure out, that this was a Stark attack against an Industrial park, Peppered with Pott Shots at the dedicated Heroes of Norfolk. Finally, that same reporter from before asked if Amber was just missing, or if some experiment of mine is the reason why she hasn’t been seen in public since the twenty-fourth. I turned my head to address this one reporter, and said that she was attacked just hours after the engagement was announced by the City Council. She is out, at a special treatment facility, to get better.

  I turned to leave and another reporter asked if anyone else had to worry about this attacker. I looked back and coldly said that no one will suffer from that villain again. Ever. I turn invisible with Vanish, and activate my armor’s Windwalk ability to start rushing away, silently. The reporters looked everywhere as I was almost a quarter of a mile away, before the Armor’s Wind Walk ability ended and I glided down to where Agent Smith was waiting.

  While I was Wind Walking, I used the Arcano Telepathic and Transmission Network to use a Sending to Natasha, “Phones Compromised, Coded News alert to Stark Industries. Going to work on this network going forward. Please Forward to Pepper. Also, Need Wong Here Now.”. I got back a very terse, “Copy that. Passing Message along, will confirm with both. Good work on suits. Nice results. Keep up the good work. Can use that help everywhere.” Very smart, very well collected.

  I finished up the Wind Walk while Invisible, by changing my clothes to look back like they were just S.P.E.A.R. Agent apparel. Agent Smith smiled as I got into the SUV, saying that even with everything, the bad guys were collected, the corrupted stuff is off the street, and we are marching forward. I nodded and told him that I had gotten in touch with Natalie, and she said that she would parrot the message over to Pepper. Agent Smith laughed when I said Natalie again, but didn’t elaborate.

  As we slowly made our way back to the office, we took a massive detour to get to a store with a blue awning, named “Best Buy”. He came back out with a box full of smaller boxes that were labelled “Cat S61”, that looked vaguely similar to the S.H.I.E.L.D. cell phone I carried. I didn’t ask any questions, and Agent Smith didn’t offer any unsolicited information. We drove back to the office, and we headed back into the office. Agent Smith saw that the front office was still clear, so we locked up the front again, and headed back to the tower proper.

  Everyone had moved from the mess hall to Donald Gill’s classroom. Apparently a lot of S.H.I.E.L.D. provided equipment had arrived in the interim, and Donald’s classroom was set up first. I was told later after that there was only a little getting used to the extra-dimensional nature of it. There had been mock ups already done on the Smart Board that in the front of his classroom wasn’t hooked up to any power yet, as that would have to come later. They were, however, using grease pencils to temporarily draw out designs and schematics.

  I could feel something tingling in the back of my mind about the electrical nature of it, like a bit of unrealized mental skill that is about to be revealed, but just not yet. We got the low-down on everything that had been decided so far, with some careful reproduction of the best parts from the team on one of Donald’s notebooks. When we got back, Agent Smith declared that the test was mostly a success, and asked me if this room was safe. I nodded, telling him that since the door was shut, we were in an extradimensional room, and that no cell phone signals exist here. Agent Smith told everyone that S.H.I.E.L.D.’s network infrastructure has been compromised in a big way, big enough that we would need to do something else.

  Agent Smith turned his head to me, and I continued where I had already started a network that was going to be offered to everyone, that would mimic at the very least texting and calling, via telepathic transmission. I cautioned them that this is in no way invasive, that you can’t be made to accept, and others can’t actively read your mind. It is only if you desire to send something, and only what you send is what is received by the other person. Agent Peterson asked what that meant about the S.H.I.E.L.D. network and accounts. Agent Smith declared that the deal that we had made, would mean that we are getting at least one hundred thousand dollars for operating expenses, and that once P.B.C. Healthcare gets further saturation, you should not be worried about being paid.

  Agent Cross asked what we were going to do with the accounts that were S.H.I.E.L.D. based, and Agent Smith replied that they should continue to use them, but to keep an eye on them. Agent Smith declared that they were not going rogue from S.H.I.E.L.D.. He pointed out that all of this group were being targeted by a hacker that had access to some DARK energy, and that we would be going dark ourselves, from S.H.I.E.L.D. to cauterize the damage to the main agency. Agent Smith said that as of today, unfortunately, S.P.E.A.R. is a go. As a final note, he added that he had already passed an encrypted message to S.H.I.E.L.D. higher ups, and that I had passed a message through divergent means to other factions of S.H.I.E.L.D., to ensure that the main players know why we went dark, and that we can be reached if the need is great.

  It was then that he showed everyone how we were going to be moving to this new network as soon as we could get them enchanted. I offered up that I can put things on hold for the rest of the tower, but my team was already working on enchanting a room, so we could make some of them functional tomorrow, but I didn’t know how many. The Agents nodded and Cal asked if that meant that we would not be able to contact anyone outside of this network. I told him that it would, but that if they decided to get a basic phone that wasn’t connected with this network, that they could use that to contact those outside of it. Agent Smith nodded and added that any such network would necessarily be susceptible to hacking by this individual.

  Cal nodded and said that he would keep that in mind. Donald asked what we do about internet connectivity for research. Agent Smith said that this would be a problem that we would have to figure out, but that we could figure something out without too much difficulty, especially if we can solve the cell phone issue so readily. I sighed, and noted that everyone was going to have to be pitching in, especially with ideas. Agent Smith nodded and asked for an update on the whole public outreach campaign.

  Agent Peterson offered up that there are a few events in the upcoming weeks that would be ideal. Agent Smith nodded and asked about storage of the finished goods in the interim. I mentioned that we have a few large rooms down in the basement, but that Tony Stark purchased a warehouse not too far away, and maybe we can contact him for distribution purposes. Agent Smith said that this might be a route we have to take, as we might be looking at needing a lot more space for making the process more expanded. I nodded and said that we would have to figure that out after this first batch.

  Agent Smith nodded, took a look at what we needed, and then started delegating tasks for ordering to the different Agents under his purvey. I took the four from the school aside, and asked Cal and Sera if they would be interested in being the “faces” for the Chrysalis brand for the Mead and Wine flavors for this “Flavor Ice” that we were looking at giving away. Cal and Sera looked at each other and smiled, saying that this was already discussed, and it was going to be Cal, Sera, Chloe, and David. I asked them with a lifted eyebrow, “Chloe and David?”. They told me that the meeting had gotten a lot less formal over time.

  I smiled and let them continue on with their activities. I headed upstairs to the Campaigner’s Tent, and received a Sending from Natasha. Apparently, Wong had been contacted and would be arriving shortly. I used Sending to respond to ensure that he brings no electronics with him. Natasha replied back that she had cautioned him.

  I waited in the Campaigner’s Tent for Wong to appear, and it didn’t take long. I bowed in greeting and then told him that I had a LOT to discuss. We went over what had happened since he was last here, and what I was planning for the future for that splinter of the World Tree. Wong was cautiously optimistic for the cutting of Yggdrasil being restored, but very concerned about the purplish black energy and the issues with the hacker. I took him down to where we had put the coffer when we had gotten back, and slowly unveiled the contents.

  Wong spat and said that this was from the Darkhold. I told him that it seemed like the energy was evil, and that my main goal was keeping the target on me, rather than civilians around us. I added that the individual behind this seemed to be one who can hack digital architecture rather easily, but that they are not likely physically sturdy, and prefer to use pawns, like the thugs that they had sent with the weapons. I told him that when I figured out that he was keeping an eye on us via the technology present and connectable from a network, we started getting the group of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents disconnected from the S.H.I.E.L.D. network, to try to isolate the issue from the greater network to just us. I offered up that we were going to be working on making some cell phone alternatives, and that I would be offering him one as well.

  Wong thought for a moment and asked if I thought that we were just being responsive in a way that was keeping me busy and out of the ability to respond to issues. I told him that it is possible, likely even, but that I didn’t know how much of a grasp on technomagic this person might get from something like the Darkhold, and wanted to make sure that they could not use it against us as easily. Wong nodded and said that this did make sense. I told him that the best way I could see to deal with Technomagic, is to not even join the fight in that field. Wong nodded and asked what was intended to do with the items.

  I told him that initially, we had intended on having S.H.I.E.L.D. secure them, but now that we were on our own, I told him that I thought that it would be better for everyone if these items just stopped existing. Wong looked at me and asked what I meant about that. I asked him if there was some way for items to be teleported to the center of the sun or something so that they could just be destroyed. Wong looked at the items and said that it was very difficult to dispose of these in a way that didn’t put the rest of the world in danger.

  I asked him to consider it, for some time, if he could, and that I would take these and put them in the safest condition I could for now. He raised an eyebrow and asked how I would do that. I told him that I would get or make some holy water, make the smallest internal dimension coffer I could that would fit the items, fill it with the items and then the rest of the way with holy water, coat that coffer with lead, then layer constant energy stones, between layers of energy resistive material, then I would coat the whole thing in granite, and find the deepest place I could put it, and keep tabs on it, and place it there. I added that I would add some special charges on the inside of the box, that if the inner coffer is exposed to the atmosphere, it would set off a chain reaction of explosions, to hopefully destroy what is inside. I asked him if there is anything that his system of magic can do to assist, I would be most appreciative.

  Wong said that he would research it and get back to me. I thanked him and asked him how the Masters of the Mystic Arts were dealing with the chaos. Wong sighed and said that they felt rather stretched thin. I told him that I was training my second, so that once he is able to deal with this situation, I will be more available to go to other areas to help. Wong nodded and said that he would keep it in mind.

  Wong mentioned that he had to leave, and he watched me seal it back up, and layer it in further stone. Wong said that he would keep an eye out for more Darkhold related items, and if any pop up, he would let me know immediately. I told him that I would let Natasha know when your new phones are ready. Wong thanked me and said that he would be back then. I thanked him for all his help, and said that once we were a bit more stabilized down here, that he would be free to try out the Combat Simulation Suite in the basement.

  Before he could leave, I remembered the possibility from Kamar-Taj, on the prospective teaching roster. I stopped him and asked if he had just a few more moments for something else. Wong stopped the Sling Ring activation, and looked at me. I told him that although he knows about the fact that I am building a school here, I had not told him about how it will progress. I told him how we will only start training individuals, at the earliest, after they receive a diploma or similar document. I told him how the fields that they will be being instructed in, are Applied Mathematics, Agriculture and Resource Management, Biology and Health, Chemistry and Materials Science, Computer Science, Cosmology, Logic and Philosophy, Mechanics and Ballistics, AND Physics and Engineering, before they even study Magic and Magitech.

  I added that we already have a teacher for the Physics and Engineering course, and that I would be hoping that we could have the support of the Masters of the Mystic Arts for the Logic and Philosophy course. Of course, the individual would have their own room, and would be able to avail themselves of our facilities, including our future library, our combat room, a meditation room, and our mess hall. Their classes are eight students at a time, and we hope to eventually grow to eight student groups at a time in the building. Speaking of the Mess Hall, I offered up that it is time for dinner, and he could, if he has time, catch a meal here, totally free, whatever he can think of. Wong looked at me with a bit of suspicion, but followed me up.

  We made our way to the mess hall, where I opened up the doors in a theatric reveal, to show him the medieval tavern designed interior. The walls had some frescos in them, featuring combats of the Avengers and other superheroes, including one of me fighting the drones. There were banners featuring sigils standing for heroes hanging from the roof, a long bar with shelves behind it, that were currently empty, with three large stone hogsheads, each one containing a fortified fine potable, mead, sweet red, or sweet white wine, left to age further. Then there were the three stone coffers, big as deep chest freezers which contained the different flavors of the mead or wine Ice from the fractional distilling method. There were solid granite tables and benches, stylized as rough hewn oak board work, with chandeliers lit with candles that had been placed with Continual Flame pellets.

  Finally, there was the one anachronism, a short table at the front, with stacked granite-ware bowls, plates, mugs, and utensils. All of the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. were in line, mixed with the staff of the Chrysolis. I cleared my throat, introducing to everyone Sorcerer Supreme Wong, of the Masters of the Mystic Arts. Agent Smith stepped up and introduced everyone to Wong as different Agents of S.P.E.A.R., or the Strategic Paranormal Education and Arcane Research department. Wong’s Eyebrow raised when he heard the title of this new branch but accepted introductions all the same. When Wong got to Donald Gill, Donald was more comfortable with a simple fist bump, which Wong accommodated.

  The last was Cal, who bowed and shook his hand after. Wong gave him an appraising once over look, while shaking Cal’s hand. He then asked what everyone was having. There was a chorus of the different people explaining exactly what they were having, and how the Nutrient Cube worked. Wong chuckled, and offered to go last, watching everyone order whatever they desired. When it got to him, he asked me what the side effects were. I told him that if he ordered ANYTHING with caffeine, he would recover slightly from exhaustion and fatigue, and that if he ordered anything with alcohol, he would find that the next ten minutes he was about ten percent better at recovering memories and performing mental tasks.

  I added that the food was all the same level of nourishment, but that it flavored to be as you mentally envisioned. Agent Vance spoke up and suggested that he NOT get the Chicken a la King MRE. There was some laughter, and Wong described what he desired. A soup bowl full of noodles was what came out, and a warm Carajillo came out in the granite mug. While we sat down to eat, others had little conversations between themselves, and I whispered to Wong, that I could feed up to forty-eight hundred people a day, as long as the lines moved every six seconds, so the Masters of the Mystic Arts would be more than welcome to come and enjoy the fair, at no cost, as well.

  It was then that Agent Peterson, sorry, Chloe, got up to go to one of the chest freezers, and pulled out two of the Mead Ices, and brought one over for Wong to try, as she told him that it tastes like Summer. Wong took a tentative bite, and then another. He looked at it, and over at the freezers, and back at the ice, and asked if it would be okay if he took some of this with him. Agent Smith smiled and went out of the tower to go get a cooler. When he came back, he put one of each of the four types in the cooler for Wong. Wong picked them up and said that he’d be heading out. I asked him to walk with me out of the tower, and I would show him a bit of the security.

  We walked to where the front door was, and I melded through it. Wong pushed through and was standing at the door. I told him that if he wanted to go back in, he needed to think of the word “Amicus” and he would meld through the stone. I added that I had removed the door completely, so there is nothing to hack or trick, or pry. It is a wall that allows easy access out, and restricted access in. Wong was thoughtful as he said that this was an interesting security feature, and that he’d consider it sanctums in the future.

  I thanked him and he departed, saying that he would approach the other Masters of the Mystic Arts, and see about the teaching position. I went back to the mess hall, and asked if they had spent all the time from when Agent Smith and I got back doing this. Agent Smith said it would be a good reminder of what everyone is trying to become. I thanked them all and said that we were going to do this together, no matter what. I offered up to Cal that he should begin to teach Sera the basics, while I will teach him more.

  I added that I was going to retire early, so that I can start on the phones and everything tomorrow. I went back upstairs to check through the region, and started getting ready to finish off my day. I used Ears of the City, but couldn’t find any rumors of any attacks or crimes going down tonight, so I chalked it up as a win. I quickly finished off everything I could, getting it ready for tomorrow. I was just finishing everything when Amber contacted me. She Sent, “Sorry, Cavalry asked if I could contact early. Said Norfolk went dark. Asking why. Everything okay? I love you, let me know you are okay.” I replied back, “Tech geist infesting network. Going Dark, will get you two access. We are okay, but tell Cavalry the Darkhold is back. love and miss you.” I finished my day with burning through all of my arcana slots to create more of the Constant Energy stones.

  Just when I think that the script was producing odd results, I might have ended up with the ODDEST Downtime combination of all. I rolled an encounter, for it, got a result of 99, or roll twice. First result was passed on to the Building specific “Unexpected Grant”. Okay, not so bizarre. Second one was Disgruntled Student. The first time of this is Roll twice and GM picks result. I rolled “day of rest” for the first result. Doesn’t make too much sense. Then rolled building specific, and the Student Discovery. So, I figure, I have two students, Cal and Sera. I rolled even/odd, and got Cal.

  As for a random encounter rolled, it was afternoon, and it is a set of 3-5 Thugs, armed with tech or magic. This is the flavoring for one of the supervillains that will be long term pains in the ass. Someone who he can’t get rid of, because they are using his techniques of advancing others, but in selfish ways.

  It will turn out to be someone who he should have dealt with, but didn’t follow through. And it goes back to an EARLY throw away line.

  Solar Wind Style (Combat, Style)

  Your arrows glow as bright as the sun.

  Prerequisites: Perception 3 ranks, one Solar Wind stance known.

  Benefit: Your ranged attacks deal 1 point of additional fire damage. At character level 5th and at every five levels thereafter, this damage increases by 1. In addition, whenever you hit a creature with a ranged attack, you can choose to have your target become outlined as if by a faerie fire spell, with a caster level equal to your initiator level. Successive uses of this ability against the same creature do not stack; instead, they extend the duration. You can suppress or resume the light on an affected creature you can see as a free action. This is a supernatural ability.

  Cinnebar's Armor is effectively a +1 Chain Shirt (No penalty to any skills, weighs 1/4 the normal weight), that provides its wearer a +2 competence bonus on all ability checks to perform feats of strength, such as bending bars, and forcing doors. This bonus doesn’t apply on any other Strength-related rolls (including Strength-based skill checks and melee attack and damage rolls). The wearer also treats her Strength score as if it were 8 higher than normal for the purpose of determining her carrying capacity. Add Glamoured on top of it, and On command once per day, the wearer can transform it into thick Amber colored fog that smells of Honey and fills his space and provides concealment (20% miss chance) for 3 minutes. This mist moves with the character. Effects that disperse the mist or destroy it cause the armor to reform into its solid shape on the character’s body, as does speaking the command word or entering a place where the fog-magic doesn’t function (such as underwater). If the character tries to don another suit of armor while Cinnebar's Armor is in fog form, it reforms at the character’s feet.