Futuristic Icy Hearts

[theAngelFalls]

There's nothing cooler than making a cyborg that could make icees for you on the spot.
Well maybe that's not why the government made this particular cyborg,
but it's a start. A young scientist may start to think this whole thing wasn't such a great idea.​

A one x one between me and Faulty-Writes .

 

[Faulty-Writes]

Profile of Brooklyn Shuvver. Age: 23. Eye Color: Blue. Hair color: Blonde. Height: 6 feet, 1 inch. Place of birth: Nuremberg, Germany. Occupation: Head of Science & Technology. Status: Deseaded (To the outside world.)

It was scary to think all the information about yourself, facts you thought were so hidden could be accessed and accounted for by the government. They could make or break your life. Place you in the highest position with the most recognizable face or erase all files and make you nonexist to the outside world. That's how Brooklyn felt sometimes at this job, what kind of job was it exactly? Well, that'd be a little tricky to explain. Brooklyn was always a bright child, excelling in his education and many thought it would take him to wonderful places. He could be a brilliant scientist or professor. Tutor to anyone. Perhaps even win the noble prize. But no and it was all thanks to a mistake. A mistake that the young man regretted making. After successfully graduating from High School, having claimed numerous scholarships to various colleges. One would think Brooklyn would simply apply to one and go off to continue his education. But no, there was something else he wanted. Something else was calling him, begging him to take a break from his normal life. Do something exciting for once. Forget College and apply his skills to something worth while, worth attention.

Single handedly hacking and disabling government networking wasn't something he had completely thought through, in fact he had absentmindedly ignored the possible punishments he could face. Seems the government doesn't take too kindly to hackers and shortly after his moment of glory came the moment of horror. Brooklyn was stalked, kidnapped and taken to a strange underground facility. Where he was questioned about the hacking incident, surprisingly enough the government was impressed on how the young tech head had managed to hack and disable though various levels of government security and presented Brooklyn with a choice. Erase his identity and file him as a missing person's case surely to be dismissed and closed and end Brooklyn's life for knowing too many secrets. Or erase his identity, forgive him and excuse him of all crimes in exchange for working for the agency. The choice was bittersweet.

But for the first few years, Brooklyn had been living, breathing, eating, sleeping and working at the agency. His job was exclusively working on technology related cases. He spent many days hacking and creating new security protocols for the agency. However, they didn't ignore his thrust for science either and allowed him to work on even more secretive projects. One of which included the superhuman or as Brooklyn called it merely for kicks "The super soldier" project. The government wanted to create a super human of sorts. Super strength, healing abilities, perhaps even a few supernatual powers. But to create the serum, it would take time and dedication.

Years went by and Brooklyn aged along with those years. From a mere 18 year old to a 23 year old. During that time, he continued his work on the superhuman project, testing and perfecting the serum to the best of his ability. Needless to say, his hard work and dedication wasn't missed and he managed to work his way into becoming both the head of science and technology. A lot rested on his shoulders but he continued his work. Oh yes and he was there when they brought him in. A subject by the name of Gayle, Brooklyn recalls how they strapped him to the examination table. How he injected the serum and planted the cybernetic implant and proceeded to create the safety protocols for it. He designed it to be taken offline by a few simple codes that only he knew and if need be, he created a frequency pattern that would disrupt the cybernetic implant and slow Gayle down, but only if the first safe protocol failed. Brooklyn never thought he'd see the day, but it came.

Red lights were flashing and Brooklyn could hear the destruction and chaos their project was causing. Apprantly willingly losing control and attacking the fellow scientists and security officers. They were only running a field test and its safe to say it had failed and somehow caused a negative chain reaction within their superhuman. Brooklyn was back in his lab, surrounded by monitors that only displayed the scene before him. He was rushing around between computers and keyboards, typing in the safety protocol but something was wrong. Brooklyn let out a growl and slammed his fists down onto one of the keyboards. "Dammit! Aboard, aboard! Escape if you can, first set of safety protocols are not responding. I repeat first set of safety protocols are NOT working. Attempting second safety protocol, administrating frequency distribution now." He spoke as he quickly turned knobs and typed another command into the computer.

He panted softly, sweat beating down his forehead which caused some of his normally bouncy curls to stick flat to his skin. "Frequency disruptor online, I'm coming down. Restrain the subject if you can and once sedated bring the subject back to my lab. I need to make repairs, obviously I miscalculated a few factors." He explained as he pressed his thumb into the scanner attached to the door, it beeped in regconization and slid open for him. Brooklyn quickly made his exit and proceeded down the hall, scratching his head the whole way. What went wrong? Did he really make miscalculations or was the equipment simply broken? Was something overriding his commands? It was unlikely, but there had to be an explanation and he'd find out as soon as Gayle was back in his lab strapped down. "Today is going to be a long day." He said with a sigh just beforing arriving at the scene of destruction.
​

 

[theAngelFalls]

The government was excited to bring their superhuman project back online. After several failed attempts to infuse powerless vessels with supernatural abilities, they were eventually successful...to an extent. One had psychic abilities, but she didn’t last long. The madness of hearing so many voices drove her to suicide. They couldn’t control the second one with the ability to morph different body parts into various shapes. He took advantage of the chaos and confusion following a government hack and escaped. The self-destruction implant at the base of his neck had been disabled due to the hack, and it was unclear if it was ever reenabled. He’s been offline for five years now, and the government still couldn’t track him. They learned from their mistake and didn’t bring another superhuman online until they were absolutely sure it could be controlled, disabled, and found.

A few of the grumpy coots itching for retirement weren’t too happy to know that a fresh-faced kid was working on a highly confidential security project. Zelda Oppenheimer, a spritely forty-three-year-old woman at the time with raven black hair and piercing blue eyes, wasn’t having any of their shit. She had challenged them to create a security protocol and requested Mr. Shuvver to break it. It seemed like a breeze for the teen, and Zelda had no issue defending Mr. Shuvver’s promotions in the R&D sector thenceforth.

Zelda, now with worries about nearing 50, attended the first live demo. She wasn’t on the ground floor with the others. This wasn’t her project, so she was relegated to watching the superhuman perform rudimentary tests a few floors above the training grounds. After forty-four other failures, she only gave advice when warranted. The only part she perfected was the self-healing capabilities, but every other country could do that. She only made the process happen faster.

Zelda hadn’t stayed for the duration of the test. Even behind a one-sided glass window, she didn’t feel safe. Experiment 0045-2001 had been staring at her for about twenty minutes now. She feared he knew how many failures she had made and was quietly judging her.

Gayle Foadlicity Crofton did know how many failures she made, but he wasn’t judging her. He didn’t know who she was; she simply looked familiar. Gayle supposed the images that flashed in his head were memories of the past experiments. Each of the experiments had a recollection of that woman. She was the first thing they saw when they woke up and last thing they saw when they died. Once the woman disappeared from the window, he looked ahead and focused on jogging. He woke up to a blue-eyed blonde with “Brooklyn Shuvver” on the nametag. He couldn’t say he was disappointed.

In fact, the brunette continued to say nothing as the researchers measured his endurance on the treadmill, how much he could lift, push, and pull, and how quickly his light brown skin could regenerate after being attacked. His fighting abilities were much to be desired, but this was day one. Fighting protocols were installed, but his adaptation algorithms needed to polished. He currently had shown no signs of supernatural abilities. This worried a handful of researchers. One of the old coots blamed Shuvver. They had the problem solved for the past two experiments. Why was it suddenly not working now?

Gayle stood at the edge of the water tank with his toes curled at the ledge, and his large hands tapping his sides. A scientist was busy strapping him into a rig and ensuring all the monitors were online. The experiment took the time to look down at the scientists reviewing their little notebooks and chatting to themselves. A UI had populated identifying the scientists by name and position in the R&D sector. If he focused on a particular scientist, details about their vitals, mental state, and possible physical weak points appeared. It was all useless to him. Gayle didn’t know what to do with the information.

Once the scientist finished, he was given orders to jump in and swim underwater for as long as he could. Without a word of affirmation, he dropped into the water. A wave of panic turned into confidence as swimming protocols were called upon. He kicked and moved his arms but remained stationary due to the rig. Gayle swam underwater for approximately eight minutes before needing air. Panic set in again as he desperately attempted to go to the water’s surface. The rig held him in place.

Let me go! he thought. With a slash of his hand, the water around him froze. In the next beat, the tank holding in the giant ice cube was suddenly too small and shattered. Unable to hold itself together, the ice cube exploded, sending shards of ice of varying sizes away from Gayle. Many of the scientists had taken cover from the spears. The few who didn’t move in time were impaled or simply knocked unconscious. The training facility certainly had seen worst and held up fairly well against the explosion.

Security officers moved to check on the state of the scientists and cautiously approached Gayle gasping for air and with his usual grey-green eyes burning a fervid emerald. They were stopped in their tracks as ice from nearby shards quickly twisted around their bodies. A large smile twisted Gayle’s lips, and ice constricted the guards until it cut right through their fleshy bodies. The chaos that unfolded became a blur.

Gayle had continued to manipulate the ice cube bits into various animals, vines and trees to maul, hold, or crush the scientists at mercy. When he tried to do too much, his creations exploded into tiny shards which was seen as more problematic to the witnesses. Experiment 0045-2001 had discovered the ability to summon ice from thin air and encapsulated himself in the belly of an ice dragon. He had hopes to slam the fortified dragon into one of the windows, but his bloody efforts were stilted with a heavy ringing vibrating him to his very core. The dragon and any other creations dissolved into a light powder, and the superhuman thought his head was going to explode. Having fallen from the air, Gayle attempted stand but found his limbs incredibly weak.

Grinding his teeth, he held out a shaky hand and beckoned the ice to trap the incoming scientists. Nothing was responding. The officers pinned him down while the white lab coats poked needles into him. Gayle made one last effort to have the ice bend to his will, but his body gave out, and he drifted into unconsciousness.

When he next awoke, he was strapped to a table still feeling incredibly sluggish. The white and blue uniform he wore was rolled down to his hips and now speckled with blood. The dog tag identifying him as G.Crofton 0045-2001 fell onto the table as he shifted. Gayle rolled his head first to the right to discover he was hooked up to several machines. There were so many cords, and he wondered what they were for. His UI display wasn’t telling him anything. He looked to his left and recognized Brooklyn Shuvver quietly typing away at his computer.

Gayle stared at him for a few moments before looking around the room again.

“I can’t feel my legs,” he groaned, a bit surprised at his own voice. “And I can talk.” He looked back at Brooklyn and studied the information that populated about the boy. “But doctor, I don’t know what any of this shit means.” Gayle noticed a screen that was displaying his UI output. He blinked a couple times before closing one eye after the other. It was when he closed his right eye did the screen go blank before “OFFLINE” in green flashed onto the screen. He opened his eyes again and the message went away. “That’s cool,” he uttered, looking back at Brooklyn. “Still don’t know how it’s useful to me though.

“Why can’t I use my powers?” he asked, feeling his head buzz as he slowly came to.
​

// oops. Went a little overboard with the backstory and planting seeds for twists and subplots down the line :'D //

 

[Faulty-Writes]

Brooklyn turned to look at his subject, Gayle. He held an almost sad expression in his eyes as he stared at this superhuman project he had helped create. Gayle seemed hostile and angry and yet now he seemed almost innocent, complaining about his legs and lack of powers. It caused the young blonde to give a sigh which vanished quickly into the air. "Well I'm glad to see you are awake and hopefully on the more sane and stable side of things." He commented as he walked towards his subject, grabbing a small flashlight from one of the counters. "Now then, if you'd be so kind as to answer my inquiries." He said as he held open each one of Gayle's eyes for a moment and flashed the light into them. Taking note of how his pupils responded. He particular looked closely at the right eye, biting his lip as he thought about the strange occurrence between the eye and the monitor. Perhaps it was a temporary malfucniation and could be easily corrected with a higher frequency wireless charge.

He placed the flashlight down and pressed two fingers to the side of Gayle's neck, taking his pulse for a solid minute. "Mhmm." He hummed to himself and walked away once more to type something into his computer, his fingers working fast and light as he hunched over his workspace. "There we are, your vitals seem normal. The state of mental health is yet to be determined, however in your current state you seem to be more or less what I'd call normal." He commented before grabbing his laptop and taking a seat in his favorite wheeled chair and pulled himself over to Gayle. His fingers still typing, he was required to give a full and detailed report on the project and sometimes it was well quite a pain. "Let's see. Looking at all the information, I summarized a new protocol code and it's currently being transmitted into your cybernetic implant. As well as a new frequency disruptor pattern. As far as you being unable to use your powers, which was a fascinating bit of research I'm quite excited about. Let's just say your powers are currently disabled, however that's not my doing." He explained, not wanting to reignite any anger Gayle may be feeling.

"Now then." Brooklyn said as he placed his laptop to the side and stood up once more, his eyes locked on Gayle. Most would think this was wrong, arguing that a life was a life and the government disregarded basic human rights, having someone strapped down and wired into machines. Brooklyn tried not to think about it, he simply tried to find a sense of normality within his current life. "Why don't you explain what happened in your own words, what set about your rather destructive temper. What caused you to murder and harm the fellow people only designed to help you and your ...potential." He tried to be delicate with his wording, but regardless of how he phrased it. He was hoping to get some form of an answer. "You displayed your ice powers quite effectively despite the asumed fact you have not performed a task with them before. How did you know how to control your powers? What triggered them? Your emotions?" He hoped for the fallen scientists sake that this little mishap didn't cost him his hard work. It took years to get this far but the government was unforgiving with mistakes and Brooklyn needed to find a way to fix this, fast and efficiently. Else this may be another wasted project.

 

[theAngelFalls]

“Okay doc,” he said, agreeing to answer his questions. He watched the boy pick up a flashlight and approached him. Gayle winced slightly as the light radiated in his eyes. He wasn’t prepared but thankfully it seemed to be a quick check up. O-kay. Maybe not for his right eye. When he was no longer blinded, he blinked a few times to reset his sight.

Stiffening slightly at Brooklyn’s touch, he easily relaxed realizing he wasn’t doing anything harmful. His fingers felt warm. Then just like they were gone. The boy was typing away again, and he was curious about the contents. Was it good? Was it bad? Brooklyn said he was normal.

Surprisingly, he understood everything what the doc was saying until the mention of his powers. That was concerning too. Everything he said didn’t help him feel better. Gayle had a suspicion that the “frequency disruptor pattern” was what caused his entire body to quake earlier. When was earlier? He looked around for a clock. How long was he out?

He pushed that question to the back burner when he heard doc rise from his chair.

Maybe he shouldn’t have agreed to answer his questions so quickly. Gayle curled and uncurled his fingers as he ordered Brooklyn’s questions and thought about the best way to answer them.

He offered the same smile he gave the officers before slicing them into little bits. “They were going to drown me,” he began, glancing away from those blue eyes. “I had no more bubbles to blow out. The tank was empty, and I needed air. If you made me a fish, I wouldn’t have trouble breathing underwater,” he explained. He looked back at Brooklyn as if to confirm that the boy understood. “I wasn’t a fish, and the rig wasn’t going to let me swim, so I wanted the water to go away. It went away strangely though, didn’t it? Instead of leaving out of the tank...it froze first.

“It then got away...from me. Like a magnet with opposite poles, it went BAM,” he exclaimed, jumping at his restraints. “I didn’t do that. If I had more...power...I could have stayed in that cube. I didn’t. It fizzled away from me. I lost...control,” he said thoughtfully with a smaller smile.

“I was unsatisfied. Like you, I wasn’t sure what happened, so I thought to try again. Vines trapped people. I wanted ice to be like vines and trap people. The ice trapped the officers. I would have died if I didn’t stop the water. Maybe. Maybe the scientists would have fished me out. I didn’t stop the vines. I thought that maybe I would go over and stop them.” He didn’t have to finish retelling that story, but he was to give his perspective. Gayle agreed to that. He continued with a wicked smile, “I guess I would've died, hm? I didn’t stop the vines from killing them. They just continued to grow on their own.”

He sighed with a gentle hum. “You speak of controlling my powers, but I can't control them. I can start something. Like I started a sapling from a bit of ice. That grew into a tree without me. I wanted to make a baby rhino out of a block ice. Maybe it was...the blood in the air that sent it on a rampage. If I tried to regain control...it went BAM!” he shouted, shifting in his restraints again. “I wasn’t angry. I didn’t drown. It was exciting to see everything default to destruction.

“Maybe someone who's angry the other 44 didn’t work placed that anger in me. Or...44 others were angry that I’m the one...who lived,” he smiled. He wiggled his fingers and tried to move his toes. He got a twitch out of his left leg, but that was it. “I could make the vessels, but it’s their souls that bring them to life.

“Did I answer your questions, doc?”

 

[Faulty-Writes]

Brooklyn blinked, his stomach twisting in a nauseous manner as Gayle went on. He suspected the other was happy for spilling mostly innocent blood, that smile certainly didn't help. From what he gathered Gayle enjoyed the idea of harm and destruction. But why? Perhaps that was a question for another day and though Brooklyn pushed his own emotions down, as much as he could anyway. He looked cross, like he was debating whether to be sad or angry in response. "I believe a metal evaluation may be in order. Perhaps this isn't a matter of science, but a matter of a possible chemical imbalance in your brain." He suggested though he was not a psychologist nor did he have any study or experience in the matter of metal disorders. But it was a factor he had overlooked, a detail he had given no thought to. A knock then sounded and it caused Brooklyn's head to turn, he was rather grateful for the distraction. He rose from his chair and opened the door, coming face to face with another scientist. She was dressed in a white lab coat and had her hair pulled back. She glanced past Brooklyn and towards Gayle.

Then she proceeded to whisper secrets to Brooklyn while handing him a packet of papers, more than likely it was only the results of various tests they had performed on Gayle while the man had been unconscious. "Yes, thank you very much. Oh and if I may ask a favor. I don't believe it was my coding or wireless frequency that technically failed. I believe this problem may be an internal error. However I still modified the coding. But I would like to request Gayle to go under a mental evaluation if possible to determine a possible chemical imbalance which may have interfered with both his reaction and my technological interfaces." He explained, though he made very little sense. Still the woman nodded and took her leave. He turned to his subject once more, his eyes momentarily looking at the restraints. He prayed they would hold if by chance Gayle turned destructive again.

"You may call me Brooklyn or Brooks if you'd perfer, despite appearance. I do not have a doctorate degree nor have I any knowledge of medicine or physical discomforts or illnesses of any kind. I do not hold any College or further education degree or certificate of any kind." He explained which only strung his heart, if he had just gone to college instead of hacking into the goverment network he wouldn't be here right now. "Now then, just one more question. Are you happy you lived despite the fact you killed innocent people?" He sounded rather serious, a hint of anger clear in his voice. "I do not understand, we created you, I made you. I put a tremendous amount of study and work into creating the serum, years of my life. Should you not be thankful for all we have given you. We are not your enemy Gayle. We are not bad, do you understand that?" He wasn't sure if he should be trying to reason with the other. Maybe it was Brooklyn that didn't understand, yes they had gone against nature and created a superhuman. But it was for the greater good or so he believed. The world could always use improvement.

 

[theAngelFalls]

“Perhaps your right,” Gayle smiled. “Wasn’t I ‘activated’ this morning? Maybe my mind fizzled out after years of being in a stasis,” he mused as a knock echoed throughout the room. He crooked his head slightly to see their visitor. Expecting everyone to avoid even catching a glimpse of him, he was surprised she turned his way. Gayle rewarded her boldness with a dangerous grin.

Whispers and papers. If only the doctor would boost his hearing maybe he would know what they were talking about. There was a good chance it involved him, but he supposed he’d be the talk of the town for the moment. When the whispering seemed to drag on, he turned his attention to the machine he was connected to and attempted to trace the cables to a specific input. Or was he the input? Perhaps he was both input and output. Were one of these cables stifling his abilities?

Gayle heard his name mentioned in conversation, but he didn’t move. It wasn’t until the door clicked close and the doctor begin to speak again was his attention warranted.

“Wait. You’re not a doctor?” he asked, more impressed than surprised. That seemed to be the least of Brooks’ worries. Brooks...Brooky? Lyn? B? Nothing seemed to fit. Even if he was a fraud, doc still seemed to fit him the best.

The superhuman didn’t need his UI predicting Brooklyn was upset. A dash of anger slithered into the boy’s voice. His disappointment became obvious the more he spoke.

“That was three questions,” he pointed out with a smile. “But I’m okay with that. I thought you were going to leave me here after the question. Imma answer the second and third one together if that’s okay. First one’s a little tricky.”

He wiggled his fingers as he stared up at the boy. Actually the last two questions were tricky themselves too, weren’t they? Gayle tried to move his legs again and was satisfied he managed motion in his left leg. His toes had yet to respond and his right leg continued to be stiff as a log.

“If I’m not supposed to be...bad,” he said, looking down at his legs as if willing them to do more, “why am I strapped to this table and my powers stripped? You’re not bad, so being my creator, I’m not bad either.” He hummed slightly and met Brooklyn’s gaze. “Yet my creations did bad things. If you’re good, and I’m good, then...they must be good too right? That’s what would happen in an ideal world, so why can’t this be the ideal world?

“You created life that could create more life,” Gayle smiled. “That’s pretty cool. Thanks for working on something like that. Bet your proud you can slap that on your resume.

“Buuut,” he sang, “What would it mean if you did? I didn’t kill those people--I’m answering question one now. My creations did. So if I’m being blamed for what my creations did, does that mean you killed those people too since I’m your creation? Are you happy you lived despite the fact you killed innocent people? I don’t feel anything other than sadness for I can’t feel my toes and my right leg! If you said you made me on your resume, then you would have admitted to killing all those people.” He twisted his left again. “I suppose I’ll be careful next time. I have to train more to have better control of my powers. If I got it right day one, that would be strange, yeah?”

 

[Faulty-Writes]

Brooklyn could feel his eyes growing wider and wider, his stomach twist and tighten as well as his throat. No, he wouldn't be blamed for this. It was true he did most of the work on the serum and codes, but he did not interfere with Gayle's self control. What about the few others that were involved in the project? Minor roles, they played yes but still something could have gone wrong. Brooklyn hasn't realized how long he had been thinking, his fingers were curled into his hair and he blinked once, twice as he came back into reality. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts but for a brief last thought. He was beginning to wonder if the superhuman project was a mistake or did they actually make the mistake? Either way he tried to silence his own mind and looked to Gayle, his eyes catching the small movement.

"You are my creation essentially. I did most work on your codes, the serum yes but I did not bring you in as the subject. Like the other failed expierments, you were treated different to an extent and yet even with your free will you blame others for your mistake." He replied, knowing he was walking on very thin ice. Perhaps it wasn't Gayle's fault, he didn't ask for this. He didn't choose this life and maybe it was overwhelming. Brooklyn's thoughts seemed to be same, repeating over and over again. Still, he pressed a hand to his chest. "I am not bad, my intentions are pure and for the better of my world. I spilled no innocent blood." Or did he? Why was he trying to argue? It was pointless because arguing got you nowhere and why was he attempting to argue with Gayle? He let out a sigh and rubbed at his eyes, trying to get them reset and back on the task at hand.

He took a seat again, silently thinking of his next choice of words. Despite the fact the others words still lingered in his head. "Practice makes perfect, you've heard of that phrase yes? Given your current, predicament I'm not certain they will allow you back until further notice. However," He paused and turned to one of the monitors. "your repairs are almost complete, if given approval there is a chance you can participate in another field test." He explained before wiping his forehead, finding himself a bit exhausted. It had been 72 hours and even before Gayle's episode, he had been up and working on another project. Endless work plagued him and now with a sense of guilt on his heart, he wasn't sure if he could even sleep.

A yawn came from his lips and his mouth felt extremely dry. He groaned and got up once more, grabbing a nearby water bottle and greedily making it disappear. Afterward, he threw the bottle to the ground and felt a small amount of water trickling down his lips and chin. He looked to Gayle once again, strapped down with nowhere to go. It almost reminded him of his life, trapped. Though was it truly right to keep him restrained? Gayle was the project he put a lot of effort into and to see this as a result, it was a little disappointing. Maybe he was looking at this the wrong way. He wiped the wetness away and took a long breath. "Are you hungry?" It was a simple question, mostly to begin to install trust into the other. But Brooklyn could feel his stomach growl, despite feeling sick. He knew he needed to fuel his body.

 

[theAngelFalls]

If Gayle had no intentions, would he still be blamed for the bloodshed? “You got me there,” he laughed at the realization that he did possess free will. He certainly did, didn’t he? Or was his mind just another program going through different hoops? There was evidence of both. His hand-to-hand combat was shit. He knew how to do it, but he couldn’t execute. It was like he didn’t actually know how. After these repairs, maybe he would have a better showing. If he could fight using his hands and the guns, he wouldn’t have to rely on his powers. Brooklyn wouldn’t have to look so...stressed.

“It sounds familiar,” Gayle commented on the phrase. He couldn’t say where he first heard it. In a dream? Part of someone else’s conversation? It could have programmed into his vocabulary. “You can always put me on test mode, right doc?” he suggested. “Dial me back a couple notches?” he hummed with a smile. Maybe he was on full power mode this morning. All engines were running full blast. Perhaps what people needed was a level one Gayle.

“Enter a few limit gates here and there that can’t be activated until you say it so.” Experiment 0045-2001 wiggled his fingers excitedly. “You can control what I can’t. You have good intentions, so you can make sure I have them too.

“You don’t want me scrapped,” he said, Brooklyn’s yawn barely escaping him. “You’ve worked too hard so see me thrown away. Throwing me away is like throwing away all that time you could have devoted to something else. Shape me in your image! Can you override chemical imbalances with science?” he mused more to himself. He didn’t expect Brooklyn to answer that last question. It was more food for thought, but speaking of food…

“Food would be nice,” he smiled. Did he eat? He could drown, so he supposed food was required too. When was the last time he had eaten? Gayle’s attention drifted back to the wires attached to his body. He could imagine them feeding him through tubes, but he could have actual food now.

“I’ll have what you’re having,” he said, looking back at Brooklyn. “Do I get to have you feed me, or are you afraid I might bite?” he smiled a toothy grin. The boy may not have the energy left for games. Gayle raised a brow and asked curiously anyway, “What’s scarier? Me being able to move my arms or me biting you?”

He chuckled lightly. “I won’t bite you.” He smiled, “Unless you want me to bite you. You might get in trouble if you free me. I still need that psychological evaluation after all. You never know what I’ll do next. I don’t know what I’ll do next. Hmm. I’ll be myself, but what does that mean? You see me as bad. And what does that mean? What would being good mean? Can I be bad while eating? Is there a good way to eat?” he rambled before he laughed. “Maybe my chatting is a sign of my hunger. Better get that food before I fall into a vicious spiral!”

 

[Faulty-Writes]

Brooklyn groaned and rubbed his head, Gayle certainly did enjoy talking though he'd rather have someone willing to communicate than not. But still, as he went on Brooklyn found himself lacking an answer to his questions of good and bad, right and wrong. Normally humans learned the difference at a young age. As far as Gayle was concerned he still had the childlike lesson to learn. The whole thing caused him to sigh, his brain felt as though it had been fried. "You'll find such things out on your own and as biting um ..." He could feel his face grow the slightest bit warm and quickly dismissed his sentence. "Nevermind. Your need to guilt me isn't amusing. Do you wish to have food or not?" The man questioned more firmly, wanting more of a straightforward answer.

But either way, it didn't matter. He rubbed at his eyes before walking over to his computer where he punched in a series of numbers. He smiled a bit and crossed his arms over his chest, his direction turned to the door and a few moments later the light on the door lit up and in came a small robot. It was simple in shape, square and lacking a face. The bottom of it had wheels and it seemed more like a fun you than an actual robot. Brooklyn had crafted it out of spare parts on a particularly boring day, it was only meant to bring him food and refreshments since he was often too busy with his work to take a break. He chuckled and punched in another series of numbers before the machine gave a beep in response and left the room.

"Surely not as intelligent as you, but I do spend any spare time crafting simple robots." Though Gayle was far more advanced in his nature, Brooklyn still held the keys to his engine. He took a seat once more and tapped his fingers along the counter, his work was important and he didn't want it to be a waste. But he wouldn't let that happen, he knew if he played his cards right he could be able to influence the continuation of the superhuman project with Gayle. Despite obvious mountains he'd have to climb to do so. He groaned and rubbed his eyes again, willing for his little robot to return with the food. It took a good few minutes and Brooklyn normally was a patient man, but he found himself tapping his foot against the tiled flooring.

Perhaps it was the lack of sleep that caused him to be a little out of character. Yes, just lack of sleep. He swore numbers danced in his dreams. Another yawn came before the robot finally returned. "Aw, thank you." He said, despite the fact the robot wouldn't respond or understand. Brooklyn leaned over and opened the robot's front where he took the warm food. It was simple, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and some chicken. It smelled delicious. He placed most of the food onto the counter and reached over to type in another numberic code which caused his little robot to power down. After which Brooklyn reached into a high shelf and grabbed a fork, greedily taking a single bite of the macaroni and cheese.

He licked his lips and stood up again, the small container of food in his hand. "Now for a confirmation. Would you like a bite of my food?" He questioned, even going as far as holding out a small forkful for the other. Despite the fact he didn't trust taking off the restaints even though he may be viewed as cruel for it. But his stomach cruelly twisted as he internally debated himself. Better safe than sorry, Gayle didn't exactly show remorse for his actions but Brooklyn did have precautions set up. But if Gayle was loose and caused more damage it could end Brooklyn's life. That wasn't something he was willing to face, he wasn't that brave.

 

[theAngelFalls]

Gayle’s brow cocked a bit in amusement from Brooklyn’s blushing. Oh ho ho. “Food is good,” he answered.

The cyborg was doubtful food was on the way after he watched the doc type on his computer and turn around to just...sit there? Confusion turned into curiosity with the opening of the door.

“Oh that’s cute,” he smiled, when the little robot rolled into the room. Brooklyn was waiting for his personal servant. He was surprised the boy wasn’t stuck to his chair if he could have a robot deliver him anything he needed. “It’s good to have a hobby. I don’t want you going crazy over me.”

Gayle watched the young scientist waste away in his fatigue. He drummed his own fingers offbeat from Brooklyn’s own tapping, but that didn’t seem to warrant a reaction. The eye rubbing and yawning...would he get tired too? There were so many questions about what he could and couldn’t do. He couldn’t swim for more than eight minutes, but a part of his mind had said he needed to breathe. Gayle hadn’t actually tried breathing underwater. Could he run forever? It seemed they stop that test because the scientists watching him were getting fatigued and maybe bored. Would his arms ever stop working. He hadn’t had the chance to show off his hand-to-hand combat skills. To everyone who was at the test site, he couldn’t land a punch and gave up on the exercise prematurely. Did he have limits already programmed into him?

He allowed the thoughts to fade as the little robot returned with, he guessed, food. The powering down intrigued him for a bit, and he stared at the lifeless robot until Brooklyn obstructed his view. The food didn’t smell amazing, but he really didn’t have much of a baseline.

Gayle stared at the food for a moment before reaching out to eat what was on the fork. He chewed slowly, staring at Brooklyn as he did so. The cyborg had taste buds! That was comforting.

“That was good,” he smiled. He added with a laugh, “I doubt that’s enough to split between the two of us though.” Gayle curled his fingers and released them. Ah, he was gaining motion in his other leg, and he could feel his toes on the left. “What did you just feed me?” he strained to see what else was in the container. “Don’t think you could give me the ability to see through things,” he smiled since he was at it, “and enhanced hearing? Maybe a food identification program too?”

He crooked his head slightly. “Who gets to decide what I can do? Am I allowed to ask for upgrades?” Gayle hummed softly. “Although I don’t really know if I’m ready for them yet...Good news, I can move my legs! Well mostly. The right is still waking up. You think I could use my powers once the numbness disappears?

“Maybe after the food break you can sneak me out to the training facility. You can get in my head and help me not be so...bad,” he proposed, glancing down at his legs. “Even if I can’t use my powers still, I can test other things like...seeing how far I can run! I could see if I can run through the night.” Gayle flexed his left toes. “And I can practice fighting…” The cyborg stopped what he was doing and looked up at Brooklyn. “Doc, why do I have to fight?”

// Ooof. Hopefully that's enough to respond to. :'D //

 

[Faulty-Writes]

//More than enough. Thank you.

"There's plenty of food to share, even if there wasn't I would share. It's not in my nature to be selfish." Though sometimes he wished he could have that attitude in some situations, but unfortunately he didn't have a choice when it came to the government agency. Brooklyn let out a sigh before taking another forkful of food for himself, greedily chewing it before swallowing. "You are very curious. There is one problem to programming any further abilities into your person. Apart from the fact that you have already failed in showing that you can control such abilities, I cannot decide what to program into your cybernetic system. I only follow direct orders from my superior and only if everything has been carefully filed and organized, looked over and approved." He explained before turning his back and walking over to grab another container, this time the chicken. "Same rules apply to any training, formal or non-formal. You are designed to be a soldier of sorts, basic combat and survival skills are necessary for such things." He turned back and took a bite of the chicken, it was soft and juicy in his mouth. "Mm." He hummed in response to the taste and his eyes glanced to the small movements that Gayle was making. He narrowed his eyes and swallowed the food in his mouth before placing the container down. He once again turned and walked towards his monitors, more specifically the one that had the vital signs on it. His fingers easily grazed across the keyboard and brought up another screen where he typed something into the command bar.

He then opened a cabinet and took out something that looked like a watch, only instead of a circular piece. There was a small rectangular piece that opened to reveal a keyboard. If Brooklyn needed to he could enter and carry out operations through the small device. He easily clipped it onto his wrist before rubbing his eyes, the food seemed to be waking him up slowly but he needed rest more than anything. The young man then walked back over to Gayle and reached down to loosen something on the chair, allowing it to be moved so that Gayle was higher up and in a proper sitting position. Though he kept the restains as they were, somehow he didn't believe releasing Gayle from them would be any good, at least not until he got orders. He regrabbed the container of chicken and took a seat, offering another forkful to the man. "I am not going to do anything until I receive orders for your release, you do realize though I helped create you. My words mean very little in your defense." It was sad but true, at the current moment he did wish things were different. "Hm?" He raised his head when he heard the sound of a phone, he almost had forgotten that there was a phone his lab. He pushed himself up and walked over to the phone that was located on the far wall and picked it up. "Hello?" He spoke and waited for the response, which surprised him.

He looked panic for a moment and scratched the back of his head. "Uh, sir are you quite certain about that? But this project has meant so much and I-yes I did the reprogramming." Brooklyn said and rubbed the back of his head, listening to the stern voice of his superior on the other side of the phone. "No, I don't believe it was a technical issue. We haven't pinpointed the true problem, however, I believe if a field test could be administrated you could see the full potential and control I have reinstalled into the project. Yes, yes I am aware. What?!" He exclaimed before shaking his head, looking as though he were debating about whatever he was speaking about over the phone. He stood like that for a few seconds before sighing. "Alright fine, send a team down and some food. I'd like him to have something eat before we run a field test." Brooklyn said before hanging up the phone and turning to Gayle. "Well looks like you got your wish." He replied at least part of a wish anyway.

 

[theAngelFalls]

“Is there something wrong with curiosity?” Gayle smiled. “It’s best to question things than accept them as fact, wouldn’t you say? It keeps the other person on their toes. Keeps them thinking,” he hummed, watching Brooklyn eat. There was something oddly fascinating about it all. The more Brooklyn consumed, the more energy was restored. In his eyes, the boy wasn’t shuffling around much anymore. He had pep in his step, and he wasn’t yawning as much.

Oh? Believing that he was in trouble for staring at the boy so much, he wondered why the doctor looked so concerned. Brooklyn stayed quiet and typed away at his computer once more. Gayle studied the young man before glancing at the monitors. They had significantly more information than what was provided on his UI display, yet from what he could read, it detailed his vitals. His mind shifted back to the cords hanging off him. If he were to yank one out, would a reading disappear?

Hesitantly, he turned to face Brooklyn as he configured his chair to fold up just a bit, so that he was more upright. Very convenient.

At the offer for more food, Gayle willingly consumed it. This had a different texture and flavor. It was good! With a smile creeping onto his face, he could see why Brooklyn appeared so happy to eat it.

“I doubt programming me to see through things, identify food, and hear the world around me better won’t get you into trouble,” he said, scoffing at the mere idea of so many hoops to pass through. As harmless as the additions may be, they hadn’t stirred enough importance to have Brooklyn take the risk in programming them. That wasn’t any fun.

“You are Mr. Popular today, aren’t you?” the man chuckled at the ringing of the phone. First the curious scientist that dropped in earlier and now the mysterious caller. “The curse of having a delinquent at your fingertips?” he mused. As a look of surprise darted across Brooklyn’s expression, Gayle immediately wished he had super hearing.

He sighed. It wasn’t like he would get it while the doc was on the phone. He directed his attention to the abandoned dish. As much as he enjoyed watching Brooklyn go through his stages of emotion, he wanted more of the food. The man struggled against his restraints. Even in this upright position his movement was limited. Gayle huffed. If only he had his own little robot…Or a little army of superhumans. Brooklyn would immediately reject that idea. The boy wouldn’t even stop to think about it.

Ants were like superhumans of nature right? Maybe he could request an ant farm and place small helmets on them. He’d control ants and have them bring him food, especially the boy’s food. What if the food turned cold while Brooklyn talked on the phone?

“Hey doc, I’m not feeling so well,” he muttered, suddenly a bit winded. His vital readings nosedived as he struggled to remain consciousness. He remembered this feeling. He was reliving the moment he passed out in the water test. When he woke up he…

Gayle sharply inhaled, slamming his head back against the chair and pulling against his restraints. The vital readings spiked but didn’t quite return to normal. The superhuman’s breathing was jagged, and his eyes flew open revealing that they burned an emerald green. He felt maybe fifty tiny strings pull at different parts of his body, but they all tugged in the same direction. Relaxing slightly, he gazed over at the lonely food container now swarming with fifty or so icy white ants ranging from the size of his finger nail to a standard sized-black ant. They didn’t know what to do with themselves. Some fell off the chair. Others were attempting to hoist the container on their backs. A handful were passing along small pieces of the food and making their way back to him.

Hey! His powers were back! Bonus~! All feeling had returned to his body. “Awesome,” he cackled, turning his attention back to the ants. He wanted them all to start bringing him pieces of food. “Forget the dish. It’s no use to me,” he told them. Although the harder he thought about the food, the more the invisible strings vibrated and eventually snapped. He winced as a couple dozen ants exploded into tiny shards. The small container tipped over and fell off the chair while several chunks of the food had been abandoned on top of ice remains. Many of the shards embedded themselves into his skin, but they were quickly pushed out as he recovered.

Abandoning the food recovery operation as most of the ants turned to crawling off the table to gather whatever was on the floor, he turned his attention to his restraints. What could help him get them off? A key? A hammer? Could he maybe summon a chain saw? When nothing dropped out of the air, Gayle thought back to the samplings that sprung up and quickly expanded into a full-sized tree. If he could maybe—it was already too late. A sapling appeared in the slight gap between his arm and the restraint, but instead of expanding outward to push against the restraint, it traveled the path of least resistance up and down his arm. Gayle wanted it to pop off the restraint! As soon as he added just a little pressure, the entire tree shattered, sending more ice chunks flying and penetrating through his arm.

With his blood spilling on the chair, the superhuman gritted his teeth and felt his hold on the ants on the floor quietly releasing. He expected more explosions, but they simply dissolved into soft powder. “Worthed a try,” he spat through his teeth as his body slowly recovered from the wound. His gaze flickered up towards Brooklyn. Doing his best to mask his pain behind a smile, he said, “You were saying about me getting my wish?”