The Zenith - Protectorate HQ (Ifrit's Lab)
21st January, 2011
Although it is true tinkers aren’t scientists, they still must “experiment”, that is part of the reason they are so easily confused since in many ways, a tinker lab would look just like a scientist’s lab. There methodology is completely different though. A scientist does experiments that disprove possibilities, they use the scientific method to make and test predictions, so they can improve their model of the universe. Tinkers, once again, aren’t limited by this exhaustively slow process. A tinker already has access to the information, he just needs to bring it to the forefront.
In my case, my chemistry lab looked like every other chemistry lab. There were formulas and elements stored in piles of shelves, various reagents with properties more diverse and numerous than the stars in the sky. There were various instruments and machinery for measuring these properties, and devices by which I might manipulate them. As a specialist in polymers one of the most important of these devices was called a spinner, when a polymer is formed the chemical side of the reaction must occur but then be either followed up or performed simultaneously with the process called spinning, where the physical form of the polymer would be determined, as would many of its characteristics. Take for example polyethylene, the most common polymer used by man, it was often used for packaging and the cheapest of plastic wrapping, but by using a method called gel-spinning the fibrous form of this polymer could form much longer chains of molecules, that would give it such unique properties it is one of the strongest materials used by man, called High Molecular Weight Polyethylene, or Spectra as the military calls it, since it is stronger than Kevlar.
Naturally, I had needed to devise my own methods of spinning, often specific to the material I was making. At that moment, I was using something called “electrospinning,” it would allow me to form almost single molecule thick Nano-threads of the polymer I was creating, with incredibly unique and powerful properties. In this case, electroconductivity, high tensile strength to weight ratio, and radiation resistance. The final product would be very different, a composite of multiple such materials woven together using nanotechnology and sealed using my own high-grade resin. In my specialty the key was to get lots of automated processes going, and keep them going, to make the most effective use of my knowledge.
Once the electro-spinner I had set up for this particular job was set up and working its way at thousands of meters per second, (It sounds fast, and it is fast, but when your material is one molecule thick this is only a tiny amount of volume.) I turned my eyes to my primary project for the day, the massive 3D printer I had set up, working away at what I hoped was the real symbol of this new period in my life.
I could still remember when the first Endbringer attack, since I had gotten my powers, happened. It was the terrible Seamurgh attack on Madison, Wisconsin. In the end the United States had been forced to put up a wall around the city, a quarantine zone which still to this day contained an unknown number of survivors. They were cursed, could never be allowed to leave or be trusted. All interactions were to be kept to a minimum, some people believed the kinder choice would be to kill them all. The Seamurgh had turned every person there into a weapon, whether by corruption or some other means, each one was a perfectly aimed explosive, targeted to do the most damage. That was one of the less devastating attacks the Endbringers had wrought.
At the time, I had been both too young, to inexperienced with my abilities, and even all that aside to immobile to be any help. I would have been a liability rather than a help. It had bothered me, especially back then when I had such a desire to be the perfect hero, to excel and help and be what I had though all the great heroes were. Since then, I had met a lot of “heroes,” and I knew better then to believe that the title meant something. My goals were different, I had learned. Despite this, despite all the change in my views I could never let go of the idea that my responsibility was to fight the Endbringers. I suspected it was my sense of hope, the fact that I knew that if I didn’t fight them, if I wasn’t willing to step in then nobody else would, or few anyhow. That if there was to be any prevailing hope for the future, a possibility that any of the ideals I held for humanity were true, we would have to find a way to fight the Endbringers. So I had.
Near the end of last year, Behemoth had launched an attack on Karachi, Pakistan. It was the 8th most populated city in the world. The PRT usually only went to the aid of countries who requested it, but in the case of this attack there had not been time for pleasantries. The PRT as always offered to bring anyone who volunteered. I myself volunteered to go help, but by the time we arrived Behemoth had already vanished back into the depths of the earth. I was there only for the aftermath, to attempt to help survivors, and do my best to help. Although the population had yet to stabilize, the loss in life by itself, let alone the people forced out of their homes, was enough to force Karachi off of the list of world’s largest cities. Many wondered if the city would recover, or if it was another lost cause like so many other cities.
Each Endbringer had its own challenges, strengths, and well, not exactly weaknesses, not that we were aware of, but they weren’t quite gods, they had their own limitations. It had been consistently demonstrated that brute-forcing the Endbringers would not work. Even the Seamurgh, the least brutish of the things, seemed almost invulnerable to our very best weapons. Being slowed down by being stronger usually just resulted in being more easily pinned down and destroyed by the Endbringers. No, ones best hope in both survival, and attempting to slow them down was to be mobile. As a tinker, sadly there is nothing that makes me inherently mobile, but as a tinker there were ways to change that. Both my suit, and my drone Griffin were testaments to that philosophy; My power-suit made me more durable but also made me faster, more versatile, generally better at getting around. Griffin had been my effort to really increase my mobility, it was big enough to carry a standard sized person in addition to its typical load. This had allowed me to quickly get around places, and even help move individuals to safety in the past, but it was not very fast and its insecure nature limited the speed with which I could use it. With me hanging off the bottom I carried a significant portion of our inertia and maneuverability was drastically reduced for it. Griffin had been great, but I needed the ability to move myself and others
fast.
The space, the massive 3D printer I had built, and the convenient
bay doors into the laboratory all made it possible for me to, for the first time in my life, build a true vehicle. A device designed with transport in mind. What I
wanted to build was a fast moving transport capable of carrying dozens of people, I could use it as a mobile base of operations and for search and rescue operations. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any designs prepared for that project and I still had a lot of thinking, designing, prototyping, and more before such a craft could be completed. It would take time.
For now however, as soon as I had my new 3D printer running I had started it on a project I had designed a long time ago. If I was honest, I spent a lot of time daydreaming about this project, because despite all the limitations of reality, I still wanted to fly a
spaceship. Sadly, this was not a spaceship. In fact, not only was the craft not designed to be pressurized but its engines were essentially turbofans, very, very sophisticated turbofans, but still all they did was suck in air the one side and shoot it out the other. It would not operate even at too high of an altitude, but I sure as hell made it
look like a spaceship. The craft in the process of being built before me looked like a futuristic fighter get, all curves and sweeps, with minimalist wings and smooth surfaces. It had a single-seater cockpit in the front, with a compartment enter-able via the bottom to carry a max of 3 passengers. It would not be a pleasant trip for said passengers since it was designed to be fast, agile, and fundamentally for getting in and out of places where powerful entities did not appreciate my presence. I had learned a lot about aeronautical engineering in the course of creating my specialized suit that allowed me to fly, but that suit made me feel just a little bit like an extremely fragile flying squirrel, it looked ridiculous, and I hated to use it.
It would still take days for me to finish, there was tons of finishing, adjusting, installation of non-polymer components, and so much more before the thing would be even remotely usable, but it was the next step beyond my Griffin drone. This would have all the same capabilities, combined with that of a jet fighter. My ultra light, ultra durable materials allowed it to be lighter and more effective then probably any other plane designed by non-cape humanity, and it definitely looked cooler. I was going to call it Thunderbird, since the phoenix angle was a little overdone these days. It actually flew more like a hovercraft, using powerful engines it could VTOL its way all over the place and change directions as fast as possible without killing its passengers via G-forces. When I flew it in drone mode, it would resemble mounting miniature jet engines on a leaf.
It was first and foremost designed to deal with class A or S threats, and would be designed with both lethal and non-lethal measures, although it would need to be adjusted in shop beforehand. I had long ago designed the equivalent of paintballs, filled with modified containment foam which would expand after the capsule burst. This would allow long range containment foam use, were they loaded into, say, twin machine Gatling guns on the front of a
spaceship. If only it was a spaceship. I would also include foam missile launchers like the ones that Pallas used, a bottom mounted “harpoon” with an interchangeable head, and of course all the measures would be interchangeable with lethal variants. I had also considered outfitting it with a variable EMP device although that was hardly my specialty, I would have to talk to Pallas about that one. Embarrassingly I hadn’t actually though of using EMP until after I named it Thunderbird, but it fit didn’t it?
Nobody knew when the Endbringers would attack, but if the standard cycle continued, the Seamurgh was next for an attack, and that was precisely what this craft was built for. Although I wasn’t so hubris-tic to believe this would actually help
defeat her, but I had to keep trying. I had to try and prepare. Otherwise, what was the point?
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