A Bio-Weapon’s Rhapsody

"[Rhapsody, long time no see.]"

Ale could see the projection of Vulcanus on the VR environment and... nothing else.

"Vulcanus?" Ale asked unsure if she would get the answer she wanted, she wasn't really sure which one would answer her call after all, the man? The machine?

The one who answered would change very much how she would go about this after all.

"[Yes, you have called me from a private and secure line from the Saintsworths Conglomerate. I assume you have taken more of your birthright?]" Vulcanus said raising one of his mechanical arms and showing the emblem of the eagle with four wings, "[Are you calling to give a report on your current situation?]"

Ale was... well, confused, and it may have shown on her face.

"[No?]" As Vulcanus asked yet again about what she was doing right now.

Wasn't he able to see her data stream? Her geo position? The address from which she was calling? The data servers she was using to bounce her call?

There was way enough data encrypted into her call to find out what she was doing and where she was.

"Amm... Do you know where I am right now?" Ale asked pointing around herself.

"[Your body got taken away by the Saintsworths Conglomerate soldiers that went to rescue the VVIP in the last mission you participated.]" Vulcanus stated, "[From that we got a confirmation of your survival, and a note that said you would return at some unconfirmed time.]"

Well, that very much confirmed it then, didn't it?

This was the man and not the machine, there was no way Alexanders' lapdog didn't know more.

"Yeah... My... family arranged a way for me to return momentarily back to the city so I could explain in person what happened." Ale said pointing at her plane with her finger, "I was calling because of that."

"[... I see... So can I assume you are flying that device then? It doesn't seem... stable, so it is an artifact?]" Vulcanus monologued for a few seconds before shaking his head, "[It matters not, when can we expect you to come by? I can free the schedule of the Fairy team and get whoever else you want from your acquaintances.]"

That... was not what Ale had expected, she honestly had thought that she would need to call upon Vulcanus.exe to get the consecions, it was good to know that her boss at least wasn't a piece of trash. Ale had hoped it would be the case, so this was a good outcome for her.

"About that... I am..." Ale turned to her dashboard to see if there was a way to tell.

Thankfully Main Core seemed to guess her intentions and a timer showed itself with a guestimated time of arrival... That was shifting when Ale thought about where she could land. Which would make it interesting to say the least.

"Can I land this in the base?" Ale asked, and sure enough, the timer shifted, showing an approximate time of landing in case she went to the Haephestus' Forge base.

"[...You want to land a fighter jet in our base building?]" Vulcanus asked as he narrowed his eyes at Ale.

"It isn't a fighter jet, this is a Virtual environment, the actual thing is more of a glider with a jet engine stuck at the back." Ale said quickly willing the schematics that showed the form of her Hatchling One to manifest behind her, "See? A drop pod with wings and a jet ion engine at the back that was modified slightly."

Vulcanus studied those for a few seconds, and Ale could see the phantom of Vulcanus.exe at the back for a second, more so since Vulcanus's eyes shone with red light for the briefest of moments.

"[We will have something ready, sending the flight path and margin of tolerance for speed and kinetic force.]" Vulcanus hadn't finished speaking when a data packet was sent her way.

[Data packet received...]

[Downloading data...]

[Scanning...]

[Encrypted data found.]

[Using cyphers...]

[Categorizing data...]

The data packet included a landing bay and a flight path that would require almost millimetric precision; this would be hard.

"Thank you," Ale said saluting at the video feed of Vulcanus.

"[Don't mention it.]" Vulcanus said shaking his head, "[Thank you.]"

"Thank you?" Ale asked back confused. "What did I do?"

"[You survived.]" Vulcanus said plainly, "[Most Lieutenants... Even most Villains don't survive their first encounter with entities above the B-Tier list.]"

That was... worrying.

"[That is to say, most Minions do not survive the first encounter. And that is from the point of view that they are accessories to the encounters and not actual fighters.]" Vulcanus continued, "[You fought it face on, managed to finish the mission and even evacuated the VVIP to a safe position while you played delaying tactics.]"

At this point Vulcanus had uploaded a post-action report that detailed how Ale had fought a losing battle and barely managed to distract the enemy. It was filled with lies, very fancy lies with very fancy images that showed such events.

None of which was how it happened, it didn't showcase how Ale had used her Anti-Material rifle, nor the extent of her powers. It also didn't show what she used to open the path into that fake facility.

"[I am thanking you for making it back even after all of that.]" Vulcanus said and then he bowed his head to her, "[I am sorry, because of my unfit leadership you, a Minion, got exposed to more danger than it should have been in. If you wish I can arrange for a raise of position, you have proven the capacity needed to be leading your own team.]"

What?

"[If that is not enough I am willing to start your training for a lieutenant position, and depending on how your training go a position as a Villain for Haephestus' Forge is not out of consideration.]" Vulcanus continued on and on with his pitch.

"Wait!" Ale said raising both hands flustered, "Stop! Alto! Pare! Σταμάτα! 止まれ! 멈춰! "

"[... I will understand if you also wish to cut your ties with us.]" Vulcanus carried on after stopping, "[I can vouch for you with several super villain organizations, if you instead wish to return to the Saintsworths we are willing to sanitize your identity from any contact with the super villain side of the world.]"

" STOP TALKING FOR A GODDAMNED SECOND YOU TOASTER!" Ale couldn't help but scream her grievances. That made Vulcanus stop speaking as he tilted his head sideways towards Ale, " *sigh* I swear to god... why are all the people with some inkling towards technology I know like this..."

Ale felt the need to complain about this state of things, after all.

"Let's start from the beginning, what do you know about what happened there after I was... After we were defeated." Ale started small.

"[You were grieviously wound and required treatment with the Main Branch of the Saintsworths technology, y our brother took you back home for that reason.]" Vulcanus answered.

"Do you know the identity of my Brother in this case?" Ale went ahead and moved along the conversation, she knew as a fact that Vulcanus.exe knew Alexanders, but did the normal one? He should know, Ale was kinda sure she did, but with the shenanigans that ensued all around, it was hard to tell how much allowance Vulcanus.exe had given his other half.

"[The Delivery Guy, suspected identity. Alexanders Saintsworths. Currently Scion of the Saintsworths and CEO of the Saintsworths Conglomerate.]" Vulcanus answered easily enough.

"Correct." Ale nodded back, "And about the state or nature of the wounds we received?"]

"[Nothing.]" Vulcanus answered back, he did sent a data file, it included her vital signs... Or well, Alexandra's vital signs, "[In the middle of the encounter we detected a shift in the vital signs as the reading started to split into two different readings. It slowly established itself as what we have registered as your older form, Alexandra Saintsworths. Then it flatlined, we received a priority evacuation order and I moved in.]"

Ale got a new data file which included the mobilization and planning for Vulcanus to attend scene. Ale helpfully didn't mention that the time stamps in this didn't make sense unless one already knew the outcome of it... Or most of the information from the field point of view.

Which only four people would know. Herself as the one at the scene, Beatrice Starcroft and whoever the two little pieces of shit that had made her go into that goddamned cursed place.

Also, Melissandra Singh, but she was indisposed.

"[At the scene I found your brother with your body inside a transport pod leaving the scene and Gabriel Light who informed on what happened.]" Vulcanus finished with a picture of Alexanders on his Delivery Guy persona leaving with the pod in question.

And... Gabriel Light, [The Fallen Angel]. He was there? Then... did he know?

Ale doubted it was Vulcanus the one to move into that place, she would believe more if it was Vulcanus.exe. He was the one that was bound to the Saintsworths after all.

"Well, the reason I required treatment had to do with the Core Power of Melissandra Singh," Ale sighed, "Her power was more dangerous than what we gave her credit for."

"[Did you got affected by the Mind Core?]" Vulcanus said as his eyes narrowed, "[Was that why you were confined into a pod? They brought you into psychic decontamination? We also have someone with... No wait, Eleanore can't use her power on you anymore...]"

Of course that woman would be the one in charge of that, leave the one biased to tamper with the psyche of everyone involved, that WAS NOT GOING TO BACKFIRE AT ALL.

"Something like that," Ale said shaking her head, "Here..."

Ale then sent a censored data packet with the data about how her body reacted to the [Death Mana] that had clung to her.

"[This data is encrypted.]" Vulcanus said tilting his head once again to the side, "[Do you have the encryption key?]"

The heck?

That was... the usual file format that Ale, Alexa and Alexanders passed around, so it wasn't readable to most people? Or was his awareness censoring the data?

"In a nutshell, her power was able to affect the physical makeup of my body. Making it degrade at a fast speed and putting my health at risk." Ale said shuddering, "That hurt like hell by the way, I do not recommend."

"[ That seems.... unlikely.]" Vulcanus said as his eyes seemed to go over a thousand calculations in a second, or perhaps he was thinking something rude about Ale's intelligence, one could not be sure. "[If her Core Power had developed to those levels then it would imply that hers was not a Mind Core Power but something mor-]"

And it was at that moment that Vulcanus's face turned off. Ale had guessed it would happen at some point, but honestly, it was kind of weird to see.

"Lady Ale, is there a reason why you are leaking Master's data to this flesh bag?" The voice of Vulcanus.exe came from the speakers, no longer was coming from the video feed, "If it is part of Master's plan I wouldn't mind, but the data you provided includes some of Master's research on Mistress's new body, and it is marked as privileged data."

The what now? The goddamned what now? Did it? No, it only included the... photo of the body turning into ash... Right... Dang it.

"Even after what preparations we made, it is possible that I will be assaulted by the [Death Mana] when I land, so if that happens Vulcanus needs to know as a possibility, if not it will be awkward to explain." Ale said with a shrug, "If Alexanders didn't want me to leak this kind of data he would have said, or perhaps tell you about it. Did he tell you anything?"

"[... Master has not asked anything of this one.]" Vulcanus.exe said shaking his head, "[Very well, we will make accommodations and prime Edwards for a reasonable answer.]"

"That is not necessary." Ale interrupted before this machine did something like that, "I'd rather he react as normally as possible. Unless you can guarantee the other high-ranking members of Haephestus' Forge will follow suit to your... machinations."

Ale almost giggled at the last bit, almost.

"[...So far only Gabriel Light is aware of my existence.]" Vulcanus.exe spoke, that bit surprised Ale, she doubted anyone would know, "[He was at the scene when I arrived and sadly I wasn't able to silence him in time, Master arrived and deemed his life worth sparing. So he was warned and as thus, he knows of me. He would follow suit anything I prepare.]"

"... Right..." Ale said, should she... even ask Gabriel Light? More to think about later, "Anyway. Leave Vulcanus as is, if needed you can intervene in case Alexa's safety is in danger. But if not leave him be."

"[As you wish Lady Ale.]" Vulcanus.exe answered and then the figure on the video feed bowed to her, "[Anything you need for your arrival?]"

"Vulcanus already said he would get my friends ready for when I get there." Ale turned her attention to the timer on her dashboard, "Which will be in around eight minutes, will this really work?"

Ale brought the flight plans forward, "This thing asks me to crash in the middle of the base's roof." There was a margin of error of like half a meter or so.

"[That is the landing pad for Core Users with Flight capabilities, usually only I use this landing. We are currently preparing it to work with your device.]" Vulcanus.exe then showed a live feed of what looked more like a launch pad than a landing one, "[The clamps will catch your pod and kill most of the momentum slowly, we have prepared kinetic type Core Powers to help bleed out the extra speed and force.]"

Sure enough, Ale could see a few extra Lieutenant-style Mask minions around.

"[And from the specifications of Hatchling One, even crashing straight into the ground would be no problem for the drop pod.]" Vulcanus.exe brought then the blueprints of the hatchling one, or well, the original pod.

Ale of course knew that, but who in his right mind would want to crash at this speed?!?!?!?

Ale was not, unless it was the only option, in which case she would bite the bullet, but this was not the only option! She wanted a landing zone dang it! A normal one!

"...Fine." Ale in the end accepted her defeat, she would trust in Vulcanus and Vulcanus.exe... Since it was that or landing in a normal airport, and honestly, she didn't want to deal with that, since the pod wasn't hers, so she'd better give it to Vulcanus.exe to deal with. If something happened to it, then it would be his fault!

Yes.

"I'll see you soon then, also..." Ale was about to cut the connection when she felt the sting of something at the back of her mind, "... Don't bully my boss too much."

"There is no bullying." Vulcanus.exe said as she felt his presence disappear and the light on the video feed return, "[Then as we said, the rescue team will be in standby, the pod will be stored and we will negotiate with the Saintsworths from our side about what to do with it.]"

The what?

"You are the boss." Ale said unsure about that, Vulcanus would... negotiate with Vulcanus.exe? That... was bound to be something hilarious to see. "See you when I see you."

Ale waited a few seconds and when no new transmission came she cut the connection. Her flight path then was redirected to the flight control traffic tower and she let out a sigh she didn't knew was there.

Soon, soon she would be back and then she would put to the test how good of a work had Alexanders made. Yay......