Chapter 39: [38] : Worrying for Nothing
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"So, you acted impulsively after all," Tek said as he held a knife resembling a small electric saw near Roger's neck. The two were in one of Tek's secret bases.
Roger rolled his eyes and replied, "Who cares? I already killed him; there's no way I'm going back to apologize."
"If it were you, an apology might actually work. Even if Vought is unhappy with you, they wouldn't want to lose a cash cow like you," Tek remarked, shaking his head.
Roger had killed Black Noir, seemingly severing ties with Vought. But in reality, if Roger wanted, he could easily return to Vought and continue being Homelander. Vought would never abandon their most perfect experiment. In fact, since the incident, Roger's phone had been ringing nonstop with calls from Madelyn and Maeve.
Leaving Maeve aside, it's clear that Madelyn was calling to check on the situation and to find a way to keep Roger. Compared to Black Noir's death, losing Roger was something Vought couldn't accept.
But Roger was done playing along.
He'd spent all this time in Vought, biding his time to bring the company down without affecting himself. Vought would never suspect that Roger would betray them. He could have continued being Homelander. But with his plan to discredit Vought ruined and Vought uncovering the mess left behind by the original Homelander, Roger found himself increasingly frustrated.
He realized this was probably a "gift" from the original Homelander, a part of Homelander's personality that had been passed down to him. The growing frustration made it unbearable for Roger to keep being dominated by Vought. After all, the original Homelander had wanted to break free and rise above Vought.
So, when he saw that Tek Knight was about to be killed by Black Noir, one of his trump cards against Vought, Roger became inexplicably furious. Without hesitation, he killed Black Noir, saved Tek, and severed ties with Edgar.
After doing this, he didn't regret it; instead, he felt a strange sense of relief, as if this was what he should have done all along, without needing to play games with Vought for so long.
As for the contracts he had signed with Vought, Roger could completely ignore them. The only thing he might worry about was Vought freezing his bank accounts.
"Alright, it's done, so there's no need to keep fussing. But, are you sure this thing can cut through my skin to remove the chip?" Roger asked, looking at the device in Tek's hand.
He had come to Tek Knight to remove the tracking chip embedded in his neck. The chip, no bigger than a fingertip, was used to track the location of all Vought superheroes, including Starlight, who had just joined The Seven.
Homelander had one as well, but it was implanted when he was a child, back when his skin wasn't as tough as it is now. A special diamond-tipped tool was used to cut his skin and insert the chip. But now, Roger's skin had become far harder than most materials in this world, so he doubted that Tek Knight's device could remove the chip.
Tek shrugged and turned on the device, which made a sound similar to the tool used by dentists to grind teeth. He said, "I don't know. Let's give it a try. If this doesn't work, you might have to try using your teeth."
"You think I'd break my own teeth to remove a chip?"
"Well, then there's no other option unless you plan on wearing a suit made of tin foil all the time."
"..."
Roger took a deep breath and said, "Alright, go ahead and try."
"If this can really cut through your skin, it might hurt a bit, so brace yourself," Tek cautioned.
Roger nodded and clenched his teeth as the spinning blade slowly approached him.
Buzz,
Crack!
First, there was a harsh screech, like metal grinding against metal, followed by the sound of the blade shattering.
Roger turned to look and saw a white mark on his neck, which quickly faded back to normal. The device meant to cut his skin was now completely broken.
"..."
"..."
Roger and Tek exchanged glances before Tek put the device away and said, "It seems it won't work. Your skin is now probably the hardest substance in the world. To cut through it, you'd need industrial-grade machinery."
"So, what now?" Roger was at a loss. His skin was too tough to remove the chip, but he couldn't just walk around with it, constantly being tracked by Vought.
"Either you go back to Vought and apologize, continuing your undercover work, or you stay here. The outer layer of this place is coated with tin foil, which blocks the chip's signal. Or I can make you a temporary signal blocker. But personally, I think you should go back. Vought doesn't want to lose you."
Tek knew that the person in front of him wasn't the original Homelander, and theoretically, leaving Vought would be the right move for Roger. But since Roger wanted to bring Vought down, he couldn't abandon Homelander's identity. He still needed it to get things done.
And, as he had mentioned, Vought didn't want to lose Homelander.
To Vought, Roger was like a rebellious child who had caused some damage to his parents. No matter how much trouble the child caused, as long as the relationship wasn't severed, the parents wouldn't truly abandon him.
So, going back was an option for Roger, and he might not even need to apologize.
Roger understood this too. He knew that staying with Vought would allow him to accomplish more, but he was worried about one thing.
"Does Vought have any telepaths?"
"You mean someone like Mindstorm?"
"Yes, but not just telepathy, mind control, possession, anything like that."
"Pfft." Before Roger could finish, Tek laughed out loud. He said, "If Vought really had someone like that, why would they go to all the trouble of getting the Department of Defense to approve superheroes? Wouldn't mind control be easier?"
"...I suppose so, but what if they do?"
Roger thought it was better to be cautious about these things.
Tek responded, "If they do, your... biofield, or whatever, would block those abilities."
"Really?" Roger looked at Tek in surprise.
Roger had previously told Tek about his biofield while trying to get the chip removed, explaining it briefly. Unfortunately, the biofield had no effect on removing the chip.
Tek answered, "Of course. What do you think is the essence of psychic abilities? Fundamentally, psychic powers are a special kind of magnetic field that resonates with the human body's magnetic field to access thoughts and memories or communicate with people telepathically.
"And to do that, except for long-distance communication, reading memories and altering thoughts require physical contact. Think back, every telepath you've encountered, haven't they always needed to touch you to read your memories?"
"That's true." Roger thought of the psychologist who had examined him, and the fat superhuman from the original story who needed to shake hands to read memories. They all required physical contact.
Tek continued, "So, what are you worried about? First, you're not going to let just anyone touch you. Second, your biofield is a mutation of the human body's magnetic field, which can block this special magnetic field. So, you don't need to worry about anyone getting inside your head."
Listening to Tek's explanation, Roger finally understood.
While psychics from other worlds might be a different story, psychics in The Boys universe could never reach the level of someone like Professor X or Misaki Shokuhou. Now, Roger also understood why neither Tek nor Maeve ever suspected that a psychic had taken over Homelander's body. Because such psychics simply didn't exist in this world.
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