章 2738: 2.3
Nope! Couldn't do this! Can't! Won't! WILL NOT COMPLY! If it weren't for the fact that I was sitting down with my face covered by yellow goggles and a bandanna I'm sure I would've seemed like a nervous wreck.
YELLOW SWIMMING GOGGLES! What was I THINKING!? I mean, from far away you could mistake them for sunglasses but it still looked TERRIBLE!
The full gravity of what was happening had suddenly hit me. I was in a PRT van that was currently on a ferry boat taking me to the Rig to meet Armsmaster! It didn't seem like such a bad thing a moment ago but it was only then that I realized that I was still wearing my cheap amateur costume!
What would the other heroes say?
"Hello." Armsmaster would greet me before staggering back in mental anguish. "Oh god! Now that it's not so dark I can now see how terrible you look!" He'd shout.
"Wait!" I'd scream hoping for forgiveness as the rags on me rustled in the unforgiving winds.
"BEGONE from the Rig!" He'd announce with the rest of the heroes in the background glaring at me from above, arms crossed in clear disappointment. "BEGONE AND NEVER DARKEN THESE HALLS WITH YOUR TERRIBLE COSTUME AGAIN!"
No, that was stupid, he wouldn't do that. Come on Taylor, think about something else, something more immediate! Like the people Armsmaster sent to pick you up! Yeah that's a good topic right? They weren't really talkative but that's calling the pot black and they did seem nice enough. My version of nice was that they weren't bullying me or obstructing justice so that was a low bar.
The PRT guards that were sent to pick me up weren't really guards, they looked like office workers, normal people albeit with what looked like concealed weapons. I honestly expected them to come greet me with guys in bulletproof vests and containment foam weapons or something. Was it a good thing that they only sent these guys? Did it mean that they were friendly? Or did it mean they didn't think I rated that much of a threat? That I wasn't important enough?
"Hey guys!" I imagined one would yell. "We're gonna pick up Vim!"
"Hey Captain, do we need to bring anything in case she turns out to be evil or something?"
"Nah, her powers are laaaame, just get some tasers and we'll be good."
I shook my head clearing myself of those thoughts. A few of the guards stared at me, wondering what I was doing as I rubbed my temples.
"Are you okay uhh… Vim?"
"I'm fine, really." I tried to assure him.
He gave me a small grin and a shrug so it wasn't that bad I supposed.
The rest of the trip was spent in relative silence, the sounds of the waves outside continued to break against the ferry. Though I didn't realize it earlier they were glancing my way, sneaking looks in my direction. Was something wrong with me? If it weren't for the fact that I was so conscious of it I would've used my Veil by accident to hide myself.
Hopefully I'd regain my nerve once we reached the Rig.
As the ferry finally reached land and the van parked itself outside I made my first steps onto the Rig. I hadn't paid that much attention up to that point but now that I was here I found my breath taken away. Before I was mired it fear, now excitement bubbled beneath the surface. I was still nervous sure, the butterflies were going crazy in my stomach but at the same time I couldn't help but smile.
"Vim." One of the guards called out to me. "This way please." I nodded as I was guided through the entrance, I noted that there were various cameras around, I wouldn't have been surprised if they were tinker tech scanning for hidden weapons or invisible villains.
Not that there were any Stranger capes in Brockton Bay, at least I didn't think there were.
That was kind of the point of Strangers though right? Shaking off my errant thoughts I continued through a series of security checks.
Passing through what looked like a metal detector (which I figured wasn't since I still had metal coins) I came face to face with Armsmaster.
"Vim, it's good to see you again." He spoke with a smile. I noted that he didn't have his signature Halberd with him but he still wore his futuristic blue armor with a visor that covered his eyes and nose hiding his identity but showing off his famous beard.
Was it me or was everyone here not as well armed as I imagined they would be?
"You wanted to talk about potions?" He asked motioning for me to follow him.
Follow him where though? "Did you bring many? I assume one or perhaps two at most?" He asked.
"Uhh no, I have a whole bunch." I mentioned quickly grabbing four from my bag.
He seemed to be surprised. Perhaps he was impressed that I had made so many?
"Can you do that again?" He asked.
"Do what again?" This was a bit confusing.
"That." When I couldn't give him any answers he visibly straightened himself out. "You pulled those vials out of thin air."
"Thin air?" I wondered. I looked into my backpack and found that all it contained were books. My eyes widened in panic wondering where I put the potions, as I reached inside I instinctively pulled out one that I was certain I didn't see until a split second ago.
"Interesting, the scanners hadn't picked up any liquids in your bag but now that it's in your hands they're reading as positive." He looked like he was going to poke the potions in my hands. "A sort of pocket dimension perhaps? Localized to just you or your bag? Did you make it yourself?" He asked.
"No, I just, it's a really old bag, I just put my potions in it, I didn't really notice." Now that I thought about it I had more things in there then it should've allowed. I was usually a lot more observant than this, I just kept getting side tracked! One moment I was thinking of doing one thing, suddenly something else popped up and I was doing that instead!
I swear to god, if the Slaughterhouse 9 were in front of me I might just ignore them to go pick flowers for the old lady down the street.
Okay I wasn't that bad but self depreciation was a fine and noble art.
"Didn't notice? Odd, most Parahumans have an instinctive knowledge of their powers, still it's not unheard of." He shrugged leading me down the hall. "Tinkers for example usually don't begin with knowledge of their specialities, you however don't seem to have that issue."
Potions in my case I supposed. I felt a bit of pride swell at that but that was dashed when I remembered the lacklustre armor I could make. Not for the first time I started to think of myself as the 'Fantasy Tinker.'
"So where are we headed?" I asked him.
"To get lunch of course." Right, I called him at midday just so I'd have a reason to be away from school. "I usually eat something small while working so I don't use the cafeteria much." He admitted.
I nodded obediently as a heavy set of doors automatically opened before us. The sounds of chatter washed over us. Those doors really had good sound dampeners, it was almost silent in the hallways before we entered.
Taking several measured and confident steps Armsmaster led us to a reserved set of seats, the table I noted already had some food and our names.
Well our cape names at least, printed out on strips of paper.
"I hope I wasn't too presumptuous in ordering first, I wanted to make everything go as quickly as possible." He told me. Armsmaster had a Ham and Cheese sandwich with apple juice on his tray. Mine had a burger with chips and what looked like Cola. "Do you have any special dietary needs?"
"Oh no, it's fine, I can eat meat." I assured him taking a seat. I wasn't too hungry and I didn't want to distract him from my potion talk. "I think we can talk about these first." Grabbing some of my healing potions I placed a few of the bottles in between us.
Just like myself Armsmaster had yet to touch his food. He hadn't pushed them aside but it was clear that he ignored it in favor of the potions.
"These ones heal people." I told him, proud of my achievement. He nodded grabbing one to examine.
"Interesting but for now I'd prefer you keep the Tinkertech Serums to yourself, the staff here are trustworthy but without verifying the Serum's effects we shouldn't leave them out in the open like this." Oh right. He handed the one he held back to me while I put away the rest.
"Sorry." I apologized, he smiled back presumably to assure me that it was okay. "Wait, if I can't bring them out then what are we going to talk about?"
"Pricing." He said as if he was already going to pay for them. "I am prepared to offer you three thousand dollars for each bottle of your Tinkertech Serum."
"Three thousand?" I asked in surprise half off my chair already. I had dozens upon dozens of potions, I'd make more with this transaction then most people in a year!
"Too low? How about Five thousand then?" My brain shut down then. "Sorry for the low offer but I cannot approve anything higher without confirming the effects of your Serums." That was considered low?
Five thousand was LOW?!?!
How much was he going to pay me when he figures out that they work?
"I uhh." Instantly I calmed myself down schooling my features as to not give anything away. Not that I would have considering how my bandanna and goggles hid my face but my posture at least was corrected.
"Five thousand per bottle is acceptable." I told him. He paused, presumably processing my answer before nodding stiffly.
"How many Serums with unique effects do you have?" He asked. "I'd ask to have two of each kind to test and experiment with but we can start with just one of each type."
"Hmm, instant healing, regeneration, toughness, being tougher while wearing light or heavy armor, so three kinds of toughness." I rattled off to him. "Fire resistance, stamina, something for mental exhaustion." I didn't want to say mana and come off as insane. "To name a few, anyways let's just eat first before everything goes cold." Armsmaster agreed taking a sip from his apple juice.
While I wasn't very hungry I didn't want the food to go to waste. Grabbing the burger and bringing it up to my lips I took a quick bite.
"Vim?" Armsmaster asked seemingly concerned. "Did you just take a bite of that burger through your mask?"
I froze, touching my lips with my fingers but instead of feeling skin all I felt was the fabric of my bandanna.
"My powers are weird." I offered lamely not even surprised by my powers anymore.
He nodded in understanding.
"Any ideas for potions you haven't made yet?" He asked.
"Oh, well mostly just making them more potent honestly, things like having multiple effects as well." As we continued our meal and conversation I noticed that it felt nice eating lunch with someone else. I had gotten used to hiding that I had forgotten what it felt like. Taking another power fuelled bite into my burger I decided that I liked
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