章 100: Chapter 100 : Working
[Author note : If you're interested in my stories, please check out my Patre*n : https://www.patréon.com/user?u=66371596. Simply replace the é by an e.
Marvel the Author : chapter 8 posted.
Squib who became Iron Lad in DC : chapter 110 posted.
Have a good day/night, guys !]
===============
A few weeks later, after Ned spent most of his time studying the extent of his new capabilities, he finally started working on a new body for himself. One that would be semi-permanent. First, he would use his own face and body type. This was the most important part : his identity as both Ned Stark and Silver Lad. Like he said to his sister, when Metal-Ned showed himself to the world, he would have to either oppose him, or show himself at the same time somewhere else. Otherwise, things would get troublesome. More troublesome than they already were, anyway.
MACUSA and the US government were already looking for any excuse to appropriate his creations. Him turning against humanity… Well, that was the perfect excuse ! Not that MACUSA needed it as they already tried a few underhanded means to get a hold of his technomancy. Then again, he suspected it wasn't the whole government, but rather a couple of bad apples. At the time, at least.
Thinking things through, he figured even if he were to show himself, he wasn't exactly out of the woods either. Like in the Iron Man 2 movie, they could argue about his creations getting in the hands of bad guys, because he was an opportunistic and greedy bastard, or because his facilities weren't secured enough. Or… simply because they were other brilliant people in the world. They would argue that if it was the case, enemy nations could and would get their hands on his armors and use it against them.
For the wizards and witches, the fear was about no-majs getting their hands on it and discovering about the magical world. A somewhat appropriate fear… Still, it's not like he was the only one endangering the Statute of Secrecy. He wasn't even the most dangerous. Granted, if no-majs ever managed to get their hands on his armors, they would see that they didn't work as sciences dictated they should. They wouldn't understand how or why it worked. However, would they think it was simply incomprehensible science or would they leap at the idea that magic was somehow involved ? The latter was doubtful in his opinion.
And even if they did, the universe was so vast, with so many inhabitable worlds… If the Wizarding kind ever pulled their heads out of their asses they'd work on a way to get their 'people' safely on an uninhabited one. No-majs dreamt of going to the stars for centuries… They've even managed to leave the Earth by now. Wizarding kind, however, despite its vaunted superiority was still very much earthbound.
And as far as he knew, no one was working on exploring the stars…
Anyways ! The body Ned was planning to make for himself was… rather standard, all things considered. The only thing out of place would be an enhanced physique similar to a metahuman : super-strength, a better speed, a durable body as well as a protego enchantment he could call upon with but a thought. Maybe he would add a shrinking and engorging spell to give himself Giganta and Ant-Man's abilities. Before, he couldn't do so without the suit as the spells didn't work all that well on anything organic. But now… All those functions, as well as one of his costume woven with his sister's help, and Ned would no longer be defenseless without an armor on. All of it would be powered with a mana reactor heart, much more powerful and energy efficient than his current reactors were.
In addition to that, another one of his project was finally reaching completion : the focus with its own magic source. That was a mouthful… He'd call it MS-Focus (Emess focus) now. Still a mouthful, but it was better. And it'd probably be more catchy for the public he planned to sell it to.
The MS-focus would work in tandem with his M-phone through a wireless connection. The reason for that was simple… The phone could contain, download and delete the required code for the spells to be launched, and transmit it to the focus that would fire it. While the M-phone could already cast spells, there were two problems with that. First, their power was lacking. Secondly, and most importantly, it was a huge drain on the battery.
Meanwhile, the MS-focus would have its own, dedicated and specially made mana reactor incorporated. It would also serve to amplify the spells' power and aim it.
With these three things, Ned hoped he could finally contend with people naturally able to cast magic. Oh ! Another benefit of this connection between M-Phone and MS-focus… Since the M-Phones used the biometrics of their owners, the focus wouldn't work for anyone else ! That was another good selling point for the Wizarding community.
Squibs would have access to magic, giving them something most of them craved their whole lives. It would even perhaps allow them to be heard by the rest of the population… Though he had doubts about that.
Now… A neat little loophole he thought to exploit. Only witches and wizards were allowed to own and use wands. Other magical sapient creatures, such as goblins, centaurs and house elves, were forbidden. And according to the definition, a wand was a wooden focus with a magical substance as its core. Meaning that, as long as it wasn't wood, it wasn't a wand. Or so he would argue, anyway and sell it to other magical sapients. He expected push-back, of course…
He had hopes that, in time, it would lessen the animosity between the races of the magical world. Though he also expected a lot of conflicts at first… Witches and wizards weren't exactly gracious with other magical creatures after all, especially the sapients and intelligent ones. In fact, a thought ingrained in Wizarding britain, as showed by the disgusting fountain in their ministry, was that their kind was somehow above everyone else. It was showed on the aforementioned fountain by a couple of witch and wizard being revered by a goblin, a house elf and a centaur looking up at them with subservience. In his opinion, it was a good thing Dumbledore and Voldemort destroyed it during their fight a few years ago.
Idly, Ned wondered if they ever got around to repair it, or, as he would much prefer, if they replaced it by something else. Then he shrugged and focused back on his work.
The design for his body was already finished, including all the inner workings. All that was left now was for him to build the parts. That's where the machines of his workshop, along with his very helpful technopathy came in handy. While before, he had to use his computer to operate the machines, which took a while since he had to program each and every operation before launching the operation. Now, he just had to think about what the machine should be doing. The code and program was still writing itself, but it was mostly subconscious on his part. It was still much quicker. And once his thoughts were translated and input in the machines, he could work on something else…
Like the Mark VII of his armor. All the other ones were gone now, so… Maybe it was Mark I-bis ? Nah ! Let's keep it at VII… At least, this way he knew how far along he was.
This new armor was meant to work in conjunction with his golem body. With his new abilities, however, he figured he could do away with most of its operating software, freeing space for other things… He could add more functions to the suit, more weapons. First, maybe he should work on something to enhance his technopaths' powers. Although they were pretty awesome, they still could stand with an upgrade. If he could increase the range as well as the systems he could control…
If Ned could smile, he would, imagining himself like a machine god on a battlefield. And if he was to use this, then he should prepare for it. Maybe add small drone-like parts to his armor that could detach and move independently.
He thought about it. Flying drones that would hover around him, acting like shields and firing at his enemies on his commands. Smaller insect-like robots to catch the enemies by surprise… And if the enemy was anything like Metal-Ned, an artificial intelligence or something with a program, a way to hack into it. Or, if it was an organic, a single, overpowered stupefy to be used when in contact with the enemy. Finally, one or several special ones, meant to end the threat, once and for all…
A robot somewhat similar to the Terminator gleefully chuckled in the empty workshop. Were anyone else present, they would have found it very ominous… Thankfully, only Ned was there. Oh ! And his children, who now almost constantly monitored him through the monitors in the room.
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット