Jade meets Argus pt. 2

ARGUS: Mituna had been following the Crab Drone deal for a while now- it turned out to be a lot more complex than originally thought. The man he'd apprehended had eventually confessed to having never built the damn things he used himself- he'd made a deal with someone and was given them. But he couldn't give names- he'd never actually met the dealer. And then, more power or money hungry bastards started popping out of the woodwork every now and then, each with their own little squad of similar crablike drones. The cape known as Argus had dealt with some of these issues, as had other capes with the rest. But he was most curious about the source, grabbing at any information he could get on it, even if he had to use less legal, more technological means.

ARGUS: What he'd found was utterly fascinating. Years ago, SkaiaNet had experimented with automated creation of drones, originally intended for transportation and possibly guard duty. he'd tutted under his breath when he'd found out- classic fucking sci-fi mistake: you NEVER give the robots the ability to duplicate themselves! SkaiaNet had written off the experiment as a failure, and the factory was supposed to have been shut down and abandoned, somewhere in a bunker in the mountains of Prospit. But, obviously, it either hadn't been shut down properly... or it just spontaneously booted its own damn self back up. It took a lot of digging and a lot of hacking, but Mituna was eventually able to track down the location of the factory.

ARGUS: A year later after the first event with the drones at the bank, Argus showed up after dark outside a concrete building against a mountainside, the surroundings dark. The only sources of light was the gentle glow of his helmet's visor, and the small engines on the back of his board as he rolled up. Kicking off his board and snatching it up, he crept as quietly as he could up to the building, leaning against the side of it as he messed around with his helmet, the screen inside the visor lighting up. Just as he thought, there were two drones just inside the door- a little bit of work, and they were sleepy orbs on the floor, leaving him free to go around to get inside. There was a complicated and sophisticated digital lock on the door, one that he couldn't fuck with wirelessly. A tiny hatch opened up on the underside of the right bulb of his helmet, from which he pulled a wire with a bit of circuitry at the end. He had to mess with the console, but then he found a place to forcefully inject the circuitry skeleton key, and after a few moments with his visor again, the door was sliding open.

ARGUS: The rest of his infiltration was a similar adventure of putting drones to sleep and hacking his way through sealed doors, seeking out the central command. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the bunker, it was hard for the wireless capabilities of his helmet-computer to get through walls, and he missed one of the drones, which spotted him and alerted the AI hivemind of the facility to his presence. He managed to blast off the turret with a beam from his eyes before it got a shot off at him, and then it's 'eye' and legs were blasted off at their weakpoints, leaving the mechanical thing useless. But the facility was already on alert, a siren going off, so he had no time to waste, hopping on his board and forgoing putting some of the drones to sleep entirely, just shooting turrets whenever he 'saw' them, before they could shoot at him first as he rocketed through the facility.

ARGUS: Eventually, he found an extremely high security door, and he was cussing to himself as he hacked his way into it, not wanting to be caught dawdling here by any drones on their way to stop him. Finally, it opened to him with a pneumatic hiss, though the room beyond was dark. He cautiously stepped inside, trying to make sense of his surroundings... until a large light blinked to life. And then more. Looks like the central command was... also the main factory floor. "Fuck."



CANIS MAJORA: The lights that blinked to life were attached to things larger, more well armored and seemingly made of an entirely different material than the other droids. They'd changed over the past year, moving from being made of steel to much lighter carbon fiber material. It was weaker, but faster. These things...They looked to be made of something else. They were sleek, the metal alloy reflecting the lights of the main factory floor. From the speakers of the floor, Mituna would hear a voice that sounded like it was strong together using clips of a dozen other voices. It chuckles and then says his cape name before warning him not to move. All the new drones open their turrets, pointing their guns at him. The voice asks him how he enjoyed the tour of the factory. Because this was the end of the tour and it was a decesased end. There's a pause before the AI apologizes and says dead. Not deceased. Humor was weird to grasp.



ARGUS: As the lights came on, letting him see the much, much more advanced drones, Mituna felt his heart sink. Shit- he hadn't expected this, he really hadn't. Fuck, he really needed to think things through better. He really thought it'd be as simple as sneaking in, finding the system behind it all, and shutting it down properly this time. If anyone could fry a system irrepairably, it'd be him. But... fuck. He fucked up, he fucked up bad.

ARGUS: "Oh, yeah, the tour was fantasthtic, love the decor. The sterile white look really works. The tour guidesth weren't very informative, though." He said as he slowly raised he hands up, palms out, in a sign of surrender. Maybe if he played along and acted harmless, he'd get to live at least a bit longer, and maybe find a way out of here if he was lucky. The 'joke' made him swallow dryly, though, and he cleared his throat. "No, no, it's cool. You did your bestht. Not everyone is a natural joker. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it."

ARGUS: While keeping up the banter, his visor was lit up, as he scanned the drones around him- bigger, stronger, and far more advanced both physically, and in their software. Nothing he can't handle, though, so long as he doesn't run into that AI while he's in their little digital heads. He had to be sneaky, though, making it take longer- if he went his normal route of fast and efficient, that'd only shut down one drone, and even if it'd be near instant, it would just make his attempts to shut them down known, and piss them off even more. No- instead he sent out a worm, creeping into their systems silently, infecting as many as he could, carefully melding his program with their systems so that he could shut them all down at once. But... that could take a while at this rate. He wasn't sure if he had a while, and he could feel himself sweat in his bodysuit.



CANIS MAJORA: The voice thanks him. It explains that it had planned on destroying him instantly, but it wanted to show him something first. Give him a glimpse at what the city would be fighting in just a few short weeks. At the center of the factory floor, a hole opened up as something raised up. It was...large. It looked like a giant robotic gorilla with a slightly modified rounded body as a base. It was made of the same material as the other drones, but it looked so much more mobile, so much more capable and it looked like it could still roll into a ball for quick mobility. The voice says this was going to be it's first step out into the world and it would be taking a little stroll with a few...friends. After all, going to face trouble alone- The machine voice stops playing over a speaker as the gorilla bot springs to life, the lines where it's eyes would be suddenly lighting up with a searing yellow. It looks up at Mituna, lifting one massive arm and then dropping it to as a shoulder mounted gun rises from a panel in it's body. Stupid, it says. Facing trouble alone is stupid.



ARGUS: Mituna was shaking in his boots as the AI continued to explain its plan, and as the robot gorilla rose from the floor, he almost felt his knees give out. His board was thankfully right by his foot, so if it fired- Mituna jerked with a small noise in his throat at the movement of the gorilla's arm- he might be able to dodge it by hopping onto his board on time. But how long would that last? He was still trying to take down all the other drones, and now he had to worm his way into this monster's system too??!

ARGUS: "M-Mind if I, uh... asthk a question?" He began, clearing his throat as he send another probing worm, this time at the gorilla's system. "Or a couple, actually. I'm pretty curiosth. What's the inspiration behind thisth design? It's quite a departure from your usual MO of a more... crustacean bent?" He laughed shakily, trying so hard to be casual and non threatening. Just let it drop its guard and not shoot just yet...

ARGUS: "And alstho... why? What's the point in sending these guys out to wreak havoc? Did you watch the Matrix recently and get bummed out that the humansth won? Do you wanna teach usth some sort of lesson??" He took a breath. He'd completed his infiltration of the regular droids protecting the gorilla and the factory floor, and could shut them down at any time, but he was still worming his way into the gorilla's head. "Just tell me that first, at leastht."



CANIS MAJORA: The machine lets out that weird approximation of a laugh. It lifts one hand again, saying it had planned to tell him all about his evil plan after he'd put him down. After all, humans have a habit of being unable to put up much resistance to ideas they were opposed to when they were dead. It moves in to attack, apparently wanting to put Mituna down itself. It lifts one arm and stops when theres a loud bang from the entrance to the room. And then another. And another. Finally there's a pause, where the robot lowers it's arm and stands up straighter, the drones automatically turning their sights at the door.

CANIS MAJORA: That doesn't last long, though, when a large beam of green light fires through the door, incinerating two of the drones, melting the lenses of their video feeds and making them blind along with doing some serious damage to their chassis. One of them starts firing blindly and is immediately put down by a large, humanoid machine, black with green lines ablaze down it's body, as it charges through the opening it had apparenty created. The drone doesn't stand a chance against this new adversary. The Ape orders the others fire at it, but one is immediately knocked off balance when the drone that had been attacked is thrown at it. A reverberating voice comes from the mech. "He didn't come alone." What looks like vent seem to be letting off steam from the machine. It towers over Mituna, but it's still smaller than the Ape.

CANIS MAJORA: // https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/14/89/6c/14896c3ef8013fec7bb3226e2a7c806e.jpg number 3 and 4 are the size different between jades new armor (3) and her old armor (4) //

ARGUS: (( HRRRGH. ))

CANIS MAJORA: // IT BIG //

ARGUS: (( BURRRGH. ))

ARGUS: Mituna honestly nearly pissed himself at that, and he tensed up, waiting for the beast to fire on him so he could attempt to escape on his board. But then a lound banging from the door interrupted his probable death. Next thing he knew, there were beams of green light, gunfire, and probably robo-punching? Regardless, Argus knew a chance when he saw one, and he was on his board in half a second, rocketting under the gunfire and falling drones(and dronebits). He finally activated his take-down that he'd carefully wormed into all the drones but the Ape, effectively shutting them all down to better be pulverized so that they don't get back up. And he made sure of that, using their immobility to slide his visor out of the way and melt and blast away their joints and guns.

ARGUS: And that left the Ape's orders to fire at the intruder, who had announced themself as apparently accompanying Argus, completely impotent. It was just it, versus the two of them, now. Argus rolled up to the side of his large, robotic savior, taking just a moment to appreciate it. A large, humanoid bot. It even talked! He had to check this thing out properly later, he was way too impressed. But now was not the time. And besides... as impressive as the bot beside him was, the Ape was equally impressive, and also bigger, and a bit more sleek. It was worrying.

ARGUS: "Hey, Optimus!" He shouted, meaning the friendly robot. "Distract Donkey Kong for me!" And with that, he was rocketting around the room again, keeping himself mobile, hard to hit. Just think of it like a really gnarly skatepark, he told himself as he ollied up to grind his board across one of the legs of a fallen drone to get himself over some rubble. And all the while, his visor was lit up, his focus entirely on worming his way through the Ape's system. He was now sure he'd find the AI in there, protecting itself. With its big ego, he would not be surprised if it had uploaded itself directly into the damn thing. And now he needed to end it.



CANIS MAJORA: "Optimus" nodded. It fired off it's thrusters and leapt at the Ape, slamming one armored fist into it and making it stumble. Before Optimus could land to follow, the Ape had grabbed it and thrown it at Mituna. The Ape had strated moving, throwing some of it's downed drones with the strength and mobility of...well, an Ape. It had no intention of sitting still and, as it moved, it mocked Mituna for thinking he could get into it like that. It wasn't going to sit still while he scanned it with his visor when it could just crush them both. With that, a panel opened up in it's shoulder and it fired off a rocket. It was small, but the moment it fired, Optimus was bank on their feet, in front of Mituna, and fired off a laser to intercept the miniature explosive. The explosion was much bigger than the rocket implied.

CANIS MAJORA: It only managed to make Optimus raise it's arms, as if to protect it's vision. It let out a whimper, an almost human response to the bright light. The moment it drops hands, though, a downed drone crashes into Optimus, knocking it aside as the Ape comes charging forward again at Mituna. AI, apparently, can get angry. Before it could even get close to Mituna, though, it stopped mid-swing, suddenly thrown back across the room. Optimus' armored body was practically crackling with that green energy, the lines glowing much brighter than they had before as it turns to look at Mituna. "You okay? Can you get into it?"



ARGUS: Argus hadn't expected the damn dirty ape to actually THROW his new companion at him! Thankfully, he was already gone from the spot by the time the friendly robot crashlanded, rocketing his way through the rubble, using his best practical tricks to navigate the room and keep moving, to keep dodging, and to keep trying to worm into that fucking beast! He almost didn't notice the miniature missile, until it was already too late- no, his new best motherfucking friend was already there to intercept it, blowing it up at a relatively safe distance. Safe for him at least. He hoped the robot was as durable as it looked.

ARGUS: Then the Ape charged at him again, and he almost panicked- it was fucking PISSED! It knew what he was doing, and it was directly trying to stop him- and that confirmed to him that it really was protecting the source AI. But he had no time to pause and fire at it himself with his own natural weaponry- that'd interrupt his hacking, and that could lose him precious time. Thankfully, it seemed he really could count on 'Optimus' to protect his nerdy ass, who had literally just thrown the Ape across the goddamn room. Argus pulled over next to the robot, still keeping his eyes on the temporarily downed Ape, still struggling to code and hack and worm past all of its defenses- god, he fucking hated hacking AI. They always fought back more than anything else.

ARGUS: "Try to keep it busy," He hissed, trying not to let the Ape hear his plan. "I need to get behind it. I can do thisth." And then he was off again, this time making a point to dodge behind the fallen bodies of the enemy's comrades, trying to keep himself out of sight as much as possible, to make himself hard to detect. Depending on Optimus, he was praying that the other bot would keep the Ape distracted long enough for Mituna to get behind it.



CANIS MAJORA: Optimus nodded, turning to look at the Ape as it managed to get back up to it's feet. Optimus stood up straight, holding it's arm to it's sides in challenge. "Hey, Donkey Kong! What's wrong? Scared to fight a real machine? I've seen blenders with more advanced CPUs than you! You really must be Donkey Kong because you've probably got about as much processing power as an old arcade board! Wait, no, you're a vacuum, right? Because you SU-" Optimus had to suddenly raise it's arms with a shout of surprise as it was suddenly rained on with a flurry of a gunfire, the Ape charging in anger at Optimus. It lifted Optimus over it's head, holding it at point blank range above the Ape's gun as it unloaded the entirety of it's ammo into Optimus abdomen. The lines in Optimus' body flicker out as it's gruffly tossed aside. With a laugh the AI, turns it's scanner around the area, looking for Mituna. It decides to try focusing internally, refortifying it's own firewalls and defenses while still looking around for Mituna. Now that it didn't need to worry about Optimus, it could focus on crushing this other bug.



ARGUS: Shit. Shit. Shit!!! Oh, God, he wanted Optimus to distract the Ape for him, but he didn't want THAT to happen! Fucking, shit, goddammit, Optimus was toast. Mituna didn't even know where the bot had come from, and he felt guilt and horror and grief well up inside of him. But this wasn't the time to be sad, this wasn't the time to mourn. If he let himself get fucked off now, then his brief friend's sacrifice would be for nothing. So Argus made his way around the Ape while it was making enough noise for the small engines on his board to be muffled. And as soon as he had the chance- he jumped for it! With a boost from his board, he was able to propel himself onto the mechanical beast's back, latching onto it. And from here, it couldn't SEE him. And it most certainly couldn't just aim it's guns at itself, even if they could bend that way.

ARGUS: "We fuckin' got you, Kong!" He yelled, and his visor slid away to reveal his snarling fury, his eyes literally seeing red. He blasted where the beasts's head met its shoulder with as much power as he could safely muster, until he had exposed (and charred) it's internal hardware. And then he pulled the wire from the right side of his helmet again, like he'd done with the doors, jamming it into the Ape's neck. As the visor slid back down over his eyes and in a fit of rage, Mituna pumped the thing's CPU with as many viruses as he carried in his helmet, completely skipping the 'shut it down' part and going straight to overloading it until it was completely fried. And he deleted /System32 while he was fucking at it. "Game OVER!!"

ARGUS: And then, with one last burst of anger, Argus screamed and let off another powerful burst of heat from his eyes, until the Ape's useless head came clean off. But by then, it was already toppling, circuits frying as its parts jerked, spasmed, and sparked. With one last death-flail, the Ape fell, bucking Argus off in the process, who was sent tumbling through the rubble, his helmet flying clean off in the process. He fell against one of the already defeated drones with a thump, bonking his head and yelping in pain. His hair was a sweaty, matted mess of curly helmet hair and his face was fully exposed, but even as he rubbed his head where he'd been hit, his first thought wasn't retrieving his helmet, but to call out to his fallen savior. "Yo, hey, Optimus! Bro!" he yelled, his voice cracking, "Please tell me you didn't just beef it permanently hard, dude."



CANIS MAJORA: Optimus stands. Its lines glow a familiar shade of yellow as it struggles to its feet. The AI, ever persistent lifts an arm, which was where the lasers had fired from earlier, and aims it at Mituna. It claims that its juuuuuuust fine, in a voice that suggests otherwise, sounding patchwork, scattered, staticky. It had apparently uploaded itself into Optimus, wirelessly, saving what little bits of itself it could and piecing them back together to finish the job. It let out a strange, stilted laugh, a jumble of voices that don’t mesh, that rush into each other to try and actually get the laugh out. The AI asks if Mituna really thought it wouldn’t have a back-up plan. It steadies its aim, focuses on firing and…

CANIS MAJORA: Nothing comes out. It tries again and still, nothing comes out. It’s moving slowly, sluggishly, like its newly stolen body is low on power. The outward damage is minimal, so theres no way it hit the power source. The AI couldn’t be more right. “Wow, that’s just sad. Here, let me give you a boost.” Suddenly, the yellow lines of energy are overtaken by green. Blinding, blazing emerald lights. The AI screams unable to take control of the machine and unable to escape.

CANIS MAJORA: “Bec? Sick ‘em.” The voice, presumably Optimus’ is supplanted by another digital scream as the armor tries to jerk, tries to move, but is willed in place as the AI is torn apart by something bigger. It can’t get away, with all of its escape routes cut off. There’s the sound of a dog snarling as the screaming seems to break off into a even more fragmentation, breaking apart, the AI’s presence in Optimus visibly diminishing to the eyes, until even that is overcome by green. The armor goes stiff and quiet after a final sound like a dial tone sharply cutting off, the only sound coming from it being a humming noise. Very suddenly, it releases a series of blasts of hot air from vents that open all around the body as plates in front of the machine shift and move around. It takes a second, but it’s not too long before it’s reveal that Optimus is a suit…and a girl…a familiar girl, with brown skin, red hair, and very green eyes, clad in a form fitting body suit that also shares those small green lines. She steps out and stumbles a little, quickly shaking it off before looking around for Mituna. She shoots him a smile as soon as she sees him.

CANIS MAJORA: "That's twice I had to finish your job for you! Very sloppy. Are you okay?"



ARGUS: No. No, this couldn't be happening. He thought he'd finished it! He was supposed to be the winner! He was supposed to have beaten it!! Mituna felt numb, like his body had become made of lead, all hope having seeped out of him. He'd given it all he had. His board was who knew where, his helmet was several feet away, and at this point, he felt like he might've been out of juice for his heat vision. So he just gave up, accepted it, closing his eyes tight and waiting for the blast that would signify his end... Except it never came. After a few seconds of nothing, he opened one eye, and then the other, only to see the posessed robot apparently... struggling with itself? It couldn't fire on him, and it's body seemed to be barely responding to its commands.

ARGUS: And then a voice, not the fake, mish-mash one used by the AI, taunts their enemy, before siccing some kind of attack dog of an anti-virus on it, eating it 'alive' until the AI was just... gone. But wait... He swore he'd heard that name before. And not just at school. Bec? It'd been a while, a year even, but it tugged at his memory. But no... couldn't be!

ARGUS: As the last traces of the AI vanished from the robot, Mituna shakily moved to his feet, taking a few steps forward. Disbelief was written all over his face as the reality of the situation dawned on him, his jaw dropped and his eyes wide. His foot bumped into his helmet, and he nearly tripped over it, snatching it up as he rebalanced himself and holding it against himself as the suit finished opening up and a very, very familiar (albeit much more bulky) human being stepped out. It wasn't a robot... it was a suit! Now THIS really DID feel like it came straight out of a comic book, and he had a name and everything this time! "Oh my God, it's Iron Lassth."



CANIS MAJORA: That gets a laugh out of Jade as she lifts her hands and hugs her abdomen, giggling like a dweeb. "No, its Canis Majora. I did think about that one, though."



ARGUS: "Hooooly shit. Holy shit!" He said, taking one hand from his helmet to bury in his moppy hair. "Holy shit, gurl! You're... Jade Harley, right? Oh my God, is thisth what you've been doin' all year?"



CANIS MAJORA: "Yes! Oh my gosh, I've gotten so far with everything, it's amazing! I'm still having a little trouble with robotics and coding, but this!" Jade turns and holds her arms up at her armor. "This! Is what I've managed to put together. It's still way to slow and I can't get the power to regulate correctly, but I knew I needed to come out here and stop this thing now. I'm glad you were here, though. Things might have gotten dicey without you around." She gives him a big grin, again, before stepping over and scooping him up into a hug. "Aaah, it's so good to see you! I didn't think my first hero outing would turn into a team-up with someone I already met! How've you been? Besides...this?" She waves at the wreckage as a one of the drones rolls off a platform and rolls away. Jade watching it with an amused expression.



ARGUS: "Goddamn, that'sth really fucking impressive, too. And to think all I've built is this helmet." He said with a laugh, "Maybe I could help you on that coding and programming front? I mean, obviously I'm good. And I also happen to have a compsci degree, besthides."

ARGUS: And then suddenly he's swept up into a tight hug, his toes dangling an inch or two from the ground. "Bwuh!!" Well, at least she remembered him so fondly! Once he was put down, he laughed again, before shoving his helmet back onto his head. "Oh, you know how it goesth. Stopping bank robberies. Ending shootoutsth. Sthurprising criminals that think they can get away in a car because no one ever expects the rocket board. And some personal business."



CANIS MAJORA: “That’s fine! You seem pretty busy and Bec has helped with everything. He’s going to help me with this, too,” Jade says, waving at the factory. “I can use this. Not all of it, just a lot of it. Manufacturing by hand takes way too long. If I find a way to make a smaller version of this facility under my own home, I could cut maintenance time and manufacturing costs down my a lot. The materials are all here! These,” she points at the down drones. “Are all a special titanium alloy that turns black when tempered. It’s super strong and light. It’s the same stuff I made my armor from.”



ARGUS: "Dang. That'sth pretty rad. I don't actually know much about alloys and junk, or weaponry. I'm a tech guy, not an arms guy. And also a face laser guy, you know how it goesth." He said with a smirk. Though, again, he was still pretty damn impressed. "Still, though, that armor's pretty sthick. You'll have to show me when you make the next version. Were you already working on this thing when we met last year?"



CANIS MAJORA: "Yeah! It's based on my grandpa's design...he's umm..." Jade hesitates, her eyes lowering as the look on her face changed to something different, a reminiscence of a recent pain. "He was Safari. I'm just kind of riding on his coat tails. So to speak."



ARGUS: Mituna's mouth made a perfect oval shape. "Ooohhhhhhhh. So you're with SthkaiaNet. That explains a lot, actually. Like how you might've known this place was here, maybe?" And then Mituna remembered something, and then felt awkward, shuffling a little. "Uh... I know it was a couple years ago, but... I heard 'bout what happened. Sorry about that."



CANIS MAJORA: "Yeah, the official story is really sad." Jade says, one hand reaching to play with her rings. "I miss him. But! I have all this to remember him by. Sooo. You aren't worried about me? Safari was pretty avidly anti-parahuman."



ARGUS: "Official sthtory...? Nah, I won't ask." He shook his head, and at Jade's inquiry, he shrugged. "I mean, I think writing off all parahumansth is kinda stupid. But he had a few points. Actually, that remindsth me..." He paused, crossing his arms as he considered whether he should go about this route. "You seem more in the know than the average persthon... mind if I ask you a weird question? I mean, you probably don't know the answer I'm looking for, but it shouldn't hurt to asthk..."



CANIS MAJORA: "Shoot. You helped me as much as I helped you." She walked over to one of the display platforms and hopped up on it, crossing her legs over each other and bouncing them on the side of the platform. "If I have answers, I'll be happy to say what I can."



ARGUS: He paused, taking a breath. When he spoke, his voice was a bit low. "What do you know about... Beholder?" He asked at last, before adding, "And more specifically, what do you know about his disthappearance? Anything at all?" He didn't look directly at her- or at least, he didn't seem to. His head, and helmet, were turned down, at the ground.



CANIS MAJORA: "Beholder? Beholder...I...I don't know. My grandpa was investigating that. Beholder was apparently one of the only Seraphim who would even give him the time of day. I heard he disappeared, but..." Jade lifts a hand, tapping it at her chin in an attempt to help her knock some cobwebs loose. "I was really sick growing up, so I don't remember a whole lot. I feel like he learned something, though. I just can't remember what. It was just before he tried to launch that assault on Kraken's base. He mentioned something and I just can't remember. I'm sorry."



ARGUS: God, the fact that Jade ALMOST knew something... ALMOST!! It was so painful, almost literally wrenching his heart out through his ribs. A part of him wanted to get angry. But he was on medication for that part, and he managed to keep it under control and think logically. It wasn't her fault. "It'sth... okay. If the information you granddad found is out there, maybe I'll find it next." He said, before shrugging and forcing a smile on his face. "Well, even if you granddad hated people like me, and Beholder, at least it's nice to know fucking SOMEONE was looking for him. So thanks for that, at least."



CANIS MAJORA: "Grandpa didn't hate people like you. He was intense, but I don't think he actually hated parahumans so much as he hated...how unfair it was? That no one wanted to make it possible to govern the Seraphim. He was complicated and I wasn't always awake when he explained this stuff. So..." Jade sighs, playing with her rings again. "If I find something, though. Anything. I'll let you know. Pinky promise?" She offers her hand, pinky extended and a smile on her face.



ARGUS: At the prospect of a pinky promise, Mituna tilted his head and smirked, crinkling his nose, before he started giggling, complete with a snort or two. Then, he slipped off one of his gloves, revealing a brown hand with slender fingers. He hooked his pinky with Jade's, shaking on it. "Sthure. Pinky promise." He said, letting them have the moment, before taking his hand away and putting his glove back on. "By the way... condolences again on your granddad. I, uh... I know what it'sth like, kinda. To lose someone who leaves a big hole in your life, and even bigger shoesth to fill." He hunched his shoulders, crossing his arms. "I'm justht lucky it was a long time ago, and I still got my mom. But yeah..."



CANIS MAJORA: "Yeah. I mean...I think I'm as tall as he was now? But I still feel so small compared to him. He was great and now..." Jade sighed. "This is really depressing. Do you want to celebrate a successful raid a different way? Do you take any time out of your busy schedule to be not-Argus? Can I hang out with not-Argus?"



ARGUS: Snort. "Not-Argusth would love to spend some time off-duty with you, but unfortunately, my identity isth a bit sensitive, even if my face ain't stho much." He said, putting his hands on his hips. "Cry unfair all you want, but you ain't gettin' another name outta me."



CANIS MAJORA: "Then I'm going to call you Fred."



ARGUS: "Fred?? Not even sthomething cool like... I dunno, Jamesth or Max or something smooth and suave? Damn, gurl, harsh." He was just fucking with her, as he finally stepped away to start looking for his board. He was a bit uneasy going near the remains of the Ape, but sure enough, his board was nearby. "Oh, ugh... I think the engine got a bit bent outta shape."



CANIS MAJORA: "Let me look!" Jade hopped off the platform and ran over. She makes motions for him to let her see it. "Come on, cool kid, let me see the uh...gnarly tumble your board took."



ARGUS: The attempt at the lingo made him snort again, but as Jade approached, he turned the board over so she could see the engines. One of them was most certainly very literally bent out of shape. "It's nothing I can't fix mysthelf. I've bonked it up a few times doing tricks before."



CANIS MAJORA: "I bet, but have you done this much damage to it? It looks like you might need to replace the casing and the miniature turbine. Plus, this um...This wire hear is probably not supposed to be sticking out like that."



ARGUS: "Nah, really, it'sth cool! I have a spare, actually. I do SOMETIMES have foresight. Even if only sthometimes. And the wiring will be no sweat." He chuckled, tucking the board under his arm. "I'm pretty sure I already mentioned I was a compsci major? They teach us how to build shit, too, not just programming and code. I made my board and my helmet mysthelf, actually."



CANIS MAJORA: "Wow...actually, can I look at your helmet? I'll let you ride my armooooor." Jade grins, every bit as excitable about the prospect as you'd expect.



ARGUS: "I'm not a hundred percent sure if I actually wanna ride your armor- looksth kinda uncomfortable and not really my size. But sthure, you can check out my helm." He tugged his helmet off again, shaking out his immensely curly, moppy hair, the fringe of which promptly fell into his eyes. Then he held the helmet out to her. Once she's got ahold of it, he starts pointing things out. "Asth you can see from the insthide, the two bulbs on the side are actually headphones. I've got access to police radio and regular radio, and can also tap into airwaves to listen into phone calls or walki talkiesth if necessary, as well as playback audible media. The whole thing itsthelf is basically a portable computer in a protective shell, which I use to access shit like those drones to hack into and disable threats. The visor slidesth in and out so I don't wreck it when I shoot my beams, and it also acts as a screen display for my computing. I can also play tetris, pong, and pacman on it. Aaaand the latch under the righthand bulb releases a universal cable- you saw how I can use that on Donkey Kong here. The other side hasth a pull-out audio jack." Blah blah blah blah

ARGUS: "Alstho, before I forget, it's controlled by a combination of voice commands trained on my voice only, neural commands, and hand and arm motions of the wearer." Blah blah blah blah



CANIS MAJORA: "This super impressive." Jade was looking back and forth at it, raising an eyebrow when she flipped it in her hands and looked inside. "Looks comfy, too. It's really cool that you have something that helps you stay...." Jade spun the helmet by the bulbs, in between her palms and then turned to hold it out to him with both hands. "Ahead of the game." Congrats, Mituna. You've just been punned for the first time. She lets out that goofy giggle at her own joke.



ARGUS: Mituna promptly groaned, before following it up with some nerdy gigglesnorting, accepting the helmet back and stuffing it back on his head. "Yeah. It'sth pretty flippin' handy. Anyways, I'd really love to hangout, but I should really probably get home and fix my shit up. An informant of mine sthet me up on a nice date with someone who might know something 'bout what happened to Beholder thisth Saturday, so I gotta be ready on time."



CANIS MAJORA: "Okay, okay. But let me show you one more thing before you go." Jade runs back to her armor, pulling herself into the cavity that she operated it from. It was a slow start up and, if Mituna's at all that observant, as it's closing, he might notice that her eyes start to glow as green electricity seems to spark from over her body, as if the armor is drawing power from her. She makes it stand, suit fully functional once more as she looks over the area. "Bec? Make yourself at home, buddy." The lines in the suit start to glow brightly once more. Slowly, as if something were reaching into them and starting them up again with only a little knowledge of how to operate them, the drones that had been disabled start to rise, their individual lenses glowing the same green as the lines on Jade's suit. They stand at attention, awaiting commands. "Hehehe, yes! It worked! That would have been really embarrassing if it didn't." One of the drones gives something resembling a digital bark.



ARGUS: Mituna is quite observant, and from a guy whos eyes also tend to light up when he activates a power, it made him curious, humming quietly in thought until the suit closed around Jade. And then he was absorbed just in watching the suit function, which was absolutely fascinating- just as fascinating as when Jade sicced her virtual intelligence on the drones, the ones whose joints hadn't been melted off by Argus standing up with an entirely different glow in their 'eye's. That made Argus grin. "Haha, nice! Stho, you finally upgraded your virtual intelligence's abilities like you said? That's fucking rad." He said, walking over to one of the drones to pat it. "Bec, right? Stho, you made it act like a dog? That'sth kiiind of adorable."



CANIS MAJORA: "Yes! He's a good boy and my best friend. I know it's just simulated emotions, but it's good enough. Did you want to take one of the working drones with you again? Complete the collection? Hehehe." Jade was already getting one of the other drones to start dismantling the more broken drones. She was planning on salvaging as much from one of SkaiaNet's mistakes as possible. She needed manufacturing material and this place had all she'd ever need for her private projects.



ARGUS: "Nah, not thisth time. I'd rather let sleepin' dogs lie. Feels like bad juju to delve too deep into these things after what happened with Donkey Kong." He said, kicking lightly at the Ape's body. "Besthides, I already sold all the parts of the last one for cash. Anywaysth, I gotta jet- I'm sure my board's engine can handle one last ride home before getting replaced."



CANIS MAJORA: "Don't let me keep you! I'll be here a little longer. See you around?" Her voice was hopeful here. It was pretty clear that she didn't want him to go, but she understood the need to take care of business better than most people her age.



ARGUS: "Yeah. Maybe eventually we'll luck out and meet out again, and with more time on our handsth to chill." He said, offering Jade a smile. Then he turned away and dropped his board on the ground, placing one foot on it before pausing. "Actually- if you hear anything about Beholder... or maybe remember what your granddad knew, or sthomething... Leave a message for me on the web. Justht gotta say you have information for Argus about Beholder. Leave it anywhere on the net, stheriously, could be an abandoned Digimon that hasn't had posts since 2002. Trust me- I'll find it, and I'll be in contact." He paused again, before giving Jade that playful two-finger salute, and then hopping onto his board and activating the rockets, speeding out of the room, and out of the facility.



CANIS MAJORA: "It'll probably be a Squiddles forum," Jade says, chuckling as she waves him off. He was still really cool, but she'd worked out of the crush she'd had on him. Still, she was grateful for the idea his helmet had given her. Something like that would be a definite new addition to the next model of her suit. Speaking of, she turn to the remnants of the Ape, lifting a hand to indicate to Bec to use a drone to lift it. "Dismantle it. We've got work to do, boy, and part of it is going to involve figuring out the rest of grandpa's stuff. You ready, boy?" The drone gives a positive bark as it begins pulling the drone apart.



ARGUS: Unfortunately, Argus was never spotted again on the cape scene in Prospit and Derse. He'd been a small rising star, only just getting his name out there locally, when he vanished. Where he'd just been starting to appear on cape discussion forums and even in a few articles whenever the crimes he'd stopped had made it into the news(whenever he wasn't just referred to neutrally as 'a local cape'), he very quickly faded when he failed to make any subsequent appearances. No one really bothered to ask what had happened to him- he was forgettable. Less of a rising star, and more of an ephemeral falling star shining brightly but briefly in the atmosphere of the night before fizzling into nothing.



CANIS MAJORA: A couple of years after their last meeting, a newly upgraded Canis Majora is moving out for her first flight. She wasn't optimistic about the chances, but there was a small hope in the back of her head as she prepared to step into her armor. "Maybe we'll luck out," she says, quietly to herself, admiring her new suit and playing with her ring before taking a breath and stepping into the armor.