Chapter 26
Grim BeginningsAugustus had been working on a secret project ever since they had arrived at his secluded home. Packages had been delivered over the months, each vanishing into the one room of the house marked as off-limits.
Alexander and Talia accepted his firm but polite refusal to explain, knowing he’d reveal it in his own time.
Annie, by contrast, begged with puppy-eyes and exaggerated whines whenever a new package arrived. Auggy smiled but never relented. And Annie, despite her antics, never once tried to peek through the door or into the boxes.
Which only made her squeal louder when Auggy finally led them to the mysterious room.
“It’s time to show you what I’ve been working on,” he said with his usual gravitas.
Annie darted ahead, spinning as she went. “You got us costumes, didn’t you? You’re stylish enough. It has to be!”
Augustus only shook his head. He slid a key into the lock and pushed the door open.
Annie gasped.
The room was half the size of the main living space, yet transformed with meticulous care. Warm lights flickered on overhead. Reinforced plating covered the walls and ceiling, designed to armor against and scramble signals. The floor was covered in a lush black carpet.
At the back, duffle bags were stacked neatly beside a munitions locker. Above them, mounted rails displayed blades, rifles, and other firearms, each secured carefully.
But it wasn’t the arsenal that drew the eye.
Each corner of the room held a personal station with a small workbench, a narrow locker, and mannequins dressed in partial gear lit by cool backlighting.
At the center of the room stood a polished steel pedestal waist-high, a holographic interface pulsing in concentric rings above it, waiting for input.
No one spoke at first.
Well, except Annie.
“Holy balls,” she whispered, spinning again. “I love everything about this. I love that you did this. You’re like our terrifyingly fashionable war-grandpa.”
“I am neither terrifying nor old,” Augustus said, amused.
“You’re kinda both,” she grinned, still circling.
Auggy ignored her antics and stepped to the pedestal. “Before we get to your kits, you need to understand this.”
The floating rings slowed as his hand hovered near. “This is a read-only receiver. It connects to nothing, stores nothing, and cannot be accessed remotely. It’s completely air-gapped, cased in layered alloys, the same material used in the hidden panel back home.”
He glanced at Alexander. “If it can block even your technopathy, it should block anything. Purpose-built. You’ll be able to safely sync implants here and share full system details with the team. Talia and I switched ours to internal-only to avoid tracking. It was unlikely in my case, but not worth the risk, regardless. Here, with the door sealed, it’s safe.”
Alexander frowned. “I didn’t even think about that. I can override any features in your implants that try to report your location, and any other features really.”
Talia lifted an eyebrow. “You can do that?”
“He already did it for us,” Annie said, eyeing Auggy’s mannequin. “Mine even tells me when it tries to report and gets blocked.”
Auggy and Talia exchanged a look.
“Please do,” Talia said. “It would be… a relief to know AEGIS can’t track me anymore. Especially if I ever needed to reactivate it.”
Augustus nodded. “Mine’s a spec-ops model. Outdated now, but it was cutting-edge at the time.”
Alexander reached out. The implants were familiar, but this time no resistance greeted him. The moment they gave permission, the barriers fell away.
He didn’t pry. As with his and Annie’s, he set the same intent, coaxing the devices into obedience until they focused only on looking out for their owners.
Protect them. Report nothing. Serve them, and no other.
When it was done, both Auggy and Talia stirred in surprise. Alexander waved off their thanks. They were a team.
He turned to his station, where a black-and-gray mannequin waited.
“Now then,” Augustus said. “Let’s start with you, Mr. Rooke.”
He lifted a long, sleek black duster from the mannequin, the fabric rippling like liquid shadow.
“Custom-dyed off-world leather. Lined with flexible nanoweave that disperses heat and redirects current. Resistant to blades and small-arms fire. Not perfectly, so don’t rely on it overmuch, but it’ll be enough for walking the streets. Hidden pockets sewn inside.”
He gestured to the vest. “Lightweight torso rig, reinforced paneling to shield heart and lungs.”
Next he held up a complex harness. “A balanced and discreet dual holster system. Fits beneath the coat but quick to draw. Weapons are mounted already, designed from the specs you passed to Talia.”
He slid a belt onto the bench. “Modular rig with ports for payloads, field pouches for goggles, toolkit, and the rest. Knife’s there too. Never be without a blade, I say.”
Annie leaned close, eyes wide at the drone tubes beside the gear. “Mini-drones,” she whispered. “I want them.”
“They’re not snacks,” Alexander said, moving to the pedestal. He touched the interface and broadcast his information.
[ Veritus Praxis Neuroadaptive Noetic Implant: Series 1 - Ascensus ]
— Administrator Override in Effect —
Alexander Rooke
| Alias: Unknown
| Designation: Supervillain
| Bounty: 150,000 credits
| Evaluation: Tier 2 (1%) — Class B-
ASCENSION POTENTIAL INDEX (API)
Physical Attributes