Chapter 36: Boris’s New Home

Friday afternoon, I found Cat and Boris out by the range arguing, as much as he was able to argue with his ‘Mother’.

“I should accompany you, Mother.”

“You are too big. It’s not like we can take you with us in the Car.”

“Then make me a new body. Or make a new car.”

“You say that too easily.” Sigh. “Give me time. I need to find a way to make a new power pack for you.”

“Acknowledged, Mother.”

“I’m giving you full access to the internet. I want you to watch some TV shows, news and a sample of each type of movie. Read as much as you can. If you are going to be my guard, you will need to learn more about human behavior.”

“Acknowledged, Mother.”

“I’ll set you up a room in the shed.”

“Greetings, Master of Mother.”

“Boris.” I returned his salutation.

“As if I didn’t have enough to do.” Cat complained to me on the way to the shed, dragging me along for my opinion on setting up Boris’s private workspace. “He will need an interface and articulated hands. I suppose I can replace his left arm with a temporary hand for now.” I watched her think over the issue.

“Can you help me with that?” she asked me.

“Sure.” Cat nodded as if my response was expected before returning to her thoughts.

A half hour later, Cat pulled out her tablet from her carry pack and began diagramming the new workplace for Boris’.

It would be interesting.

“We will have a guest tomorrow. It looks like your plea for work for me worked.”

“About time. You haven’t had a customer in months and it’s my fault.”

“I don’t mind.”

“I do. What do you think about placing a standing keyboard and monitor set up here, I think we can maximize the environment by doing it this way without taking over the whole shed...” she went on to describe her proposed set-up for Boris in detail.

“I want to design a new power pack for him. I need to increase the energy density by a factor of ten at least, before I miniaturize it.”

“Ambitious. Why not miniaturize as it is?”

“It’s not good enough.”

“I don’t think he will have any tactile sensation from the new appendage. If you want him to have that, you will need to work it into the new body.”

“He will have a hell of a learning curve. Poor guy.” She lamented over her AI Bot before heading inside to her white boards.

...

“You went shopping and didn’t bring me along?” Clarissa came bounding in, chastising Cat at full volume.

“They came?”

“I didn’t know you were an audiophile,” Clarissa bounced towards Cat while speaking.

“It’s not for me. Can you bring them in the shed please? I’ll join you in fifteen.”

Ten minutes later, Cat exited the back door calling for Boris. Intrigued, I tagged along to see what was up.

There were three twenty-four-inch TVs, nine twenty-seven-inch monitors, special order large keyboards, and twelve full audio systems from Kardin-Haman priced over $150 thousand in total. Boris, with his new pair of hands without weapon attachments, stood and watched his Mother and her friend assemble the components while listening to her instructions and comments.

Leaving the trio be, I returned to my latest request. A very wealthy man lost his left arm in an auto accident and was paying good money for a fully articulate and responsive replacement. Even with my warnings, he went ahead with the deal.

Cat, interested in the subject for Boris’s new body, was following along each night as I went over what I was planning out and why. Learning anatomy and replacing the nerves with electronics and fiber optics was something different for her. The plus on the human side, was that the brain was used to the appendage and would try and accommodate the new sensations over fiber even if it were a lesser version.

Boris, never having sensation before, would be completely different. Whether or not he developed tactile sensations was still up in the air.

...

Valentine’s Day and as an early birthday celebration for her, Cat took me out for a good dinner and a play at a small college theatre. We made the cover of their college newspaper which spread like wildfire. Cat held me by the hand and snuggled all night, ignoring the inquisitive glances of those around us. We ended the evening at home with a glass of wine and an early bedtime.

The next day, she skipped out on Clarissa’s workout, only to be found in her office furiously writing on the white boards. By then, Cat’s erstwhile workout instructor knew better than to interrupt her when she was like this. ‘Meditation’, Clarissa called it. The ‘Zone’ was what both of us referred to it as, but it all meant the same thing. Cat had an epiphany.

“I don’t understand any of that.” The yoga clad, silver haired beauty frowned over my shoulder while pressed against my back.

“It’s a step forward.” I commented in a low voice. Both of us were careful not to draw her attention. “It’s a blend of energy types to increase the density. If she can get it to work, Boris can get his new body and your bike won’t need a recharge for the rest of the year.”

“It’s a waste that she has only a small lifespan.”

“That hasn’t been determined yet.”

Inhuman strength held me in place at my remark. “You can extend her life?” Intensity was oozing from every pour in that magnificent body that pressed firmly against me.

“She is still young. Give it time.”

“Sire wants to make her an Inhuman.”

“She would lose too much. Inhumans can never Create.”

“I think she could work around it. She does amazing things now with the Devices only adding to the effect.”

“She chose not to accept Leonard’s offer. Killing will always be hard for her.”

“I think it will not be as hard as she says. I think she will get vengeance when you release her.”

“Self-defense and vengeance are not the same as hunting. How are your meetings coming?”

“The women that attend are all broken.” She had been working at the rape centers, volunteering her time. Not that it had helped the ones harmed. Clarissa was a hunter and the women that needed support didn’t appreciate her viewpoint. We ended up discussing, quietly, her activities in the support centers while we eventually found a seat in the rear of the converted classroom.

After three days of carefully monitoring and guiding Cat’s body, while her mind Zoned out with her version of Meditation, she finally put down her stylus and bodily plopped in my lap.

Shoving her hand in mine. “Massage my hands please. You would not believe how cramped they are right now.”

“First take a drink.” I gestured at the mineral water, then acquiesced to her request.

“I think I’ve got it. There is one thing that worries me. I am not sure how stable it is. Won’t know until I build it.”

“You will need a large open area for that test.”

“Yeah. I need to tell Moria.”

“Oh?”

“If this works, I might have her alternate power source.”

“Build and test. If it is that unstable it will not be of use to anyone.”

“Okay. I need some food and a nap.”

“And...”

“I know. I am not to touch this for the rest of the week. Just don’t stop rubbing my palm. My thumb feels like it’s about to fall off.”

“You have a few embers heating. Which one are you going to work on first?”

“Power Cell. The Core can wait until I figure out a better system. Besides Boris wants a better body and I think it’s worth it to make one for him.”

I carried her into the dining room and made her eat something simple before shooing her off to bed for a long-deserved nap. Then I retired to my office and meticulously went over her notes from the previous three days.

“Dreary rainy London. Let’s get this farce over with.” Exiting the black cab, Drake held the door for his assistant on this trip. “What do you think, Barb?”

“Larkin is the belle of the ball, worldwide. I wouldn’t get your hopes up, sir.”

“We’ll see...”

...

“Before you get to the crucifixion, give me five minutes, that’s all I ask.” Confidently stated the president of the UF Heroes Association before his European counterparts in a closed session. Called specifically to censure their arrogant UF cousin.

“That’s fair Drake. What do you have to say for yourself?” The current head of the international, body, Sliver Mist from Russe, allowed.

“Then watch the screen.” The first picture was of a charity event held in Vegas where four people sat conversing. The second was a blurred image of Dr. Death riding in the passenger seat exiting UF airspace on their way to orbit. Two shadows in the rear were not distinguishable but it would not be a stretch to match the girls from the previous picture as the ones in back.

Side by side pictures of the silver haired woman riding Catherine Larkin’s hoverbike matched the woman at the table with Dr. Death. Seven more pictures of the pair of young women were singularly displayed.

Catherine Larkin and Moria O’Shannan’s numerous appearances together were also sequenced after the Clarissa Leonard ones ended.

“Catherine Larkin is spending time with the vilest people on earth. She shares the same teacher as Strife and even refers to Strife as a mentor and aunt. Smith too cannot by any means be seen as benign. Dr. Death, Smith and Strife. And you wondered why I removed her from the List?” With that simple defense, Drake sat and let himself be roasted with no further counters or excuses.

“Any word on who sabotaged, Cat’s project?” Moria O’Shannan stood over her aide’s shoulder eating a blueberry muffin with extra lox.

“None. Whoever did it went, into hiding and isn’t saying anything. I could make a decent guess though.”

“Guess.”

“Klein, OPEC, or National Grid,” Darrin stated with a great deal of assurance.

“Do you think that anyone at the Grid has the balls to pull this off?”

“Definitely. They are second on my list.” Tapping his screen with the soft tip of his stylus, Darrin began to list the reasoning. “They will end up losing almost seven percent of market share if it ends up being built in either New York or here. Two places with the highest probabilities. I think Congress will settle on a site just east of us, right before the grid splits south to feed Texas. Right here would be the most effective.” Pointing at the active UF power grid that exchanged power between states, Darrin Weathers pointed at an aging coal plant that needed to be retired.

“It would kill quite a few birds with a single stone. It would be close to Catherine’s home base and neither Cali nor New York would benefit directly, which they could agree on. That coal plant was scheduled to retire last year but the nuclear facility was rejected under heavy protest. Cat’s plant would be a perfect fit. IF...”

“If the Congress critters can get their heads out of their asses. Drake kept his job.”

“I predicted that. It’s not too surprising, it’s not a job anyone else wants. He pays out more in lawsuits than the rest of the European HA combined. Every other civilized country enacted hard limits on super related lawsuits where ours are soft caps.”

“Cat sent me a text today. She is working on a new project and won’t be making Wednesday dinners for a couple months.” Placing her hand, crumbs and all, on his shoulder, “I had Marcy book you a trip to Italy for ten days. I noticed your leg isn’t healing as well as it should. Enjoy your time at the Med resort in the Med.”

“I don’t feel up to a vacation right now.”

“Tough. You leave at eleven tomorrow night. That’s an order Mr. Weathers.”

“Yes, Lady.” When she took that tone, there was no arguing. “What is Catherine up to now?”

“Something for me.”

“You?” He questioned.

“She is too focused. It’s probably an improved Source.”

“Improved Fusion before the first version is released?”

“This one will be a singular Device. Not just a component to a larger system.”

May 8^th, 2023.

*Click. “Hi, this is Catherine.”

“How are you today, Miss Larkin?” replied the well-modulated voice over the speakers.

“Tired. I tried reaching Moria but she didn’t answer her phone. Can you have her give me a call?”

“She’s locked up in shareholder’s meetings all week.”

“Please, Darrin? The sooner the better I need to talk to her for a few minutes.” Cat stated firmly.

“Is it an emergency?”

“Not per se. Tell her it might involve breaking a promise made at dinner.”

“Understood. I will pass along the message.”

“How are you feeling? I heard you went to a spa in Italy.”

“Much better, thank you. I need to go. Busy week for the both of us, I will tell her you called.”

“Thanks Darrin.” *Click.

“You know, we could go find an isolated atoll in the south Pacific and test it out there,” I reminded her.

“We can’t use the army’s testing grounds, they charge too freakin much and they are too nosy. Let’s see what Moria says first.”

“Lady,” the second to the President and CEO of SI bent and whispered the message into her ear during a lull.

Frowning... “Maurice’s; Thursday at seven. Reserve us a private room with my security and double check for integrity.” Returning to the audience, “Fastbinder, that is unfeasible...”

“You look great, Kiddo. Did you get a new trainer?” Moria offered before hugging her young friend who lost a few pounds of softness replaced by an athletic firmness that was unmistakable.

“Lissa has me doing aerobics and yoga.” Catherine complained. “You look aggravated. Sorry, but I needed to talk to you in person.”

“It’s not you. This is shareholder’s week.”

“When I get that far, I’ll sell out. I don’t know how you can do it.” They both placed orders for appetizers and beverages. Catherine placed a silver cube on the wooden table and pressed the solitary golden button, igniting a small black energy field lining the walls and doorway to the private dining room.

“You swept it, right?” At her older companion’s assertion, Catherine began. “I made a few new Sources. We think they are unstable as hell, and need to test them. I can’t trust the UF government or any of the others. Do you have a place that I can test for shock with room for some big bangs?”

“How big and how many?”

“I have nine possible Marks.” She referred to each Design version being labeled as Mark I, II, III ... Which was understood by the senior Device maker.

“And the possible explosion sizes?” Cat’s message earlier worried her more than she was willing to admit. Smith knew no bounds and Catherine tended to go to extremes.

“Up to twenty Terajoules.”

“Catherine...”

“Neither Master, nor I believe we will see anything over five Terajoules. But it’s still a small possibility. The reason I want that one tested, is it has the best energy density. If it works, you have your alternate Source for Starfare.”

“Do you need to have underground testing?”

“I don’t care. What do you think?”

“Even with less than ten TJ, they will set off every alarm possible. The earthquake sensors will definitely pick them up.”

“Can’t be helped. Master suggested that we need to go to the south Pacific and find a deserted sandbar or something like that and test there.”

“Why don’t you?”

“Not sure, it doesn’t feel right. That’s why I am asking your opinion and help.”

“Find a small patch of rock at surface level somewhere out in the middle of nowhere for your tests. No one can claim you are disturbing their fishing or sovereignty.”

Taking a sip of her wine and swirling it around without observing the liquid, “That’s not why you called me here, was it?”

“Have you seen this armor before?” The younger of the two Device Creators passed a photograph across the table.

“It’s one of mine. Seven years ago, I sold a group of four to six different heads of State. None of them have any offensive equipment, but they are B Rank for defenses and sensors. Medium strength and agility enhancers are built in. They are pretty good overall.”

“The man who killed nine of my men recently at the Project site was wearing this.”

Catching the implications, Moria clarified, “Was?”

“Boris was bored, so I let him patrol off and on at the Project site for the last two months. He was about to return home when the attack happened.”

“How intact is the armor?”

“Shorted out to hell, the agent wearing it suicided with a poison capsule. Master hasn’t been able to find out who the assassin was, but I bet you can identify whose suit it belonged to.”

“There’s a Number on the inside casing of the back main plate next to the core.”

“FNGXC8545.” Catherine rattled off.

“You already know whose it is, why are you bringing this up? And how did Boris get close enough to that armor? He would have lit those sensors up like crazy.”

“I commissioned an electrical stealth field from Master for Boris, mostly for his next body but we wanted to test it out in practice. It won’t hide him from sight or passive viewing, but it defeats all actives. Has a small disadvantage of leaving a hole where his location is, but good luck discovering that on ground level in cover.”

“Catherine, remember your Bot is an AI machine.”

“I know, Loyalty is in his core commands. As long as I am faithful to him, he will be faithful to me.”

“AI’s drift.”

“He has started already. Thinks I am his mother. He even requested what he wants in his new body now. You should see some of his suggestions after he binged watched anime for a week straight.” She snorted.

“Why are you bringing up the Armor to me, Kiddo?”

“I’m going to remake it for Boris. I didn’t want you to be surprised when he showed up in it. I will probably leave the helmet off and tie any external sensors into him directly. I also want to let you know that he will be equipped with my weapons.”

“Are you turning him into you own agent?”

“Nah, he will be my personal protector. I decided that if I wanted something done like that, I will do it myself.” With those ominous remarks, Catherine shut down the interdiction field, letting the rest of the world back in and bringing an end to their serious conversation.

“How did it go?” The silver ponytailed woman asked, once her rider was on the back seat and helmet secured with communications active.

“She was uncomfortable with the direction that Boris is going.”

“Ha! I bet. What did she say about using her armor?”

“Nothing. I don’t think she cares about that. Do you want to come with us to see large explosions in the south pacific?”

“Like I would miss that. Are we blowing up any countries? I heard that there are some real shit holes out there.”

“Empty sandbars, you bloodthirsty slut.”

“We will see who the bloodthirsty one is in a year, won’t we KittyCat?” The last was said almost completely inaudibly. Almost...

“You are in early, Lady. How did last night go?”

“Yi should be here in five minutes; I had a satellite redirected to the south Pacific. I want a consistent surveillance over the area looking for singular large explosions. I need those readings.”

“It went that well?”

“Cat also has an FNG series. Inform security that one might be hers and if it identifies itself as one, do not engage.”

“Catherine is modifying one of your scaled down armors? Why would she do that?” ‘Lesser versions’ and Catherine Larkin did not belong in the same sentence according to Darrin Weathers’ view of the world.

“Her bodyguard will end up wearing it. Probably carrying something akin to your toy from her.”

“Well fuck. There goes the neighborhood. Who can she trust with that much firepower?”

“That we shall see. I don’t expect anything soon. But I could be wrong.”

“Any news on our surveillance yesterday?”

“Every attempt was caught or is dead. A solid black energy field blocked the only door to the private room, sir. We also suspect it was responsible for the destruction of the planted bugs. They never went that far before.”

“This was their first meeting in months. Something extraordinary had to have brought out the younger and caused the older to leave in the middle of her busiest week of the year just for a fifteen-minute closed door exchange.”

“Can you ask Smith?”

“He hasn’t returned a call in three months.”

Knock, knock. “Sir, you wanted me to let you know if Smith or Larkin did anything unusual this week. They filed a flight plan for somewhere in the middle of the Pacific scheduled to depart in an hour.”

“Do we have any satellites over that area?”

“There is nothing there, sir.” Meaning that there was no reason to have active satellite coverage there.

“What about redirecting one or seeing if we can piggyback one passing through?”

“I can ask, but probably not. We don’t even know if that is their real destination,” replied the adjunct.

“Ask.”

“A sandbar?”

“Yeah, it’s 1750 meters long and between ten and fifty meters wide. This way we can set up our tests and be far enough away not to worry.”

“Anything I can do?” Clarissa volunteered.

“Help master set up the screens, if you would.”

I kept Clarissa out of Cat’s way, while the latter uncrated the first set of sensors and set up the firing range for Mark IV.

Twenty minutes later. Cat loaded in the first slug in the fixed positioned shotgun and sprinted back behind cover. Each of us affixed our eye and ear protection along with our masks before Cat began her thirty second countdown for the remote-controlled trigger.

Clarissa kept an eye on the main camera and the other on the canister in the distance. She was the only one of us that could see it unaided from this distance.

3... 2... 1 ... KABOOM!

The shock waves passed us by, while Cat sat unflinching before the computer readings. “Not good, 2.209 Terajoules. There were identifiers that the sample was unstable even before the center partition was perforated. Let’s hope that one was the worst of the Marks.”

“The partition is fine.” My portable blast proof room was not going to be affected by an explosion that small.

“I’m not fine. My ears are ringing. What the hell was that?”

“It better be. Ugh, Bernie will be pissed. One down.” Referring to the mangled shotgun nowhere to be found that used to be positioned three meters unprotected before the first trial Device. Clarissa’s complaints were ignored about the noise levels.

3... 2... 1 ... KABOOM!

“2.932 Terajoules.”

3... 2... 1 ... KABOOM!

“1.112 Terajoules.”

3... 2... 1 ... KABOOM!

“4.078 Terajoules. That was unexpected. How is everyone?”

“You could destroy a city with these.” Clarissa was grinning under the reinforced earmuffs that I made for her.

3... 2... 1 ... KABOOM!

“ .901 Terajoules. Better but still way too high.”

3... 2... 1 ... KABOOM!

“ .808 Terajoules.”

3... 2... 1 ... KABOOM!

“Mark X, .426 Terajoules. If nothing else, it’s usable.” She stated undiscouraged. Even though we agreed that anything over 0.25 Terajoules was unusable and this was just the impact test. Shock tests were next for those that past this round.

3... 2... 1 ... KABOOM!

“0.22 Terajoules we have one good one at least.”

3... 2... 1 ... KABOOM!

“0.19 and a second one...”

3... 2... 1... KABOOOOMMMMMMMM!

That one reverberated for twenty seconds as the wind, water, sand and rock pounded against the protective barrier energetically. First towards us in a rush then the backdraft came slamming against the other side. Our vision was obscured for minutes. Water rained down upon us after that last explosion and it didn’t look like it would stop anytime soon, considering the size of the mushroom cloud that developed...

After the stillness of the ocean scene returned but not the new downpour, “It blew the sensors at thirty-five Terajoules. I don’t think that one is usable.” A very chagrinned young lady looked at me in worry. It was a magnitude beyond her wildest calculations.

“That will be noticed,” I commented, rubbing it in.

“NO Shit, they probably heard it in Tahiti or will in a few minutes. Hell, they might have SEEN it from there. It’s not like they can miss it. And all those weather satellites. Kitty, you will have some explaining to do when we get home.” Even with protective muffs in place, Clarissa had to shake off the damage to her over sensitive hearing. “KittyCat, that side of the sand bar is gone along with the ocean surrounding it. Where are you going to do the rest of your tests?”

“Good thing we don’t have to worry about secondary detonations.” We all watched the large crater that was quickly filling with inrushing water. Even our portion of the sandbar was quickly being swamped by the surge. “Master can you move the car to the crater side please? We only have one more for this series of tests.”

Clarissa was seeing Catherine in a new light from her lack of reaction from the massively large detonations. That last one alone will be talked about for centuries.

3... 2... 1 ... KABOOM!

“0.39 Terajoules. I am adding that one to the secondary trials. Besides it had the best retention of the group. That leaves us with Marks XI, XII and XIV. Lissa, you might as well get some swimming in. This will need at least forty minutes before I am ready for the next cycle of tests.”

Stripping off her protective gear, and everything else, the Inhuman beauty sprinted out into the warm, freshly agitated water and energetically explored around the newly formed crater for the next hour until Cat summoned her back.

Using the purified water from the extinguisher that I carried for this singular purpose, I rinsed off the salt from her body while the nymph posed provocatively only to get slapped on the ass by Cat half way through; commanding us both to hurry up.

Pouting, our camera girl redressed and we waited for Cat’s signal. We had been out here for eight hours already and only had fifty minutes of daylight left, not that night would be a bar, but I didn’t want Cat to test at night.

“Sample XI; shock test.” The automated paint mixer on steroids that Cat ordered and reassembled started shaking, even with the four pylons trying to hold it in place, the machine’s frame vibrated at a few thousand cycles per minute.

KABOOM!

“That was quick. Fifty-six seconds and a detonation of 0.26 Terajoules. An increase of .04 over penetration. Useless.”

“Sample XI;”

KABOOM!

“Forty-two seconds.” She stated in disgust. Not even bothering to go over the data.

“Sample XIV; wish me luck.”

“Good Luck KittyCat.” Clarissa said cheerily. Not at all tired from today’s activities.

“Sixty seconds ... Ninety ... One twenty ... One eighty ... Three hundred ... temperature and pressure are normal, no abnormal fluctuations ... six hundred seconds ... no deviations. Turning off the agitator.”

Clarissa and I carried over a large Capacitor and a power inverter which Cat hooked up to supply a strain against the charge from Mark XIV.

“If it’s going to fail, now would be the time, the heavy uneven drain while we shock the hell out of it. If it survives, we are good to go. Crossed fingers!” Cat ordered, even though she didn’t believe in that particular superstition.

“Sample XIV; shock with heavy uneven load. 3... 2... 1...”

“Sixty seconds ... One twenty ... Three hundred ... Six hundred. Let’s go eat in the Car and let it run for a while.”

“How long?” Clarissa asked, agreeing to food.

“Give it an hour. If it’s still good, then it passes.”

It passed. If you discount that its impact and penetration test failed by almost sixty five percent. But I silently agreed with her. I doubted that she would get a better result until the next step in her evolution was completed.

Besides, I was concerned about the reception we would get when we returned. Long range reconnaissance aircraft were heading in our direction.

Casually watching the live feed, split screen with the numbers scrolling past, Moria O’Shannan doodled aimlessly on her sketchpad listlessly. Six catastrophic failures of the first seven wasn’t a good sign on the opening round of testing. Even the seventh barely met her personal criteria.

Taking a drink of her diet coke, she watched Cat walk back to the shelter and mentally counted down to the expected failure. Some explosion was expected and necessary for that type of Device. Not to the extremes that were demonstrated in those early examples...

WOOSH!

Her feed had no sound but she imagined the wind and noise that accompanied the miles high mushroom cloud.

Scrabbling for her phone, Click. “I’m sending you the feed now. Cat’s my new Hero!”

“I was sleeping.”

“Fuck sleep, she just dropped a nuke on the small atoll they were testing on.”

“I thought you said they were testing new power cores? What nuke?”