Wildcard - 3 (Patreon)

NOTE:
Commissioned Chapter

~

"There is a car waiting outside," Cecil simply said before vanishing in a flash of light.

The downloaded knowledge told me that he used teleportation excessively. Robot had gathered a line-by-line budget of his financial missteps. I couldn't expect him to climb through the hole in the ceiling that I used to come and go.

I looked around the apartment I had acquired. There wasn't an emotional response as I took it all in.  I slept here two nights then stolen some clothes. If the owner was dead like Cecil said then there was a chance that there were family members to come pack it up. I didn't feel the urge to take anything with me. The clothes didn't fit right, the canned food wasn't anything special, and the new place was supposed to have burritos.

No use sticking around any longer.

I hopped out of the hole in the ceiling in the hallway up to the roof. There was a vehicle on the street waiting for me. It was the first non-emergency car I had seen since I woke up in the freezer. The car didn't have any plates, stickers, or even a logo. There was something about it that didn't look right, but I was lacking any sort of reference.

A guy in a generic black suit stepped out of the vehicle. He looked at me as he opened the back door. I hopped down to street level, cheating a little with flight to prevent creating more destruction. The guy either didn't notice or didn't care. I was probably going to slip up eventually, but I had a plan. Strength was a major component in flight. I had to constantly push against gravity to stay in the air.  The Viltrumite balance thing made it easy to maintain. I still had to push off.

Part of the knowledge that had been downloaded into my brain concerned evaluations of various super-powered people. The profiles were mostly the original Guardians of the Globe along with their allies and recurring villains. Omni-Man had been included in that list, but it wasn't until Maria arrived that they got solid numbers. Robot thought she would be one of the people that were easier to manipulate. He referenced her upbring under Omni-Man. She grew up thinking that her father was a hero and wanted to follow suit.

I would hold my judgement of her until we met. To be honest, I really wanted to meet her and her mother. Technically they weren't my family, I didn't have one, but I was curious. Debbie Grayson had a profile as well due to her being Omni-Man's wife. Robot had kept a file on her complete with a healthy portion of stolen medical records. He had hoped there was something special in her genetics that made her a better source of human DNA that he could use to ensure his clone would be viable. She was a normal person without any special genetic markers.

The mystery of the strangeness of the car was obvious once it started moving. It looked like any other car on the road, but it smoothly traversed the rubble and wreckage it came across. At one point it went through a collapsed building and up an angle that would impress a mountain goat. It wasn't as impressive as teleportation. Still interesting.

I wasn't tired, but the seats were comfy and the ride was smooth. My eyes drifted close as I leaned my head back. I didn't know what material the seat was made from. It was incredibly comfortable regardless. Physically I wasn't tired. The seat didn't care. I allowed myself to doze off for the rest of the ride. Cecil didn't have access to many things that could hurt a Viltrumite. My genetic material was a mixture of Nolan and Maria Grayson which sounded weird now that I thought about it. Thankfully, Viltrumite DNA didn't care. That would be me mostly alien with only a sliver of human in the mix. Humans were the perfect option to breed with the Viltrumite species.

The information of Viltrumite and their history was lacking. Nolan hadn't provided much information. What he had told Cecil's people was being reevaluated due to recent events. It was hard to believe they went around uplifting planets when the one sent to Earth had gone on a massive killing spree.

I woke up as the car came to a stop. My throat was dry, but I felt wonderful. These seats were better than the bed from my hide-out. I wasn't sure where I would be sleeping from now on, but I wondered if I could have them make a place for me out of these cushions. If not for the fact that I was resistant to just about everything on Earth I would have thought they had drugged me. Hopefully they didn't try. I didn't know how to explain that I had the same reaction as Maria when they tried it on her.

Cecil did a lot of tests on her without her knowing. Robot had discovered a specific frequency that could paralyze a Viltrumite. He had gone out of his way to develop a way to prevent it just in case I had proven a viable option. At least that weakness wouldn't out me as an Omni-Man slash Invincible clone. Robot had run his own line of tests on a few clones before me, but the results didn't register anything beyond a baseline human. It was one of the reasons he thought I was another failure.

There were more important things to do. Cecil said they had burritos.

The driver got out then opened the door for me. I gave him a thankful nod as I got out. He didn't react. Jerk. I took in the surroundings. It appeared to be an underground garage. The only light came from the regularly spaced fixtures that had those Vitamin D bulbs for people that rarely saw the sun. There was a distinct lack of windows which made it hard to tell how far I was underground. The knowledge download didn't include the blueprints for the facility. I knew the departments, just not where they were.

"Conner?" A woman in a business suit asked as she approached. "May I call you Conner?"

I nodded, "Yes. That's why I chose it."

"Wonderful," She smiled at me. "My name is Clarise. Yes, like the movie."

I cocked my head to the side.

"Oh, sorry," She winced. "It's instinct by now."

I shrugged.

"It's from a movie," She explained leading me down the hallway she had come. "There is a federal agent named Clarise. You're the first person who hasn't made a joke about it."

I furrowed my brow, "You're not a federal agent."

"I know," She grumbled. "Anyway! Would you like to get something to eat before the testing?"

"Testing?" I asked.

"Yes," Clarise replied. "You're a new super. We prefer to have a benchmark for your powers."

"I'm strong," I said.

"We know," She nodded. "But we do not know the extent. You might be other powers that you don't know about yet."

"I would like to eat first," I finally answered. "Cecil said there were burritos."

Clarise chuckled, "Yes, he mentioned that. Our cafeteria has a kitchen for special orders. They do breakfast burritos every day. We have Taco Tuesdays and Pizza Fridays every month." She looked over her shoulder when I didn't react. "Have you had tacos or pizza?"

I shook my head, "I know what they are."

"You'll love them, trust me," She smiled brightly at me.

I could see why she had been put in charge of the tour. She had a pleasant voice, a nice smile, and didn't sound insulting when she explained things. Clarise led me to the cafeteria. It was an expansive room with a high ceiling that made it easy to forget it was underground. The walls were subtle angled outward to make it feel larger than it was. There weren't that mean people around in the cafeteria at the time. I didn't miss the fact that most of them were part of the security force with special armor for dealing with supers. They had their helmets off and were scattered around the room. I didn't think they usually ate with their weapons. It was a little insulting, but burritos were more important.

Clarise led me to a wide, open window that looked deeper into the kitchen. One of the staff had three foil logs waiting when we stepped up.

"Here you go," The worker said. "Burritos. We weren't sure which kind you like so there is one with chicken, one with beef, and one with steak strips. They're basic aside from that. Cheese, beans, and meat. We have a selection of sauces that you can try once you've had these."

I stared down at the foil logs, "Are they supposed to look like that?"

"They're wrapped in tin-foil to keep them nice and hot," The worker explained.

I picked them up, examining each one as I did. The downloaded knowledge was lacking when it came to food.

"Let's get a seat," Clarise said.

She chose a spot that sat nearly in the center of the room. We were surrounded by the 'off duty' security people.

"That guy hasn't taken a bite since we got here," I pointed to one of the security guys. "That one has been reading the same page." I moved to the other. "That one has had his hand to his ear the entire time."

Clarise's smile faltered.

"I'm not mad," I stated. "I get it. You don't know me. It's just a little insulting."

She nodded, "Thank you for understanding."

"What guns did you give them?" I asked. "I must have some sort of durability, so I don't tear myself apart when I use my strength. Do you think it applies to damage?"

She shrugged, "We don't know."

"How do you test it?" I asked.

Clarise held a finger to her ear, "There are a few different techniques. Heat, cold, blunt and sharp damage, and some ballistics."

"I can see why you offered burritos first," I carefully unwrapped the chicken one.

It wasn't bad. I finished it out of respect for the effort to make it, but I wouldn't be ordering it anytime soon. The beef was close to the one I had from the food truck. It didn't have the same level of flavor, but I think that was from sauces and spices. The cheese was different too. I saved the steak strips for last. It tasted better than expected, but beef was the best of the three.

"How are they?" Clarise asked.

I shared my observations. She appeared to be paying close attention to my input.

"We'll have to track down that food truck," She said. "It sounds tasty."

I nodded, "It was."

"Are you ready for the tests?" She asked. "Do you need time to settle your stomach?"

I paused to focus on the signals from my body, "No, I'm fine to start now."

"Great," Her smile was back. "Follow me."

I did wonder how much of her personality was a performance. That brief moment when I told her about the guards made everything else feel less genuine. She was still a pleasant guide. We got in an elevator. There weren't any numbers to push. Instead, it had a card reader.

The tests started at the moment closed. Clarice didn't seem to notice, but I could hear a sound ranging through a wide range of frequency. I felt it fluctuate around the Viltrumite signal a few times. They were testing potential weaknesses as well as my range of hearing. Maria would have been bleeding from the ears now. I had no idea how Nolan would react.

"Why isn't there elevator music?" I asked after about a minute.

Clarise shrugged, "There usually is."

She sounded sincere enough. The music started up a moment later. I bobbed my head along with the songs once it reached the range that humans could hear. The doors opened on an expanse of white with only a yellow strip to follow. I didn't let on that I could hear people moving around and machines doing something. Clarise didn't comment as she led me through the featureless expanse.

Eventually, we reached another area that I could see. It opened up to reveal the bastard child between an industrial factory and a gym. There was a bench press with a large hydraulic press connected to it instead of weights. Nearby there was a treadmill made in some material that I couldn't identify. There was more enhanced gym equipment that focused on other muscle groups arranged in rows. Cecil stood in front of a group of eager scientists waiting for us.

"How were the burritos?" Cecil asked.

"Tasty," I replied. "Where do we start?"

Cecil motioned to the machines, "Pick one. We're going through all of them. Durability testing is set for after dinner."

I walked over to the bench press and got into position.

§

I wasn't as strong as Maria. That made sense as I was less than a week old. A Viltrumite could get stronger through exercise and age, but that didn't help me at the moment. It helped me further distance myself from potentially being identified. Unfortunately, for them, I broke the treadmill. I had to stomp with each step to move fast which didn't play well with the machine and the floor. My speed wasn't very impressive when I ran like normal. I was still fast, but within human levels that didn't reach Olympic standards. It did lead to measuring how high I could jump. I hinted at the fact that I had the potential to fly by pausing for nearly a moment before dropping.

There was some serious time in the gym in my future.

From there we stopped for dinner. It took a lot longer than expected to find my limits on each machine. Clarise led me back through the blank expanse to the elevator. The music was on from the start on this ride.

The cafeteria had more people in it this time with less security. I did notice a couple of heroes among the group. They appeared to be here by chance rather than placed to keep an eye on me. Dupli-Kate, Rex Splode, and a couple other members of the new Guardians of the Globe all sat at one table. Thankfully, Robot wasn't among them. I had a flash of the stack of failed clones in the freezer when I looked at Rex and Bulletproof. Monster Girl was with them talking loudly with Rex about something that inspired a lot of cursing for both.

"Did you want to introduce yourself?" Clarise asked.

I shook my head, "Not yet."

"Why?" She asked.

I shrugged, "We'll have time to get to know each other if I'm part of the team."

"If?" She chuckled. "Conner, you had an invitation from Cecil."

I joined the line at the window. The team didn't seem to notice me even though I stood out from the sea of scientists and office workers. My second-hand clothing made it look like I had wondered in from the street. Maybe they thought I was some sort of undercover agent. It was more likely that they were too busy to notice.

"What can I get for you?" The worker at the counter asked.

"Are there burritos?" I asked.

"You'll have to wait for us to make them," The worker replied. "Our specials today are grilled cheese with potato soup."

I looked around at the nearby tables to see if anyone nearby had ordered it. It would have helped if I could identify them. I quickly found that the downloaded knowledge had some gaps when it came to daily life.

"Sure," I answered.

"Move along down the line," The worker explained. "We have sides if you want."

Clarise led me through the process.

"Hello, Clarise," Some guy said in a weird voice as he saw her.

She sighed, "Hello, Garret."

"Who's this?" The guy asked. "Did I miss the memo about bring your kid to work day?"

I looked at Clarise the guy named Garret.

"Excuse me," I said. "I am hungry."

Garret laughed, "Of course you are, it's dinner."

Clarise started to say something. I stepped forward, picked Garret up from under his arms, and moved him out of the way. His mouth dropped open as I lifted him like he weighed nothing. The people around us went silent as the casual use of strength. I moved on down the line looking at the options then grabbed the tray with my meal.

§

Cecil stood in a room with no windows. There was a bank of monitors showing numerous feeds from the facility. He watched their newest arrive casually lift a full-grown man like picking up a piece of trash. There hadn't been a large reaction. Granted, no one really liked Garret. No one wanted to be trapped in an elevator with him.

The recordings of the tests earlier that day played on another set of monitors.

"Tell me about the new guy," Cecil spoke to the room.

Donald stepped up to stand beside him, "He's strong. On par with Bulletproof, but short of Invincible. There is a possibility that he could develop strength-based flight." One of the monitors played a repeat of the moment of hang time at the top of his jumps. "It doesn't appear that he is aware of that fact. He tried to hide the fact that he could hear the frequency. His vitals increased enough to show that he did, but he didn't have any sort of effect."

"Good," Cecil muttered. "At least we don't have another alien on our hands. What about his origins?"

One of the monitors near Donald changed to a scene of destruction, "We tracked his progress through the few functional cameras we still have."

The screen zoomed in on a crater. It looked like dozens of others in the city aside from the bare footprints that pressed into the stone. There were signs of an explosion as well as a stretch of collapsed street.

"Our teams haven't been able to recover anything," Donald reported. "Someone had gone through the trouble of setting charges to wipe any evidence."

"Genetic experiment, cyborg, or clone?" Cecil asked.

"We don't know who the donor is if he is a clone," Donald stated. "Our scans didn't pick up any mechanical elements in his body. The only option left if a genetic experiment."

"By someone that knew how to remove evidence," Cecil stated.

"That is all the information we have been able to gather," Donald continued. "The workers at the relief tent he visited didn't notice anything that set him apart. He found the work crew on his own and volunteered his assistance. We tracked him from the site to the ruins of the hideout with a single stop at another relief area for a shower." The screens showing the footage from the previous days swapped to a live feed of the cafeteria. "He doesn't seem to be hostile and has been polite through testing. The staff reported that he asked if he could visit to exercise."

Cecil studied the monitor as their visitor ate.

"He would have been another casualty if he tried to stop Omni-Man when he went on his rampage," Donald added.

"His name," Cecil stated. "The story is too neat. Conner Grayson."

"The apartment did have the full range of Nolan Grayson travel books," Donald said.

Cecil shook his head, "Keep an eye on him. Find a weakness. He might be an asset if Maria decides to go on a rampage like her dad." He paused. "How is she doing?"

One of the screens changed to a hospital room. Maria Grayson was covered in bandages. One arm was in a cast while the other was held aloft by a metal brace. Her lower body was blocked by a blanket, but he knew that her legs were wrapped in bandages as well. She was healing at an astonishing rate compared to standard human.

Debbie sat beside the bed barely awake. She had been there since Maria arrived even if she didn't like that she had to rely on Cecils' people to heal her. He had taken the hint and hadn't spoken to her beyond the first day. Donald was able to visit. It was one of his talents.

"Keep me updated on his durability tests," Cecil said.

Donald knew his 'conversation over' tone.

§

I decided that I liked grilled cheese and potato soup. It wasn't as good as a burrito, but it was still tasty. Clarise seemed happier eating dinner with me. It seemed like no one minded me moving him from the reaction of everyone that saw my interaction with Garret. If anything, they seemed amused.

"How is it?" Clarise asked.

"Good," I replied. "When do they serve the breakfast burritos?"

Clarise smiled, "They start serving breakfast at five in the morning."

I nodded. It wasn't my fault that burritos were delicious.

"Are you ready for durability testing?" Clarise asked.

I thought for a moment, "It has to be done."

"Come on then," She stood as she spoke. "The fast you start, the faster it's over."

The trip back to the testing area felt shorter this time. We continued on through the area with all the gym equipment into a room that was a simple open area. The only distinguishing feature was a square portion of the floor that was a different color.

"We have two options for these tests," Clarise explained. "Either you can stand on the square and we can shoot things at you." She paused to display the square as though it was something worth revealing. "Or you can fight some robots that gradually increase in strength and toughness."

"Destroying robots sounds fun," I said after only the briefest moment of thought.

Clarise chuckled, "I thought you would say that. They will start appearing once I'm out of the room."

"Appearing?" I asked. "From where?"

She pointed to the wall, "Compartments."

The wall appeared to be completely smooth to me.

"Stand in the square when you are ready to begin," Clarise instructed.

I walked over to the square as she headed to the door, "How will you know when I've reached my limit?"

"We've been doing this for a long time, Conner," She reassured me. "We can tell."

"Do I have to stay on the square?" I asked.

"It signals when you are ready to start," She answered. "There is a break between robots in case you need rest or want to call it quits."

I nodded as I reached the center of the square. Clarise was still in the room, which gave me the chance to stretch a little. I had seen a few of the rescue workers do basic stretches before a shift. With that done I bounced on the balls of my feet and shook out my arms to loosen up.

Clarise closed the door. A moment later a small hiss signaled a compartment opening. I turned toward it to see a portion of the wall slide out revealing a robot that stood about six-foot tall. It was a little disappointing that it wasn't one of Robot's drones. I had some lingering issues with the bastard that I would have liked to take out on something that looked like him. It was humanoid in shape with plates of armor that were painted white covering the internals.

I slammed my foot onto the floor launching myself like a missile. My fist shattered its head on the first punch. I looked around to see if there were any more coming. It was clear after a moment that this was the entirety of the first round.

There was a small crater in the square where I had kicked off. I stood beside it as I waited for the next round. This time there were two robots with even thicker armor including more around the head. They didn't tell me I couldn't smash these things before I got hit. Destroying them would likely provide information considering the materials they were made out of and how easily I tore them apart.

This time I leaped into the air sailing into an arc. My clenched fists came down on the first one hammering its head straight through its torso and onto the floor. The other one hit me with a pneumatic powered punch. It struck me between my shoulders. The arm crumpled like a car in a crash test. I reached behind me, grabbed the broken arm, and ripped the remains off. The robot tried to hit me with its other hand. I clapped my hands on both sides of its head crushing it into a spike with my handprints shaping it.

The next five rounds continued along the same lines. They would release an increasing number of robots. Each new round had better armor and supports. Their punches stopped looking like crash tests somewhere around round eight. It took another four rounds before I actually felt their punches. They didn't hurt so much as create a sensation of touch.

I paused for a moment to consider what that meant outside of combat. Would I be able to feel a gentle touch? What about a hug? Or a kiss? A punch to the nose snapped me out of my introspection. I yanked the robot off its feet to use as a club for the others that were still standing.

 "How are you doing?" Clarise's voice came in from speakers I couldn't see. "Was that too much?"

I shook my head, "I was thinking about something. I'm fine to keep going."

"Ok," Clarise didn't sound convinced. "It's going to get progressively harder from now on. We're moving to the advanced models."

I gave a thumbs up as I stepped into the square. There were quite a few new craters, footprints, and cracks marring it now. The next hiss took a full three seconds. A panel directly in front of me opened to allow a much larger robot out. It was at least eight feet tall with shoulders easily four feet wide. One arm ended in a blade and the other was a ring of barrels. The gun-arm let out a loud hum as it started to spin.

A barrage of rubber bullets pelted my torso as it charged. They each felt like the punch to the nose a few moments ago. It was more annoying than painful. I hopped to the side out of the line of projectiles then sprang forward once my feet touched the ground.

My fist punched through its chest. It brought down its bladed hand instead of dying like the others. The edge bent upon impact. I hammered my free hand succeeding in knocking its head into its chest up to its eyes. The advanced robot counter-attacked with a rapid series of stabs to my chest. This was starting to get interesting. I punched both hands into its chest, grabbed onto the internal workings, and wrenched my arms apart tearing the robot in two. It sparked but stayed down.

I had barely stepped into the square before the next compartment opened. There were two of them now just like the first stretch of robots. These two were different models. One had an arm that ended in a flamethrower and the other was a chainsaw. The second robot had a hand that was a larger gun that the previous round and the other hand was an old fashion mace straight out of a history book.

They were faster than the others. The robots were across the room and attacking quicker than any other robot yet. My head jerked to the side as the mace smacked into my face. A gout of flame engulfed me a moment later. I felt my clothes vanish as the fire flowed over my body.

Now I was annoyed. These clothes were the first thing that had ever been mine. I pushed the other robot out of the way as I burst out of the flames, latched onto the offending arm, and ripped it off. The improvised club made quick work of the robot even as it tried to chop me in half with its chainsaw.

The other robot swapped to its ranged option. It wasn't a mini-gun like before. This one was basically a cannon. It launched baseball sized rubber shells that hit as hard as the mace. I was starting to feel the impact to a greater extent. It still didn't hurt yet, just annoying. I did not expect it to last this long honestly. My durability shouldn't be on par with Invincible yet. I reached behind me catching the next cannon ball then launched it back at the robot. It clanged against its head but didn't do much damage.

I turned from the clump of sparking metal that had been the flamethrower robot. The mace sped toward my head before I completed the motion. I headbutted it rather than let it hit my cheek. The mace clanged against my skull and rebounded back along the approach arc.

The robot aimed the cannon at my chest nearly pressing it against my skin. I clamped onto the barrel and squeezed it shut. The cannon let out a whump as the robot still tried to fire. It was smart enough to only try it once. I dropped to a knee and grabbed one of its legs then lifted it as I stood. The robot continued its attempt at attacking me even as I slammed it to pieces against the floor. I didn't stop until it was in pieces.

I looked at the few remaining pieces of my clothes. My shoulders slumped as I took a moment to mourn losing them. There were a few strips of fabric that had escaped the flames.

"Conner," Clarise's voice came over the speakers. "Wait a moment and we'll give you a temporary suit to continue testing. Is that ok?"

I nodded still holding the piece of my hoodie in my hand. The door opened allowing a large group of technicians in cleanroom suits entered the testing area. It did make me wonder if there was some sort of airborne attack along with the robots. Two of the people approached me while the rest started to remove the pieces of the robots. The pieces covered a good portion of the space.

One of the technicians scanned me with some sort of handheld device. The other held out a couple sizes as the device pinged.

"Here you go," The technician held out a folded suit.

It was an off-white jumpsuit without any sort of markings. I shrugged and put it on. The provided some boots once I was dressed. No gloves though, I had expected them for some reason. I watched the others work cleaning the area. The two technicians in charge of providing clothes left instead of helping the others. White, or off-white, was definitely not a color I would request for my suit. It was already stained after wearing it for a minute. I felt sorry for whoever had to clean this after the test. The technicians moved with practice efficiency cleaning the room faster than expected. They didn't appear to have any sort of powers; they were just that good.

Soon enough I was once again alone in the room.

"Are you ready to continue?" Clarise asked.

I took my spot in the middle of the square, "Yes."

"Things are going to get more difficult from now on," She explained. "We will stop if it looks like you are in distress or if you give us a signal."

I nodded.

The hiss of the next compartment releasing wasn't as long as I expected. A sleek robot without any visible weaponry stepped out into the room. It was made from a different metal than the previous offerings. The robot was humanoid, but its face was smooth and its joints were covered.

This one was clearly higher quality than the others. It raised its hand like a boxer as it began to approach. I narrowed my eyes as I watched it get closer. My downloaded knowledge meant that I knew about the ReAnimen. I had no idea if this was on par with those. This model must have been created after my download.

Its first punch was faster than anything the robots before it could match. My head rocked back as an uppercut connected. That one I felt on the edge of pain. More like solid push than a punch. The robot pressed the attack. Two more punches to my head, then a flurry to my body, and it finished its combo with a spinning kick that knocked me a couple of steps to the side.

It occurred to me that I may have been approaching this wrong. They were testing my limits while I was holding my powers back. What was the point of trying to pull off a con when I kept giving them information. They would probably be able to figure out I wasn't telling them everything if I was able to destroy the robots too easily. It was probably already too late. I hadn't held back during the strength testing. My curiosity outweighed my caution.

The robot didn't wait until I was steady. Another kick to my stomach had me stumbling back a few steps. This was starting to get annoying. I caught the next punch. It spun the other direction hitting me with a backhanded punch. I glared at the bot and pulled on the captured arm. There was a pop, but the limb didn't detach.

I cocked my head to the side. The bot took initiative to headbutt me. It made my nose tingle like a sneeze approaching. I returned the favor, headbutting it back denting its faceplate. It rocked back giving me enough room to bring the captured arm over my knee snapping it in half. I planted a boot in its chest to gain more space leaving a detailed boot print behind. It stumbled back but I didn't let go. I yanked him back toward me and slammed my fist into its already dented faceplate. My hand punched about halfway into its head. There was something inside. I grabbed hold and yanked it out dragging strings of green goo along with it. The thing I had removed was a diamond orb big enough to fill my hand. I didn't know enough about gems to tell if they were a real gem. It shattered easily enough when I clenched my fist. The robot collapsed in a heap.

"That was interesting," I muttered.

"Are you able to continue?" Clarise asked.

I kicked the broken robot out of my way, "Yes."

Another hiss signaled the next round. I expected the usual two robots, instead there were five. They all charged at the same time. Two of them tried to tackle me while the other three spread out. It was time to stop holding back. I had enough of this.

I launched myself into the air. The two robots missed dragged along the floor. I landed with each foot aimed for their heads, smashing them flat. Whatever material they were made from provided a decent bounce. I lunged at the closest robot slicing my hand out like a chop. It was a technique that I had seen in the recordings of Omni-Man. My knife-hand sliced through the chassis. I skidded to a stop, kicked off the floor leaving a crater, and punched through the next.

The remaining robot adjusted to face me. I didn't give it time to attack. Each step closer to the robot created a new crater. I cocked my foot back and brought it up in a full punt between its legs. The robot might not have the usual biology, but it was still a good spot. My foot tore through the chassis stopping just short of its chest. I yanked it back out, pulling the robot off balance. My hand clamped on the top of its head and I squeezed. The robot dropped once I let go.

I turned toward where speakers were, "Are we done yet?"

"We haven't reached your limit," Clarise said.

I sighed, "Fine. I have enough of these ones. Give me the next version."

"Are you sure?" Clarise asked.

I kicked one of the robots out of the way as I stepped into the square. A single ReAniman stepped out of the next compartment. It had been upgraded. The zombie-cyborg walked like a person rather than skulking like a beast. It didn't scream, screech, or growl. The thing simply charged.

The ReAniman wasn't faster than the robots from the last round, but it was much stronger. I blocked the first punch by crossing my arms. It still knocked me back a few steps. I had just enough time to register the pain before its next punch slipped through my guard. It crashed into my cheek, dropping me to one knee. My head rocked back as its knee slammed into my face. I felt my nose break as blood ran down my chin. Somewhere in the back of my mind I realized they would now have a fresh genetic sample.

It clenched its fists above its head and was about to bring them down. The ReAniman froze before the blow hit me.

"We're stopping the test now," Clarise said.

I wobbled a bit as I got back to my feet. The ReAniman returned to its compartment clearly following directions. My vision tilted a little. I caught myself before I could fall. Well, that was one way to discover my limits.

"I'll take you to the medical wing," Clarise said.

She had entered the room and come over to me at some point. I had enough sense to stop myself from leaning on her for support.

"Here," She offered me a tissue which I took and pressed against my nose.

More genetic material for them to test. My worries about them finding out my true origins vanished as we walked through the medical wing. I got my first look at Maria Grayons, also known as Invincible. Seeing her wrapped in so many bandages and hooked to an IV made my heart clench. A voice that I had never heard but instinctively knew brought my thoughts back to the matter at hand.

"Who is that?" asked Debbie Grayson.

She stood at the side of her daughter's hospital bed glaring from me to Clarise.

"Mrs Grayson," Clarise greeted her. "This is one of our new arrivals."

Debbie looked too calm as she approached the doorway, "Who. Is. He?"

"I'm not at liberty-"

"Stop lying to me," Debbie snapped. "I looked into those eyes for years. Every single day Nolan lied to me. With those eyes."

I had gained enough control to stop my head from spinning, "I'm Conner."

"Conner," She repeated. "Conner who?"

There wasn't any point in trying to hide now. It was stupid to think that Debbie wouldn't recognize me. I looked exactly like a younger Nolan Grayson.

"Conner Grayson," I answered.

§

Cecil watched the scene play out from multiple angles on the monitors before him.

"Shit."