Technologica? As in the leader of the Supreme Six? The founder of the Heroes' Union should be long dead by now. Technologica was a Tinkerer, but her specialty was always unknown, even after death. This automaton could be a creation of Technologica’s, but the history books would’ve mentioned if she had made robots.

  “Technologica is dead; all of the Supreme Six are. Are you one of her creations?” I asked.

  “Incorrect. Only Ratqueen and Mawler are dead; they declined Captain Chrono’s offer. As for your question, I am both Technologica and a creation of hers,” she answered.

  If she's telling the truth, then that means Apex, Voyde, Captain Chrono, and Technologica are still around. Four of the most powerful Capes to ever exist. If they are all alive, why hasn't anyone heard from them?

  “Forgive me if I have trouble believing you. You did kidnap me, assault me, berate me, and treat me like a petulant child. Why would I believe you wouldn’t also lie to me?”

  “All of that was necessary to make you understand that we are not collaborators and that I am in a position of complete superiority. If you are to work for me, you need to know your place,” Technologica said, floating around in a relaxed manner.

  Again, a spike of aggression comes up that I'm forced to keep inside. Calm down. Losing my temper here could result in being ejected out of here into space.

  “You're a Cape, like one of the first-ever Capes. I'm a Cowl; I can't work for you,” I rebutted.

  “I was a Cape; now I am above classifications. I don't concern myself with good and evil, right and wrong, only what is needed. What I do here is for the good of everyone. Sometimes, that means neutralizing a person who hasn't done anything wrong but will. Or letting a monster further his plans because the net benefit he provides outweighs his crimes,” Technologica said.

  Her comment feels directed at me, but I let it go.

  “You said you had a story to tell me, didn't you?”

  “Yes. You have been taught about the Middletown Massacre in school, correct?” Technologica said, floating down to stand next to me. The liquid metal composing the room rises off of the floor, forming a rounded cocoon chair. Another one rises behind me, and I fall into it. I nod, and she continues.

  “Six selfless Capes coming together to fight off an evil that threatened to spill over into the rest of the country. I can’t speak for the others, but I was not there for such an altruistic reason. I went because the alternative was to let the two of them ruin modern society. I wasn’t even a Cape at the time; I was just a lab researcher who had triggered. The six of us attempted to infiltrate the city so we could capture the Whore and Schizophobia to put an end to the nightmare. It didn’t work. We weren’t a team; we were six strangers trying to accomplish the impossible. I crafted multiple plans with the others, but we had been fighting the monsters for days and hadn’t made permanent progress. It’s not that we couldn’t have gotten farther, but the others were reluctant to kill civilians, even after I explained that they were beyond saving. We certainly had the firepower to just murder our way to the two Cowls. Chrono came up with the idea to attempt to rewind the entire city and everyone in it. He hoped it would undo the harm that the Whore and Schizophobia had done. It did not work, and it left him unconscious for days. Even as countless plans went awry, I was constantly watching and learning. I saw what the others could do and after a month with no progress, I had derived a solution. I would do what the others would not,” Technologica said.

  The Supreme Six were a bunch of bleeding hearts. Hope is nothing more than the inability to face reality due to delusion. Technologica’s mindset is closer to my own than I realized.

  “I built a machine that would be able to utilize the Captain’s chronal powers as well as Voyde’s unique energy. They believed me when I lied about what it could do and helped me. Apex and Mawler built walls to surround the city to trap everyone inside. Ratqueen’s swarm helped me generate enough power for the machine to work. And when the time came, Voyde and Captain Chrono poured their powers into an invention that none of them understood.”

  What is her specialty? Is it that she can build Tinkertech that utilizes other Neuvohuman’s powers? Her story doesn’t match the history books at all. We were told they accomplished the quarantine in three days, but she’s saying it was over a month.

  “What did it do?” I asked.

  “It fired a bomb. Normally, Voyde’s powers mimic the inevitable effects of decay and death, so they are slow. But using Captain Chrono’s temporal abilities, I could capture the energy and displace it. I created a fourth-dimensional warhead of entropy hidden in the space between moments. The fourth dimension can affect the third dimension, where our existence lies, even if we cannot see it. The rest of them thought that my machine had failed until it went off. One moment, there was a city full of warped monsters, and in less than an observable amount of time, it exploded. I had done the math, and I knew we’d be safe behind the fortifications I had them make. No one could believe their eyes; I had deleted Middletown and all of its inhabitants from existence.”

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  What the hell is her specialty? Is she using this story as a threat?

  “No one except Captain Chrono. His powers allowed him to sense, if not see, what I had done. He explained what had happened, and while Ratqueen and Mawler somewhat understood, Apex and Voyde did not. Voyde was furious at what I had done, what I had made them all culpable in. She called me an inhuman monster—a heartless creature wielding technology without consideration of consequence or emotion. Voyde is the one who came up with my moniker, a combination of my real name, Angelica, and technology. She said it was because I was more like a machine than a person,” Technologica said.

  Is there anything I can do with her first name? It’s an innocuous fact that doesn’t give me any leverage. She is too practiced and proficient in speaking to let any important detail slip.

  “It looks like she was right,” Technologica laughed, pointing at herself. “After the government agents showed up, we, along with a few members of Congress, decided to pivot it to be that we valiantly held the line while the United States killed its people. They figured it was easier for the government to shoulder the blame rather than six individuals. Apex realized the ramifications of what would happen and that we would be crowned heroes. He and Voyde came up with the idea for the Heroes’ Union in a single afternoon. The rest is history,” she said.

  “But how did you end up being the leader?” I asked. My curiosity had been piqued.

  “They couldn’t jail one of the Supreme Six or admit to what I had done. So, the others told me my punishment was to lead the team and that we would vote on any decision before we made it. Over time, I came to see it as less of a punishment and became close with everyone. Except for Voyde, she never forgave me or let me in; she didn’t even show up for my funeral,” Technologica answered.

  The more we speak, the more I’m beginning to realize that this is, in fact, the real Technologica. I have made an enemy of one of the strongest Capes to have ever lived. Her identity doesn’t change a thing. She needs to die for the disrespect. I will listen and watch and find a way to escape.

  “Come, Eryk, I have much to show you,” Technologica said.

  Our seats melt back into the floor, and I hit the ground while she floats over to the platform. I approach it cautiously, wary of any signs it will suddenly disappear. She's made it clear she won't kill me. My ability is too valuable to her goals. The platform rises an inch before beginning its descent. Some of the light spheres follow us down the hole, keeping it well-lit. The walls give way to some kind of glass that shows everything around us, including the structure we're lowering into. The rest of the space station is a set of interconnected metal spheres. Each one is a different size, with some having glass tops to show off the enclosed ecosystems within. It's huge, with each sphere being at least as big as the warehouse base, if not much, much larger. How is this place undiscovered?

  The trip takes us through multiple spheres. Some have entire farms with glass domes facing toward the sun that are being tended to by faceless, basic androids. Others have giant assembly lines building computer parts and bits of machinery. They’re operated by giant robotic arms attached to the ceiling that remind me of the ones Kai had in his OR. We pass through a library that must be ten stories tall, filled to the brim with books. And not computer files or tablets but real paper books. The sheer amount would put the Library of Congress to shame. The cafeteria is empty but just as nice, clean, and state-of-the-art as every other sphere we’ve entered. The platform takes us through storage facilities full of boxes and crates piled all the way to the ceiling. We even pass through a jungle, complete with trees, insects, and wildlife. Each sphere is like its own little world that Technologica controls. What she has done is nothing short of incredible. My aspirations and accomplishments are pitiful compared to hers.

  The platform finally stops in front of an unassuming wall with a projected keypad off to the side. The projection looks scrambled to me, but I guess that is the point. Technologica doesn’t move or speak as she types a code in, but the wall groans before it splits in two, revealing another wall that splits open. I count twenty-five of these walls before I can see what is at the end of it. The grinding sounds coming from the walls can only be caused by time and neglect. She steps off the platform, and I have no choice but to follow behind her. Technologica isn’t floating, she’s walking, and there is a somberness in the air that tells me wherever she's taking me is significant.

  The room at the end of all the walls is pitch black, and I can’t tell how big it is. Technologica reaches up and pulls a string, activating an overhead light. It flickers, blinking before it illuminates the room. Contrasted with all the places I've seen, this one stands out as older. There is a computer set up with an actual keyboard and mouse. All the machinery has a yellow tinge from aging. This room is old. There aren't any modern furnishings or futuristic technology. A thick layer of dust covers everything. Spider webs hang from the corners of the ceilings and drape across equipment, but there aren't any signs of the insects. Even the spiders are long dead. The left side of the room has large oval shaped machines covered by tarps. This place is less of a laboratory and more of a mausoleum.

  Technologica walks over and rips the coverings off of the machines. Two pods, eerily similar to the one I woke up in after the party, lie dark and covered in a layer of dust and grime. I can't see inside to know whether they're vacant. She wipes the glass off and pulls a lever that's between the two pods. The two pods light up from within, showing two men in their underwear. One of them looks like the next level of evolution for our species; he's forty-something and doesn't even look real. Long brown hair and a thick, bushy beard cover his handsome face. But there is something that ruins his perfect image: a purple and green wound originating from the left side of his ribcage. The skin around the wound is pale, and I can see lines underneath his skin coming from the wounds. The jagged lines go all the way up to his neck and across his face. The green and purple lines extend past his waist and down to his left knee. The wound kind of looks like its pulsing, but that must be a trick of the low light in here.

  The second man is older, wrinkled, and scarred. He’s bald and has a scar that starts at the top of his skull through his eye and down his cheek. Liver spots, healed burns, bullet holes, and knife wounds mar his aged frame. The geriatric man looks like he was a career soldier who lived in an active combat zone. Who are these people, and why does she have their corpses?

  “Meet Apex and Captain Chrono. Or Alexei Agafonov, and Emmett Brown as I knew them,” she said.

  What the fuck. That’s why she wants me here. She expects me to steal their abilities, but I can't take powers from dead people. Will I get ejected out of the airlock if I tell the truth? Damn it, she’ll find out soon enough, regardless.

  “You want me to steal their powers,” I stated emotionlessly.

  “Correct.”

  “Slight problem with that; I can't take powers from corpses. No matter how pristine the body condition, I can't steal from the dead,” I said hesitantly.