Little did each of these individuals know that the cameras were watching. The local law enforcement, though often corrupt and prone to bribery, still followed their job description when it came to the average Joe on the street, and seeing a diminutive figure in high-tech armor appear in a flash of light, a woman in strange clothing speaking a strange language climbing out of a contraption that appeared in the middle of an alleyway only to get jammed between the sides, and a teenager speaking in a possibly different strange language fading into existence all in the same day in the same district of Metrobelt-2 was enough to mobilize their forces...
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The Gadgeteer (Hits: N/A)Mk.II ArmorPsyCoins: N/AAether: N/AInventory: GamePlayer X+, 5 GamePlayer cartridgesThe Gadgeteer sat inside the small alcove, using a small electronic device called the GamePlayer X+ which he had taken while passing through Timeline 64. He had traded a pair of augmented reality glasses from a different timeline (his own suit included a pair of AR goggles he couldn't take off anyway) for the device and several games. With the volume muted, the WiNET transciever turned off and the screen turned to minimum brightness, it probably wouldn't attract any attention. Probably.
The thing about his gatling setup was that it drained a lot more power while active than the normal operation of the
Mk.II, and essentially halted the capacitor charging in its tracks for about an hour after being used, provided all he did was rotate the barrels. If he fired a quick burst it would take 3 hours, and prolonged use could set him back anywhere from 4 to a full 24 hours depending on how long he used it.
The Gadgeteer shut off the GamePlayer and looked around carefully. He swore he could have heard something. Putting the device in the pouch on his right hip, he locked it shut and listened as carefully as he could. Although the suit had many enhancements, some of which were overkill, better hearing was not one of them.
In fact, the Gadgeteer's original and badly-burnt ears had been replaced by lifelike artificial ears, as a way of making it possible to recognize him as human. Unfortunately, since the tech for it was for the most part not reverse-engineered from the highly advanced armor found in the rubble of that factory in Timeline 10810, the best they could do was close to on-par with the real thing in terms of performance, maybe an extremely small amount less.
He did hear something though. Footsteps climbing a stairwell, the one he had climbed to reach this rooftop. The door to the stairwell opened and several men and women in something similar to SWAT gear emerged, faced the Gadgeteer's hiding spot and pointed their weapons. They said something in the local language, but without any samples the Gadgeteer had no idea what it was. They threw a gas grenade into the small alcove, which emitted a yellow-green smoke, but his breathing apparatus filtered out the chemicals easily.
They weren't done yet though. When they realized the knockout gas had failed, they launched a small device at him. They were probably guessing when they did so, but they guessed right; The armor's metal panels were titanium alloy in a composite with layers of carbon nanoweave... and
iron. The device jumped onto his cybernetic left hand, and the electromagnetic force attracted his other hand and his feet, also cybernetic, to it. He was hogtied by a freaking
magnet.
The computer system of the
Mk.II was fortunately shielded against such an event, but the magnet prevented him from using his laser gatlings. All he could do was struggle hopelessly as they lifted him up, tied a steel cable around his already-incapacitated limbs just in case (not that they needed to, since it wasn't like he had enhanced strength), and marched down the stairs.
After an unknown number of stories, they reached the bottom of the stairwell, where a subterranean rail freight station had been built. A small self-propelled vehicle was waiting, and they threw him in the cage in the back of the cart. The vehicle sped off and after arriving at another station, a crane picked up the cage and sent him through a complicated "storage" system. Hundreds of cages, each containing a person, were paced in what could only be described as a human warehouse. But instead of dropping him off, the crane switched rails and he went through a small tunnel. The crane stopped, and he was shunted sideways into a "cubbyhole".
The tunnel was closed off from him via a heavy security door, and he was left alone with nothing but a concrete stool and desk with a cathode ray tube computer monitor and a strange keyboard built into it. The bulky monitor and keyboard were both flush with the surface, giving the Gadgeteer a clear view of the characters on it. However, he didn't recognize most of the letters.
The door opened and a man in a green uniform stepped in. Closing the door behind him, he sat down at the desk and typed something into the command line quickly.
The man spoke a few times, presumably asking questions, giving the Gadgeteer's quantum computer samples with which to translate the language. Fortunately, his ears heard things using a
piezoelectric microphone and thus were not disrupted by the electromagnet. Finally the system gave him an all-clear, and he prepared to speak through the
thermoacoustic speaker on his breathing mask.
"So you won't talk? Alright. Let's see how cool you'll play this tomorrow." the man said, getting up to leave.
"Wait!" the Gadgeteer said. "What do you want to know?"
The man turned around, stunned. "How old are you?"
"Chronologically? 14, almost 15. This armor keeps me from growing somehow, though." the Gadgeteer explained.
"You do realize this technology you're wearing shouldn't exist?" the man asked.
"Not in this timeline. Think of time like a growing tree. The world as you know it is just one branch. This suit is a way for me to jump from branch to branch."
"I see..." the man said, then leaned forward. "If I were you I'd be careful just how much you reveal about this." he said, his eyes wandering up and to the right. The Gadgeteer followed the direction and noticed a security camera on the wall.
"Look, I'm not here to harm anyone." the Gadgeteer said.
"Unfortunately, some camera footage from earlier today says otherwise." the man replied. "You pointed what appears to be a weapon at two individuals in an alley."
"Self defense. They shot first." the Gadgeteer explained.
"Doesn't matter when you're fused to some of the highest technology this world has ever seen. They'll have you dissected before you even make it to the local tribunal." the man warned. "I've got kids of my own, I don't want to harm you, but you deserve to know what will probably happen to you."
"Then can I ask you a favor?" the Gadgeteer asked.
"What?" the man asked.
"Have me put somewhere the rest of your police buddies won't suspect. All I need is a day. You'll see why."
The man nodded. "It was... interesting meeting you kid. I'll see what I can do, but I can't say the same for the others."
"Others?" the Gadgeteer asked.
"So you don't know about them. I can't tell you any more, but you aren't the only weird thing to show up today." the man said, typing on the keyboard. The door to the tunnel opened, and the Gadgeteer's cage was lifted by a crane and carried back out to the "warehouse".
The crane placed him in an empty slot on the "shelves" and then receeded. The prisoners in the cages surrounding him took a bit of notice. The ones that were awake that is. The one above him was carving up a block of "food" with a knife, as apparently they just left the prisoners in their cages and never got near them, so no items were confiscated.
The one below was asleep, the one facing the other aisle was humming on a harmonica-like instrument, and the two on the sides were trying to pry at the door and carving a shiv respectively.
"This is going to be a LOOOONG day..." the Gadgeteer thought to himself bitterly.
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@MisterEightySixThe square was soon blocked off on every side, every exit either guarded by "police" officials, or blocked by a closed gate. The Privateer was boxed in.
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@Guess WhoThe Traveler might have noticed that he was being followed by each security camera as he passed it. Meanwhile, "police" officials were converging on his location.