Scarifar

《 H. E. R. O. 》

As the others began to tend to / carry Blake, Rumi moved on, examining a keycard reader near the door. He shook his head in disbelief; to think people would still be using outdated tech like keycards. They were ridiculously easy to overcome, usually by taking advantage of the magnetic stripe reader and gaining access of the information stored in it to gain the password needed to bypass it. That being said, though, Rumi did not have the tech needed to do so, as he had been stripped to only the bare essentials. What he needed was a bit more specialized.

Fortunately, it seemed the others had a bit more luck, as Brie and William had come from their trip to the bathhouse, and apparently had a run-in with some Swampjaws. Frankly, Rumi didn't care too much as long as they were unharmed, but it did make Rumi wonder what contingency plans Nero had once they broke in to rescue Grace and Eliza. Furthermore, with all the Leftovers in the movie set, it didn't seem like the Wings of Law were planning to help Nero once the authorities were alerted about this location's contents. He would most likely be scapegoated as a Leftover smuggler and tossed aside once everything was all said and done. Whatever this gang had gotten themselves into, it was a lot bigger than it seemed, but that was nothing new for them.

Taking the keycard from Brie, Rumi stared at it for second, then looked back at the keycard reader. Without a word, Rumi slid the keycard through it. He highly doubted there would be any traps behind the door, at least any technical types, and any Leftovers or such would easily be dealt with by the rest of the gang. Rumi himself would be protected enough by his suit to be able to get out of the way assuming any action would unfold.

《 H. E. R. O. 》

"Blake, don't, it's going to-" Rumi was about to warn Blake of the Vermile's behavior before it promptly bit Blake's other ankle. He sighed as Blake began to spew out a string of swear words while the leftover scampered away. "What am I even doing here, anyway...?" He muttered to himself, shaking his head as he placed a hand on his forehead. The ogres that had appeared to surround them were not helping either. It seemed the battle earlier had attracted them here, and now they were in somewhat dire straits. Blake had decided to respond to this by increasing his firepower, and quite literally at that. His heat was so intense it was forcing a reaction from his personal force field, and Rumi ushered the group away from Blake.

"Move, people, let's go!" Rumi said, taking a glance behind him to see that Blake had constructed a large bird made of pure flame, which he sent to dive bomb into the horde, wiping out a good chunk of the Ogres and forcing the rest to flee. Once Rumi confirmed there were no Ogres left in sight, he turned his attention to Blake. Rumi had a rough estimate of how much energy Blake had spent performing that move, and it was definitely no easy feat, especially with the Vermile's venom still in his system. Rumi knelt down and grabbed Blake's wrist, letting his nanotech suit's sensors determine his condition. There was still a pulse, which was good, but it was weak. The rest of his vitals weren't looking too hot either, confirming Rumi's suspicions. "Blake's alive, but otherwise out of commission. We can't expect him to perform a light show like that again in the near future," Rumi finally reported. "We're going to have to exercise a bit more caution now." Rumi stood back up and ordered, "Someone carry him. We can't leave him lying around here."

《 H. E. R. O. 》

"It's as good a plan as any," Rumi said to William, rolling up the map. "I'll try to keep Blake and Jamie out of too much trouble." Will clearly put some thought into it, dividing the group by familiarity between others for the most part and sending them to areas where they would thrive the best. After they split up, Blake found a TV screen which lit up, revealing Nero taunting them with the image of Grace being tortured. Fortunately, it seems Grace hadn't given up as she was still able to reveal the masterminds, the Wings of Law, as well as one of the ogres' weaknesses: overloading their senses. It wasn't much, but it was a start. A horde of ogres also appeared just around the corner, and Blake and Jamie went off to deal with them.

While the ogres were distracted, Rumi took the time to take inventory. "Right, let's see here..." Rumi said, raising his arms and pressing two buttons on either side of his glasses. He then went down and pressed a button on his belt. At once, a large number of Nanobots swarmed out from within it and his clothes, and they began to envelop Rumi, covering him from head to toe in a suit of chrome armor. A blue light also began to envelop him only to quickly fade away a second later. His facial area had no features save for a thin visor that glowed green. A series of icons and status bars flooded his hud before organizing themselves in his peripheral vision. Flexing his fingers, Rumi found it unsatisfactory compared to how much tech he usually carried, but he figured it would have to do for now. Rumi looked over at the TV that had shown Nero and proceeded to quickly dismantle it, using his nanobots to form the appropriate tools to take it off the wall and strip it for parts. Many bits of plastic and metal were discarded, while others were melted and bent together to create a pair of rods, which integrated themselves on each of Rumi's arms.

Much of Rumi's tech he had been carrying at the time had been confiscated by the Wings of Law, who were clearly thorough in their search, but it seemed like even they could not account for everything. That being said, though, all he had left was his backup suit and single power source, along with any other tech he could salvage from this roman set. Rumi ran off to catch up with Blake and Jamie, who had managed to lure the ogres into a nearby building and force it to collapse onto the horde. It was not a bad plan, but Rumi wondered if it would be enough against 20-something Ogres. There was no time for that thought, however, as Blake began to swear like a sailor, having been bitten by a Vermile. "Ooo, that's not good," Rumi remarked, taking a look at the wound. "Vermiles are venomous, but the venom itself is not strong enough to kill a human. That being said, though, you should probably get medical treatment on that thing soon."

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Rumi's eyes opened suddenly, and he pushed himself off the ground. His head swiveled from side to side as he attempted to regain his bearings. He had been lying on a stone floor, marble if he was not mistaken, which explained why he felt so sore and cold. All around him were the usual group of people he hung around with, either unconscious or slowly waking up. The decorations around him brought thoughts of Rome to his mind, which he thought was odd, but he quickly brushed the thought aside. He thought back to what had happened, and remembered the orange gas that had knocked them out. Rumi had thought it strange that there would be rain, despite the weather forecast predicting a low chance of it. Whether it was a coincidence or manipulated, Rumi couldn't say, but whatever the case, it had led to the ambush.

Just as Rumi decided to determine just what was going on, the screen flashed on and revealed the mastermind behind the show. Nero, a Roman-themed villain with a rather annoying ability to manipulate metal. At the very least, Nero was willing to reveal the location of their prison and its defenses, clearly too proud to conceal such details and confident that they could not overcome them. "No Blake, not 'odor', 'ogres', though I can't imagine their odor would be very nice either," Rumi corrected Blake as he followed him outside. "Anyway, the Lombardo’s Ogre is an A-minus class threat, a hulking beast of fat and muscle with the durability to match, and certainly not native to the Americas. Also, it travels in large packs, which means we may end up facing more than one at a time." This also raised the question of who managed to import them here, because Rumi highly doubted Nero was capable of doing so, but he decided not to mention this detail due to its insignificance to the current situation at hand.

Looking over Blake's shoulder at the map, Rumi gestured to him, saying, "Yeah, gimme that. I'll translate it." Rumi snatched the map from Blake's hands and examined it, muttering, "Vivamus, Moriendum Est... 'Let us live, we must die'..." The four locations marked on the map were curious to note, and Rumi also wondered what significance they held. A few of the heroes began to engage the Ogre that had appeared, but Rumi paid it little attention. He figured the more combat-oriented of them would be able to handle a single Ogre, and he would focus on his task. "Balineum translates to 'bath', which means there is certainly going to be something water-related there. The basilica is basically a type of church, though far more important than a mere church. The coliseum is self-explanatory. And the forum is the center of this movie set," Rumi explained. "Let's pick our destinations carefully. There may be more to this place than Nero has let on."

《 H. E. R. O. 》

@Hitman@KaijuBaragon

Rumi chuckled as he took another sip from his can of beer. He was rather alcohol intolerant, but was careful not to allow himself to get drunk from its influence. So far, his calculations were paying off. "Yes, the heroes of HERO do tend to be rather crude, but I think their recreational activities are a small price to pay for their work," Rumi shrugged. "But that's not to say their behavior is excusable." He would've said more, but was cut short by a sudden interruption.

"Hiii, Grace! And Rumi... Grace, I like your..." He seemed to have trouble finding the correct word, but quickly managed to utter, "Shirt... Yeah. Your shirt."

Rumi turned to see Tom having made his way to him and Grace, looking a bit intoxicated despite his attempts to appear sober. Rumi has to give him points for trying, even if it turned out to be a fruitless endeavor in Grace's eyes. As the spectacle unfolded, Rumi switched his beer can from his right to his left, freeing it from the can's chilly temperature. As Grace turned his attention to Rumi and leaned against him, he thought he felt his heart skip a beat, and couldn't help but let it show on his face for a second before composing himself. Looking at Tom, he tilted his head with a half-smile as he gave him a half-shrug with his right shoulder before returning his attention to Grace.

"Thanks, Grace. That means a lot, coming from you," Rumi said, placing his arm around Grace’s shoulder. "And you know, I did take a couple tours at UCNA. Their labs are great. Good quality equipment in high quantities, and most importantly, perfectly safe as long as you know what you're doing. But that safety does come at the cost of complexity. After all, that equipment is meant for teaching the basics, which is why labs like mine are more... personalized with technology that the general public can't access. Safety is valued, but sometimes experimentation and testing must come with a degree of danger to achieve results."

《 H. E. R. O. 》

@Hitman

Rumi stepped out of his car, having arrived at Blake's party. Having received an invitation, it was only natural he would come. After all, it's not like he really had any other plans. He obviously wasn't going to the Wings of Law party he had heard about, nor was he willing to spend another minute at his workshop. He said his greetings and cracked a few jokes to a few people as he slid in between the crowds, moving deeper into the lodge. Rumi saw Blake on the couch, very much intoxicated, and decided to leave him alone to his drunken ramblings. Rumi gave the Gizmo fellow an up and down look, taking note of the machinery he was using, but soon lost interest and moved on. Rumi snatched a beer can from a nearby cooler and cracked it open, taking a swig. It wasn't very good, but he decided to continue drinking it anyway.

Overall, the party was quite nice. Plenty of people for a nice atmosphere, plenty of food and drink as well, but Rumi came to relax. He wanted to spend some time with someone he knew for once, preferably someone who was decently intelligent and not drunk. As he walked, he glanced at a glass door, and quickly snapped back to get a better look. It was Grace. Finally, some intelligent conversation, Rumi thought as he slid the door open and made his way over.

"I dunno, I wouldn't put too much faith in the Wings of Law," Rumi replied, flashing a half smile at Grace. "They're definitely not as great as the news would have you believe."

《 H. E. R. O. 》

There was a knock at the door, followed by the door sliding open. Chris, Rumi's secretary, had come down to check on his boss, who was currently in the middle of using his nanomachines to solder two small components together before closing the compartment of the device he was working on. Rumi sat down heavily onto a nearby rolling chair and leaned back, massaging his temples. He had been Overclocking his brain for the past few days now, and it the stress of the strain was exhausting him greatly.

"Sir, perhaps you should take a break," Chris suggested. "Working for this long is taking a toll on your health."

"Don't worry, Chris, I know what I'm doing," Rumi tiredly reassured him, dismissing Chris's worries with a wave of his hand. "By my calculations, I can keep this up for at least 2-3 more days, but I don't really need that long. I'm done, anyway."

Chris took a look at what Rumi had been working on, and continued to voice more concerns, "Sir, are you sure it's a good idea to release that to the world? You of all people should know-"

"Yes, Chris, I am aware of the risk, but it's one I have to take," Rumi said. Rumi was planning on releasing his Microbots, the prototype to his Nanobots, to the world. "They'll be a nice benefit to the world. They can offer great improvement to many different industries, from construction to medicine and so much more. I've also included plenty of safeguards to prevent misuse. If anyone was planning to tamper with or reverse-engineer them with malicious intent, I'd be the first to know, and will act accordingly to disable them."

Rumi then voiced, "Pop up Window 436," and his table projected a window screen revealing a counter with the number of Microbots in existence. Rolling himself toward a machine with a plexiglass container at the bottom, Rumi slammed a big red button with the bottom of his fist. It then began to hum and glow as a small number of thin metal appendages dropped down and began to whir and buzz, soon creating a new Microbot. The counter on the screen then counted up by one. "I've hardwired these Microbots so they show up immediately as soon as they're created. They won't get past my sensors."

"Even so, there will be many attempts to bypass your safeguards, use them in ways even you haven't anticipated," Chris argued. "I believe you to be the smartest man in this country, if not the entire world, but you're still only one man."

"Not to worry, I thought of that too," Rumi said. "Even if someone got a hold of enough microbots to pose a threat, they'd still need enough power in their brain to be able to move them fast enough. I've already hardwired these Microbots to only be able to move up to 20-25 miles per hour. It'd take someone with serious brainpower, like me for example, to be able to move them any faster, and even then it won't be by much. Maybe an extra ten at most, give or take."

Chris was still skeptical, but he could see that Rumi had put a considerable amount of effort into modifying the original prototype to make it safe for commercial use. "I assume the patents and other necessary paperwork are ready, then?" Chris asked. "If your plan of expanding the business is to move forward, then I'm sure..."

"Ehh, the patents, sure. The rest, well, you're more than capable of handling that," Rumi responded as he raised a thumbs up.

"Well, this might be somewhat above my, uh... current paygrade," Chris suggested, a smirk visible on his face.

"Hmph. I suppose that's only fair," Rumi said, smiling back. "Fine, I'll make sure you'll get an appropriate raise, but you better do it, Chris."

"I won't fail you, sir. Never have in all my time spent with you," Chris smugly said as he walked out the door.

"Yeah, yeah," Rumi said.

《 H. E. R. O. 》

@Hitman@canaryrose@Shard@Rabidporcupine@Infinite Cosmos

They were entering enemy territory now, and Rumi was currently keeping an eye on their surroundings, attempting to prevent anyone from ambushing them. His right hand was currently covered by a energy blaster designed to stun would-be assailants, raised and ready to fire at the first opportunity. There didn't seem to be too much of a need, though, as the first room they attempted to enter was immediately blown up by Blake, effectively destroying any last hope they had of stealth. "Well, that's one way of eliminating them," Rumi remarked, staring at the charred bodies. As Blake continued on his flaming rampage, Rumi took cover and wondered why he even bothered coming.

Chaos continued to ensue as Zee made his dramatic entrance, dark energies swirling around him, and Rumi wasted no time rushing ahead with the others. He gave a silent nod as a greeting to Joseph, and the group continued on, with Rumi following along as they dispatched the next goons they came across. Eventually, they came across a room that held Will and Brie prisoners. Rumi stepped back to prevent any water from getting onto him, and soon came forward once the stream stopped. "I'm here, too. We're here to rescue you guys from trouble. Y'know, again," Rumi said, giving a wave and a smile. "Glad to see you're all... still alive. Firebird's run off, I'm assuming to rescue the other Heroes who were captured by the Guglianos, and we ran into Azhar and Rune on the way here. You guys are gonna be just fine."

Turning to Jamie, Rumi was about to say something when he took note of her nosebleed. "Quake, you're taxing yourself too much again, aren't you?" Rumi asked. "We can't have you damaging yourself any more than necessary." Looking back at Will, Rumi said, "You're not looking too good yourself either. We should evacuate. I'll lead the way." Rumi went out first, taking a different path than the one they came from. Normally he would've gone back they way they came, but considering the state he saw Zee in, he was reasonably confident he did not want to face whatever was happening back there.

《 H. E. R. O. 》

@Hitman@canaryrose

"...Science really has come far if that is indeed his real body," Rumi murmured to himself. "But to augment himself so much... the sheer volume of weapons and design features on his body, and the capability to prevent inertia from destroying his body..." Rumi then shook his head. "Paradox claims to be 'the pinnacle of humankind', but with that level of augmentation, can he really be considered 'human' anymore?" Rumi thought of augmenting his own body on more than one occasion, but every time he chose not to, instead only relying on other sources of aid such as his nanobots and his various gadgets. At first, it was only because he didn't want the hassle of maintaining those parts. Sure, he could automate the maintenance, but it wouldn't last forever. The more he thought about it, though, the more he wondered just how much could be changed before the line between "humanity" and whatever else was out there was crossed.

A beep sounded on his visor, interrupting his thoughts, and a window popped up that revealed the location of the trapdoor. "There it is," Rumi announced, heading over to the site. Once there, Rumi recalled the drones, having them disassemble themselves and revert back to nanobots. After Christina smashed in the trapdoor, Rumi peered down the tunnel. Supposedly, there were Heroes down there in need of a rescue, and the people around him were here for just such an attempt. "We'll do our best, Ms. Lavender," Rumi said, nodding his head. With that, Rumi began following Jamie down the ladder.

《 H. E. R. O. 》

@Hitman@canaryrose

Rumi figured the EMP blasters would not be very effective. He would need some form of restraint before he could do any meaningful damage. Before he could formulate a concrete plan of attack, however, Paradox was suddenly attacked by a new force, and was forced to retreat. He turned to face the direction the explosive shots came from, and saw C- Class Hero Christina Lavender walking towards them. "You have our thanks, Ms. Lavender," Rumi said. Rumi deconstructed his EMP blaster cannons, returning the devices back into his belt. Rumi didn't really want to think about what would've happened had Paradox decided to stick around, even if he brain was already creating simulations of the various outcomes, few of which were good.

"On it, Ms. Lavender," Rumi said, lifting his right hand, palm upward. He then ordered his nanobots to form a pair of tiny drones with 4 propellers. He then attached a pair of miniature cameras on them and sent them off the scout the area. "We also interrogated that mobster over there," Rumi reported, pointing at the still-dead Ranucci. "We didn't kill him, if you're wondering. We suspect Paradox managed to silence him before he could spill too much. He said something about a trapdoor in what I assume to be that building over there, and how heroes are trapped in there."

"Finally, I don't think this Paradox fellow was taking us seriously at all this entire fight. He was only toying with us... testing us. He said something about 'field-testing and data collection authorized by Command-1'. I suspect we weren't even facing him directly, but merely one of his automatons, and one that could apparently stand against an S-class hero's power with ease. Whatever we're facing... we haven't even scraped the tip of the iceberg."