Part 783: Contingencies

January 29th, 2021. Aevum.

Jerome gasped for breath. Veins bulged all over his body. He roared angrily, but his rage wasn’t giving him any noticeable boosts in strength.

It had been thirty minutes since Jason and Nadia left the secret underground training area. Jerome had been plunged into darkness within the suit, perfectly capable of opening it back up, but not wanting to give up and fail whatever this ‘test’ he had been administered might be.

By gritting his teeth and gripping, lifting, pulling with all his strength, he slowly began to make the H-Boy move.

Not a lot. Just a little.

First it was the right foot. He managed to make it slide forward ever so slightly. Maybe a few inches, and then a few inches more.

After this was the left arm. He felt like he was breaking his fingers, squeezing the inner controls so tightly. Sweat seemed to flow out of every pore on his body, and it didn’t help that the suit was getting hotter due to his body’s heat having nowhere to escape.

He managed to twitch a few fingers, shuffle the H-boy’s feet a little, and make its body twitch. But ultimately, he failed to move it meaningfully. Jerome’s strength finally gave out. He sagged forward and collapsed against the suit’s inner chest, eventually extracting his arms and injured fingers from the mech’s inner grips. He heaved a few times to get the chest open, and nearly died of happiness when the slightest bit of cool air drifted in from outside.

Jason and Nadia were standing outside, chatting quietly. Jerome had no idea they’d left, eaten, and come back.

"Finally given up?" Jason asked.

"Fuck you…" Jerome rasped, his voice raw with pain. "Piece of shit. What’s the trick with this motherfucker?"

"No trick." Jason said. "Let’s get you out of the suit and clean you up first. Then we’ll talk."

Jerome was still really angry, but also relieved. He almost thought this whole thing was a psychological experiment, or maybe a sneaky way for the Archseer to get back at him for cursing out Daisy. But Jason didn’t seem the kind of guy, so Jerome’s anger lowered to a simmer, then it eventually dissipated. He started to wonder what the point was with the H-Boy, or if it had a point at all.

First, Jason used his magic to clean Jerome up and alleviate his exhaustion. Then, he gave Jerome some water to drink, and let him rest for several minutes.

"No, seriously. What’s with the clanker?" Jerome eventually asked. "Ain’t no point in a suit of armor you can’t move."

Jason tapped his chin. "You ever watch anime?"

"Huh? Ani…may?" Jerome repeated, bewildered. "What’s that? Some Chinese shit?"

"Japanese… cartoons." Jason said. "Never mind. Well, basically, I had this idea based on what we’ve seen with your powers. Your strength increases slowly over time, passively. It also grows even faster if you train. The problem is, if I have to constantly magic-up heavier and heavier weights, I’m gonna hit a limit."

Jerome poured a little water over his head to cool off. "Okay. So… the suit… gets heavier over time?"

"Not heavier. Well, it can if I use magic, but that’s not what’s happening. The H in ‘H-boy’ does technically stand for Heavy. It’s a Heavy Boy."

"Right. Heavy, as in, like, weight." Jerome repeated, wondering if Jason was maybe a little stupider than he looked, or worse, if he thought Jerome was so stupid he had to use baby talk to get his point across.

"It simulates weight." Jason said. "But actually, the suit is a resistance trainer. The reason it’s so hard to move is because it’s designed only to move when extreme force is exerted on its joints. It’s really not that heavy, but it simulates weight, and the tension can be dialed up over time."

For a brief moment, Jerome looked like he had a question forming, but then his eyes widened.

"Wait wait wait. So, like, you’re telling me… I have to put all my strength into moving it, which makes me build muscle faster, and that will eventually lemme move it a whole lot easier? And when that happens, you just ‘up’ the resistance, and it gets harder again?"

"That’s exactly correct." Nadia said. "And make no mistake, it’s extremely durable armor. If you get to a point where you can move this thing under your own power as smoothly as your own body, it’ll be amplifying the power of your strikes by five, ten, even twenty times. That’s a huge multiplier."

"It makes you hit harder, and it protects you from the deadliest enemies you might someday face." Jason added. "I’ve even taken into account the one demon who scares me the most… Emperor Ose. You’d think a metal suit would be the worst thing to use against a demon who controls lightning, but actually… well, let’s talk about the H-Boy’s other feature."

Jason gestured to the H-Boy. He started walking toward it along with Nadia, so Jerome shakily stood up and wobbled over toward it. Even with Jason’s Wordsmithing having rejuvenated him, Jerome’s physical body and brain were still exhausted from thirty nonstop strenuous minutes inside the H-Boy.

Jason used a Word of Power to clean up all the sweat inside the H-Boy. Then, he hopped inside it.

Jerome blinked. He looked at Nadia. "What’s he doing?"

Nadia didn’t answer. Instead, Jason pulled the chest shut and sealed himself inside.

Thirty seconds passed. Nothing happened.

But then, out of nowhere, the suit jerked a little bit. Its head straightened, along with its posture.

"Huh?" Jerome grunted, slightly disbelieving his eyes. "Wait, is he…"

Smoothly, as easily as if it was Jason’s own arm, the suit raised its right hand. It balled its hand into a fist. Then it lightly punched forward. The movement didn’t have much power behind it, but it was a light punch done as easily as if it was a normal human body. Jerome’s jaw dropped.

"The fuck? He just… Jason did that? He’s that strong already?!"

The suit’s eyes slowly lit up with color. It turned its head to look down at Jerome.

"Yep. I did." Jason answered, his voice projecting through the H-Boy’s head-mounted speakers. "But don’t be too impressed. I’m making it look easy, but I had to enhance my body a lot and pilot the suit at the lowest resistance setting to achieve this effect. Truth is, I’m already at my cap. This is about the best I’ll ever do. You’re certain to blow past me someday."

After a moment of blank staring from Jerome, Jason continued. "The H-Boy is special, Jerome. It doesn’t have a traditional power system. Instead, it’s powered by the movements of its body. It has a massive battery. The more you move it around, the more its battery fills. And that’s not all. Any type of energy based attack, such as fire, plasma, or electricity that strikes it? That will only charge up the battery faster. And when the battery charges enough… well, I’ll tell you if you manage to reach that level."

"Holy shit." Jerome muttered. "This thing… ain’t this made just for me? Seems like nobody else could make much use of it."

The suit’s chest opened up. Slowly, the light in the H-Boy’s eyes died as its pitiful battery level quickly evaporated. Jason hopped out of the suit with practiced ease.

"Oh, there’s a few others who could weaponize it. Other strong entities, like Demon Duke Bael, or maybe Barbatos, or even Belial. But demons don’t gel with technology, and among the humans, there’s nobody who comes to mind. At least for now. It’s hand-crafted for your unique circumstances."

Jerome went quiet for a moment. He lowered his head. "Wow. I… I don’t even know what to say, man. That’s nuts. You really made this for me. And here I was, all pissed at you earlier. I’m… I’m kinda, just, overwhelmed. Ain’t never gotten presents before, certainly not a fuckin’ killer robot suit. I don’t even think ‘thanks’ cuts it."

Nadia smiled at him. "We’re glad you like it, Jerome. But you’re right. Saying ‘thanks’ doesn’t really mean much. If you want to show your gratitude, it’s best you practice with the H-Boy as often as possible. Unlike the others who need to train their minds, you need to train your body, and the training time is only limited by your resolve."

"You quite literally cannot train too much." Jason said. "Much like how I gave Nadia a special wristband to heal her wounds when she used her power, I’ve made a special training suit that will heal you up when you reach the point of exhaustion. It won’t do anything for mental fatigue, so your willpower and desire to grow stronger is the main mental barrier you’ll have to overcome."

Jerome scratched his head, slightly embarrassed. "I, uh, gave up after thirty minutes, earlier. Is that… kinda pathetic?"

"We didn’t even tell you how the suit worked. You were fighting mental demons, wondering if we were tricking you, making fun of you, and other such things." Nadia said. "Now that you understand the full purpose of the H-Boy, I’m sure I don’t need to argue that thirty minutes is far lower than your true limits."

Jerome nodded. His expression was grim but determined, yet also mixed with excitement.

"Is this training spot, like, top secret?" Jerome asked. "You guys were real hush-hush about it."

"We just wanted to surprise you." Jason said with a smile. "You can bring Farrah and the others here if you want. But I’d advise that you wait."

"Why?" Jerome asked, more puzzled than skeptical.

"Well. If people saw you fumbling around with the H-Boy now, they probably wouldn’t be too impressed." Jason reasoned. "You’d look like a doofus if all you could do was twitch a finger or two. Better to wait until you got a real handle on it, don’t you think?"

Jerome didn’t really have to think before answering. "Good point. Don’t want my girl getting the ick just ’cause she saw me failing to move a robot around."

"…The ‘ick’?" Jason repeated.

"It’s when… never mind. An old guy like you probably wouldn’t get it." Jerome joked, lightly slapping Jason’s arm. "Anyway. I’ll get back to training now that I understand how this shit works."

"We’ll leave you to it, then." Jason said with a smile. "I installed a teleporter in the side office. You can return back to the main city using it. You also have a comms button to contact me, whether I’m in Aevum or not, just in case the teleporter breaks."

"Where are you goin’?" Jerome asked.

"I don’t have any interest in watching you strain yourself until you shower with your sweat." Jason said. "I just gave Helen and Sasha their new MindCores. I need to start teaching them how to use it."

"I’m actually going to stay here a while." Nadia said, surprising Jason. "I’ll be back to assist you in a little bit. I noticed a few things Jerome was doing that were sub-optimal for training his body."

"Oh? Well alright then, you’re the more observant of us." Jason said with a shrug. "I’ll leave you to it. I’m pretty good with anything related to the GenesisFrame anyway."

With that, Jason gave a friendly nod to both of them, and teleported out of the room, returning to Argent City in the blink of an eye.

After he left, Nadia turned to Jerome and smiled warmly. "Alright. No time to waste. Get back in the armor, and I’ll walk you through some stuff."

"Okay, sure." Jerome said. He gave Nadia an appreciative smile. It was nice of her to go out of her way like this for him. By now, Jerome had realized he wasn’t just some abandoned kid on the streets anymore. He had value, and people were noticing.

It was a little shitty that the value came about as a product of luck. If he hadn’t acquired literal superhuman powers by chance, he’d likely still be a nobody. Just a teenager fighting off others in the streets for scraps of food, selling drugs, anything to make money.

His girlfriend would still be with him… but she’d be in a lot more danger. He never wanted to put Farrah in risky situations like that again.

If only other black kids could be as lucky as him. That was something he wanted to use his power to change someday.

Jerome climbed back up in the H-Boy’s cockpit. Nadia grabbed onto the edge of the cockpit and leaned in. She started telling Jerome about the controls, and he listened intently. She showed him how to adjust the resistance level of the H-Boy, and just as she had said earlier, Jason wasn’t fucking with Jerome. The H-Boy was set at the lowest resistance level. There were 9 training levels, and Jerome could only imagine how much more difficult to move the H-Boy would become at the highest levels. Was it even humanly possible.

But then, as Nadia talked, Jerome noticed something. Her attention seemed to be elsewhere. Her voice would drift off, here and there.

Eventually, Nadia fell silent, still standing on the H-Boy’s left knee, still holding onto the cockpit so she could lean in and explain the power suit’s feature. It looked like she had something on her mind.

"Uh. Nadia? Earth to Nadia? Err, Aevum to Nadia, I guess? You good?" Jerome joked.

Nadia looked at him. She remained silent. It seemed she was… waiting for something.

"Okay. Listen carefully, Jerome." Nadia said, her expression serious. "Jason just started talking to Sasha. They’re nerding out. His attention is elsewhere, so he’s not paying attention to us. We don’t have much time."

"Much time?" Jerome repeated, slightly bewildered. "Time to do what, exactly?"

Nadia chewed her lip. "Jason leads Aevum. He’s very important to humanity. But I’m worried he’s biting off more than he can chew. I’ve decided to keep a few secrets from him."

Jerome frowned. The way Nadia was talking… made his stomach sink. What the hell was she up to? Some shifty shit?

"It’s nothing bad. My interests are fully aligned with Jason and humanity’s." Nadia quickly explained. "But I need to make contingencies. Backups. Plans just in case certain things go wrong. You’re my first one."

"Uh… I… I don’t know…" Jerome said warily. "What are you talking about, girl?"

"It’s… I have a certain hypothesis about your power." Nadia said quietly. "It’s untested, but my simulations and certain observations have made me roughly 97% sure about my hypothesis. Your power is not what you, the Illuminati, or even Jason thinks it is."

"It’s not?" Jerome asked. He felt like what Nadia was doing right now was some sort of a betrayal, but at the same time, her words quickly started eating at him. "What… what do you mean exactly?"

"It’s… your power…" Nadia said, seemingly hesitant to even tell him her hypothesis. "It doesn’t work the way you’ve been told. Actually…"

Nadia leaned toward Jerome. She whispered something under her breath, quietly breathing it into the open air as if she was afraid someone, likely Jason, might hear her.

When she spoke, Jerome’s pupils shrunk. He pulled away and looked at her in shock. "That’s… there’s no way. That would make me… I mean, don’t that mean I got the power of a Trueborn in me?"

"A Trueborn. Yes. Possibly." Nadia acknowledged. "You can’t tell Jason what I told you. You can’t tell anyone. This has to stay between us. Don’t even tell Farrah."

"What? Not even my girl can know?" Jerome repeated, aghast. "But you just dropped the mother of all bombs on me! This is…"

"It has to stay a secret, Jerome." Nadia said, her face the picture of anxiety. "Loose lips sink ships. You’ve heard that before, right? Jason’s been way too glib about giving away information. Too many people know, or can theorize about the existence of Aevum. Too many people have come here. He wants to bring more, while I’m not comfortable with the few who’ve already arrived."

"You’re… afraid of leaks? Leakers?" Jerome asked.

"You tell Farrah. She doesn’t think much of it. She tells Brian. Brian tells Marco. Then everyone knows. One more secret lost." Nadia answered. "I want you to promise me you’ll keep this to yourself. We need aces up our sleeve."

Jerome didn’t answer immediately. He lowered his eyes.

For the first time, he’d gained a life worth living. He had super powers. He had a loving girlfriend, maybe even a wife someday. He had a mech suit like from sci-fi shows. People would someday depend on him.

But now Nadia wanted him to keep an important secret from the man who’d made much of this possible.

Jerome didn’t know how he felt about that.

"I… I don’t like keeping secrets… from Jason." Jerome said hesitantly. "Especially something this big. Being a Trueborn is a big deal. It shouldn’t even be possible for me to have that power. The Illuminati guys made that much clear when they were teaching me shit."

"You’re not a Trueborn." Nadia clarified. "But you have the power of one. That’s an important distinction. Demons won’t detect anything truly extraordinary about you. If you tell Jason, he’ll definitely tell Phoebe, Daisy, Cat Mask, or someone else. It’s entirely possible Cat Mask already knows, but I’ve run simulations. I don’t think he does. Even if he does, he won’t say anything."

Jerome remembered that Cat Mask was said to have the power of time rewinding. Jerome didn’t even have a good idea of how that worked. He’d only heard the barest details. Still, it seemed Cat Mask had the answers to any question. Jerome had even spoken to him a couple times, but Jason’s dad usually kept out of the limelight and stayed in his house all day long.

"A secret." Jerome said, feeling bitter in his heart. "I don’t like you going behind the Archseer’s back like this. This is fucked up."

"I can’t stop you from telling other people. If you do tell them, then so be it." Nadia said, sighing softly. "But we need backup plans. Jason’s plans have a lot of holes. Keeping this hypothesis to myself would be useless, so you have to know it. But I really, really don’t want others knowing about it."

"What am I even going to do with the info?" Jerome pressed. "You can’t just toss a hot potato in my lap and call that good."

"I build some… secret functions into the H-Boy." Nadia said. "If you agree to keep the secret, I’ll add new layers to your training. You’ll be able to take advantage of the knowledge."

Jerome felt like someone had flashbanged him. His head recoiled slightly, and he looked around the H-Boy’s inner cockpit, blinking his eyes over and over. Without internal running lights, it was hard to see any ‘extra’ functionality hidden on the flush surfaces.

Another long moment passed. Jerome looked at Nadia. He still didn’t feel good about what she was doing… but his curiosity was winning out.

"…Fine. I promise I won’t say shit. Not even to my girl." Jerome muttered. "But I want you to know this makes me feel like crap. I ain’t good at bein’ dishonest. Just ’cause I grew up on the streets, that don’t mean I’m a lyin’ sack of shit."

"I’m not expecting you to lie." Nadia argued. "Just to keep quiet. Someday, you’ll reveal the truth, and you won’t have to deceive anyone after that."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Jerome mumbled. "Girl, you’re pretty fucked up."

"Won’t argue that." Nadia said. "Seventy years in a mind-prison will change a person. Anyway, look here. These controls are recessed in the top and bottom. Slide a finger across here…"

Jerome nodded. He listened as Nadia told him about the secret advanced functionality inside the H-Boy, functionality Jason didn’t even know about when he Wordsmithed it. How she managed to hide it from him, Jerome had no idea.

All the while, Nadia breathed a quiet internal sigh of relief.

She looked into her MindCore, where her digital family lived.

"He agreed." Nadia said to her husband, Jason-Echo. She spoke from ‘above’, not bothering to digitize herself to appear beside him.

"I knew he would." Echo said. "The simulations indicated that’s the type of person he is. Besides, we’re not doing this to hurt Jason. Quite the contrary. Even once he finds out later, he’ll have no choice but to thank you for your forward-thinking."

"Jerome is right though." Nadia said. "It feels shitty keeping things from Jason like this."

"He wears his heart on his sleeve." Echo said, not even the slightest hint of disapproval on his face. "It’s usually a noble trait, but in matters of war, it’s suboptimal. He’s not on the lookout for his blind spots. I am."

Echo looked toward a shimmering orb, a micro-simulation that was running a fragment-world where a duplicate of himself was currently engaged in a furious high-speed battle with a female Demon Emperor.

Echo’s duplicate fought at thirty-times speed against Emperor Ose. He lost every time. She was too fast, too smart, too strong. He didn’t stand a chance.

But each time the simulation reset upon Echo’s death, the duplicate became a little smarter. A little faster. A little more capable of contending with its adversary.

"I lose every time now." Echo said quietly to himself. "But soon, I’ll win one out of a hundred battles. Two out of a hundred. Three… and someday, I’ll reach a point where I never lose again."

Echo looked away from the simulation. Everything was going according to plan.

The second War in Heaven was fast approaching. He would prepare for the eventualities Jason could not. Together, they would make Aevum unstoppable.