The Metamorphosis Engine (Agent B) (10-29-2022)

== A Proposition - GEO-7 Daedalus Sector, Camelot [10/29/2022] ==
"Another attempt? Isn't that the 56th one this month?" Void questioned. He entered the workspace to find Thunderbolt working on yet another solution to the mysterious inner workings of A-002. "Like I haven't noticed you using the Slipstream every weekend, what's up?" Void chuckled and tossed his colleague a projector. "Been thinking about Agent B recently, Arch has been talking about promoting him after the uh... thing."
"To Council status? I thought you had to have some sort of powers to qualify."
"I did too, that's actually what I was thinking about. I thought giving him something to get on our level would be a good 'welcome to the council' gift, but I wasn't sure what to do for it."
"And so you came to me, are you suggesting giving him anomalous abilities?"
"I thought about it yeah, but I'm pretty sure it'd be a pain in the ass to find something to make him anomalous... declassifying documents and burning flight logs and all that, so my second idea."
Void tossed Thunder a company datapad, focused in on the entry for Item A-012. "We're making him an Elysian." Thunder gave him an incredulous look, "The vapor? Aside from the fact that I'm probably allergic to that shit the Seraphim has a monopoly on it, how the hell do you plan on getting some?" Void smirked and took his own datapad out, tapping away before the Courier client's familiar ringing noise.
"Hello? Who is this?" a feminine voice called out.
"Hey! Bellona, I can call you Bellona right? This is Void from the CACG, Archie's second in command. I was calling to ask about the Seraphim's supply of the uhh... Vapor? Sorry, been used to calling it by number. We wanted to know if we could borrow some."
"Ah yes. Should I have it mailed to your local post office as well?"
"...he's not joking, Miss Timothy," Thunder chimed in from the background.
"What reason could you need it for? We can't just be giving it out like complimentary snacks."
"Well... it was meant to be a surprise, but we were thinking about making Agent B into an Elysian. We're set to promote him soon and following the uh... Mauve incident I was thinking he'd need a bit more than boyish charm in the field," Void responded, his mind drifting back to that tasty cut of meat Hellscream brought back for him as Archangel wanders into the room.
"As much as I'd love to give you guys a bioterrorism agent over the phone, you realize it has a random chance of killing him as well giving him some form of powers right?"
Void took a pause and silently mouthed said 'You didn't tell me this?' to Thunder before returning to the call. 
"So I'm assuming a 'pretty please' won't work?"
"No, it won't."
Archangel - figuring out what they were talking about - then walks over and clears his throat before speaking, "If I can butt in, we have reasonable suspicion the Grail is in danger... again. Reptile and Specter are missing and we've intercepted comms from some Syndicate FOBs off the coast of Auris about an upcoming attack. We need all the help we can get."
There's a bit of silence from the speakers, until Bellona finally says, "Fine. But you're coming here. We're not risking an accident. I'll open a portal to get you to my workshop. Will be a few seconds." There's a click on the phone and it goes silent. A wormhole emerges in the office, with Bellona standing at the end of it. She tilts her head and walks away. The three follow into the wormhole into her workshop. It's full of near finished starships, high powered computers, and see through containers of Dark Matter. Thunderbolt beams at the technology and runs his fingers across a high frequency laser gun barrel that's getting ready to be attached to a frigate. 
Bellona leads them to her personal work room and asks, "So, I want to be clear. The Vapor is a highly dangerous and unpredictable compound. We've been trying to find ways to safely destroy it but everything so far has come up to either polluting space or other. It's killed millions of people, and you want my help to maybe turn someone into an Elysian?"
"Exactly, ma'am," Void responded, handing her a file package on Agent B. Strangely enough, it had a blood sample, full genetic backup, and personal history record up to a few hours ago. "Do I even want to ask?" Archangel said, looking at the package and then at Void. "Hahaha.. no. Don't tell the others."
Before Archangel could question further, Thunder came into the workshop. "You made all that stuff? It's amazing!" he excitedly said to Bellona.
"Well... thank you! I can give you a tour if you'd like after we make this device. On that, how do you guys suggest we even start? Hakim?" 
"Maybe we could expose small parts of his tissue to the Vapor in a controlled environment," Archangel answers. "If it doesn't kill the tissue, it should have the exact genetic code he'd have as an Elysian, right?"
"And use ADVENT to mold him into an Elysian? I don't even think that'd work..." Thunder questioned.
"So what about combining it with a healing factor? Timely injections of A-041 have treated chemical burns like Seraphim documentation said," Void shot back, getting a frightened look from Thunder and disapproving glance from Bellona and Arch. They start giving out more ideas, with none getting a unanimous approval. Bellona scratches her head and groans, "Guys, there is a high chance this thing could kill B, and I'd be shitty if that happened. We need to find a way to make the Vapor guarantee to keep him alive while giving him strength. We need...we need..." Bellona begins to look up at the others, as she does, her halo begins to glow brightly. Her eyes widen and dart around, before swiveling to her desk. She begins to think out loud, "Maybe that's it. Maybe that's what I've been missing for so long. We don't make him an Elysian. Well, we do, but not permanently. And to do that, we don't change him directly." Void and the others look confused as she begins to scribble viciously on a blueprint. "You mean, like, change him to an Elysian through a proxy?" Thunderbolt asks trying to understand. However, the Techno-Mechanic has already tuned everyone out and her halo shines even brighter as she works away on the paper.
She slides over to her forge and melts a heavenly metal ingot into a mold. She works quickly and silently, leaving the others watching her with anticipation. The mold cools, and she places it back on her desk. She manifests multiple tools and screws and begins to work on an electric device. After a few minutes she gets up and opens the wall up to where the heavily sealed canister of Vapor is being held. She siphons some into a small capsule and places it into the device. A few more minutes pass and her halo shines as bright as ever. Bellona finally finishes and wipes her brow then shows the group what she made. It's a device as small as a belt buckle, with red and green colored lights on the top and bottom of the buckle. She explains, "So we've been looking at it wrong this whole time. Like I said, instead of making him an Elysian permanently, we can do it temporarily for a time. This buckle, when activated, manifests an outfit made with extremely durable materials and infused with Vapor to give Agent B Elysian-like powers and strength. And the best part is it won't hurt him at all, it'll only augment him. He can deactivate the buckle to become a human again at any time." 
Archangel takes the buckle and examines it. "May I try it?" Bellona nods and says, "Knock yourself out." Archangel presses down on the buckle, the LED light goes from red to green, but nothing happens. Everyone looks confused, including Archangel. "Is...something supposed to happen?" Archangel asks while looking at the buckle. Bellona scratches her head and suggests, "Let Thunderbolt try it." Archangel agrees and deactivates the buckle. He hands it over to Thunderbolt. He presses the buckle and immediately he gets enveloped in a bright light. After a few seconds his clothes are replaced by a purple uniform. "W-woah. I feel...great!" Thunderbolt says as he gets a feel of his newly acquired strength. He picks up a metal anvil with ease and gently lets it down. "What else can I-" he's interrupted and immediately catches a nail that was flying towards him at high speed. He sees the source of where the nail came from and sees Bellona casually holding a high pressure nail gun and pointing it at Thunderbolt. "You could have killed me!" Thunderbolt exclaims. Bellona shakes her head and dissipates the nail gun explaining, "I couldn't have. You caught that easily with no drawbacks. You have extreme reflexes now." Thunderbolt looks at the nail he caught and crushes it in his hand. Bellona smiles and sighs, "Well, at least it's not broken." She looks over at Archangel, wondering why he didn't transform. Void says to Thunderbolt, "Lemme get a shot at that." 
Void presses the buckle before being engulfed in a flash of darkness, emerging in a suit similar to Thunderbolt's with a few minor differences. He looked down at his new costume, then at his hands. "Rebar me," he said to Thunder, who threw him a small piece of polysteel. Just like his colleague before him, Void was able to bend the metal as if it was clay in his hands. "Must be what the A-028 users feel like all the time," he quipped, not noticing the small bolt practically melting into A-007 in his hands. 
Bellona takes the device again and examines it. "Hmm, it's weird that every one of you worked except Archie." She then presses the buckle and nothing happens. Her halo then starts to shine again. Her eyes widen as she looks at Archangel. Archangel locks eyes with Bellona and tilts his head. "Miss Timothy?" Archangel asks, trying to get her attention. Her halo behind her head slowly dims back to normal brightness as she deactivates the buckle and tosses it to them. "Don't worry about it. Anyways, should work on Agent B and protect him. Don't ask for any more Vapor. That's all we're giving. Creed's already gonna bust my ass about it, and not in the good way." Thunderbolt inquires, "What's the good wa-" Archangel interrupts him by thanking, "We appreciate your help Miss Timothy. We'll be on our way." He pushes Thunderbolt along in the wormhole while asking again "What did she mean by the good way?" Void says as he steps in the other side, "You'll learn when you're older." 
"But I'm an adult?" 
Bellona watches as the portal closes and sighs and asks out loud to herself, "How?" 
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