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***
*♪ Whoo-hoo ♪ ♪ Whoo-hoo ♪
A few movements and the wind easily obeyed. My progress wasn't so bad, I've been practicing here all day without rest. Now I can control my weather powers with ease. Even my wind and hail became much stronger, that made me happy. I think after a few more weeks or months, I should be able to reach Mardon's level. Okay, now it's time to eat, the hunger is making itself felt again....
I went to my base and pulled out one of the recently caught criminals, cut him up and ate him. Then, as always, I disposed of the corpse.
I've had two more, I've got enough for a week, then I'll catch new ones. I don't catch many, I don't have enough food for them, and they littered the room where I keep them. In the future, I should probably put in a sewer system, I guess. I'm thinking of changing the base, though, at one of my recycling stations. I'll keep that place, of course, but I'll make the main base there.
The business is quite profitable, sometimes you have to deal with the paperwork, but I don't have a problem with that. Of course, it's not much money, but I'm thinking of expanding and acquiring a business or two, so to speak. There's a lot of gangsters in Central City, like those guys Snard and Rory took down the other day. They had a lot of good businesses, and a few more gangs like them. So I've got plenty of options to choose from. But that's for later, now I'll get on with checking my stats, and then I'll finally check in with Hartley. I gave him plenty of time, even left plenty of food and water so he wouldn't die without me while I was gone. According to the cameras, he's fine, so it's time for a chat.
***
When I was done with all the business, I went to the prisoner.
*♪ Screep ♪
I opened the door and immediately locked it, then turned to Dudochnik and asked with a chuckle:
«How are you doing? I hope you had enough to eat?
He immediately stood up and said:
«Yeah, everything was, uh. everything was fine. Except I ran out of books, so I got a little bored.
I hummed:
«I see, that won't be a problem, if you can think of something to offer me.
Hartley nodded and pulled out a notepad, then walked over to me and held it out with the words:
«Here, I've sketched some drawings, take a look.
I accepted the notepad and began to look through it, while I did so, Dudochnik spoke:
«I remember your mask when you knocked me out and some of your clothes. If I understand correctly, the materials were poor, especially the mask. So I built a better version of your outfit. Of course, if you want to make adjustments to your appearance, I'll do it.
The costume was really good, the guy was definitely more imaginative than Cisko was with his costume for Barry. He changed the red stripe from my mask a bit, and also completely redesigned the helmet and the armor as a whole. It wasn't just plain cloth and stuff anymore. It was already a unique alloy.
«What kind of alloy is that?
The boy grinned and said proudly:
«I invented it myself, but you need my abilities to create it, without them it's very difficult to come up with the right conditions. You can achieve a lot with vibrations, that's how I made my gloves. Of course they were made of a different material, I didn't need armor, and I didn't have the means. The alloy has a lot of advantages, not only is it amazingly light, but its strength is much higher than titanium. Plus, if you can get another component, I can make it so that it can conduct almost no electricity. I know it sounds crazy, but I think it should work, I guess...
I squinted and looked at him:
«You want me to give you all these materials and your gloves. You think I'm an idiot?
«Uh, no, of course not, it's just that I'm the only one who can make this costume, and you can't do it without gloves. I can make another one, but it won't be as good. If you don't trust me, you can use that remote.
I stretched my hands forward and a sharp shard of ice began to form on it. Hartley stared at it in shock, and I smiled and said:
«I caught you and kept you here for quite a long time, in terrible conditions, even wanted to eat you. To release you would be a great folly on my part. But I'll give you a chance, if you deceive me.... - I put my arm out to the side and...
*♪ Vshuh ♪ ♪ Boom! ♪
The icicle hit the wall and got stuck there. If it had been a person, it would have pierced through....
Hartley looked at me tensely and nodded.
I grinned:
«Okay, as soon as I get all the materials on the list and get your workspace ready, I'll let you know right away. By the way, write down the list of tools, it's not here.
I tore out the sheet with all the ingredients and gave the notebook to Dudochnik, and afterward said:
«I like the costume, I really hope you don't try to trick me, I have a couple other abilities you don't even know about. You could say I'm pretty unique among meta-humans, so you better not do anything stupid. - Then I turned around and started to walk away. When I opened the door, I remembered something and turned to Hartley:
«By the way, can you make a sword, but a very sharp sword that can be used to chop heads?
Hartley looked at me strangely, then nodded:
«I can, but I'll need some extra metal, blades usually use a slightly different steel than armor.
«Okay, put them on the list with the tools, I'll pick them up tomorrow. - After saying that, I went out and closed the door.
As I walked out, I heard a heavy sigh outside the door. It sounded like he was really planning something, but now it was going to get a lot harder because of the powers I'd shown him. Well, if he does pull something, I hope I can handle it. It's foolish to trust him, but that suit, huh. It looks marvelous.
***
I spent a couple days sorting out a place for Hartley to work. I had to move everything into another room to make room. I also installed an alarm system and a couple of motion detectors so the guy won't run away without me watching him. Of course, I doubt they'll do much good. Now he's got a bunch of tools, and he'll have no problem escaping. I think even my defense system will be powerless, so I need to keep a close watch on him to make sure he doesn't throw anything away. Right now I can only trust my abilities and instincts. The guy said it would take at least a month to develop the gear, so I'm going to have quite a problem keeping an eye on him. There's a lot of work coming up now, so he'll have a chance to escape. Unfortunately for him, I remember his scent well, so he won't get far.
All the materials I bought cost a monstrous amount of money, almost a million bucks. I hope I spent that money on something worthwhile.....
***
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