Chapter 15: Glimpse of Truth

-Rebecca Costa-Brown POV-

Things were not going well.

She sat at her desk, clicking and clacking away at her keyboard. In truth she had already memorised exactly what she was supposed to do today, so her fingers danced along her computer and compiled reports even without her conscious input. Her thinker power was perhaps the most useful aspect of her power, it allowed her to juggle her various duties as Alexandria and the Chief Director with nearly no wasted time.

Anyone else likely would have collapsed under the weight and endless work, but her mind remained clear, counting and observing each observable second as it passed. One after the other. So great were her powers and experience that the number of times she was truly surprised could be counted on only two hands.

Unfortunately it seems the world was determined to show her she was no infallible.

The plan regarding New Fukuoka was currently completely off the rails Cauldron had fashioned. It had only been a couple of hours since the first reported instance of unusual C.U.I activity. This quickly ballooned as numerous thinkers and intelligence agencies noticed the army preparing to board their fleet had instead been ordered to return to the capital.

Which was now a smoking battlefield.

She rubbed her nose tiredly, the motion doing nothing to calm her nerves.

According to all reports a single individual had stormed the capital, broken into the Imperial Palace, raided their kitchen and proceeded to make complete fools out of the local army.

Those reports were still unconfirmed, given that numerous thinkers had noted inconsistencies in their predictions.

Many thinkers hadn’t even noticed what was happening, and still couldn’t see anything in the Chinese capital.

Others insisted things that were blatantly false, such as the entire continent of Eurasia disappearing.

In one amusing case there was even a thinker, who could divine the present through allegories, insisted that a divine being was judging China for its numerous sins.

Needless to say they were currently unaware of any specifics, and this marked the second time in as many weeks that an anti-thinker effect had taken them completely by surprise and ruined their plans.

Contessa herself was forced to delay her meeting with Shuten Douji because of this, waiting and recalibrating her plans to account for this unexpected turn.

She could also do nothing to further their plans, as attempting to delay or impede the PRT’s own response would be viewed with suspicion at best, but more than likely her political rivals would use it as a chance to oust her from her position. Which she simply couldn’t allow at such a delicate stage.

So she was forced to wait.

Click clack click.

Uselessly.

Clack click click

Impotently.

Click click clack

The memories of antiseptics, stark white rooms and an endless fearful wait made her grimace.

A notice popped up on her screen, causing her to pause.

Looking closer she could see it was from bunker, a fortification tinker that had been sent to the Okinawa Islands. That was odd, she hadn’t been expecting an email from him. Perhaps one from his team lead reporting their progress after they had eliminated the local warlord, but not this. It was even marked as urgent.

Intrigued, she clicked on the email and furrowed her brow.

To: Rebecca.Costa-Brown@PRT.org.

Please find attached the local geological survey performed.

We have clearly been looking in the wrong places to find the group that built New Fukuoka, and this is proof on where they have likely headed next.

Bunker.

As to the point as ever.

She opened the file and stared for a moment, almost double taking at the sight.

The program Bunker had sent was a tinkertech masterwork of his own design. It allowed him a fidelity and clarity on local geology and conditions that would make many other tinkers blush with envy. It laid out perfectly in front of her in 3-D, the program effortlessly running on her more mundane computer.

But the intricate tinker tech master work was not the cause for her shock, but rather what it showed.

There was a tunnel. A truly enormous tunnel running from Kyushu and heading in a vaguely Northern direction before cutting off at the edge of the survey’s results.

Her blood felt like ice in her veins as she quickly procured a map from her servers, before cross referencing it with the data Bunker had given to her. Slowly she drew a line from Kyushu through the Asian Continent.

Her eyes landed on China’s capital, and the line that intersected painfully close to it.

“Fuck.”

-Armsmaster POV-

His sweat clung to him unpleasantly, rubbing painfully against him armour as he twisted a newly made wrench and connected the last bolt to his halberd.

He held his weapon up to the light, turning it this way and that, before nodding.

It would have to do.

The ship barely had workshops worth a damn, and limited resources on top of that. This forced him to scrounge for any parts that might adequately serve to replace and repair his damaged gear.

Perhaps if it was only him his situation would not be so poor, but there were many other tinkers present. All of which had been sent to inspect the wondrous technology of New Fukuoka, and many of which had survived long enough to retreat with the rest of them.

He smiled slightly. It was almost nostalgic, scavenging for subpar materials and constant experiments and compromises. It almost reminded him of his early days as a tinker, when the possibilities had seemed endless. Every idea had hit him like a breath of inspiration, unburdened by responsibilities or need for maintenance. Simply trying anything.

“Enjoying yourself Collin?”

He turned to Dragon, who was commandeering one of the few computers he had been able to bring with him. It had taken hours for him to properly bring it up to an acceptable level.

“In a way, though I would still rather be in a proper workshop” he stated.

“You and every other tinker on this ship” she laughed lightly.

Which was true enough, the tinker was just thankful they would reach the Okinawa islands soon. Any more time on this ship and he was sure the many tinkers present would start tearing apart the fleet to make a better one.

“Have you gone over the files?”

The question was simple enough though the deadpan expression she threw him was rather unneeded.

“I’m fairly certain every tinker the PRT has is looking through it as we speak” she spoke with certainty “If I wasn’t constantly going over the cybersecurity of the plans I’m fairly certain most tinkers in the world would be looking through it.”

That was something he fully believed.

The technology of New Fukuoka wasn’t just brilliant, it was revolutionary. Clean, rugged and most importantly simple. This wasn’t simply something that would revolutionise a normal man’s way of living, it would affect every tinker.

Because this technology could act as a foundation, in much the same way modern technology did.

Tinkertech could be made with anything, it wasn’t widely known outside their circles but every tinker, barring focal tinkers was capable of making wonders out of the strangest of materials. If you left him in the woods without his equipment he could probably make decent combat equipment out of wood and leaves.

However it was far less efficient than using modern materials. No wooden spear he made could ever stand up to his halberd.

Likewise his halberd likely wouldn’t hold a candle to what he could make with the technology of New Fukuoka.

The ultra efficient filters of the massive machine in the bay of Kyushu had given Collin ideas of filters able to last longer, and potentially even keep out troublesome breakers like Fog. The Stark white ceramics of the many building gave him ideas of armour that could shrug off the extreme temperatures of Lung.

These were only some of the ideas he had come up with, and this was happening to every tinker who saw the files.

“I’m personally more interested in the civilian applications this will have” Dragon chirped, and he could only smile lightly at that. It was very like her to consider the benefits this could bring to the civilians of America and Canada.

Collin was personally unsure as whether these files would trickle down to the general public any time soon. That would mean villainous tinkers gaining the same advantage as them. It would mean being unable to use the information as leverage against other countries. There were too many advantages to keeping the information hidden instead of widely spreading it.

Armsmaster was briefly thankful, as odd as it may seem, for the threat of the C.U.I invasion. It would incentivise the PRT to at least share with their allies, making it more likely for the data to be stolen or released into the wider world.

Usually he would be all for operational secrecy, but when some of that data included life saving medicine and machines that could reclaim irradiated lands even he wished for those files to be spread.

An alert popped up on his computer, an email. A high alert one at that. From the looks of it it had been sent to every high ranking individual within the PRT and Protectorate, as well as their closest allies.

The mild look of concern on Dragon’s face showed that she had also received the email, and had possibly already read it.

One of these days he would have to ask her what sort of mind-interface technology she was using, for she had always been startlingly quick in answering calls and alerts. It was something he had noticed through their many collaborations together, and something he desperately wanted to know.

But he valued her presence too much to press for details, the one time he had asked she appeared highly uncomfortable.

“Collin, you need to see this” her voice, once light and airy, had a hardened edge to it now.

He clicked on the email.

He scrolled through it, his eyebrows subtly raising.

The reports from China, the mysterious tunnel leading from Kyushu and the projected path it took painted a damning picture.

Whatever group had raised Kyushu from the bottom of the sea had clearly anticipated the response of the C.U.I and had already begun travelling to China the second the city was compete.

In addition this group had access to a monstrously powerful parahuman, one capable of catching the Chinese off guard and causing great damage to their capital.

Deep in his bones Collin knew the worst was yet to come.

-Sun Wukong POV-

He grinned at the destruction of his foes, the once gleaming palace blackened by soot and blood.

That pretender emperor, the one who had commanded he bow, and wasn’t that hilarious, he had let live.

Frankly Sun Wukong couldn’t find a more fitting punishment than allowing a powerless worm to remain a powerless worm.

Sun Wukong knew his type, always scrambling for power, and being utterly incapable of handling it.

He would never be satisfied, never stop being scared.

Still, he frowned as he looked around. There was something missing.

He looked around, pondering the missing piece. He knew if he didn’t get it it would bother him all day.

It was like an itch you couldn’t quite reach.

He lifted his hand to his chin and thought, before realising what it was with an almost embarrassed laugh.

“Right! I need to end this on a dramatic note!”

He sucked in a deep breath and SPOKE.

Not to the people around him, he was instead choosing to address all of China. He spoke with intent directly at their souls, ensuring no misunderstanding would occur.

“PEOPLE OF CHINA. I AM SUN WUKONG. I CAME TO YOUR EMPEROR WITH PEACE, AND WAS MET WITH SWORDS. I CAME EXPECTING SAGES AND FIERCE WARRIORS, AND MET ONLY CORRUPT WRETCHES. I DECLARE YOU UNWORTHY OF THE HEAVENLY MANDATE. UNWORTHY OF THE EFFORT AND WISDOM YOUR ANCESTORS HAVE BESTOWED UPON YOU.”

He chuckled, already feeling the myriad emotions throughout the country. Rage, pain,, indignation, understanding, disappointment and more blending into a heady mix. Many tried to refute his words, tried to rationalise his presence and power. But it was no use. This was not a medium that tolerated deceit. He spoke and they understood.

They understood who he was.

They understood his disappointment.

“I WILL RETURN IN TEN YEARS, AND THEN I SHALL JUDGE WHETHER YOU REMAIN UNWORTHY.”

Admittedly Sun Wukong was unused to speaking as a voice of authority, oh he had certainly doe it in the past. But more often than not he was the rebelling figure, casting gods and demons from their lofty thrones.

Usually because they pissed him off, almost always because he wanted to.

Still he could play this role if t got him what he wanted.

This would certainly get things moving in a more interesting direction.

And perhaps his homeland could even benefit from this humbling.

Either way he would take his fill of entertainment.

AN: The PRT begin to unravel the ‘group’ that caused Kyushu to remerge and Sun Wukong decides to use his godly authority to fuck with China. Because the entirety of Sun Wukong could be summed up as: “Fuck you, I do what I want!”

Thanks for reading!