A Hero's Legacy

Chapter Eight

Levi Carmichael's eyes were everywhere; his carefully placed ornaments, his working-class furniture and the lights in the ceiling, that seemed to be casting the thirty-something year old man in a merciless gaze. He seemed to avert the shape of the man standing in a shadowy suit and tie in front of him, the very same executive who'd been present to observe him at the internship programme he'd been a part of that day alongside his close assosciate, Riley Tennyson. As the man stared at Levi, who was pressed up against the back of his mobile hover-chair, you could see that his features were artificial. Jaw too angular, skin too clear, teeth too white, posture too aligned. A long moment would pass before the scientist made eye contact, biting his lip, waiting for him to speak.

"We've spent nothing less than a fortune trying to crack the firewalls built into this second Omnimatrix," he began to say expressionlessly, though Levi could sense his malice lining the tone he used to verbalize his distaste. "It remained completely unresponsive to any attempt made by us to penetrate it's defensive programming even with the Galvan technology we have striven to procure, so I'm sure you understand our skepticism at this claim."

"I don't know how it happened," Levi tried to tell him, "It was there. I conducted my daily checks as usual, and it was still there, still blank."

"But it isn't now," the executive looked down upon him, "We don't know why, we don't know how, but someone without even a fraction of our resources or intelligence have managed to do in a day what you could not in years. I would be fascinated, if I wasn't so disappointed, doctor."

"It's the subliminal change-rate mechanism," he spoke in an attempt to explain away the bizarre occurence. The Omnitrix was entirely intact, but it was depowered, unreactive to any measure taken to crack it's surface and access the wealth of secrets that existed within. But somehow, someone had done it, someone had managed to make off with what could potentially be the key to all of his research like a purse-snatcher would a wallet, and what's more, they had figured out some way to break it's barriers. "The encrypted signals meant that we wouldn't have been able to extract the necessary DNA samples for our purposes regardless of whether we had it or not. Please, I need more time."

"There is no more time," the executive said, righting himself, stepping away, "The benefactor wants his perfected armada, Dr Carmichael. I suggest you supply him as asked .. or it's safe to assume we'll both lose our heads."

A moment would pass as Levi pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the pressure in his diaphragm, weighing down his movements. He turned, a gradual thing, on his portable support chair, putting a tentative hand to his chin before issuing forth a response; word stopped only by the sound of gentle knocking on wood. The sound made the seemingly solemn executive smile, before straightening out that spotless suit of his and pick up his briefcase, as if the two's exchange had been an amicable one.

"I'll see myself out," he said, making his way to the door with Levi in tow with the wheel-hover chair, pushing it open. A familiar face would be present as he did; dark hair, curious but reserved features, golden eyes. The boy couldn't be any older than sixteen, and somehow he could recognize that out-of-place countenance. From the perspective of the teen in question, the man's aura was of equal familiarity; Ryder had remembered running into him at ECO after his touch-and-go with Riley, his unwelcoming stature, his disappearance into the sectioned off area that he would learn contained the alien device.

With thoughts of Ben 10,000's disappearance being pushed back to the darker recesses of his mind, Ryder had opted to maintain focus on Matthew. Sure, this watch thing was making his life about ten thousand times weirder than before, but his objective still remained, and despite it's jarring machinations the Omnitrix was important. There were secrets in there, pathways to information about his father thought lost .. and if Ryder ever wanted to discover the truth, he would have to keep his wits about him. As such, the teen was present to ask Carmichael what he knew, both about the power that had propelled someone like Ben 10,000 into worldwide fame, and it's relation to the man who'd fathered him. After the man brushed past him again, with Ryder's gaze lingering on him a little more as he walked, Levi would clear his throat, drawing his attention.