My Hero Automata

Chapter 45: I-Island (Arrival)

Summary: The start of the I-Island arc! Yes, I've included it...though it will be shorter than the movie plot. For reasons...

Warning! Chapters 43-46 were released all at once! Make sure you don't miss any!

Chapter 45: I-Island (Arrival)

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Izumi and Momo arrived on I-Island without any particular fanfare. They had taken one of the Yaoyorozu Group's private jets to Tahiti and taken it again on to I-island. Aside from a bit of fooling around in the privacy of the jet's cabin, the trip hadn't been particularly eventful. Since the moving island was currently just north of the Equator and only a single time zone off of Tahiti's, they were essentially already adjusted for the jet lag and were able to smoothly transition into getting to work. It was something they both noted, wondering if it might be a good tactic to repeat in the future, taking a vacation nearby wherever I-Island was before the Expo. Of course, given just who they had working for Aegis as the local representative, who was also the only person aside from the three arriving that actually did R&D for the company, it wasn't a shock how smoothly it went on the arrival side.

"So, looking forward to seeing your uncle, Mel? I assume you know he's intending to show up this year. Tomorrow, right?" Izumi frowned, hoping she had known. All Might had only mentioned it to them when he'd asked if they needed passes.

Melissa Shield grinned at her nominal bosses, even as she directed a series of flying bots to continue double-checking their other minions setup of the Expo booth.

"Yep! It's extra awesome that he'll be here when I finally get to show off what I've been working on properly!"

That got chuckles from the two of them, even as the Izumi and Momo went over all the preparations that were already done, checking for anything Mel and her assistants had missed. Aegis would be showing off a new protype line created by finally successfully fusing Melissa's compression technology with various alloys created using YoRHa's knowledge of Maso/QE infused materials. Melissa's original compression technology had been potentially amazing, but limited by how fragile it was. Theoretically, the materials had been insanely tough, capable of holding up to even someone like All Might or Izumi. But that was because Melissa had, to Izumi and 2B's shock when they'd first realized it, actually come up with a way to infuse materials with QE. It made those materials tough while being extremely compressible...and also made the material shatter like so much spun glass once the QE in it ran out.

Now, after two years of hard work by Melissa, with input mostly from Momo and 2B, they'd gotten a much more efficient and broader set of materials. Materials that passively absorbed small amounts of QE, at that. I couldn't absorb ambient QE. So far only the teleport blockers they'd designed could do that at a scale that mattered. But it could absorb QE from anyone with a Quirk via skin contact, albeit in small amounts. With how efficient they'd gotten their new materials, however, those small amounts were enough to 'recharge' the materials over time. Currently, their new line of products was focused on utility. They didn't yet have a material suitable for shrinking circuitry, so they couldn't make anything electronic. But they could make things like compressible clothing, tools, and toys. There were even a few limited support items on the list, such as a respirator capable of filtering smoke and fumes that could be compressed down to a pocket or pouch sized cylinder.

In the future, now that they'd cracked the method needed to make larger QE absorbers, they were hoping to make more energy intensive items as well. Deployable barriers and shields, disaster relief shelters, and a hundred other things useful for Heroes and Police alike. Currently, the slow recharge rate of the skin-content method meant that creating more complex support items was unwise, since they couldn't be reliably recharged between patrols if they saw heavy use. But they were getting there! And what they were showing off at the Expo would still be an excellent vindication of Melissa's work. Quite a few people had been unhappy when the 'Second Shield' went to work for Aegis, instead of any of the major R&D groups of I-Island. And Melissa was going to enjoy rubbing a few arrogant noses in her accomplishment. She'd joined Aegis specifically as only Izumi and Momo had been willing to simply let her run wild with her project, let alone been in a position to help her with it as they had been.