Mod Superhero

Chapter 5.34 - Ava Savanus 4

Ava Savanus walked with purpose through the underground hallways of the lab. The AI announced her arrival and the mechanical wing doors hissed open.

Monitors covered the walls, displaying schematics of Venture's Fast-Response drones. Circuitry as highlighted in red, showing where the drone had been hacked just a few days ago. The drone itself lay on the central table. Panels lay beside it. Robotic arms hung from the ceiling above, perched over the corpse like a predator caught in the act.

Ava rubbed her eyes. Had it really been a few days? No... It had been almost a week. She was losing track of time. The drone had been hacked on Tuesday—the same day the cyborg got away.

"Better late than never," Ava muttered. She leaned over the drone and commanded the AI, "Run me through everything you've found."

"The earliest records of intrusion date from two weeks ago—one week earlier than the intrusion was discovered."

Ava squeezed the edge of the table, metal creaking under her enhanced grip. "Why wasn't this discovered earlier?"

"ERROR: UNKNOWN VARIABLES."

"Ugh. Continue."

The robot arm descended and used a laser to point at piles of dust inside the drone and on the removed panels. "These are byproducts of nanites and nanite construction. Nanites were able to slip between the drone's armor plating and form connections here and here."

"Byproducts... The nanites aren't intact?"

"No. A self-destruct sequence was initiated. Despite this, molecular analysis confirms that these nanites are similar to those found in the holding vats on lower levels of the lab."

Ava sighed. "Goddamnit."

There had been hope, however slim, that the cyborg was using different nanites. It wasn't easy to manufacture nanites, and Ava had hoped that by cutting Emmett off from the lab that he wouldn't be able to make more. Eventually, his nanites would break down... The only other member of the Brotherhood that could make nanites of this caliber was Einon Silver, and he was currently in Europe.

Clearly, Emmett had found a way to make more nanites of his own.

That complicated things significantly.

"What else did you find?"

"No other evidence of intrusion was found."

"Nothing?" Ava looked over the drone again. "If he hijacked transmission systems, he should've needed relays to boost the signal. Were there wireless relays in the drone's flight path?"

"No evidence of wireless relays was found. It is probable that they also self-destructed. Nanite byproducts would be scattered in the wind and too dispersed to find."

Ava let go of the table and focused on her breathing. Just because physical evidence was lacking doesn't mean that there wasn't anything to go off of.

"Show me what Emmett was after."

Files scrolled across the wall monitors, and Ava scrutinized the information. The information accessed told a story, but she was even more interested in what wasn't accessed.

Among the data were lists of lab systems that were currently online, as well as their timeline for bringing more systems online. However, Emmett hadn't copied information about any specific systems.

Next came the names of other Brotherhood members that Ava and Midas had dealt with, though no other information had been accessed. There was nothing about their powers, location, or about their allegiances. Not all members were sympathetic to Midas's plans—some might even be swayed to Venture's side eventually, but Emmett didn't seem to care about that.