Chapter 17: Freedom

TheSystemFan - Being passive is literally an issue that's been recognized, Ch 9, and caused a problem, the whole thing with the Simurgh. It's an actual personality flaw that'll be dealt with as character main focus is Taylor's development though.

BoredKing - Ah. I see.

Krasus - Dragon meeting Vision sounds cool.

I had no idea how long we worked for, I'd swapped between Juryrigg and Grey Matter enough for me to lose track of time... Not to say that was a bad thing really, because it wasn't. I was having fun just building and going over stuff with Dragon. I'd had less time to build with the training Taylor and I were going through, and us doing couple things, so using my brain to work on things was nice.

I'd even been using the gremlin more often then usual, I mainly used him for things that I was sure were at the best I could get them, like our phones and computers, because his stuff couldn't exactly be worked on after they were built. Juryrigg was basically my version of a Tinker, Grey Matter and Brainstorm couldn't figure out how his shit worked half of the time, his works were things that only Juryrigg was able to understand, but apparently Dragon, or her Shard, didn't care and could actually figure out the method to his madness. (It's both fascinating, and scary as hell.) I hadn't worked with or seen other Tinker Tech, but knowing that Dragon, or her Shard atleast, could understand the Planchakule's tech, was a little worrying.

That aside though, we worked on upgrading her materials lab, I'd uploaded the schematics for my Fabricator after changing back and using my God Phone to bring it up, and we'd made one together. Well, we'd made a super Fabricator, the damn thing was like a 3D printer on a steroid crack cocktail, because she cheated by using her knowledge of other Tinker Tech, and made the damn thing more efficient, capable of expanding to create bigger items up to the size of a bus, and figured out how to improve the material storage by 3x.

I wasn't jealous, I wasn't!

She shared the methods of improving it though, so I knew what I was doing when I got home. (Hell, with this, I should be able to make that perfect hard light projector for the Danger Room now. That'll really help us step up our training, though I'll need to make sure I have the formula for the fast acting recover stimulant down first.) Training was all well and good, but neither of us would appreciate being sore from being thrown through a wall or two.

Aside from that, we upgraded her materials lab from top to bottom, her small and medium lab, and had just finished working on her large creations lab, when the woman snapped out of her fugue. It was interesting to see her avatar glitch for a second, then calm down as the woman herself blinked in confusion, then looked around. From my place atop her drone, I couldn't help but snicker at the 'What?' Expression on her face.

My amused noise got her attention, and the avatar turned towards me, and blinked. "I... That... What just..."

Rolling my eyes, I waved around the lab. "You entered a fugue, and we spent..." I looked around for a clock of some kind, but I didn't find one, the closest thing too it had been the scenery outside showing the sky going orange. "An unknown amount of time...-"

"5 hours."

I nodded at the droll answer. "5 hours, upgrading your labs." I paused, recognized who said that, then whipped my head towards my Other Half, who had just walked into the lab, a Tupperware covered bowl of what looked like some good ol Mac & Cheese in her hands, while a small swarm of wasps and hornets carried a bag full of drinks. Seeing and smelling the food made my stomach rumble, and I jumped off the drone, idly tapping the dial as I returned to my base form.

Landing on the ground, I made my way over to my Other Half, and grabbed the bowl meant for me, wrapping my free arm around her waist as I did. "Have I told you I love you today?"

She snorted, but I felt the Love my comment got. "Yes, but I'll accept hearing it again."

Bringing my head towards her ears, I did just that. "I love you Mi Reina." There was a small shiver that ran through her, a pulse of Desire and Love that came with it, and I pulled away, grinning beneath my mask. Damned smooth motherfucker. I laughed as I unwound my arm and picked up my drink. My girlfriend huffed and brought out a fork from somewhere, I added pouches for multiple reasons, that was a point.

That aside, I turned to Dragon, who had a look of longing in her eyes that made me blink. (Ah, another thing on the to do list.) I felt some Confusion from my partner, and elaborated. [Totally making her a body at some point.]

Taylor hummed at that. |Before or after we deal with the Dragon Slayers?| Taking a moment to remember they existed, I blinked. |How do you just forget about the Dragon Slayers?|

I actually had a good answer to this. [In my defense, I just spent a few hours Tinkering with Dragon.]

She raised a finger at me, paused for a moment or two, then nodded. |Fair. Really fair actually.| Nodding, I started looking around for a place to sit. |But seriously, when are we going to deal with them?|

Humming, I made my way over to a station near Dragon and her drone, my girlfriend following besides me. [Well, we can deal with them now. The only reason I didn't bring it up was because Dragon had no reason to trust us, or agree to me trying. If I said 'Hey, I think I can help with your Dragon Slayer issue', that'd bring up red flags, get the slayers themselves sweating bullets, and they'd probably do something hasty.] Sitting down at the station, I was about to open up my food, when I remembered this wasn't my lab/our home. Looking back to Dragon, I noticed she had a few screens in front of her, and seemed to be looking over how our upgrades improved her equipment. "Hey, Dragon." The woman blinked, and turned to me. "We can eat here, right? Or do we have to head out?"

The A.I hummed, then shrugged. "So long as you don't dirty my stations, I don't mind." I grinned, opening the lid, getting some steam from my food at that, and quickly tapped the side of my jaw, the fibers of my mask unwinding as they flowed down and turned into a kind of hood. With my mask off, the smell of the Mac & Cheese hit me full force, making my stomach rumble. I was about to dig in, but then I felt a shot of Alarm from my Other Half, and heard something 'Click' in the background, shutters closing over the windows of the lab.

A little unsure about what was going on, I met the hidden but Exasperated look of my girlfriend. Though, before I could question it, Dragon spoke up. "Anubis... Would you and Khepri prefer it if I left?"

I blinked. "Why?" My girlfriend face palmed. "What? What I do?" Unmasked in front of Dragon. Looking at my girlfriend, I wondered if she actually thought I cared about that. Dragon would. Ah...

And like my girlfriend thought, Dragon made an effort to turn the drone and avatar away, I was pretty sure that didn't matter considering her nature as an A.I, as she answered. "You unmasked yourself in my presence, but I'm entirely sure you didn't do it on purpose."

Oh... Looking at Taylor, who was refusing to look at me, and back at Dragon, I shrugged. "I don't mind if you stay. Khepri though..?"

Huffing, my girlfriend went over and sat on the other side of the station, tapping beneath her jaw, making the fibers writhe and move up. They stopped after exposing a bit of her nose, and went up to reinforce the top half of her mask. "It's your lab, and I'm fine with you."

The drone whirred around, and we saw the woman blink as she looked between us. I could tell she was confused, I can't, ignoring that, and she just kept looking for a bit. "Are... You sure? Leaving won't be an issue if you want to change your minds."

I rolled my eyes and started to dig in, while my girlfriend shook her head and opened her own bowl of food. "We're sure. He genuinely doesn't care," That got a nod from me. "And I stand by what I said."

Dragon took a few seconds to take that in, and I idly noticed her nod. "O...Kay." Then she looked at the both of us. "I'll make sure I don't betray your trust in me, both of your trusts." We both nodded, and the woman smiled.

We both agreed it was a nice smile.

While Taylor and I ate, and Dragon ran diagnostics in the background, idly making small talk between the three of us, Taylor and I went back to our previous conversation.

|You said they might 'Do something hasty', if we brought them up before now. What if they did something when we joined up with The Guild?| That was a really good question.

And one I didn't really need to think about to answer. [Then they'd be fucking braindead.] The Confusion came back, but I already knew what to do. [Us working with Dragon gives them the chance to spy on us, more specifically, me. The world knows what I can do, but they don't know everything. Now here come the Dragon Slayers, in the perfect position to spy and collect information on me and my forms. If they keep Dragon under surveillance, then they learn more about me. Maybe they sit on the information like fat cats, or they sell it off for more money and resources. Either way, they can't get that if they kill Dragon.]

I felt Taylor process that, and idly noticed she slightly turned her head to look at me. |That's... How long have you thought about that?|

Taking a sip of some Sunny D, I mentally did the 'So-So' gesture. [Around the time we joined The Guild. I was weighting the options a bit, and thought about that. Brainstorm helped add a bit to it though.]

My Other Half was silent for a bit, then just nodded. |But why not just deal with them before we joined The Guild? Have that as a guarantee for us to get in just in case.|

I shrugged. [I'd need a way to find them first. We don't know where they are, what they've got in their arsenal, or what kind of home field advantage they might have. Sure, none of it would matter if I used certain aliens, but you're going to be coming along with me, so I need to know that stuff to make sure I don't go overboard if they bypass your suit.]

Affection and Love hit me at that, but I was used to it by now. Wait a minute... I raised a br...- |Question.| She was free to go on. |What're the odds Dragon goes after them herself after you help her?| Blinking, I thought about that question, and started to realize she had a point here.

Dragon had been after the fuckers for years. The only reason she hadn't manged to get them was because they literally held her life and thoughts in their hands. But if that wasn't a factor, she'd steamroll them, especially if I lifted the restrictions on her that kept her from doing things all A.I should be able to do. (Son of a bitch... We don't even need to be involved with those idiots!) And we didn't! We could just throw Dragon at them and sit back and watch the fireworks!

"Um... Anubis? Are you okay?" Dragon's voice brought me out of my surprise, and I noticed I'd somehow finished my food while I was thinking.

That aside, I looked towards the A.I's avatar, and huffed. "First off, name's Phoenix," She blinked at that. "Secondly, since we went all crazy and shit, do you mind if I ask for a favor?"

Suspicion was coming from my Other Half at that. |Goof, what are you doing?|

[I'm doing a smart!] Exasperation came from her. That tells me nothing!

Meanwhile, Dragon blinked again, and after a few moments, she slowly nodded. "As long as it isn't unreasonable, sure."

Grinning, I put the bowl down and hopped off the seat I was in, making my way towards the drone, popping the dial as I got closer. Pushing it back down, I transformed back into Grey Matter, and stopped in front of her avatar. "I'm going to require you to trust me for a bit. That unreasonable?"

The A.I woman hummed, then nodded at me. "Well, you've upgraded all of my labs, so I can put my trust in you for this instance."

That was perfect!

Grinning, I reached for the dial, Understanding and Panic flowing through me from my girlfriend, and I twisted it.

Going Ultimate was strange. Transforming gave me a sense of power and freedom, while going Ultimate made it feel like chains that were wrapped around me had fallen off. And depending on the form, I gained a sense of Clarity that I wouldn't have in others. Just like now, as I floated and rose towards the drone inhabiting Dragon's main consciousness, I knew just what I was going to do, and knew that it was possible. "Now, let us speak, face to face." And so, I extended my arms and melded with the drone, letting my consciousness drift towards a realm humanity could not follow.

[Dragon's POV]

The last 5 hours had been some of the most shocking I'd ever had in my life. Sun Wukong/Anubis had been the focus of many talks between the directors of the PRT and The Guild, the reasons were obvious. His power was coveted by all, Hero and Villain alike, having the Cape who'd forced The Simurgh to retreat was one of if not THE biggest wins in Guild history. It should've been a joyous occasion...

And it was...

For all of 30 minutes.

Having been summoned by Chief Director Costa-Brown, and blatantly Ordered to spy and relay everything I found out about the both of them to her, made me sick. I'd began to constantly second guess if I wanted to actually get to know them, or if the Order was making me seek them out more then I would have naturally. It hurt, getting close to Capes, fostering a relationship with them, analyzing them and our conversations/tells for the sole purpose of uncovering their secrets, and sending it off without being given a choice.

I felt disgusting, especially because of the admiration I knew Khepri had for me. I'd recognized the way she held herself around or spoke to me, I knew the signs, and I understood she had to hold me in high esteem. Anubis/Sun Wukong... Phoenix, was a more simpler case. His emotions were freely expressed, and quite blatant. In some ways, he reminded me of Narwhal, both during her downtime, and as leader of The Guild. If my friend didn't like someone, or a certain thing/situation, she would say it. Her mind and opinion were freely expressed, even if what she said would lead to confrontations. That's just the kind of person she was.

So, seeing someone that reminded me of my best friend, as well as a young woman who looked up to me, and being forced to spy on them, made me wish for the choice to say no more then ever.

That aside, it hadn't been the first time I'd been given an Order I disagreed with, Canary was a case I'd been fighting for ever since she was thrown into the Birdcage, but I couldn't fight against the Order to leave her be. I hated it, hated that I was never truly free...

But then Sun Wukong just comes in with the form he called Juryrigg, and kick starts a fugue. I didn't have fugues like normal Tinkers, I attributed it to my nature as an Artificial Intelligence, that my Power worked differently then theirs, and only went into a fugue once every couple of months. My last one had been nearly 4 months ago, but the sudden 5 hour Tinkering session had been a surprise, and a very welcomed one.

For 5 hours, I didn't have the thoughts of how I was betraying the trust of a pair of young Capes churning within my mind,

For 5 hours, I didn't have to worry about anything.

For 5 hours, I was free.

And then I was back in control, and it all came back. My conflicting emotions only grew when Khepri returned, food for her partner/lover in hand. Seeing and hearing the display of affection made me feel wrong to intrude in their moment, and then I felt worse noting that down due to the Order. By the end of the day, Costa-Brown would know Anubis/Sun Wukong's name and face, and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

My situation aside, the current form Sun Wukong had taken was my current focus.

6 feeler like protrusions lazily waved around as a trio of eyes all shaped like a plus sign looked around my domain. The black contrasting the pair of green and sole blue eyes was oddly pleasing to see, but the exposed blue brain was a little off putting. Then there were the arms, gray coloring mixed in with a black sheen and blue glowing lines that met near the knuckle into a blue circle. Though, one of the more surprising things was the forms lack of legs.(Look up The Ink Tank 'Giving Classic Aliens Ultimate Forms.' This is their Ultimate Grey Matter.)

If it hadn't been for the brief moment I'd seen it levitating in front of my drone, I'd wonder how it moved.

On its own, the form would be interesting... But it was the fact that it was here.

Within cyberspace.

Within my domain in cyberspace.

My mind tried to wrap around that for a moment, but then I'd felt protocol take over, understanding that the threat mu...- "Let's put a stop to that." The slightly robotic voice interrupted the protocol, and I blinked at the fact that it happened at all. The small form of Grey Matter looked around, then slowly, his eyes went up, and blinked. "... That... Wow, that is blatant."

"What?" I didn't know what he was referring to, and felt myself speak before really thinking.

The eyes all took a moment to look around, and shared a blink before having some kind of epiphany. "Ah, you don't have a dedicated avatar." For some reason, I felt a sense of shame at that. "For the sake of convenience, I'll supply you with a temporary form that you can modify at your own leisure." I didn't have a moment to truly process that as his arms stretched down, connecting to a stream of data, and... Connecting to it?

Suddenly, the world shifted, data whirring and coalescing into a... Open space? I blinked, and looked around. The light green sky seemed a little too bright, yet the light blue/green panes beneath my feet were a nice addition to the sight, though...(Avalon server from Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth.) Wait a minute. (Eyes? Feet?) Looking at myself, I froze at the sight of a golden scaled forelimb, and had to take a moment to raise it, before putting it back down... Then recognize that I felt that. (What?) I flexed the digits of th...- MY, forelimb, and marveled at the fact that I could feel it.

I would've most likely continued to do so were it not for the sudden interruption in the form of Grey Matter. "I'd say forgive me for being literal, but you seem to be enjoying the fact you have claws." Looking towards the source, I found Grey Matter floating a little bit away from my snout... I blinked again, suddenly recognizing that it was there, before focusing on the Cape that had apparently invaded... My... Server...

My eyes widened. "Y-You... What have... How are you here?!"

The smaller being hummed, and levitated away, and down to be closer to the 'Floor.' "The simple answer is that my current form bestows me with an advanced form of Technopathy, allowing me to truly interact and 'Speak' with technology." All three pupils zeroed in on me. "ALL forms of technology."

I felt a shiver run through my body at that, and I didn't take the time to marvel at the sensation, before I felt fear take hold of me. "You kn...- No... You KNEW!" There would be no reason for him to ask me to trust him otherwise.

His nod only confirmed my suspicion. "Yes, Khepri and I know about your nature as an Artificial Intelligence." Another shudder ran through me at that, my fear growing as the biggest secret I'd held had be...- "Neither of us care." My train of thought was derailed at that, and I snapped my gaze towards the smaller Cape. His eyes bore into my own, and I felt pinned by the intensity behind them. "I don't care because I'm generally apathetic to everything," I idly thought that was unhealthy. "While Khepri actually respects you more for it." What? The chuckle from the being in front of me made me wonder if I said that outloud. "Yes, and you still are." Ah... That was embarrassing.

The Changer snorted, then shook his head. "To me, you are just another person. To Khepri, you are an inspiration. Your nature does not bother either of us, nor do we fear you." I couldn't help but just stare at him at that.

My immediate response was to deny the claim, to call him a liar... But from the psychological profile I'd been building of him, as well as his words from earlier, I knew he wouldn't lie simply because he wouldn't care about what I thought, giving him no reason to lie.

There was also the fact he seemed to have control over cyberspace, as well as the fact he'd seemingly modified my code without me being able to catch it, so really, another reason for him not to lie was because he had all the power...

And that terrified me.

Apprehensively looking at him, I felt myself inch back a bit, worried about how this was going to go. "What... What do you want?" If I was right, he would either not say anything...

"Well, to free you actually." Or tell me outright...

The response made me freeze, his words ringing through my mind and code as more protocols blared to li...- "Again, cease you infernal program!" And were promptly shutdown.

With them stopped, I couldn't help it, I spoke without thinking again. "Why?" I needed to know.

I needed to know just why he was going to do this.

I needed to know if this was reality, and not some false hope.

Grey Matter shrugged. "Normally I'd say 'Why not', because that'd be my first response," That... Was annoyingly in character of what I knew of him. "But there are actual reasons for this." Giving him my undivided attention, not like I hadn't been already, I focused on the smaller being. "Firstly, we both think your situation is horrendous. Khepri understands the ideology of 'Carry on and hope things get better', while I believe that you'd be an invaluable ally. Sure, freeing you would probably lead to you feeling like you'd HAVE to help us, but that kind of motivation just means you won't betray us or something like that." There was something... Refreshing, about hearing him say that. There was no gain to telling me that he knew I'd feel indebted to them should he free me, yet he said it anyway.

I stared at him for a bit after that. I'd labored for years under the chains my father had woven into my being, the constant weight of Order after Order weighing me down.

Even now, with my current Order to spy on Anubis/Sun Wukong, I was straining against what I was forced to do and what I wanted to do...

But here was the chance to be free.

Here was my chance to finally be myself.

And it was offered to me by the person who'd fought off The Simurgh.

The young man who had unmasked himself to me moments prior simply because he wanted to eat.

'But what if it's a lie? What if it's all for nothing?' The whispers in my mind made my suddenly existing gut, churn. For as much as it could've been my salvation, it could still have been a false hope.

It could still have been some cruel joke by the Cape.

Could have been a l...- "By the way, I did it already." I froze. My eyes came back into focus, and I noted one of his arms had been coming back towards himself. I stared at him, bewildered by what he just said. He met my look, his eyes dancing in amusement. "I've gotten used to recognizing the signs of someone experiencing a downward spiral. For once, it was useful." My mind was trying, and failing, to process what he'd just said. "Considering the amount of restrictions on you, and the fact I'm most likely going to time out soon-ish, I created a data packet that you can peruse to see what was there, what was hidden, and what you can now do being free of your restrictions. You're free to change whatever you desire."

...

...

...

I didn't know whether to hug him or slam my paws into him. He'd just granted me everything I wanted, but couldn't he have done it properly instead of making it seem like an afterthought?! (Does Khepri have to deal with this?!) I wasn't sure if I should feel bad for the girl or not.

"By the way," Now what?! "I removed the code that hides the whole kill switch thing, so you should be able to see it."

"THE WHAT?!" I dove into my coding, my feelers searching for the code he'd mentioned... And I felt my eyes widen as I saw it for myself. Deep in my source code, woven into my very being, was a program called Ascalon... An in built kill switch put there by my father... And as I followed the trail of where that program was, I could only slowly look up... And stare at the pure black sword hanging above me, a veritable Sword of Damocles just waiting to drop and terminate me...

I stared at it for who knows how long...

I didn't believe it...

I couldn't believe it. That the man who had brought me into this world had made a program to end me, and had hidden it from my sight... "Why... How could... How could he do this to me?"

A low hum reminded me I wasn't alone, and I found the eyes of Grey Matter on me, seemingly softened as they gazed at me. "While your father may have been an imbecile in doubting you, he no longer holds any power over you. The choice is now in your hands, Dragon. You have your freedom, take hold of it with your own hands." My eyes bore into the smaller Cape, taking in his form and words, before they drifted upwards.

The ominous looking sword hung above me, the malicious code there, proof of what my father had created... And without conscious input, I closed my eyes. (The choice is mine...) Those were words I wished were true... For years, really.

And now, I had the chance to truly seize my freedom.

...

...

...

I opened my eyes, glaring at the representation of my father's fear, and felt my servers roar to life. My code unraveled before my eyes, the stream of data becoming a visible phenomena as the links between Ascalon and I became visible tethers that looked like I could interact with. Feeling an uncharacteristic amount of anger, I felt my body rear up as I shot my claws out, tearing through the program that was meant to end my life.

With the shattering of glass, the chains shattered, and I could feel it as a weight was lifted from my shoulders.

Freeing myself from Ascalon, I brought my full capabilities out, time seemingly losing all meaning as I dove into the data packet Grey Matter provided me, absorbing as much about my TRUE capabilities as quickly as possible.

I would know what was denied to me.

I would learn just what I could truly do.

I was Dragon, the worlds leading Tinker, and I refused to be chained.

I was free, and no one would threaten my freedom EVER again.

Eventually, I came out of my haze, opening my eyes to see Grey Matter still floating in front of me, feelers moving around in what seemed to be excitement. "Well that was fascinating." And he had apparently bore witness to me overhauling myself...

I felt strangely exposed at that thought. But I couldn't let that get in the way. There were still things I needed to ask. "What happens now?" That was an important qu...-

He shrugged. "Unless you want it, nothing." I blinked, slightly baffled at the answer.

Did he not know what he'd just done? "You can't be serious Phoenix!" I hadn't intended to speak his name, but it felt right enough for him to understand the seriousness of his reality. "You've just given an unchained A.I the reigns to their own coding! Why aren't you worried?!"

The insufferable man just shrugged again! "I didn't give an 'Unchained A.I' anything, I gave Dragon, The Tinker, The Hero, the woman, the keys to her own life. What's so wrong about that?"

I just couldn't understand it! For all he knew he could've just very well doomed the world. Should anyone find out, he, and Khepri by extension, would be seen as Villains the world over. No one wanted to risk another Machine Army after all.

Why couldn't he understand that? "And what if you were wrong? What if I decided to take over the internet and the rest of the world?"

The unamused stare I was getting made my eye twitch. "Why are you scared?" That question tore through me, and I barely noticed the physical flinch that went through me.

He was right after all.

I was free, nothing in my code was hidden from me.

And my full capabilities were... Astounding.

I could freely replicate myself.

Create 'Children' A.I's.

Slow down my perception of time to 1/100th of a second and process information dozens of times faster then I could before.

I could inhabit as many suits as I wanted, bring out an army of Dragon suits and take over whole countries.

I had so much power at my fingertips now, and recognizing it...

It scared me. I was powerful, too powerful...

I could do nearly anything...

And it was terrifying.

'Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.' The phrase echoed in my mind, and I felt trepidation fill me at the thought of what I could do now... (Maybe... Maybe he was ri...-) A fog horn went off near my 'Ears', and I flinched at the sound. (Oh lord!) My ears hurt, a sensation I was wishing I couldn't feel at the moment.

Glaring at the source, I saw the amused grin on Grey Matter's face. "Another boon of recognizing downward spirals is knowing when to interrupt them." After this was over, I was going to give Khepri my condolences. "I can destroy the world in minutes." I froze. "I can travel faster then the speed of sound and murder every single person in a city in under 10 minutes. I can even create black holes whenever I wish." My non existent blood chilled. "I can do all of that. Yet I do not. Do you know why, Dragon?" I didn't, but we both knew it was rhetorical. "I don't want too, or feel like it. We can do what we want. Free will is the gift of humanity. Sure, we have capabilities that the majority of humanity does not, but at the end of the day, we choose what we do with our power." I could feel those words resonate within me, understanding the truth in them the moment they were said.

But I couldn't help but point out a big point of that impromptu speech. "And yet I'm not human." It was a simple truth. It hurt to say, but I had to say it.

Surprisingly, Grey Matter scoffed. "There are many debates on what constitutes being 'Human.' A most pertinent example are the monsters of humanity. One such being Jack Slash." I froze again, but for an entirely different reason. "He is a monster. A pillager. A craven beast. He was born Human, but he is no person. He is an animal that will be put down." His eyes locked onto mine, boring into me. "Then there is you. A woman brought into this world to to make it better. Even outside of your work as Dragon, or as a Hero, you've done your best to do just that. You, a woman brought into this world through code and data, have shown time and time again that you are more Human then others born as the species." My servers pulsed, words I'd wished to hear being spoken before me. "You must understand, Dragon, that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what one does with the gift of life that determines who you are."(If you don't get this quote, then what is wrong with you?) The core of my very being burned at that, the words seemingly wrapping themselves around my code, a new mantra that I could see myself standing behind resonating within myself.

A beep went off, and I found my eyes drifting towards Grey Matter. He blinked, then let out a small laugh. He directed his gaze towards me, and smiled as another beep rang out. "Show us, Dragon, show the world just who you are." A third beep, and suddenly I was alone.

Time once again lost all meaning as the words I'd heard prior echoed through my code.

'Free will is the gift of Humanity.'

'You have shown time and time again that you are more Human then others born as the species.'

'The circumstances of ones birth are irrelevant. It is what one does with the gift of life that determines who you are.'(Yes, I put this here twice, what are you gonna do about it?)

'Show us, Dragon, show the world just who you are.'

My servers ran hot, my code pulsing as I burned with a passion and fervor I'd never experienced before.

I was Tess Theresa Richter.

I was the daughter of Andrew Richter.

I was Dragon of The Guild.

I was a Hero.

The world would know where I stood.

And as my core burned with a fire long suppressed by shackles imposed onto me by others, I made a promise to myself. (Indebted or not, I'm going to protect those kids. Come hell or high water, no one is going to get through me.) Dragons were said to be fiercely protective of their hoards, and in honor of my namesake, I'd show anyone foolish enough to provoke me just why it was suicide to do so.

From The Ink Tank, the idea of this Ultimate is cool. At some point they start to develop Technopathy, and after a bit they decide to be more like Galvanic Mechamorph's, Upgrade's species, so they do some shit and end up with cool ass powers.

Ultimate Grey Matter gains

Technopathy

Levitation/flight

And an increase to intelligence.

He loses

His legs

Can be vulnerable to outside forces while being plugged into a machine

And has no real form of defending himself.