The Black Heroes

Chapter 3

Before anyone could question the wisdom of breaking the wrong wall, someone or something drops from the sky. It is a tall man with the head of a white wolf and very large silver eagle wings on his back. He is really cool looking, despite being drenched in the rain.

The winged wolfman looks us over and pauses only for a moment on Sophie and I, though I don't meet his gaze and instead focus on looking at his wings. I do however sign to him outside of the other's line of sight, {Act, wind leader, one danger.} Wind being Haru of course since I can't sign his name.

The wolfman makes no sign that he has seen me but says, "Good work Haru, we're heading out so follow me and stay quiet."

Everyone including myself gives an impressed look at Haru who beams with pride that such a cool guy praised him. Sophie seems to have lost interest in me now that I have been confirmed as a nobody. The fact that this guy mentioned Haru shows he got my message which was by far the hardest part. Hurray for plan A. I'm surprised they know american sign language. I couldn't exactly write a note since I've been monitored every second of the last two hours so that was a lot easier than I hoped it would be.

As we head out I notice the new arrival's clawed hands subtly tap his forehead as if he was scratching his head which looks like the sign for 'know.'

Without acknowledging I saw his sign he rushes us across the damp yard to the south side. His head swivels back and forth relentlessly looking for danger he expects to quickly encounter. Not that he needs to. Installing the virus was not the first time I'd been inside the control room and checked the security long before then. I had a better handle on things than they did and made the appropriate changes to the virus they gave me to make it more effective. No sirens, no alerts, no guard bots on the way, and with the rain drowning out the background noise things should go off without a hitch. As an added bonus, I made it so that the virus didn't enable quirks, it switched the status of all quirks for those connected to the orphanage. So those with disabled quirks had them enabled and vice versa. The adults who were allowed to retain their quirks for security are probably quite confused.

Not that this would have worked normally. They allowed the virus to go off since they knew this was coming, they just didn't know I made changes to the virus before installing it.

A group of four more Heroes met us in front of a large, half bus sized hovercraft. A woman shouts, "Get in now!"

Haru leads the group and I'm in the back, making sure everyone gets on safely. The wolfman is saying a few things to one of the men behind our backs and though I can 'see' it, my skill at reading lips doesn't translate well to wolf lips.

Once the last of us are in, the rest jump in the back or front of the bus and it lifts into the air. The woman scratches her chin in a way that looks like the sign for lying and says, "We're heading straight for the home base, I understand you have questions but I ask you remain silent until we are out of danger."

I can tell from the space that the bus completely blocks all signals in and out so any tracking we have on us won't work.

The door closes and the woman sits behind Sophie and I with the former taking the window seat and is currently distracted by the passing sights outside the window.

She signs behind me, {You can see this right? Move your foot twice for yes.}

I move my foot in and out of the aisle twice. The info I sent to them did include my 'sonar' quirk and that I didn't need to look to see everything around me.

{Did you change the virus? Twice for yes, once for no.}

I move my foot twice.

{More on that later. You said danger, you mean her?}

I motion for yes.

{We're surprised you noticed. We expected a plant. Some of us think it's you, but I can see it being her. You're too obvious to be a plant at this point. Keep up the act and we might catch her off guard. And keep your quirk on. Got it?}

Two foot movements once more.

She stops signing at that point and a wave of relief floods over me. I guess I shouldn't be surprised they figured it out too. Maybe they even know who the spy in their group is and did the whole thing knowing there would be a plant but accepting the risk to save the rest of us. That makes me feel a bit warm. A Hero is someone who puts their safety on the line for others. Future or not, Heroes are still Heroes.

Still, the thought that they might have considered me the plant never crossed my mind. I guess I can see how they would have reached such a conclusion though and I already feel a bit naive for thinking I was the only one who could have figured out there was a plant. I already have a list of things I need to learn in mind once I have unrestricted access to the internet which should hopefully cure me of naivety.

Maybe I need therapy. I mean there's not supposed to be anything wrong with a naive child right? I'm only seven years old! If you don't count the two decades of lectures spent in Full Dive Classrooms anyways. Those don't count right?

Due to the location of the orphanage it doesn't take long for the hover bus to leave the territory of the Cyber. I can tell we've left from the sound of weapons fire over the wall that lines the territory. That being said, the wall is meant to keep others out, not in, and with some clever flying the hover bus was able to get out without exploding.

The winged wolfman from earlier gets up and says, "Alright kids, we're mostly in the clear. I'm called SkyWolf, or just Wolf. The Black Heroes saved my life when I was a kid and I've dedicated my life to the same. That being said, we don't expect everyone to join. There are plenty of things to do with your life and from today onwards that choice belongs to you."

Most of the children look on in awe at the declaration but I look concerned which Sophie notices.

SkyWolf continues, "Before we arrive, are there any questions?"

Every hand goes up, even mine and Sophie's. It would be suspicious not to, right?

"One question a piece. You first." He points at Haru.

"What's your quirk?"

"I'll keep it a secret, but here's a clue. My bark is worse than my bite."

There were a few more questions with some vague answers before he got to Sophie. She asks, "Where are we going?"

He calmly answers, "Our base is on the northern edge of mutant territory, we'll arrive soon enough. Alright whitey, you're last."

Sophie gives me a concerned look which pretty much tells me what she wants me to ask. I ignore the jibe at the color of my hair and ask, "Isn't the mutant territory dangerous?"

Wolf gives a feral tooth filled grin and says, "Only to the stupid and the weak. I'm neither so it is perfectly safe."

I flinch back at the man's smile and hold Sophie's hand just a little bit tighter to show I'm a little scared of this guy.

One of the benefits of sitting next to Sophie is that I can focus my senses on her to confirm she has not been able to send or receive signals while on the bus. Not that she hasn't tried, she just hasn't succeeded.

My own senses use empty space, not radio signals or electromagnetic radiation, so I can sense what is outside the window with ease. For one thing, the windows are fake. I'm not sure how they are doing it, but the perfect, crystal clear image the window shows beyond it does not match what is actually outside. For one thing, we've traveled through some underground passages a few times but the scene outside the windows has never lost track of the clouded sky.

Sophie is looking outside and paying attention to every little thing. Is she recording this? Does she think that because no one is looking at her face, she doesn't have to blink?

The woman sitting behind me says, "We've almost arrived, please stay seated for the moment."

The view outside the window shows us arriving in front of a dilapidated building with a sliding door that is currently opening. It is a part of a shanty town-like area that seems to have a few dozen shacks and buildings and various people walking around. The view is hidden as we descend and enter the building with the sliding door.

We are actually still in an underground tunnel and seem to be parking in a room. The look of the room matches what the interior of the building it shows outside is so when we leave, the illusion won't be broken.

The doors open and we are allowed to get up and leave. The moment Sophie gets out of the bus she sends a burst transmission I struggle not to wince against. Stuff like that is like a flood light or a flash grenade going off in my face. I'd like to say I succeeded against flinching but I did wobble a bit and the world was blinded over. Thankfully Sophie didn't notice before I regained my footing. I need to work on stuff like that. It can be considered a weakness and if known it isn't difficult to exploit.

I can tell from how the signal bounced that wherever we are is even more secure than the bus so whatever signal she sent went nowhere.

There are a few shortcuts here, one of which seems to lead outside if I can get to it. The room seems to have several false walls with people hiding behind them. Even the door on the other end of the room is fake. The presence of shortcuts means this room is commonly used, though I can't tell what for. Shortcuts are ruts in space that form from continued use of the same path over and over so the shape of a shortcut can tell me what the room is frequently used for. Though only if I recognize it, which I don't.

[Display Disabled]

[AR Enabled.]

Oh? Sophie just hacked not only mine, but everyone's Augmented Reality system. She also disabled the display that tells people things are going on, though my Display can't be turned off thanks to a 'bug' in my OS.

Well, two can play at this game. Initiate Tash Drive.

[Trash Drive Initiated.]

The Trash Drive is a Hidden File I've uploaded into all the kid's Trash Bin. It's risky to do so because some, like Yukihira, empty their trash bin whenever they feel like it while others, like Haru, never empty it.

I checked through the back doors I'd given everyone except Sophie during the bus ride and everyone still had it which makes my life a lot easier.

[AR Program, Trojan Horse, downloading.]

I can feel through the change in space the data stream packet Sophie is uploading to everyone. From the file name, it isn't difficult to figure out the plan. The AR program can control not only sight but sound. It could make all the Black Heroes look like monsters and make us hear pre-scripted audio files while deafening us to actual voices. In other words, it could make us attack them.

Some of our quirks, especially Yukihira's, are quite lethal.

Thankfully, the Trash Drive will basically corrupt the sensory input any program tries to overwrite our senses with. It is based on the programs I use in conjunction with my quirk's senses and the fact that those programs don't work without my quirk.

The purpose of Trash Drive is to interfere with any programs that can be used to control us. The scariest thing about living in the Cyber is that someone with the right Technopath Quirk or hacking ability can control someone with a brain chip and they wouldn't even know. Trash Drive can't stop the control, but it can make it obvious and give others a chance to fight back.

At this point, I could simply shout and reveal her, but she'd probably kill me right away and I would prefer a less pointless death. I have zero combat skills and though I've kept myself in shape, I haven't practiced fighting even once.

It's not my fault. Push ups and curl ups in the closet are one thing, but I can't exactly ask anyone to practice sparring with me and I certainly can't download any combat related training programs.

I've already made my move and since the room is filled with combatants, I shouldn't be needed for now. I do move my foot let and right over and over again, the same motion I used to communicate on the bus. Both the woman and SkyWolf have noticed my foot which is good. I've made my counter move, you're next Sophie.

The woman says, "Stay together, we're heading inside."

[Trojan Horse Initiating]

My field of vision shows a pitch black figure descending from the roof. The children are all startled and it raises what appears to be a weapon. Ah, I see where this is going. Sophie moves away from her initial position and nothing is standing where she was before though there is a life like AR Sophie that doesn't appear to have moved.

The figure fires a bolt of light at Sophie's head and she drops, seemingly dead.

The images of the Black Heroes become dark shades and laugh in a deep voice, "One down. Time to feed."

I sign my hands, the letters {A.R.} and move away from the black figures.

The black figures start circling us. Haru attacks one of them with his quirk and I can sense the woman's lips through the AR illusion saying, 'the children have been hacked.'

Haru cries out, "You killed Sophie!" which has the Heroes look at the so-called dead girl. The woman points her fingers at Sophie and seems to fire her nails at her. I can tell from the trails left in space by the nails those things were moving faster than a bullet. Sophie angles her body to dodge but still gets hit since four were fired at once with a bit of spread. Sophie runs behind us children who begin to attack the black figures.

Or not.

Yukihira shouts, "Wait, the AR is up, we've been hacked!"

Thank you very much, I hoped you'd notice. Our own voices were not impeded by the noise filter since that would make it too obvious so everyone heard her declaration. The images they'd see would have obvious flaws and the images that should have been covered up would have bleed through thanks to the Trash Drive.

Satoma shouts, "Yuki's right, everyone hold your fire and regroup!"

With everyone gathering in a single location Sophie had less to hide behind and takes another two nails in the leg. The one who drove the bus and two others were standing off to the side. They had been dodging the attacks from the children and gaining distance ever since the nail shooting woman shouted that we had been hacked. Once we regrouped the others seemed content to leave us alone.

[Trojan Horse Disabled]

At the signal sent by Sophie, the black figures returned to their former appearance and the scene of SkyWolf and the other woman fighting Sophie appeared. Ah, not bad for a plan B.

Before Haru can say anything, I shout, "SkyWolf, stop attacking!" Thankfully he complies.

Sophie is gripping her wounds but they are not dripping blood. She looks at our group and says, "Baki, Haru, help me."

Haru shouts, "You bastards!" but I shout back, "Haru stand down!" with all the authority I can.

Oh, I just had a nasty idea.

I take a few steps to the side to stand in front of a shortcut and shout at the wounded Sophie, "You think I didn't notice when you replaced the real Sophie three months ago! I only pretended to be fooled! You haven't blinked for three months you fake! I don't know what you did to the real Sophie, but I hope you rot in hell!"

Oh, the look on everyone's faces. Especially Sophie's. That stunned look of absolute disbelief. She tries to say, "I am the real Sophie!"

I shout with all the emotion I can muster, "You're not even bleeding real blood! You're the one who hacked everyone to get us to fight the Black Heroes. You think I didn't notice! Those Cyber Bastards must've figured out what the Black Heroes were planning and replaced you to infiltrate their group! Luckily for us you're completely defective. You have no skill at faking human emotion you Cyber Trash Can!"

Several of the hidden figures behind some false walls are struggling not to laugh.

Now she is getting mad, she shouts back louder than a wounded person should be able to, "I am the real Sophie you asshole! I've never been replaced!"

Oh, I know. Hmm, now I'm feeling evil. I shout back, "Ok then, tell me something only the real Sophie would know, tell me how long my package is."

Several totally not suspicious laughing sounds erupt from the walls and though the Nail shooting woman is trying to look offended, she fails to suppress her smirk. SkyWolf is not trying at all and has a mad grin going from ear to ear.

The children are stunned and Sophie is getting angry. The fact that I've obviously never shown her my private parts means she can't answer my question. The fact that in this situation I'm asking her a question she can't answer has made her realize that I'm not on her side.

She shrieks through clenched teeth, "You bastard!"

I smirk back at her and say, "I've known you weren't human from the first moment we met. Goodbye robo girl."

Ah, maybe I went too far. Her legs scrunch together like a spring and her fingers seem to be forming a claw.

I take one step forward and am now behind SkyWolf. A massive thud echoes in the enclosed chambers as Sophie's arm pierces through the metal wall into the rock behind it with what looked like a very powerful stab through the location I had just been. I guess that was her Plan C.

Someone in a hidden panel near her comes out and with a very, very thin sword, slashes her head, arms, and legs off.

I say, "Red heads, am I right?"

SkyWolf turns to see I'm behind him and seems more than a little shocked I not only dodged her final attack, but did so instantly and moved behind him.

Haru moves out of the group and takes a look at the pieces of Sophie. The cross section of a few pieces are visible and not a drop of blood can be seen.

Wolf calls out, "Coast is clear, lets move out."

The remaining hidden Heroes come out of the walls and one removes the wall panel in front of the actual exit.

Yukihira walks up to me and asks, "Are you alright?"

I smile back and say, "Never better. Let's go."

On our way out, one of the Black Heroes, one who had a large hammer, asks me, "Was she really replaced?"

"No, she was an android from the start, I was just messing with her. And no, she's never seen my package."

Three who overhear me start laughing while two others start chuckling. Haru shouts, "What the hell, you lied?!"

I calmly answer him back, "Yeah, but did you see her face when I accused her of replacing a real Sophie? There was never a real Sophie by the way."

"What?! No way!"

I nod back and say, "Yup, so when you secretly admitted to her that you wanted to join the rebels, you were admitting that to a Cyber Informant. I had to talk you out of it in front of her before you got arrested. You're not the only one either."

He pales a bit when he remembered he did in fact tell her that. Thankfully her last act of trying to run me through convinced everyone she was an enemy even though I did provoke her.

The tunnel stretches for a bit until they reach another room which has several other hover buses.

SkyWolf shouts, "We expected trouble so this is a fake staging area, not the real base, split into groups because we'll be taking different routes. Whitey, you're coming with me."

We're loaded back up and head off once more. Once in the air, SkyWolf looks at me and says, "Start talking. Who the hell are you because this isn't something an amnesiatic orphan can set up."

"I'm not working with anyone else if that's what you're asking."

"You expect me to believe you can breach security and tell the difference between androids and humans without a problem?"

"Yup. My quirk isn't really Sonar, but something similar. It is also a passive Mutant type quirk so I've never lost it."

That throws him off. I certainly don't look like I hold a mutant type quirk.

"I see, that might explain a few things. But how does your quirk get you into secure areas?"

"The same way I dodged Sophie and got behind you."

That made him recall and ask, "How did you get behind me and dodge that attack?"

"I cheated and took a shortcut. Additional details won't help unless you have one or two degrees in Relativistic and Quantum Physics or Astrophysics."

"So, teleporting?"

"Kinda, but different rules."

"And you can do it even when your brain chip is disabling your quirk?"

"Yup. My quirk passively gives me a map to shortcuts that already exist. It can't be disabled."

When SkyWolf comprehends what that means, he can only say, "Damn."

I nod back. Damn indeed.

I ask, "So when can we get our brains fixed?"

"After the next stop. We got someone who will check you out to make sure you're not a threat and then you'll meet our local technomancer who can get the hidden controls out of your brain."

"That's good. Can I leave after that?"

"Technically. But you don't want to join up?"

"I have other things I need to do, no offense. You're right in thinking I'm not an amnesiac and before waking in a hospital where they chipped me, I had a life and I'm hoping I can find a way back to it."

"Not gonna stick around to show appreciation for getting you out?"

"I practically got myself out. In addition to getting you guys a map and uploading the virus, I alerted Haru to get him to gather everyone, I changed the virus to disable the adult's quirks and silence the alarms, I uploaded a virus into the kid's which broke the AR allowing them to figure out they were being tricked, and I goaded Sophie into using her last resort on me instead of someone else. I helped you and in exchange, you guys help fix my brain. After that we're even. If you want something else, make an offer."

"Fair enough."

Ha, I bet he didn't think I'd be able to out guilt trip his own guilt trip. I doubt any of them are ignorant to how well this went and how difficult it should have been. They were literally walking into a trap but didn't lose a single life.

That being said, I'm not leaving just yet. Now that I have access to a place with resources, I need a reason for them to give me access to them.

After an hour we arrive at another location where Wolf plucks a hair from my head and says, "Follow me whitey."

The building is still shielded which is good because until my brain chip is rendered safe, I don't want it receiving or transmitting any signals. Wolf says, "This one first Doc, he's a weird one and I want him checked out."

We enter a room which bears some resemblance to a doctor's office and a balding man with thick glasses takes the white hair Wolf took off my head. And he eats it.

After a few disturbing moments where he seems to be tasting my hair he says, "Fascinating, and confusing! Weird indeed. Baki Yuto. Seven years old? No? Yes? Hmm. Quirk, Hmm, Spacial Awareness? Perhaps? No, Hmm. What's this? Fully awakened? Oh, most impressive."

Wolf gives me another look and says, "This brat is fully awakened? So he is a mutant type then?"

"Yes, most definitely yes! His body can passively sense and interact with space and is immune to... time? No, not time, the unnatural passage of time. Perhaps, maybe. Hmm. weird indeed."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"I can't be certain. But as you know, awakening only occurs during a struggle of life and death. Two years ago, this child was assaulted by time itself. Had he not awakened, he would have died."

"So someone with a time related quirk attacked him?"

"I don't think so, but the other possibilities are even less likely, yet they seem to be.. No, that's, hmm. Perhaps."

"Well?"

"Mr. Yuto here is seven years old, but was not born seven years ago. No, he was born more than a century and a half ago."

At this point I intercede, "You can tell all that from my hair?"

The Doc takes a close look at me and answers, "I can, it's the nature of my quirk. Very useful for my line of profession."

I decide to go for broke and ask, "Do you think I can return home?"

"Hmm, do you know how you got here?"

"Kinda."

"Well, if the way here exists, the way back may exist as well."

Wolf shouts, "Wait, Time Travel? This kid can go back in time?"

The Doc says, "Perhaps. Thanks to his awakening, he'd likely survive the trip too. However nothing he does in the past would affect our present. At best he'd make a parallel time stream if this wasn't already a parallel time stream compared to where he came from. Timelines are not so easily altered or erased you see."

Wolf scratches his head and says, "Ok, I'll just pretend I didn't hear any of that."

The Doc nods and says, "Good idea. People ignorant of the limitations may force their will upon him and doom the world."

I ask, "How?"

He easily answers, "Well, let's say you went a further one hundred years into the future. A powerful, evil AI could download itself into your brain chip and take control of you and force you to return here to the present. Once here, the powerful and evil AI could upload itself to the internet from you and take over everything and we would be defenseless against the powerful AI from the future."

I decide then and there, "Ok, under no circumstances will I ever go into the future."

The Doc nods once more, "Good call. Should you return, you must also be careful what you bring with you. A similar situation could have you returning and bringing rise to the Cyber in your own time ahead of other powers. That would be quite bad as well."

"Alright, so I should have my brain chip completely removed then?"

"Hmm, actually I was thinking the opposite. As long as proper safety measures are made, you can bring with you all the knowledge you wish. However I recommend downloading a protection and service AI before you leave who has a list of everything you should not do to avoid the rise of the Cyber in your own time."

"My brain chip has no way to receive an AI."

"Then I recommend an upgrade before you go."

At this, Wolf gives me a feral grin. I already don't like where this is going.