((This story centers around Mlle. Ampere, my Technology Blaster on Virtue. Sadly, no screencaps of her yet...and, of course, I borrowed the laboratories' name from the incomparable Mr. Whedon and his
Firefly. Credit where credit's due, after all.
))
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The apartment she had been granted by Paragon City, as one of its registered heroes, was tiny; it felt like one could brush one's teeth, wash dishes, watch television, and go to bed, all without taking more than three steps, especially with the specially-equipped 'bath' provided by Blue Sun Technologies. But it was hers, it was a home when her home had heretofore been a series of laboratories, after the deaths of her parents. And she was still a low-clearance hero-- she had not the experience of other heroes, and as such the city, in its own peculiar way, sought to protect her as she wished to protect it.
Funny how things like that tended to work out.
Marie-Ange slumped forward on the edge of her twin bed, elbows resting on her knees, face in gloved hands. This had never meant to be her life. She was to follow in her parents' footsteps; she was to create new and better things for heroes, astonishing Paragon City (and the rest of the world, at that) with new innovations in the field of cybernetics. Her parents had been on the verge of a breakthrough, an implant that would allow the heroes of a more technological origin a nearly endless power supply. It would be almost a godsend, really. Especially as it became more available to the starter heroes, those most at risk.
But the information had fallen into the wrong hands; Drs. Gerard and Manon D'Anseille, with their teenage daughter, had been ambushed. No one knew who had sent the cannon knights, but Marie-Ange knew it had not been a random act of violence, nor that they had strayed too close to territory known to be haunted by clockwork. It was a deliberate act, and one that had ended the lives of the brilliant technologists, coming close to ending that of their daughter as well. She knew she was supposed to have been killed, and it was likely that she was, perhaps, technically dead for at least a few moments. Enough of a window for the clockwork to analyze the bodies, deem them deceased, then move on.
Marie-Ange had had no other living relatives; her parents had named their lab partner, Lawrence Grey, her godfather. Of course, she had spent a month after the attack in a coma, kept in medical facilities at Blue Sun, her parents' former employer, rather than the Steel Canyon hospital close to the site of the attack. She did not know how Blue Sun was able to bring that about, but it was perhaps a better existence than any hospital might have provided.
When she awoke, she found that there had been changes made to her body; where there had been a flesh-and-blood arm was a robotic construct of metallic blue, ending with a forearm that looked and acted as realistic as any genuine limb, and one of her eyes had a patch over it. The confused teenager reacted before thinking, in a manner one could only term 'freaking out'-- within moments tens of thousands of dollars worth of lab equipment had been destroyed by electrical overload. It was only through use of a special EMP-gun designed for such instances (she was not, after all, the first individual to display electrical powers) that she was subdued.
When she woke again, it had been somewhat better; the familiar face of Dr. Grey hovered over her, concerned. But Marie-Ange was still confused, and still terrified. Dr. Grey, in quiet, soothing tones, did his best to explain that her parents were gone, and the circumstances of their death; for all that she was in a state of shock (pun not intended, of course), Marie-Ange was known to be a sensible and intelligent young woman, once the initial reaction wore off. He went on to explain that it was a miracle she had survived, and it was only through her parents' own genius that she could live a somewhat normal life again...if she chose.
He spoke of her new abilities, and of the manner of life she would have to adopt for her very survival. She was not obligated to put her new powers to use as a hero; many people with extraordinary abilities sought to simply live normal lives. But her life would never
be normal as theirs. If she ever wished to be disconnected from the life support system at Blue Sun's labs, she would have to don a specially-made bodysuit that had been, much to her surprise, her mother's. The intricate circuitry and nanomesh that comprised the bodysuit would be hooked to special electrodes implanted in her body, that would allow for most normal body functioning. She no longer needed to eat or drink; she barely needed sleep. It was perhaps an ideal for a potential hero, to be free of such distractions.
Marie-Ange had never considered herself hero material. She had never cared to go out like people who put their lives on the line for the common man, though she had nothing but respect for such types. She'd thought that Statesman was indeed rather 'dreamy', and that someone like Sister Psyche was someone to look up to whether you were heroic or not. But she saw her future in a laboratory setting like Blue Sun's...not out patrolling the streets.
At the very beginning, her only motivation
to take up a 'life of spandex', as some acquaintances had called it, was to hunt down clockwork wherever she could find them. Many people thought they were only robots, mindless drones, but she knew there was a form of artificial intelligence lurking within. She wanted them to
know she was ending their pathetic mechanical existence. She wanted to end their threat for
good, to the point of being more than willing to sacrifice herself for that cause.
Gradually, though, the life of the hero-- though stressful and less than rewarding most of the time-- was something that grew on her. Marie-Ange found that she liked to assist people; she liked knocking out those thugs who attacked innocent people, so that they could be locked away. She even derived a certain enjoyment from provoking a group into pursuing her, only to lead them within range of the police drones...just to watch their suddenly terrified faces as they were hit with the teleportation beams.
Sadistic, some might say. But as far as Marie-Ange was concerned, it was no less than what they deserved, for choosing such a life. Was it so wrong to derive some enjoyment from seeing them
get that which was deserved?
She stood, pushing long blue hair back over her shoulders, and raised her hand to the eyepiece that rested over her cybernetic eye. A small tap and it shifted into analysis mode; it would assess all beings around her, living or otherwise, and feed data onto the viewscreen, the neural processors in turn providing immediate information for her brain that coincided with the tiny screen's display. The information would provide basic physical qualities, as well as analyze all for any powers that the individual might possess.
It was time to go out again and make the streets of Paragon City at least a bit safer as Mademoiselle Ampere. The title was perhaps unnecessary, but Marie-Ange wanted to force adversaries into a certain mindset of respect before she put them down. They would learn, whether they wanted to or not-- and those who resisted would be given more in-depth lessons.
Marie-Ange may not get physically tired so easily, but it said nothing about mentally or emotionally. One of the few points of joy was knowing that others truly
deserved to suffer, and that Mlle. Ampere could bring that about.
