Date: Saturday afternoon - August 17, 2024
Omega Woman made her way down to the bottommost level of the Shadow Citadel. Between bringing in Lady of Wrath the day before and earlier in the morning since, the clone switched from her amnesiac state back to her normal self. Approaching the cell containing Lady of Wrath from the outside, Omega Woman stared her clone in the eyes.
“I’m here to talk. Perhaps I can start with an easy question. What can you tell me about the Syndicate’s plans for the Neurorate?” Omega Woman asked.
“You’re asking me? Their plans are hardly worth my time,” Lady of Wrath scoffed.
“Really? You’ve only been around for, what, a few weeks and you think you’re better than the rest of them?” Omega Woman asked.
“You’re questioning me on that when I’m obviously more powerful than the rest of them? Shit, your power is around the same level as mine. You could very easily end most fights you get into once and for all. Yet you waste time holding back,” Lady of Wrath replied.
“I am not going to get into a pointless ethical debate with you. I know where you’re going with that line of questioning. I’ve been through that whole debate many times,” Omega Woman replied.
“You’ve never once thought about how easier your career could be without your enemies plaguing you? You’re one of the strongest beings on this planet and could easily rule it if you wanted to. Two months ago, you walked off a fucking nuclear explosion. For most, trying to stop you would be futile,” Lady of Wrath continued.
“You expect me to take lessons on how to use my powers from someone like you who killed those VALOR agents aboard the transport ship? Or the agents that died in the VALOR base where my team and I first found you? Both of those show me how much you’re really not worth listening to if you just kill with no remorse,” Omega Woman retorted.
“You cared about those insects? They were in my way, they got crushed beneath my boots,” Lady of Wrath said.
“Basic humanity clearly wasn’t on anyone’s agenda when you were grown. I’ll bet even Earthshatter and Technomancer realize just how callous you are. As it stands now though, you’re in no position to hurt or kill anyone else,” Omega Woman said before turning to the right and beginning to walk away. Behind her, Omega Woman could hear a slight chuckle from Lady of Wrath.
“You say that, but just how long do you really think I’m going to be caged in this shithole?” Lady of Wrath asked mockingly as Omega Woman got further out of sight.
Omega Woman made her way to the command center of the Shadow Citadel. Colonel Fox turned to his left to spot her approaching.
“She’s not cooperating,” Fox said, not bothering to phrase it as a question about Lady of Wrath.
“Not in the slightest,” Omega Woman replied.
“Luckily, it was easier for us to get some answers out of Shadow Stranger, Power Thief, and Bulldozer,” Fox affirmed.
“What did you find out?” Omega Woman asked.
“The Syndicate are desperate after the battle at Sabre Bastion. Dark Angel got some of their members killed along with dozens of their troops and cost them a lot of money in damages. The Neurorate is intended to be their way of trying to recoup their losses tenfold. Apparently Earthshatter’s looking at an asking price of $60 billion,” Colonel Fox explained. Omega Woman couldn’t help but let out a whistle.
“Has VALOR figured out who any potential buyers could be? I’ve gone up against Jason Chase for fifteen years. He does not have many rivals in the underworld who could just toss that much cash onto a table,” Omega Woman remarked.
“I have Speedfreak looking into potential leads. She knows enough about the criminal underworld that she’d think of places to begin searching,” Fox said.
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Lady of Wrath was woken from her nap as she heard footsteps outside of her cell. She saw a woman in VALOR armor who worked as a guard come downstairs. Strangely, she moved in a way to ensure she was outside the view of the camera pointing toward Lady of Wrath’s cell. The woman in the VALOR armor appeared to place some kind of small device under the camera before lowering her hand. A moment later, the camera appeared to shake as it pointed at the ground; it was either malfunctioning or offline, but Lady of Wrath couldn’t tell.
“What do you want?” Lady of Wrath asked, not hiding her suspicion as the female guard approached her cell door.
“Simply to deliver a message. Someone has taken an interest in your freedom,” the woman in VALOR armor replied. Something about her words felt off, but Lady of Wrath couldn’t quite figure it out. The guard outside the cell sounded as if her mind was elsewhere. Lady of Wrath was more confused than anything. However, she couldn’t help but be curious at the same time.
“Is that so? Who?” Lady of Wrath asked.
“You will find out in due time,” the guard replied. She turned to face toward the stairwell. At that moment, she inserted a folded paper through the slot on the cell door that would normally be used for the lunch trays.
“Wait until I am out of sight, then open it,” the guard said in almost a whisper before walking away.
Once the guard was out of sight, Lady of Wrath walked toward the back of her cell. Unfolding the paper, Lady of Wrath read only one sentence: “A perceived weakness is a strength in the right circumstances.”
Lady of Wrath thought about the words, then ideas began to form in her head.
EXTRAORDINARY ENCOUNTERS RADIO BROADCAST:
August 17, 2024
1:00 PM
“Welcome to the Extraordinary Encounters radio show. My name is DJ Witness, and this is the show where I give you the chance to call in and share stories of encounters with Extrahumans and other unusual situations out there,” DJ Witness said.
“To start off today’s show, I will be following up on a point of discussion from Tuesday’s broadcast. Those listening will remember New Eden Medical originally announced their press conference. Just yesterday that conference took place, with New Eden announcing their latest research and development project: Neurorate,” DJ Witness continued.
“Listening to the press conference myself, the Neurorate sounds incredible. In simple terms, the Neurorate is described as a ‘smart drug.’ It can supposedly enhance memory and focus, help people be more alert, and process information to learn faster. If the Neurorate works as advertised, potential outcomes New Eden is aiming to achieve include treating Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s more effectively, or help speed up recovery for anyone who’s had a stroke. The press conference isn’t the only thing that happened at New Eden yesterday, however,” DJ Witness added.
“As the press conference was going on, the Syndicate sent a few of their members to attempt to make off with the Neurorate. The heist began with the arrival of Violet Sparrow. Omega Woman arrived on the scene with Blur, Red Diamond and Red Phoenix. It’s believed to be at that point when Violet Sparrow called for backup, then Technomancer arrived with Shadow Stranger, Power Thief, and Bulldozer. The latter three were arrested while Technomancer escaped alongside Violet Sparrow,” DJ Witness said.
“Lady of Wrath showed up after the attempted heist was prevented, only to wind up getting captured herself in a bizarre twist. I have a caller on the line who says he has seen the events during his day at work yesterday. You’re on with Extraordinary Encounters,” DJ Witness said before opening the phone lines.
“Good afternoon, Witness. My name is Brandon, I love your show,” Brandon said.
“Happy to hear it, Brandon. You saw Lady of Wrath get captured by VALOR yesterday?” DJ Witness asked.
“That’s right. I heard there was a bit of a chase going on with that Lady of Wrath following a convoy of VALOR vehicles. As I thought things were going to escalate, Omega Woman arrived and seemed to have persuaded Lady of Wrath to turn herself over to VALOR,” Brandon said.
“How did Omega Woman pull that off without the situation turning into a fight?” DJ Witness asked.
“I caught the tail end of that whole thing as Lady of Wrath appeared to lose control of herself while flying. When she stood up, it seemed like she was unsure where she was or what was going on,” Brandon explained.
“Interesting. Something similar happened to Lady of Wrath before during Omega Woman’s first fight with Lady of Wrath outside the city ten days ago. Thank you Brandon for calling in,” DJ Witness said.
“Thank you for having me,” Brandon said before DJ Witness ended the call.
“Once the situation was resolved at New Eden Medical, I heard from sources that the Neurorate has been moved elsewhere to somewhere more secure than its previous storage facility at the request of VALOR. I will keep an eye on this and follow up with anything additional,” DJ Witness concluded.
