Chapter 1.1.13 — The Code

Emmett followed Dr. Venture through a sealed door and into the next room of the lab, section 002.

“I’ve laid out several basic modifications for your arm. These are all pieces that would be useful for a new mask.”

Four metal tables pushed together in the center of the room and several things were sprawled out on them. The first that drew Emmett’s eye was the long whip that curled around the edge of the tables. Then there were several small boxes.

And in the center of it all was a large pistol.

Emmett didn’t know much of anything about firearms, aside from the basics learned while playing video games, and he’d never known anyone to own one. It made him feel slightly uneasy seeing a gun in real life.

“Do a lot of capes carry guns?” Emmett asked.

“Firearms aren’t looked highly upon, but many supers carry one—especially class 1 and class 2 that might not otherwise have powers effective at range. The Code dictates that we avoid killing our enemies, so you’ll only be carrying nonlethal rounds.”

That made him feel a little better. Emmett knew that being a cape or a mask would involve getting into fights, but he hadn’t thought much more about it than that.

Emmett turned from the mods to Dr. Venture. “So that battle on Champion street… that wasn’t normal, was it?”

“No,” Venture said quietly.

“Do you have any leads?” he asked without thinking.

“Not yet.”

Emmett felt the familiar pit forming in his stomach and he decided to change the subject.

“What is the Code exactly?”

“Think of it as a mix of rules of engagement and decorum amongst active supers. It’s the reason why fights between supers tend to be nonlethal and that they avoid excessive damage to buildings and infrastructure. It’s not that killing doesn’t happen or that particularly heinous supers aren’t executed, it’s that unnecessary killing would perpetuate. Kill a villain and risk lethal vengeance from their boss or risk them coming after your family.

“Villains that follow the Code can expect imprisonment instead of execution—from capes and from the Division of Superhuman Affairs. It’s the reason why the Vault is the preferred way of dealing with villains. It keeps the government and supers from outright war on the streets.”

Emmett listened intently, mouth hanging open from the realization. He had never heard of the Code, not in any news report or message board.

“Why the secret?”

Venture replied, “It preserves the public’s innocence. A mutually assured destruction is what keeps some fringe villains from becoming truly heinous. People don’t need to know how perilous that balance is.”

Emmett’s stomach turned as he listened. Until a few days ago, that had been him—blissfully unaware.

But that wasn’t the question that made him feel truly unsettled. He was almost too afraid to ask it.

“...Why doesn’t the Summit just take care of those villains?”

Venture raised his eyebrows. “Why don’t they?”

Emmett’s mouth felt dry. “They can’t.”

“It’s not that simple,” Venture replied, eyes falling to the table of mods. “The Summit of Heroes might be able to take out some of their enemies… but there’s always a chance they fail. Even the Summit have homes and families. Better to play the great game, honor the Code, so that our enemies honor it too.”

Venture turned to Emmett. “There’s other pieces of the Code, but that’s what you need to know for now. Fights shouldn’t be lethal and keep collateral damage to a minimum.”

Emmett was about to ask about that second part, but Venture pointed to the table.

“Your arm has two main storage areas: One in your forearm and the second in your upper arm. Of course, they’re limited in size. Depending on what modifications you want to store, you might be able to store up to three pieces.

“This is what I have for you, so far,” Dr. Venture said, and then went into detail about each piece:

The whip was fifteen feet long with a glossy gray pattern along it—similar to the electroactive polymer that made up the muscle in his prosthetic arm, but the whip also had links of titanium running through the center.

Venture slipped on a black glove from his pocket and picked up the end of the whip as he described it. “In addition to being a formidable weapon, you’ll also be able to turn the end of it rigid.” Venture sent a snap of what Emmett assumed was electricity into the whip, and the end of it wrapped around his wrist. “You can use it as a grappling hook or as a lasso to grapple an opponent.”

Next was a thin metal box about a foot long. Venture held it up and again engaged a current from his glove—a metal disk popped out from inside, blossoming into a shield big enough to cover Emmett’s torso.

Venture said, “The impact shield takes about a tenth of a second to deploy and can stop small caliber rounds. The alloy is rated to withstand moderate fluctuations of heat and cold, and is resistant to some acids. In short, it will help against most class one and two threats.” With a flick of the wrist, the shield folded back up just as quickly as it deployed.

Then Dr. Venture grabbed the cylinder next to it and turned it so that Emmett could see the borehole.

“This is a semiautomatic concealable pistol—a modified version of the forty-five on the table. It fires the same nonlethal ‘sledgehammer’ rounds.”

Venture set the gun mod on the table with a definitive thunk.

Emmett sighed. “Well, I still don’t know about the gun, but I’ll take the other two.”

“You don’t understand,” Venture replied. “These three are suitable for your forearm compartment. Right now, only one will fit.”

Emmett’s heart sank a little. “But they’re modular, right? I can just take all of them with me and change them out when I need them.”

Venture smirked. “Not yet. For now, installing or swapping a modification in your forearm will involve minor surgery. They need to be mounted and connected correctly.”

Venture walked around the table to another set of components, each of these a small gray box half the size of the other mods.

“These are suited for your upper arm compartment. Smoke pellets for cover and escape, caltrops for evading and disabling vehicles, and a lock-picking kit. These are made to be quickly pulled out for use and refilled later.”

Emmett nodded. “The lock-picking kit sounds useful.”

Venture eyed him. “Do you even know how to pick a lock?”

“Well, no.”

“You’ll take smoke pellets and caltrops for now.” Venture tossed one of the small grab boxes to Emmett.

Emmett scoffed. “Why give me the option then?” he asked, turning the box over in his hand.

“To show you what’s possible. To give you ideas. To get you thinking of what else you can make.”

Emmett tried to contain his excitement. Not only was he a super, he was getting to design his own modifications!

He’d already been lucky enough to get a second chance after being left for dead on Champion street. And even though he was only a class 1 super, he’d gotten a general suite of enhancements instead of just one power.

And he had room to grow.

Emmett didn’t have to stay a class 1 super. Maybe eventually he could modify himself enough to become class 2 or even class 3.

There were class 4 and 5 supers—namely those in the Summit of Heroes—but that was the big leagues. Most class 4 and 5 supers were aliens, living weapons, or descended from gods. Most were never human to begin with.

Emmett wasn’t even sure he would want that kind of power, but he didn’t have to settle for just class 1.

Emmett tossed the box of smoke pellets back on the table. “Is this the start of my new internship? Making my own modifications?”

“Yes,” Venture replied. “Now, which one do you want to test first?”

~ ~ ~