Infinia Moderna

Karl was intrigued by this information which even he may not known, but now was not the time to be worried about this, and he could easily come up with a variety of different conclusions regarding what it was.

Now, his attentions were focused on making sure Johnson had some form of interest. He could tell from the way this call was going that the Detective would not stay on the line much longer, and he was no fool, he wouldn't stay at his hideout for long.

At the very least he would hope to give Johnson a reason to find him.

"I can tell our time is running out, so let me end with this. You may call me Prometheus, and you and I have much more in common than you might think. I will not try and force you to do anything, as I said, this entire purpose of this call was to simply talk, nothing more. Allow me to cut to the point Detective, if you want to find out anything else about the one who has most recently begun to track Shadowsin, I would suggest the diner off 33rd. If you want nothing else to do with this, then this will be the last we ever speak to one another."

Karl sighed as he leaned forward.

"I hope you do the right thing Detective. Justice is a rather confusing mistress."

At this, Karl disconnected the call and shut his eyes.

----------

Perseus opened his eyes and quietly yet swiftly made his way towards the house. A car was parked outside, and little to no movement was visible inside.

A silent alarm went off as Max closed his phone. An image of Perseus filled the nearest screen. "Well well...It seems like our friend Perseus is also a spy. It seems a bit convenient that he should show so close to Prometheus's phone call. Monster...release me I wish to see where this leads and we cannot make an escape with him so close...the aftermath would be unjust." Shadowsin reluctantly released him. Max pretended he knew nothing and left in his car. "Dinner of 33rd eh...alright let us see what this Prometheus knows...and his seemingly apparent connection to my friend Perseus...this should be good." Shadowsin brooded within Max. He would need to feed soon regardless of Perseus's interference.

As the car pulled out, Perseus smiled and turned back towards the city, shutting his eyes.

----------

Karl opened his eyes and smiled before sitting forward.

"Hermes, how soon can the NYX II be ready?"

The blue light began to blink.

"ANALYSIS OF MARK II PROTOTYPE IS COMPLETE. EFFICIENCY 90%. HEPHAESTUS FORGE INITIATED. PLATFORM SHOULD BE COMPLETE IN 20 MINUTES."

Karl grinned and leaned back in his seat. The first NYX platform had been rushed out to meet with the potential threat that Shadowsin may have presented, and wasn't as efficient as it could have been. With the few days he spent looking for Shadowsin in the interim, Karl had managed to make the needed adjustments to make it much better than before.

In his current state, Karl would be unable to meet with the detective face to face, at least not without drawing unwanted attention. He needed to remain an unknown, that was how Perseus worked. However, the NYX platform was designed for stealth and reconaissance, along with striking fear in the hearts of criminals. It would be far more effective at blending into the crowds than he would.

When the procedure was finished, a light began to shine and blink.

"NYX PLATFORM COMPLETED. RETURNING TO BASE OPERATIONS."

Karl turned to face the machine that was laid out before him. It was a perfect visual replica of a man, with short straight hair and a clean shaven face, feeling human and fleshy to the touch. Its face was slim and smooth, designed to appear normal in a crowd, not too attractive, yet not unappealing to view.

"Rise." He said with authority.

The man's eyes opened.

"AFFIRMATIVE."

Karl quickly set to work checking the programming and making sure everything was set, he needed to be certain that this unit could act as an effective human being before he sent it out into the world. He would be linked into it for most of the meeting, but there would be points where he would need to be able to speak directly with Johnson.

Once the procedures were complete, Karl gave a soft smile.

"Nyx. Initiate surveillance and stealth cover. Civilian uniform 1."

The unit stood up and nodded.

"Affirmative." Now in a softer tone than before, shifting the plates on its body and reorganizing itself, then taking a suit that Karl had laid beside it, scanning it, and putting it on.

Karl moved his chair back to his usual work space, grabbed a small object and handed it to Nyx.

"Hold onto this."

Nyx nodded, again, mindlessly and robotically.

"Affirmative."

-minutes later-

As Nyx approached the small diner on the corner of 33rd street, his eyes shut, and opened almost instantly. A soft smile made its way across his face, and he stepped into the diner.

As he walked in, he stepped up to the nearby counter and smiled.

"Two, please?" My friend will be here shortly."

The waitress behind the counter nodded with a smile.

"Sure! Follow me!" And she quickly took him to a nearby table, laying out another menu in front of him as he sat.

Minutes passed, and soon the curious Detective arrived, much as hoped.

Nyx lifted an arm with a smile.

"Max! Over here!" He called out with a wave.

As Max walked into the diner HE was immediately hailed by a man sitting alone at a table. He smiled and waved back as he made his approach. Something stirred within him as Shadowsin became restless. I cannot read him... something is wrong...he reminds me of Perseus...remember Johnson...trust no one... Good to know... Max sat down at the table and kept his face straight. "I have no time for pleasantries...what do you want?"

The smile immediately faded from his face and Nyx shifted his eyes back and fourth quietly to make sure they were not being watched.

"Good to see you, Detective. Before you ask, no, I am not Prometheus. My name is Nyx, I am a close associate of Prometheus, and I have been sent in his place. Prometheus is not well, and would not have been able to meet you here himself. I apologize."

Nyx quickly opened his menu and began to scan for food he would not eat.

"Now then, I'm sure you have many questions you would like answered, especially many regarding Perseus. Well, I am here to provide them. Ask away."

Well...he admitted his connection to Perseus easily... "Well Mr...Nyx was it? I would like to know why Perseus and Prometheus has an interest. I am just a detective trying to clean up the streets and make them safe." Max kept his face looking as innocent as posssible.

Nyx chuckled softly.

"Come now Detective, you can't honestly say you don't know why Perseus and Prometheus are interested in you..."

Nyx gave a cold, unabashed gaze which seemed to stare right into Max's very soul.

"I can see it in your eyes."

He quickly returned to the menu.

Max frowned at the look Nyx gave him and then started to get up. "Well if you aren't going to answer me than I believe we are done here."

Nyx sighed and put down the menu.

"You want to know why Prometheus took an interest in you?" He leaned forward and began to whisper.

"He knows who you are, Detective, and he is trying to save you. You're not the only one who's been trying to clean up this town, but keep doing it the way that you are and you WILL either be arrested or killed. Prometheus does not want that."

He slowly leaned back into his seat and stared at Max, a cold intensity in his eyes.

"No matter what you say or think, and no matter what you are doing now, you were a good cop, Johnson. Prometheus believes you still are."

Max was shocked by what Nyx said about being save, he dropped his guard long enough for Shadowsin to take over. Max's red eyes began to glow and his voice was replaced by a deep demonic voice. "He doesn't have a choice...foolish man...you mess with power beyond your understanding...Justicssse needs to be met...and your pathetic human courtsss haven't upheld true justicssse ever..." Shadowsin grabbed a steak knife from the table and stabbed it into the shoulder of Nyx. Sparks flew out from the spot. "I KNEW IT!" Max ran from the restaurant making sure his jacket and hate hid his face as he began to transform. He found the nearest breach and faded into the darkness. YOU FOOL...WHY DID YOU DO THAT. I wass tired of the gamesss fool

Nyx quickly grabbed his shoulder and shut his eyes.

"Damnit!"

----------

Karl opened his eyes, more frustrated than ever.

"Damnit all! What the hell is going on with this man..."

He began frantically typing at the keyboard, annoyed that the meeting had ended so abruptly without any chance of getting clear answers.

He quickly began to scour the cameras looking for any sign of Shadowsin, but he had been quick and careful, leaving not a single trace of his presence to be seen by cameras.

"Hermes!"

"SIR?"

Karl began to vigorously type at the consoles.

"Put all units in high alert! I want either Johnson or Shadowsin found the minute they appear in front of a damn camera!"

The change was almost instantaneous. Within seconds Johnson had gone from being merely annoyed to flat out attacking, and the change in his tone....

Something about this case bothered Karl greatly, and he was determined to find out why. But he also knew that if Shadowsin had been so highly agitated, there could be a volatile reaction he would have to deal with. Something about this man had clearly caught his interest. He could tell, much as Nyx said: Johnson was a good man, but something else was helping him along this vile path. Something sinister.

"Get those Platforms into production NOW. I want as many of the NYX platforms on the streets as I can get, Hermes!"

"UNDERSTOOD SIR. THE NEXT PLATFORM WILL BE READY IN TEN MINUTES."

Karl gritted his teeth as he continued to search the cameras.

Someone else may die soon.

And it could very easily be his fault.

Shadowsin basked in the negative energy of the shadow realm. "Ahh...It is good to be home" Shut up...What are we going to do now...this Prometheus will never let us be....ever. "We will have to kill him then." I hate to say it but you may be right....

In minutes, the first unit was ready. Karl quickly had it outfitted with a different set of commands and appearance than the original Nyx unit that Johnson had seen today, and set Hermes to randomize the appearance of each one. If Johnson was to be found without large amounts of bloodshed, he needed to make sure that the units weren't recognizable as Nyx platforms.

In some ironic way, Johnson had helped Karl do what he needed to do, push out the Nyx platforms and begin field testing.

"Hermes, anything?"

"DETECTIVE JOHNSON HAS NOT BEEN SEEN ON ANY SECURITY CAMERAS ACROSS THE CITY. RESTARTING SEARCH."

Karl was getting annoyed, how could a man simply vanish in the blink of an eye like that? This Shadowsin case was slowly beginning to grate on Karl's patience, and he was growing more and more curious about how any of this was even possible, however, the fact remained, Detective Johnson needed help, whether he realized it or not.

He looked out upon his city from his expansive and highly secret lair. For it indeed was his city seeing as he held an owners share of nearly every

major business and every corrupt politician answered to him. A red flashing light and a small beep from behind caught his attention and he turned

towards the large screen on the far wall. "Computer...I told you not to bother me unless it was important." A metallic computer spoke with a hint of

fear in its voice, although he knew that was impossible. "Indeed...sir but the energy signatures that you requested be tracked have become

incredibly active...and there were numerous tiny hits on our network from a foreign source, as usual they were impossible to trace but we believe it

is from...him.

The man smiled wickedly, "So our players seem to have met...and things ended badly...good I can work with this. What about the other more volatile...unknown.?"

If it could the computer would have gulped, "We...we have been unable to locate her..."

The smile faded into a scowl as the room began to shake. "YOU WILL FIND HER...OR I WILL USE YOUR PARTS TO BUILD A PIGEON SHIT STATUE!"

The man calmed and began to walk once more towards his magnificent view of the city. "Yes...everything is going according to plan." He began to

laugh maniacally again as large goat like horns spread from his head. "Soon...noone will be able to stop me..."

Eve awoke to a bright luxurious room with a breathtaking view. It was a wonderful place to wake up, but her expression quickly turned to disgust when she spied the distinguished dark featured man in the corner. "Pleasure to see you again Miss, what is it this time?" The man placed his index finger lightly on his chin "Lexington I believe they said."

Eve rolled her eyes "Yes, apparently that's the surname I'm tethered to this time." The gentleman got up and smoothly walked to her bedside. He was remarkably handsome and possessed an unnatural grace. "Then I take it, you remember who I am?" he looked deeply into her eyes.

"What's wrong? Afraid I wouldn't recognize you without your flaming sword?" Springing up from the bed easily, she moved towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Her acquaintance blocked the way. "She looked up at him impatiently, "I'm going to find him. It took a lot longer to regain myself this time, and I'm going to make up for it."

The man smirked "That's my job, and it's also my job to make sure YOU do YOUR job. You're not to see him until you've finished your work." Eve's eyes narrowed as she mirrored his smirk. "Just like old times huh? Rules, rules, rules, I'm not surprised, after all you were made to get in my way...but maybe this time..." she grew quiet and looked down.

The man hit the ground with a loud thud. In one swift movement she kicked his legs out from under him. She grabbed his arm and twisted backwards. He remained stone faced but Eve could tell she'd broken, as well as burned the arm.

"Bet you wish you had that sword right about now." She laughed menacingly at her own sub par joke before leaning in close to his ear. "This is how it's going to go, I do what I want and you leave me alone. If you follow me, you'd better be armed and in your regular form."

"You're going to regret this Eve." he forced through clenched teeth. Eve shrugged out of her hospital gown. The man's eyes widened. "You can't go out like that!" Eve looked back at him "So what if I do? He'll find me faster. Once we're together I won't care if the world is damned until the next lifetime. Maybe I'll feel more like working next time around."

The Lexingtons were in the waiting room. They put up an enormous fuss as she strode by, but Eve didn't heed their nagging. Now that she'd awakened nothing was going to get in her way. The hospital staff, the Lexington bodyguard staff, and Tyrone the club bouncer gone orderly all tried to stop her, but failed miserably.

Once out of the hospital she looked out into the gawking public nonchalantly. The first part of her plan was of course to not have a plan. She wasn't interested in anything predetermined. The very first thing that popped into her head was what she was going to go with. She glanced over at a gawky college student who had dropped his laptop from the shock of seeing a naked woman.

"You there with the glasses, where did you buy that computer?" The student stuttered and fumbled for words. Eve grew impatient "Nevermind, this one will do just fine." She walked over to the young man's dropped machine and bent over to pick it up.

The boy nearly died, and spoke no words of protest as she walked off. "Now to find some WiFi." She walked for a bit, hassled here and there by amorous passersby. Finally she found a coffee shop with a "Free Wifi" sign in the window.

She went in and sat down. After a few minutes the manager came by "I'm sorry ma'am...uh..." He started. "No shirt, no shoes..." Too engrossed in her search to look away from the computer, Eve held her finger up to silence him. "Shut up and get me some coffee." she commanded.

Karl groaned as he continued his search and maintenance. Days, weeks, he wasn't even sure anymore. A considerable amount of time had passed since Johnson's disappearance, still no activity from Shadowsin, no vigilante behavior. He was worried. There was clearly far more to this case than he comprehended, and he was still determined to get to the bottom of it. Who was Johnson? What exactly made him so dangerous? Why did his eyes change, how did he know Nyx was synthetic?

Just what had he unhinged?

Time was an essential variable. He hoped the elusive detective was still somewhere in New Greenborough, but time was running out, and it was becoming less and less likely he would ever find the mysterious Shadowsin again. He had lost his only opportunity to help a good man come back on the path he needed.

Max Johnson may have lost all hope, but Karl Bludmond may have lost the only chance to save his soul.

As Karl continued his work, general maintenance on the Nyx units, surveillance of the streets, an alarm sounded.

With a groan, he looked up from his work. "What is it, Hermes?"

"SIR, MISS LEXINGTON HAS LEFT MERCY ARMS."

Karl swiveled in his chair, confusion and concern on his face.

"What? But she hasn't been discharged yet...where is she?"

"STARLIGHT CAFE, 45TH STREET."

"Give me a visual, now."

All images from other monitors switched to five different cameras scattered about near the cafe, all showing, much to his own confusion, Eve Lexington, naked, sitting at a cafe table with a laptop, intently focused on something.

"What are you looking at....Hermes, send a couple of units in the vicinity, get Nyx down there before she's arrested for public indecency, and get Perseus down there in case trouble brews."

"AFFIRMATIVE, SIR."

Karl began to type away on one of his separate consoles, trying to find a way into that laptop to see what she was seeing, as he waited for his "assistant" to complete his work.

Max Johnson floated in an out of consciousness just vaguely aware that he was floating in the shadow realm. How long he had been there he could not tell but he knew it was less than a few days. Shadowsin's grip upon him had weakened to the point he was once again able to wrest control oh his body back. He exited the shadowrealm and found himself standing on a a sidewalk. He had transformed back into his human guise so he could see everything around him clearly. Looking up he saw the sign of a small Cafe. "Starlight Cafe? I could go for some coffee." He walked inside and sat down observing the commotion being caused by the naked woman sitting on the opposite side of the cafe. Getting up he walked over to her and put his trench coat around her shoulders. He flashed his badge to the attendant who walked away quietly. "Miss...I am Detective Max Johnson. Are you ok?"