#gunner.exe

a year passes, and the man has a job in a government hospital. he helps with post-op patients. he’s in a relationship with someone new, someone doting and kind and lovely, and he’s happy. he’s almost forgotten the acrid taste of waking up to a cold bed. 

and then his ex appears in custody, outfitted with superhuman hardware that has sapped him dry. and this man realizes that his ex did not cheat. not really. not unless you consider blowing someone off for illicit activity cheating. 

he’s confused, on edge, and his world is breaking apart at the seams. he goes home, anxious for his lover’s sweet embrace--

--only to find that she, too, is a vigilante.

GU Character Intro [2/?] - Gunner Wolfe

Dan shot her a look. It said, I said what I said for a reason, Rox. Gunner hated that look. Hated the conversation in Dan’s eyes and the infallible rightness of Dan’s decisions. Out of all of them, Dan was the most functional, the most adult, the most likely to make something of himself. And here he was, lecturing Gunner on safety, as if he didn’t have better things to do.

Anger boiled in the pit of Gunner’s stomach. He bit it down; there was nothing productive in this anger. It was the anger of the wounded, and it was an anger Gunner knew far too well. He took a deep breath. Prepared to brace himself against the flame so that Dan could finish his lecture unmolested.

Dan didn’t lecture. Instead he said, “Put your hood down. You look ridiculous.”

Gunner blinked, confused, but his hands did as they were told. Dan sucked in a breath when the disaster that was Gunner’s face came into full focus. Rox was silent, unemotive.

Gunner hated himself for this, for the pain his injury caused others. It wasn’t that he meant to hurt himself (not anymore, not for years, he wouldn’t do that again, he’d promised Dan) but that he lacked the control to stay away from the GSA. Interference was in his blood; for as long as Gunner had been alive, he had felt the wrath of GSA operatives.

and then it became the fucking linchpin to my conflict as i unintentionally tied together my basic idea, character motivations, and locked in a few vague scenes that had been nothing but possibility until this point. writing is weird y’all

anyway, have a snippet of Genesis Uprising that is by no means my best work (and very far from being polished lol) but was ultimately surprisingly decent considering that i wrote it at 4am a couple nights ago

context: Genesis has been equipped with hardware that allows her to manipulate a magnetic field surrounding her which is why Harper and Calvin refer to her as ‘the magnet’ -- Gunner, the electric one, has been equipped with similar hardware, though it grants him a different ability. Calvin’s hardware is different, but it allows him to manipulate fire. Calvin and Harper are members of the Government Superhero program (which effectively makes them high-grade, government sanctioned cops) and have been assigned on bringing in Genesis and Gunner for their vigilante work.

“So, our favorite magnet lets pride lead her way,” Harper observed. “No metal on her person; nothing to save her in the event that her environment does not provide her the tools she needs.”

Calvin shrugged. “Hasn’t been a problem for her so far.”

“Is that so?”

It was the way she said it, the smug certainty doused with bland condescension, that made Calvin hesitate. “I- I don’t think it has.”

“Mm, yes, that is the issue, isn’t it?” Harper continued to watch the blasted criminal tear through the roadway, unconcerned by the destruction raining indiscriminately from shattered concrete and bent pipelines. “You don’t think. Our magnet is rash, and she gets herself into trouble more often than you’ve reported. See there—” Harper pointed to an underpass “—there is her accomplice, the electric one. If you had made a habit of studying your quarry, surely you would have noticed the trend in his behavior by now.”

Calvin began to speak, stuttered over the words on his tongue. Scowling, he tried again: “He’s hard to keep track of.”

“Is he now?” Harper tutted in that discomfiting, almost-human way of hers. “He is preparing to throw our dear magnet a prop. It should land- yes! Right now.”

Skeptical of his skepticism, but unable to sway the doubt from his mind, Calvin watched the underpass. There was nothing of note happening — hell, Calvin still hadn’t seen the electric douche in the underpass, wasn’t sure he was even there — but Harper had an annoying habit of being right. One of the benefits of an artificial mind, he supposed.

Seeing nothing, Calvin asked, “What exactly am I looking for?”

Harper glared at him. “Did you not see that- nevermind, of course you didn’t. Just wait. Watch the hedge situated three feet from the road. Our magnet is headed right that way.”

“Huh,” Calvin said. “Guess there isn’t much metal to that side of the road…”

Harper didn’t respond, so Calvin watched the hedge.

Debris rising in her wake, the magnet dove to the side, careening into the asphalt. Boulder closed the distance, his enhanced musculature propelling him forward at ungodly speeds. From this distance, reading body language was near-impossible, but Calvin could have sworn he’d seen the magnet smile.

But why? There wasn’t metal anywhere near enough to her to be of benefit; for all purposes, she was trapped.

The hedge shuddered. Metal glinted through its unnaturally green leaves. Clods of dirt shot through the tidily shorn branches — and Calvin understood.

Rising into the air, the magnet pushed herself forward, directly into Boulder’s charge. With enviable precision, she yanked herself around Boulder. Then flipped in the air. Sunlight flashed off of her dagger and—

—Boulder screamed. He reached around to pull the dagger from his back, tried to dislodge her from his shoulder, struggled to remove his arm from her reach. It was useless.

She pulled another dagger from a sheath on her thigh and wrapped her legs under Boulder’s shoulder and around his neck, locking him in the vulnerable position. Calvin looked away. He knew what happened next.

Screams, pain. Agony, as she dug her dagger into Boulder’s arm and extracted the implant that gave him his strength.

“Don’t you see?” A white, opaque film glazed Harper’s eyes. “Our little magnet has a guardian angel.”

“What’s that matter?” Calvin snapped. Below them, Boulder whimpered. “She got him.”

Harper shrugged. “Another loss for the greater good. Had Boulder not been so forward thinking, we would have missed out on this wonderful opportunity.”

Just count, Calvin. Ten. That’s all you gotta count to. Can’t go decommissioning another android just because she— Fuck. “You let Boulder die.”

“Yes,” Harper said. “So did you.”

Heat bubbled beneath his palm. Calvin growled.

ooo thanks for the tag @whatsanwritepocalae !!

Gunner