Dr. Clay grumbled under his breath as he looked over stacks and piles of assorted blue prints. His lab was covered head to toe in the blue papers, some even taped to his ceiling.
He had been planning and scheming for months now and things were finally starting to come together. Being a Hyperion scientists had its perks but it was also a pain in the ass. About a month ago his overseer had approached him without warning, instructing him with the responsibility of a life time.
“Dr. Clay” his boss had called him upon entering his lab. “I need to discuss a matter of great importance with you.” He stepped over to Clay's chair and helped himself to a seat.
“What is it?” Clay grumbled in reply, hardly turning from his current work which was spread out over his desk.
“The higher ups had a meeting after some of their soldiers found information that Lance is in the process of creating their own...army of super assassins. Some sort of propaganda/tactic move.” He rolled his eyes.
“Uhuh.” Clay nodded, barely listening.
“So they decided that we need to do something to upgrade our soldiers, and I guess this is the path they want to take.” He produced a yellow file from his suit, holding it out toward Clay.
Clay didn't notice and continued on his work.
“Clay take this! Look over it!” His boss snapped, catching Clay's attention. Clay whirled around, swiping the file and opening it reluctantly.
Inside was a series of stapled papers. Clay flipped through them, barely reading them. He skimmed over a few notes here and a paragraph there, getting the gist of the project.
“So Hyperion has finally realized that their army needs an upgrade, and this is the route they want to take?” He frowned. His boss nodded, standing from the chair.
“Well our weapons aren't the problem and our soldiers are well trained, so they concluded that we must be lacking in the stealth department. Right now they aren't sure what exactly they want, all they know is they want something to keep their soldiers hidden, something to keep them quiet and out of sight from these new...assassins.” He explained.
“And these are the ideas they came up with?” Clay raised a brow looking at some of the suggestions. “A silent gun...a noise canceler...cammo uniforms, these are some of the simplest ideas i've ever heard of.” Clay sneered, shutting the folder. “If you've come here hoping I would design or invent something like this than you are sadly mistaken. Give this to one of the interns or something, I have better things to do.” He held the folder back out to his superior.
“Clay, you don't understand, this project is bigger than you think it is. I gave it to you because I know these ideas are absolute garbage. These things aren't going to help us at all. You are an inventor, a creator, not them. I think that you could come up with something so astounding...that it could change Hyperion as we know it.” He urged Clay, placing his hands on his shoulders. “I am giving you the chance to do something amazing, really show those higher ups what we are capable of.”
Clay was quiet, looking down at the folder, then back to his unfinished project. It was a simple Clap-Trap upgrade, one he could connect to his own Clap-trap that would disable its freedom of speech, something he knew would catch on. Finally he hung his head and sighed.
“Ok...I'll look into it. But if I get bored to death, I'm leaving my Clap-Trap to you.” He teased.
“Oh god, please anything but that.” His boss gasped, smiling jokingly, before turning and leaving Clay's lab.
Clay quickly cleaned his lab of his previous project, making room for him to brain storm. For days he sat in there, brainstorming, scrapping ideas and making new ones. He came up with an idea, looked into it, and upon finding it wouldn't work, would scrap it and move on. His first had been a weapon that blinds whoever it was pointed at, but Clay knew this wasn't enough to impress anyone. He also doubted it would do much good against assassins. Assassins were known for their stealth, their speed and agility. No, he needed to create something that could match an assassin or at least protect the soldiers from them.
Invisible suits was his next idea, but that wouldn't conceal any noise the soldiers made, and they wouldn't be able to see each other and could possible get caught in each others cross fire. And thus that idea was also scrapped.
Then the thought struck him to create Hyperion assassins, ones that could rival the elite of the elite. Yet he knew it wouldn't be so simple to train assassins, so many things could go wrong, no, he needed to create one.
“A robot assassin, now that's something worth inventing.” Before he even began on blue prints he rushed across his base, stopping in the mechanics departments. He skidded down the long halls, where the air was thick and smelled like exhaust. He stopped in one of the many grease covered garages. Inside was a massive robot taking up half the room. The side of it had been blown off and it's wires were hanging loose, spread all over the floor.
“Tabitha!” Clay shouted, knocking his fist on the metal wall to get her attention. A tall woman with beefy arms and thin ankles appeared from behind the robot. She wore a yellow set of work overalls that were stained and covered in grease. Her hair was braided and twisted up into a tight bun, sitting atop her head. She gave a smile as she gritted a screw driver between her teeth. After setting down the massive gear in her hands, she placed the tool in her pocket and neared the scientist.
“Well if it isn't my little Clay jar.” She teased.
“That's the dumbest nickname and you know it.” He pointed out, folding his arms.
“Here for help on another invention?”
“Yes and no. More like I need your input on an idea for an invention.” He explained. She smiled, tapping her work stool, he complied and plopped onto the single piece of furniture.
“So, what's your idea?” She leaned against the wall, fishing an apple from her pocket.
“What are your thoughts on a robot assassin?” He looked up to her. She frowned, chewed on a piece of apple and swallowed.
“Hmmmm, I think we've got enough different robots types for me to worry about. Why an assassin one? And why are you being asked to come up with new robot qualities?” She took another bite of the apple.
“My boss has given me a project from the Hyperion board of directors. They want something stealthy and assassin like, so I figured why not a robot? Robots are much easier to deal with than a whole new batch of trainees.” He grumbled.
“Ah, a robot does seem like the better option here, there's just one thing.” She noted, looking over towards the massive chunk of robot lying in her garage.
“It would be way too hard to create a robot even capable of being an assassin. They are way too loud and bulky. Robots are good for guarding places or attacking in numbers, they aren't good at stealth missions. They don't know how to sneak, how to lay low or keep out of sight. You would have to create a whole new data chip, with everything needed on it. And even if they know how to be stealthy, there are just some things they can't control. Like how heavy they are, their footsteps are loud. Or what if their joints get a tad rusted, they would squeak. Or what if they accidentally bumped something else made of metal?” She barely tapped the end of her screw driver against the metal wall, sending out a loud ping. “I just can't imagine it going well.”
“Well...what do you suggest?” He grumbled, realizing she was right yet again.
“I'd stick with organic. Although you could always replace some of their brain with computer parts, there might be some benefit in that. Would probably make training a whole lot easier.” She shrugged, finishing the red fruit.
“Like...a cyborg?” he frowned, “It's not a very original idea, we already have a few of those.”
“But a robot assassin is more original?” She teased, snickering under her breath.
“No, but it would give me the chance to work with you again.” He winked mockingly. Her face flushed red and she shoved herself off the wall.
“I've got work to do! Bye Clay, good luck on your new project!” She darted off behind the robot without giving him another look. Clay chuckled, leaving the garage and heading back for his own lab.
This particular Hyperion base was rather large, but was still some of the smallest ones Hyperion had. Clay had hoped that one day he could invent something that would eventually grant him a job at one of the big bases, but alas, he felt he was coming to a dead end with this new project. As he was nearing his lab, he heard a commotion in one of the sectors, the Zoology sector. He paused for a moment, listening to the crash and bangs inside, and the angered cursing of some of the doctors beyond the wall. He debated stepping inside to offer assistance, but didn't want to come across as nosy. Then again, it was the Zoology sector, there could very well be a Scagg broken free, chomping the scientists to shreds.
Before he could make a decision the doors burst open and out came two doctors carrying a massive glass cage. To Clay's surprise the cage was completely empty, but he could hear something banging around inside the container. The scientists were clearly having a difficult time carrying the cage and Clay couldn't help but stare, bewildered.
All at once an animal appeared through the glass. It was hideously ugly and looked like an odd mix between a lizzard, Scagg and Rock.
“What the heck is that thing?” Clay exclaimed as the scientists neared him.
“The bandits call them Invisible Assholes.” One scientist panted.
“But we've just named them Stalkers.” The other chimed in. “It was brought in a few days ago, but it broke out of its containment when an intern opened the door.”
“Why the heck would he open the door with that scary thing inside?” He jabbed a finger towards the Stalker.
“In his defense, we hadn't labeled the containment area yet, and the sneaky Stalker decided to turn invisible. The intern was just doing his job, cleaning out the empty containment areas, but he'll never make this mistake again.” The scientists hung his head.
“Where are you taking it?” Clay's interest was peaked upon hearing about the Stalkers ability to turn completely invisible.
“We were going to let the soldiers use it for battle practice, none of the scientists want to work with it.” They replied.
“I'll take it off your hands if you'll bring it to my lab.” he pointed down the hall towards his sector.
“Sure thing, do whatever you want with the devil.” They remarked, glad they didn't have to carry it clean across the base.
Clay spent the rest of his day studying every little detail about the captive Stalker. What it ate, how often it turned invisible, how long it was invisible, how big it was, how heavy it was and practically everything else. He made diagrams and charts, theories and ideas. And by the time the day was over he had already constructed a new containment area for the creature.
Just as he had successfully released the Stalker into it's new area, his lab door slid open.
“Claaaaaay.” His boss' voice range cheerfully through the lab. Clay sighed and turned around, folding his arms as his boss stepped across the room.
“I came to see how the special project was...WHAT THE HECK IS THAT THING!?” He shouted, pointing towards the Stalker in the containment area.
“This is part of the project.” Clay answered, moving his boss' finger. “It's called a Stalker, I got it from the Zoologists.”
“How is that monster going to help the Hyperion army upgrade?” His boss demanded.
“It can turn invisible.” Clay explained. “I had this idea...that instead of trying to upgrade the old army into something that they may not even be able to accomplish, why not create something entirely new? At first I was thinking of some sort of Assassin robot, but it had too many down falls. Then the thought struck me...why can't I just create something from scratch, something designed to be the perfect assassin. I can create the ideal creature for assassination, there wouldn't be any soldier in the world that could match it's abilities, no robot either.”
“So...you want to create more monsters like this?” His boss raised a brow, somewhat confused.
“No. It'll look more like a person, but the Stalker has something in his DNA that I can use in the assassins DNA.” Clay neared the containment, watching as the Stalker darted about his new prison.
“And what is that exactly?” His boss asked, beginning to understand the doctors idea.
“His ability to turn invisible of course. He has this thing called a Sachs' Organ. It generates an electrical field which turns him invisible. And he has these solar panel like scales on him that he uses to store energy and even charge an internal shield.” Clay mused, watching as the Stalker demonstrated its skill by randomly disappearing.
“This sounds quite promising.” His boss smiled. “How soon can you have all the planning and blueprints completed?”
“Give me a month to do more research, and then I can present my project to the board for approval.” Clay grinned, turning back to his boss.
Clay was true to his words. It took him exactly a month to finish all his research.
“Ten minutes.” Clay looked up at his clock, anticipating his meeting with the board. He collected the rest of his blueprints from his lab, stacking them neatly in order. He had one chance to wow them, to prove that this was the idea they wanted to invest in. This...this is what would change Hyperion.
Authors Note:
This fic might be a long one, and it will be a few chapters before Zer0 is even introduced. Didn't want to disappoint people, but if you stick around, I think you'll be glad you did. Oh yeah...did i mention anywhere that this was a Borderlands fanfic....if you've gotten this far then I'm sure you know by now XD
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