Attempt at Normality
The sun shines on the asteroid currently inhabited by the living black hole, a dull glow permeates the lab room of the base. Limbs and parts are scattered around the desks in apparent chaos, some unfinished while others are simply waiting for the right occasion to be used. A capsule in the corner is the source of the glow, it slowly opens revealing a vessel with a glowing crystal embedded in it. The glow subsides and the vessel steps out of the chamber, floating slowly to the closest reflective surface, the lights in the lab flicker on.
"The vessel shows no signs of distortion, all functions are active. I got the color wrong on one eye but that should be fine, nobody looks at the face of individuals in the modern age according to most sources." Those sources being media articles and the occasional conversation with Fractal, not comprehensive but it should do for now. "The clothes I prepared seem to fit, the modifications have yet to tear them apart and the pattern on the chest aligns with my core to hide the glow, in theory at least, I may have to use thicker fabric otherwise."
After the superficial inspection on the lab wall the vessel floats to a different room, the doors open automatically revealing a more organized room. Rows of completed projects are neatly arranged on the walls, labeled clearly and mostly gathered in boxes with one instance acting as a visual reminder, not unlike a shoe store.
"The lack of tails on this vessel is annoying, I may be able to conceal one as a belt but it would still be underwhelming, something to consider for future vessels." He scans the room, considering if there is any other useful component in the rows of parts. "At least I can still bring shards with me, this coat has some big pockets I just need to remember not to deploy them unless it's necessary. The sensor limbs in the vessel should be good enough by themselves, this situation is very limiting, I am starting to doubt if it's even worth it."
With a surprisingly normal human sigh, despite his doubts, Singularity proceeds to the living area of the base. Some simple couches and amenities dot the room, libraries with some books, a big TV on one side and some game consoles that look a bit battered, a PC built into the wall. He does not stay long, moving to the airlock instead, the doors activate and he moves inside. A glowing outline catches his attention as he waits for the room to depressurize.
"I really need to do something about the reptile, I need a more permanent solution than keeping it as a lawn ornament. I don't feel like it but someone else could still reach it here."
The doors open and space welcomes the unusual parahuman in its familiar embrace, it's time to move.
Singularity floats down in a back alley, he tries to remain out of sight and not attract attention, as much as a floating man from space can.
"Now I should attempt to act natural, like a human being, and humans don't float." Reminding himself of the hardships of normal people he touches the ground, deactivating his gravity powers. A sickening crunch resonates in the alley as the concrete breaks and small shockwaves propagate from the impact creating a concentric pattern of cracks like a small meteorite just landed. "Oh right, structural stability, normal humans don't have a weight in the theoretical numbers range."
The second attempt at a step goes much better, there is only a slight creaking sound and the pavement resists. Walking is not something Singularity is used to but it is part of human nature, so movement is not much of a problem, the fragments of concrete from the broken ground slowly fall off as he approaches the end of the alley.
"This material is still way too brittle however, you would think that with the sort of problems this city has they would put a bit more effort in prevention. No wonder the rebuilding effort is always so involved." The streets beyond the alley are full of people, none seem to have noticed the first steps of a gravitational collapse just a couple dozen meters from them. "Normal people also don't talk to themselves, even if that's more common than being a parahuman. I should probably stop regardless."
After a few glances around the corners Singularity puts on the hood of his coat and starts walking down the street, blending in the crowd or at least trying to. He wanders aimlessly for a while, simply getting used to not being stared at and being around people, he observes the pedestrians walking around him with some concern at being discovered and with mild surprise at being ignored. Life goes on as usual in Brockton Bay, almost as if there was not a constant risk of attack by a random villain, it's hard to believe there was an Endbringer attack just a short time ago. Of course, the attack did not get to this part of the city, and the most that happened in this district was a combination of petty crimes and robbery, but the vigilante was expecting at least a bit more apprehension. It was strangely calming, seeing all these people managing to keep a normal lifestyle despite the circumstances, it was also annoying because his job would be much easier if people were a bit more careful sometimes.
The vessel seems to be working, I can go unnoticed in the streets for the most part. I did not plan this far ahead, I was not expecting it to work so well from the start, I should move on to an interaction test maybe. People on the street are notoriously distracted, another context should provide more accurate results. Maybe a store of sorts.
With a destination in mind, the living shard starts observing his surroundings more carefully, paying attention not only to the people but to the buildings as well. It does not take long to spot a small store on the ground floor of a building, the bright neon lights are turned off during the day and the general architecture seems to indicate it's one of those that stay open 24/7, it should be perfect. The shop is almost empty, only a couple of old people and the tired cashier remain inside, the vigilante is not sure if it's just a slow period or if this place is just unpopular but it does play in his favor.
Singularity stops in front of the door momentarily confused, it's not an automatic door so it does not open, there is a clear push sign right below the handle. I forgot, I need to use my hands. It's inconvenient, maybe I can make some cloaked limbs? I guess a door opening by itself would also attract attention, being human is surprisingly difficult. After an existential moment he manages to open the door without making it collapse around his hand, entering the store with only a tired glance from the employee. Despite the lack of customers, the place is well stocked, a good variety of products dots the shelves and the aisles are clean, which means it's more likely to just be a slow period. After some time inspecting the products at random, it was time to interact with the humans, the most logical product to get seemed a simple tool, but by itself, it would be suspicious, so it's best to add other construction materials too.
After a short search, the odd man carries his finds to the counter, a hammer, some rope, electrician duct tape, some zip ties and a bottle of glue. He places them in front of the half-asleep cashier with a clatter, the now awake man looks at the items with confusion and a bit of apprehension, his gaze shifts to the figure in front, being briefly distracted by the vaguely feline shape of the hood but quickly being distracted by the mismatched eyes and the almost unnatural smile.
Singularity briefly considers some of the products near the counter as well. There is candy here, does Fractal like candy? Most humans like candy I think, maybe I should get some. "Hello fellow human, I would like to purchase these goods from this establishment. And some of these sweets." The tone is even, slightly cheerful. The smile is a bit too wide to be natural, showing teeth just a bit too sharp to be human.
Just when the clerk was about to say something the doors burst open. "Hands in the air, this is a robbery fuckers!" A group of three thugs enters, pointing guns at all the figures inside. "Give us the cash and nobody gets hurt. Yo cat hood, hands in the air." The apparent leader says pointing his gun at the vigilante.
Singularity sighs, expression darkening into a mix of disappointment and annoyance. He slowly turns to face the thug while taking his hands out of his pockets and raising them, he stomps his foot on the ground but nothing happens. 10. "Really? Not even doing it subtly? You had to show exactly how dumb you are." 9.
The thug angryly closes the distance pointing his gun right at his face. 8. "Shut the fuck up! We are not the ones with guns pointed at our heads, so you better collaborate unless you want a vent in your head." Singularity does not even flinch. 7.
The attention of the leader is away from the clerk, so he manages to press a silent alarm while fumbling with the cash register. That will save me time later. 6."Considering how impaired your reasoning is you would benefit more from increased airflow, but as you can see I am not moving. You have no reason to be altered, perhaps you should work on your anger management." 5.
"Listen here smartass I am not in the mood for jokes. Empty your pockets." 4.
"I would love to accommodate your request but it's quite difficult without the use of my upper limbs, and I assume your prior request to keep the raised still applies." 3. Singularity manages to hold back a smirk, maintaining a mostly bored expression.
"Then I'll fucking do it myself moron, no funny moves." 2. The thug still points the gun at the impassive vessel. "And you, hurry the fuck up with the cash." One of the other two thugs moves to the counter behind his leader to take the money that the clerk positioned there. 1.
"Don't worry, I am very serious right now. You instead should take care to be more stable." 0. The ground shakes, the thug breaks his stance to maintain balance, a fist impacts him in the chest sending him flying into the second thug right behind him, cash scatters in the air, another hand holds a slightly deformed gun by the barrel. The third thug watches in horror as his companions hit the glass wall of the shop, he struggles to recover from the tremor and points his gun at the dark figure but is interrupted by a flying gun hitting him in the head. Singularity calmly walks in the direction of the third thug, who is now clutching his forehead in pain, and places a curved bar of dark matter over his chest and arms. "Could you hold this for me, please? Oh, and I'll be taking that." The thug is too stunned to react as the vigilante just takes the gun from his hand.
After a short wait, the police arrive, the wannabe robbers are all neatly arranged on the floor with dark matter arcs on them, and the leader is unconscious. With the police arrives another individual, a familiar robot pretending to be a cape. "Do not despair citizens, The Hoper is here." The machine surveys the situation and notices the struggle is already over. "It seems the worst has already passed, I will assist with the cleanup protocol." With a single glance, the heroic android recognizes the figure standing on the side. "You have my gratitude for resolving the conflict with only minor property damage and mild injuries spatial phenomenon, the city is a bit safer thanks to you."
Singularity looks at the artificial man with resignation, and a bit of pity. "What a way to blow my cover. No problem, it's also my job so there is no need to thank me. I was not expecting you to answer the call for a simple robbery."
"It is part of my directive and I was in range for optimal intervention. This meeting was also unexpected, have you reflected on our prior conversation? Is this the result?"
"It's a part of it I suppose. I don't know what being a hero means yet, but I am trying to find out, and interacting with humans in a more normal manner is part of that. I also still don't intend to join the protectorate, I don't have enough information. You do a good job, but I don't know much about the rest."
"Very well, it is a good thing that you are considering the path of the hero. May hope be with you and guide you on your path."
"Good day to you too Hopeman, see you around. I keep running into you anyway"
After this strange conversation, Singularity just starts walking away from the scene, he initially planned to stay and give a statement to the police but with the Hopeman there and his identity being revealed, there is no need to anymore. With his plans for a normal interaction ruined, it was time to try something else, maybe a more calming place, with less chances of a robbery.
A park would be a good place to just exist, humans tend to go there to relax and socialize it seems like. Singularity found the depths of space and the rooftops of buildings much more relaxing, but he was aware they were not accessible to the average human so it made sense to have alternatives. It did not take long to find a park, small ones are scattered around the city in an effort to maintain at least a semblance of nature. This one was medium-sized, it was not one of the big forest-sized parks the likes of Central Park but at least it was not a small square of grass with a swing and a slide, it even had a pond with ducks in it but they probably were just wild ones. The place was relatively active, people practiced outdoor activities in relative peace, someone in sports gear was running laps around the pond, what looked like a family was eating at a table near some food stands, and kids were playing with a ball of some kind, clearly mismatched to the game itself.
The humans were not a problem at the moment, they did not pay attention to the hooded figure walking aimlessly and looking around, the animals on the other hand were a bit more attentive. Animals are always a gamble around Singularity, he was unable to predict how they would react to his presence, it seemed to vary from one individual to the next but most apparently did not appreciate being exposed to a small glimpse of the dangers of space. Some humans were taking the dogs for a walk, a necessary activity supposedly when you have one, most of them just walked by themselves but sometimes they congregated to let the canines socialize too. Singularity decided to stop and sit on a bench on the side of a small path, which allowed him to observe most of the park and should not be too unusual, to reinforce his cover he generated a small dark matter rectangle to simulate a smartphone from the hand in his pocket, it should look good enough at a distance.
His first impressions of the situation seem to be correct, the humans are ignoring him and focusing on themselves, the animals instead all notice him but show a wide range of reactions. The most common reactions are different degrees of fear, some refuse to approach and try to drag the owner away from the bench, others instead freeze in the proximity of the strange figure forcing the humans to drag them away, the owners do not seem to understand the reason for this behavior and simply keep going in mild confusion. The calm observation is interrupted by a ball suddenly impacting the side of Singularity's head, the sound is unnatural and the lack of a flinch, or any reaction at all, was unusual but nobody was close enough to notice. A couple of kids frantically run to the bench, the ball now resting on the side of the strange figure who barely noticed it in the first place. They start profusely apologizing, with pleads to say nothing to the respective parents, when Singularity speaks.
"You seem to be the owners of this sphere, do not be afraid, I was unaffected by its momentum. You should still be careful in the future, not everyone has the same stability as me." Singularity instinctively tried extending a shard to grab the ball but since the vessel currently lacks them he just appears to be attempting a dramatic pause. He soon realizes his mistake. "Here, you can have it back, but you should consider using it for its intended purpose. I don't think this is the right sphere for your game."
One of the kids hesitates before slowly taking the ball from the outstretched hand. " We are sorry to bother you, we will try to be careful but this park has no basketball court so we can't really play that."
"I see, it seems some games require static installations to be there. This park does lack a sports field. Well, nothing can be done about that now, go on kids, don't let me keep you from recreation."
The other kid that just quietly observed his friend panic speaks up. "You talk funny, tanks for not ratting us out." Then they both run away, to resume playing probably but it does appear they are going farther from other humans now.
I am not sure a child is a reliable source of information for proper speech, but I will note this down just in case. This does however count as a successful interaction, they did not react to my appearance at all, I may be closer than I expected. In fact, the robbers also threatened me as if I was a normal human, I may be better at this than I predicted. Singularity was not in fact good at this, but circumstance was on his side on this day.
With the brief interruption resolved, it was time to go back to observation. The atmosphere was surprisingly calming, and despite the noise of people around and the proximity to the street, the vigilante was starting to relax a bit too much. If someone asked him why he put in a sleep function in the vessel he would be unable to answer properly, he just did it because it felt right to have it. His almost sleep was prevented by an unusual circumstance, some dogs started barking at him. This was a new reaction, no dog had the audacity to challenge him before, animals seemed to instinctively know the danger he posed to nature but these in particular seemed to have missed the memo. They were being led by a robust girl, she looked young but Singularity was not the best at recognizing the age of humans, and her reaction was more of annoyance than confusion as if this was a normal occurrence.
The situation brings the vigilante back to his senses, and he realizes that it's gotten surprisingly late as well. Instead of ignoring them like all the others he decides to try diffusing the situation to get away sooner. "I apologize for the reaction your canines seem to have to me, it must be the hood, I know they tend to dislike cats." He calmly stands up.
The young woman raises her gaze and makes a startled expression as if this was the first time she actually looked at the figure in front of her, she almost seems to share the reaction of her dogs. "I don't think that's it." The words are spoken like a growl, it takes the vigilante by surprise.
Ok, the situation could be better, but I should still try to be civil. Those dogs would just hurt themselves by biting me and that would raise too many questions. "Well sorry to bother you, whatever it is I did, I was just leaving anyway so it should calm your creatures."
With a slightly hurried step Singularity leaves the scene without waiting for a response, she does not look like the kind to talk anyway. How strange, I never was on the receiving end of that, I assumed animals just had enough self-preservation instincts to not attack me. The girl also had a strange reaction, she acted like her dogs, suspicion would not be strange but the way it was expressed was peculiar. I almost want to study that, but I don't think it's appropriate, the sensors scattered around the city are already too much of a breach of privacy.
The day was coming to a close, the sun was setting and the nightlife of the city was starting to wake up. Experiencing the nightlife of the city would be valuable data but criminality also tends to be more active at night so by that time it would be best to change into the combat vessel and be ready for duty. Despite that Singularity found himself unwilling to depart, he was starting to enjoy the aimless wandering.
By now the vigilante had no idea where he was, orientation from the ground level with so many tall buildings around would take some getting used to. In an attempt to derive his position from the stars, or simply distraction, he was walking while looking at the sky, the fact it was barely dusk did not help much. The sound of laughter and animated discussion preceded an impact, a teenager fell to the floor after hitting the near immovable object that is Singularity, the sounds are replaced with indignation and swears in the general direction of the distracted vigilante.
The guy on the floor immediately starts aggressively reprimanding. "Watch where you go fuckface, do you even know who I..." His string of insults and threats is interrupted when he looks up. The young man is pretty muscular, probably a player of some contact sport going by the uniform and the similar look of his company, they do move in packs after all. The look of anger and indignation is replaced by one of confusion when he sees the figure in front of him unphased by the sudden impact.
Singularity looks at the kid and does a couple of calculations in his mind. Maybe I should start pretending to be moved by these events, a normal human with the equivalent build of my vessel would be the one on the ground right now. I need to distract them somehow. "I am sorry to see you in trouble and I do need to pay more attention to my surroundings I will admit but I think you hit a wall, not me."
One of the other pack members chimes in. "No, he hit you, we all saw it" He was equally confused.
A third one adds quietly from the back. "Is this what they mean when they say that someone is just built different?"
My attempt failed, I need a plan B.
The stunned guy regains his composure somewhat and decides to continue his tirade as if nothing happened. "Do you even know who I am?! I will not tolerate this disrespect, I could get you expelled."
I see, he really does act like the pack leader, peer pressure and pride do not allow him to show weakness. A poor survival tactic outside of his enclosed environment but it could prove useful now. "I apologize for the inconvenience, I did not mean any disrespect by it, I simply do not care about you. I don't see how your presence should affect me, or mine should affect you. It is simply a small inconvenience in the path of life, you are free to move along and I will ignore this as you should."
The words that were supposed to be placating and pacifying sounded awfully condescending to the even more enraged teenager. It may be a trick of the light but he looks slightly bigger now, until one of the other pack members puts a hand on his shoulder and he seems to visibly shrink. "Dude, let's just go and leave this weirdo alone, we're late for the party already."
With a huff he relents. "Fine, but I will remember you cat hood."
"There is no need, I can assure you I am completely unremarkable." The teen storms off with his friends, it's unclear if he even heard the last sentence.
A small group of onlookers formed around the scene, all staring at the exchange. The distracted vigilante found himself near a high school at the time of departure, and he apparently bothered a group of important people. He will have to research the social norms of teenagers in school later, he was aware that sports players are held in high regard among the populace but this seemed excessive if that was the only reason. When the stares started turning to whispers it was time to go, young humans are very prone to gossip and the situation was already bad enough.
Singularity was running out of ideas and out of time, it was night so he should already be back at base by now. He looked up at the sky one last time and noticed the massive floating structure, he managed to avoid it until now but he got closer in his wanderings, seeing it reminded him of the fact Fractal mentioned some sort of meeting with the crew, he briefly wondered how that went but decided he already lost too much time and started searching for an appropriate location to begin his trip home.
As the city becomes smaller under him Singularity thinks back to the events of the day, it did not go according to plan but it was not a complete disaster either. He managed to interact naturally with a couple of humans, and the aggressive behavior some others displayed was proof that this vessel was at least close enough to be mistaken as normal. The lack of distortion and the effort to not float probably played a big part as well, behaviour is something he needs to work more on, he can build as many vessels as he wants but he can't build himself a new personality.
The asteroid base opens and the vessel is put in storage, the crystal core briefly floats alone before finding the old vessel and taking its place reactivating it. All the extra limbs spring back to life, it feels good to have them back.
*Maybe I should add some extras to the next version, I am sure I can find a way to hide them better, they just feel too useful to not have."
With that last reflection, the vigilante officially starts his patrol again, it's not particularly necessary to bring his combat vessel, he just proved that he does not need it to deal with the average criminal he comes across, but it's better to be ready for anything.
*I should think of a name for my human identity, I may need one in the future."