Konrad home away from home was his lab in the college of manipulation, it was the only place he felt comfortable being without his suit. His door specifically had been modified to include a fingerprint scanner and a door that opened only to a direct connection with his suit, even the students with Technopathy had trouble getting into his lab. He kept most of his minor non lethal weapons within this particular room.

He stood over his workbench when he heard the yelling, mostly profanity. He had been accustomed to this as he heard it often, some professor would get mad on something he was working on, and consequently take his rage out and let the rest of the hall know about it, this time however Konrad was in a bad mood, he had attempted to build a gadget when thrown that could incapacitate nearby enemies, but all this noise was interrupting him, and he was having trouble actually engineering a device that would do so, it seemed he couldn't actually find the frequency.

His suit stood on a stand, the front opened so that Konrad could put his body inside. He put himself in the suit and let it embrace him, the metal plates extending and sliding into place. Opening the door he walked down the hall and into the open office, a pair of expensive heels resting at the door. He knocked on the door to show her that someone had entered. "You're being loud." Konrad said, his voice came out monotone, Konrad was a very blunt individual.


((The armor))

She was just so polite and enthusiastic sounding, he had figured long ago that she was probably just creating a fake attitude, with that kind of attitude no one would suspect he of anything, maybe Konrad was trying to read too far into her simple greetings, but he wasn't anything if not cautious. His eye's shifted to the gauntlet, his Technopathy allowed him to almost understand complex objects, as if they had feelings, but he wasn't able to do all the fun hacking or talking that other Technopathists could do.

"If you want my help, just ask." He said a little coldly, maybe she expected him to straight towards the gauntlet and just fix it, but even for him it was a very complex piece of machinery, a work of art. He chose the computer console first, bending over he looked at the previous analysis of the glove, the diagnosis was all wrong, the glove cried in anguish, maybe it wasn't a lubrication problem but a technology problem? Leaning over the console he began typing furiously, a string of code narrowing down specific glove systems before submitting the assessment parameters.

As he waited for the scan to finish, he looked over to the woman standing behind him. "Since you brought it up, as an acoustical engineer you know much more about sound than I do, care to help me develop a sound based gadget?" There wasn't much beating around the bush with the engineer.



((The armor))

Contrary to her welcoming attitude, Konrad felt some sort of unease being around her. The lack offense and the ecstatic tone made him feel distant, as if he was talking to a robot and no matter what action he took, the same output would come out. An overbearing happiness, he didn't dislike for her it, but it didn't make him feel any sort of comfort.

His unflinching gaze remained upon his female coworker, her face probably reflected off the opaque surface of his visor. "You will not be replacing them, I will, it is the least I can do." His tone became softer than before, it was his kinder side,after all she had agreed to help him make a gadget, he rarely asked people for help. He didn't know Rosie well and although her friendly demeanor set him on edge, maybe he'd begin to respect her a little more, especially with that amazing gauntlet.

"Preferably a grenade type object which can incapacitate or disorient those who hears it sounds, I also need you to build something in my helmet to block out the sound when I use it." He rarely let anyone touch his precious suit, but she'd be one of the lucky few. The console behind him beeped as the analysis finished, he walked over to it and leaned back over, the results were inconclusive, it seemed maybe he would have to take the gauntlet back to his Laboratory. "We have to go to my lab, bring your gauntlet and follow me." He walked out the door not waiting for her to get ready, he took a right as soon as he walked out and headed towards his lab.


((The armor))

Konrad heard the footsteps behind him, so he knew that Rosie had agreed to the change of labs. Appraching his door he stuck his hand out, the plates around his hand began receding allowing the flesh underneath the suit to be visible. He stuck his right hand on the scanner and the first lock disengaged, he balled his left hand and stuck into a compartment in his door. With a second release the door opened and he stepped inside. "Close the door on your way in."

The room was a similar size to Rosie's but it was much more personalized and laboratory like than hers. 2 large 50 inch screens adorned the right wall, both with strings of text constantly running through them. His computers were built behind the wall and had backdoors in almost every major information processing server, if he wanted to know something he would find what it was. He just need a little hacker protege to do the dirty work.Millions of dollars were invested in this high tech sanctuary.

In the center was a medium sized table, it had a holographic scale map of New York, with small red blips triangulating 9-11 calls and voice analysis gave him the possible reasons for the disturbance. It seemed crime had gone down ever since Vireximus academy became a thing. Adorning the left wall were two larger tables, one contained a plethora of tools and diagnostic equipment and the other a wide arrange of gadgets. On the back wall was a small chamber that took his suit off for him.

He walked over to the chamber and it peeled apart his suit leaving him exposed in a tight fitting spandex suit, people expected Konrad to be weak under his suit, but the suit ran off his own prowess and so he was in peak physical condition, the suit helped highlight these features. Reaching to a hanger on the wall he put on a balaclava to cover his face before she walked in.

"The room is a little dim, I do my best work in the dark.", it was true, the blue lights from the various objects in the room seemed to be the only light source, it almost seemed like a mad scientists lab. His piercing electric green eye's would be one of the only features she'd be able to see aside from his expressionless mouth.


((The armor))

"Better to be safe than sorry." He said in his normal monotone voice. There wasn't many people he trusted any longer, even heroes could be corrupted, just look at the whole fake villain scandal. Even if his friends weren't above his suspicion.

"I don't run anything out of here, this a setup out of convince, the real weapons are in my real lab." He left the end of his sentence a little ominous, if she thought this was fancy she'd probably shriek at the sight of his actual base. "An estimation of 200 million dollars, including the wealth of information stored in my computer." He said coolly, sometimes Konrad likes to brag, after all he earned this.

"This entire wing has seen me without my suit on, I assure you I don't live here." with that note he took the gauntlet and brought it to the first bench, hooking various diagnostic wires and tool to the gauntlet. Walking over to his console he pressed a few buttons and a second diagnostic began to run, this one narrowing the problem even more. He was sure he would have it. "If you need any materials, don't hesitate to ask, I can acquire just about everything."

((The armor))

He knew she didn't get paid nearly as much as he did, no one got paid as much as he did. He'd always had an excuse for this kind if situation. HE wasn't exactly wizened beyond his years, secretive maybe, but sometimes he let off more than he should have. "I don't get sponsorships like you do, I'm a walking weapons show. My funds come from different multi-billion dollar industries that pool their best resources together to make me a superhuman, they get new investments and even more money, I get less money and resources." His voice was stone cold as always. Multiple companies ensured she couldn't pinpoint any specifics, and the lack of specification on what kind of industries made it even harder. He liked guessing games.

"My sponsers show up from time to time, I can give them a tour without anyone batting an eye." That was complete bullshit, but really, how many potential sponsors and other wealthy folk visited Vireximus from time to time. He was only 27, he looked younger anyways, often confused for a student on the campus.

Konrad observed the drawing, he liked it. Aluminium was a good element to use, lightweight and durable. He'd test the prototypes and maybe make a few adjustments. "I would appreciate that, tell him I send my thanks."

A soft beeping noise could be heard as the glove analysis was finally complete. As he suspected, it seemed a few transistors had blow, the servos needed to be repaired. Placing the Gauntlet gently on the bench he went to work removing the outer layer. Systematically removing the small plates and screw and placing them in to the side in an orderly fashion, as he removed the last piece or actual armor, he showed admiration at the guts of the gauntlet.

"You may take my helmet off if you wish, I'll admire this masterpiece, you can admire that one."

((The armor))

"You're right, being funded by companies is significantly easier, they give me money, I make weapons and test them, send them the blueprints and they make their money back. It's a cycle I can live with." His tone was bordering cynical, although none of that was true, he still believed that someone out there had fallen into a trap like that, helping fund what would potentially kill thousands, maybe some of those would be the innocents he was trying to protect.

"It is a commercial, most of us put on this act so the rest of the world is assured, but we're all uneasy, I mean really, no one knows what going to happen next." He was sincere, nobody knew how it was all going to boil down to, there was still so much tension ever since the superhero world came crashing down, this school was the last bit of normalcy left.

Giving her the specs to his helmet was a little risky, his helmet contained some of the key components of his visual interface, and on top of that it was literally the part that was alive, hell he could part with the knowledge of everything but that particular part of his helmet. "You can have specs I deem necessary to know." He turned back to the workbench computer typing away furiously bringing up a general blueprint and taking out information that was unneeded, he finally finished, what was left, which was the visual and audio circuitry along with some basic size measurements and empty spots where she could possibly fit in what she was trying to build. He left out a single chip installed discreetly, something she wouldn't encounter in her pursuit. "That should do it." He turned to the glove once more, he noticed the blown transistors, taking out a soldering tool he went to work fixing the glove.


((The armor))