Chapter 2: The Scientist
Governor Archibald Wenshire carried himself like a man carved from conviction.
His silver hair was combed back immaculately.
His posture was straight enough to shame a ruler and his eyes held the sharpness of someone trained not to merely see, but to judge.
When he stepped onto the stage, the air shifted.
His reputation preceded him: the scientist who had crafted the first countermeasures that ended the Second Robotic War.
Whose theories reshaped everything from mech-limb kinetics to threat-response models. Even now, years removed from the frontlines, he radiated the unblinking steadiness of a man who had stared catastrophe in the eye and refused to blink.
"My friends," Wenshire began, voice strong without needing to be loud, "today we do more than witness history."
He paused, scanning the crowd. His words fell into the silence like iron weights.
"We honor the spirit that carried us through our darkest age."
Luke felt a shiver run through him. He had heard recordings of the Governor's speeches before, but hearing him in person was different. The man had presence, something not quite definable. A gravity if he were to put the sensation into words.
His speeches always sounded crafted, but not insincere. He spoke about the past, about the tragedy and resilience of humanity, about the machine uprisings and the price paid to end them.
"The Second Robotic War nearly broke us," Wenshire continued. "Not because we lacked machines. But because we lacked the courage to face the ones we created. And after the war we faced the loss of a lifetime, the loss of the priceless knowledge of crafting. Which resulted in the impossibility of crafting original machinery from the First Generation caliber to the Second Generation caliber. For the past few years after the war, researchers have been tirelessly trying to reproduce an original machine but have all failed managing to only create failed imitations, that progressively resulted to the formation of fourth and Fifth Generation Machines. Well today that all changes. Because after tireless years of research and development, l proud to announce the first ever original Machine to be created in the past five decades.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce the genius behind this miracle, the Exalted Knowledge Master, Dr. Cyrus V. Chucks."
Applause rose in a synchronized wave, as Dr. Chucks appeared on the stage.
Dr. Cyrus V. Chucks.
He was a middle-aged man with a lean frame and wiry hair stuck out at odd angles. A lab coat fluttered with every fidget he made. His eyes were large , hidden behind thick spectacles. His eyes sparkled with the manic brilliance of someone who'd spent most of their life chasing ideas no one else dared to touch.
Nervous energy poured off him. Even the way he adjusted his glasses seemed jittery, like his mind was six seconds ahead of his body at all times.
He approached the veiled object at the center of the stage with reverence, his hands trembling. It was obvious even from a distance, that this was by far his most treasured creation. As a fellow engineer, Luke could easily tell.
"Honored guests…" Dr. Chuck began, voice cracking before resettling. "For twenty-three years, I have devoted myself to reconstructing what we have lost."
A low murmur rippled through the hall, the people's anticipation growing every second.
Rin leaned in close to Luke.
"This is it."
Luke nodded, feeling his throat dry.
Dr. Chuck gestured toward the covered shape. "What stands before you is the culmination of my life's work: a true Second Generation artifact reborn in its pure and original magnificence."
Even the guards on stage shifted, armor joints clicking softly.
Without creating any suspense any longer, the genius knowledge master, suddenly removed the veil that covered the object.
The veil fluttered slightly as Dr. Chuck grasped its corner.
And after it was removed, a single collective inhale suddenly swept the crowd.
Luke stared with both puzzlement and amazement on the item that had been revealed.
The Second Generation Machine, was unlike anything he had imagined it to be.
Of all the object he thought it would be, what he saw was a plain silver face mask. The mask held nothing spectacular about it, and if one didn't know any better they would have easily regarded it as nothing but a mere accessory.
Looking at the seemingly ordinary item the crowd remained in its silence, with various emotions bubbling inside them.
Some even started to doubt whether this was an original machine.
After the dramatic reveal of the object, Dr. Chucks like any achieved engineer, then proceeded to describe his creation.
"Ladies and Gentlemen " spoke the genius, this time his voice more confident and grounded.
"l call this item, the Eye of Fate. This is an compact modular, that houses thousands wire neuro frames, and a hundred soul chips. Its crafted from an alloy combination of God Steel and Giant Brass. Its energy release proceeds close to a vigorous breakthrough. And its Soul Calibration and Synchronization reach almost seventy-six percent. Its-"
Before he could finish, the crowd at this moment broke into a murmur of shock.
Everyone here knew all too well what a seventy-six Soul Calibration and Soul Synchronization meant. This was one of the highest levels of Soulfinication a Second Generation Machine could reach. Furthermore it was only a few percent below the limit of Second Generation, which was eighty percent.
This undoubtedly made Dr. Chuck's talent more apparent than what everyone had thought. Not only had he created a peak-level Second Generation Machine, but it also showed that given enough time he might as well be capable of creating a First Generation Machine.
Upon being interrupted, Dr. Chucks who was well aware of the awe-striking feat he had performed did not get angry and simply waited for the crowd to absorb on the shock.
A moment later he proceeded with his description.
"Due to its high level of Soulification, the item has high self awareness and incredible observational traits. Its Genre laying in the observational machine category of an accessory machine. And also taking in more slight parameters of Artificial Intelligence (Al)."
Upon hearing the explanation, the crowd which had already absorbed the shock suddenly erupted into a few cheers and a appreciative applause.
Even though an accessory category machine was not as impressive as the other categories of machines, its still struck awe to them, expecially its trait of Artificial intelligence.
Luke was already taking in into full detail of the external composition of the item in hopes of gaining inspiration on the art of soul Calibration (Soulfinication). But no matter how hard he tried to see it, he could not understand anything. The machine composition of the machine was too complex that it only appear as nothing but ordinary in his eyes.
Rin nudged him by his asking him any progress in studying the machine.
Luke helplessly shook his head.
"l will need to glance it at a closer distance, for me to make out anything "
Sadly that wasn't possible. It might've been if it was nothing but a Fifth Generation Machine. But given the rank of the technological artifact, the possibility of him of studying it at a distance of less than six meters was a dream. In fact him seeing it even from that distance was already a once in a lifetime opportunity.
As he thought of this, Luke could only sigh as his gloved hands clenched with frustration.
Dr. Chucks on the stage was already about to proceed with the testing phase. A phase held by Meusium Authorities in front of public masses in order to validate the authenticity of the rank of a new creation before it was accepted into the Meusium.
Luke watched as various Tech personal approach the artifact, with various machinery.
He also saw Governor Archibald Wenshire reach up to the stage standing near Dr. Chucks.
While he was staring at this, Luke out of nowhere felt a shiver run through him. His dark hand glove covering his hand suddenly send a jolt of lighting to him. At the same time the world around him warped before a vison like scene suddenly projected before him as if he was experiencing a dream.
In the vison he saw himself standing in the crowd staring at the stage of the exhibition.
The testing was already beginning and out of nowhere he saw a bullet streak through from the concealed man from the back of the crowd, as it moved at an fast speed tearing through countless people and making its way to the stage.
The bullet reached him as it tore through his chest as a last obstacle before finding its way to its target, which was Governor Archibald Wenshire.
The moment the Governor was hit, the scene shattered and his perception was back to the room.
And without wasting a second his body remembering the death it had seen, instinctively jerked to the side.
A second later a bullet flew towards the Governor, dealing a fatal wound on his chest.
At the same time Luke who had narrowly escaped death caught the sight of a familiar cloaked figure move through the crowd with impressive speed.
The bunny masked man.