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"I have told that story before," said Steve to Delta, and indeed it was a familiar one - he took pride in both Gina's vigilance and her reaction to the story later. Steve kept a respectful distance as Miss Americana went about her work, not wanting to give Delta the feeling he was being stared at. Normally Steve wouldn't have said a word as Miss A went about her work, knowing that he likely had little to offer, but Terminus cybernetics were an area where he could offer useful advice to his partner's ear. Standing against the wall without leaning on it, as rigid as a statue, he commented, "Your skeletal structure remains. Good." Speak to the man - don't speak of him as if he isn't here, he reminded himself. After all, he'd been on tables like this before - and on those far less friendly. "I have done my best to maintain the vigilance of this dimension. They have been successful." 

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"Metal on your body is fine," Miss A assured him, "it'll just be easier to get a scan of it without anything in the way." She did a brief double-take when Delta showed up naked for the scan, but kept her expression pleasantly neutral despite the surprise. Once Delta was settled on the table, several devices that looked like boxy cameras descended on robotic arms from the ceiling, pausing a few feet over his body. "None of this should hurt," she reiterated from the control panel on the other side of the room. "If you feel any discomfort or you need a break, tell me right away." The devices began to hum with activity, one of them bathing a soft blue light over various parts of Delta's body. "Can you tell me a little more about your history?" 

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Delta lay there, looking directly at the ceiling, totally ignoring the cameras but listening to Miss Americana's voice as he nodded,"Not my first rodeo, I'm going to be just fine, promise."

 

Her question caused a small curl of his lip, and it was not a smile, a deep breath and then he spoke,"First thing I remember, something pretty similar to this, my body was adult, I don't remember anything before but it was clear that there was life before being Delta, I don't remember any of it though."

 

"The first few years were a blur, I was under some kind of mind control, I fought for Lord Omega. I killed, I had a squad, my brothers. All named similar to me, and we took out the opponents of the Terminus....."

 

He stopped, looking up at the lights and sighed,"Then I was hurt...bad, out in a far away place and I got some modifications. My arms, my head were repaired...but using a new metal. That's when I started to work my way loose from their control...slowly, but surely."

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"Your English is already idiomatic. Good." Steve moved his index finger in slow circles, his face thoughtful. "That replacements for Omegadrones exist shows a change in the relationships among Annihilists. A portent." Who could say what would happen now that the spirit of Omega had returned - but changes that meant fewer doomforges burning were good changes, he decided, whatever difficulties they created. "Conflict on Nihilor can only serve this world." It meant more suffering for the people of Nihilor but the hard hand of fate had long ago drawn a veil across his own dimension. Perhaps I forget them too easily, he thought as he considered Delta's words about himself. He considered more what his life would be like if he had no memories of the time before his taking by the forges, the corners of his lashless eyes crinkling slightly at the thought.

 

To distract himself from such a thought, he stepped from the wall to stand at Miss Americana's side - if they were an odd pair, it was an oddity he was well-used to now. He turned to Miss Americana and suggested, "Are you free after..this?" This could potentially be some time.

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Miss A nodded absently, most of her attention still on the readings she was taking. "Barring supervillainy, yeah. I've got a conference call with Tokyo at seven, but I don't think it's going to take very long. Will you bring dinner home?" She touched a few controls and the blue lights shifted pattern, one of them turning yellow and faintly warm as it played over the cyborg's body. "How long have you been free?" she asked Delta. "All the way, I mean. Did you break away before the big power shakeup, or more recently than that?" She wasn't as up on the history and politics of the Terminus as she perhaps ought to have been, but it was one of Steve's least favorite subjects in the entire universe so she tended to let it go. "If the light's too bright I can give you sunglasses." 

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"We were meant to be replacements, it's not so much conflict as sycophantic fawning, my maker was trying to make the next big thing after Omegadrones to win his way into Lord Omega's good graces....my escape hopefully stopped that.", he didn't reply to Steve's comment on his English, he had nothing but time and a high speed computer in his head and masses, and masses of you tube video's to run through, he could name more 'cat stars' than he cared to remember, but his databanks did that for him.

 

He ignored the domestic chatter between the two of them till she asked a direct question, his large mechanical eyes irising open and shut a few times to focus on her,"I've had free will for about 3 years....but there isn't a lot of places to go when you are doing all your work along the Terminus frontlines. It was only in the chaos of the Invasion being turned back that I escaped and then they were shut out, sent back to Terminus, at least for now."

 

Her last question made a small smile curl his lips before he focused the large bulbous, almost chameleon like eyes on her and chuckled,"I don't need them, and I doubt they would fit. My eyes can see in many spectrums, and can adjust quiet nicely to normal light changes, thank you."

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"Japanese. Perhaps the sushi this time, from that place with all the chili..." he said thoughtfully. Freedom City, he had been told, had an excellent restaurants that didn't 'dial things down' for the benefit of consumers with weak palates. Given that his own problems with taste and touch often ran in different directions, that was a good thing. "You should eat what you can here," he said for the benefit for their guest. "Cities here are many peoples of different types together, just as they are in the Terminus, but their differences are...what makes them grow, rather than poisons them at their root." 

 

Studying Delta, he added, "I understand wearing the marks of what was. But there are...tactical benefits to concealment."

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Miss Americana chuckled a little. "Believe it or not, yours are not the most unusually-shaped eyes I've had to figure out light protection for. But if you're good, we won't worry about it." She adjusted a few readouts, turned the blue light to a soft amber as another machine took a very close look at his feet. "So what's your favorite part about Earth Prime so far?" she asked conversationally. "Have you been able to get out and do much yet? Tried much of the cuisine or the music? Freedom City's no New York, but we've got our share of world culture." 

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Delta nodded at Steve's words,"I've noticed there seems to be a bond that grows between these people. The harder they struggle the closer they get, despite their differeneces....although there are exceptions when they don't have a strong foe to unite against."

 

This was the third or fourth time Steve had brought up concealing who he was, and for now Delta ignored it, he didn't have the capabilities as of the moment and for now would focus on surviving and making sure he didn't full under the sway of the various agents of the Terminus on Earth-prime.

 

He forced a smile at Miss Americana's chuckle, it was a most perfect chuckle he had to admit, but his mind was elsewhere as she scanned him further and then asked questions and there was some that were easier than others,"The safety, and the lack of mind controlling mad scientists near me..."

 

"I have been to the aquarium...that didn't go as well as I had planned. Music, I've listened to just about everything I can get hold of on the internet. Food wise, I've eaten what they've provided at Freedom City's League headquarters. I can't just go into your typical restaurant, not without causing some issues. That said I did get some of the other people in the HQ to order in Chinese. I rather enjoyed Crispy Beef and Crab Rangoon, so there is that."

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They talked Freedom City for a while, places to go and people to see, while Miss Americana went about her work. Steve was not particularly charismatic or sure in his speech but he knew a great deal about Freedom City and the sort of places (and establishments) that wouldn't look too closely at a customer who clearly was not the baseline norm. Occasionally he'd chat with Miss Americana during moments when Delta couldn't speak, making plans for what Delta had learned was called a "dinner date" here on Prime. When Miss Americana's work was done and the machines were finishing their calculations, Steve turned his back briefly to let Delta dress again. "If we clear our calendar for this week, all will be well," he offered to Miss A. He just needed to finish writing that tactical report - or did he? "So of this visit, Delta," he inquired. "What more do you seek?"

 

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