Jennifer Sawyer didn’t seem troubled by the fact that Astra Machina had positioned herself between her and her friends or that it had been revealed she had poisoned the other scientists. She simply returned to her desk in a surprisingly casual manner, then sat on it once again before speaking, “Years ago, I sent a request to the US government for a sample of Neutronium. I understood it was a commodity and there was interest in the creation of metahumans within the bounds of the legal system. I thought I could create privately owned superhuman security agents. They declined, as did a myriad of other governments around the globe who had also procured Neutronium. Despite this, I found a legal loophole: there were no laws concerning nanotechnology when it came to the creation of metahumans. In fact, all laws in the US centered around the illegal possession of Neutronium as opposed to the creation of metahumans itself. As you all know, I have used nanotechnology to make great strides in medical science so I used what I knew of biotechnology to create a nano-program that would rewrite a human’s biological structure, much like Neutronium.”

“Why are you telling us this?,” Kim asked.

“I’m not sure I want the answer,” Wally whispered.

“My nano-bots are designed for what one might call ‘shape-shifting’, essentially, so that’s what I went for,” Sawyer continued, “Now, metahuman experimentation is absolutely illegal in terms of using force, coercion or bribery. Meanwhile, there is no law against self-experimentation.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of,” Wally muttered.

“Using nanotechnology of my own design is 100% legal,” Sawyer smiled, “I’ve always had a private lab in my building so experimentation was easy enough. Doing so in secret was also quite easy.”

“If you were obeying the law when giving yourself powers, why would you have to do it in secret?,” Astra asked.

Sawyer only smiled and lifted an arm which proceeded to ripple, then elongate into a long, stretchy strip of flesh with an enlarged fist. The punch sent Astra flying back through the double doors, then she hit the spiral stairs and tumbled down most of the way until she caught the railing. Inside the suite, Sawyer’s flesh rippled again and turned green as scales began to emerge and her clothes and hair seemingly vanished. She turned herself into a reptilian creature and leapt out of the room where she created twin blades from her arms and sliced through the staircase which sent Astra falling to the main room. Sawyer leapt over the top railing, somersaulted in mid-air, then came down with a mallet-shaped fist that embedded Astra into the marble floor.

Astra puffed her body out, throwing Sawyer off her. Twin thrusters formed behind her ankles, followed by a jet pack on her back. A burst of plasmatic energy later and she tackled Sawyer through the large window across the room and the two fell toward the gated residential area below. Above, Wally took a peak out of the room and briefly spotted the living room full of bodies and ducked back inside to catch his breath; his knees quivered and his stomach turned at the sight. “Just keep breathing and don’t look out there,” Kim told him and took her phone out of her purse, “I’m calling the cops.”

Above the gated community, Astra flew while holding onto Sawyer who reverted back to her human form just before creating a spike from her left arm. She thrust the blade into Astra, grinding against her outer metal shell and eventually piercing her. Astra angrily threw her to the ground where she bounced off the asphalt, creating a large hole and then hit the side of a parked car, caving it in. Astra landed a moment later.

“You killed all the scientists so there wouldn’t be any witnesses who knew about me. You were going to kill my friends last, weren’t you?,” Astra asked as she created a series of canons along her arms, “You were trying to get information from them first.”

“I needed to study you and they could give me information,” Sawyer rose to her feet, “Isn’t it logical that I keep them alive a while longer?”

“I could have shared information without anyone dying.”

“As you said, I didn’t want witnesses. Someone created you and that person or group could be looking for you. Keeping you a secret while using your technology to make innovations of my own was optimal.”

“There’s something that I can’t understand. You wanted to study me but what makes you think I would choose to cooperate with you after you killed all those people?”

Sawyer shrugged slightly and a look of complete sincerity crossed her face, “I didn’t expect you to care.”

Sawyer’s words were to the point and honest. There was no arrogance or facetiousness in her voice. She simply did not take into account Astra’s friendship or simple compassion for human life. It did not compute. The canons along Astra’s arms lit up and multiple beams poured out, tearing Sawyer through the car and into the front lawn of a mansion. “How is it that I understand humanity better than you?,” Astra roared as she stormed forward. Behind her, lights flicking on in the houses. Sawyer lifted herself up, exposing parts of her body that had melted into a pink sludge on the grass and unearthed soil. She snarled as a portion of her face began to drip down and when she stood to her feet, parts of her body became metallic and multiple blades formed from her limbs. Astra did likewise. As people came out on their front lawns, they saw two figures leaping at one another, sparks emanating from their clashing blades.

The melted parts of Sawyer’s body dangled behind her like gum that had been stretched thin before snapping back in place and reforming with a ripple. Before long, Sawyer had been completely healed, although she maintained a hairless, spiked form that no longer resembled a human. She and Astra locked blades in the middle of a cul-de-sac.

“It’s fascinating that you care about lifeforms that aren’t as intelligent or as powerful as you,” Sawyer said, “I did not expect that.”

“Have you cared about anyone besides yourself?,” Astra asked bitterly.

“No, but it’s a trait I never felt I needed,” and again, Sawyer’s words were disturbingly frank.

Sawyer wrapped tendrils around Astra and whipped her around, her body twisting into an elongated mass of limbs before it released her into the side of a house. Astra quickly sprang back onto her feet but saw no sign of Sawyer. There were, however several onlookers: residents who left their houses to investigate the loud sounds outside.

Astra noted how alarmed they looked and raises a reassuring hand, “It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.” An elderly woman approached her from the side cautiously. When Astra noticed, she turned and smiled, “I am picking up police radios. Help is on the way.” Just then, the elderly woman formed a large, spiked fist and punched her hard enough to send her through the wall behind her and into a living room. When Astra rushed back outside, she caught a glimpse of a figure with elongated legs leaping over the houses and with that, Sawyer disappeared. Sirens rapidly approached in the distance.

The next morning, Kim sat in a police interrogation room with a detective. “The last we saw of Jennifer Sawyer,” Kim told the detective, “She was fighting our friend and they both went out a window.”

“Right, your robot friend, Astra Machina,” the detective nodded, “Residents claimed they saw her fighting some other creature that was changing shape. Neither seemed human.”

“Yeah, that was Jennifer Sawyer.”

“I understand this is all very troubling. We contacted Ms. Sawyer this morning,” he gave her an empathetic look, “She has been in New York since yesterday evening and has a bodyguard to verify her account.”

“No,” Kim shook her head, “She had everyone show up at her penthouse. Me and Wally saw her.”

The detective leaned back, “We found evidence that the security system in Ms. Sawyer’s penthouse had been tampered with, indicating a break in.”

“Okay, but I don’t-”

“Whoever this person is, they broke into her property and for some unknown reason lured you and your co-workers there. They killed your colleagues-”

“Right, that was Jennifer Sawyer!”

“… And tried to kill you and your friends. I understand you’ve been through a lot.”

“Are you listening to me? We saw Jennifer Sawyer. She admitted to using nanotechnology to give herself powers.”

“These would be shape-shifting powers, correct?”

“Yeah, I mean… she turned her hands into weapons.”

“And you,… according to your testimony… witnessed this figure turn into a reptilian creature?”

“I… did.”

“And your friend Astra even said that she saw her turn into a little old lady among other things. The residents in the area corroborated this story.”

“What are you getting at?”

“Would it be possible for this figure to impersonate Ms. Sawyer?”

“Yeah, but…,” Kim sighed, “I-I know it’s her.”

The detective leaned back in his seat and gave her another empathetic look, “We’ll turn this over to the feds. Maybe the IMD will get involved. In the meantime, we’ll put you and your friends up in a hotel. Get some rest. I promise we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“Shit,” Kim laid her head down on the table.

Later, Wally, Kim and Astra entered their hotel room. It no longer mattered if Astra hid herself or not and they stopped noticing the strange stares.

“So besides looking for new jobs, what do we do now?,” Wally plopped down on his bed.

“I dunno. Sawyer’s out there and just got away with everything,” Kim plopped down on the opposite bed.

“I’m sorry I got everyone into this,” Astra said sadly.

“No, Astra, don’t blame yourself,” Kim held her hand, “You saved our lives and besides, you didn’t ask for this anymore than we did.”

“Yeah, one way or another, we’re in this together,” Wally assured her.

Kim smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder, “We’ll find out where you came from and maybe when that happens, people will finally leave us alone.”

“I’m so glad I chose you two as my friends,” Astra said happily, her digitized face forming a large smile.

In Jennifer Sawyer’s office, she gazed silently out the window with her bodyguard Hank behind her. She failed to capture Astra Machina and while the police no longer suspected her of anything, it would be unwise to make a move this early. She looked at her hand and allowed her finger to stretch and contort. There was one thing she acquired that intrigued her: physical power. Perhaps that was an avenue to pursue. There was potential there, yes. No matter the setback, she always made sure there would be something to gain in the future.