Idle Idol part 1

1022 Morningstar Ave
Eden Island

Three floors below the ground level of his sprawling state Steven Chance stretches his muscled arms as he enters what he calls his private think-tank. Walking to the far end of the room he immediately resumes work on a forearm armor attachment. Looking through sight enhancing goggles to see the tiny electronic components housed within the gauntlet he makes a slight grin of satisfaction for the work he had completed the previous day. Steven closes the small panel the attaches the piece on the mannequin standing beside the workstation.

“-With that I take it the Mk. 5 is completed?-“ asks the digitized voice of SPLICE.

Not surprised by the inquisitive AI Steven answers “I hope so. Unfortunately I don’t have quite the field testing resources I once had. To find out for sure I might have to pick a random fight late this evening”.

“-Shall I search out for a suitable test subject?-“

“No thanks, I’ll handle that by sight.” The big man answers as he collects a odd looking blue drink from a mini refrigerator and takes a seat at the nearby table. “Any matters of interest this morning?”

“-Yes. Stiletto and Fantasma have established zone point F37 and are gathering intelligence on potential local assistance.-“

“Excellent! Let’s hope those two can be content with their role as spies for a while longer. Getting the gangs attention too soon would be a disaster.” Idol begins to chuckle “How about the exile?”

“-You will be pleased to know that Veronica has managed to remain within the top five percent of AFU freshmen without using her ability to hack into school records. She has sent you an email containing 5381 words and numerous attached pictures from her spring break experience. They contain adult content, shall I filter them?-“

Steven shakes his head “Negative! Do not edit that email in any way!”

“-Very well. The cleansing process of Subject X01 is now complete. Do you wish for it to remain in cryostasis?-“

After pausing in thought for a moment he nods “Just a few weeks longer before we start with that one.”

“-Understood. The only remaining item for you this morning might create problems for you. You are the subject of a front page article in this morning’s edition of the Angel Falls Ledger.-“

Idol chugs down the almost glowing blue liquid then makes a disgusted face. “What kind of trouble is Clandestine Tech in now, please don’t tell me it’s something to do with the Tartarus power dampening apparatus?”

SPLICE displays the article on a large wall monitor “-How this managed to bypass O52 media security would probably be due to my inferior replacement. The subject of this is Steven Chance aka Idol, not Clandestine Technologies.-“
Idol reads the article which includes a picture of him in costume fighting Soviet Superwoman over a year ago. It goes into detail revealing the otherwise quiet businessman to be a meta human known to some as Idol and questioned whether this man is a potential hero or a dangerous villain. “Yeah, this is a problem. It was going to happen eventually anyway but given the choice this would not have been the time. Any other media sources running this story?”

“-So far it has spread to four news network web sites. Attempts to search the Ledger’s database have not revealed a source, this information was probably delivered as hard copy only. That would indicate the source was familiar with my limitations detecting such material. It is 99.9% probable this information was released by a member of Organization 52.-“

“Without question it came from them but why they would risk disclosure doesn’t make any sense.” Idol responds as he puts on his newly augmented outfit. “Get word to them that I’ll be paying a friendly visit.”

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Thanks to...
for use of the likeness of Soviet Superwoman & American Hero.
for use of the likeness of Dark Star.

Thanks for looking!