forum “I am the righteous hand of God!” he said,” and I am the devil you forgot” she yelled

Started October 11, 2022 by @Adam_gets_railed_by_men

tune

For @Serpentess

(Casual shrug)

Malcolm was leaning over a table with a magnifying glass, inspecting a handful of gems, comparing them. Then, after a moment, one of the gems broke apart into little bead-shaped nanobots. Malcolm straightened in mild surprise, then chuckled in amusement.

“Rascals,”he mused with a raspy voice, watching the nanobots rush away back to their container nearby.

Afterward, Malcolm straightened then and stretched, brushing a hand through his dark brown hair. He already had several streaks and spots of grey hair, though he wasn’t even fifty years old yet. He also only had half a goatee, and part of it was grey as well. The left half of his face was covered by a metal mask, held secure by straps around his head. He also had a mechanical left eye, though it was hard to tell that it was fake.

“So, another quiet day?”he asked the nanobots. They didn’t respond, which wasn’t surprising, but it was still nice to talk to them.

Soon the doorbell rang as a girl walked in, holding what looked like an expensive piece of jewelry. She walked to the front desk and cleared her throat “excuse me?” she asked

Malcolm heard the doorbell and walked out of the back room of his store. He eyed the girl that had come in, noticing the jewelry she held. He could only guess where she’d gotten it, though it wouldn’t surprise him if she’d stolen it. Much of the gems and jewelry he had in stock was actually stolen goods, though it would be very difficult to tell. Malcolm was extremely meticulous with keeping himself out of the law’s eye.

“Good morning. How might I help you, miss?”Malcolm asked as he moved to stand behind the front desk.

“Yeah, it's a family heirloom.. And my brother decided to break it out of rage..” she mumbled

“I see. So, you need it repaired?”Malcolm asked calmly.

Fucking kids. They have no fucking respect.

He waited patiently for her answer.

“No.. I- “ her voice cracked as she tried to force her words over “I’d like to give it to better hands.. I can’t risk it getting broke again because my family is angry..”

Malcolm hummed, then nodded.

“Alright. I’ll have to give it a good look before I can tell you how much it’s worth, but I’ll see what I can do. Usually, that takes about seven to ten days. Then, we can discuss selling price,”he explained.

He held out his hand for the necklace.

The woman handed it over. Her hands were soft but severely scared.

Malcolm gently took the necklace, noting the young woman’s hands. He didn’t necessarily care about the scars. Why should he? But, he wondered if she had been telling the truth at all, considering the condition of her hands.

“Okay. Thank you,”he said as he gently set down the necklace on a table behind him.

He then returned to the counter and grabbed a blank white card from a pile to the side, handing it to her. The moment she grabbed it, the card burst to life, with red and blue nanobots moving around until they formed the shape of a diamond on the card. Small, neat letters formed below the diamond, spelling out the words, ’Malcolm’s Jewels and Appraisals’.

“And, what is your name, so I know who to contact when I’m finished looking at the necklace?”Malcolm asked.

“Daya,” she said softly and smiled at the bots
“Nanobots, I always thought they were just a myth..” daya said, forgetting that she wasn't in her super suit to explain how she could see them

Malcolm nodded at her name. He then snorted.

“Nanobots have been around for decades. They’re just typically used for more ‘scientific’ or medical purposes. I’m not your typical person though,”he mentioned.

Malcolm didn’t question how Daya could see the nanobots, but he did wonder. The nanobots on his business cards were much smaller than his bead-shaped bots, so it would be difficult for any average person to tell they were there. However, this woman was quickly becoming a little more exotic than most.

Daya nodded gently and sighed “I have to go to work, please call me.” she said and left

“I will,”Malcolm replied politely.

He watched her leave, then rolled his eyes. He checked for any other customers, and seeing no one else, he took the necklace into the back room, where he started up on the long process of appraising it. He also inspected it for small pieces he could take for his own… nefarious projects.

“We’ll have to keep an eye on this Daya woman. She’s not the usual sort of dumbass,”he said to his nanobots. A few of them moved a bit, showing their acknowledgment of his words.

Daya quickly changed into her super suit. Though now was missing a piece, the necklace that pinned her care in place. Now she was on the live news, fighting an opponiye

Malcolm didn’t really watch television, preferring to work in silence. But, he occasionally turned the news on, just to keep up with things. He somehow ended up on the live news channel and he paused at the sight of a superhero fighting some villain.

“Wait a fucking minute,”he mumbled after a bit.

He hadn’t thought of it before, but as he watched the woman superhero, he realized that she was missing something. He’d seen her before, so he knew something was off. And, with but a glance at the nearby table, his suspicions were confirmed. The necklace was the missing piece.

“Well… That’s interesting. I see I’ll have to give this necklace some special attention,”Malcolm hummed.

He then returned to work, but not before turning the volume on the tv up slightly. He listened to the news as he worked, intrigued by this superhero woman named Daya.

The woman was starting to grow tired, the villain attacking her and expecting blood. Daya was sent to the side of a building.
As she dropped onto the ground, blood dripping from her head

Malcolm glanced over when it was announced that Daya had a head wound. He rose a disdainful eyebrow, as he watched, then snorted.

“Fucking amateurs. Just because you can make people bleed doesn’t mean you should flaunt it, and that’s regardless of what side you’re on,”Malcolm huffed.

He then turned back to his work. He found the broken area of the necklace, where several gems were cracked and chipped. With careful fingers, he removed those gems and found some similar ones to replace them. He worked those gems back on the necklace, noting with a sly grin that one of the new stones had a minuscule mark on it. It was just a tiny, insignificant dot, but it signaled that it was a gem he’d carefully drilled into to contain a pod of spy nanobots.

“Be careful, little ones. This woman will see you. And, I don’t want you to get caught,”Malcolm said, his words aimed at the nanobots in the gem.

There was no response, but there didn’t need to be. Malcolm knew his nanobots would be careful. He had designed them that way.

Daya had gotten up quickly, defeating the villain. She swayed on the spot. She had gotten a moment of silence before falling over. In those moments she had signed the letters “s.o.s.” in ASL