Chapter 2: Ch 2 – Shadow Clone

Issac continued to work on his suit for a while alongside his trusty assistant and adorable pet, Nifty. Occasionally he gave out orders to the other assistants in the room, running tests of all sorts and refining whatever he could. 

At some point though, he was interrupted. As Issac sat on a chair staring at his suit, he got a message on his own device, his terminal. Reading it, his eyes lit up a bit, and he quickly left the room. 

Leaving through the giant mechanical door, he made his way through a few hallways before arriving at an area within the lab that served as a restaurant. Looking around, he spotted a table with a single person at it. The person who waved Issac down was another young man like himself.

"Issac!"

"Anthony!"

With a smile, Issac jogged over. The boy named Anthony stood up, and the two met with a smack of the hands and back-patting hug. 

Anthony was Issac's long time childhood friend. He was a only year older than Issac.

Anthony was several inches shorter than Issac standing at 5 foot 10 inches, though in terms of his strength, he was a level greater. His biceps bulged under his sleeves and his chest was wide. While Issac still had the tone, Anthony had the size. And contrary to Issac's black hair that was swept to one side, Anthony had long and thick brown hair that he loosely tied behind his head in a small ponytail, giving off a free and untamed feeling. 

"What's up, my guy! You haven't visited me here for quite a while."

"Eh, I had some time so I thought, why not?"

After separating, Anthony smacked Issac's shoulder before they both sat down. At the table was already a few appetizers and some drinks, which Issac didn't hesitate to dig into. 

After chewing some bread, Anthony spoke.

"So tell me, how's farm life treating you?"

"It couldn't be more boring. This lab is my only escape."

"Heh, go figure. You're lucky though. You're free as a bird out there."

Anthony let out a small sigh as he said that. Issac could only nod. 

Anthony was a part of a large family of several brothers. And his father was someone with extraordinarily high status. He was an Admiral. 

It was a position that stood beyond the confines of this world, and Anthony, being deeply entrenched in his father's line of business, didn't have the freedom that Issac did. He was always working, always under close scrutiny, and always competing with his brothers. This meant that he and Issac never saw much of each other, especially now as they got older. 

And Issac worked in a totally peaceful business without hardly any pressure. The most Issac ever had to do was ensure the machines that maintained the farm were working properly. And with his expertise, doing that was easy if not only a bit tedious. 

The difference could be imagined. 

"It'd be a lie to say that I'm not a bit envious of you Issac. But at the same time, being the son of the admiral has its perks. Just yesterday I was firing off a new experimental artillery shell. Huhu, it's a bit of an exaggeration, but I could've sworn that caused a tectonic shift. We got reports of earthquakes over 600 miles away!"

"Are you serious? Dude... I wish I was you."

Issac gawked at the insane story. As the top brass of the human military, Anthony's father was obviously keen on developing new technologies, and Anthony got to test a lot of the new weaponry. Ever so occasionally would something massive come out, and the result was a story like now. Issac was always jealous of that. 

Anthony could only scoff a bit at the jealousy though. 

"You wish? Dude, you already develop weapons. That suit you're working on could enable someone to wreak the same devastation personally. That's far more impressive than some dinky artillery shell. Oh, and that reminds me."

Anthony took a sip of water before looking Issac in the eye. 

"My father. He's requesting you again. Our R&D team finally got the green light to retrofit our standard issue mech suits. We're looking at a foundational shift here, top to bottom. He says he wants our mech divisions to have their combat potential doubled at minimum."

"Oh?"

Issac was surprised. Such a thing was incredibly difficult to accomplish and would take massive investment. However, it also indicated something big was happening. Issac turned a bit serious as his thoughts traveled over his bracelet and straight into Anthony's mind. 

"Did you find something?"

"Yes. A Black Iron celestial deposit. Only my father and his recon division know about it. He's looking to lock it down and launch a full scale industrial offensive when he's ready."

"That's high risk."

"It is. But if my father didn't have ambitions, he wouldn't have made it to his position. He's looking to solidify his influence with a massive influx of wealth. And if I'm being honest, you're a big part of his plans. I'm pretty sure that at this very moment, he's talking with your father about the same thing."

"Mm."

Issac nodded before going quiet. This was out of the blue, and it was a massive proposition. The only thing that could top this was a declaration of war. 

Black Iron. It was perhaps the most valuable resource in the galaxy.

In this galaxy, there were a few dominant civilizations that spanned hundreds of thousands of stars and even more planets. The human race was one of them, and the planet Issac was on was only one of the many planets the human race controlled. 

As for Anthony, his father held militarized dominion over a cluster of stars. He was an unfathomably influential man. 

And as for Black Iron, it was what enabled such power to be held. 

Black Iron was a mystical material composed of dark matter. This dark matter was usually found and extracted from normal iron. It also appeared void black, not reflecting any light at all. These two factors earned it its name, Black Iron.

Then there was Dark Energy, an invisible energy that enabled the existence of the supernatural. This dark energy permeated the entire galaxy. By itself, it didn't do anything worth noticing, only sitting around the void. However, when it came into contact with living beings, that changed. 

It was said that when a person was born, their soul established contact with dark energy. If the soul was accepting, the dark energy would fill them, and they would be blessed with an ability. Each ability enabled the person's soul to tap into the laws of the universe and manifest energetic effects in the physical world. 

However, the effects were limited if the person used their ability by themselves. This was where Black Iron came in. Black Iron could contain and isolate dark energy, moving it out of a person's body and into special technology also composed of dark matter. This allowed one to channel their abilities in special ways, ways that usually enabled vast destructive power. 

Thus, Black Iron became the most sought resource in the galaxy as the only one that could interact with and contain dark energy. As science advanced, the applications for Black Iron became more systematic. Anything that was developed using Black Iron was called Dark Tech. 

And one of the biggest pieces of Dark Tech was Mechs. Through mechs, people with abilities could channel their power and inject it into machinery aimed toward combat. And Issac's suit, though not a mech suit, was a pilot suit. With this pilot suit, he could jump into any mech and operate it. Everyone who wanted to operate a mech needed a pilot suit to assist them, acting as an intermediary. 

Naturally, anyone who could develop Dark Tech was not only extraordinarily smart, but also extremely valuable. Issac's mother was one such person, and Issac himself was another. While he may not have the sheer knowledge and experience of his mother, he was nonetheless an accomplished Dark Technician. 

Anthony knew this of course. His father and Issac's father were good friends, and Anthony had been raised alongside Issac since they were kids. There was little they didn't know about each other. That also meant that, as a Dark Technician who was also good friends with Anthony, Issac got called on occasionally to lend his smarts. Only, this proposition was much bigger than anything Issac had been a part of before. 

As the most valuable resource, Black Iron deposits were heavily contested over. If one was discovered, it wasn't uncommon for major battles to be fought over it. Since Anthony's father had discovered one and was able to keep it a secret, he planned to use this opportunity to invest, expand, and hopefully dominate this deposit. This was an opportunity to increase his standing and power. While it came with great risk, there were also incalculable rewards to be had. 

Anthony watched Issac as he deliberated for a bit. This decision wasn't small. If things went wrong, he could be in trouble. There was risk for everyone involved. 

"...What kind of retrofits are you looking for?"

Suddenly, Issac opened his mouth. Anthony slightly smiled. This statement meant he was at least open to the idea. 

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"We'll get you the details. Still, take some time to think about this. And there's no avoiding it, so discuss it with your parents. I'm sure you'll be talking to my father as well, so look forward to that."

"Sure. I'm definitely interested. I like this line of work so it's a good opportunity for me. And I trust you."

"I appreciate that."

Anthony smiled a bit more, while Issac hummed. 

"Mm. Now, how about you go and grab your pilot suit so I can look at it? I know you brought it."

"Hehe, you already know. It's waiting in one of the other rooms."

"You have no shame."

Issac chuckled.

The two stood. With a wide smile, Anthony left with Issac to another lab room. 

..........

......

"I'm home!"

After night had already overtaken the sky, Issac exited the basement portal room and walked into his house with Nifty on his shoulder. Hearing no response to his entrance, he shrugged and walked upstairs. 

He stopped on the third floor of the house. It was here he opened a metal door and entered a large room. This room was almost the size of the entire third floor. It was Issac's room, and it served as both a personal lab as well as his bedroom. 

On one side of the room was a bed with some regular bedroom furniture. On the other side was a complex arrangement of computers with a few tables holding various devices. The workspace didn't look clean at first glance, but everything had its place. 

Issac walked straight to this workspace. He plopped down onto a chair while Nifty jumped off his shoulder, trotting onto the desk where it laid down on a little bed. Its tail jacked into the computer as well, and all the black displays lit up. 

*Beep!*

After the computer turned on, Issac glanced at a pending message. He opened it and saw it was from Anthony. It held various files on the standard issue mech suits and the theorized improvements. While there weren't any directions attached, Issac didn't need any. 

Issac hadn't accepted the proposition, but even if he worked on it a bit out of boredom, that casual work would be worth a lot to Anthony. Smirking, Issac offloaded the files onto Nifty. A picture of a cute cat appeared on the computer display as the files transferred, making Issac smile. 

After that, he leaned back and stretched his arms. Letting out a deep breath, his head turned to his side. Beside the chair he was in, there was yet another chair for seemingly nobody. 

But it wasn't for nobody. Issac closed his eyes, and suddenly, his body seemed to fluctuate. His hair turned pure white, and from his body, a black figure stood up. 

This figure had no defining features. Its bodily shape was identical to Issac's, but the body radiated no light, making it appear like a window to the void. Depending on the angle, this thing could barely be made out to be humanoid. 

This black figure rose from the seat and moved over, taking a seat in the second chair. With that, Issac's eyes opened. His irises were now a very bright blue, almost making them look white like his hair. 

The black figure was known to Issac as a shadow clone, and it was one of his powers granted by dark energy. With the creation of this shadow clone, Issac felt his consciousness separate in two. This didn't hurt. If anything, it felt good. 

This power to create a shadow clone was actually one of Issac's secrets, one that even his best friend Anthony didn't know about. Only Issac's parents knew of this power. The reason it was a secret was because even among all the abilities that existed in the vast galaxy, this one was a special one. 

The separation of the shadow clone from his body was actually only a small part of the ability. In actuality, this shadow clone could be thought of as a dark replica of himself. It had its own consciousness and everything. When Issac desired, he could form the shadow clone and double his consciousness, gaining the experiences of both his forms. It was two bodies and two minds, both capable of independent thought yet inextricably tied together.

This was why this power was a secret, and also why Issac didn't separate these two forms often. It was why, even at only 22 years old, Issac could become an accomplished Dark Tech developer. He could learn at over double the speed of others and had the creativity of two separate people. Technically, just in terms of the duration of experiences he's had, he was much older than 22.

He could combine and separate the two at will. He could also openly show one or the other while in a single form. Right now he opted for the former, resulting in the current scene. 

The two looked at two different sets of computers, and both went to work. Issac's normal body searched the internet for various interesting topics while the shadow clone looked through some files. Both worked seemingly independently of each other, neither set of thoughts conflicting and confusing the other. And in truth, they could be thought of as two separate people and one person at the same time. Not even Issac had a totally solid grasp on how his power worked. 

At some point, Issac reclined in his seat while staring at an article on his computer. His shadow continued to work as he relaxed a bit. 

Issac brought up his hand. Looking closely, his hand wasn't normal. The back showed no abnormalities, but the palm was covered in metal nodes and strands. The metal nodes were little black discs that dotted places like his fingertips and joints. The black metal strands also went between these nodes, making the palm look like some kind of circuit board. These modifications were actually made of Black Iron, and they were responsible for channeling Issac's second power. 

Suddenly, the nodes on his hand sparked with blue arcs that jumped between the metal nodes and through the metal strands. After a moment, the sparks multiplied before congealing above his palm into a blue coin. This coin looked like it was made of glass that held his flowing blue power within. 

This was Issac's main ability that others knew about. It was called Hardlight, and it allowed Issac to control light to construct solid objects. The only limiting factor to this power was how much energy he could bring forth, the light around him that he could pull in, and the large calculative ability required to form the shapes of the objects. With his two consciousnesses, the third problem was taken care of rather easily. Thus, the only limiter was the energy he could summon and the light he could control around him. 

A byproduct of this power though were those electric sparks. Light, or photons, were responsible for the electromagnetic force. Since Issac could control light, he could also control electricity and magnetism to a certain extent. In fact, Issac had learned to take advantage of this fact when using his power. 

His power required him to attribute his dark energy with electromagnetism of some kind, allowing it to manifest as an energy when brought into the open world. Issac usually used light as the attributing force, so his power manifested as light. With a bit of manipulation, he could seemingly solidify this light, turning it into an object that could interact with other physical objects. This was Hardlight.

However, through the principles of electromagnetism, Issac didn't only have to use light. If there was electricity or any form of a magnetic field around him, he could tap into that for his attributing force. The magnetic fields didn't even have to be strong. The magnetic field produced by the very planet Issac was on was enough to utilize as he wished. Thus, Issac manipulated the forces ever present around him to from his hardlight. It was a complicated process, but after many years of practice from his childhood until now, he could casually form little objects like coins with no effort. The process had become intuitive, like using a limb. 

Even further, Issac knew that positive and negative charges existed in all things, like atoms. Several times he had experimented with using pure matter as the basis for his power, and he had come out with success using it as an attributing force. After attributing his dark energy though, he was stumped.

Unlike when using the electromagnetic force and forming hardlight, using pure matter didn't create anything like sparks or light. Issac was never able to realize just what it did or how this power manifested. The only thing he noticed was how whenever he manifested his power and directed it at something like a metal, it became cold. Nothing else happened. 

He concluded that it was a trash ability, so he stuck to using light as the basis for his power. That discovery came when he was several years younger, and from then on he had only really focused on Dark Tech development. 

Issac remained at his workplace for a while, flipping the blue coin between his fingers while his shadow clone toiled away with analysis and research. At some point though, Nifty perked up, rising from his bed on the desk. Issac also turned around. There was a request to enter his room. 

"Open."

He spoke, and the door to his room slid open. Issac's mother Victoria came walking in. 

Issac turned on his seat while his shadow kept working. 

"Hi."

"So did Anthony talk to you about what I think he did?"

"Yes."

"I figured. Come here then."

His mother waved. Knowing the serious topic, Issac's shadow retracted into his body. His hair and eyes regained their black color as he stood and walked out of his room. 

 

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