Doctor Ferrous, the self-imposed pariah of Red Ribbon, was a certifiable genius. It would be a stretch to say his loss would damage the monolithic conglomerate long-term, but his keen mind for robotics would be sorely missed while the syndicate was still in its' early stages. It was never a problem of ethics or goals, the thrice awarded Doctor had no issue with the organization's ultimate aim, but the perceived belittling of his talents and time grew too much to bear. When the time had finally come for a worthwhile patient - Palmer Granite himself - they had treated the opportunity like some sort of chocolate: a sweet and short-lived treat that ultimately meant nothing. It was almost insulting how careless the Red Ribbon bozos could be (in his questionable opinion). So disgruntled was he that Ferrous had absconded with their most recent military patient and set out on his own, forming the just legally distinct enough Blue Banner Corporation as a thinly veiled protest.

No matter how intelligent, one man didn't have the raw resources or time to directly match up with Red Ribbon's lower divisions and domination of several markets, but that wasn't Ferrous' goal. He wanted one thing: to create the ultimate Android beyond ANYTHING the reds produced... quality over quantity, to put it bluntly. Having come from Red Ribbon, Ferrous absconded with the confidential knowledge of their higher-end mechanical upgrades, and while it would take some time to replicate an advanced combat system or simulator, he was content with taking small steps. Ace was his proudest creation. It was regrettable the chassis of a mind behind the machine was unknowingly integrated into Ferrous' grand plan, but the sacrifice would bring about more progress than a single human life could ever be worth. The Android was currently deactivated, separated by his limbs upon a sterile steel table as Ferrous worked on each piece individually, assisted by ceiling-mounted arms.

Despite the automative-sounding product name, the oil applied to Ace's internal systems was far from regular lubricant and coolant. Beyond working to keep the Android's magnetic uni-polar interlocks at peak functionally, nanites found within the silvery liquid had enough basic intelligence to perform minor upgrades to the host after each and every encounter - a self-improving system. It was typical of fully mechanical Androids to only have giant leaps in power as they were systemically dismantled and rebuilt with more robust parts and energy cores, but this miracle oil would do quite a bit of legwork in keeping Ace at full fighting potential. It would be needed if the news reports of Arcosian interference on Earth and the rumors of Saiyan scouts scoping the planet held any water. Finally finished with his methodical work, Ferrous leaned back to admire the end result as Ace's limbs automatically pulled themselves together, hissing as the gaps sealed themselves shut with a layer of synthetic skin.

"Hey, thanks Doc." Ace shot the disheveled dwarf-sized engineer a hearty wink, jumping off the operating table with a new pep in his step. His mechanical fingers wiggled experimentally, seamlessly mimicking the smooth movement any other regular human would have. "Don't look much different, but man, I can certainly feel it. What's that stuff called again?" Ferrous watched the machine preen and prance about with a ghost of a smile, equally amused by the man's reaction and proud of his work. "The incorrect term would be synthetic gear oil, and as I'm sure you already know, there's not a single 'gear' in you." An inefficient and antiquated but aesthetically pleasing mechanical solution, the gear. "It should allow you to grow in battle power as you complete missions and labors for the people. Take care to not get dismantled or destroyed; replacing it isn't cheap." Not that he couldn't afford it millions of times over, but those funds were better allocated towards developing more serious upgrades than enabling a revolving door of broken parts.

"So just get out there, save some folks, stop the bad guys. All in a day's work!" The impulse of heroism was native to Palmer's psyche; that much couldn't be easily stamped out by conditioning when he was converted to a machine. Ferrous could use it to his advantage - some tinkering to the soldier's stoic and respectful personality into something more agreeable to the masses alongside his need to be a savior... it was practically free public relations for his company. The shriveled Earthling almost felt sorry for the fine example of a human he had overwritten in the whole process, but his life as an advanced Android would serve the Earthen magnitudes above what he could've done as a simple pilot in the military. The increase in efficiency, paired with the invaluable experience and field data collected from Ace, quelled the guilt easily. Better to let the Android believe this had always been his personality, that he had willingly sacrificed his flesh to become a superhero. "Let me just say I'm really grateful for the opportunity. You might not be the nicest old dude on the surface, but pouring all this time and money into helping defend the planet... you're a real hero."

Yes. He WAS a hero, the savior of humankind, and the forerunner to all great things for Androids... the world would see it soon.

TWC: 881