INTERLUDE: Overseer

"You okay, boss?" Shu asks, leaning against the door to the roof I'm standing on.

I nod. Talking is difficult. Not painful, nothing is painful anymore, not in any way that matters.

"You've been acting weird lately. Talking more, more active and involved. Dunno if you're doing good or bad."

Shu is my only friend. The only one left, anyway. "I never said my power."

She bunches her lips into a half-smile. "Well, you didn't offer to tell me. I'm not a people person, but I'm not an asshole."

"Want to know?" I turn away, and look up to the cloudy night sky.

She frowns, now, I'm certain. "You're really not doing good, are you? Are you sick or something? I can take you to Beaker."

"No. She can't help."

Shu sighs from behind, keeping the door shut as someone from within our base of operations tries to get in. They get a glimpse of her armor, probably, since they stop trying immediately and run back down the stairs. "If you're going to be cryptic, I can keep pretending to follow whatever you're supposed to be implying."

I turn away from the night, walking up to her as fast as my old bones can take me, until I'm only a few feet away.

"Is this a romantic confession or some shit? Look, boss, I-"

I, with a some effort, pull off my helmet.

She freezes, trying to piece together what's happening, her brain on overdrive. Eventually, the smell hits her, making her hold her nose and snapping her back to the world. "What the fuck..?"

I put the helmet back on. "Yes. This one's old. Need a new one."

She'd probably back up if she wasn't already pressed against the wall. "What the fuck... I didn't expect this." She gestures vaguely at me.

"I need a fresh body. Not much damage. Heart attack or poison."

"Fuck me... Yeah, I can get one. What're you feeling as far as age? Sex? Race?"

"Male better. Other things don't matter. No powers. Tried once." I feel one of my vocal cords start to tear. I'm overdoing it, but this is too important.

"Sure, sure... I'll be discrete. Shit, where to get one without any suspicions though?" She starts pacing a bit.

"You aren't upset."

She's insulted, I can tell, from my surprise. "I kill people all the damn time. I flinched, sure, but I'm not a bitch. Wait, would Beaker have known something was up? That diagnosis thing, it works through armor. Would it even work on you?"

"Don't know."

She nods, slowly. "Want me to find out?"

"Yes. Body first." I turn back to the clouds. "Things will happen soon. Will be bad. Keep helmet on."

"You're always telling me to keep it on, but I-"

"Shu. Keep on. For now. Trust in-." The cord finally snaps, tearing the membrane in my vocal fold with it and making the end of my sentence come out as a sharp, squelching exhale. Talking now is going to be nearly impossible. I hope Shu got the message.