Still Defiant! SI-OC [Marvel/DC] ENG

10: The Devil Within

10: The Devil Within

February 18, 2007

Progress and advancement, Daniel had felt them before in his former life, when he managed to land a solid punch on his older brother after almost a month of being his punching bag while he was just learning to fight, or that time he managed to ask out the girl he liked on a date when he was 15, when he made his father proud by getting into the university he wanted, when he graduated with excellent grades and his mother hugged him tightly.

When he found a good job not long after and made significant progress in his financial stability, every time he managed to start dating a girl even though those relationships didn't last long, when he got his first car or the first time he had sex and the countless times that followed.

If someone looked at his life summarized in that way, they might think it was somewhat successful, but only Daniel truly understood all the failures that came before any success. He could count the things he achieved; he could list them out, a very short one... but he couldn't do the same with all the times he failed, when he made mistakes, when things went terribly wrong.

When he messed things up.

On the road to success, there were always bumps, so Daniel would say that his confusion was understandable.

"Has my luck increased these days?" Daniel wondered, looking at his new and improved 3D printer, which was now spewing out meters of fabric rapidly woven. He couldn't help but be attentive, wondering when it would explode, when it would suddenly shut down, or if it would encounter some unforeseen software error.

His expectations were disappointed. There was no explosion, no errors. In fact, the machine was performing much better than he had anticipated, whether it was speed, efficiency, or precision.

Everything was going smoothly.

It was a resounding success. After several days of intense study, of researching every component and creating those that didn't exist, his machine was ready.

And now it could not only produce fabric.

The newly named Compound V could now showcase more of its capabilities thanks to the new technology.

With agile movements, Daniel typed several commands into the central computer that controlled the mechanism.

A 3D design and modeling program, specifically created by him, quickly executed, loading a design Daniel had been working on for the past few days.

It wasn't anything too sophisticated, at least from an external perspective.

In no time, the machine began to work, the Compound V acting as a polymer began to take shape rapidly. A dark blue square with a texture resembling that of a sponge formed. It was the size of a school notebook and seemed ordinary at first glance.

Daniel waited until the machine finished giving the final touch before approaching and taking the object in his hands.

It was soft to the touch but also firm. He pressed it slightly, his fingers sinking into the material, and when he removed them, he could see how the spongy structure quickly returned to its original form.

"It seems like a success, but..." Daniel pondered for a moment before placing the spongy square on an empty shelf in the least occupied part of his workshop.

He made sure to position it firmly against the wall before stepping back a few paces.

"If this goes wrong, I'll have to build a new wall" he thought. In fact, he'd probably have to rebuild more than just a wall.