Least Resistance
Regeneration: Standard
- Weakness: Power in Item - Easy to Lose
The journey was not a long one; at least not by my reckoning. It has been long since I've found myself constrained by the mortal convention of sleep, and as such I am certain my perspective is skewed compared to that of a normal man. In the thick of these tireless nights while Odin sleeps and Thor watches, I often play chess and talk with Balder, my dreamless companion when the sun descends. We have had awful rows, before, but I find that I treasure his moments of lucidity nearly moreso than Odin's rare demonstrations of temperance and caution. As the airship carried us silently towards the unknown island, I asked a question I have intended to, for many years. I make no secret of the fact that the inner workings of science and even my body are not my area of expertise - as a man of words, I find I sympathize with the doting superstitions of alchemy moreso than hard physics, for example. Nonetheless, that night I asked Balder to explain how I work, and why I never need - for lack of a more delicate term - batteries. He chuckled lightly, and moved his bishop, picking up my rook, and putting me into check. His hand wavered slightly, and he dropped my defeated castle. It fell to the ground, and he smiled. "You see, Heimdall? A force has pulled your piece to the floor, and there it moves no more. Your body is designed to function once, and once only. The beauty of Logan's design lies in the concept that there is no floor. Just as gravity is still pulling at the ivory trinket lying there, so too, the weight of you drives you forward. Your mind, the body I've made for you are pulled irrevocably forward, along the path of least resistance. It is simpler, for you, to move, than to stop. You're still falling. That's all there is to it."
Mine is Mine
Tractor Beam: Standard
- Ranged Attack Only
- Weakness: Limited Uses - One Use
I had my doubts, of course. Balder has an irritating habit of mincing words, then finding convoluted ways to express the simplest of ideas when asked to elaborate. Time has shown a method to his madness often enough, but on this particular occasion I wasn't convinced. I took it upon myself to formulate an explanation of my own for how this odd mode of existence perpetuates itself. Balder is an artist, true, but he works with angles and numbers moreso than words. He sees things as quantifiable. I never imagined lifting my hand in fear that one day I wouldn't have sufficient force to lift it again. My fear was that I would one day lift my hand only to find that I would never again have the desire to do so. I'm afraid of breaking, you see. It's not as though my new body is fragile, in a literal sense - in truth it is a good deal more sturdy than my previous one, laid to waste by a 13th century Carpathian legionnaire's dagger. Yet I worry, because this tired construct which houses my brain possesses no will of its own. The smallest insect possesses some primordial instinct towards self-preservation, but steel cables and glass do not, cannot. So it is my will which drives me forward, keeps me from falling apart, "keeps me running." That may be why Logan chose me, in retrospect. Because he knew that, having died, my will to continue on in this fractured state, still useful to him and his, would not flag or diminish with the years. Perhaps it is merely a twisted conceit of mine, but I would wager... that I've proven a worthy investment.
One hundred miles
Hyper-Senses: Superior
- Weakness: Power in Item - Easy to Lose
- Weakness: Limited Uses - One Use
- Weakness: Not usable in terrain - Misty Vale
As the night wore on I could hear Odin's hair growing. The sky was clear, and as we rode above the clouds I could see the constellations and moons that dot Khazan's horizons passing closer. I opened my eyes further and saw a meteor shower blanketing one of the smaller satellites, two stars colliding (that would have appeared as little more than a subtle flicker to Odin, if I could convince her to look towards the heavens for more than a few seconds), and yet another snowstorm forming in the distance, over the Frozen Wastes, though the mists that draped the tundra blocked my view of the cliffs beyond. Balder coughed and I turned my attention to the board, noting the tiny, permanent indentations the ghoul's fingernails made each time they touched the ivory pieces. To converse with most people, to act within the bounds of a world both microscopic and macroscopic, I have to close my eyes to a tiny sliver of their full potential, and cover my ears so that their muffled breathing doesn't inform me when they're lying. It is a shame, but also a price I am willing to pay. I informed my opponent that the chess set we were using originally belonged to a Czar from the 16th century, and took his bishop with a pawn.
Second Sight
Tactician: Superior
- Weakness: Power in Item - Easy to Lose
- Weakness: Limited Uses - One Use
I allow myself the luxury of imagining that my abilities with regard to planning and foresight are largely unenhanced by the wheels and cogs Balder put in place, but the misbegotten braineater never ceases to correct me on this point. That particular night he made a point of reminding me that the supplementary computational powers of my auxiliary neural net are what allows me to forsee nearly every possible outcome of a given situation (barring the trivial, of course), given enough time. He said all this as he advanced a pawn. I think he may have made this remark because he could see that I had Mate in twelve, although I may be giving the decayer too much credit. His flashes of brilliance are often just that - a flash in the pan, and nothing more. Still, if what he says is true, I cannot begrudge him, and our Lord, a small measure of pride. My plans of attack and rhetorical skills have saved our lives - or unlives, as the case may be - on more than one occasion. While my original area of training did not extend to armed confrontations, this has been the focus of my studies for the last twenty years, and I can say without reservation that I have excelled, enhancements or otherwise.
Immunity: Lucky
Immunity: Standard
The beauty of Language is that it is both subtle and dynamic, it flows like water around and over memes and events. I have found that the tides of human action remain startlingly predictable when compared to the dulcet beauty of a word. Odin has complained at times that I seem to bear some kind of grudge against Luck, always seeking a logical explanation or pattern to that which might, to her mind, best be left to the auguries of Chance. I don't consider myself as methodical as she implies, but often enough I've found that those who rely on their own good fotune have little left to fall back on when their petty machinations are revealed and scrutinized. Such is life.
Giallarhorn
Commander: Superior
- Weakness: Power in Item - Easy to Lose
- Weakness: Limited Uses - One Use
- Weakness: Not usable in terrain - Steel Cage
Thor watches Odin, guarding against the threats that menace the body, the outside. While I'd like to think that I do enough of that as well, my true function lies in guarding against the demons which threaten my charge from the inside. This is why I have labored hard with her over history and the sciences, fought battles enough for a whole family over etiquette and poise. While she is far from the debutante I evision, her... rough edges, such as they are, have been made smoother for my efforts. I do not know whether, in the long run, it was a wise decision between the three of us to keep the truth about her father from her. As bright as she is, it cannot be hidden from her forever. The day she finds out may be my last day on this earth, in whatever form. Still, on days when I allow myself to wax sentimental, I confess I find myself harboring feelings for her that border on those appropriate only between Father and Daughter. Though I am not... will never be as strong a man as Logan was, I would have been a better father, for her, I know it. Strange, to feel this way about the offspring of my killer. We are an odd family, in any case, the four of us. I suspect we succumb to her whims far too often, but her instincts are often correct. Where they will lead us, in this current venture - we shall see.
Team Asgard
Commander: Superior
- Ranged Attack Only
- Weakness: Power in Item - Easy to Lose
- Weakness: Limited Uses - One Use
- Weakness: Not usable in terrain - Steel Cage
That damn gun of hers is primed to blow her head off. Whenever I ask for specs on the gun; reliable, reproducable tests which demonstrate its dependability, Balder plays off my anger with a smile and a song. Still, between the cover fire provided by Gungnir, and Thor's Mjolnir, I find that I am adequately able to corner and disable most threats to our mutual security well enough with sufficient planning, provided circumstances allow enough room to flank the enemy. I certainly lack their ability to strike at a distance. Whether this is a liability, I shall leave our foes to discover.
Monocle
Teleportation: Supreme
- Weakness: Power in Item - Easy to Lose
- Weakness: Limited Uses - One Use
- Weakness: Not usable in terrain - Steel Cage
I confess the ability that I most relish, afforded me these last twenty years by this curious form, is Translocation, provided by a gilded monocle designed by Balder himself. Tiny and lightweight, this tiny lens allows me to accurately transport myself and perhaps one other to any location within my field of vision. This ability is aided greatly by my expanded powers of sight, though it is less of a boon when I am in more confined spaces. It has proven invaluable in extricating Odin from any number of "unfortunate" situations. If the need arises, I can also use it to descend into melee combat myself, teleporting thirty feet above our foes and crashing into them with great malice, striking all the harder after my great collision, courtesy of my new form, Hofund. I detest resorting to fisticuffs, but often enough in our line of work, it is a necessary evil.
Aegis
Super Speed: Standard
- Weakness: Power in Item - Easy to Lose
- Weakness: Limited Uses - One Use
It is no coincidence that Odin carries the stance of a warrior. Her father wanted it no other way. Oftentimes we would engage in mock combat when the frustrations of Calculus had worn thin her wispy patience. She would take to throwing books, lamps, anything in my direction. The drive of the game was thus: should I manage to touch her on the head before feeling the blow of Encyclopedia Khazanica or her young fists, she would have to continue her studies. If I failed, she would have the rest of the day to spend as she wished. Though I seldom lost, quickly her ability to judge where to throw surpassed my instinctive knowledge of where to run. Only the superhuman speed I winnow from these circuitboards saved my otherwise strictly average reflexes from the ignominy of being shamed by The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. I admit that when I felt the lesson important enough I would occasionally resort to translocation, which Odin called "cheating." At the start of a new adventure, I can only speculate that she was training me as much as I her, in some respect. All the better to protect you with, my dear.
Hofund
Kinetic Absorption: Ultimate
- Weakness: Power in Item - Easy to Lose
- Weakness: Limited Uses - One Use
When I first traveled with my Lord into a hostile environment years ago, I did so without the protection afforded by a firearm. I asked my Lord how I was to defend myself when the brutes came at us - surely I needed some form of weapon. He smiled, and told me that my new body was my sword. I did not understand, but he refused to elaborate, simply saying "Think of yourself as a spring, Heimdall. Action and Reaction." When a Zanthi Berserker attacked, his axe cleaving into my side, I feared I would end this new experience without ever having solved the puzzle. My rebuttal was more reflex than considered attack, my fist flailing out and striking my foe in the face. To my surprise, he flew near fifty feet and broke his neck on a rock upon reintroduction to the ground. My Lord smiled. "You see, Heimdall? You are stronger than your foes. You always have been." If only that were true.
Bifrost
Energy Absorption: Ultimate
- Weakness: Power in Item - Easy to Lose
- Weakness: Limited Uses - One Use
"Are you absolutely certain you know what you're doing?" Heimdall glanced nervously down on the ghoul opening him up, able to distinguish the wires and metal sheets jutting up from his torso from Balder's face only with some difficulty. "Yes, yes, of course. You said yourself - you'd do anything to prevent a repeat of that debacle with the Heart, right?" Ashes from one of the inventor's questionable hand rolled cigarettes cascaded down into the cyborg's body, out of Heimdall's sight. Balder chuckled. "Besides, this will allow not only a measure of protection of just the sort you've been requesting, but will also give you the speed you need to respond quickly to any given situation, greatly increasing your hand to hand combat capabilities." Heimdall's eyes narrowed "Somehow I doubt you're telling me the whole of it. But we'll save that discussion for another day." The zombie rolled his well-preserved eyes and closed Heimdall's torso quickly. "We go through this every single time I make an adjustment. It's for your own good - for Odin's good." Heimdall's monocle glinted in the dim light of the workshop. He had no counter for that kind of argument.
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