The Legendary Junkmaster

Jason turned to look at Sentinel with shock written across his face. 'This is the guy who stands at the top of the Guardians?' Back in Highrise, nobody knew what the strongest Guardian's Power was or even his name! Yet, here he was, standing right in front of him!

"Hold on! What do you mean I'll take your position?" Jason suddenly became alarmed when he realised the significance of what Sentinel had said moments ago.

"I meant exactly what I said. I will train you to take my place in the future." Sentinel's tone was steady and uncaring. "Your apprenticeship starts now. Come."

Jason looked appalled as Sentinel started to walk out of the room. However, the giant paused when he realised that Jason was not following him. As Sentinel's gaze landed on Jason's frozen figure, a humming noise suddenly came from Sentinel's body!

The noise emanating from Sentinel made the hairs on the back of Jason's neck stand on end as he recognised it. It was the same sound he had heard before the flash of light that signalled the execution of the examiner earlier.

Jason did not dare to stall any longer and finally moved his feet. Sentinel nodded in satisfaction before taking the lead. As the door closed behind the pair, Colonel Harris waited for several seconds before his legs went limp. 

'Shit, I could have been eating dirt if I refused to let that kid take the test!' It was needless to say that the Colonel felt the need for a very long vacation.

Jason had to jog slightly just to keep with Sentinel as they took seemingly random turns at each junction. It took a few minutes before Jason realised that they had not seen anyone since leaving the Colonel's office. 'Is everyone hiding?'

Naturally, Jason began to fear the worst about his new mentor. Crazy thoughts ran through his mind of Sentinel executing him just for making a silly mistake or something. By the time they came to a halt, Jason was drenched in a cold sweat. It was partly due to the intensive job he had just undergone and partly due to his nerves.

As Jason struggled to catch his breath, he realised he had no idea where in the base they actually were. Sentinel had stopped in front of a heavy metal door that did not seem to have any handles or locks. Jason was immediately confused as to how they were supposed to get inside. However, Sentinel simply placed his hand over a black box mounted on the wall to his right.

The same strange humming noise that Jason had heard before started up again briefly. When Sentinel moved his hand away from the box, several clicking noises came from the door before it swung open. Jason expected to see someone on the other side, but nobody was there!

"Come on, we have a lot of work to do." Sentinel crossed the threshold and strolled deep into the humungous workshop that had been revealed.

Jason's voice got caught in his throat as he followed after his mentor. His eyes were full of awe as he glanced around. There were mountains of junk as far as his eyes could see, and a whole load of tools that he knew nothing about were connected to the walls by wires. 

'This is amazing!' Jason had no idea how to really explain how he felt right now as he tried to estimate how much everything in the room would be worth. After his eyes made a few passes, he realised something. 'It's all machines.'

Every piece of junk was made of metal and had either mechanical or electrical parts. There was no plants or anything that would be needed to create chemicals. Jason raised an eyebrow as he wondered what the reason was for that.

"Let's see what you've got." Sentinel waved his hands in the air, and a river of junk flew towards him.

Jason was mesmerised by the scene that was playing out as the different parts disassembled themselves before recombining into five different weapons. These weapons then floated around Sentinel as he turned to face Jason.

Jason stared at the weapons as they turned to aim at him. Jason suddenly felt that something was off with the situation. 'Oh shi…'

Jason quickly dove to the side as red flashes started going off. Smoke rose from the spot where he had been standing. A small blackened crater had been created, making Jason break out in a cold sweat once again. 

"What are you doing? Hurry up and create your weapons. I need to see where you're at with your Power." Sentinel's voice sounded cold as his cybernetic eye followed Jason as he got back up on his feet.

"What are you talking about! I need time to create something!" Even though Jason was terrified, he was also furious. If he had not dodged right now, then he would most definitely be dead! 

"How long do you need?"

"I don't know! Half a day for something simple. A day or two if you want my best?" Jason's tone leaked the desperation that he was feeling at that moment, causing Sentinel to frown.

"That long?" Sentinel paused for a moment. "What's your Power?"

"Huh? Didn't they tell you? I have Super Intelligence! Wasn't that why you agreed to mentor me?" 

"You're not a Technomancer then?" Sentinel almost sounded disappointed as he said that. "So, what branch do you belong to?"

Jason's mind went blank for a moment before he could reply. "What do you mean branch?"

Sentinel tilted his head as he studied Jason for a moment. "You don't know, do you?"

Sentinel sighed as he waved his hand. The lethal weapons floating around him crumbled into useless scrap that fell to the ground at his feet. Sentinel rubbed his chin as he thought about what he should say.

"Kid, it's obvious your Power isn't Super Intelligence. If it was… then you wouldn't have that AI floating around you." Sentinel made a point of looking directly at Syssie's avatar. "My apologies, she's the reason I thought you were the same as me."