@Anonymous Glad you enjoyed it ;) Maybe we'll see more in the future,... :3

@[Blazargus](/user/show/10012784) I'm curious how Nick will react now that he's undergone (part of?) the treatment. He has a very different psychology from the others we've seen. In particular, since the empowerment process seems to operate on a person's "ideals" or sense of "duty," it tends to have the curious side effect of revealing their vices and repressed feelings. But what is Nick repressing? What might he feel insecure, ashamed, or perhaps guilty about? And how will Burgundy or this "Sgt. Rodriguez" try to leverage that? I doubt Nick has much of a masochistic streak -- even a deeply repressed one -- so they'll have to use a different strategy than we've seen so far. Also, since they have to at least put on the *pretense* of doing everything "above board," it's unlikely they're using anything as extreme as Tri-Hard's...er, *memory erasure devices*. Anyhow, I think this is the perfect opportunity to give Nick some additional characterization, since we don't actually know much about him even this far in. Also, I'm totally in love with Officer 4 and hope we get to see a lot more of him. He may have only been around since last chapter, but he's already rocketed to second place in my character rankings. He 100% needs to be involved when Officers 1 and 2 get disciplined for their insubordination. It might be fun if he feels their pain through the "hive mind" but gets off to it because he knows it means he's punishing them effectively. :smiling_imp: Just a thought. :innocent:

@Anonymous What a great excuse to lore-dump about the nature of the treatments and the formula! :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: Yes; to clarify, Nick has only been given the initial Super-Human treatment. This is the original treatment that made Carl able to become **Mister Freedom** and is at the same level as Henry who inherited that ability from his dad. It's also the same level as **Tri-Hard's** initial set of converts (Hank, Travis, Ray and Zack) and those thirty newly-minted drones. It means he can fly, perform basic telekinesis and has super-strength, but suffers from the intentional 'programming' that was coded into the formula. It should make him compliant towards anyone,... but only if he desires it. The more he desires it, the stronger the compulsion, hence how weak-willed Henry became in Nick's presence at first (before becoming more comfortable around him and their dynamic shifted). The problem with this 'level' of the power is that Henry _wants_ to be taken control of by **Tri-Hard**. That's just something he can't 'not feel', even if he buries it. This is why Sarah insists on Henry getting the improved treatment (which acts on the same principles as **Tri-Hard's** own 'toilet' treatment). There's a bit more of an explanation coming in the next chapter as to why and how, but the main 'benefit' is that Henry's compulsions will be restricted down to a single 'Pilot'. Sarah wanted it to be Nick, but Charles shot that idea down as that would just make weak and defenseless Nick an easy way to gain control of Henry. So, instead, Sarah convinced the two boys to volunteer for service under Charles' military cooperator. They'll gain greater powers and be protected against any urges that might,... _complicate_ things in a battle with **Tri-Hard**. The trade off is that they'll become unquestioningly obedient to their new 'Pilot', who could turn them into whoever he wants with a few simple commands. But, hey,... I'm sure Sgt. Rodriguez won't let anything bad happen to the two young men he's about to be given control of! Nothing at all,... Glad you like Officer 4! Cannot comment there :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

@[Blazargus](/user/show/10012784) I'll admit, I'm probably getting way ahead of myself here, but my comment wasn't necessarily meant with respect to how these mechanics *should* work on paper, but rather how things are actually going to play out over time. Given how many loopholes we've already seen in play with these supposed "compulsions," it only seems natural that anyone with aspirations of building an army of these guys would be relying heavily on psychological warfare -- in other words, the *real* source of control should come from manipulating the soldiers into *actively wanting* their enslavement(at least on some level), with the drugs acting more as a basic foundation to build off of(and as a kind of "immune response" against potential adversaries trying to co-opt control). But again, maybe I'm giving a certain megalomaniacal scientist too much credit here.

@Anonymous Don't worry, I understood what you meant; I simply wanted to lay out all that info in one place so that anything 'exceptional' that happens can be identified as an 'exception'. And, yes, **Tri-Hard** has been twisting the aspirations and desires of his drones from the start. His methods are less 'organic' than Hank's and rely heavily on additional steps he has added to his 'completed' formula, but maybe we'll see him at his best soon enough ;)

@[VenomControl](/user/show/538660) Hope the story does you justice.

@[Corinthian38](/user/show/38372) Thank you very much for the complement and for the perspective.

@[Arpágonu](/user/show/2723721) Thanks for the comment. I was originally planning on having that be a later change, but decided to move it up in the story because of your comment and like how it turned out.