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Chapter 11: Chapter #11 | Forge of Destiny

Notes:

Hello everyone! This chapter is more of a set up for the facility and the events that will occur after this but before canon. If anyone is interested in a visual representation of the facility I created a full labeled floor plan for you all to look at! You can find that

Here!

Hope everyone enjoys the chapter!

Chapter Text

Izuku looked around his room, now barren and empty. There were a lot of memories in this place, and he would be sad to leave it behind. Izuku shook his head and turned around, heading towards the now empty living room where his mother was waiting for him. All things must end eventually.

Midoriya Inko had always known her son was intelligent. But recently she wondered how she didn't know he was this intelligent. Not only had he, with Mei, created something that most other scientists had long since given up on, but he had also, in the months following, completed high-level negotiations with both companies wishing to make use of their technology and the city, as well. As it turns out, when two of the biggest names in technology in decades imply that they may move out of the city to find space for their headquarters, the city is inclined to accommodate the wishes of the aforementioned two people.

Her son had used that to his advantage to secure a sizable piece of land on the city's outskirts. After talking it over with his partner, the two of them decided that it would be in everyone's best interests if their families remained close. As such, both Inko and the Hatsumes were fit to move into new homes practically next door to the headquarters. If the two mothers suspected it was just an excuse to practically live in their labs, neither was terribly willing to say it out loud after what their children had already accomplished.

"Well, Mom, looks like it's time to say goodbye to the old place." Izuku murmured the line as they both took in the apartment around them. It was the end of a chapter for both of them, and they just needed a few moments to take that in. Even if the Hatsumes were waiting on them at street level.

…

Everyone had been packing for weeks. They had even gotten up early that morning to move into their new places. Despite that, it was almost midday when the two families, and a few extras, stood in front of the glass doors that led to the reception of the newly created Moonlit Industries. Jiro had decided on coming, despite the disruption to her class schedule, because it was a big day for the two of them. And Detective Tsukauchi had insisted on coming along for opening day security, as he called it. Izuku knew from working with him that the detective really just wanted to get out of his office and away from the mountain of paperwork that awaited him. He also knew that he could consider the detective a friend after the hours they had spent pouring over minor cases together, so he wasn't about to call the poor man out on it.

Izuku stepped forward now, as he was the only one who had been here through the construction process to supervise. There were specific pieces of the facility that he needed to install personally. After all, only he and Mei were fit for dealing with the fusion reactors situated in the basement at the current time.

"Well, everyone, let me start by saying that both Mei and I are glad you chose to move into your new homes nearby. It certainly eases our minds knowing you all are so close." Izuku started as if he were giving a speech with a fake smile and wide gestures. But about halfway through, his smile became soft and he chuckled at the sheer absurdity of it. "I suppose there is no need for that. Sorry, everyone. I've just gotten stuck in a certain mindset with all of the meetings I've had to attend these last six months." Izuku rolled his shoulders and gestured off to the side.

"First, before we go in, if you guys look over that way you'll see our two hanger bays and their adjoining building. We won't go over there today, but that's where our aerospace department will be located. Any of the plans we have for flying things will also be taken care of over there for the most part." Izuku gestured for everyone to follow, tapping his hand against a small black square by the door and leading them all inside.

"We obviously have our reception, which, might I say, Kyoka, you did an absolutely amazing job at designing the interiors of the common areas." Jiro preened while Hatsume grumbled at that and her mother laughed. It had taken some convincing for Mei to let Kyoka design the interiors for them. But after showing Mei a couple of the designs, even she had to admit that they were better than what either one of them could come up with. Ask them to build you a workshop and you could count on them. Ask them to tell you how to match shades with furniture and you were in for quite the ugly room.

Izuku gestured through the two security windows at the back of reception. "Through there is our security office. Our head of security will be able to keep an eye on both reception and every other part of the building, and before any of you ask, yes, Mei and I already have someone in mind for that role. We'll be meeting with him later after everyone is settled in." Izuku had introduced Hatsume to Dabi eventually. After all, they were partners, and it was technically her business as well, after all. Izuku had certainly worried about that meeting before it happened.

Hatsume still had that shine towards daytime heroes that the two of them had lost long ago. Besides that, what Izuku, Dabi, and the network of other agents were doing wasn't technically legal. Several months later, while they still didn't get along perfectly, Dabi and Mei could at least get along for short periods.

Neither Hatsume nor Midoriya had ever intended for Jiro to meet Dabi. Not that she wouldn't eventually, but it just wasn't something they had gone out of their way to set up, and except for a few extreme cases where they had to work together, most of the communication they did was through their phones. Because of this, neither of them expected the two to hit it off like they did when they finally met. Apparently enjoying the same genre of music is a fantastic bonding agent.

Izuku once again led everyone through a series of security doors that led them back behind the security office. He led them past a conference room and into a long hallway leading both ways from where they were. "Down that way," Izuku gestured down one of the sides, "we have our material warehouse with its loading bays, lunchroom, and finally an auditorium for when the smaller, department sized conference room won't do. I must take this moment to remind you, Mei, that you will also have to take over some of the lectures regarding the reactors. We can't have technicians who have no idea what they're doing working with them. Yes, we can give them all the documentation, but I'm not risking the first batch of engineers who will be teaching others not knowing how to properly manage them." Izuku turned and walked down the hall the other way just a short way before stopping again and turning to them.

"On my right here we have our cold storage. Pretty self-evident what that one is for. Both the material warehouse and cold storage are linked in the back to our freight elevators that aid in larger materials going up and projects coming down. Here on my left, we have our personal offices." Midoriya was cut off by Mei's narrowed eyes and glare.

"Izuku, why does the plaque on your door say doctor?" Izuku tugged nervously at the collar of his shirt while chuckling.

"Well. I had a lot of time while supervising the construction work, so I might have ever so slightly finished the first set of doctorates I was working on…" The crowd groaned at him in unison, with yells of first set?! peaking above them all. Inko was already crying and, except for Mei, the Hatsume family was attempting to calm her. Mei was still giving him the stink eye, grumbling something about getting ahead of her when Kyoka decided to ask the million-dollar question.

"Wait. What disciplines were your doctorates in?" That was all it took for the entire crowd to snap their focus back to him and become laser-focused on his response. Izuku sighed. He hadn't wanted to make a big deal of this.

"Biomedical and biomechanical engineeri-" Izuku couldn't get his new degree fields out before his mother was crying again. It was a moment before the group was able to continue up the stairs to the second floor.

Once they had made it upstairs and through the credential checkpoint, Izuku gestured to his left. "Here on the left is where I suspect I'll be spending a lot of my time. This is the biological and chemical suite we have at Moonlit Industries. It's complete with everything we could need and then some, including an operating theater in the back. Next, we have our robotics suite. At the far end of the hallway, we have our workshop and forge suite next to our weapons development suite." Mei bolted down the hallway and Izuku quirked his left eyebrow. He hadn't seen her run that quickly even in their training. He'd have to push her harder if she had that in her. They continued walking, and Izuku continued talking, while she ran ahead.

"I've got a feeling she'll be back quickly since I've not given her her credentials yet. As I was saying, on the right here we have our freight elevators and then bunk rooms with a locker room and shower suite. I don't expect people to live here like us two, but I know there are people out there like us that get so absorbed in their work that they don't go home. As such, we have a place for them to crash, rather than sleep at their desks. Finally, across fro-" Hatsume had returned and was practically vibrating in place.

"Izuku. You have to let me in now. Do you know how many babies I can make with equipment like that? Of course you do. Let me in. Where's the keycard. What do I need." Mei was in the process of patting him down when he laughed and picked her up and put her back with the rest of the group.

"After we get through the tour and get settled in, I'll give you your credentials, Hatsume. You can hold off a bit longer. You've already been waiting months for this. You can wait a couple more hours at most." Once again Mei was grumbling but conceded, as there wasn't really anything she could do about it once he made up his mind like this.

"As I was saying, this here serves as both a break area and the common area for upstairs." Izuku led them up a staircase in the back of the room to a long, bending hallway with several doors. "Finally, this is the residential layer." He nervously turned back to the group of family and friends. "This layer contains several full apartments for several of us. That includes Mei and me." Mei, now standing beside Izuku, was fidgeting under the gaze of their parents.

Their serious gazes that were searing into the two's skulls were a stark contrast when they broke down laughing. Mei's mother was practically in tears, and Inko was barely able to choke out her words. "We knew you two would practically live in your labs, but you actually finessed it to live in your labs." Inko shook her head and gave them a sad smile. "Honestly, we figured something like this was coming and talked about it already. You two went through all the effort of moving us in next door, and frankly, you'll already be moving out when you go for your Hero and Support Licenses. We figure we can use this to get a bit more used to the idea."

…

Everyone had mostly cleared out of the building except Izuku, Mei, and their favorite detective. Izuku had brought them into the bio suite and was now holding what appeared to be two pen-like objects.

"First, I'd like to thank you for coming today, Naomasa. You didn't have to come, but you made the time. That's why I want to extend to you a gesture of goodwill." Izuku gestured for the detective to give him his hand. When he had, Izuku pressed the pen between his middle and ring fingers. With a hiss, the pen released it's payload and made Naomasa jerk slightly.

"That is a chip that will allow you to access the facility, should you need to. I want to make something clear, Naomasa. I make this offer off the record, and I know you'll keep it that way. I don't have a medical license, but I do have the knowledge and ability if the time should ever come that you need something done unofficially."

Izuku was going to let the implications hang in the air when Naomasa, understandably startled, started to tell Izuku that he was a detective and he shouldn't say something like that. Izuku cut him off, speaking softly now. His words carrying the weight of experience in them. "We both know life isn't always so simple or black and white. The offer stands." The detective frowned for a moment, duty warring with the reality of the offer in his head. In the end, he simply nodded and thanked Izuku before leaving.

…

Mei shook her hand after she'd had the RFID implanted under her skin. She spoke seriously to Izuku, who was putting away one of the pressure syringes and reloading the other. "Now, what didn't you show everyone else?"

Izuku looked at her for a moment. "Am I getting that predictable?"

Mei shook her head. "Only to me. Besides, we talked about several concepts that I didn't see around. I know you didn't toss them out, so the question is where you installed them."

Izuku chuckled, nodding his head. "You are correct. The holding cells, my station for information brokering, A.I. Core, and all the other less than technically legal things are in a sublevel under the basement only accessible by your chip and mine currently. But I'll show you that stuff later. Dabi should almost be here. Let's head down to my office since I've already set it up."

…

Izuku's office was very much styled in an old wooden motif. Central to the room was an old, heavy wooden desk surrounded on both walls by hardwood bookshelves lined with technical manuals, heavy reference books, and a dozen other types. When Izuku led Dabi into his office and sat down behind his desk, Hatsume walked over from one and sat on the edge.

"Hey there, smokey, glad you could make it in." Dabi snorted and shook his head.

"If any of us should be happy they're on time, it's you, gearhead." Izuku let them playfully snipe at each other a bit more before he cut it off and launched into what he wanted to cover.

"Do you remember what I told you in that alleyway months ago?" Izuku watched Dabi's face as he squinted before shaking his head.

"Sorry, not entirely, no. I was a little too busy pissing myself at the idea someone knew who I was and fighting the instinct to just turn you into charcoal." Dabi suddenly shuddered, remembering the handful of times Izuku had come on a mission with him. "No offense, but you're fucking scary. I'm pretty certain I'd be dead if I'd tried."

Izuku laughed, a dark tone leaching into it, causing a chill to go down the backs of both others in the room. "That's because you would have been dead before you could so much as raise an arm. But that's irrelevant. As I told you back then, once we opened this facility, you'd be offered the position of head of security here. That is, of course, a salaried position, and you'd be able to take an apartment upstairs. Let me assure you, it's better than where you're living now."

Dabi shuddered. "Must you mention that you know where I live. It's kind of disconcerting." Izuku shrugged with an it's my job kind of smirk on his face. Dabi sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I take it that if I'm going to be taking on the position, I won't be required to complete the commissions?"

Mei nodded, confirming Dabi's assumption. "As Izuku told you before, smokey, after you take the position, it would be your choice to take on commissions or not. Besides that, you've helped build enough of a network at this point that if we put up a commission onto the board, someone would generally take it just to be helpful. Though some of the more... complicated… situations will still need for you two to step in personally."

Dabi nodded, agreeing to take the position then. Izuku smiled, reaching across the desk to shake his hand. When Dabi took his hand, Izuku pinned it to the desk, drawing the new pressure syringe and injecting it before Dabi could react. He jerked back, shaking his hand. "Son of a bitch. What the fuck was that?"

Izuku laughed, tapping his own hand in the same place. "Subdermal RFID chip. It contains your credentials, so you just need to tap the pad next to any of the doors to get through. Only a few things to finish, really, then you're clear to get settled in. First, we need to show you your office and the two armories, as well as introduce you to your coworker. Then I need to show you both the areas that aren't on the official floorplan. Besides that, I just have a question for you."

"Uh, coworker? I thought I was the only security personnel at this time." Izuku and Mei shared a look then that Dabi was certain would haunt him in his dreams that night. They smiled at each other like two madmen about to introduce their pet project.

"You are correct, you are the only security personnel. That being said, you'll be working closely with someone that Mei and I created. We didn't have time to do much actual inventing in the last six months, but we had plenty of time to work on our computers. Hence my doctorates, and ahem. Phoenix, are you there?"

Dabi was about to ask Izuku who he was talking to when a synthetic female voice seemed to materialize from ether around them. "Affirmative, Izuku. I am now fully integrated with the A.I. Core and ready to assist."

"What the fuck." Mei was now laughing while Izuku was the one explaining.

"Dabi, meet Phoenix. She is a fully capable artificial intelligence that we created to aid us in our daily tasks, as well as to monitor the information network and aid in logistics. She is a secret for now, as A.I. research is technically a moral gray area that people don't like to think about. But just consider her a person whose body is the facility around you. Or don't, if you find that a little creepy. The point is, she is as much a person as you or me."

Dabi nodded his head slowly. Midoriya never gave him small amounts of information to take in. He was once again wishing that his boss was even the slightest bit normal. "Alright. Before we tour the facility, what was the question that you wanted to ask me?"

Izuku grinned ear to ear now. It was too wide with far too much of his teeth to be a kind smile. Instead, Dabi shivered, because it was the same one that reminded him of the predator his boss was instead of the kid he looked like. His hands crossed in front of him, and he relaxed back into his seat. "How would you like me to fix your quirk and body, Dabi?"