The Consequences of Being a Hero

[Baumann's Market]

The whole location looked like a warzone, and the war within it was still raging on. On the outside, it was a shoot-out, but it was also a hand-to-hand fight. Several thugs, each of them were either aliens of some sort, or humans that had a sense of familiarity with crime and chaos. Some of the thugs wore very punk-ish gangster-esque outfits, firing off small alien guns, while some of the aliens were firing much larger, and far stronger weapons. They had the way to the front entrance walled off, blocked by several strong-armed individuals.

The plumbers took cover behind their vehicles, pinned down by the constant rate of fire. They constantly tried to fight back, attempting little by little to push the opposing enemy back, but nothing seemed to work. They had dealt with invasions worth more trouble than a bunch of gangsters like these, something much bigger had to be happening here to require such push back.

The Plumber on the far right activated some kind of metal ball, chucking it over his head and right into the face of one of the thugs. It clung to their face, and as they tried to remove it, an explosion soon followed, knocking the gangster out, and knocking back a fair few of the other attackers. "It's times like this where I wish I was back on my homeworld! These blasted fools are pressuring us to stay in cover, and we can't stay here forever!" The plumber remarked, readying some kind of bladed staff.

The plumber in the middle sighed. "I get what you mean, this is getting ridiculous. At this point, we should just give them a taste of their own medicine, fight fire with fire!" they remarked.

The plumber on the far left holstered their weapon, slumping against the vehicle as they try to steady their breathing. "This is getting us nowhere. If we don't take them out, Magister Tennyson and his squad won't be able to get inside! Here's to hoping that backup comes soon!" they stated.

Almost as if a prayer had been answered by a higher power, the sound of metal smashing against someone's face could be heard. A grunt and a muffled cry of pain could be heard, and the sound of seizing gunfire was also prominent too.

The plumbers peaked out from cover, seeing Scott, holding a small metal rod like a baseball bat. The thug at his feet was recoiling bad, and the small bits of blood on the blunter end of the rod was pretty self-explanatory.

Scott spun the rod around with his fingers, gripped it tight, and smiled. The remaining thugs just stood there, wondering what exactly just happened. This guy, he wasn't in a uniform, but he seemed like the type who has his fair share of run-ins with criminals. Something was off, one could even say, he was different. "Alright, I don't know where to start with you, okay? I mean, do you even know who you're talking to?" Scott asked. The thugs didn't answer, they were just confused.

Scott's smile faded into a scowl, and out from his right pocket, he quickly chucked something as it slid to their feet. Before they could react, the thing beeped and ensnared them in a powerful bright yellow energy bind. The more they struggled against the binds, they were shocked beyond compare. The plumbers came out of hiding and witnessed what exactly happened, a bit surprised themselves.

The plumber took his helmet off, revealing a man with a tanned-skin tone and cornrows. "Way to go, Cadet. I probably could've handled it, but they were relentless on keeping us pinned. I also appreciate you answering the call when you did." The man thanked.

Scott simply nodded. "Thanks, pally. Let's get this over with, I got tons of vacation days that need to be used." Scott remarked, walking to the front of the building.

The man put his helmet back on and followed suite, as did the other two, readying their weapons.

***

As they walked in, it was clear this little operation went off the deep end. The actual store was totaled. Everything was either destroyed, slung across the room, or on the rare case, untouched, but just barely scuffed. And judging by the fighting that was happening on the inside, the fun wasn't over.

On the far left, A woman with orange hair in her twenties was casting magic, and a man in his twenties with long black hair, and an X-shaped scar on his chin absorbed and covered himself in a layer of concrete, forming his hands into blades as he readies himself for an attack. The foe they were facing seemed to be some kind of giant white gorilla, with a man's head in a jar being in place of the gorilla's actual head. "I have visuals on Gwendolyn Tennyson and Kevin Levin. Looks like Dr. Animo's involved in some way. Base, do you copy?" The man spoke into his badge.

"Loud and clear. You're clear to engage. Over and out." Another voice spoke.

The man ran in, readying his weapon as he fired at the individual. Scott wanted to run in and help as well, but to his right, he saw a man with feline-like features, dressed in a white, blue-gray and black suit fighting off what looked like a woman with unnaturally pale white skin, red hair and black and red armor with a white skull emblem on the chest. She swung her claws and was beginning to trip up the man.

Scott was about to move in, but was stopped by the other two plumbers. "At ease, Cadet. We got visuals on Rook Blonko, and Rojo. We are clear to engage." He stated. "You stay out of the fight for now. Without your gear, you're about as helpful as an Ectonurite in the daytime." He remarked.

The two other plumbers ran in, weapons drawn as they began to attack Rojo. Scott gritted his teeth, but soon noticed something important. Ben wasn't here, he wasn't fighting these two, and didn't take care of the thugs outside. Needless to say, Scott could feel that something was wrong. He didn't know what, nor why, but he had an idea of where.

Scott jumped over the counter, noticing a man cowering. The man himself looked to be in his early seventies, partially bald and has gray hair on the side of his head with a pot belly, and had a well-grown black mustache. He wore glasses, a dark pink bowtie and a light pink-striped yellow shirt with a dark pink apron and brown pants. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me where I can find someone, could ya?" Scott asked.

The man looked at Scott and was practically terrified. "I already told you hooligans that I have no idea what you're looking for!" Baumann protested.

Scott rolled his eyes and pulled out his badge, showing it to Baumann. "You wanna try that again?" Scott asked, leering at the old man.

Baumann saw the badge and calmed down a fair bit. He gulped and tried to breathe. "What do you want to know?" Baumann asked.

Scott pocketed his badge. "I can't help but notice a certain someone is absent in this fight. On the off-chance Ben Tennyson came through here, where can I find him?" Scott asked.

Baumann started to become more irate. "That blasted troublemaker! Every time he comes into my shop, the destruction of my property is inevitable! He did come through here, but as far as I know, he's probably long gone. I say good riddance! As soon as all of that is settled, I need to look into other locations to put my shop, somewhere I can only hope Ben Tennyson, or anymore troublemakers can't find it!" Baumann remarked.

Scott groaned. As easy as it could've been for him to get angry and pry the information he needed, and throttle someone for slandering a hero after all the good they've done, he knew very well that it would only cause trouble, and it would most likely cost him his job. Scott took a deep breath, and sighed. "Can we get back to the topic at hand? Where did you last see him?" Scott inquired.

Baumann slowly got to his knees and pointed to the broken doorway, leading to the storage room. "Ben and some tall imposing individual were fighting before the rest of you got here. He ended up turning into that large orange-shelled ball of destruction and they ended up crashing into storage. They were probably using my storage as a quieter means of upholding some kind of deal. Something about a revolution in technology." Baumann explained.

'This gets weirder and weirder, just as I expected it to. This doesn't add up. Animo and Rojo, now some unknown attacker is in the mix. This is gonna be a problem, and I'm about to throw myself into it.' Scott thought.

Scott sighed and got up. "I'll see what I can do. Till then, I'd recommend you leave the store. Better to be alive later than to die early." Scott stated. Before Baumann could make an objection, Scott had already jumped over the counter and ran into the storage.

Baumann sighed. "Wonderful, that kid's just as attracted to trouble as Tennyson." Baumann remarked.

[Storage]

The whole room was dark. It was like the lights had been drained of all they had, but were still desperately trying to illuminate light amidst the shadows. Scott carefully moved around, hearing the distant sounds of a fight that has yet to end. Before Scott could go any further, he heard something pass through the shadows behind him, and he quickly turned around, but nothing could be seen amidst the darkness. He heard something rush by even closer, and he turned around, but was once against met with nothing.

'Great, something's fucking with me. Just what I need, an annoying pest keeping my attention. I need a plan, and unfortunately, that plan might require me to be able to see in the dark. What do I do in this kind of situation?' Scott thought to himself.

He heard the thing constantly rushing by, almost as if it was moving within the shadows itself. Scott pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight, hearing a sudden hissing noise, one that buzzed with anticipation. It was like a snake was getting ready to attack and bite into its prey, but it almost sounded insectoid in nature. With the light on, he shined the light in all directions, only to find nothing. To a normal individual, they would've brushed it off.

Not Scott, he heard this kind of buzzing before. Then, he heard the chittering, he heard it echo around him, the sound of clicking soon followed as well. The sounds, the way they were made, it was familiar. He never thought he'd get the chance, the opportunity, to face those overgrown bugs again. Looks like today really was lucky, but Scott was unsure if it was his, or theirs.

Scott heard something land behind him. He whipped around, one of his hands balled into a fist, and was immediately kicked away before he could defend himself. The phone flew out of his hands, but he wasn't out of the fight yet. Scott quickly got back up to his feet, and was staring back at those same monstrous things he witnessed years ago.

The holes in their bodies, the malformed wings, the strange armor they wore, the sleek black chitin covering their bodies from head to toe, and those big bulbous eyes. The very same strange horse-fly looking alien freaks, only this time, he planned to fight with all he had, and was gonna stomp them out for good. "I was hopin' to see you ugly bugs again. You three freaks are gonna get stomped like roaches for what you've done, ya got that?!" Scott called out angrily into the darkness.

The buzzing and swirling air from their constant flying was enough to tell Scott they were trying to confuse him. Thankfully, he dealt with plenty of species before that tried the same thing, and he knew how to gain the advantage. Scott looked around, only to notice the faint glow of his phone underneath one of the shelves. Scott made a mad dash towards said shelf, and heard one of them tailing him, trying to dive bomb and land a strike.

Scott quickly dove down, sliding on his stomach as he vanished under the shelf. The subtle sound of the creature colliding with the shelf was enough to signify that they were gonna be hurting after this. Scott quickly crawled out and shined the light in its face. He heard the discomfort in its chittering and tackled into it, punching it in the face and firmly planting his right knee into its stomach. He heard one of them trying to rush in and assist its ally, only for Scott to grab the creature and shove it into the incoming one.

Scott hopped over both of the creatures, only to be grabbed by the throat by the last one, then thrown over to the other side of the room. Scott crashed into several shelves and crates, and even ended up landing on a piece of broken glass, ending up with a piece of it piercing his left side. He cried out and gritted his teeth, feeling the pain of his skin and flesh being torn into. Scott tried to move, but the last remaining creature landed on him, pushing the glass further into his wound. Scott coughed hard the moment the creature's foot was planted on top of his chest, pressing hard onto his ribcage.

It felt as if the end was near, until he heard a voice come from the biped insect. "You've been looking for us? For what reason do you have to seek us out!" The creature hissed.

Scott groaned and mustered enough strength to deliver a solid right hook into the creature, staggering it and knocking it off of him. Scott rolled onto his right side and slowly got onto his knees, heaving as he looked back at the insect. "You freaky bugs killed my parents! You even approached me, you and your stupid troop!" Scott lunged at the creature, trying to grab hold of it and fight. "You left me alive, and I'm gonna make you regret it! Do you know how failure tastes? Let me show ya!" Scott remarked.

The creature hissed and growled as it tried to shake Scott off, but he was keeping quite a tight grip on the creature. Scott tried to keep fighting, but the pain caused by the impaling glass shard was getting harder to ignore. It hurt like hell, and burned like it, too. the creature tried to fly up, revealing a suspended walkway above.

The creature tossed Scott to the walkway, dusting itself off. Scott's body onto it as it landed, causing him to gasp and grunt, holding his side. "You've met our kin before? I'm surprised you've encountered us Changelings. We figured this world's strongest hero, the legendary 'Ben 10' would've been the first. But, you're mistaken, we never killed anyone. The creatures you encountered, they couldn't have been of our kin." The changeling remarked.

Scott reached to his left side, grabbing the shard of glass and began pulling it out with a lot of difficulty. He screamed and yelled out in agony, feeling the searing white hot pain as the glass slowly left his wound. Soon, the glass was out, and the blood-stained shard fell back down to the darkened ground. Scott felt the crimson drip down the side of his body, but he still hobbled his way back onto his feet. "I was nine. I lived on a farm. You were a bunch of scavengers. That remind you of anything!?" Scott reprimanded.

Soon enough, Scott slumped to the ground, feeling the cold metal against his skin as he struggled to keep moving. The changeling walked forward and looked as if he was going to attack, but Scott couldn't move another inch to save himself. He felt weak, he felt as if he had no stamina, no energy, he was practically a dead man. He closed his eyes, and waited for the end, hoping it'd be swift.

But, the end never came.

Scott slowly opened his eyes, feeling something cold and sticky pressing against his wound. Scott moved his gaze, seeing the changeling kneeling above him, applying a strange green goo over his wound. After that, he noticed the creature reaching into his pockets, only to find the badge he had. Scott was too weak to fight, let alone protest, so the changeling examined it, began to think about something, and finally put two and two together, putting the badge back in Scott's pocket.

The changeling looked down at Scott. He was pale, like he lost a lot of blood. Judging by how increasingly more red the spot he collapsed on was, it was a miracle he didn't die on that walkway. "Wh... you... huh..." Scott muttered weakly.

Scott was sat up against the railing, with the changeling examining the creature. "You're a rather odd human, but you do fight fairly well, but your methods are rather unorthodox. Forgive me, had I known prior that you were a plumber, me and my comrades wouldn't have assaulted you the way we did. I also hadn't known you were injured upon the initial landing, not until I noticed the bloodied glass fall back to the ground. Wasn't until I noticed your badge that I knew of the potential trouble I could bring down upon my brothers." The changeling explained.

Scott gritted his teeth, grunting as he tried to get into a more comfortable position. He was hurting and weak enough as is, but at least he wasn't dead, he was grateful, at least. The changeling pulled a glass flask of a glowing viscous violet fluid, opening it. "Here, you can drink this. It's a special magical elixir made from our magic. Your wounds will heal naturally, but it'll take too long, and you could die of blood loss, or disease before it ever heals all the way. If I give you this, will you not attack me, or my comrades once you've healed, and let us explain?" The changeling asked.

Scott wasn't about to die on that walkway, and while he knew those things were in some way connected to the ones that attacked his home, he wasn't going to jeopardize the mission all for petty revenge. 'I really gotta get therapy for this, I can't believe I let myself get to this point… I'll do it during the use of my vacation days.' Scott thought. Scott shifted his weakening gaze to the changeling and tried to shake his head yes, albeit he was slow, exhausted, and still lost a fair amount of blood.

The changeling opened Scott's mouth and poured the liquid from the vial down his throat. Scott's face looked dissatisfied with the taste, though the changeling found it rather humorous. In an instant, Scott felt his wound close up, he felt the fatigue, the dizziness, the exhaustion, it was fading away. He felt his energy come back, his stamina was rejuvenated.

The changeling helped him back onto his feet, though his clothes were now stained in crimson. "Well, aside from the blood on my good clothes, I feel right as rain again. What was in that stuff? It tasted like fifty-year old stomach medicine and rotten cherries." Scott asked.

"It is made of changeling magic. We changelings don't have hearts, so we feed off of love, and we mainly bring it back to our hive, to give to our queen." The changeling explained.

Scott looked at the creature, confused and curious, but mostly confused. "Why did you heal me? You easily could've left me for dead, but you stayed. You tried to stop the bleeding, sat me upright, and healed me. Why?" Scott asked.

The changeling looked Scott right in the eyes. "I did it for the betterment of my brothers. As a plumber, you were doing your job, and again, had we'd known prior, we wouldn't have attacked. But unfortunately, we were pawns in a grander plan, as much as it pains me to admit." The changeling explained.

"You got a name?" Scott asked.

"Exos. My brothers are named Mandible and Tennae." The changeling said.

"In that case, I'm Scott Baristo, but you can call me Scott, if you so wish." Scott introduced.

Scott remembered why he was here, about the illegal tech trafficking ring. He really let his past experience drive him off the designated path this time. "Which reminds me, Exos. What exactly is being smuggled through here, a weapon? An experimental bio-weapon? A bomb capable of destroying planets? It's not one of those Annihilaargs I heard so much about, is it?" Scott asked.

Exos simply shrugged. "We aren't sure what it is, but according to what many potential benefactors have discussed over the conceptualization of this deal, it's supposed to be something that'll allow the one on top to finally defeat all forces for good and justice. It could overwrite a set of code, and replace it with a singular specific kind of code that turns machines into full-blown weapons of majorly assured mass destruction. But, others have called it a knock-off." Exos remarked.

Scott thought about what it could've been, but nothing immediately came to mind. But, then again, there was one individual who had a knock-off device, one that could easily compare to something Ben Tennyson was known for wielding. Scott's face went pale again, and a sense of concern washed over him. "What did they think it was a knock-off of exactly?" Scott asked, his tone full of caution.

Exos saw the human's expression, and could practically smell the fear coming off him. "Something called an Omnitrix, whatever that is. It's supposedly what this 'Ben 10' individual uses to mimic our shapeshifting capabilities, only it seems much more complex. Why do you ask?" Exos asked.

Scott's face got even paler, but before he could explain, the door behind them burst open, sending them flying to the other end of the walkway. Where Exos could fly and easily recover, Scott was just trying to find his footing again, only to then crash into another door. Out from the newly created hole was a towering figure, one that was all too familiar to anyone who's seen or heard the news.

The figure was tall, he was incredibly huge. He looked imposing, as did the red armor he wore. He had a beard, one consisting of numerous tentacles. His skin was green, he wore a set of red metal gauntlets with blackened claws. He grinned as he stared down the human and the changeling. His red eyes shined as he threw an unconscious guy in his twenties onto the walkway.

"W-Who is this towering creature?" Exos asked.

Scott gulped. "Vilgax, conqueror of worlds. He once outsmarted an interdimensional energy demon, known simply as the Diagon, and took its power for his own. Some have even heard he went to other timelines to find evil versions of Ben 10 to make an army, but I don't know if that's actually true. If he can outsmart a literal energy demon, then I believe it." Scott explained. "In layman's terms, we're fucked!" Scott exclaimed.

Exos looked at the unconscious man on the walkway. "And him? Do you know who he is?" Exos inquired. Scott looked down at the individual that Vilgax tossed over.

The guy was dressed in a white t-shirt with a green stripe going down the middle of it, as well as a black long-sleeved shirt underneath that. He had a black belt around his waist with a big green 10 in the middle of it. He wore dark blue jeans and had bulky armored knee pads. He had black boots with white detailing and steel toe armoring. He also had a familiar watch on his wrist. It was bulky, but it was also sleek and incredibly good looking, the main colors being black and gray, with green and white being excellent accent colors, but the bright green hourglass shape in the midst of it was all Scott needed to see to indicate that this was him.

Scott shuddered, terrified of the situation. "That's Ben Tennyson. Wielder of the Omnitrix, the Protector of Earth. He's one of the strongest, most versatile, and most creative superheroes I've ever seen! But as he is right now, I'm a bit worried about our odds." Scott briefly explained.

A sinister smile formed on Vilgax's face as he stepped forward. "You should be. Finally, I have incapacitated the mighty Ben Tennyson, after eleven years of your constant interruption, you stopping my plans, defeating me like I won't come back to settle the score! But now, I'll finally have what is rightfully mine! I'll take your blasted Omnitrix, and create the army I sought to have all that time ago! I may not have need for that pathetic knock-off, after all!" Vilgax rejoiced.

Scott heard the conqueror mention a knock-off, and his brain finally put two and two together. He fished out his badge and activated the communicator. "All plumbers on this frequency, please respond! Vilgax has defeated Ben Tennyson! I repeat, Vilgax has defeated Ben Tennyson, this is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill! I'm requesting backup at Baumann's Market! Does anyone copy?!" Scott was panicking, breaking out in a nervous sweat. Not a single response came back through.

He felt useless, he felt terrified, he felt the same way he did as a kid, knowing that changelings, whatever those things are, killed his folks. Now, he's about to watch Vilgax, Ben Tennyson's most notorious enemy, finally kill his hero.

Scott didn't want to watch this, he wanted to do something to help. But, what could he do realistically? He was only human. This was Vilgax he was facing, seeing him approaching the unconscious body of the hero he looked up to in times of his own crisis, it was terrifying to see. Scott doesn't know why he did this, let alone even think it was a good idea, but under so much pressure, the situation escalated more and more, and Scott just couldn't take it.

Scott attempted to run towards the conqueror and attack. Scott did land a single punch on the conqueror, but it felt more like a love tap. Scott stood in front of Ben's unconscious body, shaking and trembling at the sight of the conqueror scowling down at him. "I- I won't let you do this! By authority of the Plumbers, you are under arrest!" Scott exclaimed. He felt the adrenaline pumping through his body, and he knew what he was doing was basically suicide, but he couldn't just stand by and watch Earth's mightiest hero go down like this.

For a moment, everything went silent. Vilgax stared down at the human, while Exos carefully pulled Ben's unconscious body away. Scott's eyes were wide, his teeth were gritting together so hard, he thought he'd break every tooth in his mouth. Without warning, the tentacles that dangled down Vilgax's face quickly ensnared Scott, holding him still. He raised his right arm and stared down, smiling.

Scott watched Vilgax's hand come down at a dangerous speed, and the moment it collided, the sound of something snapping, breaking, and dislocating could be heard throughout the entire building. Scott was quite literally knocked off his feet. The entire left side of his body felt numb, but he was more worried falling off the side of the walkway. He tried to stop and save himself, but the blood on his hand made it hard to keep a firm grip on anything.

Before Scott knew what happened, he landed on top of the shelves in the right most corner of the room. The shelves began to collapse, and as Scott landed on the floor, he was buried under the shelves, and blocked off by crates. The pain was basically unbearable, Scott felt like everything got bent and broken, then fixed, and then broken again. He felt his consciousness fading, and he could hear the faint, if not booming laughter coming from Vilgax. He desperately wanted to move, but he lost the stamina he had.

'Dammit, I knew that was a bad idea... Why did I frickin' do that?! I knew I wasn't gonna win that fight, but I just had to step in. I might as well have shown up dressed as a giant chicken, while holding fried chicken! I can't feel anything on the left side of my body, and whatever I can feel, I don't even have the strength to muster out a cry for help, not even a whimper. I'm gonna end up a dead man today, and it's a miracle I haven't ended up a dead man yet in this blasted career, until now.'

Scott could feel everything slowing down and speeding up, and he felt the crippling injury he was afflicted with. His body was going through another adrenaline rush, but he couldn't do anything with it. He felt his muscles tear up, swell and flex on their own, the pain and torment was agonizing. He felt like one of those one billion piece puzzles, except a hundred twenty-eight pieces were missing, or broken beyond actual use or repair. Everything was going dark, darker than it previously was without any proper lighting.

'So, this is my life story. As a child, my parents were killed by something known as Changelings, some sort of freaky magical race of bug people that have a passing resemblance to horse flies. I learned the name of the hero behind the aliens that saved the day. I joined the plumber academy and would eventually qualify to become a cadet. Now, I'm a crumpled up, broken heap of a man. The moment I get to be in the same room with my hero, it just so happens that debatably, his worst enemy, is trying once again, to get revenge. Either I have the worst sense of timing, or today was just one of those days where I get smacked like a ragdoll, and then I have to spend most of my vacation days trying to heal. Knowing my luck, it's one of those days, but I had a job to do. I've always got a job to do, even when I'm trying to go on vacation!'

Unbeknownst to him, something had fallen out from one of the crates, and landed right near his right hand. Within the cover of darkness, it didn't seem like anything special. But, then a strange green glow began to emanate from it, illuminating the small contained trap that Scott's crippled body was trapped within. Scott felt as if everything was finally about to go limp, and while the green glow did catch his attention, it was the hourglass emblem that it sported that truly made him wonder.

Through the pain, knowing that he'd go unconscious soon, he let a small smile form on his face before his eyes began to close.

'Guess this is how it ends. Ma, Pops... if you all can hear me, wherever you ended up... I'm on my way... Sorry to make you wait so long, I was... doing my best, with what little I got left... But hey, I finally got to see my hero in person, even if he never gets to know... That's good enough for me... Not bad... for a Boston boy born from the sticks...'

A loud digital pinging sound soon echoed out, all while Scott fell limp. While he couldn't feel it, let alone be aware of what was happening around him, something did end up clasping around his wrist. Amidst the green glow, was a bulky watch. It looked like what the Omnitrix initially looked like, back when it was first conceived as a prototype, but there were some obvious differences with this version.

Instead of four white tubes plugged into the device, there was only one. It also had an extra button above the main button used to prime the device. It looked impractical, one could even say incomplete, compared to the original design, but it did look fairly well-put together. The device had fixated itself upon Scott's wrist, and after a minute of the interior mechanisms firing up, the device shined bright.

[All systems online. All basic functions and standard features have been granted access to user. Default DNA sample has been collected. Human DNA sample recognized, Scott Baristo has been registered as this device's user. Estimated Time for permanent genetic bond, unclear.] A calm synthetic digital voice spoke out from the device.

The Omnitrix-like device suddenly began to project a thin layer of green light over Scott's body, but that light vanished as soon as it was deployed. The device began to blink and glow a red color, only to start flashing rapidly from red to white. [ERROR. Host physical health is critical, user death is imminent. Initializing Fail-Safe Protocol... Two DNA Samples have been identified within prior incomplete default playlist. Initializing...]