Dimensional Originator & D-Rifter Chip
Overview
From the Strike Force "Chasing Fool's Gold" given by Dr. Aeon.
Souvenir's Text
In one hand you hold a dimensional tracking device, in the other you rotate an unused data chip that Dr. Aeon gave you in between your fingers. You note the specific minute details of the metal, the small imperfections that couldn't possibly be replicated, and how it proved to be Aeon's undoing in a convoluted chain of events you've dubbed:
Chasing Fool's Gold
It began when Dr. Aeon offered you a job: Beat up the head of Aeon Corp’s R&D for illegally selling research and reminding the rest of the research staff to stay in line. While the violent romp was fun, it seems things went deeper and that the head of R&D had sold research related to exploiting unstable dimensional ripples in exchange for gold wiring. This wiring was needed in machine components, and due to a gold shortage, Aeon Corp was unable to consistently meet deadlines.
Dr. Aeon was concerned about the topic of the research that was sold and had suspicions that the gold shortage was related to it. You were pointed in the direction of the gang who knows gold best, Langston Corp’s King Midas and his Gold Brickers.
You pressured some of their local men, which led you to a fighting tournament run by the Gold Brickers in hopes that the one running it would know more. After proving you’re the strongest around, the Gold Bricker champion explained that they were aware of the shortage but were only taking advantage of it for a profit.
Dr. Aeon concluded they needed to approach the problem from a different angle. That angle was Crey Industries. Dr. Aeon was able to confirm that Crey were hurting just as much from the shortage. Pulling some strings, a deal was arranged for the Gold Brickers, who were eager to make a big profit, to sell some of their gold to Crey, who were just as eager to purchase it. But this was a ruse, and your strike force intercepted the deal, stealing the gold and ensuring both parties walked away with nothing.
Unexpectedly, the breakthrough came not from Crey, but from the Gold Brickers, who had broken their strict rule of dealing in gold bars to something that ascertained their involvement: Gold wiring.
After wracking his brain for a moment, Dr. Aeon had an epiphany on how it could all be done. He had your group turn over the gold wiring they had recovered from the Crey facility and had it scanned, which revealed that it was dimensionally unstable counterfeits taken from dimensional ripples!
Using a device he called the Dimensional Originator, he was able to trace the source of the unstable gold and sent your strike force to investigate. Several miles offshore you found a Langston Corp tanker and upon arrival squared off against Professor Echo, who claimed that your working for Dr. Aeon would "doom the world". You swept the crazy old man aside and seized control of the ship, ousting a woman who called herself Princess Zoe, then secured an advanced portal receiver the Gold Brickers constructed.
With indisputable proof of the Gold Brickers tampering in interdimensional affairs and in possession of illegal portal technology, Arachnos sanctioned an assault on Langston Corp’s factory headquarters.
There you were confronted by the Golden Roller who sought to deal with you and your strike force by stranding you in fading dimensional ripples where the details differed quite a bit from the history you knew. Fighting your way through dimensions, one that was conquered by the 5th Column, another amidst a Devouring Earth civil war, and lastly a world locked down by Vanguard where your tampering may have unforeseen consequences...
Fortunately, Dr. Aeon’s Dimensional Originator was able to record your dimensional coordinates and return you to your original world.
You destroyed the Golden Roller’s precious ride and shook the man inside down to learn the Gold Brickers' leap in technology was derived from a device called the D-Rifter, but that’s all he knew. You set off to find Mr. Rodney, who was King Midas’s #2 for more answers. After exchanging brief blows, Rodney escaped, claiming you’d never find Midas or the D-Rifter.
Having lost the trail on Midas, and Arachnos expecting results, both you and Dr. Aeon were in a precarious position. With no other options, he equipped you with some scanners and sent you into a local dimensional ripple of Cap Au Diable to see if you could find anything.
You arrived and were chided by a confident Professor Echo, who knew you were out of options now and had to listen to him. With literally no other way forward, you heard the old man out. He explained that Dr. Aeon was using you to acquire the D-Rifter for himself and he would betray you at the last minute. To "ensure the world survived", he gave you a peculiar data chip and stated that if Dr. Aeon gave you an identical chip, to take it as evidence that he was going to betray you. As a show of good faith, he provided details on how to use Aeon’s scanners to find King Midas and the D-Rifter.
After placing the scanners, you dealt with a horror called Ripplesurge, who needed to be destroyed to ensure he could not escape into your world.
Using the scanner’s findings, you were primed to take down King Midas. Before you set off, Dr. Aeon provided you with the identical data chip that you now hold, making evident that Professor Echo’s claims hadn’t been paranoid ranting.
You proceeded through an increasingly unstable ripple of Cap Au Diable, won your rematch against Princess Zoe and Mr. Rodney, and finally arrived at the D-Rifter Lab that the Gold Brickers had been using as their base. You confronted King Midas, who had equipped himself with a weapon called the D-Sync System, fought a bitter last battle, and utilizing the super-heated smelting cauldrons in the facility to weaken his indestructible skin and finished off the Gold Brickers' king.
With your mission nearly complete, you entered the D-Rifter’s chamber, and inserted Professor Echo’s chip into the control console.
Dr. Aeon appeared through the portal in the chamber, laughing that he had duped you all, and that he was going to leave you all stranded in an interdimensional void until you blinked out of existence. With perfect timing, Echo’s chip linked the chamber’s portal to Grandville’s citadel tower, with Arbiter Daos and Black Scorpion arriving just in time to hear Aeon’s whole confession.
Explaining yourself to Arbiter Daos, he deigned to excuse your strike force’s involvement in this incident in exchange for having secured the D-Rifter for Arachnos custody. As a token of appreciation, he allowed you to loot the remainder of the Gold Brickers' lab, which secured you access to some of their impressive technology and weapons.
It was a wild adventure, and certainly not what you expected when you took on the job, but you walked away well-compensated. You aren’t sure what the consequences of your dimensional tampering might be or what Arachnos will do with the D-Rifter, but you’re sure it’ll all work out for you in the end, it always does.