Plot bunny?

[IamLEAM1983]

An investigation turns a bit hairy and Archie takes a few armor-piercing bullets in the chest, which damage his rewinding mechanism. He has enough cash to have a set of identical reproductions of his normal pieces machined, but it would cost less to use this as a chance to try and upgrade him to a gyroscope-based self-rewinding system. They choose to to go ahead with this and at first, the advantages are pretty obvious. He's a bit more flexible and more kinetic energy means more outright stamina, and that means a better temper and less of a rigid countenance - but he starts to be a little too forward for some people's tastes.

The more time passes, the more his entire personality seems to fall apart in chunks, exposing a reckless daredevil with no real concept of due process. He gets abrasive with the kids, maybe suspends someone's salary after having a tiff with them, and might go so far as to fire someone outright. Alderan and the Deputy Chiefs refuse to endorse his latest decisions, because they're just not in tune with the considerate and responsible Archie they used to know. That denial of his authority infuriates Archie - going to the point where even Arthur starts to figure his brother isn't going through a second or third adolescence and that something is actually wrong.

Then, another case goes south - this time because of Archie's impatience. Key witnesses land in the ER, at which point Inspector Kulich overrides Archie's authority and orders the team to apprehend him. They have to find out what's causing the normally phlegmatic former spy to be experiencing what feels like an accelerated version of the sort of psychotic breakdowns extensively augmented persons can experience. Mary, notably, is torn between the fact that Archie's problems are reminding her of what exosuit wearers can go through, and the fact that Holden is starting to warrant extreme prejudice.

Naturally, they'd narrow the causes down to the new winding mechanism and scramble to find the exact assembler, seeing as Masterson Armatures was only the installer. They'd have checked out as innocent very early on - but someone doctored the pieces that were destined for Archie's use somewhere on the assembly line. The question of the costs of having Vintage parts machined gets fixed once the case is exposed to Aldergard, and the Wyrm concludes that Archie can't be faulted for being erratic. There's a good chance that replacing his gyroscope with a copy of his old wind-up key mechanism will revert the adverse effects his phylactery is being subjected to.

[Karl the Mad]

Sounds intriguing, but where would we pick things up at? The initial investigation, shortly after the gyro is implanted? Is there an ultimate bad guy who could sabotage the new wind-up mechanism? Why wouldn't they seek out Aldergard's help in the first place?

Regardless, I feel I'd need to get a move on with Bryce if we do decide on this little adventure.

[IamLEAM1983]

It'd be fun to RP through the initial case as it goes south, likely because our guys would later realize that some seemingly disparate elements in the firefights would suggest that they were led there - that someone wanted to expose Archie to severe thoracic damage. We'd FF to post-op (or post-install, no need for surgery), and then work our way through a number of situations that would showcase Archie's shifting and deteriorating psyche. It'd be a while before they'd feel the need to call for outside assistance and, as I've said, Archie has the funds for at least one serious part replacement. Considering the kind of man he is, he'd have wanted to keep his "failure" private, and would have refused to involve anyone like Aldergard in the onset.

On the other hand, as soon as they'd start to have doubts as to the results of the replacement, they'd ask Starr to poke around, start from Masterson and work her way down through the production chain.

I could see this as being one of the first few serious signs of Void Weaver influence in Hope - more than likely Nereus trying to get Shield to implode before he implants himself in the city. He'd assume that as Archie is the administrator and Three refuses to see himself as anything more than a point man, there's only one guy that ostensibly needs to be taken out before Hope starts to weaken as an organization and eventually collapses.

I figure that would follow in the wake of a few super-clumsy and abortive attempts on Kulich, Alderan, Tala and Mac Loch's lives, all spaced out and differentiated enough that nobody would think to immediately draw conclusions. My guess is Nereus would know about these failures, but wouldn't be able to stop the process of tampering with Archie once it's begun; with something as simple as paying a few deadbeats to make a Red Snow lab painfully easy to detect and shut down. Mess with their minds so they refuse to come peaceably, make sure one of them was imprinted with the need to land a few torso shots on the Clank, and the rest of the plan would be set in motion.