“Alright, I think the camera is working.” The video showed a man in his early thirties, dark hair and stubble on his chin, fiddling with the camera recording him. The dirt and stains on the rubber suit he was wearing looked fresh, like he’d just gotten done working on something with chemicals involved, and his excitement was plain to see. “It's working, nice! Okay, I guess introductions are in order.”
The man leaned back and sat down in his chair, adjusting himself until he was comfortable. “My name is Emerson Wood, I used to be a carpenter until about four or five years ago. Some of you may recognize me as Commission City’s very own supervillain, Omniglue.” He paused briefly to let the moment sink down before continuing. “I usually did small-time stuff, supporting other villains or criminals and security for business meetings. Nothing really special about me other than my gimmick: I make the best damn superglue technology on the east coast.”
He smiled, a slight level of pride in his believed skill. Quickly though, it turned into a slight frown as he remembered why he was recording the video. “And well, I got caught. I went away for a little bit, went back in after some mishaps, and now I’m out again. Most people in my paygrade start looking for ways to get back into the game because they know they’ll never be able to get a job in a normal line of work again, but not me.” He composed his thoughts for a moment, fiddling with his rubber gloves. “I had this idea right? I could sell my glue tech in little packages, right? Make it a business…and then it hit me that, well, that’s not fair.”
Emerson reached for something outside of the camera’s view, pulling up a magazine with a man in a business suit emblazoned on the cover. “This is William Gale, who in addition to having the most hilariously fake name I’ve ever heard, is publicly known as the hero Free-Jet. He has a massive company working in dozens of fields, worked on jet fighters for a while as a hobby, and now he’s the biggest name in tech based superheroes out there.” The man looked at the magazine and frowned. “And not a single person will ever benefit from it but him, because like a lot of these “Smart Guy” heroes, he doesn’t share any of the stuff that can really help people. Energy generation, space exploration, new materials without negative environmental impact, I’ve seen it all in the hands of heroes who will never share it because they think the world isn’t ready, or that it’ll hurt the economy or something.”
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The villain threw the magazine behind him, done with his little rant. He looked annoyed, glancing away from the camera for a moment as he composed himself.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is that we, and I mean all of us, need to share more. Heroes, villains, companies and research groups; we always talk about a brighter tomorrow but when we figure out how to make it, we hide the secrets to protect the present. Seems weird right?” Emerson leaned back in his chair. “So I spent some time thinking about my Omniglue idea, how to make it profitable or whatever, and I realized that since my formula can be used on any material and cures stronger than steel, it basically could revolutionize construction efforts. I guess, well, I felt like it would be literally criminal for me to hide that anymore.”
He pulls up a helmet from off-screen, the one he would wear during crimes. “As of August 2nd, 20XX, I, Emerson Wood, have placed the Omniglue Formula, full documentation, and related technology into the public domain for the world to make use of. Be responsible, and send the generosity down the chain okay? I doubt this will be the start of something, but maybe we can help some people for once.”
He placed the helmet on his head, gave a thumbs up, and turned off the camera.
Alright, now I need to get some sleep, tomorrow’s probably gonna be stressful.
Despite the sun having nearly come up by the time he’d finished cleaning his lab, Emerson felt lighter than before. He’d possibly ruined any chance at him making a living, sure, but he was sure this would help at least a few thousand people.
Sure, that was worth it.
Emerson didn’t look at his computer again after setting the video to upload, and as such, didn’t see what had happened until he awoke. Only an hour after uploading, the video titled “Omniglue For You!!” had been collectively watched nearly six million times.
