Chapter 179

  Alexander pulled up his status screen, setting it to show the changes since the initial alliance negotiations with the Queen of Hearts.

  —

  [STATUS]

  Alexander Rooke

  | Alias: Machine God

  | Guild: Grimnir (Leader)

  | Alliances: The Royals (Defensive, Formal)

  | Designation: Supervillain

  | Bounty: 1,455,000 → 2,183,000 credits

  | Rankings: Universe_1: 64, Unified: 735

  | Evaluation: Tier 2 (19% → 25%) — Class A

  ASCENSION POTENTIAL INDEX (API)

  Physical Attributes

  | Strength — 78% → 80%

  | Endurance ? 115 → 120

  | Constitution ? 115 → 121

  | Dexterity — 93% → 94%

  | Agility — 83% → 85%

  Cognitive Attributes

  | Intelligence ? 145 → 152

  | Processing Speed ? 134 → 138

  | Perception ? 136 → 141

  | Focus ? 125 → 129

  | Willpower (Ambition) ? 174 → 184 (+5)

  Power Manifestation

  Machine God (Technopathy) | Class S, Tier 1

  | Efficiency — 100%

  | Control — 100%

  | Output — 73% → 77%

  | Adaptation — 95% → 97%

  Electrokinesis | Class C → B, Tier 1

  | Efficiency — 88% → 90%

  | Control — 82% → 86%

  | Output — 86% → 94%

  | Adaptation — 75% → 76%

  Metallokinesis | Class B, Tier 1

  | Efficiency — 74% → 83%

  | Control — 69% → 76%

  | Output — 52% → 66%

  | Adaptation — 54% → 59%

  Animachina | Class S, Tier 2

  | Mastery ? 79% → 82%

  Cultivator’s Core | Class B, Tier 1

  | Refinement ? 59% → 62%

  Techniques

  | Blackout

  | Ensoulment

  | Soul Circuit

  Skills

  | Hyperawareness

  Achievements

  | Origin 0 Soul

  | Continue the Dream II

  —

  The System had added rankings to the status screen now. Whether because he’d crossed some threshold or as a result of his own curiosity since Talia told him about them, he didn’t know.

  He wasn’t even sure they were relevant. It went without saying that there were far more than sixty-three superhumans within his own universe who could kill him in a face-to-face confrontation. If anything, his having a high bounty just made him a more interesting target for other superhuman thrill seekers.

  The idea of that… no longer bothered him.

  Alexander was beginning to understand depths about himself that he hadn’t before. Not that it should surprise anyone. His original life had been as mundane as they came. It lacked conflict. Challenge.

  Had no real ever-present threat of death.

  Much as he was pushing his own friends, his family, into growing stronger, whether motivated by their own passions, or their simple desire to continue fighting alongside him, he too needed motivation.

  Perhaps the System and AEGIS and all their superheroes would be his Sword of Damocles.

  Alexander smiled at the thought.

  The elevator came to a stop. He dismissed the status screen and stepped out into the newly renovated sub-basement.

  What had originally been an incomplete level housing his temporary workshop was now an expanded floor. The stairs opposite the lift led up to the actual first basement, with Augustus’s game room, medical center, mansion security office, and some storage spaces.

  To his left, behind a heavy bulkhead, a tunnel sloped gently upward connecting to the underground parking that was still under construction. Augustus’s idea. He’d made the point that they would need to transport materials to and from the gateways, and the best way to do that was to ensure easy vehicular access and an elevator system capable of carrying serious tonnage.

  Alexander turned right, making his way down the hallway, passing many irregularly spaced security doors. His new workshop waited behind one of them, and would only open for him or the few others he’d designated, but he had other priorities right now.

  The security system identified him as he approached the meeting room.

  The doors slid open.

  Plush dark carpet muffled Alexander’s footsteps as he entered. The round table dominated the room, thick dark wood with holographic emitters built into its surface. Despite the circular design and evenly spaced chairs, the room’s architecture made it clear which seat held authority. His seat, currently empty, positioned opposite a wall of screens cycling through muted news feeds.

  Beneath the screens, a compact snack bar.

  Annie’s addition to Talia’s room design.

  Annie herself leaned all the way back in her chair, boots propped on the table, arms behind her head. “About time. I almost fell asleep.”

  Gilly, seated beside her, chirped helpfully. “This is lie. You were stuffing face with snacks until just before leader entered.”

  Annie glared at the blue alien. “Why must you betray me, henchman?!”

  Gilly stuck out his tongue in a very human-like fashion.

  Alexander smiled and circled the table. Talia remained focused on her tablet. Augustus offered a nod from his reclined position. Carmen flashed him a smile, papers neatly stacked in front of her. Felix sat with wings tucked, looking more comfortable than Alexander had seen him in weeks.

  The constitution and strength training to handle Earth’s heavier gravity was clearly working.

  Alexander settled into his seat. One of seven occupied, with plenty empty indicating the guild’s ambition and plans to grow.

  “Let’s begin.”

  Silence met his words.

  Everyone glanced around the table, waiting for someone else to start.

  Finally, Talia looked up from her tablet. “Ah. I suppose it’s best if we establish a formal order for future meetings. I propose finance and recruitment go first, followed by Vanir, then Aesir, and finally intelligence.” She turned to Alexander. “Of course, any urgent priorities should go first. Plus we’ll need to adjust the rotation as we expand the pantheon.”

  Alexander raised an eyebrow. “Pantheon?”

  Talia shrugged. “Feels natural.”

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  He let it go and turned to Carmen. She’d temporarily taken charge of the guild’s finances in addition to her recruitment duties. They were still looking for a reliable accountant, but the starship captain had plenty of experience managing finances and approving expenditures.

  “Happy to kick things off?”

  Carmen nodded, clearing her throat before grabbing the little stack of papers in front of her.

  “I’ll keep this brief since most of you are aware. Our service contracts are proceeding on schedule. The rapid hiring phase has slowed now that current demands are being met. We’re not anticipating any sudden increase from this point on, either.”

  She flipped to the next page.

  “I’ve retained the services of a security outfit mostly made up of...” She hesitated over the terminology. “Normal humans with ascended attributes but no superpowers. They’re led by a pair of Tier 2s with a few Tier 1s on staff, and are already handling security for our construction site on Astra Omnia, ensuring the doorway from there to here doesn’t remain unattended.”

  Carmen glanced up from her notes. “They’ve all agreed to the memory modification when their duties expand to include gateway security. The bonus pay we offered was quite enticing.”

  Augustus leaned forward slightly. “What’s the outfit?”

  “Sentinel Security Solutions,” Carmen said. “They came highly recommended by the Queen of Hearts. The Royals usually retain them as additional station security, but were happy to release them from their standing contract.”

  Augustus nodded, satisfied.

  Carmen turned to Alexander. “As requested, I’ve reviewed all the existing salary contracts and worked with Talia to develop some rough numbers regarding the division of bounties.” She flicked to the next page. “I’m recommending a ten percent base take for all guild members, increasing to fifteen percent for senior positions.”

  Alexander considered it. The guild interface defaulted to claiming one hundred percent of bounty rewards from slain enemies. That was why they had over a hundred and seventy million in funds already once they unlocked the subsystem. He’d tasked Carmen with working out a reasonable split.

  “Ten percent seems low, given the risks we’re expecting the Vanir members to take.”

  “That’s true, but it’s offset by a stable salary and benefits included in their contract,” Carmen explained. “We’re providing housing, utilities, resources, protection, training, combat support, and so on.”

  “Okay, I’m convinced. All in favor?” Alexander raised his hand.

  Everyone else followed suit.

  Alexander opened the System interface with a thought and quickly navigated to the resources section. He set the default tax to ninety percent, down from one hundred. He could configure it in more detail for each member, but didn’t bother for now. Everyone in the room had millions of their own or could simply request anything they needed.

  Carmen continued. “Talia has provided me with a list of potential recruits. At your request, I’m not planning to contact any of them at this time. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the plan is to ensure the crew and I, along with Gilly, awaken and master at least the basics of our own powers before bringing on new prospects?”

  Augustus spoke up. “Yes. Alexander and I discussed it. We want to bring our current membership up to speed before taking the risk with established superhumans. The foundation must be stable first.”

  Carmen nodded. “Regarding finance, we’ve already laid out just under twenty-three million in expenditures since returning to Earth. Most of that has gone into upfront contract fees for services and materials, but also includes ongoing salary payments and special orders. Based on discussions with Talia and Alexander, I understand we are expecting this issue to be offset once training on the Beastworld begins.”

  “Yes,” Talia said. “I calculate that we’ll be capable of generating a million credits a day or more without issue.”

  Carmen nodded again. “Finally, I’ve provided each of you with a monthly financial report outlining the details. I’ve got nothing more to add, but if you have questions, let me know.”

  “Thanks, Carmen. I appreciate you taking on the extra duties,” Alexander said. “God knows I wouldn’t be able to keep up with it myself.”

  “It’s nothing. Happy to help.”

  Alexander raised an eyebrow in Annie’s direction. “Your turn.”

  Annie swung her feet off the table, sitting up straight. “Nothing to report. Jasmine’s happy with her temporary accommodations. So are the rescues. Oh, and I’ve assigned Bill the position of island escort henchman-liaison.”

  He blinked at the last. “You’re going to have to explain that one.”

  She shrugged. “We have a lot of construction people going back and forth. Bill wanted to be useful, so now he escorts them from the station to their worksite, and he lets one of us know if there are any issues.” Annie glanced at Carmen. “The security guys know not to let anyone through unless Bill is with them, even if they’re on the list.”

  “That’s surprisingly thorough of you,” Augustus said.

  She crossed her arms and huffed. “I have good ideas. Sometimes.”

  Augustus chuckled, then started with his own report. “Training is going well. Of course, results are limited given the short timeframe, but the main thing is that every member of the crew has proven themselves disciplined and committed to the program.”

  “Good to hear,” Alexander said. “Talia?”

  She looked up from her tablet. “After formalizing our alliance, the Queen personally delivered a curated copy of their superhuman intelligence. Even with my powers, it took over a week to work through it all.”

  Alexander’s eyes widened. Talia could glance at a page and memorize its contents, then perfectly recall it on demand. She’d explained to him once that it didn’t mean she had learned and knew whatever she saw, though. Shifting from memorized to learned still required effort.

  If it could be called that. If he didn’t love his own powers so much, he might have been jealous of her ability to learn at superhuman speeds.

  Talia continued. “Also, the Queen may have unintentionally revealed that she has operatives within Santiago Systems and Goliath. The intel the Royals collected on superhumans skews heavily toward those two mega-corps.”

  “Assuming you’re right,” Augustus said, stroking his beard, “the only way Valerie could have avoided revealing that would have been by withholding more than agreed, which would have kicked off our alliance with broken trust. I’d assume she knows.”

  “That is likely,” Talia agreed noncommittally before changing the subject. “I’ve also prepared a script for our press release and put together the evidence packet. All that’s left to do is find someone with the power to see the future to lend their support.”

  Annie cut in. “Is that really necessary? It’s not like some weirdo rolling their eyes back on screen and declaring the end of the world is coming is going to be any more believable than Alexander just telling everyone.”

  Augustus shook his head. “I wasn’t sure about it either, but Alex made a good point. The psychic adds legitimacy because some guilds will have ways to verify the truth of what they say, whereas Alex is just saying what he believes based on second-hand information.”

  “It won’t add much weight for the average person,” Alexander said, agreeing with Annie. “But we need to convince as many as we can. And I want to hear the prophecy directly. See the truth in their eyes. The fear or acceptance of what’s coming. I think we all need to.”

  Silence fell over the room.

  Talia spun in her chair, then tapped her tablet. The screens on the wall flickered to life, each of them displaying different information. On some, brief glimpses of dossiers slid across the screen.

  Another provided a statistical analysis of the various power spheres.

  Everyone studied it quietly for a few moments. It was perhaps unsurprising to find that the most common spheres were Enhancement, Elemental, and Kinetic.

  At the other end, spheres like Probability, Temporal, and Conceptual were the rarest.

  To make matters more complicated, the categorization system used by AEGIS and the UEG was under active development. And the overlaps were… often incoherently justified. Temporal powers included the ability to see the future or look back in time at events, yet many classified these as Psychic abilities instead.

  Talia broke the silence. “Fortunately, narrowing down the choices was easy.” She turned to Alexander. “Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of options. The UEG, the military, AEGIS, the mega-corps, and the guilds aggressively recruit people with these powers.”

  The screens flickered, their content replaced by four dossiers.

  “These four are the only viable choices.” Talia shook her head. “And none of them are what I would call accessible.”

  Alexander read the individual briefs while Talia rattled off the details.

  “The first option is Silas Cross. Exhibit A in proving that the Royals have someone inside Santiago Systems, because the intel is quite detailed and shows they received similar treatment to you, Alex. He’s currently being held at the same place you two escaped from.”

  Annie sputtered. “You’re fucking with us, right?”

  Alexander said nothing.

  “I wish I were.” Talia sighed. “I wasn’t kidding when I said none of them are accessible. Silas awakened through Santiago Systems, gaining a Class S power called Temporal Threads. Underwent initial training at a private Santiago facility before suddenly being imprisoned for ‘predictive villainy.’”

  “We can’t attack a prison facility,” Augustus said. “SOP requires a Tier 3 on standby at all times.”

  “I know. But circumstances give us a slim opening.” Talia tapped her tablet again, switching to an image of a white-haired woman in an elegant black Venetian eye mask. “Losing Star Titan stretched Santiago Systems’ resources thin. They’ve resorted to hiring Void Walker to cover his duties. She’s a mercenary who has, on occasion, looked the other way for the Royals. She also does not stay at the facility. Her powers allow her to shift there instantly, so she spends her days gambling and drinking at the local casinos.”

  “You can’t seriously be considering this, Alex?” Annie argued.

  Alexander thought about it for a few moments longer. “It actually sounds possible… three of us know the place well enough. The real challenge is getting Augustus a look inside ahead of time, to ensure we can secure a portal out.”

  Augustus raised a hand before Annie could argue further. “We’re not deciding anything now. Let’s see the rest.”

  Annie sat back in the chair with a huff, arms crossed.

  Talia fought back a smile. “Option two is Im Hye-jin, known as Oracle, leader of the Bulgeun Saseul. The Red Chain. They operate out of South Korea and are easily as anti-corporate and UEG as we are. Maybe more so.”

  Felix spoke for the first time, having followed along quietly. “Why would a guild leader join us?”

  “It’s a good question,” Talia acknowledged. “They are a very prolific guild, operating all over Northeast Asia, funding themselves through high-profile thefts and extortion targeting mega-corps, local criminal organizations, and corrupt officials.” She paused. “However, this has drawn considerable opposition down on them. Enough that AEGIS and the local criminal element have… aligned against them. Over the past six months, they’ve lost roughly eighty percent of their known members while also killing over thirty superheroes.”

  “So we would be a safe haven for them?” Felix asked. “Absorb their group into ours?”

  “Yes.”

  Augustus shook his head. “They’re far more extreme than we are, and she is a guild leader. Recruiting them risks creating conflict within our own ranks. Ideological and leadership conflicts.”

  Talia shrugged. “None of the candidates are great. Number three is Gabriel Cross, and for those of you paying attention, yes, he and Silas are related. Cousins, in fact.” She swiped a finger across the tablet. “Gabriel is a registered American superhero. He was on loan to a government in the Middle East when he was abducted by hostile militants.”

  She turned to Alexander. “For whatever reason, local AEGIS forces do not appear to be making any efforts to recover him. And there is anecdotal and circumstantial evidence that elements within AEGIS may have arranged the abduction. The group that took him is making considerable strides in uniting the local militant factions. They’re also being provided with serum. Again, anecdotal.”

  “That one seems like a reasonable choice,” Carmen said. “Surely he’d be grateful for the rescue?”

  “We should save him even if we don’t recruit him,” Annie declared.

  Augustus turned to Annie, a serious look on his face. “There are very dangerous people out that way. And if the militant group that has him is being supplied with serum, we’d have no idea what we’re walking into.”

  Annie met Augustus’s look with a challenge of her own, then began ticking off points on her fingers. “We could gather more evidence against AEGIS. Get rid of some bad guys. Maybe recruit the psychic we need. And it’s the right thing to do.”

  He smiled at her. “I don’t disagree, but make no mistake, it’s just as dangerous as planning a prison break. Maybe more so, because we don’t know what AEGIS is up to out there.”

  “Let’s keep it moving,” Alexander said. “We’re not deciding right this moment.”

  The last dossier slid onto the screen.

  Talia looked at it for a few moments, then turned back to the table. “I’m including this because it technically fits the criteria. ‘The Devil’s Child’ is an ex-AEGIS agent from their Future Sight Division. Intel is scarce, but we know he went rogue, killing the Regional Director of the Americas on his way out. I’m afraid we have nothing beyond that, but even if we did, I don’t think they’re worth the risk.”

  Alexander frowned at the name. He wondered if it was the same man Trent’s people had met.

  “If that’s all the information we have, I suggest we veto this one immediately.” He glanced around the table. “All in favor?”

  Everyone’s hands went up.

  “Good. Now, we have two more topics to address. The serum raid. And claiming our new skills from the quest reward.” Alexander paused, glancing around the table, making eye contact with Annie, Augustus, Talia, and Felix. “I think we’ve had enough time to visualize what we want. And we’ll need every advantage we can get moving forward.”

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  Continue the Dream.