The Machine God

Chapter 214

The Convergence of Wills, Pt. 3

“What I’m about to tell you is something the so-called leaders of the world have known for years. The United Earth Government. AEGIS. Many of the largest superhero guilds. Powerful families. Mega-corporations. They’ve all known, and they chose to keep it from you.”

He felt the crowd react. The shift in bioelectrical output across two hundred bodies, the collective spike in heart rates and the sharp uptick in neural activity that his enhanced senses translated into a single impression. Fear, held at bay only by curiosity.

“Every precognitive, diviner, and seer capable of looking far enough into the future has seen the same thing for the past eight years. The details vary, and the interpretations differ, but the message is the same.” He paused. “Something is coming. Something that will threaten the survival of every person on this planet.”

Dozens of the reporters began to speak, but the attempt died almost immediately, crushed beneath the weight of his Will still pressing down upon them.

“They call it the Prophecy of Eight. It began with the System’s arrival months ago and the exponential growth of superhumans across the world. It continues with what many of you have already witnessed. Permanent invasion gateways opening across the planet. Gateways that no longer close.”

The crowd wavered again, many turning to look at their colleagues and friends. For most of them, he was probably just confirming what they already suspected. That something was very wrong.

“Armies from other worlds will pour through those gateways. I am not speculating. That is the consensus of every prophet on every continent, supported by intelligence agencies from every major government on Earth. A global, multiversal war will erupt between superhuman and invader. And between superhero and supervillain.”

Alexander allowed himself a moment. Let them sit with the revelation.

“And then… something will happen that the prophets are calling a cataclysm. For most, the details are unclear, even to those who have seen pieces of what comes after. But the casualties will be beyond anything we can imagine.”

Silence met his words again, though this time it wasn’t because he was suppressing the people seated across the terrace. Many of them had simply forgotten to breathe.

“There is a prophecy that predicts eight superhumans will rise above all others during the events of this cataclysm. It claims that they will become something more than they already are. Some are calling them Divines. Others say they will be gods. They will stand against the invaders, and against each other.” Alexander’s jaw tightened. “Warring without end, if the worst predictions come to pass.”

Alexander straightened. Forced himself to relax.

“You’re probably wondering why I’m the one telling you this, instead of those whose job it is to lead our societies, to protect you and your families from exactly this sort of threat. I think that’s a fair question.” His voice dropped. “It’s because they have been far too busy protecting themselves.”

New images and data appeared on the screens around the terrace. Colony world migration statistics. Corporate land acquisition records from off-world registries. Passenger manifest for private transport vessels. Names. Dates. Destinations.

Damning.

“The rich and powerful have been quietly evacuating their loved ones for years. Through private channels, under the guise of employment opportunities with shell companies and government programs disguised as colony development plans. Santiago Systems has been building a new home on a private world called Utopia. Goliath Industries is developing New America. The United Earth Government’s colony immigration initiative, the one that’s been aggressively promoted these past five years, exists because they are working to move as many others off Earth as they can before the clock runs out, leaving the rest of you behind to die.”

The anger building in the crowd was palpable. A far different energy than fear.

“They could have warned you. They could have pooled the resources of every nation on Earth and prepared openly. Or they could have gone to the Galactic Council for support and aid. Instead, they took care of themselves first. They worked in secret to ensure the survival of a select few, so that they might protect their power and their place in society.” He gripped the side of the podium. “But in doing so, they failed to recognize one simple truth.”

Again his Will surged, but this time he didn’t wield it to dominate the crowd. Instead, he poured his conviction into it. His ambition to stand above all things, even something as existential as an apocalyptic, world-ending threat. It rolled across the crowd, pressing against every soul on that terrace until the silence was absolute.

“It is not a game of numbers. We are humanity. Every single one of you represents our species. Our drive to survive, to adapt, and to overcome! And this is our world, our home!” He stared into the faces of the crowd, and beyond them, into the eyes of billions behind the cameras. “And to abandon it is to commit the greatest dereliction of duty in all of human history!”

His voice rose all the way to the end until the last word snapped across the terrace like a whip. He held the moment, feeling the weight of what he’d just said pressing back against him.

Then he took a breath and let it out slowly. When he spoke again, his voice was normal. Steady.

“Grimnir isn’t leaving.”

The words hung there for several heartbeats.

“We will stand our ground and fight for our world. And for you.” He glanced to his left and right, then swept his gaze across the crowd, acknowledging the others. “As will the Throne of Scales. The Royals. The Northern Shield. And more. Guilds you know, and some you don’t. Superheroes and supervillains alike working together, because none of that matters when we are all facing extinction.”

Alexander straightened again. Allowed the final emotional weight to drain from him.

“But that is Maximilian’s accomplishment. His truth to share. He will tell you about the details of a joint leadership alliance and everything being done worldwide to prepare, including what you can do to prepare, who you can turn to, and where you can go when the time comes.”

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Alexander turned and shared a look with the Dragon Lord.

Then he returned to the crowd. “Because even though the mega-corps and the United Earth Government have suppressed this news as long as they could by threatening and bribing them to join the exodus, they and many others like them have been doing everything they could to prepare for what is coming. And that is because they intend, with no hesitation, to stand their ground too.”

Alexander shrugged.

“I guess you might say they’re heroes.”

The blank stares he got in return for the joke hurt.

He sighed.

“Before Maximilian talks to you, though, I want you to bear witness. To hear the prophecy yourselves, spoken live by a powerful precog who once served AEGIS directly and was tortured for his loyalty.”

He held out his right hand. “I give you—”

Gabriel was already turning toward the podium. But his eyes had gone black.

Alexander’s hand hung in the air. The words died on his lips. He recognized what was happening.

Gabriel was using his power.

Except it was different from every other time he’d seen it happen. Gabriel’s expression wasn’t that of a man about to give a speech. It was a face full of shock. And fear. Mouth open, fingers clenching the arms of his chair.

Someone clapped.

Slow and deliberate. A single pair, striking together in a confident rhythm.

Everyone turned.

It was the man in the grey suit and dark glasses. He stood in the same place, just behind and to the side of Priscilla Gant, the AEGIS representative.

Even behind the man’s tinted glasses and nondescript face, the look of smug satisfaction was obvious.

But that wasn’t what caught Alexander’s attention.

The man’s bioelectrical signature had vanished. Gone completely.

If he wasn’t staring right at him, witnessing muscles twitch and knowing that neurons must be firing behind the shades, Alexander would have insisted he was looking at a corpse.

Priscilla burst to her feet, turning to her bodyguard. “How dare you! You will—”

The man hissed, and flicked his fingers at her face.

Priscilla froze. Her mouth hung open. She stopped breathing and just stood there.

And her signature had vanished.

Alexander slipped a mental thread into the ring. Electrokinesis surged within his Core, amping all the way to maximum instantly. Behind him, Grimnir and Throne rose, spreading across the stage to protect their vulnerable members and Khalida.

Along the perimeter, the superhuman guards tensed. As did those seated among the crowd.

The man pinched the bridge of his nose. “Ugh. The only reason I even came to this pretentious display was to see if the Machine God and the Dragon Lord were going to reveal some clue to how we become Divine.” He shook his head. “If I’d known that all I’d witness was you tearing down everything I’ve built this past decade, while suffering in boredom, I wouldn’t have bothered.”

He sighed. “Not that it’s your fault, I suppose. I’ve been too busy infecting everyone instead of keeping my hands on the wheel, so here we—”

The sound of his voice vanished the same time Alexander materialized two new drones from the ring, positioned to either side of the man. Instantly, two half-spherical barriers snapped into place, trapping him and some of the ground inside a bubble.

Everyone paused, staring at the strange sight of the obviously evil, monologuing villain now trapped inside a semi-transparent ball of orange energy.

Annie snorted. “Did you just freaking hamster ball the Lost Prophet?”

Alexander poured Animachina into the new drones, empowering them and the shield generators both. He studied the result for two heartbeats, senses fully focused on feeling for any faults.

The two new drones were curved, metallic wedges, roughly a meter tall. Each contained a shield emitter, a power source, and hovertech wrapped in layers of metal-ceramic alloys capable of taking a hit from even someone like Julia.

The biomorph from the desert had given him the idea of a ball trap, though risking two of the three shield emitters was stressful.

Alexander glanced at Annie. Scratched the back of his head. “I guess I did.”

He turned back and examined the man they were assuming was one of the Eight. A Divine. The Lost Prophet, in particular.

Nothing about him seemed particularly impressive.

The man met his gaze with a grin.

Then he exploded.

Screams rose from the crowd. People stumbled backward, tripping over chairs in their panic.

Flesh, blood, and bone painted the inside of the shield sphere, obscuring whatever else remained.

Alexander glanced at Maximilian. The Dragon Lord looked as confused as Alexander felt.

Then Priscilla’s head snapped backward. Her body remained upright and rigid, except the mouth, which had frozen with the rest of her earlier, now stretched wider than any human jaw should allow. A wet, choking sound tore from her throat, and blood surged upward, spilling over her lips and chin.

A hand burst free. Fingers first, slick and red, grasping at the open air. A wrist followed, twisting as it reached for the sky, pulling the arm behind it. Priscilla’s face distended around the emerging limb, skin stretching taut then splitting and tearing at the corners of her mouth.

Alexander couldn’t look away.

The arm bent, and the hand found the edge of the jaw and gripped it. Then it pushed and a second arm burst free, forcing its way out alongside the first. A head squeezed between them, featureless at first beneath the blood, before finally resolving into an expression that was far too calm for what it was doing.

It was the same nondescript face, just with a look of mild inconvenience.

Everyone burst into action.

The sunlight dimmed as Alexander emptied the ring, dumping every drone he had into the air above the terrace.

Augustus’s portal snapped open. Gabriel rushed Gilly and Felix, tackling them off their chairs and carrying all three into the shimmering portal. Talia’s hand shot out, seizing the back of Khalida’s jacket, before hurling her through after them.

Annie Redlined. The stage beneath her feet shattered, and she launched forward, right arm already shaping itself into a blade that sang as it cut through the air.

Cash vanished, only to reappear a moment later beside the Northern Shield and the Sword Goddess, their weapons cradled in his arms.

Dozens of inch-thick chains erupted from the ground, spearing through what remained of Priscilla Gant and the monstrosity still tearing itself free of her corpse.

Draven’s hand fell upon Raelene’s shoulder, and the pair vanished from sight.

Julia mirrored Annie’s charge, arriving at the same time. Her fist punched clean through the chest of the man somehow pulling himself free of another person’s throat.

Annie’s blade came next, sweeping through the man’s neck without slowing.

The head spun, tumbling end over end, now wearing a look of annoyance as it arced through the air.

Then the body exploded again. Blood and gore sprayed across Julia and Annie. It rained across the stage, splattering hero and villain alike.

Maximilian’s barriers slammed into place an instant later, protecting as much of the crowd as he could.

But he hadn’t saved all of them. Among the first few rows, every non-superhuman screamed, falling to the ground and twisting in agony.

And along the perimeter, several of the Emirates Superhuman Authority guards turned in unison toward the stage, their eyes changing color.

Becoming blood red.

Inside the protective box erected by Maximilian, a reporter threw back his head.

And an arm erupted from his mouth.