C35 The Sovereign Stirs
The Sovereign Stirs.
One thing held true, he felt a bit of guilt after he finished the repair on the Androids, but not nearly as much as he should have. It was more like, a remnant, a last speck of what he believed in, which was now being replaced with the certainty that, what he did was his right as someone that understood that Siren better then her own Mate.
And the other Siren’s on the ship were proving it, with how they all suddenly had short skirts, and an openly immodest display of their goods going, even with how it hasn’t even been that long that he took advantage of that one Siren.
It made it a little hard to focus, so that he had to retreat back to his room for a while, if only to himself process the happening of the last two hours. That outburst, and that cold certainty with which he used that helpless Siren, well, seemingly helpless.
One thing was sure, that elf avatar, or whatever it was, it was somehow part of this. But he had to enter his plane to find out more about it. But was he ready to try ?
Ludwig suggested getting the shielding done first, and he could wager a guess as to why. Holding his plane in place so he could enter it, it may require some finer control. But he was impatient now, he needed to know, to understand what this was about, and what that truly meant for him.
“ Yeah. “ He whispered, sitting on his bed, leaning against the wall on it’s side, so he could close his eyes, and try to focus his energy, to try and sense this supposed, solid object of energy within himself.
But, there was nothing, nothing he could sense anyway. Though, he recalled then what Thomas did the first time, the hand on his forehead, and the projection of pressure. That was likely Psychic energy, wasn’t it ?
Ludwig did not need that. No, he simply concentrated and pulled Anthony onto his plane. But that would mean what Thomas did, was likely the less advanced method. So, for a beginner like Anthony, that might be a useful assumption.
Intending to give it a try, he placed his right hand onto his forehead, and imagine a slow stream of energy to be released, softly at first, until he could sense something where the flow parted, like a black hole.
The Psychic energy was flowing around it, evading it with intent. Anthony begun to understand then why it had to be held in place, it was being evaded by his own energy, so he had to fixate it, and forcefully pour energy in.
But he wondered. If it was clearly sensed like a void, what if instead of forcing his way in, he’d imagine it, like an actual black hole, and let himself be drawn in ? He wasn’t even sure if that was a good idea, but it was one he felt would waste less energy then trying to forcibly break into his own plane.
So, hoping for some kind of effect, he just focused himself on that small point, imagining for it to have a pull, to suck him in, and, something indeed seemed to happen, as he could feel a flow of energy rushing towards that void.
Then, nothing again. Usually he would be seeing the plane before him, but he still just saw his eyelids covering his eyes. That was, until he opened them, assuming to see the space in front of his bed.
It was the surface of his plane, that moon, with all those androids in front of him, the ships above, which now included the shuttle. And those white crystals, which seemed to reflect the state of his current energy levels.
He barely had time to take the scene in though, as reality suddenly hit him, like a brick wall.
“ I was, such a fool. “ He whispered, a cold clarity washing over him. His eyes wandering down, where he could see the black robe.
He was sitting on that crystal throne, and reaching up, he could feel those long, pointed ears. A mildly amusing discovery compared to what his mind just summarized.
All those thoughts earlier, when his mind struggled with comprehending his situation. They where a wave of things he ignored all this time, that he refused to accept because the world was simply to unfair.
“ Yes, it was his fault.”
“ Life is inherently unfair. “
“ He never did grow bolder. “
“ He had Plenty of chances. “
“ He was weak. “
“ Power Does corrupt. “
“ He should take charge, but not to show them. “
“ He never needed to equate to anything. “
Yes, humans where just animals too, Intelligent and social as they were, they were just animals still. And they had gained so much comfort, that the lack of purpose formed a new chase, a new necessity. Significance, you had to be someone, you had to be significant, and dare any who would think you unimportant.
But that is what he had been, insignificant, a no one, food for those that sought to show affiliation for a group. An easy target, because he knew not how to play their game. And when he tried to play it too, he already was so desperate, it left him to become only a greater fool.
Ignoring it became easier, to build walls, to blame others, distrust them, to hate them, and his own inadequacy. But now he finally understood, he was trying to partake in a game, despite his hatred for it. When the best way to play it, was to not play it at all.
Anthony smiled coldly with a face that wasn’t his, light laughter in his chest as he thought of his folly.
Oh he would have tried to use the AI to reshape the new world in his image, and he would have failed, or at most, become a dictator no better then those in power, that flailed in their struggle for significance and emotional comforts.
Perhaps he would have managed temporary change, but those present, just like him, they where already poisoned by the society they fled from. They would just have done the same mistakes again.
But was there a solution ? Did he even want to find one ?
He could, with his current clarity, with this Power, he really could. Just take some Siren, breed them, raise the children with proper values, untainted by what he knew.
Create a world without pain, where no one had to work, where all you needed was the respect of the other. Where the drive to stand above others is punished, where free will, and firm rules stood side by side. Ruled equally by synthetic life, and humans. Siren’s would fill their purpose too, now that he knew of them.
No, even if it worked, he would create prey, sheep waiting for the slaughter. Every dream was fleeting, every paradise would fall when others looked at it with greed.
“ Why should I care ? “ He near snarled.
No, he was no hero, he wasn’t even a good person. It was time to think for himself. Fuck the others, let them burn.
He would make his own paradise, and he would leave them with reasons to fear his legacy. Maybe then they would learn, to grow together, to truly value what was besides them, and if they could not, they too were just going to be food.
His ability, he needed to explore it, what it can do, what he could do with it. He would need every ounce of power, now that his clarity permitted him to understand, he wasn’t strong enough yet.
No, comparing himself to Ludwig, all he had, was energy, insurmountable energy, but on power-scale, someone like Ludwig could have crushed him if he wanted to. The only advantage he truly had was the different use-case.
But that was no guarantee that he would always have an advantage in application. It was already suggested to him, the Psychic plane, it could become a battlefield, and here, it was all about pure power.
First, his usable assets.
Looking over at the NH 02, he would blatantly focus on it, trying to view it, though there was nothing to view, the ship had no power, which was already a bad sign.
Looking at the Hope then, he focused his mind on it, and found that everything around the ship suddenly disappeared, that he could turn it around with a thought, even look closer, until he could see the interior layout.
There he found that each room could show it’s resource cost to repair, and looking closer, he could even see the cost of the interior equipment, so that he could, from this very spot, repair them if he wanted.
More interesting then that was that he could seemingly remove rooms, which meant, if he could remove, he could add.
And realizing it he watched the formation of a list of rooms he could select from, although, all he could see there was the AI Core room, which suggested to him, that he needed some basis of knowledge for it.
“ Wait. “ He uttered, recalling that sensation of his mind seemingly expanding when he reached out for Maggie. So this time, he reached out to her again now that she was Hope, and indeed, it felt like, his thoughts where sharper, quicker.
It took him only a moment to consider through it, that she had the means to control the small fusion core, and that he could replicate it’s build. She knew the reactor, he knew the resource composition through this display, and with it, the room listing for a Small fusion reactor was being added to this, room menu.
Zooming out of the hope, and then in on the NH 03, he could even look up the connection he needed to consider. Fuel lines, power line connectivity and so forth. Gradually growing a basic understanding of the necessities and gaining himself a few more items he could consider for placements on either ship.
He even found that he could alter the ships hull, use different materials, which would be problematic with the Hope, given it’s shielding system. The danger of magnetization would, for now, limit what he could use.
And, he found that, the ability to extrapolate new things to build from available items, extended to what the small scale production plants on the Hope could make available.
Android components, equipment power generation and mining operations on planets, he could think up a quick application that may just help him, as he thought up a small unit to be placed onto the hull of a ship. A small camera, solar powered, which he found useful enough to consider for the NH 02.
A brief check revealed that he was at 39% energy, suggesting his training had drained him somewhat, but it now seemed enough to dare, so that he reached out to the ship, looking at the representation which showed the front having been destroyed. But wanting to know the ships situation still, he placed the solar powered camera system onto either side of the ship, hoping to have a look at the ships surrounding, once those additions would hold a charge, if there was even something that could charge them.
Another check to his remaining energy told him he was at 32% after that, suggesting that placing these, plus the reaching out to the ship cost him only 7%. Massive under normal circumstances as he understood, but given the range and his personal capacity, permissible, and a suitable first test.
“ Yes. “ He grunted, satisfied for now.
He was able to get a better picture of his ability, it permitted him an extreme degree of control over the ships and Androids he had for now. But, he needed more. He needed technology he could understand, and use. Hope needed more blueprints, as her having them enabled him, to use and modify.
And he finally needed to understand his situation better.
First, his surrounding, and for that he needed exterior camera’s. So checking the Hope again, he would look for camera placements on the hull, and repair them, and their connection, so that he could open a screen to his left where he would check through various feeds, finally to have a first proper look outside.
“ Interesting. “ He uttered then, seeing the large ship nearby for the first time. He could not make out Eden yet, but that ship, looking like half a mobile shipyard, it suggested a longer settlement period. And it reminded him that he had not been bothered enough to ask questions yet. But, in a few weeks, he would probably be given his answers.
By then, he needed to be ready.
He did not intend them any harm, but he would keep the Siren’s he had with him, prospectively get a few more. And he did need technology, the means to quickly build up, enough fuel to make it to another system prospectively, and assure then that no one could take away what would be his.
Weapons, ships, new, better equipment. He needed to repair the remaining computational equipment in the core, ready the lab assistant Androids, get the primary lab running again too. Hope needed the ability to take apart and understand new and old equipment, so he could truly utilize it.
Currently remaining energy was still at 32%. Good. It was time to claim the Siren, and use them for training, and pleasure. He needed to grow his ability, and these creatures craved to be subjugated anyway, who was he to deny them that ?
Thinking of it gave him a smirk, and then he closed his eyes, pulling out of his Psychic plane, just to open his eyes again to the sight of his quarters, and Ina, sitting in his lap, looking at him expectantly.
“ Ah, have I left you waiting ? “ He spoke, closing his eyes again for a moment as he begun stroking her.
And he felt it then, how his emotions had returned to him, how they screamed against him and the plan formulated in his Plane. But he understood now, those voices, they where what made him what he is today. It would take some time till he truly was in tune with what he was on the Plane, but he would not allow himself the previous hesitation anymore.
Ah, it enraged him, how his own mind tried to pull him back down again, but, not anymore. Not ever again. He was going to seize what he wanted, and once he could leave, build his own fortress of solitude, surrounded by the things that were only his to use and misuse as he pleased.
Then he felt Ina leaning closer, lapping at his chin. And opening his eyes to look at her. The way her head was tilted to the side, how she gazed at him. It was strange, but he felt the anger pass, and even feel a smile cross his lips.
“ We two against the world, huh ? “ He uttered, and receive that strange vulpine sound of hers which nearly sounded like laughter.