Chapter 51: Two Primes, an Ocean Apart, a World Aflame
The acquisition of Namor, however tenuous the alliance, was a paradigm shift for Elias Thorne. He now possessed direct links to two Prime Conduits of immense, albeit wildly different, power. Logan, the embodiment of terrestrial, feral fury; Namor, the avatar of oceanic, elemental might. The System, practically thrumming with the influx of new potential, began to unlock further latent sub-routines: [Advanced Conduit Synergy Protocols: Active – Host may now attempt to draw upon ambient or passively shared energies/attributes between integrated Prime Conduits, even when geographically separated, for minor personal enhancements or deeper System understanding. Warning: Conflicting energies may create instability.] This was revolutionary; Elias might be able to subtly benefit from Namor's aquatic resilience even while on land, or channel Logan's predatory focus while analyzing intelligence from Finch. The System was becoming less a simple bestower of powers and more an intricate energy matrix with Elias at its nexus.
The immediate aftermath of Pearl Harbor threw the United States, and by extension the world, into a frenzy. America, enraged and unified, declared war on Japan, and within days, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States, officially making the conflict a global mêlée. For Elias, this meant his carefully laid plans for influencing American industry and intelligence had to accelerate.
His Feral Striker pack – Dubois, Macgregor, and Beaulieu – along with Thomas MacIntyre, arrived back in Montreal via a circuitous route involving multiple neutral ports and discreet "Blackwood Shipping" transfers. They brought with them not only firsthand experience of the Pearl Harbor attack but also the profound, unsettling memory of Namor's power. They were hardened, their loyalty to Elias solidified by the successful, high-stakes operation. Their combat data significantly boosted the [Feral Striker Evolution Sub-Routines], allowing Elias to refine their training for urban warfare and encounters with unusually resilient or energy-wielding opponents. His Prime Essence Shard count, after their encounter with the Japanese special forces (some of whom, the System noted, had undergone rigorous, if non-supernatural, physical and mental conditioning that left a faint "enhancement echo"), crept up to [3.5/5.0] for the next Striker unit.
Namor, meanwhile, was a more complex challenge. Elias established a secure, clandestine communication link with him aboard The North Star as it made its slow, "engine-crippled" journey towards a neutral South American port (its actual destination was a hidden Thorne-controlled islet in the Caribbean, equipped with basic living quarters and advanced sensor arrays to monitor Namor without provoking him). Through Thomas, who possessed a unique, stoic rapport with powerful, difficult individuals, Elias began a delicate process of information exchange. He fed Namor validated intelligence on Hydra naval operations, on German U-boat wolfpacks preying on civilian shipping (a violation of the "laws of the sea" that Namor, despite his disdain for surface dwellers, found abhorrent), and on Japanese imperial expansion that threatened Pacific island chains potentially sacred to Atlantean lore.
In return, Namor, grudgingly, began to share fragments of information about his own past, his captivity, the nature of Atlantean society (a proud, ancient civilization wary of the "air breathers"), and the deep ecological damage the surface world's wars were inflicting upon the oceans. He confirmed Hydra's interest in Atlantean artifacts and their attempts to capture other "sea people."
[Conduit Integration (Namor): Progressing (18% - Shared Intel, Common Enemy Focus). Unlockable System Sub-Routines: "Elemental Hydrokinesis Principles (Basic)" and "Atlantean Physiology Data (Partial)" nearing threshold.]
Elias was learning, absorbing, his System cataloging the unique biology and energy signatures of an entirely different branch of sentient, powerful life.