Chapter 87 (Patreon)

Sonya set down the phone and stared at it, running her thumb over the glossy surface. She tilted her head to the right, lost in thought. Her chest felt lighter and tighter at the same time. She’d heard his voice with her real ears for the first time in a long time. The dreams she’d had about him weren’t the same. The memories of his heroic persona were all a performance. The only time she’d heard the real Otis speak was in the end, on that day, when she’d sat atop him with a knife in her hands, unable to cry over the deaths of everyone on the planet. Unable to grieve with anyone but herself.

She’d seen his madness then.

She’d heard it again just now.

<You have upheld a portion of your agreement and have seen to the end of the False Herald, An Set. With his death you have completely eliminated one of the pillars of Otis’ strength in the future and cut into his path. You will be rewarded with a new feature for Broker, Sanction. You now possess the ability to impose limitations on the abilities of others as part of a deal made. These limitations must have some form of achievable method of overcoming or a set expiration period.>

She glanced at the words on her HUD, it was a useful function if not something she had any way of using anytime soon. She had no interest in playing villain for the immediate future. It was time to lay low. She waited a few more seconds before her lip twitched. No notice of Otis’ death. Not that she’d expected it, still she was a little disappointed it hadn’t worked.

<Return on Investment: Might of Thor has been returned to your warehouse.>

And there it is, a successful test of Investment. She thought as she pulled the power out for a moment, electricity dancing across her fingertips before she put it back. She had forcibly invested it into An Set, suspecting that it would have an interesting effect when combined with The Great Eel and based on what she’d sensed from him before departing, the results had been more than promising. She let out a sigh and leaned back, turning her head to look at Marta who was asleep on the couch to her right. She smiled at the woman, “Thank you,” She said softly, “I know I should say it more, I’d say it every day if I could.”

Marta mumbled in her sleep and rolled over, Sonya chuckled, “We’re going on vacation when we get back,” She said and glanced at the television in front of her, “Maui, probably. That sounds nice.”

The reporter on the television was standing in front of the devastated area around the Vegas battle site. She was reporting generally about estimated loss of life, it seemed that Sapporo’s ability had cut down the lions share of it but An Set’s rampage had not come without cost. Thousands of people were dead, a historic disaster, and one the world was already reacting to. However what came as more of a surprise was the next part of the news feature.

“Among those present during the fighting, the Georgia native turned ASTA Guild Hero, Firestorm, gave his life to save over thirty of his comrades. He was also singularly responsible for rescuing hundreds of civilians. We are still processing what little footage that was able to be acquired by drones so unfortunately we cannot provide any at the moment, however, word from the heroes and civilians on the scene has lead to an overnight trend on social media,” The woman said and she was moved over to the right to show social media posts.

All of them were words of praise, condolence, and memory of the hero who had given his life along with a hashtag that made Sonya smile. #WeAreTheFirestorm.

She felt her lip tremble a little and she looked down at her hands, I hate it. She thought. You weren’t supposed to die. You were supposed to be one of the heroes to fight me, in the end, to stop me once it was all said and done.

She raised her hand to her face and covered her eyes, cursing them again. She let out a breath. He knew about broker, I have to accept that it was a loose end eliminated and do what I can to make sure his memory accomplishes the right thing. She told herself, it was a cold thought, but it was a necessary one. The feeling sent a chilling wash through her body that eased a little bit of the pain. She breathed and rested her chin on her knuckles as the television went on.

A picture of herself appeared, “CEO Sonya Chernovna was present during the incident while taking the Chairman of the Pandora Committee on a tour of one of the active dungeons in Las Vegas. She was reported to have been temporarily lost in the dungeon when the quote: “False Hero” An Set went berserk. According to information that was disseminated widely about An Set around the time of the disaster, he had made several attempts against Miss Chernovna including ordering an assassination and orchestrating a plot to steal her company’s intellectual property by leveraging his connection with his father, the Chairman of the Pandora Committee.”

Amos works fast. Sonya thought.

“It should be noted that these acts were taken unilaterally as all of the details recorded by the various anonymous sources online have reported that the Chairman was unaware of his son’s underworld dealings, including his association with a dangerous criminal syndicate based in his homeland of Vietnam,” The picture changed to an image of An Set.

“There are some questions about whether or not the Chairman will step down, though an official comment from an ASTA spokesperson has insisted that Miss Chernovna does not attribute any responsibility to the Chairman and hopes he continues his good work,” The reporter went on, “Currently Miss Chernovna is in recovery after receiving minor injuries before her rescue. We wish her a speedy recovery.”

“An international outcry has gone out concerning rules regarding the behavior and backgrounds of licensed heroes with several nations demanding adjustments to the Pandora Committee’s regulations,” The woman continued, “There have also been calls for a full investigation into the battle in Vegas and the cause of the sudden appearance of monsters during the fighting. A United Nations panel will be held in the coming weeks to discuss ways to preventing such an incident from ever happening again.”

Sonya smiled to herself, Doing the work for me. I just have to do a little speech now. She nodded slowly and turned the television off with a thought. The world’s seen an example and things will move in a better direction, but I still have more heralds to deal with and Otis is still out there. I need to be more careful. For the foreseeable future, Ishtar will remain in the shadows. She thought as she felt the air shift in the cabin and glanced up to see Veloce standing there.

“You look good for a woman on the mend,” Veloce said with a hesitant smile.

Sonya raised an eyebrow, “And you seem to have your spine back.”

The woman winced before noticing the smile on Sonya’s face, she cleared her throat, “I did as you asked, Mistress. I survived.”

“Yes you did,” Sonya said, sitting up a little and crossing her legs, “You did very well, I’m more than pleased. You even went as far as going in to support Blackrazor without my orders. I like that.”

Veloce blushed, “He helped me,” She said, reaching up to twirl her fingers in her hair.

Sonya raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment, “Yes well, I’d like to teach you a little something about how I do business, Veloce,” Sonya said and got to her feet. “I firmly believe that the weakest link in any organization is the lowest, most underpaid, and undervalued agent. Treat your people well, and they will treat you well in return. Keep your promises, no matter what. You are one of my people now,” She said and walked over to the woman, “And I have something very special for you.”

She cast her mind back into her warehouse and grabbed hold of The Great Eel and Might of Thor.

Merge.

<Would you like to merge The Great Eel and Might of Thor? Both are Peak-Mythic abilities and merging them may have unforeseen and extreme results.>

Yes.

It was kind of nice being able to merge things in her warehouse. As long as they weren’t pulled out, she didn’t feel a damn thing. Simply a rush as Broker drew on its own strength and her internal energy. A rush that continued for several seconds and left her knees a little weak for a moment and a pallid feeling on her skin. She blinked a few times and swayed, surprised by the expenditure, and was even more surprised when Veloce actually had to catch her. She dropped to a knee and shook her head, her vision swimming. “Well, that was a bit unexpected,” She murmured, “Thank you.”

<Merge complete, The Great Eel and Might of Thor have been merged into Primal Lightning>

Now that’s a name! Sonya thought with delight as Veloce helped her to her feet. She smiled at the young woman and placed her hand over her heart. Investment.

Veloce staggered back as if shocked, she gasped and grasped at her chest for a moment, wide eyed, her pupils dilated and she stood unsteadily for a moment before flopping onto the floor of the aircraft and looking up at Sonya with wonder. Sonya smiled down at her, “You’ll have to come up with a proper Supervillain name,” She said with a wink, “Oh, and please don’t test it here, we’re in an aircraft for heaven's sake.”

The young supervillain just nodded mutely, staring into space as Sonya turned away and threw herself back into her seat. She rest her head again, catching her breath. Another addition to the inner circle. I’m making quite the little group. She thought with amusement. It’s still not enough, though. I need more. More to keep my promise.

She thought back to her interaction with Pandora at the end of the dungeon. The sole question she had time to ask, ‘Why?’ She had thought about it for a while after meeting Pandora for the first time. At first she had considered all sorts of more complicated and demanding questions, but her heart had told her that what she really needed, for closure, was the reason why the strange being had even bothered to reach out to her at the end of things. 

So she’d asked, and the answer had been simple. It had also been exactly what she needed to hear. It had reaffirmed everything she believed about what she was doing and had shored her resolve to keep going, despite how cruel things became.

–

Sonya looked up at the transparent being that hung over her. Her appearance seemed everchanging, always a woman, but always a different face, a different hair color, different eyes, every time she blinked. Even so, there was an exhaustion there that Sonya hadn’t felt when she’d met the otherworldly being on their first encounter. She was weary and sad, beaten down by something that Sonya couldn’t possibly comprehend. Yet when Sonya had asked the question, she seemed to brighten and her appearance nearly became solid.

“I have failed humanity twice now. Once in the distant past. Once with Otis. Help them, where I cannot, so I can finally rest,” She said, “I am trusting you, Sonya, and that grief that we both share.”

–

Sonya smiled to herself as she pulled out of the memory, That, I can do.

After all, she thought, her smile growing a bit darker. She clenched her fingers around the arms of her chair, I am the one who will take control of everything from within. I will set the rules, I will control the field, I am the solution to the unsolvable, the force that will overcome Otis.

She pulled up the details on her newly merged abilities, Imperious, Non-Euclidian and The Astral Eye joining Heavenly Jade Heart in her newly and appropriately renamed core ability; 

<Cyber-Punk has been sufficiently upgraded. New Ability Created>

I will be the God in the Machine.

<Deus ex Machina>

–

He staggered through the desert, pulling his arm back up and reattaching it to his shoulder. The agony was real and it made him angry. How dare that woman, that thing, that creature that thought it was a person like him. He was the only real person in the world, she was just another fixture in his story. To think a mere side-character would dare lash out at him like that, try to kill him, hurt him, actually hurt him. He had never felt pain since the flash, since he had snuck into the storage room behind the museum and found Pandora's Box. Since the moment he opened it and was given the right to choose his power.

He felt his flesh knit back together. He would not die, he could not die, not until he had seen his story through to the end. Anything else was inconceivable. 

She is not my Poseidon, she’s a glitch, an error! Another player in my game! My story! She needs to die! I will find her and I will break her in ways she can’t even begin to imagine! He swore it, bearing his teeth as his foot and leg twisted back into position on their own. The burns across his body sizzled and slowly began to heal, the intensity of the blast had left him as nothing but a seared lump of meat for nearly an hour before he had regained consciousness. That hurt! It hurt so much! He screamed, Ishtar. I’ll remember your name and I won’t let you forget me. You’ll be the only one.

He trudged across the heated landscape, still within the crackling radius of the blast. Electricity danced across the ground, the environment irrevocably altered by the blast. He glowered at the blue sky ahead of him before cracking into a smile. 

“The story doesn’t need to change that much,” He said, a thought occurring to him, “That’s right, this is fine, I can work with this, even. She’s some kind of villain, right? Then I just need to be the hero to triumphantly take her down! That’s easy! I can’t die!” He laughed, “I’m going to fucking kill you and everyone you love, Ishtar, then I’m gonna make you watch as I burn this world to the ground!”

He felt his fingers bend as functionality returned to them and clenched his fists, “Just you wait you bitch, just you wait,” He snarled as he trudged towards a distant road. He watched as cars drove by, salvation. A few more things to kill so he could drive back to civilization. Irrelevant mindless objects pretending to be people.

“Nothing can stop me, not with my ability, The Man, The Myth, The Legend. I am the main character of this story, this world, and you’re just living in it!” 

– Broker, Season 1: Creation Myth of a New Era –

– End –