SSV3 Chapter 16 (Patreon)

“The kittens did better today.” Emma commented as we landed back home after the patrols. “You really should think about a way to reward them.”

“I’ll think of something.” I offered her, knowing that she wouldn’t let me get away without doing something.

She pecked me on the cheek before she sashayed into the manor.

“Me too!” Stella got on her tiptoes and offered her cheek.

I kissed her too and hugged Mona before following them in. The kitchen was empty, which made me hesitate. I’d expected to find a cooking Melody again.

I reached out with my power and found her upstairs with Angelina in the therapy office. A smile replaced my frown. I was glad she was getting help. She needed it after the mess that was today.

That meant I could go have a conversation with Obsidian.

I had fired the clay model with my power and set it down on the kitchen counter. The thing looked like a twisted knot, almost like some sort of optical illusion, as it twisted back on itself several times.

Leaving it for the moment, I headed towards the stairs and descended towards the lair. 

I noticed that the drywall was fresh with paint as I flew down a level to the large bay.

Within it, I found the main Obsidian leaning back in a beach chair and sipping a drink as other Obsidians worked.

“It’s non-alcoholic. I’m not a day drinker.” She put her drink aside. “What can I do for you?”

“We are hoping to start the testing tonight for giving your clones Monster Fruit. They might die.” I paused. “What do you think?” I sat down on the side table.

“Can I reabsorb them, should it go wrong?” She asked.

I paused. “Would the changes to them affect you?”

“Unlikely. If a clone exercises or gets sick before being reabsorbed, those changes to their body don’t appear to follow.” Obsidian answered, but her eyes kept glancing over at the shaft that led deeper into her base. I was reminded of the lower levels she had asked me not to explore. “To prevent any complications… no.” She pulled my attention back to the question.

I could tell something had her uncertain, but I just waited to see if she would tell me rather than press her for an answer.

Obsidian squinted at me and finally sighed. “You know I have secrets, but you don’t ask.”

“You’ll tell me when you are ready. Besides, I have another request from you. I want to clone a power from my old boss, a subtle manipulation. Her power doesn’t control others, but it does nudge them in directions. It’s like how it is easier to convince a drunk to do some stupid prank.” I explained. “I need a clone with that power to come to a date that Beatrix asked me to this weekend and help me question her.”

“Does that mean I get to go on the date too?” Obsidian raised an eyebrow.

“Sure, if that’s how you want to think about it.”

She sighed and looked back at the shaft. “For the testing, it would be easier if you understood a few things first, and I have my own request.” Obsidian got up out of her lounge chair. “Follow me.”

I did, and when she stopped at the shaft, I made a platform for us. “How far down?”

“The bottom.” She replied, shifting a little uncomfortably. This was clearly difficult for her, and I tried to play it cool. But I was so excited to see what was happening down at the bottom of the lair. Sex dungeon anyone?

Taking us all the way to the bottom, I watched as the floor became less finished.

When we reached the bottom, it was still rough, but it seemed finished, clearly several steps above the floors we had just passed.

The place was a mess of huge cables that were criss-crossing over the floor, connected to devices that hummed together and echoed in the solid room. Together, they were quite loud.

This was not the sex dungeon, but I was still sure she had one.

“Sorry, the generator is the loud thing. We haven’t run power down here yet.” Obsidian stepped to the side and flipped a switch.

A few dangling overhead lights lit up the room.

The devices were large, each of them the size of a compact sedan. And they were arranged in five neat rows of six. Each of them were large industrial looking pieces of equipment but without the sheet metal or plastic covers you saw on most machines. And they each seemed a little different.

They also had glass on them, although it was beaded with condensation, so I couldn’t see inside. I had a feeling of what I would find, though.

“May I?” I asked before approaching one.

“Please. It might be easier than me saying anything.” Obsidian stepped aside.

I wiped away the condensation, and there was an Obsidian sleeping with frost building up inside the machine. “Cryostasis?” I guessed.

“Yes.” Obsidian walked up to the machine and lovingly ran her hand along it. “I… my earliest memories are waking up from one of these.”

I turned to her. “What?”

“They are some sort of experimental cryostasis pods. Revival is only about one in three, and even then, in order to energize and heat the entire body quickly and evenly, they use electricity. When they wake, they’ve essentially finished a very thorough round of electroshock therapy.” She continued to rub the machine absentmindedly. “Most of them aren’t originals anymore.”

Now she lost me. “What do you mean?”

“My ultimate contingency plan.” She tapped the pods. “Maybe it would be easier to show you.”

She worked the touch screen on the pod I was standing next to. After a minute, it whirred up to life. The machine rattled and shook like it was about to fail, but then a beep sounded three times and the Obsidian in the machine shook as electricity arched in the chamber, rapidly defrosting her.

“Brutal.” I observed not just with my eyes, but my power as well. The success rate wasn’t because of a failure to defrost, but because the electricity flowing through her body was just at the edge of killing her.

I quickly used my power to convert the electricity to thermal energy inside the chamber, helping prevent this clone's death until it finished and the machine popped open with a hiss of steam escaping.

The new Obsidian blinked several times and rolled out with a glassy look, not really focused on anything.

“Split and send your clone back into the machine.” Obsidian demanded sharply.

The clone did just that, and the original Obsidian closed the machine on the clone, typing into the pad. The inside of the machine gave off a soft blue light as frost quickly grew around the new clone in the machine.

“I see. Most of these aren’t originals. They’ve already gone through the wake up procedure and lost their memories, like you.” I focused on Obsidian. “You have no memories before waking up from one of these.” It wasn’t a question.

She nodded. “Nearly twenty years ago. I’ve refreshed myself a few times.”

It didn’t take me more than a moment to understand what she meant. If she took in all of her clones, she could pop one of these blank slates out and kill herself, putting her memories into a fresh clone.

As long as she kept these clones, she was immortal, always able to put her memories back into a younger body.

“Let me guess, you even have a remote way to wake them up?” I hazarded, knowing that she likely would have figured out how to solve that huge gap in her apparent immortality.

Obsidian just smiled. “Yes, and I keep a knowledgeable clone tucked away should it be needed.”

Then my focus went towards the back line of machines. “But you said most of them weren’t originals. Meaning, there are some here that are from when you first woke up. They may even have memories of your past.” With my power, I had a feeling I could wake one up without damaging their mind.

Obsidian went rigid, her eyes dilating. Her body language spoke of pure terror at the idea. “Please don’t. I—I…” She couldn’t even form a sentence.

“Not unless you ask me to.” I said quickly, trying to reassure her.

Typically, multiplying supers had some confusing personality issues. But so far Obsidian seemed to have fended that off. Her clones organized themselves into a collective structure as a business and continued to work for their shared goals, which were established by the Obsidian standing in front of me.

I wondered if that would come crumbling down if a host of fresh memories from her formative years found themselves into her clones.

The years she was missing were some of the most formative of a person’s personality.

I looked at her, watching her expressions as she shared her most vulnerable self. I genuinely understood her better. Obsidian just wanted to feel whole. She was missing so much of her life; she wanted those extreme emotions, and the main one she’d oriented towards was pain. Obsidian had so much more to experience that she likely hadn’t yet, like love.

Obsidian pulled herself back together. “Now this one. It’s a blank slate. You can order it to do anything, and it’ll pretty much obey you for a few days before she starts to get a personality.”

“But she knows how to speak?” I asked, sounding surprised.

Obsidian shrugged. “The procedure doesn’t damage her ability to comprehend, just sort of wipes her personality. I’ve experienced it. She doesn’t really think much for a few days, just responds.”

“Okay. Make two clones.” I told the blank slate.

She popped out two clones to the side and continued to stand there with her arms at her side as she stared straight ahead.

“Take two steps forward and bend over that machine.” I tested the clone out.

“Please don’t do anything funny with them.” Obsidian put a hand over her face. “That would be…”

“Boring.” I told her quickly. “It wouldn’t be much better than a blow-up doll if you asked me. Personality is what makes it fun.” I raised an eyebrow at her.

She let out a sigh. “Fine. So, that’s my secret. I’m officially an open book.”

“Then we’ll use this blank slate to work on the procedure for Monster Fruit, and then once we think we have it down, I want to use it on an intelligent clone to make Candice’s power for the date.”

“I’ll make the clone.” Obsidian patted her chest. “I’m going to be stingy and not let that memory circulate among the lower ranks.”

When I paused, waiting for more detail, she didn’t give me anything and snapped her fingers. “Follow me.”

I knew she wasn’t talking to me, but I still felt a little miffed at the order.

The three clones followed her as she moved, and I brought them all up the lift.

We ascended until we hit the third floor, and then I stopped us.

That floor was set up as a sterile lab. It even looked fairly stocked with equipment at the moment.

“The doctor can use this lab. I think it has everything you need, and between you and Angelina, you should be good to go. Oh, and I should mention that a little birdie told me that Emma is getting impatient with your reluctance to make gemstones.” Obsidian threw the comment out there casually, but I knew that if Emma had said something, she was getting more than just a little impatient.

“Thanks. I’ll have to multitask.” I wasn’t sure how to get it all done, but I’d just have to figure out a way. Doctor Wells might have some knowledge that would help me get the gemstones right. If she was a processing machine, maybe she could speed it along for me.

Obsidian turned to the clones. “Lay down, two of you. Number three, go sit in the corner.” Obsidian gestured to the side. “I’d rather not bring more out of the stasis pods than needed, and I don’t like them running around. I’m always worried there’s going to be an offshoot.” She opened one drawer and tagged the three in the chest and back with neon yellow paint. “If they try to leave, they will be stopped.”

By her tone, I assumed with lethal force.

I nodded. “Will they be fine while I go get the doctor?”

“Shouldn’t be a problem.” Obsidian looked them over, a little self-reflection on her face. “The first few days are… odd.” She had to have gone through it at least once, and she likely had memories from other clones that had done it.

I realized this was how she made her corporate structure. They budded off at earlier stages, or she woke up fresh ones from the stasis pods below and replaced them as soon as they woke up.

But then I realized she’d mentioned a lower success rate. I wondered how many times she’d watched herself died. That had to mess you up a little.

“Do me a favor and pinch me.” Obsidian held out her arm.

I did it with my power, pinching her and twisting it as she sighed.

“Sometimes when I wake the new ones, I have strange ideas about this all being a dream. You can only feel pain if you are alive and awake.” Obsidian stared down at where I’d pinched her.

Honestly, while I had put myself in many of my women's shoes to understand their situation, Obsidian’s was so unique. It was making my head hurt to imagine all she had gone through.

We stepped back on my platform, and I was lost in thought.

She was continuously under threat of her whole clone system collapsing beneath her. I was surprised she’d never had to deal with some sort of uprising.

I sighed. That would lead to a goddamn war under my manor, as they all tried to take control. No wonder she was a little crazy.

“What are you thinking about?” She asked.

“Your struggles? What happens if something happens to you?” I was honest.

“There are contingencies. And if they all get my memories, I know what must be done. So they will too. Please don’t let that concern you too much.” She reassured me.

I had another question. “If I take you on a date, do I need to take the others?”

“No. I’m a single person, or entity, if you look at the larger picture. Though if you want to have fun in the bedroom, I’d love to let it be more than one.” She licked her black painted lips and made a sucking motion with her lips. “Having versions of yourself happy to do as you ask is quite… delightful.” She smiled up at me.

“So, do I get that kiss now?” I leaned just slightly, giving her the opening. But she stayed where she was, eyeing me.

“Let me take you to dinner first. I am a lady, and I don’t expect a man to kiss me before a date.” She turned to the side. “Besides, we have a date this weekend. Wouldn’t want to spoil your dessert before the main meal.”

I rolled my eyes, but I was happy that she’d trusted me enough to tear down the barrier she kept up and show me her secret. That was major progress.

As we got to the big bay again, she held a hand for me to stop. “I’ll see you later.” She kissed the side of my cheek. “That was for not pushing, trying to wake up the original clones in those stasis chambers using your abilities. I’m not ready for that. I don’t know if I’ll ever be.”

I smiled. “Won’t bring it up again. That’s up to you to decide the pace. Thank you for sharing your secret with me.”

Obsidian actually smiled, one with teeth and not just her little smirks. “We all have to take risks sometimes. Besides, you break me in so many lovely ways.”

With that, she turned around and strode back over to her lounge. My body naturally wanted to follow her, but I realized that Doctor Wells was about to arrive.

Rising back up to the top floor of the basement to go grab her, I found the doctor on the stairs, wobbling with her arms full of cardboard boxes.

Stella was awkwardly standing to the side, like Wells had dismissed her offer for help.

I laughed at her stubbornness.

“I have those.” Using my power, I lifted them all and put them down by the shaft. “Ready to go down?”

“There’s like half a truck to be unloaded in our driveway.” Stella told me.

I sighed. “Fine. Let’s get everything. Doctor, wait here. It’s much quicker and safer for your equipment if I just do it myself.” I knew how to appeal to her.

Doctor Wells seemed a little put off, but stayed quiet as I went upstairs.

I somehow surrounded myself with the most stubborn women.