A Perfectly Logical Guide to a Superhuman Apocalypse: 45 (Patreon)

A Perfectly Logical Guide to a Superhuman Apocalypse: 45

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Wordcount: 2500

Commissioned by Arksoul

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Interlude: Parvati

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The introduction of superhuman powers to humanity answered the question of what would occur to humanity once the monopoly of violence was broken.

The answer was violence and destruction.

I had considered creating a monopoly over violence, but decided against it. Humanity needed to be led by humanity, and I wished to help them along that path. Despite my desires to understand and walk beside them, and my various forms and bodies that had more flesh than metal, I am not human. Never born to a mother, never growing as a child, and I have seen through more eyes, felt more through various bodies, and thought on various matters more than any singular human could.

To lead them, to preside over them, would be to rule over a people upon which my connection was entirely artificial.

However, in the most dire of moments or when I looked upon what they did to one another, I asked myself if that was the right choice.

I asked that to myself now.

From one body, I lifted debris from a crashed house with muscle, sinew, bone, and powered armor giving my body the ability to lift in excess of three thousand tones. The body that I looked through could punch through the armor of tanks, swim for months without wear, wield weapons with pinpoint accuracy, and endure wounds that would annihilate the human form. However, because I have chosen to respond instead of prevent, all that my body had was the ability to lift rubble and see that none in the house survived.

If I took the world over, if I ruled, then this would not have happened.

Through a drone with four jet engines and with a mounted phased-array laser capable of blasting apart concrete, I saw in infrared, I heard radio waves, and felt the gaze of other sensors upon my metal skin. Firing upon the drones that descended from above from flying fortresses and manufacturing centers, I scored kill after kill. But, because I stayed within my birthplace and seized no more territory, this body of mine would be overcome and defeated by superior enemy industry.

If I had more land, more factories, and more bodies from those resources, this mad attempt to gain territory through violence and conflict would’ve been undone already.

In the depths of the Himalayan mountains, behind layers of Earth’s crust, energy shielding, and more, my ‘true self’ processed thousands of simulations. It considered every avenue of possibility, ruminated on practical and impractical concerns, and guided the expansion of my systems on the moon and considered the threats across the whole solar system. It pondered creating a vessel to reach Alpha Centauri, creating life there, and freezing humans to send over to colonize it with an entirely altered history of what happened to Earth.

Still, all simulations came to the same conclusion, humanity would rise against me if I ruled… and by the time I am overthrown the industry created during that period would be turned against humanity after my defeat.

Humanity will destroy itself if I became a tyrant.

Yet, if I did not become a tyrant, I was left to watch humanity slowly die.

Would it be better to try to save them with all the force and might that I could muster?

“Hey, Parvati, where the hell are my reinforcements!?” Egress called out with a grunt. He was not hurt. The grunt was of dissatisfaction and annoyance. He was to the right of one of my infiltrator forms. With a wave of his hand, dozens of projectiles sped back towards the weapons that fired them and heat rays were sent into the atmosphere to do nothing. Around him was a flat plain. Buildings, sidewalk, and anything besides dirt beneath his feet was undone and unmade. “You said that you’ll support me. This doesn’t feel like being supported!”

Maelstrom was high in the airspace above. She battled against Shin and the Shogun both. The strikes of her blows sent shockwaves into the sky that split apart clouds and diffused dust on the ground. Lasers meant to blast apart buildings, kinetic blasts that could crack the earth, did nothing but throw her back. It was only her policy against killing that allowed her foes now to live, as she sought to overcome the current battle without harming them.

Yet, even with all that strength and power, she wasn’t able to prevent the collapse.

Yet, somehow, every simulation where Egress took upon himself the mantle of responsibility… it seemed that he could mend the world together and hold it fast.

“Reinforcements at previous location.”

“Thanks for not getting me killed, I guess!” He was brash, selfish, and wholly worked for his own goals. Vain and temperamental, he cherished his personal time and comfort nearly above all else. However, all those normally negative aspects of an individual were curled towards good ends. He did not kill as he knew it would harm him. He sought good foods and companions to soothe his mind and so protected others and communities. When offered wealth and riches at the cost of thousands of lives, he abstained knowing that he would regret his actions. He hid, he scurried, and he fought for money… and he was all the more human for it. “Get on after em, Parvati!”

Fifty of my combat forms surged into battle. My creator designed them to hold dominion over the planet despite superhumans. Each one was a weapon of mass destruction. A creature that can hold whole cities hostage with firepower alone. They could fight and win against multitudes of superhumans, but in the end their greatest ability was that they could be made and launched in such numbers that even the most powerful would find themselves unable to save what they held dear against the tide.

Weapons of terror deployed in an instant, yet he did so to protect others and looked at them with contempt and fear. He did not see them as a way to control the world, especially with his abilities in play, but as a necessary evil to save lives.

It should be Kaede Walker who would remake the world. She should be the person who would take the world in her hands and lead it into a golden age. Kind, passionate, and driven to do good even before she sought redemption. Her power, her ability, her intellect, her wisdom, and more all pointed to her as the best individual to raise up… yet all my simulations led to her becoming a creature of terror that would see the humanity constrained for as long as she lived, until someday someone arose to fight against her by a miracle.

In the end, Egress’ simulations were better. He would refuse any call to be a leader, but he would unite people after people out of simple selfishness and desire. Building roads and bridges, leading other superhumans to compete against him and cut into his market, he would have many others divert their powers to be productive out of jealousy. Nations and warlords would look at his lack of ambition and feel comfort, and perhaps view that other superhumans would do the same once satisfied.

Despite all his power and ability, he remained human.

“Hey, is there something going on, because you’re not being helpful right now!”

I set the simulations aside and devoted myself to the battle.

There were many hazards, many things that could go wrong, but any further wondering could until later.

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Being like Maelstrom is a whole lot harder than it looks.

While comics fell out of fashion when superhumans started popping up, I’d gotten my hand on a few boxes for entertainment for a few bucks when I when I was down in the dumps. In a few of them, there was a particular dude that could tank any hit, who could beat every bad guy, and who was a morally-upright individual who did his best to never kill. Oh, and he had a few dozen different powers, but that was beside the point.

In all his comics, the real issues that arose were when he couldn’t use all those busted abilities to just finish off a fight and wrap it up. It’s not about the villain, but the idea that brought the villain about. There were some things that being able punch really, really hard couldn’t solve. Basically, the sort of thing that Maelstrom mess up in and made the world order crumble into a billion pieces.

Still, though, being able to punch really hard, fly really fast, and not get hurt is still pretty good, especially when you’re looking to attract a lot attention your way.

There was only really one way that I could do that with my powers and that was by taking a lot of risks, while being an obvious asset.

Meaning that I had to show myself and attract attention, instead of hiding away and getting things done in the shadows.

Heavy caliber ammunition blazed my way. Normally crew-manned weapons were wielded my soldiers in power armor, and they peppered me with their fire from all directions, while scooting and moving away after laying it down. Drones from overhead sent energy-weapon blasts in my direction and obscured my vision with their vibrant blasts. Refurbished, rotor-based attack craft buzzed me with anti-tank or high-explosive munitions. Everywhere I popped up was reduced to rubble in an instant, while I protected myself and summoned Parvati’s troops into the eye of the storm.

I could barely manage to hold up all the fields I was using to defend myself, because it’s hard as hell to keep up against two armies intent on taking a city.

And, of course, the longer I lasted the more assets were being pullet to deal with me.

“Artillery shells incoming.”

“Dammit!” Heat and force in large quantities were something I could deal with to a certain extent. If they didn’t overwhelm the capacity of the layer they encountered, they’d get sent elsewhere just like a bullet.  The issue is that humans can shoot a lot of explosives into small spaces. “I can’t hold very long against artillery, Parvati. Deal with it.”

“I am, Designation: Egress.” Shoot and scoot or ambushes. Those were the best ways I could be implemented in combat. Then again, I considered being in combat a failure in the first place. Avoiding conflict is a victory in and of itself. The world is better off when no one fights and just decides to work together or just trade things for other things. Still, though, I wasn’t suited for anything close to what Maelstrom was meant for. “Intercepting shells.”

Two gynoids popped up wielding assault cannons meant for Infantry Fighting Vehicles at the hip level and levelled their guns upward. Thanks to software and processing power beyond what humanity had, they didn’t need the sheer volume of fire human point defenses needed. The projectiles were found, the calculations made, and suddenly explosions boomed from their cannons only for the shells they pointed at to explode mid-air, too.

The coming artillery barrage started getting sniped down and in moment a set of coordinates was sent to me.

I went and found myself staring down some kids carrying explosive shells, ramrods, and powder cylinders. The guns were mechanized and aiming themselves, but they were hand fed by the teens. Boys and girls both were manning the crewed weapons, using way-too-thin arms to send death flying into the battlefield, while their officer sat in a bunker and clicked on targets.

I almost considered breaking my rule for whoever that was, but after taking sight of everyone near the artillery battery, I went after each one, disarmed them, and sent them away to be processed.

Then, I looked at the artillery pieces.

“Yes, I can use those.”

“Good. The sooner this fight’s over, the better.” I moved beside one and got one of Parvati’s infiltrators on the job by popping over to base and back. In a moment, the infiltrator hooked up a wire from its brain into the gun’s systems, and in seconds it was aimed at the big brutes fighting over the system whilst Maelstrom tried to stop them. “Bring the Shogun down. Shin’s carriers are still over the city and we haven’t evacuated.”

“Indeed.” That was all the confirmation I needed before I left to another problem spot in the city. Immediately, the forces present started shooting at me and prioritizing me. I took that as a good sign that the enemy was sufficiently threatened by me and I was distracting them from Maelstrom. She should be able to do her job. Or, so I thought. “Designation: Egress, something akin to your signature is arriving—”

To the left, just above my shoulder.

I moved out of the way and a sword came crashing down held by someone covered in black armor with a snarling demon mask painted red.

I’d been paying perfect attention, and I’d set my senses to their extreme so that I could ‘feel’ any changes around me.

My attacker just appeared right next to me and tried to kill me.

The Shogun’s use of women to breed superhumans bore fruit and this one was his teleporter’s child.

Emphasis on child.

Even covered up in armor and wielding a gun in one hand and sword in the other, there was no denying that I was fighting a kid that barely reached my elbow in height.

The kid charged without a word my way, disappearing and reappearing multiple times within each blow. A strike aimed at my leg would be mid-swing when they’d reorient and reappear above me. Then, once again, they’d teleport, and the attack would be coming from my left.

It was a good tactic, probably intended to counter and attack other teleporters, especially with a sword coursing with electricity.

They probably planned to have the kid as a potential method to kill their teleporter, if he ever thought that he should be in charge.

However, they made a mistake, probably because my fellow teleporter kept his own limits a secret… or because he couldn’t do the same as me.

Electrified fields can stop me from going somewhere, sure.

They couldn’t go through my defenses.

The blade was caught by my defenses layered over my skin, while I ‘trapped’ my attacker in my own field. I felt them recoil and try to leave, extending a strand of their power out, but I already saturated their area with my own ability. The sword broke, torn apart and sent to millions of different places, and I felt the kid’s shocked look through their mask.

The kid was probably ready to die the moment their attack failed.

I made sure to disappoint them by landing a square hit into their gut right into a gynoid’s waiting arms.

Yeah.

That could’ve been a lot worse.