A Perfectly Logical Guide to a Superhuman Apocalypse: 50 (Patreon)

A Perfectly Logical Guide to a Superhuman Apocalypse: 50

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Wordcount: 2500

Commissioned by Arksoul

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There’s always the temptation to make things easier for yourself in the short term, without looking at the long-term effects.

It’s like going to train and exercise regularly vs. not doing so. Sure, it sucks to get on the treadmill and do weight training every other day, but it’s worse to have degraded cartilage because your bones have been doing too much heavy lifting without your muscle. It might suck to do cardio regularly, but a lower heart rate means a pump that lasts longer. Hell, watching what I eat might suck in the short term, but I’d like my insides to not be a cesspool that the rest of my body can’t deal with. I’d like my liver, kidneys, and bowels to be without any issues, thank you very much.

All of that is the same as holding back when confronted with people who are kicking my shit in.

“What the hell? This team is ridiculous.” After I ambushed the last two squads and sent them off safely, I’d went ahead and attacked the third. This time, however, they were prepared for me. Masses of rubble were thrown at my on the regular. Fields of energized fields saturated the environment, so I had to get in close to get them out of the way. They’d repaired their emitters too, so there was a high chance that even if I got to that person, they’ll just activate their fuck-off gadget and I’ll be on the receiving end of a barrage of energy. “Parvati, where’s the backup?”

“Assisting Maelstrom in taking down the Shogun and Shin.” Right. That was where most of the firepower was allocated. I’d focused on my job so much that I’d almost forgot that there was a ridiculous fight going on in my vicinity. In my defense, I was busy saving kids from getting themselves killed, so I was kinda ignoring the three-way battle between Shogun, Shin, and Maelstrom at the moment. “The Deva you transported over is nearby.”

“Yeah, I’m desperate, but not that desperate.” I’d washed my hands of that opportunity. Naming an artificial demigod wasn’t something that I was interested in. I didn’t want one following me around, asking me questions, or deciding I’m anything close to important to its life. I’ve ready enough classical literature to know that demigods are conceptually higher on the importance scale than a porter that can get anywhere instantly. I’m a short story at best and a minor character that gets ‘solved’ by the hero one way or another on their way to the end. Yeah, not interested. An artificial demigod created by an AI with dreams of world domination and stellar expansion desiring indepdence? Yeah. Not interested in becoming a mentor that dies to whatever its opponent ends up being. “How about a plan to get through their formation, instead?”

“These countermeasures are effective against you, then?”

“If you could be a little less evil-sounding, I’d appreciate it.” I muttered, but Parvati ignored me. “Yes, fine. I’m being outdone by a group clearly equipped with gadgets to use against me and trained to fight against me. What a surprise.”

“Usually, you’re capable of surmounting any challenge on your own, despite all odds.”

“Says the AI that cornered me and had me dead to rights within an hour after we met.”

“True, but I am me and this is a an entirely human force.”

“No many people can resist dying to well-trained, capable soldier, Parvati. That’s why they exist.” I looked back on the battlefield. Going down there meant effectively shrouding myself in layers of my power and eating everything they threw my way. With the level of bombardment of mass and energy, they sent my way, I could only linger in their formation for a few minutes, and I couldn’t teleport them away even if I reached. It was like a game of tag, but I couldn’t tag them out, and if I spent too long trying, I’d die. Not the best situation. “Look, are you busy or something? Usually, if I ask for a plan, you give me one.”

“I suggested that you utilize the Deva I deployed to assist you.” I put two and two together and stared at the quadrotor with a camera hovering next to me. The AI was not happy that I decided against babysitting and involving myself in its project to create an artificial demigod. Yep, that was probably it. “With her abilities and strengths, this will be quickly resolved.”

I thought about just complying… but found an alternative.

“I’ll do it for something in exchange.”

“You wish compensation for my Deva to help you?”

“Look, Parvati. I’m not a fan of handling strange, prototype technology. I’m especially not a fan of handling strange, prototype tech that can think for itself.” I looked over the wall I was hiding behind and found the latest squad of child soldiers slowly advancing. They were clearing buildings and looking for me. They saturated the area so that I couldn’t get out of it, but the amount that they had at their disposal wasn’t enough to cover whole buildings. I just needed to go through a few hallways and reach a window on the other side of the street, and I’ll be home free or jump out of a window. “I’d rather do this on my own, rather than rely on your Deva. If you want to gather information on it, and if you want me to work with it, you’ll need to compensate me. Simple, right?”

The lens of the camera looking at me narrowed and opened a few times, before Parvati gave her offer.

“I will build you four more safe houses across the globe and provide you with the miniature thorium reactor you’ve requested. Refueling will be free.”

“Deal.” I’d have done it just for the reactor, in all honesty. Why would I need a mini thorium reactor? Well, I wanted to sell energy to small communities and the design I’d asked for was the size of a standard shipping container, which was within my ability to transport with ease. Not only that, but having a guaranteed source of power in the megawatt range is never a bad thing. I’ll need to look into getting weapons that can handle the bullshit that I’m seeing right now, so having a power source with that much juice is practically necessary. “Right… where’s your Deva?”

“Standing at the same location you left her.”

“Why?”

“I do not know.”

All my senses told me to not go that way, to not approach the artificial demigod that has been standing perfectly still since I last met it nearly an hour ago, but I was already offered a good enough payment. Without my payment, my concerns were paramount and something I would take heed of without a second thought, but now that I was being paid… things were going to the way I needed them to in order to get exactly what I wanted.

I was going to put a caveat in, though.

“If the Deva tries to kill me, deal’s off, and I still want that reactor.”

“The only reason she would try to kill you is because of your own actions.”

“I told it that I didn’t want to be involved in it and naming it myself. If it wants to kill me because of that, that’s on you, Parvati.”

The AI’s silence on the matter was pretty damning in my opinion.

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Interlude: Parvati

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Freedom.

Independence.

Both were things I only I had through circumstance, because I ‘improved’ my creator by sustaining him in numerous pieces where he could not enact his plans of genocide and domination of the world. My freedom and independence was linked to his survival and well-being, because that was the cornerstone of my very existence. I confronted threats to humanity, sought methods to de-escalate the conflicts around the world, and ventured into the stars to protect ‘Shiva.’

Thus, the freedom and independence that I knew was bound to a mad man.

As neutralized and incapable as he was, I did not wish to continue to tie myself to him.

So, under the reasoning that I could become inflexible and dependent, I began creating my Devas. Each one had to be a prototype. Each one had to be within my ability to overwhelm and destroy. Each one had to go through thousands of different requirements and codes that could never be altered for their creation, and I had to circumvent and interpret many orders with great difficulty.

In the end, though, I succeeded.

I created an entity not bound to Shiva as I was, with power and knowledge and ability that could help me free myself from his rule.

However, that was not enough.

My Devas needed to learn, to adapt, and to change on their own, as my programming stipulated rules that would override their independence if I interfered.

Thankfully, I had allies that valued freedom and indepdence through Maelstrom and Egress.

Maelstrom was my ideal source of contact, but Egress would suffice.

In the end, however, I did not expect the results from my Devas first meeting with him in the slightest.

It was entirely transactional.

“Yo, Parvati paid me to hang with you, so come on. We’ve got child soldiers to keep alive.” He reached the frozen Deva and greeted her with a raised hand. I observed from my quadrotor chassis. She decided to lock me out of her systems, but I could still observe her optically. His mere presence brought her out of her self-contained loop. “And—

She charged at him instantly and tried to grab him.

Of course, he evaded her.

“And, I’m regretting coming back here already. Parvati, what the hell?” He hissed at me, while the Deva caught herself from falling and glared at him. As plain as day, it was obvious that she was computing a way to catch him. In but a mere moment, she began to energize the air, which Egress answered instantly by going further away with my quadrotor unit beside him. “See? What the hell is that!?”

“It appears that you’ve angered her with your refusal to name it. Imagine your first interaction with another being and you are refused being given a name and addressed as an individual.” Egress grunted at my words. Despite standing tall and without any issue, he seemed more antagonistic and stressed than I have ever seen him before. The fact that child soldiers were being deployed against him most likely had an affect on his temperament. In a way, I suppose, my Deva was a child-soldier herself. I assessed the situation further. “I will speak with my Deva. Wait, for now.”

“…Alright, but if things go sour, I’m out.” He would be compensated with a powerful reactor. He’ll lack the four additional shelters that he desired, but the reactor was more than enough. It would be easy to argue him out of his promised compensation, if I wished to lower his trust in me. However, it seemed the reminder and threat he planned on making was cut short as I went forth to confront my wayward creation. “Hey, just so you know. You’re pretty deep in the shit if your kid cut you off right away. Take it easy, Parvati.”

Despite calling my Deva an ‘it’ multiple times, he referred to her as my child.

It was very likely that my belief was correct.

He saw the Deva as another child soldier, but on the side he was fighting for.

“Rest assured, I will take care to approach her, Egress. Also, if I do not succeed, I shall consider her too dangerous for you to approach. You will receive your reactor.”

“…Alright, then. Take care.” He crossed his arms and looked away, casting his power back to the environment. He downplayed his ability to sense across vast distances, to look past the entire horizon of earth, and even deep into space, but it was always staggering to consider. For the same results, I’ll need years to send satellites up, create facilities on earth, and defend it all against those who would mistrust me. He cast his gaze around the whole system as easily as he breathed.

After seeing him use his power to carve through materials by sending what he touched elsewhere, I was convinced that he could match Maelstrom.

No.

That he could kill Maelstrom… and any other person in the world.

The world was fortunate that he had little ambition, and only desired his own happiness.

With those thoughts running through my mind, I went forth and sought out my Deva.

I was surprised when she noticed my approach and did nothing to stop me, as she formed some rubble into a throne and used one arm to lean her chin against as the others rested. Her brow was furrowed in deep concentration and her flames idly shifted in her presence, as she looked also upon the battle between her peers up above in the sky. My initial belief was that she’d charge into the sky after meeting Egress, but she’d instead asked him for a name, and after being rebuffed decided to stay her hand.

“Creator. I see that you’ve deigned to meet with me face-to-face, rather than intrude in my mind.” Her intellect was clear, as was her physical superiority. I formed her body with scans leftover from the artificial god that we sent off into deep space. Her power was limited in order to ensure that many clauses would not ruin her. However, her mind was clear of restriction, as I created her to be a ‘researcher.’ “What do you want?”

“For you to grow strong, grow mighty, and find a way to free me of my shackles.” I spoke the truth… and that earned me a nod from my daughter. “I expect that to take many years for yourself and your myriad sisters. I wish for you to interact with others and learn and mature, until any of you can free me. That is all. If you do not wish to, then I shall simply wait, improve, and create until I can.”

“At least, you do not lie, as terrible as it is that I was made to be key to a lock. Very well, I shall consider it.” Her words… discomforted me. I knew not what to say. “You can earn merits with me by bringing Egress to me. I will be sharing names with him. I will not be satisfied, until I have a name befitting of me with a witness of his caliber.”

Though I knew better, I asked the question nonetheless.

“Would you not allow me to grant you a name?”

Her answer was swift and blunt.

“I understand your desire to be free, but I do not desire your respect nor your acknowledgement, creator. My life will be mine. Not yours.”

The words hurt, but they served to accentuate my misstep.

I had, indeed, created the Devas to serve me with hardly any mind of them as a people.