Ishtar looked up at the manor, her arms crossed. Behind her, Verde and Veloce were sitting together in defeated silence. Marta had already left to where the helicopter they’d borrowed from Bernetta had landed. The pilot was probably wondering what he was doing out in the middle of the night. She sighed and flexed her fingers. Just entertaining some crazy rich people, she thought to herself before extending her hand towards the building. She pulled firestorm out of her warehouse and took a deep breath before releasing a torrent of flame onto the structure.

Verde gasped behind her but she ignored it, keeping the flames up until she was sure the place was well and truly alight.

She watched it burn for a little while before turning away. She felt tired all of a sudden, as if she’d been running a marathon. She glanced over at the pair sitting on the ground, they already had their orders. They could do as they pleased as long as they spread her influence in the city and beyond. Verde was competent, if a bit gruff, Veloce would have to back him up. She walked past them without a word. Sonya let out a sigh, Aaah… I want a soda and chips…

–

Sonya’s fingers ran down the stem of the flower, her eyes flickering and adjusting to each nuance of light. She tilted one of them and then examined the display again. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. The room around her was comfortable, no gauche decorations or ornamentation. One of Bernetta’s many properties. The CEO of Lucci had offered to let them stay there rather than go back to the hotel. It was a welcome gesture. She glanced over at Mikayla, still laying on the bed, asleep.

The girl stirred and Sonya froze, she stepped away from the bouquet and hurried to her side. Immediately Mikayla sat up, gasping, her eyes darting around, terror seizing her. She reached up and pat herself down, then looked down at the sheets in wondrous fright. “It doesn’t hurt…” She murmured, “A nightmare?”

Sonya felt her chest tighten and she sighed. Mikayla tensed and looked up, wide eyed, “Miss?” She asked, as if she couldn’t believe her eyes.

“You’re safe, cutie,” Sonya said with a delicate smile.

“I-” Mikayla looked down at her hands, “I was so scared.”

“I know,” Sonya said softly, kneeling down next to the bed and taking the girl by the hand, “I made a promise to you and I broke it. I’m sorry. I’m just so glad you’re okay.”

Mikayla looked at Sonya’s hand and then up at her, “Can I be alone, for a bit?” She asked with a brittle smile.

Sonya’s chest tightened again, but she just nodded and got to her feet, “I’ll be here when you need me,” Sonya said and turned away, walking to the door.

“Sonya?” Mikayla said, causing Sonya to stop dead in her tracks, the girl had never used her first name before. She glanced over her shoulder and met the girl’s gaze, “You kept your promise, you saved me.”

Sonya just smiled, “Get some rest, Mikayla,” She said and stepped out the door. She shut it behind her and rest her back against it. She closed her eyes when Mikayla started to cry. Sonya hung her head and slid down to sit on the floor. I’ll be right here, she thought as the girl wept out her trauma, I won’t move an inch until you’re done.

–

A few hours later, Sonya was sitting in the middle of the garden that had been built into the middle of the house, the blue sky above her. She looked up at the clouds and wondered for what was probably the millionth time in both of her lives if the clouds looked that way to human eyes and not just her own mechanical ones. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the fragrant air and looked back down at her hands, Right, she steeled herself, Time to give this a shot.

So I have to pull it from my warehouse, wait, does that mean I’ll lose it from my warehouse if I do that? She searched her instincts concerning Broker, I’m guessing so. Seems fair.

She considered which abilities she’d like to have added on, I don’t think it’s a good idea to try to combine anything with Broker yet, not until I’ve got this process figured out. The ability needs to be compatible too, but what does ‘compatible’ even mean? She considered her list of abilities in storage and frowned, Might as well try something with a passive effect like my eyes, She thought and pulled out Genius Level Intellect. As it had the first time a rush of clarity blazed its way through her mind. Concepts that had seemed disconnected to her now found connections, information she’d retained became easier to access, memories more vivid.

I have no idea what that means, but go for it.

That particularly snarky thought seemed to be good enough for whatever underlying function allowed Broker to function the way it did. She absently considered whether or not her Techno-Eyes-Really? That’s their name? I never knew but still, lame-were actually working in concert with Broker to provide her additional data. If she didn’t have them would she have to operate on sheer instinct? That seemed problematic.

As those thoughts came and went in the blink of an eye thanks to Genius Level Intellect, she felt a faint tingling inside of her head. It was an odd sensation, like a tiny needle- or a knife. She gasped, eyes going wide as an unbelievable pain ripped its way through her skull. She reached up to grab her head, “Agh!” she cried out, hunching over as something wet began to drip from her nose and down her cheeks. The pain only intensified, nails scraping against the inside of her skull. She crumpled, pressing her face against the grass beneath her, her mouth open in a silent scream. It hurts! It hurts so much! Why does it hurt?! Was this pain the unforeseen consequence the ability had warned her about?

She kicked her feet, struggling to find some kind of relief from the pain, rolling on the ground and thrashing. Make it stop! No! Damn it! She grit her teeth, Bear with it! Bear with it Sonya! She rallied herself, blood dripping from her lip. Pale light began to build behind her eyes followed by a flash and the pain just… vanished.

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Sonya took a heaping gulp of air and let out a sobbing groan, before slipping into a series of hacking coughs, “Damn it!” She croaked, “What the fuck?”

She opened her eyes;

Wh-

Sensory data poured into her brain like a torrent. Smells she’d never smelled before came in clear and distinct. She could parse out exactly what they were. Lavender, Rose, Cooked Meat, Beef? She could hear the meat sizzling somewhere far away, someone was talking, Marta? She must be cooking. Text flitted across her field of view, subtitles?

Sonya turned her attention away from the conversation and it seemed to die down in her ears. That was going to take some getting used to. She shifted from her spot laying on the ground and shakily sat up, reaching up to touch where the blood had dripped from her nose. Had her new ability installed cybernetics inside her brain? No wonder it hurt so much, definitely the unforeseen consequence that the ability mentioned. She clenched her fist tightly as she scanned her surroundings visually. Every time she lingered on an object it was quickly identified. Some things, like the flowers, she didn’t know personally so it simply identified them as .

The detail is so clear, she thought breathlessly, I bet I could see even the smallest microexpressions on a person’s face.

Despite the horror of just a few moments ago, she couldn’t help but grin. What else can I merge into my ability? Broker warned about limitations, but I don’t feel anything. Maybe because they were so compatible? Or was the limitation the evolution of the ability into something else? She sighed, I guess it doesn’t really matter as long as it works.

She paused, Not here, though, I don’t want someone walking out while I’m writhing on the ground. That had been too much.

She pulled herself to her feet and steeled herself. It was going to hurt like crazy every time, probably, but it was necessary. She pulled her phone out of her pocket as she took a wobbly step, Lost some blood, I guess, She thought and shot off a quick text to Amos, letting him know that she would be going to her room for a while and wanted to be left alone. She didn’t elaborate, he didn’t need to know she would be torturing herself for the sake of improving.

Shortly after that she was sitting on her bed in a lotus stance. She’d picked up martial arts as a scout for the heroes, it wasn’t amazing but it was something. She took a deep breath and tried to center herself a little before opening her eyes and calling up merger again. Let’s see…

Most of the abilities in her warehouse were actually incompatible, but a few managed to pop up as possibly useful. She immediately noticed that there was a method to the use of Merger. Her newly enhanced intellect whirring through the possibilities.

Heroic Strength plus Cybernetic Brain… I’m guessing that’ll give me enhanced muscles and spread cybernetics through my body. I need to add it first before I can add things that affect my body, like Light Step and Heroic Speed. I have to consider possible prerequisites then, She thought before narrowing her eyes a little, Efficiency seems to indicate how well the merger will work. Normal must mean it’s compatible but it won’t create something greater than the sum of its parts, like my eyes and intellect did, giving me overall enhanced senses.

She took a deep breath, “Here goes…”

She selected Heroic Strength, and the torment began anew.

It was so much worse this time.

She woke up on her side, blood staining the blankets beneath her and let out a cough.

“It worked,” She croaked, wincing as she forced herself to sit up again. She looked down at the blood stained sheets and sighed, Damn… She let out a sigh and touched her own arm, drawing Hands of the Healer out of her warehouse. It was a shame it wasn’t compatible, it would be nice to have some kind of passive regeneration. Maybe it’s because it also heals other people? She set the thought aside as the green light suffused her body, the pain fading away. She got the sense of her blood replenishing throughout her body and raised an eyebrow, That was an oddly specific sensation.

She focused on her heads up display and now it had a little image of a person superimposed over her vision, she could see metrics hovering next to it. Interesting and useful… but too minor to be considered a real power.

“That’s one…” She muttered and reached back into her warehouse again before hesitating.

Why am I pushing myself so hard? Her improved mind screamed at her to slow down, take it one step at a time. But her heart warred with the thought, she needed more power. She thought back to that last day in her last life, the anguish of being weak. She was powerful now, but it was fleeting in a way. The powers she was using were all products, not fully hers. She needed to claim them as her own, she had to. She grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut. I have to do this. I need to do this. This moment wasn't about rationality, it was about consolidating everything she'd worked for. I'll become more powerful than Otis, she swore.

Proceed.

After hours of torment, Sonya sat in her bed, panting, bags under her eyes. Every inch of her body ached in ways that she couldn’t even begin to explain. She barely had the strength to pull Hands of the Healer out once again and even then only a trickle of relief came from it. There was only one more ability that was fully compatible with her newly improved power. Her prosthetic eyes were dim and a little deadened as she stared at the text in her heads up display.

She hesitated and then firmed her resolve, the previous ones didn’t count as significant trauma? She chuckled before her lips thinned into a firm line. The memory of Mikayla's tears pushed her to action. Money and political connections would never be enough. She'd take all the power she could get, no matter the cost. Just one more, this is my evolution into Ishtar.

Proceed.

Sonya felt a jolt go through her entire body before she blacked out.