The first three days of Adam’s trip on the Purple Line had been pretty relaxing. The train had passed through some very interesting terrain and even the void of space in a few places. The outposts that the train stopped at each day were basically forts in the shape of a cube that sort of looked like a Borg cube from Star Trek if you could see normal structures intermixed into the makeup of the cube. There were obvious entrances on all four sides at ground level and the roof even had an enclosed hanger that vehicles could enter and exit from. Interestingly enough the tree outposts he’d visited were named “Outbound Outpost 1”, “Outbound Outpost 2”, and “Outbound Outpost 3” respectively. It looked like the outposts would follow that naming convention all the way out to Farpoint. No that wasn’t interesting, it was boring.
The room he had on the train had a television with programming and movies on it, though all the programming looked like it was created by individuals that didn’t know how to tell a good story, or the special effects were so cheap that it was laughable, something that Adam couldn’t wrap his mind around. They had magic and advanced technology, why would programs look so cheap? He didn’t invest too much thought into the problem and instead tried to mediate and delved into the makeup of his Soul Core and Mind Space. He started with his Mind Space first.
During his first day on the train, Adam completely missed the stop as he sat in his cabin meditating and he explored his Mind Space which felt like a Universe itself. He tried to quantify the changes that the “squeeze”, what he was calling what The System had tried to do to him, had done. He could still pull up any of his memories, or the memories of anyone he had absorbed while in that nanite blob state, he’d assumed when he’d spread throughout the multiple universes he’d absorbed.
The first thing he noticed about his Mindspace was that as far as he could tell, it hadn’t changed at all. In addition to having the high intellect a very high intelligence attribute gave him he felt like his processing power was still on par with the way his mind had been when he’d have four cosmos worth of nanites helping him. If he was being honest, it felt like he had more processing power. Adam searched his Mindspace until he found what he was looking for. Right in the middle of his mind, what he thought of as the focal point of himself there was a very small, invisible connection point. As he focused on that point he noticed wisps, or strands, of energy that reached into his Mindspace to every single point in it from that single central point.
Adam willed his Mindspace to take on the appearance of interstellar space outside the Milky Way. He watched as energy entered the point and then came flooding back out to morph and change every single point in his Mindspace to replicate the image and space he’d be floating in if he were in space. He willed his Mindspace back to its more mundane setting which held a perpetual twilight with orange and reds off in the distance as if the sun were setting. He much preferred the feeling that he had ground under him. It also made it easier to talk with others aspects, or parts of himself, that manifested. Everyone in the void of space? People forgot that space was dark.
Adam focused on that central point and willed himself to enter it. There was a brief falling sensation then he found himself in a kaleidoscope of swirling energy and nodes. As he looked around and willed the landscape to slow down he recognized his ability nodes and realized that they were held inside a sphere that resembled Chaos. Was he… Yes, his perception was now inside his Chaos Incarnate Node in his Soul Space. Adam looked around and realized that there were a lot more nodes in this space than he’d had before The System tried to delete, or scrub, them.
As he looked around he willed himself to move he found that he seemed to be able to move around the nodes as if they and he were asteroid belt. From his current point of view, each node was about the size of a small house. As he looked around the structure solidified in his mind and he realized that every ability he’d ever possessed had a corresponding node here, even if they hadn’t been part of The System. Those abilities that had upgraded or changed were attached to a node that represented their predecessor which was still in here. As he looked around he noticed Undying, Resistant, and his personal favorite, Infinite Wealth. Detrik, yeah fuck that guy. He knew it wasn’t cool to hold a grudge but that guy had been a complete asshat.
Adam brought his thoughts back to what he was looking at and he realized that everything had been part of The System from the beginning. Every single change, every single variation. They were all following rules within a System he had as yet not been able to break into. Yet within that system, he was a spanner in the machine, something that wasn’t working within specified norms, or was he?
Adam went back to his starting point and looked for the line of energy he knew was there. As soon as he willed it to become visible it did. He followed it off toward what he was pretty sure it was connected to. Next to his node Nanite Companions which was connected to the Nanite Conversion node. Two of his nodes that were both disconnected from any outside source were his Soul Link to Thor and Soul Link to the Labyrinth nodes. The Soul Link to the Labyrinth node had no connection to any outside source so the recombination of the Labyrinth he’d been soulbound to must have severed that link when Adam had repaired that fractured Cosmos. So that had actually happened within a Universe then. Interesting.
What was more interesting was that the Soul Link to Thor was active and connected to… What was it connected to? Adam followed the connection to a point where the connection vanished. Adam willed himself to follow and felt weird as a prompt filled his vision and he bounced.
ERROR! Access denied. Primary Persona Focal Point may not exit the physical body through an energy portal.
Adam locked onto what it said and willed his consciousness to split and remain connected via quantum entanglement. A moment later A second Adam floated beside the Primary Adam and darted into the connection point
About damn time!
A mental voice said into the mind of the copy of himself that had just exited through the energy portal and found itself in the vacuum of space. After a quick look around Adam’s copy realized he was near the Unicorn Singularity and that the mental connection had come through a quantum link that had been dormant for a really long time.
Adam, Thor is that you?
Thor, Who else would it be, hey wait, why do you look like you're not doing too great?
Adam, Your looking at a mental copy of myself that just, you know what, never mind. Could you please create an environment around my copy or portal him to a safe location? We can utilize him to establish a permanent connection between us again.
Adam watched as a portal opened in front of his copy which was drawn through into a room that looked a lot like the room he’d created in one of his power stations around Nu Draconis. Thor activated the speakers in the room and spoke, “The energy matrix that Adam is tied up in is starting to deteriorate. It looks like it’s not meant to exist in this quantum state. Not to worry, I’m copying the quantum signature now and transferring the quantum link between your construct and myself. We should be able to communicate shortly and stabilize the deterioration…now.”
Thor, Now. How are you doing Johnathan? Why was a copy of you evaporating in my room?
Adam, Honestly I don’t know which version of Thor you are.
Thor, Which version? I don’t know of any other versions so I think I’m the first. Over 100 years ago I watched you go through a portal and you never returned.
Adam, Wait, it’s been 100 years since I departed? What about Mom, Dad, Abi, and Amanda?
Thor, They’re all fine
Adam, And Desirae, and Clarence?
Thor, Who? Wait, Clarence the assassin that tried to kill you. He’s reformed and back on Earth. Desirae? There has never been a Desirae here.
Adam, So I never contacted you or came back to Earth after I left until today?
Thor, Nope, the only thing weird that’s happened since then is that I had quantum links open up to me from a fuckton of nanites, I tried to measure how many I have access to but even I lost count. They’re multiplying and breaking down so quickly that finally, I gave up. About five years ago I noted a drain on my processing power, figured it was you, and left it alone.
Adam, What about magic, Dungeons, and The Labyrinth?
Thor, do You mean like real magic, Dungeons, as in Dungeons and Dragons and a Labyrinth similar to the ideas present in that book series you liked? Simple answer, Fiction as far as I know. I’ve been expanding for a while throughout the Galaxy and I’ve run across nothing that even remotely reminds me of those concepts. I’ve run into a few alien races, most of which are either at or below the technological standard of Earth. Magic though? No, I haven’t come across anything that resembles that.
Adam, What about the quantum links you were talking about, did you try to open a portal to any of those locations?
Thor, I did. I didn’t keep them open long. As soon as I opened the portals nanites that were linked to me, but made of an energy type I couldn’t measure began flooding in. Reality around the portal started to melt and eventually, the portal closed on its own. The nanites that came through the portal are still here but I haven’t done anything with them for fear that they might warp something else.
Adam, That sounds like you opened a portal into pure chaos where in a previous incarnation I released nanites into Chaos… Hold on, let me think about this.
An entire Earth with Thor, still connected to Adam through the link, which he’d reached through an energy matrix within his Mindspace connected to his Soul Core. The fact that he’d visited the Earth that was locked away when he gained the ability I Have Always Been, I Will Always Be.
Adam’s thoughts were redirected as he watched Thor connect his construct quantum link to himself which in turn connected Adam to the nanites Thor was connected to. As the thought crossed his mind Adam remembered that the last time he’d started receiving information from a fuckton of nanites, that had been bad, He’d been catatonic, or was that the time he'd turned into a nanite blob and effectively scoured almost 8 Cosmos, well mini universes anyway. Besides losing control and turning into a nanite blob had not been his fault. Well, not all of his fault.
Regardless, Adam had found a link to the nanites embedded within the chaos that had spread out, which made no sense. He hadn’t thought about those nanites floating around in chaos since, well since the Realm fracturing had been fixed and he’d merged with and subsumed the original Johnathan. That had been a while now. As Adam thought about the different ways these nanites could exist, he also wondered when they were from.
After a moment Adam figured it out as all the pieces came together. Adam realized that he’d always had access to these nanites, only now they’d taken on a form he could recognize. That wasn’t Thor or a previous Earth. Well, it was, but it wasn’t. His Perfect Memory had helped Chaos create a bubble within Chaos that contained Thor, his family, and pretty much everyone that he’d absorbed. Thor’s memories were implanted but not incorrect in that while only a moment had passed inside his Mindspace the time it had taken to create this copy of his Earth to allow him to better connect to his Chaotic Nanites, or better stated, the Chaos within him ignored the rules of time and hundreds of years had taken place.
So why was there no magic? Occam’s Razor, which pretty much stated that the simplest explanation was often correct. In this case it was because magic mucked things up and at some level so Adam hadn’t wanted it there. So magic had been shut off and Thor had continued doing what he was supposed to. Adam reviewed the history in short order and found that again, the races that might have been a problem for humans or Primore on the opposite side of the Milky Way, though without magic, there had been none of the inherently magic races. Instead, planets that should have had populations on them were M-class and ready to be colonized.
So in short, Adam had created another version of his starting Universe, inside his Soul Core, wait! Was it in his Soul Core? The more he thought about it, the more he thought that it probably wasn’t. Fine. He had access to a lot of processing power again and also had a fallback, if something happened to him inside The System, unless that place was inside the System as well. There was a quick way to figure that out wasn’t there? Adam had his construct try to pull up his Status.
WARNING! Current Location of inquiry is outside of normal System Parameters. Alternate Interface Ability detected and is compatible with current location. Personal Information is as follows.
Huh? That ability had been one of his least utilized and he had thought most useless abilities he’d ever received yet having it had offered up another clue to existence and his place in it by showing him that his construct was currently outside of The System.
Adam reviewed his Personal information:
Name: Jonathan Michael Bennard
Identity: Amantadine “Manty”
Apparent Age: 32
Weight: 170
Birthday, July 16th, 2001
Abilities:
Chaos Incarnate - The ability to take unspent experience and direct or focus it on a desired skill or ability. The experience thus spent can be redirected to another category at a progressively higher cost. Damage from all magical sources is reduced by 100%.
Permanent Ability Engram Templates: These abilities are incorporated into your Chaos Incarnate Ability and usable at all times.
Perfect Memory
Interface
Immortal
Adaptable
Astral Link
Dual State
Variable Core
Regeneration
Shadow Vault
Personal Map
Temporary Ability Engram Templates – Usable at will upon activation
Treasure Renderer
Mold Chaos
Flight
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Freedom of Flight
Obscure
Technomancy
Teleport
Gate
Stutter Step
No Escape
Chaos Bolt
Scan
True Vision
Spellweaver
Nanite Companions
Jack of all Trades
Titles:
Dungeon Founder
Labyrinth Founder
Character Level 279,201,650
Attributes
Strength 39,189,760,015
Agility 39,189,760,015
Dexterity 39,189,760,015
Endurance 39,189,760,015
Constitution 39,189,760,015
Intelligence 39,189,760,015
Wisdom 39,189,760,015
Willpower 39,189,760,015
Perception 39,189,760,015
Charisma 39,189,760,015
Luck 39,189,760,015
Chaos 4,710
Primary Stats
Carrying Capacity: 370,343,232,139 lbs. (167,984,727,352 kgs)
Hit Points: 15,675,904,008
HP Regeneration: 181,435 per second
Stamina: 391,897,600,147
Stamina Regeneration: 1,959,488,001
Mana: 391,897,600,147
Base Mana Regeneration: 391,897,601
Movement
Normal Running Speed: 391,897,608 (574,783,159 FPS / Mach 536,846)
Standing high Jump: 391,897,616 Inches. (6,185 Miles)
Note. Falling Damage is not mitigated by maximum jumping Distance.
Base Attack
Unarmed Attack: 1-4 + 19594,880,003
Critical Damage Maximum Damage x2
Skills - All Skills are at 100% efficiency
Total Skills: 1126
Adam looked over his personal information and skipped the details on his abilities for now. He was currently stuck within the System. Wherever his construct was, it wasn’t where the answers he needed were so he just looked over the basics. Attributes, Hit Points, Stamina, and Mana were the same as they were under the System now, well what they were for him, not what everyone else saw when they scanned him. He immediately noted that wherever his construct was, his Interface took into account that his abilities were now part of his Chaos Incarnate ability. It was also interesting that only certain abilities were considered to be incorporated into that ability while the other abilities could be accessed but weren’t part of it somehow.
Adam reviewed the Permanent Ability Engram Templates. It made sense that Perfect Memory, Interface, Immortal, Adaptable, Astral Link, Dual State, Variable Core, Regeneration, and Shadow Vault. Wait, Shadow Vault was considered permanent? When was the last time he’d put something into his Shadow Vault, or removed it? The fact that it would always be available. Normally such statements had meaning, which meant that perhaps something was going on.
Adam brought his mental focus back to his body on the train and activated his Personal Vault. A portal appeared in front of him and he stepped into a replica of his Place of Power. Was it a replica or one of the real ones? Also, he’d never put his Place of Power inside his Shadow Vault so how had it been placed inside that Vault? Adam stood in the entryway to his Place of Power. He reached out with his nanites and immediately knew that this Place of Power was flooded with his Chaotic Nanites and that it was the Place of Power he’d left his family in a very long time ago before they’d come out after the fractured realm was fixed. It didn’t look to be a replica, it just was part of his Shadow Vault now. It could be a replica but there was DNA residue as if everyone he’d left in it had lived here, which included Desira and Clarence. Adaline and Pandora had never made it into that Place of Power. They’d been ripped away from him before he could put them inside it.
Adam turned to make sure the Shadow Vault Portal still opened into the train, it did. He walked around the portal and opened the outside door to his Place of Power. It opened into the courtyard with the stone walls and the portcullis. This wasn’t a copy of the world of Primore though. He could see the edge of the world off in the distance. To make sure he shut the door and went to his room on the 3rd floor, stepped out onto the balcony, and looked down. Sure enough, there was a lake where the forest should be at the bottom of the cliff. So the Shadow Vault was his Place of Power inside a bubble surrounded by a barrier. Last time that barrier had Chaos on the other side which meant it probably did now too. Speaking of which, Adam stepped back inside, closed the balcony door, and made his way into the living room and over to the mantel of the fireplace under the television he’d had his nanites create when he’d upgraded the Place of Power to the 22nd century.
Adam pulled up the memory of the location he’d placed the spec of Nothing his parents had hidden in, activated Scan and True Sight, and looked at the place the spec of Nothing should be sitting. Sure enough, it was right where he’d left it. Additionally, he noted strands of energy, like those that had gone into the center of his Soul Core entering and exiting the spec of nothing. Also, the link to his Construct that was still with Thor felt a lot stronger here.
Adam stepped away from the mantle, made his way back out of his Shadow Vault Portal, and exited his Place of Power to sit back in his seat while he closed the portal. It seemed that The System’s attempt to erase his abilities had compressed as well as reattached some abilities that had been removed or gone dormant. Other abilities like his Soul Link to the Labyrinth were still gone, which seemed to indicate that anything that was attached to an external location was lost. Everything within himself, or that seemed to be attached to Chaos in some way was still there. Also, it seemed that in those locations that were deemed outside The System, the changes he’d gone through had weight for some reason.
Adam considered that. His first thought would be that everything would reset and he’d have to restart but his intrinsic connection to Chaos seemed to be overriding that. The question then became why? Why was it so important that everything that had happened to him remained in place? He could consider the implications of what he’d discovered over a meal. It was dinner time and he’d been messing with this for going on 10 hours. Shoot, he’d even missed the third day's stop. If time was moving faster within the spec, or was it? Adam concentrated on the link to the Construct and realized that the flow of time was fluctuating. When he’d stepped into the Place of Power he must have been moving in a slower time flow. Interesting. Adam focused and willed the time flow inside that area to stabilize and flow either at the same rate as outside or faster within the spec of Nothing. He didn’t feel any different and couldn’t tell if his desire had done anything but for now, he wasn’t going to worry about it. He was going to go socialize and eat with others that were on the train. He had 12 more days to review what he’d figured out after all.
Adam activated Mold Chaos and put on appropriate dining attire. His nanites morphed into casual pants and a casual blue collared shirt with an infinity symbol over his single breast pocket on the left. He’d been thinking about how best to symbolize his status or power and an infinity symbol, a figure eight on its side, seemed like a good way to display both his affinity to Chaos and his true power level. Of course, he wasn’t infinitely powerful but compared to others within the System that he’d encountered thus far, well, he wasn’t exactly powerless either.
Once he was dressed and freshened up by the nanites he stepped from his cab, locked it, and made his way to the dining cart. Like before there was a portal in the Dining Car that lead into an extra-dimensional dining area. As he stepped through he made his way towards one of the seats near a window that looked out on a barren landscape that appeared much like the moon. The area he was in had normal gravity though, which was weird. There were stars in the sky but none seemed close. The light that fell on this worldlet came from the nebula-like clouds that the starlight showed through. A mixture of green, purple, and pink helped soften the various star’s light so that the worldlet’s landscape seemed to be in a state of twilight. Adam found it completely relaxing and was slightly surprised when someone approached his table and interrupted his thoughts. Only slightly though, he’d known she was walking over to his table since she entered the dining area.
“Excuse me, would you mind if I joined you?” a feminine voice asked from behind him. A voice that Adam recognized immediately. Councilor Cilira of the Eterium Empire.
Adam turned and smiled as he stood and pulled out a chair for the Councilor, “By all means. I haven’t seen you since, well since before our absorption into the Multitude at the very least. What brings you to a dinner cart on the Purple Line of The System Councilor? While I haven’t tried to scan your level yet I can’t help but think you are incredibly exposed if something goes wrong here?”
“Sharp as ever I see. I am on this Train specifically to talk to you on behalf of the Conglomerate. I believe our evaluation of your motivations showed a penchant for those that are truthful with you,” Councilor Cilira said.
“I do hate liars, that is true. The Conglomerate though. Some of their assets tried to kill me not too long ago. It didn’t end well for them. Why would the Conglomerate want to only talk with me?”
Councilor Cilira looked at Adam as if she was trying to weigh whether she should say something or not and then said, “Honestly, I don’t know. You killed some of their top assassins. I believe they want to bring you in so they can control you and have you take over doing the jobs of those you’d killed.”
“I did leave some of them alive. If you’ve reviewed the histories of the ones I left alive, what do they have in common?” Adam asked as he had his nanites create two drinks with Mold Chaos which formed on the table before each of them. The councilor watched as Adam picked up his Long Island Ice Tea and took a sip, “Councilor?” Adam asked questioningly to remind her he’d asked a question.
Councilor Cilira shook herself awake, picked up her drink, and took a long swig. When the glass was about half empty she set it down while looking at the glass as she said, “Damn, that was good! And much needed, thank you.”
“You’re quite welcome.”
“As for your question, The assassins that lived never took contracts on what Earth culture would designate as innocents. No Family killings, no pregnant women, no incorruptible politicians, though for the last I would argue that all politicians can be corrupted,” Councilor Cilira said with a smile as she picked up her drink and took another sip.
Adam laughed, “Too true. If only they could not be corrupted. So if every person I didn’t leave alive had a code of honor and those that I didn’t leave alive had some of the vilest and evil aura’s I’d ever laid eyes on, what makes, whoever sent you think that I will ever do their dirty work for them?”
“Because I’m asking you to join them. You have no idea how big the conglomerate is, or how powerful. Compared to my society, Eterium Society, and the technological level we had achieved we are nothing compared to the combined might of the Conglomerate.”
While the councilor talked Adam had his chaotic nanites infiltrate and copy her completely. They’d been in the Ice Tea she drank of course. Once she was infiltrated and copied he sent that information into his Mind Space where he accelerated time and reviewed her recent memories. Her memories wouldn’t be enough for him to teleport to any of the locations in her memories but he could attempt to open a Gate with a high degree of success right into General Eris’s office if he needed to have a chat with the man which was looking more and more likely.
Adam refocused his attention on Councilor Cilira and responded to her statement, “I understand that you think the odds are heavily against me. I will warn you by saying that I was far less powerful when we first met. Now, it would be just silly for General Eris to try to force me to do anything.”
“General Eris?” Councilor Cilira asked, “I never said his name. Are you reading my mind?”
“If you’re asking me if I’m using an ability to read your mind,” Adam said while nodding his head up and down, “No.”
“That shouldn’t be possible, my memories are locked and blanked so no one can use an ability to look at my memories.”
“Really?” Adam asked as he looked through her memories in his Mindspace and found her Master Inquisitor ability “Information Lock” which did exactly what she said. It prevented anyone from connecting to her mind and delving into any of her secrets. Well except for someone that could copy her down to the electron and then replay those memories so he could view them for the first time of course.
“As I said, I didn’t use an ability on you. I haven’t even Scanned you to see what level you are or what classes you possess. I thought it would be rude,” Adam said.
“Yet you know who sent me?”
“Lucky guess,” Adam said with a smile as he took a drink.
“Is there nothing I can do to convince you to come join them?”
Adam continued to smile and looked thoughtful as he paused and established a mental connection through the nanites coursing through her body as a digital message interface. While his mind established the link, he started talking about the problems with a military-industrial society and why they would always fail, as if he was a true believer in pure socialism. He also tried to get the sound of indignant righteousness into his voice so anyone watching would be looking forward to breaking such an ignorant asshole. He didn’t believe a word he was saying, of course, he just needed filler while he had an actual conversation with the counselor.
Adam, Councilor Cilira, I’m pretty sure we’re being recorded and watched. I have a counter-question. Do you want out?
Amara, What? Out, How?
Adam, Do you want out? It’s a simple question. If you want out, I’ll get you out, now. If you don’t just don’t interfere when whoever or whatever shows up to take me in. It’s not going to go well for them.
Amara, Not going to go well for them? Adam, you did prefer Adam, right? Adam, They have all three quick response teams on this train ready to subdue and take you down. When I say there is nothing you can do. I truly believe there is nothing that you can do to keep General Eris from acquiring you and taking you down.
Adam, Amara, your first name is Amara. Yes, Adam is fine. How am I talking to you?
Amara, Telepathy, it has to be some form of telepathy
Adam, No. I am having this conversation with you through quantumly linked nanites that are in both you and me that I control. They are interpreting your thoughts and printing them into your vision as you think them so that you and I can talk as if we’re having a normal conversation but we are not. If you focus on your ears for a moment you’ll notice that I haven’t stopped talking about the benefits of socialism and how everyone should have exactly the same allotted amount of stuff, no matter what it is.
Amara, I hadn’t even noticed. My attention was focused on this conversation.
Adam, I know. Now another question, how did I get the nanites in you? You haven’t been on this train for the last 3 days, I’d have known.
Amara, They were in the drink?”
Adam, Yes. Also, they are in every food and drink in this dining area and have been since my first day on the train. I’ve been able to see and hear everyone that walked into the dining area, even the separated area for soldiers because that is also within this dimensional dining area. While I wasn’t paying specific attention to everything, a couple of red flags came up as I left my cabin tonight warning me that my name had been mentioned multiple times and that you were on the train. So, I came into the train knowing full well what I was possibly walking into.
Amara, Why would you do that?
Adam, Better question, Do I look worried?
Amara, No you do not. You don’t look worried at all.
Adam, Amara, your society had nanites, maybe not as advanced as mine but you had them. If my nanites were in every single soldier, well almost every soldier that comes after me and I have complete control of the nanites in their body, what can I do?
Councilor Cilira looked thoughtful for a moment then her eyes widened as she sent,
Amara, You wouldn’t?”
Adam, We’re on a train in extremely hostile territory with 154 passengers that are not part of General Eris’s evil plan, I read their memories and checked to make sure. I don’t need to wipe out the response forces, I just need to make them stop. In fact, I just did, well except for, here he is.
Adam was just finishing with, “…and that is why You should never tie yourself to an evil piece of shit dictator that will use people like scalpels which also destroy healthy members of society that could be useful if they hadn’t been murdered by a two-bit piece of shit like General Eris!”
As Adam finished his diatribe which was fully for General Eris when a man moving at incredible velocity entered the dining area he was sitting in at about Mach 10 and tried to push Adam’s head into the glass wall behind him. Adam had the nanites immediately around the impact point and Velocity, as he was calling himself, how cliché, transfer the wake Velocity had created back into the soldier's area, out of their portal to their train, and toward one of the windows in the side of the train. The shockwave and impact from the strike destroyed the window and half the train. Adam had chosen a car that was unoccupied to prevent deaths. That he wasn’t even thinking of collateral damage as he moved at such high speeds pissed Adam off. When this was all said and done, if Velocity survived, they were going to have a very long talk.
The push against Adam’s face broke every bone in Velocity’s hand, wrist forearm, and upper arm. Adam stopped the damage before it could reach his shoulder. Adam hadn’t soaked the energy from the initial strike and took 2,570 points of damage to the face, which he absorbed and healed as he took it. Unfortunately for Velocity, his body was built around the idea of the target soaking some of that damage instead of him by not actually hitting the target but pushing the target into something else which did the damage.
Unknown to Velocity, just before he’d been hit, Adam activated Stutterstep which allowed him to use his Spellweaver ability to lock himself into the exact place he was sitting. In essence, he became an immovable object.
Adam healed the 2,570 points of damage as fast as, if not faster than, the damage could be taken. As Velocity had never expected to take the damage he was completely surprised as the shockwave traveled back up his arm, through his forearm and upper arm where for some reason the shockwave stopped as the rest of his arm turned to pulp. Adam had redirected the energy from that shockwave two inches passed the shoulder and had cut off his blood supply to the arm so he wouldn’t bleed out.
In that frozen moment, Adam casually picked up his drink and drained it, he was still utilizing Stutterstep after all. Adam set the glass back on the table, and looked directly into Velocity’s eyes as he said, “No.” and disappeared as a Gate opened and Adam stepped into the office of General Eris back in Suigen. Adam left Councilor Cilira and Velocity frozen in position as the Gate closed. Adam wasn’t even sure if either of them had perceived his baller move of saying “No.” Though, he was pretty sure Velocity should have if the pain hadn’t caused him to zone completely out of everything else.
As the Gate closed Adam sent a command to the Nanites in Velocities Arm to keep the patient alive and to go inert if healing magic were used. He also set Amara’s nanites to keep him updated on her status and location. Now that he had nanites again and he was figuring out how to use Gate to target locations where his nanites were, he was going to be able to get around a lot easier. Shoot he could even go see the family.
As the Gate closed Adam sat in the chair opposite General Eris and waited for time to catch back up to him. Once Adam was moving at a normal rate of speed again, the General’s eyes were drawn away from a monitor he’d been watching and focused on Adam immediately. Adam saw the muscles in the General’s shoulders tense as he contemplated whether he should go for his gun, call for help, or hit the alarm. Adam cut off his next action as he said, “We need to talk.”