No.5206[Last 50 Posts]
>Date: December 3rd, 2017
>Location: Sanctuary City, Residential District
>Time: 11:21pm
>An armoured truck drives through the dark streets of the residential district, travelling slowly as it struggles to fit through the small streets that its clearly not designed to navigate.
"Look, I'm just sayin', they played way better when they were the Metas, they shoulda never let the woke media tell 'em what to do."
"Nah man, they were batting below .3 before that, they just. . ."
>The driver pauses as he stops at a red light.
"Why you even stoppin' man, what's gonna happen, some lil girl's gonna run out on the street with her ball? At ass o'clock? Be serious man."
"Company don't like us doin' anything like that, even when it's stupid."
"Just drive man, I wanna see my wife some time this year."
>The driver tentatively looks from side to side to confirm nothing is travelling across the intersection and then starts accelerating, only for the entire truck to jump into the air as if it drove over something. Panicking, the driver slams the brakes.
"What the hell man? How'd you manage to hit something on an empty road?"
"Fuck if I know, get and out and check!"
"Huh? Nah, you're the one who hit it."
"It's your fucking job."
"Fine, but if it's a child or some shit, I ain't coverin' for you."
>The guard steps out of the truck, reaching to a flashlight on his belt, and shines it to the back half of the truck, hoping to see what the truck ran over.
"Err. . . we didn't hit anything, but. . . you might wanna look yourself."
"You're just trying to get me to look at some dead deer or something."
"Nah. . . it's bad. . ."
"If it's anything stupid I swear t'god Bill. . ."
>The driver steps out of the truck, seeingwhat the guard saw: the entire cargo area of the truck is gone.
"What in the god damn. . ."
>As the man finishes his sentence, the truck suddenly sinks into the ground, opening up a sinkhole.
No.5209
>>5208>As Orion watches the hole from the eyes of someone else, he "sees" an MRD Hovercraft pull up and arrive, from which a pair of MRD Troopers flanking a man in a long coat step onto the edge of the sinkhole.
>Leaning over the edge slightly, the man whistles and nods."Yep. . . definitely a Meta-Human thing - similar to the other cases. Call in a team to pull it out so we can get people back on their business."
>The man steps away from the sinkhole, only for what remains of the armoured truck to fly out of it and land just in front of him, earning a flinch from him."Or I guess it can handle itself. . ."
>The man turns back around to the sinkhole to see a large, fur-covered man climbing out of it, who towers over the MRD detective."Ah, hey big guy, what's the issue. . ."
>The fur-covered man simply stands in front of the detective, his eyes glowing. No.5211
>>5210>The furry man looks down at Omnius, having to lean slightly to get close to his head."How 'bout you stop throwing your crap in our home first, daylighter?"
>The man snarls, bearing his teeth at Omnius."Let's not fight today, Behemoth, they got the message, I think."
>The man, Behemoth pulls back slightly, turning so he can look behind himself, where a red-eyes pink-haired woman is standing on a floating collection of rubble, her body shaded by a large umbrella.
>Looking past Behemoth, the woman notices Omnius."Ah, we meet again."
No.5212
>>5211"I doubt anyone intentionally made a hole in the middle of the road just to drop half a truck in it, Furball."
>Omnius takes immediate notice of the woman as well."You. I take it you're just visiting this time since you didn't want your guy here starting a fight."
No.5213
>>5212>Behemoth turns from the woman to Omnius again, snarling."What would you know, runt?"
>The man goes to swipe at Omnius, only for his arm to stop midair as an invisible force stops it.
>Behind him, the woman can be seen holding out a hand just out of the shade of the umbrella, the flesh and muscle on the bits in direct sunlight having melted away to only bone. Wincing, the woman pulls her hand in closer than the flesh begins to visibly regrow."He didn't do this, Behemoth, let's end it here for today, there's no need for us to get into any fights today."
>Behemoth snarls at Omnius again, close enough this time that if he didn't have a helmet, Omnius would be able to smell his breath."You got lucky, daylighter."
>Behemoth turns away from Omnius and walks to the hole, jumping down into it."You'll have to forgive Behemoth, he sees slights everywhere these days. Now, if you'll forgive me too. . ."
>The woman starts to slowly disappear into the hole."I'm taking my leave before we have to end the day with dead Mardies."
>The woman's head disappears below the line of the road, and the MRD Detective sighs out of relief."Well, glad that resolved peacefully, I hate dying. . ."
No.5214
>>5213>Omnius watches as they disappear into the hole. Afterwards he turns to the man."I'm sure."
>He points at the hole with his thumb. "What's with the half truck and the hole? There weren't any big fights here last night."
No.5215
>>5214>The detective shrugs."Well, media'll probably say it's naturally occurring, but I doubt it."
>The man reaches into his jacket pocket for something, only to find a note that earns a groan from him."Sarah. . ."
>Putting the note back into his pocket the detective walks slightly closer to the hole."If you look, the shape's a little too perfect, like the area was flattened rather than naturally happening. Plus. . ."
>The detective points his thumb at the truck."Truck's missing its cargo, which means someone stole it. That and this is the tenth robbery like this in the country this month. . ."
>The detective trails off, then seems to catch himself."Ah, don't worry about that."
No.5216
>>5215"Hm."
>Omnius stares at the truck. "Any idea what the cargo was?"
No.5217
>>5216"You're better off trying to get a dog to lay goose eggs than get information like that out of Hoyokazi. All I know is it was important or else, well. . ."
>The detective gestures at the truck."Not that it's any of your business, I appreciate the help and all, but the feds have been sniffing all around us yet and I can't risk some hothead vigilante messing things up for me."
No.5219
>>5218>One of the MRD Troopers walks over to the detective."Are you sure we don't want his help on this?"
>The detective chuckles."Oh, he's going to look into it, I just wanted to give him a push."
>Making his way over to the hovercraft, the man steps on board."Besides, I'm not wrong about the feds sniffing into our business lately, gotta keep up appearances for H.O.M.E.L.A.N.D.'s bloodhounds, right?"
No.5222
>>5221"Hm?"
>Yuuka looks over at the door, dismissing the holographic screen with a gesture, very clearly having not been expecting any visitors."Who is it?"
No.5225
>>5224>The voice pauses for a moment, thinking."Sorry, but I'm coming in."
>The door opens, and Omnius steps inside. He keeps his distance from Yuuka and her desk to try and avoid appearing threatening."I just need to know about that truck of yours that got split in two last night. What was it carrying? Anything dangerous?"
No.5228
>>5227"As I said, I'm afraid I can't discuss that item.
>Yuuka brings her hand up, revealing a device attached to her palm that she points at Omnius."Now, I'm going to have to ask you to leave before I have to call security to have you forcibly removed."
No.5252
>>5251>Orion's telepathic search finds a few people who might know bits and pieces about the list of items, although none that seem to be particularly impressive minds when it comes to that area.
>One mind Orion scans, however, is of a college student in the midst of doing a report for a rocket science course, as Orion looks in, they scan over different papers from experts in the field, one from a Dr Lune D'Lune in Europe, another from a Dr Tenzen Hoyokazi in Japan, and a third from a Dr Aniara Stjerne from Norway, although the address from the paper says she lives in New York, only a few minutes away at Orion's current top speeds. . . No.5253
>>5252>Orion focuses his attention on Dr. Stjerne due to her proximity. He then takes off into the air, gradually increasing his speed until he feels he's a safe distance from the city before exponentially increasing in velocity, quickly becoming a blur.
>After only a few short minutes of flying, Omnius finds himself over the New York skyline. He slows into a stop, giving himself a moment to rest. "Phew."
>He looks down over the city."Where are you, doctor?"
>Again, Omnius sends out a telepathic pulse, this time with the intent of locating Dr. Stjerne specifically. No.5254
>>5253>As he sends the pulse across the city, he receives a flood of off thoughts from the direction of the Empire State Building."
{The psionic pulse detector works? Oh this is perfect, it means my theories were correct!}"
>The thoughts pause for a moment as whoever they belong to reads something."
{Looks like it's trying to focus in on Aniara? I'm not her but her office is just down the hall from mine, please, visit whoever you are, I would love the opportunity to interview a real psionic individual.}"
"
{. . .only with consent, of course.}"
No.5256
>>5255>No one attempts to prevent Omnius from entering the inside of the building, although the door is locked, only for the door to refuse to open for him, requiring a pass.
>As he gets near it, however, the scanner for the door speaks to him."
The foundation doesn't like having uninvited guests, wouldn't try forcing the door. . . some of the security systems can be. . . nasty. Still, I've overridden that stuff, just head to the elevator and press the button for floor 63, will take you right up to my office and like I said, Aniara's right down the hall."
"
You don't mind exposing the top of your head so I can do some brainwave measurements, do you? No trouble if you don't, I'd just like to get some for research purposes."
No.5258
>>5257"
Oh, also, you're one of those vigilantes from Sanctuary City, right? Do you know our main ones, like Wolf-Spider? Is vigilante networking a thing?"
>The elevator ride is uncomfortably long as the voice continues to ask similar questions, trying to get as much information as possible, albeit clearly froma place of curiosity rather than any malice.
>As the elevator arrives, a blonde-haired man in a lab coat is waiting just by the doors, and offers out a hand for Omnius to shake."Hi! I'm Doctor Xavier Harrison, you're truly a rare specimen, telepaths with the capabiility of blanketing an entire city like yourself are a rarity."
No.5260
>>5259>Xavier seems disappointed at question."Just. . . this way. . ."
>The man leads Omnius down the hall to a door labelled "Dr Aniara Stjerne", and knocks on it."Aniara? Are you in? I have a visitor for you. . ?"
>As he waits for a response, the man awkwardly taps his feet."Why do you want to talk to her, by the way? It's an awful long way to go for a casual conversation."
No.5261
>>5260"I just need to ask her some questions about a few things related to the aerospace industry."
>While the pair waits for a response, Omnius notices how disappointed the man appears. He rolls his eyes then lets out a sigh. "After I speak to Doctor Stjerne I'll answer a few of your questions before I leave."
>Omnius says in an annoyed sounding tone. No.5262
>>5261"Aerospace? I mean, it makes sense to ask her, I guess, just weird for someone like you to be interested in that kind of stuff."
>Xavier knocks on the door again."Are you looking to make something aerospace related? Fighting Martians on the moon?"
>The door to the office opens, revealing a woman wearing a lab coat casually, a head of long white hair flowing down her back. Most notable about her appearance, however, is the fact that the back of her lab coat can be seen from in front, as where it would normally be blocked by legs is a pair of constructs that look to be made out of light instead."Xavier, and. . . I don't watch Japanese stuff, sorry."
>The woman looks tired as she talks."What's this about?"
"This man. . ."
>Xavier has to think for a moment as he tries to remember his vigilantes."Omni, I think? He had a few questions about aerospace stuff, sounded pretty urgent."
No.5263
>>5262"Omnius."
>Orion turns to look at the woman. "I just need to know how dangerous these things can be and why someone might want to steal them."
>In a near instant, a list of items that were stolen from the Hoyokazi cargo truck appear within the woman's mind. No.5264
>>5263>The woman looks confused as she's suddenly aware of things she wasn't aware of before."Do you have. . . an actual physical list? It's a little difficult to. . . process that list you just sent. It mostly appears to be. . . rather advanced rocket parts, though."
>Aniara looks at Xavier."He would appreciate this list as well, I can't speak to
everything that could be made from it, but if you're concerned with what someone would be making, there's no better mind out there - even if he doesn't understand it."
>Xavier looks a little bashful at the assessment."Ah. . . well. . . I'm cheating with that really. . ."
No.5266
>>5265"That is. . . quite interesting. . ."
>Xavier thinks over the information sent into his head."I can think of several weapons that could be made from these. . . although none of them are ones that I am aware of someone else building. . . a Tenacium core would suggest something to do with its unique properties, however."
"A low-energy gravimetric engine, maybe?"
"Possible. . . possibly dangerous. . ."
"Without safety protocols in place, definitely dangerous. Not necessarily intentionally, though."
>Aniara mulls over the concept for a moment."I did see a paper on one recently, give me a moment. . ."
No.5268
>>5267>Aniara reaches out towards a computer in her office, several streams of light stretching from her fingers to the keyboard, whihc she uses to type with."Ah. . . here we are. . . the paper was by the newly minted Dr Shterna Eisen at the California Institute of Technology. . ."
"If you need a way of getting there quickly, I do have an experimental-"
"Don't blow up the building, Xavier, neither of us want to explain that to the acting director."
"It won't blow up
this time. . ."
"It doesn't matter anyway, she went missing about a month ago, wherever she is now, it cetainly isn't Caltech."
No.5271
>>5270"It's not looking good."
>He focuses more on the person in Colorado's memory. "All I've found so far is just a vague memory of seeing someone who matches her description."
No.5272
>>5271"That makes for more of a lead than what we can get, unless you've made another one of your crime devices, Xavier."
>Xavier puts up his hands defensively."Not this time, although I could easily make a device that could get us into almost any police database across the country."
"Don't do that."
>Aniara gives Omnius a look of defeat."I'm afraid the limits of what we can help you with are fast approaching, hopefully what we gave you is helpful."
No.5273
>>5272>Omnius lets out a sigh. "It's better than nothing."
>He begins to turn around. "I'll find her."
>Omnius then begins to walk towards the elevator. No.5274
>>5273"Hey, you didn't answer the questions I had!"
>Xavier goes to follow Omnius, resulting in a tired sigh from Aniara."Xavier, just. . . don't."
No.5282
>>5281>As he gets closer to the building, Omnius can make out more details of what the parts of it on the surface look like. Even without being as technically-inclined as other, he can tell that the part next to him is a broadcast tower of some kind, although what it's broadcasting is unclear.
>Once he reaches it, the rock stops moving, having reached its destination in orbit, granting Omnius a view of the Earth below.
>With it being a broadcast tower, Omnius doesn't detect any signs of life within the building on the surface, although he does notice a hatch leading further into the rock below. A telepathic scan of the structure underneath reveals a suspicious blank spot somewhere within the rock, as if there should be a mind to reach out to, but instead it's blocked. No.5289
>>5288>Omnius watches the woman float down. For a moment he doesn't say anything, as he tries to gauge her intentions. "But you were expecting someone at some point."
>He looks around the rooom. "Any particular reason you're holed up in this big rock?"
No.5290
>>5289"Oh. . . you're not here to respond to the invitation. . ."
>The woman waves her hand and a pair of chairs and a table fly from across the room, placing themselves down for the pair to sit at."I made this all as a sanctuary, from the war."
No.5292
>>5291>The woman indicates to the seat."You can sit, I won't try to kill you, I'm not insane."
>Taking her own seat, the woman continues whether Omnius sits down or not."
The war. . . it's. . . it's a lot to explain. . . how to. . ."
>The woman rubs her temples, trying to wrack her brain for a quick explanation."There's something. . .
someone on Earth trying to manipulate things. . . I know it sounds crazy but it tried to reach out to me, to my mind, that's why I have to block things out."
>The woman taps the headpiece she's wearing."It wanted me to become a servant for it, help it try and make things worse, to create a war, a Meta-Human war. . . one Earth won't survive. So I made this. . ."
>The woman indicates to the rock around."It's a
real sanctuary, one that people, mostly Meta-Humans, can go to escape the Earth before things are over, I based the engines on a design I came up with, that I couldn't get funding for because the research council was too shortsighted. . ."
No.5293
>>5292>Omnius decides to sit.{"That explains the mental hole."}"It's a nice rock. I guess. But I think most people would prefer not living here."
"Who are you exactly?"
No.5294
>>5293"Shterna Eisen. . .
Dr Shterna Eisen, I suppose. . . although I should really think up a more dramatic name if I'm helping civilization survive, huh?"
>Shterna seems annoyed at Omnius's comment about the state of the place."Well, it's not exactly
finished yet, and it's only a temporary home, we'll either repopulate Earth after the war or we'll travel out to the stars."
No.5295
>>5294"…Right."
"Well, nice to meet you Dr. Eisen, I was looking for you actually. Although all this seems much more important than what I was looking for you for."
>Omnius leans back in his seat and crosses his arms. "Your plan is… fine and all. But I would prefer we don't need to resort to it. What's the thing that tried getting a hold of you?"
No.5296
>>5295"In an ideal world, we wouldn't, but the war
is inevitable, and the world won't survive it. What I'm building here is our best. . . our
only chance of surviving it as a species - it's better to lose your homeland than your people. That's what my grandfather said about how he escaped from the
Shoah."
>Shterna leans forward, much more pressed about the issue."I don't know what it was,
who it was, I just saw the vision it had for the world, and could
feel it, it was like. . . like a darkness, like Satan himself had come knocking on my door."
No.5297
>>5296"Then let me see how bad it actually was. Take that headpiece off."
>He watches her expression."I promise, while I'm here nothing else can get in your head. As soon as I'm done you can put that thing right back on."
No.5298
>>5297"No. . ."
>Shterna stumbles backwards, knocking her chair over."No no no. . . you just want to manipulate me. . . you're with it, aren't you?"
No.5302
>>5301"No! You're going to tell. . .
it. . . and ruin everything I'm building here!"
>The chairs and table are crushed by an invisible force and fly towards Omnius as projectiles. No.5303
>>5302"I don't even know what "it" is!"
>Omnius swipes his hand and the projectiles are thrown to the side before colliding with him. "I'm trying to leave you alone here, alright? Just chill for a moment and I'll be gone and you won't have to worry about me ever again."
No.5308
>>5307"NO!"
>Shterna tries to reach for the headpiece."I NEED IT! TO KEEP IT OUT!"
>Shterna tries to resist more as Omnius telepathically commands her relax, but relents, her body falling limp as she apparently takes the command more literally than he intended, falling asleep.
>As she falls unconscious, the asteroid shifts again, this time very noticeably falling back down to Earth. . . No.5309
>>5308"Shit. I didn't mean to put her to sleep."
>He feels the sudden shift in the asteroid's trajectory, with gravity pulling it downwards. "Fuck."
>Omnius attempts to un-crush the headpiece the best he can in the moment, and puts it back on the now slumbering doctor's head. He hurries across the room, and quicklly pulls the doors open before shutting them again.
>This continues until he's finally back at the bunker's entrance, where he forces his way out and back onto the surface of the asteroid, closing the doors behind him.
>He begins to run towards the edge, and then leaps off, catching himself mid-air to fly along the falling rock. Heat and flames begin to kick up, as the rock begins making it's re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. Thankfully, Omnius is able to shield it and slow it's fall with his psychokinesis.
>Shortly after, the rock is placed back where it was originally ripped out of the Earth, albeit less than perfectly. No.5311
>>5310"What the fuck!?"
>Orion fights against the force of the pull, trying to think of what to do. His feet dig into the ground, as he attempts to hold himself into place. "FUCK!"
>Despite his immense strength, Omnius is unable to keep himself back from the pull of the singularity. He closes his eyes, wincing hard as he focuses."Come on Astral Plane! Astral Plane, Astral Plane, Astral Plane…!"
>Before Omnius can be pulled any closer, reality shatters like glass, as an endless expansive of psychic energies reveal themselves to him. Orion opens his eyes, and exhales in relief.{"Holy fuck! That was close!"}
>He turns his eyes towards the black hole, which now seems to be pulling away at nothing in particular. Omnius focuses his attention on it - only for it to suddenly shatter into billions of particles of psionic energy.
>Moments later reality pieces itself back together, as Omnius falls to the ground in a field of scattered debris surrounding a giant crater.{"Shit…"}
>Groaning, he pulls himself off from the ground, putting a hand to his aching head. No.5315
>>5314{"Psionics are bullshit."}
>Omnius slows into a stop, then turns around to face the craft. Very audibly irritated, he says:"I said.
Forget."
>Once again, he issues the same telepathic command, this time pouring in a considerable amount of psionic power in order to try and override any defenses the craft's crew has. No.5316
>>5315>This time, the telepathic command is intercepted, and instead Omnius is dragged into a psionic space, albeit one where time flows much faster than outside."You'll have to forgive Ms. Mosley, she can be a bit too much of a bad cop sometimes, militiary upbringings, right. . ?"
>The source of the "voice" reveals itself as a blonde man in a suit, who sighs as he becomes visible, the psionic space morphing to simulacra of a police interrogation room."I prefer a gentler approach, why don't you have a seat, Mr Thompson?"
No.5318
>>5317"Now now, there's no need for this to get violent, want some cocoa?"
>The man gestures and a mug of hot cocoa appears for Orion to take."We're not even here to arrest you, although we would have plenty of reason to, I mean. . ."
>An exagerrated roll of paper appears in the man's hand and he mocks reading it through."Just the things you did
before you went public alone - and that's what we know about. . ."
"But we're reasonable, you're reasonable, we can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement - we've all seen how dangerous your little friend can be, why don't you let us take her somewhere where she'll be safe?"
No.5320
>>5319>The man sighs, waving his hand to clean off the cocoa on his suit."This isn't a TokTok video, Orion. . . you are aware of TokTok, right? The new thing the kids are all using?"
>The man waves his hand again, dismissing the point and the shattered remains of the cocoa mug."These are very serious charges you could be facing, you could be looking at blowback not just for yourself, but the people you care about I'm just trying to prevent you from ruining your life here."
>The man summons another mug of cocoa, this time in his own hands, and takes a sip from it."All it takes is handing her over - for her own safety, and yours."
No.5321
>>5320"You know what? You make a convincing argument."
>Omnius takes a seat, and the mug he shattered returns to his hand, completely repaired and refilled. Orion sits in a relaxed position. "This isn't a video. It's real. And so are the stakes."
>Again, Omnius splashes cocoa in the man's face."So I'll give you a chance to forget all this and leave me alone."
No.5322
>>5321>The man snaps his finger, causing the cocoa to disappear from his face."Look, I understand that you're trying to do what's right, but this isn't about wrong or right. . ."
>The man takes his own seat, leaning forward."It's about authority - and you don't have it. No one is above the law, Orion, and that's a good thing, wanting that is what men like your father want."
"You don't want to be like your father, do you?"
No.5328
>>5327>Whether due to sheer stubborness, or some lingering remnants of the psionic shielding from before, the woman keeps on standing there."That won't work, telepath, I told you already that we have countermeasures. You can delete this encounter all you want, that won't stop what's coming for you."
"Having no redundancies may fly in reckless organization like Archeon, but we deal with security - so expect a visit whether you wipe our minds or not."
No.5336
>>5335"Wuh. . ."
>It takes a few seconds for Madeleine to process the memories."I. . . see. . . Theia."
>Madeleine "pauses" for effect."Theia can help. Take her to Theia."
>A location for Orion to go to is sent to his head, somewhere below the water in the Atlantic. No.5338
>>5337"Scared of a little water? Don't blame me for it being there, Theia's the wanted terrorist."
>The "tone" back is just as humourous."Oh, and don't forget to knock first, the MLF can be touchy about uninvited guests."
No.5343
>>5342>Omnius doesn't even bother reacting. He expected suspicion. He does as he's asked, and turns around. "Just bringing her here."
>He makes sure they can see Shtjerna who's still unconscious in his arms. "I was told to bring her here for safety. The U.S government is after her and she keeps talking about something that wants to crawl into her mind."
No.5344
>>5343>The bubble compresses itself slightly, pulling in just in front of the arrow which explodes harmlessly in the water behind Omnius."Come now, is this how we treat a guest? Especially one who brought us kin who needs help?"
>The voice comes from above, as a platform of liquid metal hovers over, on which is the familiar (to Omnius) form of Theia, flanked by a woman in a servant's outfit.
>As the disc lowers itself, the bubble expands again behind Omnius, and the two that went to attack Omnius fall back slightly, with the source of the arrow making itself known as a man steps behind one of the rocks and leans against it."We should be welcoming him, not baring fangs."
>The disc lands, and Theia steps forward towards Omnius."As it happens, I was just about to have dinner, why not come along and have a little chat? I'm sure there's a lot we could talk about."
No.5345
>>5344>Omnius looks between Theia, and the others. "Alright."
>He steps forward, still holding the unconscious doctor. "Though we should probably make sure she's taken care of first."
>He nudges his head towards the doctor. No.5346
>>5345"Of course. . ."
>Theia indicates to the woman flanking her, who walks over and holds her arms out for Omnius to hand the doctor over to her."We treat kin well here, unlike flatscans."
No.5348
>>5347>The woman carefully takes the doctor and turns around slightly, walking away witht he unconscious woman."See? She'll be perfectly safe and cared for here, humanity's governments have no idea of this safe haven. Now, come, I'm sure you'd appreciate some rest for once. . ."
>Theia turns around, waving her hand to summon the liquid metal disc again casually."Oh, and you can take that helmet off, you're sleeping with my best friend - I already know who you are below that."
>Theia waits on the disc for Omnius to step on too. No.5350
>>5349>The disc rises up as Theia puts her hands behind her back."We lost a lot of members to the Meta-Human Alliance, so it's not much of a city currently, though one way it will be."
>Theia looks at Orion briefly."Which is something you can help us achieve - why not take part in building a home for
us?"
"Not just one that we've had to carve out from the scraps humanity leaves us, but a true, Meta-Human home. One where our gifts are
celebrated, not feared."
>As she talks, Theia continues guiding the disc through the air. No.5352
>>5351"You could change that, you're kin too."
>Theia starts lowering the disc as it approaches a central palace building."You
should, really, before you lose the chance to - there's a war coming, and while I mean to win it, I can't save everyone."
No.5353
>>5352"That's similar to what the unconscious doctor said. That a war was coming. She was trying to escape it by running to space."
>Orion thinks about how much he's willing to reveal. "She kept talking about some evil entity trying to climb in her head and make her it's slave, or something. I offered to take a peak so I could help her, but she went ballistic and kept accusing me of working for it. So I had to put her to sleep."
No.5354
>>5353"Some would call her a coward for that decision, but I can't blame her for it."
>The disc lands in front of the palace, spreading out away from underneath Orion and Theia's feet and reforming into a ball above her hand."An evil 'entity', you say?"
>Theia raises an eyebrow."How did she describe it?"
No.5356
>>5355>Theia curses in a language foreign to Orion."No such thing as coincidences. . ."
>Theia starts walking forward the palace, the doors opening hydraulically at the wave of her hand."How familiar are you with the Meta-Human Alliance? I know you've fought some of them before, you were involved in fighting against their attack across the US in October. But have you ever heard of the name 'Anomaly'?"
No.5358
>>5357"Anomaly is their leader. . . they treat him like a god - having met him, they might not be wrong about that."
>As Theia walks along, a thin layer of water carves itself across the walls of the building, slowly engraving images and patterns into them."He has. . . a
presence to him, like you're staring down the face of the universe itself, he casually overwhelmed me, and several others, broke through the mental defences Madeleine put in our heads like they were nothing, and removed us - all without lifting a finger on his part."
"All so he could
ensure that the MRD could get their little pet supersoldiers - because he wants war, and he'll have it."
No.5359
>>5358>Orion thinks about what he's been told. "He sounds pretty strong. Though mental defenses like the ones Madeleine gives you guys can't repair or reinforce without a source of power. And you can't do that without a constant energy supply."
>Orion keeps walking while watching the water carving the walls."Why's he want a fight so bad?"
No.5360
>>5359"Like Madeleine actively being in our heads? Like she was at the time?"
>Theia stops walking."As for his reasons, I don't know, I would guess the Meta-Human Alliance thinks it's so he can force the world into their twisted dream, but it's not like he explained his motives to us - I don't think he even really
saw us."
"Not as people, anyway."
No.5361
>>5360>Orion pauses at the reveal."…She was?"
"When was this?"
No.5362
>>5361"At the start of October, she didn't want to involve you because of you being American - treason is a harder crime to get absolved, after all."
"But these things have a habit of coming back around."
No.5364
>>5363"This does all raise the question of why he was interested in the doctor though.It's not like she's important in any way. . ."
>Theia thinks on the wording for a moment."Politically, I mean, she's not related to any key political figures or anything like that, she's not going to cause a political incident by herself. And while she's powerful, last I checked, Christians believed in Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, not five - unless the timing of when he started to try and recruit her started earlier.">>5363
No.5366
>>5365"He could, but smart people aren't immune to being idiots - he has people just as smart as her or smarter below him already."
>Theia sighs, defeated by the mystery."He's intractable."
No.5367
>>5366"Well. I have no more ideas."
>Orion shrugs with defeat. "Either way. I told her I wouldn't let him get her."
No.5368
>>5367"I'm guessing she didn't take it well?."
>The woman pre-empts Orion asking how she knows."She's sleeping with no signs of a real fight, so either you fought someone who could put her to sleep or you put her to sleep - and why would you leave her asleep in the first case?"
"We can try to keep her safe here, but I don't think there's anywhere that she could really be kept safe in."
No.5369
>>5368"It was better to put her to sleep than let her keep trying to kill me."
"Good. Just leave that thing on her head. Whatever it is, she's figured out how to block out telepathy, at least most of it. So she should be free from mental intrusion as long as you don't have a strong telepath just try and fry her brain right next to her."
No.5370
>>5369"I wasn't judging, I just needed the context on it - we don't want her coming out guns blazing because we said the wrong thing."
"And we'll keep that in mind, although I don't think it'll do much seeing who we're working with. . ."
[The End]