11 10. And So, He Lost My Respect...

'Now that I think about it, he has been acting a bit strange for a while now.' Gamora thought as she removed her clothes, putting them in the laundry basket.

The first time she noticed it was a week before the Battle of Iechun. The day she encountered him in the training arena for the first time in a while. And he said that he was just taking a 'stroll'.

'He was lying, he was there to observe me. I noticed his gaze as I was wiping my sweat, his gaze never left me even while was leaving.' She mused, turning on the shower faucet and closing her eyes.

Feeling the cold rivulets running through her body, she felt calm, and she applied soap to her soft yet slightly muscular body, cleaning every nook and cranny of her green slender body.

'However, it was nothing that unusual... Until yesterday, that is.' Gamora sighed. Her mind just couldn't believe it.

'Wait... was he trying to make up his mind to say what he said yesterday to me on that day?'

'Had I let him finish his long-ass monologue, then perhaps I could have gotten a better idea of what he wanted...'

It has been about 19 years since she was taken by Thanos after he annihilated half of her planet's population. For many years, she did what was told and obeyed Thanos's commands, even razing planets into dust when ordered. Even though she hated it, every moment of it.

It was true that for a time, even she came to believe that what she was doing was right, justifying it, saying that it was for the better of the universe.

But after an incident, she realized that it was just her mind's coping mechanism.

After that realization, her mentality became stronger than ever, and her resolution to escape and destroy Thanos's plans became firm as well.

'Wait... when Maw was talking about himself, about how he devoted his life to Thanos and worshipped him. He talked about it in the past tense. As if he has changed his thinking...'

Gamora's heart started palpitating at the realization.

'Could it be...?'

Turning off the shower faucet, she made herself presentable and made her way to Maw's location.

She arrived at the control room of the Barrack and found Maw fiddling with a holographic screen.

"I want you to continue from the exact point I told you to stop..." Gamora said as she entered the chamber. She folded her arms under her breasts as her eyes were narrowed, sharply observing Maw's expressions.

Maw looked at her, with seriousness as well.

'C'mon, monologues aren't just spoken when demanded, they need the right atmosphere, setup, and a proper build-up. Otherwise, its effect won't be as dramatic and hence would fail to move the mind of others! You stupid fuck!'

And so, Jerry replied, "Regrettably, our current locale proves unsuitable for our discourse, Gamora. We shall continue our conversation at the same place as yesterday, albeit at a more opportune time."

He turned back to the holographic screen, "Right now, this particular task requires my undivided attention."

Sighing Gamora nodded in understanding and left the chamber, leaving Jerry alone. Allowing him to continue his work again.

Right now, he wasn't doing Thanos's work or such. He was trying to study and modify the Chitauri Hive Mind core's commands, behavior, and hierarchy lock.

Jerry suspects that properly taking control of the Hive Mind will take him a couple of more weeks.

He was glad that his coding skills were among the better coders in his previous life, otherwise even with the memories of Maw it would take a longer time for such a difficult task.

Later, he also made some time to anonymously contact the information brokers, to search for a technology that could create a new living body and something that could transfer one's consciousness to a new body.

While contacting them, he referred to Maw's memories to make the process as secretive as possible.

Thanos mustn't even get the air that 'Maw' was planning to get a new body, that'd be detrimental to his plans.

'Just imagining that furious look on Thanos's face... when he gets to know that I was searching for a method to get a new body, just days before so conveniently 'dying' gives me chills.'

'I'll be tortured for infinity if he ever gets to know. And I also can't just be upfront and lie to Thanos that I am searching for a new body to better serve his purpose. Knowing him, he might not deny that request but he'll surely demand a way to identify me in any new body.' Jerry sighed.

And worse, what if he demanded a better body too, Jerry couldn't possibly make the Mad Titan stronger.

That would be bad as well. For various obvious reasons.

While musing about his future, Jerry made his way to his quarters, Gamora should already be there for the continuation of their chat from yesterday.

He entered the meeting room and found Gamora sitting on a sofa, munching on Zarg Nuts, directly from the packet.

Jerry cleared his throat, "Shall we continue our chat?"

Gamora nodded and put the packet of Zarg Nut on the table between them.

Jerry used his telekinesis to bring a Zarg Nut in his hand and sat down on the sofa across from her. "As I said yesterday, I could offer you a chance to escape from him."

"I guess, my hate for this place isn't exactly a secret from everyone here, but why do YOU, the greatest devotee of Thanos, want to help me?" Gamora questioned.

"What do you want in return and why did you have this sudden change in your in the first place."

Jerry sighed, a small, wry smile on his lips. His face looked pitiful. "I realized, my devotion was really put in for a Mad man."

The green-skinned woman narrowed her eyes, listening to the way he addressed Thanos intrigued her. "What... do you mean...?"

"Up until now, I lent unwavering support to the doctrine of genocide, a method I deemed more efficacious than alternative salvational methods for safeguarding the population of myriad planets."

"The notion of culling fifty percent of the population not only offered a dire lesson but also bestowed them with fear. That fear won't let them leave their population unchecked again. The fear of the Mad Titan."

Gamora nodded, her expressions were serious as she listened to Jerry.

"However, with the power of infinity stones, we could think of other methods, methods other than genocide. Methods that aren't possible by any logical means right now..."

"Seeing that we are inevitably coming close to our goal, a few days ago, I sought to posit more prudent ways to save the universe when we obtain all the stones, such as decreasing the fertility rate across the universe, finding better means of allocating resources to the universe with the unimaginable powers of the infinity stones, however, none of them got through to him."

"I thought Sire was a bigger man, who would admit when he was in the wrong. However, he was... adamant. He was... not the being I idolized. He was not benevolent. He was just another stubborn being, who chooses to not look at other efficient options.. It irked me, to see my judgement of him being wrong. And so, he lost my respect."

Jerry wasn't completely bullshitting, there was partial truth among his words. Centuries ago, when Thanos along with other members of the Black Order was making plans for the infinity stones, Maw had indeed proposed such an argument.

Maw was rather young and new to the Black Order during that time.

But when Supergiant, his elder adopted sister, objected, saying that increasing the resources in the universe would ultimately only cause imbalance as they would just feed the greed of the rich and advanced population. Besides, it would be a reward for their wrongs, not the punishment they deserved.

And his other suggestion, reducing the fertility rate, was rejected because it might cause other adverse effects across the universe, extinction of an entire species for example.

And above all that Ebony Maw was fascinated by the idea of his Sire's name being feared across the whole universe. So, he gave up on thinking of other ways and supported genocide with full dedication.

"I see, but why involve me?" Gamora asked.

"Do you know why my fealty, despite some apprehensions about our ideology, held unwavering? Why I Helped him conquer thousands of planets..?"

"Because I had to save those dying planets, Sire's plan was an apt realistic solution, and he was the only one with the will to act on it. That's why in the past, I had regarded him as a being of the highest nobility. After all, the prospect of obtaining the infinity stones in their entirety seemed a unrealistic, implausible fantasy." Jerry gave a wry smile.

Jerry had cook up a believable anti-hero'ish backstory for Maw so that he could justify Maw's character as well as his past actions.

But he's not entirely sure if Gamora would outright believe him. However, this conversation's main goal isn't to project his good image to Gamora, nor it is to become friends with her.

His main motive is to use her and surely, there won't be an option for her by the end of their conversation.

However, he wanted to do it in such a way that she won't think that it is a blackmail, that she wouldn't be too sceptical of him to even accept the help. That she'd accept the deal while justifying it herself.

And so, he continued.

"My belief got even stronger as there was one particular stone that was impossible to find and obtain by any means..."

Jerry looked into Gamora's eyes. Mustering up all of his mysteriousness and profoundness.

"You, however, made the impossible possible, Gamora."

Gamora gritted her teeth at that, 'How the hell did he know!'

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