Chapter 60: Seclusion

The distinct sound of soldering slowly overtook the storming sands as a hooded man walked into a small cave. With the man growing closer, the source of the sound was slowly revealed. It was a man, half-naked, meditating. The intruder eventually stopped, attentively gazing at the smith's glowing back. Mesmerized by the sand swirling inside the hourglass as the chains binding it gradually faded away. A back that was shifting through its white glow.

He floated cross-legged, parts of his suit as well as tools accompanying him. The parts transformed into tools and vice versa, creating a spectacle that was rare to see even for a person like Crow.

"What is it?" The man asked him. "She was finally officially appointed as the new leader of Henosis," he answered calmly, his voice vague and distorted. "Did she notice?" He continued. "She did," Crow's words carried a tinge of anger. "I couldn't escape Thorn's sight, but they didn't act." A minute followed during which no one said a word until Slava finally grunted. His concentration broke, and the parts floating around him collapsed as he fell to the ground. Melting into a peculiar puddle, they gathered around him, slithering into his skin.

"Alright, you can leave," he said, laying on the ground. Without a word, Crow vanished, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

And like that, two months passed, Slava receiving the same guest every day. Sometimes he had something to report, sometimes he didn't. And in that time, Slava would 'meditate'.

While using his domain to do maintenance on his suit and working on what he called Project Overclock, he would wrestle with his thoughts.

He couldn't understand, and it made him angry, angry at himself. Why was the other version of him such a coward? He was nothing like he remembered, and his sister was completely different. He didn't know what to think. Not to mention his parents. What should he make of this? Did his sister do this, or was it someone else? He had even more questions now. All he could do was seek the answers, whether that be here or when he went back.

Simultaneously, these thoughts boosted his drive. Project Overclock progressed smoothly. One thing he understood from his countless battles until now was how much his body tied him down. All he had to do was look at the strongest people he knew to understand that he had to push his body past its own limits.

His suit was something he'd grown accustomed to using. It was already part of his skin, but it wasn't enough. He wanted his suit and body to mold together so that he could strengthen himself directly when strengthening it.

First, he decided to modify his tendons. Cutting himself meticulously, making sure to weld in the right ratios. Programming the suit to make it work in tandem with his biological systems. The desert was the perfect place for this. He could test to his heart's content without worrying about the repercussions. After numerous trials, torn or even exploded tendons, he was able to stably increase his reaction speed, tracking his progress through simulation drones.

Then he began work on his bones. It was by far the most painful part of the process, but also the most important. One of the most impactful sources of stem cells and the frame for the structure was his body. For this, he cut his limbs over and over, forcefully regenerating them through his domain, putting enormous strain on his mind and body, exasperating his hunger and making him stumble in and out of consciousness. The hardest part was his spine which he had to operate on himself carefully and awkwardly making sure not to deal any damage to his central nervous system.

Hence, he continued, going through numerous tissues, through trial and error, nearly dying multiple times, sometimes requiring Crow to save him. One thing he had to keep reminding himself of was his sustenance, he would mostly rely on Crow, but even then, he would get so absorbed in his work that he would simply forget to eat.

"The preparations for the ceremony are complete." Crow walked into the cave, squinting his eyes, scouring the emptiness. "Good, I guess it's finally time," rang an omnidirectional voice.

From the darkness where Crow was staring, a figure was gradually revealed, distinguishing itself from its surroundings. Slithering white circuits covering an ominous black body, its white unnatural eyes shining through the darkness.

"Stealth; Not as good as I wanted, but it'll have to do." To his words, the blackness evaporated, revealing a much brighter form. It was completely white with golden chains lining its surface.

"Combat;" he said as black strokes danced around the white part of his suit. They soon engulfed his body completely, moulding themselves into a black outfit. A black trench coat with a white inner lining, a black shirt, boots, pants, and a small golden chain hanging around his neck with two more lightly wrapped around his hands, climbing up his arms.

"And utility," he finally said, reaching behind his back. With his face now visible, Crow's eyes widened. His master's face was almost unrecognizable. A cleanly shaven face, short hair, a groomed appearance unbecoming of a hermit who'd just spent two months in the desert, living inside a cave.

Lifting his hand, he put on his Fedora, a pair of tinted glasses appearing to cover his light grey almost hallowed eyes. After days of reflecting, Slava concluded that in order to better manage his strength, he needed to spread his suit into three general forms.

Stealth: Almost entirely dependent on Jack's and the AITF's base framework, the form focussed on stealth, as per its name. Hidden as much from human as from awakened detection. It was as mechanical as it could be, relying on traces of the Purple Sea for power.

He personally crafted the crystalline structure of the form. Selectively forging every inch of it so that it would trap any light that reached its surface, sending it to the opposite side, giving off the illusion of invisibility. There were of course some flaws to account for, things such as vision and outside communication, but discounting those, this form was virtually imperceptible by any electromagnetic detection. Not to mention the sonar and olfactory suppression.

As long as he didn't use his domain, he would become untraceable unless someone was either using the Purple Sea itself to track his specific signature or if they had a domain strong enough to suppress it. He had tried using his own domain as a base, but he couldn't fully understand how to draw power from it without it leaking into the environment.

Combat: The form closest in appearance to that of the suit's previous version. On top of being faster and stronger, due to the reduced requirements for the suit to be protecting the body thanks to its base augmentations, it could also be used to expand the domain's influence. In combat, this could be used in various ways, for instance, summoning the Shackles of Time at a distance or affecting the movements of objects within a greater range. Additionally, the form was equipped with a defensive algorithm bound to the chains covering its surface. It constantly improved through gathered data from past battles and could be deactivated completely to increase combat power.

Utility: The final and, by far, Slava's favourite form. Possessing a combat efficiency comparable to the previous version and a complete personal wardrobe. With the part of the suit stored in the bones, there was a place to store synthetic material. Along with it, in the spine, lay a database filled with an array of clothing. It was connected to the nervous system and through careful analysis, most pieces could be analyzed. From what Slava tested on Crow, it took some time and the resulting clothing wasn't a perfect copy of the original, but it still worked as intended. Not to mention, the copied product was far more resistant than the original.

Most of the technologies he implemented into his suit already existed in some form or fashion, like the special multifunctional fabric of the various body augmentations, mostly abandoned in a trial state.

This wasn't all of them, either. The number of modifications he made to his body and the suit were so large that he himself had forgotten a few, having to verify what he did and didn't do throughout the process of implementation.

"Let's go," Slava smiled, tipping his hat. He was excited. Judging from Crow's reports, she seemed to be doing well, even if she'd been quite busy. Still, she was surrounded by capable hands, Serena, Angel, Ceator, the kids… speaking of which, he wondered how Angel and Serena had yet to tear each other apart. Well, he was thinking more of Angel, but Serena wouldn't take it lying down. They did have unfinished business after all.

For Sasha to be planning a ceremony for the dead on his birthday. And at the same time as the one held by Black Hydra at that. He couldn't tell if she meant to welcome him or sentence him to death.

He thought back to the time he woke up after Kolya died, and his expression grew grim. Did she think he abandoned her? Despite his promise, he'd continued to work on stabilizing the singularity matrix he planned on using to go back. Rotating between tasks was probably how he was able to stay sane and efficient in those two months.

With how much he's been able to achieve, he couldn't believe, no matter how busy she was, that she hadn't also massively improved. It made his blood boil.