8 Chapter 8: Looking to the stars

"Stabilize the Neutrino concentration to three Kervons."

His order was carried out as the neutrino gun began to stabilize courtesy of Optima and the readings began to normalize.

"Status of anti-proton containment field?"

"Operating within safe parameters."

"Run diagnostics."

He rubbed his hands eagerly and took in the results.

"Quantum field stabilized."

"Check."

"Graviton readings within range."

"Check."

"Anti-magnetic shielding operational."

"Check."

"Negative energy density at Exo3."

"Check."

"Exospace containment field at full capacity."

"Check."

"Phantom drive operational."

A smile blossomed over Cerion's face as he finally managed to restore the Phantom Drive.

"Good work Optima."

"Thank you, sir."

"We are one step closer to our end goal. Any progress in drone restoration?"

"Seven more are operational. With the present energy output, we should be able to complete work on the main engines within two months."

"What about the relays to thrusters?"

"Thrusters have suffered extensive damages. They will require a major overhaul or an outright replacement at the worst."

"That's disheartening." Cerion commented as he frowned in thought. He knew that a major rework was needed owing to the new power source but he had hoped to maintain some of the previous systems. It would have helped to speed up the interior modifications of the ship.

"With a new engine core thrusters have to be retuned to achieve maximum efficiency."

"I know… I know. Just thinking out loud." Cerion sighed as he continued his work on a DSS(Deep Space Scanner) drone. The device was fairly the size of a dog but it would be instrumental in charting the wider Universe.

Right now he was blind as an owl in daylight. He had no idea of the star charts and no idea of extraterrestrial civilizations. While Kryptonian star charts were outdated there remained some information in the databanks that would have been useful if he was in DC Universe.

With his present location, it was highly unlikely that the star charts in his database would be of any use. So he was going to map out the Milky way galaxy. As a first step, he was going to scan the Sol System. After mapping the Sol System he was going to decide on placing a satellite station and continue to map out the rest of the galaxy and perhaps the Universe. If he was lucky he would get access to star charts from other alien civilizations.

But he was not banking on that outcome, to be honest. The chances are slim but if he somehow encounters friendly civilizations it would speed things up. He had no designs to stay on earth permanently. He knew that sooner or later his identity would be exposed and he would be treated as an alien. When humans treat each other as aliens there was no point in trying to blend in.

Instead, he found his unique situation to be a great opportunity. He was offered a chance to build a new civilization in his image. This was a wondrous opportunity and he was not going to waste that by needlessly wasting time on playing the hero.

Then why did you save that security guard and chip in to capture the car thief?

The question came from the deep recess of his mind. The answer was also right at the metaphysical tongue of his mind.

Because that was the right thing to do.

George, the security guard was a father of two children and he couldn't let the guy die when he had the power to help it. He had seen the bullet fired from the shooter's gun just as he turned the corner. To his eyes, the bullet was moving at a snail's pace. He didn't want to blow his cover and that was the only reason why he didn't speed along and physically block the bullet. Nonetheless, he did manage to mitigate the impact of the bullet by burning off half the bullet with a concentrated blast of laser from his eyes.

The bullet did punch into George's abdomen but the guy was spared from any serious injury. This helped In concentrating his attention on Jane who was about to split her skull open on the floor. That he could fully mitigate as he was able to move in with a reasonable speed.

A scan with his eyes told him that Jane was safe sans a small injury on her arm. This left him free to deal with the shooter whom he was quick to bash headfirst through the car's window. The guy could barely pull the trigger before this happened. By the time the shooter regained his bearings, the local PD had arrived taking him into custody.

Overnight he became a 'cool guy' among the locals. That day he was hounded by journalists, thankfully he managed to evade the worst of it by immersing himself in work. Most of the time he was on the island looking after the progress made by Optima. With events heating up in Virginia he gathered spending a few days here would keep the heat low.

Not to mention the time for working with SHIELD was drawing ever closer. The work on his new company was also progressing at an accelerated pace. He has been hunting for talent online by organising a friendly programming contest. He felt like a dark web hacker for recruiting people for his company in this way but this is the easy to find talented people.

For recruiting he created a website and gave out specific assignments. Those who completed the assignments first would get a cash award along with a job offer. Most of these assignments were trials to complete a specific set of coding. Having access to a surplus amount of money at the expense of the criminal underworld certainly helped to speed up the recruitment process.

The only part where he was lagging right now was in mastering dimensional energy. Without getting access to the Ancient-one for a considerable amount of time his training was suffering. He planned to take a long vacation when he was done with SHIELD's project but till then he was forced to confine his training to a few hours a week.

There was no point in overthinking certain matters, he thought with a sigh.

He stood up from his seat and looked outside through the glass panes of the ship. The island remained untouched to man's depravities and many a species called it home. His eyes could see every creature on the island and he could hear each movement they would make. It was truly a terrible power that he was wielding and he would have gone insane if it wasn't for the shiny necklace on his neck.

He pulled back his shirt and took in the innocent-looking necklace that was gifted to him by the Ancient-one. He had requested aid from her to regulate the super-senses that were making him lose sleep every night.

At first, it was easy to rein in his senses but after each passing day, his senses were expanding across the globe. Standing in Virginia he could hear guns firing in the Middle East. It was at this point that he decided to ask for Ancient-one's help which turned out to be a lifesaver. The necklace blocked his senses whenever he activated which helped him sleep soundly at night. When he was awake he had no problem controlling his senses so the necklace was not needed during the day.

He touched the buckle of his belt and his body was now covered in an exosuit made of thin polymorphic fabric.

"Optima assign a few drones on the DSS and chart out the data that we collected from the Hubble."

"Yes sir."

Nodding to Optima he blasted off into the sky quickly charging up his speed to hypersonic. He had learned that he could hide his movements from any radars or thermal scanners if he surrounded his body with an energy barrier that kept him out of the US defence systems. With this useful ability, he could fly as much as he liked and he would not be exposed to SHIELD who was trying to find his base. Flying was something that he enjoyed out of the power-up he received and he was happy he could now use it without any worries.

As his destination began to close in he doubled down on his speed and stealthily made his way into a shady alley. The exosuit on his body retracted back into his belt buckle exposing his normal clothes. He carefully travelled through the alley until finally he was back in the street and walked to his apartment as if nothing happened.

On the way to his apartment, he picked up a cup of hot chocolate. Being an avid chocolate addict this was one of the few concessions that he made to his diet plan. Even as a super-powered alien he was keeping a diet that was insane but keeping a diet had become an integral part of his character.

Passing through the entrance of the building he felt a strange sense of wrongness when there was no George to greet him. The jovial man was someone that he gets along well and now the man was bedridden in a hospital. He had of course footed the hospital bills as he knew it would be hard on the family. Times were tight and jobs didn't pay as they used to in Virginia. He hoped it would change as people were finding it hard to afford basic necessities.

As he was about to go for the elevator there was a sign posted outside that it was out of order. Shaking his head he went for the stairs. Even with superpowers, he hated taking the stairs which he admitted to being a psychological problem grown out of habit.

As he neared his floor he could hear heated shouting from above and the sounds were not of people that he was used to. He boosted his pace but held back using his senses.

Stepping into the hallway he saw two guys, one Mexican dude and a giant white guy engaged in a shouting match with Jane.

"Why don't you just say where the guy is sweet pants and I won't have to break that good arm of yours." The giant white guy threatened.

"How about you fuck off!" Jane growled

"What is going on?" asked Cerion as he moved closer to the trio as he realised the two men were hostile. Jane was making faces at him but he didn't get the meaning.

"You mind your business if you know what's good for you dude." The Mexican growled threateningly.

"Let's just all calm down here alright. Why are you bothering her? Can't you see she is injured?" He tried to placate the guys.

"Hey, amigo. Isn't he the guy?" the Mexican asked the white guy pointing at Cerion.

"Is he?" the white guy frowned before taking out a picture and began to compare. "Yeah, this is the guy."

"Are you Cerion Vex?" asked the Mexican now standing close to Cerion in a threatening manner.

"I am."

The guy smiled and threw a punch straight for his abdomen. Cerion caught the offending arm in a firm grip and twisted sharply until a snap was clearly heard in the hallway. A kick to the left knee saw the Mexican cry out and fall on the floor bawling his eyes out. The white guy took out a knife but Cerion had to do nothing as Jane smashed the guy's balls from behind with her legs.

Cerion couldn't help but flinch as he took in that image vividly into his brain. The white guy fell on the floor with a noisy thud.

"Nice but a very disturbing image that will be hard to forget." He commented at the kick of the century from Jane.

"I practised." said Jane as a way of explaining herself with a shrug and a proud smile.

"Do I want to know on whom you practised?" asked Cerion

"You wouldn't know." Jane just waved her hands as if it was water under the bridge.

A painful moan from the large white guy put a stop to their conversation. Cerion slowly walked forward leaving the Mexican crying in pain cradling his broken wrist toward the white guy.

He placed his right palm on the shoulder of the white guy and began to squeeze. The guy began to whimper as the pain started to flare up.

"I just have a single question. Answer that and you two can be on your merry way with no more injuries. Refuse, you will have a broken arm like your friend over there."

"I will talk! I will talk. Please don't break my arm." The white guy begged

"Good. Now, who sent you two clowns and why?" asked Cerion as he let up on the pressure.

"Lloyd Morrison sent us."

"Who?" he asked curiously

"Lloyd Morrison is a dealer. He goes by the name Baker in the streets for cooking up drugs. It was his guy you messed with on the street and he doesn't like it when other people mess with his men."

"Really? And where can I find this Baker?" asked Cerion

"I don't know dude."

Cerion began to increase the pressure of his hold and the guy cried out in pain.

"I don't know man. I swear! I and my buddy were just given a few bucks to roughen you up. That's all we know man."

"Hmm…" he stared hard into the wide frightened eyes of the guy and finally decided to let him go.

"Get the hell out of this building and get that guy's wrist fixed up." He ordered and placed a few dollars in the guy's pocket. "If I see you two again with this same attitude a broken wrist and smashed balls is going to be the least of your worries. Now, scram."

He watched the two thugs wobble out of the building and felt a little bit bad for the guys. But hey they were being mean and he did give them a few bucks for any medical bills. That was pretty generous of him and he believed that should even out the karmic odds.

"That was quite hectic but I loved it." Said Jane with an excitable grin.

"You have been cooped up in that apartment of yours for too long." He said with a shake of his head.

"You try spending twenty-four hours by yourself with a broken dominant arm. The only good speck of light in my dark days were a documentary about Captain America and a book on Black Holes." said Jane

"Yep, you need some fresh air. How about a walk?" he offered and the way Jane's face lit up was enough of an answer.

"Alright, but don't think you can weasel out of that bet we made." said Jane as she closed the door behind her.

"Hoped you would have forgotten about that but a bet is a bet. Except to be dazzled by my amazing cooking in two days Miss Foster."