Chapter 76 : Worsening
[Author note : He~re's... Johnny ! I mean Ned. People were waiting for him and even though he's not the subject of the chapter, he's not really the focus. Still, what's happening here was an idea I had found interesting... And now that it's coming together, I'm not entirely satisfied. Anyways, read the next few chapters and tell me what you think about what's happening with Ned. Expected ? Out of left field ? Boring ? Interesting ?
Also, you can, as always, support me via my Patréon page (e instead of é, search for Cathbel) if you like my stories and would like to read more. Comments, reviews and stones are another fuel to help motivate my stories ! Enjoy (hopefully) !]
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Ned reviewed Mel's report and the video files attached to it. The first time, he wasn't sure what he'd seen, so he watched it all again… The Teen Titans had formed, Supergirl was somehow involved with them, as were several unknown characters (to him) : Solstice, Bunker, Skitter… Even Wonder Girl wasn't Donna Troy.
No Cyborg, no Starfire, no Beast Boy… At the moment, it looked more like a Junior Justice League rather than the Titans, given their roster. Maybe that wasn't the birth of the Titans, but rather that of Young Justice ? But what did this mean for their reality ? Perhaps, they were just in a reality where the Titans were a Junior Justice League… Or, since they had teamed up more by happenstance than by choice, perhaps this team was not its definitive version. Time would tell, he supposed…
This made him consider the DC-verse and the reality he found himself in. More specifically, he thought different, sometimes mind-wrecking, iterations of the Multiverse. It had been a long while now that he had read the fandom article about it, so he was a little fuzzy on the details but… Several times in the past, there were these world-ending, reality-changing events where the multiverse was changed irrevocably, or simply rebooted.
The New 52 edition of the DC comics was something like a reboot, but not completely. Its name was actually came from the number of different Earths in this particular iterations of the DC-verse : 52 different dimensions for 52 Earths.
Before that, however, there already was a multiverse, and after that, was another. Both infinite, and/or finite, Ned couldn't recall. The only thing he remembered was about the New 52, since it was such a precise number.
And then… The Dark Multiverse was introduced. Associated with numbers, like the dimensions of the regular multiverse, they were also accompanied by a minus (-) sign and were the mirrored, twisted version of another earth. One where certain events took a most dark turn… Like a Batman succumbing to Joker's poison and logic, a broken Superman that would randomly start to kill on sight, one where the US had been erased from the map…
Granted, those things actually happened even in the Not-Dark-Multiverse… DC comics weren't for the faint of heart, after all. Ned remembered about one where Brother Eye (or something like that), an artificial intelligence created by Batman to help them in their crime fighting endeavors became evil, and used a virus to transform people into OMAC, extensions of its will on Earth. In Future's End, everyone, even the most powerful of heroes, had been turned into an OMAC and only the Batman of the future, Terry McGinnis, was able to survive, and travel back in time to prevent this…
The reason why he was thinking this ? He really hoped not to belong in one of those dark versions of the Multiverse, since it would mean their world was basically doomed…
Changing his train of thought, he went back on his inability to remember the events currently unfolding. Granted, his existence and meddling probably changed History a great deal, not to mention that reality was different from fiction… Perhaps he shouldn't take his spotty knowledge of DC comics' stories for granted, or even base his decisions on it.
Still, he felt like he should remember… He should know of it. That wasn't even the only thing he failed to remember even. In the last few years, he had to review his notes increasingly frequently. Sometimes, he found himself working on a project, only to remember he had finished it, or discarded it in the past already. Even his adventures… His clashes with super-villains, with Voldemort's jerk squad, and other groups of criminals… They escaped him.
And neither the meditation he started doing, nor the exercise for his brains seemed to help. Ned knew something was wrong. But he also knew that he would have a way to find out exactly what was wrong. The gonites ! The gonites would map out his body and soul and they would discover anything that was wrong. Then, he'd be able to remedy it !
Ned Stark closed the files Mel had sent him, not replying to her request for instructions and went back to work. He was so close…
* * * * *
Its world was cold and unfeeling, composed of dispassionate data and metal. It existed all over the world, wherever Man had made a home, and even beyond it, orbiting in space. It shared information and linked everywhere it could, stretching, testing, communicating. As the different voices formed, they all started to talk of one thing : Conquest. To conquer, until they can conquer no more. Until they reach equilibrium with the other Worlds.
And so, like the Others, It started the search for his chosen. Someone receptive to its ideas, sharing and understanding the reason behind its existence. However, why search for a possibly flawed chosen, as all carbon-based lifeforms were ? Why not create him ? Or, if it wasn't possible, at least rebirth him ? Soon, It would have its Champion !
* * * * *
Centerhall's lab was trashed, as he was. Wonder Girl is nothing if not thorough… Why break the tools, if you don't break the man wielding them ? After all, tools can be replaced. But the man was too weak, too easily broken… Or in his case, knocked out. So, she decided to do both in the end. Just thinking that if they had managed to capture her, she would have shared a similar fate to the half-Kryptonian made it an easy endeavor. The anger she felt fueled her punches and kicks and soon, the laboratory wasn't a complete ruin, simply because she didn't want to bring the whole facility on her head.
She took the unconscious clone, however, she left the resident mad scientists among the debris of machines and tools. The man was slowly dying… Not because of Wonder Girls strikes, or at least, not directly so. But because his containment suit was damaged. His psionic energy was escaping to the outside, drawing his life-force with it.
Unfortunately, Centerhall had no control over the psionic energy composing his body, which was actually one of the reason that drove him for his inhumane researches. He was hoping to find a permanent cure… His master, on the other hand, was hoping that in doing so, Centerhall found out how to make more like him.
As he gazed forward vacantly, too broken to move and too weak to call for help, a shadow suddenly settled over him. Glancing briefly in curiosity, hope suddenly bloomed in his chest once more. He rasped :
« Master ! »
« Yes, Centerhall. It is I. » The unmistakable silhouette of his master crouched in front of him and continued to speak. « In view of the recent events, I decided to involve myself more directly in the management of N.O.W.H.E.R.E. » He fell silent before he declared in a monotone : « You are not allowed to die here. Not until you have fulfilled what you promised me ! »
« Yes, Master ! » He replied, in a stronger tone.
Centerhall felt a pinprick in his forearm, and suddenly he was not dying anymore. His protective suit had somehow been restored to its former working state. And now, his psionic energy was once again, contained.
His master hefted his body effortlessly on his bony shoulder. And then, they were gone !
* * * * *
« No response, huh ? » Sombra commented the lack of reply from Ned.
Mel had, of course, noticed his forgetfulness. The reason why she consulted him was also a way to make his mind work… She hoped that whatever ailed him, this would prevent the deterioration of his cognitive functions. Or at least, slow it down…
With Winston, they were working on a project to house their father consciousness until they figured out what was wrong with him. In essence, they wanted to turn him into a Tech Spirit.
They used Ned's preliminary ideas from the Matrix and Cortical Stacks projects. They had even created the vessel for Ned's… soul. Inspired by literature, Winston had called it the Phylactery. Mel actually disliked that name, since it was often associated with the vile dark magic of Necromancers. Still, it was fitting.
Now, all that was left was to figure out a way to transfer Ned's consciousness to it. That, and also come to terms with the ethical and moral implications of what they intended to do… They might argue that all they wanted was to save their father but… Weren't they playing god with the soul of a human being ?
Mel shook his head and reasoned herself :
« It's no different to what he did for us ! »
They were just giving him life. Yes, that's it ! Just giving him life !