All the world's a stage

1st POV, Nexus:

As I was driving down on the highway, around the outer skirts of NC on my motorcycle after having slaughtered the heavy criminals, I could not help but think of my original world.

It had no magic, was not as advanced as this world, by all accounts it was a boring ordinary world. But the one thing it did have was entertainment. Heaps and loads of entertainment. Movies, videogames, manga, hentai, porn, videos, fanfictions, books.

You name it, our world had it. The market was oversaturated with products.

One of the stories I encountered a lot was humans entering a contract with the devil. Or a succubus having sex with a human. Or a human making a deal with a hag.

The stories almost always ended one way. The human died or got screwed over and then died.

At some point you would think that humans would get the memo, forcing the demons to adapt and have some contracts end in the humans favor, to give the illusion of hope, or something. But nope. There is always that one dude.

Such stories were interesting at first, but became very quickly, very predictable. I also became bored of the superficial one-dimensional personalities of the demons. 'Roar, I'm a big bad demon. I will screw you over. Witness my hot fire and my pointy horns. Sing me praises. Now die!'

 Very boring. It also never helped that the motivations behind the demons actions were never explained.

But as the saying goes 'Perspective matters a lot'.

I have one job above all else. Stop entropy. Or to be more precise, stop man made entropy, considering everything is subject to natural entropy. Yeah, turns out God is VERY particular, when exactly all life on Earth shall end. He sure is one unhappy individual when humans wipe out all life on Earth. Aside from that, he is a pretty chill dude.

Apparently Earth is his Magnum Opus or something - his prototype, from which all other lives and systems in other universes derived. It is the one planet that exists in every universe. He is particularely happy with the complexity he built into the system. Natural self-healing and natural self-governing and natural selection and finally evolution, allowing him to sit back and watch his creations at work.

But he quickly became bored. The animals didn't do much. Everything was repetitive. So he created humans and gave them free will. The only creature - I came to learn in my travels across universes - possessing free will. Well not quiet, other creatures had free will too, but it was nothing compared to humans.

Demons, Angels, Devils etc. were too leashed by rules or instincts. Angels will never disobey God. Demons will never give up power. Devils had to punish the wicked. Not so with humans. Their choices could defy all logic, feelings or desires.

Over the course of my immortal life, ever since I was hired, I came to understand what true boredom felt like.

After I was hired I quickly got to work. Enter a universe, wipe out the cause of man made entropy and leave. It became very quickly very stale after the 30ish world. Tenacity kept me going for the next 500 worlds or so, but I eventually caved in.

And suddenly I no longer had the same opinions of demons, the ones I had in my original world. Because I came to understand them. Demons used their limited free will to see what humans would do. Like watching a TV or reading a book. You know the destination, but it is ever so interesting to watch their journey. And while no demon would admit it, because it slighted their pride, the very few humans that found loopholes and got themselves out of their contract were the most entertaining.

God himself told me I did not need to speedrun my job. Thanks to the barriers he cast between worlds time flowed differently. 1000 years could pass in one world and barely half a second would pass in the others. And vice versa. Yeah, I still don't understand how this magic works, even after all these years. Some magical BS beyond mortal comprehension. Not that I'm gonna give up in trying to understand it.

Point is, I had all the time in the world.

Anyway. After having that conversation with my patron, I started experimenting. In one world I wiped out all of mankind, but left the other life forms in peace. I expected God to be unhappy, but apparently humans truly aren't the center of the universe, especially when you consider that they exist in other universes too. No, that spot was reserved for Earth and Nature.

And ultimately, I did do my job.

God only has two rules. Man made entropy shall not wipe out all life on earth. And only humans or man made creations may wipe out humanity and no one else, be they demon, angels or devils. One would think that there are loopholes to be exploited. But when it comes to an entity like God, one upholds the spirit of the contract and not the words, as one foolish demon found out.

At the end of the day, I was also a human and had free will. If I want to wipe out humanity, I could do it. Honestly, I should have figured that myself out. God did not intervene when we created nuclear warheads, why would he intervene anywhere else.

I proceeded to wipe humanity out two more times. The third time I only limited myself to my knowledge. But I very quickly put a stop to that. I was simply too powerful, too knowledgeable and too cunning to ever be challenged.

After some more experimenting I eventually encountered some guy named Sid Kanou - or was it Cid Kage? It has been eons, so I forgot his name. But he was a very powerful human.

More importantly however, he was a chunnibyou - or chunni for short. That dude loved roleplaying and living out his fantasies.

He gave me inspiration to my problem.

Additionally, I quickly learned that it simply brought me no joy to cause mindless destruction. As the saying goes 'What took years to build, took seconds to destroy' or 'It is harder to create, than to destroy'. In other words, it was more interesting to build something lasting then to destroy.

So I came up with the following solution. I shall assume a role, sometimes a terrorist, sometimes a freedom fighter, sometimes a scientist, sometimes a fool, etc.. And use that role to create better lives for mankind AND do my job. But most importantly, to have fun.

In addition to that I also imposed restriction on me, effectively limiting my power. In this world I restricted myself to super human constitution, very slight healing, electricity manipulation, a summonable sword and one more power. Of course these humans will believe that the last three are fancy gadgets. An illusion I will allow them to keep.

It served as a sort of challlenge to me. It was always clear what the destination was. But the journey towards it? It could develope in so many interesting ways. Suceeding in the challenge brought me satisfaction. That was the only thing at stake.

If I failed the challenge, I would wip out my powers and finish the job. I certainly had enough power in my pinky to destroy three galaxies, so my success was certain. But I did not want to do that until absolutely necessary.

This world had no heroes that could save the day. And it was moving towards a tiping point. Already a lot species died out, climate change was running on top gear and capitalism spiraled out of control. And so many other problems.

Enter me.

In this world I took on the role of a poor lab experiment working for a corpo.

I could go in great detail about my 'evil' plan. Spill my secrets right now. But why would I do that? It was boring.

I always shaped my thoughts and actions in a way, that when I looked back, I could do so from the persepctive of a reader and not from the perspective of the actor. I tended to write a short book of my performances. When I'm going to read through them I wanted to be captivated.

Suspense needed to be built up. Secrets needed to be unveiled. Conflicts needed to be established. The readers attention and interest had to be stimulated, even if I was the only reader.

Everything had its place and time.

But for now? Faraday did his job well. Of course he will die afterwards, once Militech learns his intel was faulty. But no matter, I had many more spies with PONs in their heads. It was no loss to me.

Over almost two years I built an image to the world. I became this invincible entity stalking through the streets seeking justice and retribution. People fear me, to the point they simply lay their head down, when I tell them I will kill them.

It was time to destroy that image.

The world will see that I can be 'harmed'. Of course, they will also see that they needed astronomical effort and prep time to 'harm' me. A reminder needed to be sent to the surviving criminals, to put any continued dissent or thoughts of revenge to rest. Destroying my image had two purposes.

And would you look at that. They were here just in time.

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3rd POV:

Tunner, General of the New United States Armed Forces or NUSAF for short, did not like anything concerning this operation. It smelled fishy. Some random Fixer from the streets finds vital detes on how Nexus operates?

Yeah, sure.

He himself has been keeping eyes on Nexus. Following his feats. Evaluating his threat level.

They were - so - not prepared to take him on. Not with what he has seen, or better said the lack of what he has seen.

Faraday noted that once Nexus is in the air, his mobility would be restricted, of course he would still have his speed, but once airborne Nexus would be a target.

No shit, Sherlock.

Tunner came to the same conclusion, but he was not satisfied with that. Did Nexus have something that could pull him towards the ground once airborne? He couldn't answer that, because Nexus never left the ground in his fights. Additionally he seemed to possess a sword that he could pull out of his pocket or something. Probably some fancy tech. What good was it to get Nexus airborne, if he could still defend himself once in the air?

Faraday also came across the information that Nexus used a stun glove. A stun glove for what? Who did Nexus ever stun across his career in NC? It was good to know this, but it was some relatively useless intel. They had bigger concerns then some stun glove. Primarely his strength.

He saw some videos, where Nexus tore entire borgs apart with his bare hands as if they were made of wet tissue. How great was his strength? How durable his skin and bones?

Faraday didn't know.

The only other dete that Faraday brought was that sometimes Nexus drives his motorcycle around and the usual route he frequents for that. Something that could be exploited, if only they had actually useful information.

That's it. That was the entirety of the information Faraday has brought them. All in all, only two things were new. Nexus' motorcycle route and the stun glove.

If Tunner had it his way, he would not permit this operation. He had no clue as to why Myers gave the green light for this op. She was after all a former Marine. Surely she had a healthy risk assessment skill, which she developed during her military days. There was just too little information, to attempt to capture Nexus.

Once more greed and money won the day, it seemed. 

Tunner was sure that Lucas Harford, Mlitech's CEO, and Rosalind Myers, president of the NUSA, hashed a deal behind closed doors. It wasn't to farfetched to believe this, considering Myers' was Militech's CEO for close to a decade, before she became the NUSA president back in 2065. She had close ties with Militech.

It also did not help that most of the NUSAFs equipment was supplied by Militech, so they had significant pull. 

It annoyed Tunner something fierce, that the NUSAF had to obey Millitech. It made the NUSAF look like a common band of mercenaries. Considering past events and how much face the american army lost in front of the world, this would only hurt the american people more and jeopardize national security.

Now here they were. A weird mix of militechs private army and NUSAF. Militech brought one regiment with the NUSAF bringing two regiments, forming a division. At least he was still the general so he kept command.

He has been working tirelessly with what little he had, trying to come up with a plan. At least Militech did not spare any resources in this op. They had a heavy artillery railgun. State of the art guns with armor piercing rounds. Mines. Three exoskeletons, with a fourth one being a prototype that could manipulate gravity. Lots of military AVs. Two AVs that had electrical magnets tied on them. And 15.000 chromed personnel. It was nowhere near the entire army of the NUSAF or Militech, but a division was all he got.

Whatever transpired now, Faraday had the right of it. Whatever happened, Nexus simply had to much mobility on ground, he had to be kept in the air.

With that in mind he strategically chose one spot along the highway, Nexus would be driving on. It was on the outer edges of the city, Pacifica to be precise. It was a small hill/ canyon, through which the highway would go through, via a tunnel. The tunnel was going under Dogtown.

Tunner expected Kurt Hansen to raise a fuss, considering how close the armies' hiding spot on the hill was to Dogtown. But not a peep. While he was queasy to have someone like Hansen at his back, Myers orders were clear. Nexus had absolute priority. Capture at all costs.

Bitch. At least the road was a mostly unfrequented one, so there was that.

Additionally, since the highway was slightly elevated via a bridge, it functioned as a great hiding spot for the exo-skeletons. Due to how the highway was curved while going uphill, Nexus will not be able to see the exo-skeletons hiding under the bridge. They also hid mines around the bridge. The soldiers will remain on the hill and he was assured that the force of the mines would not damage the exo-skeletons. They have been using bushes to hide the mines, but considering Nexus used the road, he might be familiar enough with its surroundings to notice the extra bushes. So they hid a majority of the mines under earth and sand. Now, Tunner only hoped the wind would not blow away their disguise.

The railgun was positioned way off in the badlands. Accuracy would not be a problem, considering the shooter would be assisted by a software A.I. that would calculate the targets position.

It was unfortunate, but once the fight starts the military AVs would need one minute to arrive at their location. There was no more place where they could hide.

Could Myers not have waited just two more weeks, until New Years Eve? Ever since Faraday gave them the intel, they have been sitting on the hill ,under cloacking devices, for the past three weeks, waiting for Nexus. The ambush spot on the hill was way to strategically advantageous to consider other ambushes or options.

Most in the army did not allow themselves to be deterred from a happy mood however, even if they were made to wait in the sun on hot december days. They considered their victory already secured and were eager to return to their families to celebrate New Years Eve.

A few others, however, shared Tunner's worries. Either the people in power saw Nexus as a threat to the status quo or a resource to be exploited. Whatever the case, it made them send small armies after him. A small army against one lonely person? It immediatelly told Tunner how much of a danger ,those in power, considered Nexus to be. As they rightfully should.

Which also made him question their chances of victory. Assuming they lost, NUSAF would be utterly fucked. The people will not care that they lost against Nexus. They will question the NUSAFs competence, if they can't even take down one person and the media will fan the flames.

Should they lose, at best it would be considered a catastrophe and they would lose funding, be it from Militech or the government, at worst it would see to a disbandment, reviewing or reworking of the NUSAF. Should it be the latter then not only would it put national security at risk, but more importantly, gives whoever is put up to the task the power to change the NUSAF and shape it in whatever image they see fit. 

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The entire army heard the news. Nexus' is done slaughtering criminals. It seemed even Nexus could have a celebratory mood, 'cause the scouts just reported him driving his motorcycle down the highway at high speeds.

The soldiers assumed their positions, lying in wait for the ambush. Tunner took his seat in the command center and gave the command for the AVs to approach. The multiple screens would keep him informed of everything, allowing him to issue orders to his troops.

The railgun shot an artillery after calculating the speed at which Nexus was driving. However, it never hit him as Nexus immediately pulled out his sword, a small blue light in the form of tiny cubes followed as the blade expanded downwards from the hilt, and slammed it into the ground. Tunner had to wonder from just what kind of material the sword was made of, as it was put under enormous amount of kinetic forces without snapping or bending.

Nexus still sitting on his bike found himself horizontaly in the air, parallel to the ground as he stopped dead in his tracks, the artillery harmlessly shooting into the side of the canyon. The small debris triggering some of the mines.

Before Nexus' motorcycle could land the prototype exo-skeleton inverted gravity, catapulting Nexus upwards. In the process part of the bridge got destroyed. Another exo-skeleton flew from under the bridge at great speed towards Nexus, grabbing him.

The exo-skeleton did not stop, eventually slamming Nexus into the side of the canyon. His bike falling off somewhere. Nexus attempted to stab the arm holding him, but the soldier would have none of it. He used his other hand to grab Nexus' right hand, the one he used to hold his sword and pulled.

The exo-skeletons arms groaned and buckled as its maximum strength was used to attempt to rip out Nexus' arm from his socket. Nexus arm was ramrod straight. He kneed against the skeletons arm holding him, causing heavy dents to form.

Seeing a lack of success from his attempts and the fact Nexus was starting to damage the exo-skeleton, the soldier gave up his efforts. He started dragging Nexus against the side of the canyon. He made sure to drag him close to the ground, as some of the debris flying around triggered the mines, exploding in Nexus' face. His right arm flapping around, but still holding on to his sword.

After around 60 meters the soldier slammed Nexus on the upper half of the entrance to the tunnel, positioning him closer to the soldiers, who finally started shooting. The soldiers in the military AVs started doing the same. While the entrance did not collapse, it did cause a small cave in, kicking heavy dust in the air.

The soldiers were still shooting, as the exo-skeleton would not sustain damage.

Neon, orange glowing, elongated plugs shot out of the dust cloud slamming into the exo-skeletons arm. Tunner immeditely ordered the railgun to shoot Nexus as he was immobile. He was surprised by these plugs as they never came up in any report. Additionally they caused him a bad feeling, as if something heavy was put on top of his brain. Unknown to him, every soldier on scene experienced this feeling.

Once more, the artillery never hit Nexus. Inexplicably, the exo-skeleton turned around, making the artillery go through its torso, killing the soldier inside on the spot and destroying the exo-skeleton, making it fall in pieces.

Nexus never touched ground as one electro magnet was activated. Nexus and the arm to which the plug-cables were now attached flew through the air towards the magnet.

Tunner now had a better look at these cables. Multiple small cables were protruding from his back, with four massive ones protruding from his head. All glowing neon orange, some having a small red tint to them.

The general did not like the implication of what he saw happening to the exo-skeleton. He recoiled, as it seemed only Nexus' mask had magnetic properties, making him dangle around by his head. His left arm, somewhen having taken the sword out of his right arm, was a blur as all projectiles, being shot at him, were deflected.

Nexus slammed his left elbow into the magnet making it turn as another artillery was shot. It went through the magnet damaging the mechanism inside and dropping Nexus and the skeleton arm. As he was falling, he continued to deflect the bullets. His right arm flapping around uselessly.

Once more Nexus never made it to the ground as the second magnet activated. Tunner did not dare order another shot from the railgun as the fucker seemed to turn that weapon against them.

The plug-cables slammed into the AV and the magnet, electricity coursing through them. Everything with magnetic properties around the area started sliding on the ground, some even getting airborne before falling to the ground.

The AV with the electrical magnet seems to have sustained critical damage as it fell to the ground, Nexus catapulting himself from the magnet towards the ground.

The prototype exo-skeleton intercepted him by slamming into him. It immediately used its tech to invert gravity, but as Nexus shot upwards the plug-cables shot into the prototype exo-skeleton dragging him back down towards it. Electricity started coursing through the cables and the skeleton disappeared.

It reappeared amongst the other two skeletons, Nexus used the electricity to supercharge the protype tech and flatten the two other skeletons. In the process of doing so the entire bridge collapsed kicking up heavy dust everywhere and detonating a multitude of mines.

Hidden amongst the dust cloud, Nexus turned the gravitational tech against itself and compressed the prototype skeleton under its own forces. Blood pouring out of the skeletons torso.

Nexus jumped down on the ground, reappearing on the hill, his sword dripping with blood, not a single speck of metalic sheen to be seen. He kneeled down, hundreds upon hundreds of plug-cables elongated themselves and shot towards the AVs. The AVs tried to fly away, after seeing all their comrades dead and these cables approaching them. The cables were faster however and slammed into the AVs. The AVs spiralled out of control. Some flying straight into the ground, some into each other, but all of them exploded.

As the cables were returning back, Nexus dodged to the right, heavy dust kicking up behind him.

He slammed the sword into the ground and used his left arm to pull a coin out of his right pocket. Electricity coursed through his arm as he flicked the coin upwards. He extended his arm, waited for the coin to fall and flicked his fingers once more.

A huge shockwave kicked the dust up as the coin was shot at supersonic speed, ripping through the railgun all the way out in the badlands.

Nexus sat on a small stone amidst all the headless corpses.

He grabbed his arm, before quickly letting go, leaning forward in his seat, rocking back and forth. After a while he grabbed his arm again and with a small groan popped his shoulder back into its socket. He slowly moved his arm around, getting its feeling back before standing up. He picked up his sword, returned it to its hilt, put it in his pocket, banished his plug-cables and disappeared from the scene.

Tunner watched helplessly as the scene unfolded in front of his eyes. He locked on the different screens, but only very few escaped. That being the three scouts and the six soldiers managing the railgun.

A stun glove his fucking ass. Whatever the fuck, that electricity was it was the single most advanced technologie he has ever seen, allowing one to make a veritable makeshift railgun. A portable railgun! The less said about the neon orange cables, the better. Apparently super human abilities were not enough, let's stack hacking on top of it.

The chair slammed into the ground as Tunner jumped out of it. His eyebrows dancing as he fought for control. He picked up the fallen chair and slammed it with all his force into the screens. Again and again and again. A devestating scream escaped his throat. Glass flew around, cutting his skin, but he paid it no mind. Sparks sprang out from smashed screens and static could be heard.

Tunners hits became progressively weaker and weaker until eventually he fell to his knees, glass digging into them, the ruined chair beside him. He crumbled into a fetal position and wept.

Close to 15.000 dead, billions of eddies in damage and all they had to show for it was a dislocated shoulder.

He wept for his fallen soldiers, wept for the NUSAF and for his ruined career.

But most importantly?

He wept for Americas future.