Chapter 39

The first thing Lydia noticed upon waking up the following day was the absence of pain in her joints. That alone made Lydia feel like she'd just won the lottery because that meant there wouldn't be any lasting side effects from merging with the Reality Stone. Lydia stood up and stretched her arms high above her head. She felt great! She didn't remember feeling this good ever before. Lydia had always thought she was healthy and strong, but now...she knew differently. Lydia walked over to the bathroom mirror and stared at herself. There was a new feeling. It was hard for her to describe it. It felt like a new plane of sense had awaken in her.

Lydia felt different. She looked different too. She still looked like Lydia, but something was different. Now Lydia could perceive things she never had before. She knew what things looked like, but also how they appeared to others. Lydia looked at the clock and saw that it was already noon. Lydia had slept through the night and was awake. It wasn't until Lydia started walking around that she realized her body felt so light and easy to move. Lydia's body moved naturally, almost as if she were dancing. She had no idea how she did it, but Lydia had the feeling that she was suddenly able to do anything she wanted. Lydia went back to her desk and sat down. She opened her laptop and accessed the files she'd been working on the previous day. There was a file marked with a green dot. Lydia clicked on it and the document came up. It was titled "Project Ziggurat." The document described the plan for the construction of a massive fleet of ships from merchant vessels to full capital space ships.

Lydia had several meetings with different leaders. She was mostly looking forward to speaking with the representative from Xandar. She hoped to establish trading agreements with the assistance of Astrid. She also planned to speak with the head of the military to discuss the possibility of getting missions outsourced to Genosha. It would allow for her elite teams to get more experience and see different situations. Lydia went to a meeting room where she would meet the Xandar representative.

"Well, this is quite the surprise," Lydia said as she entered the room and saw the man waiting for her. "I'm surprised you were assigned as a representative."

The familiar big guy she was assigned with on Xandar smiled broadly. They continued their talks and caught up with each others events. Lydia continued to work on various other things after the meetings. She hoped that things would quiet down but knew that wasn't the case. She had events to prevent and knew that it might upset some people but she resolved herself in doing what was needed in order to prevent future disasters.

During the day, Lydia tried to reach out to the other representatives but couldn't find much time to do so before she had to continue working on other projects. Her goal was to ensure that she got her team the best mission assignments possible. She also hoped to establish trade agreements with Xandar and gain more information about their new leader. Lydia was impressed by the man's vision for Xandar and what he wanted to accomplish there. The previous leader had been replaced with a new one. A standard practice among them. Lydia wasn't sure on the specifics but she hoped to learn more.

Lydia looked at her watch and saw that it was nearly 6:00 pm. She'd barely eaten or taken breaks for food. Lydia knew she should eat something, but her stomach just didn't feel right and she hadn't noticed the time passing by. She decided to get some rest instead of eating anything.

She went to bed, knowing that she would need to start early tomorrow. She lay down and was ready to fall asleep in no time.

But sleep wouldn't come easily. For Lydia, it felt like she had a thousand thoughts running through her head. They kept spinning around and around. Lydia tried to relax but it just wasn't happening. She thought about the missions ahead and what she was going to do. Her mind worked overtime trying to figure out the best way to handle the situation.

Lydia had a lot on her plate, but she knew she could do it. She just needed to focus, which was proving difficult tonight.

Lydia began her preparations for the infinity stones. She knew they were too dangerous for her to hold. It would also put in danger the people of Genosha. She began to work with Lydia in creating four containers to house each of the stones. Lydia had chosen to keep the Reality Stone as it was the stone, she had spent less time absorbing.

Lydia had already begun making arrangements with Astrid to assist. Lydia would focus on applying magical aspect while Astrid would focus on the technical aspects. Lydia was glad to have her help as she knew she would be busy for quite some time.

Lydia was getting ready for bed when there came a knock at the door. She opened it and found Astrid standing outside. "I'm sorry for disturbing you," she said apologetically.

"It's alright, come on in." Lydia stepped aside and motioned for her to enter.

Astrid entered the room looking slightly uncomfortable. Lydia looked at her curiously and asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to check on how you're doing," Astrid answered.

Lydia smiled at her friend. "Everything's fine."

Astrid nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed. Lydia was surprised by what she'd just done and wondered why she did it. She quickly dismissed the thought from her mind.

"Are you sure? Because I know what we've been talking about has got me worried." Astrid looked concerned.

Lydia took a deep breath and released it slowly. She knew what she needed to do now. "I'm going to be okay."

Astrid's eyes shined slightly has she monitored Lydia's health signs. "Your vitals say otherwise."

"It's the stones. Which is why i asked for your help in preparing the containers." Lydia attempted to reassure Astird.

"Okay...I'll check back later." Astrid stood and left the room.

Lydia lay back on her bed, closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Lydia was awoken by the sound of the door opening. She sat up groggily and saw Astrid standing in the doorway. "Good morning," Astrid said cheerfully.

Lydia rubbed her eyes. "Morning."

"I brought you some breakfast," Astrid said as she walked in.

"Oh, thank you." Lydia smiled at her friend.

Astrid placed the tray on the table and handed Lydia a plate. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Much better!" Lydia answered.

Astrid has informed her of the completion of the containers. Now it was Lydia's turn to apply the magical aspects to it.

Lydia had instructed Astrid to take care of any events or issues while she was at work. Lydia did not hold back on the containers. She applied all sorts of locks, tricks, defenses, and even attacks on the containers. She applied Asgardian magic as well. It took a few weeks, but she was successful in completing them.

Astrid and Lydia were in a private room as three of the stones were displayed. Each hovering over their perspective container.

"So, what's the plan?" asked Astrid.

"The Space Stone will be stored in the mirror dimension. I'll set the location to where we found the Power Stone. In case we ever need it, we'll be able to find it." Lydia controlled the stone to lower inside the container. The device hissed out air as it sealed. A warped shape suddenly appeared before engulfing the device that contained the Space Stone. To Astrid, it appeared like the device vanished, but she could detect unusual readings in the vicinity before it completely vanished to a different planet.

"Still weird to see that," Astrid commented to which Lydia smiled.

"The Power Stone will be stored in one of the planets of the Dark Elves. I will use a similar altar to store the device," Lydia explained. "So, a vault within a vault so to speak," Astrid spoke.

"Exactly, It is also a desolate area of space. The number of people who might travel there are incredibly low. The chances of them finding let alone opening it without us noticing is almost zero." Lydia continued. "And lastly..." Lydia looked the Mind Stone. She wanted to return to Earth and perhaps keep the creation of Vision, but she didn't know if that would even occur. It was best to ere on the side of caution.

"The Mind Stone will be stored here for now while we find a better place for it. With the container, we can still syphon energy from it and apply it to various other projects." Lydia finished. Astrid nodded in understanding.

With that concluded, Lydia felt her body relax slightly. Both mentally and physically. Knowing that the stones were safe and that she no longer had the taxing effects on her body.

Lydia focused now on the political relations with other galactic empires. She had the Asgardians, Nova Corps, Shi'ar, Skrulls, and even the Kree in her list. It was to ensure that all knew about the Genoshian Empire and to set up diplomacy channels.

The Nova Corps, based in Xandar, and the Skrulls were more than happy to set up diplomacy channels. They agreed to trade agreements and information sharing. Lydia still did not let them know the location of Genosha. Trading and anything to do with other empires were to be done at a completely different system.

The Kree completely rejected the proposal in a not so friendly matter, but Lydia expected it as much. She handled an extreme number of their losses in the war against the Nova Corps. Last she heard was that the Nova Corps were about to perform a final push to end the war for the last time. It surprised her to know that the Guardians of the Galaxy were taking part in the push. It was useful information to know since the events she was familiar with were not going to happen, but it meant that anything could happen.

The Shi'ar were open to talks but reframed from anything else. Lydia had hoped to get more from them but was only meant with disappointment when trying to set up trade routes. At a minimum, she at least had open communications with them.

The only communication attempt that went unanswered was from Asgard. Which made sense, since Lydia had stolen valuables from the dwarfs which were under Asgardian protection. Lydia wasn't sure how Odin would respond if at all.

Lydia walked towards to meeting room. Astrid was walking alongside her. The main topic to discuss was the military issue and the mutant population. A considerable number wanted to have 'normal' life and resented their mutations. A door swished open, and Lydia and Astrid walked into the meeting room. All the members called to the meeting stood up and slightly bowed their heads as Lydia walked in. Lydia gestured her hand, and everyone took a seat.

"We have a serious issue to discuss and need to handle it delicately. As you many of you know, our military power resides mostly from a small number of volunteers. In terms of numbers, we severely lack the workforce compared to other empires. We make up for it with some of the mutants who have the power equal to 100 or 1000 soldiers..." Lydia paused as she took a sip of water. "Many of the mutants currently wish to refrain from participating in any combat. We have two particular mutants that are classified as Omega level mutants, the strongest classification, due to their ability to warp reality. Among them are several others who range from passive abilities to physical mutations." Lydia looked at Astrid to continue.

"The issue at hand is discussing ways to improve military participation and mutant assistance. I have completed a preliminary plan -" Astrid continued and projected a visual aid for everyone gathered.

"The first plan is to establish a mental and physical assistance program to help mutants with their abilities and coup with them if they chose to. Those that wish they did not have a mutation and forgo an operation to remove the X gene and permanently lose their powers. I -" Lydia was speaking before Erik interrupted.

The metals around the room shook slightly. Lydia narrowed her eyes at Erik to get the message across to calm down. Lydia extended her magnetic powers to counter Erik's. The room calmed just as fast as everything started.

"You can't think that this is a good idea." Erik spoke his much anger in his voice.

"We have to consider what the individual person wants to do. Obviously, I would prefer not to do it but if it is causing issue to their mental or physical health, it is our obligation to aid them…We aren't in Earth Erik" Lydia spoke the last bit with reassurance.

"If I may…from a logistic point of view this would require a lot of resources." A man spoke up. Lydia's eyes wondered and noticed it was one of the newly appointed merchant representatives.

"This is true, 90% of our workforce both in civilian and military duties is mostly handled by humans. Providing aid to mutants will put a strain even with the use of automation." Astrid added.

"What about the money?" Erik asked. "We've got billions in the bank. Can't we just buy off the mutants that want to stay out of it? Or recruit them when they're needed? Why do you need to force them into helping us?"

"Because our economy needs the money," Lydia replied simply. "It's not about the money. It's about survival. We don't have enough people contributing to keep our system running. We need the support of the mutants that are willing to contribute, but we also need to ensure that they know their safety is our number one priority."

"So, you're going to use coercion rather than persuasion?" Erik asked, clearly perturbed.

"No, Erik, I'm not going to coerce anyone into anything! I'm a diplomat, not a dictator!" Lydia snapped back.

"You're not listening! You see…I'm not asking you to force people to help us. I'm offering them a choice," Lydia explained. "They can choose to work with us, or they can choose to remain isolated, but either way, we'll provide the best care and protection that we possibly can."

Erik had no answer for Lydia's argument. It made sense. The difference was that Lydia was trying to reach out to the mutants, while the rest of his team were only interested in forcing them to join.

Lydia motioned to Astrid to continue the plan she devised. Any identified mutant will automatically be enrolled in courses to help with coping their powers. The power levels were defined by various different situations and based on that; they would be given a rank. The ranking system was Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, and Omega. Any child or adult identified as Zeta or Omega would be enrolled in a special curriculum as they were the most dangerous.

If a child or adult chooses to forgo their powers, they would have to do so in three stages. The first stage would be to take part in group meetings with other mutants who had issues with their abilities. It is a counseling session aimed to help the individual emotionally. The second state would be taken after various counseling sessions were attended and resulted in the person still wanting to remove their x gene. In this stage, they would be given medication and/or devices to restrain or reduce their abilities. An example used was Beast, a.k.a. Dr. Hank McCoy, with his injection to suppress his mutation to remain human. The third and final stage would be gene surgery, where the x gene is removed from the individual. This procedure involved the use of millions of nanites that would be injected into the person and with the use of Pym particles, shrink to change the genes.

The presentation went on to explain other details and resource cost. When it ended, Lydia surveyed the room. Erik was still against it by his body language, everyone else seems concerned or accepting.

"Well, I'm sure some of you are concern about the costs. Stage 3 will remain the last choice much like how surgery is back on Earth to fix an issue." Lydia spoke.

"But even if that's the case – the sheer about of resources to create nanites is immense." A merchant spoke.

"You are correct – which is why we have begun to mine various planets in our solar system and asteroids." Astrid interjected. "We have begun to incorporate mining and space exploration to your various companies. Incentives and other benefits will be delivered to your hubs later"

The talks continued for various days. A solid foundation ensured that the plans that Lydia and Astrid had made would have the most chance of success. All involved parties felt comfortable enough to agree on it.

Lydia also started working on implementing a magic school system. However, it proved particularly challenging as she couldn't dedicate much of her time to it and Astrid could only help with so much in that field.