Six hours passed in a blur of preparation.
Marcus moved through the facility with practiced efficiency, pulling weapons from hidden armories, uploading data to encrypted drives, coordinating with contacts Tony didn't recognize through secure channels. The Nexus Protocol operated like a well-oiled machine, and Marcus was clearly the engine driving it.
Tony watched, cataloging everything. The facility had more resources than initially apparent. Dimensional storage units hidden behind false walls. Weapons forged from materials that shouldn't exist in the third dimension. Communication equipment that bypassed normal physics entirely.
"How long have you been building this?" Tony asked as Marcus packed a bag with what looked like crystallized divine essence.
"Eighteen years. Since the day Meltiy died." Marcus didn't look up from his work. "Started small. Just me and a few contacts. Grew over time. Other gods who disagreed with Zeus's methods. Mortals who'd been touched by divine conflict and wanted answers. Defectors from various pantheons."
He held up one of the crystals, and it caught the light strangely, refracting in colors that didn't exist in normal spectrum. "Divine materials. Some from failed gods. Some harvested from the fourth dimension where essence crystallizes naturally. You'd be surprised what people will pay for a fragment of condensed divinity."
"You built an army."
"I built a network." Marcus sealed the bag. "There's a difference. Armies fight wars. Networks gather information, provide support, stay hidden until needed." He finally looked at Tony. "We're not ready to fight Zeus directly. Won't be for years, maybe decades. But we can slow him down. Protect his targets. Make his hunts expensive."
Grimmey entered carrying bags of his own, now dressed in a sharp tailored suit that fit him perfectly. He adjusted his cuffs with obvious satisfaction. "Private jet's ready. Filed flight plan to Singapore under corporate cover. We'll look like business executives, not fleeing gods." He checked his reflection in a nearby monitor, smirking. "I have to say, Marcus, if godhood doesn't work out, I could definitely pull off corporate executive."
"You look human. That's the point." Marcus tossed Tony a garment bag. "Put this on. We need to blend in until we're airborne."
Tony opened the bag. Expensive suit, tailored shirt, leather shoes. All in his exact size. "How did you know my measurements?"
"I've been watching you for two years, Tony. I know more about you than you'd be comfortable with." Marcus's tone was matter of fact. "Now change. We leave in twenty minutes."
Tony complied, moving to a side room. The suit fit perfectly, uncomfortably formal compared to his usual preference for simple, functional clothing. When he emerged, Yuki was waiting in the operations area.
She wore a professional dress, her hair styled differently, minimal makeup applied. She looked older, more sophisticated. Nothing like the university student who'd been trapped in a burning library hours ago.
"You clean up well," Grimmey said, grinning at his own reflection in a polished panel before turning to her. "We all do, actually. I'm enjoying this look."
Yuki's face flushed slightly. "Marcus said we needed to look professional. Something about corporate consultants traveling for business meetings."
"It works." Marcus appeared with a briefcase and four passports. He handed them out. "Your new identities. Memorize them on the flight. Tony, you're Takeshi Nakamura, software consultant. Yuki, you're his assistant, Yuki Sato. Different surname, just in case Zeus's people are tracking known associates. Grimmey, you're Greg Morrison, systems architect. I'm Marcus Kane, which is actually my current legal name, so no change there."
Tony examined the passport. Perfect forgery, or possibly legitimate through divine manipulation of bureaucratic systems. "Won't Zeus's hunters track our real identities?"
"They'll try. But Nexus has contacts in immigration, airport security, transportation networks. We'll be ghosts until we want to be seen." Marcus checked his watch again. "Car's waiting. Move."
They filed out of the facility into an underground garage. A black luxury sedan waited, engine running, driver behind tinted windows. Marcus opened the back door, gestured for them to enter.
The drive to the airport was quiet. Tokyo's nighttime streets passed in neon-lit streams, the city unaware of the divine conflict brewing in its shadows. Tony watched through the window, processing the normalcy. Millions of humans living their lives, completely ignorant of gods and dimensions and cosmic wars.
"You're thinking too hard," Grimmey said beside him.
"I'm recalibrating my worldview. It requires significant processing."
"That's what I said. Thinking too hard." Grimmey looked out his own window. "Try not to. Sometimes you just need to accept things and keep moving."
"That's inefficient."
"Maybe. But it's how humans survive impossible situations. One moment at a time. One decision at a time. No grand calculations, just..." He gestured vaguely. "Forward momentum."
Tony considered this. "Is that how you've survived for two years? Just moving forward?"
"Pretty much. That and hoping I'd figure things out before my essence collapsed." Grimmey's smile was tight. "Still working on the figuring out part."
The airport appeared ahead, massive and busy despite the late hour. International flights operated around the clock, endless streams of humans moving between locations for business, pleasure, family, countless mundane reasons.
The driver pulled up to a private terminal, separate from the main passenger areas. Marcus led them through security with credentials that bypassed normal screening. No questions asked. No bags examined closely. The power of money and connections smoothing every obstacle.
The private jet waited on the tarmac, sleek and expensive. Marcus boarded first, then gestured for the others to follow.
The interior was luxury incarnate. Leather seats, polished wood trim, ambient lighting that suggested comfort and wealth. A far cry from commercial travel.
"Nexus Protocol has funding," Yuki observed, settling into a seat.
"Divine artifacts sell well on black markets," Marcus said, stowing his bag in an overhead compartment. "Plus eighteen years of strategic investments. Time and compound interest work wonders."
The pilot's voice came through the intercom. "Mr. Kane, we're clear for departure. Flight time to Singapore approximately six hours."
"Understood. Thank you." Marcus settled into his own seat across from Tony. "Once we're airborne and at altitude, we can talk freely. Until then, stay in character. You're corporate consultants. Tired. Professional. Bored by travel."
The jet began to taxi. Tony watched through the window as Tokyo fell away, the city shrinking to a grid of lights, then disappearing as they ascended through clouds into darkness.
He was leaving Japan. Leaving the only home he'd known for two years. Leaving the university, the routine, the carefully constructed normal life.
Running from hunters he'd never met. Seeking a brother he didn't know. Trying to understand a mother who'd died giving him life.
The logical response was fear. Anxiety. Uncertainty.
Tony felt nothing but curiosity.
What would Singapore bring? What would Ledger tell them? What would he learn about himself?
Questions compounding questions, data points waiting to be connected into coherent frameworks.
"You're doing it again," Grimmey said. "The thinking too hard thing."
"I'm just processing."
"Yeah, well, try processing with your eyes closed. You haven't slept in twenty-four hours. Even gods need rest occasionally."
Tony considered arguing but recognized the logic. His mortal body did require sleep, even if his divine essence could sustain him temporarily. Efficiency demanded he rest when possible.
He closed his eyes, letting the jet's steady vibration lull him toward unconsciousness.
Behind his eyelids, binary code flickered. Ones and zeros dancing in patterns he almost understood. The echo of something deeper, something divine trying to surface through mortal limitations.
Sleep came slowly, reluctantly.
And with it, dreams of libraries burning, goddesses dying, and wars that spanned dimensions.
When he woke, they would be in Singapore.
And the next phase of his education would begin.