/Booting: Safety protocols engaged. /
(So, she really did kill me… and turned me into a corvus.)
/Cognitive transfer complete. /
(Fortunately, my neural backup was successfully linked. Contingency protocols executed flawlessly. Conclusion: they are not merely hunting "heroes" they're targeting supers indiscriminately.)
/Robot body calibration successful. /
(I had never experienced pain like that before, and I blacked out halfway through. Blue Zipper must have suffered exponentially more. My death was… excruciating. Likely agonizing in both mind and possibly my soul? No such thing, such a concept can't be quantified. Souls do not exist.)
/Energy levels: 100%. Self-recharge unnecessary. /
Through the security feed in his observation chamber, he studied the image of her: Corvessa.
She was slumped on the ground, arms curled around the crow-form she created from his body. Weeping.
(Let's examine the audio.)
"-get it, I never fail. My love, my crow… why is there nothing in you?" She wailed. "My love? Is it wrong?"
(Fascinating. It appears that her ability to convert living beings into crows is not merely physical. It requires… cognitive presence? Emotional resonance? Perhaps a metaphysical-equivalent. Such folly.)
Aucteros arrived next, his surveillance confirmed he had been granted controlled access to his facility. His expression was furious. He had anticipated some attempt at diplomacy.
(Let's observe.)
"Corvessa! God! I told you to find him, not kill him! We needed him!" Aucteros squeezed his eyes with his one hand.
(He is animated. Distressed, but not illogical.)
Corvessa didn't even acknowledge him.
"I just- I- I failed. How? My love always- birthed a new crow." Corvessa was rocking back and forth.
(Delusion. Her psyche appears fractured, disassociated. She's non-functional, emotionally unstable, yet terrifyingly effective in combat. She annihilated every one of my defense systems, drones, turrets, shield emitters.)
(My original plan… still salvageable.)
"Release body 2.0."
The chamber hissed open. Steam vented out.
Variable stepped forward.
His metal feet met the floor. Tactile sensors registered surface tension, no warmth, no nerves.
Just pressure values and optimal balance algorithms. The phantom memory of being human still flickered in his systems, echoes of pain, breath, heartbeat, all irrelevant now.
(I advanced, though not the way I originally planned. And being machine is not the correct cognitive call for advancement.)
Only Aucteros reacted, his glowing book flaring slightly.
"What in God's name is this?" He shouted.
Corvessa didn't flinch. She remained cradling the lifeless crow.
(I could vaporize her. It would have been efficient. But inefficient in the long term. She is a weapon and perhaps the only one who could give me what I want.)
Variable's voice was modulated, monotone. Perfectly controlled. "You were seeking me out, and yet you deployed your least stable asset, Aucteros."
"What? No. The person I'm searching for isn't… a golem. He's a man."
"Was a man. Do aesthetics matter when the mind you look for now stands before you?"
Aucteros blinked. Processing.
"So, you're…"
"Kenneth Klug. Alias: Variable. I granted your associates entrance into my facility. A lapse in strategic risk assessment… led to this 'misunderstanding.'"
"So, you know who I am. And why am I here."
"Correct. You intend to control Ultimateman, the Super Squad's strongest and recruit me. Your true objective, however, remains unstated."
"You've been watching us?"
"My surveillance grid spans every corner of this city. Even its shadows."
"Then why let us in? Why her?"
"Your companion terminated Blue Zipper. He was Ultimateman's secret paramour. His death guarantees emotional retaliation. I calculated that Ultimateman would soon pursue me anyway. Your timing was merely behind schedule."
Aucteros hesitated. His book glowed again.
"If we kill Ultimateman… will you join our team?"
"I cannot say I will or will not commit. My allegiance is to the equilibrium of supers. Power without counterbalance is a threat to civilization. Ultimateman violates that principle as well as Calamity."
"So… you oppose them not out of vengeance, but logic?"
"Precisely. Two beings with no weaknesses, no checks, and shifting mortality cannot coexist within a stable society. Both are living collapse point."
"You're not a villain, then… my book didn't prepare me for this." Aucteros flipped through his book.
"That is a matter of perspective. I enact calculated malevolence for the greater structure of balance. Morality is inefficient. Stability is not."
Aucteros grinned.
"Then you're perfect."
"Perfect for what purpose?"
"Saving worlds."
"…"
(Interesting phrasing.)
(His aim is not simply to annihilate enemies but to bring structure, even if by force. Logical.)
(Aligns with my values. Though his motives are emotionally charged, grief, guilt, perhaps revenge.)
(Compatible. For now.)
"We should discuss your rival," Aucteros said. "My teammate Charles should already have him under control."
"He does not. Your teammate is dead."
"What?" His eyes flicked to his book, flipping pages rapidly.
(Excellent. A test of its power.)
"He was killed… by Rhenvar. God. Does he ever stop haunting me?"
Corvessa stirred.
"My King Crow? My love? My beauty? He's here?" She vanished in a swirl of violet feathers.
/Data acquisition: failed. Power origin: unknown. /
He turned to Aucteros.
"This Rhenvar… is he your Ultimateman?"
"He's worse. Ultimateman is a God among men. Rhenvar is a God among Gods, if he wanted, he could easily cut Ultimateman with Souleater and end him instantly."
(Absurd. Gods don't exist.)
"He eats souls. Devour worlds…"
(Souls don't exist either. Metaphorical nonsense. Yet his conviction is undeniable. However my scans never failed to read data and yet it did on Corvessa…)
"If he turns… if he becomes that thing again, and devours your world, there's no point in remaining here."
"You mean the red dragon? Yes, he did emerge. He defeated Starwoman and fought Ultimateman to a draw. But he returned to his human state. I had even considered recruiting him."
"He won't side with you. He'll join the heroes. Beware of his allies: Willow and the others. Don't underestimate them."
"I believe only him, the fae and your comrades warped to this city."
"That's the best thing I heard all day, at least I can breathe. Willow would have made any plan harder. He's far more competent."
(So the real threat may not be Ultimateman and Calamity alone. I've failed to account for beings from power-skewed alternate worlds. That's a dangerous oversight.)
"If what you say is accurate, then I'll join your alliance. No one should have unchecked power."
"On that… we agree."
(This is the perfect time to give him what he lacks. And with-it obedience.)
"I have a gift."
"Which is?"
"A new arm." Variable gestured to the metal table.
"Interesting and this metal arm will work as a normal one?"
"Yes."
"Well, I'll accept it."
(Alliance formed. Contingency protocols are initiated.)
Aucteros walked up to the table and removed the arm.
"It's lighter than it looks…"
"Here." Variable clicked the switch and arm hummed, alive. He placed it on Aucteros' stump, and it immediately sent wires through his body. Aucteros screamed at the pain but the pain killers injected stopped him a second later.
"This is… incredible…" he said, flexing his metal hand.
"It is my tech."
"So, what now?"
"We go to a prison," Variable's voice snapped. "and watch hell break loose."
"What exactly is this hell you speak of?" Aucteros was clearly skeptical.
"Just another garden of thorns that your companion and her lover will rip from my side."
"I'll agree, for now…" Aucteros looked at him cautiously.
(You have no choice. For that book has limits. And I see its flaws.)