Broker-Chapter 278

Sonya stroked Levi’s fur as she sat on the couch and listened to the others talk about their experiences in the Epic dungeon. She’d been in a few herself back in her first go-around, but it was always interesting hearing the details of the spaces above Rare. It brought her back, if she was being honest with herself. The higher-tier dungeons were one of the few places where she felt she shone back in the past. Even with an Uncommon-tier ability, she had developed the survival skills to scout ahead of the heroes going in.

“The puzzles weren’t that bad,” Charon pointed out. “Most of us are smart enough to deal with them.” He leaned forward on his cane and shot Kera a grin. “Most of us.”

Kera scowled at him. “Wanna get fried, leather boy?” She raised a hand, and sparks danced on her fingertips.

“Been thinking about swapping out to a new main body,” he shot back. “You can certainly try to facilitate.”

Sonya rolled her eyes. “Ladies, you’re both pretty.”

The two of them looked up at her in shock as Colin and Kingshark laughed. Blackrazor walked over from the sports bar with a fizzy pink drink in his hand. He passed it off to her, and she took it with a grateful smile. “Thank you, dear,” she said and sipped it. “You learned the recipe from that girl in The Hague?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yes. You mentioned it in passing once,” he said.

Sonya snorted and looked at Kera. “Watch out, your man is becoming a charmer.”

Kera grinned. “Who do you think taught him?”

“Oh ho ho ho!” Kingshark chortled. “Hades be whipped-”

He was cut off as Blackrazor appeared behind him with a knife to his throat. The pale-faced young man was grinning bloodthirst. The sitting Kingshark tilted his head up and met his gaze, an equally savage look on his face. Sonya pursed her lips and scanned the others' faces. It was clear to her that without Marta around to play mother, they were a bunch of wild children. That said, she had to admit her blood was usually burning hot after a good dungeon run. She sighed wistfully and looked down at a content Levi, scratching beneath his chin. They aren’t ready for a Heroic or Mythic dungeon, though. Not yet. Not by a long shot.

“You alright, boss?” Colin asked.

She looked up and saw their faces. All of them looked at her with concern.

My sweet little manic family, she thought and barked out a laugh. “Better than fine. Just thinking about challenges in the future. We’ve got the odds stacked against us, even if we’re this strong.” She patted Levi’s head and leaned forward a bit. “To stay on topic: Epic dungeons are an important milestone. They’re dangerous and have some unusual mechanics to them but ultimately behave like the dungeons below them.”

The others grew serious and moved back to their seats. Blackrazor hopped into the spot next to Kingshark and gave him a surreptitious fist-bump before focusing on her. She pretended not to notice. Charon’s thin fingers tapped on the skull of his cane as he eyed her with interest. “Intel from the previous timeline?”

Sonya nodded. “And intel from the current one,” she said gravely. “It’s about time I told you about a discovery of mine. Recent events have pushed a particular problem up a few notches on my list, and we need to be ready for the not too distant future.”

“Current one?” Colin asked. “Amos has the entire planet covered at this point with the radar. There aren’t any Heroic dungeons yet.”

“I’m not talking about a Heroic dungeon,” Sonya said flatly, meeting his eyes.

Everyone went quiet as she collected herself. “This happened right before Liberty’s raid on the hero camp,” she said and began to tell her story. As she went on, the others grew more and more alert, their eyes widening as she described the zombie-like creature that had fought her toe-to-toe. When she got to the bridge, the portal, and the city beyond it, a few of them were on their feet. Kingshark was pacing, while Blackrazor stared at the floor in serious thought. Charon looked shellshocked, and Kera was practically jittering with excitement.

Colin, though, held her gaze. “Olympus doesn’t exist,” he said simply.

Sonya shook her head. “Not anymore, no. It's safe to say that when Pandora stripped the world of mana, all that remained of the civilization of the Great Ones went with it. Here on Earth, that is.”

Blackrazor looked up. “I recall a story that you told us that you got from Black Lotus,” he said evenly. “A vision of the past, I suspect. The Asgardians retreated into a ‘mystic place.’”

Sonya nodded. “Good memory. Yes, I suspect they called dungeons that. The Backrooms are what amounts to a Mythic Dungeon, but somehow it still exists and has remained stable.”

“Are they still alive, you think?” Kingshark asked.

Sonya shook her head. “Given the condition of the place, I doubt it. However, I think you all understand what it means that the structure itself is still there,” she said and met all of their eyes in turn and then pointed to the baseball cap on Colin’s head. “There won’t be just one treasure like that hat.”

“You’re saying our trips into the Epic dungeons aren’t just about stealing the treasures inside for ourselves,” Kera said as she lounged on the furthest couch, kicking her feet in the air. “This is practice.”

“I’m stronger than I was then,” Sonya said, “but even so, just one of the dregs of that place gave me a hard time. I can’t even imagine the kind of fight we’ll be in for further inside. We aren’t ready. No one on Earth is. As he is now, even Otis would just be a perpetual smear there until he slithered his way out.”

The door opened to the lounge, and Amos strode inside with his hands stuffed into his lab coat. Sonya looked up at him, and he grinned. “That doesn’t mean the heroes won’t try and get themselves killed. Euclidia is trying to get in, isn’t she?”

Sonya nodded. “I suspect her reasoning is to figure out the science behind portals so she can make a permanent network.”

The Backrooms weren’t just a dungeon. Anyone who possessed an ability that allowed direct teleportation without a specific medium knew this instinctively the moment they teleported for the first time. It was a sort of rite of passage to have a vision of the mysterious place when they had their first time. In that moment, one became aware that teleportation was nothing more than a rapid transit through the Backrooms as the medium. Without the Backrooms, teleportation was impossible.

“Ambitious,” Amos chortled. “Makes me want to beat her to the punch.”

She smirked at him. “I figured you might say that. Cutting her off by making our own commercial portal network will dishearten her a bit, hopefully. I like Molly, but I can’t have her pulling a dangerous thread like that just yet. I can send you there with your gear.”

“A wise plan, but it would be imprudent to send Technocrat alone into such a place. He is no fighter,” Blackrazor said evenly. “One of us will have to go with him, at the very least. That may cut into our forces here.”

Sonya shook her head. “I can’t have that,” she said. “I need the rest of you here. The plan to deal with First Wind and Qilin is still ongoing.”

Colin stood up. “But-”

Sonya held up her hand. “I understand,” she said. “Which is why I will be needing some time with dear Amos here to give him his just rewards for all of his hard work. He’s earned more than just a few new toys to play with.”

Colin visibly relaxed and sat back down. “Alright, I’d be happier if he had someone else with him, though.”

She glanced up at Amos, who looked heart-warmed by his boyfriend's sentiment, and smiled. They were sweet. She slid to her feet. “Don’t worry. I’ve got a plan.”

–

The cargo hold was not far from the Inner Circle’s lounge. It was segmented into multiple spaces of varying degrees of security. Most of it was dedicated to supplies and food for the crew and those onboard, as well as the building materials that Amos was slowly siphoning into the place with the help of her portals. He had several ongoing projects on the ship that, thanks to his dolls, were being worked on even as they stood together in the most secure part of the area. Levi had positioned himself at the door and was sitting and observing; the lazy hound didn’t like moving around very much.

Sonya whistled appreciatively as she looked over the piles of mana crystals, strange shimmering logs, and mounds of off-color ores neatly arranged around the room. She took a moment to walk around and identified a few of them. “Ironwood,” she said. “It’s been a while since I handled any of it. My knife had an ironwood handle back in the previous timeline.”

She stopped next to the ore. “Cold iron, mostly,” she said and knelt down, picking up a particularly large bluish-white lump. “Mithril,” she murmured and looked up at Amos. “I know it’s asking a lot since it's so rare, but…”

Amos was standing in the center of the room with a relaxed look on his face. He shrugged with his hands still in his coat pockets. “Sure. What do you want made?”

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“The blade was mithril,” she said quietly. “I can give you the design.”

“Nostalgic?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said and rolled the lump over in her hand. “It was a dear friend. Saved my life many times. The last time I saw it, I was pressing it against Otis’ throat as he died.”

“You watched him die? You never mentioned that,” Amos said.

“It’s my darkest memory,” Sonya said and stood up, walking over to him and putting the ore in his hand. “Everyone else on Earth was dead by that point. It was just him and me. Looking back, he was dying from internal injuries, I’m guessing. I don’t know why he wasn’t regenerating anymore.”

Amos sighed. “And the only way to test that is to recreate the circumstances,” he said with a shrug and shook his head. “I get why you didn’t bring it up. Still, it’s information I could work with, at least to help you theorize.”

“Don’t let it distract you too much; Otis isn’t my immediate concern. Just part of the final hurdle,” she said evenly. “More importantly, we need to talk about your powers.”

Amos stiffened. “You’ve been doing a lot of thinking, it sounds like,” he said, meeting her eyes.

“Yeah. I have some ideas. My instincts are telling me that I need you to feel them out. Let’s sit down,” she said and dropped to the floor, crossing her legs and holding out a hand. “Join me?”

He swallowed and sat down across from her, taking her hand. She closed her eyes and let her mind drift back into the space of her ability. Unlike her inner mindscape, where Loki and the others existed, the warehouse did not feel ‘real.’ There was no flow of air or sense of time in that place. Just a vague existence. She still didn’t fully understand its true nature, but she had to accept that it wasn’t part of the usual set of abilities that belonged to an Arbiter. That fact alone led her to an uncomfortable conclusion about what it was and why her ability wasn’t called ‘Arbiter.’ It was something she would have to confront the ghost of Pandora about eventually.

Regardless, it served her well.

She looked around the heavily stocked ‘shelves’ of the mysterious place. One round of the competition had given her so much to work with now. It gave her other ideas, thoughts about how she could capitalize on the windfall. Those ideas would have to wait for now; she had a dear friend to reward after two years of tireless service. Sonya reached out to the space and drew the strange disks that represented abilities to her hand. There were two immediately present that she thought of when she considered Amos and his powers.

She allowed herself to relax and activated Deus Ex Machina. It triggered on its own to nudge me along with Glint, but I want to give this a more personal touch, she thought as the strange sensations of the ability swept over her. Despite being hers, the power was still an enigma. It triggered on its own most of the time, and when she did activate it as a test, nothing really seemed to happen.

This time, things were a little different.

She felt a tug at her senses, faint but urgent. Her eyes drifted towards one of the shelves. A single red disk lay there, still, and, if it were possible, gathering dust. Karmic Threads was Riot’s ability, and it was a power that she had avoided playing with. Her gut told her it was a line she shouldn’t cross, that fiddling with karma was dangerous in more ways than one. Here I am thinking that, yet I left that boy to his own devices. I should have dealt with him sooner. I let my bleeding heart guide me to a poor decision after losing Nick.

The urging intensified, and she held out her hand. The disk floated to her.

Why now? She wondered but got no insight from the ability. She chuckled. And with Ishtar playing with books, I’m all alone with my thoughts. She twirled the disk. Why am I so afraid of you? Is it the moral consequence of playing with karma? Is this a line that shouldn’t be crossed? She snorted derisively. Or is that just the last bits of Farsight chafing against the villain I’ve become?

She set her jaw and crushed those doubts into powder.

If this will help him, then so be it. I’ll cross that line for my friends if it means they’ll see the end of this with me. I’ll take whatever power I can get, she thought.

<Deus Ex Machina is compatible with Karmic Threads, Efficiency Level: Perfect>

Not Regalia, not Cybernetic Paragon, not Will of the Architect, not Divine Legion. The ability that formed the umbrella above them all was proposed as a party to the merger. Greedy, aren’t you? she thought with amusement. Just like me. Alright, enjoy your feast.

The red disk cracked, fizzled, and faded into a cloud of dust. She didn’t feel the change right away. It was less of a sense of power than an expansion of her senses. An awareness that eased seamlessly into her mind, accompanying her other attributes and spreading through them. It was like pouring cool water over her mind that filled her up. A sense of wholeness, completeness. A missing piece of a puzzle. The instincts flared, and she knew.

<Deus Ex Machina has absorbed Karmic Threads. Functionality improved.>

Her eyes opened within the space, and she took it all in. Rainbow threads like bolts of lightning dancing between the hundreds of disks. Connections she hadn’t seen before. Insights, ideas, and underpinning concepts. Her powerful brain parsed through them as she gestured languidly to the first two she had thought of. One red disk, one purple. They floated over her right hand.

<War Chest and Telekinesis have been selected.>

She turned to her left hand, and two more disks appeared. Both of them were red and vaguely transparent compared to the solid ones around her. I like this feature, very nice, she thought. Let's give it a test run.

<Simulating results…>

<War Chest is compatible with Technopathy, Efficiency Level: Perfect>

<Telekinesis is compatible with Genius Level Intellect, Efficiency Level: Very High>

<Resulting ability will be incomplete. Please provide additional concepts to form a stable ability.>

Telekinesis was from one of the heroes who had made it to the top two hundred. She’d figured it would go well with Technopathy, but it seemed that it was better served to pair up with his other ability. Good stuff. Now what to add…

She let the ability spread throughout the warehouse and felt her body jerk, even in the real world. She sensed a connection form between her and Amos as those multicolored threads rushed out of her with greater intensity. The threads danced between the items in the warehouse, ricocheting like tiny bolts of electricity before more and more began to glow.

That one provides strength. Endurance there. Two have underpinning concepts that provide regeneration. That one would work well for assisting War Chest.

<Calculating optimal merger scenarios.>

The ideas kept coming, thoughts like wildfire, her brain working harder than it had in a long time. She could almost hear the ticking sound that her eyes once made when she pushed herself. It was a strain, but it was worth it. She coughed and vaguely heard Amos ask if she was okay. She forced her body to nod as she concentrated harder. Deus Ex Machina is still pretty rough on the system. It's wild to experience all my abilities acting in concert, though. Intellect, cybernetic brain, DeM, everything. It’s kind of exhilarating!

<Sixteen optimal builds found… Narrowing based on needs. Narrowed to three builds.>

List them.

<Digital Ghost. Peak-Mythic ability.>

She felt instincts well up in her for a moment, and she got the gist of what Digital Ghost was about. It was a pseudo-immortality that gave the user the ability to seamlessly control technology on a level that Technopathy couldn’t begin to touch. Amos and the internet would become one and the same.

<True Fabricator. Peak-Mythic ability.>

The instincts for this one seemed to revolve around creating things from existing matter based on a pattern in mind. It still possessed the features of Technopathy and his intellect but used War Chest as a foundation to create what amounted to a Mythic-tier 3D printer out of him. It didn’t change his body very much and was close to her Architect power.

<Cybernetic Paragon. Peak-Mythic ability.>

Sonya nearly laughed. DeM had managed to recreate her own cybernetic power perfectly. She could basically pass it down to him if she wanted. He definitely wouldn’t have a hard time surviving with it, but she wasn’t sure that was the best choice for him.

She considered the three choices for a few moments. Each had their benefits but also their drawbacks. Ultimately, she frowned a little. It didn’t seem like enough to give him for everything he’d done and accomplished for her. Just one of them wasn’t good enough. Was the karma between them that little? That’s something to think about - karma is the currency of Broker Deals. I should have realized that sooner. With the threads as part of my ability, I should be able to quantify it. She concentrated on Broker. Explain, What’s the hold up?

<Karmic debt from a previous life still exists within Party: Amos Carter. Though the timeline has changed, actions of the past still exist within memory. As such, debt remains. The debt has been offset for the sake of future repayments. Such a deal would require a full clearing of karmic debt.>

Souls retain their karmic debt from the previous timeline? She blanched. Is that because of me? Now hang on a second, he may have been kind of a dick in the past timeline, but he wasn’t that bad! Why didn’t this happen with Colin? Has he already paid his debts?

She remembered he was just part of the problem overall, another corrupt businessman. It was part of the reason why she bullied him a little when they first met. He wasn’t an agent of Otis like Colin had been. Maybe he had done something in the past timeline she wasn’t aware of. It didn’t matter. She frowned. He’s earned his pass as far as I’m concerned. Screw off with that bullshit.

<Recalculating…>

<Would you like to take on Party: Amos Carter’s previous karmic debt to facilitate a more optimal result?>

For him? Yes, she thought without hesitation.

<Recalculating… Basing results on cleared karmic debt and actions of current timeline.>

<One build found. Combining Digital Ghost, True Fabricator, Cybernetic Paragon. Simulating Merger. Selecting additional ability as a foundation for the new build.>

Huh?

An orange disk launched off one of the shelves and floated in front of her. Her eyes widened as she recognized it as one she had never dared touch. It gleamed as the simulation of mergers went through. Dozens of powers merging together before slamming into it as the new core.

<Patient Zero has been merged with Digital Ghost, True Fabricator, and Cybernetic Paragon. Absorbing Genius Level Intellect and Technopathy.>

An illusory orange disk appeared, crackling and popping with power as golden light shone out from within it. Her breath caught as the instincts of the new power rose up in her. It was perfect.

<New Primal Ability: Grey Goo>

Her eyes opened, and she met his concerned gaze. “How does becoming a walking apocalypse sound?” she asked with a grin.