Chapter 11: Enhancement I

"Queen, how is the prototype?" Richard asked, ensuring that everything was going well.

[I don't think you are using the word 'prototype' correctly here. However, it is complete. Gene conditioning and basic body frame are done. All is complete.] Queen answered as a section on the floor of the workshop opened up to reveal a massive glass container holding a strange metallic human skeleton.

"The product cost $200,000... If this doesn't work, Queen, I want you to bury Klaue's entire operation, burn it all to the ground, and make sure he remains alive to watch it all burn," Richard said, remembering how much money he had spent on acquiring a few grams of a certain metal.

[Unfortunately, the odds are in his favor if that is the only condition provided.]

"Hmm… then I'll just destroy it later on and get my money back. The odds will then be against him."

[Whatever suits you. Should I begin preparation for transfer?]

"Yes, please, and also prepare the life cradle."

[Would do.]

With Queen's reply, Richard took a deep breath and ran multiple simulations of what was about to happen to ensure that the odds were in his favor.

He didn't want to end up like the Lizard or any comic book villain who was once a scientist.

He was patient enough to run the simulations and wait for results; the rat was still okay after an entire 18 hours.

"Lord, see me through this," Richard prayed as he started walking down to an underground section of his workshop.

The workshop was small for everything he had created to fit there, so this space was born. The underground space wasn't all that big, but it was big enough for everything Richard owned.

Ignoring all the world-bending inventions he had created, Richard walked straight to the life cradle, which was more like a high-tech bed than a cradle.

The life cradle's function was simple: keep him alive and, if possible, heal him. The first human it was used on was Aunt Grace, aka Uncle Jon's wife.

It utilized specialized nanobots the size of a virus to perform treatments on people, and 99.9% of the time, the illness plaguing the person was cured; for the 0.1 percent, you needed to get yourself to the grave quick because only a miracle could save you.

[What do I tell your mother in case you don't wake up on time?] Queen asked.

"The procedure shouldn't take that long, but if it does exceed the three (3) hour mark, load my memory file into one of my back ups," Richard replied.

[I will try my best,] Queen answered as Richard took a deep breath, then wore a specially designed helmet and laid down on the life cradle.

[Are you ready?]Queen asked, and Richard nodded, even though his heart was nearly flying out of his chest.

[Synchronization successful… Soul cloning in progress... Preparing soul transfer] Queen said amongst other things as Richard blacked out, leaving everything in the hands of God.

Richard had spent the past two months quantifying the mysterious existence called a soul. As someone whose soul was transferred from his universe to this one, he believed that it was possible and had only found it to be the solution to his problem at the park before his meeting with the X-Men.

Quantifying an existence that people weren't even sure existed was incredibly different, and this was coming from a man who had access to the knowledge of hundreds of people.

Richard wouldn't blow his own horn, but at this point, he was knowledgeable about every field of work in life; some he was top-tier in, and some were just meh… but it didn't remove the fact that he knew them.

Creating an algorithm that symbolizes the soul was different; then came the problem of finding a way to transfer it from one body to another without corrupting it. After weeks of work, Richard finally achieved it, and here he was.

Queen meticulously watched the transfer; after all, the being undergoing the process was her master or father if you recognized her as a living being.

Due to the difference in both essence and size of soul between a rat and a human, the procedure required way more energy than what Richard had used previously, but thankfully, the workshop was powered by a mini-sun, aka a stable nuclear fusion reactor.

[Transfer in progress… 85%...90%…. awakening new body,] Queen said as the metallic skeleton in the massive container suddenly came to life as Richard's soul was downloaded into it.

[Soul transfer completed…. Releasing nanocytes,] Queen said as a strange liquid was released into the container.

The liquid quickly filled the entire container, but in the next second, it began to reduce at extreme speeds.

It was as though something was draining the liquid from the container; as soon as the liquid stopped flowing into the containment unit, it was immediately drained dry, leaving the entire unit looking as though nothing had entered it, with the exception of the skeleton which had somehow grown skin.