Chương 97: Chapter 97 : After-N.O.W.H.E.R.E. Log
[Author note : Sorry about the late chapter, guys ! I had a rather long and tiring week and I haven't had time to write the new chapters for Patréon. As usual, if you're interested in supporting my work, want to read ahead or have a look at my other stories, please check out my Patréon page (e instead é). Search for Cathbel on the website.
Squib who became Iron Lad : 10 chapters ahead.
Marvel - the Author : Up to chapter 5.
Please, leave a stone, a review or a comment. Enjoy !]
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It's been a while since I've done one of those things. And a lot's changed for me and mine. The most obvious being… My body's MIA, taken over by an entity with a nefarious purpose for our world. Not to mention what it's doing to my body. I can't even fathom what it's done to it by now… It probably turned it into something more mechanical than organic. Is it more Robocop and Darth Vader or Adam Jensen and V ? Either way, there's no telling how or even if I'll manage to get back my body. And if I did… Would I even be able to get back into it ? What about the mind already present in it ?
Is there even a mind left to speak of, even ? Or has the Rithm completely overwritten it ? That's actually one of my big fears about this whole situation… On the one hand, I'm terrified that there's nothing left of myself in my original body. Neither the organic, nor the mental. On the other, what if there were two of me ?
Beyond the philosophical question of whether or not I can live with myself, if there was two minds, and only one body, how would it work ? I tried to put myself in my body's shoes and… No matter how I slice it, if I were him, I think I'd consider myself like THE Ned and I'd view the other like a pale copy or a spare. Then again, maybe not. Intellectually, I'd know that this persona was me.
Anyways ! There are also the consequences of the current situation on my family. Although my parents try not to show it, they are devastated and confused. Despite Winston's explanations, I'm not sure they are entirely aware of what a tech spirit (and therefore I) is. What they know is that their son, their real flesh and blood has gone away after a long and rather pervasive decline of his cognitive functions. They witnessed a little bit of the fight between Ned and his tech spirit children… Were they able to understand that it was necessary and the only way for them to save my mind ? I can't tell.
Susan, my sister, has been made aware of the situation by now. Last time I talked to her, she wanted to come back home but I told her to focus on her fashion business… She struggled to set herself a small niche of wealthy clientele. I'd rather she didn't lose any opportunity to visit when there's nothing it would accomplish anyway. Obviously though, that's not something I told her…
I've also notified Jasmine. Until I have a body that somewhat resembled my former self, I can't exactly show myself to my employees or clients. Meaning talk shows, business and employee meetings… She'll have to represent me during those for now. No matter, she already was fulfilling a great deal of these functions since the deterioration of my mind started.
Now, I'm back home, working on righting what Metal-Ned and the fight with my children had broken which was… Basically everything. I have no armor anymore… I think that's what got me the most. They were… a part of me ! I mean, sure, the loss of my body was devastating by itself but losing at the same time my armors ? My second skin ?
I spent hundreds, if not thousands of hours working on them ! The smithing techniques honed with the goblins, the technomancy I designed from scratch, the inspiration both from the Wizarding World, this reality's technology and my former life's fictional ideas… Even though, by now I knew that they were the reason behind my situation. Despite it all, I still feel… naked, unprotected.
Because indeed, the Rithm used the legilimency functions in the armor to interface directly with my body and prepare it for the takeover… I knew that (for a while even) but still ! They were my babies ! Like Mel, Winston, Symmetra, Bastion and Sombra were my babies ! Except that they have a mind of their own, of course.
Now, let's talk about N.O.W.H.E.R.E… After the fall of the organization and the supposed death of Harvest, the Teen Titans, the Lost Legion and Overwatch separated. The Lost Legion was still looking for a way home. Their knowledge of the future and presence here was dangerous for the timeline, according to them. Not to mention, they didn't want to be here. Their lives were in the future. Their friends, families, lovers… Here, at best they were intruders, at worst, they could become threats. Or targets.
The Teen Titans, left to look for intel on what 'Metal-Ned' was going to do. At least, according to Robin. But the truth was… I kind of burned my bridges with the teen heroes. My treatment of Kid Flash and Solstice's training, the shiftiness when I was asked about my biological body's whereabouts and plans. It had all led to the young heroes to part from me. Even Superboy, though for a different reason…
The clone was looking for Supergirl who had been missing ever since Harvest and Omen captured the group. Although you couldn't say they were truly related, part of the half-Kryptonian's DNA was her cousin's, so… Maybe he felt like he had to act.
In other, more fun news, I've played my heart's content with the technopathy aspect of my new status ! As expected, Winston had nothing to do with that and was even surprised about it. Pleasantly surprised. He almost went mad scientist on me trying to figure out how it was possible… He scared me a bit, actually. I even wondered if he wasn't about to pry my new body open to get at my phylactery…
Personally, I think that my original body's connection to the Metal played a big role, here. As for whether or not Sombra's intervention had anything to do with it ? Perhaps, in part. Maybe it was actually a combination of Sombra's scan of my mind while I was influenced by the Metal (but not yet completely taken over), and also the fact that she directly saved my mind's data on the phylactery she was carrying on her. Then again, I could be wrong and it could come from something else…
It's not an exact science after all. Not right now, anyway. There's too many unknowns involved in the creation of tech spirits. Actually, he wonders even if I can be still considered like the tech spirit version of Edgar Stark, or if I am an entity all his own. As I said, there are too many mysteries behind the birth of a tech spirit.
Back to my technopath's powers… They will be useful for my work. In addition to processing information faster, the ability to assemble parts the way my mind imagines it… Well, it's simply invaluable ! Sometimes, when two parts are not exactly fitting, my mind simply mold them so they can fit each other. It also allows me to forego the use of heavy machinery. Simply put, now I am a human-sized factory. I can act and operate as a computer, manipulate and assemble parts with my mind…
Needless to say that when I think of just this, my new status is quite the exciting prospect. And then… I think of the pleasures of the flesh. Until I create the technomancy, I won't be able to taste anything, my sense of touch will be dull, if not non-existent. The smell : same. As would be all my senses, except for sight… Maybe.
So, here's yet another project for me to work on. Perhaps make it a priority even… If I can't get my hands back on my body, or if the mind inside rejects me, I will need a body able to feel things. My children's body, despite being very advanced, isn't exactly on the level of a human body in sensitivity. Let's work on that, shall we ?
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