Location: Godhome
Elijah was currently up to his neck in a strange water like fluid, but it wasn't water exactly, he wasn't sure what it was. The Godseekers had all but pushed him into the pool, he had to admit though, it did feel nice. The Godseekers gathered around him in silence, save for the tallest amongst them.
"Oh mighty servant, please, tell thee thy ills, it is the wish of thee for thy swift recovery from such grievous wounds of the mind" The Godseeker said genuinely.
Elijah sighed "I wasn't expecting a trip to the therapist, in my dreams no less" Elijah stated semi comically.
"We shudder to think what has caused such scars upon such a mighty servant as thyself, the memories thou gave us did not tell the full tale" The Godseeker stated.
"Why do you keep calling me that?" Elijah asked.
"Call thou what? Oh mighty servant of the gods?"
"That, servant of the gods? What gods?" Elijah asked, genuinely confused.
"Ahh... So thou are still as of yet unaware of the position thou holds? Let thee explain mighty servant, then we shall return to thy… therapy" The Godseeker stated.
"Very well" said Elijah.
"Thy species are but the servants of the gods, the many higher beings that dot many lands. Though thy species at many times resist, once bound, the god they are bound to grow mightier, the… human… along with them. The Godseeker explained.
"Truly thy kind are blessed beyond measure, oh mighty servant. What we would not give for such a gift" The Godseeker said in near reverence.
"Well, my powers were gained… a bit differently" Elijah stated.
The Godseeker tilted her head at him, curiosity emanating from her.
"May thou enlighten us on how thou gained thy divine might?" The Godseeker asked.
"This gets into… those memories I shared with you earlier…"
"Fear not mighty servant, we are ready to help thou heal"
Elijah breathed in deeply, then exhaled.
"Ah… long… long time ago, long before any of you were born, I was but a child born to a poor family in the streets of a place known at the time as New York City" Elijah explained, the Godseekers leaning in closer to hear as much as they could of the story of such a powerful servant.
"My parents died when I was eleven, making me an orphan in the streets"
Disgust radiated off the Godseekers.
"Is there something you wish to say?" Elijah asked.
"I apologize mighty servant, the thought of any kingdom squandering thy kind and thy kind's connection to the divine makes thee feel a deep burning rage" The Godseeker explained.
"Well… this was… a long time ago, before bugs built kingdoms, it was my kind that ruled the globe" Elijah explained.
"Does thou mean to say that thy kind are… the ancients?" The Godseeker asked bewildered.
"Ancients?" Elijah asked.
"The beings responsible for the many seemingly impossible ruins through out the land" Godseeker explained. Presenting Elijah with images from their memories of various ruins, while Elijah had never been to most of these places, they were American cities. Elijah was shown many photos and videos of the outside world… well, at least when Jackson was in charge.
"Yea, that would be us" Elijah stated.
"What… laid low such a mighty civilization, if thy kind could make one? The Godseeker asked, Elijah was surprised about how well she was taking this. Shouldn't this conflict with her religious doctrine or something?
"From what I know, ourselves, there was a very, very large scale war. Involving the most powerful nations in the world. Eventually they used a weapon known as a nuclear bomb, you don't know what that is, and I am not going to go into how it works, but just know that it scorched the landscape, leaving it uninhabitable to my kind for many generations" Elijah explained, the Godseekers listening intently.
"From what I know, at least twelve billion of my kind burned in atomic fire, bringing an end to the world as mankind had known it. I should note, I have been in a stasis for a long time, I had only just recently awoken" Elijah said solemnly
The Godseekers were silent for a time, processing this new information.
"Mighty servant, we the Godseekers must ask that thou never speak of this in the presence of a mighty void god… they would go mad in grief" The Godseeker said solemnly.
"I am pleased that you believe me, and are not calling me a heretic"
"By the gods, no, it is merely information we had yet to learn oh mighty servant. Thy kind's status as most esteemed servants, and in some cases children, of the higher beings may not have always been so, but it is now."
"Children?" Elijah asked, confused.
"Now is the time of healing, mighty servant, tell us thy ails, we will tell thou of the gods at a later date"
"Where should I start?" Elijah asked.
"We suggest that thou begin at how thou became interned at that most unholy place"
"Right, that place was known as Black Site 492, it was a psionics testing facility. I was taken there when I was… what… about eleven, before you ask, no, there was nothing special about me, it was mostly just that I was a poor orphan, who would miss me if I disappeared?" Elijah said, Elijah's description of pre war humanity oddly strengthening their beliefs.
"It was okay at first, my handlers tried to make me feel at home, the staff would educate us, play games with us, you know, normal kid things. I had friends, people to talk to, way to satiate my curiosity. Of course there were the genetic modifications that gave me my powers… but other than that, it was a normal life, if a bit… sterile and enclosed" Elijah said, lending against the edge of the pool.
"What changed oh mighty servant" The Godseeker asked. She was curious, it made sense that beings with as powerful of souls as humanity would eventually try to tap into it themselves in the absence of higher beings. Though 'psionics' is a rather strange name for it. Hopefully the Mighty Servant would accept his new role the divine had given his kind.
"The leadership of the program got replaced. After that, I and my fellow subjects were just that, test subjects. The experiments became… brutal…. My friends… they didn't make it….."
The Godseekers noticed a spike of anguish and distress in the Mighty Servant, their minds rushing to sooth his. It took a few moments, but the Mighty Servant finally calmed down.
"I'm sorry, its just-"
"Do not apologize for thy pain mighty servant, it is a miracle thou are as well put together as thou are" The Godseeker said sympathetically.
Elijah sighed "I suppose that they did achieve what they wanted with me, according to a few sources, I might have very well been the most powerful human psyker produced… well… ever, by that facility, or at least close to it"
"So that is why we were drawn in by thy presence. We do not mean to be presumptuous mighty servant, but would thou like to witness the battles of gods to better understand the world as it evolved in thy absence?"
"I assume you would like my help in your… attunement?" Elijah asked.
"Only if thou are ready for such a task mighty servant, thou still need thy time to recover from thy mental scars"
"What would it entail?" Elijah asked
"Our mind is vast like a sea, but… unfocused. We would asked that thou use thy power to assist us in keeping focus, and better attune"
"If you wouldn't mind, may I… well…. Try now, just to see?"
"Very well mighty servant, when thou are ready"
Elijah expanded his mind's reach, encompassing every nearby Godseeker he could find. Then, like rope, tightened, pulling their mind's together as close as he could, the vast sea turning to a ball of ice.
The Godseekers have never felt so… so… attuned, yes, yes this servant was mighty, they could be the key to their future attunement. They would need to keep him hidden from the gods however, a void god would just snatch them up, and take them to their Abyss in their loving tendrils and arms. The nightmare gods would make him a member of their troupe. The dream gods making him a powerful elder, with the soul gods making him a powerful noble.
They would have to give up his location if one of them ever found out about their presence. Maybe the Mighty Servant would resist, it would be futile, even with this great power he wields, there would be even stronger higher beings that would seek him.
Suddenly Elijah let go, the Godseekers' collective mind returning to a disorganized yet serene sea.
"Did… did I do well?" Elijah asked cautiously… he could almost feel the long healed wounds he would receive if he failed.
"Thou… thou were most excellent oh mighty servant, but it is time for thou to continue thy rest. Would thou like to continue revealing secrets of thy past until thou wakes?"
"I-... I think I would like that" Elijah said.
So they would continue talking, Elijah talking about some of his good memories, and some of the bad. The Seekers always there to help calm him down on particularly touchy subjects. Elijah did enjoy talking about his happy moments, like his greatest feat, which was pulling a Chinese spy satellite from low Earth orbit. Granted he had the help of powerful amplifiers, but still.
Eventually he would wake up, but until then, he would make the most of this weird dream bug thing therapy session.
Location: Pale Palace
The regular was jumping wall to wall as silently as he could. Summer kept her eyes close so that the yellow light that they emit would not alert the various guards lurking about.
Summer was afraid, she couldn't see a thing and it scared her. But the idea that opening her eyes and putting her and mister in more danger scared her more. Sometimes she would hear a sickening crack sound, signifying a guard being given a long nap. That's what Mister had called it. Summer wished she could take a nap, but she couldn't, she needed to hang onto Mister's back. Mister had promised to get them out of this scary place, and maybe even find their family and the rest of the tribe. They would be strong for Mister, so that she could see mommy, daddy, and Corona again.
The regular was calm and collected. These bugs were fucking ametures, seriously, how do you not notice so many guards just disapearing? He would sneak up behind them, which is impressive considering he was 6'5, and these guards only seemed to make it up to about 4'7 at their tallest. He was like a giant to them, and yet his skills, or maybe the guards incompetence… or both, allowed him to get in close and snap their necks clean off before they even noticed.
The regular was glad the kid's eyes were closed, she really did not need to see this. He hoped that maybe they could at the very least bring the kid back to the Bunker if they couldn't find her parents, at the very least she could be taken care of, Their monarchs have the carrying capacity to transport over quadruple the amount of personnel the expedition came with. There would be more than enough room for her.
The regular cautiously tried to open another door, it was locked. The regular looked around the room, and saw a few windows. He walked over to one of them. It appeared that he was on the second floor. The regular contemplated his next actions carefully. If he busted open the door, it would likely alert the guards who would sound the alarm, but… if he broke the window… he could get away quickly…. It was his best bet.
The regular quickly hid the bodies in the room before this one. Then went back towards the window.
"Okay Summer, I am about to do something very dangerous, but it's our best bet, keep your eyes closed, and hold on tight" The regular ordered in a whisper.
"Okay Mister" Summer responded.
The regular took a running start and quickly burst through the window, plummeting to the ground in a thunk. His exoskeleton shock absorbers as well as his superhuman endurance making the landing relatively easy for him. However he has a kid on his back.
"You alright Summer?" The regular asked, as he ran towards a nearby stone.
"Yes… Mister… just sore" She said a bit groggily.
"Good, good" The regular said, as he tossed the stone through the now broken window, and ran off away from the palace, and into the city that surrounded it, caving the heads of a few guards around the palace grounds along the way.
"What in the Queen's name was that noise!" Yelled a great mantis guard, storming into the room, to find it absent of its guard, and its window broken and a stone on the floor. Someone had vandalized the Queen's own palace, and the guards were slacking off!
He'd have to write a report on this. He grumbled and left the way he came in. Luckily for the escapees, he failed to check the room where the regular hid all the corpses.