My laboratory complex was far too small for my needs, I reflected. Hephaestion's creation had required nearly an entire lab's worth of space, and there were only fifty rooms throughout the complex, including the bedroom I had woken up in.
Not nearly enough room. I'd need at the bare minimum dozens of rooms just for the Genesis Chambers, and then much, much more if I ever intended to start building other things like vehicles or space-faring ships.
That's not entirely something I didn't expect. At the scale my plans reach, this extradimensional base was only ever going to be a stopgap. A place to begin construction of the earliest projects, such as my elite servants or my personal armaments.
The Legio Hetairoi—or the Legion of Companions—was already well on its way creation. Thirty-three Genesis Chambers had been built following Hephaestion's awakening, enough to form three squads of ten, plus a captain for each group. The process had already been activated and artificially accelerated, and now was only waiting on me to create their minds and finalize the procedure. Thirty-three identical sets of golden armor identical to Hephaestion's likewise awaited their awakening, having been created from nothing using Psychokinesis.
Their weapons were to be slightly more varied. Eleven spears, eleven greatswords, and eleven warhammers. All had been built in the same manner as Hephaestion's, monomolecular edges for the bladed weapons, made from psychoreactive proto-adamantium, with one addition. Power fields capable of disrupting molecular bonds, a staple of weaponry in the 41stmillennium.
Since these lesser Companions would be lacking Sting as an offensive tool, the power fields generated by their weapons would grant them the necessary cutting power to easily sheer through even the toughest armor. A necessary alteration in my eyes unless I wished to grant Sting to every individual member of the Hetairoi.
'No. Let that be unique to the Captain General,'I decided.
The construction of their minds was a relatively simple affair. I simply took the mind I had constructed for Hephaestion, cut down some of the more developed personality traits to give each Companion room to grow into a unique individual, and then gave them a fierce loyalty to their Captain-General in addition to their loyalty to myself.
A quick application of psychic power saw all of the currently created Hetairoi awoken, and a second application granted them all psychic powers of their own. I activated the finalization on all Genesis Chambers, turning to Hephaestion as they began the process of releasing their occupants.
"Captain-General, see to those under your command. Assign leadership positions to three individuals to take roles as captains. Get everyone equipped and attuned to their equipment. You may utilize Laboratories 47, 48, and 49 to acclimate them. Have them test their gear and spar with one another until you are satisfied. When you are sufficiently confident in their abilities, contact me and I will provide you passage to Brockton Bay, where you will begin your first task in my name. "
Hephaestion dropped to one knee, slamming a fist into the floor, bowing his head. I dug into my mental library and retrieved the memories I had taken from Lung, in particular his knowledge of the ABB's infrastructure and membership. As I gave him his orders, I pushed the information into his mind.
"You will dismantle the ABB. You are to hunt down their powered members, Oni Lee and Bakuda, and kill them. Then you will use the knowledge I have imparted on you to find their establishments and destroy them. Procure a phone as you do so, and use it to contact the local authorities, directing them both to the members of the organization, and to the victims of the ABB's sex rings. Come morning tomorrow, I want them eradicated."Hephaestion's helmet bobbed in understanding.
"It will be done. May I ask your plans in the interim, my Emperor?" He asks. I found myself pleased that he was independent enough and confident enough to do so without trepidation.
"I'll be paying a visit to an old friend, of sorts. Someone I know and wish to do a kindness for. Contact me again when your task is completed, and I will return you here."
"I understand, my Emperor. All will be as you have asked." Hephaestion's response was full of warmth, as if speaking to a dear friend. I felt a surge of affection for him. I turned from him and held up an armored arm, gesturing to the empty space in front of me.
With a wholly unnecessary gesture, I shattered the fabric of space and vanished from the dimension.
--
Taylor
Taylor's bus ride home was full of sadness, anger, and disappointment. She had really wanted to believe that her childhood's friend sudden change of heart was genuine. That she was regretting turning on Taylor, and truly felt guilty for how she had begun to treat her.
It had been a blissful two weeks of having her friend back. Taylor had felt like a child once more, swept up in Emma's magnetic personality, as she had suddenly been included in all manner of activities. They had gone shopping together, eaten with one another, and had even had a sleepover together—the first since before Taylor's mother's passing. It felt surreal, and wonderful. Like a dream.
Taylor had almost believed it to be real.
There had been that niggling doubt in the back of her mind however, that pessimistic voice that proclaimed that it was merely a ploy. A sham designed to lull her into a false sense of security. Taylor had gone into these situations warily, but as time went on, she had begun to feel bad for suspecting Emma of such duplicity when she was trying to turn over a new leaf. But the doubt remained.
And today, Emma had abruptly shown her true colors. Taylor rubbed her forehead reproachfully. It was still sore from where she had slammed it into the interior wall of her locker.
She had not been expecting it at all when she was roughly shoved into it by Sophia. Sophia had seemingly begrudgingly accepted her presence with Emma and her friends, not exactly welcoming, but not hostile either. Her silent presence was something Taylor had begun to grow accustom to, even if the two of them rarely spoke to one another.
Through the tiny slats of her locker door, she could just barely make out the looks on their faces after the fact. Sophia looked pissed off, but then that wasn't exactly uncommon. Emma just looked confused and disappointed for some reason. Taylor had briefly held out hope that Emma wasn't party to this particular act of bullying, and that she might intervene to help.
And then Emma tossed her hair, huffed, and strutted off laughing with Sophia.
She had spent nearly forty minutes trapped in it, no one bothering to try and help her by retrieving a faculty member. She had only managed to escape due to a dazed looking janitor stumbling by, muttering something about gold. Taylor had managed to call out and grab his attention, and he had unlocked the door using a one key on a ring of several dozen, eyes still unfocused.
Taylor had considered going to class for all of around four seconds before storming out of Winslow and catching a bus back to her house. She was sure that her face was streaked with angry tears, but she couldn't find it in herself to care. Under all the tumultuous emotions she was feeling, she mostly just felt empty. Hollow.
Deep down, she had expected things to go this way. It just felt awful. Two weeks of spending time with her, being her friend again, giving Taylor the tiniest bit of hope that she could have her best friend back, and for what? A juvenile prank? Pushing her into a locker? It was petty. Honestly, Taylor found herself somewhat disappointed by the uncreativeness of it, even if she knew she shouldn't be.
The bus dropped her off a short walk from her house, and she was home without even realizing she had arrived, as absorbed in thought as she was. She unlatched the front door and stepped in, letting her bag fall from her shoulder down her arm as she stepped through the living room into the kitchen.
It had taken her a little under an hour to get home, and it was now around the time that she would typically eat lunch at school, and there was no reason to let her prepared meal go to waste, leaden as her stomach was feeling.
She reached into her bag to dig out her wrapped sandwich but froze as she noticed the figure sitting at her kitchen table.
He was huge. Probably close to seven feet tall standing up by her estimation, with dark hair even longer than hers, encircled by a laurel wreath that looked to be made of solid gold. He had bronzed skin, and warm golden eyes that Taylor was fairly sure were emitting light. Wearing a very expensive looking black suit trimmed with gold filagree, and an undershirt in the same golden color, he was extremely out of place looking in her small, shoddy kitchen.
Taylor took a hesitant step back, but the man just smiled warmly at her.
"Hello Taylor, it's nice to finally meet you in person."
Taylor stood stock still, unsure of how to respond. How is one meant to react to an obvious parahuman having broken into their house? Or sitting at their kitchen table as comfortably as if they lived there?
"I don't—who are you? What are you doing in my house? Are you a—" Taylor began rattling off her most pressing concerns, but the man silenced her with a raised hand. Taylor's mouth snapped shut.
"Let's deal with those a few questions at a time, yes?" He asked genially, a hint of laughter in his voice. His molten eyes danced with amusement, and despite herself, Taylor felt herself relax slightly. He didn't seem immediately hostile at least.
"As for who I am, you can call me Revelation. It's the name I've currently decided to go by," He told her. A fairly obvious cape name. So why was he sitting here in casual clothes, completely unmasked? Why out himself to her?
"The question of why I'm here, however, is a tad bit more complicated." He smiled at her as he said it, as if seeking to ward off any fearful speculation on the subject. Taylor waited, still somewhat wary.
"I'm someone who wishes to change the world, Taylor. This world is sick and dying. Monsters, both human and otherwise plague it, pulling it down into an ever-darker spiral towards destruction. I want to stop that downward spiral and bring humanity back to its natural state: ascending ever higher through tenacity and human ingenuity. Through hard-work and cooperation. A resurgence of humanity's true potential."
Despite her apprehension, Taylor found herself struck by these words. Something about them resonated deeply within her, and the conviction with which Revelation delivered them made her certain he believed them with all his heart. He had a vision of humanity that he desperately wished to see to fruition.
"I've already taken steps towards making my dream for humanity a reality, Taylor." He looked her directly in the eye as he said it, and she felt her legs wobble at the intensity in that stare, "and I would like to offer you the power to take part in Humanity's ascension."
Taylor's brow furrowed in confusion.
"Offer me power? What do you mean? And take part how?" Revelation's smile widened.
"What else could I mean, Taylor? Powers."
Taylor felt as if her heart had just skipped a beat, and she suddenly found her mouth very dry. She had always been interested in capes, and how long had she fantasized about having powers herself? The answer was a bit embarrassing honestly, the subject having been a source of daydreams for years and years of her life.
"You—you can give people—me—powers?" Taylor stuttered, very much overwhelmed by the idea.
"I can. I intend to uplift humanity and guide it to a glorious future. But I'll need help. People who believe in my cause. People with strong wills and kind hearts. I think you're one of those people," He said, his smile fading as he stared off into the distance.
"I've seen the future Taylor. A future where you gained powers naturally, and using them, you saved the world. You saved countless lives but committed many atrocities to do so. You were not a villain, but nor were you a hero. You were a savior, who sacrificed everything to save humanity." Revelation stood, and stepped away from the table towards the window, gesturing out of it.
"You saved everyone you could and secured a future for everyone that remained. And yet, at the end, you were filled with only regret. Regret, that in victory, you had given up too much. You believed you made too many compromises and sacrificed too many people, that you had not done enough to preserve your own ideals. You wished to go back, and to do it again, differently. I want to save you from becoming that person."
Taylor listened breathlessly. This all seemed impossible, and yet she felt compelled to believe it. His voice was thick with sorrow—sympathy for this future version of herself—that seemed too real to be put on. Even his first words to her. It's nice to meet youin person, as if he had already met her in a different way. She searched his face, looking for any sign of deceit, but instead found something else entirely.
Tears. Unshed tears in his eyes. For her.
Taylor felt as if her throat had a lump of steel trapped in it. She couldn't even remember the last time anyone had looked at her like that. The last time someone had cared enough about her to cry for her. It would have been before her mother's death. Her cheeks suddenly felt wet. Revelation turned back towards her, stepping closer.
"That's my purpose in being here, Taylor. To offer you the chance to help me save humanity. Help me turn this ugly world into a beautiful one. Accept my gift and join my cause." Revelation held out his hand, as if offering it to her, and in it, a bright golden mote of light erupted in his palm.
"I can give you the power to change the world, Taylor, and to save yourself. All you have to do, is accept it." Taylor looked at the light—the power—with awe. She wanted to take it. She wanted to be part of this man's plans for the future.
She wanted to help him save the world.
Taylor looked into the Revelation's eyes, still leaking tears even as he smiled at her.
She reached out and took his hand.