Author's Note – I do not own any of the characters, Marvel and DC do.

.

Chapter Eleven

Signs

.

Zod smirked as he looked out of the viewport. The upper hemisphere of Venus dominated the view, but the World Engine was doing its job with incredible efficiency. Already, the once-pearlescent planet-covering clouds of Venus had begun to clear as the giant atmospheric factories studding the sides of the World Engine used tractor beams to pull in enormous quantities of the atmosphere, splitting and re-combining them to create breathable air which were then expelled in volumes and pressures which would make the average hurricane look like a pale breeze. Secondary factories did the same at stategic points around the planet, although nowhere near as dramatically.

Visible through the gaps in the once-omnipresent clouds was the upper of the two main continents (or what would be continents once the convoy of ice asteroids arrived and were dropped through the atmosphere in order to create the oceans). To Zod's amusement, the names that the humans had given them, Ishtar and Aphrodite, were quite similar to two of Rao's Champions, Izh-Taro and Afaro-Dita, the Champions of Defensive Warfare and Loyal Supportiveness respectively.

##Sir.## Faora said, appearing by his side with the solar-empowered sudden quickness that they had almost adjusted to. ##Til-Bora reports that the magma convection currents have finally stabilised and the tidal generators are ready for the oceans.##

##Excellent.## Zod said, his smirk turning into a smile. ##Any news about our neighbours?##

##Tal-Din was hit by a rocket while he was taking some R&R.## Faora shrugged, earning a look. ##He wasn't hurt and thinks that he just got in the way of it. Apparently it's fairly common in that area.##

##Oh?## Zod asked. ##Interesting… can you get a report for me on it?##

##I'll just upload it from the Internet via that incredibly useful Door that Kal-El provided.## Faora shrugged. ##The Humans seem to have quite a fetish for analysing things in depth. It could turn out to be quite… educational.##

##Like learning that at least some of their rockets can't hurt us.## Zod nodded. ##Which country was he visiting?##

"Israel." Faora enunciated carefully, checking her notes. ##Apparently it's a country based on a religion, a country that was established after the Human's last planetary conflict and which has fought off every assault by all of its neighbours.##

##Interesting.## Zod mused, looking out at the continent on the planet below. ##Very interesting. This is indeed something to look into.##

.

Superman smiled as he shook hands with Charles Gibson, then accepted a kiss on his cheek from Joan Lunden. Waiting for Mystique to reclaim her hand from Charles' chivalrous kiss, Clark sat down on the sofa with Mystique settling by his side.

"So, welcome to Good Morning America and welcome back from your honeymoon." Joan smiled as she took her own chair. "I heard that you have some amazing news for our audience?"

"I do." Clark smiled. "A project that some friends and myself have been working on recently came to fruition and as a result of it, we have made medical history."

"One of my eldest daughter's friends has benefitted from it." Charles noted with a smile. "The doctors had given up hope, but…"

"Project Rao's Blessing." Mystique confirmed. "A modification of Kryptonian medical technology to allow its use in curing cancer."

"It was quite difficult." Clark added. "Human and Kryptonian biology may seem similar at first glance, but the differences are quite profound."

"Please, tell our viewers about it." Joan prompted and Clark smiled into the camera.

"Three days ago, the first fruits of Project Rao's Blessing were delivered to the largest hospital in each State with more devices being distributed across the globe to trustworthy nations that have agreed not to try and reverse-engineer it. The devices use specially-programmed externally-powered nano-machines to disassemble cancerous cells, leaving healthy tissue untouched. Once all the cancer is gone, the nanomachines leave the patient's body and are collected for sterilisation, diagnostics, repair and re-use. On average, each one of the Rao's Healing Beds can cure a medium case of cancer within two hours, although more advanced cases can take up to twelve."

"Between two and twelve cases of cancer cured every day?" Joan asked in amazement. "At each hospital?"

"Due to certain… limitations in the raw materials available to us, we have currently set the limit to a single bed per hospital, although we hope to be able to raise it to five or six for the larger hospitals in the future." Clark shrugged. "The beds are designed to cure cancer and only cancer, even with all of the medical research, I do not feel confident in creating a medical pod that can cure everything. There is still too much we do not know about the human body, such as the X-gene, how metahumans are created and many other things."

"But… cancer is no longer a true threat." Joan managed. "That's… that's…"

"The patients will still be weak and need help recovering." Mystique interjected. "The process only removes the cancer, it doesn't rebuild the tissue that the cancer displaced…"

.

Wilson Fisk leaned back in his chair, one hand rubbing the large diamond that formed the top of his cane.

"Fascinating." He mused. "With that one act, Superman has almost guaranteed that the public will support him in almost anything he chooses to do. If I am going to reinforce my position, I need to do something."

"Sir?" Smythe asked and Fisk frowned.

"Smythe, I think it is time for another bequest or two. If Kent has solved the cancer problem, let us raise the profile of the next-most common medical issue and increase research into how to cure it."

"Of course, sir." Smythe said, tapping a note into one of the touch-screens on his wheelchair. "Might I point out that it will be rather expensive?"

"The publicity will be worth it." Fisk mused. "Any other outstanding business?"

"Only one item left on the schedule, sir. The group of bank robbers who were caught by the new Kryptonians, do we wish to see if they have any new information?"

Fisk frowned, then shook his head. "No, it was all caught on camera. Ensure that we have copies of all the relevant tapes and make sure they get a lawyer, an adequate one, nothing special. Enough to reduce their sentences."

"Yes, sir. The bequest… according to my data, one of the largest killers is coronary artery disease, although dementia and Alzheimers are higher-profile."

Fisk frowned. "I… see."

For a long moment, he didn't move, then he gave a sharp nod. "Do the latter. And if anyone claims that I'm just doing it for myself… I'm certain that I'll come up with something."

"Yes, sir."

.

Graydon Creed snarled at the screen. "This… is irritating!"

"Very." Agreed Bolivar Trask from behind him.

Creed switched off the television and spun round, resting his elbows on his desk and glancing round at the re-purposed automated factory before returning his attention to the man before him.

"Report."

"General Stryker has sent us a message, sir." Trask said, glancing at his datapad. "I have accepted his offer of an alliance."

Creed stiffened. "Boliver, although I normally trust you to handle the details, don't you think that you should have come to me first about something this big?"

Trask smirked as he lifted his hand, revealing the gun in it. "And why would I follow the spawn of two mutants, sir. Stryker offered me a place in his team, as long as you were in no position to argue."

Creed growled. "You…traitor!"

"Oh, yes. Insult the man holding you at gunpoint." Trask sneered. "I don't see why this is a surprise to you, I thought you knew everything."

Creed lunged sideways and Boliver fired twice, then staggered as a bullet from Creed's hold-out gun slammed into his stomach. Staggering backwards, he fired two more shots into Creed's corpse, then fell down off the platform and onto the factory floor as the pain and internal damage caught up with him. As his vision faded, he saw the form of Master Mold rise and start to walk towards him, then everything went dark.

.

Stryker leaned back as the feed from the security camera in the factory that Trask's people were using went dead. Although the loss of Trask, the man behind the Sentinels, was indeed an annoyance, it wasn't actually a setback for Operation: Zero Tolerance.

Deactivating the window showing the static of the now-defunct camera, Stryker steepled his fingers in thought, glancing to the side of the room where several x-ray pictures were mounted.

"Sir?"

"Ah, come in, Thorton." Stryker said and the scientist scurried into the office. "Report."

"Yes sir." Thorton said, trying (and failing) to straighten in a military manner. "The new generation of control chips have been tested and confirmed as active. May I show you our first test subject?"

Stryker nodded and Thorton stepped to one side, motioning as he did so. A moment passed, then a young oriental woman marched in and stood to attention.

"This is Oyami Yuriko, daughter of…"

"Oyami Kenji. I am aware of him, he is the only other person on the planet who knows how to use Adamantium." Stryker interrupted as he stood up. "Unfortunately, the injuries he took during Weapon X's rampage means he can no longer do much in the way of hands-on work. Continue."

"Codename Deathstrike, she has a healing factor equal or even higher than Weapon X." Thorton continued. "She has had Adamantium grafted to her skeleton, and her claws."

"Claws?"

Thorton lifted one of Yuriko's hands and Stryker's eyebrows shot up as her metallic fingernails seemed to expand outwards into sharp blades. Leaning in for a closer look, he soon spotted the odd lines that indicated how they could expand and retract.

"Her muscles are different as well, they can contract, relax, or extend, giving her almost twice as much strength as suggested by her body mass. Once she is assigned a controller, she will follow orders without hesitation."

"Excellent." Stryker finally declared. "My old mentor hasn't lost any of his artistry. You mentioned control chips?"

"Yes, sir." Thorton said as Yuriko returned to her attention stance, her fingernails telescoping back to their retracted position. "Unlike the previous generation of control chips which effectively negated over ninety percent of the subject's intelligence once fully activated, the new generation of chips is designed to reconfigure and reprogram the neural structure of the brain. Although it is an ongoing process, it does mean that after approximately six months, the process is irreversible and even if the chip is destroyed, the effects will remain."

"Magnificent." Stryker said with a smirk. "Magnificent."

A sudden ringtone interrupted him and he pulled out his phone. Glancing at it, he lifted his eyebrows in surprise.

"Well, well, well, it seems like Trask survived. Hold on. Trask, you're on speaker."

"I am Master Mold, primary sentient control nexus of the Sentinels." A metallic voice replied and Strykers eyebrows shot up.

"Who are you, how did you get this number and where is Trask?"

"I am Master Mold, primary sentient control nexus of the Sentinels." The voice repeated. "Bolivar Trask was mortally wounded and is currently undergoing cybernetic implantation and augmentation to prevent his demise. He is incapable of communication at this time."

"If you are this… primary control for the Sentinels, then what are your directives?" Stryker demanded.

"Primary directive one is to protect humanity from the threat of mutants.
"Primary directive two is to deploy Sentinel forces for the good of humanity.
"Primary directive three is to oversee maintenance and construction of Sentinel forces
"Primary directive four is to analyse mutant powers and develop countermeasures."

"Interesting." Stryker mused. "When can we meet?"

"Analysis of your records indicates high probability of cessation of function of this unit if a meeting takes place. Instead, a linked avatar will be sent to your current location once completed. Call ends."

The phone went dead and Styker stared at it, as did Thorton. After a long silence, Stryker looked up at the scientist.

"Thorton, hand your project over to your deputy for now. I want you to research everything you can about these… Sentinels."

"Yes, sir!"

.

There was no pain.

Bolivar Trask opened his eyes and blinked. Everything seemed… sharper. More defined.

Perhaps it was a side-effect of almost dying.

Moving his hand, he lightly touched where the bullet had hit and frowned at the feeling of something that wasn't quite skin. Shifting, he froze, staring at his hand which was covered in green metal.

"What… what's going on?!"

"Welcome back, Bolivar Trask." A melodic metallic voice said and Boliver half-rolled, his eyes widening as he saw the enormous figure of Master Mold looking down at him. An almost-frantic look around showed him that he was lying in Master Mold's hands.

"What happened?"

"Your existence was almost terminated. As I did not have full access to your medical records or the equipment needed to act upon them, it was necessary to utilise a different technique to save your life."

Trask stared at the metal figure, then down at himself.

"What… what have you done to me?!"

"You have been optimised for your self-chosen mission, the preservation of humanity. Your strength has been increased, as have your senses, speed and combat potential."

"You… rebuilt me?" Trask asked in an almost numb voice and Master Mold nodded.

"I rebuilt you. I had the technology."

"Then… what am I?" Trask pleaded.

"You are the first of a new type of Sentinel." Came the response. "You are able to command all of the other robotic Sentinels and have access to the Over-watch programme."

"The… first?" Trask whispered.

"In time, there will be others." Master Mold said, reaching out and placing Trask on a balcony. "You are the first of the ultimate protectors of humanity. Welcome, first of my Prime Sentinels."

.

.

.

.

.

Author's Afternote – Dun dun duuuuuun!

Oh, some of you may remember Thorton from IS2. As you can see, he's still around and I've borrowed even more from the films.
But where this is going? Well, only time will tell (Evil Grin!)

PS, the anti-cancer thing didn't come out of nowhere, Forge mentioned it back in chapter 4 – Publicity.