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DEPLOYING_MEDICAL_AID_NOW

AID_TAKING_AFFECT

CONTAMINANT_NEUTRALIZED

WARNING:GENETIC_DAMAGE_DETECTED. DAMAGE CANNOT BE FIXED WITH CURRENT TECHNOLOGY, SOLUTION WILL TAKE SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF TIME TO SYNTHESIZE. FURTHER INPUT NEEDED.

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When I came to, the first thing I noticed was that I was apparently in a void. Then I noticed that I was staring at six different lights: one for each genesis type, plus a white light.

Looks like the crogenitors wanted to talk to me again.

"So, it seems that you succeeded," began Ingto, who was trying to hide the respectful tone in his voice.

"You're welcome. Though, I just want to know something. Three things, actually."

"As you helped us, we will answer any of your questions," replied Zelem.

"Alright. So, how did you know any other universes existed?"

"...Well, we were curious," responded Zelem. "We doubted that our universe was the only one to exist. We wanted to see if there were others, so we began investing resources into building machines that could 'tunnel' between universes. Some wanted these resources to be funneled toward travelling toward other galaxies, but they ultimately couldn't win the funding and were ignored.

"Eventually, we were rewarded and entered other universes, encountering strange beings. Some were peaceful, others warlike, and we responded based on how we were treated. We followed what you would call 'the golden rule' toward these other civilizations.

"When the Darkspore beat us back to Infinity and Perceptum, we realized that we could not win on our own. Therefore, we consulted with our allies to see if any would help us. However, we discovered that our allies were gone, lost to the ravages of time during the war: some had been wiped out by stellar catastrophes in their home universes, others conquered by rivals. Only STEVE remained, and the rest is history."

"I see. Next question: Who is Steve? What is he?"

"...Um...well,"

"Funny you should ask," replied a familiar voice.

Turning toward the sound, I found myself staring, to my surprise, at another human. He had blond hair, piercing grey eyes, and was undeniably attractive... no homo, okay?

Wow. I thought he'd look different.

"So, you're Steve..."

"Indeed I am."

"...

"I assume you expected something different, didn't you?"

"Very much so."

"Well, I get that a lot. Most people are surprised to find out that, behind the ship and unimaginable powers, I'm human."

"yeah...WAIT WHAT!? YOU'RE HUMAN?!"

"Indeed. And since you asked, I'll tell you about my origins.

"I take it the crogenitors told you they found other civilizations when they crossed universes, didn't they?"

"Well, yes..."

"Well, it's funny, but the first race they encountered ended up being mankind."

"...seriously?"

"Yes. Apparently the multiverse regards mankind as a race to shower with both praise and blame however it sees fit, so we tend to get both great boons and great suffering. Any ways, when the crogenitors met us, they gave us powerful machines, which we perfected to suit our needs. Now, don't get me wrong, we don't beat the crogenitors in everything, just in the places we chose to specialize. As for me, well, I was one of the people who worked on those machines. I kept improving them mostly so that they could let us understand the universe better, which, ultimately, turned me into what could best be described as a god. Now I use my powers to shepherd others across the multiverse to greatness."

"Ooookkaaaayyyy...wait. I have a question for the Crogenitors."

"Okay," responded Suzu, "shoot."

"You said that you asked Steve to send me to your universe to fight the Darkspore, right?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Because he didn't send me here."

They all went quiet the minute they heard that. Somehow, even though I was essentially dreaming and therefore couldn't feel anything, I felt the room temperature drop a couple of degrees as the realization hit the Crogenitors.

"...WHAT!?"

"Steve didn't send me here. I found some strange sort of box in the ruins of the Grox capital, it showed me some funny vision, and when I woke up, it had given me the schematics for some kind of scanner that, apparently, caused my dimension gate to send me to this universe."

"...Are there any more of these boxes?"

"Yes. I found one in an abandoned dig site on Scaldron."

"Oh... that dig site."

"...Alright, spill."

"We discovered something that was emitting strange signals underneath the surface of Scaldron. When we investigated the source, we found a strange looking machine inside. It appeared to be an engine of war. Based on the age of the rock, it had apparently fallen onto the planet in some kind of vessel a few years before the Darkspore had been created. Scaldron was known for having meteor showers that could interfere with scanning processes, so it is unsurprising that it wasn't detected before. It appeared to have fallen into a magma chamber and become stuck within when the rock cooled. We were actually surprised that it was still functional."

"Do you have any pictures of the machine?"

"Yes. We will show you them now."

And so they did. And what I saw made my blood run cold.

It was a large, squat machine. One with crablike legs.

One that looked just like the machine I had gun down the crowd in my vision.

Apparently, the Crogenitors, AI and Resident ROB noticed my apprehension, which wasn't hard, given how quiet I'd become.

"What's going on?" asked Astra.

"I've seen that machine before... I saw it in the vision I mentioned...I saw it killing people...LOTS of people..."

The crogenitors grew quiet at this. I think they were starting to grow worried now.

"Perhaps we should examine the new box to see if it offers more clues about this unknown machine," offered Ptyron

"Okay. But first, answer me two more questions."

"...very well."

"Alright. First off, who are the grox?"

Steve answered that one. I was surprised by what he said.

"The grox are, well, us. Mankind. The grox arose from a conflict over how to use the gift we received from the Crogenitors: they wanted it for conquest, others, like me, believed we should use it for peaceful purposes. At the end of the war, those whose side I was on had all elevated themselves to my level, while those who would become the grox, due to reckless overuse of Crogenitor weapons, had become feeble creatures that could only survive in toxic wastelands and relied on cybernetics to overcome their physical failings."

"I see. Now onto the last question."

Then I turned to the Crogenitors.

"Are you guys involved with the Staff of Life?"

"...what?"

"Did you, like, make it? I mean, when I scanned it, I noticed five strange power sources within it, and there are five of you."

"...well, you are half right."

"Huh?"

"We did not create the Staff of Life. We ARE the Staff of Life."

"...Wha-"

"We imbued our mighty powers together to create one last weapon against the darkspore: a tool to undo the damage they had to the worlds they conquered. Within each staff, which we gave to Steve to, in turn, gift younger races, was a fragment of each of our powers, and with them, a part of our souls. SO even while we are dead physically, so long as the staves exist, so shall we."

"...interesting. Now we can examine the box."

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Once I woke up, I quickly got my commander active and scanned the box. Once again, it shattered and a new artifact came out.

When the vision started doing its magic, I found myself back on Scaldron, watching a horde of Darkspore enter the cavern. They saw the strange machine and tried to attack it, only for it to survive everything they threw at it unscathed.

Seeing no way to win, they decided to instead take back the bot to one of their lairs... at least, I think that's what they did. Then, to their surprise, a dimension rift not unlike my own appeared, and out popped a grox ship.

To my surprise, this caused the corruptor to teleport to that location and attempt to contact the ship. Odd. Maybe he still remembered the crognitors' multiverse travelling tech?

"Who are you?"

"We are the grox. We have come to take the Crogenitor's technology to serve our empire in future conquests.

Xylem laughed at this. "I am Xylem, the corruptor, leader of the Darkspore, and if you wished to take the Crogenitors', then you are too late. I put their entire species to the sword, brought them low, and wiped them from existence. Now leave, before I find reason to put your kind to the sword."

The grox responded by firing a missile at Xylem... which hit the bot... which woke up.

Both Darkspore and Grox promptly started sweating bullets.

The machine stared for a moment, then, to my surprise, spoke to both sets of beings.

"Which of you awakened me?"

The darkspore and grox responded by, essentially, pointing fingers at each other.

"Hmph. Well, I suppose I should thank you for that."

"...What?"

"I was sent here, long ago to hunt down an ancient foe, but it seems that I arrived in the wrong universe, one my foes have yet to visit."

"Really."

"Yes, really. You see, I have fought an ancient foe, one who commands armies beyond imagination. They go across creation, bending the might of others to their will. I was sent to hunt them, but it seems I have arrived in the wrong place. I must go now, but I thank you for awakening me. Though, may I ask you a favor?"

"...Yes," replied both parties.

"If you encounter my foe, destroy it. I will ensure you are rewarded handsomely if you do so. Even more so if you work together to do so."

"...And how will we know that we are fighting your foe?"

"They will command legions of steel so great they blot out the sun.", led by titans that can make armies from nothing. Guard against them or face extinction."

Then the machine generated its own dimension rift and left, and my vision turned to blackness. At least, until some red lighting of sorts showed up.

"They have gathered the darkness to serve them, to help them bring all to ruin. IF they are not matched by equal forces of light, all shall fall."

Then I woke up.

The crogenitors, Steve, and HELIX were all stunned by this, and told me they needed time to ponder this subject, leaving me alone... well, accept for HELIX, who told me about how my defeat of the Darkspore had made me a hero, and that people wished to follow me and join in my crusade of righteousness. Or live in my empire. Or other stuff like that. I told her all who came would be welcome.

Once HELIX left, I started working on a new pet project: a trophy room for the masks of the destructors, which, was, in turn, part of a citadel I was building on my core world. If people were treating me as a god, might as well act up to it.

I also decided to make a mask of my own, cause I thought that made me look mysterious. Plus it meant that people would have trouble telling how I was doing during poker.

I was getting ready to call it a night when I noticed that I'd received an alert from my commander. I was confused at first when it mentioned cotanminants: what could those be.

Then it mentioned E-DNA.

I stared for a moment, then brought up a more detailed examination.

Genesis type: all

Stable: Yes

Removeable: NO

I stared at that for a few moments. Then I lifted up my hand and thought really hard.

A then, to my surprise, sparks began to dance across my hand.

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AN: Read and Review. This is Flameal15k, signing off!