The Machine God

Chapter 314

Alexander rotated himself upright with Metallokinesis. His side protested immediately, but as far as he was concerned, it was a good kind of pain. It meant he’d survived another fight and grown stronger.

The System agreed. There were new notifications waiting for his attention.

And he needed every little bit of additional power he could get. His cognitive attributes were all very close to the Tier 2 cap, but his physical attributes were still lagging behind. Most of them, anyway.

Alexander glanced at the crater, where he could hear Gravimax stirring, and considered whether it was worth annoying the superhero into another round.

He shook his head.

A hand appeared at the edge of the crater. Then another. Gravimax hauled himself to his feet, then climbed back up onto the street. He rubbed the back of his neck and rotated his head slowly, wincing.

Alexander almost laughed. The superhero’s face was a mess. Small chunks of asphalt were embedded in his forehead, cheeks, and beard. Dust coated the rest of him from head to toe.

He gestured vaguely at his own face. “You’ve got a little something.”

Gravimax grunted. The debris and dust repelled outward a few inches, then dropped to the ground. His suit went from gray back to black in an instant.

Alexander stuffed his hands in his pockets and raised an eyebrow. “So, we’re good now, right? I’m not going to have to watch my back because of the Paragon Society every time I visit New York?”

Gravimax rubbed a hand across his bald head and took a long breath.

“So long as you don’t pull any more stunts in my city,” he said. “You do your business, then you leave, and we’ll have no problems.”

Alexander nodded. That was fair enough. He headed back toward the SUV, ribs aching with every step. His right arm still throbbed, pain radiating outward from forearm to fingertips and up to his shoulder. He’d assumed Gravimax’s strikes weren’t being bolstered with gravity, but the superhero clearly empowered the hits themselves, whether he knew it or not. There was no way his arm should hurt as much as it did otherwise.

His nose hurt too. It was like a constant reminder that Gravimax headbutted like a freight train.

Worth it, though.

“Rooke.”

Alexander stopped.

“I need to speak to Maximilian while he’s here. We want in.”

He turned back. That was unexpected. “I’m sure Max will be happy about that. What changed? From what I remember, the Paragon Society rejected his original offer.”

Gravimax looked away. “Resonance was one of the Lost Prophet’s victims. And he was too weak to resist the infection, because he was already in bad shape. Ever since the Scar. We had to… put him down before he could destroy the city.” He paused. “I was voted in as guild leader two weeks ago.”

That changed things. He would have voted against the Paragon Society becoming part of the Compact if it was still led by Resonance. Crippled and bed-ridden or not, the man was a monster in superhero costume.

That Gravimax and the rest of the guild followed him was a pretty serious mark against them, but Talia’s research said they were all clean otherwise.

“What happened to Brick? I thought he was running things.”

Gravimax shook his head. “He died a hero, along with several other guild members. Brick took an attack from Resonance that would have shattered everything and everyone within miles. If not for him, Manhattan would have become a second Scar.”

Alexander stared at the other man in silence for a long moment. “I would have killed your guild leader if I ever had the chance. What do you think about that? Because Max isn’t the only person you’ll have to answer to if you join the Compact.”

Gravimax tensed. His jaw worked silently, the muscles in his neck bulging at the same time. Then he exhaled, and met Alexander’s gaze.

“He was a good man, Rooke. What happened in the Scar was terrible, but it was a genuine accident caused by breaking through to Tier 3 in the middle of combat. And the aftermath broke him long before the internal damage left over from that fight ever did.”

Alexander waited.

“It’s true,” Gravimax said. “Relicat’s spatial manipulation combined with Resonance’s sound waves… they shredded the city during their breakthroughs. It was an accident. And I know he should have gone to prison for it anyway, but AEGIS wanted a villain to blame and a hero to raise up as a savior.” He sighed. “But I get it. I would have tried to stop you, because the man was my friend long before any of this, but I get it.”

Stolen story; please report.

Alexander studied the big man a moment longer and shrugged. “Better speak to Max, then.”

Then he turned and headed for the SUV where Annie was already waiting. She looked no worse for wear, and the three heroes had also landed in front of the vehicle. They looked similarly untouched.

“Thought you were going to fight them,” he called out.

Annie crossed her arms. “I tried,” she called back. “They didn’t want to play.”

Alexander laughed. He stepped up beside the SUV and rapped his cybernetic knuckles gently on the rear driver’s side window.

Maximilian lowered it. “Are you done?”

Alexander nodded and jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. “Baldie wants a word with you.” Then he stepped out of the way.

If the word offended him, Gravimax gave no indication as he stepped up to the window.

“Maximilian,” he said. “It’s good to see you again.”

Maximilian nodded. “Likewise, Henry. I was sorry to hear about Brick and the others, but I’m sure they would have been content with the result.”

Alexander frowned. The superhero did not look anything at all like a ‘Henry.’

Gravimax grunted. “I’m running the Society now. We want to join the Compact.”

Maximilian glanced at Alexander, who shrugged, then inclined his head. He looked back at Gravimax. “You understand that the original offer to join as part of the Compact’s leadership is off the table. I only presented that offer contingent on Brick assuming formal leadership and Resonance being removed, but things have changed since.”

“I understand.”

“Very well,” Maximilian said. “I will reach out to the rest of the leadership and present your request. You’ll hear from us soon.”

“Thank you,” Gravimax said.

Jasmine leaned forward. “I will be submitting a formal letter of protest for your use of powers against me, Mr. Gravimax. I’m sure everyone here will be happy to sign witness statements.” She paused. “Will your guild be paying the compensation directly, or do I need to take the Paragon Society to court over the infraction?”

Gravimax rubbed his head. “That won’t be necessary, ma’am. Our lawyer will be in touch to resolve the matter. My apologies for the incident.”

Jasmine huffed, then leaned back again.

Gravimax turned to Alexander, nodded, then launched himself into the air without another word.

Alexander watched him go. “Superheroes have to pay fines every time they use their powers against people?”

“Only under specific circumstances,” Jasmine replied. “The law is quite convoluted, as you might expect, but frivolous use of hostile powers is about as clear-cut as it gets, which is exactly what happened here.”

“How much did you just make?”

Jasmine smiled. “Seven and a half thousand credits. Any harm caused can run the price up considerably, but there were no injuries in this case.”

Alexander slapped the roof of the SUV. “Nice.” He leaned down to look through the window. “You should ride with me more often. I bet we can turn this into quite the lucrative business.”

Jasmine raised an eyebrow. “That would be fraud, Mr. Rooke. As your lawyer, I strongly advise against it.”

Maximilian sighed. “Are you quite done? I would like to get back to work.”

Alexander clicked his tongue. “Spoilsport.”

***

It was well past midnight by the time they returned. The full moon hung in the air, casting enough light to see by as they exited the magical doorway from Astra Omnia.

Alexander crossed the terrace, then through the front door into the open-plan living space that dominated the ground floor. Despite the late hour, the lights were on, and the holo was playing.

Julia glanced over at him from where she lay stretched out across the sofa. One of his shirts hung loose on her shoulders, paired with bright pink shorts. Her hair was pulled back in a messy knot, and a bag of pretzels sat open on the coffee table.

She popped one in her mouth. “How’d it go?”

Maximilian walked past Alexander before he could answer. Annie, Augustus, and Jasmine followed behind.

Maximilian paused long enough to pull his jacket straight. “Ask Rooke. I’m heading to the Beastworld to retrieve Raelene. We need to head back to HQ.” He glanced at Julia. “You’ll need to take over my shift in the Sanctum while I’m gone.”

They were all taking turns providing extra security, just in case the Empire of Stars decided to dig up half the mountain in order to access the gateway.

“Got it,” Julia said, then turned back to Alexander. “So?”

Alexander wasn’t looking at her anymore though. He was staring at the holo, where a familiar corgi was currently saving a space station from what appeared to be an army of sentient mushroom people.

“Are you watching Barkforce?”

Julia glanced at the screen, then back at him with a grin on her face. “Annie was telling me all about it between our training sessions with Mom. I was curious.” She shrugged. “Now I’m hooked. You should check it out.”

Alexander groaned.

Annie patted him on the back as she passed, heading to join Julia. “You’re all alone, Alex. Allllll alone.”

Alexander looked at Augustus.

Augustus met his gaze for a fraction of a second, then looked away and headed for the kitchen with purpose. “Midnight pasta or pizza night?” he called out, louder than necessary.

Alexander glared at the traitor’s back. “Pizza.”

“Anything’s good, Auggy,” Julia said. “Thanks.”

“PIzza!” Annie said, flopping into one of the leather armchairs.

Alexander turned back to Julia. “Negotiations with Goliath went well. I’ve got some of what I needed in the ring, but the rest will be delivered to Astra Omnia.”

“The Fort?”

He nodded. “Yeah. We’re using it as our official address.” He grinned. “Our home may be infected with superheroes right now, but it’s still a secret lair.”

Julia laughed.

Alexander’s stomach grumbled. “Let me know when the food’s ready, Auggy. I’m heading to the workshop for a bit.”

The old man nodded, already pulling ingredients from the fridge.

As Alexander made his way to the stairs leading into the basement, he heard Julia ask Annie why he looked all beat up. He almost turned back at the glee in Annie’s voice as she began describing his encounter with Gravimax, but decided against it.

He needed to update the designs with all the new equipment specs, then rerun the simulations. They’d take hours to verify the changes, though he was confident the positive runs would recertify without any issue.

And the sooner he got it started, the sooner he’d have Droney upgraded and the first stage of the Machine God System up and running.