Chapter 318 - Soul Engine

Chapter 318

Soul Engine

Alexander hesitated.

The plan was to use the Skipper to teleport the orb away from him, hopefully embedding it deep inside rock, to absorb any explosions that might occur. That’s why the Skipper floated in the air, inside the shield bubble, beside the brain-orb.

He was already having second thoughts. Pulling up his status with his second mental thread, he reviewed the gains from his fight with Gravimax again, while taking a moment to work through the real problem with his primary mental thread.

—

[STATUS]

Alexander Rooke

| Alias: Machine God

| Guild: Grimnir (Leader)

| Alliances: The Royals (Defensive, Formal) | Throne of Scales (Defensive, Formal)

| Designation: Supervillain

| Bounty: 13,790,000 credits

| Rankings: Universe_1: 15, Unified: 135

| Evaluation: Tier 2 (72% → 75%) — Class A+

ASCENSION POTENTIAL INDEX (API)

Physical Attributes

| Strength ✧ 123 → 127

| Endurance ✧ 200

| Constitution ✧ 187 → 195

| Dexterity ✧ 116 → 119

| Agility ✧ 118 → 120

Cognitive Attributes

| Intelligence ✧ 199 → 200

| Processing Speed ✧ 193 → 198

| Perception ✧ 193 → 194

| Focus ✧ 199 → 200

| Willpower (Ambition) ✧ 200 (+22)

Divine Fragments

| Sovereign Blood | Eternal Spark

Power Manifestation

Machine God | Class S+, Tier 2

| Mind of the Machine ✧ 33%

| Spark of the Machine ✧ 49% → 53%

| Body of the Machine ✧ 68% → 73%

| Soul of the Machine ✧ 100%

| Heart of the Machine ✧ 32% → 34%

Techniques

| Blackout | Ensoulment | Soul Circuit

Skills

| Hyperawareness | Multithreading

Achievements

| Origin 0 Soul | Continue the Dream IV | Divine Slayer

—

The Skipper was dangerous. That had already been proven, when it tried to use Flashpoint to kill him. And though the System was clearly capable of influencing the tech, it was still one of the most valuable things he possessed. Technological teleportation was genuinely beyond anything he could comprehend, at least intellectually.

Being the Machine God allowed him to ignore such minor inconveniences.

Alexander took a breath, then reached for the orb, starting with Electrokinesis. As with the first time he’d examined it, the orb gave off a subtle sensation that read to his superpower as electrical current deep within, but the experience was like interpreting what was happening in another room by the muffled sounds of chaos coming through the wall.

Metallokinesis was similar. The orb was metal, but beyond the exposed outer layer, everything else was muted and dull. It was enough to manipulate the object in the air, and nothing more.

Technopathy was worse than Electrokinesis. The information coming back felt almost erroneous. It was like receiving a complete report, with all sections filled out, only to find the answers were all printed in a language that wasn’t real. The orb was a machine, just one that refused to cooperate with the one man who could control all machines.

Strangest of all was Animachina, though. The orb hummed in its presence, which was something he hadn’t experienced with any other machine. It was the power which gave machines a hint of life. Combined with Technopathy, it was what made machines respond eagerly to his presence, as though suddenly aware of their own existence and worshipping the being that made it happen.

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It was also the power that allowed him to extend his Will and soul into a machine, temporarily empowering it, or permanently through his Ensoulment technique.

The idea of using Ensoulment on the orb flashed into one mental thread, and was ruthlessly crushed by the other. There was no way he was wasting a limited resource, and a fragment of his own soul, on an unknown piece of technology.

Instead, he focused his Domain on the orb. His powers flowed together, merging with his Will, and pushed harder.

Something pushed back.

Alexander narrowed his eyes. That wasn’t the resistance of a machine. It wasn’t even the same pressure he felt when trying to penetrate System-tech.

It felt more like someone resisting the influence of another’s Will.

On a hunch, he adjusted his Will, using it the same way he did when he wanted to view the golden threads. A fog appeared, wrapped tightly around the orb, no more than a few inches thick. Red and gold wisps blended and separated as the ethereal mass undulated under the pressure of his Will.

Alexander stared at it for a long moment. He didn’t understand how, but he knew what it was. Maybe even who. Because he’d seen something similar before, back in Argentum when they were hunting down Mercy. And though he hadn’t seen them himself, Augustus had described their appearance when Talia had first used Realm of the Mind.

It was a soul, though whether it was metaphysically attached to the orb, or otherwise stored inside and leaking out, he didn’t know.

What he did know was that its Will felt familiar.

“Gabriel Santiago.”

Droney beeped.

“Yep. I definitely killed him, and then I chopped him into little pieces and ripped out his insides for good measure.”

None of which explained why the dead man’s soul would be bound to or trapped within the orb.

Alexander waved a finger lazily, and the orb followed the motions, slowly tracing a figure eight through the air. A few possibilities came to mind. Maybe the orb wasn’t a control device for the other System-tech which had made up Santiago’s arsenal, like he’d theorized.

Instead, it might be some sort of resurrection failsafe, which had failed to trigger because he’d stored the body inside his ring before butchering Santiago’s remains and removing all the tech. That would explain the soul being preserved.

Alexander paced the room while Droney watched, following silently, along with the two shield-drones protecting them.

Then again, perhaps he was just being fanciful. It was still possible that it was a mechanism which allowed the Forged to interface with advanced System-tech. Maybe it just required a piece of their soul to… register ownership. Another type of ensoulment.

A mystical two-factor authentication, if you will.

If it was the former, then the orb was no longer useful for his intended purpose, not that he’d say no to taking possession of a magical bonus life.

Alexander stopped pacing. “Either way, there’s only one choice.”

He turned back and reached out his cybernetic hand. The shield-drones deactivated their barriers, and with a pulse of Metallokinesis, the orb snapped into his palm. Tightening his fingers around it, he raised the orb in front of his face.

And unleashed his powers in full.

Lightning erupted all across the smooth surface of the orb, shooting in every direction, crawling up the walls and across the floor and ceiling.

None of it struck him, or Droney, or any of the shield-drones. Within the Machine God’s Domain, lightning obeyed.

Metallokinesis, Technopathy, and Animachina joined the assault only a fraction of a second later. His Will followed, crushing the resistance bit by bit as the soul shriveled in on itself.

Then its Will surged outward again, though whether it was simply some survival instinct belonging to the remnants of Santiago’s soul, or what remained of the man himself, there was no way to tell.

Alexander didn’t pause to consider the implications. He simply squeezed the orb harder in his cybernetic grip and continued pouring power into it.

Then, just as the soul began to buckle beneath his power, the air in the room shifted. The System’s presence descended on him like a hammer’s blow.

He grunted, looking back up at the ceiling even though nothing was there. “This is why you redacted me, isn’t it? Because all tech answers to the Machine God, and you’re powerless to truly stop me. So you did the only thing you could. You tried to slow me down.”

Alexander paused. He wasn’t sure if he was waiting for a response or something else to happen. The pressure from the presence intensified, almost dropping him to one knee, and the sound of static began echoing in his ears.

“Come on,” he growled, already tearing through the added layers of resistance as the System fought to protect the soul inside the orb. “Prove me wrong. Blow me up! Strike me down! Hit me with everything you have.”

The soul began to fray, red and gold streams rising from the orb and vanishing.

The System apparently didn’t like that, as it bore down harder than before, its overwhelming presence growing deeper. Except, other than the sensation that it was vast and domineering, the pressure remained about the same.

Alexander spared one mental thread to examining why, and the reason became immediately obvious.

His Domain.

The System’s efforts had increased, but that didn’t change something fundamental. The Machine God stood here. And reality bent to his Will, even if it was only a very, very small slice of it.

Whatever Will the System possessed, and though it was perhaps still stronger than his own, it was not truly present.

It was also fragmented. He could almost feel it now, similar to how emotions crossed the bond between him and Droney. There was discord within the presence bearing down on him, as some layers pushed and others pulled.

The contrast reminded him of the transparent white notification with its soft, warm yellow borders, and simple, black printed text.

Whatever the System was, it was not hegemonic.

Alexander laughed. He squeezed the orb harder, as more and more wisps of red and gold streamed into the air and vanished.

“I knew it. Either you have rules binding you, or you’re simply too weak to do whatever you want.”

Lightning burst from his eyes as Electrokinesis cycled faster, now running through his Core, and pulsing throughout his body.

“Fuck off,” he said, sending one final burst of power into the orb.

The final remnants of red and gold erupted in every direction, flashing bright for a brief moment before vanishing completely.

Then the System withdrew its presence.

Alexander didn’t spare another moment for either. Four of his powers poured into the orb in his grip, and the machine opened up before him. Metallokinesis revealed that the device was vast, its internal makeup folded in on itself over and over in a way that defied physics. It should have been impossible, but impossible had long since lost its meaning in the face of his experiences.

Electrokinesis traced labyrinthian pathways, searching for whatever powered the device, and found nothing. Nanoscale, spatially folded conduits began and ended at nothing, designed to draw current from nowhere and send it elsewhere.

Then Animachina and Technopathy completed their journey, and the machine answered the call of the Machine God.

Alexander blinked. “Huh.”

The orb that he’d sawed free from Gabriel Santiago’s skull was exactly what he’d thought it was, and more. It moderated and supplied power to the other pieces of impossible technology, including the Skipper.

And it did so by drawing power directly from the soul of its host.

Just like superpowers did.