Ishtar looked up at the manor, her arms crossed. Behind her, Verde and Veloce were sitting together ied silence. Marta had already left to where the helicopter they’d borrowed from Bera had he pilot robably w what he was doing out in the middle of the night. She sighed and flexed her fingers. Just eaining some crazy rich people, she thought to herself before extending her hand towards the building. She pulled firestorm out of her warehouse and took a deep breath before releasing a torrent of fme onto the structure.
Verde gasped behind her but she ig, keeping the fmes up until she was sure the pce was well and truly alight.
She watched it burn for a little while before turning away. She felt tired all of a sudden, as if she’d been running a marathon. She gnced over at the pair sitting on the ground, they already had their orders. They could do as they pleased as long as they spread her influen the city and beyond. Verde was petent, if a bit gruff, Veloce would have to back him up. She walked past them without a word. Sonya let out a sigh, Aaah… I want a soda and chips…
–
Sonya’s fingers ran dowem of the flower, her eyes flickering and adjusting to eauance of light. She tilted one of them and then examihe dispy again. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. The room around her was fortable, no gauche decorations or orion. One of Bera’s many properties. The CEO of Lucci had offered to let them stay there rather than go back to the hotel. It was a wele gesture. She gnced over at Mikay, still ying on the bed, asleep.
The girl stirred and Sonya froze, she stepped away from the bouquet and hurried to her side. Immediately Mikay sat up, gasping, her eyes darting around, terror seizing her. She reached up and pat herself down, then looked down at the sheets in wondrous fright. “It doesn’t hurt…” She murmured, “A nightmare?”
Sonya felt her chest tighten and she sighed. Mikay tensed and looked up, wide eyed, “Miss?” She asked, as if she couldn’t believe her eyes.
“You’re safe, cutie,” Sonya said with a delicate smile.
“I-” Mikay looked down at her hands, “I was so scared.”
“I know,” Sonya said softly, kneeling dowo the bed and taking the girl by the hand, “I made a promise to you and I broke it. I’m sorry. I’m just so gd you’re okay.”
Mikay looked at Sonya’s hand and then up at her, “ I be alone, for a bit?” She asked with a brittle smile.
Sonya’s chest tightened again, but she just nodded and got to her feet, “I’ll be here when you need me,” Sonya said and turned away, walking to the door.
“Sonya?” Mikay said, causing Sonya to stop dead iracks, the girl had never used her first name before. She gnced over her shoulder ahe girl’s gaze, “You kept your promise, you saved me.”
Sonya just smiled, “Get some rest, Mikay,” She said and stepped out the door. She shut it behind her a her back against it. She closed her eyes when Mikay started to cry. Sonya hung her head and slid down to sit on the floor. I’ll be right here, she thought as the girl wept out her trauma, I won’t move an intil you’re done.
–
A few hours ter, Sonya was sitting in the middle of the garden that had been built into the middle of the house, the blue sky above her. She looked up at the clouds and wondered for what robably the millionth time in both of her lives if the clouds looked that way to human eyes and not just her own meical ones. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the fragrant air and looked back down at her hands, Right, she steeled herself, Time to give this a shot.
So I have to pull it from my warehouse, wait, does that mean I’ll lose it from my warehouse if I do that? She searched her instincts ing Broker, I’m guessing so. Seems fair.
She sidered which abilities she’d like to have added on, I don’t think it’s a good idea to try to bine anything with Broker yet, not until I’ve got this process figured out. The ability o be patible too, but what does ‘patible’ even mean? She sidered her list of abilities in ste and frowned, Might as well try something with a passive effect like my eyes, She thought and pulled out Genius Level Intellect. As it had the first time a rush of crity bzed its way through her mind. cepts that had seemed disected to her now found es, information she’d retained became easier to access, memories more vivid.
I have no idea what that means, but go for it.
That particurly snarky thought seemed to be good enough for whatever underlying fun allowed Broker to fun the way it did. She absently sidered whether or not her Teo-Eyes-Really? That’s their name? I never knew but still, me-were actually w in cert with Broker to provide her additional data. If she didn’t have them would she have to operate on sheer instinct? That seemed problematibsp;
As those thoughts came a in the blink of ahanks to Genius Level Intellect, she felt a faint tingling inside of her head. It was an odd sensation, like a tiny needle- or a knife. She gasped, eyes going wide as an unbelievable pain ripped its way through her skull. She reached up to grab her head, “Agh!” she cried out, hung over as somethi began to drip from her nose and down her cheeks. The pain only intensified, nails scraping against the inside of her skull. She crumpled, pressing her face against the grass beh her, her mouth open in a silent scream. It hurts! It hurts so much! Why does it hurt?! Was this pain the unforeseen sequehe ability had warned her about?
She kicked her feet, struggling to find some kind of relief from the pain, rolling on the ground and thrashing. Make it stop! No! Damn it! She grit her teeth, Bear with it! Bear with it Sonya! She rallied herself, blood dripping from her lip. Pale light began to build behind her eyes followed by a fsh and the pain just… vanished.
Sonya took a heaping gulp of air a out a sobbing groan, before slipping into a series of hag coughs, “Damn it!” She croaked, “What the fuck?”
She opened her eyes;
Wh-
Sensory data poured into her brain like a torrent. Smells she’d never smelled before came in clear and distinct. She could parse out exactly what they were. Lavender, Rose, Cooked Meat, Beef? She could hear the meat sizzling somewhere far away, someone was talking, Marta? She must be cooking. Text flitted across her field of view, subtitles?
Sonya turned her attention away from the versation and it seemed to die down in her ears. That was going to take some getting used to. She shifted from her spot ying on the ground and shakily sat up, reag up to touch where the blood had dripped from her nose. Had her new ability installed cyberiside her brain? No wo hurt so much, defihe unforeseen sequehat the ability mentioned. She ched her fist tightly as she sed her surroundings visually. Every time she lingered on an object it was quickly identified. Some things, like the flowers, she didn’t know personally so it simply identified them as
The detail is so clear, she thought breathlessly, I bet I could see even the smallest microexpressions on a person’s face.
Despite the horror of just a few moments ago, she couldn’t help but grin. What else I merge into my ability? Broker warned about limitations, but I don’t feel anything. Maybe because they were so patible? Or was the limitation the evolution of the ability into something else? She sighed, I guess it doesn’t really matter as long as it works.
She paused, Not here, though, I don’t want someone walking out while I’m writhing on the ground. That had been too much.
She pulled herself to her feet and steeled herself. It was going to hurt like crazy every time, probably, but it was necessary. She pulled her pho of her pocket as she took a wobbly step, Lost some blood, I guess, She thought and shot off a quick text to Amos, letting him know that she would be going to her room for a while and wao be left alone. She didn’t eborate, he didn’t o know she would be t herself for the sake of improving.
Shortly after that she was sitting on her bed in a lotus stance. She’d picked up martial arts as a scout for the heroes, it wasn’t amazing but it was something. She took a deep breath and tried to ter herself a little before opening her eyes and calling up merger agai’s see…
Most of the abilities in her warehouse were actually inpatible, but a few mao pop up as possibly useful. She immediately noticed that there was a method to the use of Merger. Her newly enhanced intellect whirring through the possibilities.
Heroic Strength plus Cyberic Brain… I’m guessing that’ll give me enhanced muscles and spread cyberics through my body. I o add it first before I add things that affect my body, like Light Step and Heroic Speed. I have to sider possible prerequisites then, She thought before narrowing her eyes a little, Efficy seems to indicate how well the merger will work. Normal must mean it’s patible but it won’t create something greater than the sum of its parts, like my eyes and intellect did, giving me overall enhanced senses.
She took a deep breath, “Here goes…”
She selected Heroic Strength, and the torment began anew.
It was so much worse this time.
She woke up on her side, blood staining the bs beh her a out a cough.
“It worked,” She croaked, wing as she forced herself to sit up again. She looked down at the blood stained sheets and sighed, Damn… She let out a sigh and touched her own arm, drawing Hands of the Healer out of her warehouse. It was a shame it wasn’t patible, it would be o have some kind of passive regeion. Maybe it’s because it also heals other people? She set the thought aside as the green light suffused her body, the pain fading away. She got the sense of her blood replenishing throughout her body and raised an eyebrow, That was an oddly specifisation.
She focused on her heads up dispy and now it had a little image of a person superimposed over her vision, she could see metrics h o it. Iing and useful… but too minor to be sidered a real power.
“That’s one…” She muttered and reached bato her warehouse again before hesitating.
Why am I pushing myself so hard? Her improved mind screamed at her to slow down, take it oep at a time. But her heart warred with the thought, she needed more power. She thought back to that st day i life, the anguish of being weak. She owerful now, but it was fleeting in a way. The powers she was using were all products, not fully hers. She o cim them as her own, she had to. She grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut. I have to do this. I o do this. This moment wasn't about rationality, it was about solidating everything she'd worked for. I'll beore powerful than Otis, she swore.
Proceed.
After hours of torment, Sonya sat in her bed, panting, bags under her eyes. Every inch of her body ached in ways that she couldn’t even begin to expin. She barely had the strength to pull Hands of the Healer out once again and even then only a trickle of relief came from it. There was only one more ability that was fully patible with her newly improved power. Her prosthetic eyes were dim and a little deadened as she stared at the text in her heads up dispy.
She hesitated and then firmed her resolve, the previous ones didn’t t as signifit trauma? She chuckled before her lips thinned into a firm lihe memory of Mikay's tears pushed her to aoney and political es would never be enough. She'd take all the power she could get, no matter the cost. Just one more, this is my evolution into Ishtar.
Proceed.
Sonya felt a jolt gh her entire body before she bcked out.