Difference between revisions of "The Lonely God"

Revision as of 07:07, 14 May 2022

It was a one in a billion chance. With each anomaly found, the probability is exponentiated. The possibility that the radiation from the explosion would alter the genetic code of a human being to such a level of precision, with just the right permutation to create... meta humans is beyond unfathomable. Yet in this eve, we may just caused an evolutionary leap for mankind, gentlemen.

- Doctor Youssef Rawling, Ph.D in Nuclear Physics

Prologue

It is the year 2032. With the evolution of artificial intelligence, the world had shifted into an age of data. Everyday tasks were automated by computer processes. Computer science was paired hand in hand with society. Improving mankind.

And with the rise of artificial intelligence, the use of automation and machine learning had enabled multiple frontiers in science and engineering to be unlocked. Cutting edge technology had become more and more prevalent. And soon, governments from all around the globe raced to represent the country to discover the next ground breaking medicine, technology, physical phenomena...

and weapon.

"General Routh." Lieutenant Baker solemnly took off his hat.

"Our Orion Squadron has... been eliminated."

Routh slowly placed the papers he was holding in his hand on the glass surface of the desk. The congress was silent, as the sounds of gunshots peppering the air could be heard from the communication device, echoing in the enclosed bunker.

"Lieutenant Baker, state cause of elimination."

Baker closed his eyes.

"It was them. The high powered mortars of the Vaticus. The Orion stood no chance, sir."

SLAM.

"How many more lives will it take, General?" An officer took to his feet, indignation finally breaking through his objective mask.

"Young men and women are on the front, fighting for their lives. Fighting those... those Torvi bastards. Ameradans. Canareians. Our brothers and sisters across the border. At this point, we are deploying our next generation to their deaths. While we, the Ameradan Military Leaders, cower behind steel walls!"

"You will speak to your superior with respect, Lieutenant Voorhes." A woman cut Voorhes off, her cold glare causing great discomfort to ripple across the congress.

"No, General Livia. He is right." Routh muttered.

Livia was silent, slowly taking her seat.

Routh knew what Ameradan, the nation he had been called to serve, was doing. He knew his soldiers were being torn apart. But there was nothing they could do.

There was nothing the United Nations could do against Torvus now.

While Ameradan and Canaria had taken full advantage of the advancement of artificial intelligence to greatly expand their technological empire, it had not been enough.

Breakthroughs of research in medicine, science, energy, transportation, greenhouse gas reductions... For a time, it had led to a flourishing economy in both nations.

While it had indirectly benefitted their military might, there was a limit to ethical engineering.

And in the end, ethical engineering would always be eclipsed by unethical engineering.

The philosophy of using AI and machine learning to fully benefit the military might of a nation.

This was the philosophy adopted by the nation of Torvus.

And when Torvus had chosen to finally invade their neighbouring nation, Kronia, a member of the United Nations, they had decided to declare war against the world.

"Hey. Ukko. Is this working?" An adolescent voice suddenly broke the silence of the room, causing a jolt to run down Routh's spine.

"HELLOOOOOO. I know you Ameradans can see this! Don't ignore me!" The voice sung, as the screen suddenly changed.

The face of a young girl smiling illuminated the entire congress, causing a wave of chaos to ripple amongst the members.

"What the hell is this? River, have we been breached?"

River furiously mashed the buttons on his computer, but to no avail, as the girl continued singing, moving and tilting the camera angle in an unorthodox manner.

Routh clenched his fist. Despite the chaos ensuing in the consensus, his mind was fixed solely on the maniacal eyes of the girl who had taken over the assembly.

Her short blonde hair dancing in the wind, the bodies of the numerous soldiers who were disembowelled behind her. Their blood, staining her Torvian military uniform. But it was a special uniform.

A uniform assigned only to Torvus' most elite Taskforce.

"Kanna Beckingdale. What do you want." Routh said, as he eyed the girl.

"Awww. General Routh. You're going ahead and calling me by my real name! How embarrassing! Eeee!" Kanna squealed, putting her hands against her cheeks.

"But you know, you really shouldn't be giving me the cold shoulder. After all..."

The phones of the congress suddenly began beeping.

"Dammit. Beckingdale's powers go through even the high density Osmium borders of the Pod?" A voice panicked.

"That bitch!" Another said.

With each voice that filled the air, Kanna's smile continued enlarging.

You don't know when we will strike again. And whenever we strike, we know you cannot stop us. None of you can.

An alert sound erupted all around the room, causing numerous military personnel to attend to them.

"General Routh! Another shelter has been compromised!"

Routh ignored Kanna and ran to the side. Kanna watched the General with a sadistic curiosity.

"General Forger. Report!" Routh said, sternly.

"General Routh... no... Quentin... It's over. We did all we could. But..."

"You have my orders, you have my permission, Forger. Use the atomic cann-"

"I'm sorry, Routh. We... we've already used it. He nullified it all. He..."

RIP.

SCREEEEE.

"Listen to me, Forger. The civilians of Kronia are your first priority, you-"

"Quentin... it's over for us. All those rumours about Atomos. They were true. They were...."

KABOOM.

The screen shifted to the image of a man, who stood before the screaming civilians.

"Soldiers..." Forger muttered, the screen broadcasting Atomos from the General's point of view, shone to the whole congress.

"We will defend the people of Kronia with our lives. Hold off Atomos with your lives. A soldier serves their country. But today, we will serve Kronia. Because Kronia is our comrade."

Frustration surged through Routh's body, as he watched Quentin Forger, his best friend from since the first day the two enlisted in the US military, to the day the both of them were promoted to generals, was slaughtered live.

Knowing full well there was nothing they could do.

Against the might of Torvus' elite.

The Obsidian.

Atomos, a direct result of Torvus' military research, was a Torvi soldier who had willingly participated in numerous genetic mutations through AI, and possessed the power to generate tremendous amounts of energy by seemingly initiating atomic bond breaking and formation in his body. Doing so allowed him to not only release energy, but manipulate it.

From previous reports, it was Atomos who had destroyed half of Amerada's aerial fleet, there was not a single military missile that could defeat him. And with Kanna Beckingdale's technomancy, thee two were seen frequently together.

And whenever a member of the Obsidian appeared, the world was subject to their mercy.

This war...

Would always be a war destined for Torvus to win.

Until the mistake of a certain Canareian nuclear physicist, by the name of Youssef Rawling, changed the course of the war forever.

Superheroes

For Yuni Twine, a life of a super-heroine was never something she had imagined.

Yet as she soared through the air, the power to control the wind allowing her to cast her shadow onto the city of Vanc, the freedom of living her life as one who contributes to society was beyond fulfilling.

"It's her! Ma! It's the Swallowtail!" A child called out.

"Swallowtail!" An elderly woman waved the heroine. Yuni waved back, smiling through the eyepiece and purple costume which concealed her identity.

The civilians cheered their heroine on, as Twine flew to the location of a burning building.

"Do you see them, babe?"

Yuni was greeted with a sigh from her earpiece.

"Yuni, if you want to play the role of the super heroine, you gotta be a lot more conspicuous than that."

"But Joooooosh. You're the computer science genius!"

"Just because I know computer science, doesn't give you a reason to out yourself out like that! Now anyone who happens to have been listening to this conversation knows the guy behind the monitor is your boyfriend!"

"Well. I think they should be proud that you're my boyfriend. I sure am. I have such a supportive sweetheart like you."

Josh Garder. Age 16. Computer Science prodigy, who was currently enrolled in the University of Higher Hills, tapped on his computer irritably.

But a rush of giddiness went through him, upon hearing his girlfriend's praise.

"L- Look. Yuni. Just get rid of the fire and let the firemen rescue the civilians inside. Our goal is to-"

"AWWW! That's so boring! I want to save the civilians too!"

"Stop it. Ultimately, this is what they're trained to do. Just make the job easier for them. Make the fire gone."

Yuni pouted, as she snapped her fingers. Wind swirling all around her, a green glow illuminating the building, as the fires were doused. A wave of applause rippled throughout the audience.

"Stop pouting." Josh said.

Yuni bowed before the civilians, before flying off.

"God, you're such a handful sometimes, Yuni. We're lucky I managed to find a new onion routing method to keep the gov from tracking us down. But this will all be for nothing if you keep hanging around so much!"

"You're such a buzzkill Joshy!"

"Ugh."

"But I like that about you. Let's go on a date tonight."

"Wha-"

Josh minimized his window, staring at the assignment that he had to complete by tonight.

A smirk escaped him.

Josh was always a high achiever. But since meeting and dating Yuni, he had discovered there was more to life than grades and getting into the top tech companies. Of course, that was still his goal, but...

Josh stretched his legs, resizing the assignment PDF and revealing the wallpaper of him and Yuni at the park. The smile Yuni had on her face, and the beautiful red coat she was wearing, complimented by Josh's boring flannel.

Life with Yuni... he wanted that to be his number one priority.

So when Yuni had hesitantly revealed her powers to her boyfriend, her face petrified at the possibility of Josh dumping her, his acceptance only made her love him even more.

And for Josh, supporting his girlfriend with her hero work, was without question...

Always going to be his number one prerogative.

"Joshy! Can we order steak!"

"Geh!" Josh choked on his water.

Working night shift for Parsa Ameri was just another gig for him to afford rent.

Well, not really.

For a time, it was his way to avoid his mother from scolding him. After all, Parsa was just another 25 year old single man, who did not possess the aptitude to make it into University, and instead opted to watch anime and read manga, whilst still living with his parents.

Parsa's plans for his future was about the same as his chances with women.

Non existent.

Parsa was nothing like his classmates from high school, they had all gone off to work at the big tech companies, even the bullies who tormented him.

He had tried all he could to improve his life.

Fitness.

Weight loss.

Saving up for a fancy car.

New hair styles.

But ultimately, there was not much he could do. There were limits, and for Parsa, it was as if the world had cursed him to be this way. So instead, he simply gave up, and turned to anime and Reddit. His daily routine was dull and pointless. After all, people like him were destined to suffer alone forever.

Until now.

"Hey. Don't you think it's a bit dark for you to be hanging out here, kid?"

A lowlife, Parsa thought.

The goon approached the boy, flexing his muscles. His biceps were even bigger than Parsa's thighs.

"What are you looking at? You little racist punk? Your kind is the reason why my bro can't get a job, you know. Your stupid Palastani kind. Yeah. Real great, for you to get hired. You can just cal your Palastani brothers to help you out right? While people like me have to work our ass off pushing coal for their stupid machines to operate. HUH?!"

Parsa clenched his fist.

He wanted to kill that man, but he knew that this would be wrong.

Even if he was blessed with the powers from that mysterious laboratory explosion.

To kill an innocent was wrong.

This man was innocent, despite his racial remarks. His attempt to intimidate him, there was a reason behind it.

He felt neglected by the Canarian economy.

"I'm sorry for bothering you, sir." Parsa said, politely, as he hauled the trash to the trash bin, turning around, but the man grabbed Parsa and slammed his fist into his face, causing Parsa to hit the pavement.

"God. Dammit. You. Piss. Me. OFF." The man growled, as he picked up Parsa and slammed him into the wall, striking him repeatedly.

Blood leaked onto the ground, but Parsa was unfazed.

"10..."

"HUH? The hell did you just say?!"

No, this is wrong, Parsa thought.

He couldn't use his powers to hurt innocent people.

But with each blow that was connecting to his body, Parsa could only imagine how annoyed his supervisor would be to see his worker take so long to dispose of the trash.

"Percent..."

The man stopped swinging, as he backed off, terror filling his eyes.

The scrawny boy before him... his strength should have destroyed his bones. The strength of a 220 pound male with a bench press of 405 pounds, and a deadlift of 600 pounds...

This child should have been decimated by his fists, but it was as if he was unharmed.

Untouched.

The only evidence of his assault was the blood, but even that started to look less and less convincing as the boy had seemingly regenerated.

Parsa got to his feet, cracking his back and knuckles.

"I see. So 10 percent shields my bones and my vital organs. But still leaves my outer flesh susceptible to external shocks and forces."

Parsa glared at the man, who's face was white as a ghost.

It didn't matter if