Chapter 826  826 : New York, We Have a Problem


    "I… don''t believe I ever had the chance to see something like this before."


    It took an hour, but Riley and Hera were able to tell Caiin everything she needed to hear. There were moments when Caiin couldn''t really believe what they were saying, but she continued to listen and just nodded her head until they reached the part when King sent them to this universe, where Earth waspletely different.


    It was a good thing that the refrigerator and the bar were filled with drinks, because Caiin probably drank several gallons of water and soda by herself. Themarians do not really need to consume food or drink liquid, but this was actually the first time Caiin tasted Earth''s soda as she had allowed herself to be kept in captivity all these years so as to punish herself.


    Even now, as she was holding a que — the que that ultimately led to the discovery of multiversal travel, she was gulping down an entire bottle of soda; not even bothering to put it in a ss. Riley, who was sitting in front of her, could not help but be slightly amused at this scene. How could he not, when Diana has always told him and his sister that they shouldn''t drink soda?


    And yet now, here was a version of Diana that waspletely skinny, unkempt, and even slightly clumsy to the point that she was spilling the soda on the que. Of course, it didn''t really matter as the que was only a recreation using Paige''s abilities, and Riley was only using his telekinesis to fill up whatever needed filling up.


    "This is useless," Caiin returned the que to Riley, but it just disappeared into thin air before Caiin could fully stretch her arm to him, "And the race you mentioned that created the que, they do not exist in my universe as far as my knowledge goes. It is not only them, the races you have told me have either died out or do not exist."


    Riley had also already shown her the device that created portals itself, but it proved even more useless as it felt more akin to absolute magic rather than technology. Paige is able to create things even if she doesn''t know how they worked, but Riley can''t seem to be able to do the same to the extent that she does it.


    "...Shit," Hera, who was still seated close to Riley, could really only sp her head as she stared at the floor, "So that waxy version of Bernard… sent us to an extremely different universe? I thought all universes were at least somewhat simr!?"


    "You mentioned something about the primordials having the same Avatars in each universe, correct?" Caiin let out a small sigh as she cracked another bottle of soda open, "This universe probably was not… alloted the same treatment."


    "Hm," Riley quickly nodded in agreement, "The only reason why the universes are simr to each other is that the Primordials… act indirectly to make sure their avatars exist."


    "But they''re gods," Hera leaned back. Her face that was previously looking at the floor was now staring at the ceiling as she let out a long and deep groan, "They shouldn''t be fucking making mistakes."


    "Any creature that has the capacity to think will make a mistake," Caiin closed her eyes and sighed, "And perhaps this applies to gods of creation too…


    …I apologize I was not as helpful as you thought I would be."


    "Wh—don''t say that," Hera raised her voice and looked Caiin in the eyes, "We''re only just starting to deliberate our options here."


    "No," Caiin shook her head, "My AI has been destroyed, myboratories, data centers, storage — I am afraid I don''t have the capacity to make this portal you speak of. And even if I did have them, it would take me at least a hundred years to even have an inkling of how to make that kind of technology without any sort of prototype to base it on…


    …most of your human friends would have already perished then."


    "I wish to try one more thing, Dr. Caiin," Riley then raised his hand, and as soon as he did so, a man covered in an immacte white armor appeared in front of them, "Dr. Caiin, meet Bernard Ross."


    "This…" Caiin immediately stood up from her chair as she looked at Bernard from head to toe, "This is—!!!"


    And before Caiin could even say another word, Bernard suddenly embraced her; letting out several shushing noises with his mouth each time Caiin wanted to speak.


    "It''s okay now, dear," Bernard whispered into her ear. And as Riley was only recreating his voice through telekinesis so that the others could also hear him; his voice was quite… overly clear, "I''m here… I''m here… you don''t have to suffer alone."


    "..." Caiin could really only bat her eyes a couple of times, before finally pushing Bernard away and taking back a few steps; taking her chair with her as she pointed at Riley, "Get… get that guy away from me."


    "Hm. Father," Riley called for Bernard, who immediately turned to Riley, "We need your help in—"


    "Where is your sister?" Bernard did not let Riley finish his words as he started looking around, "Where… are you? I do not feel any trace of my satellites here, no supers."


    "We were separated by King after you died, Father," Riley sighed.


    "...I died for nothing, then," Bernard forced out a tiny chuckle, before also sighing and closing his eyes.


    "Perhaps not," Riley shook his head, "The Diana of this world needs your help to recreate the device to allow us to travel back to our universe, Father."


    "..." Bernard nced at Caiin for a few seconds, before shaking his head, "I can''t do that."


    "But you perfected the technology, Father."


    "I am not real, Riley," a small smile crawled on Bernard''s face.


    "But you should still know," Riley looked Bernard in the eyes, "You said so yourself, Paige''s illusions know things that even she does not know. It—"


    "But Ms. Pearson is not here," Bernard shook his head, before once again focusing on Caiin, "Saving your is not your responsibility, Diana. Stop punishing yourself for something you do not have control over."


    "..." Caiin could really only squint her eyes at Bernard''s words.


    "And Riley."


    "Hm?" Riley blinked a couple of times as this time, it was Bernard who looked him in the eyes.


    "The key to solving your problem is already right beside you," the tone of Bernard''s voice suddenly changed, "You don''t need a portal."


    "..." Riley blinked a couple of times before he subtly nced at Hera, who was sitting right beside him.


    "T—I don''t think you need to take that literally," Hera was slightly taken aback as she looked back and forth between Riley and Bernard, "Bernie''s illusion, tell him that—"


    "Andstly," Bernardpletely ignored Hera as he stepped closer to Riley, "Remember your promise, protect Mom and Hannah."


    "Of course, Fa—"


    "Goodbye…" Bernard ced his hand on Riley''s shoulder, "...My son."


    And without even waiting for Riley to finish his words, Bernard''s illusion just suddenly disappeared; not even fading, not withering, he just disappeared.


    "Hm," Riley nced at his shoulder for a few seconds, before letting out a sigh and shaking his head, "It would seem we are truly stuck here, Miss Hera."


    "W… what about the delivery guy!?" Hera almost jumped from her seat as she pointed at Riley, "You said he could travel through the multiverse, right!? What if we make him deliver us the portal thingy!?"


    "I already tried, Miss Hera," Riley let out a long and deep sigh as he showed Hera his phone, "But I can''t ess his app or website."


    "Shit!" Hera wanted to pull out her hair there and then, "I thought that''s what Bernard meant!"


    "This Bernard guy, he seems very interesting," Caiin ced her hand on her chin as she looked at the part of the floor where Bernard was standing, "But why do I get the feeling that he is a womanizer?"


    "He is. He—"


    "Uhm… guys!" And before the three could get sidetracked with their conversation, Special Agent Miller, who was slowly losing his mind and sense of reality upon hearing their talk, rushed from the balcony waving his hands, "We have a problem!"


    "Yes we do, Special Agent Miller," Riley sighed and nodded, "Yes, we do."


    "N…no. Not that multiverse talk!" Miller raised his voice, "The… the hotel''s currently being surrounded! There''s an army out there!"


    "Oh," Riley stood up from his seat, "You do not have to worry about them, Special Agent Miller. The entire building is enveloped by my telekic barrier — even if this is destroyed, this building will remainpletely intact."


    "Shit… this is crazy," Miller started biting his nails, "What… what are we even supposed to do now? What am I even supposed to do now!?"


    "You should rx," Caiin sighed as she just casually returned to her seat and started cracking another bottle open, "Your heart rate is incredibly elevated. You''re going into shock in a few more minutes if you keep this up."


    "Rel—" And before Miller could say anything, he just suddenly went limp. Before he could fall to the floor, however, Riley pushed him toward the sofa.


    "You… did you just kill him!?" Hera gasped.


    "No. Why would I do that, Miss Hera?" Riley looked at Hera disappointingly, "Please stop thinking that I always kill."


    "You do," Hera groaned in disbelief before shaking her head, "The shorty does have a point, though. What do we do from here on? We obviously can''t stay in this cit—country anymore."


    "We leave the, Miss Hera," Riley shrugged, "Now that we have someone that could navigate through the expanse of space, we could just go to another—"


    "Oh. Not possible," Caiin quickly interrupted Riley as she started waving her c, "I told you about the other races being dead, right? Well, this is it."


    "Hm?" A smile crawled on Hera''s face as she looked at Caiin.


    "This is it," Caiin pointed her finger around, "Aside from the Common Council, which is made up of just AIs, Earth is the only left with… intelligent life, as far as my knowledge goes."


    "Oh…" Hera''s eyes turned nk before her head very slowly turned to Riley; her voice, nowpletely monotonous, "...Please don''t tell me this is one of those dying universes?"


    "I do not know," Riley''s eyes also very slightly turned wide by a micrometer as he looked Caiin in the eyes, "How did your people die, Dr. Caiin?"


    "The same as the others…" Caiin''s voice slightly turned somber, "...Cherbis."


    "...That pink fluff?" Hera covered her forehead, "How did—Wait, did you just say Cherbis?"


    "Yes."


    "Cherbis, with… an S?" Hera looked back and forth between Caiin and Riley, "Plural?"


    "Yes…?"


    "How… many?"


    "A million," Caiin let out a very long and deep sigh, "And…


    …they should be on their way here."