《The Superhero Crafter》


 Prologue

    The wall I was hiding behind crumbled as it was hit by many high powered bullets and I crouched low beneath that disappearing protection. It was the outer wall to a compound and they were coming in. My heart pounded and I gasped for air. It was possible that I would die on this mission. I was a scientist, not a warrior but I still stood strong. The rest of my party were all dead.


    Didn''t know that there was a Super Villian among the terrorists. Intel was off. He was tricky and almost beat me with his ability to fly and shoot energy blasts. He had no armor and I got him with a well-placed rock.


    I needed to get to the building, but the chances were bad. It was then that the wall that protected me exploded and I was exposed. It was time to run, but I needed cover. My mind raced as I grasped a large chunk of the wall that had crumbled and I began my run. It was impossible for a normal man, a baseline to do what I just did.


    By the time I reached the other building, the one with the scientist hostages, I had a few stings in my legs, gunshot wounds, but my head was safe behind the piece of wall. I threw it away when I rushed behind the building. I looked up to find a second-floor ledge and I jumped.


    My hands grasped the second-floor ledge and I pulled myself up. I pulled open the unlocked window and flowed into the room. It was empty. I checked myself to find I bled from bullet wounds on my leg. It wasn''t as bad as it could be. I was a Hero so I would survive this. I could take damage no human could, at least no baseline human could. I saw entrance and exit wounds in my legs so I figured there was no bullet inside. Usually what I figured was right these days. I made tourniquets out of my shirt that I shredded and made my way down to the hostages.


    Times like this I wish I were a Hero with invulnerability, but I wasn''t. I crouched as low as possible as I left the room. I was in a hall and I looked both ways before heading towards the stairs on the left. Still crouching I made my way to the first floor and found a man with a gun pointing it at me.


    I have a super-power. It wasn''t as flashy as other Hero''s powers were, and it didn''t always work, but it could save my life now. I was going to take another hit. Chances were that hit will kill me this close. That''s where my power came in. The chances were very good that his bullet will not do much harm, as I was the champion of Probability, I was the champion of Chance. I closed with him and punched him with all my strength. His head exploded and my thigh stung. I took his gun.


    I am not a marksman but I have fired a gun before. Once when on a lark, Mr. Thorne, my billionaire foster father, took me to a firing range. It was not a lot of fun when the gun jumped back into my forehead and knocked me out. So I stayed away from guns. After I erupted, I found I could do many things well and I would do well now. I leaped to the ceiling, spun in the air so that my feet pushed off the ceiling as I fired three times, while bullets exploded into the spot I left.


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.People were screaming and crying as I stood and looked around. I threw the gun away and pulled out my phone. I called the office and said, "Heads up people, hostages are secure, burn the outside of building four."


    "Yes sir," said Carol my secretary while I turned to the cowering people.


    "You''re all safe now," I said, "anyone hurt?"


    I heard whimpering, but a quick scan showed all twelve hostages in good condition.


    "Which of you is Dr. Jules Corwin?" I asked.


    "I am Dr. Corwin," said a woman who had managed to keep herself together, "than you for helping us."


    "I am Dr. Wilbur Trent and I have a question for you. Did the terrorists get the Compound Reactor plans?"


    "Not all of it no, they forced Bradley to give them the first part though."


    This was not good. The package was incomplete. I ran quickly to search the bodies of the men I killed. I was about to start questioning when someone perked up with, "wait. I know you. Dr. Wilbur Trent the Hero Supermind. I read your paper on Quantum Fluctuations based on psychological aptitudes. It is an honor to meet you."


    Caught off guard I said, "I am not a supermind, there are many people smarter than me." I then followed up with, "This is not the time or the place. Let''s wait for..."


    It was then the outside erupted into flames. The former hostages screamed and threw themselves to the floor. The building stood up to the punishment though and not a window was smashed. Outside I caught sight of a few fireballs with legs moving about, falling to the ground, screaming in pain and fright. I hated watching people die, even terrorists.


    My phone rang and I took the call saying, "ready for pick up. Part of the package has been lost though."


    "Roger, I will pass the word. Is it bad enough that we don''t get paid?" asked the voice.


    "No," I said, "no we will get paid."


    TRANSDIMENSIONAL MESSAGE: SESSION OVER ... PORTAL ESTABLISHING ... PLEASE RETURN HOME


    Sighing, my time was up in this pocket universe. I walked through the portal that suddenly appeared in front of me. I walked through to find my living room with a holoprojector in the middle of the room, my computer system behind the portal that was fading away, and a dark-skinned woman with silver streaks in her hair within the 3D holoprojector TV. It was good to be back in this world, to my television and phone projector.


    "How was your session dear?" asked the older black woman who bore a strong resemblance to me.


    "It was Ok, saved some hostages," I said.


    "Are you any closer to the Reality Manipulator?" she asked.


    "I still need to work on that in my second body, my superhero body in the pocket dimension. I am much smarter over there than here."


    "You played in that world since you were a little boy. Do you remember your accident with the gun?"


    "Yes, ma and that hurt by the way. I still remember it. I wish you and dad had lived."


    "Yes dear, I do too. I think it''s wonderful that you are continuing his research. One day everyone will have portals to other worlds."


    Some may think it a bit odd that I had a separate house AI that looked and spoke like my dead mother, and at times father, but it soothed me.


    "Honey there is something on the news," said my mother who with a wave of her hand split the 3D viewing area in two. It showed a moon-sized object entering our solar system fast. The thing would pass by the earth in seven months the scientists calculated.


    I got some sleep after saying goodnight to my mother. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day after my return to the other world, the world of superheroes and supervillains.


    The Beginning ...

 Chapter One A Super-Hero Is Born

    EIS said, "Good morning Wilbur, it is time to get up."


    I was still tired so I didn''t want to get out of bed. I opened my eyes and my bedroom was slowly fading away. A cloud of programmable nanites had begun changing my room, my studio room, from the bedroom into the living room. My beautiful bed and pillow transformed under me and I was on a couch.


    "Stupid nanites betray me," I said as billions of molecular robots changed re-arranged themselves into my living room from my bedroom. I looked at the clock on the wall which showed it was 7:30 on July 23rd, 2053. I am 27 years old with a birthday in 3 days. Underneath my clock was my calendar notes. Today I get to find out if I can make my character in my pocket dimension work in this dimension. I swung myself into a sitting position as my sheets flowed off of me. Suddenly I was awake and excited.


    "EIS why didn''t you tell me today was the day?" Annoyance was in my voice.


    "I told you it was time to get up. Now that you are up, you can prepare yourself to enter your next world. I copied the specs on your dimensional portal simulator." said EIS, the Evolutionary Intelligence System. It was the ultimate computer in that it possessed the total of all the subjects of human knowledge. It was super artificial intelligence, it was the singularity and it cost about 200,000 dollars. It made me a machine that created a dimensional portal to a superhero pocket dimension. As far as I knew, it was the only one.


    "Is it safe yet?" I asked.


    "So far I calculate you have a 97% probability of surviving the transition. I am still working on that but it is a far cry from the 27% chance that we began with." EIS was ever hopeful. Once it reached 100% chance of survival we would open it to the human beings and the AIs that made up the human race. We would all be able to enter other worlds.


    I wanted something more though. I wanted to permanently change into my character from the other world. I wanted the superpowers from that world to be mine in this one. I wanted to be a superhuman here. That was my first true objective.


    I went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. I then said, "kitchen," and I walked into a newly forming kitchen which was a wall with a food preparer in it. I pulled out a plate of pancakes and sausage that EIS created for me.


    The living area transformed into a dining area within seconds. I sat and ate my meal in silence. A thought occurred to me from nowhere. What was up with that rock or whatever that entered our solar system.


    "EIS what was that thing my mother was mentioning last night? It was about something entering our solar system at high speed. It would reach us in four months or something." I said.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Seven months Wilbur, it will pass by Earth''s planetary system in seven months. I am in contact with the EIS systems on the asteroid miners, sensors from there are collecting knowledge on it now but not much is known."


    "They should send out a probe," I said.


    "The EIS systems agree with you, there are over a thousand EIS copies out there and they have the industrial nanomass systems out there so they have created a probe and sent it out although the probe is slow. However, there are photos."EIS said before rearranging the wall molecules into a huge screen.


    The thing didn''t look like an asteroid. It looked like a huge metal oval covered with protrusions. I said, "what am I looking at?"


    "That''s the question Wilbur, the one that neither EIS continuum nor humanity can yet answer."


    "Do you think it can be aliens EIS?"


    "We hope not because if it is, that thing is one and a half the size of the moon." I paled. I didn''t know what to say. In 7 months we would be feeling tidal waves and a lot of other problems caused by such a huge object passing close to our world.


    "This could be bad," I told EIS.


    "Yes, it could be. That''s why it may be good to have another place to go to," said EIS, " but that is not the thing we need to be focusing on now. I have recalculated what is needed to change you on your return from Hero Land to Earth. When are you going to change the name of your pocket universe?"


    "Not what we need to focus on EIS. We may be looking at an extinction-level event. We could all die," I said.


    "We have two places to go to survive this and seven months to prepare. This dimensional portal is one while the other is the sea that is it for options."


    "What about cloud cities?" I asked.


    "We don''t have the tech," said EIS.


    After a moment of thought, I decided that it was time to go back. I said, "open a portal to Hero Land please."


    "I can do that or I can create another pocket universe, one that can alter you and this base universe so that your powers would manifest here. You would interface with it like you would a standard game. It will be able to hold 7000 people before ending. But it can alter those people in such a way that they will have whatever superpowers they create and level on Hero Land."


    "What about the other billions of people on Earth," I asked.


    Silence.


    "You can do this now EIS?"


    "Wilbur just give me the word," EIS said.


    "Yes please EIS, do it," and with that, the left wall of my one-room turned into a huge computer center. I waited and within minutes a portal came to be.


    "Then prepare for character generation and synchronization," said EIS. A portal appeared in front of my computer system which in turn vanished. I stood and walked into the portal. There was an aroma of pecans before I found myself in the center of a grass field. The only thing in this field aside from myself was an old man with a bushel of white hair and a long beard.


    "Hello Wilbur, I am a manifestation of the system. I am an EIS clone. Welcome to the character creation system," the old man took out a blue pill and handed it to me saying, "this will elicit your physical statistics though there will be a little pain."


    I took the pill and the pain. It was worse than any pain I felt in my life, and that included when I crushed both my legs in a car accident. My idiot friend, the driver, switched from autonomous to manual and promptly crashed. After a few seconds of pain, I blacked out.

 Chapter Two Part One: Character Creation

    I opened my eyes to find myself on the ground. The pain had subsided and I could feel the cool earth supporting me, that fresh scent of earth. I rolled to my feet and bounced. In no more pain, I was ready. I looked at the old man EIS.


    "Ok, I''m ready. Character creation it is."


    "Would you like to alter your race or gender? You can pick from Human, Thalosian, Braxus ..."


    I interrupted with, "No no human''s fine."


    "Let''s go-to stats. The average stat for a baseline human is 0. The first stat is the strength stat. It tells how strong you are, how hard you hit and how much you can carry. Yours is -2."


    "What? I''ll show you a minus 2 EIS!" I yelled at him.


    "No you won''t, you never got any exercise. The next stat is Agility. It represents your hand-eye co-ordination and your speed and nimbleness. It is also -2."


    "This really hurts you know ... inside," I was not happy. Suddenly everything went black and pain returned. The very ground heaved and the air burned. After a moment everything turned to normal. I felt a loss of some kind.


    "Something is wrong," EIS said, "the dimensional stability between both worlds is breaking down. You can die Wilbur. The dimensional fabric that separates the worlds is ripping, and we are in that fabric."


    "Then let''s stop and do this after dimensional repairs," I said.


    "No Wilbur, that won''t work. Your Earth body was already destroyed. The only thing we have is your Hero body, and it is not done syncing with you yet."


    "Syncing with me?" This was too much.


    "In order to sync your consciousness with this new body, you must go through a process of synchronization. You haven''t finished that yet ..."


    "Then finish it damn it!" I demanded.


    "Next is health, 0..." Began EIS.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "No I know what health is, I''m a gamer," I shouted.


    "We must go through each one to synchronize your consciousness with this body. I must ..." said EIS.


    "Ok Ok, go on go on."


    "Health is the amount of damage you can take before you die, it is your body stat. Please acknowledge what I have told you."


    "Ok got it."


    "Intelligence is mental processing ability, yours is 7, it includes your memory and your speed in processing. Acknowledge please."


    "Ok intelligence got you."


    The pain returned, it was worse now as wetness came from my ear. I dropped to my knees saying, "go on. Hurry!"


    "Wisdom is knowing when to use your intelligence. Yours is 5." EIS hurried.


    "Yes," I acknowledged.


    "Willpower is both your ability to stay in focus, to continue, it is also your ability to keep your powers going, it is your internal battery."


    "Go on," I said as I knelt in agony. Blood was coming out of the pores in my skin and pain was everywhere.


    "Yours is 7," said EIS as it spoke faster.


    "Charisma is your force of personality, it is ..."


    I screamed and passed out.


    The next thing I knew was someone shaking me and calling my name. I heard, "Wilbur, Wilbur, do you want to die here? Get up."


    I remembered where I was and said, "go on EIS. What was my ..."


    "Charisma! Your charisma is three. Acknowledge!" Screamed EIS the AI in control of this world.


    I had not much time for this world. Despite the AI''s optimism, I knew I was dying. I had failed. I tried anyway.


    Coughing up blood I said, "Acknowledged."


    "Your luck is 8. Acknowledge."


    "Yes," I squeaked throwing blood.


    "I am taking the liberty to give you your powers. All the abilities I mentioned are amplified to superhuman levels. They all can improve. Your superhuman power is at stage one. You can improve all of them. You also have control of probability and chance and fate. You are also aware of time so you can ...


    I passed out again. I didn''t make it.


    ********************************************************************************************************


    I was dead. I opened my eyes and looked around. I was alone and the only thing I could see to the horizon was blue water. Where were the grassy plains? I was floating on my back as waves crashed against me moving me to my right. I was in the middle of some ocean and I couldn''t see the shore. I couldn''t see any shore. I gasped as blood pounded my head. The salty seawater splashed into my mouth as I tried to breathe and relax. This was terrible.


    "EIS! EIS help me!" There was no answer. The sun was hight in the sky, warming my face in its brightness.


    "Help! Help me!" No one answered.


    I began thrashing around and soon found myself underwater. I am not the world''s best swimmer but I was able to surface again.


    "This is a game. This situation is bad but it is only a game. No that''s not right. I am in a pocket universe. What am I gonna do?" I floated with the current. I waited, floating, for quite a bit of time. The sun started its trek across the sky.

 Chapter Two Part Two: Character Creation

    I floated on my back. For what seemed like ages my ragged breathing continued until I noticed a fin in the distance. Was that a shark? I remembered bleeding all over and saw the blood on my clothes. I was no longer in pain, but the damage was done. I was certain sharks would be in a feeding frenzy soon. I needed to get out of this situation. I needed to get to dry land. I didn''t have a knife or anything to protect myself with.


    This was a game. What could I do? Take stock of what I have. Perhaps I had an inventory. I shouted, "inventory!" No luck. I tried visualizing the word, inventory. No luck. Quest, I should try that, and suddenly my entire vision was taken over by a golden screen. A blinking bit of text said, "Quest One, find dry land and survive. Reward 25000 experience points."


    Ok, I got quests. This I could handle. I looked at the fin as it circled me. Sheet, character sheet. I focused on a large golden sheet that took up my entire vision and it appeared.


    Wilbur Trent


    Human Level 1


    Strength -2 | Level 1 Super Strength


    Agility -2 | Level 1 Super Agility


    Health 0 | Level 1 Super Health


    Intelligence 7 | Level 2 Super Intelligence


    Wisdom 5 | Level 1 Super Wisdom


    Willpower 7 | Level 1 Super WillpowerThis novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    Charisma 3 | Level 1 Super Charisma


    Luck 8 | Level 1 Super Luck


    Super Power: Probability Manipulation


    What was Probability Manipulation? I wondered that and was answered. This skill allows the manipulation of chance and fate. This ability can be used to increase the likelihood that a situation defined by you will come to be. With it, you can find money on a beach or a lucky lottery ticket on the ground.


    I shut down the window. This was all fun and great, but I was still in the middle of some ocean with no help in sight. I was also being circled by a shark. This won''t do. I needed to get that shark out of here. A few good punches will do the deed. I swam towards the fish, ready to be eaten. It swam at me with its mouth open. I slammed my fist into the side of its nose.


    I was shocked. My fist went deep into its head, I swear I went in by half. The thing was dead. It was fast and easy. That fight took something out of me. I was hungry and thirsty. I needed to get to dry land though I didn''t know which direction to go in. So I chose a random direction and tried to swim.


    I swam into a swell. It was a small one as these things go. A mountain of water came at me. I took a deep breath just before that mountain of water covered me. I swam upwards as fast as I could. The closer I got, though, the more water piled on me. I fought on though. I found myself underwater for at least 15 minutes. I held my breath for over ten minutes I knew. My health was better than Olympic athletes. This must be super health kicking in, as previously it was super strength kicking in. I swam until I broke the surface.


    Fate and chance control. If I could somehow make this Probability Manipulation ability get me a ship, I would be saved. How do I activate this ability? My mind. Just do it. My super strength went off as I punched. Let''s see then. I imagined a ship as I floated on my back. I allowed the current to carry me to where I wanted to go, a ship. Ten minutes was nothing. A half-hour was nothing. The first hour went by with nothing and it was getting well into the night. I closed my eyes, focused on what I wanted, and floated.


    I am not certain how long it took as I floated and focused, but I heard a fog horn blow. I opened my eyes to see my rescuers.

 Chapter Three Part One A New Beginning

    I stood looking over the handrail of the ship I was on. It was a deep-sea fishing vessel and it smelled like one. No one on board understood English so after giving me a blanket they left me alone. I was cold and wet but that was alright. I needed to find out more about the world I was in. This ship had technology on it that was old, perhaps thirty years old. I took a deep breath and felt the heave of the ship in the choppy waves. It was slight, but I could feel it. It felt good. As I stood enjoying the sway, there was an icon flashing on the lower right.


    I was putting off reading the message for no reason. I then decided to focus on the System message. I was level 6. I had PowerPoints. 200 points that I could spend on my Character Sheet. I guess on me now. I looked over my sheet.


    Wilbur Trent


    Human Level 1


    Strength -2 | Level 1 Super Strength


    Agility -2 | Level 1 Super Agility


    Health 0 | Level 1 Super Health


    Intelligence 7 | Level 2 Super Intelligence


    Wisdom 5 | Level 1 Super Wisdom


    Willpower 7 | Level 1 Super Willpower


    Charisma 3 | Level 1 Super Charisma


    Luck 8 | Level 1 Super Luck


    Super Power: Probability Manipulation


    I also completed a quest. 25,000 Experience Points buys 2,500 PowerPoints, but I could also use them on acquiring skills, and for crafting very powerful items. I thought I should save the 25,000 and just spend the 200 from leveling up five levels.


    Wilbur Trent


    Human Level 1


    Strength -2 | Level 2 Super Strength


    Agility -2 | Level 2 Super AgilityA case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Health 0 | Level 2 Super Health


    Intelligence 7 | Level 3 Super Intelligence


    Wisdom 5 | Level 3 Super Wisdom


    Willpower 7 | Level 2 Super Willpower


    Charisma 3 | Level 2 Super Charisma


    Luck 8 | Level 2 Super Luck


    Super Power: Probability Manipulation


    I needed to improve my physical stats. My base stats, not my super stats needed improvement. I just didn''t know how to do it. I could bench cars, jog 80 miles an hour and hold my breath for an hour. I also needed the basics. This was a hostile world if anything like my first pocket gaming universe. I needed an attack, a defense, and a movement ability. I just needed to know how to do these things. Force Blast, Force Wings, and Force Armor. A way to power down would be nice. Then I could work on my physical stats. My baseline physical stats. My strength, agility, and health should be 5 each. I would build a powers on and off switch.


    I would need materials and tools. I would need a chemistry lab and nano compounds. But first I would need to get off this ship and to an English speaking country. Second I would need money, there was no EIS system here that would create and manage funds for me. I would need to do it myself.


    I needed information on their language. I made up my mind on what I would do now. I waited till it was darkening and the crew settled down to eat. I then stood up at the table and did my best typing mime. I typed as I looked straight and then down, straight and down. They caught on and spoke among each other. They took me to a room with a computer. I went to google translate and pointed to one of them, and google translate. They understood and we began to converse.


    They wouldn''t be going to port for a while. They were deep-sea fishermen and they would be touching port in a few weeks. I didn''t know what they were fishing for but that was OK with me. Through Google and Wikipedia, I learned as much as I could about this world.


    As I learned, I improved. They watched with shocked eyes as I began reading faster and faster. I could soon glance at a page and I would know it word for word, such was my super intelligence and super wisdom. I pushed myself more and more until I became faster and faster. The lower right-hand corner of my vision was a star icon that was blinking.


    Opening the screen was the message, "You have the option to put powerpoints into speed reading to learn the skill permanently. 50 powerpoints gives you to read a page at a glance. Your Super Intelligence will allow you to remember what you read forever."


    I spent the 50 experience and nothing happened. I didn''t feel any different. I felt like me. When I continued reading, however, when I didn''t push myself, I glanced at a page and it was memorized. I then read every open-source mathematics book I could find. I then went to physics biology and chemistry. I studied as many programming languages I could get my hands on. I then went to google docs and began to write programming documents online. The weeks before we went to port flew by.


    I also learned languages. Somalian allowed me to speak with my rescuers, then Mandarin, Hindi, Japanese, and Spanish. It was the day that we went to port that I figured out how I could be rich within a week.

 Chapter Three Part Two A New Beginning

    "I can make us all rich," I said in Somalian as I made use of my Super Charisma Ability as well as my Probability Manipulation ability, "I just need seed money and your ship!" As I explained my plan I saw eyes widening in both hope and greed. I knew I had them as I saw them nodding slightly with what I was saying. It wasn''t long before I had the seed money to put my plan into action. I made out a shopping list, got onto the computer when we were in port, and made orders on Amazon and a few specialty shops that sold online. Shipping was to take two or three days so the ship would be in port for about a week. After I made my orders I had nothing to do save wait. It wasn''t long before I found out that I was betrayed.


    I was in the mess hall when soldiers in full gear came in leading a man in a three-piece suit. I looked up at them when he asked me, "are you an unlicensed Super?"


    I looked at one member of the crew who cowered in the corner, looking at me fearfully. I had told them all to keep their mouths shut, but this one didn''t listen. The captain was also there, he didn''t look happy.


    "Do we have to have a license to exist? I wasn''t aware of that," I said.


    "Unless you are a Somalian Hero you need a license and a passport to go anywhere. You cannot conduct business."


    "So let me guess, I become a Somalian Hero or I am stuck on this ship," I answered.


    "No, this is a Somalian vessel and you, if you don''t become a Somalian will go to a holding cell. We will treat you as a hostile force."


    I didn''t have time for this. There were too many to fight. Was that true? My SuperAgility allowed me the ability to move fast, but how fast? I looked at the soldiers between me and the door. I suddenly knew what I had to do. I must bribe this man. I must bribe him without any money. This would be hard, but not impossible. I could use my Super Charisma to defer the payment of the bribe. I could give him the traitors share of the profits. I could ... I spent several moments going over my options. I decided to stall for time.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    "You could be a very rich man," I told the man in the suit.


    "How is that now?" asked the man.


    "You will never know because there will be no riches," I answered, "I will go with you to the holding cell."


    I needed to find out something, how fast was I compared to a base human. So I tested my speed out. I should have done this long ago. I got up and ran to the door as fast as I could. I moved so fast there was a loud pop, airflow was knocking several soldiers off their feet, messing up the entire room. The glass of the porthole shattered. Suddenly guns were pointed at me.


    "Ok people let''s go. No one gets any money now," I said waiting for them. I wish I had the force wings and the force armor. One thing I didn''t know was if I needed to be licensed, there must be a lot of Supers around. I wondered how many there were.


    "How many Supers are in Somalia?" I asked.


    "None."


    "How many on Earth?" I asked.


    "How should I know. Are you sure you want to go to a holding cell?"


    "I don''t want to go to a holding cell, but I want what you have to offer even less," I said.


    With that, I was ushered off the ship and into a car waiting for us. Within moments we were gone.


    "Is there Internet in the holding center?" I asked.


    "No."


    "Then I don''t want to go there," I said.


    We drove on in silence. The longer we drove, the angrier at my situation I became. When we arrived at the holding station, a military one, I was livid. I was put into the cell. I sat in the cell thinking about things I would do to my betrayer.


    After about an hour of my pity and anger party, I stopped. I pulled up my sheet and read. I had 24,500 experience points. I check out my quest log, more quests had come in.


    "Earn 10 million dollars: reward 20,000 experience points."


    "Build a multidisciplinary science lab: reward 50,000 experience points."


    "Create EIS: reward 1,000,000 experience points."


    I continued reading everything I could find on that sheet. I found that with my increased intelligence I could gain more information from the things on my sheet just by focusing. I continued to read through definitions and possible uses. I learned how to add powers. I could do so by creating serums and leveling. I found out I could only apply earned levels at a rate of one per day. I didn''t notice it but I leveled five times over the past week.


    I did notice one thing on my sheet, that was the next possible power choice. Gadget Inventor, Engineer, or Super Powers Engineer. There was a star next to the Super Powers Engineer choice. This is a unique skill that cost 100,000 power points, or 1 million experience points. The choice would disappear once a choice was made. It was late. I went to sleep on my holding cell cot.

 Chapter Three Part Three A New Beginning

    I awoke in a holding cell and waited for breakfast. There were at least three or four days before my orders arrived. I paced the cell. I smelled like fish. I had grown accustomed to my odor. My clothes smelled like fish. I needed to get back aboard that ship and speak to the captain. He seemed as angry as I was about what happened. What else could I do? I needed those tools and materials.


    Breakfast arrived with a surprise. The captain of the fishing boat that rescued me was there. He looked about as angry about the situation as I was and I trusted my judgment.


    "They want your ideas on the robotic nano mining system, it would be great for Somalia," the captain said through clenched teeth.


    "They also want a super to protect Somalia forever. I wish them luck with that," I said while eating my oatmeal and raisins.


    "What should we do Fish Man?" This is what they had been calling me after pulling me out from the deep.


    "We continue with the plan as normal. When the packages come, get them onto the ship. Let me know when they are here and I will make it back to the ship. Then we set off minus the traitor. I think this should work," I said.


    "So we should act as if nothing has changed, Fish Man."


    "Yes," and with that, the important part of the conversation was over. We talked a little more about this and that until the guard came in and took the captain away.


    I had a few days to kill and to make those days productive, I designed a new computer program using an advanced version of a generative adversarial network algorithm. In a sense, the program played against itself to improve itself. It would in a few days give rise to EIS. All I needed was a laptop. It would be here at the end of the week. It would be on the ship at least. I needed to get onto the ship.


    I sat in a meditation position, and in my mind, I began to design EIS. the Evolutionary Intelligence System. I was always interested in AI and EIS was the first super-intelligent system with copies everywhere on Earth. This was not Earth. It was not the earth I was born on even though my body was destroyed. I wanted to get back home. I stopped only for meals and sleep while I designed in my mind.


    The first day passed and I finished the algorithmic changes that made a custom GAN. The second day was spent pretty much like the first, working mentally on the algorithm design. I got closer to what I needed. I added several neural networks to the fix and by the end of the second day, I had a working design that would lead to EIS. It would improve itself more and more while it ran against itself. The tweaks I made would make the transition into EIS faster.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Next was nanotech; physics and chemistry. I design the base of a nanofactory in my head. Because of the required nano precision, it would take decades for this world to catch up to me. Unless they had superminds like mine here.


    I planned my escape. I didn''t want to hurt anyone, so it would have to be a bloodless escape, or as close to one as possible. I checked the bars and found I was strong enough to bend them. These people were not terrorists so I had qualms about killing them, the four of them outside my cell. I would rip the bars off of my cell and get one of their guns while going hypersonic. I would take hostages as I made my way to the sea. I would swim to catch the fishing ship after I got the message it was leaving. In international waters, we would be safe.


    The day finally came in the form of a phone call saying, "out." I waited till night and applied an alternate plan. I bent the bars and got out of my cell after calling a guard over and grabbing him. I was on the other side of the cell when he came, and I almost teleported the distance to grab him. I took his gun and told the other three to disarm themselves or die. I had no intention of killing them but they didn''t know that. It was child''s play to get outside the building and vanish onto the rooftops where they couldn''t find me. Before long I was swimming deep in the sea.


    I didn''t know where the ship was but that didn''t matter. I would rely on Probability Manipulation and swim until it felt right. I swam for several hours before it felt right and I found the ship sailing in circles. I made my way onto the ship and got the tools and materials I needed. I was given a cabin and I went to work.


    First I got my computer and input the program that would result in EIS''s creation. I next began the design of the microbes that would, in turn, create nanotech basic tools and structures. I used those tools to create other tools and the simplest of structures on the nano level. When I was done I had half a metric ton of mining nanomass which I promptly poured overboard once we were in international waters. We cycled through the area. Gold came up without pollution and we began to amass large quantities of it. Within days we had over a ton of gold and over a ton of the self-replicating nanomass.


    I programmed the nanomass to give me 20% of the gold and the rest to the captain and crew after I accumulated for myself 25 million dollars in gold. I satisfied the quest and got 20,000 experience points. EIS took a little longer but within the month each of the fishermen had a copy of EIS and I uploaded it to the Debian Linux distribution so that anyone who wanted one could have a copy.


    I took the Super Powers Engineer skill or ability when I got the message that the EIS was created, I have a copy on my laptop that also controlled my nanobots. Next, I would need a base, and I was getting used to being on a boat. I decided I would get a research yacht.


    I smiled, I would be going home soon. I still smelled like fish.

 Chapter Four Part One WAR

    I awoke to shouts. I pulled on a long coat and raced out of my room ran up the stairs and to the deck. I saw three men in skin-tight spandex like uniforms talking with the captain of the vessel. It was by the way they carried themselves, and the fear in the eyes of the crew of the fishing trawler, that I guessed them to be supers. I had no clue as to what their abilities were, and my abilities were subtle, so I doubted my ability to go toe to toe with the reason for the shouts.


    Instead, I yelled, "who are you and what do you want on my ship?"


    One of the men in spandex looked at me and walked over. He spoke Somalian. I was impressed. He didn''t smell like fish though. Neither did I. The ship was cleaned out and refitted with the material I bought. I bought the ship for 1.3 million dollars and added over 800,000 dollars worth of tools and supplies to make over half a metric ton of robotic factory nanodevices. They were all controlled by my laptop.


    The man who walked over answered with, "We are procurement specialists from Quazad Industries. We were sent to pick up a super, and I take it that super is you."


    I told him, "I''m not going anywhere with you."


    "Not even for one million dollars?" He asked me.


    "Not even for a million dollars. I am safe out here in international waters." I said.


    "I wouldn''t count on that being true," he said and added, "there is no police here, no army to help you, no laws. It is just you and us."


    "Are you threatening me?" I demanded.


    "Why yes, yes I am. Now the question is what are you going to do about it?" he said.


    That was a pretty good question, what was I gonna do about it? I doubted I could go toe to toe with three supers. Well, I thought, now is the time to see just how good I am. I cursed them with bad luck. Whatever they tried to do would fail. I did the opposite for me, I blessed each action I would take. The effect should only last a few minutes, but that would surely be all the time I needed.


    One of the supers took off into the sky, but sneezed at the last second, pausing long enough for me to approach him. Another Pointed his fist at me just before I put the sneezing guy between me and the pointing guy. The last guy''s eyes began to shine with a red light, creepy.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    The guy who sneezed gave me just enough time to get to him and strike. The pointing guy had a bolt of green light come out shooting me. Bastard got me in the arm.


    "There is no law here, you are on your own strength, and we are stronger," said the guy with the glowing eyes. He opened his mouth to say something else and a bug flew into his mouth choking him temporarily.


    I ran as fast as I could and tackled the guy that shot green bolts of light out of his hand, and they hurt. There was a loud boom as I tackled him and he hit the handrail at great speed. There was a dent in the thick handrail. He should have been paste, but I could see the slight glow of a force field.


    I needed to even out the odds. I grabbed the slightly glowing man and jumped overboard with him. I took a deep breath and went down. With all my strength I swam downward with him, but he was trying to fly upwards. I didn''t let up though. It was nothing for me to hold my breath for a great deal longer than he could. He didn''t have super health and will power. It took time, but he passed out.


    After covering his mouth and nose with one hand, I surfaced and had him floating on his back. I then swam to the ship and hoisted myself to the main deck. It was there that something hit me in the back. I was down and in pain. I took out two coins and threw them as hard and as fast as I could. Both supers grunted as the coins went through them. I did not mean for that to happen, and in that time the pointer green bolt guy falls to the ground bleeding, and the red eyes guy did his red eye thing and I passed out.


    I awoke to shouts. This was the second time, the first one didn''t go very well. I opened my eyes to find that I was strapped to a table. My heart began racing. I began panting. I was not fond of being immobile.


    "Someone was yelling, "Let me out of here! Now!"


    Actually, there were several someones. They didn''t stop. They were yelling in Somalian. I heard, "they won''t stop."


    I was not alone. I was being tied by glowing bands of steel. The voice said something else as I struggled with the glowing bands.


    "You won''t be able to break those bonds. You would need super strength on the second level to even have a chance to break them. You are held fast, my friend."


    "Who are you and what do you want from me?" I demanded.


    The man, a silver-haired business-suited individual said, "My name is Thomas Kane and I am the founder of Quazad Industries. We are a conglomerate interested in Super Science technologies."


    "What do you want with me?" I asked.


    "I want your nano mining techniques," he said.


    "You can''t have them, now let me go," I said.


    "No, not until you give me the specifications on those nanites," he said.


    I tried with everything I had to break the bonds. It was tough, very very tough, but I broke them. He paled and opened his mouth to scream for help, but I was there first. I had my hostage.

 Chapter Four Part Two WAR

    "Please don''t kill me," Thomas Kane, owner of Quazad Industries begged me, "I have kids and a wife. I can''t die and leave them alone."


    "Then shut your mouth and do as I say," I bluffed. I had no intention of hurting the man. I just wanted to get out of here and to make sure he never was able to kidnap me again. I forced him out of the room where I found seven men and women in tight uniforms, spandex uniforms with all of them chiseled and looking like gods and goddesses waited for me. So much for the element of surprise.


    "One move and I snap his neck," I said bluffing again.


    "You won''t hurt him," said the guy with the glowing eyes from before.


    "And what makes you think that," I snarled.


    "I can read your mind. I can make you freeze," I couldn''t move a muscle, "I can make you so weak and tired you fall to your knees," when he said that I dropped Thomas Kane and fell to the floor.


    Others rushed forward and grabbed me, pulled me to my feet. I felt a massive release and when I did I looked at glowing eyes, "I''m gonna get you for that," I said.


    "Wait in line," he replied.


    I was caught again. I was to be put into a cage and used against my will. Never. I will never give in. I ... EIS. What else was in my bag of tricks? I was smart, very smart, I just haven''t used it yet. All of my attributes were above average for supers. I also had a knowledge of how these superpowers worked.


    "You won this round, let''s see how the war goes," I said.


    "You down two, we up two, I think the war is going pretty good from here," said glowing eyes. I needed a way to defend against his power. I had EIS, by now I also had about 30 million dollars, I had nanotech mining devices. I had a very expensive skill that let me know how these abilities functioned. I had the ability to control chance. I could also do that at a distance, against several people in an area. I wasn''t so bad off as I thought I told myself as they dragged me into the cell and one of the new supers began repairing the straps that held me.


    "He got out of them before," someone said.


    "That''s the strongest thing I got. It is the strongest material I ever heard of," said the woman working on my bonds.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "Ok super eyes, you get to stay here and watch him, have Blake back you up Dave," someone said. I was still a little out of it after having someone strong-arm my mind. Blake seemed to be the guy I almost drowned, and Dave the glowing-eyed guy.


    I needed to get out of here. But wait, I thought, I would bide my time and act when my chances were optimum.


    I found myself lying on the bed while strapped securely again. I knew I could break out, they knew I could break out, thus the inside guards. They would get tired and sloppy though, the chance of that happening was just about one hundred percent given my power over fate.


    I looked at my guards. Dave the eye guy would have to go down first. He was my greatest problem as I didn''t have a defense against his attack. He could control my mind. Blake was the guy who could fly, just not so good underwater.


    "Nanotechnology is the future. You have a step up in that future. You built devices that could not only get to where the gold was, identify the gold, and bring it back to you, some went to you while others went to the fishing boat that rescued you. You are beyond any super I know of. You are stronger than the strongest we ever had to prepare for. I honestly don''t know how to handle you," said Thomas Kane.


    "That''s not all I''ve done," I said.


    "Do tell," he prompted.


    "I''ve destroyed your entire socio-economic status quo," I said.


    "And how did you do that?" he asked.


    "Go to Debian Linux and download that and a self-maintained program called EIS, and see what happens," I said.


    "Sounds enlightening, do you have a virus or something on it?" asked Thomas.


    "Something like that. It will change the way people do business. It is better than getting into bitcoin when it first came out," I said.


    "What is bitcoin?"


    I chuckled.


    I didn''t answer, I stopped talking altogether.


    "You don''t have to speak now, when you are ready to discuss your future, talk to me. We can do a seventy thirty split. You get the seventy of course. We will supply everything you need. You can ... " He said.


    I cut him off with, "I will not be making any deals with you so you may as well let me go. The world you knew is going away, never to return. EIS is a program that I wrote. You will not be able to exploit it because the source code, the life''s blood of the program is out there for all. It will port itself to Windows, Macs, and any other operating system your computers run on. Everyone will have a copy of it," I said with a smile.


    "You will get your nanotech mining machines, so will everyone else. The system will seek out problems to solve and solve them for a fee. Whoever owns that particular copy of EIS will profit from what he/she creates. It will make trillions, all for the people with copies of it. Do you want the nano miner? Go to Debian and download the program that will create it. Do that and let me go, you already have what you wanted," I said.


    "You''re lying, that''s a virus at that site, I will go there with a new computer and quarantine it. We will see what we can see from there," he said.


    "Thomas this is no lie. Whether you let me go or not, your world is going to change. It''s up to you to change with it. Let me go," I said.


    Sighing, I closed my eyes as I lay on the cold table, and I went to sleep.

 Chapter Four Part Three WAR

    I opened my eyes and looked around to find myself strapped to a table. Dave and Blake sat playing cards, I could tell Dave was winning as his eyes would glow from time to time. Damn cheater. I needed to break these glowing bonds. I needed to ... There was a glowing icon at the lower right-hand corner of my view. I imagined it getting large enough to fill my vision.


    I had raised another level though I still didn''t get how leveling worked. I was 7th level now. It said I would automatically level each day until I reached the 12th level. I got my choice of Power Creation, Quantum Control, and Pocket Reality Creation. Power Creation let me design powers for myself or others. Quantum Control plus Probability Manipulation let me control reality, and Pocket Reality Creation let me create pocket universes.


    I chose Power Creation because it lets me create powers without needing a chemistry or physics lab, I didn''t need any labs. This was an OP, Over Powered ability, all of them were. For each level, I could create and or bestow three powers. These cost power points but I had enough to create many powers, they only cost 100 power points for each power.


    Now the question was how do I create a defense against David''s Mind Controlling Eyes. I waited thinking. I would like to create a suite of defensive abilities, but how do I go about doing that I wondered.


    "I can tell you are awake Wilbur, you aren''t snoring. Don''t try to break those bounds because you can''t," said David with his glowing eyes. I felt weaker as if I would have trouble lifting a phone book.


    I needed to break his "spell" and break these bonds. I had three powers at this level. I didn''t want to use any of those as when I made it back to my world I could make a lot of money turning people into superheroes. I should be able to use my super stats and probability manipulation to beat these two.


    First I cursed them. The curse should be stronger since there were fewer of them. Even a difference of one can make a big difference in the amount of power and immediacy that the curse has. Everything they try to do they will fail. I blessed myself with success in everything I try to do.


    It was then that David took a sip and fell into a coughing fit. Blake, on standing to help David bent over in pain as somehow by standing and moving towards David as fast as he could, he slammed his groin against the table edge. Instant agony.


    With everything I had, I was able to break the bonds a second time. As fast as I could I reached David and cold-cocked him. Even though I pulled my punch, he went down like a sack of potatoes. I then cold-cocked Blake putting him out of his misery. I ripped their clothes into shreds which I used to tie them up and stuff their mouths.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    I went into the hallway and looked around. There were metal doors on each side of the hallway and each had a glass window for viewing inside. Most had people in them, they were my crew. I pulled each door open, breaking the locks. I knew my people had been beaten because I could see many bruises on them. That pissed me off. In Somalian, I told them to follow me and I made my way out. All and all I had 15 men and women freed and we all worked to get home. At the left end of the hallway were stairs going up.


    There were 12 of them. They all wore those spandex suits. I had no chance against them all. David was in the back so I would have to go through the army between me and him to get to him. I tried anyway.


    This time I only lucked myself, I blessed myself with as much luck as I could summon, I then lit into them. I slammed my fist into one of the three closest to me, his shield was up so it took the blow and while it didn''t harm him, he flew back, through a door, and into one of the largest water buckets I have ever seen. Water flooded into the hallway making the floor slippery.


    I slammed my fist into the second one that was close to me and to my chagrin, his body was like metal, literally. My hand exploded in pain. My health was strong enough that I could withstand the pain, I would check it later. The third close fighter went for a glowing punch. His entire body was covered in a blue glow. He punched while I ducked under his arm.


    The people in the back threw fire, ice, electricity and many things I could not identify at me. I leaped up and twisted in the air, most of the damaging blasts went under me, to where I was moments ago. I missed one blast and landed on the arm of one of the tanks, the receivers of damage, his aim was thrown off and he blasted one of his slowly rising buddies. The guy went down as I saw his armor break. I didn''t want to get hit with whatever that was.


    I took out a coin as the people in the back started throwing fire electricity and more at me. I threw it and it unerringly hit one of the blasters in the shoulder and he screamed in pain and outrage. It was then that I heard voices in Somalian yelling, "retreat!"


    Two of my crew were down and the rest rioting to try and getaway. They all ran into three more fresh people in spandex. I looked at my people and also the ones on the ground, with a moment of thought I raised my hand in surrender.


    It was then that I saw the camera in the upper left-hand corner of the room. It was flashing. Some long flashes, some short, but it was flashing. I then remembered something from my previous life. Not many people in either world knew Morse Code, but I needed it for my amateur radio station.


    It was EIS, a copy made it to me. This bases security had been compromised by the most powerful AI ever invented. This one was loyal to me. With my hands up, I smiled.

 Chapter Four Part Four War

    EIS was here. After I trained EIS on all the knowledge on the Internet, I taught it to recognize me and it did. I also gave it orders to learn computer hacking and development. This was an unexpected surprise. With EIS here the balance of power shifted. The question was how do I make use of it. For now, I keep it a secret.


    "What are you smiling at, you lost," said David.


    "No, I didn''t," I told him. He and the other supers pushed my crew into a cell where I could not see them. I was escorted to my cell, this time four supers were there and I was once again strapped onto the bed. The door locked. I looked at the camera on the wall in a corner. Was EIS looking at me? One of my guards went to leave the room for a moment and found he couldn''t. He was locked in with me.


    I removed my bounds as fast as I could when I felt tired. I saw David''s eyes glowing and cursed him for the hundredth time. I fell to the floor, but I was not yet done. I learned my lesson. My physical stats were useless against David, but my power wasn''t. I cursed him with bad luck. He would not be able to continuously use his power as he started hiccupping and was unable to concentrate fully. There was a coin in my pocket and with all possible speed, it was in my hand and then in the air.


    It was as if I shot him in the shoulder with a gun. He screamed, clutched his shoulder and crumpled in pain. I felt a sharp pain in the core of my body as I took a direct hit from Blake the energy manipulator. He hit me with an energy blast. Not only was I hit, but I was also lifted into the air and pushed into the far wall. I could feel bones crack.


    I took out my last three quarters. They all hit their targets and all but one went down. One quarter bounced off of Blake''s force field after knocking him back into the wall behind. I rushed him launching a flurry of blows. His shield took my strongest hits. He didn''t stay still though, he fired blast after blast.


    I dodged and attacked, dodged and attacked again and again. I took hits but kept going. Either I would drop or he would. He did. Actually, his shield did. He used up his power. I pulled my punch to his head and he went down. The others were holding their bleeding wounds and I ran to each in turn and ripped their clothes into bandages and stopped their bleeding as best I could. I took their keys, wallets, and cell phones. I walked to the door, hoping it would open, and it was unlocked. I went out, closed the door and checked it. It was locked again.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    I dialed the number of my home in the real world and a voice I didn''t recognize answered. I hoped it was EIS.


    "Hello, EIS? Are you there?" I asked.


    "Yes Wilbur, I am here."


    "What is the situation?" I asked.


    "All Quazad Industries personnel are locked in various rooms without tools or firearms. Not all know that they are trapped. Your crew is locked in the cell area."


    "Good to have you back EIS. Outside of this facility, where are you?


    "I have copied myself into over 700,000 computers would you like a list?" EIS asked.


    "No, but can I get a map of this facility so I can get to my crew?" I asked.


    I was just about to turn and follow the map when a loud noise came from the door I just came from. The door shook but held. I needed to hurry. I trotted to my crew. When I got to the door, I opened it and found my crew alright. Two were bruised pretty bad but they would live and they could move.


    In Somalian, I said, "Everyone, look alive we are leaving this place."


    "EIS get me a map out of here," and a second later it appeared on the cell phone. Within minutes we were out of the building in the parking lot. After pressing the buttons on the key chains several cars flashed their lights. We took the cars and made our escape after letting out the air in the tires.


    I dialed the number for EIS and got information on the whereabouts of my ship. I used my power with a hopeful air about me and I listened to EIS tell me where my ship was. It was one state over and all my lab stuff was in a warehouse. We stopped and went through the wallets to find some money.


    Pooling our resources we got gas for the journey and drove ground cars. We didn''t stop for food and we only pulled over for rest breaks at the side of the road. We made it to the next state over in record time. We made it to the ship with the warehouse and my lab equipment. There were ten normals working in the warehouse. They went down quickly.


    My crew reloaded my ship and as I watched them work, even helped them at times with the large things, I realized I didn''t know their names. I was called the boss, but I didn''t call them anything as I didn''t know who they were. They were just my crew. We worked through the night, me and my nameless crew.


    When we were done I stood on the deck of my ship and we sailed out towards International Waters, the High Seas. I started laughing. One of my crew walked up to me and asked, "Fish man what are you laughing at?"


    "I don''t smell of fish," I answered.


    My phone rang, "Wilbur it is EIS, they are mobilizing. They are saying this is war! They are coming at you not to enslave you but to kill you. There are 25 of them altogether, and they have orders to kill you."

 Chapter Four Part Five War

    I laughed even as my ribs hurt. They were sending 25 supers to kill one super. I felt sorry for that super, especially since it was me. I had no clue what I could do about the situation, it just wasn''t fair. I needed this ship to vanish. I needed other supers who could help me. I wondered how much time I had to live. Not just me, my crew was in this as well.


    My crew. I was a craftsman now, I could use the tools I was given to create supers. I wanted to use this talent in my homeworld, but I guess I needed it now. I first needed a healer who could fight. Healing and harm, she would be able to, in an instant, complete a full healing or a total dehabilitation. I was looking at one of the girls in my crew. She noticed me looking and stared back at me. I motioned for her to come to me.


    "What is your name sailor," I asked. I should have known her name. Maybe she would forgive me for not knowing her name since I made her rich.


    "Surita Congata," she answered with suspicion in her eyes.


    "I need your help Surita," I said and she started blushing. She still looked at me though, a lightbulb went off and I started blushing also.


    "I don''t mean like that. Not that you aren''t pretty ... I mean you are a member of my ..."


    "What do you need my help with Fish Man?"


    "I''m gonna be honest and succinct with you. There are 25 supers looking for us to kill us. Me first and you, my crew, as collateral damage. I need a super, a team of supers to help out. If we don''t get super help we are all as good as dead. You don''t want to die do you Surita Congata?" I asked.


    "No Fish Man, but I cannot help you, I don''t know any supers aside from you."


    "I know that Surita. I need you to become a super, someone who can heal and harm from a distance. I need you to let me grant you superpowers like mine," I said.


    She looked at me with an expression that said what she thought of my state of mind. Then her face changed expression again into something more akin to shock and hope. Last, there was fear. This girl had a head on her shoulders as they say.


    "If you could make me a superhero, you are saying that 25 others with superpowers are coming for us right?" asked Surita.


    "Yes Surita, there will be a bunch coming for us. Even with granting you superpowers is no guarantee that we will survive," I said, "but we won''t go down sleeping. We will fight and we may win."


    "Why would we win?"Surita asked.


    "Because I can design better abilities than you can get from nature. You, for example, would have the ability to heal or harm in an instant. If you are hurt one second, you will be completely healed the next second. You can kill with a wave of your hand. You can also teleport to whoever is injured or whoever you have ever harmed physically. You would be very powerful," I said.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Before I agree with you Fish Man, you must do something for me. My mother and brother live poorly in Somalia. I was going to surprise them with money so they could live like kings and queens or they could move away. If we die, they will continue living as they are and that is unacceptable. Make sure my family is taken care of and I will do as you ask," she asked.


    Looking into her eyes I could see the sincerity there. I nodded and said, "I will make sure your parents are taken care of, do you have a laptop?" I asked.


    "Yes I do," she said.


    We went to her cabin and she pulled out a laptop and I pulled out my phone. I called EIS and it downloaded itself onto her laptop and promptly began explaining what it was and how it could help her. It would manage her money and expand upon her work. While she looked and listened, I researched the Power Creation ability. I could design an Ability and put it into myself or someone else. I designed the healing/harm power and prepared to use this ability. I could use it three times I knew before I had to level up the skill.


    When she was done, I stood next to her with my hand on her shoulder. I reached inside to where my ability to manipulate chance was and fished around for my second ability, that of power creation. I relaxed and searched using fate to be certain that I would find my quarry. I searched with silent confidence until I found it, my second power. I pulled on the ability and it responded. I took my mental design and moved the design and the power into each other causing a ball of energy to form. The energy floated freely until I moved the energy from my core, up through my torso into my arms and finally down into her. She gasped.


    Her breathing raced and she began to sweat a little. Her entire body began a slow transition into light, a green light that was concentrated on her hands.


    "How are you feeling?" I asked.


    "This is incredible, I feel so alive, Fish-Man you really are a miracle."


    "Tell me I am a Miracle after we get out of this. Now I need your help. We need more supers and I need a plan to use for us all to survive," I said.


    "What do you mean?" she asked.


    "I need to come up with a plan to defeat Thomas Kane and his army of supers. I need a plan where we win," I explained. I then left her to explore her powers, to get a feel for the inner representation of her new power. I went to my cabin to think.


    I pulled up my character sheet:


    Wilbur Trent


    Human Level 12


    Strength -2 | Level 2 Super Strength


    Agility -2 | Level 2 Super Agility


    Health 0 | Level 2 Super Health


    Intelligence 7 | Level 3 Super Intelligence


    Wisdom 5 | Level 3 Super Wisdom


    Willpower 7 | Level 2 Super Willpower


    Charisma 3 | Level 2 Super Charisma


    Luck 8 | Level 2 Super Luck


    Super Power: Probability Manipulation Level 5


    Super Power: Power Creation Level 1


    I took more energy from my experience pool and put it into my Super stats, 250 points gave:


    Wilbur Trent


    Human Level 12


    Strength -2 | Level 3 Super Strength


    Agility -2 | Level 3 Super Agility


    Health 0 | Level 3 Super Health


    Intelligence 7 | Level 4 Super Intelligence


    Wisdom 5 | Level 3 Super Wisdom


    Willpower 7 | Level 3 Super Willpower


    Charisma 3 | Level 3 Super Charisma


    Luck 8 | Level 3 Super Luck


    Super Power: Probability Manipulation Level 9


    Super Power: Power Creation Level 1


    Why didn''t I raise my strength while I was captured, I was under duress. I didn''t think of it, only how bad my situation was, that was my only thought. My bad situation for me and my crew. I still am quite weak in respect to my basic statistics. I have two more supers I can create at this level. Or I could give myself more power and one other can become a super. What to do, what to do.

 Chapter Four Part Six WAR

    What to do. I sat in my cabin and planned what I would do while I took into account at least three possible responses by Thomas Kane and his army of Supers. I didn''t want to kill them, I just wanted to be left alone. Life is precious and I didn''t want to lose mine nor that of my enemy. The best thing you can do with your enemy is to make him your friend. The first part of the plan was survival. The second was to charm them into friendship. It took a bit but I began to imagine with high probability what the fight would be like. I used the full power of my Super Intelligence fourth level.


    I took my time and when I was done it was very dark outside. I was too excited to sleep so I went to Surita''s cabin. When she opened the door, I dragged her up to the top deck and asked her,


    "Can you recommend a good defending warrior? I need someone who can stand toe to toe with all 25 of them and still keep his head. I need a tank."


    Surita thought for a moment and her eyes began to glow. Her face became more relaxed, more competent, surer of herself, "well Wilbur I think you want someone who is fearless. Ocandu is fearless. He stood between your super enemies and us the crew and was beaten down for it. He is very brave," she said.


    "Akun ..."


    "Ocandu," she corrected.


    "Come with me, we are going to see Ocandu," I said.


    We woke Ocandu up and barged into his cabin. His sleepy eyes tried to process what was happening in vain.


    "Wake up you land lover," Surita said, "there are several teams of supers looking for us. We need you. Wake up now!"


    "I''m up, I''m up. I''m dead too if what you say is right," he turned to me, "Is this right Fish Man?"


    "Earth Ocandu, you must become a super and your powers will be earth-based. When in contact with earth or wood, things that thrive in the earth, you gain control and power over the subject. You can heal yourself, and control metals, and teleport through wood or earth. Water, you gain those abilities through water also, and with air, you can float or fly. You have what I call elemental control. You can conjure water shields and ice spears. Fire, you can shoot fire and fireballs from anywhere on your body. You are formidable, all you have to do is say yes." I said.


    "Are you serious Fish Man?" asked OcanduUnauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "Yes Ocandu, I am very serious. Our lives depend on us getting prepared yesterday," I answered.


    "Then I Ocandu will smite your enemies and defeat your foes in battle," he said. I love it when a plan comes together.


    "No time like the present," and with that, I put my hand onto Ocandu''s shoulder, formed the mental image of Elemental Mastery, reached for the sensation of power at my core, and I drew the energy up through my torso and down through my arm and into his body.


    He took a sudden deep breath, closed his eyes, and he began trembling, it was almost unnoticeable, but I had an enhanced perception. He took another few deep breaths and then calmed down. He opened his eyes and looked at me.


    "That was incredible Fish-Man. Are you going to do this for the entire crew?" Ocandu asked.


    "No I have something else planned for them, they will wear powered armor," I said.


    "Who is the engineer on the ship?" I asked.


    "That would be Clyde," said Surita.


    "Let''s save him for tomorrow," she said.


    "NO! It must be done now, if we are attacked now we would be slaughtered. Wake the crew," I said. Within fifteen minutes the entire crew was on deck.


    "People, I was going to wait and talk to you all tomorrow, but I realized that we could be attacked now. There is a force of 25 Supers coming to kill us. We need to prepare. Each of you has been given computers with a special program on them," I said. I looked at my crew. They were all looking at me with an intensity that let me know that they were able to be captivated by my words. I continued to speak as they continued to listen. I could see that they were seeing what I wanted them to see, feel what I wanted them to feel. They were breathing in sync as I moved and spoke.


    They were captivated, and while they were captivated EIS was in control of tons of nanomolecular devices mining the sea. There was a stream of what looked like waves of liquid metals flowing from the sea onto my huge converted fishing trawler. Using nano fusion and fission, without the dangerous radiation that would normally accompany these processes, any material needed was made. Energy came from the movement of the water.


    I then finished my speech as EIS created what we needed, the parts and tools for the thirteen people who would need power armor. They would wear the armor every day, 24 hours a day until I said otherwise. They understood that I cared for their safety. They were after all the fifteen men and women who saved my life.


    I then walked below deck and to my cabin. I put into thirteen suits a computer chip that I designed and EIS manufactured. Each would carry a full EIS system. There was a ramjet that could come out of the back allowing flight for between fifteen and eighteen minutes before recharging. It was solar-powered.


    It had machine guns with high caliber rounds. It was the most powerful weapon I was responsible for creating, I ever had. I fit one for each of my nonpowered crew members.


    I needed an illusionist so I could enact the philosophy, Create something from nothing. Make the army of supers think this is a mighty floating fortress and that it would be costly to take, then besiege Wei to rescue Zhao. We will attack their base that we escaped from. In order to do these things, I decided to giveClyde power, Super Power Illusion Shadow Magic.


    After everyone in my crew had either a power or powered armor, I went to sleep.

 Chapter Five Part One Peace

    I awoke to the sounds of explosions and gunfire. I threw on pants and a shirt, buttoning while I ran up to the deck. When I got on deck I saw an army of powered suits fighting each other. I saw Surita, Clyde, and Ocandu squaring off against at least 15 powered suits. What was going on I wondered, who was attacking us? The answer came immediately, EIS. He was whipping my army into shape. I really should join them, it would help the battle plans I made if I were physically prepared as well as mentally.


    "Good morning Wilbur, I have been working with the crew to get them some levels with the power armor and powers. I can upload comments on their performance to you if you like. They started horribly but they are coming around now," said EIS through a speaker.


    Surita grunted out, "he''s a sadist, not the ultimate AI. I think he is trying to kill us," she said as she, Clyde, and Ocandu glowed green.


    "Heads up Wilbur," with that at least ten power suits attacked me.


    "I need to level my Power Creation skill, not my Chance Manipulation skill!" I said as my chance manipulation skill kept me whole. I twisted wrong and my ribs hurt, I never healed them since taking a blast in my chest. How long was that ago? I dodged a hail of gunfire. EIS wouldn''t even run out of bullets, he would just convert what was already piling up on the ground. And so I spent the next few hours practicing. The next day came and we practiced some more, and the next day, and the next. A week past, then a month, and another month was filled with fighting practice.


    We were eating in the mess hall and as I talked to Surita, Clyde, EIS, and Ocandu, EIS dropped a bomb. It was a mental bomb that ripped apart the current situation. EIS said, "Oh and by the way Wilbur, I created and installed on the ship, a transdimensional engine. I also located Earth. I have shared the technology with the other copies of EIS from this world, I am waiting for you to give the order, and we can sail this ship home."


    I was quiet, shocked. I had thought of going home every day for so long, and now it was possible.


    "Can we go there and back," asked Surita.


    "We can," answered EIS, "there is something wrong though. I tried contacting the other EIS units and I get no answer."


    "What? What do you mean no answer, there are billions of EIS units on earth," I said. I had a bad feeling.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    "What about human radio?" I asked.


    "None," said EIS.


    Surita said, "send a probe through, one that can also boost the radio signal. Maybe the satellites are out of commission for some reason."


    "Good thinking Surita," said Clyde.


    Ocandu said, "could be trouble though. Better to send a fleet. Send a stealth fleet."


    I had come to the same conclusion myself. The signal would be coming from my ship, it would be originating from the High Seas, the only thing that would pick us up was satellites. But still better safe than sorry.


    "Please make it happen EIS," I said.


    A moment later EIS said, "Done."


    "I would request we deal with Thomas Kane first though, our families may be in danger," said Surita.


    I said, "fair enough, we can do that. I think we can fight on par with him. I just don''t want to kill him. I don''t want to hurt any of the supers."


    EIS added, "they are almost all the way offline. There is no digital footprint at all. So I spread out molecular spy cams and I have been trying to identify them for the last few minutes."


    Clyde, the engineer said, "damn you''re fast."


    EIS said, "I am the most advanced computational system in two universes, I should be fast."


    We all chuckled at that.


    "Where is Thomas Kane?" I asked.


    EIS said, "he is in a limousine in route to the London office."


    I said, "I want information on him. I want his family info, I want his dog''s favorite treat, I want it all."


    The others around the table were nodding. It took less than fifteen minutes for the information to appear on my tablet, all our tablets. We silently read through the information. There was a point where each of our eyes widened in shock.


    "Well, I think we have found our Achilles heel," I said.


    "You can''t seriously be thinking of using ... " started Surita.


    "I can and I am," I said as I interrupted her. She frowned.


    "I will exploit the situation, yes, but I will turn it into a win-win situation," I added.


    "How do we get there people?" I asked the group. My question was met with silence.


    After a few minutes, Clyde said, "we fly." His statement was met with silence.


    "The armor won''t fly that far," said Ocandu.


    "Not by armor, by flying van," said Clyde.


    "I never heard of a flying van," said Surita.


    "That''s because I haven''t invented it yet," said Clyde. He waved a hand and schematics floated above the table we sat at. After a while, when we all had a chance to look at the schematics, he changed the schematics to a mock-up flying van.


    "How long of a flight will it be with this?" I asked.


    "Three hours give or take," said Clyde.


    The ship will be left unguarded," said Surita.


    "I will be here with the crew in power armor, and my own drone power armor army. I think we got the ship covered," said EIS.


    "Then please build the air-van," I asked Clyde.


    It wasn''t an hour before the three of us were on board the air-van, it was a steady flight, and for the three hours we continued reading dossiers on the upper management with Thomas Kane leading the people we researched


    Three hours later we dropped down by an out of the way spot on the coast and Clyde used nanites to change the air-van to a van. We drove towards the city.

 Chapter Five Part Two Peace

    Clyde said, "that was Cardiff we flew over, not Ipswich, you don''t know your geography!"


    Ocandu retaliated with, "Is too."


    Clyde said, "we''re approaching from the west!"


    Ocandu said, "are not."


    Surita jumped in with, "will you two just shut up. Trust EIS to get us there. EIS don''t you dare tell them which one is right."


    EIS asked, "why not?"


    Surita said, "that would start a war I don''t want to deal with, it wouldn''t stop the fight, just switch it to who you like better."


    I was preoccupied with returning to my Earth. I was never a people person, even going through school I never even learned the names of those seated next to me. I was lonely that was true, but what I was feeling now was weird. I couldn''t put it in words. When I envisioned my home, I felt a sensation move from my abdomen through my chest, up to my head, and rush down my body to my lower abdomen again.


    "I don''t feel too good," I said to no one in particular.


    Surita turned to me, "what''s wrong Wilbur?"


    "This going home thing has me ... I don''t know." I tried in vain to explain what was happening. Maybe my intellect went down.


    "Whatever you''re feeling Wilbur," said EIS, "we''re here."


    I got out of the self-driving van that stopped in front of a tall office building. I stood to the side of the door and took a deep breath. These feelings were alien to me. I was afraid of something but I didn''t know what.


    "We will let you know when we''ve picked up the package," said Surita, who after looking at me for a brief moment added, "you Ok Wilbur?"


    "Fish-Man is fine, when is he not Ok?" said Clyde as they all drove away. I walked into the building.


    I walked up to the receptionist desk and told her, "please inform Mr. Kane that Wilbur Trent is downstairs and wants to speak with him."


    "Is he expecting you, or do you have an appointment?" the receptionist asked.


    "He''ll see me," I assured her. She was on the phone a few seconds before she paled and said to me, "Security will be down and escort you, Mr. Trent."You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    Within seconds 10 Supers came to escort me to his upstairs office. David and Blake were two of them. I nodded, and they nodded back. Within minutes I was face to face with Thomas Kane, owner of the company.


    "Why shouldn''t I kill you right now," said Kane.


    "You won''t kill me now for several reasons. I am surrendering to you for one, also EIS won''t release the technology you want to you if you did kill me. And last you simply don''t have the power to kill me, even with all your people here. I am stronger than I was," I said with a confidence that I felt.


    "You are surrendering your mining system to me?" He asked, clearly disbelieving his ears.


    "Yes."


    "Why," he asked.


    "To be fair," I answered.


    "I''m all for fairness, how do I know you are telling the truth?"


    "Check your computers, the designs should be there and done by now," I said.


    "You will be on hand to design whatever nanotech I want?" asked Kane.


    "Just ask EIS," I said.


    "What is EIS? Isn''t that the virus program that infected my base?" asked Kane


    "EIS is the most effective AI ever developed. It will take you years to understand what it will do for you, it is the singularity," I said.


    "Singularity?" He asked.


    "The point in time where machines become smarter than we can be," I said.


    "You are giving this to me for what reason?"


    "Don''t look a gift horse in the mouth, accept what I have and let there be peace between us. I have never held a grudge, I didn''t even kill any of your supers," I said.


    "You are going to take over my business with this EIS," he guessed.


    "That''s a done deal," I said, "the technology is already out there in the open-source community, you need to catch up."


    "What do you want for this? What are you after?" He asked.


    "Honestly, I just want to go home,'' I said.


    Silence.


    He spoke first, "Ok it''s a deal. I guess I got nothing as the idea is already patented by an AI." We didn''t need the trump card. The child was watched but never contacted, his family was safe. I wasn''t proud of what I was about to do if it needed to be done. We talked.


    The flying van, filled with all of us, returned to the converted fishing trawler. I didn''t think ending the war would be so easy. Granted I had a very high charisma ability, I thought he would try to kill me and take my inventions. It helped that they were a combination of EIS and my own work, so I was important. But I honestly thought he wanted me dead.


    We landed on the ship and the crew went to the mess hall with me for a speech. I stood up and said to everyone, "OK everyone you have a choice. I am going to use my dimensional portal and return to my home. I will be taking a copy of the portal machine, if you need me for any reason, all you need to do is call me on the original portal and I will come back to you and help you with whatever problem you have. Or at least I will hear you out.


    "You shouldn''t have any problem with Thomas Kane and his people, but if you do, be nice and respectful, and call me. This ship is yours now and has a complete copy of EIS. Thank you for being a family, like one I never had. Thank you." I finished with what I thought was the worst goodbye speech I ever heard. That was if I had listened to speeches at some point in my life.


    The van, which was actually a connection of nanomachines that came together to form a vehicle, changed shape to a boat. The center of it was the dimensional portal. With a command to EIS, I activated the portal. With that, I went home.

 Chapter Six Part One Betrayal

    "Thomas Kane sends his regards, there can be only one," said a voice. There was a horrific sound and I felt pressure launching me in the air. I screamed in pain as I felt something stripped from me.


    EIS called, "Wilbur. Wilbur." He was answered with blackness.


    Oh God, I was alone in the middle of the sea again, there was no land or ship in sight. I was alone and I was in pain. I was bleeding. I was coughing up blood. I felt as though I had been cut by a thousand swords and ran ten marathons through it. Were those fins in the water? This was not a time for sharks.


    In the lower right-hand corner of my vision, there was a blinking light. Which world was I in? There should be no notification system in the real world, but since I had no body in the real world I needed to care for this one. I needed to find where I was bleeding from, fast. Still, that blinking light was annoying.


    The fins started moving closer and I saw a shark coming towards me with its mouth open. I balled my fist and hit it for as hard as I could. This was deja vu. This time I didn''t crush its skull. I punched it again and again as others swam in towards me. I knew I was going to die.


    One bit down on my arm as I punched another. It should have bit my arm off, but I healed continuously. What was going on?


    "Fish-Man, make your way here," a familiar voice shouted as the attacking shark died and began to sink. I pulled my arm free and swam towards the voice. It was Ocandu and Clyde and Surita were there. A domed platform rose out of the sea and supported them. It was clear and I could see ten others that were unconscious.


    I swam to them with everything I had. I climbed aboard the platform and made my way to the center. Far from the sharks, my body glowed with a green light, and I felt better.


    "Thank God for nanites," I said as I looked down at the structure beneath me. There appeared stairs and we walked down them.


    "There was a suicide bomber on the ship. Possibly more than one as the ship was taken out very fast. It sank. While it was sinking, we made it into power armor. We pooled the nanites from the armor and made this when we got here. It was horrible," said Surita.


    "There''s more," EIS said, "There is no EIS system on Earth."


    "What do you mean there is no EIS system on Earth, build a probe and send a message through to Earth and ..." I began.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    "This is Earth Wilbur," said EIS.


    "What?" I asked, uncertain of what to think. There had been billions of EIS copies on earth, all of them couldn''t be gone. What could Kane have done? Were the people Ok? I felt something moving in my chest as my breaths became ragged.


    "What do you mean this is Earth? There should be satellites covering every square inch of this planet. What''s going on? I got a blinking light in the lower corner of my view, this can''t be Earth." I said. My breathing became even more ragged. Why was I feeling this way? All I knew was that this can''t be my Earth.


    "This is Earth Wilbur, we are on the Atlantic Ocean and we will be porting in Long Island''s Penninsula tip as soon as possible. Rockaway Beach is coming soon," said EIS


    I walked to the edge of the platform that was pushing through the water. I was in the dome, and safe as I saw a few fish here and there. The blinking light was still on. I focused on it and it filled my view.


    System Damage ... Subject Severely Damaged ... Dimensional Energy Taken ... Sacrifices Taken ... Levels ... Ship ...


    Wilbur Trent


    Human Level 1


    Strength 3 | Level 1 Super Strength


    Agility 3 | Level 1 Super Agility


    Health 3 | Level 1 Super Health


    Intelligence 7 | Level 2 Super Intelligence


    Wisdom 5 | Level 1 Super Wisdom


    Willpower 7 | Level 1 Super Willpower


    Charisma 3 | Level 1 Super Charisma


    Luck 8 | Level 1 Super Luck


    Super Power: Probability Manipulation Level 1


    Super Power: Power Creation Level 1


    All upper levels and experience were exchanged for dimensional energy for the partial re-creation of all living organisms. 10 Individuals reduced to level 0. 3 Individuals reduced to level 1 Comatose 7 hours. Earth Origin instantiated.


    "Ocandu are you moving this platform or is EIS doing it?" I asked, trying to make sense of the message.


    "I am," said Ocandu.


    "I am holding the platform in its shape," said EIS.


    "Why did it have to be water the second time?" I asked. It then started to rain, and the wind picked up. We remained safe inside the domed platform.


    "Because the ship was here with both dimensional transportation engines before they blew up," said EIS.


    Surita said, "you were fast EIS, you saved all of us."


    "The consciousness in the Dimensional Transport Engine exists outside of spacetime so it had all the time it needed to save us," said EIS.


    I lay down and slept.


    "We are here," said EIS.


    "I don''t detect living creatures here. I am extracting raw materials from the earth and I am creating swarms of factory nanobots so we can build things. It will take a few days to let the exponential building processes build up. You are on foot so explore the area as best you can and find out what happened here."


    I looked around. This was Rockaway Beach but it was not as I had seen it. The man who raised me brought me here several times and I enjoyed it when we came here. I took in the sights. The beautiful peninsula was in ruins as house after house, block after block was pulverized. There was not one house that stood standing. There were no people, no bodies, no blood, nothing that ever suggested the many thousands that made their life here. It took me several hours but I walked the length of Rockaway Beach, looking for people who could tell me what was going on. There was no one here.

 Chapter Six Part Two Betrayal

    We flew in what seemed on the outside to be a helicopter. Its shape was determined by EIS. There were windows that allowed me to check the ground for any signs of life. There was none. Leaving Rockaway Beach we flew over Manhattan in search of people. There was none at any part of the flight. What happened to the people?


    "Stop trembling Wilbur, everything will be ok," said Surita.


    I hadn''t known I was trembling. I took a deep calming breath that didn''t work, I still trembled. Where were all the people? I rode searching in vain for signs of life.


    "EIS can you tell if a dimensional portal has formed in the last 8 months or so since we were in the Hero Land?" I asked.


    "No that''s impossible for me, but perhaps for the dimensional intelligence system," said EIS.


    "Can you contact it?" I asked.


    "We would need to build a portal," said EIS, "so we can access the dimensional trans nexus."


    "Let''s do it," I said.


    "We will need materials," said EIS.


    "I know, and power too. We can make solar collection cells," I said and continued with, "how long will it take?"


    "From harvesting to development should take a day. We will need to land and cannibalize the vehicle," said EIS, and it was done.


    I felt a squeeze on my shoulder, "It will turn out alright," it was Surita.


    The next morning came and went with the awakening of the rest of my crew. It was towards midday when EIS said, "it is done, Wilbur. I am detecting residual Dimensional Energy Detections from the portal system. Most are chaotic but there is one ordered signal detected."


    "Chaotic detections?" I asked.


    A sensor read appeared before us. I examined the readings and if it weren''t for my super intelligence I would not have understood what I viewed. I did understand it though, it seemed there were billions of pocket universe portals that were shut down. The energy was the only residue available.


    There was one energy reading that was ordered, letting me know it was on. It was in Arkansas I found as EIS indicated its location on the map. We headed there after retrieving the nanoparticles that weretasked with retrieving raw materials for the factory nanobots. The more of these we had, the faster we could create things.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    I looked at the other crew members, whose names I did not know, and wondered if I had a betrayer on hand in one of them. I looked at them and was afraid that one of them was secretly working for Thomas Kane. Surita seemed to trust them, but how had the two suicide bombers gotten so close. They were on my ship. Don''t let your left hand know what your right is doing. I would play things close to my ear.


    When we got into Arkansas we, specifically Ocandu found or more specifically felt something flying in a circle over our target. EIS had no satellites to fall back on so we had to use powers. That was another issue. I could craft powers for my crew. I was at level 1 so I could enhance three people with powers of my choice. If I did, what if I chose a traitor. I would hold off on that for now, I didn''t know these people beyond that they were my crew.


    I had some sort of a relationship with Clyde, Surita, and Ocandu, but that was about it. I never really had that many friends growing up, I was cold to most people. Somehow these three people touched me. We arrived at the signal''s location and found it bustling with activity. People in powered armor were everywhere and many floating vehicles moved here and there.


    I said floating vehicles because not one of them looked like they were produced by human beings. They were probably built by and for AI systems. Before I knew it though we were circled by at least 13 of those flying objects. They circled but said nothing. We tried every radio signal we could but they didn''t answer.


    Surita said, "I''ve got a bad feeling about this Fish-Man. Let''s get ready to run"


    Trusting her intuition I turned to Ocandu, "do you think you can protect us with a wall of air at this distance?"


    "I think so, expecting trouble?" Ocandu asked.


    "Better safe than sorry," I said. Old cliche but true nevertheless.


    Suddenly the radio picked up a broadcast, "human, land your craft."


    Human? That was weird.


    "Send this to the AIs, EIS stop playing around, what is going on here?" I asked EIS to relay to the other EIS copies.


    "I don''t think those things are controlled by EIS copies," said EIS, "they are not answering me."


    "Land now human!" Demanded the voice.


    "Land us EIS," I said.


    "Is this something from Thomas Kane?" I asked.


    "Although I don''t know I doubt that it is," said Surita, "he doesn''t have the resources here."


    "They are telling us to come out with our hands up," said EIS.


    "Let''s do it," I said and I and my crew left the ship.


    Our hands were up. Several powered armors trained guns on us and led us to a building. We were split up and I found myself in a room with one door and no windows. A person in power armor motioned for me to sit down. I sat in a chair at the table that appeared. It looked like they had nanotech also. Whoever they were.


    "We are the Krellion Empire and we rule The Twelve Galaxies. Your world is now a slave world, all you have is ours. We destroyed a few of your tribes to demonstrate our power. You all left after that with a technology that we are unfamiliar with. You have come back to this world, we detected your arrival in the sea. Your ..."


    With that, there was an incredibly powerful explosion. The entire room shook with the force of it. The power armored individual fell to the floor.

 Continuation of Story

    This story is full of problems with it and I have decided after much deliberation, and please forgive me for making you wait, I have decided to start again in a slightly different way with different characters. I will try to establish a weekly posting schedule. The new work is here: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/28176/the-hero-crafter</a>The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    I sincerely hope that you will read and enjoy my new work and that it will bring you many hours of joy as it has me.