Chapter 179: The King of Heart
Did I say equation?
Anyway, Xavier will be dealt with appropriately, now that Hydra did a little bit more investigation. Like to where he has been. To whom he has been talking to. That sort of investigation.
I even have a kill squad raided his apartment in secret and all of his things confiscated for analysis. He will not be needing any of them anymore. Quite a lot of sensitive documents were found hidden inside the walls, under the floorboards and in the ceiling above.
They are all classified, obviously.
Nevertheless, from the preliminary analysis of the heavily redacted documents, I am sure that if I don\'t do anything for him, the good old United States of America will get to him eventually. As soon as they figure out where he has been hiding. Had been hiding.
If not the United States, then another country will.
It is unavoidable, considering what Xavier is now, even if he is a failure. This is not to mention all those secret documents that he and his war buddies in Japan and Korean manage to steal in their own free time.
They sure have a lot of free time to accumulate that much files.
And it wasn\'t very smart of them, as those countries and their respective organizations will not let this go. Not by a long shot.
But it does create a very interesting situation. Those countries blame the United States for sabotaging their researches into human evolution, not like they aren\'t actively sabotaging the United States from the shadow.
More correctly to say human hybridization as that is the focus of their experiments thus far. They have not discovered psionic power yet from what can be observed on the outside.
In any case, a hidden war is being fought behind the attention of the public.
Everyone wants an army of superpowered individual, and I am not an exception. It is just too tempting to pass, especially when there is no choice but to get involved, just like stockpiling nuclear weapons – a form of deterrent of sort.
For Xavier to steal from them, he will be spending the rest of his life in a dark jailcell somewhere. More likely on an experimentation table, considering his genetic is pretty much the property of the United States.
Not really that much different in the 31st century.
Most of the human genomes is owned by planetary corporations.
It allows them to literally play God, just like what I am doing since the late 50s.
Just like what most prominent countries are doing right now in secret and away from the public\'s eyes.
All for the name of science of course.
Honestly, if I don\'t do it, someone else will, someone like the United States for example. The US is not as nice as me, to be honest.
I am pretty nice, considering that I didn\'t outright slaughter those Hybrids for annoying me. I did rattle their nest for a bit just to see what comes out to play.
Quite a bit, I say.
Normal humans do not have that kind of power. The power to crush the will and spirit of others with just a stare. It is like playing chicken with a beast, which has all the intention of devouring you.
I actually want to see they try, but their instinct is pretty good. Most rather not fight a battle that they more likely to lose. But I am sure some idiots will try.
It will be a good experiment.
In any case, I am more curious about what will happen to Christina once Xavier is out of the picture in the future due to his own misguided actions.
Christina actually get sent to her mother, but not because she sorts of gets lost in the system for a few years. It could not be helped, considering that she is the daughter of a treasonous fugitive.
Being bounced from one foster home to another completely derails her future.
And by the time that she is an adult… it isn\'t pretty.
This is one of the butterfly effects that I am worrying about when I start messing things in the past. It could not be rectified, at least not without revealing some of my cards.
I rather not for a single person.
Therefore, I decide to skip all of that nonsenses and take her to her mother directly right now. At least, it will be a better future that what fate has for her in another timeline, when the damages are already done.
And of course, like everything that I do, I have to make certain that my choice is the most correct one, or as correct as humanly possible.
A little look into the future tells me everything I needed to know.
It is a bit cheating, considering what I have lecture Christina about, but meh.
As an Aspect, I can break or bypass the shitty rules of life.
It is not my rule, so I don\'t need to abide by it, and if I bother to, I wouldn\'t be resurrecting people just because I can.
The dead should stay dead, obviously.
It is actually quite easy to learn about the future now, as I have Legion monitoring basically everything and everyone constantly within America and most part of the world.
This was done through the Legion Network that I have set up recently. It is not recent anymore in the future. It is extremely comprehensive, far exceeding that of Shield Surveillance System, which is really becoming obsolete by my current standard.
The Legion Network has revealed so many things to me.
Things that I didn\'t really pay much attention to, for one reason or another, mostly because I am rather preoccupied with something more important.
Now that I do pay attention, I have a lot of work ahead of me, and I cannot really delegate these works to others, at least not yet.
I cannot use clones either because they will probably screw things up, more than I am willing to reverse time to fix things up.
It is annoying to repeat everything I have done thus far due to mistakes of others, including my clones and it is really a big mistake for not hunting down all the Hybrids that have escaped.
There are now second-generation Hybrids, as well as a third-generation.
And from the information I have downloaded from Legion in the future, the newer generation is a lot more dangerous and far more powerful than their previous generation.
It is not because most of them are giving into their animalistic instinct. No. It is because they no longer consider themselves as human. They consider themselves a far more superior species.
And that kind of mindset is a problem, when humans are so fragile in comparison.
This does feel like the mutants from the comics, except without reality-bending power.
Hybrids do have a lot of powers, but their power can be explained through biological science. It is just natural selection at its finest.
Mother Nature has decided to complete the work that Hydra decommissioned years ago. I should find a way to slap her straight, assuming that Mother Nature is a real entity. Seems plausible, considering I have to contend with mythical Gods now.
There is a reason why Hydra abandon the Hybridization Project, and it is not due to discovery of psionic potential, at least not entirely.
Christina does have a psionic potential, but she will not be able to manipulate psionic energy without my help. Her descendants will, assuming that she will have children in the future.
There is no reason to think otherwise.
I take Christina back to the car and tug her in. She looks like a broken doll right now, all thanks to her mother.
While it is not my intention, I did manipulate the events a little. With my power over time, it is as easy as breathing. Nothing can escape my knowledge if I really put the effort in.
Mrs. Loraine, who will be known as Mrs. Kearns since that part of history remains unchanged despite my machinations, does not really recognize her own daughter, at least not right now.
She just has too many things on her mind to pay any close attention.
Christina was only 5 when Xavier took her away after all.
That is 4 years ago, and much can happen in that amount of time, especially in appearance of a child.
Of course, if Mrs. Loraine actually takes the time to look closer, she would recognize Christina quickly enough.
But then again, I did manipulate the events so that she likely wouldn\'t, allowing Christina to remember this moment for the rest of her life.
Coupling with the fact that Christina feels abandoned by her mother years before as well as her father this morning, it will be impossible for her to reconcile with her parents.
More so into her teenage and adulthood.
Not impossible, but it is exceedingly hard if I have anything to do with it.
And I certainly will because I do think Christina is better with me as I can help her truly makes the most of her special ability once it finally manifests itself.
I have seen the future after all. Her destiny has changed greatly just because her mother didn\'t manage to win the custody of her.
And currently, her mother doesn\'t really have the time to look after her like I do, especially when her mother is currently pregnant with another child.
As to why I wanted to let Mrs. Loraine to know who I am personally, it is actually preparation for the future, when Christina finally becomes a global sensation.
Any court case can be won legally regardless how impossible it seems at first glance if you have plenty of preparation. I stress legally because I could just have Mrs. Loraine and her boyfriend killed and then adopt Christina through proper channel.
That is kind of evil, especially when Mrs. Loraine is pregnant.
I look at the house one more time before getting into the car. I then eye Christina, who is still tearful.
It could not be helped as her entire world just shattered in a single day. In a single evening to be more precise. I obviously didn\'t drive all the way across the United States when I could teleport.
"Maybe you should sleep, Christina. You will feel better when you wake up again."
I tell her, and she immediately did. Without any resistance to magic, the sleep charm works effectively, thus allow me to create the illusion that a lot of time has passed. She will wake up when I actually tell her to wake up again.
Or when the magical energy runs out. By my estimation, it will be 9 to 10 hours – a full night sleep.
The car begins to drive away, and I take notice that I am being followed. Not by cars but by people on foot. Hybrids can catch up to a speeding car fairly easily, especially those of second-generation.
"Legion. Distort the windows and autopilot. Chinatown, cruising speed."
I tell Legion and remove my hands from the steering wheel. The distortion of the windows is required in case one of the Hybrids have enhanced sight.
Once that is done, I lean over my seat and take Christina into my arm.
I then teleport home, and since my momentum is still conserved due to being in a speeding car, I land on the floor hard, but because much of the house has been remodeled with micromachines since they are better construction materials, the floorboards didn\'t shatter on impact.
With Christina sleeping rather peacefully in my arms, I head upstairs and enter one of the guest rooms, which I suppose will be her room from now on.
The room is decorated for a grown up, but with a mental request, everything morphs, quickly changing into a child room, completely filled with everything that a child might need.
Micromachines are just that useful, capable of simulating any kind of materials, including blankets and sheets. Not only that, there is no need to clean them at all, as they are self-cleaning.
Therefore, everything in the house is spotless. The air as well.
Perfectly clean.
I settle Christina into her bed and cover her with blankets before sitting by her bedside.
Honestly, I couldn\'t help but feel responsible for the life that Christina has lived thus far. Even so, she tries to remain optimistic and appreciates what she has.
Despite her age, Christina is a lot more mature than most adults. Of course, there are many things she doesn\'t understand as a child, thus just reading her mind amuses me greatly. I wonder if all child think like her.
Possibly, but I am not about to find out. It is actually quite distracting hearing what people are thinking, as they think a lot more than they say. Like a lot more.
"Have a good sleep, princess. When you wake up again, you will get to go to school and meet a lot of new friends. You won\'t have to worry about anything else other than following your dream."
I tell her and caress her face a bit. She needs to eat more, but for now, the nanomachines in her body will fix her up. It will not be immediately, but it will be a lot faster than eating properly.
Obviously, I will make sure that she eats healthily from now on.
I left her side after about 5 more minutes to check on Antigone in her room. I had one of my clones to pick her up. It didn\'t work, so I have my avatar instead.
Avatar are empty shells for my consciousness to inhabit while clones are pretty much sentient even if they don\'t really have a soul.
Somehow, Antigone can tell, but I should expect that. She is more or less Adria just not as powerful in term of spiritual prowess.
I spend the next hour towering over Antigone, watching her sleep. It is not creepy at all because I am her biological father.
And just like Christina, I didn\'t plan to take care of her initially, but I guess that Antigone has grown on me greatly. She just makes me feel a lot like human, and that is more than most people I have met.
Strangely enough, Legion has no information on Antigone from the future that I do not exist because I time-jump ahead to collect information. I wonder why exactly.
It is just another mystery to who I am.
There are plenty of mysteries, like why is there a message in the acquired databank, warning me that I should not jump into the future anymore.
Legion is unsure of the sender since it is not signed, but he archives it anyway for me to read.
Speaking of Legion, he has been driving the car around Chinatown for a while with a bunch of Hybrids following him. They haven\'t tried to attack the car yet, but if they do, they will be in for a surprise.
Honestly, even with their power, they won\'t be able to fight against Optimus Prime. It is quite hard to kill a machine capable of murdering a Hydra kill squad.
In any case, I wonder if I can stir up some trouble.
There is another Hybrid enclave in Chinatown, and the Chinese really hates the Japanese.
Maybe I can get them to kill each other. An all-out war would be interesting, especially I could see how China-breed Hybrids stand up to the original Hybrids.
I also need to locate the other Kings and Queens.
Those are actually ranks given to the original Hybrids when the Hybridization Project was still a thing, with Aces being the strongest.
The suit represents the hybridized species, with heart being mammals, thus the King of Heart is pretty much the King of Beasts.
The records tell me all Aces are hunted and killed by Johnathan, the Director of S.W.O.R.D personally.
If that is true, the original Hybrids are not even on par against Elite Soldiers of S.W.O.R.D division, making the whole Hybridization pointless.
At least with the first generation.
The second generation shows some promising results, especially the offspring of the King of Heart and the Queen of Diamond, but I did promise the old man that I won\'t kidnap his daughter just to dissect her.
Actually, I promise that Hydra wouldn\'t.
I didn\'t promise that I wouldn\'t.
It is a technicality.