Chapter 117

The Prophecy of Eights

Cash’s words hung in the air for a moment. The tension didn’t quite break, but it shifted. Some of the heroes relaxed slightly. Others remained wary.

Alexander’s attention remained on the armored lady who hadn’t lowered her guard. A Nordic giantess of a woman, easily six and a half feet tall, in heavy armor that covered most of her body. A massive two-handed sword rested point-down against the platform beside her, and she held it casually, like it weighed nothing. Red hair was visible beneath her helmet, pulled back into a practical braid.

She studied Grimnir with calculating eyes.

To Alexander, she felt considerably stronger than the others.

One of the other heroes, a younger man in a blue and silver suit, spoke up. “We were told we were getting reinforced. Are you going to help?”

Alexander turned back to the group. “Yes. But first, I need to examine the gateway.”

Augustus stepped forward smoothly, reading the situation and taking charge. “We’ll coordinate with you on rotation schedules and defensive positioning.”

“We’ve experienced two different invasion events,” Talia added. “Any intel you can share on this one would be helpful.”

The Nordic giantess continued watching Alexander for another moment, then gave a single sharp nod, apparently granting permission.

Alexander gently lifted up and flew toward the gateway. Droney followed, hovering around his shoulder.

Behind him, he heard Augustus already organizing. Heard Annie’s voice as she introduced herself to the other superhumans with her typical enthusiasm.

The gateway loomed in front of him.

He passed over the defensive positions. Mobile platforms with mounted weapons. Barriers providing cover. Automated turrets tracking in smooth arcs. The defenders manning them glanced up at him as he flew by, but didn’t stop him.

The orangutan on the hill beyond the gate tracked his movement. Those intelligent eyes followed him with unnerving focus.

Alexander stopped a few feet from the gateway’s edge. Droney beeped softly, questioning.

“I don’t know yet,” Alexander said quietly.

He’d examined a gateway once before, during their first invasion defense. That one had a black aperture that kept them from passing through. Until they’d forced it open enough to see the world hidden on the other side.

This time was different.

The world on the other side of the gateway spread out before him. It made less sense than the others he’d encountered. The System had made it clear that to have a Dream, a level of sapience was required.

Yet, what he saw appeared to contradict that. The creatures milling about the hill were clearly of Earth origin. Most of them shouldn’t have the level of intelligence required to awaken a Dream. Let alone an entire reality dedicated to the concept.

And on the hill, the orangutan. Watching.

Alexander reached out slowly and touched the gateway.

Reality rippled under his fingertips.

The effect spread outward from the point of contact, distortions moving across the gateway’s surface like rings on water. Beautiful and unsettling at the same time. The forest beyond wavered and shifted with each ripple.

He tried to push his hand through.

Nothing.

He pulled his hand back. The ripples faded slowly, reality settling back into its strange equilibrium.

Droney beeped again, more insistent this time.

“Patience,” Alexander said.

He closed his eyes and extended his powers.

As with the first gateway, the suppression was the first thing he noticed. Despite the powerful resistance, he worked his way through it until he could feel what was hidden beneath.

Technopathy found no streams of data or circuitry, though it recognized it as a machine.

Metallokinesis found no metal structure, but he could feel the existence of a frame that wrapped around the gateway, flickering in and out of his senses.

Electrokinesis found enough energy to power a city, though it streamed into existence and back out with no discernible pathways, ignoring the principles of physics as if they were merely suggestions.

Then Animachina.

Alexander paused.

This was new. He hadn’t had this power during the first invasion. The gateway possessed a quality similar to Droney. To Sleipnir. It had the spark, the connection, that marked it as ensouled.

But where Droney and Sleipnir were welcoming. This was foreign. Resisting. It belonged to someone else.

Alexander centered himself and activated his Cultivator’s Core.

All four powers cycled together. Technopathy and Metallokinesis and Electrokinesis and Animachina flowing in synchronized rhythm, each one amplifying the others. The synergy stronger than the sum of its parts.

He pushed deeper into the gateway’s nature.

His Will pressed against the Will of the gateway’s owner. The resistance increased immediately.

Alexander probed harder. Carefully, but insistently. Testing the boundaries of that ownership. Searching for any weakness or gap in the connection.

On the hill beyond the gate, the orangutan stood to its full height and roared.

Alexander felt the shift through his connection to the gateway. The being’s Will pushed back against him fiercely. Unlike the smooth pressure of his own power pressing down on the gateway, the orangutan’s crashed against his like a wave of raw, animalistic force.

The gateway was an extension of the orangutan’s will. A projection of its power. Connected to it as completely as Droney was connected to Alexander.

He pulled back slowly. Not wanting to provoke further just yet. Not wanting to turn the examination into a confrontation.

Alexander opened his eyes.

The orangutan was still watching him. Those intelligent eyes locked onto his across the dimensional barrier.

He held that gaze for a moment, then looked away. Droney beeped questioningly beside him.

“It’s ensouled,” Alexander said quietly. “Not like you. Not with a piece of the orangutan’s soul. More like a conduit for its Will.”

It seemed familiar to how the technopath he’d fought had filled the armored suit with her Will, though he’d broken that easy enough. The implications settled into his mind as he turned and flew back toward the defensive perimeter.

Grimnir had integrated smoothly into the group. Augustus stood near one of the mobile weapon platforms, talking with Draven. Annie was at another position with Felix and a pair of the heroes. Talia stood near the Nordic giantess, deep in what looked like a tactical discussion.

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Talia glanced up as Alexander approached. She excused herself and walked over to meet him. Cash followed.

They met away from the main defensive positions. Close enough to respond if needed, far enough for a private conversation.

Talia spoke first. “I think the System is hostile to us.”

Alexander had long suspected as much, though he didn’t understand why it didn’t just kill them outright if it had as much power as it appeared. But he wanted to hear her reasoning.

“Explain,” he said.

Talia’s expression was serious. The way she looked when she’d been working through probabilities in her Mind Palace.

“The first invasion,” she began. “Grimnir and the Throne of Scales were the only two known organizations trapped in a single invasion event. That hasn’t happened since. Not to anyone.”

Alexander nodded slowly. He remembered thinking how much worse things could have been if the hostilities between the two teams had been serious.

“Our second invasion defense,” Talia continued. “We were caught on a starship. A mobile platform for a gateway. Against cultists who had time to prepare a deadly ritual specifically designed to kill us.”

She paused, letting that sink in.

“I spoke with Hjordis while you were examining the gate. She’s actually quite nice.” Talia glanced over her shoulder at the redhead. “And from what she and Cash said, there were five superhero teams on the station. The System split them into seven random groups for their defensive missions. Four succeeded. Three failed.”

Cash spoke up, his usual casual tone absent. “After the first invasion, AEGIS made it standard operating protocol to ignore attacker quests. Then we noticed that anyone who ignored the attacker quests wasn’t being picked for defensive quests either.”

Alexander turned his attention to him. “Until this invasion.”

“Exactly.” Cash gestured around the dome. “Five teams on The Nexus. Almost thirty superheroes. All of us got pulled into defensive missions at the same time with no warning. If we’d known, we’d have left the station at least. That’s some bullshit math right there.”

Talia nodded. “I agree with him. The probability of Grimnir and all the other superhuman teams being targeted while all in space?” She shook her head. “Beyond small. Approaching impossible.”

Alexander processed that. The pattern was clear when laid out like this. The System wasn’t just running random invasions. It was selecting targets. Manipulating circumstances.

Targeting them specifically? Perhaps.

“Can we do anything about it?” he asked.

Talia shook her head. “Not about that. The System is too abstract.” She paused. “But maybe we can do something about the gates.”

Alexander waited. Talia had that look. The one that meant she’d figured something out and was excited to share it.

“You just finished examining it,” Talia said. “Was it the same as the first invasion gateway?”

Alexander turned to look at the gateway. The orangutan still sat on its hill, patient and watchful.

“Yes,” he said. “Except this one feels like it belongs to the orangutan.”

Talia leaned forward slightly. Almost excited now. “That’s good. That means my idea might work.”

Alexander turned back to her. Met her eyes. Waited.

“You might be able to claim it,” Talia said.

Alexander shook his head immediately. “No, it’s basically the same as an ensouled machine. We’d need to—”

He stopped.

Realization crossed his face as the pieces clicked together.

He calculated quickly. Considered the issues, the logistics. The risk.

His frown deepened.

“That would require that we tear it open and go through,” Alexander said slowly. “And then we’d need to kill the current owner. Who I’m guessing is at least peak Tier 2 if they took out a group of superheroes. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re Tier 3.”

Cash looked back and forth between them. “I don’t know what you guys are saying, but maybe you should talk to Max about it. He’s in charge of the teams.”

Talia nodded immediately. “Alexander should. We can stay and assist with this gate while he and Maximilian work out if it can be done.”

Alexander spent some time coordinating with the team. Augustus had already improved the rotation schedules the heroes were using. Annie and Felix had somehow made friends with the station defenders already, and were settled into their defensive positions.

They’d be fine without him for a while.

He turned back toward the gateway one more time. The orangutan still watched from its hill. Then he lifted off, Droney following.

As he flew toward the dome’s exit, he caught the Nordic giantess, Hjordis, watching him leave. She gave him a single nod.

He returned it and flew through the barrier.

***

Alexander got directions from one of the station personnel. The gateway Maximilian was defending sat nearly forty kilometers away on the opposite side of The Nexus’s main habitation ring.

He flew through sections of the station when he could, following the maps projected in his vision. But The Nexus wasn’t built for direct transit. Corridors twisted. Districts were sealed off from each other by design. He had to take transport shuttles twice, waiting with other passengers who gave him and his armor curious looks but didn’t ask questions.

An elevator carried him up through twelve levels of commercial districts.

The entire journey took almost an hour.

Finally, he emerged onto one of the upper transit levels. Wide walkways crisscrossed through open space above the residential districts far below. The architecture reminded him of elevated highways, except these were designed for foot traffic and light vehicles.

Alexander lifted off the walkway and flew toward the coordinates.

He spotted the gateway from a distance. Sort of.

It hung suspended in the air above one of the wider walkways, the same size as the first. But he couldn’t see through it. Chains wrapped completely around the gateway, blocking any view of what lay beyond. Dozens of them. Thick blocks of manifested metal chained together, glowing faintly with power.

The dragon was hard to miss, though.

It perched on the walkway directly in front of the gateway. Easily twice the size of the emerald the Throne of Scales had been riding when they first met. This one’s scales gleamed red under the station’s artificial lighting. Wings folded against its sides. Tail coiled around the platform’s support struts.

He recognized it. It was the saurian Maximilian had fought and claimed during the solo combat challenge.

The chains shuddered as Alexander approached. Something on the other side pushed against them. Light leaked through gaps in the coverage, then faded as the chains tightened in response.

Alexander flew closer, studying the defensive setup.

Because the gateway sat on the open walkway with residential areas far below, there was no room for the shield dome emitters like the first location had. No enclosed space to work with. Just the exposed platform and the chains holding the gateway shut.

Behind the dragon, he could see the defensive positions set up in much the same way as the first. But the defenders here looked relaxed. Almost bored. With the gateway completely sealed, there wasn’t much for them to do.

Maximilian sat cross-legged on the platform in front of his dragon. Eyes closed, perfectly still. Meditative.

A figure in full armor stood near him, helmet and visor obscuring their face. They shifted slightly, looking up as Alexander approached.

The figure leaned down, whispering something to Maximilian. Then stepped back, keeping the Dragon Lord between them and Alexander’s approach vector.

Raelene.

The dragon’s head turned toward him. A low rumble built in its chest and fire built between its teeth.

Alexander ignored it and landed on the walkway about twenty feet from where Maximilian sat. Droney settled above his shoulder.

“Alexander Rooke,” Maximilian said. His eyes remained closed.

“Max.”

“I was surprised to hear Grimnir was here when the council asked if you could be trusted to assist,” Maximilian said finally. “Why are you on The Nexus?”

“Haven’t you heard?” Alexander said. “We’re just returning the alien diplomats we kidnapped.”

“Ah.”

Another pause. The dragon shifted slightly, fire fading from within its mouth now that Maximilian had spoken. Its attention remained fixed on Alexander though.

Raelene remained motionless behind Maximilian, intentionally looking anywhere but.

“So you vouched for us, huh?” Alexander asked.

“Yes.”

Alexander moved closer, stopping about ten feet away. He studied the chains wrapped around the gateway. “I examined the gateway at the other location.”

Maximilian didn’t respond.

“Belongs to the orangutan. It’s filled with its Will, much like a superhero’s suit or weapon when projecting power through it.”

“And?” Maximilian’s tone was neutral.

“Talia thinks we might be able to claim them,” Alexander said. “If we tear the gateway open from this side. Go through. Kill whoever owns it.”

Maximilian was quiet for a long moment.

“The cultivator on the other side of this one is likely approaching Tier 3,” he said finally. “It would be… difficult.”

Alexander smiled slightly. “Sounds like exactly the kind of opportunity the Dragon Lord and the Machine God need if they’re going to become divines.”

He paused.

“Whatever that means.”

Maximilian cracked one eye open. His head shifted slightly, turning to look up at Alexander standing above him.

The movement was slow and deliberate. Almost lazy in its confidence.

Very dragonlike.

“The Prophecy of Eights,” Maximilian muttered. “I despise it. Have done since my father first heard it uttered by a divination specialist.”

Alexander raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

“When Hope is consumed by Ambition, the first of eight Divines shall take the stage,” Maximilian said. “Eight Realms contested, each with its own Lords. Eight worlds will collide in fire and rage. The Eighth Path is tested, breaking ancient accords. Eight endings revealed at the turning of an age.”

Alexander processed that. It sounded far more ominous than what Spencer had said. More dramatic, too.

The eight Divines. Eight realms. Eight endings. And he’d apparently triggered it all by killing himself.

“So we’re breaking ancient accords now. That’ll look great on the wanted posters. I just wanted to send our alien friends home.”

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