Descending upon Olympus

19:52 PM, French Polynesia

The cargo plane banked and Ignatius hissed softly in his chemical slumber, as the machine at his side did it's best to patch up skin and flesh that resisted. He swam in and out of conscience, steel eyes trying to make sense of the cavernous interior. Low red light ran down either wall and against the one on the left Cassidy Rose thrashed and whined in restraints as what can only be described as a drip pumped a relaxant into her body. It still seemed ineffective, as soldiers tried to keep her held down on the gurney. They were talking about a... a facility, saying something about a Cryogenic stasis. For a moment, he tested his thick cuffs and hissed again, as the blisters on his back ached and the sealed up wound on his side twinged in pain. A doctor approached him and slipped a sharp, diamond point needle into his arm. The pain soothed, but the minor threads of reality he was able to cling too were gone.

When he awoke next, he believed himself to be dreaming. The costume he had been wearing was gone, replaced with what seemed to be a rather expensive steel grey suit. His shirt was white, with a simple black tie tucked beneath a suit vest. His shoes, polished black, seemed to shine in the light from the Aquarium that surrounded the entire... He was in a hall. An odd Hall, it seemed. The odd little motif that ran through Clement Industries architecture was present again, but it was much larger. Atlas was carved from the stone itself, rising from the floor on his knees an holding the roof overhead. But the roof was made of glass, as was all of the walls around him. They were filled with water and coral, along the bottom, with fish swimming here and there. Exotic and bright, the flick of their tails sent ripples in the light; the room was dark, with most of the lights built into the walls beyond the glass or shining from under the great statue of Atlas.

As Clement turned his head and looked around the room, he began to pay more attention to the furnishing. Gold rails penned in Atlas large feet, gripping at the stone, as his face frowned down in concentration at the band of musicians playing under him. Booths ran the walls next to the glass walls, with small round circles dotted here and there. The entire hall had a low light feel to it, but the men and women seemed to carry a light of their own, or at least their clothes did. Dresses on women shone gently, while shirts and ties replied back, determined not to go quiet.

Clement was sat in a corner booth, on a platform raised slightly over the rest of the room. The gold rail ran around his little pen too, but frosted glass kept the eyes from below from seeing who was up there. Clement stood and sidestepped an oddly shaped table, moving to hold the rail and look down upon them, before his eyes danced back to Atlas. ”Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away-”

“But the opinion was all that he was permitted.” The voice startled the man, who's eyes danced to look at curving, flowing staircase to the floor below. Elizabeth Jules smiled as she lifted the red rope of what Clement assumed was the VIP section was lifted by a delicate hand, before dropping back down again into it's hoop. She was wearing a gold dress, studded with little diamonds that glittered. It was tasteful but fitting, but Clement gave her the barest of glances before he frowned and crossed his arm; his hip ached, but he ignored it as he stood there. She paused and then held her hand out to the chair, to try and encourage Ignatius to sit.

”Where is Cassidy Rose?” He asked softly, the creature in his head stirring fitfully in it's sleep. Elizabeth simply smiled, and indicated that he sit. Finally, he moved and sank into chair, one leg crossing over the other as his hands linked together. Elizabeth smiled and moved to sit next to him, but kept her distance as she held out a hand. “Welcome to Althoria.”

Clement paused, before he began to laugh.

Necrodium walked through the dim lit hallways of the Olympus, pulling along his most recent prisoner, Bliss Fokukama aka Eclipse. He had the pale Japanese woman in lucrative metal bindings that covered her from the neck down, making sure that she could make no sufficient movement, and should she try anything, he would be capable of crushing her with sufficient force to shock her out of any attempts. He also made sure that enough was there so that she wouldn't be able to rid the metal fast enough for him to not be able to deliver a efficient current of electricity into her body to shut down her brain. Right now he was going to do a serious procedure, one that required all of his medical knowledge, as well as his knowledge about the genomes that granted certain individuals their super powers. With this procedure, Necrodium aimed to prove whether or not that super powers could be manipulated. As he walked, the metallic clank all too familiar with the walls began to echo through the empty halls, knowing that the ruler of the ship was walking through. Necrodium looked back to Bliss, his glowing green eyes shining brightly through the low light.

"Don't worry Ms. Fokukama, we won't be much longer, soon you will be helping me with a medical breakthrough, something I'm sure your great mind would appreciate. I took the liberty of taking your DNA and putting it through some tests and I had some interesting results. I want to see if the results of my test are viable for a full test subject. Should you not survive the procedure, I apologize, but if we succeed, it will supply benefit for not only my plans, but the world." Necrodium said as he walked, letting his speech drag on regardless of whether or not Bliss was listening or not, or if she even cared about what he wanted to do with her. "I also must apologize, this entire procedure is not painless, I would be lying if I did. The entire process is excruciatingly painful, but I'm sure your mind won't break from it. At best you might be a little shaken, but not completely distraught. I'm sure you'll be fine, it should work, theoretically..."

After a few minutes, Necrodium brought Bliss into the Medical Chambers, now equipped with four cylinder binds, two connected to the floor and two connected to the ceiling, showing where Bliss was going to be placed. Several mechanical limbs sprouting from the ceiling, some were equipped with syringes, others equipped with precise laser tools, all showing a menacing sight. The syringes were filled with strange blue liquid of various shades, no sign of sedatives or pain killers in sight. Necrodium was not lying when he said it was going to be a painful process, but worse in the fact that he wasn't going to bother with attempting to ease the pain.

Necrodium propped Bliss in the air, placing her arms in the upper binds, letting her hang on her own for a few minutes before he started to place her legs into the lower binds, suspending her into the air while she was surrounded with the medical equipment. Next, Necrodium connected several needles into the nerves in Bliss's brain, connecting to a helmet that covered a large part of her head, other than her face. Necrodium took Bliss' chin in his hands and raised her head to look at him.

"Comfortable?"

In between excruciating jolts of electricity and harsh bindings around her entire body, Bliss struggled to hold back the true pain that coursed through her body. The radius of the lights above her faded out as she found herself dragged along the cold ground. She could no longer tell when one light ended and the other began as the electricity kept her eyes twitching uncontrollable in her caged bindings. Metal seared against her exposed arms; the electricity would leave its harsh branding against her skin. The only release she could mutter came from the moans of pain echoed from her mouth that could barely hold back true cries of torment. Her moans gave her the only calm from this torture she could find. She would learn the meaning of sacrifice.

The doctor reassured Bliss that she would meet a dreadful fate in her next few hours. Whether she lived or died this experience would haunt her for life, and alter the course of her young life for years to come. And she had no choice in it.

Metal limbs hung from the ceiling along with what she could only assume Necrodium would use to keep her still during the procedure. She felt herself lifted off of the ground and placed into the bindings that pulled on her arms. Sweat drenched her upper body from the heat that the conducive bindings caused to her upper body. She could still feel the sweat from her jog in the socks she wore from however many days had passed since her abduction. While hanging in the air suspended above another set of bindings, Bliss could only think if anyone knew she was missing, or even cared. She felt relief come over her, even as the needles protruded though her scalp, anything other than electricity in a metal binding would give her a break. Discomfort shot through her head, contorting her face, but allowing her to remain in control of her emotional release. She panted, against the invasive awkwardness within her mind, but closed her eyes and acted like a child, trying to wish the pain away. Trees, family, friends, dogs; she though of everything to attempt to remove her from the situation that held her in its grips.

With a feint plea and an assistance in holding her head up, Bliss found the only words to come to her signaled her defeat. "Why are you doing this?" Her will to hold herself higher in emotion than others and to keep herself emotionally detached finally broke. What would become of her if she died here? No family, only a few friends, even less who cared about her, would the world stand to lose anything from losing the smartest girl in the world? Probably not, Bliss thought to herself; you do not lose anything by the death of the unjust, and that summed Bliss up. Death for the unjust, coming from the deprived and evil. She looked around the room and knew where she was. Hell. "You don't have to do this. You don't have to."

”You actually called it Althoria?” He managed to ask, in between bouts of laughter that held a firm edge to it, an edge that spoke to anger. Miss Jules frowned at him, brow down and mouth tight, her face going from beautiful to something of a predatory animal with a snap as Clement's hand moved down to press lightly at a side that was literally split. With a sigh, Miss Jules turned away from him and sat up, her elbows on his knees as she clenched her a jaw slightly. “And what's so funny, Mr Clement?” She said softly, moving a small purse and placing it on the glass table in front of her. Behind them, a school of brightly coloured fish fluttered away like Aquatic butterflies.

”The word Althoria comes from a dead language, from my own universe.” He said simply, pulling himself up and wiping a finger beneath one of his eyes, before the hand came down to rub over his pencil moustache. ”It could have been compared to Latin; no one spoke it but there was enough evidence to reconstruct it and study it. It was apart of our studies when we were young and didn't have to focus on how to rebuild and restart a society.” Jules patiently watched him, knowing that when he began to explain something he would often become lost in memory and thought. She was right, before almost automatically his hand extended and he began to trace ancient words on the glass. ”Althoria was a mystical place within it. It was considered... An Eden, but only for the darkest of souls. Hell's ill attempted version of Heaven, if you would except the rather poor metaphor.”

Jules continued to look perturbed, as the smile settled on his face. She turned and leaned down, sliding out a book beneath the booth's chair. She placed it on the desk and Clement recognised it. A dog eared Memoir that held countless inventions in case he never returned. They both knew that on page 112 there was a design for a rather special Island; one that used underwater volcanoes to pump magma along an artificial construct, turning a secret facility into a seemingly normal looking island. Not only would you be able to hide some of your more dangerous and important projects, but the thermal vents could power everything. And of course, the islands exterior could be designed to be a hyper-expensive resort.

His smile faded and he reached out for the book. He paused as he opened it, flipping through the back pages to find hastily drawn but intricately designed Cryogenic pods. His fingers lingered on two of them, side by side, the glass panels frosty as Adam and Cassidy Rose slumbered. ”Where is my daughter?” He asked softly, closing the book and placing it down again, glaring at Jules. She smiled now, unkindly, as he reached over and placed a hand on his knee. She squeezed softly, as if reassuringly, then opened her small purse and held out a phone.

The device was streaming live from a laboratory, where Cassidy Rose kicked an screamed as she was dragged by robotic arms toward a much larger and advanced version of a Cryogenic pod. He knew what was about to happen, so he simply raised a hand and pushed Miss Jules hand down. He didn't have to see it. ”I'm going to assume you will be holding her as insurance.” She didn't have to say anything. She simply nodded.

”What am I going to have to do?”

Necrodium looked at Bliss in silence for the next few minutes, nothing, not even a slight hum was able to break the silence that the moment created. Necrodium stared Bliss straight in the eyes, allowing Bliss to stare at his cruel, emotionless visage. Before Bliss' eyes, Necrodium's glowing green eyes shined brighter than ever before, piercing through the darkness like a luminescent spear, directly into the young woman's eyes. Necrodium wanted to savor the moment, to revel in the fact that he had defeated a mind that rivaled his own, and to know that even the greatest of minds and spirits could be broken. Necrodium was becoming too emotional about this, normally he would attempt to detach himself from his work, to spare his receding sanity from the horrors he committed. But the final curtains were near, and the mixture of his respect for Bliss and his decreasing empathy made him enjoy what was happening a little too much. Upon hearing Bliss' pleas, Necrodium released her head, letting it fall until she was staring at the ground without his support, looking at his weathered metallic feet as he towered above her. Necrodium's lights narrowed like how a human's eyes would narrow, Bliss' remark hit a nerve with his unstable psyche, one that created an aura of annoyance around his featureless face. Necrodium slammed his staff onto the ground, embedding it deep within the hull of the ship, the crystal on the tip lighting up and shining onto Bliss like an interrogation light.

"You ask why I do this? You state I do not have to do this, that my methods are not required. That I don't have to play and experiment with your body as I see fit, to make you and break you as I wish. You are wrong..." Necrodium said, though his voice was monotone, he gave off a ping of irritation, anger, frustration. Necrodium tried to control his emotions, but he wasn't going to let these pleas go without address. With the end of his sentence, Necrodium sent a painful jolt of electricity through Bliss' body, holding it and letting her suffer for what was most likely a minute or so. Necrodium lifted up Bliss' head and stared at her with narrowed lights for eyes. "The victors decide the fate of the losers, it has been that way since the beginning of the human race. The weak die and the strong prevail, you were weak, you lost, and now your fate is left for me to decide.That is the simple fact of your life now, accept it. But I am not a man without at least... some mercy... Once this painful experience is done, you will be assimilated into my staff. Once I am done with you, pain will no longer be an issue, for you will be happy to serve me as your lord and master. But that is an issue for after we see if you even survive the process or not. Cross your fingers, Ms. Fokukama, and we shall see what Fate has in store for us."


Necrodium let go of Bliss' chin once again, this time pushing her face towards the ground and straining her limbs against the solid binds. Necrodium walked behind his staff and moved to a medical table, making last minute diagnostics and making sure the theory for the experiment was correct before he proceeded. His reports stated that Bliss had a 50% chance of survival if done right, but the results of the experiment would work tremendously. Bliss' original power was to control the electrons around her, but with the entire process done, it would alter her genetic structure in a way that would cause her interaction with atomic particles to an entirely different method. Her new body would create a cold fusion effect, absorbing the heat around her and creating a form of "cold energy" which could easily fuel the Olympus with the correct apparatus to channel it. Bliss would serve Necrodium in many ways, but she would no doubt be his most useful minion. With his final checks done, Necrodium approached Bliss again, with a metallic slab which he placed over her face, covering her eyes and blocking her vision, which would leave her even more receptive to pain.

"This is the point of no return Ms. Fokukama, but to answer your question, I do have a reason for doing this, and a reason that is enough for me to justify what I'm about to do. If it's worth anything, I'm sorry"

Under the weight of her defeat she broke down into her plea. She felt so weak doing so, but her captor gave her no choice. To her resolve, he made a vital mistake. The good doctor taunted her with his own strength over her; he taunted her and explained his victory and her defeat. And finally, he called her weak. Bliss no longer needed to hide her emotions. The doctor changed them to emotions she would proudly display; her detached personality now submitted to a more determined and belligerent force.

Her arms strained against the metal bindings. This degree of taunting hardly brought anything to Bliss in a matter of pain. Pain would always strike Bliss, and she would just have to deal with what her fragile frame could take. But, her mind and will would not allow the motive behind the pain to sequester her. All the pain the doctor instilled in her came from a place of torment and his will to submit her. Bliss bit down on her teeth and gritted with the force that would make a dentist cringe. She slid her tongue away from her teeth to avoid biting her tongue off in the twitching of her teeth.

Finally it stopped. What seemed like an eternity only lasted a minute. Bliss hung in her bindings as the doctor moved behind her to check for all viable information pertaining to her. Sweat wiped away any tears that her eyes produced from her moment of weakness. She breathed heavily from her nose and nudged her head over to wipe the sweat from her eyes. The salt crept in and stung at her retinas; this would fade in due time.

Under the visage of cold metal, Bliss breathed heavily. The air under the mask turned humid under the mixture of sweat and intense heat. The stench of the torture permeated her senses and added a new dimension to her discomfort and frustration. Her ears could barely hear anything that the doctor told her, but she made out a feint sound of a half hearted apology. "So am I."

Necrodium smiled mentally in his head, an individual such as Bliss was definitely worthy of his respect, the two had come to a single conclusion, a ping of jealousy wrought within Necrodium. Despite his victory, Bliss gained her own, a thought that he played around with in his head. Though it wouldn't matter soon enough, Necrodium admitted his loss, and now he became even more determined to make sure that Bliss survived the process and that she would be able to be of use to him for his next plans to come. Necrodium desired nothing more at this point to have his final victory, it was childish, but it was what he wanted. With his new resolve, Necrodium quickly thought out another possible procedure that could increase the chances of success, Necrodium was now searching for possibilities with even greater purpose, searching through the archives for pretense with sifting speeds as fast as thought. It was like the time when Necrodium learned about his father, he spent hours thinking of ways to increase his potential so he could finally defeat Pain, his obsession searching for even the slightest possibility. If Necrodium were able to raise the percentage of success by 1% or 2%, he would be able to perform without risk of failure, he had confidence in his own abilities, especially when it came to being a medical doctor and biochemistry expert.

After a few minutes of searching, Necrodium found yet another risky, but workable method that would boost the chances of success, it might kill Bliss, but the methods before were most likely going to anyway. But at least now, Necrodium gained an extra 5% chance of success, more than enough than he required for the entire process to work out. The method was simply the same procedure that Necrodium was going to use before, but instead it required him to manually increase the flow of the process via a variable method, if he were able to increase without overloading the body, the changing the the genomes and DNA would be too fast for the body to react, thus increasing the chance of success and the survival of the patient. Necrodium took a few moments to speculate what he could use as an increasing method, and then it occurred to him the possibilities he could do. Necrodium moved to the syringes that were about to be injected into Bliss, the blue liquid glowing brightly in the dark. Necrodium added small black balls into each vial, changing the color from light blue to dark blue, almost navy blue in appearance. Necrodium had added balls of iron into the mixture and connected them via the electrons, the entire bonding process took a good five minutes, but it was done correctly. He had also added copper into the mix, covering half so that the entire serum would be able to be boosted by all of his powers.

"Alright, the injections are about to begin Ms. Fokukama, it is going to sting at first, but then it is only going to get worse. Bear with me, but with this method, it is going to be the most painful thing you will likely ever experience, but with it, you will most likely survive, and have unimaginable power. Here goes nothing" Necrodium said as the needles thrust themselves quickly into Bliss' skin, slowly injecting the serum which had a temperature so cold that it literally burned her skin with how cold it was.

Necrodium made a mental sigh as he raised his hands and began to work. With intense concentration and surgical precision, Necrodium began to move the molecules and atoms of the serum through Bliss' system, making sure to keep excess iron from poisoning her systems and to spread the effect faster. Using his staff, Necrodium began to shoot through numerous bolts of electricity, which stored within the metallic compounds so that the energy created from the serum would have an easier time flowing through. As Necrodium passed the various materials through Bliss' body, he began to notice the intense temperatures that were starting to affect the environment around Bliss and himself. The weaker metals of the hull began to crack from the increasingly declining temperature and Necrodium's computers warned about the growing energy signatures that were being created from the process. Still Necrodium pressed on, increasing the voltage and speeding up the flow of materials. Necrodium's limbs began to stiff from the ice building up in his metallic limbs. Bliss herself started to glow like the liquid which was now replacing her blood and changing her body structure. Necrodium continued to push more and more, everything was working according to plan and now he was more determined than ever to make it work. Within a few minutes, Necrodium was flung across the room by a burst of energy, his body covered with ice and frost. Necrodium took a few minutes to rid himself of the ice enough to move, to which he looked at the results of his work. At first glance, Bliss was covered with ice herself, and a mist surrounded her body.

In his biological readings, the computers judged Bliss as deceased, to which Necrodium clenched his fist in frustration, angry that he failed. He continued to observe Bliss for a few moments, thinking about what could have possibly gone wrong. But with a keen eye, Necrodium noticed a small detail, Bliss was breathing, cold clouds coming from her mouth. Necrodium continued to observe and noticed she was indeed moving her chest cavity, but her biological readings said she was dead. Necrodium calibrated his computers to look at Bliss in her new state, and the results of the diagnostic was beyond what he ever thought possible. Bliss had been transformed into an entirely new entity, one akin to the Japanese Yuki Onna, a fitting comparison. Instead of normal blood, Bliss' body now replicated the formula automatically and now served as her blood. Her entire body had a lowered temperature, the exact measures were unknown, but it was safe to say her body was creating a field around it. Instead of producing heat, Bliss literally took away the heat of the area around her and transformed it into cold energy. In addition, numerous veins in her body glowed with the original formula, the old metal held within was all but gone, expelled with the rest of her bloods. And on that topic, the bodily fluids other than blood, and her vital organs were still where they normally were, but they no longer functioning, her body seemingly feeding off of a self sustaining system. Thus, Bliss not only gained new powers, but she also no longer needed to eat, breath or even fear her vital organs from being punctured. Necrodium created a seat of metal in front of Bliss, who's binds still remained, protected from extreme temperatures and overloads of energy.

"I can't believe it...hahaha... it actually worked..." Necrodium said to himself, not believing the incredible success that was happening at the moment. It was better than he ever thought possible, and soon the new Bliss would serve him. His anticipation and revelation overruled his requirement for proper behavior and sent him into a fit of joy. The good doctor broke his cold exterior and began to laugh. "Ahahahahahahahahaha!!! It's done!! Bliss! Ms.Fokukama!! Awaken!!! Revel in your new form!!! I have succeeded!! It was even better than I could have ever imagined!!! Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!"

Machines buzzed, but nothing came. The electric silence afforded her no reprieve from what she knew would come for her. Her fingers clinched into a ball and pressed against her palm to send the nerves and frustration away from her ever so beating heart. She would one day long for this moment of organic sensation. One day would not come soon enough.

To her dismay the good doctor once again found away inside of her mind. This time he struck at her from within her mind. The most painful thing she would ever experience? She could only think back to everything that brought her to this moment. A bleak sky hung over the skies of Nebraska as her mother's coffin was lowered into the ground. The only thing Bliss knew in her new world slowly lowered into the ground. No rain fell, the winds blew softly, but nothing to wrap the young girl in support. The world continued even though Bliss lost something. She learned this lesson early in her life, and carried it with her to the point of extremity with others.

Years later another coffin would slowly lower into the ground. Bliss tried her hardest to take the pain that coursed through her body and make it apart of her memory. For years she never came to real terms with how she acted in response to the tragedy that took place. This pain that coursed through ever orifice in her body became her penance. She thought of everything that happened before and after to take the pain into her physical being. To merge them together so that when one subsided the other would too. This pain would end with the procedure, or it would end with her death.

Sensation gripped her heart, aching and distorting the pain around her. Her clinched fists, digging deep into her skin. She felt as though she would pierce the skin at any moment and draw blood through the thick, coursing sweat that drenched her skin. Slowly the amount of sweat decreased. Her hands turned clammy and pressed. Bliss stroked her thumb against her palm to gain a sense of what her body went through. The wetness that coated her skin slowly subsided and a form of solidified buildup fell from the invasive stroking of her thumb. Strangely, she felt no difference in her demeanor or physiological stress.

The stress level that she tried so hard to intensify remained constant within her chest. Pain kept coursing through her body, but her heartbeat began to lessen. She could no longer feel the intense beat of her heart. Nor could she caress the smooth surface of her hands. All of the built up heat from her heavy breathing gave her a relaxing chill. As she thought through the experiences that brought on such pain, she could feel the pain begin to subside. She thought of the moment when she first met Ashley, and then she thought to the first time that she and Ashley did not hate each other. At that moment she heard the vital sign go out in a feint murmur of a flat line. She died.

But, how could she die if she could fully realize death? Was this some kind of grand new experience? Rumors circulated that after death the brain would remain active for a few moments, but could the brain fully realize and debate such complexities that she thought about in death? Bliss continued to rub her thumb over her palm. Now she knew what those solidified build ups were. She rubbed ice off of her hands.

She tugged at her lips to break them apart. Her tongue interjected between her lips to separate them to give her a pathway to breathe. Air imparted into her throat, but she forced herself to breathe. She stopped breathing by force and allowed the consequences to lay heavily in her chest. She could no longer breathe, not for improper reasons, but because she simply did not require oxygen.

"Am I alive?"

“You belong to us now.” The words echoed in his head as he descended the metal steps and made his way across the grand floor beneath Atlas' gaze. He removed a golden pocket watch from his vest, inspecting it, remembering how it had once belonged to him long ago. There was an inscription from Adam and Cassidy Rose on the back, set up by Julia and placed there to make sure Miss Jules got her point across. “Every invention, every thought, every waking moment. You are the property of Clement Industries and it's share holders.” He paused as he made his way to a glass elevator that grew up into the darkness of the ceiling. Through water he watched a smiling Elizabeth Jules move to observe the scientists and industrialists. Music stopped and the glass turned opaque, the liquid within now transmitting what he assumed was the image surrounding him in the elevator. It was of a rocket, two thick fuel compartments holding a shape that was definitely not a shuttle. No, it was a satellite, meant to coordinate the efforts of the construction teams in... Australia, wasn't it? He supposed it wasn't important.

As the door opened, a waning Polynesian day greeted him. As did several armed guards. He smiled at them, fingers running through the greying fringe as he stepped into the daylight. Althoria had been built like his drawings, too, it seemed. Winding circular streets, narrow so that no car noise pollution would bother residents. The island was small enough to navigate by foot, with monorail systems to the more obscure regions used for testing. The architecture was reminiscent of Victorian Gothic and ancient Greek. Red tiles sloped down over roofs. The corners of buildings appeared to be ornate pillars, with lips running under the roof. It seemed to rise up in concentric circles, until there was a small mansion at the peak.

He didn't get to see more of it, because he was guided by men towards the docks. They pushed him onto a small boat where a technician gave him a brief description of what he would have to do when he went up into the upper atmosphere. He was pleasantly surprised when they supplied him with his equipment. He didn't need it all. He simply took the belt with his pistol and the two gloves of Major Signals suit, along with his microcomp and contact lenses. The first stars began to shine as they made their way to the small launching island, with the rocket clearly pointing up in the low light. As he watched, spotlights appeared. ”This should be an interesting affair.” He said softly, detached for a moment as he slid his fingers over the lip of the boat.

A small while later, he was stripping off his vest and jacket and rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. He pulled over a jumpsuit and slipped his shoes off, climbing into it. Then he was presented with the suit. He liked it, it had an air of sophistication and class around it. As he slipped into it he sighed as the visor came down and the suit sealed itself together. If he felt trapped now, he physically was. It was only going to get worse from here, as the armed group escorted him from the room towards the rocket. The camera feed blacked out for a short while, instead focusing on the Althoria villa itself. An elevator was quickly erected as he was guided onto it, in the heavy costume. It did it's job and soon, a small compartment in the side of the satellite became apparent. It opened and split open and Clement was pushed into it, his Dr Cosmos belt wrapped around him, his Major Signal gloves beneath those gloves of his “Space suit.”

For a moment, he looked out onto the ocean as the elevator lowered down and the team dispersed. Ships departed the island as the live feeds focused on it again. It takes one faulty wire, one leaking fuel tank, for me to go up in flames. He wasn't sure if that was good or bad thing, as his hands pressed against it lightly. He pressed the front of his visor against the glass, then squeezed his fists.

With a bright flash of light and flame, the rocket rose through the atmosphere with bone jarring acceleration. Clement would have been thrown around like a bean in a can if not for the fact that his ankles were clasped by magnetic locks. He bit his lip and closed his eyes, letting the belt stabilise at least some of the pressure pushing down on him. The computer read out, which turned the world gold, was giving him readings of what Clement Industries assumed was the location of the rather unique object they wanted observed. The fuselage compartment dropped out and disappeared down into the darkness as the magnetic locks opened. Then the engines behind it broke away and a streak of light shot off from the satellite as the feed watched. Clement grit his teeth as his hand moved down to the a holographic, red image, exclaiming “EMERGECY EJECT.”

His white hand pressed against it after the readout in his helmet told him too. There was a sudden de-pressurization, a sharp hiss as the metal slabs were sucked out into space. The capsule kept moving forward across the surface of the planet as it's jets burned. He took an odd, shaky breath and stepped forward, two booted feet spread on the lip. For a moment he paused and looked down on the Earth. It was odd from above... And not on his shoulders.

Necrodium’s laughter took longer than anticipated, the malicious chuckling echoing throughout the chambers, it was rare for Necrodium to succumb to his feelings, but he just couldn’t resist in this time of great success. He continued to watch Bliss, seeing that she started to stir, her mind starting to become accustomed with her body’s changes. He could see that she was starting to realize her lack of body functions, and he knew that it would be an experience that would take a few moments to get the hang of, even with all of mind power the pale, now even paler, Japanese girl possessed. Necrodium used his magnetic powers to remove all of the medical equipment, or what was left of it, off of Bliss’ body. Necrodium thought about what more possibilities could be achieved with this new revelation, if he managed to alter the formula to fit into different genomes, Necrodium could not only change the powers of superhumans, but possibly have a more efficient way of creating superhumans compared to the rest of Project Perfection. Necrodium looked at Bliss, who seemingly couldn’t believe her survival past the fact that she created a flatline based on his old readings, her belief in death was not an unreal one. He decided that it was best to take out the makeshift blindfold from her face, which crumbled almost instantly once it was removed. Necrodium looked at his creation’s face, seeing her pale skin as white as ivory and snow. Necrodium looked into her eyes and the lights of his mouth formed for the first time in his life as a metallic husk, into a smile of eerie green energy.

“Yes Ms. Fokukama, you are alive, not only that, but you’re better than ever before. You have evolved past your original body and become something truly magnificent. Everything has been changed past what the original results theorized. You are now a literally walking embodiment of cold, you produce cold naturally throughout your body, your temperature has permanently been placed in sub-zero temperatures. I think that it might be possible that you literally take the heat from the area around you and convert it into an entirely new piece of energy. I would have to run more diagnostics, but from what I can tell, you should be able to survive past room temperature, possibly even inside temperatures of higher amounts without ham coming to you. And as far as I can tell, with the way I designed this formula, and the results of the procedure, the entire process is irreversible.” Necrodium said, speaking at abnormal speeds due to being so excited. He always had the habit of speaking too fast in times like this, his mouth attempting to match the speed to which his mind was processing the information, though it never could. Necrodium then produced a collar from his cloak, also melding the binds around Bliss’ arms and legs into a form of anklets and cuffs “Now to the final piece of our arrangements, this is a formula I created for superhumans, it causes the mind to alter to open to suggestions, which are delivered via nanobots hidden within the serum. All in all, the serum causes a self-sustaining mental suggestion that causes the wearer to be subjugated to my will, altering their mind to make them think that their only purpose in existence is to serve myself and my plans. I always feel the need to explain this, but we both know that once this is on, you won’t have, or want to have a choice in the matter.”

Necrodium slipped the collar around Bliss’ neck, making the needles puncture her skin in order to deliver the mind altering serum. The time of subjugation varied between individuals, but no one lasted for more than a few minutes most of the time. As Necrodium stood and waited, he saw no visible change in any unconscious mannerisms or anything of the like. After an estimated time of five minutes, Necrodium still saw nothing, so he moved to his scanners to see what could have possibly gone wrong. As he looked through, he realized his mistake, and sent a request to his Necrobots to begin their procedures as he carried on with more important business. Necrodium returned to his original place to face Bliss once again. This time he removed Bliss’ original collar and replaced it with a heavier one made from a strange form of metal, it sported several lights and nodes, indicating that it had an unknown mechanical function, but from interpretation one would think it would allow Necrodium to apply his powers directly. Once the old collar was in his hands, Necrodium squeezed it slightly and it broke apart into tiny crystals that gleamed in the low light.

“Well Ms. Fokukama, it seems that our little experiment has rendered you immune to the original serum, your inner body is even colder than your exterior, your core temperature seems to be horrendously frigid, I doubt anything organic would be able to survive in there. Fortunately, it will take me a while before I think up a formula that can survive the intense temperatures within you. This will be your last hour of free will, savour it and think your final thoughts, for they will be all you have left before the final curtains on your free will close."

The world around her existed in a much different degree to her. Her heartbeat stopped. It did not cease in anxiety, but it all together stopped. She exhaled a cold air from her mouth; she no longer needed to breath, but insisted on exhaling so that she was not alone in herself. Through the over exerted breath she heard the a murmur. She slowed down on her artificial breathing to make out the noise. It cackled inside of her metal helmet, filling her head with a horrible resolve. Muttering any words would only cause her to summon forth the horrible feeling in her chest. The cold resolve in her lungs froze along her vocal chords as she spoke the few words that she could muster.

A strangely euphoric feeling peeled from her head. The small needles pulled out of her scalp, leaving a satisfying feeling over her. As she exhumed a sigh of relief and joy, she could feel her hands moving to a more natural position. As her visor departed she could view the doctor and all of his devilish wonder. His evil grin assured Bliss that her surgery ended, but her torture would soon begin. The metal bindings held her arms in a static state as the doctor brought out his next creation.

The collar slid over her neck. A needle protruded through her skin, removing the satisfaction from her earlier removal. An assimilation would now overtake her. That was the fate that awaited her. She closed her eyes and hid in her thoughts. She ducked into memories, and retreated into experiences. If this man wanted her he would only get a hollow shell of who she was. "You're throwing away what truly makes a superhuman with this. You can make all the hollow shells that you want, and you can fill them with whatever resolve that you feel fits your goals, but you're throwing everything away that truly makes someone who they are. You can't beat humans with monsters. And even when you turn us into monsters, the human remains. The human will always win though."

After her diatribe a realization remained. She did not lose herself. The doctor removed her collar and showed a noticeable annoyance. He told her she resisted because of her physiology, She knew otherwise; he could not break her will, try as he may. With his cold mechanical movements, Necrodium conjured forth a new collar. The complexity of the device and the surprise of the doctor made Bliss question how may times he used this device. "Am I breaking this one in for you?" She grimaced at the jolt of electricity entered her neck. She twitched and brought her hand up to the collar to rub her neck. "I don't think it's working doc." She kept her face together to try and anger the doctor away from this process. "You should go work on some rats for a little while." Discomfort ran through her neck and she could feel the sting in her lower brain stem. He gave her an hour to herself. That would do.

He was weightless as he pushed out into the universe. The near vacuum of space enveloped him lovingly as the darkness welcomed him back. It had been so long, it seemed to say, as his little capsule spun away from him. His arms were pushed out in a V shape behind him, legs straight and clasped firmly together; he had discovered with the Anti-Gravity suit that was a dignified way to way to fly and an undignified way. Although he supposed this was more falling with grace. The thought amused him, enough for him to laugh sharply into the small compartment of the helmet. Then the solar plates lifted on his calves and the back of his thighs. Jets propelled him downwards now, back towards the Earth that weighed so much. The world he would abandon without looking back, for three solitary lives. With a small movement of his legs he went from being horizontal to vertical, his arms going to his side as the jets on his shoulder blades ignited. I am far too old for this.

The altitude reader on his screen was a small set of lines, like a ruler, with a dot falling from high up it. There was another dot below, the assumed location of the ship he was meant to land on in the bank of clouds. As he watched, new information moved it slightly. A gate system was imposed upon the picture of the earth below him, dictating the perfect trajectory needed to make a smooth landing. He made small adjustments as he fell faster and faster, a tiny dial on the upper left informing him of how his speed was increasing with each moment. Now the darkness of space was behind him, the light of the sun flashing off the golden plates. It was almost as a second thought that Clement said softly; ”Computer, do you have a music selection?” His arm twitched and he was sent in a brief turning spin, before he could adjust himself correctly, a diagram being displayed of proper positioning. The computer was practically automating the descent. There was a pause before a green light appeared and then extended into a bar, showing him a selection of songs. He gave it a glance with steel eyes and sighed, before mumbling; ”Ave Maria.”

The tight confines of the helmet replicated the feeling of sitting beside the harp and piano as they began, soon followed by an angelic voice. He closed his eyes for the smallest of moments; four minutes and seven seconds until he landed, or missed. Two minutes until he was presumably targeted by the ships armaments. Five seconds until he would have to deploy the wind net to slow him down, along with the retro-thrusters hidden under the plates on his chest and along his legs. When the net deployed, Clement would have to pull his chest up and become horizontal again, the wind whipping hard at his head and neck now threatening to throw him around like a rag doll at the slightest movement. As the timer warned him that his window of opportunity was closing, he rolled his shoulders back and was gently guided by the invisible hand of wind resistance. Then with a sharp snap his arms were extended and his legs parted. The net, which had extended moments before, stretched out.

The wind was knocked out of his stomach, as if he had landed hard on water; he gasped and spluttered, the nets pulling him back slightly like a dog on a leash. The bright blue jets made sure he didn't spin wildly when he moved, as well as rapidly decreasing his speed. The cloud bank below him and the earth below that seemed to shake and vibrate while his fingers twitched. This was not what he wanted to do at his age; he should have been retired with great grandchildren by now. There was a pang of distress in his chest but he ignored it as he entered the minute and a half mark. The small pack on the rear of the suit, which recycled his breathing to supply fresh oxygen for hours on end and packed with a parachute, began to beep intensely. From within the clouds below, lights began to flash, as they parted; he was a minute faster than the computer expected

”Deploy!” Clement shouted urgently, as the pack opened and attached itself to his shoulders. Out came two thick straps and what seemed to be thick but translucent parachute. Golden wiring ran through it, packed between layers of a gel that would easily become firm and canvas like when a positive charge was ran through it; the positive charge turned what seemed to be a bag of liquid into a sudden, firm parachute that snapped Clement's shoulders back and his legs forward, his position suddenly looking he was sitting in the air. He had raised his knees so that one of his hands could reach down for the Anit-Matter pistol, the other jerking forward to raise a forcefield. The charge stopped passing through the parachute as his thick boots hit the field, his body leaning into it as he was suddenly sent falling again, towards the metal runway that the long ship made. With a crash he hit it, bullets ricocheting around him as the turrets turned down to fire at their own ship. He pushed the shield behind him, instead raising his hands; the pistol flashed and destroyed one of the turrets while his other glove hacked one of them after blinding it with a signal flare. It turned and began firing on it's own companions, which seemed to disorient the ones in front of him enough that he could pull the eyebots from his hips.

They fired up their lasers as they were buffeted by the wind and clouds around them, as Clement kept his head down. The sides of the shield were cracking and breaking away, disappearing into non-being as they tried to hold back the high calibre fire. Clement huddled up against what he assumed was a venting system, able to protect himself on all sides it seemed now. The automatons continued their work, light cutting into the ship with an urgent ZZZZZZ. Bullets riddled the surface around him as the song came to a rather beautiful end. A ricocheting bullet killed little E-12, who sparked hard and dropped from the air in a cloud of Anti-matter, which annihilated it's remains. As Clement watched on, the others seemed to be finished with their assignments, returning back to his hands to be stored in their little homes on his belt. All but one.

”I wish...” He mumbled softly as he moved forward to the cooling surface of the ship, deep groves cut into the hull. From his belt he pulled out a number of discs, sealing them down around the burnt ring he had created. He paused as he picked up a loose wire and the glass eye of E-12, inspecting it through the golden screen of the space suit. He tossed it away, hard, into the air. It was taken by the wind and sent over the side as Clement moved back under the hail of bullets and leant against the ventilation. ”I wish for a lot of things.” He said softly, steeled inside as he mumbled the ignition phrase. The cloud light up suddenly as a loud, hard explosive pushed Clement back.

Necrodium moved away from Bliss, no longer keeping his attention on her and her constant taunting, and instead focused his attention towards quickly finishing up the formula that would be able to survive the extreme temperature that Bliss had within her body. The analysis showed that Bliss' body was in a state that she had layers of cold that overlapped each other, starting from 1 to 7, 7 being the coldest of the temperature. Necrodium's serum could only survive up to lvl 2 without chilling and was completely frozen by lvl 3. In order for the serum to work properly, it must be able to survive up to lvl 5, due to 6 and 7 being completely untainted due to their intense temperatures so cold that no substance would be able to go in without freezing. Necrodium found the process simple in his head, if he altered the structures of the serum in order to either create an anti-freeze sufficient enough to survive in at least lvl 4, the serum would be able to self replicate and the constant recreation would overpower the freezing effect. Were that the case, Necrodium simply had to change a bit of the chemical make up to suffice the requirements, which he tabulated to the chemical mixer in the lower levels of the Olympus along with the newest sample from Bliss in her ice powered form. Necrodium estimated that it would take a good 10-20 minutes for the new batch of chemicals to be brought to him, so until then, he had nothing to do except wait in the room with Bliss.

Though Necrodium had allowed Bliss to roam freely without restraint, he wasn't afraid about anything that concerned Bliss. If she wanted to escape, that notion was impossible at the moment, for all the vehicles on the Olympus were removed long ago, and thanks to Bliss herself, the matter transporter was shut off until further notice. The only one who could come and go as he pleased was Necrodium himself. And if she were to decide to attack him or the ship itself, even if she attempted to tamper with her collar or the Olympus systems, she would receive a paralytic shock. All in all, Bliss wasn't going to be able to do much on her end other than sit and wait for either Necrodium's serum to liberate her from free will, or for a some sort of divine intervention to arrive. As Doctor Necrodium sat and waited, alarms blared and sirens wailed as the Olympus systems called the security to say that there has been a breach in security and the entire staff of the Olympus went on full alert. Necrodium continued to remain calm and simply guided the security to shut down and wait for the intruder to come to them. As a result, the entirety of the minions on the Olympus let still, instead focusing all the power on protecting the internal systems to prevent further quick hacking. Necrodium was not one to simply skulk away like a coward, but he did make his moves carefully. So now the good doctor waited, still in the cold room with his prisoner, to see who decided to come to challenge him on his home ground.

Speak of the Devil and he shall knock on your door... a fitting statement Necrodium thought to himself

Necrodium looked at Bliss and wondered if the newly transformed girl would pose to be a problem in this next encounter, Necrodium wasn't overconfident, but he knew what might transpire in the next hour. He was always vigilant, thinking about his options carefully, of his opponents mental state as to the change from aggression to sudden passiveness from his security system. He clicked his staff as a form of confirmation that he was willing to face this challenge head on, as he always has. It was in his nature to strive to victory, and he always went with his instincts. First and foremost however, Necrodium would have to wait and see whether or not this opponent was worthy of his presence.

Her hand ran softly over the smooth exterior of the collar. This metal should feel cold to any touch that sought to run over its face, but now she felt it feel as any texture should feel to her hand. Cut cuticles clicked hollowly against the composite plastic and glass in Bliss's ear. The doctor left her to herself and to her own devices, leaving Bliss's life entirely in her hands. She kept clicking against the buttons along her neck. Air blew from her lips against the metallic collar, forming ice along the hardened metal.

The low sound of her nails faded almost as soon her nail landed. They faded against one another almost as soon as they formed. Her right leg unfolded from across her left and fell abruptly against the floor. She gathered herself to her feet and moved in a stupor towards the wall. A drop of ice crashed against the floor. She thought back to her life just after her sophomore year of high school. Memories of broken glass doors and shattered car windows came to mind. This would be just like that she told herself. Exactly.

Ice formed around her arm; her head rested against the soft layer of permafrost. She could not feel the rigid cold of the frost, so why would it concern her in the least. Her new senses stripped away the discomfort she should feel from this life sucking chemical. She left behind small traces of ice and permafrost; her own legacy of energy stealing chemicals that attributed nothing, yet claimed everything. How fitting.

Her eyes blinked against the build ups in her eyes. Ice burst from just inside of her eyes; her skin survived the chemical icing that would foil the skin of any other living human. However, she just brushed it simply from her eye. For some reason the ice around her head kept her head from sticking to her arm. She simply pulled it back and it came apart. Blocks of ice poured from her hands onto the ground; surprisingly they stayed intact regardless of their large stature. She thought surely the size and mass of the blocks would doom them to break against the harshness of gravity and the unforgiving ground.

Bliss pressed her back against the wall and closed her eyes. She began to focus on the growing ice that sprawled from her hands. Slowly they grew and began to encompass more and more of the wall around her. The ice blocked her hands to the wall and spread towards her body. Ice ran fluidly over her elbows and crisscrossed the vacuum between her arms and her hips. She looked to her side to see the ice cover her shoulders and embrace her body. The permafrost covered her like a fleece blanket in all of its softness and comfort. Finally she felt the block come to cover her chest and slowly caress her neck and hips. The ice rang like granite against diamonds. Bliss stared before her while the ice fixated her gaze through her lower jaws.

No longer did she need to fear the resolve from the doctor. It would take hard machinery to dig Bliss out of the ice block that she froze herself into, but more importantly to her, she felt the soft embrace of the permafrost brush against her skin. Comfort discarded the calamity her head felt from the confusion of surgery. Blue discarded the banality of the operating room for the hues of the vibrant, hopeful color. Peace discarded the feeling of insecurity that she felt in her new place on board the ship for a new way that she could exist, not just in Earth, but outside of this ship. She began to rest within her tomb and think of how she could escape.

She needed both.

The air was suddenly filled with an acrid smoke which mingled with the cloud covering. A hole had been punched through the thick bulkhead, which was stained black with the explosive but glowed white hot in some places. Below, a hallway went dark as light fixtures erupted sparks of dismay. He gave the turrets of the surface one cursory glance before he dropped himself down into the hole. His feet spread and his knees were meant to absorb the impact in a soft fashion, but his body was too tense and he hit the walkway with a thud, before being sent sprawling forward on his elbows and face. Or at least, the face of the visor. For a moment he stayed there in the darkness, before he heard the alarms from outside of the dormant hallway die; whomever was running the show seemed to be expecting the man. The old man. He pressed his hands down into the grating and pushed up, until he was on his knees. White hair, which had been dark only a few weeks ago (but didn't that feel like a lifetime?) covered his eyes as sweat beaded on his forehead. It seemed he needed his little machines for another purpose; they deployed around his shoulders and head and light up their torches, illuminating the hall.

The first thing that their eyes fell upon was a twitching monstrosity; a body that had been within the hall before the explosion. It had been eviscerated by a large chunk of metal, but it seemed to not really care. It's legs were destroyed but the upper body was pawing uselessly at the thick metal to lift it, shoulders and muscles jerking uselessly as blank mechanical eyes looked up into Clement's. He winced at it, but his mind was already delving towards the science behind it; it was still moving even though it should have been killed, it was obviously cybernetically enhanced. He could see the removal of an organic spinal column and reinsertion of something mechanical, the same happening to parts of the brain. How did whoever do this overcome the problem of giving cells oxygen? Did they simply step around it and preserve the body, replacing any parts that rotted or broke down with fresh machine? Was it really cost effective way to do such a thing.

He forced himself to turn away before he spent more time thinking of it, instead accessing his computer and searching out the wireless systems of the ship. They were closed tight, an iron defence that would take hours to break through. He was able to grope, with the fingers of his intellect, across the surface, fingers searching out soft spots where his probing computers to drill a source of information. There was something; the source of the shut down command was left unguarded, as if the mysterious controller had wanted to urge Clement through the gauntlet of tunnels to him. As he stepped out of the darkness it seemed to be true; there were more undead machines scattered around, watching him with dead eyes, but they did not step forward as he watched them.

”Ah. A trap.”

He stepped forward, unperturbed as he made his way into the ship. From what he could see here and there, it was interesting; some technology was familiar or was making it self familiar in his head, seemingly unravelling their secrets to his attention. He was already considering his own ship, the inhibited part of his mind revelling in the science and mathematics. Clement saw things that were off though; things that escaped him. These gave his wandering feet a pause as he observed the oddest of effects within the workings of the ship. He documented them, unable to know the official statistics behind them. That would take a few hours of informed estimation. The thoughts were driven from his mind however, as he came to the hall that was the source of interest. He paused, bringing forward one of his baubles. Turning on the camera, he looked over the soot smeared suit. With hands that were almost noticeably trembling from the adrenaline rush, he brushed his gold mask free of the darkness, before he ordered it lowered. His hands brushed the white hair from his forehead before trailing down to his upper lip, making sure that a bristle was not out of place with thumb and forefinger. Then his hands move to adjust the shirt collar beneath the suit.

It was not for whom he was about to meet that he did this, but himself. If he was sure in who he was as a person, then he could face anything that this universe, the next, or the space in between could throw at him. When he raised the visor again, he kept it opaque and gold so that he would have a barrier to hide behind. Because he was not a courageous man. He was not strong of will or fortified against the evils of the world. But he was still propelled do this, by circumstance and by the worse thing a man could have; Hope.

And with that, he opened the final barrier and looked out into the room beyond.