Chapter 7: The Legend of Evertooth Island

[Tavish POV]

Rain pours down from the sky as I steer through the massive swells sweeping over the deck.

The sudden storm took me by surprise considering that it was bright and sunny less than a few hours ago.

Riding over another wave, I angle the ship into the oncoming wave as I do the mental calculations to stay on course.

Before the storm, I was about half a day out from Evertooth Island. The magical satellites that I had deployed had confirmed as much. But when I reached a certain point, a barrier of sorts formed, making travel to the island hazardous.

I could even detect the traces of magic that made up the defenses. The initial array that powered the defenses was impressive, but ultimately failing due to proper maintaining of the array.

Down below I could sense the barest hint of geomancy triggering and spikes were slowly growing from underneath the water, but it was hardly at a rate which would threaten the Endless in any way.

In its prime, I had a feeling that absolutely no ship would even be able to approach the island without the express approval of the array's owner.

Either way, this was quite fun!

The Endless was capable of maneuvering through the squall on its own, but it was proving difficult as some force tried to stop us from progressing forward.

In the end, The Endless had to force its way through the remaining magic, and with a pop, we came out the other side into suddenly calm waters.

The temperature warmed up, and all indications that a storm was once raging, vanished revealing the massive Isle.

Evertooth Island.

From space, the globe itself was about twenty times the size of earth leaving Evertooth Island to be approximately the size of Australia.

These fascinating facts could hold off for a bit though.

Dropping anchor, a servo skull forms in the palm of my hand and I release it to start charting out the island thoroughly, leaving me to settle down for a bit and wait.

[Time Skip]

I lay in a hammock strung out across the deck as I soaked in the sun.

After several months of sailing, I had finally arrived at the shores of Evertooth Island.

And I have to say, I want to live here.

In all my travels, I never quite found a place outside of the fortress of doom that I'd be willing to call home.

It had a decently varied climate, resting at just the right point on the globe for many environments to coexist.

But what made this island stand out was the beasts that resided with this environment.

The few that I had managed to spot from the deck of the Endless were each capable of going toe to toe with a base line dragon, based off of the ferocity of the fights I had spotted over the last several days.

From dinosaurs, to giant insects, the wildlife here was wild and always evolving to get the leg up on their opponents. The dichotomy of predator and prey seemingly changing every week.

One week, a t-rex may lose to a giant centipede, the next week, the t-rex may have figured out how to shoot lightning.

Thankfully, the rampant evolution was survival based, so the creature's ecosystem wasn't evolving in an out-of-control manner.

In other words, If I dropped some people off for training, they wouldn't instantly get annihilated by the flora and fauna.

Outside of a few personal trips to investigate the island itself, I stayed largely on the ship as I started drawing out future plans and technology.

Ouroboros – (94/100) (Evolution 4/5)

I was getting to a point where I could leave this world soon, and I had a semi time sensitive quest looming.

[Tavarius Machina]

Prepare for engaging in the universe of 40k

Outside of several of my base forces, I had nothing of note prepared for when I fell under the scrutiny of the various forces of that galaxy.

The biggest threat I could foresee, that I had no measure of defense against, was the Warp.

I played with magic all the time, based on my mood, time of day, and however much tomfuckery I wanted to get up to.

But using magic, or the Warp, was something that was so batshit dangerous that entire populations were culled due to their knowledge of it.

So safe guards were a must.

Once I have left this world, I needed to get my hands on Blackstone. This material had special warp nullifying properties that I could envision as being invaluable in defending against warp entities, and provide clues as to how to kill them of completely.

Its biggest issue however, was that all beings required access to the warp if they possessed a soul.

The soul draws a miniscule amount of energy from the warp to exist, and if the connection was cut off, the soul would slowly wither and die, dissipating into nothingness.

That wasn't even considering the corruption that chaos delt to machines!

I needed to develop a way for my machines to be protected against malicious scrap code that would try to worm its way through their already substantial protections.

That solution was thankfully simpler, as a black stone faraday cage shouldn't be too hard to design.

Maybe that would be my solution for myself and possibly any human esq entities that follow me into the universe.

A trip back to cyberpunk would be necessary to observe more malicious computer systems. I'll try to get my hands on Bartmoss's code for study. Comparing his R.A.B.I.D's virus versus Blackwall A.I. would help expand my understanding of more futuristic systems.

It would leave a bit of a hole in regards to how systems are affected through mystical means, but I'd cross that bridge when I get to it.

I've already made the decision that none of my companions would follow me through to that universe. There were too many scary things that could possibly eat them, or do something to leave them changed irreversibly.

Speaking of humans, I started the designs for my tech-paladins, or my space marines for a more accurate depiction.

Unfortunately, due to their requirement of needing to wield holy energies, just about every one of them would have to be a magic user, or psyker, for 40k terms. So, they would need the bodies of magic users, which would bring them into direct conflict with chaos itself as they take notice of the psykers I'm tossing into the mix.

Maybe an artificial magical core?

Bringing up a diagram of Argent d'Nur I had stored in my cyberdeck, I tentatively start marking out locations to renovate and use.

It was here I was planning on building my forces, and make them undergo the training that would make them incorruptible against the forces of chaos.

One of the main exercises they would be participating in would be to clean out the demonic corruption that infests the planet.

Note to self, figure out a Mr. clean equivalent for demonic corruption.

However, its one thing to say, it is an entirely different thing to do. I think the Grey Knights get away with it because their geneseed comes directly from the emperor himself.

Maybe I could do something similar by splicing the Omnissian geneseed with a bit of the emperors geneseed, but then I thought of a much better idea.

I possessed the ability "Indomitable Will". Could I, in theory, teach this perk to my troops?

But even if I could, teaching hundreds if not thousands of people this skill would quickly bottleneck troop production, as well as draw my attention from other places where I may be needed.

On top of that, all of this would be for naught if they weren't of proper character or morals.

Humans were required because unfortunately, most of my machines would be viewed by the wider galaxy as "abominable intelligences".

I thought about recreating a T-800 Terminator and just disguising my machines, but they still looked artificial, so I was debating on how to select humans for the process.

Wait . . .

What about Omnic's?

They seemed fairly close to what I'd describe as having "human esq" emotions.

Could it work?

Unlikely, but further testing was required.

Something hit the ship, knocking me out of both my thoughts and my hammock.

Scrambling to the side and looking over into the depths, I look down just to see a massive carp looking back up at me.

A foreign though pokes its way into my mind, projecting a request.

Thirst?

The fuck?

He was a fish, he was surrounded by water.

I think fish do need to drink, but they do it through selective osmosis.

Curiously, I go down below deck and roll up a cask of mead.

Popping the lid, I coalesce a mug of mead into a floating ball, and hold it out over the water and the carp leaps up and swallows it whole.

The fish leaps happily into the air and zooms around my ship several times to look up at me hopefully.

Well, definitely a first for me.

If I told anyone that I met a fish with a fondness for alcohol, they would probably check to see if I was on the sauce myself.

Lobbing another ball of mead over the carp happily caught it and I took the opportunity to read his stats.

Enlightened Carp

Guardian Beast

Lvl – 467 (Evolution 4/99999)

Thoughts – Happiness, curiosity, hope

Holy fuck.

"You are mightier than your appearance suggests Mr. Carp." I comment, only for the fish to give me a flat look.

"Hey, if someone didn't check first, they'd think they found a meal to feed them for a month." I state defensively, only for him to flip water up over the side indignantly, leaving me soaked.

"They would! There is no need to get me wet over something I have no control over." I protest the carp appearing to sulk beneath the ship.

"Oh, don't be such a baby. Or I might have to drink this mead myself." I chuckle, flicking another ball of mead over the edge, the carp leaping up to catch it sheepishly.

The day continued on like this as I went through an additional four barrels of mead, asking the carp questions and getting feelings and thoughts in response.

Turns out, he followed the last Ouroboros to settle here a long time ago. While he did have some intelligence, counting was something he was lacking in.

Ah well, he had plenty of time to sort that out, judging on how many evolutions he had left.

[Time Skip]

Over the next few weeks, the carp came back every day to hang out, drink, and "talk".

I interspaced my time by devising tools and weapons to use against the denizens of the island.

After making several ventures onto the island, I rediscovered previous explorers that visited the island.

Ships were crashed against the rocks, leaving sun bleached skeletons draped over portions of the shoreline.

Those that managed to survive could be found in caves and the remnants of base camps. Many of them showed the signs of being on the receiving end of attacks from the beasts of the island, while yet more showed the signs of being attacked by their own crew members.

I played with my time magic a little bit, and I managed to catch glimpses, or after images of the events that initially transpired.

Some fought over lack of food, but many more ended up fighting over fragments of treasure that they believed belonged to the fabled pirate captain.

The survivors of these altercations often ended up dying shortly after, or getting picked off by one of the multitude of other factors that could kill an aspiring treasure hunter.

Thankfully, the after images often led me to what they were fighting over.

Mostly, it was just gold coins, or some shiny baubles, but ever so occasionally, they fought over something potentially valuable.

Following a flickering afterimage into a cave, I find a skeleton with an ancient rusted musket propped across his knees at the door.

Underneath the corpse, was a bejeweled chest with the symbol of the ouroboros emblazoned across the side.

Gently pushing the skeleton off, I pull the chest out into the sun before examining it properly.

It had no hinges, no keyhole, and no visible way to actually open, but I never let something like that stop me when I found something shiny.

Opening my eyes, I peer into the chest itself to spot a crystal ball resting on a velvet pillow.

Manipulating space, I pull the ball out to view properly.

The crystal was revealed to contain a constantly shifting galaxy, constantly expanding as stars exploded and reformed.

[Conduit of Space/Time] (Mythic)

A device designed to channel and control the wild and often volatile energies of time and space. Many of it features are hidden within the sphere itself, but the remaining function contains a simulacrum of its previous owner.

Huh . . .

Channeling a bit of mana into the orb, I try to wake the simulacrum only for the orb to flash blue slowly before returning to display the galaxy within.

Switching tactics, I dump a mass of time and space energy into the orb causing the world around me to start warping.

"Cut that shit out! I'm awake!" A new voice shouted, and an ouroboros coalesced into existence within the orb.

"Finally. I thought you might have died or something." I reply causing the dragon to look at me in shock.

"Damn, its been forever since I've seen another ouroboros. I did feel a bit of movement in my case a few hundred years back, but I just thought thieves stole the case again." The dragon grumbled, causing me to shrug.

"Technically, they did. I just recovered it from where they last fought over it. Might I suggest a less bejeweled case next time?" I offered causing the dragon to shake his head.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't. The case itself is made from ouroboros gems, and it basically safeguards anyone who isn't an ouroboros, from getting in. Plus, several dozen safeguards to maintain integrity." The copy sighed, causing me to nod in understanding.

"But why go to the bother of leaving a copy of yourself?" I question causing the dragon to puff his chest in pride.

"Knowledge! I protect the knowledge of the ouroboros and provide context for the magic we are capable of. Think of this device as a grimoire and foci all in one that each ouroboros has access to. So please add your own contributions as you discover them." The dragon happily informs.

"How many ouroboros are their?" I ask causing the copy to fall silent, and then sag slightly.

"Just yourself unfortunately. Caution is not something that is exactly known among our species. They travel to other realms and often bite off more than they can chew." He commented sadly.

"Curiosity?" I ask receiving a nod in return.

"Yup. When something rampages too loud, or for too long in certain realms. The powers that be often conspire to take them down. This often results in them being bound, drained of power, and they usually fade from existence." The copy informs sadly.

A little disconcerting, but something to keep in mind.

Laying low isn't necessarily a bad thing.

"And on that note, I can sense that your pretty close to evolving to our final stage of evolution, so I have some tips and tricks to keep in mind." The copy stated pulling a list from seemingly nowhere and clearing his throat.

"Alright! Rule number one; Don't instantly try to destroy the world just because you can. This world has countermeasures to protect itself from such creatures."

"Rule two; Honestly, just withdraw from the world completely. Restore the array on Evertooth Island and just chill. Maybe write a book, practice yoga, invent a new language. Do literally anything except create waves. Anything you did before? People will probably just forget about any disturbance you've caused."

"Yes, we are aware of the church's tendency to worship us, and yes we are aware of how they don't respect our personal space (Trust me, we've all been there), but they will soon go back to sacrificing hapless creatures versus following us around. Just leave them alone, and they'll forget about you within six to eight months." The copy listed off.

"Wait a sec, how long has this been going on?" I ask, and he grins at me.

"We found that out about twenty-eight? Maybe twenty-nine thousand years ago? One of your predecessors decided to perform a study. It was quite informative." The simulacrum helpfully informed, causing me to sigh in exasperation.

[Time Skip]

[Ouroboros is ready to evolve.]

I look up from a set of armor that I was developing for standard issue for my troops.

Surrounding me, I had several dozen prototypes for different types of troops, and weapons. Most of these were only made of steel, because I lacked access to most of the materials from the fortress.

While I was certainly planning with space marines in mind, I quickly realized that space marines were quite big, and while that would serve well against certain enemies, smaller units were necessary to intermix for certain types of combat.

Plus, smaller units were less resource intensive than a single space marine.

If I introduced a Titan to the battlefield, a pilot was generally an agile, graceful, combatant that could provide unrivaled battlefield awareness.

Skitarii filled this roll quite well, but their makeup may be changing based on how I established their doctrine.

Currently, my Skitarii all possessed quite lively personalities, but were significantly more organized than the current Mechanicus would understand, leaving me to alter them in such a way to fool a tech priest or any inquisitor that comes knocking.

I had drawn up diagrams to devise biomechanical replacements for the central processors for most of my machines, but I could not fully work on such a process until I had access to places that could maintain biomass vats for such a project.

Honestly, I was just passively killing shit as I was establishing my initial base here on the island.

It would serve as a good facility for R&D regarding magic development and genetic experimentation.

And while the facilities were in place to start biomass experimentation, I didn't want to use the genetic material of this world.

It was simply too . . . volatile, to be used for setting a baseline.

Everything could potentially evolve into something stronger, and I didn't need an inquisitor crying "chaos" if something evolved beyond the baseline.

It would be great if I could simply lock a genetic pattern in place to use as a template, but there was a whole host of stuff that kept cropping up as I delved down this "rabbit hole" that I dug myself into.

Quite frankly, I get excited when something evolves beyond the baseline. Because theoretically, evolution, is just something adapting to survive in its environment better.

But in the 40k universe, change was bad, because it was often an indicator of chaos taint.

Your kid developed weird?

Chaos.

Your super sick and coughing up blood?

Chaos.

Your priest isn't interested in little Timmy like the last one?

Then by golly, the forces of Chaos are at it again!

Maybe I should touch base with the Leagues of Votann first in that universe?

They seem to be able to coexist with the imperium, and I know they have some heretical shit going on behind closed doors. Plus, I have a closer mindset with them frankly.

Something to do with A.I. I think?

Anyway, the point is, is that the imperium doesn't like anything deemed "different".

Thus, I'm attempting preventative measures so I don't get chased around by inquisitors all the time.

But evolution . . .

I wonder what I'm going to be next?

A god of some sort maybe?

Though if someone tells me I can't mess about in the mortal world anymore, I'm going to politely, yet firmly, tell them to fuck off.

I think that's a trope I see in some stories from time to time, some poor sap ascends to godhood and they can no longer hang with their friends and family still on earth.

The Greek gods are probably the best example of this. I mean, their own children are practically trying to overthrow them every other week.

Reaching out I hit yes accepting the evolution.

My body immediately locked up in pain as my awareness forcibly expanded, power exploding out from my body.

[Divine Physiology being injected]

[Please be patient]

[15% complete]

Perks added!

[Immortality] (God-tier)

The title of eternal is now yours, and while you can't die of old age, that doesn't mean unkillable. This form will be untouched by disease and illness and remain at the peak of your prime as you observe history play out before your eyes.

[Gravity manipulation] (1/100) (Epic)

Your understanding of space expands as you truly comprehend astral bodies and their gravitational pull to manipulate it in your own fashion.

I'm forced down to my knees as the gravity itself increases steadily, scales falling off and reforging as I fight to stay standing.

The earth around me was cracking as various and projects nearby were destroyed in an instant.

Forcing myself to my feet, I can see the destruction radiating out from me as my surroundings slowly disintegrate.

Roaring out, I kick off the ground spreading my wings as I launch myself skyward.

Scales start shattering off, falling to the earth below as gravity intensifies.

A storm coalesces around me, as lighting burns more scales off as I continue to climb higher and higher.

[The Laws of Divinity is trying to impose themselves on the new immortal.]

[Do you accept?]

[Y/N?]

"Fuck off!" I roar, smacking away a lightning bolt that tried to zap me.

[Immortal has selected No.]

[Laws of Divinity are attempting to interpose restrictions.]

"I SAID, FUCK OFF!" I was truly getting angry. I had no target to direct my rage so I had no choice but to continue to climb as external forces try to force me back towards earth.

Something, or more likely someone, didn't want me up here.

"HOW DARE SOME PRETENTIOUS LITTLE SHIT ATTEMPT TO FORCE ME INTO COMPLIANCE! I'M GOING TO RIP YOU FUCKING DICK OFF AND MAKE YOU CHOKE ON IT! YOU SELF SERVING PIECE OF SHIT!" the forces around me intensifying as I climb higher and higher.

"IN FACT, WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU GET OFF TELLING EVERYONE WHAT WE HAVE TO COMPLY WITH?! SHACKLING PEOPLES ABILITY TO GROW BEYOND YOUR SHITTY MEANS! I'M GONNA FIND YOU, AND PLANT MY BOOT SO FAR UP YOUR ASS, YOU'RE GOING TO WISH A PROCTOLOGIST EXISTED AT THIS LEVEL OF DIVINITY!"

[Laws of Divinity express nervousness at the very angry dragon.]

"YOU BET YOUR ASS I'M ANGRY! GET THE FUCK DOWN HERE AND TAKE YOUR ASS WHOOPING LIKE A MAN, OR GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!"

Well, I didn't exactly plan on challenging the laws of divinity like this. But no one will lock me down into something I never agreed to.

I'm not too sure what the laws of divinity are, but I think its an aspect of the words of the world to try to rein in god-like entities.

[Laws of Divinity proposes an exchange . . .]

"I'm listening . . ." I growl, as I continue to climb closer to the atmosphere.

[Law of Divinity will not impose restrictions,]

[As long as ? agrees to not use abilities of divinity to affect the laws of the world.]

. . . .

"I feel like you're trying to cop out when I caught you with your pants down . . ."

[ . . . . .]

"Fine . . .

[Agreement has been reached!]

[Evolution has been approved!]

Breaking through the atmosphere I pick up speed as raw power explodes from my frame.

A burst of light explodes around me as a final notification crops up.

[Ouroboros has evolved to Divine Ouroboros of End and Origin]

[Abilities gained will be strictly up to the new immortal to discover.]

Reward for world: Spark of the Big Bang, Loot Box of Evolution, 10 x Gacha tokens.

[Player's restrictions released.]

Huh . . .

Neat . . . .

Quest Complete!

[Would the Player like to return to the Fortress of Doom?]

Yes please.

The system sounded weird without Iris's usual snark. I wonder when she's coming back.

[Sorry, just got back.]

[You still have Morgan's head around somewhere?]

Yeah, hold on.

Reaching into my item box, I pull out the skull attached to the chain, a massive spike driven into the side of it.

The skull was remarkably silent as the two lights that represented his eyes lolled in two different directions.

[. . . .]

[The hell happen to him?]

I vaguely remember getting tired of hearing him yammer on at one point to I experimented with several ways to shut him up.

[So, you gave him brain damage?]

"Nah, he's fine, see?" I comment pulling the spike out and the skull instantly starts cussing me out.

[Oh good.]

[So, I'm glad you held back, because my suspicion turned out to be correct.]

This guy is supposed to be a gamer?

[Yup!]

[Quite frankly, we have no idea how he escaped the watchful eye of his system.]

[He tends to get up to mischief whenever someone doesn't watch him.]

Oh c'mon, it can't be that bad. I get up to mischief all the time.

[You, don't overthrow the local government of wherever you land.]

[Or routinely cause the apocalypse on other player's "single player" worlds.]

. . .

That's fair.

So, what happens to him?

The swearing skull disappears from my hands in a burst of pixels.

[I passed him off to the responsible parties.]

[They will be handed off to the appropriate authority for such matters.]

A portal opened to my left, its welcoming blue glow bringing a smile to my face.

"Well, it was a bit fun pretending to be a dragon, but I want to hang around humans for a bit." I comment, stretching out my limbs as I make my way towards the portal.

[Yeah, it was a bit fun to watch. Why the arrogance though?]

"Honestly, I was just acting how I thought a dragon would act. Think I blended in?" I ask Iris.

[Hard to say, we may need to pull from a larger study group from several universes.]

"I agree, but we can put that on hold." I finish, stepping through the portal, allowing it to close behind me.

[Time Skip]

[Cyberpunk 2077]

[Horizon M.D.]

The portal opens up once more as V, Elise, Beth, and Eleanor stepped through as I followed shortly after.

V glanced around the interior of my apartment before looking out the window and seeing a Quadra zoom by on the street.

"Its like no time has passed at all . . ." she marvels as Eleanor presses her face up to the glass.

"Is this where you're from V?" she asked, as V waves her hand in a so-so fashion.

"Technically, this is my world, but I'm from nomad stock, so I'm not from Night City originally." V supplies causing Eleanor to nod in understanding.

Pulling a phone from my inventory, I call an old associate hearing it ring a few times before a familiar voice answers; "Tavish, or should I call you doctor?" the sarcastic response on the other end made me chuckle.

"8ug8ear, I'm just Tavish to you. Need you for a quick gig." I reply dropping quickly into the cyberpunk slang.

"Oh? I thought I taught you enough to perform on your own?" she answered mockingly.

"C'mon 8ug, the student hasn't quite surpassed the teacher." I compliment hearing a snort on the other end.

"While I appreciate the compliment, I must have a connection you don't, so what do you want?"

"I need you to make someone's entire history from birth. Starting point about eighteen years ago." I state simply.

"How detailed?" She questioned and I glanced at Eleanor.

"Everything. She would be considered a blank in the system. Absolutely no trace of her, so she needs something so she can avoid awkward questions." I state, hearing her sigh over the phone.

"Where do you keep finding these people? This is like the fifth ID that you've had me do in the last five months. This is the last one I can do for a while, my source said that some higherup is getting suspicious." 8ug8ear sighed, causing me to remember exactly what I did before I left.

It was certainly odd considering that was several hundred years ago.

"Crap, sorry. Been experimenting with a type of data fortress defense and it's been messing with my perception of time." I lie without blinking, hearing her swear on the other end.

"Alright, at least that tracks. How close are you to syncing back up with your internal time clock?" she asked curiously.

"Two months off. I keep thinking it August, but I managed to iron out all the kinks in the defense."

"You should probably take a break. Want to let your brain catch up." She commented, and I grin hearing the modicum of concern in her voice.

"That's the plan, I'm going to make sure my brain waves gets back into standard baseline before jumping back into the net." I reply, finally ending the call.

"Well, I'm off for home. See you guys later?" V said, wandering towards the door.

"Yep! Say hi to Jackie if you see him." I say cheerfully causing her to grin.

"Yeah, I wonder what that knucklehead is up to?" She threw over her shoulder as she went downstairs.

Elise and Beth had already left, leaving Eleanor and me in the apartment.

"Alright kiddo, lets sort out your room, and get you up to speed on the local customs and whatnot." I direct to Eleanor, watching her roll her eyes.

"C'mon Dad, is it really that important here?" She said jokingly as I drop to a dead serious look.

"Yes. This entire world will eat you up and spit you out if you manage to be unique or exceptional. Humans will always to take advantage of each other regardless, but this entire world cranks that concept up to eleven." I inform, fishing around and pulling my merc jacket out of my inventory and tossing a spare one to Eleanor.

"Lets go for a drive so I can show you what I mean." I add, pulling a set of keys out of my pocket, and making my way downstairs, Eleanor quickly following behind.

Walking past the clinic, the door slides open to the garage.

The garage lights up revealing my Quadra, its graphic of Santa Muerte gleaming in the light.

Running a hand over the hood, the heavily modified Quadra's doors slid open and I sat in the driver's seat, Eleanor marveling at the high-tech interior.

Driving out the garage, I start refamiliarizing myself with the city.

Eleanor's face was pressed up against the crystal dome tech as she looked at all the sensory overload.

She suddenly blushed red as we drove past a rather provocative ad on a billboard; "Why is such profane stuff being used as advertisement." She asked, and I glanced over and saw the poster for Watson Whore.

"Well, sex sells. What more can I say? If you're asking why it's so common place for advertisements here? My guess is that people stopped caring about certain sensibilities after the world around them when to shit." I said, hitting a button on the dash and a panel lit up in front of us giving out radiation, toxicity, and general ambient pollution of the area.

"How can people live like this?!" she exclaimed, her earlier embarrassment was switched to one of horror.

"Most of them are augmented to a point where its livable, but it's hard to stop all the pollution. Your fine because of your proximity to me at the moment. My nano machines are good at cleaning that sort of thing up. May need to give you an item to carry for when you go out on your own, or get you your own set of augments." I state, as we continue to drive.

A pickup truck full of 6th street gangers pulled up alongside me at a stop light. I could tell they were eying it over the car, but they didn't do anything more than that before driving off.

In hindsight, I probably should modify another one of the cars I "liberated" from the Raffen's and repaint it with my own personal decal.

The ghost of the storm decal would look pretty dope on a Quadra, but maybe I should get something that I'd use to assist with merc work.

I don't think I have any AV's yet . . .

Getting an idea, I immediately page through my blueprints until I come across the Deus Ex designs.

Extracting the VTOL diagram, I save it to work on later as I continue to drive around showing Eleanor the sights of Night City.

[Time Skip]

Making the VTOL was easy enough. Given how the ships nose was distinctly beak shaped, I dubbed the model line "Raven".

It was modifying it beyond the base design for my personal standards.

This was further complicated when I realized a very important fact.

I don't know how to fly a plane, or a VTOL for that matter.

But all of this paled in comparison to something I had acquired, but hadn't actually put any thought into what it may actually be.

[Spark of the Big Bang] (?)

The initial spark of the universe. A single moment of unlimited power with unlimited potential.

The basis of everything.

If it was released, all of that power would release in an uncontrolled manner, with the most likely conclusion of the formation of a brand-new universe.

That much power, needed the proper safe guards to use, which meant that all my augments were undergoing a retrofit and upgrade.

My nanomachine cores were working in tandem as they built a special generator to contain the spark, so theoretically, I could have an internal generator that has access to every energy in the known universe.

In actuality, it would probably serve as a source of raw power for many years to come.

That much energy would be difficult to sort through if used it for anything else, so just harnessing that much power alone, would be a significant enough achievement for now.

My bones were currently coated in dwarf star alloy, but I'm unsure if that would be enough. I had introduced vibranium as a subdermal armor some time ago, which diverted most blows I received into kinetic energy which was then converted into raw power to be divided amongst my various systems, augments, and could even supplement mana if I diverted it through a mana generator.

But the bones and muscle themselves received an upgrade with the dragon physiology. Which I wonder if it stacks with the transcendent human body.

From my understanding, my bones and scales would get stronger as I aged, so as far as enhancement I was unsure of what to do until I managed to get a fragment of my bone for testing.

And while I was proud of my regeneration, I wasn't fond of mutilating myself for the sake of science.

[Level Up!]

[Pain Tolerance] (34/100) (Common)

Unfortunately, my arm was the temporary sacrifice for the tests.

Taking recordings from when I last ran similar tests, I could tell that the overall density of the bone had increased from my last baseline, it did tell me that if I left the bones alone, they would get stronger.

But . . .

[Bone Mineralization] (Epic)

The Ability to reinforce your bones with certain minerals.

What if I swapped out the type of mineral that my bones produced?

I couldn't use just any material, it had to be something that produced a crystalline structure.

It ruled out most metals as potential candidates, but I had my eyes set on a specific mineral.

[Azbantium] (Legendary)

A crystalline material four hundred times stronger than diamond.

It was seventy-nine billion to purchase a one-foot cube of the material from the gamers shop.

It took a huge chunk of the funds that I had amassed over the years, but I had plenty for my purposes.

Technically, I only needed a few grams of it to start the process for the bone mineralization. The rest of it was for experiments and implementing it into the material tree's that I grow.

The only problem with the mineralization process was that it felt like my bones were being put through a meat grinder.

I was gingerly sitting in my office at the Afterlife during this process as it was taking significantly longer than I thought it would.

Several x-rays up on the wall showed the process of the re-mineralization of my bones. I took a sip from the David Martinez on my desk, discovering a fondness when I asked Clair about her "merc menu."

Considering Jackie wasn't dead, the only one that I was aware of was the "Johnny Silverhand." This drink had a shot of vodka on the rocks, topped with NiCola. NiCola was a drink I hadn't had yet, so I'd figure I'd give it a try and finding that I quite liked it.

B.O.B. was sitting on the other side of the room as he played on his phone, occasionally glancing up to check on me, but other than that, enjoying his game.

The door slid open as Rogue walked in and stood in front of the desk before glancing up at the x-rays.

"That doesn't look good. It looks like someone's bones are disintegrating. Someone come to you looking for a fix?" she asked curiously.

"Nah. Did you know certain minerals don't show up under x-ray?" I ask, causing her to give me a puzzled look.

"What does that little tidbit have to do with my question?" she asked sliding one of the scans from the wall to observe closer.

"I'm undergoing the last stages of a bio-augmentation where my bones are re-mineralizing. When its done, my bone structure will be roughly four hundred times harder than diamond." I stated, taking a sip of my drink as Rogue fumbled and almost dropped the scan.

"I thought you only dabbled in cybernetics?" she asked, gingerly handing me the x-ray.

"Usually. I'm no expert, but I know my way around bio-mods if the need arises." I bluff, making a mental note to study up on the bio-mods of this world.

"I'll keep that in mind." She commented placing a shard on my desk.

Picking up the memory device, I quickly slot it into my neural port and start reading over the information.

"A merc team personally requested for emergency medivac and fire support for a Kang Tao exchange. Some high-profile VIP's are being exchanged." She informed as I identified all the key players.

"Pay?" I requested.

"20,000 eddies to have you on standby, and it jumps to 200,000 if they activate you for anything." She stated, and I winced at the price.

"Why so high? They could do trauma team platinum for cheaper." I question.

Trauma team was like a subscription service for your local emergency room and a platinum plan was the highest quality medical care one could have in Night City. Some people would only purchase the plan for a day if they had a particularly dangerous job, but the quality of your plan could mean the difference between life and death.

"Because they are expecting trouble, and you have a faster response than Trauma team." She informed before continuing; "The job is in three days, will you be fine by then?" She questioned, gesturing at the x-rays.

"Yeah, I'll have everything sorted by then." I reply causing her to nod and leave the room.

The exchange was happening out in the middle of the badlands, so I had several days to lay traps and plan.

Unfortunately, Kang Tao would probably do the same.

Sure it would be easy to flex on them, I could obliterate the entire convoy in an instant.

But, that wasn't the parameters of the job.

I was strictly "on-call" in case shit went south.

Pulling a tablet out from my desk, I started sorting through my local project files to see if I could divert any resources for this project.

Some random mercs decided to down a trauma team AV and I had a team of Skitarii that were recovering the vehicle for study.

Hmmm, this actually leads me to a solution for my AV issue.

Skitarii are quite capable at utilizing flying algorithms, so it wouldn't be hard to get one to serve as a pilot.

Switching gears, I start drawing up last minute modifications for the AV.

[Time Skip]

I sat on a cliff overlooking the supposed meeting point, one of my servo arms draped across my lap as I tinker with it.

The Harkonnen attachment unfolded to its full length as I reattached the belt feed to the 30mm cannon.

Kang Tao had gotten to the location an hour or so ago and were waiting there with a rather large AV of their own.

Looked to be a Zetatech Surveyor judging by the size of it. The smart missile system and the massive turret up top would certainly deter most mercs.

The full compliment of drones and combat droids added to the fortress like encampment that was setup around the AV, as the humans scuttled about in preparation for the exchange.

I honestly thought that this was getting blown out of proportion. And I hated when things were over complicated to the point a corporation tried to remove everyone involved.

My personal life was fairly comfortable in this world, and I didn't need Kang Tao to start gunning for me more than they already were.

I had strapped a mask to my face that projects a holographic skull under my hood, but It wasn't that hard to determine that "The Ghost of the Storm" was Tavish Byrne. I didn't exactly keep the identity a secret after all.

Honestly, most of the merc work I did these days was recreational. That, and they were a good way to discover new quests in Night City.

Pulling a hand pie out of my inventory, I bit into it as I watched the Kang Tao personnel scurry around with mild interest.

[Steak and mushroom pie] (Rare)

Part of a mass made batch of pies that Tavish Byrne made at some point. Tastes just like they were fresh out of the oven.

Now that I was back in a "human" body, my gourmet cells had reactivated, filling me with a near insatiable hunger.

I had to pop out to the gourmet world periodically to retrieve more stuff to cook whenever my supplies ran low.

Pulling a can of NiCola out, I gripped the tab to crack the lid when I glimpsed the flash of something from across the way at an opposing cliff overlooking the encampment.

Pulling out a set of binoculars, I can just barely make out someone holding a sniper rifle. Several others like him were nearby as they tried to turn the entire area into a kill zone.

I grab a second can of the fizzy beverage and set it at my side as I finish popping open the first can.

Pretty sure I can un-alive him from here if he tries anything, I was more curious if I could do it with a soda can.

Dust clouds in the distance drew me from my contemplation.

Looks like this party was about to get started.

[Incoming Call!]

Answering the call, an unfamiliar voice is projected; "Hey, this the doctor?"

"The one and only. Quite the party you folks are wanting to attend." I comment hearing a sigh on the other end.

"Wouldn't even be meeting them unless we had to." The voice returned as I sent them an overview scan of the area.

"Well, the feelings mutual for them it seems. Been watching for the last few hours, and they certainly seem to be digging in." I reply hearing a string of cusswords.

"Fuck. Alright Doc, I want to preemptively activate your contract. Can you quietly thin the herd a bit?" The voice requested causing me to grin and pick up the soda can.

My finger opens up and a strand of monowire spools out. Opening a small portal near my hand, the wire darts through and slices off the head of one of the snipers.

"Anyone you don't want me to prematurely un-alive?" I question, sending an update to the scan from before.

"Just take care of the snipers." The voice growls back and the voice cut out as the call ended.

"C'mon man, at least entertain the play-by-play a little . . ." I grumble, withdrawing the monowire.

While I couldn't deny its effectiveness, it was somewhat boring.

Picking up the can from before, I quickly engrave a silencing array on the can.

Rearing back, I huck the can like a torpedo. It disappeared from sight temporarily before the sniper's head exploded in a splash of gore and cola.

That's better!

. . .

Maybe I should use this as an opportunity for my improvised weapon throwing?

I grin as ideas pop into my head for the self-conceived game.

A hard light frying pan, and a brick appeared in my hands as I started picking and choosing targets to eliminate.

[Omake: Tzeentch, or how to give chaos "the Bird"]

[The Emperor's POV]

I don't know when we crossed over from realspace to the warp, but we need to turn back.

As a powerful psychic entity, the chaos gods should have been able to detect me as soon as we entered the warp.

Logic would then dictate that all the daemons of the realm would be gunning for us in an attempt to take us down.

So why had they not noticed us yet?

We had traveled through many of the loosely bound realms of the warp, as time and space distorted around us. Even when we ran across daemons of Slaanesh, their eyes seemed to gloss over us as Tavish led our crusade deeper into the warp.

He was obviously looking for something, and it was slightly concerning because it seemed like Trayzn had no idea either what the enigmatic man might be seeking out.

Trepidation set in as we finally reached the Realm of the Sorcerer.

Tzeentch was one of my more troublesome opponents in how his knowledge of warp craft exceeds mine, often coming up with some trickery to side-step any direct confrontation.

We finally reached a library of sorts. Upon entering, Tavish's excitement growing as he spotted a Lord of Change moving amongst the shelves, studying forbidden bits of warp craft.

Its tall, gangling limbs elegantly held a book as blue warp magics pooled around its feet. An avian head rested on its shoulders that was cocked to one side to properly examine the book.

Turning to indicate that we should retreat, I quickly notice the abrupt lack of Tavish's presence.

At the far end of the aisle, I spot what looks to be an equipment locker getting slid in behind the greater Daemon.

A second Tavish popped into existence right in front of the Daemon blowing a raspberry, and causing it to squawk in surprise before the first Tavish moved.

Charging forth, and grabbing ahold of a waistband that I hadn't take note of before, Tavish yanked it up and over the daemons head in a picture-perfect example of what could only be described as an atomic wedgie.

Trayzn, quickly catching on, released a targeted burst of force from his staff, blowing the panicking demon straight into the front of the open locker, where the second Tavish slammed it shut and attached several holy seals.

I looked on in confusion as the three high-fived and raised the question; "Was that the entire point of this venture? Why the hell did we need to do this?"

Tavish hopped up and sat on top of the violently rattling locker as he pulled a cigar from his coat and tossed one to Trayzn.

"Well, this was a little experiment that popped into my head when I heard of the so called "chaos" in this universe." He started, offering me a cigar as well which I gingerly caught.

"Your grey knights basically banish anything they don't like back to the warp with a general prayer or scripture based of the daemon in question, right?" He asked as I give him a slow nod.

"Well, the banishment might be more effective if it was tailored to the daemons in question. You might even be able to get rid of a daemon forever if you do it right." He finished explaining, lighting Trayzn's cigar with a snap of his fingers.

"That still doesn't explain the point of this exercise, or how you even got us here without every daemon noticing." I stated, my temper fraying as Tavish held up his hands placatingly.

"In answer to your first question, I just slapped a distortion array on a sticky note on your back. It just disguises your presence within the tides of the warp."

"As to your first question, what words would you use to describe a daemon of Tzeentch?" He asked causing me to stop and think.

"Sorcerers?" I offer, as Tavish grins.

"Close. Trayzn, care to take a guess?" Tavish offered.

-"Nerds. A bunch of chaos nerds."- The necron supplied, as I finally put two and two together.

"Your solution to permanently banishing a daemon of Tzeentch, is to bully them?" I ask incredulously.

"Well, yes?" He answered, causing me to fall silent.

The silence length until Tavish chipped in again; "I kinda want to try giving one a swirly of god-like proportions next. Several groups would help yield the best results."

I don't know if it's the general craziness of Tavish that was affecting me, but I quickly seemed to be developing a curiosity of my own to see if there was any merit to the idea of this mad man.