Chapter 115


    The room erupted into chaos the moment time resumed.


    Redsers and space-piercing bullets faced shockwaves, sr res, streams of pressurized water, and a storm of ss. Yet it


    was a kung-fu-powered bear that made the most spectacr contribution, smashing through the Alchemist clones’ barricades


    right after Mr. Wave. The pulverized two clones while leaking blood from half a dozensers, transforming back and forth to


    regenerate, always staying on the move to avoid a fatal blow.


    Ryan himself did his part, punching any clone within his reach while quipping. However, the situation had be so confusing


    that he needed to freeze time to check up on his allies. Mr. Wave was busy poking the Alchemist’s clones to death, Shroud


    shielded his allies with reinforced ss barriers, while an enraged Sarin fired shockwave after shockwave in a berserk rage.


    Yet no matter the group’s ferocity, the Alchemist’s numbers only increased.


    One Eva Fabre clone duplicated by a factor of ten, and the new doppelgangers followed her example. Most appeared unarmed,


    or with ‘human’ weapons such as rifles and guns. However, a few of the original doubles used strange gauntlet devices to


    teleport alien weapons to copy their copycats. Ryan figured that they used the same principle as Mars’ power, essing an


    armory in a separate pocket dimension.


    Which also meant that while the Alchemist’s power could replicate physical matter, Flux-based tech remained beyond her reach.


    It made sense in a way. Eva Fabre was a Blue Genome, so how could she replicate the source of Green or Red powers?


    Ryan decided to focus on the clones’ suppliers first, but some of the new recruits materialized with suicide belts and attempted to


    blow themselves up in his face. The courier was forced to repel them using his armor’s weapons.


    Unfortunately, this gave time for the clone army to organize. When they realized that Ryan was trying to make a beeline to the


    gate they were protecting, the suppliers among the doppelgangers distributed gauntlet devices to a regiment of new recruits.


    Two dozen Evas formed a barrier of bodies, their tools projecting a crimson shield. A beehive-like hexagonal barrier now


    protected the gates, one tough enough to resist Ryan’s gravity gun.


    Guessing what Ryan had in mind, Mr. Wave attempted to assist, turning into aser and smashing into the clones’ defense. The


    crimson shield repelled him, so he tried again, and again, prodding the barrier from all angles, even jumping into the air to strike


    the defenders from above. Though the doppelgangers held the line, their shields often flickered on impact. Much like E.T.’s


    technology, their machinery ran on a limited supply of juice and would eventually run out.


    However, for once in Ryan’s life, time wasn’t on his side. Not only were the clones summoning more of themselves, they also


    organized better. Groups of energy-shield users formed security barriers around the arsenal suppliers, allowing them to arm the


    reinforcements with minimal interference. Two groups of sixser users each trapped the in a pincer attack, and though the


    manbear moved swifter than lightning, he couldn’t outrun light. The doppelgangers gave him no breathing room and pushed him


    back against the Orange World portal, slowly, but certainly...


    By now, the dead released so many blue Flux particles that the whole room looked like a Smurf party.


    “Riri, behind you!” Len shouted just as time resumed, the courier noticing two Evas raising a rifle with a two-meter wide barrel at


    him. He barely had the time to dodge to the side to avoid a Green Flux st, which ended up turning the metal walls into wood


    upon impact.


    “Oh, an eco-responsible weapon!” Ryan said, as Len beheaded the clones with a stream of pressurized water. Shortie moved to


    cover him, while he engaged the nearest doubles in melee. “I want one!”


    If only they weren''t trying to exterminate thest the Evas might have been trueeers.


    His other allies didn’t fare any better. Some clones could see Shroud even while he turned invisible, and forced him to stay on


    the defensive by raising ss barriers to stop projectile volleys. Sarin’s shockwaves overpowered shield-users, but her power


    armor had cracks here and there. Only Leo Hargraves pushed the clones back rather than otherwise, bombarding them with


    blinding, fiery sts.


    Sarin’s repeated shockwaves ended up structurally damaging the room, and a good fourth of the floor copsed to reveal a ck


    sea of alien machinery and energy cables below the metal panels. Sunshine raised an advancing wall of mes, trapping


    hundreds of Evas between his fire and the floor’s hole.


    In response, a clone threw a round silver device at Leo Hargraves. The Living Sun quickly melted it in midair, but his action


    caused the device to unleash a six-meters wide wave of immacte energy.


    The white pulse destroyed any doppelganger it touched, and more worrying, instantly reverted Sunshine to his human form. The


    Carnival’s leader fell down and would have died hitting the floor below, if Mr. Wave hadn''t disengaged from his assault on the


    forceshield to catch his ally in time. Shroud immediately raised barriers after barriers of ss to protect his teammates, but this


    only allowed the clones to surround the trio, their focusedsers slowly melting the defenses.


    Worse, the orange portal in the room flickered, and the same cubic monster fromst time started crossing through; perhaps the


    chaos in the room had caught its attention. In any case, the was the closest to the rift when the creature stepped through, and it


    summarily kicked the bear out of the way. Clones tried to repel the Orange World creature with a projectile volley, but only


    managed to halt its arrival.


    This was getting nowhere.


    “The real one is not here!” Ryan shouted through his armor’s loudspeakers, pointing a hand at the gates. He had moved no more


    than a few meters away from it with judicious applications of his power, but the shield-users still barred the way. “She’s behind


    these doors!”


    He doubted that any of his teammates heard him except for Shortie, until Sarin’s voice echoed over the melee. “Move out of the


    way, nerd!”


    Ryan activated his armor’s jetpack and flew away, as a mighty shockwave pulverized the clone regiment guarding the gates,


    short-circuiting their shields and vaporizing the wielders. However, the st failed to affect the doors themselves, with no crack


    appearing on their blue surface. Still, it allowed the courier and Len to reach the gates.


    Then the firing stopped.


    Ryan peeked over his shoulder, watching as a crimson and orange shape emerged from the hole Sarin made in the ground. A


    monstrous reptile in advanced power armor, whose very sight caused the unfazed Eva clones to freeze in terror.


    E.T.''s little brother hade, and brought its nephews.


    A dozen alien soldiers emerged from the holes gargling and roaring. Most were carbon copies of the creature Ryan’s group


    defeated earlier, but one of them was twice the normal size, a horned horror with nine eyes and great draconic wings.


    Aspecies instinct that never truly died awakened, as the humans in the room briefly stopped their battle to focus on the outside


    threat. The Eva clones pointed their weapons at the neers, while Sunshine managed to transform back into a fiery sun and


    bathed the alien vanguard with searing mes.


    The extraterrestrial creatures responded by teleporting around the room, tearing through Eva’s doppelgangers with ws and


    beams. The winged alien instead chased after Sunshine, while an E.T. turned its armor into adamantine and attempted to tear


    the apart. Another soldier noticed Ryan and Len, but was forced to deal with a group of Evas before it could give pursuit.


    If one of these aliens had been a match for his entire team, a whole group of them would tear through any opposition. Ryan’s


    group and the Alchemist could resist for a while, maybe even win, but if more of these critters arrived...


    Well, Ryan was in no hurry to reload now.


    Mr. Wave, who had raced across the room to get the to safety behind Shroud’s ss barrier, briefly stopped at Ryan and Len’s


    side. “Mr. Wave and co will hold them off,” the genome said, as an alien soldier roared at them. “Go get them, tiger!”


    “You''re sure?” Len asked, worried. She understood that they would only buy minutes.


    “Mr. Wave has never been happier!” The livingser raised a thumb up. “He can kill them more than once!”


    Ryan didn’t find any fault with that logic, and answered with a thumb up of his own. Mr. Wave immediately tackled the


    approaching alien soldier head on, sending it flying backward, before reinforcing Sarin. The lively Psycho used shockwaves to


    push the concrete Orange monster back through the rift.


    “Can you hack through these gates?” Ryan asked Shortie.


    “Give me a minu—" Len didn’t finish her sentence, as the blue gate reacted the moment she touched it. It slid open in a blink,


    granting the duo entrance.


    The truce ended right there, as the remaining Evas attempted to stop Ryan from reaching the door with a volley of projectiles.


    But he froze time, grabbed Shortie, and moved into the next room while dodgingsers. The gates immediately closed behind


    him when time resumed, isting them from the chaos outside; the courier could barely see a glimpse of Sunshine engaging in


    an aerial duel with the alien dragon before the separation.


    The room Ryan and Len had walked into was clearly the starship’smand center, and reminded the courier of Mechron’s


    mainframe. A colossal biomechanical brain pulsated in the middle of a ss pir, hooked to a dome of nervelike cables by


    biomechanical circuits.


    The duo found the real Eva Fabre connected to the machinery.


    Though age had wrinkled her face and turned her ck hair white, Ryan recognized her facial features. A human head was all


    she had left though. A hideous biomechanical body supported her skull, a grotesque parody of a human skeleton with elongated


    arms, life-support systems, and artificial organs pulsating in an iron ribcage.


    Here Asshole-Prime stood, with her eyes closed. Cables linked her head to the ss tank and the giant brain within, much like


    how Alchemo’s technology allowed him to experience captured minds’ memories. Ryan noticed other strange tendrils hanging


    from the ss tank, probably to allow multiple people to connect to the machinery.


    “She''s... sleeping?” Len asked, as the Alchemist made no attempt to stop their approach. She remained in the thrall of a deep,


    peaceful slumber. Ryan guessed that the body modifications enhanced her control over the alien technology; much like Alchemo,


    she had cast out everything getting in the way of pure processing power.


    Eva Fabre had embedded herself into the starship’s mainframe, like a tick on a cow''s hide. Soaking herself in its technology,


    knowledge, and power, never interacting with the world outside except through the safety of a screen. She lived in a snowglobe,


    sheltered from all consequences.


    “Damn it, this is Monaco all over again,” Ryan said. He wondered how much the technology had affected her, though. Ryan


    suspected that hooking oneself up to an imperialistic civilization''s brain hadn''t improved her sanity.


    “Do we...” Len pointed her weapons at the Alchemist’s head, hesitating.


    Eva Fabre’s eyelids opened.


    The eyes were gone too, reced with ck cameras. They nced at the two Genomes, as soulless as anything else in this


    cold, artificial ce.


    “| dreamed too long,” the Alchemist said, her voice nothing more than a soft rattle. Her artificial organs red with red light, a thin


    layer of crimson energy forming over her head and body. “I dreamed of you invaders, stepping into my metal veins and


    spreading your rot.”


    She moved her hand to grab Len, with Ryan responding by freezing time and shooting the H. R. Giger nightmare in the face with


    his chest weapon.


    But not only did the biomechanical monstrosity keep moving in the frozen time, but his gravity bullet also bounced off her ck


    armor.


    “Your time anomaly is powerful, Quicksave, but nothing unexpecte—’ The Alchemist froze while her metal fingers were within an


    inch of Shortie’s head, for she had suddenly noticed the ck particles and Purple Flux phantom next to Ryan himself. “ck


    Flux?”


    Ryan exploited her confusion to end his time-stop, allowing Shortie to realize the danger and back away. The Alchemist’s metal


    hand smashed the floor, striking with enough strength to cause a small quake.


    “Guess you don’t know everything about us,” Ryan said, as he opened fire again, Shortie assisting him with torpedoes and


    pressurized water.


    “No matter what you do, my progress will not be stopped.” The Alchemist red at the duo, none of their attacks bypassing her


    energy shield. “Why are you fighting me, my children? | created you, forged into gods. You should be fighting the aliens outside,


    not your maker.”


    Shortie’s response was short and to the point. “You killed billions.”


    “What happens outside these walls means nothing,” the Alchemist replied, her eyes ring blue. Immediately, a dozen Eva Fabre


    clones materialized around her, each carrying either a rifle or a submachine gun. “With this ship, | can restart life anytime | wish.


    Only the data matters.”


    The Alchemist should have been at least sixty years old, and Ryan could tell time inside this pocket dimension behaved


    abnormally. Yet the clones looked no older than thirty. All were humans, instead of a biomechanical horror like their master.


    Ryan quickly formed a theory.


    Eva Fabre’s doubles remained the same, because she hadn''t aged inside.


    Ryan and Len quickly dispersed as the clones opened fire, while the original remained immobile, her head still hooked to the


    central brain. The courier’s armor sent rm signals, as it noticed streams of foreign data invading the weapon systems.


    Damn, Asshole-Prime was trying to hack into his suit!


    “So, you think you can improve the welfare of mankind by sacrificing the old one to make your new, improved version?” Ryan


    asked, attempting to destroy the clones only to realize his chest weapon had stopped working. She clearly cared more about the


    idea of humanity than its actual people, that was for certain. “Have you heard of human rights?”


    “| have seen other worlds beyond this dimension,” the Alchemist rasped haughtily. “In one of them, the nations of the world were


    laid low by a flu. No disease will ever ravage Genomes, nor will invaders from other worlds. You will not interfere with the march


    of progress.”


    “Who elected you?” Ryan replied, freezing time for a second to smash some clones, then backing away to avoid a punch from


    the original. “| was democratically chosen by the plushie majority, gave universal healthcare to my Psycho followers, and fought


    bravely against the red tide threatening our way of life! What did you do?”


    “Governments are for those who cannot lead,” the original Eva Fabre replied, summoning more reinforcements even while Len


    struggled to keep them at a manageable number. Half a dozen clones turned into twenty, and these started making copies too.


    “Most humans live a short-sighted existence, caring for nothing more than their own personalfort. They do not have the


    courage to make the necessary decisions.”


    “And who do you lead, clones of yourself?” Ryan asked with a snort, rushing towards the biomechanical brain’s tank. “You’ve


    never led anyone in your life! You offered no guidance, raised no nation, inspired no follower! You wrecked the old world, and


    then you hid among the penguins instead of helping us get back on our feet! Hell, I’m sure you killed everyone at your old


    workce when you couldn’t convince them to join you!”


    It was an borate guess based on what he had learned from Bhus, but the abomination’s eyes red with annoyance. Ryan


    had struck a nerve. "You did," he said.


    “They couldn''t understand,” Asshole-Prime replied dismissively, while some of her clones nodded in agreement.


    “Neither do you.” Or else she wouldn’t be trying to kill him in the first ce. Eva Fabre didn’t understand Ryan’s true ability, nor of


    all the possibilities where the likes of Bloodstream ravaged the Earth. Her supposed omniscience had holes.


    Pushing past doubles, and ignoring his armor’s rms as the firewalls copsed one after the other, Ryan grabbed one of the


    neutral tendrils hanging from the ss tank. “Like for example, could you tell me what would happen if | tried to connect to that


    big brain of yours?”


    “You cannot,” Asshole-Prime replied, while raising a hand to grab him. “You are a Violet. Only Blues can pilot this ship. Even your


    friend is too weak. The overmind will overwhelm her.”


    “| wasn’t thinking of piloting this ship.”


    And with that, Ryan froze time, ck Flux flying out of his armor.


    The Alchemist could only blink in horror, as ck particles touched the alien tendril... and infected their way into the ss tank.


    “You fool!” Her giant hand moved to swipe him aside, and when Ryan attempted to jump away, his armor refused to move; she


    had hacked the motors.


    Time resumed just as her fist hit him. Ryan heard the armor’s tes crack under the strain of the blow, and flew across the room


    like a wingless bird. He hit the blue door in a catastrophic crash, before falling on his chest, unable to move an inch.


    But it changed nothing.


    The ck taint spread through the biomechanical brain, rotting parts of its neurons.


    “Stop this!” The Alchemist’s eyes shone with a blue hue, her biomechanical hand moving to the sides of her head, but she


    couldn’t halt the copse. Her clones stopped attacking Len to rush at the brain, but the damage was already done. “Stop!”


    “Say pretty please,” Ryan replied, unable to move his armor. Shortie, who still could take a step, moved in front of her best friend


    to protect him.


    “If you do not stop, you will destroy the Elixir factory, thebs, all our back-ups!” Eva Fabre screamed, her voice turning deeper


    like a broken machine. The clones echoed her screams, copsing into nothingness. “This ship holds eons of umted


    knowledge, wisdom, and technology! | have barely explored half of it, and what | discovered... cloning, mind-transfer, unlimited


    energy sources... immortality! You will send mankind back by thousands of years!”


    Ryan shrugged. “I couldn''t stop this, even if | wanted to.”


    “You must!” The Alchemist punched the ss tank with her giant hands, perhaps trying to manually remove the ck infection.


    But even her phenomenal strength couldn’t bypass the overmind’s shield. Half the biomechanical brain had darkened, consumed


    by otherworldly darkness. “Or the glorious future | have seen for our race will nevere to pass!”


    “Perhaps,” Ryan admitted. “But at least you won''t be in charge of it.”


    As the brain turned ck, so did the room. The lights darkened, while rifts in the fabric of space spread. An army of ck holes


    opened all across the ship''s chamber, consuming the metal doors, the ss tank, the floor...


    “Riri, what did you do?” Len panicked, while the Alchemist hastily removed the cables linking her to the mainframe in a desperate


    attempt to escape the infection.


    “This ce is thin enough to create portals to other colored realms,” the courier exined.


    A ck rift opened where the biomechanical brain used to be, tearing it apart.


    “So | called for help.”


    And something peeked through the portal.


    To Ryan, it seemed as if a ck wave erupted from the rift to devour all of reality. The darkness consumed a screaming Eva


    Fabre, tearing through her energy shield and swallowing her whole. The walls turned to dust around the courier, the ckness


    spreading through the ship. Ryan caught a glimpse of an alien pointing its gun at an unconscious Panda’s face, only to freeze in


    horror as the ck tidal wave approached. The light of Leo Hargraves shone briefly in the dark, only to disappear too.


    Ryan lost sight of Shortie, as the darkness separated them. An alien cold entered his armor, yet it was neither chilling nor


    ufortable.


    The courier floated alone in a lightless void, like a fish returning home.


    “Darkling?” Ryan called out to the darkness. “Darkling? Anyone?”Content is ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    The void answered.


    m... here.”


    An alien shape floated to his side, it was geometric chaos that gave Ryan a headache simply to gaze at it. Triangles turning into


    cubes, feathers of steel, and bones dancing.


    “| love your new look,” the courier greeted his old friend.


    “Thank... you.”


    “Are my friends—"


    “Safe... outside.”


    A tunnel of light appeared not so far from the time-traveler’s location. The courier watched the frozen expanse of Antarctica


    beyond the portal, with Shortie, the all hispanions lying unconscious on the ground; Stitch and Atom Kitten, who had waited


    outside the anomaly, immediately rushed to their help. Only Sunshine remained unaffected, standing still and watching back


    through the tunnel.


    Could he see the ck World beyond?


    Ryan also noticed colored sparks in the darkness. Blue puddles and red stars, orange slimes, and greenish goo swirling away


    into nothing. They swirled around a colossal ck hole entity, like children led by a parent.


    “Are these the ship’s Elixirs?” Ryan asked.


    The strange entity changed its shape slightly, ttening. Ryan took it for a nod. “The Ultimate One will return the captives


    home... and this starship will disappear... from your timeline. When you turn back time... the rest of your dimension will not be


    impacted, but this ce... it will be gone.”


    “And the Alchemist? The reptilians?”


    The entity took a shape simr to a red line of jagged, inhuman teeth.


    Ryan had never seen a smile more terrifying.


    “| do not want to know?” The courier asked innocently.


    “No... you do not,” Darkling replied, before taking a less horrifying, but all too confusing shape. “But they will not trouble you...


    ever again.”


    The wording sent a chill down Ryan’s spine.


    “This Alchemist was not wrong in one aspect,” Darkling said. “Ascension is a right granted to all living things... but it cannot be


    forced. Wisdomes with time... and you humans are so very young.”


    “Will you be there for my nine hundredth birthday?” Ryan joked.


    “Maybe...” Darkling sounded vaguely amused. Aw, he could get Ryan’s jokes now! “One day your kind might stand at the side of


    the Ultimate Ones... until then, we Elixirs will remain among you, and your descendants. When you decide to aim for the stars,


    and venture forth into the unknown... we will walk with you. Always.”


    “You know, once | came to this ce to die, but...” Ryan smiled behind his helmet. “Now | hope to live long enough to see


    mankind explore the universe.”


    Darkling’s shape changed into a sphere of light. “You have... something to live for now.”


    Yes.


    Yes, he did.


    “| should go back,” Ryan said. If he trusted his experience, staying too long in the ck World might permanently change him.


    “But before | go, | have a question.”


    “Ask...”


    “Is my ck power getting stronger?”


    “ck consumes... A paradox is... self-reinforcing... each reality you consume... each color you devour... increases your power.


    You asked for an end to what cannot die... and the more you destroy what should never die... ck’s logic... bes your


    reality’s logic.” Darkling remained silent an instant, before offering a warning. “Beware... ck is anathema to thews that bind


    you into a man’s shape... if you are not careful... it will consume you too.”


    Ryan’s thoughts turned to the Alchemist, and how the ck Flux had consumed her alien technology. Yes, he would rather avoid


    seeing his armor painted ck. “I will keep it in mind.”


    “There are still obstacles for you to ovee, but... | think you are ready. The pieces are set...” Darkling floated away. “I will be


    watching you... my friend.”


    “You don’t wish me luck?” Ryan asked, as the portal grew closer to him.


    “What use is there for luck... for a man like you?”


    Somehow, even if it came from an alien creature... Darkling managed to make these words sound warm and encouraging.


    Ryan floated through the portal, and an instantter crashed on icy ground.


    “Finally,” the courier heard Felix say, as his favorite kitty rushed to his side. “I thought you were a goner.”


    “I''m a tougher mouse than that, kitten.” With the Alchemist gone, Ryan’s armor worked again, and he managed to move his head


    around. Stitch was already tending to the wounded, but everyone seemed to have made it to the other side. Sarin’s armor had


    cracked in some spots, and more tragically, Mr. Wave''s clothes had holes in them.


    And Leo Hargraves floated above them all, thoughtfully looking at the horizon.


    “You went there too once,” Ryan guessed.


    “Years ago,” Sunshine replied, descending down to earth. “I was afraid of the dark back then. Of the unknown. | thought | almost


    died inside that ce, but now... now | wonder.”


    Ryan would be happy to exchange tales around a coffee. Felix helped the courier back to his feet, the armored time-traveler


    ncing at the frozen rift where hest opened a portal to the Alchemist’sir. His Resonator had be inactive, the rift


    closed.


    Of the Alchemist’sir and dream, nothing remained.


    Nothing but memories.