Unity by Carl Stubblefield (epub read online books TXT) 📕

man shouted, pointing directly at Darik. Three other supers blinked as if coming out of a trance. “He’s avoided orientation; look at his name. No purple diamond by it.”

“I know this piece of trash. Time to teach you a lesson, midget,” a voice taunted from behind the others.

Darik rolled his eyes. He recognized that voice.

Not now.

Chapter Seventy-One

The Beginning of the End

Finally things were coming into fruition. The groundwork he had meticulously laid was finally reaching the tipping point.

It had taken a lot of work, creating alliances and working with lesser minds, but he was getting closer to finally moving ahead with his plans. Not that it wasn’t fascinating fun along the way, but this would open up so many new avenues. Mysteries that humanity had wrestled with would now be able to be unraveled and woven to fit the patterns of his design.

So many intricate shapes, all coalescing into a majestic mosaic on such a scale that only the gods would be able to perceive it. He would surpass the barriers imposed by mere humanity and become something greater than them all.

Mengele pulled the animal out of its glass case, admiring his handiwork. A perfect blending of his design. To all appearances, it was an adorable miniature bear, the size of a small domestic cat. In actuality, it was a triumph of his skills in spatial manipulation and recombinant DNA wizardry. He pet the coarse fur of the surly animal who struggled in his grasp but could not twist enough to bite the hand that held it. It was for the best. The animal would only hurt itself in the attempt.

Sharp claws extended but could not penetrate the dense material that formed Mengele’s suit. Many mistook the material to be merely his skin, black as basalt and equally as hard. In actuality, the suit had incalculable layers of material, pressed in upon itself, creating a substance harder than diamond. Any pressure exerted on the outer surface would be absorbed by layers and folds as he bent reality back and forth upon itself. It allowed him to operate without any fear of contamination as well, saving the time needed to scrub in.

There were still many preparations to make but this phase was almost complete. He would change this reality to one of his own design, correcting that which he saw as aberrations and creating or importing what the design required. The others objected to even the smallest part of his plan that he dared to share, concerned about how everything would interact if he altered the ecosystem. There may be things that needed to be refined and perfected. But they would bend to his will. Everything did eventually, no matter how resilient.

Mengele played with a section of the Nun, folding it and shaping it in a hand. The others insisted on calling it ether, but the ancients had it right. This was the substance of creation. He had mastered its manipulation long ago, and had moved on to working and fashioning its counterparts.

His research with Mr. Sterling had yielded so many interesting results. While most supers could wield Nun, they knew next to nothing about Ka and how it, too, could be manipulated and moved, bent and fashioned, if one knew how. It took finesse, though. Unlike Nun, it had a strong affinity for what form it wanted to take, and would resist if crudely managed.

The Ba aspect would take over and stubbornly resist change, insisting on retaining its unique character. You couldn’t force Ka into what you wanted, you had to convince it to adopt the form you wanted. And if there was anything he was good at, it was manipulation. In every sense of the word. Even those who he had condescended to serve would eventually be under his influence—and they would never know he had planned it all along.

He just needed the data from Thoth to finalize his calculations. Mengele had learned to be precise with his measurements. Mastery demanded it. Especially in the weighty matters of the soul, he thought, chuckling to himself. After years of planning, things were sliding into place. Each piece was carved obsessively to specification and polished. Then set aside until the right time. Now he was ready to slide another into its proper place.

Thoth was in his debt now, after he had provided consistent subjects for his own research. Especially those valuable ones that allowed him to finish his own pet projects. Thoth could have his imaginary worlds. Mengele had set his sights higher. Reality and beyond.

An alarm on his display caught his attention. He replaced the bear in its case and stepped out of the adjoining lab into the operatory. Gus had already rebounded, at an even more accelerated rate than before. He made some adjustments to the timing intervals, shortening it again. That was the fourth time. Just when he thought he had everything figured out, this subject kept providing more riddles to unravel.

His hands made a rasping noise as he rubbed them together. Time to begin again.

“Why?” Gus wheezed as Mengele readied himself, straightening instruments and raising the tray to just the right level.

“Why what? Why you?” When Gus only glared defiantly, he continued. “I am not sure why you are the way you are. It’s like being able to dissect a dinosaur or something once thought extinct. You are different. Why? That will take some time to determine. In a way, your uniqueness makes you valuable to me. But it also sets you apart.

“I will admit—I continue to be impressed that you decided to take me on alone. It was ignorant and foolish, but… refreshing. I have never understood why so many people rely on others for so much of their daily lives. To the point where they won’t even do something they want without someone accompanying them.

“Have you ever been like them? Not going to something as mundane as a movie unless someone would go with you? Just so they can sit