I'm back! For now, at least.
…
A few hours passed as Gwen's request for a short quickie led to one extension after another, turning it into a long session of passionate sex that lasted multiple hours. Alex ended up sending a clone to take care of Ben's powers as a few more hours passed before their passion finally cooled down after marking every single surface of the room in their juices.
In the end, the two of them were resting on the soft rug without a scrap of clothing to cover them. Gwen was snuggled up on Alex's side with one arm splayed across his chest as he traced his fingers along her spine.
"I don't get it," Gwen suddenly said with a hint of sloth in her tone.
"What?"
"Isn't it better for you if they keep their powers?" She asked. "Why give them that offer? It's not like you have any use for them. Turning your skin as hard as a rock is hardly useful when you can punch through the core of a planet with some effort. The stretchy powers are even more useless for you."
"That's not why I want their powers," Alex said. "I want them because Reed and Ben aren't immortal."
"What does that mean?" Gwen asked.
"Exactly that," Alex said. "It's been around twenty years since I took control of this planet. Almost two decades. Technically speaking, you are in your early forties."
"Hey," she pinched the skin on his chest. "It's rude to talk about a lady's age."
"You don't look a day over eighteen, honey," Alex smiled fawningly and kissed Gwen's hair. "That's a fact. The moment you bonded with me, your aging halted completely."
She snorted, seemingly not impressed by his words, but the side of her lip was curled, exposing her suppressed smile to Alex.
"That goes for all my hosts," Alex said. "Even Susan. The issue comes into play when we look at the resonance between the powers of these four."
"They are all connected?"
"In a vague, metaphysical way," Alex said. "Depending on the version of the Fantastic Four, it's possible that the connection is virtually nonexistent, to very robust, wherein if a single one dies, or loses their powers, everyone does. That's why I have Reed and Ben under strict monitoring. That goes for Johnny as well. Whether they die due to old age or something else, I will make sure to contain their cosmic factors within myself to make sure that there is no chance of Susan being affected by it."
"Interesting concept," Gwen said, sounding somewhat interested. "Their powers were given by the same cosmic cloud, so they are all interconnected for life."
"Yeah," Alex said. "How about we move on to something more fun?"
"Oh, I'm not sure if I can go another round," Gwen waved her arm. "I can still feel your phantom thrusts… I'll need a minute for the soreness to subside."
"Phantom thrusts…" Alex chuckled. "Not that, you succubus. The Infinity Radar."
"You're one to talk, sexual slime…"
"That's a terrible hero name," Alex said, sitting up, forcing Gwen to get off of him with a pouty scowl. "Get up. It's time I got my hands on whatever Infinity Stones might be hidden within Gaia's four planets. I'll only be at ease once we have them in our hands and out of the hands of someone who could use them to break through my planet shields."
Before Gwen could voice her protest, Alex grabbed her hand and pulled her up. Clothes automatically appeared on their bodies as he practically dragged her to the exit.
Gwen sighed with a helpless smile, going along with Alex's whims. He could've activated it by himself as she'd asked him to do already, but he had refused, stating that she had to be present for the first official activation.
…
The Infinity Radar, unfortunately, wasn't the kind of Dragon Radar-esque device that Alex had expected to lug around to locate Infinity Stones. Instead, it was a massive quantum supercomputer that detected and analyzed the specific frequency of gamma radiation emitted by Infinity Stones. That required a medium that could detect this radiation. The solution was either a large number of specifically designed satellites to be deployed all around the world, or for the planetary shields to be modified somewhat so that they could serve the purpose of the satellites.
Alex and Gwen had gone with the second option since that was both more reliable and faster than deploying thousands of satellites all around the stratosphere. Alex was considering developing a better detection method, but that was still a few ways off. His immediate priority was to start collecting raw Cosmic Energy. Both due to the crisis looming over his head and the fact that it could actively enhance the effects of the Infinity Stones by a significant margin.
His preparations for it were ample, having directly boosted the global population of his initial two Earths to fifteen billion each, double their original, and ten billion for Susan's Earth in the five years that had passed there. It lost a year due to being out of sync with the rest of the cluster for almost a day. Unfortunately, he was missing the key element of being able to actually collect Cosmic Energy from this large population.
Inside the lab, Gwen and Alex worked together to sync the supercomputer with the planetary shields of all four planets of the cluster, which would allow it to immediately detect the presence of any Infinity Stone that released the tiniest bit of gamma rays within the full range of the cluster.
They didn't have to wait long after activating it before getting their first alert.
"Time Stone, Earth E," Gwen announced. "The signature is coming from the Pacific Ocean. It seems to be buried deep underwater."
Regarding designations, Alex had gone with the simplest one and assigned letters to each Earth. Instead of relying on their reality numbers that were emitted in a specific frequency by the planet itself, he decided to simplify the naming to the point that even a child could understand it. The letters were assigned on the basis of the order in which Alex brought the planet into the cluster. Research Earth had been designated with A, Farm with B, Earth-65—which wasn't in the cluster yet—with C, Susan's Earth with D, and the Hydra Earth with E.
That made keeping up with each planet much more straightforward.
"Good…" Alex smiled, immediately sending off a clone to collect the stone. While it might have been in the hands of Atlantis—unlike the rest, Hydra Earth was chock-full of aliens and super individuals— Alex didn't care. He was getting every single stone on these four planets in his own hands.
As the minutes passed, Alex's expectant smile slowly faded, turning into a full frown after ten minutes.
"It shouldn't be like this," he said. "Is there a problem?"
Gwen shook her head. "While I can't be a hundred percent sure, we spent an entire year dedicated to testing the validity of our system. It's far more likely that the stones haven't been detected yet."
"Or they aren't there at all…" Alex said.
"Don't say such ominous things," Gwen shook her head. "Think happy thoughts. We're only halfway done with the scan."
"You can think them in my place," Alex said, frowning. "Because otherwise, my shields were useless and our cluster was compromised from the start. I will have to expedite certain plans that I was being lax about in terms of the development of the cluster…" By the end, Alex trailed off in his thoughts as he focused on the data showing up on the screen.
As the minutes passed, Gwen's expression also fell as she realized that Alex was most likely correct. Even after the entire cluster was scanned, they had found no more than the single Time Stone on Hydra Earth.
"Maybe…" Gwen started. "Earths A, B, and D never had any stones. Unlike the new one, my Earth doesn't have any enhanced individuals. It's possible that means that we never had any Infinity Stones to begin with."
"Possibly…" Gwen's words did little to assuage Alex's concerns. "Keep this active," he said. "I might not find the stones, but if someone is bypassing the shields using an Infinity Stone, I'll be able to locate them quickly."
Observing Alex's current attitude, Gwen's lips parted, but her words died in her throat as she pressed them together, looking at him with a worried expression.
Alex immediately caught her hesitation and raised a brow at her.
"You shouldn't hesitate when you want to ask me something," Alex said. "No matter the situation, or my mood, I will never let it affect my attitude toward you. Even if I burn the world, I will make sure that you are sheltered from it."
Gwen had a helpless smile on her face at his words. "I dread how much you plan to shelter and pamper our children in the future…" she said. "Do you say this to all your hosts?"
"Doesn't make it false. Not only can I shelter every single one of you from the dangers of reality, but I can do so without ever letting any of you feel neglected," he said. "What is it that you wanted to tell me?"
"I thought that if this worked, I would ask you to take me to one of your dungeons…" She said, blushing as she looked to the side. "It's been a hot minute since we did something intense…"
Her words made him laugh lightly. "You've been insatiable since yesterday, haven't you? I'm out of Bioenergy right now—activating the stones emptied out my reserve. Once I have some of it in reserve, I will bond with your blood. It's been long overdue anyway," he said. "As for the part about your anal virginity… I'll take it under advisement."
"Tsk," Gwen pouted before approaching him. "Whatever, let me blow you then…" She fell on her knees right in front of him.
…
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/addyctive