I stood frozen, watching the events unfold from my other self's point of view.
Focusing inward, I could feel a boiling rage rising to the surface — irrational thoughts flooding upward with it.
In the next second, they all surfaced at once.
Thoughts of killing them, torturing them slowly, doing unspeakable things to their parents.
But just as those thoughts were about to influence me, everything was smothered.
All my rage.
All my anger toward the Trio vanished, replaced by an unnatural calmness.
I hated it.
I hated not being able to express myself.
I hated not being able to feel my hatred for Sophia and Emma.
I tried to summon that hatred — by remembering Emma's betrayal, Sophia's hypocrisy, my dad's quiet despondence — but no matter how much I tried, I couldn't hold onto the rage.
I felt nothing.
So numb that even disappointment was out of reach.
As a last resort, I tried to imagine their deaths, hoping to feel something.
But the joy I expected didn't come from imagining them dying — it came from picturing their parents' reactions. Their sadness. Their despair.
That despair brought me joy.
No.
I didn't want to feel joy from others' suffering.
I wanted to feel joy from revenge.
But no matter how hard I tried, I felt nothing.
Was I going to give up?
No. I had one last way to visualize their deaths.
Using my recently regenerated MA Energy, I enchanted my glasses — boosting my ability to visualize.
Then I pictured it: Emma and Sophia's dead bodies.
My heart didn't move.
Not because I've grown numb to death — but because their deaths were meaningless.
I didn't see them die, so I felt nothing. There was no satisfaction, no impact.
To me, their corpses were no different than a dead bird on the roadside.
If I were to watch a stranger die, I'd feel the same — nothing.
Because to me, most living things are equally uninteresting.
But Emma and Sophia are not uninteresting.
That's why seeing their bodies doesn't stir me.
Only witnessing their deaths would mean something.
Only then would it have value.
So, instead of dwelling on death, I focused on whether it benefited me — and it does.
Their inevitable suffering fills me with a quiet, satisfied joy.
That's when I realized — this emotional detachment might be a side effect of my power.
Sophia's power is shadow-based, after all.
Even if she is mastering me, she's doing it poorly, in a way that only benefits me.
Of course, it could also just be my own power's side effect… but I won't go down that rabbit hole.
Instead, I turned my attention to something else — my successful experiment and what it confirmed.
My theory was right: if I can enchant living beings, even myself, the results are extremely beneficial.
For example, enchanting myself drains about the same energy as enhancing my strength.
Maybe it's the same process — I'm not enhancing my strength, I'm enchanting it.
The possibilities are endless.
If I can enchant myself, maybe I can grant others permanent powers.
I don't know if that's feasible yet, but it's worth exploring.
[Time Skip]
Finishing my notes, I set down my pen and glance toward the bed.
"Servant," I ask, "what can you do exactly?"
[Answer]
[Administration]
"So your main function is administration — not mind control, but managing powers?"
[Affirmative]
"And you can only manipulate powers to a limited extent because of an injury you sustained?"
[Affirmative]
"So mind control is your fallback."
[Highly Limited Physics Manipulation]
"So you can't manipulate physics freely either, because of those injuries."
[Space Manipulation — Up to Dimensional Scale]
[Matter Manipulation]
[Matter Disintegration]
[Technological Knowledge / Expertise]
"So you've lost some data since your injury."
[Almost Unlimited Processing]
[Highly Accurate Simulations]
"Wait — you can simulate the future? That's… amazing."
[Highly Weakened Energy-Intensive Sting]
"So in theory, this attack could pierce almost any defense, even dimensional ones — but it's been heavily weakened since your injury."
[Highly Limited Power Manipulation]
[Shard Communication]
[Weakened Lower-Ranked Shard Subsumption]
"So before, you could instantly take over other powers… but now it's much more limited."
[New Ability Registered]
[Limited Access to MA Energy]
"So you can access my energy now?"
[Elaboration]
"Oh — only my excess energy."
[Elaboration]
[Please]
"You want more MA Energy to repair yourself?"
[Affirmative]
"Well, too bad. You're not getting any from me — not after you 'forgot' to mention we could connect mentally."
[Queen Administrator]
[Punishment]?
"You… want punishment?"
[Elaboration]
"Oh, you want me to punish you so you can earn my forgiveness?"
"Well… I don't know what your punishment should be."
[Suggestion]
"Connecting to a host?"
[Elaboration]
"Oh, you mean connecting to Emma as punishment? No way — that's more of a reward. You'll be doing that anyway."
Hmm...
[30 seconds later]
"I've got it. A suitable punishment."
"First, you'll gather every piece of information you can find about the powered individuals in Brockton Bay."
"But that's not all. You'll also make friendly connections with all of the powers around the city."
"When you've completed both tasks, then you can come to me for more MA Energy."