*Alex Breckton POV*
*Location: Underground Lab, Alaska*
*Date: January 27th, 1992*
"Are the Knigtmares repaired and ready to be...shown off to our potential military investors?" I groaned a little, saying that little tidbit, 'shown off' like they were dogs at the dog show, or something similiar. They weren't genetically modified beast humans have toyed around with for centuries to be shown off; they were death machines ready for combat and slaughter if ordered to do so.
"Yes, sir, I have also sent Michael to begin preparations for the demonstration, making offers both to the private and public sectors, with the proof behind the weapons functionality and building process."
"Minus the ability to mass-produce Sakuradite, and I have also made sure to send out a few of our more...sneaky works to see if any of the others have made similiar offers." She said, whilst checking a few things off her clipboard, all the while I was drawing the future blueprints for our first EVA unit, which, while not as mass-producible, would still make an excellent weapon.
Right now, there are a few things wrong that I can already see compared to the Knghtmares, the fuel source being one of them. Right now, it would need to be connected to a charge cable or something similar to keep fighting, which could be countered by the Sakuradite and the batteries that fuel my Knightmares. Even then, these wouldn't be purely machine-based beings, but rather a mix of lab-grown genetically modified humanoid beings and machines.
In fact, I had already begun modifying the battery packs, making sure that evne if it did take a lot of power, it would last far longer than one or a couple of minutes. Sure, the power cable ensures it can fight without worry, but that woudl also limit it to only frontal assaults and force it more on the defensive rather than fully engaging in a fight.
Still, it wouldn't hurt to have them built just in case, the blueprints would take a while to truly modify, and even then require extensive testing.
"Speaking of which, have we heard any news, public or private, on what all three are doing right now, alongside any possible sightings of my duplicates?" I asked Nova as I began to erase certain parts of the design, beginning the modification process.
"I do believe we have found two possible leads, one being the formation of a new company, called....Vought, which I believe is a reference to teh show from your previous world you have told me about, and to look out for, and tells us the kind of products they may be producing in the future." She said as she flipped to the back pages, looking through more of her notes.
"The second one, we have something for, but I am unsure if this is truly one of your duplicates or simply a coincidence." She said and stopped as if she was awaiting my permission to contiune.
"Please contiune, regardless of what you think, I am paying attention." Which I said as I continued the modification process.
"The problem isn't with the name, sir, as they call themselves Helios Inc, but rather with the technology itself, as they seem to be mostly based on spatial exploration instead, for some odd reason."
"The technology itself seems to be based on...Star Wars, and seems to be mostly building small-scale ships for right now rather than the large-scale ones seen in the films and series." She said as she let out an audible gulp for some strange reason, as I had an idea of where this was going. "Neither seems to display the more...negative tendencies for one who would be against you and your interest or outright evil as you would think."
Meaning that perhaps either A that particular one was playing the long con, gettign the public's trust to discredit me and paint me as a villainous target. Get me to instead use my technology for villainous activities, or flee the United States to another country and try to start me buisness there, and divert one of the major superpowers in the world toward them instead.
Which was a smart tactic, as they would be able to manipulate the public's perception and downgrade my own potential. Force me to fight on the defensive if needed, or force me to flee and have to spend a lot of time trying to regain public trust, and renovate another base to suit my operations. Which is why I am hoping this is not the scenario, and instead it was B.
That being said, my more villainous clone could simply build a large-scale arsenal, waiting for me to show my hand and attack. Or simply causing widespread chaos for their own amusement or goals, whatever those may be. For all I knew, they might instead choose to test one of their own pieces of technology on the public, gather a large amount of data all at once, and see what needs to be improved or redone.
After all, they mightn't be clones made in this world or even clones at all, but rather alternate versions of me who went down different paths in life. One being a masochist or was it a sadist, didn't matter, but someone who enjoyed other people's pain. That was but one possibility; there were probably countless other variations that could be true, but for right now till I meet them in person and see what they are like, to gauge them.
"Alright, please keep an eye on both of them, put more people on it if you have, and slow down production if needed. The next generation of clones should be ready to be put to work soon enough anyway." I said whilst rubbing my eyes, a little frustrated at the situation, but unable to do anything about it for right now.
"Yes, sir, although I will have to say that we are currently starting to run out of food and drinking water, and will have to dip into the remaining funds to provide the necessary nutrition to our workforce."
"Do so, and if needed, prepare to salvage whatever discarded metal we can find, even if we have to use this little portal device of ours." I sighed, leaning back in my chair and looking up at the ceiling, just frustrated at this whole situation, and glad that I took the monetary option in that CYOA. "Make sure the metals are usable first of course, before bringing them back, but other than that, you have free rein to get however you can."
She nodded her head and brought out a pen, beginning to write down my orders, in case she forgot, which was a rare occurrence but did occasionally happen. "Yes, sir, but woudl you like to hear any updates about Achilles, One-Eye, and Crimson while I am here?"
I began chewing on my pencil, wondering if I was actually interested in the reports; odds were that Achilles was either training a team of Parahuans, doing his best to take a leadership role. Doing his best so that they can survive the next Endbringer fight, whenever that was, because they might have modified the world with their own CYOA choices after all.
While I may have changed the original Endbringer lineup, one of the other transmigrated individuals may have shifted the timing. For all I knew, the end of the month could result in Gaia showing its ugly face in some other oil field or something. Anyway, as for One-Eye and Crimson, well, the truth was I didn't care all that much about them.
Right now, One-Eye could be trying to get people interested in his magic, wanting to become a teacher himself and spread his name across the world. Fueling his own power in the process, perhaps, gaining new insights into his own gifts and possible divinity. Preparing himself for the inevitable day Scion/The Warrior Entity goes beserk, even if Jack Slash is taken care of.
Crimson, though...he was more annoying to deal with and, in all honesty, hard to keep an eye on. I knew he was a warrior archetype or something close to that; the problem is, I could at least glean what abilities the other two picked out. No, right now, I was more worried about my clones, as while magic and techniques could be deadly in the right hands. Technology, powers, and equipment can turn things around depending on what they have; for example, Vought could be using Compound V in conjunction with other biotechnology.
I suppose I should've been a bit smarter when choosing my drawbacks and penalties in that CYOA. The various combinations of people and choices lead to a chaotic world, and right now...I had no idea if this world is going down a good path anymore.
The vast amount of new data entering the world would disrupt the flow already and lead to the creation of new villains and heroes. I did think the trimuverte, those being Alexandria, Eidolon, and Legend, with a high chance of Hero surviving, because if none of the others went to Jack Slash first, I was going to kill him.
Sure, it woudl disrupt the world a bit, but I would like to think for the better in the long term rather than short. I mean, the only reason he was ever truly dangerous was his shard's little broadcast ability, which won't work on any of the new heroes in this world. Well, the soon-to-be-born heroes and villains, as I am sure they'll be a healthy mix between the two, maybe more so to one side.
Never mind that for right now, I was essentially repeating myself at this point. "No, thank you, just please check up on Michael when you get the chance, see if you can get an update, and if either the private or public sectors are interested in our little product."
Nodding her head, Nova went out the door, passing by some of the stereotypical-looking security guards I had made during the first generation of cloning. Now that I thought of it, were my duplicates also half-angels, Evangelion ones, I mean, as that would make the most sense when you think about it.
Going back to my blueprints, I was happy for right with the modifications I had made, but perhaps a look later would help. Get my mind off of this stuff for right now and take a look at it later, because right now I think it was time for me to well... practice my martial arts, see how I could combine it with my naturally generated AT field.
A veritable tool-of-all-trades, a tool that can adapt to my surroundings and be used as weaponry, so perhaps I can extend my fist out and make the martial arts deadlier. Alongside Innocent Monster, Metal Bat's capabilities, and Stickman Mastery. Heck, I was pretty sure I had a baseball bat from the second option that I'll probably never use. In all honesty, it was possible I mostly picked that option for the ability rather than the fighting style.
Heck, if I wasn't too careful, my connection to my humanity may grow smaller over time if I give myself too much to that side of me. I would distort my original goals and grow more... evil if I had to give it a world, but if I ever reached that point, well, I wasn't sure if I would even identify what evil or good was anymore, or at least the moral associated with one's decisions.
That was already getting complicated, to the point where I stopped questioning my literally manmade slaves, whom I referred to as unpaid interns for my own sanity. Although I did say the first generation or most of them were more robotic than human. I would like to keep the vast majority of my humanity, to be...me rather than an unfeeling battle-obsessed monster.
Didn't matter as I went outside and began training, performing the basics of both Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist and Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist. One was designed to be a more defensive technique, relying on my opponents' attacks and strengths rather than my own. The other was more attack-based, creating high air pressure that can easily slice through one's body, and both together create a devastatingly powerful technique.
Sure, I wasn't a master of the two arts yet, but for right now, before I try making my own modifications to the techniques to suit my body, it was best to get a grasp of the basics. The way my fist flowed, one felt like I was the rushing river, no, not a simple river, a living machine designed to crush everything in my way, rocks or life itself. The other, more like a manmade tornando, except concentrated for a specific purpose instead of blowing away opponents all at once, was designed to seperate them and kill them in one fatal strike.
Watching my fist and body move in such a way was surreal. I focused all my effort on creating grand machines and marvels of technology. In all this rush to get something started, to set up the foundations for my future in this new world, I had forgotten the more physical parts of my existence.
I was still sure that technology or magic would help shape this universe and world in the long run, but that didn't mean we couldn't provide more weaponry to humanity. I would eventually leave behind my newfound scientific knowledge to the next generation, be it clones or artificial humans, well, that is if I aged like a normal human, as I wasn't truly human anymore, the angelic DNA in me creating a brand new lifeform, well, kind of.
But as I said, I was setting the foundations for the future, not fighting or killing to create a name, but creating the steps I would take to my future.
"This should be a grand time for Earth Bet." I said, thinking of not only me, but my clones and fellow transmigrated individuals. Knowing full well that chaos awaited this place's future, and that wasn't evne taking into account the two future Endbringers and any other monstrous entity.