Chapter 115

THE NEXUS

Alexander stared at Spencer for a long moment, processing what he’d just heard. Eight prophesied divines. Titles without faces. Wars across Earth. Or multiple Earths.

And his supervillain alias on the list. Not that he’d told anyone yet that it had been locked in.

“And you believe it?”

“Yeah.” Spencer leaned back against the sofa. “The titles are consistent. Sure, diviners and seers might disagree on the details, but these eight names show up in most attempts to read the future.”

His mind worked through the implications. “You said you didn’t know who any of them were until recently.”

Spencer’s expression shifted to something more animated. “Well, that’s not entirely true. Some of them look obvious once you put some thought into it.”

“Such as?”

“The Pinnacle of Man.” Spencer said it like he was revealing a punchline. “Has to be Pinnacle. I mean, the name alone.”

“Isn’t he one of the first real superheroes?”

“That’s the one.” Spencer leaned forward, warming to the topic. “Here’s the thing though. Pinnacle wasn’t even superhuman when they started testing him. Just some regular guy they picked for the control group or baseline measurements or whatever. But he kept getting stronger anyway.”

Alexander frowned. “That doesn’t make sense.” Pinnacle had become a superhuman during the first year of the serum’s existence. Long before the System started turning normal people into Dreamers.

Spencer grinned. “Right? So naturally there are about a dozen different stories about how he ended up a superhuman. Some people say they gave him two doses at the same time. Others claim he drank an entire vial of serum instead of getting injected. My personal favorite is that they did a complete blood replacement, just pumped him full of the stuff.”

Alexander raised an eyebrow. “And you believe these rumors?”

“I think something happened. Pinnacle is considered the strongest superhuman in existence. Bar none. Everyone agrees on that part.”

“If he’s so strong, why haven’t I heard more about him?”

“That’s the weird part. He’s never shown any actual powers. He just appears wherever he wants, handles whatever situation is happening without really doing anything obvious besides beating them up, then walks away like he’s out for a stroll.”

“Isn’t that just teleportation?”

“Then why does he just walk away?” Spencer jabbed a finger toward him. “If he can teleport in, why not teleport back out? Why walk?”

Alexander considered that. “Maybe walking away is just dramatic flair. And that doesn’t mean he’s the strongest. There are plenty of people who can teleport.”

“No.” Spencer shook his head. “There are lots of people who open portals and gateways and doorways and powers like mine for getting around. But proper teleportation is pretty rare. Most who have it get into galactic shipping, actually. Good money there.”

“That still doesn’t prove he’s the strongest.”

“Take Skybreaker as an example. That guy is going to be one of the divines. He’s not dangerous because of his barriers. He’s dangerous because nobody can stop him. He shows up wherever he wants, does whatever he came to do, and leaves. Sound familiar?”

“You’re saying Pinnacle and Skybreaker have similar capabilities?”

“I’m saying the really dangerous ones are those you can’t pin down.” Spencer paused. “Anyway, Skybreaker might not be one of the first eight, but I guarantee he’ll be the ninth. Or tenth. Top fifteen at least.”

“You seem very confident about someone who isn’t even on the prophecy list.”

“The list is just who shows up first. There’ll be more after. Has to be.”

Alexander pushed off the workbench, pacing toward the scattered components on the main table. “I’m still Tier 2. There are already multiple Tier 3 superhumans. How am I supposed to become one of these divines when I’m not even in the top tier yet?”

“Most of us figure there’s something more to it than just attributes. Some hidden requirement you have to unlock to make the jump. That’s why identifying the first ones is so important. Once one of them ascends, we can figure out how they did it.”

“Planning to reverse-engineer godhood?”

“More or less. King’s been thinking about it for years. He’s got theories.”

Alexander turned back. “And what does King do, exactly?”

Spencer tapped his nose. “Secret. Let’s just say there’s a reason he’s been on Mars for the past five years and nobody knows what he’s actually building out there.”

“Helpful.”

“We’re pretty sure King is The Grand Architect though,” Spencer continued, ignoring the sarcasm. “Based on his capabilities. Then there’s the other obvious one. People figured that one out pretty quickly.”

“Who?”

“Franklin de Castillo’s son.” Spencer watched Alexander’s face. “Maximilian. The Dragon Lord. And of course, nobody’s willing to mess with him. Franklin’s kid? Skybreaker’s nephew? You’d have to be crazy.”

Alexander kept his expression carefully neutral.

“Then you went and announced yourself in a galactic broadcast as The Machine God,” Spencer said. “Maximilian did the same thing with the Dragon Lord title. So that openly confirmed the two of you. I figure that public declaration must be part of the process. Even my path sense picked up on the moment.”

“Any clues about the others?” Alexander asked.

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“Nope.” Spencer settled deeper into the sofa. “The Star Eater, The Lost Prophet, The Eternal Flame, The Broken Crown. Those four are still mysteries, but we’ll figure them out.”

Alexander crossed his arms. “Why do you assume they’re all from our reality? They could be invaders. Beings from other universes.”

“Doubt it. Those other realities probably will have their own divines. Maybe that’s what the wars are really about. But the seers working for The Royals can’t see across dimensional barriers, and we’ve never heard of anyone else doing it either. Everything they predict is local to our galaxy. And mostly just Earth so far.”

“Seems like a significant limitation.”

“Yeah, well, we work with what we’ve got.” Spencer stretched, joints popping. “At least we know some of the big ones now. The Machine God. The Dragon Lord. The Pinnacle of Man. The Grand Architect.”

Alexander regarded his cousin for a moment. “And what about you? Which divine are you supposed to be?”

Spencer laughed. “Me? I’m not on the list.”

“That doesn’t bother you?”

“Not really.” Spencer’s confidence didn’t waver. “I’ll probably be in the first fifteen. Twenty maybe. Top thirty for sure.”

Alexander stared at him. “If your seers are to be trusted, you’re ranking yourself among future gods.”

“Someone’s got to fill out the roster.” Spencer grinned. “Besides, my power is perfect for staying relevant. As long as I’m tracking the right people, I’ll always be where I need to be.”

The casual certainty in Spencer’s voice was almost impressive. Alexander wasn’t sure if it was confidence or delusion.

“You mentioned the second fixed point,” Alexander said, steering back to more immediate concerns. “Earth itself changing. What do the seers say about that?”

Spencer’s expression grew more serious. “The timeline’s unclear, but the changes are comprehensive. Some markers have already happened, too. Superpowered families and guilds. Villain organizations. The mega-corporations shifting their focus off-world. People migrating to Mars. Orbital habitats. Colony worlds. Governments fail or restructure. Nations as we know them start breaking down or reforming around different principles. The System’s invasions might be part of it, or they might be accelerating something that was already coming.”

Alexander had to take a minute to process. The invasions, the System’s quests, the forced evolution of humanity into Dreamers. All of it pointed toward fundamental changes in how human civilization operated. How reality operated. But now he was being told it was only the beginning. That what was going to happen was so far beyond what he’d been worried about, which was rioting and superhumans becoming tyrants to lord it over normal people.

It was a lot to take in.

“What about the timing?” he asked. “How long until this second fixed point?”

“Years, not decades. But that’s about as specific as it gets. Could be two years. Could be ten. Nobody can pin it down because the future changes constantly. Mostly.”

“And where does Grimnir fit in all this?”

“King’s Mars projects, the station we’re building, the network of people we’re connecting. We’re not trying to stop it. Nobody can. We’re trying to position ourselves to thrive when it happens.”

Spencer met his gaze. “We want Grimnir to be part of it. I want you to be a part of it. Even if you weren’t family, Queen would have tried to tie you to The Royals just on your principles alone. Because when the so-called superheroes abandon the planet, or start trying to play god with whoever remains, people like you, like us, won’t stand aside and let it happen.”

He didn’t know how to respond to that. He knew it was true, that Grimnir wouldn’t just sit around while madness descended on the world. It just wasn’t clear what they would do. What they could do.

So instead he studied the man for a few moments. The longer he looked, the more he recognized traces of his father. His uncle. Himself.

He considered sharing the truth with Spencer. That he wasn’t this reality’s version of Alexander. But it just seemed too complicated for the moment. Too much to explain.

“I still don’t know how to feel about you being family,” he said instead. “I really don’t have any memories of you.”

Spencer looked down with a sad smile. “I don’t blame you. You were young when we last met, which was before I signed up for the Space Force.”

He thought about his parents. Their deaths. What Spencer had blurted out when they found him in the meeting room.

But he also knew that his parents had died similarly in both realities. That couldn’t be a coincidence. And it also couldn’t be Spencer’s fault, even if he didn’t know who to blame. Or even if someone needed to be blamed.

“For what it’s worth, I don’t think I can really give you the forgiveness you’re looking for, because I don’t hold you responsible for my parents dying.” Alexander met Spencer’s eyes when he looked up. “But I appreciate learning the truth about what happened, so I’ll offer it anyway. For whatever part you think you had in their deaths, I forgive you.”

Spencer closed his eyes and took a long breath. “Thank you.”

Then he changed the subject. “Grimnir’s paths looked stable again, by the way. Not that it’s a guarantee against dying or anything like that. Just that there are no unavoidable problems.”

Alexander nodded. That was one less thing to worry about, at least.

Before either of them could continue the conversation, the ship’s intercom crackled to life.

“All Grimnir members to the bridge,” Carmen’s voice carried across the workshop. “We’ve arrived at The Nexus. But there’s a problem.”

The two shared a look. Then Spencer stood and headed for the door. Alexander followed.

As they stepped into the corridor, Alexander glanced at his cousin. “Are you sure we’re actually related? Because the more I listen to you, the more I think you might be Annie’s long-lost grandfather instead.”

Spencer raised an eyebrow. “Grandfather?”

“The absolute confidence. The conspiracy theories.” Alexander paused. “And you’re both really enthusiastic about superheroes too.”

Spencer grinned. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

The bridge doors opened as they approached. Carmen stood near the captain’s chair, Ryan at her shoulder. Several crew members worked at their stations, but Alexander’s attention went immediately to the main viewscreen.

The Nexus filled the display.

It dominated the viewport like nothing Alexander had ever seen. A massive central sphere, easily a hundred kilometers across, with dozens of enormous cylindrical arms radiating outward in every direction. Each arm stretched for what had to be another hundred kilometers, covered in lights and docking structures. The entire station glowed against the darkness of space, a sprawling metropolis of metal and energy.

And surrounding it, thousands of ships. At least.

Some were visible even to the naked eye, tiny points of light moving in organized patterns around the station’s perimeter. The tactical display beside the main screen told the real story though. Red, yellow, blue, and green markers filled the three-dimensional map, each one representing a vessel. Cargo haulers, passenger transports, military escorts, private yachts. All of them waiting.

“What’s the issue?” Alexander asked.

Carmen glanced at him, then at Spencer. “We’ll wait for the others. I’d rather not explain this multiple times.”

The bridge doors opened again. Annie entered first, followed by Augustus, Talia, and Felix in golden retriever form.

“Good. Everyone’s here,” Carmen said. She tapped her tablet, and the tactical display shifted, highlighting several areas on The Nexus itself. Three points, scattered across different sections of the massive station, pulsed with red markers.

“The Nexus is under lockdown,” Carmen continued. “Has been for days according to the other captains I’ve spoken to. No ships are allowed to dock. No departures either. Everyone’s stuck in holding patterns while station security deals with a situation.”

“What kind of situation?” Talia asked.

Carmen pulled up another screen. Text scrolled past, official-looking announcements and unofficial chatter between captains.

“From what I’ve pieced together, Earth sent a delegation of superhumans to The Nexus a few weeks ago. Some kind of diplomatic initiative to demonstrate humanity’s willingness to work with the Galactic Council. Show off our best and brightest superheroes.”

She paused, expression grim.

“Something went wrong. Multiple superhumans died. And three strange gateways opened up across the station.”

Alexander’s jaw tightened. “Invasion gateways.”

“I thought so too,” Carmen agreed. “And from what little information that’s being leaked, the remaining superhumans along with station security are barely holding.”