Saif

A line of forty-three people, from a wide array of cultures and backgrounds. The entirety of his vanguard. Their minds radiated before him, brimming with power and potential. With blood fueling his own manifestation, he had been able to snap even more people’s manifestation forth. He had gone through his entire fleet and all the crews yet again. This was the result.

He dove into their minds, not yanking thoughts from their thought streams but instead he swam through them and his mind processed them all at the same time.

Three had flying manifestations. Another had acid. One had a complex relationship with smoke. A woman in the line had diamond skin. Two had lasers or energy based manifestations. Ice and fire were in four. But no one had Carl’s magma or Decha’s portals, a shame, but these manifestees were not crazy either. If he had been able to blood fuel when Decha was still around, he would be able to alter his mind extensively, to erase the madness from him or simply yank the manifestation out from that madman’s mind and dunk it into his own thought stream. But the man had served his purpose and the wars had been ignited.

To the next, to the next, until he had passed the line through. Sergeant Thompson stood second to the last, in his combat suit and ice manifestation, with mist billowing through the joints and merged seams. A manifestee almost fused to a combat suit, what an alluring experiment.

Sergeant Thompson grunted, Saif skipped the experiment’s mind. It was dull and boring, and he had no interest in robbing the manifestation from his newest experiment just yet.

Tom stood complacent at the end of the line and Saif skipped the boy’s mind too, he knew it so well already. And the seeds were rooted deeply within and inside the boy’s thought stream, there would be no rebellion again. Trap thoughts were littered and hidden across every possible fold.

Saif returned to his own body, a tingling sensation went through him, from the inside of his chest to the tips of his fingers and toes. He inhaled.

“People of the vanguard. I have arrived at a conclusion. The cause doesn’t need some of you,” Saif said. “No, more accurately, I need some of you in another form. Look here, we have three flying manifestations. I need to be powerful, I am God and as God I spearhead this expansion into the Universe. Thank me.”

“Oh Thank you, Great Saif,” the line of vanguard sang out in unison.

Beautiful.

The vanguard stood perfectly still, he had frozen all of their motor functions, except the ones needed for speech. He was in control. The third deposit grew distinct inside his mind. Its liquid was yellow and thick. He knew about it, it was adrenaline and as it was presented for him, he wanted to try it out, but now was not the time. He focused on the blood deposit instead. The iron taste rushed into his mouth, unstoppable and limitless, he was. He pulled out from his body and dove into the minds of his intended victim. One cluster of thoughts sat almost in the center of the man’s mind and tendrils branched out from it, lashing on to all facets and types of thoughts and emotion. The central cluster, the focus of the person’s manifestation and potential soul. He latched onto it, enveloping it with his power and yanked. The victim screamed, but the cluster came off nonetheless. Saif pulled out and dove back into his own body. His mind and body vibrated with anticipation as he dunked the stolen cluster into his own thought stream. The cluster’s tendrils reached out and rooted itself.

The vibrations stopped and he sighed. He felt the new manifestation by the tips of his fingers. Flight was available.

“You are despicable,” Rachel whispered behind him.

Saif turned on the spot. But Rachel was not there. It was not possible, there was only a bulkhead wall. Rachel was dead.

As God, he needed to be indestructible. He dove into the woman with the diamond skin. She screamed and fell dead on the floor as he yanked the central cluster away from her thought stream. He dunked it into his own thought stream after returning to his own body.

Potential, it had potential. He wiped the saliva from his chin. Diamond skin.

“Tom, train the vanguard, I need rest,” Saif said. The process of gaining new manifestations was taxing on him, the blood deposit had depleted more than half way down.

Tom nodded. “Vanguard, with me.”

Saif returned to his quarters, with Sergeant Thompson lumbering behind him, and he slumped down on his bed. It was exhausting growing stronger. He severed the blood flood and let his mind wander as mortals did.

“Guard outside the door, Sergeant,” Saif said.

Sergeant Thompson grunted and did what was instructed. A lumbering giant with ice and metal, and silence. The perfect bodyguard.

“You arrogant bastard. This hubris will be your undoing!” Rachel yelled. “You are doing everything wrong!”

Saif let the sweetness flood his mouth and he shoved Rachel’s voice away. A small cost to pay to become God. Mankind would thrive in his wake and in his new Universe.

Two other voices whispered softly in the dark corners of his mind. He shoved them away and suppressed them. God wasn’t stopped or hindered, a God pushed forward and carved the world as he saw fit.

Vault the hurdle.

-

“Master Saif,” Tom said, leaning on the door frame, with Sergearn Thompson towering behind the boy.

Saif raised his gaze to the boy, when had he grown to become a young adult?

“Europe13 has been attacked. The facility has been destroyed,” Tom said.

“What?” Saif said.

“The cyborg Captain happened and he almost detonated a nuke within the city. One from the vanguard saved the day and all the people of the space city. Yuri ‘Elbrus’ Gargarov,” Tom said.

Saif stepped out from the bed he had rested in. “Yuri? The one who had his head slammed with a combat suit’s gauntlet?”

“The very same one. Yuri, who opposed the Putin clones during the uprising you started,” Tom said.

Saif scratched the side of his head, it felt like an eternity ago. Even though he would live forever, his mind could only store so much information. How much would he remember after he lived for a thousand years? A million years?

“I can’t remember everything, Tom. I am to live forever, but my mind’s memory capacity is limited. I have to be picky. In this age and era, you are my right hand, Tom. Thanks for remembering for me,” Saif said. What if he stored his own memories in other peoples’ minds? He could keep them in hibernation and wake them up from time to time, so the brains didn’t degrade and the memories were not lost.

Tom nodded. “Oh thank you, Great Saif.”

“Steer the fleet to Europe13. This Yuri needs a new assignment. Something fitting his accomplishment. We will pick him up and whoever else survived the attack, then we will go deep into space. Mankind will thrive in our wake,” Saif said. “Maybe we should do another check through the human worlds and settlements we pass? A brief visit back to Earth wouldn’t hurt. The facility will be rebuilt, the training should continue, but on this ship. On The Rising Hope. Ignite the drive cone.”