The rogue teleporter alarm didn’t go off that often, as any informed teleporter knew LaGrange had Interdiction and Diversion defenses. Trying to teleport a bomb on board the place had been done before, and all such unauthorized incoming arrivals were politely Diverted to a non-space for holding and examination... and disintegration, if required.

If it exploded, a bunch of nothing was filling with something for a moment, and then went back to normal.

I was out by Uranus with Comet, dealing with the enclave of reclusive Eternals there, politely steering them towards uniting with the rest of their people and getting out of the system. With the destruction of the Celestial Machine that resurrected them, being reborn truly meant losing who they were, and they were all very leery at the idea. Of course, the radicals were all about trying to eliminate the threats to their existence, or get revenge on those who had perpetrated this on them... which wasn’t a good idea for them, as multiple viewings of their Celestial masters getting carved apart was conveying to them.

Those who had arranged for that matter could certainly kill the flyspeck servants off forever, and the Kree and Skrulls had both proven that eliminating Eternals permanently was totally possible.

-Anything important there, Peggy?- I /called back to her.

-Huh,- was her /reply, as she regarded the sensor feeds. -Golden-skinned fellow, looks like Kismet’s brother, a grim-looking green guy, and a midget satyr.-

I blinked as I poured one of Freya’s wines for a haughty philosopher-Eternal a million years old, and his bored eyes popped wide after tasting it. “I say!” he blurted out, staring at the bubbling ruby. “This is rather good! Might you have more available?” he asked urgently.

“As you might imagine, demand for it is quite high,” I replied with a casual wave. “There’s seven different godly pantheons clamoring for some, twenty-nine interstellar powers, and that’s without all the important people back on Terra whining for a bottle,” I replied easily, and the step from primitive cave-men to potential trading partners began as his lips pursed in sudden realization that we dealt with far more powerful beings than they did...

Carol was over there talking about jurisdiction, system defense, responsibility, and other legal and military topics that were very essential and quite boring, too. The Eternals here were secretive and had been either completely missed or were ignored by invaders coming in-system, but our aggressive defense of the inner planets was pushing intruding aliens further and further out into the outer planets, which meant the Uranians were now being trespassed upon.

Too bad, so sad. Do your bit for system defense of your homeworld, arseholes.

-Adam Warlock, Drax, and Pip showed up? I guess he’s out of hibernation. Invite him over and give him the file on the Infinity Abyss, which is what drove him crazy. Ask him to stick around until I get back from dealing with these fossils.-

-Will do. I imagine he will be curious as to the person who resolved the issue for him.-

------

“Mr. Warlock, a pleasure to meet you again.” I shook his hand warmly, aware he’d feel the cosmic energy about me and have a sense of familiarity, although he wouldn’t know why.

He was still amazingly handsome, unsurprisingly, with a perfect physique and the air of perfection that accompanies an exemplar. That simple fact gave him incredible potential and mental capabilities far beyond that of normal humans, and that was before his Golden Child potential truly kicked in.

Still, he hadn’t had the sheer amount of knowledge and experience the Soul Stone could grant him, so a lot of what he’d accomplished was simply based on Luck favoring him. He didn’t have the demeanor he’d had in the comics, of slyness and knowing what was going on all the time.

No Infinity Gem, lose a lot of free advancement.

“I was informed that you would like to speak with me, Guardian Dynamo.” We’d met in passing at some of the big events in the past, especially those around Thanos, so he wasn’t unfamiliar with me, and he didn’t recognize me from my delivery of the Nega-bands... although he had noticed I also wore a pair.

“I do.” We both sat down on the comfortable couches there. “I am curious as to what brings you here. Have you come for your companions?”

He actually seemed a bit embarrassed. “I understand both Gamara and Moondragon are in this system. I was hoping to visit them...”

“That is certainly permissible. Actually, we would like you to stick around, as well.”

He was understandably wary at my words, but he could read my goodwill, so there was no alarm or sense of force about them. “Why would I need to do so?”

“Well, to be honest, you need to be allowed to grow up.”

He blinked his shining white eyes at me. “I beg your pardon?” he asked.

“Adam, we have the original files on your creation. We know exactly how old you are.” I watched him flush despite himself. “You have probably not been told this, but there were two dozen attempts to recreate others like you, only improving on your natural command of cosmic energy and genetics. They all failed, died, or had to be put down... save for the last one.” I steepled my fingers for him. “That is because the last one was made a woman instead, and whatever forces were interfering with creating another being like you allowed one to be born, probably as a companion or mate to yourself.

“In actuality, she’s your little sister, but we had to send her off the station. Her genetic programming is very strong, and she’ll probably immediately want to have sex with you, and you’ll likely not be able to resist her.”

His mouth opened and closed once, staring at me. “That... is something I did not know of, and had no idea had happened,” he admitted cautiously.

“Not surprising. The High Evolutionary felt the profound forces that interfered with your birth, such as it was, and it was why he ‘rescued’ you.” I paused calmly as he digested that. Yes, he’d been targeted by Higher Things since his ‘birth’. “You are a Golden Child Exemplar, which means that the profound entities of Master Order and Lord Chaos were involved in your creation. You have no doubt felt their interests and attention from time to time, but your personal power and insight has not grown to the point where they would intervene directly to make you their servant.

“That, and you’ve been pulling off deeds of some cosmic significance without needing them to send you around.” I narrowed my eyes. “You are aware of the Magus, of course.”

His breath hissed out. “Yes. He is... what I could have been...” he began, and I held up a finger to stop him.

“No,” I refuted evenly, surprising him. “In another universe, yes, but not here. Here, you lacked many of the basic elements that overwhelmed the Adam Warlock that the Magus you encountered was made from. He is not ‘you’... he came from another universe, and was sent back in time and diverted here by some powerful influence. You are not him, and cannot become him, because the foundation that made him what he is you completely lack.”

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Speaking of foundations... (and not Arthur C. Clarke)

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He blinked at me in shock. “That is... surprising?” he finally said, his brow furrowing. “What, if I may ask, was I missing?”

“Long-term contact with the uncounted numbers of souls in the Infinity Gem called the Soul Stone. That exposure to souls of the good and the evil of endless races and all ages was a horrifically direct exposure to the depths and heights of reality that you have not had to endure.

“In the end, that Adam Warlock, manipulated by Master Order and Lord Chaos, could not withstand the weight of their machinations, and succumbed to them, becoming their servant.” I tilted my head as I looked at him. “You, despite your extreme natural intellect, awareness, and prowess, are still a child, for all that, and you still have much to learn, not the endless knowledge poured into you by the billions of years of collective lives of the souls within the Soul Stone.

“We would like to extend an invitation for you to learn the magical, mental, and martial disciplines of your actual homeworld, the human species you were created from... and the scientific ones, too, if you’re of a mind.

“This would also remove you from your existence as basically a child soldier, and give you the time to actually mature as you were meant to, instead of as you were forced to.

“Thus, you have an offer from the Great Bear and the Golden Hag. The teachers of Terra are open to you, and what they have to teach you, and give you freedom from, will probably surprise you. For all that humanity doesn’t have your genetic gifts... we have come up with many, many ways to endure without them.”

He was used to acting older than he was, and inscrutable, defensive about his true age and actual lack of experience... but his mental Stats were so high he was able to fake it, despite his relative emotional vulnerability.

“I... this...” he hesitated, clearly tempted. “I... am aware of many things on a profound level, Guardian Dynamo. I... cannot do just nothing about them...”

“That is because you are being pushed by those two Arseholes, Adam. Rest assured, if you go to Terra, that will not be an issue for you.” I smiled slightly. “Master Order and Lord Chaos hold very little sway over humanity at this time, and that means their influence will not be able to reach you there.

“If you choose to participate in such matters, it will be because you choose to, not because you are being shoved along the way.

“You will have time to grow, instead of being forced down a path.” I smiled warmly at him. “It is time to do what most sapients in existence do, Adam Warlock, and that is make yourself a home, something worth having for yourself, and worth standing for. Exert your Free Will, and choose to strengthen yourself on all the levels you need to, before you take up the fight once again.”

He sighed, and slumped slightly, weariness that should not have come to a being of his age apparent on him. “I... do not know if I can, Guardian Dynamo.”

“Hope, Adam Warlock.”

He trembled all over at the Word of Creation, staring at me in shock and awe as profound energies of a type he’d never felt before washed over him.

“What?” he gasped in shock. “How?!” he blurted out, astounded.

“Would you like to learn how to speak that Word?” I asked him gently, and he swallowed as he stared at me. “It is not something you can learn slaving away for Order and Chaos among the stars, Adam Warlock.”

“I... would very much like to be able to speak that Word, Guardian Dynamo...” he admitted quietly.

I nodded slowly. “Then you must learn much, much more than Order and Chaos wish you to, and you must exert Free Will to stand your ground.”

“What... of my companions? Of Drax, and even Pip?” he asked hesitantly.

“You think we can find no use for them, Adam Warlock?” I smiled despite myself. “They have their own problems and passions, and there is always a way for them.”

He paused in contemplation, but I could see the Word had sorely tempted him. Being able to hear Virtue Incarnate was not something he had likely ever imagined. “I... can try this?” he finally replied.

I pursed my lips and blew a Note. His eyes widened again as reality thrummed around him, and a Portal appeared next to me.

The clanging of metal on metal didn’t stop, and a massive figure bringing a Hammer down on burning steel was visible under a blue sky on the other side. “Well, come on through,” Briggs growled over his shoulder. “There’s work to do!”

Adam Warlock glanced over at me, I nodded, and he rose and strode forward through the hole in space. When he hit the force of Human Destiny blowing past him, he understandably paused in shock, but then the Portal closed, and he was with Briggs.

Weren’t too many people who could instantly overawe an exemplar, but Briggs was definitely one of them...