Zorvan watched as the emperor teleported out of the station and headed to the planet. He had no idea how Adam was going to get anything done if he kept running around like he was. He had reviewed his new Emperor’s attributes and abilities when permitted but as far as he could tell having 8 Racial Abilities and 18 Acquired Abilities wasn’t going to allow Adam to do a quick fix to any of the new quests the Multitude would give him. Almost all of his abilities were support abilities. Additionally, as far as Zorvan could tell, Adam’s one offensive ability, Chaos Bolt did not have an Area of Effect. Granted he could probably cast it second after second but hitting only one target at a time would take forever when he tried conquering the other planets and then moved on to the other solar systems nearby, if his new Emperor would even get that far.

Zorvan shook his head and then teleported to his chamber on the station. The first thing he did was pull up a defensive analysis for the station and noted that Adam had been correct. Three ships were headed across the system from Trilax, a planet within the same orbital path as New Alamo on the opposite side of this system’s sun, to this station. Their estimated arrival date was approximately 9 days from now. Just one day after the grace period ended.

Zorvan completed the tasks he’d been ordered to accomplish in quick succession. He reviewed the available Administrators that had applications on the market and noted 50 that would be acceptable and within the standard price range for a newly integrated planet. Adam didn’t seem concerned about the cost of things but part of Zorvan’s awarded Contribution Points came from getting the best deals in every transaction he did on behalf of the Master he served. In this way, the Multitude made sure he wouldn’t cheat his liege and also get the best product he could.

Once his required tasks were complete he pulled up a monitor and brought up a view of the area he’d set aside for the emperor’s project and froze. He closed the monitor, checked the time then called up the information again. Only two hours had passed since Adam had left the station and already there were vehicles digging up material, bringing it to Adam, where it was converted, somehow, then taken by other vehicles to buildings that had not been there just two hours ago and stored for later use.

There was already an airfield with the support structures that would be needed to automatically repair, refuel, and create everything that would be needed for shuttles and small aircraft. As Zorvan watched a hole started to dig down into the earth and tunnels, shored up with metal plating began to take shape out of nothing as Adam floated nearby and moved which seemed to allow the tunnels to keep expanding. The Earth was opening up forming the tunnel then closing after he floated by.

Zorvan had seen technology like that before within the Multitude, but it was expensive to acquire and usually only did one thing. He quickly opened the market page and brought up the Fortress Creation Package. The Fortress Creation Package could be placed on any unoccupied terrain of a least a mile in diameter. All nonorganic materials in the area were converted into the materials needed to create a fortress. All living creatures appeared unharmed outside of the diameter. There were a few variations, A square structure, or a circular structure which cost the most and utilized the most area, and a triangular structure that was the cheapest

The package took approximately 5 minutes to complete and would automatically attach itself to any sewer, electrical, and communication lines. When it was completed a fully defensible fortress with a power source that would last 100 years was ready for the buyer. Anything short of a Class 3 weapon would simply bounce off the Class 3 Force Shield. Class 3 Weapons would wear down the power supply and Class 4 or higher weapons could punch through the defenses.

It wasn’t the most powerful offensive or defensive structure that could be purchased from the market but it provided a relatively safe place for a new World Emperor if they wanted to put a base on the surface without paying a large number of their Contribution Points which would be better spent upgrading and providing for his citizens. If an Emperor wanted to they could purchase up to Class 10 weapons and shields, but they were incredibly expensive and usually required at least a Trillion subjects under the Emperor before they’d have enough Contribution Points to do so. To get access to weapons and shields higher than Class 10 an Emperor would have to claim the entire solar system first. In this way, the Multitude kept conflicts within a Solar System reasonable. As for the Cost? The Fortress Creation Package currently cost 100 Quadrillion Contribution Points. As Zorvan watched he realized that Adam was using a similar technology to create whatever structures he desired on the planet below. The Airfield and the surrounding town and support structures would be complete in a matter of hours, not days, months, or years. He was going to reevaluate his projections and adjust again.

Zorvan kept an eye on Adam as he continued creating the airfield and city below while he checked on the Vassals that Adam had acquired. How had this man acquired 28 billion Vassals? As Zorvan allowed the information to sift through his mind and absorbed the relevant data he realized that 35% of the vassals were going to be a problem.

The surveillance systems the Multitude provided on the World Administrator Station allowed the staff up here to monitor and check on anyone on the planet at any time. In fact, if a conqueror could take the World Administrator Station for the world they were on right after they’d taken over 25% of the domains of the world it made taking over the rest of the world a lot easier. Zorvan brought his thoughts back to the Vassals and reviewed the data that had already been archived.

When the troublemakers weren’t doing what they were controlled to do for the 8 hours the Multitude trained them during this grace period they were sowing the seeds of mutiny and insurrection. Either would be seen as a failure by him and would reduce his Contribution Points. After seeing Adam’s attributes, he doubted that he had to worry about Adam getting himself killed. No, if either a mutiny or insurrection happened Zorvan would just have his Contribution Point Income penalized for a set amount of time by the Multitude. It would be better to deal with the troublemakers now than to be penalized for their bad behavior later.

Zorvan created logistics plans that would transfer the problems off of New Alamo and began setting up occupation and expansion plans for the 25 domains Adam had claimed on New Venus. In addition, he also set up a recovery team to acquire and process the Mountain Giants’ corpse. It had been listed as an unclaimed treasure recently. The next time he spoke with Adam he would have to ask where it was or wait for a world administrator to be assigned for New Venus and speak with them to get the corpse processed. At least until he was promoted to Solar System Administrator which wouldn’t happen until Adam controlled two full worlds.

After another six hours, Zorvan checked in on Adam, noted that he was still working, and left his office for his personal residence. As a member of the Zethrix race, a race birthed out of magic and death. There were so few of his kind throughout the Multitude that they all had a strong sense of self-preservation which meant that he spared no expense when seeing to his safety.

While serving his last master he’d been able to save up enough Contribution Points to purchase a dimensional residence. A very nice dimensional residence. The activation had looked like a small card that he could place on any open space. It then created a door that allowed him to enter and exit his residence. Additionally, as the World Administrator, he could place the entrance to his residence anywhere on the World Administrator Station and it would be able to tie into the same information he had access to from his office on the station. He'd placed his door in his office just to make things easier for him to enter or exit.

Should there ever be an attack, he would merely need to move or teleport into his residence, and he would be completely safe from any hostile actions taking place on the station. Additionally, anything he purchased through the markets with his Contribution Points could be delivered to his residence without fear that someone else nearby might come upon anything he owned.

Zorvan teleported to his pedestal, his equivalent of a bed, where he lowered himself and rested. Floating everywhere wasn’t hard or taxing but every once in a while a nice, pillowed surface to rest on was just the thing to take his mind off everything that was going on. While it wasn’t hard for him to multitask, it was still taxing, and everyone needed a break every once in a while.

Zorvan closed his eyes. Six hours later he woke up feeling rested and refreshed. He washed his face in the lavatory and then teleported back into his office. The first thing he noticed was that Adam had personally acquired more than 350 billion Contribution points for the Empire in the last 14 hours. What had he done? Zorvan looked over the list of additions to the Adamantium Autocracy. Adam had received Contribution Points for researching, procuring, and creating industrial and aerospace industries and all of the supporting technologies necessary to support two new ship types classified as the AA Fighter Mk I and the AA Shuttle Mk I. Additionally, he’d received Contribution Points for donating 100 fighters and 100 shuttles that he’d personally created.

Zorvan pulled up the orbital scans of the area, zoomed in, and played back how Adam moved from location to location and created the fighters and shuttles. Zorvan didn’t recognize the design, nor did he recognize the configurations. He quickly pulled up the statistics and looked them over. He was shocked into silence for nearly a minute as he asked himself “How?” What was even more shocking was the Attributes. Most planet’s preunification only had Class 1 anything, if it even rated being Class 1. As he reviewed the information about the ships he knew that these ships were another thing altogether.

AA Fighter Mk I

Crew 2

Range: Class 10

Max Speeds:

In System: Class 5

Transgalactic: Class 4

Shields: Class 5

Power Source: Class 7

Weapons:

Energy: Class 5

Projectile: Class 7

Purchase Price: 250 billion Contribution Points

Zorvan was shocked. Class 10 range, which was effectively unlimited. Additionally, Transgalactic speeds Class 4 meant that the ships could travel at up to 1,024 times the speed of light. That was roughly 2.8 Light Years per day. That was fast. Within this system that would allow the fighters and the shuttles to move around unhindered. The time between locations within the system could be measured in seconds. Granted to get from the Sun to Pluto at such speeds would take just over 19 seconds but that allowed for a response time measured in minutes instead of hours or days between planets.

Zorvan had work to do and started pulling up information on the Vassals Adam had acquired. He started going over their skills as he looked for individuals with piloting experience. One of the problems that happened during every Unification and Classification was that some of the skills people had were not translated into the Multitude Interface system and they had to be reset to zero. The only way to overcome this issue was to show proficiency in performing a task based on the skill.

Adam was a perfect example of how the Multitude Classification system missed things. When he’d looked at Adam’s Personal Information the man had almost no skills, yet he’d created and produced the industries to support automated vehicles for the surface and the manufacturing buildings necessary to produce the fighters and shuttles he’d created out of thin air. That the Multitude placed value on the ships meant that they were functional. At most, this system should have a single Class 2 shuttle per World Emperor. Adam had bypassed Class 1,2 3 and 4 and could create weapons and items far above what anyone in this system, let alone this sector probably could. As Zorvan thought about it, he realized just how lucky he’d been to be assigned to Adam.

Zorvan’s thoughts were interrupted when a chime went off indicating that Adam was in his office. Zorvan dropped what he was doing and teleported to Adam’s office.

“Zorvan, I have another question,” Adam said.

“Sire, I mean Adam, did you fly all the way up here to ask me another question?” Zorvan asked.

“Yes, why is there a way to reach you provided by the Multitude?” Adam asked.

“You may send me short messages through the message tab under your empire tab. Additionally, you could access the Market and purchase the upgraded communication suite available to all Emperors that allows them to contact their Administrators as long as they are in the same Sector as their domain,” Zorvan said.

“How do I access the market? “Adam asked.

“The market can only be accessed at designated locations in domains that contain a city or at various locations on this Station, one of which is the terminal on your desk. Simply place your hand on the desk and think of the market. It will open up like one of your interactive abilities then pull up “Emperor Advanced Communication Suite.” It should cost a million Contribution Points.

Zorvan watched as Adam placed his hand on the desk, and a moment later he was notified that a communication channel was being requested by Adam, which he accepted.

So, this works like telepathy, Adam sent

Exactly. As long as you’re in this sector you will be able to communicate with me using this method. If for some reason I do not answer I am either busy or the communication channel is being blocked, Zorvan sent back.

“Very well,” Adam said with his voice. “Next subject. I was wearing a backpack when the Classification took me, what happened to all of my gear?”

Zorvan was taken aback for a second before he said, “Normally, I would answer that question with it is gone, there is nothing you can do about it because recovering any items taken from you would be too costly. However, you have personally earned over 5 billion contribution points with what you have accomplished over the last day so I will tell you that the items were put in a limbo state for up to one full year. Each item will have a varying cost starting at one million Contribution Points. The Multitude wants everyone to forget the past and embrace their new future but if there is something that you really want to keep, there is a way to do so.”

“How could anyone just starting out purchase their items back, Isn’t a million Contribution Points a lot?” Adam asked.

“The cost is based on your income and the domain you start with. Someone starting with nothing would have to spend only 10 Contribution Points or more. That’s more than they could earn in a single day and still eat. I know we haven’t discussed this yet and it is quite complicated, so I’ll just say this. When you are first Classified and placed within the Multitude a system has been devised that will ensure no matter where you are on the power scale if you wish to retain something from your previous life, it will cost a significant amount of the Contribution Points and slow your initial progress,” Zorvan said.

Adam listened attentively but he knew Zorvan could see the excitement building within him as he asked,” How do I go through and purchase back what I want?”

“Everything that was taken from you as part of the Classification is listed under “Personal Hold, Buyback Option,” Zorvan said.

A moment later a backpack appeared in Adam’s hand, he concentrated for a moment and then smiled.

“If I might ask, is there something important in that backpack?” Zorvan asked.

“Oh yeah, things are about to get a lot easier. I’ll be back in a little while,” Adam said.

Zorvan watched Adam teleport out of the station and then disappear as his cloaking ability was activated. Fortunately, Zorvan was able to know the location of Adam anywhere in the sector and watched as he began flying toward the outer system and a couple of minutes later stopped at one of the larger Asteroids.

When Adam hadn’t left the location for ten minutes he teleported back to his office and went back to work looking for pilots, administrators, and the support personnel necessary for New Venus.

Zorvan was shocked out of what he was working on when a new alarm went off within the station indicating that a non-sanctioned travel power or technology was opening a spatial tear into the base. Zorvan pulled up the location on his monitor and watched as Adam stepped out of a portal that had appeared.

Zorvan teleported back into the office and asked a simple question, “How?”

Adam placed a box on his desk as a holographic projection appeared of a young man that looked a lot like Adam, “Zorvan this is Thor, Thor this is Zorvan.” Adam said.

The Hologram acted as if it was looking at Zorvan then said, “Hello Zorvan, I am Thor.”

“Greetings,” Zorvan said.

“Hold on for a second while I analyze this interface and get Thor connected to the system here,” Adam said as he went quiet for a moment.

Zorvan pondered what he was looking at, thought about it for a minute then asked, “Thor, are you a machine intelligence?”

“I am, sort of, Thor said. I am an amalgamation of programming and memories, and share this device with a truly Artificial Intelligence named Al.”

“I see,” Zorvan said. Normally such machines and coding were absorbed during the Unification. How had this one survived, then Zorvan remembered, he’d been carrying it in the backpack he recovered. As a personal item, it would have been placed on hold for a year before being absorbed by the multitude. As far as Zorvan knew there were no Artificial Intelligence or machine intelligence available on baby worlds like this one. It would seem that Adam was full of surprises.

A moment later Adam said, “Done, Thor, try it now.”

“I have a connection, the system recognizes my mind as yours, looks like we’re good to go,” Thor said.

“Zorvan, I’m going to be heading back down to the surface for a bit while you get acquainted with Thor. Thor is connected to me via a quantum link I installed in my head, anything you say to him I will be able to hear, and vice versa. Keep 10% of all the Contribution Points I personally earned and then utilize the rest to set up the infrastructure to create and maintain the materials needed to keep the factories running near Skunkworks. Additionally, once I get down to the surface and install the communication package with Thor I want Administrators and teams sent to New Venus to maintain control of the domains I’ve taken. Once that’s done I’ll head over.

“I have everything set up. Would you like a campaign to take over the other planet as well?”

“Yes, make plans to take over all areas not held by the Malteek Empire. Utilize my donation of Contribution Points to make sure the strike forces have the weapons and equipment they need. Please make sure they know that I am outfitting them personally. By the way, how many of the problem children in this world are we sending to New Venus?” Adam asked.

“All of them,” Zorvan said.

Adam smiled, “Please give a full listing to Thor as well as what they’ve done. Also, include those that you think can be salvaged and those that cannot. Everyone that we have will be useful, so summary executions are off the table unless they rape or murder someone. It looks like we have 12 habitable planets and only one of them has another world Empire. Those that are a major problem will get the coldest or hottest climate, whichever is the biggest problem for them.

“Of course, Sire” Zorvan said.

“Zorvan, if you’re talking to Thor, you’re talking to me, so if you’re talking to only me or Thor or both of us together, it’s just Adam,” Adam said with a genuine smile. “Now I do have one more question, have you ever heard of a stabilization field?”

“Stabilization field, yes. A Stabilization field is created by a Stabilization Array,” Zorvan said.

“Stabilization Array?” Adam asked.

“A Stabilization Array creates an area where high technology normally not allowed by the Multitude will work. You’ll find them near technological healers and modders,” Zorvan said.

“Modder, just what you think it meant Adam,” Thor said, “A modder is someone who makes modifications to bodies. And yes a Stabilization array is exactly what we need, two in fact. The one for Skunkworks should be fine at a five-mile radius, so 10 billion Contribution Points. I can probably make do with one that only has a 1-mile radius, so 2 billion Contribution Points,” Thor said.

“Buy the one for you first, we’ll worry about getting one for the skunkworks later,” Adam said.

A moment later a lantern-looking device appeared on his desk that held a faintly glowing blue crystal.

Zorvan watched as Adam summoned a mass of grey matter that faded into the station and a moment later he smiled. “It works. My nanites are just fine anywhere in the station right now, even those outside of the 100-foot limit I have with Technomancy right now.

“It looks like it’s time to get to work then,” Adam said as Thor opened a portal in front of Adam.

Adam picked up the lantern and stepped through the portal which closed behind him.

Not to worry Zorvan, I’m just setting things up in the Asteroid Belt. I’ll be back at Skunkworks shortly. Start getting the teams ready for occupation and invasion. The shuttles will be piloted by Thor so you should be able to fit 12 people in each. Adam sent telepathically.

Understood, I’ll get on it, Zorvan said.

***

Across New Alamo, a message appeared in most of the towns with specific names. Each person listed was to report to the Administrator’s office where they would receive gear and orders. As they were still within the grace period compliance was going to be automatic. Individuals started showing up and were met with the domain administrators who showed them how to pick weapons, armor, and the equipment they would need for the conquest they were about to go on.

Moments later individuals started appearing with obvious support personnel. Not too long after shuttles started racing across the sky to land and pick up the various groups of people. Thor began moving 1200 people at a time, 400 people to each Domain they needed to defend, and then move into the bordering areas that were controlled by someone else. With 100 shuttles that could move as quickly as these did he was able to get people to their destinations in short order.

The shuttles had everything he needed and were faster than any vehicles Earth had. They also had antigravity so there was no need to have the passengers getting ready for weightlessness. Once they were out of the atmosphere the shuttles flashed then reappeared and headed to the surface to secure the domains Adam had claimed first on New Venus. These forces were equipped with very basic weaponry because they were just securing the domains and also because they were troublemakers.

Less than 30 minutes later all 25 domains Adam had on the planet were manned, defended, and supported. Additionally, a World Administrator had been hired and deployed to the Administrator station after Adam had removed the trap he’d laid within.

Next came the forces that were on standby to take over new areas. These troops were allowed to pick ranged weapons and ammo to help with the assaults. This time all the shuttles were used to land near the targets with fighter support. Only energy weapons were used as the missiles the fighters carried had the equivalent of a nuclear yield bomb. He’d only added them to help remove ships that were of a larger class than his fighters. When he purchased the Stabilization array for Skunkworks that would change though.

The fighters did a fly-by, called out what they saw, and then moved up to orbit to await new instructions from Thor if there were no defensive structures that needed to be dealt with. If the Forces were not severely xenophobic they usually surrendered but there were a few cases where they fought man, woman, and child to the death. The warriors of the Adamantium Autocracy accepted surrender when able and did what they had to do if they didn’t surrender.

There were deaths but many of the Vassals received titles and awards from the Multitude for each quest that was given and completed. They’d receive quests to conquer a new domain, or to claim a resource for the Adamantium Autocracy. Some even received quests to claim items for themselves, if they could. Some were even successful. Most realized such quests were a trap as individuals fought to keep what they’d found. Eventually, such items ended up in the hands of the most powerful person in the area.

After 5 days, 76% of New Venus was conquered and only the Malteek Hive was left.

***

Adam was reviewing the combat report in his office on the Station above New Alamo. His forces had done a splendid job on New Venus. 76% of the planet belonged to him and Thor had shored up the areas around the insectoid race to ensure they didn’t break into an area his forces had just conquered. Additionally, he’d only lost 10% of the people they’d sent, which Zorvan assured him was better than projected. It sounded like it was somewhat of a surprise to him.

An hour later, Adam stopped what he was doing and moved to look out the window in his office and watched as the projectile from the Trilax Weapons Platform orbiting the gas giant missed the station he was in by a wide margin and all struck the smaller of the two moons that orbited New Alamo. Five minutes later he wasn’t at all surprised when new orders were sent out from the Emperor’s staff.

Before the orders could arrive at the weapons platform orbiting the gas giant a portal opened in front of Adam and he roughly pulled the technician and weapons specialist, Ajhax, through the portal into his space station above New Alamo.

“What?” was the only word Ajhax got out before Adam knocked him unconscious.

The orders were received, and the weapon fired its next 10 payloads. Adam had adjusted the targeting computer so the next command script would send 4 projectiles toward the Trilax Administrative Station, 3 shots toward the staging area for the projectiles, and the last 3 were sent on a circular trajectory back toward the weapons platform. The power had to be turned down to normal orbital velocity but Adam had timed the attacks so the Weapons Platform and the Staging Area would be hit simultaneously. The ships around the staging area were automated so the only casualty there would have been the person he’d already grabbed.

The Weapons Platform and Staging area near the asteroid belt would be hit in a couple of hours but the Space Station wouldn’t be hit for a couple of days. Adam was of two minds whether to go give the Emperor a chance to surrender or to go take his world from him. Show up and request surrender a couple of hours before his weapons hit to give them a chance to evacuate? That was probably a good idea as he’d need people to run his empire and the Emperor of the Trilax seemed to be doing a good job. If he could acquire him without killing him?

“You’re thinking about trying to force a surrender aren’t you Adam?” Thor asked as Adam thought about what to do next.

“Yeah?” Adam said.

“Perhaps you should think about why the system is doing something before you start participating?” Al chimed in

“What do you mean?” Adam asked

“Well, as you explained to us on the asteroid when we were automating that place and getting the Stabilization array working All of your abilities and Soul Core were surrounded and reduced to level 1. Additionally, you have A permanent link that seems to go off toward the Astral Plane with your Astral Link.”

“That sounds correct?” Adam said.

“Why?” Al asked.

“How should I know?” Adam asked then his mind put the pieces together. The Multitude seems to be adding everyone to a system of conflict. It then brings all of our quintessence and soul core levels back down to level 1 but Adam knew that Quintessence was just another system of control for how the soul interacted with magical energy. Which means…”Oh, that’s insidious,” Adam said.

“It is isn’t it?” Al asked.

“What are you going on about?” Zorvan asked.

Adam couldn’t tell Zorvan that the Multitude was limiting everyone’s Quintessence levels and Soul Core levels and then pitting them against each other so that when they died it could keep that energy. If they ever broke free it might have to return that quintessence so it was in the Multitude’s best interest that no one ever escaped its clutches, but he couldn’t say that because he might not be correct, and pigs could fly, he knew he was right. Instead, he answered Zorvan with, “Nothing much Zorvan, just contemplating how the Multitude works,” Adam said.

“Very well, what are you going to do about the Malteek Hive domains on New Venus?” Zorvan asked.

“I thought I’d go introduce myself. Having an insectoid species on our side couldn’t be a bad thing could it?” Adam asked.

“It’s an acceptable idea, though nothing we’ve seen indicates that the Malteek Queen would even be open to negotiations. She’s just as likely to kill you”.

“I believe I can persuade her?” Adam said.

“If I might be so bold as to ask how?” Zorvan asked.

Adam smiled, then said, “Very aggressive Diplomacy.”