Chapter 32: Noisy
P.O.V Verlin
It had been a couple of hours since he had left Venus, and the Pyramid of Solitude had just drawn near the Earth. Although with the anti-Gravity technology he had created, moving through space, which such a large object was effortless, it still couldn't reach the speed of light. However, moving at about 10%, the speed of light while keeping the energy levels constant was not an issue.
He decided to land the pyramid on the moon, as he hadn't yet made any stealth technology for the ship. Although he could avoid any radio signals, if he were to land it anywhere, it would be quickly discovered. Creating a stealth system to block vision on the visible spectrum wouldn't take a lot of time even Desna the AI he created, could make it with little effort, but for now, the moon was a perfect spot to set down.
As the pyramid touched down, Verlin could feel the moon's surface beneath him. Dust and small rocks were sent adrift in space due to the gentle thrusters of the pyramid. Verlin stood up from the command seat and said, " Desna, create a stealth system to cover the tracks of the ship from the visible spectrum."
"Affirmative, creation of stealth system initiated, estimated creation time is approximately 15 minutes," Desna's synthetic voice calmly responded.
As Verlin waited for the stealth system to be created, he gazed penetrated the interior of the ship and out at the stark, grey landscape of the moon, with Earth hanging like a blue and green jewel in the blackness of space. Thinking about it, this was his first time on the moon. However, after being on Venus, being on the moon wasn't as awe-inspiring as it should.
Verlin made his way to the exit of the pyramid. As it opened upon his presence, the vacuum of space greeted him. He flew up to the top of the pyramid and took a seat close to the top, and just gazed at the Earth in silence.
He started thinking of everything that had happened since he had reincarnated, and there wasn't much he was happy with. Everything that he had done had come so easily, no struggle with little to no effort. There wasn't a large sense of accomplishment for him. It all felt like solving puzzles he already knew the answers to. His gaze drew away from Earth and into the vast expanse of space, and he fell into deep thought.
After what felt like hours, he heard Desna's voice echoing through the vacuum, directly into his mind, a communication protocol he had developed to bypass the silence of space. "Stealth system complete and operational."
"Nicely done, Desna, activate the stealth system and make sure the ship's energy levels stay constant. I'll be heading back to earth."
"Understood, Safe travels, Verlin," replied Desna's synthetic voice.
Verlin stood up and hovered in the moon's low gravity. He glanced back at the Pyramid of Solitude, now seamlessly blending into the moon's terrain, invisible to the naked eye. He felt a sense of pride at his creation, but it was fleeting.
He decided to leave the pyramid on the moon and go to Earth by himself. He could still communicate with Desna with the kryptonium clothing he had on. In the next second, he blasted towards the Earth in the distance, but he didn't go too fast and would arrive in about 5 minutes.
Before long, he arrived about 1500 km away from Earth's atmosphere, and the once quiet and welcoming space started to fill up with voices. Verlin wasn't sure how the super hearing of kryptonians worked. All he knew was that it didn't need a medium like air for sound transmission. He had grown used to the silence after living in solitude for so long.
The voices grew louder and more distinct as he approached Earth. He heard laughter, cries, murmurs, and shouts, humans, animals, and non-living alike. Verlin frowned slightly and couldn't help mumbling to himself, " How noisy."
P.O.V Chloe
Chloe followed Chleopatra into the steam lined, high-tech submarine-like vehicle that would be taken them to their mission location in the South Federation. Apparently, the Hidden Societies base was deep underwater. This was something Chloe hadn't expected. Although she had thought they were underground as it was how her, Chleopatra, and Verlin had gotten here. Not to mention the fact that there were no windows, but it wasn't something that she had a problem with as she liked marine animals.
Chloe and her team had already received a rundown on the mission. They weren't there to rescue. It was more a reconnaise mission. Furthermore , it wasn't just their team embarking on an operation. It was all the teams assigned to different Federations.
Alexander proposed that the teams proceed with their missions simultaneously. The main difference between Cloe's team and the other teams was that the other teams consisted of 20 individuals while Chloe's team had 10. This was mainly because the North, West, and East Federations all had enhanced humans at their HQ. So, the Hidden Society was going to use numbers to hinder the enhanced humans of the Federations.
Chloe sat in the submarine, and her whole being was tense, the main reason being that she was the one doing most of the scouting work, as her ability was perfectly suited for it. Chleopatra beside her seemeed to notice the tension and put her hand on Chloe's shoulder , " Don't worry, I won't let you get hurt."
Chleopatra didn't speak aloud but spoke directly into her mind. This was Chleopatra's ability, Telepathy. It was also the reason why she was the leader while not being the most experienced. She could silently communicate with anyone in a 20 km radius without being detected.
Chloe couldn't help letting out a wry smile and said in her mind, " Thanks, Aunt Chleopatra."
" You don't have to thank me. You're my niece. It's my responsibility to take care of you." Chleopatra silently responded.
The submarine seemed to come to life as it made its escape from the base into the deep ocean, Chloe looked out the window and all she could see was darkness, not the lively ocean she had originally expected.
Before long, the submarine surfaced to the top of the ocean and started moving forward. A voice resonated in the submarine," Entering flight mode, unnecessary movement is unadviced."
Chloe's heart raced as the submarine shot out of the water and into the sky, transitioning seamlessly into a flying vehicle. The ocean below grew smaller, and soon, they were above the clouds as they headed towards the South Federation.
Just as Chloe was about to settle in for the ride, another voice resonated in the airship, " Cloaking mode activated."
The ship shimmered with light before disappearing from the view of the naked eye. Afterward, the ship fell into silence.
Time passed quickly, and before Chloe knew it, they had arrived in the South Federation. Chleopatra started revising over the mission. Everythin was simple, Chloe was to go in and map out the entire facility with the built in a camera in her wristwatch. If everything went as planned, the rest of the team wouldn't need to take action, but if something were to go wrong and Chloe was discovered, they were there as back up to retrieve her. As soon as Chleopatra finished the briefing, they arrived in the outskirts of a facility nowhere near civilization.
The AirShip gently touched down on the ground a couple kilometers away from the facility before the hatch slowly opened. Chloe stood and walked towards the exit. She stopped and looked towards her aunt and gave a final nod before activating her invisibility and running towards the facility.
Running at 350km per hour, Chloe reached the facility in under a minute. Her heart pounded as she neared the facility. She knew her ability would keep her safe, but there was always a chance that things could go wrong.
With her intagibility, she easily bypassed the walls surrounding the base and made her way through the heavily fortified entrance of the facility. The entire place was littered with motion detecting cameras and security guards. She walked through the entrance of the door unhindered with her intangibilty and started exploring the facility, making sure her watch was scanning the environment for every detail.
As she easily passed the security guards without them noticing a thing, she started gaining confidence. Chloe could hear Chleopatra's voice in her head saying, " Is everything alright in there? Anything out of the ordinary?"
"Everything is fine so far, Aunt Chleo. There are security cameras as expected, but everything seems so orderly, and the guards seem a bit too.... what's the word... robotic." Chloe responded in her thoughts as she continued to move through the facility. " Chloe mentally responded as she continued to move through the hallways.
As Chloe kept going deeper into the facility, She reached a lower level, which seemed to be more heavily guarded. As she phased through another wall, she entered a large hall with rows of people connected to machines. It looked like something out of a science fiction movie.
She felt a shiver run through her as she gazed upon the sight. This must be where the enhanced humans were being created.
" Aunt Chleo, I think I found something. There seems to be a large room with rows of people connected to machines. It looks like some kind of experimentation. It's horrifying," Chloe communicated through her thoughts to Chleopatra.
Chleopatra's voice came back sharp and clear in her mind, "Stay calm, Chloe. Keep documenting everything you see. We need as much information as possible. But remember, your safety is our priority."
Chloe nodded, even though she knew Chleopatra couldn't see her. She started moving slowly through the room, making sure her wristwatch was capturing everything. There were people of different ages, but what stood out the most was that many of them looked malnourished and broken, as if they had been taken against their will.
Chloe's heart was pounding; she had to remind herself to remain intangible and invisible. As she moved further into the room, she noticed an isolated area that seemed to be heavily guarded. Curiosity piqued, and she decided to investigate.
While Chleopatra on the ship was communicating with Chleo, the AI on the ship suddenly voiced out, " Unidentified lifeform in close proximity of the ship."
The screen in the vehicle showed an image of the being that had suddenly appeared outside. As soon as Chleopatra and the other enhanced humans saw the individual, they immediately recognized them and their body visible tensed.
Chleopatra immediately communicated with Chloe that was inside the facility and said, " Chloe, get out of there immediately, we have to leave now."
Chloe's heart skipped a beat at the urgency in Chleopatra's mental voice. Her instincts screamed at her to run as she turned and raced back the way she had come.
Chleopatra continued to stare at the screen and watched as the figure drew nearer and nearer to the ship. Her face grimaced as she made a decision, " Open up the hatch." She commanded the AI.
As soon as Chleopatra said these words, the other enhanced humans looked at her as if she had lost her mind. One of the more experienced enhanced humans looked at Chleopatra with shock and a bit of anger in his eyes and said, " What the fuck are you thinking? Are you trying to get us killed? "
" Of course not. Its better to put up a fight now, if she gets her hands on the ship its over for all of us." Chleopatra replied in a determined tone. Although what she said had truth in it, but it was also quite selfish. She wants to leave the ship undamaged so Chloe would be able to escape the area unharmed.
As soon as Chleopatra finished talking the hatch opened up, and although the enhanced humans seemed against the idea, they didn't let it get in the way of the orders and all immediately exit the ship and surrounded the target.
When the person saw that she had been surrounded, instead of being surprised, a wicked grin spread across her face. She was dressed in dark, skin-tight armor, and her silky black hair fluttered in the wind. Her eyes were an unnaturally bright shade of red.
The air grew heavy with a sinister energy as Chleopatra and the other enhanced humans prepared for what seemed like an inevitable confrontation. Chleopatra, being the leader, was the one to break the silence, " Fiona, what are you doing? Why did you switch sides all of a sudden?"
Her voice was haunting and cold, a stark contrast to the Fiona they knew. "I have awakened to my true calling, Chleopatra," she spoke with a malevolent air. "The Hidden Society and its antiquated beliefs mean nothing to me now."
One of the other enhanced humans spoke up, " This isn't you, Fiona, you must be under some sort of manipulation or control. Fight it!" His voice was desperate as if clinging to a sliver of hope that the Fiona they knew could still be reached.
But Fiona's laugh was scornful. "Manipulation? This is liberation! You are bound by outdated ideals and rules. We can be gods, and yet you choose to live as mice!"
Before anyone else could give their opinion, she continued and said, " But enough talk. If you surrender now, I'll make your defeat as painless as possible."
Seeing no one responded to her benevolent offer, Fiona's eyes glinted, and her voice dropped to a chilling whisper, "Very well then, let's dance."
P.S. (Fiona is the enhanced human that can teleport just to clear up any confusion.)
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone