Chapter 233 Add It To The List

I tried to scream, but no sound came out as my body was wracked with pain. I could feel every cell in my body splitting and reforming, and it felt like my blood was on fire. I could hear Star Child laughing as he enjoyed my pain, and then everything went black. Then I was outside of my own body, looking down at it as it was floating in the air.

"What the hell?" I asked as I reached out to touch my body, but my hand phased right through it.

"Your body is going through a metamorphosis. You are about to achieve a new form, sort of. Think of this as a major upgrade, but you will no longer be like others, and you are going to have to be careful. If you lose your temper at one person, that could cause copies of you to spring up all over the world, uncontrollable like you," Star Child explained, and I looked at him with wide eyes.

"What? Is that even possible?" I asked, and Star Child nodded. "So, what am I supposed to do now, then?!"

"Well, first, you need to calm the fuck down because that is going to be really important. Second, you are going to have access to all the knowledge of the restrictions now. Use it wisely," Star Child said as he floated over towards my body and placed his hand on my head.

Suddenly images started flooding my mind; pictures of different planets and solar systems, along with information on every race known in them. It was a lot to take in, but I knew that I could do this; I just had to be careful. After a few minutes, everything stopped, and Star Child let go of me as he floated back over toward Earth.

"Everything is set! Your friends will be happy to see you when they wake up! Be sure not to copy yourself too much! If you make too many, there will be divergent clones that could act strange. You will feel immensely strong after this, but just remember that this is only the beginning. There are things out there that are more dangerous than Tiamat and Alpha. You have already met one that is contained, thanks to the special devices that the Cleaners created, the Silence," Star Child said, and I gave him an incredulous look.

"The Cleaners made that? What do you know about them?" I asked, and then remembered something, but this wasn't my memory I was seeing, and my eyes went as wide as they could go. "You made them?!"

"What part of calm do you not understand?" Star Child asked me in what felt like a parental tone.

"Sorry, but what is a race of killer A.I. that you created coming after me for? Because one of them already tried to kill me," I said, but I was suddenly distracted as I watched my body melt into an undulating silver ball about three feet in diameter.

"Not anymore, they won't; I mean, not you, but they are still going to kill everyone else if you don't get out of here. I only made the program and gave it the ability to replicate, but it is doing the job that I built it for. Humans lost their chance for redemption when they decided to use a nuclear weapon of their own kind. That is a violation of the very complicated set of rules that were coded into the Cleaners. Most races end this way because of the cleaners, but that is because the two people that are supposed to be watching and guiding over the universe are fighting like children and dragging everyone else down," Star Child explained.

"So you made killer robots?" I asked, still trying to wrap my head around this, but it was starting to make more sense as I started to cross-reference data about other races.

Ones that were still alive and under siege or previously had been eliminated. Not all races were killed, and some did survive after being kicked off their planets, but the Cleaners never missed a target.

"Think about what the universe would be like if there weren't the Cleaners? Alpha and Tiamat are the only ones that can resist the Cleaners, but they are at a stalemate with Tiamat and are using Alpha for information, so it is not like they are going anywhere. Just know that your race would either be dead or subjugated by now," Star Child explained like he was talking about the result of a sports game that happened last year.

"Alright, I think that I understand what you mean, even if I don't like it. I'm going to go check on my friends and figure out what to do from there," I said as I started to move towards my body, but stopped when Star Child called out to me.

"Oh yeah! One more thing before you go. You are going to have a new ability that will help you fight now! Just be very careful with it!" He said as he started to fade away, and then everything went black again.

Time started to speed up again, but not all the way, only about half speed. I was now able to ramp up my perception, slowing things down to a crawl.

I formed my body, opening my eyes to look directly at the small spiked ball heading away from me. Instantly, one silver root that was covered in circuits and

vines came out of my body and wrapped around the ball, dragging it back to me.

"Full Restrict... AHHH!" The Restriction System screamed as I crushed it, and then the entire broken spiked ball became systeminium. The ending was anticlimactic, but the fight itself was still difficult.

"What now?" I asked myself as I looked down at my hands, which were now made of metal and circuits.

My body felt more than strange, but it also felt right. Like this was how it was always supposed to be. I was still unsure about what Star Child meant when he said to be careful with it. Part of me was worried about this and the other things Star Child had said, but there was no point in getting worked up about something I didn't understand yet.

"Papi?! What happened?! We have power now; are you ready for us to fire?! I can't find the System, or is it already too late?!" Sofia spat out as she popped into my view.

"Everything is fine, Hermosa. I finished it, and the System has returned to me," I explained, and suddenly there was a loud cheer from the intercoms.

"Boss! You made it! Thought we were done for! What happened?! I blacked out, and then you showed up on my radar alone! thought we were fuck for sure!" Eddie laughed, and I nodded as I summoned my mech to me and then sent it back down to Earth, giving it commands to put itself away.

"Yeah, I was a bit worried about myself. Girls, how are you all doing? Still have lots of juice to get back home?" I asked, but I already knew that they hadn't really used anything in the fight, so they would have more than enough to get from up here back down to the surface.

"Yes, we are good! Just hurry up so we can all celebrate your victory together!" Melody said, and I chuckled as I created a pair of sunglasses.

"On our way," I said as I put on my shade, and then started the descent back down to Earth, heading towards the group, and caught them in a matter of seconds.

"Hey! What happened to you?! You look more like a robot now?!" Katie asked as I weaved around them all with my back to Earth, enjoying the full power of the sun's rays before I descended through the atmosphere.

"Got another upgrade, and I can still look human if I want, but this form is more resistant to heat and better for re-entry," I said, and then became a mecha-dolphin, then mecha-spider, and then a mecha-dragon big enough for every one of the mechs including Eddie's on my back, protecting them from the re-entry burn.

Best

"So you can just be whatever you want to be?" Eddie asked.

"Something like that, but I have to be careful because the boost I got was much more than I was before, making this body dangerous if I don't remain calm," I said, and Eddie laughed.

"the good old upgrade to bomb status, eh? Well, let's just hope you don't kill us all," Eddie laughed.

"I just have to stay calm, so it will be fine," I said, and everyone started to laugh. "Hey! I stay calm all the time!"

"Yeah, and I am a very good-natured person!" Eddie laughed, but he was right, and I was going to have to be careful from now on.

Just add it to the list.