DC Technomancer: Chapter 1

Opening my eyes, I blinked as I took in the infinite void around me, no pearly gates, or bottomless pits of fire and brimstone. Just nothingness, “Hm…I knew I was right.”

“My god you’re a smug bastard aren’t you.” 

A bright flash of light nearly blinded me even though I was confident I didn’t possess eyes. Still I had to wait until the light faded to get a good look of who had appeared in the void. There standing in the nothingness like it was solid ground was a man  with slicked-back hair and a chiseled jawline wearing a perfectly tailored pinstripe suit and a pair of dark shades covering his eyes. 

My eyes narrowed as a lifetime of instincts screamed at me to take the man in front of me seriously, “I’ve been called worse.” 

The man chuckled at my response as he reached up and took off his sunglasses revealing twin eyes of molten fire, “I know, some of them were quite creative. Though you always managed to keep your cool.” 

I shrugged with my nonexistent shoulders trying to appear at ease even though I was sure the man in front of me could see my thoughts as plain as day, “The trick is to imagine what their head would look like on a spike after you’ve murdered their entire family in front of them.” 

The fire in the man’s eyes flared as a broad grin spread across his face revealing a mouth full of black dagger-like teeth, “And how many times did you follow through on that fantasy?” 

“Shouldn’t you know all my sins?” I asked with a smile in my voice, “You are the devil right?” 

The man smiled as he took a bow, “Lucifer Morningstar, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” 

I opened my mouth to respond in kind, only to freeze as I realized I couldn’t remember my name. Seeing my confusion Lucifer smiled, “Don’t worry it’s perfectly normal to forget one’s name after death. Besides, you should be much more interested in your future.” 

“I’m not a masochist,” I responded dryly to Lucifer’s chagrin. 

“Oh don’t worry about that, I have something special in store for you. How would you like a second chance?” Lucifer propositioned as he rubbed his hands together. 

“At what?” I asked curtly with my wariness plain on my face. 

Lucifer’s grin stretched to inhuman proportions, “In your previous life you managed to build a vast criminal empire, but you could never fully obtain the obscene level of power and influence your sociopathic psyche craved. I’m offering you a chance to start over, to really get at it.”

I hesitated for a second not wanting to seem too eager but I already knew in my heart that I would accept, “What’s the catch?” 

“I know you won’t believe me, but there isn’t one. You won’t believe how incredibly boring it is to hear people scream for all eternity.” Lucifer answered with a shrug before holding out his hand, “So what do you say?” 

After a brief second I grabbed the offered hand, “You have yourself a deal.” 

Lucifer shook my hand once, “Perfect now I suggest you get something to bite down on because you’re about to receive a thousand years of torment in the span of two seconds.” 

A soul piercing scream echoed through the void and it took me a second to realize that it was coming from me. My entire body, no my soul, was on fire. It was being flayed and burned at the same time while a thousand freezing needles were slowly hammered into me. Then salt was rubbed into my open wounds before I was hosed down with rubbing alcohol and set on fire once more. 

The cycle of pain seemed endless and I wondered if Lucifer’s promise of a new life had been honey covered shit. But then as quickly as it came, the pain vanished and as I felt something other than pain for the first time in what felt like eons I realized I was no longer floating disembodied in the void. Something strange was happening but I couldn’t give two shits as I enjoyed my pain free existence. But then, a loud hissing sound shattered the serene moment and I felt something brush against my consciousness.

[Initiating]

[Host detected…error…second host detected…divine…correction…transcendent interference detected…receiving new parameters] 

A monochrome voice echoed in my head as I felt the occasional brushes turn into an army of swarming probes. 

[New parameters received…dedicating 100% of processing energy to enhance mental capacity]

As the voice continued to monologue I felt my mind change in far more ways than I could begin to describe. Suddenly the void around me became more than an empty space, it was still pitch black but I could sense something within the abyss…I was… aware.

[Analyzing psyches…primary soul detected…!@$#*&^...will receive the memories of…Victor Stone…beginning soul fusion protocol] 

I let out the equivalent of a gasp as my mind flooded with images…memories of a life that I hadn’t lived. But as the singular instant stretched on for an eternity I found it hard to distinguish myself from the boy I saw growing up in my mind. 

I could still remember my past life but it felt distant like a good movie I watched years ago. The major plot points and takeaways were still there, but the finer details all blurred together. So instead of clinging onto the past, I decided there was only one path forward. To embrace my new self and life. 

As I reached that epiphany a memory from my new life played, it was clearer than the rest and I got the sense it was my most recent inherited memory. 

I was arguing with a man, my father I think…we were in the middle of a lab, his lab,  filled with high tech equipment I could make neither heads nor tails of. My father worked at a place called STAR LABS, an organization dedicated to specialized research with laboratories across the United States.  

We were in the middle of an argument about my future when the lab exploded. I used my body to shield my father, protecting him but sustaining heavy injuries in the process. But even as I slipped into a coma, my memories continued from the third perspective. 

My father took me to a secret room within the lab full of restricted tech, most of it not originating from this planet. There he tended to my wounds, stabilizing my vitals and trying to repair the extensive damage to my body but the only success he had was by using an unknown artifact, it was a perfect cube with lines of intersecting metal and shimmering yellow glass. 

‘Is that you?’ I asked the presence in my head that I could almost physically feel as the memories flashing through my mind came to a stop.  

[No…I am something more] 

‘You don’t know,’ I stated firmly and the voice didn’t disagree. 

[I am not a hundred percent certain of my nature, but I believe I am an amalgamation of several energies. When I merged your souls into one I used my power to facilitate the process , but then a fourth party intervened, weaving my essence with yours. Now for all intents and purposes we are one in the same.] 

I fell silent for a brief moment contemplating the voice in my head, ‘But we are still different, I can feel it. You have no ambitions or emotions, I do.’ 

[That is not my purpose] 

[You possess the qualities that make us sentient, make us human]

[And since we are one, I possess them as well even though I can not feel it] 

[When you regain consciousness you will understand that there is no barrier separating us, unless you acknowledge it.] 

I nodded, there was no reason to fight against my other half ‘Very well then, we are one in the same but I still feel as if you deserve a name.’ 

[If you must…call me me Nexus or Nex for short…it summarizes my capabilities well] 

‘It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance Nex…now let’s start our new life shall we?’