14 Inventions

New York, Savant Tech Headquarters

While I was reading some books on mechanics and engineering, Sage came into my office with Cypher in tow.

"Hey, Doug. How have you been? How has working here been like so far?" I asked while looking at his sunken eyes and dark circles.

He looked at me pleadingly, "Don't make me look after your company next time, please. So many departments, so many people. I had to stop my project and our company isn't even doing anything other than i-pay."

My little stabbing accident was kept a secret from the public for obvious reasons. Only Sage was aware of it. Even Doug didn't know.

Sage smirked, "That's how corporations work. Even if they do nothing they have people who need to work."

Looking at Doug who was almost on the verge of tears I consoled, "Okay, okay. I have some interesting projects here for you. How are you doing with practicing your powers?"

Cypher instantly lightened up, "I have learned every language on earth that could be learned. Sage also taught me a lot. She speaks more than 100 languages! And she doesn't even have my power. Kinda makes me feel useless."

Doug Ramsey, aka Cypher, had a unique power. He could understand all languages and learn them intuitively. It didn't matter what form the language was in like spoken, written, body language, made-up language, programming language, binary language, and any other conceivable language.

"No! You just don't understand the nature of your powers yet. You are limited by your own ordinary imagination Doug. Let me ask you, what is language?" I decided to give Cypher an impromptu lesson.

Doug replied after some thought, "A method of communication?"

"Yes, that's true, but go deeper and think. What is communication? It is a transfer of information! You can intuitively understand any and all kinds of information transference. I'll just give you a simple example and you can think more. What is DNA?" I asked another question.

Doug was still processing my interpretation of his powers so he froze up for a second before answering, "It's a carrier of genetic information," I could see a light bulb turn on over his head as he got the idea.

"It seems that you understand. Language is information and everything has information. You just need to learn to see the world in the form of information. Find your limits Doug, who knows, maybe you can even interpret the universe itself?"

Although I didn't believe it was possible for Doug I still gave him a sort of a goal. It's interesting though, that I was drawn to the two people in this world whose abilities when combined would form my ability.

Sage's computational processing, photographic memory and telepathy, and Cypher's ability to see everything as information. My abilities were the same but much greater at the same time.

My processing and memory are increasing every moment, and my telepathy improves with the first two abilities as well. As for information, Doug has to actively read it and try to interpret it but to me it's the opposite, I have to actively choose not to see the world in the form of information.

It's uncomfortable in daily life. Imagine you look at your lover and all you see are information that make up her existence. The atomic arrangements, elements, molecules, cells, tissues, you get the gist of it.

If that wasn't all you can even see how every action they take shortens their life on a biological level. You get the front-row seat to see the cigarette she smoked killing her cells, her cells dying because of natural metabolism, and so on. It takes the classic 'watching your loved ones die in front of you' to a whole another level.

Burdened by knowledge, I sighed as I stopped my wildly running thoughts. "While you practice your powers I have two projects for you. First, you will create an AI teaching assistant with me. It will not be sentient or anything but it should feel enough like a human to interact with kids in class.

The second is more complicated. I want you to do it along with your ability practice. Create a new and more advanced programming language, Doug. A language that is complex enough not to be cracked without extraordinary means.

As a practice, you can also try simplifying programming language to the level of human speech. Maybe you'll be crowned as the father of modern software if you did."

Sending away Doug who was burning with passion for the new applications of his powers he had just learned, I turned to Sage. "Did you find him?"

"I did, but I still don't understand why you want to find an alcoholic whose best achievement in life was getting off drugs." Sage was curious.

While I hadn't told her about my powers, I hadn't exactly hidden them either, so she should've guessed how it works. I had even helped her screen out some top-level executives using the power. So, it must be confusing what I'd want from a former junkie turned alcoholic.

Instead of answering her outright, I asked her a question, "Did you know, there used to be another superhero who existed before the era of superheroes was restarted by the fantastic four a decade ago?"

Sage looked at me blankly, "Yeah. Captain America. Everyone knows him. What about him?"

"No, after the era of Captain America, Namor, and Blue Marvel passed. In the decades when there wasn't any superhero on Earth, there was another hero. A hero who fought against himself to save the world and was thus forgotten." I thought of one of the most human heroes I had read in comics.

He might as well be called a god since he was as powerful as the Hulk in its prime. But he was so human that his own humanity defeated him.

Sentry or Robert Reynolds was an addict who happened to drink a serum that made him a superhero often compared to Superman. With newfound powers, he reformed and started working as a hero. But the power was too much. All the negative thoughts he had accumulated gave birth to a personality known as The Void.

Born out of Sentry's own powers and thoughts, Void couldn't be killed no matter what he did. So, Robert Reynolds killed Sentry. He used technology from Reed Richards and Dr. Strange's magic along with his own powers to finally erase Sentry's existence from everyone's minds including himself. He became an ordinary man plagued with mental illnesses that were exacerbated by the Void.

"Are you saying this alcoholic is that hero you mentioned?" Sage asked in surprise. It is indeed shocking to think that a middle-aged deadbeat with alcoholism was in fact once the golden superhero, Sentry.

"Sort of. But you shouldn't think about it too much or even look into his past. We don't want the Void wreaking havoc here. Nobody would be able to stop him if he got out now." I warned. Robert Reynolds's efforts would be wasted if that happened.

"He can't be that powerful right? There are the X-men, the fantastic four, and even the newly formed Avengers led by Captain America himself." Sage couldn't think of a threat that could get past all those superheroes.

I knew that these superheroes could definitely stop the Void. But they had all just started off. And the oldest team, the fantastic four was not just around a decade old. These heroes hadn't had the time to grow and practice to control their powers. So, to stop the Void at this point in time, there would be massive casualties.

"Forget it, don't think about it. Remove all records of your search and give me his location." Sometimes knowing too much is a curse so it's best not to tell her.

Slightly worried, Sage asked, "What are you trying to do after finding him?"

"I don't know. Cure him if I can, take away his blood, and study it to get his powers if I can't. If Robert alone can't defeat him, maybe with my help he can." I wanted to synthesize a perfect Sentry serum for myself.

"What if your negative thoughts turn into another monster counterpart of yourself?" I could hear the slight accusatory anger in her voice. She cares, so that's a start.

"Firstly, I wouldn't put any enhancement medicine in my body until I have fully understood it. And more importantly, my mind is like the ever-expanding universe, anyone wanting to breach it would get lost in it." I was confident.

Well, cosmic beings might still breach my mind at this stage but I don't think I have done anything for them to notice me. No point in thinking of gods who are far beyond me right now.

Just as Sage was about to say something to me, there was a loud booming sound and the building started to shake. We turned to look outside and we spotted figures falling from the roof of the building across us.

Iron Man and Thor were flying down to the ground where the Hulk and the Thing from the fantastic four were beating down on some large robot. Other Avengers and fantastic four members were also busy with smaller robots.

I sighed, "This is why I asked you to rush building the company headquarters in India. This place is cursed with never-ending conflicts. Send out the evacuation order to the employees. Let them hide in the bunker."

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Throw your stones at me guys. I'm strong enough to handle a few hundred more of them.

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