Journey 2

Adam's journey has proved a bit underwhelming so far, much to his frustration.

Of course, it was very enjoyable to meet so many of his people personally and to taste their foods, see their architecture, and learn about their own cultures, but this is still very much not the main purpose for Adam leaving his palace.

He must find someone talented with psychic abilities, and now as he stands before the large building serving as the headquarters of Lucie's explorer organization, simply known as Explorers United, Adam finally feels a little tingle of potential.

There is someone who has potential in that building, and Adam would do whatever it takes to recruit them.

As Adam and his escort entered, they were immediately greeted by some of the most well-known explorers this organization had to offer, each dressed up for the occasion.

Adam even recognized a few from reports, many of these individuals helped the Imperium when it was still expanding and waging war against the surrounding powers.

After the introductions were done, Adam of course thanked them for their service out of politeness, which they happily accepted.

Of course, it felt good to be recognized by what trillions considered to be the ideal human, some would even go as far as to say he was the ideal sentient being, but that is more of a stretch.

Next up was of course to take the elevator and go all the way up to the highest floor, where Lucie was waiting.

Adam subconsciously wriggled his eyebrows a little at the fact that she didn't personally greet him, it was minor enough that he didn't let it bother him, but he certainly noticed it.

Nonetheless, Adam went along with the explorers, listening to their adventures while adding his own into the mix, which was certainly not underwhelming, to say the least.

Adam hadn't really thought about it, but compared to his past self, he was truly a completely different person. Hell, he could be said to be a different entity altogether.

With genetic manipulation, albeit minor, psychic powers, and trillions of loyal, outright fanatical citizens at his beck and call, he was now at the peak of his existence.

He had no intention of slowing down though, his goal was much grander than dominating a mere arm of the Milky Way, he wanted the whole galaxy and possibly more.

As Adam thought about this the elevator door opened and soon after they reached a large see-through glass door which swiftly opened as they neared it.

Lucie could be seen sitting at the head of a long wooden table, there were thirteen chairs including hers, and a large glass window showed a view of the city and garden below.

Lucie, who was in the middle of being a nervous wreck, straightened up the second she heard the doors sliding open and promptly kneeled before Adam, who waved it off.

"Please stand, we have much to discuss," Adam said, but inside, he was celebrating.

Finally, there was someone who was psionically talented besides himself, and Adam struggled to not immediately offer to recruit her.

No, he had to do that later in private, since he fully intended to keep the psionic strength of the Imperium a secret until it was time to strike against his enemies.

Anyways, the energy Lucie was emitting was impressive, to say the least, at least when compared to his own.

She has about half the psychic strength Adam has, the difference is that she hasn't figured out that she has that strength at all, which is gonna change very soon.

Things were not awkward for long, as Adam immediately started the meeting with some contracts for the organization, which prompted Lucie to go into work mode, dropping all awkwardness in the process.

The meeting was very straightforward, Adam used it simply as an excuse to see Lucie and get her alone to recruit her. In other words, he simply agreed to whatever conditions Lucie had, knowing she wouldn't dare to scam him.

From Lucie's perspective, Adam was incredibly generous, granting them huge funding for the excavation of a few archeology sites that were already scanned by Imperial archeologists.

In other words, they were getting paid a huge amount for simply double-checking that nothing was left behind.

Lucie honestly doubted if this was some test of loyalty or whatever, the Imperial family has built itself a reputation of being incredible individuals after all, and each action seems to have some greater intention behind it.

Nonetheless, the meeting continued as normal, until at the end, Adam asked to speak to her alone.

She agreed, with a slight stutter at the start.

'What could he want? Did I fail some tests? Is he gonna purge my entire species from the Imperium or something?!'

These fears were irrational of course, but not entirely unjustified, since species that were known to be inherently problematic were often... disposed of in various ways.

Lucie knows that she hasn't done anything that bad, but still, panicking can make one think the most ridiculous things.

After everyone cleared out of the room, Adam paused.

How was he gonna explain this in a way that makes sense? Lucie comes from a world that values science and logic, completely burying their spiritual part in history, and the Imperium is very similar in that regard, only keeping the idea of making their ancestors proud as a tool to inspire younger generations.

Sighing, Adam simply stated the facts without worrying about it.

"Okay, so I have some shocking facts to tell you. First of all, I need you to sign this contract of secrecy first." Adam prepared a whole document to prevent Lucie from spilling the beans on this, though it was completely unnecessary since he could just make her disappear on a whim.

Lucie on the other hand was very much surprised and read the document thoroughly, not skipping over it like the terms and conditions on social media.

taking a second to think, Lucie decided there was no harm in agreeing since she just had to keep her mouth shut.

And her curiosity was killing her, that too.

"Okay... I agree" She said as she signed the document.

Seeing her sign, Adam felt relieved. If she didn't agree he would have had to employ other tactics to make her comply, and he doesn't particularly enjoy such things.

"Okay, to put it bluntly, I want to recruit you to a unit I'm making." Adam started.

"I just discovered that you seem to have a lot of psionic potential, which means you can do things like this," Adam said as he raised his hand and sent a chair flying through the room, and then gently lowered it down onto the ground

"What the fuck??" Lucie completely stopped caring about formality at that. Her reality was just shattered a second time by Adam, like seriously, is he gonna break her worldview each time they meet??

Adam laughed at that reaction, which was completely natural.

In fact, he hadn't seen a reaction so natural in a while, being surrounded by the most loyal and exceptional people in the Imperium makes you forget how a normal person would react to these things.

"So you saying I can do that?" Lucie was doubtful to say the least, if she could do that the entire time, where were these powers when her father was consumed right in front of her? Where were they when her homeworld was consumed?

"Yes, though awakening them might prove to be an ordeal. To be frank, I don't know how I'm gonna make your powers awaken, but I am going to find a save, quick, and painless way, I can promise you that."

"If you join the unit you'll have more money than you could hope to spend, you will still be allowed to work here, and you will get all the benefits that seasoned veterans get as well." Adam continued: "In return, if called upon, you will be at my side to help me with whatever task I need to get done, including killing enemies."

Adam immediately felt a change in Lucie's body language, but he expected it.

There is no way that she would be willing to become a soldier or anything remotely similar after her trauma with the Hive, but Adam had a trump card.

"Also, if you join, then once we find a way to revert Hive-infested biological matter back into its normal state, you will be given priority over everyone else."

Ah yes, the art of psychological manipulation, is truly an amazing thing. There is no way Lucie will pass the opportunity to see her family ASAP, and although the technology is still not finished, it should be stable in the next 10 years, and there is a lot of infested matter to go through.

A huge portion of the Earth was hit by the Hive, and a lot of planets have been rendered sterile by Hive matter, but all that would change with that tech.

"I'm in!" Lucie didn't even think twice. She just wanted to see her mom and dad again, she missed them too much to care about killing a few filthy outsiders.

If they make an enemy of the Imperium, they can only blame themselves.

A smile now adorned Adam's lips, and with a pleased tone, he said "Great! I welcome you, my first member, to the Imperator Celestia."

And just like that, an organization that would send a shiver of fear through the hearts of many humans and aliens alike was created.