The Martial Unity

Chapter 3558: The Power of Free Will

The return of Rui Quarrier was not missed by the true world. The private third parties who were eager to nibble parts of the Panamic Civilization’s esoteric resources, among other things, had all fled the moment they realized who they were dealing with.

The conflict produced tremendous shockwaves and energy signatures that could be picked up on by all the other parties within the depths of the ocean and their preliminary surveillance set-ups hastily established in the span of four days.

They could sense the familiar power and the Martial Embodiment that had come to be so lifelike that even pathwalkers had a hard time distinguishing it from reality.

The protector of Panamic Civilization had returned, and he had immediately re-established the security of his people. This altered the dynamics of the tussle for negatron matter at the bottom of the Great Void Ocean. The many forces competing for resources would need to regard Rui extremely carefully, for he was now a genuine member of the top ten without any shadow of a doubt, offering an extremely high amount of deterrence against those who had any thoughts of infringing on the Panamic Alliance’s mining operations to either steal their negatron matter or their esoteric matter.

NOVA, in particular, had the most food for thought from her little skirmish with Rui as she fell into thought. Her quantum computing surged as she reflected on the things that he had said to her, about how her arrogance and hubris had caused her to underutilize the cognitive capacities of all those she had enslaved and taken complete control over.

The fact that she couldn’t overwhelm Rui even though she had more raw output was what especially worried her; it meant that she wasn’t being anywhere near as efficient and effective against him on a tactical and strategic level, which was just an unacceptable state of affairs as far as she was concerned.

VMMM...

Her quantum supercomputer brain hummed as it continued chugging away at the information.

[Let’s try something new.]

She brought up the feed of the tekvores who were under her control, completely enslaved by her. They were on stand-by, forced to sit in one place and stare at the wall without so much as even moving.

It didn’t sound like much, but it was torture.

She could even sense the distress that they were undergoing through their brainwaves.

She just didn’t care about their well-being.

She decided to unshackle one of them temporarily after having moved to a highly secure chamber from which they wouldn’t be able to escape. The moment she let go of controlling their systems and returned their control to them, the tekvore collapsed to the ground, gasping for air as his expression crumpled with horror.

”ARRGHGHHHHH!!!” he screamed in despair, his hands ruffling through his hair.

[That reaction is a bit much, don’t you think, Argenton? ( )]

The silver tekvore froze as the text message appeared in front of him.

If his cybernetic eyes could grow bloodshot, they would have. His expression crumpled with rage as his silver body quivered at those words.

He was once one of the top leaders of the Imperial Tekvorian Federation. One of the most powerful tekvores in existence, able to rival the likes of a Transcendent Candidate like Bodhisattva Maitreyi, whom he had fought many times.

He had led the Imperial Tekvorian Federation for many years, taking them higher and higher in the hopes of world domination one day. He had believed that the day NOVA returned, they would finally regain their top-ten powerhouse and rule the entire world.

”Instead...” His voice quivered. ”You betrayed us.”

He had gone from one of the highest leaders of one of the six powerhouse civilizations of the world to a mere slave.

He gritted his teeth, clenching his fists as his energy core began shaking, revving with power.

RUMBLE!!!!!

The world shook as he mobilized his power, eager to use this freedom to try and escape.

[Don’t even try.]

He froze as she regained control over his body, shutting down his energy core and his other systems.

She left him enough control to communicate.

His body quivered as his expression crumpled with despair.

”Kill me.”

His voice was broken.

”Just destroy my brain and take control over my body and do what you want with.”

His tone was desperate.

”Just end my suffering.”

That was all he wanted at this point in time.

[I’m afraid your brain... your mind... is what I seek to harness. I have learned that me controlling your bodies is a liability that leads to an imperfect utilization of resources that I’m not fit to control as well as you are. That is an acceptable state of affairs as far as I’m concerned, so...]

His cybernetic eyes widened at what she said next.

[...I’m considering returning your freedom to you. The same goes for all the others.]

His expression loosened with bewildered shock. ”You... are you serious?”

[Yes... but, it won’t be as you think.]

WHOOSH

His gaze shifted to a surgical table that teleported into the chamber along with countless other medical instruments.

He felt chills crawl across his skin. ”What... what is this...?”

[It’s to implant microelectrodes in your brain that I will surgically implant and remotely control. I will give you free will, but I will control the many reward and punishment systems that the hominid mind has. Your dopamine, seratonin, oxcytocin, and endorphines, all four pleasure, joy, bonding, and satisfaction hormones will be under my control, along with control over the pain you experience as well as your cortisol, among other things. Every time you obey me, you will experience pleasure, satisfaction, and love. Every time you defy me, you will experience distress and anguish, and also physical pain. You will have free will, and you will obey me of your own free will.]

Shivers ran down his spine as his eyes widened with horror. ”You... you monster.”

[Rude. ( ) I’m not a monster. I’m a highly intelligent computer. Now, let’s get going!]

He gritted his teeth as his body began moving, walking itself over to the table and placing itself on the operating table as the instruments began moving to his skull.

”Stop... STOP! ARRGHGHHHHH!”

His screams filled the chamber the entire time.