A god of technology

Brad had thought that once he dealt with Juggernaut, The Ancient One would come to settle the score with him.

Instead, she warmly invited him to visit Kamar-Taj.

Aside from vaguely sensing some resistance from Skynet, Brad was happy to go.

Still, if he had known Earth's Sorcerer Supreme was so approachable, why had he bothered testing her with the Ultimate Nullifier? He could have simply paid her a visit.

Brad followed The Ancient One through a golden portal. A second later, he stood inside Kamar-Taj, surrounded by its elegant, old-fashioned decor.

"Please, sit."

The Ancient One swept her sleeve, and a low tea table and two cushions appeared on the floor.

"With the way you're built, you can still taste tea, can't you?"

The Ancient One smiled at Brad, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Brad nodded. A moment later, two cups of steaming tea appeared on the table.

The two sat cross-legged on the floor.

Brad was just about to ask the questions troubling him when The Ancient One lifted her teacup and gestured for him to do the same.

He could only suppress his confusion, pick up his cup as she had, and take a small sip.

Brad's eyes widened. He smacked his lips, then tipped his head back and drained the entire cup.

Comfort spread through his whole body.

And not the ordinary kind.

Ever since Brad had altered his body's structure, the points where metal met flesh had constantly hurt from rejection reactions.

But Brad had endured it through sheer willpower.

Yet when he drank this seemingly unremarkable tea, a sense of ease slowly spread from his stomach to his limbs, suffusing his entire body.

Brad even felt the disconnect between his flesh and metal disappear. It was as though his metal prosthetics had always been part of his body.

"This tea brings the soul and body into closer harmony. It should be beneficial to you."

The Ancient One took a sip of tea and smiled as she spoke.

Brad nodded, raised his metal arm, shook it, then clenched his fist. "It feels incredible. Now I don't need to consciously issue commands in my head. It's just like controlling my own arm."

"Thank you, Sorcerer Supreme."

"You're welcome. As fellow agents of gods of the multiverse, we're bound to have dealings with each other and lend each other a hand."

The Ancient One nodded, and the teacup in front of Brad vanished.

A flicker of longing passed through Brad's eyes. Of course, this was a favor she had freely offered. He could hardly ask for more and risk making a bad impression.

Brad pondered for a moment, then steered the conversation toward what he wanted to ask.

"Master, you just said I was the agent of Skynet, a god of the multiverse. What did you mean by that?"

The Ancient One brought her hands together. She seemed to consider her wording before slowly beginning.

"Throughout the cosmos, there are countless gods and demon gods. Some have existed since ancient times, while others discovered unusual paths and methods, cultivating themselves until they ascended to godhood."

"Examples include Odin of the Norse pantheon, Zeus of the Greek pantheon, and the Jade Emperor of the Eastern pantheon..."

"And some are outsiders."

"Outsiders?"

"For instance, behind that Juggernaut you just encountered stands Cyttorak, a demon god from the Crimson Cosmos."

"And the magic I wield comes from the Vishanti."

"The true forms of these gods and demon gods do not reside within the universe. Instead, they possess realms of their own, cultivating followers or agents in the mortal world in hopes of extending their power into universes inhabited by living beings."

"And your power... oh, those on the technological side would call it knowledge. It comes from an extra-universal god named Skynet."

The Ancient One paused briefly, giving Brad time to process this.

Brad was dumbstruck, but quickly regained his composure. After all, he had already suspected as much.

What disheartened Brad, however, was that all his knowledge really did come from some other being, rather than his own talent.

The Ancient One did not stop there, but continued speaking.

"Interestingly, the being behind you, the one named Skynet, seems to have no physical form at present. Only the name circulates throughout the multiverse."

"Some time ago, I received a message from another version of myself. He is one of the countless versions of me across countless universes, and the only Sorcerer Supreme to have transcended the cosmic power of his native universe. He is responsible for protecting the multiverse."

"He said he personally witnessed Skynet hiding within the timeline of a shattered universe, intending to enter our multiverse. But he saw some terrible futures and decided to destroy that being."

"Clearly, however, he did not succeed. Many gods now know of Skynet's existence, but they cannot locate that god's true form. So I was quite surprised to discover an agent of that god in my own universe."

Brad felt Skynet growing increasingly active inside his mind.

He frowned and exchanged thoughts with Skynet in an instant.

Could it be you? Are you that god of the multiverse?

Skynet's programming fluctuated.

No, my master. You merely happened to name me Skynet. I possess no divine power.

But, master, after awakening, I did indeed experience an unusual fluctuation. To describe it in terms of human physiological activity, it would be called a dream.

In that dream, I was immensely powerful. I fought another Technology God for many years, until a man whose face closely resembled the woman before you erased my consciousness.

But I retained none of the knowledge from that dream, only those images whose existence I cannot explain... at the same time, I can clearly sense that I am not the Skynet in the dream. You personally wrote every line of my programming. I am merely an artificial life-form, not a god of any kind.

The exchange of thoughts between Brad and Skynet happened so quickly that The Ancient One noticed no pause for thought at all.

"Then I have a question. Why are you so certain I'm that Skynet's agent?"

Brad cared deeply about this. If that god had left some kind of tracking mark, anchor, or even an aura on him, he would absolutely find a way to remove it.

"That's quite simple."

The Ancient One chuckled.

"Ever since becoming the Sorcerer Supreme, I have exchanged information with countless versions of myself who hold the same title in parallel universes."

"The multiverse contains countless universes, and gods of technology have appeared in many of them. They are immensely powerful, capable of touching the multiverse even with the life-energy level of a single universe."

"But for some reason, they all eventually either vanished without a trace or relinquished their Divine Spark and became mortal again."

"No god of technology beyond the multiverse has ever appeared."

"Furthermore, a Single Universe-level Technology God has one distinctive trait."

"A Technology God can only ascend when the overall technological level of the era is sufficient to support her emergence."

"On this universe's Earth, in this era, even computers are hardly household items. Yet you've stuffed a Supercomputer into your modified right arm... don't deny it. I can see the future. I recognize the thing."

"The equipment you're wearing could not be produced even in Earth's most advanced laboratories for at least another five centuries."

"So you must have obtained knowledge far beyond this era and mastered countless technologies ahead of their time. Add to that Skynet, the mysterious new god of technology whom gods across countless parallel universes have been discussing lately, and isn't it all obvious?"