In less than sixty seconds, Richard had traveled from the desolate Australian outback to Ohio in the central United States, crossing half the globe through sheer force of will and spatial manipulation.
Upon materializing above the American heartland, he immediately activated his telepathic abilities without hesitation. The mental energy radiating from his enhanced consciousness began expanding outward in concentric waves, systematically scanning for the distinctive psychic signatures that would identify his remaining targets.
One state fell within his awareness, then another, then a third. Richard methodically extended his telepathic reach across the entire continental United States, creating a mental map of unprecedented scope and detail.
Under normal circumstances, Richard rarely employed telepathy on such a massive scale. The energy expenditure was considerable, and the sheer volume of mental noise from millions of human minds could prove overwhelming even for someone with his enhanced capabilities. However, his desire to locate Ajak and Phastos as quickly as possible outweighed any concerns about resource conservation.
When his telepathic awareness finally encompassed the entire United States, Richard began the delicate process of filtering through countless mental signatures to identify those belonging to non-human entities.
The search took less than three minutes.
"Found you," he murmured with satisfaction as he successfully locked onto the mental patterns of both remaining Eternals.
In his previous reality, Phastos—whom Richard considered the most objectionable of all the Eternals due to his combination of sanctimonious attitudes and identity politics—had resided in Chicago as depicted in the movies. However, timeline differences in this universe had apparently led to different residential choices. Rather than establishing himself in the Windy City, Phastos had settled in Miami on the East Coast.
Ajak, meanwhile, had taken up residence in Philadelphia—a city steeped in American historical significance and conveniently located near Washington, D.C.
After brief consideration, Richard decided to target Ajak first before dealing with Phastos. His overall strategy required precise timing, and Ajak's role in his planned manipulation of Ikaris demanded immediate attention.
Without delay, Richard teleported from his position above Ohio to the airspace high above Philadelphia. Rather than materializing directly at Ajak's location, he maintained his preferred altitude of several miles above the city, ensuring his activities remained undetected by conventional surveillance methods.
Once positioned above Philadelphia, Richard deployed his telepathy with surgical precision, penetrating Ajak's consciousness and implanting another carefully programmed mental puppet virus. This particular piece of psychological malware carried specific instructions designed to manipulate Ikaris through Ajak's established authority over the Eternal team.
The virus activated immediately upon successful implantation. Ajak, who had been peacefully reading in her study, unconsciously set aside her book and reached for the mobile phone beside her chair. Acting under the virus's influence while believing her actions were entirely voluntary, she scrolled through her contact list until she found Ikaris's number.
The call connected after several rings.
"I need you to come to Philadelphia as soon as possible," Ajak said without preamble, her voice carrying the natural authority that had made her an effective leader for millennia. "There are matters concerning our people that require discussion."
"What's happened?" Ikaris responded immediately, concern evident in his tone.
"It involves revelations about our true nature and purpose," Ajak replied smoothly, the virus providing her with convincingly urgent justification for the summons. "This isn't something we can discuss over an unsecured phone line. You need to come here."
A brief pause followed as Ikaris presumably considered his options. "I can't get away tonight. Would tomorrow morning work?"
"Tomorrow morning will be acceptable," Ajak confirmed. "Don't delay."
After ending the call, Ajak calmly returned to her reading as if the conversation had been perfectly ordinary. The mental puppet virus had integrated so seamlessly with her natural thought processes that she experienced no cognitive dissonance or suspicion about her sudden need to contact Ikaris.
With Ajak properly programmed and Ikaris scheduled to arrive the following morning, Richard shifted his attention to Miami. A single thought transported him from Pennsylvania to Florida, positioning him above Phastos's residence in the coastal city.
Unlike his subtle manipulation of Ajak, Richard's plans for Phastos required more dramatic action. He deployed his telepathy and successfully implanted a mental puppet virus specifically designed to compel the Eternal to undertake an urgent journey.
The effects manifested immediately. Phastos, who had been engaged in playing video games with his adopted son, suddenly froze mid-motion like a malfunctioning android. Ignoring the child's confused questions and increasingly frantic calls for attention, Phastos reached into his pocket and withdrew what appeared to be a simple golden disc roughly the size of a large coin.
Under the virus's compulsion, Phastos channeled cosmic energy through the device, causing it to expand rapidly until it resembled a sophisticated technological platform nearly a meter in diameter. Two intricately designed golden rings emerged from the expanded disc, floating through the air before positioning themselves beneath Phastos's feet.
The rings immediately lifted him from the ground, supporting his weight through some form of anti-gravitational field manipulation. Within moments, Phastos was ascending through the ceiling—his Eternal physiology allowing him to phase through solid matter—and rising into the Florida sky.
His adopted son's desperate shouts followed him through the roof, but Phastos showed no acknowledgment of the child's distress. The mental puppet virus had overridden his emotional connections, reducing him to a biological automaton following its programmed directives.
Richard had no intention of personally following Phastos to his destination. The virus contained specific instructions for the Eternal to travel to the ruins of ancient Babylon in modern-day Iraq, with arrival scheduled for the following morning. This timing would allow Richard to coordinate multiple confrontations across different continents.
After confirming that Phastos was airborne and heading toward his assigned destination, Richard teleported to Washington, D.C., where he spent several hours monitoring global communications and refining his plans for the next phase of operations.
As evening approached, Richard retrieved the Cosmic Cube from his system space and crafted a spatial gateway to Mumbai, India. The time had come to observe the culmination of his psychological manipulations.
Mumbai, India
After enduring a six-hour commercial flight across multiple time zones, Sersi and Sprite finally disembarked at Mumbai's busy international airport. Their mental puppet viruses remained fully active, compelling them toward their assigned target while allowing them to maintain the appearance of ordinary travelers.
Without hesitation, both women proceeded to the airport's taxi stand and hailed the first available vehicle. Sersi provided the driver with directions to Bollywood, and the middle-aged man nodded agreeably before pulling away from the terminal.
For the first thirty minutes of the journey, everything proceeded normally. The driver maintained polite conversation about local attractions and traffic conditions while navigating through Mumbai's notoriously congested streets.
However, rather than heading toward the entertainment district as requested, the driver gradually steered his vehicle into increasingly run-down neighborhoods. Eventually, he brought the taxi to a stop in what was clearly one of Mumbai's most dangerous slums—an area where law enforcement rarely ventured and criminal activity flourished openly.
Despite the mental puppet virus's influence, both Sersi and Sprite retained enough situational awareness to recognize that something was wrong. Initially, they assumed the driver was simply taking an indirect route to avoid traffic congestion—a common practice in major Indian cities.
Unfortunately, their optimistic assessment proved incorrect.
The moment the taxi stopped moving, the driver's demeanor underwent a dramatic transformation. The friendly, helpful expression vanished, replaced by predatory calculation as he reached beneath his seat and produced a wicked-looking dagger.
"Give me everything," he demanded in accented English, his voice carrying the confidence of someone who had performed this routine many times before. "Money, jewelry, passports—everything valuable."
His eyes lingered appreciatively on both women, making his additional intentions painfully obvious. The isolated location and absence of witnesses meant he could take his time with whatever activities he had planned.
Under normal circumstances, two ordinary women might have been genuinely helpless in such a situation. The driver had chosen his hunting ground well—the slum's reputation for violence meant that screams would go ignored, and the local population had learned not to interfere in other people's business.
Unfortunately for the would-be criminal, his intended victims were anything but ordinary.
When the driver brandished his weapon and demanded their valuables, Sersi didn't hesitate for even a moment. She activated her matter transmutation abilities, focusing her power on the metal blade in the man's trembling hand.
The transformation occurred instantly. The steel dagger dissolved into a stream of fine sand that poured through the driver's fingers like an hourglass, leaving him staring in shock at his empty palm.
For several seconds, the man could only gape in stunned silence as his brain struggled to process what he'd just witnessed. Then, as the full implications of the supernatural display penetrated his consciousness, he released a scream of pure terror.
Without waiting to see what other impossible abilities his passengers might possess, the driver flung open his door and fled into the maze of shanty buildings, abandoning both his vehicle and any thoughts of robbery.