It had been a few days since his conversation with his mother and Duncan, and they were currently on a plane en route to London. Where they were in Texas, this would be about a nine-and-a-half-hour flight. He sat in his chair, contemplating the same question regarding Connor MacLeod.
Cyrus considered Amanda and Duncan's opinions, yet he still found the whole thing unsettling. He felt more like they were telling him what he wanted to hear than what they actually thought. It was an unusual approach for a justice warrior like Duncan. From his mother, the response was as pragmatic and utilitarian as most of her decisions. The only time she became a justice warrior was when something or someone touched her heart.
There was another thing that he couldn't let go of; he just spent months with Anakin trying to save him from the dark side. He had avoided evil and pursued the good. Sure, his tactics were a bit questionable, but those were against evil forces, and perhaps there was some wiggle room in that regard. But now he was considering taking the life of a known hero. Could that be allowed?
How would he view it once he had done it? Would he feel guilt, and would that guilt remain with him always? He remembered that in Highlander, one of the greatest themes was guilt over the things they had done.
Connor felt it. Duncan felt it. Other Immortals felt it. For some of them, their guilt drove them into perilous actions, things that could lead to their demise. Not intentional suicide, but a psychological impulse to be less protective of their own lives. That certainly wasn't something Cyrus was looking for.
He was also about being a moral person. His ethical behavior was important. If he became the kind of person who disregarded life, he would be someone like the Kurgan. What a disgusting human being!
But even more than that, what really bothered him was the idea of killing a good person just to save his own neck. Who was he to say that his blood was redder than Connor's, that he was more deserving of the Prize? Connor, after all, had spent centuries pursuing it and attempting to attain it. He wanted to escape from the Game just like Duncan, just like many Immortals, and be able to live a human life. Some were even interested in gaining mortality.
Cyrus couldn't accept Duncan's answer. Duncan had only really considered it if it was the only way. The system had given him a solution, but how? He had asked for a solution, the easiest solution, he supposed, and that was what the system had given him, perhaps over something that was a better solution but more challenging or dangerous.
Once more, he delved into the system interface, looking for a possible alternative, and then something occurred to him, a possibility he had been avoiding, mainly because he really did not like the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj. However, this was a solution.
He had been thinking about the Marvel Cinematic Universe for one very particular reason: it would be much cheaper and faster for him to absorb abilities if he could obtain the Super-Skrull power, their racial ability. Rather than having to go to lots of movie worlds to get some abilities, he could copy them like the blueprints of droids.
It would also require acquiring certain technological items from the Skrulls if he remembered from the trailers he watched on YouTube of that stupid Secret Wars TV series.
He had wanted to visit other worlds first to strengthen himself, but going to the MCU would be a gamble. On the one hand, he had the powers of a Jedi, which put him ahead of many characters. On the other hand, depending on when he arrived, he could end up dead very quickly.
First, he needed to verify whether his theory would work.
He used his mind to activate the system. He could switch between typing, speaking, and using a mental connection to ask questions, perform searches, and so forth. He liked typing, but it was easier to simply think about his question. It also wouldn't look as weird as him staring at poking the air in front of everyone. He was the only one who could see the interface; it was invisible to everyone else.
Cyrus asked the system: If I were to go to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, would I be able to remove the effects of the Quickening, this form of immortality? Would this be the best option for me? By "best," I mean I don't want to murder anyone to solve my problem, and I want the issue resolved. I could pursue immortality in another way; there are many kinds of immortality.
After a slight delay, the system returned its answer.
However, once you remove the immortality originating from the Highlander universe, you will not be able to attain that type of immortality again. This removal is permanent. The system will block reacquisition. You must choose wisely. You will not be permitted to go back and forth. If you acquire another form of immortality, it must be the one you want. This will be your last chance.>
Despite the loss of immortality, Cyrus felt extremely grateful. He had a chance, something he could do that would remove the need to murder Connor MacLeod. It was clear now that his next journey needed to be to the MCU.
System, do I need to go directly to Kamar-Taj, or can I spend time in the MCU and go there later, before the Ancient One's death?
Cyrus asked one more question, knowing the dispositions of his mother and Duncan.
System, may I take my mother and Duncan with me to have their immortality removed as well?
The system displayed the cost. Transporting others using the system required far more points than he had ever seen or imagined. The answer, for now, was no, but perhaps one day, he could offer it to them if they wanted it.
Once they touched down in London and made their way to Amanda's castle. It was old and small by certain standards, but still a castle. They entered the home he had lived in since he was a baby. He led them down to what he called the basement, though it had once been a dungeon. There, his droids were hard at work.
Amanda and Duncan followed him down, and when they witnessed the incredible machines at work, it was something both familiar and foreign. They had seen Earth robots creating cars and used to construct buildings, but these robots were different.
Walking toward one particular unit, yellow and green, he said, "R2-K9, come here for a moment."
The droid whistled and disengaged from its task, turning toward its owner. Cyrus removed a fob from his storage and handed it to the droid.
"I need you to assemble the industrial replicators first, then the food replicators. After that, I want you to create new droids, Terminator units. We'll divide them into two types: Protectors and Terminators. We'll have a female-style Protector for my mother, a male-style Protector for Duncan, and one for me as well."
He paused, thinking.
"Well… make two for Mom, and one for me."
Then he stopped, realizing he had never considered whether he could store a T-800 with organic skin in his inventory. The system responded no. Even though the Terminator itself was not alive, the organic tissue made it incompatible. A T-1000, however, would be possible; it could liquefy and be transported. But T-1000s required more money, more equipment, and more time.
He needed help now, before they attacked the Harvest.
The R2 units had already created eight additional Droidekas, along with three speeder bikes mounted on landing struts. Once he knew they were going after the Harvest, he had the droids begin producing materials they might need: blasters, blaster rifles, blaster sniper rifles, vibroblades, vibroswords, vibro-axes. All of it was relatively simple to fabricate.
They could construct several droids at once, protocol droids, battle droids, and even the new Protector and Terminator models. The terminators were labeled as infiltrator battle droids. The protectors were labeled as disguised life protectors.
He looked at Duncan and his mother. "Would you like to take the speeder bikes out for a test?" he asked.
"Speeder bikes?" Duncan said. "I like the sound of that."
So did Amanda.
At the moment, the bikes weren't painted any particular color. They would worry about thematic issues later.
They brought the bikes to the surface, and Cyrus showed them how to turn them on and off and how to operate them. The three zoomed away, each wearing a speaker-equipped helmet so they could communicate over comms. He explained how to ease into it, not to do too much too fast.
Their Immortal abilities, heightened reflexes, speed, and cognition, were very similar to a Jedi's in that sense. They were able to push the speeders to extremely high velocities. Both Amanda and Duncan laughed.
Cyrus remembered his own time flying speeders in the Star Wars universe. He had missed the feeling. He couldn't feel the wind in his hair because of the helmet, but he could feel it across his skin. It was invigorating.
He demonstrated the small blaster cannon on the bottom of the bike and invited them to try to hit him. He withdrew his lightsaber and used the Force to deflect shots and redirect them. He even nailed Duncan in the chest. He flew backward, off the bike, which immediately slowed and hovered waiting for its owner.
In Return of the Jedi, Cyrus remembered that the speeders would keep going without their riders if they fell off. Cyrus saw that as a design flaw and made sure to fix it.
The sun was setting when they returned to the castle. They were still on Amanda's vast grounds. They gently flew the speeders back into the dungeon through the opening bay, landing them in the corner. Droidekas had taken up positions around the castle, guarding it. Every so often, one could be seen scanning the perimeter.
"All right," he said to Amanda. "Come over here. R2-K9, over here for a second." When the droid appeared, he gave it his command, "I need you to scan them for armor. That includes a helmet."
Cyrus realized, somewhat embarrassingly, that he could only remember one R2 unit's designation. The only reason he remembered R2-K9 was that the second alpha-numeric of its designation, K9, reminded him of K-9 from Doctor Who.
Due to Cyrus's disinterest in actively learning the other droids' designations, R2-K9 had become the leader of the droid corps by default.
Cyrus pulled another object from his inventory: a Star Trek scanner. He moved to the piles of exotic materials and began scanning them. After scanning Duncan and Amanda to record their sizes, they followed him, watching curiously.
"What are you doing?" they asked.
"Recording the molecular structure of these exotic materials. Once the replicator has the data, it can replicate them by rearranging molecules in the same pattern. That way, I can increase the supply of rare materials like Beskar and the like. If I want adamantium or vibranium, for example…" He trailed off.
For some reason, the system hadn't provided those, indicating that it wanted him to venture into universes where he could obtain them directly.
The MCU, X-Men—those worlds certainly drew the biggest crowds, he thought. He had long suspected that this great contest was something more than it appeared. Why would a multiversal megacorporation invite him, fund him, and support his rise to power? Corporations existed to make money. And what made money better than anything else?
Entertainment.
Was this whole thing a game? A survival spectacle?
At least he wasn't surrounded by the smell of grease anymore, but now he was a puppet on someone else's strings.
"What are you going to do with all this information?" Amanda asked.
"I'm going to make us combat suits," Cyrus replied. "Increase our survivability. We don't know how many Immortals there are, so it's better to be able to take hits without taking damage. They attacked you in groups, Duncan. Even as good as you are, they nearly killed you. Mom especially needs protection. Plus, it keeps our identities more secret. I don't like the Watchers knowing so much."
"I agree," his mother added.
"Okay," Duncan said. "But how are you going to get us out of here? They're watching us now. They're notoriously good at tracking Immortals."
"You're not wrong," Cyrus said. "That's something I'm also working on. Both of you, give me your weapons. You brought your favorites, I assume?"
Duncan went upstairs and returned with two swords: his katana and Amanda's Rhinelander sword.
Cyrus paused, set down the scanner after finishing his scans, and looked at Duncan.
"I have some questions about the Quickening. I hope you can help me."
Duncan's attention had been fixed on the technology around him, but at that, he smiled.
"Finally," he said. "Something I can help with."