Birth of the Undead – Being Undead 8

Written by kshoo :: [Sunday, 27 February 2022 02:38] Last updated by :: [Saturday, 05 March 2022 21:18]

<Late morning, somewhere in Arizona>

Dressed in her traditional Arion exercise garb, Mandi had been putting in work at her makeshift gym for the past 30 minutes while she turned Lex’ proposal in her head. Pulling on the Vendorian weights alternatively with her right and left hands while performing lunges, she had been working on her upper body and back nonchalantly as those interesting thoughts turned in her mind.

Blocks sourced from Aria, she had cobbled together a simple weight machine with the help of Saul’Tel to be a simple replica of what they had back on their home planet and even on the large warships. For a warrior-race like Arions, exercise and a well-defined physique is highly valued, and has been drilled into everyone’s mind since young.

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Despite each condensed block supposedly weighing more than 100 kilotons, to an Arion enhanced with Velorian Protector genetics it was just barely enough for her generic strength exercises, not really pushing her all the way. However it did give her entire body an opportunity to have some sort of exercise that doesn’t require another partner.  

The unique proposal had come out of the blue. An interesting proposal, though it was also something that Mandi Olson herself had thought about even back in the previous dimension.

“Why don’t we create our own army?”

Why not indeed.

As she continued to ponder that question, her arms continued to pull on the chains, which goes through a loop system and brought the weights up three feet into the air, below it is lowered down. With herself and Lex as magnificent speciments of the best of Aria and Velor, and her Supremis’ ability to transmit and evolve any Terran male or female into one akin to their race, it would be a relatively simple task of enhancing hand-picked people, and mould them into a Supremis-powered army that can easily destroy anything Terran made.

All it needs is time and resources.

However the lingering concern that she has within her mind is about Lex. Even though she believes that Lex truly thinks he loves her, thanks to her planting that seed into his mind during their energetic love-making session at the Tower earlier, but Mandi herself had not really tested how long will that influence hold. Her only previous experiment was with the only daughter of that Velorian Protector in the previous dimension, and the outcome was iffy at best. But at that time, she went up against a fellow Supremis who was conceived under the yellow sun unlike now where it is against a Terran, whose frail body and mind made things much easier. More malleable. 

Still, is he trustworthy enough, even as her lover? The fear of betrayal is always there, for Arions and Velorians alike, and she had lived long enough to know that betrayals can happen at any scale, between anyone. For agreement also means exposing herself, her real genetics with Lex, in order to do so in a massive scale. Even their weakness to gold, which she had kept hidden from him still. Her observations of Lex Luthor for the past two years, both afar and upclose, had been enough for her to conclude that he is truly a formidable opponent, for normals and supers alike, and that is even BEFORE his transformation that she has bestowed upon him.

Unless…there is a way for her to take control, bypass her lover somehow, and still do it?

The second question really came out of left field, especially for a career military woman of Aria. “Shall we have a child together?”

On Aria, the union of two persons can be as simple as just living together. Given their race’s affinity for war and conquer, ‘official’ marriage per se is really not that common, even though many couples who decided they want to be together, do stay together through thick and thin inspite all the sex that they have with all others. Coupling for pleasure is one favourite pastime of the Supremis warriors, and it is common that the best of Aria’s Primes, male AND female, to keep harems of their owns, of which Mandi herself was once part of long, long time ago.

Having children however is a different commitment altogether, and given that most of the children are born in birthing matrix or genetic chamber back home, it is almost unheard of for this to happen. Not to mention that it would be very difficult for an Arion woman to agree to carry a child to full-term. It would mean a huge commitment for Mandi to do this, unless they can somehow build a replica of the genesis chamber. Again, technology prospect enticing, but trust issues remain.

Of course, there are the optimistic aspects. Mandi and Lex’ child would be almost assured of having excellent genetics from the parent – the powerful, physical Supremis genes of Aria and Velor, paired with her unique mental powers as well as Lex’ own genius.

It would mean a wonderful legacy for both of them, their child would be indisputable a born-leader for this current world.

But does she want it?

For all her long years of existence she had never once contemplated about starting a family before, at least not on her own volition. There had been suggestions before, of having her mate with other Arion Betas or becoming concubines with selected Primes in order to continue to produce the best for Arions. But that was in her previous life so long ago, before she had forcibly taken the genetics from the Scribe to become the Supremis woman that is today.

She is no closer to an answer even after performing multiple sets today, her energetic exertions wearing the blocks out faster than usual.

<Metropolis, later in the morning>

“How are things with Excalibur?”

Dr. Lilian Hamilton didn’t even look up at the question. Instead she just pointed to the still comatose patient on the far-end of the ward, remarking “Still no worse for wear, at least it’s one positive news that we have. We beta-tested it with the other expandable bodies and they all expired the moment the transfer process commenced. Given that Henshaw, for whatever reason, is at the moment remaining stable, we are still able to try and work out the kinks before we perform it on him.”

“Why didn’t it work?” Lex hovered over Lilian’s shoulder, puzzled with the slow progress. Lilian felt her son’s large frame over her, and also a whiff of…something that is different than before. Parking that thought aside temporarily, she brought up a few dashboards onto her large screen monitor and pointed to a few anomalies. “Calibration is key. The previous situations failed because they were not aware about what was about to happen. The moment their mind rejects the merger then the entire operation fails.”

“And how do you propose we let our dear patient here know about what we are going to do, so that the rejection doesn’t happen?” They both know that Hank is now in a medically induced-coma, and there’s no sure thing that the longer this drags on,

Swivelling her chair around, Lillian remarked “Well, you did mention that you are helping to ferry a few witches around. Would some of them be willing to help us?”

Standing back up, Lex pondered that thought before remarking “Not sure. I haven’t actually met them in person. Still, could be worth a try. How long more do you think we have before we must do the transfer?”

Looking back at the terminal, Lilian replied “Maybe another three months? It would have helped if we have gotten an additional researcher or expert in the field of biomedical science and genetics to do this.”

“I thought you were getting one?” Lex asked casually. He was already informed through text that Dr. Eliza Danvers had decided against the offer. 

“I am, though we will have to go down the list a bit. I believe we will conclude the recruitment in another week or so.” Unconsciously, she grabbed her pen a bit tighter, as she recalled how Eliza had rejected their offer. Luthors don’t take ‘No’ for an answer, and they definitely react poorly should they fail in anything that they have set out to do.

“I assume then the exoskeleton research and the power sources study is also on hold then pending the arrival of that person?” Lex’s brow deepened as he thought about all the other items which are still pending.

“Hopefully not for long. Once the person is onboarded, then I can start to lead the other parts of the work. And of course” looking again at the comatose Hank Henshaw “with HIM onboard again, then we will be able to shorten the development work. Hopefully.”

Patting his mother’s shoulders gently, Lex said “Let me know if I may be of help.” As he was about to leave, he heard his mother ventured a question “And how is your new lover? I assume that she is able to bring you much…pleasure?”

He detected a slight smirk at that question, and just returned with a smile before stepping out from Cadmus.

The moment he got back to the Penthouse floor, he motioned to Mercy to join him in his office. As he sat down in front of his desk, he turned on his tablet, tapped on it and brought up a few items, before pushing it across the table. As Mercy picked it up and read the contents, her eyebrows rose slightly.

“I assume we have a plan to do this? This is highly irregular. How do we know if any of them will even understand what is happening, much less cooperate with us?”

Lex sat back and told her “That’s why I want you to handle this. Discreetly.”

Frowning slightly, she asked “And how long do I have?”

“Three months, the sooner the better. Gather your crew, you plan the rest. Just send me the bill. All I need is one.”

Nodding, Mercy moved on to the next item. “You wanted updates on Project K?” Lex nodded, and Mercy used the same tablet to access a secured cloud location to pull down another folder. Passing the tablet back to Lex, she said “Surprisingly, there are multiple asteroid-hit sites which show similar radiation signatures for the past thirty-years. All dispersed widely around the globe, though a few are in North America. That they are still giving off such radiation is remarkable. Some observers have mentioned that they saw different colours emitting from a few of those site craters. Not sure why that is so, but definitely worth investigating.”

Looking through the list, Lex told Mercy “I think we will be having quite a few excursions for the next few weeks, don’t you?”

 

Later after Mercy had left the office, Lex returned to his own thoughts, replaying this morning’s incident again in his mind.Mandi was lying on her bed at the time, watching him getting dressed in some spare clothes that she happened to have available, most probably for the number of lovers that she cycled through throughout her time. With one arm stretched behind her head and another gently laid across her large chest and gently caressing one of her 38Ds, she looked like a hungry cat who is coolly observing her next meal of the day.

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Despite that they have gone countless rounds of supersex the past hours, she looked as if she still had more than enough to last even longer. Days even.

He could see the gentle bulges of her biceps and triceps as she uses a significant portion of her superstrength to touch herself, though her powerful globes had only dimpled slightly as they retained their rounded curves and firmness, as if they were powerful enough to resist even her own powerful Supremis strength.  

It was then he posed the question about having their own army, as well as starting a family together. Recalling Mandi’s surprised expression when he proposed having a child together, it was quite obvious that she had not anticipated that.

Maybe it’s too soon.

After all, he had only become her mate for only a few days, equal in many ways. But he hopes that she will seriously consider his offer, for he does SO love her so much, that he is willing to couple with her. Lex couldn’t help but fantasise about eventually produce heirs who will be both powerful in physique as well as in mind, becoming their natural successor to lead the world called Earth into a new era under the leadership of the Luthor family.

His body shuddered involuntarily, and he realized that his larger-than-life penis had just shredding through his tailored pants, protruding proudly in front of him and gently tilting his large mahogany desk a few inches on one side. Smiling evilly, he then started to fantasise how his not-so-little Lex would be more than enough to take those self-righteous heroines and even villiainess on.

Maybe he will start with the supposedly reborn Kryptonian girl called Kara Zor-El. 

<Metropolis University, across town>

“Well, that’s that, Jim.” Eliza Danvers remarked, as Jim Nourse checked her feedback. While it wasn’t necessary, Director Jim Nourse had wanted to personally conduct the exit interview with Eliza.Going through the feedback form, Jim raised his head and looked directly into Eliza’s eyes.

“Are you sure that’s the only reason that you’re leaving, Dr Danvers?” which brought a frown to the person sitting opposite himself in his office.

The director of human resources and recruitment for the university, Jim had not always gotten along with Dr. Danvers since he started his role ten years ago. They had fought in meetings and more on topics related to compensation, recruitment policy, retention capabilities, promotion opportunities and even gender equality for more times that he wanted to remember. While Jim Nourse has definitely done his fair share of nudging the old hacks of the university board towards the right direction, Eliza Danvers is one of the more vocal tenured staff who had tore into him for not doing more and faster.

It is also because of his numerous encounters with Eliza Danvers that he came to regard her as a principled person, someone who does not bend nor break just because of the walls placed in front of her. Being in HR also meant that he hears and sees more things that plays out all around him, even though he might not be deep within the conversation.

“That’s the main reason, Jim. Nothing more. Fred has a new commission in Midvale-Leesburg, and we have decided to move back to our hometown.”

Sighing slightly, Jim leaned back against his chair. He removed his glasses and rubbed his face a little before replacing them again. Eliza thought he really looked the fifty-year-old that he is, at least now.

 “I did warn Professor Stanley that his plan to consider external candidates for the Head of Department position is bound to backfire. I guess your resignation at least confirms it.”

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In other words, Jim Nourse had called her out indirectly on her bullshit reason for the resignation.

Eliza merely smiled diplomatically, replying “Well, Professor Stanley and the University does have the right to interview all the best available candidates out there as his replacement. Despite our size we still have a good reputation in this field of research…”

“…Which makes it even more baffling, given that we already have one of the BEST among our tenured staff.” Sighing again, Jim stood up and walked towards a small cabinet on the side. Opening it, he took out two glasses and a bottle of wine. Eliza’s eyebrow rose, not that there were alcohol in the cabinet but that it’s already half empty.

Placing the glasses on the table, Jim poured the white into them, and then remarked “Well, let me instead congratulate you for giving the university the middle finger, and may god bless you and your family on all your future endeavours.” With that he took a large swag from the glass as Eliza looked on bemusedly.

“You’re not the only one who can see through all the wools pulled across their eyes you know. In any case, my term is almost up, and just to let you know I’ve been preparing for my departure too.” Jim gestured towards her glass, and she finally took it and drank it full in one-go too.

Placing it down, she remarked “And I thought I was the only one who was glad to get out from this place” as both of them laughed at that comment.

Later as Eliza Danvers carried her one large box of what remained on her desk in the lab through the hallway of her lab, she saw her daughter waiting impatiently near to the convenience store near the entrance of the building. Upon seeing her mother coming, she walked quickly and approached Eliza, helping her to carry it. Dressed in a simple blue blouse and paired with leather jacket and pants, Alex Danvers couldn’t have looked more out of place in a university, and even less so when standing next to Dr Eliza Danvers’ simpler and more academic-looking blouse and dress.

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“OOff. What’s in there mom? Haven’t you guys heard about digitalization and miniaturization?” They walked towards the parking lot to her compact car. Alex Danvers had to play chauffeur today as her bike broke down the other day she stormed off their family discussion, and it’s been sitting in the garage since Fred Danvers had it towed back.

Grinning at that remark, Eliza quipped “Oh, this and that. Photos, reports, research and presentation decks; such that the only copy I have left are hand-written. You might be surprised to know that in academia not everyone is into digital, you know. Some still prefer to write their own observations and reports the CLASSIC way.”

“Same comment, mom. Digital. Please. One pendrive will be enough to store EVERYTHING in this box. You could just scan it all and thrown all of these away.” Alex complained while carrying the box all the way across the parking lot. God, this is heavy, even for someone who had been regularly doing runs and exercises to keep up with his policeman father. 

“Yes, but nothing beats the touch and feel of paper, don’t you think? And I'd like to think that at least my penmenship is still up to mark, unlike yours.” Eliza just smiled when her daughter groaned, as they put it into the backseat, before Alex took the wheel and drove them out from the parking lot.

There is of course another reason why she must have some things on paper. But that is for another day to explain.

Besides, there are other better conversation topics to venture in the car at the moment. Such as…

“So, all ready for your big day back in high school?” Eliza chuckled when she got another loud groan from her twenty-year-old daughter. “MOM….why do you always insist on doing all this things and messing up my life? I have plans, you know. I’m an adult. I’m already in COLLEGE!”

“College-bound you might be, but remind me again why you missed out on thosee two classes again that YOU absolutely refuse to make up to complete in order to get your diploma.”

“It’s only AP Maths and AP English, Mom. I already know enough about Maths to teach Mr. Drunk, whereas Madam Prozaic was just stumbling through so poorly in her daily work that I doubt anyone could have passed. All I stated was the truth…”

“…and in doing so you caused a ruckus in school as you were unable to show a shred of proof to back-up your claims, brought a lot of unnecessary disrespect to two long-term teachers who happened to be dependant on teaching to pay their bills. Tell me again how did that help you, our family, and the community again?”

“And don’t remind me again how many strings that I had to pull in order to get you to be able to sit-in on all the lectures and tutorial classes in Metropolis University. Even IF your performance is at the top of your class. BUT given that I have resigned, and we ARE moving to Midvale, you must complete this so that we can move on, and then at least consider the options for properly attending college properly. Have I made myself clear Alexis Danvers?”

Silence ensued for a while. “Well, it’s only two classes, I’ll be out of there in no time, right?”

Eliza replied “Yes, and because you ARE so advanced in your work in university, the principal had asked for you to be the TA for AP Biology and Chemistry for a year too.” She chuckled again happily as her daughter groaned again. “So you can earn a little pocket money for your oh so precious Kawasaki that is sitting there in the garage.”

“Hey, leave Saki out of this! Damn it.” Eliza’s eyebrows raised at that comment “Language, Alex.” “English, mom. Admit it, you really love seeing me go through this hardship, right?”

“If being a Teaching Assistant is considered hardship, then I shudder to think how you will regard all the jobs out there when you really need to work for a living.”

Their banter continued for a while before Alex broached the subject that she really wanted to find out. Once they turned onto the highway and got caught in the usual slow-moving traffic, she approached the topic tentatively.

“Mom. Are you and dad disappointed in me?” That brought a pause in Eliza’s mind.

“Well, we DISAPPROVE of the many things that you have done throughout your relatively short history on Earth. But no, we are not disappointed in you. Yet.”

“Then why do you want to adopt a child? I mean, I know I like to do certain things that both of you don’t agree with, but I love both of you. Always. I hope you feel the same about me too?” Alex felt a slight tear forming up in one of her eyes. She pretended to look to the side for traffic, while blinking repeatedly at that thought.

“Well, I have always wanted to have a bigger family. You know this. Given your dad’s occupation and my being too busy, we have missed the boat to conceive, so instead we thought of giving another child out there for an opportunity to be with us.”

Eliza turned to look at Alex “Besides, I think it’d be great for you to learn to be a bigger sibling. Making make you more responsible and accountable for things in the family.”

“Pfft…babysitting duties? No thank you.”

“Who says we are going to adopt a baby?” Alex turned around so that she almost swerved the car into the right lane almost immediately, earning a loud honk from the car from behind. After she righted the car and got her composure back, she dared to venture forward again. “So, not a baby?”

“No.” Eliza chortled on. She seemed to be enjoying herself slightly even. “All of us do need to want some peace and quiet at night. So we’re thinking about someone in her teenage years. Maybe even go to the same school as you, imagine that!” Against the backdrop of Alex Danvers mumbling ‘this is not happening’ repeatedly, Eliza continued “Given that she would be someone closer to your age, so she can also keep you company.”

“or drive me up the wall. And you mentioned 'she', so it's going to be a girl?”

“Or drive US up the wall. Yes, that is a real possibility. And Yes, we are planning to adopt a girl. I don’t particularly relish the thought having a new addition to the family to is able to bonk my daughter in her room that soon, even though I'm sure you've done enough of exploration on your own.” Alex felt the colour rising up her neck when she heard that. Her mother could be so direct when she wants to. 

“Still.” Eliza chuckled again “I have a good feeling about this, and I am sure we will welcome someone special into our family. Amazing. Spectacular. Super even.” That brought a snort out of Alex this time.

“Mom…you and your feelings. I swear…” Alex mumbled as she contemplated life with a younger sister in the family in the near future. Still, she had to admit, Dr. Eliza Danvers’ gut feelings have led their families on a few unconventional trips before. One of which involved her getting that motorcycle (Eliza helped convinced Fred to do so, and Alex hence continued staying at home to commute to classes instead of moving out with her ex-boyfriend). So far everything had turned out, well, ok, despite Alex’ own reservations.

Her mom is a TOP SCIENTIST for god’s sake! But when she mentions something about her feelings, even Fred Danvers the cop toes the line.

“Give it a chance Alex. You’ll see.” Eliza put her left hand on Alex’ right shoulder and patted her.

______________

“Give it a chance, Lena. You’ll see.” Sara patted Lena on the shoulder of her boss. Even though it was gentle and friendly pat, time time it felt as if Sara was trying to knock Lena’s soul out of her body. God this woman is just remarkable.

Beautiful, leggy, smart, and strong. That she is just willing to just settle with LunarCorp as her own PA and be contented just to take low-range salary to write books? Lena thought that she must have really LOVED writing in order for Sara to stay with them.

“Given that we’ve gotten a bloody signed contract from her, I definitely can’t back out now without serious repurcussions, can I.” She heard the snort, and turned towards the raven-haired Samatha Arias who is trying hard to contain her amusement.

Between her personal assistant and her CFO, sometimes Lena felt as as if she’s the child in the room when she’s with Sara and Samantha.

Not that she’s THAT short. Just that her current 5 feet 8 inch stature propped-up by standard two-inch heels can’t really hold up against a six-feet blonde goddess and a 5 feet 11 model-slim, leggy brunette in the same room. The fact that's she's the boss doesn't make things better in any way.

Still, in this particular case they’ve gotten the job done.

“She emailed across a few things that she thought we can work on immediately. In fact…” holding up a printed copy of the email “we can actually incorporate some of her work on our medical mechanical devices immediately, and with some testing I think we can commercialise in a matter of weeks!”

Sam was quite impressed. “See what I told you? We needed a leap of faith, and voila! Also, that’s a surprise that Dr Danvers actually negotiated DOWN her salary with a promise of some housing benefits support and something else.”

“Yes. She asked for some of the proposed her salary to go towards some other new projects, which are in preliminary stages. Plus potential opportunities for people to come onboard for interships to defray the high-cost of researcherse. Says she wanted to discuss more in person. We’ll see.” Lena tossed the document on the table before venturing. “Now that’s done, we’ll have to see what we can create and do together.”

“Drinks?” Sam ventured, bringing out laughs from Sara Lynn and Lena as they rejoiced a good day.