PHALANX - The series

Episode fourteen: strange encounter part one

 

Jennifer woke up a little dizzy one morning. It had been two weeks since Fred had regained his memory, but it had taken him almost a week to get over the effects of both the memory loss, and the fact that his twin actually wanted to cause WW III. Everybody was all right now, except for these strange feelings Jennifer had been having since Frederic's return. She felt… different, strange, as if her body had come down with some mysterious illness. She knew her body was immortal, and it was immune to every disease possible, so she had not done a scan. The symptoms were not that bad, anyway.

Today, however, she felt worse than normal. Wary of disturbing her husband, she snuck out of bed, and went into the bathroom. She raised the shield on her end of the link to maximum, and did a scan.

"Temperature: slightly elevated." She found. "Blood composition: red blood cells: normal. White blood cells: slightly elevated. Plasma: normal. Hormonal composition:…" she began to read off the different hormones that are normally present in the Human body. Her breath stocked as she continued to read level after level. "This… this can't be," She gasped. She struggled to maintain her shield through her emotional turmoil. "We took precautions…"

 

"Fred? Fred, honey, wake up, please." Jennifer's voice was shaking. Badly. She did not know what to do with her emotions, or how to act on them.

"Hmm?" Frederic rose from his slumber. "Jenny? Love, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost!" a slight panic started to rise from the depths of his soul. He had been intimately linked to her for so long that he knew it had to be something off the scale to have this effect on her.

"Fred, I don't know how to tell this…" she started shaking. Without a further thought, he wrapped his arms around her, and held her tight. Rocking her slightly, petting her hair, he said: "It can't be that bad, love. But, if it will make you feel better, you can just show me."

Jennifer nodded in his arms, and dropped her shields. Frederic staggered slightly due to the sudden rise in her emotions pouring through the link.

"Oh…My…God," Frederic gasped out.

 

Daphnix sat on the bridge, staring into infinity. He loved infinity. It calmed him, soothing him. It tore him away from the continuous thoughts that coursed through his mind. His reverie was broken when he heard the door slide open. He also heard the footsteps he had come to know so well: Frederic and Jennifer. He could hear immediately that something was wrong, just by the way they walked. They walked more… secretively, as if they were trying to hide something from him. He also knew that both Frederic and Jennifer couldn't hide anything from him, and they both knew it. This had been their favorite way of letting him know: we have something to tell you.

Most of the time, it was about a new security protocol, or some new piece of technology they had come up with, but this time, Daphnix could feel that there was a different air around them.

"Good morning. Now, spill. What is it?" he swiveled the chair around, and looked into his two friends' eyes. They were both trying to hide the big smile they had on their faces. It was a futile attempt. "What?" he asked, now smiling himself. When Frederic got like this, everyone joined, willing or not. It was a rather strange side effect from his empathic abilities, dormant since they had reawakened Jennifer after the fight with the Destroyer.

Frederic just sent a burst of data through telepathic means. It took Daphnix about two seconds to find out it was biological data, from a mental scan. He analyzed it.

His face registered shock, just as Frederic and Jennifer's had done when they had found out.

"Well, I take it congratulations are in order." Daphnix laughed. Frederic and Jennifer, now no longer trying to conceal their smiles, laughed openly, and they took Daphnix in a massive hug.

"I can tell you, it was a huge surprise when Jenny brought me the news. I still can't believe it! I'm going to be a dad!" Frederic laughed.

"But, didn't you tell me you wanted to wait?" Daphnix asked.

"We did. Remember the energy dragons we displayed when Fred had just defeated the dark One for the Ketari powers?" Jennifer asked.

"The ones that crashed into each other?" Daphnix asked. "Yes, I do."

"That is the Ketari mating ritual. Destroying the Dark One must have triggered it somehow. Neither of us knew what it was at the time, just that it was immensely pleasurable. This morning, after Jenny woke me up, we searched our knowledge, and found out just what it was," Frederic grinned.

"And, do you know what it's going to be?" Daphnix asked.

"I don't know whether I want to, or not. Jenny doesn't want to know it." Frederic responded. "We just did a small matter scan, to find out that the readings were correct. We didn't go any deeper than that."

"Well, I'm kinda curious, but if you don't want to know it, then I don't want to know either." Daphnix said.

"Well, I'm still at an indecision. If you want to know, then I'll take a peek as well."

"Thanks man." Daphnix said, grinning.

"Raise your shields as well, honey. I wouldn't want to ruin your surprise." Jennifer nodded, and raised her shields. Frederic still had a grin on his face as he scanned in her womb. The smile faded.

"What?" both Jennifer and Daphnix asked at the same time.

"Jennifer, honey, I think you should look yourself."

"Fred? Is something wrong with the baby? If there is, please, just tell me…" Frederic cut her off. "Just look." He urged her.

 

"Twins?" Daphnix exclaimed. "You're having fucking twins? You two don't fool around, do you?"

"If something's worth doing, it's worth doing right." Frederic grinned, hugging his wife, kissing her on the lips. Daphnix shook his head in amusement at the sight of his two closest friends, happier then he had ever seen them before. He turned back to his sensors scans as he noticed that they weren't coming out of the love link any time soon.

"You know," he started when he noticed their return to the mortal world, "we should give a party." This comment was received at a very positive response from both Frederic and Jennifer.

"Think we should call Barbs, to arrange a boat, or something?" Frederic asked.

"That'll ruin the surprise. We can hold it in an empty fighter bay. All that it'll take is a couple of hours work to get it into party order," Daphnix said. Jennifer nodded.

"Yeah! And then we can tell everyone at the same time! Imagine the looks on their faces!" she added. Frederic looked kind of mad.

"You two are cruel! We drag everyone up here, without a reason, scare the shit out of them, and then tell them the good news?" both Jennifer and Daphnix nodded, unsure due to Frederic's shouting tone.

His face changed, and now displayed a smile. "I like it."

Jennifer playfully smacked him on the shoulder. "O, you!" she exclaimed with a smile. "You're almost as bad as we are!"

"Not my fault. You two are rubbing off on me. Now, are going to stand here all day, or get some work done? Remember, we have to put everything up covertly, so we don't tip anyone off."

"How about just some tables with champagne, some snacks, and that's it? Linda can get us the music after we tell everyone."

I wondered when you were going to drag me into this. And when were you going to tell me?

"Since you hear everything we say, we didn't need to tell you," Frederic grinned.

Very funny. Ha ha.

Frederic chose to ignore the AI's comments. The three friends immediately started preparing the shuttle bay for the party. Nothing fancy, just some tables to the side, with snacks on them, and some extra bulkheads to hide the empty shuttle bay, stretching 1 kilometer above them. They topped it off at the normal height of the corridors and rooms. Then, the fun part came.

"Hello, little bro. How's it going?" Barbara's voice was friendly, as always. Frederic kept his poker face perfectly.

"Reasonably. Are you girls busy?"

"Depends what for," She said.

"Great! Drop everything and get your asses over to the Ortega in, let's say… two hours."

"Huh? Sure, but-" Frederic cut the connection.

"You are truly evil. You know they are going to die of curiosity," Jennifer smiled.

Similar scenes repeated themselves as Frederic called various friends. He also arranged transport for Steve and his friends, as well as for Tim and his friends. Nobody knew what was going on, other than the fact that they were expected in two hours, on the Ortega.

 

Two hours later, the people started to flow in, docking in the upper part of the shuttle bay, and were then lead down, to the party-area. After all, they were expecting about 100 people.

The various groups stood together, asking themselves if anyone knew what was going on. Nobody has a clue. Frederic, Jennifer and Daphnix laughed when they saw the curious faces of their friends. The moment Jennifer and Frederic strode into the party-area, the amassed people flocked to them, asking what was going on. Mysteriously, Frederic and Jennifer kept their poker faces, and walked to the front of the bay, where everyone would be able to see them.

"I bet you are all wondering why you are dragged down here," Frederic began.

"Yeah! Now get on with it!" someone yelled from the audience. The people laughed.

"First of all, we want to thank you all for coming here," Jennifer said, building tension. The crowd roared disapprovingly.

"Well, we got you all amassed here to tell you some good news." Frederic was suddenly shaking on his legs, totally unsure of how to tell his friends this. "Well, the good news is… what I'm trying to tell you is…" he fell over his own words. "I'm going to be a dad!" he shouted. One could hear a pin drop, the crowd was that silent. The silence lasted only for about ten seconds, but it was enough to unnerve Frederic and Jennifer. Then, cheers erupted, and applause sounded.

The party lasted for a long time with people congratulating Frederic and his wife, asking questions about the babies, and so on. Generally, everyone had a great time. Actually, they had such a great time, everyone stayed for the night on board the Ortega.

After everyone had left the Ortega, that next day, the three warriors were reluctant to get back on duty. Doing so anyway, the three walked to the bridge, and sat down in their chairs. Jennifer cast a glance at her sensor readings to confirm that everything was still ok. Her eyes slid down the list of scanned and logged universes, and stopped at one of the recently discovered universes.

"Love, there's something fishy at universe 475," Jennifer said, pointing at her screen.

"Put it on the viewer, love," Frederic asked, and turned to the large screen. Daphnix did the same. The full sensor log appeared.

"A wormhole," Daphnix said. "Big deal."

"Not just any wormhole, D. Jenny, switch to the Phalanxial probe we have there, and see if you can find it on visual."

"Right away, love." Jennifer tapped her console, and the viewer changed. The probe's visual sensors turned to very angle possible, but the wormhole was not to be seen.

"How come we haven't detected this wormhole before anyway?" Daphnix asked.

"We upgraded our sensors only a few days ago, D. Jenny, switch to sensors, love." The viewer changed again, the data for the wormhole filled the screen.

"Those neutrino levels are way off to be a wormhole," Jennifer said. "It almost looks like a wormhole created by our wormhole drive."

"An artificial wormhole? How?" Daphnix sounded perplexed.

"Linda, plot course and prepare for dimensional shift. Jenny, ready all sensors, love. We're going to investigate. D, raise shields and prepare yourself. Earth 475 has no sentient life, but that doesn't mean we can't run into hostilities from whatever lies on the other side of the wormhole."

The Ortega came out of the red dimensional shift near the location for the alleged wormhole.

"Full sensor sweeps in progress." Jennifer reported. "Can you get us closer? It will cut down on sensor time."

Daphnix nodded, and tapped his console. The humongous battlecarrier let itself be guided like a meek lamb, and Daphnix piloted it within a few hundred kilometers of the wormhole's location.

Suddenly, the bridge was filled with light, as the wormhole opened in front of them. The screen, set to visual reconnaissance for the moment, dimmed immediately as the levels of light exceeded comfortable levels.

"Gravitational pull is rising! We're being sucked in!" Daphnix reported.

Frederic looked at Jennifer. "We might as well explore, love." Jennifer shrugged. Frederic nodded, and motioned for Daphnix to cut the engines, and let the Ortega be sucked in. The ship turned, and disappeared into the wormhole's event horizon.

The Ortega blasted into a strange barrier in the middle of the wormhole. Inside the huge ship, all hell broke loose. Warning klaxons howled over orders being shouted by Frederic.

The red lights were on, both to increase readability of the screens and to conserve energy. The red light was insufficient to provide sufficient illumination for decent viewing of anything but the screens.

"What the fuck is this? Jenny, full sensor sweep. Daphnix, damage report. Linda, start repairing the hologrid." Frederic's voice barked. His fingers raced over the small panels built into his command chair's armrests.

"It's some kind of energy barrier. Sensors are unable to penetrate it," Jennifer reported.

"Linda, hologrid status?" Frederic asked.

75% operational. Full cover has been compromised in engineering, life support and section 0078 of the shuttle bay. Estimated time of repair is 15.8 minutes.

"Thank you. Daphnix, shields and weapon status?"

"We only have 25% shields. Phasers are fully operational, antimatter torpedoes are being worked on."

"Engines?"

"QDD compromised. Wormhole drive appears operational, but we have insufficient energy to create an energy molecule. Fusion engines are at 45% and holding."

"Reverse fusion engines, and get us back out of this wormhole. Get us to a safe distance and come about. Jenny, keep working on this barrier. I want to know what the fuck is going on!" Frederic's fingers raced across the small consoles in his armrests, checking on systems, and assisting Linda wherever he could.

 

"We have restored full QDD functionality, the hologrid has been repaired, although a major replacement is recommended. We are back to 95% operational ability," Daphnix reported.

"The energy barrier appears to be mystical in nature," Jennifer reported. "I don't know anyone except you who is capable of raising such a barrier."

"I do," Frederic said. "The Gods of the universe."

"The Gods? Why would the Gods put a barrier in the middle of an… artificial wormhole?" Jennifer asked, the pieces clicking into place in her mind as well. Daphnix's expression showed that he too, had come to the same conclusion. The Gods created this wormhole, and put a barrier in it to keep something in…  or something out.

"You are too smart for your own good, young Phalanx." Shivers ran down Frederic's spine at the everywhere-and-nowhere voice. It sounded…angry somehow.

"Wise One," Frederic said, rising from his seat. He walked to the figure, and knelt down.

"You should not go beyond the barrier, young Phalanx."

"Why not?" Frederic's head shot up, and his eyes locked with the eyes of the God.

"Beyond the barrier lies something you do not want to run across. I will say no more. You will leave this universe immediately, and never return. This decision is final." The God disappeared.

"Course home?" Daphnix asked. Frederic looked at his friend, and closed his eyes.

"Course for the wormhole. Keep our speed down with the fusion engines. I want you to stop 5000 meters in front of the barrier, and fire at will. I am not about to become a puppet to the Gods. And it's time they know it." Frederic fell down in the chair, his entire visage displaying pure anger. Jennifer cringed back under the coldness of his voice.

A disappointed and resigned voice returned. "We thought you wouldn't follow orders, young Phalanx. Very well, tell your friend to hold the attack, and we will tell you what lies beyond that barrier."

 

The three warriors sat down in the conference room, with the God at the head of the table.

"What I am about to tell you will be hard, emotionally, so please brace yourself," The God began. "After Frederic's fight with the Destroyer, we contemplated the battle, especially the part where the Destroyer almost killed Jennifer. We saw how you reacted to Jennifer's near demise, and to what lengths you were willing to go to bring her back. It filled us with fear as to what might happen if such an event were to reoccur, but with a fatal ending."

"You wanted to know what I would do if Jennifer were to die?" Frederic's tone was tightly controlled, as was every fiber of his being. Only Jennifer and Daphnix could tell he was enraged.

"Exactly. So, we, the Gods, created a simulation universe. In this universe, the outcome of the battle of Earth 254 was entirely different. The simulated Frederic was unable to save Jennifer, the first time. He withdrew his own Human powers from her dead body, and literally, as you would put it, lost his marbles. He activated the Forbidden knowledge, with the secondary personality kicking in almost immediately, as some sort of safety measure."

Jennifer's fingers sought out Frederic's hand, and squeezed it. She could feel his hand shaking, as she felt the turmoil of emotions through the link. She knew for a fact that his shields were up.

"Unfortunately, without Jennifer, there was no one to bring him back to normal. The secondary personality followed Frederic's orders, the total annihilation of ALL evil. It showed no scruples in completing this objective. He went to level two, bringing the Destroyer with him, resulting in a battle between demigods. Everyone who watched, died that day. Many great warriors such as Daphnix, Freda, Daphne, Jonathan, the Slayers, the Black Cats, the Immortal warriors of 254, and everyone else who was there that day, they all died. The secondary personality wasn't phased. He was there to destroy the Destroyer, and he would complete his mission."

Frederic's emotions threatened to overrun his self-control. His emotion-block slid into place. He immediately felt calm.

"The secondary personality first activated the War Dragon, then called forth the forces of nature. The forces of nature unleashed the elemental dragon, who in turn used the secondary personality, along with the Oech-anya War Song. The result was devastating. The Destroyer, still at level two, was wiped away as if he were nothing. For the last four months, the secondary personality has been active, following Frederic's initial directive: destroy all evil. The only exception is the following: the secondary personality does not follow the secondary objective: protect the innocent."

Frederic's emotion blocks broke down. The next instant, he was no longer seated at the table. The instant after that, the God was pressed against the far wall, with Frederic hitting and kicking him wherever he could.

"How DARE you? Who do you think you are? Creating simulations from ME? WITHOUT my permission? You may be God, but you could at least have ASKED me!!"

The God disappeared, and reappeared right behind Frederic. He grabbed Frederic's hands, and held him tight.

"That is not all," The God said. "The secondary personality has grown vastly in experience, strength and technology. We are no longer in control of the simulation."

Frederic's head rolled back as he laughed. "Even better! You create a simulation and you lose control over it! Talk about irony!"

"Please, young Phalanx, try to understand… we were just trying to determine the risks!"

"Thanks for the talk, and now, GET OFF MY SHIP!" Frederic's voice boomed through the room.

"Young Phalanx, try to-"

"Get. Off."

The God vanished. Frederic turned to his two companions.

"Now, if what he tells us is true, that guy is even more dangerous than the Destroyer. Since we are basically one and the same, we probably both defeated our nemesis, and his secondary personality has been active for four months, he could very well be even more lethal than anything I have ever encountered."

Jennifer and Daphnix nodded in agreement. "Therefore, I would suggest that I go in alone. If it turns out I have to fight this guy, I don't want anyone else to get hurt."

Again, Jennifer and Daphnix nodded, although reluctantly. Frederic then proceeded to get the Daedalus III ready. He dressed himself in full warriors outfit, with all the mundane and mystical weaponry he could carry, including Daphnix's golden bow, and Jennifer's sword of invisibility.

 

The Daedalus came to a dead stop in front of the energy barrier, the Ortega looming behind it. The large ship emptied its weapons against the barrier, shattering it. Frederic immediately slammed the throttle all the way down, and the small vessel jumped to near lightspeed. The barrier was reinstated mere seconds after the small ship vanished. The Ortega reversed out of the wormhole, and came to a dead stop, waiting for some sign of life from their companion.

 

Mental log, Frederic Fromthefield.

I  passed the barrier ten seconds ago. Unsure as to what I will find, I have activated this protected memory in which I will keep a mental log of everything that happens. It has now been ten seconds since I have exited the wormhole. I have ordered Linda to search for the Ortega. End log.

 

Frederic looked out the window. His mind eased at the view of an identical sky as the one he had left behind in universe 475. Linda bleeped as she found something.

I have found… the Warship Ortega. If I could call it the Ortega. It has an unknown hull material, energy signature, and engine signature. It looks almost like an entirely different ship! That thing is armed to the teeth with weapons of unknown designs, and defended by shields that are just as bad!

"Damn," Frederic grunted. "Can you locate my alter ego?"

He's on the surface of Earth 254.

"Set a course, and engage at maximum speed. Cloak us to level-two, and don't connect to the ship's AI. I don't want him knowing we're here."

The AI complied without a glitch. Frederic beamed down, in search of his alter ego. He soon found him, strolling through what used to be San Francisco. The alter ego was dressed in an unknown type of armor, while he jumped from location to location. He had no mental shields raised, which surprised Frederic. Frederic himself was still cloaked, and followed his alter ego. He was curious as to the techniques that developed during four months of continuous secondary personality.

The later ego scanned the vicinity, and then jumped into a factory through the roof window. Frederic followed. He saw ten vampires holding a couple of girls. During the fall, the alter ego drew a strange looking weapon. The energy bolt killed the ten vampires, along with their hostages. The alter ego landed neatly next to the remains of the hostages.

"Waste." Was all the alter ego said, and walked out of the factory without a further glimpse at the double murder he had just committed.

Frederic fell to his knees, and offered a prayer for the souls of the two girls, then ran after his alter ego. Along the way, he dropped his cloak.

"Fred!" Frederic called. The alter ego slowly turned around.

"I was beginning to wonder whether you'd turn up. Ever since I knew I've been stuck in this simulation, I have been waiting for you. Now, prepare to die, and may the Gods show mercy on your soul. For I won't!" with that, the alter ego charged.

Frederic fell to his one knee, pulled out his two quantum pistols, and fired bolt after bolt. A strange energy field surrounding the armor absorbed them all.

"Borg technology." The alter ego said wile continuing the charge. Frederic had no other option but to jump aside. He threw the pistols aside, and drew the neutron accelerator.

"Since I have no more need to hide them, allow me to present to you, the Human, Oech-anya and Ketari Phalanx, second build." The alter ego dropped the hiding of his implants. Although the implants were limited to a little more than the ones still visible with 7 of 9, they distorted his entire appearance.

Frederic fired the entire charge of the neutron accelerator at BorgFred. He just laughed; as the energy bundle was absorbed by the Borg shields. Frederic threw away the accelerator, and the batteries. He had no use for energy weapons. He knew that now. He took the Golden bow, and fired a couple of arrows to his adversary. The arrows made a half turn midway, and Frederic barely had time to grab them, and put them back in the quiver. He beamed the discarded stuff up to the Daedalus.

That only left hand-to-hand for Frederic. He drew his two Swords, and formed the Dual Blade. The Necklace joined in the fun. Frederic's eyes glowed green as he accessed the Oech-anya powers.

BorgFred just laughed as he drew another contraption from his belt. Two bright white energy rods shot from both sides. "A Dual Blade light saber?" Frederic choked out.

"I improved the old design a little." BorgFred grinned, and charged.

Time and time again, the weapons met. Frederic had already accessed the Force, while BorgFred had just accessed the Necklace. As the two fighters broke off, Frederic called for the secondary personality. With renewed vigor, both warriors tore at each other. Now that Frederic's secondary personality had joined in, BorgFred had to access the Force as well.

"You are weak! I am ashamed that you are the one I was created from!" BorgFred said, and broke off. With a single jump, he landed at least ten meters backward. He deactivated the light saber. "Now I will destroy you!"

Frederic felt a tugging at his mental defenses. He barely had time to grunt 'what the…' when a burning pain ripped through his brain. His shields collapsed, and Frederic sunk to his knees, clutching his head in pain. BorgFred's face was impassive. Frederic fell on his right side; his mind had retreated back to his subconscious, the last place of defense.

 

Frederic slowly came out of his stupor. He saw nothing. He tried his powers, and they didn't respond either. His entire mind and body ached with a pain he had never felt before. He was naked, in a dark cell, with some unknown type of mental dampeners active.

Mental log, Frederic Fromthefield.

I have no idea how long I have been out, but I do know I am on board the Warship Ortega. I have been stripped naked, and put into the brig. I am unable to use any of my mental powers outside of my body. The mental suppressors in the brig must have been upgraded as well, since the ones on the Ortega are quite easy to overcome.

BorgFred is even more dangerous than the Gods described him. Without Jennifer to bring him back to the normal state of mind, he has used all the knowledge he has access to, to create the deadliest of deadly technologies. This Warship Ortega is only the first example. He has created a Dual Blade light saber, and I have no idea what he did to the quantum pistol, but now it destroyed ten vampires and two hostages in a single blast! ONE BLAST!

For the first time since Jenny's… I feel scared. And for the first time in a long time, it's for my own life. Neither the Destroyer, nor the Dark One could scare me like this. I hope I'll get a chance later to add to this log.

End log.

 

Mental Log, Frederic Fromthefield.

It has been 18 hours since I woke up in this cell. More and more, I find myself thinking of Jenny. Her beautiful face, her bright blue eyes, her pearly white teeth… Gods, how I love her! I hope BorgFred doesn't find the way out of this. If he does, I don’t know what'll happen when he finds the Ortega just outside the wormhole.

I'm sure D. will do whatever he can to protect her. He has to. Now that she's pregnant, she's vulnerable. Gods, how scared I am. He can do what he wants to me, but I hope that he leaves her alone… the thought of my beautiful love, hurt by his hands is worse than death. I will hunt him down, that I swear!

End log.

 

Mental log, Frederic Fromthefield.

I have now been awake for 24 hours. I am still unable to manifest my powers outside my body. I keep myself active with meditation and blind-action exercises. My worry, now shifted from myself to Jenny completely, keeps distracting me. I find myself hurting inside, not knowing what the bastard will do to her if he finds his way out, and encounters the Ortega.

I am sure that they'll do their best, but his appearance is so much like me, that I am afraid they'll not see it until it is too late. Who knows what he has downloaded from my brain in the time I was unconscious?

I have attempted to contact Linda, but it seems that he has changed AI's along with the rest of the technology. I am beginning to feel madness creep up on me. My thoughts are becoming less and less coherent. Sometimes, I find myself thinking about Jennifer's fate, and realize the next instant I have passed 30 minutes thinking about what I would do to him if I get my hands on him. I have to get out of here!

 

Mental log, Frederic Fromthefield.

I will try a last act of desperation. I will exhaust my entire mental reserve in an attempt to break out of this cell. If it doesn't work, I will encode my logs in a self-preserved memory, so Jennifer can read them when she finds me. I have also included a warning message: she should get the hell out of here, BorgFred is dangerous!

Whatever will be, will be.

 

Frederic knelt down, and focused. His entire being focused on his mental powers. He could feel a slight ache starting in his head. Not soon after, the ache developed in a burning, and then into a full-blown firestorm. He let out a cry of anguish, but he refused to give up the summoning of his powers. He cried out as the pain in his body became almost too much to bear.

With one last cry of fury incarnated, he released all the pent-up energy of three races. The massive firestorm could rival Hell for intensity. Frederic kept howling, his fury taking substance in the massive firestorm raging within the confines of the cell. Vaguely, he heard a masculine computer voice noting something. He didn’t hear.

The mental dampers overloaded, and exploded in massive balls of flame, adding to the fury that was Frederic. The walls of the brig were blasted outward a moment later, Frederic's rage and fury no longer contained by the mental dampers. Frederic's body, scorched by the flames, walked out of the massive firestorm with green-glowing eyes.

"Secondary personality, active," he stated, and began to walk to the bridge.