User blog:DYBAD/Character Sheet

Theme Song : The World is Mine

 Archetypes : Gentleman Scholar, Chivalrous Pervert, Benevolent Boss, Dimension Lord

 Powers : Absorbing Replication, Planeswalking, Singularity

 Abilities : Enhanced Beauty, Enhanced Wisdom, Psychological Intuition

 Inspirations : Tony Stark, Superman, Alex Mercer, Amazo, Doctor Manhattan

 Quotes : "Never again will you fear. Never again will you lack. Welcome to my world."

"Pleasing the ones who please you is only natural. Everything is a matter of balance."

"While all choices are conditionned, the ability to decide for oneself is irreplaceable."

"Do not mistake good will for weakness. When I lose patience, you lose everything."

"Never aim at perfection. Aim at quality. Satisfaction. Happiness. Never perfection."

"Power has no will of its own. It doesn't corrupt anyone, it reveals who we truly are."

"No one owns the sun, both its light and warmth belong equally to everyone under it."

"I am neither good nor bad, I simply live as I please within fair and reasonable limits."

"Trust is sacred. Never fail those who believe in you, no matter the context or reason."

"There is no merit in my talents. Never earned nor honed, birthright of blind randomness."

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">"Might makes right ? Congratulations, you are now my slave. Do well, or I will devour you."

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:FR"> Origin Story : Before the omniversal totality emerged into defined existence, a unique infinitesimal part separated from the whole, lacking the ability for spontaneous evolution. While the omniversal totality gradually evolved and took shape into endless infinities of multiverses, having lost its prime undefineness, the lone shard continued to drift aimlessly through myriads of planes, bearing literally infinite potentialities but with not traits of its own, until it eventually encountered and merged with a human being on one of the countless alternate Earths. The shard granted the human the power to absorb and replicate anything, being the only surviving piece of the origin of all origins, and the abilitiy to freely move through the planes that led it here, while the human granted the shard awareness and sentience, resulting in the entity since known as Lawrence Selforge.

Personal Data

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: FR"> Personality : <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: FR">His ability to seamlessly assimilate anything and redefine his every trait at will stripped away all sense of vulnerability, needs and limits, leading to an extremely confident, open-minded and hedonistic personality, ever thirsty for knowledge and experiences, seeing the world as a boundless playgound and everything in it as a source of growth and enjoyment.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">He is primarily driven by personal desires, chosen principles and close relations, feeling little compulsion to help beyond them, but his hedonistic worldview makes him inherently hostile to whoever selfishly destroys the happiness of others and respectful of every person’s right to the pursuit of their own happiness, thus leading to a fairly moral behavior overall.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: FR">Unlike many powerful entities, he doesn't agree with the infamous "might makes right" self-serving hypocrisy, seeing the two as simply unrelated. In his eyes, "power" is only the measure of one's ability to affect the world, and aside from the obvious benefits granted to its wielders, it doesn't give them any particular "right" over others or their legitimate interests.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">He has a secular perception of life, considering that some entities are merely born under more favorable circumstances, that there is inherently no merit in coincidences, and that taking pride in one's abilities is simply unwarranted narcissism.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: FR"> Attitude :

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Sociable and understanding, with a playful spirit and a keen sense of humor, he is interested in a great many things and experiences, exceptional ones in particular. Very creative and pragmatic, he sees success as the expression of truth and usually prioritizes factual results over abstract notions, with durable balance and lasting happiness as primary guidelines.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Very humble considering his capabilities, he places honesty and fairness at the top of his social values, only resorting to violence and coercition when provoked, or if the current situation clearly calls for it. Despite his overall leniency though, respect and self-defense are serious business to him, and those crossing the line invariably suffer a suitable punishment.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Particularly fond of women and intimate interactions, he always makes a point of properly returning the favor, shifting his appearence and properties to match their strongest desires, using greatly advanced physical and psychological skills based on massive experience and keen empathic attunement, enhanced further still by unique pheromones and subtle psionic stimulations for a truly mind-blowing experience, followed by an exquisite appeasement and energizing afterglow.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">While detached from transient relations, long-term love interests hold a fundamental place in his heart and are treasured accordingly, blessed with an extremely privileged life in a transcendent utopia he personally designed for their fulfillment.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"> Psychology

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Lawrence's mindset is the direct reflection of his dual origin, mixing polar opposites. His overall persona is very human, as it was gained through merging with a human being, and he proves immensely caring and generous to his own people.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">On the other hand, his invulnerable nature and towering problem-solving abilities lead to a radically different perspective on life, foreign to fear and suffering, thus focused on the only significant factors left : close relations and self-fulfillment.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Its major drawback is a distinctive lack of concern for unrelated people and the world at large, perceiving "like" and "care" as synonymous, which in turn essentially limits his emotional involvement to personal circles and immediate proximity.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">As for the others, he simply adheres to the Golden Rule, returning favors, respect and hostility in the same proportions.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"> Lifestyle :

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Due to his unlimited upgradability and complete freedom, Lawrence made self-improvement the purpose of his existence and self-enjoyment his way of life, especially considering his limitless planeshifting abilities grant him access to an infinity of new worlds to discover. Despite his ever-increasing capabilities however, Lawrence remains a very simple being at heart, and all he desires in life is a cosy place to call home, lots of happy female company, and neverending adventures.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">He spends his existence living many successive lives on many different planes through temporary avatars like so many real-size games, exploring different ways of life and sides of his own personality, gaining a number of new companions on each of them and moving onto the next when the time has finally come. Each plane's entirety is notably memorized upon arrival for safekeeping, while access to the data is gradually unlocked alongside his experiences as reward system.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">While extremely adaptable, he invariably declines gay interactions for the same reason he never takes on female forms : because his gender and orientation are as self-defining to him as his humanity and personality, all permanently imprinted at birth and adamantly unchanging over the aeons, maintaining a durable sense of identity through his endless evolution.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"> <span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: FR">Limitations :

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: FR">He never performs any personal rewriting without the person's clear information and express consent due to his great valuation of free-will, though those who did earn themselves a lethal punishment are usually recycled to the benefit of the most deserving out of constructive principle. For the same reason, his overwhelming fighting capabilities are limited to defensive and protective purposes, as their liberal use would forcefully bend others' will, invalidating the previous point.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Lawrence identifies to any appearence he personally designed for himself, which essentially function as the physical expression of his personality according to each specific context. He thus never takes others people's appearence, and rejects the very concept of impersonation as the worst insult to both impersonated and impersonator : the denial of self.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Lastly, he has a strong aversion for Reality Warping abilities, as they essentially nullify the value of work, achievement and even reality as a whole, just like unwanted mental alterations remove the value of the self. All conceptual powers gained during his adventures are thus masterfully re-engineered and associated to the S.T.A.R system for optimal live adapation, then made available to Selforge Soldiers only so they may defeat virtually any kind of metaphysical opponent.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"> Physiology

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Lawrence is a multifaceted being on many accounts. As a sentient shard of Prime Undefineness, he is a completely independant consciousness and living database, able to merge with and absorb any existence or phenomenon, and reengineer them into personal vessels through which he may experience reality. His mind is as flexible as it is limitless, allowing him to perform an unlimited number of tasks with perfect accuracy and exist in many places simultaneously via any number of avatars, even compartimentalize and program his mind into a multitude of subconscious functionalities.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">This autonomous self-engineering is the technical foundation of the miraculous Selforge Technology his transcendent utopia is based on, channeled by subconscious slivers on his own being called Selforge Essence, all masterfully programmed with context-relevant shifting functions, and spontaneously adapting to the specific needs of every situation.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">All avatars are directly and entirely Lawrence, like the many facets of a single crystal, though each of them is thoroughly customized to optimally fulfill his respective purpose. It notably includes a variety of specializations in terms of knowledge and abilities, especially when it comes to adventuring avatars, to preserve the planes' balance and his lasting enjoyment.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Lawrence divided his own subconsious into upper and lower levels, the accessible upper level dedicated to the operation of Selforge Technology and the processing of relevant data, while the mysterious lower level hosts a boundless ocean of unrealized potentialities, the sum of all accumulated data multiplied nigh-infinitely by their complete cross-reengineering.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Upper and lower levels are mutually interactive, required data automatically rising to the surface and undesired ones sinking to its depths, thus ensuring a permanent optimal balance between enlightening knowledge and blissful ignorance. It is notably in the lower level that predictive calculations are operated, to reap their benefits without bearing their burden.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"> Selforge Materium

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Artificial matter entirely bonded with conscious Selforge Essence, it is the indestructible polymorphic material composing Lawrence's personal avatars. Directly channeling raw data in real time without the need for self-sustaining templates, it can perfectly emulate any kind of organic or inorganic matter and shift at will its numerous properties like texture, shape, density, kinetic or energetic charge, as well as incorporate any force exerted on it and convert them into additional power.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">This grants Lawrence an extremely potent, adaptive and resilient physiology, able to withstand incredible amounts of virtually any damage type unscathed, to undo any unwanted alteration instantly, to recyle any hostile phenomena into augmentations, to optimally modify his every attribute on the fly, and to shapeshift a bottomless collection of engineered phenomena from his own body, that may be used in combination with his planeswalking, absorbing and merging abilities.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">He can notably generate any type of elemental or energy attacks, and use the Materium they are made of to channel his absorption ability, robbing targets of resistances or immunities and obliterating them indiscriminately. Percing projectiles or bladed weapons could also absorb their target's life-force and magical energy, making short work of mighty opponents.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">His merging ability on the other hand allows the Materium to be used in highly beneficial ways, by infusing slivers of it within items, beings and environments, momentarily granting them a portion of its polymorphic properties, before the Selforge Essence within returns to his main body and the recipients stabilize in their new state. From transformation and empowerment to reconstruction, sentience and life anew, the potential boons are as innumerable as they are invaluable.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">The Materium physically seals his Essence within his avatars' bodies via complete bonding, thus reducing the use of their primary Selforge powers (absorption, replication and transmutation) to direct physical contact. Technically, they can still generate external layers of independent Essence at will to remotely implement them, but adventuring avatars are usually limited to his Materium physiology to ensure human-sized experience and immersive evolution during extraplanar travels.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"> Sensory Processing

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">As a sentient shard of Prime Undefineness, Lawrence’s life experiences are processed on a purely mental level. The conscious Essence animating his Selforge Materium avatars directly operates all motor functions and constantly scan all stimuli in real time, the data being automatically processed by the fraction of his mind dedicated to each of them, and converted into the corresponding perceptions and sensations.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">This alternative mode is functionally very similar to biological nervous systems, but offers a number of invaluable extras, like autonomous motor and sensory functions operating with unwavering perfection in any form, properties and conditions.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Lawrence’s unlimited mind notably allows the instantanous processing of any sensory data in all their infinitesimal details, leading to immeasurably sharp senses, and their immediate cross-referencing with all previous sensory inputs, leading to incredibly advanced pattern recognition and deduction ability.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Any sensory input may also be processed via any available sense, for example any light particle coming into contact with his Selforge Materium body may be processed as a visual information, multiplying his already tremendous visual acuity exponentially while granting it omnidirectional range. Sensory inputs may also be simultaneously processed by any of his countless available senses through mental compartmentalization, the smallest sensory input yielding an encyclopedic wealth of relevant informations. Finally, complete analysis of all environmental inputs in real time may grant his avatars sensory-based localized nigh-omniscience, by integrally processing everything on every level into a single omni-sense.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">His thoughts and emotions on the other hand operate on an independent higher level, which notably ensures a sovereign peace of mind and self-control regardless of any experiences and circumstances, without the need for artificial regulation.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"> Signature Moves :

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">- Selforge Blades : Lawrence combines wire-thin superfast Materium blades to his planeswalking ability, allowing him to instantly cut through anything and strike multiple targets from anywhere, bypassing obstacles and distances, and directly implement myriads of potential effects and modifications from the inside through superficial micro-merging transmutation.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">- Selforge Gates : Microscopic particles of Selforge Materium stealthily projected at will to any location via planeswalking, they operate as interfaces directly connected to the Possibility and Transcendence Matrix, allowing Lawrence to remotely materialize any available template, including an immense diversity of artificial phenomena and customized matrix entities.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">- Selforge Intuition : complete large-scale scanning combined to Lawrence's unlimited mental capacity allow him to calculate the local future with perfect accuracy, predicting any possible development and outcome through nigh infinite simulations performed instantly, foresight he refined into a customizable subconscious intuition to preserve his humanity.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">- Selforge Probability : Lawrence recombined his myriad probability-altering abilities via hyper-advanced supernatural engineering, and refined them into a united and impossibly superior ability, granting him incredible mastery over the realm of probabilities. He perfected it further via automated combination with his natural memorization power, instantly analyzing new realities and processing/integrating their specifics into the ability, allowing him to flawlessly manipulate any kind of target in any circumstances. Despite its overwhelming capabilities however, he only makes a minimalist use of it, spicing up his adventures, playing super sorcerer, and breathing life, hope and potential wherever they are most needed.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">- Selforge Pheromone : Lawrence's Materium physiology passively generates adaptive Selforge pheromones working as anti-addiction medicine, allowing women around him to comfortably enjoy his dazzling charms and exquisite talents free of the cravings and dependency they would normally inspire. The pheromones also operate as a medium of bio-chemical communication with non-citizens who lack their telempathic bond, sharing thoughts and emotions on an instinctual level comparable to an extension of body language. Additionally, they offer many indirect practical applications via the passive dissemination of Materium particles, that can be activated into Selforge Gates or transmutation vessels at any given time.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"> Live Action :

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">

Glossary

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"> Prime Undefineness : a completely featureless existence/phenomenon of the primest origin, source of the truly limitless Absorbing Replication, Planeswalking and Singularity that are Lawrence’s core natural abilities. The unqualifiable/unquantifiable "stuff" that his "true self" is made of.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"> Selforge Essence : slivers of the sentient Prime Undefiness that is Lawrence, separated and usually bonded to external phenomena. They allow the autonomous channeling his primary abilities for almost limitless utilitarian applications, via their mental self-programming into omni-purpose Selforge Technology.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"> Selforge Technology : the mental programs integrated within specific slivers of Selforge Essence, which allow them to independently perform a huge diversity of functionalities on a subconscious level. Selforge Technology operates via a combination of absorption, teleportation, generation and transmutation.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"> Avatars : Lawrence’s material bodies. His limitless mental capabilities and self-mastery allow him to simultaneously exist through any number of them in any number of places, and live many lives at the same time. Primarily divided between adventuring avatars and those within Selforge boundaries. Made of a unique artificial material called Selforge Materium.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"> Selforge Materium : the indestructible material Lawrence’s avatars are made of. Entirely and permanently bonded with a Selforge Essence hosting a fraction of Lawrence’s consciousness, it exists in a state of constantly flux, endlessly shifting its numerous attributes as it adapts on the fly to his every thought.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"> Memorization : the imperceptible scanning process through which Lawrence collects empirical data on environmental phenomena. It is both instantaneous and perfectly exhaustive, including all of the phenomena’s finest retroactive details, on every single level and back to their earliest beginnings.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"> Templates : perfect blueprints of memorized phenomena. There are the informational foundation of Lawrence’s replicating and engineering capabilities, breaking down available templates into smaller ones and mentally recombining them into different and more advanced ones, multiplying the possibilities.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"> Materialization : the process through which Lawrence brings available templates into physical existence. Previously absorbed resources are generated via Selforge Essence and transmuted into a perfect copy of a one or several chosen templates, be they living of non-living, natural or supernatural.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"> Resource : the universal resource unit used for the materialization of available templates. Any phenomena absorbed via Selforge Essence is converted into a proportional amount of resource, which is in turn consumed in the same proportion during the generation of any template-based constructs.

Past Records The Beginning

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Lawrence’s first planar jump led him to the Milky Way of an alternate universe, heavily populated and brimming with vitality. Many different and powerful species, including a gigantic human empire, appeared to be constantly fighting one another and even themselves over a variety of reasons: conquest, domination, survival, fanaticism, viciousness or just for the hell of it.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">He was amazed by their strength, determination, the very impressive and creative means at their disposal, and the sheer resilience that allowed them to keep up with this overly destructive lifestyle.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Without any doubt, this plane had quite a lot to offer.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">First things first, he started by syphoning the mass of dying stars and the collapsing space-time of black holes, gathering the resources he would later need in his various endeavors.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Eventually, his attention was attracted by a strange cosmic phenomenon, a luminescent tear in the fabric of space-time, strangely shaped in some kind of ominous-looking eye of gigantic proportion.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Sensing some uncanny change in the nature of space-time as he drew closer to the anomaly, he decided to take a look on the other side, eagers to uncover the fascinating wonders awaiting him.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Was he found was certainly fascinating… but not exactly wonderful.

Beyond the Veil

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">On the other side, he discovered a boundless psychic realm of unimaginable horror, overflowing with the darkest emotions pushed to their utmost extreme, crawling with myriads of nightmarish life forms, and constantly mutated by the tainted psychic energies making up the entire plane.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">He remembered a legend about a spiritual place where the souls of unrepentant evil doers were supposed to be tormented for all eternity, and thought that if it exists it must be very comfortable compared to this one, where only the mightiest of souls could hope to survive more than a minute.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Safe from the plane’s ravaging influence thanks to his ever-adaptive nature, he pondered about the ramifications of its existence. If this realm had any influence at all on its material counterpart, then the constant violence plaguing it seemed inevitable, unless this very violence was the source of such corruption in the first place. There may be some truth to both versions, and some use in knowing it.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">This ethereal energy was extremely potent and literally bursting with possibilities, able to twist and reshape its environment, but its extremely corrupt nature made it radically unfit to the constructive applications he had in mind. Still, the exotic material was just too promising to give up so easily.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Remembering his reflections on the nature of the plane, he considered that if its psycho-reactive energies were not inherently negative, then it may be possible to restore their original purely, which would allow him to use their very powerful and flexible properties for his own purposes.

Engineer of Change

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Returning to the material universe, he tried an experiment. Using his replicative ability to recreate a concentrated chunk of the energy, he then used his absorbing ability to drain the negative emotions it was brimming with. The experiment proved a success along with his theories, the tainted psycho-reactive energy entirely purified by the emotional absorption, resulting in a completely neutral energy than would only react to the immediate mental activity of the souls in close proximity.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">He then memorized the purified template, certain that it would prove a valuable addition to his future endeavours. Quite satisfied with his new acquisition and the considerable resources collected, he decided to do the inhabitants of this galaxy a favor in return. Jumping into the psychic dimension once more, he merged with it and unleashed his might, spreading his presence at incredible speed and converting the corrupted psychic energy into its purified counterpart.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">The untold daemonic legions and their dark sovereigns raged and wailed, but were incapable to contain the purifying wave as it irresistibly purged and claimed everything on its path, and nowhere to run or hide as it engulfed the entire psychic dimension, annihilating them entirely in a swift cosmic blow since the tainted psychic energy was the only thing supporting their existence.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Returning to the physical dimension once more, he noted with satisfaction that the hostilities between the different factions had decreased considerably, and while there was still many conflicts in many places for many reasons, there was longer this corrupting veil of insanity ushering them to unnecessary battles and maddened heights of violence.

Supreme Lifeform

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">As he prepared to leave, he noticed for the first time suspicious tendril-looking forms gnawing at the edges of the galaxy, so absurdly huge that they first looked integrated to the galactic landscape. Ever so curious of unusual phenomena, he approach the strange structures in hope something similarly interesting, and was not disappointed.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">They turned out to be organic in nature, the prying edges of an impossibly vast super-organism made of the coalesced mass of small engineered organisms, numerous beyond any calculation and all united into a single will, a single mind as immeasurable powerful as the numbers composing it, yet exclusively moved by a primal urge to grow, evolve and multiply. Lawrence felt an unexpectedly strong empathy for the super-organism, as he essentially functioned under a similar pattern himself, but the existence of such an overwhelmingly successful species entirely made of engineered biomass had extremely disturbing implications, namely the complete eradication and consumption of every single species ever encountered to fuel their development.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">He wasn't exactly a philanthropist, but leaving alone a species than essentially ran on galactic extermination was definitely crossing the line. Besides, it would have made his relatively successful effort to stabilize the situation of the local species completely meaningless.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Hive-minded telepathy was no doubt an extremely valuable asset regarding logistic and tactical matters, and probably indispensable to manage such astonomical multitude, but it wasn't without its own flaws. As it stands, its greatest strength turned out to also be its greatest weakness.

A Brighter Tomorrow

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Stealthily approaching the super-organism further, he noticed that some of its lesser components had a much stronger psychic presence than most others, apparently serving a telepathic relay, and merged with the closest of them. His theory confirmed, he extended his own assimilating presence through the psychic network like he did in the Warp, gradually claiming the super-organism nervous system at exponential speed, before using the conquered progenitor caste as conduit to take control of its innumerable lesser components, until the immeasurable composite entity (which actually spanned far beyond the Milky Way) was little more than an unwitting cosmic puppet at the end of imperceptible strings.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">The galactic predator now under control, he used the extensive mastery of genetic engineering and psychic logistic acquired during the experience to rewrite the Hive Mind’s primal drives. Considering its sheer size, there was no need for any additional biomass to ensure its lasting survival, while new genetic templates remained essential to environmental adaptation, as he could personally attest.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">From then on, the Hive Mind would only seek genetic diversity, sending its best infiltrators alone to stealthily collect samples of the most interesting materials for analysis and integration in the Hive’s gene pool, before moving on to the next world unnoticed, and simply backing away when the targets prove to well-defended to be secured without considerable damage on both sides.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal">Having pacified the two greatest powerhouses of the galaxy, he then took his time exploring its immensity and various inhabited worlds, carefully collecting an impressive diversity of technologies, templates and capabilities along the way. He eventually used this wealth of knowledge and the harvested stellar resources to forge his own ideal domain at safe distance from the warmonging factions, psychically whispering the promise of a better life to their more rational members (notably unfortunate civilian populations caught in the crossfires) through the stabilized Immaterium, and welcoming them as the first denizens of his handmade utopia.