Their guest woke up an hour later. They weren't moaning and stumbling around, but they weren't acting like a person either.
"We need to run some tests," Jenner said.
Ben nodded. He stepped into the room before Jenner could talk him out of it. The person turned to look at him faster than expected. They grunted at him instead of speaking.
"Hello," Ben said with an even tone.
They grunted again. The person turned back to inspecting the room without saying anything.
"What's your name?" Ben asked.
The guy looked down at their fresh clothes. They pulled at the collar before ripping it off. Ben sighed as he took a step closer. The person growled. Ben scrunched his brow but didn't stop walking. They jumped at him, moving more like an ape than a person. Ben caught them with one hand before they could land.
He scanned the guy with his godly abilities. The template had set in place without an issue. Their body was healthy, aside from being infected again. It was their brain where things broke down. The organ was too complicated to simply replace with a template. Ben ignored their thrashing. The wild strikes couldn't do anything to him. He chuckled when the person resorted to biting his hand.
"Let's see if this works," Ben muttered.
When he applied the template to Jenner it took a snapshot of his preadjusted body. It was possible that he could use the snapshot to heal the patches of the brain that were damaged. A static charged tingle raced along his arm. The person went still as the energy took hold.
The change was visible. Their eyes went from feral to true awareness. The muscles in their body relaxed from animalistic to an uncomfortable person.
"Why are you holding me by the neck?" The person asked.
Ben cocked his head to the side. The voice sounded familiar, but he didn't recognize it off the top of his head.
"Why are we in the staff quarters?" The person asked.
Ben set the guy back onto their feet, "Do you know your name?"
"I already told you," The person said. "Doctor Edwin Jenner."
Ben raised his eyebrows at the answer. He turned toward the door.
"Jenner, can you come here?" He called.
The real Doctor Edwin Jenner stepped into the room, "Is it safe?"
"Say hello to Doctor Edwin Jenner," Ben introduced.
"That's not possible," The two said at the same time.
"I used your mind from when I applied the template on you to repair their brain," Ben explained. "It worked. Not the way I wanted, but it worked."
"And now there are two of me," The original Jenner said.
Jenner Two stumbled over to a nearby mirror. They ran their hands over their new face.
"Are you going to be ok?" Ben asked.
Jenner Two glared at him, "This is very fucking far from ok."
"Well, you've got some help studying things now," Ben offered. "We know that I can restore the body to health. The mind is too complicated." He paused. "For now."
"We should do more tests," Jenner Two said. "The infection was too far along. We need to test the length of time it takes to restore a person completely."
Ben sighed, "That bandit camp would work great right now."
"Bandit camp?" Original Jenner asked.
Ben waved the question away, "They're all dead now and have been for a while."
"With some luck you could probably take a snapshot of the brain before they turn, heal the body, and then restore the mind," Jenner Two offered. "They won't know the difference. The last thing I remember is getting on the table for you to test your repairs."
Ben thought for a moment. He couldn't create a fragment like Tomoe yet. This might be a stop-gap for that problem. He could create a body then imbue it with a snapshot of his mind. All he needed to do was figure out how to create a fully functional human body. The templates would make the details easier. Creating the body was another story. Maybe a clone? There were plenty of dimensions out there where he could get one. As long as his godly form was compatible. Barring that he could use a designer version that was made to his desired specifications rather than a copy.
"Let's try a freshly bitten person," Ben offered.
"I hope you don't expect me to volunteer," Jenner Two said. "I might not be me, but I'd really don't want to be one of them."
Ben chuckled, "Two heads are better than one. The genius working on this issue just doubled." He flashed a wicked smile. "I have an idea."
Marvel Cinematic UniverseWashington DC, USA, Earth – 2013
Senator Stern wore a smug smile as he read yet another document that would pad his pockets and further Hydra's plans. He reached for his favorite pen to sign the documents when he realized he wasn't alone. Goosebumps rose along his arm as he recognized the man that had appeared in his office. It was one of those freaks from The Battle of New York.
"What are you doing here?" Stern tried to keep his voice even.
"Hail Hydra," Ben said before grabbing the back of the Senators jacket.
The Walking DeadCDC Parking Lot, Atlanta, Georgia, USA – 2011
Ben felt dirty taking a snapshot of Stern's mind. He didn't look at the contents longer than he absolutely had to. The senator struggled out of his grasp by managing to take off the jacket.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sterns yelled. "Do you know who I am?"
Ben smiled at him.
"Why are you smiling?" Sterns continued to yell. "What is that smell?"
The senator was infected the moment he took a breath of air. Ben waited a moment for the inevitable outcome. It didn't take long.
One of the infected had made their way over as the senator yelled. It leaned over and took a chunk out of his shoulder. The expensive fabric didn't slow down the jagged teeth at all.
Sterns let out a blood-curdling scream. Ben grabbed him again. They appeared inside the CDC near the scanner.
"I'm back," Ben called.
Both versions of Jenner hurried into the room.
"Who is that?" Jenner Two asked.
"That psycho bit me!" Sterns yelled.
"Do we wait until he dies?" Ben asked.
"Die?!" Sterns screamed this time. "You have to save me. I am a United States Senator. People will know I'm gone. They will come looking for me."
"I wish them luck," Ben shrugged.
Jenner shook his head, "Repair him now and then we can get another subject to test after death."
Ben nodded. He grabbed Sterns by the back of the neck and applied a template. The senator didn't get one of the quality versions. It was a simple outline of his body before he was bitten.
His vision went distant for a moment as the change took hold. He shook his head as his mind adjusted.
"How did we get inside?" Sterns yelled. "Why is my shirt wet? There's a hole! Is that blood?"
Jenner Two took a step closer to the senator to better examine the changes, "The wound is completely healed. It takes between a few minutes to an hour for people to change. We'll keep him under observation until tomorrow morning."
"You can't keep me here!" Sterns yelled. "I am a United States Senator. People will know I'm gone. They will come looking for me."
Ben rolled his eyes, "You said that already." He shifted his attention to the doctors. "Does he have to be conscious?"
"No," Jenner Two replied. "The change will happen regardless."
Ben smiled, "Great."
He grabbed Sterns by the back of the neck once more. The senator went limp in his grip. Ben easily carried the unconscious man to the previously used staff quarters.
"And now we wait," Ben said.
~
Twenty-four hours later and Sterns hadn't turned.
They spent the next few days testing the intricacies of his repair process. Sterns was an excellent test subject. Ben didn't need to update the snapshot of the senator's brain. He used the first one each time. It caused Sterns to repeat a lot of the same threats. He seemed fine otherwise.
It was quite enlightening as well. Repairing a person while they were still alive was simple as was immediately after death. They tested it each hour after that. The average limit on complete mental restoration was seven hours after death. Things got weird after that mark. Memories started to fade, then personality, and finally higher brain function. They repaired their test subject every hour, then every thirty minutes, then stopped at every five to track the progression. Five hours and forty-five minutes was the absolute limit the mind could be restored perfectly.
The odd part was that once the higher functions had faded the brain could accept a new template easily. It required significant damage to work correctly. They would be repaired to an almost animalistic state. A mental snapshot would work after that point.
"That was a waste of time," Ben muttered.
"Are you kidding me?" Jenner Two asked. "This is amazing."
Ben shook his head, "All I need to do is keep a snapshot of every person I come across and hope I run into them again to restore them. I don't plan on sticking around much longer."
"You're leaving?" Original Jenner gawked at him. "We could do so much!"
Ben stared flatly at him. "I learned a lot, but nothing that will help people here. The repairs have to be done on an individual basis. Not to mention the time needed to make sure the restoration is a success. You don't want a person with half their memories wondering around."
The two wilted at his words. It was an amazing breakthrough if he was planning on staying in this dimension for an extended period of time. Unfortunately for them he wasn't going to spend much more time here. It was a great place to drop annoying characters, Sterns and the group from A Song of Ice and Fire being good examples.
His main motivation now was to test his clone theory. If he could get that to work then he could go on multiple adventures at the same time. One for each dimension that held his interest. If that didn't work he could use them as dimension specific avatars. He had the benchmarks from the demi-plane as well as the biological templates. In theory he had everything he needed.
"Jenner," He said before turning to the other. "Jenner. Good luck with all of this."
"What are you going to do with him?" Original Jenner asked motioning to Sterns.
Ben let a dark smile cross his face, "I can't return him to his own world with spreading the virus there. The only thing to do would be to let him go outside."
"That's a death sentence," Jenner Two spoke up.
Ben nodded, "Trust me, he deserves it."
The man in question was locked in the Staff Quarters they had designated for quarantine. Ben strolled into the room like he owned the place. Sterns jumped to his feet ready to let loose another round of repeated curses and threats.
Ben grabbed him by the front of his shirt. They appeared out on the street. The various exposure to the undead had drawn a decent number of zombies. Ben let go of his shirt then patted the senator on the shoulders.
"Have fun," Ben said.
He popped back into the CDC for a chemical shower followed by a long blast of scalding hot water. It would have given serious burns to a mortal. To him it felt nice and relaxing. Once he was clean twice over he vanished. He had no desire to speak with the Jenner twins any longer.
CUBE
Clones. Clones. Where could he find clones? The ones from Star Wars took too long to mature. He didn't think Star Trek had them beyond transporter accidents. There was the Tom Cruise movie Oblivion, but he didn't feel like giving an invading alien force access to the genetics of a god. He had no idea how the process worked in Orphan Black or Moon. Rick and Morty had multiple options for cloning, but he had no desire to get pulled into that chaos. That left three possible options.
The first was The Sixth Day. It was an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie that revolved around cloning. It was actually a pretty good movie. The cloning process didn't take all that long either.
The second was The Prestige. It was basically a short-range teleportation device that created a copy.
Finally, Mickey 17. There was a machine that basically printed a new clone.
It wouldn't take that long to try each one of them. One of them would take. Hopefully. Both Prestige and Mickey 17 had machines that he could steal. The Sixth Day had technology that was too big for a snatch and grab.
Time to get to work.
The Sixth DayCleveland, Ohio, USAThe Near Future of 2015
Ben stood in the control center of the cloning lab. The machine filled two rooms. One of which was basically blank body storage. The timeline of the movie hadn't started yet, which meant he didn't have to worry about it suddenly exploding. He found the 'imaging' portion of the machine easily enough. It looked like something in an optometrist office.
Set his chin in the little cradle then lined the scanner portion with his eyes. It took roughly a minute for the entire process to complete. The controls were incredibly user friendly. He had a clone printing in no time. The process took a bit as it needed to adjust the body to the correct arrangement.
Something went wrong as the machine tried to download his mind. The body started to shake. Then the machine started to rumble. An alarm erupted in the control room. Some sort of safety had been tripped. He started the cancelation procedure which dropped the body into a carefully placed furnace.
Ben watched for a moment to make sure the body was actually burning. He didn't want to leave behind a partially constructed body of a god. Once the process was finished he strolled out of the control room and into the body storage. The blanks were just that. Genderless humanoid forms with nearly transparent skin.
He flipped a safety release and stepped into the storage. The blanks were all identical as far as he could see. Ben pulled one off the rack and set his hand on the chest. Carefully, he applied a healthy template for the body. The blank adjusted smoothly to the input. He took a step back and paused for a moment for the changes to finish. Looking at a copy of his new body was definitely an experience.
Ben closed his eyes and took a snapshot of his brain. He placed his hand once more on its chest. The blank gray matter began to mold into a copy of his mind. His practice with Sterns had streamlined the process. It only took a couple of seconds for the brain to take complete shape.
His brow furrowed as the brain transitioned to another phase of the transformation. He tried to pull back but it was too late. The clone's head exploded, spraying him and the direct area with gore.
"The brain of a god does not fit in a mortal body," Ben muttered. "That or these blanks are subpar."
He shook his head.
"Moving on."
The PrestigeUnknown Theater, London, England – 1893
After that explosive experience he decided to hold off on the Mickey 17 option. His hope was that a lower tech option would solve that issue.
The stage had been set and the machine was ready. He had already made sure the water trap under the stage had been moved. Ben activated the machine and waited. The energy crawled along his skin. He could feel it trying to reach beyond.
It simply failed.
This one didn't have any sort of explosive results unlike the high-tech option. There wasn't even a failed clone to examine. Ben shook his head. Two out of three options were failures. That left the option for a 'designer' body. If he could figure out where to get one.
CUBEOutside of Space and Time
Ben sat cross-legged on the floor as he pictured himself with a bow and a target in the distance. This power cycling practice had become his replacement for sleep. It helped clear his mind and roll various ideas around his head. The only frustrating bit was that he hadn't reached the walls yet. Each time he could feel his energy fill the Cube but consistently came up short.
In the anime Makoto found that the demi-plane every time he did this process. Maybe the Cube was growing as well.
Ben hopped to his feet and snagged a couple of bills before heading over to the closest wall. He placed the dollar against the stone then sat next to it, pinning it in place with the tip of his shoe. Once more he started to cycle his power. He wasn't sure how long he stayed in that zone. It was easy to lose track of time just like taking a nap.
A smile flashed across his face as he opened his eyes. The wall was now a couple feet from where he had set the bill. If the Cube was growing like the Demi-Plane then it would only be a matter of time before he literally had his own world. Well, that was still far off. The Cube was basically a studio apartment that could fit a private jet.
The small increase in power from Jenner's faith hadn't faded after leaving the world. Increasing his godly power should go a long way to gaining more abilities. Maybe that was the best option to reach his goal of creating copies.
All he needed to do was to get people to worship him. He needed to be a god. Repairing people sounded like a great way to get a headstart on that.