Emilia King herself

You appeared just outside the warehouse, having turned invisible en route and, belatedly, restored your normal appearance, if you let anyone see you. The alien intangibility was completely selective, so you could remain standing on solid ground, without making any noise as you moved, and pass through the wall into the main chamber where Emilia King stood.

You'd wondered whether she actually had used some of the artifacts she'd uncovered, despite her apparent ****. But if she had, it was apparent that it didn't let her detect you, as she showed no reaction.

Standing directly behind her, a comfortable distance away, leaving the table on the other side of her, rather than between you, to give her at least a false sense of security, you made yourself visible again.

"Hello, Ms. King."

She was clearly startled by the words. You could easily detect her heart racing. There was really no need for the conversation; you'd already riddled her body with nanites. But she didn't know that, and with this being your last target, you felt it just common courtesy.

She turned around after a few moments, having composed herself. She took in your form.

"You must be Juno Ternion." Her mouth quirked in a lopsided smile. "I doubt your doctorate was properly earned."

"If you know enough to make that determination," you said, "then certainly you know that I have the combined knowledge and experience of Dr. Zoe Hildebrand and Dr. Chloe Walker." You emphasized the academic titles ever so slightly.

"I have questions about the validity of their doctorates, too," Emilia said. "But no matter. Yes, I know about you. I know about Project Inside Out. I even know that you took a jaunt to space where there were some unexpected readings." She cocked her head. "I've been using my networks, keeping as close an eye on you as I can. But for the last half a day or so, after a dizzying whirlwind of activity, you seem to have simply vanished."

"You mean like this?" Your tone was cheeky as you made yourself invisible for a few moments, then became visible again.

Emilia gave you a disapproving glare. "You know what I mean. Somehow, once you left that military base, all my sources of information began drying up. Data was no longer being transmitted back to me. It was as if something had overridden the spy programs I'd left at Hideki and Yabusa when I worked at those places briefly in my younger years, or in the military's systems when I was briefly a contractor with them."

"They weren't just spy programs," you said. You'd disabled them, but you thought they were just standard corporate espionage, and didn't really pay attention to where they'd come from. "They were how you kept King Enterprises solvent. I should have guessed that your fortune wasn't so extensive as to permit you to fund so many expeditions while not bringing a single product to market."

"Emilia King, embezzler extraordinaire," the researcher admitted. "What are you going to do, turn me in?"

You shook your head. "Maybe, once upon a time, I would have. But I'm no longer concerned with such trifling affairs. Hideki, Yabusa, the military, I've gotten what I wanted from them." This time it was your mouth that quirked in a smile. "Shaw, as you no doubt know, has nothing of interest."

"And so that leaves me and my little firm," Emilia concluded. "My small expeditions, going around the world to uncover the relics of the past. What interest could such things possibly hold for the product of humanity's highest science?"

"Clearly they hold quite a bit of interest for you, and clearly they are a source of so much fear that even now you will not touch them."

"If you had seen what they did to my grandfather, you would understand why I hesitate," she said. "I do not know what any of them do. Perhaps the rest are all utterly harmless, mere artifacts of other, simpler times. But no doubt some of them are dangerous in the ****. Dangerous enough to pose a threat even to you, however far beyond Project Inside Out you may have evolved in such a short time."

You took a step toward Emilia King. "If there is a risk to be taken here, and you will not take it, then I will." You weren't arguing with the woman; you were stating a fact, however much fear that might strike in her. It didn't matter what she thought, anyway; you were a single activation of the Phase Binder away from integrating every single artifact she had received into your being.

"Please," she said, suddenly ****. "You mustn't. If you'd seen--come. I'll show you the footage. Nobody else has ever seen it. It was too horrific to show anyone, but if you intend--please. Come with me."

"I don't need to see the footage." Your voice was cold, hard, determined. All of a sudden you made her legs move, just a few steps, away from the large table. Her eyes widened in terror as you took control of part of her body. "I've seen it in your memories, Emilia. I know what you saw, what you heard, what you felt. And it's a risk I am willing to take... but not one I'm willing to have you take alongside me."

With that, you teleported Emilia King a safe distance away from her warehouse, freezing her limbs so that she couldn't run back towards it. She was no longer concerned about losing her life's work; she was terrified for your well-being at a basic human level.

But you were beyond human.

With one last thought, everything Emilia King had ever collected became nothing more than just another part of you.