Patricia Dugan listened with only mild disinterest as the marketing people droned on. She was busy shopping in the Willowbend Mall and her eight-year-old son Jimmy was getting fidgety. The man and woman giving their pitch were nicely dressed, but something about them came across like Hare Krishna's or some other wacko cult. The only reason she even stopped was that she was bored. "What are you guys selling?"

Richard Segal smiled and shook his head. "I assure you we aren't selling anything. We've assembled some television commercials and simply want the opinions of the viewing public. All we're asking is five minutes of your time and we have complimentary cookies and refreshments available."

Jimmy's eyes lit up at the mention of free food. "Can we Mom?"

Dugan sighed; a short break from shopping wouldn't be so bad, wouldn't it? They were led down the hallway and into a large room where a video projection room was set up. About forty other people were in the room clustered in small groups. Most of them still held onto their respective purchases made in the mall and the general consensus was that many of them were mainly here because it looked like a decent place to have a seat. Dugan took a seat and sat her child next to her as another marketing representative walked up and addressed the crowd.

"On behalf of the Prometheus marketing group, thank you for participating. We're going to be showing a few commercials that are going to be aired in the next few weeks. Some of them are still subject to revisions, based on your feedback here, so please be honest on how you feel. After we're done, we're going to be passing around some surveys for you to look over, then some refreshments will be brought out as a token of our thanks." The representative then excused himself and left the room as the lights darkened and the projector turned on.

"Congressman Fiedler says in his latest ads that he's a common man like the rest of us. But what kind of man..." the ad started.

Political ad, Dugan told herself. Just as that thought came up, her mind began to fade and go blank.

******

The monitoring team glanced at the marketing representative as he entered the room. They kept an eye on the room through a specially polarized glass that filtered out the subliminal suggestions; after all, they wouldn't be good to anyone if their minds were fogged.

"Data is coming in fine," the first scientist reported. Unknown to the audience watching the ads, each of their chairs were wired with an array of sensors that recorded pulse, skin temperature, galvanic skin responses, and other vital signs. An array of concealed laser cameras using invisible wavelengths took a steady set of pictures of their retinas and pupil dilation. "We've achieved theta wave mind state on 76% of them."

"What's up with the other 24%?" the market rep asked. Not that he understood the technical aspects, but he had been briefed on what was the overall goal.

"About half of those don't seem to paying attention to the video stream, so the information isn't being beamed properly into their minds. Not much we can do about that, other than making the content more of their personal interest. The other half are showing signs of second-stage theta state. They're probably the more suggestible types; we could probably tell them to go jump off a cliff right now and they wouldn't question it."

"Well, let's not get that far. We don't want any questions."

"Don't worry. Once they leave here, they won't remember a thing. Not even the survey itself."

"That's good. So what kind of test command are we using?"

"We're feeding them a suggestion that they aren't hungry at all," the lead technician said. He entered a set of commands on the master console.

"What's that going to prove? Maybe they aren't hungry anyway?"

"Well, those free refreshments are our gauge," the technician explained. "We've got fresh donuts, a platter of Doubletree cookies and a fresh deli tray from Fratelli's. Sure, some of them wouldn't eat normally, but for the rest of them...well, only a real diet freak wouldn't budge."

"We'll see. Any other commands?"

"A few others. Harmless, but rest assured; we'll know the results soon enough."

******

They were all in their individual offices in Japan while Mindshadow hovered in one of the many luxurious suites in her base. But by using her telepathic illusions, they were all linked together in the same virtual "room", which made coordinating her silent manipulations of the world financial markets all the easier. Once she was done, each of the companies now had a plurality ownership share now owned by one of her many dummy shell corporations to make her ownership more formally legal, so she could make dictates without any suspicions of metahuman activities.

"Mindshadow," Athena interrupted. "Your battle armor awaits your approval. Also, there's been a metahuman event that will concern your plans that needs addressing."

Mindshadow nodded, gave her final commands and willed each of her mind-slaves to resume their little lives. Each one would blink and not remember a thing. Later, they would subconsciously carry out her commands, all the while thinking they were still free-willed. Fools, she smiled.

She looked over the armor's finalized design and nodded with approval. Once the armor was fully functional, she would be nearly untouchable - impossible to track or surprise, virtually invulnerable, and weaponry that augmented her own powers. It would eventually give her the ability to teleport and move through the dimensions at will, but for the time being, those devices were deactivated until they could be fully tested. She didn't want a repeat of her recent galaxy-spanning trip with Tween. She willed her approval, sending the design to the replicator for manufacture. Once that was settled, she then turned to the other issue. "What was the other matter Athena?"

"According to the news, it's been revealed that Thomas Champion no longer has the power of Omega."

"What?" Mindshadow said with momentary surprise. Oh wait, she thought, and then shook her head. There was only one way Omega could have lost his powers without a fight. But she had to be sure. "Any word of a major battle? The Black Priest perhaps?"

"Negative."

Images began to filter into Mindshadow's mind through her telepathic link. Through these images tapped from public and some secretive sources, she saw media coverage of Omega's now-one-sided battle against Brickyard and a wild free-for-all at his custody hearing. Only Old Glory calling in the cavalry had prevented Champion's capture or worse. Then finally, the loud-mouthed Smax! giving his press conference, making the knowledge public. Already there were rumblings and talk on the metahuman grapevine about Champion "getting his" and more of his foes plotting revenge. His beach house was already destroyed and that was certainly not going to be the last. "Find him," she commanded.

Once again, images flickered in and out of Mindshadow's mind as Athena sorted through the surveillance pictures tapped from government satellites. Mindshadow relaxed as she let Athena do the lion's share of the work, sifting through all the visual details. The pictures were mediocre in quality; fortunately, Prometheus was nearly done designing new satellites that would give her far greater surveillance capability.

"Located," Athena reported. "He is currently in Los Angeles. Locking on..."

Mindshadow looked down and saw the unmistakable blond-haired icon. With his exact location known, she focused her will and projected her powers directly into his mind. With his powers no longer active, his mind was trivially easy to enter and scan.

Sure enough, there it was. She withdrew momentarily and thought about it as her suspicions were confirmed. His powers were gone because she paralyzed them herself. She had placed a complex and powerful mental construct that blocked his mind's ability to access his own powers. The construct had been there since the end of the Ireland War. At the time, Omega was far too distracted battling Autocrat to detect her, so it was an ideal opportunity. However, the construct was supposed to be hidden and inactive; she had meant to have it as an ace in the event he ever interfered with her.

But something else had triggered it. According to Champion's memories, it started when his friend Michael the sorcerer tried to scan his body and soul. Apparently, his mystic scan had been close enough in mental sensation that it tripped her construct; a maddening coincidence that potentially screwed up everything. She had been counting on Omega to deal with the Black Priest for her; now with his powers gone, he was useless to her. But she couldn't simply undo the change; Avatar had already told Champion that it was a mental construct. Which meant that she was already a prime suspect, if Champion tried to figure out who did it.

She reached into his mind once again and considered her options. She could simply hypnotize him, make him forget, and return his powers by willing the construct back to inactive state. But no; too many other people already knew about the power loss and Champion acting like it never happened would be too obvious. Perhaps deflect the blame elsewhere? Plant a seed of suspicion in his mind to consider other suspects like Harbinger or Brainchild? Then offer herself as an interested party to "undo the damage"? Would he fall for such a tactic?

Her ponderings were then interrupted by another beeping from a conventional communicator. Activating it, she immediately recognized her servants at Prometheus. "What is it?"

"Forgive me for interrupting you, but we have an update on Project Olympus."

"Go on."

"The good news is that the video conversion is just about perfect. Virtually anyone who looks at the video images for more than a few seconds will be completely susceptible to any suggestion we want to beam into their minds and based on our surveys, they won't even remember how or where they received their commands. Now all we need to do is to mate it with appropriate cover material so the audience will pay proper attention."

"There are many television programs people will watch," Mindshadow said. "Any bad news?"

"We're having trouble with converting the signal to the carrier wave. It may be easier if you were here so we can explain it more clearly."

Mindshadow thought about it, then looked into her slaves' minds. There was something in their thoughts about needing some kind of alloy; one they couldn't seem to fabricate. It seemed like such a minor thing, she was momentarily annoyed that she had to involve herself with such petty details. That's what slaves were for. But Olympus was important to her, so she would have to make some concessions. And it would be a good test for her teleport technology. "Very well, I'll be there momentarily."

With a wave of her hand, Mindshadow deactivated the visual communicator and took one last look at the satellite images in her mind. Champion's mind dangled like an overripe fruit, just waiting to be molded and shaped with her mental fingers. She knew she would have to do something about his situation soon, but he could wait for now. Perhaps later, she told herself, she'd make him make a public fool of himself. Not that that was a great stretch for him, she thought amusingly. "Keep an eye on Champion and let me know if anything else significant happens."

"Acknowledged."

******

"Come on Jimmy, let's go," she ordered. For some reason, Jimmy had been listless and slow to follow her since the survey.

"Yes Mother," Jimmy replied blankly. He then quietly and obediently climbed into the car and buckled in.

Mother? What happened to "Mom", Dugan thought. She shrugged and dismissed the thought as she pulled out of the parking garage.

******

Mindshadow levitated herself through the ceiling, phasing through concrete and earth and emerging into the New York Subway. Hundreds of passengers crowded on the boarding ramps as trains pulled in and out of the terminal. She glanced at the crowd with contempt; their bland and meaningless thoughts were gibbering like cattle from their pathetically weak minds. They would all be so much better off once they surrender themselves to her will, she thought as she slipped past them on her way to Prometheus, willing their minds not to notice her passage.

******

"What are you doing in there? Come on in."

"Yes mother," Bobby replied as he quietly got out and walked inside.

What was going on with that kid, Dugan thought? Bobby had been OK this morning, but he had become a total space-case since their return. Did something happen at the mall? Ever since...she shook her head. She couldn't remember what she was thinking about. After she put her purchases away, she turned on the television as she started to prepare dinner. Maybe a cartoon or a movie would straight him out.

In the living room, the television warmed up and played out a scene from a movie. Bobby sat down in time to catch a scene with two men struggling in a rose garden.

"...don't really think you're going to get away with this?" the television character gasped as he faced his assailant. "I'm a goddamn FBI agent! They'll look for me! They'll find you!"

The other television character paused before replying. "God will protect me..."

Bobby watched the scene play out to its grisly end and faced the kitchen. He had something in his room that would work. The character on the television had used something else, but the flashing lights and whispering voices in his mind told him to that flexibility was OK as long as the commands were obeyed. He got up and headed towards his room. Since Mom didn't have an axe in the house, his Little League baseball bat would have to do.

******

"...and that's where we are now," Michaels reported.

"So basically, you can generate the subliminal images, but you can't transmit them?"

"Well, not quite. They'll transmit OK if we just type in commands, but the effectiveness is limited if we use conventional methods. If you use your telepathy to boost the power, then the images will be much more effective."

"Then what is the problem?" Mindshadow asked with annoyance. She really hated having to get involved with the minutia.

"The problem is that your telepathy is too powerful for a conventional dielectric transmitter. Every time we subject the apparatus to your telepathy, the circuits overload."

"Then just use a stronger transmitter."

"Unfortunately, the only kind of material we believe can sustain the level of mental energy you generate and do the job is unununium-272."

Mindshadow looked into their minds, pulled out the necessary information. It was a transuranic element that had similar properties of copper, silver, and gold. Theoretically, it could be created by a nuclear fusion of bismuth-209 and nickel-64. Unfortunately, it also had a radioactive half-life of 0.0015 seconds, decaying almost instantly into meitnerium-268.

Mindshadow glanced at the table in front of them and gestured. The wood began to morph and turn metallic before their eyes, turning into a heavy gold substance. She frowned; she could feel the atoms of the heavy metal crumbling in her mind; only her will prevented it from decaying rapidly into lower elements. Fortunately, her powers were effortless. "What would this substance do for me?"

Michaels and the scientists looked on in awe; so far, no one on Earth had ever isolated an observational amount of unununium and yet here it was. However, they weren't here to conduct a month-long study in nuclear physics, tempting though that might have been. "This substance has similar electrical properties as gold or silver. The electrical resistance is the lowest to exist in nature. And unlike gold or silver, this substance has the atomic weight necessary to conduct your level of telepathic energy.

Mindshadow nodded and waved her hand once again, restoring the table back to mahogany wood. Unununium-272 would have given off a tremendous amount of alpha radiation, had it not been for her molecular powers overriding natural decay. Although she could create limitless amounts of it, it wouldn't help in this case because it would decay the moment she stopped thinking about it. "What would it take to create this substance normally?"

"Research, and maybe some outside help. Someone who specializes in atomic physics."

"Who's the best in this kind of field?"

"Dr. Paul Winters and some of his colleagues are supposed to be the best in the world. They just published a paper on transuranic properties and they're working on the research and development of these kinds of elements. Winters is the senior research fellow for molecular physics at the Los Alamos Nuclear research facility in New Mexico."

"Then hire him," Mindshadow ordered. "His first assignment will be to develop this compound for me."

"He's under contract with the government. It won't be easy to pry him loose."

As Michaels spoke, Mindshadow issued a mental command to Athena, who tapped into the security cameras in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Using a published picture Mindshadow pulled from Michaels' mind, Athena quickly found a match in a few seconds.

"Not any longer," Mindshadow promised. She lightly touched her temple with her finger and concentrated for a moment. "He will be changing his mind...momentarily..."

******

"...live from the scene of what appears to be a grisly murder scene out in this once-peaceful suburb. The police are at the scene now and they say one woman is dead and they believe that the son is responsible. According to eyewitnesses, the crime was discovered when a friend of the family dropped by to deliver a package and found the body and immediately called 911. Now, we are withholding the names until next-of-kin can be notified, but it's safe to say that the police are right now looking for motive or anything that could explain this terrible crime, but nothing seems to be presenting itself..."

As the television crew did its job, Officer Parker grimaced as the rest of the homicide investigators finished taking pictures and forensic evidence. A NYC policeman for nearly ten years, he thought he had seen it all, but this one was the damnedest thing he ever saw. By all accounts, a normal, well-adjusted family; no reason whatsoever for the little boy to snap like that. And the way it was done made it all the more horrific; head wounds always bled explosively and seeing pieces of skull and brain all over the kitchen cost more than one investigator his dinner.

What really made him shake his head was the murderer. The boy was just sitting in front of the television when the police surrounded the house and took him into custody - not a sign of protest, no attempt to escape at all. The murder weapon, a common aluminum baseball bat, was found with the boy's bloody handprints all over the handle. But what chilled Parker to the bone were the boy's eyes. Eyes that were completely blank. The police psychologist was tossing up post-traumatic syndrome, but that just didn't seem to fly to him. The boy didn't look like a psycho-victim; more like a doll or a puppet that was waiting to be given instructions. Finally, when the police tried interrogating the boy, all they got was a voice, devoid of any emotion or awareness. A voice that seemed it belonged to someone else; as if he were only repeated his last instructions.

"God will protect me..."

******

"It's wonderful," she gushed as she pirouetted around in mid-air. "The fit's even better than my old costume. I didn't think that was possible."

"The armor has a passive contra-gravity system that exactly matches your weight along every nanometer of your body. The armor's force field is augmented by a deflection field that will automatically repel any attack against you, regardless of power level. The offensive weaponry is designed to obey your every wish, and has adaptive circuitry that automatically analyzes any opponent and creates the optimal response."

"And my mental powers?"

"The power systems will amplify them substantially."

"Are the transport boots active?"

"Negative. They are inactive for now until full testing is complete. If you need them, you can activate them manually with your powers."

"What is this glowing light?"

"The pulses are a subliminal influencer. It's a vastly improved form of visual mind-control based on The Dictator's devices and is designed to give off a constant subtle form of hypnosis. Anyone you speak with will be compelled to trust and believe you completely. The level of control isn't as strong as your telepathy, but because of the way it works, it bypasses conventional mental defenses."

"That could be helpful," Mindshadow said as she willed herself back to the main level of her base. She wanted to give it a test run, but Athena warned her that the offensive firepower of the armor, combined with her own powers would be more than her base's defensive wall could sustain.

"The on-board AI unit is named Nike. She will provide tactical assistance and is programmed to override any known security or computer system. The override systems are based on Tween's spider drone devices."

The goddess Nike, Mindshadow told herself. The goddess of victory; she was often a companion to Athena in Greek mythology. A pity the name was ruined by the shoe company.

Mindshadow turned her attention back to the main communications board. Despite her slaves' reassurances to new prospects, she did have concealed cameras in every location throughout her empire, and not just Prometheus. That, combined with her ability to eavesdrop and manipulate their thoughts at will, gave her the ability to shape and expand her realm like no ruler in history. Technology also played a factor; Athena helped to keep an eye on things and deal with the drudgery of day-by-day details, leaving her free to concentrate on expansion.

It was all coming together nicely, Mindshadow thought with satisfaction. Already, much of the world was quietly under her control. She could manipulate the world's markets with a thought and a few choice transactions. Many of the world's political leaders were enslaved to her will or were being advised by those who were. Prometheus, along with some other choice acquisitions, gave her access to the pinnacle of technology. Her new battle armor augmented her personal might to the point where virtually no one would be able to challenge her directly.

All that was needed was Olympus to be completed and the world would be hers. Dr. Winters was already being flown in and his hiring and moving processes were being expedited. Once Olympus was activated, she would be able to effortlessly broadcast her will across the entire world. The world's so-called leaders, enslaved to her will, would carry out her agenda. The masses, under Olympus' influence, would accept whatever changes she commanded. They would be the cogs; the political, economic, and military leaders would be the controlling levers, and she would be the ruler with the controls at her fingertips. An entire planet's population obedient to her will, she thought with a little thrill. And one day, once she had guided the world into a space-faring race, perhaps even beyond.

******

"Excuse me sir," Segal asked another set of passersby. "Would you like to participate in a marketing survey? It'll only take about five minutes of your time and we're giving away free food at our table."

"Is this some kind of sales gimmick?" the suspicious shopper asked.

"No gimmick sir," Segal reassured. "We're a marketing company and we've assembled some television commercials set to air in the next few weeks. All we're asking is for people to take the time to watch them and fill out a short survey."

"Well, I don't know..."

"Oh come now," Segal coaxed. "What harm could it do?"

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