I did not awaken to light.
I awoke to pressure.
Not pain—pressure, constant and absolute, pressing against my skin, my lungs, my thoughts. Instinctively, I tried to inhale and failed. Panic flared for exactly half a second before a mechanical hiss filled my ears and air rushed in, dense and heavy, filling my chest.
I breathed.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
The panic vanished, replaced by clarity.
Data streamed across my vision, translucent blue symbols layered over reality itself.
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE: STABLE
LIFE SUPPORT: ACTIVE
ENVIRONMENTAL SUIT: SYNCHRONIZED
I looked down.
The body I inhabited was not human.
My hands were elongated, clawed, encased in a thick pressure glove connected to a full environmental suit. The suit itself was bulky, industrial, humming softly with every movement—less clothing and more mobile life-support system. Reflections in a nearby pane of broken glass showed a bulbous head, dark leathery skin, large unblinking eyes.
A Skakoan.
The memory surfaced smoothly, without shock.
The god.
The void.
Two wishes.
I had chosen this form deliberately. Fragile without pressure. Dependent on systems. Forced into preparation and foresight. A body that punished recklessness.
Appropriate.
The city around me came into focus. Towers of concrete and steel. Neon signs flickering to life. Sirens in the distance. People moving through the streets below—humans with confidence in their posture that came from power granted at birth.
Quirks.
This was the world of heroes and villains.
My Hero Academia.
A flawed system built on individual strength and emotional decision-making.
I exhaled slowly.
"Acceptable," I murmured through the suit's modulator.
Another presence stirred.
Not physical.
Structural.
A sensation like vast machinery aligning.
TECHNO UNION SYSTEM INITIALIZING
CORE DIRECTIVE: INDUSTRIAL DOMINANCE
PRODUCTION CAPACITY: DORMANT
PRIMARY AUTHORITY REQUIRED
I did not hesitate.
"Authorize," I said.
The world changed.
Blueprints unfolded across my vision—droids, vehicles, factories, logistics networks. Not fantasies. Not abstractions. Fully realized designs, each annotated with production costs, material requirements, and scalability projections.
Factories assembling droids.
Droids assembling factories.
Shipyards birthing vessels designed not for glory—but for throughput.
A true industrial ecosystem.
PRIMARY AUTHORITY CONFIRMED
TITLE REGISTERED: SUPREME FOREMAN
ALL SYSTEMS AWAIT DIRECTIVE
I considered the title.
Foreman.
Not ruler.
Not king.
Not commander.
The one who ensured the line never stopped.
"Yes," I said quietly. "That will suffice."
I looked out over the city again.
Heroes leapt between rooftops, confident in their strength. Villains lurked in the shadows, convinced fear equaled power. Governments reacted instead of planned.
This world did not lack strength.
It lacked oversight.
"Begin observation protocols," I ordered.
Tiny icons scattered across the city map as the first B1-SUR-TU surveillance units began assembly far below ground, their skeletal forms emerging from the first hidden Node-FND-01.
I would not announce myself.
I would build.
And when this world finally noticed me, it would already be dependent