Misbegotten Memories

Chapter 265

Wayne stared at the diagram Hector had traced out on paper.  Hector couldn’t tell if the chemist was impressed or confused.  “Where the hell did you get these numbers from?”

H...

Chapter 264

From past experience, Hector understood he had to prepare people before dropping them onto Union Central.  It would be especially important for Xian who might suspect they were being attacked ...

Chapter 263

By the time Zara returned with fresh supplies for dinner, Hector had an argument prepared.

Everyone gathered to eat a rich stew of pot roast and root vegetables in sullen silence.  The m...

Chapter 262

A/N: This is the second of two releases today. Be sure to read the previous chapter first.

Zara finished off the shark before Hector managed to rejoin his group after being blasted away by ...

Chapter 261

Hector wasn’t tired, so while most of the others retired to their tents, he remained near the site of their fire.  It had been built using dried maple planks imported from elsewhere, kept sm...

Chapter 260

For a moment, it looked like Zara didn’t know how to respond.  Then she put a few steps of distance between them.  “I appreciate that you are being honest in your intentions, Hector.�...

Chapter 259

The Lord General brushed Hector off when they were back on Tian, claiming he needed to settle his army.  Hector settled back into the room he had been using two months earlier and waited for h...

Chapter 258

Left in the conference room by himself, Hector released a sigh.  He’d been getting along with the Lord General so well since he arrived at the first household seeking Zara.  Then their ...

Chapter 257

They were not on the same world as the Jinn and Arahants of their deployment.  The Lord General had taken the approach of ‘any port in a storm’ and placed them down on the nearest world, n...

Chapter 256

Hector did not become friends with Miriam and Liam.  As days become weeks, they began to avoid him.  He didn’t mind the ostracism.  Though he respected the fact that the Arahant Sa...

Chapter 255

The first world visited by their tour of the Coalition Army was a high technology one filled with autonomous drones and holographic billboards.  It was losing quite handily to the monsters.&nb...

Chapter 254

They had three weeks before the next tour of the Coalition Army began.  Hector kept to himself for much of that time.  He dove deep into the Sweaty Fire Technique.  Deep enough that ...

Chapter 253

“You’re talented and cunning and vicious, but you fight without proper consideration of your vulnerabilities.”  The Lord General offered his observations on Hector’s performance while ...

Chapter 252

Colonel Quinn folded like a lawn chair when faced with the Lord General.  The commander of the base essentially rolled out the red carpet for the Xian lord to do whatever he wanted.  Hect...

Chapter 251

Over the next several days, Hector tried to get a handle on the Sweaty Fire Technique.  He was bad at it.  Rather than let that discourage him, Hector took his initial failures as motivat...

Chapter 250

Hector wasn’t sure what to make of the development.  Theoretically, he’d recruited one of the most powerful forces in the multiverse to assist Stronghold Gamma.  The only cost that ha...

Chapter 249

Hector used a cable to lift a core free of the goop that until recently was a human brain.  His heart was still thundering in his chest from the surprise he’d received when that door opened ...

Chapter 248

Percival took another sip of the expensive whiskey.  He still didn’t like the stuff.  Maybe that would change eventually.  Probably not.  Still, the alcohol was a boon to his ...

Chapter 247

The colonel made Hector and Leah sit through a mission planning session regarding their upcoming test run.  They slotted the new recruits into the mix, with the sergeant major observing that t...

Chapter 246

Lydia arrived with another member of the family council – one too young for Volithur to ever have met – and Matthias engaged in halfhearted negotiations.  Everyone remained enamored of Hec...

Chapter 245

It was halfway through the next day when his advancement happened.  Hector was cultivating in his bedroom, so he didn’t have any witnesses to his awkward collapse.  Other than the omnip...

Chapter 244

A shady-looking teenager with features reminiscent of a weasel delivered an entire box of uncut spirits to Hector.  He exited the elevator, placed the box at Hector’s feet, gave an awkward t...

Chapter 243

For several seconds he could do nothing.  Not even shut his eyes against the glare, which would have been a very smart thing to do.  The flood of cosmic energy pouring through his domain ...

Chapter 242

He returned to Stronghold Gamma in the morning, which due to the time difference caused him to arrive before dawn.  That was something he would need to keep in mind for his commuting.  Si...

Chapter 241

Prince Siegfried was the first person to greet him.  Not the welcome he’d hoped for.

“Hector!  I need more resources!”

“Nice to see you, too, Siegfried.”

“Yo...

Chapter 240

He followed Purification out of the command center.  The woman observed him from the corner of her eye as she led him towards the nearest section of wall.  “What is it that you’re doi...

Chapter 239

Fred was scattered across a garage bay.  Components were everywhere.  Contemplative mechanics studied the individual pieces, making notes on their electronic tablets.

“How is the ...

Chapter 238

Drawing the chaos in with his domain was very nearly the last thing he ever did.  As far as experiments went, there weren’t many things more stupid he could have tried.

Ambient miasma,...

Chapter 237

They fought kangaroos with stingers on their tails.  And wolves covered in quills.  And some kind of ape that looked straight out of a cheesy eighties horror movie.  Hector handled a...

Chapter 236

They departed at dawn. Every member of the vanguard was assigned a battle buddy as they emerged from the Stronghold. Hector’s was the tiny Orisha man, who went by Twitchy. The meaning behind the ...