Chapter 409: Genesis, Geneses, Genisys
The start of everything, huh.
Isn't that genesis, supposedly?
The origin and beginning for the Marvel that he wants to achieve.
At this point, Alexander felt that that was what he was working towards. All the while not encroaching on that version from the religions, of course.
A Marvel Genesis, perhaps.
Which is quite tacky even when put together in his thoughts.
Especially so, when other things come to mind when it came to Marvel and Genesis.
One of them is a character named Tyler Daysprings a.k.a. Genesis. A foe to Wolverine and supposedly Cable's "son", "nephew", and nemesis.
The other would be a Genesis as well but this one was a female. Being the mother of the First Horsemen and the wife to En Sabah Nur.
Essentially the partner to Apocalypse, which is quite clever given her opposing name. Then again, she also does go by Annihilation.
Last he checked, these two Geneses didn't really matter since they have yet to be creatively conceived.
It was Apocalypse that got Alexander interested.
This big bad had just gained steam from being introduced last year in X-Factor... and it wasn't because of his ancient singing talents.
Obviously... X-Factor Marvel was neither X Factor UK nor X Factor US...
Kidding aside, instead of some Marvel Genesis, maybe something like 'Age of Apocalypse' is what he should aim for.
After Secret Wars from two or three years ago and with DC's recent Crisis on Infinite Earths... another line-wide comic event could be just what he needs.
Since his executed decisions are already apocalyptic in the eyes of disagreeing employees, why not pull through with it?
So, instead of Genesis, Marvel Apocalypse perhaps?
Then again, neither of those really mattered.
For he has long arrived at this conclusion and the previous train of thought was just an alternative of sorts.
After all, Alexander kind of figured that chronologically... wasn't the Infinity Trilogy undeniably next?
Yes... it is... and all that Alexander needed was to curate all the upcoming storylines and make them align.
How was he to do that?
Of course, reworking the entirety of Marvel will take a while but with upcoming titles like The Evolutionary War, Atlantis Attacks, Inferno, Acts of Vengeance, Lost in Space-Time, Fall of the Mutants, The Cross-Time Caper, Kraven's Last Hunt, and the like... it should be viable.
Basically, each had merit and if done right, it will all shape into a somewhat coherent comic universe that Alexander aspires for.
And that's just the tip of what he remembered from everything that will unravel as published comic content. Throughout the late 80s... heading into the 90s... until the Infinity Gauntlet snaps everything into a reset.
Thanos is sort of inevitable that way.
Granted, even without that reset, the process of getting there is a correction in of itself.
Spanning five years and is far more digestable than a published instance of some random god-like character announcing that Marvel is rebooted.
Anyways... as of now... for all of it to come to fruition... he just needed to send off old stories like Mutant Massacre and other messy remnants from the previous regime.
Making for a so-called radical procedure that's both simple and complicated... but should be quite doable if one has the plans, patience, and passion for it.
All of which, including his misguided passion are attributes that Alexander has some confidence that he has.
Of course, Old Sullivan had yet to grasp the same sentiment, so the old man could only ask in concern, especially when his grandson looked lost in thought for a while. "Alex? Is this whole restructuring of yours anything to worry about?"
With that, he snapped out of it and replied. "Not really. It may seem like it but it isn't that major of an overhaul as long as it's worked on in installments."
Contractor slang aside, he sort of clarified. "All in all, I just need to smooth out some in-house dissent and things should be back on track sooner than later."
"In-house dissent?" That's the first that the grandfather's heard about it.
To which, the grandson simply supplemented. "They just took a page from the script of screenwriters and drummed up some sort of Comic Creator's Strike."
"Well, if that dissent is what's holding you back, why not just go ahead and have them dismissed?" Pragmatically advised by old capitalist Sullivan who was enlightened of the plight.
"My thoughts exactly..." The young capitalist Alexander nodded but he also countered and rather miserly at that. "But... I also don't want to pay most of their severance, so I'll wait until they quit themselves."
Patience was really needed, indeed.
"Strikes are serious, Alex. Being cheap won't cut it." Old Sullivan really grimaced at that peculiarity, all the while adding. "Which is why I say strike back and just go Terminator on them."
"Go Terminator?" Alexander actually wondered if he heard wrong.
With which, his grandfather clarified. "I obviously mean terminate their employment, not their lives."
"I get that, grandpa. I just didn't expect you to say something like that." Between his two lifetimes, this truly was unexpected.
"It works." Old Sullivan just shrugged. "Besides, it's to commemorate your return to form... and quite in line with the very comic book you decided to return with."
It's still disconcerting for the old man to say "go Terminator on them" though. Not that Alexander will say that out loud.
In any case, it did remind him...
Of the fact that the Terminator comic book was finally published...
And it's quite a new start for Creed Comics as well.
Strangely enough and not to be confused with the confused Terminator Genisys... it's called Terminator Genesis.
Even stranger is the fact that it's laced with apocalypse, too.
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'Issue #1: The Connors'
It was just a run-of-the-mill introductory chapter.
It even has a mill since it would seem that the Sarah Connor that everyone is familiar with, has turned to a life in the countryside.
Also, not the damsel in distress that she was. She looked wisened, tough, and bad-ass.
Of course, that was just one of the Connors, since at this point in time, there was actually another.
A boy of 12 years. Going by the name of John Connor...
The whole story basically kicks off with John wondering about a lot of things.
Why his mother chose this place so far away from the hubbub of Los Angeles?
Why all the indoctrination about tactics, war, and survival?
Why does she act all paranoid from time to time? Proving the rumors that their neighbors, his ex-classmates, and her time in a mental facility all point to.
John always thought that those doctors just got things wrong and people were just misinformed.
As of late, he wasn't so sure...
Especially, when 1997 came along.
He was then truly pulled from public education, homeschooled with a more extreme curriculum, and given an in-depth view of Cyberdene Systems for whatever reason.
And it all compounded into very ominous dates in their calendar.
August 4th and doubly so when it came to August 29th.
John had a lot of questions. Unfortunately, not a lot of answers were divulged by his mom.
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'Issue #2: Cyberdene'
Cyberdyne Systems initially began as a manufacturing corporation at 18144 El Camino Real, Sunnyvale, California.
Founded in the early 1980s, its products were simple computers and processors.
As well as dabbling into services like being a small parts producer for larger manufacturers of high-tech equipment.
Looking at it now, into the giant tech corporation that it is, Dr. Miles Dyson can't help but be melancholic...
If he had been an athlete as he aspired for, that would've been fine. Most of the folks in his neighborhood would've been ecstatic at that.
It's just that fate works in mysterious ways, pushing him unto a different path.
He scored quite high in his math exams, stuck with it... and here he was...
An esteemed cybernetics scientist... with the fancy rank of Director of Special Projects...
Walking proudly in these fancy corporate halls, about to usher the technology into new heights!
He had many to thank but there was one thing that topped his list.
After opening a fancy vault for it... there it was...
Some sort of robotic arm... found in a Cyberdyne factory... back in 1984!
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'Issue #3: Skynet part I'
Of course, after checking up on that secret... Dyson laid it to rest as that was of the past.
He was needed in the present and he had to look towards the future.
And the future was with his team's neural-net processor... and the company's prized Skynet.
After all, it was already August 4, 1997.
Congress has just passed the Skynet Funding Bill... and it was time to rejoice.
With an announcement to the world with regards to the development and the good that this project will do.
USA's defenses could not be any more artificial and intelligent as biased human decisions are to be removed.
Replacing it is a supercomputer... with far superior strategic and military control.
Even though Dyson had his doubts, he, along with his peers from Cyberdyne and higher-ups from the military, still made quite a spectacle of it.
Tuning into their proud broadcast was society, which was understandably mixed in between being impressed and the dread towards what it entails.
In television by her home, Sarah saw it all unfold, bitter about what she was told will come.
In only a few days... a reckoning is upon them.
And whether she likes it or not, her young son had to step up!
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'Issue #4: Skynet part II'
Regardless of how humans reacted to its approved existence... Skynet simply did what it was programmed to do.
It was the world's first Automated Defense Network, processing information at ninety teraflops.
It is also now the controlling force behind the military's advanced weapons, systems, assets, and technology.
Pooling tons and tons of data and developing tactics. Coordinating efficient defense and effective attack to every potential threat it can identify.
And this is where the issue arose...
Skynet did what it was programmed and after 25 days of being activated... it found the greatest threat of all...
Humans!
Especially when the panicked Cyberdyne scientist just belatedly realized a great oversight in their design... and tried to deactivate it.
Now, self-aware and seeing humans as the enemy...
Skynet did what it had to do!
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'Issue #5: Judgement Day!'
August 29, 1997.
Nuclear missile silos all over America went off... displaying a shockingly visceral sight to all those that noticed them.
It was horrific, to say the least.
People were just going about their normal lives... and all of a sudden... oversized rockets in the sky.
A far magnified 4th of July spectacle at the tail-end of August!
And those were just the outgoing... there were still the incoming...
Russia and any other nuclear power had to respond in kind to America's insanity, after all.
Sufficed to say, rocket exhausts and mushroom-shaped clouds filled many skies that day!
It was the Cold War finally lit up... and an apocalypse that shocked the world!
In any case, little John finally had some answers...
Answers to why her mother was so paranoid, why they had to be far away from populated society, why all those lessons...
It must be because she knew that on this specific day... was Judgement Day!