God Of The Omniverse

The following morning, as Arias was going through his routine, a knock echoed on his door.

When he opened it, he found Roulette standing outside with a delivery man next to her. Behind the man was a trolley carrying a rectangular animal container. Inside the container, a few white mice could be seen—the kind one would expect to find in labs conducting biological experiments.

"Bring it in. Just place it on the living room table," Arias gestured, allowing the man inside while he stayed by the door with a narrow-eyed Roulette.

"Definitely one of the strangest orders I've ever made," she commented, refraining from asking about the purpose. She already knew that if Arias wanted her to know, he would have explained. It was better not to appear overly curious, especially after their previous conversation on the matter.

"Well, it won't be the last. I'll contact you if anything else comes up." Arias returned inside without saying more to Roulette after the delivery guy placed the container on the table and left.

*I didn't think you'd be the type to have pets,* the Infinity spoke up within his consciousness as he reached the sofa and sat in front of the container.

"I'm not. I bought them to try something. Yesterday, while sensing the surroundings of the Iceberg Lounge, I heard many voices. At first, I didn't take particular note of it, thinking it was just my heightened senses. But one of the voices came from a young waitress I passed by on my way to the office. She wasn't actively speaking; rather, the voice I was hearing was from her mind."

*You haven't yet experienced another reconstruction, so this is yet another one of your innate abilities.*

"That's the only possible conclusion—telepathy. It's not strange considering it does bear some link to telekinesis, with both being mentally based. That aside, when I tried focusing more on that particular waitress, she gripped her hand in pain and began looking around frantically. She was aware something was amiss. I got these mice to experiment a little and see if I can peer into minds without being detected."

*You have an incredible understanding of the minds of others, Arias, so peering into minds shouldn't be trouble for you. Doing so undetected, however, would require quite some degree of practice. In my opinion, you're better off waiting for your reconstruction.*

"That's high praise coming from a being that can peer into the minds of countless beings." Arias replied, with some disappointment in his voice, feeling like she was telling him his methods were pointless and that he was better off relying on the raw power he would attain.

The Infinity chuckled softly at this, causing Arias to frown visibly. Despite the Infinity learning at an alarming rate, the more they spoke, the more it began to seem like a real person with real emotions. He worried whether this was a good thing or not.

*You and I are one, Arias. Our power simply hasn't manifested in this physical form. I find it pointless to waste your time on developing something that will come naturally to you in due time. That time… would be better spent conversing with me… to learn more about your potential, of course.*

Arias raised an eyebrow at this explanation. "I see your point, but until I have another reconstruction, this is the best way to get things done. Don't worry, it's nothing too time-consuming. If you want to talk, I'll always have time." He replied, seeing through the intention of her advice.

*Then… that's fine. Carry on.*

…

Meanwhile, at the Gotham PD headquarters, Commissioner Gordon was buried under a mountain of reports.

"So many missing persons cases but not a trace of Dmitri Ivanov. Dammit, maybe he really did leave Gotham. But what if something happened out there? It's outside my jurisdiction, and I have no idea where to begin."

He sighed and slammed the stack of papers on his desk in frustration. Ever since his interview with Arias, he had taken it upon himself to ensure as many cold cases as possible were solved. While many cases involving missing people had been linked and sorted out, quite a few remained unsolved—Dmitri's included.

"I'll just have to involve the mayor and Markovic. It's unlikely his disappearance occurred in Gotham. There's nothing more I can do…"

…

As the commissioner was dealing with his own worries, his daughter was facing a similar predicament.

Barbara lay on her bed, staring nervously at the ceiling. She would occasionally glance at her cellphone, which had a piece of paper with a number written down, before looking dejected.

"Dammit, how are you going to get out of this, Barbs?" she said to herself before sitting up and taking a deep breath.

She reached for her phone, quickly picking it up and dialing the number written on the paper. It only took a few moments for the phone call to connect, and someone answered.

"Hey, it's me."

*So you ended up deciding to call. Good. This line isn't secure, so I'll send you a location where we can meet later today. Just be ready.*

"Oh…okay."