The first thing to hit him was the beeping coming from the bedside. It was loud, consistent, and annoying as all hell. Opening his eyes, bright fluorescent lights stabbed into them. He blinked rapidly to adjust to the new environment. Along with thoughts categorizing each item in great detail, despite never having been in the medical field, he knew every piece of equipment present in the room. This came alongside a migraine from thoughts he struggled to differentiate but the clearest among them, he knew instinctively, Doc. 'Signs of internal hemorrhaging… treated adequately, brain activity elevated. Indications of tremors and spasms in response to outside stimuli. Mon Dieu, I may actually have to treat myself for once.'
As he was assessing himself, a doctor came in carrying a clipboard. "Good Morning, it's good to see you're awake. If you don't mind I've got a few questions. We couldn't find any form of ID or wallet, so we'll start with an easy one, do you remember your name?" He replied, a French accent coating his words, "Caesar Kateb." The doctor wrote it down before continuing, "Perfect, I'll just do a quick checkup and then we can continue, Mr. Kateb."
The doctor proceeded to spend 15 minutes looking him over before sitting in a corner stool and beginning the questions. "Okay Mr. Kateb, do you remember how you ended up injured?" "No." "What about age? History? Anything at all? I'm sorry if these questions seem invasive but due to the extent of your injuries, I'm required to ask these questions for a possible police report."
"My name is Caesar Kateb, 27, I understand your position. However, my injuries are treated. I feel much better and would like to leave." The doctor looked at him seriously, "I don't think you fully understand, Mr. Kateb, you were bleeding out when the young man brought you in. If you leave now, you're at risk of reopening your wounds and bleeding out again. I can't in good conscience allow you to leave before recovery. If you'd like I could bring him in, that way you two can speak, and we can save the questions for later."
"Alright, I'll follow your advice." Caesar watched the doctor nod and leave, he sat there trying to sort out the jumbled mess that was his thoughts and started thinking through what had happened to him. 'Okay, let's start from the top. I got my wishes, I landed on Earth and nearly died. Everything I look at screams at me with dimensions and other details people normally wouldn't know, like this VS9 Vital monitor made by Medtronic, I know it was made in 2013. I know it's 3.8 ft tall and 2 ft wide. I'm guessing this is a mix between my Spatial Wish and Supercomputer. It's great, but my brain isn't adapted to take in this much information. It's painfully clear, I made a mistake.'
As he was thinking to himself, Peter walked into the room. "Uh… Hey. You're awake. Nice. Awake is good, yeah." He said, offering an awkward smile. Caesar looks him over before replying, "So, you're the one who brought me here." Peter's eyes widen a bit not expecting the man he saved to be French. "We're at Lower Manhattan Hospital. I'm Peter by the way, Peter Parker." At that, Caesar didn't give a reaction and maintained a slight smile and nodded at the kid. 'Lower Manhattan, how the fuck did I end up here? And Peter Parker? As in THE Peter Parker, Mon Dieu, I'm fucked.'
"I'm Caesar Kateb. You seem a bit young to be waiting on an old man like me in the hospital. Still, it's none of my business. Do me a favor and get me the supplies on the counter over there." Caesar points to a couple containers on the counter, placed for easy access. "Sure, Sure." Peter grabs the supplies and brings them over. "Are you still hurt, if so I can get the doctor." Peter starts pulling away before his arm is grabbed by Caesar. "No, but your knuckles are raw and bruised. Continued abuse to the knuckles can lead to fractures or limited mobility. You're too young to suffer from lifetime wrist trauma."
After wrapping Peter's hands, Caesar pointed to a chair. "Sit down, make yourself comfortable. I'm not leaving, at least not tonight." Peter hastily nodded and sat down before Caesar continued his personality shifting subtly, as Doc disappeared and Caveira bled through. He began trying to pry information from Peter without it sounding like an interrogation, "So, you like feeding stray dogs or is this something new? I've been in America long enough to know that when someone is bleeding out in an alley, you just walk the other way." Caesar watched as Peter tried to hide a grimace at his crude words. He also took note of the subtle confusion.
"I just like to help people. My uncle… before he passed encouraged me to help people and save lives." Caesar studied Peter's face. Caveira's personality diminishing but not gone, instead blending as Doc's personality bled through once more. Caesar offered a gentle and stern face all at once, "To what extent? How far would you go to save a life? I'm not trying to lecture you, gamin. However, I've learned from experience that the place to save lives is in the field, not an office; And sometimes the only way to save a life, is to take one."
Peter stared back unsure of himself, "I don't think anyone should decide who lives or who dies." Caesar hummed softly in reply. "Unfortunately, people do. Don't stress yourself out trying to save lives. You've got plenty of time to worry about that when you've grown a bit. Now, go home, kid. I imagine, someone's probably waiting."
Peter nodded and stood up, "Yeah, I should… probably go. It was a- uh, good talk. Good luck with your recovery." Caesar offered a slight nod watching Peter leave. Once Peter was gone Caesar put his thoughts towards experimenting with his abilities. 'I can't keep depending on luck. I almost died when they activated, I need to find some way to gain control of them even if only a little.'
~~~~~
Next Day,
Outside Lower Manhattan Hospital
'I've managed to gain some control, finally. To think, it only cost me hours of migraines, a couple nose bleeds, and accidentally hacking into more than a few people's phones. Now, I need a legitimate identity, money, and some kind of roof over my head. I also need to experiment with Space and what I've gained from the Operator's. After all, if I'm hurting myself just trying to control my Supercomputer, I don't even want to imagine what'll happen if I experiment carelessly with Space.' With that thought out of the way…
'Lets figure out the most important thing first, an identity then let's find the nearest bank.'
Hijacking government database, success.
Beginning construction of identity: Caesar Kateb, creating organic Social Security Number and plausible background to minimize risk of detection. Success, Caesar Kateb, now officially exists. 'Now, onto the banks.' Searching the web for closest financial institution.
Located closest financial institution.
Approximately, 2 miles away. Setting up GPS via WiFi. WiFi successfully hijacked, GPS set successfully.
'This is awesome, I have so many options with this ability alone.' Caesar followed the GPS coordinates and arrived outside a massive bank. He grabbed a newspaper from a kiosk along the sidewalk before sitting down on a bench right outside the entrance.
Beginning localized hijack of WiFi. Success.
'Now, let's begin.' Creating new account… Success. Taking approximately $10 from all wealthy accounts and $5 from all accounts holding more than $1,000. All assets being charged as a Bank Surcharge. All assets deposited into new account. Account Balance: $495,000,000. 'Perfect, now let's get a car and a house away from people then I'll be ready to start training.' He quickly got up and started walking away.
~~~~~
Mike's Manhattan Used Cars
"Thank you for your patronage." The receptionist said with a smile and wave as he exited the building and got into his new car. A used 2013 Honda Civic Si with just under 100,000 miles. GPS set to nearest real estate office offering upstate New York estates boasting land sizes greater than 2 acres. With the directions set, Caesar put the car into gear and began driving toward the Agency.
After a short 10 minute drive, he parked outside the agency and walked in. "Welcome to Upper Eastside Real Estate. If you wait just a moment, one of our realtors will be right with you." He gave a nod and sat down.
Sitting there waiting, he could feel it coming. Just like back at the hospital, the thoughts colliding and mixing as his memories began combining violently. Except instead of one coming after another, he got hit with two more at once making the transition harder as his head began to swim trying to remember where and who he was. 'Epistaxis, blood pressure spike, psychological stress increase. Too many blind spots, I need to reposition. Weak perimeter, easily breachable, fortifying should be my priority. Aue, too much is happening. My fucking brain is frying.'
"Excuse me, sir." Caesar quickly stood up, reeling back. His chair scraping the ground as his hand instinctively reached the side of his denim jeans for a holster or knife that wasn't present. The thought slamming into him before he truly noticed,
'Making this pig squeal'll be easy…'