"What's the eventual goal?"
Vivian hesitated. Her fingers tightening around the cold coffee cup.
"An army."
The word hung between us. Heavy with implications I didn't want to process.
"An army of what?"
"Enhanced operatives. Each one carrying multiple abilities. Each one capable of things no single Essentia user should be able to do." She shook her head slowly. "Father doesn't want to control the hero industry. He wants to replace it. With assets he owns completely."
"That's insane."
"That's profitable. The contracts he could secure with military and government clients for enhanced operatives would be worth billions. Maybe trillions."
"And the human cost?"
"Since when has Father cared about human cost?"
She had a point. The original Rome's memories included plenty of examples of Vito D'Angelo treating people as resources to be optimized rather than individuals to be valued.
"Why are you telling me this?"
