The Orb was a hub of intelligence for the world's leaders to use. In the past years however, a man named Alexander Agoniv took hold of the Orb and placed the giant ship somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. This underwater base could tap into the world's satellites, computers and cellphones. He broke the connections with the U.N. and used the Orb for his own means.

The Orb was created to stop any nuclear wars from erupting or anything that could potentially endanger the Earth. Ever since Alexander used it for a different purpose.

He used the Orb to find any superhuman activity. He was one of the first superhumans.

Born in 1672, no one suspected him until around 1841, when he was accused of being a demon. He looked around 15 at that time. He ran away from home after they killed both of his parents. He found his way to a nearby forest where he hid until he no one remembered him.

He was born with the ability of precognition, along with increased longevity and technopathy. He was around sixty years old when he took over the Orb, yet he still looked like he was in his 30s.

The people on board the Orb agreed with Alexander's plans. They thought looking for any other superhumans besides Alexander could potentially help with anything the world has to go through. Most of them stayed on the Orb yet some didn't fell like they should.

Alexander walked out of the steel doors. The doors closed behind him tightly. He sat down on the leather chair. The small room had a very tall ceiling. The chair hovered up the room as paintings of various famous figures in history were everywhere. They added a splash of "colour" to the rather boring iron walls.

He got off the chair and landed on a platform that moved like an escalator. Only it was upside down. He turned over on his side until he was upside down. Alexander's long blonde hair stayed down as he defied the gravity in the hallway.

He reached a large room with a computer with three monitors and a video camera at the end. He stepped onto a platform that brought him back upright and stood there. Other small tiles flew up and fell back down as he walked towards the computer. He turned on the computer with his mind and the camera instantly began recording him. His soft yet powerful tones of his voice echoed through the room.

"Day 73 of my search. I have set up more decoys of myself in Russia, Japan and Brazil in order to fool the United Nations. They don't seem to understand what I'm trying to do for them."

He coughed into his white gloved fist and resumed speaking again.

"However, the search for the Ultimates has not been as successful. I have absolutely no signs of any other superhumans powerful enough to be an Ultimate. This word I use for them is necessary. I deducted that they were a group of superhumans that fought a very long time ago with other superhumans. I call them Ultimates because I have deducted that they were so powerful that their powers caused almost cataclysmic events in history.

"The eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The Sinking of Atlantis. The Earthquake that killed 300,000 in India in 1737. The Black Plague. The Sinking of the Titanic. The Chernobyl accident. They are probably more powerful then anything I could have created with my mind. I know what is coming for the future, and if I can find just one of them..."

His blue dress shirt had stains where his neck was. His sweat dripped down from his face. His hands began to shake. Despite his calm voice, he looked like he hadn't slept in days.

"No matter. It's just a theory. Otherwise, I have also found various superhumans which could be possible allies to me, as long as they do not reveal the Orb's location. This 'Plan B' of sorts could help with the impending crisis. Also, more and more of my allies on the Orb want to go see the world again. Find their families. Reunite with old friends. I have decided they could, as long as they use the machines given to them to help themselves escape or even fight if they get into some sort of situation. They have begun recruiting some replacements. I could recruit the candidate as an ally here. I have also decided that my co workers on this ship shall be known as my Hecatoncheire ARMS. My Advanced Robotic Mechanized Specialists. Named after the fabled mythological creature with a thousand hands, they will act as hidden superheroes without all the powers."

He gulped.

"I have decided. That I, Alexander Aginov, shall create a clone of myself under the name Ben Horowitz. This clone will become a superhero named Hybrid and help save the world. However, his main objective is to infiltrate the superhero team known as The Ring."

"This clone must stay stable and have a normal human life however, therefore I will need to kill a person and replace his life with Ben Horowitz's. Unless..."

Alexander began walking back and forth snapping his fingers repeatedly.

"This will be known as Operation: Hybrid Switch. As of now, I have killed the man known as Robert Ladel and replaced him with Ben Horowitz," he said as his eyes flashed blue.

He blinked again and the camera turned off.

The platforms under him moved away. He dropped from the sky until he stopped in one large room. Two bulky men dressed in a lab coats walked in the room, holding a dirty, disheveled man in handcuffs.

His face was dirty and bruised.. He had brown hair and an angry expression on his face. His jeans were ripped and stained with grass. His T-shirt was ripped at his left sleeve. His head was held down, as if he had accepted that he had just been kidnapped from his apartment complex in New York. The two men dropped Robert on the ground and left the room. The brown haired man looked up at Alexander, his eyes filled with rage.

"I believe you are Robert Ladel. I apologize for my ARMS behaviour towards you. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks. Had a good breakfast of sausages and waffles. Except for the fact that I was freaking kidnapped! I already know who you are, Aginov."

"How exactly do you know? Stop being so dramatic."
"The entire world's looking for you. What did you do?"
"Oh right. I'm on the at the top of the most wanted list. By the way, I deleted every record of you in existence and brought you here."

Robert's began sweating a bit. Veins popped from his head. He smiled at Alexander. He flipped his hair out his eyes.

"I already know that. I also already know about your Ultimates theory. Your plan to infiltrate the Ring. Your missed meeting with Shakespeare. The shooting of Lincoln in that theatre. You are a lot older than you really look. And what's this about Chinese Liechi berry jellies?"
"How do you know about that?"
"I'm a superhuman. A psychic. I read minds."
"A psychic. Haven't met one of those before. And I'm over a hundred years old. Excuse me, one moment."

A metal platform with Liechi jellies in a bowl floated towards Robert.

"Sorry. You got me hungry."
"So the rumours were true. You are a superhuman."
"Yes. I'm a Technokinetic. I control machines. I thought it would be a little honest." He frowned a little bit.
"I think I might be thinking about this all wrong. You deleted everything about me in existence according to a computer, right?"
"Yes," he said as he swallowed another jelly. "What do you mean?"
"What about people's minds? Wouldn't they still remember me? Like my family? My co-workers?"

Alexander stopped chewing.

"Huh. In hindsight, that should have been a factor of erasing someone's memories being part of that process."
"Well. Remember? I'm a Psychic. A powerful one at that. I can erase memories. I can even put in false ones."
"Again. Very interesting, Robert. I think we should become allies. Despite my ARMS being rather provocative, Billy and Jimmy are nice guys."
"ARMS? Bill? Jim? You mean the guys that beat me up? What the hell are you talking about?"
"We have a lot to talk about. And I'm also really sorry about destroying your life."
"Actually, I was fine with that. My life was kinda shitty anyway."

They both laughed a little bit.

"So, is there anything in particular you want to know about?" asked Alexander.
"Where am I?"
"You're in the Orb. Made to watch all superhumans on Earth. Except it doesn't really work. Come. I'll show you around your new home."
"One thing, though."
"What?"
"The handcuffs?"
"Oh right. Sorry."

The hand cuffs fell off of his wrists. Robert cracked his knuckles. Alexander smiled at him as he tossed him a liechi berry jelly. The platform under them raised quickly and into the room above.