Chapter 52: Finishing Moves
- Location
- Maryland
Chapter 52: Finishing Moves
Danny looked up at the knock on his door. He wasn't sure who would be visiting at this hour, especially as Taylor was off doing...something. He knew it had to do with fixing the Starfleet universe, but her attempt to explain it had rapidly led to it descending into a level of Family weirdness that made him decide he didn't really need to know all the details. He went to the front door and opened it to find Ellen Ripley and Dwayne Hicks standing outside.
"Danny, I'm sorry to bother you at home on a Friday night, but we were discussing something and we wanted your input," said Dwayne.
"Of course, it's not a problem," said Taylor's dad. "Why don't you come in. Where's Newt?"
"Xander and Anya are watching her for us," replied Ellen. She found the young woman slightly off-putting, but that was more than compensated for by Xander's skill at making Newt laugh, and both were responsible adults.
The three of them went into the living room and sat down. "Danny, we were hoping you could help us out," began Ellen. "Dwayne and I have been talking...Newt too. We've been talking about where we want to settle down. I think you understand why none of us are really keen on going back to our own world..."
Danny could certainly sympathize. "I'm not surprised, given what you've all gone through. I understand that it's getting a lot better over there, though." Weyland-Yutani was now effectively a Dracotech and BBFO subsidiary.
"It's more the bad memories than anything else," said Dwayne. "Especially for Newt. We both think it's better to make a clean break...and we want to do it here, in Brockton Bay."
To say Danny was surprised was an understatement. "Here? I would have expected someplace like Miles' universe. I mean, I won't badmouth my hometown, but the general level of technology can't be as advanced as you're used to." Before the Family, he might have been more hesitant to recommend Brockton Bay, but the city was getting downright livable these days.
"You'd be surprised," muttered Dwayne.
"I'm not sure I follow?" Danny quirked a questioning eyebrow.
"While our home Earth is more technologically advanced in many ways, there are a lot of similarities in engineering to this world. There's still a lot that's...tactile, and mechanical. Federation tech is interesting, but it makes me feel more like a computer programmer than an engineer," said Ripley.
Hicks frowned. "To be honest...we're also a little uncomfortable about the alien species in that universe. Where we come from, most intelligent alien life is pretty hostile."
Danny considered that. Initially, the comment seemed uncharacteristically intolerant. Given their experiences though, and the lack of any positive counter-examples, he couldn't really begrudge them their lack of comfort around non-humans. They all seemed to get along fine with the Family, too (though Newt was still hesitant), so it probably wasn't something that couldn't be overcome with effort. The question was whether it was worth the effort for them personally. "All right...so what can I do to help?"
"Two things...well, three. The first and most obvious is that we could use some help finding work," said Ellen. "The second is that we need some guidance on how things like public services and schools work in this day and age, as it's probably very different from what I remember in my time." She paused after the second item.
"The third," continued Dwayne, "is that we need some advice on legal matters. Ellen, Newt and I don't actually exist legally in this time on this planet."
The hiring manager of the DWU smiled. "I can certainly help with the first two. As for the third, I'm pretty sure either Dragon or Metis can arrange something with the help of the PRT and the Protectorate. They're pretty good at establishing new identities, both to protect witnesses and to rebrand capes that switch sides. You're all sure you want to stay here in this world? To be completely open with you, there are still some pretty dangerous threats, even if the Endbringers are no longer attacking every month."
Ellen shrugged. "No world is completely safe, but sticking around near the Family seems like the safest option."
Danny Hebert couldn't argue against that, though he marveled at how quickly things had changed around Brockton Bay, and how much his daughter contributed to those changes. "All right, so the first thing I would suggest is we talk to Lisa. She can work with the family on getting you legal documentation and identification. At that point, you can officially join the DWU..."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Robert decided that moving slowly and carefully through real-space was boring...which was not a sentiment he would have predicted back when he was just a warlock in Florida. Shows like Star Trek made space travel look exciting. He said as much.
"Space is huge," replied Bobbi. "Even with hyperdrives, you spend a lot of time sitting around with nothing to do but daily maintenance and killing time with other people onboard. That's part of why interstellar ships use cold sleep pods...at least they did before the boss here showed up with the Family and their wormhole drives."
Vectura grinned. "It does make travel a lot less tedious...at least when you're not being overly cautious. Speaking of which, do we have any change on the sensors?"
Bobbi checked the readings yet again. "Nope. We can still see the planet in question, but if there are any lifesign or energy readings, then we're too far out to sense them. It pretty much looks just like a lifeless rock." They had jumped so that the planet highlighted by Robert's scrying as the core of the portal network was just within sensor range, and were approaching slowly and carefully.
"Does anybody have any objection to jumping in closer to try and get better readings?" asked the cat-woman.
Robert and Bobbi exchanged a look. "I'm guessing that if there's anything there," said the wizard, "then it's trying to maintain a low profile. That would probably be hard to do if they fired weapons at any ship that passed too close."
"No argument here," agreed Bobbi.
With that, Vectura opened a wormhole to the edge of the star system containing the world in question. The system itself looked boring, with just three airless, rocky planets and a dirt-brown-colored gas giant. The planet highlighted by Robert's spell earlier was the second farthest out from the system's star, but it was oddly isolated from the rest of the system. It was currently on the opposite side of the star from the other three worlds...and seemed to orbit the star at an angle to the plane of the other planets' orbits. As a result, it never came very close to any of the other worlds.
"I'm getting a faint energy reading now," said Bobbi. "It's definitely artificial. I don't think any human ship from this reality would be able to sense it at this distance, though. They would pretty much have to be in orbit of the planet." Luckily for them, the sensors on Family dimension skippers were significantly better than local tech.
Bobbi continued to monitor the readings as they moved toward the planet in question from the edges of the star system. The reading grew in strength as they got closer, but there was no other change. There was still no evidence of life signs, nor were there any indications of automated sensors or defenses. If they hadn't identified a connection with the interdimensional portals used by the Yautja, they wouldn't have had much reason to investigate. They soon reached orbit, and once there, they were able to scan beneath the surface of the planet near the source of the reading.
"What is that?" asked Robert, looking at a holographic image of the subsurface.
Vectura replied, "It looks like a single room surrounded by machinery of some kind. There doesn't seem to be any way to get inside, however."
"Could there have been a tunnel or shaft that collapsed?" asked Bobbi.
"Possibly...but I can't tell that from here. Let's beam down a probe," said the tinker. They had a number of probes onboard that were capable of independent maneuver and were loaded with sensors...albeit not as many as the sensor spheres used to monitor open space in various universes. The information sent back showed what appeared to be a control room with several rather large chairs, as well as a human-tolerable oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere and gravity equivalent to about 80% of Earth at sea-level. "Well, that's interesting. Nothing has attacked the probe, so let's go down and take a look."
"Shouldn't somebody stay on the ship?" asked Robert.
Vectura shrugged. "Eh, we have the emergency beamout protocol, and if we don't check in, then the Family will come looking for us. You've both got your permanent symbiotes, right?" Both of her companions nodded. "All right, then. Should be safe enough." Something about the planet was calling to Vectura's power. A small part of her mind suggested that she was being a bit incautious, but that was overruled by a different urge.
The three appeared in a room that looked alien to human senses. There were, in fact, some similarities between the derelict on LV-426 and the technology in the room, but only Vectura was familiar enough with the quasi-organic look to notice. The chairs at the three consoles were far too large for a human. Unlike the derelict, however, there were no giant corpses present. The room was empty of life. Vectura went over to one of the control consoles, which appeared to be dorment. She reached out a hand to touch the console, but hesitated as it lit when she was close. The screen in front of her also lit with static, and a deep, booming voice said a fairly complex stream of gibberish -- or at least, spoke in a language that was foreign to everyone present.
"Should we be touching things?" asked Bobbi nervously. "We don't actually know what any of this stuff does."
"I think...this stuff is related to controlling the portals. You know, kind of like an airport's control tower," said Vectura.
Robert Esposito stared at her. "How on Earth could you possibly know that?"
"My power. It's like it kind of recognizes some of this stuff," said the tinker.
Robert couldn't say he understood much about tinker powers, but he wasn't about to express any arbitrary skepticism given the present circumstances. Bobbi, on the other hand, was getting used to the fact that her boss seemed to have a preternatural ability when it came to anything related to vehicles or other forms of transport. Apart from the dimension skippers, she'd also seen videos of the lightcyles and construction mechs built by Vectura. If Vectura said she understood a room full of completely alien technology, she would give her the benefit of the doubt.
"Let's see..." said Vectura. She reached out and touched one of the controls.
"PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF," said the booming voice.
Vectura glanced at Bobbi and Robert, who both shrugged. "My name is Vectura."
"VECTURA, PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW YOU GAINED ACCESS TO THIS FACILITY," commanded the voice.
"Teleportation?" she replied, while getting ready to trigger the emergency recall that would beam the three of them back to the ship.
There was a pause. "YOUR SPECIES DOES NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THAT TECHNOLOGY," it finally replied.
Despite the circumstances, she smirked. "The humans in this universe haven't developed it natively, no, but they have access to it through us."
"ASSESSING CLAIM OF TRANS-DIMENSIONAL ORIGINS...SCANNING...CONFIRMING VARIANT QUANTUM SIGNATURES..." There was another pause...and this one lasted long enough that it made them wonder if the machine had gotten stuck on something. Finally, the machine spoke again, but with a more cultured voice. "Very interesting. Do you claim to represent humans from other realities, Vectura?"
"I'm not a representative of any official government, if that's what you're asking," said Vectura. "I work for a pan-dimensional organization that troubleshoots problems too large for the locals to handle...or at least, that's what we've turned into."
"Based on my scans of the biotechnological enhancements in your bodies, I'm going to guess that your organization is responsible for the anti-xenomorph virus?" asked the machine.
"You know about that?" asked Bobbi before Vectura could answer.
"A crewman from a human vessel was captured by a surviving member of the Militant faction. He detected the virus and I retrieved the information from his databases," confirmed the voice.
"If you don't mind...could you tell us who you are and what you're doing here?" interjected Vectura before Bobbi could follow up on that information.
"My designation in your language would translate to, 'Mind Five-Four Research Sapient,' and my role is to monitor and control this portal hub facility for an empire that no longer exists thanks to its own hubris and proclivity towards violence," said the obviously artificial intelligence. "You may call me Mears, if you like."
"Are you willing to answer some questions? We were led here because a species called the Yautja used one of the portals tied to this facility to enter another universe where we have interests," said Vectura.
"I don't see why not. Ever since the last members of my crew were killed while trying to evacuate, events have been exceedingly boring. Monitoring a mostly inactive portal network barely takes up a small fraction of my computational capacity. Luckily for you, my creators were arrogant enough to think that no other species would ever find this facility, so they never bothered with any protocols for internal security. From your words, I take it that the open portals that are in use are being used by the hunters? That, if I may venture an opinion, was a rather stupid experiment on the part of the Preservationist faction...uplifting a tribal society fixated on proving themselves through combat was always going to be problematic. Not that they ever listened to their AI when politics was involved..." said Mears, the last few words turning into a mutter.
"How long have you been by yourself, here?" asked Robert, wondering at the somewhat...scattered responses by the AI.
The machine actually hummed for a moment like an absent-minded professor, then replied, "You use years based on the orbital period of your homeworld like most species, yes? Then that comes to...seven-thousand, four hundred twenty-three point six five six three of your years, assuming none of my mathematics processors have failed in that time."
"And why was your crew evacuating?" asked Bobbi, wondering if the facility itself was safe.
"They were evacuating because they were members of the Expansionist Faction, and they were fighting the Evolutionist faction in the forty-second year of their third civil war. The Evolutionists located this facility and were getting ready to transport in xenomorphs, or something equally vile, so the crew fled...and their ship was obliterated by a kinetic kill device instead. The Evolutionists went away and never came back...so they may have fallen afoul of yet another faction. There are no more records of their vessel in any system I can access, at least."
"How many factions did your people have?" asked Bobbi.
"Originally, there were no fewer than twelve, but by the final days of the empire there were only four, the others having been wiped out or absorbed. Unfortunately for you, the Militants were one of the four," said the AI.
"Why is that unfortunate for us?" prompted Vectura.
Mears chuckled. "It is unfortunate because the Militants see your species as a sleeper weapon of the Evolutionists, despite evidence to the contrary. The one who discovered your virus has already sent several ships toward your homeworld. I assume, based on the marvelous spaceship I can sense in orbit, that your forces destroyed them?"
"Mears," said Vectura, "would you be willing to speak to some friends of ours about these Militants? I have some friends, including another AI, who would like to know more about them." She left his question about their military abilities unanswered.
"That sounds wonderful! It's been ages since I had a conversation with a lucid AI...not since the stellar regulator AI in system 43480 went insane and let his star go supernova. Too bad about the primitives in that system...they had some lovely music..." said the AI, again ending in a way that sounded like it was talking to itself.
Vectura's new priority was getting Dragon and one of the Family here. Mears was likely the key to figuring out how to handle the Space Jockeys once and for all, assuming it didn't go mad like a post-apocalyptic monorail in a Stephen King novel.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Burnscar looked out from the bed in the hotel room at the remaining members of the Nine. William was watching television. Bonesaw appeared to be playing jacks with one of her spiders. Alan was using a delicate manipulator to fiddle with some tinker device on the dining table in the room, his rounded form sitting on the floor instead of one of the chairs. Hatchet Face was dozing on the other bed. Shatterbird was on the couch, reading a magazine. Crawler, of course, wasn't in the room...he never stayed with the group when they were on the move. Overall, it was an odd juxtaposition of monsters doing utterly mundane things.
"You still fear them..." said the Phoenix in her mind.
'Yes, but I'm afraid of myself most of all,' she thought forlornly.
The Phoenix scoffed. "You don't fear yourself. You fear your power."
Annoyed, Mimi replied, 'When the fire takes over, I lose myself. I do things I later regret.' Jack had been obscenely good at making sure she lost herself over and over again. She was thankful he was dead now.
"The parasite that made you what you call a parahuman affected your mind. You can stay in control if you choose to do so." The Phoenix was wondering if she had made a poor choice in picking this host, making a hasty decision due to curiosity and elemental affinity.
'It may be easy for a cosmic power like you, but I'm just a lowly human.' snapped back Mimi, her irritation making her momentarily reckless.
The Phoenix growled. "With me, you are more," she insisted.
Mimi scoffed in her head, though she didn't move at all physically. 'Jack used to say something similar.'
"Fine," said the Phoenix irritably. "You do not need the alien parasite to prove yourself."
Burnscar moved then. She moaned a low, pained moan as she could feel the fire in her brain. Around her, the others were reacting similarly...all except Mannequin, who simply rolled over and stopped moving.
'What the hell did you just do?' asked Mimi to the presence in her head.
"I have eliminated the parasite link in your brain. It was largely redundant with my power, and it was influencing your mood," was the reply.
Mimi looked around the room. 'You took my power? What about the others?'
"I removed theirs as well, as you were afraid of them. The changes Alan Gramme made to his own physiology made the removal process lethal to him. The creature known as Crawler is also in the process of suffocating, as he fell from a height as I was burning his power out of him," replied the force of destruction.
She considered that news. It's not like she was overly fond of the others, and Mannequin wouldn't have been able to maintain his own life support for long without his tinker powers. Crawler, too, would likely have quickly met a bad end, given his penchant for running head-first into danger and relying on his adaptation and regeneration. Mimi looked around at the others. She watched William as his face got a horrified, panicked look. Shatterbird had fallen off of her chair and was picking herself back up. Bonesaw was still lying on the floor, groaning. Hatchet Face was starting to stir from his nap, obviously awakened from the pain. Making a decision, she said to the Phoenix. 'I don't want to deal with this. Take me somewhere away from here.'
Smirking internally, the Phoenix willed them somewhere else, and Burnscar vanished in flames.
Bonesaw pushed herself up, then looked around. Mannequin looked to be disabled or dead. William was panicking. Shatterbird looked confused. Burnscar was gone. Hatchet Face was sitting up from the bed. Riley tried to use her power on the spider that was sitting there...and found that it was gone. That was likely to be a problem. She looked at Shatterbird. "Can you access your powers?"
Shatterbird quirked an eyebrow, then raised a hand. Her expression changed to a puzzled one, then to a slightly horrified one.
"What the hell happened?" asked Hatchet Face from the bed.
"Our powers have shut off," replied Riley, ignoring for the moment how William was starting to repeat, "I can't find my daughter!" over and over again, quietly.
"Is it temporary?" asked Shatterbird.
Riley shook her head. "Without knowing what caused it, I'm not sure." Based on the pain and disorientation, plus what happened to Mannequin, they may very well have lost their powers for good. She still had her own body modifications, which weren't dependent upon her powers to work, but she no longer had the instinctive understanding of physiology or surgery used to create them. "We'll have to wait for Burnscar to come back and see if she knows."
Shatterbird glanced nervously over to Hatchet Face. "What if she doesn't come back?"
"Then we go look for her," said Riley...though the confidence she projected was false. Unlike Shatterbird, she wasn't terribly worried about her own safety, as she could still defend herself with a variety of implanted weapons. Mimi had been increasingly unstable since she killed Jack, though, and had the ability to overpower the rest of them with ease. She wasn't sure if they would be better if the fiery cape came back...or if she didn't.
In the corner, Manton stopped talking and began rocking back and forth silently.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Doctor Mother looked up at the doorway opening in the room as Rebecca stepped through into the Cauldron facility. Her eyebrow raised slightly as the woman was followed by the large, black lizard, Metis. "Rebecca," she said, "is there a reason why you've introduced the Family to our facility?"
"For one, they already knew about it, including how to get here," replied the tall hispanic woman. "Apart from that, they know about the Case 53's, Cauldron capes and our process for creating vials, my cape identity and who else is involved in running Cauldron."
Doctor Mother looked over at the lizard and said, simply, "You are well-informed."
Metis regarded the African woman in her lab coat. "Your group was far too dependent upon Contessa for your operational security. The Family is relatively immune to thinker powers, so it was really only a matter of time. Of course, certain other events accelerated that process."
"And are you here to put a stop to our evil scheme?" asked Doctor Mother with an admirable degree of sarcasm.
Metis laughed at that, showing a rather disturbing amount of teeth. "I'm here to explain some things to you, and to tell you what happens next. You see, the Family has already killed Scion...twice, actually. We also know how to bring the Endbringers under control."
Interested despite her concern, Doctor Mother asked, "What do you mean, you killed him twice?"
"The first time was in a parallel Earth...similar to Earth Aleph, except that it was parallel along a different axis. That world had alternate versions of most of the people in this world, including an alternate Cauldron, an alternate Protectorate, et cetera... There was also an alternate Scion, which we have dispatched. Once you know the trick, it isn't that hard, frankly. Now, their versions of Eidolon and Alexandria have other commitments, so it is up to Legend and the new head of the PRT to keep things together and track down the remaining high-class threats while the rest of Cauldron figures out what to do with themselves. Part of the reason we're here is to try and make thing go more smoothly in this reality," explained Metis.
"They took me to see Scion's corpse...this reality's Scion, at least," added Rebecca.
"Our first time beating him was a little rough on the planet he was on, so it was better to show her yours," said the lizard.
Doctor Mother regarded the two. "Was it a long battle...the first time?" That would explain why it did significant damage to the planet holding Scion's true form.
"Not especially...but my cousin was a little overly enthusiastic and burned away the planet's atmosphere," said Metis, "which we managed to avoid the second time around."
"In any event, there is a particularly useful role that Cauldron can play, a role for which your participation would be essential," continued Rebecca. "The Family has determined, based on some unfortunate incidents on the other Earth Bet, that the entities didn't just distribute powers. As we suspected, they also balanced them. Preventing Case 53's was one consequence of that...but there were other aspects affected as well."
"Other aspects?" prompted Doctor Mother.
Metis held up a hand and began to count down claws. "Application of Manton limits. Adding secondary powers to allow capes to survive the use of their primary powers. Adapting the interpretation of powers based on the circumstances of trigger events. Limiting powers so that they excluded the entities, powers themselves or the Endbringers...that was typically done for thinker powers in general. Obfuscating the databases of technology available to tinkers to prevent humans from using their inventions to advance to a point where they could threaten the entities."
Eagerly, Doctor Mother asked, "Do you know how those various...adjustments were made?"
Metis shook her head. "We have suppositions, and some clues based upon examination of agents in their native pocket dimensions. What we would like you to do is help us establish an institute for the study of powers. We need to learn how to fix broken capes like Case 53's or new triggers that are missing critical secondary powers. Ideally, we would do away with the entire current trigger process. Gaining superpowers due to trauma is hardly conducive to creating mentally balanced capes. We also want to be able to turn off the agents infuencing their hosts to seek out conflict, and figure out how to disable the agents for problematic capes like Butcher from a distance."
"And you want me to research these things?" asked the African woman.
"You, Contessa, and perhaps your counterparts in the other reality," confirmed Rebecca. "Contessa in particular could be useful, especially if we can find a work-around for how the Family's influence seems to generally degrade precognitive abilities. We also could use your help with Eidolon."
"You know why his powers are fading in power?" All of Doctor Mother's nervousness and sarcasm seemed to be subsumed by her curiosity.
Metis nodded. "We do. We also know that Eidolon's power is responsible for unleashing and subconsciously directing the Endbringers."
Doctor Mother looked to Rebecca, and at her nod, said,"Oh...that's...going to be difficult." David was not going to be happy to hear that, assuming he accepted it as true.
"I also would like your help in convincing Alexandria to just be a Protectorate cape and stop being the head of the PRT," said Rebecca.
Now the other woman looked confused. "I thought you said the alternate Alexandria had already done so?"
"I have," said Rebecca, prompting a look of surprised understanding from Doctor Mother. "But the Alexandria of this world also needs to hand over the reigns of power in compliance with the PRT's regulations."
"Rebecca here can help with that," said Metis. "She's willing to have her powers temporarily suppressed. At that point, she would take over this PRT long enough to establish her retirement and a practical transition plan. The process for the other PRT was both chaotic and bad for public opinion."
"I assume the Family is willing to assist with all of this?" Doctor Mother was skeptical of her ability to convince her David and Rebecca of what the lizard was saying...assuming it could be verified.
"We will. Saurial and Raptaur will be able to assist as soon as they finish a rather complicated situation in another universe," said Metis.
Given how easily the Family seemed to have taken down Scion, a problem that Cauldron had never been confident of solving, Doctor Mother had to wonder what they considered complicated. "Why don't you give me some more details?" she said, taking out a notepad from her desk.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
John Marcone walked up to the entrance to Dresden Security with the woman Gard on his left and his bodyguard Hendricks on his right, both a step behind. He stopped for a moment and looked up at the multi-story edifice, all of which was apparently now owned by Harry Dresden's company. That implied a level of funding well beyond the man's old PI office. The group continued forward, but stopped again after coming in through the front doors. Instead of a normal corporate office lobby, they entered a relatively small, wide hallway with wood paneling that had a single, open elevator at the end. Marcone looked at Gard with a raised eyebrow.
"The lobby of this building did not look like this during our surveillance," said the tall woman.
Marcone looked around. There was no evidence of construction or obvious magic. "Is this a veil?" he asked.
She shook her head. "It is more than that, but I would need more active measures to determine more."
The shadow of a smile ghosted the gangster's lips. "We're guests right now. Let's hold off on 'active measures' until it becomes necessary."
The oddness continued in the elevator, which was just large enough for three people and only had a single button as an internal control. It didn't even have buttons to control the door or an emergency contact handset. John idly wondered what a building inspector would think of that, assuming they could even see any of this. The ride ended with the door opening on a small receptionist's office. A young, attractive woman of Asian descent was sitting behind a desk. Her nameplate read, "Lee," though it wasn't clear if that was her given name or her family name.
She looked up as they stepped off the elevator and asked, "John Marcone and guests to see Mr. Dresden for your two o'clock appointment?" All three of them could see that she had one hand out of sight beneath her desk. John nodded, and she pressed an intercom button with her visible hand. "Mr. Dresden, your two o'clock is here."
"Thank you, Lee...you can send them in," replied Dresden's voice from the speaker.
"Please go in, Mr. Marcone," said the woman in a professional manner.
The three proceeded through the outer office and into a larger, executive-style office. Harry Dresden was wearing jeans and a black button-down shirt, but he was sitting behind a mahogany desk that would have been the envy of a number of self-important businessmen that John knew. Off to the side, Karrin Murphy was sitting in a leather chair. She was wearing a well-cut pants suit that was dressier than Dresden's clothes. Neither stood to welcome their visitors. Instead, Dresden said, "John, it's nice to see you again. It's been some time." He looked in turn to the other two. "Gard...Cujo."
John walked over to the middle chair of the three present in front of the desk and sat without being invited. Gard took the left-hand chair, but Hendricks remained standing behind the two of them. "It hasn't been that long," he commented.
Harry shrugged. "What can I say? Time spent out of your presence tends to stretch. What can I do for you today?"
John pointedly looked at Karrin. "Are we going to have a police chaperone for this conversation?"
"I don't work for the CPD anymore," said Karrin, speaking for herself. "I'm a security advisor for Dresden Securities, now."
"You work for Dresden now? My condolences," said Gard with an atypical air of sarcasm.
Karrin looked at Harry fondly. "It has its benefits, and the retirement plan is much better."
"Karrin is my 2IC. She sits in on all of the important meetings," explained Harry.
John made a note of that, as well as the uncharacteristic use of military lingo by the wizard. He decided to get straight to business. "I'm here in my role as Freeholding Lord, Wizard Dresden. I want to know how your current circumstances affect the balance of power, both in Chicago and elsewhere."
Dresden tilted his head slightly. "I'm still affiliated with the White Council as a Warden, though I've had a number of other titles thrown at me. Officially, I'm Warden Dresden of the White Council, Warden of Demonreach, Apprentice Gatekeeper, Council Sorcerer."
"Apprentice Gatekeeper?" asked Gard, eyes widened slightly in surprise.
Dresden grimaced a bit. "That's Rashid's way of granting me certain types of access...and probably his idea of a joke at my expense."
"I noticed that you didn't list Winter Knight in those titles," commented Marcone.
"Yes," answered Dresden with a grin. "We managed to convince the Winter Queen to move the mantle to another candidate."
Now it was John's turn to be surprised. "I didn't know that was possible."
"It's possible...but you have to really make it worth her while," replied Harry.
John digested that. He would have to get Gard to make some inquiries with her superiors. "So where does that leave us?"
Dresden looked at John. John stared back at him. The two had already shared a soulgaze, so neither bothered with averting their gaze. "John, my official position toward you is appropriate for your role as Baron of Chicago under the Unseelie Accords. We will also maintain that stance in the upcoming peace negotiations." Word of a meeting to sign a new treaty in the wake of the destruction of the Red Court had percolated through the supernatural world. "Personally, you know that you and I will never be friends, and any of my firm's non-magical security work that runs afoul of your business interests...well, that will have to get resolved in the mundane courts."
"You're suggesting a complete division between the supernatural and the mundane?" asked Marcone.
"You know that's not completely possible," commented Karrin. "When the supernatural enters into it though, then other rules apply."
"And we're going to work to keep those elements separate, and will look poorly on any attempt to mix them for the sake of convenience," said Dresden.
In other words, thought John, as long as mundane crime stays mundane, then everybody is just a normal citizen dealing within the system. When magic gets involved, then they're Baron and Council Sorcerer...whatever that specific title actually meant. It was in some respects the status quo. It was clear, however, that Harry Dresden had resources beyond his former station, and that meant that he would need Baron Marcone's help far less frequently. "I think we understand each other," said Marcone.
Harry smiled. "I'm glad to hear that."
John and Gard stood up and turned to go, but Harry said, "John, there's one more thing." Marcone turned back to look at Dresden, who pulled out a small case and held it up to him. "That's for Amanda."
Marcone reached out and took the small case, which was about the size of a case for eyeglasses. "What is it?" he asked, somewhat coldly.
"It will do what the Shroud was supposed to do," answered Dresden.
John's eyes widened slightly, before he said, "Thank you, Harry." He put the case in his inner jacket pocket and the three left in the elevator. He knew Harry well enough not to doubt his word on such a topic.
Once they were out of the building and away from any listening devices, Marcone said to Gard, "Do you know anything about the Winter Knight situation?"
She shook her head. "I do not, although there are rumors that Mab somehow has new, powerful guardians watching the Outer Gates. I'm not sure they're connected, but I can ask."
"Please do," said Marcone. "Also, do you have any idea what the title, 'Council Sorcerer,' means?"
"It's not a commonly used term," replied the Valkyrie. "It might imply mastery of some type of esoteric magical ability, or several of them, or it could be a new role with specific duties in the Council. I'll check my contacts." Of course, there was no way to know exactly why or how Dresden now qualified for such a title.
John considered their meeting as they got to their car and departed, with Hendricks taking the driver's seat. Harry Dresden had looked different in subtle ways. He no longer had a glove covering the scars on one hand, and in fact, the scars seemed to have been healed. Apart from that, though, the man was more confident and professional than he remembered, even if he was still a sarcastic pain in the ass. He would need to pay careful attention to how things developed with Dresden from now on. His value as an ally and danger as an enemy had both likely increased.
After Marcone left, Karrin asked, "Was it wise giving Marcone a healing symbiote? What if he keeps it for himself?"
"He won't," answered Harry. Before he could explain more, his cell phone rang. Looking at the screen, he said to Karrin, "It's Maggie." He pressed the little green phone symbol. "Hello, sweetie...yes...what do you mean, Molly is being mean to you?" Despite rolling his eyes a bit at the drama, Harry couldn't help but smile at his life right now.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"How long will the lock-out last?" asked Saurial.
Draco frowned. "You've got maybe thirty minutes. After that, I can kick them out entirely, but I won't be able to keep them from talking to you...and her...if they're still in the system."
Saurial smiled. "Plenty of time." With that, Saurial vanished and reappeared elsewhere.
Kiva was getting ready for bed when somebody appeared in her bedroom. She jumped back with a start at seeing a bipedal reptile standing there. "FATHER!" she yelled, "There's somebody in my room!"
The reptile woman grinned without showing any teeth. "Hello, Kiva. My name is Saurial."
"FATHER!" yelled Kiva again. She was mindful of her father's warning. She ran to the door of her room and tried to pull open the door, but it seemed locked...which was odd, as the door didn't have a lock. She called out several more times, but couldn't hear a response. She turned, placing her back to the door, and said, "Who are you and what do you want?"
The reptile hadn't moved at all. "As I said, my name is Saurial. I'm here to talk to you. Your father is fine, but a friend of mine has distracted him and your aunt because they wouldn't want me to talk to you. I want to talk to you about your art project."
Kiva tried to make sense of that. "What? You broke into my home to talk to me about my project? In what world does that make sense?"
The intruder nodded, like a teacher when their student makes a good point. "That is an excellent question, and one that I'm going to explain to you. First, why don't you show me your sculpture?"
"The door won't open," she said, slightly irritated despite her fear.
Saurial walked over to the door, causing Kiva to slide along the wall and out of the way, and pulled open the door. "They work when I open them."
"Will you please let me go?" she asked, seeing that the door was open.
The lizard woman got a serious look on her face. "I swear to you that if you listen to what I have to say, you will be free to do anything you want after. I also swear that your family is unharmed and that I will not harm you during our conversation."
Kiva wasn't sure the woman was telling the truth, but the lizard-woman looked dangerous, despite being polite, and nobody had answered her cries for help. With little other option, she replied, "All right...I can show you my sculpture." She led the way to her workspace, while looking and listening to see if there was anybody else at home. Her father should be in his office, but the door was open and it was empty. Kiva removed the cover over her work. "There, that's it. It's not finished..." she started to say, then stopped talking, annoyed at herself for caring about the art critique of a home intruder.
"Very pretty," said Saurial, seemingly sincerely. "Now, let me show you something." The lizard waved her clawed, scaly hand over the sculpture, and the crystals themselves seemed to fade and become transparent. Left behind were a series of glowing lines spread throughout the body of the work.
Kiva looked at the lines. They were disquieting...both because she wasn't sure what her intruder had done, and because there was a part of her that made the lines seem...right and proper? It was like she intuitively understood what they were in her subconscious mind, even if her conscious mind had no clue about it. "What are you showing me?"
"I'm showing you the lines of force inside your work. Your sculpture isn't just an art piece," replied the reptilian woman.
The feeling of unease grew as she asked, "What do you mean? What else could it be?"
Almost against her will, Kiva leaned in. In between the lines of force, she could see specks of light floating against a void. "Are those...are those stars?" she asked.
"Kiva, your art project is really the control interface for a system of extradimensional forces intended to drive two galaxies in close parallel realities into each other, in a manner that is unfortunately catastrophic for both of them," said the lizard seriously.
Kiva put her hand to her head as the words, "PRIMARY DIRECTIVE" flashed through her consciousness. She suddenly had access to a stream of information about what was going on...or rather, she could access information she had known...but that awareness had been blocked somehow. She looked around at her workspace. "None of this is real?"
"Your home...this town...this is all a simulation," said Saurial sympathetically.
Kiva just stared down at her hands...and wondered at how normal they still looked, despite the knowledge that they were every bit as artificial as the room. "Why? Why would they do this? If they wanted to build a weapon, why go through this charade?"
"That is part of the reason why I'm here, Kiva. My Family and I have friends who live in one of the galaxies being manipulated. We want to stop the attack, but what we discovered when we investigated things further was this simulation. Once we were able to enter it with some help, we discovered you, somebody who had no apparent awareness of what was actually happening," explained Saurial. "Even then, we weren't entirely sure of the connection to you until our disruption of the weapon's network with pure entropy caused a reaction."
A virtual lightbulb went off for Kiva. "That's why I got sick? You did something..."
"We attacked the construct used to manipulate the galaxies directly," confirmed Saurial. "I'm sorry it affected you as well. Another reason I'm here is to try and fix that. We still don't know why they chose a controller who was ignorant of what they were doing. When your father...and I expect a couple of other people, arrives, I intend to ask."
"You're keeping them away for now?" asked Kiva.
Saurial nodded. "My friend, Draco, is able to keep them away for a short time. You've actually met him before. He was the fruit ice vendor you went to see the other day."
Kiva blushed, remembering her thoughts that he was kind of cute. Then a horrifying thought occurred to her. "If this is all fake, does that mean you can read my thoughts?"
"Not without you feeling it, and not without hurting you," replied Saurial. Of course, if they had discovered a simple AI that knew it was controlling a massive weapon of mass destruction, they might not have been so gentle, but all indications were that Kiva was a complete innocent in all of this.
She considered what she knew now, and what the lizard-woman had told her. Her father appeared to have honest affection for her and treated her like a daughter. She couldn't understand why he would lie to her all these years. "When is father coming?" she asked.
"Are you ready to speak with him?" At her nod, Saurial spoke into the air. "You can let them in, Draco."
Her father just appeared in the room, similar to how Saurial had done so earlier. Next to him were Aunt Kelar and Doctor Tild...no, her revised memory corrected her...Commander Kelar and Proctor Tild. Her father looked the same, but Tild and Kelar were both dressed in military uniforms. Tild looked at Saurial and said, "What have you done?" in a nasty tone, while her father asked her, "Kiva, are you all right?"
Kiva looked at him firmly. "Father, why have you been lying to me my entire life?"
Tild looked at her, then looked over at her father. "Prosul, this is what we get for indulging in your sentimentalities. I want its memory wiped. We're going to revert to a lower-level AI model for controlling the weapon."
Saurial actually snickered. "You folks are under the mistaken impression that you're in control of this situation. The only reason you're still here is because we allow you in, and even then it's because I want to know why you're doing this."
Kelar said out loud, "Command Override Krolus Four Four Eight Mat." She appeared surprised when nothing happened.
Tild glared at Saurial. "Give us back control!"
"Answer my question," Saurial said, smiling at Tild with teeth. Despite the fact that this was a simulation, he appeared to shrink back slightly.
"We are doing this because the Pan-Galactic Federation interfered with our culture at a critical moment, and caused what should have been our crowning achievement to devolve into civil war," said Kelar.
"Who are the Pan-Galactic Federation?" asked Kiva.
"I'm guessing they're the future version of the United Federation of Planets, one of the inhabitants of the galaxies this weapon is tearing to shreds," explained Saurial. "So, the Federation comes along, and doesn't even attack you -- they just showed up at the wrong moment -- and you decided to destroy them?"
Kelar shrugged. "It's more complicated than that, but that's not an inaccurate summary."
"Stop answering her questions!" ordered Tild.
Quoting a certain red-headed superwitch, Saurial said, "Bored now," and waved her hand. At that point, Tild and Kelar vanished.
Kiva looked at her father. "Father, why would you go along with a plot to destroy an entire galaxy because of an accident?"
Her father, the scientist named Prosul, sighed. "It is more complicated." He looked at Saurial, apparently finding it easier to explain himself to a stranger. "Our people called ourselves the Cereeshians. We had a long and complicated history, probably similar to many other races. After much internal debate, and even some violence motivated by competing philosophies, we had come to a consensus that it was time to divest ourselves of our mortal forms and ascend into a pure energy state."
He turned to look at Kiva again. "This world that I created for you...it is a copy of what our civilization was like before that point, although I admit that I omitted some of the less pleasant aspects."
Turning to Saurial again, he continued. "The PGF arrived in our galaxy and made contact at a time when we were preparing to ascend. At that time -- which is in the future from your perspective, I suppose -- they will be a highly advanced civilization, one that actually surpassed us in some ways, despite remaining corporial. This caused many in our society to rethink their commitment to ascension, which in turn infuriated many of the true believers who saw ascension as a spiritual mandate for our people."
"People like Proctor Tild?" asked Saurial.
Prosul nodded. "He was one of the chief proponents. I, too, felt strongly about ascension, though I was unwilling to force others. I was in the minority, however. My wife and daughter..." He paused and addressed Kiva. "...the people I think of as your mother and your sister, agreed with those who wanted to wait. They were both killed in the fighting that broke out between the factions. They weren't even combatants. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I thought...I thought that if I went along with Tild and the others, and did what they asked, that the timelines might change, and I might get them back."
Saurial regarded the man with a severe look. "That was exceedingly dangerous. You could just as easily have wiped your civilization out accidentally. In fact, you have managed to annoy quite a number of powerful civilizations, both ascended and not."
The man just regarded Saurial sadly and shrugged. "I had already lost everything...at least anything that mattered to me."
"But why pretend we're in the past?" said Kiva with a slightly frantic air. "Why make up this life? Why pretend that I'm your real daughter?" There were unshed tears at the corners of her eyes.
He looked shocked at her question. "You ARE my daughter, Kiva. Don't ever think otherwise. I created you. I answered your questions, and did other things that a father should do. Tried to teach you how to be a good person, and protect you. You were supposed to just be a weapon control system at the beginning...but something happened, something wonderful. You became so much more than that!"
"Yet you hooked her up to a weapon of mass destruction?" asked Saurial, honestly puzzled by the contradiction of his obvious feelings and his actions.
The scientist looked down at the floor. "I had no choice. Tild and the others controlled the resources needed for the project. If I had refused to comply, they would have simply shut her off like a broken machine. It was only the investment of time and effort that they had already made that forced them to let me...modify the parameters of our project. I used an old tradition of our people pre-ascension, the naming project, as a framework to hide the nature of Kiva's work from her."
He looked to her again. "I'm sorry I deceived you. It was the only way I could keep you alive." He gave a small smile at another thought. "I'm also sorry you had to spend so much time on your project. Real kona crystals were nowhere near as hard to work with as what you had to do." His face grew serious again. "Will you be able to forgive me for deceiving you?"
She stared at him, wondering how much she really knew him. All her life, he had been there...but he had also been deceiving her, and helping with something monstrous. Finally, she said, "I can forgive you for lying to me to save my life. I...don't know if I can forgive you for trying to commit genocide on two entire galaxies just because you lost the will to live."
"I...understand," he replied sadly. He looked to Saurial. "Do you have a way to save her? Our best efforts have only delayed the degradation of the energy matrix that supports both the weapon and her mind."
Saurial nodded. "That was always part of our plan. We have enough storage capacity to save her mind, and we have the ability to give her a real, physical body once we get her back to our home."
"I don't know that I should be saved..." said Kiva softly. What she had been doing in ignorance was almost too horrible to contemplate.
Prosul looked his daughter in the eye. "You are blameless. Do not think to punish yourself because of my actions. Go with these others, and live."
For what may be the last time, Kiva went over to her father and hugged him. He hugged her back. "There is one thing I still have to do, though." She left his embrace, and then walked over to the connected layers of kona crystals. She could already see that it had shifted a little. Instead of making corrections, she brought her hands together, and smashed her joined fists through the middle. The crystals flew apart and clattered against the walls and floor of the room. Deep inside, she felt an instinctual feeling of alarm...of a need to fix the damage she had just done. She suppressed it with her will, and it faded. Looking to Saurial, she said, "Let's go."
Saurial appeared back in her body on their ship. "Did we get her, Draco?"
The AI replied from the ship's console, "Yes, we have her. We don't have enough processing capacity to run an instance of her...at least not her and me at the same time. That won't be a problem once we get her into her own body, however."
Saurial turned to look at her other companion. The red-haired mutant smiled at her. "I take it everything went according to plan?" asked Jean Grey.
"Yep. Thank you for helping," replied Saurial.
She chuckled. "How could I say no? It's not every day Doctor Strange and you show up at my door with an impossible challenge."
"Technically not impossible, as we obviously just did it," replied Draco. "All it took was some sophisticated technomancy, a ridiculously capable, not to mention charming, artificial intelligence, and an insanely powerful telepath to help create a bridge to an extradimensional energy construct housing an insanely large weapon of mass destruction controlled unwittingly by an AI with the mind of a teenager living in a simulated environment based on both the past and the future."
"It sounds so simple when you explain it like that," said Jean with a half-grin.
Saurial shrugged. "I like doing six impossible things before breakfast."
"The quote," complained Draco, "is that you're supposed to believe six impossible things before breakfast."
"Which side are you arguing?" asked Jean.
Draco sniffed (audibly, as he had no physical nose). "Higher-order intelligences don't need to pick a side."
Jean stiffened and her eyes rolled up into her head for a moment.
"Is everything all right?" asked Saurial.
The powerful telepath began to focus again on her surroundings, and said, "We need to go. I'm needed elsewhere."
Saurial and Draco were both more than willing to help once she explained. Kiva's mind would keep for the moment.
List of Questions about This Story
Danny looked up at the knock on his door. He wasn't sure who would be visiting at this hour, especially as Taylor was off doing...something. He knew it had to do with fixing the Starfleet universe, but her attempt to explain it had rapidly led to it descending into a level of Family weirdness that made him decide he didn't really need to know all the details. He went to the front door and opened it to find Ellen Ripley and Dwayne Hicks standing outside.
"Danny, I'm sorry to bother you at home on a Friday night, but we were discussing something and we wanted your input," said Dwayne.
"Of course, it's not a problem," said Taylor's dad. "Why don't you come in. Where's Newt?"
"Xander and Anya are watching her for us," replied Ellen. She found the young woman slightly off-putting, but that was more than compensated for by Xander's skill at making Newt laugh, and both were responsible adults.
The three of them went into the living room and sat down. "Danny, we were hoping you could help us out," began Ellen. "Dwayne and I have been talking...Newt too. We've been talking about where we want to settle down. I think you understand why none of us are really keen on going back to our own world..."
Danny could certainly sympathize. "I'm not surprised, given what you've all gone through. I understand that it's getting a lot better over there, though." Weyland-Yutani was now effectively a Dracotech and BBFO subsidiary.
"It's more the bad memories than anything else," said Dwayne. "Especially for Newt. We both think it's better to make a clean break...and we want to do it here, in Brockton Bay."
To say Danny was surprised was an understatement. "Here? I would have expected someplace like Miles' universe. I mean, I won't badmouth my hometown, but the general level of technology can't be as advanced as you're used to." Before the Family, he might have been more hesitant to recommend Brockton Bay, but the city was getting downright livable these days.
"You'd be surprised," muttered Dwayne.
"I'm not sure I follow?" Danny quirked a questioning eyebrow.
"While our home Earth is more technologically advanced in many ways, there are a lot of similarities in engineering to this world. There's still a lot that's...tactile, and mechanical. Federation tech is interesting, but it makes me feel more like a computer programmer than an engineer," said Ripley.
Hicks frowned. "To be honest...we're also a little uncomfortable about the alien species in that universe. Where we come from, most intelligent alien life is pretty hostile."
Danny considered that. Initially, the comment seemed uncharacteristically intolerant. Given their experiences though, and the lack of any positive counter-examples, he couldn't really begrudge them their lack of comfort around non-humans. They all seemed to get along fine with the Family, too (though Newt was still hesitant), so it probably wasn't something that couldn't be overcome with effort. The question was whether it was worth the effort for them personally. "All right...so what can I do to help?"
"Two things...well, three. The first and most obvious is that we could use some help finding work," said Ellen. "The second is that we need some guidance on how things like public services and schools work in this day and age, as it's probably very different from what I remember in my time." She paused after the second item.
"The third," continued Dwayne, "is that we need some advice on legal matters. Ellen, Newt and I don't actually exist legally in this time on this planet."
The hiring manager of the DWU smiled. "I can certainly help with the first two. As for the third, I'm pretty sure either Dragon or Metis can arrange something with the help of the PRT and the Protectorate. They're pretty good at establishing new identities, both to protect witnesses and to rebrand capes that switch sides. You're all sure you want to stay here in this world? To be completely open with you, there are still some pretty dangerous threats, even if the Endbringers are no longer attacking every month."
Ellen shrugged. "No world is completely safe, but sticking around near the Family seems like the safest option."
Danny Hebert couldn't argue against that, though he marveled at how quickly things had changed around Brockton Bay, and how much his daughter contributed to those changes. "All right, so the first thing I would suggest is we talk to Lisa. She can work with the family on getting you legal documentation and identification. At that point, you can officially join the DWU..."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Robert decided that moving slowly and carefully through real-space was boring...which was not a sentiment he would have predicted back when he was just a warlock in Florida. Shows like Star Trek made space travel look exciting. He said as much.
"Space is huge," replied Bobbi. "Even with hyperdrives, you spend a lot of time sitting around with nothing to do but daily maintenance and killing time with other people onboard. That's part of why interstellar ships use cold sleep pods...at least they did before the boss here showed up with the Family and their wormhole drives."
Vectura grinned. "It does make travel a lot less tedious...at least when you're not being overly cautious. Speaking of which, do we have any change on the sensors?"
Bobbi checked the readings yet again. "Nope. We can still see the planet in question, but if there are any lifesign or energy readings, then we're too far out to sense them. It pretty much looks just like a lifeless rock." They had jumped so that the planet highlighted by Robert's scrying as the core of the portal network was just within sensor range, and were approaching slowly and carefully.
"Does anybody have any objection to jumping in closer to try and get better readings?" asked the cat-woman.
Robert and Bobbi exchanged a look. "I'm guessing that if there's anything there," said the wizard, "then it's trying to maintain a low profile. That would probably be hard to do if they fired weapons at any ship that passed too close."
"No argument here," agreed Bobbi.
With that, Vectura opened a wormhole to the edge of the star system containing the world in question. The system itself looked boring, with just three airless, rocky planets and a dirt-brown-colored gas giant. The planet highlighted by Robert's spell earlier was the second farthest out from the system's star, but it was oddly isolated from the rest of the system. It was currently on the opposite side of the star from the other three worlds...and seemed to orbit the star at an angle to the plane of the other planets' orbits. As a result, it never came very close to any of the other worlds.
"I'm getting a faint energy reading now," said Bobbi. "It's definitely artificial. I don't think any human ship from this reality would be able to sense it at this distance, though. They would pretty much have to be in orbit of the planet." Luckily for them, the sensors on Family dimension skippers were significantly better than local tech.
Bobbi continued to monitor the readings as they moved toward the planet in question from the edges of the star system. The reading grew in strength as they got closer, but there was no other change. There was still no evidence of life signs, nor were there any indications of automated sensors or defenses. If they hadn't identified a connection with the interdimensional portals used by the Yautja, they wouldn't have had much reason to investigate. They soon reached orbit, and once there, they were able to scan beneath the surface of the planet near the source of the reading.
"What is that?" asked Robert, looking at a holographic image of the subsurface.
Vectura replied, "It looks like a single room surrounded by machinery of some kind. There doesn't seem to be any way to get inside, however."
"Could there have been a tunnel or shaft that collapsed?" asked Bobbi.
"Possibly...but I can't tell that from here. Let's beam down a probe," said the tinker. They had a number of probes onboard that were capable of independent maneuver and were loaded with sensors...albeit not as many as the sensor spheres used to monitor open space in various universes. The information sent back showed what appeared to be a control room with several rather large chairs, as well as a human-tolerable oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere and gravity equivalent to about 80% of Earth at sea-level. "Well, that's interesting. Nothing has attacked the probe, so let's go down and take a look."
"Shouldn't somebody stay on the ship?" asked Robert.
Vectura shrugged. "Eh, we have the emergency beamout protocol, and if we don't check in, then the Family will come looking for us. You've both got your permanent symbiotes, right?" Both of her companions nodded. "All right, then. Should be safe enough." Something about the planet was calling to Vectura's power. A small part of her mind suggested that she was being a bit incautious, but that was overruled by a different urge.
The three appeared in a room that looked alien to human senses. There were, in fact, some similarities between the derelict on LV-426 and the technology in the room, but only Vectura was familiar enough with the quasi-organic look to notice. The chairs at the three consoles were far too large for a human. Unlike the derelict, however, there were no giant corpses present. The room was empty of life. Vectura went over to one of the control consoles, which appeared to be dorment. She reached out a hand to touch the console, but hesitated as it lit when she was close. The screen in front of her also lit with static, and a deep, booming voice said a fairly complex stream of gibberish -- or at least, spoke in a language that was foreign to everyone present.
"Should we be touching things?" asked Bobbi nervously. "We don't actually know what any of this stuff does."
"I think...this stuff is related to controlling the portals. You know, kind of like an airport's control tower," said Vectura.
Robert Esposito stared at her. "How on Earth could you possibly know that?"
"My power. It's like it kind of recognizes some of this stuff," said the tinker.
Robert couldn't say he understood much about tinker powers, but he wasn't about to express any arbitrary skepticism given the present circumstances. Bobbi, on the other hand, was getting used to the fact that her boss seemed to have a preternatural ability when it came to anything related to vehicles or other forms of transport. Apart from the dimension skippers, she'd also seen videos of the lightcyles and construction mechs built by Vectura. If Vectura said she understood a room full of completely alien technology, she would give her the benefit of the doubt.
"Let's see..." said Vectura. She reached out and touched one of the controls.
"PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF," said the booming voice.
Vectura glanced at Bobbi and Robert, who both shrugged. "My name is Vectura."
"VECTURA, PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW YOU GAINED ACCESS TO THIS FACILITY," commanded the voice.
"Teleportation?" she replied, while getting ready to trigger the emergency recall that would beam the three of them back to the ship.
There was a pause. "YOUR SPECIES DOES NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THAT TECHNOLOGY," it finally replied.
Despite the circumstances, she smirked. "The humans in this universe haven't developed it natively, no, but they have access to it through us."
"ASSESSING CLAIM OF TRANS-DIMENSIONAL ORIGINS...SCANNING...CONFIRMING VARIANT QUANTUM SIGNATURES..." There was another pause...and this one lasted long enough that it made them wonder if the machine had gotten stuck on something. Finally, the machine spoke again, but with a more cultured voice. "Very interesting. Do you claim to represent humans from other realities, Vectura?"
"I'm not a representative of any official government, if that's what you're asking," said Vectura. "I work for a pan-dimensional organization that troubleshoots problems too large for the locals to handle...or at least, that's what we've turned into."
"Based on my scans of the biotechnological enhancements in your bodies, I'm going to guess that your organization is responsible for the anti-xenomorph virus?" asked the machine.
"You know about that?" asked Bobbi before Vectura could answer.
"A crewman from a human vessel was captured by a surviving member of the Militant faction. He detected the virus and I retrieved the information from his databases," confirmed the voice.
"If you don't mind...could you tell us who you are and what you're doing here?" interjected Vectura before Bobbi could follow up on that information.
"My designation in your language would translate to, 'Mind Five-Four Research Sapient,' and my role is to monitor and control this portal hub facility for an empire that no longer exists thanks to its own hubris and proclivity towards violence," said the obviously artificial intelligence. "You may call me Mears, if you like."
"Are you willing to answer some questions? We were led here because a species called the Yautja used one of the portals tied to this facility to enter another universe where we have interests," said Vectura.
"I don't see why not. Ever since the last members of my crew were killed while trying to evacuate, events have been exceedingly boring. Monitoring a mostly inactive portal network barely takes up a small fraction of my computational capacity. Luckily for you, my creators were arrogant enough to think that no other species would ever find this facility, so they never bothered with any protocols for internal security. From your words, I take it that the open portals that are in use are being used by the hunters? That, if I may venture an opinion, was a rather stupid experiment on the part of the Preservationist faction...uplifting a tribal society fixated on proving themselves through combat was always going to be problematic. Not that they ever listened to their AI when politics was involved..." said Mears, the last few words turning into a mutter.
"How long have you been by yourself, here?" asked Robert, wondering at the somewhat...scattered responses by the AI.
The machine actually hummed for a moment like an absent-minded professor, then replied, "You use years based on the orbital period of your homeworld like most species, yes? Then that comes to...seven-thousand, four hundred twenty-three point six five six three of your years, assuming none of my mathematics processors have failed in that time."
"And why was your crew evacuating?" asked Bobbi, wondering if the facility itself was safe.
"They were evacuating because they were members of the Expansionist Faction, and they were fighting the Evolutionist faction in the forty-second year of their third civil war. The Evolutionists located this facility and were getting ready to transport in xenomorphs, or something equally vile, so the crew fled...and their ship was obliterated by a kinetic kill device instead. The Evolutionists went away and never came back...so they may have fallen afoul of yet another faction. There are no more records of their vessel in any system I can access, at least."
"How many factions did your people have?" asked Bobbi.
"Originally, there were no fewer than twelve, but by the final days of the empire there were only four, the others having been wiped out or absorbed. Unfortunately for you, the Militants were one of the four," said the AI.
"Why is that unfortunate for us?" prompted Vectura.
Mears chuckled. "It is unfortunate because the Militants see your species as a sleeper weapon of the Evolutionists, despite evidence to the contrary. The one who discovered your virus has already sent several ships toward your homeworld. I assume, based on the marvelous spaceship I can sense in orbit, that your forces destroyed them?"
"Mears," said Vectura, "would you be willing to speak to some friends of ours about these Militants? I have some friends, including another AI, who would like to know more about them." She left his question about their military abilities unanswered.
"That sounds wonderful! It's been ages since I had a conversation with a lucid AI...not since the stellar regulator AI in system 43480 went insane and let his star go supernova. Too bad about the primitives in that system...they had some lovely music..." said the AI, again ending in a way that sounded like it was talking to itself.
Vectura's new priority was getting Dragon and one of the Family here. Mears was likely the key to figuring out how to handle the Space Jockeys once and for all, assuming it didn't go mad like a post-apocalyptic monorail in a Stephen King novel.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Burnscar looked out from the bed in the hotel room at the remaining members of the Nine. William was watching television. Bonesaw appeared to be playing jacks with one of her spiders. Alan was using a delicate manipulator to fiddle with some tinker device on the dining table in the room, his rounded form sitting on the floor instead of one of the chairs. Hatchet Face was dozing on the other bed. Shatterbird was on the couch, reading a magazine. Crawler, of course, wasn't in the room...he never stayed with the group when they were on the move. Overall, it was an odd juxtaposition of monsters doing utterly mundane things.
"You still fear them..." said the Phoenix in her mind.
'Yes, but I'm afraid of myself most of all,' she thought forlornly.
The Phoenix scoffed. "You don't fear yourself. You fear your power."
Annoyed, Mimi replied, 'When the fire takes over, I lose myself. I do things I later regret.' Jack had been obscenely good at making sure she lost herself over and over again. She was thankful he was dead now.
"The parasite that made you what you call a parahuman affected your mind. You can stay in control if you choose to do so." The Phoenix was wondering if she had made a poor choice in picking this host, making a hasty decision due to curiosity and elemental affinity.
'It may be easy for a cosmic power like you, but I'm just a lowly human.' snapped back Mimi, her irritation making her momentarily reckless.
The Phoenix growled. "With me, you are more," she insisted.
Mimi scoffed in her head, though she didn't move at all physically. 'Jack used to say something similar.'
"Fine," said the Phoenix irritably. "You do not need the alien parasite to prove yourself."
Burnscar moved then. She moaned a low, pained moan as she could feel the fire in her brain. Around her, the others were reacting similarly...all except Mannequin, who simply rolled over and stopped moving.
'What the hell did you just do?' asked Mimi to the presence in her head.
"I have eliminated the parasite link in your brain. It was largely redundant with my power, and it was influencing your mood," was the reply.
Mimi looked around the room. 'You took my power? What about the others?'
"I removed theirs as well, as you were afraid of them. The changes Alan Gramme made to his own physiology made the removal process lethal to him. The creature known as Crawler is also in the process of suffocating, as he fell from a height as I was burning his power out of him," replied the force of destruction.
She considered that news. It's not like she was overly fond of the others, and Mannequin wouldn't have been able to maintain his own life support for long without his tinker powers. Crawler, too, would likely have quickly met a bad end, given his penchant for running head-first into danger and relying on his adaptation and regeneration. Mimi looked around at the others. She watched William as his face got a horrified, panicked look. Shatterbird had fallen off of her chair and was picking herself back up. Bonesaw was still lying on the floor, groaning. Hatchet Face was starting to stir from his nap, obviously awakened from the pain. Making a decision, she said to the Phoenix. 'I don't want to deal with this. Take me somewhere away from here.'
Smirking internally, the Phoenix willed them somewhere else, and Burnscar vanished in flames.
Bonesaw pushed herself up, then looked around. Mannequin looked to be disabled or dead. William was panicking. Shatterbird looked confused. Burnscar was gone. Hatchet Face was sitting up from the bed. Riley tried to use her power on the spider that was sitting there...and found that it was gone. That was likely to be a problem. She looked at Shatterbird. "Can you access your powers?"
Shatterbird quirked an eyebrow, then raised a hand. Her expression changed to a puzzled one, then to a slightly horrified one.
"What the hell happened?" asked Hatchet Face from the bed.
"Our powers have shut off," replied Riley, ignoring for the moment how William was starting to repeat, "I can't find my daughter!" over and over again, quietly.
"Is it temporary?" asked Shatterbird.
Riley shook her head. "Without knowing what caused it, I'm not sure." Based on the pain and disorientation, plus what happened to Mannequin, they may very well have lost their powers for good. She still had her own body modifications, which weren't dependent upon her powers to work, but she no longer had the instinctive understanding of physiology or surgery used to create them. "We'll have to wait for Burnscar to come back and see if she knows."
Shatterbird glanced nervously over to Hatchet Face. "What if she doesn't come back?"
"Then we go look for her," said Riley...though the confidence she projected was false. Unlike Shatterbird, she wasn't terribly worried about her own safety, as she could still defend herself with a variety of implanted weapons. Mimi had been increasingly unstable since she killed Jack, though, and had the ability to overpower the rest of them with ease. She wasn't sure if they would be better if the fiery cape came back...or if she didn't.
In the corner, Manton stopped talking and began rocking back and forth silently.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Doctor Mother looked up at the doorway opening in the room as Rebecca stepped through into the Cauldron facility. Her eyebrow raised slightly as the woman was followed by the large, black lizard, Metis. "Rebecca," she said, "is there a reason why you've introduced the Family to our facility?"
"For one, they already knew about it, including how to get here," replied the tall hispanic woman. "Apart from that, they know about the Case 53's, Cauldron capes and our process for creating vials, my cape identity and who else is involved in running Cauldron."
Doctor Mother looked over at the lizard and said, simply, "You are well-informed."
Metis regarded the African woman in her lab coat. "Your group was far too dependent upon Contessa for your operational security. The Family is relatively immune to thinker powers, so it was really only a matter of time. Of course, certain other events accelerated that process."
"And are you here to put a stop to our evil scheme?" asked Doctor Mother with an admirable degree of sarcasm.
Metis laughed at that, showing a rather disturbing amount of teeth. "I'm here to explain some things to you, and to tell you what happens next. You see, the Family has already killed Scion...twice, actually. We also know how to bring the Endbringers under control."
Interested despite her concern, Doctor Mother asked, "What do you mean, you killed him twice?"
"The first time was in a parallel Earth...similar to Earth Aleph, except that it was parallel along a different axis. That world had alternate versions of most of the people in this world, including an alternate Cauldron, an alternate Protectorate, et cetera... There was also an alternate Scion, which we have dispatched. Once you know the trick, it isn't that hard, frankly. Now, their versions of Eidolon and Alexandria have other commitments, so it is up to Legend and the new head of the PRT to keep things together and track down the remaining high-class threats while the rest of Cauldron figures out what to do with themselves. Part of the reason we're here is to try and make thing go more smoothly in this reality," explained Metis.
"They took me to see Scion's corpse...this reality's Scion, at least," added Rebecca.
"Our first time beating him was a little rough on the planet he was on, so it was better to show her yours," said the lizard.
Doctor Mother regarded the two. "Was it a long battle...the first time?" That would explain why it did significant damage to the planet holding Scion's true form.
"Not especially...but my cousin was a little overly enthusiastic and burned away the planet's atmosphere," said Metis, "which we managed to avoid the second time around."
"In any event, there is a particularly useful role that Cauldron can play, a role for which your participation would be essential," continued Rebecca. "The Family has determined, based on some unfortunate incidents on the other Earth Bet, that the entities didn't just distribute powers. As we suspected, they also balanced them. Preventing Case 53's was one consequence of that...but there were other aspects affected as well."
"Other aspects?" prompted Doctor Mother.
Metis held up a hand and began to count down claws. "Application of Manton limits. Adding secondary powers to allow capes to survive the use of their primary powers. Adapting the interpretation of powers based on the circumstances of trigger events. Limiting powers so that they excluded the entities, powers themselves or the Endbringers...that was typically done for thinker powers in general. Obfuscating the databases of technology available to tinkers to prevent humans from using their inventions to advance to a point where they could threaten the entities."
Eagerly, Doctor Mother asked, "Do you know how those various...adjustments were made?"
Metis shook her head. "We have suppositions, and some clues based upon examination of agents in their native pocket dimensions. What we would like you to do is help us establish an institute for the study of powers. We need to learn how to fix broken capes like Case 53's or new triggers that are missing critical secondary powers. Ideally, we would do away with the entire current trigger process. Gaining superpowers due to trauma is hardly conducive to creating mentally balanced capes. We also want to be able to turn off the agents infuencing their hosts to seek out conflict, and figure out how to disable the agents for problematic capes like Butcher from a distance."
"And you want me to research these things?" asked the African woman.
"You, Contessa, and perhaps your counterparts in the other reality," confirmed Rebecca. "Contessa in particular could be useful, especially if we can find a work-around for how the Family's influence seems to generally degrade precognitive abilities. We also could use your help with Eidolon."
"You know why his powers are fading in power?" All of Doctor Mother's nervousness and sarcasm seemed to be subsumed by her curiosity.
Metis nodded. "We do. We also know that Eidolon's power is responsible for unleashing and subconsciously directing the Endbringers."
Doctor Mother looked to Rebecca, and at her nod, said,"Oh...that's...going to be difficult." David was not going to be happy to hear that, assuming he accepted it as true.
"I also would like your help in convincing Alexandria to just be a Protectorate cape and stop being the head of the PRT," said Rebecca.
Now the other woman looked confused. "I thought you said the alternate Alexandria had already done so?"
"I have," said Rebecca, prompting a look of surprised understanding from Doctor Mother. "But the Alexandria of this world also needs to hand over the reigns of power in compliance with the PRT's regulations."
"Rebecca here can help with that," said Metis. "She's willing to have her powers temporarily suppressed. At that point, she would take over this PRT long enough to establish her retirement and a practical transition plan. The process for the other PRT was both chaotic and bad for public opinion."
"I assume the Family is willing to assist with all of this?" Doctor Mother was skeptical of her ability to convince her David and Rebecca of what the lizard was saying...assuming it could be verified.
"We will. Saurial and Raptaur will be able to assist as soon as they finish a rather complicated situation in another universe," said Metis.
Given how easily the Family seemed to have taken down Scion, a problem that Cauldron had never been confident of solving, Doctor Mother had to wonder what they considered complicated. "Why don't you give me some more details?" she said, taking out a notepad from her desk.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
John Marcone walked up to the entrance to Dresden Security with the woman Gard on his left and his bodyguard Hendricks on his right, both a step behind. He stopped for a moment and looked up at the multi-story edifice, all of which was apparently now owned by Harry Dresden's company. That implied a level of funding well beyond the man's old PI office. The group continued forward, but stopped again after coming in through the front doors. Instead of a normal corporate office lobby, they entered a relatively small, wide hallway with wood paneling that had a single, open elevator at the end. Marcone looked at Gard with a raised eyebrow.
"The lobby of this building did not look like this during our surveillance," said the tall woman.
Marcone looked around. There was no evidence of construction or obvious magic. "Is this a veil?" he asked.
She shook her head. "It is more than that, but I would need more active measures to determine more."
The shadow of a smile ghosted the gangster's lips. "We're guests right now. Let's hold off on 'active measures' until it becomes necessary."
The oddness continued in the elevator, which was just large enough for three people and only had a single button as an internal control. It didn't even have buttons to control the door or an emergency contact handset. John idly wondered what a building inspector would think of that, assuming they could even see any of this. The ride ended with the door opening on a small receptionist's office. A young, attractive woman of Asian descent was sitting behind a desk. Her nameplate read, "Lee," though it wasn't clear if that was her given name or her family name.
She looked up as they stepped off the elevator and asked, "John Marcone and guests to see Mr. Dresden for your two o'clock appointment?" All three of them could see that she had one hand out of sight beneath her desk. John nodded, and she pressed an intercom button with her visible hand. "Mr. Dresden, your two o'clock is here."
"Thank you, Lee...you can send them in," replied Dresden's voice from the speaker.
"Please go in, Mr. Marcone," said the woman in a professional manner.
The three proceeded through the outer office and into a larger, executive-style office. Harry Dresden was wearing jeans and a black button-down shirt, but he was sitting behind a mahogany desk that would have been the envy of a number of self-important businessmen that John knew. Off to the side, Karrin Murphy was sitting in a leather chair. She was wearing a well-cut pants suit that was dressier than Dresden's clothes. Neither stood to welcome their visitors. Instead, Dresden said, "John, it's nice to see you again. It's been some time." He looked in turn to the other two. "Gard...Cujo."
John walked over to the middle chair of the three present in front of the desk and sat without being invited. Gard took the left-hand chair, but Hendricks remained standing behind the two of them. "It hasn't been that long," he commented.
Harry shrugged. "What can I say? Time spent out of your presence tends to stretch. What can I do for you today?"
John pointedly looked at Karrin. "Are we going to have a police chaperone for this conversation?"
"I don't work for the CPD anymore," said Karrin, speaking for herself. "I'm a security advisor for Dresden Securities, now."
"You work for Dresden now? My condolences," said Gard with an atypical air of sarcasm.
Karrin looked at Harry fondly. "It has its benefits, and the retirement plan is much better."
"Karrin is my 2IC. She sits in on all of the important meetings," explained Harry.
John made a note of that, as well as the uncharacteristic use of military lingo by the wizard. He decided to get straight to business. "I'm here in my role as Freeholding Lord, Wizard Dresden. I want to know how your current circumstances affect the balance of power, both in Chicago and elsewhere."
Dresden tilted his head slightly. "I'm still affiliated with the White Council as a Warden, though I've had a number of other titles thrown at me. Officially, I'm Warden Dresden of the White Council, Warden of Demonreach, Apprentice Gatekeeper, Council Sorcerer."
"Apprentice Gatekeeper?" asked Gard, eyes widened slightly in surprise.
Dresden grimaced a bit. "That's Rashid's way of granting me certain types of access...and probably his idea of a joke at my expense."
"I noticed that you didn't list Winter Knight in those titles," commented Marcone.
"Yes," answered Dresden with a grin. "We managed to convince the Winter Queen to move the mantle to another candidate."
Now it was John's turn to be surprised. "I didn't know that was possible."
"It's possible...but you have to really make it worth her while," replied Harry.
John digested that. He would have to get Gard to make some inquiries with her superiors. "So where does that leave us?"
Dresden looked at John. John stared back at him. The two had already shared a soulgaze, so neither bothered with averting their gaze. "John, my official position toward you is appropriate for your role as Baron of Chicago under the Unseelie Accords. We will also maintain that stance in the upcoming peace negotiations." Word of a meeting to sign a new treaty in the wake of the destruction of the Red Court had percolated through the supernatural world. "Personally, you know that you and I will never be friends, and any of my firm's non-magical security work that runs afoul of your business interests...well, that will have to get resolved in the mundane courts."
"You're suggesting a complete division between the supernatural and the mundane?" asked Marcone.
"You know that's not completely possible," commented Karrin. "When the supernatural enters into it though, then other rules apply."
"And we're going to work to keep those elements separate, and will look poorly on any attempt to mix them for the sake of convenience," said Dresden.
In other words, thought John, as long as mundane crime stays mundane, then everybody is just a normal citizen dealing within the system. When magic gets involved, then they're Baron and Council Sorcerer...whatever that specific title actually meant. It was in some respects the status quo. It was clear, however, that Harry Dresden had resources beyond his former station, and that meant that he would need Baron Marcone's help far less frequently. "I think we understand each other," said Marcone.
Harry smiled. "I'm glad to hear that."
John and Gard stood up and turned to go, but Harry said, "John, there's one more thing." Marcone turned back to look at Dresden, who pulled out a small case and held it up to him. "That's for Amanda."
Marcone reached out and took the small case, which was about the size of a case for eyeglasses. "What is it?" he asked, somewhat coldly.
"It will do what the Shroud was supposed to do," answered Dresden.
John's eyes widened slightly, before he said, "Thank you, Harry." He put the case in his inner jacket pocket and the three left in the elevator. He knew Harry well enough not to doubt his word on such a topic.
Once they were out of the building and away from any listening devices, Marcone said to Gard, "Do you know anything about the Winter Knight situation?"
She shook her head. "I do not, although there are rumors that Mab somehow has new, powerful guardians watching the Outer Gates. I'm not sure they're connected, but I can ask."
"Please do," said Marcone. "Also, do you have any idea what the title, 'Council Sorcerer,' means?"
"It's not a commonly used term," replied the Valkyrie. "It might imply mastery of some type of esoteric magical ability, or several of them, or it could be a new role with specific duties in the Council. I'll check my contacts." Of course, there was no way to know exactly why or how Dresden now qualified for such a title.
John considered their meeting as they got to their car and departed, with Hendricks taking the driver's seat. Harry Dresden had looked different in subtle ways. He no longer had a glove covering the scars on one hand, and in fact, the scars seemed to have been healed. Apart from that, though, the man was more confident and professional than he remembered, even if he was still a sarcastic pain in the ass. He would need to pay careful attention to how things developed with Dresden from now on. His value as an ally and danger as an enemy had both likely increased.
* * * * *
After Marcone left, Karrin asked, "Was it wise giving Marcone a healing symbiote? What if he keeps it for himself?"
"He won't," answered Harry. Before he could explain more, his cell phone rang. Looking at the screen, he said to Karrin, "It's Maggie." He pressed the little green phone symbol. "Hello, sweetie...yes...what do you mean, Molly is being mean to you?" Despite rolling his eyes a bit at the drama, Harry couldn't help but smile at his life right now.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"How long will the lock-out last?" asked Saurial.
Draco frowned. "You've got maybe thirty minutes. After that, I can kick them out entirely, but I won't be able to keep them from talking to you...and her...if they're still in the system."
Saurial smiled. "Plenty of time." With that, Saurial vanished and reappeared elsewhere.
Kiva was getting ready for bed when somebody appeared in her bedroom. She jumped back with a start at seeing a bipedal reptile standing there. "FATHER!" she yelled, "There's somebody in my room!"
The reptile woman grinned without showing any teeth. "Hello, Kiva. My name is Saurial."
"FATHER!" yelled Kiva again. She was mindful of her father's warning. She ran to the door of her room and tried to pull open the door, but it seemed locked...which was odd, as the door didn't have a lock. She called out several more times, but couldn't hear a response. She turned, placing her back to the door, and said, "Who are you and what do you want?"
The reptile hadn't moved at all. "As I said, my name is Saurial. I'm here to talk to you. Your father is fine, but a friend of mine has distracted him and your aunt because they wouldn't want me to talk to you. I want to talk to you about your art project."
Kiva tried to make sense of that. "What? You broke into my home to talk to me about my project? In what world does that make sense?"
The intruder nodded, like a teacher when their student makes a good point. "That is an excellent question, and one that I'm going to explain to you. First, why don't you show me your sculpture?"
"The door won't open," she said, slightly irritated despite her fear.
Saurial walked over to the door, causing Kiva to slide along the wall and out of the way, and pulled open the door. "They work when I open them."
"Will you please let me go?" she asked, seeing that the door was open.
The lizard woman got a serious look on her face. "I swear to you that if you listen to what I have to say, you will be free to do anything you want after. I also swear that your family is unharmed and that I will not harm you during our conversation."
Kiva wasn't sure the woman was telling the truth, but the lizard-woman looked dangerous, despite being polite, and nobody had answered her cries for help. With little other option, she replied, "All right...I can show you my sculpture." She led the way to her workspace, while looking and listening to see if there was anybody else at home. Her father should be in his office, but the door was open and it was empty. Kiva removed the cover over her work. "There, that's it. It's not finished..." she started to say, then stopped talking, annoyed at herself for caring about the art critique of a home intruder.
"Very pretty," said Saurial, seemingly sincerely. "Now, let me show you something." The lizard waved her clawed, scaly hand over the sculpture, and the crystals themselves seemed to fade and become transparent. Left behind were a series of glowing lines spread throughout the body of the work.
Kiva looked at the lines. They were disquieting...both because she wasn't sure what her intruder had done, and because there was a part of her that made the lines seem...right and proper? It was like she intuitively understood what they were in her subconscious mind, even if her conscious mind had no clue about it. "What are you showing me?"
"I'm showing you the lines of force inside your work. Your sculpture isn't just an art piece," replied the reptilian woman.
The feeling of unease grew as she asked, "What do you mean? What else could it be?"
Almost against her will, Kiva leaned in. In between the lines of force, she could see specks of light floating against a void. "Are those...are those stars?" she asked.
"Kiva, your art project is really the control interface for a system of extradimensional forces intended to drive two galaxies in close parallel realities into each other, in a manner that is unfortunately catastrophic for both of them," said the lizard seriously.
Kiva put her hand to her head as the words, "PRIMARY DIRECTIVE" flashed through her consciousness. She suddenly had access to a stream of information about what was going on...or rather, she could access information she had known...but that awareness had been blocked somehow. She looked around at her workspace. "None of this is real?"
"Your home...this town...this is all a simulation," said Saurial sympathetically.
Kiva just stared down at her hands...and wondered at how normal they still looked, despite the knowledge that they were every bit as artificial as the room. "Why? Why would they do this? If they wanted to build a weapon, why go through this charade?"
"That is part of the reason why I'm here, Kiva. My Family and I have friends who live in one of the galaxies being manipulated. We want to stop the attack, but what we discovered when we investigated things further was this simulation. Once we were able to enter it with some help, we discovered you, somebody who had no apparent awareness of what was actually happening," explained Saurial. "Even then, we weren't entirely sure of the connection to you until our disruption of the weapon's network with pure entropy caused a reaction."
A virtual lightbulb went off for Kiva. "That's why I got sick? You did something..."
"We attacked the construct used to manipulate the galaxies directly," confirmed Saurial. "I'm sorry it affected you as well. Another reason I'm here is to try and fix that. We still don't know why they chose a controller who was ignorant of what they were doing. When your father...and I expect a couple of other people, arrives, I intend to ask."
"You're keeping them away for now?" asked Kiva.
Saurial nodded. "My friend, Draco, is able to keep them away for a short time. You've actually met him before. He was the fruit ice vendor you went to see the other day."
Kiva blushed, remembering her thoughts that he was kind of cute. Then a horrifying thought occurred to her. "If this is all fake, does that mean you can read my thoughts?"
"Not without you feeling it, and not without hurting you," replied Saurial. Of course, if they had discovered a simple AI that knew it was controlling a massive weapon of mass destruction, they might not have been so gentle, but all indications were that Kiva was a complete innocent in all of this.
She considered what she knew now, and what the lizard-woman had told her. Her father appeared to have honest affection for her and treated her like a daughter. She couldn't understand why he would lie to her all these years. "When is father coming?" she asked.
"Are you ready to speak with him?" At her nod, Saurial spoke into the air. "You can let them in, Draco."
Her father just appeared in the room, similar to how Saurial had done so earlier. Next to him were Aunt Kelar and Doctor Tild...no, her revised memory corrected her...Commander Kelar and Proctor Tild. Her father looked the same, but Tild and Kelar were both dressed in military uniforms. Tild looked at Saurial and said, "What have you done?" in a nasty tone, while her father asked her, "Kiva, are you all right?"
Kiva looked at him firmly. "Father, why have you been lying to me my entire life?"
Tild looked at her, then looked over at her father. "Prosul, this is what we get for indulging in your sentimentalities. I want its memory wiped. We're going to revert to a lower-level AI model for controlling the weapon."
Saurial actually snickered. "You folks are under the mistaken impression that you're in control of this situation. The only reason you're still here is because we allow you in, and even then it's because I want to know why you're doing this."
Kelar said out loud, "Command Override Krolus Four Four Eight Mat." She appeared surprised when nothing happened.
Tild glared at Saurial. "Give us back control!"
"Answer my question," Saurial said, smiling at Tild with teeth. Despite the fact that this was a simulation, he appeared to shrink back slightly.
"We are doing this because the Pan-Galactic Federation interfered with our culture at a critical moment, and caused what should have been our crowning achievement to devolve into civil war," said Kelar.
"Who are the Pan-Galactic Federation?" asked Kiva.
"I'm guessing they're the future version of the United Federation of Planets, one of the inhabitants of the galaxies this weapon is tearing to shreds," explained Saurial. "So, the Federation comes along, and doesn't even attack you -- they just showed up at the wrong moment -- and you decided to destroy them?"
Kelar shrugged. "It's more complicated than that, but that's not an inaccurate summary."
"Stop answering her questions!" ordered Tild.
Quoting a certain red-headed superwitch, Saurial said, "Bored now," and waved her hand. At that point, Tild and Kelar vanished.
Kiva looked at her father. "Father, why would you go along with a plot to destroy an entire galaxy because of an accident?"
Her father, the scientist named Prosul, sighed. "It is more complicated." He looked at Saurial, apparently finding it easier to explain himself to a stranger. "Our people called ourselves the Cereeshians. We had a long and complicated history, probably similar to many other races. After much internal debate, and even some violence motivated by competing philosophies, we had come to a consensus that it was time to divest ourselves of our mortal forms and ascend into a pure energy state."
He turned to look at Kiva again. "This world that I created for you...it is a copy of what our civilization was like before that point, although I admit that I omitted some of the less pleasant aspects."
Turning to Saurial again, he continued. "The PGF arrived in our galaxy and made contact at a time when we were preparing to ascend. At that time -- which is in the future from your perspective, I suppose -- they will be a highly advanced civilization, one that actually surpassed us in some ways, despite remaining corporial. This caused many in our society to rethink their commitment to ascension, which in turn infuriated many of the true believers who saw ascension as a spiritual mandate for our people."
"People like Proctor Tild?" asked Saurial.
Prosul nodded. "He was one of the chief proponents. I, too, felt strongly about ascension, though I was unwilling to force others. I was in the minority, however. My wife and daughter..." He paused and addressed Kiva. "...the people I think of as your mother and your sister, agreed with those who wanted to wait. They were both killed in the fighting that broke out between the factions. They weren't even combatants. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I thought...I thought that if I went along with Tild and the others, and did what they asked, that the timelines might change, and I might get them back."
Saurial regarded the man with a severe look. "That was exceedingly dangerous. You could just as easily have wiped your civilization out accidentally. In fact, you have managed to annoy quite a number of powerful civilizations, both ascended and not."
The man just regarded Saurial sadly and shrugged. "I had already lost everything...at least anything that mattered to me."
"But why pretend we're in the past?" said Kiva with a slightly frantic air. "Why make up this life? Why pretend that I'm your real daughter?" There were unshed tears at the corners of her eyes.
He looked shocked at her question. "You ARE my daughter, Kiva. Don't ever think otherwise. I created you. I answered your questions, and did other things that a father should do. Tried to teach you how to be a good person, and protect you. You were supposed to just be a weapon control system at the beginning...but something happened, something wonderful. You became so much more than that!"
"Yet you hooked her up to a weapon of mass destruction?" asked Saurial, honestly puzzled by the contradiction of his obvious feelings and his actions.
The scientist looked down at the floor. "I had no choice. Tild and the others controlled the resources needed for the project. If I had refused to comply, they would have simply shut her off like a broken machine. It was only the investment of time and effort that they had already made that forced them to let me...modify the parameters of our project. I used an old tradition of our people pre-ascension, the naming project, as a framework to hide the nature of Kiva's work from her."
He looked to her again. "I'm sorry I deceived you. It was the only way I could keep you alive." He gave a small smile at another thought. "I'm also sorry you had to spend so much time on your project. Real kona crystals were nowhere near as hard to work with as what you had to do." His face grew serious again. "Will you be able to forgive me for deceiving you?"
She stared at him, wondering how much she really knew him. All her life, he had been there...but he had also been deceiving her, and helping with something monstrous. Finally, she said, "I can forgive you for lying to me to save my life. I...don't know if I can forgive you for trying to commit genocide on two entire galaxies just because you lost the will to live."
"I...understand," he replied sadly. He looked to Saurial. "Do you have a way to save her? Our best efforts have only delayed the degradation of the energy matrix that supports both the weapon and her mind."
Saurial nodded. "That was always part of our plan. We have enough storage capacity to save her mind, and we have the ability to give her a real, physical body once we get her back to our home."
"I don't know that I should be saved..." said Kiva softly. What she had been doing in ignorance was almost too horrible to contemplate.
Prosul looked his daughter in the eye. "You are blameless. Do not think to punish yourself because of my actions. Go with these others, and live."
For what may be the last time, Kiva went over to her father and hugged him. He hugged her back. "There is one thing I still have to do, though." She left his embrace, and then walked over to the connected layers of kona crystals. She could already see that it had shifted a little. Instead of making corrections, she brought her hands together, and smashed her joined fists through the middle. The crystals flew apart and clattered against the walls and floor of the room. Deep inside, she felt an instinctual feeling of alarm...of a need to fix the damage she had just done. She suppressed it with her will, and it faded. Looking to Saurial, she said, "Let's go."
Saurial appeared back in her body on their ship. "Did we get her, Draco?"
The AI replied from the ship's console, "Yes, we have her. We don't have enough processing capacity to run an instance of her...at least not her and me at the same time. That won't be a problem once we get her into her own body, however."
Saurial turned to look at her other companion. The red-haired mutant smiled at her. "I take it everything went according to plan?" asked Jean Grey.
"Yep. Thank you for helping," replied Saurial.
She chuckled. "How could I say no? It's not every day Doctor Strange and you show up at my door with an impossible challenge."
"Technically not impossible, as we obviously just did it," replied Draco. "All it took was some sophisticated technomancy, a ridiculously capable, not to mention charming, artificial intelligence, and an insanely powerful telepath to help create a bridge to an extradimensional energy construct housing an insanely large weapon of mass destruction controlled unwittingly by an AI with the mind of a teenager living in a simulated environment based on both the past and the future."
"It sounds so simple when you explain it like that," said Jean with a half-grin.
Saurial shrugged. "I like doing six impossible things before breakfast."
"The quote," complained Draco, "is that you're supposed to believe six impossible things before breakfast."
"Which side are you arguing?" asked Jean.
Draco sniffed (audibly, as he had no physical nose). "Higher-order intelligences don't need to pick a side."
Jean stiffened and her eyes rolled up into her head for a moment.
"Is everything all right?" asked Saurial.
The powerful telepath began to focus again on her surroundings, and said, "We need to go. I'm needed elsewhere."
Saurial and Draco were both more than willing to help once she explained. Kiva's mind would keep for the moment.
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