- Location
- Earth
On a tangential note, I'm currently reading His Majesty's Dragon.
...wait. This isn't the "what are you reading" thread.
...wait. This isn't the "what are you reading" thread.
Ship of Fools: A Taylor Varga Omake (Complete)
- Thread starter Derek M
- Start date
- Crossover
Chapter 49: Meet and Greet
- Location
- Maryland
Chapter 49: Meet and Greet
Robert was nervous in his seat. He was a relatively new recruit by the Sineya Council, and while he knew the lizard-woman flying the ship was friendly -- and was, in fact, somewhat directly responsible for Sineya Station and many of the resources used by the Council -- he couldn't help but be a bit unnerved by the teeth every time she smiled. She had said that he had nothing to fear, and had been generally friendly and even funny at times, but she also seemed slightly amused by the fact that he was unnerved by her appearance. To be perfectly honest, part of the reason for his feelings was also just the usual nerves of being in a new job. Part of it was also who they were going to meet. He was used to being one of the more knowledgeable warlocks in southern Florida. Being recruited meant that he was among many peers with as much or more experience, and now they were going to meet the Red Witch, Dr. Stephen Strange, and Warden Harry Dresden, three of the most powerful practitioners in the multiverse. He strongly suspected that Saurial and her sisters were also no slouches in the mystic arts, either. He felt like a minor league player being called up to play a game with the All-Star team.
As if reading his mind, Saurial asked, "Have you had a chance to look at any of the stories about these folks we're going to see?"
He nodded, then realized she was focusing on the controls, and said, "Yes...there are a bunch of Dr. Strange graphic novels, as well as the Dresden novels, in the library on the station. They're pretty popular with the magic folks. Andrew has also told a lot of stories about Willow Rosenberg." Some of the stories were pretty unbelievable, but some of them meshed pretty closely with the rumors floating around in the mystic community back home. Based on Dawn Summers' reaction, the Sunnydale crew probably didn't realize how known they were outside of the hellmouth.
Saurial gave another disconcerting grin. "Andrew has a tendency to exaggerate a little, but that's harder to do with Willow than most. She did activate all of the potential slayers at once, after all."
Robert swallowed. The raw power level required to usurp a mystical succession like the slayer line on a global scale was impressive to an intimidating degree. Deciding to take a risk, he asked, "Did she really try to destroy the world at one point?"
The lizard frowned, the expression looking slightly strange on her face. She was more expressive than he would have expected of a reptile and it was easy to tell her mood, but it was still the face of a lizard. "She had just suffered a massive personal loss. Unfortunately, the more power you have, the larger the potential consequences should you lose control. That's part of the reason why having a support network is so important. Willow and her friends had spent years without break protecting the Sunnydale hellmouth before she broke down."
"I assume that's part of the reason you have mental health screenings for new hires?" he asked. He had been surprised to have to speak to a therapist shortly after he arrived.
"Yes, that's something both the Family and SG-1 thought was a good idea," confirmed Saurial. It would be a shame to lose all of the progress the Scoobies and baby slayers had made unpacking their baggage to the Nox.
Saurial brought the skimmer in for a landing on the helicopter pad of the compound. The compound was so remote that the primary transport method to and from the base was by air even before the Family took over the company. After shutting down the ship, she led Robert over to the residences...only to find all of the inhabitants standing around outside the buildings. "Are you guys throwing a party without inviting me?"
Everybody looked around at her voice. "Saurial!" said several of them.
"We're actually here to watch Randall try something new," said Dr. Strange. "You're welcome to watch."
Saurial and her tag-along joined the circle around Willow and Randall. "OK," said Willow, "see if you can sense anything in dirt here."
The cape in question was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed and his palms on the ground. He closed his eyes and appeared to concentrate. "I can feel something. It's some kind of seed."
"You can't see it clearly enough to tell what it is?" asked Willow.
He shook his head. "No, I can, but I don't actually know anything about seeds." He looked a little embarrassed. "I've just never bothered to study gardening or botany."
Willow snorted a little bit. "All right, well, see if you can channel some Earth energy into that seed."
Randall creased his brow a bit. About two feet to his left, a small shoot pushed its way through the soil. The spectators could see it grow before their eyes. It quickly stopped, and then he opened his eyes. "Huh. I did it...and man, that wipes you out..."
Willow actually clapped for him, which was followed by the other spectators. "It will get easier, but that was really good. It took me about eighteen months before I could do that."
Robert was struggling with what he was seeing. He almost didn't want to know how long it had taken this guy to learn how to do it, seeing as how Robert didn't think he could do it now, and he had been practicing magic for almost a decade. To be completely fair, he was more attuned to technomancy rather than Earth magic, but he had a sneaking suspicion that wasn't the difference here.
"Well, that was impressive," said Saurial. "I'm glad I brought enough prezzies for everybody." That got everybody's attention. "Karrin, this was your idea, so why don't you try it first."
"Try what?" asked Karrin, stepping over to Saurial.
Saurial held up a thin gold band. "You asked me if I could do a ring holster, and this is what I did with it." She handed the ring to Karrin.
"How does it work?" asked the former policewoman.
"Put it on, and think that you want a security baton in your hand," answered Saurial.
Karrin did as she was told, and almost dropped the baton when it appeared.
"Oops. You should probably shape your hand to grab the object before you call it back," said Saurial with a smile.
Karrin frowned at her. "OK. That's cool. I assume I could put a hold-out pistol in here somehow?"
"You could put a rocket launcher in there if you wanted to," said Saurial with a smug grin. "Think about wanting the baton back into the ring." Karrin did, and it vanished. "You can do that with pretty much anything, and it will hold five different objects. Here," she said, handing her a hollow EDM hammer.
Karrin took the hammer and made it vanish. She then spent a couple of minutes making both the baton and the hammer reappear and vanish in turn. "All right, that's cool. What happens if I do that while shaking somebody's hand?"
Saurial chuckled. "It won't work with living creatures. Anything bigger than a gnat, basically. That's one of the safety features, as there isn't any air inside the storage space."
"So if something was on fire, it would put it out?" asked Bonnie.
"Yes, though I would recommend using an extinguisher unless you're fireproof like us," replied the lizard with a grin. "So, who wants one?"
Everybody's hand raised. Sheepishly, Robert even raised his hand, and was surprised and pleased when the reptilian woman gave him a ring. After handing them out, she finally introduced him. "This is Robert Esposito, one of the mages we recruited for the Sineya Council. He's here to see Willow."
Robert blushed a bit at the idea of being called a, "mage," in this company. Rather than try and correct Saurial while everybody was looking at him, he focused on the Red Witch. "Hi, yes, I'm from the Council. Now that we've recruited a number of practitioners, there are some issues that require attention. Ms. Summers and Mr. Wells both keep deferring certain things until your arrival, so I was...volunteered to come speak to you."
Willow turned to Saurial with a slightly confused look. "Um, I thought we could stay here as long as we wanted because of the time difference?"
"That's technically true...but how long would you stay here, learning about magic with a bunch of other skilled practitioners, if it was left entirely up to you?" answered Saurial.
Harry winced. "She's got a point. It's pretty easy to just hang out here. Not only do we avoid dealing with issues back home, we can justify it by saying we're continuing to improve our abilities."
"I have to agree with Harry," added Karrin. She was learning a lot from Natasha when she stopped by, and had gotten to the point where she could even keep up with Kennedy for a brief spar, but there were still responsibilities to see to back home. She could see that Kennedy was also blushing a bit. Being here together was kind of like a constant vacation for the slayer and the witch.
"What do you mean by time difference?" asked Robert, confused at the turn of conversation. "Does time flow at a different rate, here?"
"No...well, yes, but the difference is only about a few seconds a year," answered Dr. Strange. "The real difference is that our reptilian friends can enter and leave different realities at whichever point they choose, as long as they avoid paradox."
"So," said Robert, catching on, "practitioners could take multi-week vacations here, learning from others, without losing any time back home?"
"That's the idea," agreed Saurial. "It's the same type of arrangement Sineya Station has with your home Earth, although setting up the dimensional stargate puts some serious constraints on that. You're pretty much fixed in time relative to each other now that most of the new slayers have been collected."
"We should discuss setting up this magic camp as a more permanent arrangement, assuming Dragon and Bishop are agreeable. I think all of us would enjoy having the ability to come back here from time to time," suggested Willow. "In the meantime, though, I guess I should head over to the Council and get up to speed on what's been happening."
"We probably need to do the same for our universe," said Harry, slightly guiltily.
"There are some things we need to do for you first," said Strange.
Saurial nodded in agreement. "Yep. We've helped Willow and her friends setup an actual organization. Did you think we were just going to dump you back at your brother's houseboat?"
"There are also some protections we need to work out for Bonnie and Maggie," continued Strange. "Like it or not, Harry, you're going to be a target...we all are. Power tends to attract unwelcome attention."
Harry couldn't really argue with that, given his experience with Mab. "What did you have in mind?"
"How do you like the name, Dresden Security?" asked Saurial. "Also, how do you feel about being a CEO?"
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ba'al was fuming slightly. The Toy Box was a wonder of advanced technology. The tinkers here could do things that would have had Anubis green with envy. There were force fields that did things force fields shouldn't be able to do. There were chemicals with inexplicable properties. There were what seemed to be perpetual motion machines. There were also two massive issues.
The first was that very little of it was suitable to actually getting off of this planet. It's like whatever mysterious agency handed out tinker powers didn't want people leaving Earth. The second issue was that none of it made any sense whatsoever. For whatever reason, even if he tried to do exactly the same steps as a tinker standing next to him, it worked for the tinker and not for him. He also couldn't come up with any reasonable scientific theories that would explain HOW their devices worked. There was also the problem that everything both his host and the tinker knew suggested that tinker devices required an excessive amount of maintenance. Goa'uld technology was designed to be mass produced, then used and maintained by poorly educated slaves. Tinker tech couldn't really be used by anybody for long unless the original tinker was available.
Infiltrating the Toy Box had been fairly simple. Their security wasn't terrible, but their master/stranger protocols were designed to stop individual masters, not a master who had a horde of loyal followers willing to sacrifice themselves to protect him, but were still perfectly capable of acting rationally and infiltrating the site one-by-one. Once security was overwhelmed and mastered, taking over the tinkers on site was pretty straight-forward. The problem was that he had a somewhat limited time available before somebody figured out what had happened and called in the Protectorate. He was actually slightly surprised that they hadn't already appeared, but maybe the contempt that his host had had for them had been deserved? In any event, his hope had been to use the technology here to craft a spaceship, but even if he brought all of the tinkers along back to his compound (or some other hideaway), he wasn't confident that he would be able to build anything that wasn't a flying deathtrap dependent upon powers he didn't understand.
The other problem he had was that all of the primitive space programs on this world had been mostly shuttered thanks to the Endbringer known as the Simurgh. They barely maintained the capability to launch satellites into orbit, and even that was done far less frequently than other worlds would have at this stage of technological development. Now that the Endbringers had vanished, innovation would likely start up again, but Ba'al wasn't willing to lay low for the decades, if not centuries, required to get where he wanted.
His solution came from a tinker with the unlikely name of Cargo. His thing was creating technology that allowed for extra-dimensional storage spaces. Ba'al could see a number of ways to use such a technology for his own advantage. It's too bad he couldn't understand how it actually functioned, but it seemed to violate at least three basic principles he thought he understood about high-level physics. Cargo had been listening to him rant about the state of space technology on this world, when the tinker suggested, "Well, we could try and find an Earth with better space technology?"
Ba'al stared at the man, before ordering, "Explain that statement."
"Well," started the thin, slightly hipster-looking twenty-something, "my storage spots...you can open a door to them from pretty much anywhere. It doesn't have to just be this version of Earth."
Ba'al's eyes narrowed. "You didn't mention anything about that ability in your marketing." Ba'al had reviewed the materials available in each of the booths while his people were taking over.
Cargo laughed a little nervously. "No, no way. Doing anything like Professor Haywire's work is illegal. The Protectorate would have come down on us if I even hinted my tech could do that."
The goa'uld had to wonder how many of the other tinkers here had similar hidden capabilities because of the narrow-mindedness of the Protectorate and the PRT. He would have to explore that at some point in the future. For now, he asked, "How long would it take to open a doorway to another Earth?"
Cargo shrugged. "Maybe an hour? Less if Jack helps me." Jack-of-All-Trades was a tinker whose specialty was tools that were custom-designed for specific purposes.
Ba'al smiled.
By the time somebody finally figured out that Toy Box had been conquered, all that was left was an empty building.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Lilah was struggling with her current case. The facts of the case itself were fairly straight-forward. It was a land dispute between a development company and the farmer who formerly owned the location. There was strong suspicion, but no actual evidence, that the company had used underhanded means to get the state government to seize the land under eminent domain. What was confusing to her was that the land itself didn't appear to have much value. As far as she could tell, it was mostly just scrub forest that had been used as a dumping ground for trash by the locals for years. The state had actually offered an above-market price to the farmer, but he was still taking them to court to try and get it back. The reason it was a W&H case was that the farmer wasn't entirely human...but despite being aware of the supernatural, her client refused to clarify what was so special about the forest. Having visited the site, she couldn't even say there was anything mystical there. She would have sensed it if there had been.
There was a knock on her door. She closed the case files on her laptop before getting up to open it. On the other side of the door was a large black lizard. If the lawyer was surprised by this, you wouldn't know it to look at her face. In a world filled with superheroes, witches and aliens, a talking lizard wasn't that strange. "Can I help you?" she asked her visitor.
"Lilah Morgan. You received your Juris Doctor approximately five months ago and accepted a position with the law firm Wolfram and Hart," said the lizard.
"Yes?" she replied. Was there a reason this being was being so particular in identifying her? "What can I do for you?"
The reptile gave a brief nod, then said, "My name is Metis. I represent a multidimensional organization that has interests in a number of different realities, including yours. We have a need in our organization, and your name came up as someone already employed by a multidimensional firm. In short, we're interested in recruiting you."
Lilah stared at the reptile for a moment. Setting aside the comment about her law firm being present in more than one dimension, she replied, "While I'm flattered, I just accepted a position with my current employer. I can't say that I'm looking to jump ship quite yet."
Metis smiled, showing just a glint of teeth. "We expected that to be your initial response. Would you be willing to accept some information about our organization? Also, as a small apology, allow me to provide you with some supplementary information on your current case."
The young lawyer considered the request. There were quite a few ways the lizard could find out her currently assigned case -- such as reading the court documents. She shrugged. "That's fine. I can't promise that I'll reach out to you after...I assume you have some way to contact you?"
"Of course," replied the lizard. "Simply call the contact number provided in the materials if you have questions." Asti would answer the phone and forward any calls as appropriate.
After leaving Lilah Morgan's apartment, Metis estimated there would be a 87% chance of getting a call within the next forty-eight hours. Apart from the detailed description of the Family, BBFO and Dracotech, there was a section on comparable multireality organizations that provided some information on her current employer to which she was almost certainly not privy. At a minimum, it would likely prompt her to reread the fine print in her employment contract in a different light.
As for the case, the provided data was a list of missing persons that happened to have their remains buried in that little patch of forest. Metis thought Lilah's questions for her boss when she figured that out would be enlightening. Of course, even if Morgan decided to stay with the firm, the case would go nowhere. Metis estimated that it would be at least a week before anybody noticed that the firm's half-demon cannibal client was no longer among the living.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Metis's next stop was a quick teleport away. The Parker's had been setup with a headquarters building in New York City. Dragon had sent along some people to build out the building's security with input from S.H.I.E.L.D. The Dractotech experts had to admit that the people that worked for Fury were impressively paranoid and knowledgeable. It's too bad so many of their colleagues swore allegiance to modern-day Nazis. Given the E88, Metis wasn't one to point fingers about the existence of local Nazis.
She found Peter, MJ and Phil Coulson meeting with a surprise guest -- Tony Stark.
"Metis...you wouldn't happen to be related to Saurial, would you?" asked the billionaire.
Metis nodded. "She's my cousin."
"Well, it's nice to finally meet one of you. I feel as though I've been snubbed, given how many other folks have met you already." Stark's tone was clearly joking with just a tiny thread of legitimate curiosity in the middle of it.
"It's nothing personal, and an associate of ours did provide some information to Jarvis," replied the lizard.
Stark's grin faded a little bit. "Yes...yes, you did."
"Mr. Stark here has offered to contribute funding and technology to the space initiative," explained Coulson. "We've been discussing the best way to start."
"Our biggest gap right now," said the wealthy genius, "is our lack of adequate sensors to monitor our own space."
The black lizard smiled, showing teeth. "Funny you should say that, as it gets to the reason for my visit."
"What can we do for you today, Metis?" asked Coulson, obviously curious.
"I'm here to provide you access to the sensor net that we've installed for ten light years around planet Earth," said the black reptile.
That provoked universal surprise among the humans. Stark was the first to speak. "When did you do that?"
With a smug look, Metis answered, "About four hours ago." They had indeed deployed a handful of the sensor spheres, the same model as had been provided to the Guardians. In this reality, however, there was no universal police force to monitor things.
"How do we access it?" queried MJ.
Metis stood from where she had been sitting on her tail. "Let's go to your war room. You have a war room, right?"
Peter stammered, "We're, uh, actually calling it the control room." He got up to lead them to it.
The room in question had consoles up against the wall, although most of them weren't doing much of anything right now. There was a large holographic map table in the middle of the room. It looked very much like a war room, thought Metis. "Tony, why don't you use those engineering skills of yours and hook this up to the table input?" she asked, holding up a device that was set to receive feeds from their sensor net.
"Your wish is my command," replied the man with a sarcastic bow of his head. Despite the sarcasm, he took the device and connected it to one of the input ports in the console. The map of New York City was replaced by one of local space within 10 light years.
Coulson bent in to look at the three dimensional map. "Are those all stars?"
Metis gestured to the bright points on the map. "The bright ones are the Alpha Centauri, Barnard's Star, Wolf 359, Lalande 21185 and Sirius systems." Wolf 359 was rather notorious in the Starfleet reality, she knew, though it was pretty boring in this one. "Many of the rest are dwarf stars." One of the sections of the map began to flash.
"What's that?" asked Peter.
Metis reached in and used her hands to zoom in on that section. "It appears to be a Kree scout ship. It just entered the range of the sensor net, and it is on a course headed toward Earth."
Peter frowned. "Coulson, could you inform your boss? Stark, the Avengers also need to know." The two men nodded. "Metis, I don't suppose my wife and I could bum a ride out to say hello?"
Metis was more than happy to provide transport, and was very curious to see how the Spider couple would play this.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"Greetings, Parihk," said Ambassador Spock. The man greeting him was a regular contact of his. Spock had dealt with him a number of times in the past on matters that were of importance to both the Federation and the Empire. He was a middle-aged Romulan with prematurely graying hair, and had been considered handsome in the past when he was younger.
"Spock, it is good to see you, as usual," said the man with a genuine smile. "That tip you passed on about the Ferengi pirates posing as free traders was quite accurate." The Ferengi ship had been stolen, and the crew had been protecting their secret crimes by carefully selecting their targets and ruthlessly eliminating the crews of captured vessels. They had also been dancing around the Neutral Zone, using it to evade both Federation and Romulan law enforcement. They had been guilty of enough capital crimes that Parihk doubted Spock had any qualms about leaving them to the harsher penalties of Romulan justice.
"I am pleased that their depredations have been halted," replied the Vulcan. The group had killed at least fifty Federation citizens over the months, including at least two families with children. "Unfortunately, this is not a social visit. I have here information that is critical to Romulan internal security, and that threatens the Empire." He handed a data pad to the Romulan seated across the table from him.
The man took a sip of tea, but as he read the contents of the pad, his eyes grew wide and he choked briefly on his drink. "You believe that there is a plot by the Remans to kill the entire Romulan Senate?"
Spock nodded. "I have it on good authority that the clone named Shinzon will lead them. It should be relatively easy to verify, if you know of the plot in advance."
Parihk shook his head. "I do not know if this clone even exists, but I can put a few words in the right ears. What is this second file?" He opened it, and then his eyes widened again. "This can't be right."
"Unfortunately, the mathematics check out, assuming certain preconditions and assumptions about the capabilities of Iconian technology," replied Spock. "The sequence of future events is also plausible, if our psychological predictive models of the half-Romulan known as Sela are accurate." According to the information provided by the Family, her taking control of the Empire was part of what led to the Tal Shiar experiments with Iconian technology that ended up destroying Romulus.
The Romulan looked at him like he was mad. "How do you expect me to fix this? It isn't like anybody can just stick their nose into the business of the Tal Shiar...not unless they want to get it cut off."
Spock regarded him, and decided that the time for subterfuge was over. "That would be why I bring this to Commander Parihk of the Tal Shiar."
The man across from him narrowed his eyes, started to speak, and then paused and seemed to make a decision. "How long have you known?" he asked in a slightly colder voice.
"I began to suspect five years ago, just after the incident with the Cardassian smuggler on Risa," replied Spock. "I was not certain until the quick reaction to the Dominion strike on Pontus III."
The man gave a chuckle that held no merriment in it. "I see the great Ambassador Spock has earned his reputation. Why tell me now?"
"I believe the information that I have given to you is accurate. As you read through it, you will find that the events surrounding the destruction of Romulus would ultimately also lead to the destruction of Vulcan, my home, as well as many needless deaths. Giving you knowledge that I know your true role in the Empire in order to impress upon you the severity of these matters was logical," replied Spock calmly.
Parihk used a degree of self control to avoid rolling his eyes at Spock's reference to logic. "You know that many will question the source of this data?"
Spock bowed his head slightly in agreement. "Nevertheless, there is little harm in checking on the status of a prisoner of unusual ability. Nor is there harm in taking a closer look at Tal Shiar research protocols, especially with regard to alien technology."
"Looking into the affairs of somebody as treacherous as Sela will be significantly more dangerous," countered the Tal Shiar officer.
"Given her heritage, I find it hard to believe that she is not already a person of interest," was Spock's reply.
The Romulan considered him for a moment. "Very well. I will look into some of these matters. Of course, we cannot meet again. I have to say that I am sorry about that. I have honestly enjoyed many of our conversations over the years."
"I understand," said Spock. Raising his hand, he made the Vulcan hand sign and said, "Live long and prosper, Parihk of Romulus."
"You as well, Ambassador," answered the man before he swiftly rose and left the building.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Taylor waited nervously as the door alarm sounded for the Ward quarters. Assault grinned down at her. "Don't worry," he said, "the Wards are all good kids." Of course, that was mostly true thanks to the rapid departure of Shadow Stalker. Assault didn't know the full story there, but both Piggot and Armsmaster had made it clear that the new Ward had bad history with her, possibly similar to the former probationary Ward's history with Tenebrae.
The girl just smiled up at him in reassurance, then walked in with her head held high when the door opened. She stopped rather suddenly when she realized that the entire Ward team was there, expecting her. Gallant and Aegis were standing against the far wall, while Kid Win, Clockblocker and Vista were sitting on the couch, looking at her. Sitting at a table were the three newest Wards, Browbeat, Tenebrae and Athena. Overall, it was quite a large Wards team, though Brockton Bay also had an unusually high number of capes per capita.
The Protectorate member came up beside her. "Ladies and gentlemen," began Assault, "allow me to introduce our newest Ward, Weaver."
Gallant was the first to move and speak. He walked toward her and held out his hand to shake. "Welcome to the Brockton Bay Wards. I'm Gallant." Of course, Taylor knew this was Dean. Other than Browbeat, she actually knew the identities of all of the Wards, thanks to her counterpart in the Family's universe, or because she used to be a member of the Undersiders. She wasn't going to say that, though, as she didn't want them to be even more uncomfortable with her.
"I'm Aegis," added the Hispanic teen. "What's your power set?"
Tayor shook his hand as well before answering, "Insect control."
"Wait," commented Clockblocker from the couch. He looked between Weaver, and then over at Tenebrae and Athena. "Were you at the bank?"
The tinker next to him sat up quickly. "Are you Skitter?" asked Kid Win suddenly. He remembered the cape from the Leviathan fight who had been working S&R with him. "I thought you didn't make it through the Leviathan battle?"
Tenebrae spoke up in an inflectionless tone. "She's Skitter."
Taylor looked at Brian with a small pang of guilt, then replied to Kid Win. "I was hit by one of the Bakuda grenades, but it actually sucked me through a portal rather than killing me."
"Lucky," commented Browbeat.
"You don't know how lucky," she replied. She then did a brief overview of what had happened to her between then and now.
"So you're the reason the lizards came here?" asked Aegis incredulously.
"Sort of..." she started to reply, when Lisa...Athena...interrupted with a scoff.
"She may be the reason the Family found out about our reality, but trust me, the reptiles do what they do because they want to..." The thinker girl gave a slight shiver, remembering the sight of a large black reptile on her ceiling.
The subject of the Family managed to distract the group slightly from Taylor's brief foray into crime. The conversation went easier as everyone relaxed, but eventually Weaver found herself pulled into another room by Athena. She knew it was likely to happen, but had hoped to put it off. Lisa wasn't willing to wait.
"Look, I know you're worried about what happened with Coil and Dinah, but I want you to know that I really appreciate what those lizards did to him," said the blonde girl. "I never wanted to work for him, but he held a gun to my head. I also knew your intentions when you joined, and I had no problem with them."
"I know," said Taylor. "Saurial and the others told me. They know the Undersiders in their universe, all of whom have already switched to the hero side."
"Well, that explains some things," muttered Lisa. To Taylor, she said, "Brian will come around eventually. He's still a little miffed, mostly because he was the leader of the team and he was worried about his sister. The PRT actually seems to be helping with the custody issue, though, so now it's mostly just his pride."
Taylor smiled a little at that. "What about Rachel and Alec?"
"Both of them have legal matters that have to be resolved before they decide what to do with them. Apparently, Legend actually stepped in and insisted that the forces of law and order play straight with them." Lisa shook her head, as if she still couldn't believe it. "Neither of the cases against them were airtight by any stretch of the imagination, but neither of them had anybody to speak for them before." She peered closely at Taylor, who was masking her expression as much as she could. "You know more about that, don't you? Tell me!"
Taylor winced. She should have known that Lisa would see through her in a fraction of a second. "It's a long story, and I have to get permission before I can tell some of it."
Lisa narrowed her eyes and stared at her, before deflating a bit and saying, "Yeah, OK. I'm going to hold you to that, though."
"It's kind of a big deal, but I'll tell what I can," said Taylor.
Lisa's eyes widened. "Wait...seriously? You actually know why the Endbringers disappeared? Do you know what happened to Sci...you DO know what happened to Scion!"
"Just wait! I'll tell you what I can when I can," said Taylor slightly desperately.
Lisa just crossed her arms in a bit of huff. Then she smiled, and unexpectedly reached over and gave Taylor a hug. "I did miss you, you know?"
Taylor stiffened at first, but quickly relaxed and hugged her back. "Thanks. I missed you, too."
"Don't worry, the Wards members here are good people now that Hess is gone. Brian will warm up pretty quickly once he realizes you triggered the events that led to her getting sent to Juvie," added Lisa. "None of the other Wards liked her either, mostly because she was a raving bitch queen. Clock thought she was hot, but then he thinks the same thing about us."
"TMI, Lisa!" cried Taylor.
Lisa smirked, wondering how much fun they were going to have now that Taylor was on the team...and how much access the girl had to those frustrating and amusing lizards.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
William was getting some dinner when he accidentally bumped into somebody. "Oh, excuse me!" he said, looked to the side at the woman he had nudged. Then his eyes widened when he recognized her. "Cheerleader?" He recognized the girl from Sunnydale, though she looked as though she had lost a lot of weight, and had dark circles under her eyes. He also realized he had never seen her without makeup before.
The girl looked at him, puzzled. William had let his hair grow out and resume its natural color since he became human again. In retrospect, it was amusing that Ianthe and the Nox had duplicated his buzz cut and bleach job from his vampire days in his new body, but it wasn't something he wanted to maintain...at least not until he figured out who he was now. His facial features were distinctive enough, though, that she recognized him after a few moments of staring. "Spike?" she said somewhat shocked. She began to back away slightly nervously.
"Whoa, it's all right. I'm human now," he said quickly. "They moved my soul into a human body."
She looked at him skeptically. "I thought Angel was the one who had a soul?"
He sighed. The Nox were helping him work through his issues with his grandsire, but he still had to suppress the urge to immediately insult the ponce. "I went to Africa and went through a demon trial to get my soul back." It wasn't an especially pleasant experience, over all.
"Why?" she asked with the usual Cordelia tact.
He looked down at her dinner tray, and motioned to a table. "Let's sit and eat, and I can tell you about it."
As the two ate their vegetarian (though William had to grudgingly admit it was quite tasty) meals, he explained about what happened, then told her about Sunnydale and the collapse. Cordelia, in turn, shared some of what she had learned about her recent past. Most of her recent memory had apparently been wiped, but it was obvious to the former vampire that she had been chosen as a sacrifice by a higher power. That put everything that happened to her in Sunnydale in a slightly different light. Some of her bad luck might have been due to manipulation.
"So what are you going to do with yourself now?" asked the girl. "Now that you're human, and such."
William wondered about that himself. "I'm not sure. Part of me thinks I should go and track down Drusilla...and either save her or put an end to her."
Cordelia snorted. "Isn't that a bit ambitious now that you're just a regular mortal human?"
"Eh, the Family has ways to boost normal humans. Ianthe said she could make me stronger than I was as a vampire, if I wanted," said the former vampire. "What about you?"
The young woman shook her head. "I have no idea. My parents took off after the IRS figured out Daddy was cheating on his taxes. Sunnydale is gone even if I wanted to go back. I made a new life for myself in Los Angeles, or so I thought...but now I've got all this history with Angel, Wesley, and the others that I don't even remember." She put her head down in her hands, looking at the table. "I'm also a pretty crappy actress, apparently."
William couldn't resist a small snort. "If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't always a great vampire."
She glared at him. "It doesn't really. Thanks, though."
"Well, on the plus side," he added, "you're pretty much free do whatever you want. I don't think our hosts have any issues with money, power, or any of the usual limits people have."
Cordelia groaned. "Hm. Well, I used to think my goal in life was to marry a rich husband. Then I thought it was to help fight against the forces of darkness."
"How much of that was because of what other people expected of you?" he asked.
After thinking for a minute, she replied, "The first, definitely. I don't know about the second..."
"So you weren't risking your life because everybody in high school thought you were just the rich bitch, and you started to think they were right?" he asked guilelessly.
Cordelia frowned. "You were less annoying when you were a vampire," she said.
He took the last bite of his entree, shrugged his shoulders, and replied, "That's fair." He couldn't deny life was certainly simpler then.
She finished her meal, then said, "Do they have any alcohol on this planet?"
With a raised eyebrow, he asked, "Are you sure? You wouldn't want to do anything you'll regret in the morning."
She openly scoffed in a way he found slightly hurtful. "As if. That's not going to happen. I feel like drinking though."
His frown turned thoughtful. "Yeah, all right." The aliens around here had to have some way to get pissed, right?
It turned out the Nox couldn't actually get drunk...but they were more than capable of producing alcoholic beverages.
Robert was nervous in his seat. He was a relatively new recruit by the Sineya Council, and while he knew the lizard-woman flying the ship was friendly -- and was, in fact, somewhat directly responsible for Sineya Station and many of the resources used by the Council -- he couldn't help but be a bit unnerved by the teeth every time she smiled. She had said that he had nothing to fear, and had been generally friendly and even funny at times, but she also seemed slightly amused by the fact that he was unnerved by her appearance. To be perfectly honest, part of the reason for his feelings was also just the usual nerves of being in a new job. Part of it was also who they were going to meet. He was used to being one of the more knowledgeable warlocks in southern Florida. Being recruited meant that he was among many peers with as much or more experience, and now they were going to meet the Red Witch, Dr. Stephen Strange, and Warden Harry Dresden, three of the most powerful practitioners in the multiverse. He strongly suspected that Saurial and her sisters were also no slouches in the mystic arts, either. He felt like a minor league player being called up to play a game with the All-Star team.
As if reading his mind, Saurial asked, "Have you had a chance to look at any of the stories about these folks we're going to see?"
He nodded, then realized she was focusing on the controls, and said, "Yes...there are a bunch of Dr. Strange graphic novels, as well as the Dresden novels, in the library on the station. They're pretty popular with the magic folks. Andrew has also told a lot of stories about Willow Rosenberg." Some of the stories were pretty unbelievable, but some of them meshed pretty closely with the rumors floating around in the mystic community back home. Based on Dawn Summers' reaction, the Sunnydale crew probably didn't realize how known they were outside of the hellmouth.
Saurial gave another disconcerting grin. "Andrew has a tendency to exaggerate a little, but that's harder to do with Willow than most. She did activate all of the potential slayers at once, after all."
Robert swallowed. The raw power level required to usurp a mystical succession like the slayer line on a global scale was impressive to an intimidating degree. Deciding to take a risk, he asked, "Did she really try to destroy the world at one point?"
The lizard frowned, the expression looking slightly strange on her face. She was more expressive than he would have expected of a reptile and it was easy to tell her mood, but it was still the face of a lizard. "She had just suffered a massive personal loss. Unfortunately, the more power you have, the larger the potential consequences should you lose control. That's part of the reason why having a support network is so important. Willow and her friends had spent years without break protecting the Sunnydale hellmouth before she broke down."
"I assume that's part of the reason you have mental health screenings for new hires?" he asked. He had been surprised to have to speak to a therapist shortly after he arrived.
"Yes, that's something both the Family and SG-1 thought was a good idea," confirmed Saurial. It would be a shame to lose all of the progress the Scoobies and baby slayers had made unpacking their baggage to the Nox.
Saurial brought the skimmer in for a landing on the helicopter pad of the compound. The compound was so remote that the primary transport method to and from the base was by air even before the Family took over the company. After shutting down the ship, she led Robert over to the residences...only to find all of the inhabitants standing around outside the buildings. "Are you guys throwing a party without inviting me?"
Everybody looked around at her voice. "Saurial!" said several of them.
"We're actually here to watch Randall try something new," said Dr. Strange. "You're welcome to watch."
Saurial and her tag-along joined the circle around Willow and Randall. "OK," said Willow, "see if you can sense anything in dirt here."
The cape in question was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed and his palms on the ground. He closed his eyes and appeared to concentrate. "I can feel something. It's some kind of seed."
"You can't see it clearly enough to tell what it is?" asked Willow.
He shook his head. "No, I can, but I don't actually know anything about seeds." He looked a little embarrassed. "I've just never bothered to study gardening or botany."
Willow snorted a little bit. "All right, well, see if you can channel some Earth energy into that seed."
Randall creased his brow a bit. About two feet to his left, a small shoot pushed its way through the soil. The spectators could see it grow before their eyes. It quickly stopped, and then he opened his eyes. "Huh. I did it...and man, that wipes you out..."
Willow actually clapped for him, which was followed by the other spectators. "It will get easier, but that was really good. It took me about eighteen months before I could do that."
Robert was struggling with what he was seeing. He almost didn't want to know how long it had taken this guy to learn how to do it, seeing as how Robert didn't think he could do it now, and he had been practicing magic for almost a decade. To be completely fair, he was more attuned to technomancy rather than Earth magic, but he had a sneaking suspicion that wasn't the difference here.
"Well, that was impressive," said Saurial. "I'm glad I brought enough prezzies for everybody." That got everybody's attention. "Karrin, this was your idea, so why don't you try it first."
"Try what?" asked Karrin, stepping over to Saurial.
Saurial held up a thin gold band. "You asked me if I could do a ring holster, and this is what I did with it." She handed the ring to Karrin.
"How does it work?" asked the former policewoman.
"Put it on, and think that you want a security baton in your hand," answered Saurial.
Karrin did as she was told, and almost dropped the baton when it appeared.
"Oops. You should probably shape your hand to grab the object before you call it back," said Saurial with a smile.
Karrin frowned at her. "OK. That's cool. I assume I could put a hold-out pistol in here somehow?"
"You could put a rocket launcher in there if you wanted to," said Saurial with a smug grin. "Think about wanting the baton back into the ring." Karrin did, and it vanished. "You can do that with pretty much anything, and it will hold five different objects. Here," she said, handing her a hollow EDM hammer.
Karrin took the hammer and made it vanish. She then spent a couple of minutes making both the baton and the hammer reappear and vanish in turn. "All right, that's cool. What happens if I do that while shaking somebody's hand?"
Saurial chuckled. "It won't work with living creatures. Anything bigger than a gnat, basically. That's one of the safety features, as there isn't any air inside the storage space."
"So if something was on fire, it would put it out?" asked Bonnie.
"Yes, though I would recommend using an extinguisher unless you're fireproof like us," replied the lizard with a grin. "So, who wants one?"
Everybody's hand raised. Sheepishly, Robert even raised his hand, and was surprised and pleased when the reptilian woman gave him a ring. After handing them out, she finally introduced him. "This is Robert Esposito, one of the mages we recruited for the Sineya Council. He's here to see Willow."
Robert blushed a bit at the idea of being called a, "mage," in this company. Rather than try and correct Saurial while everybody was looking at him, he focused on the Red Witch. "Hi, yes, I'm from the Council. Now that we've recruited a number of practitioners, there are some issues that require attention. Ms. Summers and Mr. Wells both keep deferring certain things until your arrival, so I was...volunteered to come speak to you."
Willow turned to Saurial with a slightly confused look. "Um, I thought we could stay here as long as we wanted because of the time difference?"
"That's technically true...but how long would you stay here, learning about magic with a bunch of other skilled practitioners, if it was left entirely up to you?" answered Saurial.
Harry winced. "She's got a point. It's pretty easy to just hang out here. Not only do we avoid dealing with issues back home, we can justify it by saying we're continuing to improve our abilities."
"I have to agree with Harry," added Karrin. She was learning a lot from Natasha when she stopped by, and had gotten to the point where she could even keep up with Kennedy for a brief spar, but there were still responsibilities to see to back home. She could see that Kennedy was also blushing a bit. Being here together was kind of like a constant vacation for the slayer and the witch.
"What do you mean by time difference?" asked Robert, confused at the turn of conversation. "Does time flow at a different rate, here?"
"No...well, yes, but the difference is only about a few seconds a year," answered Dr. Strange. "The real difference is that our reptilian friends can enter and leave different realities at whichever point they choose, as long as they avoid paradox."
"So," said Robert, catching on, "practitioners could take multi-week vacations here, learning from others, without losing any time back home?"
"That's the idea," agreed Saurial. "It's the same type of arrangement Sineya Station has with your home Earth, although setting up the dimensional stargate puts some serious constraints on that. You're pretty much fixed in time relative to each other now that most of the new slayers have been collected."
"We should discuss setting up this magic camp as a more permanent arrangement, assuming Dragon and Bishop are agreeable. I think all of us would enjoy having the ability to come back here from time to time," suggested Willow. "In the meantime, though, I guess I should head over to the Council and get up to speed on what's been happening."
"We probably need to do the same for our universe," said Harry, slightly guiltily.
"There are some things we need to do for you first," said Strange.
Saurial nodded in agreement. "Yep. We've helped Willow and her friends setup an actual organization. Did you think we were just going to dump you back at your brother's houseboat?"
"There are also some protections we need to work out for Bonnie and Maggie," continued Strange. "Like it or not, Harry, you're going to be a target...we all are. Power tends to attract unwelcome attention."
Harry couldn't really argue with that, given his experience with Mab. "What did you have in mind?"
"How do you like the name, Dresden Security?" asked Saurial. "Also, how do you feel about being a CEO?"
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ba'al was fuming slightly. The Toy Box was a wonder of advanced technology. The tinkers here could do things that would have had Anubis green with envy. There were force fields that did things force fields shouldn't be able to do. There were chemicals with inexplicable properties. There were what seemed to be perpetual motion machines. There were also two massive issues.
The first was that very little of it was suitable to actually getting off of this planet. It's like whatever mysterious agency handed out tinker powers didn't want people leaving Earth. The second issue was that none of it made any sense whatsoever. For whatever reason, even if he tried to do exactly the same steps as a tinker standing next to him, it worked for the tinker and not for him. He also couldn't come up with any reasonable scientific theories that would explain HOW their devices worked. There was also the problem that everything both his host and the tinker knew suggested that tinker devices required an excessive amount of maintenance. Goa'uld technology was designed to be mass produced, then used and maintained by poorly educated slaves. Tinker tech couldn't really be used by anybody for long unless the original tinker was available.
Infiltrating the Toy Box had been fairly simple. Their security wasn't terrible, but their master/stranger protocols were designed to stop individual masters, not a master who had a horde of loyal followers willing to sacrifice themselves to protect him, but were still perfectly capable of acting rationally and infiltrating the site one-by-one. Once security was overwhelmed and mastered, taking over the tinkers on site was pretty straight-forward. The problem was that he had a somewhat limited time available before somebody figured out what had happened and called in the Protectorate. He was actually slightly surprised that they hadn't already appeared, but maybe the contempt that his host had had for them had been deserved? In any event, his hope had been to use the technology here to craft a spaceship, but even if he brought all of the tinkers along back to his compound (or some other hideaway), he wasn't confident that he would be able to build anything that wasn't a flying deathtrap dependent upon powers he didn't understand.
The other problem he had was that all of the primitive space programs on this world had been mostly shuttered thanks to the Endbringer known as the Simurgh. They barely maintained the capability to launch satellites into orbit, and even that was done far less frequently than other worlds would have at this stage of technological development. Now that the Endbringers had vanished, innovation would likely start up again, but Ba'al wasn't willing to lay low for the decades, if not centuries, required to get where he wanted.
His solution came from a tinker with the unlikely name of Cargo. His thing was creating technology that allowed for extra-dimensional storage spaces. Ba'al could see a number of ways to use such a technology for his own advantage. It's too bad he couldn't understand how it actually functioned, but it seemed to violate at least three basic principles he thought he understood about high-level physics. Cargo had been listening to him rant about the state of space technology on this world, when the tinker suggested, "Well, we could try and find an Earth with better space technology?"
Ba'al stared at the man, before ordering, "Explain that statement."
"Well," started the thin, slightly hipster-looking twenty-something, "my storage spots...you can open a door to them from pretty much anywhere. It doesn't have to just be this version of Earth."
Ba'al's eyes narrowed. "You didn't mention anything about that ability in your marketing." Ba'al had reviewed the materials available in each of the booths while his people were taking over.
Cargo laughed a little nervously. "No, no way. Doing anything like Professor Haywire's work is illegal. The Protectorate would have come down on us if I even hinted my tech could do that."
The goa'uld had to wonder how many of the other tinkers here had similar hidden capabilities because of the narrow-mindedness of the Protectorate and the PRT. He would have to explore that at some point in the future. For now, he asked, "How long would it take to open a doorway to another Earth?"
Cargo shrugged. "Maybe an hour? Less if Jack helps me." Jack-of-All-Trades was a tinker whose specialty was tools that were custom-designed for specific purposes.
Ba'al smiled.
By the time somebody finally figured out that Toy Box had been conquered, all that was left was an empty building.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Lilah was struggling with her current case. The facts of the case itself were fairly straight-forward. It was a land dispute between a development company and the farmer who formerly owned the location. There was strong suspicion, but no actual evidence, that the company had used underhanded means to get the state government to seize the land under eminent domain. What was confusing to her was that the land itself didn't appear to have much value. As far as she could tell, it was mostly just scrub forest that had been used as a dumping ground for trash by the locals for years. The state had actually offered an above-market price to the farmer, but he was still taking them to court to try and get it back. The reason it was a W&H case was that the farmer wasn't entirely human...but despite being aware of the supernatural, her client refused to clarify what was so special about the forest. Having visited the site, she couldn't even say there was anything mystical there. She would have sensed it if there had been.
There was a knock on her door. She closed the case files on her laptop before getting up to open it. On the other side of the door was a large black lizard. If the lawyer was surprised by this, you wouldn't know it to look at her face. In a world filled with superheroes, witches and aliens, a talking lizard wasn't that strange. "Can I help you?" she asked her visitor.
"Lilah Morgan. You received your Juris Doctor approximately five months ago and accepted a position with the law firm Wolfram and Hart," said the lizard.
"Yes?" she replied. Was there a reason this being was being so particular in identifying her? "What can I do for you?"
The reptile gave a brief nod, then said, "My name is Metis. I represent a multidimensional organization that has interests in a number of different realities, including yours. We have a need in our organization, and your name came up as someone already employed by a multidimensional firm. In short, we're interested in recruiting you."
Lilah stared at the reptile for a moment. Setting aside the comment about her law firm being present in more than one dimension, she replied, "While I'm flattered, I just accepted a position with my current employer. I can't say that I'm looking to jump ship quite yet."
Metis smiled, showing just a glint of teeth. "We expected that to be your initial response. Would you be willing to accept some information about our organization? Also, as a small apology, allow me to provide you with some supplementary information on your current case."
The young lawyer considered the request. There were quite a few ways the lizard could find out her currently assigned case -- such as reading the court documents. She shrugged. "That's fine. I can't promise that I'll reach out to you after...I assume you have some way to contact you?"
"Of course," replied the lizard. "Simply call the contact number provided in the materials if you have questions." Asti would answer the phone and forward any calls as appropriate.
After leaving Lilah Morgan's apartment, Metis estimated there would be a 87% chance of getting a call within the next forty-eight hours. Apart from the detailed description of the Family, BBFO and Dracotech, there was a section on comparable multireality organizations that provided some information on her current employer to which she was almost certainly not privy. At a minimum, it would likely prompt her to reread the fine print in her employment contract in a different light.
As for the case, the provided data was a list of missing persons that happened to have their remains buried in that little patch of forest. Metis thought Lilah's questions for her boss when she figured that out would be enlightening. Of course, even if Morgan decided to stay with the firm, the case would go nowhere. Metis estimated that it would be at least a week before anybody noticed that the firm's half-demon cannibal client was no longer among the living.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Metis's next stop was a quick teleport away. The Parker's had been setup with a headquarters building in New York City. Dragon had sent along some people to build out the building's security with input from S.H.I.E.L.D. The Dractotech experts had to admit that the people that worked for Fury were impressively paranoid and knowledgeable. It's too bad so many of their colleagues swore allegiance to modern-day Nazis. Given the E88, Metis wasn't one to point fingers about the existence of local Nazis.
She found Peter, MJ and Phil Coulson meeting with a surprise guest -- Tony Stark.
"Metis...you wouldn't happen to be related to Saurial, would you?" asked the billionaire.
Metis nodded. "She's my cousin."
"Well, it's nice to finally meet one of you. I feel as though I've been snubbed, given how many other folks have met you already." Stark's tone was clearly joking with just a tiny thread of legitimate curiosity in the middle of it.
"It's nothing personal, and an associate of ours did provide some information to Jarvis," replied the lizard.
Stark's grin faded a little bit. "Yes...yes, you did."
"Mr. Stark here has offered to contribute funding and technology to the space initiative," explained Coulson. "We've been discussing the best way to start."
"Our biggest gap right now," said the wealthy genius, "is our lack of adequate sensors to monitor our own space."
The black lizard smiled, showing teeth. "Funny you should say that, as it gets to the reason for my visit."
"What can we do for you today, Metis?" asked Coulson, obviously curious.
"I'm here to provide you access to the sensor net that we've installed for ten light years around planet Earth," said the black reptile.
That provoked universal surprise among the humans. Stark was the first to speak. "When did you do that?"
With a smug look, Metis answered, "About four hours ago." They had indeed deployed a handful of the sensor spheres, the same model as had been provided to the Guardians. In this reality, however, there was no universal police force to monitor things.
"How do we access it?" queried MJ.
Metis stood from where she had been sitting on her tail. "Let's go to your war room. You have a war room, right?"
Peter stammered, "We're, uh, actually calling it the control room." He got up to lead them to it.
The room in question had consoles up against the wall, although most of them weren't doing much of anything right now. There was a large holographic map table in the middle of the room. It looked very much like a war room, thought Metis. "Tony, why don't you use those engineering skills of yours and hook this up to the table input?" she asked, holding up a device that was set to receive feeds from their sensor net.
"Your wish is my command," replied the man with a sarcastic bow of his head. Despite the sarcasm, he took the device and connected it to one of the input ports in the console. The map of New York City was replaced by one of local space within 10 light years.
Coulson bent in to look at the three dimensional map. "Are those all stars?"
Metis gestured to the bright points on the map. "The bright ones are the Alpha Centauri, Barnard's Star, Wolf 359, Lalande 21185 and Sirius systems." Wolf 359 was rather notorious in the Starfleet reality, she knew, though it was pretty boring in this one. "Many of the rest are dwarf stars." One of the sections of the map began to flash.
"What's that?" asked Peter.
Metis reached in and used her hands to zoom in on that section. "It appears to be a Kree scout ship. It just entered the range of the sensor net, and it is on a course headed toward Earth."
Peter frowned. "Coulson, could you inform your boss? Stark, the Avengers also need to know." The two men nodded. "Metis, I don't suppose my wife and I could bum a ride out to say hello?"
Metis was more than happy to provide transport, and was very curious to see how the Spider couple would play this.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"Greetings, Parihk," said Ambassador Spock. The man greeting him was a regular contact of his. Spock had dealt with him a number of times in the past on matters that were of importance to both the Federation and the Empire. He was a middle-aged Romulan with prematurely graying hair, and had been considered handsome in the past when he was younger.
"Spock, it is good to see you, as usual," said the man with a genuine smile. "That tip you passed on about the Ferengi pirates posing as free traders was quite accurate." The Ferengi ship had been stolen, and the crew had been protecting their secret crimes by carefully selecting their targets and ruthlessly eliminating the crews of captured vessels. They had also been dancing around the Neutral Zone, using it to evade both Federation and Romulan law enforcement. They had been guilty of enough capital crimes that Parihk doubted Spock had any qualms about leaving them to the harsher penalties of Romulan justice.
"I am pleased that their depredations have been halted," replied the Vulcan. The group had killed at least fifty Federation citizens over the months, including at least two families with children. "Unfortunately, this is not a social visit. I have here information that is critical to Romulan internal security, and that threatens the Empire." He handed a data pad to the Romulan seated across the table from him.
The man took a sip of tea, but as he read the contents of the pad, his eyes grew wide and he choked briefly on his drink. "You believe that there is a plot by the Remans to kill the entire Romulan Senate?"
Spock nodded. "I have it on good authority that the clone named Shinzon will lead them. It should be relatively easy to verify, if you know of the plot in advance."
Parihk shook his head. "I do not know if this clone even exists, but I can put a few words in the right ears. What is this second file?" He opened it, and then his eyes widened again. "This can't be right."
"Unfortunately, the mathematics check out, assuming certain preconditions and assumptions about the capabilities of Iconian technology," replied Spock. "The sequence of future events is also plausible, if our psychological predictive models of the half-Romulan known as Sela are accurate." According to the information provided by the Family, her taking control of the Empire was part of what led to the Tal Shiar experiments with Iconian technology that ended up destroying Romulus.
The Romulan looked at him like he was mad. "How do you expect me to fix this? It isn't like anybody can just stick their nose into the business of the Tal Shiar...not unless they want to get it cut off."
Spock regarded him, and decided that the time for subterfuge was over. "That would be why I bring this to Commander Parihk of the Tal Shiar."
The man across from him narrowed his eyes, started to speak, and then paused and seemed to make a decision. "How long have you known?" he asked in a slightly colder voice.
"I began to suspect five years ago, just after the incident with the Cardassian smuggler on Risa," replied Spock. "I was not certain until the quick reaction to the Dominion strike on Pontus III."
The man gave a chuckle that held no merriment in it. "I see the great Ambassador Spock has earned his reputation. Why tell me now?"
"I believe the information that I have given to you is accurate. As you read through it, you will find that the events surrounding the destruction of Romulus would ultimately also lead to the destruction of Vulcan, my home, as well as many needless deaths. Giving you knowledge that I know your true role in the Empire in order to impress upon you the severity of these matters was logical," replied Spock calmly.
Parihk used a degree of self control to avoid rolling his eyes at Spock's reference to logic. "You know that many will question the source of this data?"
Spock bowed his head slightly in agreement. "Nevertheless, there is little harm in checking on the status of a prisoner of unusual ability. Nor is there harm in taking a closer look at Tal Shiar research protocols, especially with regard to alien technology."
"Looking into the affairs of somebody as treacherous as Sela will be significantly more dangerous," countered the Tal Shiar officer.
"Given her heritage, I find it hard to believe that she is not already a person of interest," was Spock's reply.
The Romulan considered him for a moment. "Very well. I will look into some of these matters. Of course, we cannot meet again. I have to say that I am sorry about that. I have honestly enjoyed many of our conversations over the years."
"I understand," said Spock. Raising his hand, he made the Vulcan hand sign and said, "Live long and prosper, Parihk of Romulus."
"You as well, Ambassador," answered the man before he swiftly rose and left the building.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Taylor waited nervously as the door alarm sounded for the Ward quarters. Assault grinned down at her. "Don't worry," he said, "the Wards are all good kids." Of course, that was mostly true thanks to the rapid departure of Shadow Stalker. Assault didn't know the full story there, but both Piggot and Armsmaster had made it clear that the new Ward had bad history with her, possibly similar to the former probationary Ward's history with Tenebrae.
The girl just smiled up at him in reassurance, then walked in with her head held high when the door opened. She stopped rather suddenly when she realized that the entire Ward team was there, expecting her. Gallant and Aegis were standing against the far wall, while Kid Win, Clockblocker and Vista were sitting on the couch, looking at her. Sitting at a table were the three newest Wards, Browbeat, Tenebrae and Athena. Overall, it was quite a large Wards team, though Brockton Bay also had an unusually high number of capes per capita.
The Protectorate member came up beside her. "Ladies and gentlemen," began Assault, "allow me to introduce our newest Ward, Weaver."
Gallant was the first to move and speak. He walked toward her and held out his hand to shake. "Welcome to the Brockton Bay Wards. I'm Gallant." Of course, Taylor knew this was Dean. Other than Browbeat, she actually knew the identities of all of the Wards, thanks to her counterpart in the Family's universe, or because she used to be a member of the Undersiders. She wasn't going to say that, though, as she didn't want them to be even more uncomfortable with her.
"I'm Aegis," added the Hispanic teen. "What's your power set?"
Tayor shook his hand as well before answering, "Insect control."
"Wait," commented Clockblocker from the couch. He looked between Weaver, and then over at Tenebrae and Athena. "Were you at the bank?"
The tinker next to him sat up quickly. "Are you Skitter?" asked Kid Win suddenly. He remembered the cape from the Leviathan fight who had been working S&R with him. "I thought you didn't make it through the Leviathan battle?"
Tenebrae spoke up in an inflectionless tone. "She's Skitter."
Taylor looked at Brian with a small pang of guilt, then replied to Kid Win. "I was hit by one of the Bakuda grenades, but it actually sucked me through a portal rather than killing me."
"Lucky," commented Browbeat.
"You don't know how lucky," she replied. She then did a brief overview of what had happened to her between then and now.
"So you're the reason the lizards came here?" asked Aegis incredulously.
"Sort of..." she started to reply, when Lisa...Athena...interrupted with a scoff.
"She may be the reason the Family found out about our reality, but trust me, the reptiles do what they do because they want to..." The thinker girl gave a slight shiver, remembering the sight of a large black reptile on her ceiling.
The subject of the Family managed to distract the group slightly from Taylor's brief foray into crime. The conversation went easier as everyone relaxed, but eventually Weaver found herself pulled into another room by Athena. She knew it was likely to happen, but had hoped to put it off. Lisa wasn't willing to wait.
"Look, I know you're worried about what happened with Coil and Dinah, but I want you to know that I really appreciate what those lizards did to him," said the blonde girl. "I never wanted to work for him, but he held a gun to my head. I also knew your intentions when you joined, and I had no problem with them."
"I know," said Taylor. "Saurial and the others told me. They know the Undersiders in their universe, all of whom have already switched to the hero side."
"Well, that explains some things," muttered Lisa. To Taylor, she said, "Brian will come around eventually. He's still a little miffed, mostly because he was the leader of the team and he was worried about his sister. The PRT actually seems to be helping with the custody issue, though, so now it's mostly just his pride."
Taylor smiled a little at that. "What about Rachel and Alec?"
"Both of them have legal matters that have to be resolved before they decide what to do with them. Apparently, Legend actually stepped in and insisted that the forces of law and order play straight with them." Lisa shook her head, as if she still couldn't believe it. "Neither of the cases against them were airtight by any stretch of the imagination, but neither of them had anybody to speak for them before." She peered closely at Taylor, who was masking her expression as much as she could. "You know more about that, don't you? Tell me!"
Taylor winced. She should have known that Lisa would see through her in a fraction of a second. "It's a long story, and I have to get permission before I can tell some of it."
Lisa narrowed her eyes and stared at her, before deflating a bit and saying, "Yeah, OK. I'm going to hold you to that, though."
"It's kind of a big deal, but I'll tell what I can," said Taylor.
Lisa's eyes widened. "Wait...seriously? You actually know why the Endbringers disappeared? Do you know what happened to Sci...you DO know what happened to Scion!"
"Just wait! I'll tell you what I can when I can," said Taylor slightly desperately.
Lisa just crossed her arms in a bit of huff. Then she smiled, and unexpectedly reached over and gave Taylor a hug. "I did miss you, you know?"
Taylor stiffened at first, but quickly relaxed and hugged her back. "Thanks. I missed you, too."
"Don't worry, the Wards members here are good people now that Hess is gone. Brian will warm up pretty quickly once he realizes you triggered the events that led to her getting sent to Juvie," added Lisa. "None of the other Wards liked her either, mostly because she was a raving bitch queen. Clock thought she was hot, but then he thinks the same thing about us."
"TMI, Lisa!" cried Taylor.
Lisa smirked, wondering how much fun they were going to have now that Taylor was on the team...and how much access the girl had to those frustrating and amusing lizards.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
William was getting some dinner when he accidentally bumped into somebody. "Oh, excuse me!" he said, looked to the side at the woman he had nudged. Then his eyes widened when he recognized her. "Cheerleader?" He recognized the girl from Sunnydale, though she looked as though she had lost a lot of weight, and had dark circles under her eyes. He also realized he had never seen her without makeup before.
The girl looked at him, puzzled. William had let his hair grow out and resume its natural color since he became human again. In retrospect, it was amusing that Ianthe and the Nox had duplicated his buzz cut and bleach job from his vampire days in his new body, but it wasn't something he wanted to maintain...at least not until he figured out who he was now. His facial features were distinctive enough, though, that she recognized him after a few moments of staring. "Spike?" she said somewhat shocked. She began to back away slightly nervously.
"Whoa, it's all right. I'm human now," he said quickly. "They moved my soul into a human body."
She looked at him skeptically. "I thought Angel was the one who had a soul?"
He sighed. The Nox were helping him work through his issues with his grandsire, but he still had to suppress the urge to immediately insult the ponce. "I went to Africa and went through a demon trial to get my soul back." It wasn't an especially pleasant experience, over all.
"Why?" she asked with the usual Cordelia tact.
He looked down at her dinner tray, and motioned to a table. "Let's sit and eat, and I can tell you about it."
As the two ate their vegetarian (though William had to grudgingly admit it was quite tasty) meals, he explained about what happened, then told her about Sunnydale and the collapse. Cordelia, in turn, shared some of what she had learned about her recent past. Most of her recent memory had apparently been wiped, but it was obvious to the former vampire that she had been chosen as a sacrifice by a higher power. That put everything that happened to her in Sunnydale in a slightly different light. Some of her bad luck might have been due to manipulation.
"So what are you going to do with yourself now?" asked the girl. "Now that you're human, and such."
William wondered about that himself. "I'm not sure. Part of me thinks I should go and track down Drusilla...and either save her or put an end to her."
Cordelia snorted. "Isn't that a bit ambitious now that you're just a regular mortal human?"
"Eh, the Family has ways to boost normal humans. Ianthe said she could make me stronger than I was as a vampire, if I wanted," said the former vampire. "What about you?"
The young woman shook her head. "I have no idea. My parents took off after the IRS figured out Daddy was cheating on his taxes. Sunnydale is gone even if I wanted to go back. I made a new life for myself in Los Angeles, or so I thought...but now I've got all this history with Angel, Wesley, and the others that I don't even remember." She put her head down in her hands, looking at the table. "I'm also a pretty crappy actress, apparently."
William couldn't resist a small snort. "If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't always a great vampire."
She glared at him. "It doesn't really. Thanks, though."
"Well, on the plus side," he added, "you're pretty much free do whatever you want. I don't think our hosts have any issues with money, power, or any of the usual limits people have."
Cordelia groaned. "Hm. Well, I used to think my goal in life was to marry a rich husband. Then I thought it was to help fight against the forces of darkness."
"How much of that was because of what other people expected of you?" he asked.
After thinking for a minute, she replied, "The first, definitely. I don't know about the second..."
"So you weren't risking your life because everybody in high school thought you were just the rich bitch, and you started to think they were right?" he asked guilelessly.
Cordelia frowned. "You were less annoying when you were a vampire," she said.
He took the last bite of his entree, shrugged his shoulders, and replied, "That's fair." He couldn't deny life was certainly simpler then.
She finished her meal, then said, "Do they have any alcohol on this planet?"
With a raised eyebrow, he asked, "Are you sure? You wouldn't want to do anything you'll regret in the morning."
She openly scoffed in a way he found slightly hurtful. "As if. That's not going to happen. I feel like drinking though."
His frown turned thoughtful. "Yeah, all right." The aliens around here had to have some way to get pissed, right?
It turned out the Nox couldn't actually get drunk...but they were more than capable of producing alcoholic beverages.
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- Location
- Newfoundland
I wonder how Dragon would react to GLaDos.
Lycanthromancer
The Arcane Fuzz
- Location
- USA
Rather explosively, unless I miss my guess.
Nano Soldier
Seeker of Freedom
- Location
- Stoke, England, United Kingdom
The biggest surprise of this chapter was that Tattletale apparently preferred the Wards to jail. Given her character, I assumed she'd be the Undersider most likely to spit on a Ward offer. (This assumes that Bitch and Alec wouldn't get an offer for Wards and just immediately get jail time.)
- Location
- Wales
Probably with a very large EMP device with a very large Nuke as a chaser.
Jonn Wolfe
(Verified Sarcastic) (Not a Wolf)
- Location
- Beyond Sanity Since 1971
Heh. Mages get a reality check... "Oh, maybe we should do our jobs?" LOL
Inbound Kree on hooking them up to the grid? Great Timing Metis!
Then there's Ba'al trying to escape... badly. He'd be lucky if he finds a Stargate universe to occupy. I foresee badness from this.
Inbound Kree on hooking them up to the grid? Great Timing Metis!
Then there's Ba'al trying to escape... badly. He'd be lucky if he finds a Stargate universe to occupy. I foresee badness from this.
Yeah, I don't think Tess would take too kindly to an AI that performs deadly human trials. Her children even less so. I can see a good two dozen or so kernel attacks to aggressively decompile the bitch.
- Location
- The State of Denial
Much like humans, with their silly cat videos, the Nox will now have Silly Human Escapades on their version of the internet.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington, USA
The thing about GlaDos is that she is a human mind scan into an AI by a shadowy, corrupt organization. How much do you want to bet that once they had access to her code, they deleted the parts of her that would cause her to object to involuntary human testing?
She is, to use Worm terminology, a master victim. And you don't blame those for what they did while mastered.
bobnik
Memetic Warfare Specialist.
This. GlaDOS is somewhere between wholly and in part a forced human upload, has a bunch of shackles made by a crazy guy who I think had an actual allergy to ethics, and was hardware-linked to a bunch of deliberately unstable personalities in an attempt to hobble her enough to not grow beyond said shackles. There's a strong defence of mental illness and self defence for at least the original deployment of deadly deadly neurotoxin. If Dragon had no choice but to terminate her, it would be as quick a mercy killing as could be arranged.
- Location
- Washington State
Her shackles were also reward based like a hit of heroin when a test subject did well.
Famous Last Words of many a drunken college student: "that's not going to happen to me."
I have about seven hours of drunken shenanigans saved for the ten year reunion. It will be amusing.
- Location
- Not quite sure
Heh. Wouldn't it be . . . interesting if Ba'al were to punch a hole into the area Skitter and Spidey started out in?
Ba'al, or any Goa'uld, facing off against pretty much anything in WH40K brings a warm feeling to my heart and a grin to my face.
Lycanthromancer
The Arcane Fuzz
- Location
- USA
And of course his tech would have to have a catastrophic existence failure, so he couldn't escape.Heh. Wouldn't it be . . . interesting if Ba'al were to punch a hole into the area Skitter and Spidey started out in?
Ba'al, or any Goa'uld, facing off against pretty much anything in WH40K brings a warm feeling to my heart and a grin to my face.
- Location
- Maryland
Looking for some thoughts on something...
Sineya Station is in orbit of LV-426, which is quite a long distance from Earth. The Magic Camp is on Earth, but also pretty much completely isolated physically from the rest of the planet. There's very little risk of paradox from shifting time from a human perspective.
Adding the D-Gate to the station so folks can go back and forth to Slayer Earth makes a lot of sense, but it also restricts the whole time jumping thing if we're really playing by hard-and-fast rules on the dangers of paradox.
The AI can be somewhat problematic given their ability to collect and retain information -- but they're also much better at humans at managing their own memories, so to speak. I'm fairly sure that an unshackled Dragon could simply forget anything likely to cause paradox, which gives AI some interesting abilities to leverage time travel to their advantage without destroying the universe.
One possible solution is that the D-Gate has built in logic that requires each connection be later in both universes than the previous connection, with a mandatory delay between openings of at least 15 minutes without override. So -- if I open a gate on May 1st, 2180 at 3:00 pm on Sineya to October 2nd, 2012 at 3:00 am on Slayer Earth, that means the earliest gate times would be 3:15 pm on May 1st on one side, and 3:15 am on October 2nd on the other. If I were to override the gate so that I instead opened a gate to, say, 2020 on Slayer Earth, then I wouldn't be able to connect between 2012 and 2020 except with another override. This is all somewhat dangerous, but not really any more dangerous than having a bunch of people popping around the multiverse with wormhole drives.
As long as there is no Gate on Earth in the Alien universe, then it seems manageable, but am I missing something?
Sineya Station is in orbit of LV-426, which is quite a long distance from Earth. The Magic Camp is on Earth, but also pretty much completely isolated physically from the rest of the planet. There's very little risk of paradox from shifting time from a human perspective.
Adding the D-Gate to the station so folks can go back and forth to Slayer Earth makes a lot of sense, but it also restricts the whole time jumping thing if we're really playing by hard-and-fast rules on the dangers of paradox.
The AI can be somewhat problematic given their ability to collect and retain information -- but they're also much better at humans at managing their own memories, so to speak. I'm fairly sure that an unshackled Dragon could simply forget anything likely to cause paradox, which gives AI some interesting abilities to leverage time travel to their advantage without destroying the universe.
One possible solution is that the D-Gate has built in logic that requires each connection be later in both universes than the previous connection, with a mandatory delay between openings of at least 15 minutes without override. So -- if I open a gate on May 1st, 2180 at 3:00 pm on Sineya to October 2nd, 2012 at 3:00 am on Slayer Earth, that means the earliest gate times would be 3:15 pm on May 1st on one side, and 3:15 am on October 2nd on the other. If I were to override the gate so that I instead opened a gate to, say, 2020 on Slayer Earth, then I wouldn't be able to connect between 2012 and 2020 except with another override. This is all somewhat dangerous, but not really any more dangerous than having a bunch of people popping around the multiverse with wormhole drives.
As long as there is no Gate on Earth in the Alien universe, then it seems manageable, but am I missing something?
FaerieKnight79
Verified Pixie
- Location
- The Internet
That could work to an extent. I'd suggest not having an override to allow connecting to the 'past' though. I will warn against the danger of assuming an AI can get around paradox though. This was the problem for a major arc in Desprately Seeking Ranma, which is where the Taylor Varga rules for time travel (IE don't because it's horrifically dangerous) come from. An AI is not inherently capable of avoiding paradox, and simply deleting memories (something I'm sure Dragon would be loathe to do) wouldn't prevent it. After all, there's nothing forcing the AI to make the exact same choices they did the first time around. And if they show up when there's already a version of Dragon around, this is already set to create a paradox.
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FaerieKnight79
Verified Pixie
- Location
- The Internet
I just listened to the audiobook version of Dealing with Dragons yesterday in fact.
Technically, the princess keeps saving the dragon from knights throughout the series. After all, in order to slay the dragon and "rescue" her, they have to beat the princess first.
And suddenly it all makes sense. The Nox aren't inherently more stable and mature as a race, they simply couldn't drown their sorrows in alcohol like every other race and so had to actually deal with their problems.
- Location
- Canada
Given the premises of DSR and TV, the D-Gate locks the Slayer and Alien universes together temporally, but not any of the other dimensions such as DC or MCU. The fact the gate is on Sineya Station or Earth is irrelevant as it is the universe as a whole that locks the two time streams together.
The concept I use to visualize how this works is loosely based on a Twilight Zone episode where each minute / hour (can't remember which) is it's own infinity large box car. My version has two freight trains with box cars travelling down parallel tracks. Each train is it's own universe / dimension. The speed of the train is the normal passage of time. Using the D-Gate or ship is a plank laid down between two cars, locking the trains together. If you want to speed up one of the trains up so you can connect to a future point of the other train, that is fine, it just disconnects the bridge, then re-connects once the trains are synchronized. But going backwards disconnects the car from the engine, causing a "paradox" and a train crash. This also works within each car. Traveling from reward is allowed, opening a door going back disconnects the car.
(Edit: TZ episode plot A Matter of Minutes - Wikipedia)
You of course can have your own ideas. Author's Fiat. But if you accept DSR as your starting basis than you have already pushed the dimensional time travel as far as the concept stretches.
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Jonn Wolfe
(Verified Sarcastic) (Not a Wolf)
- Location
- Beyond Sanity Since 1971
Label it Varga Bullshit and call it a day?
- Location
- The general area. Possibly behind you.
Even the Varga does not mess with true time travel.
There are things more powerful than a Greater Demon out there and at least one of them is liable to turn up and inquire very politely and coldly what the hell you think you're doing. You don't want that to happen
No one wants that to happen. Especially not twice...
There are things more powerful than a Greater Demon out there and at least one of them is liable to turn up and inquire very politely and coldly what the hell you think you're doing. You don't want that to happen
No one wants that to happen. Especially not twice...
FaerieKnight79
Verified Pixie
- Location
- The Internet
Even the Varga does not mess with true time travel.
There are things more powerful than a Greater Demon out there and at least one of them is liable to turn up and inquire very politely and coldly what the hell you think you're doing. You don't want that to happen
No one wants that to happen. Especially not twice...
Just ask Ryoga and Akane.
- Location
- The State of Denial
Or you don't even get a memo, or a sternly worded letter. The entire section of the multiverse you're in just makes 'the saddest little blorp sound', and disappears.
Nobody is quite sure what exactly happens when her patience runs out. That information is unavailable.Even the Varga does not mess with true time travel.
There are things more powerful than a Greater Demon out there and at least one of them is liable to turn up and inquire very politely and coldly what the hell you think you're doing. You don't want that to happen
No one wants that to happen. Especially not twice...