Chapter 16: Think about the Future
"You've read the books, then?" asked Varga, sitting on his tail in Raptaur form in what appeared to be a homey study lit from a picture window with dappled sunlight.
Harry Dresden was sitting in a comfortable brown leather chair. "Is this room an illusion, or is this all conjured?" he asked.
"A little bit of both, actually. I thought we should be comfortable."
"I was informed by Lisa that this was going to be a planning session, not a therapy session," said the wizard with a certain degree of irritation plain on his face.
Varga smiled slightly. "It is, indeed, but having read the same books, it seemed prudent to give you someplace private to discuss things." Varga took a sip from a very large cup of hot tea.
Harry snorted a short laugh. "It can't be that private when you share head-space with a teenager."
"Taylor is preoccupied with other matters, and we both agree that she doesn't need to know your personal reaction to the path your future might have taken," answered the reptile.
"My personal reaction? My reaction to the fact that not only did I pay Kincaid to help me commit suicide, but it didn't even WORK? How about the fact that by killing off the Red Court, I opened the door to the Fomor and let my friends deal with the fallout for six months while I was dead for tax purposes? Or the fact that killing Maeve makes poor Molly the Winter Lady?" Harry fidgeted in his chair, unsure what to do with his hands.
"Would you like something to drink?" asked Varga.
"No, no thank you," answered Harry.
"Very well. You should also recall that in the months following your death, you defeat the ghost of a former foe, keep Demonreach from exploding and destroying the Midwest, and foil another plot by the Denarians," reminded Varga.
"I'm also apparently pregnant," said Harry rather morosely.
"The healing you received from Ianthe should extend your time before you need to free the Spirit of Intellect in your skull," said Varga. "We also have a chance to correct certain other things before they happen."
"Doesn't that screw with the timeline? I thought that was a big non-starter?" asked Dresden, slightly confused.
Varga shook his head. "What matters, Harry Dresden, is your perspective. You have yet to live the events of future stories about you, so they have not, in a very practical sense for you, happened yet. If we were to go back in time to, say, save Susan Rodriguez from dying, then we would risk your sanity as you tried to reconcile two different realities. If we were to go back and prevent her from being bitten the first time, we might put the existence of your universe at risk...to the point that we would likely face intervention by others to prevent it."
"How are the books written if the events haven't already happened?" asked Harry.
Varga shrugged. "Perhaps they have, in a universe slightly different to your own...one where time moved at a slightly faster pace. Perhaps they are, to a degree, prophetic, but there is little point to prophecy that cannot be changed or challenged."
Harry thought for a moment, and came to the conclusion that regardless of the reasons, he was effectively restricted to the time after his failed attempt at suicide. "We can't do anything about my becoming the Winter Knight. I already bargained with Mab for her help to stop the Red Court. We may be able to help with the Fomor, Corpsetaker, and Maeve. What if changing things make them worse? Nicodemus was going after the Carpenters and Maggie..."
"And this is different from living your life normally in what way? You make choices every day that may have better or worse results. In this case, you simply benefit from having more intelligence about the plans and motives of your enemies, and the specific dangers to be faced by your allies. To be frank, Wizard Dresden, you are at your best when you have time to plan, and most of the worst events in your life came about due to the plots of others. I would suggest you take this unique advantage for what it is," said Varga.
Harry pondered that perspective for a bit. "We can begin acting right after my...accident? I won't have to wait six months while things fall apart?"
Varga gave a toothy grin. "I believe, Wizard Dresden, that we can begin acting well before your attempted assassination. To start with, we have access to resources that are rather unique. We can make you physically stronger and more durable, to the extent where you will have to rely much less on the Winter Mantle for power. You will not be dependent upon Mab's power to heal your broken spine. I also have some rituals in mind that will create some...interesting surprises for some of your foes. I would suggest we wait on those until we can get to Peter Parker's universe to explore our options."
"Peter's universe...what...wait...seriously?" asked Harry incredulously.
Varga simply nodded.
Harry smiled for the first time during the discussion. "Cool!"
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"So, the way I figure it, I pretty much just have a watch list of potential bad guys and plots to keep in mind," said Peter. He was sitting in the galley of the Ship of Fools with Metis, going over some of the things he had learned from his research with Dragon.
"Yes," said the dark lizard, "you and Jimmy have similar problems in that most of the stories about you are from comic books, which tend to vary widely in continuity and quality."
"Well, some things aren't likely. Aunt May is no longer with us in my world," said Peter with a hint of sadness, "so I don't have to worry about her dating Doc Ock, of all things..."
"I'm surprised at how well you're handling reading about yourself," said Metis. "Spider-Man has had a lot of stories, some rather tragic, written about him." It was fairly obvious to Metis that some of the stories had bothered Peter to an extent, but he was pretending otherwise.
Peter shrugged his shoulders. "You know, after you've been a superhero for a couple of decades, you get used to the weird and unusual. Hell, this isn't even the first time I've gotten sucked into another universe. Although I gotta say that it's a nice change that the local bug-powered teen doesn't need me as a mentor."
'Despite being a superhero, Peter doesn't see himself as a role-model; he blames himself for the bad things that have happened in his life, ignoring the role luck has played, alongside what was likely enemy action.' Out loud, Metis said, "Taylor will have plenty of help here. We will help you, too."
Pete smiled sardonically. "Don't think I don't appreciate it! If you can get me home in time to stop Kingpin from destroying my reality, I'll owe you a favor."
"Getting you home at all depends upon doing it before then, I would think," said Metis with a snicker. "But that's not all we're offering. We also have a more permanent version of the healing symbiote that would give you a significant advantage over your rogues gallery."
Peter winced at the idea of a symbiote. That term didn't sit well in a lot of the stories about Spider-Man. He was definitely looking up Cletus Kasady when he got home. "I'm not sure I really need more superpowers."
Metis shook her head. "We don't strictly need to further boost your strength or senses. I would still take advantage of the immunity to disease and fast healing if I were you." Amy could pretty much dial up or down the effects at will, and would almost certainly start slowly with the crew, just as she had with Danny.
"I would never get another cold?" he asked, thinking idly about Gwen Stacy...the one who never became Spider-Gwen.
"You would not, and we would have one for your wife, as well. Full healthcare for your immediate family is part of the contract you signed," answered Metis.
Peter thought about the idea of MJ being able to tank a hit from somebody like Kingpin and get up again. Not that he wanted her to be in the thick of things, but part of the reason they broke up was that he was worried about her and any kids they might have.
"What if we have kids?" he asked.
"When that happens," she said, pretty sure that it would, "just give us a call. You'll have your BBFO phone."
"What happens if it gets lost or destroyed?" he asked. The life of a superhero was sometimes tough on mobile phones, and MJ already got annoyed with him enough over the regular ones.
"Apart from having a casing made of EDM, Dragon designed them to send out a ping each day. If we get an interruption in the ping for more than a single day, an alarm goes off and we can investigate," explained Metis. "That way, if something awful happens like the Infinity War, we can try to help."
"The Infinity War?" asked Peter with a confused look.
Metis stared at him. "You didn't read the other comic books and summaries from Dragon?"
Peter blushed. He had mostly looked at the ones with his name on them so far. "Not yet. I'll get to them."
"You read your own books first," said the lizard.
"Well, yeah. Wouldn't you?" he asked.
Metis considered the question. "Fair enough. Just make sure you look at the others before we take you home."
"I will," he answered quickly. "Just out of curiosity, what are the books from Jimmy's world like?"
"Similar to yours in some ways. Some of them are slightly more colorful," said Metis thoughtfully.
Peter looked at her, interested. "Tell me more, please?"
Metis smirked. "Well, there is one series named, Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen..."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Daniel sat in the BBFO office, looking over his notes. He had taken detailed notes on not just the important locations and events, but the circumstances leading up to them. Not all of the details were available in the shows, and he couldn't depend on it being completely accurate. There were enough small details that were different from his memories to make him cautious, though part of him wished it had been wildly inaccurate. The actress they had gotten to play Sha're was close enough that he couldn't watch most of those episodes. He simply made due with Dragon's summaries.
There was a lot to remember. The Ori. The Trust. What happened to Janet. Baal. Atlantis. The Lucian Alliance. The Destiny. The Wraith. Getting trapped in a time dilation field on board the Odyssey after the death of the Asgard.
"We may be able to do something about that," said a voice behind him.
He jumped and almost slipped out of his chair. "Ianthe, I didn't hear you come in..." he said while he absentmindedly reached to adjust his no-longer-present eyeglasses.
She smiled at him, and said, "We lizards can be sneaky."
He gave a nervous smile in return, then asked, "You may be able to do something about what, exactly?" remembering her first words.
"The Asgard. You were reading quietly to yourself out loud, and the Family also has really good hearing," she explained.
"You think you can help them with their genetic degradation?" Daniel asked hopefully.
"I'm hopeful," said the purple lizard. "I won't know for sure until I've had a chance to examine them, of course, but at a minimum we should be able to provide them with more robust clones as a stopgap measure. I'm fairly good at creating new lifeforms," she said with an undefinable glint in her eye.
"If you can help them, then I know they would be really appreciative, as would I." He knew Jack would be happy to see his buddy Thor get some help, too.
"If the show is at all accurate, then they've been good friends to your planet," said Ianthe. "There's something about their temperament that I think we'll appreciate, as well."
Daniel pondered that. "They...aren't exactly known for their sense of humor..."
"True," said Ianthe with a toothier-than-average grin, "but we in the Family appreciate a race that can keep calm until a line is crossed, at which point the threat is dealt with quickly and finally."
That reminded Daniel of a particular Web comic that Jack enjoyed. "If violence isn't your last resort, then you failed to resort to enough of it?"
"Ooh, where is that from? I think Saurial and her sisters would like that!" said Ianthe happily.
"It's a comic that a good friend of mine was fond of back on my Earth. I can see if they have it here," said Daniel in response.
"Well, if nothing else, I'm sure we can find it when we take you back to your home," said Ianthe philosophically. "I'll make a note of it among all of the other things."
"Other things?" he asked curiously.
Ianthe nodded. "We're making plans, Daniel. There is no point to going through all of this effort to simply leave you in the same bad situation from which you started. That includes more than just resolving your immediate problems."
"My immediate problems involved a bunch of angry ascended beings who were getting ready to punish me by wiping my memories and dumping me on a random planet," said Daniel with a grimace.
The lizard scoffed. "Don't worry Daniel. That group of self-important jellyfish won't be an issue. Saurial has already had some conversations with the tinkers about that."
"You may want to be careful. I can tell you from personal experience that the power available to an ascended being is substantial. What exactly did you intend to do to them?" replied Daniel.
"Tell me, Dr. Jackson," said the lizard, "did your Earth have a movie called Ghostbusters?"
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"If I'm honest with myself, I don't really want to go back there," said Ellen as she stared out over the bay. The seagulls were flying low, looking for anything edible. The smell of the salt and the sounds of the birds were a soothing balm to her nerves. She was tired of dimly lit corridors filled with nightmares.
Saurial picked up a stone from the edge of the walkway and threw it at the surface of the water. It skipped an improbable number of times across the top before sinking into the depths. "I can understand that. I don't think anybody would be surprised by that, knowing what you've been through. We can simply go back long enough to try and warn Earth of the impending threat, and maybe clean up a few loose ends."
"Loose ends?" asked Ellen, curious about the strange alien lizard's thought processes.
"There is no reason to leave that wreckage on LV-426. It's a deathtrap for the next person who stumbles upon it...and something tells me your bosses aren't going to give up on their insane ideas so easily." One thing that Taylor understood from her life was that once somebody in power makes a decision, they will stick with it no matter how poor the result -- even if it means other people suffer. It was an ego thing.
Ellen laughed bitterly at that. "Sometimes I wonder if my Earth is even worth saving."
"There are an awful lot of people on Earth that have nothing to do with that handful of rich assholes who are willing to risk the end of the world just to make another pile of money," said Saurial. "It's easy to think everybody is the same when you get shit on over an over again by people who are supposed to be responsible authority. Taylor had the same problem on her world." Of course, she had on this one, as well, until Varga arrived.
"I'm sure you're right. Maybe I'm being selfish, but everybody I cared about back there...well, they're already gone," said Ellen evenly. She was too tired to cry anymore.
Another stone skipped out over the water. "There are other options. You've actually got more options than almost anybody in human history in any of our worlds. We could try to find the land of Oz, if you want," joked Saurial.
Ripley rolled her eyes, and replied with a small grin, "thanks, but I've been to Australia." Her grin didn't last long, though. "I don't know what I want to do. After I got rescued," she said with air quotes around the word, "they took away my flight license, discounted my story and kicked me to the curb. I got a job driving a load-lifter just to keep myself busy and fed. It was...mind-numbing. I was running through every day on autopilot until that motherfucker Burke showed up to recruit me to go back. I don't want to go back again...but I don't want to spend the rest of my life on autopilot, either."
"Around here, we try to make sure life is more than just mind-numbing tedium intermixed with gut-churning terror," said the lizard girl. "We of the Family do our best to make the universe our bitch and puzzle the hell out of everybody in our immediate proximity. You're welcome here as long as you want to stay."
Ripley continued to stare out over the bay, but she quietly said, "Thank you."
Out on the water, a small power boat was making its way out toward the ocean, the long, thin bodies of fishing rods clearly visible next to a couple of plastic buckets. Saurial didn't recognize the boater; he looked to be a man in his early twenties -- maybe a college student trying his luck on the weekend. More folks did these days, though the fish hadn't quite come back yet. If he didn't catch anything this time, he might come back later, or he might try somewhere else. She couldn't really fault him either way.
