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sebastianshaw · 3 years

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House of M fic

( @sammysdewysensitiveeyes @the-home-kvetch Toad has a cameo in the second section and Pyro in the third. They basically disappear after that, though, then reappear at the very end for a brief but heroic mention , so if you only want to read those parts I shan’t be offended! I read a lot of stuff only for my own faves and then tap out, lol! The Gai are not Marvel canon. I needed some Generic Alien Invaders, so that’s what I came up with!) “So, now that you’ve seen what A.I.M. can truly do. . . can I count on your continued support?” Dr. Monica Rappaccini knew that she had taken a big risk bring a civilian to their Australian base and revealing so much of their operation here. But this civilian, a Ms. Radha Dastoor, given the moniker “Haven” years ago for her good deeds, had the same goals as her---human liberation from the boot of mutantkind. And what set Haven apart from so many other “sapiens” who wished the same was her resources; the woman was ridiculously rich. She’d already been a generous donator to A.I.M’s more. . .legitimate faces, mainly concerning supplying disenfranchised human communities with medicine, clean water, and access to education. And some of her gifts had gone to these, as had been promised, but many had actually been funneled to A.I.M itself for its more. . .radical usage. Indeed, Monica was willing to bet a fair few pieces in this very facility were purchased indirectly by the unwitting Ms. Dastoor. But she wasn’t unwitting anymore. Monica’s agents had been easing her into more and more illicit aspects of their activism. While she didn’t seem ready to condone violence, she had expressed that she did not condemn it in an oppressed people either, just has she not condemned mutantkind for the same before the world’s tables had turned. Monica felt in this woman a kindred spirit, someone who wanted to even the balance, to help the helpless, and who, despite her pacifist demeanor, understood more deeply than she let on that breaking--or blowing up---a few eggs was a necessary ingredient in that omelette. She just couldn’t say so publicly, or the Red Guard would have her head in a second. Even her peaceful, benign activism surely had her on a few watchlists just because of how prominent she was. But here, she could speak freely. And Monica thought she knew what she would say. Monica thought wrong. Now, if Haven had had something affecting her mind, say a demonic entity of evil and chaos speaking to her at the most vulnerable moment of her life, Monica might have more than likely swayed her. But being in a stable mental state — “I am truly sorry, Dr. Rappaccini,” she said, and to her credit she did look it, “But I cannot be party to this methods. I understand the desperation that has driven you to them, and I even admire the---” “How can you say that?” Monica demanded, “After all I have shown you?!” “It is because you have shown me, Dr. Rappaccini, that I--” Haven was cut off again---this time by the klaxon alarm blaring throughout the building. ***

The Red Guard was storming the base. The technological hurdles had been considerable to get over, but once those were overcome by the tech division---S.H.I.E.L.D’S mutant technopaths helped considerably with that---the sheer physical power of the agents was practically bulldozing the poor A.I.M guards. Agent “Toad” Toynbee used his agility to spring off the walls and land on the agents shoulders, jumping from on to the other, knocking them off balance with each landing, allowing his fellow agents to hit them while they were distracted. His comrade and friend Agent “Nightcrawler” Darkholme used his teleportation to scout ahead, Agent “Marrow” Rushman punctured organs and blocked guns by firing bone spikes right up the weaponry barrels, while Agent “Rogue” Darkholme and Agent “Diamond Lil” Crawley simply barreled and brawled their way through every body in their path like the bruisers they were. “Too easy!” Crawley bragged as she slugged one of the guards, who had practically been propelled into her fist by the thrust of Toad’s feet. “Precisely”, concurred Director Shaw gruffly, and he grabbed the nearest scientist before the cowering woman could flee. They were deep in enough that the brains the operation were starting to be sighted between the garish yellow A.I.M. suits. And unlike those suits, the white coats over office casual clothes worn by the scientists exposed skin. Just hands and faces, the occasional legs from beneath a mid-length sensible skirt, but that was more than enough. “Agent Darkholme,” he said, and though he did not specify WHICH Darkholme he meant, Rogue knew it was her. She removed a glove and brushed a single finger against the woman’s whimpering face for the briefest of moments. If Shaw wasn’t telling her to dig deep, that meant she didn’t have to, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to go sucking someone’s whole psyche into hers just for fun. But she got enough to confirm what Shaw was suspecting---a trap. “We gotta get out, y’all!” she exclaimed, the whites of her eyes widening, “If someone gets past the guards, there’s orders to blow the place to kingdom co---” *** The clearing that had once been green and dotted with trees was now scorched black, dotted with flaming wreckage of what had once been the AIM base and the bloodied, moaning remains of what had once been its members. “Save any survivors you can!” Shaw barked, “We need them for interrogation! And Allerdyce, get out here and get the fires under control! This is potoroo country!” Shaw, Rogue, and Crawley all possessed mutations that allowed them to survive the blast, allowing Nightcrawler to only need to get Toad, Marrow, and Pyro out, which he could do in one trip, albeit an exhausting one, and on to the safety of their jet. Thus, they were all safe, though Darkholme was winded and done for the day. Hearing Shaw’s command over his earpiece, Agent St. John “Pyro” Allerdyce made a swift thanks to his teammate and ran out to push the flames back from touching the rest of the forest. Potoroos were a protected species, and their safety was of utmost importance in the House of M! Meanwhile, Rogue and Crawley dug through the wreckage, the former tossing car-sized hunks of metal aside like pillows and the latter just punching a path through it, as Marrow pinned down anyone who attempted to flee using bone spears---through their clothes, since Shaw insisted on them alive—and Toad tripped them up with his tongue before pulling them back so their leader could place them in cuffs. “That’s all of them!” the amphibious mutant proclaimed proudly as the last yellow-suited AIM member—the last MOVING one, anyway---was hauled into the jet. “Clear out then” Shaw ordered, surveying the scene a final time. Something caught his eye. “Wait---Allerdyce! Those flames there, in the center---get them somewhere else, there’s someone caught in the center!” “Get them somewhere else, he says, like I can just freaking teleport them or some shit,” Pyro muttered, but he cleared the flames, revealing indeed something who had been surrounded by them. It was a wonder that her long hair and salwar kameez---yes, Pyro know the term for it, thank you---hadn’t been caught alight, but more miraculous by far was the way the wreckage encased her in such a way that she had been protected from harm. She just also couldn’t get out. Not on her own, anyway. Shaw strode towards her, flanked by the flames that Pyro had pushed aside Moses-style. He took the cage apart carefully, knowing that pulling out the wrong piece could bring the whole thing crashing down on the woman inside. It wouldn’t have mattered much to him if this had just been another AIM flunkie; they had more than enough for the Psy Division to scan for intel. But this woman. . . he recognized her, and he didn’t know what she was doing here---though he had a hunch---and he wasn’t about to let her be hurt. Not until he had the full story. “Don’t try anything, dirtbag!” Marrow hollered, coming to Shaw’s side as the last of the metal prison was removed from the soon-to-be prisoner, bones ready to hurl should she make one move that the mutants didn’t like. “That won’t be necessary, Agent Rushman,” said Shaw calmly, not looking away from the woman, to whom he reached out a hand, “Can you stand? Please, let me help you. There we are. Lean on me. We’ll have you treated for any injuries immediately. And. . . Radha Dastoor, it is my duty to inform you, that you are under arrest.” *** The AIM prisoners had been brought in, read their rights---such as their were---and the charges brought against them, given their prison jumpsuits, and put in holding awaiting prosecution after the Psi Division got through them. That was what counted for interrogation these days. The crude, ineffective ways of sapien grilling and guesswork were over. But Director Shaw still speaking with one of them personally. Just one. “Our telepaths confirm your story, Ms. Dastoor,” he said. The pair of them were seated on either side of a table. Shaw was still in his uniform. . . Haven, in her newly issued one. Orange was a good color on her, though perhaps not fitting in this amount. She was cuffed as per protocol, and while Shaw did things by the book, his eye twitched slightly at the sheer absurdity of it. But he did not remove them. He didn’t get where he was by making exceptions. “We know you were not knowingly in league with Dr. Rappaccini,” he continued, “But we also know that you did knowingly aid and abet several illicit activities.” “Yes,” Haven replied calmly, with neither coldness nor defiance, but nor any submission or remorse, “I did.” It was matter of fact, and perfectly polite. “Your forthcomingness strengthens the decision I’ve made,” he said, his own voice also matter of fact, though his was more frank and detached, “To advocate for leniency in your case. You have been cooperative, you have denied nothing---as some people do even when faced with their own memories as evidence---and, as noted, you were not involved in Rappaccini or AIM’s terrorist activities. Your crimes, rather, have been more along the lines of providing funds, food, and medicines to, say, illegal protestors. Given your history, I am inclined to believe you will not escalate to more extreme measures, and should not be considered a public threat.” “I appreciate that, Director Shaw.” “It’s not a gift, Ms. Dastoor. Merely my professional opinion.” “Nonetheless, I do.” “I do have to ask you now, because you will be asked on the stand---once you have served your time and are duly released, will you cease in all such activities?” “No, Director Shaw.” There was a long, grim silence. “Ms. Dastoor, I cannot give you my recommendation for a reduced sentence if I believe that you will re-offend.” “It would be very disrespectful of me to lie to you now, Director Shaw, just to help myself, after you have shown me such goodwill.” “There will be no goodwill, Ms. Dastoor, if you do not.” The conversation didn’t last long after that. He soon escorted her back to her cell. A private one, to protect her from the AIM prisoners. “You can ask the guards from anything within reason and it will be provided to you if possible. if you feel you have been mistreated in any way, get word to me and something will be done about it if your claim proves true. Shaw wasn’t bending any rules for her. None of this was outside the law, or even a gray area. It just wasn’t something he had ever told any prisoner short of the occasional foreign royal who had fucked up but still had to be handled with care to avoid political disaster. As Haven started to thank him for the courtesy, an alarmed voice called over the intercom, ”Director Shaw---the AIM prisoners! They’re all dead!” *** The one person that hadn’t been recovered from the base was the real prize---Monica Rappaccini herself. The assumption of SHIELD was that she had escaped before setting off the blast; the idea she’d simply been blown to pieces was too optimistic. In fact, neither was the case. Monica had a much safer plan than escaping the building---she’d stayed in it. More specifically, in a blast-proof container specifically survived to withstand it, which dropped down a shoot far underground where the bomb wouldn’t reach it anyway, and she wouldn’t be found by the accursed Red Guard. The fools---they hadn’t brought a psychic to sweep for any minds missing, but it wouldn’t have mattered, the tech was telepath-proof too. If only they could do that for the entire place, but alas, it was difficult, tricky, tended to only work on a small scale. But that was enough for her. Once the danger had passed, Monica emerged and got in contact with her best agent---Thasanee Rapaccini, aka the Scorpion. Monica’s daughter. In another world, her name was Carmilla Black and she worked for SHIELD, against her own mother! But in this world, Monica had raised her, and raised her well. She was a (mostly, usually, except for a hiccup) loyal agent to AIM and mommy dearest, and she wanted to see the mutant tyranny she’d grown up under fall as much as Monica did. But, like all teenagers, she could be a bit rebellions. Like questioning her mother. Something Monica would never have allowed her to do and survive if she hadn’t been her own preciously bio-engineered flesh and blood. ”Is that really necessary, mother?” Thasanee asked when given her new mission, ”They’ve already psy-scanned all the agents by now for sure anyway. What are they going to get from that lady’s mouth that they didn’t get from our guy’s brains?” ”It’s not about containing information,” Monica explained, ”It’s about public opinion. Haven can do more damage to us now than Magneto himself. She’s well-respected by the rest of the humans rights activist movement and even by many mutants. If she publicly denounces our cause, it will rob us of countless new recruits, funding, everything. She’s the most dangerous threat of all---a moderate. Do you see now? They’ll offer her a deal--leniency for collaborating with us, so long as she denounces A.I.M and everything we stand for. And people, even those who share our goals, our beliefs, will listen.” ”You really think she would?” Thasanee asked “I mean, all that good stuff she did for humans. . . maybe she’s just not cut out for our work. You’ve said yourself not everyone is. But that doesn’t mean she’d hang us out to dry.” ”I wish I had your faith in people,” Monica sighed, and it was true. She certainly wished she could be certain that Radha Dastoor wouldn’t do exactly that. But, she’d been so sure that Haven, who shared her cause, would join her and begin providing direct funding, and she couldn’t have been more wrong about that. So she couldn’t take a chance on Radha here either. ”And listen,” Thasanee continued, “If you’re worried about us looking bad, won’t we look WORSE if we kill her? I think that’s what REALLY would get people mad at us! Our own allies too! ”Thasanee,” Monica’s voice turned sweet, cajoling, truly motherly, as she put a hand on her daughter’s shoulder and looked loving into the girl’s green eyes, ”My beloved child. I know this is difficult to understand. But Radha Dastoor dying mysteriously while in S.H.I.E.L.D custody would be very, very good for our cause. A peaceful activist, a nonviolent offender, a model moderate. . .and after her arrest by the Red Guard, who claim such a person was in cahoots with a terrorist organization, she dies while in their hands, and they try to blame that same organization? My dear. . .connect the dots the way the Average Joe would, and see what conclusion it brings you. The kind that makes the opposition look like the monsters we know they are.” Thasanee was a clever child, and she clearly got exactly what her mother was saying. Her conflict was clear on her face, her lip twisting in thought, her eyes flitting doubtfully downwards. But she reached the right answer, as Monica knew she would. ”I’ll do it, mother. You can count on me.” *** ”So what happened to them?” Jessica Drew asked as Agent Darkholme---Mystique, who had not been on the earlier mission---returned from attending to the matter of the AIM agents dropping dead. ”Chemical implant,” Mystique replied, “Rappaccini must have put it in them when they joined up with AIM. Probably to “motivate” them if they ever get cold feet. Or, in this case, fail her by getting captured.” ”G’awful way t’go,” Rogue shuddered. Whenever she had any doubts about what the Red Guard did, people like AIM reminded her who the good guys were. ”What I wanna know,” said Agent Crawley, “is who is this Dastoor broad, that she gets the royal treatment from Sebastian Stick-Up-His-Ass Shaw?” ”No idea,” Rogue said, putting her cooling coffee to her lips. “Before your time, daughter,” Mystique explained, ”Back when mutants were actively oppressed by humanity, before the rise of Emperor Magnus, Radha “Haven” Dastoor was one of the few sapiens on our side.” ”Our side?” Rogue looked intrigued. ”A sapien?” Crawley looked doubtful. ”Oh, she didn’t go all out for us, not by a long shot,” Mystique scoffed, “Don’t get the wrong idea---she was a peaceful protester. Didn’t get anything done. But. . .she did reach a lot of her own kind, or try. And ran with a very upscale crowd, so there was. . . influence, I suppose. Ran some shelters and such.” The blue-skinned woman sniffed slightly, torn between wanting to give credit where credit was due, but also not wanting to oversell the woman as a saint when she’d barely done the bare minimum in Raven’s view. ”Anyway. Now that the tables have turned, so has she. She’s all about her OWN kind’s rights now. As if things are as bad for them as it was for us. Ha! Not even on our best day back then, were we ever treated with the grace that Magnus has granted THEM. But trust a human to not even be able to stomach a DILUTED taste of their own medicine. She shrugged her azure shoulders, “But since Director Shaw is old enough to remember her work---such as it was---I suppose he thinks she’s earned some professional courtesy. And he is, after all, nothing if not professional.” *** As promised, Haven was well treated while she was held at the Australian S.H.I.E.L.D base. She would be taken to Genosha to stand trial tomorrow, but in the meantime. . . In the meantime, Thasanee Rappaccini had spent all evening infiltrating the base successfully without setting off any alarm to her presence. It was no mean feat, as one might imagine, but she had been trained for this from birth. Not infiltration specifically, but anything and everything relevant to taking down Magnus’s mutant-supremascist empire. And, much like how many unlucky souls never noticed a scorpion in their shoe before it was too late, this Scorpion had creeped in subtle as a shadow, unheard and unseen and undetected by man, mutant, or machine. And now. . .now she had a clear shot with her Stinger, as she called her left arm from which she fired energy bolts containing concentrated toxins. Like the Rappccini’s daughter of myth, Thasanee was literally poisonous. Yeah, she was pretty sure her mother hadn’t been born with that surname. Haven didn’t even notice as the slim girl slid into the room. She was busy tending to a flower in a pot, to Thasanee’s surprise. Who had given her that? Scorpion had expected to find the captive in chains, not--- BOOM! CRASH! The entire base rocked as Scorpion’s eardrums rang, and it wasn’t just shock that made it difficult for her to keep her balance. Thas had a clear shot, not for any gun but her Stinger; the name she had given her left arm, from which she fired the accumulation of toxins and poisons her naturally immune body stored in her left lymph node. Then crash that rattled entire base. A klaxon began to sound, reminding her unpleasantly of the one that had blared throughout the AIM base before its destruction. Yells, shouts, and more smashes reached her ears through the alarm as well. Thasanee had just enough time to wonder if her mother had sent Adaptoids to attack the place before one of the hulking culprits burst through the wall, sending Thasanee leaping into the hiding among the dust and debris; she could hear Haven cough from the same, but, she noted, the woman never screamed. Odd. Maybe she was too petrified too. She’d seemed like such a refined ladylike priss, Thas would have thought--- The Gai. That’s what was causing all this. Thas had encountered them a few times before. They were alien invaders, huge and monstrous, looked part insect and part reptile with a turtle-like shell from which their six limbs extended. Some wore additional hi-tech battle armor but this one was bare. All of them were the same thought; they didn’t care who they killed, only that they killed everyone. Human or mutant, warrior or prisoner, all Earthlings were the same to them. Something to be wiped out. Why, no one knew yet; telepaths couldn’t get in their heads and they were seldom in the mood to talk, though Haven seemed to be trying as the beast advanced. Thas was about to--- BONK! It was an almost comical sound, followed by a crack, as the force from Director Shaw’s fist collided with the stone-like shell of the Gai and, a moment after impact, splintered it. Where did he come from?! Scorpion wondered, then saw he must have rushed in after it through the hole it left, then leaped on to its back to strike his blow. And then another. And another. He was hitting it with every step he made over its back, but once he got to its head, it tossed him like a rodeo rider being thrown from a bull before he could punch its ugly skull in. Scorpion wasn’t sure who she was rooting for. Shaw was launched into the bars of Haven’s cell, and they bent in under the force of his indestructible body like overcooked noodles. Haven, luckily for her, had moved out of the way, and he wasted no time getting in front of her as the Gai advanced. Scorpion wasn’t sure how smart the Gai were--no one knew if they were sapient beings or merely mindless drones sent down to fight by a greater intelligence---but she for one thought it must be thinking how convenient it was that Shaw had taken down this obstacle for it. Until he wrenched off the end of a bar and impaled it through the Gai’s bulbous multifaceted left eye. However alien this creature might be, it had a commonality with most beings on Earth, which was that getting a long sharp metal rod jammed into your skull was an unpleasant sensation, and the Gai responded in kind, reeling back and . . .shrieking? Scorpion wasn’t sure that was the right word for it. She wasn’t sure there was a word to describe it. Like all the sound files in the world glitching at once. She had to cover her ears, but Shaw was apparently part deaf---it was the only explanation---because he didn’t even pause as he grabbed Haven and ran. Scorpion was fairly sure he didn’t see her on the way out though; the Director clearly had bigger things on his mind. Like the Gai, which was more dangerous than ever as it thrashed around in pain. Scorpion supposed to humane thing was to put it out of its misery. . . not to mention, it’d be valuable to know how susceptible they were to poison. . . But she had a target already, and it had just breezed by her in a bright orange jumpsuit. No time for mercy kills; Scorpion followed them. She didn’t notice who was following her too. *** Shaw lead Haven at a rapid pace through the sleek corporate-esque hallways of the building, which were even more rapidly being destroyed. They dodged the claws of more Gai, huge chunks of falling walls and ceilings, sprays of crumbling dust that she might inhale. . . or rather, Shaw dodged the claws and dragged Haven with him, shielded her with his force-absorbing body from the falling walls and ceilings, and commanded her to hold her breath through the crumbling dust from the destruction. He faced a few more Gai on the way out, and while hurting them was easy once they provided him with enough energy, keeping Haven safe---his priority---was difficult to do in tandem. But Shaw was professional, and Shaw was experienced, and Shaw not only got her out alive, she didn’t have a scratch on her. “Everyone good?” he said into his ear piece as he steered Haven towards the door that would lead them out at last. In addition to guarding her, he’d been guiding the Red Guard and the rest of the personnel as best he could over the communicator. “I’m getting the prisoner secured, after that we can---hello?! Over?! Over?!” The line had gone dead. It could be an accident during the destruction. But Shaw wasn’t sure about that. He’d figure it out soon. Getting Radha Dastoor to safety came first though. And he believed he had succeeded. They made it out the front doors, to the jet, into the jet--- And then Shaw cried out and fell to the floor, green toxic energy crackling around him. Not the kind he could absorb, either----it was pure concentrated poison. Scorpion stepped out of the shadows. “Took you long enough, old man,” she said, “I made it out way sooner. Of course. . .” Her eyes traveled to Haven, her real target. “. . .I didn’t have a load to carry. You must be tired from that; please, don’t get up.” She fired another blast into Shaw, who had been rising to his feet, despite the fact the first should have been enough to kill him. Haven cried out this time in front of Shaw, throwing herself in front of his fallen form, begging Thasanee to stop. “Don’t worry, I’ll get to you,” Scorpion assured her, “But before I do, I want to know one thing from him.” She addressed Shaw again, “Why has a mutant fascist pig like you been risking your life to defend a human? I saw you in there. You protected her. Why? Is it because of what she used to do for you guys? Has she been a double agent all along? Is she really a mutant?”

“Because. . . “ Shaw croaked, using all the strength he had left just to lift his head as Haven knelt down beside him, “She. . . is the State’s prisoner. And I. . . am a representive of the State. Of SHIELD. Of Emperor Magnus. It is my duty. . .to protect those in our custody.” He took a moment to breathe, and then continued, less labored this time, but still unable to do more than speak. “I find her activism sentimental soft-minded tripe, and I will see her stand trial for the parts of it that break the law---but I shall NOT see her harmed while she is still my responsibility. Not by the Gai, and nor by YOU.” “Wow,” Scorpion said, and she was genuinely impressed, “Ok, so----I don’t take back that you’re a mutant fascist pig, but you’re a mutant fascist pig with some honor. Not gonna lie---I’m surprised. Enough that I’ll let you in one something before you die---I’m not going to kill her.” Both Shaw and Haven looked shocked. “Yeah,” Scorpion said, and answered the question she knew they must have, “My mom wants her dead, and I was sent to do that, but like. . .I’m just going to fake her death, get her out of here, set her up somewhere. That way--” She turned her gaze specifically to Haven, “That way, you can’t denounce us---if that was ever even your plan---without A.I.M knowing you’re alive and killing you for real, so you won’t, right? And I don’t have to kill you for something you haven’t even done, and maybe were never going to. Everybody wins. I mean, except grandpa there, but I count wiping out one more SHIELD fucker---the Director, no less!---a win. Talk about cutting the head from the snake; he’s one step from Emperor Magnus himself!” “I wish I could be proud of you for this, daughter.” As if she had teleported, Monica Rappapccini appeared before her daughter. Who, judging by her reaction, had NOT been expecting this. ”Invisibility device,” Monica tapped a metal bracelet on her wrist, “I’ve been by your side this whole time. And you were doing so well, too. . . .up until now.” She sighed, “I know adolescence is a time to question authority but you have to follow orders even if you find them difficult. That’s really more what this has been than anything---a test to see how far out of line you’ve fallen. The scientist in me, always having to test a hypothesis before I consider it proven. “ “Well, consider it proven, Mom!” Thasanee barked back, her feelings akin to how a normal teenager might react to finding out her parent had been in her room, “Now what! Going to kill ME too?” “Don’t be silly, you’re far too valuable,” Monica tssked, “As are these two as hostages. Dastoor for her money, Shaw for his political worth to the House of Magnus and SHIELD---much as I truly would love to slaughter him in so many ways. Indeed, I think I might just do that anyway once he’s served his purpose. He deserves it. Do you know how many people he has---” And that was when Exodus, Toad, and Pyro teleported onboard and saved the day. They made short work of Dr. Rappaccini, but alas, Scorpion got away. Shaw made a full recovery after receiving medical aid. And Ms. Dastoor awaits trial for her crimes.

#fic #writing #house of m #hom fic

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ladyseaheart1668 · 4 years

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Endless Summer Book 4: Daughter of Vaanu (Chapter 51)

Description: Jailbreak!

Tagging: @endlesshero1122 @mysteli @feartheendlesssummer @whatmcsaid @xo-endlessmayhem-xo @tigerbryn11

Chapter 51: The Midwife

Alodia

My first instinct is to be relieved at the sight of a face that in my experience has always been friendly. But caution overpowers relief pretty quickly, especially as the questions start flooding through my brain.

“...How...? What are you doing here?”

“The long and short of it is that I am here to help you. My ability is fairly limited, but I will do what I can.”

“I don't understand,” Diego says. “No one has seen or heard from the Anachronists in five years. We thought you guys vanished when the timelines merged.”

Clockmaker sighs. “As Anachronists, we made time and space into toys within the island's bubble. The crystals were our playthings. The Endless made many mistakes, but she at least learned from her errors. She worked with a singular purpose, reset the game board each time she lost. ...We were more careless. We counted on Vaanu and the Endless to be responsible so we did not have to be. We didn't really know what would happen to us when Vaanu departed. I think most of us assumed it would be the end of our world and we would move into the afterlife. But it didn't quite happen like that.”

“...What did happen?” I ask, dreading the answer.

“We were alone. We were alone in Quarr'tel, and Quarr'tel was hidden from the world. Or at least, our version of it was hidden. Vaanti from Elyys'tel came to seek us out, and they walked around the burned-out husk of our city, but they couldn't see us. They couldn't hear us. They seemed to pass through us. We were like ghosts, trapped together, unable to roam beyond our city.”

“But...why would...?”

Clockmaker shrugs. “I don't know. I could not tell you why that was our fate. What I can tell you is that your return brought us back to the world of the living—and that with your return, time crystals have begun to turn up on the island again.” She pauses for a moment, tipping her head at me. “You know...I am actually qualified to examine you. My methods are a little bit old-school by your standards since I trained in midwifery the 1960's, but they were still scientific enough to be trusted with a routine prenatal visit.”

“...This is hardly routine...” I mutter dazedly, but as she gestures invitingly at the exam table, I nod. Diego obligingly turns away as I take off my pants and underwear to climb onto the table. I lie back and Clockmaker covers my exposed lower body with a sheet.

“I won't insist that Diego leave the room. In the 60's, the culture was still very much that men had no place in the act of childbirth, but I think we've moved past such silly gender stereotypes, don't you?”

“I hope so,” I mutter, stretching out a hand to Diego. He comes to take it between his palms, his gaze never leaving Clockmaker. If she notices, she doesn't let on as she guides my legs apart.

“The crystals have begun to turn up again on the island. However, they are not plentiful. Nor are they as powerful as before. It seems the majority of my brothers and sisters went mad during our five years in limbo. When they began to get a picture of what had happened since Vaanu's departure and your return, they turned their hostility onto you. I tried to tell them that you were clearly not omnipotent, and you couldn't have known what would happen, but...well, you try reasoning someone who has lost all reason.”

She slips her fingers into me, and I suck in a sharp breath at the intrusion, squeezing Diego's hand. She squeezes my knee reassuringly with her free hand, but otherwise continues without comment.

“The crystals allowed them to track the energy of the Prism Crystal to Northbridge. They were hoping to find you directly, but instead they found the Prism Gate—and Everett Rourke, apparently. As well as Dax Darcisse's disguise technology. It was one of them who abducted you, Diego, wearing a hologram disguise.”

“That...makes sense. ...So...is that how Rourke managed to fake his death? With some help from the Anachronists and the crystals?”

“Precisely. It's also how the Liquid Prism was stolen, and probably a number of other things I have not been able to be witness to since the other Anachronists banished me.”

“They banished you?!”

“Yes.” She removes her hand and slips off the used gloves. “I'm fortunate I managed to get my hands on one of the disguise earrings before they did. They intended to send me into the far future, but instead I ended up in 1958. I was already aware of your pregnancy at that point, and I thought it might make sense to study midwifery in case I managed to get back to you somehow.”

“...How did you manage to get back?”

Clockmaker shrugs, wrapping a blood pressure cuff around my upper arm and grabbing a stethoscope off the wall. “The extended lifespan of a Vaanti, nothing more. I have lived the last sixty-six years in the United States of America, and I simply avoided returning to the island in order to avoid a paradox. When the other Anachronists joined with Rourke, I spied. Miraculously, I managed to stay out of their way enough that Rourke didn't realize who I was, and simply took me for another Anachronist ally. It was easy to convince him to let me meet up with Fiddler here to act as your midwife.”

“So, he does want my baby. ...What for?”

“That I do not know just yet. But yes, he does want her alive and well. Quiet for a moment please, I need to take your blood pressure.”

I obligingly clam up while she takes blood pressure and pulse, though my lips are practically itching with more questions. When she takes back the stethoscope and gives me a nod, I think it's the most important question that leaps to my tongue first.

“How do we get out of here?”

Clockmaker places a hand on my arm, meeting my gaze. “You have a little patience, and give me three days.”

“Why three days?”

“Because in three days, you will be close enough to Northbridge that I will feel more comfortable releasing you. Plus, at the next rest stop, I will be able to acquire the last piece of the device I need to remove that chip in your neck that's keeping you from contacting Varyyn.”

Diego gasps softly at the mention of his husband, his fingers tightening subtly around my hand. His reaction makes his next question a little jarring.

“Close to Northbridge? Where are we now?”

“Manitoba, Canada. Not far from Winnipeg.”

“Canada!” I repeat incredulously. “Could...is it possible to travel from Riverside to Winnipeg in...however much time we've been traveling?”

“Not by natural means, no. Your captors have been helped along by the crystals. Do you recall how my brothers and sisters and I were able to transport you through space and time with crystal fragments back on the island?”

“Yeah, kind of.”

“They crystals they are collecting now are weaker, but they still have enough power to transport any vehicle containing you short spatial distances. ...And distances over time, but Rourke was strictly against subjecting you to that in your present condition as it may have led to your pregnancy advancing the way Quinn's illness did when you leaped forward six months.” She guides me to lie back, lifting my shirt just enough to expose my belly. “Quiet again, please, while I listen for the heartbeat.”

She takes an instrument out of the drawer that looks like a small silver trumpet minus the pipes and valves, and places the bell end against my belly, lowering her head to press her ear to the flat end. After adjusting it a few times, she smiles.

“Ahh, there it is. Good and strong. But a little high-placed. I don't think baby has turned yet.”

“No, she hasn't. Or she hadn't last I knew. We tried EVC, but it didn't take. I've been preparing myself for a likely breech delivery—and possibly a C-section.”

Clockmaker frowns. “...The sooner we get you out of their hands, the better. Any complications in labor would likely go very badly for you if you're still a captive.”

“Why can't you just teleport us out of here with the crystals?” Diego asks.

“If I had access to the crystals myself, I would not have gotten stuck in the 1950's,” she replies ruefully. “I would be performing an ultrasound on you instead of using a pinard, and I would likely be qualified to perform a C-section myself.”

“You never decided to update your skills?”

“Records became much more difficult to forge as technology advanced. I read what books I could, but it seemed safer not to attempt formal study again. In any case, if you go into labor within the next three days, I will take what risks are necessary to get you out of here. But the safest option is going to be to wait, since the safest option will also require me to stay behind and throw them off the scent while they attempt to hunt you down.”

I nod slowly. I won't say I feel like I completely understand what is happening here, but I still feel like I can trust Clockmaker. Diego seems a little bit more skeptical.

“But why help us like this? Why not tip off the authorities that you know where we are?”

“For one thing, I believe the authorities would have a harder time getting you out than I will. For another...I still care about what might happen to the Vaanti if the authorities turn their suspicions toward the island.” She hesitates a moment. “...When we reach the next stopping point, I intend to drug their food to knock them out long enough that you can escape. ...I could poison them. Kill them. But if their bodies are revealed in an investigation, that will come back to you.

“Which is why, Diego, when eventually questioned on how you escaped, you are going to tell them that in this very room, you discovered a bottle of rohypnol abandoned in one of these cabinets, and smuggled the pills in your sock.”

“I see. And...what will...'I' do with these pills?”

“Well, at the next safehouse, you will drug their water supply, of course. You've had your eye out for an opportunity since you discovered the pills.”

“...No one will stop 'me'?”

“Once the deed is done, I will show you how 'you' did it, and I'll make sure to set it up to look plausible. Of course, it may be rearranged when your captors take off, but I don't believe that would strike anyone as very odd, either.”

“And what should I tell them about who kidnapped us?”

“You know Fiddler. You know she was a rival of Jake's. Tell them you don't know the others. It will be true. Tell them you don't know why you were abducted. That will be a lie, but it will be a lie that protects the Vaanti.”

“It will also be a lie that protects Rourke,” I point out.

“It will also protect you,” Clockmaker counters. “And your baby. ...I will not let Rourke escape justice, Alodia. I promise you that. But sometimes winning the war means losing the battle, and right now, it is more important that you and Diego are safely returned to your families before the baby arrives, and that the Vaanti's secrets are kept as long as possible.”

“As long as possible. ...You make it sound as if you don't think they can be kept indefinitely.”

“I don't,” she admits. “But if I can help it, I won't have them turned into laboratory experiments like Rourke tried to do. ...I believe there is a way that the truth can be safely revealed. But it must be done carefully and there are many unknowns to be considered.”

“What unknowns?”

She sighs a little, shaking her head, but there is a slight smile on her lips. “There are more things in heaven and earth, Alodia, than I could have ever perceived from my vantage point within Vaanu's time bubble. ...You can probably start getting dressed now. They're going to start wondering what we're doing in here.”

I sit up slowly. My head is spinning a little, probably with all this new information. But there is one more thing I feel I should know.

“...Where are they actually taking us? Where is Rourke waiting?”

“The exact location appears to be on a need-to-know basis. But I have reason to suspect he is making his base somewhere in the Greek isles.”

“Well, I won't ask why there. I'm sure finding the answer to that can wait.”

“Absolutely. The important thing now is getting you someplace where you can have your baby safely.”

I nod. “...Thank you, Clockmaker. Thank you for coming to my rescue.”

She smiles sadly. “I suppose I ought to tell you not to call me that anymore. The Anachronists have appointed a new Clockmaker.”

“Do you want a new name?” I ask.

She shrugs. “It was never really a name, was it. It was a title of sorts, though Anachronists are not really supposed to have titles. ...I suppose I would like for you to call me the Midwife now. It seems appropriate.”

“Midwife, then. Thank you, Midwife.”

Kenji

It's been quiet for the last few days while Tahira has been off tracking Alodia. Just the occasional petty crooks hopped up on weak street-cut doses of Liquid Prism that have actually become weirdly routine. Just as well, considering we're down our leader, but I can't help feeling kinda twitchy. So when my phone chimes while I'm working out in my home gym and the screen shows an unfamiliar number, I am immediately on edge. But I pick up because I'm not about to ignore it, either.

“This is Kenji.”

“Katsaros. What's the word in Northbridge?”

I could be mistaken, but I think I can hear a slight tremor in Caleb's voice. I feel my forehead crease.

“Uh, not much happening here at the moment. Why? Where are you?”

“You swear the Prism Crystal's secure? Maybe you should check on it.”

“Yes, Caleb. It's secure. You're gonna have to trust me on that.”

“When was the last time you checked? When was the last time you saw it with your own eyes?”

“Man, seriously. I'd say you sound like you're trying to get its location out of me for some nefarious purpose, but I don't actually think you're dumb enough to be so transparent. It's secure. I promise. Getting at it right now would be way more complicated than either of your former bosses could pull off. ...Where are you?”

“I'm at Gigi's squat.”

“What?! What are you doing there?!”

He hesitates. “...Not really important. Had a dumb idea that isn't gonna pan out anyway, because the place is completely deserted.”

“Is that unusual? It was deserted when we found you there.”

“Yeah, that was the gang away on a day mission. This is...different. I been here two days with no trace of anyone, and most everything's gone.”

“Did they maybe move on from that squat? Set up a new base?”

“Maybe. 'Cept they didn't take entirely everything. There's still mattresses and linens, a generator, a minifridge, space heaters...”

“Well, those are heavy. Probably thought it more worthwhile to acquire new ones.”

“I'd buy that...except that they also left a supply of food and bottled water. Water and canned goods may be heavy, but you can pack 'em in backpacks and carry 'em easy enough. And packs of ramen noodles weigh next to nothing.”

“So what do you think is going on?”

“No idea. I just know it's probably not good.”

I consider this for a moment. “Maybe you should come back to Northbridge.”

“Yeah...I don't know. Got some things to take care of.”

“Well, I'm not gonna twist your arm.”

“How is Tahira?”

“Oh, right. You probably haven't heard yet. She's okay. She woke up, and she's out of the hospital.”

“Well. Good to know.”

Before I can reply, the call cuts off. I wait a minute or two to see if he's going to call back. I even take a chance on calling back the number he called from, but no luck.

...Guess that might be the reformed criminal for you. I wonder if I'm ever actually going to know what to make of him.

Alodia

Midwife stays with us over the next few days while we're held in what I have concluded is probably an abandoned hospital. She's there when we're bound and blindfolded again and loaded into another vehicle. This time, though, they cut our bonds once we're in the van, and we're permitted to take our blindfolds off. I realize why once we do.

We're inside what can only be the trailer of a semi. No windows to the outside. Separated from the drivers in the cab. Only a few hanging work lights to illuminate our steel and aluminum prison. But it has been fitted with car seats, and the car seats have seatbelts. We fasten ourselves in and settle in for the journey, however long it will take.

“You should both try to rest as much as you can,” Midwife tells us. “Now, and when we arrive. You'll both need your energy very soon.”

Jake

It's early morning, and my turn holding the Prism Crystal while Sean drives. I really ought to stay awake. Be a decent navigator. But my head still isn't fully healed, and Michelle encourages me to sleep when I need to as long as I keep a hand on the Crystal. So when I feel myself start to drift off, I grab a handkerchief out of the glove compartment and wrap it around my hand and the Crystal. The top of the gleaming Crystal is still visible, and it feels secure enough that I don't think it will fall. I prop my head on a travel pillow against the passenger-side window, and let myself drift off.

I come around again slowly. The sunlight makes my eyes water as voices buzz around me. There are no words just yet, but the atmosphere is tense. I claw my way back to full consciousness just as the tension starts to ebb away.

“Wha...? Wha's goin' on...” I manage to form the question, but the words feel like mush coming out of my mouth at first.

“It's okay,” Sean assures me. “We lost the trail for a minute, but we've got it back.”

I frown, turning to study his profile, even as the glare from the sun obscures my vision at first. He still looks concerned. I look down at the Crystal tied to my hand. It's glowing bright as it was when I fell asleep. A glance in the rearview mirror reveals the others still following us in the other car. But I look at the clock on the dashboard, and I look at the sun, and I immediately understand what's different.

We're not heading northwest anymore. We've turned entirely around.

Alodia

Our new prison is another farmhouse. Or cabin. Or cottage. Whatever. We're blindfolded again once we arrive, and I only see the inside of the room we're locked in, but it definitely has wood floors and wood-paneled walls. As usual, we're supplied with food when we arrive. Nothing gourmet, of course, but nutritious. I eat valiantly for my baby's sake, and Diego eats for mine, but I can tell he's struggling to find an appetite. I reach out to place a hand on his arm.

“You okay?”

“I'm just...anxious. Do you think we can trust Midwife?”

I sigh, turning my attention back to my meal. “I think we probably don't have much of a choice. I think if it turns out she can't be trusted, we won't be much worse for it.”

“I don't know. It's not like there need to be only two sides in this conflict, us and Rourke. If the Anachronists have gone as crazy as she implies, they might just be out to hurt you themselves...”

“I won't say the possibility didn't occur to me. But given the choice between taking a risk trusting her and risking my baby falling into Rourke's hands...I'll take the choice that presents a possibility of freedom.”

“It does seem like a better choice than waiting to be delivered to Rourke,” he concedes.

“We should rest if we can. If Midwife can be trusted, we're apparently going to need it.”

* * *

I'm not sure how deeply I actually manage to sleep. At nine months pregnant, I haven't really slept soundly in weeks. But it does feel as if some time has passed when I open my eyes to see Midwife leaning over me and realize that she was gently shaking me awake.

“Your enemies are sound asleep,” she says softly. “Drugged. It's time to get you both out of here.” I sit up carefully. Midwife puts a hand on my shoulder, preventing me from standing. “Stay seated for a moment. First things first, we need to get that chip out of your neck to reopen a line of communication with Varyyn. Diego, help me out here, okay?”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Sit down there and hold her steady. This will be quick, but it will be painful for as long as it lasts. Alodia, try not to make too much noise. I don't expect anyone to wake up in any state to chase you, but I would rather not take chances.”

Diego sits beside me on the cot and draws me into his arms. I grip him back, pressing my face into his shoulder, bracing myself. I feel Midwife gather up my hair and twist it up off my neck.

“The effects of this chip are likely to last beyond its removal, but they will wear off in time. Unfortunately, I cannot say precisely how much time it will take.” As she speaks, I feel pain go through me like a full-body electric shock. I gasp sharply, digging my fingertips into Diego's back, but I manage not to cry out. “But I do promise you that it will wear off. ...All done.”

I sit up shakily, my stomach quivering. Diego squeezes my hand, rubbing my back. “All good now?”

I manage to nod. “Yeah. All good. Just a little woozy.”

“I advise Diego to take the first shift driving. There's a jeep outside for you. Full tank, spare tire, and three cans of gas. Northbridge is about two-hundred miles away. I have programmed the fastest route into the GPS for you. The whole trip should take around three hours.”

“...Couldn't we just go to the nearest town and call the police?” Diego asks.

“Once you have driven off, I can't stop you from doing whatever you see fit. But I highly recommend putting as much distance between yourselves and your captors as possible before putting yourselves in the authorities' hands. Particularly because I cannot assure you that there are no Anachronist spies in holographic disguises along the road to Northbridge.”

“I know I would rather get back to the other Catalysts before we try to send anyone out after Arachnid,” I murmur. “I have more faith in them and the Supers to protect us than the authorities. Especially with the threat of Anachronist spies.”

“Just think the police might wonder why we drove two-hundred miles instead of getting them involved sooner.”

“Like Midwife said. We wanted to put as much distance between us and them as possible. Besides, I'm pregnant and scared and I probably pushed you to get us to Northbridge once I saw how close we were. If nothing else, we can blame it on my hormones.”

“That feels sexist.”

“I am willing to exploit sexism when it suits,” I reply, smirking a little. “But...there is another problem I can see with driving almost non-stop to Northbridge: I am nine months pregnant, and I have to pee constantly. I've been able to hold it when they move us, but I'm usually in agony by the time we arrive. And the thought of going three hours without a rest stop...”

“I have a solution for that, too,” Midwife says almost proudly. “Frankly, I am annoyed they never provided you with a portable female urinal before. But you will find one under the seat in the jeep. It's actually designed with pregnant women in mind. Specifically, pregnant women who have to spend a great deal of time in cars. Now, Diego. Pay attention.”

“Hmm? What?” Diego snaps to attention, his eyes widening slightly.

“I'm going to tell you how 'you' managed to drug your kidnappers.” She taps at the handle of a locked closet that we made a cursory attempt to open when we were first left alone in the room. “When you arrived here, they took a water cooler jug out of here and left it with you. Before they locked the closet, you saw that there were other jugs inside. When they left you alone, you tried the closet door and found that the locking mechanism was clearly broken, because in spite of the knob not turning, the door opened. You took a chance, and emptied the six pills from the bottle you found at the doctor's office into an almost-full jug that had already been opened. By the way, you'll find said bottle in the glove compartment of the jeep. Make sure to get your fingerprints on it before you let the authorities have it as evidence.”

“...Should we tell them that there was a gynecologist at the abandoned doctor's office?”

“Of course. Don't worry. There's no reason to believe you will harm me by doing so. As long as you keep my description vague.”

“So...once they were drugged, how did we get out?”

“Through a window in the back of the closet. This room is actually underground, and there is a window at the top of the wall at ground level. In fact, Diego, come with me. I'm going to direct you through your escape path. Alodia, there's no way you could climb through that window in your condition, but Diego, you should follow the plausible path and leave your traces where you can.”

I notice that Midwife uses a key to unlock the closet, but I assume she is going to do something to break the lock mechanism after we leave. She takes him into the closet, and I hear them talking for a minute or two before she comes out alone.

“...Where's Diego?”

“Walking around with the key to unlock the door. I can't leave my traces all over the grounds. Not when you're supposed to be escaping without my help.”

I want to protest. I can't keep back a nagging fear that something is going to go wrong here, that maybe one of the guards wasn't as drugged as Midwife perceived. But I hold my tongue. Midwife has always given me the impression she knows more than she lets on in any given situation. Trusting her pays off. Within five minutes, I hear the key turn in the lock, and the door opens. Diego beams at me from across the threshold.

“Time for a jailbreak, Allie. The coast is clear.”

Diego

I'm honestly a little surprised at how anxious I feel leaving Midwife behind as Allie and I drive off in our stolen jeep. But then again, maybe it's not leaving her behind that's making me anxious. I mean, after all, my best friend and I are running for our lives right now, leaving behind a bunch of hostile ex-military goons with sinister designs on an unborn baby girl. They're drugged, giving us a good amount of time to make a head start, but I know I'm not going to feel safe until we're among friends in Northbridge. Even as I speed through the night, going as much over the speed limit as I dare on the silent country roads, I can feel them lurking over my shoulder like ghosts.

“This thing have a radio?” Allie mutters after a few minutes.

I take a quick glance at the dash. “Satellite. You think we should...?”

She shrugs. “Don't see how it could hurt. And it might calm us down. ...And River, if we can find the right station.” She rubs her belly pointedly. “I think she's picking up on how nervous I am.”

“It does feel like we're driving with a target on our backs,” I concede as she starts flipping through the stations.

“I keep looking in the back seat, like one of them might have snuck in and is lying in wait back there.”

“We checked it thoroughly before we left, remember? We even looked underneath.”

“Of course I remember.” She settles on a station playing electronic music and leans back in her seat. “Doesn't stop it from feeling like they could be right behind us.”

“Yeah, you're right.” I chuckle a little. “Know what this feeling reminds me of? Being in high school, watching gay porn on the computer with the door locked and my headphones on and my parents out of the house and still being terrified that I'd get caught. I used incognito mode, did virus scans afterward, checked about fifty times that my headphones were on, and I would still be terrified of my parents coming home early, or something showing up on the search history days later and I would get caught...”

“You were more careful than I was. I did get caught once.”

“Yeah, but all your aunt and uncle were ever going to do was give you a lecture about privacy. Embarrassing, sure, but not life-altering.”

“True. ...I think if we're going to compare this situation to pre-adult anxieties, mine would be being inside or anywhere near the garage when Aunt Molly or Uncle Rob was out. When I was four or five, I had a nightmare about being trapped in the garage with a sentient killer car, and I have hated the sound of the garage opening ever since.”

I take my eyes off the road just long enough to glance at her in surprise. “You have?”

“Yup. I don't mind it so much from my room. Or any room where I can't see the door from the garage into the house. But if I'm in that hallway when I hear the garage door open, I bolt.”

“Huh...” I think back, trying to recall if I had ever noticed her doing that when we were kids, but I guess it's never stood out to me. She was a high-energy kid, and good at masking her distress when she wanted to. I probably put it down to her getting a new fun idea and running off to make it happen. “Funny how you can know a person all of your life and theirs, and still not know everything about them.”

“I should hope I still have a little mystery to me,” she replies, chuckling. “Even from you.”

The truth is that I am glad she does. In another timeline, she was a figment of my imagination. Everything she was, I made her. All her secrets were mine. The woman sitting next to me is real enough to surprise me with a strange, irrational fear left over from childhood. I don't express any of that, not wanting to remind her of a timeline I know she doesn't like to think about. But I do spare a glance to smile at her. Though not enough to make me forget what we're running from, that happy thought is enough to ease me a little, and as we continue on our journey, I hum along with the music on the radio.

Jake

We're not robots. We can't travel indefinitely. We have to stop occasionally to piss and shit and get food and fill our cars with gas. I take care of my essential bodily functions and lean against the car's rear door while I gulp down a protein bar that tastes vaguely like vanilla-flavored newspaper. Tahira leans beside me, working her way through a take-out chicken sandwich. She stares straight ahead while she eats, taking each bite with an expression that suggests she's getting it down through sheer willpower. The Prism Crystal winks at the top of her pocket. She's facing vaguely southwest, and the Crystal is gleaming in response.

“...Why did it change?”

I ask the question before I realize I did it. Tahira looks sidelong at me, and her expression is hard to read.

“What do you mean?”

“Don't be coy. I mean the Crystal. It turned us around. Why?”

“...We passed her. Somewhere on our journey, we passed by her and we had to turn around.”

“If that's the case, shouldn't we have intersected her by now? Or at least turned right or left, or...?”

“I don't know, Jake. This is hardly an exact science. We're flying almost blind.”

“...Are we sure it's even her we're tracking with the Crystal?”

“Who or what else could it be?”

“...I don't know. It ain't an exact science.”

“But there is an objective reality to it,” she murmurs, sounding thoughtful. After a moment's hesitation, she adds, “It's her, Jake. I can't totally explain how I'm sure it's her, but I know it's her.”

“Well, I guess you'd know.”

But I'm not comforted. Following the Prism Crystal might make me feel less like I'm spinning my wheels, but the pit in my stomach's not gonna go away until she's safe in my arms again. In my world, nothing's right without her. I lived that reality for five years. I can't face it again.

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in-tua-deep · 5 years

Note

I have seen some fics of Five going to high school (and often falling in love with a 13 y/o oc girl which icks me tf out bc that’s an old man, guys) to socialize which gave me the idea of Five befriending old people who are also physically old. For example, Hannah, the German lady in her 80s who poisoned nazis when she was a child. Then there’s Joan who spent his life fighting to achieve his goals despite having to deal with near-constant racism. Just. Five getting along with all these old ppl

you’re RIGHT and consider: Klaus decides it’s a good idea to take Five along to his weekly ladies over fifty stitch ‘n bitch and is surprised and delighted to find that Five actually genuinely gets along with all of them

there is, of course, Hannah who poisoned Nazis and her and five trade poisoning methods the way other people might trade coveted family recipes. Hannah declares Five to be a “nice young man” and the fact that she is in her 80s or 90s means that she is absolutely allowed to get away with it

Fiona is a 60something butch lesbian who proudly displays her mugshots along the walls of her house for everyone to gaze upon in awe when it’s her turn to host. Her wife, Mandy, always makes snickerdoodle cookies and fondly talks about the time her and “Fee” got arrested because Fee kicked a cop in the balls or something.

Doris was an army nurse during her youth and can curse well enough to make a sailor blush and has the bawdiest sense of humor to match. She spends most of her time knitting baby socks and hats to donate and volunteers at a community center where she sneaks food to any hungry teens who have all adopted her as their odd aunt.

Nada immigrated in her teens with her parents and has had to deal with Islamophobia her entire life. She wears a khimār that she knitted herself and laughs when Five genuinely offers to kill any assholes who harass her. Instead, she starts teaching him Arabic since her own grandchildren unfortunately do not speak it

Edith was trans before anybody even knew what that meant and she teaches Five patterns for interesting dresses and fancy sweaters since Five expresses some interest in diversifying his wardrobe (Five personally stands by the fact that skirts and dresses are the best because!! if you lift up front you have INSTANT POCKET/BAG which was very useful in the apocalypse!! of course now his family protest about him flashing underwear or whatever. Edith just introduces him to wearing leggings under and calls it a day)

Kathy killed her first husband and everyone knows it even if she was never convicted. She spends her days volunteering at centers for domestic violence and working with abused women and children. She tells Klaus and Five quite plainly that if Reginald were still alive she would kill him, and they laugh but they absolutely believe her. Five sincerely tells her he would kill her husband if he were still alive as well, and Kathy grins and winks and says she beat him to that one

and all the others. Sally who worked customer service her whole life and lived to tell the tale. Ruby who was widowed young and raised four kids by herself. Alice who is deaf and signs slowly because her parents thought she needed speech therapy to appear normal more than she needed an actual way to communicate. Becca was a teen during the civil rights movement and witnessed schools being desegregated, and is quick to remind everyone that it wasn’t as long ago as they think - she remembers the white kids jeering and the protests like it was yesterday. Susan’s husband died in the Vietnam war and she is very quiet when she finds out that he was in Klaus’s unit.

A rotating cast of women with vibrant and brilliant and unique lives who parade through. Some are fixtures, some come when they’re able which isn’t often, some only pop in on the rare occasion when the planets align.

“Go get the salsa dip, Five.” Kathy orders.

“Why do I always have to fetch everything.” Five complains, even as he stands up.

“Because you can teleport.” Kathy says with a shrug, “If I could teleport then it would be me going to get the salsa, wouldn’t it?”

Five goes and gets the damn salsa.

One time a new woman is very confused and asks about Klaus and Five’s presence at the Women’s 50 and over knitting club (“It’s the stitch ‘n bitch,” Klaus mutters under his breath and is ignored) and everyone just kind of shrugs.

“Women and nonbinary old person support and knitting group?” Edith suggests but everyone agrees that that’s a bit of a mouthful.

“But they’re too young?” The new woman asks again, helplessly.

“Actually Klaus fought with my husband in the Vietnam war.” Susan interjects cheerfully before Klaus can start his theatrics, passing the oatmeal raisin cookies to Hannah who is cackling delightedly, “And Five assassinated President Kennedy, I think.”

“Allegedly assassinated President Kennedy.” Five corrects with a flourish of his knitting needles as Kathy nods in approval.

“Oh.” The new woman says, faintly. “Oh, I think I need to sit down.”

“Don’t worry, dear.” Sally comforts, “It’s only that family which doesn’t make sense. You can probably count on the rest of the world to be at least a little bit sensible.”

“I find it offensive that no one here thinks I’m not too young to be here.” Becca interjects and that sets everyone off laughing and falling over themselves to assure her that she’s as pretty as a picture and fresh as a daisy

i’m having a lot of fun with this as you might be able to tell. Just. Five and Klaus joining in old people things because Five IS old and Klaus fought in the vietnam war so you bet your ass he is demanding the senior citizen discount at restaurants

i feel like Agnes should join the group after her romantic tour of bird sanctuaries with Hazel. Hazel himself is not sure how to feel about Klaus and Five being in the same knitting club as his girlfriend but Agnes is clearly having fun and she makes homemade doughnuts for meetings which means the club isn’t letting go of her voluntarily anyway

AND THEN YEAH i always loved the concept of Klaus meeting up with some of the guys from his old unit and all of them just being kind of like “ah klaus you fucker i never actually took you seriously about the time travel shit i just thought you were on some serious drugs” and immediately just adopt klaus back into the fold

and i mean five is also a soldier in a low of ways so i feel like he would also really fit in with their gallows humor and serious knowledge of weapons. Of course, both Klaus and Five also look young enough to be their grandchildren so they also highkey just straight up adopt them and are fully willing to loom ominously at anyone who bothers them

the hargreeves go to pride and Klaus is like “oh I’m meeting up with some friends as well :)” and the others assume they’re like. party friends he made or ex boyfriends or something and then this big gang of old war vets materialize from the crowd decked out in rainbows bc they do this every year - originally in honor of Klaus and Dave but now klaus is again so Time To Party B)

Five “volunteers” in a nursing home and all the staff think he’s adorable and precocious but actually he complains about technology and reminisces about the great depression and beats the occupants at checkers as he and his opponent trade stories about which joint and bones they can feel storms coming in

just AGE APPROPRIATE FRIENDS

#ask me #stelte23 #you - i like you #i agree that five should not be paired with any teen ever #where's that one gif of the vampire dude being like 'people are like what's what young thing doing with that thousands of years old vampire'#with his 80 yr old gf #far tua long #tua #the umbrella academy #five hargreeves #number five #klaus hargreeves #i had too much fun with this as you can probably tell #klaus is technically only 30 including his year away #but the club handwaves that away #he's the only one they made an exception for #can i admit that the 'ladies over 50 stitch and bitch' is actually a concept from a different drabble i wrote in class today #bc of something my prof said #so i guess that drabble is a prequel to this yelling bc that's pre five being persuaded to go

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suuung · 4 years

Text

third times a charm (loki x sigyn)

Plot: Loki awakes on a mystirous ship after the events of ‘Infinity War’ leading him to a shocking discovery. A woman.

Paring: Loki Odinson X Sigyn Notes: old oneshot/sceniaro I wrote last year for an english assignment

was pretty proud of my mark so have this <3

༺═──────────────═༻

I woke, feeling burned out but somewhat buzzed, probably because I have just realized I banged my head on something hard and solid above me. I groan at the sensitivity of not just my head, but my whole body throbbing in pain.

Soon my eyes widen as I recall of the previous events that what seemed 40 seconds ago. Ship, thanos, blast. My heart sank into my stomach, the Asgardians. My brother, Thor. did they survive? As for me, I was just being choked to death by that monster that thinks he could be a god, surely if I’m here, they must be here too.

I finally decide to open my groggy eyes, white light pulsed at me, before creating a blurry, then clear image in front of me. I was on a ship of somesort, very brighter than the one I was just previously on with the rest of Asgard. I scurried to my feet in panic, my limbs aching even more. My heart also slowing down a bit as I realize that this unknown ship I am on was not in fact moving, but was structured on the ground. I yelp out in strain as I turn my neck, my hand reflexing to come up and hold it. I walk further into the ship limping slightly. I see light coming from the scattered windows, some having glass smashed.

“Where am I .. ?” I whispered to myself.

It was eerily quiet as I examined the ships control panel, buttons, switches, and steering devices. I recognized the layout, this was indeed my home planets, asgardian technology.

“Seems.. You’ve awoken.” A female voice spoke behind me, I think I had just gotten a taste of my own medicine after pranking Thor all those years, my whole body jolted, and I turned around instantly, seeing a woman at the ships entrance. She wore a velvet green traditional asgardian dress, it looked dirtied as well as having rips and holes around it.

“What happened..?” I asked slowly, gathering my bearings and rubbing my forehead.

“The ship blew up, Thanos is after the stones.” I could have sworn I saw judgement flash in her eyes momentarily, anger circulated throughout my body, how dare she disrespect her king of asgard like that.. She should have kneeled!

“I’ll have you know, I am your king and-”

“Asgard is gone. You are not my king, you should at least thank me for saving you. Me, your saviour..” She cut me off, retorting sharply as she smirked slightly at her last comment. That’s right, I am no longer king, but I am still Loki, God of Mischief. I was taken aback by her bravery, to stand up to someone of such a higher rank to a girl like her.

“How did you manage to save me?” I said, eyeing her.

“While I was blasted in space, almost perished. One of Asgards emergency ships was also falling in abyss from the blast. I climbed on then I noticed a figure not too far from the ship, once thanos left, I grabbed you and pulled you on .. Just my luck, It ran out of fuel and I landed here a day ago.” She said, walking around the ship taking a few odd looking blocks out of a rusty side panel and throwing them in a bag she had in the doorway.

I nodded, my eyes a little wide by what she managed to do. That’s clever and smart for just a asgardian, she’s lucky she didn’t even get damaged from the blowup.

“What is your name?” I realized I never asked, I should at least keep my manners.

“It’s Sigyn.” She said, hesitantly.

“Well then.” I paused, “Sigyn, I must stop thanos, I think around this time he’s roughly going for the soul stone on vomir. I must get there before him, I am losing time as we speak.”

She looked at me, her eyebrows furrowed in question, probably thinking my plan was a suicide mission. “Are you insane?! If you thought your evil sister was a hard match, Thanos is four times more powerful!”

“Yes .. Not as if you had magic that could help me, besides I am a god. Remember?¨ I said waving my arms around; I really did not have time for this. She looked at me even more angered. I shook my head and grunted in annoyance.

¨Healing powers, remember? How did you think I repaired your neck?!¨ She mimicked, anger piercing at me through her eyes.

I shook my head, rolling my eyes at her then holding my elbow out in annoyance. I suppose I cannot stop her pestering so I might as well bring her along on my journey.

I looked at her again waiting in annoyance for her to just hurry up.

“Oh for the love of odin, hold onto my arm.” I said, raising my voice as I tapped my foot, glaring at the ceiling while I waited. She’s almost as clueless as a midgardian as I teleported us both to Vomir.

The planet was foggy and dark, it had some sort of cheerless and heartsick downcast upon it that could make even the strongest man feel sick to the stomach about it. She let go of my arm, as we both cautiously took steps further onto the unfamiliar planet. Sigyn let out a yelp as a rat looking spider creature ran across in front of us. I rolled my eyes again, sneering at her.

“Hush! There are .. others” I said, listening closely to a large cliff towering over us, there were muffled voices, then a scream and a large thud. We both stopped our movements, I felt in my pockets for my daggers as a weapon, but they were no longer there. I’ll just have to use magic.

“L-Loki look!” Sigyn yell-whispered to me, pointing in the distance with fear in her dark blue eyes that shined brightly on the foggy and dark planet.

I knew in that exact moment, we have already lost this battle. Thanos had gotten the last stone that he needed; The soul stone. He was travelling somewhere now. I ran to a edge of a small hill, trying to catch a glimpse of where his own ship was headed, a spark of hope bubbled inside me. Maybe now I could at least track him from here. I squinted my eyes, then my stomach dropped when I realized where he was going. Midgard.

“Sigyn! We must go, he’s on his way to the midgardians.” I panicked at her, she looked at me confused from the use of “Midgard”, then her eyes lit up. “Like .. Earth, the planet?!” I nodded thinking for a moment, we wouldn’t be able to teleport. Ah! My infamous route, we’d just have to jump into a certain space time hole and we’d be there. grabbed sigyn with no time left to spare, she screamed as I jumped off the planet's edge “Hold on!”

I yelled as we fell further. I close my eyes shut as go deeper into the abyss of space. I groan, holding my head for the second time today in pain. The moment I opened my eyes I knew where we were, New York. Just like the same battle in 2012, Thanos’s army covered the blue sky. I felt anger as I stood from the broken sidewalk and watched the mindless creatures destroy and kill the midgardians. I turn around, to find sigyn behind me healing a midgardian that collapsed on the ground bleeding onto the concrete. I looked at the sky again, trying to think of a plan. “Sigyn, you heal them, I’ll take care of these filthy creatures.”

I teleported onto a rooftop, using my magic to twist and turn the necks of the giant snake like creatures till they fell to their death. I continued this method till my magic was running low, and I was becoming tired. There were only three giant ones left in my eyesight, all of the midgardians had run off to safety and evacuated. I breathed shallowly, running towards all three with my daggers, I jumped, using some of the rest of the magic I had to levitate myself at the middle one, slitting its throat. While using my magic to copy and make the other daggers perform the same movement on the other two creatures till they all fell to their death. I floated back down, collapsing. I hear footsteps behind me, I turn to look and see Sigyn standing above me, holding her hand to help me up. “I think I’ve finished them off, but there had to been more earlier. Perhaps it was what my brother calls him the man of iron..” I spoke, pondering to myself, coming to the conclusion I confused Sigyn again so decided not to respond to my thoughts I spoke again to her, “The battle isn’t over though, something is happening in wakanda, I sense it..” I wait a few moments, before becoming annoyed and turning to her. My mouth falls agape, my whole body froze as I see what was left of her legs and body becoming of tiny pieces of dust, floating away.

Disintegrating into thin air.

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avengers-nextgen · 4 years

Note

32, 9 and 15 for Natasha and Sage

“Can someone please explain to me, in small words, why I’m being assigned to this mission?”/ “Wait, something doesn’t feel right”/ “Don’t tell me you’re fine! I can see the blood.”

— — —

Sage wasn’t sure why she needed to be in Fury’s office. In fact, she wasn’t sure why he wanted her there at all. Sure, she was a better person now, but she had stabbed him. Still, she found herself sulking down the hallways until she arrived. But only then did her confusion worsen because the only other person aside from Fury within the room was Natasha.

“You asked for me?” Sage frowned, trying not to sound bored.

“Yes,” Fury nodded, “you and Rogers have a mission.”

Of all the things the bald man could have said...he said that. Blinking slowly, Sage tried to sort out her confusion. “I’m sorry what?”

“You and Natasha will be taking care of a mission,” Fury repeated, slower than before.

“I got it,” Sage snapped, “but can someone please explain to me, in small words, why I’m being assigned to this mission? I mean, I don’t normally go on adventures without people my own age.”

��Did you call me old?” Natasha asked, arching a brow.

“No!” Sage huffed, “I’m just confused. That’s all.”

“I’m pairing the both of you together because Natasha has experience, and you have an arsenal of powers that may be useful in making sure neither of you die. Besides, it’s about time you and the rest of the kids start handling more dangerous scenarios.” Fury explained, shuffling papers on his desk.

“We handled Prometh-you know who-and that was dangerous.” Sage reminded.

“Yes, but I’m referring to threats other than a god like man working on some weird political and ideological agenda. I’m talking about stealth missions,” Fury sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “From what I’ve heard, you’re not very...stealthy.”

“I think she understands,” Natasha interjected, quick to cut the conversation short lest the two erupt into a full blown argument. “Just brief us.”

— — —

“Oh this thing is stifling,” Sage groaned, extremely in happy about the wet suit she was wearing. Apparently, though she wasn’t sure why, the base they needed to breach was under water in an unmarked cave system.

“You get used to it,” Natasha smiles thinly.

“Yes, but your normal suit is this tight,” Sage remarked.

“That’s because as a spy you lean that baggy clothes are a hindrance. They have a way of setting off alarms,” Natasha smirked. “A friend of mine wore cargo pants. Set off booby traps and got impaled by a metal rod.”

“Where in gods name were you?” Sage stammered.

“Russia,” Natasha shrugged. The older woman simply checked over the small oxygen tank and mask. Then, without asking, she began checking over Sage’s gear. “Always double check equipment. SHIELD is good about maintenance but you never know. The last thing you want is a mask to break when you’re dozens of feet under water.”

“Right,” Sage nodded, albeit awkwardly. Despite herself, she still wasn’t entirely comfortable around Alex’s parents.

“Drop zone is below, lowering ramp,” Maria’s voice came over their ear pieces. The sudden noise startled Sage. She’d forgotten all about the device.

With a groan that shook the empty cargo hold, the ramp slowly lowered revealing calm waters below. Natasha was the first to move. She edged carefully to the lip of the ramp before leaping off and splashing into the water down below. With a grudging sigh, Sage followed.

The water was cold, or at least colder than she’d expected. She watched as Natasha pulled on the mask and took a few test breaths. Mimicking the procedure, Sage gave a thumbs up indicating she was set to descend below the surface. With a confirmatory nod, Natasha dipped below the surface of the water.

Following closely behind, Sage found it difficult to keep pace with the agent. She was never particularly good at swimming but she’d always been able to manage. However, something about Natasha allowed her to streamline quickly through the water.

— — —

It wasn’t long until they reached the cave system. It’s mouth was dark and gaping like a waiting predator, but with little hesitation Natasha pulled a large light from her belt to illuminate the darkness.

Weaving through the submerged terrain, Sage worried they’d get lost, but nearly an hour later the rocky world around them shifted to strange slick metal. They’d found the foundations to a structure looming above.

Natasha’s beam of light glanced off the metal surfaces exposing a grill in the ceiling. Was it a ceiling? Sage wasn’t sure what to call it. Pausing beneath the hunk of metal, the spy studied it with care before motioning Sage over. Though it was hard to understand, Sage finally understood Natasha’s pantomiming. She wanted her to melt the welding lines. With a tentative nod, Sage produced a green flame. It flickered out for a moment before growing brighter with Sage’s concentration. Frankly, she’d never made fire underwater before.

Following the welding marks, the water began to bubble as metal soon released its hold. With a grunt, Natasha tore the grill from its resting place. Clambering up through the opening she turned to help her young companion out of the water. Removing the mask and slipping it into her belt, Natasha surveyed the area. “We’re on a low level. Probably the lowest one if it’s connected to the sea.”

“So we move up?” Sage asked, shaking the water from her hair.

“Mm,” Natasha nodded, carefully padding down a dark expanse of tunnel managing to make little sound. Sage found the ability to walk silently much more difficult. The combination of the wetsuit, the equipment, and being cold had thrown off her natural stride. “We need the third floor. Can you detect a way to get there?”

“I can try,” Sage nodded. Closing her eyes, she searched the environment for any source of chaotic energy. Nothing came to light. Resorting to a new method, she attempted to do a trace spell-something her father had taught her quite recently-which allowed her to retrace any recent event that’s taken place within an hour’s time frame.

Fortunately, someone had been down on their very floor within the hour. The uniformed individual, made two right hand turns leading to a flight of stairs. It wasn’t much but it would do. Relaying the information, Sage kept close to Natasha as she took the lead.

Moving slowly up the winding metal steps, they neared a large heavy door. With a small wave of the hand from Sage, the lock melted and Natasha eased the door open. The room was dark aside from large running databases. “I don’t know what any of this is. You should’ve brought Fox.”

“Please. Both of you on this mission would make us all dead,” Natasha snorted, eyeing up the technology. “Besides, I know my way around.”

Holding her hands up in surrender, Sage let the spy take charge. She was certain Natasha knew more about this stuff than she ever would. Thankfully, Sage was right, and Natasha was able to locate a wide cube of metal with flashing lights, connecting cables, and a small screen flashing codes.

“Is this what we need?” Sage asked.

“No, what we need are the codes. We need to get a copy of them. That way e can analyze the order and frequency of them. Figure out what exactly this machine operates,” Natasha explained, skimming her fingers over different nooks and crannies. She paused, flipped open a latch, and removed the outer frame. If Sage wasn’t confused before, she certainly was now, because the insides of the device contained even more lights, wires, and green plastic cards.

Feeling about, Natasha located a thin plastic card. “This should keep the machine running long enough for us to get out of here before they notice something’s wrong.”

“What’d you take?”

“This little card programs for a coolant system. It’ll keep things from over heating. It runs on a cycle. What we really need is this-“ Natasha rather violently stripped another piece of plastic from the machine. “A back up coding system. It won’t stop the machine from running it’s just a safety mechanism Incase the original codes are compromised.”

“Great, let’s go,” Sage nodded. Heading back the way they’d come.

“Wait,” Natasha cautioned, catching Sage by the arm. “Something doesn’t feel right. This place is too empty.”

“We have to get out of here one way or another,” Sage sighed, “but I can try teleporting both of us back-“

“No, your strength is important,” Natasha shook her head. She remembered how haggard Sage looked the time she’d saved Alex from drowning. How exhausting it was to make sure they both ended up where they needed to be.

“Then we’ll be careful,” Sage decided, and although she wasn’t excited about it Natasha lead the way back to the lowest level. Only as they rounded the corner a series of gunfire sounded off. Acting on instinct, Natasha grabbed Sage by the collar and flattened her back against the wall.

“Don’t move,” Natasha warned, listening closely for the gunfire to die down. “Damn I knew they’d be here.”

“Well, we’ll have to move eventually. Otherwise we’re sitting ducks,” Sage hissed, flinching at the sound of a bullet piercing the wall by her head.

“Then I’ll give you cover fire. But don’t do anything you don’t have to. Our main job is to get out of here. That’s it,” Natasha warned, peeking around the edge of the wall. A stray shot rang out as she ducked away. “We only have one exit.”

Steeling her nerves, Sage gave a nod and darted around the corner. In an instant two silver blades settled snuggly in her palms, but they left as quickly as they’d appeared finding their marks in the chests of enemies. Behind her, Natasha’s gun sounded off suppressing the enemy.

Eyes glowing, Sage managed to set the uniforms of the attackers aflame though it wouldn’t hurt them too badly, as she hadn’t set the entire outfit on fire. It was just enough to cause panic and distress. Still, a few of the enemy were brave enough to hold fire.

“Let’s go,” Natasha breathed, running up beside Sage and shoving her towards the hole they’d climbed through. Slipping inside, Sage struggled to pull her mask on before reaching up and tugging Natasha down into the water. The two swam like mad before finally shooting out of the cave system. And though the light was dim, Sage was grateful for the sun. But she noticed a thin trail of copper in the water. Eyes narrowing, she noticed the source of blood. It was a wound in Natasha’s side.

— — —

“Are you okay?” Sage asked, chucking her mask aside as soon as they’d re-boarded the plane.

“I’m fine,” Natasha insisted.

“Don’t tell me you’re fine! I can see the blood,” Sage frowned.

“I’ve been shot more times than how old you are,” Natasha chuckled, “I’ll be fine. Now sit down and enjoy the ride back.”

Though Sage wanted to protest, she listened. If anyone knew whether a gunshot wound was serious or not-it was Natasha. “You’re crazy.”

“Eh,” Natasha shrugged, flashing the young girl a smile. “Everyone has to be. At least a little. Where else would the fun come from?”

Though she tried to fight the smile, Sage couldn’t help herself. Maybe Natasha wasn’t too bad after all. Or at least, not as intimidating as she’d thought.

#avengers #avengers next gen #marvel #mcu #romanogers #black widow #captain america #natasha romanoff #pepper potts #scarlet witch #asks #prompts #sage laufeyson #natasha rogers

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thecomicsnexus · 4 years

Photo

THE WILD STORM #7-12 NOVEMBER 2017 - MAY 2018 BY WARREN ELLIS, JON DAVIS-HUNT AND STEVE BUCCELLATO

SYNOPSIS (FROM DC DATABASE)

Yesterday was a day like a lightning strike, a day of movers and shakers, runners and gunners. But today dawns brightly over New York, as a woman prepares for work, says goodbye to her cat, and takes a bus. In the lobby of an office building, she signs in - Jacklyn King, IO's Chief of Analysis.

On Sub-Level 5, Jackie meets her underling, Mitchell Saunders, who hands her her morning coffee. Armed, she walks into the office, where her whole staff is assembled for a briefing. She begins: Angela Spica, an IO research engineer, built technology into herself which IO had stolen from Skywatch. She subsequently used this technology to save Jacob Marlowe, billionaire head of the Halo Corporation, from an assassination. Marlowe was a sanctioned IO hit, assigned to Michael Cray, an IO "hitter". For his failure, Cray was disbarred from IO, and a two-man Warblade team was sent to "hit" him. However, the team was unsuccessful, and Cray is now in the wind. Spica, meanwhile, ran to Camp Hero, a disused IO bunker. IO sent a covert action team (CAT) to finally sanction her, but this team ran afoul of a wild CAT, and in the confusion, Spica escaped.

Mitchell points out that she could be dead, but Jackie says then they need to find her body. Spica's technology is proof that IO has stolen technology from Skywatch, the secret space agency. Skywatch & IO agree to stay out of each other's way, but if someone else finds the body, it could spark a covert war that would destroy both agencies.

Connected to this, Mitchell explains that Christine Trelane cannot be found at Skywatch Ground Division in New York, and they think she's in San Francisco. Jackie says they need to make sure, and also need to work out who is temporarily replacing her, pointing out that Lucy Blaze, Skywatch's senior investigator, was at Camp Hero after the firefight.

Meanwhile, at a brownstone safehouse, Adrianna Tereshkova is reading the newspaper, much to the confusion of Cole Cash who is only now waking up. They receive a phone call from John Colt, a double agent working at a blacksite, Hightower, who has important data but thinks he's been discovered. Cole & Adrianna know John, but cannot teleport him out from the corridor because they are trying to hide the existence of Adrianna from IO. They tell him to find a broom closet, and not to break his second cover as a corporate spy.

John shoots through two teams of armed guards using a graphene/plastic handgun with isobutane propellant. He ducks into a broom closet, but when the third team arrives, he is gone...

At the brownstone safehouse, Angie Spica wakes up to discover she is bleeding from her side. She goes to the kitchen to get paper towels, and her arrival causes John - who was explaining about the information he found, that Hightower was secretly an IO research effort into "machine telepathy" - to clam up. John introduces himself as a normal man, but Angie uses her technology to do a deep scan of him before leaving.

A once-majestic ruined building with trees growing out of it, under two suns in an orange sky. A rotating ring habitat, built to mimic a biosphere, slowly falling apart. Jacob Marlowe blinks in the back of his limousine, and leans forward.

At the safehouse, John, Cole and Adrianna meet Kenesha in the drawing room, and pass the time waiting for Jacob Marlowe by voicing their theory that IO wanted Marlowe dead because they knew he was an alien. John dismisses this, saying there is no angle to this theory that makes sense. They discuss the facts. The assassin's weapon was polonium. Death by polonium, under normal circumstances, precipitates an autopsy, which is an inefficient method of spreading news of aliens. John points out that Jacob Marlowe has made a lot of human enemies. Adrianna adds that the kill only failed because the assassin, having bypassed all the other alarms, tripped a secret alarm for extraterrestrials, and this shocked the assassin - and then the assassin demonstrated a strange ability, which shocked both him and Marlowe.

John says he needs to assess all this news. Kenesha says she needs to assess the data that John brought back from Hightower. Jacob Marlowe walks in the door, ready to begin, only for Cole to point out that they already covered everything, and he needs to calm down Angie, the houseguest of their weirdness.

Jacob knocks on Angie's door as she is trying to mop the blood that spilled on the bed during the night. Angie says she needs painkillers before she leaves them. Marlowe says she can stay as long as she wants, but Angie declines - of this group, Adrianna and Cole are weird, but they are weird in very human ways. Jacob and John and Kenesha, however, are weird in very inhuman ways, and if she stays, she wants to know the whole truth. She is confident it is something easily-comprehensible.

Ichthyoid bipeds, chanting crosslegged around glowing blue methane vents beneath a blue-black sea. A long spacecraft with a non-rocket drive system, approaching the edge of a nebula. Jacob Marlowe steeples his fingers, and leans forward.

Sitting down, Jacob Marlowe begins his story with a bombshell: he is not a human with dwarfism, but rather a member of an extraterrestrial species. His species is divided into five intelligent sub-species - similar to how humans were related to homo neanderthalensis, homo floriensis, and so on - and thousands of years ago, his species sent an expedition to space, with representatives of the five races, to seek out life. Life is easy to kill in the universe, and intelligent life rarely evolves fast enough to truly blossom.

The expedition, informed of tool-using primitives on Earth, came here, but the ship was damaged and was forced to make a landing. Their superiors assumed them dead and, because interstellar travel is expensive, never came looking for them. After arrival, some of the aliens decided that they would use their extensive knowledge to assist humans in getting off the planet. This is the vocation Jacob has today. By using the data and material of his people, his goal is to subtly prompt the engineers he employs through the Halo Corporation to achieve technological milestones and get humans to space.

Angela Spica, who is the audience of this story, remarks that the narrative seems simplified. Jacob admits that it is, but says he has told her the story to prove that he trusts her with his secrets. He offers her the use of the Halo Corporation's technology, to improve or enhance her relationship to the technology she implanted into herself, as it is hampering her immune system and causing her to bleed sporadically. All he asks in return is a data dump about the technology she has now, to gauge what data and technology her former employers, I.O., have access to, and then a second data dump when she is finished, to see what she has done. Angela accepts the offer.

After Jacob leaves the room, Kenesha accuses him of leaving out significant parts of the story. Jacob explains that Angie is smart enough, and resourceful enough, that she could kill them all if they made her their enemy. He insists that they can never tell Angie the real reason for the expedition.

In I.O.'s Analysis Division, Jacklyn King takes a break from pestering her underling to receive data - of the three members of the wild CAT they are hunting, they have a positive ID on exactly one - Cole Cash, a former I.O. field specialist, listed as having died on a mission ten years ago. When Jacklyn relates this to Miles Craven, her superior, she adds that after searching every database on the planet, they have nothing on the other two renegades, which leaves only one suspect she can think of - Skywatch, the secret space agency. Craven counters that Skywatch is not allowed to have a covert action team on Earth, due to the treaty between their two agencies, and that he will not take further action without more data.

So Jacklyn goes back to her underling, Mitchell Saunders, and orders him to form a working group, in an Event-shielded room, with no computers, to assess the possibility of hacking into Skywatch's computer database. Mitchell underlines that that's illegal, and Jacklyn orders him to tell anyone who asks that it is a harmless exploration of hypotheticals. Mitchell underlines that based on everything they know, it's also impossible, and Jacklyn responds that this is why she's asking him to check.

In a café in Amsterdam, a young woman named Evi is telling her friend Bram about a guided drug trip she just did with a healer named Shen Li-Men. On the trip, Shen Li-Min seemed to sprout wings, and introduced herself as "the Doctor". Her group passed through the center of a lotus, into a dimension of pink energy, where they saw a mighty metal ship with a thousand identical passengers, sailing on a wild storm-cloud. At the end of the trip, there was a garden, and Shen Li-Men reached into Evi's heart and healed her. It was incredible... except that one member of the group didn't wake up.

In her workspace, Shen Li-Men is standing over the comatose young Englishwoman. She journeys into the woman's headspace, to find her mind intact, standing at the entrance of a tunnel. Curious, Li-Men follows the tunnel, through tableaux of past times when events of singular importance unfolded, each one empty except for a faceless woman in the garb of that time. And at the very back, she finds a machine shaped like a human heart, with a gestating human fetus inside it, guarded by two hooded bipeds with inhuman faces.

One sees and recognises her, which abruptly ends the trip. The young woman admits that it was quite a sight. Li-Men demands answers. The young woman explains that she came to see what sort of person Shen Li-Men was, and that to tell all, she will need Li-Men to open a livestream in London on her phone. Confused, Li-Men complies - and suddenly the young woman is in the livestream, and not in the workspace. With a lazy wave, the young woman walks out of frame, leaving Li-Men with no answers.

Reluctantly, Li-Men calls on the resource she likes the least - the Hospital, a bardo realm of infinite sunlight, manicured lawns, and free-floating stone cuboids, inhabited by people from the past who have held the role of the Doctor. Here, she unburdens herself to these "mad dead old farts", who explain that the identical people on the metal ship are a rarely-seen class of beings called Daemon - and that the Englishwoman is something they've seen before: a unique spirit of the mechanical arts and crafts, personified as a woman, equipped with powers related to the technologies of her time... and whose like is only seen at moments of critical importance. The opinion of the Doctors is that these women function as a planetary defense system.

As the Doctors try to provide helpful information from their long-past lives, Shen Li-Min ponders the strange case of the Englishwoman she knows only as Jenny Mei Sparks...

Jacob Marlowe and Adrianna Tereshkova have delivered Angie Spica to a space where Marlowe store their stuff. Marlowe explains that this warehouse of immense solitude has the security of a fortress, and part of that security is that he won't tell her where it is. Adrianna will act as a 'taxi' service, responding to a phone he hands Angie. Marlowe lists off the amenities, and then mentions that there is a field medic kit in one of the side rooms, which he assumes she will need. Marlowe offers to bring her a doctor, but Angie, toying with a pastel-colored pistol she found on a nearby table, says she will be fine.

At IO HQ, Mitch Saunders walks into Jackie King's office and lays out a story: a contractor named "Wilson Flowers" at the Hightower facility, who passed every background check, was caught hacking into the computers. He killed some of the guards, walked into a supply closet... and vanished. But the strangest thing is that his profile also vanished. They don't even have a picture now. Saunders wonders what he is becoming, that he can rattle off these facts without thinking of the families of the bereaved. Jackie muses at this, and then says she needs to talk to the director.

On the way to Miles Craven's office, she runs into Ivana Baiul, the Deputy Director, who questions her on the working group she has set up, but Jackie keeps her cool, and walks on. In Craven's office, she says that her research into Cole Cash lists him as working for something called "Project Thunderbook", which she can find nothing on. Craven says Project Thunderbook was classified Director's Eyes Only, and when Jackie objects, he specifies - it was classified as such by his predecessor, John Lynch.

Before he quit, Lynch destroyed the files on Project Thunderbook, and also a bunch of the staff committed suicide. And also three of their buildings burned down. Thunderbook is a locked box, but Jackie says she will look into it. Craven asks what about the purpose of her new working group. Jackie tries to stonewall, but eventually confesses that she is wargaming a method of hacking into Skywatch's computers. Craven orders her not to do anything without consulting him.

It is raining on Brooklyn, which makes John Colt pause as he puts on his suit, and remember another time, when he confronted a group of warriors in 17th century Japan. With a mix of sword skill and superhuman power, he had cut his way through the group, only for the driver to remark that if he had asked, he would have given him the thing he's transporting.

In the back of the wagon, John had found a piece of nonhuman technology, and cursed someone named Emp who had clumsily stored it under his bed.

In the present, Kenesha calls John to go over their plans for Hightower. John wonders aloud if there is any champagne in the house, which irritates Kenesha, who fires back that they have lived through times when clean running water was a luxury. Coldly, John points out the class difference between the two of them: Kenesha, with her three-syllable name, honored as a savant, selected to serve on the expedition led by Emp, who was so important he had a one-syllable name. John, meanwhile, was a frontline grunt with an eight-syllable name, marked as an "individual of no value". At home, he would never be allowed near the luxury that champagne and fine suits represents in New York, which is why he intends to indulge himself. Kenesha remarks that between one-syllable rulers and three-syllable savants, there are two-syllable names like "Zannah".

Across town, in the Skywatch Ground Division office, Lucy Blaze is looking out the window when she gets a call from Lauren Pennington, who is speaking on behalf of Director Bendix. Pennington orders her to prioritize the exosuit case[1]. Lucy asks why, and though Pennington initially bridles at even being asked, she admits that Bendix believes the exosuit case will reveal that IO has stolen Skywatch hardware, and she is to watch IO's Analysis section for leads on who they need to blame.

At the end of the workday at IO, Jackie is waiting for the bus when she sees Mitch using a rideshare app. Jackie pulls him aside and tries to lecture him on the terrible operation security that apps represent. Mitch gets defensive - he acknowledges that she is right, but says that he spends his days doing a job he cannot tell anyone about, working to help IO control and create the real world. He wants to feel normal. And in the world IO has created, rideshare apps are normal. Jackie asks him to think about security, and then catches the bus. Feeling adrift, Mitch opens a dating app.

At the warehouse, Angie has taken the medical kit and set up an intravenous drip via a stent she grew around the peripheral veins in her left hand. Picking up the pastel-colored pistol, she muses that it is time to learn about guns.

In the safehouse, Jacob Marlowe’s wild CAT are strategizing the best way to destroy the I.O. blacksite codenamed ‘Hightower’. Kenesha immediately suggests that they blow it up, but this is vetoed by Cole, Adrianna and John. Cole presents the ideal plan: trick the occupants into leaving the building, by faking an environmental breach or by pulling a fire alarm, and then after everyone has left, inflict damage which destroys the facility but can plausibly be written off as coincidental.

After John and Adrianna give a brief explanation of “event shielding” - a technology at I.O.’s disposal which can generate a screen of “fake time” around a space, rendering it physically unscannable by an outside body - Cole hits on the idea of using one of the microdrones Angie used back at Camp Hero to remotely hack Hightower’s systems to get the results they want. Kenesha agrees with this, thinking she can put explosives in the drone also.

As it is time for her to come home, Adrianna goes to retrieve Angie from the warehouse where she is working, taking Cole with her. At the warehouse, Cole asks for her help, making the suggestion. Angie is initially leery of the idea, but warms up when she realises that they want to blow up an I.O. facility. She remotely interfaces with the safehouse’s computer hub and downloads the drone stats for Kenesha’s use... which causes Kenesha to become defensive, as she had not given Angie the passcodes, and Kenesha prides herself on her ability to secure data from people.

On Skywatch’s space station headquarters, Ms Pennington walks into Henry Bendix’s office, where he is reading a report from Christine Trelane. Bendix is pleased: Trelane was able to use the chaos surrounding the Marlowe Incident to recruit Michael Cray, an assassin, away from I.O. and into Skywatch. Now he is on the other side of the country, merrily working for them, oblivious to his new employer’s true nature, and ensconced in a support structure of her creation. But the most surprising part of the report is that Michael Cray joined the organization saying he needed medical treatment for a brain tumor - but the tumor is anything but, and the doctor wants to do more scans.

Ms Pennington wonders aloud what could be causing the tumor. Bendix has a suspicion - reptilian humanoids. This exasperates Pennington, who has heard this line from Bendix before, but has gone over the files available to her and found nothing to support this old story. As they walk, Bendix reiterates that when he is dead and she has his job, she will understand everything.

Bendix pivots the conversation, announcing that he has put Lucy Blaze on the task of surveilling I.O. Analysis, to see what she can get out of the most guarded office in I.O. Bendix wonders aloud if he can have a few I.O. agents killed to “send a message”. As he pulls out a syringe and gets Pennington to inject him with it, he muses on what Skywatch could have accomplished by now if they didn’t have to maintain their secrecy.

Ennervated by the syringe contents, Bendix marches off through an iris doorway. Pennington, turning the other way, pulls out her phone and makes an open transmission to all Mission Control officers - the Weatherman is on deck.

In London, Jenny Mei Sparks is waiting at a bus stop when Shen Li-Men steps up to her and starts talking. Jenny’s eyes glow and she refuses to answer, but Li-Men smiles as Jenny glances around in dull confusion. Li-Men explains that she has turned all the communication signals within fifty meters into music. Jenny acknowledges that she owes Li-Men an explanation, preferably in conjunction with alcohol, but she begs Li-Men to turn all the music off, as it is giving her a headache.

So at Jenny’s flat, Jenny gives Li-Men her whisky and explains what she knows: International Operations is an American intelligence agency that has grown to the point where it subtly controls society. Skywatch, meanwhile, is a secret space program which carefully controls who gets to leave Earth. The two organizations have a non-interference agreement, because if they fought, civilization would collapse. Li-Men asks how Jenny could know this. Reluctantly, Jenny admits that she was there when the agreement was hammered out. Belying her seeming youth, she is in fact roughly 120 years old. However, after the agreement, Jenny fell into a decades-long drunken stupor. When recently she came to the conclusion that she could not die of alcohol poisoning, she forced herself to recover, and is now researching the state of the world.

Swirling her whisky, Li-Men taps on a point on Jenny’s board, “reptilian aliens”. Li-Men believes that this refers to The Daemon, a class of beings she has seen in visions. Jenny admits that she heard stories about reptilians, but has never seen hard evidence for them. Li-Men says that she never left evidence, but Jenny still came looking for her. Stories have to start somewhere. Underlining her position as the Doctor - a planetary shaman who is part of an unbroken spiritual tradition going all the way back to the earliest humans on the African savannah - and, crucially, who has the ability to draw on the knowledge of her predecessors - Li-Men explains that when Jenny came to see her, she looks into Jenny’s head to view Jenny’s lineage. And while the things she saw were presented mostly in visual metaphors, the earliest image was a machine, built by the Daemon, which Li-Men believes is what created Jenny. If she is right, Jenny is a planetary defense system, created by aliens to protect the human race.

Jenny takes this information with a mute scowl, and then says she will need more whisky to accept this knowledge.

In Brooklyn, Kenesha is going to a bodega. She stops outside to ask an unkempt man in a suit why he is looking up in the sky. With a sheepish grin, the man explains that he is watching out for flying robots which might attack people. He advises her to look after herself as he ”can’t be everywhere”.

Going into the bodega, Kenesha asks the shopkeeper who the guy is. The shopkeeper says he knows him only as “the mayor”, a homeless man who wanders the city, asking people if they are alright. Sometimes he can go missing for months at a time, but always shows up... and he has a way of lifting people spirit’s. Everyone feels valued after a visit from “the mayor”.

Outside, “the mayor” picks a cigarette butt from between the silvery treads on the soles of his feet, and curses the litterers of New York. He remarks that Copenhagen is usually clean this time of year. Running up a nearby wall, he backflips into a dive, landing head-first in the middle of the road... and vanishes with a ripple, like a swimmer.

A nearby limousine stops on the road, disgorging Pris “Voodoo” Kitaen, the pop singer, and her assistant. The two have been on a hedonistic tear of cocaine and fine champagne for at least six hours, but Pris has just enough presence of mind to recognise what “the mayor” just did as something she saw in a dream recently - and if the rest of the dream is true, then a war is about to break out!

Waking up in bed together the day after their late-night whiskey session, Jenny Mei Sparks and Shen Li-Men share cigarettes. Jenny confesses that when she first went to investigate Li-Men, she just thought she was one of the anomalous people who struggle to live between the twin controlling powers of Skywatch and IO. Shocked by the realization that there might be more like them, Li-Men savours her cigarette, already planning for them to find and protect these people.

In New York, IO analyst Mitchell Saunders is using a rideshare app to get home. As he looks at the screen, he does not notice a passing jogger in a black hoodie - Lucy Blaze, who uses software called ‘Ambush Bug’ to suborn his phone’s microphone to her use as a listening device.

Later, Mitchell is in a meeting to show Jackie King his team’s first plan for how to hack into Skywatch’s orbiting server, to find out if they are running an illegal covert action team. The team’s plan is simple: every day, IO & Skywatch exchange data, as part of an effort to keep each other honest. So, they will put an infiltration package in the data exchange, to search Skywatch’s database for info on the CAT. To get the data out, they will then fake a swarm attack on the IO satellites, by bots programmed in Korean to cover their tracks. The bots will swarm and multiply, and will by simple proximity, try to get into Skywatch’s system. This attack will draw the attention of the admins, and allow the infiltration package to narrowcast back the info. IO will look like fools, Skywatch will feel smug, Skywatch will not know they have been robbed, everybody wins.

Jackie congratulates the team, then asks Mitchell to talk to her outside. There, she asks him how feasible it is. Mitchell, checking his phone as they are not allowed to bring them into the meeting room, says they are confident, but that his main problem is that this an act of aggression which could start a fight between the two organizations. Jackie says she needed the plan because she believes that Skywatch broke the treaty first. And while the director doesn’t know about the plan yet, she thinks he will agree. If Mitchell and the team are working on that, she can focus on her own current target - Project Thunderbook, the mysterious IO operation that trained Cole, and whose records were all sealed or destroyed by the previous director.

On the Skywatch satellite headquarters, Henry Bendix and Lauren Pennington are meeting after their work shift. They make small talk, and then Lauren asks Henry why he is so keen to break Skywatch’s treaty with IO. Henry sneers, saying that he was there when the treaty was signed, and does not have the respect for the treaty that his younger co-workers do. Lauren argues that the treaty protects both organizations from potential catastrophe. Henry corrects her - the treaty protects the organizations from certain catastrophe. The conflict would expose both organizations to the world. Skywatch, on the one hand, has space stations, Mars bases, and scientific and medical technology far beyond the mainline society, which will inspire fear and greed, which would inspire theft. IO, meanwhile, would need to rely on the resources of various states, which would be destroyed in self-defense by IO, which would result in counter-attacks, as not all the nuclear-armed countries can be controlled by IO.

Sitting down with a cocktail, Henry tells Lauren about the incident that led to the signing of the treaty, during the Seventies. Skywatch had been created to ensure that any aliens who made first contact with humans would only be able to interact with one polity, and so Skywatch maintained a secret veto on any spacelaunches. But during the Seventies, as part of a covert agreement between IO and the Soviet Politburo, the two organizations build a secret facility for military research, including spacelaunch technology. So Skywatch sent a flight of spacecraft to frighten this facility, which they had discovered was using the name “Science City Zero”.

When the spacecraft got to the facility, the defenses were aimed at them, but Skywatch’s assessment was that the city was trying to parallel their technology but had no idea how to replicate it. Skywatch had no respect for their neighbors.

The opening salvo destroyed the lead spacecrafting, killing its crew of four. The other spacecraft opened fire in response. The facility was destroyed, its population of twenty thousand reduced to thirty-five survivors. Of the seven Skywatch spacecraft in the attack, only one returned. On that craft had been a young Henry Bendix. In the city had been the then-director of IO, John Lynch, who survived with a noticeable injury.

In New York, Jackie is explaining her plan to Miles Craven, the current director of IO. He has worries, but he agrees to let her run the raid against Skywatch. He also asks her not to tell him whatever Thunderbook was doing, as he is queasy that it will hamper his ability to do his job.

In Jacob Marlowe’s secret storehouse, Angie Spica has found and activates a blue goop which is nanotechnological on nature. Swallowing the goop and waiting for it to interface with her systems, she activates her ‘base integument’, which is a new intermediate stage between her armor and her normal self. It feels cold as it coats her body and shocking as it coats her throat and eyes, but when it has passed, her internal injuries are healed and her vitals are seemingly fine. Putting her equipment to the final test, she activates her full armor, which is now a stark white and black, in contrast to the previous black-and-grey. Amazed at her success, Angie poses in victory.

In the Brooklyn safehouse, Kenesha and Cole Cash are discussing their upcoming mission against the Hightower facility, when Cole gets a strangely-worded text message and says he wants to go for a walk. On the roof of a skyscraper, he meets Lucy Blaze, who cuts to the point - IO knows he is alive, but they think he has betrayed them to Skywatch and they are going to respond accordingly. She thinks this is all he needs to know. Cole grabs her arm, saying that she must know more. Lucy goes stiff, and in the tone of a threat says that she taught him much of combat and that John Lynch and Project Thunderbook did not teach him enough to outmatch her.

Retreating hastily, Cole asks Lucy why she is even telling him. Lucy says she has a code... and that Cole belongs to her. Shocked by this, Cole does not stop her as she leaves. In the stairwell, Lucy says the he should give her regards to Jacob Marlowe and Kenesha, and tell them that Zannah says hello.

In a warehouse, Jackie King has found a specific box. In the box is a collection of ring binders, and in one of the ring binders is the index for Project Thunderbook, the I.O. group that trained Cole Cash before he faked his death and joined a team of wildcat operators who Jackie is now trying to defeat. However, as she opens the file, a small device sparks and breaks. Jackie pockets the remains, sure that it is a failed incendiary left by John Lynch, who started Project Thunderbook and subsequently tried to bury it.

Later, in their Brooklyn safehouse, Cole Cash and his team are preparing for a mission. The first part of the plan is simple: Adri Tereshkova will teleport into an I.O. blacksite codenamed “Hightower”, and release a robot drone the size of an insect using a smartphone app. When it activates the environmental alarms, she is to teleport back to get the rest of them. Adri, shocked by the functionality of the tiny drone, departs.

Meanwhile, across town, at the I.O. headquarters in Manhattan, Jackie King is heading a big Analysis op against Skywatch. Cognizant of the high-stakes nature of the job, she orders all workers present, including Mitch Saunders, to turn their phones off. Miles Craven, director of I.O., walks into the room, and though he is hesitant, he orders the mission to go ahead. A chorus of return-keys being pressed is rewarded, about a minute later, with some of the lights on the big board going green. Jackie explains to Miles that when all the lights on the board go green, that is the signal that they have all the data, and then they will shut it down. Miles' mood perks up, and he hopes aloud that after their recent run of bad luck, maybe they will have a profitable day.

At Hightower, the wild CAT steps out of a closet after the last stragglers flee the alarms. Using John Colt's knowledge of the layout, they go down a stairwell, into the area protected by event shielding. They are convinced that they will encounter no-one... but immediately they meet a group of guards in hazmat suits with guns, which frustrates Cole.

Kenesha, John Colt, and Cole Cash make short work of the guards while Adri hides behind a wall, her senses hampered by the event shielding. When the guards are dead, they move onto the lab doing the “machine telepathy” research. Here, they find 500 human brains, kept alive in jars. Cole is unnerved, but John Colt and Kenesha are unfazed. Kenesha, caressing the main console, deactivates the event shielding, much to the relief of Adri. Looking further, she realises that she has a direct line to the I.O. main servers, which she can use to delete everything tagged as originating in Hightower. Cole is hesitant, but agrees.

Her hacking complete, Kenesha whips out an incendiary she has labelled “explodey!” Cole and Adri disapprove of her enthusiasm for explosives, which leads her to denounce Cole as “the worst human in the history of humans”, adding as the group teleports away, “and I am thousands of years old, so, you know, I've met most of them.”

On Skywatch's satellite headquarters, Henry Bendix is frustrated by the swarm of North Korean bots that are attacking his network, when he is handed an emergency message from Skywatch Ground Division in New York, who says that her suborned phone microphone led to her hearing that I.O. was about to do something significant to Skywatch. Bendix, coming to the conclusion that I.O. is playing him, orders Blaze to give their crime a cost, by killing one of the I.O. Analysis people.

At I.O., deputy director Ivana Baiul tries to pull rank on Jackie King, but stops when she sees Miles Craven is present. She tells him that disaster has struck at Hightower. Craven orders the site be evacuated, and when he is informed that they have, orders her to start allocating bodies so they can speedily investigate what went wrong.

At this point, Mitch notices that the data link from Hightower is hitting them with a software package which is deleting all of their data they had previously received from that blacksite. Ordinarily, they could stop the software by shutting down their system, but they are currently hacking Skywatch and cannot do that. They are forced to watch as the Skywatch download completes, before they shut down the entire system.

Jackie King, Miles Craven and Ivana Baiul meet in a corner to assess the situation. Jackie underlines her position: Skywatch has no idea what they did, the Hightower hack must be a continuation of previous actions which happened to coincide with their efforts. Nevertheless, the Hightower data, even the parts of it stored securely offsite, are gone forever. Baiul interrupts in to add that the Hightower staff are reporting an on-site explosion. Craven orders that tomorrow, Jackie will personally sift the Skywatch haul, in search of whatever leverage he can use to get Henry Bendix, who he is sure is behind this, to back down. Craven says he has no desire to start a war.

Jackie says that, based on today, they may already be at war.

Later that day, Mitch and Jackie are leaving work. Mitch gets a lift using the Overshare app, but the driver is Lucy Blaze. She drives down an alley, abruptly shoots Mitch in the head, and leaves the dead body in the car, with the lights on.

In a snow-covered rural homestead, a man walks into the kitchen where there is an animal carcass on the countertop. Leaving his gun in a gun rack, he goes to a computer, where he is informed that the “index file” has been discovered. The audience is led to the realisation that this man is John Lynch, former head of I.O., just as he decides to go on a road trip!

REVIEW

I have mixed feelings about this book. On one side, I like how all the characters are being introduced or re-invented for this volume. On the other side, it is taking too long and some of this characters don’t seem to play a role just yet, and they are making me lose track of all the characters on the board.

I also wonder what the future of this incarnation will be. DC has had problems handling WildStorm since they acquired it. Considering the lack of news for this universe or imprint and how new 52 failed to merge them into the main universe, I am feeling that, whatever is left unexplored at the end of this story, will remain that way forever.

Besides the extreme decompression, the visuals are very good, and sometimes, very creative, dynamic and spectacular. This euro look really pays off to make the story move more than it is actually moving.

I recognize most of the new characters from previous incarnations, but others, like Spartan, are harder to remember (and changed a lot visually).

I give these issues a score of 8.

#jon davis-hunt #dc comics #comics #review #2017 #2018 #post modern age #wildstorm #the wild storm #spartan #grifter #stormwatch

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sciencenewsforstudents · 4 years

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In the universe where Harry Potter, Newt Scamander and fantastic beasts can be found, witches and wizards abound — and they can teleport from one place to the next. This ability is known as apparition. No one in the real world has this talent, especially not poor Muggles (non-magical people) like us. But while it is impossible for anyone to apparate from home to school or work, an atom is another matter. Put enough of those atoms together, and it might actually be possible to create a copy of yourself somewhere else. The only catch? The process would probably kill you.

Characters in movies and books — like the magic users in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling — don’t have to obey the laws of physics. We do. That’s one reason why nobody is ever going to apparate instantly from one place to another. Such instantaneous travel would be blocked by a universal limit, the speed of light.

“Nothing can really be transported from one place to another faster than the speed of light,” says Alexey Gorshkov. He’s a physicist at the Joint Quantum Institute in College Park, Md. (In the Harry Potter world, he notes, he’d be a Gryffindor.) “Even teleportation is limited by the speed of light,” he says.

Light speed is about 300 million meters per second (some 671 million miles per hour). At speeds like that, you could get from London to Paris in 0.001 second. So if someone were to apparate at light speed, they’d move pretty quickly. There would just be a very slight delay between when they’d disappear and appear. And that delay would be bigger the farther they traveled.

In a world without magic, though, how could someone move that fast? Gorshkov has an idea. First, you would have to learn every itsy bitsy thing about a person. “It’s a full description of a human being, all your flaws, and where all your atoms are,” Gorshkov explains. That last bit is really important. Then, you would put all those data into a very advanced computer and send them somewhere else — say from Japan to Brazil. When the data arrive, you could take a pile of matching atoms — carbon, hydrogen and everything else in a body — and assemble a copy of the person in Brazil. You’ve now apparated.

There are some problems with this method of apparition. For one, scientists don’t have any way to figure out the position of every single atom in the body. But the bigger problem is that you end up with two copies of the same person. “The original copy would still be there [in Japan], and someone would probably have to kill you there,” Gorshkov says. But, he notes, the process of getting all that information about the position of every atom in your body might kill you anyway. Still, you’d be alive in Brazil, as a copy of yourself — at least in theory.

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In the world of Harry Potter and Newt Scamander, wizards can appear and disappear in swirls of magic. Could they really?

Let’s get quantum

Another way of moving data from one place to another comes from the quantum world. Quantum physics is used to explain how matter behaves at the very tiniest scale — single atoms and light particles, for example.

In quantum physics, apparition still isn’t possible. “But we do have something kind of similar, and we call it quantum teleportation,” says Krister Shalm. He’s a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colo. (In the Harry Potter universe, he says, he’d be a Slytherin.)

Teleportation in the quantum world requires something called entanglement. This is when particles — say, negatively charged particles called electrons — are linked, even when they aren’t physically close to each other.

When two electrons are entangled, something about them — their position, for example, or which way they spin — is perfectly connected. If electron A in Japan is entangled with electron B in Brazil, a scientist measuring the speed of A also knows what B’s speed is. That’s true even though she’s never seen that faraway electron.

If the scientist in Japan has data on a third electron (electron C) to send to Brazil, then, Gorshkov explains, they can use A to send a bit of information about C to the entangled particle B in Brazil.

The advantage of this kind of transfer, Shalm says, is that the data are teleported, not copied. So you don’t end up with a copy of a person in Brazil and an unfortunate clone left behind in Japan. This method would move all the details about the person from Japan to a waiting pile of atoms in Brazil. Left behind in Japan would be only a pile of atoms without the corresponding information about where everything goes. “The person left over would be a blank canvas,” Shalm explains.

This would be disturbing, he adds. What’s more, scientists can’t do this very well for even a single particle. “With light [particles], it only succeeds 50 percent of the time,” he says. “Would you risk it if it only worked 50 percent of the time?” With odds like that, he notes, it’s better to just walk.

Wilder wormhole theories

There might be ways to apparate that scientists have only theorized about. One is something called a wormhole. Wormholes are tunnels that connect two points in space and time. And if Doctor Who’s TARDIS can use a wormhole, why not a wizard?

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry describes apparating as being “pressed very hard from all directions.” That feeling of pressure could be from going down the wormhole, says J.J. Eldridge. She’s an astrophysicist — someone who studies the properties of objects in space — at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. (In the Harry Potter world, she’s a Hufflepuff.). “I just don’t think a single wizard could warp spacetime enough to make one. That would require a lot of energy and mass.” Wormholes also would have to be real. Scientists think that wormholes could exist, but no one — wizard or Muggle — ever has seen one.

And then there’s the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. It states that the more someone knows about the position of a particle, the less they know about how fast the particle is going. Look at it the other way, it means that if someone knows exactly how fast a particle is going, they don’t know anything about where it is. It could be anywhere. It could, for example, have teleported somewhere else.

So if a witch knew enough about exactly how fast she was going, she would know so little about where she was that she could end up somewhere else. “When apparition is described, it says it’s like being pushed in from all sides, so this made me wonder if what’s going on is that the magic user is trying to constrain their speed and slow themselves down,” Eldridge explains. If they slow down, then the magic-user would know a lot about how fast they were going — they aren’t moving at all. But because of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, they would know less and less about where they were. “Then the uncertainty in their position must grow so that they suddenly vanish and reappear in the direction they’re trying to restrict their [speed] to,” she adds.

Right now, though, Eldridge doesn’t know how someone would make this happen. All she knows is that it would take a lot of energy. “The only way I can think of to slow something down is to decrease its temperature,” she says. “You might need a lot of energy to cool the person down, so all the particles are frozen in place and then jump to the new location.” Freezing all your particles in place, though, is not a healthy thing to do. If it lasted more than an instant, you’d probably be dead.

So maybe it’s better to leave apparition to the quantum world — and the wizards.

#science #scied #sciblr #physics #electrons #harry potter #teleportation #apparition #muggles

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journeysintowebcomics · 5 years

Text

Worm Liveblog #112

UPDATE 112: The Impostor

Last time Skitter had escaped Calvert’s trap through the use of sheer cleverness and a whole lot of luck. Now she’ll try to get back to the rest of the team, to try to tell them Calvert is no longer someone they should be with, what with his flagrant betrayal. This is bound to be pretty difficult, though! So let’s continue.

Finding the rest of the Undersiders was easier than expected, thanks to Calvert’s need to keep an eye on them, especially now that he knows Skitter possibly would go try to warn them. The groups of soldiers nearby are alert, and I won’t be surprised if at some point they’re asked to take action against the Undersiders. I for one hope the costumes Skitter made for them will be effective against those bullets too. It depends on the armor, really.

Calvert had dropped me in Genesis’ territory. It was about as far away as I could be from where I wanted to be, about ten minutes drive down Lord street and then a ways towards the water, if someone was driving quickly.

Naturally he’d kill her as far away as possible from the rest of the Undersiders. Perhaps Genesis is aware of what he intended to do? Did she, when she said she hoped to never see Skitter again, know Calvert was going to try to kill her? I’m not sure how to feel about that line if she knew, because if so, it could be interpreted as a wish Skitter died by Calvert’s hands.

The problem right now is that Skitter will have to advance and dodge all the soldiers, since she can’t attack any of them. If she attacks anyone she’ll give away her position, and that’s bound to be inconvenient. Who knows what Calvert would do if he found out she’s already close to the rest of the Undersiders.

I did want to go on the offensive. I just wasn’t sure how. If I attacked the individual squads, a check-in on Calvert’s part would reveal that someone was picking them off and they would all go on the offensive. They might even shoot to eliminate my teammates. Grue, Imp, Bitch and the dogs might have the suits or natural durability to keep them alive in the face of a hail of gunfire, but Dinah didn’t, and there was the possibility that the shots from the sniper rifles could penetrate the suits.

I mean, I’m pretty sure if anyone shot Dinah, Calvert would be so upset. He did all this betrayal so he could keep Dinah in his clutches! If she dies then it was all for nothing, and Calvert would throw away this timeline if he was using his power already. Ironically enough, I believe the team is safe as long as Dinah is in the area. It’d stop Calvert’s troops from doing something like throwing grenades at them or something.

Unless they teleport Dinah away. Given the technology they have, that’s a possibility.

That left me to wonder why he hadn’t done something similar at the house. No grenades, no mortar, no bomb lying in wait.

Well, the theory the narration brought up was that Calvert wanted to be kind of subtle – or as subtle as you can be setting a house on fire. That particular theory still stands.

Failing that, what was the trick behind the teleportation? Why hadn’t he just teleported me back after I slipped away?

Hmmm...at first I thought whatever device they use for teleporting stuff around works like Trickster’s power so they’d have to see both targets at once, but the fact Skitter was teleported like half of the city away makes that unlikely. Perhaps the teleporting trick needs more set-up than I realized?

Did he want to keep me alive? Or had he actually expected me to escape? Had he looked at all my past confrontations and gauged that I could probably make it, and it was no skin off his nose if I didn’t?

Ohohoho, honestly? I’m absolutely certain he wanted Skitter so damn dead in that place. Thinking otherwise is the height of foolishness. Calvert tries his hardest to kill Skitter, and he’d have succeeded if Skitter hadn’t used her gun to break through the window. He started all that to try to kill her, and the fact she escaped is such a spanner in the works I’m sure he’s annoyed. Still, I also believe he may have considered the possibility – even if it was small – she’d escape, so he has a backup plan. I still fear for Dad Hebert’s life.

Skitter manages to get closer and closer, staying out of the soldiers’ sight and staying in the shadows. Thanks to her bugs, she already has an idea of how things are like in the group. Right now they’re walking amicably enough. Heckpuppy is on one of her dogs, the rest are walking by, and among everyone there’s a fake Skitter.

This fake Skitter has so many weapons I’m sure if the rest of the Undersiders knew they’d immediately believe she’s an impostor. She even has grenades! The moment this fake Skitter finds out anyone suspects her; I think she’ll start trying to kill or hurt them. This fake Skitter also has bugs on her costume, thanks to pheromones, and the costume itself is a perfect copy. Given Coil is aware how the code the Undersiders use to signal each other something’s wrong is like, I’m sure this fake Skitter was also told how it works.

If Calvert’s preparation of the building prior to teleporting me in hadn’t made me think his betrayal was premeditated, this certainly cinched it.

...what, was there ever even a little bit of doubt it wasn’t premeditated? Calvert’s personality and power pretty much makes it impossible he’ll do something in the spur of the moment! And it sure wasn’t an accident, haha. Whooops, I accidentally teleported Skitter into a house and accidentally set that house on fire. My bad!

Dinah was still with them. They hadn’t dropped her off, even though Calvert could have arranged something like fake parents to accept Dinah.

If Dinah is currently drugged that could be easy. Skitter sure hasn’t ever met Dinah’s parents, maybe Coil should have just made a pair of people pretend to be Dinah’s parents, receive her, and then take Dinah and hide her somewhere else. Since Tattletale isn’t here, Skitter would be none the wiser – until Tattletale unavoidably found out, but that’s a different matter to deal with.

...

Heck, if he wanted extra safety, why not to have a fake Dinah? Skitter isn’t too familiar with her! I’m sure Coil would have managed to find someone who looks like her, and would be able to act for a little while as Dinah. Then he wouldn’t have needed to do an entire mess trying to kill Skitter, and she would have believed she got away with her deal. Again, until Tattletale found it. What I’m trying to say is that he didn’t have to try to kill Skitter. He could have maybe changed things a little, like making the Undersiders be the ones to be pushed out of the town right away instead of the Travelers, and that’d have kept Skitter away from him. He kiiiind of may have gone for the drastic options.

There’s a lot of wondering what’ll happen to the Undersiders, and I still insist now that Skitter escaped Calvert’s trap, they’re all as good as dead unless something is done. He can’t afford to have the Undersiders turning against him. I’m kind of expecting the fake Skitter to grab Dinah and teleport away, and then mortars explode. Skitter even thinks of that possibility. So, how to tell the rest of the team there’s a fake Skitter, without alarming the soldiers enough for them to eliminate everyone at once?

Rachel? No. I was pretty sure she couldn’t read and write well enough to follow any directions

Wow! Isn’t that a tad rude? She’s not the most academically smart person here, but I’m inclined to think she can read well enough, thank you very much! Skitter, you better have meant that as in ‘she couldn’t read bugs well in the evening’.

Looks like there’s not really a good strategy to use here due to the lighting – something I’m sure Calvert took into account in his planning, too. Plans upon plans upon more plans! You’re less likely to notice there’s an impostor if the lighting is insufficient. Having no better plan, Skitter hopes Dinah can do something, so she sends a ladybug to Dinah.

Dinah seems to have noticed something was off, because she tries to hide the ladybug from the fake Skitter! Or could it be she has her powers back, and has realized there are veeeery high odds Calvert would pass her to a fake Skitter? Either way, she seems to be taking some actions.

Or maybe not. If Dinah is trying to communicate something, Skitter isn’t catching on. She’s even considering the possibility Dinah has gotten so addicted to Calvert’s drugs she wants to stay with him. Oh no...poor Dinah. Even after being freed from Calvert she’s going to need a lot of support and time to get better. Therapy, something to deal with her possible drug addiction...Dinah has gotten quite the bad situation here. I wonder if she hates her power a lot, since it’s what got her into this situation.

Perhaps...she already knows. Maybe long ago, back when Calvert caught her first, she looked into the future and gauged the odds someone would rescue her someday, and how soon. In which case, being here could be how she saw it happening, so she knows what to do. It doesn’t mean Skitter knows how the best rescue method is like, but maybe Dinah’s actions from now on will indicate something.

The second thing I noticed was that what Dinah was doing was probably a signal. Both times, she’d touched the bug to her chest, bringing it close to her heart.

Bringing the bug to her?

I didn’t like the idea of that. If I was interpreting it the way I was supposed to, it seemed suicidal. Did she want me to come to where she was? If she was, was her power guiding that request, or was she still powerless and simply wanting to be rescued?

Oh, she’s considering Dinah may be indicating that thanks to her power. In that case, hm...well, Dinah would want things going according to her best interest. Listening to her would be the best option, right? So yeah, Skitter, go! Run at them. It’s bound to cause some confusion, what with two Skitters being in the same place, but if Dinah says this is what should be done then maybe that should be the right move here.

Calvert had to anticipate that I’d try to rescue my teammates. His soldiers wouldn’t be on guard against an outside threat like this if he didn’t. What did he expect I would do? I wouldn’t charge headlong into his soldiers. I would see them. I’d find some way around them, maybe turn some aspect of the situation to my advantage.

Hmmm...maybe he’d expect Skitter to try to take the Undersiders away from any possible danger, try to get them out of sight. I don’t think he’d expect Skitter to act recklessly, such as running straight at the team, for example. Perhaps that was Dinah’s thought? That the route to success is to make Skitter act recklessly, because that’s what Calvert wouldn’t account for?

Skitter doesn’t rush towards the team, and she considers the possibility Calvert would have asked Leet to devise some sort of counter-weapon for her bugs. Like what Armsmaster does, perhaps? But there isn’t much time for thinking, Dinah seems to indicate Skitter has to move now – maybe the window of opportunity is closing now.

Finding a route to approach the group isn’t too difficult, she’ll use the sewer drains. I’m a bit surprised there wasn’t a group in there, just in case someone tried to sneak by in there, but it’s working! She gets past the perimeter and realizes that, now that she’s in this area, she can use her bugs to fight back against anyone who has the mortars. She’s already gathered bugs, and the moment any soldier moves to use the mortars, she attacks, covering them

The problem is that the fake Skitter may have direct communication with the rest of the soldiers – soldiers that are suffering and unable to take further action. Knowing things are starting to go pear-shaped, she decides she has to make her move.

Fake Skitter wheeled around, reaching behind her back to draw her gun. Her arm caught Dinah around the shoulders, hugging the girl to her side.

I missed the first part of what she said. The meaning was clear. “…got no more use for you.”

...well that sure isn’t going to be great. There’s already a precedent for Skitter trying to betray them, this is going to make them so upset. I hope Skitter can get there before anything else happens, because if the fake Skitter gets away with implanting doubts into them and making Skitter look like a traitor, things aren’t going to be pretty.

Calvert sure prepared this fake person rather well. Not only she has the identical costume and body, she also seems to have her voice. A voice changer, perhaps? And there’s also a way for her to control bugs, given Skitter finds her own powers drowned out by intermittent orders to attack. I didn’t think the powers could be imitated, yet here we are, Calvert must have managed to do so. I wonder if Cauldron had anything to do with this – making a version of Skitter’s powers for this fake person.

Now that I think about it, it’d make sense, no? Acquiring some bug powers from Cauldron in order to make the false Skitter more believable. He sure has enough money for that.

“Betraying us!?” Bitch screamed the words. Next to Bentley, she was suffering the worst of it as the bugs attacked.

That’s going to sting even more than the bugs attacking. She was just starting to let her guard down around Skitter again, and now here she is, performing some betrayal. Even if/once Skitter sets ther record straight, I wouldn’t be surprised if Heckpuppy once again distances herself from her.

The fake Skitter settles the betrayal by firing her gun at the Undersiders. I’m not sure if any bullet hit Heckpuppy or her dog. Hopefully their costumes are bulletproof, but the dog isn’t. Things can get pretty nasty if it shot straight into that sac thing that’s holding the real dog inside.

Did he clone me?

Hah! Well it’s not...impossible, I guess, but I sure hope not. Clones are a plot point I dislike a lot, honestly. I guess I could tolerate if Skitter was cloned, but I sure would hope this was the only instance of that in this story. Clones are...really a quick way to make my enthusiasm for something drop, unless it’s exceptionally well done.

Well, if it’s an imperfect clone I think I could like it. If this is a clone she isn’t exactly the same, because she doesn’t have powers. The powers come from a box in a building. In that case, if this is a clone then it’s one from before Skitter got her powers, or something. Or powers cannot be copied. Who knowsssss. Either way, that box has been detected, so Skitter knows she has to destroy it in order to stop the bugs from attacking even her. Personally I think her priority should be making sure the rest of the Undersiders realize she’s not betraying them, that this is another Skitter, but that’s going to be a little more difficult because Grue cloaked everything with darkness.

That aside, if this bug control box was placed in a building here, then that should mean the fake Skitter was always meant to betray everyone at this point, right? Is that what Calvert’s plan was? Kill Skitter here, and then the fake Skitter would betray the Undersiders so they would be so angry none of them would want to find out what happened to Skitter if she suddenly disappears? He’d be covering his tracks that way. Clever!

Skitter runs towards the building with the bug box while the fake Skitter hurls flashbangs at the team, blinding them. Maybe it was a good thing Skitter didn’t run straight ahead at them, or else she’d have been affected by the flashbangs. As if her very abused eyes would have needed even more pain. Meanwhile, the mortar crews are leaving the scene, for some reason.

This is Calvert’s doing. He was convincing the others that ‘I’ was turning on them the second I had Dinah. He’d probably rigged it so I would disappear afterward. Skitter out of the picture, in a way that was totally believable given my prior actions. The Undersiders would be mad, they’d be hurt, but they’d still be his.

Oh hey, that’s mostly what I had realized ten minutes ago! Although...now that I think about it...could Tattletale find out something? She currently is with Calvert, though. That’s a problem. He should start thinking of a way Tattletale can betray them too.

Except I was here. I could convince them it was a trick. Either shut off the swarm box or take a left turn, show up where they were, and things would make sense in an instant, two Skitters, one a fake…

No, I had to shut off the box. I could feel blood, where some bugs had found flesh on Rachel and the dogs. If too many bee or wasp stings struck home, someone could be seriously hurt, needing epinephrine.

That’s a good point, the part about how the bugs were starting to harm the team, but I still think Skitter should make sure they know she didn’t betray them. This is the kind of thing they won’t believe unless there’s flagrant proof, if they don’t see the two Skitter at once then I don’t think she’ll be able to convince them.

Not too far away, Dinah and the fake Skitter disappear, Dinah moving the hand with the ladybug like she’s writing SORRY on herself. She knew this would happen, undoubtedly. Iiii’m like 60% sure she was trying to stop her kidnapping, trying to get Skitter to be in front of everyone before the fake Skitter pulled her betrayal stunt, but Skitter had hesitated too much. She didn’t get there in time, and now Dinah is feeling bad about it.

Or at least I think that’s what she means.

Breaking into the building that has the bug-controlling box is easy enough, she’s able to burst in through the boarded door, although it makes her cough a lot due to her weakened state. The gunshot she used and the coughing may alert the others of her presence, no?

“Find her!” she shouted. “Find Skitter! Hurt! Kill!”

Oh, damn, Heckpuppy is out for blood, as I expected. I just knew she would take all this so badly. Her dog gets moving, sniffing where the fake Skitter was. If she’s a clone she’ll smell just like Skitter, right?

Did they make her smell like me? They had to have, to keep the dogs from barking distress. But how? Had Calvert had his men raid my stuff? Had he used my dirty laundry?

I felt violated, not just because of the potential trespass, but the extent to which they’d stolen my identity and abused it.

Oh, god. For the sake of Skitter not having had her privacy incredibly violated, I hope this is a clone, as unhappy as that will make me.

It didn’t take long for the dog to pinpoint the real Skitter, so she’s forced to crawl into the building and kick it shut. No matter if the dog can’t get in, this means the rest now knows where she is, no? At any moment they’ll come forth, and things will get preeeeetty difficult. That’s going to be difficult to clear up.

The box using the bugs means Skitter right now is experiencing herself how her victims feel when she uses her bugs against them. The suffocation – not by them getting onto her face, thankfully – due to the weight, and the stings and bites of many other bugs. I for one hope her bug control also gives her a bit of immunity to the poisons.

Despite the immense quantity of bugs on the box, Skitter removes the tarp and starts trying to break it, tearing wires without much success. She doesn’t have much time before Grue and Heckpuppy arrive, and I was about to wonder where Imp was when the story answers that question. She’s here already. Her first move is to kick Skitter right in the chest. Ouch.

The threat Imp gave like...an arc and half ago, was it? So like two days ago in this story? She’s more than willing to fulfill it, and she’s musing options aloud when the other two arrive. Grue seems emotionless, I’m sure he’s repressing all kinds of emotions he must be feeling right now. Thankfully, he doesn’t let the others kill her, instead he even waits patiently for Skitter to have enough strength to talk. He didn’t have to do that, yet he did. I’m so glad about that, seriously. Thank you, Grue.

“Use…” I wheezed in a breath, “Dark.”

Hm? Is it so they can talk by themselves, without Heckpuppy and Imp listening? Does she think she has better odds of convincing Grue by himself? Well, she wouldn’t be wrong, what with Heckpuppy and Imp ready to kill Skitter.

No, instead it seems the darkness seems to have revealed something. The moment Skitter was covered by it, her power weakened yet the bugs intensified. Grue must have been able to sense that, right?

He did, he gets Heckpuppy to use her wolf to smash the box. It’s over.

Imp and Heckpuppy still don’t seem convinced at all, but Grue already determined the traitor wasn’t the real Skitter. I’m really relieved, honestly. This could have gone much worse, I’m glad it didn’t. They’re going to need unity if they’ll go against Calvert, especially because...

I coughed briefly. “Tattletale. Regent too. They’re in trouble. We left them with Calvert. With Coil.”

...because that now will be the priority. New arc next time? Or does this one continue? This is the twelfth chapter, this arc has gone for quite a while. I think someone had told me this was a long arc, they definitely weren’t wrong.

I’ll continue next time!

Next time: in four updates

#worm #worm liveblog #webserial #liveblog #webserial liveblog

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lyriellea · 4 years

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Other World Saint

Chapter 1 - The Battle with the Weird Puma

She wakes up, covered in dirt and sweat. Confusion arises from her face, she isn't suppose to feel the dirt in the ground and her in-game character isn't suppose to sweat. She however pushed tjis thoughts out of her mind.

She checked her map to see where did the mage brought her because by the looks of it, this isn't the 30th floor boss room. She is currently in a forest with light green foliage with the ray of the sun peeking at the leaves of the trees. A far cry from the dark and gloomy Forest of Elzerhoth where the labyrinth is located.

Western Forest of Larob

Hmm? Is... Is this a new location? Since when did the game update? She thought.

Because her armor is disguised to be a plain white shirt, she touched her own skin.

"It's, it's warm!" the kind of warmth that cannot be explained if one is in a Virtual Drive game. Normally, no matter how advanced the coding and the technology of the Drive Gear, it cannot imitate the senses other than the sense of sight and sense of hearing. It can however emulate the sense of touch to some degree but the player will not be able to tell that what he is holding is soft or hard in the game.

That's why she was surprised that she can feel her character's warmth and softness.

"This is... Weird..."

She can feel the breathe of the wind, the warmth of the sliver rays of the sun and the hyper realistic ambivalent sounds of the insects making sounds from who knows where in this forest.

There are rumors of companies developing Drive Gears that les a person experience this kinds of things but she is 100% clear that hers isn't. Her Drive Gear isn't that advance yet.

"Hmm... This is interesting in a way but I think I should go to the doctor for today. That headache isn't a joke... What?! I can't logout? Where's the system menu?! Wait? What?! T-that's my real name!"

Name: Chloe Bellrialle

Character level: 100

Age:18

Gender: Female

Condition: Perfect

Race: Order of the High Seraphim

Race Level: 10

Class: Saint of the Healing Light

Class level: 10

HP: 25,164

MP: 53,734

Status Window (+)

Equipment (+)

There is suppose to be a little system menu at the top right corner of her vision but for some odd reason, she can't find it anywhere no matter where she looked. Her username, Yunayuna got replaced by her real life name. She can't seem to find an answer nomatter how logical she thinks about how the game knows her real name. She didn't input it anywhere on the game and her payment methods are made through a third party payment system which only shows her card number. She couldnt think of anything that would dgive her name away. Finding no answer that can satisfy her, she gave up and pushed the mystery of how the game knew her real life name into the corner of her mind, for now.

Then she noticed that ever familiar wing icon at the bottom left of her vision which means that one can fly in this zone.

The only reason she died when the beastial demons chased her is that the zone in which the labyrinth is located is a no-fly zone. Inherent to the race or a magic item, a player cannot fly there.

She sprouted six golden colored wings that shines with a holy aura.

She can move them individually... She can even feel them.

"Ahahaha... Hahahahaha! I must be going mad! There's no freaking way that these wings, these wings that I have played with can be this realistic! There's no way! No way...."

She slumped unto the ground with a blank face. She can't log out, she can't teleport to any of the in-game's town and she is experiencing this ultra realistic sensations that can only be felt in real life.

"Did... Did something really unbelievable just happen? To me?"

Chloe has read novels pertaining to transmigration and being summoned to another world. However, she didn't think that this will happen to her. She didn't even wish for this!

"Well, you know what? Fuck it! I'm gonna figure this out by myself!" she shouted, mainly to give hersef some encouragement.

But then, her ears perked up and she sensed something ominous approaching her from the light green foliage besides her.

She jumped away from the foliage just in time for the creature to miss her by a hair's breath.

It was a large-green puma looking animal with 3 tails and a horn similar to a unicorn.

It growled at her preparing for another pounce.

She produced her weapon, a crude looking metal shield and hammer, and lowered her stance.

With a clank and the activation of her pssive skill [Iron Skin], Chloe almost didn't feel the impact. She looked again at the puma-looking thing at the top of her shield and she saw that it has wounds over it's body, most likely the effect of the [Iron Skin] skill which reflects 50% of the damage to the attacker.

The puma-looking thing is three times the size of a regular puma. In other words, it was huge! But for some odd reason, it's pounce is like a light tap at her shield.

"Maybe it's because of my defensive values?" she said while looking vigilant at the puma-looking thing.

For a support class, her defensive stats is nothing to scoff at, in fact, it was one of her highest stat. So Clhoe was half convinced that this was the case.

While she was contemplating that, the puma-looking thing fired a green a laser-like projectile from it's mouth directly at her.

She was quite startled but her shield deflected it like someone just threw a piece of paper at her and again, she found it curious.

"I was pretty sure that laser beam thingy is pretty powerful- woah! That was close!" she said as she raised her shield just in time to block the green colored puma in attacking her neck.

"I guess i'll try attacking now," she said as she pointed her hammer at the weird puma. "Take this!"

She launched the normal attack of her class, a lightning strike. This is to measure her attack power for she has never encountered this creature in the game.

The green colore puma tried to dodge it but it was too fast and it got electrocuted.

"Eh? What?" she uttered. Chloe couldn't believe that her normal attack could one hit the weird puma. Maybe it's a low level monster?

She carelessly approached it, thinking that it's dead but at the moment where she couldn't put up her shield, the green colored puma attacked her neck.

"Ahhh!! No... Eh?" the puma is bitting her but it's fangs is an inch away from her neck. But then she remembered. "Ahh... This armor is supposed to be a full body plate armor." she bid goodbye to the green puma in her heart as she hit the side of the green puma with her hammer. It clearly wasn't expecting that Chloe would hit hard. The vody of the green puma flew a few meters away only to hit a tree with such a force that she could clearly hear the cracking sounds of its bones. This time, the green puma breath its last.

Just like in the game, she touched it and it automatically send the monster's loot in her inventory. This time though, something is different.

"[Corpse of Berexhalii] hmm? In all my years plying that game, I haven't even heard of this monster. It's time to face the impossile and laughable fact," she said with a sigh. "I'm not in the game word anymore."

The fact that I can smell and taste the dirt, the softness and warmth of my body or rather my character's body and the fact that the corpse of that weird puma isn’t dismantled when it was put in my inventory proves that this isn’t Elluneniel's Trial anymore.

The reality that was slapping her now was that she is now in a world different from Earth based on the fauna around her and this weird puma. Though the thing that is shocking to her is that the game's mechanics is still at play. She is 100% sure that she can do all of the things that her character can do in the game, meaning she can fly and use her plethora of skills.

"Meaning... I can heal people and... And even revive the dead...?"

She shook her head at the thought. Maybe that'll be a good thing? She thought.

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I'm posting on RoyalRoad.com

#Novel #Writing #Fantasy #Isekai

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jleighwrites · 3 years

Text

Through the Looking Glass [Unedited]

Quen inspected himself in the glowing mirror, knowing that the reflection was truly his own. He stood at 5 foot 8; a bit short, but he didn't mind. His ochre skin was clear and his hair was cut into a clean blowout. Apparently that was popular back in the 20's. His amber-colored eyes gleamed back at him, tarnished only by the dark circles underneath. Many of his acquaintances had gotten rid of theirs, but he liked how it made him feel human.

When he was finished getting ready for the day, he stepped into the hall and made his way to one of his family's augmented reality chambers, or ARCs for short. When he reached the door, he took out his personal ID and held it in front of a small screen next to the door. It beeped once before flickering to life.

"Quenton Jarod Harris, Junior attending Paulson R. Stewart High. Would you like to begin Classes for the day?" it asked in a robotic voice.

"Yes," he replied.

"Creating Scenario… Connecting to server… Finalizing… Start-up complete. Have a good day, Quenton Harris."

He swung the door open and was met by a bustling school hallway. Dozens of beautiful faces were chatting with each other, walking past each other, and scrambling to finish assignments that should've been done the night before. He let the door creak shut behind him and it disappeared into the wall. He hadn't taken two steps before the robotic voice was back.

"Message received. Sender : Juulia Brewer. Would you like to open the message?" Quen let out a heavy breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He regretted having skipped coffee this morning. The system repeated itself, "Would you like to open the message?"

"Yes."

An opaque, digital, blue message box appeared before him. As he walked, it stayed in the same position, phasing through classmates as he went, but they didn't flinch. To be fair, they couldn't even see it on their side.

Morning!! :DDD

In cafeteria.

Meet there??? uwu

Quen rolled his eyes at the emotes. Juuls had an obsession with "Millennial Texting", as she called it. In fact, she was kind of a nerd for it. She was the only one that had taken an interest in that era. American History classes taught them that the first 30 years of the century were dark times, but somehow Juulia managed to find light in them.

He reached out and pressed the X in the top right corner of the message box, causing it to blink away. "Hey, Google?" he called.

"What can I help with?"

"Teleport me to the Cafeteria."

"Sure. Now teleporting Quenton Harris to the cafeteria."

The noises and sight of the hallway faded into a blue void. Here, it was relaxing. Here, he could breathe easy. And just like that, it was gone. The void transformed into the cafe and the garbled mess of voices was back.

He scanned the faces before him one by one, trying to discern his friend in the sea of Glowing radiance. On the days that he had to use ARC, it was always significantly harder to recognize Juulia. With ever-changing hair colors and styles, vast varieties of makeup, and feature correction, the only way he could tell the difference was when their name appeared in front of them when he met their gaze.

A girl sitting a few tables down stood up and began to wave her arm around; he didn't have to see her to know it was Juuls. Disregarding the built-in recognition program, the greeting was a dead giveaway. She did this almost every morning, whether in person or through ARC.

He made his way through the crowd, literally. Instead of bumping shoulders with people, their holograms simply phased through him. The chamber, however, did produce realistic copies of inanimate objects. He plopped down on the nanobit replica of a bench at his school's lunch table.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Oh. Em. Eff. Gee. You literally took forever, lol," Juulia replied. A couple students around the two of them glanced their direction, giving them odd looks.

"Proximity chat," Quen reminded her. He took a moment to adapt to her new look. He assumed that she had been trying to look like one of those 'E-girls' that she was always on about. With neon pink hair, a beanie, and dark makeup, she looked completely different than she did yesterday.

"Oof. They just don't have good taste. The 20's were so… Lit."

"That's new."

"What? Lit? It just means, like, cool, but better."

"You're so weird."

"Pog."

And with that, the bell rang. Immediately, he was sucked back into the loading void briefly before being spit out into his first class of the day. He took his seat as the teacher appeared in the room. She was beautiful and could pass for 25, though she was actually 20 years older.

"Alright everyone, sit down please. Today, we'll be talking about why we're here. We all know that the early years were just about as bad as they could get. But they had some major influence on how things work in modern day."

Juulia would be bouncing off of the walls if she were here right now. Fortunately, she didn't have this class until after lunch. He was spared of her over-enthusiasm for now.

"Did you know that ARC was developed a few years after the events of the Covid 19 pandemic? It took a while, but when it was released to the public it was an instant success. Can you believe they used to hold classes through video chats on a computer?"

A hand in the back went up. The teacher motioned towards the student, urging her to ask her question. "What's a computer?" It seemed that everyone had been wondering the same thing, Quen included, because they all shifted their vision from the student to the teacher.

The teacher chuckled. "It was a large device that used to be kept on desks before technology was integrated into Glass."

"They only had technology on the 'computer'?" another student asked.

"I mean, they had other forms of technology. They had smart watches, smartphones, smart TVs… But most of their time connected to the internet was spent on a computer or on the smartphone, which is what we now call our Shard."

Quen had to admit, everything about the early 21st century was something else. But where it intrigued Juuls, it brought up a bad taste for him. To him, it was just the beginning of the death of authenticity.

After what felt like hours of droning, the class was finally wrapping up. Google's voice broke him from his thoughts. "Message received. Sender : Crystalinne Harris. Message saved for later."

"I've sent an assignment reminder to all of you. Your homework is a 500 word essay on what 'Facebook' was before it created Glass."

He scoffed at the assignment before the next bell rang, whisking him off to his second class.

When the final bell of the day rang, the low hum enveloping him whirred into silence as ARC powered down. Without the machine running, he stood in a room made up of nanobits. The tiny metal balls made up the walls, floor, ceiling, and even this side of the door. All of them worked to create the illusion of being in an actual school, when in reality, he'd been inside a room no more than 10 feet wide and 10 feet long all day.

He stepped out of the chamber and made his way into the kitchen, where he was met by his mother and father. "How was school today?" She asked. His father pulled a latte from the Keurig and sipped it as he waited for a response.

"It was alright. Just another day," he replied, "Dinner smells good."

"Oh, yeah. They delivered lemon pepper steak and asparagus today. All of our portions are already in the oven."

"That's… Lit," he said, a smug sense of pride flickering within.

"That's funny, son. Haven't heard that since Gran was alive. Get that from, what's her name? Jessica?"

"Juulia. Yeah." His father's beard was getting shaggy, he noticed. Since he had started using Glass, he had been letting it grow out. Seemingly, it didn't bother him much any more. His father had been adamant about leaving Glass alone for most of his life and had taught him to do the same, but when Grey hairs began to appear, he decided to finally give in.

Honestly, he wasn't surprised. Glass was wildly popular internationally. It had originally been bought out by the American government in 2040, probably for facial tracking, and integrated into every single building since then. It was everywhere. He and his dad were two of only six or seven people that he knew of that didn't use it. But now, he couldn't even say that.

After dinner, he had decided to take a hot shower. The water on his skin felt nice and he let the steam relax his muscles. When he finished, he dried off and wrapped his towel around his waist. Stepping in front of the mirror, a pleasant chime sounded.

"Glass activated," a voice with a programmed British accent sounded through the surrounding speakers. The edges of the mirror lit with a white backlight and menus appeared on the screen in glowing, white letters. A box formed around his face, his name appearing above it. "User : Quenton Harris detected. Set nickname : Quen."

He began to comb his hair into place when the voice rang out, "Quen, would you like to use the Autofix function?" A white bar highlighted the "Autofix" option on the menu.

"No," He replied sternly.

He finished with his hair and quickly brushed his teeth. When he smiled so that he could check them, the voice came again, "Light enamel stains detected. Would you like to use the Autofix function?"

"No."

It was irritating to hear it trying to coerce him into using it, knowing that it used that method to get so many people addicted to it. He simply shook his head. That's how it starts. A quick fix here, a minor upgrade there…

He pulled on a sleep shirt and some sweatpants, tossed his towel into the laundry chute, and headed for his room. He needed to write his essay and get some rest for the next day. It would be Tuesday, which meant live classes.

Quen's alarm beeped, rousing him from his slumber. He sat up in bed and stretched, before lowering himself to the floor. "1, 2, 3, 4…" he counted the sit-ups in his head as he started his quick morning workout routine. He had always been physically active. Staying healthy had been a big goal for him. The way things were now, even with the best Healthcare, people hardly ever made it past their 50's. He wouldn't let himself be a victim of the system.

50 sit-ups, crunches, and push ups later, he stood up. Began getting dressed for the day. A white button up and a tie, he wanted to look nice. Of course, Glass attempted to goad him into Autofixing himself, and just like every other day, he had none of it.

Finally, he felt confident. He was ready for the day. He grabbed his backpack from the back of his desk chair after ensuring that his report on Facebook was packed. Since he was heading out of the house, he also snagged his Shard from the charging pad and shoved it into the pocket of his black jeans.

He strode down his driveway and stopped next to his mailbox. After a few minutes, a large, white bus with no windows arrived. He climbed in and heard a chime over the bus' speakers. The British voice spoke, "Quenton Harris has boarded."

He made his way to an empty seat and plopped down. The first thing he noticed, like always, was the smell. An amalgam of body odors swirled around the cramped space, making him sick to his stomach.

Inside the bus, you could see the surroundings on the installed Glass screens, almost like windows. He turned his focus to the passing buildings as he tried to block out the horrendous scent surrounding him. He was one of the last stops, so he wouldn't have to endure it for very long. He slid his Shard out of his pocket and began to read the day's headlines. The war overseas was still raging on, as expected. The weekly universal paycheck rate was 31 dollars more than the last. And another round of the Meta-Vaccine was going to be made available before fall, hopefully to prevent as many infections as possible.

The bus rolled to a stop in front of the real Paulson R. Stewart High. When the doors creaked open, the automated voice announced that it was time to evacuate. He passed by the empty driver's seat and stepped out onto the curb, letting fresh air flow into his lungs. For the first time since last Thursday, he smiled.

Quen enjoyed the few moments he had in the outdoors as he strode to the entrance. Biding his time, he held the door open for other students. Unfortunately, he knew he had to go in.

He stepped into the real hallway, which looked almost exactly the same as it did in the ARC replica. There were three main differences. First, the smell. Just like on the bus, it was everywhere. It absorbed every crevice, every corner. It was disgusting. As much as it bothered him, no one else seemed to mind.

Second, the students he saw today were nothing like the ones that had been in his simulation yesterday. Where beautiful faces surrounded him before, he was now engulfed in a sea of low effort. Hair was frizzy, tangled, and out of place. Clothes were wrinkled and stained. And the worst, it was obvious that most of his classmates didn't take care of themselves. They were supposed to reach the peak of their physicality at ages 16 through 18. If this is what "peak" looked like, he understood why the average life expectancy was decreasing.

Third, Glass was everywhere. It made up all of the windows, all of the mirrors, and even lined the walls in some places. It kept track of each student as they navigated the hallways. The 'Assistant' feature was turned off, which meant no obnoxious voice trying to pressure him into anything, but it still worked it's magic in the reflections. Each user's Autofix settings synced up with every Glass that was linked to the system, which was - legally - all of them.

It disgusted him, the way people walked around, acting all high and mighty. Just because they never had to see their true selves didn't mean that no one would. The problem was, they didn't care. After graduation, They would be assigned a home, a mate, and a job. And after that, the only ones that would have to see them would be their direct family. All other interactions would be carried out in ARC, which had a partnership with Glass.

These moments, here, in Paulson R. Stewart High, were the last bits of his fleeting reality. Someone bumped into his shoulder, causing him to stumble out of the way. A bigger guy wearing a pair of eyeGlass gave him a strange look. "Sorry, man. Hard to tell the days apart," his apology sounded genuine, "Your fix looks nice."

"Don't worry about it. And thanks, but it's not an Autofix," Quen replied. The guy chuckled for a moment before tilting his head down to peek over his eyeGlass.

"No kidding. Well, good for you, man. Between you and me, they really need to get it together," he said, looking over the crowd. He shifted his gaze back to Quen, "Compared to us, they look pretty rough."

The sad thing was, he probably hadn't seen his true self in years. "Yeah, man. Well, see you around." Quen left him behind and began walking towards the cafeteria. There was only one person he wanted to talk to.

An arm linked through his, and through a haze of vanilla scented perfume, a familiar voice chimed, "Bruh, you got here earlier than me today. That's wack." He didn't have to look to know who it was. When he turned to her, he was engulfed by her radiance. She was authentic. She was real.

#short story #sci fi #writing #fiction #technology #future #Spotify

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freya-henstridge · 7 years

Text

“Fuck this...” Freya said shaking her head as she heard the commotion and couldn’t help but laugh a little because of fucking course it was just a matter of time, she knew that but of fucking course it happened while they were trapped, hell maybe they trapped them, maybe Abigail was being a bitch, thankfully she was in her apartment and so she strapped the vest and put on a jacket to cover it, she knew for his father security business that most armed groups in situations like this, were advised to shoot for the torax since it was the bigger target, the chances of them failing reduced but if they noticed that she was wearing protection, they were more likely to aim at her head and while she had quickly bounced back from an abdominal shotgun, she was sure she wouldn’t be so lucky with a head one but no, she was not going to die in this fucking school or be trapped on a fucking bed again. “Safest place my ass.” She said grabbing the .45 doubletap pocket gun she had purchased with the vest. She didn’t look down on mixedblood but she did consider that they were more evolved that commonfolk and considered their methods in pretty much everything barbaric but their technology could take out her magic and if that happened again she wasn’t going to be some fucking damsel in distress having to be rescued by a student again.

Now Freya could teleport to a place like the healing center or probably the admin building which if the Chancellor or the Dean were there would be heavily guarded but if she choose the wrong place, she could end up caught in the crossfires of paladins and hunters and that’d be almost as bad as running into a hunter while turning around a corner and teleporting used too much energy and magic... Now Freya liked gambling as much as a person with too much money that they knew what to do with, did, liked the fact that most gambling activities weren’t exactly gambling and if you were smart, calculating and well informed your chances of winning increased, she however didn’t want to gamble her life. She ended up deciding to teleport to the pool right in the middle of it, even if she were to teleport right in between a confrontation or a group of hunters at least she’d be surrounded by her element, water slowed down bullets to the point of almost stopping them if you were several inches under the surface and she could freeze it if needed. She held her breath long enough to evaporate some water and move the particles around the air to spot any person outside the pool or around it before feeling confident enough to come up for air. She pulled herself out and didn’t waste energy in drying herself just yet as she analyzed her position and situation before making a move. The closest building was the Interhouse Lounge but that didn’t exactly translate to safety. She decided to approach and asses the situation before making another move.

@garrettfollmer

#eventmio11 #garrettfolmer

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chromsai · 7 years

Text

Pre-History of Arc V (and what went wrong)

All of the events that lead up to the very beginning of Arc V under the cut + a bit of analysis at the end (regarding Zarc and his dragons).

Zarc & Ray are born in the United World.

Zarc (just as Leo Akaba said he was) was just another duelist with the rare gift of being able to hear the voices of Duel Monsters spirits.

Leo Akaba creates the Real Solid Vision (RSV) system which gives Duel Monsters spirits vessels (aka real bodies) which exposes them (and duelists) to real harm.

RSV becomes popular within the Pro Duel world and Leo Akaba is praised for his work.

Zarc, now an entertainment duelist, wins his way up slowly thru the Pro Duel world since he’s able to communicate with his monsters, making it easy for him to both entertain and win duels.

As he makes his way up the ranks in the Pro Duelist leagues, he accidentally harms another duelist... but the crowd praises him for it. Being an entertainment duelist, Zarc is relieved to find the crowd is happy with this development even though he was worried at first.

Crowds push for this style of violent dueling from Zarc and he obliges since pleasing the crowd is his profession.

As this continues, Zarc is able to win duels and become the world champion. These kinds of duels, however, take a toll on Zarc’s dragons (and presumably Zarc himself too) since they put them in harm’s way.

Being the only one that can hear their voice, the Four Heavenly Dragons ask Zarc to help them end their own abuse which was being caused by social pressure for more violent duels.

Wanting to help his dragons, as well as meet the expectations of society for more violent duels from him, Zarc becomes one with them. They(he) nearly annihilates the United World.

To combat Zarc, now known as the Supreme Dragon King Zarc, Leo Akaba creates four En cards with the powers of nature (flowers, the moon, winds, and birds) and plans to use them to defeat Zarc.

Ray Akaba, his daughter, steals the cards from him before he can use them against Zarc.

Ray defeats Zarc in a duel and uses the four En cards to split Zarc and his dragons apart again and stop Supreme Dragon King Zarc. SDKZ is split into not only his four dragons, but also four human versions of himself. The En cards create Bracelets on Ray’s arm and their light splits up Ray as well as the United World into four humans and four new dimensions, respectively.

As Zarc is divided into four, the power swaying back and forth within him gives birth to Pendulum.

The world is reborn as four separate dimensions (based on the summoning methods of the Four Heavenly Dragons): Standard, Xyz, Synchro, and Fusion.

Leo Akaba wakes up in the Standard Dimension with no memories of his life in the United World.

Reiji Akaba is born.

Zarc’s reincarnations (Yuya, Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri) as well as Ray’s reincarnations (Yuzu, Ruri, Rin, and Serena) are born in Standard, Xyz, Synchro, and Fusion dimensions, respectively. Each of Zarc’s counterparts have one of the Four Heavenly Dragons with them. Each of Ray’s counterparts have one of the four Bracelets that the En cards created. Zarc’s Standard counterpart, Yuya Sakaki, is also given the Pendulum that Zarc created.

Leo Akaba works with Yusho Sakaki, Yuya’s (adoptive) father, and recreates Real Solid Vision.

Leo Akaba founds and establishes the Leo Corporation.

Yusho Sakaki establishes You Show Duel School with Shuzou Hiiragi.

Leo Akaba begins to regain his memories of the United World. He investigates his own memories to find out why he knew how to make Real Solid Vision and remembers his daughter, Ray, as well as the events that occurred in the United World that lead to its destruction.

Leo Akaba abandons his family and Leo Corporation in search of signs of Ray. He travels between dimensions to do this. He finds Serena, who looks just like Ray and has one of the four En bracelets, in Fusion Dimension’s Academia.

Leo Akaba realizes that Ray, and by the same logic Zarc, were both split into four people living four separate lives in each of the four dimensions.

Leo Akaba brings Real Solid Vision with him and establishes himself as the new leader of Academia and works on a new machine, Arc-V, which will eventually recombine the four worlds as well as the four girls who were once one person, Ray.

Leo Akaba also finds one of Zarc’s counterparts in Fusion Dimension’s Academia, Yuri, who is still a young boy. He takes him under his wing and encourages his antisocial and violent behavior as he wants to use him to find the fragments of his daughter, Ray.

Jean Michel Roget is sent as a spy to the Synchro Dimension. He offers the technology of Real Solid Vision to the High Counsel of The City in exchange for a position as the Director of Security. He cuts ties with Academia and decides to stay instead in order to gain more power.

Reiji Akaba searches for his father and finds him in the Fusion Dimension. He meets Serena. Leo Akaba sends Reiji back to the Standard Dimension, who takes charge of Leo Corporation as the new CEO and establishes Leo Duel School (LDS).

Dennis McField is sent to the Xyz dimension to search for Ray’s Xyz dimension counterpart.

Reiji Akaba reaches out to Yusho Sakaki to help stop his father’s ambitious plans.

Three years prior to episode 1, Yusho Sakaki leaves the Standard Dimension in order to meet with Leo. However, Yusho is sent to the Xyz Dimension instead of Fusion. He teaches the people of Xyz Dimension his philosophy of Smiles Through Dueling. Notable students of his include Dennis McField, Kaito Tenjo, and Sayaka Sasayama (Ruri Kurosaki’s best friend). Sayaka passes along this philosophy to Ruri, who in turn passes it on to Zarc’s Xyz Dimension counterpart, Yuto.

Due to Yusho’s absence, Strong Ishijima becomes the new Duel Champion in Standard by default.

Leo Akaba orders the invasion of the Xyz Dimension for two reasons: to gather large amounts of life energy (in the form of people turned into cards by Academia soldiers) to power Arc-V, and to kidnap Ruri Kurosaki who is found to be Ray’s Xyz dimension counterpart. This marks the very beginning of the Interdimensional War.

The Xyz dimension’s Heartland City is torn apart and destroyed by Academia soldiers armed with RSV capable duel disks. The majority of its citizens are turned into cards to serve as fuel for Arc-V. The remaining duelists in Heartland City form a Resistance to fight back against Academia soldiers.

Rin, Ray’s Synchro dimension counterpart, is kidnapped successfully by Yuri and taken to Academia soon after. She is kidnapped in front of her childhood friend Yugo, who is Zarc’s Synchro dimension counterpart. Yugo’s Clear Wing Synchro Dragon teleports him to the Xyz dimension where he fights Yuto, thinking that he is Yuri, the one who kidnapped Rin. Their duel is interrupted by Resistance reinforcements.

Ruri Kurosaki is kidnapped successfully by Yuri and taken to Academia thanks to intel from Dennis.

Shun Kurosaki, Ruri’s older brother, and Yuto interrogate a defeated Academia soldier who reveals to them that the world is divided into four dimensions and that Leo Akaba is the one who ordered the invasion on the Xyz dimension with the goal of uniting the four dimensions into one.

Yusho Sakaki has a duel with Edo Phoenix, the commander-in-chief of the Academia’s army in the Xyz dimension. Yusho is injured during the duel but defeats Edo and gifts him a copy of Smile World. Edo Phoenix rejects it and tears it in half. Yusho keeps half of the torn Smile World and is sent to the Fusion dimension where he eventually establishes another You Show Duel School which serves as a refugee school for Academia deserters. Meanwhile, Edo keeps the other half of the torn Smile World card and searches for Yusho for a rematch.

Shun interrogates another Academia soldier who tells him about the existence of Reiji Akaba, Leo’s son, in the Standard dimension.

Shun sets out for the Standard dimension with the plan of kidnapping Reiji and using him as a hostage to bargain for his sister, Ruri.

Yuto follows after Shun to the Standard dimension.

(Episode 1):

A Strong Ishijima fan appreciation duel event is organized by LDS. His opponent is Yuya Sakaki.

During the duel, Yuya’s desire to win awakens Zarc’s soul within the Pendulum. Pendulum cards and Pendulum summoning are created.

Woo... I believe that’s about everything in terms of what happened before episode 1.

As for what went wrong? The root of the problem is arguably Leo Akaba’s creation of Real Solid Vision. Without it, Zarc would have most likely just lived life as just another duelist since there would be 1) nothing to threaten or abuse the Four Heavenly Dragons and other monsters and 2) no social desire or pressue for Zarc to conduct extremely violent duels since real harm would be very unlikely.

I just want to make a call back to GX real quick since it gave us 3+ duelists who, like Zarc, could hear and communicate with duel monsters. In GX’s world, Solid Vision wasn’t advanced enough for Duel Monsters spirits to be practically real and to harm one another and feel harm. Thus, there was no reason for Duel Monsters to seek help from humans who could communicate with them to end their abuse or suffering the way Zarc’s Dragon’s did. The only instance we did see this true in GX was Yubel who was launched into space... and who felt real pain due to the power of the cosmos (one of the En cards, En Moon, is powered by the cosmos). Because of this, Yubel was also corrupted by a mix of hatred and anger towards all humans except for Juudai who had promised them that he would love them and protect them forever.

Much like (I’m sure) Zarc communicated with his Dragons and promised them he would satisfy their lust for revenge against the humans who harmed them (especially since he was convinced this would also satisfy human’s lust for violence).

Interestingly enough, both Yubel’s feelings and Zarc’s desires were terribly misguided... and led them to violence and destruction.

#ygo #arc v #arc v spoilers #sai watches arc v #if you read all this wow thank u #arc v analysis #long post

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elizabethrobertajones · 7 years

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Totally random thought but when Rufus offered to help bobby with the hole getting his soul back from Crowley business he offered to call some contacts. Knowing that the supernatural business in grear Britain is controlled by the BMol do you think this would have knowingly or unknowingly have involved them? did the bmol knew the brothers took a trip over there? I mean it's probably totally unimportant but still. And they claim to know whenever a monster enters their country (or did I dream that?)

so I would love to see them justifying how Crowley could just strole in there. (probably to quick for them to react) and this is seriously probably so unimportant but I get the most interesting thoughts at the strangest places so yeah.

Honestly I kind of feel like that just indicates the BMoL’s incompetence :P I still think they don’t know wtf to do about demons because Bela (and it’s not been really challenged to give us an idea they DO know anything about anything, except for the fact the BMoL know they hang out with demons - probably with an understandable lack of distinction between knowing about Sam and Ruby, and Dean and Crowley, however things are *now*) beyond probably trapping and exorcising them like anyone can.

But they’re really slick at monsters, which honestly starts to feel like classism or obviously metaphorical racism that the more human-passing supernatural things operating on a certain power structure are FINE but the creatures which are defined by their hunger and threat to society are banned from the country and killed without trial. They’ve managed to drive out a lot of witches apparently, but presumably just the ones that come under their radar and, I assume, cause problems directly FOR them :P Seeing as it’s something humans do, and can be learned by anyone, and also demons can sneak out and possess anyone, it becomes much harder to control and is a problem sort of in society rather than turning on some Other like monsters represent.

So I don’t really think they track or CAN stop demons entering, especially if Crowley’s going to boop over from Bobby’s house to a graveyard in Scotland without warning. The monster warnings seemed to be on docks and I’d assume airports etc… Actual runes drawn around these areas. Whether they can detect demons or not, Crowley didn’t come in the slow way, so I doubt he tripped any alarm system. Which is a massive flaw in the model of putting runes in secret places around the obvious entry points :P You can catch a vampire sneaking in on foot after stowing away on a container ship or something, but that’s much easier than pinpointing where a demon’s teleported to, warding literally everything, and sending a dispatch team to deal with it before it’s too late :P

Rufus’s contacts could be anyone from retired hunters accidentally taking advantage of how safe and quiet England seems to people who deal with stuff there ANYWAY - Bela type people, again; even just, like, rare book trade sort of people who know a bit more than average, or Frank Deveraux-type people… Actually in 3x15 he credits BRITISH methods of ID’ing the ear in CCTV which is a muggle thing to do, but I think he references someone telling him to do it or giving him the tip he could find out about Bela that way, so maybe he does have a Frank of his own out in the UK :P And of course I still think with demons and ghosts and witches and cursed objects and spells all still very much things that could happen to anyone even if vampires aren’t, in the UK, then there probably WILL be hunters with dark origin stories or people who stumbled onto something they shouldn’t, and I still think there’d be an informal network even if they don’t have a WHOLE lot to do. (3x01 on is on right now on the TNT loop and Mittens and Mel have both commented to me about that - reminding me of Tamara who certainly had a British accent, though she was hunting over in America, which could be for obvious reasons, or not. Who knows :P Hope she’s doing okay, anyway…)

The BMoL MAY have already been keeping tabs on the Winchesters back in season 6 if the Apocalypse tripped their radar. I feel like if the Bunker went nuts over the angel fall, with ancient technology in it, then there’s a fair chance the BMoL back in like 2009 would be totally able to detect seals breaking or Lucifer rising, even if they didn’t do anything about it because it happened in America, or they weren’t sure what to do. After the apocalypse the Winchesters went quiet and there’d be no reason to think they’d got back in business by only 6x04, so it might be a bit academic if they knew their names or not or if they saw any point in monitoring Dean (if they’d know Sam was even alive or not depending on what reports they’d get), so I think the Leviathans were their big wake up - I think they did mention them? Sam and Dean are both also presumed dead since season 3, so they’d have flown under aliases and if the BMoL weren’t treating them like an active problem there’s no reason they’d have been flagged up.

I think Toni probably started collecting info on them much more recently, probably in response to stuff no earlier than season 7, even if there might already have been a file on them from earlier, and it had seemed like a situation she was monitoring from afar, but in a sort of academic way where they may have known the Winchesters were squatting in one of their Bunkers (hey, maybe they accidentally tripped some warning spell there while Sam was ripping up all the wiring under the map table or something :P) but until 11x23 no one made the call to go in and deal with them, so it was almost like an exercise in profiling up until that point, and just a sort of mind-bending problem of gathering intel on someone like the Winchesters… For all we know it was like, Toni’s equivalent of a thesis project and she never expected she’d actually have to go deal with it :P

#Asks #superbritish #6x04 #3x15 #11x23

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dracolord1208 · 7 years

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The Scientist and The Revolutionary

Dracolord1208

AO3

Summary:

After years of disinterest, Tracer decides to us the recall and restart Overwatch. Two new members of Overwatch will have to deal with the hardships of being heroes in these uncertain times. A failed mad Vishkar scientist named Junkrat and a Revolutionary commander named Symmetra who brought balance to India will have to work together and bring Overwatch back to greatness.

“Are you sure about this Lena?”

Tracer had been looking at her computer screen for a while her cursor hovering over the Recall Program for some time. “The world needs more heroes I have to activate the recall.”

“But Overwatch was disbanded for good reasons. The team became too unstable. Teammates were seen as expendable and were often left for dead.”

“That’s not going to happen this time Emily. This time I am going to lead the team. We aren’t going just to be an army that only cares about winning no matter the cost. This time we are going to be heroes. We save everyone no matter the risk. No one gets left behind, no one will be forgotten.”

“Alright. I love you.”

“I love you too. Let’s get the team back.”

After Overwatch was disbanded the members of the team found themselves scattered around the world. Tracer finally decided that enough time had passed and that the world would have to be ready because this time Overwatch was going to be its best.

The recall fired this widespread message across the world.

“The world could always have more heroes. When you go to sleep, do you think that you have done enough or do you feel like there was more you could do? Well, Overwatch is back for that purpose. We are going to be the heroes that this world needs.”

Soon enough Overwatch was back, with old and new faces joining.

One of the first people who joined Overwatch was a mad scientist that was done being ostracized by his peers, Jamison Fawkes A.K.A Junkrat.

Junkrat had been working as a Vishkar scientist for as long as he could remember. Vishkar had provided relief to Australia during the omnic crisis allowing Australia to mount a defensive against the omnic threat. During this time Jamison was recruited as a scientist due to his interest in chemistry. Jamison took to chemistry like no one could have predicted. He loved studying the chaos of the artificial world. He found that he enjoyed figuring out how the random nature of DNA would react to different chemicals. In time Jamison discovered that radioactive materials provided him the results he desired.

Jamison’s inventions, however, were not held to the same standard as he was. Although Jamison was a brilliant scientist that produced more inventions in a month than other researchers did in a year they often were seen as failures. His project was often dismissed as unsellable or non-practical with a majority of then being thrown in the trash. With this amount of junk, he was producing he was given the unfortunate nickname of Junkrat.

Junkrat did, however, create his signature equipment during this time. Junkrat built his microwave projector, isotope turrets, and his mobile teleporter. Junkrat’s style of fighting was designed to literary microwave his victim’s from the inside out. Jamison also carried a scavenged teleporter from the shutdown omnium, on his back so he can teleport his allies to his location at any time.

Junkrat joined Overwatch due to Vishkar’s constant pressure on him. While all of his inventions were marvelous leaps in scientific advancements converting them into practical and sellable versions was often impossible or unreasonably expensive Vishkar would deny all of them. Junkrat only decided he had enough of it so he decided to quit and join Overwatch with the hope that his inventions would be appreciated.

Another new member that replied to the recall was the legendary revolutionary leader of the Junkers Satya Vaswani A.K.A Symmetra.

Satya Vaswani would have been another name lost to poverty in Hyderabad if it were not for the Omnic crisis. People say that the omnic’s only came to India twice. The first wave was a complete massacre the omnic’s aimed to bring down the government to weaken the nation then come back to destroy the survivors. The second wave of omnics didn’t know what hit them. A girl whose family was lost to the first wave quickly organized a new fighting force, to combat the second wave. At sixteen she had an army under her control and with her brutally efficient strategies the omnic’s were beaten out of India within ten years.

Satya created her army from the ground up. She started by organizing the poor around her to raid the remnants of the war zone. Her small group is earning the name the Junker’s. As time passed, the Junker’s grew their forces into an efficient and brutal strike force. Satya in time became to be known as Symmetra for her role in bringing balance to India.

Symmetra personally specialized in explosives. She was able to craft shape charges that would render identical symmetrical explosions every time. She carried a grenade launcher that she wielded like a surgeon, with each round finding is a destination to cause the most damage possible. Symmetra was known for her shaped charges that would allow for her to drastically change the flow of battle by opening new paths in the field. Satya also carried around her GBB (Good Bye Bomb), this explosive was able to bring down entire buildings in a second if she wished.

Symmetra responded to the recall because she believed in the organization’s purpose. While Symmetra did not agree with Overwatch’s method, she decided that there needs to be a force of hope. Having to lead, a war Symmetra knew better than anyone else that hope for the future was the most compelling motivation on the planet. This time, however, Symmetra would make sure that Overwatch stayed the symbol of hope that she always knew it could be.

“Welcome to the team Symmetra.” Tracer was the first person to greet Symmetra as she arrived at the base.

“Thank you. I look forward to working together with you.”

“It’s an honor to work alongside you as well. Your reputation proceeds you, your exploits and skills will be much appreciated.”

“Your reputation is also well known. Tracer the best pilot the world has ever seen with the use of your slipstream you can instantly change the flow of battle with its teleportation technology. The skill it takes to take in your surroundings instantly and to react accordingly is something that I wish to see someday.”

“Aw shucks, flattery will get you far, but unfortunately, I am already taken.” Tracer then proceeded to show off her ring. “My wife would not be that happy with me if I strayed from the path.”

“Shame.” Symmetra responded while feigning to be much more distraught than she was.

“So how about a tour?”

“That would be lovely.”

Tracer then showed Symmetra all over the base.

“And here we have the workshop. This will be where you can work on restocking on your supplies. Oh, Junkrat is in there right now why don’t we get you two introduced.”

Junkrat what kind of name is that? As they entered the workshop, they observed Junkrat working on something inside of a glass box with his arms through gloves that gave him access to its interior.

“Only 400,000 milliRem!? By my calculations, this isotope should be producing another 75,000 milliRem at the minimum.” Junkrat had moved to read the results of his experiment as the two approached. Junkrat scratched at the stubble on his chin as he lifted an arm in frustration. He then began to type furiously on his computer without even noticing the women standing behind him.

“Hey Junkrat how’s it going.”

Jumping in his seat, Junkrat responded to Tracer without looking up from his computer. “’Ello, Tracer thought I told yah to stop calling me Junkrat.”

“Aw come on we’re heroes now we need code names and cool stuff like that.”

“Whatever. So what can I help you with today?”

“Well, this here is Symmetra.”

“Hello.”

“Yip!” Junkrat had finally turned to see the two of them. As Junkrat had turned, he was meet with the vision of an angel. This woman before him was the most impressive thing he had ever seen in his life. This lady in front of him with her beautiful black hair, her dark skin, and her rudimentary prosthetic arm was perfect.

Don’t fuck this up. Junkrat began to repeat this mantra in his head a hundred times a minute.

“Hello. Ho, who, who, hello?” Junkrat cursed at himself for stuttering.

“Hello.”

“Who are you? I don’t think we have had the pleasure of meeting before.”

“We haven’t. My name is Symmetra.”

“Symmetra! As in the Symmetra. The Symmetra that at sixteen raised an army to fight the omnics in India and won.”

“Yes that is me, and it sounds like you know me already, it is unfair that I do not know anything about you.”

“Oh well uh, I am uh Junkrat. Well, my names Jamison, Jamison Fawkes. I don’t like the name Junkrat, but it is my call sign so feel free to use it.”

“Well, what to do around here Jamison.”

Suddenly filled with pride Jamison started to explain his role. “Well, I am the team, resident mad scientist. Hahaha. I work here to create new tech for the team to use. When I used to work for Vishkar, they would go out of their way to deny all sorts of my tech due to the cost of production. But here at Overwatch, I can make anything I want and as long as it’s useful someone will use it.”

Symmetra had since begun to go through the lab and was observing all of the different inventions that he had made. “You created all of this?”

“Yep.”

“Amazing. During the war, we had to scrap both sides of the war to get weapons and armor, if we had someone as adept as creating tools as you are we probably could have won even faster. This is very impressive.”

“No, you don’t have to flatter me.”

“No I mean it is very impressive. I can’t wait to work together.”

Junkrat felt his eyes begin to sting with the tale tail signs of tears. Jamison had wanted that level of recognition his entire life and this new woman standing in front of him had said everything like it was nothing. “I love you,” Junkrat whispered as he turned around and to cover his face with his arm.

“What was that?”

“Thank you, I am also looking forward to working together with you.”

“Have a good day.”

“You two.”

Symmetra and Tracer left the workshop and continued their tour.

“So Jamison, is he also taken?”

“Who that goof? No, why?”

“No reason, just thinking out loud.”

Notes:

Howdy. So I really like this universe, and I have a lot of ideas of what I can do with it, so there will probably be a second chapter at the minimum, and this could even be bigger depending on feedback. I hope you all have a good week and life. I love all of you. My Tumblr is http://dracolord1208.tumblr.com/

Series this work belongs to:

« Part 4 of the Draco's Junkmetra Week series

#symmrat week 2017 #junkmetra #symmrat #draco original #junkrat #symmetra #day 4 #Overwatch

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