Beyond The Impossible

Asgard Station, Null Zone

Noriko Null retires to her room; she would slam the door behind her if it wasn’t a sliding one.

She lays on her bed; even with a pillow held firmly on her head, she can still her the incessant pounding on the door.

<Come on, Noriko, let me in. We need to come up with a plan.> she hears Kylon shout from the other side of the door. He has enough sense not to try forcing it, since the door could withstand anything short of a nuclear blast.

<I had a plan. It nearly got everyone killed.> she answers, her voice muffled by the pillow.

<But it didn’t. What happened when you used the Final Abyss against Harmonia? Did you see anything that could help us defeat her?> Kylon insists.

<Go away.> she pleads, trying to keep the pillow closer when she finds there’s someone else in the room… someone who takes away the pillow.

<Come on, this is not the time to give up.> Quantum tells her. She’s smart enough not to ask how he got inside, although she does come up with a design to shield her room from him.

<I’m not giving up on anything.> she lies.

<Looks that way to me. You high-tailed out of the system and took the Portal Generator straight here… come on, I know you, this is not how you’d react to a setback.>

<Is that Quantum in there?> Kylon asks.

<Yeah I’m giving her a pep talk. You know, an inspirational speech and stuff!>

<You suck at those and you know it.> Noriko reminds him.

<Maybe. But I’m great at getting you back on your feet when you crash, aren’t I?>

<You’re great at annoying me until I come up with a plan.> she replies, rolling her eyes.

<See? Same thing. C’mon, what’s bothering you?> he asks, sitting on the bed next to her.

<I… I can’t kill Harmonia.> she admits.

<Because the Final Abyss didn’t work? You’ve killed gods in other ways, what’s so special about this one?>

<I touched her mind, Max. She is… it’s like a minefield. The way she’s controlling the people of the sectors she conquered… they’re all connected. It’s hard to put into words, but if I try to sever that connection in any way, especially if I kill her… I kill every single person under her spell.>

<Oh. That’s rough. So what do we do about it?>

<I don’t know, Max, I don’t know. I told those people I would save them, but it turns out the only way to do so would kill them.>

<You died and came back. Can’t you ask Hades to help?>

<It took something extraordinary to convince him to resurrect one person: we’re talking hundreds of billions of people here. They’re all counting on me, Max, and I… I’m out of ideas. I’m not smart enough to solve this one.>

<I think you’re selling yourself short, Nori. You were smart enough to let me inside; maybe you knew you needed someone to push you out of your self-pity.>

<You’ve got it all wrong, Max. If anything, that proves I forgot to do something.>

The awkward silence between the two is interrupted by Kylon’s voice:

<If you guys are done, I have President Aura on the line. What should we do with her armada?>

<You have a perfect memory, don’t you? For example, you should’ve remembered to activate the Sound Nullifier… but you didn’t. That tells me you knew you’d need to be disturbed.> Quantum tells her, standing up to unlock the door and let Kylon in.

<Everything okay?> the Lar asks.

Quantum turns towards Noriko. Her silver eyes are shining, and she raises a finger.

<You might be onto something…> she says.

<Yeah, I think she’s alright.> Quantum answers, but Noriko is not listening to him: she stands up and starts to talk faster and faster.

<I didn’t shield my room from you because I didn’t consider you a threat, just like Harmonia is not defending herself from the minds she controls. If I exploit that connection, it might be possible to have the link rescind itself organically.>

<Sure, that’s exactly what I was thinking.> Quantum reacts, shrugging.

<Call Torn and Asclepius. I need both of them in the infirmary, right now.> Noriko orders, walking out of her room at a fast pace.

<You don’t want to go back to the fight, right?> Kylon asks, worried about another battle.

<I made the mistake of going against Harmonia alone; powered by so many subjects, her mind works like a Nexus host. So I’m going to fight fire with fire.>

<So… I should summon Vesta and the Demon army?>

<Don’t go full Torn on me, Kylon, I was speaking metaphorically.>

 

The infirmary

Torn watches Noriko lay down on the medical bed. She’s taken off her trademark green leather jacket and she’s letting Asclepius apply various sensors to her arms and on her forehead.

<You don’t need any of this.> Torn says.

<Maybe not. But if I’m going to expose my mind to a guy who tried to murder me the last time we talked, a little precaution is not a bad idea.> she replies.

<Glad you finally decided to listen to reason. Now let me grab a few sensors for your friend and you’ll be good to go.> Asclepius says, but Torn just walks past him and sits down on the chair positioned besides Noriko’s bed.

<I’m ready.> Torn states.

<I’m sure you are. Now if you just give me a second…> Asclepius tries to say, reaching for a batch of sensors before Torn grabs his arm.

<I said I’m ready.> he says aggressively.

<Torn, it’s just a brain scanner. I built those, it’s fine.> Noriko reassures him.

<If you want me to perform soul surgery I cannot be distracted by these things.>

<Null, I can tolerate the natural disdain Demons have for doctors, but I can’t accept to be a part of the charlatanerie they call “surgery”. It is a mockery of medicine.> Asclepius protests.

<You don’t have to do anything. Just make sure this doesn’t fry my brains out, okay?>

<It won’t.> Torn reassures her.

<See? He’s an expert on those things!>

<Your brain won’t be fried because it won’t be exposed to oil or fire. Your soul might be ripped to shreds if I fail at my task, though.> Torn clarifies.

<That’s not very encouraging, Torn…> Noriko replies.

<I understand. Your soul might be ripped to shreds, but it also might not. Better now?>

<This is probably a bad idea.> she sighs, closing her eyes and allowing her mind to drift.

 

The Mindscape

The simulated space inside the Nexus can take many forms. Noriko expected to find herself on the top of a snowy mountain, just like previous times. But instead it’s a small, cramped apartment.

<I am not familiar with this part of the Mindscape.> Torn admits, looking around. The whole place is completely disorganized: there are clothes and toys scattered all around him.

<I am. It’s where my father and I used to live when I was about seven years old. I don’t know why the Mindscape looks like this.> Noriko says.

<I thought it would be obvious.> a little boy answers.

Noriko knows him as the Monk. Like he’s done before he’s appearing in the form of a young Asian boy with a bald head, but instead of a robe he’s wearing a green jumpsuit. He’s sitting cross-legged on the floor, holding a badly damaged doll in his hands.

<Those are… were my clothes. And that… is that one of my toys!?> Noriko asks. Her memories prior to her becoming a host of the Nexus are not as crystal clear as those following it.

<Our last encounter led me to re-examine my death. The link it established encouraged me to look into your own life.> the Monk explains.

Noriko should be angry at him for invading her memories, but considering she did the same it would be hypocritical. And she knows there are much higher stakes involved.

<I didn’t let you in. How did you access my memories?> she asks, sitting on the floor with him.

<Looking into a mirror lets us see how others perceive ourselves.>

<I don’t know what that means.> she admits.

<Exposing a soul works both ways. By breaching his defenses you lowered yours.> Torn translates.

<Your friend is surprisingly eloquent. Why did you seek my help, Null?>

<You’re the only human I know who has telepathic abilities. You taught Soul Control to Ulysses, who used it to block my Final Abyss. Now I face an enemy who can do the same, and I thought…>

<That I could help you bypass that weakness.>

<Not exactly. I once took control of the entire Blood… well my evil alternate self did, but that’s not the point… I want to be able to redirect Harmonia’s powers against her, turning her strength into a weakness. And if Soul Control does what I think it does, based on my fight with Ulysses… I think combining it with the Final Abyss, and with the limit access I have to the Blood, might be the key to create something that could potentially surpass the Final Abyss.>

<You speak madness. What you wish to attempt cannot…>

<I can remove a piece of your soul and graft it on hers.> Torn interrupts.

<Oh. Yes that could work. You may proceed.> the Monk nods.

<What? But I had a whole speech ready to convince you!> Noriko complains.

<Your friend was convincing enough.>

<He barely said anything!!!>

<Sometimes silence speaks more loudly than words.>

<Promise me you’re not giving me the part of his soul that makes him insufferable.> she tells Torn.

 

Boreas, 3,000 light-years from Earth

Tyche looks out of the window: the Winter Castle overlooks the frozen wasteland that the Lar call home. And the sight of her kingdom doesn’t make the goddess of luck and destiny happy.

<Why the sad face? Everything’s great!> her husband Dionysus tells her, burping loudly on the throne as opens yet another bottle of wine.

<Really. All my hard work to be the leader of my own sector and now you are in charge.>

<Ugh, power is overrated. As long as I have my drink, I’m a happy god.>

<Easy for you to say: you never had to work a day in your life. Everything has been handed to you, even when literally don’t do anything. Maybe you should’ve been the god of luck!>

<Now now, is that the way to insult your own heritage?>

The question doesn’t come from her husband, but from a voice whispered behind her back. Tyche turns immediately, but by the time she’s looking Hermes is already standing behind the throne.

<Hermes, my dude! It’s been ages! Grab a bottle and tell me what you’ve been up to!>

<Dionysus! He’s been conspiring to take control of the Galaxy, you can’t just offer him a drink!>

<Isn’t that the same thing you tried to do?> Dionysus wonders.

<Your husband’s right, dear daughter, we share similar… interests. Besides, what are you going to do, call the guards? You know I’ll be in another galaxy by the time they set foot here.>

<I should’ve had a premonition about your arrival. Why didn’t I?>

<Your precognition is very useful, dear, but you don’t have total control over it, don’t you? At best it gives you a heads up about an incoming threat. But can it handle multiple ones going on at the same time, or they would cancel each other?>

<What did you do this time, father?>

<Oh me? Nothing much. Just dropped by unannounced, bypassing your entire security, to distract you from the fact that Null just attacked Harmonia. And in case that wasn’t enough of a distraction…>

Something hits the Winter Castle. With the security measures deactivated by Hermes, there is no alarm informing Tyche that something just smashed through three of her spaceship orbiting the planet without even slowing down… not until a goddess crashes through the roof, violently landing in the middle of the throne room.

<…I brought a friend. Meet your soon to be stepmother, dear.>

<Fight. Now.> Enyo says angrily.

<She has a bit of a one-track mind, yes, but isn’t she lovely?>