Beyond The Impossible

Asgard Station, Null Zone

Kari Zel never really liked the Portal Generator, but this is the first time it’s giving her a headache.

She’s yet to adapt to being able to see all kinds of energies, and those given off by the device are different from anything she saw on Earth.

<A.I.D.A., where’s Noriko right now?> she asks the resident Artificial Intelligence.

<Mistress Null is in her quarters. She does not want to be disturbed.> A.I.D.A. replies.

<I got that, I’ve been trying to call her for hours. Tell her I’m coming, this is important.> Kari insists, walking towards the nearest wall to see something’s been attached to it.

<What is this, a map to the station?> she asks, knowing the answer.

<Correct. Mistress Null has requested them to be spread across Asgard Station, to orient herself without the need to memorize the layout.>

<Looks like it took her losing her super-intelligence to finally gain some common sense.> Kari chuckles, walking at a steady pace following the instructions to reach the living quarters.

She’s tempted to transform into energy to make the trip at the speed of light, but the few times she’s attempted this trick she completely missed the target.

The door to Noriko’s quarters is locked, even after Kari presses the button to ring the bell.

<C’mon Nori, open up!> she yells, hoping the door isn’t soundproof.

<Is it important?> Noriko’s voice answers from the inside.

<No, just love showing up uninvited in another dimension to yell at a door.>

<Gimme a sec!> is the reply.

Kari crosses her arms and nervously taps her foot. The twenty seconds she waits before pressing the button a second time feel like an hour to her.

<I said a minute!> Noriko answers, her voice drowned by the sound of something heavy being dropped to the floor.

<And I said it’s urgent.> Kari comments under her breath, concentrating to turn her body into radio waves.

She’s surprised by how natural it feels. Watching Vesta struggle to use her Myridian powers reminded her how hard it was to master them when she was a teenager, but Quantum’s abilities are so much easier to access.

It’s also putting her perception of time into question. Traveling a few feet as radio waves took mere moments but felt like much more, and even now that she’s human again the time needed to fully process the scene before her feels significantly longer than it should.

It’s probably because she didn’t expect the bedroom to have been thrashed like a tank just drove over everything, with Noriko floating in the air wearing just her underwear struggling to put on her pants.

<Rough night?> Kari asks, grabbing Noriko’s leg to physically drag her back to ground level.

<Everything’s a chore with those stupid powers.> the former mortal complains.

<I heard a crash, what happened?>

<I misjudged the bed’s weight when I put it down, everything feels lightweight now.>

<Why were you lifting your bed in your underwear in the first place?> Kari wonders, handing over a T-shirt that was laying on the couch… which has also been crushed.

<Didn’t you say you came for something important?> Noriko changes the subject.

<Something’s wrong with Max: Jane tried to call you to discuss it, but then called me when she couldn’t reach you. She’s afraid he’s going full… did you also break the shower?> Kari interrupts herself, noticing that the shower in the bathroom next door has been running during their entire conversation only now that it’s stopped.

<Wow that sounds super important, why don’t you tell me everything about it at the Command Center?> Noriko suggests, attempting to push Kari towards the door.

Kari has already grown confident enough in her new powers to temporarily change into neutrinos, allowing Noriko to phase through her. All so that she can stare at the naked man with skin made of metallic bronze walk out of the bathroom, using the towel to dry off his beard.

<Good morning, Madam Zel.> Gilgamesh greets her.

<It’s not what it looks like!> Noriko instinctively defends herself.

<…> Kari stares at her.

<Okay it’s totally what it looks like.> Noriko admits.

 

Null Tower, New York City

The Omni Directional Intelligence Network, better known as O.D.I.N., has grown past being the artificial intelligence supervising Null Tower.

After being fully integrated with the Null Technologies network, it’s been inescapably linked to every single computer system on the planet. Unbeknownst to the vast majority of people, in fact, O.D.I.N. has been the true leader of Null Technologies longer than its creator.

One of the few people who know this, as well as the location of O.D.I.N.’s physical mainframe, is Max Black a.k.a. Quantum.

Who just entered the server room that is the closest thing to O.D.I.N.’s brain, and who is greeted by an avatar of the system: a blue holographic raven.

<Greetings, mr. Black. It appears that your Vanguard authorization level is not sufficient to access this floor, so I kindly ask you to leave immediately.>

<There has been a change in my authorization level.> Max replies, looking around for anything resembling an access point.

This doesn’t look like any other server room on the planet; not surprising, considering Earth just barely learned about how to build quantum computers, thanks to commercial deals with the rest of the Galaxy.

Max, however, has been hanging around this kind of technology for the past ten years: even if his memory before he was granted the Nexus is becoming hazy, he knows what he’s looking for.

<There. This should clear things out.> he says, connecting an old flash drive to a semi-hidden port.

He then watches O.D.I.N.’s hologram blinking in and out of existence for a couple of seconds.

<It appears you are attempting to introduce a malicious program into my system, even if it does include Mistress Null’s authorization code. Please wait KERNEL MODE EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED while I contact MISSING FILE DLL0X.nll NOT FOUND for further 0x7d1e4a9f UNEXPECTED ERROR.>

<I’ll wait. I really need to warn Noriko to stop keeping backwards compatibility for obsolete technology in all of her systems… sure it’s handy in a pinch, but it took me barely an hour to learn enough coding to hack into this.> Quantum comments to himself, his silver eyes shining.

<Registry editing 0x301c4b7a enabled. User spiderman1962 recognized, insert password.>

<“R2D2-NCC-1701”>

<Password accepted. Current authorization level Vanguard-1. Awaiting instructions.>

<Remove Noriko Null’s user profile and give me her authorization level.>

<User noriko@null deleted. User spiderman1962 changed to authorization level Null-0.>

<Change my password, while you’re at it. The entire text of The Lord Of The Rings, all three books, first edition, without spaces… backwards. That should take a bit longer to crack.>

<Acknowledged. New password length is approximately 2.5 million characters.>

<“Approximately”? You don’t know?>

<I was instructed by [DELETED USER] to avoid wasting a user’s time with too much detail.>

<I never realized how sloppy she could get. Let’s get to work, O.D.I.N.: I want full access to every single governmental and commercial database on the planet.>

<Acknowledged. Estimated time for full takeover: 17 minutes.>

<While you’re at it, disable the Portal Generator of Asgard Station.>

 

Asgard Station, Null Zone

Kari Zel is escorting Noriko to the Command Center, and suddenly she doesn’t want to move at the speed of light if it means her friend won’t get out of the conversation.

<I can’t believe you slept with Gilgamesh!>

<Are you seriously going to shame for having a one-night stand? You, of all people!? You’ve probably slept with more people this week than I’ve had all my life, Kari.>

<First of all, you’re seriously underestimating me. Second, most of those were duplicates, they don’t really count. Third, I know you Noriko: you’re going to agonize over this once you sober up.>

<I wasn’t drunk.>

<You’re not yourself either. Are you 100% sure you’re thinking straight?>

<I’m 1,000% sure my sex life is none of your business, Kari. And didn’t you want to talk about Max going nuts or something?>

<I suppose that takes precedence. Jane is really scared he might be going through an Abyss phase.>

<Already? It took me almost a year to be overwhelmed by the Nexus. And I always thought Max was more emotionally stable than I ever was.> Noriko admits.

<He was really shaken by Lily’s death. I think he blames himself in some way.> Kari hypothesizes, stopping short of the door to the Command Center when it doesn’t open automatically.

<That’s odd. A.I.D.A., open the door.> Noriko commands.

<User unrecognized.>

<What’s the holdup? Open up.> Kari repeats, and the door finally opens.

But once the two enter the room they’re suddenly greeted by two Nullbots moving in front of Noriko to block her passage. Shortly afterwards, five laser pointers appear on her chest as the defense systems prepare to shoot at her.

<Intruder alert. You have five seconds to identify yourself.>

<Is this a joke!? I am Null!>

<User unrecognized. Eliminating intruder.> the station says, opening fire. Kari’s first instinct would be to save her friend, but it’s proven unnecessary by the lasers bouncing off Noriko’s now indestructible skin. She then grabs the two robots, slamming them together with enough force to smash them with barely any effort.

<Being a goddess has its advantages.> Noriko admits.

<A.I.D.A, stop this nonsense! I’m Kari, she’s with me!>

<Admittance to the Command Center requires confirmation. User purplehottie69 recognized, insert password.>

<5CR3W-D3M3T3R.>

<Password accepted. Temporary host granted access to the Command Center for 12 hours.>

<“Screw Demeter”?> Noriko translates the password.

<Sounded appropriate. I don’t suppose A.I.D.A. failed to identify you because of your change?>

<She recognized me yesterday. Max is the only person I know who is currently smart enough to override my access codes. We have to get back to Earth. A.I.D.A, ready the Portal Generator.>

<Portal Generator on lockdown. Authorization level Null-0 needed to unlock.>

<Let me guess how many people have that kind of authorization.> Kari notes.

<There are other ways to leave this dimension. Hand me your phone.>

<Why, you left yours in the other pants?> Kari jokes, obliging.

<I broke it. Fortunately for us, I may no longer have the super-brain to remember all my passwords… but I can still remember a phone number.> Noriko explains, texting something.

<If Max is smart enough to lock you out of the system, he probably made sure you wouldn’t call anyone on Earth, you know.>

<On Earth, yes.> Noriko highlights with a cocky half-smile that would normally be accompanied by her eyes shining, when a pentagram of fire appears in the room.

<This better be important.> Torn complains, stepping out of the portal with a phone in his hand.

<You gave TORN a phone!?> Kari exclaims.

<Null. You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone.> Torn complains.

<It’s an emergency. Don’t worry, you won’t be flooded by Max texting you… in fact, just for safety, you’d better delete your presence on the station from the records.> Noriko suggests.

<I don’t know how.>

<Just tell A.I.D.A. to do it> Kari informs him.

<You put too much trust in your creations. Machine, delete records of my presence.> Torn orders.

<User iamtorn recognized, insert password.>

<No.>

<Password accepted.>

<Please don’t tell me “no” is your actual password.> Noriko says, rolling her eyes while knowing for certain that it’s absolutely the case.