There’s a seemingly empty room in the Tower, with only a chair in the middle connected to hundreds of fluorescent optic cables. The way Noriko Null sits on it, crossing her legs and placing her arms on the armrests, it looks like a high-tech throne. Her public relations manager, Todd Slate, is right besides her.
<We’re ready. Are you sure you want to do this now? It’s a risky move> he reminds her.
<I’ve wasted enough time already. IRIS, link me in.>
<You are now connected to the Holographic Conference Call Center™. After the tone, please state your name and your title to be connected to the call.>
<Noriko Null. President, Chairwoman, CEO and Research Director of Null Technologies.>
The room is filled with holograms of over thirty people. Men and women from all over the world who can now see Noriko and each other like they were in the same room.
A tag over their head shows their name; they are the CEOs of the world’s largest companies, representing several different industries: pharmaceutical, electronics, oil and gas.
<Thank you for joining. Let’s go straight to business, shall we? The production cost for the AIDS vaccine is five hundred dollars per dose. I will absorb the cost for the production of enough vaccine for the entire planet, but I need your help for the distribution.>
<It will take years to have approval for human testing from the FDA> one of the CEOs intervenes.
<I know. That’s why I intend to bribe the most affected African countries to distribute the vaccine immediately. This will both reduce rapidly the number of new infections and put public pressure on the FDA to allow distribution of the vaccine in the United States without the need for more testing.>
<That is, assuming there are no unexpected side effects and that the vaccine works.>
<It does> Noriko replies decisively, her eyes shining in anger.
<I understand your passion, miss Null, but avoiding rigorous testing is reckless and potentially very dangerous, even without considering the legal aspect> another CEO comments.
<Assuming the vaccine does indeed work as you say, we will experience a considerable loss of revenue. Why should we pay for distribution out of our pockets?> yet another adds.
<You mean, other than eradicating a deadly disease and saving millions of people?> Noriko asks rhetorically, rolling her eyes and soliciting a few discreet laughs.
<After the acquisition of Scion Corporation, Null Technologies has become too large to be managed. That is why I will break it into 20 smaller companies; you are all here because I am willing to sell you shares of the new companies for a reasonable price.>
There is a lot of confusion following this revelation, as the CEOs speak to their assistants outside of the holographic interface. They recognize it’s an ingenious move: it will remove any worry for the creation of a monopoly, it will keep Noriko in control of all companies provided she keeps enough shares to herself, and will easily be the most financially profitable move in history.
<Of course there are a few conditions. One: you will stop opposing the replacement of all current power plants with new Plasma Reactors, since it will not be financially beneficial to you. Two: for the same reason, you will not oppose my plans to replace vehicles running on fossil fuels with new alternative energies. Three: you will divert 3% of your revenue to the Null Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the worldwide improvement of healthcare, extermination of all major diseases and reduction of poverty. Any questions?>
It takes a while before someone has the courage to ask the question on everyone’s mind:
<Are you trying to be in charge of the world’s entire economy?>
<I’m trying to make the world a better place. If I have to own it first, so be it.>
She kicks back on her technological throne, watching the richest people in the world bicker in fear among themselves. She’s on top of the world and loving every second of it.
Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan
Leiko Tanaka is brushing her hair in front of the mirror. Looking at her figure, highlighted by a very provocative nightgown, you’d think she was close to her daughter’s age than her real 35 years.
<She’s going through with it> she says, removing the holographic earpiece.
<Of course she is. It’s the best strategy…get rid of your enemies by making yourself an indispensable friend> the young man in her bed answers. He speaks an absolutely perfect Japanese despite being a foreigner…much more so that can be seen with the naked eye.
<I agree. That is why most of the people who are going to buy her stock are actually working for me. Once I gain control of enough resources she won’t be able to attack me in any way. By giving me early access to this information, you’re giving me back control of Scion Corporation.>
<I aim to please, as I’ve already demonstrated many times> Hermes replies, jumping out of bed and making no effort whatsoever to cover himself.
<You have no shame> she says, putting aside her brush and walking towards him. She’s blushing.
<I don’t have anything to be ashamed of, don’t I?> he boasts, taking Leiko’s arm and pulling her towards him. They share a very passionate kiss.
“You will. Ashamed of how easily I’m manipulating you” she thinks.
A maximum security prison
Officially, the woman shouldn’t be here. The papers show that she was executed this morning for killing her husband in cold blood. Now she’s handcuffed, blindfolded and gagged.
They tie her to a chair. There’s someone in front of her; she feels her breath. She’s smelling her.
<I asked for a beautiful body. This is a cow> – she says. Her voice is inhuman.
<You don’t get to choose. This woman was sentenced to death, unlike your previous victim.>
The voice is coming from a microphone. The woman bound to the chair tries to shout when the one with the strange voice touches her; her hands are colder than ice.
<Yes…I think I can work with this> – she says, caressing her breasts. She licks her cheek.
<Eris! We will have none of that. We are about to release the God Restrain; molest her again and you will go back to solitary confinement.>
<Yes, my lord. Gods forbid we harass those who we slaughter.>
Eris is wearing an orange prison uniform, just like the woman in front of her. When the light of bracelet on her wrist disappears, she opens her mouth to release a cloud of black smoke; she falls.
The dark energy slithers towards the woman on the chair, making its way inside her body. The woman struggles to get free for a few seconds, but calms down abruptly. Then something purple shines through her veins, and her body begins to change.
The heavyset woman becomes thinner and thinner. Her shaved head grows new black hair with staggering speed; when it’s long enough to reach her shoulders, her newfound figure is now small enough to let her break free of her restrains. She takes off the gag and the blindfold, revealing shining red eyes. There are six men in riot gear pointing machine guns at her face.
<You have five seconds to wear the God Restrain before we open fire> the microphone warns her.
She calmly reaches for the bracelet on the floor. Her previous body has withered to a skeleton.
The bracelet is reactivated, and Eris is locked in her present body again.
<Nice of you to uphold your part of the deal. Of course you realize I’ll need a new body in a month.>
<That will depend on how much you’ll disclose until then.>
<What, I don’t even get a cigarette?> she jokes, crossing her legs provocatively. The guards leave.
<You were talking about something called the Palladium.>
<Right. It’s a Drylon device that completely isolates a solar system; when it’s active, nothing within its field can move faster than light. It was stolen from Troy by Ulysses, oh, about 3200 years ago.>
<What can you tell us about the Drylon?>
<Next time bathe the body as I asked you to and I might tell.>
<We’ll get to the Drylon later. What makes you think this Palladium is on Earth?>
<I saw it with my own eyes, in Rome. Caligula showed it to me. We used to date but, well, he was a little too much of a square for my tastes. But don’t bother looking there, it’s been moved.>
<Do you know where it is now?>
<You should ask Vesta. She knows. She’s the one who hid it from me.>
She smiles. The smile of someone who’s tasting sweet, sweet revenge.
<She’s the reason you’re cut off from the rest of the galaxy, you know. Interstellar travel, free energy, freedom from poverty and disease…she took it all away from you.>
Ben Nevis, Scotland
In the shade of the highest mountain in the British Isles there’s a woman definitely not dressed for the cold weather. As always Vesta is wearing her signature orange tube top; despite her bare shoulders and midriff she’s not freezing to death.
<I’m cold just looking at you> Quantum says. The tall African-American just materialized here, and he’s rubbing his hands in an attempt to warm himself.
<Thank you for coming. Did you get a chance to talk to your sister?> she asks.
<Briefly; they don’t leave her much time. She hasn’t even told me she’s secretly Blue Star, but I thinks she knows that I know. Secret identities, go figure.>
<Did you ask her about Erika?>
<She says she never had a girlfriend with that name…Eris made everything up just to get into the Tower. In hindsight, we should’ve seen it coming: I mean, her name was E. Rhys for God’s sake.>
<I’m not so sure leaving her in the government’s custody was a good idea; Eris has a… talent for spreading chaos in the most subtle ways.>
<You don’t say. So…what are we doing here?>
<Come this way> she says, taking a step towards a massive boulder that is standing in the middle of the mountain track. It must weigh at least a dozen tons, but despite her supermodel physique Vesta is able to lift it with one hand without any effort. There’s a large hole underneath it.
After leaving boulder she steps above the hole, floating without falling.
<Nobody can know about this, understand? We have never been here> she says, flying inside.
Quantum follows her, perplexed. There’s a tunnel underground; candles light up by themselves as she passes by, and their flame vanishes when she leaves.
<This isn’t a date, right? I’m not complaining, mind you, but you said you’re not into mortals.>
<Shh. This is sacred ground, please show some respect> she scolds him, keeping her voice down.
<Sorry. You mean this is some kind of secret church? What do they worship?> he asks, whispering.
<Me> Vesta says as they both enter a large cave.
There is a large brazier in the middle, with a fiery flame illuminating the three paintings on the walls of the cave, hand carved into the stone. The first shows a pregnant woman holding a baby with one hand and a globe with the other. The second a bare-chested man with a stylized lightning bolt in his hand. The third and last is a woman with a fire halo above her head, with a robe covering her chest while leaving her shoulders and her midriff exposed.
<That’s you, right?> Quantum asks.
<This fire was burning even before my exile. I took it here after Rome fell. My priestesses kept the flame alive to honor me, and now I keep it burning to honor those who worshiped me.>
<There’s no need to keep this a secret, you know. You can take the flame to the Tower if you want.>
<That’s not why I asked you to come here. I used to fly here every few years to check on the Palladium, but now I’m too much of a public figure. But you can get in undetected.>
<The Palladium? The thing that Eris was looking for? Why haven’t you told Noriko!?>
<<Because I solemnly swore to Zeus I’d protect it. And Noriko…Athena said the Nexus in her head will eventually corrupt her. She seems to be resisting it now, but I don’t know if she can be trusted.>
Vesta reaches for a secret compartment under the brazier, taking out a statuette less than 8 inches tall. It’s a statue of Athena, a shield on her left arm, lifting a spear triumphantly with her right.
<There’s a Drylon device inside the base. It used to be stored in the Temple of Vesta in Rome; it was moved to Constantinople in the fourth century. Eris was looking for it there, so I hid it away.>
<Why does she want it?>
<Zeus said that Earth needed to be hidden from the gods “to fulfill its destiny”, his words. As for Eris…I don’t think either of us wants to know.>
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