New York City
The whole city has been waiting for this. For months, both humans and robots have been working around the clock to build a new skyscraper: this wouldn’t normally be anything special (except for the robots), but this building soon promised to be something new.
Far from being the tallest, it has a weird shape: like a cube stacked above a slightly larger one. Where the two separate structures touch, there’s a large Ø symbol on every façade.
A huge crowd is gathered outside, waiting for something to happen. The cameras start rolling when the Mayor shows up to cut the ceremonial ribbon, but he doesn’t seem to do anything.
A single row of windows lights up, right below the Ø symbol. This attracts the crowd’s attention just to see someone jump down. There are screams of panic and many people look away, but the cameras are still rolling to film the most spectacular ribbon cutting ever.
The body comes to a sudden stop, but not in the way it’s supposed to do when falling fifty stories. It floats in the air just a few feet above the ground: those who haven’t looked away recognize the body as belonging to Noriko Null, the building’s owner, protected by an energy bubble.
It’s not over: she’s holding what looks like a laser sword, and when the bubble vanishes she lands using it to cut the ribbon.
Everyone in the crowd goes from holding their breath to cheering, applauding and screaming. Noriko drinks every ounce of energy in it; she twirls the laser sword in her hand, transforming it back into the Genius Gun with a flick of her wrist, and she shouts:
<New York City, meet the new Null Tower!>
Her silver eyes shine with electricity. As they do so, the first floor of the Tower comes to life; then the second, the third and so on, until they first reach the four Ø symbols and then the top of the building, turning the skyscraper into a beacon of light radiating the whole city.
Inside Null Tower
Noriko’s skydiving stunt looks impressive on millions of TV screens all over the world; who knows if it would look the same if people knew it was done with holograms.
Not because she doesn’t have the means to do it. The only reason Kari Zel impersonated her during the stunt is that Noriko’s heart is still too weak to do something that crazy.
Instead she’s inside one of the most secure labs in the building, one where she’s usually the only authorized person to enter. But now she’s accompanied by her personal physician, Dr. Catherine Kalama, and they’re both watching something far more disturbing than the stunt.
<I don’t care what you say, she looks alive to me> the doctor says.
The lab houses a transparent container filled with a thick layer of nutrients. The body of a ten year old girl is floating inside, motionless. Or at least that’s what she looks like: she’s actually two weeks old, with a cable connecting to her abdomen serving like a technological umbilical cord. She’s even breathing through the respirator attached to her head.
<I told you, she’s off-line. The rest of her body works just fine, but her brain is just inactive.>
<Does she have… well… your brain?>
<Of course. She’s my clone: once she’s fully matured, we’ll be virtually indistinguishable.>
<But she’s brain dead.>
<Apparently my brain has changed so much that it can’t function without the Nexus device inside my head. The Nexus must have mutated my DNA to a degree I hadn’t anticipated.>
<I still can’t believe you made a clone of yourself. What if she had a human brain?>
<No, I wouldn’t have done it. My original plan was just to replicate my heart. I went along with the full cloning process when I discovered the possibility to replicate my brain as well.>
<That makes it sound even creepier.>
<It… seemed like a good idea at the time> Noriko shrugs.
<Speaking of creepy, can’t you at least make her wear some clothes?>
The clone’s body is not easily visible through the thick liquids, but she’s clearly naked. She look like Noriko’s little sister, albeit with much longer hair.
<What for? I’m the only one who can set foot in this lab.>
<I sure hope so. Isn’t this insanely illegal?>
<You would think so, but there’s considerable grey area around human cloning. Believe me, I looked it up. You… disapprove?>
<I don’t know, Noriko, I… I just don’t know, this is such a weird thing. What are you going to do once she’s an adult? It can’t take much longer, at the rate she’s growing.>
<Actually, according to the research done by Khanos, I should slow down her aging process right before the onset of puberty. It will be another couple of weeks before you can do the transplant.>
<Me? Noriko, I’m not a surgeon! I can’t do a heart transplant all by myself!>
<I can> Null boasts, her silver eyes shining in the dimly lit room.
<You want to do heart surgery on yourself? How is that even possible!?>
<Leave the impossible to me. I just need you to assist during the operation, in case it goes wrong.>
<Everything about this whole idea is wrong…>
<Once the process is perfected I will be able to replicate any organ within days; cloned heart transplant could save millions of lives, without even factoring that scarcity of compatible blood for transfusions will be a thing of the past. How is this wrong, exactly?>
Dr. Kalama is saved by a buzz on Noriko’s watch.
<Well, it’s time for my press conference. Are you coming, doctor?>
<I’m not staying here alone> Dr. Kalama rushes to say, giving one last look at the clone before leaving the lab. The clone’s eyes are closed, but the doctor still feels watched.
DeKalb County, Georgia
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
This federal agency houses one of the most secure laboratories in the world, equipped to handle the most dangerous diseases known to mankind… hopefully, even when it’s not from Earth.
Unbeknownst by the general public, the CDCP stores two samples that have absolutely nothing in common with any other known biological organism: one recovered from the Centurion attack on Washington DC, and one from the corpse of a woman once possessed by Eris.
Neither has an official name yet, but they have been called Shadow and Strife cells respectively.
Dr Brown watches nervously from behind the reinforced glass, standing next to an elderly Japanese man. He knows Dr. Hiraga by fame: legend has it that he never won a Nobel prize for his research on human genetics only because of the rumors of his family’s connection to the Yakuza.
<I’m looking forward to working with you on this project, Dr. Hiraga. I understand you’ve studied the Shadow cells as much as we have.>
<Yes, I have examined many fallen Centurions> Dr. Hiraga answers with a thick accent. What he doesn’t say is that he’s the one who engineered the Centurions for the Empire of Shadows, with considerable help from Leiko Tanaka and information provided by the Core.
<But I am much more interested in Strife. I am most impressed in how you have managed to isolate the mutated cells left behind by Eris.>
<It wasn’t easy. Strife is unlike anything I’ve ever seen: it reacts violently with any kind of organic life, killing it instantly. Even the Shadow cells didn’t last long, and those things adapt to anything.>
<I have done some work on the Centurions, Dr. Brown. I believe I may have found something that can resist Strife long enough for us to study it> Dr. Hiraga explains.
Inside the lab, the technicians are mixing three separate samples: Strife, Shadow and a few cells from the Many. Dr. Hiraga has studied the research provided by Hermes: the Many’s ability to reproduce rapidly should keep up with Strife’s lethality, helped by the Centurions’ adaptability.
Strife is just the byproduct of the possession by Eris, but it’s the closest thing possible to genetic samples of a true goddess. If only such power could be replicated, the Empire of Shadows would truly be unstoppable.
Together, all the samples would fit nicely inside a drop of water. A tiny syringe adds a handful of cells from the Many… and the mass grows exponentially, so fast that in the blink of an eye the technician’s hand is covered with green and purple goo.
He screams in pain as the alien substance latches on tight enough to break his hand. The room is thrown into chaos: the lab is evacuated immediately, with the technician shaking uncontrollably as the alien creeps inside the pressurized suit.
<Oh my God> Dr Brown says, horrified by what’s happening right before his eyes. Despite all hell breaking loose, Dr Hiraga is unnaturally calm.
<Yes. Finally, we have our god> he nods complacently.
Inside the lab, the pressurized suit stops moving. Something rips through it, revealing the creature.
It’s humanoid, but just barely. Its androgynous body has traces of the female Many and the male Centurion, even though the creature is visibly asexual. Its body is mostly green, with large purple stripes running vertically across it, as well as long purple hair.
Its face is entirely inhuman: in fact, it doesn’t have one. Just two bright red eyes: they almost look feminine, even though they’re compound eyes… like an insect’s.
First it looks at its hands, seemingly fascinated at how it can move the fingers. Then it goes for the door: it’s been locked immediately after the evacuation. It’s been designed to prevent unauthorized access to the lab, as well as to keep it isolated: it’s not there to prevent something from escaping.
The creature rips the door from the wall like it was made of paper, and walks out of the lab.
New York City
Null Tower Press Hall
A Noriko Null press conference is a very rare thing. Most journalists have to rely on carefully planned press releases, or a quick statement by her de facto spokesman Todd Slate, but occasionally she will get before them on a podium and answers some questions.
Sometimes they’re about her latest invention’s impact on society, or her latest trip to a foreign country, or a comment about her most active critics. Every once in a while someone tries to ask a question about her personal life, just to be silenced immediately.
But usually questions are about the Vanguard, and it’s easy to see why. It’s been almost two years since they appeared and besides their names and powers, the public knows nothing about them.
Noriko may be reclusive but people know her. Quantum, Vesta, Torn and Legion (as the public knows Kari Zel) are mysteries. Superhumans with incredible powers and unknown agendas.
<Before we go into the specifics of Null Tower, there’s something people deserve to know. I’ve given it a lot of thought and decided to talk about this. A lot has been said and written about me; in fact, there are 1,754 books about me. A couple are even decent.>
Noriko pauses to allow time for some chuckles from the audience; a trick suggested by Todd.
<My life has been examined thoroughly and many have asked the question: how does an entirely average high school dropout become the world’s smartest person overnight? To reference the most popular conspiracy theory: yes, my great-grandfather was a Nazi scientist and no, I am not the result of an experiment to conquer the world.>
“Well, I am, but it’s my mother’s plan” she thinks, without pausing for effect this time.
<As you may recall, over a year ago a meteor exploded over New York City. I can now tell you that the energies and compounds released triggered extraordinary mutations in a few people. I was one of them> she reveals, and the room becomes loud.
Everyone has a thousand questions, but she continues:
<I was not the only one. All the other superhumans you know received their power that day: some of them joined me in the Vanguard, while others like Artemis and Abyss…>
In the midst of it all, Noriko feels her phone vibrating in her pocket. It’s a message from the President of the United States, and to say it’s urgent would be the understatement of the century.
<Sorry guys, we’ll finish this some other time. I have to go save the world.>
Discussion ¬