Beyond The Impossible

Spaceship Talaria, 18.000 light-years from Earth

The crew doesn’t trust Noriko Null, which is understandable considering they don’t even trust their own goddess. They barely know Tyche: they swore allegiance to her father Hermes, and they follow the mysterious young goddess only because they have no one else to worship.

Both Null and Tyche are basking in the blue glow of the Talaria’s hyperspace engine, a technological marvel that hums quietly. Tyche is watching Null with a disapproving look, while the latter is working furiously on one of the ship’s terminals.

<I would appreciate leaving the ship intact, Null. It was a gift from my father.>

<You mean you stole it> Noriko answers, without looking at the goddess.

<He’s the god of thieves, he appreciated the gesture. What are you doing?>

<I’m reprogramming the ship’s regenerative systems: instead of repairing damage, they’re building something that will help us stop Selene before she can conquer Argos.>

<You must be joking.  How long do you think the Alliance can withstand the power of a Titan?>

<There’s too many variables  to be sure, but probably less than a hour.>

<Then I don’t see any reason to rush, Null. Argos is seventeen thousand light-years away: it will take us a full day to reach it, and this is the fastest ship in the Galaxy.>

<I can take us there in twenty minutes> Noriko reveals, finishing the last series of instructions for the ship’s computer. It’s been a while since she did this kind of thing manually, but she can’t trust using the Neural Coder to interact with a Hermes ship. Tyche is not impressed, though.

<Really. Do you even know how fast we would need to travel to…>

<Four hundred million times faster than the speed of light, yes. Luckily, I have just the thing.>

A sharp sounds signals the completion of the project: a mechanical arm extracts something from the vat of nanomachines that would usually just replicate simple spare parts, and deposits is into Noriko’s hands. It’s a metallic sphere surrounded by small cylinders, the size of a baseball: she visibly struggles with its weight, until Tyke lifts single-handedly without any effort.

<And what is this supposed to be?>

<A new and improved Negative Drive> Noriko reveals, her silver eyes shining proudly.

 

New York City

Before she opens the door to return to her apartment, Kristen Lynn knows something is up; she can hear someone inside. The safest choice would be to stay away and call the police, but she didn’t become a journalist to play it safe. She takes her gun from her purse and she carefully enters her own apartment, just to see five identical girls with purple hair.

<You know I can call the police and get you arrested> she says.

<Sure. I also know fifteen ways to break your hand before you pull the trigger, so why don’t we both avoid stupid choices?> one of the girls answers, not even remotely intimidated.

<Can’t say I don’t like your style. You’re Kari Zel, I presume?>

<The one and only> all five Kari answer at exactly the same time, before one of them corrects:

<Well, I guess that line doesn’t really work for me, but you get the idea.>

<I was expecting to see Max today. What happened?> Kristen asks.

<He has something more important to do. And so do I, frankly speaking, but unfortunately I don’t have the excuse of being able to be in just one place at a time.>

<So you admit you’re the member of the Vanguard called Legion?>

<I’m not into secret identities, I barely ever use the codename. And since you’ve already figured it out, trying to be secretive would just be a waste of time.>

<Interesting point of view, considering you’re a genuine mystery: I have nothing on your past. It’s as if you just landed from Mars.>

<Something like that…>

 

Argos, 100 light-years from Earth

As the capital of the Alliance, Argos enjoys an unprecedented protection for a planet without an official god. Hundreds of starships patrol its star system, but apparently they didn’t mean much to Selene. Now the planet’s orbit is full of debris of exploded  ships, which are falling on the planet like a widespread rain of fire.

There is still the potential for a resistance, but if the entire fleet couldn’t stop Selene, it  doesn’t seem likely that ground forces could do much to her. To further discourage any foolish attack, there’s a living statue of Selene right in front of the Mortal Senate. As tall as a small mountain, it positively dwarfs the entire building.

Alexer Syzar, the most likely candidate for President of the Senate, stands before what is probably Selene’s true form: a beautiful woman with pure white skin and ash grey hair.

<I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never heard of this “heart of the universe”.>

<Then you are of no use to me. General Khanos, dispose of him> the goddess declares.

<With pleasure> Talas Khanos answers, with a grisly smile on his face. He hold out his hand: with his telekinetic powers, he could kill Syzar with just a thought.

Which makes distracting him a priority. Kari Zel kicks down the door leading to the room; when Khanos turns his head towards the noise, Kari creates a duplicate in the perfect position to kick him in the face. He takes a step back: two of Kari’s duplicates use this moment to drag Syzar to safety, while the third has the very important job of keeping him distracted.

<Talas Khanos. Failing upwards as always, I see.>

<And you still haven’t learned your place> Khanos answers, clenching his fists and preparing to snap Kari’s neck with his mind. The two of them hate each other enough to need very little reason to fight, but they’re interrupted when Selene lifts a finger.

Or more specifically, when her doing so creates an earthquake that makes the entire Senate shake.

<Mortal. You have the stench of the Drylon upon you. Explain yourself.>

<Sorry, I have a strict rule about making conversation with a psycho.>

<Allow me the privilege to kill this nuisance, Selene> Khanos pleads.

<This world no longer holds my interest, General Khanos. Burn it down.>

<You can’t.>

Selene slowly turns towards the woman who just talked, who is pushing away the guards that protect Syzar to talk to the goddess: it’s Ganos Lal, Supreme Pontiff of the Church of Null.

<Not now, Lal, we have enough crazy people already> Kari rolls her eyes.

<I am a Titan, mortal wench. You are alive simply because I allow it.>

<But there’s a higher power that protects this world, Selene.>

<Zeus will not come to your rescue.>

<I’m not talking about Zeus> Lal answers, looking up when the sky roars with the sound of a capital ship entering the atmosphere.

The spaceship Talaria floats above the Senate, casting its shadow over the city. Very few people recognize the symbol of Tyche, but then its loudspeaker projects a familiar voice:

<Hear me, Selene. I am Null, and this world is under my protection. You have one chance to get off the planet. Will you take it, or do I have to get down there to kick your ass?>

Kari Zel is now used to hearing people chanting Null’s name, so she’s not really impressed by the cheers coming from the city. She focuses on Selene, who reacts with composure.

<Kill her.>

Hundreds of marble soldiers take flight; an extension of her will, they may look like lifeless statues but they’ve been able to pierce through all planetary defenses. Kari is not impressed by them either.

Instead, she notices a single detail that everyone’s missing. It lasts just a second, but before it’s expertly replaced by a blank expression, there’s something in Selene’s eyes.

Fear. There’s no doubt for Kari: the goddess is actually scared.

 

Inside the starship Talaria

Another Kari Zel is watching Noriko Null, who is working tirelessly in the cargo bay. She hasn’t seen her this energized in months: immediately after finishing the Negative Drive, she ran to disassemble various components from the ship Callisto which is currently transported inside Tyche’s capital ship.

<Will these work?> Kari asks, presenting Noriko what she ordered her to find: a pair of heavy gloves, from one of the space suits.

<Perfect. Help me with these> Noriko then says, barely holding in her arms the many miscellaneous parts that she took from the Callisto.

<Hey kid. Guess what, we’re under fire> Tyche announces through the internal loudspeaker.

<How long will your shields hold?>

<The second Selene starts trying, we’re done.>

<Figures. Vesta, Quantum, draw her attention and get her away from the city. You don’t have to defeat Selene, I just need you to buy me some time.>

<How much time are we talking about?> Vesta asks through the Neural Transmitter.

Noriko Null watches at the pile of technological junk in front of her, and her silver eyes shine.

<I need to make a miracle, so I’d say about ten minutes.>

Kari has seen her Noriko do this before, and while it’s still thrilling she’s getting used to her style. What she doesn’t expect is seeing Noriko take a small bottle from the inside pocket of her green leather jacket and swallow half a dozen pills, without missing a beat.

<Uhm, Nori? What are those?>

<Remember when I built the first Negative Drive? When my brain overclocked?>

<You mean when you almost blew up New York and your head almost exploded?>

<Yeah. Based on that experience I’ve learned how to make by brain work at peak capacity, but I need to be careful not to overdo it. This stuff keeps me just under the exploding threshold.>

<That sounds like the most insanely dangerous thing you’ve ever done, and that’s really saying something! You already have the God Eraser… what do you need this stuff for?>

<g(ø)=G_e(1+Asin²(ø)-Bsin²(2 ø)).>

<Nori? Hello?> Kari tries to get Null’s attention, but the latter seems completely oblivious to her presence as she feverishly continues her work.

<g^μνG_μν=g^μνR_μν-1/2g^μνg_μνR.>

<Nothing’s ever easy with you, isn’t it?> Kari sighs.

 

At first glance, the fight is unfair: the Talaria is a massive, powerful ship, and Selene’s army lacks any sort of long range weapon. It’s entirely made of living statues: the Talaria’s plasma cannons make short work of them, and the army’s only method of attack is to crash against its shield. There are two things to make things more fair: one, there seems to be no limit to Selene’s ability to create new soldiers. Two, one of them is the size of a mountain.

The colossal statue, which bears an uncanny resemblance to Selene herself, is big enough to hold the Talaria in her arms and hold it tight enough to seriously stress its shields.

Even when tremendous amounts of electricity flow over the statue’s skin, it doesn’t do any damage. The electricity concentrates itself on the statue’s shoulder, where Quantum returns human.

<This really sucks: I can blow it up with the Antimatter Punch, but it would destroy the city.>

The statue lets the ship go, and one of its hands slaps its own shoulder trying to kill Quantum like an annoying mosquito. He’s on the other shoulder within the blink of an eye.

<You’ve got to be faster to catch me, lady> Quantum teases the statue, moving away fast enough to avoid her hand. The statue only takes a few steps trying to catch him, but it’s so big that it’s enough to move at least her feet away from the city… and right inside the circle of fire where Vesta’s molten the ground into a pool of lava. The statue stumbles, but luckily for the city it doesn’t fall.

<My turn. MEGATON PUNCH!> Quantum shouts: when his fist connects to the statue’s head, the pure kinetic energy reduces it to ash raining over the city.

The headless statue keeps its place, casting its shadow over the city.