Max Black never thought that he’d find a spaceship boring. But after spending two days in one, drifting aimlessly in a mysterious galaxy, he’s sick of it.
Everything is perfect to annoy him: it’s a Naga ship, and since they don’t have legs but snake-like tails the chairs are unbelievably uncomfortable. He can’t pass the time on the ship’s computer since he doesn’t understand the language, and his only company hasn’t said a word for hours.
The Shabti, the cyborg woman who helped him escape Anubis, sits in a corner looking miserable.
<I’m not hungry.> Max finally breaks the ice.
<What?> she asks.
<I said I’m not hungry. I haven’t eaten in days and I just noticed it.>
<Of course you’re not hungry. You’re dead.> the Shabti explains.
<Will you stop saying that? I wouldn’t be talking to you if I were dead!> he objects.
<Why not?>
<What do you mean why not? Dead people don’t talk!>
<I’m not in the mood for games, Quantum. By helping you I have betrayed my god and lost my chance at witnessing the afterlife… I have a lot on my mind right now.> the Shabti replies.
<I still think we should’ve tried to steal the Key of Heaven from Anubis. I would be home right now.>
<The Key is under strict supervision, Anubis would have spotted us immediately. I can stop him from tracking us, but not at a short distance. The best thing to do is stay as far away from him as possible, and then…> she explains, then she stop and seems lost.
<Then what? What’s the plan?> he asks.
<I don’t know. This Galaxy belongs to him and we have nowhere to go. I dedicated my afterlife to a false god.> she admits; her voice sounds like she’s about to cry, but her cyborg body lacks the necessary tear ducts.
<Well… that sucks. We’ll have to improvise.> he decides.
<How do you do it?>
<Improvise? Usually I hang around until Noriko comes up with a crazy idea, but…>
<No, I mean, how are you not succumbing to despair!? We have angered Anubis and we have nowhere to run!!!>
<He’s not the only god I’ve pissed off. We’ll beat him somehow.>
<But we’ve lost our chance at eternal life! And once we lose our implants, our souls will disappear into oblivion. We might as well accept our fate and surrender.>
<And what would that accomplish?> Quantum asks her.
The Shabti can’t decide if he’s too stupid to understand their situation or if he’s the wisest being she’s ever met. There’s an awkward silence between the two that seems to last an eternity, and is interrupted only by an incessant beep from the ship’s computer.
<Something’s beeping!> he exclaims cheerfully, looking at the navigational systems.
<It’s an alarm: the ship just stopped moving. Why are you so happy about it?>the Shabti says.
<Because weird s#it always happens when a spaceship starts beeping. Why did we stop?>
<A remote command. We are being intercepted by other Naga ships.> the Shabti explains, reading the information relayed by the computers. Not that she needs it: Quantum can can see the ships through the main viewscreen.
<Is that good? I forgot if the Naga are the bad guys around here.> he says.
<Few of them worship Anubis, but they shouldn’t be hostile. They probably want to know how a Naga ship ended up in his possession.>
<About that, how did you end up with a Naga ship?>
<We got it during a skirmish with the golden invaders.>
<What do you mean by… oh crap.> Quantum comments, realizing the situation when two humanoids pass through the ship’s hull like ghosts: a man and a woman, with golden skin.
<Servant of Null. What an unexpected encounter.> they both say.
<The Eden. I was so looking forward never seeing you jerks again.> Quantum sighs.
N01-Ragnarok, orbiting the Moon
Torn steps out of a pentagram-shaped portal, looking around: the bridge is a disaster area, with several Kari duplicates working together to fix the damaged instrumentation.
They are not alone: as expected Vesta is there, but the Demon is surprised to find Amaterasu.
<Why are you here?> he asks her.
<Torn, don’t be rude! You could at least say hello!> Vesta reprimands her.
<Hello. Why are you here?> Torn repeats.
The young goddess is unsure what to answer, so Vesta does it for her:
<She’s here to help. We’re up against Anubis, we need all the help we can get.> she points out.
<When Anubis invaded Hell, she failed to protect the Lady Of All Demons. She’s a liability.>
<Is he mad at me?> Amaterasu whispers to the nearest Kari.
<It’s hard to tell, he always sounds like that.> the Myridian whispers back.
<Is Vice going to be alright? I like her.> Amaterasu says.
<She will recover. No thanks to you.>
<You’re welcome, mister Torn!>
<Just Torn. And I wasn’t complimenting you.>
<Mister Just Torn, I’m sorry that the big bad dog hurt your friends, and I want to hurt him back.>
<Anubis. Are you doing that on purpose?>
<Doing what?>
<Getting my name wrong, using a strange name for Anubis, misunderstanding the meaning of… do you find this funny?> Torn asks Kari and Vesta, who are visibly doing their best to avoid laughing.
<I’m sorry, it’s just… usually you are the one who misunderstands idioms.> Kari answers.
<She is frustrating. It’s like she lives in her own little world.> he points out.
<I don’t! I live in a cave. Or I used to, until the big bad dog blew it up.> Amaterasu responds.
<I didn’t mean it literally. It was the speech of a figure.>
<A figure of speech.> Vesta corrects him.
<How can a speech have a figure if it doesn’t have a body?> Amaterasu wonders.
<I asked myself the same thing, but it’s a human idiom. They can be very weird.> Torn explains.
<Mister Just Torn, what does “figure of speech” mean?> Amaterasu asks.
<It’s when you say one thing when you actually mean something else.>
<Really? It sounds very confusing!>
<It is.>
<I’m beginning to think that having those two in the same mission was a mistake.> Kari tells Vesta.
Before they can continue the discussion, Noriko Null is teleported on the bridge.
She hands a duffel bag to one of the Kari duplicates, looks at Amaterasu and raises an eyebrow.
<I vouch for her.> Vesta answers her question before she can even ask her.
<What is this, your luggage?> Kari asks, opening the bag: it contains several glowing containers and a laptop, which Noriko snatches from her hands.
<I was hoping you were just bringing spare underwear. What is all this stuff?>
<Miniaturized plasma reactors, optimized for detonation. I call them Pocket Nukes.>
<Uhm, you mean these are…>
<Pocket-sized nuclear bombs.> Noriko nonchalantly explains.
Kari carefully puts the duffel bag back on the floor and slowly walks away; all of her duplicates get a little more distance from it.
<Don’t be silly, they’re not set to detonate right now! We’re going to teleport them first.>
<Ah, Nori, why do you have those?> Vesta asks.
<To activate the portal to the Shadow Network.>
<No, I mean, why would you create something like that!?>
<Because aliens and robots and gods keep invading my planet. We’re going to need a nuclear explosion to activate the portal to the Naqada Galaxy, and we’ll need another one to get back. Pocket Nukes are pretty reliable, so I dug these out of the basement.>
<You keep nukes in your basement!?>
<Well I’m not going to keep them in the living room, that’s for sure. Now I just have to teleport a couple in the crater where we left the portal, detonate them, and we’ll be good to go.>
<Ehm, Nori, I hate to tell you, but we busted the Ragnarok’s teleporter when… wait, how did you teleport on the ship without it!?> Kari just realizes.
<I’m glad you asked. Remember the new Surtur-class ships I built to fight Nephthys?> Noriko asks, perfectly timed with the Ragnarok’s systems detecting an incoming ship.
<You brought the Surtur to Earth?> Kari asks, as one of her duplicates studies the sensor screen: it shows ten incoming ships.
<I’ve brought the Surtur fleet to Earth. Now let’s go rescue Max.> Noriko says, her eyes turning silver for a moment.
Naqada Galaxy, 17 million light-years from Earth
Quantum’s first reaction is to shoot lightning at the two Eden in front of him. Of course it doesn’t do anything: it just passes through their intangible bodies, instead wreaking havoc on the ship’s computer system.
<Don’t be scared. We don’t wish to harm you.> the female Eden says, stepping closer: the ship’s artificial gravity just disappeared, but this doesn’t seem to have an effect on her.
<Yeah, like I’m gonna believe you. Shabti, let’s… Shabti!> he exclaims when he sees the male Eden touching the Shabti’s shoulder: this is apparently enough to paralyze the cyborg, who just stands there with a blank stare.
<Let her go! You said you didn’t want to hurt us!> he says, trying to punch the Eden. Due to the loss of gravity, all he manages to do is spinning uncontrollably in the air.
<We are not harming her. We are bringing her to Eden, where she can join infinity.> the man explains with eerie calm.
<Well I’m not going to let you assimilate me!> Quantum replies, transforming into radio waves and leaving the ship. He has all intentions of rescuing the Shabti, but he has get some distance from the Eden and figure out a strategy.
Something that isn’t easy when ten other Eden show up out of nowhere… five more men and five more women, identical to the first two in every way.
<What a curious specimen. He is resisting the primitive necrobots of the jackal god.> one says.
<Curious indeed. He doesn’t possess sufficient mental abilities to resist Anubis.> another adds.
<Get any closer and I’ll show you what I’m capable of. What do you want from me?> Quantum asks, hoping they don’t call his bluff: as far as he knows, there’s no way to really harm them.
<What we want from any inferior lifeform. Elevate you to infinity.>
<And if I refuse?>
<Acceptance is futile.> the Eden answer, as one of them manages to grab his arm.
A nameless planet, hundreds of light-years away
A large black jackal is sleeping, curled up on a throne. When an insistent beeping sound awakes him, the jackal stands up and rapidly morphs into an eight feet tall cyborg humanoid.
<Shabti. Report to me at once.> he orders.
In response, a Demon woman steps out of a fire pentagram: her body still shows the damage sustained fighting Anubis, with half of her face replaced with glowing implants.
<The Strongest Under The Heavens and the former Shabti have been intercepted by the Eden. Do you wish to reconnect them to the network, Lord Anubis?>
<That won’t be necessary. Let them enjoy freedom until I need their bodies again.> Anubis answers. His artificial eyes project a hologram of the galaxy, with a single blinking golden light identifying the position of the Eden.
<The bait worked just as intended. Get my army ready to slaughter the Eden.>
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