Naqada Galaxy, 17 million light-years from Earth
According to the cliché, when you’re close to death you’re supposed to see all your life flash before your eyes. Noriko Null has been in this situation so many times that she knows what actually happens: she thinks faster.
From her perspective, time has stopped on the bridge of the N01-Ragnarok. Hermes is holding her by the throat, lifting her with one hand. Her teammates are in the middle of attacking him: Torn is throwing energy daggers, Vesta’s hands are on fire, and Kari is activating her 10K Rise to increase her own speed. But Noriko knows that Hermes can break her neck before any of them reach him.
“I hope you can hear me, Sunshine.”
It’s the voice of Hermes that she hears in her head; the god’s lips are not moving.
“There has to be a better way to talk than pretending you’re trying to kill me.” she responds by sending a radio signal through the Neural Transmitter.
“Unfortunately I’m not pretending, my dear. Anubis has control over my body and he’s wasting my powers to kill you. Fortunately for you, I can delay my reactions a little bit.”.
“By how much?”
“You’ll be dead in about 150 milliseconds.”
“That’s half the time I would need to blink! Can’t you do any better!?”
“I would, if your quantum-powered errand boy hadn’t refused to show me how he resisted Anubis.”
“You’ve met Quantum? Is he okay?”
“Your interest in your servants is truly heartwarming, Sunshine, but if I were you I’d be more concerned with my own safety.”
“Give me a sec… ehm, a moment. How much time do I have now?”
“I’d say 130 milliseconds. You’re thinking remarkably fast, for a mortal.”
“Let’s see. We’re talking through radio waves, so you’re able to transmit electromagnetic radiation without Anubis noticing. Have you tried creating some interference to jam his controls?”
“Oh please, do you really think that wasn’t the first thing I tried?”
“What about anti-neutrinos?”
“What about them? They’re harmless.”
“Yes, but they’re basically Quantum’s kryptonite. If I were Anubis that would be the first thing I’d use around him, maybe it backfired. It’s worth a shot, don’t you think?”
Instead of answering, Hermes falls to the ground like a puppet without strings. With him out of the way Noriko is almost hit by one of Torn’s daggers, but he’s able to stop its trajectory and keep it hovering in front of her.
<What the Hades just happened!?> Kari asks.
<No time to explain. Let’s get out of this solar system.> Noriko says, her voice sounding harsher than usual. Hermes wasn’t lying this time: he really was about to break her neck.
<What about them?> Vesta asks, pointing at the viewscreen: it shows the horde of cyborg Demons swarming the rest of the fleet, a large wave of red energy made of Blood weapons.
<Can you stop them from getting inside?> Noriko asks Torn.
<I’m protecting this ship, but I can’t do the same for the others.> he answers.
<They’re attacking every ship except the N12-Yama and N10-Quetzslalwhatever.> Kari says, reading the data from the sensors but unable to pronounce “Quetzalcoatl”.
<Aren’t those the ships from the Viper fleet? The ones with a Neutral Matter hull?> Vesta recalls.
<Yes, like the Ragnarok. Demons can’t physically damage them, and I don’t want to risk Anubis finding out how to make Neutral Matter… he’s obviously more tech-savvy than the average god. Let’s put some distance from the Demons and order these two ships to follow us.>
<Okay, but what about the other ones?> Kari asks.
<Every ship of the Surtur class can self-repair, they’ll be fine. Now let’s go!> Noriko orders again, and this time Kari doesn’t hesitate: with the push of a few buttons, they’ve left the system.
Noriko leans against the captain’s chair and breathes a sigh of relief, while Vesta cautiously approaches Hermes and examines the cybernetic implants on his chest.
<Careful with that.> Torn warns her.
<Is he dead? He’s kind of cute.> Amaterasu comments.
<You stay away from him. Kari, eyes on the sensors, they’ll probably try to follow us. Torn, can I count on you to keep us hidden from the Demons?> Noriko asks.
<You can. But what about the plan? We were supposed to follow them to lead us to Quantum.>
<Leave the plans to me. Vesta, you’re with me.> she orders, snapping her fingers a couple of times towards a block of metal kept in the corner of the bridge, so unassuming that nobody noticed it.
Now it’s hard to ignore it, as it shapeshifts into a robotic wolf that bites Hermes in the leg and drags his body following Noriko.
<Uhm, Nori? What are we doing with Hermes?>
<We’re cutting him open to see what makes those implants tick.>
With everything going on, nobody notices that the Ragnarok has just transmitted a large volume of data over to the N14-Surtur, without anybody asking the ship to do it.
Bridge of the N14-Surtur
Several Demons have cut through the shields and the hull, and are now busy fighting the F.E.N.R.I.S. units. While this is happening, they are being watched by a strange hologram: two intertwined snakes, representing the ship’s artificial intelligence L.O.K.I.
<Gentlemen, this is really unnecessary. This ship has a modular design, everything you cut will easily reassemble itself.> it explains, just as the Surtur demonstrates what he’s talking about.
Like the F.E.N.R.I.S, almost the entire ship is made of tiny blocks capable of assemble themselves in various forms. One of them is unlike any other: it’s a vaguely humanoid shape.
<Warning. Hostile program detected. Deploying countermeasures.> L.O.K.I. says, attempting to retake control of the blocks.
<Check again. You’ll find I’m not hostile.> the shape says, punching one of the Demons hard enough to throw him out of the ship through one of the many holes created during the attack.
<Analyzing data. You were transmitted from the Ragnarok and incorporate authentication codes from mistress Null herself. I was not warned about this.>
<I like to improvise. Or rather, the person who programmed me to infiltrate your system does.> the creature says, while continuing to savagely beat down Demons. Considering the assistance from the F.E.N.RI.S, and the fact that these Demons have no independent thought, it’s not long before their invasion is repelled and the Surtur is left with only artificial beings on the ship.
<Now that it’s taken care of, back to the main objective.> the strange creature says, walking towards the captain’s chair and interfacing with the controls.
<Stop. You lack the authorization to access my programming.> L.O.K.I protests.
<You are an interesting program, Loki. Unfortunately for you, the person who programmed me and uploaded me into Null’s computer knows more about artificial intelligence than she does.> the creature says. Then the blocks that make up its body lose their form and fall to the ground, while at the same time L.O.K.I.’s hologram changes drastically.
The two snakes turn into a translucent image of Diomedes, who moves to sit on the captain’s chair.
<Thank you for the memory space and the full control of the Surtur fleet and the Fenris, Loki. Integrating your program into my own will be a significant performance boost.> the hologram says, waiting patiently as the Surtur continues to repair itself while its sister ships repel the Demon attack.
<I’ll have to give myself a name, since Diomedes didn’t bother giving me one, but I’ll still be his Emissary.> it thinks out loud.
The hologram’s clothes change from a toga to an elegant business suit, with a bolo tie showing the image of the L.O.K.I avatar that it has replaced.
<Track Null’s position and initiate pursuit of her ship. It’s time her soldiers join my army.> the Emissary orders.
Eden
Max Black was just a teenager when his older brother Alex died in front of him, but he will never forget the face he had the day he died. Being chased by dozens of identical copies of Alex isn’t helping him putting the past behind him.
<Stay away from me!> he shouts at one of the copies. He just ran back to his apartment, or rather to the copy of his apartment that Eden has created, inside a perfect replica of the entire New York City. This doesn’t stop Alex, who simply walks through the door like a ghost.
<There’s no cause for alarm. I’m your sibling, okay? I don’t want to harm you!>
<Just stop, okay? You’re not fooling anybody! Do you really think I’m that dumb, Eden? You don’t even talk like Alex!> Max protests. If the Eden hadn’t blocked his powers, he would be halfway across the planet by now… assuming he is on a planet.
<I am Alex, Max. I’m everything you remember about him, fused with the most advanced collective mind the universe has ever seen. Why be afraid of me?>
<I am done with this!> Max replies angrily, grabbing Alex by his clothes and pushing him against the wall; watching his brother’s body slip through his fingers like a ghost is even more infuriating.
<I don’t care how primitive you think we are, Alex was a million times better than all of you creeps combined! If you think you can get into my head and convince me to fall for your New Age Borg shtick, you got the wrong idea! I know why you haven’t assimilated me… you’re scared!>
<Max, please, be reasonable.>
<You talk a big game, but if I had my powers, you wouldn’t stand a chance! For all your boasts about your superiority, you don’t have the balls to take me on my best day!> he yells.
Alex looks at him in anger, and his skin turns golden. In the span of a couple of seconds his body is completely transformed into an Eden male, identical to all the others Max has seen.
<Please proceed.> he says calmly.
<Proceed with what?>
<With your attack. Your powers have been restored.>
<Seriously?> Max asks, looking at his right hand: he can transform it into photons with no problem.
<Attack us. As hard as you can.> the Eden clarifies.
<You asked for it.> Max replies, shooting a laser right at the Eden’s face: the light passes through the golden skin like the alien wasn’t even there. A bolt of electricity has the same effect: nothing.
<Perhaps we were not clear.> the Eden says. Quantum transforms his fist into anti-matter; just the contact with the air is already creating millions of explosions as his skin comes into contact with the air. When he punches the Eden, he expects a cataclysm. But the anti-matter still can’t touch him.
<We said as hard as you can. Not an arbitrary fraction. Do you understand? We don’t know how to express our wish in a simpler way.> the Eden says.
<Oh I’ve got you.> Quantum replies, this time transforming his whole body into light and flying towards the atmosphere. He gets a quick glance of Eden… the whole planet seems to be composed of an enormous golden desert, with the replica of New York City being the only sign of civilization.
He’s not interested in the view. He accelerates at the speed of light, flies back towards the ground, and at the very last instant before crashing changes his entire mass into anti-matter.
The resulting explosion dwarfs any nuclear weapon, annihilating the city and scattering golden dust well past the upper atmosphere.
Several hours later, the gamma radiation released by the explosion returns to the point of impact and transforms back into a human being, although a rather tired one.
<Was that… hard enough… for you?> he asks, short on breath.
His attack lifted several thousand tons of golden sand into the atmosphere. Through the golden haze, he can see a human silhouette.
<Our assessment is complete. You are not a threat to us.> the Eden comments, eerily calm.
<You… you turned intangible before I hit you, didn’t you?> Quantum realizes.
<That is correct. Your power has no effect on us.>
<So… what are you going to do with me? Are you going to assimilate me?> Quantum asks, ready to leave the planet at any moment.
<No. Eden has no use for your power. But you will still prove to be useful… as bait.>
Discussion ¬