Null Tower, New York City, Earth
Like all members of the Vanguard, Vesta still keeps her own apartment in the building even if she never uses it.
Kari Zel knocked on the door several times, without receiving any answer. She decides to test the powers that she’s been granted, closing her eyes and concentrating.
“Radio waves” she thinks, and her entire body transforms into just that.
She rematerializes on the other side of the door, amazed that she managed to both keep her clothes and avoid overshooting her target by several miles.
But her acknowledgement of the advantages provided by this ability is surpassed by the strange sight before her: there are no less than twenty identical copies of Vesta in the apartment.
Most of them are laying on the floor, and most of them are naked.
<What the Hades happened here?> Kari asks, consciously keep her voice loud enough to wake up Vesta… all of the Vestas, actually.
The answer is a cacophony of “sorry” and “I overslept” in many variations, as the duplicates try to compose themselves… only to somehow create another six new bodies.
<Okay, calm down. Where’s the original?> Kari asks.
<Sorry, sorry, that’s my bad! Sorry!> a visibly disheveled Vesta excuses herself, coming out of her bedroom while attempting to avoid stepping over her own duplicates… and in the process, another three pop into existence.
<Vesta, you can’t go on like this. You have to get rid of your duplicates.>
<I’ve tried! How do I do that?> the former goddess asks. From the looks of it, she’s had a terrible night… Kari has only seen her with unkempt hair only in the heat of her fiercest battles, and she even has bags under her eyes.
<You just… do it. Think about them disappearing and they do.>
<Will it hurt them?> Vesta asks.
<Oh for crying… look, if it makes you feel any better, just re-absorb them!>
<I don’t know how to do that either.> Vesta admits.
<Come on, every Myridian learns how to do that in their teens. Just imagine taking their hands and pulling them towards you, except it’s not their hand but their mind.>
<Alright. I’ll give it a shot.> Vesta replies, closing her eyes to concentrate.
The duplicates vanish in rapid succession with a soft popping sound, after which Vesta loses her balance in a dizzy spell.
Kari’s first instinct is to create a duplicate to catch her, but since she can’t do that anymore the former goddess just falls to the floor.
<Sorry! I’m still used to duplicates. What happened?> Kari asks, kneeling down to help her friend.
<I think I absorbed their memories… so many perspectives, all at once… I wasn’t prepared for that. Or for how fragile mortal bodies are.> Vesta complains, leaning against Kari to get back on her feet while massaging her own backside.
<I never truly realized how fragile mortal bodies are… everything I do either hurts me or tires me.>
<Excuse me if I’m not exactly sympathetic.> Kari quips, rolling her eyes.
<Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to… that must have sounded quite rude.>
<A little bit. But that’s okay, I can imagine how traumatic it must be losing your powers for the first time… I’ve lost my duplicating powers twice when I was pregnant, and I’m still having trouble adjusting having just one body to work with.> Kari admits.
<It’s not my first time being mortal. Heaven turned me into one, remember? And I was even considerably older than what I am right now. I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly was different, but it wasn’t like this at all.>
<It probably has something to do with the fact that Heaven was based on your own interpretation of what being mortal would have been like.> Kari suggests.
<Goes to show that you can’t truly understand someone unless you walk in their shoes, even if you spend millennia living with them.>
<Speaking of shoes and the likes, Vesta… we have to get you into Myridian clothing, otherwise all of your duplicates will appear nude. Not that I’m complaining, of course, but… Noriko wants to see us in Midgard City, and believe me you do not want to walk around Antarctica naked.>
<Can’t I just borrow yours?>
<With your size? Vesta, I might not be as small as Noriko, but I don’t nearly measure up.>
<Ugh, fine. I suppose Noriko won’t mind waiting for us, now that she’s immortal.> the former goddess sighs, after which she’s interrupted by a growling noise coming from her abdomen.
<We should also get you something to eat.> Kari suggests.
<I don’t think it’s hunger. I ate something tonight.>
<What do you mean “tonight”?>
<Well I’m not used to hunger so I wasn’t really sure how much I should eat, plus I had to share dinner with my duplicates. So I woke up in the middle of the night to eat whatever was left in the fridge. This is definitely more uncomfortable than I imagined.> Vesta notes, touching her belly.
<Vesta… you haven’t set foot in this apartment for quite a while. How old was that food?>
<I don’t know. Three, four months maybe.>
Another growl, significantly louder than the first.
<Please tell me you’re toilet trained.> Kari says.
<I’ve raised over a dozen children, Kari, of course I know how to use the bathroom. I’ve just… never had to use it… myself. Can you just… give me five minutes?> Vesta excuses herself, with a rather undignified shuffle towards the restroom.
Imperial Palace, Midgard City, Antarctica
Noriko Null lays on the medical bed, staring at the atomic scanning light above her.
Logically she knows it can’t hurt her, but she find it distressing that she can’t remember how the device actually works. Even if she built it herself.
<Noriko, please, stay still.> Doctor Kalama tells her, without raising her eyes from the holographic screen controlling the scanner.
<I’m not moving.> Noriko replies.
<You’re levitating over the bed. It can influence the results.> the doctor tells her.
Noriko realizes that she’s right: she’s actually floating a couple inches above the bed.
<Dammit. Gimme a sec. This keeps happening… tonight I bumped my head against the ceiling like four times.>
<Do you even still need to sleep?>
<I guess not, I wasn’t able to fall asleep all night. Not that it matters, I’m not tired. I’m feeling great, actually, even if the vision thing is annoying as hell.> Noriko explains, slowly descending and finally stopping levitating.
<What vision thing?>
<I can see infrared light now. Well, that’s not just seeing, I can sense temperature around me; does that even make sense to you?>
<Nothing about your situation makes sense to me, Noriko. Come see this.> Doctor Kalama says, shutting down the scanner. Noriko gets off the bed, leaning against it as she does… and in doing so, accidentally pressing against it with enough force to crush it into the floor.
<Well, there goes a couple million dollars.> the doctor comments.
<Dammit, why is everything so f##king fragile!?> Noriko vents her frustration, and the room’s temperature is raised by ten degrees.
<What happened? Is anyone hurt?> Quantum asks, barging into the infirmary.
<Just my patience.> Noriko answers, crossing her arms.
<Please calm yourself, there is no reason to cause damages over petty inconveniences. Also, if you want to look taller, wearing heels might attract less attention.> Quantum tells her, pointing at her feet… at which point Noriko realizes she’s floating again.
<I swear to God I’m gonna have to wear lead shoes.> Noriko groans, forcing herself to get back down on the ground.
<Realistically, given Vesta’s ability to defy gravity, Neutral Matter would be a better…>
<Oh shut up. And what’s up with the elaborate words? You can just speak like a normal person!>
<Seems like an unconscious side effect of the enhancement of my knowledge of vocabulary.>
<That’s dumb. I didn’t talk like that when I got my powers!>
<I seem to remember that you did, for a while…>
<Guys, can you please focus? I have the results from the scanner.> Doctor Kalama tells them, noticing they’re both remarkably more erratic than their usual selves.
<In short: whatever that Drylon device did, it completely replaced Noriko’s atomic structure. You don’t even read as human anymore… all of your technology reads you as a goddess.>
<That’s just impossible. It is, right?> Noriko asks, turning towards Quantum for confirmation.
<I can’t think of a mechanism that would allow this.> he admits.
<I’m afraid that’s well beyond my area of expertise. I can also tell you that while Max does have the Nexus inside his head, his body reads almost completely human… except for his brain. It’s been mutated exactly like yours was, Noriko.> the doctor adds.
<What about the recent upgrades to my nervous system?>
<I can’t see evidence of those.>
<So the Nexus was either reset at “factory setting”, so to speak, or the mirror performed a brand new installation. Which should also have been impossible, as the host of the Nexus is supposed to die if the device is removed.> Quantum reasons out loud, stroking his chin.
<You’ve done your research.> Noriko congratulates him.
<Not really, this is all stuff you’ve told me over the years. You just didn’t think I’d listen.>
<What about Kari and Vesta?> Noriko wonders.
<Well I can’t be as precise without the atomic scanner… unless you can build another one… but from the early exams I carried out back at the Tower, there doesn’t seem to be a physical change in Kari. I do have the results of Vesta’s blood test, though… and you might be interested to know she has AB negative blood.> the doctor informs them.
<That explains much.> Quantum says.
<What? Why is that significant in any way?> Noriko wonders.
<It’s one of the rarest types… on Earth, less than 2% of people have it. But on Myridia, that’s 65% of the population. Kari used to be AB negative, but she’s A positive now, like Max… and like you used to be.> the doctor explains to Noriko.
<I think I understand now.> Quantum nods.
<You do?> Noriko asks, totally lost.
<I would need to run a detailed DNA scan to be sure, but I think I have the gist of it. Myridian powers are granted by the Monolith on Myridia, which is synched to the genetic structure of all Myridians. In order to give Kari’s powers to Vesta, who doesn’t even have DNA, it constructed a body for her based on Kari’s own genes. Likewise, my powers used to be caused by the energies of the Heart Of The Universe merging with my genome, so to give my powers away it modified it. That’s not entirely unprecedented: you may remember my sister received her powers by energizing her blood with the Heart.> Quantum explains.
<It’s more than a little above my pay grade, but it makes as much sense as any of the stuff you guys deal with.> Doctor Kalama admits.
<This is all… great… but does it help us get any closer to figuring out a way to reverse the switch?>
<As much as it pains to admit it, Noriko… I don’t have the faintest idea of where to even begin.> Quantum answers.
<Have you tried asking Asclepius? Or Athena?> Doctor Kalama asks.
<I’m trying to keep this whole situation from becoming public knowledge… I trust Hebe to keep it a secret, but not everyone else. Max, we better start looking into any negative side effects: I doubt Marduk wanted to just give me immortality as a gift. He has an angle… but what is it?>