Beyond The Impossible

Eralal, planet Lampyria

68,000 light-years from Earth

The view from the brothel’s window is breathtaking, even though it’s not the most important thing for the vast majority of alien visitors. But the four visitors from Earth… Noriko Null, Kari Zel, Vesta and Quantum… didn’t come this far to take advantage of Lampyria’s galaxy-famous prostitution industry.

<Alright guys, I need some privacy. I’m about to send a message to Torn through the Blood to signal him to join us> Noriko Null tells the others, while starting to remove her environmental suit: the room simulates an environment suitable for humans, so she doesn’t really need it.

<I thought you’d want to check the Lar artifacts> Kari says.

The only Lampyrian in the room, their ally Lily Elosia, is the one who points out:

<It’s broad daylight and all of you are too much visible. A Lampyrian day lasts 20 hours, you should just wait for the night.>

<Good thing you reserved three rooms. C’mon> Quantum tells her, pretty much dragging Lily out of the room. Kari smiles looking at them, then nudges Vesta to comment:

<They make a cute couple, don’t they?>

<You should really stop paying so much attention to other people’s love life> Vesta criticizes her.

<And you should lighten up a little. Why don’t we take the opportunity to explore the planet? You don’t even need one of these stupid suits.>

<Actually, I’d like Vesta to stay. You can leave, but for once try to keep a low profile> Noriko tells Kari; by now she’s already removed the boots and she’s sitting cross-legged on the bed.

<Spoilsport. No wonder you girls are still single> Kari complains, putting back her helmet and then leaving the room. Once she’s gone, Vesta mirrors Noriko’s position, floating cross-legged in the middle of the room.

<You don’t need my help to access the Blood, so what’s this about Noriko?>

<You’re the only one with experience about long-term shifts in society. Do you think I made a mistake increasing the lifespan of the Lampyrians?>

<From what I understand, they’re pretty happy about it.>

<That doesn’t make it right> Null says, closing her eyes to concentrate. Her body is surrounded by a red aura as she connects her soul to the Blood. It’s a pleasant sensation, a warm and calming wave that resonates under her skin. But this time she feels something is disturbing that wave.

<Something’s wrong> she adds, opening her eyes.

Just then, two other people appear in the room: a man and a woman, both dressed in a white uniform with the golden symbol of the Sun above the heart.

<There she is. Take care of the goddess, Brother> the woman orders, while looking at Noriko with her unnaturally bright blue eyes. Without saying a word, the man shoots a red laser towards Vesta: it’s coming directly out of the palm of his hand. It’s powerful and unexpected enough to push the goddess through the wall and into the hallway.

Since the room was pressurized to accommodate humans, this creates a very sudden decompression. It’s not particularly violent, but it does distract the woman long enough to allow Null to take her Genius Gun and ask:

<Who the hell are you people!?>

<By the law of the Unconquered Sun…> the woman says, pointing her finger at Null: it shoots a laser that severs the tendons in her wrist, forcing her to drop the Genius Gun.

<…I sentence you to die> she concludes, shooting another laser from her fingertip.

The laser connects to Noriko’s forehead, burning through skin and bone like it was nothing. It should simply pass through the rest of her head and even the wall behind her, but something else happens: the beam ricochets against something hard inside Noriko’s brain and exits through the top of her head, burning through the ceiling.

It’s not the only surprise to the Oracle who just shot her: Noriko’s head discharges bolts of electricity that move just as erratically as her body, ravaged by a violent seizure.

<That’s never happened before> the woman notes, distracted by the sudden rise in temperature.

<What did you do!?> Vesta asks with anger: her body is surrounded by flames, hot enough to melt the floor beneath her feet. The man shoots her again, but this time it does absolutely nothing.

<Get away from her!> Kari shouts, barging into the room: her hair is shining enough to be visible beneath her helmet. By activating her 10K Rise she’s ten thousand times faster than a regular human, but even like this the Oracle woman moves in front of her like she was a statue.

<Out of my way!> Kari tells her, throwing a punch that could break a wall: it’s useless, though, since the woman she’s facing is suddenly intangible.

<I don’t recognize you> she says, disappearing in the blink of an eye: even with the increased reflexes of the 10K Rise, Kari didn’t realize she was gone until she hears her voice behind her.

<I’ll have to check if you can live> she concludes, shooting a laser into both of Kari’s knees.

Vesta is not having more luck with the man: she tries to hit him and to burn him, but he’s simply too fast for her. He quickly decides that he doesn’t have the means to hurt Vesta and changes strategy, moving next to the convulsing body of Noriko Null.

<We’ll deal with the goddess later. Let’s finish the…> he says, pausing when a red sword emerges from his chest.

<Brother Keyer!> the woman protests, watching the Oracle falling to the ground while the Demon who stabbed him makes the energy sword disappear.

Torn has just arrived in the room, with a flaming red pentagram still behind him. He throws a dozen daggers towards the Oracle woman, but each of them misses.

<Killing an Oracle is a capital offense, Demon!> she says, shooting a laser at him. Once again it’s intercepted by something: another ray of light, that after deflecting the mortal blast transforms back into Quantum.

<Take care of Noriko! I’ll hold her off!> he says.

<You’re welcome to try> the woman replies, and they both transforms into light. For a few seconds the room is filled with a net of lasers moving all over the place, then they completely vanish.

<Where did they go?> Kari asks, leaning against Vesta to get up.

<He’ll take care of himself. We need to help Null… if we can> Torn says, moving towards Noriko: her seizure doesn’t seem to slow down, and the bolts of electricity shooting out of her brain are not stopping. He’s careful not to be hit by them when he puts his hands above her and says:

<Soul Resonaaargh!> he screams: Noriko’s brain has just electrocuted him, with enough power to knock out even a Demon. Vesta looks at her friend: one is unconscious, the other was shot in both legs, and Noriko could be dying for all she knows.

<What do we do now!?> she asks, beginning to panic.

<Keep her still!> she hears Lily say. The Lampyrian has rushed into the room with a medical bag in her hands, rushing to Noriko’s aid. Vesta does her best to keep her friend still without breaking her bones, while Lily injects her with something.

Then, just as suddenly as everything started, Noriko stops moving. As Lily checks her pulse, Vesta feels more helpless than ever.

<Is she…>

<She’s alive, but just barely. We need to get her to a hospital> Lily says, inspecting the wounds on Noriko’s head: a hole above the eyes and another one on the top of her head, where the laser has burned her hair as well. There’s very little blood, since the ray cauterized the same wound it caused, but her skin is beginning to swell. Then she notices something else:

<Where’s Max?> she asks.

 

At the other side of the city

A normal day in the busy metropolis takes a sudden turn for the worse as two lasers cut through multiple buildings; it’s impossible for anyone to notice, but one of them is actually trying to keep the other away from the civilian population.

When the two beams transform back into people, dozens of Lampyrians flee the scene like a scared flock of birds. Max Black a.k.a. Quantum immediately regrets his decision to become flesh and blood: the air is much thinner than he expected, and it burns his eyes on contact. He quickly changes his form into a hologram of his real body, and notices that the woman he’s fighting didn’t make the same mistake.

<You have my powers? Who the hell are you?> he asks her.

<I am Sister Shaina, Oracle of Apollo. Why does a heathen like you have the same blessing?>

<It’s a long story. Why did you attack us?>

<Apollo has sentenced the Slayer of Gods to die, as punishment for killing his sister Artemis.>

<Not on my watch> he replies, moving towards her at the speed of light; he hoped to take her by surprise, but Shaina moves just as quickly and easily avoids him.

<You’re pathetic. I’m sure your powers are impressive for the commoners, but I’m a fully trained Oracle> she mocks him, moving behind him; he’s not used fighting someone as fast as him.

By the time he’s noticed she moved, he instinctively tries to punch her; but with both their bodies currently made of photons, it’s like trying to punch water.

<Is that the best you can do?> she asks, holding out her hand: suddenly she’s holding a dagger made of pure light, which she uses to stab Quantum in the shoulder.

He doesn’t feel pain, not exactly. But the foreign object messing with his own energy is extremely unpleasant, and his image flickers like a broken television set.

<You’re no match for me. But the goddess guarding the Slayer is another story, I’m not prepared to face her on my own. I should inform the Sun God> Shaina decides, transforming into a beam of light shooting straight towards the sky.

Quantum takes the dagger out of his shoulder, looking at the “object” as it disappears, and then follows Shaina. She’s traveling at the speed of light, but as long as she’s in the atmosphere it’s not the speed of light in a vacuum. He closes the gap by transforming into neutrinos: they pass through ordinary matter like it didn’t exist. She’s into space in a fraction of a second, and a microscopic fraction of time later he transforms back into light.

“Where is she going? It’ll take years to reach another star!” he thinks. Moving at this speed means none of his senses can be trusted, but he could swear he saw Shaina turn towards him and wave goodbye before increasing her speed a thousandfold.

He slows down by transforming into charged particles and allowing himself to be captured by the planet’s magnetic field, but not before looking at the signal leaving this star system.

“Tachyons” he realizes.

 

Nowhere

Noriko Null wakes up feeling like she’s drowning, because she is: there’s nothing but water around her. As much as she’d like to understand the situation, breathing is more important right now.

She swims towards the surface, where she takes a deep breath. Trying to understand her location is useless: she can see the shore in the distance, but that’s about it.

When she reaches the beach, she just lays there for a few seconds, feeling exhausted. She doesn’t even mind that she’s naked, not that much anyway.

<This is Null. Can anybody hear me?> she asks, trying to send the same signal through the Neural Transmitter. She can’t even be sure that it’s working. But the sky is blue, the clouds are white, and once she’s coughed up the salt water she can breathe just fine.

<Okay, so I’m not on Lampyria anymore. Where the heck am I?> she asks herself, looking for the Sun to get at least an idea of what time it is… but she doesn’t find it. Instead, the Sun has been replaced by a glowing symbol for infinity. Only then does she understand:

<I’m stuck inside my mind again. That’s just great… I really hate this place.>