Hackensack, New Jersey
Alejandro parks the stolen car in front of a rather anonymous warehouse. His sister Maria isn’t impressed with the destination.
<You better have lots of money in there, for making us drive all the way to New Jersey.>
Abyss answers from the back seat, without taking her eyes off her N-Watch:
<Believe me, I have far more money than I need. If you want some, you better do as I say.>
<Or we could go back to the original plan and ask for your ransom> Maria adds, pointing her gun at Abyss. The girl with black eyes smiles.
<Last time I checked, they didn’t write checks to corpses.>
Half a dozen men materialize outside, surrounding the car. They only vaguely look like men: they have black metallic skin and no face, making them instantly recognizable.
<Robots!> Alejandro exclaims.
<Nullbots, actually. Null’s personal army versus a pea shooter. I wouldn’t bet against them.>
<I told you listening to her was a bad idea> Maria complains to her brother, dropping the weapon.
All three of them get out of the car; five Nullbots reactivate their holographic projectors, becoming completely invisible once again. The last one confiscates Maria’s gun and asks:
<Should I contact the proper authorities, Mistress Null?>
<No, this place remains completely off the grid. Instruct all models to call me Abyss and…>
She snaps her fingers at Alejandro, who handles her a bottle of spray paint. With it, she paints a graffiti on the robot’s chest: a red A inside a circle.
<…and you are no longer Nullbots. From now on, you’ll be Voidbots.>
<“Voidbots”?> Alejandro repeats, uncertain about the name.
<Well I couldn’t name them Abyssbots, right? Come on, wait ‘till you see the cool stuff inside.>
Null Tower, 25th floor
The lack of gravity has literally turned the room upside down, but now all the clutter has been cleared: most of the space is taken up by the miniature Plasma Reactor.
<Is it safe to be so close to that thing?> Tiffany asks; shop assistant is still clinging to Bob Null.
<It’s not radioactive. In fact, that’s one of its selling points> he points out.
<I’m surprised you know that> Kari comments. Unlike Tiffany and Bob she seems to have no problem with zero gravity, enjoying the chance to move freely in the air.
<I like to keep myself informed of Noriko’s work. Whenever I can understand it, that is.>
<Do you understand where we are now?> Tiffany asks Bob.
<Some kind of parallel universe Noriko discovered months ago. She called it the Null Zone.>
<Your daughter has weird naming habits> the blonde notes.
<At least she’s consistent. Quantum, any luck with that thing?> Bob asks the masked African-American super-hero who’s been staring at the reactor for the past half hour.
<Not really. I can see a bunch of weird stuff in there; I could turn into energy and get inside, but I have no idea what to do. The reactor is attached to a Negative Drive and I don’t want to make it blow up like the first one did. Even if I shut it down, there’s no guarantee we’ll go back home.>
<We have a problem> Todd says, entering the room accompanied by Torn. When he notices the look that everyone gives him, he adds:
<Well, a new one: most of the force field generators have failed. Only the top five floor are isolated from what’s outside…which is just vacuum and electricity, apparently.>
<So we’re going to freeze to death!?> Tiffany asks.
<We have Vesta and Quantum, they can keep us warm with their powers> Kari answers.
<That’s not the problem: we only have enough air, food and water for a few days. Maybe a week if we ration everything, but that’s assuming that the last generators don’t fail first.>
<We either leave this dimension or we die> Torn summarizes.
Hackensack, New Jersey
The elevator seems to go on forever. It’s also quite crowded: Abyss is sharing it with Alejandro, Maria and two Voidbots. The two siblings are not enjoying the ride, but the robots have given them little chance. It was supposed to be an easy job… kidnap Null and ask for a nice ransom… how could they have known the girl who cured AIDS is secretly a psychopath?
Finally the door opens, revealing a hangar much larger than the warehouse on the surface. Dozens of robots are swarming around some kind of vehicle; there is still too much welding and scaffolding to understand what it is, except that it’s clearly not from this world.
<Like it? This is the Valkyrie. Null designed it based on the ships of Demeter and the Hunters. Just a few last modifications and it will be better than both.>
<What kind of “modifications”?> Alejandro asks.
<Weapons. Lots, lots of weapons. Speaking of which, my robots built these for you during the night.>
Abyss snaps her fingers; the Voidbots obediently deliver two boxes to the siblings.
<What are these?> Maria questions, weighing her box.
<Your origins. How’d you like to become super-villains?>
260 miles above, low Earth orbit
One of the modules of the International Space Station includes the Cupola, a seven windows observatory that looks at Earth from above. There are many things that the crew of the International Space Station expect to see here: the clouds from above, the majestic oceans, the tranquility of space. They don’t expect to see a woman watching from the outside.
She floats through the windows, as if they were made of water instead of glass, looking at the astronaut with a disgusted look on her face. She has white hair with a masculine short cut and a nasty, recently infected scar on her right eye.
The fact that the astronaut doesn’t freak out is a true testament to his training, but coming up with words is a lot harder than keeping his cool. She doesn’t share this problem.
< am Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, daughter of Zeus Almighty. Do you serve Null?>
<I…I work for NASA…ma’am> the astronaut manages to mumble.
<“Nasa”? I am unfamiliar with the name; she must be a minor goddess. I have come from far away to speak with Null; take me to her palace.>
<You’re kidding, right?> the astronaut chuckles, mostly to release the tension. This proves to be an immensely bad idea, because Artemis grabs him by his clothes and slams his face against the windows hard enough to break his nose.
<Do you value your life so little that you dare mock an immortal goddess!? Land this vessel NOW!>
<The station’s not designed for landing> the astronaut manages to answer.
<We shall see about that> Artemis replies, punching the window.
Port of Tianjin, China
Less than a hundred miles south of Beijing, Tianjin is one of the largest ports in the world. Each year, millions of tons of cargo reach these shores; today is no exception.
A bullet with a mass of nine hundred thousand pounds hits the water with the force of a nuclear explosion. Even before the crash, the International Space Station is no longer recognizable: it’s already a massive fireball due to the immense heat generated by the uncontrolled reentry.
Thrown with infinite strength, the station lifts an enormous tsunami that destroys everything in its path: people are drowned, ships are hurtled into the city, twenty thousand people die in minutes.
Artemis is floating above all this, but she isn’t even watching the death and destruction she caused.
<What a rude planet…not even a welcoming committee. Now, if I were Null, where would I be?>
Hackensack, New Jersey
Maria checks herself in the holographic mirror: the costume that Abyss gave her is red and black, similar to a tight diving suit. Her mask covers only half of her face, leaving the hair free; wide red lenses are displaying a variety of information about the weapon systems.
The boots, gloves, bracers and belt are metallic and visibly highly technological. Her brother is wearing an identical armor, and is fussing around the bright red belt buckle.
<Careful with that. It’s a miniaturized plasma reactor> Abyss warns him. She’s been assembling a device for the past hour, giving her shoulders to the siblings; she doesn’t turn around to talk.
<I thought you were going to give us money> Alejandro admits.
<I’m giving you an exoskeleton that gives you the versatility of an army and the destructive power of a tactical warhead. You’re welcome, by the way.>
<You just happened to have something like this in your closet?> Maria asks suspiciously.
<Null had it in her closet. I’m Abyss. She designed the suits as last resort, but I have better plans.>
Abyss hides her device in the inside pocket of her red leather jacket, finally turning towards Alejandro and Maria, and they instinctively back off: her eyes are black as always, but now the veins on her face are getting darker and darker. To put it mildly, she’s definitively not well.
<Here’s the deal: you follow my orders, you keep the suits. You disobey, I kill you. Are we clear?>
<Yes> brother and sister answer immediately. There’s something in those black eyes that makes them afraid to even think about making her angry.
<Good. The suit’s neural interface will guide you during combat; you’ll learn using the weapons without even trying. You are no longer Maria and Alejandro Mendes: you are Excess and Overkill. Now get your asses on the Valkyrie, we’re leaving in five minutes.>
<Where are we going…ma’am?> Overkill asks.
<Tokyo. I have a score to settle.>
A maximum security prison
Images from Tianjin reach every city on the planet in minutes; the miracles of modern media. The prisoner is quickly dragged from her bed to the interrogation room, where one of the guards show her on a laptop the first images of the assault.
<That’s what bothers you? That’s Artemis. She’s harmless> Eris says, dismissing the guard.
<She murdered hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of hours!> the man from behind the microphone answers. He hasn’t shown his face to the prisoner yet.
<You have bigger problems. I’ve already told you, there’s an Abyss on your planet.>
<Yet you refuse to explain what this “abyss” is. We have a deal, Eris: your life in exchange of information.>
<As you wish. The Abyss is what happens when Drylon technology goes insane.>
<I don’t understand.>
<Of course you don’t. It would be like expecting a dog to understand rocket science. You see, as much as it hurts the pride of my fellow gods, the Drylon were superior to us just as much as we are superior to mortals…maybe even more. Even the small toys they left behind can sometimes overwhelm the mind of any mortal trying to use it. When it happens…the Abyss is born.>
<And you are afraid that this “Abyss” will do…what, exactly?>
<Kill us all. I’ve never seen an Abyss, but I’ve seen what they leave behind: death, desolation and decay. Which are kind of my thing, I know, but I’m not overly fond of being on the receiving end of such things, if you know what I mean.>
<We’ll keep your advice under consideration. But this Abyss will have to wait: as you can see, “Artemis” is a very real threat. We will try to talk to her…>
<It won’t help. She’s a daughter of Zeus; they never listen.>
<…but if it doesn’t work, we need a military option.>
<Fine, fine. What you should do is keep firing at her until you run out of nuclear missiles.>
<Would that stop her?>
<Hell no. But at least the final act of the human race will be a giant middle finger to the universe.>
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