Beyond The Impossible

Washington D.C., Earth

With Null Tower effectively destroyed and Midgard City abandoned, Noriko needed a place to spend the night… all the two hours of sleep that she scheduled for the week.

Given her current public image, which could charitably be described as shaky, she couldn’t stay at the White House like she would’ve preferred.

She opted for a relatively cheap three-star hotel and crashed into bed without even changing her clothes, just taking off her leather jacket and boots.

She wakes up after the alarm of her N-Phone rings, something unusual for her: typically, her brain allows her to wake up exactly when she had planned. She must be even more tired than she thought.

The first thing she feels as she regains consciousness is the touch of a hand adjusting her hair, followed by a voice whispering in her ear:

<I can keep you company if you want, Sunshine.>

Noriko reacts as fast as she can: reaching under her pillow, she draws the Genius Gun she kept in there and points it at the shirtless god laying next to her.

<Get. Off. NOW.> she orders, with her silver eyes shining in anger and her gun powering up.

<Not so fast. I’m in your “do not kill” list, remember?> Hermes shrugs off the threat, moving to the other side of the room in the blink of an eye.

<Being on that list doesn’t give you the right to barge in. Next time, knock.> she replies, her heartbeat slowing down as she deactivates the weapon.

<Knock? Like a mortal? Perish the thought!>

<You’re not departing before half an hour, Hermes, don’t you have anything better to do than harass me?>

<Well, thirty minutes would be an embarrassingly short time for my standards, but I couldn’t help noticing that your preposterously muscular boyfriend is not around, so…>

<Gilgamesh needs even less sleep than me. Just meet him on the Destiny-One.>

<About that: “Destiny-One”? Really? You used to have better imagination for names, my dear… “Ragnarok”, now that was a worthy name for the chariot of the Slayer of Gods!>

<And I suppose you would’ve come up with a better name.>

<Absolutely! I’m partial towards “Sunshine”.>

<Of course you are. Is there a point to this visit, or are you just enjoying being a creep?>

<While you remain a marvelous object of study, yes: I have some doubts over our “mission”.>

<It’s easy. Go to the Naqada Galaxy, steal some necrobots from Anubis’s old arsenal, and bring them back. Surely not a problem for the god of thieves?>

<Which happens to be the same god who told you where you can find the eyes of Prometheus. I would much rather help you steal those instead of wasting time on that dog’s stomping grounds.>

<I can’t leave Earth until I’ve set up the shield to protect it, and I need the necrobots for the job. If you’re worried that I won’t honor our arrangement, I’m still planning to get those eyes.>

<Sunshine, working together we would certainly get the eyes before…>

<Unless you’re scared of Anubis?>

<Why would I be afraid of a god who enslaved me, tortured me, and who has nanites capable of inhibiting my divine powers?>

<That’s why you’re going with Gilgamesh and Vesta. The necrobots can’t stand her heat.>

<And that bronze-skinned lover boy of yours?>

<I need someone there to keep an eye on you.>

<Your words wound me heart more than the torture I endured, Sunshine. After all we have been through together, you still don’t trust me?>

<I trust that our interests are currently aligned. I’m under no illusion that you won’t stab me in the back the moment it suits you.>

<You know me so well, Sunshine…>

 

Forty minutes later

Naqada Galaxy, 17 million light-years from Earth

It was a short trip, for the God of Speed. He touches land while carrying Vesta in his arms, with Gilgamesh piggybacking behind him.

<For the record, I would have been faster without the ogre slowing me down.> Hermes complains, as Vesta flies away and the Sumerian releases his grip.

<You really love the sound of your own voice, don’t you?> Gilgamesh asks.

<I don’t know what Sunshine sees in a demigod like you, but what’s not to love about me?>

<Boys, can you be serious for a minute? We’re in hostile territory here.> Vesta reminds them.

Only their bickering could have made them miss that.

They have landed on an uninhabited satellite orbiting a heavily industrialized planet: even if they are on the night side, countless lights are illuminating entire continents.

There is a thick cloud of debris around the world, some of which are raining upon its satellite; it’s too chaotic to be anything natural.

<Those look like ships. Someone destroyed a whole armada.> Gilgamesh realizes.

<I recognize the design. Only the Amazons could build something so sturdy to still remain identifiable after going through such an epic battle.> Hermes admits.

<The Amazons work for Rei now, as does Anubis. We’re in the right place.> Vesta says. She didn’t want to voice her doubts, but she didn’t think Noriko would find the target with her first guess.

<Ah yes, Rei, Athena’s secret ally: the mysterious new doppelganger of our sweet Sunshine. I can’t wait to meet her.> Hermes replies.

<Trust me, you don’t. She’s the polar opposite of Noriko… except for her cunning.> Gilgamesh tells him. He’s not surprised that Noriko made him swear to stop Hermes from meeting Rei with any means necessary.

<She has obviously tried and failed to capture this planet, which is a good thing for us.> Vesta says.

<This is fascinating, but I thought we were after some necrobots?> Hermes asks.

<We are. But stealing them from Rei is too risky. Noriko was hoping to find a secondary source, and we might actually get it without Anubis.> Vesta rejoices.

<I don’t remember making any friends in his realm. Just trying to save myself from the God of Death, his court and the Eden. Please tell me Null didn’t keep a sample of Eden nanites around? Even her madness must know some limit!>

<Relax, Hermes. We actually have one ally left in this galaxy…> Vesta reveals, just as the trio is teleported against their will.

 

Afterlife Mainframe

While it’s not an unusual sensation for Vesta or Gilgamesh, Hermes feels queasy: it’s not often that someone manages to move him without his consent.

They have been teleported on the planet, deep within an incredibly advanced computer complex.

The place is completely devoid of life, but unlike several worlds in the Anubis territory it’s not because his subjects have been converted into cyborg zombies.

If this world was called home by organic beings, they left no traces. What little atmosphere is present is maintained only to provide some air flow to cool down the processors, and the only sounds come from maintenance droids or from the constant hum of the servers.

<Honestly, still an improvement over the typical Anubis décor.> Hermes shrugs.

<Please do not speak that name.>

A holographic avatar appears in front of the visitors. It’s shaped like a woman; the image is translucent, but the physical traits of an Egyptian woman are still visible. And recognized by Vesta as being based on a specific woman.

<Shabti, it’s me, Vesta. From the Vanguard, remember? Quantum’s friends?>

<Our database is intact. But Shabti was only chosen as the template for this avatar; we carry the collective knowledge of billions of mortals. Address us as Emissary, please.> the hologram says.

<This wasn’t in my briefing.> Gilgamesh admits.

<For thousands, even millions of years, Anubis turned his subjects into adoring zombie mummies. The last time the Vanguard was here, we helped upload the minds of his victims into a digital afterlife that he had only pretended to build.> Vesta summarizes.

<An action for which we are most grateful. And for which we suspended our neutrality, for we understand we have a common enemy.> the Emissary says.

<Judging from what’s outside, I’m guessing Rei tried to take over this world?> Vesta asks.

<She sent her android vassals, the Amazons. She sent the soldiers she enslaved, the Naga. She even sent repurposed corpses from old Anubis graveyards. Fortunately, we are not without our defenses; but we had to modify our parameters.>

<How so?>

<We are no longer capable of preserving life in the Naqada Galaxy: the scope has been limited to the archive worlds isolated from the network Rei hijacked. And we can no longer assist in the reconstruction of the local civilizations prior to their assimilation from Eden. We still honor our agreement to report any sign of Drylon technology to Null… if Rei doesn’t find them first.>

<Sounds bleak. How long do you think you’ll keep up?> Gilgamesh asks.

<Despite the repeated attempts at conquest, we are not a priority for Rei right now. Even with all the knowledge of our disposal, our technology does not measure up to the full might of the Amazon and Anubis fleets. Once Rei focuses her attention on us… and she will… the Afterlife will fall.>

<I’m so sad to hear it. The Vanguard would like to help, but…> Vesta offers her sympathy.

<You must first defend your own galaxy. We understand. Which is why the best course of action to help the Afterlife is to help the Vanguard win its own battle.>

<We are immensely grateful. And you have my word that we’ll repay the favor.> Vesta swears.

<And she means what she says. Trust me, I’d know if she were lying.> Hermes backs her up.

<We know why you are here. You seek the only technology in our hands that Null has not managed to successfully replicate on her own: the necrobots.>

<Yes. Do you have them on this planet?>

<Not in their original form. Anubis developed the necrobots to reshape and control organic matter: we have no use for it, and we store enough emotional trauma connected to that technology to make them repulsive to us. Nanite technology, however, is simply too useful to ignore in its entirety. We have developed a less risky version.> the Emissary explains.

A new hologram appears. It shows the schematics of a robot resembling an insect, magnified enough to be visible to the naked eye: the original is smaller than a virus.

<We have not agreed on the name. But most of what you see on this planet has been either built or repaired using this.> the Emissary says.

As she speaks, grey sand grows over the smooth floor. Vesta instinctively floats a few inches above it to stop it from touching her feet, and she watches the sand coalesce into a cylinder roughly twice the size of an ordinary barrel.

<Smart sand. What can it build, exactly?> Gilgamesh asks.

<Anything it is told to build. To prevent abuse of this technology, there is a hard limit to the number of instructions a single unit can carry out and they cannot communicate with each other: they must be commanded as a whole. We recognize this makes them less efficient than the nanotechnology employed by the Amazons, but it is so by design: the computing power necessary for any large scale application is beyond even their android minds.>

<But not beyond someone with a Nexus device in their brain, I assume.> Hermes deduces.

<Correct. In fact, we designed this feature with the intent of making the technology usable exclusively by ourselves and by Noriko Null. We could not have anticipated that we would eventually face an enemy that is a dark reflection of her.>

<To be fair, you really should have seen that coming… I swear collecting evil versions of herself must be a hobby by now.> Hermes shrugs.