Null Tower, New York City
Max Black a.k.a. Quantum opens the door to his room, leaving the suitcase on the floor. Kari Zel is behind him, wearing her pink Myridian clothes and carrying a couple of bags full of comic books.
<You don’t have to do this, really. I don’t have a lot of stuff to move> Max says.
<No problem at all! Right now I’m only taking five English and three history classes, flying to Japan with Noriko, sparring with Torn in the gym, watching TV, cleaning up the place, keeping guard of our spaceship on Neptune and sleeping. I’ve got time to help you.>
<…>
<What?>
<Nothing, I’m just trying to understand if you’re the original Kari or one of her duplicates.>
<The original is sleeping. I’m kind of a lazy.>
<Only you can call doing a thousand things at the same time “lazy”.>
<If it makes you feel better, I don’t understand how Earth people can get anything done without duplicates. Speaking of which, haven’t you talked to your family yet?>
<I don’t know what to say to them> Max answers honestly, shrugging.
<“Hey guys, I’m back on Earth, I’m fine, bye”?> she suggests.
<My folks don’t even know I’m Quantum…we don’t talk much. My sister knows, but she doesn’t really approve of my superhero career.>
<You know, when siblings fight on Myridia it’s generally for stuff like who’s going to live and who’s going to sacrifice himself to the Oracles. But I guess your Earth problems are important too.>
<I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but are you going to play the “Myridia sucks more than Earth” card every time we disagree on something?>
<Yep. Is it working?> Kari asks, smiling innocently.
Quantum groans, recognizing the girl does have a point, and disappears in a flash of light.
Triton, Neptune’s largest moon
The only thing Vesta can remember is the cold. As the goddess of the household fire, she’s not used to it…in fact, she barely recognizes the feeling.
Despite the absence of a decent atmosphere, flames immediately surround her body to heat her. A human would’ve crumbled to a dust cloud of ice crystals in minutes; she just shivers.
She doesn’t know how much time has passed; she never carries a watch. But it’s been enough for the Twin Dragon to take off.
She tries to stand up, but her legs won’t support her. She falls down again, gathering all of her strength just to remain conscious.
“Is this what Demeter felt before dying?” she wonders before fainting.
First class, international flight
Kari Zel is bored out of her skull. She knows she’s just a duplicate, sent to accompany Noriko in her journey to Japan, but that makes the experience even more irritating.
She’s not used to fourteen hours of sitting down in a closed space without any other duplicate. Noriko is passing the time working on who knows what invention on her N-Phone, oblivious to anything else. Her father Bob however notices Kari’s exhaustion; his seat is on the other side of the corridor, so he leans over to talk to Kari.
<Enjoying the flight?> he asks.
<I’ve flown before with Vesta, but compared to that this is sooo boring. How do Earth people stand traveling like this?>
<Don’t ask me, this is the first time in my life I can afford a flight. So you’re really from outer space?>
<No, I lived on a planet too. You’re…surprisingly cool with it.>
<Hey, the last thing coming from space was a homicidal robot trying to conquer New York, and before that there was this crazy green woman who almost destroyed the city with a piece of the Moon. A cute girl with purple hair trying to help my daughter really isn’t the worst that could happen.>
Bob gives her a big smile, and it’s hard not to be at least a little charmed by his simplicity.
<She doesn’t like it, you know.>
<Who doesn’t like what?>
<Noriko. When you flirt with other women. You never noticed?>
Bob glances over to his daughter, certain to receive a lecture, but she’s too busy on her work.
He leans over towards Kari a little more, asking in a much softer tone:
<What happened to her on your planet?>
<She killed a goddess.>
<Yeah yeah, I know that, but before it?>
<I don’t know. What happened to her on Earth? I understand she wasn’t always like this.>
<She was stuck by lighting and turned super-smart.>
<Yeah I know but…does she know anyone beside the Vanguard? This Jane she met…>
<She was her best friend. Before the lightning, at least. I don’t think she’s met any of her other friends lately. Although it seems she’s making a habit of making friends on other planets.>
<And she keeps us at a distance, too. I can see she’s trying but…what was she like before the lightning?>
<Why the sudden interest?>– Bob asks. Kari seems harmless enough, but he really doesn’t like people asking too many questions about his daughter.
<I worry about her: she saved my people. She’s my goddess now.>
<Well if you don’t mind, your goddess has to go to the bathroom> Noriko intervenes, standing up.
Kari and Bob react as if they’ve just been caught doing something wrong by their parents.
<Nori, you weren’t…>
<Listening to anything important? Unlikely> she cuts them off.
Her father and her friend watch her as she walks away; she’s clearly upset. Bob notices that she’s left her N-Phone behind and reaches for it.
<You really shouldn’t. Your daughter’s an adult now> Kari chides him.
<She’s also very good at getting into trouble> he answers, looking at the N-Phone screen.
It takes him a while to understand what it is. Kari watches it too, but she’s not very good at reading English.
<What is it? Another weapon?>
<It’s…it’s stock. She’s just buying stocks. By the truckload.>
<Oh that’s nice. What is a stock, anyway?>
<To be perfectly honest, I don’t know> Bob answers.
The Twin Dragon, Demeter’s former mothership
Kari Zel is used to watch herself die. She’s witnessed the death of countless duplicates.
When Talas Khanos used his telekinetic powers to break free, she expected to experience it firsthand. But instead she wakes up tied to one of the chairs on the bridge.
She turns around, seeing the former Oracle sitting on the golden throne at the center of the room.
<Good morning, sweetie.>
Kari’s first instinct is to create a duplicate to untie her. But when she does, the metal collar on her neck releases an extremely painful electrical shock. She falls down but doesn’t hit the floor: Khanos is lifting her with his mind.
<It’s called the Agony Ring. Try to use your Myridian powers again and it will fry your brain.>
<You won’t kill me…you need me to pilot the ship> – she manages to say through her teeth.
<Do I? I may not be Myridian, but I can do more than one thing at a time as well> he answers, gesturing towards one of the control stations. The flatscreen quickly responds to his mental commands, despite being several feet away.
<Then what do you need me for? I’m not your slave.>
<That’s a good question. You’re just a duplicate, so vivisection is out of the question: you’ll pop out of existence the second I touch you with a scalpel.>
Something bumps against the Twin Dragon; it’s enough to shake it despite the inertial dampeners.
<Well what do you know. The birds sure are hungry today if they attack a mothership.>
<“The birds”?> Kari asks.
<Harpies. Have you ever seen them eat a person?> Khanos asks, with the excitement of a kid.
Kari shakes her head nervously.
<Too bad I can’t let you duplicate. I just love Myridians watching themselves being eaten alive.>
First class, international flight
Noriko is in the bathroom, looking at her own reflection. She’s visibly tired: tiny red veins are starting to become visible around her silver eyes.
“You should get some sleep. You look like thirty-five or something” the reflection thinks.
“Can’t I get some privacy here?“ Noriko thinks back.
“Hey, is that the way to treat your other personality? Geez, you’re really a stuck-up”
“I will not have an argument with a figment of my imagination”
“Say, when you’re done talking with mom, what do you say we meet the old gang?”
“First, Leiko is not my mother. Second, what old gang?”
“You know. Jane, Liz, Asha and Stacy. You think Jeff is still mad at me for dumping him?”
“Is that everything that matters with you? Friends and boys?”
“So what? We’re rich now. We’re popular. Isn’t this what we always wanted?”
“I wanted to be more than the janitor’s daughter”
“Well you’re the smartest person in the world now. What are you going to do with it?”
<Is this a bad time?>
Suddenly hearing a voice that isn’t coming from inside her head, Noriko jumps back and bumps into Quantum.
<I’m in the bathroom, what do you think!?!?> she says punching him in the arm.
<Sorry! I bounced off your N-Watch as radio waves and didn’t watch where I was going. Good luck you weren’t, y’know…>
<Get. Out> – she says, her eyes shining with her death stare.
<I can’t; I don’t have a ticket, remember? And if people see us get out of the same bathroom…>
<What are you doing here!?>
<Oh, right. I can’t find my sister.>
<She’s not here, nice seeing you, goodbye.>
<Come on Nori, this is serious! She quit her job and nobody’s seen her in the past six weeks!>
<Sounds familiar> she acknowledges.
<Both the CIA and your mother know I’m Quantum. What if one of them kidnapped her while we were gone? You know, to blackmail me.>
<It’s a possibility. We’ll land in Tokyo in seven hours; wait for me at the airport.>
<Right. Enjoy, uhm, enjoy your flight> Quantum answers before beaming out as a stream of light.
“As if I don’t have enough things on my mind already” she thinks, pulling down her pants to sit on the toilet.
<I forgot, Kari wants to know when…> Quantum asks, stopping mid-sentence when he notices the girl’s embarrassing situation. Her eyes are blindingly shining with rage.
<I…should probably…>
<Get. Out>– she repeats with an almost demonic voice.
Quantum could swear he disappeared faster than light this time.
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