Beyond The Impossible

Null Tower, New York City

Noriko Null is sitting on her bed in deep meditation when she hears someone knock on the door. She recovers her pants from the pile of clothes on the floor and presses the button that opens it, finding herself facing Dmitry Voron.

<Oh. I didn’t know you were still here.> she admits.

<I still have some time to spend on Earth. Can I come in?> he asks.

Instead of replying, she just raises an eyebrow.

<I just want to talk.> he clarifies.

<With your boss in the Covenant or with your former girlfriend?>

<Technically speaking, you’re not my boss. I work for Athena now.>

<And you joined the resistance movement that I lead. Ergo, you work for me as well.> she replies, crossing her arms. Most people are annoyed by Voron’s self-aggrandizing, but she finds it endearing.

<Athena thinks it’s a terrorist organization.> he points out.

<And what do you think, Dmitry?>

<I volunteered, didn’t I?>

<That you did, much to my surprise. Was it your idea? Or Athena’s?>

<Does it really matter, as long as you can utilize my quite outstanding set of skills? Besides, you probably already have a dozen contingency plans to deal with any attempts at double crossing.>

<Don’t tell anyone, Dmitry, but I genuinely missed our verbal sparring sessions.>

<Is that the only part of our relationship that you miss?> he asks, moving his hand to touch her face; she moves away before he can reach her.

<It’s over, Dmitry. If I remember correctly, you’re the one who dumped me, and you know I have a perfect memory. I thought we moved past this.>

<That was before I learned what the rest of the galaxy is really like. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have been so harsh on you for hiding that you were Abyss.>

<Be that as it may, I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to… Torn!> Noriko exclaims, as she sees the Demon walking down the hall that leads to her room; she does her best to act casual.

<Am I interrupting something?> Torn asks, looking at Noriko and then at Voron.

<You should ask her.> is the Russian scientist’s answer.

<Did you need something, Torn?>

<Yes. I need to get inside you.> he says, as serious as ever.

<Excuse me!?> she asks.

<You carry the ghosts of the previous Nexus hosts. I need to access your soul to speak with one.>

<Oh! Yes, okay, sure. Just don’t… use that turn of phrase with me, okay? Like, ever?> she agrees, pushing the alien inside her room.

<Should I leave you guys alone?> Voron wonders.

<Yes! I mean, this is kind of a private deal. No no no, keep that eyebrow down, it’s not that kind of private, okay?> she chastises him.

<Of course. Is there someone else who enjoys some other kind of private time with you?>

<Nice talking to you.> Noriko says, abruptly ending the conversation and closing the door. She takes a deep sight and turns toward Torn, who is looking at the pile of clothes on the floor.

<You are very disorganized. I can suggest a better way to arrange your clothes.>

<How would you know? I’ve never seen you change clothes in five years!>

<Indeed. That would be my suggestion for you.>

<Let’s get back on track. I assume you want to talk with Apocalypse, the last Demon host?>

<Indeed. Now, prepare yourself for a Soul Resonance. Close your eyes. Find your center. Focus your energy.> Torn recites, with his body radiating Blood energy.

Noriko lets her mind remove itself from the rest of the world, and Torn is along for the ride.

 

The Mindscape

The door to nowhere opens slowly. On the other side, Noriko expects to see the fortress she built with Diomedes; instead, it’s a classroom. Specifically, she recognizes it as her high school history class; all the chairs are empty, except the teacher’s.

<Welcome back, my dear. Please, take a seat.> the woman sitting at the teacher’s desk says. It’s a black woman with very voluminous hair; while she didn’t wear a casual white shirt at the time, Noriko has met her before.

<Roxiana. I didn’t expect to see you.> she admits.

<We want to see Apocalypse.> Torn interjects.

<I know you do. We both live inside Noriko’s head, after all.>

<I’ve been told that the former hosts can’t interact on their own with the current one.> Noriko says.

<Most of us can’t, dear. But in time, you will find out that most of the time “it can’t be done” is synonymous with “no Nexus host has really tried”.>

<We want to see Apocalypse.> Torn repeats.

<Well, you can’t. Not now, anyway.> Roxiana stresses.

<Why not?> Noriko wonders.

<Because I don’t want you to, dear. Remember that I am your immediate predecessor as host of the Nexus, and that I know a great deal more than you about… well, just about everything, really.>

<I barely know anything about you.> Noriko admits.

<That’s good, because I consider myself a teacher. Please, take a seat.> Roxiana invites her.

Torn grabs the nearest chair and lifts it with one hand. Noriko gives him a dirty look and sits directly on one of the desks; only then Torn understands what Roxiana meant and imitates his leader without saying a word.

<What did you want to ask Apocalypse?> Roxiana asks.

<What she knows about the Eden. According to Demon legend, they were the ones who defeated them.>

Roxiana smiles and leans back, crossing her arms as she calmly explains.

<Five billion years ago, the Drylon disappeared from the universe and left behind the Nexus. For a billion years, the device was passed between several species and thousands, perhaps millions of hosts, until it fell into the hands of the first known humanoid species.>

<The Eden, I suppose.> Noriko interrupts.

<We don’t know what they called themselves at the time. Much of their history, or of their predecessors, has been deleted from the Nexus. What we know is that they became the most powerful and technologically advanced race that the universe had seen since the disappearance of the Drylon. By the time they became Eden, they were unchallenged, even by the gods.>

<What do you mean by “became Eden”?>

<One of the few things known about their ancient past is that they used to be individual beings. They later evolved into a single collective entity, trillions of bodies sharing a single mind, that considers itself the pinnacle of perfection. Their growth consumed countless civilizations: if Eden wanted to conquer a planet, that planet became Eden. The gods considered this… alarming.>

<I guess they didn’t like the competition?> Noriko asks.

<They were immune to their assimilation, but once the Eden mastered transdimensional phasing, even the gods couldn’t touch them. The only things that could break the stalemate were Drylon weapons, but neither side could use them: the gods can’t activate them, and Eden was already using the Nexus so they couldn’t use a second one. Then the Sumerians came up with a solution.>

<Create mortals that could use Drylon weapons for them. I learned that in Hell.> Noriko recalls.

<The Sumerians first created the Lar, who were also immune from assimilation but still couldn’t hurt Eden. Then they created the Demons, who could do both.>

<Eden’s weakness is the Blood. That’s why they were hesitant to fight me.> Torn realizes.

<The Demons defeated Eden roughly a billion years ago and took the Nexus for themselves.>

<They didn’t defeat them completely. Some are still alive, and apparently they’re after the Nexus again.> Noriko tells Roxiana.

<Of course they are, dear. You are their chance to become truly unstoppable.>

<You mean the Nexus is, right?>

<No, you specifically. Demons are immune to assimilation, but humans aren’t; if they assimilate you, they can learn how to access the Blood and remove their only weakness.>

<But I only have rudimentary knowledge of the Blood!>

<The Nexus holds far more than that. You see now why Apocalypse doesn’t want to see you? If Eden gets you, they get everything the Demon hosts know about the Blood.>

<Yes, I can see how that could spell disaster. There must be a way to stop the Eden before they can get to me.> Noriko tells herself, thinking out loud.

<Can’t we destroy the planets they assimilate?> Torn wonders.

<It’s been tried before. Ra once annihilated an entire galaxy to eradicate them, but it just slowed them down: the Eden can phase out of reality, and they typically keep their home planet outside of the physical universe. They inevitably regroup and regrow their numbers.>

<I’m sure you didn’t organize this little history session just to tell me the situation is hopeless. Do you have a plan, Roxiana?>

<I’m a historian, dear, not a strategist. I just wanted you to know more about your opponent; don’t worry, Earth is still hidden by the Palladium, the Eden won’t find it anytime soon. Besides, you have far more pressing dangers to your galaxy.>

<Such as?>

<I’m afraid that’s all the time we have for today, dear. I can’t keep this connection for much longer.> Roxiana answers, looking at her watch.

<Why, you’re expecting other visitors today?> Noriko jokes.

<It takes a lot to interact. I can bend the rules of the Nexus, but not break them. Not yet, at least.>

 

Naqada Galaxy, 17 million light-years from Earth

The divine throne of one of the multiple worlds belonging to Nephthys is currently occupied by a Greek goddess, who doesn’t seem to enjoy the position. Ilithyia, Goddess of Childbirth, is sitting alone in a dark crypt, wearing an elegant black dress that contrasts with her white hair; she holds the Silver Key of Heaven in her hands, and she’s staring at it with a gloomy expression on her face.

<Having second thoughts?> is the question she hears, coming from a young Egyptian woman who just set foot in the throne room. She doesn’t recognize her body, which has been possessed by Eris after the essence of the goddess of discord burned through her previous host.

<Not exactly. But this galaxy is so different from what I thought I’d find here. It’s so… gloomy.>

<What did you expect? You’re a goddess of life, and this is the domain of the goddess of death. Which is quite strange, because by the way she uses her power I thought Nephthys was the goddess of snakes.> Eris remarks, sitting next to her half-sister’s throne.

<She’s kind of both now.>

<What do you mean “now”?> Eris asks her. Ilithyia should know better than to listen to her… but she can’t ignore the voice of a goddess who caused the demise of countless empires.

<Nephthys holds more power than what is hers by birthright. You know Apophis?>

<The Egyptian Serpent of Chaos, eternal enemy of Ra. Didn’t our grandfather kill it?>

<He did. You probably think it’s a useless power, but I can instantly know the parent of any creature, and I know that Apophis was actually born from Ra himself, an aspect of his power. So when Apophis died, it was the most powerful being who had ever died in this galaxy… and as the goddess of death, Nephthys absorbed its full power. That’s why she is one of the Nine Gods.>

<Fascinating! It seems the Egyptian pantheon is far more flexible than our own.>

<Exactly, Eris, exactly. You and I have one thing in common: we were never able to escape living in the shadow of our parents. But once I use the Key to open a portal to our galaxy, I will finally claim my destiny as the next deity sitting on the throne of Olympus.>

<And I will be at your side. Trust me, Ilithyia: this war will give you exactly what you deserve.> Eris says, barely restraining herself from laughing maniacally.