Beyond The Impossible

Max Black a.k.a. Quantum is lost, in more ways than one. He doesn’t have any way to contact the Vanguard, he doesn’t know on what planet he is, and he definitely doesn’t know how to get out of the situation. He has recovered the use of his powers, but there’s no guarantee that Anubis won’t take control of his body again, through the cybernetic implants in his cells. Not to mention that those implants are probably the only thing keeping him alive.

He could leave the planet, of course, but he has no way to find Earth and no idea how long it would take him to get there. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s one more complication: the Shabti, the cyborg woman that lays unconscious before him and who could be his only way out.

It’s been hours since he knocked her out. Now he’s hiding in one of the myriad sub-levels of the incredibly aseptic headquarters of Anubis.

When she finally wakes up, as her circuits power up, Quantum gets ready to a fight. Instead, much to his surprise, she doesn’t seem angry. Just confused.

<What happened? Where is everybody?> she asks, looking around.

<We left Hermes behind. Now, don’t freak out, but I sort of kidnapped you.> he explains.

<Where did you take all the dead people? What kind of damage did you cause?> she wonders, checking her implants while simultaneously running an internal diagnostic.

<I was offline for 74 minutes. How did you keep me out of the server!?> she asks.

<Maybe it’s better if I take you offline again.> he reasons, ready to short-circuit her again.

<No. I’m taking you to the afterlife right now.> she answers with a resolute tone, grabbing his arm.

 

The Afterlife Server

Because of his powers and his experience with teleporters, the fact that the world around him changed in an instant isn’t surprising to Quantum. What is surprising is where he finds himself.

It’s a truly immense chamber, large enough to contain a planet. It’s dominated by a massive central pillar full of screens flashing endless strings of hieroglyphs, with a seemingly infinite number of wires that connect it to billions of alcoves. Inside each of them is a person… kind of: a few of them look like humans, many are mummies of various state of decay, and the vast majority are desiccated corpses. And each and every one of them has cybernetic implants.

<This isn’t right. It isn’t how it’s supposed to be!> the Shabti complains.

<Oh, good, so it’s not just me. What is this place?> he asks, coming close to one of the alcoves. It contains a Demon, and it’s just the first one of several millions.

<This isn’t a place, it’s a simulated reality. It’s the afterlife, where our souls go when Anubis isn’t using them. Or where they’re supposed to go.> the Shabti explains, a little hesitant this time.

<It doesn’t look like there’s anybody home. Are they sleeping?> he asks, snapping his fingers in front of the Demon to get his attention. He gets no reaction.

<Their bodies are dead, but the afterlife should let them continue living here, forever, in a new reality free from want and suffering. It should be the best existence imaginable!>

<I take it you’ve never been here?>

<No, a Shabti never goes offline. But there are emergency protocols… when you shut off my body, my soul should’ve been transferred here. I don’t understand what’s happening!>

<WARNING. Unauthorized access to afterlife detected. Deploying countermeasures.>

Quantum and the Shabti look at each other: the message came out of the central pillar with a booming voice. And the Demons start disappearing from the afterlife, one by one.

<That doesn’t sound good.> he realizes, as the simulated reality around him disappears.

 

A sub-level of the Anubis homeworld

Once he snaps back to reality, Quantum watches in horror as a dozen fire pentagrams appear around him, announcing the arrival of a Demon task force. He doesn’t want to fight them, since they’re obviously mind-controlled, but he doesn’t have much choice; Demon energy weapons are capable of hurting him even when he changes form into other particles.

He doesn’t need to lift a finger, though, since all the Demons collapse immediately after emerging from their respective portals.

<Why isn’t Anubis controlling you anymore?> the Shabti asks him, lowering her hand: he can still feel the electromagnetic pulse that she used to shut down the implants controlling the Demons.

<I don’t know. How does Anubis controls his soldiers?> he asks.

<He sends orders through entangled neutrinos, but your body seems to block the signals before they can reach the machines inside your cells. As well as blocking mine.>

<I wish Noriko were here, what you just said might make sense to her. What doesn’t make sense to me is why you just saved my life.>

<Those soldiers weren’t sent here for you. They were sent to eliminate me.>

<How do you know that?>

<Because I’m the Shabti. I hear every order he transmits. Or I used to.> she explains, extracting something from her ear: a device the size of a bolt, which she crushes with her fingers.

<I can get you a ship to leave this planet. Come with me if you want to come back to life.> she tells him, walking speedily towards the nearest door.

 

The Mindscape

From the looks of it, this is a nice place: a beachfront house in front of a pristine sea, finely decorated with upscale furniture. Jane Blake can’t shake off the feeling of being in the wrong place, mostly thanks to the myriad of robots of all shapes and sizes moving around.

Her friend Noriko doesn’t pay them much attention, focusing instead on the man responsible for the upkeep of this little corner of her mind: the digital ghost of Diomedes.

<You’ve kept yourself busy.> she tells him.

<Without access to the Nexus, there’s a limit to what I can do. I believe you understand, considering your current situation.> he says, leaving no doubt that he noticed her lack of silver eyes.

<Yes, I’m having trouble using my brain properly.> she admits.

<As proven by renting this place to this guy. No offense, mister.> Jane adds.

<She’s not wrong: it’s dangerous for lesser minds to interact with the Nexus. No offense, young lady.> Diomedes says.

<Hey, I didn’t volunteer for this. She drafted me.> Jane points out.

<I needed help to gather enough brainpower to use the Soul Resonance technique to access the Mindscape. She used to be smarter than me, before the Nexus.> Noriko admits.

<Flattery won’t get you anywhere, I’m just here to help Max. But if it makes you feel any better, you can pay my rent for a couple of years.> Jane jokes.

Diomedes doesn’t seem particularly interested in the friendly banter between his visitors, wasting no time to change the conversation.

<There’s something I want to show you.> he says, pressing his hand against the nearest wall.

Its surface changes completely, transforming into a flat screen showing a strange image: seen from afar it’s the symbol of infinity, but upon closer look it’s composed by thousands of tiny strings.

<What am I looking at?> Noriko asks, squinting to parse through the details.

<A map of the neural network within the Nexus. I have identified several access points that are currently blocked by the main operating system.>

<Is that the cause of my lack of brainpower?>

<Unlikely, the blocks have been active for years. But unlocking these ports could potentially help you solve your problem.>

<Can you remove them?> Noriko asks.

<I’m just a program. But I believe that, if you grant me administrative access to some of the security processes, I could deactivate the blocks.> he explains.

<Sounds like a plan.> Noriko nods.

<Actually, I think it’s a terrible idea.> Jane comments. Both Noriko and Diomedes turn towards her to give a puzzled look, and she shrugs.

<I know, I know, I’m the dumbest person in the room. But these locks might be there for a reason, right? Do we know what’s going to happen if we remove them?> Jane asks.

<Not really.> Diomedes admits.

<Then Nori, given your current state, I don’t think you should run the risk.>

<You’re not wrong. Thanks for the suggestion, Diomedes, but actually I came to the Mindscape to find a way to repair the Key of Heaven.>

<I can’t help you with that either.> he adds.

<What? Why not?>

<I don’t have access to any information recorded by the Nexus while I was its host. But even if I did, repairing the Key would be far beyond my capabilities.>

<I don’t understand. It was built by a Nexus user, right?>

<Teraph, yes.>

<So even if I can’t access his memories, I should be smart enough to repair something he built.>

<Teraph was one of the most brilliant Nexus users to ever exist. You have access to the sum of knowledge of all humans on Earth, but Teraph had access to a billion years of Lar technology.>

<Fantastic. And let me guess, you can’t help me access the Shadow Network, right?>

<Actually I can. I remember hacking into its system once, during an adventure with Ulysses; I can teach you how to do the same.>

<Then why didn’t you say that in the first place!?>

<It’s a tedious process, especially giving your condition. I still think removing the blocks is…>

<That’s off the table, Diomedes. End of story.> Noriko interrupts him.

<Fair enough. We can start working on a backdoor for the Shadow Network; your friend can leave now, we won’t be needing her.>

<You know, Nori, I’m starting to feel that being alone with this guy isn’t such a good idea. Do you want me to stay?> Jane asks, sensing something’s off with Diomedes.

<I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself, silver eyes or not.>

<Are you sure?> Jane asks, backing off when Diomedes gets close enough to put his hands on her shoulders. There’s something off in the way he’s staring at her.

<Thank you for your cooperation, young lady. You’ve been extraordinarily useful.> Diomedes tells her; his eyes turn silver for a fraction of a second, and Jane disappears.

 

Jane Blake’s apartment, New York City

Jane opens her eyes, and suddenly she’s back in her home. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, in front of Noriko who is also in the same position.

Her friend still has her eyes closed and is deep in meditation, breathing very slowly.

<I hope you know what you’re doing.> she tells Noriko, then she stands up and stretches her legs.

<And I hope you find Max. Who knows what…> she says to herself, suddenly stopping. She stands perfectly still for a good ten seconds, staring into the distance. Then she looks at her hands.

<Hm. This is a nice brain: she wasn’t joking about you being smart, young lady. You’ll regain control soon enough.> Jane says, wasting no time to inspect the room until she finds Noriko’s leather jacket. She picks up Noriko’s phone, finding it unresponsive. She quickly figures out that it can only respond to Noriko’s touch and grabs her hand, forcing her to hold the phone.

<Load data stream in ten seconds.> she orders the phone, then she places it before Noriko’s left eye and she lifts her eyelid: Noriko’s eye flashes thousands of times within a second.

<That should be enough. Too bad this device doesn’t have enough memory to house my entire program. Releasing control in five seconds.> Jane says, throwing Noriko’s phone on the couch.

She then stares at nothing for five more seconds before completing a previous sentence:

<Who knows what’s happening to him. Did you say something?> Jane asks, looking around.

She misses the message on Noriko’s phone, reading:

“PROGRAM INSTALLED. OPERATION TROJAN GHOST INITIATED”

<I must be hearing things.> Jane shrugs.