Beyond The Impossible

A woman emerges from the deserts of Eden, with golden sand falling off her body. She has several bruises and her wounds are leaking fire, but she’s still alive.

<How did I end up here?> Vesta asks herself, trying to remember.

As her last memory is fighting Anubis in orbit, she reasons that she was knocked out and fell on the planet. She never imagined she’d be able to go toe to toe with one of the Nine Gods; she’s too tired even to fly, and there’s nothing in sight: the desert extends beyond the horizon.

<Can anyone hear me? Anubis is down, I repeat, Anubis is down. Hello?> she says through the Neural Transmitter, but there’s no one answering her call.

<It’s okay. I’m just going to lay down for a while. Like a century or two.> she adds, starting to feel the exhaustion. When the sands shift again, she’s too tired to move.

Something else emerges from the desert. An eight feet tall humanoid jackal: his fur has been burned in several places, and his cybernetic implants are either half-melted or leaking sparks.

<Oh come on, give me a break! What does it take to kill you!?>

She expects Anubis to attack, maybe biting her again. Instead he kneels and bows his head.

<Thank you for freeing me from Eden. I am in your debt, Firstborn of Kronos.>

<You’re… welcome?> she replies hesitantly.

<How can the God of Death repay you?>

<I don’t know. Stop murdering people, I guess?>

<I am the God of Death.> Anubis repeats.

<Mortals die on their own. Can’t you be the god of death without killing them?>

<So you are saying I should only assimilate them with my nanites.>

<No, turning mortals into mindless zombies isn’t better than killing them! Besides, your necrobots are what got you in trouble in the first place, remember? Without them, Eden wouldn’t have been able to assimilate you.>

<You have given me much to think about. I will honor my debt after this battle is over.>

<You still want to fight me!?>

<Not you, Goddess of Fire. Them.> Anubis answers, looking at the desert.

Streams of electricity are moving like snakes beneath the sand. There are dark clouds above them, repeatedly releasing black lightning bolts. And most disturbingly, new bodies emerge from the ground… hundreds, thousands of them, all identical to each other.

But they’re not the usual Eden. They are golden copies of Noriko Null.

<Nori?> Vesta asks.

<We are the new Eden, reborn through the Nexus. Prepare to witness infinity.> they all say, as golden beams of light begin to emerge from the ground.

Seen from space, Eden is glowing so much that it would be easy to mistake it for a star.

 

At the center of the planet

Max Black a.k.a. Quantum isn’t the kind of person who gives up easily, but the situation is desperate. His powers don’t work against Eden, and he’s completely surrounded by them; even worse, all of them have turned into golden replicas of Noriko Null.

<We had forgotten how this felt. The full power of the Nexus is now ours to command; the stars will tremble at our might and the gods will bow before us.> the actual Noriko says, while her copies hold Quantum. He’s bigger than them, but they’re far stronger than the original: he can’t break free.

He could just transform into energy and leave, but he doesn’t have anywhere to go: the entire planet is Eden. And even if he escaped, he still wouldn’t have the means to hurt them.

Except damaging their pride.

<It sucks, doesn’t it? Not being able to assimilate me.>

<You are inconsequential. You cannot hurt us, you cannot escape us, you cannot outsmart us. When compared to our perfection, what are you?>

<I’m the Strongest Under The Heavens. And if you had Null’s brains, by now you would’ve realized you still have one weakness against me.>

<We are infinitely smarter than her. You are either lying or you don’t know that we can turn this body intangible as well.>

<I figured. But you forgot one thing… you can still see me.>

<How does that-> she says, when Quantum transforms his body into pure light and travels directly into her eyes. Once he’s inside her retinas, he changes into electricity and moves through her optic nerves to reach her brain.

He’s never done this before: a human brain would be instantly electrocuted. But Null’s brain can withstand an incredible amount of electricity, and he’s able to pour within her neurons without causing damage. His plan was to disconnect her from Eden, but instead he’s absorbed directly into the Nexus.

 

Somewhere

Quantum regains consciousness feeling like he’s about to drown, and for good reason: he’s stuck inside a glass cylinder filled with water, and he can’t transform into energy.

He tries hitting the glass a couple of times, with no success. He hears someone talk but he can’t understand the words, not until the cylinder is drained.

He coughs several times to free his lungs, which were also filled with water. He’s so disoriented that it takes him a few seconds there’s a person in front of him handing over a towel.

It takes a little more to realize that it’s Noriko Null, who is both facing the other way and keeping one hand over her eyes.

<Can you hurry? I can’t work until you put something on.>

Only now he realizes that he’s naked, and he hurries to take the towel to cover himself. She’s also covered only by a similar piece of clothing.

<Where the hell are we?> he asks, looking around. It’s clearly some kind of laboratory; he can’t recognize any instrument, but it’s clearly not originally from Earth.

<A mental projection. How long has it been since I was assimilated from Eden?> she asks.

<I don’t know, maybe five minutes.>

<That’s about when I woke up inside the tube.> she clarifies, pointing at the glass cylinder: Quantum turns towards it, and finds that it’s again full of water. Not only that, but inside it there’s one of the male Eden, seemingly unconscious.

<I think we’re inside his memory.> Noriko reveals.

<Did we have to be naked for this?> he asks.

<I’ve stopped asking that question.> she shrugs, proceeding to inspect the rest of the laboratory; even she has trouble understanding most of it.

<I don’t recognize this kind of technology. If I had to guess, I’d say that someone is either performing genetic experiments on the Eden…> she theorizes, pausing when she looks at one of the screens. She doesn’t recognize the language, but the graph has some resemblance to a DNA strand.

<…or someone is building them. I think the Eden were created artificially.> she adds.

Then someone else walks into the laboratory; both Noriko and Quantum try to hide themselves, but it’s immediately clear that the visitor can’t see them.

It’s a humanoid alien, a woman with angelic wings; her skin is white as snow, and the way her body glows suggests this isn’t an ordinary alien.

<A goddess?> Quantum asks, but Noriko doesn’t answer. She’s more interested in the second person that walks in: a child, barely starting her puberty, floating an inch off the ground. In contrast to the first one, her skin is pitch black; she has long ash grey hair, and the only notes of color are her bright red eyes. Once she arrives, the white woman immediately kneels.

<I did not expect to see you so soon, mistress. We have not finished all tests…>

<Silence, Ninshubur. Is it alive?> the child asks. It’s more high pitched than she recalls, but Noriko can’t forget that voice: every syllable makes her bones chill.

<Yes, Lady Ereshkigal. Fully sentient and sapient.>

<Hm. Do you think it looks like a Drylon?>

<I wouldn’t know, mistress. Nobody has seen a Drylon in a billion years. Perhaps you should ask Tiamat or Baal.>

<How many chromosomes did we manage to create?>

<Thirty-eight, as requested. However we couldn’t have two separate genetic strands inside the same being; there is no guarantee that they will be able to access Drylon technology.>

<I will ask my sister if she can do anything about it. Now wake it up.>

The glass cylinder opens, freeing the Eden. Quantum watches him have the same reaction that he had upon his arrival, and whispers to Noriko:

<Do you understand any of this?>

<This the earliest memory of Eden, four billion years in the past. The Eden were a genetic experiment of the Sumerian gods to replicate the Drylon.>

<Well obviously they’re not reproducing on their own.> Quantum points out, looking at the Eden: the naked alien doesn’t have any sort of genitals.

<It’s still incomplete. Can it breed?> Ereshkigal asks.

<No, my lady. We couldn’t figure out how to integrate two separate genetic codes inside the same being.> her attendant explains.

<Then we will create its other half. My sister is eager to work on this project.> the goddess adds, and as she talks the world becomes out of focus. Quantum is disoriented, while Null recognizes this as the simulation changing to another moment in time.

Suddenly they’re not in the laboratory anymore. They are in a beautiful garden of alien plants, under two bright suns, and both humans are wearing their clothes again.

<Did you do this?> Quantum asks.

<Yes, working inside the Mindscape has given me some insight on how these things work. I just fast-forwarded to the next thing Eden was thinking about.> she explains.

<I can see why.> he comments, looking at the other beings present: the male Eden is embracing and kissing his female equivalent, and now they’re both anatomically correct.

<Is this what you do when you get inside your head?> Quantum teases Noriko, who isn’t looking at the aliens. It’s not because she’s embarrassed: she’s looking at the goddess with skin darker than the darkest night who is walking towards them. Any plant that comes close to her instantly dies.

<Don’t you ever get bored of doing that?> Ereshkigal asks. She looks in her early twenties now, which for a goddess means the simulation has skipped several thousand years.

<We are executing the primary program. Be fruitful and multiply.> the male replies.

<What if I told you there is another way?> the goddess adds, stretching out her hand: it’s holding a glowing strand of energy, shaped like the symbol for infinity.

<I acquired this during my latest genocide. This little bastard is responsible for every single mortal civilization that has tried to rebel against divine rule for the last billion years.>

<We are not allowed to seek knowledge, we can only be fruitful and multiply.> the male replies, turning his back to Ereshkigal and trying to bring the female with him… but she lets him go.

<What is it called?> she asks, looking at the glowing energy with fascination.

<This is the Nexus. A creation of the Drylon. Since you were created in their image, you should be able to use it better than any other lifeform.>

<What… what does it do?>

<We are forbidden from learning such things!> the male insists, ignored by the others.

<That is right. We can only be fruitful and multiply.> the female repeats, uncertain of what to do.

<You will. Be fruitful and multiply, replenish the universe, and subdue it. Have dominion over the universe, and over the stars, and over every living thing that moves upon the cosmos.>

<I like the first part.> the female comments naively, touching the energy. It’s like closing a circuit: the energy flows inside her body, and electricity flows inside her veins. She stumbles, having difficulty keeping her balance. When she opens her eyes, they are now silver.

<Is that how you got your powers?> Quantum asks Null.

<No, it was way more painful for me. I had to absorb the entire knowledge of Earth’s civilizations… I don’t think the Eden have a real society at this point.> she explains.

<That is about to change very soon.> the female Eden says, looking straight at Null.

<You can see us!?> Quantum exclaims.

<This is our mind. You have no power here.> she adds, making the alien plants grow into vines that immobilize the two humans.