Beyond The Impossible

Fermi crater, far side of the Moon

The N01-Ragnarok emerges from the Shadow Network’s portal, rapidly followed by another dozen ships of similar design.

While the others waste no time to set up a course to leave this solar system, the Ragnarok gets into lunar orbit to face the Earth.

<I missed the view.> Noriko Null admits, sitting on the captain’s chair.

<It looks exactly like the last time.> Torn comments.

<That’s not the point. We’ve been gone for a long time, I was looking forward to coming back.>

<It still looks the same.> he repeats.

<Come on, don’t you get a little emotional every time you get back to Hell?> Kari asks him, to which Torn has a perfectly predictable answer:

<No.>

The two girls exchange looks, shrugging off the Demon’s typical emotionlessness.

On the other side of the spectrum, Quantum barges in, appearing on the bridge and rushing towards the Kari duplicate who is piloting the ship.

<Are we there yet!?>

<We’ll be within teleportation range in a couple of minutes.> she reassures her.

<Great, take care! I’m taking the week off, bye!> Quantum then says, looking at Noriko as he vaguely waves goodbye to his teammates before transforming into a radio message beamed straight at Earth.

<That’s kind of a jerk move. Couldn’t he wait two minutes!?> Kari complains.

<He’s been away from Earth for even longer than us, and we’ve been gone for a while. Besides, he’s even been dead for some of it, so I’m cutting him a bit of slack.> Noriko concedes.

<I thought cutting things was my job.> Torn comments.

<I bet he’s flying straight to his new girlfriend. She’s cute.> one Kari tells another duplicate.

<Save the chitchat for when we’re through with the mission. We still have to handle how to take care of Hermes now that he’s our prisoner; I don’t want him to set foot on Earth ever again.> Noriko adds.

<Vesta’s guarding him; I can take care of everything and I have Torn in case I need extra help; why don’t you go get some rest?> Kari suggests.

<No, it’s fine. I’d rather finish the mission.>

<Don’t you have someone waiting for you as well?> Kari insists, making a series of face expressions that Noriko translates at “come on, don’t make me look bad by saying it out loud”.

<Oh! You’re right. I was just…> Noriko says, trying to come up with an excuse.

<We’re within teleportation range.> the piloting Kari announces, saving Noriko.

<Great! Send me a message in case you need anything.> Noriko comments, typing the coordinates on a holographic screen and standing up from the captain’s chair just in time to be teleported.

This leaves only Torn and a bunch of Kari duplicates on the bridge, where nobody says a single word for a few minutes.

<From my experience, this is typically the point when you tell me I didn’t notice some kind of human social interaction.> Torn finally breaks the ice.

<Yes! I won!> one of the Kari exults, while the other duplicates groan or roll their eyes.

<I don’t get it.> Torn admits it.

<I told the other Kari that even YOU would notice it, and I won the bet!>

<You bet against yourself? Aren’t you all the same person?>

<That’s not the point. The point is that I won!> Kari says, sticking out her tongue at her duplicates.

<You didn’t! He still has no clue what we’re talking about!>

<I don’t. What are you blathering about?>

<She bet even you would notice that Noriko hasn’t mentioned her latest boyfriend even once after we left Earth.>

<Of course not. She doesn’t feel anything for him.> Torn answers, as dryly as possible.

This makes all the Kari duplicate speechless to the point their jaws literally drop.

<Was it supposed to be a secret?> Torn wonders.

<Since when do YOU notice anything!?> more than one Kari says.

<I thought it was obvious. Her soul doesn’t react to his presence.> Torn shrugs.

<Wow, that’s cold, Torn! I thought they were just going through some problems, but gods, that’s just brutal. Did you tell her anything?>

<Why would I? Isn’t this normal among humans?>

<I take it back: even when you notice stuff, you’re still unbelievable clueless!>

 

Jane Blake’s apartment, New York City

Max Black a.k.a. Quantum appears in his girlfriend’s living room, and once he transforms into flesh and bones the only source of lighting disappears. He forgot to check, but it’s night in New York.

“Man, I have the weirdest space jetlag. I’ll surprise her in the morning when she wakes up” he thinks, sitting down on the couch and tapping his fingers on his knees for a solid five seconds.

“This is boring.” he then thinks, disappears for a quick lightspeed trip to his own apartment, and re-appears on the couch holding a comic book in his hands.

It’s very easy for him to see in infrared, but he discovers that the comic is unreadable in this light.

He still tries, and he’s so focused on this task that he doesn’t notice the person approaching him until there’s a baseball bat about to bash him in the head.

He changes into radio waves at the last second, harmlessly passing through the attacker’s body and  returning to his human form to turn the lights on. And he sees that the one holding the baseball bat is his girlfriend, who is in her underwear and with a medical mask on her face.

<Jane? What the heck!?>

<Max! Oh my God, I thought it was someone trying to rob me! You scared me half to death!>

<And you thought it’d be a good idea to play superhero? I get the bat, but what’s with the mask?>

<Ah ah, very funny Max. Are you alright? Noriko said you were kidnapped!>

<Yeah, we had a whole thing with the god of death and some crazy alien cult. I was a cyborg zombie for a while, isn’t that cool?>

<I feel like you’re overstating or underplaying what happened and I don’t know which is worse…>

<But seriously though, why the mask?>

<You’re… you’re not joking. You seriously don’t know what happened since you left?>

 

Cape Town, South Africa

It’s early morning in Daren Bekker’s house when Noriko Null appears in his living room.

Not finding him there, she looks around in the house. She realizes that she hasn’t been here often… most of their dates have either been in America or in Antarctica, in Midgard City.

Of all the things that she’s been looking forward to, meeting Daren wasn’t high on the list. Not that she doesn’t enjoy his company, but she has no idea how to explain to him everything that happened.

She’s been adamant to keep him away from her work on the Vanguard… that’s part of what doomed her relationships with Todd and Dmitry… but she must tell him something.

She finds him in a room that is clearly serving as a small gym, where the athlete is running on a treadmill that she doesn’t recall seeing there.

<Hey.> she timidly greets him. Daren is decidedly more excited, rushing to hug her in a way that she didn’t realize she missed until now.

<Noriko! Thank God you’re alright! I was afraid you were infected by the Eden!>

<What the… how on Earth do you know about Eden!? >

<Why wouldn’t I? They’re the ones who brought the virus here, right?>

<What virus?> Noriko asks, more confused than ever. It’s not the first time she’s been away from Earth for so long that she’s not up to date with every major event, but based on Daren’s reaction she’s behind pretty much everyone on the planet.

<Well, uhm… there’s a pandemic going on. The entire world is under lockdown.>

<What kind of pandemic?>

<A virus that people say was spread by the golden aliens that landed in New York. Is that really what happened?>

<I have no idea. Is anyone working on a vaccine?>

<I was kind of hoping the reason you disappeared was that you were working on one… how long do you think it’ll take you to get one ready?>

Noriko sighs, leaning against the wall and sighing.

<Dammit, there goes the rest of the week. Is it too much to ask the world to stay safe once!?>

 

Boreas, 30,000 light-years from Earth

With a major part of the Winter Castle destroyed in the battle between the Ice Queen and Amaterasu, thousands of Lar citizens are already at work in its reconstruction.

As the primary seat of power in the entire Winter Kingdom, it’s only natural that the attention of the entire planet is typically focused on this building, especially now.

Unbeknownst to much of the population, and even to a majority of historians, beneath the Castle there is an extensive labyrinth of catacombs where a staggering amount of corpses are conserved.

Few would dare to venture down here: according to the ancient traditions of the Lar ancestor worship, disturbing the dead is an unforgivable offense.

Which might explain why only two people have been sent down here to inspect a particular chamber, hundreds of feet below the ground. It’s the largest structure in the catacomb, and one of the oldest. Nobody knows why it was built; there are rumors about it being the resting place of the Lar monarch who conquered Boreas, but since the Lar have been living here for millions of years the true story will likely never be told.

Only the two Lar approaching the time-worn door leading into the chamber know why they are here: the Ice Queen was concerned that her battle with Amaterau damaged this sacred place.

<Her Majesty was right.> one of the Lar says, pointing a flashlight towards the metal door that leads inside: it’s bent out of shape.

<It doesn’t make sense. The ground above us should’ve absorbed any impact. We should investigate further.> the other one says, carefully opening the door.

<Wait! The Queen ordered us not to get inside!>

<Her Majesty is the Ice Queen, but she isn’t a Lar… she doesn’t know the importance of respecting the dead. If she disturbed them, we should make amends.> the other insists, getting inside.

Both men look around in awe. As a sign of respect, they keep the light emitted by their flashlights at the bare minimum: after all, the last thing they want is to wake up the dead.

Then the light touches something unexpected: a block of ice, containing what they initially mistake for a human male. But it doesn’t take much to recognize that it’s a god.

<Dionysus? I thought the Ice Queen killed him!>

<Don’t you remember? She took him prisoner when she conquered the Tyche sector. Why would she take him here?>

<I don’t like this! We should report back immediately!> one of the two Lar says, clearly upset by the turn of events.

If he could see the halo of fire appearing right behind him he would be terrified, but he won’t have time to notice: his neck is effortlessly snapped by the teenage girl standing beneath the halo.

<I have a talent.> she says, calmly facing the other Lar and adjusting the fire halo on her head, as if moving a stylish hat into the perfect position.

<Things go my way and I can never take a bad decision. Some may call it subconscious clairvoyance, I call it being the goddess of destiny and luck. You know who I am, right?>

<Tyche.> the Lar recognizes her: the Ice Queen bragged often about defeating her.

<That ice prison was supposed to hold me forever; there was a million to one chance that something would cause it to break. But I’m a lucky girl. I’m so lucky, in fact, that I bet the Ice Queen is the only person to know that you are here.>

<She… she is. Are you going to kill me too?>

<There’s no need for that. Because you’re going to escort me to the nearest spaceport and help me escape this barren planet, right?>

<I… I don’t think we can get him past security.> the Lar says, looking at the ice block containing Dionysus. Tyche just shrugs.

<That oaf has served his purpose and he’s incapable of not attracting attention. And I don’t need the Ice Queen to notice that we are leaving.>

<Leaving for where?>

<Earth. You probably never heard of it, but that’s Null’s planet… and I already have a man there.>