Beyond The Impossible

The Mindscape

Under the rays of a blue sun, a woman is quietly enjoying her book when something falls in the ocean behind her. The loud splash attracts her attention, but she’s definitely not in a rush.

She slowly puts down the book on the wooden deckchair, adjusts her voluminous hair securing it behind her head, and calmly walks towards the beach.

During all of this a young woman has been gasping for air, swimming laboriously to the shore; she rests a few seconds on the blue sands, catching her breath.

<Well this is a surprise. I haven’t had any guests since I died. Noriko, was it?> the older woman asks. Noriko looks at her: dark skin, long wavy hair, skintight purple clothes that leave arms and navel exposed.

<Roxiana. Another one of the previous Nexus hosts… we’ve met before. Thanks for the clothes, I guess.> Noriko says; she knows she entered this realm naked, but now she’s wearing the same exact clothes of Roxiana… too tight for her taste, but it’s better than the alternative.

<I have to give it to you, Noriko… can I call you Noriko? I’m pretty sure I can… the firewall I created around my corner of the Mindscape should’ve been impenetrable. How did you get past it?>

<I can’t really take credit for it. I was in a kind of recycling bin for failed Nexus installations, when I emptied it the door to this place kind of showed up on its own.>

<Ah yes, the backdoor. What do you know, that actually worked! I never got the chance to use it, after all the trouble I went through to create that. Go figure.> Roxiana shrugs, walking back to her favorite reading spot.

<You seem to know your way around this place. How do I get back to my body?> Noriko asks.

<That depends. You’ve accessed the Nexus before… anything different this time? Say, for example, getting here in the same exact state you were the first time it was activated?>

<Yes, that’s precisely what happened. You went through the same thing?>

<All the Nexus hosts go through that when we die. Sorry kid, but that means this is a one-way trip for you.>

 

Boreas, 3,000 light-years from Earth

When his daughter built her own skyscraper, Bob Null thought it looked a bit ostentatious. But it’s nothing compared to the Winter Palace: everything is huge and designed to make any visitor feel small and insignificant. It’s all both old-fashioned and futuristically alien at the same time; candlesticks right next to holographic portraits.

He’s escorted into the throne room by half a dozen Lar guards. They didn’t even bother taking any weapons: if he tried to escape, they could remotely deactivate the belt that projects a warming field around him, and he would freeze to death within seconds of exposure to the icy atmosphere.

When they reach the throne room, they don’t follow him inside. The large decorated door closes behind him, leaving him alone facing the Ice Queen.

The second throne, reserved for the monarch’s spouse, has been removed: the Winter Throne stands alone. And there sits a 25 year old Leiko Tanaka.

<You can shut that thing down. This room is safe for humans.> she says, and at her gesture the belt shuts itself off. She crosses her legs and gives him that arrogant half smile he can’t forget.

<Well, Robert? What do you think?>

<I could understand getting a boob job, but this is really extreme.>

<This is no plastic surgery, Robert. I won eternal youth… I’m immortal now.>

<That’s nice. Where is our daughter?>

Her smile disappears.

<You are talking to the most powerful human in the Galaxy and you worry about her? How disappointingly small-minded of you, but I can’t say I’m surprised.>

<Stop playing games with me, Leiko. What do you want?>

She gets off the throne, walking towards him. He’s never seen her at this age… she was 16 when Noriko was born and they didn’t see each other for another 18 years… and seeing her at the same age of her daughter is making him really uncomfortable.

<Our daughter is dead, the Vanguard is defeated and Earth is gone. I have taken everything she had and I will soon gain control over the entire Olympian Galaxy.>

Bob is naturally shocked to hear those words, but he’s able to keep his composure.

<Do you even know how to be honest anymore, Leiko? I don’t believe a word you said.>

<Your brain was never your most impressive organ, Robert, but I didn’t think you were this dumb.>

<Really? Because you were never as smart as you thought you were, Leiko. Taking me prisoner because you wanted to gloat, sure, I can see that happening. But you also captured Catherine and Nalani… and that, Leiko, is what tells me you’re lying.>

<You’re deluding yourself. I have no use for the Hawaiian tramp or your latest little spawn.>

<The only reason you would capture me is to get information about Noriko, and the only reason you would kidnap my family is to be used as hostages. That tells me two things: that Noriko is still alive and that you need protection against the Vanguard. As for your third part… you will never get control over anything, Leiko, because you’re an egocentric sociopath with delusions of grandeur.>

The temperature of the room drops in half as the Ice Queen’s face gets red with anger.

<I have killed people for less.> she threatens him; the Endless Winter device in her chest pulsates, making her veins glow blue beneath her skin.

<GUARDS!> she yells, returning to her throne. The Lar guards waste no time to rush inside, even if the room is uncomfortably hot for them.

<Take him back where he belongs. And reduce the temperature of his cell to 10% of its current one… let’s see how long it takes before winter breaks him.>

<Way to prove my point. See ya!> Bob waves at her as he’s being dragged away.

Still steaming with anger, Leiko wonders how much she really knows the father of her offspring… despite her taunting she’s always known he had guts, but she didn’t expect him to have brains.

 

The Mindscape

Roxiana sits down on her deckchair, and a second identical one appears out of thin air for Noriko.
<Viper said the same thing, but I’m not sure I’m dead.> she says, taking the opportunity to sit down and face her predecessor. She barely had any time to speak to her in her previous visits.

<Oh, this I want to hear. What makes you think that you’re the real Noriko and not a self-aware program with all her memories?> Roxiana asks.

<I suppose there’s no way to prove that. But if I died, the Nexus would’ve powered down to wait for a new host; it wouldn’t be running any simulation.>

<And how do you know how long it’s been since you died? We could be hundreds of years into your future and there might be a new host running the show. Nobody warned me when you activated the Nexus, you know? Time is not an objective thing here. How long have you been a host? From your perspective, that is.>

<Seven years.>

<For me it’s been…> Roxiana pauses, looking into the distance.

<Uh. I don’t actually know. Funny that. Could be hundreds, could be millions of years.>

<And what exactly have you been doing all this time?> Noriko asks.

<Reading, mostly. I like to keep myself busy.> Roxiana replies, passing the book. Flipping through the pages, Noriko can’t even recognize script… they look like random squiggly lines.

<I don’t know how to read this.> she admits.

<That’s understandable. It’s about the history of the Glodytians… the last native speaker died four billion years ago and all knowledge of their existence was wiped out by the Eden.>

<Then how are you able to read it?>

<I’m a historian. Pre-Eden history is my favorite subject… that’s the kind of thing you can only find in the Mindscape, so you see, being dead has its advantages.>

<I thought the simulations of the Mindscape didn’t have access to the information registered by the Nexus, so how…>

<Trust me, kid. When I want to know something, there are few things in the universe that can stand in my way.> Roxiana answers, her silver eyes suddenly flashing. Noriko is surprised to see just how intimidating that familiar gesture can be. But she also sees a little of herself in her predecessor, like the eagerness to find a challenge.

<Let’s make a deal, Roxiana. Help me get back to my body, and along the way you’re bound to find out how I ended up here. Because you really want to know that, right?>

<Oh, you’re good. You’re really good.> Roxiana smiles, wagging her finger at Noriko.

She stands up, stretches her arms and her back, and then claps her hands a couple of times.

As a result a huge gate shoots out of the blue sand; Noriko falls out of the deckchair for the surprise, since if the gate had emerged just a couple of inches close it would’ve hit her.

<Okay, here’s the deal: I can’t take you to your own Mindscape. A former host can only enter the realm of a previous one; your time is completely inaccessible for me. But I can take you almost anywhere else in the Mindscape.>

<How is that going to help me?> Noriko asks. She knows from experience that she can’t blindly trust any previous host.

<The Nexus is over five billion years old. There’s limitless information out there, if you know how to find it… and I’ve forgotten more about the history of the universe than you will ever learn.>

<Like that book?>

<Goodness no, the Glodytians didn’t even get to the industrial age. But the place where I found the book can be used to access anywhere else in the Mindscape… I need to take you to No Mind’s Land.>

Boreas, 3,000 light-years from Earth

Despite the name, the dungeon beneath the Winter Palace isn’t actually that scary. While there are sections of it that have been used to downright torture political prisoners, its most recent section isn’t all that different from a modest hotel room. At least until the temperature dropped.

Dr. Catherine Kalama is holding tight to her daughter Nalani, trying to warm her with her own body heat: it’s cold enough for her breath to be visible.

She’s relieved when the bars open to let Bob Null get inside; she hurries to hug him, making sure he’s not been hurt. Aside from signs of being exposed to an even lower temperature, he’s fine.

<Did she tell you what’s going on? It’s getting colder.> she asks.

<We can’t trust a word she said, but don’t worry. I have a plan.> Bob says, taking off his belt and placing it on the bed. Since this is a one bed room, there’s no way to keep Nalani out of the discussion, and she listens while sitting on her father’s knee.

<She switched it off remotely; I think she used her powers, so maybe this is heat sensitive. If we can figure out a way to switch this on, perhaps it could be used as a weapon against the Lar.>

<Because they’re vulnerable to higher temperatures, yes I get it. But what’s the use? Even if we managed to leave the prison, we’re on an alien planet! We don’t even know where Earth is.> the doctor replies. Bob is ready to respond, but he’s interrupted:

<We could steal a spaceship. Presumably it should have enough navigational data to get us anywhere we want, provided we successfully cloak the ship from their sensors.> Nalani says.

Bob and Catherine stare at the 4 year old little girl.

<What did you just say!?> her mother wonders.

<It’s just basic logic, mommy. Am I the only one feeling cerebrally stimulated?>

<Now that you mention it, I’m like intellectually enhanced and stuff.> Bob acknowledges, flawlessly opening the belt to expose its circuitry like it was the easiest thing in the world.

<I don’t feel any different. What’s happening to you two!?> the doctor wonders.

<If you’re not affected, it must have something to do with the Nexus: you don’t share any DNA with Noriko, but Nalani and I do. I can only hypothesize that Leiko has not been affected because her Vial of Destiny shields her from the effects of Drylon technology.> Bob explains as he rewires the belt; by the time he’s done talking, the device is emitting a pleasant warmth.

<So… wait, you mean you and Nalani are geniuses now!?>

<Give her some time, daddy, this is a lot to process for her. By the way, if we’re escaping the alien prison can I stay up past bedtime?> the four year old asks.