Beyond The Impossible

Destiny-One, in orbit above Earth

Noriko Null has never felt comfortable talking to heads of state, even when she was one.

Despite her allergy to politics, she knows that she can’t take back Olympus without the full support of Earth. And that includes its various governments.

She has teleported the leaders of almost 200 countries on the ship, hosting them in a dedicated meeting room that should not be able to fit inside the ship. One of the advantages of having mastered dimensional technology.

She addresses them from a small podium, her silver eyes moving quickly from person to person.

<When I learned that Athena didn’t destroy Earth upon taking power, as I initially feared, I was hoping that she would meet serious resistance. That she would need to fight for every inch of land she wanted to conquer, because the people of Earth had come together in the hour of need. How naïve of me to expect so much.> she starts, not mincing her words.

<What did you want us to do? You took away our nuclear weapons!> the President of Russia complains. He probably doesn’t consider the irony that Null’s own translation technology is what allows everyone in the room to understand him.

<We tried to fight back. The invading forces were overwhelming.> the president of the People’s Republic of China acknowledges, without raising his voice.

<It was no invasion. They only targeted Midgard City and the Olympian military forces stationed on Earth. Only those who tried to interfere were attacked.> the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom adds.

<And those aliens you brought with you.> the Prime Minister of Japan adds.

<Or your collaborators.> the President of the United States says.

Noriko hasn’t had much time to know President Wright, after he succeeded President Devane. He’s twice his age, but he seems to have far more of a spine.

<It was either fighting to the death an enemy we couldn’t hope to defeat on our own, or sacrificing lives to save the woman who was proven to have been responsible for all the deaths caused by Abyss. Unless you deny that accusation?> he asks.

<I cannot.> Noriko has to admit, looking down to avoid his stare.

<Then don’t try being sanctimonious with us. You’ve come back to Earth to save us all and redeem your name? Then give us a reason to trust you again.>

Noriko resists the urge to smile. After Keen and Devane, she had lost faith she’d ever hear a reasonable President again.

<Very well. As we speak, my team is liberating the planet Boreas, capital of the Winter Kingdom.> Noriko explains, activating a holographic projector.

<That’s where the Winter King was from.> the President of Canada acknowledges.

<Well, looks like someone actually read my reports. I’ve taken control of its fleet and, most importantly, of its last remaining Industrial Replicator.> Noriko explains, as the hologram displays the image of a building-sized machine that grows into a far larger installation.

<The Industrial Replicator has already begun construction of my latest invention: a Planetary Displacement Shield. It will keep the planet in a dimensional shift out of our plane of existence, effectively making it intangible for as long as it runs.>

<What good is this to us?> the President of France asks.

<The PDS exploits the trans-dimensional supersymmetric entanglement of… sorry, I don’t think I can dumb it enough for you guys. The shield only needs one projector: all we need to do is build a receiver on Earth, and we will also be protected the same way.>

<I suppose there is a catch, or you would have done this earlier.> Todd Slate asks. He’s the only person in the room besides her who is not a head of state.

<The catch is that this will consume a lot of power. More than all the combined Fusion Reactors on the planet could provide. The receiver will need to be constructed in a remote area and require considerable infrastructure… it’s not the kind of technology I can just put anywhere on Earth on my own. I will need everyone to agree on where to build it.> she reveals.

<Why don’t you place it in Midgard City?> the President of Brazil asks.

<If anything goes wrong, I don’t want to flood the planet by melting Antarctica… I think we can all agree that we have way too much on our hands already.> Noriko admits.

<How long do we have to build this receiver?> the Prime Minister of Jamaica wonders.

<Days, at best. Luckily, it’s not as complex as the main emitter, so we won’t need an Industrial Replicator… but no offense, Earth doesn’t have the skills to do it fast enough. I’m going to use Nullbots to do everything myself.> Noriko explains.

<Hasn’t Athena destroyed all your robots?> the Chancellor of Germany asks.

<She did. That’s one of the reasons why I need everyone to lend a hand… the most basic Nullbot design is well within the capabilities of most mechanical factories. I’ll need to borrow them.>

<You want us to let you use our factories?> the President of Mexico asks.

<Yes. Specifically, I need to requisition 60% of all factories on the planet. I made a list.>

<You’re asking us to rebuild your robot army!? After admitting you were Abyss… the woman who destroyed most of our Navy!?> President Wright points out.

<Technically that was Artemis, Abyss just helped. But basically… yeah. Unless you have other ideas on how to protect the planet?>

The room erupts into a fierce shouting match, with multiple politicians talking over each other.

Noriko is genuinely surprised that it took them this long to get to this point.

She plans to let them get this out of their system for a few more minutes, but that won’t be necessary. When a triangular Aether portal opens, the room falls silent.

Especially when the first to leave the portal is Kari Zel, holding in her bloodied hands a human-sized angelic wing that she presents to Noriko.

<Nike is no longer a threat. O.D.I.N. says that the Industrial Replicator is working at full capacity.> she reports.

<Excellent news. Now… does anybody have doubts about my ability to take down gods?> Noriko asks the crowd of leaders, holding over her head the severed wing of the Goddess of Victory.

 

An hour later, in one of the ship’s laboratories

Prometheus sits quietly in a corner, unbothered by the darkness of the lab: without his eyes, it makes absolutely no difference to him.

Once Noriko gets inside and flips the switch that turns on the lights, he tilts his head.

<A productive but intense meeting, I assume.>

<What gave it away?>

<The sound of your steps suggests relaxed muscles, your heartbeat is stable but slightly increased from your regular rate, your perspiration is higher and more acidic, and your gut bacteria…>

<I was being rhetorical. What, you smelled my meeting from up here?>

<Divine senses transcend mortal ones. Those of a blind god, doubly so.>

<That’s both ominous and gross. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for your help, Prometheus, and I swear we’ll recover your eyes. But…>

<It comes after securing Earth. The prophetic powers of my eyes would provide a tremendous tactical advantage only if we are able to use them.> he anticipates her sentence.

<Took the words right out of my mind. You’re not psychic, are you?>

<Not without my eyes. I do, however, have certain powers of intuition.> Prometheus adds, leading Noriko towards a small device that she doesn’t remember building.

<Is this why you asked to see me? That looks… suspiciously like my tech, but…>

<It’s built off your Soul Relay. It should redirect the passage of information to avoid overwhelming the mind. Sort of a lightning rod for the brain.>

<Prometheus, you’ve never even seen a Soul Relay. Literally. How…>

<I have. Thousands of years before your birth. Before Athena took my eyes and delivered me to Baal, I had… visions of you. Of your creations. I knew that some day, I would give this to you.>

<Well that’s… creepy. How does it work?>

<I have no idea. You haven’t explained it to me yet.>

<But you built it yourself. With your own hands.>

<Indeed.>

<Yeah, that’s definitely creepy. I didn’t even tell you that… who told you that I sent Quantum to take Amaterasu back here?>

<I’m learning it just now. Is that connected to the device I built?>

<I was planning on using Amaterasu to trigger Athena’s trap for me: her mind is partially based on mine, so if she triggers the information transfer, it might diffuse it. But there’s a risk that this could destroy her mind, just like it was designed to destroy mine. Unless there’s a way to redirect the passage of information to… avoid… overwhelming… the mind.> Noriko slows down, realizing mid-sentence that she’s using the same exact words Prometheus used with her.

<Prometheus, I just told Torn to wait before sending Amaterasu… I came up with an idea on how to make the plan more secure less than five minutes ago, and you’re saying you’ve known for ages?>

<You sound distressed. You’ve known about my gift for prophecy before.>

<Yeah, but I didn’t think it was THIS specific!!! You do realize what this means, right? If everything you see actually happens with THAT much precision…>

<The universe is intrinsically deterministic, yes. I have given it some thought over the eons.>

<Have you… have you seen…

>

< I do have memories of visions of your future… but none that would allow me to say whether you will survive your fight with Athena. But even if I had, there would be no point in telling you: the only way my visions don’t come true is if I reveal them before they are meant to be revealed.>

<So, no spoilers, uh? And how exactly do you know when it’s “meant to be”?>

<It would be best described as “god’s intuition”.>

<So, you basically have to make it up as you go along, even when you can see the future?>

<That is the burden of my gift.>

<Well that sucks.>

<Indeed.>

<So… how does this work? If I don’t tell you how the device I’ve invented and that you’ve already built is supposed to do, then it won’t function properly?>

<That is my intuition.>

<This is weird. You’re weird, Prometheus.>

<I will take that as a compliment. So tell me, how does this contraption of yours work?>

<Well… it’s sort of a lightning rod for the brain…> Noriko begins to explain.

 

Minutes later, in the cargo bay

Amaterasu twitches uncomfortably as Noriko adjusts the device attached to the back of her head, hidden by her long black hair. Given the difference in height, Amaterasu is kneeling for this.

<Stay still, this can’t possibly hurt you. You’re basically indestructible.> Noriko tells her.

<I know, auntie, but… I don’t want to be stuck by lightning. It scares me.> the goddess admits.

<Again. Invulnerable.> Noriko insists.

<Not when mom… when Viper used it against me. It hurt. I don’t want to be hurt anymore.>

<It will only be for a moment. If anything happens, I’ll get you back here before you know it.>

<Promise?> Amaterasu pleads. It’s a gut punch for Noriko: she may look like a grown-up goddess, but she’s still mentally a child.

<If anyone wants to hurt you, they’ll have to go through me.> Noriko reassures her, giving her a kiss on the top of the head.

She steps away, and once Amaterasu stands up the ship’s teleporter takes her out of the ship.

Leaving only Noriko and Torn in the cargo bay.

<You. Saw. Nothing.> she threatens him.

<You would make a good mother.> Torn comments.

<No, I wouldn’t. Keep your focus on Amaterasu, I want you to rescue her if anything goes wrong!>

 

Mount Fuji, Japan

She might take the name from the primary goddess of Shintoism, but Amaterasu has never actually been in Japan before. Everything she knows about the place, and of the goddess she’s been programmed to represent, is second-hand information.

The second she sets foot on Earth; Amaterasu’s mind is similar enough to Noriko’s… having used her as a partial template… to activate the trap.

All the knowledge of humanity’s collective consciousness gathers and conveys towards her position.

It’s far too much for any brain not connected to the Nexus, and the additional information virus should make this lethal even for the Slayer of Gods.

If it wasn’t for the lightning rod built by Prometheus. Thanks to it, the overwhelming majority of information simply passes by Amaterasu and is discharged into the ground as regular electricity.

What is absorbed by the goddess is little more than the legends and teachings of Shintoism… and for the first time since she was artificially created, Amaterasu feels she found her home.