Imperial, Midgard City, Antarctica
The Nullbots have been quite busy today, moving out several boxes of Noriko’s personal belongings. Now that she’s no longer the Mortal Co-Empress of Olympus, this is no longer one of her residencies.
She hasn’t spent a lot of time overseeing the move. It’s only been a week since Athena’s defeat, but it might as well have been months considering the amount of work done… and it’s far from over.
There are repairs to be completed, alliances to be mended, fleets to be rebuilt, and that’s not even taking into account the legal nightmare of prosecuting thousands if not millions of enemy soldiers who were simply obeying their goddess, or the new system of government to be established.
It can be overwhelming even for a mortal in possession of the Nexus, so Noriko is quite glad to see Gilgamesh come into her bedroom just as two Nullbots are leaving carrying the bed.
<I always thought this room was too small for a goddess.> he admits.
<Well, I’m finally not one anymore.> she shrugs, leaning against him.
<You could’ve teleported the whole room. Why come here in person?> he wonders.
<I wanted to take one last look at the place. It was home for a while.>
<I will also miss this frozen land. It was here that I met your world when you took me out of Heaven. And we both have good memories of this room in particular.>
<Stop it.> she giggles, jokingly hitting his abdomen with her elbow. If she tried this with real strength, she would break a bone against his bronze skin.
<We’re moving to your native city again? You have been… vague about your intentions for the future.> Gilgamesh points out.
<I’m moving back to New York, yes, for the time being. Probably won’t get a warm welcome… I’m not super popular on Earth, lately.>
<After saving it from Athena?>
<People blame me for her takeover, and they are absolutely right: I should have seen her betrayal coming. But remember that Athena also revealed to the public all my dirty secrets… that I was Abyss, that I killed Aura when she was President of the Mortal Republic… I can’t blame them for not trusting me. The fact that the nanotechnology I’ve brought to Earth only works under my personal control isn’t helping things.>
<That is… interesting, Noriko, but not what I was referring to when I was asking about your intentions.> Gilgamesh stresses.
<I… don’t know what you mean.> Noriko lies, moving away from him, nervously touching her hair and looking for something else to focus on. Not an easy task in a completely empty room.
<Noriko, you know how I feel about you. You asked Eros to transform into you because you knew that I love you. But… back on Boreas, he also transformed into Enkidu. It reminded me that, even though he’s been dead for a million years, I do still love him.>
<Oh. If you mean to tell me that you need time to figure things through, I totally…>
<Noriko, we both know you have feelings for me. You are literally the smartest being in the universe, it shouldn’t be that hard to figure out whether you love me or not. The fact that you just won’t say it, even in the presence of the god of love himself, worries me.> he admits.
<I’m not good with relationship stuff, Gil, you know that. The last person I thought I loved was murdered in front of me. And the kind of beings that are after me, if they thought…>
<Don’t try telling me it’s to protect me, Noriko. I’m Gilgamesh.>
<You’re right. It’s about time we had a serious conversation about this. Good thing I didn’t order the robots to take out the couch. C’mon.> she encourages him, leading Gilgamesh into the living room where a couch is indeed waiting for them.
Only Gilgamesh doesn’t truly get to sit on it: as soon as he steps into the room, he transforms into a bird and flies towards the couch.
<What the…> Noriko wonders, almost tripping: the entire living room is now covered in a thick layer of sand.
It doesn’t take being Null to realize the reason for it: the beautiful Egyptian goddess laying on the couch, spreading her arms to show off the golden wings attached to them.
<Null. We have to talk.>
<Isis. What’s with the freaking sand?> Noriko asks, awkwardly doing her best to navigate towards her uninvited guest.
<The décor of your palace is ill-fitting for a goddess.> Isis shrugs, with the bird that used to be Gilgamesh now resting right next to her head.
Noriko recognizes the form as the yellow-billed kite, her sacred bird.
<Did you also have to turn my boyfriend into a bird?>
<Our discussion is not worthy of a mere demigod. I have other sacred animals; would you rather have me turn him into a cow?> Isis asks. Noriko has no doubt she could do it.
<It’s fine, as long as you turn him back before you leave. What’s the occasion for the visit?>
<You killed my sister Nephthys, birthed the monstrosity that enslaved my nephew Anubis, and your championship of mortal rule goes against everything I hold dear. I despise what you represent.>
<And yet, you didn’t turn me into a cow.>
<And yet, I am currently your only ally in the Universal Council.> Isis reminds her.
<The organization that replaced the Nine Gods, yeah, I’ve heard of that.> Noriko nods.
<Athena was allowed to join, but you certainly won’t. Not with Ereshkigal and Marduk scheming to kill or overthrow you. Inanna is only interested in creating chaos, Ra won’t take sides, and then there is Rei. Your doppelganger.>
<Not my biggest fan club, yeah. Why would you even let someone like Rei join!?>
<I was outvoted. She promised to destroy Baal and the Celestial Galaxy, and in a way, she achieved one of those two goals by helping Athena unleash you against Baal.>
<So what, you’re worried that I’m going to do the same with the Celestial Galaxy? I assure you that I have other priorities, Isis.>
<I know. That is what concerns me greatly.> Isis admits. Like the other Egyptian gods she has met, she’s not as expressive as Greek gods… but Noriko detects a hint of fear.
<With Athena gone, you no longer have an opposing force in Olympus. You conquered Hades and Poseidon, and Atlantis is under mortal rule… the only reason it’s not one of your vassals is that you don’t wish to call it that. I assumed Zeus would return to his throne, but if he’s not willing to do it even after Athena murdered his other favorite daughter Hebe… there is no doubt in my mind, Null, you are currently the head of the entire Greek pantheon.>
<I know plenty of gods and a lot more mortals that would object. Why do you care?>
<You defeated the Eden, who once bested Anubis. You defeated Tiamat and Baal, two Primordial Gods. You even defeated Typhon… a monster so powerful that even Ra would not overwhelm through sheer force alone. You are powerful too, Null. There are some in the Universal Council who would say… too powerful, even.>
<Is this a threat, Isis?>
<I have no desire to fight you, Null. It is painfully clear to me that you only gain power through adversity. Given time, your dream of mortal rule will crumble over the weight of history and even your galaxy will return to its natural state, under the rule of a god. But there is another mortal with far more imperialistic goals.>
<You’re still talking about Rei.>
<The Slayer of Gods mastered the Greek pantheon. If she is not stopped, I could be next after Anubis. But since the Universal Council foolishly voted her as one of our members, I am honor-bound to restrain myself from attacking her.>
<So you want me to kill Rei.> Noriko realizes.
<Asking you to do it, or providing direct support, would be against the rules. But should you come across information that could be useful to take her down, I would not be under any obligation to, say, look the other way while you take advantage of it.>
<Got it. I’ll keep an eye open.> Noriko nods.
Isis pets the bird next to her, then she stands up from the couch to state:
<Straighten your new kingdom and celebrate your victory, Null, but don’t take too long. If… when a new war breaks out, it will make Athena’s skirmish look tame.>
After issuing her warning, Isis simply disappears. Along with all the sand in the living room, replaced by a very confused Gilgamesh back in his original body.
<What just happened?> he asks, making sure he really does have his entire body back.
<I just got an uninvited guest. You know how gods are: no sense of personal space.> Noriko replies, pressing a button of the N-Watch on her wrist. It projects a holographic screen that shows raw data that would only make sense to her.
<For the record, I’m not trying to get out of our conversation. I just want to double check something.>
<What is it?> Gilgamesh asks, not even trying to recognize the data.
<The sensor logs of the Destiny-One that I recovered before Typhon destroyed it. I already checked them once to make sure Rei didn’t steal any Drylon device from Mundus. If Athena was storing any of those in her secret vault, they didn’t survive Typhon.>
<I thought Drylon devices were indestructible.>
<Just almost indestructible. The sensors picked up a teleportation field before Mundus was destroyed, but I wasn’t able to figure out what Rei took… the data was too corrupted. I need to come up with algorithm that could unscramble to signal from what little info I was able to salvage.>
<How long is that going to take?>
<I just did. Here’s what Rei stole.> Noriko reveals, increasing the size of the screen. The words “organic material” are placed right above three objects: two small spherical ones, and one that seems too abstract to be recognized.
<I’ll bet you anything that the smaller ones are the eyes of Prometheus… Hermes told me they’d be there. I don’t know whether to be impressed or disappointed that Hermes didn’t steal those.>
<You don’t sound particularly worried, Noriko. Won’t those eyes give Rei precognitive powers?>
<If Athena had them for thousands of years and didn’t use her herself, I’m betting it’s not that easy to use the eyes. I’ll have to do some research on that.>
<What about the other specimen?>
<The data is inconclusive. I have no clue about what that is. But it’s the only thing besides the eyes that Rei took… I can’t put my finger on why, but I get the feeling that getting her hands on this thing was Rei’s goal for allying herself with Athena.> Noriko suggests.
Themyscira
Naqada Galaxy, 17 million light-years from Earth
Rei Null walks at a brisk pace in one of the endless corridors of the Hall of Science, the research center of the Amazon planet. She seriously considered leveling the place… now that she has absorbed all the knowledge from the Amazon servers and that the entire android population is under her control, it’s absolute. But even if Rei can call upon ten thousand of her own duplicates, after replicating Myridian powers for herself… a slave population of superhuman androids can always come handy.
<Research on the eyes of Prometheus is unsuccessful, Empress Rei. Removing the eyes of your duplicates causes them to disappear, and removing your eyes would mean you could not use both the Nexus and the gift of prophecy.> the Amazon informs her.
<Disappointing, but not unexpected. Enslaving your people and Anubis was easier… I prefer to deal with technology than with biology. Such chores are what beings like you are for.> Rei insults the Amazon servant, arriving at the laboratory she was looking for.
Another Amazon, identical to the one she just dismissed, approaches her and kneels.
<Empress Rei. We are ready to begin the reanimation process.>
<Good. It’s about time Anubis’s expertise on dead bodies turned out to be useful.> Rei says, approaching the centerpiece of the laboratory.
It’s a cylinder full of water and necrobots, microscopic nanites that swarm about the prize she smuggled out of Mundus. A severed head.
<Not completely dead. There is still enough divine spark in her to…> the Amazon begins to explain, but Rei stops her just by raising a finger.
<I don’t care. Bring her back to life.>
<At once, Your Majesty. Full power to the necrobots; resurrection protocols engaged.> the Amazon declares, sending a signal to her sisters.
A shot of electricity flows through the water inside the cylinder, and the necrobots go into a frenzy.
DNA is scanned, or at least something that closely resembles DNA. The severed head rapidly changes color, from a cadaveric grey to a healthy green, and the eyes open.
The head tries to scream even before the lungs are reformed. Pain receptors are rebuilt at the same time as the skeleton grows beneath the head.
Organs start to reform in less than a minute, and the body itself overtakes the necrobots in rebuilding itself. The scream is so loud that it’s clearly audible through the water and the glass.
The pain is incomprehensible; it would drive any immortal utterly insane.
Ten minutes after the ordeal began, there is a full body attached to the once severed head… a body utterly exhausted by this living nightmare.
<Resurrection protocol completed. The subject is…> the Amazon says.
The room falls silent. The glass cylinder just turned into stone, as did the floor beneath it.
And the equipment surrounding it. And all the Amazons inside the laboratory… or nearby.
Every single object or being within a ten-mile radius just turned into stone, with the sole exception of Rei Null. She shakes off the discomfort of her atoms resisting the transmutation: the wish she made on the Tablet of Destinies prevents her atomic structure from being altered.
<Outstanding. I can see why Athena considered you a threat.> she acknowledges, drawing her Terror Gun and firing it at half power at the stone cylinder.
It’s enough to break it, releasing the water inside along with the body of a naked, green-skinned woman, who coughs after finally breathing air after so much time.
She raises her head to look at her benefactor. And the snakes that cover her skull do the same, hissing menacingly.
<Welcome back to the land of the living… Medusa.>
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