“Oh…” Nissa squirms out of the hug. “But thanks, Dad.”
She flutters up to the camera. “By ‘you don’t understand,’ you BETTER mean I’m wrong about getting dumped because I did a REALLY good job Not Crying!
“Debrief sounds goo—”
Sirens begin to blare on the Flight Deck. Ron says, "Ummm hold on ... we've got a possible incursion ... off of Kodiak, Alaska ... confirmed Atlantean design ... Is it a coincidence that you return minutes before the Atlanteans attack again?"
“—wha? Again?! Those asshoIes.”
Unity frown with all their mouths. "...how much have the Atlanteans attacked while we've been gone? How many ships are they attacking with?"
“Wait, Ron… maybe neither coincidence nor attack? My DAUGHTER is piloting an Atlantean Time Ship! She might have some of our people with her!”
With a few key strokes Ron pulls up a military satellite feed showing the underwater outline of a familiar time ship.
“Oh! Can we communicate with them? I’m sure that’s Darkstar and the—oh! Henri has a comm! But mine got erased from existence along with my dead body, uhh.. Dad? Unity?”
"I'm not certain they'll be in range in the middle of the ocean..." Unity comment, but they try raising Henri on the comm. "Henri, if that's you and the others on the ship, you'd best let us know before people make any more assumptions about that ship."
Theo checks the pockets on his really torn up armor. The comm is still in his pocket. The godling activates the comm.
"By Zeus, Helios! You better not be in Alaska!"
Henri would be able to hear Theos on comms. The New Utopians probably can as well, as they've visited you in the future.
”Roger that, this is Henri. We appear to have been scanned by defensive facilities. Would be appreciated if you let someone know we’re friendly and they can stand down. What bearing should we take from here?”
"Whoa whoa whoa. Kodiaks got a legit full miltiary base yo. They're gonna wreck us." he'll pip in over Henri's comms.
Legato lacks such communication system, he carries his... but he clearly has not been around to pay the bills.
"uhhhh if we don't die shortly. If they haven't moved someone from my orphanage up north runs a coffee shop downtown. Vagabond's headland."
Looking at the New Utopians, "Uh. Was this spose to go like this then? ....cause I've probably been declared dead, my RV truck's probably gone and I'm kind of wondering if my retirement's gone now.
The refugees are taken to be processed. Theo can go with them if he insists, but he's asked to go to the debrief, which is held the same place it was 3 years ago, in a room not far from the Flight Deck and the control room where Ron has always sat.
A vaguely familiar college-aged woman with mousey brown hair and nothing really distinguishing about her dashes into the room.
"They're back!" she acts breathless.
Ron smiles a bit when he introduces her, "You may recognize our new Director."
"Acting Director," the woman replies.
Hovering close to Theo, Nissa confirms to Ron, “You know Henri! He’s that guy! That friendly guy!”
"Whoa whoa whoa. Kodiaks got a legit full miltiary base yo. They're gonna wreck us." he'll pip in over Henri's comms.
Legato lacks such communication system, he carries his... but he clearly has not been around to pay the bills."uhhhh if we don't die shortly. If they haven't moved someone from my orphanage up north runs a coffee shop downtown. Vagabond's headland."
Looking at the New Utopians, "Uh. Was this spose to go like this then? ....cause I've probably been declared dead, my RV truck's probably gone and I'm kind of wondering if my retirement's gone now.
The New Utopians shrug and look embarrassed.
Darkstar finally admits, "We haven't quite figured out how Stealth mode works on this ship."
"Atlantean vessel," says Ron's voice. "You're cleared to fly to Boston, Massachusetts. An escort will be overhead shortly."
The ship's defensive systems calm moments later.
"Lordy the munchkins are trying to pretend to be cool kids with a cool car. And they don't know how to read the manual" Legato's headache grows with percieved younglings.
Is it who I think it is?
“Hey! It’s good to see you again!” Nissa says to Her.
She IS glad to see the teen heroine all grown up, BUT—
“—so which one of you is going to pull the proverbial band-aid off?” She gives Ron the bombastic side-eye. “’Cause I can’t expect her to carry a torch. And even if she wants me back, was she in a bunch of bad relationships? Married and divorced? I mean… spill some tea because it will hurt, and if I freak in front of her she’ll think it’s jealousy and yeah maybe a little, and pissed if I was right about her and the Marshall and you didn’t mark me partially correct, Ron, but I can’t blame her if she thought I was gone and I can’t undo what sucks—the timeline is bigger than…”
Nissa is about to burst. She really needs to get away from people.
“Just call L.C. I need to hear it from HER.” She clarifies, “After the debrief.
“I’ll be fi… fake-fine.”
She fake-calms down and hovers, one leg crossed over the other.
Nissa is exactly right about who it is. She has her powers dampened, but remembering her from her teen years is still a challenge.
Phade (formerly EIG) smiles, "This Director stuff. It's a temporary thing. The President likes me because I accidentally saved his life once."
Seeing how upset Nissa is, Phade says, "A lot has happened. I'm sure the Marshal would like to be here herself to explain, but we are still trying to contact her."
"Lordy the munchkins are trying to pretend to be cool kids with a cool car. And they don't know how to read the manual" Legato's headache grows with percieved younglings.
”Hey, calm down. We’ll figure out what happened to your bus. Or,” he looks sidelong at Darkstar, ”time jump back to make something preferable happen to it.” He looks at her, questioning.
"Lordy the munchkins are trying to pretend to be cool kids with a cool car. And they don't know how to read the manual" Legato's headache grows with percieved younglings.”Hey, calm down. We’ll figure out what happened to your bus. Or,” he looks sidelong at Darkstar, ”time jump back to make something preferable happen to it.” He looks at her, questioning.
Darkstar flits about distracted for a moment, arms crossed, looking angry, thinking hard, "We may have already messed up the time stream. Didn't you all tell me that, as far as you knew, Nissa, Theo, and the other old people came back to this world after leaving Utopia."
"I mean, yeah, as far as we knew," replies Helios. Ji-Hashar confirms with a nod.
Legato shrugs and drops the bother in a blink. "That'd be neat. 'slong as I can be legally undead. Ain't gonna be hard to get a new one ina year or two. " jerks his head towards the NU's "They ought to figure their ride out before they play too much. STuffs got consequences"
"Didja know HOW long until they returned?"
For those walking from the Flight Deck to the meeting room, several things are different. Keeping your previous Perception checks, how much of this do you notice?
DC 5 or higher: The sign on the wall no longer says 'Boston Theoretical'. It says, 'TAROT' in letters much taller than Nissa.
DC 10 or higher: There's a picture of L.C. on the wall of the meeting room standing in front of the TAROT HQ in Tarokh standing in front of a crowd.
DC 15 or higher: In the picture, L.C. is wearing the Marshal's uniform. Some of the heroes from the worlds you have saved are in the front row of the crowd.
"EIG!!" Theo smiles wide, snapping his fingers. "Wow! Look at you!"
Theo walks with the others to the meeting room.
The godling smiles at all the changes, pointing them out to others as they pass.
[dice=Will DC 15]1d20 + 8 "EIG!!" Theo smiles wide, snapping his fingers. "Wow! Look at you!"
Theo walks with the others to the meeting room.
[dice=Perception]1d20 + 11
The godling smiles at all the changes, pointing them out to others as they pass.
"Godling," replies Phade, formally, "I go by Phade now. Nice of you to remember me."
Phade leans over the table before everyone is even seated.
"Okay, first question, where the hell have you been?" she asks, still smiling.
Nissa says, “We went to World 12 with L.C. and Scarlet, and others from World 16, and we found a very dangerous threat. I had to sacrifice my body to blow it up… and so, everyone else escaped through a gate to a previously unknown world. I was reborn like this, in Theo’s hand—where I tried to teleport to from inside my wand!
“We ended up saving THAT world, and I ended up having a daughter… she’s actually zillions of nanites. And Theo had a son. The regular way. I wanted to come back to the time and place we left. It was just a couple days…”
She starts to tear up now. She can’t hold it in. “I would never have done this intentionally to L.C… to us.”
Her voice cracks on ‘us.’ So she stops talking.
Nissa says, “We went to World 12 with L.C. and Scarlet, and others from World 16, and we found a very dangerous threat. I had to sacrifice my body to blow it up… and so, everyone else escaped through a gate to a previously unknown world. I was reborn like this, in Theo’s hand—where I tried to teleport to from inside my wand!"
"Yes. Nissa has been reborn as my daughter. Just as Athena was born from Zeus's brow", Theo added. "I'd be interested to see how much Nissa's DNA changed from before. I sure the scientists all have our DNA on some kind of record."
“We ended up saving THAT world, and I ended up having a daughter… she’s actually zillions of nanites. And Theo had a son. The regular way. I wanted to come back to the time and place we left. It was just a couple days…”
"Yeah. My son, Helios, is likely on the ship on route from Alaska, I guessing. Darkstar's gonna be pissed!"
She starts to tear up now. She can’t hold it in. “I would never have done this intentionally to L.C… to us.”
Theo reaches over to hold Nissa's hand. "It's okay. Don't blame you at all. I love you, pumpkin."
"Nissa got most of it. Like she said, it's only been a couple of days for us, so it's strange we've arrived three years after we left," Unity state, tail lashing slightly in agitation.
"Also, it's nice to see you've been doing so well for yourself, Phade," they add.
"How much has gone wrong here?" They growl suspiciously, many eyes flicking about as if searching for danger.
"Maybe it's because of how much trouble we had getting here?" Unity theorize, vulpine lips turning down in a frown that would be impossible for a fox. "It took us a couple of tries to get the right Earth instead of an alternate one on our way back."
"Some of that we knew, some we guessed, and some is not possible under our current understandings of the principles of physics, logic, and morality," says someone who wasn't in the room a moment ago. He's about 17 and looks like someone you'd rather didn't talk.
"This is Easily Ignorable Guy," remarks Phade, shooting him a withering look. "He's an intern."
Easily Ignorable Guy makes himself ignorable again and his comment begins to fade from memory.
"A lot has happened since you disappeared. Frankly, a lot of good has happened. Zellgato, Greer, Tarantula, The Paladin, The Warlock, Zellgato, Scarlett, Genius, John, Hector, Boy Jupiter, Zellgato, The Patriot, Tony the would-be-Rakshasa, ... they've been looking for you everywhere. And L.C. did the politicking. She knocked on so many doors in Tarokh that they made her Marshal when the Marshal died. She convinced everyone TAROT could do more than ensure transdimensional trade continued."
"Oh! Yeah, Pah is rich! Really, really rich. He calls once a day to see if you've returned. Or his office does."
"Oh. Do you remember Flora and Fauna? Fauna started altering his own DNA. Became a hero called Karnivore for a while but he kind of lost it. Fauna put him down and retired. She has a agrarian commune/cult thing that kind of worships her in the South Pacific."
"Oh!" adds Phade remembering. She activates the wall display to reveal a newsflash. Dozens of Chimera very much like Charles are attacking a convoy. The text reads 'Deintegrationists Kill European Chancellor' again. "And then there's this."
"Oh. Do you remember Flora and Fauna? Fauna started altering his own DNA. Became a hero called Karnivore for a while but he kind of lost it. Fauna put him down and retired. She has a agrarian commune/cult thing that kind of worships her in the South Pacific."
Theo whistles in amazement. "So what's going on with The First Responders now?"
"Oh!" adds Phade remembering. She activates the wall display to reveal a newsflash. Dozens of Chimera very much like Charles are attacking a convoy. The text reads 'Deintegrationists Kill European Chancellor' again. "And then there's this."
The godlings sighs. "Zeus dammit! So much for a fu<king break, huh gang!" Theo stands up, ready to go. "Is there any replacement armor I can get that doesn't have massive holes in it like mine does?"
Nissa is still kind of in her own world when Theo rises to some kind of occasion.
When Charles mentions the stops on the way home, Nissa recalls that her amazon self and L.C. were doing great. When Phade mentions Tarantula, Nissa blurts, “And April too, right?” And when she hears of the Marshal, she just says “I’m so sorry.”
And she simply waits for the next question.
Unity are about to speak when Phade brings up the news. They go suddenly still, all eyes focused on the display, muscles tense as if they're about to pounce.
"He is moving. He reveals himself," they chorus. "PhDestruction. We must stop him." Their many-eyed glare seems strong enough to melt the display through the sheer intensity of their regard.
"Hold on. Why are you getting up?" asks Phade, sounding surprisingly like a Director considering she's barely in her 20s. "You've just returned from an extensive away mission, been exposed to multiple dimensions, encountered death, encountered transdimensional horrors, ... We have protocols! You'll be spending the next two weeks debriefing, decontaminating, and decombusting. Maybe some debauchery and detox after that? There are teams helping in Europe already. And, we're looking for PhDestruction; At least now we know his game plan."
"Legato, Henri? Do you have any questions?" she says, looking at the wall across from her, which, by now, is displaying any video feed shared by the time ship and sending video and audio to the time ship.
“Oh, Phade, my new body is made of pure sunshine. Germs don’t really do anything to me, and I purged all of the nanites inside me. They merged to form my daughter!” She almost adds ‘like Voltron,’ except only she would get the reference from her 20th Century Film Elective’s anime unit. That and there would be over a sextillion nanites saying “and we’ll form… the head!”
pipping over "uhhhhhh. I don't suppose ya'll wanna pay me a finders fee for uh... finding your people? Whatever sounds good for tax purposes.... I might be legally dead? and very poor. Also out of work again I guess. Not the first time on that one though.
taking a moment. "Also do you employee Triplets, or is that a code name? also didn't lil sunshine die fighting a rakshasaaasaaa thingy? You employe a pseudo one? Man that's gotta be hard to get insurance coverage for."
Phade flicks a finger and everything the AI could find about Legato shows up. He was suspected of disappearing to avoid a rather large number of debts and/or enemies. The file suggests Legato's life wasn't marked by material success.
After a brief scan, Phade says, "I think we should be able to help you out, Mr. Legato. Welcome to TAROT. And, Tony is one of the vary rare few who have managed to take back over their body after a rakshasa entered it. It's true he has a man-eating demon inside him yearning to come out, but he's on our side. For now."
"Miss, uh, Phade, I mean, Director, I guess I have one concern - I volunteered to expose myself to a variety of nanites which I believe aided greatly in our efforts, but I'd like to visit with someone about this new situation after the debrief. As far as this... I just need a rest, I think."
"Mr. Patineur, Boston Theoretical has the only doctors you'd want to have examining you when exposed to strange nanites in another dimension. You actually will not be the first patient they have seen who has come in contact with extradimensional nanites."
"Neat. Job's a job for a bit. Though I'm not much for super hero brawls. Gimme some investgations, camera work, and beat jobs. I'm better at catching cheaters than I am at catching giant...snake lady monsters... yeah. Legato is simply avoiding processing that whole shebang of insanity.
He does not deny the number of debts.
"I'm sure we can find you work in our security division," she says. "Let's get that Atlantean craft to Boston ASAP. Please do not fly faster than your escort."
"Hold on. Why are you getting up?" asks Phade, sounding surprisingly like a Director considering she's barely in her 20s. "You've just returned from an extensive away mission, been exposed to multiple dimensions, encountered death, encountered transdimensional horrors, ... We have protocols! You'll be spending the next two weeks debriefing, decontaminating, and decombusting. Maybe some debauchery and detox after that? There are teams helping in Europe already. And, we're looking for PhDestruction; At least now we know his game plan."
Looking over to Unity, Theo sits back down, figuring Phade does have a point.
Nissa comforts her dad this time. “I do appreciate you wanting to spring into action,” she says, “and the way you want to comfort me… but all we can do is wait right now.
“I’m including my love life’s situation. I won’t know anything until L.C. is here and we can talk alone. I’m prepared for the worst… and several other scenarios that are just the reality of a years-long absence from her life.
“And I mean… look at me.” She flutters in the air, extending her legs straight to show her full height of almost three inches tall.
She doesn’t say what her point is because, in her mind, it’s completely obvious. And it’s something she’s not comfortable talking about, though she did THINK her worries to Utopian Communicators.
"If you'd like to spend your rest time on Tarokh with L.C., I'm sure she will be excited to see you," says Phade. "Anymore questions before the doctors get a look at you. Theo? There are some new nurses down there who have never seen a naked godling. Any more questions before making their day?"
"You'll also each have personal debriefs with one of our counselors. Scarlett has a whole team of empaths in training. You'll need to speak to R&D, Threat Assessment, and Legal. We have more procedures than you'll remember, but that's how the government thanks you when a billion-dollar investment goes missing in another dimension," Phade adds.
"Anymore questions before the doctors get a look at you. Theo? There are some new nurses down there who have never seen a naked godling. Any more questions before making their day?"
Theo slightly shrugs his shoulders in mild disbelief. "Um, thank you?"
“Yes…!!”
Nissa’s aura brightens. And aside from saying ‘yes’ a little (or way) too loud, she is visibly calmer.
Unity are still glaring at the display. Finally they seem to snap out of whatever reverie they were stuck in and start looking about more normally, shifting their wings and relaxing their stance.
"We're sure we'll have a lot to discuss with... all of that list," they say, distractedly, "especially after our latest round of changes..."
"But *what* is HE doing?" they growl, still keeping some eyes on the sight of the other chimeras.
Phade summons an intelligence officer Unity do not know: "We think they wants control over Mount Olympus. Our ability to open gates into the Shuffle has come a long way in the last 3 years, thanks to the data gathered from your first few jumps. A Greek-based pan-European group of scientists has almost created their own gating system. These Deintegrationists are trying to break up Europe and take over Greece. We think we know why. Clearly your creator is working with them or for them."
Theo chuckles. "A bunch of scientists are going to challenge the Olympian Gods..ACTUAL GODS!! With a bunch of genetic science projects! Okay. Maybe if they have one hundred arms or something..maybe. But otherwises, what fools!"
"Oh, no, I mean, the 'Mount Olympus Transdimensional Experimental Laboratory' ... We call them 'Mount Olympus' for short. Boston Theoretical isn't the only game in town anymore. All the big power blocks want their own gating technology," explains the officer.
“You could call them MOTEL for short.”
“You could call them MOTEL for short.”
"They've asked that we stop," says the agent.