"I always though my first ship would be bigger, but I really wanna fly the Bombshell. Are we really about to walk away from this opportunity just 'cause it's risky?"
Colonel Greer, who seemed about to depart, says, "You know, transdimensional gate or not, seeing a subatomic person fly a tiny bullet-ship out of a telekinetic cannon would make this not a total waste of my lunch hour."
"A very well-made bullet ship. ... Shame you can't see the detailing!" adds Dr. Preston.
"But, that's only if Verve thinks she can do this safely without harming America's tiniest hero."
Dr. Moore continues to enumerate reasons NOT to do the mission, but mostly to himself and under his breath.
"Your uplink attempts," says Dr. Moore excitedly "Do involve transmitting quantum wavelengths but the intensity, direction, and focus of them leads us to postulate regarding where they are being sent and how. Further investigation, led us to find signs of extra-temporal activity. I can assure you, Valerie, that these gates you seem to be opening appear harmless. A little transchronal radiation may even be good for humans; we've been exploring the possibility that it would retard aging ..."
"That is reassuring, but does not answer my question. How are you monitoring this?"
As Col. Greer suggests the subjects are refusing, and Nissa mentions the nerds doing their homework, Valerie vigorously shakes her head.
"Please do not mistake my curiosity for either refusal or suspicion. I am simply wondering how you are able to monitor the process--and for that matter, provide a demonstration. As indeed, if you are able to carefully provide oversight of the procedure and tell when the gateway is open, that would provide some reassurance to those of the group who are hesitant."
"Your uplink attempts," says Dr. Moore excitedly "Do involve transmitting quantum wavelengths but the intensity, direction, and focus of them leads us to postulate regarding where they are being sent and how. Further investigation, led us to find signs of extra-temporal activity. I can assure you, Valerie, that these gates you seem to be opening appear harmless. A little transchronal radiation may even be good for humans; we've been exploring the possibility that it would retard aging ..."
"That is reassuring, but does not answer my question. How are you monitoring this?"
Colonel Greer speaks, "Given the danger posed by transdimensional beings, there are a number of 'breach detectors' around the city. They pick up on even low levels of transchronal radiation. Apparently you 'surged' once near a detector outside a bank."
Dr. Moore adds, "It was no accident Boston Theoretical met you in the park. We were asked to bring you in and assess any danger you posed. During the physical examinations you participated in, we were able to measure the radiation from these surges. There's no guarantee that the radiation comes from a transdimensional gate, but the radiation suggests something."
Colonel Greer asks Valerie, "How would you suggest we proceed? What would reassure you? I'm not giving orders here. I'm just observing on behalf of the Pentagon."
Verve sighed, and looked first at Nissa, then at Valerie. She immediately knew that Nissa wanted to do this, but wanted to gauge Valerie's reaction first.
Charles's expression softened from a scowl to a frown as the conversation proceeded. Finally he speaks up.
"Nissa's right about one thing." He leans forward... and changes.
In the course of only a few seconds he went from a tall, athletic, four-armed fox/jaguar humanoid to something even bigger. When the changes stopped, he was standing on six legs, over a meter and a half tall at the shoulder, with three heads--the right one, that of a jaguar, the middle, fox-like, and the left, vaguely like a purple-and-yellow tyrannosaurus with eight spider-like eyes and what looked like a cross between hair and tentacles sprouting out from behind a bony plate. Each pair of legs seemed to correspond to one of the heads. His outfit also changed, now looking like a futuristic suit of armor covering his torso.
The left, alien-dinosaur-looking head speaks in a deep, gravely voice. "Someone on our Earth already has the ability to travel between dimensions. This head's proof enough of that."
He switches back to his central head as he keeps speaking. "And PhDestruction is still out there. What if he's doing what he did to me to some other world's people? Or worse? We have to find a way to track him down before he can do more harm."
All three heads turn to Valerie. "But it's your head that's most at risk here, Valerie. You and Nissa, really, but you most of all. I think ou should get the final say on whether or not we do this."
"If you have devices able to detect such activity all over the city, that is a relief. That means if a side effect produces a negative impact elsewhere, you will be aware." She nods at the others. "I agree if others are already accessing other dimensions for nefarious purposes, we must attain the same ability. I accept the risks and am willing to participate in your experiment. As long as others are able to consent to the risk fully informed of the potential consequences, I have no objections."
Verve shrugged and said "fine, fine, I'll help. Just don't say I didn't warn you when this all goes awry."
"Or... This just occurred to me," says Dr. Moore, "What if the breach closes prematurely because of our intervention cutting the cable and trapping Nissa on the other side? I'm really beginning to wonder if this is such a good idea."
If persuaded or left alone for a few minutes, Dr. Moore re-persuades himself that his idea is "tight" and that the concept "should work, because it has to."
"I suggest," says Dr. Preston, "We spend the next few days testing Dr. Moore's 'hypotheses' one at a time and seeing if we can actually do this."
"I suggest," says Dr. Moore, "That Verve use this cannon to shoot Nissa into the middle of Valerie's brain during one of her thingees and that we do this right now."
Colonel Greer reiterates that he's just here as an observer and is leaving the decisions up to "the heroes."
"Is the matter time sensitive?"
Nissa is excited by the apparent agreement. She wants to shout, Let's rock! But... she reminds herself that she is a professional.
Looking radiant, composed, and somehow taller*, Nissa stands before Dr. Moore.
"I would love more than anything to do this right here, right now. But the important thing is that we all are in agreement.
"I'm not opposed to doing as Dr. Preston said, and testing the different aspects. After all, Uncanny Valerie and I each make up a unique component. We're irreplaceable. In other words..."
She turns to the colonel, figuring the metaphor will work best for him. "You're literally going into this battle with only one bullet. And the Bombshell's a wicked expensive bullet at that."
Smiling playfully, she looks over her shoulder at the men, saying, "You don't want to waste your one shot."
She leaves a dissipating wake of molted feathers as she struts over to Dr. Preston. Gazing dreamily at the doctor's fingertip, she says, "If the others choose your way, Dr. Preston, how soon can I get a good, close look at that ship? Especially from the inside?"
"No. The matter isn't time sensitive," admits Dr. Moore reluctantly before adding, "unless you have somewhere to be."
"Don't worry about the costs; I'd happily build you ships all day everyday," vows Dr. Preston, her voice coming through loudly on the earbuds. "You could shrink down and hop into this ship right now, but ... you know it doesn't fly, right. I mean, on its own? It's more of a bullet with seating."
"Yeah, I get it. Verve powers the ship. Is there any mechanism inside? Since Col. Greer said he wanted to see the launch, I was wondering if there's a camera built in. Oh! And will I be able to communicate with you from within the cockpit?"
"Before we send irreplaceable people, perhaps we should send an empty ship, with a command to make it return after a set amount of time? That way, we could attach a camera and see what is specifically on the other side."
"Verve powers the ship."
Colonel Greer says, "Yes, Verve powers the ship. We needed a force that was frictionless and wouldn't hurt you. Is that something you could do, Verve? Propel an object through a tube?"
"Oh! And will I be able to communicate with you from within the cockpit?"
"Oh! Great reminder!" says Dr. Preston. "Can we get the earbuds for everybody? I asked for tech to bring earbuds but they never arrived. I have the mic, and we need to communicate when they're in the flight deck."
"Before we send irreplaceable people, perhaps we should send and empty ship, with a command to make it return after a set amount of time? That way, we could attach a camera and see what is specifically on the other side."
"I concur!" says Dr. Preston before cheering, "Let's start carefully testing hypotheses!! As soon as we get those earbuds."
"I could propel YOU through a tube should the need arise." offers Verve in response to the Colonel's Question.
Nissa agrees to Verve's suggestion. (The one about launching an empty ship. Not the Colonel.)
Of the earbuds, "Given all your nanotechnology or whatever, are there, like, special earbuds that can accommodate me in the Bombshell. 'Cause..."
In a golden flash, her stellar armor becomes and empty shell. Plates of metallic sunfire clatter to the floor. Nissa's earthly gear swirls away into orange nothingness. Nissa emerges as a luminous fairy!
"I don't know where all my stuff goes when I do this."
She looks down at the halfling-sized earbuds on the floor.
"Oh... ha. Guess I know where these are." She picks up the earbuds, using both hands, and flies them onto a table so they won't get stepped on. "Been a few weeks since I dropped something. Dropping an earbud isn't as embarrassing as dropping my Clearweave."
Of the earbuds, "Given all your nanotechnology or whatever, are there, like, special earbuds that can accommodate me in the Bombshell. 'Cause..."
...
Dr. Preston apologizes that they don't have any sophisticated nano-technology that could fit or are designed to shrink with Nissa. She seems willing to take that challenge on.
The rest of the day involves test after test. Dr. Preston works with Verve to fire projectiles from the needle with a telekinetic pulse.
Dr. Moore is in a hurry to get to the actual experiment and greets each successful step in the process with "this is all very interesting but it's not rocket surgery"
Once you have verified the accuracy of the giant needle, they invite Nissa to climb into the Bombshell.
Colonel Greer spends a lot of time watching Charles.
Nissa tells Dr. Preston not to worry too much about tech that changes size with her. "But if you ever manage to develop some kinda nano-cam, I'll let you see what I see."
Nissa then reduces herself until her size is compatible with the Bombshell's.
She first hovers about the bullet on Planet Fingertip. She touches the engraving on it. They did this for little ol' me! Once it's time to enter, instead of dilating to truly subatomic size, Nissa looks for a means of opening the cockpit.
She first hovers about the bullet on Planet Fingertip. She touches the engraving on it. They did this for little ol' me! Once it's time to enter, instead of dilating to truly subatomic size, Nissa looks for a means of opening the cockpit.
Nissa finds the opening. The ship is simple. The design is precise and relies on latches and locking mechanisms of the simplest sort, as they'd have to be to be reproduced at this level. The entire ship is made from no more than four or five separate pieces. Inside, there's a seat, a transparent shield so you can see what's happening, and a lever that switches on a little battery reversing the polarity on the chain and pulling you back out.
Dr. Moore realizes Nissa's getting in the tiny ship and comes over, "Is it time for rocket surgery or is this just another test flight?"
Is he asking me? Nissa wonders. If so, there's no chance anyone can hear her now. Knowing the ship is narrower than a hair, Nissa is also certain her glow is nowhere near that of a faint spark.
But she isn't impossible to see if either doctor is peering at her through microgoggles. Nissa looks up though the transparent shield to see if either doctor is wearing a pair.
Colonel Greer asks Uncanny Valerie "If you're ready to try this, I think you're up." Dr. Moore positions Valerie in front of the device and urges her to stand very, very still. He quickly leaves the room.
Colonel Greer pauses and looks over Charles admiringly. He leans in and says, "I once saw a 40 foot tall furry spider crawl out of a mousehole under a church steeple. They may be opening a very small transdimensional gateway here, but if anything big and violent crawls out of it, tear it to pieces. All right? Good lad."
Dr. Preston loads the Bombshell into the cannon and follows Colonel Greer out of the room. The doors are sealed and locked.
In the cannon, the atomic chain snaps into place behind the bombshell. It would be invisible to the naked eye and even to most microscopes. Nissa can see how these atoms are fitting together. A lever inside the Bombshell will trigger a pulse that causes them to tighten up and pull the ship back out.
It's just Valerie, Charles, Verve, and Nissa now. According to Dr. Moore, if Valerie surges now, the device will change the frequency of the very tiny gate she creates. One telekinetic pulse from Verve will send Nissa shooting into through this gate (at an angle designed not to damage anything in Valerie's head).
"Let me know when you are ready." Verve said as she extended out her hand, feeling the small ship and ready to give it a shove into the portal.
Valerie has been just watching the goings-on, fascinated by the interplay and exchanges between the individuals present.
"Understand that I can't control necessarily the gate itself. I can simply attempt to update my data core. An access attempt will take about two minutes--no more, seldom less. That should be enough time for you to do what you need to. While I am updating, I cannot do anything else. Should my body become threatened I shall have to trust you to protect it."
When everyone is ready, Uncanny Valerie announces, "Accessing data now."
Her eyes glow brightly. Normally she is actively seeking information when this occurs, so she attempt to update her database on the subject of transdimensional travel.
As soon as Uncanny Valerie begins her surge, she feels something different. The device Dr. Moore constructed begins to change the connection, retune it. The data U.V. sought is not the data she gets. Instead she's overwhelmed by a data package from an unfamiliar reality; this reality is sending Valerie it's tracking info.
With a push from Verve, the telekinetic pulse surrounds the ship and carries it up and through the needle. From inside the ship, Nissa can see the inside of the giant needle. The ship, engulfed in telekinetic force, slides up the needle without touching the sides. The frictionless force doesn't even cause the bullet to spin the way it would in a gun. With nothing to slow the little ship, the ship accelerates all the way up the needle and pops into the air for a split second, flying an inch before hitting Valerie's skin.
The Bombshell barely slows when it penetrates Valerie's skin beneath her eyeball and to the side of her nose at a slight angle. The ship moves through different layers quickly, speeding towards a tiny flicker of light inside Valerie's cavernous head. Nissa can see the streams of data flowing into Valerie, attaching itself to nodes, and being carried quickly away for sorting.
The bullet barely slows when it hits the flicker of light, splashing data everywhere. Pushing against the stream of data slows the ship to about half the speed it had.
When it finally slides through the data-gate, it's with a pop as the pressure releases its hold on the ship.
With that pop, Nissa and her very tiny ship are flying through the air in another reality, the atomic chain behind her creating almost no drag on the bullet.
Nissa is fascinated by what she sees. I‘ll bet the air’s a refreshing beach breeze! Of course she isn’t going to find out. She takes in the sight, and prepares to report her findings.
She pulls the lever to activate the atomic bungee cord!
Nissa pulls the lever triggering a chemical reaction in a compartment of the ship that changes the atoms around her. The atomic chain begins to retract quite quickly. It seems to be causing other changes in the atoms around the breach though. As she's pulled back out through the opening, she gets the feeling the opening is getting larger. It seems to be encompassing all of Uncanny Valerie's head. The retraction pulls her back out through the android's skin but isn't powerful enough to pull her back into the cannon and the ship begins to fall. Time for the pilot to bail out?
While Nissa's too busy to see what's happening around her, the rest of those present in the room can't help but see. They can't see Nissa, but Uncanny Valerie is lit like a jack-o'-lantern for a half second before the light explodes, encompassing Verve, Valerie, and Charles as well as the rapidly falling Bombshell.
When the light clears, you find yourself on a desolate, rocky island. The 'flight deck' is only visible through a now quickly shrinking rift between worlds. The device that Dr. Moore created is with you, as are the cameras and monitoring devices that hung on the walls of the flight deck, although they are connected to nothing now and have fallen to the rocky ground. In your earbuds you hear Dr. Preston, "OMFG! This wasn't supposed to happen! What have you done, Al-" before the rift closes and her voice is cut suddenly off.
Valerie's surge ceases.
You're standing on an island you've never seen before. Waves lap at the shore behind you. It's cold enough that you might have reason to be concerned.
Nissa opens the hatch! She grows slightly bigger until the Bombshell can fit in her hand.
She remains as a mote for now.
Fluttering to Valerie, she asks, "Are you okay, Uncanny Valerie? I was inside you and... oh! Please tell me you are not hurt!"
While the cold is a concern, Nissa is too worried about her new friend to immediately care for herself. Once she dons her stellar armor, the chill will have no effect on her.
"I am physically unharmed, Nissa. Are you well? The others?" She looks around, assessing her new surroundings. "It appears we have traveled to the target dimension. I am uncertain if it was accidental, the work of an entity in this dimension, or the work of Dr. Moore. Please alert me if you feel anything like impending explosive cell death so I can attempt to provide medical aid."
If no one appears to be about to explode or liquefy, Valerie examines the local flora and fauna to see if she can identify where they might be based on what it is (even if the flora is just algae or lichen or something).
Nissa almost drops the tiny Bombshell in surprise when Valerie mentions impending explosive cell death. Is that a thing? But it must be if *she* said it.
Nissa replies, "How sweet of you to worry, Val. If I ever do explode, it will be on purpose." Though her facial features cannot be distinguished (as far as Nissa knows), her tone suggests she's smiling when she says this.
She immediately follows with a request: "Do any of you have pockets? And, well... would it be weird if I were to fly into your pocket? I'd like to try to stow my little ship if I can." She holds up her tiny fist, in which the Bombshell is clutched. (The ship itself is too small for human-sized or halfling-sized eyes to see.)
"I realize there's a lot to unpack right now... and my ship is likely not our ticket home, seeing how this world's probably like a thousand years behind ours, tech-wise. But still, my thought here is 'better safe than sorry.' And plus, you won't even know you're carrying it."
Wordlessly, Verve telekinetically guides the tiny ship into one of the pouches on her utility belt.
"So, anyone have any idea how to get back?"
Nissa reverts to her halfling self, plates of sunlight converging; earthly gear swirling onto her body as her luminous shape becomes flesh. Only her eyes and molting feathered continue to glow brightly. Her armor glows with a soft light (illuminating a 20' radius).
With her stellar armor on, Nissa is no longer affected by the cold.
"I saw wooden ships before the, uh... this happened. So I don't think science can get us home.
But like, maybe we just get out of the cold for now? If there are ships, there must be people. Hopefully we're on another Earth, maybe even in another Massachusetts, so we'll likely see humans who speak our language."
Charles had not been particularly happy about the Colonel's regard. He knew his new form was suited more for combat than anything else, but he wasn't quite sure if he was being treated like a potential weapon.
He'd stayed quiet, though, simply watching and waiting. He'd decided to stay in his chimera form as the experiment began, just on the off chance a... 40-foot tall tarantula or something equally ridiculous came through.
He hadn't been expecting to get pulled through, though.
Three heads look around in disbelief for a moment, first at their surroundings, then at the others. When they all speak up, he relaxes a bit.
"If we're going to look for people, maybe I should take my less, er, scary form," Charles says, and shifts back to his four-armed humanoid form.
"I agree with getting out of the cold, myself. Though we shouldn't assume the locals are going to be friendly to a group like us, even if we're lucky on the language part."
"abri, eau et nourriture." Verve mumbled quietly to herself.
"Agreed. We should find someplace to get out of the cold first and worry about what to do from there. When you were smaller Nissa, did you see any settlements?"
"Only ships," Nissa replies.
"If you need me to get a bird's eye view, I can fly. Just... not for very long. My solar armor protects me from extreme temperatures. Maybe you can't tell because of the luminous skin, but as a stellar mote I'm..."
Nissa's halfling skin is not luminous, but her cheeks do start to glow a little pink as she finishes,
"...unprotected."
"Do you happen to know which direction the ships were in? That should at least get us to a starting point."
Nissa becomes a mote, flies up, and looks to see where the ships are.
And in addition to the obvious, does she see any settlements or a good walking path to civilization?
She lands and reverts to halfling form to report her findings.
"Oh dear! I hope you do not intend to self-immolate anytime soon!"
After whatever misunderstanding is resolved, Valerie contributes to the conversation, "Wherever we are seems quite remote. I am equipped with jump jets so I can also fly in short bursts, but not enough to get very far over, say, an ocean."
She looks at the others. "I speak a few different languages. If we are lucky, I may be able to communicate."
Looking around, Uncanny Valerie sees little to narrow down a location. The trees are pine and spruce. If you could tell what kind, that would help narrow it down.
You can all see the remains of what looks to be a great auk. It's about the size of Nissa. You're pretty sure those are extinct. It's dead and mangled. It looks like something tore it apart and threw the remains aside. The vikings used to call this a spear-bird because of its long dangerous beak.
Flying up it is difficult for Nissa to see much because of the fog. The island rises steeply from the water. Downhill from where Nissa is, she sees a trio of boats. Another boat appears half-sunk just beyond the trio. Nissa sees dim light coming from what looks to be a building up the rocky hill. There is a path running from the boats to the building. There is other evidence of activity around, but no people can be seen. There is a set of stands for drying fish, but there are no fish on them. There is a broken wooden bucket, halfway up the hill to the hall.
In addition to reporting the above, Nissa makes sure to clear up Valerie's misunderstanding. She adds, "I've only used my Super Nova in a testing environment. Its flames burn hotter than if I were to fire both my guns at once, and unlike my mercy pistols, the flame created from my body is potentially deadly.
"Like you, Val, I want to use my unique abilities to help people." She mutters an almost inaudible whisper, "I just don't know how."
Despite that, she manages to sound somewhat decisive when she asks the others, "Do you think we should check on the boats first? Maybe the half-sunk one needs our aid?"
"Well, it's a direction, and better than sitting here moping."
As the group began moving in that direction, Verve said "We should probably conceal what we can do to the best of our ability; we don't know anything about the natives, and we don't want to give them reason to fear or hate us; also, it's always good to have a backup plan, just in case."
"It's probably best not to be a half-ton three-headed monster as a first impression, anyway," Charles agrees.
He keeps his eyes out for any plants or animals he recognizes as they start moving out.
"Well, we remain in a Terran realm, possibly even still the region commonly known as New England. I agree we will need to seek the locals for more data--and warmth."
Valerie pulls her hood over her head. "I suggest you be our spokesperson, Verve. You are the least alarming looking to a typical human."
Charles recognizes the dead great auk, although only as creature that should have been extinct. He hears other birds, gulls and terns mostly.
As you pick your way over the rocks moving towards the boats, you come to the cleared path that leads down to the boats and up to the building. A large stone with markings on it stands beside the path.
Nissa spends a minute looking over the rock, trying to make that connection as a New England girl.
Valerie also examines the stone.
It's some kind of viking rune stone. The stone is large and irregularly shaped. The stone is decorated by an image of a snake biting its own tail. The snake's body is marked by runes.