Who’s Ted?
She hesitates, then adds.
I trust you.
I just came way too close to losing you today, and I’m so proud of you, the way you keep going—’cause I just wanna crash right now. But I can’t rest not knowing if you’re safe. Are you?
Enyo goes on to describe a World 7 as a world in which the age of myth never truly ended.
Theo listened to his older sister wide-eyed, as she describes World 7 in all it's wonder. "That..sounds like the greatest VR game brought to life!"
"So, what do you think? Wanna come visit?"
"Hades Yeah I do", exclaimed Theo! "But then this Portly thing just blew up. It looks like World..whatever number this is..may need me. Buuuttt, if a mission happens to send us there... So obviously not tonight."
"Now finish your drinks. We're heading back to Boston to drink at the Omni Parker House, supposedly Boston's most haunted bar."
Back in the lab, the black box is brought to the Imaging lab and Kai gets to work, employing all the scanners, resonators, imagers and other analysis equipment that are available to Kai, and even some loaned from other departments.
Kai asks Ron for assistance, tasking the tech with observation and recording among other things. They chat as they work, Kai attempting to get more information about the transdimensional travel project and the rest of the team.
Enyo is disappointed her brother isn't up for a trip to Greece Triumphant (World 7) tonight.
Theo doesn't understand Enyo's sour mood all of the sudden. "Maybe, Big Sis. But I'm playing the part of host tonight. Relax and visit awhile."
As Ron assists, he describes the attempts to travel interdimensionally so far and how Dr. Moore was involved in two attempts to get the heroes to think they were travelling to other dimensions, but in both cases he seemed to have ulterior motives. He talks about FATE and Portly and gossips a bit about Nissa and L.C.
By the end of it, you have a pretty good idea of how to open a gate using this device. You're just not sure how big a gate or what would come through the gate without more guidance. The black box clearly is intended to fit in the middle of the upside down spider you created a holographic reconstruction of.
When the computer finishes its analysis, it points to a single corporation as being responsible for all the components that are not mass produced. It's a European company that conducts research into teleportation science called RSL (Redshirt Science Labs).
Without admitting what a ditz she is, she texts back, You’re at the White House? Are you meeting Madame President?
Since Nissa doesn’t expect to get a chopper ride to D.C., she asks, Okay if I crash at your house? I’ll even clean up. You’ll call me later, won’t you?
Knowing Ms. Gray and FATE have the president’s ear, Nissa is worried. But still… it’s the president.
Kai makes mental notes of the things that Ron tells him while they both make digital notes of everything they uncover. "Great work, Ron. I think we've figured out about as much as we can from this thing, which is a lot. Thank you for your help, it's great to work together with someone again." Kai smiles warmly at the tech, then texts the Team Venture chat group.
[code]"Hey team, this is Kai.
I finished analyzing the device found on the ship, together with Ron.
Two things: I'm fairly certain I know how to operate the whole ensemble now,
and I got a lead on the corporation who made the custom bits for it - Redshirt Science Labs.
Does that sound familiar to anyone?"[/code]
Kai waits for a few moments, then texts the group again.
[code]"Where's everyone at, anyway?"[/code]
After starting a load of laundry, Nissa contemplates the tub. But just then, her comm indicates a message. She sees it’s from Kai.
She replies to the group:
Hey! That’s awesome.
And Redshirt reminds me of our earlier conversation, but… I’m drawing a blank.
Oh, and to answer your question, I’m at L.C.’s—but she’s not. We texted a bit and we’ll hopefully video chat later.
How about you, Kai? Gonna pack for your trip to the Bahamas?
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., she reminds herself, in case there’s a quiz.
"Ya, I just got contacted by the police regarding something that happened earlier and was just about to go check it out. Why don't you come with me?"
Verve responds to Kai's message with a text message:
Charles and I are investigating something that came up before our last mission. We should hopefully be back shortly.
...and I'd rather not think too much about who we've lost and the implications of what's happened today, he thinks to himself.
If he doesn’t pick up, she sends a video message, but in any case she starts, “Hey, Soldier! I got an away mission coming up, but I wanna thank you for a job well done!”
Verve pays the driver and thanks him, then turns to Charles and says "Shall we?" She then exited the cab and put on her mask as she did.
"Be careful of those vines. They have claimed several lives already. Let's start by seeing what's in the truck."
He gives the vines a wary look, trying to figure out if they could reach to the truck or if they could avoid them.
"Enyo, what was you life growing up like? I assumed you lived on Mt. Olympus? What were Zeus and Hera like growing up?"
You learn that World 18 (Witchworld) has a history similar to yours and is technologically not far behind. Magic was largely unknown on World 18 until the 1600s when witchcraft became popular, particularly in the United States and England. After a century of persecution, the 13 Covens made a deal with the non-magical power brokers in the United States; the witches would erase themselves from history as long as they were allowed to guide it towards agreed upon ends. The celestial aligned with this world is known by many names, but all of them mean the moon. TAROT and is on loan from the 13 Covens to FBI. The year is 2020 in World 18.
You learn all this in about a minute and a half, because she kind of babbles.
“Aw, thanks. Um... for what though? You mean your congratulating me for having an away mission?”
Oh, but I’m only gonna be available for like the next ten minutes, so if you get this message late, no worries.
With that, Nissa gets to preparing a bath. It might be a while before L.C. can call back. From D.C.
Wow.
There’s something odd about the way everyone’s acting. That, or it’s the paranoia doing the inner monologuing.
Nissa thought she’d be ready for the call, but must’ve dozed off. She uses the voice-to-text feature, sending a video message of herself bathing in a tea cup surrounded by scented candles on the dining table.
“I guess you don’t mind me making myself at home then? Well, your house is so clean you might not even know it’s yours.
“So now your maid must get her beauty sleep… and remain a maid. Wouldn’t I go and pick a night you’re not home for a sleepover.
“G’nite, my love!”
She does… and yet Nissa finds it unsettling that L.C.’s so cheerful after such a day. But isn’t she just putting on the same don’t-be-a-downer front that I am? Nissa decides to go with that explanation for now.
If L.C. goes to bed, Nissa will too… though not in her bed. Sleeping in fairy form is safer in a sock drawer. Or better yet—the laundry basket after everything is clean and out of the dryer!
So… warm! Nissa doesn’t even fold the clothes, nor does she check to see what soft, warm fabric she picked for a blanket. If it turns out she’s sleeping in L.C.’s underwear, she’d rather not know because she’s already committed and… so… sleepy.
Finished with both packing and research, Kai is feeling restless. A reply to Verve's message reads: Let me know if you want a hand!
With nothing better to do, Kai looks up the address of Redshirt Labs.
Theo begins to rise from the table, his voice slowly drawing the attention of the other bar patrons. "And Hera, poor Hera, the Goddess of G0D DAMN MARRIAGE, has to endure near-infinite affairs of her husband! I don't know if Hera too scared to leave, or divorce is literally impossible for a Goddess of Marriage, or Hera stays with Zeus out of pure spite, but the simple fact that you said you are the daughter of both Zeus and Hera, TO ME, is about as unbelievable as The Gods, The Titans and Gaea having a completely non-violent family reunion. SO!" Theo gestures wildly at Enyo. "Is it true? That you are a true daughter of Zeus and Hera! And if so, FU<KING HOW!!"
Theo ends his tirade by downing his latest shot of tequila.
After he calls out the improbability of Hera being her actual mother and her being a full God, she says, "Okay, look, you've got to just listen and don't say anything. Don't draw any conclusions and don't say what you just said EVER AGAIN, because Hera told me that if ANYONE were to say that I wasn't her true-born daughter, they would have to face her wrath, and, I've seen her wrath once and I don't want to see it again."
Once Theo agrees not risk the wrath of Hera, Enyo continues. "So, here, it goes. I never met my dad growing up, but my mom always told me about him, but, you know, crazy stuff, and the older I got the crazier it got. She was telling me he was a God and that he still came to her in her sleep, that she had a divine and spiritual connection to him, through me. I mean, everyone wants that, but Godlings are rare. I kind of thought she was nuts and I didn't tell anyone. When she died, I was wrecked. She had a sad life, and seemed to go so crazy at the end ..."
Enyo takes a drink.
"And, then, my powers really started. I'd always just been better at everything to do with sports and stuff than mortals, but it didn't get weird until I was around 12 and then I started doing things other people didn't think were possible for non-godlings. Mostly at sports, but I punched my Aunt's new boyfriend; then, she kicked me out because I broke his jaw in more than two places. I was 15 and homeless. That's when I realized my mom wasn't crazy. That's when I went looking for Mount Olympus. If mom was crazy, I would be too. She told me how she had found it when she was in Greece at 19, so I followed the map she made me."
Enyo takes another drink and wipes away a tear. She glares at Theo daring him to notice.
"And I found it. It wasn't Mount Olympus, just some little pocket dimension hideaway Zeus uses for his side pieces. I got in and found him in a little pool with a half-dozen slutty pond nymphs. I followed him to Mount Olympus from there. I was all like 'so this is my f@%*ing dad?'"
Enyo smiles at this point.
"So, I follow him back to Greece and, then, through one of the secret gates to Mount Olympus. I get all the way back to his throne room and I realize my mom was telling the truth the whole time. I was on Mount Olympus with Zeus and there's no way I could be if I didn't have divine blood, right? So, I wasn't crazy and she wasn't crazy and this bastard had ruined my whole f$!$ing life by not being there and telling me that ... that ... I don't even know ... that I was special ... that I mattered ... that my mom mattered."
She gulps.
"I was still hiding--because Stealth level Godling, am I right?!--but I kind of lost it at that point. I found his armory and came out and yelled at him and started throwing his lightning around and telling him who I was and at some point Hera came in and started watching and I thought she was going to stop me but she was laughing and he ... I mean, I know he could have defended himself but he didn't. He kept trying to talk to me and I kept throwing his own lightning at him."
"So, okay, now ... remember, ... be careful what you do with what I'm about to tell you. I was about to smash some valuable thing ... some kind of Pandora's Vase artifact or something ... and Hera finally stops laughing and yells . And, I yelled, 'you're not my mother, my mother's dead ... and he's my father, but he's a bastard' and, then, I started crying, and she took the dumb Pandora's vase away and hugged me. And, after a while, she told me never to let anyone say that I was not truly a daughter of Hera and that she would hurt anyone who said such a thing. She kept telling me how brave and beautiful and strong I was and how she had always wanted another daughter and, especially, a daughter just like me and now she had one and no one would ever be allowed to say otherwise. I hadn't felt that kind of love in so long."
She wipes away more tears, but doesn't hide them this time.
"And, later, I started talking to my dad a bit too."
"My childhood was typical for one of Zeus's bastards. Mom was gorgeous, attracted Zeus, knocked her up, and was never there in my childhood. Then family members kept dying from strange circumstances, until only my Mom was left. Died pecked to death by a peacock flock. It was Hera all along. Dad eventually showed after the funeral to give me the scoop on why I was so special. Told me to 'go forth and become a Hero of Legend'. People began to notice how awesome I was. Wanted to pay me money to endorse their products. Became a media star. Yadda yadda yadda."
Theo put his arm around his older sister. "You're secret's safe with me, Enyo."
The male godling then chuckled to himself. "You know what, despite the long list of our dad's flaws, I still love him. And try to please him."
Once the shot glasses came, and this time the wait staff left the bottle, Theo gave a shot to Enyo and made a toast. "To family: No one can hurt you quite like them."
It's around 7 AM when L.C. Preston returns to her apartment from Washington to change and finds Nissa sleeping in her laundry. "Hello, there," she says with a bit of a smile.
“Hey…” She pulls herself out from under the no-longer-warm cover and stands up and stretches. “Oh, I meant to fold this, but it was so warm and soft and… I guess it was still warm when I dozed off.
“Ya think I can do this for a fabric softener ad?”
Nissa flutters, making a slow ascent from the basket.
“So, anyway… you took a day-trip to the White House. How was that? Or… do you need breakfast first?”
She transforms into her normal-sized self clad, as usual, in a 1938-style sundress.
“A warm bath?”
Her eyes have a pink glow to them.
“A love slave?”
Nissa’s words and the look she’s giving L.C. are sending a deliberate message. A message of love, and near-death, and of the here-and-now. And of course Nissa wants to hear about D.C. of course she’s gonna support L.C.’s career. But her young, rapidly-throbbing heart is telling L.C. what she wants this very moment:
Kiss me… now!
Kai shares the findings in the group chat, using a speech-to-text function to dictate as Kai continues to work, tracing and documenting all of this.
"Hey team, if anyone isn't doing something terribly important, I think we should look into this Redshirt labs thing. Their satellite was used to access information that was illicitly uploaded from the Flight Deck after your first transdim... Oh, hold on. The crystal in the box is showing activity."
Kai's first impulse is to try and prevent the crystal from activating.
Failing that, Kai will contact lab security and anyone else in the tech and support team still at the lab.
Surprisingly, he's able to move with a minimum of noise. He wonders idly if the bit of fox in his mixed-up self was helping with that or what.
There are crates everywhere. Many of the androids are standing inside of their crates still.
"I'm trying to take over a mining colony, not start a g&@~+$n brothel. What am I gonna do with 20 sexbots?" shouts a man in an cheap suit.
"The SX-69 and the XA-12 have the same reaction time, reflexes, dexterity, and I've dechipped them and loaded the combat subroutines. Other than being a little top-heavy on the female models, you're buying the same robot." explains a man in a cheaper suit.
"So ... they'll kill humans?" Mr. Cheap Suit asks.
"Yeah, that's what de-chipped means," says Mr. Cheaper Suit sarcastically before adding quickly, "They'll function almost like the XA-12."
"Almost ... you said 'almost'."
"Well, yeah, they've got a few automated reactions wired into synthetic nerve clusters that it would take forever to untangle ... look, the only difference is their cheeks will get flushed when they fight and stuff... they might moan a bit ... they'll look like they're enjoying it. They're designed to fake it, eh."
The vines slither around the edges of the area illuminated by the light over the loading area door. Light keeps them dormant so they don't enter that area.
Verve moved in unison with Charles, then opted to lift him upon onto the truck and sat him down quietly. She herself opted to move to the other side of the dock, away from the lethal plants.
As the men argued, she cleared her throat and said "I'm pretty sure that those are illegal. Please raise your hands and you won't be shot."
She then touched her hand to her ear as if listening to an earpiece and said "Oh, ya, our sniper and the giant shapeshifter would appreciate it if you didn't try to fight back. Personally, I hope you do; I need to blow off a little steam, as it's been a long day."