”Combat them like a virus, but how would we inoculate worlds against a willful creature that creates more of itself?”
"I would presume this sequence of instructions comes to an end once 'Unity Will Reign' has been achieved," says Scarlett. "Maybe we could find the telepathic 'kill-code'. The message that says 'mission achieved'. We'd have to figure out how to broadcast it though."
"Kill-code?" asks Genius, "Like an olly olly all-come-free?"
"Just kidding, Dionysus!" Theo smirked. Looking over to the BT techs, the godling added, "Guys, sit down. This is a once-in-a-lifetime event for mortals!"
"Too long in the mortal realm has addled your brains," laughs Dionysius. "I am Lord Bacchus when I walk in this world, and I pound back the drinks rather than pound the hammer on the forge."
The BT techs stop attempting to find the holochamber controls to shut off this 'simulation' and sit down with Theo. Nymphs slide over.
"I am here to deliver our thanks," says Dionysius. "You managed to prevent a war, which, while we would have won, would cost us dearly. For now, it is delayed. This is your reward."
"Yes... we do have some idea of how to contact him. He may not know exactly where his passenger came from, but perhaps he will remember something of use."
"Do we have any more questions for this one?" asks Scarlett, gesturing towards the drooling PhDuhminion sitting in the center of the room. "He's comfortable now, but I'd rather not keep him like this forever. We have ethics guidelines about that."
"I'd never met Moore,I thinnkdifferent Zellgato. Different time."
"Yeah, that was before you graced us with your presence," says Phade, while looking at the datapad. "It says here that after he was returned to World V by TAROT he was arrested by the Canonites who had taken control over the Great Library. He's escaped and is hiding out in different fictional pocket dimensions."
”Genius is not poorly named, but even the smartest folks can misinterpret the information in front of them. Arguing about our understanding is not a productive use of our time. We should ask the scientists at BT before we make plans based on that understanding.”
”I think we can only affect future events, but some timelines are not happening at the same time as ours. We may be able to intercept or prevent their gaining a foothold there. Genius believes that when you are in the Shuffle, you are unique and most vulnerable, which is a major opportunity if true. But they require different tactics depending on which is actually factual.”
”Have we figured out how they are traversing the Shuffle?”
Phade checks her datapad, "The first one to arrive on this world came with Dr. Moore from Beowulf. Dr. Moore--who has a PhD in literature from the Great Library and, so, isn't the kind of doctor that actually helps people--brought him there from World V as a ... what were they called ... 'Fictionaut'? It's some kind of transdimensional story-hacking hobby thing he was into."
”I… I wonder if there is ever truly stopping anything before, only before again. What’s gone wrong continues to be wrong there, but we can cause a new parallel that’s better if we are fortunate. But I’m not certain of my grasp of all this, either.”
"No. That's wrong," says Genius with all the certainty of a teenager who has been taught a fact and half-learned it. "The Shuffle connects everywhere and everywhen. If you die in the Shuffle, you're dead everywhere and everywhen. That's what we thought happened to all of you, but we could still remember you, so then we thought that had NOT happened."
"Couldn't you just find him in the Shuffle?" asks the 13-year-old Genius. "One of my dads explained Zellgato Theory to me. The dimensional barriers mean you can't get him in another dimension by killing him in this one, but if you get him before it all starts while he's in the Shuffle, that works."
Phade shrugs, "Maybe. I'm not sure. We could ask someone. But, how do you get him while he's in the Shuffle before it all starts?"
"Not to undo what they've done, but to prevent what they might yet do," Unity respond.
"But it is true that those on different worlds probably don't communicate well..."
They heave a sigh. "Yes... even if one group were stopped, it seems unlikely it would stop all of them. Even if they got whatever it is they wanted. It's... they're like a virus, we guess."
"So then we can do nothing more than treat the infections as we find them? Disastisfying, true, but it seems unlikely there's a vaccine for them."
"Well... if we view them as an infection, is there a way to... quarantine them? What can we *do*?"
"Boston Theoretical is concerned with this dimension. We're going to continue to round them up, now that we know what we're looking for," says Phade. "But, how do you find the first?"
Theo carefully, but optimistically, crept down the hallway; hoping it's family, and they are in a good mood.
Theo finds himself in a new corridor, a different corridor. The change from a Boston Theoretical corridor to a stone wall was subtle, but plants grow where none grew before. He must be in one of those holographic chambers the techie told him about. The straight hallway has become a narrow curving path that leads past some vegetation and into a little grotto with a pool. As he rounds the bend, Theo hears a feminine voice say, "Bacchus, honey, can you rub my shoulders?"
In the pool sits Dionysius, two confused Boston Theoretical techies, and seven barely clad wood nymphs. Only the techies are fully dressed. The smell of wine, honey, and cannabis scents the breeze.
"Riskier than having who-knows-how-many of these madmen traveling the multiverse?" Unity ask. "They've killed so many on our Earth. How many have they killed on others? If we can do anything about that, shouldn't we?"
Phade thinks, "From what I understand about post-Zellgato transdimensional physics, you'd have to stop them one world at a time. 'Dimensional barriers limit continuity updates and temporal branching'. That's confusing to me. But, I think it means, you can't really go back and stop it from happening everywhere, just in the world you're in."
Scarlett shifts her attention to the conversation and the holographic chamber goes murky, "Would you want to stop him from even coming here? Erase those deaths? Prevent him from creating you? Unity would still be here, of course, like a Zellgato, and so would Charles, I guess; Charles would exist, somewhere, oblivious to the whole thing. How would you feel about that?"
"As for the risk ... losing you is a risk. We don't know what they want with you," says Phade.
"And how do you feel about that?" Scarlett asks Unity.
The memory of Unity roaring as he got out of the elevator shaft flickers onto the screen. Then, there is another image of Unity, but it is not Unity, also roaring. It's a worn and tired Unity. Older and even more alien. Still the likeness is uncanny.
"They're minor telepaths," says Scarlett. "He's projecting this image now ... trying to send it to others like him. It seems YOU triggered the new programming. And, now that I see what a trigger looks like, I can see some other triggers waiting ... but I can't show you what's there until he does and I don't think he knows."
Whispering to not break the moment, Henri asks, ”Does this one know how old he is? Or does he only have memories of all of them muddled together? I wonder how fast a generation passes…”
When asked about his age, his mind, and the images displayed in the holoprojector, flicker and reform. You see a sterile room with multiple adult clones being born as other identical clones play the role of doctor.
Scarlett plucks the answers from his mind, "He is four. His batch is 117. There have been 116 generations before him in his line. They are fully educated before they're born but not with their own history."
Scarlett looks astonished and turns to the group,"My word, they've been travelling from world to world for hundreds of years at least, driven by a mission they don't understand, reproducing themselves and leaving themselves behind whereever they go ... They could outnumber the Zellgatos!"
"May warrant asking what, if any, retrieval policy they have on captured PHDs. As well as their methods of travel." Zellgato adds.
Scarlett probes again. Some of the images are of his capture.
"He would kill himself if he didn't still think there was a chance Unity would take him home, completing the mission," she says.
"He doesn't know where they came from originally, but the first in this world told the second generation that he had passed through four worlds and that he had left others like him on each one. He was born to the seventh generation on the world he came from and knows that they did not begin there," Scarlett replies.
"Well, we'd rather like to know what this whole 'Unity must reign' thing is about," Unity state, "Given we have no intentions to conquer the world and we'd rather not become part of an attempt to."
"Knowing where they're trying to return to would be useful as well," they add, "Not to mention how many other clones they're aware of."
Scarlett begins to probe around in his mind. The holographic projector bursts to life and flickering images appear and disappear as she looks for answers. She begins to center in on images of Unity ... Unity on the newsfeeds, Unity fighting PhDuhminions in MOTEL, Unity before they became Unity. And, then, an image of Unity that could not be Unity. Unity stands atop a stone column while robed humans bow before him.
"He doesn't know what Unity Must Reign means ... He only knows that he must find a portal to the Shuffle and get you into it. Only then will he find out where to go and what happens next," says Scarlett.
Unity enter and nod to Scarlett. So we are to question him, and his thoughts will be displayed? they think at her.
"I hope so," says Scarlett. "I've been poking around in his mind ... he's split in a way, like you used to be. It's like he has a second intelligence within, and that intelligence is alien and hidden from him, revealing itself only when certain states are triggered. He may not know everything, but we can find out as much as he knows, and maybe some things he doesn't. What do you want to know about him?"
Before half an hour has passed, you get a mental invitation from Scarlett to join her in the large central building, the training center.
Within this building, you find the PhDuhminion sitting, unrestrained, in a chair. He is smiling dumbly and staring straight ahead. He seems unaware of his surroundings. You would not be surprised if he started drooling.
Scarlett is sitting across from him. She has a metal circlet on her head. Beside her is a holographic ring. The circlet looks familiar--Nissa had gotten a Moroccan device that could project thoughts onto a screen. The holographic ring is obviously intended to replace the screen in this scenario.
Theo sets down the experimental weapons and turns his head. "I didn't realize Boston Theoretical experiemented with The Sticky Icky?" The Olympian chuckled as he followed the familiar smell.
Boston Theoretical doesn't experiment with the sticky icky. The scent of it leads Theo, as if it was intended to, down a few side corridors and then down a corridor he doesn't remember seeing before. As soon as he enters, he hears music and laughter, both men's and women's.
"I want to go to Witch Mountain. I know mom says I'd overwhelm the other children, but I want to go. I want to go where I'm normal," says Genius, catching the hint.
Nissa asks, “Is that a witch school on Witch World, orrrr..?”…it could be in our very own Salem, Mass, she ponders.
“I was always different in high school. No powers at the time. I was just… short. But if I was like this, I’d probably’ve wanted to do my schooling among the fey.
“You want to be normal, not by repressing your powers, but by going where your powers are close to the norm.” Considering Scarlett is a mind-reader, Nissa assumes she already knows. So she asks, “How does Scarlett feel about this idea?”
"Witch Mountain is a place back home. It's where I was heading originally," she explains. "I mean, before you came in and changed the timeline. Zellgato explained it to me. It's not your fault. That timeline gets changed a lot."
She then considers the kid’s age. “You could be in high school. I loved high school. It wasn’t really that long ago—Class of 2216… I’ll bet most of my teachers are still there.”
[dice=Pass Secret Message]d20+6
Even if Genius isn’t reading Nissa’s mind, she can tell where Nissa is going with this. She wants to know if Genius...
"I want to go to Witch Mountain. I know mom says I'd overwhelm the other children, but I want to go. I want to go where I'm normal," says Genius, catching the hint.
Unity's been to the farm at least once. Maybe twice.
Unity raise their snout and sniff at the air. They look about at the underbrush.They listen for movement.
They're not going to hunt or anything, but just focusing their senses on *life*, on nature, feels soothing to them.
[dice=Perception]1d20+10
Unity smells the soil. The trees. The squirrels and birds above, the worms below. The mice that live under rotting stumps. The rotting of the stump. Unity smells the scent of distant wildflowers and nearer deer. Unity smells that something big came through here in the last month, but has left little of its scent behind. Unity smells life, big, small, curious, and secret.
Theo spends an afternoon testing out the new temporal slowing arrows, happy for the distraction from his own thoughts.
Theo's workout is interrupted when Theo smells weed. The dank scent is drifting down the halls of grav-variable and temporally-isolated holo-labs that BT has built for testing and training heroes for transdimensional adventures.
“Aside from your parents not visiting all at once—” Nissa remembers them. One mom. Two dads. Both biological dads. “—do you like it here?”
"I do like it here," she says, "It's just kind of stupid that everyone is trying to turn on their powers and I have to 'tone it down'. What about you? Do people ever tell you to go back to your normal self or do they let you be Firefly all the time."
Genius calls Nissa by the name Henri gave her when they met back on World XII.
Theo blinks. "Sure! What is it?" As they walk, The Olympian tries to surreptitiously smell the tech for signs of pomegranate.
[dice=Perception]1d20 + 11
The lab tech recoils a bit at being sniffed. He takes Theo down to a new lab. It looks like a large empty room with a locker full of weapons off to one side. He takes a bow and some arrows from the locker and then says 'activate borders'. Before Theo can stop him, he fires an arrow at the wall. One foot away from the wall it slows and stops and then sits there as if stuck in jelly. "Deactivate," he says and the arrow falls. "Temporal slowing. Some of the Atlantean tech Kai brought back. We've got a holographic skin too ..."
The tech shows Theo how to have an AI generate settings, targets, and a number of different combat simulator programs. Weapons can be used against targets in the 'border' zones of the room and the user will feel them hit or miss the holographic targets.
It's the closest thing to a real fight you can get without hurting someone or using combat droids.
"That's why I'm not allowed to thinktalk as much," says Genius. "It's not my fault. Scarlett says her grandmother didn't have anything like this level of power. She also says her grandmother never helped TAROT track down reptilians by detecting their thoughts. She thinks using my powers for that may not have been 'good for a child.' I don't know. I just want to be able to go home again soon. My parents rarely are all here at the same time and I miss them."
Back in Boston
One of the lab techs sees Theo wandering the halls and asks him if he'd like to try out the new martial weapons lab downstairs. Apparently, they've created something new that Theo might enjoy.
"They are welcome to *try*.""But you are welcome to come with us."
The forest has a trail that a runner could enjoy. Unity can smell that animals also use it. He can smell white-tailed deer. A Perception check could reveal other scents as well.
The woods has animal life, as woods should. They didn't always. Greer said these trees were less than 50 years old, a bit of land reclaimed from the destructive 20th-century sprawl.
Henri looks around the farm. Am I familiar with the farm? I don't think so...
"Unity, do you want some company? I'm guessing not, but you do have a target or two on your back right now."If Unity refuses the offer, I think Henri take Scarlett up on the offer to see the horses.
You've never been here, I don't think. I don't think anyone has. Greer invited people, but things were busy and then he died. Scarlett invited Unity a few times.
Nissa turns to Scarlet. What if Genius and I talk somewhere, so she can get her thoughts out by putting them in words? I mean, look at me—I’m a fairy. Do you know how badly I wanted to accidentally be awake for the tooth fairy when I was just a few years younger than your alt-grandmother?
I don’t know if that’s every girl’s dream, since I stopped growing taller a two-foot-three, and the tooth fairy was the only shorter person I’d heard of. But anyway, I think a talk would do us both good—that trip to world 12 changed both of our lives—for the better, certainly, but even a good change can be messy.
She smiles brightly, hovering next to the kid. Pleeeeeeeeease?
"Sure," says Scarlett. "Go ahead, Genius, but try to control it."
Nissa:
"Ohmygodthankyoushedoesntletmethinktalktoanyoneoranyofusreallytherearefouro thertelepathswhostayhereduringtrainingandtheyareprettycoolbutwearesupposedt oalsopracticedifferentiatingwhateverthatmeansbetweenthinktalkandboringmouth talkbutihavetobeextracarefulbecauseiamafreakorsomethingitisbecomingabitofap roblembecausepeoplegetoverwhelmedreallyquickly," thinks Genius in one quick burst.
Make a DC 18 Will save or recoil from the blast of thought.
Genius smiles and nods trying not to think too much LOVEJOYLOVE at you.
"I'm training for World XII TAROT," said Genius grabbing at some of the treats as she says, "Zellgato told me too ... I mean, well, A Zellgato. Different one. Older than you."
"I'm glad, it sounds like a good plan. Be sure to learn self defense as well. Physical, not just mental. Take it slow." Zellgato pats her on the head, "There are many of Zellgato. But if you meet one you can't read, walks with a left sided limp, and smiles wide. Stay away from that one.
"How has Security been here Scarlett? I assume you've been briefed on the tactis of our guest's cohorts?"
"Yep," says Scarlett. "It might take some time to get all set up. Why don't you go see the horses and come inside in half an hour or so?"
"Yes, we've got ourself more put together now. More unified by acknowledging our different parts, you might say," Unity state with a grin.
"Just... not trying to be something that we aren't helps a lot, we think," they add. "Acknowledging that Charles died like all the other creatures PhDestruction murdered to make us, that we're someone different even though we have his memories..." "...And accepting that, no matter how horrible the process to create us, there are a number of advantages to being us." "It wasn't pleasant, but it helped."
"But we're not here for us." "Though we should definitely get out here more often, if it doesn't bother you. Part of really accepting who we are now has involved realizing how much we don't really like being in cities or vehicles all the time."
"You might like the woods," says Scarlett gesturing to a fairly dense and dark wooded area at the back of the land.
Although always eager to see Scarlet's georgeous body, Theo instead opts to stay at Boston Theoretical. The last few weeks..have shook the godling to his core. The Olympian often walks the corridors, seemingly in deep thought. One of the computer tech accidentally walked in on Theo praying to Zeus in one of the often underused conference rooms.
"You know," says the embarrassed tech, "We have a holographic skin projector in the chapel. You could probably find a holographic Greek temple to ... you know ... pray in."
Unity grin--making sure not to show their teeth--as Scarlett and Genius greet the group."Sorry we didn't drop by earlier, but... as you can imagine, discovering what was days for you was years for your home has been a bit much." "And sorry that part of why we're here is work, but it is good to see you."
They trot up to the pair. "Things have changed here, too," they comment, looking around three ways at the farm.
"We missed you all terribly," says Scarlett. "Part of Genius's training is in holding back her telepathic abilities, which have grown more powerful since you've been away. We'll be using speech unless telepathy is necessary."
Genius smiles and nods trying not to think too much LOVEJOYLOVE at you.
"I'm training for World XII TAROT," said Genius grabbing at some of the treats as she says, "Zellgato told me too ... I mean, well, A Zellgato. Different one. Older than you."
"Charles," Scarlett starts.
"They are Unity now," Phade corrects.
Scarlett nods, "Ah. I was going to say it's much easier to ignore you now. You're more cohesive."
Henri talks to the lab techs about Gay Deceiver before leaving for the farm.
”First off, I’m probably being a little selfish, but I want to do the work on this project. Can you research cloaking technology for the team’s new ship? It would be handy to be able to observe without engaging sometimes. But I need to understand it fully in case it needs repair in the field, so let me do the installation.”
Trying to keep the AI a secret as much as possible, but I need to work with Gay to make the changes and don’t want some random tech to hear me talking to her. Am I worrying about this too much?
We're going to have to stat up Gay sometime and level her up as appropriate.
Phade seems as anxious to lead an expedition to the farm as one might expect a 20-year-old saddled with a ridiculous amount of responsibility might be. Escaping the office and all of that pressure is what she needs, and she makes sure to ask each of you to come. Scarlett is going to interrogate a PhDuhminion.
Who is going to the late Greer's farm?
On the farm:
In the helicar, Phade is in a good mood. If there weren't a PhDuhminions bound and gagged in the car following your helicar, it could be a holiday in the country from her attitude.
The late Colonel Greer, the commander of the Transdimensional Anomaly Recognition and Observation Task Force made a little bit of money during his freelance days. He did a couple years of private work between his initial military training and his later cloak-and-dagger work and even work with TAROT. He earned enough to let him buy a small horse farm. It's not the kind of farm that would make any money, but it didn't need to. After he died, it eventually went to Scarlett Meadows, his former undercover partner, in more sense than one.
She used to enjoy the quiet there ... so few minds around that weren't horses. It's hard for the world's most advanced telepath to enjoy solitude. She uses it for work and as a home now.
As your helicar descends, you can see that a number of new residential spaces have been added. Several little houses dot the outer perimeter of the farm. A large main building sits not far from the original farm house.
Scarlett Meadows and a redheaded child that can only be Genius Meadows wave at you. Genius was a World XII doppleganger of Scarlett's grandmother.
As you step out of the helicar, one or both of them hits you with a wave of LOVEJOYLOVE.
Looking at some of the DNA packages within Unity and comparing them to some in the clones, it's clear that Unity were supposed to get instructions too. Perhaps, somehow, Unity's uniqueness has suppressed them completely. Perhaps, these packages of genetically programmed 'memories' could explain Unity's exceptionally vivid dreams.
L.C. finds Nissa. "Look, I'm going to have to head back to Tarokh. The World 16 group is here and are going to take me. Get everyone there for the Parliament as soon as you can. We're making decisions that will shape the pasts and futures for multiple worlds. Maybe when the meeting is over, I'll be able to focus on ... us."
"If there's something in our DNA affecting our thinking, maybe Scarlett could help us figure it out?" they hypothesize.
The scans of Unity's DNA and Zellgato's comparisons to the clones reveals quite bit.
The DNA of the clones starts with something almost human ... an almost human male ... it then builds in a series of packages that are anything but human ... someone has altered the almost-human DNA in an unusual sophisticated way to build in a series of instructions that would be triggered by certain conditions. On top of that is some less sophisticated recoding of the DNA to add in things like two enclosed chambers for the crude chemical bomb, exceptional speed and reflexes, and a low-level telepathy that could help them communicate to each other. Certain genetic markers reveal that the clones you have are clones of clones of clones going back 73 generations.
Unity's DNA is also genetically programmed, which you knew, but it involves an admixture of the genetic contributions from different creatures with a package of genes--the Chimera difference--that allow different genetic strands to find ways to connect and alter each other without one taking over completely. Does Unity have other knowledge about their DNA?
"Okay," says L.C., missing any frustration Nissa might be feeling. "Home it is. I'm going to need to get back to Tarokh. You might want to brief Phade on the time ship. She's beginning to suspect something. You'll have to join me in Tarokh when you finish investigating PhDestruction."
L.C. looks for crumbs of anything Henri and the others left behind.
"Oh, if you want to get in touch with Doctor Moore, he sends me the name of the book his conspiracists are hiding in each week. Has done for 3 years. Just in case you came back and needed him. The Canonists have quite the reward out for him now. He did quite a run of re-gendering Shakespeare that they're still furious about."
Gay Deceiver reiterates that she will not transport anyone with a bomb inside them and L.C. arranges for a military transport of the explosive clone to Boston.
Anyone investigating PhDestruction, When back in Boston, what kind of investigations do you pursue. Zellgato should get some results on DNA studies on Charles and the clone. Others?
"We'll give Scarlett your warning. I think they've learned a lesson from Void. Scarlett's also spend some time on World II with the oracles. She's learned a few tricks," says L.C. "Well, anything else you want to do in Europe?"
"Leaping into portals and not knowing where you're going is a good way to get yourself killed," says L.C. to Unity. "And, what does it matter now. We've caught dozens of them. Surely we've crippled their plans. Dr. Moore told us how the first one came to this world. He didn't know where that first one came from originally."
"What did I miss?" asks L.C. joining the group and then sees what Nissa meant. "Oh. Gotcha."
She pulls the croissant from beneath Nissa's butt and takes a bite.
She picks up a pad, keys in her access code, and reads the briefing material as it comes to her, "A search of all the intelligence databases stateside revealed no clones in the U.S. They're worried the U.S. clones may have altered their appearance. The lab guys are working on a method of detection as per Z's orders this morning."
"The French PM is taking all the credit for yesterday's success and none of the blame for the casualties. PR wants us to counter it. Deprioritize."
"None of the clones being interrogated Iin Europe have said anything of interest so far. EU intelligence agents are still wrapping up the clone network. They found that one lived in an apartment with four other clones; neighbours thought it was one person ... said he was quiet. They're still looking for more 'nests', searching each clone's home."
