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Jolanda tries to walk out the door into the empty city, but Rage warns her
off, saying that something is still wrong. They must have assembled the
puzzle incorrectly. Perhaps it poisoned them and caused them all to lose
time, or there’s just something weird going on that none of them can
explain.
“I can explain it,” Miracle says as she walks right outside. “We are in a
Facsimile.”
“I don’t know what that means.” Rage is in the doorway to protect everyone
else.
Miracle rolls her eyes, and waves her arms like she’s parting the Red Sea.
“Would you please? I need everyone to see and hear me.” She sighs. “I didn’t
know we would encounter time travel on this journey. I thought it was
possible, but I guess I gave Hrockas too much credit. I don’t have the time
or bandwidth to explain everything, so let’s just go over the basics. Has
anyone seen an old show called Stranger Things?”
A few people raise their hands, including Colley.
“There’s an evil world in that show that looks just like ours, except there
aren’t any people in it, and it’s horrific. There are all sorts of vines and
mold covering everything, and toxic particles float around all the time.
Spoiler alert, what they eventually discover is that this copy of the world
was created on a particular day in the past, like a snapshot of a single
moment. That is basically what this is, but without the horror overtones.
Well...there was that one time when zombies and other monsters were
fabricated here in secret so they could be let loose on the populace—”
“I remember that,” Zelda jumps in. “I was trying to relax in Mildome when a
serial killer from Bloodbourne suddenly attacked. They weren’t too hard to
kill, though.”
They all look at her like she’s crazy.
“What? I don’t only spend my time in Adrenadome. I like bees and
butterflies.”
“Well,” Miracle continues, “now you know, this is where they came from. I
can’t tell you not to worry about lingering monsters, but let’s hope not.
The person who controlled them no longer has control over this place. He was
sent away. We actually fought alongside each other against a bigger threat,
but he never returned. I’m just trying to give you an idea of where we are,
and what we’ll find. Any questions so far?”
“Yeah.” Rage raises her hand. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Miracle sighs again. “Hrockas can force me into any substrate he wants, but
he can’t stop me from using my powers. Those are based on my neurology, so
he would have to kill me to get rid of them.” She squares her shoulders and
makes sure that everyone is watching. She disappears, simultaneously
reappearing on the ground a few meters away. She screams in agony as she
holds her head. “Ah, you son of a bitch, what did you do?” More screaming.
A gargantuan holographic screen resolves in the sky. It’s Hrockas again.
“Nuh-uh-uh. No time powers. You think I didn’t plan for that? This world is
littered with temporal suppression fields. Good luck turning them all off.”
He blinks away.
Elise helps Miracle back to her feet. “Don’t do that again. We get the
idea.”
“I’m still not sure I believe it,” Rage reasons. “I can think of four major
explanations off the top of my head for what she just did.”
“I have seen people do what she just did before,” Jolanda admits. “I was
born on Proxima Doma. Before you ask, I wasn’t on the surface or in
low-orbit when it was destroyed, but I did become a refugee. They ferried us
to Gatewood where we could choose our final destinations for free. I
ultimately opted to transmit my consciousness here, but not before I
witnessed a riot that had to be quelled by a bunch of teleporting cops. I
don’t think they were faking it. What would have been the point?”
“I’m sorry you went through that.” Minotaur gives Jolanda a hug from the
side.
Miracle nods. “The faster-than-light technology some ships use now?
Researchers didn’t simply finally figure it out. People like me gave it to
them. They had this big meeting in the year 2400 with the, uhh...sort of
council. I had nothing to do with it because I’m not on the Shortlist, but
there’s a very low chance that your life has not been impacted directly by a
time traveler one way or the other, for good or bad.
“Miss Shin, if you were a refugee, you probably spent some time on The
Tangent, or at least you saw it. Their artificial gravity was a gift from
that council. Hrockas has a number of friends with powers and patterns. A
team of them was instrumental in making Castlebourne what it is today, and
he continues to employ others. For the most part, they try to keep the tech
more conventional, but there are some things normal physics can’t handle.”
She gestures at the world around them. “This is proof of that. I’m betting
they keep it up and running just in case they ever need it, for times like
these.”
“So, what are we facing?” Zelda asks Miracle. “How dangerous is this tech?”
“You’re not actually listening to her,” Rage complains. “We can’t trust
her.”
“I’m not trying to be your leader,” Miracle defends. “I’m only giving you
the facts. What are we facing? No way to know, but throw your rule book out
the window, because it no longer applies. Time travel is a very loose
term, and a misnomer. Many who can manipulate spacetime don’t simply move
forwards or backwards. Some can turn invisible by basically showing you
what’s behind them instead of them. Some can duplicate themselves by pulling
from microrealities. Hrockas may only be using this dimension to separate us
from gen pop, but he also might be planning to throw temporal obstacles at
us. Rage, you can listen to me or not, but if it’s that second option, I
have an incredibly unfair advantage, because I’ve seen this stuff before.”
A deafening silence falls, making this city even more a liminal space than
it was when they first set foot out here. Miracle could be wrong. The people
they saw before might have been volumetric images. Or the dome they were in
simply spun around to the other side, which was made to be a replica of
this, but never populated. There are other explanations for what
happened to them, but on the off-chance that Miracle isn’t mistaken or
lying, they have to pay attention to her. Trust, but verify.
Elise stands over by her friend. “Rage is the leader. That’s not changing.
Miracle, let’s call you the advisor.” She gestures to her main teammates.
“We’ve been working together for weeks, and we know what each other has to
offer. We’ve settled into our respective roles, so that can be yours. But
until further notice, we must all be in an alliance together. Do you
disagree, Miss Brighton?”
Miracle smiles. “I do not. Like I said, I don’t wanna lead.
Advisor feels right.”
“Rage?” Elise asks, hoping that the tensions don’t escalate.
“Very well,” Rage decides. “I’ll listen to you, Miracle, but I promise
nothing regarding my actions. If I want to make a different call, that’s
what I’ll do.”
“Sounds good.” Miracle turns around. “Now. First thing we need to do is
check for—” She takes a step forward, and suddenly disappears. A few seconds
later, they hear her screaming from the heavens, right before she splats on
the ground. “...Time mines.”
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