Microstory 184: Ossia Mulloy

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When Ossia Mulloy was fairly young, she decided to reveal her ability to her best friend. The two of them were skipping rocks on a pond one evening when Ossia asked if she wanted to see something cool. Henrietta shrugged indifferently but then watched, stunned as Ossia haphazardly tossed a rock into the water, and kept it skipping indefinitely. She made it curve, bounce backwards, and even stop in place, as if the lake were frozen. Henrietta was speechless as Ossia’s feats became more and more impressive. She swung the pond in its entirety back and forth, as if it were nothing more than a small bowl of water. She lifted it in the air and let it fall back down like rain. She smiled to her friend, expecting her to be excited and interested, but instead, Henrietta ran from her and called her a witch. Henrietta ended up trying to tell their parents about what happened, but of course, her accusations were ridiculous, and there was no way for her to prove it. Needless to say, they were no longer friends. When Ossia was 21 years old, she made the natural choice of enlisting in the Diving Section of the Irish Naval Service as an underwater engineer. One night while on leave, Ossia caught a man sexually assaulting Henrietta. More as a reflex, and because he was too physically strong for her, Ossia began to manipulate the water in the man’s body, and pulled him apart with it. He exploded in front of them, covering them with bits and pieces. It was the most horrifying experience for either of them. Despite the violence, the two of them grew closer after that, having bonded over the ordeal. They would never have categorized their new relationship as friendship, but Henrietta was from then on slightly more grateful for Ossia’s ability than she was fearful. Years later, rumors of Ossia’s ability spread beyond the Navy, and Ossia was captured by an associate of Basil Ploutos. He kept her in an abandoned factory in Kansas until she was freed by Bellevue, along with several other anomalies. Ossia never really felt all that interested in the organization, or its goals. She developed a romantic relationship with Gus, but even that was short-lived. She ultimately decided to remain in Usonia, and worked construction a little with Quang and Hugh, but contributed relatively little to anomaly history.

Microstory 183: Bree Nolan

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Bree Nolan’s parents decided to not tell their daughter that she was adopted until she turned 11. The day after her birthday, they sat her down and began the discussion. She told them that she already knew, and pretty much always had. They were never really able to understand why it was that she knew this. She didn’t catch a glimpse of certain documents, she didn’t overhear a conversation, and she certainly never ran a blood test. Bree didn’t need any of those things. As an anomaly, she had the ability to sense genetic details of those around her. She knew that her classmate’s older brother was actually his father. She sensed something different about her teacher’s husband, which eventually lead to them learning that he carried a rare genetic disorder common among patients of a certain terminal disease. She could even tell the exact ancestral composition of anyone she encountered. Bree went out of state for college and found herself paired with Connor Higgins as a roommate. She concentrated and meditated, but found herself unable to discern any genetic information about him. Furthermore, whenever he was around, she could also not sense any information about anyone else. He was somehow blocking her ability, and together, they induced that not only were they both special, but that there must be others like them. They quickly became best friends, but also decided that it was best if they no longer live together. Connor spent his free time researching genetics, and even enrolled in a healthy number of classes in the field. While he was doing that, Bree swam through a sea of people, studying their genes with her mind, and taking note of the differences. Even though she was innately aware of their genetics, she did not have the intellectual background to understand it completely. They created charts, spoke with experts, and discussed their findings. After time, these two amateurs managed to learn a nice amount about what anomalies were, and what made them different. They even had some insight on the matter that Hankford Apolomure hadn’t realized. Bree and Connor joined Bellevue together, but spent a great deal of time off-site, much of it recruiting, so that his ability to negate other abilities did not interfere with operations. Years after Bellevue became a household word, a television network developed a mildly successful program called The Adventures of Conundrum and Treemaker, based loosely on Connor’s and Bree’s lives together.

Microstory 182: Diane Ghoti

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The events surrounding Diane Ghoti’s birth were all very mysterious and unusual. Her parents only ever told her that she was adopted after they had disowned her, but they never revealed how they found her in the first place. This was something she would not understand for many years. She had a very happy childhood growing up in a wealthy family, and always had everything she ever wanted. One day when her parents were arguing in front of her, Diane grew angry, and unwittingly released her pyrokinetic ability. Fire raged throughout the entire mansion, burning everything in its path. Once the flames had dissipated, her parents were left horrified and disgusted. They never stopped to think about why it was that Diane’s fire had not killed them. The fact was that, though Diane’s power was out of her control due to her young age, it was still limited to her wishes. Diane did not want to kill her parents, and so the fire spared them. As they say, the tail does not wag the dog. Diane was kicked out of the house, and sent off to live with her grandfather in Usonia, eventually attending college there. She spent her free time learning control, and soon discovered that she could also fly. The fact that she had two separate abilities was unique to her. Fate later intervened and pushed her to contact Cosmo Drexler, hoping that he could use his background in physics to help her understand where her abilities came from, not knowing that he had an ability of his own. The two of them ended up going to the United Kingdom and meeting the other four members of their little group. Diane was one of the first people to be affected by the deadly pathogen that spread through Bellevue several months after joining. Each patient was affected differently, based on whatever their ability was, which meant that each patient would need to be treated and cured differently. Diane’s body overheated, and began to produce fire uncontrollably. She was placed into a quarantine freezer. This slew down the symptoms, but they were unable to find a cure. Her fire ultimately overcame her, and she was torn asunder. Fortunately for her, she was not only an anomaly, but another special breed. She didn’t die, but she was never the same, and she never returned home.

Microstory 181: Blossom Sadler

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As a little girl, Blossom Sadler attended one of those one room schools designed for children of all ages. She was one of the first anomalies to be born, and grew up in a rural part of Oklahoma, right on the border of the Republic of Texas. Her mother, in fact, was a Texian who gained dual citizenship of both Texas and Usona. Every one of her classmates was aware of her telepathic ability. On the outside, they appeared to be a disinterested class. They were quiet, attentive, and completed their lessons without asking too many questions. But on the inside, they were carrying on secret conversations. Blossom could not only communicate telepathically with anyone and everyone within her vicinity, but could also open up what were later referred to as private lines so that small groups could communicate independent of the others. She acted like a switchboard, connecting parties to each other. One might think to use this as a way to cheat on assignments, but it ended up having the opposite effect. It allowed a more intimate and open-minded dialog amongst the students. The older students were already encouraged to lift up the younger ones, but by being able to connect telepathically, this assistance became so much more profound and useful. None of the students was particularly bright, but these deep connections transformed them into several of the most successful and prosperous adults of their time. They went on to become doctors, advocates, politicians, and brilliant artists. As Blossom’s range expanded across the country, and later the continent, they were able to remain in touch with each other, something that was quite difficult for most people in a time before email, or even telephones. As some of the more powerful people in the world, the classmates were perfectly positioned to provide Bellevue with what they needed to operate safely in the world, even against opposition. They decided to do this in secret, and chose only to involve themselves with the organization directly once the majority of other anomalies had already been uncovered. Blossom’s range had increased by then to allow her to connect with people around the entire world, though she used her ability to primarily work field support for African operatives. She died having lived a full life, and her ability was ultimately reproduced to turn anyone who wanted into telepaths.

The Advancement of Mateo Matic: April 23, 2047

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Harrison was not fired. In fact, he was called back in to work more closely with Ulinthra and Dave. They were two of the very few people who still worked for her. Before leaving, he performed some procedure to essentially read Mateo’s mind and produce a visualization of his memory of the man who Reaver killed in the other timeline. No one else had seen him before, and they had no idea what his motivations might be. He had appeared out of nowhere, so he was either a salmon or a choosing one. His first run-in with Mateo could very well not happen for the next hundred, or thousand years. There was no way to know, but Leona was clear to not prejudge him during that meeting. If Mateo already held anger towards the man before he had done anything wrong, from the man’s perspective, then that anger could actually ultimately be the cause of his violence.

Hope for the best, plan for the worst. Never be surprised, but never assume you already have the whole story. Keep track of everything you do, and everyone you meet. Avoid alternate versions of yourself. Treat everyone you meet with respect, as they may unexpectedly return. And do not relinquish control of your own life. These were the rules that Leona spent the rest of 2046 coming up with. She left room for more.

Upon returning to the timestream, Leona realized that they could use the same technology Harrison had with the mysterious knife-wielder, along with predictive aging software, to create clear composites of Aura and Samsonite’s daughter. Assuming she aged at a standard rate, and was not ageless like the two of them, Theo, and Danica, they were able to come up with thirteen pictures. Each one represented how Aquila would look at different ages since, if they ever encountered her, she could be of any age at the time. The first two were real photographs, but ages 7 through 102 were generated.

Once the program was complete, Mateo came in to find that Leona had already begun studying them to see if they had met her before. “Oh my God,” she said as she placed her hand over her mouth in shock.

Mateo skipped to Picture Six to find out what was so surprising. He stared at it for what felt like hours. “This is my sister. This is her? We’re sure about it?”

Leona looked over to him. “Yes. Weren’t you two...?”

Mateo stumbled out of the cabin and threw up. He had not eaten much, but all of it came out, along with painfully stinging stomach acid.

His mother came over to comfort him. “Are you okay? What happened? Is the program finished?”

“I know your daught—” he tried to say before spitting up more. “I know my sist—oh my God!”

“Who is she?”

“She doesn’t go by Aquila anymore.”

“What’s her name?”

“After you disappeared, a family moved into the Landau house. And I mean it was immediately after. Looking back, the timing is suspicious.”

“She was your neighbor? Tell me. Who was she?”

“Frida. Her name was Frida, and we dated for a time.”

Aura didn’t throw up, but she turned away from him, like she wanted to. “Is this true, Leona? Is the program right? Could there have been a mistake?”

“The technology isn’t perfect,” Leona explained from the doorway. “Under normal circumstances, we couldn’t trust it to be right, but Pictures Six and Seven look too much like her for it not to be right. We already know that the powers that be like to throw us together in this unlikely string of six degrees. It is almost certainly her.”

Mateo heaved again, but was completely empty, so it just damaged his throat more.

“Did you two ever...” Aura tried to ask, “take it to the next level?”

“Dear God no,” Mateo quickly replied. “I don’t know what I would do with myself if we had. But we kissed, and I don’t even like Star Wars!”

“How long did the relationship continue after the first kiss?” Leona asked.

“It ended there.”

“Makes sense. I think you can dissolve all feelings of guilt over this. You’re half-siblings, time travelers, and neither one of you knew.”

“We don’t know she didn’t know,” Mateo pointed out.

“Don’t talk about my daughter like that,” Aura nearly yelled.

“I’m just saying...that we should go back to Kansas and speak with her. It grosses me out, but now that we know where she is, we have no choice, do we?”

They flew to Topeka.

“I haven’t seen her in years,” Frida’s husband, Jai said truthfully. Mateo and Leona were sitting in his livingroom. The other three chose to remain at the aircraft, so as not to overwhelm him. “She has been declared dead. How are you still alive, and still young?” He was in his sixties, but looked younger than sixty-year-olds did in Mateo’s time.

This gave him an idea, and he was pretty proud of himself for having come up with it, especially with so little time to prepare. “The anti-aging treatments you undergo; we were beta testers for earlier programs. We won’t look forever young, but we’re young for now.”

He lifted his chin to decide whether he believed this or not, and was still suspicious, but let it go. “Well, I’m sorry I can’t help you. She disappeared in 2021.” That was odd. It was the last time Mateo had seen her before running off to Colorado. He hadn’t so much as asked after her since then.

“Did she disappear without a trace?” Leona asked.

“No,” he answered. “She acted like she knew exactly where she was going. She just didn’t tell me where.”

“So she didn’t literally disappear before your eyes?” Mateo pressed

He was taken aback by this. “No, why the hell would she do that? What do you people want?”

“We’re sorry to bother you,” Leona stepped back in, hoping to save the conversation. “But any information you could provide would help us. We have...a different perspective than any police or private detective would have had at the time. It must be painful to relive this, but if you could go over it one more time, it could mean the difference between finding the truth, and never knowing. We may be able to get you answers.”

He breathed in deeply. “It’s been long enough. It doesn’t hurt anymore, but I won’t have to tell you. I can just give you the information.” He walked over to his desk and took out a small flash drive that was laid haphazardly in a drawer. He plugged it into his computer and closed his eyes. After a couple of minutes, he removed the storage device and handed it to Leona. “All my memories of the events surrounding Frida’s disappearance are on here.”

“Thank you, Mr. Quelen. We will let you know if we find anything. It may take a few years.”

“I would appreciate it.”

After leaving the house, Mateo took the storage device and examined it. “What did he do? There wasn’t even a keyboard.”

“He interfaced with the computer using the nanites in his brain, transferring whole memories onto this with only his thoughts.”

“Nanites. Like Mirage.”

“Like Mirage, yes.”

“Should we get nanites too?”

“If you want. I do not know if they can travel through time, though. She couldn’t. The powers may want us to essentially remain how we were when we started this journey.”

“Speaking of non-sequiturs,” Mateo said, “we have some time while we’re heading back to our family...”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you how Reaver convinced me to break him out of prison.”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, there’s been a lot going on. I didn’t want to push the subject.”

“It’s fine. I just totally forgot. Those words he said, Dougnanimous Brintantalus. That was a time travel protocol.”

“What’s that?”

“If I ever go back in the past and am forced to interact with a younger version of myself, I say those words to that younger me, and she knows to trust me. They are intentionally nonsensical so that no one would ever say them out of context. And I came up with them after seeing Back to the Future, long before actually knowing that time travel was real.”

“Why would Reaver have those words?”

“I don’t know, but no one is supposed to have them. I didn’t tell you, not because I didn’t trust you, but because they only work if I’m the only one who knows them. The fact that he knew them proves that I gave them to him. He couldn’t have gotten them any other way. I just wish I had access to that timeline, to find out why I would go to such great lengths.”

“Maybe you didn’t give them up. We just saw that people can now read minds, and transfer memories.”

“Yes, using certain machines. He wouldn’t have been able to do it without my knowing it. Maybe in the future it could be done passively, but not now. And certainly not in 2042.”

Mateo thought this over, and injected as much logic into the situation as possible. “But we’re talking about time travel. By its very nature, it’s not susceptible to the day’s technological progress. Maybe Reaver himself didn’t get those words. Someone five-thousand years from now, with that day’s technology could have read your thoughts, and sent them back. Five-thousand years. For us, that’s only...um...”

“Less than fourteen years,” she said, and then she thought through it herself. “You’re right. Time travel protocols aren’t perfect. They’re just...as close as I can get.”

“Come on,” Mateo said, dropping the subject. “We should get back to the plane before 2048.”

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Superpowers: The List (Part IV)

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“France. The one country that only has nuclear weapons pretty much because everyone else does, and because they have the resources for a program. Theirs is the most secretive and fickle, however, what with them refusing to report numbers, supposedly constantly switching facilities, and rejecting a healthy amount of international law. The only reason they’re allowed to go on as they do is because they don’t actually do anything wrong. They get along with the rest of Europe, and the majority of the Confederacy. They don’t go around starting wars, and the amount of foreign aid they provide is surpassed by no other nation.”

“All is as your opinion dictates,” replied Ambassador Tamboli of India.

Governor Stockton continued, largely ignoring the ambassador’s remark. “It is for this that the nuclear disarmament of France is the trickiest. Pakistan was the most dangerous, since we had done nothing like it before, and it required the most troops of mine. China’s taken the longest so far, and the most resources. And Russia was just violent and stubborn about the whole thing. But it is France that will ultimately give us the most trouble, because they’re smart, and we will never really know if we’ve gotten all of them. Following the events of Pakistan, they immediately modified their tactics for their nuclear arms. They quickly developed an impressive strategy of compartmentalization. I knew they would do this, which was why I haven’t relied on intelligence that I gathered before the mission, but I also spent months debating whether I should start with them instead of Pakistan. In the end, I could not, because the backlash from such a thing would have been too great. I had a number of parties interested in disarming Pakistan. Even though these parties were not outwardly happy with having been lied to about the specifics, they were secretly relieved. France, on the other hand, belongs to a collection of extremely powerful allies. Disarming them will be considered an act of betrayal.”

“I should say so.”

“And because of all this, I will not be able to continue alone. I am forming a new alliance; one loyal to our cause. Only non-nuclear nations will be allowed into this alliance, and the list of potentials is large, so I will need help whittling it down to a manageable size.”

“I would imagine that the more the better.”

“One might think so, but it would actually benefit the cause to have fewer, tighter allies, than dozens of countries who each feel marginalized and misrepresented.”

“I suppose that makes a certain logic. Are you asking me to assist you with your special list?” Ambassador Tamboli asked.

“I am,” Stockton answered.

Tamboli sighed heavily. “That’s all you had to say. Don’t know why you felt the need to go into such a huge speech.”

“You’re a diplomat. Aren’t speeches your drug of choice?”

Now Tamboli ignored him. “Let us see the list.” She looked over the sheet of paper that Stockton handed her. “Why is India not on here?”

“I can’t picture a world where you are not part of this glorious alliance. I didn’t put you on the list, because I didn’t want to risk you crossing yourself from it.”

“You know that I’m just the ambassador, right? I’m not the avatar for the entire nation of India. You can’t flatter me into joining you.”

“Yes I can,” Stockton nodded.

“I am also happily married.”

He shrugged. “We’ll see.”

Tamboli sighed again and set to work on that list. She took a pencil and quickly drew squiggly lines through countries one by one, as if she had ruminating on the matter for days. “There.”

“I’m surprised you kept Sweden.”

“Their historically precarious relationship with the United Kingdom should prove useful to you. They have always been against nuclear weapons, and are only staying out of this conflict because they are terribly afraid of World War IV.”

Stockton nodded again. “That makes perfect sense. See? This is why I need you.” He looked back down at the list. “Why did you remove Switzerland? Do they not have the same stance on nuclear weapons as Sweden?”

“They do, but they also exercise a level of isolationism. Of your list, they are the most outspoken against your interference in the business of independent states.”

“I hadn’t noticed.”

“Have you been paying much attention to countries that you’re not currently focused on trying to disarm?”

“No, you’re right. I haven’t. Good point.” He looked to the list once more. Good points all around. I will not ask you about the others. I can clearly trust your judgment, sight unseen.”

“Again, no need for the flattery.”

“Your modesty knows no bounds.”

She laughed.

Governor Stockton spent the better part of a year cultivating relationships with the remaining nine countries on Tamboli’s list. While the first few stages of his mission involved relatively quick and decisive action, the next few nations needed to be dealt with delicately. The important thing about the alliance was that it needed to appear as if those were the nations who were agreeing to become part of it, rather than a set of enemies against other alliances. It needed to be more of a council, and less of a coalition. Instead of trying to use the alliance to make a play against France, he was actually intending to romance them into joining up and disarming themselves, much like India had. And it worked. It took a very long time, and as Stockton had pointed out in the meeting with Tamboli, they could never really be sure that they had cleaned them out entirely, but it did work.

France had a number of conditions, not the least of which was that they would act to destroy their stockpile on their own, rather than simply handing them over to Federama. The fact that Federama now controlled over 50% of the world’s nuclear armament had the potential to cause more problems than it was promising to solve. Federama, and the rest of the new alliance, insisted that they oversee France’s safe destruction of their bombs. Stockton’s plan relied on him having as many of the weapons to himself for a period of time, but Russia had probably provided him with more than enough to get his point across. And it just wasn’t worth bullying France into giving up on that condition.

When all was said and done, Stage Five of the mission was successful. Once everything was over, France as a whole seemed almost to smile, like an addict ceremoniously burning their drug stash. People were more surprised than they thought they would be about how good it would feel to be free of the burden. They didn’t feel vulnerable. They felt ready to move forward; excited for a future of peace and happiness. Stockton had succeeded in not only disarming another country, but in swaying the public opinion. No more were people angry about their interference. Though the governments of the UK, Usonia, and Korea showed no signs of relenting, the majority of their populace was in favor of it. And after enough time, that would be all that mattered. Yes, things were going well, but they were about to get bad. As Korea threatened nuclear war with Usonia, knowing that no one would be able to stop them, Usonia and the UK were only strengthened in their resolve to keep armed.

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Microstory 180: Basil Ploutos

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Basil Ploutos came out of a notoriously dysfunctional family. Ploutonic Enterprises was one of the largest and most powerful companies in the midwest, with major locations in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois. Many economists and other researchers complained that there was no clear vision, or focus, of the company. They had their hands in a number of different fields, including auto manufacturing, toy fabrication, medicine, military equipment, and even education reform. The founder, Basil’s grandfather, commissioned the building of a hotel in the middle of nowhere Kansas during a time of limited development. The company was already rather successful at that point, having disrupted many industries with innovative ideas. And so, the people around him just believed that he had some insight into the future of the region. He must have known that people would soon flock to the area, and that a perfectly placed hotel would be overrun with business. But then Leon Ploutos Sr. kept altering the plans for the building with strange ideas. The ballroom became the unusual focal point, with a seemingly pointless room coming off of it. There was what appeared to be a laboratory behind the kitchen. There was neither a front entrance, nor a lobby. And the dimensions of the ballroom prevented there from being a practical second floor. The project was ultimately abandoned before it was complete, and the reputation of Ploutonic Enterprises suffered for it. The company retained a healthy profit year over year, but experienced no significant amount of growth, and was no longer looked to for hints at where the future was going. The family’s legacy was apparently forever stained with labels of insanity and fantasy.

Leon Jr. took over the company upon the death of his father, and continued on the exact same path. His first born son, Rowan was a bit of a party boy, and used his riches mainly to get into clubs and attract one-night stands. Basil, on the other hand, had an amazing business acumen, and some interesting ideas for how to turn the company around and make it great again. Upon the advice of Adam Nicks, the hopeful founders of Bellevue approached Basil Ploutos with the hopes that he would fund their endeavors. They worked out a way for him to illegally funnel money from his company, and supply resources to Bellevue so that it could provide support for its members. Without this backing, potential recruits would have no incentive to leave their old lives behind and start something new. They set up shop in that infamous abandoned hotel. It was perfect for their needs, having been constructed away from the prying eyes of the public. And those unconventional designs proved useful on a number of unpredictable occasions, almost as if Leon Sr. could see the future. Basil grew prouder of his contribution with each day that passed, and though he had no special ability of his own, helped make the organization what it was destined to be. Ploutonic Enterprises was shut down not long after his death, but from its ashes rose a new company, one that used anomaly-inspired scientific breakthroughs to change the world for the better.

Microstory 179: Sara Medina

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There was not much to say about Sara Medina. Sure, her life was full of pain, loneliness, and tragedy, but she didn’t do much. Her mutation was not useful for her daily life, and in fact made things beyond difficult. It had some potential applications in defense, but there were too many better and safer options to warrant too much study. And so she ended up being little more than a footnote in history. Sara’s mother died in childbirth; an outcome that was practically unavoidable. Growing up after that, she faced many challenges, including being resented by her father. Her skin was made of a strangely malleable kind of metal, which was what caused her mother so much stress while in labor. It was a miracle that either of them survived longer than the first few months of pregnancy. Sara’s skin was impenetrable, which made it impossible for her to receive vaccinations in the traditional way. Fortunately, her uvula was made of pure flesh, and acted as a surrogate for proper vaccinations. Unfortunately, however, this caused other health complications, because the uvula is not designed to take so much irritation. Sara’s father kept her away from the public eye as much as possible, but too many in and around Madrid discovered her condition too early. The difference in her physiology was too noticeable to prevent people from knowing about her. Her saving grace was that the mutant island holding Colton Underwood had recently been established, and so she was able to move there. She spent nearly her entire life there.