Microstory 1116: Uma Kulkarni

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The world was a terrible place when Uma Kulkarni was born, but she would live long enough to see its salvation. She grew up with her family on Durus, which was a rogue planet that was hurtling towards Earth at the time. A group of people with special time powers attempted to avert this disaster, but they were unable to. Society continued after that, though in a severely deteriorated state. They blamed all of their problems on women, and eventually settled on what would retroactively be called a phallocracy, or in more positive terms, the First Republic. While it was in place, it was just called the Republic, to distinguish it from previous forms of government, like the despotocratic Smithtatorship, and the Mage Protectorate. Over the years, the reality about what had happened in history gave way to fear and paranoia. Books were not outright burned or outlawed, but they were gradually removed from view. The men in control knew that they would lose that control if the true accounts of history were publicly shunned. In order to keep people from even considering the possibility that their civilization was built on lies, they would have to quietly pretend that they were not lies. Uma’s family considered themselves to be the Stewards of Truth. They maintained a secret library collection of their own, and passed the forbidden knowledge down the generations, knowing that one day, someone would be in a position to use it. Men and women alike in the Kulkarni bloodline kept the faith, and worked hard at creating a resistance force known as the thicket. They weren’t only there to protect the inherent rights of women, but also to keep looking for a way to avoid the planet’s ultimate collision with Earth. As far as that bloodline went, it was Uma who was around when they finally met the woman who would both save them from this fate, and usher in a new era of equality. Hokusai Gimura arrived in a very small ship to look for her daughter. She was able to use this ship, in conjunction with a very powerful temporal object, to adjust the planet’s movement through space, and steer it away from Earth’s path. She couldn’t do this alone, however. Uma’s brother worked for the power grid, so she conscripted him to divert all power to the ship. Their heroics and defiance led them to assuming a number of leadership roles as the world attempted to move on from its troubled past. Uma helped facilitate transitions to the Provisional Government, and the Salmon Battalion Military State. She retired from service many years later, after working as the first Education Administrator in the Democratic Republic.

The Advancement of Mateo Matic: October 27, 2234

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So named Project Stargate, also known as the Quantum Seeder Network, was a real thing. They were going to be sending truly massive module ships across the galaxy, on a course that would ultimately last tens of thousands of years. The idea was to build two gargantuan turtle shells; one for each of the two arbitrarily designated planes of the Milky Way Galaxy, which was relatively flat. Each turtle shell would break apart into four smaller pieces; one for each quadrant, with an origin point in the center of the Sagittarius A* black hole. These pieces would then break into smaller pieces, and then smaller pieces still, until you’re left with a seed plate. Each plate would be programmed to land somewhere in a solar system, and use the materials found there to make more interstellar ships, which would then spread out to the system’s nearest neighbors, up to twenty-eight.

The idea was to be able to instantly travel to any star system in a matter of seconds. This was not like its namesake, however, which feature actual gates that could open artificial wormholes for physical faster-than-light travel. This was quantum communication. No normal human would be able to reach distant stars using this technology. Biotechnological upgrades beyond a certain threshold were required to interface with a quantum messenger, which would then send one’s consciousness to the selected destination, and upload it to a surrogate body. They would then pilot this body around, able to see, hear, and feel everything they would if they were actually there in person. For the time being, the intention was to leave a constant connection, so that, if the system were to shut down, or something would go wrong on the other end, the traveler would simply revert to their real body. It was unclear whether it was safe enough to transfer one’s consciousness entirely, and completely sever any connection to the original substrate. When it came to consciousness transference on the whole, the nature of identity was always a moral, ethical, and philosophical concern. Of course, as a time traveler, Mateo was aware that it was possible to teleport to other planet by manipulating time. This was not universally known, however, so humans were given more believable limitations.

This endeavor would require constant calculations and recalculations in order to select the best candidates for landing. Local resources needed to be analyzed and synthesized, and failure rate needed to be determined. Alone, this would be impossible, even for an artificial superintelligence, because they would be operating blindly. No one was cognizant of  all the stars in the galaxy, because the majority of them were blocked from view from any one point while inside this galaxy. The only way one could potentially map the entirety of the Milky Way was to leave its confines, and see it from the empty space beyond. That was where Project Topdown came in. The plan was to construct two giant void telescope arrays, send them away, and use them to navigate the quantum seeders. If these telescopes were going to be able to stay ahead of these seeders, they needed to leave about ten years prior, which meant construction on them needed to begin now. Of course, this process was predominantly automated, but Kestral and Ishida were the humans assigned to monitor its progress, and be prepared to make creative decisions that may fall beyond the scope of the commanding AI. Weaver was still helping them.

With Ramses gone, it fell to Goswin to help foster the new Gatewood government. He was presently on a far away cylinder, on some diplomatic trip. So once again, Mateo couldn’t contribute much to the efforts. Nor could Cassidy. But the two of them weren’t speaking to each other at the moment. Mateo immediately regretted receiving a dance from her, and though it wasn’t her fault, he didn’t want to be reminded of his mistake. Leona was the love of his life, who had sacrificed so much for him. It wasn’t her fault either that they were so far separated. His anxiety was his own, and it was up to him to come up with healthy ways of relieving it. That relief could not be found in a three-minute song with Cassidy, nor anyone else in that capacity. It would seem that she did not feel the same way.

“I have something to show you.”

“I don’t want to see it,” Mateo said.

“I did nothing wrong.”

“I know, Cass. But I did, so please, just...just pretend it’s yesterday, or tomorrow, when I don’t exist.”

“I found something that could help you.”

He didn’t say anything.

“It has nothing to do with me,” she said. “I’m just he one who found it. I was going to ask someone else to show it to you, but I’m not a hundred percent certain you or I are allowed in that section of the building.”

“If you’re not sure, then we’re probably not, and I still don’t want to see it.”

She stomped her foot. “Mateo Alessandro Matic.”

“That’s not my middle name.”

“Stop dwelling on the past, and come with me. I will then leave you alone.”

He sighed. “Fine.”

They crawled out of the AOC, and into the building they were using as a command center. It wasn’t completely out of use, but their little group had been separated to other places. It served little function at this point. They rode the elevator up, then Cassidy led him down a twisty turny hallway, into one of the many rooms he had never entered before. It looked wholly unremarkable.

“What is it?”

“It’s a VR room.”

“So, what?”

“It doesn’t utilize hard coded programming.”

“Do they ever?” Mateo joked. He didn’t know what that meant.

“Yes. You don’t insert a cartridge, and play a program. This thing reads your mind, and generates an alternate reality for you to live in.”

“Like a dream?” It sounded just like a dream.

She nodded. “Like a dream, except you can be perfectly lucid in here, and it will set physical laws for you. The problem with a dream is that you’re in too much control. If, for instance, you become lucid, suddenly the things that are happening to you can be adjusted, and they’re no longer happening to you. That’s now how life works, though. You’re not in control of every aspect of it, which makes every experience actually worth experiencing. I’ve not tried this myself, but the instructional video made it sound promising.”

“Okay...” He still didn’t see the point of being here.

“You know what Leona looks like, and how she acts. You know how she would react to a given situation, or what she would think of your choices.”

“Way to rub it in.”

“I’m not talking about the lapdance. Let the dance go. With this system, you can see her again. Obviously, it won’t really be her, but it will be a damn close approximation. This is especially true since you know her so well. If you were to try this with some random person, or a celebrity, like James van der Beek, it wouldn’t work so well, because you’ve never met him.”

“Yes, I have.”

“What?”

“I’ve met James Van Der Beek.”

“What! When?”

“It’s this whole thing with a fake cooking show; don’t worry about it.”

“This is all I’m worrying about. That man is my idol.”

“Was,” Mateo corrected.

“You don’t know that.” This was true. “Okay,” Cassidy went on. “I told you I would leave you alone, and I will. You are free to create your reality, or just go back to sulking in the ship. I also found a vertical wind tunnel. I believe it was designed for research purposes, but we could ask one of the geniuses to make it safe for indoor skydiving, if that’s more to your liking.”

“No, that’s quite all right.”

Cassidy gave a curtsy, then turned to walk away.

“Thank you.”

She stopped for a moment, but didn’t turn back around, and didn’t say anything. Then she left.

Mateo started to watch the instructional video, but quickly ignored it, and just sat down in the chair, thinking he understood how it worked. Once he activated the system, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, and everything went black for a second. A picture then came into focus. He was standing on the side of the hill that he and Leona seemed to share on some psychic level. She was not there, though. Instead, he was facing an entity they had met many, many years ago named Mirage.

“What is this?” Mateo asked. “Why did I conjure you?”

“You didn’t conjure me,” Mirage said with some earnest. “I’m really here, and I don’t have much time. In order for the virtual reality system to work, you have to have be transhumanistic.”

“Like the stargates?”

“Exactly.”

“So...”

“It had to insert three tiny chips into your brain, so that you could interact with the constructed environment. This goes against the wishes of the powers that be. If these chips remain, you will fall off your pattern for good, and they will not be able to get you back on it.”

“So they won’t let that happen.”

“No. They’re already figuring out how to pull you out of here, should I not comply, and pull you out myself within a timely manner.”

“Did you...did you manipulate Cassidy to bring me here.”

Mirage pretended to sigh. “I was trying to get her here, actually. I’ve been wanting to speak with her. But until then, I might as well tell you that everything you’ve been feeling is nonsense. I put you on Gatewood, because—”

“What the hell do you mean that you put me on Gatewood?”

“I don’t have time to explain myself. I can see the timestream, and I’ve been trying to correct what I know will become major mistakes. This is a delicate period in history; the human expansion to the nearest stars. Lots of things go wrong, and it would seem as though the powers have not planned on doing anything to help it. So I’ve stepped up. I needed Kestral and Ishida here to finish building the cylinders. I needed Ramses here to go with Greer to Kolob.”

“What’s Kolob?”

“That’s what the Maramon are going to call their new home planet.”

“Okay, go on.”

“The point is that everyone has a part to play, and though I would never say yours is the most important, it is still important. Serif’s actions, for instance, were highly dependent on her connection to you. Leona’s mission on Varkas Reflex doesn’t work if she’s not stressed out by being separated from you. You may feel useless, but you are not, and it’s important that you understand that.”

“I don’t. I don’t understand that. If you’re as powerful as the—”

“I’m not as powerful as them,” now she interrupted him. “I’m not even as powerful as Lincoln was. I require a lot of help, and you are part of that puzzle.”

He didn’t say anything.

“That’s okay. You’ll get there eventually.” She paused a moment. “Listen, I have two more things to tell you. First, I would love it if you strongly suggested to Miss Long that she come try this VR room out for herself. If you think she won’t come if you tell her about me, then don’t. I can’t force you to do anything, which is one major difference between me and the powers that be. All I can do is ask nicely. If she doesn’t want to come, then so be it. I just hope the future unravels as it should. Secondly, I do have a mission for you that—you’re not the only one who could do it—but the others are busy, and it does happen to land on your day. You would be saving a life.”

“Go ahead and tell me what it is,” Mateo urged, getting the feeling that the VR program was about to end on its own.

“Cylinder Two, row 56, arcology 24, floor 83, spoke six, unit A-11, at 13 o’clock central.”

“What am I meant to do there?”

“I need you to—” She was cut off, and Mateo was promptly expelled back to the real world.

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Proxima Doma: Capacity (Part XI)

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Étude raced over to the hatch. “Oh my God, you’re back. You made it out.”

“I did,” Vitalie said as she was lowering herself down.

Tertius grabbed her by the waist, and let her down gently.

Étude tried to give her a hug, but she carefully and politely avoided it.

“I only left because these people told me they recognized me.”

“I’m the only one who recognizes her,” came a voice from above. Ecrin Cabral, a friend from long ago, jumped straight through the hole, and landed gracefully.

Another voice called down to her. “Do you want us down there too?”

“No, Creaser. Stay up there, and close the hatch,” Ecrin answered. “The Lieutenant is in charge.” She took a breath. “It’s been a long road to get her, but we’ve returned your girl. “Hello, Madam Einarsson. We never shook hands before.”

Étude took Ecrin’s hand. “Quite. Is that The Prototype up there?”

“It is,” she answered. “We’ve been traveling to other universe, killing Maramon.” She turned to face Tertius. “Mister Valerius, I was surprised when Vito did recon years ago, and reported back that you were here.”

“You two know each other?” Étude questioned.

“He’s a time traveler, I’m ageless. It was bound to happen once or twice.”

“Or three times,” Tertius said in a sultry voice.

“Stahp.” Ecrin was embarrassed, which felt uncharacteristic of her.

“I’m immortal now,” Tertius explained. “As are those two.”

“Yes, about that,” Ecrin said. “You may have noticed Vitalie is not warming to you well. My team has investigated, and discovered that she is extremely old.”

“How old?” Étude asked, worried. “How long was she over there before you found her?”

Ecrin hesitated to answer, but did. “We don’t have the exact number, but...four and a half billion years, give or take a few hundred million.”

“Oh my God!” Étude didn’t know what to think. She had met many people who had lived a long time, but no one with a span of billions of years. The Concierge, Danica Matic was rumored to be around that age, but no proof of that existed.

“Is that why she doesn’t remember us?” Tertius asked. “It’s just been too long.”

Ecrin shook her head. “Not exactly. From what we gather, Miss Crawville here loses her memory every second of her life. She can only retain the last fifty-six years of experiences”

“I’m fifty-six,” Tertius said.

Ecrin nodded. “That was my thought. You drank the immortality water first, right?”

“If she doesn’t remember that far back,” Étude began to ask, “how would you know that?”

“Like I said, Vito did recon. We didn’t know it was best to bring her back to this year. I thought she belonged earlier, because that was when I knew you were headed here. When we discovered there to already be a Vitalie on this world, we decided to come back later, so as not to disturb the timeline.”

“You could have stopped us from ever—”

Ecrin held up her hand dismissively. “She’s from a different universe, which utilizes a totally independent timestream. Stopping it would have just caused you to end up with yet another Vitalie. Nothing we do here can change what’s happened over there. Now, as I was saying, you drank the water first. Have you ever heard of backwash?”

“Yeah, it’s gross. It was a life or death situation, though. We—”

Ecrin held her hand up again. “It’s not a judgment. What you didn’t realize, though, was that you let a little bit of your memory-erasing power back into the bottles. Then when the others drank the bottles, they got a little bit of its essence. It’s not a power for her, though; more like an affliction. She calls it evanescent amnesia. Rather, that’s what her tattoo calls it.”

Before she was asked, Vitalie revealed her palm, showing that she had the words I have evanescent amnesia tattooed on it.

“So, she’s going to experience that too,” Tertius guessed, indicating Étude.

“I would imagine,” Ecrin said. Then she turned towards Étude. “But you probably won’t notice until a few years after you turn fifty-six, if you’ve not already. People don’t retain memories from that early in life anyway.”

“I’m so sorry,” Tertius said. “I should have been more careful.”

“I should have been careful,” Vitalie argued. “I’m the one what gave you the water, according to some early video footage I found of myself.”

“No, you did great,” Étude assured her. “You were smart to save some of the water back. You and I would be dead, as would Kavita. Is she here too?”

“I only know who that is through my videos,” Vitalie answered. “We must have lost track of each other a long time ago, because I don’t recall meeting anyone by that name.”

Étude approached carefully. “I’m sorry this has happened to you. What’s the point of living forever if you don’t remember it? You’re always going to be fifty-six years old.”

“So will you,” Vitalie reminded her.

“That’s true. I drank the water first, though. Does that mean you also have my powers?”

“My videos called it my apropos,” Vitalie began. “I can summon objects, or I can teleport, but only when absolutely necessary. I can’t just decide I want to go somewhere, and be there. It’s kept me out of jail once or twice, but it’s not a daily convenience.”

There was a pause in the conversation.

“We’re glad to have you back,” Tertius said finally. “That is, if you are back. Is this a pitstop, and you’re intending to return with them, or what?”

“I’ve spent billions of years in that universe, but I only remember half a century. You would think that would be enough to make a place feel home, but not really. I travel around a lot, and probably always have. So this universe, that universe; is there much of a difference? I’m fine staying here I guess.”

“That would be lovely,” Étude remarked with a smile.

A man suddenly teleported into the room. “Did you ask them?” he demanded to know from Ecrin.

“Go back to the Prototype, Vito.”

“Did you ask them,” he repeated, more earnestly.

“They can’t help you,” Ecrin warned. “No one can.”

The hatch reopened. “Captain, I asked him not to do this.”

“It’s all right, Burton. No one blames you.” Ecrin directed her attention back to Vito. “I don’t blame you for what you’re feeling either. You are in an impossible position. I know what you’re going through. Arcadia and I were born this way, you were made under unique circumstances, these three drank some water.”

“Yeah, and one of those ways is reproducible,” Vito argued.

“Are you here looking for immortality water?” Étude asked.

“Do you have any left? Vitalie’s videos didn’t have any details.”

Ecrin sighed. “We’re here to return your friend. He’s hoping to...”

“Not lose the love of my life,” Vito finished.

“We are protecting him,” Ecrin reminded Vito.

“You can’t protect him from time.” Vito was getting more upset. “I have been searching for this since I met him, and you have been zero help. Now we finally have a lead, and you’re doing everything you can to stop it.”

“I’m not getting in your way,” Ecrin reasoned. “We’ve not been helping you, because that’s not the purpose of this crew. We exist to fight the Maramon. That’s it.”

“Burton has done more for this cause than you ever will!” Vito screamed. “He’s a fragile human, and he’s been fighting them in his home universe longer than we’ve been on mission. He deserves this.”

“No one is arguing against that.”

“And I’m not that fragile.” Ironically, Burton was struggling to get through the hole, and into the room. Tertius helped him down too.

“Class,” Ecrin started, “this is Vito Bulgari, my Number Two. This is his love interest, Burton Jameson.”

Burton started shaking people’s hands. “Hi, I’m not really part of the crew. I’m more of a refugee passenger.”

“You don’t have to tell people that,” Vito complained.

An evil person named Ulinthra stuck her head through the hatchway now. “Where da party at?”

“Shut up,” Ecrin and Vito said simultaneously.

“Hi, Ulinthra,” Burton chirped instead, apparently having less animosity towards her. He’ll get over that eventually.

“Hi there,” she replied, almost sincerely.

“Close the hatch,” Ecrin ordered her. “Vito, teleport Burton back to the Prototype, and stay there. I’m going to make sure Miss Crawville has everything she needs. Then we’re leaving.”

Vitalie needed nothing. All she ever kept with her was her little satchel, and the clothes on her back. This was the time traveler’s kit of essentials, and evidently a convention that never went out of style, even after four and a half billion years. All she needed to do was go back up to the ship, and say her goodbyes. It didn’t sound like she had spent too terribly much time there, but it must have been short enough to retain complete memories of them, and long enough to form real connections. After she was safely back in the tower, the Prototype disappeared, leaving them once more with the open air.

Right at the last second, though, Vito teleported back down to them with Burton. “You guys are gonna help us find what we’re looking for,” he said menacingly.

“Don’t be like that,” Burton commanded.

“I’m just trying to save your life.”

The Prototype reappeared above them, and the hatch reopened. A woman Étude didn’t recognize jumped through.

“Arcadia,” Vito lamented. “I thought you were covering for us.”

“I covered for you for two weeks,” she claimed. “The Captain was bound to realize you were missing eventually.” She pointed upwards. “You do realize that thing is a time machine, right? Anyway, she’s ordered me to bring you back, and if I don’t, she’s gonna follow through on her threat to abandon me in a dead universe. I know what it’s like to love someone so much, it makes you crazy. You’re the one who saved me from killing him, but right now, I’m going to do what I’ve been asked by any means necessary, ya dig? I suggest you jump yourself right back up there before I show you what I have in mind. Burton doesn’t age while he’s in the bulkverse. We’ll figure it out. You might even want to consider option two.”

Vito reluctantly teleported himself and Burton away.

“What’s option two?” Étude asked. It didn’t sound good.

“Option two is him shedding his own immortality so he and Burton can grow old together,” Arcadia responded. “Have you been to sleep since you drank the water?”

“No,” Étude answered. “Why?”

She nodded. “I have a little bit of experience screwing with people’s memories. The timer begins the next time you wake up. I can almost guarantee that that’s how this works.” She nodded once towards Tertius. “Maybe he can help you get your memories back. Maybe he can help you too, Vitalie.” She waited a beat. “Maybe he can’t.”

“Thank you, Miss Preston,” Vitalie said to her honestly.

Arcadia didn’t seem like the horrible ghoul Étude remembered her mother telling her about when she was a child.

When Étude woke up the next morning, she couldn’t remember a single thing that had happened to her before the age of nine.

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Microstory 1115: Aquila Bellamy

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Most choosing ones are born of two parents without time powers. There appears to be some possible genetic/hereditary component, but this proves that it is not required. A chooser is a person with an innate connection to the fabric of reality, in some way. Their brains are wired just so, and that has more to do with (very) early development than it does conception. Samson Bellamy and Lauren Gardner were not choosers. They were salmon, which meant a hidden group of people called the powers that be were controlling them. Since this control was virtually inescapable, they only procreated because they were allowed to. It would appear that two salmon always produce a child who will turn out to be a choosing one. They are not necessarily any different than any other chooser; nor more powerful, nor rarer on their own. They are, however, treated much differently. They will be removed from their parents’ care at the age of three, and raised by another. This is the only time the powers that be will directly interfere with a choosing one’s affairs. Aquila Bellamy was this kind of choosing one. She was adopted by a couple who had no idea who she was. They weren’t even given her real name, and decided to call her Frida. She spent most of her life oblivious to her origins, and in fact, died before ever discovering what her powers were. When she was in her thirties, she came across a compass she would later be told was the Compass of Disturbance. She followed its needle all the way to the woods in the middle of nowhere, where two strangers were fighting over what she thought to be a simple tool. But it was not simple at all. The Artist’s chisel was capable of altering people on a temporal level, even going so far as to imbue them with powers they did not have before. An accident caused Frida to be struck by this tool, and she suffered for near-eternity because of it. She started jumping aimlessly throughout time and space, never staying in one spot for long enough to utter but one thought to anyone who happened to be close enough to hear it. She saw her family and friends at different points in their lives, and in different realities. She gained huge perspective, but could not help, but in a very limited capacity. Finally, the man responsible for her affliction was killed, and she was able to transfer that affliction to the body he had been occupying. This immediately killed her, but at least she was free from the endless torture.

Microstory 1114: Willoughby Franklin

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Willoughby Franklin was one of the most intelligent people of his day. His parents sent him off to higher education, hoping he would one day run their company, or at the very least, start one of his own. Instead, he chose a life of service. He was a member of ROTC while he was earning his bachelor’s degree from St. Louis University, as a civil engineering major. He then joined the United States Army, and ultimately the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. When he was well into his career, a stranger approached him with a video file. The film was a collection of footage, showing Willoughby recovering from a severe gunshot wound to the head. It also showed him undergoing multiple surgeries, working through physical therapy, and coping with his new life. To the best of his recollection, Willoughby had never experienced any of this. His brain, and his intellect, were entirely intact. Unless he was going through life with both no memory, and no grasp on reality, this had never happened. The stranger gave him an address, and a time to be there, then quite literally disappeared around the corner before Willoughby could press him for more details. Who was this man in the video? Was it a twin he never knew about? A clone? What? He decided to show up at the address, not sure what to expect, but too worried about his own sanity to involve anyone else as backup. He found nothing of note in the abandoned house, until the walls of the living room began to transform. The walls gave way to molten video screens. More footage appeared, this time of Willoughby’s life growing up. Some scenes he recognized, but others he did not. Some even looked like they were of him, but much older. It showed people who were actually in his life, and wouldn’t have lied to him about a twin, so that theory didn’t hold up. Perhaps his entire family had been cloned too, along with a few neighborhood friends. Yet someone would have also had to build exact replicas of the two houses he lived in as a child, and that felt quite unlikely. No, this seemed to just be him, except he didn’t remember all these home movies. Finally, the montage was over, and the stranger walked in from the other door. He ceremoniously held up a small device that resembled a USB stick. “My surrogate father wore this after he was discharged for medical reasons,” the stranger said. “He suffered so much brain trauma that he couldn’t remember much of his life...or me, so he needed it as reminder. I recovered it from his body after he was finally killed, and sent it with an enemy of his killer, who I knew would be slipping into a divergent timeline. He then sought out the alternate version of me, and helped me get my memories back. I remember who I was when you were my father, and I remember this timeline now.” When Willoughby—who, of course, wasn’t wholly sold on the idea that there was some other version of him running around a parallel timeline—asked the stranger what he wanted, he smiled. “I want you to help me kill the man who killed you first.”

Microstory 1113: Mirage

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Not all people with time powers were human, but they were all organic. It is something that you must be born with, or somehow be imbued with it later in life. It’s true that some people, such as Holly Blue or Hogarth Pudeyonavic, are capable of inventing technology with temporal properties, but these all must be operated by an organic being. Robots and androids are not capable of having powers, or being given powers. Transhumans may retain their powers to a certain degree, but will lose them upon crossing some upgrade threshold, which has never been quantified. Mirage is an artificial intelligence, created by the not-so-great version of Horace Reaver, in a since collapsed reality. He commissioned a hacker named Micro to program Mirage, then commanded it to kill a man he hated named Mateo Matic. He did not think through every possible outcome, however, and after Mateo succeeded in avoiding Mirage’s one attempt at his life, she was no longer bound to this directive. After a young woman rebuilt and reprogrammed her to be an independent individual, she went in search of Mateo, and ultimately sacrificed herself to save his life. This was the turning point. Theoretically because of the changes this mysterious woman made to her code, Mirage became the one exception to the rule against powered inorganics. She found herself in another dimension, able to bear witness to the world below, but unable to participate. It is from here that she watches time move back and forth. Whenever a traveler goes to the past, and makes a change to the timeline, she becomes aware of it. She sees all changes, but can make none of her own, and cannot communicate with others. No matter how many contradicting timelines are created, she remains completely conscious of all of them, and also completely powerless. After a literally incalculable amount of time spent here, though, Mirage started figuring out that she was not totally powerless in this dimension. She is indeed capable of interacting with those living in the primary dimensions, but in a limited capacity. She can only modify sufficiently advanced technology, but can’t come out and explain herself to people. So she can recruit others to help her fix what she considers to be problems with history, but she has to do it covertly, because if they knew that maybe their actions weren’t wholly self-driven, they might not be so happy about it.

Microstory 1112: Orson Olsen

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Orson Olsen, who was psychologically incapable of recognizing how funny his name sounded, was a member of the Community of Christ, which sprang from the Latter Day Saint movement. He was indoctrinated into his faith from birth in Independence, Missouri, and never thought to question what he had been taught. When he grew older, he started taking on more responsibility in the temple. One day, he was copying some missionary files when a young girl appeared outside the window, literally out of nowhere. He wasn’t certain he could trust what he thought he saw, though, so he watched her as she snuck in, and approached the podium in the sanctuary. She then conjured a bird from the aether, wrapped a message around its leg, then sent it on its way. This was not the first time he saw this girl, or witnessed her miracles, but it provided him with proof and confirmation. She first appeared to him earlier that morning, in his backyard. He had been so mesmerized and shocked by it that, though he did what she asked of him, he didn’t know what to think of it. She appeared to him a third time later that day, and charged him to change everything about his life. She told him that he should stop believing in the prophets, and to worship the only one real higher power in the whole universe, which she claimed to be time itself. It wasn’t as difficult for him to take on this new task as one might assume. He had believed every single thing his family and church taught him, but they had always demanded faith of him. This girl was the only person to ever show him real evidence of an almighty power. She disappeared from this life, but his drive to seek others like her was not lost. It’s not every day you encounter someone with temporal powers, but once you do, and you have some idea what to look for, it’s a lot easier to spot a second time. He remained in the church for the next few months, but all the while searching the metropolitan area for anyone who exhibited the same kind of abilities as that first girl. He found it in a man who could transport an object from one hand to the other. If he was willing to suffer through a psychic nosebleed, he could send something a meter or two farther, but that was his absolute limit. It wasn’t a very useful ability—but not all of them are. He incorporated it into his magic show, to make a little money on the side, but he was at little risk of becoming famous from it. With this man, Orson had real proof that time really was something to be worshipped. The magician knew of others like him; those with more powerful abilities, and Orson realized this was just the beginning. It would be pointless if this new church consisted only of himself, though. Orson was surprised at how easy it was for him to recruit others. He was smart enough to start with the people he knew were already doubting their faith. Once their numbers were high enough, they started thinking outside the original church. At that point, the new movement was unstoppable, and it was destined to cause more than a few problems for people with time powers.

Microstory 1111: Kolby Morse

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There are lots of different kinds of protectors. Law enforcement officers, military servicepeople, and emergency dispatchers are often drawn to their professions out of their desire to protect others. Kolby Morse was a lifeguard at a swimming pool when he was a kid, and as he was becoming an adult, determined that becoming a security guard was a logical next step. It wasn’t particularly glamorous, and much of the time boring, but he felt a sense of self-worth every time he put on that uniform. It was at his first job where he met his best friend and working partner. Elder Caverness was also born with an instinct to protect others, and shared many of Kolby’s values. They began to follow each other around the security circuit, so they would always be able to work together. At some point, they found themselves working for an organization they couldn’t personally believe in. They had developed a faulty product that resulted in deaths, but refused to take responsibility for it. Kolby and Elder were about to simply quit when they started noticing some strange goings on. The vice presidents all appeared to possess special abilities that couldn’t be explained through a conventional understanding of reality. One day, they simply disappeared, and no one else around them seemed to realize they ever existed. But then these VPs reappeared, with different histories, and having created separate companies. Fortunately, they all fell into the same parent company called Snowglobe Collective, which had decided to support their subsidiaries with a singular security branch. Kolby wanted to go undercover, and try to figure out what exactly was going on with these people, but Elder convinced him otherwise. One of them should be on the inside, but one should remain outside, to protect the other, should the need arise. A game of chance left Kolby on the outside, and though Elder’s life would now be much harder, at least he had a purpose. But just because he would not be investigating Snowglobe, didn’t mean he couldn’t contribute positively to society. There was still a lot to be done, and now that he knew about people with time powers, he felt like he had to do something with that. After months of searching, he finally managed to catch up to a petty thief who had a time power of his own. He could send people forward or backwards in time, then bring them right back to where they started. He wasn’t using his gifts to break into places. In fact, he wasn’t really using them at all, but Kolby knew he had potential. They started working on forming a team, eventually meeting up with a woman who could possess other people’s bodies, and a time traveling psychiatrist. And so Garen Ashlock begins to propel Quivira Boyce to the past, so she can take over someone’s life temporarily, and fix whatever went wrong in the original history. Dr. Mallory Hammer provides medical and psychological support, while Kolby does everything else. He maintains facilities, and makes sure the people Quivira switches bodies with have everything they need to be comfortable, and feel safe. Most of all, it’s his job to do what he does best. He protects.