Beyond The Impossible

Myridia, 50 light-years from Earth

Under the watchful eyes of Noriko Null, a swarm of silver nanites has just completed assembling a huge tower that stands side by side the statue that is supposed to represent her.

After entering a complex sequence of instructions into its interface, the tower hums: a soft vibration flows through the ground, dispersing into the horizon.

It’s not loud enough to overcome the mass of adoring worshippers that surround the plaza that Noriko has converted into a temporary base of operations.

<There. The Shield Phase Receiver is now operational; Myridia will be out of synch with the rest of the universe for the time being.> Noriko says, deactivating the interface.

<Then we are safe. Your power has once again answered our prayers, Lady Null.> Ganos Lal comments, as the Supreme Pontiff kneels before her goddess.

<Hardly. Amaterasu is providing the energy necessary to keep this up, and while all receivers are in quantum entanglement… it takes a lot of power to keep three whole planets phased out of reality. Even Amaterasu will run out of juice at some point, and from what I’ve seen I can’t exclude that Athena will find a way to bypass this technology.> Noriko admits.

<I assume hoping she’s locked in the Null Zone forever is out of the question?> Kari Zel asks.

<I wish it was that simple, but I wasn’t even sure she couldn’t break free before I could complete the Receiver.>

<But… you are the Slayer of Gods. Surely you can defeat Athena, as you have with more than one Primordial God.> Ganos Lal says, her faith still unwavering.

<Athena may not be the strongest goddess we have faced, but she is by far the one who knows me the best. She is likely to have found a way to counteract anything I’ve used to kill gods before.>

<Even the Eternal Eraser?> Kari asks.

<Possibly. I would have to be close to Athena to launch an attack with any hope of killing her, and she’s never going to give me the occasion unless I prepare the battlefield in ways she could not anticipate.>

<You have all you need to slay your enemies, Lady Null. I am certain of it.> Ganos Lal tells her, but all Noriko can muster is a weak “hmmm”, stroking her chin and staring at the statue of herself.

<Something’s bothering you.> Kari understands.

<Yes. Athena’s strategy makes no sense.> Noriko answers.

<How so?>

<Even if she believed Baal would kill me… which is already a weak assumption… it would have made strategic sense to destroy Earth. But she didn’t.>

<She had that whole trap to fry your brain if you ever came back.> Kari reminds her.

<Yes, and no backup plan in case it failed.>

<Maybe she was too arrogant to believe it would ever fail.> the Myridian shrugs.

<Does that sound like Athena to you?>

<No, it doesn’t. You think she set up some sort of trap on Earth we haven’t discovered yet?>

<It’s a possibility. But if she did, why send Cerberus to eat the Sun instead of activating whatever trap she had ready? There must be something I’m missing.> Noriko insists, biting her lower lip as she stares intensively at the statue.

Kari has seen that look of determination before: Noriko can easily obsess about a particular strategy to the point of ignoring everything else.

<So… not that I mind being back home, but… what’s next?> she says, trying to bring Noriko back to reality from her elucubrations.

<Ganos. I will need a detailed census of the Church of Null currently on the planet. Kari, I’ll need the same from the rest of the planet; I’m sure the local government will appreciate one of your duplicates being the liaison with the Vanguard.>

<All of the faithful will gladly follow you into battle, Lady Null.> Ganos Lal promises.

<I don’t need an army, Ganos, just volunteers. Kari, gather the rest of the Vanguard, you’re going on a special mission.>

<You mean you’re not coming?>

<You guys can handle things on your own. It’s time that I check on my personal trump card for this war.> Noriko replies, activating her Soul Relay to send a message:

<Torn, I need a portal for myself and Enyo. It’s time I go back to the Hatchery.>

 

Olympus, 28.000 light-years from Earth

As the Goddess of Victory, Nike is not accustomed to losing; especially to a mortal.

Even worse, she lost to the same mortal twice: Kari Zel managed to win on a technicality during the Strongest Under The Heavens tournament, but this time Nike has no excuse.

The Myridian unceremoniously trashed her, and even now that she has regrown her severed limb she can still feel the sting of defeat on her feathers.

She is shaken from her painful memories by the bright light heralding the teleportation of Athena.

<Your Majesty. I have news from Myridia.>

<Yes, that is what you are still useful for. Just barely.> Athena belittles her; Nike has rarely seen her in such a bad mood.

<The planet has been phased, like Earth and Boreas. The fleets await your command: Enyo is not responding to the Navy’s hails. Is she…>

<Still alive, for the time being. She has betrayed me: effective immediately, I am assuming direct control of the Empire’s military. The rebellion must not be allowed to reclaim another world: Null and the Vanguard will be executed on sight.>

<As you wish, your Majesty, but… we still have no way to track their movement.>

<We do. Why do you think I allowed Cerberus to be caught in Null’s trap? The infernal hound is now capable of tracking her ship anywhere in the universe.>

 

The Hatchery, 21.000 light-years from Earth

Deep into the Nike sector, there is a slice of space that used to belong to Hephaestus.

It has been largely ignored by other gods: its two stars collapsed into black holes centuries ago, and they have been stuck in an orbit around a common center of mass.

Hephaestus established a research station there, but even the god of technology couldn’t figure out a way to overcome the complex orbital mechanics of the system to establish a secure base.

The station is still there, but plagued by frequent tremors caused by the interacting gravitational waves: it’s only a matter of time before it’s swallowed by one of the two black holes, or more likely torn apart and absorbed by both.

Only a madman would choose this as a hideout, but war makes people desperate.

Noriko Null and a Kari Zel duplicate emerge from an Aether portal, followed by a disoriented Enyo: her divine senses immediately sense the instability of this facility.

<This place. Doomed.> she comments, still having trouble fully healing her vocal cords.

<We will all be if this doesn’t work.> Noriko dismisses her worries, proceeding towards the only part of the station that has been restored.

It’s a large laboratory where remnants of old Hephaestus technology share space with Nullbots and a particularly eccentric ally.

<Null! About time you found the time to get to work!> Roxiana shouts, floating back to the ground.

The dark-skinned Thalassian would have preferred to flood the lab and breathe underwater, but she opted to avoid putting too much stress on the environmental systems.

She simply opted to use an anti-gravity belt to simulate swimming; she grabs Noriko by the arm and drags her towards the centerpiece of the lab.

Located inside a transparent cylinder and linked to various instruments through a plethora of cables, there is an armor.

Clearly intended for a woman Noriko’s size, with several circuits glowing green between armor metallic grey plates. There is somewhat mediaeval in its design, something fit for a knight but intended to look fit for an empress.

<Familiar.> Enyo admits.

<I’ll bet it is. You’re looking at the culmination of millions of years of Nexus hosts inheriting the design notes of their predecessors; we are just the last ones in a long, long line of hosts attempting to actually build a functioning Genesis Armor. You probably saw earlier attempts or other projects derived from them; perhaps even your own armor.> Roxiana suggests.

<Genesis?> Enyo repeats.

<Yes, as she was saying, this thing has been lurking in the subconscious of Nexus hosts for ages. Roxiana tried to build it when she was the host, and I made a few attempts here and there… but there was never the time to actually finish the damn thing. Maybe if I had found the time, Athena wouldn’t have been able to rise to power.> Noriko regrets.

<You built it fast enough. What’s so special about it?> Kari wonders, stepping closer to inspect the armor until Roxiana flies in front of her.

<Don’t touch it! Your mind can’t comprehend how dangerous this technology is!>

<You have no idea how dangerous I am.> Kari pushes back.

<Cool it, Kari, she’s got a point. Building the armor itself isn’t that complicated… well, for me anyway… but powering it is another thing entirely. You see, the Genesis Armor is supposed to make the user as powerful as a god… but there’s a catch.> Noriko explains.

<There is no power source capable of sustaining its demands.> Enyo adds.

<Don’t you guys already have tech capable of creating stars and black holes?> Kari asks.

<For brief periods, yes, but the Genesis Armor would require a sustained power supply of astronomic proportions. Even the Negative Drive that powers all my ships wasn’t enough… but given your excitement, Roxiana, I assume that you’ve proven that my theory works?>

<See by yourself.> the former Nexus host replies, receiving a box from one of the Nullbots: it contains a single white feather.

<Nike?> Enyo asks.

<Yes, this is one of the feathers from the wing that Kari severed. Watch this, and stand back.> Roxiana warns them, taking the feather and carefully placing it inside one of the armor’s gauntlets.

<You’re trusting Roxiana with this?> Kari whispers to Noriko.

<I’ve taken steps to ensure the armor wouldn’t work for anyone except me.> Noriko reassures her.

Roxiana ignores their words, eagerly explaining:

<I’ve worked off the blueprints of the Hephaestus machine that Viper modified to infuse Amaterasu with divine power. Something good might come from your habit of harboring corrupted versions of yourselves!>

<Didn’t we destroy that machine?> Kari wonders.

<I kept the plans in a secure location.> Noriko replies, tapping her own head.

<Null’s breakthrough was integrating that technology with the armor’s power supply. I’m afraid that I, as well as my predecessors, dismissed a source of energy. If what we seek is the power to surpass the gods… we have to take it.> Roxiana explains, activating the armor.

The two circles on the armor’s chest plate glow with a blinding intensity… for a moment.

<Holy s#it. It actually worked!?> Noriko exclaims in disbelief: Kari can’t remember ever seeing her eyes open that widely. Which just confuses her.

<That… that didn’t do anything.> Kari has to point out.

<The Genesis Armor was active for 0.89 seconds. Do you know what that means?> Roxiana asks.

<Nothing?> Enyo replies.

<It’s 0.89 seconds more than all Nexus hosts managed to achieve in the past five billion years, and we did it in weeks.> Roxiana reminds her, still having a hard time herself believing in this success.

<But it’s still nothing, right?> Kari asks.

<It’s a proof of concept. We can power the Genesis Armor: we just need to make some adjustments… and to find more juice.> Noriko explains, approaching the armor and opening its gauntlet. The feather has been completely incinerated.

<This is why I asked you to come here, Enyo. How do you feel about donating some blood?>