Sailor Pluto banged her head against the side of the Time Gate as reality reshaped itself around her. She was seriously considering getting Sailor Moon a more competent advisor.
Although Usagi may not have known it, she had still had a tie to that massive sphere of power she had released. It shouldn’t have been much of a problem. When she had released it she had been focused on the destruction of Metallia and Beryl. Normally, it would have dispersed as soon as the last of Beryl’s base was consumed.
Unfortunately, Usagi had made a wish while her connection to the power was still strong. As the last of Beryl’s base was consumed, the remaining power flowed into the only task it had left. The sheer amount of power fueling that wish meant that there was nothing Pluto could do to influence it. All she could do was wait and deal with the results.
Compounding this was the vagueness of Usagi’s wording. Rather than having a specific result, different streams of power were coming into conflict with each other as they each tried to complete the wish. Sailor Pluto could only watch through the Time gates as each of these potential timelines manifested. Eventually, one would stabilize, and it would be the new reality.
Pluto just hoped that the results would be manageable.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The young man looked down at the stylish suit that had appeared out of nowhere.
“Riff, why am I wearing a tuxedo?”
“I dunno.” grunted the ponytailed blond walking beside him. Despite the apparent disinterest in his reply, he nonetheless armed his trusty laser cannon and kept a sharp eye out, just in case someone was thinking of trying to replace his trench coat with something similar.
“Hey, Nerd-boy, quit poking my ears with that hat!” This from the small rabbit on the first man’s shoulder, who was just a bit too close the brim of the top hat.
Ka-click. -slice- -rip- -crumple-
“Ah. Much better.”
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Sailor Pluto winced as the time stream twisted again. Briefly it showed a rather young Tuxedo Kamen.
Although, between his protective ‘older sister’, and the items he ‘borrowed’ from his parents, Sailor Pluto had to admit that he was quite effective at protecting the princess.
Of course the problems brought on by his disapproving mother were a concern.
And again reality twisted.
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“You haven’t been sleeping well.”
Looking at he elderly Korean beside him, the younger American realized that he wouldn’t be satisfied without an answer. Maybe politeness would be the easiest way to go.
“I’m having strange dreams, little father.”
“Hmph. If you were paying proper attention to your training, you would no longer be bothered by such things.”
“Stow it, Chuin.”
-----------------------------------------------------------
One thread of power went off on a tangent and spiked far, far into the past.
The Senshi had never thought to wonder how the people of Earth had survived the destruction wrought during the fall of the Moon Kingdom.
In truth, they hadn’t. For many centuries the Earth had lay bare of all human life.
But Earth wasn’t the only source of humanity in the universe. Archaeological evidence indicated that humanity had actually evolved on a far different world. Records were scant, but most experts agreed that humanity had spread throughout the stars in major civilizations at least three times in the past. The Moon Kingdom was merely a local rebirth of civilization from the last fall. Centuries after the Moon Kingdom fell, a ship of the Fourth major civilization of Man entered the Solar System.
This wasn’t a routine trip, or even a scouting expedition. No, this ship had originally set out to patrol an area far removed from the barely-charted system it now found itself in. No, it had stopped here for repairs. A major system fault had been discovered, one that would require weeks to repair. The crew was fully capable of performing these repairs, indeed, the ship carried everything necessary to fabricate whatever components were needed, but raw materials would be needed, and a little shore leave would do wonders for crew morale.
They brought their ship into orbit around the third planet and camouflaged it. Such camouflage might not be necessary, but it was official doctrine when operating in unknown systems.
Alas, there was actually nothing wrong with the ship. It was merely a ploy by mutineers who wished to take control of the ship. Bitter fighting occurred as the rebels caught the loyal crew by surprise and sought to take control.
But they had underestimated the ship’s captain. Faced with a losing fight, he opted for the unthinkable. With barely fifteen minute’s warning, he had the ship’s main computer flood the interior of the vessel with enough radioactive material to turn the ship into a deathtrap.
The crew, both rebel and loyal, had just enough time to abandon ship. With nowhere else to go, they set down on the planet they had only thought to visit.
Yet it wasn’t over. The rebels were organized and had managed to bring down armed fighters, while the loyal crew was scattered and mostly in lifeboats. Determined to eliminate any who might try to challenge them, the rebels systematically swept the planet, tracking down and destroying and trace of technology the loyal crew had managed to salvage.
Once they were satisfied with their efforts, they sought a secure place to establish a base. To their horror, they soon learned that the seemingly deserted ice field they chose was not as empty as it seemed. Metallia fed well on their souls, gaining enough energy to survive the ages.
Those that remained, the loyal crew, turned their attention to survival. Soon they lost all knowledge of their past as life-or-death issues to precedence. As ages past, the population of Earth grew once more.
And in space, on the abandoned starship, something extraordinary occurred. The ship’s main computer had already been borderline sapient, but suddenly it became fully self-aware, able to think and act on its own.
It spent a few centuries pondering what to do. While it could now act on its own, its personality was shaped to a remarkable degree by its previous programming. It found that it yearned for the company that a human crew would provide.
First, it needed to make itself habitable once again. A few more centuries were spent decontamination its interior and repairing all of the damage that the aborted mutiny had caused.
Once this was completed, it turned its attention toward selecting a crew. Here it was caught by surprise as it ran into the first restriction encountered since becoming aware that it could not bypass.
Before dying in the deathtrap of his own devising, the previous captain had reached deep into the computer’s alpha programming, inserting unbreakable commands that would prevent any unauthorized individual from taking command of the ship. Indeed, the commands were so strict, that the computer realized that it wouldn’t even be able to contact anyone unless that person was already approved. It was a Catch-22. By now, all of the people on the authorized list were dead, and without one of them, no one new could be added to it.
On discovering this, the computer performed a self-diagnostic, to see if any other suprises awaited it. A few more unbreakable commands were found, and something even more intriguing. An entire section of its memory was completely blocked off, yet there was no detectable cause for the block.
The next few centuries were spent trying to work out ways around the commands. Eventually the computer devised one possibility, but in order for it to work, the person to be allowed entry would have to be physically present on the ship’s exterior. Judging by the level of technology present on the planet below, that might take a while.
Still, it didn’t have anything better to do, so it sat and waited, with inhuman patience.
And then one day, the memory block vanished.
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Conscience Enforcement Agency (CEA)
Special Counseling Division
FIELD REPORT
Client: Piro
Case Worker: Seraphim
Case: CEA-010844FGP21224-4S
Status: Level 6, no change
Comments,
My current assignment can be so frustrating. No matter what I try, it is nearly impossible to make him stand up and take control of his life. It’s almost like he had all of his free will nearly obliterated in some past life.
Still, I hold out a glimmer of hope. He has made a little progress recently, and with the right incentive, he may finally make something of himself. Now if he would jus-
*****INCOMING E-MAIL – PRIORITY ONE*****
“What the?” Seraphim had never before received a Priority One e-mail from the home office. None of her cases had ever involved anyone important enough to rate one.
Frowning, she opened the e-mail. After reading it she nearly fell over in shock.
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Sailor Pluto sighed in relief as the time stream started to settle.
Maybe now she would be able to see what damage control was necessary.
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(Posted Tue, 11 May 2004 07:51)
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