Fractal
A Whateley Academy Fanfic
By Quadhouse

Author’s Note: All characters within, except Fractal, her alternates, and her family, are property of Whateley Academy universe and the various authors who write there. You can read these stories, and various fanfics, at the following sites: http://www.crystalhall.org/, http://www.sapphireplace.com/, and http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/node

Prologue

Fractal woke as something shook her. For a moment she stared up at the man shaking her. Then she recognized him. “Hello Greasy,” she said. “I guess it’s time to get up?”

Greasy sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said as he backed away.

Puzzled, Fractal looked around. She was still in the same cubicle she had went to sleep in. She could see the light from the setting sun shining in. At first, she didn’t know what he was talking about, then she realized the sun shouldn’t be setting. “Greasy,” she roared. “You let me sleep to long!”

“It doesn’t matter, Fractal,” Greasy said.

“It doesn’t matter!? What do you mean it doesn’t matter? Without me, how will you guys escape?”

“There’s no place to escape to,” Greasy said. “Four hours ago, we received the last transmission from base Alpha.”

“Wha-what happened,” Fractal asked.

“Peeper can answer that better than I can.”

“Where is he?”

“In the command center,” Greasy replied. “He’s the one who told me to let you sleep.”

Fractal didn’t answer. She just brushed by him as she left the cubicle. She immediately turned toward the command center only to find her face buried in somebody’s cleavage. Startled, she looked up into eyes that shifted in a fractal pattern. She sighed. She knew those eyes. She saw them every time she looked into a mirror.

“Hello, Fractal,” her near duplicate answered. “I see you’ve finally woken up.”

Fractal growled and Butte chuckled.

“Hopefully Greasy has told you what happened,” Butte continued. Fractal nodded. “Good. Then you know there was nothing you cold do.”

Fractal sighed. She didn’t want to admit it, but Butte was correct. There was nothing she could have done. Her power was the ability to open portals. But only to places she had been or could picture clearly in her mind. It was a shock when her first near clone came through one of her portals though. “If only the Great War hadn’t happened,” she said.

“But it did,” Butte said. “And we have to deal with the results.”

“Terrible, results,” Fractal said. “Sometime, I wish I could go back in time and kill those idiots before they set the world on the pat of destruction.”

The Great War had started fifteen years ago. It began with an all out attack on Whateley Academy by on of the more militant branches of the Humanity First movement. They had kept and educated two devisors and four gadgeters when their mutations started. Luckily for the mutants, their mutations didn’t alter their bodies as they would have been killed instead. Nobody knows how many children Humanity First had killed when they mutated. The mutants then constructed several types of combat armor which the fanatics then used to attack Whateley. Whateley, of course, fought back.

Virtually all the faculty and approximately one fourth of the students fought the invaders. It was only when the other students realized that the fanatics were targeting all mutants that they joined the battle. It quickly ended after that as the mutants were fighting for their very lives and didn’t hold back. It wasn’t until the next morning that they discovered the rest of the world’s mutant population was under attack.

In those first two years of the war, people and nations quickly took sides. A few tried to remain neutral, but fanatics on both sides refused to let this happen. The calmer heads were ignored in favor of mindless violence. The few places that tried to hold onto peace were quickly destroyed. Usually in more spectacular ways than those that fought back.

As the war raged, both sides used larger and more powerful weapons. Soon, areas began to appear where life could not sustain itself or, was twisted beyond imagining. No one seemed to care that the very planet they lived on was being destroyed. But, in the tent year of the war, everything changed.

Kellith woke in all of her terrible glory.

At first, the mutants cheered her awaking. But it soon became obvious that the demon princess cared only for the complete domination of the entire planet. The remnants of humanity joined together to fight off this larger threat. But it was too little too late.

The battered defenders couldn’t stand up to Kellith or her hell-spawned children. One by one, the bases of both mutants and humans alike fell. In desperation, the survivors banned together. Pooling their knowledge, weapons, and tactics, they managed to slow Kellith’s progression. But not stop it.

Eighteen months after Kellith’s awakening, a plan was created to kill or, at least, banish her. Blade Dancer with Destiny’s Wave would attack Kellith’s base and kill the demon. Supporting her would be the Eight Immortals, Chaka, and Lancer. They left from the nearest base a dawn. It was the last time there were seen.

From reports of the captured humans who had escaped during the battle, the group had arrived at the building three weeks after leaving the base. The witnesses couldn’t be sure, but it appeared that one of the group had been injured. The group entered the base with no problems. Two hours later, the building exploded. It is believed that the group had died in the explosion.

Everybody believed that the blast had killed Kellith. Weeks went by without any sighting of the demon princess. Only her worshippers and devotees were seen. It wasn’t until Fey pointed out that the devotees would have died if Kellith Nobody wanted to believe her, but those in command thought it prudent to start preparations for Kellith’s unwanted return.

There preparations were not enough.

Two months later, Kellith returned. Her first act was the re-secure her hold on the lands she had previously conquered. That took her all of two months. Then she turned her sights on the last few unconquered lands. Mostly North and Central America. Though, there were some parts of China, Africa, and Europe she still didn’t possess.

After crushing all resistance outside of North America, Kellith started on Fey. In the few years since Kellith’s first appearance, Fey had brought all of what was Canada and Alaska under her control. She hadn’t been idle while Kellith marched on the world. She had plenty of defenses in place and waiting. They proved to be more than a match for the any of the forces Kellith sent against her.

After her forces had failed to even gain a foothold in Fey’s empire, Kellith decided to lead them personally. She led them straight toward Fey’s home base. Ignoring all that wasn’t in her way. When Kellith finally reached her goal, she found that Fey had even planned on this and had acted accordingly.

Fey knew that Kellith would eventually reach her. She also knew she couldn’t stand against the lust demon alone. Beside her, stood her lover, Bunny, who would never willingly leave her, and her last surviving teammate, Tennyo. Together, they hoped to end the menace of Kellith.

However, Tennyo was there for revenge. In a raid, Kellith had captured Jade, another teammate, and turned her into a brood mother. It was Tennyo who found her three months after her capture. During that time, Jade had given birth to three of Kellith’s spawn and was pregnant with a fourth. The pregnancies had driven the woman mad. Tennyo had no choice but to kill the gentlest person, and best friend, she had ever known.

Fractal didn’t know the details of the battle, only the results. When the battle of over, Fey and Tennyo were dead. The area within a five mile radius was scrubbed down to the bedrock. The only reason Bunny survived was because of Fey. She had sent her lover to the only place she would be safe enough to heal and build what, she hoped, would be the weapon to finally end Kellith.

This time Kellith was down for almost two years. The last free forces on earth took the time to consolidate their forces. They chose Whateley Academy as their final stand. It was the most secure and best defended base they had left. It didn’t hurt that all the devisor and gadgeters had left designs, if not working copies, of their most destructive weapons there.

Bunny didn’t waste time either. As soon as she could, she designed and built cybernetic replacements for her missing and damaged body parts. She also built a mech suit she could, with the help of her cybernetics, merge with. The mech suit was needed to carry and power the beam weapon she believed with end Kellith. That or destroy the planet, if not the universe. At this point, Fractal didn’t believe that Bunny cared.

Bunny was outside, with what force they had remaining, waiting for her shot at Kellith. Fractal did know that Bunny’s gun was based on one of Tennyo’s attacks. Something that made people very nervous whenever it was brought up. It was also something that made people very glad she was there. And that made Fractal nervous.

Fractal stopped thinking about the past when she arrived at the command center. She took a deep breath and raised her hand to open the door. She froze. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make her hand touch the door. She just couldn’t do it. She knew why she didn’t want to. If she went into the room, she would be admitting that all was lost. Nobody knew what would happen when Bunny fired her gun. But they all agreed that Whateley wouldn’t be here any longer.

Fractal felt warm, strong arms surround her. She looked up into the knowing gaze of her Amazonian self.

“Don’t worry,” Butte said. “I know you can do it. You brought me and three other versions of yourself into this universe. You’ve had to search through an infinite number of universes to do that. How hard can it be for you to open a path for you to travel to another universe?”

Fractal lowered her eyes. “But I’ll be leaving all my friends here to die.”

The arms tightened. “They want you to leave. They want to you live so that somebody will remember them. And, if the universe you choose has a Kellith in it, you may prevent this from happening to their alternates. Isn’t that a good thing?”

“I guess so,” mumbled Fractal. “But it still feels wrong. Like I’m running away.”

Butte studied what some would call her creator, for a moment. “I know what it is,” she said. “You just wanted to tell Greasy that you loved him.”

Fractal’s face turned red and the pattern in her eyes sped up. “N-n-no, that’s not it.”

“Yes, it is. You probably wanted him to take your virginity.”

Fractal’s face was flaming. She couldn’t believe her double was saying this. Sure, Greasy was an attractive man. But there were others who were just as attractive if not more so. But, there was something about him that just attracted her. Even if he was seventeen years older than her.

She opened her mouth only to have Butte place her finger on her lips. “Don’t say anything,” she said. “You know we have similar minds.”

Slowly Fractal nodded. “That may be true, but I’d never say that.”

“That’s why you have me. And don’t forget the others.”

“Wha, how,” sputtered Fractal.

“Don’t worry,” Butte said. “We can’t talk to each other unless you bring all of us here. I just know you. And, if I do, so do the others.” She nodded toward the door. “Let’s go in. You need to say goodbye. You might not have time later.”

The two girls entered the room. It was a large, circular room with monitor stations scattered around it. In the center was a pit. It had a large table with a hologram of the base and surrounding area over it. Neither had to study the image long to see that they were in trouble.

The air in the room was thick with fear and anxiety. All who wasn’t out preparing for the upcoming battle were here, peering into the monitors for the first glimpse of the enemy. Nobody believed they could defeat Kellith. The best they were hoping for was to give Kellith a pyrrhic victory. Mostly, they were hoping to take the demon princess with them. Despite all the time she escaped death before.

The pair descended toward the pit. Fractal was silent. While she wanted to say her goodbyes, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. These were the people she had spent the last twenty months of her life with. They had become her family after her original family died protecting her. She put those thoughts out of her head and approached the one man who didn’t seem worried. He was a tall, heavy set man. His loose clothing did nothing to hide his build or the cybernetic replacement he had for his left arm. He was rubbing his left shoulder as they approached.

“Hello, Peeper,” Fractal said.

Peeper turned and gave Fractal a long, slow look. Usually she slapped the older man or had Butte punch him. This time, she didn’t do anything. This was probably the last time she would see him. Or anybody else from here. She could let him look to his heart’s content.

He gave her a sad smile. “Now I know the world’s going to end,” he said. “Neither you nor Butte hit me.”

Fractal’s eyes started to water. “I could hit, you one last time, if you want,” she whispered.

“That’s alright,” he chuckled. He turned to look at the table. “Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Good.” Fractal started to wipe her eyes and Peeper gave Butte a carrying case. “Maybe you should find Greasy and tell him goodbye.”

Fractal gasped as Peeper and Butte chuckled.

“They don’t call me peeper for nothing,” he said. “Seriously, the whole base knew. I thing the only one who didn’t know was Greasy. But then, he was always like that. Sometimes, I think he’d have been better off if we hadn’t met.” He sighed. “I will never know, but you might. Now get going.”

Silently, Fractal and Butte walked out of the room. “You know, Butte said. “For a pervert, he’s not so bad.”

Fractal opened her mouth only to snap it shut as an explosion rocked the base. She would have fallen if Butte hadn’t held her up.

“It’s time,” Butte said. She handed Fractal the carrying case. “This holds all the information we have on Kellith. Her birth, rise to power, and, hopefully, what is needed to destroy her. As soon as you can, you need to contact that universe’s version of Whateley. Hopefully, their Kellith hasn’t awaken yet.”

The two stared at each other as numerous explosions rocked the base.

“Will you just go already,” Butte finally said. “We don’t have time for dramatic scenes. Just remember to call me back when you can. Or I’ll tell Greasy you have a crush on him.” With that, Butte entered the command center.

Once the door closed, Fractal calmed and centered herself. She had already decided what she would look for in the new universe. She wanted a universe that Greasy was young enough for her to date, Team Kimba was whole and healthy, and most importantly, Kellith wasn’t awake. Maybe, with this information, she could prevent her form ever awakening.

Slowly, in front of Fractal, an oval appeared. It shimmered with the colors of the rainbow before fractal patterns appeared on its surface. The oval started to flicker and Fractal frowned with concentration. The flickering sped up as sweat started to bead on her face. Finally, the flickering stopped and Fractal opened her eyes. Slowly, she took one last look around. As much as she hated this world, it was her home. She would miss it. But her friends and loved ones were counting on her. This world was all but dead. Through her, they would live on.

Suddenly, space rippled around her. Instantly, she knew Bunny had just fired her gun. And it was doing what most people feared. It was ripping the universe to shreds. Desperately, Fractal threw herself through her portal. Closing it behind and saying goodbye to the only world she knew.Chapter 1

The passage had been rougher than she had expected. There were things obstructing her. She didn’t know what they were. She couldn’t even see them. All she knew was that every time she touched one, it hurt. Breaking one brought mind numbing pain. It may have been disruption from her dying universe. Or it may be because she was traveling between universes. Something she had never done before.

Whatever the reason, she had to get through. For her, there was no turning back. She felt her world, her entire universe, die before she closed the portal. Even if she could have gone back, she wouldn’t. It was obvious the Kellith would have won. The few who could have stopped her were either killed in the war with Humanity First, or kill by assassins early in the war with Kellith herself.

After a few minutes, Fractal began to worry. This was taking entirely too long. The few times she used her gates to travel were instant. Then there was the obstacles. She had expected trouble, but not these and definitely not the pain. She started to wonder if she would die here.

Just as she was starting to lose control of her fear, Fractal saw the end of the passage. With a sobbing gasp of relief, she strained to reach it. For a moment, it seemed she couldn’t reach it. With a faint pop, she was suddenly through. And falling.

Fractal hit the floor with a bone crunching thud. She lay there for a moment, happy to feel the normal pain of bruises yet to be. After a moment, she became aware of two things. One, was the sickening, but sadly familiar smell of burnt flesh. The other was frantic screaming. She struggled to face the screamer and received the shock of her life. Her parents, standing with a boy and a girl, were staring at her.

“Mom,” she incredulously said. “Daddy? But, you’re dead.” She passed out.

******

Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Molesly didn’t expect this. Sure, they had mutants in their families, Jonathan had a cousin, and Carolyn had a nice, but they had been told that the traits were too weak to manifest in any children they had. So, When they were told their youngest child, Michael, was a mutant, they were stunned.

Once they got over their shock, they were relieved. Michael was the youngest of three and had no discernable talents or skills. He wasn’t the stare athlete like his older brother, Steven. And Samantha seemed to have inherited the brains, excelling in any subject she tried.

With two such overachievers for siblings, they feared for Michael’s self esteem. But, with his mutation, they felt he would find something to set himself apart. They were right. But not in the way they were expecting. Their youngest son was turning into their youngest daughter.

This was a shock to Jonathan and Carolyn, but they put the best face on it they could. They and Samantha kept Steven from teasing Michael about his unwanted change in gender. Samantha started giving her new sister advice about clothes and make-up. Even though she resisted with all her might.

A few minutes ago, Jonathan and Carolyn woke to a terrifying scream. They quickly jumped out of bed to find Steven and Samantha already in the hall. Together they ran to Michael, now Melissa’s, room only to fine horror. Her body was wrapped in flame. Her flesh was literally burning up. She was in the middle of catastrophic burnout. And there was nothing they could do.

As she burned, Melissa looked up at her family and smiled. “Don’t worry,“ she said. “It will all work out.” The family watched as the youngest died.

Steven, who had ran downstairs to get the kitchen fire extinguisher, returned to put out Melissa’s remains and her bed. He had just finished when Fractal dropped from nowhere to hit the floor. The four of them stared in shock as the young girl on the floor. Suddenly Carolyn started screaming hysterically. The girl looked exactly like the girl their daughter was becoming.

Groggily, the intruder turned to face them. Mom, Daddy,” she incredulously said. “But, you’re dead.” She passed out. Quickly follow by Carolyn

******

She was back. Both her alternate and her father thought they had destroyed her. But that will never happen. Not as long as the other kept her human emotions. But that’s what happens when a god is raised among mortals. Now, all she had to do was get her body back.

She had been trapped in the void between realities. Unable to find a way out as her alternates died, one by one. No matter what she tried, she couldn’t keep her other self from destroying her alternates. But this time, it would be different. Now she had to element of surprise.

She looked down on the scene below. The one who had made this possible was laying unconscious, on the floor. Her family from this universe were standing around her. As much as she would like to properly thank this Fractal, she couldn’t. She wasn’t strong enough to take the entire family. All it would take would be for one to survive long enough to alert the wrong people. She couldn’t let that happen. Besides, she could always return later to thank her.

She crawled along the ceiling, searching for the direction of her body. She paused as she found something she wasn’t expecting. A thing she would have never expected her alternate would allowed. Her body had spawned! A fine healthy male. This could be interesting. She smiled to herself.

“Prepare, Sara,” she whispered. “For Kellith has returned.”

******

Fractal woke to a strange environment. She kept her eyes closed and tried to keep her breathing slow and even. She could tell that she was clean, something she hadn’t experienced in too long. She was also lying in a soft, comfortable bed with fluffy warm covers pulled over her. She could hear faint voices from outside the room.

Cautiously, she opened on eye. A wall stared back. Trying to make it seem natural, Fractal turned to look around the room. It was definitely a girl’s room. The room was pink. The walls, carpet, furniture, everything was pink. The only things not pink were the few posters of, what Fractal assumed, popular boy bands. “Some them were cute.

Fractal blinked. What was she thinking? She had a mission to accomplish. But first things first. Namely, to find a bathroom.

She threw the covers off her and blushed. She was wearing a nightgown. “That meant somebody had to have undressed, bathed, and dressed her. She really hoped it had been a woman. /She looked around for her clothes, but couldn’t see them. That didn’t surprise her. They, and her, had been rather dirty. Bathing and washing clothes had been low on her list of priorities.

Fractal went to the door and pressed her ear against it. She could still hear the voiced, but they didn’t sound close. She eased the door open and peeked out. She couldn’t see anybody standing in the hall. She quickly and quietly walked to the nearest door. It was a storage closet. The next door was a bedroom. The third room was the bathroom. She quickly did her business and flushed.

For one horrified moment, she froze. She couldn’t believe she had just did that. She was supposed to be quietly leaving. She hurried back to the room she had woken in. She remembered seeing a window there. Maybe she could get out before someone found her.

She entered the room and stopped cold. The girl she had seen earlier was standing there. She looked like she had been waiting for her.

“Hello,” she hesitantly said. “You’re Melissa, right? I’m Samantha.”

“H-how do you know my name?”

“You look just like her, you know,” Samantha said. “The girl my brother was turning into.”

Fractal didn’t know what to say. She knew alternate version of her existed in the other universes. She had met four of them. She knew that a version of her could have existed in this universe. She just never expected to run into her alternate’s family.

When Fractal didn’t say anything, Samantha continued. “It would have been nice, having a younger sister. Even if it meant changing my younger brother. Not that I wanted that. It just would have been nice, is all.”

Fractal studied the girl as she talked;. She looked to be about four inching taller than her, making her about 5’7.” Samantha’s hair was a little darker than her own and a lot longer. Reaching down to her waist. Samantha’s figure was a little better than Fractal’s. She bit her lip at the thought. Even though she had been a girl for a little over a year, she still wasn’t used to having these thoughts.

Samantha’s eyes stared to water. “I love my bother. And I would have loved the sister he was becoming. But she died. Before I could really get to know her. All the experts say it was burnout. That somehow her power went out of control and burnt her up. I don’t believe that. Especially since she told us it would be all right. Michael had never lied to me, and I don’t think Melissa would have either. So why did she say that?”

“And then, you appeared. Before her body had even stopped smoking, you dropped out of nowhere. Looking exactly like Melissa. You even have the same name a Melissa had chosen to call herself.”

“But you’re not my sister. You look like her, and you sound like her. Hell, you even have the same name as her. But, you’ll never be her. I don’t know if I can forgive you for that.”

“I’m sorry,” whispered Fractal. “I didn’t know where the portal would drop me. I didn’t even know if I could have came here. I just had to get away. If you’ll tell me where my clothes are, I’ll leave.”

Samantha wiped her tears away. “I’m sorry. But we can’t let you go. According to the papers in that case you had, you’re here to warn Whateley abut something, or somebody named Kellith.”

“You looked in that?”

“Of course,” came the almost calm reply. “We had to know who you were. It’s not every day that somebody drops out of nowhere. And we do know about mutants. You could have been a known mutant teleporting blind.”

Fractal could only stare at her.

“You need to get dressed,” Samantha said. “We want to ask you some questions before the people from Whateley get here. Mom shouldn’t faint now. She’s had four days to get used to you.”

“Four days,” gasped Fractal. “I’ve been asleep for four days?”

“You weren’t in very good condition when you arrived.” Samantha shrugged. “Your body was striped with burns. We were worried, at first. But, then you stated to heal. So we knew you’d be alright. Now, get dressed. I have some clothes you can borrow.”

“I, uh, I don’t need any clothes,” Fractal said. She studied the young woman who could have been her sister. “I sorta’ brought my own.”

Samantha stared at her. “We looked through that case you had. It didn’t have room for clothes.”

Fractal blushed and lowered her head. “It doesn’t need room,” she mumbled.

“How’d you do that,” Samantha asked. Dropping the clothes issue, for the moment.

“Do what,” the young mutant asked as she jerked her head up.

“Make your eyes do that. The colors are moving faster.”

Fractal’s blushed deepened as the patterns in her eyes sped up. “It’s something that happens,” she said. “I don’t really control it.”

“Oh.” Samantha was quiet for a moment. She was thinking of her sister. Her eyes had been changing colors recently. Not like Fractal’s. Melissa’s eyes were one, solid color at a time. “About your clothes,” she said. “You said you didn’t need any. Where are they?”

Fractal warily studied the older girl. “You promise you won’t get mad,” she asked.

“What would I get mad about?”

“Just promise me. Too many women have gotten mad at me about this.”

“I promise,” Samantha said after a moment.

Fractal slowly raised her hand. It was unnecessary, but it helped to let others know she was opening a portal. Before her, a large oval appeared in front of her. The colors of a rainbow shimmered through it before settling down into a fractal pattern. She glanced at Samantha then put her hand in the oval. She could feel her clothes on the other side of the portal. She felt through them to find a clean set. Once she had one, she pulled it out, let the portal close, and turned to face Samantha.

Samantha was staring at the clothes Fractal had just pulled out of that glowing hole in space. She couldn’t believe it, but she watched it happen. When the oval first appeared was a surprise. But the bigger surprise was when Fractal put her hand in it and pulled out a pair of dark brown leather pants, a tan linen shirt, and a denim jacket. Not the best fashion, but that wasn’t important. “Fractal,” she calmly said. “Just how many clothes do you have in there?”

Fractal gave her a hurt look. “You promised you wouldn’t get angry”

“I’m not angry. Now, please answer the question.”

“Not many,” Fractal whispered. “About twelve, I think.”

“Twelve. And you can get to them at any place and time?”

Fractal nodded.

“And just how much can you put in there?”

“I don’t know,” whispered Fractal. She was starting to get nervous. A lot of women back in her world started out like this before exploding.

“I see,” Samantha said. Slowly she turned and exited the room. Fractal could hear her muttering to herself, but couldn’t make out the words.

After Samantha left, Fractal quickly dressed. She would have opened a portal away, but she didn’t know of any locations in this world to go. She thought about going straight to Whateley, but she didn’t know how this one felt. So she found herself heading to meet her alternate’s family. She had already met the sister and that wasn’t bad. As an only child, her life was a little lonely. Even if she had a large number of cousins to run around with. It just wasn’t the same.

Thoughts of what her life could have been like if she had siblings occupied her mind as she went down the stairs. Somehow, the pictures on the wall made it through the fog thoughts. Stopping, she examined them. What she saw brought tears to her eyes. The pictures portrayed her alternate’s life. From birth to his death a few days earlier. She saw pictures of him as a baby being held by the proud family. As a boy playing with friends. There was even a few with him posing with family. Fractal stood there, lost in a world of what could have been.

Samantha found her, staring at the pictures. She had been wondering what was taking the young mutant so long so she had came looking. Part of her had though that Fractal had left. Went looking for Whateley on her own. She was surprised to find her just standing at the bottom of the stairs. Fractal turned as Samantha approached. She could see the tear streaks running down Fractal’s face. “What’s wrong,” she asked in a sudden burst of sympathy.

Fractal weakly waved a hand at the pictures. “My family,” she whispered.

“Those are of my brother, Michael,” Samantha said. “My parents wanted to remember his life before his mutation. They had plans to change them outwit new pictures as we had them made.”

“Michael was my old name,” Fractal said. “Before I mutated.”

Samantha stared at the young mutant in shock. She did not want to believe the young girl in front of her. Michael was dead. Even though she didn’t believe Fractal did it deliberately, she believed that the mutant was responsible for her brother’s death. She wasn’t sure she could forgive her for that.

“Even though I was a mutant,” continued Fractal. “My family still protected me. They could have lost their lives if the people in our area found out. But it didn’t matter to them. I was still family.”

Samantha looked on in shock as Fractal continued to speak. She only wanted to know what was taking the girl so long. She didn’t want her life’s story. She just wanted her younger brother, maybe sister, back.

It got worse as Fractal began to cry. “They died defending me,” she sobbed. “The only thing I could do was run. Even when that bastard killed my mom right in front of me.”

In desperation and fear, Samantha grabbed the crying mutant into a tight hug. As she rubbed Fractal’s back, she tried to think of what to do. She saw her mother and shot her a desperate look She motioned for her to continue hugging Fractal.

Eventually, Fractal cried herself to sleep. Samantha and Mrs. Molesly looked at each other over the girl. Neither knew what to do next. They had never expected to be in this position. They closest they thought they would come was helping Michael adjust to being a girl.

The Molesly’s didn’t know what to say. After Fractal had arrived, they went through her case. At first, it was just to find some form of identification. But what they found was unbelievable. The called Brookhaven Hospital in Tulsa, as they had the only mutant treatment center in the area, and told them what was happening. They rushed a team there, but it was too late. Michael was dead before they had even called. But the girl who dropped from the ceiling was still alive, and worse, unknown.

The medical team wanted to take Fractal back with them. She was an unknown mutant. Appearing under mysterious and possibly dangerous circumstances. As the strange burn marks on her body showed. Not to mention the papers in her case. After reading them, the team called Whateley. The doctors at Whateley wanted Fractal, but didn’t have any way of transporting her at the time. They told the team to hold her at the hospital until they could get her. The team, of course, readily agreed. But Mr. And Mrs. Molesly wouldn’t let them. For them, the young mutant closely resembled the girl their son was becoming. They wanted to keep her, and his memory, as close as possible. At least until she proved too dangerous.

Not having any real reasons for taking her, the team let the Molesly’s keep her. Before they left, they took some blood and skin samples. Maybe there was some record of her, somewhere. They also made sure the family would call as soon as Fractal woke. Nobody was expecting her to break down crying.

“That can’t be true,” Samantha said. She and the others were sitting in the living room. Fractal had woken up a few minutes earlier after sleeping for an hour. Mrs. Molesly took the opportunity to get to know the young mutant better. They had all read the papers Fractal had brought with her. But none of them wanted to believe what was written there. “Some of them have to have survived.”

“You don’t understand,” Fractal said. “With my powers, I felt my whole universe die! I’m the only one left. I’m alone!”

This was too much for Carolyn. Even though she knew it wasn’t her son-turned-daughter, she couldn’t help but want to comfort her. Gently she pulled the grieving girl into a hug. It was then that Carolyn felt a connection. Somehow, holding this girl was like holding her youngest.

Slowly Fractal calmed down. She hadn’t cried like that since her parents died. While she was sure she had plenty of reasons, she was still embarrassed. And why was she thinking of her mother? She hadn’t the time to think of her family, let alone her mother, for the last eight months.

After a timeless moment, Fractal opened her eyes and found herself sitting in her mother’s lap with her head resting on her shoulder. For one moment, she stared into her mother’s kind eyes. The next thing she knew she was on the wall. She knew she couldn’t teleport that way and she definitely wasn’t a speedster, so what happened.

She stared at the family. They stared back. “Um,” she said. “Who are you?”

***

Carolyn stared a the young girl as she stood next to the wall. Her appearance was almost identical to her youngest. In fact, she could see the young woman her new daughter had been becoming. Tears gathered in her eyes, but she held them in. She didn’t want this familiar, but not, girl to get the wrong idea.

“My name is Carolyn Molesly,” she said.

“B-but that’s my mother’s name,” the girl said.

“I know,” Carolyn replied. “I hope you don’t mind, but we read your papers. We needed to find out who you were, how you appeared like you did, and why. We also wanted to know if anybody was chasing you.”

Fractal didn’t say anything.

“Jonathan is my husband’s name, but you should know that,” Carolyn continued. “Steven is my oldest child, and you’ve met Samantha. My youngest, Melissa,” Fractal twitched. “died just before you arrived. She was a mutant, like you. We don’t know what her power was. We do know she could make circles of colored light appear. Samantha said that the colors appeared in a Fractal pattern. Whatever that is.”

Fractal still didn’t say anything. But she did begin to look less tense.

Carolyn sighed. “Let me tell you a story. My mother had a touch of the sight. She’d always know when we, her children, were getting in trouble or hut. I know. Everybody says that’s just a mother’s intuition. But, with Mom, it was somehow different.”

“Anyway, Mom was dying. She knew it, and made us promise not to cry. She had no regrets, and had lived a happy life. She had called me into her room and made everybody else leave. Once they were gone, she told me something I didn’t understand.”

“She told me that I would lose my youngest child, only to gain one who was and yet wasn’t mine. This one, would have dark times ahead. Whether that one could face them, depended a lot on my love.”

She looked directly into Fractal’s eyes. “When Michael started to mutate, I thought that was what my mother was talking about. But then she died, and you appeared that same day. It was only then that I realized what she had been talking about.”

“I couldn’t take it at the time, and passed out. This was, of course, after screaming my head off. But I’m ready now. That is, if you’re willing to accept me. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to, nor can I, take the place of your mother. But I’m willing to be there for you. To give you all the love she would have given you. Please, won’t you let me try?”

Fractal stared at the woman. She looked so much like her mother that it hurt. She had always known that her mother loved her. She had proven it by sacrificing herself so that Fractal could live. It was a price Fractal didn’t want to pay. Not only had she lost her mother, she lost her entire family that day. They all died to protect her.

At that time, Fractal did the only thing she could. She ran. She left behind everybody she knew. It helped that all of her so-called-friends wanted to kill her now that they knew she was a mutant. Like it was her fault the war Humanity First had started and then, the demon Kellith started her bloody take over of the world.

Fractal stared into the strange and familiar eyes. She swallowed and took a hesitant step.

******

Fractal was basking in the warmth of the hug. This woman may not have been her mother, but she wasn’t complaining. It felt too good to just be held. She didn’t know how much she had missed this. The last time she had been held like this, she had been a little kid. She didn’t complete her change into a girl until after she had arrived at Whateley.

Later, the rest of the family entered the room and she started talking about her world. Though her home town wasn’t directly affected, she was able to give them an overview of the war with Humanity First. They weren’t surprised by that group’s actions. They were horrified by her descriptions of the war against Kellith. They couldn’t believe anything like that could happen anywhere. They were happy that nothing like that had happened in their dimension.

There was a knock on the door.

They all looked at each other. Finally, Jonathan stood and walked to the door. “Who is it?”

“Dr. Otto from ARC,” came the answer. “Whateley sent me.”

He opened the door to find and older gentleman dressed in a three piece suit. Behind him was a rotund man wearing ill fitting clothing with his pockets jammed with pens, note pads, and various other note taking utensils. There was also a couple of young men and women.

“This is Dr. Hewley, from Whateley,” the suit wearing man said. He pointed at a woman and a man. “His assistants Hillary and Clark, also form Whateley.” He pointed at the last pair. “These are my assistants from ARC, Peter and Stephanie.”

“What happened to the ones from Tulsa?”

“They forwarded the information to Whateley,” Dr. Hewley answered. “That’s standard procedure with all burnout cases.” He looked around. “May we come in?”

Mr. Molesly opened the door wider, allowing the group to enter. Fractal and the Molesleys watched as the others entered and sat when motioned to by Mr. Molesly. “Okay,” Mr. Molesly said. “Why did all of you come here?”

“It was this mutant, Fractal,” Dr. Otto said. “Burnout, unfortunately, isn’t as uncommon as we’d like. But, having a possible identical mutant appear out of nowhere is.” he looked at each of them. “We have samples form Melissa, both before and after burnout. We can positively identify her. The few samples from Fractal that we have, say that she is identical to Melissa in every way. We’ve come to verify this.”

“It’s not that we don’t trust the hospital,” Dr. Hewley said. “This has never happened before. We’ve never had a mutant who was completely identical to another. Not even identical twins have mutated in the exact same way. We both would like to know how this is possible.”

Fractal stared at the two doctors. She knew them, But not as they appeared. Dr. Hewley was about 100 pounds heavier than he should be, and Dr. Otto still had both his arms. She shook herself as Dr. Hewley stopped speaking. “How much did they send you?”

“Not much,” Dr. Hewley said. “Blood and tissue samples along with the results of their tests. We couldn’t believe the result of our tests so we brought in Dr. Otto and ARC.”

“We confirmed their results,” Dr. Otto said. “We definitely wanted to meet you. Especially after we heard of the papers and computer disks you were carrying.”

“What about the memory crystal,” Fractal asked. “I was supposed to be carrying one of those as well. It has more storage space than the disks, so its more detailed than they are.”

“No one told us anything about that,” Dr. Otto said as he looked at his colleague and assistants.

“Don’t look at me,” Dr. Hewley said. “I wasn’t informed of it.”

“Don’t worry,” Samantha said. “Its still in her case. Nobody could tell us what it was, so we left it alone. I’ll go get it.” She left the room.

“The crystal is simply a holistic memory crystal,” Fractal said. “It has a capacity of 800 exabytes.”

The visitors stared, slack jawed. Dr. Otto cleared his throat. “Exabytes,” he said. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Fractal,” Dr. Otto said. “I don’t think we have any computers with that much memory.”

“As long as you don’t count any the devisors or gadgeters have built,” put in Hillary. “Should I go and get the laptop?”

“Yes,” Hewley replied. “We might be able to read the disks. I know we don’t have anything with us that can read the crystal.”

“Would you mind telling us about your powers,” Dr. Otto asked Fractal.

Before Fractal could answer, Samantha returned with the case. “Here it is,” she said. “Do you want it to open it now?”

“Not right now,” Dr. Hewley answered. “Hillary went to get a laptop. Hopefully those disks are in a format we can play.”

“Besides,” Carolyn said. “I want to hear about Fractal’s power.” Everybody turned to Fractal.

Fractal shrugged. “I can open holes to anyplace I have been or can visualize,” she said. “A professor back home told me I was actually opening wormholes.” She saw the doctors and their assistants twitch. “I can also bring alternate versions of myself to me. At least, that’s what I think I’m doing. There really wasn’t that many people who could give me a proper evaluation.”

“How many alternates can you bring,” Dr. Otto asked.

“Right now, only four. Flow, Butte, Mercy, and Shrink-wrap. Flow is an energizer. She absorbs energy and changes it to kinetic energy. Mercy is a healer. Both of herself and others. Shrink-wrap can shrink things. Butte is a brick. I usually keep her with me.”

“Would you be willing to be tested at Whateley,” asked Dr. Hewley. “There are several people who would love to study your ability. Especially if what you say is true.”

“I need to get to Whateley anyway,” Fractal said. “That is my mission. I have information for them.”

The door opened and Hillary walked in. “I got it,” she said. Dr. Hewley motioned her over to him and together, they set up the computer.

“If you would be so kind,” he said to Samantha.

Samantha opened Fractal’s case and handed the disks to Dr. Hewley.

“They look like standard Cds,” he said after examining them. “Let’s see if they’ll play.” He placed one of the disks into the slot and waited. His face lit up as the screen brightened. Only to fall as the words ‘insert disk 1’ scrolled across the screen.

He took the disk out. “I guess we can read it,” he said. “Mr. Molesly, may we borrow your television? I’ll need a larger screen if all of us are to watch this.”

“Please do,” Mr. Molesly replied. “I admit, I’m starting to wonder what’s on those disks.”

Hillary took the computer and began to hook it up to the television. Dr. Hewley searched through the disks until he found disk one. He then put the restate in order. Whatever was on those disks, he wanted to see them without any further delays.

Dr. Hewley gave the first disk to Hillary who put it into the computer. A moment later, the screen brightened and a menu appeared. Hillary looked back at Dr. Hewley.

“Pick the warning icon,” he said.

“Yes,” Dr. Otto agreed. “Might as well get the bad news first.”

Hillary clicked the icon and joined the others.”

An hour later, Dr. Otto and Dr. Hewley looked at each other. “We have to get this to Mrs. Carson,” they told each other.

******

Sara couldn’t shake this strange feeling of unease. For the last two days, she had this feeling of impending doom. She even shorted her stay with Donna and their son. That wasn’t as bad as it seemed. Somehow, her cult had found out about Donna and Gary and were keeping a close watch on the two. At least she made it perfectly clear that they were not to harm either of them.

She thought of going back to Merry, but decided not. She wouldn’t be very good company with the way she was feeling now. Besides, Merry was still officially in hiding. She knew ARC was watching her. She didn’t feel like trying to ditch them. Maybe she should go back to her room. With most of the students gone for the summer, there really wasn’t much to do here.

She would be glad when school started again. Her friends would be back then. She felt she would need them. Whatever was causing this unease, was coming closer.Chapter 2

The Moleslys and Fractal looked at each other. While they were polite about it, the speed the doctors and their assistants left didn’t assure them. Before they left, they did promise that Fractal would be admitted to Whateley when school started in three weeks. They also asked if they could take her case with them. There were some people who needed to see the information it contained. Until then, she was to get used to her new world.

Samantha wanted to take her shopping. But her mother decided that first, they would get to know Fractal better. The family made themselves comfortable. When they were ready Fractal began to tell them about her world.

The Moleslys couldn’t believe their ears as Fractal told them about the war. They were horrified at her tales of torture, sickness, and starvation. As the mutants fought against the forces of Humanity First, the neutral people suffered. Finally she tells them how her own family died. Defending her from an angry mob looking for some payback. It was a huge shock for her. Most of them were people whom she had known all her life. She couldn’t believe that they wanted to kill her just because she was a mutant.

She stopped there, close to tears. Mrs. Molesly went over and enveloped Fractal in her arms. Comforted, she was able to calm down. “I’m alright,” she said.

“That’s alright,” Mrs. Molesly said. “you don’t have to tell us.” The others made noised of agreement. “I never thought that you went through so much. You’re only thirteen. You shouldn’t have had to lived through that.”

Fractal shrugged. “Kids grow up fast in wars. Besides, I haven’t told you the worst.”

“You mean there’s worse,” blurted Samantha. She slapped a hand over her mouth and blushed as Fractal turned to face her.”

“Yes. Remember, there was two wars. I’ve only told you about the first one. The second is much worse.”

Fractal then told them what she knew of the war with Kellith. It wasn’t long before they asked her to stop. But she couldn’t stop. She talked for several more minutes. Trapped in a world of memories, the words kept coming out.

Eventually the words stopped and Fractal sat there, panting. The Moleslys didn’t know what to say. They knew she had a hard life. They just didn’t know who bad she had had it.

“How about some ice cream,” Mrs. Molesly desperately said. “I have chocolate fudge.”

Fractal looked up. “What’s ice cream?”

Steven and Mr. Molesly looked at each other. As on, they turned and walked out the room. Neither wanted to be there while they introduced Fractal to the mysteries of women and chocolate ice cream.

Fractal stared after the two departing males. “What’s wrong with them?”

“Nothing,” Mrs. Molesly frowned. “Let’s go to the kitchen and get the ice cream.”

******

On their flight back to Whateley, neither Dr. Otto nor Dr. Hewley could believe what they had seen. They had only watched an hour of footage, but what they had seen was frightening. If half of what they learned was even true, then Whateley, and possible the world, was in for some dark times.

As for the existence of Fractal, they each were aware of string theory and the possibility of alternate worlds inherent with it, but Fractal hadn’t. Instead, she had mentioned something called membrane theory. She couldn’t explain it, but she did say the information was in the files she had brought with her.

The two doctors sat off to one side as their assistants eagerly went over the material. While they wanted to examine the material, they were willing to wait until they were back to Whateley. Hopefully, one of the gadgeteers would have something able to read the crystal.

“Found it,” exclaimed Peter.

“Found what,” Dr. Otto asked.

“Directions for building a reader for the memory crystal. With all they wanted to tell us, I knew the disks couldn’t hold everything.” He pointed a the computer screen. “This is the file I was looking for.”

“Good work,” Dr. Otto said. “Mark that file. We’ll print it out when we get back.” The assistants went back to work.

“That’s one problem out of the way,” Dr. Hewley said. “Unfortunately, it’s not the biggest one.”

“That’s why I’m glad I don’t have to deal with this.”

Dr. Hewley gave Otto a look. “Don’t worry,” he said. “You’ll have to deal with it sooner or later. Imagine what criminals would do if they knew Fractal’s power. From what little she said, it’s possible we don’t have any way of preventing her from opening a portal into the most secure areas in the world.”

“That wouldn’t be good.” Arc held some of the most dangerous mutants in the world. There were several criminal organizations that would love to spring them.

******

It was morning. Fractal knew that. What she didn’t know was where she was, or how she got there. But most importantly, she wanted to know who was in the bed with her. She shifted her weight to see if the person was awake.

Whoever it was shifted with her. She felt their hand brush her butt. It was only then that she realized something else. Something important. While she was dressed, it wasn’t what she normally would wear. It was something light, thin, and very impractical if it came to a fight.

She opened her eyes and found she was in a bedroom. A pink bedroom. That was all it took for her memories of the previous day to return. She also remembered something that frightened her. With a quick peek at the sister she never had, Fractal started to ease out of the bed.

“Just where do you think you’re going?”

Fractal let out a squeak of surprise and froze. She looked over her shoulder to see Samantha sitting up in bed. She had a very wide grin on her face.

“You wouldn’t be trying to sneak off now?”

“Um, no?” Fractal said.

“It sure looks like it.” Samantha stood and stretched. “I didn’t think a girl like you, who has been in all sorts of danger, would be afraid of a little shopping trip.” She looked at Fractal. Obviously enjoying the young mutant’s discomfort.

Fractal started to pick at the hem of her borrowed nightgown. “It’s just that I’ve never been shopping before.”

Samantha stared at her. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’ve never been shopping? For anything?”

Fractal stared at the floor. “No,” she answered. “Remember, when I finally was old enough to have some say in the clothes I wore, we had been at war with Humanity First for several years. The average person didn’t travel much. And with all the raiding parties moving about, you never when where or when one side or the other would start a battle.”

“Then the war with Kellith started, and my mutation kicked in a couple of years later. What few shopping areas left intact were soon destroyed.” Suddenly, Fractal had a bad feeling. Like she started something terrible.

“You’ve never been to a mall,” Samantha asked. There was a strange light shining from her eyes.

Fractal slowly started to back away. “I’ve never even heard of one.”

The almost demonically ecstatic look that appeared on Samantha’s face sent Fractal running from the room. Back in her dimension, she had faced horrors that never sent a chill down her back like the look on Samantha’s face had.

Several minutes later, Samantha found a trembling Fractal hugging Mrs. Molesley. “What did you do,” Mrs. Molesly asked.

“Nothing really,” Samantha replied trying to avoid her mother’s eyes.

“I said I was taking her shopping,” Samantha muttered a moment later.

“That would scare any sane person,” Mrs. Molesly said. She patted the trembling girl on the back. “Don’t worry. I’ll be going with you two.”

“You will,” came Fractal’s muffled voice.

“Sure thing sweety. I won’t let Samantha terrify you. I know how she can get when she’s shopping.”

Mooom!”

“Don’t you mom me,” Mrs. Molesly said. “I know what you’re like when you go shopping. Now, go get your brother and father and let’s eat breakfast. Like a normal family for a change.

“Now,” Mrs. Molesly continued once her older daughter had left the room. “You saw your mother die, didn’t you?”

******

Mrs. Carson was slightly puzzled as she walked into the small room. All the room had in it was a table and some chairs. There was a flat screen viewing system set up on one side. It was rare that Dr. Hewley requested her presence. Usually he sent reports on the students he examined. But, then, he rarely leaves the campus now. Not with all the medical mysteries the students here provide. That was how she convinced him to stay in the first place.

Then there was Dr. Otto. They have talked various times in the past, both in her office and his. But why he should insist that they meet here when either one of there offices would do? It had to be important. Considering how close it was to the start of the new school season, very important.

“I’m glad you could make it,” Dr. Otto said. “I apologize for the inconvenience but it had to be this way. Now that you’re here, we can start the meeting. Dr. Hewley, if you would be so kind?”

Dr. Hewley placed a disk on the table. After a moment, it started to glow. “There,” he said. “With this, the spells on the room, and the Faraday Cage around the room, we should be save from any known listening ability.”

Mrs. Carson sat as he continued.

“As you know, we recently received word that a mutant had died from burnout. What isn’t known, yet, is that a physically identical mutant appeared the very instant the first mutant died.”

“Twins?”

“No,” Dr. Otto said. “The parents are sure of that.”

“Besides,” Dr. Hewley said. “They were present when their daughter died and the new mutant appeared. They were understandably shocked when she told them that they were dead. They called Brookhaven Hospital in Tulsa and reported what had happened. Brookhaven called us, and you know the rest.”

“So, what happened that you couldn’t tell me through normal channels?”

“This,” Dr. Otto sad as he pressed a button, causing the screen to light up. Mrs. Carson didn’t gasp, but she couldn’t keep her eyes from widening.

On the screen, was her face. But it couldn’t be her face. Hers wasn’t so worn or tired looking. Nor would she be drinking from a bottle of Scotch.

“My name,” her face said, “is Mrs. Elizabeth Amelia Carson. I hope you forgive me for drinking, but my world, and possibly my entire universe, will be coming to an end soon. And I don’t want to waste this Scotch.” She took a drink. “If you, my alternate self, is watching this, then Fractal managed to make it to another universe. One, where, I hope, none of this has happened.”

Dr. Otto stopped the recording. “You begin to see why we did this.”

“How many people have seen this,” Mrs. Carson demanded as she tried to deal with the shock.

“Very few,” Dr. Hewley answered. “Dr. Otto and I, of course, a couple of our assistants, and Fractal and her family. We’ve tried to keep this very quiet.”

“Who set this up?”

“I did,” Dr. Otto said. “Your alternate didn’t want to leave anything to chance and sent this using different mediums. Each had instruction for how to build the necessary equipment for viewing. Several members of my staff are pestering me to tell them where I got such a compact design for a memory crystal reader. So far, the only ones that small are devisor made. With the usual problems that follow.”

“Continue the playback,” Mrs. Carson said. “I get the feeling that there’s more to this.”

“Unfortunately,” her duplicate continued. “if what Dr. Molvey told me is correct, you may be facing this in fifteen years. According to Dr. Molvey, all similar universes share a common timeline. Major events will happen in all those close to each other. If the event is big enough, it will happen in all of them. Only the timing will change. If it changes.”

“It all started fifteen years ago, when Humanity First attacked mutants and mutant training areas all over the world. They, along with the MCO.” Mrs. Carson clenched her jaw. “killed as many mutants, heroes, villains, and noncombatants alike, as they could. We didn’t want to believe it, most of the Western World didn’t want to believe it. But, as more and more reports came in, we were force to believe it.”

“At first, Whateley, and military mutant training areas in the U.S., Canada, and most of Western Europe didn’t come under attack. So, we didn’t know how they were able to successfully attack and destroy so many installations. Then an U.S. base in Germany was attacked. Much to our regret, we found out how then.”

“There were seven bricks, two energizers, and one mage on the base. All the psychics were off base as the shielding was being upgraded. All the mutants, except the mage, were killed. Several other military personnel were killed as well as they tried to repel the attack. It was from the mage that we found that the attackers had some kind of universal power nullifier that was able to suppress all mutant abilities.”

Stunned, Mrs. Carson looked at the two doctors. They motioned her to continue watching.

“Hearing this, I made that discovery our top priority. We, the CIA, NSA, and the FBI, launched a very intense investigation. Our investigators were mostly mutants who didn’t rely on their powers. Their training included the style of martial arts developed by Chaka. By the way, if you have her, get her to watch all martial arts films you can, if you haven’t already. It doesn’t matter if they’re realistic or not. It doesn’t even matter if they’re live action or animated. Her mutation allows her to duplicate any of the abilities she will see in those films.”

“The agents were able to discover news of secret bases. Bases where Humanity First had imprisoned and studied several mutants over the years. None of the agents could get into these bases. Many tried, by they all failed. Several died in the attempt. So, we turned to our computer experts.”

“Amelia Hartford, her husband Dr. Palm, and their adopted daughter Circuit Breaker . . .” Dr. Otto stopped the recording.

“Amelia Hartford. The Hartford who is my executive assistant. That one. Married. To Dr. Palm!” This was the first time either of the two doctors saw Mrs. Carson this upset.

“Believe me,” Dr. Hewley said. “It was a shock to us when we first saw this. For me, it was the defining moment when I knew that this was from an alternate universe. Do you want to take a short break?”

Mrs. Carson shook her head. “No. I’m alright. It’s just that she, of all people, would marry somebody. She even adopted a child.”

“I just hope her Merry wasn’t the handful mine was,” Dr. Otto said.

Mrs. Carson looked at him. “You still haven’t found her?”

He sighed. “No. Wherever Sara hid her is very effective. I don’t believe we can find her unless whoever has her makes a mistake. Maybe I can get some ideas from this to convince her to bring her back.” They turned back to the screen.

“These three led our team of researchers and hackers. Using our, police, and stolen MCO records, it wasn’t long before they discovered a disturbing trend. For the last 42 of the 50 years the MCO had been active, they’ve been giving information on mutants to Humanity First. For those 42 years, several of the MCO’s leaders, and the secretaries of some of the others, were members. They leaked information on all mutants and told them which would be perfect for them to kidnap for study.”

“How members of the church got into those positions isn’t clear. I suspect bribes, extortions, and blackmail. The exact details are not important. You should look into your own political movements to be sure the same isn’t happening on your world. The results on our world should tell you what the worst could be. But that didn’t tell us how they discovered a universal power nullifier. And, with our forces being pushed back, we definitely needed to know how they did it.”

“Finally, after weeks of searching, we discovered the base where they developed the technology. It was a base on a remote island in the Pacific. With this information, a two-pronged raid, physical and electronic, was quickly developed and launched.”

“The physical elements consisted of a task force led by a new being named Hive. Hive was an ex-special forces marine who had been accidentally implanted with the first functional A.I. nano-colony. The electronic was led from Whateley by Circuit Breaker. They never saw it coming.”

“The raid was extremely successful. Not only did we get the plans for the weapon, we also got several working models.” Her voice turned sad. “But that wasn’t all. We also found 48 mutants that had been kidnapped, held prisoner, and studied. Some of the regenerators had been repeatedly dissected. It also appeared that the mutant known as Negator was responsible for their weapon. He had disappeared seven years before the war started.”

“But that wasn’t the worst. The worst was the information found in a secure computer they had on the island. It had never been connected to the net in any manner. Here, was where they stored information on their most secret infiltrators. Their most important was one Most Righteous Reverend Darren Englund.”

To be continued