//------------------------------// // The Bustling City Between Worlds // Story: Worlds Apart: The Chosen of the Prognosticus // by GMBlackjack //------------------------------// Caspian held the hands of his wife close. “Now, Lilliandil, I’m afraid I have to travel further than I ever have before. I must leave the kingdom in your hands a little longer.” The slight glow to her face sparkled as she embraced her husband. “Who am I to stand between a King and his destiny? Go. Remove the Void from our sky. I will watch the land.” Caspian kissed her. “I do not deserve you.” “We do not deserve anything—yet we are gifted it all the same.” Caspian stroked her hair. “I am away far too often. Watch over Rilian.” She chuckled. “As if a mother would do any less for her child!” With a slightly mocking bow, Caspian retreated from the Queen and returned to the castle balcony, where Trumpkin and Data were waiting. Caspian nodded curtly to the android. “All my affairs are in order. Transport us to the others.” Data tapped his communicator. “Data to Enterprise. Three to beam directly to the green door.” “Acknowledged…” some officer Caspian didn’t recognize said. “Energizing…” There was swirling blue all around Caspian. He had been informed that the transporter took the pieces that made him up, tore them apart, and re-assembled them elsewhere, but it had never been a painful experience. If anything, it was like swimming through a dream for a few seconds. He, Trumpkin, and Data arrived in front of the lamp post and door without incident. Cosmo, Twilight, Tippi, and Toph were already waiting for them. Toph and Twilight looked weak, but they could stand. “Do we have everything?” Twilight asked. Caspian checked himself over. “I have my sword, my shield…” He held up the defensive implement he wished he’d had a few times before. “All is well.” There was a soft rumble. Turning their eyes to the east, Caspian could see the Void peeking over the tops of the trees. It had gotten much larger. “Just three Hearts left,” Twilight said, levitating the light blue Heart out of her pack and giving it back to Caspian to hold. “You get the honors.” “I am honored, Twilight.” With a smirk, Caspian turned to the door. “Well, I’ve never been to another world despite meeting several who come from them. Let’s see how this looks, shall we?” He pushed the doors open, stepping out onto Flipside’s platform. As he’d been warned, he had no shadow to speak of, and the sky had nothing in it aside from the Void itself. But he cared more about the doors. The red doors had guards posted outside—that must have been Toph’s world, which wasn’t ready to face the harsh realities yet. The orange door was currently closed; Cosmo’s. Hanging wide open, the yellow doors saw a constant stream of people moving in and out, the majority of which had colored uniforms like those worn on the Enterprise. No guesswork was needed to determine what lay beyond that door. He looked to the empty sides of the platform, wondering which one of them was Earth. ...If one was Earth. “Data, did you ever find the Kings and Queens of old in your records?” Data shook his head. “Never. It seems likely they were actually from the Earth universe rather than Hume’s curious situation.” “Then hope remains that I may yet see them again.” “Perhaps.” Caspian grinned. “They will make such good additions to this beautiful city! Come, let us return this Pure Heart to its place.” “Uh, I’ve been meaning to ask,” Toph coughed. “What… what color is it?” Caspian held it up. “Blue. A light blue, like the sky.” “You guys look up and see that all the time!?” “Only during the day,” Cosmo said. “The world is crazy…” “Trumpkin?” Caspian said, turning to his dwarf advisor. “While I am away, you represent the interests of Narnia here, in Flipside.” “Yes, your Highness.” The dwarf bowed slightly before running off to talk to someone who looked important. Twilight led Caspian and the others into the elevator. They descended right to the Pure Heart room where red, orange, yellow, and green Hearts were orbiting around each other in a complex pattern Caspian couldn’t identify. Holding his head high, Caspian lifted the Pure Heart to the pillar. “By the wisdom and love of Aslan, I present to you your brother, Pure Hearts!” He released the Pure Heart, which floated right into the pillar with the others. The slight rumbling and light blue energy made Caspian grin. >> A new door has manifested on the platform. << “Ah, you must be Merlon!” Caspian waved to the words on the screen. “I’ve heard admittedly not so much about you.” “You all talked about me and not Merlon?” Tippi let out a disapproving tut sound. “He’s just as much of a friend as I am.” >> I admittedly do not do much aside from watch over Flipside. Which is becoming all the more difficult as time goes on. << “What do you mean?” Cosmo asked. >> Descend to Ty Lee’s inn, you’ll see what I mean. << They entered the elevator once more and dropped down to the aforementioned level. When the doors opened, they were floored. Last time the heroes had been here, the personnel from Hume had just started moving in to begin investigations, all moving in rank and file with efficiency and purpose. Now, the image was unimaginably different. A Starfleet officer was having tea with Cream under a building that had apparently been opened up as a bar for the entire city. A few Mobians were playing in the street under the uneasy gaze of a Romulan. A Ferengi and an alligator Mobian were trying to convince a very confused talking squirrel to buy their product and not the competition’s. Elsewhere, an old human was playing trading cards with one of Eggman’s robots, both attempting to get an edge over the other in strategy. It was no longer an empty ghost town being researched by people. It was a community. “Amazing…” Twilight said, putting a hoof to her ever-widening grin. “When I was here, there was nobody. Nobody at all. Now, this is, this is…” “Beautiful,” Cosmo said, clasping her hands together. “Oh, after this is all over, Flipside will be the most amazing city ever.” “I’m sure of it. The nexus of all worlds.” Caspian grinned. “A place where a mouse can talk to an android about the merits of life and the wonders of all worlds!” Caspian clapped his hands together. “I love this place already!” “Wait until you see the beds,” Tippi said, gesturing toward the inn’s door. It was empty inside—understandable, given the sign outside that said: “for the heroes and heavily injured only.” They stumbled in, each finding themselves a bed. “Finally. I’m done with all of this.” Toph flopped onto a bed, letting out a satisfied sigh. Already, her burns seemed less serious. Caspian found himself sitting on the mattress next to hers. “Toph. You do not need to feel disdain.” “I’m a screw-up. Almost didn’t trust you guys,” Toph muttered, though it was hard to make out since she had slammed her face into the pillow. “Who isn’t? I once ‘screwed up’ so badly that Aslan had to scramble my mind so I didn’t fully remember it. All I know is that I was angry at Edmund for some reason… I can’t imagine why.” “So we’re all screw-ups, big whoop.” “Yes, ‘big whoop.’ “ Caspian said, hoping he understood the use of the vernacular. “We all have our faults and our weaknesses. That’s part of what makes it so beautiful to be loved, is it not?” “I… guess.” Caspian leaned over to place a hand on her shoulder. “You get your rest. We can talk about this more in the morning if you wish.” Data nodded. “Good night, everyone.” “...Have you ever experienced sleep?” Caspian asked. “Yes, in fact, I have. I see no need to engage in it now.” “I…” Caspian shook his head. “Data, my friend, you are an eternal mystery. I would love to hear your full life story one of these days.” “And I, yours.” He left the others to sleep. Caspian had intended to speak to Twilight about the future and the next world, but by the time he thought much of it he was already asleep—still in his chain mail and everything. ~~~ “I just read your report, Data,” Picard said, addressing the android sitting across from him in the Enterprise’s ready room. “It’s not the usual report I get from you.” “I have studied your records on your experience as well, Captain. I could say the same.” Picard nodded with a coy smile. “The world was apparently an eye-opener for both of us.” “I think I’ve noticed a common thread between our experiences. We were both able to put our trust in something outside ourselves.” Picard let out a sharp chuckle. “One might even call it faith, as ridiculous as that sounds.” “I believe that is exactly what it is, sir,” Data said. “Faith is defined as a trust in something that cannot be proven. I have faith in you as our leader, even though it is possible and expected for you to fail in that capacity eventually. I suspect you have faith in me as well, despite similar reservations.” “But faith is usually spoken of in a religious connotation, Data.” “Do not the denizens of Narnia consider Aslan in a light akin to a religious figure? Their devotion is comparable.” “So what, are we the newest converts of… Aslanism?” He chuckled. “The name itself sounds ridiculous.” “It all remains to be seen, Captain.” Picard’s smile vanished. “That was a joke, Data.” “My answer does not change.” He tilted his head. “Why does it make you uncomfortable?” “I… well…” Picard forced himself to stop, remembering that Data wasn’t a human and couldn’t be expected to just know. “Think of it like this, Data. This Aslan figure was most certainly helpful and had our best interests at heart, and it was in our best interests to trust him, even if we didn’t know it at the time. It truly has been an eye-opening experience that has changed our perception of ourselves and of reality around us—honestly I would appreciate it if more of the ‘higher’ entities we encountered had an attitude closer to his. But just because we had a positive experience and learned to trust him, as you trust in me, it does not make us devoted followers that would be associated with a religion. “No sir.” “Good, you un—” “I believe that is merely the first step.” Picard let out a sigh and put his hand slowly onto his desk. “Data… I don’t think you understand.” “That is correct. I don’t.” He tilted his head to the side. “That is why I am talking with you.” Picard shook his head. “This…” Picard folded his hands together, waiting to find the words. “Trust and appreciation does not equate to devotion. We are not Aslan’s servants, Data. We are our own, and we make our choices as we see fit, just as he makes his choices as he sees fit. ‘Faith,’ as you’ve put it, does not equate to religion on its own. You are right, you have faith in me, and I in you, and we both have faith in the eventual destruction of the Void.” Data nodded. “I see. So there is more to it than I thought.” “Yes. I caution you not to throw yourself into this, Data. Choosing something or someone to put absolute trust into is a monumental decision. It is not something to be… casually declared after merely having an experience. To declare oneself allied truly in line with something is… well, it becomes the meaning of their existence.” “I think I understand.” Data tilted his head. “Although, I find myself wondering something.” “What is it?” “Why do so few in the Federation profess any religion at all? Aside from the Bajorans and Worf, I have met few in Starfleet who profess anything.” Picard couldn’t help but smile at this. “Many would like to claim that we have become ‘more enlightened’ with time and have left such ‘primitive’ things behind us.” “But you do not agree.” “Every culture has its value, Data, and that includes their religion, ‘correct’ or not. And even so, we do have a cause we are devoted to. We have immense faith in progress and our institutions.” He leaned back in his chair. “Perhaps too much.” “Faith in humanity, sir?” “I like to think we aren’t so specist. But we aren’t perfect, and we clearly have more to learn as a people as we delve further into the frontiers of reality.” Data nodded. “We never stop learning.” “For now, though…” Picard adjusted his uniform. “We will have to put the greater philosophical questions on hold. The worlds are at stake, we shall focus on that until the Void has been neutralized.” “Understood.” “And then we’ll be out exploring the galaxy again, one adventure after another…” “Like always, Captain.” Picard nodded, responding only with introspective silence. In the midst of this moment, Riker called. “Captain, Tippi is here to see you, as you requested.” “Ah, yes. Data, we will continue this conversation later. Perhaps next time with the lion himself actually present.” “If he wishes.” “Indeed. I doubt we could get him to do anything.” He stood up with Data. While the android left the ready room, he went to the food replicator. “Tea, earl grey, hot.” It automatically dispensed his favorite drink for him while Tippi fluttered in. “You wanted to see me?” “Yes, yes, I did.” Picard sat down. “I would ask you to take a seat, but I doubt that would be appropriate.” Tippi fluttered down until she was at eye level with him. “No, it’d be fine. So… why am I here?” Picard set his tea down and folded his hands together. “When we were searching for you, we got our hands on everything we could. Including your schematics.” “Oh…” Tippi’s fluttering slowed a bit. “Who knows?” “Just me and Commander LaForge as of now,” Picard said. “I needed to ask him if your condition would be helpful in finding you. It was not, so no further discussion was needed. I have told no one else, and I have no intention of doing so.” “Thank you, Captain. I don’t… I don’t want them to worry.” “I must ask if you remember anything of your life before. To see if we could… uncover something.” “I’m afraid I don’t remember anything before I was fully manufactured,” Tippi said. “I was the perfect mind for the job. Lost, drifting, alone… hurt… confused…” She was silent for a while. “But that doesn’t matter now. The cascade failure won’t occur until well after the Void expands to maximum size.” “I know. I also know that Data lost a daughter to the same type of cascade failure.” “And if he knew of my condition he would devote all his time and resources to research a way to stabilize my imprint. We don’t have that kind of time. Even in your world, artificial minds are cutting-edge research. I… I can’t be a drain on resources to the worlds I’m trying to save. The worlds I was made to save.” “The body you have now was made for that. Who you were before had her own destiny, I am sure. One that cannot be truly erased.” “I… thank you, Picard.” Picard smiled. “You are more than a Pure Heart finder, of that I am sure. Now… that will be all.” “Thank you Ca—” she paused. “Ca—ca—ca—” Picard stood up. “Is… is something wrong?” “I don’t… fee—fee—fee—fee—take me to Merlo—” She stopped flapping entirely and dropped to the floor. Picard jumped up and scooped her into his arms. “Beam me and Tippi directly to Merlon’s room, now!” The transport was almost immediate, transporting him and Tippi right in front of the Light Prognosticus and Merlon’s main screen. “Everyone out!” Picard shouted. Iroh and Vanilla were the only ones there at the time, and they quickly listened to the Captain’s order, climbing into the elevator quickly. After they were gone, Picard laid Tippi on the Light Prognosticus’ cover. “What’s wrong with her?” >> ...She should not be showing signs of mental degradation for weeks. And it would be far more subtle than this. This is something else entirely. What were you talking about? << “I was offering help with her condition—which she refused, as expected—and then I affirmed that she was more than just some machine built to save the world.” >> She may have attempted to access lost memories because of that. She had amnesia when she drifted into Flipside. Even if those memories were still in her at that point, they might be unrecognizable now. << “What do we do?” >> Her conscious state should reboot in about an hour. She’ll be fine, though disoriented. << “...I was just trying to help.” >> You were affirming her self-image. There was no way for you to know it might be dangerous. Even I wouldn’t have suspected a thing. But I had forgotten the mind’s innate desire to remember. << “She wants to remember.” >> We all do. << “Do you remember?” >> Only bits and pieces. But I do not have amnesia, I am just beyond old. And I was uploaded completely and have endless room to grow within these walls. She does not. << “And transfer is not an option.” >> It would make no difference. I was a fully healthy mind when I was brought online. The procedure would bring her problems along for the ride and solve nothing. << Picard shook his head. “I wish we could do something…” >> Maybe somewhere in the eight worlds, there is something. Once this is all over… << “We will hunt.” Picard adjusted his uniform. “We will hunt. Mark my words.” He looked at Tippi’s still form, frowning. “...I will not inform the others of this. It will be her choice if she wishes to or not.” >> Thank you, Captain. << ~~~ Eggman dropped another probe in the hole of shadow. Amy, Ty Lee, and several Starfleet officers crowded around the main screen the probe was routing its information to. It turned on its lights, illuminating the shadow. It found itself in a cylindrical room with a red pure heart painted on one of the walls, sitting above constructions such as the pyramids, moai, ziggurats, Stonehenge, and a few other prominent architectural shapes. “Earth,” Eggman said. “The Heart that was already here.” “Fascinating,” a Vulcan said, tapping his datapad a few times. “Perhaps the other worlds are inscribed on the walls as well?” “Maybe if you go down far enough,” Eggman agreed. “But the next level is the same.” The probe floated down the stairs, finding an identical room with an identical shape and mural on the wall. “And the third one’s the same with a nasty little surprise in it.” The probe descended further, finding the next room like both the others, except there was a blob of darkness in the center of the room. It paid no attention to the probe until it tried to go down the stairs, at which point a forcefield blocked its entry and the slime monster attacked, devouring the probe and reverting the screen to static. “This is the Pit, ladies and gentlemen,” Eggman said. “A hole filled with monsters of shadow. Kill all the shadowy things in a room, and you get to go further down. However, past room three, the force fields trip in such a way that if you ever retreat back upwards, you can’t go back down without fighting through the shadows again. I sent a basic robot in and got to the seventh room before it was overrun by the shadows.” “Could we disable the fields?” the same Vulcan asked. “They’re powered from the inside. If we could get to the center of the Pit, probably. But that’s not going to be easy.” “So what are we waiting for?” Amy asked, hefting her hammer. “Let’s go down there and smash shadowy faces in!” “Nothing would delight me more,” Eggman said. “For this is the only structure of significance we’ve found in all of Flipside. But it would be foolish. We’d need an army to be able to take all those monsters down, and we aren’t entirely sure how far down it goes. We need… to prepare.” “How long will that take?” “I don’t know.” Eggman turned to the Vulcan. “How much is Starfleet willing to offer up to clear this pit of vermin?” “Starfleet likely will not offer much,” he responded. “However, the Klingon Empire will likely assist simply because they would see something like this as a challenge to their honor.” “Excellent. We can begin preparation for the mission immediately, then. It still won’t be fast… but we’ll know what we’re going for.” “It may take even longer,” Ty Lee said. “Remember, you have a meeting later today.” “I do?” Eggman blinked. “When do I have meetings?” “Since Avatar Aang is finally visiting and you’re basically what we have instead of a Mobian government?” “Oh. Right.” Eggman drooped. “Bother, I hate politics.” “Don’t we all...” Amy said. “Speaking of, where’s Sonic?” “How do…” Ty Lee shook her head. “Probably still running around Narnia.” “Hmph, just like him.” Amy turned to glare at the Pit. “Who needs him, anyway? I’ve got the Pit. And the Pit is much easier to smash with my hammer.” Ty Lee shrugged, deciding it wasn’t worth the risk of bodily mutilation to call Amy into question. ~~~ Toph was the first one up. Twilight was the second, walking out of Ty Lee’s little inn to stand next to her. “What are you looking at?” Twilight asked. “Nothing.” “You know what I mean.” Toph sighed. “I’m feeling the footsteps of a talking mouse as it wanders Flipside, waving hello to everyone. He waved hello to me a few minutes ago. He hasn’t gotten very far.” “It’s amazing how much life is here, isn’t it?” “Yeah.” Toph smiled. “All thanks to us, huh?” “And we didn’t even have to try.” “A world-ending threat will do that.” “But nobody will be able to forget what was made here.” “Nobody…” Toph clenched her fists, grinding her teeth. “I’m sorry.” “I know.” “I… I want you to hear it. I’m sorry. Caspian’s a great and noble King, Data never flies off the handle, and Cosmo’s more understanding than even you are. I’m… I’m the only one of us actually making everything difficult. I panicked in the runabout, I almost made us lose Tippi, I’ve been running away…” Twilight put a wing over Toph, smiling warmly. “Toph… you’re forgiven.” “But I’m still a problem.” “You’re one of us. You touched the first Pure Heart we found. You’ve been the ‘rock’ and ‘muscle’ of this group since the start.” Toph let out a snort, but it wasn’t a bitter one. “Yeah… I have.” “Just keep an open mind. And remember… remember what you’re going back to.” “A bunch of idiots,” Toph said. “A bunch of idiots that don’t know how to learn properly.” “Do you want to talk about it?” “Not really, but I might as well at least get it out there. I’m the only one in the world who knows how to metalbend. So, I took on a few students and tried to teach them how to do it. Not a single one of them has the right stuff to do it. Every day they’d come out, get everything wrong, and leave only to come back the next day. They couldn’t do it.” She turned away from Twilight. “I couldn’t teach them.” “Ah. You’re having doubts about yourself.” “I’m not a good teacher,” Toph grunted. “It’s a miracle Aang was ever able to learn anything from me. Look at me, quite an idiot, huh?” She let out a bitter laugh. “Quite an idiot…” “I’m sure you taught Aang many things. But sometimes, things are hard, they take time… and from my experience leading and teaching, sometimes all it takes is a different approach to get it into their heads.” “Like I know any other approach…” “Can’t hurt to try, can it? I once helped my friend Rainbow Dash learn everything she needed to about Wonderbolts’ history to pass an exam. Do you know what the final solution was?” “What?” “Passively insert the information into her subconscious by displaying it to her while she was flying and her senses were attenuated.” “...What?” “It worked! I don’t care if it didn’t make any sense, it got the information into her head and it stayed to this day. I should introduce you, show you exactly how nerdy she can be. She’s a stunt flier, you know, but if you ask her certain things she can out-talk me!” Twilight let out a hearty laugh that slowly, but surely, died off into sad puffs of air. “...I miss them all.” “We’ll get them back,” Toph said. “She is correct,” Caspian added, coming out of the inn with Cosmo close behind. “We have a new world to conquer!” “After breakfast.” Cosmo shoved the little sandwich lunches she had prepared before they went to sleep into their arms. “It’s already made, eat.” And so they ate. Data and Tippi came down to join them in the middle for conversation. When they wrapped up, the conversation turned to their last unknown member. “Daughter of Darkness… vixen… fiery…” Twilight mused. “We’re looking for a girl,” Toph offered, winking at Twilight. “Gee, thanks, I had no idea,” Twilight deadpanned. “You were called the Daughter of Light.” Caspian gestured at Tippi. “Is there an inverse of your kind?” “Pixls are unique, so I don’t think so.” Tippi’s flutters increase. “In fact, the only thing I have in my databanks is mention of the Tribe of Darkness, an offshoot of the multiversal wanderers that built Flipside. There’s not much on them, though.” “We uncovered a reference to a Shadow Queen in my world,” Data reminded them. “Related to the Ancient Wanderers somehow. Perhaps they are of the same kind?” “Perhaps…” Twilight downed the last of her sandwich. “Well, there’s only one way to find out! To the door!” “We are taking the elevator,” Toph pointed at Twilight’s horn. “No. Teleporting.” “You were fine last time.” “Doesn’t mean I like it.” “Fiiiine, we can take the elevator…” The six of them wrapped up and returned to the highest platform, stepping out before the light blue door. The Starfleet guards nodded to them, beckoning for them to open the gate to a new world. However, before they went through, the red doors opened, allowing a bald boy with a blue arrow tattooed on his forehead to walk into Flipside, eyes wide open. Toph broke out into a grin. “Hey, Twinkletoes! How’ve you been?” “Toph?” Aang gave her a cheesy grin. “Hey!” “Guess what? That’s right, I’m about to go on another amazing adventure to another world while you get to sit back and… what’re you here for? Oh, that’s right, politics!” “Yeah…” Aang scratched the back of his head. “I sure chose a bad time to take a retreat, huh?” “You don’t know the half of it.” “So… where do I go?” “Elevator.” “...What?” Toph pointed at the elevator. “That thing will take you where you need to go.” “If you say so.” “Good to see you, Twinkletoes. And have a nice fall.” Aang blinked. “Have a nice fa—” The elevator closed and dropped beneath the ground, prompting Aang’s eyes to bug out, but he was out of view a second later. “...That’s the Avatar?” Twilight asked. “He seems so… young.” “And I don’t?” Toph asked. “Touche.” Twilight turned her focus to the door. “Well… here we go again.” She gripped the doors in her magic and threw them open. ~~~ The woman removed her pen, taking another moment to pause. The group was almost complete—at least, complete as far as the prophecy was concerned. But they would never stop gathering, not until the very end. Next was a place much closer to the woman’s heart than the others. A world that carried with it a surprising amount of hardship under the surface. While what came with the world was very much needed, that didn’t mean the woman had to be happy with it. Sorrows were necessary things. The results and the hope were to be delighted in, not the sorrow itself. The purification of fire is never pleasant while it burns. The woman set her pen back to the page, forging onward.