Now, Earth

The guards waved Remy through into the courthouse. He had been exempted from the security procedures thanks to the governor’s word. Not that he needed it. In truth there was nothing the guards could’ve done to enforce compliance.

The old building wasn’t used much for its original purpose from the pre-spire days. Nowadays people didn’t stream in and out for court business. They came for the spire housed within.

The spire was phased through the floors, offices, and conference rooms. It continued out of the roof, all the way into the sky. It plunged below ground floor into storage areas.

Remy had no doubt that if they dug into the ground the spire would continue, perhaps all the way to the Earth’s core..

He had been going to the spire multiple times each day over the last few days.

His daughters and their friends had never emerged from the tunnels.

The cult had continued to profess ignorance.

Detective Ordonez had detected no lies in their words.

Thus, Remy had no choice, but to believe.

Despair and rage had twisted with him, threatening to turn him loose on the cultists and the fishmen.

The truce be damned.

The memory of the spire rising out of the bay had sparked hope, however slim.

Perhaps his daughters had escaped the tunnels in a different way.

He had been surprised to see that more message functionality had been unlocked. Previously, he couldn’t send any messages to Cal in response to the ones his older brother had been sending until about two years ago.

He sent a message and he waited for a reply that had yet to come.

Hence the growing desperation as he constantly checked for word on his daughters’ fates.

Remy walked into the spire without breaking stride.

The ethereal mists of the spire’s interior no longer disturbed him. He walked with purpose, fixing what he wanted in his thoughts. His feet pounded on smoky nothingness for what seemed like minutes, then hours, then back to minutes.

Before he knew it he found the right place.

Something new.

A blinking light in his eyes.

A chime in his ears.

There was a new message waiting for him.

Hope bloomed in Remy’s heart.

Finally!

“They’re safe? They’re really safe!” Megan cried as she threw her arms around Remy’s neck.

“Yeah, they’re with Cal, all of them,” Remy’s face hurt from the smiling.

“Cal’s okay?” Nila said.

“Yeah, he’s fine too.”

“Did he say why his last message was so long ago?”

“His message only said that he was detained. He didn’t elaborate.” Remy was uncertain if he should’ve shared his impressions with Nila. Cal had looked… different. There was something in his eyes. Something concerning. Better to let his brother speak for himself. “He said that he’s coming back soon. I’m sure he’ll explain.”

“I can’t wait to hug our babies,” Megan beamed.

The smile on Remy’s face dropped.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, not really. Just that the kids can’t come back… yet,” Remy grasped Megan’s shoulders, “don’t worry. They just need to gain enough Universal Points to pay for the cost to travel back.”

Megan’s eyes narrowed. She knew what that meant.

“So, that’s why I thought we could go upworld. We can keep an eye on them that way.” He looked to Nila. “Plus, it’ll mean that Cal can come home.”

Nila nodded, words escaped her in the moment.

“How many points does it cost? I don’t know if I have enough,” Megan said.

“I checked for me. I’ll have plenty leftover thanks to the Quests I recently completed. So, I can give you what you need. We just need to check your price.”

“You’ll need to use the UC Davis spire,” Nila said. A statement, not a question.

“Yeah, that’s what Cal said. That spire connects to one close to his base. Once we go, he’ll come back,” Remy said.

Nila let out a long breath and smiled. “Finally,” she sighed. “Do you have anything you want me to tell the others?”

“Tell them I’ll send them a spire message as soon as I regain enough points,” Remy said.

Nila hugged both of them. “Good luck! I hope everything goes good!”

“Thanks,” Remy said.

“We can keep in touch through the spires,” Megan wiped her eyes. “And we won’t be gone long. It’ll just be like a family vacation. The first one in ten years,” she laughed. “Gosh, an alien world. It’s hard to believe. Think of all the new wildlife.”

“Technically, we’d be the aliens,” Remy added.

They saw Nila to the door of their temporary home. It was loaned to them by the government. Free of charge in a clear attempt to woo Remy like a free agent superstar athlete.

“We need to pack. We need to find a place to store our things,” Megan said eyes darting to the boxes in the living room.

“I checked the rules on travel. It seems like anything more than what we’re wearing and carrying with a backpack makes the cost go up quite a lot. Like going from economy to first class.”

“But our things?”

“Does it really matter?”

“No, I guess not. The kids are the most important. Keeping our family together is all that truly matters.”

“I’ll see about storage options for the sentimental stuff while you go to the spire.”

“I want to leave as soon as possible,” Megan said.

“Same here. Wait for me at the spire.”

A huge weight had been lifted from Remy’s shoulders.

He wasn’t going to lose his daughters a second time.

----------------------------------------

Now, Threnosh World

“Everyone sleep well?”

Nods.

“How’s your arm, Gene?”

“It’s a little tender and sore, but… it’s amazing! I don’t understand…”

“The magic of highly advanced science and technology,” Cal said. “I see that you’ve all figured out how to wear the single greatest piece of clothing in history,” he grinned.

“It feels like I’m wearing nothing at all,” Bastien stood with his hands folded below his waist in front of him.

“Yeah, like I’m totally naked,” Tessa frowned, her arms were crossed over her chest. Just like Mads and Veronica.

“But your not and I think the fabricators did a good job making modifications to preserve our collective modesty.”

“Yeah, my junk’s totally not obvious,” Gene said.

“True, but I still feel naked,” Tessa said.

“You’ll get used to it. I have no idea how I’ll manage to go back to Earthian clothes.”

Veronica blew a raspberry. “That’s lame, Uncle Ca— Honor,” she rolled her eyes.

“Almost, but not as bad as that,” Tessa agreed.

“Well, Designation: Human Female 2, I’d like to see how much better your second name will be,” Cal smiled. He hadn’t felt this light in a long time.

“Why even have another name? I know we’ve got powers and all, but this isn’t a superhero movie,” Tessa said. “Maybe I’ll just go with Metal Shooting Girl.”

“Your Uncle Eron once told me about seeing magic that used one’s true name against them,” Cal said.

“Oh yeah, but have you ever thought that since the Threnosh only know you as Honor, then maybe that’s your true name now?”

“I—” Cal blinked. “That’s actually a good point. I’ll have to ask Eron about it.”

“I already know what superhero name I’m going to use,” Veronica grinned.

“Anyone want to take bets on that?” Veronica said.

“Not a chance,” Bastien said.

“Too easy,” Mads said.

“Johnny would,” Gene said.

That sobered them all up.

“Johnny will be fine.” Cal tapped his PID and brought forth a holographic projection with a bunch of charts, graphs and numbers. “As you can see he is on track for a full recovery within two to three months.” He brought up a second set of vitals. “Olo will be good to go in about three weeks.”

“That’s just amazing,” Gene said in awe.

“Yeah, great,” Tessa said. “When are you going to help our parents, Aunt Nila and the others?”

The smile fell from Cal’s face.

“I sent a message to your Dad and Mom and Nila. As well as all your parents,” he regarded Gene, Bastien and Mads, “Olo’s and Johnny’s too. I’m going to wait for a reply before proceeding.”

“How long?”

“A day.”

“If you don’t get one?”

“Then I’ll have a tough decision to make,” Cal sighed. “Is that good enough for you?”

Tessa shrugged. “For now.”

“Okay, good. Now, did you all have breakfast?”

Nods and one glare.

“How was breakfast?”

“Surprisingly normal for being on an alien world,” Mads said.

“Yup, I was not expecting scrambled eggs, sausage and grilled veg,” Bastien said.

“It was decent, except everything was just a little off,” Gene said, “but no complaints. I figured we’d be getting nutrient paste made out of bugs or something.”

“It’s more of a nutrient drink,” Cal said. “Sausages were deercow. You can also get deercow burgers and steaks, a spaghetti-like dish with ground deercow and a tomato-like sauce. The eggs were from a miniature chicken-like bird. The vegetables are just vegetables, different I guess, but I don’t really care about vegetables so it’s all the same to me.”

Veronica thrust a hand in the air.

“Yes?”

“Can I meet the deercow? I remember one of your messages said that you had them here.”

“Maybe later.”

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Veronica’s smile vanished.

“Sorry, kid. We’ve got too much to cover. I need to set you up here just in case I'm leaving soon and there isn’t enough time.”

“Set us up for what?” Gene said.

“You need Universal Points to get back home. That means training. You need to improve your powers,” Cal looked at Tessa and Veronica, “your magic and Skills,” he looked to Gene, Bastien and Mads. “And all of you need to improve your physicals, skill, tactics, so on and so forth.”

Tessa opened her mouth as if to say something, but stopped herself.

“You’ll train with the special candidates, under Shira. I’ll introduce you later, but you can also review their file. I’ve already set you up with limited access to said files. Everyone here has the same permissions. I believe that it’s good to know what your teammates can and can’t do.”

“Oh my gosh!” Veronica brightened. “Do you have a danger room?”

Cal blinked then laughed. “It’s like you read my mind. And yeah, sorta. We call it the S.R.T.C. The Simulated Reality Training Chamber. It’s a blend of something I bought from the spires’ marketplace and Threnosh technology. A combined hardware and software unit that uses hard light holograms and drone technology to create almost true to life training simulations with almost endless variety. It took our programmers time to build the programs, but I think they’ve done an awesome job. It’s too bad that I was gone when they made their breakthroughs.”

“It’s totally a danger room!” Veronica cheered.

“We need to go to the fabrication facility first and get you fitted for your armor, then you can try out the S.R.T.C.” Cal said.

They stared with wide eyed wonder at nearly everything.

From the way the lighting inside the base perfectly mimicked the natural day light outside to the dozens of Threnosh they came across.

Tessa temporarily forgot her anger and allowed herself to soak things in.

Fabricators scanned them with their instruments and immediately began work on their armor.

Veronica tried to talk to the Threnosh, but they ignored her as was their wont. If the sight of more humans affected them, they didn’t show it. Their tasks were all that mattered.

Cal led them into a medical chamber where more scans were performed.

“What’s this for?” Tessa said skeptically.

“To help prepare treatment plans in the event of injury and illness,” Cal said.

“I’m not sure I’m comfortable with ali— other people having my vitals,” Tessa said.

“That’s fair, but it’s also necessary to calibrate you to the S.R.T.C.”

“Uncle C— Honor, can we just call it the danger room,” Veronica said.

“No, Designation: Human Female 3,” Cal smiled. “Totally different.”

“Is it though?” Gene said. “Serious question. I have no idea what a danger room is.”

Veronica explained while the medical personnel continued their tasks.

Once again it didn’t take long before Cal was leading them to the training chamber.

“This is basically like a locker room,” Cal led them into a large chamber.

Power armor berths were spread out evenly in ordered rows.

Cal pointed at the ones closest to the door. “Find your name. You all have your PIDs?”

Wide-eyed nods.

“You’ll find instructions on how to put on your armor. It’s not the powered version, but the material the Threnosh use is so much better than anything back home. And no, I don’t know the specifics on its manufacture. The Collective doesn’t want to share that info.”

“How do we get to the instructions?” Bastien tapped and swiped the surface of his PID.

“Just ask,” Cal grinned. He was having way too much fun watching the amazed looks on all their faces. It reminded him of opening presents on Christmas. “You’ll also find the weapons you came with in your berths.”

“I was out of ammo,” Mads said.

“Don’t worry, the engineers and fabricators were able to make some using my descriptions, poor drawings and by examining your shotgun. I think they got the most mileage out of the latter. You’ve got fifty rounds each of slugs and shot. I remembered that you mixed between the two ammo types. I had a bunch of rounds test-fired to make sure they were safe. I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, I was just going to ask about that. Thanks! I really appreciate it! I’ve been feeling useless the past few days without ammo.”

“You’re welcome.” Cal said. “I’ve got the fabricators working on copies using their superior material. In time you will also receive training with Threnosh weaponry. We’ve developed some pretty cool ones through our experimental weapons program.”

“Oh, that sounds awesome! Like what?” Mads said.

“You’ll see.”

“What are we going to fight?” Gene said.

“That will be a surprise,” Cal said. “When you’re ready just walk through that door, he pointed to the other side of the chamber.”

Tessa found her small bag. She knew that it had been refilled without needing to look inside. She felt the telltale tingle of metal when she moved her hand close to it.

“Are there any restrictions? I mean for me. I wouldn’t to break anything or punch holes into the walls and hit someone,” Tessa said.

“No, you’re good. The walls can handle it.”

“What about me? I don’t want to fry your cool machines,” Veronica said.

“The training chamber itself is shielded against electromagnetic pulses. Remember, the hard light holograms and drones will be lifelike, but you aren’t at risk of more than bruising, if you’re unlucky, then possibly broken bones, which can be fixed in a day, so no big deal, right?” Cal shrugged.

“Watch out for friendly fire,” Gene warned the others.

“Yes,” Cal pointed at the young man, “good point. There are currently no protections, beyond your armor and your own defenses against friendly fire, so be careful. Now, I’m going to be making sure that you are mostly safe, but that’s only for today. Once I’m gone, well… you’re on your own.”

“You’re not even going to give us a little hint at what we’re going up against?” Tessa said.

“I’ll just say it’s going to be a good preview for you guys,” Cal said.

“God, you’re a terrible uncle,” Tessa grinned to take the sting out of her words.

Cal smiled. Relieved.

“I’ll give one bit of advice. Work as a team. Apes strong together.”

“Yeah… I’m thinking you’re terrible,” Tessa groaned.

“That was super lame, Uncle,” Veronica echoed the sentiment.

Cal laughed.

He felt happy.

It was almost like back home in the years before the spires appeared. Making lame jokes at his expense to entertain his nieces was something he had always enjoyed.

It was the little things. The normal things.

He realized that he had missed those.

“Good luck! Break a leg! Crush your enemies, drive them before, hear the lamentation of their wo— so on and so on,” Cal smiled as he left the chamber and headed for the control room. His steps felt lighter. The whispering voices in his head were muffled. They didn’t feel as heavy and dark.

Shira greeted him as the door slid open with a soft hiss.

The lone technician was focused on their tasks and ignored him.

A lesser man may have taken offense, but it didn’t bother Cal.

S.R.T.C. Technician Woodford 1 meant no disrespect. It was simply the standard Threnosh’s way.

“Honor. I am eager to witness the combat capability of others of your species,” Shira said.

“Me too. It’s been so long. It seems like they were so small the last time I saw them, which I suppose is only true for Ve— Designation: Human Female 3. She was still a child.”

Cal sensed a question in Shira, which remained unasked.

“How have your preparations to assume strategic and tactical command of special candidate’s combat operations gone?”

“Within parameters. I will endeavor to integrate your species’ members in a seamless fashion,” Shira said.

“I want them to gain experience and knowledge, along with points, but I want to prioritize their safety.”

“Acknowledged.”

“There’s a chance my brother will also come to this world.”

“Brother?” Shira tested the unfamiliar word.

“Er… like a crechemate, but several years apart out of the same birthing pod,” Cal winced. He didn’t think his mother would’ve appreciated being referred to in that manner.

“I… understand,” Shira said. “I will relinquish command to your brother upon his arrival.”

“No. It is your command. I’ll leave it to you and my brother to work out his role, if he wants one, in our operations. Though I know he will want to be closely involved with his daughters’ activities.”

“Daughters?”

“That explanation will have to come at a later date,” Cal said. I’ll let Remy explain how human biological reproduction works, he thought.

“S.R.T.C subjects have entered the Thunderdome. Designated as numbers 1 through 5 in the system. Program: Kitchen Sink ready to initialize,” S.R.T.C. Technician Woodford 1 said flatly.

Cal smiled.

He had chosen the name for the chamber.

“Thanks Woodford,” Cal watched as the kids, make that young people, entered the chamber. He waited until they looked ready. “Begin countdown.”

“Acknowledged.”

Cal leaned closer to the window overlooking the training chamber. He didn’t want to miss a thing.

----------------------------------------

Tessa rolled her shoulders. She swung her kanabo back and forth, testing her range of motion.

The Threnosh-made armor was, frankly, awesome.

Full range of motion and she barely felt the weight. Although, it’d need to weigh a ton or two before she’d notice thanks to her superstrength.

Her helmet’s faceplate fed her information like a head’s up display in the video games she and her dad used to play. Distances to objects in front of her, a targeting reticle, ambient temperature, even her rate of movement. It was all too much at the moment so Tessa cleared everything away with a thought.

The display immediately cleared just as the instructions in her PID said it would.

Cybernetics, without the need for implants, so cool!

Tessa tamped down on her sense of wonder.

This was going to be a fight.

She recognized it for the test that it was and she wanted to show her Uncle Cal that she wasn’t the girl that he remembered.

“Everyone ready?” Gene said.

“This targeting reticle in my helmet is throwing me off,” Mads sighted down her shotgun toward the far wall. “Too much information, cluttering my sight lines.”

“You can clear it all,” Tessa said.

“How?”

“I just thought the words ‘clear display’.”

“Thanks,” Mads said. “Wow. This is straight up scifi,” she said a moment later.

“I’m keeping mine up. If we’re going to be using this gear then I figure I should start getting used to it,” Gene said.

“My helmet doesn’t have any cool stuff. It’s dead,” Veronica pouted.

“Your uncle probably figured your EMP’s would fry the electronics,” Bastien said.

“But the danger room is shielded,” Veronica frowned.

“Might be different for you wearing a helmet. Figure if it was shielded then it might actually block your blasts from getting past it,” Gene shrugged.

“Lame.”

Tessa gently tapped Veronica’s helmet with her gauntleted fist. “Threnosh do super science. They’ll figure something out for you. Stop pouting and get your head in the game. I don’t want to look bad in front of our uncle and the Threnosh.”

“Yeah, we’re representing our entire planet,” Gene said.

Bastien took a deep breath. “No pressure.”

“This is going to be easy compared to what we’ve just been through,” Mads said. “It’s going to be nice not to be in sheer terror for a change.”

“Even so, we still need to take this seriously,” Gene said.

“Who said I wasn’t serious?” Mads glared.

“C’mon, let’s go already!” Veronica said.

Tessa rolled her head from side to side. “I’m ready.”

“Wait… we should warm up,” Gene said.

“Seriously,” Tessa cocked a brow.

“Never go into a fight with cold muscles,” Bastien said flatly.

“I don’t really have that issue, but okay,” Tessa said. “Can’t hurt.”

Tessa swung her weapon. Left, right, high, low and back through the same motions. She bounced on her toes. Twisted her body from side to side. Ran in place for a bit.

The others did much the same.

Calisthenics in a high-tech alien locker room on a different world.

It still didn’t feel real.

In a few minutes they were ready.

Tessa led the way through the door.

The S.R.T.C. was underwhelmingly empty. Just the same metallic surfaces as the rest of the base.

However, it was impressively enormous, like a giant cavern mixed with a basketball arena.

A holographic projection appeared in front of them.

The words instructed them to wait within the area marked by the translucent walls that had suddenly appeared around them.

A giant number 10 appeared in front of them.

Gene flinched. “Scared the shit out of me,” he muttered.

“Steady,” Mads whispered.

As the numbers counted down the arena transformed.

Tessa watched intently as sections of the floor slid open and strange objects rose up. Some moved around in a manner that suggest tracks.

“What are those?” Bastien said.

“They look like skeletons,” Veronica said.

Tessa shook her head. “I think they’re wireframes.”

“Oh yeah, I see it, like tree skeletons,” Veronica said.

Indeed, it looked like a forest was being quickly built inside the chamber.

The countdown ended with a blaring alarm and flashing lights of every color.

The artificial wireframes suddenly appeared as trees, indistinguishable from the real thing to their eyes.

“Thats—” Gene’s mouth hung open.

“Hard light holograms,” Tessa said. She cursed inwardly. She had underestimated her uncle’s claims. Her heart started to race. The trees looked real. Not like a video game at all. Which meant that the things they were going to fight would also—

A shrill scream burst out from the forest.

“What was that?” Bastien sidled over to stand behind Veronica.

“Monsters,” Veronica said grimly.

“Okay, okay, remember this is supposed to be training. So no matter how real it looks we aren’t in danger of dying,” Gene said more for himself than the others.

“Just broken bones,” Mads said, “sure, not that big of deal. We can go spend a day in a tub of goo and be back ready for more.” The young woman was babbling.

“Calm down. We’ve seen and faced worse,” Tessa said. Probably, she thought.

“So, welcome to the Thunderdome. People enter… and exit with a few broken bones at worse.” Her uncle’s laughing voice echoed through the arena. “Whenever you’re ready just walk out of the starting point… but we don’t have all day. Others need to train too. So, get going… seriously.”

“Tessa, you’re on point. I’m next. Bastien, you’ll need to tank and peel for Mads—”

Bastien cursed then reddened.

“Mads, you’ve got the green light. Targets at your discretion, watch the friendly fire.”

“I don’t miss,” Mads said eyes glinting at the imminent challenge.

“Vee, you’ll have to watch our backs. We’re more vulnerable than you and Tessa, even with this awesome armor.”

“Got it,” Veronica nodded.

“Let’s go,” Gene said.

“Finally,” Tessa muttered.

“Oh and you wanted a clue on what you’re going to fight.”

Tessa could hear the smile in her uncle’s voice. He was having way too much fun at their expense.

“I call them mantisors…” her uncle took a deep breath. “Are you ready to rumble!”

Her uncle’s voice rose and rolled the R’s, drawing out the last word for what seemed like thirty seconds.

“So lame,” Tessa sighed.

She charged into the fake forest ready for anything.