For a long few seconds that seemed to stretch off into the entire minutes or longer, Setrea just stood there and stared at those two, Glitch and the ghostly figure of Piend. Dozens of thoughts bounced through her head in those moments, but almost none of them were in any way coherent. This was absurd, impossible. She had been trying to find someone else from her world for almost the entire time she had been here. And now it turned out that one of her people had been this close for this whole time? She had been on both sides of conflict with this woman on many occasions over the years. But she’d had no idea, none at all, that Glitch of all people had been someone from her world. One of the other gang leaders, someone she had interacted with repeatedly. Maybe not on a daily or even weekly basis, but certainly enough that some part of her thought she should have been able to tell somehow. How could Glitch really be from her world?
Okay, maybe it made sense, sort of, in hindsight. Piend had never been one of the champions that she paid that much attention to, but she knew that he granted the ability to create wondrous devices, and she was pretty sure he had some other ability over technology. That was where Glitch’s power came from. She wasn't a Touched at all, just like Setrea wasn't. They were both using a very different power source.
All this time, all the work she had done, all the places she had gone in vain attempts to follow any possible hint of people from her world, and Glitch was here the whole time. What was she supposed to say to that? How was she supposed to react? She was angry, overjoyed, confused, and so many other things as well.
When she finally found her voice after the other woman had stood there patiently upon dropping that bomb, the first words that came out of Setrea’s mouth were a series of curses in their own language, a language she had barely spoken ever since she devoted herself to firmly learning English. She only spoke to herself once in a while to remind herself of the words and to give herself some sort of tie back to her own world. But now? Now the swearing came quickly and easily. She said words that would have made her father force her to chew an entire Kadda feather if he'd actually heard even half of what came out of her mouth. Words that the younger her definitely wasn't supposed to know yet at the age that she had found herself lost on this world.
When she heard all that, Glitch chuckled softly. At the moment, she was wearing the face of a redhead with short hair, a nose ring, and a very tan complexion. But Setrea knew enough to understand that that didn’t actually mean anything. That special choker she had could disguise the other woman to look like anyone at any time. It was why she didn’t bother using a mask.
After that brief chuckle, the woman spoke up. “I can't tell you how nice it is to hear someone else speaking a language from our homeworld. Even if it's not the one I grew up with. I understand enough to know that none of those were exactly nice words, but still.” She paused as though thinking of how to say the next part correctly, then started in Setrea’s childhood language. The words were just a little slow and grammatically imprecise enough to make it clear that she was not a native speaker of it. “I grew up in a place very far from where I believe your home was, if I remember my old geography and languages well enough to make a rough estimation. But at least we are still of the same world.”
Setrea’s head finally shook quickly as she found her voice with a blurted (in English), “No, this is a trick of some sort. You used some sort of technology to find out about me and a few things about where I'm from. You aren't really from my world, this is a stupid game you're playing or something. You're trying to get me to partner with you so you're pretending we actually have that much in common. You found out about Manifestations and you created something to project an image of the one that matched your power the closest.” Yes, she knew what she was saying sounded absurd, of course. But then again, it was equally absurd to think that this could be real. There was no possible chance she could actually be standing in front of someone from her world who happened to be someone she had regularly interacted with on this one, was there?
Glitch raised an eyebrow and seemed to think about how exactly to respond to that. In the end, she settled on, “I suppose I could try to tell you everything I remember about our world, but it sounds like you would simply decide all that information was something I gained through technology somehow. A device to read your mind, or to actually view that world. Like a camera pointed at other universes. It's not impossible, of course. I could have created any number of things that could have given me this information. So let's try something else first. Why don't you Manifest Alistae? Or maybe Deunmar. You’ve recently managed to acquire her as well, right? I assume that’s how you’ve managed to give yourself those moments of invulnerability, at least.” Her fingers snapped abruptly. “Sorry, you do know how to Manifest in a way to make them visible to others, right? I’m not sure how much experience you had before ending up here. I know it’s been a long time for you.” The woman dropped her gaze, taking a breath before looking up. “You were still very much a child when we first arrived, weren’t you? So alone, so--I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to go through that without anyone. But I am truly here now and I am from the same world as you. I’d like to prove that. Can you Manifest one of your Champions so that we may see them both?” Her hand gestured toward Piend, the small, waifish figure with goggles almost as large as her entire face and an apron full of both tools and snacks. She was standing nearby while watching this interaction closely through the goggles, which had a different assortment and number of lenses covering each eye. A number that changed often as different lenses extended and retracted from the goggles.
A multitude of possible responses jumped through the woman's mind then. There was so much she could say, so much she wanted to say. In the end, however, she settled on following the request. Maybe this was all manipulative nonsense, but she could start down the line of proving it one way or another simply by Manifesting Alistae. He had been a part of her life for much longer than Deunmar. It was easier to sustain him, especially if she was going to make him visible for Glitch. Or whatever her real name was. Did she have a name from the old world? Why was Setrea even asking herself that, as though she actually believed this woman was from there?
Just like that, the ghostly violet figure of her first and strongest Champion appeared. Alistae, the entertainer turned assassin in his colorful clothes and near-constant cheerful smile. He had always been the one to help keep the Champions together, soothing their arguments, ensuring their ire was pointed in the proper direction. The Champions, sixteen in all, had led the war against the monstrous Edeliens who had invaded their world. The last, desperate move of those invaders, before they could be entirely destroyed, had been to transform the sixteen Champions into the gigantic statues which now served as the only safe settlements for the people of that world. The energies given off by those statues kept the remaining Edeliens away. And thus the Champions, though trapped in those giant statuesque forms, continued to protect their people. Both in that way, and in the ability of some people to Manifest ghostly duplicate versions of them to make use of their power. Those like Alistae, Deunmar, Piend, or even Reahandu, the warrior barbarian whose statue form Setrea’s home had been built upon. The Champions protected their people. And now, perhaps, they would be able to show Setrea the truth about this confusing situation.
To that end, she looked at her old friend and nodded toward Piend, guessing what Glitch wanted. Then Setrea held her breath a bit, watching as the two ghost Champions approached one another. She wasn’t exactly sure how she would feel about what this proved, until both figures extended their hands to one another and shook. They shook hands, then pulled each other into an embrace. They were hugging, Piend and Alistae. Because it was Piend, it had to be. Up until that very moment, she had told herself that even if the two interacted physically, it wouldn’t really prove anything. It would just mean that Glitch had managed to create a device that made some copy of Piend that could do that. But seeing it, witnessing their interaction, made her know better. This was the real Piend. And if it was, if that was truly one of the champions, then Glitch was…
“It’s true,” she found herself whispering softly, voice somewhat awed and confused. It was too much to take in. Her eyes snapped that way, staring at the woman. “You’re really from home.”
Reaching up to the choker around her neck, Glitch hit a couple hidden buttons there before tugging it off. As she did so, her face changed to what would appear to be Latina woman on this world, though her hair was a dark green. She also appeared to be about five years or so older than Setrea, at a best guess, which would put her barely into her late twenties. “The name is Fideila. I must say, it's a pleasure to finally meet you.”
After a very brief pause while she was still trying to comprehend this situation, Setrea introduced herself as well, though her voice sounded eerie and unnatural even to her own ears. She felt strange, almost like she was having an out of body experience. Her skin was tingling, and there was a dull whistle in the back of her head. This was real. After all this time, she was really meeting someone from her old world. How was she--what could she say to her right then?
Glitch--or Fideila (Fih-Die-Luh) seemed to understand. Probably because she was feeling much the same, even if she’d had more time to process the whole thing. And speaking of having more time-- “I don’t understand,” Setrea finally put in, “what happened? How did--why didn’t you ever say anything before? You had to realize--when did you figure out I was--and what made you…”
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Clearly understanding what the woman was trying to ask, Fideila exhaled slowly while holding up a hand. “Okay, first, I had a few suspicions, but I wasn’t sure you were from the old world until you started using Deunmar recently. That pushed me over the edge. I thought maybe three were brought over to this world ten years ago, but I wasn’t sure. And to be honest, I was sort of expecting adults at the time. The fact that you were clearly a child and took time to make a name for yourself did… a lot to throw me off. Manifesting a second Champion did the trick.” She gave Setrea a clearly sympathetic look at that. “You must’ve been going through a lot then, for another Champion to present themselves to you like that. I’m sorry about your friend.”
An image of Jolene Iverson’s face passed through Setrea’s mind, making her hands tighten. The fact that she hadn’t been the one to rip that Whamline fuck’s throat out with those hands made her… wait, something the other woman had said just then caught her attention, and she blinked that way before frowning in confusion. “You said--the way you said--were you here before I was? How long were you on this world? I thought--I just assumed you came here at the same time.”
Rather than answer immediately, Fideila gestured to the door. “You wanna come over to my place for a bit so we can talk? I have Paalcher buns cooling. They’re not quite as good as the ones I remember my mother making back home, and the ingredients are a bit different since… well, different world and all. But they’re as close as I can make them. I thought you might like to taste something--uh, maybe not all that familiar by now, but something from back home anyway.”
Paalcher buns. Actual Paalcher buns, or at least as close as they could get on this world. The thought made Setrea’s stomach growl loudly. She had never really learned to cook back home, so other than having lingering memories of tastes that she couldn't experience anymore, she had no actual ties to food from her world. The mere thought of actually being able to eat something from her childhood made the woman willingly set aside all those questions she had and head out of the laundromat. Fideila took her to a car and they drove across the city together. Eventually, they reached a small, unassuming house on the outskirts of Detroit. It was in a normal, average neighborhood without any indication that it was the home of one of the city’s Fell-Touched leaders. Particularly one who controlled the entire Touched-Tech trade in the state. There was nothing to indicate any of that. Probably because this wasn't really where she lived. Even now, in this situation, Fideila certainly wasn't going to drive Setrea right to her own front door. This house was obviously just one of many she probably kept around. No doubt if anyone came to this house after tonight, there would never be any sign of Fideila, or any other member of Braintrust. She wasn't stupid enough to believe that the woman was actually giving away her real address.
Either way, they made it inside, and she immediately smelled the cooling buns. It made her stomach practically jump for joy, while she started salivating. Yet, at the same time, she also felt a pang of sadness. The last time she had any sort of food from home had been over a decade earlier. Now, smelling this, she remembered her father and her friends. She remembered home. It was honestly a lot to be feeling in that moment. And those feelings grew even stronger and more confusing when Fideila took one of the buns and held it out to her. They were essentially a sweetroll with bits of fruit and caramel inside. Well, not really caramel, but it was the closest flavor and texture that was available here, so it was what the other woman had used. But saying it was a sweet roll with fruit and caramel was misleading, because there was more to it. The bread itself was a type that she had never been able to find any analogue to here on this world. And the fruits were a mix of sweet and spicy. It was all just a perfect treat, one she had loved as a child and had given up any hope of tasting again. But here she was, taking a bite of what was honestly an incredibly close approximation.
Before she knew it, Setrea had eaten all of that roll, as well as another one. Only after devouring both did she slow down and stare intently at the other woman. “You were going to explain.” Her voice made it clear she didn't want any more distractions. She wanted answers.
Fideila’s head bowed in agreement before glancing over to the other side of the room where both of their Manifested champions were still interacting. It looked as though they were engaged in their own intense conversation, not that there were any audible words. She smiled at the sight of them briefly before focusing on Setrea. “The truth is, about twelve years ago, when I was in my mid-teens, I was an apprentice under a man on our world named Hostem. He was the one who taught me to Manifest Piend, and helped me learn everything about building and creating. Master Hostem had a plan to get rid of all the remaining Edeliens. He would open a portal to another world and send them through, banishing all of the monsters once and for all, so we could all be safe.”
Setrea took that in with a grunt before looking around. “This world,” she realized. “He was going to send those monsters to this world, wasn't he? That's what created the connection.”
Fideila gave a short nod at that. “Yes, though it wasn't anything personal. He just picked a world at random. He didn't know anything about these people, he just wanted to save ours, and give our world a chance to recover. I wasn't his only apprentice. He had a dozen of them, all of us working to help him realize his dream. After many mistakes and problems, we finally managed to establish a connection with this world. I was the youngest member of the team, barely more than a mascot, really. I helped in any way I could. I wanted to be a part of saving the world. But when we made the connection, something went wrong. All of us were sucked through. It wasn't supposed to happen. The portals weren't supposed to do anything but sit there and allow us to look through them, to see if sending those monsters here would work. Instead, they pulled us in, and there was nothing we could do to escape or stop it. Even our equipment was sucked right through those portals.”
Setrea opened and shut her mouth, absorbing that. “So there's more of you here? Is that all of Braintrust, or just most of them? Or did some of you scatter to other gangs?” She was already trying to decide if any other powers she knew about could have secretly been Manifestations.
Fideila, however, shook her head. “No, none of them. I was the only one who survived the trip through the portal. As I said, we were still working on them. They were experimental and certainly weren’t supposed to physically drag us through. When I arrived here, most of our equipment was destroyed, and Master Hostem and all my fellow apprentices were dead. Most of them were turned inside out. I was alone on this strange world, just like you were when you first arrived. I really can't tell you how sorry I am about that.”
Setrea belatedly realized why she was apologizing. “It was you. Two years later, after you arrived here, you’re the reason I was pulled through, aren't you? You did something.”
With a visible wince, Fideila confirmed, “I was trying to go home. I spent two years putting our broken machines back together as well as I could. I jury-rigged most of it with help from Piend. I thought it would be enough to just get me back where I belonged. But when I turned it on, it created the portals in random locations throughout the city, not right where I was standing. I screwed that up. Three people from here ended up going through to ours, but none of them were me. And you ended up being pulled through to this one. That was the last thing those machines ever did. they melted down completely after that. There's nothing left of them. I've been trying to find--build other, better ways of getting home ever since.”
Setrea grunted under her breath, trying to decide how she felt about all of that. In the end, she decided there was no point to figuring it out right then. Instead, she replied, “That's why you set up this whole thing with demanding all Touched-Tech goes through your group. So you can check it and see if any can help with your plan to make a device to get home.”
Fideila offered a slight shrug. “The Ministry also appreciates having that sort of control, but yes, that is my part of it. It's been helpful in a lot of ways, but it's taken a long time to get anywhere. It turns out, it's very difficult to make a portal to get us home.”
“But what does that have to do with why you wanted me to take over the Easy Eights?” Setrea asked flatly. “How could that help?”
There was a brief moment of silence before the answer came. “Honestly, I just want you to be in a position of power over a large group of Touched, to get them all in the right place at the right time. Because I finally figured out how to make the portal work, with some help from that Tech-Touched from Avant-Guard, even if she has no idea what she did. She thinks she was only working on something to allow surgeons to operate through someone else using special gloves, but that was more about creating something that can link multiple living beings to a machine and create a good connection, a connection the machine can use.”
“A connection what machine can use?” Setrea found herself asking, even as she mentally reeled.
“The one I’ve been fixing this whole time,” Fideila informed her. “The one to get us home and finish this whole thing. That’s what I was missing for so long, what I didn’t understand. We need to use this world’s best resource, the Touched. We need to use their power, put them all in the right place at the right time and let my machine drain them. You see, we use the Touched in the city, as many as we can get. Fells, Stars, Sell, all of them. We drain their energy, leave them powerless, and then use that energy to create a portal to go home. And we complete Master Hostem’s goal at the same time.”
That made Setrea do a double-take. “What do you mean, complete his goal? I thought you said he wanted to send all the monsters from our world to this one.”
Fideila gave a wide smile. “Precisely, and that is exactly what will happen. We will draw as many Touched as possible to one location here in the city. My machine will drain them, taking enough energy to send us home. At the same time, all of the Edeliens will be sucked away from our world for good. They'll be here, the two of us will be home, and our world will be safe once and for all.
“Isn't that fantastic?”