[M&M 3E] October 1962

[KahlessNestor]

New Falls, Washington/New Falls High School
Tuesday, October 23, 1962/2:25

With the revelation of the food, Sofia felt her stomach rumble audibly. She was so hungry! She warily approached the table where the others sat, pausing to watch Jennifer...fade back to human?

Sofia filled her plate and dug in. The eggs would have been better with some chorizo and hot sauce, but she couldn’t care much right now.

“It wasn’t the Russians?” she asked with surprise “I mean, nuclear radiation can do this kind of thing to people, they say. Time travel is just...silly. That’s geeky comic book stuff. No one believes that!”

 

[jmucchiello]

"It's odd that we were obviously modified by radiation inside the shelter, isn't it?" Jennifer says. "We were supposed to be shielded by the radiation in the shelter. So we should not have been changed, right?"

 

[Mark Chance]

The now-familiar woman's voice speaks.

"You have asked many questions. Permit me to answer them. The shelters installed around New Falls all have the same functions, but only those that ended up with no one in them except young humans between the ages of thirteen and nineteen activated in the manner this shelter did. Telluric immanation effects would be too unstable in younger or older subjects. For the moment, I am not in contact with the other shelters. Communications have been disrupted, presumably by the Amtorians."

The voice pauses for a few seconds.

"We have not traveled into the future. That is impossible. Instead, this shelter entered into a slow-stasis mode. Three thousand, seven hundred four and seventy-five hundredths days have elapsed. This is likely distressing news, but do not lose hope."

Another pause.

"Amtor -- or as it is commonly known on your world, Venus -- has long planned the invasion and conquest of Earth. We lacked the military resources to stop this invasion before it happened. Alerting terrestrial authorities was deemed too risky. Instead, we instituted plans involving modification of humans while we completed work on the time tunnel. Our objective now is to re-establish communications and locate the time tunnel so that you can travel back to before the Amtorian's initial attacks."

Then, silence.

 

[jmucchiello]

"Over ten years? Are our families alive? How can time travel forward be impossible but backwards to before we left be a piece of cake?" Jennifer said her fists strike the table. "And on top of that we're supposed to believe we've been invaded by Venus? And we're expected to fight against an entire planetary invasion? One of us has gone mad."

 

[Mark Chance]

The voice replies, "I cannot go mad. My program parameters preclude such activity. Time travel forward at a speed greater than one second per one second is impossible. Slow-stasis mode inhibited the aging process within this shelter. Outside the shelter, time passed as normal.

"As for time travel to the past, think of time as a road continuously constructed toward a single destination. One cannot travel farther down the road than its most recent extent permits, but travel back down the road which has already been constructed is possible. The analogy fails in that time travel back down the metaphorical road is both difficult and risky.

"At this time, I cannot verify the locations or conditions of your family members due to communication disruptions."

 

[jmucchiello]

"You're not a person? What are you?" Jennifer said warily. "When are we going back?"

 

[Mark Chance]

"I am the program that operates this shelter. I cannot answer your other question, Jennifer. There are too many variables to formulate a projection."

 

[KahlessNestor]

New Falls, Washington/New Falls High School
Wednesday, October 24, 1962/8:30

“Time travel?” Sofia exclaimed. “This is naughty word ridiculous. Like something out of that Star Trek on TV. And aliens? Can anything even live on Venus? Why would they attack us anyway? We haven’t even gotten to the moon yet! Ten years? Dios! My little sister!”

Sofia went to the door and banged on it. “How do we get out of here?” she demanded. “Who did this to us? What gave them the right!”

 

[Mark Chance]

"Amtorians can live on Venus," the program says, "but their sky cities' fuel supply was running low, and they had no way to resupply; therefore, the Amtorians required a new world, and Earth is the closest habitable planet. As for exiting the shelter, you get out the same way you entered: through the door."

The program pauses.

"If, Sofia, by 'this' you mean your current situation and transformation, the answer is the Titans. I have no data on what gave the Titans the authority to implement the plan."

 

[VLAD the Destroyer]

"And why would the Titans do this? What do they gain by stopping this invasion?"

Charlie looks at the others.

"Do you know how many of the other bunkers had survivors?"

 

[Mark Chance]

"The Titans have lost their original homeworld to the Amtorians," the program says. "Once we surface, I can attempt to re-establish communications."

 

[jmucchiello]

"How long until we resurface?" Jennifer asks.

 

[Mark Chance]

"Immediately, if you wish," the program says. "Please stand within the circle while I reconfigure the shelter."

A glowing circle about 10 feet across near the center of the floor starts to pulse.

 

[tglassy]

Gabriel finished off his food. To everyone else, he seemed indifferent to the news that they’d spent 10 years asleep. He just kept eating.

But eating helped him think. It gave him something to control. It kept him from freaking out on the surface.

He had wings. And he felt good. Better than he ever had before. As he moved his fork to his mouth, he noticed his bicep. It was solid. Much more than it had been the (relative) day before.

And that wasn’t all. His stomach was smaller, he could tell. He had this fire inside him, a burning he couldn’t explain. Not a painful one, but a powerful one.

“There’s not much we can learn sitting down here,” he said as he finished his food. He stood and headed for the circle, slightly surprised at his confidence. He felt...in control, for the first time in his life. Like he WAS strong enough to handle things. It felt...it felt good. Even if he was shirtless.

He entered the circle and looked at the others. “You coming?”

 

[jmucchiello]

Jennifer gets up and stands in the circle, "C'mon, let's get this over with."

 

[VLAD the Destroyer]

"Well then let's get going and see how screwed we are.

Charlie walks into the circle. As he does the black fog begins to pool around him and lick up his legs.

 

[Mark Chance]

The program says, "But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we'll not fail. Macbeth, Act One, scene seven."

 

[KahlessNestor]

New Falls, Washington
1972/Morning

Sofia eyed the glowing circle warily. But if they’d been down here ten years...her little sister would be around...her age now! Now she was getting a headache.

“What are we going to find up there?” Sofia asked, stepping into the circle and joining the others. “Are our families still there?”

 

[jmucchiello]

"I doubt she knows," Jennifer says to Sofia. "Okay, we're in the circle. Now what?"

 

[Mark Chance]

"Now," says the program, "we save your world."

The light from the circle flares, turning into translucent cylinder surrounding the students.

"Initiate nano-reconstruction."

The shelter shimmers, briefly appearing to be thousands of cubes which fragment into thousands of cubes. The table, chairs, and food vanish. The walls disassemble and reassemble farther away, more than doubling the size of the shelter. Other walls appear along with doors and furniture. The space around the column becomes a circular room. The ceiling rises, and stairs spiral around the central room, leading up to a second floor.

"Nano-reconstruction complete. Time to surface."

The floor vibrates as the column of light and the glowing circle disappear. The students can feel the movement upward. After a bit more than a minute, sensation of movement stops. One wall of the circular room seems made of smoky glass, smooth and dark, about four feet high and six feet wide.

"Display exterior view."

The smoky glass flickers and an impossible scene appears on it.