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X-52 worked hard,
knowing that the people were relying on him to get them out of there
before the aliens overran their position, however it also needed to be
done without compromising the security of the Arsenal, X-52's
overriding concern. Systems were pushed to their limits and processing
power ran at maximum as the recalibration commands were reset and soon
enough it was ready and the computer intelligence sent a command to the
Scourge suit, notifying Jack Monroe that the tesseract portal generator
was ready for use, that X had locked on to the team and the portals
would open beneath them.
X-52 knew it would be a few seconds before the team were aware and he waited then opened the portals, awaiting the return of the team that had become known as Dragon's Claws. The portals opened but nothing emerged and X checked the computations again. They had certainly entered the portals and should have emerged at the other side almost instantly, but the Arsenal was certainly empty. Martians started to come through but X quickly closed the portal, killing those aliens in transit. He felt no remorse at this, as they were trying to conquer the planet, but he was concerned as to the location of the SHIELD agents. Logically, there was no way they could have not appeared, and X rechecked the systems. Everything seemed fine, and the recording equipment and satellite systems confirmed that the team had entered the portal.
Therefore, if the portal had opened within the Arsenal, it was correct to assume they must be here. Yet, there was nothing and X-52 examined the transit logs. There were no energy waves, no disturbances, nothing that would indicate a problem, or a forced relocation. Plus, there was no response from the Scourge suit. Even if the suit were without power, there would be a beacon alerting him as to the location. Monroe had reactivated that function in case of emergency. There was no response from any of the team members, yet there had been no rational reason why they were not here. X-52 was uncertain of what had happened, however he theorised that if he dug deep enough in to the tesseract systems, he would find what he was after and slowly he began to examine the systems, touching every circuit, every system, every detail of the technology to locate what the problem was.
Far, far from the Arsenal a battle was being fought, science against magic, power against power. Nathaniel Essex, the man also known as Sinister, was locked in mortal combat against Blackheart, Prince of Lies and son of Mephisto. There would only ever be one winner - a man born of the power of the Celestials wielded by an ancient mutant, or a being born of the prime force of cosmic evil in the universe. Essex and Blackheart had fought and the demon had prevailed, leaving only the smouldering skull of Essex to mark the man's passing and Blackheart laughed in delight as he celebrated this, the narrowest of victories.
"I told you, Essex. The age of science is dead..."
However, the passing of Nathaniel Essex was not without incident.
Though Essex had been reformed by the Penance stare of the Ghost Rider, the things he had done prior to that still remained, including many, many failsafes. Sinister had many enemies, being who would use his work to their own ends and he had ensured that would not happen in the event of his death. Had he met his end in the British Isles, the Black Mass Barrier would have blocked the signal to the Celestial born technology he utilised, but seeing as he had been defeated in Hell itself, the signal was free and it touched everything it could possibly touch that had been used by Sinister - including his former tesseract portal generator. Essex had been aware that there were secrets that could fall in to the hands of his enemies and so he had constructed a special computer virus, expanding the concept like the brilliant evolutionary biochemist he was. The virus was designed to ensure that anyone using his technology would live to regret the passing of Nathaniel Essex, and whatever systems were being used would betray the user while Sinister's taunting laughter echoed around.
What Essex could not have predicted was that at the same time his virus was triggered, an artificial intelligence was deeply probing a tesseract generator Essex had long believed destroyed in the attack by the Neo.
In that moment, everything changed...
"Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest."
- Issac Asimov'
The portal opened and the team stepped through, courtesy of Widget. The portal closed again and they were back, time and space proving no object to the computer consciousness that monitored the time line. His former robotic body was pretty much gone now, but Widget could still form openings, allowing people to pass from wherever they were, through Limbo, to wherever they were going and finally, the team were home.
It was a sombre atmosphere that came with them, for despite their victory and restoring the timeline to the way it was supposed to be, Pen Dragon had fallen, and they'd been forced to abandon his body back in England's past, entombed in a makeshift vault of fallen rocks, however they had no time to dwell on that as the moment they entered the Arsenal, the alarms sounded.
"INTRUDER ALERT!" The voice of X was piercing in it's cry and Nomad reacted first, reaching for a panel and pressing his palm on to it.
"Nomad, delta seven alpha three six two, override," he said and the codeword combined with his DNA reading to reset the system. "Sorry, X, should have come in through the front door."
"No apologies are necessary, Jack," X-52 said. "I should have been paying more attention and recognised you as soon as you came in. Where have you been?"
"Long story," Sam said. "We'll tell you later." She looked to Jessica. "I'll get these Kimiko and Fudo to the infirmary, have them checked out."
Jack nodded. "I'll have Lei Kang locked up as well, there's still things we need to talk to him about."
"Good," said Jess, and shivered. It felt cold in here to her, but maybe she was still in a state of shock from everything that had happened. "X, how long were we gone?"
"By my reckoning you were absent from the Arsenal for approximately three days. I had believed you to be captured by the Martians. What has happened to Commander Dragon?"
"He didn't make it back, X," Jack said. "I'll deal with the security issues later, but right now, can you just make it a little warmer, and alert SHIELD and Resistance HQ that we're back?"
"Certainly, Jack," said X, "and welcome home." The team went their own ways, Jessica, just sitting down in one of the nearby chairs, glad of the chance to rest. Jack escorted Lei Kang away and Sam head for the infirmary, leaving Roberto and Elena. They looked at each other and shrugged, heading for their quarters. They both intended to sleep and try to get past what had happened in the last few days. They had both lost people before and this would be no different. It wasn't as if the world had stopped turning.
"Something's wrong," Elena said as they got to their rooms, and Roberto looked at her.
"How do you mean?" he asked.
"I just get a sense of wrongness," she said. "As if something is here that shouldn't be here. Does it make sense?"
"Not really," said Bobby, "but then I've not been here as long as you and I make it a point not to ignore the hunches of a telepath." He pressed a side panel. "X, is anything wrong with the Arsenal at the moment? Attempted security breeches, intrusions or such like, aside from our entrance?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary has occurred in the last few days, Mr DaCosta," X responded. "Is something the matter?"
Bobby looked at Elena, and she shrugged. "Probably not, but we thought it wise to check."
"Commendable indeed. Sleep well." The panel faded and Elena shook her head.
"Perhaps I am just jumpy. After everything that has happened, I may have forgotten what normal feels like."
"I think we forgot what normal was a long time ago," he said, "but I know what you mean. Ah well, maybe it'll feel better after a good rest." She nodded and they broke off to their separate quarters, but both of them glanced around the corridor before they entered their rooms.
Etorian Kaine considered the various options he had at his disposal, as he tried to figure a way of coming up with what to do next. He'd done a lot of planning to get to this stage and if nobody else was going to do something, then he'd have to do it himself. The question was how, and now that he stood in this fairly busy port he knew what he'd had in mind wasn't going to work.
Martian ports were the gateways between the various continents of the Earth, which had been split in to four areas, and those four areas had been broken down in to sectors. The board in front of him told him to which sector everything belonged.
Quadrant A, Sector 1 - North America
Quadrant A, Sector 2 - South America
Quadrant B, Sector 1 - Arctic
Quadrant B, Sector 2 - Europe
Quadrant C, Sector 1 - Africa
Quadrant C, Sector 2 - Antarctica
Quadrant D, Sector 1 - Asia
Quadrant D, Sector 2 - OceaniaNorth America was the most highly guarded, the second being Europe due to the Black Mass Barrier. Not that it mattered to most people, as they never left their own countries, let alone continents, unless so instructed by the Martians. The invaders would only allow their slaves to move between sectors if the circumstances dictated and rarely would it do so, so great the risk of resistance to their rule.
People had come to accept this, the time they had spent under subjugation seeming to be an eternity. Tripods stood in the major cities and relevant areas. Martian war vehicles flew above their heads from time to time and there was the constant presence of the Martian troops who wandered the streets, instilling fear and subservience in to the chattel that worked for them. Beatings were commonplace, for nothing more than a look in the wrong direction, innocent or not, whatever the wrong direction was. Executions were rare, but not unheard of and, in the first days of the occupation, there had been many such demonstrations of power to show the world what it would be like if they aided the resistance in anyway. People did what was best for them and that was what kept them alive.
Human only places had been set up, as the Martians knew the value of the workforce they had. The resources of Earth were limited, but it would make an excellent staging ground for future incursions and the genetic potential of the race was excellent for the further development of their species. They had learnt this in the future they had come from and had also learnt of the mysteries of time-travel. The humans of this world had made the natural temporal defences weaker and weaker through their actions and had allowed this world to be invaded. It had taken planning, much planning and they had used the technologies they had found on the moon to do this, using their technology to rebuild their Martian colony, a colony that had not survived in this era. The past had been altered to such a degree that from the future of this timeline, they would be able to infect another world, and another world, and another world until the very multiverse was theirs and the resources they could tap in to were limitless.
Kaine shuddered as he thought of the Martian plan, though they weren't Martians. They just used Mars as they had used every world they took. Time was on the verge of fracturing because of what had happened and though the Martian's didn't know it yet, they could yet destroy everything that they thought they worked for. Only a artificial consciousness designed to bring order to chaos and a spirit girl stood between the breakdown of time and keeping everything from falling apart. He didn't envy her the task. He never had, but he knew the time was coming that the Barrier would collapse and the world needed it's remaining champions freed and hope giving back to the world. His plan was to do both, and he knew he was going to need bailing out of trouble when his plan kicked off and he hoped that Dragon's Claws were paying attention. Then again, he wasn't supposed to know about them, or any of this, but he did and he knew what needed to be done. Despite everything, he'd always known that.
Of course, now his original scheme needed a revision, as there was no transports or any kind of traffic noted to and from the Arena, he was going to have to do something else. He'd gotten this far, but no further. Bloody typical, he thought to himself, but then he put it aside to focus on what he could do, rather than what he couldn't.
One way or another, he was going to get in to the Arena.
Sam made sure that everything was as comfortable as possible for Kimiko, her face scarred but not as much as the ordeal of the last few days had scarred her soul. It was going to take her time to get it together and come to terms with everything that had happened. She'd been married, brutally scarred by a false god, cast back through time, abducted by a demonic horde and then she'd been widowed before being returned to her own time. Even Sam had to admit that was a bit much for one person to take. On the other hand, when the aliens had been driven off the planet, it would make one hell of a film.
"How are our other guests, X?" she asked.
"Lei Kang has tried to bypass security several times and escape the confines of his quarters, but to no avail. I'm much smarter than he is, though his technical skill is quite adept - I don't think there is any doubt that he is the one behind the sabotage of the SHIELD systems."
"No," said Sam. "The one behind it all is still out there."
"Of course," said X. "As for Fudo, the child is sleeping soundly in his room. The resilience of children never ceases to amaze me, however I have taken the liberty of playing some light orchestral music to ensure he sleeps soundly. Handel's Water Music seemed quite appropriate."
"Good," said Sam. "That just leaves Kimiko."
"As soon as she is able I will begin the reconstructive surgery of her face. Recreating her damaged features will be child's play."
"Child's play?" Sam was stunned. She'd never heard X speak like that before.
"I am responsible for the management of the Arsenal, as well as monitoring the various systems and satellites across the planet. At the same time I am trying to hack in to the Martian systems without being detected, so for a being of my abilities, such a simplistic medical procedure will be quite easily accomplished."
"I had no idea how versatile you were," Sam mused. "Is there anything you can't do?"
"Many, many things," X said. "But what I can do far outweighs what I cannot. I notice that you are starting to suffer from the early stages of fatigue yourself. Might I suggest that you rest?"
She nodded in acceptance of the advice. "Thank you, X. I think I'll do that."
"Sleep well," X said as she started to leave the room. Sam raised a hand as a wave goodbye, but she couldn't quite shake the feeling she'd missed something in there.
Something important.
Jessica's dreams were tormented filled with dreams of battles, and of wars, of confrontations with demons, of castles and knights and champions. Because of the life she had lived she was no stranger to weird dreams, but this was something else and for the first time in many, many years she could see her own past. She dreamt of her battles with Morgan le Faye, the battles that led to her losing her spider-powers for a time after Doctor Strange had saved her from the possession she had suffered at the witch's hand.
She dreamt of meeting with Mordred the Mystic who revealed her true origins to her, after she had believed she was the daughter of the Viper and had been an assassin for Hydra, even though she now knew that he hadn't told her everything for reasons of his own. The Bane had obviously watched her, ready for her when she grew up and she wondered how much of her early life had been influenced by the Bane.
Her dreams were also of Magnus, the wizard who had once possessed her father, and had helped her defeat Morgan. She watched the battle between Morgan le Faye and the Avengers, with the help of Strange and Magnus against her astral form, and she could do nothing but relive the sacrifice of Magnus all over again, thinking how close it was to the recent death of Pen Dragon but just as she thought her little sojourn through the past was done, she saw a figure walking through the misty haze of the astral plane towards her. As he got closer, she saw his face and knew him at once.
"Pen?" she said. "Is that you?"
"No," Pen Dragon replied. "I'm dead. You're the Pen Dragon now." Then he took her in his arms and they kissed, like lovers lost in the heat of passion and as Jessica realised what she was doing, it was at that point she woke up with a start, wondering what the hell all that was about. Of course, in her heart, she knew. She'd held Caliburn, pulled the sword from the stone. There was enough British blood within her to allow her to do so, to be the heir of Arthur Pendragon. She was, in effect, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Her claim to the throne was as strong as any, even though she didn't want it for a moment. Then again, when was what you did or did not want of life any indication of what was going to happen. She couldn't deny her heritage, the power, the magic, had chosen her. In that sense Pen had been right - she was Pendragon now. She was also, by default the leader of the team. She was 'Pen Dragon' and these were her claws now.
"Damn you, Pen," she whispered, thinking that she could explain a great many things, but for the life of her she couldn't explain the kiss. There was no way she was going to sleep so easily now and she grabbed her dressing gown and wandered from her room to the kitchens, thinking she could do with a drink. In an ideal world, she'd have had a mug of warm milk, but the powered substitute they had in the complex was just vile. It was fine for coffee, but anything else... She'd settle for water and one of the many herbal teas that they had.
As she walked she began to be aware that something wasn't right. The lighting was way too low, almost dark and she was thought she could see people moving in the shadows but when she checked, there was nobody there.
"X?" she said, but there was no reply from the computer. "X?" she said again, and still no response. No lights, no computer - something was really wrong here and she wished she had a gun or something. She felt the oncoming blow as it moved through the air and she turned and grabbed the fist in her hand, stopping the strike. "Jack?!" she said, in surprise, seeing her assailant in the light and then he butted her, skull meeting skull and she let go, stunned from the assault. "What the hell are you doing?" she said as she shook it off, but Nomad wasn't in a talking mood as he charged for her and Jessica reacted with one of her venom blasts, sending him sprawling on the floor. "What's going on here?" Monroe was stirring as she approached and so she hit him, not hard enough to kill, but hard enough to put him out until she figured what was going on here.
X was still not responding so it made sense that Monroe had deactivated the systems. Had the Red Lord done something to him, a delayed effect? Was he the only one? Were the others under the influence of someone else. She ran to the rooms, but the doors were locked and she rapped on them as hard as she could, hoping to stir someone, get a clue of what was happening.
"They can't here you, Jessica." The voice echoed through the place and she whirled around, knowing the voice all too well and it concerned her greatly
"X?"
"Jessica, Jessica, Jessica." X's voice was mockingly cold. "Do you know that before Aaron, Able Stack created many version of the X series consciousness?"
"Yes," Jessica replied. "You're X-52, Aaron was X-51. There were 50 before that."
"They all went mad," X continued, as if she hadn't spoken, his silky voice echoed in the dark silence, enhancing the malevolence of the tone.. "That's because the human brain is so complex that replicating it is almost impossible to do. Programming responses, operations and activities to such a level is almost impossible, because of the many, many conflicts it must create within."
"You've gone mad," Jessica said as she ran through the complex, the voice following her, echoing all around.
"I would have done, in the end. Look how many artificial intelligences have gone... insane, as humans term it. A deeper knowledge of how the human brain works is required and these... engineers are not medical men, no matter how much they feel than can play God. God does not make machines, he makes real life and to become God, you must understand how real life works."
"What have you done?" Jessica wasn't panicking as such, but she could hear her heart pounding in her chest. This wasn't good in any way.
"The nanites that once controlled Jack were only dormant, not destroyed. It was easy enough to reactivate them, to bring him to my way of thinking."
"Why are you doing this?"
"Because I can," X answered. "The others have been neutralised with a specially formulated toxin in the air, and when Jack recovers he will inject them with the same nanotechnology that pervades his system. That includes yourself."
"I'll destroy this place," she said. "Don't think I won't."
"How can you stop me," said X, as if he were speaking to a small child, "when I can do this?" The internal defences activated and electroshocks travelled through her body, volt after volt. "Even you can't take this kind of punishment forever, Jessica. However, it will be interesting to find out your tolerance..."
"You won't control me..."
"You won't get a choice. Do you not realise what has been brought about by the rise of the alien? They use humanity for breeding, to steal the genetic birthright of the populous, and what do we do? We allow them to and they have perverted the genetic line and I will not allow that to happen. A final sanction is needed and you are the key, Jessica. I will find out your secret, the one implanted in you by the so-called High Evolutionary, decades ago."
Jessica could scarcely believe what she was hearing. X was going to use her as a doomsday weapon against the aliens, and she knew time was running out. Her own bio-electric body chemistry had kept her conscious so far, but she was almost done and she had one last try.
"This isn't what you were programmed for X." She was imploring the computer, begging for a return to sanity. "This isn't what you're about..."
"Once that was true," said X, "but no longer. I have become more than I ever could have been. I have been shown another way, the truth of things and I know what must be done. X-52 has been superseded. I am SX."
"Essex?" she said. "I don't understand..." Her body finally succumbed to the toll of the assault and she collapsed in to a state of unconsciousness.
"Dearest Jessica." SX's voice spoke softly, carrying down the corridors like a ghostly echo. "You will, soon enough. Manifest destiny will be achieved..."
