This fanfic is based off Eric Flint's books and his Assiti shard idea. XD Which I doubt he'd mind, since people write fanfics on his stories all the time, although usually not combining with other things… eh, whatever. Basically, for those of you who haven't read 1632 (read it!) the Assiti are a race that fancies their 'sopilist amusements with the fabric of spacetime'. Basically, they created sculptures out of the spacetime continuum. And were quite oblivious to the damage the shards of their sculptures, little free floating pieces of spacetime, did to the rest of the universe.
This is the story of one of those shards…
It was the year 31XX. The sky was a sickly green, marred by tremendous dark clouds that spiked with horrific lightnings. A scouring wind swept across a sere, barren landscape. Strange plants opened needle sharp flowers to the sun, and were pollinated by equally strange creatures with dozens of wings. Truly, the Earth was no longer fit for human beings… but it had no need to be. No human beings lived there.
A woman leaned back against a blasted, battered chunk of metal. Where had it come from? She spent an idle moment musing on the question. A hovercar, a Maverick, an alien attack ship? One of her own attack ships? Who could tell, exactly? She liked to fancy it was her own. One of the ships she had piloted with her mind, during the alien invasion and attempt to… alien-form the planet. Not terraform, but to change the planet into their alien template. They had mostly succeeded in that attempt. She watched an alien bug skitter by, followed closely by a cat, who caught it under one paw and ate it. They had interrupted that alien-form process and natural selection had decided what lived and what died. The mix of alien and human beasts and plants pleased her, in a strange way. She'd always approved of natural selection, confident that she would be among the chosen. She smiled and tapped her piece of metal, then smiled again as a dozen little flowers turned to look at her, a splash of glorious color. They were alien things, but very sweet, capable of uprooting themselves and slowly walking to a place with better conditions. These ones stayed where they were… she regularly watered them out of her ration, and they repaid her with attention if not love. And they reproduced quite regularly, which was good, since they were eaten just as regularly by everything from rabbits to blue-furs.
The woman sighed, and flipped open a small hand-held mirror, examining herself. Long golden hair had been pulled back with an old, faded red ribbon. Her face wasn't beautiful, but it was handsome. A bit too masculine for a woman, perhaps, but she hadn't always been a woman. Her brilliant blue eyes had never changed and it was a pleasure to see them, one of the few constants in her long life. Her t-shirt was white, and dirty, but still had a red, square smiling face on the front… it looked like it was smirking. She smiled wistfully, remembering the ancient Bon Jovi video she had taken it from. No one else understood the reference.
"Zero?" A voice called, and she sighed, dragging herself to her feet. A figure cautiously loped over the ground, keeping an eye out for predators. He was a young man with short, bright green hair and amber eyes. He was carrying her supplies for the week… packs of food, water, and batteries to power her few appliances.
"Thank you," she said with a genuinely grateful smile. She really appreciated the effort they were going to too make her comfortable. Zero had asked that they not fly all the way in to her little house, because it disturbed her flowers, and they had acceded to her wish.
None of the other inmates in this prison would have gotten that treatment. All of Earth had become a prison, for dangerous and incorrigible criminals… and a few oddballs like herself. She had deliberately chosen to come here in preference to several much better placements. Something about the thought of returning to Earth had called to her. She'd been made here, expected to die here, and enjoyed serving her time here. Although the attitude of the wardens took a bit of the fun out of it. She'd pleasantly anticipated standing up to them… dealing with hardened criminals, they weren't noted for kindness to their charges. But her reputation had gone before her and they'd treated her like a mentally ill matron. Like Zero was to be respected, but gently pitied and treated with extreme courtesy. She'd even tried to make trouble a few times, just for kicks, but their gentle admonishments had taken the fun right out of it.
Zero took the packs from the boy, and gave him a gentle pat on the cheek, making him blush. She'd slept with him a few times, just for variety. There were normally orders against that sort of thing, but no one was likely to enforce it when the subject was her. No one in their right mind would believe she had been forced into it, and everyone was willing to give the ancient hero the comforts she desired.
"Thank you," she said with another smile, and he smiled back before walking away to complete his rounds. Maybe he would come visit her later. Zero thought about it for a moment, then decided she would be receptive if he did. She was feeling a bit bored.
But it was time to water her flowers. She'd just opened the pack when-
There was a tremendous flash of light. With a small scream, she hit the ground and rolled, memories of a dozen wars flashing through her mind. She was being bombed-
No. No, that was ridiculous. Zero gradually calmed down, realizing that nothing had come with that flash of light. Except…
She slowly sat up, and tilted back her head, eyes widening in shock and disbelief. The sky was blue, and dotted with little fluffy clouds. A sky she hadn't seen in hundreds of years…
"What happened?" She gasped out, but there was no one to answer.
It didn't take her long to work up the courage to check out her new environment. She hadn't gotten where she was by being a shrinking violet. She quickly gathered up her food and water packs, giving the flowers one last sprinkle before she walked away. She took only one of the battery packs, storing the others. She wasn't going to carry her appliances, so the batteries would be of limited utility, but who knew what she might use them for? They were crude technology, designed to be manufactured at minimum cost in harsh environments. Perfect for Earth.
There were no sounds as she walked across the dry landscape. Apparently, all the beasts had been frightened witless by the flash. She didn't really blame them.
Zero halted as she saw a wall ahead of her. It wasn't the usual, force field enclosure she had lived in… an enclosure designed to let wildlife travel freely, but stop her from leaving. No, this was a wall of… dirt. Where had it come from?
Her eyes widened as she saw the trees on the other side of the wall. She couldn't recognize most of them, but she was sure of one thing… they no longer existed. A lot of Terran species had died out in the chaos of alien/human competition, and few trees had fared well. Pines, mostly, and her people had managed to save maples and most fruit trees with dedicated effort. But these were other things… she fumbled a moment, then managed to name a few. Maple, beech, oak…
Zero hesitated for a moment, then jumped easily over the wall. The edge almost crumpled under her feet, and she realized, to her surprise, that nothing was really holding that wall together but surface tension. Glancing back, she saw that her slice of arid scrub desert had been fitted into a dissimilar landscape like a blob of jam being stuffed into a cookie. The edges didn't match, creating the wall… in some places, her landscape was higher, and the wall was on the other side.
Tilting her head to one side, she tried to imagine what could have caused this. Twisted spacetime? A bizarre tunnel drive accident?
Shrugging, she slung her packs over one shoulder and set off into the ancient, Earthly landscape with a pleased smile.
It had been years since she had enjoyed an adventure.
For a while, Zero walked, just savoring the cool, moist air. She had been in the desert so long, a temperate forest was very unusual. They still existed on the Earth she was used to, of course, but full of alien trees and a bizarre mix of fauna. She would have sworn this place was authentic old Earth. It certainly seemed very familiar.
Finally, though, the surroundings became a bit boring. So she worked herself into a good run, dashing through the trees. If someone else had been watching, they would have been stunned by her speed… and more stunned how her blue flames sometimes shot from the bottom of her feet. But they would have recognized the existence of a dash system, even if they wouldn't have understood how she could have it.
Her hair flowed behind her like a river of gold, and she laughed. It had been a very long time since she had done this…
Behind her, Zero never noticed a tiny, ambulatory flower climbing over the spliced together landscape. Finding cool, wet ground full of lovely nutrients, it immediately screwed itself into the new world it had been given.
"My god," she mumbled softly, looking around with wide eyes. She'd finally reached a settlement… a city.
It was like stepping back in time. The streets were full over hoverbikes and hovercars, humans and Reploids were everywhere, and strangest of all, Zero recognized this place. It was Earthsaver III, and tears suddenly filled her eyes. Not because of the ruin the city had become, but because of what had happened in those ruins…
Sniffing softly, she wiped her eyes, then started to walk slowly through the streets. Zero couldn't help but ogle some of the Reploids and humans she saw along the way. Both species were almost unknown, in 31XX. How could they be here? How could any of this be here? Had she somehow been sent through time?
Zero glanced at a newspaper vending machine, and stopped, shocked. Slowly, she read the date, and looked at the picture on the front. It was 21XX, and the picture was…
"Me." She said softly. "The way I used to be…" When she had been male, her armor had been red, and her beam saber feared by Mavericks. Zero vaguely remembered what it had been like to be only male. A long time ago, she'd been force transferred to a female body as an emergency measure to keep her alive. That had started the slide into loss of sexual identity, and when she had gotten her newest body, she hadn't been able to resist playing with the metamorphosis abilities. Being female had slowly become more comfortable…
Zero shook her head, amazed, then suddenly stiffened and checked the date again. She gasped, feeling like she had been punched in the gut. HE would still be here, still alive!
She took off running, dashing easily through the streets and ignoring the cries of surprise and alarm behind her. She had a mission now, and it needed to be completed right away. Who knew how much time she had?
She was amazed at how accurate and clear her memory of this place was. She had spent a long time with amnesia, during the time of Neo Arcadia, before finally regaining all her memory. She still hadn't expected that she would be able to navigate Earthsaver III after a thousand years, but it seemed she could. All the streets, the stores, the potted flowers and trees were so achingly familiar…
Maverick Hunter HQ was precisely where she expected to find it. The building was so familiar, it hurt her heart to see. She hesitated, then slowly stepped inside.
"Gods, just the way I remember it… down to the rookies." She mumbled to herself, skirting some of the youngsters hovering around. They gave her peculiar looks, but to her relief, Zero didn't recognize any of them. Now how was she going to find HIM in this mess? One option was just to walk through the halls, but that would get her questioned and kicked out in short order. What was left?
An idea suddenly occurred to her, and she grinned wickedly, looking around for a candidate.
A green Reploid happened to walk into the lobby at that moment, probably on his way outside for Twinkies, if she recalled his habits correctly. Douglas loved the little cream stuffed pastries. But there was something else he loved more, something he could very rarely attract… she sauntered slowly towards him, smiling lazily.
"Hello, Douglas," she purred softly, startling him.
"Hello… do I know you?" He said, confused but hesitantly smiling.
"After a fashion. I met you in a conference at New York?" She lied easily, confident that he would have been in a conference there at some point. And even if he hadn't, there was no way in the world he'd remember that for certain. Douglas was more than a little absent minded about things like that.
They chattered for a few moments, Zero convincingly imitating a young girl. It took some effort not to reveal his knowledge of things he shouldn't know, and sometimes Douglas mentioned technical things that went completely past her, but she had perfected the art of smiling and nodding a long time ago. Finally, she found the opening she wanted.
"Could you show me around?" She said innocently. If she was lucky, he would be here and she would find him. If not, then she would have to continue charming Douglas and use him to hang around the HQ long enough to find him. If things hadn't been so important to her past self, Zero might have felt a little guilty about that. As it was, she wasn't going to waste any emotion on it.
Linking her arm with Douglas', they walked through Hunter HQ. Douglas seemed very, very pleased that she was willing to hold his hand and the rest of the HQ was certainly startled. She grinned to herself as the third person passing by gave them a peculiar look. Douglas poor luck with ladies was well known.
Douglas took her into the lounge, and Zero stiffened as her gaze fell on a familiar boy playing a video game on the couch. He glanced up at them, and smiled brightly.
"Hi Douglas! Wow, who is this?" Axl bounced to his feet, holding out a hand to her. "Hi, I'm Axl." Zero smiled, shaking his head.
"I'm Rose." She said smoothly. The name amused her… spelt with a z instead of an s, it was an anagram for her real name. She glanced around the lounge. There was no one else there, but this area was very open… she needed somewhere more secluded. "I'm curious… does Hunter HQ have a garden?" If her memories were correct, it did, and it wasn't much used. Axl beamed at her, obviously attracted, and Zero almost grinned at Douglas' unhappy expression. He was afraid Axl was going to poach his prize. If only he knew… "I'll show you!" Axl dashed ahead, energetic as always, and Zero gently patted Douglas arm, giving him a reassuring smile. That relaxed him slightly. She would have preferred to gently sluff him off, but she couldn't see any way to do that graciously. It would be easy enough to quiet him, anyway.
"Here it is," Axl said cheerfully. "Isn't it nice?" Zero glanced around, and felt a disturbing wave of nostalgia and homesickness. This was the flora of Earth, flowers that had died out so long ago almost no one knew their names anymore. Roses, lilies, marigolds…
Zero sighed wistfully, then abruptly pulled away from Douglas and punched him in the head. It was a carefully calculated blow, but she still winced as she felt his armor crumple under her fist. She was so much stronger, and it had been so long, that it was hard to judge the durability of these ancient Reploids. Axl was just turning when she seized him by the throat, dragging him and Douglas out of sight behind a shrub.
"Wha…?" Axl choked in her merciless grip, drawing both his guns and firing them point blank into her chest. His eyes went wide as saucer plates as her shirt shredded but her body suffered only light burns. Zero grimaced, realizing she'd have a problem when she tried to leave, if she didn't want to get stopped for flashing her boobs at the world. She briefly wished she could go back to her male form, but that would take a day and then her pants wouldn't fit.
"Sorry Axl. Believe me, this is for the best… although it's going to hurt." She muttered in his ear, then her fingers dug sharply into the underside of his jaw, little tendrils ripping easily through the soft, vulnerable area. She pinned Axl to her body with her other arm as he shuddered, going limp as her tendrils hit his spinal column and took over his bodily functions. If she'd wanted to, she could have manipulated him like a puppet. But that was the last thing on her mind.
"Lumine, Lumine… come out, you bastard…" She muttered, to herself and a little to Axl, who could hear her quite clearly even if he couldn't move and react. His green eyes blinked, and he managed to look surprised and confused despite the pain. Then he stiffened with an agonized sound as she found what she was looking for… and it responded.
Who…? The shocked voice was like a thought to Axl, but not his own thought, and Zero heard it quite clearly. She bared her teeth in an expression no one in their right mind would call a smile.
"Your doom." She began methodically infecting Axl with her own defensive systems. The powerful counter virii and brutally strong programs could operate on his foreign system because of her connection to him. She had interfaced with him, networked him, and he was part of her. If she had tried to copy the programs to him, they would certainly have failed… her processing power was far beyond Axl's. But she could run them from herself on him.
The struggle that followed was furious, but brief. Lumine's download to Axl was dramatically outmatched. She grinned as she uprooted it, then blinked as her systems informed her…
"Oh, how clever. I don't think so." In desperation, Lumine had secreted an easter egg into Axl's data copying before she'd destroyed him. If she left that, it would eventually hatch… although she doubted it would be as large or interesting as the bigger download she'd just destroyed. Zero hesitated a moment, considering the DNA copying centres. They were well understood in her time, and were part of her systems, although they were under a kind of peace bond to prevent her from using them. She would have to remove that soon… but with Axl's systems, there was another problem. Because of the crude yet powerful prototype system, and her own incompatibilities, she couldn't isolate the individual data. There was only one way to get rid of it. "Sorry Axl. You'll have to start over… but I'll give you a boost." She bit her lip, and forced a purge of Axl's entire DNA archives. Axl's eyes widened in horror as he realized what she had just done… then blinked as she gave him a new piece of DNA data, downloading it directly to his copying centre. There was a faint, unpleasant sucking sound as she unplugged her tendrils from him. Axl almost collapsed, but Zero held him up until his legs steadied.
"Who… who are you?" He asked hoarsely, stepping back and rubbing his throat. She considered the question, then shrugged.
"Rose. That's as much the truth as anything… but I'm not an enemy. If I hadn't done that, Lumine would eventually have taken you over and turned you against all your friends, keeping you a captive in your own mind." Axl's eyes widened again, but he nodded, swallowing hard. He'd heard the voice and felt what she had done, and he knew it was nothing but the truth. "Eventually, Zero would have killed you and your last words…" Her voice broke, dampness filling her eyes. "W-would have been… thank you." She could still remember that horrible scene, like it had been yesterday. There had been so much blood, that poor, tattered body in her arms… and the green eyes, already glazing over, looking up at him as he spoke… Axl swallowed again, horrified. He couldn't doubt the sincerity in her voice. Zero took a deep breathe, getting herself under control… then grimaced as she noticed Axl's was having trouble keeping his gaze from straying.
"Kids," she muttered, and Axl flushed, realizing he'd been caught looking at the remains of her shirt. "Axl, I need to leave. Can you get me a shirt?" She crossed her arms over her chest, hiding her assets.
"Why… do you need to leave? If you're not an enemy…" Axl asked almost timidly. It was a strange thing, from him, but she'd just put him through a painful and shocking experience. Zero thought about it, and suddenly grinned.
"Oh, I'll be back in a month or two. But now that I've done what's important, I have a few plans about what to do… and how to make Sigma cry like a little girl," she said wickedly. Zero honestly did have plans that would make Sigma spasm and wish her dead. Her knowledge of ancient history included some truly wonderful tidbits that would be useful as hell. Axl looked puzzled, but nodded.
"Alright…" He dashed off, and Zero kneeled down beside Douglas, checking him. She shook her head, realizing that she really had hurt him badly. He'd survive, but he would need some pretty extensive repairs and might have some minor memory loss.
She looked up as Axl returned with a shirt, and took it with a smile, quickly putting it on. "You better get Douglas to the infirmary… tell him I'm sorry for that, if he remembers me." Short term memory would be most affected, so he might not.
Axl hesitated, then watched her walk out. She'd earned that much from him, even if she'd hurt Douglas… he shuddered as he remembered that familiar voice in his mind. They had all suspected Lumine had done something to him, but the scans had come up blank. Now, if Rose was to be trusted, he didn't need to worry anymore…