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The Case of the Almost Apocalypse
"Each of these threats has the potential to destroy civilization and render the Earth largely uninhabitable by human beings," -the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
“The probability of apocalypse soon cannot be realistically estimated, but it is surely too high for any sane person to contemplate with equanimity.” -Noam Chomsky
Amelia Watson’s Private Detective Agency
Los Angles, California
November 5, 2019 (16 hours behind Tokyo time)
The Warden of Time snapped her fingers and the watch appeared in her hand. She displayed it clearly to make her point.
Kronii continued, “Amelia Watson, we need to have a talk.”
Amelia stepped forward to confront Kronii. Gura shyly receded to the back of the room.
Kronii pointed at the watch and explained, “What you have been holding in your hands is far more dangerous than all the nuclear stockpiles of the world. A single wrong move could change all of Earth’s history or even wipe out humanity itself.”
Kronii stated, “I am part of a small group that has been trying to assist humanity in surviving, but humanity keeps making this more challenging than it needs to be.”
Amelia had been so close to saving Gura’s mother that she had almost felt the dead woman’s still living hand. Watson’s inner sense of compassion and justice was wounded.
The Detective lashed out more spitefully than she meant to by stating, “So if you’re gods, why didn’t you just take care of this?”
The Warden of Time looked at the Detective with a look that combined hurt, pity and frustration of facing an accusation again. The tired look said it all.
Kronii explained, “We are not gods, nor are we just free to do as we please. I was born human just like you, as were two of my sisters.”
Amelia inquired, “So, you’re something ancient. Are you from Atlantis like Gura?”
Kronii answered, “I’m a Canadian from your era. Two of my sisters are modern Australians.”
Amelia squinted and asked, “So how old are you?”
Kronii informed, “I’m several billion years old, as are my sisters.”
Amelia inquired in disbelief, “So how does that work?” The whole thing struck the detective as some kind of elaborate lie.
Kronii answered, “We made our deal and took the positions created. Part of that was moving back in time and having our memories altered.”
Amelia countered, “That doesn’t really answer my question.”
Kronii pondered how to put it and stated, “You can think of it in anime terms. Three girls were offered a chance to save humanity.”
Kronii continued, “In taking the offer, we became something like magic girls on tv. The truth is that it was a much worse deal than any anime would make it out to be.”
Amelia asked, “So, you are all human?”
Kronii answered in some level of frustration, “No.”
“What does that mean?”
“Amelia, this isn’t what I’m here to talk about. I need you to be more careful with the watch. The watch’s alarms and safeties are there for a reason.”
The detective pressed on, “So why would you take a bad deal?”
Kronii looked at Amelia liked a teacher being pushed to the edge by an obnoxious student. She answered, “Because if you lose something important enough to you, you’ll agree to anything to get a second chance to get it back. Now back to the watch, you need to be more careful.”
The detective inquired, “What did you lose?”
Kronii paused and stated, “That’s none of your business.” The look she gave the detective was a mixture of ferocity and hurt.
The detective asked a different question, “So why are you blocking me from saving Gura’s mother?”
Kronii answered, “The fall of Atlantis was a barely averted Apocalypse. Humanity barely survived that day. Any minor change could destroy that hard fought outcome”.
Kronii continued, “Even if it doesn’t, that minor alteration might kill Gura. There is no timeline that exists that Amelia Watson and Gawr Gura aren’t best friends. Are you really willing to create a time paradox that kills your fated best friend?”
Amelia looked at the Warden of Time in disbelief. She asked, “How would you really know that?”
Kronii answered, “I’ve lived the past. Further, thanks to the watch you have visited other timelines and other dimensions where you have met other versions of yourself, Amelia. Don’t pretend what I’m talking about is outside of your experience.”
Amelia offered, “What if Gura decides she’s willing to risk it to save her mother?”
Kronii answered with authority, “I knew Gura’s mother personally, as did many members of Council. She would never be ok with her daughter putting herself at risk for her.”
“What’s Council?”
“Amelia, we aren’t going to talk about that.”
“Why are you acting like humanity is so easy to kill off? It doesn’t seem likely.”
Kronii looked at the detective and was just mad enough to answer, “Because humanity hasn’t survived yet. My sisters and I are still searching for the sacred timeline, the one in a million probably that humanity survives September 13th, 2022.”
Amelia’s face went pale. Gura tensed up in shock.
Kronii was frustrated and pissed off enough to enjoy it somewhat. The joy was short lived; she sensed a familiar presence.
A dimensional bubble appeared in the wall. A motherly voice rang out in maternal rage, “You had no right to scare her like that.”
A green-haired lady walked through the dimensional gate and into the office. She stared daggers into the Warden of Time…
An Unlucky Tourist’s Fortunate Night
"Death can sneak up on you like a silent kitten, surprising you with its touch..." -Hugh Elliott
"Success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure." -Earl Wilson
Mori Calliope Ch. hololive-EN
[MV] The Grim Reaper is a Live-Streamer - Calliope Mori
The Alley near a Nightclub
Tokyo, Japan
November 6, 2019 (16 hours ahead of LA time)
Two preternatural predators wove through the streets of Tokyo. Between them, a young lady was barely able to move or recognize where she was going.
Behind them, two other immortals followed. They shadowed the vampires as easily as if they followed them in broad daylight.
Neither shadows nor winding streets could stop them from stalking the bloodsuckers. Each had their own ability to detect where they were always.
Kiara asked, “Is her chance of surviving improving?”
Calli admitted, “It’s slipping as time goes on.”
Kiara observed, “If they are hauling food this far, the vampires have a nest.”
Calli offered, “We might have to sacrifice the woman’s life to find the nest.”
Kiara looked instantly offended. She said, “Don’t even joke about that, Calli.”
Calli reasoned, “It’s not a joke; they’re killing at least one human per vampire weekly. We could save dozens or even hundreds of lives if we use this person as bait.”
Kiara retorted, “There has to be a better way than letting someone we could save die.”
Calli stated, “You might need to see the bigger picture here, Kiara. You’d be trading one life for an unknown number of victims.”
Kiara looked shocked, that said, she explained it like she would have to troops she was leading. She stated, “It is one thing if a warrior volunteers to die for a cause. That’s just a helpless civilian who is about to die nightmarishly, because she was in the wrong place, at the wrong time.”
“We’re only able to have the option to save her, because we found them randomly. It could be weeks or even months, before we find members of the nest again in a city with forty-one million people.”
Kiara wondered, “What happened to all of those powers to detect things that Reapers were supposed to have?”
Calli admitted, “They severely dulled when I joined with this body. Further, if it were that easy, Reapers would have driven all the vampires extinct long ago.”
Kiara also admitted, “Phoenixes would have done the same if they could.”
Calli inquired, “So, what are we doing Kiara? That lady is significantly losing her chances of living as this drags on. They’re also likely to kill her, if they think they are being followed.”
Kiara said, “I’m not good with using someone as bait. If someone volunteered, I might be able to stomach it, but not like this.”
Calli asked, “Are you a good interrogator?”
Kiara stated, “Not really, I’m good at friendly conversation, but it’s not going to work here.”
Calli articulated, “So, we’re both really good at following and killing, but not everything we need to find and fix this issue.”
Kiara silently agreed. She was a fighter, not an investigator. Calli was the same.
The Reaper asked, “So do you know anyone who could help us with this?”
Kiara sadly admitted, “No, not on this world.”
Calli offered, “Her odds of survival are about to drastically drop as soon as they get deep into his next alleyway. It is now or never.”
Kiara offered, “I’ll get the one on the left and the victim. You can try making the one on the right talk.”
Calli responded, “That works.” In moments, both closed the roughly hundred-meter distance between them.
Calli smashed the vampire on the right up against the nearby wall. While grabbing the victim, Kiara pushed the other back and lit it up with fire, turning it instantly to dust.
Calli moved to immobilize her target. As she did so, the vampire simply turned to dust.
Calli looked at Kiara stating, “I didn’t do anything.”
Kiara offered, “It was likely a spell from the master vampire. I’ve seen that in another world.”
The Reaper looked at the dust in her hand. It was the first time something had died that she hadn’t intended to kill yet.
Kiara stated, “If the master vampire is powerful enough to cast that kind of spell, it’s likely very old.”
The Phoenix continued, “That means the nest is going to be harder to find and well-guarded. It’s likely got minions in the city covering its tracks.”
Kiara looked at the responsiveness of the victim. She’d seen this before.
Kiara told Calli, “It’s Rohypnol. It causes sedation, amnesia, and impaired judgment.”
Kiara explained, “We had an idol I worked with dosed by a crazed fan. This lady could be helpless for up to 24 hours and that’s if it isn’t an overdose.”
Calli asked, “So, we have to get her quietly to a hospital?”
“I’m afraid so.”
Hours later the pair returned to the site where they had fought the vampires. They spent hours wandering around but found nothing.
Kiara hated the thought that they’d lost the chance to find the nest. That said she wouldn’t have been ok with leaving the woman to die.
Calli looked out at the city lights feeling the approaching dawn. Both would have to leave and sleep soon. They could search more after they slept and ate.
On the positive, they saved a life. On the negative, something very dangerous was in Tokyo…
The Case of the angry World Administrators
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.” -Roald Dahl
“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” -Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack
“If you save somebody's life, you are responsible for them forever”. -Chinese proverb
Amelia Watson’s Private Detective Agency
Los Angles, California
November 5, 2019 (16 hours behind Tokyo time)
Kronii was frustrated and pissed off enough to enjoy it somewhat. The joy was short lived; she sensed a familiar presence.
A dimensional bubble appeared in the wall. A motherly voice rang out in maternal rage, “You had no right to scare her like that.”
A green-haired lady walked through the dimensional gate and into the office. She stared daggers into the Warden of Time.
The Keeper of Nature locked in a silent stare down with the Warden of Time. Amelia noted, she had a voice, manner, and face that seemed to be unused to anger, but at that moment she was furious.
The Warden of Time immediately shot back, “You’re breaking the rules, Fauna. One at a time, that’s all Bae allowed.”
Amelia checked the inside of her watch. The symbols of the hourglass and the branch glowed.
That was the same branch as when she saw Gura for the first time. As she looked, all the others began to light up. All the symbols lit, except for the owl.
Fauna retorted, “Don’t hide behind procedure, when you are in the middle of scaring the people we are pinning our hopes on.”
Kronii shot back, “This was my time to talk, Fauna.”
Fauna glared and shot back, “And what were you going to do Kronii? Were you going to break a rule, just so the sadistic force you work for would age you in front of their horrified faces? Were you going to push it so far that Time turned you to hourglass sand again for a day?”
Kronii raised her voice angrily stating, “They were going to put humanity in danger. I’m not going to stand idly by.”
Fauna growled, “So, that’s it. You were going to shock and petrify them into compliance? You’re just as callous as that which you work for.”
Kronii spat, “It’s none of your business.”
Fauna angrily retorted, “You don’t get to ask me to sacrifice what I have and then tell me it is none of my business, Kronii.”
Kronii replied, angrily and somewhat gleeful, “Humanity is no longer your concern, Fauna. Your sister has taken your place with them.”
Fauna angrily reasoned, “They were simply curious about something you would have been in their position. After all of these failed timelines, you are wound up so tightly that you can’t even consider how to break this to them gently.”
Kronii growled in indignation, “They are placing the entire human race in danger.”
Fauna shot back, “You can take a minute to explain this to them with compassion.”
Kronii made a motion for Fauna to do the teaching. Kronii stepped back ready to interject.
Fauna breathed in and out like a teacher reading herself to talk calmly to a shy student. She looked at both and then stated to Amelia, “What you tried was beyond dangerous. I’ll try and answer any questions you have that I am allowed to. It’s less dangerous, if I do it.”
Amelia Watson asked, “Why?”
Fauna responded, “Each of us works for a higher power and each of us are directly watched over in our duties. Kronii’s boss is the most severe and I’d rather you do not witness the tight leash she is kept on.”
Amelia asked, “So, going to Atlantis is bad. Can you tell me what Atlantis was?”
Fauna proudly stated, “Atlantis was my little sister’s pride. Ten thousand years ago, it was a post scarcity civilization. It was the highest pinnacle of magic that the planet ever achieved.”
Fauna said, “There was a balance with harmony and nature. It was a wise and just place.”
She continued, “It was neutral ground as well. It tried to broker peace with the more primitive tribes of man. It even was a place where there was a hope for there to be peace again between the light and the dark.”
Gura asked, “So why did my home fall?” Gura had vague images of the titanic horror and darkness over the land.
Gura could see the coming tsunami wave. She could feel the ground give way beneath her in her memories.
Fauna watched the horror in Gura’s eyes. She empathized, but took a second to answer.
“The fall of Atlantis?” As Fauna said it, the color visibly drained from her face. Her eyes involuntarily watered.
The self-proclaimed Kirin looked at her hands and shuddered. There was some kind of real trauma there.
Fauna paused. She centered her breathing. She collected herself like a mom in an emergency.
Fauna forced a smile. The green mother simply said, “That’s not something I’m prepared to talk about today.” There were tears in her eyes.
A third voice appeared in the room, with a strong Austrian accent, “Oi, what do you bitches think you are doing?”
Fauna looked up stating, “Kronii was stepping in due to the watch security being bypassed. I stepped in when I felt Kronii might be scaring these two a bit too much, Bae.”
The voice said to be Bae said in an uncharacteristically threatening tone, “Ladies, this is their time, not yours. It’s time for you to leave and leave them alone.”
Fauna and Kronii both looked at the ceiling. They stared daggers into something unseen.
The disembodied voice did not take their glares. Bae snarled, "You wanna go? You wanna freaking go??"
The spirits of Time and Nature did not budge. Both were far too proud to just back down so easily.
Bae clarified, “Ladies, let me make something clear. If you do not leave like I kindly suggested, I will unleash bad luck on the two of you, to the degree, that it will make the Final Destination horror series look like a kid friendly show by comparison.”
There was a nearby shimmer. Something was considering crossing into the room.
Irys’s kind voice said, “There is no reason to sound so hostile Bae.”
Bae practically snarled, “Irys, do not even think about walking in here and interfering with Council business.”
The shimmer sadly disappeared. The wall was still.
Bae threatened, “Sana, if I hear you went behind my back with any of them, I won’t talk to you for a week.”
Somewhere far in space a Titaness frowned. Bae was playing hardball.
Bae ordered, “Ladies leave.”
Kronii looked offended and immediately walked out. The Warden of Time was highly insulted.
Fauna paused. Even under threat, she couldn’t just walk away.
For a brief moment, she glanced back. She looked at Gura one last time like an overprotective mother sending her child off to their first day of school. This would be the last time Fauna could see Gura with her own eyes for a long time.
Gura had no idea why she looked at her in that way. The little shark was confused.
Fauna angrily muttered, “Give a human born a clipboard and suddenly they think they rule the universe.” The green mother left the room in a shimmer on the wall.
Once again, the room was only Gura and Amelia. The magic and the intruders had left.
Gura commented, “Ok, that was weird.”
Amelia shrugged, “I’ve seen weirder.”
Gura inquired in disbelief, “What could be weirder than that?”
“Did I ever tell you about Wattropolis?”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a city of multiple Amelia Watsons just like me, outside of the normal timelines and is invisible to people who are not Ames.”
Gura asked, “What are you talking about?”
“Exactly, nothing is weirder than a city full of people just like you and your face being on the paper currency.”
Gura just blinked. Sometimes, she missed the simplicity of being a shark…
A Titaness says Goodbye for a While
“You meet people who forget you. You forget people you meet. But sometimes you meet those people you can't forget. Those are your friends.” -Mark Twain
“You don't know who is important to you until you actually lose them.” -Mahatma Gandhi
Ninomae Ina'nis Ch. hololive-EN
『VIOLET』 - Ninomae Ina'nis
The Shrine of the Old Ones
On a remote mountain in Northern Japan
November 6, 2019 (16 hours ahead of LA time)
Ninomae Ina'nis wandered alone beneath the night sky of the sanctuary. She smiled when her friend had reached out through folds of the universe to speak to her.
It was the tone though that let her know it would not be a pleasant conversation. Tsukumo Sana wasn’t just a Titaness, she was almost the living embodiment of captured sunshine.
The stress and sadness in the Titaness’s voice was as misplaced as a shark in the dessert. Ina took the time to listen carefully to the friend who had been there for her more times than she could count.
Sana had helped Ina face the horrors she was tortured by. Ina would try and help her friend in return with an open and understanding ear.
Sana opened with, “My group leader is on the warpath. She says she wants us to all go radio silent, we are to initiate no contact or calls for a while.”
Sana continued, “She’s put me in a position where I’m being forced to break my promise to both you and Mei Mei.” This really bothered Sana, she was the type that would never willingly break her word.
Somewhere beyond the stars visible from Earth, the Speaker of Space held back the sniffles as she tried to force herself to sound cheerful. Ina knew this was a part of Sana’s innate feeling of responsibility for others and the Titaness’s own hatred of loneliness for being in the vast expanse of the universe for far too long.
Ina calmly responded, “I understand. How long do you think Bae will keep this up?”
“It could easily be a year. It’s all this timeline crap again. I have no idea why this is necessary. I hate the idea of not being able to talk to you.”
Ina responded, “It’ll be like you were away for a job with no way to call. How are you holding up Sana?”
The Titaness sniffled out, “I’ll be fine.” It was the sound of a brave face one puts on for children, with no personal truth behind it.
Ina changed the subject to one of Sana’s other friends, as it always helped the Titaness’s mood. Ina asked, “How is Mei Mei holding up?”
Sana said, “She just mostly shook off another fugue state. Her memory of recent events is still off. She’s lost a lot of her languages again.”
Ina asked, “How often does that happen?”
“It’s happened a few times recently. This one’s pretty severe. Her memory of the last two decades seems pretty shot.”
Ina inquired, “Is it something that’s getting worse?”
“No Ina, overall, she’s been getting a lot better over the past thousand years. The fugue periods have been getting a lot less frequent, but she had a recent spike.”
“That’s good.”
“What about you Ina? Are you still having the nightmares and the hauntings?”
Ina responded, “Nothing too bad recently. You’ve never not been there when I needed you.” She had said that faster than she thought about it.
The Titaness was quiet for a moment. With a sad voice she said, “I had hoped the Tokyo visit would have gone better. I hate the idea of you being alone with what you are going through, Ina.”
Sana continued, “Please try to meet them again. From what you said, these are people you are destined to be friends with.”
Chaos rippled through the spell. It was a quiet warning to Sana to wrap up what she was doing.
Sana sniffled and said, “I give you my word that I’ll be back in touch as soon as I’m allowed, Ina. Please take care of yourself.”
In the silence of Space, some thirty-two thousand light years from Earth, a Titaness cried. She had promised to watch over the little human, who she clearly now saw as a friend.
The whole situation was unfair. Thanks to Bae’s orders, she was also stuck waiting for Kronii to say when a proper time to resume communication would be.
For Space, Time was always the thing getting in the way or making things impossible. Time and Space were naturally in a quiet conflict, warping each other even in ways that humanity could observe, if they were careful.
As Sana floated next to a red star in the void, she prepared to shrink herself for a Council meeting soon. It was still several hours away and being that small was uncomfortable.
She had to figure out what to say to the Guardian of Civilization. That Mei Mei was having memory problems made things worse, because she depended on Sana at times like this.
She sensed the disturbance in the void before she saw it. The spell of Purple energy wove to carry a telepathic message, as there was often no sound in space.
Ina asked, “Did I reach you?”
“How did you do this?”
“I’m a priestess of the void, Sana. It’s just a matter of the right spell to find you and the right spell to say Hello.”
“But we aren’t supposed to be talking.”
"If I remember correctly the exact terms you described were that you weren’t to call me. I didn’t hear anything about me calling you.”
It was dishonest and tricky, but it made the Titaness smile. She wouldn’t be breaking her word to anyone.
Sana replied, “I have a couple of hours before my meeting. What would you like to talk about?”
“I told you about almost meeting the extraverted Phoenix. She’s with the Reaper, I told you about now, which makes the situation even more intimidating.”
“You should be careful, Ina. Both could be extremely dangerous, even if they are supposed to be friends in the future, they don’t know you right now.”
“I was thinking of meeting with the time traveler and the Atlantean first. That has its own issues though.”
“So, how can I help you?”
“Sana, the Old One’s destroyed Atlantis. The last survivor would have seen that happen. I need a way to reach someone that should naturally hate me.”
“That is a problem.”
“Yes, well you know me and my strengths better than anyone. Plus, you have billions of years of experience.”
“That’s true.”
“So, I need your advice, using what I’m good at, on how to try to bridge that gap.”
Thus, the Speaker of Space and the Priestess of the Old Ones began planning on how to overcome a huge barrier to friendship. They looked deeply at Ina’s strengths and how to approach the situation with her introverted nature in mind.
They spoke for hours. Sana was accidently late to her Council meeting…
