Introductions
Ali Qapu Palace - January 3
“I never thought I’d end up here,” Tania said.
“Why’s that?” Angelica said.
“I was called up for a simple escort mission in the North Sea, and now I’m in freaking Isfahan. Nowhere near the ocean, let alone the North Sea.”
Furthest east I was planning to go in the last few years was Constantinople.
“Hey, I picked up a gun in Bremerhaven and ended up here.”
“
Mon Dieu, I’ve never seen such opulence before,” Ruby said.
Billy nodded in agreement. “Though I’ve been all over the Reich, the biggest building I’m quite familiar with is the Normandy Länder Hospital in Alençon. Not of my own choice, though.”
They walked up to the door, and two royal guardsmen wearing 18th century Persian uniforms opened it for them. They entered the front hallway.
Wow, it’s just as beautiful as I imagined. Nothing like the royal estate in Uppsala. I went there once when the Fylkja commissioned me as an admiral, right in front of the old sacred ash tree. She’s a nice lady, but she had no taste in architecture. Wait, why am I saying that when I know nothing about architecture as well?
August looked around at the paintings and decorations. “A lot like Saint Gunhilda’s castle in Modena. Although she herself would have preferred simple decorations.”
Billy seemed confused, though. “Why are we even here? Why did we get invited to Ali Qapu to begin with?”
“Apparently the Shahbanu put in a personal request for our good admiral here,” Julian said.
“I’m still in shock over that.”
“Did the invitation come with a plus
cinq?” Angelica gestured to everyone in their group.
Tania shrugged. “Apparently so.”
The invitation said: “bring everyone and don’t make me regret this. -Gunduz”
“What does she want with you?” August said.
“Probably something to do with the EMP bullets.”
“Exactly.” They all spun around, Billy and Ruby instinctively reaching for guns they no longer had. Gunduz stepped back and held up her hands. “Wow, I say hi, and your first instinct is to try and shoot the frakking Shahbanu? Though I suppose it was on me for surprising you like that. My apologies.”
Billy almost made the sign of the cross, but he stopped himself. “In all of my years, I did not expect the Shahbanu of Persia to be apologizing to me, of all people.”
“Same here,” Ruby said.
“Welcome to my palace. You must be the French rebel group I’ve heard much about lately.”
Angelica nodded. “
Oui, that’s us. Though half of us aren’t French, we’re not in France, and we’re hardly rebels now.”
“Still, I appreciate all that you’ve done so far. Getting your hands on the Pesah sample probably wasn’t easy.”
“You have no idea.”
Somehow, I’m surprised we made it here without a single issue with the sample.
“But I’ve brought you here not because of that.” Gunduz turned to Tania. “You are Admiral Tatiana Kirova II, aren’t you?”
My name’s a real mouthful, isn’t it?
Tania saluted. “
Da, ma’am. Call me Tania.”
“I understand you’ve made use of specialized bullets that can generate a localized EMP field?”
“Yes. I handed the ammo box over to your soldiers during my quarantine.”
“And I’ve had them transferred to the palace lab. One of my researchers has expressed an interest in them and would like you to help her understand how they work.”
“What for?”
“She believes it may be the key to building an effective Panopticon nullifier.”
Angelica’s eyes widened. “A Panopticon nullifier?”
“I suppose it would be easier to hear it from her rather than me horribly aping it because I’m the frakking Shahbanu, not Johann Neumann. Follow me.”
---
Wilhelmina stood in an empty room. Thea and Alexandra watched from outside a window.
“Mind telling me what this is all about? How long do I have to stay in this room doing no—”
“Begin test!” Alexandra suddenly pushed a button. Turrets emerged from the wall and began shooting paintballs at Wilhelmina from all directions. She instinctively drew Enonon and spun around trying to deflect the paintballs, but a few got through. They were paintballs, but they still hurt.
“End test.” The turrets retracted into the walls.
Wilhelmina glared at Alexandra. “What was that?!”
“We needed to see your reaction time to surprise attacks,” Thea said, “From our data, it seems you got 95% of the paintballs. Not bad, but you’re not untouchable.”
“I know that. A bullet grazed me in the bunker.”
Still stings a little, but it’s healing fine.
Alexandra wrote something in her notebook. “It’s interesting you could deflect the paintballs to begin with. They’re moving as fast as normal bullets, which fly faster than the normal human reaction time, yet you can intercept them anyways. And not only that, but using that sword can actually deflect them. Normally someone wouldn’t be able to deliver enough force with a sword to deflect a bullet, even if they had the reaction time to intercept it.”
Yes, I watched that episode too. No need to go into details. I know this is physically impossible.
“So you’re saying is what I’m doing is impossible.”
“Yes.”
“Well, obviously it’s not impossible, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it.”
“Okay, then let’s move on to the next test. Fortunately, it doesn’t involve paintballs.” A wall opened, revealing several rocks of various sizes and compositions.
“Here are a few minerals spanning the range of the Mohs hardness scale,” Thea said, “Let’s see what exactly you can cut.”
Wilhelmina raised Enonon and willed it to glow again. “Okay, let’s do this.”
“Begin test 2.”
Wilhelmina slashed through each rock, easily cutting through all of them, although it felt progressively more difficult the harder the rock she cut. But even the diamond at the end was cut in half, with significant difficulty.
Thea looked shocked. “You can even…cut through diamond?”
Wilhelmina shrugged. “Apparently.”
“Impressive. I don’t know if there’s anything that sword can’t cut.”
“Well, it got more difficult as I went on.”
“So would you say it got…harder?” Thea said.
Alexandra glared at Thea, who grinned.
Shouldn’t laugh out loud at this time, though. Maybe later.
“Okay, try without the glowing,” Alexandra said.
“What for?”
“Well, I want to see if it’s inherent to the sword or a result of the power.”
Wilhelmina tried again, this time without her power. As expected, the blade merely bounced off the rocks. “Just as I thought. It’s just a regular sword without the power. Albeit one that doesn’t rust or dull.”
“So…Valyrian steel,” Thea said.
“Let’s move on, before Thea comes up with anymore bad puns or references.”
“Hey, that wasn’t even a joke!”
“Who taught you those puns anyways? I know Alex can’t tell a joke to save his life.”
“Magnus did.”
Alexandra gave her a disapproving look, her expression briefly reminding Wilhelmina “I’m going to have to talk to him.”
Alexandra put away the rocks and put a row of five cubes in front of Wilhelmina. “Each of these cubes is exactly ten centimeters by ten centimeters by ten centimeters, but their densities differ due to the materials making them up. Their masses are 1 gram, 10 grams, 1 kilogram, 10 kilos, and 50 kilos.”
“How’d you get all this stuff?”
“When you work for the Shahbanu, you can get almost anything just by asking her,” Thea said, “After all, she’s frakking Gunduz the Blunt. When she asks for something, she gets it. I love it when she throws around her…
weight.”
Alexandra facepalmed. “Goddamnit.”
“So I should cut through these blocks?”
“No, lift them with your power.”
“Like the Force, I guess,” Thea said.
“Please just lift them now!”
Wilhelmina concentrated and held out her hand. The 1 gram block levitated easily, followed by the 10 g one. But the 1 kg and 10 kg ones took some work, and despite all of her mental effort, she couldn’t make the 50 kg one move. “Wouldn’t make sense if I could lift anything, would it?”
Alexandra wrote several more lines in her notebook. “Interesting. The law of conservation of energy still seems to apply, although not in the conventional sense. I don’t know if this is right, but maybe you didn’t have enough mental energy to lift the 50 kilos.”
“Not enough brains to get over brawn, I see.” Thea grinned.
“Thea, do you want me to change the test to use live humans?”
“Well, these tests have been productive so far,” Wilhelmina said, “We now know some limits on my power.”
“Yeah, but we still don’t know how it works.”
Wilhelmina flicked her wrist, and the 1 kilogram cube flew across the room and dented the far wall. She snapped her fingers and summoned a plume of wispy energy around her hand, firing a small beam at the cube and blowing a hole through it.
Alexandra looked baffled. She put her hands on her hips, just like how Angela used to do. “Why didn’t you tell us you could do that?”
“I didn’t think it would actually work.”
“What other abilities do you think you have?” Thea said.
“Well…I think I can see the spirits of my ancestors.”
“Uh, what?”
“Like for the last five years, I’ve been guided by a woman named Sophie. I thought she was a bodyguard my mom sent to watch over me, but no, she’s really Kaiserin Sophia I. Yes, the princess from four hundred years ago who fought Malcolm Bethune during the Anarchy and took back her throne. Sounds crazy, I know, but it’s just as crazy as everything that’s happened to me since November.”
“So it’s like seeing Force ghosts?”
“I swear Thea—”
“That wasn’t even a joke!”
“Why, actually, yeah, something like that. Sophie just pops up and says stuff. Not always nice or helpful things, though.”
“Hey!” Sophie said, glaring at her.
“Oh look, she’s here, right on time.”
“Sophie?” Alexandra said. “I don’t see her.”
“Yeah, I don’t either,” Thea said, “Nothing on the cameras or other sensors.”
“They can’t see me, you know.”
“I know. Only me, Friedrich, and Ilyana can see her.”
“If you really don’t need anything, I’m leaving!” Sophie disappeared.
“Oh, she’s gone.”
“So only Hohenzollerns can see her,” Alexandra said.
“That definitely solves the legitimacy problem,” Thea said, “If only Hohenzollerns can see and interact with Sophie, then if you can see her, then you’re definitely a Hohenzollern.”
“Never thought of it like that, but I guess you’re right. If only I could tell the rest of the world, but even after all this, they’d still think I’m crazy. And I doubt ‘a ghost told me’ would work in a court of law. We’ll have to find another way.”
“Let’s not share it with other people, then. So, anything else?”
“Not that I can recall right now. You said your mother had certain abilities, Alexandra. What could she do?”
“Well, she told me there was this one time she could control fire. And influence people’s emotions. But her most important power was the ability to cross universes.”
“Like…into parallel universes?” Thea said.
“Yeah. Did you know something about that?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” Thea showed them Mina’s last email Afterward, she explained everything Alex told her he knew about the other side, with Alexandra filling in some gaps. She started with Walter Humboldt’s experiment in 1977, picked up in the late 2000s with the reinstatement of the X-Division, described what the other side’s Holy Roman Empire and its Anniona emperors were like (with a brief detour into an unrelated incident involving the late Kaiser Otto in the 1940s), briefly skimmed over the Angela switching fiasco and worlds-destroying machine shenanigans, and ended with her uncle’s mad plot to destroy their two realities which forced both universes to sever physical ties, but not before exchanging data cores with the sum of their knowledge and culture on them.
“And then Mina tried reestablishing contact ten years ago, but they apparently had nuked themselves sometime before then…yeah, that’s about it,” Thea finished.
Wilhelmina took about a minute to silently process what she had just heard.
Where the frak do I begin? A parallel universe we’ve been in contact with on and off for decades. So Grandpa met his counterpart during World War II, and they went on adventures in Vienna. Alex’s grandfather crossed over to rescue his daughter in 1977, precipitating a chain of events that would lead to Thea’s distant uncle attempting to destroy reality in two universes about 34 years later. Alex’s parents, Alexandra’s mom, and freaking Olga Kirova were deeply involved in this. Especially Alex, who met his mom’s counterpart. And technically the Anna Humboldt we know in this universe is from the other side? And Grandpa again met his and my mom’s counterpart in 2011? Did he meet me as well? What was I like? Did I meet Franz or someone else? Did I ever develop the same interests and hobbies over there? Was I even born? Wait, how were our counterparts all born over there if my family my family never came to power, and instead some other medieval dynasty created their own very different Reich a few centuries earlier? This is making my head hurt.
She took a deep breath. “Well, that’s a lot to take in. I think we’ll have to discuss most of that later on. But for now, we should focus on the important bits. That universe was where Theodor gets all these crazy inventions from? And your mom was responsble for crossing over?”
Alexandra nodded. “Mom always said I was almost exactly the same as my counterpart. Even right down to dating Magnus.”
“Wonder who I was over there,” Thea said.
“Mom said Elisabeth Tesla was an only child over there, so no Wilhelm Tesla. Presumably your distant branch also never existed to begin with.”
“Damn. Would’ve loved to compare jokes with my counterpart.”
“How about no?”
“I’d certainly like to think about who I was over there, but not at the moment,” Wilhelmina said, “Fact is, I don’t think I have any of Angela Hansen’s powers. Definitely can’t cross between universes. Believe me, I’ve tried to be a firebender or sense people’s feelings or cross into alternate universes to steal their games. I just end up flailing around awkwardly.”
Wonder what alternate universe video games Theodor’s data core has. No, Willie! There’s a time and place for everything, but not now!
Alexandra made a note of that. “Can you see the future? Like visions of stuff that has yet to happen?”
“Alex tells me his mom could look ahead and see things before they happen. Unfortunately, she was generally unable to change what she sees, including her own death.”
Wilhelmina shook her head. “Unfortunately, I’m not his mom. I can’t see the future. This sword isn’t the Monado. But it’s funny how I just learned everyone here is connected to some crazy supernatural or paranormal thing. Not just me. I don’t feel that alone anymore.”
Alex ran up to Alexandra and Thea. “Hey, we have guests.”
Thea looked up. “Do we?”
“They’re asking for you, Thea.”
Alexandra put away her notebook. “Alright, we’re done with the tests for now.”
Wilhelmina left the test room. Seven people had gathered in the main lab. One of them was Gunduz. The others looked very out of place with badly mismatched and tattered casual clothes.
“Ah, my scientists my taxpayers pay to do absolutely nothing,” Gunduz said, “Thea, you were asking about EMP fields, weren’t you?”
“Yeah, I did.” Thea said.
“Well, this is the team that brought them in. Admiral Kirova?”
Wait, Kirova
?! As in Olga Kirova?
Alex and Alexandra’s eyes similarly widened. A blond-haired woman in a Scandinavian uniform stepped forward.
Wow, she even looks a lot like Olga, only about 30 to 40 years younger. Her hair’s even styled like Olga’s. And I can’t forget that characteristic smirk.
Tania saluted. “Admiral Tatiana Kirova II. Just call me Tania, it’s easier that way. I designed the bullets.”
Even sounds and talks like her too! Did Olga have an awesome daughter she didn’t tell me about? But wasn’t her wife…well, I answered my own question.
In less than a second, Thea had shot to right in front of Tania and was shaking her hands quite enthusiastically. “You did?! Oh my
god, this is perfect! Please help me understand !”
Tania looked at her weirdly. Alex made a cutting motion around his next. Thea quickly understood and slowly let go of her. “Oh, was I too clingy? Sorry.”
“No, I was just…not expecting such enthusiasm from you.”
“Oh, right, I haven’t introduced myself. Where are my manners? I’m Dorothea Tesla, but just call me Thea. It’s easier.”
“You said you’re Tatiana Kirova, right?” Alex said. “Related to Olga Kirova, by any chance?”
“
Da, she’s my aunt.”
Alex lit up. “What a coincidence! Olga Kirova’s my mom’s friend. Do you know Diana Frank?”
“Diana Frank?” Angelica said. “She was my boss in X-Division!”
The entire room became oppressively quiet.
“You worked on X-DIVISION?!” Alex and Alexandra both shouted.
“Yeah, up until the very end, when Moria gutted it. You must be…Alexander Humboldt-Frank?”
Alex pumped his fists. “Two for two remember Humboldt-Frank!”
“Your father is Anders Humboldt, right?”
“Yep. You know about him?”
Angelica nodded. “I knew him in Bremerhaven. A brave man who always fought for what he believed in, right up to the very end.”
“Me and Angelica were with Anders, Annie, Anna, and Walter Humboldt and Angela Hansen there,” Julian said.
“I’m sorry, who are you?”
“Julian Anniona. Brother of Eva Anniona, the last mayor of Bremerhaven. She died when it got nuked.”
“I’m so sorry,” Thea said.
“You knew my mom in Bremerhaven?” Alexandra said.
“Yes, but not much. She was always researching the committee, seeing if she could find anything else to help Anders.”
“Do you know what happened to them?”
Angelica shook her head. “Again, not much. They couldn’t share much with us in case Watchtower was listening in or any of us got compromised later. They left Bremerhaven a little bit before Red Christmas. Anders went to Constantinople to publish his findings. Angela went to Damascus to get you out of there. We never heard from them again.”
“So as much as I know, then.” Alexandra looked down, disheartened.
“I saw your mother’s car crashed near the border. I thought you all were dead until just now.”
“Unfortunately, my mother is still very dead. I saw her die right in front of me. That much is certain.”
“Presumably my dad met the same fate,” Alex said.
Angelica bowed her head. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“What about my grandfather and aunts? You said you also knew them in Bremerhaven.”
“I put them on a helicopter to Heligoland. That’s all I could do. Not long afterward, they dropped the nuke.”
“My fleet evacuated them from Heligoland,” Tania said, “Assuming everything went well, they should be in Scandinavia.”
“Not much of an improvement, given the situation up there, but at least they’re out of Jerusalem,” Alexandra said.
“This moment is touching and all, but I’m kind of lost, sorry,” Wilhelmina said, “Let me get this straight. Tania, you’re Chancellor Olga Kirova’s niece. A Scandinavian admiral.”
“That’s right.”
“Olga Kirova worked with Angela Hansen, Anders Humboldt, and Diana Frank, right Alex?”
“Spot on.”
“And you worked under Diana Frank and helped Angela and Anders in Bremerhaven, Angelica.”
“
Oui.”
“So what I’m seeing is…a weird but happy coincidence that all of their children or successors ended up here.”
Thea laughed. “Destiny works in strange ways. I ran over Alex by chance, but it turned out the Teslas had interacted with his family before then—believe his own grandmother was Wilhelm Tesla’s sister.”
Alex sighed. “You’re never going to let up on that, aren’t you?”
“I’m going to
drive that point in as much as I can!”
Everyone facepalmed.
“Magnus, I swear to God…” Alexandra spat through gritted teeth.
“So, uh…” August said. “I’m very lost here.”
“Why am I here?” Billy said.
“Yeah, what about me?” Ruby said.
“Yeah, who are you anyways?” Wilhelmina asked.
“Oh, I’m August von Schweinfurt. Quite possibly the only Schweinfurt left after the purges happened.”
Another last survivor, just like me and Ilyana. Technically family, too. Is it bad that the Hohenzollerns have been reduced to their last member three times at the same time? Counting myself and Friedrich as one.
“I’m Billy Marks, Chief of the Alençon Police Department in Normandy. After they slaughtered my town, I formed the resistance cell that took in Angelica, Julian, Tania, and August after they left Bremerhaven.”
“Ruby Moreau. From Perpignan in southwestern France. Same deal as Billy. My town got purged, so I linked up with him.”
“Gunduz, why’d you bring them?” Wilhelmina asked.
Gunduz shrugged. “I thought they’d be helpful. Now, I appreciate the sappy reunions, but we have business to discuss. So can you please get to making me not think about how many taxpayer yunusis I spent getting you all here?”
“Let’s discuss this later, Tania,” Thea said, “We have a lot to go over.”
“Sure.”
“Well, I may not be able to see into the future, but it’s quite clear we have a lot of catching up ahead of us,” Wilhelmina said.
