Astrobiology 106 - Part 1

My name is Mercedes Whitman and I'm a hero on a foreign world. I am the daughter of two heroes, and was trapped on this Earth during an Event that sealed the way back home forever. They call me Black Sapphire when I’m out patrolling, and these are my Blogs.

Black Sapphire stood up and stretched.  She walked over to the pool and sat down on the edge and looked down into the still waters.  “I need to see him.”

“Not going to happen.”  Walters materialized from the shadows behind her.

“I need this.  Think of it as closure or something.”  Walters was quiet for a moment.  Then he nodded.  “Thank you sir.”

“Don’t thank me yet.  I promise you it won’t be easy.”  He vanished into the darkness again.

Astrobiology 106 Part 1 - Legacy

Deep in the Column Research Facility, ARCten

“The Dark Avenger himself vouched for you.  Ordinarily we wouldn’t allow an unknown like you into this facility but apparently you have some kind of connection with this…thing.”  Nicolette chewed on a pen as she talked a sign that she hadn’t had a cigarette in quite a while.  She glowered at Black Sapphire expecting an answer.

“He’s my fath…a version of my father.”  The pen dropped to the floor.

“You’re fucking kidding me.  That alien thing is your Dad?”

“A version of him yes, my actual parents were sealed on the other side when the Cascade was closed,” Sapphire looked sad as she reminisced.

“Could be worse, my father bought it a little bit after Spectacular and his Family went and started the whole damn war.  Lucky fucker didn’t live to see what a shithole the world became.”

“Yeah, lucky,” Sapphire turned to look back at the monitors holding the Scion Alex Whitman

“Don’t be like that.  I’m not trying to be an asshole; truth is I’m not good with the whole emotional part of social interactions.  I’ll let you talk to this guy and afterwards we’ll get a beer and talk about our families.  My dad the Super Spy and your parents the…?”

“Also super spies.”

“Huh, ain’t that a bite in the ass.”  Nicolette led her deeper into the complex.  She stopped before a bunker like door, a small round window showed the room beyond, it glowed from the ambient power radiating from the Scion.  “We dampened him as much as possible but we just don’t have the resources or abilities to keep aliens contained like the Academy is.  Somewhere below us we still have a handful of Harvesters from the invasion years ago, only one of them has ever talked with us and provided any kind of solid intelligence.”

Sapphire looked back to Chalm from the window.  “I thought they were all dead?”

“Oh hell no, that’s what the world was meant to think.  The fact of the matter is that the species was on the verge of extinction and we had prisoners of war.  So the United Nations decided to house them in a level all to their selves and ensure that they never escaped.  The last Director was in charge of that.”

“Wasn’t the last director your father?”  Sapphire asked.

Nicolette shook her head.  “Gregory Haines was the last guy in charge.  He stepped down when I was able to take over and runs the Columns Strike team.  He’s useful when I need to send someone in black ops style.  Heroes being the vigilantes that they are and all wouldn’t look right if the media caught wind of me sending them in.”  Sapphire shook her head as she thought of just how different this world was to her home, and where the heroes worked with and for the government to maintain the peaceful balance against the dark forces of villainy.

“Well I’m as ready as I’ll ever be I suppose.”  Sapphire stepped away from the door and waited patiently for it to open and allow her passage.

“Anything gets wonky in there you GTFO.”  Chalm spoke calmly.  “Understand?”  Sapphire nodded.  Chalm punched a huge red button of the way and the lights dimmed as red alarm lights powered up.  Air hissed as the door unsealed and pressure between the rooms normalized.  Sapphire stepped through and the claxons announced the doors closing once again.  She waited patiently as they resealed and the lights came to life in the chamber holding the Scion.

“Alex Whitman?”  She asked the prisoner as she reviewed the bonds they had him in.  The Scion stirred slightly and raised his head to look at her.  She noticed a purple hue to the light directly above it.  It tilted its head to the side and began to look the room over.  “I ask again are you Alex Whitman?”  It shook its head.  “What are you called then?”

“I am my Father’s son.”

“Your father?”

“He who filled me with his Seed, the Entity.”  The Scion beamed at this announcement.

“You were born Alex Whitman of Earth, born in New York City, New York.”

“I do not know these places, or recognize these names.  I am only Scion now.”  Sapphire narrowed her eyes at him then.

“You aren’t lying are you?  You really don’t remember who you were.”  She walked back and forth in front of the Scion and gradually built up speed, she grabbed the Scions head and force fed kinetic energy right into him and through him.  He thrashed against his restraints and screamed then, loud and long.  A speaker crackled to life near her.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing Sapphire?”  Chalm asked mild confusion in her voice.

“I am my fathers’ daughter.  My true father and I are linked to a dimension that eats kinetic energy and I was hoping that this version would be linked to the same place.”

“Why would you even think that?  You’ve already said he isn’t the same person.”  Chalm questioned.

“Because during the Event we found out that a lot of people had doppelgangers and that they had similar power sets.  I assume you know about SuperDude and AEONs battle across North America that lasted days because they were too evenly matched.  Although not everyone has a double and that led to major victories on both sides when it came down to using these wildcards.”  The Scion stopped moving and its breathing came is gasps.

“I remember something.”  He spoke quietly in between breathes.  “I like cheeseburgers.”  His head sagged and he was unconscious.

“I guess whoever they were is still in there.  I just need to find a way to get to it.”  Sapphire turned away from the Scion and waited to be let free from the cell.  Her mind went over what she knew of the Scions and came to the single conclusion.  “Let me out of here I need to call Hr’lune and see if he can get me into the Academy.”

TBC in Astrobiology 106 Part 2