Beep. Beep. Beep.
Cecilia groaned. The incessant beeping annoyed her. Was it some sort of alarm clock? It was surprisingly hard to tune out. Couldn't someone turn it off? Maybe she could hit the snooze button? She groaned again as her eyes fluttered open.
She hurt everywhere. Her skull throbbed, and her left arm caused a spike of agony when moved. Only her legs were thankfully free of any pain. Cecilia's eyes drooped. It took effort to remain awake. How long had she been out? She struggled to remember what had happened to her.
She'd been talking with the fake Vera. Then, nothing. What had happened afterward? Was she in a hospital? It explained the rhythmic beeping sound.
"Hey, she's awake!" As her vision cleared, shapes became more visible and a familiar face greeted her.
"Cecilia, how are you?" a teary-eyed Rose asked.
"Terrible. What time is it?" Cecilia was so weak, even saying this had exhausted her.
"A little past noon. Since there's no school today thanks to parent-teacher conferences, I visited a little early. And don't worry about homework. Ms. Sagan says rest up. Look, the rest of the class wrote you a get-well-soon message."
Rose gestured to a card filled with signatures sitting beneath a vase of tulips, Cecilia's favorite flower. There were other gifts too, like cute stuffed animals. The sheer amount baffled Cecilia somewhat.
"How many school days did I miss?" Cecilia somehow managed to say. Never had she felt so weak. How could just talking exhaust her?
"About a week. You've been falling in and out of consciousness. Hey, nurse! Cecilia is awake!" Rose waved at someone outside the room.
"Thank you, dear. Doctor Richman will be along soon. Just keep her company and don't wear her out. I'll be there soon," a female voice said.
"They're very nice here. This is a good hospital."
She noticed something in Rose's eyes. Pity?
"What's wrong?" Cecilia asked, nervous. The pitying look on the arriving nurse's face didn't lessen her panic.
"Let's examine your vitals, Cecilia," the nurse said with forced cheer. "You're recovering very well. You've been very lucky."
"But—"
The nurse stopped her.
"Just rest, Cecilia. Doctor Richman will be along to talk with you. There's a lot to discuss."
"I'd better get Mr. Sandage. No doubt he'll want to see you," Rose said, standing.
"Mr. Sandage?" Cecilia asked.
"He's been here almost every day," Rose replied. "He's been super worried about you. Even Doctor Burbidge doesn't visit as much."
"Huh."
Cecilia found herself touched. She hadn't realized she mattered that much to him. He likely blamed himself for unintentionally getting her hurt.
After Rose left, an older woman in a white coat entered.
"How are you feeling, Cecilia?" the doctor asked.
"Not super," Cecilia replied.
"Yes, a lot of stone debris collapsed on top of you," the doctor replied. "You're lucky to be alive."
"What's wrong, Doctor?" Cecilia asked pointedly, sensing something unsaid.
Doctor Richman sighed and lowered herself to her patient's level.
"I'm sorry to tell you this, Cecilia. When the emergency services pulled you out of the rubble, your legs were seriously hurt."
That didn't make sense to Cecilia, after all her legs seemed to be the only part of her which didn't hurt. In fact she couldn't really feel...
The doctor paused, bracing herself to give the bad news. "The nerve endings in your legs were severely damaged. I'm sorry, Cecilia, but, likely, you'll never walk again."
"No."
The entire world seemed to collapse beneath her.
Not walk again?
Cecilia stared in muted horror, numb to everything around her.
Not walk again.
This truth whirled around in her head. How could this have happened? Why her? Cecilia shook, overcome with emotion. Words failed her.
The doctor put a comforting hand on her shoulder and didn't protest as Cecilia sobbed into her coat. Eventually, Cecilia regained a measure of composure, and she stared into Doctor Richman's hopeful eyes.
"It's not over yet. The damage to your legs is serious, but with physical therapy, you might walk again with luck. Don't give up yet, Cecilia. You're strong and young. You can get through this."
Cecilia only managed a muted nod and sniffed.
"Cecilia, I'm so sorry," Sandage said as he burst into the room and grabbed her in a fierce embrace. He had a bandage over his forehead, but he seemed otherwise all right. "I'm so sorry."
Much to Cecilia's astonishment, tears trailed down the LUVOLT agent's face. This left Cecilia feeling rather awkward, unsure how to react. Behind Sandage, Rose smiled at the scene.
"I really am loved, aren't I?" Cecilia thought.
She had difficulty believing anyone could love a freak like her, a science experiment gone wrong. Yet they loved her.
Oh shoot, she was crying again.
///
"Sir, I'd like to make a personal request."
The words came out blunter than Sandage had expected. He was surprisingly nervous, heartbeat thundering in his chest. This was an enormous ask, admittedly. Or was he nervous because he feared what would happen if Shapley said no?
"Don't be stupid. Just ask the question," Sandage thought, reprimanding himself.
"Yes?" Shapley said, leaning forward on his desk. "I'm all ears."
"I would like to submit a request to adopt Cecilia Burbidge, sir, formally."
There, he'd said it. Truthfully, he'd been considering this for some while.
"Really? May I ask why?"
"This isn't to disparage Doctor Burbidge, sir. She's done a fine job, actually, she's been a good guardian, if somewhat distant. But considering what happened, Cecilia needs a home to call her own. One that will look after her."
"What does your wife think?"
"Jocelyn is thrilled."
She'd basically fallen in love with the girl when Cecilia had visited their home. And his son didn't mind having a new sister too much. He hadn't been completely told the details, but he'd be sympathetic to Cecilia's difficult upbringing.
"We've given it much discussion, and agreed it'd be good for the girl."
And besides, Cecilia deserved better than being some scientific curiosity. She was a normal preteen girl deep down. And after getting bound to a wheelchair, she needed a real family to take care of her.
"With such a heartfelt plea, how can I refuse? It shouldn't be too hard to arrange. I'll pull some strings to make it happen." His boss broke into a grin. "Frankly, I'm surprised it took you this long, Joe. I know how much you care about the girl. For Rose, too."
"Yeah, they're both special girls," Sandage said wistfully. "Was I really that transparent?"
"Like glass," Shapley said, laughing. "You've been slacking on your training."
Sandage joined in the laughter. Some hardened ex-FBI agent he was.
"Now to break the news to Cecilia. I just hope she agrees."
But there was one snag to his plan. What if Cecilia was happy with her current guardian? Sandage didn't want to force the adoption on her.
"You're a good man, Joe." Shapley clapped a hand on Sandage's shoulder. "Cecilia will be proud to have you as her father."
"Thanks, Joseph."
Butterflies danced in Sandage's stomach.
He knew Cecilia liked him, but would she accept his proposal? This whole family business was quite foreign to the lab-raised girl. Was he pushing this too fast? Honestly, he probably was. When Cecilia had gotten injured, he'd totally freaked out. He'd barely gotten any sleep since her short coma.
"I am being ridiculous," Sandage thought wryly.
Still, he wanted this adoption. He wanted to make Cecilia happy, to provide her with the love the wretched scientists who'd created her hadn't.
"You're a good man, Joe," a familiar female voice sounded from his phone. "With the world collapsing beneath us, we need to keep the people we love close."
"You were listening, Macauley?" Sandage fought to keep the agitation from his voice.
He glanced down at his phone, the source of the unwanted voice. It made him wonder what else the nosy little vTuber had been listening to.
"Not intentional, I promise!" The vTuber crossed her arms in an X. "But this is important. World-shattering important."
"Okay, what is it?" Sandage said with a sigh.
"The Altair are opening a gateway to launch a full invasion of your universe."
Sandage's phone slipped from his fingers, its screen shattering as it struck the cement floor.
No.
He couldn't have heard that right.
With shaky hands, he picked up his phone.
"Macauley, explain" Shapley said, his voice hard.
Through the shattered screen, a map appeared showing a cluster of stars and planets. It looked vaguely familiar. Was that the edge of their solar system? Some distance beyond Pluto, there was a red exclamation point.
"At the edge of this solar system is a huge distortion in space-time. It's already the size of Earth's moon, but it's increasing fast. I reckon about 50 miles a day and growing," Macauley replied.
"Lord above!" Shapley said breathlessly as he peered over Sandage's shoulder. "Is a prelude to a full-scale invasion?"
"That's my hunch. They're bringing something huge through. I doubt it's anything good," the vTuber said.
"And you detected this how?" Sandage asked, curious.
They didn't have a clue what technology the alien entity used or where it even originated. That she'd detected this before even the Ectutai meant she had technology beyond anything they had currently.
"It's reliable. I've already sent the coordinates to your phone. The Ectutai fleet should be able to detect it with a scout ship to confirm my findings. It's good to get a second opinion."
"Thanks," Sandage said begrudgingly.
Truthfully, he didn't doubt her assessment at all. Rose had killed two of the Altair's generals. It made sense that they'd start playing hardball.
"Still, a full invasion."
Sandage leaned back against a wall. This was worse than his wildest nightmares. Rose couldn't fight an entire fleet by herself. Could the Luyten V even work in space? They hadn't even remotely tested that possibility yet.
With a solar system-spanning fleet, the Kristra Republic had considerable muscle to throw around. But with the Ectutai's fleet scattered throughout their system dealing with other problems, could they even assemble it in time?
"Stars above."
This was it.
The end of everything.
"Joe, Cecilia, I'm sorry."
Sandage clenched a fist. He felt so helpless. He'd worked so hard to make himself strong enough to protect his family. What a joke. He'd only been a fool acting tough.
"Please tell me you have some plan, Macauley." Pleading crept into Sandage's voice.
"I just might," Macauley replied, her voice soft. She seemed to sense his inner turmoil. "I've sent it to you now."
"Huh, what's this?"
A schematic appeared on Sandage's phone. It looked somewhat similar, but appeared too advanced for him to understand.
"A prototype my team has been working on, led by our mutual friend Doctor Petrus Naboth," Macauley replied. "But, well…"
"This sudden invasion threw off your timetable," Sandage said with a wry smile.
"Quite," Macauley said, grinning. "But I've gathered some impressive ingredients. You interested?"
"Depends. I loathe paprika," the director said blandly.
"Oh, I'd best be careful then. I might add something you're allergic to!" Macauley replied, nonplussed.
"Get to the point, Macauley," Shapley said, already getting sick of the banter.
"Okay. How does a new Luyten V sound?"
This took Sandage aback, unable to hide his reaction.
A new Luyten V?
How the heck had the digital creature managed that?
"Part of one anyway," the Vtuber said.
The director was calmer, but this had certainly attracted his interest.
"How far along are you?" Shapley asked. "Is it something we can build soon?"
It was wonderful news. Two Luyten Vs would be helpful. Though, two against the entire Altair horde wasn't a hopeful prospect. This realization dampened Sandage's mood. The vTuber's next words kneecapped it further.
"Early prototype. Nothing we can assemble into anything usable. Our mutual friend Petrus has the core basically developed, but it's nothing remotely tested," Macauley replied.
"So we have scraps of barely understood technology." Shapley slammed his desk hard enough to spill a half-filled coffee cup onto the floor.
"But we have friends with very advanced technology," Macauley replied.
"It's something."
All of Director Shapley's long years were visible on his face. He slumped into his chair. "But we don't have time!"
"It'll have to do," Macauley replied, her voice gentle. "We'll need to depend on humanity's and the Ectutai's brightest minds."
"Send the schematics." Shapley regained some of his composure, but Sandage still saw fractures in his cool façade.
"I'll do better. I'm sending my crack team over with their current research. They've promised to hold nothing back. They're at your disposal," Macauley replied.
"On behalf of the Earth, thank you," Shapley said with the utmost sincerity.
"Yes, thank you."
While they'd had their differences and, frankly, Sandage hated how mysterious Macauley often acted, he considered her a trustworthy ally. How crazy that sounded.
"I just hope it's enough."
Then Sandage's phone blacked out. It rebooted and returned to its usual image of his wife and son. And hopefully, later, Cecilia would be part of that picture too. He'd received a message with multiple large attachments.
"She's a prompt one."
Sandage skimmed through the attachments. Their science team would examine them later.
"Still, an invasion." Shapley leaned back in his chair.
"I suppose it was bound to happen, eventually."
"Yeah."
But sulking about it wouldn't help.
"I'll make sure Doctor Gold gets this."
But the director stopped Sandage.
"Again, I wish you luck with Cecilia. I just hope all this craziness won't distract you from telling her the news. With the incoming apocalypse, you should tell her as soon as possible."
"Don't worry, it won't," Sandage promised.
She deserved the best before the worst happened. And he would protect her, too. Even though he hadn't adopted Cecilia yet, she was his family, and he'd be damned if he would allow the Altair to hurt her again.
Sandage barreled through the door of Shapley's office with renewed purpose in his step.
///
"Come," Prince Hallfar said from his office desk. His arm hung in a sling and every breath hurt. Even with rejuvenation treatment, it'd take time to recover. When the bunker collapsed, he'd been lucky. The three men he'd brought with him for the operation hadn't been as lucky. Cecilia Burbidge remained in critical care.
His workplace was well-organized. Not a single detail sat out of place. The military had taught him to be fastidious in everything. That he'd been a prince had meant nothing to his old mentor, General Haal. In fact, he'd treated Hallfar worse than dirt, to break any pride he might have in his royal position. He smiled fondly. They'd been a difficult but necessary hardship.
"I have the report on the LUVOLT bunker operation," Corporal Jalmren said, presenting a data reader. "It has everything the humans pieced together, and the data we scrounged up from space."
"Any sign of the cloaked Altair?" For simplicity, they'd agreed to call it Altair Cloak. "Or Pyrite?"
"None, sir. The Earth's spy agencies and local law enforcement are searching for her, but so far they've come up empty." Jalmren gave a derisive snort. "With how fragmented they are, we'll be lucky if they find anything."
Humanity still suffered over its multitude of conflicting political entities. While they'd dropped most of their animosity toward each other to face a greater enemy, rivalries ran deep.
"It can't be helped." With their small fleet, any attempt to search themselves was pointless. Better to take advantage of the local systems, flawed and primitive as they were. "But I have a hunch they remain in North America."
"It makes sense. Their primary target has always been the Luyten V." The corporal paused, words lingering on his tongue unsaid.
"Speak. I want to hear your mind."
"I'm just frustrated. We're falling behind the humans." Jalmren clasped and unclasped his gloved hands. "When you were injured, the humans who avenged you, not us. We've been nothing but ineffectual against the Altair."
"That's true." Truthfully, it bothered him too. Unless they planned to send a capital ship against the Altair, their weapons were ineffectual. Such extreme methods would only devastate the Earth's surface. "But time is against us."
Thanks to the designs granted to them by LUVOLT, they were developing their own Luyten V, but the work was slow-going. If the future Rose Brahe had designed the machine, it was a masterclass in genius. Even the Ectutai's best engineers and scientists were only grasping at its complexity. It'd take years to develop their own robot. Time Hallfar's gut told him they didn't have.
"Any suggestions?" Hallfar asked wryly, leaning back into his seat. "Something to tip the scales?"
"No, sir," Jalmren said, crestfallen. He'd only been venting his frustration at their situation. "If only we could reverse time and destroy the Altair before they bothered humanity."
Wasn't that a thought? It still boggled Hallfar's mind that humanity had sent the Luyten V into the past. Where had they found that power? Not without terrible results. For their folly in trying to change fate, it had struck back. Now, the Altair invasion had happened decades earlier than it should have.
Was their universe always fated for destruction? No! Hallfar refused to accept that. There must be a way to change their fate, for his brother's sake.
"History."
"Sorry, sir?" Jalmren asked.
"Just thinking out loud." Could the Ectutai repeat the process? Humanity did it. No, time travel was only theoretical at best to his scientists. It'd take decades to master.
Wait, so how had humanity managed it? The answer struck Hallfar like a hard blow to the skull.
"That meddler." No doubt she'd only offered them that wisdom when the situation had become beyond desperate.
"Would changing history again help?" Hallfar thought. No. Fate would likely strike them back even harder.
A cunning smile stretched across Hallfar's face as an idea struck him. The prince tapped at a tablet the humans had given him. He accessed a video website humans used to share videos and messaged a certain VTuber. He'd make her help him.
The Ectutai would forge their own fate, even if it meant plundering a broken, lost future.