Tomorrow Knights/Left in A Rush
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
. . .Left in A Rush.
“Historical records do indicate that a contingent of Tomorrow Knights arrived in the early 21st century,” Twilight’s Daughter announced. She sat behind the others, facing a small computer display with her back slightly turned to the rest of the group so they couldn’t see the frantic look on her face. “There must be issues with the time distortions; the records are hard to access.”
Barometrica blinked. “It affects c-c-computers, now?” A chorus of confused and worried voices answered. There were a total of fifteen Tomorrow Knights seated in the conference room. They had all been specifically chosen for the mission based on their abilities and personalities. Aside from the fifteen, Magnemo, the magnetic man, stood at a podium as they discussed the mission, and Twilight’s Daughter had been asked to attend the briefing and provide any necessary information from the sub-space web.
“The problems are getting worse, it seems,” Magnemo spoke up. “Twilight’s Daughter, can you find any information from other sources?”
“We’re trying that now,” she answered as her fingers flew across the keypad, searching for specific references and deleting them whenever they appeared on her monitor. “Bits and pieces are coming through. Things are…choppy.”
“Don’t worry, Lyss. If anyone can piece that stuff together, it’s you,” Hunk spoke up. It was hard to tell on his stone face, but he appeared to be smiling. Twilight’s Daughter breathed a sigh of relief as the briefing continued. She kept part of her attention focused on what the others were talking about as she worked at manipulating the historical records. As soon as she had seen her own name, she knew that she had to somehow convince the Knights’ leadership that it would be safe for her to take the trip as a member of the team.
It was determined that Saturn Nine would head up the operation, and Twilight’s Daughter listened as the others discussed their roles for the mission. She was thankful that she was only asked for a few small bits of information that were fairly easy to come across; although she was surprised that several of the questions came from Aspera, who was normally not one to speak up in such a large group. He was also the only one in attendance who wasn’t in uniform.
The meeting broke up after a few hours of technical briefings. Twilight’s Daughter then went to work preparing informative readings for the members, so they could better acclimate themselves to the early 21st century. The sub-space web was a help, but the Tomorrow Knight Ultragirl was a far richer resource, as she was originally from the same time period. Rs-ol, the Kheldian half of Twilight’s Daughter, had a spotty recollection of the time period: he had spent little time on Earth, and even then he was a willing participant in the Nictus’ plan to take control of the Council and eventually conquer the Earth. Twilight’s Daughter had removed references of Rs-ol from the appropriate historical records, just in case anyone started digging.
After preparing thirteen of the documents (Ultragirl had not requested one for obvious reasons), Twilight’s Daughter located each of the remaining fourteen as they prepared to depart for the past and distributed her briefing, save for one. Afterwards, she approached the temporary living quarters of Hunk. She steadied her hands, which were shaking slightly, before pressing the door chime. A moment later she heard the gravelly voice of the stone man calling her to enter.
“Hey there, Lyss!” Hunk gave the young-seeming girl a hug. She was used to tremendous gravitational extremes, but his embrace was still disconcertingly powerful. “Sorry, didn’t mean to squish you there,” Hunk laughed. It was like boulders falling down a rocky hillside.
“No worries, hunk. You only broke a few of our ribs,” Twilight’s Daughter joked half-heartedly.
“You okay, Alissa? You sound a bit nervous. You aren’t worried about me, are you?” Hunk winked. Twilight’s Daughter smiled wanly, handing him a datapad and taking a step back once he took it from her grasp.
“We just need you to go over a few things before leaving,” she said. Hunk activated the datapad with a surprisingly gentle touch from his massive hand and began to read.
“I don’t get it,” he said, furrowing his brow. “This is a leave request,” he continued to read. “Why is my name on here?” Hunk lowered the datapad and looked at Twilight’s Daughter in confusion. “What’s this all about, Alissa. I’m not going away; I’m going on the mission.”
Twilight’s Daughter shook her head. “We’re sorry, Hunk, but you aren’t. This will only be temporary. You won’t feel a thing. I’ve programmed the singularity to open after one year, but for you no time will have passed.” She closed her eyes and concentrated on the datapad, causing a button to press itself by manipulating its gravity. The pad began to dim from view, and soon the entire room was swimming in a strange, glowing, palpable darkness.
“Alissa! This could get you into real trouble!” Hunk pleaded. He tried to move, but found himself rooted to the spot by his own weight. “Why are you doing this? And what happens in a year?”
“We do not know,” Twilight’s Daughter said. “But you will be unharmed. We wish there was more time to explain, but this is something we need to do.”
The darkness had grown thicker, and was pressing down on Hunk like a great weight. He could barely draw in enough breath to speak. “Will you tell me when this is all over at least?”
“That won’t be possible, we’re afraid.” The darkness began to collapse in on itself. Twilight’s Daughter seemed unaffected by it, but Hunk was being pulled into the distortion. “We’re taking your place on the mission, and we won’t be coming back.” Before she could finish speaking, the distortion had closed and the datapad fell to the floor.
Saturn Nine counted the heads in the room. Only one hadn’t yet arrived. The door opened and Twilight’s Daughter entered, a bag containing the small allotment of items it was possible to carry with her slung over her shoulder. The noises from the engines powering the time portal were loud, and she had to shout to be heard over them. Her voice cracked from the strain, as she was not used to raising it. “Alissa? Where’s Hunk?”
Twilight’s Daughter shrugged. “Something about an emergency that called him back to his own world. He left in quite a rush, apparently. We convinced Magnemo to let us come in his place, if that’s okay with you.”
