Many times, many places...
01 January 2651
She walked the corridors of the shattered habitat, alone. Many times she had done this, likely she would do so many more times. Past, present, future, all these merged to a single moment, walking down the rubble-strewn corridor.
She was alive, some others were also alive, some others were not. This also was something that had, did, would continue, something she had to work very hard to appreciate in all the complex variations of the state. She was alive, always had been, always would be. Sometimes knowing this took all the fun out of life.
The corridor ended at a T-intersection and she stood gazing down the left side. She knew what was down there. She did not need to look and see. She turned to the right. Also, no surprises awaited there. She turned back the way she came, and sighed as she realized she had already explored that avenue as well. Sulking, she dropped to a sitting position in the middle of the junction, and just sat there.
Alas, this she had also done many times before and would do many times in the future, and this was also of little interest. She muttered a rude word, got up, and stalked off down the left branch of the corridor.
She picked up a piece of broken metal weighing perhaps a kilogram and hurled it down the corridor some meters. She continued walking until she reached the piece, picked it out of its pile of fellow bits of debris, and once again hurled it several meters in front of her. This she did until she had taken turns at several intersection, and she gritted her teeth as she realized she had circled a square block of the ruined habitat and the piece of metal was resting in its original location.
She sat down heavily on a large, jagged slab of torn bulkhead, rested her chin in her hands, and brooded darkly. Neither was this anything she had not done many times before, but she did not care. Her voice from the next universe over was silent, and she frowned at this. Normally, she spent a good fraction of her life arguing with herself, seeking guidance from that older version of herself. Unfortunately, guidance was often useless, since she usually knew just what was going to happen in any given time in the future anyway.
She had wandered this shattered city on Venus for some years, finding its ruined, corpse-filled shell to be more than dreary and peaceful enough to give her a break from the excitement of exploring a universe she already knew like the back of all her hands in her various physical manifestations. It was a delightful place to sulk.
She turned suddenly as a noise startled her. One of the bulkhead doors was opening, and a black-suited female figure stepped through when they had finished their long, grinding journey to open position. She shot to her feet, pressed herself back against the wall, trying to remain unseen.
A moment later, a resonant contralto with a strong European accent crackled over a suit speaker into the murky, liquid atmosphere. "Who are you?" the voice demanded.
"Eidolon," she responded, frowning deeply as she realized she had not foreseen this woman's presence. Or had she? She wore a spacesuit-- something she had little real use for-- so the other did not find anything out of the ordinary about her except her presence. Had she subconsciously decided to don a spacesuit just so this person would not see her true power? Or was it just chance?
"A ghost, hmm," the other said. "I suppose only a ghost would live in this place."
Ghost?
"Yes..." Eidolon said.
"When did you come here? This place was destroyed; nothing could have survived. You had to have come in after the Fire. And if you had come in the last five years I would have seen you."
Not necessarily, Eidolon thought. "Yes, I came some years ago." And this was true.
"No power source. No atmosphere. No food production. Explain." The voice was sharp as a diamond blade.
A sharp wit, this one. Cautious. And arrogant. "I don't have to explain myself," Eidolon said abruptly, and turned away.
The other approached to about two meters distant. "One would think after spending five years in this place you would be dying to talk to someone."
Eidolon did not reply for a long time. "No nosy questions?"
A long pause, then a sigh. "As you wish. But I will draw my own conclusions."
"Fair enough. Who are you?"
"My name is Maria. I used to be a doctor."
Eidolon turned and looked closely, peering into the other woman's helmet. Black eyes in a youthful face stared back at her. This woman could not be more than twenty-five, Eidolon thought. But the eyes were black suns, burning deep into her, probing her. The chin was tilted upward slightly, and this combined with the expression and the probing eyes told her that she was being measured in a manner that only one of many years could manage. "I see. How old are you?"
Maria tilted her head downward in acknowledgement of the question, but did not answer for a long time. "Older than I care to consider. And I sense the same of you."
Had this Maria read her that well? There was no penetrating the space-like depths of those eyes, and the expression gave even less away. "Perhaps," Eidolon said softly.
Maria glanced around the place, lifted her hands, and let them fall back to her sides.
"So. Do we stand here in this graveyard in our suits or do we take this conversation--" that last was barbed-- "to Sa Thauri?"
Eidolon took a second to identify the name as that of a city neighboring Akane, then nodded. "What is there?"
Maria smiled slightly. "Oxygen."
Eidolon laughed. This was the first time she had done that in centuries. "Ah... let's go then."
They reached Sa Thauri in Maria's tank some three hours later, three hours during which Eidolon said practically nothing. About halfway into the trip, she sat bolt upright in the copilot's chair as she realized that she had not foreseen this, indeed, she could see nothing of the immediate future.
Maria glanced at her oddly at her sudden movement, but shook her head and returned her attention to her piloting. Eidolon forced herself to relax, and then began trying to read Maria's immediate past and future.
She failed utterly. Maria was a pure, black void to her senses. She sat back heavily, blinking her eyes and trying to process this.
"What are you doing?" Maria demanded, and turned around. Eidolon looked a question at her. "I felt you were doing something. What?"
She even sensed her scan! This individual was an anomaly. Eidolon forced a shrug, and closed her eyes, trying to contact her elder self. She failed, and when she opened her eyes she saw Maria still watching her, a suspicious expression on her face.
This Maria must have psi potential. Beyond that; she must have incredible psi potential. Eidolon had encountered several people over the ages that were capable of seeing the future or reading people telepathically, but none of them were the slightest challenge to her. This Maria person had swallowed her scans like a black hole, and responded to something she should never have even detected. Eidolon sensed incredible danger.
Perhaps it would be best to destroy this person before she wreaked havoc on the universe, but as Eidolon considered this she realized that she would fail in the attempt, possibly fatally. This woman's power was a worthy rival-- possible superior-- even to her own, and she had never known an equal.
And this frightened her.
15 July 2837
