The Void

This is a dream that Team Beta members all have before the
start of Episode 8.
 

        A Russian Meta-human named Manifesto gets a call from a strange woman
who tells him his flight to the US has been bumped up, and he’d better get
there quickly.  Since he was planning on going their anyway to work for the
Omega Foundation, and since she says people will die if he is late, he hops on
a plain.

        Team Beta 2 gets a phone call from a frantic woman with some instructions. 
The first person she talks to does not take her seriously, but then she talks with
another member of the team, who agrees to her instructions.

        Phrostbyte gets a call from Facet telling him he needs to get to the ground
floor to help ground Team Beta 2.  With no explanation other than that, he
rushes through the portal.

        Moonlight gets a call as well, telling her to get to the 40th floor of the Omega
building.  She gets Lucky and rushes over.

        Oblivion also gets a phone call with instructions, which he agrees to.

        Enigma, while watching Button convulse on the couch (while from her
perspective her sister is dragging her ever closer to the window), gets a phone
call from Facet.  She tells him to body check the Queen, and to do it
immediately.

        Enigma is puzzled, but responds to the urgency in her voice and follows her
instructions.  Seconds later, a tentacle slams through the window right where
the Queen had been standing.

        Enigma powers up and blasts the monster, while Oblivion appears in the
room, asks who ordered the Insanity Stalker special, and attacks it.

        The Queen focuses on helping Button, while the rest of Team Delta, along
with Enigma, Moonlight, Lucky and a security agent known as Agent 042,
fight the monster.  The Deltas actually seem worried, which is enough to
seriously unsettle the rest.
        Meanwhile, on the ground floor, Manifesto arrives in a taxi in time to see a
giant egg crash to the ground.  He joins in the fight, helping Phrostbyte and
Strike Force Beta 2 destroy the egg.

        Both groups are successful, though not without some serious injuries to
Oblivion, who gets a tentacle through his chest.  The Queen helps Button
resist whatever is happening to her, and she comes out of it.  Button is
seriously hurt in the process, and is taken to the infirmary, where they tell her
she has had a stroke.

        The Queen tells Enigma to take his team home, explaining that she will send
someone to him later to fill him in on what happened.  He complies, and back
at the mansion he gets a visit from a holographic Oblivion.

        Oblivion explains that an Insanity Stalker is a monster that they have
encountered a couple of times in the past.  Nobody knows where they come
from, though some think they are from the same realm as the orcs and
kobolds, while others think they are from space.  What is known is that they
are attracted to insanity.

        Manifesto, who followed Strike Force Omicron to their mansion, asks to join
their team, so Moonlight offers to take him through the portal to register with
the personnel department.

The Bold and Italic areas are what is from the point of view of the characters
that are knocked out. The rest is happening around the characters that are knocked
out.

The next morning, Jane notices that none of the team has come down for
breakfast as usual, and tries to contact Enigma.  When he does not respond, she
tries each team member in turn, getting more and more worried.  She checks their
rooms, and finds all of them asleep, except for The Question (who looks like
Taffy), who is dead.  He appears to have been shot multiple times.  She
compartmentalizes that, and is able to do her job.  She is unable to wake the
others, and contacts the Omega Foundation.  “Omega Foundation, how may I help
you?” says the pleasant voice on the other end of the phone.  “This is Jane at the
Omicron Mansion, and we have a serious problem.  All of the team is asleep, one
is down, and the others won’t wake up.”  “Please hold,” says the pleasant voice on
the other end of the phone.  Jane wonders just what it would take to shake the
Omega Towers receptionist’s calm.  She has the feeling the world could be
coming to an end and the receptionist would still keep the polite and pleasant tone
of voice.
 After a short time on hold, Jane is put through to the Sub-director.  “This is
Sub-director Knight.  What seems to be the problem, Jane?”

“I don’t know what’s wrong, but none of them will wake up.”

“Did anything unusual happen last night?” asked the Sub-director.

“Not that I know of, I went to sleep, and when I woke up they were like this.”

“Ok, Jane, don’t worry,” Knight reassures her.  “We’ll send over a medical
team to check them out.”

“Oh, and The Question!”  Jane exclaims.

“Go ahead, ask” Knight says.

“No, not a question, The Question.  He’s dead.  His golden blood is all over
my hands.  It’s on the phone, it’s on my blouse, there’s so much of it.”

“Ok, Jane, just stay calm, we’ll send someone immediately.”

Knight calls the infirmary, and they send over a team to examine the members
of Omicron.  Not knowing what to expect, they arrive in full hazmat suits.  They
examine each member of the team in turn, and find that they are in some kind of
artificially induced coma.  After running a couple of tests, the team realizes that
the inhabitants of the mansion had been flooded with Temporal Radiation.  Jane is
the only one unaffected, because among her other extraordinary abilities, she
seems to be immune to radiation of all kinds.  The rest of the staff is not in the
mansion, apparently having received phone calls to get them out of the house. 
When they track those phone calls, they lead to a warehouse, so Sub-director
Knight sends team Gamma to check it out.

Gamma finds an elaborate computer set-up, but before they can extract any
useful data the warehouse blows up.  Tech-tech is injured in the blast, having been
right next to the computer when it blew.  The others get him back to the Omega
building and take him to the infirmary, and then report their failure to get any
useful information from the computer.

The medical staff is baffled, having no idea how to treat the temporal
radiation.  Eugene and his new assistant, Hyper Monkey, start studying the
problem, trying to find a treatment.  In the meantime, team Delta visits the
Mansion and attempts to bring Enigma out of his coma.  Their powers seem to
have no affect, however, and Team Omicron remains stubbornly unconscious. 
Scarlet also tries to reach them, using her dream-walking ability, but the radiation
seems to be interfering with her power.  She is able to tell, however, that they are
experiencing some sort of dreams or hallucinations.
 From team Omicron’s perspective, it is the next morning, and the first
unusual thing they notice is that The Question has not been around for a little
while.  He is usually following one of them around asking questions, but they
have not seen him in hours.  Enigma goes to his room to check on him, and
finds him dead on the floor, having been shot multiple times.  Against Enigma’s
wishes, Phrostbyte calls Scarlet for help, but forgets that she was interested in
The Question, and breaks the news of his death in a very insensitive manner.  A
short time later, Rex shows up, ready to kick Phrostbyte’s ass for his
callousness.  After talking to Enigma and the others, however, Rex realizes that
the team has no idea Scarlet has been dating The Question for months. 
Apparently, it is 5 months in the future, 5 months that Team Omicron has no
memory of.

Meanwhile, back in the lab, Eugene and Hyper Monkey theorize that the team
may be experiencing glimpses of the future, brought on by the temporal
radiation.  They recommend that Omicron be kept at their mansion to prevent the
radiation from affecting anyone else.  They keep studying the radiation, trying to
find a way to bring the others out of their comas, but nothing they try seems to do
anything.

Rex reveals that 5 months have passed, and calls in a team from the Omega
Building.  The team arrives in full hazmat gear and takes Strike Force Omicron
into custody.  They are taken back to the Omega building, where they are
isolated in interconnecting cells.  Sub-director Knight visits Enigma, and tells
him that Button is having some difficulties, and they have been considering
putting her in Stronghold for her own good.  She also explains that it seems
they have a second chance with her, because this temporal radiation has reset
her mental state to where it was before.  If she can be made to realize that she
has a problem and needs treatment sooner this time, maybe she can be saved.

Meanwhile, Yes visits Button to check on her, calling her by her real name
and asking if she is ok.  She says she has no memories of the last 5 months, and
he seems disappointed, asking her if she remembers Paris.  He leaves, and
Moonlight explains to Button that she thinks Yes and Button had started dating,
and taken a trip to Paris.  They wonder what else has happened in the
intervening months.

Yes stops by Scarlet’s room, and tells her she should go to the bathroom. 
Specifically, she should go to the lobby floor bathroom in exactly 5 minutes.  She
does so, and finds Jane in one of the stalls, puking her guts out.  Scarlet waits, and
when Jane is done she asks what is wrong.  “I’ve been sick for hours.  No matter
how many times I wash my hands I can’t get the feeling of Questions blood to go
away. I hate this, I hate that I have to clean gold colored blood off of my hands, I
hate that I can speak with computers better then I can with boys, I hate that I don’t
have a family because my parents kicked me out when they found out I was
infected.  I’m only 16 I should not have to deal with this crap.” She says this with
a very heavy heart, and by the end of her statement she is reduced to tears.

Scarlet holds her and lets her cry. “I was 14 when this life found me, I know
how hard it is, but it gets better, sometimes.” Scarlet says softly. “You’re doing
fine, you are doing good work with Omicron, helping people, and you do have a
family.” “I do?” Jane says with sniffle. “Yes, Knight may be many things, but one
thing he is not is unfaithful to his Team.  To him, you are his family.” “Knight?
Who is Knight?” “Knight, huh, I meant Enigma, I said Knight?” ”Yeah ya did.”
“Oh sorry, Enigma, and the other they are your family, huh.. weird.”

“But they are so sick, they are dying, what will I do if I loose them to?” “That will
not happen, Jane, I will not allow it. Now come on, let’s get you cleaned up, and
back to the Gamma floor, you look like you could use some sleep.” “But I don’t
sleep.” “Ok then you look like you need to play some games with Mini-C, his
cute is very infectious.”

After escorting Jane to the Gamma floor and leaving her with Mini-C, Scarlet
purposefully heads towards the Omicron Mansion portal. As she is heading in that
direction she thinks she sees a familiar face, one that she misses. The person is in
the background of a picture on the wall. She looks at the picture for a long time
then resumes her task.  Elsewhere in the Omega Towers, Eugene and Hyper
Monkey discuss the problem at hand.  Oblivion, which stopped by to check on the
progress of their investigation, is looking back and forth between the two of them,
perplexed.

      “The simple fact of the matter remains that there is no known technology
that would be able to spread this type of radiation in such a focused locale.  That
leaves only one conclusion that I can surmise,” Eugene expounds.

“Oh, right, naturally, only one conclusion.”  Oblivion looks just as perplexed,
and maybe a little annoyed.  He pauses, and then exclaims “Ok, what is the
conclusion?”

“The source of the radiation is obviously someone infected with the M virus,”
Hyper Monkey explains.  “Since there is known technology and it is unlikely that
there is an unknown technology that could do this then the only logical
explanation is the M virus I mean not only is there no known technology it is also
impossible to get this type of radiation to be focused in such a way because very
little other than Team Omicron has been irradiated the Mansion is virtually free of
temporal radiation and that is impossible because Temporal Radiation cannot be
contained in such a small area.”

When Hyper Monkey pauses for a breath, having said that entire explanation
as one long sentence, Oblivion interjects “Is your super power that you can make
long explanations in a single breath?”
 “Well one out of every 100 people in 6 billion people in this planet are
infected by the M virus and it stands to reason that not everyone is going to get
amazing world saving flashy side effects like yours so some people have to have
the small and ordinary and unseen powers like mine but it could be much worse
because I could have a power that would allow me to do something that is
insanely dangerous or unwaveringly unstable… oh wait you were joking weren’t
you ha ha that was funny what makes it so funny is that although it was intended
to be a jest it is actually true because there are lots and lots of us Meta humans
that don’t have the big flashy world altering powers and just have small but just as
useful powers that nobody notices.”

“Hyper Monkey, I believe that the Geiger spectrograph is done cooking

sample #3.”  Eugene states.  “Get the results and start on number 4 please.”

Hyper Monkey focuses on those results for a moment, giving Oblivion a

chance to talk to Eugene.  “So, what does this mean?  A Meta-human did this to
them?”

“Well, the evidence alone does not point to that, however if you take into
account the death of The Question, then yes, your statement is correct.”

“Huh?  How does The Question’s dying have anything to do with the spread
of tempora radiation?” Oblivion asks in puzzlement, now looking more than a
little annoyed.

“You mean temporal radiation right?” Hyper Monkey asks, while inputting
data into her computer.  “Well of course The Question is immune to radiation
because of his unique robot/alien physiology…”

“Hyper, I do not believe I hear the whirl and hum of a Geiger spectrograph
doing its analysis,” Eugene interrupts.

“Oh sorry boss right on it humming and whirling coming right up.”

“Wait, I wanted to hear what she was going to say,” Oblivion says.

“Oh, well its very simple,” Eugene explains.  “The Question is immune to
radiation.  Whoever did this clearly knew that, and had him murdered, or
murdered him themselves.  So, one can clearly make the logical assumption that
the radiation was done intentionally, and was meant to kill the entire team.  The
Question was killed because it did not work on him.”

“Of course, how simple,” Oblivion says.  “But what about Jane?  Isn’t she
immune to the radiation thingy too?  Why didn’t they kill her?”
 “Aha, a very good question.  I think you are getting the hang of this, Mr.
Oblivion.  Keep this up, and perhaps soon you will be down here with us solving
the scientific mysteries that we face on a day to day basis.”

“Thanks…I think… but you didn’t answer my question.”

At this, Eugene reaches over and adjusts a knob on the nearby frequency
modulator and the holographic image of Oblivion starts to fade from the lab. 
Back in the infirmary, Oblivion looks very annoyed as he removes his
holoshades.  “Bah, scientists!” he exclaims.  Tech-tech, lying in the bed next to
him, says something in Japanese.  Oblivion does not understand Japanese, but the
tone seems unflattering.

Jane is a child of the Void and was born when someone went to the void and
traded some of the life blood they possessed to change reality. Scarlet had been
killed and they actually traded health levels in a bargain with the void to bring
back her back to life. One side effect of this trade was Jane. She was created with
fabricated memories of a mother and step father who kicked her out for being
infected and a father who now had to love her and take care of her. Do you
understand what you need to do?

Meanwhile, in the cells in the Omega Towers, in a shared hallucination, the

members of Strike Force Omicron are all given an experimental treatment, and
each get glimpses of their “past” from the last 5 months.  In reality, these are
glimpses of their future.  From their perspective, they are released and sent back
to their mansion, where they all go to sleep.

Scarlet and Yes each decide they should try one more time to reach the
members of Team Omicron.  Their condition is deteriorating, and nothing the
scientists are doing has seemed to affect things.  Yes and Scarlet manage to get
into the heads of some of the team members, but the best they can do is try to
keep them calm and the worst of the nightmares that come with this sort of death
at bay.  Yes stays with Button, who he has grown attached to, even though they
have not had a real relationship yet, while Scarlet sits with Enigma.  In spite of
everything they have been through, and everything he has said and done, she still
sits by his side and worries about him.  She holds his hand, and talks to him
softly.  “I still love you, you idiot… and I think you still love me too.  You’d
better get well, because if anyone is going to kill you it’s going to be me.  I’ll
make you a deal.  If you get better, I’ll let you go.  No more blame, no more
attitude, just a blank slate.  Hi, I’m Scarlet, nice to meet you.”  With this, Scarlet’s
voice trails off, and she simply sits there, holding his hand and hoping. “This is
wrong she says.” She looks around and sharply takes her hand away from
Enigmas. “How is it possible that I love another man, and I have both been
rejected by you and loved by you? Three different relationships all mixed up
together in my head.” The girl that looks exactly like her but who some call Evil
Scarlet answers back. “I’m doing this to you; I thought it would be fun if I
blended three different realities into one just now in your head. Enjoy the pain and
confusion.”

Meanwhile, back in the lab, Eugene and Hyper Monkey finally get some
useful results from all of their tests, and they devise a treatment that they think
will work.  The temporal radiation is coming from the blood of Team Omicron,
and they find a way to cleanse that blood.  They try the treatment on Manifesto
first, because he seems to be the worst off, and when it starts to work on him, they
quickly use it on the rest.  As Enigma starts to stir, Scarlet drops his hand, and
leaves the room slowly, looking at his face one last time while she walks away. 
“Goodbye, love,” she whispers as she leaves the room.  At the last minute, Hyper
Monkey realizes that the cure will kill Agent 042, and the only way to save her is
to infect her with the M virus.  He as a side project and hobby had figured out
how to force the M-virus to take on anyone he wanted. They do so, and then
administer the cure to her as well.