Dr Archeville Posted May 1, 2011 Posted May 1, 2011 2011, April 2, 5:23 pm EST Haus von Archeville, Hanover, Freedom City. "A little more... a little more... there!" Archeville set his calibrators down, and used a set of tweezers to carefully lift the item he was working on: a sliver of Daka crystal, no more than 30mm wide, which pulsed with a red glow most would find disconcerting. He transferred it to the special pocket watch he had been working on for the past three months – which already contained seventeen other such crystals, though these were each a mere 1mm across – and closed the timepiece up. The watch, a fine piece of engineering the envy of any Swiss watchmaker, had a transparent back so the internal workings could be seen, especially with the red light of the eighteen crystals bathing everything in a red glow. The front had not one but six sets of hands, a large one in front of and surrounded by five smaller ones; spaced equidistantly around the edge of the piece were six knobs. He gave it a final visual inspection, then looked up to its larger companion piece. The Zeittor was a large set of rings, one within the other, approximately 4.5 m (15 feet) in diameter, set on a shock-absorbing stabilization platform. Thick cables connected it to a short pedestal with a round inclined control panel on top, consisting of two concentric circles of buttons and a translucent red hemisphere in the center. He lifted the hemisphere, and looked over one of the components: a large clear tube, filled with blue-white lightning and some other odd mechanical bits. Below the tube was the spot where the timepiece would go, where six small manipulators could pull and twist the knobs of the piece during operation. A smile spread across Archeville's face. Too early to tell if it will work, but everything indicates it should. Eli's "time in a bottle" would grant me some of his supercharged superspeed, so "ten minutes becomes two hours." But I should be able to use the energy instead to supercharge these Daka crystal fragments – fragments which absorbed some of Mona's Terminus energies when she first moved in, and on which I have used a fraction of Eli's bottled energy in order to alter their frequency so they match the energies created by the time-manipulating Terminus Teen Zephyr – and, using my own wormhole technologies as a framework, tear open a portal in time! The risk is high, possibly higher than anything I have worked on before, which is why there is still much testing to do. But if it does work... I can see my mother. He closed the hemisphere and place the watch in a small velvet-lined box on a workbench, then checked the clock on the wall. "Ah, dinner! I wonder where Mona will want to go?" He flew off, buoyed by his Gravimetric Belt, and the lights to his workshops shut off behind him. 2011, April 14, 11:45 pm EST Haus von Archeville, Hanover, Freedom City The lights began to come up in Archeville's workshop, but dimmed to one quarter normal illumination following a barked command in German. Bare feet slapped against the floor as a figure approached the Zeittor, and the bench with the watch upon it. Webbed hands carefully opened the box, and talons clacked against the face of the timepiece. Sentimental fool! You'd use this to go see your mommy... pfaugh! There is only one reasonable use for this! And with the greater control I have gained in the past few months over when and for how long I can manifest – despite having to work around our new houseguest – I should have enough time to do what I wish... The monster that was/is Archeville loped down the halls to a concealed section of the workshop. Green lips pulled back into n inhumanly wide smile, revealing both rows of teeth, as he looked over the gold and blue suit of armor, the suit of Chevalier. Once the suit was on, he jetted back to the Zeittor, and placed the timepiece into the pedestal. Without the timepiece, the system could still be used as a teleporter, and he had set it to a stretch of beach along the English Channel coast of Northern France, near La Madeleine, Manche, an area better known to certain historians as Utah Beach. Now for the temporal coordinates, though not a time to go to, but rather how far back or forward to go. The main hands set hour and minute, and four of the smaller ones set millennium and century, decade and year, month and day, and seconds. The fifth set the duration of trip. Wait, why do I even care what she... bah! Archeville shook his head to clear the question from his mind. The clock struck midnight, and he activated the gate. The inner ring spun, and the air in the gateway shimmered and 'thickened' into a quicksilver disc, which exploded out both sides as a swirling vortex. The vortexes quickly stilled, and the rings appeared to be filled with a vertical puddle of water. He removed the timepiece, stowing it in a compartment on his breastplate, and stepped through the portal. Unknown Date, an hour or so before sunset Unknown Place The portal appeared in the middle of a thick forest, several feet in the air, dumping Archeville to the ground quite unceremoniously. He landed in a snowdrift, and the impact shook more snow off the trees and onto him. was the first intelligible nonvulgar word he said following the string of curses and animalistic screeches with which he initially responded. he clambered up and performed a few tests, Archeville flew up to get a better view. He saw a large frozen lake to the east, and a small village to the west. He headed west, activating the armor’s cloaking system as he flew. It was very quickly evident that he had gone back much further than 60-some years he had planned: based on the styles of both the clothing and building construction, he had gone back several hundred years, to the late middle ages! O... kaaay... still some bugs to work out in the time gate. At least I have my tech – if I had to spend a day in this SCA fantasy, I’d go mad! He continued flying around the city, looking for anything remotely familiar. Though this 'Hyde' aspect of Archeville was less intelligent than the 'Jekyll' everyone else knew, he was still a polymath genius, and could recognize the snippets of conversation he heard as being in an Early New High variant of Swabian, indicating he was somewhere in southwest Germany, between 1350-1650. But even with his extensive knowledge of the area where he’d spent his youth, the intervening 500+ years had changed things considerably; many of the landmark buildings he knew simply were not built yet. The sun was setting, and he was just about ready to fly off in search of another city, when an exchange below him told him everything he’d need to know. My ancestor! Which would mean this is Freiburg! But wait: is this mere coincidence, an accident, that I came to be here, now? Or is there something else at work? I had best follow him for a bit. Archeville followed his ancestor, remaining cloaked and staying just high enough that his armor's jets did not disturb anything. After 15 minutes, he realized his ancestor lived the bog-standard life of any Medieval fisherman with a wife and a son. A ping from his armor's radar drew his attention. It had detected nearly a hundred man-sized beings, sweeping in from the east. He flew in to investigate, but what he saw was something wholly unexpected: hideous grey-green fish/frog/snake-men, hopping and loping through the moonlit forest. he said as he powered up his armaments, A cry behind him caused him to turn – one of the creatures had snuck ahead, and had snatched up Vischer! 2011, April 15, 12:01 am EST Haus von Archeville, Hanover, Freedom City The portal in the Zeittor shrank down to a pinpoint of grey-blue light hanging in the center of the ring, as designed. This pinprick in spacetime would allow the timepiece carried by Archeville – a key component to the system – to remain connected to the time gate, and for the system to retrieve a traveler from whenever they were. Such a setup was necessary due to the size of the time gate, and future upgrades included making the entire system into an easily portable unit, so such connections would not be necessary. There was some concern that such 'lifelines' could cause unstable warps in spacetime at any point between the traveler’s departure and arrival points, or even tears to any space or time. Such warps were appearing all over Freedom City right now. 1430, late winter, night Freiburg, Germany Dozens of the Deep Ones lay dead in the snow, staining it with their azure blood. A wall of fire raged along the eastern edge of the village, separating the people from the monsters. The fire, laid down by Archeville (and in such a way that it would not spread too much), served a secondary purpose: to distract the villagers, to block their vision with smoke, and thus prevent them from even seeing the monsters right outside. After blasting, punching, and otherwise slaughtering dozens of the creatures, they — including the one carrying his ancestor – retreated, heading back into the forest. Archeville gave chase, flying above the treeline for maximum mobility, and noted they were heading east. If this is Freiburg, then the lake to the east if Lake Constance. It has many caves, and connections to the Rhine river, so that may be their local base of operations. Archeville managed some strafing runs in the few clearings, but the one carrying his ancestor kept dodging his blasts. Once they reached the lake, the creature dove in through a large hole in the ice, carrying the man with him! Archeville dove in after, the armor easily switching from aerial to aquatic maneuvering, though the fish-man was even faster in the water than it had been on land. Archeville could see his ancestor struggling in the creature’s clutches gasping for air as they darted into an underwater tunnel; Archeville redirected more energy to his propulsion systems. He could still be okay, if he managed to get in a deep breath before going in. I can still save my family line! It was not long before the creature broke the surface of the water, appearing in a vast subterranean chamber, filled with scores of the weird fish-men. The creature tossed its catch to the ground, then turned just in time for Archeville to ram his gauntleted fist through its chest and out its back. The others began to close in, but Archeville's attention was on his ancestor. Vischer lay unmoving on the cavern floor. Blood trickled from a wound on his head. 2011, April 15, early morning Haus von Archeville, Hanover, Freedom City Had there been more tests, Archeville would have discovered that the wormhole-generating tech used in the system, which was derived from the wormhole-generating tech used in his Gravimetric Belt, would create time tears wherever Archeville had used his Gravimetric Belt’s teleportation function, with the size and intensity of the wormhole increasing in places where he had used his Belt's teleportation most often. Which was why the largest portals were appearing in City Center (near Freedom Hall), Hanover (near ASTRO Labs, HIT, his home, and ArcheTech), Wading Way (near Pyramid Plaza, which stands over the Scarab’s Lair), Waterfront (near at an apartment building northeast of the Freedom Aquarium, where Fulcrum had lived), and West End (near the Interceptor’s Brownstone). 1430, later winter, night. Cavern lair of Deep Ones, under Lake Constance, Germany This cannot be! If not for me, these creatures would have carried off many others, perhaps wiped out the entire village! I saved it! But my ancestor... he cannot die! All Archeville's weaponry crackled to life as targeting systems drew beads on the scores of Deep Ones around him. A loud roar cut through the hisses and gurgling of the hordes about them, and they all turned to the back of the cavern. A path parted, and a robed fish/frog/snake-man covered in golden jewelry strode forward, tapping its long golden staff authoritatively with each step. It looked down at Vischer's still form with bulbous, milky eyes, then up to the golden armored figure of Archeville, and cocked its head. Can't tell how long he’s been unconscious, nor the extent of his head wound. If it’s not been too long, I can still save him – take too long to kill all these things and do CPR here, but if I can kill enough to snatch him back, then jet off to safety and do CPR there, I- The robed Deep One knelt down and ran a claw over Vischer's face, and turned its face up to look at Archeville. It looked back down to Vischer and turned him over, revealing the gruesome extent of the head trauma he had suffered when the other creature had tossed him to the ground. No! Even if I could revive him, he'd be... be... no! Wait! There’s one chance… assuming I can use to my advantage the fact these hideous things all look like the form Phantom's spellbook mutated me into... Archeville powered down his weapons; the creatures began to move forward, but their leader held up its staff, and they pulled back. He reached up to his helmet and disengaged the seals, flipping up his faceplate before removing the entire helmet and dropping it to the ground. He looked around the chamber with his own bulging, shark-like eyes, a let out a low, steady hiss. The robed creature bowed it head, and the other creatures fell prostrate before Archeville, gurgling inchoate words of praise. 2011, April 15, late morning Haus von Archeville, Hanover, Freedom City Since the teleporters used by ArcheTech were based on Archeville's wormhole tech, time tears appeared near them, too: near the branches in California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin. Outside the United States, tears appeared in Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany (which had the most of any place besides Freedom City, since he had used his own Gravimetric Belt to teleport all over), Iraq (not due to an ArcheTech facility, but due to Archeville's own teleports when Fulcrum showed him her homeland), Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, and the United Kingdom. A few even appeared in space, along the path ArcheStern traveled in geosynchronous orbit! 1430, later winter, night. Cavern lair of Deep Ones, under Lake Constance, Germany Vischer lay upon a great stone altar in the back of the cavern, connected to a life support system jury rigged from parts taken from Archeville's armor. His body was stable, but he was unconscious, and brain activity was steadily declining. Don't have what I need to build a cellular regenerator potent enough for this task, or even replacement cybernetics for his damaged brain. Which means replacement with donor grafts. But will these creatures be sufficient? And will I have the time needed to do so? he barked at the robed Deep One. The robed figure nodded, and raised its arms and began to chant. Other Deep Ones joined in, their slow, gurgling ululations echoing throughout the cavern. Archeville demanded. He raised a hand, and a bolt of energy slammed into one of the creatures, killing it, but they did not stop in their chanting. Two more fell, but the chanting continued; if anything, it sped up ever so slightly. An idea seized him, Something sparked in his eyes, and a cackling laugh rose. The Deep Ones continued their chanting. The first signs of their magical work manifest, a slight shimmering in the air, like an oil slick on water. Archeville powered his weaponry, aimed at the out edges of the ritual gathering, and slowly blasted his way inward. His hypothesis proved sound: each Deep One that fell did add power to the ritual, and the rift between dimensions quickly formed, making a sound like tearing a wet burlap sack. The five Deep Ones that remained cheered as something began to squeeze through, a mass of eyes and tentacles and beaks. You'll all die, too, as soon as I no longer need you to maintain this portal. Once I heal my ancestor, I'll carry him back to the woods not far from Freiburg. Build a lean-to for protection from the elements. I’ll take the corpses I've left near there, blast them to ashes, as I'll do with the creatures here when I am done. 2011, April 16, 12:00am Haus von Archeville, Hanover, Freedom City The pinpoint of light in the center of the Zeittor expanded into a disc, filling the gate. Archeville’s armored form stepped out, and looked about the workshop. The portal destabilized as the Daka crystal fragments in the timepiece and in the control pedestal exploded. Since the timepiece was still in his armor’s breastplate, this proved quite troublesome. he grunted, the armor absorbing just enough of the explosion to not kill him. He staggered to the medical bay, He'll chalk the static up to interference from the time gate opening and closing/overloading, and lack of memory of the event as a trick of temporal physics. he added as waldoes peeled the armor off him. He lay back on the operating table, taking in several slow, deep breaths. Yeouch! "What the?," Archeville blurted out as an autodoc's manipulator was removing a large piece of shrapnel from his torso. "What happened? Wha- why are the alarms going off? Why is my torso a pincushion? Why is there smoke coming from the Zeittor?! Computer! Status report!" 1430, later winter, two days later Freiburg, Germany As the robed Deep One fell to Archeville's energy blast, it smiled inwardly. It knew what would happen, what had happened, what must happen. And knew that their god would be reborn in the future-man more powerful than ever. Vischer Archeville stumbled down the road, through the burned remains of the eastern section of the village. Other than looking haggard and harrowed, he seemed physically fine; Archeville’s infusions and surgeries left no outward sign that his ancestor harbored non-human tissues within him. But something had clearly happened to him. he demanded of the first passerby.
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