My brother's keeper...

Reika

I sigh softly, enchanted as Fred and sister Rei embrace after their duet.

Some day. Some day I too shall have another to become one with... Some day. Time enough. I'm immortal as a Champion: time enough indeed!

However, some just won't wait.

"What in the Hell is going on?!" Crichton (IF that's his name, looks like him) says softly. "Man, if any more strange crap happens here I'm . . . "

"Gonna lose it," Lilith muttered, shaking her head slightly over Crichton's outburst.

If he's having trouble with all of this mild stuff then a mile in one of OUR shoes would really cause him to go into uncharted realms of insanity, I add to her mutterings. Granted, the guy's life has been something short of hell like, but then again the guy's coming across . . .as an emo.

Not very becoming, that and he had a hard life and all out here in the Uncharted. However, compared to what happened (and would have happened) to my Shinji the guy has . . . Well, he's whining, for Heaven's sake. I know that the other Crichtons (both first and fourth season versions of the guy) never whined. Complained and groused about it, yes.

Whined? No. Well....not this much, anyway. Seriously, you'd think by the looks of it it was like his father abandoned him at a tender age, having no use for him. RIGHT after he'd seen his very mother die (disintegrate) before his very eyes.

You know, like what happened to my brother, Shinji? He'd had rights to be a bit troubled (and "whiney") after that with everything he'd gone through.

Glad he got counseling, finally!! Just saying . . .that until Crichton goes through THAT kind of stress in his life in total (childhood and such) THEN I'll give him more slack.

. . .

Oh heck with it!

Well, let's not keep Crichton waiting. The guy looks rather stressed and I kind of feel . . .sorry for him.

Lilith

"In a word Mr. Crichton you got us swept up into your business and that black eyed fellow over yonder," I say as I and my sister Reika are taking him aside. "Don't know all the details myself but we'll share what we know of this situation, 'kay?"

"Let's give our two 'love birds' a little room while they catch up while we get our wayward astronaut up to date," Reika adds, gesturing over at Fred and Rei, who seem to be lost in each other at the moment. In their own little romantic world.

. . .

Lucky sons of . . .

Anyway, Crichton (that's what his name badge says I now see on his uniform) is looking at us now instead of all around, frantic.

"I so very would appreciate that earth angel," Crichton mutters snidely.

Yep, see that John's in high form today. Sees the wings and what I must look like so of course he makes pop culture comments concerning angelic beings.

Wonder how he'll react to learn how close to true he really was there. Cannot help but smile a little bit as his eyes widen a bit when I whistle a few lines to that tune he'd alluded to here.

Hey, it isn't like I'm going to let him try to rattle ME with a few pop culture references that he's (I'll bet) figure I've never heard of before. Yes, he plays the "crazy" card a few times there with the Uncharted boys and girls to good effect but I and my sisters aren't his normal customers.

"First let's get down to business . . . we're from Earth but not your Earth," I begin.

"We're from an alter-Earth," Reika adds. "And before you ask . . .not everyone there has wings..."

Moments later...

Reika

In quick broad strokes we share with our wayward astronaut (turns out this guy IS a John Crichton and wonder of wonders his life is pretty spot on to the TV show).

. . .

Have not gotten to the point were I tell him about his live being portrayed on TV, and not exactly looking forward to it. Still, I have a hunch...

"Waitta minute. . . .Rei Ayanami Quatermain," Crichton smirked. "Rei Ayanami? Don't suppose you're from a little cartoon called . . ."

"Neon Genesis Evangelion?" I say, cutting Crichton off before he can continue and make an ass of himself as I fear he’d usually end up doing.

He has a talent like all his analogs for that I fear.

Drawing his attention away from my sister and to me I reflect on how it always seems to work out like this. Not like “my” Crichtons but close enough to make it . . .awkward. Seems that like all the other John Crichtons we‘ve met over the years dabbled in watching Japanese anime. After all, in one instance he‘d said that his friend Stark (the mystical guy with the glow in the dark face) looked like Astroboy and that was an anime character... It figures that there would be one a little more up on things (delved into MUCH better anime) than that drivel.

.. .

Artwork was substandard according to Rei and the storyline in my humble opinion was definitely for just children...and little else.

"We come from an alternate reality which reflects that anime,” Rei continues, taking up where I‘d left off. “And yes Gendo's a bastard king. The Second Child was a royal b*tch-- to not mince words-- before she got therapy. Shinji is my half brother who I love dearly and Unit 00 did NOT contain the soul of Naoko Akagi!"

That last one had been . . .most unsettling for us former First Children, the idea of the soul of the one who had murdered us should be the very animating spirit of our Unit 00s. It had been a sliver of our own souls that had been animating that malfunctioning, cyber-psychosis ridden war machine

Of course this leads to more utterances of disbelief and questions on what we REALLY wanted and who we REALLY were…

All about the wormhole equations, eh? Paranoid much, Mr. Chrichton?

"Let's cut to the chase," I mutter, causing a very familiar set of equations to appear and hang in mid air. THEN I and my sisters go and teach our wayward astronaut what THEY are about.

I’ll spare you the long, dry details of the wormhole classroom session. Would bore normal people to tears, though at the very end it had Crichton’s jaw dropped!

See, by now we know more about the subject than HE does. Oh, give him a bit more time I remember that he graduated to a fuller understanding (the “Wormholes for Dummies” level as his TV counterpart put it). We caught him before he’d gotten to that stage. However, it still was so VERY satisfying to wipe off that smirk off his face...

“Got any other nice questions?" I add smiling sweetly before frowning and looking back over at Fred and the others.

Hm, speaking of questions...

Myself, I have a few if I should say so and be true. I know that Rei’s got something to tell us once we’re done here with Crichton, you know? Rei hasn't told us yet all of what Fred shared with her. Sounded like big news (some not welcome) by the looks on her face. See that she's not trying to take it out on John here but... I fear that the news may not agree with me and sister Lilith.

It might have to do with why we are still HERE in the woods, talking with a wayward astronaut instead of back on terra firma, Terra Prime! That’s one question I know I have here.

Another question: definitely would like to know ”What is up with Einstein over there with Aslan?” He looked like he’d really wanted to interrupt more than a few times there with my and my sister’s lessons for Crichton. The Ancients had been wanting (in the show) to suppress wormhole knowledge so it didn’t fall into the wrong hands.

That was why they’d gone (Einstein and his Ancient friends) dragged the TV version of Crichton down into the wormhole to meet (or kill if need be)...

Of course, this is pretty much the straw that breaks the camel’s back for the Ancient. He momentarily forgets about the Great Lion and his ability to pretty much counter anything and everything he’s able to do, power wise.

Forgets even that it is the Great Lion (according to the feline) that is keeping Einstein hale and whole much longer than he’d be normally able to be in such an alien enviroment that humans dwell within...

His bloods up and his wits suffer for it.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous the knowledge you are carelessly flaunting about happens to be?” Einstein asks all of us darkly, clearly angered. “It is too dangerous to let loose...”

The races on the other side of the wormhole network were, in his race’s opinion, infinitely more aggressive than his own. Couldn’t be trusted with such knowledge for the disaster it would unleash.

(Author’s note: the episode summary of Farscape’s “Unrealized Realities” pretty much sums up the guy’s beef here: http://www .scifi.com/ farscape/ journe ylogs/ season4 /reality .html)

“And you’d kill us all to suppress it,” Rei says, clearly seeing where this was leading.

“Huh?!” Crichton blinks, backing quickly away from Einstein, who’s stepping forward in a most . . .hostile manner. “You stay the hell away from me!”

Similar lines had been spoken in the “original” Farscape timeline. However, this time there shall not be any quick side trips into various unrealized realities. This is the “Wood between Worlds” and NOT that fake iceberg

“You will not pass,” Reika, Rei, and Lilith warn, stepping between Crichton and Einstein, spells at the ready.

Fred’s already done and drawn his sword. Probably useless in such a situation but he’s NOT going to just stand back and watch his love and her sisters get harmed by this fowl xenon scum!!

As for the sisters? They don’t know if magery will have much effect on a high powered “wormhole” alien, but they’ll be damned if they’re going to let the hostile man take down John without a fight!

Crichton may be annoying at time but he was a fellow human being! And they did follow the code of being "their brother's keeper".

And then there was the fact about the guy wanting to kill THEM now as well? Attempt to snuff them without so much as a “by your leave”!

The gathering of (to the Ancient) a form of alien energy never encountered before is somewhat . . .puzzling. Even perhaps alarming.

Not such easy meat after all?

A roar that echoes off the trees (and pretty much everything else) shatters the impending mayhem.

“Peace,” Aslan orders, broaching no more nonsense (at least in his presence).

Somewhat flustered but (rightly) fearing that further threats of violence would bring no good, both sides back off a bit away from each other. Keeping a way eye towards the other, guarded.

“You need not worry about the danger Crichton and these dear young women pose with their wormhole knowledge,” Aslan rumbles, addressing the Ancient nicknamed Einstein. “Where they hale from and where Crichton and his friends ultimate destination hales is rather special.

“If the lovely Qautermain sisters would explain. . .”

“So Crichton and Moya at the very least are getting dumped into the reality of Terra Prime?” Reika mutters to herself. “Boy are they in for a wild ride.”

“Whatta mean me and my friends are getting dumped into the winged girls reality?” John sputters, ready to go off on a triad about how his fate is being decided by others and such.

“You shan’t be alone . . . .the Uncharted Territories and quiet a bit of ‘real estate’ from your old reality will be coming along for the ride . . .including Earth,” Aslan purrs, causing Crichton to blink.

He doesn’t understand but what is happening is simple. Same thing that had happened with Rei and her Validation Quest (not that Reika/Lilith Quest afterwards) was now happening here, in the reality of Terra Prime.

The Terra Prime universe turns out to be a steady state universe (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki /Steady_ state_u niverse). Not originally but it is now apparently by the hands of various Rules and Agents for the purpose of . . .removing troubled regions from other realities and dumping them in a safe spot. The troubled regions were spots which . . .had through various means become unstable and would collapse upon themselves due to outside (supernatural, godlike) meddling. In the process of moving them the realms (more often than not inhabited) whole and unharmed, stabilized.

That is usually the action of Agents and Rules who weren’t drones. Actions of Agents and Rules with free will. A conscious...

Drone Rules and Agents would just fubar the whole thing and be done with it to fix the problem...

Eventually all these separate steady state places will be combined into one super reality . . .but that’s another story.

As for Terra Prime’s reality?

Terra Prime’s reality is . . .different from what Critchon and friends are used to. Oh, there are the occasional native exception but except for where there has been an incursion from outside from a technology based reality, by and large the TP worlds which are inhabited are magic based.

Those worlds which had been explored by various Military ships and such....

Real interesting thing had been first contact with the Military Protectorate (technology based ally to Terra Prime) and various alien races who’d been capable of traveling in space (via magic)!

“You cannot have time travel through a wormhole even though the beast is something of a mystical shortcut through space/time,” Lilith begins, pointing at one section of the still floating wormhole equation.

Long short, the universal constants didn’t allow for it. Chances of it happening were so small as to be almost . .. Non-existent. You had as much chance traveling back in time (and screwing the timeline up) by wormhole travel as you had at time travel while heading down to the corner drug store for aspirin!

When Rei (who took up the conversation) got to the part of the equation which yielded wormhole weaponry . . .where nothing of the sort (except for ONE particular type) was possible? AKA the “Slammer Ships”?

1. It got interesting...

Go Back