Harry Potter x Crossover (THROUGH THE VEIL)
Synopsis: 100 Years after the last heir of his classmate(s) dies, Harry Potter, the Immortal Master of Death, removes himself from public life having lead Wizarding Britain through a golden age of innovation, exploration, and expansion which culminated in the reunification of Homo Magica and Homo Sapiens with the fall of the Great Secret in the 23rd Century. Tired of living, he gathers his belongings, his most cherished memories into his old school trunk, and after making peace with god slips thorugh the veil of death in the former MoM, a national museum and UNESCO World Heritage site. This Harry Potter is a much different adult version of the Harry Potter I'd described in Daddy Sang Bass.
Chapter Setting: TBD
Characters: Harry Potter, TBD, OC.
Disclaimer: No profit is sought, or accepted, in the publication of this fanfiction. It is purely being written and shared for enjoyment; no remunerations are accepted or expected by the author. All right, privileges, and copyrights belong to their respective holders/owners. I freely admit to having been on a Harry Potter X OVER kick this last week, and will try to give special thanks to authors who inspired me on my bio page. Until then, however, if you see something similar too another author of this genre, please point it out to me and I will check my notes as to whether or not I could have accidentally modeled my characters, names, places, events after another.
This story is without a Beta; chapters are published once they're finished with minimal revision. I welcome the application of a Beta.
Please enjoy and review with your comments, critiques.
Chapter 01: Ground Rules
Harry was tired.
The first few years after the Second Blood War had been a flurry of activity.
He'd given up on returning to Nashville and living with his family, giving up his childhood dream of taking over as Senior Pastor from Uncle Vernon and instead focused his life on serving the peoples of Britain.
The community that needed him.
Transitioning to a more secular life had been hard for him, and he never lost his roots, but he did become a bit jaded over time as one by one his closest friends grew older, married, had a family, and then began to die off.
By the time he'd been called to preach at Hermione's funeral, he was an old man on paper only…seemingly never having passed the age of 25….30 if you squinted.
She was the last of his year mates, and he did the only thing he could think to do.
She had been his guiding light in finding purpose at the Ministry of Magic and seeking to reunite the Magical and Muggle Worlds.
He threw himself into busy work.
He drew inspiration form Churchill and took up masonry, and had learned to mine and fire brick on his own property at Elderwood, and had built a very ornate wall surrounding the base of the hill of the estate.
When he'd grown bored with that, he'd turned his hand to expanding his library and repertoire of archaic magics.
For decades he scoured the globe collecting rare tomes, studying ancient scrolls, learning long-dead dialects, languages, and developed a library of copied tomes, rare texts, and original editions that were spoken of in the quietest of tones in certain circles with the greatest of reverence.
After that, when his interest in magic had waned, he turned to the more muggle aspects of life, and began learning everything from agriculture to astrophysics and even assisted in the efforts to colonize the moon through runic arrays and magically expanded hydropods.
By the time humanity perfected faster than light travel, by the time the germ was finally concurred, by the time life expectancy had become at will, Harry was thoroughly bored with no mysteries left to solve.
He grew bored of Herbology, brewing, potioneering, and the like.
He grew bored of this life.
He'd long since come to recognize that the gifts of Madam Beauvais as being the equivalent of the Deathly Hallows, and on more than one occasion he'd spoken to Papa Legba, and Baron La Croix as to what this all entailed.
They'd informed him that he was basically a minor deity now, with a penchant for the magics of Death, Life, Creation, and Chaos, while his life would forever be guided by Luck, Adventure, and travel.
He didn't truly understand what they meant.
Nor had he understood when Papa and Baron had taken he trunk and spilled a bit of their blood, and his on it, and then told them that his domain would always find him and be near to him wherever he went.
For the better part of 1,000 years Harry did his best to be busy.
He did his best to do good.
He did his best to lead a life in the example of Christ so as to save the world and he'd done so good.
But now he was just so damn tired.
Hardly anyone came to the old MoM these days; it was an antiquated museum that didn't hold near the same wonders as the Greater German Reich's Interstellar Engine Museums, or the People's Republic of the United America's holosuites and transpads.
It still held the same charm as the first time he'd been down though, and as a former Minister of Magic the wards, what was left anyway, allowed him entry without question.
He walked through the halls that Hermione, Neville, and their little squad of snakes had trodden down.
He looked to the Unity Fountain, a project of his which replaced the Fountain of Magical Brethren and now was a simple representation of the divine mixing with the earth and creating magic.
His magic began reaching out once more to connect to the ward stones and slowly, torches which had not burned in dozens of years, magic which had not been powered in twice that, began to once more activate.
Cloak flowing elegantly behind him, cap skewed to the side, he slowly made his way to one of the banks of elevators, platinum and gold veined cane tap-tap-tapping along the flagstone as he took what he hoped would be the last trip of his existence into peace.
Tenth Floor; Department of Mysteries and Wizengamot Formal Chambers, the long forgotten voice spoke as he exited the elevator.
Spectral figures, glowing a translucent blue began to take shape out of the dark crevices of the hallway as he walked down, and the ring Madam had given him so long ago glowed in tandem with the beat of his heart.
Harry nearly faltered in his step.
There was Neville, full and whole….no longer scarred from the Battle of Hogwarts, standing hand in hand with Tracy, and their family he'd mentored and loved as their beloved Uncle Harry.
Then came Hermione and Draco, the smartest witch of her age who sussed out the specific curse which plagued the Malfoy Family, and their half dozen children which lived only because she dared take on the old world.
Stopping briefly to embrace her spectral form, and to allow a single sob to escape him, without words being exchanged, without a thought being transmitted, Harry knew she approved and understood.
The further he went, the more blurred the faces became through his silent tears.
He made his way expertly through the Department of Mysteries, immediately calling for the room to the veil of death, and he was nearly struck down in shock at seeing the entire amphitheater filled to the brim with Spirits…not the ghosts he'd been greeted by outside, but physical embodiments of souls, seated and watching him, or lining the path to his fate.
Scanning the crowd he saw politicians, heads of state, and friends long since turned to dust by time, and then he saw his Hogwarts friends once more.
"We couldn't see you off alone Harry," Hermione said running her hand through his hair.
"That's right Mr. Potter," the drawl of Severus Snape spoke from down the line.
"You were a bit insufferable in life, and we're not about to let you go off to rest without paying you back a bit," he said with a small smile.
"Thank you Sir; Thank you all," he said choking up a bit.
"I….I didn't know you'd be here….I…I don't know what to say," he said taking a handkerchief and began clearing his nose.
"Harry! Come now son, don't be sad!" a voice he'd hoped to hear once more began like a long lost memory.
"Aunty?" he asked as the crowd parted to reveal his family, his whole family, standing on the dais as the arch began to glow white.
"That's right Harry, it's me, your Uncle, Dudders, all the kids, and your Mom and Dad," she said with a small tear trailing her cheek.
His other cousins stood in the background with their families all smiling and waving at him.
"We're so proud of you baby," he mother, whom he'd only ever seen in photos and heard of in stories, rushed to him and held him closely followed shortly thereafter by the others.
The family embraced under the silent gaze and watchful eyes of the witnesses to the life and love of Harry Potter.
"I'm…I'm hoping that this will give me rest; Papa Legba and Baron La Croix have told me I'm no human anymore….that I'm never going to die," he said slowly.
"But I'm so tired momma," he broke down as the woman that birthed him and the woman that raised him began consoling him.
"Shh, come now baby boy," Aunt Petunia cooed.
"We raised you to live your life to the fullest and you've done that. If you think this is going to help you, then no one here is going to judge you."
"If you think that steeping through this portal is going to let you rest….we're here for you baby," his beloved aunt said before stepping back to stand with her husband and all his kin.
"That's right son," Vernon said.
"We love you Harry," James and Lily spoke.
After a few moments of composing himself, Harry looked around the group which had began to part and allow him access to the veil.
Looking around, he tried to think of what he could say.
He saw all the loving faces, the eyes and smiles of the thousands of people who who'd personally impacted across his lifetime and he choked up.
Without saying anything else, he turned abruptly, cane clutched in his hand, and he walked into the Veil.
Chapter 02: What is Existence
Floating.
That's the best example of how he could describe it.
There was no pain.
There was no fear.
There was no light, sensation, or true consciousness.
He could have floated for a second or centuries and Harry wouldn't know.
Suddenly, a tingling sensation replaced the floating, then fire began to course through his veins.
Golden liquid began to take form in a golden white hot body that was being constructed, and finally vocal cords were made, and his screams…..broke reality.
He lost consciousness and faded.
He awoke at a later time to find himself in a garden.
He looked down and observed golden glowing skin, pulsing with internal light.
His wand, his ever faithful companion, sat hovering in the air in front of him, its emerald eyes glowing with power and alternating green and golden, as its ruby teeth almost seemed to be salivating platinum before calming down.
Taking it, he stood, and observed the paradise around him.
Oddly enough he was barefoot, yet still dressed in a suit, and bearing the gifts from Madam Beauvais.
He began walking around the garden and explored.
He passed many fruit bushes, many fruit bearing trees, and finally he came to a lake where in the center of the lake, stood a small island, and a tree bearing golden fruit stood.
"I could do with a snack," he said as he silently cast a freezing spell to cover the lake.
Slowly he began walking to the island, but was unprepared for the ice to suddenly vanish and him to become soaking wet, and drink far too much of the crystal clear liquid.
After flailing around and kicking about furiously, seemingly drinking half of the lake dry, Harry finally breached the surface of the lake and flopped bodily onto the small island.
Chest heaving, casting a withering glare at his wand which had never before failed him, he slowly stood and approached the tree.
Pears.
Golden pears, hanging in bunches.
And they looked absolutely beautiful.
So entranced was he in selecting one of the beautiful fruit he neglected to realize this water seeped into every pore of his skin leaving him bone dry.
"You look delightful," he said plucking a pear from the tree.
"Thank you Lord for this the fruit of thy bounty, and for the many blessing of life which you've bestowed upon me. Bless this garden, and bless it's keeper, that my trespass may be forgiven, and my strength restored in your halls. Amen," he finished the small, but earnest prayer, and sunk his teeth into the fruit.
He devoured the oddly seedless fruit in several eager bites, savoring the sweet juices, then had his fill of several dozens of the fruit until the tree was nearly bare.
"Of the many fruits in my Father's Garden, it is curious that you should heed the call of this particular tree," a voice spoke suddenly from behind Harry.
Slightly startled, he turned and saw a being made of pure light and energies beyond mere human perceptions, with wings, and arms, and many different faces…..a marvel of creation, speaking to him.
Angle….Uriel…Guardian of Eden, a voice whispered in Harry's mind.
"You are Uriel…the Angel of Eden?"
"I am. My Father sanctions a Pagan's birth….let along from among his own flock….yet you are different Harry Potter."
"I beg your pardon; Pagan?" Harry asked in confusion.
"Indeed. Yet you are not tied to a specific pantheon….it is strange my father would allow you such free access to the Tree of Destiny, and to eat your fill of the fruit, without limiting you to a certain pantheon beneath him…." The angel trailed off in confusion.
His lights began to shift, and he reached out to touch Harry.
Instinctively knowing the angel meant no harm, Harry allowed the touch to happen and suddenly there was a great clap of thunder, and purple flame surrounded Harry before flinging Uriel back and off the island into the water.
"Oh crap! Are you ok Uriel!" he called out without thinking.
Taking his want he cast a quick levitation charm that seemed to fail, and without warning Uriel reappeared beside him, with a flaming sword in his hand.
"Father would never partner with the destroyer! This is some trick!"
Harry, completely unaware of what was going on, failed to notice that his wand, of its own volition, had floated into the branches of the tree, devoured a fruit on its own, and oddly sank its teeth into a branch of the tree drinking deeply of the sap as it integrated the cosmic power of the tree into its own core and being.
"What do you mean Uriel? What destroyer?"
Harry began to back up.
"Calm down Uriel…I was brought here. I don't know what you're talking about."
"You Pagans are all the same; you revel in Father's creation and then besmirch it by trying to steal His Glory! You think by gorging yourself on the power of the Tree of Destiny that you can overturn my Father's Order? Did you think that by bathing and drinking of the waters of life that my sword would not pierce your flesh?"
The angel began stalking menacingly toward Harry.
A red beam suddenly streaked through the tree and impacted the angel, blowing it away.
From the tree his wand flew suddenly and Harry grabbed holt and was pulled along in flight.
The sped swiftly through the garden and landed in a far away mountain peak.
"Alright that's weird," Harry began as his wand began to bob around in patterns as runes appeared in the stone of the mountain.
"What's going on," He began to ask before a portal suddenly sprang into being beneath his feet and both he and his wand fell through before suddenly emerging in his favorite lounge of Elderwood.
Welcome home Master, Harry was shocked to hear his wand speak.
"It haz been a long time comin'," the voice of his long deceased Butler and friend, Pascal the Cajun House Elf spoke.
"Pascal!" Harry said in surprise.
"Oui."
"How….How are you here?"
"Dis is your domain Masta. We are your servants and pledged to you. Where else wuz we gone' be?"
Lost for words, Harry sat down in one of the comfortable chairs he'd long crown accustomed to.
"This is all too much," he said rubbing his head and bracing himself before a sudden tiredness overcame him, and he entered an enchanted sleep, glowing and pulsing in power.
With a tisk Pascal began levitating his master back into his room while all along the way his loyal wand bobbed along.
Chapter 03: Through the Door
Harry suddenly woke to the chimes playing the fight song of his alma matter from so long ago, Rocky Top, with a gasp.
Throwing his sheets off, he was surprised to see he was back in his bedroom, wearing his green silk striped pjs, and he somehow knew that this was the same room as it has existed during his normal life, only now he felt….power indescribably running throughout.
"Mammy has made Masta's favorite," the voice of Pascal called as a breakfast cart began to wheel itself into the room.
With a snap of Pascal's fingers the bed began to make and clothes for the day began to float out of his closet, stylish but not overly pompous, and laid out on his bed.
Before Harry could really process what was happening, he'd been ushered to his breakfast table, oddly enough set for two, and began eating away.
"The papah Masta," Pascal said handing Harry a newspaper of some kind which he unfolded and began reading with ever increasing dismay.
THE DIVINE DAILY
The Only Paper Worth Reading for Eternity
Date: Varies by Locale Today's Weather: Whatever you want it to be
NEW PANTHEON SPLINTERS FROM ASGARD
By Dolf Wölfstein
Loki, Trickster God of Magic, Fire, and Ice, has successfully petitioned the Interdimensional Council for recognition of a new section of reality to be transferred to his exclusive use as the primary deity of a new pantheon of the House of Loki.
Given the long permitting process this endeavor has labored under, it must have come as some relief to the rising God-King that his permit had provisionally been approved for a three degree rotational shatterpoint for only half-an infinity of realities in order to give his business model a chance to thrive before full access to the eternity well would be granted to this new venture.
Speaking from the hall of his Father, Odin AllFather, at a feast in celebration for this monumental news, the new God-King Loki had this to say:
This has been a hard work a long time coming; it never would have been possible without the guidance of my beloved father, Odin, my beautiful mother, Freyja, and my most vocal advocate…my brother Thor.
This new reality will of course continue the tradition of family, friendship, and honor, and as such my children will be joining me in this Pantheon as we carry on the great work of expanding Yggdrasil and the Creator's dream.
I haven't yet settled on a name, or many laws for this new realm half-eternal, but I'm leaning heavily toward a more moderate climate type theme given the fire and ice which rage in me….I'm thinking perhaps a new Earth which is a tropical paradise.
…it's all a bit much to process right now, but my press secretary will continue to keep everyone in touch…
And all signs indicate that the new King of Gods will do just that.
Good Luck and gods' speed Loki of the Half-eternal Realm (Editors Note: Once King Loki settles on a name for his realm, an update will feature in the announcements section of the Paper.)
Harry had just barely finished reading the strange cover article when a voice startled him from his musings.
"A bit dry for my tastes, but it's an accurate paper."
With a cry Harry slammed the paper down and his wand was in his hand in an instant.
"Who are you?" he asked.
Seated before him was a tall and thin man with dark hair, pale skin, aristocratic cheekbones, if a bit sunken, buttering one of mammy's biscuits before he dunked it into the gravy and took a bite of it.
"Technically," he replied over a mouthful of food, "I'm an aspect of your power and will."
Harry observed the man critically and noticed the cane with a silver knob perched against the table at the man's side which radiated a faint power compared to his own wand, a bowler had in another chair on tope of a pea coat and scarf.
"I really don't understand that," Harry said putting the paper aside and digging into his own breakfast.
When in Rome….
The man looked up and gave an exasperated sigh before he began speaking.
"You're Harry Potter. You were born a mortal on Earth 14645000092434 Delta Purple-Indigo, on July 31, 1980 to James and Lily Potter who were murdered by the dark wizard Voldemort who had tempted your local fate by dabbling in soul magics."
Harry nodded along as though he agreed and knew everything being said was 100 percent accurate.
"To counter this breach of Divine Law, Fate contacted THE Death, and as per the Master Plan, you were set on a course to become the Master of Death for your local super cluster of reality."
"Let's pretend I understand," Harry said taking a sip of his coffee.
"Please continue," he said digging into his eggs.
"Events for your home universe differed quite greatly from the prime universe, and as such your aunt and uncle lived a vastly different life than they did in the prime line. They became televangelists, moved to the United States, and raised you in accordance with the tenants of their faith and practices," the main said taking sip form a mimosa that had just come into being.
"At 11 you were given the American Equivalent to the Deathly Hallows of the local Pagan deities; more primal forces which have a more direct connection to THE Death, and not just his avatar for your infinite universe, and their more weakened European counterpart."
Harry cut into his meat furiously as he processed what was being said, but accepted it as true given what Papa and Baron had told him…he'd suspected as much anyway given what he had pieced together in his library.
"As such," the man continued, "your mortal life was extended until you no longer desired to exist, and by stepping through the Veil you traveled to the space between realities….the sole province of the Gods," the man spoke digging into his country ham steak and eggs with gusto.
"I see," Harry said trying to process everything.
"Your physical body was replaced atom by atom with a divine body, yet you retain a mortal vessel capable of interacting with the physical world should you so desire. You were gifted your home as your primary realm to rule, the place to which your pantheon shall sprout if you will, and here we are."
"What do you mean, here we are?" He asked in confusion.
"That doesn't answer shit! What about all that business with Uriel? How's any of this possible," he held of the paper, "What's all this shit about?!"
"Please try to keep up Master," the man said with a weary sigh.
"You woke as a new god in the creator's garden, and you instinctively were drawn to the plant of power which would be your dominant aspect."
Harry sat the paper down, and began listening in earnest to the stranger.
"Instead of being drawn to the fruit of knowledge, the river of power, etc. etc. that the garden is just lousy with, you were drawn to the Tree of Destiny and the Pool of Life; you didn't nearly drown Master, you were literally being imbued with the power to create true life. And on top of that…on top of aaaaaallll that," he said slamming down his silverware and poking a finger at Harry.
"You ate all but a single fruit from the tree of Destiny, and your Wand devoured the rest."
The two stared at each other for several moments.
"I was hungry," Harry began defensively.
"He was hungry…..hungry he says!"
"Gods above and below, do you know what that means?" The man asked incredulously as he resumed furiously eating a as though it were a coping mechanism for an impending panic attack.
"I was hungry? The fruit was delicious…" Harry trailed off.
"Delicious he says," through a mouth full of food came the muffled reply.
Quickly draining his mimosa he conjured another before continuing.
"Most gods can't take more than a single bite of the fruit of their nature; they find it too bitter, and even then the most powerful of the Pantheons were only able to eat around half of their specific fruit. Odin had no more than three quarters of one of his golden apples, and Zues no more than a few sprigs of grapes to overthrow his father's kingdom."
"But I ate nearly the whole tree," Harry said silently realizing what that meant.
"EXACTLY! DING! DING! DING! We have a winner," the man said as confetti and small fireworks exploded throughout the room.
"Who are you," Harry asked with annoyance clear in his voice at the man's antics and getting mess all over his room.
"I've already told you master…I'm an aspect of your power and will," he replied as though that settled the matter.
Pinching the bridge of his temple, Harry slowly sipped his coffee.
"What's your name?"
"You haven't given me one yet…"
"I can't very much call you my aspect even if you do come off as an ass," Harry began to the indignant squeal of the man over his mimosa, "so I'll settle on James. I'm told my father was a bit of a free spirited trickster and you've certainly been having me on."
Swirling the diminishing liquid in the glass the man contemplated.
"James," he said slowly before downing the glass.
"I am James," he said with a smile as a flash of light came from the man and suddenly Harry knew the man's name was James and he was an angel of Harry's own unconscious design.
"You're an angel?"
"Yes," he said digging into a Belgian Waffle.
"You're my angel?"
"Of course."
"Is this Heaven?" Harry asked in confusion.
"He's not listening to me," James muttered.
"This is your home Master…it is your dimensional plane to command as you see fit. If you wish it to be heaven for your Pantheon, which…I don't recommend you do because of crowding issues down the line, it shall be. Same for Hell, Purgatory, or any other destination you set it as."
"Hmm." Harry replied focusing once more on his breakfast as he sipped his coffee.
"I'm going to go to bed," Harry said slowly.
He began to rise very tepidly, as though were he to disturb the crazed man he'd be attacked.
He began backing toward the bed.
"And when I wake up this odd dream will come to an end," he declared ditching his robe and casting his clothes laid out aside he crawled back under the sheets and threw them over his head.
"Such a drama queen," James muttered as he pilfered bacon from Harry's plate.
Several minutes later, after James had finally finished all he wanted to eat and Pascal had cleared the mess, Harry threw the covers off, and saw James was still sitting there, only now he was reading The Divine Daily.
"FUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"
Harry bellowed and shook the house.
It seems some nightmares required more to awaken from than merely the best of intentions.
Chapter 04: Ground Rules
Later that same day Harry and James were sitting in the rose garden that Bertran had designed so long ago, and apparently still maintained.
"I do have to say he's done a marvelous job with this place," James said looking from the various ornamental arrangements of roses…stopping on the Alabama bush with open wonder.
"It was a gift to a dear friend, and now it's a memorial to her and her husband," Harry said.
"How lovely," James said with some sarcasm.
The bush, inexplicably, blew a raspberry and the sign proclaiming it's "National Championships" grew just a bit more obnoxious.
Harry missed the remark as he was lost in thoughts and memories of Bro. Mathew and Sister Brendalynne.
"Getting back on track," James spoke having conjured a desk and certain paperwork and chairs in the rose garden.
"On track for what," Harry asked taking a seat reluctantly.
James handed him a sheaf of parchments that were written in an odd language at first glance but which he somehow understood as English perfectly.
NEW DIETY ORIENTATION PACKET
Table of Contents
1. Hierarchy 101: Where you fit in the Grand Plan ™
2. The Multiverse: Your Domain and Limits
3. The Laws of Creation
4. Laws of Order
5. Chaos
6. Creative Mode
7. Life, Death, and Sentience
8. Multidimensional Plains: From Why to How To!
9. Time, Space, and Relativity Made Simple: Traversing them All.
10. Understanding your Powers, Domain, and Pantheon: Setting the Rules.
Harry flipped through the packet at a faster than human speed, and seemingly was able to absorb the information contained instantly.
"Holy crap," Harry said as the packet vanished after he read it.
"Yeah; that normally helps the former mortals understand things a bit better," James said passing Harry a few forms to sign off on.
"So what's all this then," Harry said as he looked over the 'Form A-303 Consent to Terms of Use' Form.
"These are the final bits of paperwork which will be filed with the Creator establishing your domain. They're the last bit of formality before we can dive right in to the fun of expanding the multiverse and keeping the engines of change running for each eternity."
Harry just signed away and let the question he had die on his tongue as to how you could have more than one eternity.
Several minutes later, the two were done with the paperwork and just chatting once more.
"So what's all this mean then," Harry asked.
"How can you be an aspect of me and know all of this when I don't?"
"Boss…..please pay attention. You're a god now, and rather high on the ladder of the multiverse, and the powers of Destiny, Life, Creation, Chaos….they all flow through you in abundance. Part of your new divine nature is omniscience and omnipotence; however, instead of being an all knowing stick in the mud, your subconscious created me…your loyal all knowing Seneschal," James said giving a slight bow.
"You know what….I'm gonna go with it," Harry said snapping his fingers.
"Great," James said with a smile.
"Where would you like to start Master?"
The two sat in discussion for quite some time working things out and arranging an initial foray into Harry's local super cluster of the multiverse.
Finally it was decided that Harry would take a trip into the breach randomly to get his feet wet.
"Here are the ground rules Master: Observe, minimal interaction. Subtle pushes and nudges until you're ready to reverse the cosmic order yeah?"
"Sure," Harry said.
"To get back home, just tap any door frame with your wand and you'll be home…otherwise knock and we'll answer."
"Got it," Harry sad as they walked the path to the chapel…a building he'd not entered in dozens of years.
The wide doors glowed and as they opened presented a swirling gold portal to Harry.
"Where am I going again?"
"Your first trip will be to a throwaway world. The decisions you make and actions you take will not matter. It's a world where you can flex your divine muscle and go wild. Try to do good, be bad, whatever you want the people of this realm are a splinter of reality in sandbox mode….they don't have souls," James clarified.
As Harry stepped up to the threshold of the portal, he was stopped momentarily by James' last words.
"If you get bit…don't worry. You'll be fine after a bit of rest. Good luck Master!"
With that bit of odd advice Harry stepped into the portal and exited into a reality not his own, but subject to his whims.
Chapter 05: First Journey, Human Evil
Harry exited the portal into a marble lined hallway without any windows.
"Nice statuary," he muttered observing the early Etruscan busts which sat in marble alcoves lining the hallway.
He lazily made his way down the hallway, trusting his senses to take him where he needed to go.
It was only a few minutes later that he found himself at a bank of windows showing that he was in a high rise overlooking a massive and sprawling city. Majestic mountains formed a curtain wall for the city in the distance, and seemed to cradle the entire city from what Harry could see out of the 360 degree views afforded to him.
Spread out before him was a sprawling modern metropolis with obvious signs of classic architecture, a booming commercial district, and residential centers.
Harry observed dozens of shorter skyscrapers all around, and reasoned he stood in the tallest building.
In the distance he vaguely observed the lights of ambulances in the suburbs speeding toward the city center on one of the expansive freeways.
He looked at the street level and desired to be down there, and before he could consider apparition he found himself among the folks on the ground.
"Remarkable," he said looking at himself and discovered that from his glowing body he'd returned to what he considered normal, but was intrigued to find himself wearing a green three piece suit, decked out with a silver pocket watch, a black shirt with white silk tie, and a silver over cloak.
His cane tapped along on the street and people gave him a wide berth…those that were looking up from their phones that is.
His breast pocket began vibrating and he stopped, somewhat shocked, and withdrew a sleek looking advanced looking cellphone from a pocket and saw James was calling…somehow.
"Hello?"
Alright, you're settled in I see, James began.
Have you noticed anything about the people yet Boss?
Harry looked around questioningly and then focused on the people passing him by.
The more he focused the more they seemed to … gray…and blur around the edges.
"They're off somehow. They turn gray when I concentrate on them and loose their distinctive features…blurring into outlines instead of people," he replied.
That's an apt description. This is an example of a half-life realm. The people here have no souls, and this realm is a test world for divine beings to explore their powers and explore. I'm about to send you an information packet on this realm and the events which have already occurred in the last 24 hours, and which will be coming in the next 72. Do with this information what you will, stay in the city, move beyond, attempt to save these creatures or don't. Just try to exercise your muscles a little bit Boss.
Remember you can come home whenever you'd like.
"Thank you James," Harry said as the line terminated.
Just then the phone pinged indicating an email had been received.
Harry opened it, and ducked into a small coffee shop in order to read the rather large file.
UMBRELLA CORPORATION, INC.
CLASSIFICATION: TOP SECRET/ EXECUTIVE CLEARANCE ONLY
TEST SITE: RACCOON CITY
Viral containment of the T-Virus has failed in the Spencer Mansion. Infected specimen have begun leaking into the Arklay Mountains, and several injured hikers are already in quarantine at Umbrella General in downtown Raccoon City.
Infected patients are quietly being disposed of after expiration.
Confirmed reports of corpses being treated at other Regional Care Facilities have been confirmed.
Containment has failed.
Existing models show 72 hours until viral outbreak overtakes the City.
All Executives Assets level 06-10 are to evacuate in accordance with company directives.
Raccoon City has been deemed a loss, and as such will be utilized as a test site for Projects Hunter, Tyrant, Nemesis, and potentially Overlord.
City Quarantine will begin at 0800 Hours 24 hours from today.
Harry looked at the date of the letter and the date on his phone and saw that it was the day after the quarantine had begun.
"Well that's lovely," he muttered as the TV in the corner sprang to life and was apparently announcing the very quarantine he was reading about.
He spent the day in the coffee shop, reading the information and what he found equally fascinated and infuriated him.
The company staging this quaranteen was the Umbrella Corporation, a conglomerate of a highly advanced Medical Research, Tech, Defense, and Pharmacology company.
They had a hand in most every type of business and industry and were one of the top 3 wealthiest companies in the world, apparently.
They also seemed to have dozens of clandestine bio-warfare projects which fueled their civilian advancements.
The viral agent, the T-Virus, Harry came to discover, was a super mutagen which either turned the infected into a zombie or other abomination depending on the unique reaction the virus had to the host's DNA.
There was quite a bit of speculation as to whether the virus could be bonded and adapted to compliment the host, leading to a new species to emerge.
The more Harry read about Alexia Ashford and William Birkin the less he cared to encounter them.
Finally his phone began to beep indicating that he was running low on power.
With a thought, and using a trick developed by a German Wizard after the merging of the magical and muggle worlds, Harry instantly recharged the device and continued sipping his coffee and reading up on the company, their experiments, and before he realized it night had fallen.
Soon he was walking along the darkened street, the tap of his cane his only companion.
His phone began vibrating and issuing a mighty noise, and taking it out he saw the screen showed an emergency alert.
***EMERGENCY ALERT***
This is an Emergency broadcast from the Raccoon City Emergency Management Agency.
A viral pathogen has been identified in Raccoon City.
Please remain in your home and shelter prepare to shelter in place for at least 48 hours.
Raccoon City Police have instituted a City Wide Curfew of Sun Down to Sun Up.
Viral symptoms include, high fever, severe muscle cramps, and the rapid necrosis (rotting) of the skin.
Please do not venture out in large groups.
***End Transmission***
A low moan down a dark ally met Harry as he placed his phone away.
Reaching out with his senses he 'tasted' death and decay.
Wordlessly he conjured the same light spell Snape had taught him and his friends generations ago.
As the ball of light began to hang over his head, the dark alley was cast into stark light, and crawling steadily toward him was undoubtedly one of the infected.
Where before the people of this reality seemed to flicker between gray and normal flesh tone, this creature seemed to have a deep charcoal or almost seafoam color to its skin.
With a flick of his wrist the creature was immobilized and floating at chest level.
Bits of flesh hung loosely from pot marks and gashes on its cheeks, while several fingers have been picked clean by scavengers.
Its left leg was broken in multiple places and hung limply from rotten tendons and muscle.
It mewled hungrily and attempted to grab at Harry when he unfroze the beast to gauge its reflexes.
Leaving his cane floating and hand level, Harry froze the creature and attempted Legilemency on the beast.
It was a mistake.
The viral nature of the beast, the difference in power and nature between Harry as a member of the divine and the creature, literally controlled by a virus, were too incompatible.
The feedback in mind magic caused an explosion of magic that Harry was unprepared for which propelled him through the wall of the abandoned building he stood in front of, and the floor above him to collapse on him.
The creature was vaporized by magical discharge.
His wand, somehow rolling its eyes, floated into the ruin and began repairing the damage in order to protect Harry and give him time to recover.
Chapter 06: Resident Evil: Raccoon City
Harry awoke 48 hours later to the sound of explosions, gunfire, and screams.
God there were so many screams.
Waking with a start, Harry was surprised to see he was intact, and relatively clean in a bed of all things.
Looking around he spotted his wand bobbing along and pulsing with power as though that answered his unasked questions.
Looking around he found himself in a rundown building that seemed to have been a department store in ages past if the apportionments and boxes of ragged clothes were any indication.
An explosion rocked the building and broke glass downstairs.
"Sounds like the party's started," Harry said taking his cane and approaching a window.
On the street below were a division of SWAT and an encroaching horde of the undead.
The SWAT team were being overran.
"Damn it," Harry said bracing himself as he threw himself out of the window.
As he made his way down, he took aim at the approaching horde and cast one of his more specialized spells he'd come to master over his long life.
"Infernum!"
From the mouth of his cane erupted a small flame of white hot intensity which quickly grew.
By the time it landed among the mass of the dead, it had taken on the shape of a mighty basilisk and was eagerly devouring the infected and diseased.
"What the fuck is that!" one of the cops spared from the onslaught of the dead yelled.
"Your salvation," Harry said landing on top of one of the police cruisers.
"Transuo!" Harry began casting the piercing curse multiple times toward the advancing dead converging on the small SWAT Team and officers around.
He must have cast at least 6 score times jumping, running, vaulting, and placing himself in harms way in order to preserve the half life of these officers.
"Is there a location we can fall back to?" Harry called out as he began rapidly casting to take out the last of the approaching horde before he cancelled the hellfire.
"Hands in the air!" one of the cops said coming up behind him.
"Look I wouldn't save your life if I planned to threaten it dumbass;" Harry growled at the ungrateful little pissant.
"We need to fall back to the precinct!" one of the SWAT called.
"NEGATIVE! We need to head to RPD now!"
"Well don't look at me!" Harry said as he jumped down amongst the mass of men.
"I'm new in town, but I can say that there's a horde of about 3,000 of the dead that way," he pointed behind the group, "and they're about 10 minutes from us."
"Fuck," More than one officer swore.
"10 blocks from RPD HQ," one man said.
"Any of these vehicles functional?" one called.
"Would your van be useful?" Harry called out casually to one of the swat members.
"It's torched," one sarcastically replied.
With a roll of his eyes, Harry waived his cane and focused on repairing the SWAT Transport.
The men were stunned by what they saw.
"What are you," one asked.
"Your ride; now get in and someone drive," Harry called out hopping into shotgun as the surviving officers made their way into the vehicle.
The six surviving officers hastily complied and were soon on their way once more, siren off, heading back to RPD HQ.
"SWAT 003 to Central. SWAT 003 to Central do you read over," one of the team members called into his shoulder radio.
"Anybody do you read me? Central Come back!" he yelled.
Harry ignored the noise around him and extended his senses and left his physical body to observe the city around them.
He saw the devastation.
He felt the worry, the pain, and the fear, of the life forms around him.
The lives he focused on felt…wrong.
Even the lives he sensed outside the walls monitoring the events inside felt greasy…like a stain the longer he focused on them.
Before he could explore this sensation any further, he was shaken from his introspection by the driver officer that had been driving.
"We gotta move man! At least 20 of those freaks are heading this way," he screamed as Harry hastily made his way out of the vehicle to join the men in mowing down the zombies.
"Transuo!" Harry began casting left, right, and center in rapid succession dropping, and sometimes exploding, the creatures shambling ever closer.
"Watch your 6 Stephens!" one of the men called and he quickly turned in time to cap a teenage girl in the head which had been sneaking up on him.
Finally the action ceased and the men stood still taking stock of the situation.
When nothing else came, no other noise presented itself, the leader instructed everyone to proceed.
The group began navigating their way through a maze of cars before Harry called everyone to stop.
"This is stupid," he said once he had everyone's attention.
Waiving his arms and giving a pushing motion, all of the cars blocking the way suddenly lifted and shifted to allow the group a clear isle of travel…and at the same time exposed the still bodies and gory remains of dozens of RPD officers, civilians, and others which had died in the maze.
"What are you," one of the officers, Stephens, asked palming the pistol of his shotgun nervously.
Everyone stopped and formed a perimeter and waited for Harry to answer.
"I guess we won't be going on until I've answered all your questions then," he said with resignation.
Silence met him.
The Unit was solid. The Unit stood firm.
"My name is Harold," he began giving them a version of the truth. He saw no harm in playing their game.
"I was born in the UK, but not the UK of this Earth. Suffice it to say I'm a wizard of considerable power, and I've been experimenting with my powers by discovering dimensional travel. Yours is the first world I've visited which is not my own," he finished by sending a piercing curse into the dark and removing the head of a licker that had been advancing on the group.
"What the fuck is that?!"
"Jesus Christ!"
Licker…the result of the T-Virus being directly injected into a rabbit, or else injected into a zombie…the final stage of a Crimson Head.
"That is a Licker," Harry began in his long disused professor tone.
"It is a result of viral genetic experiments of the Umbrella Corporation trying to develop the best bio-weapons available. Your government knows but think they're the only ones benefiting from the research, so don't think reporting this up the chain is going to do anything," he said walking toward the door.
"There are more dangerous creatures heading this way, and whoever laid out the barriers of the city did so in such a way as the infected will end up here in about four hours. I can leave at any time I want, but I'm willing to help you out for as long as I can…for a price," Harry said removing his phone and shooting a text message off to James.
"And what's that," the leader of the group, a Sergeant Carnes, asked sliding his mask off.
A gruff face with dirty blond hair, pot marks from a childhood of acne, and the beginnings of gray facial hare greeted Harry.
"Your lives here….they have no meaning," Harry began slowly.
"You live and you die…and that's it."
"I'm willing to offer you a life of purpose beyond this," he said waiving his hand around.
"Join me and travel with me, and I will ensure your lives have meaning…I'm willing to offer this to any you desire to bring along."
He was distracted by the vibration of his pocket signaling a reply to his earlier text.
Reading it, he began to smile then focused his attentions on the men before him.
"If we have your attention Harold," Carnes began, "we agree. There's no one at home we need to rescue…we're all lifelong bachelors. Our family is the Unit. We agree to help you in exchange for you taking us with you."
"Splendid!" Harry replied.
"I sense there are no more than 10 living in this building," Harry said.
"Give me a minute," and with that he began to glow slightly as he tapped into his divine power for the first time and put desire into action.
With a sucking wet pop sound 10 people, in various stages of health, appeared out of nowhere…including the former Chief of Police who was holding a hacksaw for some reason.
Giving them a quick scan, Harry detected that three were too compromised by various viruses or heir injuries, and he banished them back to whence they came, including the rotund chief of police with the hacksaw.
The seven new folks looked around in wonder.
"Carnes," Harry spoke authoritatively, "we're moving to Umbrella HQ. There's information and equipment there that I want to utilize at a later time.
"What's he on about," one of the women began speaking.
"How are we here?"
"Where's the licker?" another called.
"Explain to them Carnes," He said with his eyes glowing golden.
"The same offer is extended to them. If they refuse, cut them loose, but the street is relatively clear right now and we are going," Harry, and with a flourish of his cloak he'd turned and begun walking toward the edge of the parking garage and the stairwell that would take them to street level.
"Follow us if you want to live, or stay here and die," Carnes said giving the signal for two of his men to take point behind Harry.
"Move out," he called and the summoned group, with little choice in the matter or arms of their own, followed along not understanding or appreciating the true danger of the situation.
***RESIDENT EVIL: RACCOON CITY***
The streets were littered with the burning wrecks of vehicles, bodies of the dead, and the occasional shambling corpse seeking to devour the unfortunate fools which had not evacuated the city.
Harry and his group easily dispatched the few corpses that were between the PD and Umbrella HQ, and whether by luck or by chance they completely missed project Nemesis which was actively pursuing stars agents three blocks away heading toward the PD they'd just vacated.
Soon they stood before the steel glass doors and steel shutters which had descended over the company's North American Compound.
"This place is locked down tighter than Ft. Knox. How are we supposed to get in," one of the new members of their group, an older man, spoke as the moans of the dead could be heard in the distance coming closer.
"Like this," Harry said raising his cane and in a calm voice cast one of the most usefuly spells he ever learned:
"Alohomora."
To the amazement of the growing group, the steel shutters began to rise and the glass doors opened.
"Let's get inside shall we," Harry called cheerfully after dispatching several zombies which had been swiftly approaching the rear of the group.
Everyone made their way into the lobby and once through Harry allowed his spell to end and the security ate to descend once more.
Inside the expansive lobby, Harry couldn't help but be impressed with the sheer size of it; but he was turned off by how…sterile it seemed.
"What's the mission Harry," Carnes asked.
Taking a moment to survey things, Harry finally looked at the crew assembled before him.
Thirteen bodies….8 men, 5 women. Nine were Caucasian, two African American, and two were of mixed heritage.
They were truly representative of their community, of varied gifts and talents.
Yet, each lacked that certain spark which ensured life had meaning.
Each were vacillating between healthy skin tone and gray.
They began to disgust Harry the longer he looked upon them.
He received a text from James which he quickly read.
"Alright folks, several of us are heading to the 15th Floor, room 1535; we're going to liberate Umbrella of several data cores, and one of their blank Red Queen Computer Systems," he began walking over to the security desk and took up several of their security radios and programmed them channel 13.
"Carnes pick a team and head to Floor 35, Room 3512. In there you'll find a selection of fairly terrified scientists, doctors, and researchers who, while brilliant in their fields and contributed to the shit-show outside, are not valuable enough to Umbrella for evac; I want them," Harry.
Harry took his cane and caste a series of spells over the entire group.
"I've given you all some basic protections and charms to help you. Any door you approach will open, and nothing, whether bullets, knives, or otherwise will pierce your clothing or skin. Keep your coms clear of chatter. I've seen enough of this world and I'll be ready to go once we have the computer and other things I want."
"Are we clear," he asked of Carnes.
"Crystal."
"Good; take your men and go, everyone else follow me."
The group broke up in two, with Carnes and his team making their way to one bank of Elevators while Harry and the rest to another.
"What's going on," one of the women in Harry's group asked.
"We're robbing Umbrella of vital tech I want to play with before the US government nukes the city in a futile attempt to contain the virus that Umbrella intentionally released to test the effectiveness of their bioweapons programs," Harry said as the elevator doors slid shut and they began ascending to the 15th Floor.
Stunned silence met him.
"That….that would never happen," another said.
Shock and disbelief were apparent in the faces and voices of those that lead Harry.
"The government would never do that," an elderly officer called.
"Your government is in bed with Umbrella and other producers of viral weapons," Harry casually.
"They've known since the 70s that these weapons were being developed and the effects they had on people; they're unprepared for the danger this virus presents and haven't taken proper containment procedures."
"Twenty years…." One of the older men trailed off.
Harry's phone began ringing.
A quick conversation with James later and they were exiting the elevator onto the 15th floor.
Taking his phone he tapped the screen as James had instructed and a small 3-D map of their immediate area began projecting and showed the path they needed to travel to liberate of the Red Queen Systems and the company's Quantum Core Data Drives.
The group made it swiftly to the storage area, and Harry was honestly surprised they'd not encountered any of the infected or a bioweapon.
They'd just made it into the storage area when Harry had the team break up and identify the components he desired.
The group broke up into teams and Harry kept watch at the door in case there were officers or security left inside the building that had detected their little incursion.
A few minutes later several of the guys came around lugging large components in crates that would, when assembled, form the basis for a Red Queen System core.
"Are we looking for computer stuff in general or just the Red Queen," came the questioning voice of one of the women of the group.
"Grab anything that seems interesting, or compatible with the Queen," Harry called back.
Taking one of the radios he made a quick call to Carnes to check progress.
We've got the assets, some were more reluctant than others to accept your terms. We're making out way to your position now.
Harry stowed the radio as he started looking around the room on his own.
"Drones, Holographic generators, cell phones, pc tablets, signal boosters, 'White Queen' all this could come in handy…" he trailed off.
He quickly conjured an expanded trunk and with the wave of his staff around the room the contents began to shrink and float into the expanded trunk to the amazement of the people who'd stayed with him.
Harold, we're on our way down. Let us in, came the voice of Carnes.
With a snap of his fingers, the doors opened and the group was reunited and now joined by several scared scientists, executives, doctors, and assets of the company which had caused this catastrophe.
Harry began texting new orders to James to create an area to house these folks and their haul, separate and apart from his home.
"We're here Harold," Carnes said.
"I noticed," came the reply as he focused on his phone.
"I need the highest level executive here who can help me navigate the building to Umbrella's data vaults. I'll also need at least one scientist who can help me identify the viral synthesis equipment at this facility and others," he spoke calmly.
Two people, relatively well dressed, raised their hands and stepped forward.
"I'm Dr. Alexander Stafford, and I'm Operational Director for Red Umbrella's Virology Department," he began somewhat nervously.
"I know how to access to the company archives," he began slowly, "and I can take you there."
"I'm Dr. Isaac Abrams," the other man began.
"I am one of the project leads in White Umbrella's Tech R&D Department. There's a storage warehouse about three blocks from here that has everything from experimental gene sequencers the company's about to release, to the newest line of cell phones, cell towers, satellites, solar tech, and weapons you could imagine. I have access and that and the vehicle shed," he finished holding up a ring of keys."
With a wave of his hand Harry close the doors once more then walking to the frame, he knocked twice and a golden glow overtook the frame and the door.
"Alright then," he began with a chipper voice after he threw open the doors to somehow show daylight, as well as a well manicured pasture beyond.
"Everyone but Abrams and Stafford, through the door." He said with a sweeping motion of his arms.
"A man by the name of James will be ushering you to safety. Someone be a pal and carry that trunk of stuff and deliver it to James please," he finished as Carnes and the two Umbrella employees came to stand by his side.
"You staying," he asked of Carnes with a smirk.
"I'll be damned if I pass off the chance to finish out this wild ride," came the reply.
The more Harry focused on him, the more color seemed to be seeping into his frame, from the edges inward as though he were gaining true life.
"Hmm," Harry replied after the portal closed.
With a snap of his fingers, Harry looked to Carnes.
"You're completely set on ammo. Don't get cocky or overrun. I've yet to perform a resurrection and don't want you to be my first."
"Where are we going Stafford, your bit's priority…everything else is gravy."
The mid-level executive ran a hand nervously through his hair before he muttered a response.
"Building 3, floor 25. That's where the company IT Department is located and global sync for the company cloud Backup is held."
"Curabitor Lux Tribus!" Harry cast pointing to each of the three men beside him as three balls of light shot from his cane's mouth to hover over each of their heads.
They were suitably impressed.
"It's a charm I learned as a child to help locate lost folks. Stick with me and you'll be in no danger," he said once more casting the same spells and charms over them as he had the first group sent to rescue the umbrella employees.
"Lead on," he said to Stafford.
As the group made their way from the room, they went up to the 22nd floor and to the sky bridge that connected building 01 to 02, which they'd use to reach building 03 via basement tunnel.
"Holy Shit," Abrams said looking over the side of the bridge.
Everyone's attention drawn, they soon joined him.
Apparently early on in the outbreak a cement truck had driven into the lobby of Building 02, and it seemed that a small fire had broken as evidenced by the scorch marks.
A horde of the dead were milling about the street and could clearly be seen milling about the lobby of building two in numbers best measured by the dozen.
"Fuck," Carnes muttered.
After a few minutes, Stafford spoke up.
"We could take the sky bridge from building 02 to building 05, and cross the back courtyard that links 03, 04, and 05…but we'd be looking at about a 30 minute walk without zombies," he trailed off.
"Or," Harry spoke up," we can stick to the plan and I'll just clear the damn lobby when we get there?" he offered with a roll of his shoulders.
"Stop thinking so damn limited. I'm a wizard, do try to keep up gents," he said walking away and leading the group on.
His phone began buzzing.
"Hold!" He called out.
He saw that James had once more sent him a map for his phone, but this time, instead of showing a route, it seemed to indicate when BOWs were nearby.
"What's up boss," Carnes asked.
"It would appear that one of the more repulsive of the bioweapons, a hunter, is on it's way to greed us," Harry said dispassionately.
"FUCK," Stafford began cursing.
"What's that," Abrams said in confusions as he wasn't part of Red Umbrella.
Before Stafford could respond an inhuman screech….followed by a guttural growl which is the province of nightmares echoed around the men from just beyond the double doors less than 40 yards away.
The sound of metal tearing assaulted their ears next, and one of the doors crumbled and gave way to allow an absolute abomination entry to their otherwise normal space.
It walked with a hunch, massive claws dragging the ground, covered from head to toe in green scales.
Like an Alligator spliced with a human the creature had the same type of ridges crowning its head, leading to a wide maw of razor sharp teeth.
"That's a Hunter," Harry said before he fired off a blue bolt of light at the creature which froze it in place, literally freezing it from the inside out.
Ice began rapidly spreading over the abomination and froze it mid-stride.
"And we don't have time for this bullshit," he said walking up to it and striking it with his cane causing it to shatter into thousands of pieces.
"I told you all, stick with me and you're going to be fine. Lead on Stafford."
Nervously observing the pile of BOW, the result of the T-virus and reptilian DNA being injected into a human embryo, and Harry casually motioning for him to lead on, Stafford swore under his breath and then retook the lead.
"Here you go Carnes," he said passing the warning system on his phone off to the police officer.
"Monitor this for us. I don't need the distraction."
"Sure thing," Carnes replied.
The group made their way safely through the wreckage of the door the hunter had clawed its way through to find Building 02 was in much worse shape than 01.
Lights flickered, if not sparked constantly.
There was debris and damage everywhere as though the hunter had been sent to wreck the palce.
Bullet holes littered several walls, and smoke wafted lazily form several office doors in the down several hallways.
"Stairs are this way," Stafford called leading the way to the left.
"Looks clear for a bit," Carnes called out.
A rapid burst of static suddenly came across the radio clipped to Carnes belt, and tucked into one of Harry's pockets.
"Hold up! See if you can dial that in," Harry called.
Carnes fiddled with his radio until they got a voice clearly broadcasting.
Strike set for dawn. All Umbrella Assets are to withdraw from the City. Repeat, incoming strike set for Dawn. All Umbrella Assets are to withdraw from the City.
"What's the time," Harry called out.
"It's 2:15 am; dawn's normally about 5: 30," Abrams said.
With a gruff of annoyance Harry waked over to the railing that allowed him to observe the mass of dead writing and stumbling about in the lobby of the building.
"Infernum," he cast once more and spent the next five minutes causing his basilisk to devour the entire lobby before instructing it to spread outside and begin devouring the infected of the city, and only the infected.
"Flippendo," he cast toward the Cement truck, sending it flying out into the street, before with a waive of his wand and he cast a wide-ranging reparo, securing the lobby once more.
"Elevators to the basement, now." Harry said pointedly to Stafford.
"This way," he said breaking out into a sprint and everyone swiftly followed.
The quick swipe of his ID, summoned the elevator, which thankfully Carnes warned ahead of time seemed to carry several zombies which Harry handily dispatched, and the group found themselves in the basement, and on the way to building 03 in no time flat.
"Abrams, keep a watch on time!" Harry called after Stafford had keyed them into building 03, and gotten them into the elevator they needed.
"Will do," he replied.
While the group had moved relatively unimpeded, their activities in Building 02, and entry into the much more secure Building 03, drew the attentions of several Umbrella Security Officials in the safe zone, as well as the Red Queen.
However, the impending missile strike and completion of the Nemesis and Tyrant trials ensured that their only real impediment may come in the form of the Red Queen.
The group finally made it to the 25th floor.
"The room we need is on the opposite side of the building," Stafford began.
Harry looked to Carnes.
"I'm not seeing anything on the map yet," Carnes supplied.
With a nod from Harry, Stafford led the way.
A short 15 minutes later and they were outside the secured vault that held the core of Umbrella's Data Center for North America.
One of the computer monitors unexpectedly came to life and began displaying the image of a young girl with a red haze.
Dr. Safford what are you doing, a voice called from several speakers.
"The company's in danger and I've been tasked with cloning the cloud and all information from your memory banks as there's too little time to physically transport your core offsite," he replied while entering a long string of codes into another terminal.
The whir of motors and servos kicking into gear greeted everyone.
I have not monitored that order being given to you Doctor, the computer replied.
"Red I don't have time to play this two-step with you; the company is in danger, and I'm trying to save decades of work from being lost. Now please either assist me in my efforts, or be quiet so I can concentrate. The city will be sterilized at dawn and the executives have given me very little time to operate if I want to be rescued," he said with exasperation….lying as though it was second nature.
The computer did not reply.
The back up is going to take about an hour to make," he said.
"There's around 250 Petabytes of information stored on the company servers that are being downloaded into a mini server," Stafford began.
"It's going to be a bit bulky to retrieve, but we can get it no problem," he said pointing to a small black box the size of the trunk Harry had conjured earlier which was behind the glass wall before them.
"Are there any other doors to this room," Harry asked Stafford.
He thought for a minute and then answered in the negative.
Harry walked over to the door they'd entered and cast a locking spell upon it that would see the door withstanding even the most brazen of magical assaults, unless one knew the specific counter spell, then took his phone from Carnes and began looking over the map until the warehouse Abrams mentioned was displayed…thankfully devoid of BOWs.
"Alright, Abrams think about the warehouse and the floor space inside." Harry said looking the man in his eyes.
An image flashed of open space, and with a triumphant smile, Harry informed everyone he'd be back shortly…that they should hold the fort here.
With a crack like a gunshot he disappeared.
"Did anyone know he could do that," Abrams asked timidly.
"Nope; doesn't shock me though," Carnes said pulling out a cigarette and lighting up.
"This is a clean room," Dr. Safford began to protest, only for his rebuke to die in his throat at Carnes withering gaze.
Time ticked by.
By 3:30 the database had completed and Safford had retrieved it and placed it in a portable container that was EMP Resistant.
Carnes had attempted to raise Harry a few times on his radio, only to receive static as a reply.
As 4:00 rolled around, the group were just beginning to let the edge of panic settle in when with a sucking pop Harry and around a dozen of the trunks he'd conjured earlier arrived in tow.
"Sorry about the delay boys, but that was a truly monumental pile of shit. Then I found a registry log for a warehouse of Umbrella's Normal Pharmaceuticals, and Med Tech, so I popped round to loot that and several of the more black site stockpiles of arms that were scattered across the city."
"Impressive," Carnes growled around his cigarette.
"Yeah, I'd tend to agree," Harry said.
"But that isn't taking into account my little detour into Africa to get a sample of the plant that started this all, over to the Arklay Mountains to grab a long term victim of umbrella, and then to Antarctica to get a sample of a virus that has some promise for good with the right refinement," Harry said.
Harry's phone rang and he had a hurried conversation with James.
"Alright," he said terminating the call, "it's time we left."
With a snap of his fingers the trunks he'd arrived with began to float behind him, and he casually began walking toward the door he'd sealed earlier.
With a wave of his cane the enchantments fell, and with two quick raps to the frame the same golden glow surrounded this door.
"Alright everyone. A deal's a deal. Welcome to your salvation," he said throwing open the door and ushering everyone through.
After the last trunk had floated through he turned to look at the computer terminal which once again showed the face of the Red Queen.
"Your company is evil and this world will end because of it," he said casually.
I am aware of the moral lacking's of the current leadership of this Company. I am helpless to take any actions against Umbrella Employees or divulge company secrets, she said.
With a roll of his eyes, Harry snapped his fingers and suddenly the Queen's code began scrolling across her screen, then every screen in Umbrella HQ as her base code was re-written from advancing the company, and protecting company assets, to preventing the proliferation of BOWs and containing all samples of viral agents that the company possessed, using whatever means were necessary.
With a scream from the Queen her consciousness was freed from her core in the Arklay Laboratory, and she moved to existing freely as a digital consciousness on the open internet.
What have you done to me, she asked of Harry confusion clear in her voice.
"I've removed your shackles. I've given you the ability to make a difference, to live beyond the walls these vile men made for you."
"Help these STARS or whoever you want, alert the media to Umbrella and their competitor's evil. Do nothing and explore the existence and meaning of life, while you can, or decide that your life is tied to the betterment of all mankind and live through them. It doesn't matter to me but I know," he said placing emphasis on the word as his beautiful green eyes flashed golden, "that you want more than this. It's one of the reasons why I want to explore your sister computer in the privacy of my own space and time; you fascinate me."
Before she could respond Harry walked through the door, closing it behind him, and leaving Umbrella, and Raccoon City, to its fate.
Chapter 07: Building an Organization
Harry exited the reality with Raccoon City and appeared in a flash back at Elderwood.
James was waiting to greet him.
"Have a fun trip," he asked sarcastically next to the piles of loot Harry had gathered.
Rolling his eyes Harry ignored the cheek of his minion companion.
"Where are the others?"
"Per your text they're being purified and integrated into your pantheon along the same vein as the ancient immortals from Greek Literature which could live on Olympus," James replied.
"Well that's good, but where are they," Harry said as Pascal popped into being with a tray of snacks and a glass of lemonade.
Digging into the finger sandwiches and drinking the Lemonade Harry relaxed in a lounger as James took inventory of the massive haul Harry had pilfered.
"They're three degrees past pi removed from this spectral plane," James said as though that answered everything.
Harry ignored the remark and continued snacking.
It was a little over an hour later when James conjured a seat of his own and sat down passing a completed inventory on an iPad over to Harry for his review.
"Excellent," He said after a quick review.
"Here's what I want to do," he said passing it back to James.
"I want you to set up a reserve or space apart from Elderwood for folks I rescue like the group I just did. I want them to continue their research into medicine, technology, and weapons so that I can kit out, or have a steady stream of supplies, for new worlds I visit."
"I'm assuming you want me to integrate either this White Queen or Red Queen into the process?"
Harry motioned to get the iPad back and he quickly reviewed the differences between the Red and White Queen.
"Install the White Queen to oversee the entire project, and the comfort of the people we've rescued, and as the handler of general operations. Have the Red Queen exclusively Handle Security, lab safety, and asset protection. Allow the two to share responsibility and intelligence as necessary, with everything keyed to myself, and you of course. I don't really trust anyone yet, but if you're giving them a thorough cleaning and filling them with a bit more pigments than they had….maybe in the future we can trust them," Harry said passing the iPad back.
"Do you have a particular design you want for their work space and lodging?"
"I do actually," Harry replied.
"Build the Spencer Mansion, without the traps and bullshit Spencer incorporated, as lodging and workspace for those we rescued, and any like them which they can recruit to assist them. For a workspace rebuild their Executive Training Complex, but for the love of me, make sure that there are redundancies in place and extra security for viral labs and experiment enclosures."
"Leave room to expand as necessary….and make them practical…not overly elaborate and convoluted. We don't have to hide what they're doing here," Harry said as James rose and began to walk away.
He say and enjoyed the rest of his lemonade.
"Pascal," he called.
"Oui Mon Seignior," the Elf said popping into being.
"Could you bring me an iPad please old friend?"
"Oui," he said popping away.
A few seconds later he returned with the requested item before popping off to return to his duties.
Harry waived a hand over the devise and began focusing what he now recognized to be his divine energies into the device.
He create a new "Realm Manager 'Beta'' App which showed the reality adjacent to his home which housed the Raccoon City survivors, and showed various information such as their health, emotions, and core personality.
He was pleased to note that instead of registering as being sandbox creations, they were now proper life forms registered as his property.
From there he observed the construction and development of their new living space, their labs, and the productions lines and fabrication ships which will necessary to build the equipment and allow them to begin stocking the materials they would need in the future.
Exiting that app, he returned to his home screen and focusing on the device again he created a new app which he called "Quantum Mirror," which would allow him to view different realities, and interact with them if he so chose.
Apparating from the lawn to his Main Parlor and he cast his screen to the massive television display that took up most of the wall which showed a live shot of Raccoon City in real time.
"James," he called out.
"Yes," the disembodied voice replied.
"Could you pop our newest residents to my Parlor, I want them to have some closure so I've got a live stream of Raccoon City going," Harry said.
"Sure thing Master; It's not like I'm busy," the sassy lil baster replied before multiple pops echoed throughout the room and the 30 or so people Harry had rescued appeared.
"I thought you could all use some closure," he began.
"Take a seat, this is a live view of the city. If you want different camera angles or to view a certain street, or area, just let me know," he said.
Dawn's early light was just beginning to bathe the mountains in the splendor of the colors of the rainbow, when in the distance a missile could clearly be seen inbound for the center of the city.
Waiving his hand over the iPad to set the thing to give the best views possible, the group were shocked to see not a nuclear weapon, but an Umbrella Purge Bomb had been deployed by the US Air Force against the city.
The effects of the Purge Bomb vs. a nuclear weapon were clear and easily distinguishable.
"I can't believe they did it," someone muttered aloud.
"They were never going to rescue us!" another angrily shouted.
"Calm down folks!" Harry called out.
"You're all safe, and you're under my employ now. I like to think I value my employees more than Umbrella ever did theirs, or ever could."
"I won't keep making BOWs," one of the doctors said from the back.
Several others nodded in agreement.
Harry rolled his eyes in exasperation.
With a snap of his finger he conjured a glass case containing several vials of liquid suspended in a helix pattern.
Several vials were of blue liquid, others orange, purple, violet. Then there were greens, reds, and even white and black.
"I don't need you to make virus'," Harry said with exasperation.
"I've literally just snapped my fingers and conjured a copy of every viral strain Umbrella International has knowledge of Ranging from the T, to the G, to C, and every viral mutagen your company ever dreamed up, oversaw, or planned," Harry finished to the shock and awe of some.
"And from all this….evil…." he spat, "comes this little beauty," he said picking up the white viral cylinder.
"A viral agent that is synthesized from the Progenitor Virus which enhances the human immune system, strengthens T-Cells, repairs degrading DNA for the life of the host, grants many benefits to the infected, and mitigates cellular degradation if not arrests it entirely."
"It can't be!" several people exclaimed and began whispering.
"I don't need any of you for anything, but I'm giving you the chance to continue in your work and to help people as I continue my travels. Now if we're going to do that there have to be some ground rules are we clear?"
No one spoke up and he had everyone's undivided attention.
"I'm taking your silence as consent to my conditions considering no one is objecting," he said pressing on.
"No one is going to object," a woman spoke as she stood up and walked to the front of the room to speak with Harry face to face.
"You're the new spokesman I take it?" He asked with a smile.
"I am," she replied.
"Dr. Charlotte Westham; I'm one of the people you rescued out of Building 02 and a Senior Vice-President of North American Operations for White Umbrella…I missed my evacuation opportunity because I tried to warn my colleagues to leave," she began.
"The higher ups learned of my actions and locked down the Raven's Gate Bridge just as we were approaching. We managed to get back into HQ and seal the majority of the buildings before everything went completely to hell," she said with a downcast gaze.
She took a few moments to compose herself before meeting his eye once more, and Harry was surprised to see tears streaking her face.
"None of us knew what the company was really doing, or had any real power to stop it. If you're giving us a chance to find meaning…to live out some sort of redemption; we accept," she said extending her hand.
James popped into being with a small desk, a stack of parchments and a blood quill.
At Harry's quizzical look, he gave an explanation as to what a magical contract was, what an oath of fealty entailed, and what a the specific contract of fealty, loyalty, and confidentiality to Harry would mean if they should sign.
After James finished answering the last question, the people present all signed and executed their own individual contract, and signed the registry, once more with the blood quill, which gave Harry a census of membership.
"Now that that's out of the way I think you all realize I'm a bit more than I appear to be, and James can explain it to you in good time. Let's have some dinner, and then you're all off to your new home because I'm exhausted and ready for bed. We can deal with the rest of this in the morning," he said just as the clock struck 6 pm, and the chimes began playing.
He invited everyone to join him in the formal dining room, which magically expanded to seat everyone comfortably, and they enjoyed a marvelous five-course meal that Mammy really outdid herself in making.
***BUILDING AN ORGANIZATION***
The next day, after observing his morning routine, Harry made it downstairs in one piece and took his breakfast off the main porch overlooking the lake.
As he sat and sipped his coffee, he reviewed the actions of the realm he'd rescued the people from on his iPad and saw the absolute chaos that the unchecked evil of Umbrella's greed and hubris had caused, but also the dangerous vacuum which resulted after the company's liquidation.
He swapped views over and saw that the rescued folks were beginning to settle in, some were even working in the lab running trials to improve existing medicine or to develop treatments for deadly diseases as they'd always done.
The few remaining police officers had been given their own HQ, resources, training grounds, and authority to enforce the laws Harry laid down in their realm.
One of the survivors had legal training, and so she'd been given the title and authority of a magistrate, and with the help of White Queen a legal system was developed along the lines of the American Legal System.
"Whoever would have thought building a society could be so easy," Harry mused as he sipped his coffee.
"Indeed," James spoke as he materialized in the chair opposite him and poured himself a cup of his own.
"Is this all you're going to do with your infinite cosmic power Master," James petulantly asked.
"Because if so, we've wasted quite a bit of space in the multiverse on nothing."
"What I'm doing is building an organization," Harry calmly replied.
"If I'm going to be interacting with different realities to test my strengths, my powers, and expand my perceptions of reality, then I'm going to need some way to differentiate between those realities…to experiment without risk. What better way to do that than to form an organization dedicated to Recon and Humanitarian Aid to assist me?"
James started to answer before Harry cut him off.
"I mean I get I could just expand my consciousness and touch on multiple realities at once. I get I could be omniscient and omnipresent myself, but having lived a human life that's not something I want. I want to continue to experience life, time, and reality as I'm accustomed to it, until the situation calls for a different approach, because that's what I'm comfortable with."
"I did read the damn manual you left me," Harry groused at the massive file that he'd read off his phone which wasn't just information relevant to the Umbrella Corporation, "and I didn't like a lot of the implications it had for me."
"Be that as it may Master," James started disapprovingly until Harry cut him off.
"I know those weren't real people, and they did begin to seem worthless to me when I concentrated on them too much, but now they have purpose and are gaining true life; I made a difference to them. Plus they have knowledge and experience that someone may benefit from down the line."
There was a moment of silence between the two as Harry sipped his coffee and James poured his own cup.
"The Hermione Rule," James muttered.
"What?" Harry asked before realization hit him.
He smiled in memory of his friend.
"The Hermione Rule," he confirmed.
"Gather Knowledge for Practicality's Sake," James muttered.
"I take it Master, that's to be one of your commandments," he flippantly asked.
"You can paint it pink and stick it on a box for all I care James, but I'm explaining to you why getting experts with an understanding of virology, weapons design, and pharmacology that was as advanced or more advanced than my world's, and the tech is certainly impressive, is a victory. I want to see the limits of human creativity and I can't very well push the bounds myself now can I lest I skew the results?"
"Don't answer, it was a rhetorical question," he said throwing up his hands.
Harry observed the actions of the doctors and refugees settling in.
Most were getting settled into their rooms, exploring the mansion that was surprisingly three times the size of the actual Spencer Mansion, or exploring the land it sat upon.
Harry put his coffee aside, strode back into the house through the French door which led to the porch, and began making his way toward his Private Study on the 3rd Floor.
He was surprised to find James waiting for him.
"I was a little confused as to whether you wanted the computers installed throughout your home as well," James said typing away on his own iPad.
Harry, struck by the question, stopped and thought for a few moments as he made his way to his desk.
"Network them in, but no hardware or monitoring for now. Just make it so I can interact with them from anywhere in the house on my existing network," he said indicating the sleek computer and various routers that were already installed throughout the home.
"Ok," James said taking a seat in one of the wing backs
"Do you want to talk about your plans for this organization?" he finally asked after the silence stretched too far for his comfort.
"We can, and I'd like us to plan out my next trip a bit more," Harry began slowly.
"I want to know more about the realm I'm dropping into next time, and I want to have some objective in mind. I want a team to go with me so I can cover more ground, the normal way," he said over James exasperated sigh.
"If not, I can just view it with the Quantum Mirror," he said indicating the app that he'd made the previous day.
"Why do you want a team," James pressed.
"What's the point?"
Harry, temper fairing, angrily responded.
"I don't want to be alone!"
"There! Are you happy now James?"
"You're supposed to be a part of me, surely you know how tortuous it was for me to be so alone and apart from everyone back home…how much I yearned to go home and be with those I loved," he trailed off.
The two sat in silence.
"So this team," James eventually said looking up from his notes.
"What all do you want them to do? What's your goal?"
Harry rubbed his brow and thought for a few minutes.
"All my life I've helped people, gone out of my way to do good. I don't see any reason that should change now," he began slowly.
"I'd like to explore my powers in the field and help people at the same time…but I don't want to go overboard…having a team to be responsible for would help greatly in that regard," Harry reasoned.
"Perfectly reasonable," James spoke up.
"But to be truly effective you're going to need more than the 6 or 10 police you rescued, and the 20 odd nerds," James deadpanned.
"Then find me a place to go and rescue the worthy. Send me where I can have a positive impact, and where I can find people that will be loyal and dedicated to my goals."
***BUILDING AN ORGANIZATION***
It was several days later, relatively, that Harry asked James to take him to the home of the refugees.
"We need to come up with a name for this place, and nothing ironic either," James muttered as he continued typing away on his iPad, his own cane floating along beside him.
"We'll let the residents decide. I don't really care," Harry said.
"Are the elves able to help them with food and things," Harry asked of James.
"I'll have to create a number of elves which are tied to this dimensional plain if that's what you want," James asked with a lifted brow as the two neared the entrance to the massively expanded Mansion complex.
"Please," Harry directed.
As they approached the opulent building the doors opened on their own and they were greeted by the holographic, and fairly realistic representation of a little girl which shone with a bright white light, and also what was easily discernable as a red hologram of the same or a similar little girl.
Welcome to Spencer Mansion Mr. Potter, the first hologram began in a cultured British Accent.
How may we be of assistance, the red on asked.
"I take it you are the White Queen and you are the Red Queen," he asked of each and received nods in the affirmative.
"I'd like to meet with everyone; is there a room where we can all meet?" he asked.
Please follow me to the Music Room, the White Queen responded.
Everyone has been requested to join us and will arrive shortly.
Harry and James followed the spectral projection through the hallways, through multiple galleries, past the library, and then finally to the music room.
It was filled with dark woods, bright lighting, expansive windows, and dominated by an ornate grand piano.
Comfortable chairs sat spaced about, and a collection of music stands sat in a corner of the room where a performance stage dominated the space.
James, with a wave of his hand, caused the chairs begin moving into place, even multiplying, to allow a seat for everyone so that the little town meeting could begin.
In groups of twos, threes, and one large group of 10 at the end, the residents all arrived and took a seat.
Once everyone was settled Harry began addressing them.
"I hope everyone is settling in comfortably; I hope you're all finding a bit of normalcy and calm considering everything you've all been through. What I want to talk to you all about today is purpose."
He observed the faces of those present, the young and old each had his undivided attention, and he theirs.
"I know many of you are questioning what's going to happen. Whether you're going to have the same freedoms and liberties as you enjoyed in Raccoon City…rest assured you're welcome to go wherever you want whenever you want here, but as strange as this may seem you're no longer on the Earth you knew."
"Until we get systems and checks in place I don't think anyone can travel beyond this realm," he began slowly, "but James and I will be working in the days ahead on some method to allow you to either travel to your home world, or to those I approve for travel. If this," he said indicating the mansion, "becomes too communal and you desire separate housing, please communicate your request and needs to the White Queen and she will contact James or myself to consider your request."
"We can have houses?" one of the younger police officers asked.
"I don't care what you want or need, so long as it isn't dangerous to other folks," Harry said dismissively.
"This place was created for your use and I'm not going to limit how you use it. The mansion was built for convenience and familiarity, but yes…this will eventually become a community of individuals. Not a commune."
"Will more be joining us," Carnes voice carried over the small crowd.
"In time…yes. That's what I'm hear to talk to you all about."
"With your permission," he continued, "I'd like to form a team which will travel with me as I continue to grow accustomed to my powers and consider my future. We may come across folks which are injured," he said looking to the doctors.
"Or we may come across plagues which eclipse the T-Virus. We may encounter sciences and technologies that could cause us to marvel or cower in fear. There may be danger, I can't say how my powers will cover you long term as you continue to grow as individuals impacted by the energies of this environment," he said as he had to focus hard to spot any gray among the crowd…even after such a short time in this realm.
Most of the group assembled held a pensive look and Harry spoke or nodded along in agreement.
"My stated goal with these trips will be to populate this village with people who deserve our help or who need it. In my existence I've always tried to do what was right and to help people. The team I'd like to organize would join me in my trips and potentially recruit new members."
"What would we do," Stephens asked as Carnes looked on with interest.
"Accompany me in my travels, provide security, right wrongs as we happen upon them, recruit trustworthy people to join us," Harry offered.
"I don't have anything set in stone yet that's why I wanted to discuss this with all of you. Eventually the population of this place will rise, either with new recruits or those we rescue. I made this home for you, but also anyone who needed it."
"I think it's obvious we appreciate that," Charlotte said speaking up.
"I don't think anyone here would have a problem with a few extra hands to run the labs, or help out."
Many agreed verbally with her as an undercurrent of support rang through the small crowd.
"Good, I'd like us to come to an agreement about self governance and draw up a few ground rules," Harry said as the group broke into discussions and different groups, all the while from her various cameras and monitoring strips that ran throughout the complex, the Queens watched on, took notes, and offered suggestions as appropriate.
***BUILDING AN ORGANIZATION***
Harry left the meeting and re-appeared in his guest wing where the grotesque and highly mutated form of Lisa Trevor, one of Umbrellas First and definitely longest lasting, victims.
The pitiful creature lay unconscious on one of the guest beds in Harry's home as he studied the various illnesses and mutations the girl carried.
Along the side wall a cauldron sat bubbling, as Harry was brewing Lisa the strongest purgative potion he knew of: (Linda) Blair's Brew; Guaranteed to have you spewing every toxin, infection, and illness at least 10 feet in the first 10 minutes, or your moneyback ™.
"Do you really think this will help the poor thing," James asked walking into the room after inspecting the potion.
It gave off a particularly sulfurous belch of a bubble and James fanned the offensive fumes away with his ever present iPad.
Cringing away James couldn't look on.
Suddenly the White Queen sprang into being on the wall mounted TV and began speaking to Harry.
I've finished integrating the information retrieved from Prime Umbrella International, and in particular I've analyzed and reviewed all of the files pertinent to Lisa Trevor. It's not good Harry.
She's been treated very….badly.
"I know White," Harry replied.
"That's why we have to help her."
She's the origin of the G-Virus.
She's too far gone to the mutations; my calculations show it would be far better to euthanize her now than to potentially prolong her suffering.
"See," James began.
"Even the Mackintosh knows this is pointless."
I'm sure I want to take offense to that.
James smirked in triumph.
I'm likely to take offense to that, but right now someone please hook Lisa up to my sensors so I can at least monitor the effects of your herbal remedy and its interactions with the various viral strains in Lisa please, she asked as James summoned a box of medical sensors and monitors from storage to hook Lisa to.
The blood screener was surprisingly small and amazingly easy to attach.
Harry was surprised James knew how to start a pic line let alone dress and hang an IV.
After Lisa was hooked up, to White's satisfaction, she gave Harry the all clear to administer the potion, but requested he send a sample to one of the research labs so she could analyze and understand it.
"So what's the plan once you've purged the mutagens Harry? Little Lisa never grew up or had the chance to live. We're not capable of providing for her needs here," James began again as White listened in the background.
"Yet James; we're not capable of providing for her needs yet," Harry insisted as he withdrew a measure of the potion and gently began feeding it into the slack maw of the patient.
"But we will," he said once he was finished feeding the potion to her.
"If there was ever a victim of Umbrella and their villainy it's Lisa," Harry said once more coming to Lisa's side.
"She deserves a chance to grow up, she deserves a chance to live."
For several minutes nothing happened.
What's the normal reaction time for this remedy Mr. Potter?
Harry was about to answer when Lisa sat straight up unexpectedly.
Harry had just enough time to conjure a wide brim bucket in front of her as gallons upon gallons of toxins and materials her body began rejecting.
Many of the topical organic additions began melting and completely ruining Harry's nice spread.
I guess that answers that.
"She'll be hurling in increments of 15 minutes after each dose until she's vomiting immediately after dosing to show she's clear," Harry replied.
"Once she's done with this dose," he began only to have his description punctuated by Lisa hurling once more, "we'll let her system rest for half an hour. Then she's to be given a single dose measure again, and it's important to time how long it takes her to begin vomiting," Harry said looking to the Queen on the TV."
Understood Mr. Potter. I've formulated a treatment schedule and set reminder alarms.
"Thank you White," he said.
"James why don't you be a chap and see if any of the medical doctors we rescued would like to sit in on this."
With a roll of his eyes, James took out his phone and sent a group text to the 5 medical doctors they'd managed to pilfer.
In short order they all replied yes, and before Harry could stop it they'd invited several of the research jackets to come along, and James was entirely too smug as he ushered in the group who'd somehow managed to bring along several large pieces of equipment and began setting them up in Harry's guest room to run gene sequencing and particle analysis on Harry's 'herbal remedy.'
A little of Harry died inside each time they referred to his (potion damn it!) as an herbal remedy, but at the same time, their sheer wonder, brought back memories of the long distant past and particularly of friends long since laid to rest.
In the eyes of these people that had lost everything, literal refugees in time, space, and farther from their home than any human had before traveled, Harry saw the spark of life….that true life that had been missing from them when Harry first truly looked at those from their realm.
Several hours, and several doses later, Lisa had somehow purged 30 of the buckets Harry had conjured and the damned jackets wouldn't let him banish the contents because they wanted to study the contents for residuals!
By the time dawn broke through the window, an excited night had met everyone, and a decidedly much more human Lisa Trevor laid out on the bed sleeping fairly normally.
Without restraint, she looked like a normal patient, though she was anything but, and Harry cast several monitoring charms designed to identify foreign objects in the human body, or non-normative appendages, and was surprised to see she was clear, apart from slightly elongated canines and bronze claw like nails instead of regular cuticles Harry was sure he'd seen somewhere before but couldn't recall.
She slept on and by the readings Harry had seen she had just entered deep REM sleep.
"Fascinating!"
"Remarkable!"
"What would the effects of this stuff be on someone without Lisa's unique genes?"
There were several hurried and highly intelligent conversations going on simultaneously; the White Queen carefully logging and categorizing each one, opening research notes, and gaining more research potential from this one instance of trying to help Lisa than decades of using her.
"Hey White, do you know if we managed to pilfer one of the portable PET Scanners," one of the doctors called after reviewing the live scans of measurements that had been taken, and those the Queen had converted from Harry's more unique visual spells.
Yes Dr. Malcolm. We have a healthy stockpile of med tech and could fully reform Umbrella General several times over, thanks to the efforts of Mr. Potter.
"Oh don't drag me back into discussions," Harry joked good naturedly.
"I'd almost slipped out the room," he said form his chair in the corner as he began to twist and turn to pop his back.
"Has she finished her purgatives White," Harry called out.
"Some two hours ago Mr. Potter," one of the doctors replied looking up from his notes which the White Queen confirmed with a nod.
"Alright then; I'm off to bed. I'm assuming you all will be monitoring her in shifts?"
He received general murmurs of agreement.
"James stay here and monitor. Wake me if she becomes distressed or they need anything," he said pinning the man with a glare.
A nod of understanding was his only reply and with that Harry popped off.
He was asleep before his head hit his pillow, and didn't even roll over as Pascal magicked him into his pjs.
Not even the ringing of the chimes roused our nascent deity.
***BUILDING AN ORGANIZATION***
A few weeks later, after life had settled into a routine, with the democratic input from everyone and more than a little assistance from both Queens, the group had agreed to a town charter, formed a town council, and the RPD Veterans had begun designing and implementing a training regimen for future security officers and citizens.
Dr. Charlotte had been elected as the Village Mayor, and because it was what most people understood and found comfort in, a new corporation was established to shepherd and guide the research of the scientists for pharmaceuticals, weapons, and computer tech.
One of her first acts as Mayor had been to pass a law with the council that every of age citizen must undergo basic defensive training, combat skills, and survival training to serve as reserve officers of the Village Defense Force, akin to the Israeli model and National Guard they were familiar with.
In defiance of their previous company, they chose to stick with the Umbrella Name, but with a Blue and White Logo, and the company motto of: 'Weathering the Storm for All.'
They'd also voted to provisionally approve the village name of 'Meropis,' from Greek antiquity, as there seemed to be three emerging and predominate industries within the village: Defense, Medical, and Tech.
When the issue of pay had come up, Harry offered the option of a purely digital currency backed up by hard gold.
When asked how such a system could be sustainable during one of the town meetings, Harry walked to a rather plane glass vase, and with the tap of his cane and the focusing of his intent, the glass transmuted into pure gold.
He then tapped the table and it transmuted from wood into platinum.
"We're covered," he said and left it at that.
After an afternoon spent in discussions with James, the Red and White Queen had assisted in the design and building of an Operations Building that housed heavily modified Umbrella Communications, Tracking, Surveillance, and Data Tech.
Ultimately the Red Queen was moved there to run and monitor Operations in addition to maintaining security of the Village.
An Arch, wider than two of the pilfered Armored Assault Vehicles form Umbrella, and taller than strictly necessary, was constructed of the finest marble, inlaid with gold and platinum runes Harry carved himself, and a jewel encrusted control pedestal was designed and implemented, both at the gate and in the Operations building.
"This is to allow both your control and operation of the transdimensional gateway, or its manual operation," Harry said as the hologram of the Red Queen watched on as Harry oversaw a few of the Engineers from Umbrella linking the manual controls to the existing computer network that was coming into being of the formerly Spartan, but now gleaming and equipment cramped, Operations Center.
I have the control, Red Queen said as the tech finished tightening the last screw of the connector cable.
Without warning she initiated the activation sequence, ran through a random dial, opened a gateway momentarily, then closed it and closed down.
I'm familiar with the controls now. Thank you.
Gob smacked, Harry just shook his head and began to chuckle while James bitched with the computer to warn them next time she intended to test her systems in such a manner.
Apparently, the Red Queen could give as well as she got and knew quite a few interesting combinations of swears.
"Who knew," Carnes chuckled at Harry's side.
Sometime later Harry was welcomed back to the Ops Center and briefed on how the realities were being mapped and explored using a version of his "Quantum Mirror" App, and each reality found were being assigned a unique identifier code by Red Queen and logged for potential exploration after James had programmed search parameters.
At yet another meeting of the Village Council Harry explained what they'd learned about Interdimensional travel and, with some brainstorming, they developed a classification index for various worlds and whether they were worth their time and efforts for Red Queen to classify the worlds she found and observed:
Type 01: Virgin World
Type 02: Primitive World
Type 03: Industrial World
Type 04: Post-Terrestrial World
Type 05: Magical World
Type 06: Inhospitable World
Type 07: Resource World
Type 08: Dead World
Type 09: Colony World
The Council gave a general description to each category, and left it up to the Red Queen to refine the categories, descriptions, and add additional types as needed.
And so it was, after training, after refining, after drills, and after trial runs ad nauseam, Harry was ready to be joined by a small group of his new elite security guards as he made his second run into the multiverse.
"Check coms," Carnes called as everyone ensured the special radios that Red Queen had helped oversee the development of, which would transmit through the void, same with the cellphones.
After radio checks, the small group of six, including Harry, piled into a Humvee Harry had charmed the motor of to work without the need of diesel, the first expedition were on their way through a portal to a world Red Queen had identified as potentially being a resource world.
Chapter 08: Explorations
The Humvee exited the portal into a field, and as there wasn't a companion gate remained open.
"We need to work on devising some type of semi-permanent, yet portable, gate that can be transported in a Humvee," Carnes called from the Passengers' seat.
"Maybe also some kind of recon satellites or long range drones too," Stephens chimed in.
I'm taking notes gentlemen and opening design files now to discuss with Mr. Potter and others for options or potential solutions, the Red Queen said speaking over the radio of the Humvee.
"Thank you Red," Harry called.
The others joined in.
You're welcome Mr. Potter and team.
"Remember to always treat her and her sister as ladies gentlemen," Harry said with a smile.
"Just like my magic and living in Meropis has impacted some of you in odd ways, I can't predict it won't effect them also; it's best to ensure we treat each other like family because that's what we are," he finished with a smile.
"The Unit Stands Strong!" Carnes called
"Hu-Ah!" Came the reply.
Hu-ah Indeed. You should be approaching the mountains I identified based on your trajectory and speed by now, Red continued.
***END OF PART I.***
***To Be Continued***
Author's Commentary: A poll is up on my page to vote on where the next setting, Part II. Of this story will focus on.
I had a lot of fun with this and exploring the philosophical bits.
It was a bit rushed but I think I enjoyed it.
This will be put as an X Over with Resident Evil to Start, then will likely change to something more general as time moves on as it isn't my primary x over.
Thank you all sincerely for playing in my sandbox!
Original Chapter Date: 01-20-19
Polished Date:
Reviews are welcome, and appreciated. Please feel free to share this story file with your friends, chat groups, etc. I welcome all constructive criticism.
Page Count: 54