The Arendelle Nexus exists outside the normal realm of space and time. As a result, it looks different for everyone who enters.
The Presider, from AU-7, sees a huge assembly room of metal, glass, and light, reminiscent of the Bundestag meeting place in her native Germany. Her assistant, an AI named Arr3ndal from AU-22, sees a fluid cyberspace full of hidden corners, data streams, and firewalls. Some, such as Princess Elsa from AU-19, see a giant gothic cathedral lit by orange torches. Others, such as the Snow Queen from AU-66, see an austere room made entirely of blue ice and white diamond. What you see when you arrive depends on your experiences and your native time period: the Wildling from AU-12 won't see an extrasolar space station like the Starship Commander from AU-74, and vice-versa. You see what you expect to see.
The Presider arrives a few relative minutes before the meeting is set to begin. Her office in the government skyscraper of AU-7 ripples and distorts, and after an impossibly bright flash of black, she finds herself standing on one of the half-dozen arrival platforms of the Nexus, taking in once more its clean air and delicate, etherial architecture. She's presided over the Quorum meetings for the last ten years, but the illusionary clean pillars and huge glass dome with snowflake patterns never fail to impress.
A metal snowflake buzzes through the air, darting and pausing like a dragonfly as it comes to hover in front of her. Its center lights up and spits out blue-white light, which weaves together along invisible force fields to create a holographic image of a tall, platinum-haired woman in a matching silver dress. "Welcome back, Elsa," she says in a sweet digital voice.
"It's good to see you, Arr3ndal. How've you been?"
"Oh, same old thing. Watching over the place, moderating the wormholes, running the defense network in Twenty-Two. I needed to shut down the portals last week, did you hear?"
"No, I was on vacation in Six's Southern Isles. What happened?"
"Hans Westergaard of AU-47 tried to breach the portal network."
"Really? Again?"
"No, that was Hans from Forty-Eight last time."
"Which one's Forty-Seven, again?"
"Twenty-first century suburban. Teacher-Elsa, but she's a crime-fighting vigilante cryomancer by night. Anyways, I shut down the network for safety and rerouted poor, deluded Hans to AU-66."
The Presider cringes. "Sixty-six? Isn't that a bit harsh?"
Arr3ndal shrugs. "The Snow Queen wanted to have a bit of fun with him. I thought, why not? Serves him right for trying that stunt."
The Presider returns the shrug. "Okay. At least we're back up and running." She descends the steps from the arrival platform. "What's the agenda for today?"
The computer dissolves her hologram and the snowflake floats to follow, trailing the Presider in midair like a butterfly. "Of course, there's the monthly announcements. Trade negotiations, new portal installations, interspacial tax reevaluations, that kind of thing – but actually, none of that needs to be addressed this meeting; we did all that last time. Elsa from Seventy-Four wants to speak to the Quorum – her spacecraft just broke down, and she needs to evacuate her crew to some other world, but they have plenty of time before their air runs out. We also need to deal with the diplomatic fallout from Hans-47's attempted breach, because so many Elsas are blaming that poor teacher for the network shutdown. The AI from AU-55 is particularly ticked off."
"Well, that's just fantastic. Who's going to be attending today?"
"Seventy-seven Elsas out of seventy-nine. Of course, Elsa-One won't be here, but the Elsa from Fifty is out with a bad cold. Her sister's taking care of her."
"Doesn't she have ice powers? How in the worlds did she get a cold?"
"No idea. Also on the agenda are two unspecified personal announcements: one from Nineteen, and one from Thirteen jointly with Forty-Four."
"Jointly? Interesting. How long until you open the gates?"
"Ten seconds, actually. We timed that nicely."
A dozen of the Elsas arrive almost exactly on time, given that they come from alternate universes with digital clocks. The others trickle in over the next relative half-hour. Several greet each other enthusiastically, some loiter around, and some duck their head and take their seats. From her place at the elevated podium, the Presider can hear all of their conversations.
"Do you know how annoying it is to listen to this argument every week?" an Elsa in a green ice dress rages. "Every time my father holds open court, the same two men come in, bickering about bark down or bark up!"
"Is this the Norwegian firewood thing again?" asks the Wildling-Elsa from AU-12. "Bark down is drier, you know."
"I can't believe you said that," spits an Elsa in yellow servant clothes. "Bark up!"
"What did you say to me, Twenty-Nine? I've spent my entire life in the wilderness north of the Wall, and I will tell you that bark down is better, one-hundred percent!"
"And I've spent my entire life stacking firewood for Queen Rapunzel of Corona, and I will tell you the opposite!"
"I don't see the difference," an Elsa in a glittering red glass dress interrupts. As she speaks, her eyes glow like hot coals and flames flicker across her black hair. "It burns either way."
"Easy for you to say, hothead," the servant-Elsa snaps. "Some of us are mere mortals."
The Fire Queen narrows her eyes and opens her mouth to respond, but a sharp glance from the other three Elsas convinces her otherwise. Smoldering, she retreats and takes her seat on the far side of the room, next to her only real friend in the Quorum: Elsa Otterdelle from AU-75, the small, squeaky, furry Zootopian cryomancer with human-level intellect and articulation. In this group of ice mages, cryo-AIs, and unpowered humans, they're the two outsiders.
More Elsas continue to arrive through the portals. There's the Teacher-Vigilante from AU-47, the Queen of AU-13 with a tiara on her head, and the Hacker from Forty-Four with her ever-present backpack full of laptops and slightly illegal equipment. The Intelligence Agent from Thirty-One floats through the crowd in her glittering dress to meet with the boisterous, belted sailor from Fifty-Nine. A ghostly Elsa from Seventy made out of snow and wind flickers onto an arrival platform; Arr3ndal activates her avatar to greet both her and a nearby hovering birdlike drone.
Elsa-Ten tumbles out of one of the gateways in leather flight gear, and a black dragon follows her with a loud, anguished roar. The tip of its tail and the edges of its wings are missing, and a shower of smoking molten blood falls on the floor. Elsa from AU-35 rolls her eyes and draws her wand (Norway spruce and thunderbird tail feather, ten inches, light and inflexible). With a little wave, the dragon vanishes with a loud crack, back to where it came from with wings and tail (hopefully) intact. "How many times must you be reminded that Night Furies do not fit through portals?"
The first platform flashes again, and most of the assembly drops their voices at the sight of the Snow Queen from AU-66. She's a terrifying, regal figure, somehow towering a head over everyone else. Her black hair, midnight-blue eyes, and militaristic dress project only cruelty: she has crushed over twenty kingdoms in her world. But she knows the rules; she keeps her exploits limited to her own universe and won't try anything in the Arendelle Nexus. She gives a sly smile, waves sarcastically to the crowd, and takes her place near the front. Following her lead, the other Elsas all drift towards their seats.
The Presider puts on her glasses and switches on her microphone. She has no idea if the others see a microphone or not, but whatever the case, a shrill electric feedback screech rips through the air. Everyone covers their ears.
"Sorry about that," the Presider says sheepishly as she fiddles with the sensitivity knob. "This thing's always so finicky. Can everyone hear me?"
A chorus of nods.
"Good. Well, then, welcome to the fiftieth meeting of the Quorum of Alternate Arendelles! As always, I'll try to keep things going quickly. I know that many of us have pressing obligations at home, but thank you for taking to time to come here and help our multiverse run smoothly. If there are no pressing needs, then we'll get started."
"If I may, Presider?" the birdlike drone says in a deep, grating monotone as it hovers out of its seat.
The Presider nodded. "The Quorum recognizes E.L.S.A. Version IV of AU-55," the Presider said.
"My gratitude," the drone drones. "We must address the recent portal network shutdown. My planet's trade and economy ground to a halt as a result of the interruption. There must be consequences." It rotates accusatorially to face someone across the room.
"How many times do I have to tell you," the Teacher-Vigilante Elsa shouts in a Brooklyn accent, "that it wasn't my fault! I did my best to stop Hans from entering the portal, but he knocked me out with a salt bomb!"
"Salt bomb? Really?" the Intel Agent asks, rolling her eyes.
The Vigilante sighs. "Yes, a salt bomb. Salt melts ice, so it's like kryptonite."
"Crypto-whaaaa?" another Elsa asks.
"Kryptonite. It's a substance that weakens Superman and cancels his powers."
"What's a 'super-man'?"
"You don't have comic books in your worlds?"
"I'm from the tenth century B.C.E., whatever that's supposed to mean! I only just learned what a book is!"
"You don't know what a book is?"
"You still use books? Books are so outdated!"
The Presider looks desperately towards Elsa-35, who's seated in the back of the hall. Thirty-Five nods, then once more draws her wand out of her robes. "Lumacryomantis!" she cries, and from the tip of her wand comes a brilliant ice-firework that detonates in midair with a high-pitched whistling and a shower of snow.
"Stay on topic, please," the Presider reminds the squabbling Quorum members before looking once more at the drone. "E.L.S.A., you know that Forty-Seven is not to blame, but I understand how the shutdown could have impacted the Arendelle solar system's interdimensional import/export business. I move that the Quorum create a committee to evaluate the damage of the shutdown across all of the parallel worlds, as well as draft a recovery plan to be presented next month."
"Seconded," the Vigilante says.
"All in favor?" Arr3ndal says. "All against? All abstentions? Very well – the motion passes, seventy-one to four." Over the course of the next ten minutes, Arr3ndal, the Vigilante, the bird drone, Intelligence Agent, and the Hacker all volunteer to join the damage control committee.
"Moving on," the Presider says, looking at an Elsa in a sleek pressure suit. "I understand that you are having difficulties with your ship? The Quorum recognizes Commander Elsa Dalen-Frost of the interstellar warship Arendelle, AU-74."
"Thanks, Presider," the black-suited Elsa replies, rising to her feet. "My ship experience a catastrophic cascade failure with the tachyon drive navbeacons. We dropped to sublight speed, but the unplanned deceleration interacted badly with a nearby magnetar to produce torsional hull stress, knocking out our environmental controls and inertial dampeners."
"Is that English?" someone asks. (English is the official language of the Quorum.)
"Her ship broke," Arr3ndal rephrases bluntly.
"Ah. That makes more sense."
"I can fix the problem," the Commander continues with a nod at the AI, "but it will take several months, and our air won't last that long. I ask that the Quorum provide a place where my crew can stay while we repair the damage."
"How many people are we talking about?" asks the Princess in the green dress from Nineteen.
"10,412. It's the largest in the galaxy."
"That's what she said!" the Sailor-Elsa from Fifty-Nine calls jovially from across the hall.
Several Elsas laugh, but the Commander-Elsa glares at her. "If you were on my ship, I would throw you in the brig for that."
The Sailor's smile turns to a scowl. "And if you were on mine, I'd have Captain Sparrow throw you in the brig for being such a emotionless, pompous, spineless military twit who can't take a joke! Loosen up!"
"Hey! Cool it!" the Fire Queen says, sending a burst of flame shooting in front of the Sailor-Elsa.
"That's pretty ironic coming from you, firecracker," someone mutters.
The Fire Queen whirls around, her volcanic eyes glowing. "Who said that? Do you wanna fight me? I'll melt all of you into puddles!"
"That's right – lay off her!" Elsa Otterdelle growls – but several other Elsas break down into laughter at the sight of the tiny mammal screaming at them. The otter is not amused, and drops a snowdrift on their heads.
The floor erupts into bickering, and within seconds, swords, guns, and several varieties of futuristic cryoweapons are coming out from pockets, scabbards, armor slots, and hidden pocket-dimensions. To try to maintain calm, the witch shoots another ice firework into the air, but no one sees it. "Arr3ndal?" the Presider shouts nervously.
"On it," the AI replies.
The Nexus jolts and flickers, and there is some kind of discontinuity in reality – and suddenly everyone finds themselves slammed back into their seats. Arr3ndal's digital voice booms overhead. "Don't do that again. Elsa-One gave me mainframe spacial access to the Nexus hall. I can move you around like chess pieces, so don't make me throw you out. Remember how I sealed the breach? I rerouted Hans from Forty-Seven to Sixty-Six when he tried to access the network."
The threat seems to work. The room drops into silence, with people either looking at the notorious Elsa from AU-66 – the Snow Queen – or purposefully looking away. The Snow Queen smiles like a specter at a feast.
"Back to the question," the Presider says hopefully. "Who can take the crew of the Arendelle?"
"I can take them," a suntanned Elsa in overalls says in a gentle country lilt. "Alternate Universe Number Thirty-Nine. I've got a huge plot of empty farmland where they can stay, provided that they bring their own food and shelter."
The Commander-Elsa nods. "They will. Thank you for your hospitality."
"Good," the Presider says. "Are there any more diplomatic crises that we need to address before we move onto general news? … All right, then. I open the floor to anyone who wishes to speak or share."
The green-clad Princess from AU-19 stands up. "I'd like to announce a new birth in my family," she said. "My sister, Anna, and her husband, Kristoff, just had their first child!"
"Oh, congratulations!"
"You're an aunt!"
"Wait – Kristoff? He's my husband!"
"Is it a boy or a girl?"
"It's a girl," she said. "Her name is Eliza – I think that you can tell where they got their inspiration."
"Do you have any photos?"
"What's a 'photos'?"
"An image collected via a lens. You can upload it to a computer and print it out."
"I'm sorry, I'm confused?"
"It's like a painting, but it's created by a weird electric box called a camera, which sends it to another weird electric box called a computer, which sends it to another weird electric box called a printer. I'll show you next meeting!"
"What about powers? Does she have any powers?"
"None that I can see, but keep in mind that my sister's powers didn't appear until she was six years old."
"Wait, your sister has powers? My sister doesn't have powers! That's not fair!"
"Hey, some of us don't have powers in the first place! Be more considerate!"
"Yeah, my sister has powers," Nineteen continues. "Anna can do this weird thing with plants."
"In that case, I'm surprised that she didn't name her daughter 'Rosemary' or 'Lilly' or 'Petunia' or something."
"Kristoff said no. He didn't want a daughter named after an herb."
"But what about flowers?"
"Hey, I only know so much. I'll ask in more detail when I get home."
She sat back down, and the instant she did, the Hacker-Elsa bounced up, pulling the Elsa next to her – the Queen from Arendelle-13 – to her feet. "Oh! We have news!"
"Go ahead," the Presider says with a smile.
"Most of you know that we've been close for a while…" giggles the Queen.
"But two days ago, I proposed!" the Hacker says.
"And I accepted! We're to be married!"
The Quorum screeches to a halt.
Several Elsas gasp, and the Presider nearly falls off the podium. Someone drops a pen, and someone else drops a huge stack of notebooks. Paper goes flying and drifts softly to the ground. Arr3ndal makes a questionable questioning sound that comes out like a harmonic rubber duck dropped into a lake with a stick of dynamite, while E.L.S.A. makes a confused grinding noise like aluminum foil stuck in a paper shredder. The whole place is frozen – figuratively, of course.
"Well, um … congratulations…" the Presider says in a tight voice. She hesitates for a moment longer. "Elsa – and Elsa – I'm not gonna lie. I have no idea what to say."
"It's perfectly permissible by the Quorum rules," Arr3ndal interjects. The Presider raises an eyebrow, and the AI's avatar looks down like a child scolded by her mother. "Just trying to be helpful."
"I mean, I'm happy for both of you," the Presider ventures. "Very happy, in fact. True love is a rare thing to come by. But in this case, there might be a lot of moral issues…"
"For one, you're the same person," the Commander from Seventy-Four interjects. "You'd be marrying yourself."
"And loving yourself. Isn't that the definition of narcissism?" asks the Ghost-Elsa from Arendelle-74.
"And sleeping with yourself," the Sailor-Elsa adds gleefully. "Isn't that the definition of –"
"I'm stopping you right there, Fifty-Nine," says the Farmer from Thirty-Nine. "They don't need you intruding on their relationship."
"But we're not the same person!" the Hacker says. "That's the point. We're all different people from different realities that just happen to share the same name, age, and – in most cases – appearance. I'm not her, and she's not me, and we're all not each other – unless you're telling me that I'm an otter. No offense."
"None taken," Elsa Otterdelle says. "Just like I'm not a giant hovering box of circuitboards. Likewise, no offense to the AIs."
"And likewise, none taken," Arr3ndal and E.L.S.A. chorus. "Though we're technically holotronic. Circuitboards are soooo last millennium."
"But aren't we all technically sisters?" the Intelligence Agent asks. "Many of us, you two included, have genetically-identical parents. I'm all for the relationship, but does this technically count as incest?"
"Icest, perhaps. You two both have powers, right?" Half the Quorum groans at the Wildling's terrible pun.
"I'd say it's borderline," the teacher from Forty-Seven says. "But it's not like they're having children together. Right?"
"That's not physically possible. We're all female or non-human here."
"Actually," E.L.S.A. monotones, "on my planet, genetics is sufficiently advanced that we could take eggs from both of you and combine them to create a new zygote for implantation. I'm not sure if it's necessary – you do have the same genetic makeup. It might be easier just to clone one of you."
"But the way that the genes have crossed over and the chromosomes assorted during meiosis-1 mean that the offspring of the cross could have different characteristics," Arr3ndal replies. "They might want that."
"True," the other AI responds.
"I think that you lost everybody there," the Servant in the yellow dress says.
"Speak for yourself…" the Scientist from AU-26 says.
The Fire Queen groans. "Is that important? They love each other! The rest is just gritty detail."
"Thank you," Thirteen says with a genuine smile at the fiery outsider. "Love – that's what important. We want to be together."
"Well … how do the laws work out?"
"Marriage laws in my world are conservative, but Elsa here comes from a time and place where any two people can be together."
"But good luck finding a priest in the multiverse to perform the ceremony. Anyone here licensed?"
"I am, actually," E.L.S.A. grates.
"You? A computer?"
"I run an interplanetary civilization," the computer snaps. "I receive more confessions and requests for council than any clergyperson in the multiverse. I am qualified, and licensing is a simple matter of drafting the document."
"How exactly will you make it work?" the Wildling from Twelve inquires. "You coming from different worlds, and all."
"Oh, I've been living in her castle for about a year," the Hacker replies. "I hooked a fiber-optic cable through the portal network, so I get Wi-Fi even in eighteenth-century Arendelle. I'll work from home!"
"Why-Fye?"
"Wireless Fidelity … you know what? It's complicated."
"Do your families know about this?"
"Nope!" says the Hacker.
The Queen shrugs. "I'm the ruler of Arendelle. I can do what I want. My sister knows that I'm having a secret relationship … but I can't wait to tell her with who."
"Just don't give her a heart attack," the Presider says, smiling.
"She's gone through worse."
"All right. And you're sure about all this? You love each other with all your hearts?"
"Of course!"
"Then I don't see any reason that we should stand in your way. Let me offer you my congratulations! You'll invite us to the ceremony?"
"Oh, um … we'll look into that," the Hacker says sheepishly. "The Quorum and the Nexus are still a secret in Thirteen and Forty-Four. Don't want any guests freaking out when seventy-nine Elsas appear."
"That's reasonable."
"Presider," the Fire Queen calls out. "I wish them the best, but I move that we implement rules for interworld relationships. For example, what would happen if I fell in love with my sister from another world? We need to figure out some guidelines beforehand."
"That's actually a good idea," the two lovebirds say.
"Seconded," the Servant from Twenty-Nine says.
"Very well," the Presider replies. "Next meeting, please submit drafts for debate and compromise. Is there anything else that anyone would like to share?"
No one replies, and the tension in the atmosphere begins to abate.
"Very well. By the powers invested in me, I declare the fiftieth meeting of the Quorum of Alternate Arendelles adjourned –"
Right before she finishes speaking, one of the arrival platforms in the back of the hall flares brightly. Another Elsa is arriving. The Quorum turns to see who it is.
The newcomer looks like a hologram – but that's because she is an image suspended in a sunbeam, a ghostly apparition in a lattice of glowing energy and light. Her image distorts and refracts depending of the angle: it's almost like she's standing on the other side of a prism. She's from so far in the future that her technology appears magic – the air crackles with raw power and the temperature plummets to extragalactic cold. Several Elsas without powers reach for the heated blankets that they keep on standby, but everyone's jaw drops. They haven't seen this Elsa in over three years.
The Presider swallows nervously. "I yield the floor to Elsa of AU-1. Welcome back to the Nexus, Founder."
"Oh, be quiet," Elsa-One snaps in a echoing harmonic voice. She's sometimes irritable, but everyone treats her with the utmost respect. After all, she's the one who discovered how to tunnel through the void and cross between AUs. She created the Nexus, and she founded the Quorum. Her word is law.
The Founder flickers and vanishes, and suddenly she's standing at the podium. "We have an emergency. Arr3ndal, Code Blue."
The AI chimes in response. "Everyone, hold onto your seats."
Arr3ndal reconfigures the entire Nexus Hall: it splinters into fractal fragments of reality and reassembles itself in less than a second. In the new Code Blue configuration, most of the Elsas are seated in an observation balcony overlooking a central command area. Only nine Elsas are standing around the table in the center: the Founder, the Fire Queen, the Presider, Arr3ndal, the Intelligence Agent, the Hacker, E.L.S.A., the Snow Queen, and the Commander.
The Quorum usually operates in a legislative, inclusive manner in which everyone can speak their mind and have their voices heard. This system is sufficient in governing everything from taxes to the portal network. But in the case of a Code Blue – a military emergency possibly requiring intervention – the group of nine takes complete control for the sake of efficiency.
Elsa-One flickers again, and a holographic image appears above the round table. It's an image of a small city and an appropriately-sized castle nestled in a Norwegian fjord.
"Is that Arendelle?" the Fire Queen asks.
"Yes," Elsa-One says. "It's AU-80. I've been watching it for some time, evaluating its readiness for integration into the Quorum. But there have been several interesting developments in the past few days."
"What's the story?" asks the Hacker.
"Elsa there is twenty-one years old, just like all of us. Born in Norway in 1817, current year in Arendelle-80 is 1838. She has ice powers, but when she was eight years old, she nearly killed her sister with them."
"Don't tell me that they took her to the trolls," the Presider groans.
"They took her to the trolls," Elsa-One replies annoyedly. "The one known as Pabbie wiped Anna's memory to repair the damage, and poor Elsa has been trying to conceal her powers from her sister – and the world – ever since. Her father kept telling her, 'conceal, don't feel, don't let it show.'"
"That's gotta be the most stupid advice I've ever heard," the Hacker mumbles. "What a great father."
Elsa-One shrugs. "Past is in the past. Anyway, her parents were lost at sea three years ago. She was coronated two days ago. But, predictably, it went badly. She lost control, revealed her powers, and fled into the mountains while accidentally cursing the kingdom in an eternal winter."
"Oh dear," the Fire Queen says.
"But that's not the worst part. Her sister pursued her into the mountains. They argued, and Elsa struck Anna again – this time in the heart."
"The heart?!" Most of the Elsas on the balcony gasp. "Is she going to die? How long does she have?"
"She's due to freeze to death in about two hours."
"We have to do something!" the Fire Queen exclaims. "True love's kiss, or something unnecessarily poetic like that! Who's Anna's true love?"
"Prince Hans was involved in a romantic relationship with Anna – but there's another big problem: Hans is going to let her die. He also captured Elsa and plans to execute her for supposed crimes. He's making a power grab."
"Oh, why is it always Hans?" Arr3ndal moans electrically.
"Hans is my boss in my world," the Presider says defensively. "He's actually a pretty nice guy."
"That's a proven statistical anomaly," the Scientist calls from the balcony. "Remember the study I did on it? 'Inter-Reality Parallelisms in Secondary Persons'?"
"The one in which you concluded that anyone named Hans Westergaard has a 94.62 percent chance of being pure evil?"
"That's the one."
"Your research methods were flawed."
"Hey! It was peer-reviewed and everything!"
"Something's happening," the Agent interrupts. "Look at the feed."
A side of Arendelle castle blows out in a shower of ice and stone, and Elsa-Eighty sprints out through the hole. Snow and wind begins to swirl menacingly around the kingdom, but before the images are obscured by white, the Quorum can see Hans exiting through the same hole – with his sword in hand.
"He's after her!" the Presider gasps. "He's going to kill her!"
"Il faut que nous l'aidions! Maintenant!" a French Elsa shouts from the balcony.
"Prime Directive override," Elsa-One says. "Intervention authorized. We must save her."
The nine Elsas snap into action. "I'm activating our drones in the area," Arr3ndal says. "They're inbound from the surveillance outpost behind the North Mountain, arrival in two minutes. Cloaking systems … active."
"Weapon systems online," the Commander says.
"I'm upping the scanner intensity so that we can cut through that blizzard," the Hacker adds.
"Weapon systems are clogged with ice," the Fire Queen says worriedly. "It'll take several minutes to clean them out."
"The snow is playing hell with the guidance systems and repulser engines," Arr3ndal growls. "I need heavier support."
"Rerouting three LIG-II attack drones through the portal network," E.L.S.A. replies. "ETA for reinforcements … thirty-two seconds."
"Bring your drones above the storm, Arr3ndal," the Hacker says. "Scanners to full … three lifeforms detected. No, four. No, five!"
"Get me a tactical map of the area, now!"
The glowing map show Queen Elsa's position as a blue hexagon, wandering aimlessly across the Arendelle fjord. Hans is closing on her, a red triangle moving in a dedicated search pattern. But there are also two other signatures – one a yellow circle, the others both rectangles approaching quickly from the north.
"Get me IDs on the other three," the Presider says.
"Facial recognition active … the circle is Anna. The two rectangles are Kristoff and Sven."
"All of them, out there on the ice? This is almost like a movie finale."
"Might as well be."
Suddenly, E.L.S.A. spits out irritated static. "The three reinforcement drones were just shot down by Weselton rebels in AU-22. We need another option."
But suddenly, a new marker appears on the tactical display: a black hexagon.
"What in the world is that?"
"I don't know. I've never seen it before."
"Well, where did it come from? Things don't just appear in the middle of a fjord."
"Unless they arrive via portal."
"Say – where's the Snow Queen?"
Everyone falls silent at the last question. The notorious Elsa from Arendelle-66 is nowhere to be seen – but there is a dim afterglow on one of the transport pads.
"She transported there?" the Commander exclaims.
The Presider slams her fists down on the table. "What in the worlds is she doing?"
"Nothing good, probably. She doesn't care much for rules – or life, for that matter."
"Six, go after her," Elsa-One says.
The Fire Queen nods, strapping on an earpiece that allows her to communicate with the Nexus. She runs to the transport pad and is whisked away on a carpet of light to AU-80. After a second of delay, a bright orange square appears on the map.
"I'm in," the Fire Queen says, her voice coming out of Arr3ndal's speakers. There's a lot of whistling from wind. "Blazes, it's cold here. I can't see a blasted thing."
"Okay, Six – it looks like everyone's converging in the middle. Proceed at thirty degrees for fifteen hundred feet."
"On it."
The Quorum settles into tense silence, watching the tactical readout as the shape start to converge. The two yellow rectangles representing Kristoff and Sven separate – Sven has fallen through the ice and has swum to safety, but is trapped on an ice floe; Kristoff runs on. Anna, meanwhile, moves slowly in his general direction.
"Quorum?" the Fire Queen says over the radio. "I'm hearing the sister shouting out here. She's calling for Kristoff."
"She's trying to reach him," Elsa-One says matter-of-factly. "She must have realized that he's her true love, so she's trying to reach him to save her own life via a kiss."
"Why is it always a kiss? It's like whoever writes these things is addicted to them."
"I know, right? True love's kiss, so cliché."
"Wait – look!"
The red triangle of Hans pauses right next to the blue hexagon of Elsa-Eighty … then the storm vanishes. Snowflakes slow and stop in midair like bullets fired into honey. The Quorum draws a collective breath.
"Did … did he just kill her?"
The Hacker begins furiously typing again. "One way to find out. Arr3ndal, I need a visual feed ASAP."
The tactical map is replaces by a blurry camera image. A bar swipes back and forth like a windshield wiper, clearing off the offending snow. Arr3ndal zooms in, and the Quorum lets out a sigh of relief upon seeing that Elsa-Eighty is unharmed …
… For now. She is collapsed on the ice, her face buried in her hands in obvious emotional agony.
"Stars," the Presider says. "What did Hans say to her?"
"Probably told her that she killed her sister."
"Is Anna still alive?"
"For now. She has about two hours left before she freezes to death, but she's found Kristoff."
Arr3ndal zooms out, and now the Quorum can see Anna, half-frozen to death, teetering on the ice and looking at a dim shape in the distance. The shape – Kristoff – shouts her name and begins running towards her; Anna staggers towards him.
There is a amplified shriek of metal through the audio receivers: Hans has drawn his sword.
The Founder instantly grabs the microphone. "Six? Six, come in!"
"Loud and clear."
"Cease pursuing the Snow Queen immediately and frag Hans before he kills her!"
"What?!"
"All rules and directives are suspended. You are ordered to interfere, even if you're seen."
"I'll do my best, but I'm actually a terrible shot!"
"Just do it!"
The Fire Queen rolls out from her hiding place behind an iced-in ship and takes shaky aim. She's used to incinerating large areas, not taking out a single man at two hundred yards while leaving the woman next to him unharmed.
Back in the Quorum, the Intel Agent notices movement. "What's Anna doing?"
Anna was limping as fast as she could towards Hans and Elsa.
"99.64 percent probability that she intends to throw herself in between Hans and her sister," E.L.S.A. says.
"She's sacrificing herself?"
"Too much like a movie finale. Way, way too much."
"Six, take the shot!"
The Fire Queen summons her powers, and a glowing arc of flame shimmers in her hand. She takes a deep breath, then steps forward and –
The Snow Queen appears out of nowhere, hitting her backwards with her forearm. The dark Elsa smiles, then snaps her fingers.
Two hundred yards away, Anna throws herself in front of Hans's sword…
But, two hours ahead of schedule – she freezes into solid ice.
Hans's sword impacts against her frozen hand, and the sword shatters. Hans is thrown backwards, unconscious.
Elsa remains alive.
There is stunned silence in the Quorum once more.
The Presider lets out a breath. "Okay … a lot of stuff just went down really fast. Can someone explain it to me?"
"It seems that our favorite Snow Queen was here to help after all," the Fire Queen says over the radio. "I was about to blast Hans, but I probably would have missed – but she shouldered me aside and froze Anna solid instead."
"And that was supposed to help … how?" the Hacker asks, shaking her head.
"Anna was planning on sacrificing herself to save her sister," Arr3ndal realizes out loud. "But she herself wouldn't freeze solid for another two hours, so Hans would have just killed her and moved on to finish Elsa off."
"The Snow Queen accelerated the freezing process and turned Anna to solid indestructible ice," E.L.S.A. adds, "thus allowing her to survive the impact and destroy Hans's sword at the same time."
"But she's still frozen solid," the Commander points out.
"Maybe," the Fire Queen says, "or maybe not. Only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart. Maybe that sacrifice attempt counted."
"Couldn't you thaw her with your fire?"
"If you want a puddle, sure. If you want a living human being, not so much."
"Look!" shouts an Elsa from the balcony.
The others start gasping and smiling. Anna is turning from an ice statue back into a human. From her heart outward, the blue ice and frost reverts to colorful fabric and healthy skin. In a final sparkle, she starts moving again. Elsa-Eighty looks up at her sister and says something – then they embrace. The Quorum erupts into cheering and grinning, slightly-frazzled faces.
"All right, you two," the Presider says to the two Quorum members over the radio. "Come on home."
In a few seconds, the arrival platform flashes, and the Fire Queen and the Snow Queen materialize to a fresh round of cheering. The former wipes her brow and says something about saving a world, but the latter remains silently regal as always.
"Arr3ndal?" the Presider says, grinning.
"Yes, Elsa?"
"Cancel Code Blue."
"My pleasure."
The Nexus shifts once again, and now all of the Elsas are sitting once again in their Quorum seats. Elsa-One flickers out of existence, off to who knows where, and the Presider once more takes to the podium.
"All right!" she says. "We saved a life today – good job, everyone!"
"Are we gonna recruit her?" asks the green-clad Princess from AU-19. "I move that we start the six-month active surveillance and vetting process."
"Seconded!" says the Wildling-Elsa from AU-12.
"All in favor?" asks Arr3ndal. "All against? All abstentions? The motion passes unanimously!" A new cheer. Everyone's in good spirits.
"Are there any other crises that need to be brought to our attention?" asks the Presider with a tired grin. "No? Then I declare the fiftieth meeting of the Quorum of Alternate Arendelles adjourned! Have a good day, everybody! Stay safe! Keep in touch! See you all next month!"
The Quorum disbands. Groups of chatting Elsas walk off towards the transport pads and dematerialize. The two engaged Elsas from Thirteen and Forty-Four say something quietly to each other, then kiss and take separate pads; perhaps they both have work to do in their separate worlds. The Snow Queen disappears with her patented smile, the Fire Queen smirking at her side. The Wildling puts on her fur coat and draws a sword "in case I run into Jon Snow" before stepping through her portal. And so on and so forth: the members of the Quorum go their separate ways like stories returning to a library shelf…
And soon, it's just the Presider and Arr3ndal again.
The Presider takes off her glasses. "Well, that one's going into the history books."
"I'll say," the AI replies. She activates her avatar and perches on the podium with the grace of a sparrow. "It sure is quiet when it's just us, isn't it?"
"It sure is."
"You better go, though. My fluid-time calculations say that it'll be nearly 4 o'clock when you get back. You have a meeting with your boss Hans, correct?"
"Oh, I do, don't I? I better get moving." The Presider descends the steps and walks onto a transport pad. "I'll see you next month?"
"Next month," the AI replies. "Though if you want to visit in the interim…" Arr3ndal floats forward and gives her a sparking kiss on the lips, leaving behind an electric tingle.
"What was that about?" the Presider asks, blushing.
Arr3ndal purrs mischievously. "I get soooo bored around here sometimes…"
Before Elsa can reply, she is whisked away back through the void…
Then she is once again sitting at her desk in her office, looking out her window at her Arendelle.