Chapter 2: Enter the Future Girl

Jail Scaglietti was normally a patient and reserved man. However, his composure was not unbreakable; he was susceptible to bouts of undignified rapture upon making a new discovery or unlocking some new challenge. The present occasion did not qualify, but it came close.

Uno's face appeared on his holoscreen. "Doctor, we are still unable to identify the cause of the dimensional quake. The effects are confined to one room for now, but it's getting stronger. If it goes much farther, the Bureau might investigate."

"Ah, thank you, Uno," said Jail. "Continue to observe, please. I'll attempt to investigate at a closer range."

Uno nodded. "Understood. Please be cautious, Doctor."

It caused his spine to tingle with jealousy that one of the secrets of the universe had been unlocked without him. And yet, the novelty of the event itself almost made up for it.

It was breathtaking.

A nascent dimensional rift, appearing spontaneously inside his main base. A rather inconvenient spot, but not unwelcome. At any other area, it might have attracted TSAB investigators. The strange iridescent not-color seeped through the warping space, yet it hung back, as if reluctant to be released. It was beautiful.

Jail formed two more barriers between it and himself.

"Those won't be much help if the rift expands faster than you expect, Doctor."

Jail smirked. "While that is correct, Uno, I find it much more satisfying to witness the phenomenon firsthand, despite the danger. Surely you understand."

Uno didn't reply.

"Ah, well," he sighed. "Keep the girls away from this room, would you? Their presence would only complicate things."

Jail returned his gaze to the shimmering glow hanging in the air before him. The affected area seemed to pulse every few seconds, and he could feel the vibrations as they tugged on his Linker Core. He breathed slowly in and out. Ah, the thrill of the unknown...

"I give it two minutes before it pops," said Quattro, decloaking next to him.

Jail frowned at the girl. "Now is not the proper time for such antics, Quattro."

"Aww, but isn't it all right if I just stand next to you? You won't even know I'm here!"

"I suppose," murmured Jail, already resuming his analysis. Now, how best to examine it? There had been no noticeable change in the status of the disturbance since the first minute after its appearance. Could it be prodded with a release of mana, perhaps? But that would rob whatever was creating the rift of the chance to perform its task by itself. Ah, the familiar dilemma of observation and experimental agency.

The glow flared, sending a ripple through the stacked barriers. Jail gripped the side of his head at the sudden pain and grit his teeth until it subsided. The glow was fading now, leaving only a faint overlay on the space like the afterimage of a blinding light.

"Get back, Doctor!" shouted Uno over the comlink.

The spot flared again and burst. A wave of pain swept over Jail as his barriers disintegrated, one by one. Quattro screamed behind him. Turning around, he snatched her and rushed to the periphery of the room, where he collapsed against the wall. He looked back at the now fully-formed dimensional rift and grimaced. He had been careless. A dimensional rift was too much of a possibility in his work with Lost Logia for him to ignore the risks. Yet, this one occurrence was special.

Now that the rift had opened, the tension in spacetime seemed to have resolved itself, and Jail stared into the void of Imaginary Space as if it were the gateway to the secrets of the universe. Imaginary Space-the anti-dimension that devoured magic, from which nothing ever returned. And something was coming out.

A grin broke over Jail's face. "Quattro," he whispered, "this is a marvelous time to be alive."

She groaned. "If you say so, Doctor."

The dark shape in the rift grew larger, and Quattro scooted away from him and cloaked her presence again. Jail pushed himself to his feet and eyed the rift warily. The thing inside shifted as it drew closer, rotating and swapping bits of itself to and from a fourth dimension that he couldn't see. Odd flares of what looked like particle drive exhaust popped in and out of existence, cycling through the same fourth-dimensional space. Jail's breath caught. A mass-based transport system through Imaginary Space...of course! It's the only viable option. But traditional spatiotemporal coordinate systems don't apply there, or someone would have succeeded already. Could it be that Imaginary Space is a hyberbolic geometry? That would explain why it can't be mapped to any mathematical formula. But the computational power required to develop even a basic approximation, and without magic, no less...

"This," he whispered, "may be the greatest scientific moment in the recorded history of Dimensional Space."

Disappointingly, no one reacted to his statement except the machine (for he could supply no specific designation beyond that), which gave a final push with its thrusters and passed over the boundary of the rift, having just enough momentum to immediately crash to the floor as gravity took hold of it. It slid a few centimeters and stopped. The room went quiet but for the faint scrape and hum of components moving below the blackish film covering the machine.

The noise stopped. For a moment, it was really silent. Then, the machine began to contract and disassemble itself into folded space like a Device.

Revealed from the central compartment was the figure of a girl. The machine retracted into a thick bracelet on her left wrist. She exhaled heavily and looked up at Jail with green eyes. They narrowed.

"Doctor Scaglietti. I was directed to seek your assistance on a...personal matter," she said.

Ten or eleven years old, by her voice. Close to Dieci and Cinque's apparent age.

"What might that be, Miss..."

"Vert. Brigitte Vert. You haven't heard of me, but I've heard of you."

"Miss Vert, then. Indulge my curiosity, but I've never encountered such an intriguing manner of dimensional transport as what you just used. Am I to understand that you navigated to my secret base through Imaginary Space without causing a dangerous dimensional quake?"

She nodded, looking pleased with herself. "First try, too." She glanced over her shoulder. "Don't worry about the hole. It'll scab over in a few hours. It should be fine if you don't cast anything nearby."

"I...see," said Jail. "Pardon me for asking, but how did you obtain the coordinates of this base? It is a relevant security concern."

Brigitte waved it off. "Don't worry about that, either. I got them from somebody who knows you really well. He won't tell anyone." She paused. "Except me. He already told me, though, so that's a moot point."

"Who was it?"

"Bend over, and I'll tell you." He lowered his head, and she whispered in his ear, "His name is Jail Scaglietti, and he went to prison after blowing up the Saint's Cradle over Cranagan."

Jail stiffened. He forced a smile over his face. "Well, that certainly makes things...interesting. I'm not sure what to make of it."

Brigitte bounced on her heels. "Oh, I think these files will help. Here." She tapped her bracelet Device.

Uno's voice came over the link. "Doctor, I'm receiving an encrypted transmission. It's...our encryption. Five data files, each containing the full profile of a Rare Skill."

Which ones? he sent back.

"Nothing I've seen before. Curious. The notes are in your style...and dated 0088, Mid calendar."

Jail stared at the girl in front of him. "You're claiming to come from the future."

Brigitte grinned. "Yup! Took you long enough. I have the DNA samples to go with those, too. Right here." She patted her bracelet.

"In that case," said Jail, "I'm sure we can come to some arrangement. But I have one more question. What need does such a well-equipped young lady have of us?"

Her face became serious. "Logistics. You have it, I don't."

"What sort? Supplies? Information? Transportation shouldn't be an issue, given the display just now."

Brigitte bit her lip. "Actually...it's not quite that simple. I have to conserve fuel, so there's no point in using Calliope for regular travel through D-space. What I really need is a fake ID so I can get into Midchilda without getting stopped by the Bureau. After that, it's just a way to get to Avenata. I'm sure you can help me arrange something, can't you, Doctor?" She fixed him with a pleading look.

Jail laughed. "I believe I can. Trying to decipher your technology, even with only the hint that it exists, would be enough to keep me busy for a decade, I'm sure."

Her pleading gave way to a mild glare. "I'm not letting you look at Calliope. You told me not to trust you."

Jail's smile faltered, but he held it up as best he could. "Of course. But, I hope we can consider this a friendly partnership, rather than a business contract. A business mentality is hardly conducive to proper collaboration, in my experience."

"No promises," said Brigitte, but even so, she visibly relaxed.

"Well, then, let's get you accommodated, shall we? We have plenty of spare rooms for you, if you don't mind. Also, as for the DNA samples, would you take those over to Uno, my secretary? Quattro will take you to her. Won't you, Quattro?"

Brigitte flinched as Quattro decloaked right next to her. "Sure, Doctor. Come on, you!" She grabbed the older girl by the hand and dragged her out of the room.

"Is this wise, Doctor?" asked Uno.

"I don't believe that Miss Vert is a threat. She has a loose handle on her emotions, as I'm sure you could discern. Did you notice how pleased she was at dominating her conversation with me?"

"Indeed. However, we have no idea of her true capabilities. It would be best to proceed with caution."

"Quite, quite. Humor her, then. After you've run the preliminary analysis on the DNA samples, forge her official identification and compile a list of our contacts near Avenata."

"All of them, or just the smugglers?"

"All of them, if you will. I'm sure that Miss Vert will request non-interference from us, given her line about not trusting us. However, I do intend to keep a hand in her project, whatever it is. As long as we do not act directly, she need never know." He rubbed his hands together. "I haven't met a girl this interesting in in a long time."