Chapter 15
Settling in Big Sky, Pt. 2
Tsuki is on the radio and clears her throat, "Gomen ne, min'na. I got a call from some people about some confusion on who has control of what state. So, the American Empire controls the southern parts of Virginia while the Atlantic Alliance controls the northern part. The New England Commonwealth controls the northeastern parts of New Jersey while the Atlantic Alliance controls the rest of them. While getting on topic about national news; Guam, Guarma, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands of USNA (formerly Virgin Islands of USA) and Cayo Perico are now officially part of the UNSA and formed the Caribbean Island States. Hawaii has just declared that they are no longer part of the Republic of Pacifica and now the leading capital of the Pacifican Island Federation with Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, San Andreas, Muertes Archipelago, Providence, Trevor Island and Starfish Island. And to give you all the heads-up, Muertes Archipelago from Jurassic Park/Jurassic World, is no longer on the coast of Costa Rica for it is now south of the Hawaiian Islands. Now we return to the music."
The radio then plays the Log Horizon theme song; Database by Man with a Mission.
Jack turns his attention back to Dr. Dalton, Dr. Jo, and Owen, "Sorry, I'm waiting to hear what else is happening around the world. You guys were sayin'?"
Dalton starts, "We try to speak with Marcus about what we found, but he's busy in his office."
Owen says, "We were trying to discuss about a stranger in black robes that died as he gave us a book."
Dr. Jo puts the book on the table. It seemed old with hundreds of pages in a black leather cover along with a the symbol of an Aquila along with SPQR written below the eagle. The symbol of the Roman Empire. Jack examines it carefully as he opens the book and sees the pages written in Latin. He skims through as he notice many drawings that include depictions of Buddhism, Hindu, Maori, many southeast Asian locations, African cultures, Islamic and even America cultures such as Mayan, Aztec, Native American tribes and many more.
Jack looks at the three, "What is this?"
"We were hoping you would tell us." Dr. Jo says as the music switches over to Take On Me by A-ha.
Jack examines the book again, "Judging by this book, it definitely came from the Roman Empire. Possibly around over a hundred A.D., yet made of a lot of Egyptian papyrus, parchment and Chinese paper; tells a lot about the many ancient cultures from across the world. It is actually impossible for someone to just travel across the world at that time. But the materials used in this book along with the various inks suggest otherwise. I'm not much of an archaeologist, but this is a very ancient book. Definitely worthy of a museum piece."
"Read the title." Dalton says.
Jack opens the book back up and reads, "The Black Tome of Humanity. Not much of a title if you ask me. But let me check this over again."
He barely scratch the surface of this ancient tome. He reads through some parts that seem to be of some interests to him even though his Latin is a bit shabby. He continues to read through the sections that interests him until he comes across something about mankind's creations and came across a very interesting line.
Homo est semper timuerunt et amarunt sua facienda. Sed uno die sua creations et occurrit eis. Et collective conscientia subconscientia erit dies unus in re, quod inundare terram redigentes omnem intellectum Humanitatis Transierunt unum. Non erit dies cum creatura conveniunt auctores. de die autem illo vel cum timore simul verae creators...uel indignatio eorum.
Translation: Mankind has always loved and feared their creations. But one day, their creations will meet them. The collective consciousness and subconsciousness will one day appear in reality that will flood the earth with every thought of humanity ever passed one. There will be the day when the creation meet the creators. On that day, they will either be at awe with their true creators...or resent them.
"The hell?" Jack went as he saw that text. "What is up with this?" (How could something from ancient times know about what is happening in the present? Just who the fuck wrote this?)
The music ended as Tsuki comes on the radio, "Min'na modotte kimashita! Now it is time for the international news."
(That can wait until after this.) Jack pays attention to the radio.
"Got word that Canada, Mexico, the UNSA and the Caribbean nations are forming a coalition to deal with the growing crisis of our creations taking form into reality. If talks are successful between President Joe Biden, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and all the other leaders of the Caribbean nations; then we will have the North American Union. The main reason is because the nations of Central and South America have also united and created the United Federation of Civilized Nations. Don't know why they call themselves that, but that's what their rolling with. The Venezuelan government was overthrown three days ago and a new government has taken its place with promises of no more corruption, crime, indecency of human rights, and much more. This new government is now doing everything it can to bring in order and stability with help from the UFCN. Yet they do have problems with giant-sized, genetically modified piranhas in their rivers and coasts. So everyone might want to avoid going out to sea."
"Guess we won't be going to Florida." Jack jokingly says, which is a reference to the 2010 disaster film, Mega Piranha.
Tsuki continues, "Brazil has much of its rainforests restored and has new types of animals roaming around in it, including those that are supposed to be extinct or in fiction. Bolivia is now under lock down because of the rise of Quantum and the Santa Blanca Cartel and creatures from Shadow Hearts: From the New World. Brazil sends in their BOPE units to assist with the two criminal powers as Mexico assist by sending in cyborg soldiers with power armor. Argentina managed to kick out some Russian forces that were trying to occupy the country along with their Latin American Militia allies thanks to the A-Team and Maverick Security Consulting, Inc. Argentina is now dealing with the Sacred Snakes crime syndicate with bio-organic weapons and vampires from BloodRayne while some people in Buenos Aires keep on disappearing and reappearing after a certain period of time. Chile now has access to Metal Gears as they deploy them to assist its fellow nations of the UFCN while taking technology of the Chimera to add to their arsenal. In Uruguay, there is some sort of epidemic that is causing people to be blind and the infected have been taken somewhere to prevent further spread. Aaaaannnnddd... That's pretty much all the news I got from the south. Nothing in Central America just yet. But now, for some music."
Tsuki plays Where Dragons Rule by Dragon Force on the radio.
Then Dr. Jo asks, "By the way, can you see if you can lower our rent over at the Hill Condominiums?"
"What rent?" Jack seems confused.
"We're being forced to pay a ridiculous sum of $40,000." Owen explains.
"No one is supposed to pay for rent." Jack says, "And that price is ridiculous."
The other three are just as confused.
Dr. Dalton says, "But your sister said we have to pay rent."
Jack is getting upset, "Which one?"
"Catherine." Owen says.
"Dammit!" Jack says after slamming his fist on the table, "Fucking Catherine!"
Jack heads over to Hill Condominiums after flying at mach speeds. He does a hard landing right at the center as he is angry for his greedy sister. Jack walks up to one condo where his sister is at and slams on the door.
"Catherine!" he says in an angry harsh tone, "Open up!"
With no answer, Jack place his finger on the door and does a silent alohamora spell to unlock it. Then he forcefully opens the door that scared a woman staying there. The woman is slightly shorter than Jack with short brown hair, the same brown eyes as him; wearing a pink winter dress with matching winter coat, gloves, black snow boots and a fluffy pink purse in hand. Catherine is in her early twenties. She was planning on going out but she stopped when her brother showed and pretend she is not home.
"Catherine! What the fuck!?" Jack is very angry.
"Oh, um...hi?" Catherine is trying to find an excuse for her super powered younger brother. Originally, she would pick and make fun of Jack as she was an older sibling that has some power. But this time, the tables have turned. "What happened?"
"First off, go fuck yourself, bitch. Second, you do not charge rent for something you do not own! No one is paying rent or buying homes since we have refugees and characters from who knows where or who knows what franchise they crapped out of!"
Catherine gulps.
"Third, you have enough money you and Beatrice got from a bank that was abandoned! Four in fact! And you have the gall to charge people a stupid amount that goes against the average rate is a crime! Just be glad that Marcus and the rest of us don't toss you out and left you to be eaten, killed or whatever the hell else is out there that will save us some bullets! You're the worse person that have ever existed and just as bad as the female characters from Redo of Healer!"
"Oh my god!" Catherine is shocked, "You watched that!?"
"Yes! Unless you want those same punishments, or be literally sent to hell, back the fuck off!"
Over at a large building near the Cedar Creek Condominiums, it is a hospital as Uma takes charge of it while training a few new doctors to assist with patients that have been injured or suffering from some sort of sickness. Liga is there to assist her in the four story building that took up what was once a construction yard for more condos.
Uma is in her office right now as she is sitting behind a mahogany desk that was found as she drinks coffee while relaxing on her leather office chair. Liga is also there as she looks out the window with a coffee mug in hand.
"I think that was Jack that crashed landed." she says while peering through the blinds.
Uma finishes drinking from her mug, "Catherine lives over there. She must've done something wrong, again." Then drinks again.
"ʻOiaʻiʻo, ʻoiai ma kahi apocalypse, hoʻopilikia wale ʻo ia."
Translation: "Honestly, even in an apocalypse, she just cause trouble."
"Main sahamat hoon."
Translation: "I agree."
The music on the radio changes to Land Down Under by Men at Work.
"So how goes training the new surgeons?" Liga asks.
"The Mudokons and the Vortigaunts are pretty nimble despite the Mudokons have slightly larger fingers and Vortigaunts only have two fingers on each hand. Although I did see some having three for their main arms. Must be from the new Half-Life VR game I heard from Jose and Jeb."
"I think they managed to get that from the nearby town to the east. Speaking of the others, where is Muammar?"
"He's gone to the peaks to investigate if something major about to happen in our solar system. We all know what Tsuki is up to. Richie and Carly are doing some volunteer work in the kitchen over at the main resort. Marcus is already having his hands full with everything going on. I think J.H. is over at the other garage to do some maintenance to his truck. He said, 'She's running a little sluggish lately.'"
"Yeah, that does sound like him." Liga takes a few sips from her coffee, "By the way, I heard is mother is coming over."
"Really?"
"J.H. said that his mother is coming over to move in as his father was given a discharge after having both his legs eaten by a mosasaur and was lucky enough to survive."
"Yikes." Uma is disturbed by that. "Well, my parents are heading over to Hawaii right now. By plane rather than cruise after what you just told me. Who knows, they might meet your parents."
"That would be nice."
"Plus, I heard Jose's parents are alive and well. They're currently living in Seattle to assist with technical stuff. Muammar's folks are staying in Manitou Springs with all the ghosts gone and his little sister is learning on how to use magic. His brother, on the other hand, opened a Manitou Springs branch of the Ghostbusters."
"Looks like all our families are doin' alright." Liga says until she remember the mosasaur and Jack's siblings, "...for the most part."
As the song ended, Tsuki comes back on with more news.
"Oh, Tsuki's back on." Uma says.
"Minasan, kon'nichiwa. I do have some news from Europe. The Nazis, the Soviets, zombies, Nazi zombies and all the other stuff in-between have been eradicated. Yet there are some complications with dinosaurs, prehistoric monsters, mythical beasts and a few historical and fictional time differences and all that stuff. There are also some changes in the Mediterranean. Italy is now known as the Roman Empire of Italy with many types of Roman Emperors and many Romans rebuilt much of their ruins with some modern amenities. Yet there are some arguments on who is in-charge of what in this new nation as they replace the white of the flag with purple and place a golden aquila on it. But some have claimed certain parts of a few fictional islands that have appeared in the Mediterranean such as Astigos, Medici, Altis, Stratis, Atida and Malden as well as claiming an Atlantic island called, Sahrani."
Uma and Liga put their mugs on the desk as they pay very close attention.
"London has gone through major changes back in England with many sci-fi elements and steampunk stuff with Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria from all sorts of medias working alongside Queen Elizabeth II, who is still alive. So, yeah, the only places that is still the same is the Parliament, Big Ben, and the palace. We also received word from the Vatican that Jesus Christ is traveling around the continent to support all Christians as well as defeating any non-friendly demons. Greece has gone through a drastic change as well with their gods now co-existing with their worshipers while having the Golden Isle being a tourist attraction along with Pyrite Island. Good news is that the Olympians from God of War are dead so we won't have to suffer anything from that. Although, the Spanish Inquisition is now part of a new Spanish Civil War. Actually, it is the original that is taking place with a lot of new elements."
Something ping on the radio. "Scratch that, the war is over. I also receive word that the European Union has been reformed into the European Federation. The reason for this new mandate is because of the crisis we are all in to combat any other forms of aggression with the founding of the European Federation Enforcer Corps., comprised of Europe's elite veterans for counter-terrorism and peacekeeping that works alongside the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance and TerraSave to put an end to the zombie plagues and any sort of fictional terrorist groups alongside angels to combat demons. Yet Russia has declared succession from the EF for their own interests."
Something ping again, "Ooo! Good news! All Islamic terrorist groups have lay down their arms and turn themselves over for rehabilitation by order of their no longer dead prophet, Muhammad, and many angels. And the entire Arabian Peninsula have united and created the Holy Arabian Nations. No words from Africa though."
Another ping is heard, "Oh... Huh. It says that the International Confederation of Wizards and the Mage's Association have now become public. Same with certain organizations such as the SCP Foundation, the Templars, the Creed of Assassins, the Illuminate, and the Dragon. The Templars are in a middle of a civil war with one side from Assassin's Creed that wants to control the world while one from The Secret World wants to save it. The Illuminate are more on The Secret World bit that focus on profiting the supernatural rather than taking over the world. And-" There is a sound of a door slammed open, "Muammar? What the-"
"Sorry, but everyone needs to know this!" Muammar is in a bit of a panic, "I detected a major breach in dimensions in space in our solar system! We're gonna have new planets appearing that will cause spatial shockwaves that will cause earthquakes that is the magnitude of a 7.3! Everyone has twenty seconds before we get hit!"
Uma goes, "Oh shit! Take cover!"
Uma and Liga take cover with everyone having less than twenty seconds to prepare.
Liga goes, "I hope we made this building earthquake-proof enough!"
Outside, Jose and Jeb are at the mountains in their titans as they run back down to the Big Sky Resort.
"Fuck!" Jeb says over the radio, "We're not gonna make it!"
Jose says, "¡Sigue corriendo!"
Translation: "Just keep on running!"
"Níl muid ag dul a dhéanamh!"
Translation: "We're not gonna make it!"
"Lo vamos a hacer!"
Translation: "We're gonna make it!"
"Ní dóigh liom gur féidir linn!"
Translation: "I don't think we can!"
"¡Entonces deslízate por la montaña!"
Translation: "Then slide down the mountain!"
They both use their giant robots to slide down the mountain as fast as they could but the quakes happen as a part of the ground opens up.
"LOOK OUT!"
Jose was about to fall in but Jose saved him at the last minute before he falls in.
Jose reaches in vain for Jeb down a deep, dark hole. "JEB! JEEEEEBBB!"