A.N: (Important, please read) I was originally going to have this chapter after the one I was supposed to post. However, reading it through, this one fit better here and so, I've swapped the two chapters over. So, Jim isn't in this chapter, but next one is entirely his P.O.V and where he and Harry will meet. This chapter does have some major plot pieces, as well as letting us check in on Harry's mental state and how she's feeling/coping with everything that is going on. I hope you enjoy this chapter either way!
Chapter Five:
WWSD? A.K.A: What Would Spock Do?
Harry's P.O.V
"Computer, restrict search to confined words such as school, castle, Scotland and hidden."
Harry was tired. Exhausted. Ailing. But she wouldn't stop. She couldn't. She and her family… She was still getting used to having such a thing as a family, had arrived on earth a few days prior, and yet, Harry could not enjoy it as much as she thought she would. Everywhere she looked, everyone she saw, it reminded her of them. Hermione. Neville. Ron. Luna. The list was endless. Vulcan had been better. It had been alien, foreign, a different world. Harry could look out the window and not be reminded that she was, and could be, the last of her kind. The last of her kind who didn't exactly know why or how she became such a thing.
Harry, by nature, was curious. It was one of her redeeming qualities, but also a flaw. She didn't do the unknown. It never sat well with her. She needed answers. Solid, safe, answers that kept the dread away. Only, the answers this time, if she ever managed to gain them, would and could never take that dread away. Being the last of anything, the last Potter, the last survivor, the last of her kind… It was a lonely place to be. Her rooms computer beeped at her, that monotone, uninflected voice piercing through the early morning air.
"No results found."
Harry sighed and flopped against the chair at her desk in her private chambers. She had been at this all night, digging, searching, looking for any scrap or evidence of her people in earths database, and all had turned up empty. She needed to sleep, she needed to rest and heal, her body and magic still wasn't running at a hundred percent, but she couldn't do that without knowing something, anything, of what had happened. She had a clue, all that Q would tell her back in the past, something about a genetic war. But that was all… And it wasn't enough. She knew the wizarding world had been decimated by it, but there had to have been survivors, there had to be for them to breed back into the human populace, to father her mother's ancestry line, to create her, here, now, with their abilities. But who survived? Had Ron survived? Had Hermione? Had George? She didn't know, and it was killing her more than that Vulcan head explosion thingy could ever do, mind-meld, she corrected herself. More painfully than Tom had back in that forest.
"Search for Ministry of Magic."
Harry spoke to the ceiling. There had to be something. The wizarding world was brilliant at hiding, they had been doing it for millennia, but they weren't perfect. With the technological advancements of the muggles, that quickly rolling ball that wizards and witches had begun to fear and dodge, they had to have picked up on a clue that they weren't the only humans on earth. There had to be something, miniscule, but there, just a hint that Harry could track like a sniffer hound.
"No results found."
Harry winced and cracked her neck as she mindlessly chewed the inside of her cheek, lost in thought. Right. She needed perspective, she needed to look at this logically. That's what her brother, Spock would do, and he had plenty of answers. What would she have done? She is back in her old time, muggles were becoming more and more advanced, close to discovering them, and, as backdrop to this cat and mouse game, there was a genetic war about to happen. First off, what kind of genetic war? The term was ambiguous at best. Had the wizarding world been discovered? Was that the cause of the 'genetic' war? Muggle against magic? No, Harry didn't think so. If that was the case, they would have wiped each other out, no doubt. So, who started to play god? Who began to mess with genetics?
"Search for wizards and witches."
Harry would bet her money on the wizarding world. How could she not? The war she fought, Riddle's foundation blocks had been on blood purity and superiority. Perhaps another war had begun. This one not focused on civil disputes, but outside. Based on superiority over muggles and not just muggleborns. However, the same could be said for the muggles. Maybe the muggles found out about the wizarding world and, seeing what they saw, didn't like the advantage they had on their muggle counterparts. Maybe, just maybe, they wanted to even the playing field and it had stoked up a world-wide war.
"1 million, 215,000 and 452 results found."
Fuck. She was getting nowhere. Not in her searches and not in her theorizing. Circling. Cycles. Spirals and loops. She was just going around and around and around. Look at what she had accomplished so far. She had traversed time, flew amongst the stars, saw and witnessed things her people could never imagine… And ended up with her brain nearly imploding on her. She had found Vulcan, searched and accidently discovered her family… And had been taken back to earth. She had broken the statute of secrecy, outed herself as a witch, willingly, and Sarek, her father, had made her swear to not tell anyone else until he was sure her reception from the humans and Vulcans would be a pleasant one. Everything she had done and she felt like she was back at the starting point.
"Search records for the most common words used in these files and tell them back to me."
But, she would keep walking forward. Taking a step at a time. Slowly, but surely, she would make her way. Because, funny enough, that was what Spock would do. He was always telling her everything, from the discovery of a new sea mammal to the beginnings of starship travel began with a question, just one, the right question. Harry new the answer, the wizarding world had become nearly extinct due to this 'genetic' war. Now, she needed to find the right question. She had the what, she had the when, she simply needed to find the who, why and how. Until she had those, she could not sleep soundly. The computer interrupted her sluggish, overtired thoughts once more.
"Pagan. King Arthur. Round table. Merlin. Cylindrical hats. Cauldrons. Myth-"
"Stop. Just stop."
Harry snapped as she stumbled to a stand, pushing the chair back as she scrubbed a harsh hand across her face, pacing back and forth. Her legs screamed in protest, burning and twisting, the joints in her leg braces creaking at the sudden movement. Harry loathed them, the leg braces, bars of light white metal that wrapped around her waist, down to her feat, pinning her legs into place, programmed to help her move, to give her balance. However, they were better than the hover chair, and for that, she was thankful.
The loss of spinal fluid had been a bit more problematic than originally believed. The expulsion of it, in conjunction with her collapse onto the floor, coupled with her magic flaring widely inside of her and this… fractured Katra too, had left her spinal cord damaged. Movement, walking, wiggling her toes… It was like she had to learn it all over again, as if she was nothing but a useless, dribbling babe once more. And that wasn't even taking into account the pain.
Without the programmed leg braces, she could perhaps take five steps unaided, on a good day, before collapsing or taking a head dive. With them, she had about one or two hours walking time, and thankfully, the braces dispersed pain medication into her system, numbing the teeth clenching pound to a background ache she could handle. The healers assured her that she would regain all motor function in time, if she were to be patient and do her therapy, but she was a Gryffindor and patience wasn't in her vocabulary.
Of course, magic could have healed her surely… If she knew a lick of healing magic. Unfortunately, she didn't. Her Hogwarts years had been spent learning defensive and offensive spells, magic made for war and battle, magic that would help her win against Voldemort. She could experiment and try to form her own healing spells, but the memory of her boneless arm, flopping and gelatine like in professor Lockhart's hands nearly made her vomit. She would rather that didn't happen to her bloody spine. So, she was left with the alternative, to learn patience. Merlin, she thought she could hear Hermione laughing at her.
Hermione… Hermione would have known what to do. She would have known the right question. She knew everything. Only, she wasn't here and Harry felt that loss like a well-aimed slicing hex through her ribs. Focus. Harry needed to focus. That's what Spock would do. Right. Maybe she had come at this from the wrong angle. Perhaps she was thinking too much like a witch. She had concentrated too hard on the wizarding world. If she couldn't track what this genetic war was through finding the wizarding world… Maybe, just maybe, she could find the wizarding world and subsequently what happened to it through finding this genetic war.
"Okay computer, new search. Find records describing a genetic war between the years of 1990 and 2050 on earth."
Harry pulled herself back into her chair, using her hands to pick her legs up and move them onto the foot bar at the bottom of the stall, double checking the little screen at her waist that the braces were fully charged. The braces bent her legs while walking for her, but when sitting down, they sometimes jammed up, locking the limb too straight or angling it too high, and seen as Harry herself couldn't move her legs, they would end up stuck that way until someone found her and helped. Furthermore, as Spock would say, pacing would be illogical. Wasting her energy, her strength, would do no one any good, even if it felt right to pace, to physically show her frustrations.
"3000 results found under title; Eugenics war."
Her gaze snapped up to the dimly lit computer screen. Three thousand? Large enough to speak of a war that had nearly wiped out humanity, but still small enough to hold away ambiguity and mythology.
"Just three thousand?"
The computer took her incredulousness as a real question.
"Contemporary records and files of this time are heavily fragmented. No clear linear narrative to be extrapolated."
Fragmented. Harry's gut gave a lurch. Even the records had been beaten during this time. What did that say about this Eugenics war itself, if even the files had felt the bloody wrath of it? Too much for comfort, but there it was. -Genics… Genetics. War. Bad, by the sounds of it, in the right frame time too... For the moment, it was all Harry had to go on. For a heartbeat, just a split second, Harry was no longer sure she wanted to know. What could she do? It was over, done. What was the use of tracking ghosts and phantoms? It would bring her only pain. But she had to know. She owed Hermione and Ron that much, to know how their stories ended, to ensure, through her and her memory, they would never be forgotten, and in so, never really, truly dead or gone.
"Pin results. Within these records search for mentions of witches and wizards."
The computer answered her almost immediately.
"No results found."
Harry blinked.
"Search for Hogwarts and ministry of magic."
She frowned…
"No results found."
And she lost her temper.
"Merlin dammit! I'm just trying to find Hermione and Ron!"
Was she asking too fucking much? After all she had given to this bloody universe, if there really was some god up in the fucking clouds, was knowing how her friends died too much to ask for? Before she could stop herself, her hand lashed out, sweeping across her desk, sending an empty cup sailing across the room. In a way that was entirely unsatisfactory, the damn thing didn't break or shatter, only rolled across the floor. None of it, nothing felt right.
How could she be here, alive, breathing, content, when everything she knew was dust and bone? It felt wrong to be happy. How could she smile, laugh or feel joy when her people were gone? How could she fully enjoy spending time with Spock, with her mother and father, knowing full well Ron wouldn't and couldn't do that with his own family anymore?
Amanda, with her constant smiles, soft hands and sparkling eyes as she asked if Harry was comfortable, if she was hungry, as she pulled the blanket up further when she thought Harry was sleeping, always pausing to stroke Harry's hair back, to hum a tune, made a pleasant ache strike up in Harry's chest. She made Harry feel comfortable, at peace, for the first time in her life. Sarek, when he listened to her endless questions, answering every single one, no matter how stupid or silly they seemed, when he brought her food, always goading her to eat more, to sleep more, to rest more, made Harry feel happy that, for once, she had someone who actually cared about how she was doing, how she was feeling. And Spock…
That long-legged encyclopaedia was the worst. He taught her the stars, gave them back to her constellation by constellation, taught her all she wanted to know, he fed into her curiosity, her wonder, her amazement and, in his own way, made her laugh and smile and feel truly happy for… Well, for a long, long time. Worst of all, for a moment, they, Amanda, Sarek and Spock made her forget that there had been anything else but this. Anyone else. And then, when she was alone, like tonight, it hit her. For a day, for an hour, she had forgotten about Ron and Hermione, of Hogwarts and her friends and she felt like a dirty traitor. And she couldn't forget. She couldn't. She couldn't forget Ron or Hermione. She couldn't forget the war or Riddle, or it made all the death, all the pain, all the loss, for nothing.
She knew it was silly, these feelings. It was wrong of her to feel this way. Hermione would have hit her for it. Her friends would want her to be happy. They would want her to enjoy this. They had given so much for her to be here, with her family, and here she was, moping like a pitiful brat. She was not doing right by anyone by feeling this way… But it didn't stop her feeling like she deserved none of this. If only she knew what happened to them. And now, faced with dead ends at every turn, she felt like if there was a god, he was in agreement with her, she didn't deserve closure.
"fifty results found with the name Hermione attached to file."
Or perhaps this supposed god wasn't in disagreement with her at all and she just needed the right question!
"Pin results!"
Harry lent forward in her seat, fingers tapping on the arm rest as her heartbeat took a misstep. It couldn't be… Surely?
"Computer, within previous records parameters, search for Hermione Jean Granger."
It felt like a life time before the computer answered her in that seemingly bored and dreary tone.
"Twenty-three results found."
Twenty-three, just twenty-three, out of all of earths database, but that was twenty-three answers Harry had not had until this point.
"Extract data given on Hermione Jean Granger and tell it back to me."
Harry practically vibrated in her seat.
"Dr Hermione Jean Granger. Five foot six. Blood type AB+. Doctor in medicine, specializing in genetic disorders. Age nineteen."
Harry's nose scrunched up. Medicine and genetics? What the hell had happened to her teacher training to become a Hogwarts professor? It had been all Hermione could talk about after the war. Had Harry accidently found another Hermione Jean Granger? No. A doctorate sounded right, her height and blood type too, her age as well… So what the fuck had happened to swerve Hermione, the most unmovable person Harry had ever known, to change career paths in what must have been only a few years max?
"Doctor at nineteen?... That's my Hermione alright. Computer, find the file that has this Dr Hermione Jean Granger recorded and is the least fragmented. Repeat the contents to me."
War had happened. In war, it was adapt or die, Harry knew that better than most. Still, the coincidence was not lost on Harry. A genetic war, Hermione specializing in genetic disorders, it was too big to be a coincidence.
"Dr Hermione Jean Granger of the Saint Mungo's institute arrived at compound four on the 23rd October 2001. Negotiation talks between Augments, Dr Granger and Dr Singh began at 1600 hours. Negotiation talks lasted two hours and thirty-seven minutes before diplomatic relations were interrupted by an explosion on the east side of the compound. Dr Granger was led-… Error. File too corrupted to continue."
St Mungo's… Bingo. There you are you slippery wizarding bastards. Harry knew they couldn't hide everything. It was her Hermione. No doubt about that anymore. However, there were too many unknowns. What the hell was a compound? What was an Augment? Who was this Dr Singh? Why were there negotiation talks? And why the fuck had there been a terrorist attack at one? More importantly, what in Merlin's name was Hermione doing at a diplomatic negotiation?
"Did she survive the explosion?"
Hermione had to. There were another twenty-two files. Unless, they only documented up to that point and then one, Merlin forbid, was a death certificate. No. Never. Hermione wouldn't go out in such a way… She couldn't. Harry couldn't bring herself to believe it. Hermione would grow old, grey, sitting next to an equally old Ron, grandchildren scampering around their feet. Then why did it feel like she was telling herself fairy tales? Thinking up comfort lies to help herself sleep at night?
"Cannot compute question. Please try again."
There had to be more.
"For fuck sake computer, when was this file recorded? Are there others recorded with Hermione's name at a later date?"
This computers voice was worse than Snape's when he was degrading her in front of the Hogwarts student body.
"Records too fragmented. This is the last file with any mention to a Dr Hermione Jean Granger."
Stop. Breathe. Harry couldn't lose her temper at a computer of all things. It would change nothing. The last word of that document had been led, not died, and so, until then, Harry would take that as gospel. Hermione knew how to apparate, how to fight, how to defend herself. She had survived the second wizarding war, for Merlin's sake, a little bomb was not going to take her out of the great game of life. She got out of there. Nonetheless, Harry was never going to find out what had transpired after this if she didn't even know why it had happened in the first place, and so, she had to go back to the beginning. She needed to know about this eugenics war.
"Computer, tell me about this Eugenics war."
Harry knew the wizarding world like the back of her hand. She knew when they would act and when they would run. She knew who they would call friend and who they would call foe. After all, once upon a time, she had been undesirable number one, on the run, never caught. If she knew about this war, she could theorize on exactly where the wizarding world played their part in it, what role they played, and as of now, she already knew the outcome. Near extinction. Once she had a solid theory, she could look for clues, hints… Facts to back that theory up, or destroy it and she would start again. She, the ever emotional, hot-tempered Gryffindor had to look at this objectively, logically, almost detached, if she was ever going to find the truth. In short, she needed to act like the Vulcan she was, and not the human she had grown to be. The computer bleeped at her.
"Extracts taken from Starfleet's; Earth Histories, volume twenty-six. Page 344- 459."
Then the black screen lit up with a muzzled pop, a video beginning to play. The woman on screen was impeccably dressed in her red and black shirt, sitting at a table with her hands folded politely in front of her, blonde hair perfectly combed into a bun, a blank and queasy smile etching itself at home on her almost plastic face. Even her voice reminded Harry of something dead.
"The Eugenics war, as it came to be known, officially lasted between 1990 to 2005 in Terran's old calendar, although no casualties appeared before the year of 1999. The height of this civil war was between the years of 1999-2004. Due to the severity and barbarism of this war that nearly led Terrans to complete destruction, nearly plunging humanity into a new dark age, contemporary records and files are either fragmented or were completely destroyed during the war."
1999 to 2004? Harry had been there, right there, up until 1999, the year she left, and apparently, the year where the war came to a head. That sat to close to home. It couldn't be a coincidence that she left, that this alien being called Q magically appeared to send her 'home', a few fucking months before the real war kicked off. Furthermore, there had been no sign or hint of a muggle war on the horizon. Or, more disturbingly, Harry had been too blind, too swept up in the wizarding world and her own problems to have completely missed the heralding of destruction. If she missed the signs, if Hermione had missed the signs, others would have too, until it was all too late.
"It began in 1970, a sect of Terran geneticists began to endeavour to create superior human genetics by selective breeding and genetic manipulation. Products of such experiments became known as; Augments. At first, the results of their scientific intervention proved productive. Physical strength, cognitive abilities and sensory capabilities surpassed their non-altered Terran counterparts by 400%. However, unwittingly, this led to less than desirable traits being produced within the Augments."
1970… And none of them had any bloody idea of it? Not the minister of magic? Not the head of the Auror department? Not herself, who spent half the year in the muggle world? While the wizarding world had been swept up in its own god-complex of Tom and its pureblood elites, the muggle world had been crumbling under its own superiority fixation, and both worlds had been so insular and isolated, that the other never knew. Stop. Breathe. It's happened, Harry can't change that. She can, however, find the truth.
What would Spock do? Harry knew almost instinctually. He would break the information down, compartmentalize it into relevancy and later, piece the bits together to create a narrative line. Hermione would have done the same. First off, Harry now knew that the muggle world had faced a dilemma similar to that of its wizarding counterpart; superiority. Secondly, the Eugenics war had a longer history than expected, leading Harry to believe that most of it, all before 1999, had been kept secret, mainly from the rest of the populace, much like her own war against Tom had been hidden by the ministry until it was too late and war had been the only option. The only difference had been the wizarding world had tried to wipe out a third of its population to 'cleanse' itself, while the muggle world had 'manufactured higher beings' to elevate the rest of its population. Same problem, only, they had taken completely different roads to end in the same outcome; war.
Thirdly, she knew what Augments were now. They were genetically engineered muggles. By the sounds of it, a whole five times better than an average muggles capability. Hermione, in 2001, during the height of the Eugenics war, had been in negotiation talks with these beings. Negotiations for what, Harry didn't quite know yet. Finally, something went wrong with this Augments. The computer answered that riddle for her.
"Psychopathy became predominant in the Augments. Lack of social awareness, empathy and uncontrollable rage manifested itself within the children once they matured to adolescence, although no signs of these deficiencies showed while the Augments were in embryotic or infant state. Thirteen Compounds for the holding and observation of the Augments began to be used in 1986, and the general population of Terran was unaware of the happenings. Nonetheless, as the leading geneticist Dr. Khan Noonien Singh was quoted to say, superior ability breeds superior ambition."
Harry felt a splash of bile sting her throat. Augments weren't just genetically altered muggles… They had been birthed in a lab. Obviously, experimentation had been under-took, how could it not be? They created children, children, experimented on them, and when they began to lash out, to break their chains, they had been locked up into compounds. Observed like lab rats. Prodded and told to run the great maze for a slice of cheese they would never get. To children… They had done this to children! And they had the nerve to wonder what went wrong?
Stop. Breathe. Countdown from ten.
Compartmentalize. What did she know now? In the 1970's, under the leadership of a geneticist called Dr Singh, the very same Hermione had visited in 2001, Harry would wager, muggles created Augments, a breed of genetically engineered muggles. In sight of them beginning to show signs of self-authority, fearing the obvious abilities they had, muggles began to round up these Augments from their respective labs and began to place them into compounds. Something happened, the war began somehow, someway, and in 2001, Hermione visited one of these compounds, a compound four, and took part in a negotiation talk, a talk that had ended in an explosion. Harry shook her head and sighed. There was still too many blank spaces, too many jumps.
"By 1999, the original embryos that had been genetically altered reached Adulthood and these ambitions became known. The Augments began to rebel and organise themselves. Fractions began to form within the compounds. As with most rudimentary pack instinct, leaders from these fractions began to form. By 2000, compound number six was destroyed by Terrans to quell further rebellion. Soon, compounds 9, 11 and 5 revolted, overthrowing their Terran overseers. Augments from these compounds began to infiltrate Terran politics, military and positions of power and within a year, land, money and weapons were filtered back to their Augmented parties. By 2001, newly weaponised, war between Augments and Terran's was declared."
And there was the blank spaces being filled with blood and bone and screams. Dr Singh and other geneticist created Augments. When they didn't develop in a way that was expected of them, they had been quarantined to compounds. However, they banded together, forming a hierarchy of some sort, with a leader emerging from each compound. Fearing the inevitable, muggles destroyed a compound, which to Harry, led to the other compounds uprisings. Compounds 9, 11, and 5 escaped their confines and infiltrated muggle power-houses, filtering back goods to their counterparts still trapped. When the time had been right, war was declared. And in the midst of all this, hidden in a smoke screen, was Harry's best friend, Hermione, who had been at such a compound, number four, negotiating something before that compound had been attacked.
So where did the wizarding world fit into all of this? Did the wizarding world align themselves with the humans, or the Augments? Or were they trying to sue for diplomacy, neutrality? Or did they help create them and try and clean up their mess when the Augments proved difficult to control? Hermione would do no such thing, not the girl who had rallied for house elf rights, for fuck sake. Harry's best guess, as of now with her limited knowledge, would be the wizarding world, seeing the muggles in a state of civil war, had done what they always tried to do. Keep out of sight and out of mind by declaring neutrality.
Yet, in this state, Harry didn't think neither the muggles or these Augments would allow the wizarding world to sit on the side lines. Not on this one, and from what Q had told her, the wizarding world had become involved, they got nearly wiped out because of it. But what would push the wizarding world out of its comforting state of sitting on the fence? The fall of the negotiations Hermione was in… It had to be. If Hermione had been there, trying to set up a treaty, and the compound had been attacked, negotiations stalled, likely by the muggles if the Augments were willing to sit at the table and hash it out with the wizarding world, then it wouldn't have sat well with Harry's people. If that was the case…
The wizarding world had aligned itself with the Augments plight, against the muggles, a feud that fed into thousands of years' worth of history between witches and wizards and muggles. Harry wasn't stupid, just because she won out against Voldemort, it didn't erase the millennia of fear and loathing the wizarding world had with muggles. That was a stain that could not be removed with a fifteen-year-old girls victory. The wizarding world, its prejudice against muggles… This war had given them the opportunity to unveil themselves, to strike while the iron was hot, to align with the Augments and to hit at the muggles.
"The Terrans quickly found themselves outmanned and outmanoeuvred. Parts of Asia, Africa and the America's became exclusively Augmented states, with Augments quickly sliding into a dictatorship structure. Leaders of the old compounds taking up roles of tyrants as Terrans were forced into slave labour, massacred or constricted to concentration camps. However, it was only when compound 4 in the old city of Paris ended with a Terran attempt at-"
Harry viciously pushed herself away from the computer, choking on the lump in her throat. No. No. Her people, the wizarding world wouldn't do that. Slave labour? Concentration camps? Surely, they would have no part in establishing such things? After the war they had faced? After all the deaths about blood superiority, they wouldn't jump straight into another war about the same fucking topic, would they? Harry had died to show they were all equal. She had given her childhood, her loved ones, over to a battle to show that everyone, from Tom to Dumbledore to the house-elves, were equal. They couldn't have forgotten that in the few bloody months between Harry's departure and this war kicking off. They wouldn't do that to her! They wouldn't twist everything she had given, lost, bled for into nothing. No. Harry refused to think anymore. She just wanted to know what happened to Hermione. Nothing else mattered.
"Stop recording! Computer, what happened to Compound 4 in the Eugenics war, 2001?"
The video shut down and that horrid voice was back.
"Compound 4, on the 23rd of October, 2001 was destroyed in a Terran insurgence operation."
She. Already. Knew. That.
"What happened to the people inside?"
"The Augments survived the attempt."
"What happened to the witch-… The humans inside?"
"Dr Singh died in the explosion. No further humans were inside at the time."
Stopping, breathing, nor counting to ten worked anymore. The armrest on her chair crunched and bent as Harry snarled.
"Hermione was!"
And through it all, even though she was halfway to losing every bit of composure, that damned computer didn't lift its voice once and it only managed to anger Harry further.
"Dr. Hermione Jean Granger is not listed as a Terran."
Not Terran? What the hell did it mean by that? Wait… If the wizarding world did come out of the closet, if it really did align itself with the Augments, they wouldn't be called Terran, would they? They would have been sectioned off with the Augments. Human, but not Terran. Not one of us. Even so, if Hermione couldn't be traced because she wasn't classed as 'Terran', Harry could track these Augments from compound four. What happened to them could lead Harry to discover what happened to Hermione, and if she found out what happened to Hermione, she would find out what happened to Ron and everyone else.
"Computer, after the attack on compound four in 2001, what happened to the Augments?"
"The Augments, under the command of their leader, Khan, a progeny to the Augments creator, Dr Noonien Singh, took control of the European state, quickly followed by parts of the remaining Asia and the middle east. The Augments from compound four were the most relentless of their kind, taking control of more than a quarter of the earth. Augments from compound 4, when the eugenics war was won by Terrans, escaped."
They… They survived? Had Hermione been with them?
"Escaped?"
If they escaped, if they ran and hid, perhaps Hermione had been with them and survived this whole mess. What was it? Medicine and genetic disorders, that was what she specialized in. To an Augment, that would have been valuable.
"85 Augments, including Khan, retreated before the Terrans could capture them. Whereabouts and resolution unknown."
Perhaps the documents had been destroyed, or perhaps, they had survived the war.
"In conjunction with Khan, Dr Noonien Singh and compound four, is Dr Hermione Jean Granger recorded again?"
"A total of seven files found showing your specified requests."
Seven? Merlin, that number bloody haunted her. Seven Horcruxes and now seven files… What could possibly go wrong?
"Load them up."
For the first time, the computer screen flashed red.
"Please state your security code."
What?
"Security code?"
"Access denied. Please state your security code."
Access denied? Were the files locked? If so, what the hell was on those files for them to be locked out of public access?
"Computer, what is a security code and why do I need one to read the files?"
If they were locked… There was something in there that the higher ups didn't want the public to know. That only meant Harry had to get into those files even more.
"Access to files is strictly locked to level nine security."
Additionally, what ever was a security risk or needed hiding had something to do with Hermione. This time, she doubted it was a fragmented record or date.
"Who holds level nine security?"
How high up did this go?
"The board of admirals within Starfleet."
Fucking shit. From what little she knew of Starfleet, from the basics Spock had told her when she questioned his job, this board of admirals was of the highest tiers in Starfleet. Which also meant not many people were allowed to read the contents of this file, meaning whatever it contained was a well-kept secret, maybe even dangerous. Why keep so hush about a war that had happened over two-hundred, nearly three hundred years ago?
Whatever the reason was, it only meant she needed to get into those files. Something important was inside of them, Hermione's future… What happened to her friends, her people, was right there, five numbers and two letters away. Somehow, Harry needed to get her hands on an Admirals security code. The jingle of someone at her door pulled her away from war, lost people and death.
"Computer, save progress and pin the seven files relating to Dr Hermione Jean Granger, Augments and compound four to my devices. Instigate a personal lock. Clearance code… Godric Gryffindor."
"Transfer complete. Files and records locked and protected by code and voice lock."
"Computer, sleep."
Feeling stiff, drained, emotionally and mentally from her computer search, Harry wrangled herself to face the door in her desk chair, feeling the bars around her legs tighten their hold when she wobbled. With a quick bark of 'enter', her bedroom door swished, revealing a still bedraggled Amanda.
"Harry, are you okay? I heard talking."
Subconsciously, a smile flittered onto Harry's face as she stared at the older woman. Amanda was barefoot, loose tunic crumpled in places telling Harry she had just gotten out of bed. A bit of guilt stabbed Harry's stomach. She didn't mean to awaken anybody. Furthermore, speaking of anything she had found, her inner turmoil over what she had just discovered, turned to ash on her tongue. They had done so much for her, and continued to do so. They gave her a home, food, care… Love. In such a short amount of time, they had wormed their way into her heart. They were her family. She couldn't burden them anymore than she was already doing.
She couldn't lay this at their feet. No doubt, if Harry asked, Sarek would find her an Admirals code before she could blink, but she couldn't risk that. If the files were locked, it meant the higherups didn't want people poking their noses in. She couldn't let Sarek or Amanda face any repercussions because she couldn't fully let go of the past. So, Harry smiled sheepishly, scratching at the back of her head as she diverted her eyes to the floor. She couldn't burden them, but neither could she outrightly lie to them either.
"I was just doing some historical research."
Amanda stepped into the room, the door closing behind her as she made her way to Harry's low-rising bed, sitting on the edge, facing her.
"At four in the morning?"
Harry didn't need to lie.
"I couldn't sleep, and I didn't want to wake anybody up…"
For a moment, Amanda searched her face, and although Harry couldn't bring herself to directly look at her, Harry could feel the heat of her gaze on the side of her face, trying to penetrate into her mind. Whatever she saw or found was enough for Amanda to try and change topics swiftly.
"Well, your father and Spock are already breaking fast. Why don't you join us and have some food? You have a long day ahead."
Well, that stalled Harry for a moment. She wasn't due either a Katra or physical therapy session until Wednesday and Saturday respectively. Today was Monday. Normally, she spent her free days with Sarek in the morning, before he left for work, when she would spend time with Amanda until Spock got home from his lectures and Harry turned her attention to pestering her older brother like a good younger sibling. Then the day would repeat, or Harry would fall unconscious.
"Long day?"
Amanda beamed at her.
"Sarek, while trying to find you a tutor for piloting has been talking to a few captains at the Starfleet academy. Your simulation results have garnered some… Curious people. One, a captain Pike, has taken a rather personal interest. He's already assigned you a tutor for piloting, a Mr Sulu if I'm not mistaken. He believes you might like Starfleet and what it has to offer. So much so, in fact, he has also delegated a final year student to show you around the academy today."
Harry would rather stay away from anyone who showed her personal interest. Dumbledore had done the same, and, well, look how well that had panned out for Harry.
"Why can't Spock show me around? Doesn't he work there?"
Amanda slipped off her seat on Harry's bed, walking close and dropping down to squat in front of Harry and her chair, placing a calming palm on Harry's knee, although, through the braces, spine damage and pain medication, Harry couldn't actually feel the hand on her.
"Your brother has been asking the same thing. I think he feels a bit put out from it, but… The fact of the matter is, Harry, your test results weren't internal or private. Starfleet got a transmission of them, as with every exam simulation taken by external students. They believe you have talent. Talent they would rather see in their own ranks then outside them."
Dread sank Harry's gut.
"What if I don't want to join this Starfleet?"
Amanda didn't miss a beat.
"Then you won't. No one here will ever force you to be something you do not wish to be Harry. Neither I nor Sarek would allow that to happen. Your choices are your own to make, and no matter what, we will be standing behind you."
That warmed Harry's heart more than she could ever verbalize. She hadn't chosen to be the saviour of the wizarding world. She hadn't chosen to lead Dumbledore's army. She hadn't chosen to be Tom Riddles nemesis. Others had always chosen her life for her. They, Sarek, Amanda, Spock, gave her choices. It was odd, strange, otherworldly to Harry, to know she could make a choice, a decision those around her could full-heartedly disagree with, and still, they would have her back. After a short break for Harry to mull that over, Amanda carried on.
"However, looking around the place couldn't hurt, could it? Who knows, perhaps you may like the academy. Perhaps you could meet some people your own age, talk to others, make some friends. That would be nice wouldn't it? I know you feel lonely."
Once again, Harry diverted her face. She had believed she was doing a better job at hiding it, those feelings that plagued her at night, when she was alone, but evidently, she hadn't. She really didn't want to burden them anymore than she was already doing.
"It would be great mum. I could use the fresh air."
It was the first time, since before Harry had been trapped in that mind-meld, that she had willingly called Amanda mother, that she had verbally declared that familial bond on a conscious level and not just a slip of the tongue. The reaction was almost explosive. That little smile on Amanda's face split open like a ripe watermelon, teeth flashing as her eyes crinkled and glittered. With soft urging, Amanda helped Harry to a stand, keeping her steady as they clunked and clanged towards the door.
"Then it's settled. We'll eat, dress and head out together. Don't forget your gloves, it's colder on earth than Vulcan and you're still healing."
Never mind the gloves helped Harry stall the urge to touch everything and everyone, which, arguably, is what got her into this state in the first place. Thank Merlin no one was mentioning the hover chair, although, Harry still had to get passed Sarek. She would be lucky if he didn't demand she take a blanket and a personal healer with her too.
"Do I at least get to know the name of the student who I will have to follow around like a puppy?"
Amanda wrapped an arm around her shoulders, trailing her down and over to the kitchen and dining area. Harry double checked to make-sure her wand was strapped to her covered forearm.
"I believe his name is James T. Kirk."
Why did she have a bad feeling about this?
Next Chapter: Jim thinks he's being punished for failing the Kobayashi Maru test, again, and so, has been left to supervise a potential Vulcan Student, calling in aid from his friend Leonard McCoy to help him… However, what greets him is not exactly a stone faced, logic driven, pointy-eared Vulcan and he and Bones are in for quite the shock. Especially when that Vulcan's first request is not to see the library or studying quarters… But to go to the local bar for a good pint of beer.
Few notes on this chapter:
I had to juggle the timing of the Eugenics war a little for my plot to work and to meld Trek-verse with Potter-verse. The original war lasted between 1992-1996. In this, the war lasted between 1999-2004. If I had of left it alone, Harry would have still been fighting Voldemort and the Wizarding world would have been left out of the conflict entirely, which doesn't make much sense as it was a world war and logically, the wizarding world would have noticed what was happening outside of their little bubble. So, sorry for canon fans, but I hope you don't mind that I had to bend it a little to fit both the Trek-verse and Potter-verse together in a way that makes sense.
THANK YOU ALL FOR THE LOVELY REVIEWS! Are you guys enjoying the ride so far? I sure hope you do as I'm having so much fun writing this up!
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