Answers
Albert was in his office on a call to Major Smith, who had heard of the crash and wanted an update on the investigation. As it was still ongoing, Albert didn't have much to report, but Major Smith seemed pleased with the handling of the situation nonetheless. At least, that's what Albert hoped, considering the software used to mask his identity made his inflections difficult to read.
"You are sure the public does not suspect?" Major Smith asked.
"I have had cyber division put out a fake news story about a meteorite crashing to Earth being taken away by researchers for study. For now, the story seems to be holding," Albert updated.
"Good, there are already enough people asking questions about the Institute as it is without this latest incident. Then there's the election. Anyone of those candidates could use even the rumours of a secretive organisation to bolster their polls," Major Smith warned.
"You are worried the next president could shut us down?" Albert probed.
"Or expose you, which would be worse. Play your cards close to the vest on this one. No unnecessary risks, Captain," Major Smith ordered.
"Understood, Major," Albert acknowledged, and the call was terminated. Just then, Albert got a call over base comms.
"Kilstone here. Farran and I have finished decrypting the flight data from the vehicle's black box. We're in holographics now recreating the accident," Kilstone notified.
"On my way," Albert replied and went down to the holographics lab, which was a room with walls and ceilings dotted with holographic projectors. When he arrived, Kilstone and Farran booted up the recreation. They chose to start from the beginning of the vehicle's journey, which took place in some sort of gadget-filled room, with a portal to who-knows-where in the back wall.
"OK, just how does a 14-year-old kid have all this?" Albert inquired.
"We don't know. We're still decrypting the data from the speeder's main computer, but the vehicle entered this portal shortly before the accident," Farran explained. The recreation began playing all around them. When it got to the point where the kids were discussing this world called the 'Ghost Zone', Albert paused the recreation.
"Ghost Zone? There's a world full of ghosts?" Albert asked, mostly to himself.
"That's a new one, doesn't look like the kind of place I would go on vacation," Kilstone remarked. The recreation was resumed and paused again when the vehicle encountered the initial turbulence.
"Multiple space-time breaches? If I had to guess, the sheer number of portals Bill opened during the Cipher War must've left wounds in other worlds that have not yet healed," Albert theorised.
"Until we can get an expert in inter-dimensional physics in our employ, we can only guess," Farran interjected.
"Just how deep do these wounds go? If we get more residents of this 'Ghost Zone' coming through, we could have a real mess on our hands," Kilstone said with a hint of panic.
"I'll have surveillance division watch for any signs of ghost activity," Albert assured. The recreation was resumed again. They had just veered into the nexus of portals leading to other worlds when the recreation was paused again.
"I'd say that's the weak point of the world, the one place where inter-dimensional travel is feasible. For us, it's Gravity Falls. If that's the case, then every single instance of things going 'bump' in the night, every paranormal sighting ever recorded, has been something from this world leaking into ours," Albert hypothesised.
"In this case, this world has leaked something far bigger than a stray ghost," Kilstone replied. The recreation was resumed and quickly blacked out.
"That's the point where the black box cut out. Fortunately, we've been able to recreate the rest using satellite imagery. I'll switch the feeds now," Farran said and the recreation came to life once more, this time over the skies of the Tri-State Area. It showed Danny trying to level the speeder's descent, aiming for the nearest piece of uninhabited land he could find before crashing. Before he did, he went invisible one moment and re-appeared again outside the wreck, lying unconscious on the ground. Whatever turned him invisible also protected him from the brunt of the crash. If he was half-ghost, any potentially dangerous debris would've gone straight through without a scratch if he assumed a spectral form prior to crashing.
"That would explain the light injuries," Albert remarked. As if on cue, the base comms flared to life.
"Pike here. It's the boy. He's awake," Pike notified from medbay.
"Understood," Albert responded. "Kilstone, take charge down here, see what you can learn from the computer. I'll see to the boy," Albert ordered and left Kilstone and Farran to their task. When he arrived, Danny was more than a little apprehensive. It seems as if Danny was panicking about having woken up in a very strange environment.
"There is no way I'm letting you Guys in White stooges probe me!" Danny asserted.
"Will you calm down?! I have no idea who these 'Guys in White' are!" Pike countered. Danny moved to attack, but his arm was still sprained. "And if you continue like this, you'll only do more damage to yourself!" Pike added.
"If you're not the Guys in White, then who are you people, and how did I get here?" Danny interrogated.
"I can answer that," Albert eased tensions when he came into the room. Danny, eager for answers, lowered his guard, but only a little. Albert held up his hands as a show of faith. "We mean you no harm. My chief medical officer has been treating your injuries. We found you unconscious when your vehicle crashed. We brought you here so we could treat you and, when we've finished fixing your ride, send you home, wherever that is. I am Albert, and I am the captain of this Institute. What's your name?" Albert outlined. Danny relented more upon hearing this and decided to give Albert a chance.
"Danny," Danny introduced.
"Welcome to Excalibur, Danny," Albert greeted. Danny had calmed down enough so that he let Doctor Pike resume treating him. "You know, it's lucky we found you first. The world is in a state right now and tensions are high. I don't want to think about what would happen if anyone else found you, especially considering you're not from around here," Albert broke the ice.
"What do you mean?" Danny asked.
"Well, the last time we had inter-dimensional visitors, they started a war, one we just barely won, and it came at great cost. Our President was killed and the world as a whole is on edge. Many don't believe that Bill is truly dead, even though the Cipher War is over, and I don't blame them one bit. In fact, even I don't believe he's truly gone," Albert explained. Danny thought about this for a moment.
"Before I crashed, I had to avoid turbulence caused by multiple space-time breaches. Could this 'Cipher War' have caused them?" Danny probed.
"Yes, we've looked over the data from your vehicle's black box so we know what happened both before and after the crash. The Cipher War may indeed have caused those breaches, as Bill did open many portals to other realms, but we can only guess at this point. We're not experts," Albert answered.
"How badly was the speeder damaged?" Danny inquired.
"I have my best engineering staff working on it. Unfortunately, it's in no state to fly at present. Latest projections say it will be ready in about a couple hours, give or take," Albert estimated.
"So, I'm stuck here?" Danny asked, going back into panic mode.
"We have a portal in the vault, but given that we don't know where you came from and the fragility of space-time after the war, I'm hesitant to order its use," Albert responded. Albert then noticed that Danny's mood was not improving. "Look, we'll do all we can to get you home, that's a promise. Anything you could tell us about this 'Ghost Zone' or your home world would be very helpful," Albert assured.
"I come from a place called Amity Park. My parents built a portal to the Ghost Zone in their basement. I don't know how they did it, but I'm not sure you could recreate it," Danny divulged.
"There is one other thing I wanted to ask. Pike and I noticed something odd about your biology. It seems you have some sort of energy in your DNA. We can't identify it. Could you shed some light on that for us? Is it anything Pike needs to be aware of?" Albert probed.
"Oh that. Well, one day there was an accident with my parents' portal. I got transplanted with ghost DNA and it gave me all sorts of abilities. Think of your average superhero origin story and that's essentially what happened to me," Danny clarified.
"So, you're a ghost/human hybrid?" Albert asked.
"Pretty much. I can fly, phase through walls and solid objects, everything a ghost can do," Danny replied.
"That's a relief. For a moment, we thought you were one of Bill's agents, but seeing as you've probably never heard of him, we can rule that possibility out for good," Albert said.
"Nope, I've never met this Bill person. I take it he's the one who started this 'war' you keep mentioning," Danny responded.
"He did. We're still repairing the damage he caused during his short stay, starting with this," Albert then activated a monitor which had the presidential debate playing on it. "One of them will be our new commander-in-chief," Albert added. The view switched to Essery's speech emphasising the need for international co-operation during the healing process. She argued that, should she be elected, she would stand for peace and unity both internally and with America's neighbours. She also jabbed at the opposition, remarking how vast wealth should not be a pre-requisite for the Oval Office.
"I like that lady. I did a background check on her, she's a real champion of the people," Albert commented. The view then changed to reflect the opposing side, and Simon Edwards came into view, but when Danny saw him, his expression changed to one of surprise and horror.
"Did you do a check on this guy?" Danny urgently asked.
"Who, Edwards? There's not much on him….." Albert began.
"Wait, Edwards. That's not his name, that's probably an alias," Danny interjected. Now Albert was very confused.
"OK, enlighten me, what's his real name?" Albert questioned.
"It's Vlad Masters, our previous mayor. He was ousted from the position because he tried to extort millions of dollars by hurling an asteroid at us. He's also a hybrid like me," Danny explained.
"So, not a nice guy?" Albert guessed.
"That's putting it mildly," Danny replied. Just then, the base comms came to life once more.
"Kilstone here. We've finished decrypting the data from the speeder's computer," Kilstone informed.
"Good, we think we have a problem that our new arrival could help with. We're on our way," Albert responded. Albert and Danny made their way down to engineering once Pike had given Danny a clean bill of health. Along the way, Albert explained to Danny what Excalibur was, what they did, and the extent of their reach.
"All this kit and you didn't know one of your candidates was an imposter," Danny remarked.
"We were too busy focusing on Bill to even consider internal threats. Now that he's 'gone' we can act on Vlad," Albert countered. They arrived at the computer lab in engineering and Kilstone and Farran were waiting for them. "Danny, this is my XO, Kilstone, and my chief engineer, Farran, and vice versa. What do you have?" Albert introduced.
"A wealth of information surrounding the Ghost Zone and its inhabitants. It plays like a 'who's who' of the spectral plane," Farran briefed. She showed images on the monitor of Danny's past enemies, including Technus, Ember, and the Box Ghost.
"Cherished memories," Danny quipped.
"About what I mentioned earlier, is there anything about an individual called Vlad Masters?" Albert probed.
"Let me see, quite a bit actually, it seems your new friend has had run-ins with this 'Vlad Plasmius' more than any other ghost, or at least, he sticks out the most," Kilstone searched the database.
"Not by choice, I assure you," Danny said.
"I'm sure. There's data in here regarding his human form," Kilstone continued.
"All we need is an image, and we need to compare it to Simon Edwards, the presidential candidate," Albert dismissed. Kilstone and Farran brought up the two images side-by-side, and sure enough, it was revealed that Simon Edwards and Vlad Masters were the same person.
"Isn't he heading up the Overseer Project? The one he brags will protect all our devices from Bill-like infiltration?" Farran questioned.
"Yeah, sure, that's what he says it'll do," Danny rebuked.
"I need a full background check on Simon Edwards. I need to see what part of his life is a lie and what is real," Albert ordered.
"On it," Kilstone acknowledged. He got out his tablet device and ran some searches. After a few seconds, Kilstone had the information he needed. "Here it is; Simon Edwards, mid-30's….." Kilstone began.
"Ha! There's your first lie," Danny joked.
"….got a degree in IT at Harvard, worked in cybersecurity for ten years before starting his own small company where the Overseer Project was conceived, but here's the strange part. When I cross-reference this with employment data and attendance at Harvard, I can find no mention of him, anywhere. No medical records, not even a birth certificate. There's also no mention of what party he's representing in the election. He's totally independent," Kilstone briefed.
"What about this 'Overseer Project'?" Albert queried.
"It's hailed as the ultimate protection. It has been in development for over a year. According to official records, the funding comes from several different investors, all legitimate, and it utilises the best security and encryption software money can buy to keep foreign entities out. It's advertised as completely hacker-proof," Kilstone answered.
"That bit's true. I've tried to dig up records outside of official channels to see what the project really does, but all the systems are closed. We can't hack in remotely," Farran added.
"So, we need to be on-site to get any data on this thing?" Albert concluded.
"It would appear that way, yes. I can have an agent go over and see what's up," Kilstone offered.
"That wouldn't be advisable. Major Smith is already worried about exposure, and conducting more secret missions will not help assuage his fears. Vlad will most likely have top security on his little pet project that will guard against industrial espionage. Fortunately for us, we have an ace in the hole," Albert rebuffed.
"We do?" Kilstone probed.
"Yes, we need someone who can get in and out as if he were invisible. Like a ghost, shall we say," Albert hinted. Danny got the message.
"You want me to go in, grab the data, and get out?" Danny asked.
"Well, if you're volunteering. If we tried getting that data and failed, Vlad will be alerted to our presence, especially if he searches online discussion boards after the fact. Cyber division can't keep track of the number of conspiracy threads with the word 'Excalibur' in the title. Plus, we're not exactly equipped to fight ghosts. You would stand a better chance of getting in and out with the objective, and holding your own against Vlad should things go south," Albert summarised. Danny sighed heavily.
"OK, fine, I'll do it. But only to stop Vlad, not because I like working with you people. I'm an independent myself, and very distrustful of secret government organisations," Danny agreed, albeit reluctantly.
"Fair enough. I'll go with you to distract Vlad, posing as another interested investor. You'll have to follow along while invisible. Kilstone, have a cover story ready for me," Albert replied.
"I'll be in covert ops," Kilstone acknowledged and left to proceed with inventing Albert's cover story.
Meanwhile, at the Overseer Project's HQ, Vlad, posing as Simon Edwards, was busy supervising the last stages of the project. His employees were writing the last bits of code, assembling the final pieces of equipment needed, and his PR team was just finished editing his press conference speech that would mark the project's debut. His PA had just come into his office.
"Sir, the project is moving ahead of schedule. Latest projections put completion at approximately one week from today," the PA notified.
"Good. What about my campaign? How are my poll numbers looking?" Vlad inquired.
"The polls seem to favour you. According to surveys, most participants said they'd vote for you if you can demonstrate the effectiveness of the project. Others are asking how else you'll defend us should Bill resurface," the PA answered.
"Reasonable questions to ask, given the current climate. Very well, organise a demonstration. I want the public to see that they can trust me with their safety," Vlad instructed.
"I'll have the campaign team on it immediately, sir," the PA replied and left. Vlad then moved towards the window, where he could see the tall communications tower that served as the project's heart. He then got out his phone and tapped a few controls. On the phone, he brought up a signal, hidden, but embedded in the project.
"Yes, they can trust me," Vlad said menacingly to himself. The subliminal signal embedded in the wavelength carried a simple message; vote Edwards, you can trust me. He carried out a small diagnostic on the wavelength. "Working perfectly," Vlad noted and put his phone away.
Author's note: Since I am getting back to work full time now, I thought I should share my plans going forward. Since I like writing both these and my MML one-shots, I've decided to split between writing multi-chapter epics such as these and one-shots based on ideas I have at the time. Although, I have only one more idea for a one-shot left. Oh well, more content for my readers to enjoy. The inspiration for Vlad's plan in this story comes from the Master from Doctor Who. I mean, have you seen Vlad's design? He'd be a shoe-in for that role. The usual disclaimers, I own nothing, Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon own Danny Phantom. Enjoy.