"The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible."

Arthur C. Clarke

Torchwood Nova Scotia; Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada

Friday, September 17, 2021

Luc Sarkisian growled in frustration. The new drone information made less sense than the last scans. He knew the energy was connected to a device disrupted by the island explosion. It had a quantum entanglement energy source which defied current understanding of physics. He'd spent days doing comparison analysis attempting to determine the science behind it. As with anything related to quantum physics, he tried to assess it mathematically. It required too many assumptions.

"Does the Theory of Everything apply?" Eryn sounded exhausted.

Luc took a moment to control his temper. "Not directly." Quantum gravity was much simpler and equally impossible.

Eryn set her head down on the table again. He could see her through the clear wall between his cell and the adjacent room. She spent most of her time there reading files she couldn't understand while trying to cope with an unthinkable situation.

He walked over and set his palm on the wall for her to see. He tried telling her to go. It wasn't healthy for her. But she wouldn't listen. More than a month had passed since the change happened. He didn't know how he'd cope when she finally gave up.

"Eryn." Controlling his tone was getting easier. Until something set off his temper. "You need sleep."

Exhausted, she looked up. When she saw him at the wall, she set her hand over his. "Too much to do."

"At least get some air." Luc gave it a moment. "Take one of the new search and rescue bots with you. For a test."

"You want me to walk your robotic dog?"

"It will keep you safe." Knowing he couldn't do something as simple as walk with her made his temper flare again.

Spreepark; Berlin, Germany

Toshiko Sato decided immediately after arriving she never wanted to use a portal device again. The disorienting, nauseating sensation affected her ears and altered her balance. Hearing Owen vomit reinforced her view of the technology. She wondered if she could talk Jack into a more conventional ride home.

"Never again." Owen groaned.

Tosh nodded slightly, increasing the nausea. Walking into an unknown situation involving multiple homicide and an abandoned theme park was not the highlight of her day. What hadn't burned in 2014 was partially concealed by nature reclaiming the area. They needed their wits even with a drone overhead.

"The bodies are in a roller coaster tunnel." Eryn sounded tired over the ear com. "The access door is partly hidden to the right of the tunnel."

"How were the bodies found?" Owen looked around.

"Strange energy readings." Tosh consulted her scanner. "It's faint, but still here."

"We've been documenting unusual energy since the island explosion, Dr. Harper," Eryn said. "Unable to get a visual, we sent in a mini bot." Pause. "The energy disrupted it."

Tosh didn't like what she was seeing. Too many unanswered questions. Nova Scotia had ruled out safety hazards as much as possible. Under the circumstances, she didn't think they knew enough about the situation to determine what was safe.

"This way." Tosh motioned toward the energy readings.

"God, I hate this." Owen complained as he followed.

"It's only grass."

"Jack could have sent Gwen and Ianto. They willing go to parks."

Tosh chuckled. "You can mention it to Gwen next time." From what she'd seen, Jack was way too protective of Ianto to let him go anywhere.

Owen made an unhappy sound and Tosh chuckled more.

Owen Harper had an increasingly uneasy feeling as they neared the cave. Tosh stopped and scanned the door. He stood back and looked around. Then rather than scan their surroundings, he programmed his device for medscans. While John mentioned the portal devices had side-effects, no one reported vomiting. Or the inner ear disruption Tosh had. It suggested the energy affected the devices.

What he found indicated the area was a lot more dangerous than he thought. They both needed Nanogenes. And possibly quarantine. It might even explain what happened to the people in the cave.

Owen closed the distance between them. "Tosh." He explained what he found.

"We need to get out of here." Tosh moved to tuck her scanner in it's carrier and a sound distracted her. "Eryn, there is a helicopter approaching the no-fly-zone." She adjusted her ear piece. "Eryn."

As Owen reached for his own device, he realized he didn't hear Tosh through the device. "They're not working." He looked at the portal device in his hand. "We need to go."

Tosh looked at him, the fear setting in. "With all this energy…"

"The nearest military base is US." Owen leaned in and kissed Tosh lightly. "We've survived worse."

Tears welled in Tosh's eyes as she nodded.

"One, two, three."

They portaled out.

Torchwood Nova Scotia; Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada

Aman Oliveira stood behind Kailen. He sat back and closed his eyes. Aman rubbed his shoulders. Three alarms before six made for an early morning. From what Eryn said, she was up half the night with Luc. Aman wasn't sure how much longer they could manage. Kailen had even stopped talking about their renewal ceremony.

"Ancient-related abilities are suppose to help the ancients? The guy from London can alter reality." Kailen wondered aloud. "What does turning Luc into a version of the Incredible Hulk accomplish?"

"A soldier."

Kailen grimaced. "He's deadly without the rage."

"It shuts off the logic part of his brain."

"That makes him less dangerous." Kailen looked up at Aman.

"No." Aman disagreed. "If we had a security breach, Luc could fight biomechs with his bare hands."

The intercom clicked on. "I lost the connection with Dr. Harper and Ms. Sato," Eryn said. "I can't reach Cardiff."

"Nigeria?" Aman asked.

"No."

Aman moved over and grabbed his laptop. He quickly set it up on a section of empty desk space. "Check the Internet. Email everyone in the Dublin and Cardiff offices. I will contact Idrissa."

"Ear coms are based on Torchwood technology," Luc said. "Specifically Jack's tech. It would have to be a targeted attack."

Aman unfortunately agreed. He sat and waited for Skype to load. The multiple office ear com usage was new. Communicating with Nigeria on Skype wasn't. He hoped Idrissa hadn't shut down the notifications of an incoming call.

"We have another problem," Kailen sounded scared.

Aman looked up and the monitors were distorted. "Recall the drones."

Kailen nodded as his hands flew over his keyboard. The screens one-by-one went dark. "The one in Germany was hit by an EMP."

"Did we get it back?" Aman asked. They needed to keep the technology from being captured.

"Yeah."

The Skype call connected. "We are busy." Idrissa said. The image showed his office and Idrissa's leg.

"Ear coms are down. We can't reach Cardiff. Dr. Harper and Ms. Sato were in Germany evaluating a multiple death scene with strange energy." Aman explained the drones.

"I am calling for back-up."

Kailen looked at Aman. "Who?"

It took a moment for the answer to come to mind. The Refuge.

Torchwood Three; Cardiff, Wales

Ianto Jones entered the infirmary. When he found Owen and Tosh half conscious on the lift earlier, it caused an anxiety attack. Owen insisted that they treat Tosh first until he passed out. It was a solid guess he was remembering Katie's death. Although Ianto suspected Owen had lost someone else as well.

Owen rested at the Nanogene station. Tosh had the cot between it and the door. She was trying to puzzle out what happened to them. It gave her something to occupy her mind while she waited for treatment.

"Do we know what happened with the coms?" Tosh asked weakly.

"No." Ianto stopped by Tosh. "Jack wants updated information from the Nanogene station."

Tosh pushed herself up slightly and grimaced. "There is a possible explanation for why we were affected more. It could affect Azrael."

"Do you want another pillow?"

Tosh smiled. "Yes."

Ianto went to the supply cabinet.

"Different universes have minor differences. We're not from here."

"It doesn't affect me." Ianto grabbed another pillow and a blanket.

Tosh gave it a moment. "You're connected to an ancient."

That was another question they didn't have an answer for. John's connection had similarities to Luc. Neither were stable. Ianto wondered why he was different. Lewella's explanation had since shown to be untrue, although he suspected she told him what he needed to hear to cope.

Ianto arranged the pillows and offered Tosh the blanket. "Are you good?"

"Yeah." Tosh reached for Ianto's hand. "Are you?"

He didn't know how to answer. "I will be."

Gwen Cooper looked up from the table as Jack entered the conference room. She needed a break. They had large amounts of information and no way to interpret it. With Tosh and Luc unable to work together, or at all, and Jack distracted, they weren't getting anywhere.

"Anything new?" Jack walked around the table.

"Police, park ranger and research reports from everywhere." Gwen motioned toward a pile of tablets. "A Russian bear researcher in Siberia thinks something broke through a permanently frozen lake on it's way out. A cultural anthropologist in Tibet witnessed levitating boulders. And a US sheriff reports something scared a hippie-style commune so badly, they threw out all their pot."

Jack claimed his seat at the head of the table. "Xiu, the Armore girl in Dublin, thinks the island explosion had the intended result. It potentially gave access to advanced alien technology and concealed it."

Gwen nodded. "With mobiles compromised, and the ear coms down, we're struggling." She gave it a moment. "Do we have any idea how they disrupted our coms?"

"No." Jack hesitated. "Both the general and Azrael are concerned London is compromised. But Four insists the coms are being jammed."

"Could it be the satellite network?"

"No."

"Then we need to focus on two questions," Gwen said. "What could disrupt the Torchwood communication network? And who has the ability to do it?"

"Torchwood."

That explained the concerns about London. Except the office wasn't fully operational. "It has to be the hub. We have the only office capable of affecting the entire network."

"Except Nigeria's isolated."

Gwen wondered if it was one of the offices outside their control. "What about the Falkland Archives? Or the Arctic Observatory?"

"Powered down or isolated."

"That leaves the hub, Jack."