CHAPTER 2:
OF ENTROPY
The Heat Death of the Universe is a frightening thing, isn't it? The fact that not only will one day, all life will cease, but all energy will too. The potential to create civilisation, no longer there. And not only that, but an eraser of any evidence of existence. For many civilisations, it is, at best, a very sobering thought.
Many considered various solutions to the problem. Many dismissed them out of hand. Some solutions were too outlandish. Some were impossible. And others…were immoral.
Two species, however, hit upon differing but workable solutions. One species, the Incubators, gathered followers amongst themselves in order to conduct their plan with impunity.
The other civilisation hit upon a more novel, less convoluted, and less immoral solution. Entropy will only increase to universal heat death in a closed system. The universe was mostly closed, but the second civilisation found a way around that, opening special gateways into other universes. This did not transfer the entropy into the other universes, rather, merely making sure that the inevitable demises of all these universes were postponed. Burdens shared were burdens reduced.
But the Incubators seethed. Their solution not only halted entropy, but actively reduced it, whereas the other solution was fragile. Should the gateways close, a great wave of entropy would sweep across the cosmos, overtaking even light and time. It could potentially consume the universe within days.
The other civilisation knew this, and worked to find a better solution. The Incubators were annoyed that this other civilisation had even tried, and believed that only their solution was the correct one. Thus, in a somewhat petulant manner, they tried attempts at sabotage, but never succeeded. Most of this other civilisation was peaceful, but a dissident splinter group, demanding greater attention to the Incubator's plans, decided to disrupt them. And the splinter group itself splintered. Some wished to merely stop the Incubators, and save their victims, the Magical Girls. Others considered the Magical Girls as culpable as the Incubators themselves, destined to become monsters.
The Incubators, incensed by the interference, nonetheless resolved to use subtlety to get their own way. They decided to manipulate a proxy to put an end to their rival civilisation for once and for all.
Their proxy was unusual. He came from a race of time travellers who nonetheless refused to interfere in the affairs of others. But like the civilisation opposing the Incubators, there were renegades. Some were benign wanderers. Others were meddlers of varying morality. And yet others wished to dominate. The Incubator's catspaw fell firmly into the last category. He wished for nothing more than to be master of everything he surveyed. The Incubators, while knowing he was dangerous, treated his ambitions with the contempt it deserved.
He stowed away on the timeship of his rival and mortal enemy, a fellow renegade who needed to visit the Incubators' rivals for reasons of his own. He was a good man, generally, this other renegade, a healer of chaos, even if chaos and death swirled in his wake. The Incubators had told the evil renegade that a great secret existed on their rivals' world, a secret he would have to sabotage that world in order to divulge. But when he realised what he had done, it was too late. Entropy began to ravage that world, and the universe, at an accelerated rate.
A third of the universe succumbed to the entropy wave before the two renegades managed to implement a solution. The evil renegade, however, decided on a last-minute insane gamble: hold the universe to ransom. Either the entire cosmos would submit to him as a ruler, or it would perish.
The other renegade, the good one, managed to prevent his enemy from implementing his insane plan, but at the cost of his life. He survived: his species had the ability to rebuild their body when mortally wounded. But the universe was saved, and the evil renegade decided to cut his losses, trying to find safer ways of dominating the universe.(1)
The Incubators rejoiced, insomuch as supposedly emotionless creatures could. Their rivals were gone, and while the splinter factions still attacked them, it meant that one of their greatest opponents had been erased. They had their own plan to stop the entropy wave, making sure that only they and their allies survived. But the survival of much of the rest of the universe was actually optimal for them. It meant that they could continue with their sick little plans…
"So, that's the backstory," Moni said.
"Where do you fit into this?" Homura asked, frowning. She managed to take it all in, but she got the feeling that he hadn't told her everything. Then again, she also felt that he told her far more than Kyubey ever did.
"Ah, yes," he said, looking uncomfortable. "My parents were one of the splinter group. When our world was destroyed, they were far away. I was born seventeen years after our world was destroyed, in what would be considered the year 1997(2) by your reckoning. I was raised by the Order. Two years ago, I joined the fight."
"That young?" Homura asked. He must've been only twelve.
"You're only, what, fourteen? Like I would be in your years? And I know many Magical Girls who joined younger. I joined the fight willingly. And they considered my abilities very useful, anyway."
"Abilities?" She then realised. "Your Block Transfer Calculations…"
"Computations, but same thing, yes. Even by the standards of my people, I'm a prodigy. Of course, getting thrown into battle against Witches, Magical Girls and Incubators does sharpen the mind. I've got the scars to prove it." He wasn't bragging. If anything, he seemed embarrassed, apologetic, even anxious, about admitting his ability and his scars, though he admitted it all the same. It wasn't any kind of modesty, affected or otherwise. Homura wondered whether he thought that stopping the Incubators was going to be an adventure, only to find out it was Hell. Hell, he even seemed more like an exotic version of a protagonist of some harem anime.
But there was something about him. His eyes, his crimson eyes, were older than the rest of him, glittering with sorrow and anxiety. The weight of a whole world on his shoulders. But there was also a determination in them. A hardness in them.
"Why?" she asked. "Why do you fight?"
He shrugged, but his face became darker, his brows lowering, his eyes glittering with anger. He had become more serious than he had ever been. Then, he spoke a single word. "Revenge."
"For your people." It wasn't a question.
He nodded. "A petty, childish reason…but not just for my people. There's a world that used to be out there called Traken(3). A world so filled with decency and goodness that anything evil that set foot there got petrified until it eroded away. Save for brief periods of unrest when its new ruler gets elected, it was as close to utopia as any place can be in the universe. Beautiful. Peaceful. No harm to anyone. It was at the centre of an ancient benevolent empire spanning many star systems. All of them wiped out by the entropy wave."
"What of that renegade time traveller? The evil one?"
"You mean I should blame him as well as the Incubators? Of course I do. The man's evil. But he's also hard to find. Last I heard, his own people were considering conscripting him into their dirty tricks division(4)." He spat the last sentence out contemptuously. "Those people think he could be useful."
"Fools," Homura remarked.
"I agree," Moni said.
There was silence for a time. Homura considered the boy. His story was outlandish, and she did get the feeling that he held some things back. But it certainly sounded like something the Incubators would do. In more than one timeline where Madoka became a Witch, the Incubators left Earth to its fate, deciding that they had harvested enough from the planet. Homura had to flee back in time to avoid death at the hands of the monster she had once called a friend.
So could she trust him?
"May I see your Soul Gem, please?" he asked, once more.
After a moment, she nodded, extracting the jewel, and handing it over to the strange boy. He took it with such reverence and respect, she knew he knew what it truly was.
"Oh, Homura," he murmured, his eyebrows knotting together in concern as he examined it. "I don't know how you managed for so long. I can't reverse the process used to create this, not until the Incubators have lost interest in this world. But I can make it easier."
"What do you mean?" Homura asked. She realised she was asking a lot of questions.
"There's a trick I learned. I can increase the capacity of a Soul Gem, increase the time period needed before you need to use a Grief Seed. The Incubators, they deliberately engineer it so the capacity is dangerously near a critical level." The boy sneered at the thought. "Like planned obsolescence, only it causes far more death and destruction. And yet…despite all that, you managed to keep it clear. How many loops, Homura?"
"…I don't know any more. I lost count."
"And yet, this is still so clear," Moni murmured, awestruck, and sad. "I can still give you an increased capacity. Would you like me to do so?"
Much of her clamoured against him doing this. But then, she realised, she had little left to lose. If he was true to his word, then she had an extra advantage in her fight against the Incubators. So she nodded. "The moment I sense any funny business, though…"
He shook his head, before clasping the jewel between his hands. He closed his eyes, and murmured, "BTC: Soul Expansion." His lips continued to move, though no words, or at least recognisable words, came out.
It was…difficult to describe the sensation Homura felt soon after he began. It was as if a great pressure was being gradually and gently lifted. Her feelings of sorrow, of hatred, of fear and determination were still there, true, but it felt like they had more room to move. Like there was a room in her soul, and it went from the size of a little apartment to a vast mansion. It was neither pleasant or unpleasant, just strange, but…relieving. Like the burden of her fate just got that little bit lighter.
Eventually, Moni uncapped his hands. The Soul Gem was not just clearer, it was gently glowing, in a way that she had never seen it glow before. He handed it back to her with a gentle smile. "There was much room for your soul to grow. No wonder you survived for so long."
Homura couldn't think of a reply to that. It had been so long since she had any praise, unless you counted Madoka's ignorant but sincere exclamations, and Kyoko's acidic and grudging but also sincere praise. They were constants during the loops. And now this boy was praising her, or at least her soul.
But then again, the soul was what made Homura Akemi who she was. Wasn't it?
Before she could say anything, whether in gratitude or comment, a trilling noise emanated from his cloak. "Crap," he murmured. "The boss lady wants a word."
He fumbled around, before producing a disc with a strange, elaborate symbol on it. It reminded Homura of the Celtic symbols of Britain, though this had a vague figure-of-eight look to it. Or an infinity sign.
He placed it on the bedside table, the symbol face-up. Blue light burst out of it, coalescing into the face of a striking-looking woman. It was hard to tell how old she was. She could have been in her twenties, or in her late forties. Long dark hair framed her haughty face. High cheekbones enhanced her haughty demeanour(5). And yet, when she looked at the pair of them, her face softened. "Paladin Moni," she said, her voice soft, but carrying the undeniable authority of someone in command, "report."
Moni seemed to salute with a mere nod. His voice became clipped. Formal. Almost robotic, certainly military. "Madam President. Infiltration of chronic hysteresis successful. I have identified the two Axes around which it revolves. The specific originator of the time loops is this Magical Girl, Miss Homura Akemi. I am yet to assess the situation completely, but Homura has been advised of the broader nature of the operation. The second Axis is another girl of similar age, first name of Madoka, last name unknown. During the stage of the time loop prior to reset, she was yet to make the Contract, but an Incubator was present. Definitely a candidate. Homura…knows her, I believe."
You can say that again, Homura thought to herself, but she remained silent. For the moment.
The woman addressed as 'Madam President' (was she the Lady Trey mentioned earlier?) sighed, relaxing slightly. "Nothing else?"
"No, sorry. It's only been an hour, relative time, since I was inducted into the time loop. And I'm still feeling nauseous because of that damned Witch." His formal façade dropped, and his face twisted in some mixture of anger and disgust. "Dammit, Lady Trey, I haven't seen something that powerful since Skaro and that fiasco with the Thals(6)."
She peered at him, concerned after he brought that up. "Is it as bad? Or worse?"
"I think it's worse. Not impossible to beat, but…" Moni turned to Homura. "That big Witch…what was its name?"
"Walpurgis Nacht," she replied.
He nodded, returning his gaze to Lady Trey. "There you go. We're talking potential planet-hopping threat here, that's how powerful the Witch is. I saw that thing. It's a force of nature. It'd make the Daleks look desirable by comparison. I may need help."
Lady Trey sighed. Clearly, what she said wasn't going to go down well. "I'm afraid not." As Moni's mouth quivered, about to scream why, Trey said, "The Bloody Hammers are making their move."
This caused Moni some pause for thought. He muttered an expletive.
"Excuse me," Homura asked, "but…if you really are aliens, why do you look like humans? Or speak Japanese for that matter?"
"My species came first, and one of our founding fathers…tampered with the biomorphic principles of the universe(7)," Lady Trey explained patiently. "Most evolved species thus end up looking like us. As for the language, it's a gift of my people. Usually, it requires the presence of one of our time machines to work, but Moni's work requires him to be capable of speaking virtually any language. You seem to be taking this in your stride, Homura."
"I've…seen worse. And weirder." Which was true. Time travel was a fact of life for Homura now, and after knowing Kyubey, meeting human-like aliens was a relief. "And the Bloody Hammers…they're not good, are they?"
"You ever heard of witch-hunters?" Moni said quietly. Homura nodded, remembering tales, especially from Europe, of fanatical inquisitors torturing and executing people who were most likely innocent. "Think that for Witches, only they target Magical Girls as well," he said. "Almost as bad as Daleks."
"Oh, well done, Moni," Lady Trey remarked sarcastically. "Top points for tact."
"She needs to know," Moni snapped back. "Besides, Homura doesn't know what a Dalek is." Turning back to Homura, he said, "Pray you never meet one. Even Incubators have more mercy than a Dalek."
A ridiculous sounding name. Dalek. But the way that both Moni and Trey's expressions darkened when the name was mentioned suggested that behind the ridiculous name lurked a terror that scared even time travelling aliens. Worse than Incubators? Must be really bad, Homura mused.
"So, everyone you could've spared…" Moni began.
"…are trying to run countermeasures against them," Trey said, nodding. "Agent McShane(8) is assisting on site. And in any case, the time loop is still playing havoc with our sensors. Hopefully, it will hinder the Bloody Hammers more than our efforts can. And the Agency(9) is keeping tabs on things."
"…what about…you know, him?" Moni asked quietly. Almost hopefully.
Trey shook her head. "He's wary of us, after that whole fiasco involving the Agency and the Daleks(10). I'm trying to override the blocks he has put on his communication channels. That's the best I can do. But for the moment, Moni, you're on your own. Report to me once you've learned more. I know that you want the situation resolved with few casualties…but the Agency isn't so sure. This one looks like it'll be messy. Good luck, Moni. And you too, Homura," she said, turning her gaze to Homura, before the hologram faded away…
ANNOTATIONS FOR CHAPTER 2
1. This is an oblique, serial-numbers-filed-off summary of the events of Doctor Who: Logopolis, albeit with the Puella Magi Madoka Magica elements added.
2. This date was chosen to make sure Moni was about the same age as the girls. How Logopolitans grew is never stated. We don't even see any females of the species in the story. So I made the assumption that, while long-lived, they mature at the same rate, more or less, as humans.
3. The first truly overt reference to the Whoniverse I have added. Moni's description of Traken is broadly true. It was the homeworld of Nyssa, one of the Doctor's companions, and she ended up being the last of her kind. Her father was also used as a host for the dying Master, the evil renegade mentioned throughout Moni's account.
4. A reference to the Master's explanation of his survival in Dark Eyes 2 suggests that the Celestial Intervention Agency helped revive him.
5. I tried my best to describe the character in question based on the one image of the actress in the role. Again, I'm keeping the secret, but if you look up a picture of Juliet Landau, you'll know what Lady Trey looks like.
6. Another overt Whoniverse reference. The Thals, like the Daleks, are natives of Skaro. However, the mutations affecting their people ran their course in the Thals, and they became beautiful human-like beings. Although mostly pacifistic, they have been forced to fight by the xenophobic Daleks. I thought a Thal Magical Girl to be an interesting and amusing concept. Imagine one of those taking on a squad of Daleks?
7. This is stated in the audio story Zagreus. The founder in question was Rassilon.
8. AKA the Doctor's companion Ace. The Big Finish audios confirms that she works for the Time Lords, as of the release of Gallifrey: Intervention Earth.
9. The Celestial Intervention Agency. A manipulative Time Lord agency that stops at nothing to get its way. The Doctor had worked for them before, often reluctantly. Sometimes he is a reluctant ally to them, at others, he is an enemy to them.
10. An oblique reference to the events of Dark Eyes. Although these took place before Romana's presidency (from Gallifrey's point of view, anyway), I think of them as taking place at about this time for the Doctor. Confusing, isn't it? The upshot is, Moni is asking whether the Doctor is available. Unfortunately, the Doctor is finding it harder to work with the Time Lords, even his old friend Romana…