34 Thomas Street, New York City, U.S.A.
The meeting room wasn't anything special – there were dozens like it in this building, any of which could handle this meeting. But after today's incident, it happened to be the only one that was reasonably close to the heads of staff that wasn't currently filled with scattered papers, blood, cleaner fluid, or the corpses of things best left unspoken.
The sound of papers being skimmed through filled the office as dozens of documents were pulled out, examined, then set aside for filing. Each told of a fantastical and questionably believable tale, ranging from UFO sightings to claims regarding the mothman and even one about how the government was using tap water to mind control people. Even for this group, some of the documents seemed pretty stupid.
But there were a few papers of actual note in here. And now it was time to discuss them.
"So," asked the redhead sitting at the head of the table, "can we begin our discussion?"
There were no objections.
"Good. First off, and disregarding today's incident, where should we begin?"
"The Jasper Incident, please," answered a dark haired woman – one of the researchers.
"Very well, Ms. Underhill. Two days ago, we received reports regarding extraterrestrial activity on Earth. This is not an unknown – the area has been designated as an asylum site for a group of extraterrestrial autonomous robotic organisms, of which six are permanent residents. However, we have received information indicating that several additional alien species have made their way to Earth to expand their own clandestine war. One of these races is a sluglike species of neural parasite and is intent on enslaving mankind. The incident has effectively dragged us into this war as well."
"Correct," confirmed another researcher. "Though you neglected to mention the teenagers involved in this conflict."
"That was intentional, Pope – I'm not yet sure how to handle things there."
"I see. Though I would like to note that the teens from Nevada appear to have multiple familial connections to other paranatural events and phenomena.
"Such as?"
"Well, the eldest is already known to be the child of Agent Wildcat, who is currently being redeployed to Nevada alongside his charges to better maintain their security. Additionally, his aunt is part of another group of interest that we are assisting in investigating for the United Nations Committee of Extraterrestrial Activity."
"Figures. And the other two?"
Underhill was the one to answer. "The Japanese exchange student has two siblings, the elder of which, her brother, appears to be involved in one of the, ahem, application incidents."
"You mean the one involving a phone app that shows how you will die?"
"No – his is unrelated to the Septentrion and Triangulum incidents."
"Oh. Well, what about the sister."
"She's involved with one of the…Magical Girl incidents. And forgive me, but I have trouble saying that with a straight face."
"How is it that our Japanese compatriots have less budget than us while handling this many incidents?"
"I believe they experienced cuts due to the issues surrounding the Winter Olympics," replied a bespectacled man.
"..That makes sense. What about the Hispanic child?"
"Two of his cousins live in the same town as another extraterrestrial, who is currently under bureau observation pending further evaluation."
"Further?"
Pope looked at the documents again, then sighed. "Said alien has shown clear intent to conquer Earth but…he's pathetic – the transmissions we've managed to intercept have pegged him as incompetent and a threat to his own allies. It seems that he was sent here on a snipe hunt to ensure that he didn't ruin their other plans."
"Do we have anything related to that alien?"
"A large cybernetic brain that was founded in a crash twenty years ago, which willing allowed itself to be detained by the Bureau."
"Send me that file for further review. And I believe that encompasses the entirety of the known quantities from the Jasper Incident. So, moving on, which incident should be discussed next?"
"The ones in Arizona, please," answered an English-accented man in his late forties.
"As you wish, Collins. On July 21st, an incident occurred in Arizona – around the South Mountain area, to be specific. Initially believed to be a possible magnetic weapon or magnetism related Altered World Event, the results turned out far different – the instigator was a magnetic anomaly that allows two-way transit between different time periods. Quite literally a time portal. This one appears to have been linked between the present day and the Oligocene period. The incident was contained successfully by non-Bureau agents, but more have been reported and…Okay, Collins, you said that the British have records of this happening before, correct? And that they have a team dealing with this right now?"
"Affirmative. As for why the Bureau did not act earlier, following what is known as a convergence event, anomaly activity died down – it was uncertain if it would ever rise to worrisome levels again."
"Then how come the civilian leading this team approached the Department of Defense a few years back with claims relating to time travel…or an offer for medical breakthroughs relating to prehistoric life?! Or that he's working on a real life version of Jurassic Park?"
Collins thought for a moment, then shrugged. "At this point, I'd say luck."
"Figures. At least that pet project of his helped locate and contain a place of power. Now, if there is nothing else to discuss, can we move on to the French Incident."
No objections were raised.
"Excellent. Now, we can get to the final topic of our discussion: three days ago, we received a report from an inactive Bureau agent in California. Her report was extremely Curt: 'The Clock at Kadic is turning again, someone is searching for Hopper, and Carthage must be destroyed.' Now forgive me, but the only reference to Carthage in recent Bureau history is dated before the turn of the millennium, so would anyone be willing to fill me in on the details?"
"I would," spoke a man in a blue suit.
"…I'm sorry, are you new around here."
"It's fine. I am Antoine Fourier, Bureau liaison to the Commission d'enquete sur les Affaires Paranormales – that is to say, the Committee for the Investigation of Paranormal Affairs, the French counterpart to the FBC. Their higher ups were also informed of this development and asked me to be flown in to discuss things with you."
"Oh. Well, can you explain what Carthage is?"
"That would take far longer than the time allocated for this meeting, so I will merely give the abridged version: Project Carthage was a project during the final quarter of the 20th century that was originally intended for computer research, that eventually switched toward communications and how to control them."
"And yes, this change in focus was intended to weaponize the project," added Pope.
"The lady is correct. As for why the project was brought to our attention, during its development, researcher Waldo Schaeffer used the software to create a literal virtual world known as Lyoko, which could be accessed via scanners connected to a supercomputer located in a factory under Bologne-Bilancourt."
"I'm guessing that this computer could do other things?"
"According to our best research, which included several lucky coincidences, it could allow one to travel back in time. Mentally, at least."
Murmus went through the gathered staff, but the woman at the head of the table – the Director of this group – silenced them all when she cleared her throat. "Explain. Now."
"Several researchers working on the project reported feeling a sense of deja-vu on several occasions, and sometimes Schaeffer would react to some questions as if he had already been asked them before. The number of times this occurred was large enough that simple coincidence was ruled out as an option. And the supercomputer was recorded as giving off energy readings that did not match any known time on Earth – excluding, as it turns out, those relating to anomalies."
"Good to know. So, what happened to the project?"
"Unfortunately, the project attracted the attention of unscrupulous individuals who sought to use it for there own means. I'm not sure how they found her, but they kidnapped Anthea Schaeffer, Waldo's wife, and demanded his compliance if he wanted to see her again. He did initially comply with their orders, but eventually defied them and worked to destroy Project Carthage. As for his fate, that remains unclear – we do know that he went into hiding with his daughter, Aelita, but where is unknown. As for the Supercomputer, it is believed the reactor ran out of fuel and shut down a decade ago, taking it offline likely indefinitely."
"You're sure?"
"The computer used a nuclear reactor that was programmed to magnetize the computer system if it remained on standby too long. Unless Waldo did something to stop this, the computer should now be useless."
"Well, that's a relief. But I would hope the French are still monitoring this situation."
"They are. Your agent reported that someone had started snooping for information on Schaeffer again, which was enough to reopen the case."
"Let's just hope wherever he is, he's living in peace with his daughter."
"I share your sentiments."
"Thanks. So, in review, we're dealing with multiple counts of time travel and aliens, all happening at the same time, in addition to a general rise in 'background' level paranatural phenomena. Is that correct?"
"It is, Jesse," replied Pope.
"….I really regret accepting custody of my brother's kids now."
"It is what it is, Ms. Faden," was Underhill's reply. "At least they don't know that their newest neighbors come from another universe, or that the father is a spy, the mother an assassin, the daughter a telepath, and the dog a seer."
"They DO know that, Underhill – they were reading those documents when they were in a safe room during today's incident."
"Oh. Well, at least it should acclimate them to the coming madness."
"I hope so. Speaking of which, going forward, do you have any other suggestions beyond 'monitor and contain as needed'?"
"Do you, Miss Faden?"
"Just one."
"And what's that, Jesse?"
Smiling at Emily Pope, Jesse Faden took in a deep breath. "If all these things start colliding with each other, and everyone gets clued in on the smoke and mirrors of the masquerades that everyone else is living in, we bring them in. All of them. And then we tell them what we can. Because the more people we have in the know, the more we can coordinate to handle this madness. Any objections?"
None were raised.
"Thank you for your support. Meeting dismissed."
Acknowledging the end of the meeting, those gathered in the room gradually filtered out until only Jesse was left – even Emily had other tasks to attend to. Only once she was alone did Ms. Faden allow herself to slump over in exhaustion, the weight of the last few weeks taking its toll on her. Had she gone through defeating the Hiss and the Third Thing only to fail here?
Any further introspective questions were cut off by the sound of an old phone ringing. Wordlessly, Jesse pulled out the bakelite hotline and put it to her ear.
"So, how did the meeting go?"
"As good as it could have. Are you behind this mess?"
"No – our plans were not crafted with this in mind."
"Forgive me if I am not inclined to believe that – though I am inclined to believe this is why you invited my nieces and nephews over today."
"That is correct – we are expecting an influx of younger/more pliable acquaintances/possible subordinates to be coming in soon, so it was deemed necessary to find those who could help ease the new arrivals in."
"Well, this better pay off."
"Agreed."
XxXxX
AN: At last, we are here.
The Ultimate Wildlife Sanctuary
Those who contain anomalies
Robots in Disguise Aided by Morphing Humans
Warriors Protecting a Digital World aided by a half-program girl
All being watched by a Director who recently took in two nieces and a nephew ensnared with a conspiracy of smoke and flame.
Now, at last, given some clarity.
Now, at last, the Path to Coalescence is revealed.
So, here's everything explained:
A while back when I was focused on writing Prehistoric Park: Returned to Extinction and Conquest in the Name of Advancement (now known as Victory Through Unity), I entertained the idea of them being in a shared multiverse, coexisting with minor crossovers. Then I realized that the protagonist of the second story (who is a shameless SI) would need a reason to come back to that universe beyond just liking dinosaurs. So I made Primeval Paradox and included references to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series in there, so that there would be something to drag my SI back in. But as the years drew on, and I developed both stories, I realized that I wanted the universe started in Prehistoric Park: Returned from Extinction to stand on its own, and that made me realize I wanted to flesh out that world more. So, gradually, I started thinking about which other series would coexist with this one, and thus the Coalescenceverse, as I call it, took shape. Now, at last, I have laid out all the major pieces on the board, and must only prepare them for the big play.
Now, currently, there are five stories in play – Prehistoric Park: Returned from Extinction (about to undergo a reboot to bring things in line with the rest of this universe), Primeval Paradox, Shifters of Flesh and Metal, Code Grid, and The Baleful Bureau. I've already got more planned (Shifters of Flesh and Metal will have two sequels – Homecoming and Ties that Bind), while the other stories already have more "episodes" planned, each of which will round out existing characters and introduce new ones.
I think I've had this author's note go on long enough, but I'd last treat: an outline for how this portion of the super-crossover will progress:
Homecoming: Team Prime and the Animorphs make plans for their formal alliance, but the unexpected arrival of Jacks father throws a wrench into things, as does his new charges. With secrets of his own to hide, and MECH making their own moves, will our heroes be able to make their way out of this mess?
Ties That Bind: Weeks have passed since Jack's father arrived, and Unit E has now been expanded to include a truly wonderous set of individuals. But when Raf and Miko's extended families decide to visit and bring in yet more oddities and problems of their own, the team faces events they'd never dreamed of. Will they be able to keep all their secrets hidden, or will the world learn that mankind is not alone?
Coalescence: A worldwide set of Paranatural Events leaves the veil on the paranatural world on the verge of tearing, leading Jesse to decide on the creation of a new paranatural coordination group. Faced with threats unlike any before, a coalition of unlikely heroes must unite to protect those they know, and keep the world from edging toward catastrope.
Read and Review at your leisure. NO FLAMES! This is Flameal15k, signing off!
