On the way back, Trazyn noticed that Monika was very quiet. He puts his arm around her and asks: "Are you thinking about the plan again? Changing the timeline means erasing the existence of this one. Yeah, I was thinking about that as well."
"Traz… That's exactly what I was thinking about." She lays her head on Trazyn: "I don't want to sacrifice anyone or anything in this plan… I really don't."
If it is up to the old Trazyn, he will tell Monika about things like there won't be any great deed done without sacrifice. But knowing her for so long, he knows that Monika understands all of that. It's just that her heart cannot take the pain of gaining victory based on the sacrifice of billions. It goes against her fundamental principle: "Honey, I thought about the words that were said from Leonard. Instead of a replacement strategy, why don't we go for a merging method."
What Trazyn said gained Nova's interest: "You mean, we create a new timeline that was never affected by phyrexian and somehow transfer every single human being's consciousness into another?" Nova scoffs: "This is beyond impossible."
"Well, not necessarily that, but what if we just merge the timeline. I know it sounds ridiculous, but we already have a perfect method to do so." Trazyn takes out his notebook: "I have studied the aether energy extensively and I found out that it is an intermediate for literally everything. Through correct usage of the aether energy we can create an outcome that's ideal for us."
Monika thought about it and said excitedly: "We know exactly someone who is able to do this! Lanaya."
"That witch?" Nova glanced at Monika who's on the back seat with Trazyn through the front mirror in the car: "How do you know if she isn't loyal to Glissa?"
"Well… I bonded with her quite well, while I was trapped in my own mind… " Monika is kind of embarrassed about this: "Anyways, I am sure that she will help us."
A few hours later.
"This got to be the craziest plan I have ever heard." Lanaya looks at these two in a very questionable way: "Are you sure you two are sane?"
"Well… We thought that this might be our best bet for a future that would be worth living in." Monika explains: "Traz did the math, it will work."
"How dare you bring math into aether studies?" Lanaya threw away their proposal paper on the ground: "In order to fully merge the timeline you will need an almost unlimited source of aether energy to be able to power the spell."
"This is why we want to ask you if you can get Glissa on board…" Monika picks up the paper: "she said she would sacrifice anything for her people right? We just found a perfect plan that would benefit everyone."
"How naive of you…" Lanaya's face is twisting due to the anger: "After everything you have been through. You, Mother Monika, are willing to forgive the person that caused you all of this pain?"
"Lanaya… please. We are thinking about a possibility for the greater good." Trazyn tries to calm Lanaya down.
"You shut your mouth, greater good? You?" Lanaya has a look of disgust towards Trazyn: "The only reason you are doing this is because Monika means something to you. This is literally the definition of selfish reason."
"Well, she is the greatest good for me." Trazyn replied without thinking. Meanwhile Monika's face is completely red. She lightly scooched Trazyn a bit, reminding him that they are begging Lanaya for help, being cheesy however… maybe it's better to save it for the private time between them.
"..." Lanaya faces palms and stomps her feet a few times: "Fine. I will help you to establish a meeting between you two and Glissa. But be warned, you only have one chance for this."
"That's the only thing we need." Trazyn has a slight smile on his face.
A few days later they commenced the meeting, they managed to arrange it in the old government building of the imperium, which is now abandoned. Trazyn, Monika and Nova on one side while Glissa, Lanaya and Traxes on the other. Before the meeting had already started, the tension in the room was already suffocating for normal people.
Everyone is seated, and then Nova commenced the meeting: "We will now commence the discussion regarding the subject of a potential solution that would benefit both worlds. We believe that your party has already read through the document."
"World merging. This idea is not really out of the blue but merging two worlds that exist on basically the same timeline, now this is a bold move. Not only do you need to replicate the world lines, but you also need to sever the connection between the two worlds."
"Well, that method is rather hard to accomplish. This is why we came up with a better idea. What we will do is to create a branch within a timeline then merge the branched reality into one. This way, it will allow us to minimize the difficulty. We did not technically destroy any timeline, we just created possibilities." Trazyn pulls out an illustration from a holographic projector: "What do you think? Creating a future that would benefit everyone."
"Everything has a cost. And what is your price?" Glissa asks while looking more intimidating than ever.
"You." Trazyn paused for a few seconds to see the ambience of the room, then he continued: "This process will require a tremendous amount of aether energy, and you will be the powering tool for this. But your people will remember you as a savior and a person that dedicated her life for peace among worlds."
"This meeting then is over. All of this is a scheme." Traxes stared into Monika's eyes, she never liked her on day one. Hearing them spitting out an absurd plan like this, for the sake of her loyalty she will not abide by this.
Nova's eye turned blue in an instant.
Glissa however is still thinking about the plan, because the cause of all of the current events is due to the lack of habitat from her original world. But if they can find a way to neutralize the phyrexian corruption, it would be indeed ideal: "What about the phyrexian corruption?"
"The corruption will be neutralized due to the lack of the aether energy purity in the other world." Trazyn replied: "This will also get rid of Monika's spell that you have placed on her."
"So, this is why you are doing all of this." Glissa scoffs, but she quite admires Trazyn's dedication towards Monika: "We will give you guys a reply, a few days later."
Seeing all of them are gone, Nova finally lays her head on the table. Monika gives Nova a nice back massage: "How many times have you done it?"
"2913 times…" Nova sigh: "They are really stubborn. But Trazyn didn't help either." Nova glanced at Trazyn coldly: "Tell me, what did you mean when you said you would sacrifice Glissa's world if it was necessary?"
"Ah… I did not say that. But I did think about that…" Trazyn scratches the back of his head: "Did you try reading their mind?"
"They would've known that immediately. By the emperor that was tiring." But then Nova has a smile on her face: "At least we are now able to do whatever we want. Save the world for that matter."
Monika grabs Trazyns hand and looks him into the eyes: "Traz, if it's just because i am a bit superstitious or insecure. But don't you think our victory came a bit too… Easy?"
"How so? Nova utilized her ability to give us a huge advantage. This is war, honey."
"I understand, it's just i have a feeling that something will go wrong the moment when we execute the plan." Monika insists.
"Honey… We don't have any more choice now… we will merge the timeline and eventually we will find out whether you were right or not." Trazyn pats Monika's head a few times and is off to test run the machine for time travel.
"Minka." Monika calls. And after a few seconds, Minka finally appeared in front of her.
"What do you think?"
"This will work, but your concern is not out of the blue." Minka ponders for a few seconds: "If I have to give out a skeptical opinion, I do not think we are the only ones that thought about the plan. Because whoever got there and managed to merge the timeline will have total control over every aspect of this world. In fact, they can create a world based on their image."
"..." In the end Trazyn is still Trazyn, regardless of what his motive is. Acquisition is in his blood or in this case in the line of code that was eroded into him. But besides Trazyn, Monika still feels like something is off, as if someone has been watching their every move and provides help when they need it. Before traveling, she needs to get rid of this feeling. She needs to talk to a few people beforehand.
After contemplating for a while, Monika finally called Leonard and called up a private meeting: "What more do you want? Little sis." Leonard again greeted her with a patient tone. Surprising if Monika has to be honest.
"I have a feeling that someone was behind the entire plan…Not Trazyn, not Glissa and not you…" Monika gives a small copy of the plan to Leonard: "Can you figure out who it is?"
Leonard looks at Monika strangely, he takes the disk and breaks it in half: "Sis, the fact that you came to me is telling me more information than any gesture. Yet unfortunately i do not know the answer. This disk contains the top secret that should not be leaked to anyone but your own group, even me. So, do yourself a favor. Return to Trazyn, hug him tight and then prepare for the incoming events. This is bigger than all of us."
"Leonard…" Monika could help but feel a bit disappointed, but Leonard is absolutely right. There's no way that she can know, or anyone can know the incoming threat. But usually, she has a really sharp instinct, and it is usually supported with good reasons. All Monika can do is just prepare herself best for anything that would come for her.
"Monika, before you leave." Leonard gives a small piece of paper to her: "This is the access code for all the EXG buildings on this planet. If there's a problem… Come to find me. Even in the past, if you explained it to me well enough, I would help for sure. Also, one more thing to remember, you cannot create another worldline if no major event has happened in the past, trust me, i know a bit about creating alternative worlds."
"Thank you… brother." Monika hugs Leonard tightly and then leaves.
"You certainly spoil Monika." Cecilia came out from the shadow while lighting a cigarette: "This is a supreme command issue… but… I am willing to let it slide." She has a very seductive look on her face.
"Sorry, but I am a bit too exhausted after all of these events. I will do whatever you want me to do in a few days."
"You've grown soft, Leonard. You better watch it."
Trazyn came closer to Nova with a really punchable expression: "Hey~ my beautiful future sister-in-law. What do you think of us going on a co-op mission to retrieve a top-secret item?"
"No." Nova closes her book and looks at Trazyn in an extremely annoyed way.
"Tch. You haven't heard what you can gain from this gig. You see, there is a contest of strength and mind that requires two players to participate. Since, you have a really handy ability. We should definitely participate. Oh, did I mention that you will get a limited edition of a bolt revolver that is signed by the famous admiral Spire himself?" Trazyn looks excited but Nova's dead expression is rather telling him a story.
"You haven't mentioned what you will gain from this." Nova has a judging face on her. There's always a reasoning for Trazyn to do things and usually they are not good reasons.
"I will be having an artifact that has a phyrexian origin, but it will be a really strong conduit for my magic channeling." Trazyn explains: "This will help me connect to the worldline after time travel."
"And this won't affect the time continuum?"
"Well, we are already messing around with the time already. So, who cares if we do a bit more?" Trazyn shrugs.
"..." Nova weighed the pros and cons, after a few more minutes: " Fine, I will do this. But how are you going to acquire the artifact?"
"You will win the grand prize and while everyone is watching you, I will be acquiring the item."
"..." Nova's expression suddenly looked grim, she wanted to reverse the time for a bit, but thinking about how Trazyn normally acts, this is an already improved attitude.
"Oh, did I also mention that you need to dress like Monika. We will be bringing our marriage certificate for registration."
"You little…" Nova wants to hit him in the face, but on second thought. Why doesn't she record everything he just said and then give it to Monika. So her little sister can do the job for her. Nova is very annoyed by the fact that she has to dress up like Monika. Realistically speaking, it's easy. Because they are twins. Hair wise, easy, wig will do the job. Eyes, even easier, implants will do the work. But the difference is the cold aura from Nova, that normal people will immediately notice something wrong the moment she steps in.
"Hmmm. We need to work on how you will talk like Monika and act like her." Trazyn goes into the wardrobe and pulls out a leather jacket and a pair of tight pants: "Let's start with this?"
After a few moments, Nova came out. Size wise they are fine, but there is just something different from a far. Trazyn gave Nova a wig and turned on the eye implant. From the exterior perspective, they are indistinguishable. But the expression on Nova's face ranges from he owns her money to she will find a way to tear through Trazyn's face.
"Can you act… like Monika?" Trazyn hesitated a bit while asking, but Nova seemingly didn't mind.
She puts both of her hands at the back and bits her lips: "Hey, do you want to eat rose cake?" Yet her expression did not change. Trazyn seemingly pinpointed the problem. He tells Nova to smile in a warm way.
"Yea, of course I will. If you die right now, I will surely smile warmly." Nova smiles but in a terrifying way: "By the way, how is this helping to get us the pistol?"
"Well, we do not want to draw any unwanted attention." Trazyn explains: "Your killer scent is too strong for average people…hmmm, why don't you pretend that i am Maverick? Better yet, i can disguise myself as him if you want."
"No thanks, I will overcome this difficulty." Nova took a deep breath and suddenly grabbed Trazyn by the collar: "Traz… let's go somewhere quiet… I want you to read me bedtime stories." Her expression softens and her face turns red as well.
"Well…. There's progress, if you can keep it going then we can start heading to the raffle." Trazyn somehow feels a bit weird hearing those words from Nova. Because this is exactly what Monika would say.
"Traz…" Nova timidly wiggles her body: "I want you to call me private chauffeurs. I hurt my feet while walking… Pretty please?"
"..." Trazyn still remembered how Monika reacted when he used her credit card to buy things for Minka. If Monika ever found out about this…he doesn't even want to think about what will happen. But circumstances given, he has made a bit of fortune himself, but if Monika found out that Trazyn uses his own money to buy a private chauffeur for her sister… He doesn't want to even consider the possibility about this. After thinking about all of this, he kneels on the ground: "Please, lord Nova. I have no possibility to fulfill every request of yours."
Nova looks at him in a condescending way and then calls Monika on the phone: "Hey, sis. Do you mind if Trazyn calls for an expensive chauffeur for a mission?"
"Yea, why wouldn't i be? Tell Trazyn that he can use my card. Make sure that he uses the best service, we cannot let the plan go bad because of lack of details." Monika seemingly is very calm about this request.
"Well? Traz?" Nova has an evil smirk on her face.
"Yes… honey..." Trazyn called for the car and after fifteen minutes, the car arrived.
"Oh…" Nova pretends to fall on the floor: "I am sorry, but my legs don't seem to be working. Traz… Carry me please."
"..." Trazyn suddenly regrets asking Nova for this mission, but they are too far from quitting now. Trazyn carries Nova princess style, he is trying his best to avoid eye contact but that gaze from Nova just keeps making him nervous.
"Trazyn. If you upset Monika, I will kill you on the spot." Nova whispers to Trazyn while being carried. Then she jumped down and entered the car.
The raffle place is not very luxurious, but it certainly has its style. The decorations are well placed and the whole area is well lit. Nova checks around the surroundings, the stage is in the center. Trazyn already gave her a participating ticket and all she needs to do is to announce herself while any numbers are being called. For this, she will need impressive speed and also the ability to rewind time.
Trazyn gives a signal to Nova as he's off to prepare for his work. She walked around and suddenly she saw a familiar face. Maverick is seemingly taking Noel here to participate as well. She tried to avoid them, but the sharp eyes of Noel suddenly saw her.
"Mon Mon!" Noel jumps while waving her hand at Nova.
Nova wants to run away but she doesn't want to draw any unnecessary attention than there already is. She approached them while avoiding conversation as much as possible.
"You seemed quiet." Maverick said: "Are you ok? Red."
"I am, it's just the mission that has been getting my attention recently." Nova tries her best at cutting off a conversation.
"Yea, I can tell. We are trying to win Nova the grand prize, as we hope that would help with her anxiety." Maverick said while looking at the stage, the announcement was almost ready.
Nova didn't say anything back, but deep inside she is very pleased. However, she needs to elongate this as long as possible for Trazyn. So, she has to win.
"Hey, red." Maverick asks quietly: "Is there anything Nova specifically likes? Because I want to make her happy. This pistol I do not think is going to be enough."
"Ah…not sure."
"Come on. I will treat you to the exclusive rose cake that's from the other side of the city." Maverick is really desperate: "I really don't want to screw up the opportunity."
Oh, Maverick, isn't it ironic that I am also looking for the same thing… Nova thought but then the raffle started. She activated her power after the first number was announced. Something is wrong, time isn't reversing. She looked around and everything seemed to be ordinary.
The second number was announced, same result. Nova realizes something is wrong, she starts to fade out of the crowd, she needs to find the person or things that's responsible for making her powerl useless.
"Red, where are you going?" Maverick asks.
"Toilet." Nova said and then proceeded to leave.
When Nova is out of the crowd, Maverick is right behind her: "Who are you?" he asks.
"I am Monika? What about it?" Nova is still pretending.
"You are lying, you act like Nova and talk like her as well. But one thing I know is that Nova will not pretend to be her sister to attend an event like this." Maverick is about to pull out his gun.
"Fine." Nova decides to come clean; she needs someone to help her to find the person here: "Yes, you are right. It's me, I am not pretending to be Monika because I want to. I need to help Trazyn for the sake of the mission. But someone is nullifying my power for some reason. Can you help me find them?"
"Yes, of course." Maverick pulls out a guest list: "We can start by reading each person's mind."
Nova took a deep breath, it is not easy to read dozens of people's minds at the same time, but she has done similar things before. After staring at the front for a few more minutes, she finally looked less tense and marked a person on the list: "Wednesday. I should've known it was him."
"Who's this person?" Maverick asks.
"A literal god. I haven't seen him in years, but my plan cannot succeed if he's disrupting it." Nova and Maverick then found Wednesday on a rather short notice: "Hello, Mr. Wednesday." Nova is keeping a neutral tone.
"Oh, hey.. And this must be your handsome looking companion." Wednesday is still as slick as ever. Acting smooth among people.
"Let's cut to the banter, we are here because you are disrupting my work." Nova steps forward.
"Oh? I have no idea what you're talking about? I mean you dressing like your sister is something amusing to see. How is Ms. Monika anyway ?"
"Stop avoiding the question." Nova's tone turned harsher by the second.
Seeing this Maverick steps in and pats down Nova's aggression: "Mr. Wednesday, we are asking you because we suspect that you are disrupting the time field in this area. Nova tries to use the ability to-"
"Cheat?" Wednesday has a smile on his face: "This is exactly why I did that. To prevent people from cheating."
Nova frowns: she doesn't want to cause a kerfuffle, but if she doesn't draw the public's attention, Trazyn will… Suddenly Nova heard the crowd start cheering and somehow caused a kerfuffle on its own. She looked closely and realized Noel somehow won the grand prize.
When Nova turns back to Wednesday's direction he's already nowhere to be found: "That man…" Nova hits the wall. She is not happy to be played.
After the crowd had settled down, Noel found Nova and Maverick sitting outside of the building: "Mav! I've won!" Noel takes out the display case and gives it to Maverick: "I told you I have the power of luck on my side!"
"Mon mon, you don't look very happy….?" Noel is about to pat Nova's head, but Nova immediately hits Noel's hand away. She takes off her wig and looks very unsatisfied about something.
Noel is rather terrified within the few seconds of how the events turned out: "Is that Nova…?"
"Yep. And she's going to act stubborn again…" Maverick slightly shakes his head and then tries his best to calm Nova down.
Trazyn finally came out from the building and looking happier than ever, he had got the crystal and seeing Maverick was holding the collectible, he assumed that Nova also got what she wanted. If he had to call it a win, it wouldn't have been too much.
"Hey-" Trazyn immediately got slapped by Nova: "Why…?" He doesn't understand why Nova is acting like this.
"Nova!" Maverick stood in front of her: "You need to apologize now!"
"Maverick…" Nova glared at him and then looked away, he's right. She acted out: "I am sorry for slapping you after you tricked me into coming here."
"He did not trick you." Maverick explains: "I wanted to make you feel more relaxed before the mission. So, I asked Trazyn to help me to prepare for things."
At this moment, Monika arrived at this place, she had her meetings with various people and finally done with them. She sees Trazyn covering his left cheek while Nova is looking rather… hostile. Her inner calculation already did the math for her: " Nova?! Why did you harm Trazyn?"
"Honey… don't…" Trazyn tries to calm Monika down beforehand, but she just walks directly past him and looks Nova into the eyes. She honestly had a weird feeling when she first saw Nova's clothing, the only difference is their hair color.
"I already apologized to him." Nova replied to Monika and had a rather arrogant look on her face.
"Is this how you repay him? After him getting you a private chauffeur and…" Monika glanced at the collectible pistol: "He got you Spire's pistol?! And you are treating him this badly? You are insufferable!" Monika grabs Trazyn's hand and then heads off from the scene.
For once, Nova felt regretful after hitting Trazyn. She looks at the couple walking away while having a guilty feeling in her heart.
Noel remained silent the entire time, she didn't want to be dragged into the Terra sister's war again. Not a big fan of that honestly, but she couldn't help but let out a small gasp when Monika stood Nova down: "So...cool..."
"Honey…" After walking for a few minutes of complete silence, Trazyn finally decided to speak out. The look on Monika's face is rather… rare. And yet, he can't help but be stunned by how…handsome she looks right now.
"Traz." Monika finally turned and looked Trazyn in the eyes with her serious face: "You can't let Nova walk over you like this." But then she let out a sigh: "Sorry… it's just i was a bit jealous that you guys were having fun… Nova is really a jerk, I thought she would treat you less harshly over time, but she is still unbelievably mean." Monika clenches her fist due to anger. But Trazyn held her hand gently.
"Monika… I have never been protected my entire life…And yet…with you, it felt… nice." Trazyn slightly adjusted Monika's bang, it got messy because Monika was angry.
Monika's face suddenly turned bright red, she hit Trazyn on the shoulder, at first nothing happend but a few seconds later suddenly his entire arm fell on the ground: "Oh no… Traz, are you ok?" She bends down and grabs the arm, while looking really guileful: "Sorry… I forgot that I got my enhancement back..."
"It's alright." Trazyn fused back his arm in an instant: "I honestly like when you are like this more… somehow it feels safer when i am with you…"
"If you keep talking, I will get mad." However, Monika walks in front of Trazyn and slightly swings her hair with her hand: "I will always be here for you, Traz." Her grin is heartwarming and reassuring,
While those two are having a moment, Nova, Maverick and Noel are having a small role play session. Nova is the type of person that would prepare for literally everything. Which includes requiring a simulation for a formal apology scenario to Trazyn.
"This is beyond psychotic but whatever." Maverick is down to clowning a bit, he's got nothing to do tonight. And if this helps him to understand Nova's thinking process, then… he's seeing this as a win-win scenario. Noel, however, on the other hand didn't even get her chance to protest.
They found a quiet cafe and then started to practice for the apology: "Trazyn, I am sorry for hitting you. Even you deserve every bit of it."
"Praise the emperor that you decided to practice beforehand, if you say this to him. That for sure will severely damage your relationship with red. That was terrible." Maverick is astonished at Nova's lack of awareness in terms of human interaction.
Nova glanced at Noel, her expression as if telling Noel to start acting like it. Noel didn't get it at first, but Maverick whispered to her and explained the plan. Noel suddenly has a smirk on her face and clears her throat: "Nova! How could you say this to him?! I will not talk to you ever again!" Noel points her finger at Nova. Honestly, the acting is on point.
"No ! I can't do this!" Nova hit the table so hard that it made a crack. She stood up and started running away.
"What just happened?" Noel asks Maverick, he doesn't rely. It is obvious that the current stress and pressure got the better of Nova. She's freaking out, honestly, who wouldn't if they had to travel back in time to merge timelines?
Nova runs out of the cafe; she then heads right into an alley where there's nobody: "Come out." Nova said.
"Greetings. Human." A mechanical figure came out from the shadow. It has one single eye in the center shining green light: "I am aware that you have seen my message?"
"If you mean by killing the people in front of me as a message. Then you are in serious trouble." Nova has this familiar feeling again… This thing is a necron.
"Orikan the diviner. At your service." Orikan bowed and fixed his monocle mechanical eye on her: "You must be the champion of this realm. I presume you speak for your entire planet?"
"Not anymore." Nova puts her hand on her holster, ready to shoot through Orikan's face if needed.
"But you still have influence, convince the bastard to stop whatever he's doing, or the planet will face punishment." Orikcan swung his cape and disappeared in an instant.
"Nova." Maverick and Noel came out from the restaurant, they noticed something was wrong because Nova never throws a tantrum. If she wants to do something, it is already 70% done because Nova will always do her part: "Are you ok?"
Nova nods… She's thinking about Orikan's word… Bastard…when she thought about it, the image of Trazyn directly jumped out from her head again. She couldn't help but took a deep breath: "It's always him…" She muttered out.
Noel and Maverick glanced at each other; they all knew who she was referring to. But they need to somehow change Nova's mind, as the fate of the world kind of depends on how tonight is going to go.
"Maverick. Can you stay for a bit, i have something i need to say." Nova looks him in the eyes then glances at Noel, as if it's telling her to leave if she wants to keep her head.
Noel immediately got the message and then pretends that she has something important to attend to. When Noel is gone, Nova grabs Maverick's hand and finds a park bench. They sit beside each other, just when things start going quiet Nova suddenly moves a bit closer to Maverick, making their legs touch each other.
"I don't think it's fair for you. Everyone is putting all the responsibility on you. You deserve a normal life, you know what? Screw the mission. We will go somewhere that no one will find." Maverick stood up and looked at Nova full of determination.
For one moment… Nova's heart was tempting. For how many nights she dreams of a possibility, where she can just simply disappear one day. No more responsibility and no more expectation. She stood up as well and gave Maverick a small kiss on the lips. Her eyes lost the usual seriousness, instead she was just like any other girl on this planet that's in love: "Thank you, Mav. Trust me, I will hold myself together. As long as you are here for me." She puts her head on his chest and carefully listens to his heartbeat. Before whenever Maverick wants to hold Nova, he could always feel the tension on her muscles as if she is rejecting him. But this time, she is intentionally trying to lean on Maverick. Maybe from the difficult times, it is good to be able to rely on someone.