Chapter XI: Evidences

“Excellent. Here’s the plan,” Alice announced with calm authority. “First—I’ll drive. Second—we head to the weapons store at 718 Madison Avenue. Remy, Ramona, and I will gather arms while Bart and Eva keep watch for hostiles. Third—we proceed to JFK Airport. We may encounter military personnel whose gear can help us locate the overloaded ley lines. Any questions?”

Remy and Ramona exchanged glances but said nothing—acceptance in their silence.

“Good,” Alice nodded. “Bart, once we’re mobile, report the ley line findings to them. They need to understand how 2203 works. That knowledge might become critical.”

Eva frowned, visibly displeased with Alice’s decision to involve Remy and Ramona in sensitive information-sharing. Still, she picked up Schrödinger and followed the others back to the SUV.

Before leaving Central Park, a strange sight froze them in place. Trees began to stir—not from the wind, but with intent. Humanoid figures formed from bark and root stepped from the trunks, moving with eerie grace. These Dryads tended to the animals around them, feeding and comforting them. It became clear—they had freed the zoo creatures. They paid the group no mind, appearing only as they were preparing to depart.

The group said nothing. They left the Dryads to their quiet ritual.

The store was in disarray. Though the lights still worked, it had clearly been ransacked. Racks were overturned, display cases shattered. But not all the inventory was gone—likely due to the rushed evacuation.

Remy and Ramona worked quickly, sweeping up various firearms, ammunition, and bladed weapons, packing them into crates and loading the SUV.

Alice moved with clinical precision. She selected a compact handgun and holstered it, then headed to the clothing section. Her current outfit was badly scorched, the remnants of her old lab coat already discarded.

She changed into a sleek, practical set: a black Evad Flex shirt beneath an Eclipse Gravite Windblock vest, Eclipse Hook Riptech trousers, and tall brown tasselled boots. She paused only to preserve her black blouse with red rose floral patterns, storing it carefully in her Gizmo’s inventory.

As she moved to leave, a chess set caught her eye. She took a moment—then added a compact roll-up version to her inventory.

Regrouping with Remy and Ramona, Alice gave the word to move out.

Alice took the wheel, guiding them over the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, down the Upper Roadway, and eventually merging onto I-495 E. It was a treacherous seven-hour journey.

Abandoned cars, roadblocks, and detritus choked every junction. They paused only once—to rest, refuel, and scavenge supplies. Eventually, they found a clear stretch of road, allowing a brief moment of silence and smoother driving.

But as they left the heart of Manhattan and entered Queens, the ground began to tremble.

Massive earthquakes wracked the cityscape. Entire blocks twisted unnaturally, distorting into kaleidoscopic whirls of colour and physics-defying terrain. Skyscrapers buckled, floated, then crashed down in kaleidoscopic loops of time-stretched collapse. Through it all, towering Void entities—13 metres tall—wandered Manhattan like dream-born titans.

The SUV accelerated.

***

A storm began to howl as they crossed into Forest Hills. Lightning forked across the sky, illuminating makeshift barricades of abandoned vehicles forming a defensive perimeter.

Alice narrowed her eyes at the blockade but remained silent. She took an exit down Ascan Ave, aiming to reconnect with Union Turnpike. The route seemed untouched—for now.

But just as they passed a grocery store near Union Turnpike and Crescent Apartments, a thunderous crack shattered the driver's side window.

Alice coughed, eyes wide with disbelief. Blood dripped from her lips.

She looked down to see a lance driven through her ribcage.

“ALICE!” Bart shouted, reaching across the seat.

Before he could touch her, his seatbelt pulled him back with violent force, locking into place. Remy swerved hard to control the SUV, but it was too late.

The vehicle was struck—rammed from the side.

It flipped.

Once. Twice.

Metal screeched. Glass shattered.

And then, stillness.

***

Eva jolted awake with a gasp, disoriented. The SUV was upside down. Shards of glass glinted in the dim flashes of lightning.

Outside, the storm had grown supernatural—roaring with eerie thunder that sounded more like voices screaming from the void.

Summoning her M.J.O.L.N.I.R., Eva slashed through her seatbelt. She dropped to the ceiling-turned-floor, gritting her teeth as broken glass dug into her elbow pad. Crawling, she reached Bart’s window and kicked it open.

Remy and Ramona had already escaped, coughing and bruised but mobile. Their side had taken the worst of the hit. Still, they pulled themselves free and stumbled out into the chaos.

Combatants—likely soldiers—moved in coordinated yet frantic formations, battling smoky, formless entities with no visible effect. Thunderclouds in human form.

Another squad rushed to Remy and Ramona, dragging them toward a nearby apartment complex turned makeshift stronghold.

Eva crawled toward Bart. He was unconscious, bleeding from a head wound but alive. She cut him free and gently slid him toward the exit.

Then she turned.

Alice.

Pinned to the driver’s seat.

A black lance skewered her chest, piercing through the seat and deep into the SUV’s frame. Schrödinger clawed at it, fangs gnashing in desperation.

Eva joined him, raising her M.J.O.L.N.I.R. to slice it—but the weapon sparked on contact.

It didn’t cut.

“What?” Eva whispered.

It was a M.J.O.L.N.I.R. too—just like hers.

There was only one solution: find the wielder and make them dematerialise the weapon.

Another lightning bolt struck nearby, nearly hitting the SUV.

No time.

She worked fast, carving a square around the lance’s tip embedded in the door frame. Using her boot, she forced the makeshift panel free. Schrödinger climbed to her shoulder, watching intently.

Eva smashed the windshield, freeing the rest of the lance. She was about to cut the seat when—a blur—

Someone grabbed her waist.

Lifted her.

Ran.

In seconds, she was yards away, heart pounding with shock and fury.

A squad carried Bart toward safety. The SUV exploded behind them in a blaze of lightning.

“Eva, we need your help,” the figure said urgently. “An Exosphere-Magnitude Void is breaching the sector. It’s urgent.”

Eva’s head snapped toward the voice.

Combat suit. Tactical gear. Outdated, yet recognisably from the 2203 timeline.

“Lucy?!” Eva gasped.

Lightning ripped the sky again—closer this time.

Across the street, where the grocery store once stood, an entity emerged from the void: a black, amorphous storm of smoke, its upper half vaguely humanoid, clad in what resembled a Greek warrior helmet. With each blow, it scattered the defenders.

As thunder cracked once more, the entire environment shifted. The city block faded. Reality distorted. In an instant, Eva, Lucy, the apartment behind them, and the battlefield transformed.

They now stood in a daylight-lit desert—dry, colourless, windless. Yet the temperature hadn’t changed. As if the storm had simply worn a different mask.

Eva’s lips tightened.

She turned to Lucy.

“How on Earth did you manage to get yourself into such a dire situation?”

***

Wind roared past Lucy’s ears as she raced toward Apophis’s weak points. All units were in position—except Eva. To Lucy’s disbelief, Eva had abandoned her assigned zone, launching her M.J.O.L.N.I.R. with impossible speed before leaping off Apophis’s back.

Instinct took over.

Lucy activated her SDN Equipment.

Time blurred as she embedded her M.J.O.L.N.I.R. simultaneously with Newt’s, Tetsuo’s, and Eva’s. The impact forced Apophis to convulse violently.

Then—light erupted from the earth. Pillars exploded upward. In the blink of an eye, Tetsuo appeared in front of her, eyes wide with panic. He shoved her aside.

A moment later, everything went black.

***

Alarms blared.

“WARNING: SDN EQUIPMENT DAMAGED! 0% OPERATIONAL INTEGRITY!”

The message looped, rousing Lucy from unconsciousness.

Her vision cleared—only to find herself locked in a struggle with a grotesque creature looming over her.

It had the head of a doll, its skin pocked with coral-like holes, its mouth stretched wide in a deranged grin. Its asymmetrical eyes glared down at her, twitching and drooling, trying to swallow her head whole.

Worse—more of them were coming.

Melting, clown-like beings dragged their waxen limbs toward her in sadistic glee.

Her M.J.O.L.N.I.R. was missing.

But a new display flickered into existence: a yellow, semi-transparent interface—not from her Gizmo, nor her SDN.

LEVEL UP INTERFACE ACTIVATED

Name: Lucy Drakenstein
Class: Artificer
Level: 28
Health: 128/200
Stamina: 48/200

Skills:
• M.J.O.L.N.I.R. Mastery: Lv. 4
• SDN Equipment Proficiency: Lv. 4
• Stealth: Lv. 5
• Combat Prowess: Lv. 4

Status Effects:

Fatigued

Minor Concussion

Available Skill Points: 2

Choose an Action:

Allocate Skill Points

Access Inventory

Use Item

Analyse Enemy

She wasted no time.

Allocate Skill Points → Combat Prowess [+] [+]

The surge of energy was immediate. Her limbs responded faster. The Biohazard felt lighter. She threw it off and sent it crashing into the others, scattering them like broken marionettes.

New Ability Unlocked: Schedulers

Description: Brief manipulation of perceived time. Slow reality around the user by 85%. Enhances Crit Rate, Crit Damage, and Headshot Multiplier by 15%. Successful kills extend duration and regenerate stamina. All physical stats boosted by 50% for 6 seconds. Cooldown: 26 seconds.

Note: Obsoletes SDN Equipment Proficiency.

Accept?
Yes / No

“Yes,” Lucy whispered.

A familiar heat surged through her. Time slowed. The interface responded like an extension of her mind.

Quest Update: Survive the Biohazards Ambush
Objective: Defeat Biohazards (0/10)

The air shimmered with golden light. Twelve robotic arms materialised from nothing, assembling a longsword midair. Piece by piece, the grid snapped into place—metal forming itself like origami.

They presented the weapon to her.

Summoning ‘Excalibur’...
Scheduler Active

The world crawled.

Lucy raised the blade.

And she struck.

45 → 46

Stat Increases:
Strength: 140 → 150
Agility: 145 → 155
Intelligence: 140 → 150
Endurance: 140 → 150

Reward Unlocked:
Veteran Zombies Fighter
• Medibot Regeneration Bandage ×3

Lucy materialised one bandage and applied it. She stored the remaining two in her Gizmo.

“Queens,” she realised, scanning the map. “St. John Cemetery.”

She blinked. “Did that damn snake baseball-bat me and Tetsuo across New York?”

Her thoughts snapped to her squad.

Search: Evangeline Weiss – Unable to Connect
Capt. Newton Sullivan – Located: 0.2 miles south

She sprinted.

Scheduler activated.

The cemetery was littered with corpses—some Biohazards, some only recently reburied.

She found Newt facing away. Slowly, she approached.

“Captain?” she called, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

He turned. No—he twisted.

His head rotated 180 degrees.

His body pocked with holes.

He screeched—inhuman.

Scheduler ON.

One vertical slash.

Silence.

Lucy exhaled. “Sorry, Captain… not sorry.” She sheathed her blade. “I hate jump scares.”

Tetsuo’s Gizmo – Located: 0.6 miles east

Lucy sprinted through the gravestones, entering Metropolitan Avenue.

She arrived at a convenience store on 8944 Metropolitan Ave.

It was oddly clean—dimly lit, untouched despite the chaos outside.

Passing the counter, her instincts screamed.

She swung—

Blocked.

A blackened hand gripped her blade.

From the shadows emerged a woman—tall, gaunt, with wild blond hair strewn with feathers. Her skin cracked like dry clay, fungal patterns etched into her pale frame. Her eyes were shut, stitched closed. Yet her presence was… alien.

Neither Void nor human.

“Is this how thou repayest mine kindness, for tending and shielding thy inmost part of thee, by slaying me, Intruder?” she asked in an archaic accent.

Lucy blinked. “What?”

Translation Interface Activated
“Is this how you repay my kindness for treating and protecting your innermost segment of your whole by slaying me, Intruder?”

Lucy groaned. “Still no idea what she’s talking about.”

The woman pointed to the shelves.

Tetsuo lay unconscious near the fridges—but unharmed.

Lucy rushed to his side.

The woman appeared again beside her, voice soft. “He’s slumberin, for now, Intruder.”

“What do you want?” Lucy asked flatly. “And stop calling me ‘Intruder’.”

The woman smiled, hands clasped.

From nothing, she conjured a long spear.

She handed it to Lucy.

"Tell Paradox to be ready. She is coming. When the hour strikes zero, use this spear—‘Destiny’—to mark the beginning of a new day. No seconds more, no seconds less. I shall feast on her carrion, afterward.”

Lucy stared at her, unsure what to make of it. Still, she stored the spear.

A crow fluttered in, perching on the woman’s shoulder.

She cooed to it:

"How is it, ye ravens—whence are ye come now with beaks all gory, at break of morning? Carrion-reek ye carry, and your claws are bloody..."

Then she vanished in a storm of feathers.

Tetsuo stirred.

“Lucy? Where are we?”

“In a convenience store in Queens.”

“QUEENS?!!! WHY THE HELL—”

“Volume,” Lucy snapped, covering her ears.

“Sorry,” Tetsuo muttered, then paused. “Did I… push you off Apophis?”

“You did,” she deadpanned.

“Oh. Yeah. That snake got us good.”

He spotted a soft, white snack and opened the package.

He bit down.

“Mmm. What is this?”

“Marshmallow,” Lucy answered. She joined him.

They sat in silence, chewing on century-old sweets, until the doorbell jingled.

Two figures entered.

Lucy and Tetsuo immediately recognised one—Paul Sievernich.

The other—a broad-shouldered man in his late forties with amber eyes and streaked brown hair—was unfamiliar.

He wore a tactical suit, his aura sharp.

“Lucy, Tetsuo,” Paul said sternly. “This is Commander Arthur Brimstone.”

Brimstone stepped forward. “You two vanished after the Apophis engagement. Are you alright?”

Lucy stood, brushing off her coat. “We’re alive. Thrown clear across the city, but intact.”

“That’s quite a distance,” Brimstone murmured.

Paul added, “We’ve set up base at an apartment on Union Turnpike. Biohazards have overrun most of NYC. We came to gather supplies.”

He glanced around. “You’ve done well.”

Tetsuo and Lucy gave noncommittal shrugs.

They loathed Paul.

He had always targeted Felix—twisting rules to punish him while turning a blind eye to real offenders. They stayed silent, praying Felix had escaped Apophis’s wrath and lived another day.

Brimstone studied their expressions but said nothing. Instead, he checked his Gizmo.

“Oh, and check those expiration dates,” he warned.

Lucy and Tetsuo froze mid-bite.

They checked the packages.

200 years old.

Eyes wide, they shoved the rest into their mouths anyway.

Outside, a vehicle honked.

“Time to move,” Paul ordered.

Brimstone gestured toward the vehicle. “Let’s get you debriefed.”

Lucy and Tetsuo each grabbed a can of cola.

They popped the tops.

Drank.

Checked the dates.

Winced, but they can’t help it, it is delicious.

Then followed.

***

“This world isn’t 2203, but 2023! Huh... when you put it that way, it’s just two numbers flipped,” Tetsuo muttered, bewildered. Arthur Brimstone winced at the remark.

Brimstone sighed as though addressing a particularly stubborn schoolchild.
“Yes, that’s accurate. And unless you’ve forgotten, people from 2023 possess no sensitivity to the Cosmos. They aren’t classified as Troposphere Magnitude—in simpler terms, they’re baseline humans. The lowest on the metaphysical hierarchy.”

Tetsuo frowned and glanced out the office window of the makeshift debriefing centre in the Forest Hills apartment complex, where Brimstone had temporarily established headquarters.

“I advise you not to manifest your Constellations openly,” Brimstone continued, tone measured. “I’ve briefed our teams—and Ms Drakenstein—on the situation. The ‘locals’ are aware of our metaphysical capabilities, but their acceptance is fragile. They need us to survive but may not tolerate us for long. We are strangers in their world—a world rapidly disintegrating around them. Cooperation is our only viable strategy. Understood?”

Tetsuo turned back to face him, gaze unwavering. “Roger that, sir.”

He rose to leave.

“Wait, Mr Kenshin,” Brimstone interjected. “I’ve been informed that you and Ms Drakenstein were investigating the disappearance of Starling and seeking evidence to exonerate Felix Quantum. Is that correct?”

Tetsuo paused mid-step, then returned to his seat. “Yes, that’s correct.”

Brimstone opened a drawer and removed a document folder marked CLASSIFIED. He placed it on the desk in front of Tetsuo, who opened it hesitantly.

PROJECT EVENT HORIZON – OBSERVATIONAL REPORT
Date: October 31st, 2203

We have begun Phase Two of Project Event Horizon. Unlike the first test batch, this experiment employs twenty-three Quasars, an increase from the previous sixteen.

From the prior batch, we observed a proportional rise in survival rates and Interstice resonance when more Quasars were exposed simultaneously—despite their unstable existence in baseline reality.

However, complications terminated this batch prematurely. Subjects listed below have been classified as casualties or terminated for protocol breach:

Ethan Johnson – Deceased

Sophia Rodriguez – Deceased

Liam Patel – Deceased

Ava Nguyen – Deceased
(…and so on up to entry 22)

Spencer Langdon – Status Unknown

Felix Quantum – Deceased

The next experiment is scheduled in 2 hours. Chamber reset is underway. 'Eraser' protocols will precede integration of forty Simulacrums.

Target Outcome: Initiate contact with Valkoinen.

— Dr. P. Krendler

Tetsuo stared at the folder, stunned. The words blurred. Only one phrase cut through the noise:
“Felix is dead.”

Brimstone seemed unfazed by his visible reaction. He calmly placed another folder atop the desk.

“This one pertains to Dr A.E. Starling,” he said.

Tetsuo opened it slowly, dreading what it might reveal.

OFFICIAL REPORT: CASE OF DR. A.E. STARLING
Alias: Elizabeth Starling
Position: Co-owner, NIX Corporation
Disappearance: January 1, 2016
Declared Dead: May 13, 2016

Background:
Born June 13, 2003, Elizabeth Starling demonstrated exceptional scientific prowess, graduating from the University of Basel’s Friedrich Miescher Institute at age thirteen. Her fields of expertise included Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering.

Career Summary:
Elizabeth joined NIX Corporation’s laboratory in Ingolstadt, Germany, where she worked alongside Dr Paul Krendler, Dr Arachne Masters, and Dr Bartholomew Buchanan—collectively known as The Four Horsemen. Their collaboration focused on alternative energy research involving antimatter and parallel dimensions.

Personal Note:
Starling shared a deep personal connection with Dr Buchanan, bonded through a mutual interest in astronomy. Her life, however, was shrouded in privacy.

Disappearance:
She vanished following the suicide of her younger sister. Though grieving, she remained committed to her research. Her last known location was the NIX Lab in Ingolstadt. With no leads, she was declared deceased.

Status:
Unresolved. The circumstances remain speculative.

— V.M.N

Tetsuo reread the file multiple times.

“This doesn’t add up,” he said quietly. “Starling was Weiss’s older adopted sister. She met Felix before 2196. The file says she disappeared and died in 2016... that’s nearly two centuries ago.”

Brimstone didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled out another document and slid it across the table. It showed an image of a metallic orb—geodesic in design. Tetsuo recognised it instantly.

“Athena’s Cube.”

Brimstone nodded. “Felix was sent by the Paradox Movement to retrieve the cube from within NIX Polytechnic. In return, they agreed to sponsor Sasha Everhart’s enrolment. But Felix double-crossed them—he leaked their hideouts to NIX authorities.”

Tetsuo’s jaw clenched.

“NIX deployed an Elite Stargazer to retaliate. The ensuing operation, now known as the Onslaught of Alpha Centauri Mansion, ended in disaster. Somehow, Athena’s Cube ended up in Dr Buchanan’s possession.”

Brimstone paused, gauging Tetsuo’s reaction. “Buchanan’s goal? To use the Cube to reunite with his friend—Elizabeth Starling.”

Tetsuo’s hands curled into fists. “Get to the point already. This reeks of manipulation. You’re trying to pin all this on Felix.”

He leaned forward, voice hardening. “Unless… you’re not with NIX. You’re a member of Paradox Movement. That would explain why your tech’s outdated. That means Lucy and Sievernich work for you too.”

Brimstone’s gaze narrowed. “Correct. We are the Paradox Movement.”

Tetsuo stood sharply, seething. “Felix is dead because of you! You betrayed him!”

Arthur slammed his hands on the table. “MY people died because your friend crossed a line! Now sit down and shut your mouth, boy! You know nothing!”

Tetsuo held his glare, but slowly returned to his seat. Brimstone exhaled heavily, composing himself.

“Athena’s Cube isn’t just a trinket with coordinates. It’s a lockbox—one that opens to another dimension. More precisely, a prison.”

“Starling did vanish,” he continued. “The Four Horsemen were researching interdimensional gateways. They succeeded—but at a cost.”

“You sound like a lunatic,” Tetsuo said flatly. “If what you’re saying is true, then the Event Horizon project failed. That’s why our world is breaking. But explain this—how can there be two Starlings who disappeared and died, one in 2196, the other in 2016?”

Brimstone leaned back. “You’ve touched on the real problem. You're not dealing with a timeline. You're dealing with timelines. Interwoven.”

He gestured, and a holographic screen materialised in front of Tetsuo.

NIX ARCHIVE: “12TH MAD EXPEDITION” – RECOVERED VIDEO FEED

The video was distorted, flickering like a damaged VHS.

Two figures—a man and a woman—descended into a vast crater. Static blurred the image.

Suddenly, the screen cut to another angle: a woman in a lab coat. Starling—older, exhausted, alone.

Then—

The couple turned on her.

They beat her down.

She collapsed.

A massive serpentine form stirred in the background—its eye opening.

Apophis.

The feed ended.

“Starling is dead,” Brimstone said quietly. “And Dr Buchanan, blinded by guilt, thought he was rescuing her. What he actually did was unleash something ancient—madness given form.”