The writer gives life to a story, the reader keeps it alive.
Five hours have passed, and the last of the asylum victims have been taken to the Cloning hospital on Civil earth, to be assessed and given citizen status on the new world. Future Alexand watches with Katherine as Floating Asylum ship One is dematerialised to a quarantine area on Martial earth, where the Guild Masters, and her twin sister, Heyem will no doubt perform a full autopsy on it and on the experiments in Helga Ritter’s laboratory. (Happy New Year!)
From inside her bubble shield, Heyem looks on as more tattooed warriors are taken by Kyo-ashita, disappearing all around her, to appear moments later, some surrendering, some collapsing, others turning on the enemy, reinforcing the Kyo-ashita army, fighting the more brutal looking haernyara, those who can’t be saved.
Present Heyem, still trapped inside her bubble shield, watches the battle as the warriors in the sky begin to fall onto the ships deck, around her, forcing her future family to take up their weapons once more and fight.
Guild Master Heyem Merek and her mentor, Anum Anzeti, look down upon a floating globe, into a particular moment, to a battle which has already come to pass in their own time. They are accompanied by a courtroom of Guild Masters.
After witnessing her future twin furiously set off towards the battle onboard the Floating Asylum, Heyem was held back by her grandmother, Edith, on the mountain overlooking the growing carnage out to sea.
Professor Sumian’s Fourth Dimensional Training Grounds, in a far future bubble world, (4487) General Hope Merek De Somme, along with her uncle, Iosif Merek, has broken free of her duties for a while, to steal a sliver of joy. She has rigged a zip-wire up inside the old werewolf enclosure and is intent on spending the afternoon pretending to fly.
General Edith MehXian attempted to persuade Alexand to accompany her to Mexico, as per their orders received from Guild Master Heyem Merek. This version of her granddaughter is tricky and has an agenda which conflicts with her duty.
After escaping from the drunken debauchery in his grandmother’s wine cellar, Zero, teleported to the theatre, where rehearsals are taking place for his live performance tomorrow evening. (If you enjoy these stories, please consider donating to the Drag Defence Fund, a charity supported by the American Civil Liberties Union, fighting the current backlash against LGBTQ+ artists and people, who simply want to live their lives with the same rights as everybody else in this world.)
After a drunken future Katherine had fallen unconscious, future Alexand opened the letter addressed to General Merek. A letter from her Guild Master, and the catalyst for Katherine’s present intoxication.
Although future Inajda is very drunk, she is still aware of the magnitude of this meeting between her and the woman who sealed the past present and future.
Future Alexand had woken early, as instructed by her Guild Master (Future Heyem Merek,) she is ready to take a very nervous Anya to the past, to carry out a fake assassination, which will set a series of events in motion.
The lecture theatre has emptied of everyone save Xan and Edith, as their granddaughter, Heyem, unaware that they are her grandparents, and not part of this time, struts towards them to lecture them about talking in her class.
Future Alexand finished the interview a few hours ago, and after the News crew had left, she retired to her bedroom, to get away from people, as she was emotionally exhausted.
Anya has watched Alexand Merek place each soul tube next to the children’s hair, inside bags, which she has marked with their names. (Happy Birthday, Dad, this is for you, wherever you are.)
Anya has followed the eccentric future version of Alexand Merek, posing as a Kyo-ashita called Creya Johal, to the Kyo-ashita quarters, after being granted probationary sanctuary.
Future Alexand’s Guild Master has arranged for her alter ego, Creya Johal to have lodgings onboard the Kyuunansen. Future Alexand had to pretend not to care about Katherine, and they both reluctantly parted from each other, Kat returning to her laboratory and Alexand chaperoning her ward, Anya Ranyevzsky.
Future Alexand, in the guise of a Kyo-ashita guard, has been charged with the custody of Anya Ranyevzsky.
Georges has barricaded himself into his mansion, after fearing retribution for funding the Katherine’s Bullet project. As he had predicted, his wife, Kavita had killed herself again, and he was alone, wandering his mansion, his writer full of weapons, in case Lord Anderson sent an assassin to break in.
