#0 - Larynx: Voices from Without

Aiding and abetting an unregistered nova could be as trivial or as serious as the authorities cared to bother. The truth was that the registration of different emergent novas were prioritised differently on a scale of able-to-projectile-barf-at-will to nuclear-meltdown-generator. The onus was on the responsible citizen to report themselves to a civic registrar office or have themselves reviewed at a nova assessment clinic, a simple enough routine. The problem, especially for Lawrence, was that both of these options would essentially lead him back to J.A:N.U.S., the authority behind the nova population. There was no possibility of his getting off lightly for his deception thus far, not without an interrogation of precisely the kind Lawrence wished to avoid, or worse.

The drive took Randall and Lawrence out of the city to the southern flats, past the power grid and the outlying industrial trade hub. Clear of the tall skylines of the city proper, Lawrence could see the north-western mountain range that framed the outskirts of Capitol City. Curiously, although they were too far to make out anything in detail, Lawrence thought he saw some rather strange cloud formation activity over one of the old amusement parks situated there. Mystery Mountain or something, he could vaguely recall.

Turning back to see where Randall was finally arriving at, was the Second Array. The location would have been more properly named or described as an observatory, were its purpose to study celestial occurences and observe events in space. But, as Randall had rambled on during the ride, it was a superstructure to detect, observe and measure quantum dimensionality, to 'see' beyond this reality and into other alternate possibilitites. To the onlooker, it could be described to look like a cross between a futuristic wind farm with its tall antennae posts of varying heights, and the arcane configuration of a more complex Stonehenge, almost like a parabolic receiver, across acres of land.

Randall's car cleared the gated security, and continued to drive towards what appeared to be the main observation building in the compound.

Lawrence couldn't remember the name of that old park but it was on the tip of his tongue.

Mystic Mountain?

Whatever it was called, meteorology wasn't his specialty, and the sight before him was far more awe-inspiring. Pictures and other promotional propaganda didn't do the place justice. He looked at the future built in the present, and he wondered about what it must be like to have this feel normal and mundane.

"With all the parallel worlds at the Ordinals' fingertips, I'm thinking about stepping through a quantum looking glass into a safer reality, a real wonderland. Hhh. If it were that simple, no one working here would still be here. I refuse to believe this is the best timeline."

Lawrence took in the sights, his heart started to beat faster.

"Honestly, Randall, do you think this will do any good? Will the Second just call security and have me hauled off back to J.A:N.U.S.?"

"Depends which version of you you think you are." The female voice right behind them startled both of them, with Randall nearly crashing the car forward in the lot before he could come to a full stop. The only entity that didn't seem to react surprised was Exos. "You may think you're hard done by in this world Dr Lawrence Nixon, that you're too good for it. Have you heard the story of the king of Gyges and his invisible ring? Are you so sure you won't do whatever it takes if there were no consequences?"

Now the voice was in front of them, and a youthful-looking, remarkably attractive woman in blonde hair materialised before them. From the jawdropped expression on Randall's face the person before them could only be ... the Second.

For a man whose special ability centered on his voice, Lawrence was speechless for a few seconds after the Second spoke.

"I..." he croaked. Maybe there was something in his throat. "I remember the Gyges argument from college. Does absolute power without absolute oversight corrupt absolutely? Is great power without great moral responsibility dangerous?"

Lawrence oddly smiled.

"I think the vast majority of us are wronged by the world but we do our best to survive. I'm no better than some, no worse than others. I'd like to think I'd still be a mostly good person if I could seduce queens to murder kings or control reality with a snap of my fingers. I'd honestly rather not find out. It's people with too much power and not enough moral oversight that terrify me. It's people like Gyges that brought me here... asking for help."

"I cannot turn you invisible Mr Nixon and hide you away from your employers. And it is not for me to judge whether you deserve to be helped, whether you are the best version of you in the quantum multiverse. I am here simply to preserve this version of us against all other possibilities amongst all other worlds. You deserve exactly as you deserve, no more, no less." It was here that Lawrence could tell her beauty was a cold one, bereft of tangible emotion, as if she had erected a forcefield to keep her true feelings inpenetrable. It was common knowledge that the Second was the partner, some say wife, if that societal label was still apt, of the First. Much could be speculated on the nature of their relationship, given their dispositions.

"Yet I am prepared to make you an offer. Your hopefulness in approaching me speaks of a certain, wilfulness, self-preservation as you deem it. Very well. Ordinarily I'd leave it to the Third to handle such venial matters, but you can have a go at it to prove yourself. I will offer you some suitable arrangement if you succeed.

I want that mountain." The Second raised her arm and pointed in the direction of the range Randall and Lawrence had driven past earlier. She was pointing directly at the hill which Lawrence recgonised as Mystery Mountain.

Great power, great responsibility, no emotion. This was a variation on Gyges: there was no seducing this queen, only serving.

"The old amusement park?" he asked, restraining himself from quipping about her que sera sera attitude. "I'm not just looking out for myself. There are other people who need help. What do I have to do up there to look out for all of us?"

"The park itself I have no use for. The mountain escarpment, however, is an ideal position to install a series of harmonic re-broadcasters to synchronise with my set-up here, increasing its directional sensitivity and quantum wavelength." She pulled out what looked like a futuristic baton which, with a swipe of a finger, became a holographic tablet displaying cross-section schematics of what lay beneath Murder Mountain. "Conveniently, it comes with its own power generators from hidden underground turbines, no need for renovation. This was formerly the secret base of the Aces, before they were eliminated by the Sept. It should still have dormant security defences, not noted on this map. That's up to you to figure out." She handed over the overall layout schematics to Lawrence. "I want it functional, not leveled. If you need to recruit help to do so that's on you. Questions?"

Lawrence looked quizzically at the hologram then at the Second.

"I'm a doctor, not a canary... but I'll have a look in the cave. I won't risk anyone else spelunking so I'll go alone. May I ask why you haven't sent your own personnel in yet?"

"I have. Hence the map data you have before you now. Besides, aren't you my personnel?" The Second was not so transparent that Lawrence could read her reaction to his questions.

"I suppose I am, yes," Lawrence said with a resigned chuckle. "I see other canaries have gone before me. At least one survived to fly back with this information... or long enough to sing into a comm about it... and they've no doubt cleared the defenses up until that point. What defenses were encountered before? And are you sure the villains' lair is really empty?"

"They don't have to come back for me to get the intel. The device you're holding is also a spatial imaging scanner. It will automap wherever you go, to an effective radius of ten meters. It doesn't read past solid objects, but will at least be able to calculate the density of scanning opacity of rocks, walls, floors, and so on, so as to give you an accurate layout of your surroundings."

The Second looked like she was almost about to flash irritably at Lawrence's questions, but her emotionless demeanour held out. "As far as I'm concerned the Aces were the defences. Anything else is just technology to be bypassed."

Lawrence was surprised to find the device in his hand but not shocked.

"OK. I'd appreciate a ride up or some transport. I'll be your canary but flying isn't my thing."

He might be pushing it with the Second but he really did need the transport to Murder Mountain and he wasn't about to ask Randall for anything else but a ride back to the city if possible. His friend had already done so much, Lawrence wouldn't put him in any more possible danger.