The Protectorate of Time
“We have a problem, sir,” Temporal Analyst Ashima Moros slapped a datastick onto the desk of Manu Fortuna, the Deputy Superintendent of the P.O.T. The heavyset man who was equal parts machine and man picked up the stick and inserted it into his index finger.
“How serious are we talking Moros?” He asked as his eyes flickered, reading the information he’d just downloaded.
“Multi-dimensional anullification sir!”
“Twain’s beard!” Fortuna jumped to his feet as the data collated in his mind. “What about Jet Chronos?”
“Shunted into a Manning cul-de-sac where it’ll sleep for five thousand or until it’s jabbed awake,” Moros said. “This thing is bigger and worse than that?”
“Worse than that Schrodinger Nexus that Warpaint kid told us about?”
“We solved that one sir, this is far worse! Seems someone punched a hole from Prime Universe M into Prime Universe D.”
“We need…there’s more isn’t there?”
“They are attempting to breach the Madison Line that keeps them separate.”
“Interdimensional ataxia!” Fortuna gasped. “We need to tell the Cornicularius.”
___
Cornicularius H.G. Mercier stood in a chrono-bubble above the Madison Line, a phenomena that separated universes from melding into one another. There were occasional breaches and mutual beneficial merges but generally the Madison Line held things where they should be. “This is unprecedented.”
“What should we do, sir?” Ashima Moros asked nervously.
The being in charge of the Protectorate of Time thought long and hard before answering. “We need to initiate The Turtledove Protocol.”
Those in the bubble fell silent. The Turtledove Protocol was an almost mythical contingency plan talked about in hushed tones and inflated stories but few knew what it was or did. Cornicularius Mercier looked at the people in the bubble. “Now there are no longer Causality Squads or Forecast Teams or Loopers or Analysts, you are now a strike force. One will be heading into Prime Universe M and the other into D. Some of you will not return, some of you will be erased from existence, for which I am truly sorry.”
Emissary Regina Pace, formerly the squad leader of Kvaronjara Causality Squad, stepped forward. “M or D, Coricularius?”
Emissary Rysa Bracken, formerly of the Forecast Team, stepped up next to her. “Same, M or D?”
In a show of solidarity, the members from the various departments of the Protectorate of Time stepped forward ready to serve. Mercier smiled proudly but sadly, knowing some would become nothing but odd feelings in the mind. “You won’t be acting alone. To ensure the integrity of the universes you will be aided by creatures from alternate realities; treat them as you would members of the Protectorate. I will brainmail everyone shortly. I wish you all good luck, the fate of everything relies upon you.”
TBC...
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