Black Liver & Silver Fangs

In a neighbouring region of Thains known as Altoki, there was a government-funded research centre situated in the heart of the land where no civilians were allowed to ever venture without the proper authorization from the top brass.

Altoki wasn as developed as the other states in Valaris, mainly facilities and compounds pertaining to Cronus Research Centre occupied this region. The most astounding structure was the main headquarters for the CRC. It was such a majestic building that a person from Thains could see its peak if they were using binoculars.

A group of scientists were tending to their important research within the most secured part of the facility where a multibillion-dollar contraption was being crafted. Various mechanical, plasmatic and magnetised components were intricately connected to each other to create a rudimentary time machine almost the size of a basketball court.

The time machine was in its beta testing phase and required the utmost attention and care from skilled engineers. Over a hundred of them were currently scattered across the chamber doing their assigned duties.

Outside an area where numerous quantum core processors and monitors linked to CRC satellites were set up, 2 siblings who came up with the time machines core designs were currently in a mild augment. 35-year-old Sandra Urchard and her twin brother Sherlock Urchard.

Sandra had a notepad in her grasp that she was tapping repetitiously with the top of her pen. Her demeanour portrayed impatiens and mild irritation. ”Sherlock ever since we were kids you suck on naming stuff. I truly believe Skipper 2.0 should be the official name for our time machine. ”

”Are you hearing yourself, Sandra? Do you know how ridiculous that name is? ” Sherlock was frustrated. ”You
e the one who can name stuff properly. I mean come on, who name a revolutionary discovery of all time, Skipper 2.0? At least rethink that. ”

”Oh yeah, what name do you have for it other than Gyrocromin Synchronizer 2.0? ”

”I have plenty of other good names. ” Said Sherlock.

”You sound as if the first suggestion was any good. Your names are too long and unnecessarily complicated. We want something simple that can easily roll off the tongue and be remembered by the world. Skipper 2.0 is the right fit. ”

”Mr and Ms Urchard! ” A young computer engineer came staggering towards the twins with urgency. Reaching where they were bickering, he told them, ”There is an emergency. Come quick! ”

Hearing the alertness in the youths voice, Sherlock said to his sister, ”Well continue our conversation about the name later. Lets go see what is so important. ”

”Im right behind you. ” Sandra followed the youngster to a control room where many computers were actively processing information. ”What is the emergency? ”

”Come take a look at this. ” The youth tinkered with a sophisticated keyboard that brought up some complicated information on the large display. ”This just came in from one of our QRT satellites that are currently orbiting Valaris. ”

”What am I looking at? ” Inquired Sherlock.

The engineer explained, ”This scanner has captured a major influx in the Outer Burst array that is cascaded around the globe. These signatures are displaying a ripple in time/space coupled with a peculiar seismic activity. What is strange is that it briefly resonated with the Quantum Resonance Transponders in our inactive time machine. Don you think this needs further investigating? It might be able to help us identify the missing piece of the puzzle needed to solve the instability of the Cronus core generator. ”

”Where did the anomaly originate exactly? ” Sandra told the youth to triangulate the source of the Outer Burst and he quickly did so. ”Zoom in right there. ” She pointed to a specific area on the scream.

”That place is in the western part of Thains. ” Sherlock thought it familiar. ”There is a ranch there that is owned by the Berkleys. I know them. They are down-to-earth people. ” Sherlock used to play golf with Chads parents a while back.

Sandra pondered for a while before saying, ”This could be a major breakthrough in our research. If we can understand what caused that Outer Burst we might be able to replicate the anomaly under a controlled environment to penetrate the unknown time/space continuum. ” Adopting an austere behaviour, she ordered, ”Gadgil, send some of the people over there to investigate. I want a full report. ”

”Yes, Ms Sandra. ”

”Im going with them. ” Sherlock volunteered to assist the crew. Since he knew the Berkleys, the investigation should go smoothly without any need for any forceful legal procedures.

”Don forget to take the portable Quantum Resonance Transponder Scanners with you. ” Sandra reminded her brother. ”With them, you should be able to identify the exact origin of the anomaly. ”

”I got it. ” Sherlock and Gadgil mobilized a few CRC agents to go investigate the Outer Burst anomaly at the Berkleys ranch. Many black jeeps were driving outside the parking lot. At the speed they were travelling, they would be arriving at their destination in an hour max.

***

”This place is a mess. ” Chad was still curious as to how the barn got that way. To get everything back in order before his parents came back from their vacation would be a lot of work on his part and he hadn enough money to hire extra hands because he had already paid contractors to rebuild the old shed on the other side of the ranch.

”Hey. ” Chad joined Silvia and Amich at the barns exit. He was wondering how they would compensate him for the damaged they caused, but he needed to clarify how they caused it in the first place.

Acquiring Silvias attention, Chad asked her ”How did you guys get inside my barn? I could have sworn I didn see anyone coming this way for miles and yet you mysteriously 2 appear after an earthquake. Do you have any idea what that is about? ”

”Huh! ” This question made Silvia remember something of great importance. The dark monolith! She ran back inside the barn to the area where she had crashed, in search of the shrunken Cronus monolith. She dug through the dung pile until she found it. Its mighty size had been reduced to 1 ½ foot long.

”Ewe, you aren afraid to get your hands dirty are you? ” Chad was disgusted by how fearlessly Silvia stuck her bare hands in a pile of filth, most women he knew would never do that with or without proper gear. He gained a sliver of admiration for Silvia for how nasty she acted. Still, he wondered what was so important for her to behave so eagerly.

”That rock, what is it? ” Chad tried to touch the Cronus monolith but Silvia withdrew her arm and told him,

”Don touch it. This is a precious artefact of my people. ” Silvia treated the Cronus monolith as if it was a newborn child. ”I too want to know what it is. ” She had a general idea but wasn entirely sure. She was hoping that the grimoires inside of her pouch could give her answers, but now wasn the right time to access it. She needed to find somewhere out of preying eyes where she wouldn be bothered.

Stashing the Cronus monolith inside her bag, Silvia looked at Chad and asked him, ”Is there any cathedral nearby? ”

”Cathedral? ” Chad thought for a bit. ”You mean church? Yeah, there is a bunch of them in Thains. The closest one is only 5 miles away. Do you want me to take you and your brother there? You can go looking like that. I know they say come as you are but they will never allow you inside. You and your brother need to clean up first. There is a water tank around back that you can use. ”

”On second thought… ” Chad realized that area was too open and if Silvia were to clean up there, the workers on the other side of the ranch might see her nude body and get funny ideas about him. So he suggested, ”You can use the bathroom inside the house to clean up, but I will have to hose you down first. I can let you spoil my mothers rug with all the filth. Come with me, the hose is around here. ” Chad started walking to the side of the barn where the water tank was situated.

”Hm… ” Silvia observed hers and Amichs dirty rags and agreed that they needed a change of clothing. Chad seemed like a nice guy so she decide to follow him for now and learned as much as she could about her current timeline so as to not appear so out of century.

She inquired about the location of the churches so she could know who and where to avoid. Just an hour ago, her entire witch colony at Guillume Mountain was attacked and burned by devoted holy men, so it was understandable if her fears were preventing her from putting her trust in the clergy of the future. However, in this current timeline, who she needed to fear the most weren these devoted worshippers, but another group entirely.