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Chapter 20: Zero Hour


At 2:00 a.m. Morgan went to the Verso house girl's dormitory and woke Alexa up. Alexa was still wearing her school uniform.


"We don't have much time!" said Morgan. "We're taking my flagship to the Equator."


Alexa got up and went to a mirror and combed her hair, then went with Morgan to her flagship. They strapped themselves in, and took off. Before long, they arrived above the base high in the Andes on the Equator in Colombia. Morgan deactivated the force field protecting the base, and they descended to the landing pad.


"The force field has to be off when I activate the alternate reality generator," said Morgan. "If Victoria was to strike, now would be the perfect time."


"How long before you set off your device?" Alexa asked.


"Less than ten minutes," Morgan replied. "I have a tendency to cut things short, but another reason I came so late is because I didn't want to give Victoria any leeway to attack this base." 


They disembarked and walked over to the main control console of the alternate reality generator. The gullwing door of the flagship closed vertically behind them. When they arrived at the command center, Alexa could see a countdown on one of the monitors, and below that, an image of the Earth.


"When we reach zero, the timeline generator will fire into another reality, and commandeer it for our purposes."


"So you're not creating another reality from scratch?" Alexa asked.


"We're taking some random space-time continuum and making a duplicate of the reality of the ephemerals. In a matter of moments, everything you know about the world you came from will co-exist in this other reality I'm creating, with the exception of any Futurians living on Earth, they will be the only things not duplicated."


"So I can see my friends, and they will recognize me in the reality you're creating?" Alexa asked.


"Yes, why wouldn't they?" Morgan asked. "They won't even know they're duplicates until you tell them."


"What are you going to do with those people?" Alexa asked.


"I will rule over them with an iron fist, but they will be so appreciative of the technology that I'm giving them that they will be blinded to my true purposes."


"What technology will you give them?" Alexa asked.


"Cures for every type of cancer, a cure for heart disease, a cure for diabetes and blindness, to name a few. I also plan on giving them nuclear fusion. I want to bring them out of an age of primitivity!"


"What purpose will that serve?" Alexa asked.


"They will help form an army!" Morgan replied. "Once they have all of the technology I will give them, they will be loyal to me! If the academy or really any other Futurians try to stop me, they will be armed with the same level of technology that we have!"


Just then, the countdown reached zero. The timeline generator fired into space, and a new reality was established.


"It is done!" Morgan shouted, with her arms in the air victoriously.


"That quickly?" Alexa asked.


"Look on the monitor," said Morgan.


On the monitor where there had been one image of Earth, there were now two.


"Are you going to inform them that they are duplicates?" Alexa asked.


"Not officially, but if you want to tell some of them, you can. It's too early on the west coast right now, but tomorrow morning if you want to go with me I can drop you off in your neighborhood for a short time."


"When are you going to activate your reality splicer?" Alexa asked.


"After some preliminary work in the new reality," said Morgan as she deftly maneuvered some buttons on her control panel. "What? This can't be true!"


"What's wrong?" Alexa asked.


"The reality splicer has been damaged beyond repair! Victoria must have done this! I don't know how she did it!"


"Is that a huge problem?" Alexa asked.


"It would take years to rebuild it!" Morgan screamed. Alexa reacted by backing away from Morgan, worried that she suspected her. In a calmer tone of voice, Morgan said: "Get back in the flagship, I'm taking you back to the academy. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning so you can explore the new reality."


As the two of them retuned to the flagship, Alexa asked, "Does this screw up your plans?"


"Not completely, it just gives me more work," Morgan replied. "That reality splicer was the one piece of technology that the other Futurians couldn't duplicate on their own, I've spent decades developing that weapon!"


There was silence on the trip back to the academy. Alexa was thrilled beyond belief that Morgan didn't suspect her as a culprit, but tried not to show it. After landing at the school, Alexa went to her dorm and changed into her pajamas and went to bed.


The next morning, after showering and changing into her school uniform, Alexa went to breakfast in the dining hall. Gamma, Stratus and Umbra sat nearby.


"She did it," said Alexa between bites of toast. "Morgan generated a new reality!"


Alexa went over the details, and explained the technology Morgan would introduce to the new reality.


"I told you it was a good idea to help Morgan," said Stratus. "That new reality will be better than our old one!"


"Morgan is taking me to see the new reality," said Alexa.


"I want to go!" said Stratus. "Can you ask Morgan if I can go, too?"


"I'll ask her," said Alexa.


A while after breakfast, Morgan arrived to take Alexa with her to see the new reality. Stratus tagged along, after Alexa asked if Stratus could go, too. Morgan agreed, so the two of them got into the flagship, and strapped themselves in.


They arrived in the park near what would be Alexa's neighborhood if it was her own reality. The flagship touched down, and the gullwing door opened vertically. Alexa and Stratus disembarked.


"I'll be back to pick you up in an hour," said Morgan, and the gullwing door closed. The flagship took off into the sky.


"If we encounter anyone I know," said Alexa to Stratus, "don't tell them this is a duplicate reality."


Santiago was playing football with some guy friends of his, and threw the football back to his friends and ran over to talk to Alexa.


"I didn't know you were coming back from the academy today, what's the occasion?"


"It was the Vernal Equinox last night," said Alexa. "This is my friend Stratus."


Santiago shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you!" said Santiago.


"You, too." Stratus replied.


"I wanted to walk to my house, Santiago." said Alexa. "Do you want to come with me?"


"Sure!" Santiago replied, and he walked with Alexa and Stratus to Alexa's house a few blocks away.


"What's the real reason you came home today?" Santiago asked as they walked.


"I can't tell you," Alexa replied. "I just want to check out my house, to see what it looks like after all this time."


When they arrived at the house, it looked abandoned.


"What happened to your house?" Santiago asked. "I don't remember it looking like this." 


The front door was locked, so Alexa went to the backyard, followed by Stratus and Santiago. Alexa broke a window, and Santiago crawled through and opened the door for the girls.


"It looks like a hurricane went through this house!" said Santiago.


All of the furniture was missing, and the house looked like it was in disrepair.


"Could you tell me what exactly is going on, Lexie?" Santiago asked.


"Morgan Lefevre generated a duplicate reality. All of the Futurians, including my family, weren't duplicated."


"So they crossed over into the duplicate reality?" Santiago asked.


"This is the duplicate reality, Santiago!" said Alexa. "You didn't exist 24 hours ago!" 


"What's going to happen to us?" Santiago asked.


"The technology of this duplicate world will increase a thousand fold," Alexa replied. "Morgan will cure most diseases, and she will introduce technology that will rival that of the Futurians."


"Cool!" said Santiago. "Not bad!"


"That remains to be seen," said Alexa. "Morgan plans to rule this reality with an iron fist!"


"What can we do to stop her?" Santiago asked.


"Nothing!" said Stratus. "And nobody can protect you from her, either!"


"She's right," said Alexa. "Our headmistress tried to stop her, but could only succeed so far, our academy was taken over by Morgan's android army. Even we can't stop her completely."


"It will be interesting to see how this alternate world pans out," said Stratus. "We can see what would happen to our world if Futurian technology had been introduced!"


"How long will it take for her to introduce all of that technology to our world, and take over?" Santiago asked.


"It could take a week," said Alexa. "I'm not really sure. I don't know what her time frame is."


"If I didn't exist 24 hours ago, then how did I get created?" Santiago asked.


"This space-time continuum existed before, but it was devoid of life," Alexa replied. "Everything and everyone on this planet were put together by technology that I don't even understand."


"But I have memories of last week, a year ago, when I was a little kid," said Santiago."


"You and everyone on this planet are duplicates of the originals back on the Earth I came from," said Alexa. "And Santiago, I want you to know that I have always loved you, and you are the reason I chose to betray Morgan Lefevre, to try to stop her."


"Will you say that to my counterpart back on your version of Earth?" Santiago asked.


"Nope!" said Alexa. "I've always wanted to tell him, but I don't want to put my business out on front street like that. But I don't mind telling you!"


Alexa moved in and put her arms around Santiago and kissed him on the lips. "I love you, Santiago. If Morgan ever tries to hurt you, I'll try to stop her. Even if you are just a duplicate version of the Santiago I know and love!"


"It's almost time to meet Morgan back at the park," said Stratus.


"Okay," Alexa replied to Stratus, then turned and looked at Santiago. "Be sure to tell Tricia and Roxie what happened, but try not to scare them, okay?"


"Will do," said Santiago, "but it's too bad you can't stay here and help the people of our world."


"I can't stay here," said Alexa. "I have a life back on my own version of Earth! I have to go back there eventually."


The three kids exited through the back door, and walked to the front of the house. They walked down the sidewalk toward the park.


"I'm really gonna miss you, Lexie!" said Santiago. "For what it's worth, I'm in love with you, too."


"I can still come back to visit," Alexa replied.


When they arrived back at the park, Alexa and Stratus waited for Morgan to arrive in her flagship. About five minutes later, the flagship descended and the gullwing door opened vertically. Alexa and Stratus walked up the gangplank and the door closed behind them. They strapped themselves in, and headed back to their own reality.


"I uploaded a message to the people of that reality, let me upload it to your electronic tablet, Alexa. It was on every television channel and radio frequency."


Once back at the academy, Alexa took her electronic tablet back to the Verso common room, to view the message Morgan sent to the people of that alternate Earth. Stratus watched it over her shoulder.


"To the people of Earth," Morgan could be seen sitting in the command chaor of her flagship, "I am Morgan Lefevre, your creator and benefactor. Less than 24 hours ago, during the Vernal Equinox, I created this reality. You are all duplicates of the original inhabitants of Earth. I am from a race of people from nearly one million years in the future. I've established this reality to end all diseases and hunger. Within 48 hours, I will give you the secrets of nuclear fusion and advanced spacecraft propulsion systems. You will be far more technologically advanced than your counterparts. All I ask in return is that you accept me as your absolute ruler!"


"Wow!" said Alexa when the video was over. "Imagine how the people of that world must feel!"


"It's like they're crushed under the boot of a conqueror!" said Stratus.


"I wonder how long it will take Morgan to make an army out of the people of that world?" Alexa asked.


"I don't know," said Stratus, "But Victoria will definitely have her hands full when she gets back!

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