MTG Salvation

Disclaimer: Magic: The Gathering is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast. All names and terms are copyright their respective owners. I do not like fish, no sir!

Story Description: A multiversal researcher finds himself copied as alternate counterparts all end up in the same world. (Story takes place 10 C.Y.)


AEGIS: MIRROR MATCH
Episode 1: Me Myself and Him

For members of the Confederacy, coming through the multiversal gates was one of the worst experiences possible. It was like having one's consciousness disembodied, then thrown into a bucket full of rusty nails as it was shaken around, all right before being dumped into a vat of molten slag. Except, having all that happen would probably be more fun than going through the gates.

Stepping through one often left a traveler with the impression that they could end up anywhere, the trip was so chaotic. They were nothing but unnatural tears in the fabric of reality, after all.

Having just finished his latest trip through a gate, Charles Reed breathed in deeply. He drowned out the pain in his chest by thinking of the wonderful polluted Earth air. Nothing at all quite like home, even if one practically had to go through hell just to get there. He rubbed his fingers through his silver hair, oily and shaggy from stress. His other hand rubbed at the puffy eyelids that covered his rusty brown eyes. They were too sore to keep open for much longer.

At least the day was over. The worst part of getting back to his bed was done with. The sleep he so greatly deserved would soon be his.

"Experiment finished so soon?" The voice came from a friendly soldier with a rifle ready at his waist. The man wore a white trench coat, designating him as a Scimitar-caste warrior. The getup completely clashed with his olive skin and jet black hair. He would have looked better in the brown Abacus-caste coat Charles wore.

Charles checked his watch reflexively. Did he actually get done so quickly? Upon checking, he confirmed his earlier notion. It was late afternoon. He had actually taken twice the time needed to finish his experiment. "What do you mean, so soon? I may be late for a very important dinner engagement because I took so long!" He cast the warrior a quick glance. It was a familiar face, but nobody he was actually friends with. Then again, Humans were so hard to be friendly with.

The man shook his head. "Whatever you say, Charlie." He lowered his rifle and took a few steps to show he was moving on with his patrol. "None of us thought you'd be successful, anyway."

Charles raised an eyebrow, but otherwise ignored the soldier as he walked away. There would be no reason to converse with a Scimitar about his experiments, especially a brain-dead Human dog. "We?" he wondered. Then, he noticed more Scimitars in the area, having just come alive from stationary posts near the gate.

"All clear then, Sir?" The man cocked his head to the side, as if he knew Charles. "They can disperse?" He motioned to the uneasy soldiers who lingered about the grassy clearing.

"My poor Scimitar," Charles mocked. "You must have me confused with some other Psian. There's no need for security. None of the birds took to my enchantments." He leaned in to whisper in the soldier's ear, "Nothing to worry about, unless you lay awake scared at night, thinking about my fire-breathing crows."

"Fire-breathing crows?" The soldier's entertained tone was one that communicated he felt he could joke around with Charles. "What do you--" His head snapped backward and he let out an understanding sigh. "Oh, I see, Sir. Right. You were doing work with avian engineering." He winked. Much too friendly. "Right, Charlie." He waved to the other soldiers, who were far too glad to walk away to actual patrols.

Charles gave the man a gentle mind scan. He was surprised to find the man actually felt he knew Charles. There was actually a memory in his head of having conversed with Charles before he left for the trip. Charles just put it all aside, figuring he must have been more chatty to the Human on some rare good day, and the poor soldier took it as a sign of friendship. He shook his head and walked away.

"See you later, Charlie! Good luck next time, huh?" The Human tried to give a wave, but found his gesture ignored as he was waving to Charles' back side already.

* * * * *

Turning off all the comms, having the lights black out, and slamming his head right into his pillow was all too much of a fantasy for Charles to waste any time returning home. He slid the door to his quarters open with a type of glee. Sleep, and dinner plans. If he was lucky, he'd be able to get a good hour nap in before having to wake up and rush himself to the mess hall.

There was a figure already on his couch. Another sat lazily in the corner of his bed. They resisted his efforts to rush a scan of their minds. Anger flooded his own consciousness, as he felt the gesture returned.

Both were men of exactly the same build, much like his average frame. They were middle-aged Psians, like himself. Both had the same silver hair and light purple skin. Both wore Abacus brown trench coats as he did. Both looked at him with the same sneering expression he always had when he looked in the mirror.

"Who are you?" He had already drawn his sidearm and was pointing it at the man on his bed. "You don't have authorization to come in here!" He looked at their coats for rank. They were both Crest Sergeants, just like himself. He was the highest ranking Abacus researcher at the fort. There was no way two Crest Sergeants could come in without his knowing.

The one on the couch rolled his head back on the soft cushions. "Oh no, not again!"

The captive on the bed snickered, "Guess this is a recurring thing, huh?"

"Who are you two!?" Charles came into the room and took a few steps toward the intercom panel by the door. "Answer before I call up some Scimitars. Don't think I won't have the monkeys come in and clean you up. I'm not that above having animals come in my house."

"Who are we?" The couch man stood up cautiously. "Take a good look. We just went through this, not five minutes ago. Recognize anything?"

"Yeah, it'll be crowded in here if this keeps up," chuckled the bed sitter. "I'm tired of having my gun pointed at me. It's really creepy, you know."

"I do," answered the former couch sitter.

Charles stared at his intruders. The one was right, they were familiar. The same wrinkles under the eyes, embarrassingly visible from a distance. Even the trio of burgundy moles in the middle of the neck. They were exactly like him. "Clones? Illusions? Is this some sort of joke?" He lowered his pistol, sensing no threat from the others. "Some Scimitar battlemage, right? Sending a prank illusion into my room to get me all worked up? To teach me a lesson about being better than those monkey dogs?"

The bed sitter, free of a gun threatening him, stood and answered, "Scan us. We're real, and we aren't rush job clones. Charles..." The man shivered. "Wow, this is spooky, saying my name like that."

The couch sitter broke in, "Charles, we're alternates."

Charles felt the skip of a heartbeat in his chest. His legs wobbled a bit as he walked to a stool near his reading desk. "Impossible. There were very few documented cases of alternates." He thought over the history. Multiversal travel between similar worlds meant eventually, people would run into copies of themselves. It used to happen during the formation of the Confederacy, but the more they were forced to move out in the multiverse, the less encounters there were with similar worlds. "Not since the early years of the Scutumi War has anyone seen an alternate!" He sat down and cradled his head in his hands.

Friendly open thoughts between the three began to flow, like they all didn't quite trust each other yet, but still felt the need to do a little convincing. All three men were indeed Charles Reed. All three were Abacus-caste researchers.

The one at the couch sat back down, confident the situation was again peaceful. "This is going to be a problem," he observed. "I was just going to be Chuck. You know, so we could tell each other apart. Never liked that name. But hell, we're not in a situation to be at a bind when it comes to names, now are we?"

Charles nodded. "Yeah, I've always liked Charles. Sounds quite Human, but its my name." He bit his lip. "Our name, I mean."

The bed sitter went back to the corner, but laid down this time. "Well if you're taking Charles, I'll take our middle name. Call me Tarson. "Nice to meet you, Charles." He let out an uncomfortable chuckle. "But since I was here first, I get the bed. I need my sleep. Have to be up in an hour."

Charles perked up his head. "Hey, you too? Don't tell me, a dinner--"

Tarson interrupted to finish the sentence, "Date with that hot exchange nurse? I was here first, so I get her, too."

"Hot nurse? Get her? Listen to you!" Charles waved his arms in disapproval. "Her name is Signa, and since I'm the only one here who will treat her with respect, I'll have the honor of taking her to dinner."

Tarson let a sneaky grin sweep across his face. "Oh, no. You're thinking the same thing I was. She's hot! And don't think playing the semantics game on how to reference her, or my date with her, is going to win you anything."

Chuck nodded. "He's right, er, Charles. You two are completely alike. Both crazy for her. Both attracted to her sensuality more than her brains."

"As if you don't?" Charles folded his arms.

Chuck shook his head and raised his left hand, showing off the smooth purple surface of his thumb. On his counterparts, there was a ring of pure white flesh. "As you can see, I didn't accidentally cut off my finger yesterday, so I didn't get the chance to meet her."

"Besides," huffed Tarson, "Chuck there is gay."

"Really?" Charles cast a slightly disgusted look to his couched counterpart. "That seems kind of, you know, impossible."

"Not every alternate world has to be completely the same, Charles," Chuck snickered. "I'm content to sit here dateless tonight, figuring out a way to get us back to our own worlds. You two can battle it out for your hot nurse if you want."

Charles cast a deadly glare at Tarson. "You aren't getting--"

"My girl?" Tarson grinned. "I wonder if paper-scissors-rock would fix this?"

"You two would probably keep picking the same thing every time," Chuck observed snidely. "It would be pointless."

Charles got off his stool and took a couple steps to his bed, staring at Tarson. "I like your idea, no matter what Chuck says. Winner gets to spend tonight real happy. Loser works on getting the two foreigners back to their world, and maybe has a chance to repair things with Signa on his world."

Raising a fist to meet Charles', Tarson stood up and nodded. "Yes, yes. Just end this so I can get some sleep."

"Hold on, studs," Chuck snapped. "You two seem to be fine being single. I enjoy the single gay life. But, have you ever thought if we three are already so different, that there may be more differences?"

Tarson and Charles mumbled at the same time, "Huh?"

Chuck pointed a finger to the reading desk. "Surprised neither of you noticed that. I guess I'm the only one who's observant. This world doesn't hold two foreign alternates. It holds three. All of us."

Tarson and Charles rushed to the reading desk, seeing a picture frame next to the stack of zoology reports. Charles Reed never kept pictures in his house, but there one was. In it, a very happy Charles Reed stood with a Tibberite woman, both behind three children. "Ew," both said in unison.

"Okay," Charles began to confess, "I can sort of understand the gay thing. But getting married? To a Tibberite!? And..." He actually gagged at the idea he was about to convey, "Have three kids with her!?"

"Maybe they're adopted?" Tarson tried to shrug, but found himself wanting to gag. "Maybe this is just a research partner?"

"Oh they're partners all right," Chuck answered with a ring in his voice. "And I guess we see traveling the multiverse isn't all enchantments and monsters."

A sudden knock caused all three heads to snap at attention toward the door. A muffled voice called out for Charles, a gruff female Tibberite voice. "Charlie? Hey, you there, hun?"

"Is that who I think it is?" Charles lurched as his eyes floated over toward the picture.

"Nah, can't be." Tarson thought over whether he was just trying to deny things again. "Why would a guy's wife have to knock at the front door?"

"Simple mind scan, duh," Chuck snorted. "That's our esteemed counterpart's research partner. Not his wife." He waited as both nodded in agreement to the positive thought. "Either of you gonna get that?"

to be continued...

AEGIS: MIRROR MATCH
Episode 2: Shadows of Science

Charles, being the closest to the door, went to answer. The other immediately hid before he even suggested it. Chuck went to duck behind the couch while Tarson moved into a corner behind a potted palm tree. Charles inhaled deeply before swinging the door open. The only species he actually hated more than anything else were Tibberites.

Having a quick idea, Charles opened the door just enough to squeeze himself through, then immediately shut it behind him. "Sorry," he pretended, "I'm doing some hatchling experiments inside. Don't want them scared by visitors."

"Okay..." The husky woman was a sight to behold. Her skin was a pasty pale that looked incredibly unhealthy, especially in her brown coat. Her shaggy blonde hair echoed the unkempt, half-visible mustache above her lip. Though she looked like a sickly Human, she had to definitely be a Tibberite. She looked up at him with suspicious green eyes and muttered, "Working on bird conglomoids? Funny, Ansens said you were working on fire-breathing crows."

"Ansens?" Charles figured it had to be the Scimitar soldier. "Yeah I was working on that off-world." He looked over the woman once more. She looked familiar enough, but he was sure he'd seen her in a red Aegis defense force uniform. "Uh, Miss Nary, can I help you?"

"Can you...help...?" The woman leaned back and looked over Charles with overt suspicion. She walked around the pitiful excuse for a front yard, past a flimsy yard table. "I just wanted to check up on the experiment. How'd it go? I am your co-researcher on this!" She poked a finger into the back of a folding chair before going back toward Charles.

Sentinel Second Class, at least if the patch on her arm was to be read as accurate, that was what she was. Charles nodded at the information, finding it hard to believe. Scanning her mind in time, he caught hints of a trap. "Nary, you aren't my co-researcher. I've got to say, that's mean testing me like that. I should put you off duty for a week for disrespecting me that way."

"Charlie, I'm so sorry!" She knew the trap would work. That was, the fake emotional plant that she was lying. In fact, her words were truth. "I'm just so interested in the experiment, how'd it go?"

"None of the birds took to the fire-breathing," Charles said with a low moan under the words. "Plenty of mana on that world, but the birds just seemed incompatible with the spells."

Nary seemed disinterested, though she faked bright eyes over the information. "Don't worry. You'll adjust and re-experiment like you always do. I'm sure you'll get the enchantments to stick next time around."

Charles felt suspicious over the lack of concern. "Well, you came over to check and don't even care. What's going on?"

"Just checking," Nary responded. "You seemed real concerned with your project and I just wanted to see how it was going."

Charles was really suspicious now. He was talking to a Tibberite who was acting nice. They were never nice except--his blood ran cold at the idea.

Nary brushed the side of his cheek with the back of her hand. "Hun, if you want to move your project from your house to the lab, nobody's using it tonight. Feel free to go anytime." She paused, letting the backs of her fingers linger on his chin. "I guess you're tired. I'll be off to rest, myself. Bye."

Charles nodded as the chunky woman waltzed off.

* * * * *

Charles sighed as he closed the door behind him. "She left, but I think she suspects something."

Chuck was at the reading desk, shuffling through papers. "No wonder. It seems our counterpart is quite the..." he glossed over the text on a report to double-check. "...interesting character."

Charles went over to the desk, ignoring the fact Tarson was fast asleep on the bed. He wished he could take the bed and just sleep everything away. "I don't think research notes should be too amazing. Our avian enchantment project is a waste of time. We all know it." He hung his head in shame, yet felt relief from having to be so honest in the face of counterparts.

Chuck raised an eyebrow and asked, "Avian enchantments? Wow, we're all completely different in work, then." He set the papers down and queried, "What is your field of study?"

The question seemed so pointless to Charles. He huffed out his answer, as if it were plainly obvious. "I'm an aurazoologist, working on finding spell and animal combinations to make superior weapons so the Confederacy can finally win the war." He paused and asked reflexively, "And you?"

Chuck rested his forehead in his hand and shook it a bit. "Psychofaunacal engineering. I was trying to place spy spells onto unknowing animals. Nothing like having eyes and ears everywhere, including behind enemy lines. I figured the secrets we'd find would win us the war."

Charles nodded. He pointed to Tarson right as he let out a rumbling snore. "And sleeping beauty over there? You talk to him about this yet?"

"I did indeed." Chuck wore a confident grin. "He's a necrobotanimancer. He uses plants to assist in nercomagic. A loophole that allows his research to stay legal."

Charles nodded again, piecing everything together in his groggy head. "So, we're all helping to win the war by trying to take control of life?" He shifted his attention to something else. To Chuck's satisfied look. "How'd you know to take this angle?"

"I ask because when I came through the gate, a Scimitar named Ansens was there with backup, like they were expecting something. Then he told me I was early coming back. I thought that was odd, and told him my rat auras were going perfectly on schedule. He acted like I was trying to hide something." He watched Charles go to the couch and prop his feet up on the coffee table. "Tarson happened to run into the same situation, except he reported his fungal zombie batches were running only a tad bit fast."

"Yeah," Charles mumbled, his eyes already closed and his consciousness beginning to fade out. "I was late with my fire-breathing crows. This Ansens, did he look like--" Chuck put a mental projection in his head, and added one Tarson had shown him. "Okay, so its the same guy. He's up to something, maybe?"

"He knows our counterpart. So well he's on friendly enough terms to call us all Charlie." Chuck sat at the stool and picked up the research papers again. "Which brings me to our counterpart. Charles, he's working on conglomoids."

Charles bolted upright on the couch. "The Tibberite assistant, Nary, said something about conglomoids! I was too tired to really care at the time." He muttered, drifting off to sleep, "Hot damn, Working on conglomerate life forms..." Then, he was out.

Chuck began to read through the disturbing notes. The act of combining life forms was such an abomination. It was outlawed in the Confederation he came from. By Charles' reaction, he was sure the same was true for him. Tarson did a legal juggling act to even do his research, which must have meant his government was against the almost heretic act of conglomancy. He was worried, knowing he and his counterparts were in a world where the chimeric art was legal.

Most of the compiled sheets were notes on experiments, every single one unsuccessful. What scared him most were the hypothesis statements guessing sentient life would work better than simple lab animals. Down toward the bottom, seemingly hidden, were authorization forms for experimentation on humanoid subjects.

Chuck wanted to read on, moving frantically through the papers, but his energy faded with the sunlight coming in from the window. He dipped his head down on his hands and agree with his body. It was time to rest.

The last thing he saw before closing his eyes was the picture of the happy family.

* * * * *

Tarson was the first to awaken. His impulse reaction was to start getting around for his date with Signa. Hearing his two counterparts snoring, though, brought him to face reality. It hadn't been just a stupid dream.

"Hey," he muttered sluggishly. "Guys?" He recalled their earlier talks to remember who was identified as what. "Charles? Chuck?" He looked at them both, unable to see any clear difference. he thought maybe Charles was the one with the messed up hair, but he was on the couch. He simply shrugged and turned on the main light.

"Wake up guys. Bright and shine!"

Charles moaned a few syllables of sleep talk before raising his head from the comfort of the cushioned arm of the couch. "Oh, crap." He slammed his head back down. "Not a dream."

Chuck's fingers tapped on the hard surface of the desk as he snapped awake. "Ah! This is real!?" He lifted his body up off the desk and began to stretch. He looked to the clock and protested, "It's just midnight! I feel like sleeping more."

Tarson shook his head. "No. I heard a bit of that conglomancer stuff. We should get to our lab and see what we can do to fix the situation."

Charles groaned as he stood. he stretched his back before agreeing, "Good point. We all met a Scimitar squad, and I had to deal with a nosy Tibberite. Fact is, the people of this fort know about our counterpart research, and seemed very concerned about it. We need to make sure we're safe here."

"And going to our proper homes would be nice, too," Chuck added. "So we go to our...his...lab?"

Tarson was already at the door and waving to his counterparts to follow. "Sure. To the lab."

The trio barely made it past the doorway when they spotted three people chatting at the table outside. One was Ansens, laughing along with Nary. In the faint light of a small lantern set on the table, a man peered forth from the shadows.

A fourth Charles Tarson Reed leaned into the light and looked giddy, like he had just finished a joke. He noticed the activity at the door and stood. "Good morning, Charles, Charles and Charles. You can call me Charlie."

Charlie stuck out a hand, presenting it for handshake.

to be continued...

AEGIS: MIRROR MATCH
Episode 3: Team Chimera

Charles took the hand of his counterpart and shook it. "Charlie? I'm Charles. This here is Chuck, and Tarson."

"Lucky we have such a dynamic name, then?" Charlie let out a soft chuckle. "If I were you," he snorted out a laugh, "I'd be headed to the lab to investigate this situation."

"That was our plan, yes," Charles replied, already suspicious of his counterpart. The mind of Charlie and his two companions were shut out to probes. Oddly enough, he felt no scan being performed on himself. Just the same, he kept his suspicions of Charlie well guarded. If the man knew the three suspected Charlie, Nary and Ansens of orchestrating the gathering, the quest for home might be put to an abrupt end.

"Well, let's go." Charlie bowed to his companions. "Nary, Ansens, this will have to wait. Good morning to you both." He started walking before either could respond, heading right for the lab which was just three minutes walk down a scenic trail. In the midnight darkness, however, it was more like a spooky trail.

Away from his quarters and his two companions, Charlie began, "Bet you noticed I knew you were here. Quite clear I was waiting for you to wake up and come out."

"Okay?" his three counterparts said as one.

"I've been tracking you for a while now." He shrugged and admitted, "Well, actually, I've been tracking six counterparts, but I could only get a lock on you guys. Our worlds are actually pretty far apart, but my weapons research led me to be able to track counterparts."

"Weapons research?" Chuck asked sharply, an eyebrow raised. "You mean your ghastly conglomoid experiments? Pardon my nosiness, but I took a peek at your notes, and it just looks like you're killing off everything you get your hands on."

The comment hit Charlie hard. He froze in his tracks and tightened his hands into fists. He stood silent for a moment, then regained himself. "I may have failed in one aspect of my research, but as I told you, there was a side effect. I found how to track alternates. You people are here. The proof is clear."

"So, nice to meet you," Tarson scoffed. "Because of your wacky game, I missed a dinner date with a beautiful nurse. Same for Charles. And maybe this is all stopping Chuck from meeting a nice guy. You're married, so you can see how we don't quite appreciated you messing with our lives!"

Again, Charlie seemed to withdraw into himself from an emotional wound. He coughed and kept walking. "I thought you would understand. I do. I did the second I thought up this plan."

"What plan is that," snorted Tarson. "Interrupting our lives because you want to reach out and say hi?"

"Think about it," Charlie began. "What do we do? Each of us is a brilliant Abacus working to win the war through bioengineering. Each of us is working in a different aspect of the field, but our interest in tinkering with biology remains the same in all seven of us."

"So..." Charles paused, thinking first how absurd everything was, then rethinking and coming to the conclusion it might be wise. "...What you want to do is get us all together. Work as some sort of scientific team. Am I right?"

Charlie nodded, a look of relief on his face, shining like a weak beacon under the light posts. "Each of us tries desperately to get the Confederacy in the war. Plant zombies, enchanted birdies who breathe fire, spy mice, and of course my own chimeric arts. None of us is having quite the success we hoped for, but we know we're great science mages. Why can't we use our talents to save our nation in this war? Together, as a large multiversal team, I know our sum talents will make us much more successful than each on his own."

"Very nice speech," Tarson snorted. "But we all know you're leaving something out."

"Well, I can't tell you the whole idea in the time it takes to walk to the lab. I know there's a part you might not like. We should save that until we've done our first experiment together."

"No!" Chuck folded his arms and stopped walking, anchoring the whole group within seconds. He stared defiantly at Charlie and the lab in the distance. "We get to that part now. No waiting until we've all had our egos stroked by a team effort. I want to know right now what part we aren't going to like."

Charlie sighed. "I didn't really want to say this, but you really have no choice. I'm the one who brought you here, and I'm the one who can send you back. If you want to go home, you're going to have to cooperate with me."

"Holding us captive now?" Chuck smirked, an expression barely visible in the dim lighting. "We can ruin your scientific standing. Imagine if we went berserk and--" Chuck was unable to finish his idea. He knew it was absurd, just as much as the other three did. They all thought it and knew it was a bluff. "Look, you want us to cooperate. That means a team effort. How about being a team player. What's the part we won't like?"

Again, Charlie sighed. "Come on." He waved his counterparts to begin walking again. "Think of the picture in our case. Four versions of the Confederacy. The Free People's Confederacy was only formed to resist the Scutumi invasions. And we all know, no matter how hard we fight this war, we're going to lose."

Charles figured out what the path was first. "Four Confederacies means we can team up and fight. But it also means fighting four times the Scutumi."

Charlie nodded, taking the keys to the lab out of his coat pocket. "If we band together, the Scutumi may find a way to do so. And even if they don't, our alliance of four Confederacies will still be faced with Scutumi on four sides. Four Earths surrounded by swarms of enemy portals. As if this is bad enough, imagine the difficulty of working together. How would people react to seeing themselves?"

Chuck nodded, standing at Charlie's side as he unlocked the door. "We pulled guns on ourselves. Twice."

"And we're the rational ones," Charlie said with a sadistic fire in his eyes. "Imagine the reactions of the Humans, the Tibberites. The few Calines we have. They're liable to slaughter each other. Even our own Psian brothers would probably kill each other probing deep into their counterparts' minds. And if we normal citizens found a way to work together, as hard as that would be, imagine how insane government would be. The power struggles and conspiracies to rule four times the Confederacy would be ridiculous. We'd slip into total chaos, and be ready prey for the Scutumi. Who, this whole time, are coming at us from all sides in four universes."

Thinking like a scientist, and honestly with himself, Tarson growled in the back of his throat. He hated the conclusion he came to. He allowed the others to walk into the lab before him, closing the door behind him and taking a deep breath. They all stood quiet in the tiny meeting room with the dim lights. He was sure they all had the same idea, but only he felt like vocalizing it. "So, rather than merge the four Confederacies, you want to sacrifice all but one. Let each ride out its given time, only to meet the fate which all resistances have met. Let them be crushed by the Scutumi."

All four nodded somberly.

"And," Tarson continued, having a chill in his spine like the whole thing was his idea rather than Charlie's. "Doing that, we opt to form a small team of researchers. A highly focused and brilliant team of Abacus science mages. We know we can work together. Each of us can be quite dedicated to a cause, so that means we won't quarrel during research. Except..."

Charles grinned cruelly. "Except in the case of the leader. We can accept one of us will need to lead this group. We're all too stubborn to do this as a free democratic team." His mouth jarred open when he came to the realization. "And that's the hitch, isn't it, Charlie? You know we won't like coming up with a leader."

"It should be based on who's world we decide to save," Chuck tried to fix, but felt a sink in his stomach. Were he to organize a team, he would make sure he was leader. "Charlie, we all know we'd do this by census. The world we choose to save should be the one with the most toys...or, the most people."

Charlie sneered as he answered, "Just under one million. Can you beat that?" He seemed proud.

"Seven-hundred thousand, fifty-six. Exact census." Charles let his eyes wander away. He always tried to avoid the math of it all. So many worlds with so many billions of residents, all reduced to one pathetic patchwork government of under one million.

Chuck wagged his chin up and down a bit, brewing over the truth of the situation in his head. He tried to avoid the math of it all, because doing so meant facing the harsh reality that the Scutumi were almost guaranteed victory. "Six-hundred, fifty-thousand. Give or take a few hundred. I try to ignore the census reports."

Tarson was breathing deeply. "Not that it matters, but my Confederacy is down to just over one-hundred, seventy-thousand." He turned to the wall, speaking to the others with his back, "Congratulations, guys. You're better off than my world." He snapped to a realization. "You said you were tracking six of us! You didn't fail to snatch our counterparts there. You scumbag! You purposely refused to!" He glared at Charlie with accusing eyes.

Charlie tried to suppress a smile, but ended up letting it curl the edges of his mouth around cruelly. "Okay, fine. I can't lie in front of you guys. The other three I found have Confederacy populations of over three million. They look like they're doing fine. It's our Confederacies we need to worry about."

"You mean its your Confederacy we need to worry about," Tarson snapped. "How come you just can't do a multiverse penpal service? Team up my home with one of those prosperous places? We could use the help!" A tear almost made its way out of each of his eyes.

"We went over this already," Charlie said with a slow shaking of his head. "To team up entire Confederacies would be suicide. To form small teams is the only way to go. Ours could be the first. If we work out, we can salvage people from the other places as we wish."

Charles sounded like he didn't believe it, but still said, "We'd need a medical team. We could all fetch Signa. Or at least, Tarson and I could fetch the Signas. We could bring in our friends. We could pretend they have a value to winning the war, and bring them here. Hell, Charlie, we could even fetch the counterpart of your wife, if you want."

Charlie appeared to take another hit. His face turned weak and his walk was more of a stagger as he went to the main door and opened it, revealing the lab in all its glowing glory.

The four went into the lab that each felt was theirs, but only Charlie could really claim. The well lit room was barren save for four metal tables. Three were on one side of the room, and one was alone on the other. Each table had a large hoop of metal inscribed with arcane markings, much like miniature multiverse gates. Though, these gates were only a foot high, and were propped up with stainless steel braces rather than the large structures like the true gates.

Without saying anything, Charlie walked out a side door to what everyone knew was the storage room. Various animals whined in mixed fear and happiness when the door opened and the lights came on. After a short wait, Charlie came back out with trio of containers in his hands. They were little cages, each with a sleeping gray mouse inside. Mice that were far larger than normal. He went to the trio of tables and set a cage on each cold stainless steel surface.

"We're helping you with a chimeric experiment, aren't we?" Chuck folded his arms and looked away from the sleeping mice. He felt his blood turn cold as he remembered the papers he found on Charlie's desk. "Oh my! Those aren't normal mice, are they?"

Charlie shook his head, now taking the dormant rodents from their cages and setting them on a marked red circle at the foot of each tiny gate.

Charles looked around with concern, seeing Charlie's quietly sad face, and Chuck's fearful stare. "What's going on? These aren't, aren't..." He motioned an arm out to the mice.

"Chronomites," Charlie said softly, almost distant.

All three of his counterparts dropped their jaws and felt ice almost literally flow through their veins.

"Charlie, you can't!" Chuck burst forward to meet Charlie as he took the third and final mouse of its cage. "These are sentient creatures! You know it's wrong to perform experiments on sentient subjects! These poor rodents have feelings and thoughts. Why, they might even be trained to become battlemages. They can help the war! You shouldn't sacrifice them like this! This is as bad as experimenting on orphan children or prisoners of war!"

Again, Charlie seemed to take an emotional hit. "You talk of crimes against life," he muttered distantly, with no sign of any emotion in his voice. "Funny you mention orphans and prisoners. All our worlds have histories of doing things like that. And still, we work on life. What does it matter if they're sentient or not? Would you object so vehemently if these were normal mice? Chimeras, enchanted weapons, zombies, and spies. We're all manipulating living creatures for our own ends. Not one of us here has the right to take a morality standpoint. We work to win a war. Nothing else should matter to us. Nothing."

Chuck lowered his head and gasped. He was joined shortly by Charles and Tarson. Each knew of Chronomites. They were quite rare in the Confederacy, but common in Scutumi territories. That was because most were allies to the Scutumi. Powerful, intelligent little rodents, they were the best technicians the Scutumi had ever known.

"And besides," Charlie said, almost coughing out the words, "These are prisoners of war. Ansens' group took them down when a Chronomite spider tank came through a gate about a week ago. They would be executed. But, we may as well make them into a tool we can use. A weapon that can win the war for the Confederacy." Energy returned to his face and his voice as he asked, "So, are you going to join me, or do I need to inform Ansens you're uncooperative enemies to the state?"

Charles, Chuck and Tarson had no real idea what the threat meant, but each had to finally agree internally. Charlie was most likely correct about all his ideas. His plans were probably all for the best. They each reluctantly raised their heads and nodded. The experiment would go ahead as planned.

to be continued...

AEGIS: MIRROR MATCH
Episode 4: Birth of a Monster

Charlie was suddenly quite energetic with the acceptance of his plan. He bounced partially with each step to the supply room. Though there were a lot of clanging and crashing sounds from the oversized closet, all could tell he must have had a huge smile on his face.

"Charles, go to the tables with the mice," ordered the disembodied voice of Charlie. "Chuck, please stand in the middle of the room. And Tarson, go to the single table at the other side." Following his orders, the counterparts took their spots.

Charlie emerged from the small door with an armful of energy cubes. Each one glowed softly with its own light. Mana batteries, the others noted, and fully-charged ones at that. Charlie handed the first two, a green one and a purple-black one, to Tarson. "There you go, Mr. Necrobotanist."

Chuck was handed the next fist-sized light block. A blue one. Charlie commented, "This'll be enough to help you hold the new mind in place."

Charles received his mana batteries last, being given a white and red pair of cubes. "Fire and warding enchantments on the raw materials, here you go, aurazoologist." Charlie patted his counterpart on the back.

The final cube was a swirling mass of the other five colors, glowing with much more intensity than the other five combined. "Okay guys, here's a bit of a lesson," began Charlie, clearly keeping the final cube for himself. "Firstly, conglomancy is not really chimerism. It is related, but not entirely." He held up his cube. "This is a mana battery made through chimerism. You can see distinct pieces in it. Doing the same with life forms yields the same result. Just big, grafted monstrosities.

"This is a conglomoid," he said, bringing his other hand up to reveal a clear sphere. One that would look like a ball of glass were it not for the pulsing light aura around it. Each pulse was one of the five colors of mana, alternating randomly. "The pieces of a conglomoid's raw materials are indistinct because it is actually a whole new product. No legs of a goat and head of a dragon. No, you end up with an entirely new beast.

"Something more significant and powerful than the sum of the pieces. Much like this team." He grinned while the others felt a slight chill.

"The problem with conglomoids is, you're not just slapping something together." He held up both his mana batteries. "As you can see, nearly any mage can slap together a common chimera. But, it takes a huge effort to fashion a quality conglomoid."

"And according to your research note," Chuck huffed, "The process is impossible on living creatures. Kudos on the fancy battery, though."

Charlie performed a slight bow. "Thank you. As for the matter of life forms, yes, I've dealt with a lot of failure." He paused, almost biting his lip. "I've found its because the material itself needs to cooperate. Mana naturally coalesces, so its easier to make this battery than bond a snake to a mouse, for example. But, a sentient subject has the will to cooperate. Or, the will to be manipulated into cooperating."

Chuck shrugged. "I see. You want me to massage their minds." He motioned his chin to the sleeping mice.

"Yes," gleefully snapped Charlie. "Put on the puppet strings and make them work with us. It'll be easy since they're drugged up nicely." He noted only a hint of reluctance on Chuck's face, and decided to move on with the plan. "Charles, you can go ahead and enchant them with weapon powers. Lots of fire, and whatever flare is your style. But also place a lot of protections on their life forces. Enough to keep them alive for most of the trip through the gates, but not enough for the full trip. I need them all to die by the time they pop out the other side."

As Charles cautiously went to work enchanting the mice, Charlie turned to Tarson. "Dear Tarson, you'll cast a barrage of your best necromagic into this end. I'll be assisting the molding process, but after it's done, the conglomoid will pop out dead. You'll need to revive it with a full mind. But, make sure it's friendly to us."

Charlie popped his neck, a motion that was followed by silence. He breathed deeply for a few moments, letting everyone savor the moment. "I'll be doing all the chimeric fun stuff. You three just do what you're good at, and we'll have ourselves a conglomoid." He breathed deeply again. "Is everyone ready?" All four nodded. "Well, let's begin this!"

* * * * *

The four portal gates glowed a furious red, but their light was drowned out by the intense storm of free-flowing mana. It was like a hurricane of wind thrashing the room in the middle of a furious light storm. Each mana battery was like a nova of illumination, channeling jagged tendrils of pure mana right into their respective mages.

There was grunting from the men as they struggled to remain awake in the assault of forces against their senses. Every last shred of their consciousness was dedicated to casting spells into the gateways to do their part in the desperate ritual. Each could feel their part in manipulating the new life form within.

The only calm point in the room was the levitating conglomoid mana battery. Flying on its own next to Charlie, it had surrounded itself with a void that bent reality around it. No energy was pouring out of the device. In fact, it pulsed each time a spell was cast by the men, and drew in a little energy from the room at those moments. While the other batteries worked to power spells, it merely flew and absorbed parts of the magic that flowed so freely around it.

In the sensory assault each man was suffering, none of Charlie's companions could have had any clue the battery was doing what it was.

* * * * *

The four men sat huffing and wheezing on the cold floor. They were all bruised and battered, Tarson even bleeding from his nose, a result of a table having flown up and hit him. Charles had been thrown across the room and tried to prop himself up next to Tarson. He quickly found he had a couple broken fingers on each hand, and a busted right shoulder.

Chuck coughed as he woke up, and his eyes widened as he opened them to a disturbing sight. He almost screamed, but his weak body could only manage a raspy growl. He scampered away from the visage of horror before him.

The pink, hairless beast rose on four strong legs and let out a rumbling breath. It held its four other limbs up, revealing hand-like paws to its field of vision. It blinked upon realizing it was alive and well. All six eyes. A large red eye was set on either side of its head, and four smaller, dark eyes were set in a diamond formation on the front of its skull. It tested its balance by lashing about its ridiculously long tail. A tail with a tiny appendage at the end and a multitude of fingers.

The beast jerked its head over to Charlie and bellowed deeply from its chest. Though it was the size of a toddler, the thing was still unquestioningly dangerous. It focused on the lead science mage and growled, following the threat with a wave of all four hands.

Charlie slammed himself down as low as he could before the fireball came flying in. The spell went past him and ignited the wall upon contact. The Psian scientist rolled to the side and hopped to his feet to run out of the way of another shot. As a third came flying toward his head, he leaped down and slid along the floor.

In the ensuing blast of fire, no one noticed Charlie had maneuvered himself to the pulsing sphere in order to reclaim it from the messy floor.

With three large fires burning away at the lab walls, all four men rushed to the doors nearest themselves to escape. They couldn't scramble out fast enough, all four nearly slipping on the tiles as they scurried away.

The conglomoid mouse cursed their escape, but decided to stay behind, shooting more fireballs to practice its skills. Each of its Chronomite parts had been simple mages, but amazing engineers. Now, its new mind had to gauge just how powerful it was, especially when its new magical powers surpassed anything its components had ever known.

As the men fled the building, they could hear the monster open its mouth and roar, "You did this! You'll die for this!"

to be continued...

AEGIS: MIRROR MATCH
Episode 5: Unification

The lab burned down amazingly fast. All four copies of Charles Reed had their sidearms drawn and aimed at the building, all too aware the monster would survive the instant collapse of the structure. Their predictions were proven accurate as the immolating form of the creation rose from where the center of the former lab was. All six eyes now glowed with an intense yellow energy, and the wisps of cinders and ash blowing in the air fed into its flaming body via delicate tendrils like trails.

Tarson shot first, while the other three joined in simultaneously shortly after him. None of them was an expert marksman, but they knew how to shoot. Of the combined twelve shots fired, eight hit. One bullet had actually pierced a large side eye.

The wound merely sealed shut, and the eye was as good as new in seconds. The other wounds healed similarly, and the whole display only seemed to make the beast even more angry.

Ansens and his squad of Scimitars had shown up by then, each wielding a rifle mounted with special slicing bayonets. The Human squad commander actually had a smile on his face. "Congratulations, Charlie. The project worked!"

The mouse had been busy assessing the situation, and before Charlie could answer, it shot a fireball at him and suddenly turned to the group of Scimitars.

Ansens waved his free hand, and three junior members of his group rushed in. The men charged with bayonets forward, stabbing at thin air as the monster discovered its new agility. The beast ended a series of backflips right in front of Ansens, who promptly beheaded the creature with a swipe of his bayonet.

The Human's look of pride was only momentary, as the neck stump and severed head each sprouted masses of dark energy and oily vine-like growths. Within a split second, there were two copies of the mouse. The newly grown parts were not aflame, and their soft pinkness glistened in the firelight.

Knowing a fresh brain meant a weak brain, Chuck threw his arms out and hastily cast a psychic control spell on the mouse with a new pink head. The mouse went unconscious and slumped to the ground, the fiery torso flickering out to reveal the bare pink skin.

The mouse with a flaming head was still a problem, and let everyone know by clapping its four upper paws together to cast a blazing nova spell.

Two of the rookies died before they had time to scream. The third died jumping in the way of Ansens to shield his commander from the blast. Everyone else ducked out of the way.

With all the enemies scattered from its nova spell, the mouse used its own psychic ability to locate Charlie in the darkness. The man responsible for its humiliating new form was regrouping with his three counterparts.

Charles had to dodge a fireball to his head. It was easy to back away from, but it meant having to move away from Charlie. At almost the same time, Chuck and Tarson had to dodge similar attacks. Everyone had left Charlie to stand alone as the screaming fire mouse came charging up.

A quick communal thought was passed between the three counterparts' minds. They all nodded and performed their task. Charles cast a protective barrier of white mana, Tarson reinforced it with a thick canopy of barbed vines, and Chuck sent a sharp mental spike into the mind of the rodent.

The whole time, Charlie had been staring at the monster like he wanted it to attack him with all its might. He placed his right hand in his pocket to clutch the conglomoid mana battery. He really wanted to see everything his creation had, even if it meant he was the intended victim of all the attacks. He almost looked disappointed when the barrier went up to protect him.

The mouse beast hit the thorns with a thud and a squeal. Its paws were all impaled on nasty thorns, but the offending plants were burned away quickly enough as it cast flame spells on its body. It only had to shake its head to resist the psi magic that came in soon after. It almost laughed, as conscious Chronomites were notoriously resistant to Psian mental magic. With a flick of its tail, the beast's body burst into an inferno, the shape of the beast difficult to see in the thick shrouds of intense dancing flames. Shrouded as it was in powerful fire, it found the last protective barrier easy to simply melt its way through.

The action was enough of a delay, however, and the mouse had been too focused on the Psian defenses. It never anticipated Ansens would run up behind it and slash down with his bayonet.

Head-to-tail, the bisected halves of the mouse flopped to either side of the angry Human's weapon.

Chuck was quick to put the regenerating halves into a magic-induced sleep. He looked up to the counterparts, Ansens, and the remaining Scimitars. Everyone had a tired smile, except for Charlie. That man was actually laughing softly.

"It worked," barked Charlie, his voice almost insane. "My plan worked! Now I have three copies of a function conglomoid!" he looked to his scattered counterparts, a bit of grim reflection in his eyes. "Do you know what this means?"

Chuck rose to his feet and dusted himself off. "It means we succeeded in making one hell of a monster."

"Three monsters," added Tarson, rubbing his nose carefully to ease the throbbing pain. "It means we did something insane."

"Something immoral," growled Charles. "It'll take a lot of work to control those things. And, knowing me, I'd want to advance my research." He lowered his head and shook it. "I know what's next. Tests on actual Confederate soldiers. Making super warriors." He reflected for a moment, then declared, "I'll have no more part of these tests. Return me to my world."

Charlie was about to protest, but Tarson cut him off. "I wish to return, as well. You should send us all back."

"Hold on," Chuck snapped. "Would any of us let us go from a team like this? We have a lot of potential." He jutted a hand out to the sleeping mice. "Just, we used it wrongly tonight."

Everyone going home was all part of Charlie's plan. He was perplexed by Chuck's sudden words, the likes of which he never expected from any of himselves. Though the development struck him as odd, he decided to play along. "I'm sorry I strong-armed you all into this. But, look at the results. We can now clone this monster, and have a legion of friendly copies." He sighed. "We don't have to use conglomancy anymore. For that, I extend my eternal thanks."

"You know," Tarson said, softened a bit by the words of thanks, "I'm still willing to team up. Each of us can contribute something great to a team composed of the four of us. I just have one condition: We split the results of our work so we can take them to our Confederacies. I hate the crime we committed as much as any of us, but I know my home government could really use an army of these monsters."

Charles shook his head. "Not just yet. While I agree this is the safest of the four homes to work, I say we move our operation to one of those safer, three-million-strong Confederacies. That's my condition."

"Well," Chuck interjected, "I have a demand. And I'm sure surprised no one suggested this. We bring in more than just us. We get to go home and recruit people who are fine working with copies of themselves. We form an agency to work for the good of all Confederacies."

Folding his arms was Charlie's first reaction. He moved his tongue around the inside of his lips, happy for the development. They were doing exactly what he wanted, all without his further coaxing. "If all three of you accept the conditions, then I will, too." He let out a fake sigh. "How say you?"

"I accept." Chuck beamed with pride. "All terms, and the formation of the Reed Group."

Charles gasped, "My words! To be expected, I guess. For the good of all people, I happily agree and join the Reed Group."

"I agree," boomed Tarson, who then snickered, "Why can't any of us come up with a better name, though?"

All three looked to Charlie. "So be it! I agree, as well." He paused, clearly sending a psychic message. "As I'm sure you'll all prefer to see the sunrise on your own worlds, I invite you to go back home to begin this. I just alerted Nary to activate the infantry gates so you all can get home as soon as possible." He motioned to Ansens, "Can you go help her out? I'd like them up and ready before we get there."

"Sir!" Ansens saluted, then ran away.

The four counterparts began a slow stroll down the trail to the infantry gates near the barracks. An array of multiversal gates, it was capable of sending troops to different points in the multiverse all from one loading location.

"So, how did you find us, anyway?" Charles asked, casual in both tone and pace. "You mentioned doing so because of your research."

Charlie smiled. The light posts were joined by a full moon to make him glow almost like a ghost. He looked up at the moon and answered, "Conglomancy works best with multiple gates. Multiple points in space converging into one. I found that playing with the process in reverse led me to find copies of my subject."

Chuck was wide-eyed. "Copies of a subject? You mean," he stopped to gasp slightly. "You put yourself into your own experiment to find us?"

Charlie nodded as the four strolled along the gentle night path. "It was the only way I could find brilliant and cooperative minds. The only ones I could think of. Copies of myself."

The other three all had the same thought. Though the act was grim, it proved Charlie's dedication to finding a way to end the war. None of them needed to speak a word of it, as it was a common conclusion between them all. They just nodded in acceptance of the heroic gesture performed by Charlie.

Charlie himself recalled a few memories. He had been willing to sacrifice himself, because he had sacrificed so much to get to the point of forming what he was forming that morning. He put his hand in his pocket and patted his mana battery sphere. "No more crazy spells that lead to labs burning down. Now, we head to a sunrise--"

"--That has so much promise," interrupted Chuck, who knew how to finished the thought. "The four of us will be--"

"--That sunrise," Charles said with a ring in his voice. "We will be the force--"

"--That saves the Confederacy, in all forms." Tarson smiled as he finished the statement.

They reached the infantry gates. A few soldiers were awakened by the activation of the portals, but stood around idle as Charlie had high enough authorization to order the trip so late at night. They all shook hands, and the three foreign counterparts went to the gates Nary directed them to. They all waved at each other one final time before turning to face their portals.

* * * * *

Charles Tarson Reed watched his counterparts head into the multiverse gates. The Confederacy could finally strengthen its forces. He could finally end his experiments. The light of hope would rise because of them, and it would shine down, all just as soon as they finished their trips through the gates.

He put his hand in his coat pocket and smiled proudly.

wow nice work if you write more ill delete this (to make it look nicer).

Know what would rock a few pictures. ill draw a few up but they'd prolly suck do you got any pics?

That's the end there. Story finished. Now I can get back to Recovery Quest, which will run longer than five episodes. No need to delete your post. I actually like to have comments in the thread. Helps to see what I'm doing right, or wrong. Whatever the instance happens to be.

I'm actually not too good at drawing. I can make good artwork, but it takes a long time, ala art class project style. (Much better at photography and writing than I am at painting and drawing.) So if you want to draw something, you're more than welcome to do so!

I don't happen to have any pictures, but I was planning on doing some for the other Aegis series (Outlaw, which runs as part of the daily fiction over at the CPA), such as character profiles. A few neat characters in that series.

your sig says baby tiger arn't leonin lions? lol hope to hear more from RQ.

You're asking about Recovery Quest in the Mirror Match thread?

Yeah they are tigers. And, the Conferderates are calling them Leonin. The whole mess of their confusion is intentional. They've never seen these things before so they aren't too sure what to call them. It all gets cleared up in a later episode, of course.

ohhhhhhhhhh......

Wow, 90+ views and not too many comments. Though I've noticed this is a commn trend for everyone who posts a story.

Anybody who reads this, please leave feedback. I want to know if people thought it was good, or bad. What I did right, or wrong. Just in general: How did this story do?

Amazing! All you other onlookers leave your comment he deserves it after that.