PRL Crossover Event:
DEUS EX MACHINA
Chapter 2 – Uttu
Uttu lives somewhere deep in the universe, in a relatively dark corner of space where she spun a large kingdom on a web between five black holes. Her silk is a deep violet that stands out on the colorful backdrop of the Quinspace, but she can change the color of her silk to create the structures of her kingdom. She retreated during the Ascendant War, not afraid, but intent on creating more who could face them. She gave birth to children by spinning cocoons that she filled with her hopes for the child, and eventually they would hatch and become inhabitants of her kingdom. She birthed a master general to command her armies and small units joined in the early Ascendant War, while the majority guarded Uttu’s kingdom.
Her kingdom was contained inside of a giant nest of her webbing, like a three dimensional representation of the relatively flat web of a traditional spider that seemed to be stretched at the points where they met the five black holes. Entry to the kingdom was difficult, but Anansi is always welcomed by Uttu’s guards who stalk along the web, sifting through the tangled debris. It was on their last visit that Anansi asked for a small pennance of her to help a needy spider down on her luck.
“Has the great Anansi grown a heart!” Uttu said playfully as she spun a tapestry of her offspring victorious in battle against their Ascendant foes. The two spoke in a room of Uttu’s opulent castle that she was always decorating with new creations. “Are you helping something that isn’t Nareau or Anansi? I am bowled over with this new you, brother. Who is she? Are you in love with her?”
“She is the size of our zits,” Anasi said dismissively as he watched Uttu spin around the long frame of the tapestry, adding various colors to complete the scene. It was a bloody vignette; the spiders with the legs of a stiff world man ambushing a fearsome gathering of Ascendant warriors. “I am cultivating the next generation, or weeding it out. And it is a good excuse to see you. We do not talk so much now that your home is complete. It is a wonder of the universe, sister.”
She glared at him, suddenly hostile. “I will not have this talk with you anymore…”
“You’ve created this nice little nest for yourself…”
“I’ve been contributing to the war for ages now…”
“And while you’re away, our children are being embarrassed by stiff world being…”
“Your children. Mine are a testament to Nareau. Look at what they’ve done.” Uttu stopped her work that was not done, but still stunning. “And here you are lecturing me while you beg for my penance. I have something for your spider girl, give her my wrath against men. And let that wrath take the form of a maker’s hand, able to weave anything and breathe life into it. Now be gone, I would have my nest free of hostility.”
“You have spun your tomb, dear sister. Please reengage with the world, the Quinspace is not so bright without you.”
“I am out there. I see you brother. I know you, and this is an elaborate scheme you are weaving. I hope you get what you are scheming for.”
“I always do, sister,” he said as he walked away.
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This week:
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Ivan and Clay are in lockup at the local jail and it seems that their enemy has won the day. Sure they could escape, Ivan can fly and Clay can leap long distances after all, but the boys are law abiding citizens and they have been programed to follow rules and laws, even if they can easily evade them. Not to mention that it would be unwise to break out because that would make them fugitives. Ivan and Clay know this, they wouldn’t dream of escaping.
Complex Repulsion (Diode Bk. 3): “The local lockup is just as Clay imagines it. There are big cells with two sparse bunk beds on either wall and there are toilets at the end of each of the beds. He and Ivan wear orange jumpsuits, all their possessions had been confiscated, and they are separated in the line of new arrivals as they march single file between guards. They are put into different cells, but they can easily see and hear one another because they are on opposite sides of the hall.”
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There’s a spider at the IBF and it wants to use Alia to get to Ivan and Clay. The spiders play dirty and Alia is forced to face an ally as an enemy.
Alia (Amazing Alia, the Alia Bk. °): “Alia is spun up in webbing up to her chin on the third floor of the IBF, in the laboratory of Dr. Sylvia Hansberry, who is unconscious in her office. Alia can see Giovanni, Dr. Eakran’s personal security guard, laughing and playing games with Wendy and her patients Helen and Mildred, and they have been joined by other patients and doctors from the third floor who wandered inside, curious about the commotion, and they are all lost in a levity that Alia wishes she can enjoy. Grown adults playing like children, laughing and throwing balloons and confetti. ”
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Detective Young is back! He’s been back for a little while now, a little skittish, hardly the man we knew. But he is back to work, unraveling a mystery that calls for a good detective. And he has some competition; it seems that Falon is always one step ahead of him.
Young Man (Old Man Young and the Con Man’s Daughter Limited Series): “Detective Young arrives at the very same trailer that Falon leaves, just as she is leaving the trailer park. The two had passed one another and Young should have recognized her, they even waved to one another as they passed on the dirt road, but he had gotten a lead from someone in the neighborhood where the meth lab had exploded and he was excited to chase it down.”
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Worthington learns more about the organization that funds his research and he is honored to be in such close confidence with Dr. Jones. She is an impressive woman and Worthington is just happy to be in the room.
Consortium Zone: South (Made in America Series 2 Limited Series): “You should know why you do the work that you do. The Consortium is very compartmentalized, and for good reason. The work you do could sully the name of our partner organizations, so we keep your work very much in-house. And the results you produce are studied by preeminent minds from around the globe who have made it possible for us to achieve what we have so far.”
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VIV has been reading the PRL archives. The strange encounters continue and VIV digs up an old term that may apply to more than just the heroes.
Strange Encounters (PRL 2 in 1): “Alia’s story makes me sad. Hers is a story of neglect and abandon, and it seems that she longs to know the family that she lost as she was born into the world. If she belongs to the line of extraordinary women known as the Alia, then it is a testament to the oppressive conditions of the society that reared such an extraordinary woman to be relegated to the margins as she has been.”
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Whadgaf is back and she is on the planet Oin. After the chaos of her recent history, she is enjoying the down time and contemplating her future.
Universal Family Tree: “Whadgaf Jiris is at the main campus of the Universal Infirmary with her friend Sevi Swite, a nurse of universal distinction, and she has been here for many daylight cycles. Whadgaf likes it on the campus; the planet Oin is welcoming to outsiders and she was treated like an official Hajferis emissary on her arrival. She has been living in a suite on the UI campus and Sevi is close by.”
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It’s the PRL Serials Volume V! The V is for very good.
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PRL Serials 