Variations

The Nexus Event: Let's (Not) Do the Time Warp Again

Sigyn trips through the Time Cell door Hilda opens in the middle of the room and lands somewhere she didn't expect to be. Her home. It's exactly as she remembers it. The furniture is all arranged in the somewhat chaotic fashion her parents always kept it. The windows are slightly cracked open to allow the cool breeze of sea salt-smelling air to disrupt some of the woody mildew scent in the house. The many windows also show the cliffs she'd missed so often over the years, a constant feature of her dreams, as seagulls fly off them and down to the beach below.

Suddenly, Sigyn realizes another feature of her dreams that would probably be here. She runs to the banister and calls up the stairs, "Mum!" No response comes. "Mum, I'm home!"

Instead of the reply she's expecting, a voice calls from the kitchen. One Sigyn isn't expecting. "Your parents are out at the moment. Have a seat."

It's Dr. Nemisis. Not only that, but Sigyn recognizes his words. It's exactly what he said to her the first time they met. This is precisely how it went after she returned to her house after running off to London. She makes her way towards the kitchen, and of course, Dr. Nemisis is there in the flesh, sitting at her table just like he did those few years ago. "You're supposed to be dead. I killed you."

"You must have me mistaken. I'm afraid we've never met. But I do have something of interest for you. I think you're in terrible danger. Please, take a seat."

Sigyn finds herself obliging and taking a seat across from the man. Perhaps if she plays along, this whole thing will be over. "Alright, show me what you've got."

"I'm afraid your parents aren't who you think they are, my dear." He pulls out two manilla folders from his briefcase and gently passes them across the table. Each contains a bio on each of her parents. "I'm sure you've found out, they aren't your biological parents. And I know that because I was the one who employed them. They worked at my lab to try and figure out how your unique abilities work."

Knowing what she's supposed to say, Sigyn feeds the man a line to spur him on. "But they're better than you. They rescued me."

"They did take you away from the lab. I cannot deny that. But your parents are scientists first. They understand the nature of things, how they work. But they will always see you in the context of that lab—a dangerous variable. One that needs to be contained."

Even though she's had this conversation before, Sigyn feels genuine emotion arise. "You're lying."

"Sadly, I'm not." He then passes across another manilla folder, one containing blueprints. The blueprints that haunt Sigyn still to this day. This must be why Hilda sent her here. To punish her. To make her heart drop faster than a rock tumbling off the cliffs next to her home. A moment in time that, to this day, she tries not to think about. "Yes, I may have had my people track you here from London. But this is how I knew to even look for you in London. Someone submitted a patent for a very particular type of containment cell that can withstand extremely large surges of energy and withstand amplified brainwaves. I saw the application and thought to myself, my, my, doesn't that sound similar to what one of my scientists who ran off with our subject had conceptualized? The patent was then sold to the London office of S.H.E.I.L.D. if you're at all familiar with the world's intelligence agencies."

She shrugs in response, not trying to let the words get to her. She instead veers off script to try and defend her parents. "I don't want to look."

"You cannot avoid the truth, Sigyn! You can only discover it," he says, his voice more raised and forceful than the cool and calm demeanour that he exhibited before. "The technique used to temper the glass to give it its energy-resistant properties was only discovered in 2008, so, I hate to say it, but this is a brand new design, Sigyn." He points to a date on one of the patent papers containing information about the patent sale. "And do you see the date here?"