SOS CH 58 (Patreon)

Noah’s voice was hoarse even as he pronounced her name. He was wondering if this was some kind of illusion or if this was a Dream. How could this situation be explained otherwise?

. “So…You were really alive, huh. I guess Apollo was indeed right. Well, not like it’s anything new. That fucker is always right in a way.”

This snarky and foul way of speaking absolutely did not suit her stupidly beautiful face.

“So it was really you…”

“Hum? I feel like you came to this conclusion using a truly rude way.”  Venus eyed him suspiciously but all it did was make him even happier. He approached her, slowly at first, but soon his legs moved faster until he rushed and hugged the woman in his arms.

“Venus!”

Venus opened her eyes wide at first but soon a soft smile spread on her face as she hugged him back gently. She ignored the shaking shoulders of Noah and simply patted him on the back. “There, there. I never thought I would see the tough Noah shed a tear.”

“I am not crying. It’s just sweat.” a choked voice came out but all it did was make Venus snicker, “Heh. If you say so. It would have been fun if Capricornus could see you now. You always called him a nerd and a Crybaby after all.” Noah did not answer. Whether this was out of embarrassment or not, only he knew.

The two stayed like this for a short moment before Venus taped Noah gently,

“Sorry. While I would love to wait for you longer. I cannot. You are in grave danger currently and the longer I stay awake the more dangerous it is.” She pushed Noah and placed her hands on his lips.

“What did I teach you, Noah?”

“Always smile. No matter what the situation.” Noah shook his head and wiped his eyes as he took a step back.

“Indeed.. “

“Indeed. Still my best student to this date.” She smiled. “A smile is a weapon. A tool, my dear. It inspires your friends, keeps your enemies guessing, and ensures that no matter what your way, you are the one in control. Just because you see a smile, don't think you know what is underneath.”

Noah was confused as to where she wanted to go with this conversation. There was so much he wanted to ask and so much he wanted to know.

“I want you to smile my dear. Smile and keep your ears open as I give you all the information I can. My access and permission are limited as you might or might not be Noah even though you have Noah’s memories or you might have changed too much even if you are Noah.”

“What…”

“Smile, Shut up, and Listen when I speak.” Venus started to speak hurriedly, not even letting Noah have the time to answer. She was indeed the Venus he remembered. The one with the most queen-like and the highest authority in their groups as something of the big sister.

“Look. Do you remember Project Ark? The escape shuttle. Well, the project was aborted. We all saw it. Your last stand, the way you guys sacrificed yourself, and most importantly — The Wormhole you created when you exploded.”

She shook her head, “Until then, Wormholes had been a myth. Even though Einstein’s theories all pointed towards their existence and everything was right in theories we had no proof and no way of finding one. But you did. You created a wormhole and…It changed everything.” She made it clear by emphasizing the last word.

“Humanity decided to not flee but to fight and this discovery and the energy that resulted from the creation of the wormhole started affecting Earth. People with special powers started to appear and society started to change.

“This change was followed by a long period of Chaos as those who had been left to die on the planet were not keen on accepting those who came back. As funny as it was, a new internal war began again and humans nearly wiped themselves out but the new discoveries helped us focus. We called that special Energy, Aether. We did not know how to harness it or control it but it helped boost humanity far forward. Type 1 and Type 2 were reached in Decades!” She hissed quietly, still awed by this evolution. But soon her expression darkened.

“Even so, we were still not satisfied. The evolution of humanity as a whole was fast but it was not enough. The Parasites were an ever-looming threat in the horizons that could come back at any moment. Furthermore, the schism between humanity continued to grow and soon it became evident that it was impossible for peace to truly come back. The hatred was just too great. So slowly two groups started to appear.”

“The first one wanted to focus inwardly. Determining that human potential had been opened and that by studying the smallest particles, one could once again open a wormhole and harness more of its energy. The other became more interested in the vast sea of stars. Wishing to expand and explore to colonize other planets. They used the understanding of wormholes they reached to explore further and farther in the universe. But they soon reached a clear impasse.”

Noah could not help but speak under his breath, “Time.”

“Ding~Ding~Ding. We have a winner. Even with light speed. It was impossible to explore the galaxy, much less the universe in any reasonable amount of time. Even if we took into account things like generational ships, this was very different from the initial goal of simply wandering in space with Project Ark. We needed something fast or something that could allow us to live longer. Thankfully we managed to find a solution. Something that, admittedly, was only possible thanks to Vulcan and Minerva.”

Vulcan was Capricornus and Minerva was Virgo. Even though Vulcan was repeatedly called a nerd by Noah. This was in no way a way of insulting him. Vulcan had helped in repairing Ouroboros many times.

Venus laughed fondly, “Even when dead, we are truly the best. We realized that those two had been working on a daring project and had made a long headway. It was ########”

Noah waited for her to continue but Venus all he could see was Venus moving her mouth in weird shapes but no sounds coming out of her mouth. She stopped when she realized this, her face was bewildered at first but soon it was filled with furry.

“Fuck! Seriously!? Even that!? Who the fucking hell inserted the ### in the ###.”

Her words seemed to be censored whenever she spoke but Noah was able to understand that this was not a family-friendly censoring.

“You are unable to share the information.”

“I…” Venus's expression changed fast, frustration, anger, apologies and so much more. In the end, she simply sighed and arranged her coat. Her expression settled down as a dazzling, albeit strained, smile once again appeared on her face, “Well. It seems like I want to share much more of this part of history. So let me tell you what needs to be known. Simple and concise. Are you ready?”

“I was born ready.” Noah joked around as he tried to ease his nerves. The story Venus was sharing was already incredible but now it seemed like it were not even the most shocking.

Venus chuckled and her smile became more relaxed as she spoke, “In Quantum physics, there was one theory that was regarded more as a joke by many in the past. That theory is called the Many World Theory.”

“Venus…”

“Well. Like wormholes, that theory was not just a joke in the end you see. Thanks to those who decided to focus on the small world we were able to make this discovery.”

“Don’t tell me…” Noah’s voice was subdued as he realized what she wanted to say.

“Well. You are smart Noah. So you should have already managed to guess by now.” Venus took a deep breath and finally confirmed the one truth Noah had been dreading.

“This. Is. Not our universe. This. Is. Not our home. This is — A parallel universe.”