Starfall by David Reiss

Author:David Reiss [Reiss, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-04-30T22:00:00+00:00

9

“Would you like some tea?” I offered.

“No,” she demurred, “But thank you for the offer. My professional name is Dawnstar, by the way, and I’ve been authorized to begin the process of granting you temporary protected status. There’s paperwork involved and you will be required to privately unmask, and also offer a DNA sample for our records.”

“Of course,” I replied. “If I understand the statute correctly, I have seventy-two hours to make myself available to a Department of Metahuman Affairs for my assessment?”

“That’s correct,” she replied, the slight tilt of her head indicating a curiosity that she quite-professionally kept from her expression. “In the meantime, you’ll need to be accompanied at all times by a licensed representative of the D.M.A., and your vehicle will be inspected and impounded.”

“Excellent.” One way or the other, I would be long gone before three days had elapsed. “Professor Paradigm has the appropriate license, does he not?”

“He does,” the heroine nodded, “but he’d need to agree to act as your custodian. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck with me.”

“I understand,” I said, and took another sip of tea from my mug.

Given that the incarnation of Professor Paradigm from this universe didn’t have decades’ worth of resentment and anger towards a Doctor Fid, it seemed rather likely that the offer of knowledge would make for an easy sell. I was quite prepared to grant detailed information about several of my inventions.

If Paradigm helped me save Whisper, I’d give him anything he asked for.

“Can you tell me more about the vehicle inspection process?" I asked.

Dawnstar nodded and began explaining how an expert would be selected. I’d already done my own research into the subject, so I offered her only minimal attention; for the most part, I wanted only to keep her talking until the Paragons arrived. Sensor readings indicated that they were only a few minutes away.

The lion’s share of my focus was upon sorting through local news articles and encyclopedia entries I’d gathered via my neural tap. Superficially, this world might appear very much like my own…but there were many differences. I found references to major battles that didn’t happen on my own world, and the community of heroes and villains was also somewhat changed. There were names I didn’t recognize, and other names present in surprising places. Andre Scalzi was a successful politician here rather than being a relatively low-level criminal named Blackjack. The supervillain Locust was imprisoned rather than having been brutally (and entertainingly) murdered; he’d recently become the stuff of talk shows when his parole was denied.

There were very minor differences in technology levels, too. Nothing world-shaking, but I hacked scholastic and scientific periodicals to gather future reading material nonetheless.

And then the Paragons’ sleek transport shuttle glided into view, cutting a smooth and elegant path through the sky. It appeared that Professor Paradigm’s exquisite sense of aesthetics was consistent across multiple dimensions.

“If you wouldn’t mind waiting here a moment,” Dawnstar smiled, “I’ll go update the Paragons and then bring them over to talk.”

“Thank you,” I nodded.

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