Chapter 3: Possible futures of Refuge
Authors' Note: While all of the Vignettes are of questionable canonicity unless and until they appear in a story, these are even more so.
October 2017
Blossom Apartments
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
October 10, 2017
"Once the GenX generation starts reaching their 50s and 60s in the 2030s and 2040s, they'll be Silver Millennials. And Serenity will be their Queen."
"Mina!!!"
Blossom Towers
Renfrew, Ontario, Canada
October 14, 2017
Misuzu Misaka looked at the crowd of Misaka Sisters standing outside of the newly-Twinned apartment highrises. "I have how many daughters?"
"Over nine thousand!"
"I think I'd remember having gone through labour that many times..."
November 2017
Aria House
Los Angeles, California, USA
November 1, 2017
"Can I wish for a device to make another person go away?"
Skuld looked at Yomi in disbelief. "You want a vuvuzela?"
Online
November 2, 2017
"HAL and Uiharu are busy holding off Viluy's cyber attacks. And as long as her firewall is intact, we can't counterattack."
"I've got one thing to say about that firewall," Ralph replied. "I'm gonna wreck it!"
December 2017
Astral Consulting
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
December 3, 2017
"Young Miss Testarossa from Philadelphia is here to see you."
Itsuki looked up at Honami's comment. "What, now?"
His corporate secretary, best combat mage, and childhood friend smiled. "To quote Optimus Prime, 'Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing'."
The Masaki residence
Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada
December 14, 2017
Sasami was sitting in her "contemplative place" on the stairwell landing. "There are so many magical girls. Why can't I be one, too?"
Ryo-Ohki looked up at her and replied, in English, "Because you never asked before! Here's your wand, Pretty Sammy."
San Francisco, California, USA
December 21, 2017
"Himemiya's Curry House. Want to try it?"
"I like to mix things up a little...."
The Muppet Theatre
1564 Broadway
Manhattan, New York, USA
December 30, 2017
"It's the Muppet Show! With our special guests - Hokago Tea Time! Yaaaayyy!"
January 2018
The Misaka Network
January 6, 2018
"Fumi Misaka announces, This... is Misaka Network 23 News." The title card displayed, showing graphics in shades of blue. The ticking clock face turned then flipped, revealing a Bohr model of an atom. It flipped over again, showing the grinning face of Gekota, before revolving one last time to show a rotating Earth. "Tonight, our top stories, Fumi enumerates:"
Douglass Gardens Apartments
Somerset, New Jersey, USA
January 13, 2018
"My name is Philippa. My siblings call me 'Pip'."
"Pip? As in orange pips?"
"Pip as in Great Expectations; I was thought of as a tomboy back home in London, and my choice of hobby when we moved to Japan did nothing to dispel that notion. But, yes, my hair -" she casually touched her light-orange locks for a brief moment "- does have more than a small bearing on the nickname."
"What do your friends here call you? I can't imagine most Japanese people pronouncing Philippa correctly."
She smiled sadly as she shook her head. "No, the best they could manage was 'P-ko'. And then my teammates took that and my hair colour and code-named me 'Orange Pekoe'. I thought we were mad about tea back home, but my family has nothing on the students at St. Gloriana."
March 2018
Somewhere in Pottsylvania
March 17, 2018
"Villain hideout, meet Tenchi and Railgun. Tenchi and Railgun, meet... wasn't there a building here two minutes ago?"
April 2018
Somewhere in Pottsylvania
April 1, 2018
"A can?" Kurz asked in disbelief. "Stop thinking so small. This is a ballistic missile submarine. Tessa's going to open a 55-gallon drum of whoop-ass!"
Later the same day
"Please surrender before I have to resort to violence." Tessa even asked politely.
"Oh, yeah? You and what army?"
At that point, the Tuatha de Danann surfaced behind her, in the Dneister River.
"Will you settle for a navy?"
June 2018
Earth Orbit
June 28, 2018
As Washuu-chan led them out onto the hangar deck, she inclined her head toward Anthy, "More than anything else, I just wanted to thank you for asking me to do this," she said. "It's been quite an enjoyable project for me over the last year and a half, and became almost a hobby, in fact. I found myself turning to it every time I needed a little relaxation."
Anthy smiled. "I'm so glad we both got something out of my request, then. I was worried that I was unnecessarily imposing on you when your workload is already so great."
Washuu waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Feh. I'm not doing anything that doesn't already interest me on one level or another. And it helped that in this case no one's life was in the balance, nor was there any kind of deadline. I could put it down and pick it back up again at my leisure." She chuckled, and Utena raised an eyebrow. "It's been the equivalent of making a ship in a bottle for me. I'm almost sad it's done."
"And it's exactly as described in the stories?" Utena asked, intrigued despite her trepidation about the whole prospect.
"I found a webpage describing the Valiant and did my best to meet every specification and then some." Washuu grinned wickedly. "I did have to bring in a consultant to help me with the finer details, though." A heavyset, bearded man stepped out from one of the alcoves lining the deck. "Allow me to introduce Ben Hutchins, sometimes known as 'Gryphon'." Washuu's grin grew even wider. "I understand you were interested in meeting him."
Utena couldn't help herself. "Hi, 'Dad'," she said with a broad smile.
A much put-upon expression flashed across Hutchins' face as he handed a folded bill to Washuu. "Prince Tenjou, Miss Himemiya," he said, nodding to them. Then, almost to himself, he added, "Yeah, this is surreal."
"And it wasn't before?" Washuu asked, still grinning.
August 2018
Somewhere in the Kuiper belt
August 22, 2018
They looked around to see that the forward supply base was deserted and ransacked. "Not much chance of getting any help here. I wonder who attacked them?"
"Probably the Borg," Washuu replied. "They left behind this box of potentiometers."
"How do you go from that to thinking the Borg are responsible?"
"They're the only race that has no use for these. They think resistance is futile."
2027
Starfleet training simulator
Starbase 1, Earth orbit
Class of 2028
"Open fire."
"FEI-ZA... BEEM!"
"Please stop shouting your attacks, Ensign Takamachi."
2030
Excavations of the Mare Serenitatis site have revealed much of the material culture of the Silver Millennium of the Moon Kingdom. Preserved in the regolith and rendered oxygen-free soon after the fall of the kingdom, recovered samples are of comparable level of preservation to those in Pompeii, thousands of years later. Though eyewitnesses to the era have downplayed its importance, artifacts discovered suggest widespread participation in the cult of the princesses. In addition to public temples, home shrines and idols to the sailor guardians appear to be commonplace. We explore the differences between the perception of this cult among lunar commoners and those at the center of it. And we contrast to similar cults of apotheosis, such as in Egypt, Rome, and Abydos, to show how worship in the Moon Kingdom was uniquely led by the lower classes.
¹ Serenity University
² University of Chicago
³ University of California, Los Angeles
﹡ Corresponding Author: Email <fkinomoto@su.ed.ln>
Log in to view the full article
2031
Deep space
March 3, 2031
"Captain's Log. The Rideau's sensors have detected an anomalous body three Astronomical Units off the port bow and below the ship. I have asked the rest of the ship's crew to join me in the cockpit. End recording."
The first to arrive was the ship's LMH, who rezzed into existence behind the captain's chair. "What's going on, Ruiko?"
"I've never seen readings quite like these."
Next to arrive was the ship's surgeon and science officer - despite the decades, she still looked almost exactly like the LMH that was patterned off her. "What sort of readings?"
"This sort, mom." Ruiko pointed at the science station's monitor.
Ami knew things weren't immediately dangerous, since her adopted step-daughter (who was only three years younger than she was) was being informal. She sat at the science station and looked at the display. "This ... doesn't make sense. Have you ever seen anything like this, Akemi?"
The LMH looked over her shoulder. "There is nothing remotely like that in either the Federation or Juraian databases that I have been programmed with."
At this point, the rest of the runabout's crew arrived. Rob took the seat beside Ruiko, while Hyoga took the remaining seat.
Hyoga switched on the tactical display, focused on the object, and stared at the display. "That's not possible."
"You're a part-time angel, you've known Sailor Senshi for decades, and you think something isn't possible?" Rob switched on his own screen. "That isn't possible. Or, rather, that's just barely possible, and only with magical intervention. Somebody check the passive scanners, please. Where's that body's magic flux read on the scale?"
"It's right off the scale," Hyoga replied.
"Figures." Rob looked at the real-colour image of the body displayed on his monitor: a turtle swimming through space, with four elephants on its back and a disc of land on the elephants' backs. "I recommend avoiding it - the last thing we need is to land in or near Anhk-Morpork. Besides, that world has already seen [url=https://allthetropes.org/wiki/The_Last_Hero"]The Last Hero[/url] that it ever will; there's no place there for my geas to kick in."
Ruiko sighed. "You're no fun, dad. But you're right. I'll plot its course. Hyoga, please signal Earth that we've spotted it; maybe somebody else will want to take a look."
"Aye, captain," she said with a smile.
21XX
Some time in the 22nd century
"Long, long ago, at the beginning of what mankind called the 21st century, the people of Clan Chikyū-no-Mau were able to take both human and feline form. The three legendary founders of the clan were the majority of the Mau on Earth, and so the only way for Clan Chikyū-no-Mau to survive was to interbreed with humans, and that required genetic engineering assistance from the Great Scientist. But that assistance came with a price: the descendants of the grandmother of us all, Diana Chikyū-no-Tsuki-no-Mau, would never be able to transform between fully-human and fully-feline forms, instead taking on aspects of both of their ancestors' species in their sole forms. And that, young Merle, is how the catgirls got our ears."
Authors' Note: While all of the Vignettes are of questionable canonicity unless and until they appear in a story, these are even more so.
October 2017
Blossom Apartments
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
October 10, 2017
"Once the GenX generation starts reaching their 50s and 60s in the 2030s and 2040s, they'll be Silver Millennials. And Serenity will be their Queen."
"Mina!!!"
Blossom Towers
Renfrew, Ontario, Canada
October 14, 2017
Misuzu Misaka looked at the crowd of Misaka Sisters standing outside of the newly-Twinned apartment highrises. "I have how many daughters?"
"Over nine thousand!"
"I think I'd remember having gone through labour that many times..."
November 2017
Aria House
Los Angeles, California, USA
November 1, 2017
"Can I wish for a device to make another person go away?"
Skuld looked at Yomi in disbelief. "You want a vuvuzela?"
Online
November 2, 2017
"HAL and Uiharu are busy holding off Viluy's cyber attacks. And as long as her firewall is intact, we can't counterattack."
"I've got one thing to say about that firewall," Ralph replied. "I'm gonna wreck it!"
December 2017
Astral Consulting
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
December 3, 2017
"Young Miss Testarossa from Philadelphia is here to see you."
Itsuki looked up at Honami's comment. "What, now?"
His corporate secretary, best combat mage, and childhood friend smiled. "To quote Optimus Prime, 'Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing'."
The Masaki residence
Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada
December 14, 2017
Sasami was sitting in her "contemplative place" on the stairwell landing. "There are so many magical girls. Why can't I be one, too?"
Ryo-Ohki looked up at her and replied, in English, "Because you never asked before! Here's your wand, Pretty Sammy."
San Francisco, California, USA
December 21, 2017
"Himemiya's Curry House. Want to try it?"
"I like to mix things up a little...."
The Muppet Theatre
1564 Broadway
Manhattan, New York, USA
December 30, 2017
"It's the Muppet Show! With our special guests - Hokago Tea Time! Yaaaayyy!"
January 2018
The Misaka Network
January 6, 2018
"Fumi Misaka announces, This... is Misaka Network 23 News." The title card displayed, showing graphics in shades of blue. The ticking clock face turned then flipped, revealing a Bohr model of an atom. It flipped over again, showing the grinning face of Gekota, before revolving one last time to show a rotating Earth. "Tonight, our top stories, Fumi enumerates:"
Douglass Gardens Apartments
Somerset, New Jersey, USA
January 13, 2018
"My name is Philippa. My siblings call me 'Pip'."
"Pip? As in orange pips?"
"Pip as in Great Expectations; I was thought of as a tomboy back home in London, and my choice of hobby when we moved to Japan did nothing to dispel that notion. But, yes, my hair -" she casually touched her light-orange locks for a brief moment "- does have more than a small bearing on the nickname."
"What do your friends here call you? I can't imagine most Japanese people pronouncing Philippa correctly."
She smiled sadly as she shook her head. "No, the best they could manage was 'P-ko'. And then my teammates took that and my hair colour and code-named me 'Orange Pekoe'. I thought we were mad about tea back home, but my family has nothing on the students at St. Gloriana."
March 2018
Somewhere in Pottsylvania
March 17, 2018
"Villain hideout, meet Tenchi and Railgun. Tenchi and Railgun, meet... wasn't there a building here two minutes ago?"
April 2018
Somewhere in Pottsylvania
April 1, 2018
"A can?" Kurz asked in disbelief. "Stop thinking so small. This is a ballistic missile submarine. Tessa's going to open a 55-gallon drum of whoop-ass!"
Later the same day
"Please surrender before I have to resort to violence." Tessa even asked politely.
"Oh, yeah? You and what army?"
At that point, the Tuatha de Danann surfaced behind her, in the Dneister River.
"Will you settle for a navy?"
June 2018
Earth Orbit
June 28, 2018
As Washuu-chan led them out onto the hangar deck, she inclined her head toward Anthy, "More than anything else, I just wanted to thank you for asking me to do this," she said. "It's been quite an enjoyable project for me over the last year and a half, and became almost a hobby, in fact. I found myself turning to it every time I needed a little relaxation."
Anthy smiled. "I'm so glad we both got something out of my request, then. I was worried that I was unnecessarily imposing on you when your workload is already so great."
Washuu waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Feh. I'm not doing anything that doesn't already interest me on one level or another. And it helped that in this case no one's life was in the balance, nor was there any kind of deadline. I could put it down and pick it back up again at my leisure." She chuckled, and Utena raised an eyebrow. "It's been the equivalent of making a ship in a bottle for me. I'm almost sad it's done."
"And it's exactly as described in the stories?" Utena asked, intrigued despite her trepidation about the whole prospect.
"I found a webpage describing the Valiant and did my best to meet every specification and then some." Washuu grinned wickedly. "I did have to bring in a consultant to help me with the finer details, though." A heavyset, bearded man stepped out from one of the alcoves lining the deck. "Allow me to introduce Ben Hutchins, sometimes known as 'Gryphon'." Washuu's grin grew even wider. "I understand you were interested in meeting him."
Utena couldn't help herself. "Hi, 'Dad'," she said with a broad smile.
A much put-upon expression flashed across Hutchins' face as he handed a folded bill to Washuu. "Prince Tenjou, Miss Himemiya," he said, nodding to them. Then, almost to himself, he added, "Yeah, this is surreal."
"And it wasn't before?" Washuu asked, still grinning.
August 2018
Somewhere in the Kuiper belt
August 22, 2018
They looked around to see that the forward supply base was deserted and ransacked. "Not much chance of getting any help here. I wonder who attacked them?"
"Probably the Borg," Washuu replied. "They left behind this box of potentiometers."
"How do you go from that to thinking the Borg are responsible?"
"They're the only race that has no use for these. They think resistance is futile."
2027
Starfleet training simulator
Starbase 1, Earth orbit
Class of 2028
"Open fire."
"FEI-ZA... BEEM!"
"Please stop shouting your attacks, Ensign Takamachi."
2030
Moon Gorgeous Meditation: Religious Practices as Civic Culture in the Silver Millennium
Fujitaka Kinomoto¹﹡, Daniel Jackson², Andrew Park³, Victor Bergman¹, Kaori Aida¹
ABSTRACTExcavations of the Mare Serenitatis site have revealed much of the material culture of the Silver Millennium of the Moon Kingdom. Preserved in the regolith and rendered oxygen-free soon after the fall of the kingdom, recovered samples are of comparable level of preservation to those in Pompeii, thousands of years later. Though eyewitnesses to the era have downplayed its importance, artifacts discovered suggest widespread participation in the cult of the princesses. In addition to public temples, home shrines and idols to the sailor guardians appear to be commonplace. We explore the differences between the perception of this cult among lunar commoners and those at the center of it. And we contrast to similar cults of apotheosis, such as in Egypt, Rome, and Abydos, to show how worship in the Moon Kingdom was uniquely led by the lower classes.
¹ Serenity University
² University of Chicago
³ University of California, Los Angeles
﹡ Corresponding Author: Email <fkinomoto@su.ed.ln>
Log in to view the full article
2031
Deep space
March 3, 2031
"Captain's Log. The Rideau's sensors have detected an anomalous body three Astronomical Units off the port bow and below the ship. I have asked the rest of the ship's crew to join me in the cockpit. End recording."
The first to arrive was the ship's LMH, who rezzed into existence behind the captain's chair. "What's going on, Ruiko?"
"I've never seen readings quite like these."
Next to arrive was the ship's surgeon and science officer - despite the decades, she still looked almost exactly like the LMH that was patterned off her. "What sort of readings?"
"This sort, mom." Ruiko pointed at the science station's monitor.
Ami knew things weren't immediately dangerous, since her adopted step-daughter (who was only three years younger than she was) was being informal. She sat at the science station and looked at the display. "This ... doesn't make sense. Have you ever seen anything like this, Akemi?"
The LMH looked over her shoulder. "There is nothing remotely like that in either the Federation or Juraian databases that I have been programmed with."
At this point, the rest of the runabout's crew arrived. Rob took the seat beside Ruiko, while Hyoga took the remaining seat.
Hyoga switched on the tactical display, focused on the object, and stared at the display. "That's not possible."
"You're a part-time angel, you've known Sailor Senshi for decades, and you think something isn't possible?" Rob switched on his own screen. "That isn't possible. Or, rather, that's just barely possible, and only with magical intervention. Somebody check the passive scanners, please. Where's that body's magic flux read on the scale?"
"It's right off the scale," Hyoga replied.
"Figures." Rob looked at the real-colour image of the body displayed on his monitor: a turtle swimming through space, with four elephants on its back and a disc of land on the elephants' backs. "I recommend avoiding it - the last thing we need is to land in or near Anhk-Morpork. Besides, that world has already seen [url=https://allthetropes.org/wiki/The_Last_Hero"]The Last Hero[/url] that it ever will; there's no place there for my geas to kick in."
Ruiko sighed. "You're no fun, dad. But you're right. I'll plot its course. Hyoga, please signal Earth that we've spotted it; maybe somebody else will want to take a look."
"Aye, captain," she said with a smile.
21XX
Some time in the 22nd century
"Long, long ago, at the beginning of what mankind called the 21st century, the people of Clan Chikyū-no-Mau were able to take both human and feline form. The three legendary founders of the clan were the majority of the Mau on Earth, and so the only way for Clan Chikyū-no-Mau to survive was to interbreed with humans, and that required genetic engineering assistance from the Great Scientist. But that assistance came with a price: the descendants of the grandmother of us all, Diana Chikyū-no-Tsuki-no-Mau, would never be able to transform between fully-human and fully-feline forms, instead taking on aspects of both of their ancestors' species in their sole forms. And that, young Merle, is how the catgirls got our ears."
-- Bob
I have been Roland, Beowulf, Achilles, Gilgamesh, Clark Kent, Mary Sue, DJ Croft, Skysaber. I have been
called a hundred names and will be called a thousand more before the sun grows dim and cold....
I have been Roland, Beowulf, Achilles, Gilgamesh, Clark Kent, Mary Sue, DJ Croft, Skysaber. I have been
called a hundred names and will be called a thousand more before the sun grows dim and cold....