Chapter Text
Theo pulled the protective glasses down over his eyes, donned his gloves, and carefully removed the sample from its bag. After two weeks, he was finally confident that the precautions were unnecessary, but one of the hardest-earned lessons in all of science was the importance of being overly cautious with the unknown – the Curies had learned that lesson the hard way. With slow, deliberate movements, he placed the thin sliver of material on a slide and covered it. Feeding the slide under the microscope, he examined the sample carefully through the lens before taking several still images and sending them to the lab’s view screen. Straightening up, he pressed a button on the computer to display the new images alongside two different control samples. Finally he cleared his throat as a signal for the lab’s built-in audio recording equipment. “Visual analysis of the sample is consistent with my findings using the mass-spectrometer, accounting for the unusual prevalence of carbon,” he stated. “Sample taken March 10 does show a high degree of commonality with volcanic flow, but with trace elements inconsistent with that sample. Trace elements are consistent with Gleditsia triacanthos, suggesting that the transmutation abilities of the subject known as ‘Dynamus’ leave behind some features of the original object. However, further analysis of the other samples from the March 10 incident will be necessary to prove this theory with any degree of reliability.”
He frowned, leaning over to continue his examination of the solidified lava flow. By adjusting the magnification properly, he could identify flecks of cellulose frozen within the hardened lava. This case had proven to be one of Theo’s most confounding. While they had succeeded in identifying the criminal magic user and putting a name to him – Denis Nouvel, former illusionist under the stage name “Dynamus” – he still had not given a satisfactory answer to account for his powers. Furthermore, they still had not found an easy method for containing them, either. He appeared to have an innate ability of transmutation, which he had activated the moment Theo attempted to lift the sedation; only his quick use of an alternate sedative had prevented him from breaking loose. Afterward, the Heroes of Paris had provided them with a mental inhibitor of unknown provenance which blocked certain of Nouvel’s higher brain functions. Theo had asked about it to no avail; all Pegasus had told him had been that it had the potential to hinder Nouvel’s ability to access or control his magic. By all accounts, however, the inhibitor worked: according to the warden at La Santé Prison’s Superhuman Detention Wing, Nouvel had not caused any problems in the weeks since his sedation was lifted.
Not that that was any guarantee.
With a sigh, Theo returned the samples to their drawer in the sample cabinet and turned to the small refrigerator on the floor under his table. A benefit of his position was the flexibility to move from one investigation to another when the first hit a snag; a curse of his position was the ability to be stumped by several investigations simultaneously. Pulling out a rack, he selected one of the vials that Pegasus had brought him for analysis the week before, taken from one of the many Parisians suffering from this unknown illness that he had only recently isolated. The number of active patients in Paris was still relatively low, with the majority of severe cases among the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. However, the illness had begun to attack all ages, and according to Pegasus it had proven resistant to every form of medical treatment they had tried. Theo had protested that medical research was not his area of expertise, to which Pegasus had only shrugged and responded, “Mine, neither.” So medical research it was.
Delicately, Theo drew out a small quantity of the fluid and placed a drop onto a slide to examine under the microscope, placing another one into his hematology analyzer. Scanning the code on the side of the vial with his tablet, he pulled up the patient’s records. “Subject One is a 95-year-old male in average physical health, no known illnesses, no known familiar medical history.” Taking a quick glance through the lens, he added, “Blood sample shows no abnormalities – or none detectable by my equipment.” He consulted a readout from the analyzer. “WBC, platelet count, O2 saturation normal, given subject age and health.” He leaned on the table with both hands. “Blood work gives no cause for deteriorating health. Exactly the same conclusion that my last seven tests reached.”
An alarm sounded in the ceiling above Theo’s head and he flinched, his fist clenching in surprise before his brain could catch up to his body. He spun his head and stared at the source of the alert, his eyes wide. The klaxon stopped after only a minute, and Élodie’s voice came through the speaker. “Lt. Ramus needs you in the field,” she informed him, tension in her voice. “Emergency.”
Theo cocked his head in confusion, reaching for his field kit. “What is the situation that it requires me?”
“Unidentified object spotted above Paris,” she reported briskly. “ESA, RSA, and NASA had no warning that it was coming prior to the moment when it reached the atmosphere – that’s when their systems all started going haywire. Last we heard, it was too fast and too small to get any good pictures of it, but it should be on the ground within the hour. The estimated landing zone is an area of 25 square kilometers, just south of Paris.”
“Are the Heroes of Paris going to respond?”
“At this time Turing reports that they are too busy with the epidemic,” she answered. “It’s thrown them for a loop as much as it has us.”
Theo was already halfway to the elevator. “Will they at least send their alien member?” he asked next. “‘Volpinax,’ I believe he is called. He may prove a valuable resource.”
“At the moment, I don’t know,” Élodie admitted. “Turing is going to monitor the situation and keep the Heroes informed at least. But we get to be the first response.” She paused a minute, and Theo’s tablet beeped with a new message. “Turing did send us the information they have available on extraterrestrial spacecraft. It’s not much, but at least it’s a start.”
Theo grimaced as the elevator brought him up to the main level. When he had agreed to join Roger’s nascent department back in September, he had done so with the understanding that his primary role would be in the laboratory, testing samples and assisting the field team scientifically and technologically. He was close to retirement, after all; fieldwork was a young person’s prerogative. Certainly it had always been a possibility that he would be sent out into the field – he had spent his first decade with the Paris Police Prefecture as a Crime Scene Technician, which had involved far more dangerous experiences at unsecured or recently-secured crime scenes than he had ever told Ginette about. In his time with the Superhero Liaison Department, he had seen and tested a multitude of superhuman criminals, taken samples from active crime scenes, and even witnessed firsthand the results of some of the significant injuries possible from those crimes.
But none of those experiences could possibly compare to the trepidation of responding to the landing of a possible alien spacecraft.
By the time the elevator doors opened, Lt. Ramus was already standing by the desk, talking urgently with Élodie. Ramus looked up as the elevator dinged, and nodded, his mouth set in a thin line, a heavy set to his eyes and forehead. Over his normal uniform he wore a protective vest with the emblem of the SLD emblazoned on the back. “Ready to go?”
Theo let out a breath, putting on a calm, professional mask, and took the vest that Ramus held out to him. “Yes.” Pulling the vest on and tightening it in place, he hurried to follow Ramus out the doors, through the city hall lobby, and finally to the patrol car. “What is the update?” he demanded as Ramus climbed in the driver’s seat and activated the siren. Cars stopped and pulled over as they raced away from city hall, cutting across the city toward the south.
“The object landed a couple minutes ago in the middle of a suburban development,” Ramus told him, weaving through traffic. “Prefect requested a TRU on standby; they are going to hold five minutes away. Sgt. de Gouges is there already with everyone on duty at the moment in our Department, establishing a perimeter closer to the object. From what she said, it looks artificial, not natural, and it hasn’t moved at all yet.”
Theo nodded, furrowing his brows in thought. “You know, I was always a fan of science fiction growing up,” he mused. “I enjoyed watching the old Star Trek with Kirk and Spock and McCoy. I never dreamed at the time that it could become a reality!”
Ramus hummed. “Somehow I’m not surprised you’d be a Trekkie, Vernant,” he observed as they rounded a corner and a police barricade appeared blocking their way, flanked by TRU vehicles. Before they had crossed half the distance, three TRU officers had already moved the barricade to allow them through, replacing it once they had passed. The TRU sergeant snapped them a crisp salute as they sailed past, though Ramus only acknowledged her with a curt nod.
“The hard science appealed to me,” Theo explained, shrugging. “Everything had an explanation, and many elements sounded just plausible enough to possibly become a reality in the future – which many of them have.” He looked out the window to see an apartment building with the roof sheared off just above the top floor. Following the trajectory downward, a line of streetlights had fallen over, along with an electric line which lay limp on the ground. Beyond there he finally saw de Gouges and Moreau standing behind another police barrier. Ramus slowed down and stopped right in front of them, next to another police car.
“Roux and Ray are on the opposite side of the crash site,” de Gouges reported as they stepped out of the car before she pointed back the way they had come. “Wilson set up on the roof of that apartment building.”
Ramus nodded. “Any activity?”
De Gouges shook her head. “None.”
“Have you seen any of the Heroes of Paris?”
“Not yet.”
Theo frowned, examining the crashed craft carefully before looking back in the direction it had come. From this ground-level perspective, he could see the path it had followed much more clearly. Finally he turned back to find Ramus and de Gouges looking at him expectantly. “If there are survivors,” he began, “they may be watching us for a reaction. If they do not perceive us as a threat, they may be less inclined to treat us as such.”
Ramus stared hard at the craft before nodding slowly. “If that’s the case…” He let out a breath. “Vernant, I hate to do this to you, but I think you might be our best option to make contact,” he decided. “Assuming they are friendly, of course. Approach carefully. Gouger, go with him.”
Theo nodded reluctantly. This adventure was certainly going to land in the “don’t tell Ginette” category once it was over… Cautiously he followed de Gouges around the barrier, and the two of them slowly approached the craft. Pulling out a radiometer, he took a reading of the radiation levels as they walked closer. “Readings appear within normal parameters,” he reported. “My tablet is acting normally.” He examined the pictures and drawings carefully, swiping between different images and looking up to compare. “The vessel does not appear consistent with the Shunjar spacecraft encountered by the Heroes of Paris,” he announced. “Nor does it appear consistent with any of the drawings supplied by Turing.” They were a dozen meters away from the craft. His eyes narrowed, looking from the drawings to the craft. “I see no obvious design connections.”
“Is that a hatch?” asked de Gouges, pointing at a circular protrusion near the midpoint of the vessel.
Theo looked closer at the point in question, taking a picture with his tablet. The same color as the surrounding material, perfectly round, he could even detect the faintest of lines etched into the hatch as well as the body surrounding it. Theo moved closer to the vessel and held out his hand to touch one of the lines, but hesitated. Suddenly, with a hissing sound, the hatch opened.