Oh, it was so pretty here. That was the first thought that came to Sierra’s mind as soon as she saw the gray, fog-filled expanse around her a second after Touching that Orb. Everyone who talked about this moment always went on about how empty and desolate this place was. The way they described it, the place you were taken to by the Orbs was a completely barren wasteland with nothing to see in any direction, just endless empty gray dirt and fog everywhere.

  And it was gray, that was for sure. Gray dirt, gray fog, and no physical landmarks or objects no matter where you looked. But empty and desolate? Absolutely not. As soon as she began to look around, Sierra saw more than she could ever describe. Beyond the gray fog and dust that mundane human vision could see was a rainbow of delightfully colorful energy patterns, radiation of all sorts, soundwaves, and so much more. The sky above her was full of bright flashes of multicolored lightning. Voices from the past, trapped in radio waves and other signals, reverberated around her in alien languages she stood no chance of understanding. But whether she understood it or not, it was actual, coherent language. The air itself was dense with the lingering signs of a dead civilization, with signals that had been long forgotten.

  Oh. Oh, she wasn’t in her body. That was what Sierra finally realized. Only her orb had passed through into this other place, and it was now hovering there a few feet off the ground. She was seeing through her orb without being limited to human vision. Honestly, she hadn’t even known that the orb part of her could do that. It wasn’t like she’d tried it before having the orb installed in that Biolem body. But here she was, just floating like that, seeing everything through the orb’s own sensors, and processing… so, so much more than humans did when they were here.

  The realization that she was only in her orb without the body she had grown so accustomed to was… okay, it was frightening, she could admit that at least to herself. It was like showing up in a place completely naked. Except at least if you were naked you could still punch someone. This was--this was scary. And embarrassing. What if there really were aliens or something out there watching all this and they saw her… exposed this way? This was just--she couldn’t--right, she had to push those thoughts aside and focus. Maybe that Summus Proelium Orb had made her appear in just her own little ball form as some sort of kinship thing. That was possible, right? They didn’t know enough about the Orbs that were responsible for these trips, these powers, to say that wasn’t a thing.

  And yes, some part of her had long-ago considered the awful possibility that her own father was ultimately responsible for these power-granting Orbs. How could she not, given the similarities? People had already suggested that the Orbs might be sent back from the future. What if this was some sort of bootstrap paradox, where humanity invented the ability to give themselves superpowers at some future point, after they had all replaced their bodies with these Project OWL orbs that Pittman had created with his own power? They could have invented the power thing themselves, or or even just located this alien world that could instill superpowers into those who came to it, then sent themselves back in time to find people in the past to grant the powers to in order to create the future they lived in.

  It was a good thing she wasn’t in her Biolem body, or her eyes would have crossed so much she might’ve left herself permanently blind. This wasn’t the time to focus on any of that. She was here, in this--this whatever this place was. Which meant… oh. Oh, she was going to get some sort of power, right? Her orb was going to get some sort of power. What did that even--how could she have powers as an orb? Well, obviously it wasn’t impossible. There were a few Touched objects out there, just like there were Touched animals, though it was so much rarer.

  Once that thought came to the small, hovering orb, something else appeared in the fog, something much different than the swirling energy patterns she had seen that whole time. It was Pittman himself, and his appearance made the orb jerk backwards, warning alarms blaring through her. But she didn’t retreat for long. After that reflexive jerk backwards, the tiny orb flew right into the man’s face, intent on smashing his nose in. Which quickly revealed the truth, as she simply passed through the face like smoke. Sierra belatedly realized the obvious. This wasn’t the real Pittman, it was an image, a holographic form of sorts being displayed across the gray cloud.

  More to the point, this was a memory, of sorts. It was odd, because she had never actually physically seen Pittman do this, so whatever or whoever was responsible for this had to be displaying an image from the past that Sierra herself had never experienced. That raised a lot of questions, but she didn’t have time to focus on any of them right now. She just had to watch this.

  The image in the cloud was busy at his hidden computer on Breakwater, sending programming details to his factory in Detroit. Programming details that would eventually become the special bullets meant to infect other Biolems, meant to infect Paige. He was creating the program that would eventually become Sierra herself. This was her father putting her together, creating her.

  This was her father programming her to replace Paige, as if it was that simple to completely erase a person. He had created Paige as a replacement for his daughter--well, first she had been meant to be his original daughter completely. But when that failed, he just turned her into his lab rat, his stepping stone to creating a brand new world with himself as what amounted to a god. And as a means to his revenge against the Evans for… for their friends being murdered? The math there was a little fuzzy.

  From there, Sierra saw a slideshow of her life, of her choices that had led to this. She saw herself fighting Paige in the other girl’s own mind, saw herself meeting Cassidy and the others when they came in to save Paige, saw herself choosing to side with them after Pittman’s own copy showed up and betrayed her, treating her like garbage to be thrown away. She saw herself making the deal to play nice until they found a new orb and body for her to use. She saw everything that came from that, when the body she was given ended up looking like Cassidy.

  She saw herself choose to stay in Detroit, to become part of this Avant-Guard and… and help Paige even more. She saw herself growing closer to the girl she had been intended to replace, their relationship becoming more like twins. Very strange twins for sure, but still. She saw herself growing to care about those idiots, becoming more of her own person. She saw Irelyn accepting her, saw everything that had happened over these past few days, and particularly the past few hours, of this ‘vacation’ in a wild rush.

  She saw all of it, a summary of her life displayed in those images. All of which had led her here, to this moment. She was her own orb self with no other body just then, hovering there in the gray nothingness. A nothingness that was so much more than anyone else who had been here understood. She saw it, all of it. The energy, the radiation, the signals from a civilization that was lost to time. Their voices, their lives, their deaths, their annihilation filled every molecule in this world. Whatever this place was, whenever and wherever it was, the people who had lived here were long gone. But their stories remained. There was more to this place than she had time for.

  That was when the voice came, the voice she had been expecting ever since she appeared in this place. A woman’s soft tone, speaking two words so very clearly. “Summus Proelium.” Broken Latin, not even the correct grammar. Loosely translated as Highest Warrior. Was that what these powers were meant to create, some ‘highest warrior?’ Were those who were being given these gifts simply test subjects for a future society or alien people who were trying to create the strongest warriors they could? Were they meant to be trained for a war they would be taken to eventually? Or for a war that was going to come to them at some point. Was this whole seemingly alien world a future version of Earth itself, or some version of it that had been totally devastated by that war? Were the power-granting orbs meant to give them some chance to stop this potential future from happening? That raised so many questions all by itself. Questions she didn’t have a chance of answering anytime soon. But she did make certain to store as much data about this place as she could. The radiation levels, the energy readings, the indecipherable voices she was hearing in those lost radio signals, all of it. She stored everything she could to go through later. Maybe Paige would have some ideas. She could share it with the other Biolem.

  Then it was over. Just like that, with no other warning, Sierra suddenly found herself put right back in the regular world, where she had been a couple minutes before. The Orb she had been touching was gone, and she was in the Biolem body once more. It was like she had never left, everything was back to the way it had been just before she saw the Orb and found herself drawn to touch it. The only real sign that any of that had even happened at all was the fact that her arm was still stretched out, hand extended as though to touch something that wasn’t there anymore.

  Once she processed where she was and that she had been put back in her body properly so she wasn’t ‘naked’ anymore, Sierra jerked a bit reflexively. Her hand closed and she pivoted to look back at the others. Everyone, the other three girls, were staring at her with wide-eyes and utterly perplexed expressions. Well, first they were staring at the spot where the Orb had been. But when they realized it was gone and they were staring at empty space, their gazes moved to Sierra herself. It was almost funny, seeing all of them turn their attention to her at the same time.

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  She used those few seconds while the others were all staring at her in baffled and thoroughly stunned silence to run a few quick tests on herself just to make sure everything had been successfully reattached. She had, after all, been taken out of this body. But apparently whoever or whatever was responsible for those power-granting Orbs knew what they were doing, because she had been completely restored into the Biolem form. Everything was linked up the way it should have been, and she was seeing through those eyes once more. It was like she'd never left.

  It was Paige who found her voice first after all that, raising her own hand to point at Sierra. “You were, that was--you Touched. You Touched, Sierra. Was that a real--I mean I thought it was right there, but then it was gone and you were--I didn’t see anything else happen. Did you actually go to-- err, was that a real Orb, or just-- damn it, what happened?” She sputtered, almost flailing. “Why can’t I see anything that you were--that you saw. What--why--huh?”

  Irelyn spoke next, sounding slightly more put together. “The Orb was definitely there, did it, ahh, register you Touching it? I mean, did it register the Biolem body and do something with that?”

  “Wait,” Haley put in quickly, looking back and forth between all of them. “Is that an option? Could it have created a Touched object out of the body she’s using and not the actual part that’s her? Could we have a Touched Biolem body completely separate from the Sierra brain right now?”

  The other two started to say something to that, before Sierra held up her hands. “Everyone just stop it, knock it off, shut up for a minute. No, it wasn’t the body, I mean--look, it was me. I was taken to that other place, that… whatever it is. Me as in the ball inside here.” She pointed to her chest before pushing on. “My ball appeared there, okay? Just the ball, just me, by myself with no Biolem body, floating there in that gray void. I was just there alone, so there’s no Touched body.”

  “But you’re okay?” That was Paige, hand moving to catch Sierra’s with a frown as soon as the girl said she had appeared in just her ball form. “You were there without a body and all, did it--how did that feel? What happened? What did you see? What was it like? How did you even--”

  Quickly waving the other girl off firmly, Sierra snapped, “I’ll send you the details, trust me. You can go nuts with all the data. Knock yourself out. But yes, I’m fine. My ball just floated there, and I saw--I mean, you guys know how it works. I saw all of that, heard the voice, the whole nine yards. It all happened just the way it does for everyone else. Except I’ve gotta tell you, there’s a lot of weird stuff going on in that place that humans can’t pick up. Geiger counters would be going nuts there. It may look like some empty gray void, but seriously, there’s a lot under the hood.”

  “That’s all very fascinating and everything, I’m sure,” Haley noted rather impatiently. “But I kind of doubt we’re going to solve the mystery of the Orbs right this second. So why don’t we go with the much more immediate question of… what did you get? What power did it give you?” She blinked at the other two before scoffing. “Oh please, don’t give me those looks. You were all thinking it. Hell, she’s probably been thinking about it from the second she ended up in that place, right?”

  That started a whole back and forth between her and Irelyn talking about how they had felt when they ended up in that place, and what it had been like when they were trying to figure out and understand the powers they had ended up with. Along with some talk about how Sierra shouldn't be rushed into revealing anything until she had a chance to collect herself a little bit.

  Through it all, as the other two went on about their own experiences and about how they wished their own families had reacted, Sierra kept trying to speak up while giving a somewhat exasperated look at Paige. Finally, she made the Biolem body take a deep breath and then gave a loud whistle to get their attention. Except once she did that, their attention definitely wasn't on her. Hell, Sierra’s attention wasn't on Sierra. Instead she and the other three were staring at the bubbles that had suddenly appeared. There were two of the things. One was small, roughly the same size as Sierra or Paige’s cybernetic orbs that held their programming, their minds, or even their souls depending on how poetic or existential they wanted to be.

  The other bubble, meanwhile, was large enough for a tall man to stand inside relatively comfortably. Both of them looked like soap bubbles, albeit quite a bit larger in the latter's case.

  Haley slowly reached out to touch the smaller bubble. The surface was apparently at least somewhat solid, enough for her to rest her hand against it. But when she made a fist and tapped the thing with her knuckles, it popped, making the woman give a soft gasp of surprise.

  Paige had rested her own hand against the side of the bigger bubble. When she saw the smaller one pop, she tried the same thing, rapping her knuckles against its surface. But in that case, nothing happened. The larger bubble stayed completely intact and gave no real reaction.

  Or at least, it gave no reaction at first. Paige tapped the thing several times curiously. On the fourth tap, it popped just as easily as the smaller bubble had, happening so suddenly that she jumped slightly and gave the others a quick frown. “Okay, I don't get it. What's going on here?”

  Irelyn made a noise of uncertainty before looking at Sierra. “Can you do that again? I mean, can you make more of those things? Can you control anything about them? Maybe you can make them bigger or move them around. There has to be more to this, try manipulating them.”

  As it turned out, it really wasn't hard to summon the bubbles again. All Sierra had to do was think about it and they reappeared. Just like before, there was one small bubble and one large one. She couldn't change how big they were. They stayed that same shape and size no matter what. But they did move around easily, following her mental commands without any real effort. She could make both bubbles fly around and do random tricks in the air separately or in unison.

  Irelyn tried touching the larger bubble first that time, tapping it with her open hand. Just like that, the thing popped. But that time, the smaller bubble popped simultaneously even though no one had touched it. Obviously, they were even more confused by that. At least, at first. Then Sierra had a thought. Or maybe it was a hint from her power itself, who could say for certain?

  Either way, she realized something and immediately summoned the bubbles again. Once they appeared, she lashed out with one hand to punch the smaller bubble. After it broke, she quickly proceeded to punch the larger bubble even harder. It was like hitting a steel wall or something. The bubble stayed completely intact with no apparent reaction. She turned and picked up a metal stool nearby before using that against the bubble, swinging the thing into it as hard as she could a couple of times. The stool broke after those two strikes, leaving the bubble intact.

  Then she simply tapped the bubble lightly with two fingers and it immediately popped with barely any effort at all. It had stood up against being punched and then two home run swings from the metal stool, only to pop immediately right after that under the slightest pressure.

  She didn't stop there either. While the others were still processing, she created the bubbles again. That time, she took a flip lighter from her pocket and held the flame to the smaller bubble. After a second of the heat, the thing popped. Once it did, she tried holding the lighter against the larger bubble with no apparent effect. She held it there for a moment, then took the lighter away before touching it again. The third time, she picked up a nearby abandoned can of hairspray that had been left behind when everyone fled for the bunker. Using the impromptu flamethrower, she thoroughly sprayed the bubble with no effect. It resisted the heat easily.

  After that, simply touching the flame of the lighter to the bubble one more time made it pop as easily as the smaller one had. It was like the thing had never been resistant to the fire at all.

  Which left all of them staring at one another. None wanted to say it first, but Sierra finally put voice to what they were all thinking. “Three immunity charges. You know how we need to test it now.”

  They did, without any further explanation. She created the bubbles one more time, and Irelyn tapped the smaller one with one of her swords. Immediately, it popped. She drove her sword into the other bubble then, making a thoughtful sound as it simply bounced right off. Then she and the other two looked at Sierra and waited expectantly.

  With a thought, the girl brought the large bubble to herself. The side of it opened up, a hole appearing, and she simply stepped into it. The bubble surrounded her, and she focused on it briefly. A second later, it popped, disappearing from around her.

  Slowly, Sierra reached up to the bandages that were covering her eye and the back of her head. Both wounds were gone. Both bits of damage that had been caused by that knife had been erased, had been healed by standing in that bubble. Which, in turn, had drained the two knife protection charges that the bubble had been filled with.

  They tried a couple more times just to be sure, and found that Sierra could resummon the smaller bubble as many times as she wanted to while leaving the larger bubble intact. Everything done to pop it would add another three immunity charges to the larger bubble, which could then act as a shield or forcefield of sorts as long as it retained immunity charges against whatever it was being hit with. She could also heal others by putting them inside it and draining a charge related to that particular wound, though that seemed to be limited to injuries sustained within a relatively recent time.

  “Pencil’s power,” Paige finally put in, saying what none of them had been willing to at first. She let out a long, heavy breath before looking at the other girl. “You inherited a recycled version of Pencil’s power. A… an altered version, with bubbles for some reason? But it’s definitely his power. It’s just… channeled into that.”

  “Oh.” Sierra absorbed that, head tilting curiously. “You know what?

  “That is not the sick piece of shit dead bastard whose power I expected one of us to inherit.”

  Joke Tags: Don’t Worry Sierra? Most Of The Answers You Have About That Strange Alien Place Are In A Readily Available Webfiction Right Now!