THE MOMENT
"Your vitals indicate elevated emotions. Stress alters perception. A misunderstanding. Wait."
Gamma Pyre blinked. He opened his eyes in a white office. He sat on a chair in front of an empty desk and he quickly hopped to his feet. The room was sealed, there were no entrances or exits.
"Wait," Gamma Pyre blinked again as the familiar voice echoed around him and he was back in the seat. The Supervillain considered blasting his way out; but, he had no idea where he was. If there were an ocean or river nearby and water rushed in, he would be useless. Fortunately, he did not have to wait long. A black portal opened in front of the desk and a woman with short dark hair walked out. She wore a black suit with a red and black tie; and, she smiled at Gamma Pyre as she sat in front of him.
"Mr. Pedro Gamez, welcome to Area 51; my name is Anna," she said. He didn't know how she knew his name; but, he wasn't going to be baited that easily. He knew how big the crater was and there was nothing left of Area 51 when he finished the job. He remained silent. She waited a moment for him to speak; then tilted her head.
"Nothing to say?" she asked. After ample time, she sighed and continued. "Well, there are all types," she giggled to herself, then cleared her through.
"Regardless, Rad Industries aims to foster a positive image in the eyes of the public. That being said, I would like to clear up any misunderstandings between yourself and Chronos," she said. "His report indicates you accused him of threatening you; I'd like to hear your side of it."
"...... what?" Gamma Pyre wasn't sure he heard correctly. "You're asking me why I did what I did?"
"Not at all," Anna shook her head. "I'm assuming you felt quite threatened; that is what I'd like to focus on. It's not our intention for Chronos to present a threatening persona, so I'm very much interested in why you felt that way."
"I wasn't threatened by your little A.I. swarm," he chuckled.
"Oh, then it was just poor word choice?" she asked. She gestured to one of the white walls and it changed. He was now looking at a smoking crater with him standing in the center of it yelling at a swarm of black dots.
“You’re threatening me? I made a crater the size of Pluto and you’re threatening ME?!” the version of him on the wall screamed.
"Your tone of voice and posturing strongly suggest you feel threatened," Anna said.
"Who the hell are you?" Gamma Pyre asked. He straightened his posture and raised his voice; but, he did not stand up. "I eliminated Area 51 and your guard dog was threatening to fight me!"
"No he wasn't," Anna giggled. She made a gesture with her hand and the video on the wall moved backward further until it started to play forward again.
"Supervillain Gamma Pyre; you have destroyed Area 51. You will be removed," the black swarm of dots spoke with a monotone voice.
"SEE! He threatened to remove me!"
"First of all," Anna spoke with a notable smile in her voice. It was almost a giggle; but, she shook her head and it was gone as she continued with a more professional tone. "Chronos was responding to you for making that crater in the first place. If you hadn't, he wouldn't have interacted with you. Secondly, it was not a threat. Why did you attack that Area 51?" she asked.
"Huh?" Gamma asked. "What do you mean, 'that' Area 51?"
"Are you familiar with the multiverse?" she asked. The look of surprise and confusion on his face gave Anna an instant answer. "Interesting. I'll approach this from a different angle," she made another gesture with her hand and the view on the wall changed. This time it showed the area before Gamma Pyre arrived and made a crater. The single gas station in the middle of nowhere was still intact as was all the land beneath and around it.
"Chronos is able to control time for us," she said. "He restored the base. It doesn't matter that you destroyed it; but, we are curious as to why. There's been a trend recently that's mostly explained. They have been assigned by the AlterNet. Your attack is slightly different though; you're not aware of the greater multiverse."
Gamma Pyre wasn't used to feeling so confused. Usually, decisions were simple because the facts were simple. The simplest fact he could count on at the moment was that he had no idea what was happening.
"I found this...," he said. He pulled a translucent electric blue node out of his pocket and showed it to her. "It said destroying Area 51 was a quest and I'd get rewarded for it," he said.
"So, it was an AlterNet quest," Anna smiled. "Then there's no further need to keep you," she said. A black portal opened next to him. "Though, I recommend you spend more time learning to use the node; you're missing quite a bit of information."
"That's it?" Gamma Pyre stood, but he did not move toward the portal. "You made it sound like I'm not the first....," he said. "Aren't you worried about it happening again?"
"Not at all," Anna shook her head. "It's quite likely that it will. The concept of Area 51 is widespread among the many Earths that humans occupy. The AlterNet procedurally generates quests using anything and everything in the environment, physical and conceptual. It wasn't much of a problem when it was owned by Sharp Development; but, Rad Industries must learn to stand on its own. We'll manage until Turbo establishes the same protections Sharp Development had. Chronos is a big help with that," she said.
"And I get to leave? Just that easy?" he took a step toward the open portal.
"I apologize for detaining you," Anna nodded. "I only wanted to clear up any misunderstandings, and I'm glad that Chronos wasn't threatening you," she said.
"Well, it's not something I'm going to go around announcing; but, I still consider it a threat," he chuckled. Gamma Pyre didn't mean anything by it, he was only grasping at his insecurities as he rattled off the comment. But, Anna's response made him wish he didn't, because it only made him feel worse. She was right. And he couldn't do a single thing about it.
"I'm going to disagree with you on that," she said. "After all, he did remove you, didn't he?"