THE MOMENT
"Huh," Claudia reached up and rubbed her eyes while she let out a big yawn. She blinked a couple of times, then she looked around the darkened bathroom. All the lights were off; but, she didn't need light to see anymore. She studied the small bathroom with golden stars glowing in her eyes and was able to tell right away she was in the wrong place. "That's gonna take some getting used to," she giggled and waved at the unknown cat and wiggled her fingers at the air to open a black portal. Then, she stepped through it and returned to her own bedroom in the proper universe.
"I guess I'm awake now...," she sighed at the sudden lack of tiredness and decided to get dressed. She had projects she could work on and she was quickly learning that she did not need to sleep as much as she used to. Before she could work on what she wanted, she needed to make sure there wasn't something more important.
"Good morning, Io," she spoke up once she was ready to let the AI know. "What needs to get done today?"
"The day is yours to experiment and continue to learn about your new abilities. I only require one task today. You will meet with Marina from Alpha Squad to discuss the next phase of my testing. You will offer them the opportunity to become Unique like you to bolster our forces. You may choose a time that is convenient for you."
"Am I gonna spill about everything...?" Claudia asked.
"Marina will withhold the inconsequential details from her team. She will need to know everything to make that determination," Io replied.
"Alright, you're the boss...," Claudia shrugged as she finally left her room. "I'm ready now, I guess," she said. "I'll meet her in the kitchen." She made her way through the narrow hallways she called home. Io built it just for her exactly as she wanted it. It was a warehouse-sized complex full of unnecessary twists and turns; something about feeling like a mouse in a maze calmed her and helped her keep things in perspective. By the time she reached the kitchen, Marina was waiting for her. Though, the woman did a double-take.
"Dr. Fore?" Marina asked. The last time she saw Claudia, the woman had bright red hair and wore blue-rimmed glasses. Now, she wore no glasses and her hair was a neon blue color. She looked like Claudia, but so did about a million other people. "Or, one of her Zeros?"
"Morning!" Claudia chirped. She took a seat at the table and encouraged Marina to have a seat too. "It's me but, we can skip the 'Dr.' title now; just call me Claudia. And, I don't have any Zeros," her smile grew broader and she showed off the gold stars in her eyes. "I'm a Unique Soul now."
"What??" Marina was glad she was sitting down for the news. "That's... possible?" she asked. "But, I met some of your Zeros..."
"It is for Io," Claudia nodded. "It's kind of a shady process; but I guess I should say I don't have any Zeros anymore. So, Io wants Alpha Squad to make the jump up to Unique Souls too." Marina was still relatively new to the multiverse; but, she was quick-minded and adaptable.
"You made a point of gathering one million of your Zeros.... and now you're a Unique Soul. I feel 'shady' doesn't quite describe it; but, I'm not against the idea yet. I'm assuming Io will continue to let Alpha Squad represent our country in the multiverse, even as Unique Souls?"
"She'll stick to the agreement you already made; you'll just be infinitely stronger to better serve Io and your government."
"What are the limitations?" Marina asked as she gestured at Claudia. "Estrellas are the most common Unique; is your choice a coincidence or will we all become Estrellas? What rank are you?"
"Oh, I absolutely wanted this," Claudia giggled. "I can shoot PLASMA from my hands," she grinned. "You'll be able to choose from 54 Unique Souls, and I'm rank S+," she added.
"There are 69 Unique Souls, why are some left out?" Marina asked.
[Do not answer. -Io] Claudia felt the Whisper on her shoulder as she opened her mouth.
[That answer is irrelevant to Alpha Squad. -Io]
"Well, it's kind of a hack; it's not gonna be perfect," Claudia recovered quickly and gave a reasonable answer.
"I saw you last week, you were still Dr. Fore. When did this happen and how quickly did you recover from the procedure? What is the procedure exactly?" Marina asked. She was already on board; but, she was gathering information for the explanation to her team.
"On Friday," Claudia answered. "It was pretty quick and easy, all I did was press a button," she giggled. "Io handled the rest. I was firing off plasma and Traversing that same night. Heck, I Traversed while sleepwalking like 10 minutes ago," she added. "Huh," she'd had a little bit of time to rethink that situation now that she was more awake. Traveling between universes was both simple and complex. The availability of infinite universes made targetting difficult. Traversing required a certain feeling of intuition of where you wanted to go, and the universe did its best to put you there. She had a sudden realization when she remembered she was half asleep. "You know, I think I want a cat," she said.
"You do seem to be intact...," Marina nodded. As far as she could tell Claudia still had the same personality she did before the change. "Yes," she said. "I volunteer Alpha Squad to become Unique Souls; tell me what I need to know about how we can do that and what our options are."
"Happy to," Claudia grinned. She was glad to get this task out of the way so that she could continue her day the way she wanted. And, as she ran down her list of priorities, she remembered something. "Oh wait. Speaking of 'need to know' this is important. Kwame doesn't. Get me?" Claudia asked. Marina nodded with a stern expression.
"Affirmative."