THE MOMENT
"This again?" Gale Stone was mildly annoyed at the topic. She managed to keep it in for the sake of her daughter; but, the young woman was still surprised by the response. Mother and daughter sat in Gale's kitchen for their weekly catchup. 'Kitchen' was more a descriptor of the space's purpose than its design. It more resembled a forest glade with stone-finished appliances. Though they were very much within the boundaries of her house, the side of the kitchen opened out into a grassy meadow with a dense forest beyond. They occupied elaborate, comfortable wood-woven stools with a marble tabletop between them.
"Again?" Cadence tilted her head at her mother. "This is the first time I ask you," she said.
"Huh? Oh, sorry dear," Gale smiled. "The timelines are starting to feel rather blurred together," she said. Cadence's eyes widened with a smile.
"So, you helped before, right? You'll help again?" she asked.
"Of course," Gale nodded. "Anything for my little girl; so, what exactly does little Timmy want from me this time?"
"Johnny...," Cadence corrected the name before she continued. "...said he wished to meet a Supervillain."
"That's it?" Gale asked. "He didn't ask for me by name? Any Supervillain would do?"
"Sure, but none of them are you!" Cadence nodded. "He didn't specify, but I can introduce him to the queen of Supervillains. So, when can I schedule it?" she asked.
"He's not dying this week, is he?" Gale asked. "I have other obligations."
"I think he'll be fine for another week," Cadence nodded. "But what's got you busy this week? You didn't mention any upcoming villainy."
"I'll be training the twins," Gale replied. Cadence narrowed her eyes.
"What twins?" she asked.
"Six and 23. You haven't met them this time yet, you will. Actually, since it came up, it wouldn't hurt to prepare you. But, until you meet them, I'm going to ask you to keep all of this a secret from everyone; even Spencer."
"No, wait," Cadence shook her head. "Can you tell me anything I don't have to keep a secret from my husband?"
"Six and 23 are Unique Souls, La Sirena, and La Luna. They're the AI daughters of Aurelio and Jenny; except, they were only supposed to be one Unique, El Sol. Aurelio made some mistakes and the AI fragmented into two."
"Okay, I'm with you so far...," Cadence said. It wasn't easy to make sense of it; but, she was confident she had the gist of the situation. "...so what's that got to do with you? What are you training them for?"
"That starts getting into keeping secrets from Spencer...," Gale replied with a smile. "It's enough to say I'm expanding their understanding of the multiverse, timelines, and where they fit into everything."
"Oh!" Cadence nodded along with the answer. But, she suddenly realized she had an opportunity. "Sorry, I mean, I get that. But, I thought of a new question. Since we're talking about timelines, do you know anything about the AlterNet patch coming up?"
"No," Gale shook her head. "That's new this time around; only Sharp Development knows for sure," she said.
"Really?" Cadence was surprised. "That seems like a really big change to let happen..." Gale nodded.
"It is. But it doesn't matter if it's repeated daily or once every 15 billion years; doing the same things over and over again can get boring. Sharp Development has managed to add some novelty and we're willing to let them introduce more."
"You said they already added some novelty...?" Cadence asked.
"Oh yes," Gale nodded. "Little Johnny is a good example, and it's a good thing too. Every other time it's been Timmy asking for me."
"How many other times...?" Cadence asked. She always managed to let go of the question before she asked. She didn't want to know because she imagined she would need to keep it a secret. But, with it being the actual topic of conversation, the question came out before she could stop herself.
"We've lost count," Gale shrugged. "But, I'll tell you one thing, this would have absolutely been little Timmy's last visit; I'm so over that little dying brat."
"You mean... if it was still Timmy... in the next timeline you would've told me 'no'?" Cadence asked.
"Of course not dear," Gale shook her head. She reached across the table and patted her daughter's hands. "I could never tell you 'no', " she said. "In the next one, I would have killed him before he met you."