On Earth, there was chaos.
It didn't bring a panic, as Earth was used to quite a lot of weird situations. The problem was now, nobody could read the internet. Fortunately, books still worked... but even they were slowly, very slowly being corrupted by alien code.
It was the strangest thing.
The computers were all 'glitchy', yet nothing was actually wrong with them that could be found. sometimes the backgrounds 'moved' in an animated way. Other times people could see 'things' in them, as if viewing another world entirely. It was not just normal computers either. It seemed to affect everything. Mobile phones, and computers that were never connected to the internet- nor had any capability to do so were showing similar symptoms. The more technological the machine, the more it seemed to glitch.
Yet... a connection icon was prevalent in every system. Everything was connected to an alien network, and was displaying characters that themselves made no sense to anyone.
No sense to anyone but Anneza that is. The internet had become just that much more fascinating. Spells were online to do... just about anything really. Would they work? There was no reason to suggest they wouldn't though she was having trouble accessing certain sites now...
Anneza browsed through the system, finding that the 'central server' location was approximately five light years away. She read this all quite easily from the symbols displayed in her language. She also noted that something had been... paused? Something in the background? She connected the messenger program by pressing the screen as requested, surprised to see Astra's star-symbol. (It was not a touch screen either... yet it worked- as if by magic?) "What are you doing five light years away Astra? I told you not to stray from Earth's solar system!"
Astra on the screen tensed visibly. "M-Mom? How is everything there?"
Anneza groaned a little. "Earth's gone completely crazy. Everyone says they can't read anything on the internet, but it's all perfectly clear to me... is something wrong?"
Astra glanced to someone on the side. "No- um- nothings wrong."
"Who's that with you? Astra sweetheart, please. Don't make me come there."
Astra couldn't believe how different Anneza was acting. She was acting like... well... like how she expected her mother to act. It was everything she desired... everything she wanted. Now she felt guilty, even if she didn't see the depression that lingered over her mother's eyes any more. They were full of life, hope and... even joy. Joy at seeing her with a familiarity that was between a mother to her daughter. Happy to see her even. She was never happy before...
"Mom- this machine it can alter reality. But I- I think its done something very strange. Someone is coming to pick you up and bring you here."
"Alright, I'll wait... I guess." said the space-woman reluctantly. She glanced aside a little as she closed the channel. "Kids..."
In an observatory, far to the east coast, an important meeting was taking place between the government and various scientists who witnessed the events of the new magic star.
"The calculations confirm it," said the technician. "We have an exact time frame of when our sun changed. Alpha centuri is now a magic-class star."
"What you're saying makes no sense! The sun is back to normal now! It can't change anything! Certainly not other stars!" said a senior man, in a tie. He appeared to be from the government, and was very tense.
At this point, an elder man walked in. Leslie Gordon polished his glasses, looking not too bad for someone who had been woken up at three in the morning. He had devoted years of his life, to the study of magic-type stars. "I've doubled checked the calculations... they are accurate. The light from our star would have hit alpha centuri by now. That we can actually see this happening, means causality is different, from the perspective of Earth." Leslie had brushed up heavily on physics since his days in biology. It did seem as if all the sciences were merging lately.
The man from the government looked to be breaking into a sweat. "I need an impact assessment, before everyone starts to go crazy in fear. We've been trying to get things back to normal for the last five years. We don't need another Mulligan on our existence! What do I tell the president now?"
Leslie shook his head. "You can not change what has happened to the Sun. This light... this change already happened in space. It's... possible it will only last six months, and then go back to normal, as what happened to our star. But the light from our sun... the primary light, still exists in the universe, as a sphere five light years away from the origin point."
"Will this light from alpha Centuri affect us?" asked the government agent.
"I don't know."
The government man sighed.
The technician however looked very eager at a thought. "This does provide an excellent method to measure the distance of stars accurately," he said. "Now that we have such an exact reference point."
"...But... what if those other planets are inhabited?" asked the government agent.
Leslie Gordon tensed a little. "Well... they will know it started 'here'. If their equipment is as good as ours, they would have seen our sun change at the same time their star does. We're... likely to draw the attention of every alien in the galaxy as the light expands. If they exist out there anyway. That's a really big 'if'."
There was a long uncomfortable look. "...Tell me Leslie, what are the odds of that?"
The scientist shrugged. He had no time to convey the impossible question of asking how many beans were in a jar, when you can't even see the jar. "It can be huge, or it can be small- or even none. There is no way to know."
The government man looked very annoyed. "I was hoping for something more concrete."
The technician, a geek himself, had to ask about the rumours. "What about the computers? This... translation program that has been circulating the internet? Where did it come from? How is it converting these um- 'games' into real... spells?" He could not help but look excited at that idea.
The government man looked very annoyed. "Rumours... only. But I assure you, if such a thing existed, the government would destroy all copies of these games to prevent their use."
The technician sighed. So that's why he couldn't access the dungeons and dragons wikipedia page... it was all being blocked.
"I can tell you where the translation program came from. A program we are all currently dependent on to make computers work in our language. A transformed Human, by name of Hiro Hibiki. He is... in hospital."
"What happened to him?" Asked Leslie.
"From what I hear... he saved eight digital fairies with nowhere else to go, when the internet failed and he created this program in an instant for us to use. It would have taken... months for an AI to do it- he did it... with a thought." The government man paused. "The young man... sacrificed himself, knowing he would not have enough run-time for himself too. Rest assured, he is getting the best care we can find. But... the digital fairies say... he has become a 'daemon'."
"But... there is that digital fairy- Hikari. She can 'cure' daemons!" Said the technician excitedly. "She had done so a few times. I've seen them on the internet. It's really well known."
The government man groaned. "Hiro was Hikari... there is nobody in the world that can cure him now. Nobody."
Leslie shook his head. "Tell me the hospital... I know people who might be able to help."
Jon looked to Becca concerned of her visit. She had only just put the children to bed and having Becca was completely unexpected. She offered the poor girl a cup of tea as both sat on the Sofa, Jon being careful of her 'slug parts' making a mess.
Becca no longer had that curious blue hair, but was now a normal brunette- much as what she was when she was originally found all those years ago. she had grown up quite beautifully over the years. She was now 13, and beginning her teenage years.
"I don't have the power of three any more," she explained. "I think it happened when the internet went down. I called the other Numbers... they lost their powers too."
"I'm sorry Becca, I don't know what's going on." Jon said frowning.
"But you got the stone Jon! You can wish to find out what is going on. Right?"
Jon sighed. "After everything that happened last time I made a wish..."
The young girl was not dissuaded. She knew how much guilt Jon had over this... but they had to. "Please Jon. Asking it what's going on can't hurt. We could be under some weird attack! They are saying aliens have hacked our computers. The digital fairies were almost killed by this!"
Jon frowned. She didn't hear any of this on the news, but Becca was more connected when a crisis happened. On hearing that lives were almost destroyed she knew she had no choice. She took out the stone from her room and made her wish cautiously, knowing she had to be precise. "I wish I knew why the magic girls lost their powers."
Knowledge flowed into Jon's mind. Like a crack opening and a sliver of light danced in her eyes. However the knowledge darkened the slug girl's expression. "I... don't really understand. It says that the Numbers sequence has been broken in the universe. It's because of magic girl Six."
Becca tilted her head. "Magic girl Six? We... never found her. We tried to talk to her, but... she never said a word. Ever... to any of us."
Magic girl six was briefly in the news, when she saved some people from a car accident. However after that one time... she completely disappeared. Not even the budding mage Lilly could find her, a girl who made it her business to find anything magical. (And who became, Jon's apprentice in doing so.)
"The stone says that there are now two magic girl six's... and that has broken the Number system."
"can you fix it Jon?"
Jon looked troubled. "I don't even know how this magic girl stuff works Becca. Without knowing what to fix, I don't know what to wish."
"Well... can you wish to find magic girl six?"
"I wish I knew where magic girl six is." There was a moment's pause. "She is... beyond the range of the stone."
