Chapter One
OKAY, HERE'S HOW IT WORKS.
THIS IS WORMHOLE. HE'S ONE OF THE CYBORG FLIES WHO HAVE BECOME SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS, I MUST SAY.
HE HAS THE POWER TO CREATE, WELL, WORMHOLES.
SO, TO CREATE A TIME TUNNEL, WORMHOLE CREATES A TUNNEL.
THAT'S A TUNNEL THAT LETS YOU TRAVEL FROM ONE PLACE ...
... TO ANOTHER ...
... INSTANTLY!
SLIPSTREAM, THE LEADER OF THIS GROUP, HAS THE POWER TO SPEED UP OR SLOW DOWN TIME AROUND ALMOST ANYTHING OR ANYONE.
LOOKS LIKE RAIN!
SO SHE CAN MAKE SOMETHING FREEZE IN TIME AND JUST STAND STILL.
AND ME WITHOUT MY UMBRELLA!
OR ...
BAH! WHO NEEDS UMBRELLAS!
... MAKE HERSELF FASTER THAN EVERYTHING AROUND, GOING SO FAST IT'S ALMOST LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE IS STANDING STILL!
SO, WHILE WORMHOLE CREATES THE TIME TUNNEL, SLIPSTREAM IS ABLE TO SPEED UP BOTH THE TUNNEL AND THE REST OF THE FLIES SO THEY CAN BREAK THROUGH THE TIME BARRIER.
MOTHER MASS HAS THE POWER TO CHANGE THE MASS OF OBJECTS, TRANSFOR
Chapter One
OKAY, HERE'S HOW IT WORKS.
THIS IS WORMHOLE. HE'S ONE OF THE CYBORG FLIES WHO HAVE BECOME SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS, I MUST SAY.
HE HAS THE POWER TO CREATE, WELL, WORMHOLES.
SO, TO CREATE A TIME TUNNEL, WORMHOLE CREATES A TUNNEL.
THAT'S A TUNNEL THAT LETS YOU TRAVEL FROM ONE PLACE ...
... TO ANOTHER ...
... INSTANTLY!
SLIPSTREAM, THE LEADER OF THIS GROUP, HAS THE POWER TO SPEED UP OR SLOW DOWN TIME AROUND ALMOST ANYTHING OR ANYONE.
LOOKS LIKE RAIN!
SO SHE CAN MAKE SOMETHING FREEZE IN TIME AND JUST STAND STILL.
AND ME WITHOUT MY UMBRELLA!
OR ...
BAH! WHO NEEDS UMBRELLAS!
... MAKE HERSELF FASTER THAN EVERYTHING AROUND, GOING SO FAST IT'S ALMOST LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE IS STANDING STILL!
SO, WHILE WORMHOLE CREATES THE TIME TUNNEL, SLIPSTREAM IS ABLE TO SPEED UP BOTH THE TUNNEL AND THE REST OF THE FLIES SO THEY CAN BREAK THROUGH THE TIME BARRIER.
MOTHER MASS HAS THE POWER TO CHANGE THE MASS OF OBJECTS, TRANSFORMING THE MASS INTO ENERGY.
HEY! A QUARTER!
SO SHE CAN CHANGE THE DENSITY OF THINGS.
NO FAIR! I CAN'T PICK IT UP!
WHO GLUED THIS QUARTER TO THE GROUND?
THE ULTIMATE RESULT IS THAT THINGS BECOME HEAVIER ...
... OR LIGHTER.
WHOA!!!
WHAT HAPPENED?
NOW THEN, IN COMBINATION WITH SLIPSTREAM AND WORMHOLE'S POWERS, MOTHER MASS CONVERTS ALL OF OUR MASSES INTO ENERGY, MAKING US VIRTUALLY WEIGHTLESS AND MAKING IT EASIER TO TRANSPORT US THROUGH THE TIME TUNNEL.
THE FINAL FLY IN THE COMBINATION IS TAK, A MASTER OF INSECT-STYLE MARTIAL ARTS AND A FLY OF FEW WORDS.
HE IS ABLE TO USE LIGHT TO CREATE ILLUSIONS THAT ACTUALLY HAVE SOME MASS.
SOLID HOLOGRAMS.
NOW, THE HOLOGRAMS MAY NOT BE AS STRONG AS THE REAL THING ...
HSSSS!!!
BUT THEY'RE VERY CONVINCING!
SO WHEN MOTHER MASS TAKES AWAY OUR MASS, SHE TURNS IT INTO ENERGY ... ENERGY THAT TAK USES TO CREATE A PROTECTIVE BUBBLE AROUND US!
N.E.X.U.S. ISN'T REALLY A FLY. THE OTHER FLIES ARE CYBORGS - PART FLY, PART COMPUTER, BASICALLY - BUT N.E.X.U.S. IS A ROBOT.
It's basically a computer in a fly-like shell.
WORMHOLE CAN CONNECT TO N.E.X.U.S.'S PROGRAMS TO ACCESS INFORMATION, USE SENSORS, AND MAKE CALCULATIONS.
UNFORTUNATELY, N.E.X.U.S. IS VERY FRAGILE, AND TIME TRAVELING TENDS TO PUT A LOT OF STRAIN ON IT.
MUCH OF N.E.X.U.S.'S HISTORICAL DATA HAS BEEN LOST.
BUT N.E.X.U.S. IS A VITAL PART OF TIME TRAVEL, AND SOMETHING THE FLIES CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE ...
... BECAUSE THE OTHER FLIES FEED THEIR POWERS THROUGH N.E.X.U.S., AND THE ROBOT THEN DIRECTS THE POWERS TO ACTUALLY CREATE THE TIME TUNNEL.
THERE'S ONLY ONE PROBLEM ...
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Berlin Breakoutby Ben Avery Copyright © 2008 by Ben Avery. Excerpted by permission.
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