(You could call this a multiple-selves-insertion crossover fanfic...)

Well, at first this episode doesn't have much to do with Tenchi 
(or Anime in general), but it is the prelude to the later events. 
So bear with me, OK?

<Arraye: They have to take a lot, don't they?>
<(St)Ori(Kami): And no action yet...>
...
<<Both: But now with feeling:>>

[The legal stuff: 
Disclaimer: Any recognizable, original concepts, ideas and images from 
trademarked or copyrighted material do not belong to me, but to the people 
responsible for their creation, especially the guys (and gals, of course) from 
AIC and Pioneer Ltd. for Tenchi Muyo! in all its variations - and the people 
from White Wolf for their 'Aberrant' RPG & background. Thanx! 
(Should they read this, maybe they will consider it free advertisement...)
The only rights I claim are to Whistler, StOriKami (that's me, myself and I) 
and 'IQ' - at least as long as slavery is outlawed and I'm not being bought 
or sold myself - 

<<As if that's gonna happen...>> 

and maybe to specific characters definitely declared not to be trademarked
ones and not intended to be them, only inspired by them.

<Arraye: That _does_ include me, you think?>
<Ori: I hope so...>

So don't anybody sue me, please! In any case, I'm a member of the moneyless
club, so unless you are able to derive gain from negative cash flow or to
handle imaginary numbers in bookkeeping (y'know, square root of '-1'), don't
waste time trying.

<O: Phew, I guess that's it.>]

		Aleph-Four  - Prologue

		 "Prelude to Power"

	by StOriKami  (mail to JoPf.mz@t-online.de)


*****	"... Aleph-(index) is used here as the mathematical/symbolic 
expression to describe different levels of infinity. Aleph-Null (0), for 
instance, equals the infinity of countable natural numbers (1, 2, 3,...). 
Aleph-One goes one step beyond that (measuring incountable infinities - 
the zero-dimensional dots in a line) and so on. When regarding the infinite 
possibilities of multiple and parallel realities originating not only in simple 
statistical probabilities and improbabilities, but also in the imagination of 
an inestimatable amount of intelligent minds, one has to realize that to 
approximate this state one needs to comprehend _at least_ Aleph-Three... "	

		"On The Difficulty Of Controllable Subdimensional 
		Frequency Manipulation In Relation To Eschatological 
		Multipersonal Pantheistic Solipsisms Theory", 

			Professor Azusa Hakubi, 
			Second Galactic Academy of Science, 
			Juraian Year 364 011, Third Era 	*****


*Somewhere in an America not quite like that we are used to, 
on one certain timeline a decade in the future, but on another still 
almost equivalent to our own Y2K, and in a reality in several 
respects far, far away... but still closer to us than some others.*

<O: Effectively, not too long ago, only a little bit too far away...>
<A: That's it? _Here_ it starts?>
<O: It has taken us quite a while to find out about it.>
<A: And I still say, to hell with this space-time-continuity, let's just
frag the bastard and prevent all this shit!>
<O: *Sweatdrop* You sound just like Ryoko now...>
<A: Oops, sorry. NOT! And I still _am_ Ryoko, too.>
<O: *Fidgeting* (Yeah... at least partially. Maybe a bit too much...) 
Besides, you're talking about ME, at least kind of, you know?> 
<A: So what? He is _not_ you, too - 'kind of'. And you know what he will do.
We both/all know!>
<O: Yes... but what will happen to _us_ if we never get to exist?>
<A: Yadda yadda yadda... *pouts* I know, I know. 'We are not sufficiently
immune to space-time-paradoxes involving our ownpersonal timestream(s) to
ensure our own existence in the face of an interference of this relevance'.
But I still want to kick his posterior!>
<O: (Now she's back to 'Washu' again...) We'll just have to wait for a suitable
insertion-window. Then we can both try to stop him. Or to, as you said,
'frag the bastard'!>
<A: (Split infiniti(v)es...)> 
<O: But for now we better try to learn all we can. Besides, I like the music...>

"... There's a beast upon my shoulder 
			and a fiend upon my back
Feel his burning breath a-heaving, 
			smoke oozing from his stack
And he moves beneath the covers 
			or he lies below the bed
He's the Beast upon your shoulder. 
			He's the price upon your head.

	Beastieee!

He's the lonely fear of dying, 
			and for some, of living too
He's your private nightmare pricking. 
			He'd just love to turn the screw ..."

 Multicolored flickering lights reflected on the walls of a large room and on 
a multitude of screens, instruments and - mostly empty - fast food packages. 
 Weird electronic sounds filled the air, distorting and trying to overcome the 
tinny sound of an old CD player trying its best to overload the cheap, ancient 
speakers it was connected to with a just as ancient CD's sound.

 For a few moments the electronic sounds won the battle and drowned 
out the old Jethro Tull song. Then a human voice joined the music and 
shifted the balance in the other direction.

"So stand as one defiant - yes, and let your voices swell
Stare that Beastie in the face and really give him Hell!!!

 Yeah! That's it! Dammit!"

 The owner of the voice lifted a thin, long fingered hand into a blue 
laserlike beam visible in the light smoke, and all sounds stopped.
All sounds except an insistent buzzing from the far wall.

"Yes, yes, I'm coming. Don't have a bovine, man!"

The reed-thin, bespectacled young man snapped his fingers 
rhythmically answered by a clicking and whirring from the wall.
With a screech like unoiled hinges - but produced by small 
speakers built into it - the door opened, and a large man entered.

"Errgh! Ian! Couldn't you just get another sound effect for this? 
My teeth feel like I'd just bit into a battery!"
"Tut, tut! You always complain, and I never listen. Get used to it."
"Next time, I'm taking the speaker and squish it into a nice bookmark 
for you. And this time, I mean it!"

 Ian, the thin man in the spotty bathrobe (well, the spots mostly looked 
like hamburger grease and ketchup) just smiled at his guest.
The other's face dropped.

"Sigh... Oh, well. Moin, Ohayo, Hi, G'day etcetera. Had a nice night?" 

 Ian blinked.

"It's morning already? What time is it?"
"About nine. Did you sleep any time at all?"
"Don't mother me, J. You know I do... when I feel like it. At the moment, 
I'm fresh as ... well, I'm just not sleepy. But you visit me just at the right 
time. I have just found it."
"Found what?"
"Oh, right. It has been a while, hasn't it? And I haven't mailed you. 
Sorry 'bout that. I must have been in a research frenzy again."
"Sigh... For a guy called IQ and probably the most intelligent sentient 
being on the planet you _are_ a bonehead sometimes. Even a Nova 
metabolism isn't unlimited, as you well know yourself. I _have_ an 
enhanced physique and still I sometimes overtax myself."
"I don't care. There is so much to do, to think, to discover... Oh. Right. 
Yes, yes, let's forget it. Let's rather get to the matter at hand, Whistler. 
We Have A Serious Problem!"
"Of what kind?"
"Seriously serious. Damn serious. Seriously, damn freaking serious. 
Serious enough for you?"

Whistler shoved a few empty boxes from a chair and sat down. The 
chair creaked in protest, but held his two-hundred-plus pounds.

"Sigh... Just explain, okay?"
"Well... Our whole universe is in danger of... vanishing."
Whistler blinked.
"You're joking!"
"I wish I were."
"But... how can a universe just vanish? What is the cause?"
"I'm not one hundred percent certain, but it has to do with the 
reality constant. You see, it is _not_ a constant."
"Just a moment. Which reality constant? The last you told me, 
you were trying to analyze energies below the quantum level. 
And I thought you should work a bit more on just this main 
quantum levels, because it really would help if at least someone 
understood the basis of Nova powers better."
"Yes, and I wanted to, but there was this weird fluctuation on the 
neutrino/quark destabilizer, and I just followed the thread... 

Half an hour of explanations later:

*During which in quite another reality a dark-haired young man 
struggled against technological bonds trying to restrain him to 
the will of quite another, red-haired super-genius - once again...*

<A: _Tenchi_? What was _that_?>
<O: Some kind of 'continuity flash', I guess. We may be used to being 
out of phase with a whole multitude of universes, but here-now we also 
are out of phase with the regular flow of time, too. As far as I can tell, we 
may get more of these flashes from events happening 'right now' - or 
whatever you want to call it - in realities important to us as long as we are 
too far out of tune - which means we are mentally receptive to them.>
<A: Oh, yes. Of course. It just surprised me, that's all.>
<O: (Maybe even she loves Tenchi...) Sigh.>
<A: I only was startled! Really!>

"... so I just determined the basic equations at the sub-quantum level 
and adapted a - well, let's call it a sub-quantum geiger counter - as a 
kind of field detector. Using this and cross-checking the results with 
my equations I discovered that just below the theoretically presumably 
lowest sub-quantum level there is a hardly definable energy constant 
that supports and defines any and all matter, energy, space and time, 
on any level and apparently completely independent of any physical 
phenomenon working at quantum level or above. For instance, it would 
take a collision between a quasar and a galaxy-sized black hole to 
generate the kind of energy needed to have any influence on it...
Or so I thought until - well, Wednesday, I think."
"And so far there is no doubt?"
"Here are my equations. I fed them into the computer and re-checked 
them just tonight. No Fermi for me - I'm just now printing them out."

* Ian used the expression 'Fermi' as 'an important discovery lost to the 
future because it's discoverer forgot to write it down completely before 
he stopped working on it due to death, illness or losing interest'.*

 After a few more hours of explanations and comparing equations - 
which even Whistler had a hard time with; enhanced intellect has still 
several levels of competence, and IQ _was_ whole orders of magnitude 
more capable - they proceeded to ... ordering a lot of food. 
 A Nova's metabolism may be super efficient, 
but it still needs _lots_ of energy.

"*Burrp.* Okay, let's return to the problem. First, you discovered and 
mathematically proved the existence of this 'reality constant'."
"*Swallow.* Yes."
"But then you discovered an unexplainable variance in just this 
supposedly invariable constant."
"Yes. But still there was absolutely no scientific explanation for this 
effect. The equations held. Then I..."
"Tried Black Magic?"
"Why should ... Oh."

Laughter, first a bit forced, then free, filled the laboratory.

"Thanks, I needed that. Actually, you weren't so far off."
"Huh?"
"Because I also theorized that the human mind is working on several 
levels at once. The biological, logical, electrochemical, quantum..."
"Nothing new so far..."
"... and the just mentioned sub-quantum level."
"What?"
"You heard me."
"Just a moment. The existence of Nova powers proves the ability of 
the human mind, by ways of the Mazarin-Rashoud Node, to manipulate 
energy and matter at the quantum level, but you say it goes even deeper?"
"Just that. I have studied all available reports on the workings of these 
mentally based quantum powers and found a common factor."

Another half hour of talking later: 

*While in still another reality a dark-haired young man in a red shirt 
proceeded to take a severe beating by several persons others still 
would consider  - somewhat - his friends...once again:*

<A: Haven't we met _them_ too?>
<O: Yes... and no. We 'will' have met him. I think.>
<A: Yes... Damn, this is confusing. Not the paradox, but being out of 
phase muddles even _my_ mind.>
<O: That goes for both of us. I hope we can last long enough...>

"Phew. Being your friend is rather taxing even for enhanced minds."
"Friends also because you _are_ at least _somewhat_ able to 
comprehend my theories and experiments." *Groucho Marx Grin* 
"Just barely. But keep the stuff secret. It could shake the world again." 
"Shake the World... Oh, right. The basic Problem."
"We have got the Basics?"
"Mostly. Back to the beginning: The reality constant of the universe 
is _a lot_ less than I computed."
"Which means?"
"That our Universe doesn't have enough... 'reality energy'... to sustain it. 
And according to my theories, that leads to the prediction of its ...
extinction by collapsing on the sub-quantum reality level."
"Are we talking about cosmic time spans?"
"Unfortunately, no. I can't explain it yet, but the collapse will happen 
within the ridiculously short time of a century, at most. And according 
to our predicted lifespan as Novas..."
"Almost every Nova on Earth will still be alive then. So it's definitely 
_not_ a problem for other generations. $#!+!!"
"I'm relieved you are taking it so well."
"I guess it hasn't sunk in completely yet. (Hopeless) So, do you see any 
cause or solution?"
"As a matter of fact and very surprisingly, yes."
"Just a moment, let me think about it. You said the mental processes of 
the human mind are working on the sub-quantum level, which is close 
enough to the reality constant to affect it. You also said this factor is
especially pronounced in certain Novas. I'll just accept this as fact. 
Does that mean... we are _thinking_ our universe out of existence?!
And the only solution is a ... mass suicide, of Novas at least?!"

 While Whistler visibly blanched while talking, IQ reacted as if 
struck by thunder.

"NO! Fortunately for the universe, it's completely the other way around!
You see, these mental processes on the sub-quantum level do not drain 
the reality constant, but by an almost unimaginable process feed and 
stabilize it. The problem is that we just don't have the power to feed it! 
Only a few hundred Novas seem to project enough ...reality... to 
activate the catalytic process that raises the reality constant, and 
besides, _that_ seems to be a process at least partially independent of 
the M-R-Node. Several baselines seem to generate similar, if not higher, 
amounts of energy. They may be latent Novas, but they also may not."
"A catalytic process? You didn't mention that. But I'm relieved that there's 
hope. But... how can a few hundred beings generate enough energy to 
save an entire universe? It sounds like the premise to an Anime."
"I didn't? Oh well. But regarding the power... I guess I didn't make myself
clear. The power generated by the human mind is...
I'll put it simply. Do you remember the Matrix series from ten years ago?"
"Yes, of course. They were absolutely fascinating movies. But the premise...
Just a moment."

Whistler thought. IQ allowed himself a slight smile. It _was_ somewhat 
obvious, at least after all these explanations...

"I never understood the need for humans being kept _conscious_ within a 
cyberspatial network which had to take a lot more energy than any amount 
of human body warmth could produce as bio-energy, even if we forget the 
premise of them being stored as batteries for the whole civilization of living 
machines. But this sub-quantum energy emitted by human minds... "
"If we take that in account..."

IQ pointed at some numbers on his computer screen.

"Heavens! The energy would be... meta-astronomical."
"Or, in other words, just right."

Whistler almost fell from his chair, then caught himself and began to levitate. 

<A: Okay, we have listened to their discussion for several hours now. While
I appreciate the theories and had great fun listening, I just remembered we
were supposed to learn what happened *pokes at the fourth wall* while a lot
of people watching us probably are bored out of their mind by now.
Can we get on with it?>
<O: 'Oh dear. What have I done now?', as a certain golden droid once said.>
<A: And got trashed. I know the movies.>
<O: Well, I'm still sorting the causality threads from this universe.>
<O: Meaning you're just rambling on.>
<A: Well, if anyone has read it down to here, we should reward them now...>
<O: Are you intending to give them some reader's service *grin*?>
<O: *mouth disappears*>
<A: They were talking about the Matrix movie, weren't they?>
<O: MmmmMmMMMmMMMm!>
<*It takes several moments to cancel the effect*>
<A: Remember? This is _not_ a Lemon!>
<O: Phew! Okay. But they would have liked it (me too)...>
<*Arraye summons the universal Hyperdimensional Hammer*>
<A: You were saying?>
<O: *Sweatdrop*>

Another hour later...

*During this time, in still another reality nothing much happened. 
A young, red- or maybe pink-? -haired policewoman just sat in front 
of her computer, collecting and sorting some important data her 
co-workers were supposedly unaware of...*

"So, you see, the human mind potentially _is_  the greatest energy in 
the universe. Our universes' just seems to be slightly off frequency."
"And what do we do about it?"
"Well... there's the catch. We ourselves apparently can't do a lot about 
it. But we _can_ find someone who can."
"Who? How? Do we need violence?"
"Last first: No. It wouldn't help either. First second: You won't believe me. 
Second third: I'm going to explain it."

<A: Do you see the rolling eyes out there?>
<O: Yes, yes, I'll speed things up.>
<A: And I hoped to appear in this episode...>
<O: You do. I do. Shubidubidu...>
<A: *Whack* I meant, within the main story!>
<O: Sorry...*begins fixing the fourth wall*>

"So, until enough Novas and baselines exist who emit enough energy 
to maintain and feed _our_ reality constant, which as far as I can predict
may take centuries unless something unpredictable happens - chaos 
factor, you see - we need to boost at least the local level."
"And for that we two alone have to do something, is that it?"
"Yes. We can't involve anyone else - the risks are too great."
"So, where do we get the power?"
"You see, my theories also _prove_ the existence of parallel universes."
"Was that the thing I wouldn't believe? I _am_ an SF fan!"
"Oh yes... I forgot. Well, in that case there won't be a problem. Okay...
There exist universes with a lot more reality energy than ours."
"Got it."
"There exists at least one universe with a higher reality constant than ours 
in which also exists a mind whose mental sub-quantum frequency is compatible 
to our universes' needs."
"And this person can help us."
"Yes. Even without knowing. And if he ever finds out, he won't even be angry.

<O: He just proves that even brilliant minds can be idiots.>

Because one: he'll get compensation, and two: he'll be you."

<O: Oh.>

"WHAT?"
"Your parallel, equivalent, double, I mean."
"I can understand _that_, but what do you mean by 'compensation'?"
"Well... "

Weeks of preparation later...

<A: I can't hold on! Let's warp forfard...>

*During which in a lot of other realities a lot happened... *

<A: We get the idea!>

*For instance, a cosmic war having been fought for eons started anew, 
escalated - and was ended by neither of the contrary parties, but by 
the races drawn into the war against their will, almost all due to the 
actions of the meager crew of an almost obsolete space center...*

"Okay, we have built... okay, let's call it an Omniversal Reality Beacon."
"Abbreviated ORB. Cute, especially since it _has_ a ball at its end."
"Irrelevant. Okay, you will take place in the beacon, and it will send a 
signal based on mental sub-quantum energies through the reality barriers. 
The signal will take a coherent shape as soon as it has entered the 
compatible universe and your twin's presence."
"Linking our sub-quantum energy signatures and simply applying something 
like the Third Thermodynamic Law to send a really huge burst of 'reality energy' 
to me, while creating a few turbulences which will do _something_ to 
my twin. Are you certain it's safe? I'd hate to hurt 'myself'..."
"His subconscious desires and conscious mind will combine in the 
sub-quantum field and, by quantum frequency interaction, activate any 
latent abilities within his mind and/or DNA, either making him a Nova similar 
to us or, if he is one already, heighten his power level. Possibly he'll also
be tuned in to the frequencies of reality levels."

<O: So that's what happened...>

"Wow! Could  you do something like that to me too?"
"Sorry, no. Such an effect can only be caused by some extradimensional 
influence according to the thirty-fourth theorem, if you remember, and I 
doubt that any such influence will be interested in our lowered-constant 
universe anyway. Besides, the specific effects will be incalculable, for they 
depend on the physical/logical laws of his higher-constant universe and the 
possibilities of bending or breaking them. (Besides, the extra-physical energies 
involved are truly unimaginable, and all I could categ/vect/theorize was about
ten percent of it all... And I dont't have any idea - yet - where the rest goes
to...) But unless your alter ego is suicidally self-destructive, the effects
will be mostly beneficial."
"Hmmm... (and unless our universes get linked in a causality curve)"

<A: Meaning melding them into one spread on one time line...>
<O: Turning one into the past of the other. Theoretically...>
<A: Oh, how I love paradoxes!>

<*Strange Voice:* |And I love surprises... to surprise others, to be honest.| 
*Chuckle*>

<WHA...?!>
<WHO...!?>

<*Audible grin* |You'll know sometime. Both of you, maybe. Bye - for now.|>

<...>
<O: ... Did _you_ know him, Arraye-chan?>
<A: ... I don't know... He sounded familiar, but I can't really remember...
Damn! ... Somehow I didn't feel threatened, at least.>
<O: Me neither, I admit. But there was something about him... I felt it.>
<*Thinking*>

"Ready, J?"
"Would it make any difference, Ian?"
"Hmmm...Nope."
"Then let's do it."

"(God, I still haven't gotten used to the feeling of being a Nova, 
even after all these years. I hope he'll enjoy it, too.)"

"SWITCH ON!"

 The machinery began to hum softly, while a few hidden speakers softly 
emitted dramatic background music. Several minutes passed.

<A: That's it? The critical event? I don't get it!>
<O: Huh? I thought it was obvious...>
<A: Not that, you numbskull! Whistler is so... nice. Almost like... eh,well,
like you. I don't understand how he could do what he did/will do. Or why.>
<O: Oh... (Did I just get compared to... HIM?)
Well... In some way Whistler is me... and vice versa.>
<A: I think I know what you mean. Believe me, if anybody understands multiple
personalities, it's me. You know. (Ayeka, Ryoko, Washu... even Mihoshi... and
all the others, those from still other realities...)>
<O: I know (I have _seen_ it...). But yet... you are you. You are whole. An
individual being, complete and independent.>
<A: Thanks... (But can he really know... or understand?)>

 Suddenly a wave-like effect began to radiate from the ORB, washing over 
everything in the room and with constant - no, exponential acceleration, 
extended _through_ the machinery and walls outwards.
 At the same time, each and every circuit breaker (or equivalent) did its job 
and broke. Down. Completely.
 Just a few seconds later, the door of the containment chamber broke from its
 hinges and flew across the room into the wall. It stuck there.
 "Holy Hammer of whatever hammer-wielding entity you desire!!!!!"
(Actually, the quote _was_ a _little_ different, but we try to keep civil...) 
 A gloved hand emerged from the steam clouds rising from the chamber and
 grabbed the rim.
"What the herc was _that_?"
 With a groan, Whistler pulled himself out, his hair standing straight up and
 an unearthly glow radiating from his eyes.
IQ was still dazed.
"What has happened? Wha... IQ! Can you _perceive_ that, too?"
"W...what? What's that? Yes, I can..."
 Every color and texture in sight, even the sun's brightness, visible through
 the skylight, had subtly but definitely changed.
 They had gained more variation, more different shades, but lost a bit of 
saturation. Even the air itself felt -and smelled- slightly, subtly different. 
 "What... has... happened?" Whistler whispered, as both of them stared. 
After a few seconds, IQ strode towards the machinery and began, still unused
to the new perceptions, studying some frozen low-tech dials and stuck
printouts, while Whistler glided over to a steel-shuttered window. The steel
gave way after the first pull. He stared outside.
"_Everything_ looks so different now...", he murmured in thought.
"The whole city... maybe even the whole world..."
Finally IQ's voice broke the -relative- silence.
"It appears our experiment was at the same time a mediocre failure _and_ an
astounding success!"
He studied another printout.
"The fraction of energy transferred into our reality was only a tenth of the
estimated percentage of the energy that was generated... But the initial energy
was almost a hundred times greater than expected!
What you and I experienced was only a tiny amount spilling over into the
macroscopic realm we usually perceive, and the changes apparently are the
perceivable result of a raised reality constant."
"Why does everybody act as if nothing has happened?"
"They do? Well... we must have been, so to say, in the eye of the storm.
Everyone else has been changed with their environment except for us, who
_felt_ the energy first-hand."
"Some eye of the storm... IQ?" Whistler asked with a strange tone in his
voice. "Do you think my otherdimensional double has experienced something
similar?"
"To be perfectly honest", IQ said quietly, "I just dont know."
"Do you want to know something different?"
"What?"
"Well... You said the transfer would have a ... special... effect only on the
other side."
Whistler turned towards IQ. An unearthly glow emanated from his eyes, still
increasing in its intensity. Whistler smiled.
"You were verry wrong,"
IQ gazed into Whistlers eyes. He swallowed. 
Whistlers smile widened into a grin.
He began to laugh. 
Loud. 

Imagine Kagato. In league with Dark Schneider.

<<...>>
<<SWEATDROP>>
<<...>>

If any music had been playing, most fitting might have been...
'Unicron's Theme' - or maybe the 'Armageddon Rag'.*

*To be continued*

<*Signing Off*on 2000-03-20 - StOriKami (the Original) and Arraye>
<...-CHAN!>
<...-chan. Mail me at JoPf.mz@t-online.de; 
C&C ok, Flames only below 451 degrees, please>
<A: And maybe we'll find out who that mysterious voice was...>

  "There are three types of people in this world: 
      Those who make things happen; 
      Those who watch things happen; 
      And those who wonder what just happened." 
      --Anonymous 

<O: And some are all three...>

Next time:

Half-opening my eyes, I saw a beautiful girl lying across my body.
"Woww... I either am dreaming, or dead and gone to Heaven."
Slowly I freed my right hand from beneath her legs and proceeded