Universal - Karli Morgenthau (TFATWS)

One Night

To be alone in Madripoor without a purpose was not promising. To be alone in Madripoor even with a purpose could also not be promising, depending on what that purpose was. The once-pirate sanctuary and now criminal haven was not a place where most  people would hope to find themselves, let alone find themselves alone in.

Especially alone. 

And that was exactly where and how she found herself: in Madripoor, alone.

But she did have a purpose in being here, a very specific reason in fact: This was maybe her last chance, one last chance to stop the laughter. The constant sound of it ringing permanently in her ears. 

People had always laughed at her, right from the beginning. "Aliens aren't real." "You're not a real scientist." "Keep dreaming." Blah, blah, blah. All that, all that crap. Always the same, the same things over and over again. The same hurtful things.

She had heard it all, and had long ago learned to ignore these comments but still they continued to sting, to haunt her, to always hover close by, to linger. It hurt to have no one believe in you and your abilities and opinions. However, this had led her to build a strong belief in herself, so at least she had this.

It was this determination and belief that led her to accepting the offer that led her here. Well, perhaps she hadn't officially accepted it yet, but was going to meet the generous donor, and she definitely had her heart set on accepting, ready and willing to do so. 

The reality for her was that she was broke and at a dead end - this could be her final hope, no matter how mysterious it seemed. That was how much she believed in this research. 

She had always held a fascination for the universe, believed that it was full of other life. After all, it was so big and stretched so far, how could there not be other life within it? But no one believed her, and so her whole academic journey was full of mocking and laughter. 

Then in 2012, a portal opened above New York and aliens - yes, literal aliens - poured into Earth, hundreds of them. That was the day she was proven right. 

And from there it only escalated, until a full-scale invasion of Earth took place, resulting in half of the world's population suddenly disappearing for five long years. She had been proven right: there were aliens, other life out there, and apparently not so far away.  Who was laughing now? She was. Only now, no one was laughing. 

How could they, when suddenly the whole world had changed so drastically in an instant? 

And now here in the post-Blip world people weren't too concerned with a desperate student ranting on about aliens, but about rebuilding their lives. Apparently though, there was someone here willing to fund her research, and yes she was desperate enough to hop on a plane and travel across the world to a criminal sanctuary in order to meet with his potential helper. She believed in this far too much to just let it go after so long, especially now. 

And so that was how she found herself alone in Madripoor, feeling very out of place and growing more and more anxious by the second, with only a meeting place set by an unknown number.

Oh, she hoped this was the right place.  

"Elise Beaumont?"

She jumped at the sudden voice and shadow in the dark. A man dressed all in black - and with a gun sitting against his hip she was quick to notice - faced her.  

"Y-yes?"

"The donor is ready to meet with you." 

"Oh - okay. Good." This was promising.  "And does this person have a name? They've been awfully silent. I'm just so grateful to them I'd like to personally thank them-"

"No names." He cut her off.  "You may address them as the Power Broker."

(Sorry this took me so long to post - I was really struggling with the start of this story, but now here we are! Thank you so much for all the support for this story already! :)

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this long awaited chapter! :) Hope it was worth the wait!)