Zero to Infinity

“We have an announcement to make. Gordon will return to Mount Pioneer, with Jenny as his new wife and OUR new Matriarch,” proclaimed the Matriarch. The room erupted in whispers.

The matriarch was nervous. She still had so much to teach Jenny.

“November,” she spoke in a low and muffled tone. “I need you to keep an eye on Gordon. You will need to find a way to gain her trust so she will leave him.

“Where is Zero?”

“I’m not sure. After we returned, he said he was going to his quarters”, the Matriarch replied.

November took toward Zero’s room. It was a long and dark walk. As he approached his room, he noticed the door was ajar. Peeking in, he saw an empty room with a perfectly made bed. Something was very wrong. Zero was known to take on missions, but with what was going on, this was not the time to take on a solo mission. Upon further analysis, November noticed that all of Zero’s personal belongings were missing, including his weapon. This was not good. Heading to the matriarch, he informed her of Zero’s disappearance. She was not happy.

The matriarch ordered him to find Zero. With Marcus out of commission and Zero missing, this was not the time to be short-staffed.

He set out to search for Zero. He asked the other Theorians in passing if they had seen him, but no one had.

Preparing to set flight down to earth, he heard a noise coming from the trees. On guard, November went to investigate and found Zero coming in for a quick landing.

“Hey, we were looking for you,” November said.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry anyone,” Zero replied.

“It’s alright. But you can’t run off on your own missions these days. Gordon is a real threat. The matriarch is not going to be happy if something happens to you. We’re down a man anyway...” November scolded. Zero looked away and didn’t respond. November sighed and continued, “Is there anything you want to talk about?”

Zero looked back at November and considered for a moment. “Do you think Gordon will really change?”

November was taken aback by the question. “What? No, of course not. Why would you think that?”

“I don’t know. I just have a feeling. He’s been getting closer and closer to Jenny lately, and...”

November shook his head. “And he’s going to use her the first chance he gets, Zero. Gordon is just...Gordon. He’s always been a little strange. But he’s not one of us anymore. He’s just not.”

Zero nodded, but he didn’t look relieved. Deep down, he knew they would have to put a stop to Gordon. Somehow. Zero knew that November was right. Gordon had always been a little strange, but he had never really been one of them. And now, it seemed, he was going to use Jenny- the newest matriarch, Zero’s true bride - to get what he wanted.

Zero knew he would have to stop Gordon. He was a danger to their existence, and he needed to be stopped. But how?

“You’ve got to get back to her!”, November demanded

“I tried. She thinks she’s doing right. Dammit, she thinks she’s being mature.” Zero groaned with frustration.

Zero slammed his fist down by his side. It didn’t help to literally punch away his frustrations. “November, you and I need to go now.”

“What? Zero, we can’t just leave the matriarch here alone!”

November was right, they couldn’t just leave her there, but Zero also couldn’t just let Jenny go on with the marriage to Gordon. He didn’t know what to do. Unsure as he was in deep thought, November shook Zero.

“Zero, we can’t just leave her here alone!”

“Okay,” Zero began. “I have an idea. Have you met Jacob?”