1 Prologue One: Assembling Kairos

A series of clicks, clangs, and beeps filled the air in a small laboratory hidden in the middle of a dense forest. A man and a woman stood back to back working diligently at two separate work benches on their own projects.

The woman's fingers move dexterously about as she carefully assembles a complex circuit board.

A sigh comes from the man as he sets down the vial he had just filled. "I'm done making the vaccines, Penny."

A moment passes before a response comes from the concentrating woman. "That's good," she pauses, "Can you help me with my project?"

The man grimaces slightly. "Do you really want my help? Remember what happened the last time I tried to help you with circuitry?"

Soft laughter comes from Penny. "Yes, it looked like shit when you were done with it and was unsalvageable." She laughs again. "Don't worry, Rick, I don't need help with the circuit. Instead, can you move the full boxes of completed circuitry over to the platform I'll be putting this entire thing together on?"

"Oh, that's a relief," Rick mutters as he lifts a box off the floor next to Penny's lab bench. "Is there any specific order you want these put on the platform?"

Penny glances up, "Yeah, the boxes are numbered, so put them in numerical order."

Rick nods, taking the box out of the room, returning in a moment to grab another one. After he has repeated the process many times, Penny speaks up with a grin on her face. "Last circuit is done!"

"Awesome, honey!" Rick picks up the second to last box leaving the room for the platform.

Penny places the completed circuit into the last box, before picking the box up and follow her husband out of the laboratory.

______________________

At the platform an hour later, Rick is handing circuit boards from the boxes to Penny based on her instructions to him. "Hand me the circuit labeled Alpha Transmigrator III from box 7 next," Penny calls out while installing a circuit in the frame of a machine built from scratch.

Shuffling noises indicate Rick carefully sorting through the circuits in box 7 to find the one Penny requested. "I don't see it in here," he says.

"Hmm," Penny mutters to herself trying to figure out where else she may have categorized the missing circuit. "Check box 35 for it."

Rick nods, and scoots him self down the line of boxes. He stoops over as he reaches down to search for the transmigrator. "Found it." A few seconds later, Penny has the circuit in hand and is screwing it into place next to the circuit she had just installed.

"Box 16, Beta Spatial Drive IV."

Once, again, Rick is moving to grab the specified circuit for Penny. However, two little girls come running into the large room, squealing loudly. Penny pauses what she is doing, and picks up one of the girls. "What are you girls doing in here?" she asks. "Daddy and I are busy right now."

Giggles come from the girl in her arms as a rumbling noise comes from her stomach. Penny laughs, "I guess our little girls are telling us to take a break and feed them."

Rick grins and picks up the other girl. "Sounds good to me." He kisses her on the forehead, and the happy family exits the room for the kitchen.

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