This Week in Beyond Big-G City! Today, a most terrifying birthday. . .
Week Nineteen, Day One:
November 7, 2025
Friday, November 7, Elle attends Monique who has been moved to a private room at Olympus Rest. Monique is sedated, her arms and legs strapped down to prevent her from self-harm. Apollo checks in on the patient. He and Elle join Jim, Hermes, and Aphrodite (Monique’s next-of-kin) in the hallway.
Stella, too, is in restraints in a nearby private room. Her last violent episode, channeling The Power, coincided with Monique’s seizure on Wednesday. Hermes reports there were no security irregularities in The Power’s prison cell at that time. He’s confessed to his and Monique’s tryst in the cell, and that he believes he, himself, is the baby’s father. Apollo concludes The Power used Hermes as a host to impregnate Monique and create an heir. Enraged by this folly, Aphrodite flees Olympus Rest to inform the most powerful Olympian, Zeus. Monique’s ragged scream tears the air. Her belly pulses as if filled with hyperactive pistons! Apollo, Elle and Hermes rush in to help her. The door slams behind them and everything goes black.
Jim, in the hallway, hears the screaming but can’t open the door. He races to Stella’s room to find a scene of chaos. She’s broken free of an arm restraint and swings wildly, knocking one of her attendants unconscious. The Power is using Stella to channel its energy into Monique’s baby! He tries to talk her down, but The Power fights back ruthlessly. Stella loses consciousness. Jim rushes back to Monique’s room. Aphrodite and Zeus have arrived. Zeus leads them in an energy transfer to open the door. . .
Inside, the room remains dark. Monique cries that something is crawling on her. The sound of tearing flesh, once, then twice! Monique screams, a baby cries, Monique goes limp.
Zeus and his party at last breach the door. The lights come back on. A baby lies in a pool of blood on Monique’s chest. Her belly looks like it’s been ripped open by a bear. Elle scrambles to apply first aid. Monique’s pulse is weak. She may be on the brink of The Rare Event: the death of an immortal.
Once Monique’s wounds are attended to, Elle cleans blood, shreds of skin, and amniotic fluid from the baby. A normal appearing baby, except for his two navels. . .
Jim returns to Stella’s room. She’s in a coma, alive but unresponsive. He sits at her side, keeping vigil. . .
Zeus soars to Olympus, Inc., headquarters, and relates events to CEO Veronica Zeta. He shares his hunch that The Power is now at large. He assembles the investigative team of Artemis, the best hunter of all immortals, and security chief Heracles to track down the marauding monster.
Will The Power be caught and subdued? Will Monique and Stella survive? What happens to the baby with two navels?
The Answers unfold between November 8th and 12th. But if you can’t wait:
https://www.susandmatley.com/beyond-big-g-city/
