Chapter Text
The following is a summary of the first part of this series, Three Transmissions for those who have not or do not want to read it. It contains full spoilers for Amphibia.
Feel free to skip to the next chapter if you already know.
Ten years ago, the Frogvasion (Also called the Incursion or sometimes Newtinction) happened. It was one of the darkest and bloodiest single days in human history. Over the course of two hours nearly 14,000 people were genocided and over 143,000 injured in some way in the city of Los Angeles. Mt Lee was destroyed, and the entire ordeal was impossible to forget, write off, or cover up. Other dimensions, and travel between them, were real, and a cat had been freed that would never return to its bag.
While there are many people that were critical in the survival of LA that day, much of the credit is given to the Calamity Trio. Three middle-school girls who were at the center of the events.
Anne Boonchuy, whose stunning battle with King Andrias, live on TV and broadcast to billions around the globe, became the first true example of paranormal abilities with irrefutable proof in humanity's history. While she has no choice but to live a highly public life, if you see an "Emma Plantar" at an aquarium you are asked to gratefully respect her boundaries.
Sasha Waybright, who fought for and saved hundreds all over LA before infiltrating Andrias' floating castle and taking control of its command center. She now works as a child therapist.
Marcy Wu, who could not be at the battle on account of being captured, but was vouched for by the other two as someone who had bravely fought against Andrias and who deserved just as much recognition. Her webcomic Amphibiland is an autobiographical account of her time in Amphibia and one of our primary sources of knowledge about this alternate dimension.
And so the story went, for ten years.
Recently, the award-winning director Gregor Park has released his newest documentary, Three Transmissions. Driven by a need to investigate the mysteries and inconsistencies surrounding the Frogvasion, he invited the Calamity Trio in for interviews, and in the process Marcy Wu did something unexpected. She snuck away behind her friends' backs for a private interview, and - consumed by guilt - revealed the truth that they had been trying to hide. That she was the catalyst that let the Frogvasion happen at all, and that she felt she was responsible for the deaths of 14,000 people.
Whether she is right or not is currently a matter up for serious debate, in halls of law, learning, and (less seriously) all over the internet. Currently humanity seems to be overwhelmingly leaning toward "no."
A lot happened. Sasha got very angry. Anne got very worried. And, over time, they were slowly convinced. The lie they and their families had been telling was intended to protect Marcy, but in the process they'd robbed her of her independence and self-determination, bullied her into accepting their protection, and if she could no longer bear the lie then maybe it should stop.
As a finale, the trio, Park, and his camera crew were invited to a top-secret bunker deep under the Colorado desert. Terri Wolpaw, the engineer and scientist who had pioneered portal technology to get Anne back to Amphibia, finally had a working portal.
However, due to the incredible electrical cost of opening a portal that was large enough to be useful, they had been forced to accept aid from their contacts in the US government - in particular the FBI, DARPA and the Department of Energy. All of whom they trusted marginally more than any US corporation, but not that much more.
This facility, named Project Leif to carry on the spirit of a benign dimensional traveler, would be an utterly transparent and open scientific endeavor, and Terri assured everyone that it would never be used to oppress other dimensions or pass on the horrors of the Frogvasion. Even if they struggled to believe it a little themself.
A lot happened. Anne tried to fly when the gravity failed while the portal was opened, and then got into a fistfight with an FBI agent called Rosa Parra because she could not be allowed to go through the portal yet. But the experiment was a success - for two minutes, a connection to Amphibia was established, and a message of peace delivered.
And so Three Transmissions ended, with a request from Gregor Park that we must all become the best versions of ourselves if we are to deserve and be trusted with the power we have unlocked.
... and that's all he was allowed to show. Because a certain FBI agent knew that the second attempt at a connection to Amphibia - the one where the device had connected to another random world instead, and a pink-skinned, pointy-eared, three-eyed young woman had ran through begging for asylum - could not be shown to the public. Not yet.
But there are other factions, who do know.