STORY BEGINNING #1

Gail Galactica, captain of the independent deep-space mining ship "Amazon Prospector," kept an eye on her pilot as he settled their craft onto the hopefully least-rocky plain of rocky planet #3 of the Atari star system.  Whoever sent the distress signal that had interrupted their voyage transporting a load of priceless Cantfyndium crystals back to the depot space station in this sector had better have a good reason, she thought, or they were going to be in more distress than they could imagine. 
"Captain!" the Comms Officer called out.  "We've got another message from the distress signal source--you need to see this!"  Captain Galactica did the "mind-twitch" that brought up the comms image in front of her.  The message said:

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STORY BEGINNING #2

Tim Tredman glanced around the little Toronto coffe shop, glad to be out of the icy wind outside, but now puzzled and alert.  None of the people sitting mostly by themselves at the shop's few tables looked like someone with what the Section Chief called "Category One" intel. Maybe the contact got nervous?  Or maybe..detained.
Suddenly the old lady who had appeared to be asleep at the table nearest him opened her eyes, looked up, sleepy, and squinted at him.  "Dearie," she said, "Can I ask you a favor?"   As he hesitated she said: "C'mon, I wo--"  but was interrupted by a fit of coughing.  As Tim continued to hesitate, she said again: "C'mon.  Be a dear."  Tim sat and the woman said in a low tone that was suddenly not little-old-lady-like at all while glancing at the door: "Now listen very carefully and don't interrupt:"

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STORY BEGINNING #3

Mina Sato looked up at the huge old victorian house and shuddered as her dad called out cheerfully: "Hey!  Wait 'til you see the inside!"
"Yeah," her older brother Mas said as their dad disappeared through the elaborate front double doors, "It can't be as crappy as the outside, can it?"
Mina turned back to the rented truck thinking she could get her laptop and see if any of her friends were online playing the new  Overwatch--and then remembered that the computer had somehow gotten packed at the front of the truck, with 20 feet of furniture and other stuff in between.  She sighed and walked heavily towards the door of their "new home."
She wandered from one room to another on the second floor, looking for one that she might turn into something that could feel  like hers, then stopped in front of a closed door made of dark wood with a strangely shaped brass door knob with a key hole below it.
"Don't bother!" Mas called from down the hall, "It's locked.  Dad said he needs to get a locksmith to open it."
Mina reached out anyway to try it, but as her hand touched the knob, a thought (or was it a voice?) came into her head:  "It's been a long time.."  
She wanted to stop but her hand just turned the knob and pushed--and the door swung open..