Aberrant: Children of Quantum Fire - Touch of Divinity

[Quantum Fire]

Time Period: About the Same as Shadow Games

Maia was sitting in the apartment with Justin, the baseline human she'd been dating sense before apotheosis, they'd gone to a few movies together, ice skating, rollerblading, played games, and lots of other normal things one did with a date.. and some extra ordinary things that could only be done with a nova girlfriend, like flying or going to usual and hard to reach places. Shoot the things she could do, and knew, and she was absolutely beautiful, but that was before. A few weeks back, she'd shown up for their date and it was like someone turned up the volume to max, shoot, he'd had more self-control with her before, now he looked at her, and wanted her, just sitting next to her was like, euphoric and arousing, which was embarrassing, sense was sure she knew, he wanted to treat her like the normal girl she wanted to be treated like, but it was hard not to feel like pressing close to her and kissing her, to slide.. no, that made things harder. He'd made a deal with her then, admitting that just looking at her had him wanted to kiss her, but he would never initiate a kiss, to be sure it was wanted, she would have to begin any kissing between them.

That had taken an enormous degree of self-control, but the gratitude from her had been worth it, she kissed him then, and he'd certainly enjoyed it... but then he'd done his best to try to block her out, generally failed, but it was eisier when he kept his eyes closed.. as he was doing now.

Right now, they were playing a question and answer game or sorts, a sort of truth or dare, without the dare.. well, mostly without the dare, if she wanted to change the game, he doubted his ability to disagree.. at least other then her beauty she didn't have the extreme social whammy that many nova's did.

"So, why havn't I see you lift something big, like a semi or something yet? You've always restrained yourself around me, Maia.. but never told me why." Three was a long silence to his question, then finally had him looking at her, and she was blushing slightly, and seemed almost hesitant, which was cute actually.. but then, everything she did was cute, or beautiful.

He closed his eyes again, it was easier to act normal when he wasn't looking at her every moment, though it was hard and took a good deal of self-control.. staring at Maia was an incredible experience, it was lifechanging, he'd decided a number of things important to his future just while looking at her..

"I... you know how my clothing tore a bit when I shoved that boulder away?"

"Yes."

"The effect is more pronounced when I use more power.. "

"You mean you'd end up naked?"

"Yes.. "

"Well, that doesn't make me want to see it less, but I can understand why you've restrained yourself... your turn."

[Maia]

Maia chuckled. "Well at least you're honest about it."

She nodded, "Let's see... If you could be a nova with everything it entails, with everything that could go wrong, would you?"

She looked at him. There seemed to be alot more to that question, a second part, asking him to explain his choice.

She smiled inoccently, which he'd learned was essentially code for "Maia isn't telling everything." Still she never lied to him, just as he had promised with her.

[Quantum Fire]

"I.. hmm.. honestly.. I'm not entirely sure. The power would be great, but the choices that come with it seem to be exceptionally influential, not just to myself, but to every living being on planet earth." He was being as honest as possible, trying to consider all of the various possibilities. "I would like the fact that it would make me more equal with relation to my girlfriend, but something like that would be a big change." He inclined his head to one side, thinking over all of the possibilities. "And the taint effect seems to have some dangerous repercussions.. all in all it's not something to decide quickly... why do you ask?"

[Maia]

"Because it has already told me alot about you."

She smiled, "And has confirmed alot of what I already knew." She leaned over and kissed him softly, a sure sign his answer had pleased him.

"next question."

"What would you do with the power of a nova?"

[Quantum Fire]

He clearly enjoyed the kiss and reveled in a moment, as before she asked her next question. "Dear god, Maia, I have no freaking idea... no two nova's are alike, is my understanding, the power expresses in different ways, so there's no way to know what kind of abilities I'd have, but in general, I hope that I'd try to make the world a better place rather then a worse one." He responded to her question with a touch of confusion, and he considered for a moment as he tried to give an answer, but there was uncertainty as he started, and then he grew a bit more sure of himself as he finished.

[Maia]

"Fair enough. and if you consider my family, it's definitely true. My Mother and father were very, very different people with radically different abilities as novas."

She nodded. "I like to think I took the best from both of them."

He nodded. "You did. But you aren't like either of them either. When they were young they were baselines, like me."

He chuckled. "Well maybe not since they errupted and what not, but still they had a frame of reference."

He looked at her. "Is that part of why you go out with me Maia? Am I your frame of reference to humanity?"

That was not a question she expected, and the pained expression on her face while impossibly cute told him there was truth to it.

"It's not...not just that. I won't deny it, the fact you have a normal life, that you aren't hunted, those are things I envy, that I treasure. I can't have those. But with you, You make me feel that I can. You endure so much around me."

"Then Thank you."

She looked at him and he continued. "Maia, you're a beautiful talented, powerful, wonderful woman. You could ask any other man, any other nova to do that for you, to keep you grounded. That you've chosen me, someone so unworthy, is a compliment i cannot begin to repay you for."

"I will do all I can to be worthy of the level of faith you have in me."

It wasn't his desire for her that he spoke from, just his heart. She had touched him and transformed his life, not with power, but with her faith and trust in him. She could see it in his eyes, and what's more she found this all the more reason, the confirmation of what she'd believed. They believed in each other, and neither let the other down.

[Quantum Fire]

"So next question is yours, but I get the impression that this is all leading up to something fairly major, it feels like it is." He saw a slight nod from her, then then he relaxed slightly. "What, whatever it is, it can't possibility be about making me into a nova.. " He saw the started look on her face, then he blinked. "it is.. wait, you can do that?"

"Yes" Then she paused slightly, needing to clarify. "Well, I believe so, I've not done it yet, it involves supercharging you with quantum over a period of days, then unleashing the power into you, I'm a bit unsure about it, but I've seen something similar done, though that was temporary, this would be a permanent change."

"But you can actually do it?"

"I think so."

"And you want to try this on me?""

"I don't know of anyone I'd see as more worthy."

He blinked at those words from her, and then shook his head slightly. "I'm not saying yes or no, but I don't know if I deserve that."

"I've seen nova's who deserve the power less, Justin."

"Give me some time, a few hours at least to think about it."

[Maia]

She nodded. "Of course. I want you to know this much though. No matter what you decide, I still choose you. I want you to be safe, and that's why I'm making this offer, but if you choose to remain a baseline, I will still be with you."

She kissed him lightly. "I just want you to be as happy as you have made me."

With that she stands up, moving with impossible grace to the door. "I'm going to go for a little while, to let you think on things clearly. I won't be too far away, and I'll come back in several hours. We're still on a date after all."

She smiled, and her beautiful wings came into existence, an then she was gone up into the sky, beyond where he could see.

She reached high altitude, and stopped, content to wait and overlook the city he lived in. She would be asking him much, and he could have to leave this place, because of his connection to her. Still she meant it when she said he was worthy. In her eyes only one other man was, and he was already blessed with novahood.

[Quantum Fire]

Justin spent the next few hours thinking about what she had told him, he was a bit flushed due to her complements and her kiss.. he knew she was smarter, faster, stronger, everything better then him, the fact that she chose him as a boyfriend was certainly ego boosting, but he was a very strongly grounded young man. To be her equal would be interesting, it would take care of the imbalance between them, something that he worried about occasionally, a gross imbalance in relationships can be overcome, but often created problems.

On another level, he was a little worried about the implications, the fact that she could do this had a few implications as well, clearly it wasn't something she did casually, sense she hadn't done it before, but he didn't doubt her, she'd never been wrong before.. which was daunting actually at times. And he also worried that she was wrong in this case, that she was wrong about him, that the power would go to his head and it would change him.

All of these things went though his mind as he thought the matter over, but there was one thing that did come to mind.. if he didn't, sooner or later, life would take him from her, and he did love Maia.. he blinked a moment as that thought came to him, if he was her reference, that meant she was depending on him, that she was looking to him for something important, a measure of direction or balance at least... he thought that he could still provide that as a nova, being a nova didn't have to change someone, and he figured she could keep him from going off the deep end.

So when she finally returned, the answer was "Yes...I'm not without some concerns, but I'll do it."

[Maia]

She'd returned and he'd said yes. it was in that moment that she began, with a kiss he'd never forget. There was a moment as she overlaid her own power onto him, changing him forever. She wasn't done though, as the kiss left him feeling better than he had in ages.

When she finally pulled away, he felt... more. "Wow." they both laughed, as they'd said the word together.

That night, and the next six, she remained with him, her strength flowing into him, transforming him, giving him a measure of Godhood few novas knew. At the end of the week, she was weakened by her ordeal, it being the one time she'd truly felt pain as of late. With most of her power invested in transforming him she was vulnerable, and looked up at him from the bed. "My love..welcome to novahood."

Through it all, she'd not given herself to him, focusing on giving him what he'd need to survive as a nova. Now that she was done, she wanted nothing more, but in her weakened state, she was in pain and didn't want it to be anything less than her best.

He looked down at her, wanting to comfort her, and finally able to. He stroked her hair and kissed her forhead. "Thank you, for everything Maia. Rest, we have all the time in the world now."

[Quantum Fire]

He looked at the incredibly lovely woman in his arms, and sort of wanted to ask what was wrong, but he already knew, a quantum enhanced intellect told him that she was in considerable pain and exhaustion, a side effect that she hadn't warned him about. Because she hadn't know, he realized before he spoke up to chastise her for spending her pain on him.... thousands of factors and changes had been incorporated into his mind and body, and he was still getting used to them.

It was the sharp sense of danger however, that had him turning his head slightly, and he suddenly shifted Maia closer into his arms, thinking that if someone wanted to eliminate or capture her, this would be the perfect time, she'd been here regularly over the last week, she was at her weakest, having spent an enormous amount of quantum energy on him, and was in a great deal of pain and exhaustion at the moment.

Lightning speed and grace were suddenly in motion, a speed and grace that Maia had given him, were not being used to defend her as he moved them both of the range of the gas grenades and rubber foam that was expanding to fill the room.. he was upstairs and on the roof, still cradling his love in his arms, even as his eyes sharpened, he was looking though walls and listening to a dozen sounds of the folks moving in on his house..

He reached out, and touched something he had never known before.. gravity was not a constant, it was under the control of quantum related factors.. factors that could be changed, and he thrustward, not with hands or strength, but with power.. and folks after them fell to their knees, or were knocked off their feet completely. And he felt a also felt moment of regret as he moved his car in the way of a quantum empowered bolt that blasted it to pieces.. but everything here was his to control.. and he continued to hold Maia in his arms as he rose up in the air, by manipulating the force of gravity.

"What is?" An exhausted Maia tried to lift herself from his arms which tightened around her, and he responded with words of his own.

"Relax my love, your not up to this, I am, you made me so, let me protect you for the moment." It was sort of a dream of his, something he had thought unrealistic, to protect her, and now he had the chance to, he was actually rather excited, if a bit worried.

A flying nova came up at them, and he shook his head slightly, held up two fingers, then thrust downward with a hand motion. "Down." He shifted gravity against the nova to almost 10G's, knocking him out of the sky.

He touched upon another power then.. "I think, we should be going.." He reached out with quantum forces, and ripped a whole between here and somewhere else, northern Alaska was a good spot he thought.. and then both of them moved though the warp, which vanished behind them.

[Maia]

"We've lost the target."

"What happened?"

"There was another nova, totally unexpected, nearly titan class."

"You're joking."

"I don't joke. He opened a warp somewhere, and vanished, we've lost track of them since then."

"Return to base for full debriefing, Sanitize the area."

"Roger that."

---------------------------

In Alaska, Justin was quite thankful that they were both resistant to the cold. "Maia, I can keep jumping, but if you can contact your family, I believe it's time for that. They're going to follow us, I know they have a method to track us."

She opened her eyes, and mustered what strength she had and called out to Warren.."Warren I'm in Alaska, We need you to come get us quickly, and blur things in your usual fashion. The guy holding me saved my life, I trust him.."

Maia drooped into unconsciousness, and Justin looked around everywhere, more paranoid now, that she was out.

[Quantum Fire]

Meanwhile: Elsewhere

"Your telling me a Titan Class nova showed up in the midst of our operation, and took our intended captive somewhere else? What do we know about this nova.. nothing? Where he come from.. nova's don't just erupt with this kind of power..."

"Sir.. in this case, that's what the analysts actually believe happened."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, our watcher on site said he had a power signature that was hers, writing over his own signature."

"So she was sharing her powers with him, or lending them to him.. we've seen that before." He seemed to relax.

"No Sir, the matter is much worse, as best our analysts can tell.. she shoved extra power into him as he erupted.. or he erupted as she shoved power into him, we can't be sure."

"Wait, so your telling me, that the target, can supercharge someone and make them titan class when they become a nova."

"Yes Sir."

"Damn.. upgrade her threat status."

"It's already almost at there with Nova One, Sir."

"Put on the the same level then, damn it."

"Yes Sir."

---------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, in Alaska, Justin looked down at unconscious and gorgeous woman in his arms, his manner incredibly protective, so when Warren, or Darrik arrived they would see someone who was willing to go to considerable lengths to protect Maia, and he would demand proof that the person was who he said he was, but he'd calm slightly once that proof was provided. He would not, however, allow anyone else to take Maia from him, he would hold her in his arms until they got her somewhere safe, and even then, he wouldn't leave her side for anything.

[Courier]

She opened her eyes, and mustered what strength she had and called out to Warren.."Warren I'm in Alaska, We need you to come get us quickly, and blur things in your usual fashion. The guy holding me saved my life, I trust him.." Maia drooped into unconsciousness...

Warren sent back, Maia? Maia?

Frost formed on Warren after he stepped through the gate and his first few steps left a trail of moon-dust. He'd been meditating upon the infinite now without sensory distractions. It helped, but infinity remained infinitely distracting.

Maia had been hurt and passed out. Not good, he'd thought nothing could hurt her. Her mental picture had been garbled, she'd been moving pretty rapidly... where?

No, the question was always, "when"? Warren entered hyper-time, whatever was wrong would need him fast. Then he scrambled the local timelines and created a warp board. There was a quantum sign off in the distance...

Warren paused before investigating. If that wasn't her then she could die before he got his act together. Warren shielded himself then created a handful of clones who sped off in other directions before he himself sped off in what he thought was the right one.

[Maia]

For Maia, unconsciousness held little meaning, there was only nothingness. Justin stood there, holding her, as his own Node and senses warned of an impending nova arrival, one that rivaled Maia.

"I hope this is a sibling of yours, or else we may be in for a rough time of it. " He tensed and readied himself hoping he'd be enough to handle what was coming.

[Quantum Fire]

Warren managed to find them, and he got an interesting reaction when he had, Justin had begun to shapeshift, for a moment, he'd struggled with the best way to protect her, and he had found an interesting way to do so, having shape-changed into a powerful white dragon about several sizes larger then a small house, growling softly as he was curled around Maia like she was all of his treasure, and the power that seemed to come off him was interesting, where had Maia found a titan class nova protector? The number of nova's at that level were less then 1%, shoot at a little over 100 most of them were well known, though some of them tried to stay under the radar.

When Warren his appearance, the dragon spoke with a rumbling voice that was more beautiful then anything he had ever expected. "If you are one of Maia's siblings, say so now, and it better not be a lie, or I swear your about to have difficulties, you have five seconds " The dragon lifted what looked like razor sharp claws, and spread a set of what looked like powerful wings, his body covering the unconscious girl protectively.

Justin now has Mega-Appearance 7, Mega-Charisma 5, Mega-Strength 4 (right now, with his size morph with shapechange, it's at 7), those are the most obvious effects, but not a single mega-attribute is less then 3, his Mega-Dex and Stamina are both at 7, and not one of his regular attributes are less then 7... and he has only a few powers, but they are all very strong or high level powers.. Armor with Impervious, Immortality, Shapeshift, Gravity Control, Warp and Mind Shield... and Quantum 7.. he has also attuned Maia's quantum signature to his own, and as said earlyer.. his manner is extremely protective.. the dragon form was the best way he could think of to protect her.

[Courier]

Warren replied, "Yeah, I'm Warren, and you must be the mysterious boyfriend. Pleased to meet you."

Another titan who looks way better than me. Impressive, impressively powerful... where did Maia find him? Or did he find her? Something very very odd about his q-field, it's seriously mixed with hers. A sex thing or a power thing? Both? And... first things first. The boyfriend isn't running from me and one hopes he wasn't the one who ko'ed her.

Warren said out loud and sent over the family net, "Everyone. Maia is unconscious. She and her boyfriend were attacked, I assume by mother hunters. She needs a healer. This was seconds ago, I'm going to send in a counter strike, if anyone other than me wants a piece of them, now is the time to speak up."

Warren also sent out over the net but didn't say out loud, Boyfriend is seriously powerful and without her conscious I don't trust him on Primus. Island? And there's something really, really odd about his q-field. It's got a big piece of her in it, we might be looking at a mimic, and 'boyfriend' might not be right.

Warren said but didn't send, "Where did this happen?"

[Maia]

He looked at Warren and nodded. "In my apartment in Louisiana. She's been staying with me the last week."

The great white Dragon shook his head. "It ain't quite what you think, so don't go getting any ideas. i haven't done anything to her, I wouldn't."

"Look for the crater, exploding a car like that tends to leave one."

[Courier]

Warren replied, "What city and what address." Clones showed up and merged with him. Warren activated more of his powers including invisibility and then recloned to his maximum. The 'real' Warren created a warp to where the Dragon said and the entire clone crew went through.

Warren dropped the invisibility and commented, "There they go. The Red Shirt Army. Hopefully someone is about to have a really bad day. Should we expect them here too?"

[Quantum Fire]

The clones would find... a house in the middle of the street gone completely, as though someone took a wrecking ball to it, a bit of a crater, and folks talking about an exploded gas main, someone had good to extreme lengths to sanitize the area as much as possible, and to come up with different explanations of what had happened, there were a few workers, a fire truck and police cars around the.. well, what used to be a house and a nice car.. but were now a totaled car and a shattered remains of a house in a crater.

*****************

"I opened the warp to here to take us away from whoever might be trying to follow." Even as he spoke, Justin became human once more, still cradling Maia in her arms. "After she remade me to this" He paused a moment. "I wouldn't have agreed to it without a lot more precautions if I'd known it would knock her off her feet like this." He lifted her and kissed her forehead softly. "Please, wake up, love... I think your brother is having trouble trusting me without you backing me." His every word range as truth, but the implications were staggering.

[Courier]

Nine Warrens thought as one. Well, shoot. Thirty Seconds? A full minute? Had raising his various powers been too much of a delay? No, what was this 'delay' and 'too late' nonsense.

All nine of them glanced up into the sky then quickly looked down. They didn't want to know... but of course, they already did. He was up there watching them right now. They knew themself too well. Someone had come close to taking down Maia. That meant they had to be good. Not being here? Same thing.

He wanted to see how they'd done this. Warper? Magic beans? However they'd managed this, he wanted to see this in action. He'd be back, a half hour before any of this happened, and he'd watch from orbit. The only reason he wouldn't do it right now was it'd break the family net and clones couldn't.

When he was ready, he'd be back... in fact, he already was. The Red Shirt Army hovered and observed for another moment, then disappeared into non-existence.

***********************************************

Warren frowned, not in disbelief but in belief. Remade? He didn't mean shapeshifted into a dragon. He meant... that was why they had the same q-sig. This... this was a baseline. Former baseline. And Warren had thought time travel was impressive.

Warren asked with both humor and awe, "You just erupted? Double congratulations. Oh, and... what's you're name?"

If anyone showed up to attack Warren would attune both the other novas and then Warp them to the moon base.

[Maia]

"Justin."

He looked down, and was suprised to see Maia, her pale skin visible now, her eyes open. "His Name is Justin, Warren." Her voice was soft and strong, though almost fragile in a way, showing how weak she felt.

"I would have introduced... you all sooner.. but We were all... So busy.."

Justin looked down at her. "Shh, rest, you're still weak." She reached up to stroke his cheek, and said no more. Awake, but obviously nowhere near 100%

Justin looked to Warren. "Do you have somewhere place we can bring her? If so I suggest we go. While the environment isn't particularly bad, I'd prefer not to press her luck in her current state." He knew warren was far more powerful than he was, but even so, he held fast to Maia, and what was more, warren could see that she was nuzzling up to him, and one of her hands was firmly holding his right arm. He'd never seen Maia like this, but there was no malice, just a calm protectiveness, and deep sense of caring for the other coming off both of them.

[Courier]

This was looking more and more legit. It was even possible Maia being down was something she'd done to herself.

Warren said, "Yeah, we're a little exposed here. Let's go."

Still not totally trusting Justin, Warren sent, Cancel the mother hunter raid, they're already gone. I'm taking these two to the island.

Warren opened a gate and walked through.

[Maia]

Maia nodded to him, and Justin carried her through, back the home she'd known the longest. "Don't worry we're safe here for a little while."

She looked around abit, and then to Warren. "I assume you have.. Some questions... Might as well.. ask away."

She was exhausted and weak, but She knew and Justin was fast enough on the uptake to realize Warren wasn't totally sold on this yet.

[Courier]

Warren smiled and said, "I'm relieved you're all right."

Warren sent to Maia, All Clones. Kill Justin. Do it right now.

Justin didn't blink.

Never mind Maia, just testing to see if he's on the family link.

Warren asked, "Check me on this. He just erupted, like minutes ago? That's why you're tired? How, why, and what all come to mind. Also how often do you think you can do this?"

{OOC: Don't remember if Lie Detector is on but if it's not then activate it}

[Maia]

"Something like that... Yes." She shook her head, "If it feels this bad everytime, probably...not that...often...."

"Not a funny joke either Warren. I'd be very mad if you'd have done that... I'd never forgive you."

Even across the mind she sounded weak, though her tone was unmistakable.

Justin looked at them and shook his head. "That's kinda rude you know."

Maia looked up at him. "Years of habit, sorry."

He nodded. "It's alright..whatever's easiest for you."

[Courier]

Warren mentally sent back, Joking? From Warren's mental tone he'd been serious. It'd been a test, not a joke.

Warren relaxed considerably and commented dryly, "Worrying about 'rude' is for people who don't need to worry about dying if they're wrong." Warren added to Justin, "Welcome to my world. Hers too."

To them both he explained somewhat apologetically, "Maia's almost unconscious, that should take a Titan class nova, and here we have a Titan I don't recognize whose q-sig shockingly like hers. Either she made you or you own her... and I'm glad it's the former."

Warren bowed formally to Justin and said, "Let's start over. I'm Warren, pleased to meet you. Welcome...."

To Maia he added, "...and let's park you somewhere. Infirmary or bedroom?" Maia knew Warren well enough to sense an under current of worry. They were novas, it wasn't supposed to be possible for them to hurt themselves, but it also wasn't supposed to be possible to give your powers to someone else like this.

[Maia]

Maia's eyes narrowed at Warren. Normally she was the protective one.

Justin nodded to Warren. "Justin, and likewise it's good to meet you as well. She didn't make me, just improved upon me. My parents "made" me if you have to get technical."

Maia, still agitated, yet too weak to do anything, nodded. "Infirmary is probably the better choice, to make sure i'm alright."

[Courier]

Warren nodded to Justin and said, "Pick her up and follow me."

Warren sent to members of his family he thought could/should know, Hey Alex? Butch? Darrik? Anyone have a minute? I've got a seriously odd one. Maia just made her baseline boyfriend erupt into a Titan level nova. His sig reads almost identical to hers. Problem is hers is weaker and she's... half dead is probably an overstatement, but only just. I'm probably out of my depth here, anyone up for a look see?

[Maia]

Justin did as he was told, though he'd never actually set Maia down, and followed Warren to the Infirmary, laying her on one of the sterile beds, and drawing the blanket over her. It was then that it was obvious he too was naked. A quick rummage net a hospital style gown, which he quickly put on and returned to Maia's side.

[SalmonMax]

I'm not a doctor, but I might be able to figure out what happened to her signature, Alex replied mentally. Tell Shen and Serenity too. They know a lot more people than we do...they may know someone who can help. Where is she now?

[Toby Lupin]

The signature? I may already know, I just have to make sure... reminds me of my control over quantum shadows. Darrik replied in his mental voice. Once you let us know, I'll be there.

[Quantum Fire]

A moment later and Shen was standing there. "Maia.. dear girl, what have you done to yourself." He pulled back the sheets, Maia had been covered up by a blanket, but underneath it she was nude, for the boy had attuned her while shapechanging, and like her, couldn't keep clothing from being destroyed due to his powers, and abberation that he had gained from maia, something Shen was going to have a long talk with her about about. At the momentary protest from Justin he spoke to him. "Hush boy, I've seen her naked before, and will see her so in the future, the nature of her capabilities and powers insure it... especially sense both of you are now in training with me." His tone left no doubt that he wasn't leaving either Maia or Justin a choice about it.

"I was moving between realities this week, this possibility was much lower before I left.. " He paused and sighed. "I should have known that the probabilities would shift with your young man here... do you realize how badly you have warped his quantum signature, and your own.. if you had only been patient he would have errupted on his own in the next year or so. Now it's going to take me at least a few years to fix the issues you've created for both of you."

He sighed, then looked down at the tear that was sliding down her check, he caught the tear with one finger, then leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I'm talking out of turn here, Maia, this is as much my fault as yours, it's love and my own error that's the source of my irritation.. now, hold still." He then put his hands together and began to rub them

Justin began to protest as he touch her forehead then her chest over her heart, he responded. "Hush boy, I'm rebalanceing her chi, it will sooth her pain for a little while, make her feel a little more herself.." he paused and his voice turned a little stern. "As long as my girl doesn't do anything too strenuous." His hands continued to move for over her body in a few passes, then he slammed them together for a moment, rubbing them together hard, then put his hands on her again, on her stomach just about her groin, and on her chest just over her heart.. then he closed his eyes, breathing in deep.. for those able to see it, it would seem as though Maia's quantum signature shifted somewhat smoothed out a bit. "There, it shouldn't be painful for a little while now.. but you won't be able to lift as much as a squirrel, or move faster then a baseline human without undoing my work.. though it will be back to throbbing pain in an hour or so." Even as he spoke, he pulled the sheet back up over her.

OOC: Special Note: I've pulled Justin back in power a bit, he's only quantum 6, with a max of 6 in mega's and taint 6, he now shares two of maia's abberations as a result maia herself has 6 temporary taint at the moment, which quantum attunement will tell you she's warped her quantum pattern a bit...

[Maia]

She had arguments for everything, why she chose to do this, why she pushed so far, but she knew uncle was right, and now was not the time to question him. She did feel better after his ministrations, making a mental note to learn what just happened, and how to do it herself.

Thankful to have the sheet back she smiled weakly to him. "Thank You Uncle, I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you."

Her eyes flicked over to Justin.

"You're already aware obviously, but this is Justin, my boyfriend, and the man who saved my life. Justin, this is my Uncle Shen, he's raised me."

Justin for his part, bowed his head with respect. "it is an honor to meet you sir, and I accept whatever blame for her pain and current state. She gave me the choice, and I agreed, not realizing what it would cost her." That he didn't know was immaterial, that maia didn't know didn't matter as well.

He didn't regret his choice, he knew Maia didn't either, he did lament the pain it caused her though. He was older than Maia, though not much, and clearly he wished to make a strong first impression. Acknowledging that, he spoke sincerely, and with no falseness in his tone, posture or gesture.

[Courier]

Warren replied to everyone, 'Uncle is here. We're at the island infirmary but just give me a picture of where you are and I'll warp you in.

[Quantum Fire]

Shen looked over Justin a moment. "You have nothing to apologize for, son, you did well enough, and you did manage to save her life at a moment when i could not, for I had just returned to this reality when she was attacked.. for that I am grateful. Your going to have the same problems as maia with clothing and eufiber, mostly.. I suppose it is just as well.. now, you stay here." He paused. "In fact, stop keeping your distance out of concern, get in the bed with her, she'll feel better with you holding her." He waited until the boy obeyed, and then turned to warren

He reached out and with his hand on the young man's shoulder as he lead him outside the room. "I want Butch and Alex here, both of them can give a diagnosis of sort, and butch can do what I just did with with his control over biological systems, but she's going to be at reduced strength for the next four days, that's part of the price for doing this sort of thing, besides the taint she's gained from overdoing it. I'm going to have to teach her Qi Meng to rebalance her quantum signature, which is going to take months, I really should teach it to all of you, but more then a few students at a time reduces the amount of focus I can put on just a few individuals."

[SalmonMax]

Alexandra strode into the room and glared down at the bed where Maia and her nouveau-nova companion lay snuggled in the blankets. Lenses ticked over her eyes and zoomed in and out as she did her scans...largely tracking Maia's quantum resonances and signature, though also getting more mundane measures like temperature, a quick "x-ray" using ultrasound and millimeter-wave radar, and so on. She then uplinked to Primus' infirmary computers to compare the data to previous data collected from Maia.

"You'll live," she said shortly, arms folded and face stormy. "Frankly, a stunt like that...I could almost wish it'd hurt you more, just so you'd remember the lesson for next time."

[Maia]

Maia looked at Alex and nodded. "Don't think there's a chance of me not remembering Alex."

"It's not something I ever plan on doing again."

[Courier]

Somewhat frustrated, Warren stood back, watched the others examine Maia and wasn't sure what to feel. Maia had done something foolish and awe inspiring, created a Titan or near Titan (how stable Justin was remained to be seen), and nearly gotten herself killed. She might have also permanently tainted herself.

Warren eyed Justin for a moment and seriously considered going back in time and killing him before he ever stepped into Maia's life. If the two of them never met then Maia might be better off... except it was too late for that. History had spoken and so had Maia. Warren had the uneasy feeling that kind micro-engineering would blow up on him, there were lots of ways for this mess to turn out much worse.

Maia could/would have met another unpowered guy and done her thing. This one might not have dealt with the mother hunters as adroitly.

The Mother Hunters. They hadn't done this, but they'd been waiting to take advantage of it. She'd gotten weak, they'd made their move.

See a mother hunter, kill exile a mother hunter. Maybe he couldn't do anything about Justin or Maia, but that crew was a different story. He'd go back and see how, or if, they got away. Then he'd make sure that was a temporary event.

Warren sent Pip? I need to crash the family link when everyone is in a good spot. I can put this off for however many hours we need to make it safe, but I've got some temporal jobs to run.

[Butch_Cole]

OOC

I have no idea if there needs to be a roll or anything here. I wasn't aware that Quantum Supremacy caused damage, but I guess QF has decided that it should here. Plus it makes things all dramatic.
As such, I'm just writing this up assuming it'll take a little time to fix Maia and will work. If anything needs to be changed, please let me know.

Butch was one of the last to arrive in the Infirmary. While initially concerned about what had happened, Butch was slightly less sympathetic once he discovered the true nature behind Maia's injuries. In this case, it wasn't some Motherhunter team that hurt her. No, this time it was her own fault.

He hadn't said anything when he entered the Infirmary, and still hadn't said anything when he took a step closer to Maia and reached out with his own quantum-enhanced biological senses. Maia was...different. The makeup of her cells had been altered in a way that Butch was once only peripherally aware of in other novas. When he was on the run with his father, Butch sometimes felt it in other novas and even in Johnny Hellfire himself. Sometimes innerButch would mutter something about IMPURITY and naturalDISFIGUREMENT, but as a kid, Butch had no idea what was going on. Eventually he learned more and more about what happened to novas who strained their nodes too much, something colloquially known as taint.

Now, he felt it in Maia. Never before had he really sensed it in her, but now it was screaming at him. As far as he could understand his abilities, Butch couldn't physically get rid of taint. He could mend Maia's normal physical injuries, but the rest would take Uncle Shen's know-how.

Slowly, Butch began the process of mending Maia's injuries. After a moment, once he met enough resistance and needed a break, Butch spoke. There was something of a low growl behind his voice as the words came out.

"Just because I can fix you when you do stupid things doesn't give you license to go out and do dumb shit. If you weren't someone I care about, Maia, I'd take Alex's suggestion a bit further and leave you to suffer through the hurt you caused yourself."

He shook his head, grimacing. "That's all I can do for you for now. This is gonna take some time."

He continued the rest over the family link: "This goes for everyone. I'm declaring shennanigans on acting-without-thinking. Once we're set here, and Maia's well enough to leave the Infirmary, I call a family meeting. Everything else is on pause. We've got shit-tons to discuss. It's high time we sat down and hashed everything out. And I mean everything. I'm not just talking about Maia playing God or Darrik's birthcontrol fail. This ain't gonna be the same old meeting like we usually have where we all just talk and talk around things and never reach a solid decision and go off half-cocked. Not anymore. Too much has changed and too much is at stake. I'm putting together an agenda for this meeting and we're all gonna follow it. Meeting ain't adjourned until we take care of everything. We're novas and some of us can stay up for days and weeks. If that's what it takes, I'll be sad, but we work this thing out until it's done. Y'all will get an agenda and meeting time later on. Until then, think long and hard about where we're going as a group and what your part in it is. Time to fuckin' grow up, kids."

His eyes narrowed as he looked at everyone in the Infirmary who could have heard/read/understood his mental speech. Then he relaxed slightly and returned to fixing Maia.

Sometimes dealing with his siblings was a frustrating and fruitless endeavor. It was time that changed. Perhaps all they needed was a leader, someone to put all this together and...actually lead them. More and more, Butch felt like he was up to the challenge...