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Aberrant: Infinite Earth - Fiction - Arrivals [Complete]


Asche

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Earth-31/45, 2010 AD. January 18th.

A small winter storm had just blown over Southern California and a hundred miles offshore the residual waves were still lapping rhythmically against the steel hull of the ship. Designed originally for sale to a paramilitary defense contractor, the behemoth-carrier now resembled more of a behemoth-yacht. In spite of its size, life boats were staffed only to accommodate 100 people. This was enough to seat everyone stationed on the ship as well as 40 of their friends, if any were allowed on board. The owner ran a tight ship, in more than just the prohibiting of non company personnel to come aboard. The winds were dying down but the few flags above the bridge were moving steadily. This early mid-January morning had the storm moving to the east and nothing but clear skies were seen to the west.

Juntha II was not moving at all, the ship had settled precisely on these coordinates for 2 days ago. Advanced maneuvering thrusters had prevented drift of more than a yard over the last 25 hours. Presently there were seven men below the surface as well as three large unmanned lifter subs. They were all involved in extracting a certain type of ore that had fallen thousands of years ago in the form of a meteorite. It was this ore that fueled some of the prime technology that powered the new Pax Concordat and it was now a race for this material. The U.S. government had recently developed a high demand for Crynadium as well. Since there was less than 10 tons of the material on the planet acquiring all he could was top priority right now. The team aboard Juntha II was bound and determined to prevent the loss of any more of the material to competitors.

One of the seven men, Lance, was down there today simply to act in a defensive matter should things go awry. As head of the Combat department, Lance was accustomed to conflict and tension. He was not however, accustomed to silence and inactivity which he was getting in spades today. Over 300 feet below the water’s surface and encased in a thin Gortex suit, he stood nearby the matter converter that used an encased beam of energy to extricate the material in such high demand.

“Where do we stand up top? Anything on the scope yet?” Lance asked in a slightly tired sounding monotone. He secretly hoped for an invasion, a missile attack or something to break up the monotony. Having been a company man for over 100 years now led to more self-discipline than he was displaying.

“Threat level zero in all quadrants.” A computerized voice replied without further comment.

The rest of the retrieval exercise went without incident and in a total of 4 hours the men were entering together into a luxurious meeting room around a table set for 18 chairs. The ‘captain’; of the ship was already in the room awaiting them along with the android Eve, the Prime Keeper of the ship.

“Asche, for the love of all that is good, tell me the next retrieval is in Fort Knox and we need to break in without nothing more than a few light hand tools.” Lance was the first to speak in an almost patronizing tone and a stern unsatisfied look on his face.

Asche stood almost a head shorter than Lance and was nowhere nearly as muscular as the black monster that was Lance, but the pair had a deep history between them. Asche’s cloud grey eyes simply made contact with each of the seven men as if he was measuring their moods. The captain was a very versed leader of men and was not intimidated by much.

“You know better than anyone on this ship that if we must, we will run an assault into the world governments to get the materials we need. Fortunately for everyone involved we will not be needing to do that anytime soon.”

Asche spoke with a controlled and firm tone.

“We still have over 30 percent of all the Crynadium on the planet. According to current reports, were only in competition with the US and they only have just over 4 percent. Add to that fact that we have access to all of the known sites where more can be found but offer higher difficulty in extraction; if anyone starts to mine it, were going to move in and take over. It is also serendipitous that there are no nova’s or enlightened on this earth to compete with. For now, gathering more Crynadium is a non-issue.”

Crynadium was needed to power the entire heightened tech line that Pax Con had claim over, from their plasma pistols to their scanners and communication devices. The silver oily substance was the only element Asche knew of that could act as an anchor for the primal energies he used to power some the reality breaking technology Pax Con developed under his lead. The US had no idea what it was used for but mined some it by accident in other under water expeditions, where it was refined and wasted.

Now speaking as leader and ultimate commander did not come easily to Asche, at least not to these men and women. It was not that long ago in his perception of time that he acted only as a consultant to such men. It was only after a many great catastrophes that Asche was asked to lead in the manner that he now did. The situation now however was light and did not require a heavy dose of firepower or due import; things were business as usual for the most part and the world looked like it was going to be fine tomorrow with or without the Company that these men represented. This offered Asche no small comfort and peace of mind.

Lance broke the short silence. “What then is our next course of action, are we all just s’posed to sit here and wait for the stinkin’ sky to open up and drop another paradox? You know I don’t do well with idle time.”

The rest of the seven team members looked almost nonplussed that Asche did not immediately return with the beginning details of the next mission. Instead they were greeted with a very few short seconds of silence as Asche feigned to look over a few pages of notes on the table in front of him. He made effort to make sure that the papers made noise as they moved. Then he slightly smiled and answered with words that most in this room despised.

“Honestly, there is nothing pressing at the moment and you all have earned some away time. Except for a few rotating shifts, all of you have leave. Let’s call it twelve days. Why not go out and explore this new world and see what makes it different from the last three we were on.”

There were some groans of displeasure in the seven. Most were so attuned to Company life that not having a direction to go literally meant they sat in their apartments and did nothing. Literally. Life without having to plan an assault or extraction or kidnapping or some kind of sabotage or espionage was one of the most grueling pains a lifer op had to endure. Knowing this, Asche made it sound like they were only on a furlow for 12 days; if he had told them the truth their might well be a fight.

“I am going to go ashore myself for a few days and prospect some things I detected recently. I will for the most part be in the Northwest, Seattle in specific, after a short visit to New York. Gwen will be acting in my stead until I return. Having no pending projects however, I expect that the days will be long and event-free. Why don’t you all go ashoe right now, you can make it for a great Southern California Sunset and enjoy breakfast from a real cook.”

As Asche began to stride out of the room, he said; “You all try to have some fun and actually go somewhere without carrying a weapon for a change.”

He was met with heckles and friendly threats but they all knew he meant well. All members of this current team aboard Juntha II were handpicked by Asche and all of them were familiar with his methods and his history. That meant that all were in some manner spared the death that the rest of mankind on their earth had suffered. Most here even felt somehow deeply indebted to Asche and had a deep measure of respect for what he must be enduring in being the last of his people.

It only took a few moments for Asche to be ready after he left Lances team. He walked the steel-lined hall ways and stair-wells for just under two-minutes and entered his quarters. His mind was not racing even though he knew there was a chance this was the last time he would see these people, at least for some time. It had been a long time since he had a level of uncertainty about anything. It used to make him uneasy and in the past, forced him into days of meditation and planning to try and see through the temporal wall of uncertainty that formed his doubts. He had seen this day now for several weeks and had already spent all the time he was willing in anticipations and planning. Now was time to act and see exactly where the actions of the day brought him.

Fate and Destiny were not something he or any of his men subscribed to however. They all had a confidence bred from a quiet, determined acceptance that they had done everything they could. Come be what may, if he was not ready for what came next, he would learn from this experience to be better equipped for the next time.

The energy readings he was detecting, and had been detecting for the past weeks, were odd but not entirely unknown. Asche was happy that he was able to see the energies at all; it assured him that the upcoming changes in the local cosmology were not the life ending Rend. That galaxy covering plague killed countless systems and came without warning or symptom. This time, whatever was coming, was not death causing, at least not on anywhere near the same levels.

His cabin was Spartan but functional; a bed was on the window wall. Next to it was a small desk and a chair with a computer terminal; at the end of his bed was a foot locker where some small-arms and equipment were stored beneath his most often worn light clothing. A small, one-door closet held half-dozen suits identical to the one he was wearing now and a small shower was in the corner next to the toilet.

The room was originally intended as a holding cell for prisoners and Asche declined to take one of the premier rooms for himself; he never needed to sleep anyhow and this room was more of a formality anyhow. It was simply a place he had in order to be able to say; “I’ll meet you at my quarters later,” or “Lets meet up at my room in an hour.” His free social time usually spent with Gwen in her room anyhow. She had a much nicer room.

Gwen had been with him now for over 60 years and the pair of them were largely inseparable. She had been his first terran human to be conditioned a hundred percent with what came to be called ‘Lonn-Tech’ by the Company. She had received the full suite; anti-agathics, nerve and muscle augmentation, hyper-regenerative conditioning and metafaculty training. Gwen was now still human, and she was much more than human. It was for her that Asche was here on this planet in the first place; he wanted with all of his will to give her some peace. They had been here now for 13 months now and things were indeed peaceful. If things went sour in the next 2 weeks, this planet would be a nice place for her to call home.

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Earth-31/45, 2010 AD. January 18th

Asche had dressed in his typical brown leather jacket, black button up shirt and boot cut dark-blue jeans. He carried no bags and the only sign of equipment was a slim PDA-like device in place of his watch on his left wrist. Typically covered over by a sleeve, it was often looked at for various readings as he travelled. Anything else he needed could be called from within his neck orb; a light gray glass orb with a swirl of crimson, half the size of a golf ball that hung from his neck on a platinum choker.

He waited a couple hours after the meeting and then went to Gwen in her room. Their encounter tonight was short and sweet. Nothing more than I love you and a small discussion of plans ahead with questions that Asche answered vaguely enough to avoid the facts yet convincing enough that Gwen felt she had gotten what she wanted. Gwen fell asleep in his arms but still Asche calmed her further telepathically rendering her cognitive lobe temporarily inert before moving. He carefully moved his arms away and rolled over and off the bed. Then after taking a brief moment to get dressed, he took in the sight of Gwens still beauty. He then teleported away.

The man dressed in a light brown leather jacket suddenly appeared in dark Seattle alley. After a very short telepathic scan to make sure his arrival was not witnessed, Asche began walking out of the alley. As expected, he was walking out of the delivery drive for the Seattle branch of Microdynamics. This 4 story building was a front operation for both a Pax Con safe house and emergency equipment stash, and a lab fit with a quantum spectrum array. It was this which was his goal at the moment.

He found it disturbingly comforting that even though this place was built and designed in his native earth, it was still here in an adjacent earth. At first thinking it was possible that he existed here, he had dismissed that possibility and attributed it to temporal paradox. The fact that all the security codes were changed and none of the collected data from the last several decades was gone reinforced this in his mind.

Entering the building and activating the array was the first step in discovering if the energies he detected was the Rend or simply some as of yet unseen energies in this ‘dimension.’ He only had to wait a few hours to determine conclusively. As the scanner did its thing, Asche entered a state of reflection and near meditation.

He was brought to the here and now by short burst of beeps. The sensor was done and evidence was conclusive that this time and space was free of the danger of the Rend, but there was something else. Asche ran his fingers over the computer console in rapid motions, depressing and clicking various programs into being. A rift had opened in deep space, farther out than any human technology could detect. The sensors he now activated were remote relays and probes launched months ago. As he suspected, there were several life-forms near the now closing rift.

Realizing his quarry had sensed their detection, Asche had to act swiftly. He began to contact Gwen and his team telepathically at the same moment he concluded it was already too late. His enemy had somehow followed him here and unbelievably had detected his telepathic signature upon his reaching out to his team. He shut down the mental links and hoped for the best even though there was already a presence in the room with him. Cursing his own failures he began telekinetically depressing a sequence of keys on the console he was sitting at as he turned around to face his visitor.

The draconian humanoid would have stood another hard and shoulders taller than Asche but the 8’ ceilings made the reptile stoop a little. Armed with their typical crystalline spear, it said nothing and instead leapt with all its force toward Asche. It was already too close to divert away from impacting the console so Asche quickly decided to return force for force.

Launching himself with all the strength his legs could summon and increasing his momentum psychokinetically the two bodies hit each other with tremendous force. The dragonman still had the weight and strength advantage but Asche’s impact stopped him from crushing the computer console.

Before the giant reptile could gain position to attack, Asche was on his feet. He stepped back and, noticing the computer was done doing its last job, launched himself through the wall. The fall was short and the resulting impact with the ground was avoided with PK. He stopped and looked behind him to make sure the Pultyte was following him and only started running down the alley when he saw the winged creature erupt through the hole in the wall. Asche was running for the sea with all his might but he knew he was not going to make it before another confrontation was done.

Turning a corner swiftly to avoid an energy blast from the Pultytes spear, Asche paused to call his sword Eon from his orb. And that’s the last thing Asche remembered of that world.

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Time/Date: January 18th, 2010

Location: Seattle

For all he knew, it was implanted somehow in the energies of his orb. As soon as he tried to activate it, his old enemy had gotten the upper hand. Asche was probably supposed to be transported to some holding cell or some such, but his own temporal/spatial anchor to earth sent him somewhere else.

*Gwen..*

*Lance.*

*Victor.*

*Eve.*

He sent telepathically after reaching out passively to see if the Pultytes were near. No answer.

Asche pulled up his sleeve and tapped a few times on a sequence of buttons on his Cistron (wrist-comp). There was no sign of MoonDark or Juntha II.

With a deep sigh, Asche hoped the Pultytes left that innocent planet and that his last message was received by his team. If it did, they would rendezvous later on another world.

Now Asche just had to acquire the raw materials and facilities to build the technologies needed for world hopping. Using his powers were not an option right now until he was sure this earth was far enough away from his enemies searching eyes.

Looking around, Asche found himself still in Seattle at sunrise. He was in the same spot he was transported from minus the chase. He now started to look around for a news paper or Op terminal to find out exactly where/when he might be.

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Time/Date: January 18th, 2010, 5:30 am

Location: Seattle

Continuing his walk toward the shore, this time at a more leisurely pace, Asche found himself on Union street. He could finally see the coast ahead of him some four or five blocks away. At 5:30 in the morning though, not much was going to be open so he ventured for the strongest coffee smell he could track. Caffe Ladro answered the call and when he entered the shop he was made aware that this planet indeed had nova’s on it. A news paper dated this morning had a second headline talking about “new discoveries” in the death of Jennifer Landers. Asche wasn’t bothered so much by the fact that her death had been averted in his world but by the simple fact that people couldn’t simply let the dead die.

“I’ll have a Hammerhead please.” Asche spoke to the barista with a slight Russian accent. The choice of drink seemed appropriate for this early morning; who at this hour could not use a quad shot of espresso mixed with a bit of caramel, chocolate and steamed milk?

The young man behind the counter stepped back silently and without confirmation of the request and began preparing Asche’s drink. Asche had a moment to glance over a pass a gentle smile to the only other person in the small shop. The man was apparently a dock worker, judging by his uniform, and was staring at Asche as if he had never seen someone that tall.

A few moments passed and the barista finally delivered the coffee and stood with a vacant stare in front of the cash register without a word. Asche reached out and tasted the work of the young man and then returned the stare silently.

“Sir, how will you be paying for that?”

“Credit, I hope. Try this one.”

Asche passed him his only card. This was a test to see if the accounts from his parallel world lined up here. After a second third swipe with no smart remarks, Asche pulled a ten dollar bill out and placed it on the counter.

“Cut that card for me; that account is closed, and keep the change.”

Asche then sat down in a corner of the shop at a small table and began to peruse the local papers. Deciding where his next destination might be to make some money might be easier than he though in world full of novas.

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Spending the short time in the coffee shop allowed Asche to synch his wrist comp to this worlds Op net. According to some of the sites he hacked and some public registries, there were more novas on this world than he had expected but not as many as home world. Many of the novas he and his company had "re-educated" were out there unchanged. It was oddly sad to have all that work undone after all that was sacrificed.

He opted for acceptance and decided he would follow the path of least resistance in this instance. He needed some fast cash, several thousand dollars to start but ultimately much more would be needed.

He logged into a public ad site. There he posted..

TELEPORTER FOR HIRE. No distance too large. When you need the package delivered safe and expediantly, call 981-987612-44. Will transport security personel for package safety if required.

He already had hacked himself an op-phone so now all he had to do was wait for it to ring.

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Time/Date: January 19th, 2010,

Location: Seattle - then Las Vegas

It had taken longer than he had expected to get his first message regarding his teleporter service, but get messages he did. The first few, and several after were mere jokes and people saying they were late for various appointments. What Asche was looking for was the more serious privacy minded individuals. Instantaneous travel was great, but the discretion it offered was what most people liked. His first paying customer was just that.

Mr. Jones, as he wanted to be called, wanted to be in a part of the state he was not supposed to be in due to a restraining order. Being recently paroled for grand theft and serving 12 of his 15 years, Mr. Jones simply wanted to re-acquire the items which were rightly his. He was willing to pay $20,000 so Ashche really did not concern himself with the trivialization of this job. Who really cared if he got some priceless heirloom and put it back in his basement? It paid cash money and that was important right now.

"I need you to understand that I want you to refer me to your gray contacts, those that dont really follow the letter of the law. I expect that your word ought to carry some weight being your not so distant past. If I dont at least hear a referral coming back from me helping you out like this in 2 weeks, I will place you in a spot where you will surely be arrested."

Asche spoke with as much sincerity and meaning without resulting to mind influencing effects as he could.

"Absolutely, eh, Asche is it? Can I refer the same number?

Asche agreed and a short 30 minutes later, Mr. Jones was sitting in his living room enjoying his spoils. Before he could say anything, Asche vanished form his sight and reappeared in Las Vegas. He was now going to work on turning his $20,000 into many times that, assuming there were not counter measures in place on this planet against nova intelligence.

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Time/Date:7:30PM January 19th, 2010,

Location:Las Vegas

Asche was not typically the type of person to go about things this way but his ultimate goal in the not so short term was to garner the attention of some ne'er do wells. Having the attention of some contact to the criminal underworld would expose Asche to people that ultimately could be stripped of their wealth and influence with no pangs of conscience. Things would be mush easier, he thought, if only the application of his powers was hard and fast, but that was far to easy and unbalancing in the scheme of things. At least in his mind.

So he appeared in a service entrance near the MGM, a spot he had long spied out in an alternate earth that had little to zero regular passer-byes. As usual, there was no one there but Asche took the regular precautions to assure he could not be recognized very easy.

Click to reveal..
Mr. Nobody, Almost Live.

He walked down the alley way onto the service driveway on then further onto Las Vegas Boulevard. The strip was busy this time of night, even for a Tuesday. Most were walking and crowding the sidewalks avoiding but there were those travelling in taxi's and cabs, Asche even spied a Nova landing on the Strip about a mile north of his location. He must be here for a show since gambling was illegal for novas in most public casinos. Asche simply loitered near a fountain and watched people passing by. Some made eye contact but most were inebriated enough not to care or distracted by the crowds and other sights. ASche planned on hanging out here and walking to the next block and about to see where might the best place to start his 'attack.'

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Asche walked past half a dozen 'ladies of the evening', some of which were most definitely not ladies in any sense of the word although one was dressed like it. The were criminals of course, but of the kind just trying to survive in a world they couldn't catch a break in. These were the ones that couldn't get a job as an escort or work in one of the legal brothels outside the city. Nothing in any of them merited more than the barest fraction of Asche's attention. As he walked past closed to the next intersection he couldn't help but notice a limo pulled up to the curb. With his enhanced senses he could hear the yelling from within. "Bitch you better get your young ass out there and earn me some money, I don't care if you are 13 or 23. I took you in and fed you when you were starving and this is how you repay me? Trying to run away? You can't escape your debt, my people will find your ass and if I have to chase you down again, I'll give you to them as a plaything. You got it?" That was followed by a sob and a barely audible "Yeah." "What was that whore, I didn't hear you?" Louder, but in a cracking voice, "Yes. I won't run again, please, I can get you your money. Let me try again...." followed by more sobs.

The door opened and the girl almost fled the car, but not before the big man in the back seat slapped her hard on back of the head causing her to almost stumble into Asche. She was maybe 14, maybe, but dressed like a Catholic school girl with a little red backpack and an invader Zim doll poking it's head out of one of the zipper pockets. She sobbed one more time then straightened and poked her chest out and gave Asche a tentative smile. "Uh hi. Sorry."

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Of all the crimes and under handedness Asche could have witnessed, he no tolerance for mistreatment of women and children. This kid was both and obviously stepped into something bad in her life and was stuck. As she bumped stumbled into him he made sure to carefully grasp her and give a dirty stare to the big man.

"Hey, it's ok little one."

Coming from Asche's 6'10 frame it might have sounded silly from any one else. Asche however did his best to make himself sound comforting. This disarmed the little girl a moment and she looked up at him with such a sadness in her eyes that almost made Asche linger with his grasp on her. He had seen too many child abductions, rape, and senseless exploitation to last several lifetimes.

The 'barely' teen said nothing but quickly looked away from Asche and started to walk away. She was probably on her way to her favorite 'corner' wishing she was anywhere else but here. Asche took her scent and then took a discrete look back the way of the limo. He shifted his vision to pierce through the tint of the windows to get a good look at the other occupants.

The pimp (Asche hated that word) was what appeared to be some mix of native american and Caucasian with his slicked back ponytail and sunglasses. The muscle was a mitoid or took way too much steroids and had a fake n' bake tan; his nearly orange skin seemed to barely cover his muscles and seemed like it might rip off his arms and his neck.

"Typical," Asche thought to himself, "Not even a respectable enough man to have a woman with him NOT on the clock."

He made sure that if the men were looking his way, to make eye contact as if to say, "I'm watching you" and then he stood where he was a moment to see if they would drive off or follow the girl.

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Ponytail just sneered at the big man confident in the window tenting of the car to shield him from the man's eyes. "Next stop Joe. Need to see a bitch about some money."

The driver apparently knew where to go because the car began to drive off without the chauffeur asking any questions. Ponytail seemed to be already thinking ahead to the next collection.

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Asche wished he had full satelite survewyance online; it would make tracking the car that much more mundane. Instead he put into action the first thing today to make ponytails day a little worse for wear. Reaching out telekinetically, Asche applied just enough pressure to the right rear tire of the limo to make it blow. That would make them a little later to their next stop.

Asche turned around and began to track the young girl who departed the vehicle earlier. It wasn't hard to do, but Asche had formulated in his head that he didn't want to come across as another John. So he kept his distance.

She walked a few blocks and then waited impatiently near one of the escalators coming down from Caesars. It looked like she was waiting for someone. Asche decided that after about 5 minutes she was npt looking for someone in particular but rather a type of person. Her eager flirtatious glances were inappropriately effective on most. Asche made sure to approach from her blind side.

She was standing about five paces from a stone bench so he approached and sat there a moment. When she caught sight of him she tensed a little but then lightened up.

"Your from the limo accident I had earlier right?"

Her voice reminded him of his own daughters. So innocent. She was forced to grow up in this city of all places. Maybe she was a runaway, maybe she was sold into this life. Either way her life was about to change.

"Yes. My name is Asche. What is your name?

Click to reveal..
first impression activated. Asche is trying hard to have a fatherly trust in her rather than just another pervert.

He makes eye contact with her when he talks, trying to inspire confidence she is now safe.

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The little girl spoke, but hesitantly. She seemed to trust Asche form some reason, but was more afraid of being seen, which was made apparent by her quick look toward the street.

"My name is is Sophia."

She placed her hands to her side for a moment then began nervously pulling on her white sweater.

"I shouldn't be talking to you like this, not.."

Asche cut her off as he stood up and showed her his wallet.

"Just pretend that I am a normal customer. I know what you do but I would like to talk to you about some other things. I'll pay you three times normal but I just ask that you hear me out."

Sophia seemed to panic a bit as she now clutched her pack to her chest. A small sparkle of hope in her eyes said 'could this be for real?'

He placed one hand on her shoulder tenderly. "Come on. If you don't like what I have to say you can at least get some rest and a good meal."

Click to reveal..
Asche is simply trying not be viewed as a customer and rather to inspire trust and hope.Charisma5d10.hitsopen(7,10)=1

Mega Charisma 3d10.hits(7)=2Total Mega=4 successes.

5 successes total.

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The girl's eyes lit up, "Umm, ok, sure." She still wasn't entirely sure what the big man wanted, but he said he was paying triple just to ask some questions and that would be great. This means I don't have to let anyone else do anything to me tonight...

"What do you want to know?"

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Asche turned and glanced around to see that he didn't have anymore than the usual attention from passerbys. Then he lifted his hand from her shoulder.

"Listen." he said calmly, and took a step back.

*Do not be afraid. I am talking to you mind to mind. Only you can hear me. I want you to go inside and go into a restroom and enter a stall in about 10 minutes. I am going to teleport you to me, or move you instantaneously from the bathroom stall to a private place you and I can really talk. A place where you will be safe for awhile. If that sounds ok, tell me "meet me upstairs" and I will answer any questions then. Please dont ask any now as we might be being watched.*

She looked a little surprised and a slight grin began to cross her face. She nervously looked around but quickly said, "Meet me upstairs."

Sophia then went back to her post for a few moments. Asche turned and walked up the escalator into Caesars to the front desk and asked for a suite with 2 rooms. He paid cash for it and headed upstairs.

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Sophia was confused but excited. She wanted to believe this Nova wanted to rescue her. He's a real live nova!!! But she was also afraid... what if he didn't want to rescue her but to use her just like all the other guys and women. On the way to the stall she decided. Even if he did want to use her, it had to be better with a nova than with any of the guys she had been with, or that horrible woman. Maybe she would even enjoy herself this time.

She looked at the doll in her backpack, "I hope it's a rescue though."

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Asche stood in his room quietly for a few minutes looking out of the window from the 16th floor. From that vantage point he looked down on the people walking the Strip and heading to the pool just below him. There were so many evils in this world that people looked over. Most people simply assumed they weren't real until they happened to them. He yearned to improve the world but he was only one man and human nature was selfish and self-destructive. All he could do was give some temporary hope to a few people and then take hope himself that they would lead productive lives. Now the object of his help was this young woman of a few too little years.

Sophia had arrived at the stall a few moments ago and wondered if she should sit down. What if she appeared in the sitting position and fell 'that would be embarrassing', she thought. So instead she stood in front of the toilet about where her feet would be if she was really sitting down. Sophie was really conscious what other people thought and would hate for anyone to think she was not doing what she was supposed to do in here. She stood for about thirty seconds and began to wonder if anything was going to happen when her vision finally shifted from the wall of the stall to the reflection of herself in a mirror.

"Welcome back to your life Sophia. I hope things improve for you from here on out."

His voice was familiar. It had to be the same man from down on the street. She turned to face the voice and saw the man named Asche sitting down a few paces away from her. A table had been arranged with some various fruit, a few cola varieties, milk, water, and a bowl of peanuts.

Wow. I guess he wanted to feed me healthily before we did anything. Sophie thought.I am kinda hungry anyhow.

"Uh, thanks. I think."

Sophie hesitantly sat down across the small table from Asche. She sat without moving a minute and only quivered a moment. Across the table, the man was looking over her carefully, but she didn't get the 'hungry' look she got from most of her customers.

"How long does he usually go before he makes you take more shots?"

Asche let the question sink in. He was able to see various needle marks, carefully hidden in the crease of her arm, between her toes, and some even behind her ear.

"I can see the traces of the drug in you. It's OK, I am assuming that is how he motivates you and your not doing what your doing willingly. I can help you so you do not need it any longer too."

Asche spoke again as he did on the street, with as much deep concern he would have for his own daughter. He was careful however not to sound accusing of her.

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Sophia froze like a deer in the headlights. He knows!

She had been told if anyone ever found out she would go to prison for being a drug user. She knew that wasn't really true, but it still scared her. She did her best not to even think of it herself except when she started getting the cravings. She was terrified of what this man might do to her, but then the full import of his words sank in. Did he just offer to fix her? He was a nova, he might be able to do that!

"You can fix me? Make me like I was?"

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Perhaps even better than you were, some day. Asche thought to himself and wondered what the potential of the terrans on this planet was compared to his most recent home.

"Sophia, I can help you, fix you, but it has to be something you really want. I am not here to judge or condemn you, it is not my place."

Asche stood up and took a few paces away to glance out the window.

"I will tell you however that I cannot standby and see someone your age or in your position and believe that you are in your spot in life out of pure choice. You may have made a bad decision, or a series of bad decisions to get here. If this is not where you want to be, I can facilitate a change."

Asche turned back around and walked to the couch about ten feet away from Sophia while he was talking. He opened up his billfold and pulled out a wad of cash. After folding it in his hands he placed it on the coffee table.

"Before you can change for the best though my dear, you need to acknowledge if this was a mistaken decision of yours or if you chose to be here. Either way, realization may hurt. If you cannot bring yourself to talk about it first, here is your money as promised."

Sophie sat at the breakfast table and stared at the man wondering if she made a bad decision coming up here.This seems too good to be true. But does he just want me to tell him how I got here? DO I need to tell him everything?

She nervously cleared her throat.

"Um. I.. Well. It all happened so fast actually, but what do you want to know? Does anyone really choose to be slapped around and screwed over? I sure didnt."

A tear almost formed in her eye as she seemed to gather her demeanor.

"I am not looking for a confession at all Sophia. I am just looking to see that after I help you, you are not going to return to this life-style or make bad decisions that will end up in the same manner. DO you really want my help, my interference?"

Click to reveal..
Asche is still doing his best to keep her calm and to not make her blow up and leave the room.
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"Yeah, I want to change!" She sobbed just a little but controlled it quickly. "I just don't have any place to go. Even if you can somehow get them to leave me alone and let me go..." Then she did break down. "My parents..." sob, "car crash..." sob, "no where to go..." And that was as much as she could get out. It had been weeks since she had felt safe and this offer of help was just too good to be believed, and besides even if he meant it, it wasn't like a complete stranger would take her in. That money would only last her a couple weeks even if she didn't have to give it away to Larry and the other goons.

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Asche had briefly ran this option over in his mind, that she was an orphan. He had hoped otherwise; it would have been easier to orchestrate a reuniting than what was now presented.

"Sophia, I am terribly sorry, and no words can really comfort you."

He stood up and held his arms open as he walked her way. The hug he passed was purely innocent, one you might see between two friends. It took a moment but the orphan returned the hug once it felt genuine.

He then let her go and picked the money back up.

"You won't be needing this then, not right now. What's mine is yours little one. But let me ask you one more question; short of killing your bosses what would you like to do; teach them a lesson or simply never see them again?"

Asche sat on the couch again but leaned forward with his hands on his knees. He looked ready to do whatever she asked.

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Her tears dried up pretty fast as she realized what had been said, "You... you would let me stay with you? For realz?" She beamed at Asche's nod of agreement and her smile was one to light up a room.

To his questions she didn't respond for a minute and gave it some serious thought. Asche was like the genie in the bottle, he was a nova and she didn't question that he could give her revenge against them if she asked it. "Umm, Larry is a real bastard, he... he did things to me, sick things. He deserves anything you do to him. The rest are just bad guys doing bad things and they should be stopped, but I don't care what happens to them as long as I never have to see any of them again. There was one though, Pauly, he was nice to me and fed me sometimes without asking anything in return and he never hit me."

Sophia thought just a minute longer then added, "I guess they should all be stopped though, you know, so they don't do what they did to me to anyone else. Except for Larry, I don't care if they are punished, but if they can be stopped then they should be."

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"You will be with me, but for a few more weeks, maybe a month depending on how some variables go, you will need to lay low and not be seen. DO you have any family, cousins, aunts or uncles, that you are fond of? At least for a little while I would like you to be with something familiar while I set some things up."

Asche hoped she could be sent with some family and he could check in on her form time to time. He was considering ways to bring Larry to justice and most of what he thought of involved him no longer breathing. But death never teaches the victim anything and Asche was essentially a teacher, dead men can not learn anything. It would be easy, or rather, simple to extract the gangs ID's from Sophias mind but if the Pultytes were here in this reality looking for Asche, they would pick up such a high level of telepathic activity once Asche began to track and manipulate them. Whatever was to be done needed to be done face to face.

"But don't worry, I am not going to dump you somewhere you are not comfortable. Just understand Sophia, you would be better off in the long run with direct family. If you ended up staying permanently with them, I would still check in now and then."

Asche paused and let that fall on her ears. It seemed to deflate her a little so again he added; "Don't stress about it though. I am not going to take you somewhere you are not welcome or that you do not want to go."

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He could tell she was starting to tense up as he spoke but relaxed with his last promise. "I really don't have any family, if I did I would have gone to them after the accident. The state tried to put me in a girls home, but the other girls were really mean and I thought I'd be better on my own. I guess I was wrong. It really was worse on the streets. I used to have friends in school, well one or two, but their parents wouldn't take me in. And now, I couldn't go back and face them after everything."

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This keeps getting more complicated and I refuse to have my hand forced.

"Sophia, you are safe with me then. For as long as you will. Like I said though, There will be a time ahead in the next few days or weeks that I might need to leave you for as much as a day at a time."

He smiled at noticing her relax a little more.

"I am not going to hurt you. First thing really is for you to take the night off. Order whatever you want from room service and relax. Your life is forever changed from this second on."

Sophia was beside herself, at least in her mind. This is just getting better every minute. Someone pinch me and wake me up.

She let out a noticeable sigh of releif.

"OK. I won't have a problem with that, but..." She looked at the two doors leading to separate bedrooms.

Before she could suppose something, Asche interrupted.

"You take whichever bedroom you like, I don't sleep much any how."

Asche walked over to her.

"Before I leave you for a few hours though, I want to make a mental link to you. In case you need me I will be aware of it and come right away. But you have to be willing. I won't be able to read your mind without you knowing it but it will allow me to kind of hear your emotions. Does that sound OK?"

"How does it work?"

"You just concentrate on allowing me to do this and I will do the rest. It wont hurt at all but you might feel a little light headed for a second."

"Uhh. OK. Sure I guess, That might come in handy." This is kind of weird but it sounds useful in case those goons find me again.

Click to reveal..
Telepathically Asche forms a passive low level rapport with Sophia allowing him to read her surface thoughts and emotions from afar. He will take as much time as needed so a roll is moot.

A moment later and the link was made. Asche bade her farewell and promised to be back before she awoke in the morning.

He made his way downstairs and off the main Strip to a smaller casino. There he bought $5000 in chips and went to the blackjack tables. He had also made sure his op-phone was on vibrate in case someone called for a teleport.

I have done worse things for money in the past. At least this does not disturb the economy like forging several million would.

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Time/Date:1:45 AM January 20th, 2010,

Location: Las Vegas Strip

After about three hours Asche had doubled his money. He was making a pattern of wins and losses so hopefully no one would notice he was counting cards, reading body language at the poker tables, and memorizing microscopic patterns on the back of cards. No real power use here and thus no flow of quantum to detect from the not so obvious 'House Novas" running security. Their job was to find novas who were gambling unfairly. Asche ultimately did not want to hurt anybody that did not deserve it so this was a relatively safe route. The more he thought of the poor girl upstairs though the more he wanted to act and give her some closure.

Asche began to shift his perception and read for certain types of people. He began to watch behaviors and mannerisms as well as how freely money was spent at various tables. He was looking for people who fit the profile for some form of organized crime. He wandered and played various tables fishing for certain types for several more hours without a suitable target; most were low class hoods and thugs. He decided he would then go outside into the late night and keep an eye out for Larry and his goons. They might be out looking for their girls by now.

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Asche walked about 20 minutes, a total of eight blocks, until he saw some sign of the illegal flesh trade. It was hard to tell in Nevada as largely prostitution was accepted if not legal. He did not see any signs of Larry or his thugs, but he did overhear someone talking about the car trouble Larry had today. Asche walked toward the pair of women, apparently taking a break and hiding out behind a strip joint. They were quite a bit older than Sophia but surely in their 20's, both were fairly attractive but Asche could see they were already broken on the inside. Their shallow gazes and pallor betrayed an overuse of pharmaceuticals.

"Excuse me ladies. " Asche said as he caught their eyes crossing the alley.

"I was wondering if you could help me find a guy named Larry. He said I could meet him in this area and he would arrange me some pretty young things. I been looking around for him for 30 minutes and I got an itch real bad."

Asche knowing quite a bit on how the mind worked fed the girls all they needed to trigger their surface thoughts into focusing on his target for just a brief moment. Neither wanted to say anything out loud.

"Larry? I dont know no Larry." the first said.

The second followed up with a shy and empty gaze. " I dont usually ask for names anyhow, just how much money you have."

That was all Asche needed. It was like telling someone not to think about a pink elephant. He telepathically pried ever so slightly into their surface thoughts and farmed out a couple addresses and a few phone numbers. He also unfortunately noted his favorite sexual preferences, which made Asche even more dedicated to bringing this guy to justice or using him to teach a lesson to his goons. Either way, Sophia was going to rest easy.

"Ok girls, thanks anyway."

Asche walked away until he was out of sight and then ported back to Sophia. He was going to wait until about 10 am to find Larry and get him while he was sleeping. Tomorrow was going to change the lives of a few people.

He shared the plan with Sophie, who was half asleep on the couch watching the Disney channel in a bathrobe and mismatched socks. They talked another 20 minutes or so and Asche tucked her into bed then went to the balcony to watch the rest of the night pass.

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Having watched the night pass away in quiet contemplation, Asche knew exactly what he needed to do. The next steps were going to take time and until he could entrust the aid of a few novas or scan the solar system for Pultyte energy signatures he was committed to lying low. Expenditures of primal and excess uses of power was strictly prohibited. He could not risk the lives of so many on this alternate earth. Thus he now sat awaiting Sophia to waken from her sleep.

The young girl had slept relatively peacefully, only a few times did she awaken with a gasp or a start wondering where she was. It only took her a few moments for reality to settle back in. Her new life was about her now. Asche had monitored her breathing, her heart-rate, and her restlessness as she slept. His now adopted daughter needed stability and he had to admit that keeping her with him at this time was not entirely altruistic. A few months down the road she would be ready for a new transition. Meantime, they both had to look into the task at hand.

"Good morning little one." Asche said with a grin as Sophia walked out of her room. "I had the french toast you liked so much brought in for you."

They enjoyed a short chat as she stuffed her face with seconds and thirds. The teen-ager was already beginning to show signs of withdrawal from the drugs Larry had addicted her to. The slight tremors in her speach, a slight headache and shakiness in hands and feet.

"Sophia, I am going to have to give you some medicine. Only one shot I promise, but it will help you resist the effects of drugs on you in the future. I am also going to purge the drugs that are still in your system. You might end up sleeping the rest of the day, but when you awake it will all be over and your life will be yours."

Asche smiled with a slightly concerned look that showed her how much he cared.

"OK. I trust you Asche. Lets do it." She was afraid but only a little hesitant as she committed herself to Asches treatment.

He did as he mentioned, gave her a very small shot of what looked like anti-freeze into her arm. It only stung a a little. Then the pain passed as Asche reached down and held her hands. SHe felt herself get heavy and very tired. The last thing she felt was the man lifting her up and carrying her to bed. She heard her bedroom door shut and then she faded into blissful sleep.

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Asche walked downstairs and hailed a taxi to take him to to within a few blocks of the address he had acquired for Larry. He carried no weapons, no wallet and was only wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans. Put that with his black steel toe work boots and he looked nothing more than a Joe on the street, especially with working his quantum signature so as to not appear as anyone spectacularly memorable or interesting. The address of Larry committed to memory; he strolled casually down the thirty year old housing tract streets to the west of Vegas Strip. At 10 am there was not alot of traffic in this part of town and most of the houses here had at least one car in the driveway and oil stains on the second half of the driveway; A sure sign that, many homes in this area either had multiple incomes or none at all.

Larry had a long night last night that had run into nearly 5 am this morning. He was missing a girl and the cops picked up a couple more. This forced him into digging into his reserve which meant try-outs and initiation. Add to that the fact someone was asking around for him and Larry had only been sleeping a couple hours when he was awaken by the sound of wood splintering and a few thuds and thumps against the other side of his bedroom wall. He sat up and listened but it was all quiet.

“Danny?!..Eric..?!.. Pauly?!” Larry’s voice faltered a bit. At the lack of reply he rolled over and grabbed his .38 from under the mattress. The 19 year old naked woman next to him barely stirred; the drugs and booze from barely a few hours ago working their desired effect.

Larry stood up and pulled on his pants. He opened his bedroom door and peaked down the hall toward the living room where the nose had come from.

“Guys, what’s going on?!”

The nervously shaking man walked into the living room shielding his eyes from the sunlight pouring in from the missing front door. The 2 pieces of the door were still lying on top of Pauly who looked like he was dead. Danny and Eric were slumped on the floor next to the upsided couch and coffee table. Danny was bleeding from his upper arm. Part of his bone was sticking out from a compound fracture. Larry checked the safety on his pistol ensuring it would fire and walked into the kitchen where he heard the sound of silverware being moved. The last thing he remembered seeing, according to his confession, was a giant of a man holding a large butcher knife. Larry never got a shot off.

Asche had made short work of the lackeys and then lied in wait for the bossman, Larry. When he was done with him he would no longer be able to reproduce let alone get an erection. The Butcher knife ensured that. While he was unconscious Asche telepathically reprogrammed him to go to the nearest police station and confess all past crimes and connections. The detectives viewed Larry as small potatoes but some of his connections helped them fill in some of the blanks for some other cases they were working on. Larry was going to prison for a long time as was his 5 goons. Larry would have an exceptionally bad time what being a skinny guy who had to sit down to urinate. Asche viewed this as a lesson learned for the now ex-pimp/pusher.

Time/Date:February 18th, 2010,

Location:San Francisco

The last few weeks had Asche and Sophia in San Francisco area. Sophia had always wanted to see the famous city and it allowed Asche to sell some ideas off to a few smaller computer software developers. The ideas were really inventions he had made from his home earth so he watered them down a little and sold them off to the developers who had more resources than he did at the time. He was careful know never use any powers except in touching others in handshakes and shoulder pats. The touch was reinforced telepathically and eventually led to the all important meetings he needed to have so as to sell his plans. A few million dollars later (with residuals) had Asche and his charge in a penthouse looking out over Golden State Park and the Pacific Ocean.

Asche had also purchased a 16,000 sf warehouse that he had just gotten keys for. He and Sophia were looking over it and beginning to refit the building to accommodate a secure production facility for the rebirth of Lonn Medical Technologies. The residuals he was going to be getting from the security software and encryption technologies would feed the fledgling company for awhile. IN the meantime, he and Sophia laid low in San Francisco area. Asche was seeing to it that the young girl had enjoyment in her last few years of childhood.

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