Mutants & Masterminds: The Unlikely Prophets - Issue #4: "My Own Private Kryptonite"

[Charlotte]

[Charlotte]

[Charlotte]

The whole history of civilization is strewn with creeds and institutions which were invaluable at first, and deadly afterwards.

- Walter Bagehot

Jasmine looked at the hologram, then to the group. She pointed towards the house, a question on her face.

[SalmonMax]

"It looks like him," Hex said, "But...I don't think it IS him. He's too young. Like us, there's people that are like us listed here, but they're not US. Maybe his father was Blackjack...maybe he was a criminal. That doesn't mean our Jack is. We have to give him the benefit of the doubt. If he was like that, why would he be doing any of this? Bringing us together?"

She glanced at the Vault...which alone was an answer to her rhetorical question. The riches inside were worth any amount of trouble. What if he'd created them just to get it back from the Order, and deliver it into his hands?

[Necronaut]

"I think that's probably him." Norman rubbed his chin appraisingly. "And if so I don't think we should hold his criminal past against him. I mean, none of those other, er, 'villains' are with the Order now as far as I can tell. If they're still alive they might be just as mind-wiped and eager to help out as Jack." He paused. "And that goes double if they're not still alive."

"Anyway, I think we need to tell Jack about this. Maybe it will help him remember something useful from the old days. I don't..."

The Necronaut did a double take at Jasmine as if seeing her for the first time. He shifted gears so fast you could almost hear his brain's clutch burning up.

"We need to see if the Vault has any more information on Goldsmith... on what happened to the rest of the Vanguard. On The Order."

[Thomas Froit]

Glitch observed the image of Blackjack quietly. "Necronaut is right. Given the obscuring of his memories, he's not likely to fill in the gaps between remaining peak memories with a life of a super-villain. Could have affected his personality more than you think." He paused, remembering a certain question he asked the blind man during meals.

"Besides, Archon took his eyes, right? If you think about it, without context otherwise, Jack would simply assume Archon had something out for him and has chosen revenge. Besides, Spartan said he'd killed superheroes- but I don't think other super-villains have any place in the Order... most wouldn't."

"To be honest, the motherlode of technology is here. I can study their applications and research the past pretty easily, with my brain being sped up by the Song. Frankly," Glitch started rubbing his hands together with sudden satisfaction, "I have a hankering to make a real headquarters out of this town."

[Bodhie Armstrong]

Bodhie nodded at the others in agreement. She liked Blackjack although she could easily picture him as a criminal given his nature.

"I trust him, I can't say much more. He helped us and I suppose the Order is the bigger target for us.", the heavily muscled powerhouse crossed her arms over her substantial pecs.

As Glitch shared his ideas and thoughts about turning the whole place into their new HQ she smiled with some hope. "I'm in favor of that idea - I have no place to go back to, even in my current state I can hardly pass as 'normal' human... women normally peak somewhere around 17 inches. My arms are easily 20+, I guess 22 or 24. I'm huge...", she couldn't hide a certain pride in her voice but there was also much concern. It would be difficult for her to blend in with society and lead a normal live again. She had nothing, her husband held all financial power in his hands, he paid the bills... and he had Sean.

Bodhie's pride quickly vanished as she remembered her son and the familiar hatred for what her husband did to her was slowly resurfacing. "I can't go back...", she said quietly swallowing down her rage.

Originally Posted By: Necronaut

"We need to see if the Vault has any more information on Goldsmith... on what happened to the rest of the Vanguard. On The Order."

Trying to shake herself out of those dark thoughts she tried to focus on something else, "The Vanguard... are we going to be the new Vanguard? Is anyone still doubting all this and wants to back off, like Kenshin did? I think now would be the last chance..."

[SalmonMax]

"I don't know. We need to learn more. The last Vanguard was defeated. We have to know what they did wrong, or what the Order did right. I do think we have to keep fighting, but it might be best to lay low for awhile. Find a safe place to set the Vault up and get cracking on all this new information."

She nods at Bodhie. "Some of us...like me...can still go back and reconnect to our normal lives too. It's not a bad idea. The Order might be looking for a pattern of disappearances that fit our general description. And it will be good to have people 'inside.'"

With an uncomfortable look at the cabin, Hex adds, "And I think we should show Jack what we learned. We need to know how this is going to affect him. How much of this has he actually forgotten? Or was it always his plan? I can only think of one way to find out."

[Radiance]

Hikari nodded to them all. "He brought us together, he opened his home to us, and has given us good advice. Until his actions prove him anything other than the good man he's shown himself to be thus far he has my trust."

She was thinking of the Luminary, and how close she'd looked to her form as Radiance. Maybe there was something more guiding her to that form.

[Charlotte]

Jasmine signs to Gloom, who translates. ~I will be fine in here. There's so much to look through. If you want to go back to tell Jack, I think that is a good idea.~

[Thomas Froit]

Glitch bit his lip at Hex's words. "Like Bodhie, I can't go back, for the reasons you know well. At most, and I would do this anyway- get my parents out here so they can't be used against me. You may be right about laying low though. As for right now," his face beamed for an honest excitement, "there's the technology to solve our food and water issues, and far far more. I'm in tech nirvana, not to mention I want to know about the past as much as everyone else. I will stay here."

A thought occurred to him and he dug out the WID, bringing up a text notation program. Tapping out a message on the keys, he hit enter and passed it over to Jasmine.

I'm sticking around. If we need to talk, this is the way to do it, I think.

[z-Gloom]

"Someone should talk to Jack. I kinda want to see the armory, though, before I head out," Gloom said and signed. "And we need to think about those people. Anyone good at coordinating housing and supplies?"

She looked around at the gathered heroes, faintly hopeful.

[Bodhie Armstrong]

"Does 18 years being an housewife and raising a child count?", Bodhie asked smiling at Gloom.

"I can take care of that, Gloom - I have to stay here anyway and having something to do helps adjusting.", the large woman explained and quickly added, "Unless someone else feels more fit to do it?"

[Charlotte]

Those who stayed behind to look through the Vault, did so; Jasmine continued looking up old superheroes and the Vanguard, showing those present how the Vault's controls worked so they could look up what they wanted.

Those who returned to the house, found Jack telling a story to those assembled that had about half of them laughing uproariously. The half that wasn't laughing was staring at Eiko, who was happily reading a comic book in the corner.

Eiko looked to those entering. "Prophets have returned, True Believers!" he said with joy.

"Uh, what he said." Jack, now fully dressed, stood. "What'd you find? Anything that'll bust through that damn ruby film around the Order's Throne so we can shove that supervillainous jackass out into space?"

[IndyPendant]

Sharatur had wandered off after helping organizing the freed prisoners. She reappeared--literally--some time later, the particular dust lightly covering her indicating she had likely taken another trip to Ayer's Rock.

Unusually quiet and somber, she looked around for Necronaut. When she found him, she asked "Norman, can I talk with you? Privately?"

[Necronaut]

The Necronaut had elected to return to the main house to observe Jack's reaction to the discovery of his past. He didn't expect to do much of the talking. He told himself he wanted to be there because he was Jack's friend and so should be on hand for what could be a disturbing experience. But a somewhat more honest part of his mind was of a different opinion. It said he wanted to be there just to see what would happen. To see how a person might react to such a discovery. To see the human mind's response to an identity-shattering revelation...

So it was with some relief, from guilt, that he received Sharatur's request. He looked back over his shoulder as the others continued toward the main house. "Yes. Yes, what's the matter?"

[SalmonMax]

"Maybe," Hex replied to Jack cautiously. "It'll take some time to go over everything. There's...a LOT in there. The first thing we looked at was records of history. There were people like us in the world before. In fact almost exactly like us in some ways. They were constantly fighting and trying to stop other people who had powers but who used them to help themselves at the expense of everyone else."

She took a deep breath, steeling herself for the worst.

"One of these criminals...I guess the books Eikos reads would call them villains...looked a bit familiar. He called himself Blackjack, and he had powers over luck and...related things."

Hex paused only for an instant before saying, "I want you to know that no one's accusing you of anything. You've done nothing to make any of us think your motives are anything other than what you've said all along. I...we just wanted you to know what we found, and see if you understood what it meant."

[Radiance]

Hikari waited for Jack's response. She'd have waited until the others weren't around, just in case, but the die was cast. If it really was him and he explained, great, if he didn't, so be it. If by some chance it wasn't him, well some part of her doubted that was the case.

[Thomas Froit]

Meanwhile, Glitch was observing the controls, and considering something. The Vanguard, given that it sounded to be the super-heroic organization of the time, would have had to have been wiped out or defeated by the Order by the end of the Rise. The Gap, no matter how it was done, had to have covered up any of those unpleasant events... and the Gap ends at 2011.

I suppose we want to know what happened to your friends and your father when they confronted the Order. If any of what we see sparks memories, let me know.

So went his message via WID to Jasmine.

Calling up everything on world events between 2008 and 2011, Glitch went to work searching out the end of an era.

Click to reveal..

Taking 20 on Investigate and Knowledge (History)

Investigate 20+8= 28

Knowledge (History) 20+8=28

Glitch has Quickness 6 on Mental Tasks, so this goes faster than you might think.

[IndyPendant]

Sharatur smiled her relief. Brushing aside some stray hairs, she took hold of Necronaut's forearm. "Thanks, Norman" she said, teleporting the two of them outside in between the two words. "Could you--" her eyes widened as Necronaut started to fall.

Instinctively she grabbed his arm with both hands, pulled down onto one knee by his weight as Necronaut swung below her over empty air--a good hundred feet above the ground!

A moment later they were standing side by side on that ground below. "Sorry, sorry!" Sharatur exclaimed, flushing with embarrassment. "Solid surfaces are becoming rather optional for me. Forgot myself for a moment there."

"Could you summon that plane of yours?" she asked, releasing him. "I'd like to fly out to Ayer's Rock again. It's peaceful there."

[Necronaut]

The Necronaut stared down at the earth. In his old life he had never really gotten out enough to determine if he was afraid of heights. But, by now, he had decided he probably wasn't. Solid things, the ground included, held less concern for him than they once had.

"No harm done." He reassuringly as he pulled his flying yoke from his lab coat. "There's a decent chance I could survive a drop from that height. I'd just have to be sure not to hit the ground."

It crossed his mind that, for most people, that sentence would make no sense whatsoever. He was in rare company.

"I was interested in checking out the rock myself, truth be told." The ghost plane roared to un-life, suddenly occupying a plane-shaped chunk of space. Its unearthly howl was exactly the sort of noise you didn't want to issue from something you were going to sit in. "Hop in! We should be there in a minute or two."

As the engine sped up and the plane began to ascend with impossible speed he cried out casually, "Hey, did you hear? Blackjack used to be a super-villain!"

[Bodhie Armstrong]

Bodhie had assumed a position next to Hex when she realized it must've looked intimidating, as if they all had already found him guilty instead of giving him the benefit of doubt. She tried to assume a less impressive stance still worrying about how to make him feel comfortable inspite of the truth Hex had just disclosed.

Her eyes wandered to Jack's who had his' shielded behind his shades, staring passed or through them which made her feel silly for a moment. Of course he couldn't see them, he was blind and therefore it made little difference if she stood next to Hex or not, Jack wouldn't be impressed more or less by her appearance.

Bodhie was more nervous than she had been during the fight versus the Gorgons - she liked Jack and didn't want things to get more complicated than they already were. Trust was such a difficult matter now and honestly, she'd have trouble fighting him should he turn out to be the one "Blackjack" in question...

If he remembered... what then? Would he return to be his old self? And even if he did, how could they tell if he was playing a charade or not?

The large woman shook her head dizzy from the questions that assaulted her.

[Charlotte]

"A supervillain."

Jack's face was still for a long moment, then he laughed. "Buuuuuuuuuullshiiiiit. You're just fucking with the old man. Very funny." He paused. "You all aren't laughing, though."

"Oh God, you're with the Order," said Matthew in a small voice.

"What? No! Fuck no, I'm not - "

"Jesus, we're going to die, they took us out to die - "

"No one's gonna die! No one! This is just a misundersta - "

Panic spread amongst the refugees like fire across a pool of gasoline. After a few seconds of din, Jack smacked his cane on the ground, silencing the voices.

"QUIET."

He pointed his cane in the general direction of Hex.

"Take me to this damn thing, now."

* * *

Back at the Vault, Gloom and Glitch had conducted some preliminary research.

Gloom had found the weaponry designs - all non-lethal technology, and sadly, much of it difficult to mass-produce, either requiring rare materials, rare fuels, or intensive training to use properly. Still, she did find a database compiled by an Elizabeth Laura Driche, entitled "Supernormal Commonalities: Common Techniques for Controlling and Mastering Extranormal Abilities." As for the weapons, given time, she could probably manufacture any of the non-lethal devices the Goldsmith had. But it seemed the bulk of the space in the Vault had gone to history and to more socially inclined technology.

Glitch quickly compiled an extensive list of events relevant to the superhuman community. Some of it made no sense without research further back, but much of it did.

Click to reveal..

2008: After the worldwide devastation of The Reckoning, a split appears in the Vanguard. Magnum Opus wants the Vanguard to exert more control in the chaotic, war-torn regions of the globe and is supported by the Knight Watchman; the Goldsmith, Luminary and Elizabeth Eldritch are hesitant to exceed what they feel is their mandate. Magnum Opus leaves the Vanguard rather than split it; the Knight Watchman stays.

Magnum Opus succeeds in stabilizing Iceland, which suffered particularly badly; however, her actions also cause ripples in the international community when they see exactly how powerful she is and how quickly she is able to affect Icelandic society. Public opinion, both amongst the general populace and in the superhero community, is split over Magnum Opus' actions.

Throughout the year, the situation deteriorates. Icelandic society becomes dependant on Magnum Opus, as the Goldsmith and Eldritch feared; but all the same, no one can fault the good she's done. The breaking point occurs when she comments, offhandedly in an interview, that the superheroes "should have done this a long time ago." She is quick to clarify that she meant "long time ago" to mean "just after the conclusion of The Reckoning" – but the damage is done.

Others take the lead of Magnum Opus, and one of them – a lesser-known superhero known as the Desert Wind – decides it's time to return to the land of his birth and give the people of Palestine a independent state. Conflict emerges between Desert Wind and Israel's resident superheroes, the Final Promise. U.S. President John Edwards condemns the actions of Desert Wind, and the head of A.E.G.I.S., under strong international pressure, lays down the law with the Vanguard: if they want to retain their legal status, they will tell A.E.G.I.S. everything they know about any superhero who's left Vanguard to emulate Magnum Opus, and that include Magnum Opus.

The remaining heads of the Vanguard debate this furiously for days. The Goldsmith wants them to take the long view – Vanguard has the potential to do uncalculated good in the long term. The Luminary praises Magnum Opus and her creative solutions to the problems of the Icelandic people. Knight Watchman refuses to turn his back on his friend "any further than I already have." Eldritch is neutral for most of the debate, her mind more focused on her research; in the end they put the vote to the Vanguard's members, who now total over three dozen. The vote is close, but it favors disbanding the Vanguard rather than giving up information on former members.

A.E.G.I.S. makes its move against Magnum Opus, who refuses to leave Iceland until she's managed to rebuild the bureaucracy needed to oversee the elections. A.E.G.I.S. reveals for the first time that it has captured some of the advanced hyper-technology used by the unknown invaders of The Reckoning, and they attempt to take out Magnum Opus. The battle last half an hour, and Magnum Opus appears to have the upper hand throughout all of it – until a mob of people throw themselves in front of her like a human shield, and a stray shot from one of the Reckoning weapons kills sixty people in a single second.

No one knows what went through her mind next. Perhaps she had snapped; perhaps she felt guilty over the deaths. But in the space of the next minute, the entire A.E.G.I.S. Battalion that had come to detain her was immobilized, the Reckoning weaponry smashed beyond repair, and Magnum Opus flew up into the stratosphere and turned her powers on herself, committing suicide.

The repercussions were immense. The Goldsmith and the Knight Watchman were seen battling in Seattle. Elizabeth Eldritch disappeared from public view, and no one knew where she went. There was a brief attempt to reform the Vanguard that went nowhere.

2009-2010: Dark days. With the Vanguard officially disbanded, other groups step in to fill the void – but without the Vanguard's experience and "soft power" they are ill-prepared for the re-emergence of Mister Zero, as Zero brings a ten year plan to fruition, masterminding a global conspiracy to insert copies of himself into every high office around the world, and attempting to exterminate all resistance to his reign using A.E.G.I.S. His plan is only stopped when the new Magnum Opus persuades the Goldsmith, Elizabeth Eldritch, and the Knight Watchman to mend their fences and rally the superhero community.

Mister Zero's duplicates are tracked down and Eldritch forces the Prime Zero to reintegrate his duplicates. A.E.G.I.S. Is suspended by its member nations until its house is put in order. The Vanguard officially re-forms, but the Luminary takes over for Elizabeth Eldritch as its chairperson. Eldritch returns to seclusion.

The Vanguard, along with its worldwide allies in the Union, A.E.G.I.S., and the Most High Super Team, start to rebuild and reunify. Many new superhumans are recruited. The Global League of Crime's "head bosses" are finally outted and arrested, and the GLC is crippled.

2011: Things are quiet up until mid-February, when Elizabeth Eldritch emerges from seclusion. She doesn't grant interviews, and has met several times with the current roster of the Vanguard. Rumors of the discussion talk about Eldritch's insistence that a "new age" of understanding is dawning, and that she has finally cracked, or is about to crack, the most persistent and difficult unknown of the Age of Superheroes – where do superhuman abilities come from?

The Goldsmith says that this is what has spurred him to create the Vault. He wanted to create a time capsule of what it was like to live at the dawn of the era of superheroes, and he also wants a safe place for his inventions and history to survive should the human race come as close to extinction as it did during The Reckoning. He states that his creativity has taken exponential leaps and bounds of late – to a point that it almost scares him.

Last Entry: September 2011. The Goldsmith states that he is sealing the Vault in RUBY-9 – one of his most recent inventions – until "a high level security breach can be isolated."

Official History of the Order, Late December, 2011: Gap ends; people remember devastated cities, Order in charge and throwing its weight around. Some nations rebel; they learn not to do that. Over the course of 2012, order is slowly restored to much of the world.

At this point, Blackjack and those who'd accompanied him back to the Vault walked in the door. Blackjack's face was bent in an angry snarl.

"Right. Show me it. And don't play dumb, you know what I'm talking about."

[SalmonMax]

(hee...didn't know the ex-prisoners were listening in...oops)

Hex nods, face grave. "Do it. Show him." Then she looked at Blackjack.

"Jack, what you hear here doesn't change who you are. Who you choose to be."

[Bodhie Armstrong]

"Hex is right, it's what you do that defines you - no one remembers what happened and I was too young to recall anything that makes sense.", Bodhie sympathized with Jack and even though some of her thoughts were still circling around him being a possible threat or danger she hoped she was wrong.

"You chose to help us, things have changed and I can't even tell if I understand half of this. I'm not even sure if we're the good or the bad guys...", it was truly how she felt like although she refused to believe what they did was wrong.

[Thomas Froit]

Glitch stared at Jack's fearsome glare and nodded somberly. "One sec." he announced while switching back from the history he was reading intently to the Blackjack link. "Nothing we can do about the image of the Blackjack referenced here, since you're blind. Text to speech on...."

And he gulped and set the information track playing.

[IndyPendant]

"Blackjack isn't a supervillain" Sharatur said with conviction. "I'm not entirely sure what he is, but he's not that. You're interested in the Rock? Well, I've already spent quite a lot of time exploring it!" Given a safe topic to talk about, Sharatur seized on it, talking animatedly for a while about the history of Ayers Rock she had researched, and guiding Necronaut on a brief, impromptu tour of the place. The tour and history were both excellent, touching upon key points and the most interesting spots, delivered with almost unconscious professional skill. She had, after all, had a lot of experience at it, and the subject matter was related to her area of expertise.

After a short while, Sharatur had Necronaut stop at one edge and put his plane away. "This is my favourite spot" she said softly into the silence and solitude. She walked to the edge of the rock and sat down, legs dangling hundreds of meters above the ground, and gazed outward. "Such a grand view."

When Necronaut joined her, she was silent for a while, repeatedly starting to speak, then stopping awkwardly. Finally, she said "I've had to adjust to so much since this whole thing began. I actually believed the Order's lies, did I tell you that? Swallowed them, hook line and sinker." She chuckled, but there was a dash of pain in the sound. "And now I'm forgetting sometimes to stand on solid ground. Forgetting! Doesn't take long, does it?"

She paused a long, long time, gazing outward again, but this time not seeing the view at all. "I killed a man today" she said softly.

[z-Gloom]

Gloom stepped out of the room that housed the weapon plans, privately relieved that none of the weapons were constructed. She paused, crossing her all four of her arms awkwardly. After a moment, before the reading started, the somber woman stepped forward and gripped Jack on the shoulder with a strong hand. "We both know," she hissed into his ear, "that what you were isn't as important as who you are."

That was Gloom's version of sympathy. Having said it, she slipped back, to the back of the group.

[Necronaut]

"Well, he's not from our point of view anyway. I figure we're all super-villains as far as the Order is concerned. Maybe he was just ahead of his time..."

The Necronaut was easily swayed to other topics. He didn't seem overly concerned about the implications of Jack's history. He did, however, seem oddly well informed on the generalities of Australian geology and archaeology. While no expert, he evidenced interest rather than surprise throughout the tour, nodding with appreciative recognition when Sharatur covered the especially 'cool' points. He was particularly interested in the relevance of the place to the beliefs of the native people.

At the viewing spot he sat next to Sharatur and took in the view appreciatively, but with the same detachment as he had the rest of the tour, and most of the adventures to date for that matter. He might have been sitting at home watching the TV for all his expression told.

"I didn't think of the order all that much. I didn't like them, of course. I knew they were bad because..." He trailed off, refusing to let that part of his mind get in touch with his voice "Anyway, it didn't matter because I couldn't do anything about it. But now I can, so I need to change my perspective a little. That's life, isn't it? Like your mobility, right? Our minds need to move quickly to keep pace with changing conditions, putting the old to rest and taking up the new. The you who woke up this morning is not the you who went to sleep last night."

He remained silent for a few moments after Sharatur uttered her confession. "Why?" The question held neither sympathy nor accusation. In tone it sat somewhere between a philosophical rumination and a follow up question from a doctor at checkup time. He added a second later, "Who?". The second question held a note of concern, giving the impression that his emotions hadn't quite arrived when the first was leaving the station.

[IndyPendant]

Sharatur was jolted out of her reverie. "Who?" she asked, starting at Necronaut in surprise. "Spartan! Oh, we were all fighting him, but I'm the one that actually killed him."

She paused licking her lips. "But that's not what really bothers me" she forced out, her voice rough. "I didn't care, Norman. I had just killed a man, and all I felt was satisfaction. I still can't get myself to feel bad about it. I think maybe those stone minotaurs were alive, and I feel much worse about that than I do about Spartan!" She gazed down at her hands. "With these abil--powers I have, we all have...that terrifies me."

[Necronaut]

"Oh, oh. That." The Necronaut relaxed visibly at Sharatur's clarification. "I was afraid you'd really, you know, taken someone's life. I saw what was left behind when the Spartan's body was killed. If he can die at all, I'm afraid it will take more than steel to make it happen."

He was just about to try and put her mind at ease with a few more logical points. To dismiss her concerns would be easy. She hadn't really killed anyone, and if she had it would've been quite justified and he'd fallen on his own sword anyway. But his brain stopped him before he opened his mouth. Something told him that was not the right course to take. He sat in silence for a few moments. When he finally spoke it was with care.

"If you could kill with impunity you would be what Spartan is. It is that inhumanity which leaves us such little recourse with him. We have no obligation to regret the demise of such an enemy... but that you are aware of the magnitude of it shows that you are far from being like him. Never let that go, and you'll be all right."

He kept his eyes on Sharatur as he finished speaking. He thought what he had said was reasonable, he believed it was true, but more than anything he hoped it was what his friend needed to hear.

[Charlotte]

Jack listened quietly to the synthesized voice as it recounted Blackjack's abilities and crimes. When it mentioned kidnapping, Jack twisted his cane in his hands.

"Don't say murder," he muttered softly. The machine, mercifully, did not.

When he was done, Jack was silent for a long moment. Then he shook his head. "All my life, I wondered what was back there in the Gap. I had a theory, that the less important you were, the more you'd remember. Thirty years of looking for what people did and didn't remember seemed to bear that out.

"I didn't remember a thing. I fancied myself someone important. Like a politician, or a CEO. Maybe even a superhero. I never even thought - it didn't even cross my mind - " He took his darkened glasses off. "I think I was happier not knowing. Kidnapping. Christ, that's almost up there with murder. I lectured Cyco on stealing that shrimp and all that time I was a gigantic hypocrite."

He put his glasses back on, and drew a deep breath. "But no, this doesn't change a thing in the present, does it. We're not the bad guys. We didn't shove five dozen people in a hole under the Earth and trap them as statues using a couple of snake people. I can't really see a way freeing them makes us the bad guys. So what else have we found so far?"

[Thomas Froit]

Glitch smiled slightly and switched away the offending dossier on Jack over to the history log where he had been. "Well, I've been looking at the last part of the Gap, world history as of 2008-2011. Thought-provoking stuff, but I'll have copies made for the rest of us."

Then he scratched an itch on his head as he carefully continued, "As for the directly pertinent stuff... a few things. First thing, Elizabeth Eldritch comes out of seclusion in February 2011, and it seems she claimed to the Vanguard that she cracked or was about to crack..." Glitch built the pause for drama...

"-the secret of where superhuman abilities ultimately come from. Seeing as we all have some sort of super-ability coming out of nowhere, that is something. That's why the Goldsmith made the Vault, to store technology and history as a time capsule seeing as something big was coming. Then last entry, September 2011. Goldsmith is sealing away the Vault in his recent invention of RUBY-9... until a 'high level security breach can be isolated.' Given that the Order histories have the GAP over by December and their high and mighty rears on the throne, things were definitely in gear for them by then."

[SalmonMax]

"It makes me wonder...Jack, could the woman who did this, made the Song and awoke all our powers...could she have been Elizabeth Eldritch? Glitch does it record her real name?"

[IndyPendant]

Sharatur was silent for a while. Then she took a deep, shaky breath, and softly let it out. She nodded slowly, and smiled faintly at Necronaut. "Thanks, Norman. That's what I was hoping you'd say. It helps. It's not enough, somehow. I guess I sort of hope it never gets to be enough. But it helps."

She placed her hand on his shoulder. "What say we get back to the others? We should find out if Jack really has turned out to be running the Order all along, or something." She rose gracefully to her feet. "Thanks for listening. I know I can get a bit more..." she shrugged. "...emotional at times, than the rest of you."

[Necronaut]

"Yes..." He was staring out over the desert again. His words were distant, but it was not his usual distance. It was more deliberate, as if his voice didn't like where his brain was going and wanted to be somewhere else. "...you should hold on to that too. It's important that we have someone we can count on to know the right thing from the correct thing."

His eyes turned back to Sharatur, haunted in a way that had nothing to do with ghosts. He opened his mouth to explain that, until she had mentioned it, he hadn't given Spartan's life a second thought. His hands moved quickly to avoid such a personal turn of conversation. The Ghost Plane roared to life before he could speak. The concern on his face was abruptly replaced by an encouraging smile, but he remained silent as he waited for Sharatur to board and flew back to the compound...

[Thomas Froit]

Glitch nodded, "Yup. A little wordplay involved: it's Elizabeth Laura Driche."

[Bodhie Armstrong]

Originally Posted By: SalmonMax

"It makes me wonder...Jack, could the woman who did this, made the Song and awoke all our powers...could she have been Elizabeth Eldritch? Glitch does it record her real name?"

"Do you mean we've been born with these powers and they needed to be activated?", Bodhie wasn't sure if she was getting this right.

"If so... could someone play another song and turn us 'off' again?", it's not like she was afraid of it... although part of her was but the idea of being just someones pawn in some kind of elaborate revenge didn't appeal to her much. Especially to her sense of 'right' and 'wrong'.

"I'm also in two minds about the Vanguard - isn't the Order now what is left over from it? Or are they the organized crime syndicate?", for a moment it showed that Bodhie wasn't used to use her brain much and that she had spent half her live just raising her child and playing the good housewife.

Way back, before she decided to have Sean, she could've become a Doctor...

[Charlotte]

"Lori came up with the Song... but Lori and Laura aren't far apart in terms of names. Lori was younger than I was, though. She became my live-in help just after I woke up in the hospital with my eyes gone."

Blackjack shook his head. "She'd be too young. I mean, magic, yeah, I suppose. But still." He frowned. "Would mean she was lying to me, of course, but maybe she didn't know... bah, anyways. What else have you dug up?"

[Thomas Froit]

"Other than some of the history of the Gap, not much." Glitch admitted, "but I can state that neither the Vanguard or the Global League of Crime seems to have contributed to the Order, as far as I can tell. The closest thing to it is that there was a major Vanguard member named Knight Watchman... but I haven't looked at his image yet."

Glitch shrugged and tapped on the keys to bring the picture up.