Aberrant: Infinite Earth - Fiction - Just another day at Stonehenge [FIN]

[Dash Carpenter]

Somewhere in England not far from Stonehenge

Stonehenge didn't seem like much to modern eyes, nothing more than the mysterious erection of stones to some ancient god or gods. Of course, the modern day gods had taken it upon themselves to keep an eye on the site, for reasons unknown.

The House of Slider was famous and renowned- as those with a connection to inter-House politics would know- for being artists, entertainers- albeit not to the extent of Narcosis and her infamous House of Beauty- but their large claim to fame was being the neutral diplomats that could arbitrate any House negotiation.

Completely impartial and persuasive, a single Slider diplomat was worth their weight in gold. Yet, House queen Jennifer Landers kept a major estate and fort near Stonehenge, and an incomplete encrypted transmission the techies intercepted implied that there was a clear importance attached to the protection and supervision of Stonehenge.

The Director of the UK Division had called Dash in to find out why. Specifically, he had to break into the mansion and acquire the files he had been told were there. However, though the Houses still relied on impressions as much as real influence and power, the security systems would be too much.

Fortunately, there was a rock ledge much less guarded. A UAV had been buzzed over the mansion fast enough to drop an EMP upon the facility before self-destructing immediately. Enough distraction for Dash to move up with ease and nova grace, before he made a leap over the wall and landing cat-steady in the grass.

Step 1, check.

[The Traveler]

Somewhere between here and there...

Sakurako moves around the navigation console on the bridge of her ship, adjusting power relays, monitoring the quantum slipstream tunnel around the ship, pure micromanagement. Such things while fun in the fact it keeps the ship on course and prevents a fatal crash into some gravity well, the tedium is mind-numbing. Even for a Nova.

"Well, the neutron flow regulator is normal, the dimensional sheath is stable, the Zero Point generator is humming along..." She sighs, as she flops into the captain's chair in front of the conn. "...B O R I N G. With a capitol B."

Then the E.S.S shakes violently for a few seconds. "What in Pax's name was..."

As Sakurako checks her sensors, Sarah runs in, hurredly putting on a vacuum suit she grabbed from her quarters. "What's wrong, Professor?"

"I'm checking right now, Sarah, hold on..." She looks sarah over. "You know if this thing crashed, that suit would be as useful to you as a life jacket in a acid pool?"

Sarah scratched her head. "You mean there's no escape pods?"

"There is... but there'd probably not be enough time... but that's beside the point, we hit something and the E.S.S is pulling us out of dimension-warp early."

"So... we're not going to that universe with all the cool giant robots you were mentioning earlier?"

"No... But on the bright side... we got a mysterious new earth not on the map to see! Unfortunately we'll have to stay there a few days to recharge the dimension drive."

"Okay... but we see that place after this."

"I promise. Now, let's see what this Earth is like..."

Sakurako hits a large red button on the navigator's console and the ship drops back into normal time-space of the new universe. "Well, another Nova Terra-Class Earth. Alot of quantum hazing surrounding the biosphere, so N-Day is close to the standard time frame... I wager it's 2011 by calculating the quantum half-life of the cascade event."

She looks over the atmosphere of the planet, centering in on Stonehenge. "And... looks like the weather is nice around Stonehenge. Won't have to use much power in navigation this time."

She hits a few buttons and slots the ESS into a approach vector orbit to Earth.

"So... think they make good fish and chips?" Sarah asks.

[Mech]

All around, there was nothing but darkness. As his reserves dwindled to nothing, John vaguely recognized the stars. There was a flash of light, something familiar, and he decided the gamble was worth it. Mustering the nearly the last of his power, he set himself on a collision course with the flash. He'd die if it was hostile, or the harsh realities of space would finish him. He didn't try to hide his signature, not that it ever did him much good.

This could very well be the last throw of the dice.

[The Traveler]

Sakurako picks up a large blip on her screen, like something else dropped out of a dimensional warp like she did. "What in the..."

She zooms in, to look at who or what it is and sees a person drifting in space, without a space suit. "Oh god... Sarah! you have the helm, I gotta suit up. Also prep the sickbay for a vacuum exposure case."

"Aye, Professor."

Sakurako hurriedly puts on her space suit, and grabs a spare rescue bubble out of a red cylindrical case before bee-lining to the airlock. She grabs a thruster pack and puts it on.

"Sarah... status?"

"Closing to... 100 meters."

"Close enough, open the airlock I can overthrust to his position."

"Right!"

Wreckless, wreckless wreckless, but I gotta get moving quick. The sudden decompression in the airlock will propel me like a catapult shot off of a carrier deck, and I can use my thrusters to close quick... I shouldn't do this much though, hopefully my suit holds up to the strain.

The airlock doors suddenly open and Sakurako is, as predicted spat out into space. She hits a button on her thrusters and zooms to the stricken space explorer... or whoever it is... doesn't matter to her, that person is in trouble, no matter who they are they don't deserve to die in vacuum like this.

When she reaches the stricken Nova, she senses the light fading within him of a node just about out of quantum essence. Sakurako steadies herself in a stationary position in synch with his movement vector and slips his body into the rescue bubble and follows the directions for pressurization.

The bubble inflates around him, as Sakurako opens a flap to see inside through a flexible and transparent eufiber window. Once there's enough pressure for sound, Sakurako patches into the bubble's internal speaker and comlink.

"Sir? Sir? Stay with me here. Speak to me. What is your name?"

[Mech]

He opens his eyes, and breathes in deeply. Full cognizance is not upon him, but a woman, probably the one who saved him asked his name. Not really caring at the moment who, how, or why, he nodded... and found he couldn't recall.

He shook his head, "I don't remember." There was no malice, sarcasm or levity in his voice, only confusion, and stark honesty.

[The Traveler]

"Oh dear... possible brain damage. Okay sir, just stay calm and I'll get you to sick bay."

She holds the bubble like a oversized beachball, and looks into the window as she activates her thrusters. "I'm The Professor. Don't worry I got you."

She looks over to the ESS, it's still stuck in the form of a life raft, to her dismay. "Sarah, open the airlock, but shift the internal aperture anchor to the spare corridor entrance next to sick bay."

"Okay. Is he?"

"He's not looking good."

The front flap of the raft opens and the outer doors of the airlock can be seen opening just as quick. She moves through the opening and closes everything behind her. The airlock slowly pressurizes again, and the rescue bubble becomes rigid as the soft plastic becomes hard like steel to keep it's shape for carrying as it equalizes the pressure inside itself.

"Okay, I can give you treatment here, then I'll see what I can do on Earth that can help you. I'm not a doctor but I know a few things about Nova physiology."

She steps out into the corridor and walks into the sickbay. She sets the bubble down on a bed and opens it up, watching it collapse around him and change into a warming blanket. She moves the opening so she can see his face.

"Okay... I'll start mediscans now, and see what needs to be done... You are still with me are you?"

[Mech]

He reached out instinctively, feeling the presence of a node, and lay back, to exhausted to do much more. "Whatever you say. I trust you, until you give me reason not too.." Speaking even that much seemed to tax him, and though his vitals were quickly normalizing, he was nearly bone dry on energy reserves.

[The Traveler]

Sakurako puts an oxygen mask over his face and checks his vitals closely. "Okay... looks like you're suffering from acute quantum drain and... oh dear... you started burning yourself up just to make it this far..." She sticks an IV into his arm after opening the bodysuit he was wearing up down the chest and peeling it back. "I don't have time to fully strip you, so at least I can keep this suit on you to keep most of you warm."

She takes the helmet of her space suit off, and sets it on a bed next to his, and leans over. Her shirt pink hair noticeable even through fatigue hazed eyes.

"I know an IV isn't of much use, but I enriched it with 5 times the normal vitamins a Human needs to survive. This should start your recovery quickly."

[Mech]

He nodded. "That and sleep."

He was fading fast. "Name..?" the way he said it made it sound like a question..

[Dash Carpenter]

If there was one thing in the universe that could set off Dash like nothing's business, it was the sounds of sex. It reminded him of his eruption, the trauma he had visually experienced by being forced to see what his mother had been subjected too, and what he knew would have been his lot had not his node burst up. But rather than let it distract him, he barely- barely managed to work his way into the hallway past that bedroom was demarcated as being that of pornstar- scumbag- Andre Corbin.

The server room was nearby, and guarded by a keypad lock. Normally, even with Dash's superhuman intelligence, guessing would be inefficient and likely set off a multitude of alarms. Fortunately, with Corbin in charge here, he could guess the git's password.

Hardballs.

And he was in.

Dash moved over to one of the mainframes resting on a mahogany long table- the House spared no expense eh?- and got to work hacking in. After a few tense minutes, he had all the data he needed- to be analyzed later. As he crept out, more sounds of pleasure wafted towards him, many voice.

Maybe it was callous, but Dash drew a small pistol and moved to the bedroom door. After checking to make sure no one would be coming his way, he kicked the door in. There was a lot of screaming subsequently, but the guards took it as freaky stuff, rather than bloody stuff.

[The Traveler]

"I'm... I'm Sakurako... Sakurako Hino."

She places her hand on his chest. "And you're safe now, sleep well."

[Mech]

"That's a pretty name.." with that, the young nova passed out, too tired to do anymore.

[The Traveler]

Sakurako pats him on the chest. "Sleep well."

She starts to step out after pulling the collapsed rescue bubble over him like a blanket, tucking it under his chin. She sees Sarah peeking in. "Is he alright?"

"No. He has brain damage. I don't know to what extent but... he's most likely lost a lot in there. Poor guy."

Sakurako notices Sarah's wearing Sakurako's old school uniform. "Uh... why are you wearing one of my outfits?"

"My stuff is in the wash, remember?"

"Oh, right. I have to admit though, the sailor suit looks good on you."

Sarah blushes as Sakurako starts making her way to the bridge. "Let's get this thing to Earth." She says, patting Sarah on the back. "And let's see if we can speak with anyone regarding our injured passenger."

When they get to the bridge, the alert klaxon sounds. "Dammit we're at 5% power after that. Gonna have to have a change of plan." Sakurako says as the ESS starts to fall out of orbit. "Hold on! gonna aim for a soft landing!"

The ESS tumbles into the atmosphere, and streaks across the skies, until it somehow manages to right itself but crash into a river south and east of Stonehenge. Airbags activate around Sakurako's passenger in sick-bay, and in the halls and on the bridge to protect the occupants.

Sakurako stumbles to and feels the ESS slowly rock. "Well any landing you can walk away from, right?" Sakurako heads to the navigation panel and starts the process of auto-stowing the airbags. "You okay, Sarah"

"Just a scrape on the knee."

"Phew... I want you to head to sick bay then and keep an eye on our wounded space explorer. I gotta finesse the old girl into that grove over there on the viewscreen. No one leaves until I know things are safe, alright?"

Sarah nods and heads to sickbay, as Sakurako makes the ESS invisible to visual spotting. "There... that'll have to do."

[Karren Gaunt]

The late summer evening chorus of the insects crying their lives out into the air around the ancient stonework monument was the same as it usually was, undisturbed and obeying it's own harmonies. Moonlight played on the circle of pillars, highlighting the carving marks of ancient workers. The smells of dew wet grass and last chance blossoms played about in a gentle breeze. All was serene despite the commotion of the ship some miles away and the bloody work going on inside of the near-by House Slider stronghold.

It wasn't going to last.

First came a crackle of sparks, static from nowhere. It came again, longer, louder, flashes of light blinking into greater and greater life. The sound and the light peaked on the third heartbeat, an old wound in the fabric of the world riping opening into a midnight flare that streamed the raw potential quantum of the space between spaces into the world. Something, no someone, dropped out of this wound and into the late England night, the figure attempting to roll to a graceful stop and only suceeding in banging it's head into one of the altar stones.

A femine curse identified the figure as young and female. She pushed to her feet and glared with pale green eyes at the dying rift that had released her here. Moonlight picked out slivers and slices of her cloak-draped form: a gloved hand pushing off from the altar stone, a general air of satisfied exhaustion, and a shapely pair of lips twisting to a frown as her awareness picked out a half dozen sensors tracking her every movement.

So. One of those kinds of worlds, was it? That was okay. In Irma 'the Collector' Hale's experience, most watchers didn't shoot newcomers on sight, and she'd enjoy sleeping in a bed instead of one of her isolated hideyholes for a night. Even if they shot, she had juice enough for a quick fight and a 'port to safety left.

"Yeah, you found me," she called out for the benefit of the sensors and minds behind them and trying to look harmless as she lowered her hood to reveal a lovely face framed by long, dark hair, "I hope you're friendly."

[The Traveler]

Sakurako moves the raft under a grove of trees, and decides it would be far better to draw off any onlookers. She heads to the airlock and steps out. But not before leaving a note for Sarah to make sure their passenger was safe, and grabbing her helmet. Who knows if there's some sort of radiation she'd have to deal with or some other strangeness. She wasn't stupid. She opens the door outside and makes sure her comlink on her pocketwatch was correctly set to the ESS' frequency.

She hops out into the water and wades unto shore and starts walking.

"Okay, if I run into trouble I'll let you know, Sarah, I'm going to have a look around."

"And I thought you said no one go outside."

"No one but me. Stay put."

She looks around and takes particular interest in Stonehenge. She felt a strong quantum spike a few moments ago, but being inside the ESS your normal sense of quantum can be blocked. She closes the faceguard of her helmet and walks about, not caring that a woman in a space suit looked strange. The air smelled like home... she soaked in the feel. The sounds, the quantum lighting up Stonehenge like a christmas tree...

"Hmm... what have we here..." Sakurako's curiosity is piqued. She starts to approach. "Perhaps I can get some answers about this world."

She starts hiking. The sound of her suit's respirator adding undue dread to her steps. Sakurako decides it would be a good idea to scan en-route so that she knows if the biome is truely safe. She makes sure her sun visor is up and the internal helmet light is on, so her face is plainly visible.

[Mech]

For John, sleep was a mixed blessing. A few hours would replenish his reserves, but while he lay there visions of dozens of giant humanoid mecha set against the sky, missiles, lasers and automatic gunfire raging all around. One by one the mecha exploded, as missiles impacted against them, each blossoming with what could only be low-yield nuclear fire.

There was only one robot left, and it was getting smaller and smaller, John was leaving it behid, and he could swear the bright yellow eyed mecha was looking up at him, and a part of him knew it too would go the way of its fellows. It split its fire to take down yet more missiles before three struck it squarely, blossoming into nuclear fire. He could hear metal vaporizing, and the light was impossible to look into.

Despite this, in his mind he heard a voice much like his, strong sure, say quietly "I love you, son." Then there was only harsh whiteness as the mecha was erased from the world, aand John moved beyond Earth, to where it was only a memory.

In the real world, Sarah could see that whatever was going on, the man laying in the bed was crying in his sleep. Whatever he was experiencing, it was something of deep sorrow.

[Wyrd]

Click to reveal..

My internet connection is very spotty today. I will make a profile for this character when I can more reliably connect

Heather skipped lightly across the moor, accompanied by two figures dancing through the sky around her. She could just see a hill in the distance, topped with what she had come to see.

She recalled what the books had said about Stonehenge: Little is known about this stone structure. It is one of the oldest man-made structures still standing. Theories for its purpose include a giant calendar, a gathering place, and a burial place for kings. One theory that was considered outlandish for years was that it served as a gate to other worlds. This was discounted until recent years, when new equipment detected an unknown energy signature present at the site. While it is not sufficient to warp reality, this may be due to the ravages of time, the shifting of tectonic plates moving it out of alignment, or the removal of key components that amplified the signature.

Regardless of what the truth was, she wanted to see it for herself. "Galahad! Ariel! Don't wander off and get into trouble, now," she called to the two small dragons cavorting in the sky.

*Yes, mama* she heard in reply. Those two were always getting into trouble. She thought they had been curious as cats, but getting smarter had just made them realize how many more things there were to be curious about.

Soon she was working her way up the side of the hill. She pulled out her journal, flipped to her itinerary page, and put a check beside 'Visit Stonehenge.' She then flipped to later in the journal to record her observations. An eidetic memory was not enough to keep track of every sense, every impression, at least not forever, so she wanted a proper record of all of her travels.

Heather walked in and around the stone slabs, examining them and noting those observations, before heading into the center of the edifice. Standing there in the middle, she closed her eyes and extended her new senses, acquired on the Day of Chaos. A sudden sound, sort of like a distant gunshot, sparked her to turn suddenly. There was a moment of disorientation and vertigo that passed quickly, then she opened her eyes and didn't see anything really different... except... where had those lights come from.

"Galahad? Ariel?" No response. Shrugging, she decided they would catch up when they were ready and left the ancient structure to investigate this new mystery.

Click to reveal..

I figure I should leave them out of the story until I have their character sheets completed. Besides, they are allies, not slaves, so they won't always be by my side.

[Karren Gaunt]

Irma had made her way out of the monument to await whoever was behind those sensors, leaning against one of the outermost stones and every so often waving to one of the hidden cameras. She hugged her eufiber cloak against herself, thinking. The Chronopath did alot of thinking before she acted, it was her chief advantage over those Novas and other metahumans who, unlike herself, were more than Baseline physically.

She sighed and looked down, going introspective. A monitored rift. That was eiether a good difference or a bad difference, but with any luck her target would be alive on this world, whenever she had been inserted into it's timeline. She could use an easy hunt after the last world. Six months of hunting and gathering allies, and Thetis had turned out to have been vaporized by Divis Mal before she had gotten there, her replacement some pitiable wretch playing to keep from being imprisoned by his miffed superiors.

Irma knew the multiverse wasn't fair, but it irked her when it was so blatant about it.

She came out of her funk when the stonehenge rift crackled to life again behind her, pressing her back against her resting place and bringing her hands together under her cloak to receive a weapon from the Collection just in case. The tromp of booted foot and the apperance of a... woman? in a red space suit brought a further frown to her lips. Still... Okay.

"I don't know if you're behind these cameras or not," she called to the red suited figure, waiting for her to get close enough to ping with her Node, "But we have more company, and it may not be as well-intentioned as myself."

[Heather 10093]

Hearing a voice from off to the side, Heather decided that investigating the lights could wait. The thing was, she was certain that there had been nobody else nearby just a minute ago. Then again she could sometimes become so wrapped up in what she was doing that she didn't notice things, so maybe they had just arrived.

Stepping out of the ring, she saw a pretty man crouched and looking in her direction, and another man in a red suit with a helmet on top walking towards them both. "Hi, there! It's a lovely night tonight, isn't it? I'm surprised anyone else was interested in checking out a place like this, but I always welcome company."

Irma saw a pleasant young woman with an open face and long lavender hair step out and smile at her, but she had long ago learned not to trust appearances--especially with the way her node was screaming at her about the power contained in the innocent seeming figure before her. The woman was oddly dressed, with a light leather jacket over a corsetted dress that came down nearly to her ankles. She was wearing a strange contraption on her left arm that looked to be a sort of bracer with tubes and wires running around it and a lightly glowing display.

The Professor, being a bit less paranoid and a little further away, saw a young and cheerful nova, though she too wondered about that device on her wrist and some other small mechanisms scattered about her.

[Dash Carpenter]

"Must be a surprise to you." Dash told Corbin's corpse as he looked over his handiwork for the moment. "Seeing me again. I bloody well know you were there that night," his voice turned ghastly hard and cold, "not to mention getting a turn at my mother. One fucking turn more than you ever should have dared. Sleep tight Corbin. This is one hangover in your head you ain't waking up from."

Dash left soon enough. The guards would come to find the bloody mess and raise a hullabaloo, so it was time to make his departure.

Five minutes later, he was setting up a stolen motorcycle from the vast basement garage, and faked passing a tip to the attendant laying unconscious on the ground. Darn good service. Dash gunned the throttle with a thrill and he shot out into the sunlight. Immediately, he chose to take it long around Stonehenge, feeling an urge to take a quick inspection.

[The Traveler]

Sakurako stops seeing she was spotted. She looks at her sensor and it reads clear, advising caution regarding the current hydrocarbon pollution detected in trace amounts. She takes her helmet off and straightens out her pink hair. She sees the two individuals and casually walks up with a friendly grin, not from naivete but from simply showing she's not a threat.

"Ah, nice to see the air is... decent around this. I'm The Professor. I've seemed to have crash landed nearby and well... we also picked up an injured passenger as well... are you the guards of this Gate area?" She says in a earnest, honest, and slightly curious tone. She pulls out a couple of pocky sticks. "Pocky, anyone?"

[Heather 10093]

"Why would anyone need to guard a dusty old ruin like this?" Heather asks curiously. *sniffs* "The air smells fine to me. You say that you crashed? I'd be happy to help out if you need some assistance. Oh, and what's Pocky?" She walks over to the pink haired gentleman, looking at the sticks he is holding out with undisguised interest.

[The Traveler]

"Oh, choclate covered cracker-like candies... it's a snack food where I came from. Sort of running low of the originals I have. The new stuff from my new home tastes different somehow..."

Her longing tone suggests forced homesickness. She soon snaps out of it. "Oh, I should show where I am... over in that grove of trees is where I parked."

She pulls out what looks like a modern cell-phone and hits an icon on the touch display and the Time Raft comes out of cloak. "There... forgive the look, the chamelion circuit is busted and it got stuck in that form. Although it looks sort of proper on a river, no?"

She adjusts her space suit slightly. "Oh, there's a slightly higher pollution here than on my world. Probably using that hyper-combustion technology... Where my new home is, we're using micro-fusion cells."

With her tone she seems to be slightly lost on a train of thought.

[Karren Gaunt]

Irma straightened and forced herself to relax away from a combat stance, given there was not one, but two extremely powerful novas confronting her, one of whom introduced herself by what sounded like a code name. "No, thank you, 'Professor'," she answered, a practised wary smile on her lips, "I'm just waiting the arrival of our hosts from over *there* who are watching us from this camera, that camera, and that motion sensor camoflaged on the top of the arch. Not to mention a few hidden in that treeline."

The chronopath indicated the House Slider fortress off in the distance and each of the devices in turn, manner confident in the moonlit dark before she turned to the strangely-dressed woman from the rift, voice clearly female and amused, "Please call me Melody. I take it this is your first time stepping through the stonehenge rift?"

[Heather 10093]

Heather looks confused for a moment before her face clears and she says, "Oh. I knew everything changed recently, but I didn't think anyone had had a chance to get used to things so fast. So what are hyper-combustion and micro-fusion? I didn't think there was anyone who wasn't using aetheric induction, even since Chaos." You can almost hear the capital c in Chaos, though of course that gives you no clue what she means by it.

She turns to Irma. "What rift? Cameras?" She at least seems to be completely honest in her confusion.

[The Traveler]

The Professor looks over the monitoring devices mounted on one of the stones. "Such disrespect to an archaeological artifact..." She says, looking it over and waving what looks like a wand over the scanner. She looks at what isn't directly observable on the wand and then looks over to the group. Particularly to Melody. "And pleased to meet you, Melody... although with this sort of technology, I'd suggest to be prepared to run at a moment's notice. This just isn't placed to be a welcome mat... this is a controlled area and whoever is watching probably doesn't like unknown intruders."

She clears her throat and speaks to the unknown, steampunk looking readhead. "Aetheric? Perhaps I should visit your world and see what that is all about..."

[Karren Gaunt]

'Melody' gave an acknowledging nod to the Professor but didn't look overwhelmingly worried at the prospect. About half the rift sites she'd come out of had been monitored by the local Powers That Be, and it wasn't usually that bad, at least compared to someone who'd come of age during an Aberant War. Of more concern was the red-head's aparent inexperience with the rift and other worlds. Innocents were always the most unpredictable.

"Yes, that lightshow you just stepped or were dropped through? Placed you into another world and possibly another time from when you started. Welcome to the Multiverse," she added for the red-head's benefit, "Don't panic though. If you focus hard enough you may be able to get home in a dozen or so attempts."

The chronopath didn't show a lot of overt sympathy to go with her confidence, one arm reaching up and parting her cloak to reveal some more of the attractive figure beneath as she brushed a lock of hair our of her face. Inwardly, she was really hoping the woman didn't panic. That would be a bother and a waste of her energies if the locals *did* prove hostile.

[The Traveler]

With a flick of her wrist, her device collapses into the size of a lipstick. "Or we can ride in my ship... more comfortable and it can take friends. Just hope you don't mind orange."

She smiles, feeling slightly uncomfortable she takes the space suit off where she stands, and takes the backpack she took with her and stuffs the suit into it, pulling out a brown coat that looks like it's seen better days, putting it on. She was wearing what looks like what a librarian would wear, but the sneakers were an odd touch.

"There we go, more comfy that way and easier to run. Sort of feel like I'm wearing a balloon wearing that..."

[Heather 10093]

"Why would I want to go home now? I came out here to see new places, and if I can see whole other worlds through here, all the better." Suddenly she claps her hands to her mouth, looking mortified. "Oh, dear. I'm so very sorry for being so rude and not introducing myself. I am Heather 10093, from London zed-12. It is a pleasure to meet you." She then curtsies deeply to make up for being so rude.

She looks briefly at Sakurako's new attire, appearing confused for a moment before setting the issue aside for the moment.

[The Traveler]

"I'm... Sakurako Hino. My universe is far away and long since dead. I've made my home in a new universe and have met new people, but... I lost so much getting to this point, and the threat is only out there... waiting to claim another universe...

Sometimes I feel I'll always be running." She says, taking a melancholy tone.

"At least the universe I live in now I can call home. You might like it."

[Karren Gaunt]

Irma didn't care about transuniversal threats or the particulars of the other's backgrounds, but her lightning-fast mind had picked up on one thing and she was curious as all hells about that.

"This ship... You can control when and where it comes out of the rift?" she asked curiously, suddenly very interested in Sakurako, "I've never heard of such a thing short of the very, very powerful nova travelers."

[The Traveler]

"It was designed by experts from throughout the Nova Community, even myself. I've been charting the trans-universal spaceways since... well..."

She looks down. "Since I became the last of my kind."

She starts walking back to the raft. "If anyone wants to take a look, feel free to come along. Once she's recharged I'm going to have to fly around and get the lay of the land. I'm... curious about this universe. I'm also wagering you're all hungry." She says, as her stomach growls.

[Heather 10093]

Heather skips along after the.. woman? Scotsman?... eh, she'd figure it out later, saying, "What's a nova? Oh, and have you seen my friends around? They tend to get in all kinds of trouble when they wonder off."

Inside the ship, Mech roused from his slumber to a crooning song and the feel of something licking his face.

[Dash Carpenter]

That was when the sirens went off, warning howls blaring all around the area. For a moment the more wary of the women could wonder if they'd gotten into trouble, but Dash crested the hill at roaring speeds over the hill, visible on the motorcycle. The sight of the women made him curious, as he could sense from their attitude that they weren't hostile or Slider staff.

For a long moment he came in and pulled to a stop nearby. "Do you really want to stay here, girls? If I were you, I'd rather not be around when House Slider tears this place apart."

[The Traveler]

Sarah looks down seeing the bronze dragon licking Mech's face. She tries to shoo it off as she opens a comlink with The Professor. "Umm, Professor... There's a.... a Dragon onboard the ship!"

The Professor responds over her pocket-watch looking computer. "What? How did it get past the security unless... it's one of these people's pets... it must not be hostile."

"Yeah but it's licking the person we have in sickbay."

"Oh dear..."

She sees the man on the Motorcycle pull up. "What?" She sighs, realizing she's might have stepped into a big pile of doo-doo. "If there's something I'm good at, it's a quick escape... follow me. Drive at the opening on the raft, the ship'll know what to do."

[Karren Gaunt]

Normally at this point, Irma would simply vanish into thin air and settle in for the night at one of the half-dozen isolated caves she had memorized over the course of her years hunting, but she had a potentially useful ally to investigate, and if that machine did half of what the woman said it did...

But... House Slider? What a macabre name. Or an ill-omened one anyway, Slider's death having been the usual stepping stone towards finding Thetis every time she found her.

"I think here is where we run if we want to talk more. That that ship of yours safe, Professor, or should I start taking people to a usually abandoned safehaven or two I've memorized in my travels?" Irma commented, coldly professional and noting the ever-increasing number of electronic eyes on them as pings at the back of her mind.

[The Traveler]

"My Ship is pretty much a fortress compared to being out in the open, RUN!"

The Professor knows that whenever there's generally non-threatening folk on the run, it's usually hostile what's behind them.

"Sarah, we got company coming in! As soon as everyone's through the airlock threshold, reactivate the cloak!"

Sarah dashes into the Bridge of the ship, after grabbing the Dragon off of Mech and carrying the bronze Dragon like a cat. "Right!"

She starts flicking controls and pressing buttons. "If you need to fly, we can only make it as far as Cardiff before we go down."

"Hopefully we won't have to get to that point..."

[Mech]

For the amnesiac nova, he awoke to an unfamiliar sound, and the somewhat familiar sensation of being licked by a stray house pet.

"Well this isn't the weirdest thing I've been woken up by, though it's abit more than the chows I am used to."

When the rather cute dragon was removed he made to sit up, still somewhat drained, but with enough power to function in limited fashion.

He quickly found and donned the nanoweave bodysuit he always wore, feeling much less naked now. "Okay, what's the situation?"

[The Traveler]

Sarah looks over to Mech "Ah, you're awake... somewhat. Looks like The Professor has gotten into trouble... again. And since we've not recharged the Trans-Dimensional drive yet we're stuck here. And if we fly, we've got enough range to reach Cardiff, then we hit the drink. Then it'll take weeks to recharge the drive through the zero-point reactor."

She adjusts the borrowed sailor collared schoolgirl uniform she got from Sakurako. "I'm starting to sound like her... golly." She says, adjusting her glasses. "Oh, I'm Sarah Hideyoshi. erm... Princess... erm... but that doesn't amount to a hill of beans here..."

[Mech]

The name struck a memory, First of a man his father's age, then of a young asian woman, a nova, like himself.

"I see. It's nice to meet you, Sarah. I can fly us if the need arises, but it would be almost impossible for us to hide if I do so."