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Aberrant: Infinite Earth - Fiction - [FIN] Episode 1: Britannia


The Traveler

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The ESS sits on a reserved landing stall on a landing platform connected to a tower overlooking the north sea and the estuary leading to the Thames river. Inside, Sakurako is getting Sarah dressed for a doctor's visit.

Sakurako gets Sarah situated in a wheelchair, wearing a bio-isolation suit.

"I can't see we gotta wear these." Sarah says adjusting the baggy, flat white garment.

"It's to protect folks from any bugs we might have brought with us from that last universe, Sarah." Sakurako says getting the hood on properly and connecting the hose to the air supply and filter.

"But we've not done this in other universes." Sarah says with a plaintive whine. She's been through a lot, and is a bit moody.

"None of them have a Section T quarrantine and analysis lab on site." She says, walking over to a comlink.

"Okay everyone!" Sakurako says over the ship's intercom. "Anyone who wants to come ashore needs to put a bio-isolation suit on. Section T regulations require a scan and medical check before removing them. Won't take more than 30 minutes and as a group we can get this done all at once, so I recommend everyone stepping out with I and Sarah. Once that is done I will be taking Sarah to a Paraphysician for a check up... and then perhaps we'll be getting set for a beach get-away... by golly I think we deserve it."

She adjusts her pink version of her isolation suit. "After we've gotten the go-ahead to 'dress down' and I drop Sarah off we can see the arcology's sights... whatever everyone wants."
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Chris nodded, finding one of the suits and putting it on with minimal effort. "That sounds fun." He looked to Dash. He knew the pain of loss, but he also knew there was nothing that could be done about it now.

He moved up to where the professor and Sarah were, ready to follow them out into yet another world.

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"Heh... sorry for having this hassle... but it's for their benefit and in a way our safety... we don't know if what we got would be dangerous here or to another universe. So... they're doing us a favor." She says, rocking back and forth. The suit actually feels cool to wear at the moment, and with the environment controls would be a saving grace compared to the weather outside. "And Chris... how are you feeling?" She says, her arms over her head... odd that even fully covered like she is... she's rather cute.

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"I don't like governmentally-employed doctors, especially those who work with Nova-monitoring agencies," 'Melody' confessed truthfully for once, Dr. Rashoud fourth on her list of people to kill for incompetance and sins against Novakind if she had the chance, "But I'll put up with them long as no one gets dragged away for 'treatment'. Lost too many contacts that way."

She smiled wryly, the expression fading as she put on an isolation suit, thoughts of how many ways this Section T could use such a medical scan to screw them and her over. Eyes open, hands ready, and tell them nothing about yourself you don't have to. They had to be somewhat legitimate for the Professer to submit to this procedure every time she returned.

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The professor nods to Chris as she turns to Irma. "If I saw any impropriety, I would have brought the whole regime down. Brick by god forsaken brick if I had to. I have assessed nothing that would be a warning to me to steer clear of their procedures. In fact the procedures are logical. I wouldn't want to introduce any uncatalogued plague to the baseline populace."

She leans against the airlock, setting her foot against the doorstop. "Now, just put those thoughts away. You're my guests, and by god I won't let anything happen to you I don't approve of."

As she says this she starts thinking she's forgetting something important.

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"What happened? I just noticed your irises are now all metallic." She says, acting like she's scratching her head, well as best as you can through bio-safe polymers. She's still wondering what she's forgetting...

To everyone present
Make some form of noticing type check... It's subtle.
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Wyrd] 9:22 pm: First mega

[The Professor] 9:22 pm: Wyrd: Perception, Electronics, Engineering, or Computers.

Perception plus engineering

Wyrd *rolls* 11d10: 8+1+8+8+3+6+4+8+6+2+8: 62

6 successes

Heather comes through the door a little behind the others. Her suit looks oddly bulky, especially around the hips and waist. It takes a moment for the other to realize that she is wearing her dress under the containment suit. "Don't you have anything more comfortable or better fitting than this? Or could I just set myself on fire? That would be much easier and kill most bugs off." She keeps trying to smooth her dress down where it is bunched up, oblivious to the looks she is receiving.

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Chris looked to the Professor, and noticed a curious set of data. Her oxygen sensor read zero percent. She was like him it seemed, she didn't need to breathe either, if she didn't want to.

He laid a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "You realize you're not breathing right now right, or at least you're not getting any oxygen right?"

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"Wha..." Sakurako says looking down at the meters... "Well... how about that... Didn't even know I could do that. I'd better not waste my energy though with something simple."

She ventilates the suit, making it look like she's put on some weight for a moment or two before pressure stabilizes and she gets her blood oxygen to a safe level.

"Heather, there's alway the Iso-bubble I keep for multi-pedal life forms. Might be a good way to keep your pets out of trouble and getting them cleared for entry as well."

She adjusts her suit again. "Well if everyone's ready and no suprises, let's head out."

Sakurako opens the airlock and a welcoming commitee of delagates, functionaries, and dignitaries are waiting. Signs saying "Welcome Back, Professor!" are hung from the ceiling as doctors in white isolation suits are ready with scanners and another with a large datapad and a doctor's bag.

"Well... they looked foreward to seeing us!" She says with a polite wave. "I'll be out in a moment! Just got to help a fellow traveller."

She turns to Heather again. "Good idea with the bubble or no?"

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"I'll give it a try. It has to be better than this thing. It is just so... indecent. You can almost see my legs through this thing!"

Might be a good way to keep your pets out of trouble and getting them cleared for entry as well.

She frowns at the pets comment, and a little cooly states, "Friends, not pets. They help me out because they like me, but I do not own them. If you want them to stay in isolation, though, I strongly suggest giving them some food. Fish and charcoal biscuits will likely keep them munching long enough for your friends to do their scan."

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"Ah... My apologies." Sakurako heads to a storage bin next to the airlock and pulls out some rations made of fish and a couple bars of carbon rods used for patching the hull. "I got plenty. Should be a proper, if not superb analog." She says, smiling to Heather's companions.

"So... let's go." She says striding out first as doctors start scanning her.

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Irma followed the Professor out into the festively-decorated scanning area, green eyes carefully nuetral as she allowed one of the doctors to begin their work, half her mind on keeping an awareness of her surroundings, the other half on gathering power and focus for a long-range teleport to a safehold that more often than not existed on the worlds she visited. Her examiner would get the very distinctive impression of williness to play along to a certain degree from the chronokinetic, but one, single step over the limit and his Nova patient would do... something.

Irma really, really hated government doctors.

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A suited doctor walks up and does a scan that is obviously looking for things stated (hell she probably recognizes a few names of diseases on the system.) As things continue, the doctor there strikes up a conversation. "So... nice weather we're having?" She says, as the rain outside moves in. "Been like this for a week, a little sun, lots of rain... You know... if you have any questions about what we are doing, feel free to ask, ma'am. That's what we are here for."

Irma can make out a blush on the young nurse's face through the cheaply made face mask on the isolation hood. But it is coupled with a look of earnest concern for Irma's... and everyone's... well being.

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"I wouldn't know. This would be my third world in even less days, and weather holds even less steady than most things across the multiverse," Irma conceded to the hapless nurse, "Good to know you aren't having a water table problem if it rains like this often."

'Melody' unfortunately had to be civil with these people, even if she could feel their puppet masters peering at her through their eyes and their reports and their machines. "So, what are you looking for with that clever machine of yours? I imagine you have to take a very broad stroke of things with infinity knocking at your door as it were."

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"Well, this device has a catalog of all possible viral protein combinations that no Human or Livestock has any defense against. Since the vast majority of powers have some immune defense against such things we notify the subject of such a thing and have them take the appropriate measures in ensuring public safety. That would be either self-quarantine until the foreign body is dealt with, some sort of power to cleanse their system, or simply letting their own biology clean the works. It... depends on the infection, really." She says scanning. "You look clean, Ma'am. stand ahead of the yellow line and wait for your compatriots."

She smiles. She was pretty nervous. More for what should she do if she picked up something and her suit malfunctioned or something... last thing she needs is to become patient zero of a Andromeda strain outbreak or something.

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As he's scanned, the nurse looking him over feels a bit intimidated by the Nova standing before her. Even through the suit Dash draws attention. Some technicians mumble and whisper something about "First Stage Quantum Retention Disorder" as he's scanned.

"T... there you go sir, all clean."

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Heather stood there, much more comfortable in the bubble than she had been in the suit, studying the doctors more intently than they are studying her. She seems particularly interested in what appears to be empty space to most of those around her, but to her eyes are filled with the emanations from the devices doing the scanning.

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The nurse looks amused at Heather's choice of protection, but wise with her two companions. "Aww, your little friends are so cute." The nurse says, scanning her. "Dracoforms are so cute."

Heather notices there is a little cartoonish dragon pendant on the scanner. Seems she likes Dragons. "Well, your friends... and you are clear. You can step out of the bubble and please make sure your friends behave."

The nurse looks at the bubble, wondering where the Professor got such a device. Wasn't sold by any Medtech company she's seen.

Meanwhile a male nurse scans Chris. "Well... ever with the suit on you look like you've been to the gym a couple times at least. Definately a picture of health."

With a couple of sweeps the sensor beeps politely. "All clean, just some easily purged flu virii incompatible with any life here." He pulls out a vial. "Drink this... the taste is a bit gross, but it'll purge your system of the virus in 8 hours. No need for quarantine."

He gives a thumbs up to the medical techicians.

The last nurse scans over Sakurako. As she does so, the scanner pings. "Umm, Professor... you have a live, active virus in your system. Class 1 protein. Highly virulent. Also seems hard to transmit, since your compatriots don't have it and it's not on the hull. Knowing your physiology on record, all that is needed is to stay in your isolation suit for 8 hours or so. Sorry." She then scans Sarah, giving her a clean bill of health.

The head doctor waves the team past the yellow line. "Okay, you're all cleared to enter without your suits except for The Professor here. Welcome to the Londinum Arcology, Section T skyport."

In front of them is a semi-dreary, semi amazing scene of a arcology stretching as far as the eye can see, with towers of varying heights. The dignitaries immediately walk over to the Professor as another doctor walks to Sarah.

"So You must be her Highness, Sarah Hideyoshi."

"Former, Doctor. Former."

"Ah, right. Sorry, old habits die hard. I'll be your caseworker as your psionic talents come to fruition." He says, giving a large datapad to her. He then walks over to Sakurako, weeding through the crowd. "Oh! Professor! I have some pamphlets for you regarding Miss Hideyoshi's... condition."

"Oh, what condition?" Sakurako says, thinking there's something wrong.

"You know... that... condition."

"I don't gather..."

"Her psionic abilities."

The crowd stops and turns to the doctor. The press scatters off to report the scoop.

"Dammit... I didn't want the publicity."

"Oh, that is quite alright." Sarah says, getting up and taking the hood off her isolation suit. "I welcome the press' questions. This shouldn't be a secret." She says, smiling.

The Professor looks at the pamphlets. "Psionics and you, your child's first steps to a larger world... Doctor... I'm not her Mother."

"You are her guardian, right?"

Sakurako looks stunned. "R.... right. Sorry."

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"Professer, Do you know where a good map of this Earth is avialiable? I'm thinking of taking someone with me to scout out a few promising beaches while you finish getting detoxed," Irma commented over the throat com from the sidelines, glad to be so entirely human-looking as to not attract the attentions of the press if she didn't want it, "Who'd like to come?"

Her smile was inviting as she glanced at the others, mind spinning as she stored everything she was seeing for later reflection.

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The Professor turns to Irma's direction, and through her thought to the communicator she responds. "I have a Datapad in Sarah's Wheelchair. I don't think she'll be needing that, and it looks like the Doctor's not concerned with needing to give her a physical or anything. Seems so... routine. You wish to take her along? She could use a distraction."

Sarah reads the datapad that the metaphysician gave her. "Ah... heisenberg realization phenomena... I've heard of this..." she whispers in awe and curiosity.

"...Although I would like to come along..." Sakurako says sighing mentally, her annoyance sort of showing through her diplomatic tone. "I have some things to square away with it seems. I'm starting to become... popular. Plus I need to catch up with Captain Arrowway."

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"Okay then," replied the chronokinetic brightly, her best 'finally, let's go do something fun' smile firmly in place, striding over to the taller teenager with a flip of her hair, "Sarah. Think you could call up a map of somewhere tropical, coastal, and with a good bar? Preferably with a good up-to-date 3-d map of the area for me to reference? We have leg work to do."

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"Umm, really?" Sarah says, bashfully. "I left my best beach stuff back in the ESS... Oh well we're just looking around." She says, pulling out Sakurako's datapad and handing it to her. "AltaVista is the search engine here that won the search wars. Just pull up it's maps and it'll give you all the info you're looking for. Even best places to eat."

She takes the life support attachments and stuffs them into her bag as well as the hood for the suit. One button press later and her white and grey suit is form-fitting. "Got mine custom made in one universe that had a pretty advanced space prgram by this point... space worthy and passes for a wetsuit..." Her figure is average, but in the right places. A couple interns from the local academy pull out handkerchiefs and hold their noses.

"How do you propose we take this trip? And does anyone else want to come along?"

Sakurako scratches her head, finally knocking down a few diplomatic courtesys and smiles to start to thin the crowd. "Just depends on who wants to stick around and meet with Captain Arrowway. I'msure she'd love to meet some of my travelling compatriots."

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The words make her pause... not because it shocks her but because she's a stage zero sufferer. "Oh dear... yeah... we... gotta talk about that. I got the problem too, well, just starting. I don't think yours is terminal but it is far more advanced than mine. See, at least here, no nova has gotten past stage three without going mad or becoming a puddle of goo or worse some sort of freakish beast... I've been working with the best paraphysicians here to find a treatment to the root cause of the symptoms... You might know the root cause as Taint... as I do... but I can't cure the effects of the disease, the aberrations. The Terats here and their philosophy has channeled this, probably from a variant of the Heisenberg Realization Effect, and I have heard rumors... at least here... of some other organication or group that knows how to train the body to more efficiently channel quantum and even cure taint before it starts causing damage."

She sighs as she walks over to Dash, placing an hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry their view of this got out this way... they see it as a disease that has a chance to be cured if enough effort is put to finding it... I think it would be a... gift to know how to at least cure the taint. They didn't mean anything. Although..." She glares at the technicians. "...such a thing we should accept as part of the risk this power brings... a risk we've accepted."

The technicians nod, looking like scolded children.

"Although the treading lightly thing... I think is an effect of some of the changes you've gone through with your accumulated quantum retention disorder... err taint. It causes a natural unease... although I don't see you're that far advanced a certain sensitive few get uneasy."

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"Unfortunately, this is strictly a trip for two, I'll be back to ferry any of you over who can't get there in the blink of an eye once Sarah and I find a good spot and claim a few good beach chairs," apoligized Irma distractedly, clicking through rating of various public resorts and learning the system even as she played with it, asking the odd question of what icon meant which. No, no, no... Well. That was different. Worth a try by those raiting numbers and a wonderful, live streaming video feed of some hotel's 'bragging about the great weather' camera.

"To Cape Canaveral then. The plaza of the Free Port Hotel about... two meters to the right of their decorative fountain," she stated confidently with a Nova sharpshooter's judgement, morphed her eufiber into something flattering for the summer heat, and touched Sarah on the shoulder. A heartbeat later, they were gone in a tick of quantum and two implosions of air.

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Sarah stumbles for a moment before getting her balance back under her feet. "Wow... nice trick. Almost like the teleporters The Professor has. Just... she doesn't like using them. She gets something called 'teleport sickness' or something... it's the sudden changes in air pressure and footing that get her."

She looks around at the beautiful sights of the Cape. "Wow... I've never been here."

She spots a couple of reporters closing their comlinks ant watching the two. "Yep... looks like the press at Londinim got connections here."

"I'm going to go shopping about... going to get some clothes I've been meaning to buy. I can't get by on my old school uniforms alone now..." She says handing over what looks like currency. "They're called Energy Credits. When the world switched to Fusion power, energy was practically everywhere. So... people started getting paid it. The value of things now is based on what it would cost to make it. Plus people get a small stipend every month to cover the essentials. Food, Housing... Just what's required to at least live like a civilized person."

She adjusts her suit a little. "20,000 ECs should be enough for you. Although food and things considered essential are dirt cheap. It's the luxuries that cost."

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Heather starts to talk, saying, "A beach sounds interest-" before being cut off by Irma's departure. Looking to her friends, who fly over to her, she vanishes without any discernible sound.

Looking around at her new surroundings, she takes a moment to orient on Irma and Sarah, who are a few hundred meters down the beach. Not bad for a quick calculation to an unknown destination following the quantum slipstream of a sloppy teleporter. the attire, or lack thereof, of the people around her is such that she just pretends not to see them, even as a part of her mind takes notes. If you accidentally see more than you should, it is only polite to pretend the incident never happened, though her current situation stretched her ability to pretend.

By the time she reached Sarah and Irma, she had somehow managed to acquire even more covering that she had been wearing. Added to the corsetted dress and jacket she had already been wearing, gloves covered her hands, stretching under her coat, she is wearing a yellow hat with a light veil, and is carrying a jaunty yellow parasol angled to block the sun... and her view of a few nude sunbathers.

Her dragons are nowhere in sight, though the fountain of sand behind her gives a rather strong clue that they are playing around in the lovely warmth of the beach. "Hey, there. I thought I would accompany you if you don't mind. I find that seeing new places is more fun if you have someone to see them with."

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Sarah Smiles. "Ah. Hello hello, Irma. Nice of you to drop in. I just gave irma some money to get some things she thinks the gorup might need at the beach and stuff. I'm going to do some shopping myself. you know what... I think I'll follow along with Irma and stay out of the way."

She looks over Heather. "That's actually a cute outfit. I got to wear something similar to that once. Well, without a corset or anything... It was a cute bathing suit number. I think I actually still have it on the ship. I'll probably grab it once The Professor arrives." Sarah says, smiling. "Then again with this suit I could go SCUBA diving easily too... so many options."

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'Melody' good-naturedly rolled her eyes at Heather's get up. Innocents. "I think you're slightly overdressed for the occasion, both of you," she offered with a deadpan gesture at her own tropically-patterned tanktop, sandals, and knee-length skirt that rippled lightly in the breeze, a pair of sunglasses appearing from thin air and into one hand, "Come on, the map said there's a good beachfront club with reasonably-priced drinks this way. Try to not say too much in front of the vultures and your picture should only show up in the trashier paper's tabloid's 'Nova Spotter' section if they have that here."

She put on the sunglasses with a florish and waved at the press before setting off down the tree-lined boardwalk, all Melody persona over her decompressing tension, commenting over one shoulder, "Heather, would you mind terribly being our designated teleporter? I try to never drink and 'port. It goes poorly for *everyone.*"

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Sakurako puts her gloved hand on the now empty isolation bubble. "She was... She abdicated the throne when her father, the Emperor of Japan would not move a finger on the behalf of the people of her realm in assisting in the defeat of a conspiracy... one that is still on the move." She walks around to the back of the transparent contrivance. "The mastermind behind it all was using students from the province of British Nippon to help in her efforts. She wanted to start a war and..." She dramatically opens the relief valve and dumps the air in the bubble watching it deflate. "...eventually destroy the underpinnings of what built this fragile alliance and lock humankind into a genocide. I and Sarah stopped that." She points to the signs and the dignitaries. "But the mastermind herself, the Headmistress... is still at large and otherwise anonymous." She closes the valve once the ball is half-deflated and sits on it like an over sized beanbag chair.

"There is another matter..." She pulls out a small datapad with a blinking light. "I've been detecting a signal here... in this universe. It... is only generated by someone with a quantum tunneling manipulator. A quick and dirty way to hop universes but it works... I should know I invented it."

She leans back. "The only way you would have one is if you came from my home universe. And whoever it is... is here."

"And unfortunately we have no leads as of yet, Sakurako." Says a voice coming up from behind, revealing a woman in a long blue military style overcoat and clothing showing a love of 1940's WWII fashion... even if it didn't happen in this universe. "You folks must be The Professor's current travelling companions. I'm Captain Jane Arrowway. Head of Section T. I... like her am a transplant. Long story but we'll get to it at some point... Sakurako, your other friends have arrived at a resort on Canaveral beach. They look like a motely crew from a science fiction convention..." Jane is obviously not from around here... everyone seems to have some sort of British accent except her and her distinctly Minnesotan accent.

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Back in Florida...

Sarah looked at her two compatriots and scratched her head... "So... one of you looks like some steam-punk tourist and the other a movie star..." She looks at her own suit. "You do have a point... but I do plan on going SCUBA diving later, so nyah." She says, sticking out her tongue playfully. "Anyways I gotta get a SCUBA rig and stuff while were here."

The press starts to surround the trio. Taking pictures with their camera-comlinks and asking questions about where Irma and Heather came from. Some even wanting to talk to Sarah. A few still calling her "Your Highness" out of respect.

All the while...

Editor's Note
And this would be obvious to a marksman, adventurer, and psychic
...A figure in a black cloak watches their move like a hungry crow, it's hood pulled over, making a hooked beak.

Back in Londonium

Sakurako smiles. "Chris, Dash, this is my good friend, Captain Jane. Don't give her any trouble she's liable to get rather harsh. Golden Gunplay 5-time champion, Registered Class Omega Nova, and is practically immortal."

"Don't forget the hottest Nova this side of the Atlantic, sweetie. And you look good in that pink wrapper... can't wait to open it." Jane says, winking.

"Jane... I'm not your type." Sakurako sighs.

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