Aberrant: Children of Quantum Fire - Mountain Rescue - Aftermath [5.3]

[Quantum Fire]

Getting everyone out and where they wanted them was a bit of work, the three captive's were put in stasis on the moon, inside stasis chambers alexandra managed to invent within minutes, then create from the raw materials, figuring out and mastering the science of Cryogenics in less then 10 minutes, allowing them to focus on the rescued children, who Butch went to work on, removing and eliminating the sterilization drugs that had been administered to the five novas. Meanwhile, Epiphany and Warren were left together to work out the girls emotional issues, which was likely to take a long time, today wasn't going to cover everything.

Still, they had 3 second generation novas, and 2 first generation novas who they had rescued, as well as 3 proteaus agents, or independents working for proteaus on ice, so to speak.

[Butch_Cole]

Though it took some time to arrange for transport, the youths were back in their mobile home, Primus, with a little bit of time before their original rendezvous with Sophia Rousseau. He was eager to exchange information and possibly the prisoners they had safely frozen on the moon. Given that this was originally her operation, Butch was very interested in hearing from Sophia about how things went at the other two sites.

With a minimum of difficulty, Butch had eliminated all traces of the sterility causing serum in the bodies of the three girls and their two mothers, and they were now just relaxing in the lounge. Something had to be decided about them though. The group had already taken in Zia and Eric, but Butch wasn't sure they could handle 5 more novas. Perhaps it was time they set up a colony or something along those lines. Whatever the case, things needed to be discussed, and fast.

Butch sent a message to all of his siblings over the network:

Our meeting with Rousseau is approaching fast. We need to talk about our guests, our prisoners, and anything we found in the mountains. Everyone meet up in the Bridge to discuss.

To the girls and their mothers, Butch said, "Y'all will be just fine here, so if y'all will excuse me."

With that, he made his way out of the lounge and to the Bridge.

[Maia]

Maia had gotten dressed again, this time in loose-fitting casual clothing, though it still looked amazing on her. What she'd done and become was still at the forefront of her mind. She knew Epiphany had watched as Maia snuffed the lives of their foes, at least forcing them to disincorporate again. She'd seen the girls and their mothers, but not stopped in.

She made her way to the bridge, still trying to wrap her mind about what had happened to them today, not just apothesis, but everything else.

"we'll make sure they remain safe, that's the most important thing."

[SalmonMax]

There's no safer place on Earth, Alex's staticky telepathic voice said. I have the secondary computer analyzing the data I downloaded from their files before they dumped the system. With any luck, we can get the locations of any additional bases, and maybe personnel records. As for the kids, someone please tell them they'e on a submarine, so no blowing holes in things.

[Karren Gaunt]

Coraline, even after undergoing a good toweling to get herself dry again after the mission, was next to flit onto the bridge and settle into a chair, chuckling at Alex's quip.

'Don't forget the modeling shoot we have tommorow at 10:30 am. We might want to give Mrs. DeVries a heads-up so they can be properly prepared to deal with more than they were expecting. Or whatever else we might decide to do with that for the rest of the six months,' Coraline commented over the link, before giving Maia and Butch a look and saying aloud, "If you'd like to let the rest of us handle this meeting and just rest in your room for a few hours until you sort of know yourself again, I'm sure we won't mind. I wouldn't mind anyway and that helped me a lot."

Krul said two or three shoots a week, so here I'm putting one for the same of story flow. Any objections and I'll edit.

[Butch_Cole]

Butch had not really had time to stop and think about the change that occurred. While it was nice of Cora to offer, he had far too much to accomplish before he could spend time on introspection.

"I'm good, Cora," he said, smiling. "I actually know more about myself than I did before the big A. I know a bit more about the rest of y'all too."

After a pause, he added, "How's Pip doing? Anyone see or get a chance to talk to her? I kind of left Warren to handle things with her, so anyone get a look at the two of them?"

[Toby Lupin]

"No." Darrik said, as he looked at the others. "Though to be honest, my presence would aggravate things. Seems she took exception to my finishing off Demon once she had driven him out." He sighed, then decide to offer something more. "Shall I visit the prisoners quickly and see if I can dredge anything up of worth that might be shared at the meeting?"

[Quantum Fire]

Shen and Serenity were waiting in the bridge, and Serenity was no longer holding onto her baseline form, she was fully nova at this point, and her beauty actually matched Coraline's, though it was somewhat different, for there was something, unearthly about her appearance, even though she was absolutely gorgeous, beyond the limits of most nova's, though Darrik and Maia completely overshadowed her, but Butch and Marina also came very close in appearance. The six of them in the same room was something like being in the presence of a glorious sunset over the Niagara falls.. it was almost awe inspiring, even without folks trying to be awe inspiring.

As you all step onto the bring, there is a soft whispered words from Shen, just loud enough for every one to hear. "May the divine have mercy.. even seeing this in the visions of the future, the impact is stronger then I imagined." Serenity looked at him a moment, and he nodded slightly, then reached out to take her hand.

Serenity then spoke up, and her voice was beautiful, if not quite as powerful or as beautiful as Darrik's. "Shen says that I should stop holding my nova form back, now that you children have grown beyond us in strength, and that it's time I allowed you folks to get more used to me like this, and I must admit, it feels a bit good."

"Also, when it comes time to interrogate our captives, this intensity is certain to keep them off balance when they are questioned." Shen spoke up and added his own bit of information. "Warren, you ready to bring our guest, Sophia here?"

Because I want to insure that appearance (and especially Mega-Appearance) is not discounted as it sometimes is, I'm partly making a point in this post about how intense Mega-Appearance can be at high levels.. Maia has 8, Darrik has 7, Coraline and Serenity both have 6, Butch & Marina both have 5.. all of them are fully attractive to both sexes, so much so that not even being of same sex doesn't keep folks from thinking the kind of thoughts you'd normally have only with regards to the sex your attracted too.. and the same intensity is there looking in a mirror.

Alexandra and Epiphany don't quite have the same intensity, though Pip has it a different way with M. Charisma, but both of them are extremely attractive to anyone who would be attracted to them, with Mega 3. Warren is the only one with normal appearance, though he is supermodel level apperance. Everyone except Maia and Serenity has a way of softening the blow.. so to speak.. (and neither Maia nor Serenity are going too have that change, in part due to the nature of their powers and capabilities)

On a different note, with regards to the folks you rescued.. Rose and Thorn have M. Appearance 3, Angel has M.Appearance 5, and Sharron has M.Appearance 3, and Tedra has M.Appearance of 4 ... Mindwave has Mega-Appearance of 2.. and the other two captive novas, who are both male, one has M.Appearance of 1, and the other has a regular (baseline) Appearance of 3... but bringing the three of them out of Cryostasis, the chambers which are on the moon.

[Karren Gaunt]

If she hadn't been doing some heavy-thinking of her own on the backburners of her mind over the fight and what it meant for her family, Coraline would had more than a small, genuine smile for Aunt Serenity at being about to undorm again. The sheer quantum-good looks on display in the bridge while impressive, didn't phase her terribly badly, some soft, little almost voice whispering into her mental ear and making her think twice about what she was seeing and hearing enough to keep some perspective.

"I was under the impression we were meeting Mrs. Rousieu where we did before and only some of us, both to keep the Primus and our full numbers somewhat obscured if possible," she volunteered, from her seat, "Did we change that while I was distracted or something?"

[Courier]

Warren mentally grimaced. A year ago he'd wandered beaches as a sort of warping supermodel. Somehow he'd morphed into the group's ugly duckling. Intellectually he knew, KNEW, he was equal to everyone here but that only slightly dampened the emotional impact. On some level he thought he'd gotten the short end of the stick, and that wasn't a rational, realistic, or good reaction for someone who owned the future, past, and present and who could crack the planet on a whim.

Warren struggled to get his head under control and nodded to Coraline, using her question to avoid saying anything.

[SalmonMax]

"I was gonna say," Alex said, glancing around. "Better to keep Primus to ourselves. We have all kinds of ways to meet offsite. Every time we bring an outsider in, that makes another hole in our security. Even if we trust Rousseau, can we be sure someone won't break her down and read her mind? We have to think about that."

[Butch_Cole]

With so many attractive novas in one place, Butch was quiet for a moment. Being around his family was becoming...difficult in this respect. He had only been back from their mission a short while, when he caught a glimpse of himself in a reflective surface and was amazed at how damn good he looked! Looking away from his reflection was difficult to say the least.

It was a change to see Aunt Serenity in her nova form rather than dorm'ed down. Butch was disturbed by how...well, hot she was. The same went for the rest of his siblings, and his thoughts were taking an...awkward turn that he didn't mind at first, but then...

He shook his head quickly to get rid of any, ahem, bothersome thoughts about his family.

"Before we meet up with Rousseau, we need to get some things straight," Butch said. "First, we need to figure out what kind of intel we have to work with. Alex, let us know what the computer finds. I'd have suggested we have Pip pull info from our captives on the Moon, but I doubt she'd want anything to do with that. Darrik, I guess we'll rely on you to, uh, coax the intel out of them. But," he said, pointing a finger at his shadowy brother, "no more executions unless absolutely necessary.

"I'm all for keeping Primus a secret even from Rousseau, but the cat may already be out of the bag. What about the girls and their moms? We're not about to go wiping their memories of having been here, are we? And I don't think we're keeping them here either. We're probably turning them over to Rousseau, yes? However, I'd suggest we talk with Rousseau on the Moon if we don't want her here. Our captives are already there and I think we should turn them over to Rousseau, too, once we get some information from them. That is unless we want to start up our own nova level prison."

He paused for a moment and looked at Warren, "Or we exile them. That's what you did to the others, right, Warren? And as for who should meet up with Rousseau, Cora, I don't know. I think only Alex, Warren, and Pip weren't there the last time we met her. I'd say if anyone wants to be there, they should if they really want to. I know I want to talk some things over with her and hear what she has to say. Plus, she's an ally and Uncle Shen trusted her enough to introduce us and let us know she had the best interest of novakind in mind."

He looked around the bridge at everyone gathered, and finished by saying, "So, some of us will have to go to the Moon either way to wake up our prisoners and let Darrik give them a talking to. Alex, I guess you should be there to deal with your fancy freezers. We should probably drain them of all their juice to keep them from causing any ruckus, too. I'd say minimum me, Darrik, and Alex go deal with them ASAP. We try to get Rousseau to talk with us on the Moon after that. Thoughts?"

[SalmonMax]

"We could use the old island base," Alex suggested." It's a dead end now, so we don't care if anyone finds it. We can move the cryopods down there easily enough. That way we don't expose our 'prison' location. Warren's not the only one who can get to the moon."

[Courier]

It was amazingly rare for him to correct Alex but this was his field and maybe she was as disoriented as him. Warren shook his head and said, "No, for a good enough time traveler that base leads to us. He might not be that good, or that hostile, but we can't assume either. We'll have to dismantle it and erase that we were ever there. As for the moon, we could use one of J2's moons, or 40 light years isn't enough we could use a dead planet further out. I'm sure Alex could whip up a temporary base in a few minutes."

Warren nodded to Butch and said grimly, "Yes. Exile. An alternative Earth. Humanity has never existed there, there's no people for them to abuse, no civilization for them to betray, if they want children they'll have to make them. The garden of eden is amazingly merciful but whatever. And I'll go with you, after you're done questioning those three they can join their fellows in infinity."

Warren's tone turned from grim to puzzled and he asked, "Back at the raid... was it just me or did some of the mother hunters die, but not die? Anyone have a clue on that one?"

[SalmonMax]

"Oh for pity's sake, how many novas can time travel?" Alex complained. "Anyway, whatever. I just think our submarine and lunar assets should be kept more under the table. Let Rousseau think we have to meet her in the real world. It's not much of a risk with Warren's warps handy for a quick getaway."

She glanced at Warren. "Dying but not dying? Run that past me again. Was that inside the base?"

[Quantum Fire]

At that point, Shen spoke up, his gaze had been slightly dazed as he searched the , then shook his head as he spoke up. "No." It was flat, powerful and final.. his words carrying a great deal of authority, such that he hadn't displayed all that often, but it was the sort of final no that one sometimes heard from a parent growing up.

Of course, they were grown up now, but the authority in him as he'd raised them still had a measure of influence, still, he knew that an explanation was in order. "You will not strand Mindwave, or Erin, as that's her real name, in another timeline to return to this one in the next year, more powerful, and with everyone you stranded, and the ability to bring Pax and all of Utopia to our doorstep, because she believes your actions were evil... you will also not strand her in time, to return 25 years in her time, but a month in ours, and matching you power over time.. you will also not erase her mind to allow her to reconstruct it over a period of a few months.. even killing her can have nasty repercussions, though those can be overcome.. either kill her, and take the potential repercussions, keep her suspended indefinitely, or find a way to make allies with the woman, all of the other potentials lead to a measure of disaster. I should add, before you take the first choice, Erin has never killed or harmed anyone who wasn't trying to do harm to herself or others, even without being hunted." He paused as he scanned the timelines both directions. "In fact, even the 2nd generation nova's that she was involved in their deaths, were doing things most of you wouldn't disagree are worthy of death..."

He paused. "As to Sophia.. by now, she already knows the locations of the unmoving bases on earth.. only a mobile base or extra planetary base would be able to be kept from her knowledge, and she's very resistant to telepathy, most telepaths would fail to get though the mental static protection she has.. but there are other ways to extract information, and she's not immune to all of them."

[Maia]

Maia nodded, standing there. "Then I will talk with her."

She looked to her other siblings. "There's no chance of me forcing her into anything, It's likely she will Know who I am among all of us. If she chooses to be an enemy, then it will be upon her head. But I would not wish to kill another nova today. If you, Uncle advise mercy, and she shows herself to be as you say, then it will be so."

She was still an unearthly Goddess, and more than anything she wished to keep everyone safe.

"Even if we froze her, who's to say her mind would remain inert? I'd rather she choose to be an ally, not because we forced and compelled her, but because she wishes to be. I realize some of you could make that happen, but it's still manipulation, which generally leads to resentment."

[Butch_Cole]

Butch thought about Mindwave, or apparently Erin, for a moment. She had surrendered to him and Butch liked to think of himself as an honorable guy. If he didn't think of himself that way, well, shit, he sure wanted to be honorable. While this was a war and all's fair and yadda yadda, Butch didn't want to have to execute the nova who surrendered to him.

"I didn't kill Mindwave or Erin if that's her name for a reason," Butch said, crossing his arms. "If we're gonna be more active in the world, we need to make connections with not only other 2nd gens, but 1st gens, too. There are a ton more of them than there are of us, and we're gonna need as many of them on our side as we can before too long, I think. Mindwave seemed genuinely reluctant about messing with young novas back at the mountain. So I gave her a chance. I think it's high time we start giving some folks a chance before we execute them or ship them to Earth 2 or whatever. Mindwave seemed a reasonable nova to start with. She surrendered and I gave her my word she wouldn't be killed. When it comes time, I'm gonna talk to her like a reasonable nova. If she doesn't play ball, then Darrik puts the whammy on her for info and we cut her loose to Rousseau. But we're not gonna do anything that forces me to go back on my word like this. If someone surrenders, there's an expectation that we treat them fairly. We're not gonna just judge them, use them up, and then toss them away to an alternate dimensional trash heap. That's not what we are. We're better than that."

Butch's tone was firm and serious, and he let his gaze linger on Warren for an extra moment. Understanding what Warren had done and what he was capable of made Butch uncomfortable. Before their next mission, they'd have to set some ground rules. No shadow blading helpless captives for Darrik. No exiling people to Earth 2 without a whole boatload of evidence as to why that's the only thing that can be done for Warren. No rotting anyone unless there was no other way of handling it for Butch. Things like that...

"I'm with Alex on setting this meeting up on the island," Butch continued. "Like Uncle Shen said, Rousseau most likely already knows about the island anyway. This keeps Primus and the Moon a secret, which I'm all for. I say we get our captives down to the island, thaw them out, and have a chat with them. Then we bring in Rousseau."

He looked at the gorgeous Maia, trying hard not to stare. A few short days ago, Maia was un-Apotheosized and zero-g dancing with him, which he tried to remember very clearly.

"Maia, we're not gonna threaten our ally without a damn good reason," Butch said. "We sure as hell aren't gonna freeze her. I sure hope you were mistaken there and maybe were still thinking about Mindwave. Rousseau is already our ally and we treat our allies well. We were raised that way. There's no room for argument here. Rousseau's been square with us and unless she really screws us over, there's no reason to even entertain the most fleeting thought of having to worry about one of the most influential and powerful 1st gen novas out there. We're gonna share every bit of intel we get from the computers, our new friends, and our captives with her. If she has something for us, great. We're gonna thank her and tell her to keep in touch. If she doesn't have anything, well, that's a shame, but we're not gonna let that get in the way of our working together. We're gonna thank her for the chance to help out and tell her to keep in touch."

Butch rose from the seat he was in and made his way over to the bulkhead, which he leaned on. He continued:

"Now, unless there's a very clear, very sensible reason why we shouldn't go back to the island for this meeting, I say this is our plan and let's get a move on. I think some of us should go and talk with our new friends, too. I fixed them up, and they're more than capable of having a conversation. And let's try not to turn their heads too much. We're just gonna talk to them like normal folk would. No unnatural manipulation. No threats. Just conversation. Who's in for that before we do all that other stuff?"

[Karren Gaunt]

Coraline was very glad her apothesis had included a measure of inhuman self-control or else she might have exploded at several points in this conversation. Instead, she was able to watch the back and forth between the brain trust and Uncle Shen's warning more or less a passive observer. Butch's plan was a good one, much as the general discounting of the island as a future home pained her to her core. And what Warren had done to those Motherhunters had been just. They deserved worse even if she understood why they had tried to do what they did.

"I'll speak to the girls and their parents. I don't have any social powers aside from my apperance, and even that can help me be less imposing than any of you," her chorus quietly offered even as a creeping change snuffed out her already dim quantum aura and softened her looks to a completely average baseline girl perhaps on the upper end of physical agility and grace if you squinted, her next words that of a mundane young woman, "See? Completely unintimidating unless one of you goes and punches me or something. Find out how they're feeling and what they want to do while you prep the prisoners and the island for our meeting with Rousieu."

It was a valid excuse to get out of here anyway.

Activated Husk

[Courier]

She glanced at Warren. "Dying but not dying? Run that past me again. Was that inside the base?"

Warren shook his head and struggled to describe what he'd seen, "No. The three hard cases outside all... when they died, it was like their quantum left. It's hard to describe and it was on the edge of my perception, but they died, but they also got away. I think they'll be back."

At that point, Shen spoke up...

Warren summed up, "Mindwave is a temporal nova, is legit enforcement, and Sophia already knows about the island. Well... good for them both. The island it is."

Warren frowned as a thought occurred to him and he added, "Opportunity there. Mindwave might be able to help us separate the legit defenders of humanity from the racist baby killers who are pretending to be."

"I'm with Alex on setting this meeting up on the island," Butch continued. "Like Uncle Shen said, Rousseau most likely already knows about the island anyway. This keeps Primus and the Moon a secret, which I'm all for. I say we get our captives down to the island, thaw them out, and have a chat with them. Then we bring in Rousseau."

Warren said, "Agreed what we do. Disagree on exile being a last choice move. I'm not opposed to judging people in depth. We can go to Earth2 and take a second or third look at who we sent if you want. Mindwave appears to have flinched when she got a good look at who she was working for, maybe she shouldn't have been there."

Warren continued, "But that was a Proteus murder, sterilization, and mindrape facility. We know how and who Proteus recruits for this sort of thing, 'Garbage' isn't a bad word but usually we say 'mother hunter'. They were Proteus spear-carriers, killing everyone there was a legit option."

Warren wondered if Butch would take him up on the 'go to Earth2 and judge them 'properly', it'd be interesting.

Coraline [said] "I'll speak to the girls and their parents..."

Warren nodded in agreement.

[SalmonMax]

"Oh, the signatures!" Alex nodded, animating a bit more as she warmed up to something more within her realm. "It turns out that a nova can embed more or less permanent information into the quantum field, especially where their signature causes a sort of 'island' that's shielded from outside perturbations. I think in most cases it happens out of instinct, a self-preservation adaptation just like growing armored skin or fast tissue regeneration. It just requires a higher order symbiosis with one's quantum signature is all. I did it on purpose which is the only reason I recognized what I was seeing."

"Somewhere those novas had duplicate bodies. When the ones they were using were too damaged to carry on, their signatures were drawn to the intact ones. Node interaction, probably."

She sighed. "It really pissed me off at the time. It means there's no way to keep the specifics of our attack secret. They saw the assault team, and what we did. Fortunately, we didn't have to do much, so we still have tricks they don't know. It just means the op wasn't as 'clean' as I wanted. And until we can find their spares, it means we can't really kill them."

[Karren Gaunt]

"Forgive me," chimed in the disguised metamorph with a shrug, "But if Darrik can give novas more powers, shouldn't he be be able to... take powers away? Hit a nova with that and they'll drop like anyone else. If it works that way."

[Toby Lupin]

"Temporarily, perhaps..." Darrik mused, "but I cannot confirm that yet. Your new powers will wear off in a few more hours I think, and any subtractions from a foe's quantum shadow would likely be temporary. We COULD kill them again, and if I am successful, it would be permanently..."

"I'll give Mindwave a talk, and a reasonable 'push' if need be, within acceptable limits. And I have no qualms about the island."

[Courier]

This wasn't what Warren had expected. He said, "Um... wow. All three of them, plus who knows how many others. I didn't see Demon go, he might still be alive. The crew I exiled are probably stuck, unless they can get back by just killing themselves. I'll need to check on them. Of course they probably don't know what would happen either so they might not risk it."

"This could be a... fringe benefit for high level Project Pro operatives."

[Quantum Fire]

"You don't need to worry about that Warren, those the three who managed to survive death did it because they were nova's with extremely unusual powers, less then 10% of the nova population is capable of such things, and less then 3% is capable of using your method of returning from the dead, Alex. In the case of those nova's, if you can't persuade them to join or at least remain neutral to your goals,, the best way to deal with them is not to kill them, but use Alexandra's cyrogenic stasis pods, then place them somewhere they aren't likely to be found, like deep inside one of the moons of the gas giants, or outside the solar system entirely, or even outside this reality, they can't resurrect if they aren't dead, and they are out of play if no one else can find them.. and if we should ever need them for something, they can be retrieved." Shen responded to Warren's concern with an explanation

"As to the island, as you folks are growing more active, a public base of operations might be in order.. in fact, now that you children are truly beyond being children, and in the top 0.2% of nova's in power level, then perhaps you should consider going public, at least as an organization, not as individuals, take on a name like Guardians of Destiny or something like that.. cheesy I know, but people react well to some names."

[Butch_Cole]

"Then let's not worry too much about them coming back for right now," Butch said. "We tell Rousseau that we took them out and they'll most likely be back. At this point, anyone who's involved in meeting with Rousseau might as well go to the island. I say we move our new friends there, get the captives down there and thawing, and prep for Rousseau. Cora and anyone else who wants to should talk with our new friends. Get a sense of what they're thinking. Darrik, I'm gonna talk to Mindwave first, see if we can get anything out of her without being, um, pushy. But I want you there."

He turned and looked at Maia and Alex. "I want you guys there, too. You're there as back up in case anyone gets any stupid ideas. These three get one chance to play it straight. I think Uncle Shen's got a good idea there. If we can get them to our side, great. If we can't then at least get them to be neutral. Worst case scenario, we keep them on ice and figure out something to do with them later."

Butch thought for a moment about the last thing that Uncle Shen suggested. That was a whole 'nother meeting they'd have to deal with. Probably best to table it until they dealt with Rousseau.

"And as for going public as the Guardians of Destiny," Butch said. "I say we table that discussion until after we deal with our captives and sharing intel with Rousseau. For now, let's get a move on to the island."

[Karren Gaunt]

Coraline didn't need to be invited twice, fliting off the bridge without another word and heading for the quarters where the rescued girls and their mother were housed. She wanted to get away from Uncle Shen and the others for a second, to emote her disbelief in private. Come up with a more complex argument than what she was thinking.

What. Going public? With a group name? That was... Insa... No, beyond insane. Selfish and cruel and all but evil to the 2nd Gens they hadn't found yet. The Mother Hunters would declare a black crusade and... No. No. No no no no! She would not inflict such a thing, even if it might make her life a little easier... No!!

The young metamorph tried to wrestle her thoughts into submission by the time she reached the rescued victims, eufiber flickering through every visible color of the spectrim in reflection to her outrage.

[Maia]

Maia nodded, knowing the others would do as they would. "I'll go then, to the island."

[Courier]

Warren said, "Moon first. Let's pick up Larry, Curly, and May and thaw them out on the island. And by all means, May first. Mindwave might have shown some humanity, but Larry and Curly haven't; Not flinching away from mindrape doesn't say good things about them but it does match Project Pro's recruitment practices. Earth2 has room for two more."

Warren was willing to be proven wrong but he clearly thought 'guilty' was the thing to plan for. Warren opened a moon gate and trusted some of his stronger siblings to follow.

He said conversationally, "Alex, when you've got a spare minute, think about long term storage pods. When the dark triplets come back it'd be nice if we could put them on ice for a few million or billion years. Between galaxies sounds nice and cool."

[SalmonMax]

Alexandra shrugged. "It'd be as simple as creating a long-term power supply and a few system redundancies to deal with wear and tear. Just be aware that nothing's forever. We could fit it with a solar panel and put in orbit around a rogue star outside the galaxy...but that's no promise that it'd never suffer a breakdown, or get hit by a stray comet or whatever. We can put those probabilities in the low point-oh-oh-oh-oh-ohs, but we can't get rid of them. Same thing with Earth two. Shen's got a point. Putting novas there means they'll have as much time as they need to develop whatever powers they want...free from competition or restraint...and they could come back someday."

She stepped through to the moon and started getting the pods ready for moving, and starting the 'warm-up' process on Mindwave's pod.

[Quantum Fire]

AS Coraline reentered the room with the nova's they rescued, the girls looked up and there was a soft gasp from them, and Thorn spoke up, she moved at sort of a swift superhuman grace, but her words were a touch blunt. "Wow, your even better looking then Angela, and every makes passes at her, male or female, even if your not a lesbian or bi, around Angel you are, with her at least... it's a good thing that she's bi." Angel who was sitting down talking to her mother, looked over and blushed slightly.

"Thorn!"

"What?! it's true Rose."

"But it's not polite to blurt out certain things, even when your excited Thorn." Her mother spoke up as she stood and approached Cora. "Thank you deeply for your help, if there is anything we can do to help."

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

Meanwhile on the moon, as Erin, or Mindwave stepped out of the Cyrostasis chamber, she looked at the cold goop that stuck to her and her clothing, and began to pull it off, removing her clothing in the process. "Please, I can't possible were these now, it feels.. like I'm covered.. in goop, obviously. I know you and yours no doubt want a talk with me, but can I get new cloth's if not a shower first?"

[Karren Gaunt]

"You're welcome," Coraline volunteered with a small smile, chorus content even as her eyes took in the scene, glad she was able to help save these five and pushing the issue of going public to the back of her mind, "But you don't have to repay anything. We're just giving to you what we were given growing up. At least that's how I see it. So how are all of you? My brother came through earlier to fix your bodies, I know, but if there's anything you want or need beyond that, I'm here to ask."

She perched on a chair, ready and attentive and as direct if a little more polished as Thorn

[Butch_Cole]

Butch figured that something like this would happen, so prior to leaving for the moon, he picked up a towel as well as a sweatshirt and sweatpants that Maia donated from her knockaround gear.

"You'll have to do with a towel for now," he said, tossing it to Mindwave. "And here's a sweatshirt and sweatpants."

He leaned against a wall, crossing his arms, after giving Mindwave the towel and clothing.

"I'm Butch, by the way," he said. "And yes we're gonna have a little chat. There are two rules. First, don't even think about using your powers. I drained almost all of your juice before you woke up, but if you've got some of it back, don't even think about using it."

He motioned to his siblings that were present. "We get twitchy when people do things like that. You saw some of what we're capable of, and I don't think you want to experience any of that or any of the other things we're capable of. Second rule: Don't lie to us. We'll know if you do."

He uncrossed his arms and put his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Ok, now that that's out of the way, let's chat. Here's what we know. We know that you were reluctant to take part in the evil shit that was going on at that facility. In fact, that hesitation is one of the reasons you're alive right now. Conscience counts for something with us. And it was evil, dirty, scummy shit that was going on there. I mean, replacing someone's mind? Come on. That's low-bottom, bottom-sucking, fiendish shit. We're talking about what boils down to mind rape. But you know all about that. You were there."

He paused for a moment.

"We know one thing you were hired to do specifically was to defend Demon. Sorry, but you failed. Your employers are probably not gonna be too thrilled about that. They're also probably not gonna be too thrilled to discover that you survived with knowledge that's harmful to them when it's discovered. In fact, they find out you're still alive, they'll probably hunt you down themselves."

He paused again to let that sink in.

"And we know your name, too, Erin. So, Erin, or Mindwave if you'd prefer, here's some of what we want to know:" Butch took a hand out of his pocket and began counting off questions on his fingers. "One: Who hired you? You're gonna give us all the info you have about them. Two: What else were you hired to do? Three: What do you know about what was going on at that facility? Four: How many other facilities like the one we destroyed do you know about?

"Let's start with that. Remember: don't lie. We're reasonable folks here, but don't piss us off by hiding anything you may know."

Butch waited for her response to his first few questions. Based on what she said, he was sure he'd have plenty of other things to ask. If Mindwave lied, Butch waited for one of his siblings to let everyone know. Loud and clear. If there were other questions anyone else had, they'd get to them soon, too.

[LydaLynn]

Epiphany had come back to the sub, but her mind was still chasing itself in circles. Finally she started to process, to reacquaint herself with the portions of her mind she had locked away during the mission. And she began to take Demon's mind into herself. To look through the memories and personality of the creature who she had killed. Slowly, carefully, she kept most of Demon separate from herself and dealt with him one piece at a time. She had learned to acclimate new personalities into her own when she was young, keeping herself the solid center and breaking the others into manageable pieces that slowly became a part of herself.

When she was little the process sometimes took months, months of being someone else and slowly regaining her mental footing. She no longer knew how much of herself was her true core and how much was an amalgam of the people she had absorbed. But Pip had learned to set herself apart, to slowly take what she could manage, reshape to be part of herself, and move past. This was difficult with the one called Demon. No child was born evil, so she started there.

[Quantum Fire]

When Butch showed up, she blushed slightly, not just from the situation as much as from a certain memory, and she hesitated a moment, then shook herself for a second, and she took the towel and cloths he provided, then stripped down to her skin, wiping off all the gunk and goo, before putting on the sweats he had provided. Then she looked up at Butch and there was a hint of gratitude in her as she looked around for something to take a seat on, but the room was empty of seats for him or for her, and she looked back at him a moment.

"No thumbscrews or telepath's to force their way into my mind? No one with superhuman charm or manipulation to interrogate me? Just the most handsome man I've ever seen, and the same one who spared my life?" She shook her head slightly. "That's good, well played actually, you must have a precognitive or something to know how much I would have resented any of the other possibilities."

"I wasn't just there to watch Demon's back, I was also there to keep him from going to far, and there was no way I could prevent them from doing what they were doing.. my powers aren't physical in nature at this point, I was doing what I could to limit the damage. But more then that I understand what proteaus fear is, that the human race may become extinct, replaced by gods and monsters.. I've read the minds of a few of the folks damaged by young nova's, nova children can be cruel, ruthless and twisted, until I touched the minds of Rose, Thorn and Angel, I had been convinced this was true of all child nova's, but they were raised with love and understanding.. and were not cruel at all... that made me wonder a bit, I think that they have been keeping information from me, something was out of place.. " She paused, and there was naked envy on her face as she spoke of them. "Before I became a nova, I wished a child of my own.. but I'm sterile, so that's not in the cards."

At the shaking of the head from Butch she looked at him a moment. "That I can fix..."

Longing was on her face at that point, as she looked up at him, she couldn't have heard what she thought she had. "You can what?!?"

"I can fix it, I already wiped the sterility virus from the girls and their mothers."

"Sterility Virus?"

"Well, yes, did you think nova's were just naturally sterile."

From the look on her face she hadn't know that at all, and she put her hands on the wall, then sat on the flood with a thump, betrayal and wonder on her face, then worry and concern, and a touch of rage. "Dear God... they've been feeding us misinformation for years."

She looked up at him. "What do you want to know?... I have spent the 4 years with Utopia, then went independent for a few years, and recently have been asked to work with a covert group, but they wouldn't tell me much about them... and I don't go around randomly reading minds, that would be unethical." She blushed red at that last, and then looked down again at her lap, with a hint of shame. "As unethical as changing a mind.. I didn't like it, but I should have objected more."

[LydaLynn]

As Epiphany processed Demon's mind, she had an idea. As it germinated in the part of her mind she locked away, it began to pull puzzle pieces together. But now was not the time, there was too much going on right now to cause another distraction. Later, when everyone was together. . . For now she would keep processing until she was ready to rejoin the family. Soon, there would be time soon. No, there had to be time soon. Pip knew that things had to change with the way everyone thought of the enemy or it might be too late. She wasn't sure it wasn't already too late. If it was, she would find a way to save what she could. That much she could promise herself.

[Quantum Fire]

"You're welcome," Coraline volunteered with a small smile, chorus content even as her eyes took in the scene, glad she was able to help save these five and pushing the issue of going public to the back of her mind, "But you don't have to repay anything. We're just giving to you what we were given growing up. At least that's how I see it. So how are all of you? My brother came through earlier to fix your bodies, I know, but if there's anything you want or need beyond that, I'm here to ask."

She perched on a chair, ready and attentive and as direct if a little more polished as Thorn

Meanwhile, in the Primus, there was a small discussion going on between Coraline and the five nova's that they had rescued, and they looked at each other a moment, then back at her. "So what do you plan on doing with us?" Angel asked, as she stood up, spreading her wings a moment to stretch them, then moving across the room with superhuman grace, her manner somewhat authoritative as the most beautiful girl among them put her hands her hips. "It seems pretty safe here, and you rescued us, so I assume the best of motives, but what are we going to be doing now?"

[SalmonMax]

Alex glanced at Butch, then nodded. "Have a seat." A comfortable office chair was now behind Mindweave.

"For what it's worth, I can understand the fear of extinction. Providing caesus belli for a nova/human war won't really improve matters though. What we're hoping to find, Mindwave, is a 'win-win' scenario for humanity and novakind. We're not out for genocide. That'd make us no better than the worst of the people you used to work for."

"Now Proteus wouldn't keep all their eggs in one basket. What do you know about other Proteus bases with nova experimentation going on? Or nova children?" She paused, then added, "Also, do you know who's calling the shots there? I smell a mega-mind behind Proteus, behind Utopia. I'd like to know more about them."

[Karren Gaunt]

"That's up to you," Coraline answered honestly, nodding warmly at *this* family's guardian, "We're going to be meeting a friend, Madame Sophia Rousieu, the one who told us about you, in a few hours to discuss the results of the mission. If you want to go with her to one of her safe havens, you can. If you want to stay here on the Primus with us, like two others we rescued, you can once we make some arrangements. You want to go back out there on your own, you can although we'd definitely worry and try to offer you a few safeguards before you left."

"All your choice, that's what we're trying to protect here. Feel free to tell me to leave if you'd like to talk in private, I really don't mind," she finished, brushing a lock of hair out of her face.

[Butch_Cole]

Mentioning the sterility virus was a gamble, but it seemed to pay off as far as Butch could tell. He appreciated Alex continuing the questioning and nodded thoughtfully as she spoke. Thankfully, she didn't come across as threatening or anything like that. Just plain ol' brainiac Alex...

Butch added, "It seems like you're willing to help us here, which we appreciate. So, yeah, locations of other bases? If you know of any other nova children we might be able to help? Names of anyone in charge? Actually, we'll take names of anyone you had contact with. And if you got paid, that info might come in handy. Figuring out where the money comes would be a great help."