Aberrant: Children of Quantum Fire - Where do we go from here? [5.13]

[Karren Gaunt]

"We were 12 seconds from being spotted by a satelite armed with who knows what tools and weapons on that mountain, Butch, and every one of those soldiers left behind, living or dead, was another potential lead back to us and what we can do. If we don't fight fast as we can, carefully as we can, they'll figure out who we are, and the next one of us Motherhunted won't be our toughest sibling backed by a completely unexpected 'titan class' nova. It'll be one of us at the receiving end of... What did you call it? A 'Nova Killer bullet? It could be bad," Coraline commented, "So we have to clean up after ourselves and move fast. We may not want or be able to hang onto everyone we take, but we can make sure they come back with as few clues as possible."

"At least until Congo and we openingly stand against Aeon's agenda. In which case things get... Interesting very quickly."

[LydaLynn]

Epiphany had sat silently and for the last few exchanges, more or less forgotten. As she stood and stepped forward, that changed. She wasn't holding herself back, she wasn't controlling her awe for that moment. The glitter of tears along a trail of water matted fur on her face showed her emotions quite clearly. For a moment she stood silent, the pulled her control back around herself, sure that she had their attention and not wanting to influence their reactions with her overwhelming charisma.

Pip takes a deep breath before speaking, her voice soft but carrying in the hush that her movement brought. "We're not all ready to kill. But that isn't what I'm wanting to discuss right now. Because I think I have an answer to many of the problems that have been raised."

Her wings flex unconsciously as she tries to settle her mind into a more comfortable place. "The things we agree on, I think we can do something about. Something real and meaningful and world changing. And it terrifies me, but I think we have to do this. No one of us can do everything that needs doing. And no one of us would be in the right to try. But all of us, all of us, working together . . . all of us, we can do things no one of us could do."

Another deep breath as Pip tries to collect her thoughts. A quietly raised hand lets them know she isn't finished, "You all know that I've struggled. There have been many things that I have found hard about what has been happening since we started interacting with the world. But this much I believe is something that we must do, we must stop the fear and hatred and killing. I've struggled trying to understand how this can be accomplished. I've worked on it incessantly for a while, only resting by working on the new language or stopping when I had to deal with the insane personality that was Demon that I absorbed at the mountain."

"Here is what I believe is possible. We can make the world understand, all of them. Novas and baselines, second generation and mother hunters. If they are intelligent, we can give them the knowledge of what it is to be other. For the last week I've been breaking my own guiding principles in preparation, but I can't do this alone. And now I see, there is so much more we can do than just make them understand."

Shaking her head, "I'm not being clear . . . Each of us has something we can do to make this better. Each of us can add to a solution, but we can't do it without all of us. I can give people the experiences, personal and deep, of others. Those who have been hunted, those who have been hunting. Those who live in fear of the 'nova threat' and those who have spent their lives in terror running from a faceless enemy bent on killing them for existing. I can make those memories a part of everyone, but I can't do it alone. I think that once people KNOW really know, from a personal place, what it is to feel what others are feeling, they won't be able to just ignore the humanity of those others and won't be able to kill so very blithely."

"But the thing is, in order to do this, I need help. What I would like to do, is create a virus, probably more than one, that would carry those memories to everyone it infected. That upon contracting it, because I am not powerful enough to push this out to everyone, they would gain the memories I would have planted in the virus. The thing is, we can put other information in. We can let people know about the options of colonizing other worlds. We can give information about safe places to take second generation children. And if one of you knows how to remove sterility . . . we can add that to the virus. We can get people thinking about the things that need to be done instead of reacting in fear to what they don't understand. And if we can manage it, maybe we can add other things to the virus, like the cure for taint. Like the knowledge that just because you're still baseline, you don't have to stay that way, and being nova can be reversed. Then we can send it through warps all over the world so it hits everyone at the same time and no one can deny what everyone knows."

She licks her lips for a moment, nervous, "But we would have to trust each other, on a very intimate level. I said I can't do it alone, none of us can. But . . . I think I can bring us all together, make us one. Only for a short time, but with all of our minds in a merge that could do what each of us can do, only more because we would all be there, at the same time, working on the same problems. We can look at the future as we work, we can bend several minds to the same problem in tandem, becoming not a sum of our parts, but exponentially greater. We can change everything. But we won't. Each of us would be a check for the others, a voice of reason. And we would be . . . more powerful than I want to think about, but also finally able to do what the world has struggled so long trying to fix."

Trembling slightly, though it was hard to tell what emotion, or how many emotions caused the trembling, Pip took a deep breath, then another. "We've already decided that we need to change the world. I'm just offering a way to change it now, drastically, and overwhelmingly. I have thought about it, I have asked questions, I have copied thoughts of the minds around me and looked at it from as many perspectives as I can. I think this is the best way to proceed. Especially knowing a war is coming. Maybe this won't stop that war, but . . . maybe, just maybe, it will make it better, slow it down, or bring all our allies together. I hope so, I believe we are capable of this, even if I am horribly sorrowful at some of the opinions expressed here. This may not be what we were born to do . . . but if not us, no one."

Finally finished speaking, Epiphany took a step back, bracing herself for what she was sure would be an onslaught of family voices.

[SalmonMax]

"That's nothing to rush into," Alex said thoughtfully. "A viral vector has a lot of issues. We wouldn't have complete control over where it goes and who it affects, for one. For another, much more threatening, there's the possibility of mutation.There's also the possibility that the human immune system will react so strongly to the infection that it endangers the host...or that it wipes the virus out before any transfer can be complete."

"There's also problems with credibility. Any information that can be coded chemically could be transmitted that way. It doesn't have to be real. Opponents could accuse us of the ultimate propaganda...and the sheer alienness of the process will create fear on its own."

She paused, then added, "Not to mention, once this genie is out of the bottle, we can't put it back. You wish to use this technique for instilling empathy, which is a good end, even if the means to achieve it is debatable. But imagine what happens once other people isolate and analyze the virus...determine how to change the information it carries. The possibility for viral mind control is very real, and we'd have little to no way to control what people do once this thing is released. You need to understand that while this idea of yours would substantially alter world opinion...there are those who's persecution of us have nothing to do with ignorance. We would be handing them an immensely powerful weapon. I also think the reaction of people might not be what you expect. They'd experience these memories, but they'd also know that those memories are not theirs. It would feel like an invasion. An attempt at control. A significant fraction of the infected would have the opposite reaction than you intend...and hate us even more."

"It's my belief that there's no miracle, no quantum shortcut that will make everything all right. I know for a fact that no cure for quantum backlash I can conceive of would ever be transmissable by virus."

Alex hesitated again before saying sincerely to her sister, "I'm sorry, Pip...that's just how things are, as I see them."

[LydaLynn]

Pip chewed on her lip for a moment. "I was thinking go everywhere, affect everyone. Not control who it targets, but make sure that there's something in it everyone needs to see. The baselines need to know what it is to be nova and the novas what it is to be a scared baseline and other second gens like us need to understand where the mother hunters are coming from and everyone needs to see what the mother hunters are and are doing. I truly don't think most people know what's happening or why."

"Maybe a virus isn't the best option, but it is the best I could come up with since I can't reach everyone on my own. You don't have to tell me that people would see this as an invasion. I know they will, I see it as an invasion. But I still see the need for doing this. Something big and drastic has to be done, the blinders have to come off the portion of the population that willfully put them on. Right now, there is no accountability for anyone, mother hunter, us, anyone, not really. As long as that is the case, as long as there is a way to hide what is happening from most of the population, we will never be free of the hatred and fear, and without overcoming those, we won't be able to stop a war."

"I'm sorry, I am not willing to fight a war for existence. That's what we're talking about here. So instead of telling my why it can't work, help me figure out a way to make it, or something like it, work. Maybe combined there'd be enough strength to push out past my limits and reach everyone without a virus, I'm really not sure how much of a difference doing this will make. I just know there has to be something we can do that doesn't revolve around killing. If there's not a way to wake people up . . . " Epiphany shakes her head as another tear rolls down her cheek.

"In this room some of the smartest and most powerful people to ever live are sitting. And all we're doing is arguing and poking holes in each others ideas. If we can't make it work, we who have lived as family and love each other, if we can't make it work, nothing can. Humanity and all its branches are doomed. There is no two ways about this. Maybe my plan isn't the best, but I'm at least trying to come up with something that doesn't involve destroying anything and doesn't use power just because I can. I don't know all the ways a virus can go wrong, I just know that right now everything else is going wrong. And we could be the only ones capable of making things better. Maybe the world is a boulder rolling down a mountain, maybe we can't stop that, but we can help choose where it rolls and try to stop as much destruction as possible. I think that's a better use of our gifts than finding the best way to kill people who don't agree with us."

[SalmonMax]

"Like I said, there's no shortcut," Alex said. "Not even for us. No magic button to push. Finding a way to resolve all these issues is going to take work, sacrifice, and involve risk to ourselves and those we care about. Nothing we do will change that. In that vein, I'm satisfied that the course we're on right now is, broadly speaking, heading the right way. We just have to find the patience to allow our plans to come to fruition."

[Courier]

Warren nodded to Butch in acknowledgement of his concerns but let the subject change for now.

Warren appeared to like Pip's idea before Alex shot it down. He said, "Pip, I'm strong enough now that my powers can cover a city, maybe more. Could you just... reach out and touch every mind in the world and show them? Powermax for Pip's Null Manifesto Two?"

[Toby Lupin]

"Pip... Warren. Do you really feel that the consequences are that relatively insignificant? That you might end up triggering a war or simply killing or driving insane many baselines unprepared to handle something like this? Are you that certain that removing the blinders will automatically convince the motherhunters that they are doing the wrong thing? The enemies we speak of are determined. They are committed beyond any reasonable doubt- it takes that mindset to do such a thing. For that matter, how can the world be in such trouble now? Is it all or nothing? What are you thinking is going on?"

[Karren Gaunt]

"No. Too big. Too complicated. Too much that could go radically wrong. I'd love to fix the world in one go, but your way would be like trying to make an omelete by having Maia hit the eggs with a hammer full force," Coraline countered bluntly, features pale and upset, fear in her blue-on-black eyes at such a gross violation of the freedom to choose unhindered.

"Just no. And if you choose to try, give me enough warning to be off world when you do so there's someone to help pick up the pieces if things go not as planned," she finished, chorus fracturing out of coherence.

[LydaLynn]

"What I think is going on is war. Right now, it's still skirmishes, for all the nasty that it's been for all of us. There is no two ways about it, the world is at war. And instead of two sides, there are dozens. And I think it's going to rip the world apart. And I know I can't be part of killing, not even peripherally. I'm sorry, but I can't. And that's the way of war, you kill or you are killed. I can only live with one of those options, which is ironic. I'm not saying my idea would fix everything, but it could be a step in the right direction."

Pip sighs and seems to deflate, "But fine, no one wants to work on coming up with a was for us to take that step. Instead let's hunker down, let's talk about how to prepare for a frontal assault on the Congo, about when it's right to kill people. Let's try to decide how to change the world by washing it in blood. No, I understand. The maybes are too heavy, let's stick to what we know."

"What I know is that I can't be here. This isn't meant to be a grand dramatic gesture, though it feels like it is going to be. But I can't live with the choices that have been made and are about to be made. I can't take the weight of another death. I . . . I can't." Shaking her head to dash the tears, "All my life I've known, KNOWN what it is to think and feel and be someone else, many someone elses. I have known the mind of the enemy because it has been a part of me since before I was born. I'm sorry, I don't see the world in stark contrast, I see all the subtitles that come from individual people who feel alone and afraid in a greater universe. . ."

Epiphany bites her lip before continuing, "I need to find another way. I need to know there is another way. I need to see that there is something in our future that isn't buried in death and violence. But here, listening to everyone . . . It's only too human. For all that we're more than they are, we are still tied to the weakness of humanity, the need to fight those who don't see the world the way we do."

"I need to go, I need to clear my head and know myself. I need to find my family and know what happened to them. And I need to not be here. I need to believe you are all the wonderful people I can feel you are, but that I don't see anymore. I want something that holds out a hope that there could be more, but I see there isn't. I'm sorry, but I can't live like this."

[Toby Lupin]

"Pip." Darrik got up, carefully facing her. "Before you go anywhere... I'm going to ask you do something, something I think might help you understand the fallacy in your logic." He took a breath, daringly deciding to say it. "Go into my mind. Read all my life's story. Then I'm going to ask you some questions and you will answer them honestly. Will you?"

[Adrian Moss]

"If you want to influence an ant colony, you don't need to contact the workers, you just need to contact the queen. They produce the pheromones that regulate the group as a whole. The same goes for multiple colonies. For Pip's plan to work, we don't need to contact all the minds in the world, just a few hundred, maybe a thousand."

"Key world leaders, heads of media syndicates, Intelligence Chief - people who decide what information other people get, how it is spun, and what the message is. I get the feeling that what Pip needs is for Alex to compile a list of likely choices, we as a group decide what message and information is delivered, and Pip does the mental arithmetic to see how it can be done."

"I say Pip's plan is doable, if she can reach a thousand minds simultaneously."

"Remember, every river is a raindrop that dared to fall. Every avalanche is a single pebble unhappy with its lot in life. Think Big, Start Small."

[LydaLynn]

Epiphany took a deep breath, she steeled herself. Darrik was the hardest of the siblings for her to interact with. Slowly she nodded, "Only if it is a two way street. Only if you agree to see mine."

[SalmonMax]

Alex sighed. "Shaman, the ones in charge are the ones that won't care. They know what they're doing, and they know the cost, and they're okay with it. Showing them that people are suffering because of them won't change anything."

"And Pip, I think it'd be great if we could fix everything as simply and easily as you're saying, but we can't. And if that's too much for you..." she shook her head. "Anyway, go ahead Darrik. I think I'm done here."

She turned and started walking away.

[Maia]

Maia sat in silence, trying to decide if Alex had the right idea. Epiphany's idea was every bit as dangerous as the star. She agreed that showing many would bring them over, but the ones pulling the strings, they would not, did not care. They knew as Alex said, what they were doing. Those in Command had to.

"Just wait Alex, just abit longer." She called to her sister, knowing almost as well that things had broken down, and nothing would be decided.

[SalmonMax]

"For what?" Alex asked without turning back. "I'm done. I have my goals, and I have my plan, and nothing I've heard here makes me think changing any of it is wise. You guys go on and do...whatever you want to do. I'll do the same as I've always done, and keep the rest of you as safe as I can while I work out how to save as many others as I can. I've got some good leads, so you don't have to worry. It's under control."

[Adrian Moss]

'Because they'll know,' Shaman wanted to say to the nova he had barely met, but he didn't see the point either.

'When the barracuda jumps into a sea full of fish, it is still a sea of fish. Mankind does not react in the same way fish do, either.'

'They will come calling ... and if they are more ready than we suspect ... we band together not only to add to our strengths, but to cover our weaknesses, or our arrogance.'

'And if she is not arrogant?'

'Pray she doesn't find us an obstacle.'

'That's a sucky thought.'

'Let's look at it another way.'

'Okay, but we are only telling Maia. I'm getting the impression people aren't really listening to me anyway.'

'It's the gravity of power.'

'Amen.'

'What's the thought?'

'Theory: The people behind the Mother Hunters know what the 2nd generation are capable of.'

'I'm with you.'

'Theory: They know what to look for, but its more than a scale of power, but one of intellect.'

'What's the term?'

'Sphinxes. Anyway, what would I, being an enemy Sphinx, be looking for in the way of a new Mega-Smartie?'

'Well ... if I wanted to find out, I would set a trap. A honey-trap.'

'It would have to be something they couldn't resist, even if they suspected a trap.'

'Crap.'

'Do we tell her?'

'What? That we have a theory with absolutely nothing to back it up? At best she has no opinion of us, at worse, she thinks were an idiot.'

'Comparatively, we are an idiot.'

'Yeah, that sucks. Maybe she's thought of this already.'

'She has, but so have they.'

'But ...'

'And they know the terrain, and they know what to look for having played this game among themselves for the past two decades.'

'And she's been outside the island for how long?'

'A year, maybe?'

'Are we so powerful?'

'What's the movie line?'

"Yeah, that's it. Don't write checks your node can't cash," Shaman mutters to himself.

'That was our out loud voice.'

'Craptastic.'

Sheepishly, "Sorry. Talking to myself."

'The thought should be not on the strength of the current, but the size of the rocks unleashed.'

'If she can win, what then?'

'I count those odds to be quite long.'

'Yeah. Too much flash and not enough bang.'

'That's an unknown. She could be on a whole other level.'

'Am I the only one thinking that the World isn't going to just roll over?'

'At the very least, no one has talked about the strength of the opposition and how to get around it.'

'Yeah, I noticed that.'

'...'

'Paging Mr. Mal. Caestus Pax to the Courtesy Phone.'

'Some days I could just kill myself.'

[Karren Gaunt]

Shaman's muttered comment got a chuckle and a nod out of Coraline, the young metamorph acknowledging how big a task they all were facing.

"Don't apolgize. You have a point, Shaman. We need to be careful because this is still their world, not ours, and we've all seen how dirty they're willing to play to keep it that way," Coraline's chorus commented, expression nuetral after her previous failure of composure, "Pip, Darrik. Would you like to go somewhere private to do your... exchange? One of us will catch you up if we're all still here."

[Butch_Cole]

Butch shook his head and rubbed his temples between thumb and forefinger.

Where to begin...

What a...what did his dad call it? A Charlie-Foxtrot. Clusterfuck.

Pip's quiet the whole meeting and then of course she opens her mouth and does her usual thing and fucks with the program. At least she didn't get a chance to run out of the room in tears like she usually did. No, instead she hit them all with her...plan and then smacked the family in the face by saying she's not only gonna run out of the room but the whole damn planet and solar system because they've killed people and would probably have to again, because they wouldn't help her with her plan.

Plan. Jesus wept. A virus that forces their memories on everyone? Yes, clearly, everyone would experience these memories exactly as intended and be like, "Oh, we've been so horrible to each other! Now let's hug it out and be awesome to each other! Hooray! Time for Kumbay-fucking-a!" And the moral implication of changing the mind of everyone on the planet...my God...

Memories that belonged to others...isn't that what ruined Pip in the first place? That'd be a fine world. Every five seconds someone would be crying and running out the door...

It was just...wrong. For all of the reasons that the others had articulated against Pip's idea. Butch would have no part of it. If any of them could create a virus to do things like this, it was Butch, but there was no way he would take part. Like Alex said, if we could fix everything simply, it'd be great. That's just not the way the world works.

He looked at Pip and felt sad. What bothered him most was the fact that maybe it was best for her not to be a part of what they were doing if it was going to mess her up so much. If she needed to go off on her own, find her own way, then maybe that was for the best for her. It made Butch feel powerless, like a failure, and he hated it.

Family sucks.

When Cora spoke, Butch chuckled when she offered to catch Pip and Darrik up on anything.

"Cora, do you really think we'll get anywhere else tonight after this?" Butch shook his head and got up, following Alex. "If y'all want to keep talking go right ahead. If you decide anything, try to keep me in the loop, you know where I live, but we all know how well we all are at doing that, so, whatever. These meetings don't seem to do any good, and I don't know why I bothered."

With that, Butch left the room and caught up with Alex.

"Hey. Hold up a second. Are you off to work on something right now? I know you'll probably say you don't need or want any help or that I'll just slow you down because you're so much smarter than all of us, but I want to feel like I'm accomplishing something after that clusterfuck in there. Selfish? Probably. But just humor me and put me to use if you're off to work on something. Please."

[Quantum Fire]

End of Thread

Also, except for Fictions, End of Chapter 5

XP: 4 Standard, 4 Baseline, 4 Nova

Extra XP awarded for end of Chapter