Aberrant: Children of Quantum Fire - [Interlude.Alpha] Training Grounds

[Quantum Fire]

Time Frame: March 31, 2027.. Beginning of Training..

PC's & NPC's: Maia, Coraline, Justin, Shen (possible invitation to a couple of others later down the road)

Alexandra’s Temporal Field generators were now placed thoughout the area, with an enhancer within every square mile, here in this valley in the Himalayas, the center of it a small freshwater lake, and within that an island from which rose a pagoda, both the isle and the pagoda had been created by Shen and Alexandra in concert, it was a training area, but it was also the generator for the temporal bubble… which would concentrate a years worth of training into three months.. It was a marvelous piece of work, and had required that Alexandra work with Warren to get the details down.

At the moment, Shen was taking each of his students aside for the first and most important challenge with regards to their training. It would be about balance in body and mind, self control, precision, perfect control over mind and body, meditation and katas, martial arts and meditation training.. But also he felt the need to push them mentally and physically, to open their minds to new ideas and possibilities… they would be the future of Qi Meng, his most powerful students, Jason could carry on if he taken out, as could a few of his other students, but each of these would bring new possibilities and potential, and eventually take on a number of students themselves.

He had each of them waiting within a room within the pagoda, it was time for the mental challenge, each of them would need something to bring them into the right mindset… and the first was Maia.. He entered the room she was waiting, sitting and wearing jeans a t-shirt, sense he told her not to wear anything formal, whatever she was to wear would be provided.

Shen paused a moment, studying his beautiful girl, and took a deep breath, he didn‘t want to say this, but he thought it necessary. “I have a somewhat different requirement for you, during your training, I don’t think your going to like it much. One aspect of Qi Meng is accepting what is, this is part of the Tao, accepting the nature of reality.. and to some degree Qi Meng revolves around this idea.

The nature of your reality, Maia, is that using your full potential destroys whatever your wearing… and you hesitate sometimes because of that, in the future that could cause someone to be hurt because your not living up to your full potential.

I find it somewhat endearing how shy you are sometimes, but, I want you to spend your training wearing nothing you can destroy. To clarify, Alexandra has a holograph generator and has managed to reverse engineer neofiber as a sideline, and I believe you can wear that, with some issues.. But you can also chose to wear nothing.”

Maia responded a bit shyly "Just us, Cora, me, you, and Justin?"

"For the training, yes."

"Then I'll fight how I'm best able, uninhibited..."

“When your ready then, step out of the room, join us on the training grounds, your birthday suit is your training garment in that case.” He then left her, that would create a challenge for the others as well, and to some degree himself, but then he was able to shift the impact of her beauty away.

He walked down the to where Cora was waiting, and stepped inside, she was wearing the training Gi, and not the Eufiber, as he had instructed, she wasn’t to wear her eufiber during training at all.

“Here is your requirement, Cora, if you can meet it, each day I want you end the day painting some scene from this valley, it should be serene and beautiful.. And you can’t leave the training grounds, while the temporal generators are active... Furthermore, I have a library of books here, I want you to memorize the Tao Te Ching, I know that isn’t going to be as easy for your as some of your siblings, but in your case I think it’s worth it. Also, pick 12 biographies from the library, I want you to study those lives, and meditate on them, consider both the excellence and limits of baseline‘s, and how they managed to work around them.. Your sometimes contemptuous of baselines, Cora, I think you need to work on that some, try a bit of understanding why they have those troubles, after all, I was one once.”

This was more like homework then training, it didn’t sound like it was going to be easy at all. “This is together with the martial and meditative training, and training with Alex and your sister, which isn’t going to be as easy as you think… now, think about your commitment to this, make sure you want to do this.. And meet me in the training yard when your ready… now, I need to go talk to Justin..”

He left then, to speak to Justin and for him, there was only one real requirement, to live with Maia’s requirement for training, it was enough to test his strength of will and concentration over the next months of training.. Shen only left to give him warning and to explain what was expected of him during training.. All that was required, was that he maintain his self control, he could train with Maia and Cora, but he and Maia would have separate rooms during training..

Going to the bottom floor of the pagoda, he sat crosslegged and waited for his students to join him here in the training grounds, even as the temporal generator was activated..

[Maia]

Maia, stood in the room, letting what she was about to embark upon sink in. "If I do this, then there's no holding back, no hesitation."

She looked to the mirror, and nodded. There was nothing about her physique to be ashamed of, and she knew that. Few could boast of a body like hers. That was part of it, she didn't want to boast, or really flaunt it. Despite the photo shoot and the modelling, which had been put on the backburner for now, and her love of it, it wasn't flaunting to her, she was fulfilling a role, and making good on a bargain there.

She removed her shirt, revealing smooth white skin, her supple breasts restrained by one of the bra she'd gotten from the last shoot, a lacy black number she knew Justin would like. This would be hard on him, having to look at her, and knowing she wasn't ready.

She unfastened her jeans, sliding them off, revealing the full extent of her long flawless legs, and the black panties beneath. She blushed slightly thinking about Justin, how there was a part of her that wanted to do this for him, just for him, but knew such a thing would have to wait. Shen was helping them both, and deserved the fullness of their attention.

Deft hands and nimble fingers removed the bra, letting it fall to the floor, followed quickly by the panties, and for the first time in awhile Maia stood back, taking in her own nude form. The smooth flawless skin was the same complexion as her mother's, and the firm toned muscle, her bearing, that reminded her of her Father, both Blockbuster, and Einherjar.

"Nothing to be ashamed of Maia, besides, it's nothing anyone here hasn't already seen before."

With a final resolute nod, she turned and made her way to the door, the last chance, and didn't hesitate, stepping from the room, the air flow from her movement causing her hair to billow behind her, leaving nothing hidden, as she made her way to the training grounds, naked as the day she was born, and in truth, feeling calmer already.

[Karren Gaunt]

“Here is your requirement, Cora, if you can meet it, each day I want you end the day painting some scene from this valley, it should be serene and beautiful.. And you can’t leave the training grounds, while the temporal generators are active... Furthermore, I have a library of books here, I want you to memorize the Tao Te Ching, I know that isn’t going to be as easy for your as some of your siblings, but in your case I think it’s worth it. Also, pick 12 biographies from the library, I want you to study those lives, and meditate on them, consider both the excellence and limits of baseline‘s, and how they managed to work around them.. Your sometimes contemptuous of baselines, Cora, I think you need to work on that some, try a bit of understanding why they have those troubles, after all, I was one once.”

This was more like homework then training, it didn’t sound like it was going to be easy at all. “This is together with the martial and meditative training, and training with Alex and your sister, which isn’t going to be as easy as you think… now, think about your commitment to this, make sure you want to do this.. And meet me in the training yard when your ready… now, I need to go talk to Justin..”

Coraline spent a long minute or three in thought, the time even longer as quicksilver thoughts darted through her brain at what this would entail. The first part of her training had been hard, consuming a good 14, 15 hours of her day those three weeks before and after her apothesis learning about the flow of the world and getting it to work with her, not against her. And then there was her killing of Sarris, another kanker in her thoughts.

And now, to fufill her duty and potential as Uncle Shen's student she'd have to take up an even heavier burden with the Congo on the brink of war. No wide wonderful world for a year after too short a time finding it again. A course of study that made her baulk inside on levels both emotional and mental. No Norman or Rainbow Room or talks with Butch interludes to break it up. Training against Maia and Alex that would have as much to do with easy as she did with slow. The young metamorph could feel the chafe of this training already.

There was nothing for it though. She'd do what she promised to do and find what joy she could from the now and pushing herself to her limits. Coraline rose to her feet in a smooth, easy motion, nodded to her reflection in the window, and made her way to the training grounds, silent and introspective, the calm at the heart of the storm.

[Quantum Fire]

Justin had just arrived on the other side of the room, Shen was sitting to the north, his eyes closed as he waited for each of his students to make the choice to commit themselves and arrive to begin training. He was somewhat pleased that Justin was first, although the boy didn't really know what he was getting into, and was still getting used to his new abilities, there was a lot of potential in that one.

"Dear God in Heaven." Justin whispered as Maia stepped into the room, wearing nothing but her skin and her beauty hit him like a ton of bricks, for a moment he felt almost like he was falling in love all over again... and there was a strong sign of longing in his eyes as he forced himself to look away from her impossibly beautiful body to met her eyes, forcing his gaze to met and acknowledge hers, and he knew suddenly that Shen's requirement here was going to be harder then he thought.

As he closed his eyes a moment to give him a moment to think and to try to mediate a moment, then he opened them again, to see Cora step into the room opposite shin, and the four of them formed the four points of a compass between them, an indication of how carefully and precisely Shen had this place built and as Cora came to a stop.. Justin paused a moment to think how hard this was, with two of the world's most lovely women training with him, and the one he loved wearing nothing at all.

Shen was fully aware of how much a difficulty each of his students were having, and were going to have, and his eyes still closed, he spoke up. "Welcome, each of you have been offered a choice, and accepted, as of this moment, we are Students and Master.. together, we shall walk the path, seek the essence of shift and flow, strive to find balance within and without, but your first lesson is self-control, each of you have a task here, the study of Qi Meng is to embrace harmony with the flow of quantum and chi.. to be a nova is to swim within a river of quantum, in this way, taint is disjunction and disease, changing what should be a fish swimming smoothing though waters, into a twisted and diseased creature.. as you master Qi Meng, you will become the purest of swimmers.. "

He stood up, and opened his eyes, and held open his hand before him, a stone basin rose from and and he poured water into it.. "Water is yielding, it is thin and easy to part, and yet it breaks down mountains... seek to be as water." He looked around at each of the students present. "Maia, embrace your strengths and your limits.. Justin, discover yourself and look beyond... Cora, see the whole not simply the immediate.. in the terms of some, what I am asking you to do, is embrace the Tao, to be one with all that is, both within and without. Now, training begins, wisdom is found in understanding, ask what you will.. then we shall meditate and spar."

[Karren Gaunt]

"I have two questions, Uncle Shen. First, what quantum abilties will we be allowed to use outside the formal drills you assign us? Second, why so... severely isolated a training schedule, this bubble of accelerated time?" Coraline interjected, her chorus showing a note of worry, "If Qi Meng is about balance in the world and ourselves, surely a more balanced training schedule would be better to teach it. Unless something more threatening than this Congo conflict we also need to be preparing for is coming that would prevent you from picking up with us after it lets off."

And on that note, she sounded *and* looked distinctly worried. Uncle Shen had never forced anything on a whim. If he was doing this this way...

[Maia]

Maia looked first to Justin and nodded, mouthing "Thank you." and then looked to Cora. "The impending destabilization of the Congo, the attacks, are serious enough Cora. Our family will be drawn into it, and here and now this training is to prepare us." That she felt the three of them needed it perhaps more than others, she left unsaid. She knew for sure why Justin and she were there.

She looked to Shen and nodded. "There's something else though isn't there?"

[Quantum Fire]

"There is, I am not ready to speak of it, the shape of the future in that direction is still unformed, but, you three need to much further in your training by the end of this year, and there is not enough time left for that.. so, shifting the folds of time makes it easier, this will still take a year, but the time within this temporal bubble is greatly accelerated, a year will be about 3 to 4 months outside.. " He moved to one side of the room, with a near perfect grace, and then looked back at the three students gathered.

"Now, we begin, the movements of Qi Meng are designed to flow like water, much like the T'ai Chi I taught you, Cora, but there is more to it.. follow my movements, attempt to match me as though you are a mirror, and listen to the sound of your heart beat, attempt to match the beat of the heart with the flow of action.. go no faster, and no slower then I do." He began a series of movements, kata's really, starting as simply human speed.. but accelerating even as he continued to speak.

[Karren Gaunt]

Coraline complied, the ease of practise allowing her to slip into the pattern into the moving meditation of the kata, but she did allow herself one quicksilver worry at her mentor's vague pronouncement and the implication that by the end of the year he'd no longer be able to teach them. The concern crossed her features and vanished under the focused calm of the drill, but the core questions did sink into her subconcious for later worry.

Was she willing to remain cloistered here if by going out into the world, she could save Uncle Shen from whatever vague doom hounded him? Was that a risk she was willing to take, trading a live guardian for a dead teacher?

[Maia]

Maia nodded once, and took the same stance, and within a movement, had managed to synchronize herself to her uncle/sifu. She focused on clearing her mind of distractions, focusing on the flow of the movement, maintain speed and fluidity of motion, and Then she focused herself inward.

Her own heart beat powerfully within her breast, though it didn't always need to, and could slow to a fraction of what was considered normal. She focused on keeping it steady, like the gentle flow of a river.

[Quantum Fire]

Slowly over the next week or so, Shen began to guide his young students, sometimes dealing with them one on one and sometimes together, it was a bit of a strain at first, but Justin also slowly adapted to his girlfriend walking around nude, well, adjusted would be the wrong word, found a way to focus in the midst of it might work better. Coraline had the most trouble, in some ways, the girl felt confined to a cage when she had the entire universe open to her, it was almost stifling.

It was after a week that Shen took each of his students aside for a measure of personal council and training. Cora found herself with the seven paintings she'd worked over the week displayed on one wall of the room where Shen took her. "Lovely pictures, my dear child.. your finding this harder then you expected arn't you?" At the nod from her, he smiled slightly. "Then perhaps I should explain my reasons for it? Confining you to this local area lets you understand humanity better, some people live and die never leaving an area any bigger then this, and don't even feel the lack. The painting and pictures allows you to get to truly know and ground yourself to this area, to know it as someone who grew up and spend their entire lives here would, and the reading assignments allows you to study and know the history and lives of the world better. This way your body and your mind grow more in tune with what is, with the rest of the training.. you may not believe it, but in time this will grow easier. Your thoughts on this?"

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

Maia he met with a personal consultation on the edge of the lake with the sands of the lakeshore beneath her bare feet and the gentle touch of the wind on her body, if she was not capable of adapting to it, it would have been cold, but Maia was completely comfortable with it, as her body was perfectly adapted to the weather. "So, here we are, you've spent the first week in training, I think having Justin here has made it harder, but you seem to be growing to accept the way of things, little hesitation to use your full speed and power, sense it doesn't change anything at all, rather then the momentary hesitation I've seen in the past when your wearing something, because you don't wish to damage it or end up nude... any thoughts?"

[Maia]

Maia smiled at him. "I almost feel free." She nodded. "Not having to worry about who saw me, or how it might be embarrassing, it's empowering." She shook her head. "At the same time, I admit a moment's hesitation. If I were to lose control, or to cut loose with all I had and strike something or someone, well you saw what I did to that Proteus outpost. That's nothing compared to what I could do if i ceased all restraint, and gave in."

"One cannot control the flow of the river forever, and in the end it will go where it will." It was almost an admission of defeat from her.

"I want to learn finer control, to make it effortless Uncle. It wasn't just being rendered nude, Ever since that first incident, where we rescued Eric and Zia, when I punched that nova, and destroyed every bone in his body, I felt it. I felt organs rupturing, bones almost exploding into thousands of shards... That's part of why I hesitate, why I hold back. I hit him without thinking, just as a reaction, and did so at full power. What if it had been deflected, into one of the others?"

She laid back onto the sand, her breasts rising and falling as she breathed. "I'm not afraid of my power, but the consequences of its use weigh heavily upon me."

She looked at him. "Having Justin here is hard, and I know it isn't easy for him either. I'm glad he's here though." there was a girlish shyness to her smile, and a tone that could only belong to a young woman in love. "Even though we train, it gives me some time to get to know him even better, a full year in three months." Maia's concern, her desire to know were markedly human, much as they had always been.

[Karren Gaunt]

Cora found herself with the seven paintings she'd worked over the week displayed on one wall of the room where Shen took her. "Lovely pictures, my dear child.. your finding this harder then you expected arn't you?" At the nod from her, he smiled slightly. "Then perhaps I should explain my reasons for it? Confining you to this local area lets you understand humanity better, some people live and die never leaving an area any bigger then this, and don't even feel the lack. The painting and pictures allows you to get to truly know and ground yourself to this area, to know it as someone who grew up and spend their entire lives here would, and the reading assignments allows you to study and know the history and lives of the world better. This way your body and your mind grow more in tune with what is, with the rest of the training.. you may not believe it, but in time this will grow easier. Your thoughts on this?"

The painting had certainly helped to focus her past the dual itches of the sky which had been taken from her by her own descion and the vague threat that kept Uncle Shen from teaching them this later after they had more experience in the world under their belts. Well, her belt at least. Maia and Justin were much better prepared for this than she was.

"I can see the why and the how of your instruction, Uncle, even if I do not enjoy and fully understand it yet. I certainly haven't been able to seperate out the parts of my chi which exist seperate from my quantum using the katas and moving meditation techiniques you taught me in our previous training," she confessed simply, looking across at him in her training gi with a look of focused calm, "It is... very difficult though, the contrast after my trip with Norman exploring ourselves and the solar system, the prospect of being isolated a whole year like this when there's so much out in the world I need and want to be doing, seeing, being, to protect our future."

There were whole annals of very private thought in there that Coraline wasn't quite willing to share yet, not until she had digested some more of it herself between rounds of her studies.

"But I will abide until I understand or can no longer maintain the serenity and balance I need to keep benefiting from what you're teaching us. I promise that."

[Quantum Fire]

Shen smiled at Maia, letting her relax a moment then gave her his hand and lifted her to her feet in one easy pull, both of them possessing perfect grace and control, as well as superhuman strength. "Well then, that's perfect for the exercise that I have for you, then, I was going to wait a while longer, but if your looking at it that way, this is perfect, alright young lady, follow me if you will." With that he turned and walked though the brush and trees for a while, until they stepped out onto a terrace, upon with were 100 stone statues, all of them were carefully designed works of art in their own right, some were ancient Chinese soldiers, such as the ones buried in the tomb of a Chinese emperor, others were animals from the Chinese zodiac, the terrace was a work of art in it's own right.

"Here's the task I have for you, Maia, my darling girl.. you must puncture each of these status in under a second, with only a single hair, and it must be precisely placed, though the heart on each statue.. the whole must go though the entire statue, so that one would be able to look though it from one side to another, if you have the ability to perceive things on such a small level.. and you must do it within 10 seconds.. without disturbing any of the dirt on the terrace.." She would notice a very thin layer of dirt on the terrace at that point.

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

He didn't tell her that this would change in about three to four months, that he would expand her training at bit at that point, part of the point here was to put pressure on her, to make it difficult, to let her under stand her limits better and relate to baseline humanity must better. It was going to take time, but he thought she would be more resigned to the matter once she began to be able to see the world though the methods that a Qi Meng practitioner saw the world.

"I have an interesting task for you then, if your up to it, Cora.. I've hidden 100 gems within the lake and mile around it, each of them in different spots, I want you to find and collect them, in alphabetical order, they are arranged in a pattern of Chinese characters, I want you to reorganize them as swiftly as possible, then then put them back in the opposite order you took them out.. and do it as quickly as you possibly can."

[Maia]

Maia looked at him, and nodded slowly. The feat was beyond her. She knew this, without trying. Still....

I know my limits, and this may be past them now, but not always. I must rise to meet this task.

She looked at the dirt, and her hair began to part. Half a dozen individual white-blonde hairs were slightly separated out from the others, each far longer than one would imagine. For a moment she thought to fly, but her wings she knew would disturb the dirt.

Instead she moved between the statues, standing in their midst, and set into motion, her hairs puncturing the first few statues, controlling her movements, and in a couple seconds she'd had ten run through. Unfortunately, the unique effects of her signature came into play, and the rushing of air to fill the vacuum created when she moved through an area disturbed the dust, and she stopped. Her heard was not held in shame, but in acceptance. "Some things cannot be changed. They must be incorporated into how I will do this."

She continued, working hard to follow Shen's instructions, but after a time, and many many failures, her agitation began to show. A hair darted out, spearing the heart of the ancient chinese soldier, with such a force as to totally shatter the statue, the shards and remnants knocking over a dragon and another soldier, which in turn fell over, smashing others , until a whole sector of the terrace was covered with the shattered remains of many broken statues.

She slammed her fist into her palm, which caused another sector to fall, and let out an exasperated sigh.

Obviously, this was something she would not do the first time.

[Karren Gaunt]

Coraline studied Uncle Shen for a moment, creasing her brow in thought before asking a few questions.

"I can use any of my abilties to do this?"

Her teacher nodded.

"The English alphabet?"

Her teacher nodded again, smiling.

"The gems are marked that I'll be identify what alphabetical means here?"

Her teacher paused and answered serenely, "You have what you need to do that, yes."

Coraline didn't need anything more than that, bowing her head and flitting off into the air with the grace of a dolphin slipping through the water, spiralling along the arc that marked the limit of the timefield and not beyond, feeling the distorted air currents along the interface. She came to a halt above the lake and expanded her vision outward along the e-m spectrim, using the clues given to her to find the gems above ground and in the shallow water over the course of a few minutes, 76 of them. The other 24 must masked from easy view by the waters of the... Wait a minute.

She flitted down to one of the hidden stones and picked it up, examining it from all sides. No mark. No engravings. Just a yellow colored gemstone she had no idea what it... Wait. All of the stones she had found so far were different. If...

Coraline put the stone back and became light, fliting into the lake and searching for the missing 24 stones. She found them, equally unmarked, all of them different far as she could tell. But, Uncle wanted them taken alphabetically, and... The young metamorph's photonic form flickered through several angry colors under the surface of the lake, scaring fish, as she gathered what Uncle Shen wanted her to do. Not a test of speed and perception at all, but more study and thought and... Oh, node. Would that book she half-remembered seeing between picking biographies even have the information she could use to identify 100 different gems in the field? She spiraled from the water before returning to solidarity and beelining for the library. Features set and determined even as she allowed herself a moment of displeaure for Uncle's trial.

[Quantum Fire]

"Stop." Shen had been standing there on one side of the terace and he approached Maia, as he did, the statues began to reform themselves, as he once more shaped earth and stone to fit the permeters of this task. Putting a hand on the small of her back, he slowly guided her to one side of the terrace as he repaired the damage she had done to it. "Now, I feel I should add something, think outside the box a little, my girl... yes, the ground is covered with a thin layer dirt your not supposed to disturb.. and eventually I do want you able to run across within shifting a single spec of dirt, however.. " He did a perfect leap and was balancing himself on the head of a dragon statue, indicating his meaning by demonstrating as he explained. "That's eventually, as you practice until you get better, you might consider that there are 100 spots that you can stand without disturbing the dirt at all." He did a flip and landed on grass beside her. "Now, start slow, don't rush.. do it right then do it fast."

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When Cora passed into the library she would find Shen sitting there, reading a book on gardening and watching her, he raised an eyebrow and smiled at her slightly, of course he had known she would come here, she would have too. "The book your looking for is on the third bookshelf from the door, with the various books on geology." That the entire shelf was devoted to geology was about right, every one of the shelves in this library had a different subject. "You may as well take it with you, for the time being, it will be quite useful for the rest of the this week."

[Karren Gaunt]

Coraline didn't allow herself more than a respectful bow before claiming the book and vanishing in a faint whistle of near-invisible movement. By the heft of it, she would *need* a week, even subjectively, to identify the gemstones, even after figuring a method that she would have confidence in. And that was no guarantine. Node, she got it. Baselines had serious problems with things she barely even bothered thinking about most of the time. And lived more precarious lives where they won victories Coraline would consider small they treasured deeply. And that contributed to her sense of disconnect with the majority of humanity who had stood by or allowed themselves to be tricked into helping to destroy her generation.

The young metamorph knew she was very baseline mentally when it came to how deeply she thought about things, that this course of study wouldn't give Alex, Butch, or even Maia a fraction of the trouble it was giving her. That they'd have 'gotten it' long before she even finished digesting the facts themselves and even what they 'meant'.

She buried the counter-productive frustration away, wishing for a thunderstorm or a volcanic eruption she could channel the upset into next time she painted. She had gemstones to compare to this book and hope the publishers included all the information she needed to identify them.

[Maia]

Maia nodded, and stood back, an instant later, she lit atop one of the Tiger statues, her toes gripping the face lightly, her balance perfect. She closed her eyes and considered everything around her. Her hair separated again, and she focused, her eyes opening, and once again she sought to take down all the statues. She wasn't quick, but she was very accurate. As she virtually danced across the tops of the statues she speared their hearts, at least three times she landed on her hands, in somewhat awkward positions normally but her physical prowess allowed her to maintain perfect balance. The entire process, took her over a minute to get them all, but she crouched atop the same Tiger statue she'd begun on and nodded. None of the statues had broken.

The next run she shaved off a handful of seconds, but the next she shattered the dragon, landing with a bit too much force, her foot smashing it's head to dust. "Damn."

[Quantum Fire]

Shen watched each of the children he had spent so much time raising working on the tasks he'd given them, each of them were built to make it hard for them,e to push them their limits in one way or another. He knew that the was worrying them, and he couldn't help it, in six months, he would die, the exacts of it were somewhat hazy, and he would come back, he didn't know how long it would be, but he could be out of the equation for years depending on what opponents did he ended up facing. Of course, he could run from it, but he also knew that if he did, someone he loved would die, and they wouldn't be able to come back from it.

The future had shifts and turns, matters could turn out differently, but he estimated a high chance it would fall out this way, and that meant that he needed to train a few of his children, his wards to be able to take his place, for the sake of the future. It was an odd thing, to see and know the future, it was fortunate he had grown to it slowly, he knew that Justin was struggling hard with his change, that the change in capabilities was both heady and scary for the young nova, it would take time to teach him everything he needed to know, but Shen fully intended for there to be three more masters of Qi Meng to guild the world to a gentler future then the one's he saw..

He was prepared to show each of them what they needed to know, and to teach whatever they might need to learn in order to move to the next step here, both mentally and physically. He was actually going to ask Jason to help, both her and Danica were able choices to bring things quite a bit further and to take things to the next stage when the time came.

He was now focused on guiding them thought the various tasks he'd given them, and there would be others down this road, even with Cora going stir crazy and Maia and Justin focusing to keep from distracting each other.

[Karren Gaunt]

Slowly, what Cora had begun to call The List grew. Well, perhaps not slowly as baselines measured time, her form a speed blurred ripple that vanished a gemstone from some hiding place, flickered more or less in place, and then put it back some five to ten minutes later with it's name and location added to the sheet of paper.

Perceptually, in fact, it was taking hours for each stone, each one presenting a new problem and now, two-thirds into the task, she paused between each finished stone, wanting more and more to take The List and fling it into orbit on a course that would have it impact the sun. She'd take note on how long it would take to arrive and be there to watch the shreded fragments vaporize with a huge smile on her face before going to play tag with Venusian lightning...

It was around the fourth or fifth time she had that daydream that she realized she was going a little crazy, thinking negative, ruining the exercise by not anchoring herself in the now and allowing events to dictate what she was feeling. She was better than that. Needed to change the situtation or how she felt about about the situation instead of playing the victm. Set up a challenge within the challenge she could enjoy even if it made it more difficult. But what, but what... Ah. That could work. Maia's training was about control. The List probably had something to do with control. Maybe. Hopefully. She didn't know anymore. So she'd alter the exercise to put in some more overt control to keep her from drifting off.

And for the first time in years, Coraline focused on releasing the filters on her perception that she had put up years ago to survive on the island, see the world as it was without losing herself to her senses. She stiffened as the data pounded in, breath hitching, an ocean of impressions that threatened to drown her, but she... endured within the new pressure eating at her awareness. Okay, okay. Focus on the stone in her hand, see if the blue stone was topaz, apatite, or aquamarine while keeping an eye on that nearly detached leaf some hundred yards away. When it fell, she'd move onto something else on the cusp of happening. And when that happened, she'd move onto the...

[Maia]

by Midweek, Maia had shaved considerable time from her efforts, though nowhere near all 100 in ten seconds. her fine control of her powers had increased, she was quite accurate, and actually seemed to be enjoying the routine now, if her smile was an indication. She wasted no time, and each run got better and better She knew she could do this task, she just had to try harder. She tried a different boost, increasing her reactions far beyond the norm, and she could palpably feel the ticking of seconds, even as her hair skewered the different statues.

[Karren Gaunt]

And this stone hidden on the bottom of the lake was a... tanzanite.

Coraline went to write it down, her mind actually paying attention to two other things in addition to the main task at hand, a soothing distraction from the unending labor of flipping through the book and referencing the small mound of notes she's aquired on testing methods for the various classes of stones. A tiny fish inched out from cover. A leaf lost it's balance and was sent into flight. And Coraline's pencil marked down 'tanzanite' as number 100 on her list.

She blinked, senses snapping back into herself and bubble of mental and physical acceleration collapsing. Wait. Was she...

No, that was right. There were 100 identified stones on her list and every location 'X'ed out on her map.

She was done. The Node-cursed List was actually done. Yet to be alphabetized and she needed to put this stone back, but *done*.

The young metamorph grinned from ear to ear, pumping her elbow once, silently exalting her victory over the damned book. This next part was going to be easy. It was going to be fun. Finally, after so much pushing her mostly untrained, baseline mind, she could do something she was good at! And so, after a short final pause to alphabetize and re-alphabetize the list, the sound of swift splashing took over the lake and it's environs, a heavily-morphed and naked Coraline Boehm splashing in and out of the lake on wings of quantum, constructing shining arrays of jewels on the ground as she pulled them out, deconstructing the arrays as she put them back in order, and undoing it to shave seconds from her time, a joyious weredolphin to all the world as she reaped what she saw as her reward.

[Maia]

It took the full week, but Maia had found the perfect range, the perfect balance of power, accuracy, grace, and speed. She completed the task at sundown, exactly in ten seconds flat, Standing atop the tiger Statue she'd began upon, Not a single one had more than the tiniest hole through the heart. The wind didn't move, the dust was settled.

Maia bowed to the field of mute statues that had been her training partners for the full week. "thank you for your patience, For showing me the steps of the way."

[Quantum Fire]

Shen waited patiently for each of his students to complete their tasks, and he had them gather once more at the heart of the training zone as they had begun, all three of them called from the task they were at this week.. and he looked at the three of them, neither of them completely aware of the task the other had been given, unless they had spoken to one another had it. Cora was called from the water, Maia from her place by the statues, Justin from his balancing and meditation focus.

"Humility, Control, Understanding, Wisdom, Balance, this is the heart of what you have been doing, and each of you have been pushed to the limits of your abilities and found that you are more able then you know, from here, it doesn't get easier, but it does get clearer.. the tasks and training will push your minds and your bodies to complete understand yourself and your limits."

[Karren Gaunt]

The young metamorph was dry and clean, having shed the grime of her lake swim with a quick flicker through her photonic form. It was little things like that which were driving home how lucky she was during her studies, the little tricks baselines couldn't dream of using to make their days easier, let alone the greater problems.

"It was certainly... interesting, Uncle Shen," Coraline's chorus offered gently, expression calm and gaze blue-on-black mirrors that strove to give away as little as possible, absorbing everything Traveler was saying so that the next task might be clearer. And, perhaps involve more movement, but she wasn't counting on that with the themes of this training and her personal weaknesses. At least hopefully she could slip more tangable challenges among the abstract ones, short term gain among the long term. Make this year a little bit easier to stand.

[Maia]

Maia nodded. "I'm ready." She stood there, not arrogantly, but with a measure of surety in herself that she'd lacked somewhat earlier. She knew nothing was impossible, and that this training would help her.

[Quantum Fire]

"So be it, Cora, the task I have for you is something much different this week, it's entirely about control, water splashes in a random manner, but someone with your speed and dexterity can do something different, I want you to shape the splashes, in essence, to sculpt the water as it splashes, this is not like controlling or shaping water as Marina can, it's creating shapes momentarily, but it should also be something that tests your mind.. the shapes should be living things, and I'd like you to be able to explain a few things about each one you chose. "

He glances at Maia. "I've changed your training ground, the statues are now filled with sand inside about a 1/4 centimeter of stone, I want you to clearly strike each one in a manner that leaves them disabled, but doesn't have the sand spilling out.. in this case, consider the sand representative of blood, if they bleed, you killed them."

"Justin, you and I are going to explore the limits of your shapeshifting, while observing the others, this is the task we're going to focus on for the week, in the midst of practicing katas and meditation, which we will stop every hour and spend two hours on... are you all ready?"

[Maia]

Maia nodded. "Strike to disable."

She looked at him. "I am ready to begin."

This would be about control, gauging the strength in each strike. "How would you gauge someone as disabled though, if it's a statue that doesn't react?"

[Karren Gaunt]

Coraline actually smiled at this assignment of Shen's, something she could sink her muse into, play around with, and throughly enjoy refining in even so unstable a medium as liquid water. She asked eagerly, mind already half-slipping into the probable demands of the medium. So, she'd need a camera to test how the water reacted to the vectors of force...

The young metamorph was jerked out of her musing by Maia's question, "I am ready as well."

[Quantum Fire]

"If you crack the statue without actually breaking it, or causing the sand to spill out, then it's disabled. If the sand spills, you killed it.. without intending to." He responded, that would require her to measure the force with each blow to extreme precision, which was where he was going with this, to know exactly what every blow she made would do, down to each strand of hair. In fact, her last lesson had more or less proved she could kill a man or even an army with just strands of hair, now she was suppose to disable without killing, of course, this was focused on baselines, but it did apply to a lot of nova's as well.

This was the shape of their various tasks, each time they finished one, he would congratulate them, suggest them spent some time meditating on what they learned and then start the next one, each task was one that challenged them, but also was designed to push them to understand their limits, to know what they could.. and couldn't do. There were some tasks that were also were as much fun as they were pushing limits, and this went on for several months of training, though it began to focus more on meditation, quantum powers and kata's toward the end.

Time Frame: All of the month of April, which lasts about 4 months for the characters due to the temporal bubble

OOC: Feel free to make up tasks as you like, for the four months in April as long as you meet the prerequisites, and this training will focus on shoring those up, you may take the first dot in speciality Qi Meng, as a meditation or martial art's speciality

[Karren Gaunt]

The day had begun like any other since she had settled into her training. Wake up after a few hours of sleep and long hours of study the night before to the quantum tick of the universe behind her ear. A simple breakfast breakfast of rice and fish with Uncle Shen and her sister. A return to the subtle yet doable task of slowly moving through the kata that would allow her to buffer the taint of pushing her node beyond it's natural limits by altering her chi to match it. She was seeing *something*, the eb and flow of that almost invisible energy reacting in response to her breathing, her movements, her meditative now. So close and yet so far, but she would not hasten this. There was morning birdsong coming from a tree to her left. Wind rustling grass behind those stones behind her. The faint quantum beacons of her family and almost family further down the valley. It would all come in time and she would get there by preparing to...

Coraline's quantum energy wrenched, an almost painful surge that rocked her morphic field from head to toe with change before passing on. She nearly stumbled, knocked out of her contemplative pattern as the invisible currents emanating from her node *shifted* into something familar yet alien. Her chi, suddenly clear and obvious under the pulse of her quantum followed suit, body fluxing out of the apperance she had woken up as and suddenly into another, a blonde-haired young woman of chinese descent standing there in a training gi with one hand on her temple and blinking away what had just hit her.

That was... It had been... But that meant... and Uncle Shen was and she was and if that happened... No. She couldn't. She wouldn't. Coraline took a deep breath, shuddering at her realization, her rejection of an untruth she had been forcing herself to believe. Something she couldn't believe anymore no matter how much it would hurt him. She looked up, nodded fiercely to herself and took off into the air in search of her teacher, her mentor, her father in everything but blood and law, expression determined and unmindful of the pure white pupils that had replaced her blue ones with her first, irevocable step into this path.

[Maia]

For Maia, her own training continued apace. Control was everything. More than that, she was learning instinctive, reflexive control. Still she sat meditating over the pond, her wings out, but motionless. it was true they were a manifestation, but she didn't actually use them to fly. It was something to learn every facet of your power, the exact efforts and effects. These were some of the things She'd learned in the first few months, First mastering her strength, Her speed, her reactions. Then she'd moved on to her powers, In particular, her telekinesis.

She threw a stone into the water, the splash geysering high into the air. Her eyes opened and she caught a single drop of water and held it in place, exactly at the apogee of its arc. She could feel the flow of quantum from her to it, could almost feel it's atoms moving still, even as she held it, and marveled. This was real control, knowing intimately everything about the single drop, much as she did herself.

It was a moment of near perfection, and more than that she accepted the truth as she released it and let it rejoin the pool of its fellows. "All things are unique, and all are the same. The Material is fleeting, but no less marvelous for it." So much of her power focused on the ability to destroy other things, to take life, to understand the fundamental differences between things, and the oneness that united it all, this was a major step upon the path she walked.

[Karren Gaunt]

Coraline found Uncle Shen outside the central pagoda, tiding up after some exercise or the other he had put one of the others through. She took a deep breath to calm herself, one chance to take in the predictable yet chaotic patterns of everything in the valley that her unfettered senses drank in, and descended in a graceful harmony of motion, touching down in near silence in front of him.

He waited a few heartbeats before looking up from his sweeping, a smile crossing his face as the breeze made a windchime a half-mile down the valley sing into motion. "You've had some success today it seems," he commented with a slight gesture at her eyes, before adding more soberly after studying his pupil's body language, "Is something troubling you, Cora?"

The young metamorph nodded, after glancing at her reflection and absorbing the fact that her Tell, the unchanging eyes that she had inherited from her Mother's taint, had changed. That bothered her a little, another reminder of what she had lost before and stood to lose again if her guesses were right. She knelt, hands folded on her lap, and focused her white-on-black eyes up at her mentor, reading the aura of quantum power she saw all the time now.

"I'm being selfish by staying here, Uncle. By focusing on my own physical and spiritual improvement when so many can use my help right now, when the power and skill I already have is more than enough to begin paying forward the debt I owe you and Aunt Serenity and my parents for protecting me. I wouldn't trade this time for anything in the worlds, Uncle, and I am humbled and grateful to have had the chance to prove myself worthy of your lessons to whatever degree I have, but... I can't hide in here any longer. Even if there was nothing threatening those who can not protect themselves," she solemnly intoned, trying to conceal the very human concern that Shen was among that number, "Furthermore, Qi Meng is about knowing the balance of baseline and nova within ourselves to prove our essential humanity and teaching that to others, and despite my studies, I... Baselines are still very odd to me, and I need to live the lessons you've taught me, in the outside world, before I feel comfortable moving any further forward on this path. To see if I can hold true among the temptations and the chaos out there."

"I would like your blessing and your advise on my leaving, Uncle, but I will leave even without that blessing. You have Maia and Justin to master this art here and now, and I... I am needed out there to win the peace that will allow you to finish teaching me at a later time. When I can do this without regret and ignoring the needs of others," She finished, exhaling and waiting, a beauty in tense repose awaiting an answer to her declaration.

[Quantum Fire]

Shen gave her along and considering look, then he smiled slightly. "Well, I was wondering how long it would take."

"What?"

"The future is somewhat fluid, I've always known that, besides, your almost impossible to see there, but I used to be able to see you better, and I am still able to make judgments based on understanding your character and personality, coming to this conclusion is an important aspect of your personal growth, other then your relationship with Norman this is your first truly adult choice.. you have my blessing."

[Karren Gaunt]

Coraline took a moment to think about that answer, really think, and only then react, a grateful smile permiating her features driven by a happiness that had herself propeling her into a hug around around the older nova. "Thank you, Uncle," she exhaled into his ear, her iron pillar of resolve melting into unsullied happiness that fractured her chorus gently, "I won't let you... No, I won't let myself down out there. I promise."

A heartbeat's hesitation further to affirm the affection, and she departed in a blur of motion, a mote of light blurring upward in silence from her quarters not 20 seconds later. The young metamorph rippled slightly as she hit the edge of the time bubble and then was gone, out and above into a world she wanted to see and to save.

The training gi would be left behind, folded on her futon with short note wishing Justin and Maia good luck on their training on top of it.

[Quantum Fire]

As Maia trained, floating above the water in the middle of the lake, catching water droplets in the air with telekinesis, Shen was suddenly standing a few feet in the air beside her. "Join Justin and me at the pagonda, if you would, please, Maia." He then vanished, leaving her to return, which with her capabilities, meant almost instantly.

Justin and Shen were waiting for her. "The three of you have at last grasped the basics of Qi Meng, and Cora has left, as I suspected she would, she was going stir crazy limited to the area of the temporal distortion. I have sent a request, Jason and Danica will soon be joining us, in the next stage of your teaching." At the blink from Maia and Justin. "Jason is a former student of mine, and she has been teaching her daughter, both of them are welcome for the next step."

He smiled slightly. "At this point, you are both initiates upon the path, I gain you a requirement at the beginning of your training.. you have done well with it. So, now, I have a new task for you, considering what you have learned so far.. tell me what the next stage is."

[Maia]

Cora was going to leave, Maia'd known this. Still, she was saddened to see her go before finishing. She'd been chosen first after all. Still, Maia had committed to this path, and she would see it through."Goodluck sister, I'll join you once I'm ready."

"I welcome the opportunity to learn from others. Still Danica isn't that old, is it going to be alright for her in here?"

She went silent as she considered the next phase of the training. "The first stage for me focused on mastering my power, my own body. I can only surmise that the next aspect will focus upon mastering my own mind, my heart, and Will. Only as a master of my mind, heart, and body, can i hope to become a true master of my Self, and bring myself into a truly harmonious balance."

[Bombshell]

Jason leaned against the frame of the door to her daughter's bedroom, watching Danica pack a rucksack, spinning a glossy, five-inch long bar of black metal around the tip of one slim finger. The metal bar was a device designed specifically for her by an acquaintance, Masterwork, a special effects guru she had worked with on several movies and the set of Barsoom. It could telescope open into a slender staff seventy-five inches long - her exact height - as well as contained a length of monofilament wire that could be extended to hang loose for use as a whip or magnetically charged to form a monomolecular whipsword. It suited her. it simple, elegant weapon that aligned with several of the martial styles she had studied over the years.

Jason had a wistful smile on her full lips. Danica was growing so fast - four inches in the last several months, her limbs long and svelte, yet retaining an innate grace; there would be no awkward, coltish years for her daughter it seemed. And the eleven year-old girl had progressed to the point of needing a bra. Precocious and uncommon, if not precisely unusual. A rueful chuckle bubbled in Jason's throat as she remembered a girl in grade five, Liliana, who had been more endowed than their teacher Ms, Frochette. The other girls had been mean - the boys had wavered between teasing and being in awkward awe, herself included.

At least she's growing proportionally, Jason thought, with a glance down at herself, rather than certain parts maturing faster than others. Puberty wasn't something she could tell Danica she had experienced as well... At least not in the same way. Still, it wasn't the physical changes Jason found most daunting in her daughter, but the emotional and mental ones.

Still high spirited and cheerful, Danica was beginning to test the limits of her independence, seeing what she could get away, and wanting more and more to attempt things on her own. And Jason was trying to give her that slack to experience, without giving her so much she ended up hanging her self with it.

Shen's invitation had provided her and Danica with an opportunity. Dead Rising was in the can, its media awareness chugging along under its own momentum, the establishment of the Congo Branch of the Dragon's Den was set in motion. She had a stretch of free time - and Shen's invitation would potentially stretch it even further - but she had left the decision to spend it with Shen and his wards in Danica's hands, after explaining what was going to happen during it.

It was a decision that would have some real consequences, especially for Danica at her age - so much could change for her and her peers in one year. Jason was proud that her exuberant and impetuous daughter had given it some real thought - three days - before deciding she wanted to go. Near a year would pass in a few months. It would be easy for someone so young to gloss over that, but Danica seemed to understand it would change things, especially between her and those friends her age she had met at the Dragon's Den and elsewhere.

With a snap, Danica closed the rectangular, glass-topped case that held nine of the ten lotus blossoms Sakura had given her, and slipped it into her rucksack. The last blossom was pinned at the base of the silver and gold braid that hung to the small of her back. She shrugged the rucksack onto her shoulder and spun around to face her mother, one delicate hand holding her practice saber.

"I'm ready to go, mom," Danica said in her high, clear voice, smoothing her pale-blue, silken outfit with her free hand. The snug, flowing pants, shirt and vest suggested a traditional Asian influence with a more contemporary flair, the style similar to what Jason was wearing, though Jason's was a pure white with thin lines deep indigo embroidery and lacked the pattern of a cat standing on its hind legs wearing a pair of boots and menacing an ogre with a sword.

Jason cocked a brow at her daughter, hefting her own rucksack. "You still sure you want to do this, Dani? It's going to feel long in Shen's hidden valley. He won't mind if you decide you want to spend your time elsewhere."

Danica's lips pouted in a mulish expression of adolescent stubbornness, finely pointed chin elevated to a determined angle. She had made her decision. "I want to do this, Mom. Besides, Shen and you and Maia are going to be there. I'll be fine and..." Jason watched Danica's eyes grow distant with another thought, one she could well guess at. "I'm doing this, it'll be fun and if it's not... I can still leave, right?"

"Of course you can, honey. Well, if you want to this, let's do it." Jason held out a hand as Danica stepped up to her side, and after moment, took it. Together, the two beauties took a step forward even as they felt like they were falling back, the warmth of sunlight washing over them, blinking away from their Whistler home to appear in a valley in the Himalayas, one that Jason hadn't spent much time in since Shen had first taken her there after freeing her from Lady Envy.

Reappearing had felt slightly disconcerting as they fell under the influence of the temporal flux that enveloped the valley. Danica looked around, waving her sword, seeing if she could see some physical evidence of the temporal manipulation, but it felt the same to her. Jason smiled, then began gliding towards the pagoda centering the small island resting in the still, freshwater lake. The valley was a peaceful and restful now at it had been for the first time she was here.

"Shen, thank-you for inviting us. It's nice to be back, as a student and teacher both this time."

"Hi!" Danica chirped. "Can I see one of the time machines?"

[Quantum Fire]

End of Thread

XP: 4 Baseline, 4 Standard, 4 Nova

Main Thread Bonus to all Active PC's: +4 Standard XP

Continued in Zen Balance (http://www.rpgpost.c...ta-zen-balance/)