Aberrant: The Long March - Chapter 2: Different Roads

[Omar]

"What about my family, my clan, my people....will they still be there? What is different about this universe, other than the Collectors not being here? If I go back to Iraq, will Saddam be in power in this timeline?" Omar's voice is starting to become frantic and his movements agitated. After a few seconds, he stops and thinks for a moment. Omar then contines.

"I....I...don't know what we should do. Maybe we should just head to earth."

[Courier]

Steve says to Omar,

"Let's not panic here. We don't have enough information to make a judgement on what to do. And before we go back I think we need to find out if people will still be trying to kill you or us."

[Mr Fox]

The ships voice responds to the new questions in reverse order, "You are in charge. Why you can not go back is because it was made an integral part of my being not to travel to the Alpha timeline before the year 2125."

"I do not know what name would be appropriate for a vessel of my capabilities. I leave that to you."

"It is very likely that there are other versions of you. If you would prefer, I can take you to another timeline where you do not exist at all, or one that matches parameters, that you specify. However, some parameters may be too specific to accomplish. As an example, I could take you to an alternate Earth where Novas do not exist, but I cannot determine from outside a timeline fine details, such as whether your alternate self has erupted as a Nova. Also, shifting between timelines takes a large portion of my quantum reserves, which will require a short period to recharge, slightly longer than a standard day. I should also tell you that warping to my maximum distance also drains a noticable portion of my reserves, such that I may only warp maximum distance five times a day."

"I will require three hours to answer your question as to specifics within this timeline."

[David 'Dr. Troll' Smith]

Steve states, almost in wonder,

"Time travel, space travel, alternative timelines, looks like we have a Tardis. All of these things add up to infinate resources, why would they trust us with this? Is what they have so much more? Do they know historically that they are going to do this?"

"What is your maximum warp distance?"

[Mr Fox]

The ship responds, "As stated, 5 light years per maximum distance warp, and no more than five times in one day, so 25 light years per day at maximum quantum expenditure."

The ship stops speaking for a moment, "I speculate that, they 'trust' you with this for two reasons. First, they do feel bad about removing you from your home and want to make you comfortable and give you the chance to be happy. Second, resources do mean nothing to them. They are capable of creating a vessel like me and have laid claim to several timelines as their personal domain, their frame of reference is quite different from what you may be used to." "Yes, I would guess that they do have future insight into your actions and deem them such that they have chosen this course."

[Omar]

Omar, relaxing a bit. "If we can't return to our own world, can we visit these other universes without restriction. I'd be interested in seeing how people would react to seeing Novas for the first time." He pauses briefly, to think...Wait until they get a look at me. Omar then shrugs his shoulders and smiles. "Although, I would feel odd if I bumped into myself while there."

Looking at the others in the party, Omar continues. "I mean, since we are in this unique positions, shouldn't we use this opportunity to see these other realities?"

[Courier]

Steve says slowly,

"I suppose..." (Steve is obviously still turning the entire idea over in his head)

"Ship, what is your maximum and minimum crew compliment? Are we and you really capably of running you for a long period of time? And speaking of time, what is special about year 2125 in our home timeline?”

[Mr Fox]

"Maximum crew compliment 2500, minimum 0. I am capable of running indefinitely with a crew the size of your small group. However, you will need to stock supplies, and re-establish the hydroponics facilities to make that possible. At this time we have no supplies stocked on board. Also, the larger the number of Novas the smaller the possible crew. 2500 would be a fully human crew, I would estimate that no more than 500 novas due to their higher metabolisms. Also, I am capable of reconfiguring my design to more comfortably accomidate a crew of your small number, currently I am configured for a crew of 1000. Please inform me of anything you desire to include in the reconfiguration if you would like me to proceed."

The ships voice sounds almost hesitant as she continues, "If I may make a suggestion... If you intend to fully resupply, you may wish to jump to a timeline that does not have novas so that no one tries to take me away from you. From my historical records, it seems that governments and many groups would react poorly to my presence, possibly with panic and/or agression."

"2125 is the point at which it is believed the technology inherent in my design will no longer pose a serious risk of changing the course of history."

The longer you speak with the ship, the more she seems to be taking on human characteristics in her speech and developing personality.

[Omar]

"Ship...Can you do interior size configurations?...like 20 meter high ceilings and 10 meter wide corridors?" Omar was excited that there might be a possibility that he could grow and still get on the ship.

Omar looked through his dwindling food supplies. "I am going to need some food pretty soon. I suggest we go to a world where Nova do not exist, to resupply. I'd hate to have another group of Nova take the ship."

Rather embarrased, Omar looks at the others "I ahh...also need another space suit....I left mine back on that moon of Saturn in our own Universe."

[Mr Fox]

"I can reconfigure the interior to accomodate those dimensions, however, would it be possible if I confined those dimensions to your personal quarters, and a few other areas such as hydroponics, and cargo holds? To make all corridors and rooms fit those dimensions would limit the possible configurations I could change into."

"Currently 24 hours until I am able to shift timelines again, I will then be able to move to an Earth with no novas."

[Courier]

Steve asks,

"No novas also means we'd be needing money. Do we have something to trade, like gold? I supose we could trade nova gifts, healing, that sort of thing. Or we could win the lottery."

"Probably... no novas and keep the tech level the same?"

[Mr Fox]

The ship considers for a moment, "Without the Novas the tech level drops slightly, keeping the level the same means adjusting time variable slightly to 2012."

"In the mean time would you like me to reconfigure to adjust for the small size of this crew? If so, please let me know any specifics you might want for your personal quarters."

"Though, I don't have a name yet, I believe that you do. By what names may I call you? Also, may I be allowed to scan you to best determine what adjustments need to be made for your quarters?"

Morgan blinks at the final questions in surprise, "Um, yes. I guess you can scan me. I'm Morgan by the way, and these are Isabel, Omar, Marcus, Carter, Steve, and Cody." He points to each in turn. "As for quarters, I don't need nothin special, just a bedroom, bath and maybe a study, and thanks for making our stay with you comfortable."

[Courier]

Steve says,

"Wait, no. All our identification and papers and the like is for the current era. Better make that no novas and current time and just live with the loss of tech."

"And I'll have the same for a stateroom."

"A question, how hard or easy is it to change time? Could you jump forward one day, let us learn lottery numbers, and go back and have us win it even though we didn't originally?"

[Mr Fox]

"Very well, current time, no novas."

In answer to Steve's question, "It takes exactly the same amount of energy to slip between times as it does between timelines. Essentially each time I move us through time it is the same as jumping timelines. Therefore each time jump will take 25 standard hours to recharge my quantum. Also, be aware that my maximum jump through time is 100 years per jump."

[Omar]

"Ship....Go ahead and configure those areas to fit the dimensions I mentioned. However, could you make one hallway of those dimensions, connecting those areas, with the entrance of the ship? If not, then just do those areas."

Omar has begun to feel better and he is noticeably calmer. "I'm hungry. Who wants to eat?"

[Mr Fox]

The ship scans each of you, the most you feel is a tingling. Cody on the otherhand seems just a bit surprised when the ship performs her scan.

Afterwards, the ship listens as each person gives their preferences, then you feel a vibration through the deck and walls. The hologram of the ship floating in space changes as the ship reshapes itself slightly on the outside. The vibrations go on for several minutes after which it becomes very quite again.

"I have reconfigured based on your specifications. I hope that you find the accomidations to your liking. I am afraid that you won't find sheets or towels or any other textiles in your quarters. Those are some of the things that you will need to aquire when we shift."

After a bit more discussion you retire for the evening to get as comfortable as possible in your new quarters.

In the morning you gather again on the bridge and get comfortable in the chair that surround the hologram. Each chair forms itself to fit you when you sit down. They seem to be made of a plastic like material, that is very soft and pleasant to the touch. Once you are seated the ship speaks, "Shifting in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..." You feel the strange sensation of your stomach dropping again, and the hologram refreshes showing the ship in postion behind the dark side of Earth's moon. Again you are struck by just how much fine detail the holo can capture. In the holo you can see dozens of tiny satellites zooming around in Earth orbit.

"If you would like, I have a small craft that can be used for atmospheric transport as I believe might be wise. I think I might be a bit noticeable flying around Earth and might cause panic. Pretty soon poeple would be complaining of cattle mutalations." The ship delivers the slight joke in a completle deadpan voice. "I am afraid that only Cody has the necessary power to fly the craft. It can take voice commands but responds much better to telepathy. You will find the craft in cargo bay one." A light on the floor leads off toward the cargo bay.

[SkyLion]

Listening intently and processing the many variables now presented to this erstwhile group of cast-away novas, Cody finally speaks up.

"Time-Ship. The message we viewed upon arrival spoke of this vessel as "deceased." What is its/your nature at this time? Are you a comuter inhabiting its husk or are you now its life-force?"

"Also, while we're on the subject of Time, how does time travel operate? You apparently have the ability to go forwards, backwards and sideways. Are there hazards inherent in time travel? What happens if one of us should be killed, and the others go back in time to prevent it? Can they? Are timelines predetermined? Will it create a time loop or a paradox or will a new timeline be created? It would seem to me, that from such a perspective, the linear flow of our experience of time-travelling actually suggests an extra-inter-temporal continuity...that is, a timeline weaving through timelines. The fact that there exists such experiential continuity would suggest a more holoistic and holographic structure to time. That the "timelines" themselves are not actually separate but only percieved to be so, from our perspective..."

"As a being capable of percieving, scanning, and moving through the dimesnsions of time, how do you percieve it?"

[Thoranon]

Marcus is just sort of standing there looking shocked, "So, I guess we are just going to except our fate?"

[Mr Fox]

The ship listens to the long series of questions from Cody. "You can think of me as a new intelligence within a very old body. The original personality/intelligence died when an unknown group of aliens entered the Sol system. She attempted to communicate with them, but they proved fairly xenophobic. She managed to destroy them when they attacked, but not without suffering massive damage. The battle incidently was the cause of the layer of dark material that stains half the surface of Iaeptus."

"I am 'growing'. The body/former personality had many more capabilities than I have access to. Perhaps as I grow and learn, I will reaquire some of those old capablilities."

The ship almost seems to sigh, "That was the easy answer. Now for the hard one. Time. One theory is that for every decision that is ever made, a new timeline splits off. This is partially correct. When I travel back in time, I am actually shifting through the nullspace between realities. So in one sense, I am actually moving to another timeline even if it seems identical. Thus no paradox. As for moving back to 'save' one of you before you suffer something fatal... we would actually be saving a slightly different you. To make matters worse, I'm really not an expert in temporal physics, I don't understand it all myself. I was created with the ability to do what I do, and able to 'sense' the timelines. When you ask me to move from one to another and give details you would like me to match, I instinctively reach for the timeline that matches. There is a margin of error, that's why I always spend the first three standard hours after a jump scanning the timeline for any subtle changes that might cause any surprises."

"As for your last question, from what I experience and what I understand, the timelines are actually seperate, but still part of the same universe. There are other universes as well, but I do not have the ability to travel to those, the Watchers might, but I certainly don't."

[Omar]

With all that had been happening, Omar had forgotten his original reason for being on the ship in the first place. They were searching for those who killed innocent people.

"Ship, before we arrived on Laeptus, we were searching for the persons who bombed and killed people we knew. Not that it's possible for us to find those responsible now, but do you have any information on who was?"

[Mr Fox]

"I am sorry for your loss, but I am afraid I do not know. I was awakened just before you arrived. Perhaps if you could find one of the Watchers they might tell you."

[Andrew Murphy]

Carter sits pondering the situation at hand, the need for the ship to have a name, and what the hell he's going to need to do to get his setup from home back.

"OK This pretty much sucks. Curiosity killed the cat ... apparently by sending it to some alternate timeline where it didn't have a home. I've spent years gathering contacts, getting allies in the right places, and setting myself up as the kind of guy who can get you what you need, no questions asked, by whatever means were required.

"I can't even fathom what kind of work I'm going to need to do here to get back to where I was. *sigh* ...

"Ship, I'm calling you Lorean from now on. Lorean, is there any possibility you can put us in contact with these Watcher folks so that we can plead our case? "

[Courier]

Steve takes out his wallet and starts counting, then he takes off his belt and opens a hidden compartment.

"Credit cards aren't going to work. I've got... 940 dollars in cash."

"This small ship that Cody could run, how much attention do you think it was attract? Does it have a stealth mode?"

[Andrew Murphy]

Carter takes out his own wallent and pulls the cash out of it, "Looks like I have about ... 800 bucks. I can get more easily enough though, it's a simple matter to hack an ATM for cash. Barring that I just need to get a job or two and I can probably make us enough quick and easy cash to finance the group for the immediate short term."

Carter sighs and looks around at the others, "It's funny, considering the crimes I've commited a full pardon would have been lovely ... this isn't exactly what I had in mind though.

[Omar]

Omar opens a small pocket in his backpack and pulls out two $2500.00 bundles of $100.00 bills, and a pile of Tanzanian currency(~$800.00). "I never did get a chance to spend much of this."

Omar look at the others. "I'm glad I decided to get this cash when this whole thing started. I was beginning to think I wouldn't need it."

[SkyLion]

Originally Posted By: Thoranon

Marcus is just sort of standing there looking shocked, "So, I guess we are just going to except our fate?"

"Do you see any other alternative?" Cody asks pointedly, but without rancor. "This is definitly one of those situations that you don't see coming when you wake up in the morning, but now we have to deal with it. For me, aside from our business, there isn't much to keep me attached back home, and we ae the business so it lives on. Unfortunately we will never be able to solve the case for our client and our dissapearance will join that of the scientists."

"What about the rest of you? What have you left behind? Family? Loved ones? Its probably best to get it out in the open now, while the shock is still fresh."

Quote:

"As for your last question, from what I experience and what I understand, the timelines are actually seperate, but still part of the same universe.

"Yes thats part of what I was getting at...that the Universal hologram is actually multi-dimensional. However I was more specifically pointing out that even as we shift through time, we as sentient beings are still experiencing our existence as a single linear timeline. I would guess that our sense of continuity is preserved by whatever method allows you to shift...however it still poses an interesting intellectual dillema...So long as we travel within you we are able to separate from the linear flow of discreet timelines, yet this very moment represents its own inter-weaving supernal timeline...Do you understand?"

Quote:

"Ship, I'm calling you Lorean from now on. Lorean, is there any possibility you can put us in contact with these Watcher folks so that we can plead our case? "

Cody raises an eyebrow over his mirrored goggles in response to Carter's christening.

"Not that Lorean is a bad name, but how come you should be the one to decide...I don't know if you are somehow the leader of your little group, but we're all equal now..."

In response to everyones concerns about funds he replies,

"Money won't be a problem for us..."

[Andrew Murphy]

Carter gives the newcomer a wry look, "I'm not the leader any more than the rest of us are. I gave the ship a name out of necessity, I didn't hear anybody else pipe up with suggestions ..."

Carter looks about at the others, "Anybody got something better?"

[Courier]

Steve shrugs and says,

"Better names? It depends. I don't want to use a descriptive name. If one of us says over an open line, ‘we have to get back to Tardis’ then there is far too much information given away. Lorean is the name of a car manufacturer and drug smuggler who got off scot free.”

“It’s descriptive without being descriptive, and as such a good choice.”

[Mr Fox]

Morgan shrugs, "Lorean is as good a name as any and sounds good to boot. I'm ok with it if no one objects, and assuming the ship likes it of course."

The ship responds, "Lorean is acceptable to me if you all decide upon it." After a moment a new image appears in the hologram. It is the head and shoulders of a woman. Long straight raven hair pulled behind somewhat pointed elf-like ears. She has dark tilted almond shaped eyes and a delicate small mouth, in an angular but very attractive face. She speaks.

"Yes, I think I rather like Lorean." When she smiles it brightens the room. Interestingly, the ship's image has a slightly more than humanly beautiful image.

There is a slight blurring of a small section of one wall, then a drawer slides out. "Inside that drawer, you will find a hypospray. If you will place it behind your right ear, you can inject a small subdermal communication device. It will enable you to communicate directly with me as well as each other. It works on a frequency that will not be detected by current technology on this Earth, or even the one where you came from."

[Andrew Murphy]

Carter gives Cody a look of smug satisfaction before walking over to the panel Lorean extruded. He picks up one of the devices and looks it over. "Seems ok to me," he says and shoots himself behind the ear with it.

"Ok that wasn't very comfy, maybe I have a low pain tolerance but damn ..."

[Mr Fox]

Feeling behind your ear, you don't even feel a bump. You hear Lorean's voice very clearly in your mind. "Systems check... Can you hear my voice? You may respond vocally, or subvocally."

[Courier]

Steve walks over, picks up the device and injects himself behind his ear.

"Testing..."

[Omar]

Give me that injector when you're finished, could you." Omar says to Steve.

When he gets the device, he finds that it is a little small for him to activate easily. "وأرقام" Omar says in Arabic.

Handing the injetor to Steve, Omar asks, "Could you inject me, my fingers are a little big?" Once injected, Omar tests his link to Lorean.

[SkyLion]

Cody just shrugs back at Carter. "Didn't say it was a bad name..."

When Lorean manifests holographiclly, Cody raises both eyebrows this time. "Not bad Lorean."

Walking over to try the hypospray next, he examines it curiously.

With a pointed look at Courier ((imagine Geordi LaForge to think of how he can express facially without eye contact)), "I guess this sidesteps my little communication problem...Any side effects Lorean? These communication chips don't come equipped with cyanide capsules, or neuro-controllers right? For that matter, you say the frequency can't be hacked but what about a nova cyberkinetic, should we encounter one?"

[Thoranon]

Marcus looks at the hypospray,"Will this adjust with our nova abilities? Is in going to morph with me and will that cause issues?

[Mr Fox]

Lorean responds, "The device should morph with you since it is internal Marcus. Cody, there are no 'side effects', the devices cannot control you in any way, they are for communication only. Also, it is highly unlikely that the signal could be hacked. The frequency they operate on is very close to that of telepathy. Unles a cyberkenetic is also a telepath, they won't likely even no there is a signal."

[Courier]

Steve bows to "Lorean"'s new image and says,

"Wow! Speaking of being impressed... Lorean it is."

Steve then helps Omar with his injection.

"So then, food first, maybe a few minor supplies, then we need a way to turn 5 grand into lots of cash if we're going to properly outfit this. Immplication is we'll need identities, some of us probably exist here. I do, although I may be dead and even if I'm not I can't pass as my duplicate."

"Lottery seems a bit public. Stock market seems a bit slow. Warping into a bank vault seems unethical."

"Wait a moment, Gamboling. Vegas doesn't know about novas, so I'm legal."

[Mr Fox]

Morgan smiles at the idea. "Only thing about vegas is better be careful about not going into a casino if you have any visible aberrations. There are lots and lots of cameras in a casino and they look close at everyone for anything unusual. These communicators devices would help though, I doubt very seriously that casinos would be able to pick up a quasi-telepathic signal. Nova level intelligence would help as well for counting cards and such.

I have another suggestion too. Regardless of how we get money, I think we should convert a good chunk of it to gold and gems and other useful metals. Almost any timeline will value those things, but dollar bills, particularly ones date stamped 2007 won't spend well in the 1900s, if you know what I mean.

Vegas does seem like a good quick way to get some cash. So should we work seperately or together? Might be safer seperate. Even without obvious aberrations we will stand out in a crowd."

[Andrew Murphy]

Carter thinks about it, "We could do it but I suspect that more ... illicit ... means of money gathering might be more efficient. I'm not held back by any sort of moral need to actually earn my money in the old fashioned sense.

"Regardless I think we need to determine if we exisit here and determine what to do about our duplicates ..."

[Mr Fox]

Morgan thinks about that a moment before responding, "Well, I don't have to 'earn' my money, but I will draw the line at harming innocent people. I've got no problem stealing money from criminals, but I'm not gonna take it from innocents."

"As far as settling, where do we wanna be? We can go anywhere and anywhen we want, what are everyones preferences?"