Aberrant: Phoenix Rising - Chapter 2.5: Goodbye Blue Sky

[jameson (ST)]

Calypso was walking along the shore, or at least as close as she could get. The rocky coast of Maine had once been a tourist attraction, reeling in people from all over the country to see the broken granite juttinging to the waves, getting pounded continually by the surf. It was violent and beautiful. Overhead seagulls called out and dove for fish. The weather was less than perfect. Rain came down, not heavily but constant enough to be saturating. The spray from the ocean hardly mattered when the rain kept you wet. Calypso continued her journey. South and west, she had heard that a new city had sprung up, thousands of people in the same area and many novas. SHe had heard that novas were respected and part of the community, not feared, not leaders by force, not exiled into the wastes and wilderness.

*****

Elsewhere Sebastian jogged along a caravan route. Of course an observer would point out that any man running faster than a horse was probably not jogging, but to Sebastian that was all the effort that was needed. He could have gone faster but there was no need and there was plenty of reason not to. For starters it was raining and the ground was muddy and slick, potmarked with puddles. Mostly though he had nowhere to go. The traders would not allow him into their caravans; they feared novas as much as aberrants. The towns had little use for a man with super speed and much less for a man who ate like a draft animal. And so Sebastian jogged and headed down the road. This particular road would put him in a small fishing village by nightfall and he hopped to trade some of his meager possessions for a meal and a bed for the night.

*****

The sound of rain is suddenly broken by a massive boom. Sebastian and Calypso both look to the sky as a fireball streaks through the sky to the South trailing smoke, ash, and fire behind it. As they both watch from their separate locations the fireball explodes sending tendrils of fire and smoke in every direction. Out of the fireball debris begins to fall to the earth.

[SalmonMax]

Plip plop plip plop

It was the sound of her feet in the wet, muddy trail. Not the squelching of a wetland or swamp, nor the splapping of feet on cobble or stone. She loved the rain, even if it was a little chilly. She let it drench her, peeking out from behind a curtain of her own nearly black hair as it lay in lank, straight strands all around her head, hiding her sun-darkened skin from casual view. Her blue dress was similarly plastered to her, not unfetchingly.

On seeing the fireball, a mad rush of excitement ripped through Calypso, and with an absent gesture, she sqeezed the water out of her hair and clothes so she could see better. Abruptly, the raindrops seemed inclined to swerve away from her just before thye hit as well. Something fell from the sky...from the SKY! She started forward at a dash to the south, mind working at overdrive. A meteor? It might have barterable metals, or just be a good curiosity piece for a collector or something. But something told her that this was something else.

Something -amazing.-

[jameson (ST)]

Calypso darted over the tall grasses and bare dirt as she raced along the shore. She kept an eye to the sky and watched as the mysterious object shattered under the force of the second explosion. The majority of the fragments maintained their course falling away from the main body of the fireball, smoke and fire trailing behind. Calypso noted that one of the smaller pieces seemed to have lost a great deal of speed however and it was plunging much more rapidly to the earth south and west of her position. Eventually the trees obscured her view of the falling debris but she had a fair idea of where to look for the odd peice, it would take her some time to get there but if the shore continued in the direction it had she would have an easy time of it and might reach the crashed object within two days at most.

[SalmonMax]

The young woman stopped and gazed out over the distance for a moment, then grinned. With that kind of spectacular show in the sky, everyone for miles around would have seen it...whatever 'it' was. Anyone and everyone with a little power and ambition would be converging on it now.

Delightful. People with power and ambition were always the most interesting sorts of people. Maybe she'd fight them. Maybe she'd join them for awhile. Either way, what bliss.

Calypso stooped to grab up a stout stick on the ground...tall and straight enough to be a serviceable walking stick. A bit waterlogged, but it was the work of seconds to squeeze the excess liquid from the wood, leaving it a little brittle, but sturdy enough for her purposes.

Playfully splashing the puddles with her new stick and whistling a happy tune, she followed the falling object to the south and west. Hopefully there'd still be something left when the scavengers were through.

[NFVD]

"Wow!" Sebastian thinks, "Now there's something you don't see every day!"

Readying himself for a second the young nova darts in the direction where the fireball fell as fast as the soggy terrain and bad visibility allow it. As he nears the smouldering crash site he reduces his speed and attunes his quantum signature to his clothing and equipment and suddenly goes invisible.

Discretion is the better part of valor.

[jameson (ST)]

Sebastian heads off following the fireball as best he can through the rain and trees. Within moments a second explosion blew the object into smaller pieces. Dashing with quantum fueled speed Sebastian made his way to the peak of a clear hill and watched as the objects pieces spread out and trailed smoke and fire to the south. A single pice however had lost much of its momentum and was falling fast and would land much closer than the rest. Pushing quantum into his limbs he took off like a shot to track down this section.

Within a few minutes he was standing at the edge of a field, it wet grasses smouldering. Quickly he circled the field and noted no other debris had fallen, just the one large peice now cooling in the rain.

*****

Nearby Seven crouched in the underbrush and watched. Today was a strange day to be sure. a short time ago an fireball had appeared in the air and something had crashed down in the field. Now just a few moments ago a strange wind had passed by then circled the feild disturbing the grasses and the smoke with it's passing. More importantly this wind also left footprints behind. She moved through the brush at the edge of the field maintaining her stealth. She now stood only a few yards from where the wind had stopped.

*****

Sebastian heard a sound behind him, something or somebody was sneaking in the underbrush. He knew that his invisibility was far from perfect and the rain was probably not helping. On the other hand it could just be an animal or one of the people living in the area.

*****

Elsewhere Calypso ran though the rain she was close, now, her first estimates were wrong and the object had fallen MUCH closer than she expected. Instead of days it would only be a matter of another ten minutes or so before she found where the thing had crashed into the ground.

[Expendable]

Seven scowled - wind did not leave footprints. Whatever had fallen from the sky brought it. Was it friendly?

Feeling around for a rock, she came up with a clump of dirt. Staying low, she tossed it to her right, to see what happened.

[NFVD]

"Hmmm, there is something out there for sure..." Sebastian thinks.

"Animal or human? A beast would run away from this for sure, with all the fire and smoke..."

He turns and look towards where the sound came from. Just then a clump of...dirt? shoots out into his left.

"Whoa! I don't suppose they have huge rabbits around these parts...Let me check this out."

Still invisible to the human eye the young nova stealthy creeps upon the spot where the dirt landed while keeping an eye out for whomever tossed it.

[Expendable]

Seven's fingers dug blindly thorugh the mud for a rock while she stared through the weeds. Any noise from the clump was lost in the rain. She needed something that would make more noise.

Her fingers closed on a good sized one that fit neatly in her palm. Seven's lips curled into a smirk. Watching the small clearing, she tossed the stone to the left again.

[jameson (ST)]

Seven tosses the small rock off to the left, it embeds itself in mud with an audible *plop*. Crouching within the bushes and peering out between branches and leaves she cannot make out any source for the sounds she has heard. Though her eyes tell her she is alone her ears beg to differ.

*****

Sebastian turns slowly and moves toward the edge of the clearing. The rain trickles down over him and the mud squelches up around his boots. Suddenly off to his right there is a *plop*. He turns and sees a small stone resting in a puddle of mud, the ripples of its impact quickly eliminated by the falling rain.

*****

Calypso comes to a clearing, her heart pounds in her chest and the sounds of her breathing and her thumping heart is almost enough to drown out the rain. Out near the middle of the clearing a rend in the soil terminates in a small mound of dirt. Looking around she is only mildly suprised that she is alone. An event this violent would surely scare off any animal life and it was only happenstance that she was a near to the impact site as she was.

Moving closer Calypso sees a fire blackened piece of metal, twisted and smashed by it's impact, and likely the explosion as well. It steams as the rain patters down upon it and she notes that the object is at least partially buried within the mounded earth. Whatever it is it appears to be man-made.

*****

Both Sebastian and Seven are surprised when a young woman, soaked to the skin, walks out of the woods and toward the crashed object. The young woman walked over to the impact crater and was peering down at the object within clearly oblivious to either of them.

[Expendable]

Seven cocked her head slightly, listening. Something was there, unseen. Like how she could be unseen? She opened her eyes and stared - then glanced at the ground. The footprints the other left before were starting to fill with rainwater - was there any footprints that weren't filling up?

She paused - someone was whistling. Coming... closer? Seven paused, then carefully lifted her head until she could see the newcomer, a darkhaired young woman with a stick, her clothes soaked and clinging to her skin. She walked right up to the crater and peered in!

The other, the one unseen, what would they do? Seven stared at the ground near the pit and the girl, watching for new footprints.

[NFVD]

Sebastian ignores the new arrival for the moment as she clearly has not noticed him and concentrates in trying to find whom or whatever is hiding among the bush. Carefully and stealthy he advances towards where he thinks the clump of mud was tossed from.

[SalmonMax]

It was enough to make her heart stop. A skip of fear, a pound of shock, a patter of joy. Technology, the old stuff. Dangerous as hell, and not just because it attracted powerful greedy folk. Old tech sometimes still had the burn on it.

But the rain hitting it wasn't boiling off. Did that make it safe?

Calypso took a moment to look around, then carefully made her way down the loose, blasted side of the crater towards the object for a better look. She wasn't eager to dig by hand...but perhaps there was enough rain...

She looked up and concentrated, calling to the water in her mind, and trying to shape some of the rain into a solid falling stream of water heavy enough to start washing the earth away from the crashed...thing.

[jameson (ST)]

Luckily the steady rain has cooled the dirt within the crater, though the mud is still warm it is hardly uncomfortable. Calypso focuses on the water in the air and releases a stream of quantum energy into the storm. The rain falling into the field begins to lessen and stops completely as high above the water converges into a single stream and falls into the crater. Calypso directs the water over the device, washing the dirt and char from the object.

Clearly manmade the object has a burnished metal finish where the impact and the fire have not tarnished it. The full object is maybe four feet tall. At the center is a crumpled mass, out of which three pieces extend.

*****

Seven ignored the newcomer and waited, watching for any further sign of the invisible person. Despite the mud and the steady rainfall she was unable to detect anything further. Either the person or thing had left or she had lost her view of it.

Suddenly the rain began to slacken and quickly died off entirely. Seven was aware of the sound of a waterfall however and much to her suprise she found a downspout of water gushing over and into the crater.

*****

Sebastian moves toward the underbursh again looking for any sign of the person hiding there. As he moved closer he was suprised to see a young woman, barely more than a girl peering out of the bushes. She seemed to be looking toward the ground and Sebastian wondered if she had seen his footsteps as he moved. Luckly the rain was beginning to abate ... actually the rain was stopped completely and replaced with the sound of a small brook or waterfall. Turning to look behind him Sebastian was greeted with the sight of a column of water falling into the crater, the woman was standing within and appeared to be directing the water as is moved about.

[Expendable]

The rain had stopped - but now a stream of water was pouring into the crater the other woman had crawled into! Momentarily forgetting about the unseen man, Seven crawled out from behind the bushes to stare over the edge into the crater, tail waving in the air idly behind her as she watches Calypso makes the water dance over the fallen device.

[SalmonMax]

Rain spiraled inward high in the sky to make a shifting pillar of water that struck charred rocks and dirty mud and blasted them off the machine. It wasn't glowing anywhere. Another good sign?

Still oblivious to her watchers, Calypso circled around to the crumpled end to get a better look at the protruding objects.

[Expendable]

Seven could feel her cheeks beginning to burn. The stranger's talent was much better than hers. But there was a lot of water streaming down - how much could the ground drink up? Wasn't she worried about mud or the hole filling up? Her hand began searching for a rock again....

[NFVD]

A tall, thin individual in rugged travelling clothes suddenly materializes out of nothing near Seven. His face concealed in black cloth wrapped around his head, he adresses the young girl:

"Ahem...there will be not need for that, kid. Now you can also see me." - He holds out his hand in a non-threathning manner to indicate his peaceful intent.

"Quite a sight over down there, he? That woman is a nova if I've ever seen one. What you say we go there and say hello to the water-wizard?"

"Oh...the name's Sebastian by the way. What's your name?"

[Expendable]

Quote:

"Ahem...there will be not need for that, kid. Now you can also see me." - He holds out his hand in a non-threathning manner to indicate his peaceful intent.

Seven scrambled to her feet, steping back and staring with wild-eyed surprise at Sebastian. She felt the messenger bag with her blanket that she tucked under the open trenchcoat sliding forward, she nudged it back with her elbow. Behind her, her tail hung in the air still, looking almost like a snake about to strike.

Quote:

"Quite a sight over down there, he? That woman is a nova if I've ever seen one. What you say we go there and say hello to the water-wizard?"

"Oh...the name's Sebastian by the way. What's your name?"

She stared narrowly at him for a long moment. Why was his face wrapped up? With a scowl, she stepped closer, sniffing the air as she kept a wary eye on him.

Stepping back, she gave the woman in the pit a quick glance and nodded, reluctantly. Bending down, she picked up a rock and tossed it at the wreckage.

[SalmonMax]

A rock thudded off the metal skin of her find with a dull clanking noise, and Calypso stopped where she was. Someone was being careful, but not hostile. Too cautious to approach, but not trying to hit her with the rock, or unleash some kind of aberrant power on her. If these were the only two eyes watching, she was having a lucky day indeed.

Calypso looked over in the direction the rock had come from.

"I won't hurt you," she called. "Who's over there?"

[Expendable]

Quote:

"I won't hurt you," she called. "Who's over there?"

Seven just stared back at Sebastian, watching him.

[jameson (ST)]

Seven and Sebastian stared at each other heedless of the rain or Calypso. Calypso meanwhile stood up and noticed for the first time that there were a pair of people standing at the edge of the crater, one of them must have thrown the rock.

[SalmonMax]

A little confused by the other two's behavior, and their lack of an answer, Calypso waves and shouts, "Hey, who are you two? One of you threw that rock so don't try to pretend you don't want to talk to me."

[Expendable]

Seven glanced at Calypso in the pit and nodded gravely, then returned to watching Sebastian. Was he burned? Or was there some reason he didn't want them looking at his face?

[NFVD]

Sebastian looks at Seven inquisitively - "What's the matter, kid? Cat got your tongue? Won't you even give me your name?"

He hears Calypso shouting from a distance and turns around. (hmmm, better say hello to that nova-girl, at least she can speak).

Using his Quantum to fuel his unearthly velocity he sprints and stops right in front of the water-controling woman, offering his hand in a greeting.

"Lo there beautiful! Nice power you got there; I'm a Nova myself. Fastest runner this side of the wastes. The kid back there is not with me, dunno who she is except she likes tossing mud and stones around."

He takes Calypso hand with his own and begins a friendly handshake.

"Call me Sebastian. May I ask your name in return?"

[Expendable]

Seven turned, crouching at the edge of the pit watching Sebastian and Calypso talk next to the peice of tech the water lady had been washing. They were way too close to it.

Picking up a stone, she tossed it at the device again to get their attention, then waved at them both to come out.

[SalmonMax]

The woman flinches back instinctively as Sebastian seems to appear instantly in front of her. The stream of falling water falls apart, and rain resumes falling over the crater.

She does listen to his introduction, and finally does reach out to shake his hand.

"Calypso," she replies, staring curiously at Sebastian's head wrappings. Her eyes are striking, a sort of pale blue-grey like water reflecting a cloud.

The thrown rock snaps her out of it, and she looks at the smaller girl at the edge of the crater, and grins.

"Now why are you throwing rocks at us?" she asks, spreading her arms and approaching Seven at an easygoing walk. "I'm nice. He seems nice. Don't you want to be nice too?"

[Expendable]

Seven stared at Calypso, craning her neck from side to side as the rain started again. Tail lashing slightly, she walked to Calypso and took her hand, then started pulling her away from the pit, waving at Sebastian to follow.

[SalmonMax]

Calypso is distracted momentarily by Seven's tail, but follows along gamely enough for the moment.

"What is it? You don't want me near that thing? You're a bit young to be a scavenger."

She looks back at the other figure.

"Sebastian! Are you planning on laying claim to this chunk of metal?"

[NFVD]

"Nope; I just saw it falling from the sky and decided to check what it was...By the way, careful with the rock-tossing sprog there. I think she might be a bit retard..."

Just then Sebastian notices Seven's tail for the first time, is perceptive abilities apparently failed him on their first meeting.

"Holy crud! She's got a tail!"

The young man add 2 plus 2 in his head and attempts to confirm his suspicions. Controlling the flow of power of the lump inside his brain that sets him apart from normal humanity he "pings" in Seven's direction trying to detect the tell-tale emanations of a MR-Node.

[SalmonMax]

Calypso raises an eyebrow at Sebastian's observation.

"Also, it's raining," she teases.

[Expendable]

Quote:

Calypso is distracted momentarily by Seven's tail, but follows along gamely enough for the moment.

"What is it? You don't want me near that thing? You're a bit young to be a scavenger."

Seven frowned but continued to pull Calypso away from the pit.

Quote:

Calypso looks back at the other figure.

"Sebastian! Are you planning on laying claim to this chunk of metal?"

"Nope; I just saw it falling from the sky and decided to check what it was...By the way, careful with the rock-tossing sprog there. I think she might be a bit retard..."

Seven froze, looking back at Sebastian with an angry glare.

Quote:

Just then Sebastian notices Seven's tail for the first time, is perceptive abilities apparently failed him on their first meeting.

"Holy crud! She's got a tail!"

Calypso raises an eyebrow at Sebastian's observation.

"Also, it's raining," she teases.

Seven turns and sticks her tongue out at Sebastian. Turning back to Calypso, she holds up one finger, she then starts inspecting Calypso's hands and arms, front and back, for any tell-tale redness.

[Expendable]

There were no signs of redness or sores, Seven sighed happily. Giving Sebastian a sideways glance, Seven patted herself on the chest, then held up seven fingers.

Cocking her head to the left questioningly, she then pointed at Calypso.

(ooc: if she doesn't get it, Seven repeats patting herself on the chest, etc.)

[SalmonMax]

Calypso falls silent during Seven's examination, watching the girl closely, but not saying anything.

"You're Seven," she says, catching on right away. "I'm Calypso. Nice to meet you."

She holds out a hand, then calls back to Sebastian, "She's not retarded. She just doesn't speak for some reason."

Calypso pauses, then adds, "And she seems to think there's something dangerous in that pit...most likely the thingy."

(go go gadget 4 dots of intelligence!)

[Expendable]

Seven grinned and shook Lily's hand, slick with rain.

She nodded when Calypso told Sebastian her suspictions. This fell burning from the sky, like the bombs the Red Men used to burn the world. You had to be careful.

[NFVD]

"Well if I believed in Fate I would say this is a most omi..omnn..omnous or whatever coincidence." (damn these expensive words) "I don't remember ever meeting two other novas like this in the wilds."

He looks once more to the metal "thingy" that fell from the sky.

"Well, if you ladies are worried about rads from whatever that thing is I volunteer to check it out."

He stops for a moment and points a thumb at himself, obviously pleased and smiling through his face wrappings.

"I'm...how to put it? Resh..ress..Resilient to radiation."

[SalmonMax]

"Auspicious," Calypso says automatically, then gestures at the fallen device. "And be my guest. Not so surprising though, when you think about it. That thing was visible for miles around, I bet. Naturally people like us come to see. What's truly amazing is that none of us have tried to take it from the rest of us."

[Expendable]

Quote:

"...What's truly amazing is that none of us have tried to take it from the rest of us."

Seven snickered, covering her mouth with her hand. What was the point of stealing it now before it had been dugged up? And it fell from the sky - if it wasn't radioactive, it might not be worth anything except as a "collector's peice", whatever that was.

But stealing it might not get her what she really wanted - a way in. She saw how Sebastian reacted once he saw her tail. If they let her tag along, she might get inside a real human settlement.

She sighed and looked up at the rain. Hopefully they could find a dry place to camp tonight. Wet clothes were miserable to sleep in.

[NFVD]

"Good grief" - Sebastian comments at what Calypso said about stealing the metal "thingy" from each other.

"What kind of marauders do you take us for, lady?" - and then he winks at her - "Not every wanderer in the wastes is a low-life, stealin' scumbag. There's still good people around."

He begins walking int the direction of the crashed wreck. - "I'm goin'in for a face-to-face meet with our metal buddy that fell from the skies over there. Be back in a jiffy."

[SalmonMax]

Calypso shrugged at Sebastian and nodded. "If it's safe and you need a hand moving it, give us a yell."

She noted Seven staring bleakly at the sky and gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"Don't worry any about the weather. It'll be dry tonight. I guarantee it."