Aberrant: Phoenix Rising - Chapter 3.5: One of the Few

[jameson (ST)]

This picks up on Gregory's story after this point in Chapter 3. GM pots will be in BLACK and PC posts will be in RED

*****

Gregory creates a slavering toothy deamon dog and charges it toward the aberrants. The illusion spews fire and venom as it charges before tearing into the aberrants. Distracted by the battle the gaurds never even notice as Gregory scales the wall and drops into the city limits.

Gregory finds himself in a rubble strewn street between blasted out buildings and demolished cars and trucks. Further into the city he can see the buildings are in better condition and the streets are clearer and busy with people.

Gregory will observe and listen, while remaining camoflaged. I hopes some civ'lized peoples live here, he wonders to himself, as he tries to find if there is a common theme being discussed among the aberrants and the 'slaves'. If anyone speaks about hiding places or hidden groups, Gregory will follow them and try to make contact. If not, after a half hour or so, Gregory will enter a nearby building to investigate.

After checking out a building or two, he will look for some sort of bazaar where he can exchange some goods.

Gregory moves into the city maintaining a covert profile. He observes the slaves and aberrants for a while and learns little. Clearly the aberrants are only given tasks limited to what they and the slaves are capable. Most likely there is a hierarchy of power and intelligence.

After a few hours Gregory has made his way into the heart of the city, moving from building to building and staying silent and holding to the shadows. Gregory has observed nothing like a market place or even any sign of an organized government, just many different works crews going about the clearing of streets or restoration og some of the least damaged buildings.

Gregory approaches the city center and observes for the first time the fully restored buildings including a massive domed building unlike anything he has seen before. From his vantage point in a ruined building Gregory also observes equipment being brought underground on traintracks into tunnels which appear to have been built back before the burn.

Gregory reminised briefly to his childhood when he saw the train tracks. He remembered his father telling him about the trains that ran across the country on metal rails, and how his grandfather used to collect smaller versions of the vehicles that rode on them. His father showed him one of the surviving miniatures, when he was really young, and for a while after his parent's devouring, he held onto it. Unfortunately, he was forced to trade it, for some food, a few months later. Seeing the train tracks, spurred his imagination.

After a few minutes, he snuck down to where the train tracks were. With some luck, he would be able to gain access to the strange domed monstrosity of a building. If he can get in, riding on the tracks, things would be easier. If not, he will have to get in on foot.

Gregory makes his way down to the tracks and into the undrground labyrinth of subway tunnels and utilities conduits. He moves as quickly as he dares while maintaining absolute stealth. Gregory is suprised that the power down here works and that although some of the tunnels are damaged they appear to have been cleared out and repairs have been conducted to some extent.

Though he finds it difficult to navigate within the tunnels he eventually finds his way to what appears to be an old subway station. The lights are on and the station has been cleared out and cleaned up. From his vanatage point Gregory can see a pair of aberrants, mostly human in appearance, gaurding a doorway out of the station and watching over the lone train/subway car within the station.

He was curious. He was always curious, but in this case, he felt an irresistable urge to look at the train closer. The fact that it was guarded, made it even more alluring. Why they not want people in there?, he asked himself, as he began to push some quantum into his hearing. He was focusing on any sounds coming from the train.

As he listened for any audible voices or sounds, he began to wonder if his previous deception, like the one at the front gates, might work again. I may have to kill these abbies, he began to wonder to himself, as he thought further about the situation. If theys alert others, I's going to get in trouble.

For now, Gregory would wait, listen, and observe. With any luck, Squiddie or someone else would come by. He would reassess his options then.

Gregory lurked in the darkness of the tunnel for a while but aside from some smalltalk between the two Gaurds there was little sound but the scampering of an occasional rat and the intermittant drip of water down one of the adjoining tunnels.

After what seemed like an enternity a man came down the stairs, Gregory recognized him from the drawings Billy made, he was the bland man, the guy who looked so ordinary it was almost hard to pay him attention.

"Everything quiet? Good, James will be coming down shortly make sure the train is ready to go." With that the man turned and left.

One of the aberrants pulled out a pair of old fashiond spectacles and walked over to the train. He punched a number into the keypad and entered the car. Within a few moments Gregory could hear the humming of the car's capacitor's though he knew not why the train was humming.

They leaving?!Gregory's mind raced as his heart quickened. I found him and now he running away. I need stay close. Gregory knew that he had to do something fast, before James arrived. Contacting the others might be a good option right now, but he was not sure if he could tell them exactly where he is. It was that or try and hitch a ride.

Gregory moved slowly, but deliberately, towards the rear of the train. Once there, he searched for a place where he could hold on with relative ease. Once secured, he will relax and wait until the train leaves.

Gregory moved, snakelike, along the tracks within the shadow of the recessed corridor. Squeezing himself between the concrete and the traincar he managed to board the car at the rear on the side opposite the guards and found purchase within the undercarraige. Within ten minutes steps could be heard coming down the staircase, at least a half dozen people.

Gregory the heard Jame's voice, remembered from his only encounter with the man, "Are we ready to go? Excellent, let's get moving shall we." The footsteps moved toward and boarded the train and Gregory was able to see that only the one gaurd remained on the platform.

Soon the hum of the capacitors became the whine of electric motors and the train smoothly rolled out of the station into the darkness of the tunnels. With no appreciable lighting and no idea of the speed Gregory simply held on and waited for the train to stop.

Within twenty minutes the car leaves the tunnels and exits into the bright sunlight filtering between trees. Gregory looks up and out and sees that the train tracks were cleared carefully such that the canopy of tree limbs overhead was maintained, this track would be nearly impossible to see from the air. The forest blurred by as the train hurried down the tracks and deep into the wilderness.

He wanted desperately to send to the others about what he was doing. It was the knowledge that James could see 'pictures in a person's mind' that stopped him. Now was not the time to risk being discovered.

Gregory watched, from his vantage point, as the canopy of trees blurrred overhead and shielded them from detection. James is very clever, he mused to himself, as he tried to discern their direction of travel. Gregory did remember, from long ago, that the sun set in the West and rose in the east. Eventually the sun would set and he would know their general direction.

As they travelled, he would periodically use his enhanced hearing to listen for any conversations in the railcar. He hoped he was able to block out the noise of the train-tracks by concentrating on the quieter sounds above him.

The hum of the engines, the grind of metal on metal, and the wind in his ears. It was amazing that Gregory could hear himself think. Straining he was able to hear bits of conversation inside but very little to string together for understanding. Words like "Geo-synchonos", "escape velocity", and "ramjet" were lost on him and there was little else he could make out.

After what seemed hours Gregory was able to determine that the train was running west and south. The sun was filtering through the trees now and Gregory could see that the cabin was lit from the inside as well. Suddenly he noticed that the engine's humming had changed pitch. After five minutes Gregory thought that their speed was reducing and yet the engines remained humming.

From inside he was able to make out, "Approxamately fifteen minutes now sir..."

Are they stopping? he wondered, as he adjusted himself to get a good view of those who would exit the railcar. If KB was with them, he would be able to see her.

He was curious what his cohorts were up to back at home, and he hoped that they would understand. They were probably worried. Nevertheless, he had to show them that he could do this. It was time they stopped treating him like a child. It was not his fault that he grew up associating little with other humans, and had a dog as his only friend. Not having command of a language, did not mean he was helpless.

Sure enough the train continued to lose speed and within about fifteen minutes the train finally rolled to a halt at a platform. Gregory strained to crane his neck so that he could still see the platform while maintaining his hidden position. Shortly the doors opened and the occupants began to disembark. Gregour was able to identify James and the bland man from Billy's drawings. Other people left the train, some were marked with aberrations and others appeared human. The last to leave the train was the gaurd and he positioned himself at the door and waited.

James turned to face the others, "Welcome! As you can see behind me," his arm sweeps out behind him indicating whatever is beyond the terminal, "We are rapidly moving ahead with the plan. We still need to form the skin of the craft and I am currently negotiating for the materials to do just that..."

Gregory's eyes follow James's hand and he sees and image right out of one of Billy's drawings. A large network of scafolding upports the rising structure of a large cone-toppec cynlinder. The Object itself appears to be under construction with people moving about over the scafolding.

"... of course our progress is much greater since we aquired the weather controller to keep the working conditions at optimal. I digress, let us go and we can discss firther onsite." James turns and begins to lead the group away.

He will use his quantum enhanced hearing to listen to the conversations going on between James and the others. Hopefully he can figure out what James wants the ship for.

After the group has reached the strange scaffolded object, Gregory will move from his hiding position and towards the side opposite the guard. Once there, he will try and climb up the back side of the train so he can look inside one of the windows. He will pay particular attention to any occupants as well as other means of entering the train. While doing this, he will attempt to keep his ears tuned in on any conversations and sounds nearby.

Clamboring over the rear side of the train car Gregory moves into a position to peer inside. As he does so he glances toward James and the others, now beyond the range of even his enhanced hearing. Unsure Gregory takes a look inside the car before deciding whether to follow James' group or not.

The car interior looks like something out of the golden age. There are rows of very comfortable looking seats and near the front is a station where the driver must sit. The car itself is empty right now but Gregory notices a briefcase sitting on one of the seats.

Curious about the contents of the briefcase, Gregory started to formulate a plan to get it. Inside, might be the information that they are looking for.

Gregory needed to either remove the door guard with as little commotions as possible, or remove the briefcase without anyone seeing. After a few minutes he had come up with a plan.

He imagined a colony of ants. As he formed the image in his mind, he wanted them to be invisible. These invisible ants swarm over something and once covered, the object can't be seen. If all went well, the invisible construct/colony could walk out the door with the briefcase, and no-one would even know.

He formed the colony inside the rail-car next to the briefcase, and gave them his instructions. They were to avoid the guard, and once outside, they were to bring it to him, in his hiding place, on the train.

[jameson (ST)]

Gregory concentrates and pushes quantum through his node, he keeps loading more and more beyond what it would normally take to create one of his pets. This was different, usually they were visible and usually he only made one, although the mass of ants would be smaller overall it was the nature of creating thousands of bodies. He strained and felt something wrong, something filmy, like walking through a spiderweb. They suddenly he watched as the case began to fade from view. It was odd, he hadn't expected to not be able to see his own creation but they were truly invisible.

A few minutes later something bumped into his leg and he looked down to see the case begin to appear as the invisible ants began to recede from it.

He felt strange from expending his energy in such a way. He would worry about what happened later. All he knew was that it worked. He had the briefcase and no-one noticed it's disappearance. He would have the ants remain, in case he needed them again. Now to open the briefcase and see what was inside.

Gregory hunkered down behind the train car the invisible ants crawled around his feet and over the briefcase creating unsettling holes within its solidity. Gregory went to open it but found it locked. The clasps had a series of numbers next to them on spinable cylinders. Some sort of combination device. Gregory could not do the math to determine the possible combinations but he knew enough that it would take quite a lot of guesswork to stumble on the code by trial and error. Unfortunately the case was metal of some sort, it was black and somewhat shiney which had made him think it was leather but, upon inspection, it was clearly steel or aluminum.

Gregory peered up and into the cabin once more and then out the opposite windows. The gaurd was still standing there and he could see James's group was only a few hundred feet away still, they were talking, though Gregory could not make the words out clearly, near some sort of work area.

I need help to open the case. He thought to himself in frustration, his original plan ruined. Now I can't take out stuff inside and put empty case back on train.

Gregory knew that he had to find some food. The expenditure of so much energy was taking its toll on his body. He had also been up for the greater part of a day, and needed some sleep. For now, he would have to wait.

Dispersing the ants, he headed a hundred yards away, towards a group of trees and bushes. The whole time, he used the train car and line-of-sight to shield himself from view by the others. Once there, he dug a hole, and placed the case within it. After covering it and concealing it with leaves and detritus, he made his way back down towards the train.

Looking for some trees or other bushes for concealment, Gregory slowly made his way closer to James and company. He only wanted to get close enough that he could hear what they were saying with his quantum enhanced hearing.

Gregory lifts the case and finds it is heavier than he anticipated. He moves away and buries the case before heading deeper into the complex to observe James. Gregory moves up as best he can using trees and buildings to obscure himself and relying on his inbuilt camoflage to hide him the rest of the way. He finally gets close enough to see that James is showing some sort of machinery to the assembled people.

"... completed as soon as we get the required materials."

"Are you sure the design will work? The Kabeckers couldn't keep from blowing themselves up, what makes you so confident?" asks ome of the men.

James looks irritated by the question but retains composure, "Because I am far greater an intellect that they could dream of ... and because I will do what is needed to accomplish my task." James' voice resonates with menace, it is clear to Gregory that he tolerates the man who asked the question out of need than desire, James might hide his disdain from those people but Gregory was finding it easier to read people recently.

"As I said before," James continues, "As soon as we have the material for the skin we should be able to complete the exterior of the craft within ... ten days at most. The weather controller has proven quite skilled at maintaining the working conditions and we can always harvest more slaves from the city to process the materials as fast as the technicians can install the panels."

Gregory waits and remains hidden. Soon James would return to the train and find his briefcase missing. When that happened, James would become very angry and probably kill his guard. After that, he would begin to conduct a search of the site. Gregory did not want to be around when that happened.

He still didn't know what Squiddy wanted, or what was in the heavy case, but it seemed that it was very important to him. If he could get it back to his friends, they might be able to tell what it was. Unfortunately, he didn't know exactly where he was and the others would have to search for him.

Gregory decided that he would retreat to a position opposite the train when James headed back to the train. If he was to be caught, he wanted it to be in an area on the opposite side of the complex. That way he would be as far away as possible when the search began. Then, Gregory could flee into the woods.

Gregory began to retreat back toward the train when one of the assembled people asked, "Can we meet this weather controller you found? It would be pleasing to meet the person who is heloing keep this project moving forward so smoothly."

"I'm afraid that would not be a good idea," James replies, "She is a somewhat ... reluctant recruit."

"Ah yes, I recall now. Still at least you have been able to make use of her talents, that itself is enough ..."

Could that be KB? Gregory didn't know anything about what kind of powers she possessed, but he knew what 'reluctant' meant. If they could rescue KB while retaining posession of the briefcase, then Gregory could blackmail James. Even better, they could destroy his craft as a final resort. I need to contact the others when I find KB.

He moved back towards where the craft was located and looked for an attractive darker skinned woman. He hoped that she would be unguarded. If she was, he would try and rescue her, once James and his train left. At least that is what he hoped.

The briefcase would stay hidden and unmolested until it was time to retrieve it.

The train is at the edge of the compound and from what Gregory saw there was little space to keep a confined prisoner. Gregory had a descision to make, move further into the compound trusting that the case would remain hidden, or grab the case and then try to locate KB whil eluding James' men. He had no idea when the missing case would be noticed, and that made things harder to decide upon. So long as its abscence remained unknown he could move about the compound much more safely.

Gregory decided that he would grab the case and take it with him. Were he to be caught with it, he would be killed, or worse, infected with the same wasting disease as Robert. He shuddered at that realization.

Stripping off his pants, he was now completely naked, and he tucked the case against his body to shield it from view. It would make moving around the camp with the briefcase much easier. If they got close to him, he could always create a diversion. Once inside the camp, he placed the briefcase in a secure, but easily accessible location, so that when he found KB, he could get it and leave. He hoped that the others would be able to find him when he called for them.

Luckily for Gregory James was correct, the weather controller was keeping the area at the perfect conditions, it was warm without being hot and it was neither overly humid nor extremely dry. Gregory moved further into the camp as James and his people moved about discussing technical aspects that were lost on Gregory.

Most of the buildings were not enclosed or only partially enclosed. Novas/aberrants used their powers to liquify metals and pour them into castings or to heat them for forging by others. Others used extremely dextrous tendrils and fingers to machine parts and assemble pieces of machinery and computer boards. Near the center of the camp was a single story building which was enclosed, likely the place where any captives or "reluctant recruits" would be kept.

Gregory was surpised, there were few gaurds about, even at the perimiter. Then again, the majority of the workers appeared to be novas and as such there may not have been any need for gaurds. Gregroy looked about for a place to put the case down where he could retrive it but without taking time to dig into the earth the best he could do would be to hide the case within the machinery and parts of one of the buildings. He did the best he could and hoped that nobody would need anything from one of the bins.

Gregroy now turned his attention to the building, it was smack in the middle of the camp and at best there would still be at least a few people who could potentially see him as he approached it. Gregory had to give James' a gruding smile, he had laid out the camp to minimize the need for dedicated gaurds by having the various work stations covering the many possible rows between the buildings as well as the perimeter.

He is good! Gregory said to himself, admiring the layout of the camp. He was sure that KB, and others, were in that building, but he would probably get caught trying to get there. It might be a good time to have his associates make a quick raid to fee KB and get out of there. He could even create a diversion to make it easier for them.

He returned to the building where he had stashed the case. He hoped that someone would be listening when he opened up the link:

I think I found KB. She is in a building in the middle of a camp, southwest of York. I can't get to it. I am in woods (a deception to protect himself, should James hear him) to the North. There is a strange mechanical thing on metal tracks near me. They came from York on it. Try not to be seen..advise..not much time...

He tries to send a mental image of the camp and it's possible relation to York. Meanwhile, he rested to regain his strength.

*****

At this point Gregory's story resume's here