Aberrant: The Long March - Chapter 5: Breaking New Trails

[Mr Fox]

April 1922 - May 1923

Inertia of a small object is easy to overcome. Inertia of an entire planet is very difficult. The greek philosopher Archimedes once said, "Give me a fulcrum on which to rest, and I will move the earth." You all know where the fulcrum's lie, having knowledge of the future, but even so it takes time and great effort to begin steering all of Earth's societies in different directions from those toward which they were heading.

Nonetheless, you have set the change in motion, although one year is very little time in which to see any major progress.

*****

In the Mid-East Omar is making a name for himself. Ziggurat in fact is what the people are calling him. A bastion of unassailable truth. His unselfish charity and support of the Arab peoples has already made him famous in the region. Thanks to the adjustments already made to the Soviet leaders the anticipated reprisals for creating pro-capitalist news outlets have not occurred. Some hot heads amongst the communists did attempt to destroy the radio station and newspaper, but this only spurred the people to want to hear and read more. In a matter of days Omar had the new presses pumping out his message again. Despite all his efforts however he has barely made a dent in the poverty and of such a huge widespread region. On the bright side he has made the acquaintance of many of the major players in the area and has made some progress in convincing them on a personal level to follow his lead. A small but important seed of pride is beginning to take root in the hearts of the Arabs.

From a personal standpoint Omar has lost money over the course of the year, but expects to begin seeing a return on his investments in the next year or two, and once the money does start coming in it will more than cover his losses making him independently wealthy apart from what money he has used from our cargo hold full of gold.

*****

Andrew spends much of his year in private study bringing himself up to date on physics and the other sciences as well as becoming more proficient with his own quantum powers. Toward the end of the year with the help of Lorean, he arranges for a conference of the worlds top physicists. With a little persuasion he manages to get all the top names, and Einstein is the keynote speaker having just received his Nobel Prize the year before. The conference is a big success mostly in creating a direct dialog among many of the worlds elite scientists. It also provides a wonderful opportunity for Cody to make suggestions preventing the scientists from working with their governments toward the production of nukes. The conference's make accomplishment is the formation of a council for the responsible use of science with Andrew as it's chairman.

With his remaining time Andrew spends a good deal of money, many millions in fact, on buying up land that is rich in fissionable materials so as to make the development of nuclear science more difficult without going through us.

*****

Bradford

Bradford spends much of his year bringing himself up to spped on 'future-history' and trying to learn the basics of other languages. By the time the year is over he has a good grasp on what would have occurred and is using a good deal of the future slang naturally in conversation. Along the way he lends his illusion abilities in helping the others achieve their goals. Cody is very good with the persuasion, but even he is limited in how much he can do and isn't always available to employ his telepathy. At such times illusion works wonders in convincing people of what we say being true.

As the year progresses, his illusions become more complex and even more realistic. In a somewhat macabre way, his illusions of violent scenes particularly of combat achieve a realism that is quite disturbing. Lorean's holograms of future events are amazing, but Bradford's illusions add in all five senses. Blood splashing in peoples faces, heat from the nuclear strikes, and other tidbits make his visions of the future scarring to the point of practically giving people who experience them post traumatic stress syndrome.

On a personal note, Bradford finds Lorean surprisingly resistant to his charms. She is extremely polite and never takes offense, but nonetheless she always seems to extricate herself from what could become uncomfortable situations with ease and grace that leaves everyone comfortable.

*****

Like Bradford, Phillip and his friend Elizabeth spend a good deal of their time studying future history, although she focuses on scientific developments more than history. She also works closely with Phillip as he explores his new abilities, even going so far as to develop a battery that is more sustaining than 'eating' from his blowtorch. With practice Phillip develops much more fine control of his powers and is able to judge the type of energy down to very minute frequency differences that would be different for anyone short of Lorean to detect with her advanced instruments.

Thru the weekly meetings of the novas he becomes more comfortable with giving input and making suggestions and offering opinions on how people with react to what is proposed. The later in the year it gets and the more of the future history he learns the more he feels able to provide assistance to the others.

Elizabeth meanwhile becomes his almost constant companion practically always at his right hand looking for ways to help.

*****

Steve sets about making many reforms with Cody's help. Thanks to their efforts the US implements the FDIC and establishes many banking policy changes that should go far toward preventing the stock market crash of 29 from leading to the great depression. Steve also identifies the key senators and congressmen and has Cody adjust them so that the United States joins and throws it's full support behind the League of Nations. Once that is done the League pushes for debt forgiveness for Germany. It takes most of the year, but all of the countries forgive Germany it's debt. That goal took a major effort on Cody's part and involved more time adjusting people than any other single project.

The upshot of it is that the League of Nations emerges as a very strong institution and people begin to think of it as a viable governing body capable of settling global disputes. It is still a long way from becoming a world government, but thanks to Steve and Cody it has taken the first step by establishing a good reputation.

Like Omar, Steve also spends a good deal of his time on investing in businesses and making money. Unlike the Arab businesses that Omar has invested in, the businesses in the US are already on firm footing and some start to show a return even before the end of the first year. Like Omar, Steve is confident that his investments will pay off with large profits rather quickly.

*****

Morgan focuses his efforts on Germany. On June 27th he arranges for the assassination of Walther Rathenau the Minister of Foreign Affairs to be foiled. Using the attempted assassination as a political rallying point he begins the process of taming the many political factions in Germany, and specifically uses it to bring the issue of racism against the Jews to a crises point. The Minister was the target of the assassins mostly because of his Jewish heratige. Manipulating the media and public opinion and rallying the people around Minister Rathenau and arranging for him to be successful in getting the war Reparations dropped a few months later (with the help of Steve, Cody and the League of Nations) turns Rathenau in to a national hero. Between one of Germany's top leaders being jew and manipulation of the media and a few specific personal adjustment from Cody, the racism begins to cool toward the end of the year, at least on a national and political level. Even Morgan's efforts it will take at least a generation before the racism subsides to a comfortable level.

Though it may seem a little disturbing to those who know future history, rather than ignoring the events that lead Germany to WWII, Morgan is harnessing them. He begins campaigns to awaken national pride and organizes rallies much like the ones the Nazi's used to garner support. However, he is very careful to leave race out of the discussions and to keep the tones of the events calm and focuses them on rebuilding Germany.

*****

Lorean spends the year establishing offices in every major city in the world. She has agents collecting publications and all printed information that can be obtained. They are also instructed to note all political events and persons of interest and include any local gossip.

She also arranges for hiring personal secretaries for major leaders like Lenin and Stalin, and with Cody's help insures that they get hired. They in turn pass on much information to Lorean which she shares with the group.

On a side note, one morning she does bring to the groups attention a local obituary in a German paper for one Adolph Hitler who was found having committed suicide.

*****

Cody spends most of his year making adjustments to political leaders and others whom the group brings to his attention. He also spends a good bit of his time gathering direct information directly from the minds of important people around the world and thanks to him the group identifies several key players in situations where they were not aware of problems.

He also spends a good deal of his time working directly with Steve learning more about investigation, such that by the end of the year he could be considered a world class detective in his own right. Of course his special abilities certainly help in that regard giving him a major advantage.

At first the crew is taken aback by his telepathy being the only means of communication, but after a few weeks it becomes natural to them, and Cody learns a technique by which he makes them aware of the communication so that they don't feel like he's constantly in their heads when they aren't aware of him. On the morning of Lorean's announcement of Hitler's suicide Cody may not look quite as surprised as everyone else, but doesn't offer any information.

[Mr Fox]

May 1st 1923

Lorean's Chicago office has a visitor. A well dressed gentleman asks to speak with the owner and mentions Lorean by name. He doesn't look surprised when he is told she isn't there and says that he will call again the next morning at the same time. The staff, not knowing what to do phones her New York office per instruction in the case of unusual events. Lorean who has a device attached to the New York office's phone system that allows her to record any calls made to or from it, calls a meeting of the crew for the next morning after breakfast. Everyone attends the meeting and Lorean asks Morgan to open a warp to the Chicago office. Promptly at 10:00 am, Maxwell Mercer walks through the front door and asks the secretary to conduct him to the meeting room where Mrs. Lorean and her associates are gathered much to the suprise of the staff.

The secretary announces him and shows him in. As he steps into the room he has an odd look on his face, slightly distant as though remembering something then he focuses on the present and brightens in a smile.

"I am Maxwell Mercer, but you already know that. How are you all this fine May morning in the year 1923?" As he speaks he takes the empty chair at the table around which the rest of you sit. You have the distinct impression that he is examaning each of you. "Pardon my rudeness, but you all look a bit different than I expected."

[Andrew Murphy]

Andrew stares right back at Mercer somehow suprised by how ordinary the man looks. He smiles containing a chuckle this whole time travel thing isn't all that confusing to him, he's spent a great deal of time working on the most advanced theories in quantum and temporal mechanics trying in vain to figure a way out of this mess. And to boot he's been working with men like Albert Einstien, Niels Bohr, Max Planck, and others of this generation attempting to push humanities knowledge of the cosmos forward as quickly as possible.

Still, Andrew cannot get over the fact that he is just now meeting a man who, in all likelyhood, already knows his furture self quiet well. Further in some years Andrew himself will once again meen Mercer and find that the man has yet to mee him. The interactions of separate time travelers can create quite a mess of personal relationships.

Finally Andrew smirks, "How so? You aren't exactly the spitting image of the man of the future."

[Omar]

Omar was not sure what to make of the famous Max Mercer. The man had already seen the future, as they had, but from a different vantage point. Was the future that Max saw the same one they are causing now, or different? Would anything he told them now change that future, or would it cause that future? It was enough to make Omar's head spin.

"Different? What were you expecting?" Omar asked, reinforcing the question posed by Andrew.

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Mr Fox

May 1st 1923

"I am Maxwell Mercer, but you already know that. How are you all this fine May morning in the year 1923?" As he speaks he takes the empty chair at the table around which the rest of you sit. You have the distinct impression that he is examining each of you. "Pardon my rudeness, but you all look a bit different than I expected."

Steve says with honest pleasure,

“Max! Good to finally meet you. Would you like some coffee?”

Originally Posted By: Ziggurat

"Different? What were you expecting?" Omar asked, reinforcing the question posed by Andrew.

Steve says,

“He means history has a judgment on us and he knows it, so he’s a step ahead of us on the chain of cause and effect. I’d wondered if that was going to happen.”

Steve turns back to Max and says, “Something else I'd wondered about is whether you remember what the future was like before we started? I hope so, that would go a long way to tell us whether we’re making things better or worse.”

Steve comes across here as an earnest, enthusiastic youngster. It matches well his current young face. Cody especially recognizes this roll; Steve is once again the "good cop".

(OOC: Lie Detector On. Investigative Prodigy On)

[32767]

Phillip was interested in meeting Mercer, but with the prospect of getting conformation of their work, Phillip is on the edge of his seat.

[SkyLion]

When Maxwell enters the room Cody isn't surprised. He had expected it to happen like this...a time loop. History fullfilling itself in the here and now.

To Mercer he meets his gaze and merely nods once by way of greeting.

[Mr Fox]

Lorean also exchanges pleasantries with Mercer. Morgan smiles and shakes his hand, and then Mercer speaks to everyone, "Pleasure to meet you all also." After all the greetings are out of the way he will take a seat at the table.

Becoming serious he looks to Steve and answers, "I'm afraid I only remember what I've experienced, which is the consequence of one series of events. I don't have any idea what the future would be like without you taking part." He smiles ruefully and continues, "And while I understand you would very much like to know the future course of history, I can not share it with you. To do so would be to change events." Seeing your expressions, "What I will do is ask that you join an organization that I am forming, it will be called the Aeon Society." He seems pretty sure of himself.

"I don't doubt that you will join me, and while I will not give you details lest that change things for the worse, I will say that I believe that together we can certainly make a better world. I also have done a bit of research on what you have already been doing and I must applaud your efforts. I had not planned to directly influence politics, but I understand your reasoning and I accept it." Grinning broadly at everyone, "I will leave that in your hands, and I will not inquire further at this time, however, once the Society has been fully formed, I would like to perhaps have a discussion with you all as to how you plan to proceed. For now, I would simply like to invite you to my home, for the first meeting of the Aeon Society one month hence."

[jameson (ST)]

Andrew listens intently as Mercer lays out his invitation and his unwillingness to tell them how their actions thus far have worked out in the long term.

"I can't speak for all of us but I'm interested, count me in. Though I must admit I am a bit disappointed that you won't share the future with us. I'm sure that if you worked closely with our future selves you know well that we mean to better the world and that the knowledge you have would help us to fine tune the process."

[Courier]

If Steve is surprised by the refusal to say what the future is he doesn't show it.

Originally Posted By: Dr. Raphael Bradford

"...I'm sure that if you worked closely with our future selves..."

Steve thinks,

*Oh, well put Andrew. Well put indeed. Let's just see what he says to that.*

After waiting for the response Steve says,

"Sure. I'd be glad to join."

[Cytorak Ruby]

Bradford nodded. "I guess sign me up for the new frontier as well. I need a break from reading anyway."

[Omar]

He wanted to lead from the front. Being part of an organization that worked behind the scenes was not a great fit for hi personality. Still, what Mercer wanted to do was noble, and that was also important to Omar.

Omar leans back in his chair, and looks at Mercer. "I'll do it. But I must confess, that working from the shadows is not what I had in mind."

Omar comes foreward and speaking in a quieter voice, he smiles at Mercer. "I must also let you know that we have changed a lot of histories. This situation is different in that we can't go back and change our mistakes."

[Guest Maxwell Mercer]

Max replies to Andrew, "Well, I certainly do understand that you would want to know and I know very well that you have the best of intentions." He smiles around at the group, "You may find this hard to accept, but we have had, or rather will have many discussions about time travel and that while I very much respect what you have done and your opinions, I believe it would be safest to let you set your own course and avoid interfering."

Looking to Omar, "And that includes letting you lead from the front if you so wish. The Aeon Society will not take overt political actions, I don't plan to change the focus of the society, but what it's individual members choose to do is their own business as long as they are working for the greater good."

[32767]

Seeing as most everyone agrees, and they are trying to fight the good fight Phillip agrees.

(ooc, I am not sure if I can do the following)

Phillip then sends: *If this Mercer really is trying to do the right thing, maybe we should give him the future recordings?*

[Courier]

Steve sends back,

*That's a card I'd like to hold in reserve if we can. The previous Max did know of the war and it didn't help. Max is a good man with fine ideas. But he's not always right. I think we'd be doing him and us a diservice if we try to make him into us.*

[Guest Maxwell Mercer]

Max looks at Courier and smiles at the comment, "You're absolutely right my friend. I'm not always right, that is why I encourage you to continue to follow your planned course without my interference. I also thank you for the compliment. I have a great deal of respect for all of you as well."

He grins widely and finishes, "Oh and our good Lorean here provided me with one of your most excellent communicators. I apologize not mentioning it before, but I had honestly forgotten it was there I've become so used to it."

Lorean blushes at this, "It did not occur to me to scan the channels to see if he or anyone else was monitoring given the current level of technology."

[Courier]

Steve blinks and says,

"Interesting... that bodes well for the future I think."

[32767]

"Well, if you have a link, then we would have already shown you if we are going to show you. I know the answer is no, but is there anything we should know for when we meet you for 'the first time'?"

[Guest Maxwell Mercer]

Max looks serious, "Yes, I have seen your recordings, and I am 100% behind what you are trying to accomplish. I will still form my Aeon Society, because I believe it will be very important to prevent the negative consequences of meta-humans. You seek to bring the world together and focus our efforts so that we can avoid the war and defend ourselves against the alien threat. I seek to unite the meta-humans for the benefit of the entire human race, meta-human and baseline alike. Fortunately, I have fore warning thanks to you of the serpent that can enter the garden if we are not vigilant and I won't let that happen in this timeline."

He smiles again, "There is nothing that I can share with you, other than, follow the course you have already begun. There is one thing that I would ask of you however. I would like for you to make special effort in befriending Michael Donigan, a good friend of mine, whom I believe you know as the future Divis Mal. He is a good man and with care perhaps we can prevent him from becoming the menace that he has the potential to be."

[Courier]

Steve says,

"Agreed. I suspect a large part of that future's problem was, in a word, 'taint'. There are things you just have to know about being a nova, and since he was first he couldn't have."

[Omar]

"I will look out for Mr. Donigan." Omar says to Mercer. "I don't know if we should let him in on our little secret though."

"What do you think?"

Omar very much wanted to stay on earth and live among his people for a few years. At least until the next time Lorien poped back. He knew that his extended lifespan would allow for such a possibility. He would age little in that time.

While there, he could get involved in regional and global politics. If he could difectly witness the passing of events, it might give some insight into how the canges they make ripple through society.

Right now though, Omar was not willing to commit to such a long term expedition.

[Courier]

Steve says,

"He'll figure it out on his own I'm sure. Also, we need him to take us seriously about lifestyle changes. Taint needs to be taken seriously and learning by trial and error isn't the way to do it."

[Mr Fox]

Morgan speaks up, "I think we should show him an edited version of the future. Just the parts about taint and it's consequences. We should definitely leave out the bits about his own future."

[32767]

Phillip replies "I think letting him know is dangerous, but leaving him be is more so. Even though I don't like the option, I have to aggree with Morgan. If someone could come up with a better option..."

[Andrew Murphy]

Andrew sits quietly as the banter goes back and forth regarding Mercer and Donigal. He finds it more than a little infuriating that they had shared thier knowledge of the future with Max including direct communication with Lorean and he was still unwilling to share his own information. Hypocritical control freak Andrew thinks, I wonder if Cody could dig it out of him ...

Finally as the conversation appears to be turning more to how they must eventually deal with the future Divis Mal Andrew speaks up, "Max, no offense here, really, but you are asking for our help to keep your freind from ever becoming Divis Mal. At the same time however, you have not shared anything with us, you claim that you seek to unite humanity and yet you offer us no help."

Andrew stands, his arms crossed behind him, a pose that the others know is a sign of anger from Andrew. "Tell us why we should help you and help Donigal? We all know he's at least as much a part of the problem as any other single factor right now, outside of taint anyway. Why shouldn't we take the chance right now and eliminate a man whose blatent racist elitism will drive much of the strife between baselines and novas?

"Because right now our, given our last view of the future, that seems like the best choice to me. Your knowledge might just change that though."

[Guest Maxwell_Mercer]

"On the contrary Andrew, I have told you one thing about the future. I've asked for your help with my friend Michael. I care about him and he has the potential to do great good, we just have to see that he doesn't fall into unfortunate habits."

He smiles at Andrew as he paces, "I can understand your frustration, but I am offering something here besides that hint, I am offering to put the whole weight of the Aeon Society behind your efforts. The society itself should not be in the forefront of political wrangling, but behind the scenes the Society will eventually wield considerable influence. I am offering to use that for your benefit providing you continue to work for the betterment of the entire human race."

After a second he continues, "Besides, I don't have any means of showing you the future, even if I chose to. I have already said that I approve of what you have begun, and encourage you to continue your course, that should tell you all you really need to know anyway. I fear that giving you specifics could cause complications in the timeline, this way we avoid those complications."

[Courier]

Steve says,

"Translation: We still need to worry about paradox, especially since we are actively trying to change the future. Max doesn't think he's immune, nor does Lorean."

"I've thought a bit on that subject and I think the core problem is a lack of stability leading to degeneration. We change the future, the future changes the past, and that cycle keeps repeating until at some point the timeline stops changing and becomes stable."

"Unfortunately for us, one of the easier ways for that to happen would be for the time travel machine to be broken or the people using it to die. No matter how unlikely or difficult it is for that to happen, it will if we cycle enough times."

"Ignoring paradox is like playing Russian Roullet an infinite number of times. Even if the odds are only one in millions, those odds will happen because it's the only stable outcome."

[SkyLion]

Cody answers over the link to everyone.

"Max is correct. He knows things about what happened in our future. Supposing he did tell us then it could and quite probably would change our actions, thus making his shared predictions obsolete."

"Even so, i can't deny Andrew's logic. Simply assasinating Donighal now saves us a whole lot of effort and is a sure-fire way that his evil is never brought to bear. This is the same option I offered Hitler. Allowing him to live means we take a gamble that our efforts to "condition" him don't work or even backfire on us. Donighal is already a genius, far beyond any other meta-humans of this time save for possibly us. he has already begun to learn and experiment and if history holds true, the seeds of hatred and racist bigotry are already present. We know he plays a role with the Axis in the Second World War. So far it looks like we have prevented that, but who is to say that Donighal won't take hitler's place? With his capabilities he might even succeed where our time's Hitler failed..."

He looks at Max, eyes as concealed as always and it is difficult to read his emotions.

"I am sorry Maxwell, to play such a devil's advocate, but you have merely glimpsed a future already altered by us and have no way of truly knowing the tyrrany that we have had to live through and witness."

[Courier]

Steve says,

"I think a huge part of Donighal's problems were taint related. The guy worked with Aeon as a force for good for 20 years, that's more than enough time for those kind of problems."

[Guest Maxwell_Mercer]

"Actually, I've seen two different versions of Michael. I've seen Lorean's recordings and I'm appalled by what that reveal of his potential for destruction. But I've also seen a future Michael that results from you being here. He will not develop into Divis Mal, however, more needs to be done. I can't tell you specifics for fear of creating a paradox as Steve points out. I can tell you that the second version of Michael was much more benign although he did cause significant problems eventually." Max frowns and looks at Cody, "I understand what you are saying and I even agree that it is better for one to die than billions, but I cannot condone murder when the future has yet to be written. I've seen two versions of Michael, one significantly better than the other. I would like to try for a third better still."

[Courier]

Steve says,

"Well... good. We'll go to that meeting and try to take taint off the table. I'll challenge him to a game of chess as well."

[Cytorak Ruby]

Bradford slumps forward as though he has fallen asleep. "Oh, I'm sorry, I must of dozed off there. Are we done whining about Dr. Who not telling us all about the future? Can't we just go find this Donighal guy, tell him to not be a dick so he doesn't ruin the world, and get on with it? I don't know about you, but I've been getting a little stir-crazy just hanging out and waiting for the Ghost of Christmas Future here to bring us some non-news."

Bradford goes back to smoking his cigarette, his brows furrowed in frustration.

[SkyLion]

"You say that the version of Donighal you saw did eventually create signifigant problems. From what I understand of "History" it would seem that many of those problems are based upon his own superiority complex, as well as certain staples of the times, such as the segregation and discrimination against people of color."

"If you really want to try for a third outcome, better than the first two, then we need you to disclose the nature of those future, eventual signifigant progress. After all, everything we have done so far, we have done with a foreknowledge of what went wrong, allowing us to go back in and tinker with the power plays."

"If you rely on us to merely act of our own accord, what makes you think the outcome will be any different than that which you have seen, and now traveled back to report? Give us knowledge of that which will ocur, and allow the foreknowledge to create that which you have not yet concieved nor experienced."

[Omar]

Omar was not sure about killing someone who had not yet done any harm. He had heard of Divis Mal however, and knew about the man's troublesome future.

"I hate to rain on everyone's party, but won't Donighal change as the world around him changes? If his perceptions about humanity are formed over the next 75 years, then wouldn't changing the future itself, also change Donighal? Is there really a need to kill him?"

,,

[Andrew Murphy]

Andrew looks frustrated, he feels frustrated, and he finally just slumps. He scrubs his face with his hands and when he looks up he looks defeated, dismayed by a moment of clarity so certain that he simply cannot shake it.

"You know Max, I figured it out. I know why in every timeline we've seen the shit hits the fan. It's you. You're the constant that bridges all the spanned multiverse. You're rigid, uncompromising, and unwilling to change. And more importantly you are unwilling to ACT! You stand there telling us you won't help by providing your direct knowledge and that is exactly the problem.

"You have traveled forward into the future and returned here with knowledge of what's to come, your actions here in the 'past'," Andrew makes those annoying little air quotes with his fingers, a look of disgust and anger now brewing on his face, "are lready affecting the future. Though you will not admit it, your actions ARE changed by your experience, and yet you do not suffer from paradox.

"You are the problem Max, you're too scared of what might happen if you fail so you choose not to act. Oh you create the Aeon society and 'work behind the scenes' but that's not good enough, you aren't willing to get your hands dirty. As a result the future will pay the price of your lack of action."

Andrew has been moving around the table as he spoke and is now directly in front of Max, staring the man down. The anger, frustration, indignation, and disgust are clear on his face.

"And if you aren't part of the solution ... you're part of the problem."

[Courier]

Steve makes a hand movement like he's going to say something then he changes his mind and lets Andrew rate. It's apparent from his expresion that he doesn't agree with him.

[Mr Fox]

Max looks at Bradford somewhat unsympathetically, "Terribly sorry you are bored, but imagine someone coming to you the way you purpose to approach Michael... what would your reaction be, positive or negative?"

When Cody speaks Max responds in turn with a sigh, "Very well, I will give you some of what you want. Michael is a product of our times and unfortunately he does have some racist tendencies. In the end however it wasn't those that caused the greatest problem, it was the fact that he felt excluded from the power structure your group built, which caused him to respond as an outsider and 'fight the system'. He honestly felt that you had betrayed humanity to further your own purposes. Of course he was never shown the future events that I saw, nor was he included. He was also not the taint-driven madman of your own future, he had kept taint down to a minimum, he was however, self deluded. As I said it stemmed from his felling like an outsider. I think he was jealous that I was included in your plans and counsels but he wasn't."

"Omar, you are exactly right! As the world changed and for the better, so too did he change."

As Andrew speak and becomes more heated, Max's countenance darkens until at last he can hold his silence no longer. When Andrew winds to a halt in his tirade, Max bursts up out of his chair and pokes a finger in Andrew's chest, "Don't you think I haven't considered that!!!" Max doesn't pause, but blurts out, "I've seen your tapes and recordings, I hate the way things have turned out in soo many of the timeline. I pray that I am not the weak link that you believe me to be." His face becoming grimmer, "Here's what I know. In every timeline where the Hammersmith event occurs I've formed the Aeon Society. As time passes I've made it the societies mission to try and mitigate any problems between the Meta-Humans and the baselines. Maybe that has caused the problems, but it was the best thing I knew to do, and I can't answer for countless other versions of myself, I can only speak for this me. In this present, I am not standing in your way. I am letting you do what you think best and I am putting the Society at your disposal. I've already seen that things turn out better here than in all those other possible futures. Why should I give you foreknowledge of that and risk the possibility of it turning out worse? I've told you of the one significant problem, that is Michael. No matter what I will not condone murdering a man that has done no wrong yet. Not when he can be saved with a little effort from you." He seems to be calming down somewhat, but he is still on a roll, "What you want to know is detail so you can tweak the future, but what if give those details and it messes everything up. If I tell you that on March 19th there will be an accident that costs the lives of 15000 people and you prevent that accident? But what if it is your response in regards to that accident that turns public opinion in your favor and convinces the majority of the people that you care for the common man? No, I won't do it! Bluster all you like but I will not give you specifics other than in regard to Michael, because I believe he can be saved."

[SkyLion]

Cody nods, his voice serene in the minds of all present.

"Thank you Max. I believe Donighal to be a man of great vision and destiny. He can become a powerful force for good. Let me ask you this then...if we are to truly include him, it would mean showing him visions of his future self, and the inevitable war. Do you think it would be dangerous to show him Divis Mal? Would he be repulsed by the twisting of his potential or would it serve to fuel his ambition for power?"

"In any case I agree...he needs to feel at home with his intellectual peers..something he did not have before our arrival here and of course, your temporal absence. Good call by the way on that chess match Steve...he should enjoy the challenge."

[Andrew Murphy]

Andrew takes a step back after Max's poke, a look of half surprise and half smug satisfaction on his face. He listens to Max as he hauls off and finally nods after Max grinds to a halt.

"About time ..." he mutters under his breath as he listens to COdy "speak".

After Cody has said his peace Andrew continues, "You know Max I think that's the first time since you walked in here where I don't think you held back. Maybe you are still human. I’d apologize for provoking you but I think it was necessary, you see, I do think you might be the weak like, you and Donigal together actually. I don’t think it’s either of you alone but how the two of you interact. Unfortunately you have knowledge of the future of this timeline as well as that of many others and you still don’t seem willing to risk getting your hands dirty.

“Frankly I agree with Cody lets bring Donigal in ... I think that we should tell Donigal EVERYTHING, tell him how horrible things will get. At the same time I think you need to be willing to give us details. Do I want to know when a luxury liner is going to capsize and kill thousands? No, frankly that’s not important enough. Do I want you to tell us that by hoarding all nuclear material available and keeping it out of the hands of governments that the next big weapon is biological and will result in a tragedy far worse than Hiroshima and Nagasaki? You’re damn right I do!

“I agree with you on one thing for sure, we do not at this time have enough knowledge of causality to tinker with the timeline like surgeons. Instead I want the information to at least put a hammer to the problems before the come up. If nuclear weapons are a preferable evil to biological weapons, tell me, and I’ll donate all of my amassed nuclear material to university researchers, hell I’ll help set up nuclear reactors to power the nations of the world.

“Inaction has proven to not work, you say that the future of this timeline is brighter for our actions, well I say that it can only get brighter still with your help, your active help.”

[Courier]

Steve says,

"No."

"Andrew, he can't. His powers don't work that way. That's been the problem all along, he simply doesn't have the tools. He's been the best there is, but that's not the same as God. He's a pocket calculator, you're asking him to be a super computer."

"Are Biologicals worse than nukes? How exactly is he supposed to tell? He sees nukes, he sees that they're bad news and kill lots of people, so he goes back in time and says that. Then biologicals dominate, and he goes back in time and says that. And none of us, including himself, remember his original warning about the nukes. He has no way to evaluate whether or not one outcome is worse than another because he doesn't remember what happened."

"So the circle goes round and round and round until something happens to prevent him from giving the warning. That's paradox and that's why it's dangerous. The circle breaks when it's bad enough that you don't get a warning off."

"I didn't get into this to save hundreds of thousands of lives. Or millions of lives. Or tens of millions. Or even hundreds of millions. I got into this to save Billions."

"There are going to be massive screw ups where millions of people die. Worse, many of them we're going to have the power to prevent but we didn't for one reason or another. Much worse, some of them we are going to cause. And we're going to have to live with it because the alternative just might be losing the planet, and we don't have the information to say otherwise."