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Aberrant: The Long March - Chapter 6: Making History


Mr Fox

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Steve comments,

"We don't know whether or not the Watchers are on this reality, but I'm sure they weren't the ones behind the mass drivers. Their power scale is too different, if the Watchers wanted the Earth dead, it'd be dead. The Drivers were probably the same group that Lorean's, ah, brother had to deal with."

"As for our fate, the nature of time itself currently prevents us from finding that out. Eventually either we'll win and society will be stable with novas, or we'll lose and Billions of people will die. It's even possible society will win and put us on trial for whatever they consider to be our crimes. Or we may have to flee into time or space. We simply don't know."

"As for corporations, Ulric is mostly right. Functioning governments have a monoply on the use of violence. That's why a truly bad corporation's death toll is usually measured in the hundreds to thousands, but a truly bad government can kill hundreds of millions."

"Diamond's, and for that matter oil's, historic problem is it allows a government to function without the need for it's people. The worse they treat their people the better off the government itself is. Large scale banditry becomes possible, even desireable, from an economic point of view."

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"Courier is right in his analysis." Omar spoke up. As a student of history in college, he remembered quotes from people of the 20th century regarding just what Courier was speaking about. He remembered a quote from Oxford University literature professor, C.S. Lewis. He nodded to Courier as he spoke, his deep voice resonating through the meeting room.

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

"As someone who lived under horrible oppression, I agree with Mr. Lewis. The government I lived under, never stopped in its meddling or oppression. When you live under those conditions, a corporation that takes advantage of people is more desireable. In iraq, in my timeline, we had no corporations that were not under Baathist's control. You could not have a business without the 'blessings' of the Baath party."

"We need to be careful just how much we want to use government power to regulate corporations. I think a late 20th to early 21st century American economic model would be best to work for. It is just a suggestion."

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"Ziggurat, I think in the interest of keeping the world from becoming like these "Baathists" you speak of, you might have us go too far in the other direction. The world needs corrupt corporations no more than it needs corrupt governments. And if we have the power to stop them, why should we not? Why draw arbitrary limits for ourselves? A moment ago Morgan was speaking casually of tampering with someone's mind!"

"If we're going to rule OR guide humanity, we cannot be afraid to save it from itself. Or else what good will the whole thing be?"

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Steve answers,

"Why not? Because we need to save humanity from itself, and dealing with what we must deal with is going to be hard enough. We need to manipulate dozens of governments and all of society as well. Corrupt corporations mostly don't cause enough problems to be worth our time."

"Granted, there are exceptions, and also granted, most of those exceptions are around right now. This is the peak of corporate power, when they are at their strongest relative to the world's functioning governments. But pretty soon the governments will pass laws and the corporations will obay them. For that matter one of those laws is going to break up Big Oil and some of the others."

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Morgan nods, "Walter, I think just for clarification, I should add that any corporations such as DeBeers will be dealt with, it's just that as Steve is saying, with the changes that are coming from Government very few corporations will be an issue soon. Those that are will be dealt with. Also, I think it should be noted that what we are doing in terms of altering peoples minds is being done to set the stage to allow for a fresh start from which people can build a new and uncorrupted future. Constant meddling with peoples free will is not a thing we want to pursue. It is something only to be done for the greater good and only to a limited degree, and something that should happen less and less often as we go along. Ultimately we want society as a whole to police itself and take care of those who would abuse their positions."

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"Gentlemen, a people problem is something you can point me at. I am your man for rallying popular support and swaying movements toward the Common Good. If a corporation gets out of line, let me mobilize the masses against them and move the governments to restrain them. This is what," looking to Morgan, "I am told I can do."

"Two things bother me. One, how are people to know that Communist/Baathist/Fascist models don't work? How will the people know about the flaws in these systems unless they experiment and fail?"

"Two: Love and Fear are the greatest motivating factors. How are we going to motivate the people to cooperate? Education and Rationalism will only take us so far. Will we find a way to motivate the People to love the system, or will we create, or allow to develop, Enemy regimes?"

"Saving the whole world may not work all at once. We may have to decide that some spots are examples of what happens when people don't want to get along. Its something to consider anyway."

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A year pssed without any further incidents. Aeon Society continued to do it's job well investigating and educating the newly found meta humans. Surprisingly, or perhaps not surprisingly, far fewer novas and proto novas are erupting than psions. Not that there are many psions either but those that are found are discovered at a rate of about 3 to 1 to novas. As mentioned each one found is educated in their social responsibilities as well as in the need to not bring themselves to the public attention yet. So far this is working well.

Control of the Media is progressing at a good rate with nearly 75% of all media outlets under control. Thanks to that control a few stories occasionally go out about mysterious events that seem near miraculous, but each one is made in a very positive light. The ground work for your eventual exposure is being laid.

Also thanks to control of the media the public is well aware of the imminent colapse of the Soviet Union. While they appear to be doing all they can to stave off the failure of Communism the end is in sight. The leaders themselves, have been quoted voicing their doubts that the system will survive more than another year or two. Some Party members have begun calling for a national convention to discus a reorganization of the government. Lenin has sent representatives to appeal to the League of Nations for assistence. The media is assuring that the whole world is aware of this. Needless to say, the League will not be doing anything to bolster communism, in fact the request itself was a ploy to ensure that everyone is aware that communism is collapsing.

Due to the economic reforms that have been presued, the global economy will be on track to avoid the stock market crash. It will still take another year or two to see big differences, but the mega-intelligent and those with a great deal of finanical knowledge can already see the signs of the turnaround,

The Mid-East is making strides toward democracy and self rule. With the help of Ulric's persuasion and Cody's tampering the colonial powers have agreed to release their hold on the Middle East providing they can prove themselves capable of self government. Omar is ensuring that this will be true. He has convinced the various factions and leaders to meet and draft a constitution. The convention has begun to meet and the wrangling is come to blows amongst the delagates more than once, however, it is becoming rapidly apparent that Omar is going to be their George Washington. The two things that all delegates agree on is that Omar should lead, and that they want self-rule. What form of government and how much influence religion will have in that government remains to be determined.

Thanks to a massive media campaign Eurpoe has settled down considerably over the last year and talk has begun between the various government of forming a pan-European alliance. Germany will be allowed to rearm and rebuild, however European leaders have agreed that 75% of all standing military will be placed under the control of the League of Nations. This is to take place over the next three years. Leaders are determined to make WWI truly the war to end all wars. Thanks to our control of the media, the citizens of Europe, and America have not only not rebelled against this idea they are welcoming it with open arms. Government's are looking forward to a greatly reduced military budget as they will be able to scale back greatly since they won't have to worry about agressive neighbors.

Meanwhile in Germany... Morgan's plan's have gone forward faster than even he believed possible thanks to Ulric being the frontman. From all over Germany, and Austria groups have come together to practice inspirations songs appealing to national spirit and Eurpoean unity. The original plan had just been for these two countries to unite and form a national convention, but with the progress being made as rapidly as it has the ivitation has gone out to all of Europe to have their local choirs judged and what was to be a German national convention has been broadened into a Europe-wide convention. Construction began over over a year ago on the meeting site. The choirs were judged and representatives elected and invited from every country in Europe along with those political leaders who needed to be convinced. The site is being touted as the 9th wonder of the world. Those from the future will feel an eirie sense of disquiet over the scene on the first day of the convention. 1,000,000 attendees all in uniforms reminicent of the nazi's. These uniforms were those of the Unity party and very similar was being proposed as the uniform of the League of nations. The nova's of the party have all been invited to attend of course and have seats on the dais overlooking the largest crowd ever assembled in the history of the world.

October 1st, 1925, perfectly clear blue skys, 70 degrees at precisely 10 am, the crowd fell silent as the massive clock at the back of the forum rang the hour. Morgan wearing the same uniform and acting as 'Director of Choirs' stepped to the podium at the front of the Dais and raised his hand. The almost unnatural silence of 1 million people was broken as ten thousand people placed strategically at the sides of the forum began to sing. Halfway though the first verse 90 thousand more joined in. At the beginning of the second verse 200,000, then 500,000 by the final verse the song swelled to the full 1 million voices all singing in 4 part harmony the new anthem that had been crafted by a nova to inspire the masses to unity. Not singing himself Morgan smiled and directed the masses in a second song and a third. The entire event was being broadcast all over Europe and the flashes of a thousand cameras went off constantly as reporters attempted to capture the event. Also in the crowd though unknown to the attendees and even reporters there were also high definition video camera recording from every angle, thanks to Loreans probes.

After the third song Morgan lowered his hands stepped away from the podium and made way for Ulric the leader of the Unity party, no longer simply a German political organization. Ulric delivered a passionate commencement address for the "National Convention" to an utterly silent, but very receptive crowd. Thanks to Nova level engineering he could be heard clearly by everyone present and the response when he finished was defening. Three more songs followed the pride eagreness of the attendees evident on their faces and in their voices. After the 'pep-rally' the actual convention convened indoors in a huge hall packed with delegates from all over Europe. Ulric led the delegates and laid out his proposal, (which had been jointly worked out between the mega-intelligent novas of the group with great input coming from Michael Donnighal). Given the effort that went into their design, and the effort swaying the attendees, the delegates eagerly passed every measure unanimously.

What came out of the convention was that Ulric was elected leader of the European Union and it's first representative to the League of Nations. Europe formalized the agreement to combine their militaries under the leadership of the League of Nations. Rather than creating a brand new infrastructure they agreed to work within the framework of the League of Nations. Their own governments would remain in place for the next 15 year, but as time progressed actual leadership would transition to the League, and the local governments would begin to focus on local issues leaving all "national' issues to the League.

In the months that followed other nations began to see the benefit of joining the League rather than being left out in the cold. The Soviet Union finally collapsed and petitetioned to join the League and agreed to be guided in the formation of their new 'local' governments by the League. Not to be outdone, Omar's people decided to join as well rather than be shut out of the centers of power. Like the European union, the Arab Union elected Omar to be their leader and representative to the League.

Over the next 3 years, most major Governments around the world commited themselves to the Lague so as not to be denied access to the power of having a voice in such an authorative body. By 1930 all but a handful of small 3rd world governments had joined.

By 1930 the media had been brought completely under control of the group, though to all outward appearences it was a free press. Education the world over was free to all, but was not considered a "right" but rather a privelege. Basic education was available to all which included heavy emphasis on civics and having been developed by the mega-intelligent novas was sure to produce informed, responsible voters. Higher education was also free, but only available on proving compentency for that area of study. The economy was booming and showing such progress as had never before been seen. New technologies had been introduces and new discoverys made that put the world a good 30 years ahead of schedule. By 1930 the League, (no one called it the League of Nations anymore), was unofficially aware of meta-humans but the public was still in the dark. Aeon Society had registered roughly 3000 psions and aproximately 400 proto-novas, and 800 chance-manipulators. Aeon policed their own ranks and ensured all meta-humans were thouroughly indoctrinated in their responsibilities.

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New Years Eve 1937, Times Square, New York, Ny.

Ten seconds to midnight and there were thousands of people in the square, counting. 10, 9, 8, 7, and there was something odd in the air near the falling ball, 6, 5, silouetted in front of the ball being broadcast on global television was a woman, 4, 3, she was not falling, but just floating there, 2, 1. "Happy New Years!!!!, the crowd all yelled at once, but many in the crowd followed the shout with muttered questions to those standing next to them, "What on Earth?, Is that a woman?, Is it Supergirl, out of the comics?, and dozens, even hundreds of bewildered people looking up at the woman until after a minute or two she simply waved and flew off.

Three days later in London, England, a man of middle years and modest height dressed in a suit walked into the lobby of one of the more prestigious banks and asked the manager to show him the vault. Given that the man was dressed quite well and spoke with an upper class accent the manager had no qualms about doing so. Once inside the man smiled a mischievous smile and reached out to grab two very large sacks of money over the loud protests of the bank manager and two guards. When they lunged at the man to wrestle him to the ground, they simply passed right through him. He walked right out the front door all the while carrying the two sacks easily and laughing as the two men swung clubs that passed right through him. Once outside he simply sank into the ground with dozens of witnesses.

The same day, in China, a prominent man close to Chang Kai Shek, stepped up onto a podium in front of a small crowd and addressed them with the following words. "We know you are out there. We know you control the media, we know you manipulate governments, you keep the secrets of our kind's existence from the public. It must stop!" With the final word, the man blinked in startlement and wonder at his surroundings and asked what he was doing at the podium.

*****

You've all been informed of these issues and called to a meeting aboard the ship.

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Upon hearing the news Steve had dropped everything, put his staff on auto pilot, and had Lorian teleport him abord.

Sitting in the meeting room, Steve fumed. This wasn't the way he'd wanted their existance shown. Then he relaxed. It'd happened. They'd deal with it.

Steve says,

"Well, it's happened. They're reasonably organized. They know about us. So... other than they think they're wearing big white hats, what do we know about them?"

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It was time for a New Year's Vacation, Ulric told them. Most, if not all, of his aides agreed that their hard-working boss could use a break. What did surprise them that he chose to take it in a private venue ... a very private venue. In essence, the head of the European Union dropped off the face of the earth for a while.

Ulric knew he couldn't remain out of circulation too long, but the nature of the crisis intrigued him.

Why expose them?

Why now?

What was their agenda going to be?

He was forming the last question when he came into the meeting room and spoke it aloud.

"How did they get organized enough to do these two political actions - New York and China - plus the stunt in London, without us knowing anything about them?"

There was no heat in that question and even a hint of admiration.

"For that matter do we know anything about these two photographed individuals, or anything about the effect perpetrated in Chaing's associate? There can't be that many people who can do that."

Looking to Steve,

"I'm not sure the bank robbery is tied into the other two actions. It seems more like something inspired by the action in New York instead."

"Hmmm ..."

"I think cracking down is a mistake. That just justifies their fears about our intentions. Coming clean at this moment ... I'm not 100% sure we are ready, but better now than ten years ago. The past 13 plus years have been good to us, and good for the people of Earth."

"I say we contact them and failing that, come clean with our existance."

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Steve nods in agreement to Ulric,

"Agreed about the bank job, and also about contacting them."

"We may be massively over estimating them. It's possible we're looking at a unified group, a Spinx to find us and organize them, a warper to move them around, and the others."

"It's equally possible we're looking at three idiots who acted indepenantly. The Telepath found us but not the others, the Girl made the first move and inspired the others."

"Assuming they stop with this, which is extremely unlikely, we could cover it up. Explain the girl with wires and an ad compaign. The bank job a professional illusionist. The Chinese guy was mentally ill."

"But for that to work we need to get them to join us on some level."

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Omar's brow furrowed in concern at the revelations. He had always known that he was taking a risk becoming a public figure. Once people knew who he was, and what he represented, all that he worked for might collapse.

He hurriedly contacted Lorien and promptly transported to her. Omar also requested that Azimuddin be present, as they worked closely together. Upon arrival, they went to the meeting room. Omar requested that an extra seat be made at the table for Azi.

"I am very worried about these people." He said looking at the others. "They have the potential of unraveling everything we have worked for."

He looked over at Courier. "A cover-up would work in the short term. I am concerned about the long term. A cover-up might just make us look dishonest, and alienate us from the rest of the world. I don't know if it would be wise." He gave Courier a toothy grin. "I agree that it is posssible that they were idiots, however."

"As for what I think." Omar went on. "I think that we have three isolated incidents. In the first one, we have someone who wishes to be Supergirl, and has picked the best time to advertise her abilites. She could probably be approached and reasoned with. Sending those with strength and flying abilities might be good to use when approaching her."

"The bank robber concerns me. Not just because physical matter passes through him and vice versa, but, like in our timeline, they usually continue until stopped. As he causes more chaos, there will be people who will be frightened of out capabilities. It's the 'bad apple' argument. One bad nova will spoil all the nova in the minds of the public. There is only one group that I know who would be capable of stopping such an individual. Us. Preventing him from comitting further acts of crime should be a top priority."

"The third case seems simple enough to deal with. My fear is that there is more going on that we can see. That is why I suggest we send Cody and one other to speak with him. Cody's mental abilities can delve the truth out of the man, and he would not remember. In case the other's mental abilities are considerable, and he resists, we have another to physically restrain him."

Omar placed both his hands on the table in front of him. "I think it is wise that we try not to harm anyone, or make our presence known at this time. Once these three are taken care of, we can look to 'outing' ourselve to the world."

,,
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"Hmmm ..." Ulric mused, "I can see what I can work up with the in Britian. I can use my position as Head of the European Union to see what Scotland Yard has come up with and perhaps insert a few of our operatives with them to hunt down our vaporous bandit."

"Likewise, I can speak to some members of the League to send a fact finding mission to the Chinese to find out what this is about. Again we can pick and choose most of the delegation."

"This UberMadchen is more on the Aeon Society's home ground. If she is independant, we need to find a way to lure her out so that we can find her. Can we enhance the her image and locate her through any government data base?"

"Either way, I don't see us immediately complying to the third individual's demands, though I still think it more doable in the short term than most of you. The facts are - we are good for this world and we are winning. Besides, I seperate our emergance as public figures from our conspiracy to prepare this world for future difficulties."

"Let the world know there are Ubermensch in their midst. They will rejoice to know they have diligent guardians among them. We have been working toward this day."

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"I am not sure that the world is yet ready to handle us." Andrew says, "Though we have made great strides I think that many of the more problematic traits of humanity are still lurking beneath the surface. If they find out that yes, Virginia, there are supermen with powers great and strange, we may yet provoke a fear resposnse."

Andrew ponders for a moment thier new predicament, "I suppose that if we could get the perpetrator I could take on these persons identities and 'admit' to the hoax. We would need to find them first though lest we create more problems."

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As usual, Cody seems to be the first to know about any crisis situation, and he is waiting silently for the team when the arrive in the meeting room. Steve in particular has noticed him becomming more withdrawn. While it has not affected his projects or responsibilities in the slightest, Cody had been spending more and more time on board the ship, secluded no doubt within the massive data streams of her sesnors and his own ability to skim the minds of humanity as a silent and invisible ghost.

While the others talk, Cody replays the scenes on the monitor over and over. Concentrationg, he attempts to reach out with his mind and track their adversaries. he starts with the Chinese delegate, examining the man's mind and checking for any telltale clues the other possesing entity may have left. Next he turn his atteniton to their smirking supergirl, sifting through millions of minds for the one that knows...

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Cody has no problem making contact with the Chinese man since you know his exact identity and current location, and because he is a rather weak willed individual. It is apparent that his mind has been tampered with and memories have been erased and very strong 'suggestions' implanted to cause him to make the announcement that he did. Unfortunately, you don't have anyway of knowing who did this to him.

You delve deeper in his mind trying to unlock the mysteries you find there and you find a very odd memory buried fairly deeply and it wasn't easy for you to uncover, it is of the man staring at a chalkboard with the words written on it, "If you are seeing this, congratulations. Leave me a similar message and perhaps we can converse over matters of mutual interest."

The flying girl was also no problem to find. (5 successes on 7 dice, nice job.) In her memories you see that she was approached by a man shortly after being indoctrinated by Aeon. The man convinced her to show off despite the Aeon's warnings not to. You get the impression that she's not hard to convince of things. Her mind is full of fluff and her general thought processes are less than impressive. The man claimed to represent a movie producer and told her that if she did this it would likely end up in a movie deal with her as the lead actress. She fell for it.

You then trace the man who contacted her, he is a low end talent agent in Hollywood. He remembers receiving a phone call from a man claiming to be a movie producer and and asking him to contact the girl offering her a movie deal if she will fly around times square on New Year's eve. He assumed it was some kind of trick, but when an envelop with 1000 dollars arrived in his mailbox the next day, he did as he was asked. The man used the name Marty Wienbaum on the phone and that is how the envelop was addressed, but there was no return address.

You have no luck finding the man from the bank.

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After a few minutes, Cody's focus returns to the room, though it is difficult to tell with his eye covers and general silence.

His baritone voice comes in over Lorean's speakers.

*The first two, at least, may be connected. We are dealing with a Sphynx...and a canny one at that. The Chinese man's name is Choung Zhang. He was kidnapped, subjected to telepathic suggestion and then his memory was very carefully wiped. I was able to recover his erased memories, but the person who did this was very careful to cover theor tracks. I uncovered a message buried in one of the erasures inviting contact should it be discovered.*

*The girl is a dimwit. She was put up to her little stunt thinking it would land her a movie career. Who knows, it might at that. Unlike Zhang she was approached by a talent agent who had himself been contacted anonymously. There was a name given, Marty Weinbaum, though this is almost certainly false. I will investigate of course, to be certain.*

*Of our phantom theif, I have yet found no trace, though I will continue searching*

{{Pardon the parrot-talk but I do like to speak IC. Cody will run a mind check for Marty Wienbaum, looking for any more leads.

He will then search again for the bank robber, spending a willpower point as he concentrates even harder. He can narrow down the search, since there are far fewer novas in the population..so first skimming the minds of all who are thinking of themselves as having powers or abilities. (I would think Cody had soent a great deal of time on this already, tracking down the emerging metahumans like a living cerebro.) Checking for a Node to eliminate the psiad results and then to those who think about desolidfying (an even smaller number) and of those, the ones who have thoughts of public grand larceny...}}

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Steve remarks,

"Flying dimwits... didn't we have someone come through Aeon like that?"

Steve does a search for our flying female to see if she's still in our records, then does the same for the bank guy. I.e. how many desolid types are on record, of those how many are white men or shapeshifters, etc.

{Active Investigative Prodigy}

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Ulric rummenates on the information for a few seconds.

"This still shows the weakness of our position - the girl, that is. We are the Goliath and we don't know how many would-be Davids are out there. Other specials can easilty be tempted or blackmailed out into the open. We need some kind of exit strategy from our cloak of secrecy. It is a weakness others can exploit."

"This Uber-criminal ... should we consider creating a team, or number of teams whose job it is to work with local law enforcement to help track down, apprehend, and punish special criminals?"

"After all, what are we going to do with Mr. London once we do find him?"

He shakes his head and looks down at his steepled fingers.

"We have little choice but talk to this Sphynx. I would like to take away his biggest weapon, but I understand the need for caution."

It is clear that Ulric would rather go public now, but equally clear that he strongly believes in the group concensus.

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Aeon does have records of the girl and they have 3 people who could foot the bill for the robber.

The girl is Joani Walters, until her eruption she was a waitress in LA, since then she has been dating men in Hollywood in hopes of getting into pictures. Apparently her looks improved greatly as part of her eruption.

The candidates for the robber include one DD in Australia, one Shapshifter in Ameria, and a DD in England. The DD in England is named Matthew Satterfield and is the son of a wealthy merchant. (Cody has already determined that this is the culprit, but I'll let him post about it.)

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While the others deliberate upon Cody's intel, he once again recluses himself inward. After a few minutes it becomes clear at least to Steve that Cody is straining intensely. Beads of sweat start to accumulate on his forehead and the veins of his temples begin to throb furiously, but still he does not move.

After a few more minutes the color has drained from his face, his melato complexion turning ashen.

Finally he speaks, and it is clear that he has thouroughly exhausted himself in his investigations.

*They are...they are all related...one Sphynx.*

*I checked out Marty Wienbaum. He was just a blind and is unconnected.*

Cody pauses, light headed but manages to continue.

*...It took everything I had with nothing to go on but I tracked our bank Robber. His name is Matthew Satterfield. Incidentally he has already returned the money, though it has not been noticed yet. He mailed a letter informing the bank as such. Both he and his contact, a psiad by the name of Harold Carpenter believe they are acting to uncover a conspiracy as well as desiring the limelight their abilities should afford them. Matthew himself has aspirations towards some form of heroism, albeit for celebrities sake.*

*I hasten to add however, that he may well have been mislead as to the true motives of our Sphynx. I am certain it is one person pulling the strings but with the manipulations we have seen so far there is no telling if their intentions are actually benign. When I have rested I will investigate our Mr. Carpenter more thoroughly and arrange a meeting with our mysterious Moriarty.*

Cody is drenched in sweat and looks like he is about to collapse. It must have been a Herculean task to find one mind among the teeming masses with not even a description to start from.

{{Spent all quantum and 2 WP points within a matter of minutes...}}

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Steve observes Cody work with some concern, then he stands up and moves closer in case Cody does collapse. Steve says,

"Very impressive Cody. Well done. He's using the Gallants against us. Clever. The temptation for them to be the first one out of the closet is extreme. Wait... he knows enough paranormals he can pick out the Gallants?"

"How... ah, yes. Telepathy. He tapped a mind or two, or even went searching for the kind of mind who would help him. Very slick."

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"Lorean can we pick up Ms. Walters, I would like an opportunity to study her for a bit before we call a press conference to so that we can debunk the thing as a stunt pulled by an aspiring starlet." Andrew shakes his head, dmage control like this will only make the situation worse if they cannot get this Sphinx under control.

"Cody are you willing to alter Ms. Walters' memory in a few days to take into account our debunking of the stunt?" Andrew waits for a reply before pressing forward. "I think we need to drop this Sphinx a bit of chum. I'm not sure that I can do it alone but with Cody's help I think I could segregate the greater portion of my mind and go deep under cover as bait for this person's next wave of attempts. I'll have to actually cordon off part of my brain that will keep my personality and memorys in a recursive loop while the rest continues to run forward as the undercover agent."

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The revelations brought forth by Cody concerned Omar greatly. He frowned at the mention of a telepath. How was he supposed to stop that. His mind was resilient and he was able to resist most attempts at controlling it, but keeping someone out was another matter. He didn't know if it was possible. The idea was of too much of a concern.

A frowning Omar spoke. "If the Sphinx is using Telepathy, then all he has to do is scan one of us or our accomplices." His deep rich voice echoed throughout the meeting area. "Once that happens, he will know everything."

Omar continued... "I suggest we pull our agents from the surface...for the time being. I don't want to risk one of them being scanned or kidnapped. If that happens, we will have to issues the biggest mea culpa in history."

Upon mentioning that the non-nova crew be pulled, Azimuddin flashed Omar an angry look Then just as quickly, he relaxed and nodded. He knew, that for the time being, he was a liability.

"I would also suggest that we approach Joani Walters. Since she has been on Aeon's books they might be the means of getting to her."

"As for our bank robber. First we Mox him. Then, once he is no longer able to DD on us, we can have a talk. We don't tell him the truth of course. Instead we trick him into thinking that we can take away his powers... permanently. That might scare him away from his delusions of grandeur and get him to tell us about our mystery person...if one exists."

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Steve holds up a finger,

"Wait a moment. If we pull out our agents then that indicates that they are our agents and have something worth protecting. If the Sphinx knows who they are then they've already been scanned, if not then let's not tell him."

"As for our public novas, they don't know anything. They're pawns out there to see what we will do. If we come down hard on them, then expect that to somehow be made public. If we use Aeon in a thugish manner, then expect future novas to not trust Aeon."

"I suggest a different approach. We work with their natures and give them what they want. Ms. Walters wants a movie contract? Fine! Let's give her one. But we'll make it clear the studio wants a sex-goddess and not a freak of nature. She becomes the star of "Flying Girl" and goes back into the closet."

"As for Mr. Satterfield, he will be given the choice of being a thief, or of being a world famous escape artist and/or investigator. If he used "magic" tricks to hide the money in the bank, then he never stole it to begin with. If he used magic powers to steal it and then put it back, then not only is he a thief but every time the police have a locked room mystery he's going to be a suspect. Every theft or murder where they can't figure out how they got in and out, *he* must have done it."

"We can even tell him that he's *already* a conspirator and what we're doing is trying to keep people like him from being lynched. With what he's done already any time any bank clerk feels like taking money from the vault they could do it and blame him."

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"I agree with Steve's plan. Better to use our resources for a positive effect than as a club. We really are trying to make the world a better place after all. I can even see what kind of special position can be arranged for the Brit in some EU security post. I could get him into a training program and make him into a real operative."

Ulric rubs his temple remembering some piece of data gleamed from Lorean.

"James Bond. We could make him into our own kind of James Bond. He gets a high risk, high profile kind of position he wants, and we get an agent with useful skills."

"Andrew, I think the risk for you is too great. Not only are we unsure what his victim profile is like, you have too much will to be an attractive target. Can we ... I mean you and Cody, simulate the proper weaknesses, position yourself in the poper area - he has struck hin America, China, and Britian - to make sure he uses you in his next gambit?"

"We need more time to figure out some commonality in his victims, before we risk you. After all, if you sit out there and no one comes calling, all we have done is deny us a resource. I think you are much more useful here at this round table and using your talents as they are."

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The others had a point. If they tried strongarming these threats, they would end up being no better than the Proteus of their universe. And if they pulled their agents, then it would only give up their identies. For the time being, he would defer to the others when it came to dealing with the three 'rogue' novas.

Omar catches up on what is happening globally, with Lorien and the others. Afterwards, he heads back to Baghdad, the new capital of the Middle Eastern Confederation.

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Steve sees that Cody makes it to bed before colasping then implements the plan.

He expects the woman will be easy. Their control over the media wasn't perfect but swinging a movie contract for a mega attractive nova should be a snap. With that as a lure, correctly explaining the situation and ensuring her cooperation would be trivial. Any explanation they could present about her flying would have problems, so they'd just not explain it. Given the right movie title there'd be a dozen speculative theories on how they'd "faked" it, if need be he'd plant them himself.

Her agent would only be slightly harder, the easiest and most believable story would be that the studio had arranged the "stunt" without telling him. She was airhead enough that they could tell the agent she was supposed to tell him and that should be enough. When he asked how they'd done the stunt he could be referred to their technical people since the deal makers "couldn't be bothered with trivial details like that".

The bank robber would be harder. He and Andrew might have to handle that personally. They really needed someone with enhanced social skills for this one... no, wait, they did have someone like that. Lorean.

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Back on Earth, Ulric began laying out some of the groundwork for the contingency that he was exposed not only as a 'Special', but as one of the Cabal. In his mind, he worked over some of the best ways to spin the crisis should it appear. This was not something done in secret. He accessed multiple historical files from Lorean's database to work out the best and worst case scenarios. It was a daunting task.

As a side bar, he also considered just what he would do if contacted by the Sphinx. Would his momentary absence from the helm of governance be noted? In many ways, he was the most indentifiable and least powerful members of the Cabal. Would he be confused with an operative - an agent? No matter what, the Game had gotten spicier and the stakes had been raised.

Ulric quickly returned to public life, writing his personal thoughts out on those scarce private moments. Mostly he kept to his busy schedule and kept up appearances. The meeting had only taken up a few hours of his precious time. There was hope in the group's gambit for a peaceful confrontation with the Sphinx, but it nagged at his mind that there was something more to this. Maybe he was just being paranoid.

Among his hopes was that the Unity Party he had been piloting this long decade could survive any personal calamity that befell him. A united Europe must survive. Beyond that? Space - Space was Above and Beyond.

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The next day dawns to a flurry of activity from the cabal. Cody leaves his message for the sphinx.

Your representatives in the film industry contact the Flying girl and offer her a contract. Being Hollywood they take tight control of her and give her a list of thing things she is allowed to do and not allowed to do. Rule number one, she is not allowed to talk about her stunt and how it was accomplished, that could ruin their publicity for her movie. It's all very Hollywood, and she is already aware of how that works having dated several people in the industry since her eruption. Having gotten exactly what she wanted out of the deal she will go along with it.

Others will have to make contact with the robber.

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The newspaper business was progressing well. Circulation was up 7%, and Azi was planning on expanding into India. Revenues continued to pour in, and added with other resources, schools and water treatment plants were constructed. Modernization was a long and arduous process. Some of the more ardent Imams still stirred the pot, but Omar hoped that in another generation, their influence would wane.

Realizing, that as a public figure, he could not overtly get involved in any missions where his identity might be discerned, he decided to think on several types of costumes. A mask or hood would have to involved. As for his giant physique...it was not unique. There were always others who were large boned and muscular. He could have Andrew play him if an alibi was ever needed. He would have to speak with him about it though.

Omar sent a communicade to the rest asking their opinions about his 'costume' idea. He asked for suggestions about designs.

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Ulric forwards his plan to Lorean. His plan being that he contact the Robber and invite him into a 'secret' branch of the EU. It would be simple enough for him to go to Britian. It was already a member of the EU and he was the EU's leader. While holding more 'covert' talks about Britian's role in a Post-Colonial world, his real purpose would be slip out and contact this pawn of the Sphinx.

The problem was, for both him and Lorean, was who would accompany him to this meeting. A trap was very possible and Ulric was planning on taking a pistol ... as well as a bodyguard or two. He would fee better if another Special accompanied him, preferable someone he knew. The problem was that Ulric didn't know enough about the capabilities of the others to make an informed decision. Thus he contacted Lorean and sought out her opinion.

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Lorean answered the call over the link, "Good morning Ulric." She listened to his question and responded, "Well, I'd suggest taking Cody or Steve or both, depending on which one of them would like to go. Steve can detect lies, but then Cody can read his mind and either would be good backup for you. I'll have the teleporter standing by and ready to whisk everyone away at the first sign of danger. Give me one second and I will conference in Steve and Cody to see which one would like to accompany you." She pauses for the briefest moment and each man hears over the link, "Ulric would like someone to back him up when confronting the Robber, would either of you like to attend?"

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Cody retired to his quarters once the meeting adjourned. He was scarcely present for the last 20 minutes of it, on the verge of passing out but forcing himself to maintain conscioussness. All Novas would look tired after depleting all their juice, but he had done so in less than 60 seconds.

He allows himself just enough time to recharge fully...about 7 hours. The natural vitality of a fully charged Nova makes him more alert than if he had just downed a pot of coffee...in fact, such simple drugs rarely worked on Novas anyways.

Having fully rested, Cody set his mind to work on the next problem.

First he relocated Zhang...simple. Cody waited until the man was alone again in his office. Then telepathically, Cody insinuated himself into the man's mind, overriding his nervous system and bending it to his own will.

In perfectly fluent Chinese caligraphy, Xhang writes in his own hand:

Recieved your message. Elegant delivery. Commendable perceptiveness.

However there are pieces of the puzzle yet too large to be seen from your vantage point. If you would like to see from ours, check in to the penthouse at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London, one week hence. Come alone and unarmed, and don't try and send one of your pawns. We will know.

Furthermore, if your intentions are peaceful, we can assure your safety. We want you to know what we know.

After writing the message, Xhang pulls a zippo from his desk drawer and lights the paper on fire, dropping it into the metal waste can. Befor leaving the poor officials mind, Cody erases the memory of what he had just done, careful to leave just enough psychic evidence that the memory can be recovered the way Cody uncovered the original message. His mysterious counterpart made for an interesting challenge.

Cody was having fun.

Quote:
"Ulric would like someone to back him up when confronting the Robber, would either of you like to attend?"

*I'll go too. Something to keep busy while we wait for the return call.*

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