Aberrant: Phoenix Rising - Book 2: Chapter 2: Meddle

[Joani]

After a few hours of resting under the sun Anna slowly came back to consciousness and woke up with a startle. Looking around she found herself placed gently on a rooftop which must’ve gotten a good share of the days sun. She still felt tired but more like after a good days work and not on the edge of death.

She uprighted herself and stared at the sun, childhood memories flooding her mind. It wasn’t too long ago that she was a child but these days didn’t leave much space to be a child and keep your innocence. Anna looked at her hands and followed the path of a vein leading up her large and sinewy underarm to her thickly muscled biceps. She stretched her fingers which made her huge biceps twitch which in turn made the vein seemed to bounce underneath her skin. Shaking her head grossed out of herself she gazed back at the sun.

Conflicting emotions welled up in her. She was grateful for the gifts mother earth had given her. Helping others, healing them and restoring nature’s order fulfilled her deeply… but why did she have to look like a monster? At least plants and animals didn’t shy away from her… She looked at her arms again and down her hulking body. Where was Anna? Where did she go? Fighting back tears she climbed down from the building and wandered aimlessly around, unsure where she was and where the others had gone. She looked like a lost child for a moment… if it wasn’t for her behemoth size.

[Courier]

(To Anna) *Ahem. I'm at your 6 o-clock.* Doug sat in the shade, his eufiber the exact shade of the building he was resting against. *We're a couple of blocks away from where we were. Feeling better now?*

[Joani]

Anna turned around still a bit shaken from the exhaustion her body went through. *Did they survive? I lost consciousness and I can't remember if I managed to help them all... there were so many...* Her eyes still reflected the inner conflict she went through paired with true compassion and a great sense of responsibility.

*I could do some more healing if there are still wounded humans. I can do it.*, though she had recovered a bit Anna didn't look as vibrant as she usually did. It almost looked as if she had to struggle to keep herself on her feet.

[Courier]

Doug sends back with a mix of concern and amusement,

*So you're not struggling to stay awake and on your feet? You saved a lot of people. Not everyone, but you did what you could. Focus on what you did do and not what you couldn't.*

*You'll burn out if you keep pushing yourself this far.*

Doug doesn't rise but instead watches Anna struggle to stay on her feet.

[Joani]

Anna shook her head in an impulsive outburst, something Doug has never seen before nor expected from her, *No! I need to proof that I want to help... that I won't stop till I saved the last one of them! Else they will always see... see this horrible body I have. I don't care how much it takes.*

She forced herself to stand steady, only willpower held her on her feet.

[Joani]

Anna shook her head in an impulsive outburst, something Doug has never seen before nor expected from her, *No! I need to proof that I want to help... that I won't stop till I saved the last one of them! Else they will always see... see this horrible body I have. I don't care how much it takes.*

She forced herself to stand steady, only willpower held her on her feet.

[Courier]

Doug sends,

*You didn't grow up in a nova community?* This was more statement than question.

*I did. Well, we joined when I was like 5 so the same thing. What you are doing is one of the ways novas become aberrants. They push their powers, and push their powers, and eventually there's nothing left of the original person.*

*Take KB. Squidward forced her to push her powers... much like you are pushing yours but without the torture... and when I got her back her hair was constantly blowing in some breeze that only she can feel.*

*Of course hair is nothing. So basically she got lucky, the next aberration she picks up might be insanity. Ditto you... except the odds are worse for you because you are further down that path.*

Doug waits for Anna to process this.

[Joani]

Anna looked at Doug but lacked the words to answer. Her eyes though difficult to read reflected the struggle within which she was losing.

*Do you think it is too late for me? Look at me... I've been a woman not too long ago... I never wanted anyone to get hurt. I didn't grow up in a Nova community. My parents tried to keep me hidden once I changed. At first it felt wonderful - I could talk to animals and plants. I healed my fathers broken knee. Suddenly there was hope... but soon my body started to change and within a month I transformed into what you see now. I got cast away... it was impossible to keep me locked away. Every community I wandered to treated me like a rabid dog... You're the first Novas I've met that didn't try to kill me at sight.*

[Courier]

Doug replies,

*With just now as an example, I'm not surprised you've been sprouting aberrations. This is a good thing by the way, it implies that your aberrations are self inflicted through ignorance.*

*You've never had anyone tell you what is healthy and unhealthy for novas. There are things you just have to know. Power abuse doesn't manifest until later. Think of it as a pain killer that lets you walk on broken legs. You do it and :shock: after the fact you have problems.*

*Lesson the first...* Anna sways and Doug obviously changes his mind. *Lesson the first, get some sleep and stop worrying about whether or not you're going to be accepted by them. They won't accept you and they aren't going to accept me either.*

*It's not much of a loss so don't worry about it. There are lots of groups that will never accept novas just because they're novas. KB grew up in one, maybe she'll tell you about it some day. New Haven would accept you without a problem and that's the plan. When you wake up we'll go over proper use of power. I think we can halt your progression without a problem.*

[Joani]

Anna was obviously surprised by Doug's analysis, *My aberrations are self inflicted? You believe I wanted to look like this... like a giant freak? I can't remember having abused my powers but then... I've never known real limits. I grew this large when I was in danger - I had to defend myself and I never turned back after that day. I thought I would return to normal with time... but I didn't. Instead I gradually got larger and larger... and with it stronger, too. Are you from New Haven?*

Anna took a few uneasy steps towards Doug and had to lean against the wall of the building which cracked under her weight. Her eyes fluttered as she struggled to remain conscious.

[Courier]

*Sorry about that; The official name is Newbourough. Personally I liked 'New Haven'. Somehow we ended up taking the weaker choice.*

*Sit and rest now.*

*At this point it's impossible to say what you choose for yourself and what you didn't. But you were definitely abusing your powers back there running around trying to heal everyone. You have the standard limits all us novas have... just no one was around to tell you what they are until now.*

*Every time you powermax you're putting tremendous strain on your node. It also makes you just bleed juice, for a healer you should probably be taking the slow and steady approach.* Doug talked evenly and soothingly, strongly suspecting and hoping Anna would be asleep before he was done.

[Joani]

Originally Posted By: Courier

*Every time you powermax you're putting tremendous strain on your node. It also makes you just bleed juice, for a healer you should probably be taking the slow and steady approach.* Doug talked evenly and soothingly, strongly suspecting and hoping Anna would be asleep before he was done.

Anna nodded with a worried look in her face, *I didn't know that...*

Removing the baggy pants she wore revealed trunk like legs which were in proportion with the rest of her immense frame. She stood there only in panties and a tank top looking very self conscious because of her near nakedness, *I recover faster with my skin exposed to the sun... Did you stay here the whole time, watching over me?*

[Courier]

Quote:

Anna nodded with a worried look in her face, *I didn't know that...*

Doug continues,

*It's possible, but hard, to heal from that kind of strain... basically you'd have to stop using your node for a lot longer than you're likely to.*

*More usefully it's possible to shut down your node entirely. No powers. No aberrations. I can't do it myself but that's mostly a matter of laziness. I know the theory but have never practiced.*

*It is impossible to do anything with aberrations. Supposedly it was before the burn, but that's probably just a rumor. I've never met or even heard of anyone who knows anything more than that.*

Quote:

Removing the baggy pants she wore revealed trunk like legs which were in proportion with the rest of her immense frame. She stood there only in panties and a tank top looking very self conscious because of her near nakedness, *I recover faster with my skin exposed to the sun... Did you stay here the whole time, watching over me?*

Doug sends,

*Yeah, I did. Pretty boring really... not that boring is bad. There's a rabbit over there somewhere who looks like he wants to make me a meal.* Doug nods towards one of the houses. *I don't think anyone lives in these houses. About an hour ago I heard someone walk by on the other side of that one.*

*And Anna, you're big but not ugly. And I've been meaning to ask, how old are you anyway?*

[Joani]

Anna smiled at Doug and her insecurity eased visibly. *I thank you, Doug. I don't know anything about node and aberrations and I can't imagine shutting it down like you said...* after a pause she answered his question, *I was 19 when I changed... that was 6 years ago*

She looked around to find a suitable place to rest and moved slowly towards it. *Are you going to stay or do I have to hide? And where has that girl gone? I wanted to ask her if there are more wounded.*

[Courier]

Doug sends,

*I can't imagine shutting it down either. Life seriously sucked before I went nova. I've only been doing this about a year so I clearly remember being poor and hungry.*

*And I'll stay around. Raider is still out in space and putting me and Squidward in the same room is asking for trouble.*

*I assume Ash is back where we left her... and there were more wounded. Most of them are going to have to heal on their own. You need to concentrate on the ones who will die, and you mostly did. You did good Anna, or at least you saved a lot of lives today.*

*The only pity is we're not charging them. But don't feel bad about that, I can't get Raider to charge for healing people either.* This last statement had a humorous tone but also the ring of truth.

[Joani]

Anna furrowed her brows and answered, *I would never charge anyone for healing... Can you do me a favour and seek her out for me? I would like to talk with her. I want to make her understand why I couldn't go on. I want her to understand that I'm not the... freak they see. I need to look her in the eyes. Please...*

She looked at Doug tired to death but that thought seemed to keep her going. She wouldn' find peace unless she talked to Ash.

[Courier]

Doug sighs and sends,

*Anna... history lesson time.*

*People like Ash did the burn. Not her specifically, but others with her mind set.*

*In one sentence the abby war was: Novas grew aberrations, some of them went insane and became aberrants, baselines did the burn.*

*What should have happened was 'Baselines unite with/behind the sane novas and deal with the aberrants.'*

*That didn't happen. Yes, they had reasons. Yes, they were abused. Yes, they were scared. But that doesn't make the whole mess any less stupid. People like her were so wrapped into their hate, ignorance, and fear they destroyed the world rather than make a deal to save it. I'll work with her, I'll trade with her, I'll ally with her, and maybe she'll come to see the difference between us two and Squidward's pack.*

*But if she doesn't I'm not going to lose any sleep about it. Some people are going to accept you at first glance and others never will no matter how hard you work at it. Don't bother trying to prove things to her or people like her, try to prove things to yourself.*

*I've seen villages literally starve rather than trade with me because I'm an aberrant. After what you did Ash hould accept you and welcome you back. If she doesn't, then it's her problem and not yours and you're never going to be able to deal with it.*

*Now, get some sleep. We'll worry about Ash when you wake up and are in a position to do something about it. I accept you. Raider does too. Ditto Gregory. Let that be enough for now.*

[Joani]

Anna looked at Doug with disappointment in her eyes. He felt that something was dying inside of her. He had taken that last straw of hope she had with the cruel facts of reality. Without answering she nodded more to herself than to him.

"I'm tired...", she found a nice sunny place on one of the rooftops and after making sure it would support her weight she reclined on it exposing as much skin as possible to the soothing and nurturing rays of the sun.

[jameson (ST)]

High above Raider completed the last of the operations needed to finish the guidance software. He double checked it, and to be sure triple checked it. When he was done a scowl crossed his face, as he realized that he had missed something rather significant. Wrapped within the digital domain of the satellite’s systems he stared at the estimated time to impact and cursed. Because the weapons had been designed to bombard earth their payload of fuel was minimal, it is after all, easy to fall down a gravity well. Given their limited fuel and thus limited thrust the missiles he launched today would not impact, or miss, the comet for just shy of three months.

He checked everything again and the same numbers came back. Sometime saving the world was a pain in the ass…

[Mr Fox]

Raider quickly recalculated the fuel and checked to see if the missiles were capable of holding more, and if so whether it was possible to rout it from one to another so that he could get some launched and on their way.

[Gregory]

Gregory had found an ant mound to relieve his boredom. He took a stick and knocked it down so he could watch the workers scramble to get the eggs out of the light. Unfortunately, after about 30 minutes, the ants had all stopped moving.

He rose from the dead ant colony and looked to see what the status was with Anna and Doug. Seeing her sleeping in the sun made Gregory yawn. He found himself a nice secluded and shaded wall, and cleared it of rubble. He curled up in the dirt, his nakedness exposed to those who could find him. In only a few minutes, Gregory was asleep.

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Joani Reikspar

Anna looked at Doug with disappointment in her eyes. He felt that something was dying inside of her. He had taken that last straw of hope she had with the cruel facts of reality. Without answering she nodded more to herself than to him.

"I'm tired...", she found a nice sunny place on one of the rooftops and after making sure it would support her weight she reclined on it exposing as much skin as possible to the soothing and nurturing rays of the sun.

Doug felt a little sad to crush hopes... but only a little. They were false hopes and deserved crushing. It was time to live in the real world and trying to change the mind of someone like Ash was like... trusting the weather without KB around. Good when it worked, non unexpected when it didn't.

Doug raised a finger and sighted a pebble on the rabbit he'd mentioned earlier. Sweet and innocent, it had no clue Doug's pebble was about to hit it like a bullet.

After a moment he lowered his finger and watched the rabbit hop off. He wasn't hungry.

[Joani]

Anna woke up as the last rays of the sun disappeared behind the horizon. She felt refreshed if only physically. Doug’s last words still lingered in her thoughts and she wasn’t able to shake off the immediate sadness she felt. She would never return to the life she had. He was right, no human would ever accept her appearance and only someone like Doug – a Nova could say that she wasn’t ugly… just big.

Anna looked at her arms again. She had assumed a healthy green verdant tint and the structure of her skin stretched over her whole body as if she was wrapped skin tight in maple leaves. Just big, she thought as she saw the huge masses of muscles that had never shrunken back the day she’d grown so large to protect her parents. It was almost 6 years ago and still she hasn’t come to terms with that change. She avoided looking in mirrors or reflective surfaces scared of her self. It wasn’t necessarily the feeling of being strong that scared her it was the lack of recognition that frightened her. She didn’t recognise herself in the mirror and she was forgetting how she looked like before she changed…

She picked up her pants and put them on but missed her baggy top when she remembered that she had left it where the wounded had been. She wasn’t even sure where she was right now. It must’ve been a ruined part of the city. Hesitantly she spoke out, “Doug? Are you here?”

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Joani Reikspar

She picked up her pants and put them on but missed her baggy top when she remembered that she had left it where the wounded had been. She wasn’t even sure where she was right now. It must’ve been a ruined part of the city. Hesitantly she spoke out, “Doug? Are you here?”

At some point while Anna was asleep Doug had shifted position to stay blend into a new shadow. He wasn't as good at it as Gregory.

Doug waved a hand and said,

"Over here. You're looking a lot better."

(Over the link) *Raider is still out of contact. Wish I knew whether that was good or bad news. I think Gregory is around somewhere but I'm not sure where.*

*Do you want to go back or continue talking about nova lifestyles and training? I suppose we could do both and talk while we're walking. No offense intended, but I think learning to dorm would do you some good.*

[Joani]

Anna walked straight over to Doug with a look of surprise in her face.

"I thought there was no real help? Maybe stop my change but not reverse?", Anna had mixed feelings about that matter. "What is dorm? Is that a special bed?", she tried to practice her english taking care to pronounce the words correctly.

[Mr Fox]

Raider cursed. There was just no way at all to increase the fuel capacity of the missiles. It would take a full three months for them to reach their target, which meant that they would either hit, or not, worse it would be an all or nothing venture. There simply wasn't enough time to for multiple launches to see what effect the first impacts would have and then recalibrate for the another more precise launch.

There just wasn't any choice. Grumbling to himself, Raider made one last check of the calculations and initiated launch then made himself intangible in case something went wrong... The next task would be to try and communicate with any other platforms in the network to see if there might be any other missiles left, or if any of them were still online. A place such as this would make for a very inaccessible base of operations.

[Courier]

Doug got to his feet and spoke and sent mentally,

"Dorm is a technique where you shut down your powers. People skilled at it lose the bulk of their quantum gifts, which includes their aberrations."

"You'd keep a few things. The long life. Some of the resistance to disease and radiation. But mostly you'd be like a powerful baseline. A few novas do it full time... usually because of taint problems. You can turn on your powers again whenever you want so some people basically use it as a link form. You know, werewolf by night, normal baseline by day? If you got good enough at it you'd probably lose your size too."

"We talked a bit about it earlier. Learning it is hard work and I've been busy. We could ask the others if you're interested... Gregory or Raider might know more."

[Joani]

“I lose my powers?”, Anna asked and there was more than a hint of fear in her voice. “I cannot imagine that.”

After a short break where they both kept walking casually towards the camp she continued, “But Gregory and Raider don’t look like monsters, why do they dorm? I don’t understand it because it feels wrong. I’m afraid of the thought…”, she looked at Doug. “I can hear her voice…”, Anna hinted at the earth, “I can’t imagine how it was like if she stopped talking to me. She has given me this to protect her, to heal her.”, Anna was referring to her body.

“Maybe she wanted me to be like this and I don’t understand… not yet.”

[Courier]

Doug replied (again verbally and mentally),

"I don't know if Raider can. Gregory does it to be sneaky. Some do it to fit in with baselines, others to deal with taint, others to deal with their powers. Let's say I had a tumor growing inside me and I wanted surgery to take it off. With dorm a baseline medical type could do it. Without I'd have to find a nova with healing." Doug gives Anna half smile. He knows two personally so it's not much of an argument.

"I think there's a nova back home who claims he can hear hair growing and he dorms to sleep. But anyway it's an option."

*When we get back to Ash, remember what I said about power maxing, OK?*

After saying this Doug tries to rotate the link and check up on the others.

[Joani]

Anna nodded as she listened carefully to Doug's words. “I don’t know if I can do that. The thought makes me afraid.”

She smiled back at him adding to his last sentence, “I can heal you and I always will. I promise you.”

Hearing Doug’s voice in her head she hesitated a moment before she answered, *You don’t want me to do it? Or do you mean don’t talk with Ash that I did?*

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Joani Reikspar

Hearing Doug’s voice in her head she hesitated a moment before she answered, *You don’t want me to do it? Or do you mean don’t talk with Ash that I did?*

*I mean you're living far too dangerously by throwing around 'maxes' left and right. I sent this mentally because that statement seemed more 'private' than the rest. Gregory is around here somewhere and Ash probably has people hidden.*

*And speaking of Ash, it will be interesting to see how she reacts. She might welcome us/you, or she might order us out at gun point, or even pretend that it wasn't a big deal.*

:Mental Shrug:

*I'd welcome her coming around, but I'm not going to be crushed if she doesn't. There's a saying, you can't please everyone.*

[SalmonMax]

Meanwhile, oblivious to the distant, telepathic conversation, Corporal Ashley Logan...weary from a night of constant stress and conflict, yet at the same time feeling the first peace she's had in a long time...heads back into the old ruined warehouse where the now-recovering wounded are being kept. People had died, and Anna hadn't been able to help everyone as much as they needed. Even so, what she'd done was a miracle of almost Biblical proportions.

The attack had failed, and Ash couldn't erase that...but maybe she'd managed to find a little redemption in getting this aid. It had been a big risk, and a hard choice, but past the price there was a payoff, and it was worth it. Of course, now they owed these novas from out of town, and that could have all kinds of consquences. But as she found a quiet corner to sit down in, Ash found she didn't care about consequences anymore. Whatever they wanted, she'd pay. If it meant she could sleep a little easier, she'd pay. If it meant the guilt and the anger and the grief would just lessen, even a scrap, she'd pay. Even the headache, which flickered strong and weak, but never went away, had eased.

She knew she'd come close to the edge, maybe even wobbled, but she hadn't gone over. It was a comfort, if perverse, to know how much she could take.

Clinging to a handful of pathetic strands...which is a handful more than what she had before...Ash's eyes close, and she rocks over onto her side, curled up and asleep before she's even on the ground.

[jameson (ST)]

High in earth orbit Fox mentally pressed the button that would, if luck and brains had anything to do with it, drastically alleviate the world's current looming crisis. The station rumbled as positioning jets burst to life slowly spinning the station round to its programmed bearings. With agonizing slowness and precision the capacitors warmed up powering banks of fail-safe systems as the computer began to prepare for launch. Raider floating in weightlessness, the agony of boredom dulled only slightly by the usual worry whenever something of this magnitude was set into motion.

At last the computer prompted for the firing authorization code. Fox entered in the numbers, had he not been communicating mentally with the computer his hand may have been shaking with the weight of the world on it. Two by two the missiles launched, counter balancing each other’s thrust the station needed only minor adjustments between firings. As the final missile went to launch lights, formerly green, flared to red and others winked out. The disengaging mechanism failed but the missile’s engine still fired. Off balance the station spun wildly until Raider was able to directly interface with the missile and stop its thrusters. He peered outside the window as the earth, sun, moon, and starts spun drunkenly by. Nothing was ever easy …

*****

Below in the city Ashley finally slept as around her people who had been on deaths door recovered. The earthen floor had churned over and the smell of blood and worse was gone replaced by a warm loamy smell, a side effect or intended act on Anna’s part Ashley did not know and could not care.

Somewhere nearby on the roof of a mostly intact building Anna and Doug converse about a little of everything, the bright afternoon sunlight rejuvenating Anna as surely as any meal would Doug. Elsewhere hidden away Gregory slept; looking like a carving in stone of a sleeping child to those who could discern him at all. Around them all the sounds of the city ticked away.

[Mr Fox]

Raider swore silently. At least it was the last missile, it would have been a disaster of biblical proportions if it had happened at the first launch. Well, there was nothing for it now, but try and salvage the station and the warhead. Directing his will into the machines again he worked first to stabilize the station and it's orbit, then it would be an effort to dissect the warhead. It was a very good thing he didn't need much sleep. Once this was done he was going to want a nice rest... maybe a nice deserted tropical island to call home for a few month. Yeah, that sounded good.

[Joani]

Originally Posted By: Courier

Originally Posted By: Joani Reikspar

Hearing Doug’s voice in her head she hesitated a moment before she answered, *You don’t want me to do it? Or do you mean don’t talk with Ash that I did?*

*I mean you're living far too dangerously by throwing around 'maxes' left and right. I sent this mentally because that statement seemed more 'private' than the rest. Gregory is around here somewhere and Ash probably has people hidden.*

*And speaking of Ash, it will be interesting to see how she reacts. She might welcome us/you, or she might order us out at gun point, or even pretend that it wasn't a big deal.*

:Mental Shrug:

*I'd welcome her coming around, but I'm not going to be crushed if she doesn't. There's a saying, you can't please everyone.*

"I will take your advice, Doug... I still want to meet her and see what I can do for her people. I can remember that I couldn't heal them all and I feel refreshed enough to try again. Even if you are right, I need to see her eyes.", Anna headed to the direction where she believed the camp must've been.

[jameson (ST)]

Anna and Doug head off going back to the makeshift hospital. As they leave Gregory wakes, his enhanced hearing alerting him to their departure. Together the three of them pick their way back to the hidden camp, Anna and Doug walking more or less in the open, but aware of possible watchers, and Gregory following silently behind within the ruins like a shadowy specter.

Ten minutes later they pick their way through the crumbled façade of a building and instead of being confronted by Ashley’s guards they find the two young men dead, their body’s cut into ribbons or with their heads twisted in ways that the human neck is incapable of doing. Moving forward as stealthily as possible they enter the dimly lit barracks and find a three some of aberrants silently moving amongst the wounded as they sleep, more guards lie dead on the ground, killed before they could sound the alarm. Even as they enter the room they see one of the three aberrants is about to open Ashley’s exposed neck with a set of wicked talons

[Joani]

Anna screamed in panic as she saw the Aberrant about to kill Ashley, "No!!! Get away from her!"

She tried to surround Ashley in a protective shell made of earth as she concentrated to make her thought reality with her gift to command the earth.

(EA:Earth using Shape technique to construct a protective shell around Ashley without suffocating her, will use 1 WP for that action because of her pacifist flaw)

[Gregory]

Gregory saw the guards and heard anna scream. Something was wrong. He sprinted to the entryway to look at what had happened.

Seeing that the guards had been annihilated, Gregory called forth a several devil dogs, with flame shooting mouths and sharp teeth for rendering flesh. He sent them at the nearest aberrants. The ghostly image of his old friend 'Dog', overlaid the hounds.

Gregory prepared to step out of the shadows and activate his Force field once sending the hounds. He would brandish his pistol.

((OOC: Each hound has a flame breath (Q-bolt), and a superstrong bite. Hoping for at least three hounds.))

[Courier]

When they found the guard Doug had gone to full combat awareness and had picked up several rocks. He'd also tried, and failed, to convince Anna that she should just leave.

When the trio of Aberrants were finally located, Doug smoothly stepped in front of Anna and threw two rocks, one at the Aberrant attacking Ashley and the other at the closest one.

(Use Quick so no die pool penalties.)

[SalmonMax]

Gregory and Doug were leading her to Nova City, along a wide path made of gold-shaded bricks that curved like a river through a fetid jungle. Eyes glittered from between the leaves and from behind the trunks; eyes that had been human once. But they stayed off the path. Ash remembered vaguely that she'd been assured, if you stayed on the path to Nova City, the aberrants wouldn't get you.

She knew she ought to be alert for dangers...there were many. Gregory was just as naked as ever though, and it was very distracting. She wanted to be disgusted and repelled; not only by his lack of civilization but from the fact that he wasn't even human. Would she feel drawn to a gorilla because it didn't have pants? It didn't work though, and she spent the journey helplessly staring at him from behind as he walked. It helped to think of him as a character in a movie, or a picture in a magazine. It wasn't HIM she was staring at...it was just a body.

Then they stopped and turned around. Ash wrenched her gaze upwards to meet their eyes. Doug smiled and announced, "We are at Nova City." Gregory agreed with an amiable "Ook!" noise. Then Doug started taking his clothes off.

This wrung a startled, "What are you doing?!" from Ashley.

"We're at Nova City," Doug explained patiently. "Clothes are forbidden." They moved aside, and Ashley saw Nova City stretched out behind them.

It was incredible. Impossibly tall buildings made of marble and gold; arches and pillars and spires that burned with colored, heatless fire. Men and women flew from place to place, some with wings, some on strange and wonderful devices, others merely flying by themselves with casual disregard for gravity. Others walked the ground. All of them, every single one, was the most gorgeous person she'd ever seen. The men were sleek and muscular and every feature seemed exactly where it should be, and in the perfect proportion. The women were a combination of slim, fit and busty that simply couldn't exist in a world where gravity and childbirth were realities.

"Aren't you coming with us?" Doug asked.

She snapped back to look at him, suddenly feeling very small. "I can't. I'm ugly. I'm weak. I'm not one of you."

"Take your clothes off," Doug instructed. Greg moved towards her, apparently keen to help.

She clutched her BDU's jacket, holding it closed, even when Gregory started trying to pull it open, pull it off. She burned with shame. She had a scar on her leg from when she'd stabbed herself while bored and playing with a knife. She was too skinny, too bony. Her legs a little too long, her tits a little too small, lips too thin, cheeks too bony, eyes too far apart, hair ugly and mashed into the shape of a helmet. She couldn't be naked with these people, her every flaw shining like searchlights before their perfection.

Gregory fought her, then yanked her hand away. He stood up, his face fierce, his eyes burning with hatred and anger, and her shame turned to fear as Gregory shrieked at her in a weird girlish voice...

She awoke in the middle of the dream, the phantasm of Gregory changing almost before her eyes into the face of someone else. Someone with sunken, sallow features and large bulging eyes that seemed to drip malice. Ash was just drawing a breath to scream as those claws went for her neck...and everything went dark.

There was a thud, and the world shook. Ash realized she couldn't MOVE, she couldn't MOVE, and every instinct was screaming at her to MOVE! A chunk of whatever imprisoned her fell away from the impact, and she could see out of it. There were sounds like gunshots, and an inhuman howl, followed by a pattering sound like a dog running on linoleum. She could see the beds, and in them some of the people still dripping blood from where the attackers had ripped their throats out as they slept.

Realization of what was happening burst in Ash's head, and as one of the creatures that had come to kill them screeched and leapt across her narrow field of view...time...

...slowed...

...down...

Ashley was bathed in light that was not light. It came from everywhere. From the air. From the stone around her that had saved her life. From herself. From the blood. From the dead. From the living. The light was everything, and everything was the light. It was in her, and of her, filling her like the breath of God. She was in it, and of it, and she would never be the same.

Maybe it was the dream. Maybe it was just because of how easily he'd repulsed her enraged attacks once before. But when the genie said 'make a wish,' her thought was of Gregory and his Star Trek shield, and his forcefield animals.

Then the world went white.

-----

Anna's quick thinking saved Ash's life. The stone erupted from the ground and flowed around her like a cocoon, only marred when the aberrant attacking her connected with inhuman force, knocking a hole in the stone. It was impossible to say right away if any of that force had transmitted to the woman inside it. There was no time to check. They had bigger problems.

The three assassins were each somewhat different, though clearly erupted along similar lines. One seemed vaguely batlike, with a snout and ears on an otherwise human face. His arms and fingers were freakishly long, and though he seemed like he must be clumsy, he moved with unnatural speed. Doug's first stone whickered past him as he ducked, even with the surprise on Doug's side. The second one that had been attacking the baseline patients was smaller, not much bigger than a child. She had a white, porcelain face with black eyes staring out of it, and wore a skintight black suit. It wasn't clear how she killed until Doug's rock took her in the leg and she howed with a thin, girlish wail...exposing two rows of horrible fangs in her mouth. The one that had been attacking Ashley was slim and bony, and his dark clothes were misshapen, as if the body under them was composed of odd angles and protrusions. He screeched and leapt towards Doug as long sharp bones sprouted even longer from his fingertips and spikes and spines burst out from his skin and clothes.

Gregory burst in with his pack of ghost wolves, and because he wasn't at that moment involved in a fight for his life, he was the first to see that light was pouring out of the hole in Ash's stone chrysalis. Bright, blue-white light, like a searchlight. Cracks were appearing...then he realized the batlike one was nearly on him, moving with horrifying speed as it reached for his throat; its deformed face twisted into a mask of revulsion and hate...

...and suddenly confusion was added to that expression, as the oncoming monster was dragged out of Gregory's sight with an agonized ultrasonic squeal. Greg had time to register that something was curled around the aberrant's midsection, like a tendril of bluish light. Then his wolves surged forward to meet an armada of terrible shadow-monsters, half substantial and half ghostly. Floating over them, coming forward towards he and Doug, was the injured doll-like girl.

Meanwhile, Courier slammed his fist into the chest of the monster attacking him and grinned to hear bones shattering. The aberrant grunted, then grinned back. Under his shirt, the flesh was crawling, shifting, crunching, grinding as it filled back into the crater Doug left.

Then something exploded in the middle of the room. Gravel and dust pelted everywhere, and blinding light suffused the makeshift triage area. At its center was Ashley, her body burning with blue-white brilliance. As she got to her feet, the eye acclimated enough to make out her features, her clothes. The bright glow came from inside her, like a thin wrap of skin around a lightbulb. It spilled out through her eyes especially brightly. A thin line snaked away from her shoulder to where it held the bat-like aberrant in midair. Without speaking a word, Ash held out a hand towards the horde of shadow beasts and fire-breathing ghost dogs.

Something shot from her hand, fast and hard enough that it caused a momentary gust of wind from the concussion of its passing. Air slammed shut into the vacuum it left behind, making a thunderclap. It blew through all of the shadow monsters and two of the hounds, scouring the melee clean in an instant and gouging a trench in the ground behind them.

As stunned as everyone else, Gregory managed to have the presence of mind to issue a mental command to his creation. The remaining attack dog raced at the doll-girl, snatching her between its jaws and crunching her flesh. It screamed in a disturbingly human soprano and flailed like a fish, trying to bite it back. Then the hound expelled flame, while holding her in its mouth. She caught fire immediately, and her struggles ceased.

The bony aberrant fighting Doug reprioritized, and with a scream he hurled himself at Ashley, covering the distance in a single leap, claws extended. She turned her head to track his movement, her expression never wavering. The aberrant's claws stopped perhaps an inch from Ash's neck, as a translucent barrier of energy became momentarily visible. Arcs of power crackled and sputtered across the aberrant's fingers, wringing a surprised yelp from him as he dropped to the ground, stymied. Doug took a step forward, picking up a rock...but distracted as the bone-man was, he never saw another whipcord of light snap out of Ash to wrap around his neck. Eyes bulging even more, he scrabbled at it as he was lifted into the air.

The bat-thing emitted another painfully high-pitched scream...this one went on and on...and was suddenly cut short as the sound of crunching bones replaced it, and blood fountained down from his waist and ran in rivers down his legs. The glowing tendril that held him was constricting around his midsection, ballooning the flesh on either side of it. A moment later, his lower body dropped to the ground, pinched off at the waist. The radiant cord that had killed him vanished an instant later, letting the upper torso join its other half on the floor.

Ash's expression was clearly visible now...the glow that permeated her was starting to reduce in intensity. Only through her eyes was it still too bright to look at comfortably. Her face was anguished, a mask of furious rage and terrible pain. She opened her mouth and screamed that rage and grief out as she whirled around, dragging her last opponent around with her and slamming him against the sheet metal wall of the ruined old warehouse. There was a thunderous crash that completely masked the noise of a man's head being crushed. She held him there for a moment, pinning his body in the deep dent the impact had made. Then she wrenched him back and slammed him into it again. The rage was passing, the grief mounting. She fell to her knees, the scream now a sob. The third time the aberrant struck the wall it was almost gentle. Not that it mattered by then. Then the line of light connecting him to Ashley vanished, and as he dropped to the floor...so did Ash.

She lay unconscious then, the last of the glow fading from behind her eyelids.