Aberrant: No Fate - Chapter 2: The shape of things to come

[Courier]

Quote:

Her face was unbelievably beautiful as was her perfectly shaped body that was wrapped skintight in an Eufiber suit similar to Bastions in color and design. Even the Fool was stunned by her grace and bright shining green innocent looking eyes. She had long brunette hair with a hint of red streaks which had an unearthly glow to it. Whoever this girl was, she must've been one of the most beautiful creatures on earth (App 5, M-App 5 and Syle 5 for reference).

Cherub's jaw falls and if he were a dog his tongue would be hanging out.

Quote:

Newton looked up again at Cherub, "It was her.", he pointed at Nadine. "But I wouldn't say it's her fault. It's Proteus'. I scanned her and she is the genetic counterpart to the 'living weapon' Proteus has built. It just slipped out of their control... and instead of killing Novas it made us latents erupt. Given some time I could find out how she does it. This is the third time I saw it happen...

Cherub replies,

"Wait, so you're from the future? Proteus is *going* to turn Nadine into a weapon? I thought you erupted months ago? And yeah, I think we're willing and eager to help. Undoing your mess fixes ours. Does New York always blow up like that?"

Originally Posted By: The_Fool

"Hubba. Hubba." says The Fool with a deadpan and rather dispassionate demeanor.
"Oooh! Beauty AND her Beast!" adds the Fool, this time with more relish. "How about it Meatwall? Care to duel for the lady's affections?"

Cherub says sharply,

"Fool! Stop taunting them. Even if you win we all lose."

Originally Posted By: Callum Uallas

Malcolm... grabs Newton by the shoulders. "How far can you send me back? Can you help me save my wife?!" There is a sadness in Malcolm's eyes that overwhelms even the joy at finding hope and his excitement at locating a solution to his greatest mistake.

Cherub says again sharply,

"Malcolm, calm down."

[Travis Kincaid]

Malcolm releases Newton and rounds on Cherub his fist balled and cocked back ready to strike, "Fuck you! Don't tell me to calm down you libidinous fuck! You don't have a fucking clue what real loss is. Do you even have a clue what love is? Do you have even an inkling of understanding for what it means to know that your child will grow up motherless because of your choices?" Malcolm drops his hand and slumps, quietly he says, "I would do anything for another chance at that night. For that reason alone I think I can understand you Newton."

[Synner]

"I suggest we all calm it down a notch, Brothers and Sisters," Synner began. "Why don't we take a look at what we can do, what we know and what the plan of action is. Sitting here idling isn't doing anyone but our hunters any good."

He avoids looking back to the 'Instant Wood' chick, tilting his head in her direction instead.

"Newton, what's your next move? How can we help?"

After all, if you know how to help someone, you know how to hurt them too. Still, Synner was beginning to get a clue that fewer and fewer OG people were on a mission right now. Things seemed to be unraveling.

[SkyLion]

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Cherub says sharply,

"Fool! Stop taunting them. Even if you win we all lose."

"Really? And just who shall mourn the passing of an Ogre? I should think our collective gene pool should thank me for my efforts...after all, with the 'roids this one has been juicing he has no doubt, shriveled up in other places..."

"...Tell us big boy...do you even have a sword left to cross?"

The Fool seems to be having far too much of his own twisted fun pushing Bastion's (rather large and obvious) buttons to stop so easily.

[Mr Fox]

Now he understood, and he felt compassion for Malcom, but one person wasn't worth the risk or working with Netwon. An entire city of dead people on the other hand was.

"I can't speak for the others, but if there is a chance that we can undo what just happened to Manhattan, I will work with you. Tell us more about what you are doing and how."

[Joani]

Originally Posted By: Courier

"Wait, so you're from the future? Proteus is *going* to turn Nadine into a weapon? I thought you erupted months ago? And yeah, I think we're willing and eager to help. Undoing your mess fixes ours. Does New York always blow up like that?"

“No, no, Cherub. I’m not from the future. Our eruption was extremely suspicious and it was obvious that we shouldn’t have erupted in the first place. They wanted us dead but instead their weapon made us stronger… but tainted us proportionally. I tried to find a way to reverse the effects of Taint to very little success.”, he made a dramatic pause before he continued, “It is only with Caroline’s unique state that I’ve come to understand the basic nature of her condition… and I tried to take advantage of it. With her help I could reverse time and I tried. You don’t want to know what happened the first times – it was exceedingly frustrating and New York had always been destroyed. Only this time we managed to get there before it happened but we’ve been to slow to locate the counterpart.”, he pointed at Nadine.

“And there is another side effect…”, Newton said but Legion interrupted him rather bluntly, “It feels like having done this shit again and again and again, but you just can’t really point at it before it actually happens.”

“… its like waking up.”, finished Newton.

Originally Posted By: Synner

"Newton, what's your next move? How can we help?"
After all, if you know how to help someone, you know how to hurt them too. Still, Synner was beginning to get a clue that fewer and fewer OG people were on a mission right now. Things seemed to be unraveling.

„I would like to study Nadine, see if I can interface her with Caroline. Maybe this way I can manage to make the jump closer to her vicinity and prevent her to merge with the Singularity. Since you’ve been involved at this point I would suggest to make the jump with us. With our pooled resources and abilities we may be able to make a difference this time.”

Originally Posted By: The_Fool

"Really? And just who shall mourn the passing of an Ogre? I should think our collective gene pool should thank me for my efforts...after all, with the 'roids this one has been juicing he has no doubt, shriveled up in other places..."

"...Tell us big boy...do you even have a sword left to cross?"

The Fool seems to be having far too much of his own twisted fun pushing Bastion's (rather large and obvious) buttons to stop so easily.

Bastion snarled at the Fool but his girlfriend, the invisible girl, holds his hand back. “Don’t”, is all she says and Bastion instantly relaxes. It appears as if Bastion has lost any intention of attacking the Fool but his eyes remained transfixed on him.

Originally Posted By: Mr Fox

Now he understood, and he felt compassion for Malcom, but one person wasn't worth the risk or working with Netwon. An entire city of dead people on the other hand was.

"I can't speak for the others, but if there is a chance that we can undo what just happened to Manhattan, I will work with you. Tell us more about what you are doing and how."

Facing Sean to answer the last question Newton says evenly, “This has always been my intention… and reveal to the world the evil machinations of Project Proteus. I believe their goal is to eliminate or at least control Nova population on earth. Once I’ve managed to treat our condition”, Newton hinted at his friends, “I will put all my efforts to support the Aberrant cause and unravel this conspiracy.”

[SkyLion]

In a flash the Fool has cozied himself up right next to Bastion.

"Keeps you on a short leash does she?"

He gives the muscle-head an elbow nudge, adding in a mock-whisper,

"Don't worry, we can play later..." The Fool's mask animates just enough to lend Bastion a conspiratorial wink and the impossibly nimble Jack sidesteps any attempt to grab or touch him.

"Back to the business at hand!" he proclaims, suddenly rejoining the main thrust of the conversation.

"Yes, Mr. Newton, I must say I feel...most refreshed from our last encounter..invigorated even! However I seem to have accumulated a large ammount of static in my signature as well...so far nothing too drastic but did I hear you right in saying you would like to repeat this experiment yet again...with our assistance?"

Just as Newton is about to reply the Fool cuts him off, adding, "And while it is on my mind to be inquisitng questions, why don't you tell us everything you know about the Omega Corporation..."

[Courier]

Cherub watches Newton to see how he reacts to The Fool.

[Joani]

Originally Posted By: The_Fool

In a flash the Fool has cozied himself up right next to Bastion.

"Keeps you on a short leash does she?"

He gives the muscle-head an elbow nudge, adding in a mock-whisper,

"Don't worry, we can play later..." The Fool's mask animates just enough to lend Bastion a conspiratorial wink and the impossibly nimble Jack sidesteps any attempt to grab or touch him.

As odd as it seems but Bastion’s eyes reflect his emotional state but his body remains completely relaxed. He would kill the Fool if he had the chance but neither word nor action followed his conviction.

Originally Posted By: The_Fool

"Back to the business at hand!" he proclaims, suddenly rejoining the main thrust of the conversation.

"Yes, Mr. Newton, I must say I feel...most refreshed from our last encounter..invigorated even! However I seem to have accumulated a large ammount of static in my signature as well...so far nothing too drastic but did I hear you right in saying you would like to repeat this experiment yet again...with our assistance?"

Just as Newton is about to reply the Fool cuts him off, adding, "And while it is on my mind to be inquisitng questions, why don't you tell us everything you know about the Omega Corporation..."

Newton turns to face the Fool and hesitates before he answers, “I’m not sure… are you with the Omega Corporation? Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and is usually used to describe the end of something. I suppose, if you work for Omega Corporation that you are employed to end things… like other peoples lives. I think I’ve read a reference about Omega Corporation in Bahrain, but I was focused on finding clues about Proteus. What is it that you want?”

[SkyLion]

Who do you think sent us to kill you? The Fool offers by way of explanation.

[Tim Wiley]

When the Fool admistted who we worked for, and what our current assignment was, all Nosferatu could do was bury his head in his hands and shake his head. Why don't you give him your blood type too. The Fool had now violated every code that they had been taught. How was it that he could break his conditioning? For what purpose? The Fool is going to get us killed by our own people, now that our covers are blown. Imagining Divis Mal burning him to a cinder, made his knees weak.

[Courier]

Cherub blinks and tries to come up with a way to salvage the situation. He'd let Malcolm's rant slide off him, they were all coming close to the edge here, but the Fool had just dived head first over it. He considers,

*Salvage... salvage... wait. Time travel, right? We're planning on undoing all this anyway.*

[Mr Fox]

Sean watched. It was too late to stop the Fool from his folly. There were only three options left now. 1) Kill Newton and all his people regardless of the cost. 2) Work with him to change the timeline and hope that this 'unhappened', and thus saved them. Or third, work with Newton and betray Omega and try to bring it down. That was not an option he wanted to even think about.

Seeing the reactions of some of the others Sean speaks, "I guess that means we work with you and try to undo what has happened."

[Synner]

Synner does his best to distance himself from the rest of the team. Outwordly, he acts cautiously surprised by the revelations. Inwardly, he hopes he can somehow work himself out of this situation, cover intact. Of course, he hopes that a large slab of ice comes along and ends the Fool's miserable existance too. Is that asking too much?

[SkyLion]

Seeing as his comment has made his teammates uncomfortable, The Fool offers,

"What? The message of the cards was clear. To return to the Company means torture, pain, and never being able to trust anyone again...if you ever did. To ally ourselves with the Magus gives the best hope of survival...and that, my conditioned comrades, is the Game that we are playing..."

[Courier]

Tom replies somewhat rebukingly,

"You're burning bridges."

In a perhaps vain attempt to get the conversation back on track Cherub says to Newton,

"Rather than study Nadine under a microscope, I suggest we just ask what her schedule was like and where she was. We have a warper, several speedy novas. I doubt distance is a problem but ignorance of her location certainly would be."

"Which raises the issue of time, or rather 'when' we could expect to show up back then. We're missing time from right before the incident."

[SkyLion]

The Fool seems unphased by Cherub's rebuke.

"The Bridge to the company leads to a cage, for body, mind, and soul. It always has...you have just been too asleep to notice. Ask Malcolm here...in what ways have they blackmailed you, forced you to do their bidding? In fact, I believe all of us have been subject to their brain breaking conditioning...think! THINK for a moment....try and remember how and why you joined the company. Can't do it can you? Feel the static? Perhaps a headache? Just what is that fog that shrouds our memories?"

[SalmonMax]

Grey Goo finally speaks, "Fool. Don't you think you've talked enough for now? Not everyone here is ready to share their dark secrets with people we've just met...and whom the last time we met apparently blasted us back into the past."

She looks at Newton.

"It was Nadine, wasn't it, that found us and you there? You escaped, but we were hit with something. Why was she seeking YOU out? What happened to us? Your explanation of things doesn't fit what I remember."

[SkyLion]

The Fool shrugs.

"More of the conditioning. Rather than rail against the resonance of reason, why don't you examine yourself? All it will take to sht me up, is the simple story of how you came to be in the Company's employ....I can see you struggling...you don't want it to be true."

"The conditioning fights against you, trying to turn your introspection to anger but deep down, underneath, you can sense the truth. We all here, have been violated by the Company...even you Newton. Else why would they want you dead so dearly???"

[Tim Wiley]

Nosferatu gives The Fool a withering look. "Some of us would like to live once were are done with here. The Teragen are not as forgiving as Omega. I doubt I can hide from them for very long, or take the fight to them to save my own skin." He points his finger at The Fool, then at the others. "You do what you feel you must, and I will do what I need to do."

Nosferatu looks at Grey and gives her a stealthy wink. "The Teragen do not want the same things as Omega." Nosferatu was trying to distance himself from The Fools comments. If Newton thinks that they come from disparate backgrounds, then some of them might live to see next year once their association with Omega is made public.

[SkyLion]

"If Omega was able to kill us, they would have done so already. We are already a liability to them. Right now they are in Chaos and we must attempt our freedom now or never...unless you feel like going back in time, and then rejoining the fold. However I serve a greater Pupeteer, and he tells me that to seek freedom is the correct choice..."

[Tim Wiley]

He didn't get it. Nosferatu was not afraid of Omega. It was a group of angry and vengeful Terats that frightened him most. He was not sure what hurt more, being killed by fellow Terats, or being exiled from them.

He walked right up to The Fool and hissed. He kept the volume low so that only those who were close to them could hear. "I don't care about Omega, because it's not Omega that scares me." He grabbed The Fool's collar and lifted him from the ground. "You tell your 'pupeteer' to keep our secrets to himself."

[Joani]

The sudden discussion among the OC-Agent made Newton back off from the center. He watched and listened trying to discern what lead to the escalation. As the situation seemed to get physical Nadine jerked herself free from Cherub's side.

"Stop it!", she screamed. "You can't talk about me like that! I... I'm not... whatever you think I am! I'm not letting myself treat like a guinea pig... I... I... I...,", her voice trailed off and red light sparked through her mouth and eyes. Nadine reached aimlessly around her trying to catch her balance. Just before she seemed to fall she got lifted off the ground by no visible force while her body glowed intensely red.

A strange surge like an undertow centering in Nadine's body flows through the room and with an inaudible bang her body completely shifts and raises further up glowing signal red.

(ooc: you lose 5 Quantum Points from the surge and your Quantum trait is treated as 1 lower for the remainder of the scene. All powers that require a Q-minimum that you cannot meet right now are inaccessible)

Newton screams at Legion "Kutler, get her here, right now!"

Legion just nods and opens a warp...

(PM for Synner, Sean and the Fool - order of initiative: The Fool, Cherub, Sean, Malcolm, Nosferatu, Bastion, unknown NPC, Gray, Synner, Legion, Plasma, invisible Girl - Combat hasn't begun yet, just wanted you to know your Initiative in case someone attacked)

[SkyLion]

Quote:

He walked right up to The Fool and hissed. He kept the volume low so that only those who were close to them could hear. "I don't care about Omega, because it's not Omega that scares me." He grabbed tried to grab The Fool's collar and lifted him from the ground and touched only air. "You tell your 'pupeteer' to keep our secrets to himself."

Nosferatu tries to grab ahold of The Fool's collar but manages to catch only air. The statuesque assassin is simply too slippery.

"Now, now, Nosferatu," quipped The Fool. "No need to raise your blood pressure. We are all, for the moment, afloat in the same ark, whilst a sea of change threatens to flood the world and, much to God's chagrin, our Newton is no Noah. In short my gesitculating Jonah, we have bigger fish to fry...*


The Fool is cut off by the commotion in the room. His preternatural senses warning him of potential for grave danger, he takes a peek at the imminentely probable outcomes, prepared for the worst.

"Told you so..."

[Mr Fox]

Sean takes hold of one of the tungsten carbide ball bearings he always carries with him using his telekinesis and just holds it ready. If it became necessary to turn glowing girl's head into a ruptured melon he wanted to be prepared. "Calm down Nadine, no one is going to hurt you, we want to save lives here."

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Joani Reikspar

...Nadine jerked herself free from Cherub's side. "Stop it!", she screamed...

Cherub tried and failed to get a word in edgewise to calm Nadine down...

Quote:

A strange surge like an undertow centering in Nadine's body flows through the room and with an inaudible bang her body completely shifts and raises further up glowing signal red.
(ooc: you lose 5 Quantum Points from the surge and your Quantum trait is treated as 1 lower for the remainder of the scene. All powers that require a Q-minimum that you cannot meet right now are inaccessible)

Cherub grunted as though someone had sucker punched him.

Quote:

Newton screams at Legion "Kutler, get her here, right now!"

Legion just nods and opens a warp...

Cherub raised an arm to protest/interfere and then thought better and lowered his hand. They were right.

[Travis Kincaid]

Malcolm looks at the the others each reacting differently to some unfelt occurance. Malcolm backs away from Nadine wondering just want is going on. Mentally he grabs hold of the valve that will release Quantum into his body but he does not open it, waiting instead to see just what was going on first.

[Tim Wiley]

"Fine!" Nosferatu quips to The Fool. "But you can explain the situation to Divis Mal when he comes to turn me into a piece of charcoal."

Quote:

A strange surge like an undertow centering in Nadine's body flows through the room and with an inaudible bang her body completely shifts and raises further up glowing signal red.

A wave of weakness swetpt through his body. Somehow, Nadine had done something to weaken him. He didn't know how it affected him, or what part was affected, but he had to be wary. Maybe what she did to them, was what made her Proteus's 'ultimate weapon'.

As the tension in the room began to mount, Nosferatu found himself wanting blood. It would make him feel stronger.

[Joani]

The air seems to electrify and Newton's gang takes a defensive stance in preparation for the worst. Everyone seems to be waiting for the other side to make an error... or maybe the first move?

Suddenly Gray jerks around clutching her chest as if something was constricting her. The red glowing form of the human formerly known as Nadine points with a finger at her and red tendrils pierce her like spears. A silent scream is painted over Gray's face and she stumbles turning towards Nosferatu with disbelief in her eyes. Her body shakes and she seems to try to fight against whatever the Singularity has inflicted her with.

Gray raises an arm staring at it as it changes its shape without control. It spreads throughout her body making her dance a macabre dance of death. She drops to the ground like a wet sack tumbling on her back as she falls. Her eyes are full of empty and her face is frozen in fear.

"NO!!!", screams Newton and reaches inside Legion's warp touching something very similar to Caroline's cocooned form and pulls at it...

(ooc: ok guys - talk or attack - tell me what your actions are going to be - Initiative has been rolled as above)

[Joani]

The air seems to electrify and Newton's gang takes a defensive stance in preparation for the worst. Everyone seems to be waiting for the other side to make an error... or maybe the first move?

Suddenly Gray jerks around clutching her chest as if something was constricting her. The red glowing form of the human formerly known as Nadine points with a finger at her and red tendrils pierce her like spears. A silent scream is painted over Gray's face and she stumbles turning towards Nosferatu with disbelief in her eyes. Her body shakes and she seems to try to fight against whatever the Singularity has inflicted her with.

Gray raises an arm staring at it as it changes its shape without control. It spreads throughout her body making her dance a macabre dance of death. She drops to the ground like a wet sack tumbling on her back as she falls. Her eyes are full of empty and her face is frozen in fear.

"NO!!!", screams Newton and reaches inside Legion's warp touching something very similar to Caroline's cocooned form and pulls at it...

(ooc: ok guys - talk or attack - tell me what your actions are going to be - Initiative has been rolled as above)

[Courier]

Cherub takes two steps back and yells,

"Nadine! Stop this!"

(Full Defensive)

[Courier]

Cherub takes two steps back and yells,

"Nadine! Stop this!"

(Full Defensive)

[Tim Wiley]

Nosferatu watches in horror as his fellow Terat is felled by Nadine. Gray's empty stare told him all he needed to know.

He activates the Omega Armor device, in case the tendrils come after him. Then he rapidly backs away from the stricken Gray and the attacking Nadine.

[Tim Wiley]

Nosferatu watches in horror as his fellow Terat is felled by Nadine. Gray's empty stare told him all he needed to know.

He activates the Omega Armor device, in case the tendrils come after him. Then he rapidly backs away from the stricken Gray and the attacking Nadine.

[Mr Fox]

He really didn't want to hurt Nadine, but one of their own had just been messily destroyed before Sean's eyes. Time to take action, but not before seeing what Newton had in mind. Sean waited and prepared to send the ball bearing at Nadine's head with maximum force, but he hoped Newton had some way to rewind.

(If Newton doesn't produce a miracle before Nadine acts again he will attempt to kill her in one shot.)

[Mr Fox]

He really didn't want to hurt Nadine, but one of their own had just been messily destroyed before Sean's eyes. Time to take action, but not before seeing what Newton had in mind. Sean waited and prepared to send the ball bearing at Nadine's head with maximum force, but he hoped Newton had some way to rewind.

(If Newton doesn't produce a miracle before Nadine acts again he will attempt to kill her in one shot.)

[Synner]

Payton is horrified for about a half-second when his fellow Omega Agent is downed. Then he knows what needs to be done. First off, discs of pure night appear and begin to spin around and over the young nova. That done, he begins to move so as to be behind Nadine ... and getting closer.

{Force Field Activated}

[Synner]

Payton is horrified for about a half-second when his fellow Omega Agent is downed. Then he knows what needs to be done. First off, discs of pure night appear and begin to spin around and over the young nova. That done, he begins to move so as to be behind Nadine ... and getting closer.

{Force Field Activated}

[Travis Kincaid]

Malcolm's combat training kicks in and without realizing it he has assumed a fighting stance. "What the hell is going on here? Nadine, Singularity, whomever you are ... please stop this before more people die!" Malcolm takes a defensive stance but does not undorm, hoping that at the least he will come across as a non-threat.

[Travis Kincaid]

Malcolm's combat training kicks in and without realizing it he has assumed a fighting stance. "What the hell is going on here? Nadine, Singularity, whomever you are ... please stop this before more people die!" Malcolm takes a defensive stance but does not undorm, hoping that at the least he will come across as a non-threat.