Aberrant: In the Beginning - Chapter 1- "Fiat Lux!"

[SalmonMax]

"What am I supposed to..." Juno starts to ask, but everyone's hurrying out. She hesitates, then rushes after them.

"Can't they just knock him out with darts or something, and wrap him up and bring him here?" she asks no one in particular as they go to the 'copter.

"What are -we- supposed to do?"

[Michael Peters]

Michael straps himself in, then helps Juno with the complicated apparatus, making sure she is in safely.

"We are supposed to stop him. Save people. You know, all that hero stuff."

He smiles at her reassuringly, concealing his own tension.

"Don't sorry. I'm sure police will be on the scene, and hopefully they do have some tranquilizers. But we have to assume that he has powers to. I dont think tranq's would work on you, would they?"

[SalmonMax]

"Nothing works on me," Juno informs him matter-of-factly, swatting his hands away and rather pointedly fixing her own seatbelt. "Doesn't mean anything though. Everyone's coming out completely differently."

She shrugs and leans over against the window to peer out through it. After a moment she yawns.

"Just seems like...I dunno. Okay, so his touch is deadly. So don't touch anyone, right? Put some gloves on. Boom, done."

[maminka]

Wes comes running out afte the team but is pulled back by someone...

"Wes we want to see just how quickly you can get there. If you get there...I mean when you get there wait for the others. We will inform them that you have arrived." One of the doctors who had been part of his everyday testing said.

"Alright but just how far do I have to "Warp"?" Wes said surprisingly.

"And you don't have to worry about me rushing in. I have no plans on being a "Lone Wolf". The main reason I stayed was to be part of this group."

The man pulled Wes aside and took him into a quiet room. He gave Wes a picture of the area he wanted Wes to visual...

"This is the area. See it and then concentrate. Take your time." He said in a very calm soothing voice.

I have done this before. I know I can do this. stay calm. why am I so damn nervous?

Wes looked hard at the photo of the place and then the Nova he was possibly going to run into. He closed his eyes and concentrated...and then he was gone!

[Titan: Where's Wes? For more on what happened to our conspiracy theorist teleporter, look for an upcoming fiction...]

[Michael Peters]

"Ah, but what if that killing touch is through some chemical airborn agent? Would gloves protect you from Rich? His radiation could kill unless you were wearing a lead suit."

Michael shakes his head and looks out the window.

"I'm worried were getting thrown out as a PR stunt. We dont know how to work as a team and we're supposed to stop someone? Do we even has legal ability to do this?"

He takes a deep breath and looks back at Juno.

"I guess we have to try."

[z-Wei Fang]

Fang had been following quietly, debating whether or not to go. No one knew about her talent yet, her ability to shut off a New Person's connection to their order-within-the-chaos. But facing a New Person with no control, and herself not having any defenses or Jay, frightened her. Surely, no one would be surprised if she asked to remain safely here?

"We have to help him," she said, a little surprised by the vemhenance in her voice. "He is one of us, and he needs our help." Her hands were shaking as she strapped herself into the helicopter. She really didn't like helicopters; too little could be done to save herself if too much went awry. But for one of the New People, she would do it.

[Charlotte]

"All right. We'll need plans for the hospital, updates on what he's doing. I'd like a gun, assuming I can get one." Nathan puts his helmet on, then looks at Juno. "Tell me you're not coming, are you? You're a bit young for this."

[SalmonMax]

Juno shrugs.

"Someone's gotta put the gloves on him."

[Charlotte]

Nathan nods. "All right. You can adapt to anything, right? Let me copy your powers. I'll risk exposure. If it turns out you're not immune to whatever he can do, well... better me than you."

[SalmonMax]

"Uh huh, but do you even know how your copying thing works?" Juno asks. "Maybe the copy isn't as good as the real thing. Maybe it only works once, or wears off really fast."

"Look, one of these days, they're going to send me to do something dangerous. That's sort of the whole point of what I can do. So what difference does it make if it's tonight, or tomorrow, or in three months? Don't get so hung up on age."

[Wraith]

Caryn follows the rest to the helicopter and calmly straps herself in.

"look guys, I can get close enough to him to talk to him, he won't be able to hurt me. So let's just see what's going on when we get there." She says to the group.

She adjusts herself in the seat, looking around at everyone.

"If he won't settle down, then I can sedate him somehow, I know I can solidify my hand by itself to give him a sedative." She says.

She glances over to Michael, "We need a leader, someone to take control over these things, I think that since Michael has had combat experience he should be." Caryn says as she keeps her glance on him.

[Michael Peters]

Michael nods slowly, his eyes meeting Caryn's.

"If you'll have me, I'll lead you. All I ask is you trust me. We're all going to be in a very tense situation where people are going to be glowing, 'ghosting' through solid matter, and who knows what else. We have to keep calm and try to stop this other new human without hurting him... but if we have no choice, we may have to use lethal force."

He shifts his eyes to Fang.

"I pray it doesn't come to that..."

[SalmonMax]

Juno lapses quiet at that and folds her arms.

"Don't look at me for that," she mutters at the window.

[Michael Peters]

Michael glances at Juno, an enigmatic smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.

"Alright Juno, what role do you want to play?"

There is no accusation in his tone, just curiosity.

[SalmonMax]

She looks back at him sourly.

"Anything that doesn't involve killing someone?" she replies. "Besides, you're the 'leader.'" She makes little hashmarks with her fingers. "That means you tell ME what to do, right?"

[Michael Peters]

"I served with people who would have used that definition of leadership but I prefer to think that you do what I tell you because you trust me to make the right decisions."

He leans forward, giving Juno his full attention. His appearance, previously striking, now borders on the extraordinary. Something about him now seems to inspire confidence... a surety in himself that is almost awe-inspiring.

"I need you to trust me as much as I trust you. I wont make you kill anyone, or even hurt anyone, if I can help it."

((OOC: Michael is starting to actively use his Mega-Appearance with Awe-Inspiring enchancement))

[z-Wei Fang]

"I think I can stop him from killing anymore," Fang said, her hands still shaking. Her eyes were wide with her phobia as the rotors picked up speed. "But I'd have to get close. I'm not sure how close." The word you want, is "too." How close you need to get is too close.

[SalmonMax]

Juno's eyes widen as Michael's face...it doesn't change exactly, but something about his expression hits her like a freight train. Her heart skips a beat, then starts to hammer, and her cheeks turn pink.

"I..." she stammers stupidly, utterly flummoxed. "...I..."

For a moment Juno lifts her hand, as if to touch Michael's face...but before it gets there she pulls it back to cover her mouth and wrenches her eyes away, off to the side.

"Okay," she manages to say from between her fingers.

[Michael Peters]

Michael was worried. He had wished to inspire confidence in Juno, allow her to see that he could lead, control the situation... this wasn't what he wanted.

Concealing his inner concern under a smile, he reaches out and brushes his fingertips against the hand she had outstreched.

"Thank you Juno. I will do the best I can."

He then looks towards Fang.

"You can stop him?" He thinks for a moment before nodding, trusting the Chinese woman. "Good. We'll get you close if you believe you can shut him down."

He examines the other occupants of the helocopter, looking from face to face.

"Does anyone else have any reservations, concerns or insights? It would be a good time to air them."

[Wraith]

Caryn keeps her eyes on Michael the entire time, It's hard not to look at him.

"I think when we get there, we will instinctively know what to do, just like we have so far." She says to him.

She was surprised at how much she was attracted to him all of the sudden. It was a total shock. She shakes her head and hunches over, trying to focus on the real situation at stake.

"I can also make someone else intangible as long as I am holding on to them, So if any of you want to do the talking I can get you close to him. I think that three against one will be better. That's if Juno wants to get close enough to him." Caryn explained.

[SalmonMax]

Juno suddenly clenched her fists.

Goddamnit, I'm not going to kid out now!

She looked defiantly up at Caryn. "I'll be fine. You should do your thing with someone who Doomfinger would be able to hurt if they weren't ghosts. Me, I'll take whatever he's got and ask for seconds."

[Charlotte]

"No reservations here. I'd prefer more of a plan, but I'm beginning to realize there's no real way to plan for these things. We don't know how these powers work, or how the opposition's powers work, either. Just stay safe, everyone. PR's important, lives are moreso."

[Mr Fox]

The flight was uneventful, but time seemed to drag on knowing that lives were at stake. The helicopter landed on the pad reserved for the life-flight chopper and security waited to usher the group into the building. As the group is rushed into the building and to the elevators the head of security gives you a brief run down, "Patient's name is Klaus Kliesner, a German citizen, he was here on holiday when he came down with a serious case of influenza complicated with pneumonia. Apparently an attempted suicide, witnesses said he tried to drown himself, the reason is unknown. He was rescued and held for observation but came down sick from the exposure and the water in his lungs."

The man paused in his monologue long enough for everyone to board the elevator, pressed the button for the 3rd floor then resumed, "He was feverish and thrashing about in his bed when he suddenly went nuts. He ripped the restraints right off the railings like they were nothing and got up and started staggering about. But that was just the beginning, he stumbled into the bed next to his and started yelling something at female patient in German. 'Ich bin zum Tod, Sie verdienen zu sterben!' Something about death is all I know. Then he touched her and her monitors started to light up like a christmas tree and then she flatlined. A simple touch and BAM the woman goes into cardiac arrest, just like that. A pair of nurses tried to restrain him and he yelled that first thing again, 'Ich bin zum Tod', and at his touch they both got horrible looks of agony on their faces and dropped dead at his feet. Several orderlies and doctors all tried to stop him from touching the other patients, but they all died with a single touch. The guy is obviously hallucinating, he keeps yelling about Melinda, and that german phrase, I am dead, or I am death or something like that."

The elevator stops and the doors open but he stands in the way facing you and blushes, "I tried to shoot him, but he moved so fast that the bullets never hit, so we just barred the doors as best we could, but he's strong enough that I don't think that will stop him if he decides to leave. Right now he's sitting in the ward on a bed with his head in his hands and he keeps saying that german thing over and over. There are five more patients in there still alive, but they need their medication soon or we might start losing some of them." He looks at the group doubtfully but steps aside and points up the hallway at a set of double doors that are blocked with two beds, with police standing guard holding rifles at the ready.

[Michael Peters]

Michael listens intently to the officers synopsis of the events leading up to their arrival, his posure buisiness like.

"Thank you officer. One moment please."

He turns to the Juno, Fang, Caryn and Nathan.

"All right. Here's what I think: Fang, Nathan, and I go in to meet him quietly, try to diffuse the situation calmly, rationally. Caryn, get ready to ghost yourself and Juno in at any sign of an attack. Hopefully our physiologies will be able to resist whatever toxin he can introduce. If we can't bring him doen peacefully, we're going to need every edge we can muster."

He grins, keeping his attitude and voice light, downplaying the seriousness of the situation.

"I know it sounds like this may dissolve into a nasty scrum, but if it comes to that, we're more capable of succeding then anyone else here."

He looks at each one in turn, welcoming criticism.

[Wraith]

Caryn nods her head with agreement. "I can see inside the wall right now, he seems calm at the moment." She says as she looks past them towards the room.

"As soon as you need us, just motion me in." She says.

[SalmonMax]

"I don't know," Juno says, standing on her toes a bit to try to see over or through the mattresses.

"Seems to me that we should have Caryn take you in, Mike, ghosted. So if he goes mental, he can't hurt you. Then the rest of us can just..." She moves her hand at the barricade, "bust on in there and take him down."

[Michael Peters]

Michael nods at Juno.

"A good point, but Fang said she could shut him down, and I trust her. I want to try to approach him first as... as his own kind, with minimum hostilities."

Michael is struck by that thought briefly.

Are we a different kind now? More than human?

He shakes aside the thought as irrelevant to the task at hand.

"Hopefully he'll be receptive to that. If he does 'go mental' as you say, I want you ready to help us and any wounded. If anyone will be able to resist whatever poison he's putting out, it's you."

[SalmonMax]

Juno scowls at the 'his own kind' comment, but focuses on the most important part. "I'm just saying, there's no reason you have to be solid to talk to him. Why take the chance?"

She nods at Wei Fang. "I mean, even if she CAN shut him down, he's fast enough to dodge bullets. I'll give you dollars to dimes he's fast enough to touch you before she can do it."

[Wraith]

"How far away does Fang have to be, to turn off his power?" Caryn asks... keeping her eyes on the man through the wall.

"If she can stand outside the door, or the farthest away, I can get Michael and I close enough to speak to him." Caryn says.

,,

[z-Wei Fang]

"I can try through the door, first," Fang said, just aware suddenly of how far off the charts they were now. "It will hurt nothing to try and see if that is close enough or if the door blocks." She clenched her jaw tightly and swallowed hard. "At least we'll gain valuable knowledge through experimentation in the field, right?"

[Michael Peters]

Michael nods, considring all of this.

"If you are willing to try at this range, we'll try that first."

He moves towards the door, wanting to be near Wei Fang if anything goes wrong.

[Wraith]

Caryn reaches her hand out and places it on Michaels shoulder. Caryns eyes turn white and a faint glow overcomes her skin. She looks at Michael and focus's a little more, Michael is now unable to be touched as well.

"Ready when you are, just don't pull away from me when we get inside." Caryn says, her eyes still not leaving the target.

[Michael Peters]

Michael nods, smiling at Caryn.

"Thank you."

He then waits for Wei Fang to make her attempt at whatever she wants to try. Michael hasn't seen her display any ability to shut down other novus, but he is more than willing to let her try.

[SalmonMax]

Juno can't resist stepping forward and waving her hand through Caryn and Michael.

"Do you guys feel me doing that?"

[Michael Peters]

Michael grins at Juno's actions.

"It kind of... well... it doesn't tickle... but I can definetly feel something."

He watches the young womans hand pass through him again.

"Its more the 'seeing' of it thats the wierd part."

Michael is suddenly aware of the police men watching them. They definetly weren't making themselves look professional.

"Hey, Nathan, how long does it take for you to copy someone's powers?"

[z-Wei Fang]

Letting them talk behind her, Fang pressed her hands and forehead to the door, feeling for that elusive ordered chaos that meant a New Person was using their powers. Hopefully, she could neutralize a major part of the threat he represented before he even saw them.

[Charlotte]

"A couple of seconds. I can only copy one person's at a time, however. So choose well."

[Mr Fox]

The police stood there watching in amazement and near disbelief as two people suddenly became like ghosts and a young woman waved her hands through them. Another man stands there speaking to them doing nothing amazing and an asian woman leans forward and puts her head and hands on the door like she is tired or sad. The police are justifiably confused.

Cayrn and Michael begin to ghost through the wall and are just inside when Fang reaches out and attempts to rewrite the ordered chaos of the man sitting on the bed.

Inside the room the man with his head in his hands looks up at the wraiths moving through the wall. He does not have a face, all you see is a empty skull with glowing eye sockets. He reaches out and points to the two wraiths and you get the impression of a smile somehow despite the lack of a face. The arm and hands become suddenly skeletal as well as he points and says, "Ich bin zum Tod, verbeugung vor eurem Herrn, oh du Geister." (I am become Death, bow before your lord, oh you ghosts.)

Just as he finishes speaking the chaos is rewritten into a more ordered patteren, and Death falters becoming a man once more. The man looks confused and feverish for a moment then collapses unconscious falling from the bed onto the floor.

[Michael Peters]

Michael blinks, somewhat surprised at the sudden resolution.

"Keep ready Caryn, just in case."

Holding tightly to her hand, he moves towards the crumpled man and crouches beside him, nerves taut for a sudden attack. After a few seconds of nothing he speaks.

"I'm going to let go. Be ready."

He releases her hand after a final squeeze and reaches out to the german, gently touching his shoulder.

[SalmonMax]

Having caught a glimpse through the barricade, Juno emits an involuntary yelp when the strange man turns around.

"Oh shit he hasn't got a FACE! That's just WRONG!"

She seems more startled than actually afraid though, and doesn't flinch back. When he drops, she looks at Wei Fang with raised eyebrows.

"I thought you were just gonna shut his powers off."