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Aberrant: The Long March - Chapter 9: Where the Road Leads


Mr Fox

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The aftermath of the Alien confrontation the Cabal was kept very busy for several months. The President addressed the public and made most of the details of the situation known to the people. All of the members of the Cabal were proclaimed Heroes and given the Leagues highest commendation. Not everything was made public of course, even the President doesn't know about the Cabal's long history, though he perhaps suspects this crisis was not the first time you have all worked together. He chalks up your preparedness to Amber's precognitive abilities, but has asked no awkward questions.

Joani and Omar were kept very busy for weeks assisting the relief and rebuilding efforts. Steve did indeed find Avantech to be swamped with the effort of building a fleet of new Lorean class starships. Modern human tech could not come close to the real thing, but the President was so impressed with Lorean that he named her the prototype and first of the new class of ships and placed an order for 10 to be delivered within 3 years leaving Steve to scramble to design the new ships to be as close to the real Lorean as he can get.

Michael, Cody and Kyria found themselves thrust into the spotlight in a way that they never had been before and for many weeks after the Commendation ceremony they found that they had little time for anything but public appearances. Oddly, it seems the massive Gestalt was not entirely a one way phenomenon. Everyone the three met after the event seemed to get a quizzical expression on their faces and within moments of the beginning of the conversation would say something to the effect of, "you seem very familiar, it's almost like we've met before."

Andrew spent much of his time in an effort to unravel the mystery of the Proxies physiology. As the months past however, the conclusion became inescapable that the Proxy physiology was at least as complicated as that of Novas and would require more resources and time than he could afford to devote. In time he redoubled his efforts to resolve the taint issue.

Morgan did all that he could in healing those injured in the attacks and worked to assist Andrew in his research. As the months drew on he became more concerned at his friend's obsession and distance from the others, but said nothing knowing it was a race between finding a cure and losing a friend to the disease of taint.

Ulric for the second time in his life found himself thrust back into the center stage of politics. The League requested that he come out of retirement and take an active hand in the rebuilding efforts. It was after all his Unity Song which had saved humanity and been the rally cry for the human species.

Aside from their public lives Joani and Ulric made all possible free time to spend with their children and grandchildren. Meanwhile, Gabriel was promoted two ranks for his exemplary service during the crisis. He was as far as the public, and even the President is concerned the captain of Lorean during those critical days of the crisis, and were it not for him the plot would not have been discovered in time. Kara followed in her mothers footsteps and was asked to lead a new Paragon's team established to evaluate possible alien threats.

Lorean, the woman, spent her months in preparation for the day of their departure, insuring that all her agents and information networks would continue in her absence and funnel their vast accumulated knowledge to Michael since there was no question as to whether he would stay or go. She also made arrangements for the data collected in her absence to be burned to permanent storage and kept for her return.

Lorean, the ship, spent her time making minor modifications and developing the code needed to overcome the programming that Max had slipped in 80 years before. She also closed the loop by giving the code to Max and instructing him in how it was to be done.

Probably the most difficult thing to deal with in the aftermath was the two remaining Proxies. The Alien's were true to their words and did not lift a hand against humanity, and that included the prisoners. Their 'killswitch' was not activated. Adam, turned out to be of great benefit, he allowed full access to be scanned by Michael, Cody and Kyria. Michael took the risk alone, and was pleasantly surprised to find that Adam was truly repentant and wanted only to make up for his transgressions. While inside with the full consent and even assistance, Michael made certain modifications to Adam to ensure he could never become a threat again. In the months that followed he proved himself worthy of trust helping Michael undo some of the damage done by his fellow conspirators. Martin unfortunately, committed suicide in his cell, saying before he did that he couldn't live with what he had done.

Like the crisis itself there was hope and joy to balance the sadness. After it was over many people wanted to know who had begun it, and eventually the questions lead to a young child, who looked up at the camera crew and news reporter and with the innocence of youth said, "It was the old woman. She smelled like Grandma, but she held my hand when I was crying." Eventually Hilda was tracked down and interviewed and spent nearly every day on one talk show or another. On the Tonight Show, she said, "It seemed like the end of the world, you know? The entire world was in chaos and everywhere people were crying and frightened and it was like the End of everything. So I did the only thing I could think of, I sang the song that started it all. Like a circle... it began with the Song, I thought, if it's going to end then it should end with the Song. I felt an absolute conviction that the Song would make it all better, and sure enough it did. Unity, it's what I believe in." Both the current President and former President Ulric appeared on the show to surprise Hilda and present her with Leagues commendation. Hilda had steadfastly refused to accept any money or other acclaims for what she had done, but when presented with the commendation by her hero Ulric, she broke down and wept, but did accepted the award. The moment instantly became one of those absolutes in the history of media that is graved in the memories of the people.

Despite the pain and sorrow of the early days after the crisis, hope had indeed bloomed with the singing of the Song and it was a renewed and invigorated humanity that began discussions of what should come next. The answer was a resounding SPACE. The human race seemed to feel an almost palpable destiny to move beyond the solar system.

________

Six months after the Crisis, as it had become known, the members of the crew were finally able to gather to discuss their own next move.

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On board Lorean, the real Lorean, Andrew wandered into the observation/conference room. He seemed distracted, as he had for the past few months. When asked about it he simply replied that research into Taint and the genetic changes on the Proxy level psions was taking far more of his time and mental energy than he was used to. When pressed by some of the others for more information, Andrew had grown unreasonably angry. "Its none of your concern" or "You wouldn't understand the concepts behind my research" he would claim angrily before storming off. He had spent more and more time living alone and working out of his personal lab, only coming to Lorean to conduct very specific experiments or access the database. The result was a heavy strain on his relationships with the others over the past four months. Thinking back most of them could almost pinpoint the change in his behavior to a two week period about six weeks after the Gestalt of Cody, Kyria, and Michael had negotiated peace on humanity’s behalf.

During that time Andrew had been working with the remains of the proxies, detailed scans of Adam, who had been most cooperative, and furthering his own Taint research with more detailed scans of some of the others from the Cabal as well as around the world. Suddenly he had dropped off of their collective radar, ignoring public appearances outright and putting off personal commitments as well saying that he was sure he was close to something important. Since then he had done his best to resume where he had apparently let off but the odd personality traits had quickly surfaced making the others wonder just what had happened during that two week period.

Andrew wandered about the room aimlessly for a bit, mumbling to himself before he finally seemed to grasp where he was. He rubbed his face and ran his hands through his hair. The effect was that his normal tousled hair looked even more mussed and his face brightened slightly. He blinked a few times before going to the food replicator and ordering up enough food to provide a feast for himself and the others.

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Steve had tried to prepare for the departure. Some of it was as easy just getting better at managing time. He'd found time to train with his 'glow-bug' powers with modest success. Ambers' precognitive abilities had increased.

Some of it was hard and didn't have obvious solutions. Andrew was continuing to deteriorate. Steve had made an effort to understand Andrew's research but his conclusions were unpleasant. It wasn't easy stuff and he was only barely able to follow along. They'd be decades, perhaps centuries, replacing Andrew if they had to.

He went into the meeting room and considered what to do next. It was going to be an interesting, perhaps pivotal, conversation.

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No home, not anymore. No League, no Family, no job, or people to meet. Only the Unknown.

Ulric knew he was taking Joani away from it all as well. All her remembered life (just about) she was a Paraon. That would be ending soon.

Would there be a place for Paragons were they were going? What kind of heartache was she risking on his behalf. She would never get to know her children like she wanted to. She would never burst into a flaming house in order to save a life ... on this world, our Home. Never again.

In many ways, their lives were ending. They were ending on a high note, but coming back wasn't a likely option. The others would leave the mud and blood of this world behind. Ulric knew that he and Joani would never come clean. This would always be their home. Home.

Ulric waited in the Command Deck of Lorean for Joani to arrive, to make him whole.

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Joani had spent her time almost exclusively with helping earths people to rebuild what has been destroyed. Her dedication and determination had reached levels yet unheard or unseen before. If the crisis had been a reflection of her own struggles with herself the outcome couldn't have been any better. She felt more alive and more in tune with herself than ever before.

Yet the recent developments weren't all positive. Andrew's reclusive nature got even worse to the point of being erratic and offensive towards his peers. She knew he was getting close to finding the cure for taint but the closer he got the further away he drifted from his friends. She knew something was wrong and feared the worst. With her mind set to talk with him once the opportunity arose she prepared herself to get teleported on board of Lorean.

Once she arrived aboard Lorean it was clearly noticeable that the past 6 month had changed Joani. She was both physically and mentally more present, as if she had matured in a metaphorical way. Her body looked more toned and defined then ever and she radiated a vibrant energy like in the days when she first met the cabal. It was difficult to put the label "Supergirl" on her, "Superwoman" would've been more appropriate. She smiled as she saw Ulric waiting on the Command Deck, without hesitation she went straight to him and kissed him. Whatever path they would chose with him at her side she could conquer the whole universe.

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Omar, like Joani, helped in the rebuilding efforts. Due to his ability to grow to an astounding height of 80 feet, he was selected as crane and earthmover. A task that Omar did gladly. He knew that the people needed to see them active in reconstruction efforts.

He spent less and less time with his granddaughter Amber, in the hopes that Steve and her might get around to giving him great-grandchildren. At family gatherings, Omar would ask when they would be giving him a 'little one'. His reasoning was that babies made him feel young.

Omar's connection with the desert grew. As he brought forth sandstorms to harry troublemakers, he began to explore the physical nature of his body as well. through little conscious effort, his beauty and magnetism expanded, making him an international sex symbol, as well as the epitomy of male virility. He began to use this to his advantage and date. On many occasions, he was seen with a beautiful woman. They were not always the same one.

He missed his old world however, and a promise he made to a young boy to care for him as he would his own. It seemed like 3 lifetimes ago since he had seen him. He hoped that Lorien would find a way back there. Yet, he would miss his family here, but they would understand, he had already lived longer than any family patriarch in history. It was time for him to move on.

Andrew's withdrawl concerned him. Even when Omar was under his microscope, Andrew seemed to be a million miles away. He hoped that the cure for taint would help Andrew as well as all of the Novas.

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Joani whispered softly into Ulric's ear, "I need to talk with Andrew, my love. Something is not right...". She gave Ulric another short kiss before she walked over to Andrew smiling at him. Only now another change which should've jumped right into everyone's eyes was apparent. Joani's costume changed colors, discarding the traditional blue and red replacing it with base black and silver highlights. The cut of her suit changed slightly closing the bare midriff gap she had which used to accentuate her 'Girl' look, but now it was more fitting to her overall change.

As she stood next to Andrew she offered to help without saying a word. She waited for a moment when they both could talk for a minute without letting the others to eavesdrop too easily.

"I hope you'd had a minute or two to talk with me, Andrew. Please...", her smile was unchanged but her eyes spoke of true concern.

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Andrew meanwhile has become absorbed with a cheese and friut plate arranging the foods out in a complex pattern on the table, a look of extreme concentration on his face. When Joani speaks he all but yelps in alarm and is quite visibly startled. "Oh geeze, sorry. Don't sneak up on me like that. Is it time for the meeting? Are you waiting for me?" Confused he looks around and seems to realize where he is. "How'd I get here?"

He shrugs then looks at the patterned layout on the table, "Oh that's quite nice, who did that? Reminds me of a recombinant DNA sequence." He looks at Joani and smile, "Hi, good to see you."

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Joani remains unphased by Andrew's obvious absent mindedness. "Good to see you, too.", she takes his arm and gently takes him away from the table.

With a more demanding and direct voice she addressed him again, "Andrew, what is going on with you? You just arranged the table... I'm worried about you. You've grown more and more reclusive and I thought we... I thought we wouldn't keep secrets from eachother.", she put her other hand on his shoulder looking him in the eyes with her indescribable deep blue eyes which had become a trademark of hers.

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Andrew didn't exactly fight it but he clearly wanted to get back to the odd food art he was working on.

Originally Posted By: Joani Reikspar
"Andrew, what is going on with you? You just arranged the table... I'm worried about you. You've grown more and more reclusive and I thought we... I thought we wouldn't keep secrets from eachother."

"Huh? Oh! That ... yeah I've just been busy working ... on ... say don't we have a meeting now?" Andrew looks around and sees Omar, Ulric, and Steve engaged in chatter. "Oh I suppose we're waiting on the others still ... oh hey look! Somebody put out food!" Andrew oozes out of Joani's grip and starts toward the food, "You want anything?"

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Joani hesitated before she started another try. "Are you even listening to me?", her voice was getting a little louder.

Then she seemed to realize something and started to give it more thought. Her eyes wandered off the table and stared out of one of the windows on the Command Deck. Joani had her arms crossed right under the silver S-Shield and turned away from Andrew obviously contemplating something.

Either he is losing it or playing a cheap game with me... and he never was the latter kind of guy. Maybe I can reach him after the meeting.

She shook her head and went back to join her husband. "I'm sorry Andrew. For a moment I thought you were asking for help but it seems you're perfectly absorbed by yourself and in no need of anything... or anyone?", there was a faint hint of disappointment in her voice.

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Andrew watches as Joani turns away then comprehension seems to cross his face, "Wait ... umm, you wanted to talk to me? I ... I think?" Andrew thumps his head with the palm of his hand as though trying to clear his mind or focus. "I'm sorry, I'm just ... very distracted ... I've been working a lot lately." As Andrew tries to make his point it becomes obvious that he is not plaing around an his frustration seems to quickly mount into outright anger, his hands balling into fists and shaking at his sides. "Dammit why can't I focus! Focus, focus ..." He looks over at the table and sees the sculpture again, "That means something ... recombinant DNA strand, why is it significant?"

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Ulric peels himself away from the conversation with Omar and heads toward his wife with deadly accuracy. Something is definitely not going right over with Andrew.

"Hello Andrew, having trouble focussing? Maybe we can help you. What is it you want to be focussed on?"

I hope he hasn't slipped away from us. His feeding requirement is bad enough, but to lose his mind as well would be too tragic. He so prides himself on his ability to think and reason his way through crisises.

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Andrew felt like there was something watering down his thought process. It was like a waterwheel in a stream that had dried up and no longer had the power to turn the wheel. He tried to figure it out, tried desperately knowing that this one thing had been eluding him for some time now. Focus ... recombinant DNA ... focus ... plamid something ... concentrate dammit! what was it?!?

Originally Posted By: Ulric Reikspar
"Hello Andrew, having trouble focussing? Maybe we can help you. What is it you want to be focussed on?"

"GAH! Stop interrupting me!" Andrew explodes in fury and backhands Ulric sending the other man stumbling backwards. Whether through quantum use, simple growth of muscle, or both Andrew's blow lands hard and Ulric falls to the floor blood trickling from his nose and the corner of his mouth.

Almost immediately the episode ends and Andrew blinks for a few seconds, clearly bewildered, before he registers Ulric and the shocked faces of the others in the room. "My god, Ulric I'm ... I'm sorry. Here, let me help you up." The look of shame and anguish is plain as day on Andrew's face but underneath it all, deep in his eyes, there is an underpinning of fear.

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Partial stunned, partially expecting the maddened attack to continue, Ulric felt the fire extinguish in Andrew's breast as quickly as it had arisen.

What the hell?

Originally Posted By: Andrew Murphy
"My god, Ulric I'm ... I'm sorry. Here, let me help you up."

Ulric took the proferred hand and stood back up. He took out a hankerchef and put it to his nose.

"Iz okay. E've 'ad worse."

This doesn't bode well.

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Joani immediately helped Ulric up and made sure he was alright, then she flashed Andrew an angry look that quickly changed to worry. "For Gods sake, Andrew... what has become of you?"

When she was sure that Ulric was alright she stepped between Andrew and her husband confronting Andrew directly. "This ends right here, Andrew. Someone needs to pull the break else you lose yourself completely in your work... we need you, Andrew... whole and sane.", she waited a moment to see if her words reached Andrew or simply bounced off him like her earlier attempt.

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Steve halted chatting with Amber and the others and has been observing Andrew and his interactions intently.

{Lie Detector and MP:Investigative On. Intuition is always on.}

{Sooth is NOT on, Steve wants to observe this without interfering}

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Omar also stops his discussion with Amber and Steve. He heard the commotion, but was only able to catch the tale end of Andrew's ouburst. A smile creeps across his face as he remembers his own battles with Andrew. The guy was a tough customer during their sparring sessions.

Seeing Amber, gave Omar an idea on how to help Andrew keep his thoughts in once place. He needed an assistant to write down everything that he did or said.

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For those closest to him, Cody had seemed to be in a remarkable mood this day. He had entered the meeting lounge with a pep in his step and a smile Steve hadn't seen on the man's face since what might be considered the innocence of their youth. It reminded Steve of the young ambitious seargent he had mentored in the Iraqi desert so long ago.

Cody had proceeded to pile up his plate as only a Nova can when he was interupted by the disturbing episode between Andrew, Ulric and Joani. He stood there, and even had he been able to speak he would have been stunned when Andrew lashed out at Ulric. Mentally Cody prepared for the worst.

Maybe this is when we finally lose him.

Just as suddenly however, Andrew seemed to return to himself, though seemed quite lost and frankly unstable.

He sent over the link to Steve and Lorean only,

*I have always prided myself on not eavesdropping on my friends but Andrew's degenratioon has me seriously questioning that ethic. We need to get a look inside his head and see just what the hell is going on in there. Should I Mox him?*

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Andrew tried to focus on Joani, on Ulric, on the situation at hand. There was soo much going on and it all seemed to need his attention. Joani is saying something, focus, pay attention, concentrate ... focus.

Originally Posted By: Joani Reikspar
"... we need you, Andrew... whole and sane."

Andrew, fear and worry in his eyes looked at Andrew, "I'm right here, as always. What do ... do you need ... Do you need me?" Andrew reached up an rubbed at him temples, muttering under his breath, "Focus dammit ... concentrate ..." He looked up and saw the blood on Ulric's face as the other man wiped it away. I did that didn't I? "Ulric ... I'm ... who? ..." The haze parted and Andrew recalled lashing out at Ulric in a fit of rage. Collasping to the floor he said over and over, "I'm sorry ... I didn't know this would happen ... I'm sorry ... I thought I had found the answer ... I'm sorry ..."

As Andrew breaks down on the floor the doors to the room open behind him. Much to the suprsise of all in the room Andrew walks in, hale and hearty, a smile of his face. "Hey guys, hope I'm ... not ... late..." His smile vanishes as he sees the other Andrew in a wreck on the floor, "Oh crap ..."

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Ulric looks at one then the other Andrew. He takes the hankerchef away and says,

"One, if not both, of you have some explaining to do."

Not that he felt that any member fo the cabal would have to explain what powers they had developed ... unless one of those powers went around hurting people ... like what had just happened.

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Unsure whether this is another trick or something that goes beyond what she expected Joani prepared herself to take out one or if necessary both Andrews... just in case.

Joani was about to initiate a short order to Omar when she stopped in her tracks... maybe this was the next stage of Andy and Drew? Andrew was slowly losing control of his abilities on his quest to find a cure for taint. Instead of anger and confusion Joani was overwhelmed with pity and compassion.

"Andrew...", she looked back and forth to the Andrews, "why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you let anyone help you?", her voice was both accusation and regret at once. She should've acted earlier, she should've known and helped him.

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Originally Posted By: The_Fool
He sent over the link to Steve and Lorean only,

*I have always prided myself on not eavesdropping on my friends but Andrew's degenratioon has me seriously questioning that ethic. We need to get a look inside his head and see just what the hell is going on in there. Should I Mox him?*
Steve sends back,

*Not yet. Joani can restrain him if need be and I want to see how this develops. If it's as we fear I think we'll be talking him into doing that soon.*

Originally Posted By: Andrew Murphy
As Andrew breaks down on the floor the doors to the room open behind him. Much to the suprsise of all in the room Andrew walks in, hale and hearty, a smile of his face. "Hey guys, hope I'm ... not ... late..." His smile vanishes as he sees the other Andrew in a wreck on the floor, "Oh crap ..."

Steve's expression gave no sign he'd been surprised but he did look over at Amber. His expression gave voice to the question 'Were you expecting this?'. She gave back an enigmatic smile that might have meant 'Yes', 'No', 'Who me?', or even, 'A lady has to have some secrets.'

Steve refocused his attention on the Andrews still without saying anything.
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Originally Posted By: Ulric Reikspar
"One, if not both, of you have some explaining to do."

Originally Posted By: Joani Reikspar
"Andrew...", she looked back and forth to the Andrews, "why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you let anyone help you?"


The Andrew at the door made a face, half resigned half embarrassed. "Umm err ... yeah. Lemme just ... umm ... crap which one of us is the original?" He walked over to the other Andrew and looked him over, squatting down and examining him. "Hmm ... I wonder if this ... yeah maybe... oop!" The two Andrews suddenly flowed into each other their bodies mixing and reforming into a single man once more. The sight was bizarre and a little unpleasant.

Andrew stood up and looked at the others. He was clearly more focused than before but still seemed distracted. He shook his head sadly and waited, after a couple of minutes a third and a forth Andrew arrived in the conference room and were quickly adsorbed into the (presumably) original man. Finally he spoke, a little red in the face as embarrassment colored him flush. "This is ... well this is kinda embarrassing. I'd forgotten that I had split up this morning ...

"Umm ..." he pauses as though reviewing in his mind the events of the past few minutes and his own words. "First of all I’m sorry Ulric, I had no intention of striking you. I had mean to tell you all about this, to warn you, but things keep … keep slipping my mind.” As he speaks the look of concentration on Andrew’s face is plain as day, just delivering a clear train of thought seems to be requiring him to focus heavily on the task.

“You’ve all no doubt guessed, and you would be correct in doing so, that I have slipped further into taint induced madness.” He waits for that to settle in before continuing, “It’s not my fault, not directly so, not consciously at least. After the last time I had put off my experiments with my power, limiting them severely when I even performed them at all.” Andrew walks over to the table and looks at the food sculpture as he takes a chair and sits. “I did that didn’t I? Couldn’t recall why it was important I suppose?”
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Kyria was running late. She'd been helping with the reconstruction in England, mostly organizing and directing, but she'd been caught by a group of teens at the end of her shift. The gestalt had left most of humanity with a sense of knowing her, and some more than others just couldn't let the mystery go. She didn't like to just disappear on them, and after her first panicked command to a group of curious but insistent admirers to leave her alone, her father had sat her down and given her a crash course in managing a public life. She was still getting it down, and so she was late.

Lorean teleported her just outside the meeting room. She walked in with an apologetic but happy smile that quickly turned quizzical as she watched two other Andrews merge with a third. She sent a telepathic query to Cody, not over the link but through her own power. She listened to Andrew's statements and questions and quietly made her way to Cody's side.

To Cody only, not through the Link, *Is he going to be alright?*

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Michael, Morgan and Lorean walked in just after Kyria obviously having just come from the infirmary for Michael's final physical, they were oblivious to the events that had just transpired, but could easily see the tension in the room. None of the three spoke to ask a question but just waited.

Morgan and Lorean both moved to the table and started to dish themselves plates still conversing telepathically between themselves. Michael on the other hand walked over to Kyria and gave her a kiss on the forehead and smiled at Cody, the smile communicating a number of things non verbally. Cody could recognize the message from his long association, but to the rest of the room it was just an odd smile.

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Originally Posted By: Andrew Murphy
Andrew walks over to the table and looks at the food sculpture as he takes a chair and sits. “I did that didn’t I? Couldn’t recall why it was important I suppose?”


"You kept repeating something about recombinant DNA strand but didn't finish speaking out your thoughts on it.", Joani pointed at the decoration Andrew put on the table that after giving it some thought and with the right knowledge indeed reminded of DNA Strands. "I believe you're close to solving the mystery to a cure but lack the focus to see the detail. Maybe someone... external can help?", Joani indicated with her hand that she had herself in mind.
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Andrew chuckles and shakes his head, "On the contrary, that damned molecule is the problem not the solution. Though I didn't know that until it was too late." Andrew peers at it before nabbing a strawberry and chomping on it.

"You see ... actually you probably don't. Umm ok ... let's go back. You see after the cleanup began I resumed my taint research and I was looking into the psion proxies as well. I was looking at the genetics, which I might add are incredibly complex and ..." He stops and shakes his head, "Don't let me go off on a tangent, please. This is hard enough as is.

"At any rate I realized that the one single gene that controls human evolution into Psions and Novas alike might just be the cure I was looking for. That one gene, expressed one way allows for the MR Node, expressed another it allows for Psi awareness. And when turned off it allows for neither, a baseline. Now there of countless other changes that occur once that gene expresses. But I wondered if it was a flaw in those secondary genes that causes novas to accumulate the genetic errors that express taint. Basically I thought that perhaps novas were the dead end evolutionary path. Powerful and adaptable yes but genetically flawed. "

Andrew looked at the others, receiving looks of both comprehension and confusion. He sighs, concentrating again before speaking, "I thought I had the solution … so I …” Andrew turns a bit red again and looks very clearly ashamed, “So I tested my theory on myself. Needless to say it didn’t work, instead it seemed to trigger a response from my own DNA a sudden burst of change … of mutation. I blacked out and when I came to, well that’s when things got complicated.” He waves his hands up and down indicating the taint related issues that had been so recently demonstrated.

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The idiot has been operating on himself.

Ulric is incredulous. He barely stops himself from yelling as much. Not wanting to scream,

"Have you been tracking the reactions to your latest work? Also, you do understand that you don't have to be experimenting on yourself. The rest of us are here to help you."

Ulric speaks in a calm, even tone. Not only does he not particularly want to be smacked again, he doesn't want to rob Andrew of what little focus the man has left.

I need to start helping this man, or he will be lost forever. Maybe God has been kind and a cure is just around the corner.

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Steve sends to Cody,

*:Sigh: I really thought we were going to use criminal novas as test subjects. Another triumph of ethics over reason. At some point we're going to have to find out if you can do some telepathic mojo and let him work around that.*

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Andrew somehow didn't notice her question or disregarded it as not seriously intended.

Joani repeated herself, "I would gladly help you, Andrew. Look after you and help you with the experiments. I may not be the brightest mind in medical science but I'm a quick learner. I'm being serious about this. I think you need help..." or supervision. But she didn't say that loud.

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Andrew looked at Joani, "I ... didn't you just ask that? Oh hell ... Yeah see this is part of the problem. Wait ... wait ... Joani, I appreciate the offer, but if I wanted lab help I could get scads of grad students and other novas. It’s just that they'd only slow me down."

Andrew rubs at his face his bright eyes seem to take in everything as they dart around the room. "Where was I again? Oh right ... well yeah so I tested it on myself because I knew I could do it quickly, you see rather than have to create this," he indicates the cheese and fruit sculpture. "I could integrate the DNA directly ... as stem cells. I converted the cells as I do when I need to … to feed,” he made a face disgusted even to this day at the bizarre biological requirements of his body.

“I took a final scan of myself and then too the shot. At first it was fine, just like any other time but then … I lost control of my shape shifting. The pain was terrible I tried to contact somebody but then I passed out. I came to … well I dunno if it was me or … or a different me. But I woke up to see myself standing over me. We ran scans of ourselves and while he wouldn’t tell which of us was me … or whatever … we did find a substantial DNA shift.”

Andrew smirks, “Of course once we realized that we were me, or … you know whatever, we started arguing about which was the … the Alpha me, if you will. That didn’t go well as you could imagine an argument with yourself would. As we got angrier the argument turned into a fight and … well … we sort beat the tar out of each other. As we ran out of juice we kinda merged again.

“I spent the next few days going over the data and testing out this new ability … carefully testing it out. Whatever happened seems to have boosted my control of quantum which I must have unconsciously channeled into the cloning ability I had been working on … well a long time now. It also resulted in more than a little extra taint.”

Andrew stops, he shrugs his shoulders and eats a piece of cheese, “I still don’t know why he psion cells reacted the way they did with my own but that clearly wasn’t the right path. Still I think I’m closer, realizing that the expression of the gene to make us novas probably caused … causes, damage to some other series of genes. I’m certain that is the key. I hadn’t thought it was required before but I know I need to spend as much time studying those novas who are not tainted at all or have minimal taint.”

He stops again seeming to be expecting something then starts a look of surprise on his face. “Oh, I meant to mention this … the more I split myself the less I seem to be able to deal with … distraction. I was only split four ways earlier. The result was not only that I forgot that I had even split but as you saw, I … we … tend to be either very focused on a single task or completely unable to focus at all. … And then there are the violent outbursts but you’ve already seen one of those …” Andrew smiled sheepishly, still clearly ashamed and embarrassed but his actions.

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Inshallah! Omar said to himself, as he saw a second Andrew walk into the room. It was a little unnerving the first time he saw little Andy appear. The clone gave him the same feeling. Yet after listening to Andrew's explanation, it made sense. Andrew still needs an assistant, he chuckled quietly.

Omar smiled at Andrew. He knew about Andy, and had seen him make a mess of the lab in the past. He had no idea that Andrew had been testing his own stuff on himself. There was a sense of relief that he had not asked Omar to try it. Omar would have probably said yes. Now, it would be an unequivocal no. At least until the serum was perfected.

Joani tensed briefly when Andrew smacked Ulrich. He hoped that she didn't leap across the room and break his neck, not that Andrew had a neck to break.

"So when you split, your brain doesn't." It wasn't a question or statement as much as it was an offhanded joke.

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Originally Posted By: Andrew Murphy
Andrew looked at Joani, "I ... didn't you just ask that? Oh hell ... Yeah see this is part of the problem. Wait ... wait ... Joani, I appreciate the offer, but if I wanted lab help I could get scads of grad students and other novas. It’s just that they'd only slow me down."


Joani sighed and nodded briefly, “Andrew… my offer was less of a request and more of a demand. Who knows how long you can maintain this pace without ‘losing your mind’ again? It would be irresponsible to let you slip further down the taint spiral especially since you are the only one we’ve got to find a solution within an acceptable timeframe. I suppose that we’re about to leave this timeline and I need something new to focus on. I would gladly be at your side if not as assistant then at least as friend.”

Joani’s voice was warm and soft but it was clear that she was dead serious about this.
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Cody is caught offguard by the appearance of several Andrews but gives little external indication. Only a raised eyebrow serves to demarcate his surprise.

Quote:
Steve sends back,

*Not yet. Joani can restrain him if need be and I want to see how this develops. If it's as we fear I think we'll be talking him into doing that soon.*

*Fair enough*

,,
Quote:
To Cody only, not through the Link, *Is he going to be alright?*

Cody gives a mental "squeeze" of reassurance to Kyria, as much for his own comfort as hers.

*I truly hope so. This certainly doesn't bode well for his recovery. It's a race against time now. I may need to perform some hypnosis to stabilize him long enough to finish. More than just about everyone here, I need him to devlop that cure.*

Cody's thoughts are earnest and somewhat grim. He has obviously carried a heavy burden for these many years, and the fact that his taint has not increrased in all that time is testament to his supreme discipline and willpower.

Quote:
Cody could recognize the message from his long association, but to the rest of the room it was just an odd smile.

Cody returns the smile with a faux-quizzical expression, as if to say "What?" in a humored manner. In the last fews weeks their communication had gotten even more "shorthand" than before. They had for a brief period, become a holy trinity. Father, daughter, Holy Spirit. The godhead of the human soul. It had changed all three of them in ways that were still comiong to terms with.

Quote:
*:Sigh: I really thought we were going to use criminal novas as test subjects. Another triumph of ethics over reason. At some point we're going to have to find out if you can do some telepathic mojo and let him work around that.*

*Let me try.*

Over the general comm,

*Andrew. You are in the midst of your friends. I know firsthand the price one pays for isolation. You have an amazing ammount of psychic expertise at your disposal. Won't you let us help you? Perhaps some hypnosis and subconscious delving could help correct the damage done to your psyche. Buy you the time you need to find us a cure...*

The way he intones Us clearly refers to Andrew, Omar, and himself.

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Without so much as a moments pause Andrew utters a harsh, "No!" At first it seems he intends to leave it at that but then he seems to change his mind. "No, I'll not have you tampering with my head. Frankly you and your little psychic friends network scares the crap out of me." Andrew stops closes his eyes and take a deep breath, allowing it to trickle out before he continues.

"You all act shocked that I would test something on myself. But let me ask you this; What did you expect? Did you honestly think I would test this on other people? You all no doubt know the answer to that question. And I do not doubt that at least some of you think I am a fool for risking myself when I could risk somebody else." Andrew is starting to become visibly agitated and drive his fist into the padding of the chair as he takes another long breath , trying to reign himself in.

"I'd be more a monster for having sacrificed others than I am now for all my self experimentation." As he speaks two things can be seen from his behavior, the first is that he clearly finds it incredibly difficult to control his rising anger and the second is that as his anger rises he seems to find it easier to focus on what angers him.

"Joani, if you feel you must protect me from myself so be it. I will not try to stop you, but you must be careful. This curse has been a gift as well, I have been able to massively increase my working output through the use of my duplicates. And the more I split ... the less control I have."

He pauses and sighs; defeated and ashamed he looks at his long time companions before chuckling. Looking around at the straight faces of the others he appears confused, "I was laughing at Omar. You comment is not far from the truth, while I still maintain a perfect memory it would appear that my clones and I share an imperfect gestalt mind. So long as we are focused on a task things are fine but it is difficult for us to deal with distraction. Things are much easier when I am whole however. I think I can control myself for the duration of our get together."

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Originally Posted By: Andrew Murphy

"Joani, if you feel you must protect me from myself so be it. I will not try to stop you, but you must be careful. This curse has been a gift as well, I have been able to massively increase my working output through the use of my duplicates. And the more I split ... the less control I have."


Joani let the first wave of anger swept beside her. She knew Andrew wasn't quite himself but his words were hurting her feelings. After a short moment to gather her thoughts she continued as if there was no outburst on his behalf.

"Andrew... I'm not doing this because I feel the need to do anything just to keep my focus. That is a thing of the past and I've learned from my mistakes. I know what sacrifice means and if you weren't my friend I would be truly hurt by the implications of your words. You need someone to look after you. You've just proven to all of us how necessary that is.", Joani would have added more to the list but she knew that he was embarassed enough. Bracing herself for another outburst she was ready to intercept him should he lash out again.
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The fear and anger, never great, leaves Ulric. He walks forward and touches Andrew on the arm.

"My time is yours. I have a great deal of medical knowledge so I shouldn't be much of a burden or distraction in the lab ... and I want to help. Even if it is just as a minder for some of your other selves. What is it going to hurt?"

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