Aberrant: No Fate - Chapter 3: Deja Vu

[Synner]

Synner looked around at Cherub, Sean, and Nosferatu.

"What do we do if the Fool doesn't come back? Do we stay on assignment, go back, or go deep undercover and wait for Omega to track us down?"

"I'm for sticking to the assignment. We use our contacts to locate this Newton guy and remove him. Then we can face Omega."

[Synner]

Synner looked around at Cherub, Sean, and Nosferatu.

"What do we do if the Fool doesn't come back? Do we stay on assignment, go back, or go deep undercover and wait for Omega to track us down?"

"I'm for sticking to the assignment. We use our contacts to locate this Newton guy and remove him. Then we can face Omega."

[SalmonMax]

i'm on the outside, looking in

Keiko couldn't remember her eruption very well. She wasn't sure how long she'd really been erupted before she'd noticed that time seemed to have stopped around her. A so-called "stealth eruption." No huge fireworks. She'd always wondered though, what she'd missed. What it might have felt like to grasp that kind of power.

adrift on the currents

Now she understood.

You couldn't really see time while you were in it. But from outside, the true nature of time revealed itself. Nevermind timelines. It wove. It flowed. Here, moments stretched out. There, hours flickered past. Time wasn't just a record of -events-. It was a record of perception. And yes, if she looked at it this way, it could be seen as a sequence of causalities. But turn it the other way, and it became a soup of co-locality, which only a consciousness could, or would, separate into chains.

Time was universal. Time was deeply personal. It was absolute. It was subjective. It was everywhere. It was right in the palm of her hand.

if you don't believe in fate, why try to change it?

Somewhere, in the tiny fragment of her quantum-enhanced mind, Keiko understood why Newton hadn't been able to do it. He'd had the power to move in time, but he hadn't been able to SEE it.

And there was the result. A marring. Keiko focused on it, and it splintered into its phase states...bundles of probabilities arrayed in a limited subset of infinity, though infinity divided by anything was still infinite. She saw where Newton had last altered the past; saw the consequences rippling outward from his clumsiness.

Not everything could be saved, Keiko realized. It couldn't quite be put back to the way it was. Not if it was going to work.

screw all the rest...time is like Jenga...

Pull a block out here. Put one in there. Shore up this side. Close the hole.

When Keiko acted, there were no thunderbolts. No strange lights. No odors. Gravity stayed the same. Radiation levels didn't spike. Most of the people on the planet kept walking as if nothing had changed from one second to the next.

But some people remembered.

----------

In the Four Seasons earlier that morning, in a window office, a woman was looking out the window down at the city. Her cellphone was at her ear.

"No," Nadine said. "No, I'll be right down. Just hold on a second."

When she turned around, they were there. A semicircle of novas, most mutated. A silver man in front, with a massive, incredibly good looking man at his side. Others fanned out to either side, and a cute Japanese girl huddled behind them with, of all things, a camera.

As Nadine struggled for a handle on the moment, the camera flash went off.

"Um, hi," Keiko said, poking her head out from behind Newton. "Sorry we scare you, but we're here to help."

--------

(I will leave the other PC's to Joani )

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Synner

Synner looked around at Cherub, Sean, and Nosferatu.

"What do we do if the Fool doesn't come back? Do we stay on assignment, go back, or go deep undercover and wait for Omega to track us down?"

"I'm for sticking to the assignment. We use our contacts to locate this Newton guy and remove him. Then we can face Omega."

Cherub says,

"Yeah. I agree... but..." *But it's not going to work. We have fewer choices than we realize here.*

"... Let's look around and see what The Fool left us."

[Joani]

(ooc: You have total recall of everything that happened since the beginning of the game.)

Your eyes slowly focus and the room comes slowly back into picture. You face a large oval-shaped table with 8 seats. At the head of the table you see your liaison officer Ms. Baxter still absorbed with her clipboard reading some files. The other seats are filled with members of your team – Nosferatu, Cherub, Synner, Sean and Callum. Void, Gray and The Fool are missing and you know at least two of them are dead – you saw it with your own eyes.

Ms. Baxter starts speaking without addressing anyone in particular.

“This will be your first assignment.”, she comments detached. The holographic image portrays a teenager of approximately 16 years of age. He has dirty blonde hair, blue eyes and wears glasses. His face is strangely androgynous and if it wasn’t for his name he could’ve also passed as a young girl.

“What you are currently looking at is the face of one Richard Brandt, german student of Physics with focus on Quantum-Physics prior to his eruption.”, the holographic unit provides you with several pictures of Richard sitting at a café and talking with fellow students.

“Don’t let yourselves be distracted by his innocent looks. This is how he looks now:”, the hologram shows the same face only now it seems coated with quicksilver. His eyes are like displays constantly changing as if someone was switching channels of a TV and he appears even more androgynous than before. It is obvious to see that the boy is heavily tainted.

“Richard – or “Newton” how he calls himself has just erupted 6 months ago and displays an alarming control of his powers. We are still trying to determine the true nature of his eruption but so far nothing has turned out to our satisfaction. What we do know is, that he was invited by the German government to attend a special school of highly gifted minds and talents. That was 6 months ago. We also know that the facility he has been brought to is actually a Project Proteus building.”, the hologram provides you with a satellite picture of a former US-Army base in Germany near Heidelberg completely with exact coordinates of its location.

“Newton is extremely dangerous. He has already made contact with the Aberrants and we have reason to assume that he was at Bahrain. We also have reason to believe that he is not operating alone and that he has recruited at least 3 like minded Novas for his cause. What his true goals are is yet undetermined but he has managed to escape Proteus, Utopia and Teragen influence. We believe he had contact with Corbin and is trying to reveal the truth about the Slider murder. As you already know rumours are spreading like a fire around the globe and any further indication that Project Utopia and Proteus are responsible for Sliders death unbalances the status quo. We need the status quo to operate without drawing too much attention to missing Novas to the authorities. You need to execute Newton as discreet as possible and disappear immediately.”, Ms. Baxter presses on a button on her clipboard and closes the file.

“Details about Newtons powers, last known residence and most likely whereabouts are downloaded to your personal computers. If you don’t have any further questions the meeting is adjourned.”

Ms. Baxter looks up, adjusting her glasses and pressing the clipboard firmly to her chest and smiles thinly over the it.

----------------------------------

At the same time in New York - Four Season's Hotel

Nadine Denkstein drops her celphone in midsentence as the motley crew of Newton’s gang suddenly appeared out of thin air in her office. Blinking with confusion in her eyes she simply stared at Keiko and said, “What the hell…?”

[Travis Kincaid]

Callum half raised his hand, "What's the timetable on this?"

Callum checked his wrists and seeing that he still had the watch on he un-clasped it under the table and tossed it toward the opposite corner. Not exactly perfect, but it'll buy me a couple of seconds. Callum tried to maintain calm but having seen the Fool eviscerated seemingly only minutes before made him queasy and knowing that the shit was about to hit the fan AGAIN made him less than happy. What the hell is Newton playing at? they'd had hardly any time to investigate before he reset everything again.

[Courier]

Cherub blinks a moment and remembers. This is perhaps the third time he's been here... or maybe more. He says,

"...Right. Let's move out then."

[SalmonMax]

Keiko looks at Newton, not sure if he wanted to say anything. She'd been careful not to peek. The futures where she had got all tangled and horrible. Of course, how she knew that without first peeking...bah. Best not to think too hard about it. Without the Chrysalis, her consciousness was back to the usual four dimensions, and it was hard to work it all out.

"We're here to save the city...from you. Sort of." She winces. "It's kind of hard to explain."

[Joani]

Nadine stepped back nervously still staring at Keiko, "I didn't do anything. You got the wrong person. I'm a Senior Salesmanager... I'm going to call security now.", she looked around and found her celphone laying at her feet. "Stay where you are, don't come closer."

She picked up the phone but hesitated to dial still caught between fear and confusion. "I give you one chance to explain..."

[SalmonMax]

"No no!" Keiko blurts, nodding frantically in a somewhat confusing turn of body language. "It's not something you do. It's something that happens to you. I'm not sure of the specifics. That's why I brought these guys with me."

She flaps a hand to indicate the other, heavily aberrated, novas in the room.

"The silver guy is Newton, and these are some friends of his. We're not going to hurt you."

She pokes at Newton's arm. "Okay, explain it."

[Joani]

Newton looked awkwardly at Keiko half whispering to her "Baselines don't respond that well to me..."

Rubbing his arm where Keiko had poked him, less because of pain and more to overplay his insecurities he said, "In exactly 5 days, on tuesday to be precise you will be causing the most terrible accident humanity has suffered yet. Half New York City will be destroyed. We are trying to prevent this catastrophe... would you please come with us?"

Nadine looked confused at Keiko and then at Newton, "You've got to be kidding me. This is insane, I'm going to call security now! You had your chance!", she shaked nervously as she tried to dial the number for the security service while Newton looked helpless at Keiko.

Almost instantly Bastion stormed forward and snatched the celphone from Nadine's hand which made her faint right on spot. Bastion caught her and held her in his mighty arms. "I'm sorry... What now?"

[Joani]

Originally Posted By: Callum Uallas

Callum half raised his hand, "What's the timetable on this?"

Ms. Baxter cleared her throat before she answered. "Basically the answer would be yesterday.", she smiled nervously. "Of course this is not possible so your time table will be as fast as possible within the missions parameters. Dropping an A-Bomb at the three supposed places may cover the part of killing him but not the part about being discreet. It is paramount for OC that you not only kill him but also make sure that no one has a clue who killed him."

[Travis Kincaid]

"Ah, well then I guess maybe we oughta get moving then." Callum heads out and waits for the others to follow.

[Synner]

Synner is tense but controlled through the brief meeting. He makes only the quickest glances over to were The Fool was sitting and otherwise acts like nothing has happened.

He gets up when the others do and heads for the door.

"Were is our first stop going to be, Team?"

There is nothing safe for him to say. No one to trust. After all, what if he is the only one to remember? Were does everyone's loyalties lie?

[Mr Fox]

Sean pretended to look at the details of the mission and slipped the teleport device off his wrist and stuffed it in the crack in his seat where it couldn't be seen. Looking around at the team. "I don't know about the rest of you but I have an idea where to start. A certain place I visited recently seemed to have some possibilities for gathering information. The rest of you are welcomed to join me there. I think together we might be able to find out what we need."

Looking at Synner, "I can show you the place or give you the coordinates if you need. What do you say, feel like opening a doorway?"

[Courier]

Unwilling to say anything more in front of Ms. Baxter, Cherub just nods.

[SalmonMax]

Keiko goggles at Newton and Bastion.

"How should I know? I guess...I guess...you should kidnap her and take her somewhere far away from people for five days, so if she blows up it won't take anyone else with her?"

[Tim Wiley]

Looking over the report, Nosferatu had to suppress a yawn. How many more timew would they have to do this until Newton got it correct. At least now they had all their memories.

Noticing the others remove their augmentation and teleportation devices, Nosferatu does the same. He surreptitiously places his Armor and Stat booster in his breast pocket. It didn't make any sense to make Mrs. Baxter irate again.

[Joani]

Originally Posted By: SalmonMax

Keiko goggles at Newton and Bastion.

"How should I know? I guess...I guess...you should kidnap her and take her somewhere far away from people for five days, so if she blows up it won't take anyone else with her?"

“I don’t know if that is enough. The Singularity is trying to get to her. We should try and intercept it before it can reach her. I just thought it would be better to get her first.”, responded Newton obviously relieved that the woman was unconscious.

“Kutler, open a Portal to our hideout… I’ve got the feeling that we’re expecting guests soon. They can help us catch the Singularity and find out why it tries to get to Ms. Denkstein.”

Legion nodded briefly at Newton and opened a portal waiting for everyone to enter it.

[SalmonMax]

Singularity? Keiko searched her mind but didn't find any recollections that would connect that name or term to these events credibly, even by her loose standards of credibility.

"Who ARE you guys?" she demands. "How did you get that...power source or time machine? Who do you work for?"

She hurries up to the warp, not jumping through, but making it clear that they can't just pop through and escape without giving her a chance to go through too. Unless they, like, kill her...though she's not really thinking of that possibility.

[Joani]

"WE are trying to prevent something terrible Ms Daniels. We don't work for anyone except ourselves - and as for my power source. You saw it and I think by now it's not usuable anymore... not without your help. We need you... please.", Newton reached back with one hand to help her go through the Portal.

[SalmonMax]

"I saw it but what IS it? It's a nova but...where did you get...oh hell, my recorder!"

Keiko looks at the door of the office, then slaps her head. "I left it in the other...thing...oh man, it had all my dictation on it too..."

She sighs and gives Newton a defeated look...then trudges through the warp.

[Joani]

Once you stepped through the portal you find yourself back in the "familiar" alien ship design environment. It appears that Newton was some kind of Sci-Fi Nerd before he erupted since pretty much everything reminds of some movie or the other. You are standing on the bridge of what appears to be a space craft of some sort. Newton walks immediately to a Computer Console and starts typing.

"Bastion - get her into sick bay and make sure she is fine. Then put her in one of the quarters, she is our guest and shouldn't feel like our prisoner."

The other Aberrants slowly left the bridge leaving only Newton, Plasma and Keiko back. "Are you sure we need her?", asked Plasma as she came closer to Newton placing her hands on his shoulder and leaning carefully on him while she watched Keiko through inhumanly burning eyes.

[Synner]

Originally Posted By: Mr Fox

Looking at Synner, "I can show you the place or give you the coordinates if you need. What do you say, feel like opening a doorway?"

"Sure thing. I'm anxious to begin, so just give me the coordinates and were gone."

away from here.

He had a question for Callum, but it could obviously wait until they were all truly and safely away.

[z-May Allman]

"Of course we need her, Plasma," a new voice said as a purple-haired woman walked onto the bridge. Hints of an oriental background showed in her golden skin and features. In addition to her chic-military dress, she was wearing plenty of guns. "We need all the fighters we can get, even if they aren't front liners. After all, everyone can do their part."

She turned to Keiko with a smile. "Hi. I'm Ronnie, no funny name, though I think Plasma just gave me one." She extended her hand. "Welcome to the team."

[SalmonMax]

Keiko's eyes widen as she realizes what Plasma's saying. She opens her mouth, possibly to squeak in alarm, or stammer some platitude about how incredibly useful she'd be, when Ronnie saves her the trouble.

Immediately she darts across the room to pump Ronnie's hand emphatically, nodding.

"Yes!" she blurts. "Part! I'll do it. My part, I mean. You guys totally need me a lot. Hi, Ronnie! I'm Keiko. New...here. Thanks."

She quickly looks over her shoulder at Plasma to make sure no blasts of energy are billowing towards her, evidently unaware she's still shaking the hand.

[z-May Allman]

"No worries," Ronnie said, slinging her modified MP5 onto her shoulder. With her free hand, she gently pried Keiko's hand off of hers. Smiling, she added with a chuckle, "That's a hellava grip you've got there, Keiko. Always a pleasure to meet the new kid."

Turning to Newton, she asked, "Any security concerns we need to worry about? I'd hate to be surprised by something in a couple of hours."

[SalmonMax]

"Oh, right...sorry," Keiko said, blushing when her hand was pried away. "I'll...just...shut up now."

She bit her bottom lip and looked around Newton's sci-fi geekpad, wondering to herself if they were really in outer space. Could these be not novas, but aliens? Aliens in disguise as novas? Or what if novas were ALL aliens? Humans with alien DNA that gave them strange powers!

It's at this point she realizes Ronnie's talking to Newton, and forces herself to tune back in.

[Joani]

Originally Posted By: May Allman

Turning to Newton, she asked, "Any security concerns we need to worry about? I'd hate to be surprised by something in a couple of hours."

Newton was still typing something into his command console while he answered obviously oblivious of Plasma's attempts to get his attention.

"I'm not sure... there is a bunch of... agents after us. I don't know how far Ms. Daniels manipulation of our memories went... I hope they'll come in peace, else we'd be in over our heads in a nasty little war. Maybe you should ask the others to remain on watch. I'm initiating a full medical scan of Ms. Denkstein in the meantime. There is no reason to waste any time. The sooner I know why the Singularity is after her the better."

Originally Posted By: Synner

Originally Posted By: Mr Fox

Looking at Synner, "I can show you the place or give you the coordinates if you need. What do you say, feel like opening a doorway?"

"Sure thing. I'm anxious to begin, so just give me the coordinates and were gone."

away from here.

He had a question for Callum, but it could obviously wait until they were all truly and safely away.

Synner opened the portal right to the command bridge of Newton's space ship. An awkwards silence spread across the room as the conversation that Newton and Ronnie just had was interrupted. Plasma went instinctly into defensive mode turning herself into living flame which seemed to affect Newton, too. Both Novas were radiating an intense heat. Newton slowly raised his arms,"Now don't let us lose our heads here, please."

[Mr Fox]

Sean stepped through the gateway and then to one side, his weapons of choice ready in the event that this Newton wasn't as willing to talk as the last one. He waited for everyone else to come through before speaking. "Looks like the party is back on after all. Although some of our number seem to be missing this time around. I take it you succeeded in reversing time successfully."

[Synner]

When the last person steps through, Synner collapses the Warp Portal.

"Sorry for this abrupt change everyone, but this way saves us some real problems and wastes time we don't have. In case no one else here remembers, this is Newton and Plasma, and ... I don't recognize the other two women from last time."

"Newton, do you remember us?"

[z-May Allman]

When the portal opened, Ronnie spun to face it, unslinging her weapon and aiming it just above the portal. She knew that aiming the rifle like this meant that she would have a harder time getting a good shot, but she had to balance that with the possibility that they weren't hostile. As she understood it, their rapid arrival meant that they were probably in full control of their memory. Then they confirmed it with their words though she didn't drop her stance.

She watched them come through the portal one by one, curious about these people. This was the first time she'd been allowed to meet them, and her violet eyes followed each one, distant but inquisitive.

Until she saw him. Oh, god, she thought, oh god... What if he recognizes us?

He won't.

What if...?

Shut up, all of you. He won't recognize us. He can't.

But... what if we want him too?

No! Don't you ruin this for all of us!

It's ok, Ronnie thought. I've got this under control.

Ronnie waited for the portal to close and for Newton to nod to her before she slung her rifle. "Sorry about that," she said with a smile. "I'm Ronnie. I've heard a lot about you guys, but this is the first time I've had a chance to meet you." Keiko noticed that she wasn't as friendly as she'd been to her. But perhaps a bit of wariness was in order, given the strange events.

[SalmonMax]

Between the flaming novas, and warp portals and guns and tension, Keiko stood where she was, just beside herself. It was one thing to quietly erupt and be a nova. It was another thing entirely to be surrounded by other novas, some of whom toted rather impressive special effects!

At the pause she realized she was the only one who hadn't been introduced, and she quickly raises a hand in a tentative wave.

"I'm Keiko Daniels. I met Newton...well, in a few hours sort of. I know you're all involved in the mess he made..." she quickly looks at him and adds, "...with the best of intentions of course! But I don't know much about you other than that. Um."

She retrieves her press card and holds it up.

"I am a reporter," she reports. "I operate a news opnet site and do some freelance reporting and writing too. So...that's me. Hello."

Keiko wears a colorful striped knit stocking hat, a threadbare denim jacket over a Dead Smurf Face T-shirt, and a navy blue pleated skirt that hangs to her knees. Slung over her shoulder is a magenta knapsack that looks pretty full. Her shoes are white sneakers. Reeboks, perhaps, or cheap knockoffs. She looks young, possibly in college or just out of it, and has a small, light, athletic build. She has asian features and an almost excrutiatingly cute face.

(App 4, if that helps )

[Travis Kincaid]

Callum suanters through the warp and gives a smile and a wave to Newton, "Hi honey, we're home!" He surveys the room, "Oh new people ... great..." His voice is all but dripping sarcasm with that last comment as he looks Keiko and Ronnie up and down.

[z-May Allman]

"You're a charmer," Ronnie smirked at Callum. Her arms crossed agressively, she added, "Most people would say hi back, give a name to be called by. After all, we're all on the same side here. It'd be nice to have something to call you other than 'Hey you with the brown hair.'"

[Travis Kincaid]

Callum looked mildly amsused, "I'm Gilligan, that there is the Skipper, the Professor, and the Millionare. I'm just peachy glad to meet MORE new time travelers from god knows where, because yeah, it makes me feel extra secure that we're doing the right thing by not taking you all out."

Callum dismissed the pair of girls and approaches Newton, "Any progress? That last reset seems to have been smoother. Any chance you can send us further back?"

[SalmonMax]

Keiko's mouth drops open in dismay.

"Send you -further back-?! You have to be...please tell me that wasn't..."

She takes a deep breath.

"It would really be a bad idea. I mean...BAD. The snarl Newton made would be a tiny...little thing compared to what would happen."

[z-May Allman]

Ronnie simply looked amused by Callum's remarks until he made a threat - the most oblique and tangented threat he probably could have made, but the modern warrior took her duties seriously. That was balanced by what she knew of the situation - and the voice in the back of her head nagging her. So as Keiko protested about sending people back further, she counted to ten. Then she walked over to Newton.

She turned so that she was between Newton and Callum, though she did stay a step to the side so that only her shoulder butted between them. "Hey, Gilligan. I know you're not from around here, but don't threaten my people. Unless you mean it." Her hand was resting on the butt of her pistol; not completely threatening, but the snaps were undone.

[Travis Kincaid]

Turning to Keiko Callum says, "I'm willing to take the trip and the risks to gain back what I've lost and potentiall gain back what others of you have lost. Newton, I could contact you before you ever erupt, warn you of the danger." A sad look crosses Callum's face, "I'd give anything to set things right."

Originally Posted By: May Allman

"Hey, Gilligan. I know you're not from around here, but don't threaten my people. Unless you mean it."

"Trust me, I do mean it. Maybe my pals won't back me up maybe they will. Tell you what though, this whole thing is only happening because we stayed out hands once before."

[SalmonMax]

"Wait!" Keiko blurts. There's a...discontinuity. A sort of 'skip.' During that moment she moves from where she is to a spot interposed between Callum and Ronnie. It's not quite teleportation...there's definitely a sense that she moved. Just -fast-.

"You can't," she tells Callum. "You can't change those things. That's what I meant. Too much has happened since then. Even the others, the ones who died...I couldn't fix that. Not without wrecking -everything-. I'm really sorry."

She adds, "And getting in a fight won't change anything, or help anyone."