Aberrant: No Fate - Chapter 3: Deja Vu

[Travis Kincaid]

Looking down on Keiko Callum asks, "You cannot or you will not? How worse could things become? Grey and the Fool could be restored, Newton and his freind spared this ... abomination that they have become. Tell me little girl, why will you not try? How bad could it be?"

[SalmonMax]

"Because changing those things would change the things that led up to the time travel," Keiko squeaks, clearly terrified. "I don't know the specifics because I'm inside now, and my mind is smaller but I fixed everything I -could- fix, that wouldn't interrupt causality!"

She swallows, her wide eyes fixed on Callum's.

[Courier]

Cherub smiles at the ladies and says,

"Hello Keiko, lady, pleased to meet you."

He frowns at where the conversation is going and says,

"Yeah, I can see how using the time travel machine to erase the time travel machine might be a bad thing. Callum... I feel like we're a bunch of chimps playing with gasoline and matches. The invention of fire isn't the only possible outcome."

[Travis Kincaid]

"The outcome need not be a disaster either. I'm willing to take the risk. Send me back ... please" The forlorn look in Callum's eyes as he says please speak's volumes. He has clearly lost something dear to him, something he would very much like to try and make right.

[Joani]

Newton nodded to the new arrivals and in particular to Synner. "Yes, I remember... everything.", Newton lowered his arms as he assumed his 'normal' form again giving Plasma a look that suggested everything was ok.

"And I still stand to what I've said when we first met. If you still feel the urge to kill me, go ahead but question yourselves why you've been told to go on this mission. We've found Nadine and she is currently unconscious but in good health. I'm taking a full medical exam of her as we speak. Our goal, if you decide to join and help us will be to find the Singularity and understand it. I believe that it is not a Nova but something else - maybe even alien in nature. The Singularity is responsible for our eruption and the Taint it wrought - it's without control, without consciousness but once it merges with Nadine it gains self-awareness. I don't know if we can prevent that, but at least we can safe lives if we decide where and when they merge - this is all assumptions on my behalf and I may be wrong, but it's the best guess so far. I'm still waiting on a response from Synapse. He should be able to add some missing details... I hope."

[z-May Allman]

Ronnie was ready to respond to Callum, but his forlorn plea stopped her. Her body language went blank, offering no clue to her thoughts, but there was the slightest hint of distress in her expression. Her expression softened, and she gazed at Callum with something close to sympathy. "Some things-" Ronnie stopped and dropped her head, struggling internally. She was being too emotive for her normal demeanour, though the new people had no way of knowing that.

"Nevermind that. Newton, you call the shots here. What do you want me to do?" She was being brusque, even for her.

[Tim Wiley]

Most of the familiar crew were in Newton's place. Sadly, Grey, Void and The Fool were not. They were sacraficed to save a city from destruction. Newton was there, as well as his cohorts. So was Nadine. Nosferatu was tempted to walk up to her and take her life-force for his own. It would prevent her from killing anyone else.

As Newton explained what the Singularity was doing and that it was an uncontrollable force of nature. It is responsible for my evolution? The implication was frightning. No wonder Mal had taken an interest in Newton. Synapse should have told me more of what he knew. He put our lives in danger. He would have a long talk with Synapse later. Right now, they had a city to save and a singularity to control.

[Courier]

Cherub says,

"Callum... what is so important risking New York would be worth it? And how far back are you trying to go anyway?"

[Travis Kincaid]

Quietly Callum replies, "About a year, I need to go back and save my wife. It's my fault she died, it was my decision that lead to her murder. And if you can get us back that far think about the other positive changes we can make, we can stop Newton from erupting, we can alert the Terragen to Proteus and let them stop this whole cylce before it happens."

[SalmonMax]

Keiko shakes her head quickly, somehow both scared and sad at the same time.

"I'm sorry...I really am...I'd help you, but you don't understand. Even if you did go back in time, even if you stopped what happened, it still wouldn't save her."

[Synner]

"Callum, that's madness. Don't torture yourself like this," he says with some compassion. "Event's would dogpile on events - like why you are even here now, with OC. Would your reasons be the same, and would you then even be here now?"

He looks from one lady to the other.

"So, who are you two? Neither one of you look tainted enough to be part of Newton's origonal crew."

[Travis Kincaid]

Originally Posted By: SalmonMax

"... it still wouldn't save her."

Those words seemed to echo in his mind. Yup, she's dead and gone, you'd dealt with this already buddy why the coniption now? I mean come on... time travel? Did you really expect that it would be so easy? Go back change your decision, keep your wife alive, keep your family together? It doesn't work that way buddy, you made your choice and she paid for it with her life. You'd accepted that, you had been fine with it. You didn't pull the trigger ... remember?

Shit, dude, wake the fuck up, you've still got Molly, and she needs you. More now than ever. Grabs you balls and walk it off. Quit torturing yourself, you couldn't change it before and you cannot now. What's the difference? The fact that there was a chance? Grow up. Molly needs a father who's better than this and Christine didn't marry a schlub who falls apart because of mistakes that he cannot correct.

Get up. Get. UP! On your feet, you can still save millions. And you can still be a father that Molly can be proud of. Callum snapped back to reality. He found himself in a heap on the floor and by the expressions of those around him he hadn't just lain down. Standing he mutters, "Fine ... moving on then ... let get this shit done." Gone is the vulnerable sadness from his eyes, replaced instead by a hardness and resolve that even the others in Omega had never seen before.

[Courier]

Cherub thought,

*A year!?! That's before I erupted. Odds are good he'd unerupt me... if he didn't destroy the planet.*

[z-May Allman]

Originally Posted By: Synner

He looks from one lady to the other. "So, who are you two? Neither one of you look tainted enough to be part of Newton's origonal crew."

"No, I'm not with his original crew," Ronnie admitted, glad for the distraction from Callum. "I'm Ronnie, and I'm here to help Newton get this job done. I like New York the way it is, thanks." She offered and hand to anyone who wanted it, including Cherub and Nosferatu, though the last clearly made her nervous.

When Callum dropped, she fought not to help him. The chattering, internal and external, was terribly distracting; she struggled to focus on what Synner and Keiko were saying. When Callum stood up, she just gave him a neutral nod. "Agreed. The sooner we get done, the sooner we can back to our families - and our lives."

Too bad our family isn't waiting for us.

Shut up, Rebecca. We've been through this.

You've been through it. You're the ones who voted me down.

Good fucking pogo-jumping Jesus, if you want something to care for that badly, we'll get a dog.

Hush! All of you! Ronnie said. We'll talk later. When we're alone.

[SalmonMax]

"Oh god...oh god, are you okay?" Keiko begs Callum. "I'm so sorry..."

When he gets up, she calms down and even manages to look around to see some of the other newcomers. As Keiko goggles at the assortment of novas, her right hand plunges into her jacket's breast pocket seemingly of its own will, and fishes out Keiko's camera.

"This is...incredible, I'm looking at novas from across the spectrum," she murmurs absently, apparently narrating for the news story in her head while raising the camera to take some snaps. Then she sounds shocked when she blurts, "Wait, I've seen you!"

Keiko points at Cherub. "You're that...that angel guy from Utopia! What are YOU doing here?"

Finally she seems to realize that Synner addressed her. Distractedly she glances at him and shakes her head. "Me? No no, I'm not really with him. He and I just met, really. I was tracking the time hole and I passed out and he found me and brought me here then asked me to fix things, so I did."

Keiko nods, to emphasize that her summary is the true and impartial account of recent events.

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: SalmonMax

Keiko points at Cherub. "You're that...that angel guy from Utopia! What are YOU doing here?"

Cherub gives Keiko a wink and answers,

"Cherub. I'm here because I will be here. Would have been here. Something like that. In a couple of days I'm going to survive New York being leveled. The authorities will need to blame *someone*, and someone will suggest my name. One thing will lead to another, and now I'm back at the chain of events which led to it."

"Wow this is confusing. How about you? Are you here because of things you will do or is this your first time around this merry go round?"

[SalmonMax]

Keiko frowns and shakes her head.

"I came here because I felt the hole Newton made. I guess it was here all along...getting worse and worse every time he repeated it, until finally it was so bad I could feel it all the way across the country. So I followed it there and then Newton found me and brought me here, and had me reverse it one more time...and patch over the hole while I was at it."

She gasps a breath in from talking so much all at once.

"So hopefully you guys will get it right this time, because I -really- don't think reversing time again over this part of history is a good idea."

[Courier]

Cherub replied,

"Ah... bigger and bigger holes? Why does that sound like a really bad thing? Um... any idea on how bad this could get if we mess up?"

[SalmonMax]

"Well..." Keiko answers unhappily, "If you mess up, then there'll still be an explosion and everyone in New York will die. But that might be better than going back again. Time is already really weak there. I don't know what would happen if it...broke."

[Courier]

Cherub says,

"...OK, maybe I'm missing something here. Why can't we just rent a boat and let her go boom out in the Ocean somewhere?"

[SalmonMax]

Keiko nods emphatically.

"That's the first thing I said too! We should take her somewhere that she can't hurt anyone! But Newton was all, 'no I want to dissect her and find the Singularity...' whatever that is, and..."

When she's thinking about things Newton said, a memory flashes in her mind like a stun grenade.

"OH! He said you were from Proteus, didn't he? Is that true?! You're -actual Proteus agents-?!"

The enthusiasm would only be matched by a dedicated Star Trek fan demanding to know if he'd actually been an extra in the show.

[Mr Fox]

Sean chuckled at the girl's enthusiasm, "I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm not a Proteus agent. I barely even know what that is outside of rumor."

[Synner]

"Thank you, Ronnie," he replies to the armed nova. Seeing the camera come out, Synner moves rapidly forward and to the side to avoid being captured in frame. Once close enough, he holds up a palm to the lens.

"Please don't," Payton tells Keiko. "Its rude, and some of us value, and will continue to value, our anynonimity. No pictures of at least me."

The man sounds sincere and determined.

"Besides, he haven't even told me your name yet. In case Newton hasn't informed you of who we are, I'm Synner - with a 'y'," he follows in a more pleasent and upbeat tone.

[SalmonMax]

"Oh, sorry...no, he hasn't told me who you are."

Keiko gives Synner a confused frown. "But I told you who I was. Just a minute ago. I'm Keiko."

She pulls the camera back from his hand and lowers it...but doesn't put it away.

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: SalmonMax

"OH! He said you were from Proteus, didn't he? Is that true?! You're -actual Proteus agents-?!"

The enthusiasm would only be matched by a dedicated Star Trek fan demanding to know if he'd actually been an extra in the show.

Cherub replies without hesitation,

"Well of course we are! Have dinner with me and we can discuss it."

[Tim Wiley]

Seeing Keiko lower her camera was not enought to allay Nosferatu's fears. He had secrets to hide. Having his picture in the papers, along with agents who are known associates of Proteus, and Utopia, would mean a neverending headache. He was going to do what he could to make sure that she kept her camera in her bag.

Walking up to Keiko, Nosferatu smiles at her while gently cradling her hand. "You must be the lovely Keiko. I am Nosferatu." He gives her hand a gentile kiss before releasing it.

"While I enjoy journalists, and their profession, I think it might be wise to place your camera somewhere safe. That way, it will be safe from damage." He said to her, his voice taking on a rhythmic quality. "Besides, it isn't really necessary to take our pictures now. You can take it out later, after this crisis has passed. Then you can get all the pictures you like." He was trying to plant a suggestion into her subconscious using subtle fluctuations in the way the sound came from his voice box. He hoped that she was not resistant to such things. If so, a more direct method would be needed.

(Hypnotic Voice)

[z-May Allman]

"Pictures later, perhaps," Ronnie suggested, creeped out first by the casual dinner request and then by the guy dressed like Dracula. These people were all creepy in their own way, even him. The determined look in Callum's eyes as he had talked about talking them out was just as chilling as these guys' insistence on privacy. It spelled bad news to Ronnie, who knew bad news because she was just as bad as they. But she liked Keiko, and didn't sense that she was so bad. She seemed kinda sweet, actually. And definitely cute.

"Let's worry about New York blowing up instead of pissing away what sounds like our last chance, eh?" she added hopefully.

[SalmonMax]

Keiko stares at Nosferatu, obviously distracted by his outlandish appearance. So distracted she doesn't even seem to notice tucking her camera away into her pack as she stares.

"I...uh...yeah, I guess," she stammers. "You're really called Nosferatu? That means...I mean...you're dressed like one so..."

She shakes her head and takes her hand back. "Sorry...things are just confusing right now. Nice to meet you Mr. Nosferatu."

[Joani]

Newton sighed which sounded a bit odd considering that every word he said was absolutely monotonous.

“I hope we can find more clues once my analysis of Ms. Denkstein is completed. Our task in the meantime should be the Singularity. I have made some research in the past and tried to get my hands on it, but we failed miserably. It was locked up in Bahrain but we failed to find any useful data there before they busted us. Fortunately we could escape with Legion’s help but our losses were grave. They have weapons inside that building that go beyond anything I have encountered before. We lost two good friends and Bastion got severely injured.”, Newton’s face was hard to read but it seemed he was really feeling the loss.

“I was hoping that our friends here,” Newton pointed at the new arrivals, “would provide us with some more knowledge and inside information. Are you working for Proteus or not?”

--

In the meantime near the crew quarters on Newton’s ship.

(ooc: speech in <Brackets> indicates spoken in German)

<“I’m telling you, I’m sick of this. I can remember EVERYTHING now, EVERYTHING! I won’t do this no more, Bastion. You know something, I’m starting to like my powers… and tell you something else – only because Dickhead Newton can’t feel stuff right and doesn’t get a boner no more no matter how ‘hot’ his girlfriend is, doesn’t make me want to undo what happened to me.”>, Legion was laughing at his own joke. <”If we undo this I’m going back to be a homeless broke living of the shit other people throw away. Not in my book, not if I can go wherever I goddamn please.”>

Bastion was half shocked by Legion’s sudden outburst and before he realized what Legion was about to do he vanished in front of his eyes. Bastion stared at the wall where Legion just stood with his mouth half opened, “oh…fu…”

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Joani Reikspar

“I was hoping that our friends here,” Newton pointed at the new arrivals, “would provide us with some more knowledge and inside information. Are you working for Proteus or not?”

Cherub nods, not in agreement but it was time to get serious. He responds,

"That is a simple question with a complicated answer. Does anyone know what happened to The Fool? He was best positioned to answer that usefully."

[Travis Kincaid]

Callum replies coldly, "Yeah he's dead. Torn to shreds by some ...thing at Omega. You guys fled through that portal and he and I stayed behind. Omega wanted to know why we had the teleporters and other equipment. I told them I didn't know why. That was the truth at the time, I didn't recall the prior loop. The Fool, he tried to attack Ms. Baxter or something. This thing, for arms, hairy and mean just tore into him like it was nothing at all. Shortly thereafter we reset." Callum's voice is cold and emtionless as are his eyes, either he really doesn't care for their fallen comrade of he has other things weighing on his mind.

[Courier]

Cherub says hesitantly.

"OK... someone please tell me Void is still alive. Because if neither of them are around then we're down to me, and I don't know Jack about Proteus."

[SalmonMax]

"Uh, if he was dead before, he still is," Keiko says hesitantly, but she quickly brightens, "But I know all about Project Proteus! It's one of my specialties!"

[Tim Wiley]

A wicked smile crosses Nosferatu's face, his teeth gleaming visibly in the light. "I would be very interested in any information you have about Proteus." He said to Keiko. Nosferatu knew that his fellow Terats would fall over eachother to learn what he discovered. Information like hers might finally free the One Race from the clutches of Utopia and it's human slave-masters.

"When you have the time of course."

That information would still not bring back the dead, however.

[Mr Fox]

Sean listened to all that was said and waited. There was little he could contribute at the moment. They had Nadine, and that was a big head start over the previous time frame. It sounded like Newton wanted them to infiltrate Bahrain and that did not sound pleasant. He'd done a little research on that facility back when he was a CIA operative and had found out precious little intel. Utopia or Proteus kept that info very confidential, it was their deepest darkest secret and they wouldn't want someone to come along and breach it and start exposing them. Place was sure to be a death trap.

[z-May Allman]

Ronnie listened quietly to the change the conversation had taken. She fought to keep her worried eyes away from Callum and on the action happening in front of her. She was also keeping her mouth firmly shut. Ronnie knew nothing about Proteus, so she just listened.

[SalmonMax]

Keiko nods happily and takes out a little PDA-looking thing. "Just lemme read you the stuff on my opnet page," she says, tapping its controls. "It's good stuff...all double or triple verified with impeccable sources...okay!"

She clears her throat and takes a deep breath, and then with the utmost in sincerity begins to read:

"Project Proteus is the well-known but officially denied covert operations arm of Project Utopia, operating clandestinely with the knowledge and tacit support of the United Nations. Along with Project Utopia, it has its roots in the famous, but relatively low-profile Aeon Society, a supposedly philanthropic foundation established in the mid 1940's. However, while the founding members of the Aeon Society are well-guarded secrets, the presence of more than one Rothschilds and Bilderbergs are known to be on Aeon's board, and are a major source of its apparently infinite funds, and its global agenda."

"This connection to known Illuminati elements, as well as careful between-the-lines reading of Aeon materials and its activities suggests to the informed that Aeon is simply the most recent surfacing of the Illumanati's engine to transform the world to match their ideal. Its cooperation with the United Nations, another known Illuminati project...albeit one that ultimately failed...hmm, that's kind of an awkward sentence."

She trails off a bit, frowning at her opnet reader. Then she realizes what she's doing and hastily continues:

"Uh! ....ultimately failed, is further evidence of these tight, entwining connections and shared agenda. All evidence at this time suggests that Project Proteus, though in its earlier protostage under Aeon at the time, was responsible for the covert operation that resulted in the destruction of the Galatea, and the eruption of novakind across the world. Aeon, positioned to reap the harvest of this, catapulted itself to become one of the most powerful organizations in the world, with an army of superhuman warriors at its beck and call, and designs on an autocracy of the elite that persist to this day."

She looks up proudly. "I wrote that."

[Mr Fox]

Sean knew just enough about Proteus from his OC briefings to think that perhaps Keiko might have some of that backwards. Besides he knew that the Aeon Society went back to the 20s, when it was known as the Aeon Society for Gentlemen, or some such. The Aeon Society had be a subject of interest within the CIA for years, even before the Galatea explosion and N-Day.

Speaking to Keiko in a friendly way, "I think you should triple check some of your facts there. I know for instance, that the Aeon Society goes back to the 20s, not mid 40s. The people I used to work with considered them rich eccentric kooks, until Galatea that is. Then there was some serious looks cast there way, if you know what I mean."

[Synner]

"Umm ... you mentioned the name Proteus, but nothing about what resources they have, what their agendas are, and who they have working for them," Synner says with a concealed grin. To help clarify, he adds, "Keiko, I'm with the Aberrants."

"What are missing in an insider's perspective and we are now missing the Fool more than ever ... if we could just get him to talk sense."

"Fine. Whatever. From Keiko's and anyone else's information can we gather enough information to get the equipment or information to help us? Newton?"

[Mr Fox]

Sean considered that for a second then nodded. "I actually know a guy. He and I go way back, actually. He could probably help, he used to be a nova bounty hunter type, tracked novas for a living. I think I remember him mentioning tracking someone he believed to be a Proteus operative once. Might be worth contacting him to see what he knows."