Aberrant: In the Beginning - Chapter 2- The Firmament of Heaven

[Nathan Dayes]

Nathan had used to joke, back at the CIA, that they should fold the network and just buy a subscription to basic cable, since CNN did their jobs just as well as they did.

He didn't laugh any more. There was hardly any mention of what his team had done; mostly Pax and Ray were on tape. Nathan didn't get peeved with Pax the way the others did, since he was used to butting heads with strong personalities in his line of work. Gears of a clock worked best when pressed together, after all. And anyone willing to fly a bomb into space got his respect.

Now there was a general uncertainty in the air. Everyone was getting a little scared of novas. Including him. Most days he could forget he was one, after all. On his own he was no one special. Around others he improved versatility, doubled firepower, but on his own he was much like before. He'd released Ra's power as soon as the threat had passed. It made his head hurt to have that much power at his fingertips.

It wasn't the only thing about Ra that was sticking in his brain, either.

Nathan got up from his desk and put on his coat, and went to look for Max Mercer, with two questions on his mind: first, what was this 'first worshipper' business all about, and secondly, what was his grandfather - a face Nathan didn't even remember - really like...

[Titan]

Pax taps Griffin on the shoulder, and gives him the 'I told you so' smirk before stepping forward, applauding, to give congratulations to one, and consolation to the other. Once there is a lull in the praise and cheering, he holds up his hands for attention.

"People! This is exactly the kind of training excercise that I hope to encourage in the next few weeks. Let's hear it for Juno and Jay!" Once the renewed cheering is done, he gets the crowd's attention again.

"Also, I have an announcement! The day after tomorrow, the Æon Society will be joining meetings at the U.N. with a proposal for a joint taskforce, whose purpose will be to utilize Novus worldwide to improve life for all mankind. Ambitious, I know. But together, I know we can do it!" Cheers again. His face splits in a wide grin.

"We are tenatively calling it 'Project: Utopia', after something that Wei Fang apparantly proposed the first day. 'N' Day. But! But, hear me out, people! I am working on a project of my own, and I hope to work within Æon's new proposal to get it done. In anticipation of that, although there will be a lot of red tape between here and there, I had some T-Shirts made up for us. I think Juno should get the first one, since technically she said it first. Sorry, Juno, it's not the Justice League of Æon." He lets the laughter die.

"I decided to go with something that the Titan Omega suggested. The boys in marketing came up with this-"

He opens the cardboard box, and pulls out a blue T-Shirt with a white circle on the left breast. Inside the circle:

"Team Tomorrow! A Brighter Tomorrow, Today!" Pax starts handing out T-Shirts.

[Michael Peters]

Michael takes on of the t-shirts in his size from the box. He looks at the logo for a moment, his brow furrowed.

Is this how it works? 'Great job defeating a deity! Now you're an official super-team!' This whole thing smacks of not enough preparation and way to much PR.

He folds the shirt back up and lays it across his arm. Moving back towards Jay and Juno, he stands by the two.

"Nice fight Juno. A little unothodox, but there's nothing wrong with that."

He smiles at her, encourageingly

[SalmonMax]

Juno takes a T-shirt and pulls it on, covering her rather tattered and hanging original shirt. She dabs at her face with the hem and gives Michael a grin.

"Orthodox went out the window when he turned invisible, you know?"

She looks at Pax.

"Thanks for the shirt. So...what does this mean? Are there auditions? How's it all gonna work?"

[Titan]

Pax smiles at Juno, and hands the box off to Griffin Armstrong, who continues to hand out shirts.

"Right now, it's just a tee shirt. Later on, I hope to make it an official U.N. intervention team. In the meanwhile, I don't know about you, but I'm gonna keep sticking my nose into situations where my powers can help out, and anyone who wants to come with me is welcome to do so. That's how it works, for now."

[Renee Byrnes]

Renee laughed at Pax. "Damn your hairless head, Pax, I wanted to make a UN superhuman team!" the young telepath cried as she grabbed one of the t-shirts, removed her shirt and jacket, and donned it with a gleam in her blue eyes. Then she eyed the bigger, older man and said, "Count me in, hero."

[Jedi]

Colin takes a tshirt and chuckles. He concentrates for a moment and his immaculate suit begins to reshape itself into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt like the one Pax is giving out. Unlike the suit they are somewhat crude representations and not quite right. On the back of the T-shirt it says "I helped to defeat an Egyptian God and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."

[Katalyst]

King takes the t-shirt offered with a little fanfare. His eye's pop open as he gets a quick peek of Renee as she changes her shirt.

He laughs as he sees Colin's shirt change. "Good one man!"

Jay looks at Pax for a moment, his presence having totally dominated the room. "Nice offer, but I'll have to take some time to think about. Thanks for the shirt though." he says softly.

"I'm going out for a walk, and to make a phone call talk with you guys later!"

[z-Wei Fang]

Fang stood up and left her books where they were; others would tend to them. She did this every day, and she had long-since stop trying to figure out which librarians were irritated if she put the books away herself - because certainly someone of her intellect couldn't figure out a catalog system - and those irritated at her mess. Her irritation with the entire situation left her in a less than charitable mood, and so she had started to leave the books for them to clean up.

She knew she should get back, but first, she had something to try. She stepped around the corner of the building, standing more or less out of sight. She drew a picture out of her pocket, stared at it, and then reached for the place in the picture.

And it worked. Fang grinned as she stood on a wind-blasted stretch of tundra. Somewhere nearby, the waves crashed; the sun hung low in the chilly sky. Fang pulled out the next picture and tried again. Another skip, and she was on the shore of a massive river; she could hear the mighty falls that the water raced toward nearby. A startled family stared at her, looking a little afraid. She gave them a quick wave and went to the third picture. She quieted her mind and focused for the final time, and the world moved to a location in New York City. She was in Peter's apartment, as a matter of fact.

Fang had pinched her eyes shut the second she'd jumped; now, she listened for a moment, waiting for sounds of Peter. When she heard nothing, she opened one eye, ready to snap it shut if she saw a hint of inappropriate flesh. When she realized she was alone, she sighed with relief and went about her business.

She quickly checked the paintings he'd left for her to view, frowning at them. They offered no immediate insight, but she committed them to memory anyway. With her task finished, she popped back to Niagaria and Iceland before making that last tenious leap to her room at the Æon Society.

[SalmonMax]

Juno watches Renee change right there in front of everyone, and shakes her head, blushing a little. Sheesh...there was a locker room right over there.

"Uh...I guess I'm interested," she says to Pax. "It just seems like we ought to put a little more thought into it, you know? If we're going to do it, we should do it right. Anyway...I'm gonna wash up and get dressed."

She nods at the towering Pax, then reaches over to slap Jay's shoulder chummily. "Again tomorrow, right?" With a grin she turns and heads back to the girl's locker room to shower and get her street clothes back on before deciding what to do next.

[Jedi]

Colin thought about the idea for a moment and came to a quick decision. "Pax, I think Juno has the right idea, and I like what you are proposing. How does tomorrow afternoon sound for a meeting, we can let it be known that we are going to gather and discuss it and that way anyone that wants to attend can be there. It will also give people time to think about whether they are interested in participating and come up with any questions or suggestions for the group."

[Katalyst]

Shortly after the Burly Brawl

Jay's walk from the gym to the outside grounds is filled with thoughts form the fight. He was stunned to learn that a 17 year old kid could take all he had, and still come back for more. He just shook his head in disapoinment and disbelief.

The last few weeks had been rather surreal, but gym brawl had exposed some flaws that he didn't like. One big flaw he kept finding himself seeing was how he underestimated the different powers that each Nova possessed. Hell when Fang pulled that teleporting trick he'd thought he'd seen it all, but nope Jedi top that, and then hell Ra, well that was completely over the top. Time to find some work, and put my skills to work. That's the only way to get better, but how do I do that?

He found himself walking towards the large fountain area where he stopped and watched the water. Fang, that was aonther thing on his mind these days as well. Their was some sparks there between them, and he found himself wanting to be with her. Hmm I could ask her to teach him that teleport thing. Yeah, that would work.

[Titan]

Pax controlled an irritated sigh. For the last two and a half weeks, every spare moment, he had been meeting with the strategists and doctors of Æon. Now that he was finally able to talk about his plans, that was pretty much all he had been doing. He had met with military officers in Europe and the U.S., discussed possibilities with the Æon think tank, had a 371 page proposal that was growing every day. Not one of these Novus had attended a single meeting. Not one. It's not like he had been hiding what he was doing. He hadn't publicized it either, sure, but he'd been here. What, exactly did everyone think he had been doing? And now that he had made an overature to include the others, they haughtily inform him that there should be more thought, and that they wanted to hold a meeting to discuss things. Fine.

"Very well. You can attend the scheduled strategy session in lecture room 4. It's at 10am sharp, just like every day." He couldn't keep a certain coldness out of his voice. He turned on his heel and walked away. His mood was spoiled.

[Michael Peters]

Michael jogs after Pax, wanting to talk with the man.

"Hey, Shelby! Wait up!"

[Renee Byrnes]

Renee nodded briefly to the others and trotted out after the two male novus, shirt and jacket slung over her arm. "Pax, wait for me. I'm on your side!"

[Titan]

Pax stopped, and turned to the two Novus. He seemed ill at ease.

"Michael, I prefer to be called Pax, if you don't mind. Renee, I appreciate your support, I apologize for walking off without saying anything to that effect. This won't get off the ground without more people like you."

He smiled, a tight baring of the teeth that bore no resemblance to his earlier easy grin at Juno.

"Now, Michael, what can I do for you?"

[Stargaizer]

Some time after the fight, Joe arrived at the estates, personally escorted by Steven. Within an hour later he had his things put away in a guest room and was led to the dining hall for a meal. Steven gestured at the people, "These are mostly Novas like you. Get yourself some food and relax for the afternoon and the doctors will start on your testing and training in the morning." With that Steven wandered off.

Standing there, 5'11" in his plain white tee shirt, new blue jeans black sneakers, pale (almost white) blue eyes and black hair, Joe looks for the start of the food line. Finding that, he fills up a tray with some classic American foods, cheeseburger, grilled cheese, french fries, and some other sides. He then sits down at a table not that close to anybody else. He didn't know anybody here yet, and didn't feel all that much like stepping out on his own just yet.

However, his stature while he sat said that he would be more than willing (and maybe even a little happy) if someone were to join him.

OOC: Cha 2 App 2

[Jedi]

Before Jay got too far away, Colin caught up to him, "Hey Jay. I've got a proposal for you. You have a few minutes to talk?"

Seeing the others man's nod, he smiled. "You mentioned earlier that you might be interested in some work. I was serious about starting that company. With all the novas gathered here if even a handful decide to sign we'd be a hell of a force to reckon with. It doesn't have to be all PR stuff either. Just think of how much a company would pay to have some important item transported instantly from Japan to their US branch without any possibility of interception or espionage?" Seeing the other man's interest he continued, "It doesn't stop there. Think of any nova ability and I guarantee someone somewhere is willing to pay big money to hire it, and that includes fighting skills. What do you say we head somewhere to discuss it. I'd be willing to offer you a leadership position in the company."

[Jedi]

Colin also hurried after the big man, "Hey Pax, hold on a sec." Looking to Michael, "Sorry to interrupt." Back to Pax, "Look, I didn't mean to piss in your cereal mate. I just arrived yesterday right before the incident with Ra. I don't know jack about your strategy meetings or I would have been attending already. I'm very interested. My ignorance makes the point pretty eloquently though. How do you expect to get everyone on board with your plan if no one knows about it, so don't get so touchy. I'll look forward to meeting with everyone tomorrow."

Looking back at Michael, "Hey, can you come find me when you are done here? I need to ask you a question."

To everyone, "Sorry for the interruption, and for pissing you off Pax. Right now I need to catch up to Jay. Good day all."

(Michael, if you are willing to find Colin after your present conversation please join the Fic: A Decent Proposal thread.)

[Katalyst]

"Sounds like you got a sloid plan starting, I'd like to hear more. Doesn't hurt to keep my options open" he says smiling.

"Let me meet you in the lobby, I need to get some fresh air first."

[Titan]

Nathan- After a bit of searching, Nathan finally comes across Max in Margaret's office. He, Maxine, and Philipa Lavielle broke off what seemed to be a heated argument at his knock. Max gestured for Nathan to come in and close the door.

"Nathan, hello. I'm sorry to be so abrupt, but what may I do for you? Margaret is missing, and we're in a hell of a bind. Sorry. What is it that you needed?"

Lavielle looked ready to chew on nails, while Maxine seemed ready to cry. Max was simply red-faced.

[Michael Peters]

Michael waits for Colin to leave, he then glances and Renee before he speaks.

"Look, Pax, I just want you to know: I think you have a good idea and an excellent foundation. U.N. support will mean a lot and go a long way towards bringing acceptance to Novus as a whole."

Michael shifts from foot to foot under Pax's appraising stare.

"I'm just trying to say... I don't know, this announcement you've made is one of the first things that this "Society" has done to reassure me that they're getting things done."

[Nathan Dayes]

Whatever Nathan had to ask, it could wait.

"Missing? Hell. Do you know her last known location? How long's it been? Any leads?" Nathan is suddenly straight business.

[Titan]

Max sighs and softly smacks the top of Margaret's desk.

"Her last known location is, well, here. It's been almost 24 hours, and so far, no we know nothing about what may have happened to her. It's like she vanished off of the face of the earth."

Lavielle snorted, and walked towards the door.

"If you'll excuse me, with Margaret gone, I have a lot of work to-"

"STOP!" Max's shout made everyone jump.

Lavielle turned angrily.

"I'm sorry about Margaret, Max, I really am, but in her absence-"

"In her absence, Maxine heads the Society, "Max said quietly, "there will be no further discussion on that point. I have already notified the board. Nathan, with your permission, I will also add that you will be her Executive Officer."

Lavielle opened her mouth to retort.

"I'm sorry, Lavielle, but I feel you leave me little choice. You seem incapable of understanding the T.O. of the Society. The reason that Margaret, and now Maxine, hold the title of Chairwoman Pro Tempore, is because I remain the Chairman of the Society, I set policy, and I say who leads the Society in my absence. Maxine. Now, Nathan has the credentials for the position, and he is sufficiently an outsider not to have formed the networks of friends, the mutual backscratching that I have seen in the board. I trust him to ensure that Maxine's orders are carried out. That is final, and not subject to debate."

Lavialle glared at Max angrily.

"Are we done?"

Max nodded.

"Yes, we're done."

After the door slammed behind her, Max turned to his great-granddaughter.

"You're going to have trouble with her, Maxine."

[Nathan Dayes]

"Uht."

Did that actually just happen? Nathan sits down, looking like his mind has been blown. "Executive officer? Are you sure, sir? I mean, I'm - I'm up to the task, of course, but... hell. I was just coming in to ask if you knew anything about my grandfather, is all. This is a shock."

[Titan]

Max looks at Nathan seriously.

"No, as a matter of fact, I am not sure at all. But, there isn't anyone else I trust. And the only reason I trust you is because of Arthur. But I have to make sure this is done quickly, as according to Margaret, I am moving on tomorrow. Maxine will need help, and you're drafted, son."

[Renee Byrnes]

"Thanks, Pax," the young blonde said with a brief smile. She listened to Michael speak before adding, "I'm glad I'm not the only one to think of going for UN support. I'm waiting for the inevitable Magneto to rise, if I may make a comic book reference."

[Titan]

Pax stands silent for a moment, then lets out a long breath.

"No, he's right. Jedi. I should have said something, made an announcement... something. But, look, Michael. There are literally hundreds of people here at Æon working non-stop on Project Utopia. It is a big deal. And, they aren't really pushing any responsibility on any of the Novus. I guess they are letting us have the level of involvement that we want. And I want a lot. I admit it, the idea of helping the world with these powers is all I think about. I get up early, when I sleep at all, and sit through boring meetings, and attend planning sessions, just for the privelege of having a say."

He looks over Michael, and Renee, in her tee shirt. He smiles.

"And they are letting me have a say. Sure, we are the ones with 'superpowers', but they actually have power in the world. We are lucky that they are willing to include us in their plans. I know how that sounds. They wouldn't have anything to plan without us, right? But, listen, someone is going to sign up for this. They know more about what has happened to us than anyone in the world. And they are talking about yearly salaries in the tens of millions. The point is, if not us, then someone else will. And they are letting us do it. And so far, I feel like I am the only one who is getting involved at all. Sure, you guys faced down Ra. That was well done, and you were very brave. But you got lucky, and that's not the hard part. The hard part is gonna be cleaning up Cairo, making sure that kids whose parents die get foster care. Rebuilding the park. Presenting this mess in such a way as to focus attention away from fear of us. Yes, that means PR."

He shakes his head, then looks Michael in the eye.

"Basically, and I swear to God I don't mean this harshly... If you guys don't think the Society is doing anything, that's your fault. Because it only shows that you are not paying attention."

[Renee Byrnes]

"How can I help?" Renee asked immediately. The young telepath folded her arms and stared Pax down. "I mean it. Just because I'm eighteen doesn't mean I can't help. Besides, I'm one of the smartest people in the world at the moment - and as a huge comic book geek, I can even suggest ways we can start spinning this."

[SalmonMax]

Juno took a second to check herself out as she showered. There was a 'dent' for want of a better word, in her chest, above and a little to the right of her heart. An immense bruise was flowering there now, and she felt a little short of breath...and jolts of pain when she did breathe. Carefully she ran her fingers over her ribs...after a bit she concluded there wasn't a break. Even so, she resolved to visit the infirmary after this. It wasn't healing.

It was funny, Juno thought a bit later, how scary that was. How...used to healing she'd gotten. How normal it all seemed now.

And that fight! She'd never guessed she could do half those things! What other weird powers were waiting under her skin, coiled up and ready to strike? How would she ever be able to find out?

If it really worked like evolution, Juno thought, then the changes would come from her surroundings. When something happened to her that threatened her, she'd adapt to it. So...it stood to reason that if she wanted that to happen, she'd have to seek out environments that...were dangerous. In a way she was glad she got hurt now. It reminded her that there WAS a limit on what she did. She couldn't just adapt and evolve forever. Some inner strength was expended as she did, and eventually was gone...leaving her with far reduced powers. So yes...she needed to challenge herself, but there was a fine line between things that wouldn't threaten her, and thus wouldn't force her to change...and things that were too much for her.

So maybe this thing Pax was talking about was the way to go. At least for now. Plenty of challenge. Other novus around to watch her back if she got in over her head. And lets face it, the Aeon place was nice. And it was good for Javier.

Juno dried off and dressed in her street clothes. Felt kind of weird, having the huge locker room to herself. She paused just long enough to check herself out in the long mirror on a pillar. Not because she was comparing herself to Renee...no! She just...wanted to make sure that she hadn't grown an extra...whatever...during the fight.

She comes out of the locker room at a brisk jog and comes over to where Pax and Renee and Jay all stand.

"Hey, I was thinking about it. It sounds cool...this team thing. So when's that meeting again? You shouted it after me,, but I missed it."

[Michael Peters]

Michael kept his eyes on Pax, keeping his friendly face as calm as possible.

"Its tomorrow morning in lecture room 4, Juno. 10am."

As much as Pax tried to alleviate the harshness of his words, Michael still couldn't help the flash of annoyance that came from the large mans accusation.

"Thats your fault. You're not paying attention."

Well, what the hell was he supposed to do? Pester the doctors? The Mercers? As far as Michael could tell, no-one at Aeon seemed to have time, or make time for their Novus 'employees'. All he got was a wake up call at what-the-fuck o'clock in the morning when they had an issue. Maybe Pax could devote his apparently considerable time towards administration and planning, but Michael was still becoming accustumed to flying, the teleporting, people hyper-evolving, hyper-moving, hyper-everything and even frigging Jedi's popping out of the woodwork.

"Thanks Pax." He says, then turns to Juno and Renee, his face still pleasant but his tone cool and formal. "I'll catch up with you guys later if thats ok? Colin wanted to speak with me."

He waits for their agreement before turning and walking away, resting his newly aquired T2M over one shoulder.

[Titan]

Pax watches Michael walk away with a look that may have been regret. Then he shakes himself, and turns toward the striking young lady from Down Under. He smiles broadly.

"Two things. One, I hope like hell that no 'Magneto' will rise, but if one does, I plan on us having the larger organization to take him down. Two, I can definitely think of a couple of ways you can contribute. First, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine named Jack. Huge comic fan, and superpower theorist. He's heading our think-tank discussions on Society and the Novus. You should sit in sometime, I think your ideas will be worth hearing."

He checks his watch.

"Matter of fact, Jack and I are just about to meet for lunch. Perhaps you'd care to join us?"

[SalmonMax]

"Sounds like fun," Juno tries again to engage Pax. She adds jokingly "Is it comic book geeks only, or can cool people go too?"

[Stargaizer]

Joe continues eating as he notices a large influx of people. Apparently there was a meeting or event that he hadn't heard about that was just letting out. He slows his eating as he watches the people mill into the cafeteria.

His body language still says that he would actually like someone to come and sit next to him.

[Titan]

Pax looks down at Juno.

"Sure, ki- er, Juno. You are welcome to join us. We're just eating in the main cafeteria, anyway. But he and I usually sit together.

"C'mon, ladies, let's get some food." He beckons with one hand, as he heads toward the compound.

[Wraith]

Wraith follows the crowd. She sees the way Pax has smiled several times at the new girl, just the way he smiled at her,and she then realizes why it is that she never get's involved with a man. She starts to walk away and notices , yet a new face in the cafeteria sitting by himself, after she grabs some food, she makes her way over to him. "Hi, I'm Wraith, mind if I join you?" She asks him.

[Stargaizer]

Joe looked up as the very pale, yet very attractive woman asked to sit with him. He nodded and motioned at a seat as he looked her up and down, as discretely as he could. It was as he started to add "Not at all" that his eyes caught her solid white eyes.

Joe's first encounter with a novus that actually looked something more than human was slightly disconcerting. However, it was also very intriguing.

His eyes locked on hers, Joe scoots his chair to one side, away from her, so that he can look at her with less turning. As he does so, he extends his hand and introduces himself cheerfully. "Hey Wraith, I'm Joe, nice to meet you."

[SalmonMax]

Juno gives Renee a shrug and follows Pax.

[Renee Byrnes]

Renee nods to Pax and follows him and Juno, walking alongside her fellow teenage novus easily. "Nice fight," she said cheerfully as they walked along. "You came closer to kicking his butt than I would have."

[Wraith]

Wraith sets her tray down, then reaches her hand out to meet his.

"So have they done their testing on you yet? Fun times... watch out for those ancient Gods though." She says, smiling. She sits down and begins to eat her burger and fries. "So what can you do?" she ask him, looking to see anything unusual about him.