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

[SalmonMax]

Juno frowned at the captain's revelation. After a second of thinking, she asked, "You know, before we spend a lot of time on making this work, I think we need to...sort of like focus in here. How bad is your ship off right now? Would me going down there actually help you?"

"Because if not, I'm starting to think I should just have Nick shoot me out to where the sub is so I can start looking for it."

"But if I can help here first, I will. What do you think?"

[Michael Peters]

Michael stood near Nathan, watching the sailors watch him. He was happy Juno was asserting herself, speaking up to the skipper also, that the man was taking her seriously.

As best he could, he attempted to listen to what the nearby naval-men were speaking about.

[Dawn OOC]

Juno:

Albright looked at her, then nodded slowly. "Whatever is wrong with them and the Gannet is wrong with us, too. It might help if you can go out to the sub." He looked at her, and Juno saw that look that adults always got around her now, the one that said that all they saw was a kid, and they were having serious concerns about her helping them. Clearing his throat, Albright sighed. "The ship... I won't say she's in bad shape, because other than taking on water - which seems to have slowed - and losing power from the screws, nothing's wrong with her. So all I've got is a gut feeling that says get to port."

[SalmonMax]

"Okay," Juno answered, containing for the moment her irritation about that look. She knew he couldn't help it...but she couldn't help her reaction either. Even so, getting pissy wouldn't help her situation any.

"Whether you go back to port is up to you. I just need a map or something that shows where the sub is, and shows where we are, so Nathan can send me out there." She pauses, then adds, "And you might want to check to see if there's any currents or anything that would bring the water from the sub over towards you. I'm pretty sure that water's what's been eating your ship up."

[Dawn OOC]

Katalyst:

Jay didn't see or hear any novas, but he was learning that didn't mean anything. One could be below the water, or hovering invisibly over his head. Nervously, he waited for an attack. His skin crawled as he wondered whether he was being targeted right now.

Suddenly, his brain pulsed. Specifically, it was the part of his brain where his node was. Nothing happened after that, but Jay was sure that something was supposed to happen.

Michael, Jedi and Nathan:

Chief Hulio has been watching them quietly; now he says to Nate, "If you want to get in there, I think we can open the door once. I wouldn't want to do it more than that. If you can get people in, I could get them out."

Juno:

Albright nodded. "Good idea - I thought of it already. We're steaming north, toward Reydarfjördur in Iceland. Whatever we messed with seems to be caught up in the Gulf Stream. Good news is we're out of it. Bad news is that means it'll wash up in Northern Europe if we don't stop it. I don't know if it's the water or something in it, but I don't give a crap as the end result is the same."

With a couple of quick orders, he had Juno a map, marked where they thought the sub was. "You be careful, ma'am," Albright said to her, offering his hand. "You don't know how hard it is for me to send a civilian into danger. Don't get killed, ok?"

[SalmonMax]

Juno grins. "I don't die easy," she quips. "Uh, I should probably have a radio or something though, so I can call in. And maybe some kind of tracker device. Will they have those down below?"

[Katalyst]

Quote:

Suddenly, his brain pulsed. Specifically, it was the part of his brain where his node was. Nothing happened after that, but Jay was sure that something was supposed to happen.

The small pulse he felt gave him an idea. Stopping his search Jay began to focus him mind on his node, seeing if he could control and expand the pulse sorta of like a sonar. Since he didn't have any other way to spot a Novus, this seemed like a good thing to try. Hopefully this works and if it does, just maybe I'll find out if another Nova is the cause of all this.

(Using Node 2 dice)

[Nathan Dayes]

"Okay, if you're sure. Mikey, Obi-Wan, if you want in there I can blip you in. If you got a radio, let's establish a frequency before we do that. If radios are down then knock twice, then once, then twice. How's that sound to you?"

[Dawn OOC]

Originally Posted By: Katalyst

The small pulse he felt gave him an idea. Stopping his search Jay began to focus him mind on his node, seeing if he could control and expand the pulse sorta of like a sonar. Since he didn't have any other way to spot a Novus, this seemed like a good thing to try. Hopefully this works and if it does, just maybe I'll find out if another Nova is the cause of all this.

That pulse rang out again, but there was no answering echo. It seemed that Katalyst was alone. Of course, he didn't know his range, so maybe there was a nova just out of range.

[SalmonMax]

With the captain's leave, Juno nodded at Michael and hurried back down into the narrow metal halls of the ship. She burst back in on the pressure door Nathan was at with the engineer and said, "Okay, Nathan, I'm going to check the sub. Here's a map that shows where it is."

She hands him the folded piece of paper.

"And I have one of those distress radios with the..." she holds up a bright orange box and taps it, "...the direction finder thing, so you'll know where I am. So I'll probably need a flashlight...captain said they'd have those big heavy ones down here." She glances at the engineer, then back at Nathan.

"And then you can send me to that spot there, on the map."

[Katalyst]

Oh well, guess I've been worrying over nothing. Jay resumes his search of the area. He looks around for something suitable to use for him to explore underwater. A few moments later he has one, and slowly lowers himself down in the water. With the light in hand Jay begins another sweep of the area.

[Dawn OOC]

Juno:

Chief Hulio was moving to get her a flashlight before Juno had finished speaking. "Here," he said, "it's water proof and mostly pressure resistant, though don't get too deep, ok?" He blinked and then grinned. "Never thought I'd be warning an teenaged girl about that."

Katalyst:

Against the outer hull, Katalyst found the problem; stress fractures periodically mar the underside of the hull. They don't show above the water, but they are there, and Katalyst realized that the Roosevelt was in bad, bad shape.

[Nathan Dayes]

"All right, folks. Good luck. You get in trouble, you give us a call."

Originally Posted By: OOC

Nathan will teleport whoever wants to be teleported to this spot on the map.

[SalmonMax]

Before Nathan teleports her, Juno quickly takes her shoes and socks off, then pulls her wallet out of her pocket as well and sets it on the shoes. After a second she gets a confused look and pulls a piece of folded paper out of her pocket too, then shrugs and tosses it on the shoes as well.

"Okay. Ready."

[Dawn OOC]

Originally Posted By: OOC

Whomever is going please speak up, and please let me know if you need to breathe, and if you do, how you would manage if you couldn't.

[Katalyst]

With the discovery that the hull was slowly cracking, Jay knew that this was a problem that duct tape wasn't going to fix. Better get this news to Albright quick like, before this leak get's any worse.

Taking his thoughts back to when he was up on the bridge, Jay focuses on activating his node to "blink" himself to the bridge.

Once there he conveys the information about the stress fractures that the hull is suffering from to Albright.

(Activating Teleport 6 dice + 3 Auto sux, and turning off FF)

Qpool 26

Qspent 3 for TP, 2 for FF, 3 for TP

Current pool 18

[Dawn OOC]

Jay found guns being pointed at him again within seconds of appearing on the bridge. Everyone around here was really jumpy. "Whoa!" he said, lifting his hand and edging his mask back. "It's just me!"

"Jesus," Albright sighed, waving at the Marines. The guns were holstered again, but the tension remained. "What's up?" Jay told him, and watched all of the blood drain from Albright's face. "Jesus," he said again, bracing his hands on the map table. He was silent for a moment, then he said, "Call for a evacuation. Get everyone on deck and inflate the rafts. We'll keep a skeleton crew at their stations. Volunteers only."

He glanced at Jay. "Now what are you doing? The rest of you are downstairs, talking about going to the sub."

[Katalyst]

"Is there a way for you to put me in contact with them Cap? I'll need to advise them of our current situation, and see if they can help with the evacuations."

"I also need the location of that sub. I get the feeling that whatever happened to the Roosevelt most likely came from the sub."

[Dawn OOC]

Juno:

Juno isn't sure that Nathan's teleport is accurate; she's floating in water. Don't breathe in, she reminded herself. It's incredibly dark, which hides any details. Juno checks the GPS display on her phone, only to find that the display has cracked. She can kinda make out the numbers, enough to see that she's in the right location. It was supposed to be pressure-proof, Juno thought, and then realized what that meant.

She was fine.

With a gulp, she turned on the light. It still worked, she noted, just before she saw the floating body in front of her, its arms extended as if for a hug.

Katalyst:

Albright put a quick call below, and soon Hulio advised, "Your buddy, the guy in the suit? He's coming back down from the bridge and I think he wants to go with you the next group."

[SalmonMax]

Appearing in the dark water, the first thing Juno feels is the pressure. It's like getting punched. Everywhere at once. No sooner has she felt it than it's gone though, with only the crawly feeling of something happening inside to let her know why. Noteably though, the air in her lungs bursts out, much as it would for anyone who just got punched in the gut.

On reflex, she tries to gulp another lungful...and fills her lungs with water. After a panicked moment, Juno realizes she's not drowning. The sensation of water flowing easily in and out of her body...but not through her throat so much as through weird flaps of skin over her ribs...is bizarre, but can only distract her for a moment from the bonechilling cold. Despite even that though, she finds that while she's aware of the cold, it doesn't seem to do anything to her.

It had been, she realizes only then, quite a gamble doing this. She sort of assumed the ocean was like a big swimming pool, not realizing just how hostile the conditions were. If her adaptive abilities had been any less...

With some effort, Juno put that out of her head and fumbled in water for the flashlight clipped to her belt. She'd busted Aeon's phone, she thought with a little dismay. Would that come out of her paycheck? How much were those things?

Then the flash light came on, and Juno found out that you can't scream with a lungful of water, no matter how enthusiastically you try.

Shock passed quickly though, as she realized the body wasn't coming at her...it was floating up past her. She flailed a bit and managed to grab its foot, hauling it back down.

He was middle aged...hard to say exactly how old because of the washing out of the flashlight beam, and the effects of water on his body. What caught Juno's eye was his dress. He wasn't in a uniform. He was in a Def Leopard T shirt and jeans. A grey hoodie flapped ethereally around behind him, anchored by his arms in its sleeves.

On sudden impulse, Juno reached around to fish in his back pockets, coming up with a black leather wallet. She released the corpse then, letting it swirl up and away towards the surface, and pocketed the wallet. No time to screw around with that now. Not if there was any chance someone might still be alive down there.

She pointed the flashlight down, then swam in the direction that the Def Leopard guy had been coming from.

[Katalyst]

Jay once again made his way down to the lower levels of the ship where he runs into Michael and Nathan. The two look a bit startled by his appearance until he speaks. "Hey guys, this ship is in some serious trouble right now. Captain Albright has already given the evacuation signal" he say hurriedly. "I'm not sure if either one of you could repair the stress fractures in the hull, so focusing in on getting everyone off the ship should be our next move."

"Where's Juno? Didn't she come with you guys?"

[Nathan Dayes]

"Juno's currently exploring, Jay. Good to see you again." Nathan uses his radio to call Juno. "Juno, I've run into Jay King. He says the Captain's given an evac signal. I need to conserve my energies so I can't teleport people willy-nilly right now. Can you regroup with us? And have you found anything we need to know?" As an afterthought he says "If you can't get to an air pocket to speak, tap once for yes and twice in succession for no, to each question."

[Dawn OOC]

A shark appeared out of the gloom, skimmed by her and shot away in an upward arc. Juno tilted her head back, amazed, to watch the sleek predator zoom away over her. Her feet extended before her, and that was when she hit bottom.

It wasn't a hard landing; the water pressure had been pushing against her. But it did jar her, from her heels to her skull and there was a cracking noise, as if she'd jumped onto rotten ice. Startled, she glanced down. There wasn't the murky sediment beneath her feet. Instead, a cracked steel bulkhead stretched under her feet. Just at the edge of her light she saw the letters "ance." There was more to the word, though, and she took a step to see-

As if denying her that information, the hull cracked and gave way under her feet, dropping her. With an unuttered yelp, she fell, slamming her chest against the top of the hole on her way. She landed on something soft and yielding. It was another corpse, this one wearing jeans and an apron on which someone had handwritten, "Kiss the cook and he'll cut your cock off." He was older, heavyset and bald, though Juno could tell it was by choice, not nature.

Somehow, she had fallen through the structure of the ship. Glancing up, she could see the original hole, as well as the additional damage she had done when she'd fallen against the edge. But that was metal, and shouldn't have shattered like that.

That was when she heard Nathan's voice.

[SalmonMax]

Juno's heart sank as she realized that there were probably no survivors if the whole sub was like this. But maybe she could at least figure out what had happened.

She pulled the radio out of her pocket and after a moment or two of trying to speak and getting only a sort garbly thrum, realized that vocal cords weren't really meant to work in water.

Once for yet, and twice for no. Okay. But he'd asked two questions. Should she answer them in order? Well, seemed reasonable. She tapped twice, then tapped once. No, she couldn't come back, and yes she'd found something. It was odd though. She'd thought maybe the water had become acid, but it didn't seem to be hurting her. And there'd been a shark, and these bodies weren't burned. But what else would weaken metal like that?

Then Juno thought, was it ANY kind of metal? A kitchen had several sorts. Stainless steel and carbon steel and maybe even iron cookery. Wood and aluminum too. Might be useful to see if anything on the ship was -un-affected.

So as she waited for Nathan's reply, she poked around the kitchen, testing knives and countertops and pots and pans and the outer case of the fridge as well as other parts inside...looking for signs of what the phenomenon sought out and what it passed over.

[Nathan Dayes]

"Hmmm. Juno says that she can't get back and that she's found something. That could be a problem. Jay, you can survive down there pretty well, right?"

[Katalyst]

A grim look comes over Jay's face at the mention that Juno has found something. I bet it's something related to what I found. "Yeah I can handle it Nathan no sweat. All I need is her location."

"I was just about to suggest that you and the others here might be better suited to helping get the squids off the ship, then once there safe you can meet up with us."

[Dawn OOC]

Juno:

Everything - everything - metal shattered in her testing hands. The wooden handles were fine; even the plastic forks weren't any weaker than normal. It was just the metal, and it was dangerously brittle, cutting like glass before crumbling into fragments too small to pierce even baseline skin.

Far away, she heard someone tapping. The sound was soft, but as she moved toward it, she heard a pattern: long-long-long, short-short-short, long-long-long.

Nathan and Jay:

Chief Hulio handed Jay a map; on it the last known location of the sub was marked. "I think Mr., uh... this gentleman sent her there," he said, pointing to the spot.

[Katalyst]

Jay takes a few moments to read and memorize the location of the sub. He still wasn't sure how much control he had when he "blinked" so he made sure to get as much of the details recorded in his head before leaving.

"Nathan, okay I'm off to meet up with Juno. I suggest you hurry and get your self some underwater equipment and to prepare your self for the possibility of having to deal with the same phenomenon that I saw."

(Teleport 6 dice + 3 Auto sux)

Current Qpool 15

[Dawn OOC]

Water, water everywhere...

All was dark, and where there had only been air, there was now the pressure of water. If Katalyst had been a baseline, he would have been in a bad way as the water filled the small space he'd teleported with him. As it was, he was a bit disoriented.

He was floating up, so he went down. After a time, he saw a light in the darkness below; a yellow light that moved around a hole in the submarine. Katalyst had found Juno.

[OOC:

Teleport roll: Teleport roll with 3 auto sux and last d...d10=10, 1d10=5)]

[Katalyst]

He quickly swam towards the light in the sub, taking careful notice of the condition of the sub. It only took a few seconds to see that whatever had happened to the Roosevelt had also happened to the sub. Looks like I was right. The cause most likely came from here. Now all I got to figure out is what to do about it.

As careful as he could Jay, moved towards the light the most likely marked Juno's location. Damm I should have gotten me a light as well. That would have made it much easier to let her know that I was done here. Maybe she'll notice if it if I generate some air bubbles, can't hurt I guess. Once he get's Juno in his sights Jay starts swinging his arms together trying to generate a pocket of air.

[SalmonMax]

Juno was just starting to follow the tapping noise when some hint of motion out of the corner of her eye attracted her attention. Jay found a flashlight beam spearing his face, even in the gloom dazzling him for a moment. She quickly aimed it down at his chest then as she swam up to meet him.

Right away Juno realized there was going to be a problem. She could breathe water, but couldn't talk in water. She pantomimes instead, tapping one hand against the other, then pointing down to the sub.

[Katalyst]

Jay looked at Juno as she made her hand motions, wondering for a moment what the hell she was trying to say to him. Then it dawn on on him, she wanted the two of them to go down further into the sub.

Nodding his head Jay pointed to Juno and made a gesture for her to lead the way.

[Michael Peters]

Michael idly wanders around the operations room himself and Nathan were currently occupying.

All my new power, and I'm practically useless. He thinks to himself.

Concerned and useless, he continues to examine the various features of the room.

[Nathan Dayes]

"Okay then. You're telling me that the ship needs to be evacuated? I think we can help with that. Where are we evacuating to and how many souls are we talking about?"

[Dawn OOC]

Hulio swallowed. "We have around thirty-two hundred on board usually. We also have the people we rescued from the Gannet." He seemed more confident as he continued; he seemed to be falling back on his training. "Most of us will be ok, even with the cold water we're going to be getting into. But there's always someone in the medbay, sick or injured, and then some of the people from the Gannet are hurt. Maybe you guys could evac them?"

[Nathan Dayes]

"We might at that. At the very least, I can teleport others, so the infirm I can take care of."

[Michael Peters]

"I could fly some to safety, but I'd need directions, and I couldn't take those who are to critically injured..."

He mulls over the situation.

"I could go retrieve supplies, or bring other personnel here."

[Dawn OOC]

Hulio got on the phone and relayed this news to the Captain. After talking a moment, he turned back to the waiting novus and said, "Captain asks you to go to the medbay and help out as many people as you can. And he thanks you for everything you guys have done." He grinned, looking like the teenager he probably was. "You guys are on your way to earning a medal or two."

[Nathan Dayes]

"I can handle a medal."

Nathan proceeds to the medbay, keeping the walkie-talkie close at hand.

[SalmonMax]

Juno leads Jay down into the sub again, shining the flashlight ahead of her and swimming towards the tapping. Along the way she is sure to show Jay how brittle the metal surfaces of the submarine are, mostly to make sure he knows know to put weight on anything.

After that, it's just a hunt through the sub for the origin of the tapping noise.