Aberrant: The Long March - Chapter 10: All roads lead to Rome

[Ulric Reikspar]

"I'm not so sure. If we went into one of our futures and recieved technology, wouldn't we want to see to it that this occurance was fulfilled?"

"I am willing to go aboard and check things out. I would also not mind meeting one of my not so distant relations. Anyone else feeling up to the challenge?"

[Joani]

"I won't let you go alone, my love.", said Joani stepping up to him.

[Courier]

Steve says,

"Amber, or someone like her, was behind this 'seeing us coming'."

[Mr Fox]

Lorean nodded in agreement with Steve. "There are only two possible explanations. Either our future selves returned to the past and notified them of our arrival and what we would do, or precogs were involved. Regardless of which is the case we have 18 hours before I am able to jump again to another timeline. Please be careful and I will do everything I can to shorten the time necessary to jump. In fact, if I drain the teleporter batteries I can shorten that time to 15 hours, but that will mean you will have to rely on Morgan to open warps for you. I'll wait until the last minute to drain them just in case you need an emergency evac."

From his chair on the bridge Morgan grumbled under his breath. "I guess that means I will need to remain here in the event of a problem. Lorean can keep a lock on you all and if she loses that lock at any time I will immediately open a warp to your location."

Morgan made a gesture and a warp opened from one ship's bridge to the other, and those who were interested in going moved through.

On the other side the bridge looked very plain, very homey in fact. There was no instrumentation in view at all, although one wall was set up with a large open space in which a hologram of the local area of space was displayed including the moon Iaeptus and the two small ships in close orbit above it. Sitting in a comfortable chair at the center of a semi-circle much like the bridge of Lorean sat Joannie. In person it was obvious quite obvious that she was indeed related to Joani and Ulric.

As she saw Joani and Ulric come through she stood and smiled boardly and hesitantly approached the two practically ignoring the others. "I was told you would both return, but I never truly thought I would meet you until right this instant."

[Andrew Murphy]

Andrew shyed away from the portal, but seeing the others go through he finally just nodded. A moment of concentration later Andrew extruded a tendril from his body which rapidly gained volume and mass and form. Within moments a second Andrew stood on the bridge. "Shall I?" he asked the original. "Please do, I'll stay behind and monitor from here." With that Andrew "B" walked through the warp to join the others.

[Joani]

Originally Posted By: Mr Fox

Sitting in a comfortable chair at the center of a semi-circle much like the bridge of Lorean sat Joannie. In person it was obvious quite obvious that she was indeed related to Joani and Ulric.

As she saw Joani and Ulric come through she stood and smiled boardly and hesitantly approached the two practically ignoring the others. "I was told you would both return, but I never truly thought I would meet you until right this instant."

Joani smiled shyly and opened her arms for a welcoming embrace, "I wasn't aware that anything like this could happen. Are you our great-granddaughter? And who told you of our return?", there was both curiosity and caution in Joani's voice.

[Mr Fox]

Joannie hesitantly offered her Great-Grandmother a hug. "Yes, my mother was Samantha, and her father was your son Gabriel. Mother wanted desperately to be here but her duties prevented her from coming. She'll be so jealous that I had the chance to meet you all first. As for how we knew you would be coming, Gabriel, Kara and Michael all said you would return someday. The Augs predicted your arrival at this time and the most likely locations. Gabriel was on the bridge of the warship you first saw on your arrival to greet you but you jumped too fast for him to send a transmission." She grinned, "He owes me for that too. He bet me that he would be the first to greet you."

Seeing the others standing about Joannie blushed slightly, "My manners are terrible, please sit and make yourselves comfortable. Would you like anything to eat or drink? Consider my home to be yours for as long as you stay." She gestured at the ship around you as she said the last.

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Mr Fox

From his chair on the bridge Morgan grumbled under his breath. "I guess that means I will need to remain here in the event of a problem. Lorean can keep a lock on you all and if she loses that lock at any time I will immediately open a warp to your location."

Steve says,

"Amber can keep you company. Sorry love, but if they're going to try something sneaky you're the one who would see it coming, and Lorean is the one who'd have to react."

Quote:

Morgan made a gesture and a warp opened from one ship's bridge to the other, and those who were interested in going moved through.

Steve walked through and greeted everyone in a warm and trusting manor.


(Lie Detector On, Mental Prodigy: Investigator On)

[SalmonMax]

For her part, Meredith appears preoccupied. She's staring blankly at Joani and her kin, pretty clearly not really seeing them. Less obvious is that she is completely focused on 'interrogating' the matter of the surrounding vessel, taking random samples from around the room to see if the composition of the material stays the same or changes.

As she does, she wonders if this would lead her insights allowing her to reproduce the substance...perhaps even getting credit for 'inventing' it. Would that be a paradox, or the resolution of an unbounded causal string?

She'd think about that later...right now, data was pouring in...

(OOC - Using Molecular Manipulation's sensing ability to determine composition of surrounding material)

[Ulric Reikspar]

Ulric hugged his great-grand daughter and smiled warmly. After hearing her lineage, he nodded.

"I should have figured one of Gabriel's would have stayed in the Fleet - in service, but maybe everyone does now. Time enough for that later. If you have Auguries, you know of what we are going to be facing."

He looks to Meri and Steve,

"When can we start looking at might make the difference in all our timelines?"

[Mr Fox]

Joannie blinked in confusion for a moment. "Oh, no you misunderstand... This isn't a fleet ship, this ship is my home. The two warships you first saw were fleet ships, and I'm not in the fleet. I'm just a regular citzen, although I did make the rank of Captain before I retired. Also, Aug is short for Augments, or augmented, it's slang for the ones who have been fully wired."

Seeing the uncomprehending looks in the eyes of her guests Joanie took her seat and began to explain, "Forgive me, I didn't connect the fact that augmentation hadn't begun before you left on your journeys. I guess I should have reviewed the files and paid closer attention to the dates." She gets a thoughtful look on her face for a second as if she is trying to remember something, then nods to herself. "Looks like it began about ten years after you left. We had a real technology explosion right after the Crisis. Between Gemma's biotech, and hardware nanotech mixed with some of the medical advances that were made in the wake of the release of Andrew's research. Well, it wasn't long before the sciences began to converge. Within 10 years people began to expand their own memories with biotech hardware. Within 20, it went from there to analytical and problem solving augmentation. Society changed a great deal in the first half century after you left. In less than a century the Augs were in charge and running things. Been that way ever since."

[Joani]

"I'm not sure if I take that as a good thing.", Joani was obviously concerned but quickly added, "But we wanted society to find its own path once we've left else our involvement would've been close to establishing a dictatorship. Did Gabriel and Kara ever talk to you about our reasons to leave?"

[SalmonMax]

"Are there any 'augs' here?" Meri blurts abruptly, consumed by a sudden desire to 'scan' one such being. What would it be like, she wondered...this fusion of man and machine.

[Mr Fox]

Joannie grins, "Oh yes, they did. Everyone knows the story. Several holo-drama's have been made of it over the years. My favorite was the one that starred Allison Hoffsteader as you. You should watch it some times, it was quite good. Very old fashioned, but from the records and from what Gabe says, it was accurate to the events."

[Mr Fox]

Joannie looks puzzled at Meri's question. "No Meridith, I'm afraid I'm the most augemented one on board and I'm only stage 2. I might choose to get fully wired someday, but not for years yet. Besides it's become somewhat fashionable to put off taking the final steps until after your 100th birthday and I'm only in my early 50s." She smiled at Meri.

[Omar]

Omar was the last one through the warp. His uefiber was formed into an expensive pin-striped business suit. It was important to be fashionable in these circumstances. As the portal closed, he noticed that Joani and Ulric had already started in on Joannie.

After a few minutes, Omar steps forth and asks a few questions of his own:

"Are any of us still alive? And if we are, where are we."

He gave her a smile which bounced into a smirk. "Who better to tell us what is going on, than ourselve."

[Mr Fox]

Joannie looks confused, "I'm not sure what you mean, you all left this timeline on August 5th 2000, and haven't been seen since. If you returned at some time in the past I don't know about it. You would be better able to answer that than I would. Michael, Gabe and Kara certainly never mentioned seeing you after your departure, and I think they would have at least to us family if no one else."

[Omar]

Omar grumbles something under his voice about timelines and Shroedinger's cat. It was never his field of expertise, even if it had been part of most of his life.

"Well, I guess that answers that." Omar said with a shrug. "Can you tell me anything about my grandchildren. I had 5 of them when we left."

[Courier]

Steve says,

"He was wondering if part of your past was our future. It was possible in our future we might have decided to return, or return earlier. Apparently we didn't or won't. Time Travel gets confusing very quickly."

[Mr Fox]

To Steve she said, "That's one of the reasons the Augs forbid it.

To Omar and her great-grandparents, Joannie grinned again, "Sure, I can tell all about your descendants. Raj was my Uncle after all, but I'm sure you all have a hundred questions. Everyone get comfortable and I'll have some refreshments brought in." She spent the next hour or so going over family histories and how two of Omar's grandchildren had married Reikspar descendants and where all of the family was and what they were doing now. Gabriel was in charge of the Navy and had been for nearly 200 years now. Kara had remained in charge of the Paragon's for nearly a century until she had retired to become an Aug. She had also married Michael and they had several children one of which had married one of Omar's granddaughters. In all at least for Omar, Joani and Ulric it was a fascinating hour of hearing about all of their descendants.

[Andrew Murphy]

Andrew "B" tried, he really tried to pay attention but being split off from the host meant that the consciousness was split accordingly and all this genealogy stuff was dreadfully boring. After the first ten minutes or so he simply couldn't concentrate any more and got up to wander through the place. He was lost in thought and lost in the simple act of being curious. It was an easy thing, being curious, and it often led to learning things one would never have expect to learn. And so Andrew "B" slowly and stealthily crept away from the others and began to wander the premises.

Meanwhile back on Lorean Andrew returned to the lab to continue his work. He let Morgan know and reminded him to be careful should he need to interrupt Andrew for an emergency. "My temper has grown significantly," he reminded his old friend.

[Andrew Murphy]

Andrew walked out into the hallway, the door "shushing" shut behind him. For a moment everything was quiet and then a voice asked, “I am called Helena.

May I be of service?”

Andrew stopped; he held stock still as his mind snapped back to full consciousness. A quick mental shift of tissue and a second pairing of eyes opened on the back of his head confirming that he was indeed 100% alone. Finally he asked, "Who said that?"

“I am Helena, I am the ships AI.”

Andrew relaxed, "Oh ... umm, hi! I'm Andrew and I ... wait ... did you say AI?"

“Yes I did. I am the ships AI, I maintain normal function of the ship.”

Andrew's mind reeled, "Who programmed you? How did earth develop AI so quickly, things were nowhere near this far along 200 years ago ..."

“I have no records on who created the AI. The Augmented were able to rapidly develop AI technology and it was considered perfected tech in the year 2073.”

"You have no records on your creation? Nothing to say about your model type, year in service, development revision ...?” Andrew was mildly surprised.

“I have no records about the creators of the technology. Specific records relating to this AI unit are as follows: Model 135c, brought online 2285, Designation: Helena”

Andrew pondered why an AI wouldn't have complete library access, or why this ship would have an incomplete library system. "Comp ... Helena, I'd like to visit the computer core; can you guide me?" Just like aboard Lorean, the floor lights up in a stripe down the middle of the corridor leading away from the bridge. It leads to a lift that takes you down a few floors before opening. It then leads you toward what you suspect is the center of the ship. Another door opens and you find yourself inside. There isn't really much to see. Andrew looks around for an access terminal, "Terminal please ..."

Helena directed him to a terminal but states, "You may use the manual terminal; however the standard interface options are enabled.”

Andrew moves toward the terminal, "How do you mean?"

“The standard uplink interface is enabled. You may connect directly through your imbedded interface.”

"Imbedded interface? Helena I do not have any augmentation ... well maybe ..." Andrew extruded a small tendril and inserted it into the port and allowed his nervous system to connect to the biotech interface.

The attempt does not seem to work. Helena says, "No augmentation? Use of the physical terminal will be necessary then.

"Bollocks ... ok then, lemme see what you got....and how about a chair?"

"I am sorry; no furniture is available in the Core”

"Bloody computer ... fine I'll stand ... ok let’s see what you are made of ...” Andrew starts to investigate Helena's core architecture and programming. He continues by trying to locate and access her knowledge database to determine if it is incomplete or somehow edited or blocked. Andrew spent a couple hours poking through the system. Ultimately he got frustrated, it seemed that only the basic knowledge is accessible. He wasn't sure if it was because of this terminal or if it was a permissions issue.

Balls ... fine ... evade if you like, I'll figure this out one way or the other. "OK Take me back to my friends please ..." Andrew followed the lights back to the bridge, on the way he checked his chronometer. Two hours? Maybe naptime will be over and we can find out what the hell is going on.

[SalmonMax]

Meredith listens politely, but isn't really concentrating on the specifics of the information.

Either our future selves returned to the past and notified them of our arrival and what we would do, or precogs were involved.

...Gabriel, Kara, and Michael all said you'd return someday...

It was a bit odd. The woman seemed completely earnest to Meri, but the story seemed...odd. Because they hadn't come back, had they? Lorean's analysis seemed accurate, and the first condition wasn't met. So the Augs must be precognitive. No, that wasn't what was bothering her. She couldn't put her finger on it yet.

Absently she asks, "Do you know why we're here?"

[Mr Fox]

Joannie looked questioningly toward Meri, "I assume you are returning home after your travels. Honestly, Grandmother expected that you would have returned much sooner. Michael says that we are an offshoot branch timeline off of the original that you left from and the fact that you are arriving now means that on some other version of home you returned much earlier. Either that, or you are just now returning because you wanted to let us have the time to develop and find our own path. Personally, I've always thought it was a little of both."

[SalmonMax]

"So your Augs could tell -when- and -where- we were coming," Meri muses, "but not -why-. That's very interesting. Did they know I'd be here too?"

[Mr Fox]

Joannie shrugged, "You were with the others when they left, it was assumed you would return as well. I have to admit very little is known about you other than your name, you were only with the Cabal for a day or two before you all departed. Michael didn't really say much about you."

[SalmonMax]

Meredith nods happily, seeming quite pleased by this information.

"So! What's next? Will you be taking us to Earth?"

[Mr Fox]

Joannie shrugged, "That's up to you. The family members that were left behind will wish to see you all, but no one will force you to go anywhere you don't want to go."

[Joani]

Joani couldn't contain her anticipation. The story her great-grand-daughter told was simply too amazing. Her family - she spoke of her family!

Back then when the Cabal found her she had nothing, no past and no real future. Thanks to Ulric she found happiness in establishing her own family. It was difficult for her to say how much that had meant to her and sometimes she cursed her inability to tell Ulric how much she loved him for that. She remembered an old Shakespeare quote and smiled at Joannie nodding eagerly. She opened her mouth but her voice failed her. Silence is the most adequate herald of elation

[SalmonMax]

After a silent moment, Meredith looks at the others.

"So. Uh. Someone want to tell her why we came?" she suggests. "I'm the new girl. She should probably hear it from someone she idolizes."

[SkyLion]

After the trio of jumps and the invitation, Cody also has an off feeling as well and uses his kie detection ability as well.

Looking at Steve he raises an eyebrow as if to ask, "You thinking what I am thinking?"

He sends:

*You know, I don't normally do this, but I am tempted to do a probe just to find out why this feels so funky. What do you think?*

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: SkyLion

He sends:

*You know, I don't normally do this, but I am tempted to do a probe just to find out why this feels so funky. What do you think?*

Steve sent back,

*I think you should wait. I don't mind stringing them along, or being strung along, till Lorean is done.*

[SkyLion]

Outwardly, Cody is as pleasent as ever, charming without giving away a hint of his concern.

*Very well. I'll hold off for now. But there's just something...not right. I can't place it just yet.*

[Courier]

*Ditto.*

Steve says,

"What contacts have we had with alien races?"

[Omar]

* What makes you guys think they are anything other than who they claim?

Omar felt ashamed that his compatriots doubted the hospitality of their guests. But then again, they always did have a knack for sensing things that he never could.

[SkyLion]

* I didn't say they were aliens. It's just that Steve and I feel that there is something "off" about this whole situation. We aren't able to place it just yet. lorean, any prgress on your end?*

[Mr Fox]

*Twelve and a half hours till I am charged enough for a timeline jump, and that's with draining the teleporter batteries. No way to speed it up any faster.*

Joannie smiles at Steve's question. "We've met five species so far, if you include the Telepaths that you faced during the Crisis. The Chromatics have limited themselves to their home system since that time. You will be very interested to meet the Qin if you have a chance, they are very strange, but they aren't allowed to enter human space because of their bio-manipulation. Then there is the Alliance, we are at war with them. They attacked us and intrude into our space. Last there are the Jovians, but we've never actually met them, only run across the remnants of their ancient civilization."

[Joani]

"There is war?", Joani sounded unsettled and looked worried at Ulric and the others. This can't be - we've just returned from a crisis and now onto the next?

"Tell me, Joannie - is there anything we can do?"

[Courier]

Steve says,

"Tell us about this 'Alliance'."

[Mr Fox]

Joannie looks curious about the expression of worry on Joani's face, the smiles and says, "Oh, don't worry, it's not really war like back in your time. Occasionally they try to encroach on human space and we are forced to repel them. It isn't really bad, our technology is quiet superior and we are in no real danger from them." Looking to Steve she says, "The Alliance is a coalition of species all working together for the benefit of all. At least that is how they described themselves when they first approached us. When we investigated we discovered they are more like an insect hive with all the species serving a central controller species. Their goal is to add humans and all alien races to their collective. On the surface they do have a very egalitarian society, but below the surface it is more like slavery. The 'worker' species have practically no freewill no matter how high their standard of living is."