Aberrant: Phoenix Rising - Book 2: Chapter 4: The Division Bell

[SalmonMax]

"Not really," Ashley says quietly as she looks around.

"Premature to call them mass murderers, but I can see the potential there."

She shakes her head and tries, unsuccessfully, not to think of the aberrants and slaves in New York.

"Four years..."

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: SalmonMax

"Premature to call them mass murderers, but I can see the potential there."

Doug snorts and replies, "Fine. Make that attempted mass murderers. Dropping that rock on us wasn't the act of a friend, and refusing to blow it up until they knew it'd failed was pretty hostile."

"Was I the only one to notice they didn't arrest that guy for attempted genocide or for shafting us? Apparently those aren't crimes. Nor were they willing to suggest anything as radical as giving up trying to exterminate every living person on the planet."

"We're at war with them." Doug pronounced those last words with weight and regret.

[SalmonMax]

"Jesus, Doug," Ashley replied, looking at him and taking a step back. "We have no idea what they're going to do with him. Maybe they have something like, oh I don't know, trials."

"Anyway, we've got more pressing matters to deal with than moon men right now."

[Courier]

Doug said, "It doesn't matter what they do with him. His society stood behind his mistreatment of us, and they stood behind the dropping of the rock on us, and even Ms. Red thinks they're going to do it again."

"We have more pressing matters, but going back and cracking the dome has to be pretty high up on the list of things to do if we don't want to see everyone around here die."

[jameson (ST)]

James frowns, "And how exactly do you propose to cause enough damage so as to be catastrophic? Not that I dislike the idea. Nothing like a little mass murder to counter attempted mass murder right?" He rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

[Courier]

Doug replied to James, "If you have any other suggestions I'd love to hear them. And I was hoping you had some more of the old burn weapons somewhere."

[SalmonMax]

"Right, because the only solution is kill or be killed," Ash says sarcastically. "This situation can't be more complicated than that, lets lob a nuke at them."

She presses her thumb to her forehead and says, "I'm going to look for a place to stay tonight. Anyone want to come with?"

[Gregory]

He could not take it anymore. He found the door to Raider's shack and started banging furiously. He had to get inside and turn off his camoflage: He had already frightened enough people. Fear of what he was becoming started to preoocupy his mind. Would he turn against his friends and eat them like the abbies did to his parents?

He sent, hoping that it would be picked up. Let me in! Please!

[Joani]

Anna looked a bit lost and worried about Gregory. He disappeared like he always did before she could apologize for her failing to 'cure' him. Actually there was no reason to apologize since she couldn't heal taint. She almost felt like crying - Gregory has been always so nice to her and now he was succumbing to taint just like she was.

The whole 'mission to the moon' thing was extremely confusing for her and the thoughts about going to war made her feel uncomfortable. Without giving it much thought she walked next to Ashley hoping the woman wouldn't mind if she joined her.

"I'd like to go with you...", she said quietly still intimidated by the recent events.

[SalmonMax]

"Sure. One second."

Ash cupped her hands around her mouth and called. "Greg! You want to..."

The banging on Raider's door answered that.

"Hell. Alright, guess it's just us girls."

She looked up at Anna. "It's too bad, I was thinking you might be able to help him out."

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: SalmonMax

"Right, because the only solution is kill or be killed," Ash says sarcastically. "This situation can't be more complicated than that, lets lob a nuke at them."

Doug replied equally sarcastically, "Sure, oh, I know, let's send a diplomatic delegation! Maybe they'll take wiping out the planet off the table if we explain to them that murdering every man woman and child on the planet isn't an ethical thing."

"...Oh, wait, we just tried that didn't we?"

Quote:

She presses her thumb to her forehead and says, "I'm going to look for a place to stay tonight. Anyone want to come with?"

Doug realized what was bothering him and said, "I can't sense KB, I need to fly off and see if she's still alive."

Noticing he's inside a boarded up place, Doug said, "So are we going to open the place up or what? I suppose it's 'possible' they got rid of all the novas over the last year... but I doubt it."

"Hey Raider, how about letting me out?"

[Mr Fox]

Raider ghosted through the wall. "Gregory relax it's Raider..." Once he could spot the other man he grabbed him by the arm. "Quiet down too please... everyone else went through Adam's warp into the shop so no one would know we were back in my place. It's all boarded up so we can't open the door anyway. Hang on and I'll bring you inside."

He pushed a bit of his own quantum into Gregory to bring him into phase then sailed through the wall and into the shop with the others before releasing him.

"Look's like I've been robbed somewhere along the way, and judging by the reaction of the people on the street to our appearance, I thing they were surprised to see nova's appearing out of thin air. That could mean a lot of things. We will need to investigate find some of our former friends or associates and ask what has happened."

[Gregory]

"Thanks," Gregory as he dropped his camoflage. "I don't think I can help. I think I'm....becoming a monster." Gregory looked down at the arm that had lost some of it's skin earlier, and saw that more skin had come away. His entire forearm, from elbow to wrist, was convered in scale.

Gregory sat on the ground with his head between his hands. His tear flow was heavier than normal.

[jameson (ST)]

"Perhaps we should table the discussion for the remainder of the day. We can meet back here tomorrow and decide what to do about our lunar cousins." James suggestion seems almost as a throw away, his head is down and he is studying some kind of gadget. He looks up for a second, "If they really can dialate time as they say, and it seems they can, then there is little we can do to prevent them launching a full scale invasion. In an hours time they could have years of preparation."

[Courier]

Once again Doug found himself in agreement with James, although for a change he also found he didn't dislike the fact. In the last few hours he'd found other things to worry about.

Floating in the middle of the room Doug replied, "Agreed. But we do have one huge advantage. They're not taking us seriously. I wouldn't be shocked if they spend a few real time months having a massive political fight over what they should be doing."

"I'm going back to my place and see if anything is left, maybe find some clues on what happened to KB."

Raider reached out and grabbed Doug's foot 'ghosting' him through the ceiling. In route Doug sent, *You should check up on your nuke and see what it'd take to become operational. We'll be needing it before this is over.*

[Gregory]

Gregory continued to cry. No amount of consouling could relieve his angush. By morning, he had stopped.

The thing that rose from the floor of Raider's shop looked vaguely like Gregory, but was hairless and covered in golden red scales. Small strips of flesh still hung loosely from his reptilian-scales. His eyes had a haunted look to them, but his wracking sobs had ended. Sometime, in the early morning hours, he had come to an accord with his new form.

I still have my mind...but for how much longer.

[Mr Fox]

*I'm in full agreement with you there. Question is whether it is still there or not. Four years is a long time.*

During the course of the evening Raider had gotten a few hours sleep just to recharge his batteries, not that he actually needed sleep anymore. One of the pleasant discoveries was that they building still had running water. "Gregory, here, come take a shower and get yourself cleaned up. The scales are pretty, don't fret too much."

Before he had gotten the sleep however, he made a quick trip to check and see if the warhead was still hidden safely.

((OOC: Checking the bomb to see if it is still there and if it is still in good condition if it is.))

[jameson (ST)]

Raider had to run through some calculations to determine the location of the satellite, but after a little work he was able to translate through space and locate it easily enough. The thing was damaged, four years hadn't been kind to it, as debris had torn its solar wings and punctured the body multiple times. The weapon was still there and if he could remove the warhead without vaporizing himself it would be short work to get it into working order. It was a shame the rocket itself had failed, but that was far less important.

****

Gregory washed the last bits of his human skin away. The bathroom mirror was cracked and filthy but he could see well enough in it. His scales, like those of any reptile, were darker on his back and lighter of his front. While no other physical changes had taken place the simple loss of hair and skin was almost more inhuman than a drastic mutation like James'. Still, his mind was clear. Or at least he thought it was. Can one tell when their mind is changing?

****

Courier found his old home to have suffered unduly in the intervening four years. Somebody had apparently set fire to the place as it was little more than a shell, charred wood and metal, whose roof would no long hold back the elements. And yet from within something glowed. There was perhaps a light or a fire within. A squatter?

****

Anna and Ashley got strange looks as they left Raider's. Most of them were clearly directed toward the plant woman but some were headed Ashley's way. There was scorn and sadness and fear in those looks and it was very unlike what little they had known of Newborough. They found an abandoned building with a mostly whole roof outside of the city wall. It was already dark and they had ceased to be picky. When morning came they were able to see for the first time that the wall and the buildings near it were all damaged, there had been an attack here at some point, and one that failed to repel the invaders.

[Courier]

Doug hovered for a moment. *Burned. If I'm very lucky she wrote on a wall where she went... or this person knows. Heck, if I'm very lucky that's her there holding a lightbulb.*

Doug said loudly, "Knock Knock. I'm looking for KB." Doug went inside.

[jameson (ST)]

"Doug?" The voice from within was alien and yet familiar. It carried the low rumble of thunder, the whisper of winds, and the crackle of an electrical discharge. Doug stepped inside. The wooden floor had rotted out in spots and in others it had been burned away. Doug picked his way through the remains of his home, following the blue white glow. In the remains of the bedroom he found a figure sitting up on the bed. Her skin was emitting a soft white glow. Her white hair flew about in a gentle breeze, her eyes, once blue, were now the pale violet of summer lightening, solid throughout and emitting their own glow. She was naked save the fog and wisps of clouds that clad her body in an ephemeral gown. "Doug? Is that you?"

[SalmonMax]

Ash watched the wall out the gritty, dusty window of the old house for a little while. When she saw Anna up and around she said, "I'm going over to the wall over there...see if anyone will tell me what's going on."

She glanced over her shoulder at the 'tree woman.' "You want to come with?"

[Gregory]

Gregory did not want others to see him this way. He remembered the reactions on their face before his transformation had finished, and could only guess that they would react with fear. He knew they would because that was how he would react. Instead, Gregory decided that if he went out, he would be stay hidden, surfacing only long enough to make contact with Doug and the others.

He also had an urge to destroy something. Shooting at a tree or rock might make him feel better.

Gregory dissapeared from view, and went over the wall to scout around and look for an isolated place that he could blow something apart.

[Joani]

Originally Posted By: SalmonMax

Ash watched the wall out the gritty, dusty window of the old house for a little while. When she saw Anna up and around she said, "I'm going over to the wall over there...see if anyone will tell me what's going on."

She glanced over her shoulder at the 'tree woman.' "You want to come with?"

Anna nodded at Ashley and tried to smile but there was always a haunted look in her eyes. While she moved her steps were carefully placed as if she could make herself appear less monstrous by treading carefully.

When they reached the wall Anna decided to let Ashley do the talking and hoped that their appearance wouldn't cause more trouble. The place sure looked run over by some attack.

[Courier]

Doug felt everything at once. Happiness and unhappiness. Hope and fear. Love and Hate. Relief and regret. Sorrow, grief, and joy. KB was alive, but she'd fallen and he hadn't been there to catch her.

*No... maybe she hasn't fallen. Maybe the disrepair of the house doesn't reflect her mind. Maybe this is still salvageable.*

Doug's voice choked with multiple emotions and he said, "KB? Yeah, it's me. They... they just let us out today." Doug started to cry and he said, "I came back as soon as I could. How..." *How are you?*

[jameson (ST)]

Ashley and Anna approached the remains of the section of wall for this part of the city. Signs of battle were readily apparent to Ashley, craters, blasts from explosions, scorch marks, bullet casings, and of course the simple ruin that the area was left in. Though neither had spent much time in the city they had seen the wall, an edifice of concrete, stone, massive wool piling and even scavenged steel or iron I-beams. Now it lay in tatters, torn and blasted apart by the hands and powers of beings that were no longer strictly mortal.

Nearby Gregory passed through the area headed toward the outskirts of town where he could be alone and destructive. He spied Anna and Ashley amid the ruin and wreckage and wondered who or what had attacked the town since they had gone. He wondered why the southern quarter that had once been full of thriving craftsmen was now silent and nearly empty even after the sun was up. What had they missed? They had been gone for only a little while after all...

[jameson (ST)]

The blast of wind threw Doug backward through the damaged two-by-fours of a wall and pinned him to one of the slightly more intact outer walls. "Stay out of my head!" she cried. Then as quickly as it came the wind dropped Doug to the charred floor. He looked up, too stunned to do anything more, and saw KB on the floor in front of the bed crying. "Are you alive? Am I seeing things? What is real Doug, can you tell me what is real?"

[Courier]

Doug thought somewhat desperately, *This doesn't mean anything, after four years of thinking me dead of course she'd be disoriented. ... Is that what happened? Did she get self destructive in grief?*

Doug sat up and tried to approach KB and put his hand on her shoulder. He tried to say soothingly, but there was an undercurrent of sorrow he couldn't keep out, "I'm real. They didn't kill us on the moon, they just, stopped time. It was minutes for us, but for you it was years. Oh, KB I'm so sorry."

[Persuader On]

[Gregory]

He began to ponder what could have caused the desolation he saw: I can be the moon-people.He thought, his head nodding in affirmative. They took the trinket-makers to make us poor and helpless. The explanation sounded plausable. A lot more plausable than them being gone for years when it was only a few hours. Stuff like that didn't happen, he told himself.

Gregory continued on his way out of town, satisfied with his own exlanation. He decided to let the others believe in whatever delusions had befallen them.

[jameson (ST)]

Gregory made his way out of town, his camouflage prevented anybody from noticing him and he slipped away easily. Outside of the city he a trail torn through the wood, trees uprooted, undergrowth burned. Gregory found tracks leading both toward and away from the town, some human, some not. It didn't take him long to conclude that whomever had attacked the city had come, and gone, this way.

****

As soon as his hand touched her shoulder KB simply collapsed toward him. As he touched her skin he felt a tingle of static electric charge. "Its all my fault. Why did you leave?" She repeated this over and over as she oscillated from between throwing weak punches at Doug to simply falling against him wracked with sobs.

[SalmonMax]

Unknowing of Gregory's passage not far away, Ashley picked her way into the damaged area to get a better look, then said to Anna, "Lets find someone who lives around here. I want to know what happened here."

She starts looking up and down the street for pedestrians or lights on in windows.

[Gregory]

Gregory saw a rather large rock about 15 meters away and fired at it with one of his force bolts. He missed the rock and impacted the earth next to it in a shower of leaves, dirt and pebbles. He frowned in frustration, vowing to hit it. To make sure that no-one could sneak up on him without him hearing, he pushed a small amount of energy into his perceptual acuity.

(Activate- Enhanced Hearing)

After 2 more tries, he finally struck the rock, sending small splinters of stone flying, but otherwise leaving it intact. Strangely, it did not make him feel better; he was now interested in where the trail went.

Gregory continued down the trail; couriosity getting the better of him. He wondered if they were refugees or bad people. Either way, he was going to investigate the situation further.

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: jameson (ST)

As soon as his hand touched her shoulder KB simply collapsed toward him. As he touched her skin he felt a tingle of static electric charge. "Its all my fault. Why did you leave?" She repeated this over and over as she oscillated from between throwing weak punches at Doug to simply falling against him wracked with sobs.

Doug held her sat down on the floor and just rocked making hushing noises. Rational thought and discussion would come later, if at all. Maybe, maybe he'd find out what was 'all her fault'. Now he'd be a rock she could pound on or find comfort against. Unnoticed tears rolled down his cheeks, she hadn't deserved this.

[Mr Fox]

Having determined that the nuke was still where he'd left it was a major relief. Discovering that it was still functional with a hour's work was even more of a relief. This time he wasn't going to leave it where it was however. Having brought his tools with him Raider spent the next three hours or so removing the warhead from the missile. This time around it would be ready when they needed it.

[Joani]

Originally Posted By: SalmonMax

Unknowing of Gregory's passage not far away, Ashley picked her way into the damaged area to get a better look, then said to Anna, "Lets find someone who lives around here. I want to know what happened here."

She starts looking up and down the street for pedestrians or lights on in windows.

Anna nodded at Ashley in agreement. She'd stay close behind Ashley prepared to defend themselves in case things went south. Anna was having a bad feeling about this - even more than usually. God only knew what had happened in the last four years of their absence. Things were not looking good for them... or humanity in general.

(ooc: keeping my eyes open for any sign of life)

[jameson (ST)]

Eventually the punches stopped, the crying subsided, and Doug found that KB had simply fallen into a peaceful sleep. He took a moment to really look at her and found that her hair was as much water vapor and wind as it was actual hair now. The glow from her skin had mellowed but it still provided a soft illumination to the room. His touch on her skin elicited a weak electric jolt, and after a constant tingle as though there were power barely contained within her body.

****

It took time but Raider had that in spades, or perhaps he had none at all. The Lunars had apparently mastered time itself, in the few hours that they had been back generations of war troops could be born, raised, and trained. Raider pushed the warhead out of the housing and into open space. With a thought and a bit of energy he aligned the quantum signature of the warhead to his own and then ... he was in his basement sanctum. The warhead thudded to the floor, he hadn't accounted for the mass. It was sitting there waiting only for an arming code and a trigger. A nuclear weapon capable of leveling the city, sitting in his basement workshop.

****

Ashley and Anna moved into the city once more but found that at their sight, or perhaps at Anna's, doors would close and mothers would drag their children indoors. There were frightened looks and scowls aimed at Anna and Ashely respectively. Something had happened and it was clear that aberrated novas were part of it.

****

Gregory followed the trail, it wasn't difficult, he was confident that an actual blind person could do so, though he did sometimes wonder why being blind was such a big deal, people still had ears to hear with and arms and legs to feel with. He shrugged and kept moving, his pace quick. The trail went for miles and while he was not tired he was getting bored.

And then he found the first body. The skeleton had been picked clean which made Gregory think that the person had died back when the path had been made. He looked at it closely and found what looked like teeth marks on some of the bones. He recalled watching wild dogs take down a deer once and how they had torn it apart, each moving away from the body to eat alone. This body was mostly intact. Gregory knew it meant something but he wasn't sure what.

[Courier]

Doug looked at KB for a while. It was both easy and hard to see the lover he'd left... four years shouldn't have done this to her.

Doug ran his fingers over KB's hair and got shocked again. He was too tough for it to be painful and he guessed she was immune to her own powers. He could live with this... but if they ever had children she'd have to ground herself constantly. Maybe Raider would be able to think of something.

A little voice inside of him whispered children were unlikely. Just like Anna was part plant, KB was now part wind and electricity. Probably not human enough any more. There were better odds Doug would have to kill his soul mate for being an aberrant. Doug pushed the little voice into a box then closed and locked it. Some possibilities didn't bare thinking about.

She wasn't dead, while there was life, there was hope... and perhaps hate. Raider had a nuke. The Loonies had a city on the moon. Several domes but the shockwave would... Doug mentally shifted gears. Hate was a poor decision maker.

Effortlessly Doug lifted KB up and put her back in bed. Then he looked around and tried to judge how long ago the fire was. Parts of this didn't add up. The city's other novas wouldn't tolerate a half mad woman living in a burned out building for very long. There was hope there, maybe this was just a really bad day that he'd made worse with shock.

Doug rotated the link to see how everyone was doing. *My place is half burned out. I've found KB, she's... sleeping, I'll try to talk to her about what's happened latter. How are you doing?*

[Gregory]

Gregory was not sure if the body was that of a traveller or a resident of Newborough. The body had been eated and left next to the trail. Something subconsciously was trying to alert him about the way the bones looked, but he was too focused on the teeth marks. He looked at them closer, trying to discover what manner of beast made the marks.

[SalmonMax]

(OOC note - Ashley is dormed at the moment, so she's not all glowy and stuff.)

"Looks like the city was attacked," Ash says, conscious of the obviousness of the observation, but not sure what else to say. "Anna, I barely got here before we went to the moon...do you know who's in charge of the city? Is there a mayor or council or something?"

[Mr Fox]

*Well, our food supply is where I left it and in good condition for having been deep frozen and undisturbed while we were gone. I've put it someplace safe and thawed it out in case we should need it. We really need some information on what has happened in our absence before we decide what to do. With the looks we were given when we arrived, I suspect the city has suffered an attack from York. I'm thinking there are no more novas in the city any more, but I don't know if that is because they won or we did. That's sheer speculation however based on very little info.*

[jameson (ST)]

Gregory looked at the bones for a while searching for clearer markings. Eventually he found a long bone, a leg that had a full imprint. The teeth marks looked human, or at least human like. He moved up the trail, taking the bone with him until he found another skeleton. More teeth marks, all similar. Aberrants? Novas? Humans turned to cannibalism? Whoever had consumed these people, it wasn't an animal. Gregory suddenly found himself feeling queasy for the first time in a very long time.