Aberrant: Phoenix Rising - Book 2: Chapter 5: The Final Cut

[Mr Fox]

Raider reached out to Doug, He Doug, you guys want to meet me at the medical center and we can make you citizens?

[Courier]

Doug said, "Raider figured out a way to make us citizens. Presumably that means we can open doors and the like. Shall we go?"

Doug forwarded that message to everyone on the link and added, *Sure.*

[jameson (ST)]

Doug rotated the link around, informing everybody of Riader's offer. Adam seemed to dismiss it with little more than a mental shrug as a reply. Contact with KB was once again fruitless and perhaps even futile but that was hardly a new development.

A short time later they converged on the medical center. The process aided by a series of blinking street lamps that guided the newcomers to the proper building. The foreign architecture was not uninviting but it was alien enough to make navigating quite difficult.

In short order each of the novas was implanted with a bio-computer chip that would allow the city to know that they belonged. No sign of the creature or person following Gregory could be found as they exited the hospital and returned to a park where Anna could feel comfortable

[Joani]

Anna was reluctant to return to the city and it took the others some talking and convincing to get her implanted with the chip. Once they returned to the park area where she had access to fertile soil she sat down on her knees and stared at the floor. Where her ‘skin’ made contact with the soil it grew roots which kept her connected with it. Petals flourished all over her shoulders and head but it didn’t do anything to improve her dark mood. Her eyes wandered over the floor to Ashley where they remained with silent accusation, then she quietly said, “You abandoned me…”

[SalmonMax]

Ashley blinked, taken aback by the accusation.

"What? Anna, I was coming right back. I just wanted to check on something."

[Joani]

„You abandoned me!“, Anna said this time her voice was getting angrier. “You just left me behind in this sick place… you left me behind all alone.”, the large tree woman had angry tears in her eyes.

“And now look at me what happened! How am I supposed to ever change back if I don’t even look human anymore? You lied to me!”, now she was accusing the others who talked about dorming down and thus having the chance of appearing normal and not inhuman like she did.

“You lied!”, Anna was angry at herself and at the world. What had she done to deserve this? She couldn't find a reasonable answer so she accused her friends... someone had to be responsible for this. Someone needed to be blamed...

[Courier]

Clearly at best uncertain, Doug said doubtfully, "Maybe dorm is still an option."

He added more forcefully and convincingly, "And this isn't our doing. This wasn't even your doing, any more than KB's was hers. Some lunatic made this happen."

[Mr Fox]

Raider shook his head, "This isn't helping. First of all this is one of the healthiest places on Earth, there's nothing wrong with it. Second, at least here we've got a chance to learn more about what has happened and find the kind of proof you were looking for."

[Gregory]

The chip-fitting process was the most bizarre thing Gregory had undergone. The machinery and technology were alien and he had no idea what any of it was used for. That it helped him gain entrance to all areas of the city, however, was something useful. Nothing was off limits for him to explore.

In the park, Gregory listened as Anna accused Ash of abandoning her. He wondered if Anna knew he was there.

"Anna.." Gregory said, his voice quiet and relaxed. "I there with you. You were not aba'donned...." An new word and a new mangling of it by his uneducated vocabulary made him vince inside.

"...I still dorm, even if I look like gold'n lizard." Gregory approached the tree-lady and gently planed his hand on her arm. "It will all be alright. No one has to leave you anymore."

[Courier]

Doug said, "OK, so we're 'chipped'... what does this let us do?"

[SalmonMax]

Ash was uncertain about being 'chipped,' but when the alternatives were to let it be done, or have security robots attack her, there didn't seem to be a lot of choices.

She joined Gregory then, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Anna, I didn't lie. I just went off to scout. I was coming right back." She sighed and admitted, "I should have told you though, and I'm sorry I didn't. An idea came to me head all at once, and I just had to check it out. I didn't think you'd even notice I was gone."

[Mr Fox]

"The chips will allow you to access the facilities of the city like the food dispensers and homes. This city is a wonder. It was built around the time of the burn to save the best and brightest of the Chinese citizens and to rebuild civilization. I think, that like the moon people they abandoned the rest of humanity. Only citizens of the city were to be allowed access to the place all others were to be kept out. The city's AI believes there is a high probability that there were offensive and defensive capabilities to protect the place, but that they were completely outside the control of the city. I would really like to find those and figure out if they will protect us from the Moonies or other threats. If they exist and can protect us that could give us a whole new range of options."

[Courier]

Doug exclaimed, "Rebuild civilization? REBUILD CIVILIZATION!"

With visible effort Doug got a hold of himself and added, "Right, not your fault or your doing. But these people... look around here. For the last century they've sat here, producing art and crap, while we've been starving."

"If they'd wanted to rebuild civilization they could have just done so. I'd have a lot more respect for them if they'd... never mind."

Doug tried to talk to his 'chip', *Testing... is anyone or anything hearing me?*

[Joani]

Anna was struggling to keep her composure. She was hurt and scared and the longer she stayed in this city the less she liked the idea of ‘settling’ permanently. The large tree-like woman smiled weakly at Gregory and Ashley knowing that they were right and she was wrong – but it still hurt.

“Maybe it’s best if I leave and never turn back. This is not my world anymore… nothing of this makes any sense to me… and look at me now. I don’t belong here, I’ve changed too much, why should I fight it?”

Something must’ve happened to her that made her change her mind. It was in her eyes and on her skin. The latest mutation ‘killed’ part of the Anna she used to be.

[Gregory]

Gregory sat and listened. He felt pity for Anna because she wanted to be accepted by everyone, but was rejected because she looked like an 'abbie'. Her worsening condition only made her perceived isolation worse. He wanted to help her.

"You can't leave." Gregory finally blurted out. "You are my friend and I will miss you if you do."

He looked at Anna and how lush and green she was. It was a pity that his peculiar effects would turn the park they were in into a barren land, which would be devoid of life, if he stayed for a long period of time. It would be him who would have to leave. He always had to leave- eventually.

He looked down at his feet and saw his answer.

Why is the grass already dying! It is too soon!

[Courier]

Doug asked, "Anna, where will you go? Wouldn't it be easier to build a place where you belong than to look for one?"

[Joani]

Anna looked down at Gregory and smiled. He had been always nice to her but something was odd with him. As she reached down to him she felt that he was killing the earth around him and that made her shy away from him. Confused by this she shook her head and instead of kneeling down she rose up again to her full height.

Facing Doug she firmly answered his question, “I don’t belong here anymore, Doug. This place is making me sick, it kills me. Why should I try and help you rebuilt it if all it does is kill me? Would you do something like that? Or you?”, she pointed at Ashley.

“No – it’s too late for me now – maybe it has always been like that and I just refused to accept it. All I know is – I don’t belong here and I can’t see how you will change that. If you want to rebuilt then start with the Earth and not with this.”, she angrily stared at the buildings and other constructions made by human hand.

[SalmonMax]

"Anna," Ash tried, "Can you help us? I mean, you say this place is killing you. Maybe, with your help, we can find some way to have a city that isn't so hard on things. Most people, me included...we don't have that sense of when something's bad for the world around it. You could help us balance all this out."

[Joani]

Anna looked at Ashley and considered her request for a moment. “I’m not sure…”, she finally answered showing some of the old Anna in her voice.

“I don’t know if I should… this all feels wrong to me. Humanity has never taken much care about the environment, about the land and what they destroyed. This war… it’s what mankind has deserved. We reap what we have sown and I don’t want to be part of this anymore. I don’t need this place and it sure doesn’t need me.”

The treewoman made another careful step to gain some more distance from Gregory and watched warily as the grass died around him.

“Gregory – please move out of the Park… you’re killing it.”

[Gregory]

Gregory watched helplessly as Anna backed away from him. "But..." Was all he could say before he put his head down and began to walk towards a group of buildings. As he walked he left a trail of dead and twisted plant life behind him.

Now they can follow me and find me... Again, thoughts of being stalked popped into his mind.

[SalmonMax]

Ashley hesitated, torn between two friends who were being forced apart by their own mutating bodies. A snide voice in the back of her head teased, Still want to spend some quality time with him? Guess you should have made your move faster; before he turned all scaly and radioactive. The more she tried to bring everyone together, the more it seemed circumstances dictated they had to be apart...to the point that Gregory now seemed poisonous to the very things that Anna needed to live.

Was this what was in store for all of them? Would they just keep drifting farther and farther away?

"Guys," she said; called after Gregory. "Using this power is a choice. It's a decision we make. We don't have to do it. I think the only way we're going to hold on to who we are...and what we are...is if we all learn to stop using it. We can live our lives as human beings. Here in this city. Just because we CAN be superhuman doesn't mean we HAVE to be. What good is having powers if they force us all apart? What GOOD is having powers at all, really?"

[Courier]

Doug sent to Gregory over the link, *She means you might be better off if you dormed.*

Doug had to admit there was some truth to what Ash said. And some falsehood.

Doug said, "What good? A few years ago we saved the world with them. It all comes back to the rock."

[Mr Fox]

Raider nodded, "Perhaps we should use them more sparingly. I think the world is Hot right now with quantum energies left over from the bomb, or whatever mutated all the novas. I've felt almost supercharged since we returned. That could easily mutate us more if we aren't very careful. Hell, I teleported all over the planet yesterday and didn't even feel the need for rest. That was a lot of effort, but I seemed to have come through without mutations, but then I've always been pretty careful about how I use my gifts. No reason you guys can't do the same."

[jameson (ST)]

Adam scoffed, he'd been quiet all this time but had reached his limit, "Not all of us can just shut off out powers. That dorming trick of yours isn't something we can all do you know."

[Mr Fox]

"I can't do it either, but you don't see me growing tentacles like James. Admittedly I do glow a bit when I use my healing ability, but that's the only manifestation I've developed that I've noticed so far. I just choose to use my powers carefully and only push things when it's absolutely necessary."

[Courier]

Doug said, "How many of us have actually tried to learn Dorm? I know the theory, I've never seriously tried to learn it. Seriously as in, spent 20 hours a week on it for several weeks."

"Maybe it's time we did."

[Mr Fox]

Raider shook his head, long pale hair flowing as he did. "No, I think it's time we got to the bottom of what's going on. Where did the big taint bomb come from, was it these people here, or the moonies. Remember we're still on a time table, we need to figure things out quick, they could have had centuries by now to work out our demise."

[Joani]

Originally Posted By: Mr Fox

Raider nodded, "Perhaps we should use them more sparingly. I think the world is Hot right now with quantum energies left over from the bomb, or whatever mutated all the novas. I've felt almost supercharged since we returned. That could easily mutate us more if we aren't very careful. Hell, I teleported all over the planet yesterday and didn't even feel the need for rest. That was a lot of effort, but I seemed to have come through without mutations, but then I've always been pretty careful about how I use my gifts. No reason you guys can't do the same."

“Are you saying that it’s my fault that I changed? Is that what you’re trying to explain?”, Anna asked Raider angrily.

“I never wanted this! Nothing of it – it just happened. It happened to me, I didn’t cause it!”, she held up her arms which were heavily covered with wooden bark.

“I used to be about 5’4” tall and of slender built – not this… this gross abomination I’ve become. How dare you claim that we just have to be careful? I didn’t even use my powers after we returned!”, the large tree woman was getting slightly bigger as she vented her anger. Her feet hat taken root with the earthen soil again and it looked like she’d be stuck soon if she didn’t move soon.”

[Mr Fox]

"I see. It just happened to you." Raider said it flatly clearly not believing. "You may not have intended to become this way, but it didn't just happen. It's all related to your quantum and how you used it. You might not have known any better, but you did do this to yourself. Denying it won't change the truth." He narrowed his eyes and spoke more harshly than was his normal custom. "The fact is you can wallow in self-pity, or you can work to change things for the better, the choice is yours. If you want help then maybe you should spend the next few weeks like Doug suggested and try learning to dorm, otherwise I'd suggest you move outside the city and find a nice place to root. For my part I'm going to be trying to come up with some kind of solution to the problems we face as a group, hell, as a species."

[Courier]

Doug frowned as a thought occurred to him. He asked, "Raider, if the world is hot right now, do you think some of this excess taint would go away if we cooled it down somehow?" Could KB be made somewhat more normal?

[Joani]

Anna glared furiously at Raider holding back tears of frustration. After a short moment of hesitation she set herself in motion and tried to move out of the city taking the shortest route she could perceive. She didn’t look back, she didn’t say a word, she didn’t say good-bye.

[Gregory]

Quote:

"Using this power is a choice. It's a decision we make. We don't have to do it. I think the only way we're going to hold on to who we are...and what we are...is if we all learn to stop using it. We can live our lives as human beings. Here in this city. Just because we CAN be superhuman doesn't mean we HAVE to be. What good is having powers if they force us all apart? What GOOD is having powers at all, really?"

I could dorm. Gregory said to himself. But dorming never stop all the abbies. I still killed stuff before. What good is that now.

Gregory stopped and looked back when Doug sent to him. He sent back. *I never told noone about this. Now it worse. I moved around alot before Newboragh, because I killed stuff if I live there too long. Now I kill stuff faster and dormin' never helped before. Why would dorm work now?

Gregory stopped and looked around. He was in a wide open space...and exposed to predators. Fear began to grab hold of him, as he began to move faster toward some buildings a few hundred yards away. A high pitched whine and bright light overtook his senses as everything began to spin.

Must get away. His breath quickened then...darkness.

(OOC: Gregory just collapsed. He is still in visual range.)

[SalmonMax]

Ashley closed her eyes for a second, fighting down the urge to explode.

"Great Raider. Just...wonderful. No wonder you live by yourself with only him for a friend." She nods at Doug. "You really think you're untouched by all this? Just because your body's not changing yet?"

With that, she took off running after Anna. "Hey, wait up!"

For a moment she just walked alongside the giant without saying anything. Finally she offered, "He's an ass, Anna, and not half as smart as he thinks he is. I'm sure I can help you learn to get back to normal. Okay?"

[Joani]

“Do I look ok to you?”, Anna barked back while she still tried to find a way out of the streets and buildings of this cursed city.

“He’s supposed to be the smartest so I guess he’s right. I’m an idiot and this is all my fault. You see! This” she punched with her fists against her chest producing a sickening sound that would have crushed Ashley easily, “This is all my own fault.”

Anna was growing and gaining size quickly and then punched a huge hole into the next building and tore the concrete apart as if it was made of paper.

“THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!”, she screamed angrily and cried.

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: SalmonMax

"Great Raider. Just...wonderful. No wonder you live by yourself with only him for a friend." She nods at Doug. "You really think you're untouched by all this? Just because your body's not changing yet?"

Doug felt like Ash had gut punched him. She... could be right. Doug glanced up and looked for the moon, something else they had to pay for.

[jameson (ST)]

"Smooth guys, way to keep the team together." Adam looked from Raider to Courier, "You going to find some way to blame this on the Moonies as well?" He shook his head and with a curt gesture a warp opened beside him. He looked at the two men, now standing alone, and then dropped through the warp to destinations unknown.

[Mr Fox]

Raider looked to Doug, "I'm sorry it came out so harsh, but it's the truth, and denying it will only make it worse for her and turn her into an aberrant even faster. She's barely functional now." He heaved a sigh and turned toward the big building at the center of the city.

"I'm going to go poke around more at the AI and see what else I can learn that might help us. Keep in touch if you learn anything."

[Courier]

Doug thought, *Looks like I've been dismissed. And Ash is right, I might be going mad. Or maybe it's just the world...*

*...I should probably follow Ash and Anna.*

Doug rose in the air and streaked after Anna and Ash.

[SalmonMax]

Streaks of light shot from Ash's body and twined around projections from the building and nearby trees and lamposts. They hauled her up into the air and level with Anna's face.

"Anna, get a hold of yourself!" Ash demanded angrily. "Raider's just one guy, just like the rest of us! He has NO IDEA what he's talking about! Look at me! This happened the second I erupted. I didn't choose this. This wasn't because I used my powers too much. Look at KB! She hardly ever used her powers at all and look what happened to her!"

Ashley drew closer to Anna's enormous face, looking a little like some kind of glowing spider or dandelion tuft. "Raider's the kind of guy who can't admit, even to himself, when he just doesn't know...so he made up this theory about how our powers work, and now he talks about it like that's it...that's the truth. But the REAL truth is that he hasn't got a clue what causes this." She sighed and admitted, "And neither do I. All I know is that when I push the power away, when I cut it off, all this..."

She indicated her glowing body, her incandescent eyes.

"It goes away. I look human again. I feel human again. If you give me a chance...me and Greg, maybe, if he wants to...I think we can teach you. But you have to be willing to stick with it, Anna. You can't just give up if there's some hardship. I can't promise it'll be easy. You have to be strong, and you have to be brave, and you have to be determined."

[jameson (ST)]

Raider blinked back to the AI. The computer room was bathed in red light and the computer screens, now freed from years old lockdown, showed Anna as she rampaged through the city damaging buildings and roads. When Raider interfaced with the AI intending to ask it further questions the AI spoke first, You must stop this. Your friend is damaging the city, destroying buildings and streets alike. I cannot allow this to continue. Stop this or I will need to activate the police robots to attempt to stop her."