Aberrant: In the Beginning - Chapter 2 - And a day, and a night, the second day

[Titan]

London - 1998

Jedi, Wei Fang, and Michelle Rassner (aka Voltage), enjoyed a long lunch at Easy Mick's Diner. They discussed Aeon, and what it means to be a Novus. At lunch's conclusion, Voltage was invited to Aeon's facility outside London. They passed security at the gate, and pulled into the circular drive just as Pax returned from California. Introductions were made all around, but as they were about to enter, a young man appeared in their midst out of thin air. Pale, and shaking, he half-collapsed into Pax's arms.

"She said... Westminster... no..time. We... have to... hurry."

New York - 1998

Peter Bell, entranced by his work, finished another sketch after his meeting with Richard. As his eyes returned to normal, and his consciousness was restored, he stared at the page. Puzzled, he turned it this way and that. One large burst of light. Ultra-highlighted shadows in no particular pattern that he could detect. Yet, turning the sheet this way and that, he found that indeed he could see images in the seemingly random placement of shapes. One set against the backdrop of that famous square in London. Another at a nuclear plant, easily distinguished by the signature water cooling towers. The third... seemed to be at a very large Spanish villa. The London square... No... Atlantis....Peter scowled. Really, he felt that he should call someone at Aeon, probably Fang. The nuclear plant was probably Richard, especially considering their recent conversation. But, the Spanish villa? Atlantis? Peter just didn't know...

Avondale, AZ - 2029

Lieutenant Murray Ramirez of the L.P.F Corps, San Angelic Division raced frantically left, then right, then behind. He and the rest of his Tac-team did their very best to follow the bouncing quantum signature on their tracker. Hovering a half mile above the city, Ramirez stopped moving and just waited. Unreg 'porters often leaked juice, they had found. Sure enough, he was slowing down now. What a troll this bastard had been to track down. They had googed the woman quickly, as this unreg H.S.N. had apparently stayed in her cubic for several minutes. Fackin' 'porters, thought Ramirez. Finally, the quantum signature steadied. Ramirez moved in slowly with two other armored men, three more of the Tac-team staying back to cover. He was stopped, for sure. He saw the kid... cause that's what this unreg was, they mostly are, thought Ramirez. He saw the kid look up suddenly, the kid's eyes meeting Ramirez' through the faceplate. Shit! They started forward, Ramirez reaching out as he streaked a length ahead of his fellows. Several things happened at once then. He saw the kid try to 'port off of his boulder, and he saw the kid fail. He saw the kid's face fall, and he felt a hot stab of triumph in his heart. At the same instant, he saw the shining disc of energy dilate open, and saw the figure sliding towards them.

"NO!" But he could tell he was too late.

The hand reached through the expanding portal, grabbed the kid by the shoulder, and pulled. The portal contracted like it was never there.

Murray Ramirez stumbled on the ground, his retrojets fighting to stop him too suddenly. He looked around at his team. They shook their heads.

Undisclosed Cavern Location - 2029

After hours of discussion, Dr. Krauss went away. Thetis leaned back slightly. So much in motion. He could not understand how she kept it all in her head. He came forward.

"Is he the real one?" he asked. She shook herself, as if in reverie.

"Probably not. But one of them will be, or all of them. And that is what matters." She smiled at him, an insider's smile that said they were in the know together.

"Where now?" he asked softly.

"Home, I think. This was a good idea, but it is quite dirty," she wrinkled her nose a bit at the dust layering the boxes, and he chuckled.

"So, that's it, then?"

Thetis nodded in satisfaction.

"The last domino. Nothing left to do now."

He cocked his head thoughtfully, and raised an eyebrow.

She nodded, smiling slightly.

He sighed, then touched his tongue to his bottom left wisdom tooth.

"All security staff, this is Director Kata," he said grinning wryly at nothing, "as of this moment, you are to de-prioritize your current assignment, and carry out Proteus contingency operation Stigma-six-six. I say again operation Stigma-six-six. Confirm."

She stood, and he swept open his arms. She turned, facing away, as he wrapped her into a protective embrace. They vanished.

Zion Nuclear Power Plant - 1998

Geoff Martin attempted to hold his shoulder cam steady in the throng. This was not very interesting. He could see the scorn and skepticism on every face. Dawning skepticism, anyway. This guy had done some pretty amazing stuff already. He checked the viewfinder. Stevenson was still perfectly framed between the cooling stacks, relaxed, eyes closed. Geoff fought a yawn, checked the view finder again. Something on Stevenson's face. Effort, and something else. He leaned in, and zoomed. Oh there was definitely a struggle going on.

Around him, journalists continued to mutter quietly to one another. They may have missed it, but Geoff caught it on film. For a split second, over Stevenson's shoulder, a flame jetted out of a building, then... Only the high speed motion of the camera could have caught it. A blast of energy domed out from the flame as Stevenson raised his hands above his head. He... the film seemed to show him 'catching' the explosion, which froze in place for a long second, then pushed itself back along the path of explosion followed by a shrinking dome of kinetic blast. The plant looked fine. Stevenson collapsed.

It slowly occurred to Geoff that no one saw what he had seen. As people rushed the platform to see what the cause for collapse was, they remarked only on the collapse. Not one person even seemed to catch the flash. He would check the tape later, but there was for sure a flash. He moved in closer. Stevenson stood suddenly. He looked exhausted, but none the worse for wear.

"It's... clean." He said clearly.

The engineers would take a few hours confirming that the irradiated pile was indeed, shut down, and the water, clean. But Geoff believed him right then.

Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean - 1998

Dr. Angela Reeves listened with half an ear to the young woman's responses. Mostly, she was paying attention to the reports coming in over her earpiece. Kevin and Ramit were shepherding the sub in, and the leak was being contained. She nodded at something the girl has said, some witty bon mot. Over the comm, she received confirmation of the docking of the sub.

Over the confirmation, in face cutting it off, a woman's voice.

"Dr. Reeves, I have Mrs. Moss on the line."

Angela stepped back from the girl, and her assistant stepped into the breach, covering some old ground to distract her.

"Reeves." The voice held no quiver of age, but only the steel of command in a deceptively soft southern drawl.

"Yes, ma'am." She glanced at the girl on the table, and spoke softly.

"Let her go. Assist in whatever rescue is needed, and let them all go. Do you understand?"

The barest hint of a line appeared in between Angela's eyebrows, but she answered instantly.

"I do, ma'am. It will be done just as you say."

The connection was severed. Dr. Reeves only hoped that they hadn't seen anything too compromising. She didn't even contemplate not letting them go. But every report, damn near every bit of machinery was marked with the 'M' logo of Mnemosyne Corporation. She stepped back in, fielding the question that the girl had just asked Bryan.

"Actually, let's talk about getting you home, Juno."

Galatea's Child Orbital Station - 2029

Speed flipped a bird at the empty air. Pax had a way of making even routine trans into an effin lecture. The Darklighter guy was a win, couldn't the bastard see that? So, Pecs feels like something is hinky, and Speed is on the carpet for it. Unfackinbelievable.

Still, he scanned the board. He reached out and snagged an image from the air, and brought it closer. Suddenly, among the swirling frames in the air before him, one flashed red. Speed let go of the one he was holding and snagged the flashing one.

"Pardrid division, this is a priority alert, all L.P.F. Corps to the Supreme Court Building." As he spoke, two more frames in front of him flashed red.

"Dublondinburgh division, I need four L.P.F. Corps to the home of Justice Rousseau, and another four to the home of Justice Pfalzgraff."

He frantically pawed through the frames until he found a third red flashing one.

"Pax! What is going on down there? Bahrain is lighting up like a Christmas tree-"

WARNING - UNREGISTERED AND KNOWN UNSTABLE HOMO SAPIENS NOVUS DETECTED-

Speed started flipping through the various frames. One by one, they all turned red. They were here, they were on the station. Everyone that wasn't out looking for the sudden crop of Unreg, was instead escorting Darklighter to Bahrain. The bald, plastic-like head of his boss appeared holographically in front of him.

"What the hell is going on up there, Speed? The L.P.F. with us are attacking us! What are the orders that you are giving, you moron?"

Speed ignored the question.

"The L.P.F. are not responding, across the board. But we've got bigger problems. Security is down at Bahrain, and we're getting boarded."

Pax scowled. His nostrils flared, and he snarled.

"What do you mean, down?"

"I mean, nonexistent! There is nothing between you and the inmates, Pax, I'd get out of there if I were you. Plus, I can use your help up here. I've got six, no, seven unreg.. plus twenty seven known unstable. Aw, shit, boss, I've got Slider and Sascha up here!

"SHUT UP! What about Stevenson?"

"What?"

"The POWER GRID, you imbecile!"

Speed looked, his heart sank.

"He's... he's gone."

Pax looked grim.

"Then he's coming there. We're on our way."

Speed felt a touch on his shoulder. He turned around, and felt the hypodermic slip in between his vertebrae. A kid, and a slim, black haired woman. The woman withdrew the needle as he fell. A group of Novus burst into the control room. The raven haired woman turned to another woman, a redhead.

"We have the station. Open the gate."

The redhead shook her head, Speed saw through fluttering eyelashes. As he lost consciousness, he thought he heard her say,

"No, the Jaunt kid goes through first, so they'll be ready. Remember, kid, Westminster. Trafalgar Square."

Speed saw black.

,,

2029

The NUFU forces, led by Pax, retreated from Bahrain with the Purged, freed from their incarceration by order Stigma-six-six, hot on their tails. The Church of Ra breaks cover with the Supreme Court Novas out of the equation, and harries the retreat even further. All is not lost for Pax and his team, however. If they can make it to the Child, they can still turn this dog's dinner around.

They assault their own space platform, but are thrown back by the combined efforts of the novas aboard. Until Pax bowls through the defenses. He is unstoppable. He and his team fight for control of the space station, and seem about to gain the control room, when two things happen. One is that Jennifer Landers attempts to open a gate to the past. The other is that Richard Stevenson, the living battery, opens a gate to the station at the same moment. Jennifer is pulled into her own gate, which explodes wildly.

1998

Gates open explosively at Zion, at the underwater facility, at Ibiza, and at Trafalgar Square. The humans stop, frozen in time. The novas move as though through molasses, healing and helping unbeknownst to the frozen humans. Then they too slow and stop. The four corners of the universe seemed pinned at these gate locations. Wei Fang in Trafalgar Square noted her own freedom of movement, just as she became aware of another woman emerging from the gate. A middle aged, Asian woman, calling herself Thetis. As they spoke, another figure emerged from the light. An elderly Asian woman in a wheelchair, calling herself Elizabeth Moss. They spoke briefly of things that the rest of us should never know.

2029

Pax from 1998 arrived in 2029 with Jedi, Voltage, and others, to join the fray. His ability to quickly discern the right and wrong of the situation served him well here. It almost made up for the horror of seeing what he would/had become. It was during his toe-to-toe with FuturePax that the Galatea's Child lost orbital stability. As the station fell, those that could, ported away, taking out most of those who could not with them. A portal flashed open. Fahrenheit reached through, and exploded.

1998

Memories are somewhat piecemeal, but most Novas remember the moment when they were moving and regular people weren't. Many Novas emerged from the portal in Trafalgar Square with memories of the future. They rarely, if ever, discussed their experiences with those who weren't there. One among them did not return.

2029

Pax watched the ground rush up at him through the viewscreen. He didn't know how to work it, and didn't have time to learn. He was alone now. No one had come back for him. He thought maybe another portal would open, but no such luck. He sighed. Hated, in a world not his own, trying to make amends for a life he never lived. Hell, it sounded... romantic.

1998

Juno and Nathan emerged from the ocean amid a media frenzy. Michael Peters had given them a taste, and their re-emergence with the missing passengers of the downed boat, as well as most of the crew of the rescue sub, made them bona fide heroes. As for the.. other weirdness that had happened, well, they hadn't discussed it.

***

Richard was positive that he felt a benign presence that saved his bacon at Zion. First it was Cheryl and Mr. Bang fighting for his power at the worst possible time, then a familiar extremely powerful presence in his mind that effortlessly stopped... something. Something bad. In the meantime, though, they certainly seem impressed.

***

As she stepped forward to thank Count Orzaiz for his hospitality, a large shining disc appeared before Fahrenheit. In it's swirling maw, she saw Sascha. An older, harder Sascha, devoid of her. Devoid of Fahrenheit. She reached out her hand, and saw the older Sascha do the same. As they touched hands, she felt something inside her ignite the other woman, and the older Sascha flared up like a mini sun.

She disappeared as soon as she had appeared. Fahrenheit didn't know quite what to make of it, but it was obvious that Raoul and the Mathmatician had seen the woman as well. She would ponder this.

***

Jaunt, Joe, Wei Fang, Voltage, and Jedi emerged from the portal in Trafalgar Square into tumult. Again, the world was convinced that it had been saved, and again seemed willing to give the credit to the Novus from Aeon.

Later, in her room at Aeon, Wei Fang smiled enigmatically at the ceiling. She checked the time on her phone, then whimsically opened the back. There, behind the battery, she saw the stylized 'M'. She chuckled wryly. Motorola, a subsidiary of the Mnemosyne Corporation. This, as all things, would bear thinking about.