Aberrant: In the Beginning - Chapter 3 - Pangaea

[Titan]

Aeon Society - London Facility April 12, 1998

Wei Fang

... awakened slowly, her awareness unfolding bit by bit. She lay quietly, feeling the rays of the rising sun move across her face. She glanced at her phone. No calls. No alerts in the night, no one had banged on her door. An actual, verifiable, full night of sleep. A slow smile crept lazily on her face.

Nathan

... sat up with a jolt, grabbing for whoever had a hold on his arm. They backed away quickly, and Nathan fought to blink the sleep away and focus. The figure resolved into Maxine Mercer. Blearily, Nathan smacked his lips. Something had pooped in his mouth while he slept, it seemed.

Belatedly, he realized that he was not in a bed, or even on a couch or anything. He was sitting at his desk. Apparently, last night he had decided that infiltrating a secret underwater lab, rescuing numerous people from a watery grave, and then playing host to an hour and a half impromptu press conference wasn't quite enough of a day. So, why not catch up on some research? He shook his head, then noticed that Maxine was talking.

"Sorry, what?"

"I asked you if you slept at your desk, but the answer to that is fairly obvious." She looked him over, shook her head and sighed, "We are hosting the U.N. delegation tonight, including the Secretary General. I need you sharp. I'm sure whatever you were doing was important, but you should get some real rest."

She turned, as though to leave his office. She stopped in the doorway, however, and looked back briefly.

"That was pretty stellar work yesterday, Nathan, but keep in mind that you're not a field agent anymore. I don't know exactly where everyone is on the Organizational Chart... hell, first thing we should probably get some sort of Organizational Chart... but I do know that you are up near the top of it. Try to remember that, will you?"

A quick smile, and she was gone.

Juno

...sat up quickly as the alarm went off. She rubbed her eyes furiously. Hector and Javier were coming back today, after a visit to home. Their house, their whole neighborhood, was still rubble. Just better organized rubble, now. Hector had gone to help, and to check in with relatives.

But today they were back. Juno wanted to meet them at Heathrow. She still wasn't sure how much of yesterday's events she was going to share with her father, though. One minute captured in Atlantis, facing torture, and the next fending off aggressive British journalists? Juno had to fight a grin. Maybe he would be better off not knowing.

She swung her legs off the bed.

Jaunt

...dreamed of the final battle on Galatea's Child. He had barely understood what the hell was going on, except that this was the way home. So he did it. He thrashed and tossed in his borrowed Aeon bed.

Pax, the future one, caught him up by the throat. He reached back a massive fist, and Devin tried to jump. He flickered, but didn't go anywhere.

"NO!" He felt the impact on his cheek and jaw, jolting him awake just as the rest of him smashed into the floor, tangled in bedsheets. He looked around the unfamiliar room for a moment, until he recalled where he was.

They had brought him here, he remembered, half dead with exhaustion. Someplace in London. Aeon. But in his own time, which at this point in his life was saying something. He wondered what time it was at home, and where he could find a phone.

Joe

...looked over what he had written. The irony of being back at Aeon was not lost on him, and he had carefully detailed everything that had happened to him, everyone he met, everything he remembered. He had not, as yet, slept. The bed looked inviting, but the sun was rising, and he didn't feel particularly tired.

Jennifer died, he thought. I'm pretty sure that she died. I wish I knew how it ended. Did we even win?

His stomach growled.

Voltage

&

Jedi

...nodded over their cards. Katalyst snoozed on the couch in the day room. He had gone bust over three hours ago, and decided to crash here rather than go back to his room.

Jedi looked at his pair of Kings. He glanced at Michelle, who smiled. He pushed half his chips into the pot. Her smile faded, and she looked thoughtful.

Voltage didn't look at her cards. She remembered what they were. Ace hearts, Jack hearts. Good hand, but this blighter had just pushed in five thousand pounds. She kept her face still as she thought.

"Call," she said finally. Surely Colin was bluffing.

He nodded, and she burned a card off of the top of the deck. Shee dealt out one, two, three card, and flopped them over at the same time. She named them as she straightened them out.

"Deuce clubs, King hearts, Three hearts."

Jedi thought he saw her jaw clench, but it may have been his imagination. He decided to slow play his three of a kind.

"Check."

Immediately she responded.

"Check."

He nodded, inwardly satisfied. She had nothing. He watched as she burned a card, then turned one onto the board.

"Seven hearts."

He promptly called,

"All in."

"Call," she responded right on top of him.

He scowled, then watched in wry admiration as she turned over the flush. She had him beat. He was out ten thousand pounds. He shook his head at her grin. She burned one, then flipped over the river card. They each dropped their jaw at the King of spades.

[Grimm]

"Bollocks."

Michelle's tone was more amused resignation than anger as she sat back in her seat, flipping a cigarette out of it's packet and catching it in her mouth. The tall blonde mock-glared across the table at Colin's beatific smile, one corner of her red lips curving up in a wry smirk as she leveled a finger at him. "Don't bleedin' say it, sunshine."

"Say what?" Colin asked mildly as he raked in his winnings. A grin was starting to break out around his calm exterior.

"You know what, you cheeky beggar." Michelle stood and stretched unselfconsciously, a valkyrie with red-streaked blonde hair, ripped BDU's and a grey sleeveless tank-top, cut high over her midriff and proclaiming "Atheism: a Non-Prophet Organisation" in large red letters over her chest. She fished in her pants pocket for her lighter. "Just don't-"

"The Force is a powerful ally." Colin said, the grin no longer concealed. Michelle groaned and wandered over to the sliding door to the patio outside, opening it to the morning air. The faint scents of dew on grass and the slight chill of an April morning in London filtered into the room as she stood in the doorway and lit up.

"Force, my arse." Michelle said after her first drag, blowing smoke from her nose as she gestured rudely at Colin. "That was bloody jammy luck, that's all."

"In my experience there's no such thing as luck." Colin replied as he leaned back in his chair and grinned openly at her. Michelle's eyes narrowed as she drew hard on the unoffending cigarette.

"That was another bloody quote, wasn't it? One of these days, my son... One of these days..." Voltage was grinning despite herself as she waved a threatening finger at Jedi. On the couch, Katalyst stirred and sat up, looking from the door to the table.

"Who won?" he asked, blinking owlishly.

"Ben-Wa-Kenobi over there." Voltage snorted, pointing at Colin accusingly. She finished her cigarette and stubbed it out before flicking it into the flowerbeds. "So when's breakfast? Colin might run on midi-chlorians, but I need my soss, egg, bacon and tomatoes."

[Nathan Dayes]

"Nm." Nathan pulled open a drawer, looking for Advil, then realized that Advil didn't work that well for him any more, so he decided to just bear with it.

The Secretary General. Well, great. This would be a productive use of time. Could be studying eruption reports, recruitment reports, or even hanging out with the others to get a better sense of their powers via mirroring - but, no, had to talk to the Secretary General instead. And the U.N. delegation, which would turn security into a nightmare.

All right, so the Secretary General probably knew a little bit about nova-related issues and probably wanted to know more. So it was like a briefing. Nathan was good with briefings, telling people what to think about everything. He only wished they listened a bit more.

He pulled open his closet and looked at the white blob that he called his Swiss Army suit. He didn't own a tux, but that was no trouble - he just needed to study some tailoring and the suit would suffice. As he changed out of his shirt and tie, and put the eufiber suit on, Nathan made a mental note to keep a closer eye on his condition. When copying the others, he could stay awake for weeks and barely feel it. On his own, he was barely above average. If he spent too much time around novus - or around baselines, come to think of it - he might start to forget that.

Once he was in a tux - or a rough approximation thereof - he pulled out some files on the Secretary General and other prominent delegates, and decided to read them on the go, strolling the Aeon grounds. Maybe he'd bump into the others, or into some new recruits.

[Titan]

Voltage

Jay 'Katalyst' King stood suddenly, and stretched hugely. He yawned, cracking his jaw, and smacked his lips a few times. He looked at Michelle quizzically.

"What's a 'midichlorian'?"

He shook his head.

"Never mind. I'm starved, too. Colin, you comin'?"

Jedi didn't reply, but kept stacking his chips.

"Kay," Katalyst stepped onto the patio with Michelle, "Let's cut across the courtyard."

They started across a fair sized lawn, crisscrossed with walkways, towards the opposite wing of the house. Jay raised his hand to a young woman in jeans and a sweater sprinting past them.

"Hey doc!"

She spun as she ran, almost tangling her legs and plowing into the ground. She caught her balance awkwardly, though, and waved.

"Sorry, hey Jay, hey... Jay's friend. I'm late for a results briefing with Dr. Mazarin, gotta go!"

She ran on. Jay spoke quietly to Michelle.

"That's Dr. Crick. Jane. She's studying teleportation, and why so many of us are developing it. She's nice, but a bit of a nut."

They approached the opposing wing, and walked up to a series of double doors of paned glass. Sweeping one of them open wide, Jay gestured inside. It looked like a corporate cafeteria. Several tables were filled, but it was mostly empty at this early hour.

"I'm not sure what 'soss' is, but I'd be willing to bet they have it," Katalyst said with a twinkle in his eye.

Nathan

Nathan flipped a page, and glanced at where he was walking. As he seemed to be on track for the stairs, but not there yet, so he glanced down at the file.

Kofi Annan. From Ghana... a twin, which Nathan had not known...wife is Swedish...

He glanced up in time to descend the stairs without looking like he was about to fall down them. He saw one of the strategists from the analytical section coming up the stairs. Jack. Only... Nathan knew better.

"Hi, boss." 'Jack' nodded as they passed on the stairs. Was that irony? A hint of emphasis on the word 'boss'. Nevermind.

His name means 'Friday'. Interesting. Started as a Budget Officer with the... well, well! A W.H.O. alum! He could use that.

At the base of the stairs, Nathan turned right. He began to glance back down when.. BAM!

He barely kept his balance, but the young woman who ran into him went sprawling, papers flying. She shook her head, dazed.

"Sorry, sorry, my fault. Late for a meeting with Dr. Maz- Oh, crap. So sorry Mr. Dayes."

She curled her legs under her, and swiftly began gathering her papers together. She seemed terribly upset.

"I should have watched where I was going, completely my fault."

[SalmonMax]

Out of habit more than anything, Juno went through the morning rituals of brushing her teeth and showering and so on. It felt good to be ordinary. It felt...adult. She was taking care of herself. Empowering.

She called a cab and caught it out at the gate of the compound, not wanting to cause a stir from the cab driver having to buzz in. It was likely Aeon knew where she was going and why...she just didn't want to involve anyone else. Her family was hers.

There was ample time to reflect on the differences between LA and London as the cab drove on through the looping, narrow roads, past buildings older than the nation of America. The funny thing, Juno thought, was that with all the old bricks and cobbles dating back centuries, London didn't look decaying. It was a well-preserved old, like Sean Connery. Dignified. Distinguished. LA, in contrast, was barely a few decades old and parts of it looked like it was a third world nation's slum.

Weird.

Juno slipped the cab driver a bill too large for the fare, put on her sunglasses, and jogged into Heathrow International. A quick scan of the television monitors told her when the flight was coming in, so she headed over to the baggage claim to wait it out. On impulse she bought a pack of British gum on the way there, and was bobbing her head to her headphones' music, blowing and popping baseball sized bubbles with the gum by the time she arrived.

And then she waited for someone familiar to show up.

[Stargaizer]

Joe stood up and stretched. After sitting at his desk all night, there were several of his normal morning stretches that he had to spend more time than usual working out.

After a stretch, he changed clothes; he didn't remember how long it had been since he had had a fresh, new set of clothes... though, technically it hadn't happened yet, or something. He decided on a set of blue jeans, a red t-shirt, and his usual black boots. Before he left his room, he took his notepad and stuck it in his back pocket. He didn't want to leave it anywhere that someone might find it.

Joe headed down to the cafeteria. He'd learned by now that he had to eat two or three times as much as he normally would. He didn't know where he put it all, but he was definitely more 'active' now than he used to be.

And he kept his eyes peeled for anybody that he had met 'yesterday', while specifically looking for anyone that he'd grown to know over the 'last month' or however long it had been.

[Jaunt]

Quote:

...dreamed of the final battle on Galatea's Child. He had barely understood what the hell was going on, except that this was the way home. So he did it. He thrashed and tossed in his borrowed Aeon bed.

Pax, the future one, caught him up by the throat. He reached back a massive fist, and Devin tried to jump. He flickered, but didn't go anywhere.

"NO!" He felt the impact on his cheek and jaw, jolting him awake just as the rest of him smashed into the floor, tangled in bedsheets. He looked around the unfamiliar room for a moment, until he recalled where he was.

They had brought him here, he remembered, half dead with exhaustion. Someplace in London. Aeon. But in his own time, which at this point in his life was saying something. He wondered what time it was at home, and where he could find a phone.

Panic gripped the sixteen year old the moment the floor brought him to consciousness. He rolled over on instinct, the lines between reality and dream still blurred by a body that wasn't fully awake yet and a mind that still screamed for mercy as it still believed it was being pummeled by a dream.

*THUMP* He flickered out in a vacuous howl of air rushing into void only to reappear in the same exact spot, panic stricken and pushing his ankles across the floor like a frightened child trying frantically to push himself into a corner. His eyes blinked rapidly and he looked about the room, his vision focusing on two separate realities at the same time.

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

In a panic he blinked in and out, in and out, the defensive corners of his mind screaming to 'get away!' but the duality of his perceptions left his node unable to focus and 'lock' onto a safe destination. In and out he Jaunted, disappearing only to teleport himself right back to the place he so desperately tried to escape from.

Finally his senses calmed. The heels of his hands were pressed firmly to his eyes as he tried to pridefully hold back tears brought on by his panic and fear. The young boy from Avondale, Arizona just wanted to go home. Not thirty years from now home, but home. With the parents he loved, the sister he loved and the school he hated. At the onset of his abilities he thought they were the greatest gift he'd ever received; finally he was somebody! Now...

Now he just wanted things to make sense.

His breath was heavy and he bordered on hyperventilating as he tried to speak, still blind to his surroundings. "Heuuugh...." He choked on the word as it passed his lips, more of a groan than a word.

"Hello!?!" A few deep breaths later and he was more successful. His eyes focused on the room and he looked around, not recognizing anything save for a few residual images from when he was carried in. "Someone!?! What. The. FUCK!! Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on!?!" He slammed his head back in frustration, smashing the plaster and puncturing the drywall with ease.

He looked around slowly, to his left, then right, then silently balled himself up. "S-sorry bout the wall..." he mumbled softly before burying his head into his arms where they rested on his knees.

Quietly he just sat there letting his mind get a grip on reality. Replying memories and thinking of the hows and whys and wheres of the past few days.

He never noticed the gentleman walk into the room...

[Nathan Dayes]

"Naw, my fault. My head was buried in a report." Nathan helped gather the woman's papers up. "What field are you in? I thought I'd met everyone in the Society but I can't quite place you."

[Jedi]

Colin continued to grin, he couldn't help it, whether it was winning at cards or making a great business deal, it just made him feel good. He'd spent so many years in the shadows as a hopeless geek, now he was the founder of a new and potentially mega successful corporation, and one of the world new supermen. ...if things work out like I think they will...

"Tell you what. I'll return my winnings to you on the condition that you go to work for Novus on a trial basis, for one month. If you decide you don't like it, you don't have to continue. What do you say? We already talked about how you don't want to be a 'sell-out'. That's fine. Just having you on the rolls as an employee for the month alone will be useful to me even if I don't find any work for you that you'll be interest in taking."

Every word true. It was one of the things Colin loved about this new business, no need to make a hard sell, or fudge the truth at all. It was a great opportunity and it was succeeding. It was like being Microsoft in 1985 but with no Apple as competition. He saw what was coming immediately and was the man in position to seize that chance. If felt damn good.

Plus, being cheeky with this crazy woman was just plain fun.

[Titan]

Juno

As Juno checked the TV monitors, a little girl nearby tugged on her mother's pants leg. Finally, the woman looked down.

"What is it, Clem?" She seemed irritated.

Clementine pointed towards the flight announcement monitors.

"That's the girl was on the telly, mum."

Three or four people passing by heard the exchange, and looked towards the monitor bank. Some of them began talking excitedly amongst themselves, and were in turn overheard by others. One of the teenaged boys in line asked his parents if he could go get a closer look at the Novus. They reluctantly agreed. He was joined by a pair of Japanese women outside the duty-free shop where Juno bought some gum. One of them snapped a picture of Juno paying. A man walking by checked himself, and got a better look at the young woman whose picture was being taken. He pulled out his cell phone. By the time Juno made it to the baggage claim area, a crowd of around twenty people were hovering nearby, watching her every move.

Belatedly, she realized that she was the subject of interest. She glanced at her watch. Twenty minutes. This could get interesting.

Joe

Joe only saw a few passers by on his way down to the cafeteria, and they seemed to be engrossed in whatever they were doing. None of them looked familiar. Entering the cafeteria, he saw knots of people sitting together. It was interesting to note that one could almost immediately separate the groups into subsets of 'doctors', 'bureaucrats', and 'Novus'.

Of the 'Novus' groups, of which there were two so far, there was a round table with a large black man telling an animated story to a pair of twin redheads, and a super good looking blond haired woman wearing a tee shirt that said 'T2M' eating with a slender, dark skinned man in a leather jacket and jeans. Also, entering from the side were another blond woman, and a tall, tanned fellow in camouflage U.S. Army pants and a green tee shirt.

Someone behind Joe cleared a throat, and Joe realized that the line had moved forward. He grabbed a tray, and put it on the slide rack in front of the glass case. The behairnetted woman behind the counter smiled sunnily.

"Mornin', luv. What're you havin' to start your day?"

Jaunt

Devin sat huddled on the floor, back against the wall, with his head resting on his knees. He thought morosely about where he had been, and where he wished he was.

"No one cares about the wall."

He jerked his head up suddenly at the voice, and saw a young man leaning on the wall opposite him. He was maybe five years older than Devin, and wore a tight-fitting purple shirt untucked over leather pants which in turn were tucked into knee high purple military style boots. His black hair was spiked up improbably high. Incongruously, he wore a white lab coat over the whole ensemble.

"Really. No one at all." He nodded to the wall above the bed.

"We are monitoring the room, because we feared for your health, but now that you are awake, perhaps you and I can try to figure out 'what the fuck is going on' together, eh?"

He slid down the wall until he sat on the floor, his arms resting lightly over his knees, a mirror of Devin's posture. He smiled gently.

"Let's start with names, shall we? No one seems to know yours. Mine is Guy Reynolds. The doctors call me Empath. I work fairly closely with them, though I am actually a test subject."

He grinned disarmingly.

"What is your name?"

Jedi

Colin made his pitch without looking up, collecting his chips. When he did look up, to catch Michelle's reply, he looked left and right. The room was empty, save for him, and the patio door was open. He half stood, and caught sight of Jay and Michelle crossing the courtyard.

He shook his head, and began to stand, when his cell phone rang. It was his lawyer. He answered on the second ring.

"Mister Chatham, sir. Charles Prichard here. I have filed the corporate documents, and the necessary disclosures. Your assistant, Miss Salisbury, has been most helpful. Is there any further service you require of me, sir?"

[SalmonMax]

Juno did her best to ignore the gawkers at first...but that lasted maybe ten minutes before the creep factor edged into red. Finally she stopped the music, yanked the earphones out, and looked around at the growing Oort cloud of onlookers.

There were...kind of a lot. Her eyebrows lifted quizzically, and she offered a little wave of her hand and a lopsided, wry smile.

"Hey. Just...meeting some folks," she explained, thumbing over her shoulder at the arrival/departure displays.

[Titan]

Nathan

The young woman continued to gather her papers, obviously embarrassed. She replied in a low tone, without looking at Nathan.

"Jane Crick, sir. No, I should have watched where I was going. I'm in applied physical sciences, Sir. Teleportation."

She seemed about to let it go at that, but as she stood with her papers at least gathered, if not precisely organized, she finally looked Nathan in the face and said,

"I'm pretty sure that they are exiting the universe as we know it, and entering zero space in order to reenter the universe at a different point. Basic re-engineering of Quantum Mechanics."

She brushed a bit at her jeans, and went on,

"It is similar, I think, to the geometry of a black hole, where the start point coincides with the endpoint."

She started to walk away, with the parting information,

"To an observer in zero space it would appear that the Novus was still, and the universe that was moving." She smiled.

Juno

A young man near the front of the crowd of twenty or so people stepped forward when Juno took off her headphones and spoke.

"You're my favorite."

As though it was the first crack in a dam, the crowd began surging forth, everyone with a question or something to say. They still held their distance, but the group was definitely edging closer to her.

"What exactly can you do?"

"Are you a healer?"

"My friend thinks you're hot."

"I saw you on the Daily Show. Your picture, anyway."

They were all talking over one another. It seemed that they pulsed towards her as a single entity.

[Stargaizer]

Joe turned his eyes from trying to figure out where he'd sit back to the line he was currently in. He flashed the breakfast lady a smile and shrugged his shoulders a bit before answering in a playful voice. "I'm eating light this morning, just two or three of everything."

The breakfast lady gave a chortle of amusement. Apparently he'd caught her before the day had a chance to wear on her temperament. She took his plate and piled it high with all the good stuff: pancakes, eggs, sausage, hash browns, ham, bacon, biscuits, toast, gravy, and all the other favorites. Joe took his plate and tray and got two glasses of milk, and a coke, and headed over to the table with the woman in the T2M shirt.

Joe remembered Juno telling him about T2M, and how it had a part in how things went down. He also remembered that it was Pax's baby. That could be a chance to get close to him... if it came down to that. Plus, being a part of that unit might help him gain the resources and contacts that he needs to find the people he's looking for... primarily Sascha or... what did she say, Celsius?... Fahrenheit! That was it, Fahrenheit. Who knew what he could do if he could find his future Sensei in this time.

"Hey there. Mind if I join you two?" Joe asked as he went to set his tray down. If they didn't mind, he'd set down and try and start a casual conversation, using the fact that he was new, and try to garner info about what was going on and if T2M had some openings and how he could join.

If they didn't want the company, he'd go find his own seat, by himself, and watch everyone else and listen to as many conversations as he could.

[SalmonMax]

Juno laughed self-consciously and held a hand up, taking an instinctive step back as the crowd got closer.

"Thanks everyone, thanks to your friend too, there. I dunno what to say...I'm just a regular person, mostly. The 'novus stuff' is just...it's new, and I'm still getting the hang of it. Anyway, I've gotta go meet my dad and brother. Besides, I don't want anyone to miss their flights, right?" She grinned, hoping the crowd wouldn't take it as a brush-off.

[Nathan Dayes]

"Zero space, you say?" "Something something, you say" was Nathan's favorite technique of keeping a conversation alive, even though part of it was over his head. He thought for a bit. "Well, keep in touch. If there's a commonality to all teleportation-based powers, then there might be a common way of blocking it. Let me know if you find out anything interesting, and good luck with the Doc."

As she walked off, Nathan nodded. A teleportation-blocking field would cut his list of unsolvable security issues down considerably. He continued on, reading through reports.

[Titan]

Joe

The blond gave Joe a sunny smile.

"Not at all, have a seat. I'm Renee, and this is Anibal."

The guy jerked his chin in Joe's direction, but was preoccupied with a pair redheaded twins at another table.

"Sup."

Renee looked over Joe's head and grinned.

"Ax-head! Over here!" she called.

A very young brunette, maybe sixteen, plopped her tray on the table.

"Hey guys," she said, then noticed Joe, "Hey, what's up? I'm Cecily."

Juno

As she finished her mini-speech, and the crowd pressed in at the boundaries of her personal space, a voice called out-

"Ok, that's enough! That's enough people!"

A man in a suit and a trench coat and an attitude that screamed 'Authority' strolled through the crowd flanked by a half-dozen uniformed airport security guards. He walked straight to Juno, while his escort began encouraging people to be elsewhere.

"Hello there, young lady. Might I tempt you with a cup of tea? Get you out of the main concourse, what say?"

Nathan

Dr. Crick nodded absently and continued on her way. Then, suddenly, she stopped stock still. She spun around.

"Blocking it? Blocking it. Ah, yes, I see what you... Well, I would need much more empirical data before I could even... Hmmm. Perhaps a more prolific teleporter than we have discovered so far might be instrumental... I shall have to ask Dr. Mazarin to let me know if... Dr. Mazarin!"

She spun around again, and took off at a run.

Originally Posted By: Nathan Dayes

He continued on, reading through reports.

While he reviewed the file on Secretary General Annan, his feet lived their own life, wild and free. He looked up, surprised to find himself entering the cafeteria.

[Jaunt]

Quote:

Devin sat huddled on the floor, back against the wall, with his head resting on his knees. He thought morosely about where he had been, and where he wished he was.

"No one cares about the wall."

He jerked his head up suddenly at the voice, and saw a young man leaning on the wall opposite him. He was maybe five years older than Devin, and wore a tight-fitting purple shirt untucked over leather pants which in turn were tucked into knee high purple military style boots. His black hair was spiked up improbably high. Incongruously, he wore a white lab coat over the whole ensemble.

"Really. No one at all." He nodded to the wall above the bed.

"We are monitoring the room, because we feared for your health, but now that you are awake, perhaps you and I can try to figure out 'what the fuck is going on' together, eh?"

He slid down the wall until he sat on the floor, his arms resting lightly over his knees, a mirror of Devin's posture. He smiled gently.

"Let's start with names, shall we? No one seems to know yours. Mine is Guy Reynolds. The doctors call me Empath. I work fairly closely with them, though I am actually a test subject."

He grinned disarmingly.

"What is your name?"

Devin looked at the picture of 'cool' he'd always thought he'd never reach. The guy looked like a rock star and the lab coat? Dude, only awesome people could make lab coats a fashion statement. Even his name, 'Guy'... too cool.

"De..." He thoguht for a second, replaying the man's words in his head. No one knew who Devin was, and if no one knew who he was than if he got trouble no one could find him... or his family. He collected his thoughts, still feeling dizzy from jaunting in and out of the space time continuum. Wait! jaunting in and out...

"Jaunt." He said finally.

The guy cocked an eyebrow, but quickly understood the boys intentions to mask his identity. He was scared, confused, and sure as hell didn't know who to trust. "Jaunt, huh?" He smiled again. "Fair enough. Nice t'meet you."

"Where am I? What's going on? Am I still in thirty years from now, then... whatever?" His questions came as a volley of words, almost too much for Empath to keep up with. "Did I get my butt whooped by a bald guy? Is that how I got here?"

[SalmonMax]

Juno eyed Trenchcoat skeptically.

"Look, I need to be at the baggage claim in like fifteen minutes. I'm sorry about the fuss...I didn't think anyone would recognize me."

[Titan]

Jaunt

Empath nodded with understanding, if not of the questions themselves, of the confusion driving them. His whole being, his face, his body, all showed how closely he was listening to what Devin was saying. How much he cared about helping Devin solve the problems he was facing.

"You are in a secure facility outside of London, England. Several dozen Novus have come here from all around the world for testing and fellowship."

He cocked his head and smiled gently.

"As for how you got here, I can only tell you that a large gateway of some kind opened up last night in Westminster. Only Novus were aware of it, as the population at large seemed to have frozen in their steps. From what I understand, you appeared here, in the driveway, and led several Novus to the exact spot where the portal opened, and led them inside. When they came back out, you were with them, half dead with exhaustion."

He twined his fingers together, cradling his knees with his arms.

"And that's all I know."

Juno

Trenchcoat nodded.

"I understand. However, just over there -" He gestured towards a wall behind the baggage carousels, where a large mirrored window dominated, "You could watch for your party unseen."

He glanced around the terminal. Most of the gathered crowd had been dispersed, but there were still a few passers by who stared.

"Alternately, I could wait with you. Either way, we don't want your safety or privacy at risk, Miss Reyes."

[z-Wei Fang]

Fang slowly sat up. She missed, with sudden acuteness, her morning Tai Chi sessions. They were from another life, but as she rose from her bed with the gravity of a rose bud unfolding, she desired to have that piece of it back. Still, wishes were just that – empty desires. Or so they would remain unless she found another Tai Chi class.

She drifted through her shower, enjoying the sensations of being well-rested and clean. Her mind wasn’t at rest, though; it was racing ahead to what she needed. There was so much to be done, and little time in which to do it – or little time in which to move forward and outpace others. Her stomach tightened at the possible disasters that could arise, but she forced herself to calm.

First, it was time to see what transpired in the night, so as to have the latest information to draw from.

[SalmonMax]

Juno sighed and rubbe the back of her head.

"My saftey's just fine," she said resignedly. "But I guess the last thing you guys want is a big crowd of people following me around the airport." With a gesture toward the mirrored windows, she added, "Lead on."

As they walked over, Juno commented, "You British guys must all watch the news every night. I've only been on it once or twice and now this happens."

[Stargaizer]

Joe sat down and smiled at everybody. "My name's Joe, nice to meet all of you." If someone had told him 'a few days ago' that, as a matter of fact, he would be sitting and eating breakfast with two women that were this beautiful, he would've had you committed. Of course, if you had told him that he'd be able to control the four elements and that he would train with a gigantic sea creature (man turned sea creature, but still...), he would've reacted even more strongly.

Instead, he started a casual conversation, or at least he tried to be casual as he gathered the information that he thought he needed. He spoke directly to Renee (unless, of course, anybody else at the table had a T2M shirt on), "So, I noticed your 'Team Tomorrow' shirt. Pretty cool group isn't it, running around the world, saving people and generally making this a better place to live?" Joe's tone was genuine, and he smiled as he stuffed his face waiting for an answer.

[Titan]

Fang

Fang sat at the computer in her room, reviewing the 'intelligence' reports. Not true intel in any sense of the word, the news retrieval program still gave her some idea as to what larger forces were at work in the world. She began with broad strokes, just to get an idea of what she was looking at. For example:

In Romania, the new Prime Minister, Radu Vasile, announced a new economic program designed to restore domestic and foreign confidence.

In Sudan, student conscript Bakri Dahab, who showed signs of the Galatea Effect during an attempt to escape Ailafoon camp on April 2, was brought to Khartoum under heavy guard and, from reports, heavily sedated.

In the Ukraine, a gas explosion at the Skochinsky coal mine outside Donetsk killed 63 men.

Richard Butler, chief arms inspector for the U.N. in Iraq again refused to certify that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction have been destroyed.

In Beijing, talks resumed between South Korea and North Korea on economic aid and other issues.

In western Uganda, rebel forces who were short of food began abducting people from villages and resorting to cannibalism.

In Rwanda, it was reported, though not confirmed, that Gahiji Mugabe, a Hutu, killed 28 soldiers and wounded 36 in a refugee camp when his Galatea Effect manifested itself.

Cuba restored relations with the Dominican Republic.

The Russian Parliament rejected President Yeltsin's nominee, Sergei Kiriyenko, for Prime Minister 186 to 143. Yeltsin renominated Kiriyenko, with another vote scheduled within the week.

Hmmm. That last struck a chord in her. She had predicted Kiriyenko in her last report in Beijing. She still felt that he would succeed in a later vote. However, that particular piece of the puzzle may be no more or less important than the rest. She must consider where to begin. This one. It nagged at her, somehow.

A Russian space ship blasted off from Kazakhstan early this morning, transporting a Nasa astronaut and two cosmonauts to the Mir Space Station. That made this the... eleventh launch this month so far.

Fang paused.

Could that be right?

Juno

They walked briskly to a door marked 'Authorized Personnel Only'. As they walked, Trenchcoat took a black wallet out of his pocket. He showed it briefly to Juno. The shield and id inside named him Aidan Lynch, Senior Preventive Officer of HM Customs and Exise.

"I don't think you Americans watch quite so much telly as they say," he said, looking at her with incredulity, "There isn't a channel on that hasn't every scrap of Novus footage playing over and over as much as they can possibly make occasion for."

Lynch shook his head at her naivete, and continued.

"They interrupt the afternoon stories to show any new Novus developments. Everyone knows who ya are, Juno Reyes."

His Irish accent broadened a bit as he swiped his badge on the sensor by the door. The door clicked, and Officer Lynch waved her inside. This room was largish with viewscreens on one wall showing various views of the airport, changing every few seconds. Two knots of half a dozen men gathered in front of the screens. There was a half kitchen against the near wall, and Lynch waved one of the men to the tinted window.

"Watch for her Father while I pour us a cup of tea, won't you Kinsey?"

He walked toward the kitchen area.

Joe

Renee grinned at Cecily.

"They've heard of us! Nice!" She seemed ecstatic.

Cecily looked at Joe skeptically. She seemed on the verge of saying something, but Anibal leaned suddenly over his eggs, slamming his feet onto the floor loudly. He peered lazily over his shades at the two women, then included Joe with a glance.

"Let me ask you a question."

Renee closed her mouth suddenly, and turned sideways, facing Cecily. She pulled her pager from her jeans, and looked at it. She looked back at Cecily.

Anibal smiled at Joe.

"Did you know those chicas aren't twins?" He looked lasciviously over his shoulder. Renee glanced down at her pager.

Anibal shook his head slowly.

"They're the same girl! Can you imagine it?"

Renee looked sharply up at Cecily. Cecily nodded.

Anibal finally looked at the girls in exasperation.

"What?!?" He said explosively.

They turned to look at him. They shrugged in unison, then looked at each other in surprise and burst into manic giggles.

Anibal turned to Joe, a horrified puzzlement on his face.

"Do you understand girls? Because I never will."

[Stargaizer]

Joe chewed, swallowed, then smiled at the girls when they seemed pleased that he'd 'heard' of them (If only they knew). He was happy to be able to bring some pleasure and/or sense of accomplishment to them.

Of course, as breakfast continued, his smile grew smaller and smaller, and his look of confusion grew larger and larger.

When Anibal rejoined the conversation, or at least when he became more aware of the people at the table with him, Joe listened and tensed just a little, afraid that he'd said or done something to draw the ire of this man. However, once he figured out that this guy was just thinking with his 'short sword', he relaxed again. Maybe sometime in the future, Joe chuckled at that thought, if he could change it, he might find a woman and settle down. Until then, Anibal would have no competition from Joe.

The girls, they seemed to share whole thoughts with each other with simply a look; and their apparent conversation wasn't lost on Joe. However, he didn't want to just blurt out the question, so he tried to slide it in, casual like.

He replied to Anibal, "No, never really have. Of course, with girls that can read each other's mind," He paused and gave a quick glance to see the girl's reactions before continuing. "Or ones that can... multiply... clone... replicate! Ones that can replicate or ones that can fly through walls and become invisible..." Joe just shook his head and shrugged. "I think that if a man ever actually, fully understood a woman that the universe would implode in on itself. So I say just work with what'cha got."

It was here that Joe actually included the girls in on the conversation. Looking back and forth between Renee and Cecily he finished with, "Of course, some women take pity on us and make it a bit easier." Hopefully that would break some of the ice and make the women feel more at ease and in control; and hopefully he'd be able to gather the information that he needed.

Maybe they'd even invite him to join T2M... who knew...

[SalmonMax]

"I don't really watch TV," Juno admits as she sits down at the little square table up against the wall in the kitchenette. After pushing a little bag of saccharin around, she gets restlessly back to her feet and goes over to the Wall-O-Monitors.

"So you can see the whole airport from here, huh?" Juno asked, scanning the images curiously. "How do you keep track of it all?"

[Jaunt]

Quote:

Empath nodded with understanding, if not of the questions themselves, of the confusion driving them. His whole being, his face, his body, all showed how closely he was listening to what Devin was saying. How much he cared about helping Devin solve the problems he was facing.

"You are in a secure facility outside of London, England. Several dozen Novus have come here from all around the world for testing and fellowship."

He cocked his head and smiled gently.

"As for how you got here, I can only tell you that a large gateway of some kind opened up last night in Westminster. Only Novus were aware of it, as the population at large seemed to have frozen in their steps. From what I understand, you appeared here, in the driveway, and led several Novus to the exact spot where the portal opened, and led them inside. When they came back out, you were with them, half dead with exhaustion."

He twined his fingers together, cradling his knees with his arms.

"And that's all I know."

The young man tried to add all that up in his mind but it was obvious things weren't 'clicking'. "Bu-bu... I can't open portals. Frozen? Dude, I'm just a kid. I don't know anything about portals or people frozen, I don't remember any of that."

He shook his head as the confusion and frustration finally weighed in upon him. A slight crack in his voice and a few tears streamed from moistened eyes while the fear of never having any answers finally set in. "I just wanna go home, man. Mom's gonna kill me..."

[Nathan Dayes]

"Hmm." Nathan frowned, as he lined up for some food - his appetite thankfully back to normal-for-him after having gone a few hours without mirroring. He flipped through reports, his frown deepening.

Looks like inefficiency out the yinyang. No one on the doctor's side talking to each other. No one on the doctor's side talking to the analysts. Look at all these volunteers, just getting paid enormous amounts of money to do nothing half the time. Remind me again why those contractors kept telling us CIA spooks how efficient private enterprise was, again? Gotta find a way to tune this engine up. Secrecy's inevitable, but...

He pulled out his phone, and dialed up Wei Fang's personal extension. He ordered two burgers and a coffee and waited for her to pick up.

[Titan]

Joe

Cecily tossed her dark hair over her shoulder. She glared.

"I can't read minds."

"I can. He's half right. He's smart, plus he mentioned her," Renee said slowly.

Cecily looked daggers at her.

"Shut up!"

Anibal leaned over the table, and hissed.

"Both of you shut up!"

A tense moment passes slowly, the trio glancing around at the other diners and then, casually, back to Joe. Renee laughed, suddenly.

"So, uh...," she said, "anyway..."

Juno

Lynch set a cup of tea in front of Juno, and surveyed the array. He took a sip of his own cup and then gestured at the men- some uniformed, most not- who stood in two groups watching the monitors. Some were consulting with one another, within the groups. Most stared avidly at this screen or that one. There was at least one fellow consulting three or more screens, one after another.

"We have computers," Lynch said, "and we have men. Some fellas like the computers. They can scan the faces, or whatever it is."

His expression as he took another sip of tea showed how much he thought of that particular bit of technology, thank you very much. One of the groups of men had now merged with the other. Three men broke off, ran from the room.

Lynch raised his eyebrows, spoke to Juno.

"Me, I fancy men."

He glanced at her. Then grinned.

"Not that I fancy men, you understand." He chuckled, then mock-whispered, "Or only sometimes."

He roared with laughter. One of the men approached. Lynch still chuckling and shaking his head at his own wit, turned first to the tinted window.

"Anything for me, Kinsey?" he asked. Kinsey shook his head.

"Sir," the approaching office said, "We've got him, we're pretty sure."

"One moment," said Lynch, "Kinsey?"

"No."

Lynch sighed.

"Go ahead."

"Coming through the sort room now. We think-" The man broke off as Kinsey turned from the tinted window, and Lynch held up a hand. Kinsey nodded.

Lynch turned to Juno, and smiled.

"Your father is here, Juno. It has been a pleasure to have met you."

He turned away and walked briskly away with the other officer.

Kinsey gestured towards the door Juno had come in, very lightly touching her elbow, as though to escort her in the traditional sense.

"Right this way, Miss."

Jaunt

Empath smiled in perfect understanding of Jaunt's plight. The two young men, sitting across from one another, one has just confided in the other. Almost a hallmark moment. Empath opened his mouth, and the node that had appeared in Guy Reynolds brain three weeks previous prepared to imbue the words that would issue forth with such reasonableness and sympathy that anyone would have to see the sense in them, and laugh.

And that moment could have led to another, and things would have been very different. But that is not what happened.

The door burst open, as Empath began to speak. A woman, crazy contraption wrapped around her head, covering her eyes. She looked this way and that, finally seizing on Jaunt's location.

She froze, and threw her arms up to either side of her, as though to ward off the myriad bystanders from pressing in too close. She spoke loudly.

"I need him! Don't make any sudden moves, and don't scare him, dammit, I NEED HIM!"

Nathan

Groups of doctors to his left, groups of analysts and the administrative team to his right. Nathan saw Novus in knots of three or four throughout the cafeteria. Though early, it seemed like there was either too much urgency or not enough. In his ear, the phone rang.

[Jaunt]

Quote:

Empath smiled in perfect understanding of Jaunt's plight. The two young men, sitting across from one another, one has just confided in the other. Almost a hallmark moment. Empath opened his mouth, and the node that had appeared in Guy Reynolds brain three weeks previous prepared to imbue the words that would issue forth with such reasonableness and sympathy that anyone would have to see the sense in them, and laugh.

And that moment could have led to another, and things would have been very different. But that is not what happened.

The door burst open, as Empath began to speak. A woman, crazy contraption wrapped around her head, covering her eyes. She looked this way and that, finally seizing on Jaunt's location.

She froze, and threw her arms up to either side of her, as though to ward off the myriad bystanders from pressing in too close. She spoke loudly.

"I need him! Don't make any sudden moves, and don't scare him, dammit, I NEED HIM!"

He about pissed himself. The lady burst through the door and Jaunt literally 'jaunted' to his feet, displaying his ability to adjust his posture through teleportation.

Before hand he managed to say "Namoria!?" in a vain hope that the woman's voice was hers... but quickly that dream was shattered.

"Woah... lady... sweet head gear, but uh, we were just in the middle of something." He backed away a step or two holding out his hand in the universal 'keep your distance' gesture. His other arm wiped away tears. He looked about as what she said processed in his mind. "Need me for what? What's going on?"

[Stargaizer]

Joe looked a little sheepish and defensive at Cecily's glare. Then there was Renee's statement, about a her that he didn't know who they were talking about (unless it was the one that Anibal was looking at or Wraith whom he'd seen on the news and met briefly in person).

Either way, Joe was glad for the rescue. Of course, he now knew at least one of Renee's powers and one of the powers that Cecily didn't have. That was a step in the right direction.

At Renee's hesitant attempt to change the subject, he figured he'd go back to the first topic of conversation. "So, uh, you're a part of Team Tomorrow. Are all of you, or just you Renee? Sounds like it'd be a cool thing to be a part of, you know, a better tomorrow today and all that? Helping people, stopping disasters, sounds pretty neat."

[Titan]

Jaunt

The woman reached up behind her head and did something. Some sort of escaping gas *hissed* as the helmet split into three separate parts. The woman placed her palms on either side and lifted it off of her head. Now that he could see her face, Jaunt realized that she was much younger than he had first thought, and not unattractive.

"Yes, the helmet is nice," she said absently, throwing it onto the bed. She glanced back at Jaunt, and seemed to realize who she was talking to. She held up her hands in the universal 'I mean you no harm' gesture.

"Yes, I need you. Do. Not. 'Port."

"Dr. Crick?" Empath put his hand on her arm. She leaped into the air, obviously startled out of her wits.

"Good lord, shut up and get out of this- oh my... Guy?" She peered into his face, recognizing him. "What are you-" She looked sharply at Jaunt, then back to Empath.

"Lord, is it that bad?" She looked concerned at Jaunt, "Are you that bad?"

She shook her head, and her head in turn seemed to shake her whole body, much like a dog drying itself after an ill-advised dunk in the lake. She held out her arms and turned her back on Empath.

"I don't care. Don't care!"

She froze, and turned to Jaunt slowly.

"I. am. " She paused, to think, "the Chief Researcher, here at Aeon, into the phenomenon known as teleportation. And, I just need you. I just do. I won't hurt you in any way. I just want to watch you do it, and see if I can figure out how you do it, and I need you to stay here and help me in your spare time, please just tell me what is that you want, and I will make them give it to you."

She seemed to run out of steam, and was looking at Jaunt the way a poor child looks at the expensive present that they know their parents will never, ever, buy them in a million years. But, there is that one miraculous chance.

Joe

The trio's reactions covered the whole spectrum. Anibal shrugged, as though he could care less. He went back to scoping the redheads.

Renee grinned and fairly bounced in her seat. "I think so! I think it will be very cool, and very helpful to the world, once Pax has it all put together. And I'm going to get in on the ground floor."

Anibal tossed back to the table, "I'll probably hire on with Jedi. Until I can get my own thing going, anyway."

Cecily snorted in derision. The sixteen year old seemed disgusted with what they both were saying. She pointed her finger at Renee.

"First of all, fuck Team Tomorrow. It sounds like working at the Gap. No, thanks."

She turned to Anibal, pointed at him.

"And second of all, fuck Jedi. He's just trying to make a quick buck off of your back."

She looked at them conspiratorially.

"I'm going to probably work with her."

[SalmonMax]

Juno glanced at Kinsey, and realized she'd been watching Lynch walk away. His exit had been so...sudden. One second he'd been cracking kind of lame, but still kind of funny, jokes. Then it was all, wam, bam, your dad's here gotta go.

"That was like...five minutes," Juno informed Kinsey sourly. "Is it just me, or was that Shakespeare in the park?"

Kinsey's brows beetled together as he tried to figure that one out. "What?" he finally asked.

"A whole lot of drama, for nothing."

Juno walked past the still confused British airport security officer and out towards the tall, skinny figure she recognized right away. She shifted to a run halfway to him...careful not to overdo it...and launched herself into a hug as she reached him.

"Dad!"

[Jaunt]

Quote:

The woman reached up behind her head and did something. Some sort of escaping gas *hissed* as the helmet split into three separate parts. The woman placed her palms on either side and lifted it off of her head. Now that he could see her face, Jaunt realized that she was much younger than he had first thought, and not unattractive.

"Yes, the helmet is nice," she said absently, throwing it onto the bed. She glanced back at Jaunt, and seemed to realize who she was talking to. She held up her hands in the universal 'I mean you no harm' gesture.

"Yes, I need you. Do. Not. 'Port."

"Dr. Crick?" Empath put his hand on her arm. She leaped into the air, obviously startled out of her wits.

"Good lord, shut up and get out of this- oh my... Guy?" She peered into his face, recognizing him. "What are you-" She looked sharply at Jaunt, then back to Empath.

"Lord, is it that bad?" She looked concerned at Jaunt, "Are you that bad?"

She shook her head, and her head in turn seemed to shake her whole body, much like a dog drying itself after an ill-advised dunk in the lake. She held out her arms and turned her back on Empath.

"I don't care. Don't care!"

She froze, and turned to Jaunt slowly.

"I. am. " She paused, to think, "the Chief Researcher, here at Aeon, into the phenomenon known as teleportation. And, I just need you. I just do. I won't hurt you in any way. I just want to watch you do it, and see if I can figure out how you do it, and I need you to stay here and help me in your spare time, please just tell me what is that you want, and I will make them give it to you."

She seemed to run out of steam, and was looking at Jaunt the way a poor child looks at the expensive present that they know their parents will never, ever, buy them in a million years. But, there is that one miraculous chance.

"Well..." Jaunt started, looking more and more confused by the moment. Once he saw she was cute he did the macho thing and quickly wiped his eyes dry in an attempt to regain his composure. "Let me tell you what I could use right now. One. Date and time, please? In what feels like the past twenty four hours to me has apparently been a trip to thirty years from now, and back again. I've no idea what to believe at the moment people..."

"Two." He flashed a second digit. "Some sanity... please, people! If you guys have a tub of sanity gravy back there anywhere and a big ol' mental stability biscuit I could use to sop it up with, that's be great! I'm alone, confused and scared half to death guys, gimme a damn break here! Doc Jordan here looks like she just bust in from a scene from Star Trek meets Real Genius," He looked at the camera Guy pointed to earlier. "And you send my Robert Smith as my 'case worker'!?" He looked to Guy and held out an apologetic hand. "Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Cure fan."

"Three." A third digit came up and kept the room's occupants at bay. "A hot meal, some cool clothes like Empath here is sporting," Constantly waking up in hospital gowns was getting a bit much for the poor kid. "And from there we can sit at a table, you can tell me what the hell an Aeon is, why you want my help, who you people are, and how helping you is a good idea. We green?"

"Four." He sighed. "An alaby... my freakin' parents are going to kill me when they find out I'm in London. I don't really have boundaries on where I can and can't go with my friends, y'know, since I have my license now, but I'm pretty sure seven time zones is going to stretch their leniency a bit!"

He looked to the doctor and grinned as politely as he could. "Look, I'm not going anywhere, okay? Not at the moment. I'm almost butt naked, again, confused and full of questions. So, if you guys can calm down, I'll calm down. We'll go have a cheese burger and try to figure out what the hell is going on for both sides here, that cool?"

[Stargaizer]

Finally we're getting somewhere...

Joe smiled and nodded to Renee, mirroring some of her enthusiasm, looked quizzically to Anibal as he mentioned 'Jedi', and seemed very interested in what Cecily had to say. When he replied, it was to everybody, but specifically to Cecily.

"Ok, now Pax I've heard about, but who's Jedi and how is he making money off of us. And, this is the second time that you've mentioned her... who is she and what makes working for her so great? I mean, I just got here yesterday and I thought that Team Tomorrow sounded cool, but if there's someone better out there..."

Joe let a little of the 'innocent, new boy' that he had been 'yesterday' slip through. Hopefully that would lower some of their defenses and get them talking a bit more...

... Of course, now that he thought about it, he remembered from the 'history' lesson that Fahrenheit led a group apart from T2M. Maybe Cecily had a lead on where she might be or how to get in contact with her. Of course, this was quicker than he had expected. He'd planned on getting involved with T2M and getting close to Pax... But if he had a chance to set up an alliance now... work with T2M as a mole rather than just waiting to defect...

...Or Cecily could be talking about someone completely different. Best not to get his hopes up too much just yet.

[Grimm]

"Soss is sausage, my son." Michelle told Katalyst with a gamine grin as she looked around the room. "And if they don't have it, I'm goin' to be right pissed off with the service around here..." Her voice trailed off as they went to the serving tables and she examined the breakfast spread. "Ah, there we are. And Lincolnshires, too. Bloody lovely." She deftly filled her plate with a heaping pile of sausages, bacon, eggs, hash browns, tomatoes, mushrooms, grabbed a second side plate of toast, then attempted to juggle those with a cup of tea. Remarkably, her nova coordination was up to the task, and she sashayed across the room drawing more than a few eyes before settling on an empty table.

"Wotcha." she nodded to the folks at the neighbouring table in response to their stares before digging into her food with relish.

[Jedi]

"Yes Charles, I'm planning a news conference to announce the formation of Novus, Inc. Anything you can do to assist, would be appreciated. Please get with my assistant and help set up an office front and a dozen or so employees to answer phones. We've got a dozen or so Novas signed on with Novus already, and I expect once this gets going it will snowball quickly."

He needed to get it done asap before someone else beat him to the punch. Just calling up CNN and the other networks and going on the air should guarantee it being talked about for days. The minute the news was out he'd have calls rolling in from individuals, corporations, and even governments wanting to hire novas. It would be ridiculous for a while until things settled down.

The next call was to his trusted assistant. "Everything is a go. I'm setting a news conference for tomorrow at noon. We need a posh office front ready to go by then. It doesn't have to be permanent, just a good looking elegant place that stinks of success. You know how it was in the 80s, image was everything. Well, it's true enough when starting a new business. We need to look established." He thought for a moment. "Get a dozen people who present themselves well to answer phones. We'll have some important people calling as soon as the word gets out and I don't want us to make a bad impression. Make sure they know not to make any promises, they are only to set up appointments. Oh, and I asked Prichard to give you a hand. He'll keep us safe on the legal front."

His faithful assistant groaned, "Your will be done sir." He was joking, but Colin was not unaware of the serious pressure the man was under to get these things done in such a short order, but Colin had known the man for years and knew he was more than capable of pulling it off.

"Thanks Jones. I won't forget this." Colin said as he ended the call.

Now, to get the Novas I've signed on to be there for the news conference... He would have one of the more charismatic ones give the announcement and the rest of the novas would all be lined up in the background as a show of numbers and talent. There were few enough novas that his small group would still seem large in the minds of the viewers.

Colin started making phone calls.

[Nathan Dayes]

Nathan got his food, and thought for a while about who to sit with. The analysts felt a lot like 'his' people, and so did the novas - it was a rush, feeling the different quantum signatures superimposing on his own. But ultimately he chose the group of scientists, and sat down with his food, his suit still tux-like.

"Hey. Don't mind the outfit. I'm Nathan. I don't think with all that's been going on I had a chance to introduce myself to the science team. Doctor Crick was telling me about research into quantum teleportation? Sounded fascinating."

[Titan]

Juno

Kinsey waited at a respectful distance while Juno and her family had their reunion. Hector hugged Juno fiercely, while six month old Javier wrapped his fingers in her hair, and burbled. They looked like many other groups of people in the airport baggage terminal.

Hector held her by her shoulder, cradling Javier in his other arm, and tried to be stern.

"What is this on the news? Saving people? Diving into the ocean in a submarine? That is dangerous, mi hija, and that was not the agreement!" He scowled for a moment, but then his expression softened. "You did look great on TV, daughter mine. We will discuss it later." He embraced her again.

When they were done with the initial outburst of hugs, Hector gave Javier to Juno, and went off in search of their checked luggage. Juno couldn't help but notice that people from the flight were giving her some extra attention, however Kinsey looked pointedly at anyone who seemed like they may approach her.

When Hector returned with the bags, Kinsey walked them to Customs. When they reached the counter, the Preventive Officer behind the counter asked,

"Hello and welcome to London. Do you have anything to declare?"

Hector shook his head, and Kinsey nodded at the Officer. She smiled at Kinsey and marked on Hector's bags with a piece of chalk. She waved behind her.

"Go on ahead, then. Enjoy your stay!"

Kinsey gave the family a jaunty wave as they went through the gate to check in with the Immigration and Visa desk. He and the Customs Officer put their heads together and spoke briefly.

Jaunt

'Jaunt' licked at a drool of catsup that trickled down the side of his palm, and took a rather large bite of Aeon Society's best impression of a Whopper. He sat at a table in a small dining room off of the main cafeteria, which he had only seen in passing.

He wore black athletic pants over checkered Vans, an oversize red shirt that said 'WHAT?', and a rayon black shortsleeve shirt over that, unbuttoned. On his wrist, a sporty Invictus watch gleamed. The time (8:40am) and the date (SUN 12 Apr) were both clearly denoted on it's face.

Across the table, Dr. Crick - Jane - watched him eat, trying not to stare. Behind him, Guy 'Empath' Reynolds spoke into a cordless telephone.

"Of course, ma'am, we have to discover why-" He listened intently. Jaunt smiled to himself.

"Not at all, ma'am, and I can assure you that with his invaluable-" He broke off again, listened and nodded into the phone.

"Of course. And I will tell him. Not more than fifteen minutes, I assure you ma'am. I will personal-" He pulled the phone from his head, looked at it without expression for a moment, then pressed the button that ended the call. He walked slowly to the table and sat, placing the phone in front of him. Jaunt and Dr. Crick looked at him.

He scowled a bit, shrugged. "It doesn't work over the phone. What do you want from me? She is content that he has displayed the 'Galatea Effect' that has been all over the news, and that we tracked him down and are treating him. That should be enough." He rubbed his ear. Looked a bit defensive.

"Well, it should be." He paused, then said quickly, "But you have to call her within fifteen minutes. I told her you were eating."

Jane looked at Empath a moment, then nodded. She turned back to Jaunt, and spoke gently.

"That leaves us time for a question or two, I think. So, go ahead, we'll see what we can do."

Joe

Cecily leaned back in her chair. She seemed wary of him, suddenly. She looked at Joe thoughtfully. Anibal spoke up.

"Jedi is a guy like us," he said, "He's rich, see, and he's going to start a sort of Novus employment agency, to match Novus up to high paying jobs with companies that want Novus abilities to work for their organization."

Cecily snorted. "He's a pimp wannabe. Only you're the hookers."

Renee chimed in, "And there's nobody as good as tee two em is going to be. Watch and see."

Cecily rolled her eyes.

"I'm gonna work for one of the few people with the courage to tell all of em to stuff it," she said, "Hell, I even saw her last night."

Renee glared at her.

"First of all, she said not to say anything. And second, she didn't say a single word about you working for her. She barely acknowledged your existence."

Anibal shook his head, and murmured to Joe.

"Wraith, dude. They are talking about Caryn Sanders. Jesus, you two, can't you even answer a damn question?"

Voltage

The large black man at the next table broke off his story to examine Michelle from top to bottom, left to right, back to front, stem to stern. The redhead twins glared, a bit affronted, at her. Voltage dug into her food.

"And then what?" the redhead on the right prompted.

The man glanced down at her, and seemed to recall himself to himself. He spoke with a broad, New York accent.

"Oh! Well, then the Queen herself called me in. An, even though I was American, she tells me that I am an honorary Duke of York. So, like I was sayin', if you add that to the Barony I won from that Austrian fella, I'm royalty in two countries. And I ain't from either one! Pretty cool, right?"

The left redhead laughed. Right redhead laughed on top of her. Their ebon companion was, however, fully distracted.

"I've seen you, haven't i?" He spoke to Michelle.

Jedi

Jedi's story will continue in the 'Jedi' thread

Nathan

Nathan's story will continue in the 'Nathan Dayes' thread

[Grimm]

"'d bloffy well hopfe you'd feen me." Voltage finished her mouthful of bacon and looked back at the large man with an appraising look of her own, taking in the breadth of his shoulders and lines of his chest before meeting his eyes and smiling, red lips quirking in a fashion that might be called sultry, but on her just looked wicked. "Otherwise I'd think it fuckin' strange that your eyeballs were following me round the room." She picked up a piece of toast and took a bite without looking away from him, propping one elbow on the table by her plate and cupping her chin as she leaned forward and regarded him with equally frank interest.

To his credit, the man's gaze seemed to be winning the struggle with the cleavage gravity well, remaining on Michelle's face at least 70% of the time as he smiled. "No. I mean I've seen you before."

"Could be, sunshine. I've been on the telly a little, and hanging round here for a bit. At any rate, seeing ain't meeting. I'm Michelle, but when I'm out fighting crime, righting wrongs and generally making a tit of myself the name's Voltage." She dropped her toast on the plate and held out a hand, wondering if she had the mojo to pull a man away from twin redheads. Not that she wanted a shag right now, but it'd be good to set up a future encounter, so to speak. Even if said future was couple of hours away. He'd have to get up and come over to shake hands...

[Stargaizer]

Joe smiled and nodded to Anibal. "Thanks, I was just about to think that they didn't hear me."

Wraith... was it, yesterday here, that I met her? Wow, so much has happened since then. Heh, maybe I'll give them another option...

He turned to look at Cecily. "Yeah, I know her. Well, more of her, but we've actually met. Yesterday I think; you know how time flies around here. Right here in the cafeteria too, over there, that table." Joe pointed to the table he had been sitting at, over closer to the wall.

Then he addressed the group as a whole. "So, Team Tomorrow is all about saving the world, Jedi is a sort of Nova temp agency, and Wraith is able to tell them all to shove it. Interesting enough." It was at this point that he leaned in conspiratorially. "I know of someone else, though. Goes by the name Sa... Fahrenheit. She says that us novas, we're a new species. Says we shouldn't be bound by the laws of these baselines. Some of the people that follow her even say that we shouldn't even be bothered with regular humans at all." With that he leaned back in a more normal posture and watched his tablemates for their reactions.