Aberrant: In the Beginning - Chapter 3 - Pangaea

[SalmonMax]

Juno shrugged at Michelle. "Dr Maz is always kind of high-strung. Still...there's no way we can do tests or exercises with all these people in here."

Just then Joe walked up and introduced himself. She turned around and gave him a quick once-over, sizing him up. With a few exceptions...her clothes in the future were less childish, and her hair was in a different style...she looked exactly the same now as she had then. Though looking deeper, Joe could see another difference. There was still a kind of innocence in her expression, in her eyes. She was still young, still a child. The Juno of the future had long since grown up, even if she inhabited a teenaged form.

"Joe, hey," she greeted noncommittally. "I'm Juno." She looked at Michelle and extended the greeting to her as well. "Hey."

[Nathan Dayes]

Nathan decided to head in for a little bit of testing, bringing his binder full of papers and notes with him, to study up for the big event tonight.

He did promise the Doctor that he'd reward a marked improvement in efficiency, and he WAS curious how exactly his powers worked.

[Titan]

Wei Fang

Fang walked outside behind two men in suits. The older one was speaking passionately to the younger.

"I'm telling you Jason, I was there at Menninger in 1970. I saw that swami fellow move a knitting needle with his mind. We were all amazed. Ha! This Vanderman kid, and you want to know when I'm leaving? No. I'm not retiring, I'm staying. I want to know how they do it. If your mother was still alive- "

The young man, Jason, grabbed the older man by the arm. He pulled him aside and started to say something. Then he glanced at Fang and his face changed. He smiled and nodded. But Fang noticed that he held the older man's arm tightly and was plainly waiting for her to pass.

Further along the path, one of the New People, the last on the way to the Development Center save Fang herself, stood with her head down. Then, with a loud sniff, she raised her head and wiped at her red-rimmed eyes. Fang saw that it was Alison, from Chicago, USA. She headed towards the Center

Development

The Novus filed into the gym almost like third grade children. This cavernous structure was easily as large as a regular sized gymnasium would have felt to those children. They gazed up at the arching, five story ceiling, or around at the massive mat floor and equipment.

The four Ninas had pulled out the inevitable hacky sack, and Nina Prime was serving. You could always tell Nina Prime, she seemed somehow more real than her other-selves. If she were just twinned, her duplicate seemed almost as good as the original. Maybe just a shade slow. With three others, however.... not only were they morons studying to be idiots and failing the course, but they couldn't find their feet with both hands, much less a flying hacky.

Rassner and Reyes were discussing something in the middle of the mat, and Joe walked out and met them there.

Nineteen year old Trudy Vandermann laughed at something her Japanese companion said. The sound of it echoed in the high ceiling. Yoshii looked affronted for a moment, then shrugged and walked out near the other Novus.

"Assho Mashi" He said.

Vandermann ran up, grinning. She tucked a stray strand of mouse brown hair back over her ears on both sides. She commented.

"You mean dodgeball."

He turned, puzzled, "Dodgeball? So you know this game?"

She laughed. "Yeah, just figured it out. What'd you call it?"

He scowled, certain he was being made fun of. "Assho Mashi."

She grinned again, and looked around at some of the others there.

"Weird. Dodgeball...Uh, yeah, I could probably get behind that."

Medical

Nathan slipped into the waiting room. Around him Novus stood in clumps of two or three. A few stood or sat alone. Dr. Farah Rashoud clicked her mouse and wrote on a pad. She looked up.

"Laure Beauchamps."

A voluptuous woman rose from her seat. Her long skirt settled around her legs, then twitched as she swayed to the desk. The strong scent of her perfume or lotion trailed behind her. She stood before the doctor, bored.

"Oui."

Dr. Rashoud handed her a yellow sticky. The woman glanced at it, sniffed, and sauntered up the hallway. The scent of her lingered. Dr. Rahsoud scribbled on her yellow pad.

"Steven Debow."

[Stargaizer]

Joe looked back and forth between Juno and Voltage, then turned to the two who were discussing dodgeball of all things.

He addressed them directly, "So, what you're telling me is that we have a room full of new humans, beings with the ability to break all sorts of rules of nature and otherwise bend them to our will, and you're wanting to start a game of dodgeball?" He ended sounding almost like a stern parent, though more disbelief and little to no condescension.

He let that hang in the air for a heartbeat before continuing in a lighthearted, playful tone. "I guess the only question is powers or straight?"

[z-Wei Fang]

Fang took quiet note of the men talking, resolving to go through her notes to see if Vanderman were in them. He or she sounded like a young New Person, and she wondered if they could be of use to her. More importantly, would they be interested in her cause?

There was another mystery, and one more important. Fang wasn't the most out-going person; life in the big cities of China jaded one as much as living in New York City or Paris. Still, her heart went out to the crying New Person. Fang caught up to the crying girl outside of Development and asked softly, "Alison, what is wrong?"

[Titan]

Development

The nineteen year old looked at Joe like he had lost his mind. Even the Japanese fellow, who was thirty if he was a day, seemed to eye Joe askance.

Trudy spoke slowly.

"Powers, duh. Otherwise, what's the point?"

Yoshii looked at her hard.

"You are very rude, young woman. He was obviously joking."

Wei Fang

Fang recalled the young woman, suddenly. All attitude and pop-culture. A typical teenaged girl. She reviewed what she knew about Trudy Vandermann: Telekinetic, strongly. Her telepathy was not quite as reliable, unfortunately. The TK, however, was rumoured to be mind-boggling.

Her concern for Alison wiped all that from her mind, however. She saw Alison struggle with her emotions as she thought how to answer Fang's question. Finally, she just wept.

"I'm suh, suh, sorry!"

As she cried, it struck Fang that Pfalzgraf was just about the opposite of Vanderman. Her TK was weak, but her telepathic range couldn't even be measured without the help of NASA.

She got herself under control after a moment. She stood with her head bowed, rubbing at her face with her hands.

"He's gone."

She raised her face to look at Fang.

"I don't know if anyone even knows, or if everyone just thought that he made it back through, but Pax is gone. If he were anywhere on this planet, I would know, and he's not. He's gone. And I don't know who to tell."

Tears of frustration and fear leaked from the corners of her eyes.

[Stargaizer]

Joe just smiled. "No, it's ok, really. Now the only questions are: who has the ball, whose picking teams, and when do we start?"

This would actually be a good chance for Joe to practice his powers, and see what some of the others could do.

He turned to the two ladies he had spoken to earlier, "So, you two in or out?"

[SalmonMax]

Juno looked around dubiously. "Sure there's enough room? We could kick that thing at bullet speed, you know. Or jump and run around too fast to see. A room full of people seems like the wrong place to be doing that."

[z-Wei Fang]

Originally Posted By: Titan

"He's gone."

She raised her face to look at Fang.

"I don't know if anyone even knows, or if everyone just thought that he made it back through, but Pax is gone. If he were anywhere on this planet, I would know, and he's not. He's gone. And I don't know who to tell."

Tears of frustration and fear leaked from the corners of her eyes.

Fang took her hand and put her other arm around Alison's shoulder. "I know who to tell, who to ask," she said gently, her voice empty of the fear and excitement she felt. It was obvious that Alison was deeply saddened by his loss, but Fang wasn't sure which way her own feelings went. She would need to think upon it.

Though she knew she was sorry to lose another New Person.

She drew Alison away from the Development Center, in part glad to have an excuse to avoid the current distraction. This was another distraction, but a far more interesting and relevant one.

Pax's absence would change much.

She led Alison over to Medical and looked around for Nathan. She trusted him to know what to do with this information.

[Nathan Dayes]

Nathan took his seat, resuming his reading.

The urge to copy the powers of those present itched at him a bit, but he suppressed it. They'd want to do it under controlled conditions, if at all.

Still. He glanced around.

Wonder what she's got. Super-strength or something? Hmm.

[Titan]

Development

Originally Posted By: Stargaizer

Joe just smiled. "No, it's ok, really. Now the only questions are: who has the ball, whose picking teams, and when do we start?"

Trudy looked around the gym. She, Yoshii, Joe, Michelle, Juno, and the four Ninas were the only Novus so far. She shrugged.

"Three to a team, I guess. You can pick a team if you want, and Yoshii, I guess, it was his idea."

Nina piped up. Nina Prime: "As for balls, there's all kinds of sports equipment in that storeroom." She pointed.

Originally Posted By: Stargaizer

He turned to the two ladies he had spoken to earlier, "So, you two in or out?"

Michelle stood mute, but

Originally Posted By: Juno

Juno looked around dubiously. "Sure there's enough room? We could kick that thing at bullet speed, you know. Or jump and run around too fast to see. A room full of people seems like the wrong place to be doing that."

Trudy widened her eyes, then rolled them. She barked a laugh.

"OhmyGOD, dodgeball, seriously? You can sit out if it's too much for ya, Juno."

Itsuyo Yoshii merely nodded. "You are out, very well. Then I choose Trudy for my team." He seemed to approach dodgeball with the same serious intensity that he gave everything.

Medical

"Cecily Grant." Dr. Rashoud held out a yellow sticky with the Cyberkenetic Novus' testing assignment written on it. The sixteen year old flounced to the desk, looked at her sticky, sighed hugely, then strutted down the hall.

Nathan was reading an article about the Titan Omega. He had apparently stopped a bank heist and assisted police in locating a kidnapper. The bank heist was in San Fransisco, the kidnapping was in Kiev. He did get around.

"Martin Denis." The thin man with the ferrets on his shoulders rose quickly and walked to the desk to get his sticky.

The door to Medical swung open, and Fang strode in with Alison Pfalzgraff. She looked left then right, finding Nathan and moving towards him quickly.

"Shelby Eisenfaust." Farah held up another sticky.

[Grimm]

"I'll pass." Michelle snorted smoke from her nostrils and took another deep drag on her cigarette. "Runnin' around like a bloody kid in a playground with me boobs bouncing isn't my thing. Besides..." she gave the others a lecherous smirk. "I can think of better things to do with supersonic balls than chuck them at people. You have fun, though."

The tall blonde sauntered over to sit on one of the benches against the wall, getting comfortable and watching the others with the air of one expecting amusement.

"Just so's we understand each other, though." she called back over to the other Novus. "If any high-speed piece of rubber bounces off my noggin, someone is going to catch pure hell." She grinned toothily. "Just so I'm clear."

[SalmonMax]

Juno, caught momentarily off guard by the taunt, latched onto Michelle's attitude and shot the girl a smirk. "Yeah, dodgeball's kind of last...preschool. But hey, whatever your thing is. Just don't be pests if you can help it."

She followed Voltage at a calculated, unhurried pace and sat beside her, watching her smoke surreptitiously and wishing she had some similar method to convey a cool detachment from the proceedings. She settled for just looking the crowd over.

"So...when's this drill over so we can get on with our lives?" she wondered to herself aloud.

[Stargaizer]

Joe looked at Juno. He wasn't quite for sure what he expected, but this wasn't it. In the future she might've said no because of the frivolity of it, the future was a time of survival. But today, now it was a time of freedom and exploration. The world had no idea what they could do, and most of the novas here didn't know either.

Oh well...

Joe heard but largely ignored the two talking from the sideline as he pointed to Nina, "I guess I got you." When she approached, he held out his hand, "I'm Joe and I can control the basic four elements." He had already seen that she could duplicate herself, but he didn't want to be so forward as to say 'what's your name and can you do anything else', so he just offered his and hoped that she would volunteer the info.

[Katalyst]

Jay waited patiently as the Doc called off names and sent the Novus off to who knew where. He wondered why they'd call him back down to medical again. He'd gone through enough prying and prodding when he first got here, so hopefully it wouldn't be another boring day of tests.

His eyes swept the room to see if he knew any of the other Novus in the room beside Nathan who had quickly taken a seat and was reading a newspaper. He took a seat close by and waited for the doc to call his name.

[Titan]

Development

One of the 'stupid' Ninas went to get a ball from the storeroom, and Trudy stripped off her sweater. She wore a tee shirt underneath with an Adidas logo. She bent down and rolled up the hems of her too-long jeans.

Meanwhile, Yoshii took off his shoes and socks. He removed his watch, put it in the left shoe. His wallet went into the right shoe. He, too, rolled up the hem of his khakis. Then he dropped into a horse stance and windmilled his arms wildly.

Nina Prime absorbed two of her subordinates, and when the third arrived with a red rubber ball, she absorbed her as well. Then, she split in half again. The pair high-fived, and moved back from the center of the mat. Yoshii and Trudy stood poised across from them.

Dr. Mazarin strode from the office area, pushing open the heavy door, and stood next to the bench where Juno and Michelle sat watching. He stood for a second, puzzled. Finally, he muttered,

"Games. Might be useful."

Belatedly, he noticed Juno and Michelle.

"Well, we might as well start with you ladies. With me, if you would please." He gestured back towards the office area.

[SalmonMax]

Juno shot Michelle a look, then shrugged and followed the good Doctor. It was far from the first time she'd had a scientist say something like that to her.

"So what's this all about?" she asked Mazarin as he led them away. "Why'd you call everyone in like this?"

[Nathan Dayes]

Nathan nodded to Wei Fang and Alison, holding up the magazine. "You see this? Guy's still out there pretending he's Superman. I dunno." He sighed. "Guess it's to be expected."

[z-Wei Fang]

"Nathan, I need your advice," Fang murmured as she hunkered down next to him. Already petite, crouching next to him in her Aeon sweatshirt and borrowed jeans she looked positively child-like. "Alison is a gifted telepath, and she cannot find Pax anywhere on Earth." Her voice dropped even more as she said, "I do not think he made it back with us."

[Grimm]

"Kind of curious about that myself." Michelle stated as she trailed along behind Juno and the Doctor. At his reproving glare at her cigarette Michelle merely shrugged unconcernedly and met him eye to eye.

"I smoke when I'm nervous, mate. And unexplained summons by doctors make me nervous. Care to share what this is about?" Lips clamped defiantly around the cigarette she took another deep draw, curls of smoke trickling from her nostrils.

A lot of people saw the coarse manners and abrasive speech and looked no further. 'Chelle was used to that: encouraged it in fact. Although she wasn't even educated to high-school standards the London native had an abundance of street smarts and raw intelligence, which meant that she was definitely smart enough not to let on how intelligent she was in the tests the Aeon people had her doing before all that time-travelling madness.

She was also suspicious by nature of big money and big organisations. She'd been keeping her eyes and ears open during her stay. Everyone here at Aeon seemed to have an agenda for the New People, including some of the New People themselves. Though the agenda wasn't necessarily sinister, Voltage hated the idea of being on anyone's agenda, and now that she had learned the basics of her powers and how to utilise them she was wondering how much more she stood to benefit from sticking around.

[Stargaizer]

Joe, already being in a t-shirt and jeans simply waited while Nina went and got the ball. When the Dr. came out, Joe watched as he took the two ladies back. Games might be useful... useful for whom, and useful for what? Joe shook his head Come on, just have some fun...

Once Nina brought the ball back and was ready, he simply said, "Ok then, let's get started."

He assumed a kata, ready to summon the wind to knock the ball off course of hitting him or his partner.

[Nathan Dayes]

"No Pax?" Nathan frowned. "Wait, you can search anywhere on - never mind."

He stroked his chin and furrowed his brow. "Okay. Last known sighting? Do we have agents looking for him? If there's no investigation ongoing I'd like to start one up personally." He felt his heart race a little, and told himself to calm down.

Actual, genuine spook work? Praise be.

[z-Wei Fang]

"The last time I remember him was during the time-shift," Fang said softly. She didn't need to tell the red-head why that was so frightening. Did they leave one of their own in a warped future.

"I do not know if anyone has yet realized he's missing," she added, glancing at the man holding Shelby's sticky and looking for him. "But they will soon. Perhaps you should act first." Her expression said that she didn't know what to do, and she knew he did.

[Nathan Dayes]

"All right. For the moment we say that Pax's current whereabouts aren't ones we can publicly disclose, and we clear all his appointments. People will notice he's missing - if we act like we expect it most of them'll stop at that.

"Then I'm going to use Aeon's intelligence network. They tracked a hell of a lot of novas - sorry, novus down. They had a hand in me leaving the Company. And speaking of the Company, I'm going to contact some old friends who work there. I guarantee they're keeping an eye on all us shiny new super-people. They'll want to know where Pax is too. If they don't know, then..." Nathan frowned. "I've never done an extraction on the future before. But I'm getting ideas."

[Titan]

Developmental

-Juno & Michelle-

Dr. Mazarin could be extremely charming when he wanted to. He was making exactly zero effort in that direction at this particular moment. After one quick glare at Michelle and her cigarette, he shook his head and stalked away, leaving the two young women to catch up. As he walked, he answered the question.

"These morons have you twiddling your thumbs, sitting around half the time. Or, failing that, have sent you out TWICE into dangerous circumstances. I don't know what damné bande dessinée they think we are living in, but this is unacceptable. They will use this time wisely, studying your abilities and speculating as to how they function and what uses they might be put towards, or par Dieu, they will tell me the reasons why."

As he spoke, the three descended a short set of stairs and walked down a hallway. When he finished, he opened the door at the end of the hallway onto what looked like a lecture hall. Seated were a couple of dozen researchers, as well as several analysts. Henri brought Juno to the front, and indicated to Michelle that she should sit.

"Here is Juno Reyes." Dr. Mazarin's voice rose to match the size of the room, and took a lecturing, though accusatory, tone.

"Who has watched her adapt in person? Raise your hands, please."

Just over half of the people in the room raised their hands. He went on.

"And who has reviewed the EEG reports, independently?"

Almost every hand went up.

"Who is working on a paper theorizing HOW the adaptation takes place?"

Two thirds of the hands were still up. The researchers looked around at each other warily.

"And how many of you have shared your theories with another?"

Every hand went down.

Mazarin nodded. He turned to Juno, then thought better of it and rounded on the assemblage.

"And who has asked Juno how SHE thinks it works?"

No hands were raised. Mazarin looked around the room, his expression showing his disgust.

"This changes today. Right now."

He looked pointedly at the doctors and physicists in their seats.

"This is a chance that comes along NEVER! We WILL NOT WASTE IT!"

Thunderous silence. No one so much as breathed, it seemed.

"From now on, we will work in pairs, and I want daily reports on findings. We will rotate pairs, and have morning and evening briefings until I am convinced that everyone in this room is acting from the same set of information and hypotheses. This is not subject to discussion, or you may leave this institute and go back to Cambridge or MIT or wherever it is that you came from. We will get our house in order, and we will start by asking the Novus how THEY think their powers work."

He peered into the faces of each and every one of the people in the room. Satisfied that no one would question him, he turned to Juno.

"Juno. Please tell us, if you would, how you believe your abilities function."

-Joe-

To an outside observer, this playground inspired battle would seem unfairly balanced. Two players on one side of the red line marking the center of the mat, and three on the other. But the observer would be wrong. Two on two were the teams, and they were pretty evenly matched.

Trudy Vandermann waited, her arms crossed, a distant expression on her face. Her partner, Itsuyo Yoshii, crouched in the universal athletic ready position: Feet apart, knees bent, hands away from the body.

On Joe's right side, Ninacska Német clapped hard. A chalk cloud billowed up from them. Apparently, the ball was not all she found in the closet. To his left, her doppelganger was looking back and forth from one opponent to the other, a slow smile spreading across her face. She held the ball tightly in her right hand. She lunged forward suddenly.

Yoshi broke left in a blur of motion. Instantly, or nearly so, he was by the line way off to the left. Trudy didn't move. No one did. The ball hovered in mid air, across the line. Slowly, it descended into Trudy's hands.

She smiled.

"Is that a catch?" She asked. Yoshi shook his head. She nodded. "Ok. And I'll throw with my arms, too. But you'll still lose, 'cause you'll never hit me." Her smile broadened, and she took aim at Joe. She threw, awkwardly. Just as it left her hand, the ball seemed to flex and bounce off of nothing. It accelerated towards his chest.

Medical

Originally Posted By: Wei Fang

"Nathan, I need your advice," Fang murmured as she hunkered down next to him. Already petite, crouching next to him in her Aeon sweatshirt and borrowed jeans she looked positively child-like. "Alison is a gifted telepath, and she cannot find Pax anywhere on Earth." Her voice dropped even more as she said, "I do not think he made it back with us."

Fast footsteps from down the hall warned of her approach, then Renee Byrnes burst into view. She wore her panties and a hospital gown, and she trailed EKG cords as she ran. Her face was a mask of panic, and she made a beeline for Fang and Nathan. More specifically, to Alison.

"What does that mean? What do you mean by that? How can you be su-" She gripped the distraught woman by the arms, and they looked at each other for a long moment. Then they nodded at one another, and turned to Nathan.

"She's right," they said in unison. The women glanced at one another. They were solemn, but by no means was either distraught any longer.

Alison nodded at Nathan.

"Go ahead. There is no Pax. What does that mean, exactly? Is there anything specifically that can be done if he remained behind? In the future, or whatever?" They looked at Nathan expectantly.

Originally Posted By: Nathan Dayes

"No Pax?" Nathan frowned. "Wait, you can search anywhere on - never mind."

He stroked his chin and furrowed his brow. "Okay. Last known sighting? Do we have agents looking for him? If there's no investigation ongoing I'd like to start one up personally."

The women looked at one another. Renee said,

"None of the doctors."

Alison, on top of her, "Analysts, no. Researchers, no. Administrative staff- Trimbull. Nancy Trimbull, one of the accountants. She-" Her eyes widened. She looked at Nathan.

"Someone put me out of her brain. She knew about Pax, that he was gone. I was probing for details, and someone put me out of her brain!"

Renee scowled. She turned and stared at Dr. Rashoud. She shook her head, turned back to the group.

"There's more going on, I think. None of that matters now, I think," She ground her teeth, and continued, "Whatever games someone is playing, I want to make sure before I focus on them. Agreed?"

Alison nodded.

"Agreed. But it pisses me off."

"Agreed," Renee smiled slightly, but grew serious quickly, "Who saw him last? I never saw him, on the other side. Either of them."

Alison's face grew even more somber as well.

"I saw."

She stared blankly for a second, then shook herself.

"The other one. Not ours. He was... very unpleasant."

Originally Posted By: Wei Fang

"The last time I remember him was during the time-shift," Fang said softly...

Alison nodded firmly. "We four are the only ones who know. Should we keep it that way, or what? From what I hear, Nathan's in charge." She looked at them expectantly.

Originally Posted By: Wei Fang

..."I do not know if anyone has yet realized he's missing," she added, glancing at the woman holding Shelby's sticky and looking for him. "But they will soon. Perhaps you should act first." Her expression said that she didn't know what to do, and she knew he did.

The three women looked at him expectantly. Renee suddenly looked down at herself. She shook her head in disgust.

"I am going to change, then. I'm sure this is real discreet. Sorry." She wrapped her gown around her and glanced around the mostly-empty waiting room. She strode back down the hallway. Alison watched her go, and turned back to Fang and Nathan.

"Ok, Nathan, I'm with Fang. What's the plan?"

Originally Posted By: Nathan

"All right. For the moment we say that Pax's current whereabouts aren't ones we can publicly disclose, and we clear all his appointments. People will notice he's missing - if we act like we expect it most of them'll stop at that.

"Then I'm going to use Aeon's intelligence network. They tracked a hell of a lot of novas - sorry, novus down. They had a hand in me leaving the Company. And speaking of the Company, I'm going to contact some old friends who work there. I guarantee they're keeping an eye on all us shiny new super-people. They'll want to know where Pax is too. If they don't know, then..." Nathan frowned. "I've never done an extraction on the future before. But I'm getting ideas."

The three sat with their heads together in the corner. The woman at the desk, Dr. Rashoud, has stopped looking for Pax. She scribbles on another yellow sticky and holds it up.

"Ewen Ba-"

From the corridor outside the Medical Facility, came a shout.

"Help! Someone help me!"

Dr. Rashoud leaped from her seat and opened the doors, concerned. A hugely fat man, known as Jack around Aeon, stumbled into the waiting area, a man half draped over his shoulder. The man's skin writhed.

"He just started this!" Jack exclaimed as Rashoud took the man's other arm. He hung between them. Then his head fell forward, and the Novus saw who he was. Doctor Spencer Balmer. As they watched, his skin broke out in goosebumps that became pimples. The pimples burst and for a moment, the man was studded with thorns. He screamed suddenly, as if in enormous pain.

"What happened?" Rashoud barked frantically.

"I was headed to the cafeteria for coffee, and he was standing in the foyer, sort of hugging himself," said Jack, staring at Balmer intently. The thorns had twined their way out of his skin and each one crawled across him like ten thousand tiny snakes. Where they met, they twined with each other and continued, thicker and more robust than before. Balmer groaned and cried out with pain. "What the shit is happening to him, Doc?"

"How should I know?" Rashoud seemed flustered, looking this way and that for all the world like she faced a panel of inquisitors. Balmer coughed, choked, and she was a doctor again. She grasped the man's arm.

"Let's get him lying down, I think." She half carried Balmer, who still whimpered with pain as the thick ropy vines continued to wrap around his arms and legs. Even his head was soon engulfed by foliage. They carried him down the hall.

Alison looked at Fang and Nathan with a wondrous horror. Her hands were hooked into claws and held near her face, as though to pull imaginary vines off of it. Her eyes and mouth were wide, and she looked about as freaked out as a nineteen year old girl can get.

"Seriously... What just happened?"

[Nathan Dayes]

"Keep the full details close. If word gets out that time travel is possible, I don't even know what the panics will be like. I want to - "

Nathan paused, looking at the man who erupted into thorns for a long moment. "I swear, I need fifty of me just to keep up. Anyways. I want to get the word out through our intel networks that we're looking for Pax. Don't explain why - just get the word out. Allison, I'm gonna mimic your powers for a bit, okay? And you can show me what this 'lock' looks like first-hand. And I sure as hell hope you don't casually read everyone's mind, or security will be tougher to lock down than I thought."

"And finally: how did you get into the future, and get back again? If that novus is around in this time-frame we might be able to do something with that. Leave a message or travel there directly or... whatever. First time, time travelling. Any suggestions, questions, or otherwise?"

[z-Wei Fang]

"I don't know," Fang confessed. "I did not do it. But I..." She paused as if choosing her words, something she hadn't done since her first days of learning English. "I met others of myself... other Fangs. No, I do not remember what was said, only... who they are."

She nodded to Alison and added, "Do you know who was responsible for it?"

[Titan]

Medical

Alison shook her head at Fang's question.

"I have no idea. I stepped into the portal that appeared, and I was there. Who did it? No clue."

She shrugged.

"But, I'm in a good position to find out if anyone else knows. I'll ask around," she said, then turned to Nathan, "You should too, if you are going to mimic my telepathy."

She smiled wryly, and added, "If you figure out how NOT to intercept bleedover from the minds around you, be sure and let me know how you did it, kay?"

She thought for a moment.

"Only other suggestion I might have is to see if any of the big brains have any ideas on how to get to the future. I mean, faster than the way we all usually get to the future. Obviously."

[Stargaizer]

Joe's eyes glowed a sky blue as he started to manipulate the elements to his will. Unlike the last time that he had used his abilities, this wasn't in the name of offense or defense, it was simply in the name of fun... but it required just as much concentration and skill.

He formed the air into a tunnel in front of him, with the tail of it wrapping around his back and coming all the way around front to point at Yoshi. The idea was that this tunnel of fiercely swirling air would bend the course of the ball without it coming close or Joe even having to touch it. Hopefully it'd also accelerate the ball, seeing as how Yoshi seemed to have enhanced reflexes.

[Nathan Dayes]

"Obviously." Nathan turned to Wei Fang. "You want to put our heads together on this? I got to caution you, I babble a bit when I'm boosting brainpower."

[z-Wei Fang]

Fang smiled a little. "I would not object," she said. "I wish to help find him, if I can. If I can only help by thinking, then I will think. If you were seeking permission to boost my brainpower, you have it."

She blinked and her large eyes filled with a hint of trepidation. "Will it hurt?" she asked. "It will not change my answer, but I would like to know before."

[SalmonMax]

Juno was watching the scientists with an expression poised midway between astonishment and amusement. Mazarin's request had her off-balance as well, and she licked her lips and looked away, trying to simultaneously organize her racing thoughts and remember the events of her eruption...and beforehand.

"Okay, uh, you...this is probably going to sound stupid," Juno admitted, feeling it wise to tell them what they'd all be thinking in a few minutes anyway. "But it's not like...it's not just like adapting to stuff." She cleared her throat, blushing furiously. Never the most articulate soul, being on the spot made it so much worse.

"It's like evolution," Juno finally just blurted, discarding the rest of her disclaimers. "That's what it is. I remember, right as the roof caved in, and I was thinking Jesus Christ I'm gonna die...and it was like, flashing in my head because of school, hey, now I'll never have kids and after I'm dead there'll just be nothing left of me. You know? Nature gives me an F for bad genes, I fail because I'm not immune to roofs caving in. Only, it wasn't all slow like that, it was..." She snapped her fingers. "Just in a flash."

"And then I woke up, and pretty much the house was on top of me. But I was fine. Because..." Juno frowned and shook her head. "It's like, we all got a wish. One wish. God said, what do you want right NOW? And whatever it was, no matter how crazy...now we have it. Because right then, if I'd had a wish, I would have said that I want to evolve to live through anything. Cuz, that's what I felt like I needed." She tapped her temple. "It's all up here though. I could have wished I was a ghost, or that I could tunnel underground or whatever."

"That's what I think."

[Katalyst]

After a few more names were called out Jay got up from his seat and made his way out of Medical. He had had enough of waiting and it was time to get out and do something. He only had to make a few quick good byes and then it was off to see just what trouble he could find. As he was leaving he spotted Fang and Nathan talking with a couple of other people.

"Hey the there you two, thought I just say a quick good bye. I'm heading out of this place, to much science stuff going on for me" he says with a little laugh. "Seriously though, I think I've had enough of being coop up here. You two are better suited to be here that I ever could." Looking to Fang with a bit of longing in his eyes "I told you this before if you ever need me, I'll be there for you no matter what. You take care okay?"

[Titan]

Developmental

Henri Mazarin waited a long moment, to ensure that she was finished, then stepped up onto the platform with her.

"Thank you, Juno. You may have a seat, or go, as you choose. This will be our only exercise for Development today."

He whirled to the assembly.

"God gave each of them one wish. At the precise moment of.. of... eruption, each of them got one wish. As of this moment, that is the baseline theory. All other theories will at least take that into account before diverging down different paths."

He suddenly lunged towards the seated researchers, glaring at them, or perhaps one in particular, it was hard to tell.

"You think I am joking?" He barked. In the cavernous lecture hall, it seemed as loud as a gunshot. No one spoke, or even moved. He answered himself softly.

"I am not joking." He looked at them for a moment, then turned to Voltage.

"Michelle Rassner. Thank you for your patience. Tell us, if you will, how you believe your abilities func-"

There was a deep rumbling sound, and suddenly the floor shook. Mazarin struggled to keep his footing, but fell sideways behind the lectern. Someone screamed. The sound became a ripping, tearing sort of sound, and a framed map fell off the wall with a crash. There was nothing to hold on to, for everything was shaking, and it went on and on...

-Joe-

Joe deftly caught the ball in his funnel. It wavered back and forth as it picked up speed, whipping around his back, until it seemed to almost vibrate coming out the narrow end, rocketing towards Yoshii. The man fell backwards, catching himself on his hands, as the ball caroomed over him, missing by inches. Suddenly the ball stopped.

Trudy held out her hand and the ball obediently came to her. She shook her head at him, as though scolding him, and feinted in his direction. Then she spun and flung the ball clumsily towards Nina's twin. The ball once again did the midair bounce off of nothing, and flew towards the doppelganger. Nina Two calmly opened her arms and took the hit on the chest, quickly bringing her hands and arms around the ball to control the rebound. She stood for a moment frozen in the catching pose, for all the world like an American football receiver ensuring that the referee has seen the catch. Then she straightened, with a grin.

"You are out."

Trudy's brow drew together, and her bottom lip jutted out. She clenched her fists at her side. Suddenly, the room began to shake, and a deep rumble could be heard deep in the earth. Stationary bicycles fell over, and a window shattered.

"JESUS, YOU SORE LOSER!" screamed Nina Prime.

Trudy fell backwards, falling harmlessly to the mat. The shaking continued.

"IT'S NOT ME, YOU MORON!" she yelled from the floor. Joe could hear the panic in her voice.

The room shook, and it went on and on...

Medical

Jay King was approaching the group, and just as he was in earshot, he heard Alison say,

"Hey, I want in on boosting brainpower, that could be useful." She glanced at Jay, and fell silent.

Originally Posted By: Katalyst

"Hey the there you two, thought I just say a quick good bye. I'm heading out of this place, to much science stuff going on for me" he says with a little laugh. "Seriously though, I think I've had enough of being coop up here. You two are better suited to be here that I ever could." Looking to Fang with a bit of longing in his eyes "I told you this before if you ever need me, I'll be there for you no matter what. You take care okay?"

Alison rolled her eyes.

"What, do I have 'chopped liver' tattooed on my forehead?" She smiled suddenly, "J.K., J.K. I'm glad to have known you. This place won't be the same without you."

She half turned,expectantly, to Fang and Nathan, waiting for their sure words of farewell. But the ceiling fell down on her. With a rending, screaming metal sound, the room began to move. The tiles in the ceiling fell into the waiting room. The very few Novus left in the waiting area all cried out in one way and another. Some were in fear, others merely were surprised.

Alison stumbled against Jay, then held onto his forearm tightly. The computer monitor fell off the desk with a crash. Chairs scattered. The room did not stop moving, and it went on and on...

[Nathan Dayes]

Click to reveal..

Nathan uses Quantum Imprint to copy Wei Fang's mega-intelligence.

"Doesn't hurt. Just copying. Like copying on a Xerox copying machine, doesn't harm the original. I haven't tried copying a copier. Haven't met a copier. A quantum copier, not a photocopier. Did you know that you couldn't buy a Xerox machine until very recently? Concerns about copyright. I wonder if you can copyright a super power? I might need a lawyer. Sorry, I meant a quantum power. Western cultural heritage there. Read comics with capes."

He turned to Jay. "Jay! Nice to see you. Always liked Army guys. Never gave you shit. Never got any. I'm babbling. I copied Wei Fang's quantum enhanced intelligence. Trying to adjust. Not doing well. Hope to see you soon. Need to focus. Should find some way of tracking future time travel event. Maybe - "

Nathan looked up, as the room shimmied and shook. "Room's moving," he said, displaying five dots in Saying the Mega-Obvious.

[Stargaizer]

Joe was starting to get into this, maybe, next time, instead of using the air to redirect the ball, he could use the air to slow the ball down so that he could catch it... then they'd have the first win. Joe grinned, it was nice to have a strategy...

...then the ground started shaking.

Joe wasn't for sure, but he was fairly certain that he hadn't ever heard of an earthquake in England... first time for everything, right? But, it didn't take Joe long to figure out that the ground was 'misbehaving', and that he might be able to so something about it.

So, while Trudy's fear riddled scream was still echoing off of the now moving walls, Joe ran as fast as he could just outside the doors. There, on a bare patch of ground, he gathered himself, completely. Solidity, steadfastness, implacability... the future Sascha's words echoed through Joe's head. He drew every last ounce of energy that he could draw upon, and, eyes blazing blue, dropped down to one knee, both hands open wide, his palms pressing through the well manicured grass into the earth underneath.

Be still...

Joe forced everything that he had into that action, into that desire. His will didn't waver for a second as he tried to calm as much ground as he could, but specifically the ground under and around the development center.

Click to reveal..

(Joe): Power Max - Quantum 5, 6qp to activate power + 4qp to max + 1wp = 10qp (max for node 2) + 1wp

(19:00:58) ChatBot: (Joe) rolls 5d10 and gets 8,5,9,5,1.

(19:01:04) (Joe): 2sux

(19:02:13) (Joe): EM (Earth) - Storm (not a known tech, so +1diff)

(19:02:22) (Joe): wits + EM = 5

(19:02:30) ChatBot: (Joe) rolls 5d10 and gets 9,5,8,2,6.

(19:02:35) (Joe): 2sux

(19:05:48) (Joe): using 1 max sux to add to power sux = 3sux

(19:05:31) (Joe): area = 35m, using 1 max sux to double to 70m radius = 140m diameter

22/32qp, 6/7wp

Joe is trying to stop/counter the earthquake under the developmental center, the center of the building should be well within his range (70m), and hopefully the area 1 and a half football fields across will be enough to encompass the entire building.

Also, Joe will try and see/notice if this is a natural phenomenon or someone else using their power.

[z-Wei Fang]

Originally Posted By: Katalyst

"Hey the there you two, thought I just say a quick good bye. I'm heading out of this place, to much science stuff going on for me" he says with a little laugh. "Seriously though, I think I've had enough of being coop up here. You two are better suited to be here that I ever could." Looking to Fang with a bit of longing in his eyes "I told you this before if you ever need me, I'll be there for you no matter what. You take care okay?"

Fang smiled at Jay. "Yes, I will," she promised. She wondered if she could really trust him. She'd seen no sign that he was interested in plans like hers; could she trust him if he claimed interest? She wanted someone who joined her to have mutual interests. She would have to wait and watch.

Nathan was right; it didn't hurt. She really didn't even feel it. But before she had time to comment, the room began to shake. With a gasp, Fang grabbed Nathan's chair, trying to keep her feet. When the shaking didn't cease, she dropped to her knees, her eyes wide with fear.

[SalmonMax]

Juno wobbled, and fell onto her hands and knees. "Everyone get under something!" she shouted, looking around for a table or some similar thing to get under. A chair meandered past, and she realized that grade school earthquake advice might not cut it this time.

Someone's doing this, Juno thought to herself. A novus. But why?!

She didn't so much get up off the floor as fling herself at the nearest wall in hopes of being able to cling to it when she hit. From there she tried to get a good look around, to find the exit so she could look for whoever was behind that.

[Nathan Dayes]

"Jay! Hope you don't sue me. Be bad for friendship." Nathan let go of Wei Fang's quantum signature, and copied Jay's.

Thus empowered, he nodded to Jay, his brain already cycling down. "Okay. Let's stay calm, try and figure out what's up." Hoping that Jay's power would keep him safe, Nathan crossed to the nearest window or door, to see how widespread the chaos was.

[Titan]

Aeon

The quake continued. In the development lecture hall, men and women with approximately 300 Phds between them screamed and frantically searched for shelter. Juno caroomed off of a wall, rebounded, and fell through the door into the hallway.

In the Medical waiting room, doctors and Novus spilled from examination rooms. In many cases, the Novus were in various states of undress. Those who could, hovered above the ground, so as to be more stable. More than one energy field appeared, protecting a Novus from falling plaster and cork tiles. One Novus turned her body into an unknown metal.

In the gymnasium of the Developmental building, the Novus followed Joe Smith outside. Yoshii even made it outside ahead of Joe, while Nina and her doppelganger helped Trudy to her feet and fled the building. Outside, they were alarmed to see Joe fall to the ground.

Thrusting his fingers into the turf, Joe used his mastery of the Earth element to try and quell the quake. Immediately he felt resistance to his efforts. Be Still! he cried silently to the Earth, and was ignored. A louder impulse gibbered in fear, nearby, and the Earth responded. Joe tried to find the source of the fear, and discovered the center of the tremors was only about a hundred feet in front of him.

He looked and saw three men near to a black car in the circular driveway. Though the ground shook around them, two of the men calmly steadied themselves against the ground and knelt beside the third, who flopped and shook upon the ground.

Joe pushed himself nearly to his limit, and projected his SOLIDITY, STEADFASTNESS, IMPLACABILITY into the Earth. He felt his strength ebbing from him, and just as he neared collapse, the Earth responded, resonating with his particular efforts. He reminded the ground that it's natural state was stillness, and the ground resumed stillness. A minor aftershock, and then still.

Panting, Joe rested for a moment on his hands and knees as Nina, Trudy, and Yoshii gathered around him. Trudy laid her hand on his back, asking if he were alright. He raised his head, and saw that the two men were still attending to the third, who continued to flop and shake as though the earthquake still rumbled.

Behind them, Juno had finally made her way to the exit. Inside, the chaos of relief replaced the chaos of panic.