Jaunt-tastic

[z-Carver]

Carver paused with the pen in her mouth, her fingers hovering over the keyboard. The pop-up reminder from Microsoft Outlook had just flashed into existence in the center of her screen, stopping her in mid-word. “Damnit,” she muttered; the pen dropped to her lap. “Damnit!” she said louder as she snatched up the wet pen. She’d dressed for a day in the field, so there was no harm done to the clothing. It was just another annoyance.

It wasn’t that didn’t like Atlanta. She actually did. Atlanta was brash enough to amuse her, and thus far had managed to be a model patient. The only issue Carver really had with her was that she was far too impatient. She expected her amnesia to be cured with a pill or a strict regimen of care, and it just didn’t work that way. Carver had known that the woman was in for a long struggle when a touch and some mental effort hadn’t fixed the toned fighter. Attempts to explain that to her had been less than successful.

Her irritation lay with the fact that Carver had been elbows-deep in a report about her last mission. It was the third one she’d completed for the Prometheans and she was still in the ‘honeymoon’ phase of her job. She wanted to do everything perfectly, and was trying to see this outing as necessary instead of interfering with her time. “All part of the job,” she sighed, standing up and snatching her portfolio and notepad. She discarded the wet pen for a dry one and leaned over her keyboard just long enough to lock the computer. As the screen changed to a standard Windows backdrop, she walked out of her office.

Her stride wasn’t fast or slow; she’d given herself enough time for this meeting. It was across the compound, but Carver didn’t mind the walk. Had she not been going to a meeting, she probably would have been running. It wasn’t nearly as long as some of the races she’d participated in at UCLA. Maybe she would run back from this meeting, if she still felt that restless urge in her legs.

At the entrance to the building, she paused to make sure her hair was straight. As usual, she found a pen stuck into her ponytail; with a sigh, she removed it and tucked it into the leather-bound portfolio. She walked into the building, checked with security and then walked to the gym. She was unsurprised to learn that Atlanta was there. The woman seemed to love working out; right now she was pumping an impressive amount of iron. Carver felt her eyebrows rise as she checked the weight. We should probably wait for her to finish, she thought to herself.

People sometimes shared thoughts within their own minds, as if someone else could hear. Very rarely did they get an answer. Might be funnier to interrupt her. The voice that ‘spoke’ back was sly and warm with malicious amusement.

Uh-huh, Willow thought to her counterpart, not giving the idea a second of serious consideration. The hiss of the hydraulic weights falling back into place cut their conversation short, and Carver stepped forward with a smile. “Atlanta,” she called, smiling. “Ready for today’s excursion?”

[Zaylee Zanne]

I just need that one spark to jump-start my memory, then the rest of it will come tumbling back, the woman called Atlanta thought to herself as she cranked out another set of fifteen at thirty-thousand kilos. Beyond several weeks ago, her memory was a complete blank slate, but she had found out that she was intuitively skilled in many physical endeavors. So she spend a lot of time in the gym, engaging in what she seemed to excel at, sparring, weight-training, even running, hoping to earn a glimmer of where her skills came from, a glimmer that would lead to revelation.

So far, no luck, but it had been only a few weeks. There was still a lot she wanted to experience, in an attempt to recall her past. She was looking forward to the excursion the Doc had proposed - it would also get her off base, pretty much the only place she'd been since being found in Montreal. Focusing on her reps and the music coming through the earbuds, she still caught sight of the taller blonde.

Atlanta finished her last set, placing the bar at rest, and rolled to a sitting position on the padded bench with eerily predatory grace, popping the earbuds from her ears, an eager grin on her face. The sounds of Alejandra's sounded faintly from the earbuds in her hands, where before she had been listening to Johnny Cash, Mozart, and Superbeast.

"What's up, Doc?" Atlanta said, unaware why Carver's lips tightened slightly at the question. "Time to go? Excellent!" She pressed the electronic pad on the heavy-duty weight-machine, reducing the simulated weight to a more modest level, then flowed to her feet, showing no signs of her exertion, save for a bit of extra colour in her cheeks.

"So, where's our ride?" she asked, eyes smoothly scanning the room, as her deep-purple bodysuit began shifting into a pair of dirty-washed jeans the colour of dried mud and a tight black shirt with an odd design on it: a bisected circle bracketed by a pair of chevrons. Carver could see her hands flexing, missing the feel of her black-bladed gladius, which she had insisted the new Diomedian leave behind on this excursion.

Click to reveal.. ( Symbol)

[Jaunt]

*Thump*

From a ripple that remained only for a moment, like a temporary scar in reality, Jaunt stepped through. The eighteen year-old was dressed like he was ready for a day in the sun, khaki shorts, tubes sandals, and a plain gray t-shirt with sunglasses folded and tucked in the collar. His hair was damp, like he'd just been swimming or got out of the shower. His backpack hit the floor with a thud that announced the kid carried a lot of stuff in it and he lifted a massive hot dog with everything on it to his lips, taking a bite as he continued to approach the laides.

Mustard and chilli ringed his mouth and he chewed like man fresh out of prison after twenty years. "Ugh, gawd..." His eyes rolled as he savored the flavor. "This is how y'make em', y'know? Best coneys come from Coney Island, fact."

He smirked and looked around the room a bit suddenly realizing he'd not been in this area since they had to test is physical capabilities almost two years ago. Jaunt had the distinct honor of being not only he youngest member of the Argonauts, but the youngest they'd accepted into their ranks to date, and it showed. "Lemme tall ya about my day so far," He said to the two women he was walking around, neither of them looking the slightest bit impressed. His smile was that of kid in a candy store, Jaunt was on cloud nine today it seemed. "Had breakfast in a little cafe in Oostende, Belgium. Hit the surf off the coast of Hawaii. Stopped for a milkshake in Kansas, but that was boring. Scored some digits from this hot British chick in the Bahamas, might even call her back, and I was sun bathing on the summit of Kilimanjaro when you called. I'm tellin' ya people: it's good to be me."

"This has gotta be Atlanta." He looked her up and down and he walked around her, suddenly appearing in front of her again in a blur as he 'jaunted', something he was fond of doing, teleporting short distances every couple of steps. "Damn. Gonna take a picture of you so Santa knows what I want for Christmas."

He smirked and looked over to Carver or, more like he chest rather. "How ya doin' ladies? Thought about my offer?" Referring to a comment he'd made earlier in the week about Willow's body, ice cream, his tongue, and mood music. Carver was convinced that the little prick couldn't do three out of the four correctly if he if had an instructional video and all the time in the world. His eye panned up and he looked Willow in the eyes, then sighed and looked back down at the 'ladies'. "Geez, you two always have to bring her along?"

He looked up again. "Oh, hi Doc...," He looked from right to left, biting his coney once more as he smirk sarcastically. "Didn't uhh... see you there. So, uh, what's the deal? You said to show up, here I am."

[z-Carver]

Carver’s lips parted to reply to Atlanta, but the sound of displacing air gave her a moment’s warning. She tensed up instinctively, only to relax a second later. She still looked on-edge – harried was probably the best word for the expression on her face.

Willow didn’t like dealing with Jaunt. Jael found him amusing. The two impulses didn’t mesh well, resulting in a woman who was flustered and fine in turns. It would probably be easier if Jael had just been the ‘one’ to deal with him, but Willow didn’t trust her counterpart to not do something Willow would regret. Willow didn’t like Jael to handleany of their social encounters, which only ensured that Willow would never give permission for Jael to talk to him. And while Jael didn’t need permission, it did make things a little harder to accomplish.

Willow set her jaw and ignored the things about Jaunt she didn’t want to deal with. Today, that included everything he’d said except for his last two sentences. “Yes, Jaunt, thank you for coming.” The second the words were out of her mouth, she heard what she’d said and knew how he’d take it. Before he could launch into a joke, she quickly added, “Since you’ve heard of Atlanta, I’m sure you’ve heard she has amnesia. I would like you to take her – us, both of us, around to different places. It will be random, but someone with her skills has likely traveled the world. I hope that if we hit a few major spots, she’ll remember something.” She actually smiled at him as her enthusiasm for her idea overcame her trepidation around the young punk. "Can you help us?"

[Jaunt]

Carver quickly dissected Jaunt's reaction: he was waiting for the punchline of her idea. He chewed a bit more slowly, thinking as his eyes panned back and forth between the two ladies.

"Sooo...," He still seemed skeptical. With all the shit he'd given Carver on a weekly basis the pleasant request and her now cussing at him by now had caused his defenses to be up. "You two want me to take you out around the world? No mission? No secret sect of somethings trying to kill us? No high speed chases or collateral damage?"

He spoke as if he almost liked the idea until he flashed them both a what would have been a charming smile were it not mixed with bits of hot dog and chili stained with mustard. He nodded like it was the most awesome idea he'd ever heard. "That sounds like a blast! We can hit Japan first, I've been dying for some gyudon all day..."

More food... it seemed like eating was all Jaunt ever did.

[Zaylee Zanne]

Atlanta kept the unimpressed smirk on her face, but her striking cyan eyes glinted. With no memory of anyplace other than Prometheus HQ, a safehouse, and a bit of Montreal, she couldn't help but feel a pang of envy at how this boy made traveling the world in the span of a morning sound so... common. She would have been happy with a single genuine recollection of where she had been before being found at the St. Joseph Oratory.

As he circled her, she warily kept her eyes on him, which slightly widened at his 'jaunt', even as a subconscious part of her brain analyzed the offensive and defensive capabilities of such an ability and considered counters for it. Fuck, I hope there is more to me other than being a veritable thug. But she didn't deny that part of her self. Otherwise, she was vaguely amused by his antics, sort of how she imagined she would be at a younger brother's annoying friend. Or she could have been completely wrong about that, what did she know?

Originally Posted By: Jaunt

"This has gotta be Atlanta. Damn. Gonna take a picture of you so Santa knows what I want for Christmas."

"So someone with a classical education tagged me, but you can call me AJ, if you prefer," the athletic young blonde responded, only looking a few years older than him. But it was impossible to put an age to her eyes. Her lips briefly widened in a grin. "And I thought Santa only brought gifts to good, little boys?"

As the Doc detailed the point of this little excursion, Atlanta stood with nonchalant ease, striving for an air of Diomedian badassery. And she would have done a good job of it too, somehow portraying her impressive quantum-powered strength and grace without doing anything more than lounging, except she was leaning slightly forward, curvy, athletic figure taut with a restrained eagerness. The tilt of her head silently asked the same question as Carver.

Then she listened to Jaunt's response. And blinked.

"I wasn't planning on any of that other stuff, but if you like..." Another brief grin appeared. "I speak French as easily as I speak English, if that matters on where you might bring us," she offered.

Then she eyed the remains of his coney. She barely needed to eat or drink, but the Doc had mentioned that smell and taste were the senses that stimulated the memory the most effectively. "Can I have a bite of your hot dog?" If it's familiar, then at least I'll know I've been to Coney Island.

[Jaunt]

"Sure," he replied and without missing a beat handed her the coney. "You can kill it if you want, that milkshake I think is givin' me the bubble-guts anyway. A coney might not have been the best idea, but my time zones are all jacked... breakfast, lunch and dinner are really a thing of the past for me."

He looked to Carver and shrugged mildly. "Didn't know she was an... uhh..." He snapped his fingers a few times.

"Amnesiac." She said, helping him out.

"Yeah, one of those." He pointed at the doctor. "Good call. If she speaks French fluently then obviously there's France and Canada. Both are a lot of fun, but there's a ton of French speaking countries we got Madagascar, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Haiti, Monaco." The kid didn't look like much and sure didn't act like much more than a punk most of the time, but when it came to planet Earth, there was very little he didn't know. "Hell, she could be from Clipperton for all we know." He laughed slightly as he shrugged.

"But, hey, A.J., you spin a globe and point and I'll get us there," He folded his arms confidently. "Easy-peasy. With me anywhere is possible."

[z-Carver]

Carver smiled, glad that Jaunt was so willing to help. She was also glad that he’d gotten distracted by the thought of jaunting and showing off, rather than continuing to talk to her breasts like they were people. The first time he’d used ‘ladies’ she’d nearly jumped out of her skin with shock, thinking he’d learned of her duality. But as far as she could tell, it wasn’t common knowledge, and since it wasn’t a geographical tidbit, Jaunt was unaware.

“I don’t want to limit it to just French-speaking nations,” she added quickly. “I speak Portuguese, but I wasn’t born in Brazil.” Given her appearance, she could be from Sweden or anywhere that the women came blonde, athletic and taller than average.

Carver reached into a deep pocket on her pants and pulled out a list. “I had written down some places that I thought were good choices, but I think Jaunt has something. I think Atlanta should select our destinations.” Looking up at her medical charge, she added, “Perhaps your choices will indicate a subconscious connection.” If Atlanta didn’t recover her memory from this outing alone, they might gain clues that would help solve it.

"Pick your poison, Atlanta," Carver added, giving the other blond woman a small smirk.

[Zaylee Zanne]

AJ nodded her thanks at Jaunt and took the coney, finishing it in two deliberate bites, eyes narrowed to slits as she focused on the taste. There was certainly a lot of it, not the worst thing she'd eaten, nor the best. "It's good... and entirely unfamiliar." Admittedly, her palette was still limited as yet, but she planned on expanding it.

She gave her companions a shrug and a crooked grin. "I'm good with random. I can't even tell you if French or English in my native language. So, with not knowing where I've been, one place is as good as any other, right?" Her grin grew a bit tight with self-deprecation. "If my luck or subconscious sends us from shit-hole to shit-hole - unfamiliar shit-holes, at least - then we can go with Carver's list."

Atlanta made a pretense of looking around, her short pony-tail bobbing behind her then arched her brows at Jaunt and Carver. "So, where do we find a globe?"

"Don't worry your fine ass, AJ," Jaunt boasted, peeling his eyes off said ass he had been watching as Atlanta killed the rest of his coney. An opPhone appeared in his hand, almost as if by magic. "There's an app for that."

The more naked then clothed girl on the touchscreen faded away into a blue-and-green globe on a starry background and a pulsing red arrow-tip. "Just give it a shake, babe."

Jaunt demonstrated, shaking the phone like a maraca and the two blondes could see the globe bouncing around the screen along with the glowing red arrow, to the sound of merry beeping and booping. Then Jaunt handed her the phone with an unnecessary flourish. Atlanta give it an assessing shake, superhuman coordination intuitively judging how to get the result she wanted. Except... there wasn't a result she wanted in particular. She turned the screen aware from herself then gave the small opPhone a vigorously controlled shake.

A long moment after she stopped, there was a celebratory ring tone. "Congratulations, you're going to .. Dunedin, New Zealand," they were informed by a female voice with the overly sensual tones of a porn-star.

"Really, Jaunt?" Atlanta arched a brow, grin wry.

[Jaunt]

He grinned, unashamed. "Hey, sometimes 'where to go' is not easy to decide, and this app helps with that. Besides, variety is the spice of life. The default voice blew goats so I had to change it. Last thing I needed to hear when randomizing my excursions was some robotic bull-dyke telling me latitude and longitude."

"Dunedin, huh?" He nodded approvingly. "Great place, one of the most awesome railway stations in the world, at least in my opinion. Great food and a fantastic cultural nexus. Established in eighteen forty eight..." He paused as he noticed the two just looking at him. Impressive as it was that he could call on that sort of information from memory... it didn't actually get them there. "Sorry, how about I just show ya? It's about 5am there, so don't bother with sunglasses. On the plus side, you haven't lived until you've seen a New Zealand sunrise."

"Alright ladies, here. We." His hands charged up with a strange spacial distortion, similar to the scars he left on reality when he tore through sub-space to reach his destinations. He stood in the center of his two passengers. "Go." With a sudden hard slap on their asses (with accompanied squeeze) they were off.

They saw and experience first hand what it was like to travel like Jaunt. The aperture opened and they were sucked into it. Everything around them bent and folded into a tube until up was down and down was up. Miles upon miles were simply folded and passed up in the blink of an eye. All the sounds of the world became nothing more than echoing noise like there were in a tunnel of traffic with everyone screaming and blowing their horns all at once. The end of the aperture was nothing more than a black dot that seemed to punch them in the face it came at them so quickly. Even with eyes open there was still blackness but only for a moment as their destination came into view around them fading into being from the darkness.

It was a bit disorienting, like getting kicked in the gut at light speed only to come to a sudden stop, but thanks to Jaunt's attunement, neither felt anything more then a momentary lapse of balance as the scar sealed up around them. It was dark and they were in an alley way close to an intersection. There was very little traffic and the fresh air was first thing they noticed.

"Welcome to Caversham. A small suburb about smack dab in the middle of Dunedin. Established in eighteen fifty and has a population of about fifty-one hundred. He held out his arms and walked ahead a few steps (before ass grabbing reprisals could begin) and spun around a few steps. He breathed deep as he made a three sixty. "Ah! Smell that air ladies. I'm tellin' ya, ain't nothing like fresh morning air and a New Zealand sunrise." He swept his arm to the alley way opening ha tled to the street beyond it. "After you A.J., take a look around, walk a few blocks. The Doc n' I will be right behind you. If you hear something beep, that's just the mack-meter going off as I run my game on her. No worries."

[Zaylee Zanne]

Atlanta flexed her bum in reaction to Jaunt's slap and was considering if that was an experience worth pursuing when she was treated to the singular experience of 'jaunting'. The only other thing she could have compared it to was Jackson's warping ability, and this was nothing like that.

Her lapse of balance after being squeezed through the end of Jaunt's... whatever it was, was an infinitesimal thing, inhuman grace adjusting instantly to the sudden 'stop'. Jaunt gained a reprieve from a possible reprising slap that could shatter bricks and bones as Atlanta eagerly looked around, hoping for that golden flash of insight she was sure would signal the end of her amnesia.

Keeping an ear on Jaunt detailing the area, the memory-impaired woman took a rare deep breath, air as fresh as her ride claimed, the organic material comprising her clothing conforming to her well-rounded bosom. The suburb was an old one, a mature one, an envious history and character imprinted on its buildings and streets and greenery. A history like the one the fit-looking blonde was desperately searching for.

"Right. Thanks, Jaunt." A slight curve to her lips, Atlanta gave him a nod, then smoothly turned around and glided out of the alley. "Try to keep up," she tossed over a shoulder.

At the alley-mouth, she peered one way, noticing that Caversham rested in a valley. Considering Jaunt's mentioning of the New Zealand sunrise, Atlanta decided she wanted to see it. Atlanta turned East, the road rising towards a ridge, and started off at a brisk, effortless lope, her strides amazingly fluid and strong, and carrying her with deceptive swiftness.

The sky was still shadowed with pre-dawn, the streets quiet and clear, only the occasion vehicle passing by. A White Lady Food Van passed her on its way for a day at the business district, the driver ringing his melodious horn at the pretty blonde he saw. Atlanta smiled and gave him a wave and wished something as mundane as the chip-wagon was familiar to her.

[z-Carver]

Carver was all too used to the way Jaunt was, but she still didn’t appreciate being man-handled like that. She’d take – or ignore – most of his bullshit, but touching her crossed a line. She was torn between chewing him out and writing him up formally when they got back – but that was a reflection of her duality. Jael had no problems with taking things into her own hands, while Willow preferred to distance herself from it and let someone else handle it. They settled for a compromise.

As Atlanta surged ahead of them, Carver called, “Jaunt, don’t do that again. You know I don’t like that, so knock it off. Last warning.” Her voice was hot with anger and her gray eyes flashed in irritation. She didn’t bother to get a reply; he’d either realize he’d gone too far or he wouldn’t, and she’d deal with it then. Instead, she followed Atlanta, her long legs having to work to keep up.

As the road rose up the incline, Carver found herself wishing she were a nova, or at least partially one. Or at least, that she’d been blessed with the endurance of one. She could handle the exertion, but she also felt it as she leaned into the climb. Atlanta, on the other hand, seemed immune to the steady tug of gravity yanking on her, trying to forestall her ascension.

When the amnesic stop, Carver followed suite, turning to watch the rising sun paint the sky with the other woman. She didn’t want to push, but she remained hopeful that this was inspiring some memory in Atlanta.

[Jaunt]

"No prob, Doc." Jaunt said with a shrug. "Gon' be a long walk home if you don't like being touched." He smirked and jaunted a few steps ahead of Carver, facing her and he walked backwards. "Just sayin'." He flipped her the bird and jaunted to the crest of the hill in time to watch the sun rise.

Sure, he and the Doc didn't see eye to eye, and sure he was a smarmy little shit with an abundance of attitude problems, but as the sun rose above the horizon he was stopped dead in his tracks. It was a thing of natural beauty the way the orange and purple lit up the skyline and shimmered along the edges of the clouds. They must have stood there there hypnotized by nature's splendor for well over five minutes. Silently enthralled by a majesty so much greater than all of them combined. Somewhere inside that stubborn punk was the heart of a romantic and as the moment slowly faded he jaunted from the bench we was balancing on, off to the Doctor's side, taking a moment while A.J. was still admiring the sights of New Zealand.

"Okay, look..." He started, fearless of a reprisal since his natural intuition had already warned him of one hundred thirty six possible dangers she posed and an adequate means of avoiding them. "I'm sorry I flipped you the bird." He said calmly and about as nice he'd managed to speak to her in quite some time. "...aaand I'm sorry I grabbed your ass." He paused and leaned his head to the side a bit. "Okay, mostly sorry, like seventy/thirty sorry, because you have a really nice ass, there, I said it."

It was a wonder this kid was single...

"C'mon Doc, lighten up, will you? Okay, the ass thing was wrong, I see your point, Jaunt bad." He slapped his hand in a rather comedic display of self-punishment. "But damn woman, you're 'off the clock' with an opportunity around the world and you look like someone kicked you in the nuts and called you a faggot in front of the entire senior class..." He quirked an eyebrow at her and grinned. "Do you ever try and have a little fun? I mean seriously, Doc, we have anywhere and all day to get there... why not the three of us have a little fun."

He grinned and looked over to A.J., leaning against a light post nearby. "Sides, there's no recorded case of a Psychogenic restoring their memory through over stimulation so I really don't think any of this is going to help her anyway, so we might as well kick back and enjoy the day off, eh?"

[Zaylee Zanne]

Atlanta stood on the verge of the street cresting the ridge, looking down over the rest of Dunedin to Otago Habour, painted silver and gold under the rising sun. The warmth of new light played over her lightly tanned face as she stood expectantly, waiting...

... The black sand was almost burning hot beneath her feet as she loped for the cerulean waves, the sun low on the horizon, bathing her in pleasant warmth. She was laughing, and beside her, so was...

... watching the sun crest the harbour water as something within her faded away before even being half formed. With an effort that strained muscles capable of rending steel, AJ refrained from slumping her shoulders, though she would have sighed had she been holding a breath. Turning to the others, she forced a faint curve to her lips to conceal her disappointment. I'm trying to force this too much.

"Raw stimulation might not do it, Jaunt, but right now, it's about all I can do. None of the drugs used in the standard treatments work on me. But you're right." She looked down at her hands and chuckled ruefully. "I can't even remember 'fun', not counting taking down those over-sized behemoths that had only a vague relationship with femininity when I 'woke' up."

The sleek, stunning blonde rolled her shoulders and firmly turned her back on the rising sun. "So, I picked the first destination, random as it was. Why don't we check one of the places on the Doc's list, then Jaunt, you can show where we can go around the world to cut loose, hmm?"

[z-Carver]

Jaunt had a good point, an excellent one in fact. Carver nodded acknowledgement, even as she know she wouldn't tell him that this trip wasn't really about getting Atlanta's memory back - at least not directly. Carver already knew there was no physical reason for the nova's amnesia, which left psychological and external. They could do little if it were external, short of locating the person who had done the manipulation. If it was psychological, the key to unlocking it lay in Atlanta. And if Atlanta had been trying to get it back, pushing as hard as she could, she might be blocking herself. Getting her to relax and away from the base for a few hours might be the key.

Relaxation might be the key for Atlanta, but Carver wasn't sure if she should loosen up at all around Jaunt. Still, he had apologized. Chill out, girl, Jael chided her. Willow wasn't sure she should ever take Jael's advice, but she let herself smile. "How do you know I'm not having fun?" she asked Jaunt softly, giving him a smile. "I mean, this might be the way I relax."

Jaunt gave her a doubtful look and she laughed. "Alright, it's not how I have fun. Thank you for your apologies," she told him. Jael stirred in a moment of mischief, and Carver added, "Ya can keep checking out my ass, just don't touch without permission." She gave him a quick wink and turned to Atlanta. "I choose some places that have seen the kind of violence or situations that might have created someone of your skills. Then I added some places that fit your genetic genotype. Those are less likely, so we'll focus on the others first." She looked up at the two with her and added, "Hmm, that was a bit too much information, wasn't it?"

[Jaunt]

"Woah... woah..." Jaunt held up his hands at Atlanta. "Fun isn't something you 'remember'. Fun is joyful or amusing reactions. While there may be things you found fun before your amnesia, I'd not worry about em'. For now, just find new things that you enjoy and go from there." He shrugged, "Devoting your life to remembering the one you had before this one is just a waste of the time you have left. So I say: get shit faced, be irresponsible, if a memory comes back along the way, cool. If not, let the good times roll til' til one does."

Jaunt was half bull-shitting the pair. He didn't really mention to Carver that his research of her medical condition consisted of glancing over a picture of her cleavage that was in her file and watching the Bourne Identity three days ago... while on the go from his opPhone. But it looked like she was buying so all was well with the world.

Quote:

"Ya can keep checking out my ass, just don't touch without permission."

He tapped A.J. on the arm and laughed a bit and leaned in, quietly adding. "I'm wearin' her down." He winked and listed to the rest Carver had to say. When she was finished he jaunted away a few steps and paced around a bit thinking. Sometimes keeping jaunt in view was an exercise in futility, the way he jaunted around several steps instead of just walking.

"Actually, Doc, that's not too much info. It raises an excellent point that I'm not sure we've considered. With A.J. being Novus, how do we know she's the same genotype she was prior to her eruption?" He leaned against a lamp post and folded his arms. Jaunt was not mega-bright, but Carver knew (more than most) that the kid had a brain on him that was impressive to say the least. She was pretty sure, if the kid was given a proper education, he'd qualify as a genius; a trait she attributed to his Novus status. "I mean, it's fact that as novas we're not human anymore. Genetically we are separated from baseline humanity by the fact our DNA has evolved to a state that is capable of developing and harnessing a means to control energy that humans beings can not. My point is, in order for her to do what she does, her eruption could have drastically altered her on a genetic level. Hell, I got cuter." He concluded with a sly grin that evolved into a toothy smile.

"So," his hands wavered as the aperture summoned by his abilities manifested in preparation for attuning them to his unique signature. "Something to consider anyway." He looked to Carver. "Where to next gorgeous?"

[z-Carver]

Carver smiled. “It’s a guessitimate,” she explained. “Take my genotype. According to it, I am pretty much pure German, with a tiny bit of Jewish and North African. I was born in Kimball, Wisconsin. It’s merely another clue, and probably not a very good one.” Carver shrugged, and her gray-blue eyes were filled with the knowledge of her limitations and her desire to fix this situation. “But I’ll try it, and I’ll hope. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

She consulted her list and nodded. “I was thinking we could start with Indonesia. How about Meulaboh?” Another shot in the dark – that’s all this was. But it might be fun, too. “Hmm… course, it’s night there. Maybe Serbia instead?”

[Zaylee Zanne]

Atlanta's lips tightened with annoyance when Jaunt declared trying to remember who she was was a waste of time - spoken just like someone who took their own history for granted. If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there, but at least most people can look over their shoulders and know where the road came from. She didn't. She was in Limbo, with nothing ahead and nothing behind. And she was a Nova with a mega-optimized metabolism, she had all the time in the world.

On the other hand, this gave her every justification to heed Jaunt's concise philosophy and to just live in the Now. Admittedly, she didn't know what could get her shit-faced, but she was willing to find out. Fuck, I can't even remember having sex, though the physical showed I ain't no virgin. How fair is that?

AJ leaned back towards Jaunt and said just as quietly, "I think you still have you work cut out for you."

Her cyan eyes followed Jaunt after each jaunt as she listened to what he said. Privately, she was pretty much in agreement with Jaunt - she was pretty sure she had changed a lot after her eruption. Fingerprinting, Genetic Testing, even Facial Recognition Programs run through the databases Prometheus could manage access to all turned up nothing on her. Which didn't necessarily mean anything - Hell, she could have been a plain co-ed going to community college for all she knew.

AJ gave Carver a nod and grateful smile. "I do appreciate what you're doing for me, Doc. Thanks." She considered Carver's destination, silently mouthing each one, testing how the words felt on her lips. "Serbia, then," Atlanta decided spontaneously.

[Jaunt]

"Serbia it is then." Jaunt grinned held out his hands like he was attempting charm, too bad they knew him better than that. This time he took their hands and the slight attuned distortions were send from him to them in an instant as he jaunted them to Serbia.

Within an instant they appeared in an alley way in Belgrade, capitol of Serbia. "Okay, we got about thirty four thousand square miles of possible places she could be from here. And yeah Doc, thanks for all you're doing..." He raised his hands in the air and walked ahead of the two. "Because Jaunt here isn't doing anything... oh no... it's all you Doc. I mean really, it's not like he has the ability to zip us off anywhere instantly or anything, that's all you Doc, and we appreciate it! Not mention incredibly handsome! No... no way Jaunt has anything to do wit any of this..."

The two ladies couldn't help but grin a bit at his sarcasm. He was playing, they could tell and most of his rant faded off into background noise as he got to far for them to keep hearing him faux-complain.

Ancient architecture greeted them however as the ladies, and Jaunt, now stood in a nexus of old-world culture. Over 1,150 years worth of history was wrapped up in the small country and one could almost feel the story from every brick, stone and building... and Jaunt saw this everyday? "Hey," He came back and smiled like a deviant Prince Charming. "The Doc was kind enough to drop us off here near a cafe. I'mna go grab a drink, you two want something? Look around for a bit, I can bring it to ya..."

[Zaylee Zanne]

"Sure Jaunt, I'll have something. Surprise me." It wasn't thirst the drove her to take Jaunt up on his offer, rather, simply wanting to try something from each place they visited. She matched his deviant Prince Charming smile with the smirky grin of Maleficent's rebellious teenaged daughter (if she had had one). "See? Who said you don't do anything?"

AJ turned around with a soft chuckle, beginning to sashay down the street, admiring that worn, but cared-for, architecture. Studying the baroque lines of The Church of the Holy Archangel Michael, built who-knew-how-long ago (though she was beginning to suspect Jaunt might), the weight of history pressed down on her, even though she didn't know any of the specifics. Jaunt was a lucky, little prick, a single step able to take him anywhere in the world.

"He always like this?" Atlanta asked, glancing at Carver, then nodding over a shoulder the way Jaunt had gone. "Or is it just him being a young man traveling around the world with two beautiful women?"

[z-Carver]

Carver hesitated, unsure if she trusted Jaunt to get her a drink without putting a roofie in it. A moment later, she decided that idea was stupid, but she still shook her head. “Not this time, thanks, Jaunt,” she said. Unlike the novas she traveled with, her metabolism wasn’t shot through the roof. It meant that she didn’t have to eat every five minutes, but it meant that she shouldn’t get in the habit of eating when she wasn’t hungry. And she liked her coffees so loaded with sugar they counted as a meal.

Once he was gone and Atlanta was making her inquiries, Carver chuckled. “No, that’s pretty much the way he is all the time,” she advised, shrugging with one shoulder. “Or at least, that’s the way he is around me. For all I know he’s soft and sensitive when he’s with other women, reading poetry and talking about how he cries at Sylvia Plath.” She gave the other blond a crooked smile.

After a beat, she asked, “Atlanta, are you having fun?”

[Zaylee Zanne]

Atlanta hid a giggle under a snort. "Somehow, I doubt it." She continued walking, head swiveling in precise arcs as sharp eyes surveyed everything around them, taking everything in. Part of her analyzed the terrain for combat purposes - potential cover, lines of fire, bottlenecks - but most of her was simply enthralled by how new everything was, even the mundane things. And if was frustrating.

Carver wasn't sure if Atlanta was going to answer her when the shorter woman paused, hands fisted as her sides as she watched a van parked on the side of the narrow street. Two men were at the back, starting to move boxes up to a second floor flat by the exterior stairs.

"I'm having fun, I'm having a blast, Doc... and I'm not," she admitted finally. "I've been cooped up ever since I was found at the Oratory and only have not even a month of memories to my name. Everything I see, it's all new, it's like discovering something for the first time. At the same time, it's all new." The frustrating was clear in her voice.

"I can't remember ever having an ice cream cone or kissing a guy or being drunk or... or..." She gestured across the street. "Or even moving into a new place. Nor can I relate to how much effort it's taking those guys to get the couch up the stairs. As far as I know, I've always been this strong. I've always been... not entirely human."

Her voice dropped, and there was a tiredness to it that her body could rarely feel. "At the moment, I'd just about kill for something, anything that seemed familiar at this point. Something that I could say to myself, 'that's just like this time in... dance class and Cindy Whopper fell on her ass.' Or something. Y'know?"

Cyan eyes glanced at Carver questioningly, then continued studying the movers. "I'm greatly enjoying myself on this trip and am grateful to Jaunt for the opportunity - don't tell him though. But even as I value every new sight and experience, it also drives home just how much I'm missing. And yes, like Jaunt said, I can make new memories, start all over, but... it isn't the same..." She trailed off, voice a near whisper.

[z-Carver]

“No, it wouldn’t be the same,” Carver said softly. On impulse, she reached out and caught the other woman’s hand. “I imagine it feels very much like you are adrift. People are built from their experiences and adventures. I would guess that you feel alone sometimes.

“But you aren’t.” Blue-gray eyes stared up at Atlanta with intense sincerity. “Even if I don’t share what is happening to you, I still am here to help and support you. You will recover you memories, and I will help you with that as much as I can.”

Carver glanced away before adding, “I do know what it’s like to have your life ripped up, to lose something. In that way, I totally understand where you’re coming from.” She glanced at Atlanta and saw the curiosity, so she pushed on. “I was in Kashmir for the first Kashmir Nova War. So was my fiancé. He died. I erupted. My plans and dreams for my life were torn away. I felt very alone after that.” Her discovery of Jael hadn’t helped; Paul might have been able to help her with that, but Willow was also glad he didn’t have to go through that. Jael hadn’t loved Paul, and Willow didn’t know if their relationship would have survived her presence. In a very selfish way, it was better that he had died.

“So no, I don’t really understand what you’re going through,” Carver said, pulling her mind out of the past. “But I do know pain, and I want to help you with yours. OK?”

[Zaylee Zanne]

"It's not pain so much as... I dunno, a lack of connection, a sort of Purgatory." Atlanta glanced up at the taller blonde, hoping what she said made sense, grinning slightly when Carver nodded. "But I know what you meant. It is lonely sometimes. But thanks, I'll take all the help I can get and I'm sorry about your fiancé." Atlanta gave the doctor's hand a squeeze in gratitude and Carver quickly suppressed a wince.

Having run a physical on her, Carver knew Atlanta had muscle control as phenomenal as her physical strength. Unfortunately, she also didn't have any memories of having once been human - an innate sense all Novas took for granted - sometimes had an accident, though her formidable dexterity and coordination let her compensate. Atlanta instantly adjusted, blushing faintly as Carver sighed softly with relief.

"Sorry," she apologized, releasing Carver's hand and looking around. "So, where's Jaunt-Air with my drink?"

[z-Carver]

"He'll turn up. He always does," Carver said with a casual wave of her hand. Even if she thought Jaunt was unprofessional enough to abandon them - which from his service record, she didn't - she doubted he'd be able to pull himself away from the company of two lovely women.

It was a bit awkward talking casually with Atlanta. Because the woman didn't know her own preferences, making those kind of personal inquiries was only going to frustrate her. On the other hand, dancing around them didn't help either. "You know, while we're out, shopping is a great idea."

In fact, the more she thought about it, the better it sounded. Carver didn't often get out to shop, much less getting somewhere unusual like Prague. The last time she'd been shopping had been a quick trip to Mexico City, just like the one before that. She hadn't even gotten out to Rio in a while. "I'm too busy," she said with a sudden laugh. "I need more time to shop!"

[Zaylee Zanne]

Atlanta's cyan eyes widened in surprise, her lips curving into a rueful grin as she chortled self-deprecatingly. She trailed off with a sigh, miming wiping tears from her eyes. "Since being found by the project a few weeks ago, all my time's been taken up with learning the ropes and trying to overcome my...issues. I haven't done any shopping, at all." Her laughter returned, rich and genuinely amused, though Carver detected a faint trace of lingering melancholy.

"Other than my blade and my-" Atlanta plucked at her shirt and jeans her bio-polymer suit was emulating with a thumb and forefinger, stretching them unnaturally from her body, then releasing them to snap back with a faint slapping sound, "-I have some bits and pieces from the quartermaster's and that's about it. Hmmph! I don't even own a dress or a pair of heels."

The amnesiac blonde began peering around, looking for someplace suitable to begin this new endeavor, flashing Carver a bright smile that made her look more innocent than ferocious, close-combat specialist Nova with a blank memory should. "I have a modest stipend I haven't had a chance to spend any of yet and Hell! Who am I to to disagree with a Doctor when she says shopping is an important part to my recovery, right?"

[z-Carver]

Carver giggled. “That’s the spirit,” she said with a grin. This was going to be fun and if Jaunt didn’t want to shop too, he could bounce around and have some fun on his own. She glanced around the plaza they were waiting in, her eyes lighting up when she saw the clothing shop on the corner. Standing, she waved Atlanta to follow her. “Fortunately, I think I was kind enough to drop us near a clothing store,” Carver added with a grin as she carried on Jaunt’s joke.

What had drawn the doctor was a fairly upscale boutique; the front window was filled with dresses for the skinny and wealthy. Cute shoes were gracing the manikins’ feet while various accessories completed the look. “Do you like that?” she asked, pointing at a classic black dress. “I really like the way the skirt hangs on that one.” She glanced at Atlanta. “Want to find your style of clothing?” she asked with an eager smile.

[Zaylee Zanne]

Atlanta girlishly smiled back, cyan eyes glancing over the LBD and the shoes, then peering through the glass into the interior of the shop. "I do. I really do."

Atlanta and Carver burst into the boutique, eyes alight, as only a pair of girls looking for the perfect dress could. The saleswoman grunted, "Americans," in her heavily accented voice, though she wasn't sure about the shorter blonde - there was something about her that suggested French, but that wasn't much better - then came over to them with a solicitous smile. They may not have shared a language, but the language of dress shopping was universal. "Kako Vam mogu pomoći danas?*"

Both women's smiles widened and they took her up on her offer.

Atlanta picked her choices almost at random, inhuman grace and agility letting her switch outfits in mere seconds. A tactical portion of her mind kept up a running commentary about certain colours making it difficult to be stealthy, the lack of fabric giving no place to conceal any weapons or gadgets, and the longer skirts being in danger of tangling with her legs after quick movements until she kindly told it to shut-the-fuck-up and then ignored it. Her bio-polymer seemed reluctant to cover less of her skin too, but she was having none of it, regulating it to being underwear - and considering the cuts of some of the dresses - pretty damned brief underwear too.

Tactical-her needn't have worried about the longer skirts, seemed like off-duty-her preferred skirts that ended above the knee, or at least were slit up to the thigh, to show off her legs. Which Carver and their saleswoman, Jovanka, couldn't fault her - she had a dancer's legs, obviously muscular, but long and sleek with astonishing tone.

And she showed them off to even greater advantage by not being adverse in the least to a pair of high heels, in which she was able to maneuver in as easily as the most comfortable pair of walking shoes. Tactical-her grumbled to her about what could go wrong with them until she pointed out that they were no harder for her to walk in than her bare feet and that if necessary, she could drive the heel through someone's skull. Tactical her mused on that, then subsided, rather pleased with the thought. Though Jovanks was beginning to get annoyed with these women who wanted to try everything without actually buying anything, Atlanta found out she despised pointy-toed shoes, instead opting for open- and rounded-toes.

She also found out she had completely forgotten how much pretty clothing cost - the price of the shoes almost made her goggle, though she quickly hid her reaction when she saw Carver murmured something about there must be a sale going on. She couldn't figure out why something with less fabric ended up costing more either... But she still wanted it.

She ended up buying two dresses: a racy, little black number with an asymmetric hem and cut-outs in the bodice and a cute, pleated teal dress that flared with the lightest turn. With the pair of five-inch heels and a pair of ankle-boots, Atlanta ended spending far more than she expected, and didn't regret it in the least.

Click to reveal.. (Dresses)

"Now, I just need a reason to wear this stuff... Other than for the sake of just wearing it," Atlanta commented to Carver with a wry twist to her lips.