opnet [OpNet] A Hollow Victory

[Argent_]

Quote:

Originally posted by James 'Prodigy' Meehan:
/.../ I know for certain that one of them was what would be termed a 'serial killer' by an uneducated media. /.../

"Uneducated media", indeed.
I am sure that you would supply us with a more "enlightened" term here, James, prodigal intellect and all.
The problem would be that you, as a pathological individual, are not qualified to make assertions as to your own mental health; pure and simple, you are biased, to say the least.
I find it highly disconcerting that someone of your capacity can seem to take your own aberrations so lightly; when speaking of your mental pathologies and psychoses, you sound almost amused. Is it the Taint speaking, James?

There are people - Novas, in fact - that spend their life researching and treating the psychologically abnormal, and though not as hailed in the media as the Nova botanics or medical doctors, their accomplishments are no less astounding.

Seek help. You will be a danger to us all if you don´t. Fact is, if I got my records straight, you already have been.

We ceirtanly don´t need another Hazzard.


------------------
"It always begins in the same way: The first pawn moves. The first shot is fired (usually at the first pawn)."

[This message has been edited by Argent (edited 10-01-2001).]

[Hugin]

Quote:

Originally posted by Argent:
"Uneducated media", indeed.
I am sure that you would supply us with a more "enlightened" term here, James, prodigal intellect and all.
The problem would be that you, as a pathological individual, are not qualified to make assertions as to your own mental health; pure and simple, you are biased, to say the least.
I find it highly disconcerting that someone of your capacity can seem to take your own aberrations so lightly; when speaking of your mental pathologies and psychoses, you sound almost amused. Is it the Taint speaking, James?

There are people - Novas, in fact - that spend their life researching and treating the psychologically abnormal, and though not as hailed in the media as the Nova botanics or medical doctors, their accomplishments are no less astounding.

Seek help. You will be a danger to us all if you don´t. Fact is, if I got my records straight, you already have been.

We ceirtanly don´t need another Hazzard.

I am hurt, truly I am. Yes, I make light of my current status because I have done everything that I can do, within reason, to deal with it as best I can.

I did not choose those individuals whose thoughts, experiences and skills enhance my own. Only the cruel winds of fate had a hand in that. I am simply making the best of an unusual situation.

I do not justify the practices of the individual I referred to. He was ill and completely not in control of his actions. That does not excuse him nor his crimes. However had he been caught and the media allowed access to his history I am sure it would have been a circus. They would have branded him a monster and given the impression that he was an active evil in the world, fully in control of his behavior. It is that misconception that I brand 'uneducated'.

Now, you claim that I have been a danger in the past. I wonder at how you make that claim. I have harmed no one who did not first attempt to bring harm to me or mine. Please, this forum is not the place to throw about accusations and attempt character assasination. I am a researcher, a columnist, and a philosopher. Nothing more.
Hazzard is a Nova of great power. He is capable of laying waste to cities and inspiring nightmares in a generation of baseline children. What am I, the possessor of some small intellect, compared to that?

Good day.




[This message has been edited by James 'Prodigy' Meehan (edited 10-01-2001).]

[Argent_]

Perhaps some clarifications are in order:

First off, James: I seem to be guilty of at least a partial overreaction to your statements. Being capable of keeping my cool much better than that, there is little i can say to excuse my lack of manners.

The following is, therefore, an explanation rather than an excuse:

Alexei "Sasja" Medvedjev, aka "Legion" or "The Surgeon" is exactly the type of individual an ´uneducated´ being (such as the aforementioned media) might dub a ´mass murderer´. I, being a fairly educated individual (you might say that my diversity mirrors yours, Mr. Meehan, even if it does not equal it) would classify him as a homicidal sociopath suffering from severe schizophrenia and psychotic pathologies.

The latter, however, does not exclude the first. Medvedjev has managed to kill (my estimation) around eight hundred and seventy-two people, including six Novas (of whom only two were in any position to defend themselves).

I hunted him down, with the help of a few of my associates, and managed to corner him in S:t Petersburg. The "terrorist incident" that destroyed part of the Winter Palace? That was the damage done when he decided to burn out like a super nova rather than to allow himself to be captured.

In the end, we had him, but not without paying a price. Twelve civilians lost their lives that night, two of my colleagues was hurt severely and as for myself, I got my spine and both legs shattered.

Medvedjev is, to be blunt, a sick person. He is driven by his sexual/violent pathologies, as well as his megalomania; he truly felt that he was fulfilling a mission from the God of All Gods by killing all these people.

This does not make him any less dangerous to the general public.

Currently, he is being detained. I don´t really know what will be done with him as of yet; perhaps time will tell.

This battle was being fought rather recently, and even though I´m still healing (and sending thanks to whatever circumstance dictated that my dear friend finished his work on the regenerative nanoids), I´ve slept very little since then. I´ve been doing my research, trying to analyze Medvedjev´s illness. I´m afraid that, with all my Nova intellect, there is little that I can do for the world but to keep him detained.

Do you see my point yet, Mr. Meehan? Your exploits are truly wonderful, but as you surely must see yourself you are a potential threat to us all - precisely what the anti-Nova lobbyists are looking for. When will you snap?

You might want to distance yourself from past deeds by referring to these other personalities as other individuals entirely, but inside you have to know that this is Not True. Aspects of yourself, all of them.

For what its´ worth, I am offering the meager services of myself and my colleagues, should you wish to try to find a way to ultimately surpress these (if you pardon my choice of words) aberrant personalities. I might even be ale to put you in contact with the aforementioned Nova psychologists, who might take an interest in yourcase even though they normally work exclusively on baseline patients.

It is not too late, yet... but neither do you have unlimited time.

-Argent

P.S. To compare you to Hazzard was also a great blunder on my part. Accept my apologies for that, too; even if you know as well as I that a forceful intellect can be the most dangerous thing of them all. D.S.

------------------

"It always begins in the same way: The first pawn moves. The first shot is fired (usually at the first pawn)."

[Gerald Haney]

i am confused. why is there so much talking about sickness and badness and illness and hate and fear and hate and fear and hate and fear?

are we not Novas? we are gods. the opnet says so, the tv says so, the radios say so. we are here to do good and to protect and to take care of the little ones. we are strong and smart and special. this is what DeVryes tells me. why do we need to go to doctors? we are too strong to be sick or bad or sick.

avenger, i am sorry that you are made. i am sorry that your friend was hurt, that is bad, that is wrong. you should punish the bad man. beat him hit him hurt him beat him hurt him hurt him. his mother and father should punish him. do you need help to punish him? do you want him to make him dance? do you want help, do you want me to hurt someone? i can, i will. you are good and strong my friends told me about you. DeVryes likes you, do you want work, i can help. they trust me, they tell me i am good, i can tell them you are good.

[Jager]

Ripsaw, don't believe everything you are told. Some folks can say things without being sure what they are saying is true or not. They aren't purposely lying to you, but they are telling you falsehoods. Be careful.

James, I am here if you need me.

Argent, it is unlikely that James could get a fair hearing if he was ever taken into custody. I know you mean well, but I am not losing another buddy to a deep dark hole in the ground.

[Argent_]

Quote:

Originally posted by Jager:
James, I am here if you need me.

Argent, it is unlikely that James could get a fair hearing if he was ever taken into custody. I know you mean well, but I am not losing another buddy to a deep dark hole in the ground.

I understand what you are saying here, Jäger. Love in all of its forms - including friendship - is perhaps the strongest bond of all, for Baseline and Nova alike. I am happy to see that so many of us, even those who supposedly want to sever all ties to humanity (and in the next breath quotes ´the great Skald´ or some other Baseline poet/philosopher; oh well), are capable of such emotions. It might be our only hope for the future.

In soem cases, however, it can severely cloud your judgment. In this case, I think it might do just that; your desire to protect your friend also blinds you to the possibility that he might be a danger to very many people, should his psychosis go uncontrolled. Seeing as the power of his intellect perhaps even exceeds my own, I find it an extremely unsettling concept.

I offered James help, first and foremost; I have no wish to cause suffering for anyone. That said, I won´t accept loose cannons with the power of demigods to pose a danger to the defenseless populace, either.

Wake up, all of you. We are human beings granted with extraordinary powers - in some cases it makes us superior to the normal baseline community in almost every aspect. We should try to make it mean something, and not fall prey to the basest of urges to be self-aggrandizing, power-mad god-wannabes. That would be, for lack of a better word, all too "human". Not the ways of gods, but of pathetic, uncreative losers with something to prove.

We can be better than that.



------------------
"It always begins in the same way: The first pawn moves. The first shot is fired (usually at the first pawn)."

[Ashnod]

Quote:

Originally posted by Argent:
That said, I won´t accept loose cannons with the power of demigods to pose a danger to the defenseless populace, either.

Wake up, all of you. We are human beings granted with extraordinary powers - in some cases it makes us superior to the normal baseline community in almost every aspect. We should try to make it mean something, and not fall prey to the basest of urges to be self-aggrandizing, power-mad god-wannabes. That would be, for lack of a better word, all too "human". Not the ways of gods, but of pathetic, uncreative losers with something to prove.

We can be better than that.

Argent,

While I don't this is what you intended when you wrote this post, this is what I heard. You state that we as "human beings with extraordinary powers" and that "we can be better," both of which echo statements made by Project Utopia in terms of how we should behave. I disagree, vehemently, with anyone that believes with the genetic condition that allows the development of a latent M-R Node, a code of ethics or behavior is supposed to follow. Essentially, it can be taken as simply because you were born this way, you were meant to be a shining example of something good.

While I disagree with you on the "human beings with extraordinary powers" for obvious reasons, it is the other portion of your statements that frighten me. You imply that we should aspire to be Bodihsattvas, Buddhas, or Christs (as examples of morality and responsibility, not for religious idolation) for the baseline world. While I agree with you that mindless death and random violence (sorry, Hazzard) caused by our species upon the baseline nation is poor indeed, simply becoming the spectral opposite of that is not the answer.

We are not responsible for them. Period. We were not born to be their caretakers, their light-bearers, or their protectors. While there may be some nobility in choosing to do so, you are not less of a Nova in choosing not to be, and choosing instead to further the advancement of your own people.

[Argent_]

Ashnoud, you read a lot into my words that I in fact did not state, or mean to state. I do, however, wish to raise my voice for a portion of the Nova population that is not Terats, or Terat sympathizers - a minority on these forums, to be sure.

I am not a Terat. I am not a Terat sympathizer. Neither am I an Utopia operative; much of what they state, officially, echoes my own sentiments, but they are simply too large an organization for their own good. Corruption will inevitably folow, and has done so on numerous occasions.

What I stated was my opinion that these powers, brought on by the awakening of the Mazarin-Rashoud Node, does not bring us any special rights. Your own morality can dictate if you feel any special responsibilities - I do not demand you to use your powers to try and build a better world for everyone.

Being able to manipulate quantum energies does not put you above everyone else, though; I´ll be damned if I let some asshole on a power trip take liberties with baseline humans, their freedom and well-being, just because he is more powerful than them. If someone tries to pull something like that, I set out to stop him. Period.

All this talk about "the One Race" feels extremely disturbing to me. Am I supposed to turn my back on everything I was because I recieved a great gift?

I feel a responsibility to use my powers, my gifts, for something worthwhile. I do not demand or wish for any special rights or privileges; my accomplishments are rewards in and of themselves.

I can not ask this of every Nova.

What I can do, is ask that you do not abuse this power - Hazzard would be a great example here, as would Legion and Stahlmeister.

If someone does, then I feel a responsibility to stop them, as one of the few who actually has a prayer of succeeding.

Pure and simple. I call it responsibility.

------------------

"It always begins in the same way: The first pawn moves. The first shot is fired (usually at the first pawn)."

[Hugin]

"Am I supposed to turn my back on everything I was because I recieved a great gift?"

I love it when people answer their own questions. You have it down perfectly, just recognize what you said and you're halfway there. Everthing that you 'were', past tense. You have changed, you have grown, it is now time to put away childish things. Yes, turn your back on it, leave it behind. This doesn't mean pretending that it never happened, that you never 'were' human. Acknowledge your past, but acknowledge it as your past, not your present.

Now, I am sorry if you feel that I am a danger. But Jager is spot on about this. I would never receive fair treatment should I be incarcerated. I have been told point blank by agents of Utopia that should I find myself in their custody I would never have the opportunity to defend myself in court. Perhaps they find me so distasteful that they intend me great bodily harm, or perhaps they worry at what I might say. I cannot say for sure, I for one certaintly don't understand why I am considered important enough for this kind of treatment. As I have said before, I am a scientist, I would never do anything improper. What could I do? Send someone a really hard math problem? Write nasty notes in Ancient Hebrew? Come up with a really mean limerick? No, I am no threat to anyone. Why Utopia feels the need to treat me as one calls into question their intentions for the world of Novas.

,,

[This message has been edited by James 'Prodigy' Meehan (edited 10-03-2001).]

[Guest]

Thank you everyone who has offered to help me with my situation.

Jager,

I take no offense to your response and I appriciate your concern.

Avenger,

Thanks to you too. Please have him contact me at his convenience.

[Jager]

Argent, what do you think novas are? I mean this as a serious question, fore I have done some serious soul-searching as of late. I have returned to my private humanitarian endevours, but I do so now not from any sense of responsibility or guilt, but because I have friends who are involved and who are risking their lives.

Are we making a difference, those who are "helping" baseline humanity, or are we interfering in their lives and fates? This is something I worry about.

James, Apep; No problem. If you need me, I'm there.

[Ashnod]

Quote:

Originally posted by Argent:


Am I supposed to turn my back on everything I was because I recieved a great gift?

I feel a responsibility to use my powers, my gifts, for something worthwhile. I do not demand or wish for any special rights or privileges; my accomplishments are rewards in and of themselves.

What about those of that don't feel our powers are a gift, but rather a natural facet of our being? My abilities are as much a part of me as say, the ability of a bird to fly. I don't consider myself blessed or cursed for this, it simply is a factor of my species. For me, I feel a great confusion as to why you feel any responsibility to use your abilities as you do.

[Argent_]

To truly being able to answer that, Ashnoud, we´d have to deduce whether we´re born as Novas, or if we were simply in enough luck to recieve the proper stimuli at the right place in the right time to develop the MR node and the powers that come with it.

My theory, and one that I am trying to work on whenever I have time, is that any one can become like us, provided that the right spatial/temporal circumstances are met, along with a proper stimuli. I have yet to prove this scientifically, though. Of course, since I do not know if you´d accept evidence acquired according to scientific rules set up by baseline humans, this might be a moot point.

Were you born with your powers, Ashnoud? And if not, do you consider yourself a Nova from birth or when you went through your Eruption? These are serious questions, mind you; I know very little of you, and it is hard for me to find common ground somewhere when I don´t know how to speak to you. Suffice to say that I am willing to try, even though I feel that our respective viewpoints might be an example of the proverbial "unstoppable force versus immovable object". I am all for discussion and debate, especially if something good can come out of it, but I just don´t have the time for pointless boasts; there´s too much that needs to be done before we all run out of time.

Jager: This is the eternal question, is it not? Sometimes, I have a nagging feeling that the emergence of Novas was about the worst thing that could have happened to the world (and by this I mean not just baseline humanity). We´ve provided both blessings and curses, and God only knows which way the scales will tip in the end.

I´ve given this long and serious thought, but I am nowhere near a definitive answer. Perhaps it´d be hubris on my part to expect to be able to come up with one.

Should you wish to meet up to discuss this sometimes in the future, feel free to contact me; I am told that I should be completely restored to functioning basis in a week or so, and I would appreciate a face-to-face meeting.

------------------

"It always begins in the same way: The first pawn moves. The first shot is fired (usually at the first pawn)."

[Argent_]

Quote:

Originally posted by James 'Prodigy' Meehan:
"Am I supposed to turn my back on everything I was because I recieved a great gift?"

I love it when people answer their own questions. You have it down perfectly, just recognize what you said and you're halfway there. Everthing that you 'were', past tense. You have changed, you have grown, it is now time to put away childish things. Yes, turn your back on it, leave it behind. This doesn't mean pretending that it never happened, that you never 'were' human. Acknowledge your past, but acknowledge it as your past, not your present.

I might be young, Mr.Meehan, but not so young that I need advice such as this. I am fully aware of my change of status; being granted all these strange and extraordinary powers has forever changed my existence, especially since it made a few facts perfectly, and mercilessly, clear to me... not the least of which is that this world is on a crash course with oblivion unless someone tries to do something about it. Don´t tell me that you can´t feel the tension rise?

Quote:

Now, I am sorry if you feel that I am a danger. But Jager is spot on about this. I would never receive fair treatment should I be incarcerated. I have been told point blank by agents of Utopia that should I find myself in their custody I would never have the opportunity to defend myself in court.
Perhaps they find me so distasteful that they intend me great bodily harm, or perhaps they worry at what I might say. I cannot say for sure, I for one certaintly don't understand why I am considered important enough for this kind of treatment. As I have said before, I am a scientist, I would never do anything improper. What could I do? Send someone a really hard math problem? Write nasty notes in Ancient Hebrew? Come up with a really mean limerick? No, I am no threat to anyone. Why Utopia feels the need to treat me as one calls into question their intentions for the world of Novas.

You are asking yourself that question right after stating that you yourself are suffering from a serious state of psychosis, not the least of which symptoms is the grave case of MPD? And that one of these parallel personalities are quite homicidal?

Take a look at yourself, Mr. Meehan, as well as what you have accomplished. Are you trying to tell me that you wouldn´t be a threat to anyone should you lose your grip? You are an expert in damn near every field there is. You are a brilliant inventor of the like that this earth has never seen before. Are you trying to tell me that you wouldn´t be able to use these gifts to harm people if you´d like?

I am sorry to hear that you fear undue persecution at the hands of Project Utopia; since I myself have declined their offers of employment I am fairly aware that they, much as any other organization too large for its´ own good, are fairly capable of arbitrary and unjust punishment. They are, however, not the final authority on everything - no matter what the propaganda might state.

I am simply stating that your unwillingness to at least acknowledge the problem here might be your undoing. You are quite able of posing a great threat to a lot many people, and the more you try to deny this to yourself the likelier it is that you will be, when all is said and done... and that´d be a tragedy for us all.

With sincere hopes of being wrong,

Argent




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"It always begins in the same way: The first pawn moves. The first shot is fired (usually at the first pawn)."

[Hugin]

We seem to be having a miscommunication. I do not suffer from MPD. The minds that I have spoken of in the past are real. They existed before I was born and at the moment of my eruption all 126 of them died. I cannot feel responsible for this because I had no conscious part of their passing. I have researched the various members of my little mental club and on occasion have met some of their friends and reletives. So, I am not some delusional crackpot who talks to himself in different voices.

Ask Jager. We have met in real life and someone of his perceptional capabilities and experience would be able to tell you if I was a deluded sufferer of MPD or if I am what I claim to be.

Now yes, if you decided to focus on the harm that I *could* cause you would be able to come up with some less than pleasant scenarios. However, I am not a violent Nova, I never have been.

[Tuesday Childe]

Just an outsider offering a perspective here. It wasn't asked for so delete or review as appropriates.

Argent:

The standard by which you are measuring Mr. Meehan is far more stringent that that western society as a whole would apply medically or legally. Your ethic leg is tenuous.

On the other hand - uour offer, if genuine, to assist him should he require or see a value in your assistance reflects well on you. You're a good guy, carry on. He'll call if he wants to. Or not.

Mr. Meehan:

For shame, sir.

You're playing with Argent. You scare the bejeesus out of him, you know. And you're continuing to do so.

------------------

Tuesday Childe

having far to go...

[Ashnod]

Argent,

1) There are documented cases of people who have the genetic latency to become Novas. This isn't conjecture. There are also people with fully formed, but dormant, M-R Nodes in their heads that have yet to erupt. I'm certain you realize this already, but I honestly don't believe that ANYONE is a potential Nova.

2) For myself? Was I born with my powers? No, I had to undergo an eruption to unlock my full potential. Do I consider myself a Nova from birth? Yes. That I was unaware of what I truly was until my abilities manifested doesn't alter what I am, anymore than the fact that a butterfly was once wingless, crawling thing alters the fact that it is now a butterfly.

[Hugin]

Ashnod-I adore reading your replies dear one. Your mastery of Terat theory gives me such a warm feeling. You give us such a pleasant face to present the world. God help us if we had to depend on the likes of Avenger or myself to defend Teras.

Ms. Tuesday-I am afraid dear lady that I do not have the honor of your acquaintance. I have seen your postings on other threads. Your grasp of scientific theory is respectable. Welcome to our little roundtable of ideas.

Argent-Well, perhaps you and I will simply have to agree to disagree on certain points. I am sure you will come around eventually.

[Jager]

Argent, I'm the one who has alway been the nova. I theorize that I erupted in the womb, but its just that. As for your theories on the capability for all humans to become novas; try this. All humans can evolve, but eruption is only one path open to them. What happens to the rest of humanity, then? What do they become? That's the one that gets me thinking late at night.

Ashnod, your even more special than you let on, aren't you?

[Tuesday Childe]

Quote:

Originally posted by James 'Prodigy' Meehan:
Ms. Tuesday-I am afraid dear lady that I do not have the honor of your acquaintance.

It is a pleasure to make yours even through the opnet. I'm familiar with some of your technical work and found your treatise on quantum singularities particularly insightful.

Perhaps the oversight will be rectified in the future if we ever gets to Jade's place. I'm trying to setup up a small get together there in the near future with her for a project I'm working on with Professor Halloway and his assistant Alex.

[Argent_]

Meehan:

Yes, there might be a misunderstanding in the works here, but you have to admit that your earlier posts was quite open to interpretion. On this case, I stand corrected.

As for the offer of help - my main point of this discussion - I want you to know that it still stands. If I´ve interpreted your statements correctly, you seem to be recieving a fair share of suffering from your condition, such as it is.

Ashnoud:

Yes, but I could also point out results where baseline individuals, through exposure to superquantum energies, have developed fully functional MR nodes. Of course, these unfortunate individuals had for the most part never a chance to exploit their potential since their nodes were harvested shortly after they had erupted. I´ll get back to you on this as soon as I´ve nailed the fuckers responsible for the entire process. Still, it shows that people with no previous genetic deviancy from the sapiens sapiens norm can develop and maintain Nova powers. Interesting, no?

Tuesday Childe:

I jumped to conclusions about Meehan; that´s correct. I have, however, not judged him but urged him to alleviate his condition before he becomes a danger to others. There´s a difference there. As for the rest of your post, I don´t really know if I should interpret it as a well-meaning, if somewhat clumsy comment or just a cheap, patronizing one.

[Ashnod]

Argent,

First of, my name is Ashnod, not Ashnoud. Secondly, those individuals you would have described would have had the latent potential to erupt. The fact that they spontaneously developed the M-R Node instead of holding one latent doesn't alter this. Had you the opportunity to examine to alter their genetic structure prior to their eruption, you would have seen this. A person without the genetic latency cannot become a Nova. I'm sorry that I will not believe what you're saying until I have the hard, and uncontrovertable evidence. What you're saying contradicts every single amount of research done by both baseline and Nova scientists since 1998. Now, I'm willing to capitulate on the point that a Nova, sufficiently skilled in biological manipulation or genetic alteration, could bestow latency through the use of quantum to a baseline who previously did not possess it. But I feel this is not the situation you are describing.

Prodigy,

You're very kind, James. Thank you.

Jager,

Perhaps. Depends on what you mean by more than I let on.

[ 10-08-2001: Message edited by: Ashnod ]

[Tuesday Childe]

Quote:

Originally posted by Argent:
As for the rest of your post, I don´t really know if I should interpret it as a well-meaning, if somewhat clumsy comment or just a cheap, patronizing one.

Those are my only two choices?!

Sir, I'll have you know that aside from the occasional pro bono work, I am never cheap even in this age of gods and demigods. Yes, I know what you meant. I could have taken a much more elaborate literary route in conveying the point but would you really have preferred that I waste your time with a convoluted kiss to your bum? Where I come from the ability to reach the heart of a matter counts for points and (very) ocassionally - lives. Okay, try this:

"That you would consider a faceless stranger to be worthy of your time and effort to assist conveys a certain quality of idealism and compassion which speaks to the core of your personality. While he may not desire your assistance I am certain the offer was well intended and very noble."

Better?

While Mr. Meehan may not be the font from which the milk of human kindness flows, as he sometimes spares no effort to convey, neither does he appear to be 60 seconds away from a meltdown. A review of his posts shows a distinct tendency to change styles completely even within a particular post. Yet the information conveyed and the implicit assumptions under which he is posting do not. I don't understand how he tolerates the situation in which he finds himself. Nonetheless, I don't sit up nights worrying that he needs therapy because I find him to be well adjusted despite his unusual situation. Actually, I find him to be better adjusted than quite a few of the flakes I meet that are ordinary people. And of course he is unfailingly polite.

As for yourself, I see no benefit in or derive pleasure from insulting someone faceless with whom I have no personal interaction.

If we ever get to know each other better remind me to tell you about an old friend of mine named Thursday.

[Guest]

In reading these last few posts, I find it interesting that Mr. Meehan has been so focused upon as a potential cause of harm. Truly, Argent, you must admit that each and every Nova currently in existance can cause global destruction, whether direct or indirect, if they so chose (and if they remained unapposed). Why then focus specific attention on one nova rather than addressing the population's physical and mental difficulties as a whole?

As for your encounter with these Node stealers, I would have to agree with Ashnod. A nova cannot manifest without the right intron sequence. Manipulating a pre-existing non-latent genetic structure to one of latency is quite possible but very difficult. Rare is the individual who possesses such knowledge. I find it unlikely that anyone with the skills, intellect and knowledge required would bother with this type of crime. However, if you are going to give chase to these individuals, keep in mind that they will be terribly bright and well funded. Not to mention completely ruthless.

[ 10-08-2001: Message edited by: Atwight ]

[Argent_]

Ashnod: I humbly apologize for the trauma caused by my slight misspelling of your name. As for the nodestealers, the fact that this contradicts earlier scientifical achievments on the matter has, unlikely as it sounds, not escaped me. You can choose to believe me, or you can choose not to; it makes little difference to me. You might do well, though, in realizing that the world is a strange place and that not all truths are set in stone.

Atwight: Thanks for the warning, but I´ve already reckoned as much. If and when I get back, I might convey the story.

Other than that, I have no interest in petty conflict.

[Hugin]

Ms. Tuesday-Manners are simply good policy when conversing with individuals who very likely have the capacity to end your life within the beating of a gnats wing.

Atwight-Thank you sir! I have been trying to explain to Argent that he has little to nothing to fear from me. You are so correct, there are many others out there that are so much more deserving of dread than I.

Argent-When you encounter something that flies in the face of established fact, perhaps it would be a good idea to approach it with a more questioning manner. Just a thought.

[Ashnod]

No worries, Agnate.

I particularly love the way that someone who claims to have some here before unknown fact without supportable evidence encourages everyone, especially those that doubt that, that having an open mind is an important trait.

Agnate, I understand completely that there is much to the world that I and everyone else don't know about. I also know that every rule generally has an exception. I'm also clear sighted enough to not believe everything posted on the OpNet is fact until I see something to support it elsewhere.

[Tuesday Childe]

Quote:

Originally posted by Argent:
Other than that, I have no interest in petty conflict.

Thank you, sir. That approached gentility. I wish you all due luck on your future enterprises.

As for your current endevor I can only recommend you ponder cui bono. Can mere money be enough to risk the wrath of gods and demigods to move a product usable by such a small group? These aren't products you render in your basement with two years of chemistry.

[Jager]

Argent, can you transmit the information on those test subjects. I have heard of something that could be similar to an occurance a few years back. In that experiment, the DNA was spliced. The subjects would have died from the genetic instability, anyway (incurable, terminal cancer is a nasty way to go), but they were terminated and certain tissues were harvested. Sound familiar to anyone else?

[Dr cornelius]

hmm, could just be the extraction of the node for chemical production, but then again it could be for experimentation on artificialy making a baseline into a nova's through the implantation of tisue grafts from the node's of nova's. Depending where they are in their reseach and results, there would be a low servival ratio, and those that did, the powers that manifest they would not be able to control like a nova. Plus their bodys would not be able to take it, end result build up in taint and a raving taint monster on your hands.

[Guest]

Dammit, where to begin?!

Err, hello everyone. Name´s Gwyneth Marlowe, and I´m what you might call an acquintance of the person who goes under the code name "Argent".

Twelve hours ago, he and the team went MIA; completely wiped off the map. They don´t register on the scans, I can´t lock on their equipment, nothing. They´ve just went through a gate to follow up some major leads on the so-called "Node harvesters", when everything went mad.

Being a baseline myself, I haven´t got the slightest chance of finding them, or even to know what has happened. A law enforcement education does suprisingly little to prepare you for a the disappearance of a group of super-people who goes MIA following a disturbance in the temporal continuum, or whatever our resident teleporter used to talk about.

What I do know is this:

* It is undecided whether the emergence of the MR node in the victims is a result of genetic splicing before they were exposed to this (undefined) high-output energy.

* The ulterior motives for the group of individual concocting these kinds of "experimentation" remain unknown; immediately, they apparently seek to harvest the nodes for use in some later stage of the process.

* Leads seemed to point on a place in the Ukrainian wildreness as the probable spot for a base of operations for this step #2 in the ´manufacturing process´ or whatevere they were doing, but apparently the team never arrived there. It might have been a trap, might have been something real - only someone decided to, in some way, interrupt them.

I am truly lost for anything to do, except cursing these damn machines and try to come up with something - anything at all - that I could possibly do. Apart from two team members who are still comatose after the "Legion" incident, I am alone here. Just me and the glow of the monitors, yessir.

Damn.

[Jager]

Please, God! Tell me you are using your security protocols.

Ukraine? I take it you mean Chernobyl north, right? If they dropped into the Asov Sea zone, they dropped in way to close to the Ukrainian military for my tastes.

By the way, I'm Jager (and Tess). I don't always get along with Argent, but we both fight from the same side of the fence.

FYI, there are no legal protocols for crossing international boundries without using customs. I assume your team didn't tell the Ukrainian authorities that they were coming?

Likewise, I don't believe you have any mid- to high-level contacts with T2M or Utopia, right? They could get involved, but are unlikely to unless you can light a serious fire under someone important.

I know a guy who knows a guy in Lithuania. I will see if he can snoop around. Certain smugglers use the wilderness as well as the river system to get around. I will ask if they have seen or heard anything out of the ordinary. I know you believe they didn't touch down there, but I pays to be thorough.

Can you send me any of the information Argent had on the harvesters?

[Guest]

Finally.

Uh, first things first: While I understand your first question (given the circumstances), I´ll politely disregard it.

Maybe I didn´t express myself clear enough: fact is, they never even arrived at their set destination. The Ukrainian military wouldn´t have been an issue; just trust me there.

The problem is that someone - or something, hell I don´t know, seem to have hijacked the spatial gateway somewhere between points A and B, making the whole team arrive at an undisclosed location C.

Still no response from the, so I have to assume that they went straight into an ambush.

As for the information about the "harvesters", they are limited to Argent´s journal (him being an eyewitness to the process), the incomplete (still half encrypted, though a routine is working on it)medical journals from the site as well as another member´s videofeed of a part of the installation, complete with victims on slabs. You can clearly make out some quite striking genetic anomalies in the victims there; Argent and Cabal theorized that these were sideeffects of the "treatment", and judging from what little information we have, that seems to be correct.

While I appreciate the offer, Jager, I´m simply not in a position to hand this out to anyone; if you´re as concerned as you sound, I reckon you´d understand.

I´m simply begging you people out there to keep your eyes open for something - anything - that could lead to the team.

A shitty plan from start to finish, I know. But there´s not a whole lot more that I can do.

[ 10-12-2001: Message edited by: Gwyneth Marlowe ]

[Jager]

Sorry for the questions, but I like to be thorough. Likewise, I understood that they missed their target destination, but I needed to know what would have taken them to the Ukraine in the first place. Someone set a trap, after all.

As for redirecting a teleport in transit; I have only heard about that three times before and only one could be relivent at this time. Is there any chance that your transport had been mentally hijacked? I really prefer that scenario to the power necessary to redirect that much quantum.

Have you checked for any odd gravitational effects at the point of departer? Maybe higher than normal quark levels. After all, the question may not be so much as were, but when. They may have been shunted backwards or forwards through time.

Without more information, I can really just theorize. Let me know if anything else pops up. I should hear back from my friends by late tomorrow.