In reply to Comstock (msg #320):

"Lucky you're metal my friend, or you could be seriously hurt.  It takes years of trust and companionship to get this girls to work with you... I'm lucky the like me too much to go off on me the way they just did you..."  says Sigfried.

Dillon looked to his skin, hastily hardened against the animal's claws.  "Yeah ... sorry.  I didn't mean to offend her.  You have a real gift, sir."

Phantasm is mildly amused by the show, and has fun trying to find the tricks.  At the after party she looks closely at the tigers, but doesn't bother them.  She mostly just absorbs the atmosphere and leaves people alone.  She returns to her rooms early, and waits for the return to base.

"Exactly!" The Doctor is excited with the way the conversation is going. "There are so many questions! So many unknowns. We must gather more data. Much more. I hesitate to theorize on these points until this is done. Hmmm... perhaps we could share information?"



"Ha, ha! Don't look too down upon those masses down there! If I were them, I would be surly tempted to get as close to Novas as I could as well. We have truly hit a Quantum lotto. It is no surprise they wish to live vicariously through us. Besides, they make up a small amount of the people in this state. They should not really reflect on Baseline Humanity as a whole."

The Doctor leans back and folds it's hands, thoughtfully.

"But, these ideas of fighting delusion... this quest for transcendence is very appealing. I have to admit, I haven't thought much about Nova transcendence. I'm... not sure if it must deal with a removal of so-called humanity, what ever that is, but we can't find out without questioning what is real and delusion."

"But, I'd like to pursue this with some duality. Personally, I think we're not worthy of much transcendence if we can't improve the world first. I'd like to think I'll find some transcendence out there, finding better ways to feed people and improve the world. Solitaire and Impetus have infected me with their enthusiasm. But, I do need to start looking forward to after all of that is done. It seems that is what you are talking about."

The Doctor notices that Comstock and Phantasm have left without much of a goodbye and feels guilty. It wanted to relax and good off this weakened, and now feels like it is, again, alienating its teammates. Still, the allure of the discussion was too great for it to walk away, and Gravitas' stay made it too comfortable to walk away from. The Doctor finds itself bullshiting philosophy into the morning, tossing around ideas and arguments about morality, society, and some of those paradigms Caroline mentioned.

One paradigm was really bothering the Doctor. When Zero finally leaves to rest before the show, it feels oddly alone in the crowded streets. ~If I took off my mask, very few of these people would like me at all, no matter what I have done or can do.~ The doctor's mind is filled with a white hot feeling of hatred for itself before forcing the thoughts from it's mind and going to bed. It needed to clear it's mind. It kissed it's wedding ring before laying down.

When Zero arrives at the show, it apologizes to Comstock and Phantasm sheepishly about boring them the night before at the club and ruining their evening. "I know you both wanted to just relax and enjoy yourselves. I'm sorry we got so heated with our ranting. I think I might have a lot to learn about real humility." It relaxes and enjoys the show. If welcomed to the stage, it tries some parlor tricks and deliberately goofs them all up, highlighting the polished brilliance of the real magicians on stage with comical ineptitude.

When the Doctor gets the phone call, it adds: "Well, now you've peaked my curiosity. Could we meet some time to discus what'cha mean by 'emergency jobs.'"

Imp feels somehow uncomfortable being up on stage in front of so many people, but he gets over it quickly as he is put on a board that is then "levitated" side by wide with one of th etigers by Roy.  Imp fights down the desire to upstage them and fly around.  No sense taking the magic away from the magic men.  Imp instead plays the part of affable yet clueless helper/victim.  Answering any questions about flying with playful banter, acting very surprised when he finds himself floating above the stage while a tiger prowled beneath him.

For his part, Quentin avoided getting on stage with the others if at all possible. He'd seen the negative reactions that some people had to him and didn't want to ruin the show for the rest of the audience. If prompted, he can help somewhat covertly, creating reversed gravitational fields to help simulate flight for those that are otherwise unable or possibly providing a suitably dramatic entrance or exit via swirling blue vortex (though for this he'd need to go back stage to create the other end).

Solitaire was sitting in the crowd, rather enjoying the show and shuffling her deck of cards idly. She did it entirely be feel, having had years of practice when she ought to have been writing papers or otherwise doing productive things. Rather surprised when she's called to the stage, as she'd always figured they had people who did that for a living, Solitaire beams around the crowd. At least they weren't like that mob outside Archon. As she was unable to resit a bit of fun while she walks up on stage, a careful observer might notice that Solitaire was actually walking an inch or so off the ground, but why would anybody be looking at her feet?

Onstage, Solitaire is, like Imp, content to let Sigfried and Roy run their own show, allowing herself to be slightly less cool than they were, and happily following whatever direction they gave, while trying to figure out how their tricks worked. While Imp is off floating on the other side of the stage, Solitaire crouches down to eye level with the other tiger, and stares at it. It stares back. She cocks her head, it does the same. "Aren't you a pretty thing." She says, as she reaches out a hand and scratches it under its jaw. "Good Girl."

She had fun, that was really all that mattered.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:02, Fri 12 June 2009.

Zero:
"Well, just, you know, if we get one of your kind that gets a little... upset, or isn't playin fair, or whatever.  Doesn't happen a lot, but it does sometimes.  They usually leave when they're asked, but just in case it'd be nice to have someone close that's on call.  We already have a guy that we call sometimes, but he's got another full time gig, so you'd be the backup."

))))

The show went over well, the crowd loved the nova guests (and getting to see humans that actually weren't completely outclassed).

The after party is fun for all.  S & R confide that their organizers got wind of Novas being at the show, and all of this was a big PR deal... But that they were actually quite surprised by how well it went, and they were happy to have you.  They let you play with the animals some more (giving frightened looks when Solitaire approaches one, and they near die when Comstock gets swiped at and gnawed on a little), and are generally a pretty friendly, if eccentric couple of guys.

People finish their evenings, and return to the Bellagio late.  By the next morning it's time to pack up and head back, with plans to ship out Sunday evening.

Sam's attitude had switched from fear to anger to downright boredom. Zeus had been grilling him on whatever his feelings were from Frostburn, and in his current state, he couldn't even form a coherent thought against his annoying counterpart.

"Or maybe it wasn't love at first sssssight at all; maybe you were just enchanted by all that she'ssss done for you, hm? Is that it? Hm?!" Sam was confused for a moment. "You can hear me now, can't you Ssssssamuel? I'm not just in your head anymore." A familiar glow crosses Sam's eyes and settles in front of him. "I'm right here." It was Spark. Zeus was speaking through Spark. "Oh it is going to be sssssso wonderful to finally be able to force my will upon the world around me... rather than acting through you." Spark... or Zeus rather, slithers over Sam's body, letting off little discharges here and there to correct any mistakes. "Hmmmm. It won't be long now, Sssssssamuel."

Imp enjoys himself at the party, S&R were pretty cool guys, weird as only a couple guys who live with a bunch of great cats and make a living doing magic shows in Vegas can be weird, but cool guys none the less.  Imp talks with both of them, is fascinated by the tigers and has a good time with his team mates.  Imp is puzzled at how some of them seem to get along with him fine, while others avoid him like the plague.  He couldn't really think about what he had done to annoy anybody, other than perhaps being too good at basketball...
As the party is winding down Imp wanders over to Sol.  "So, Sol, I'm thinking about watching the sunrise from low orbit, wanna go cause trouble and be visible on the strip for a while, then see how high we can go?"

"You do always know the right things to say don't you Imp. Sounds like a blast." Solitaire laughs as she stands, "Low orbit you say? She gives the tiger a last friendly ruffle between its ears.

Outside, Solitaire asks, "Got a spot picked out aside from 'up' or are we just gonna wing it? The light pollution may be a bit of a problem, though I suppose we could just go higher." She doesn't really wait for a response as she throws herself upward.

Imp launches himself into the air after Sol.  "So, no gambling?" He quipped.  He did a couple barrel rolls and loops.  "Or, here's a plan.  We go up high enough then keep moving west so that we get a sunrise that lasts for hours.  It's only a few hours after midnight or so, we can head East for a couple/few hours, then wait for the sun to come and then move fast enough so that we get to see it for a while, dropping in to famous sites to watch the sun come up there, finish at the Grand Canyon then back to Vegas for brekkie.  A week's worth of sunrises in one night."

The Doctor chockews down it's pride. ~Me? Second Fidel? How dare they. This was my idea. I should march in there and rob them blind. Every night.~

"This can work, although I am looking for something more stable in the long run. I still think prevention will serve you better, especially with the Nova population not dropping off, but that is your digression. Tell me, did you hire the other Nova before or after I ran this idea buy you?"
________________________________________________________________________________

Back at the hotel, Zero grows bored and starts walking around, looking to see if it's teammates are up yet.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:01, Sun 14 June 2009.

The manager replies to Zero, "Yeah, we thought ahead on it.  Had him working before you came.  We may reconsider a permanent position in a few years, but right now it hasn't been much of an issue."

))))

The next morning it is packing time, and return to the base.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)

I'll start a thread for your next trip later tonight.

---

Zeus had been silent for so long that Sam had little else to do other than fall asleep, so he did. Fortunately there weren't any messed up dreams this time, but there was still a rather rude wake-up call.

"Wake up. Wake up! WAKE UP YOU LAZY WORM!" Sam opened his eyes to see that Zeus was uncomfortably close to his face. "Ugh, finally. Now I need you to lisssssten carefully. I am going to begin restoring your variousssss bodily functions one by one; I feel I should warn you that it may be rather... uncomfortable." Sam didn't like the sound of that, but he really didn't have any choice in the matter right now. "Okay we'll start sssssmall, vocal chords and facial muscles first." Zeus passed a little shock through his throat and face. A fair amount of blood, along with a fair amount of pain, came with it.

"BLAGGRAUUGGHHOOUUHHHOOWWWW!!!"

A disgusted look passed over Zeus's face. "Hm. Well that was... Regardless, can you ssssspeak?"

"You son of a-"

Zeus cuts him off. "Good, moving on." He looked over Sam's upper body with a discerning eye. "Now for your... left arm." Another shock, and more pain. His arm flailed around like it had a mind of it's own, then settled. Sam moved it around bit and flexed his fingers. "Wonderful!" Zeus seems quite pleased with himself. "We are on our way, my dear Sssssamuel!"

Many more painful shocks later, Sam had regained complete control of his body, but something was still wrong. "Hey Zeus, I-"

"Yes yessssss, I know. Go over to the mirror and you'll ssssee." Sam did as he was told, but soon came to wish he hadn't. He looked like himself... almost. It was like someone took a... Sam-shaped fleshbag and streched it tightly over him. "Well? Peel it off." His... mentor's demand confused him, but he obliged. Sam gingerly scratched the side of his face, watched as it peeled off quite easily. Underneath he found new skin; it was sensitive, but under the circumstances, that seemed... normal.

After he was finished, there was a rather large and sloppy mess of blood and flesh beneath him. He stood at looked a himself. "Well? What do you think of your new... look?" Sam didn't know what to say, he hardly even saw any differences at first, other than being bald. But upon closer insepction, he noticed that he was slightly larger and more muscular than before. When he flexed his arm, barely restrained electricity ran along the length. "Eassssy now. You'll need to rest for a moment; don't push yoursssself." He looked different too. His face, even his movements, had a somewhat... serpentine quality that wasn't there before.

Sam frowns after a while and says "I don't like it."

"Well that cccccertainly is a shame, because I'm not changing you back. Now go lay down."

"Fine." He was exhausted anyway. Even though the excess skin was gone, it still felt weird to move around in this new body. He took the bloodsoaked sheets off the bed, and wrapped his excess flesh in it. He weaved his eufiber clothing into a blanket, and wrapped himself in it.

Right before Sam went to sleep, Zeus said "Oh! And I'll do my best to make ssssure that future sheddings won't be so... messy."

"That's gonna happen again?!"

"Yes."

"Wonderful..."

In reply to Impetus (msg #332):

"Now that is a excellent idea." Solitaire says, looping around to the east and coasting at a leisurely pace just under Mach 1. It was dark, but that wasn't a problem, there wasn't anything to hit except a couple rather stubborn clouds that insisted on hanging around. She skimmed over them, inches away, brushing the tips of her fingers through the moisture, meeting no resistance. Solitaire smiled, it was all a dream, it had to be, life couldn't be this perfect, she'd wake up one day back in her apartment, that same old boring person she used to be. She flipped over on to her back, gazing up at the stars. Well, if it is a dream, I hope it lasts just a bit longer.

"Think we can make it all the way to New York before dawn? Race yah." Solitaire gave Imp a grin and a salute as she went supersonic.

Imp grinned and took off after her.  She was pulling away steadily, really rapidly, actually.  This wouldn't do.  Imp focused every fibre of his being on moving faster, focused on the energy flowing through his node and mentally willed it to rush through in a torrent.  He reached his normal maximum speed, then pushed and pushed until he felt himself rocketing along at near the speed of sound.  Once he had reached a comfortable cruising speed he focused on the momentum carrying him forward.  Willing it to concentrate itself, pulling the energy out of the air around him and, as if a dam had opened, felt his speed drastically increase.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
shite roll on momentum mastery.  All I've got is 1400kph.  I'm guessing I lose/owe Sol brekkie.

---

This message was last edited by the player at 12:20, Mon 15 June 2009.

The Doctor walked through the halls, board and wondering if any of it's teammates where awake yet.



"Um, that didn't sound healthy." Zero crept toward the door, not wanting to eavesdrop, but unsure if Samuel was alright. It heard two voices in there, one definitely Samuel's, though it sounded different.

The Doctor knocks. "Hello? Samuel? Are you alright in there? I heard... a shout."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:42, Mon 15 June 2009.

Sam was awakened from his sleep by Zero's knocking. "Guh... Wha? Dammit." He gets up and weaves his blanket into a robe, then opens the door. "Huh? What do you..." The he remembers exaclty what happened earlier that day. "Oh... that. Well I-"

Zeus zips out of Sam's chest and hisses with glee. "Dr. Zzzzzzero! Oh it is ssssssso good to finally meet you! I am Zeus, Ssssssamuels better half, if you will."

Sam tries to rub the sleep from his eyes. "Yeah. This is Zeus. And he can somehow... mess with my powers, and body and such," He points out the changes Zeus made to his body, as well as the mess his shedding made, "as you can plainly see."

Zeus frowns. "If by 'messsssss with' you mean 'make better' then yesssss; that is what I do."

"So what do you make of all this Doc?"

The wind whipped past her face, her hair blew wildly behind her. God it was good to be alive. Out of the corner of her eye Solitaire saw Imp close and eventually overtake her. "Ah, Handsome is a worthy challenge." She grins happily. "Seems I'll have to go faster."

She spun in the air, concentrating hard. Faster, faster, more power Something cracked behind her forehead, energy bled down from her node to her hands and feet, and feint nimbus's of light appeared around them. It wasn't a particular color, rather, it was all colors, and none. Solitaire laughed again as she rocketed forward. It was Glorious.

Contrails of light followed in her wake, springing from her hands and feet. Solitaire spun again, wrapping herself in a cocoon of light, scorching along like a comet through the night sky. She pulls up even with Imp, and flips over on to her back. "Not bad, not bad. Still, not good enough." With a parting thumbs up and smile, she pulls into the lead again.

Dawn finds Solitaire perched on top of the lightning rod of the Empire State building. In the rosy morning light, she wonders if she should look up her sister while she's here.

 "Nah."

Imp alights a while after Sol, still before dawn, but a while none the less.  "Looks like I owe you some dinner, or breakfast, or something," he said.  Alright, shall we go up?  He took of straight up, not waiting to see if Sol was behind him, she'd be passing him soon enough since he wasn't really pushing.  The air grew colder and colder.  The winds were stronger for a while until they stopped.  He felt the drag grow less and less the higher he climbed by 10 miles up he was moving noticably faster, at 20 faster again.
By the time he was 60 miles up he could no longer breathe even a little.  He focused on the energy within himself, willed it to sustain him without air.  Willed it to take the heat and radiation that he would no doubt experience and channel that energy into keeping himself alive.  Moments later he couldn't even feel a breath of air, all that was in front of him was blackness.  He slowed his climb and looked towards the sun.  It was glorious.  The curve of the earth was clearly visible the clouds tiny puff balls beneath him, he could clearly see teh line where day began and night ended.  He smiled and looked for Sol, this was something that should be experienced with somebody else.
He spends the next few hours keeping ahead of the sunrise, rocketing up to the edge of space to increase his speed, then down again to see the sun come up somewhere spectacular.  Yosemite National Park, the Grand Canyon, The Painted desert...
After experiencing a week's worth of sunrises he/they return to vegas for breakfast before heading back to base to ship out.

After the party, the drinking and everything, Dillon didn't have anything left to do.  He grabbed a book and read.  It was uncharacteristic of him.  He made a note of that in a little flip pad so he could mention it to Zero and the Utopian doctors later.  The sandwich he snacked on was equally perplexing; each ingredient stood out only on a set of binary scales -- acidic or base, hot or cold, crunchy or smooth.  Tasted weird.  Kitchen was probably off.

Orders in the morning and deployment soon after.  Dillon tried to sleep before hitching a ride back to the base.  He dreamt of octagons, tiny spheres and swirling clouds.

The Doctor wanted to practice being unflappable, but this was testing it in all new ways. Zero jumps back a few feet at the appearance of Samuel's new second head. The Doctor quickly pretends to compose itself, straightening it's trench coat and tie idly, and ignores the adrenaline and feeling in it's head that this was very wrong. "My word, man. You must not sneak up on someone when making introductions. Zeus, you say? Pleasure to meet you." The Doctor extends it's hand to shake. "So, please forgive my rudeness, but I don't remember Samuel here having a Siamese twin. Where did you can from, Zeus?"



"That..." The Doctor was glad it had a mask to cover it's shock. It kept it's tone level and casual. It noticed some abnormalities with Comstock, but this was the first real exposure to truly odd traits in Novas.  Samuel's semi-casual attitude toward it's second head made it all the more serial. "That is fascinating, Zeus! I have never, in all my studies of Novas, heard of such an undertaking. I must ask, how do you accomplish such a feat?"

~They are all mad, now, aren't they? Our teammates, with the possible exception of Solitaire are a bit off. We simply must move up our time table.~ The Doctor's shadow discuses with it in the corner of it's mind.

~I must concur. Bloomin' off their rockers. And we must be weary of Solitaire in particular, in this instance. The more 'normal' they seem, the madder they can be. But let us not panic...~

~I never panic. That human condition is beyond me.~

~Yes, yes. Blah, blah. What I mean is we are a Doctor. We will treat them. Contingencies will be worked on, but let us focus on the now.~

~Very well. I shall formulate further countermeasures. Let us gain more data.~

~Sigh. It's not easy being the only stable one... Le Sigh.~



"I... have to admit, Samuel, that your friend has pushed far beyond my understanding of Nova development. It really is quite dramatic. There is so much that could be learned from this innovation. Would both of you permit me to run some tests? We could learn so much from such a radical advancement to the Nova condition. Who knows how many other Novas could benefit from your example?"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:08, Tue 16 June 2009.

Zeus looks from Zero's hand, to Zero himself, then to Sam. He then bursts into hissing laughter. "Oh Dr. Zzzzzzzero, you really are a card aren't you? Shaking handsssss with an elecetric cobra, classsssic." He gives Zero's hand a little zap anyway. "Asssssss to where I came from, I've been with Ssssssamuel ever since he erupted, though I've only started... insssstructing him recently."

"And it's just been so wonderful." Sam remarks sarcastically.

"Hmph, well our friend here seems to appreccccciate my unique abilities."

"Unique?! Look at what you did to me!" Sam throws open the sheets and reveals the rather unpleasant sight of his old skin. "That is the foulest thing I have ever seen!"

"I musssssst admit, you are right, that is very disgusting; now cover that up pleassssse." Sam does so.

"So are you gonna tell Zero how you do what you do? Cuz I'd like to know too."

"HA! Of coursssssse not. That would compromise my ability to control you, my dear Sssssssamuel. Though I wouldn't mind sssssubmiting to some te-"

"Hold on! What sort of tests are we talking about here, Zero?"

Once the after party seemed to be winding down, Quentin excused himself. If they were going to be deploying soon, he needed to test himself a bit first. He wandered down the strip on foot for a few minutes first, working out some calculations in his head.

The main question on his mind was 'just how far can these wormholes go?' The theoretical answer he kept coming up with was 'infinity', which wasn't very helpful. When it came right down to it, he needed to perform some empirical tests. He slipped off the Strip and found a quieter area behind one of the many hotels from which to start his sojourn. He knew he could get from the Utopia base to Las Vegas, and that hadn't required much effort. He lifted his arm and opened his hand with a spiraling motion, initiating a gravitational flux that reached through space to open elsewhere. With one last look around, he stepped through and the vortex irised shut behind him.
[[OOC: To be continued as one post in the vignette thread.]]