Zero grumbles, walks over to Impetus' phone, and pulls out a contraption from it's trench coat. It's lights flash. It looks very high-tech, mainly because it's control look impossible for function. Zero pics up the phone.

"I know you're listening. I respect why you do this, but I am going to have to ask for an end to the surveillance. When it was just me, I was alright with it, but my friends have been playing ball. They've earned your trust. Please stop eavesdropping on them, or I will see what I can do to make you... legally inconvenienced. Thank you."

Zero calmly hangs up the phone.

"Let's step outside, Imp. It's noisy in here."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:45, Tue 17 Nov 2009.

"Sure," Imp frowns as he follows Zero outside, drink in hand, they walk a ways until they're surrounded by the open desert.  "Now, what would you like to talk about? I'm curious."

Walking outside, Zero scans the area again to make sure they are not being listened to. Once it finds a 'clear' area, it turns to talk to Imp.

"I'm sorry about that. I'm trying to get the Utopian spooks to relax a bit. Between you and me, I don't mind them spying on me a bit. I knew that might happen because of my little... thing with privacy. They've got a lot invested in me, and they don't know my original name, so I get the concern. But the rest of you have been up front, and I'd like them to tone it down. They need to learn some trust."

"I wanted to run a proposed project to you. It's very, very big. I don't want Utopia involved. This is not because I think they're the Illuminati, or something crazy. Personally, I think they're paranoid we're going to become the Illuminati. I just want it to be a grass roots undertaking, and I wanted your view on it."

"I think it could lead to some very great advancements for the Teragen. I'm going to show it to Gravitas, latter on, but to be honest, he's smarter than me, and I don't think he'd be as impressed initially. I'd like to show it off to someone with an aesthetic appreciation, first. Someone with a lot of passion."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:11, Mon 30 Nov 2009.

Imp rested himself on a rock and listened.  "I know that they're keeping tabs on us, yeah, and I know why they are.  Bugging us however, is crossing the line.  Laragione has told me that these shenanigans are going to stop, I hope my trust in him isn't misplaced.
You know, they're right to be worried about us taking over.  Look at what we can do.  Read people minds, convince them of almost anything, do almost anything better than baselines could ever dream of doing.  And that's just we two.  As a race, well...
Anyways, yes, spin me your tale, Doc, I'm aquiver with anticipation."  He takes a sip of his drink and waits expectantly.

"Doc? Doc?  You in there amigo?  I know that you're lost in thought mulling over the best way to tell m about your master plan, but, really, just tell me.  I'm pretty sure i can figure it out, and if not, well, we can retire to teh war room and you can provide me with some helpful cartoons."

After Impetus finishes his sentence and blinks his eyes, he is greeted with a dark, opaque room. The embers from a fireplace dimly illuminate the round room. It’s ceiling is very low and made apparently of a gray alloy. Zero stands there, with a remote in it’s hand.

“This is pretty primitive. It’s a bit embarrassing, really. Its amazing what you can find and loot when space stops being so much an obstacle as a friend. Mostly its scavenged stuff from movie sets, industrial factories, decommissioned deep-sea equipment, and some sputnik era soviet space tech, but, well, I think it looks great for a cob-job. But I will let you be the judge.”

Zero presses the big red button on the remote, and the ceiling opens. Something whirls, stalls, and hums to life under their feet, and the floor rises. The fireplace, set into a nitch in the wall, does not rise with them, and they are lost in darkness for a while, rising up the round shaft, until brilliant light breaks from the top. Another ceiling telescopes open, and reveals a brilliant night sky, and an observatory telescope.

When the floor levels with the glass, the land outside is red. The stars are arranged is similar, but distorted patterns. If Impetus looks through the telescope, it observes their Utopian base on Earth. “Solitare, Gravitas, and Phantasm are talking about it, and I was inspired to this end when you first said you would surf the sun’s solar waves, Impetus. I had to set my foot, no matter how awkward it would land. Behold. The first (shabby, but first), Mars observatory. Behold, perhaps, the future of Terras.”

“My greatest fear is that we would grow so large, that we would straddle the world so grandly, that we could not help but squash our Baseline brothers. But here, there is no media to play to our egos. Here, there are no cartels, or Utopia. Here, it is just us, and exploration.”

“I’m thinking of trying a long jump, soon. With you and the others. Privately. Off hours.”

“I’m thinking of proposing the colonization of Novas who want to leave and evolve together, away from Baselines. Do you think the Pantheon might find this an appealing solution to growing tensions?”

Imp stood in stunned silence, staring out at the Martian landscape.  "God, Doc, you actually built a base on mars.  that's amazing.  As to whether the pantheon would consider colonizing other worlds and leaving Earth, I don't know.  maybe. If things get as bad as some people fear it's certainly an option.  So, what else do you do out here besides staring at Earth?"

"I... kinda was hopping you had some ideas. I don't have too much power up here, yet. I'd need Gravitas and Comstock's help to develop a geothermal plant, like we have at the base."

"Hmm, ideas... Alright, first off, can we/should we terraform Mars?  Given what Spence can do it's certainly not outside the realm of possibility.  Our brethren who can't exist in a vacuum would need either an atmosphere, or habitats for them to survive.  Also, we are still creatures who are attached to creature comforts.  Just because I can exist in a vacuum doesn't mean i want to spend all my time in the void.  Would there be a governing body?  Would there be a code of conduct?  Would it be total anarchy?  If we do have leadership, who would it be?  The smartest?  The most powerful?  The most virtuous?
Would humans be allowed to come here?  What if they demanded the right to exist on Mars?  Can we segregate ourselves?  Morally, should we do so?  Also, Mars isn't that far from Earth, I saw a ship that Grav had cooked up that could theoretically do the trip in a couple weeks.  When Earth, crippled by overpopulation, is looking for some new land, do we have the right to deny them Mars?  Honestly Doc, I think we're going to have to go further out.  Maybe to a different star even.  With the tools we have given mankind it's only a matter of time before they are everywhere in the solar system.  Perhaps use Mars as a testing ground.  Learn what we will need to do here before we jump further out.  I honestly, don't feel comfortable talking to baselines any more.  It's like I could break them if I lose my grip for just a second.  'Stock feels the same, I think.  As do most of us."  He pensivly drains his glass.  "I never thought I'd say it, but I think you've gotta think bigger, Doc."

Zero's eye's catch something, a blip in the electromagnetic spectrum.  It is in the distance, and on earth would be lost in the background of hum of modern life, but here on Mars it stands out like a beacon... And the signature is unlike anything Zero has ever seen before.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:51, Tue 15 Dec 2009.

Zero laughs wildly before collecting itself and tries to wipe away a tear before remembering its wearing a mask. "Oh! You have some gall! Ha, ha, ha. Excellent point. Very excellent. And I agree. I never wanted to seriously terraform Mars for Nova kind. I just wanted to get out here to satisfy my own ambitions. No, I think we are on the same page. If we did this, we'd need a deep space colony. That's why I'd like to try a deep jump. If we can find something... suitable, I'd like to set up a small 'landing' facility, of sorts, and show it to the rest of the Pantheon."

"I, personally, have no interest in living in space and ditching humanity. I'm just thinking of options for others. Some of the Terrats just don't like the Baselines. Look at some of them around the non-Quantum gifted. They look like they are stuck in a zoo cage with smelling monkeys. Me? I know I'm a smelling monkey. We all are. I just am one who can screw with the linchpins of the cosmos. But these Novas, they need some space. A lot of space. And I feel if they don't get that outlet, they'll make some decisions we'll all regret. So why not give them options? Preferable options in another solarsystem." "

Like you said at that cafeteria table years ago, when we first started at Utopia, given the growth of Q-Powers, it is enevitible that a few of us will pose a threat on the..."

"What the fuck...?"

Rydi:

Zero's eye's catch something, a blip in the electromagnetic spectrum.  It is in the distance, and on earth would be lost in the background of hum of modern life, but here on Mars it stands out like a beacon... And the signature is unlike anything Zero has ever seen before.

Zero stares at the strange blip in the electromagnetic spectrum.

"On the electromagnetic spectrum. Do... you see that, Imp?" Zero, without taking it's eyes off the thing, points to it, and gives notes geographic locations near it to help Imp spot it.

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
OOC: Are there any instruments in Utopia's various facilities that Zero knows of that could help record this? Can the telescope help?

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

Anything at a distance would probably miss it, as it is a very faint signature.  Interference from solar wind and Mars' magnetosphere would block it out from a distance.  A close in examination would probably benefit from some equipment perhaps (though you two, perhaps with Grav's help, have enough senses, dex, and analytic ability to put most equipment to shame), but you would need to locate the disturbance.

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"It is so fascinating... Imp... do you want to jump next to it...?" The Doctor trails off, lost in fascination.

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Zero Rolls Perception and Science to learn more.

14:16, Today: Dr. Zero failed (no successes) using 1d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 6. Per 10 reroll, Observant Quality .
14:15, Today: Dr. Zero rolled 2 successes using 11d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 8,6,1,4,3,10,3,1,5,6,1. Perception, 1 meg.

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"Doc, did you just ask me if I wanted to teleport across Mars to investigate a mysterious signal?  Of course I want to check it out.  You ok operating in a vacuum?"  Imp stands and preps himself for the jump, and for whatever they might find out there on the dusty red surface.

"Ha, ha! Indeed. I am the void. Sound's catchy, right?" Zero taps Impetus' shoulder and they are off to inspect the strange anomaly.

The teleport is jarring; nothing major is different, and the location is reached without incidence, but there is a seeming... turbulence to the trip.

Upon arrival on the peak of one of Mars' largest mountains, the two Utopians find a small device, 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide, embedded in the rock.  The top has what appears to be a satellite array of some sort on it that focuses and refines... something.  EM sight identifies that it is not actually transmitting standard energy, though it does appear to be taking it in.  Quantum sight is hazy in the area immediately surrounding the device, as though a light fog were in the area.  The fog intensifies as it approaches the device, becoming almost solid at the surface of the device itself (and preventing more penetrating scans in the process).  There is no actual quantum being taken in by the device, but with the Doctor's exceptional refinement of quantum sight, it is able to detect via the ebb and flow of the quantum in the area that the device is pulling in some sort of otherwise invisible energy that distorts the flow of quantum.  After pulling it in, the device sends out this energy in a projected stream, out into the cosmos somewhere.

Further investigation will require advanced technology and/or disassembly.

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

Quantum sight is enhanced enough on Zero that the doctor can see some of what is happening.  The science roll was not enough however to really discern any of what is going on.

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"Here, Doc, let me take a look," Imp mouthed. He crouched next to the machine and studied the mechanisms that were transmitting the signals, the composition of the outer shell, and tried to figure out, by the way that the machine was put together the nature of its creators.

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
6 sux on a science roll including wp expenditure

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"Wow." Though Zero's voice is the same, its tone is like a child's. It is truly in awe of the marvel before it. "Impetus. This thing is... its beautiful. I have never seem anything like this. I... I don't know what built this, but it might not even be a Nova."

"Can you feel the flow of Quantum, Impetus? I know some Novas can use their Nodes to do so. I'm a bit weak there, but I have another sense. It is using some other form of energy, unlike anything I could have perceived. We must get Gravitas and Comstock out here. This must be observed."

Zero rubs its hands nervously. "Oh Lord. I think I'm giddy. I'm afraid to look away, as I'm afraid it might vanish!"

Zero turns on a camera in it's helmet, and then taps it's communication transmitter. "Gravitas? Gravitas? Can you hear me? Please, please, say yes. I'm about to make your day."

Impetus is able to discern that the cells on the outer shell are solar absorption units, likely at an incredible level of efficiency if they are meaningfully adding to the machines power with such a small surface area.  From the lack of corrosion and wear despite the ravages of Mars' surface, he can also tell that advanced materials were used in the device's construction.  Finally, from the way the device is embedded in the rock, he can tell that it has been there for some time, and that it likely should be covered with sand, so it must have some limited ability to clear itself of debris when necessary.  All that can be discerned about its creators is that they are an advanced civilization (at least technologically), they are likely monitoring this area, and they don't seem particularly interested in communicating via this device (or if they are, it is in a manner far too strange for the human brain to detect or comprehend).

Zero realizes its communications device will be insufficient to the task, as it would be far too weak to transmit so far, and would be rather slow as well.  A quick teleport, or mental contact perhaps, would do better.  The excitement must be clouding the Doctor's reasoning... or maybe it's that strange, permeating fog in the quantum spectrum.

"Doc, this thing is way beyond anything we've got on Earth.  We should get Grav on this ASAP.  Just fascinating.  You see the way the entire surface is a solar conduit, yet is still tough enough to have survived impact here intact and is still functioning after quite some time.  It looks...alien."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:51, Wed 30 Dec 2009.

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

This is set roughly 5 days after the HQ briefing.  We will assume a couple of things, in order to continue this line of inquiry:

1)You can talk, albeit with difficulty and probably the use of a short range communicator to pick up jaw bone vibrations, on mars
2)You were able to recruit Gravitas (and anyone else you want, as there are several mega-intelligent novas on the team) and get him on-sight.
3)This scene will end before the Sao Paulo stuff

I want to keep things moving, but there is also more to explore here, and I would prefer to finish things out on this scene the right way rather than let it fade away.

Also, I'm leaving this particular discussion here b/c it seems in line with the ideals of the teragen and what being a nova is all about, even if it isn't precisely teragen-related.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 11:41, Wed 06 Jan 2010.

Zero. feeling light and foolish for it's odd actions, rubs it's head absently. "Wow. Just, wow. I really don't want... wow. Is this alien? This is nuts! We've got to get some egg heads up here. This is a lot bigger than us."

Then Zero folds it's hands together in restrained excitement, affraid it's actions might cause somthing negative to happen. Zero speaks in restrained excitement to Impetus "This. Is. So cool."

"Hells yeah, time to get back to your secret Mars Base (tm) and investigate this bad boy.  Do you have any quantum dampeners built in yet?"

"Shit! I don't know. I'm afraid to touch it just yet. I'm afraid it'll disappear, and we'll be left with a very big fish tale. Could you watch it while I port and grab Gravitas and some others? I just want some witnesses before we touch her."