Comstock -- for surely he wore the stern, emotionless expression of his nova persona -- sat perfectly straight.  He did not swallow or move.  But periodically, the more perceptive and insightful could detect a shiver running through his body.

"I ... don't think I get it.  Is it worse to have a big instar node?  Or a less developed node?"  His hands were folded on the table in front of him, the knuckles coated with liquid silver, fingers gripped tightly together.  "Do we know for sure it was something in that attack in New York?  Could it just be that we're ... just losing it?  Our juice, our nodes, all of it?"

"Generally speaking, the node's size seems to have some effect on the amount of quantum one can channel through their quantum pattern in a period of time. Larger nodes are also widely noted to have side effects - usually mental ones - as it presses against other parts of the brain," Quentin had switched to a lecturing style for the moment, hoping to ensure that everyone had the same basic background on nova physiology to understand the implications of his briefing, "Those effects are not universal, hyper-cognitive novas, such as myself, are less likely to manifest such mental problems. That all said, those with larger nodes seem to be more severely affected by this condition. With regard to this condition, it tends to be worse to have a larger node."

He let that sink in for a moment before answering Comstock's other questions. "We do not know, for certain, that the attack in New York was the cause. It is, however, the only common link between all of the current victims - aside from their organizational status as members of T2M and the fact that they're novas. We also know that the attackers released some sort of air-borne chemical agent during their attack."

He shrugged, "It is unlikely that we are simply 'losing it'. There are others that have been novas as long or longer than most of us that have never suffered a similar condition, and many of those that were affected have been novas for much less time than the original T2M:A members. Further, the condition does not seem to affect the size of the node, simply its functioning. In my case, that's part of the problem."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:23, Sat 29 Oct 2011.

"I'm pretty sure that it occurred because of the attack on the party in New York, there's no way that all of the novas present, and only the novas present, suddenly manifested the same symptoms, at roughly the same time depending on overall power level, as a result of some other event.  Pax hasn't associated with any of us since he quit, and he's starting to have some symptoms as I am, namely blinding headaches. We both have 6th instar nodes, and I expect that if our conditions worsen I may require heavy medication in order to function."

Solitaire, who was not, strictly speaking, allowed deep into the bowels of the T2M Nevada base anymore, nodded. She didn't have any of the symptoms the others had mentioned, yet at least, but she looked slightly less colorful. The tones in her hair were more muted than before, and it seemed less able to ignore gravity.

"It was the party. I'm sure of it. I'd thought something smelled a bit off about the gas, but then, I had never smelled sarin gas before, and was on the fringes anyway. Didn't know what to make of it, and there were more pressing problems at the time. In hindsight though, maybe I should have leveled whatever it took to catch the leader." She said, tapping the fingers of her left hand on the conference table, steadily deepening the depressions that they left. Solitaire looked, concerned, which was something unusual in and of itself. She wasn't the type to worry, since if you had time to worry, you had time to do something, and if you couldn't, it wasn't worth worrying about. Of course, this was possibly the most crushing problem she had ever been faced with, and it was one she couldn't just beat an answer out of.

"I think this is the opening ante of a new player, and I don't much like the game they're playing."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:40, Sat 29 Oct 2011.

Phantasm seemed confused and worried, but not surprised.  Her movements gave away why; she entirely lacked the effortless strength that defined the existence of novas with enhanced grace and strength.  "I think Sol's right, we have somebody making bold moves to get rid of some of the worlds most powerful novas... And succeeding at it.  More importantly, why are they doing this?  It doesn't seem like just a grudge, not to me anyway, more like they're trying to clear the playing field to do something.  I mean, how much of Utopia's time is this taking up, how many of their people are out of commission because of it?  And do we know anything else about the people involved?  The Columbian leftovers were pretty cut and dry, but the leader, and that wrestler, what were they doing there?"

She continued further, describing possible strategies behind the attack and ruminating on the purpose motivating it.  Her language was complex, and some of what she spoke about required enhanced intelligence or manipulative faculties to even fully comprehend.  This wasn't the face she revealed to the world normally, this was Phantasm in problem solving mode, barriers down, with the sole purpose of dealing with the problem at hand.  But the problem she was concerned with wasn't the reason behind the attack, she was only discussing it to comb it for data that might help with the real problem at hand, or at least the one she identified as such.

"But the most important thing is to deal with this... degenerative condition.  We need to figure out something.  Maybe we need to find these people and figure out what they did, maybe we need to lock ourselves in a lab, or even bring in outside help.  But we have to fix this.  I... I put together some data of my own, all my medical theories as to what this might be, and all of the data I've been able to collect that might in any way relate."  A slight stutter was the only indication that she was reticent of handing over the drive full of data, and revealing just how intricately her mind functioned even when in her weakened state.

Phantasm was worried, and deeply frightened.  Even more than the Terats, whose identities were defined by their status as novas.  Some of them probably knew why, or could intuit it at least.  Whatever had forced her to erupt had required her powers to even survive; she'd come to depend on them to feel safe.  And they let her live life in a way impossible as a baseline, something that was true of every nova, but especially true for those possessed of advanced intellectual abilities.  This threatened to turn her back into a slow, stupid, defenseless teenager with little to no control over her feelings, and she was deathly afraid.  Frightened enough to let go of her facade and do whatever was necessary to work toward a cure.

As well-known a Terat as the Hell Kraken would find it simply impossible to get into a Utopia facility, but Kraken Pharmakon was the third (or first, if you disregarded the market share attributable to ED pills) largest pharmaceutical company worldwide, just ahead of Merck and just behind Novartis, and his fellow novas had need of his medical and scientific skills so he'd found a way.  A tracked MEDBOT had been parked in the conference room since before anyone had arrived.  It awoke as soon as people started milling about.  Gleaming stainless steel limbs bearing biopsy needles, ultrasound transducers, scalpels, and the like unfolded, performed a power-on self-test, and stowed themselves.  A flexible, thin-film OLED monitor folded out of the back of the bot and unrolled, flashed once, displayed a screen of scrolling text, then shifted over to a video display of the Kraken suit in an immaculately white room.  The screen was obviously intended to improve the bedside manner of the bot, but given the inexpressiveness of the Kraken suit and the array of pokey-prody objects immediately below the screen, it didn't have the desired effect.

"If the gas smelled of anything at all it certainly wasn't GB.  From what you have described, the individuals responsible were not amateurs.  They would not have used contaminated nerve agent.  I doubt there would be any discernible odor or taste with the pure agent."

The final statement wasn't exactly true.  Wilhelm thought that Sarin tasted kind of like phosphonates, but then again what didn't?  He oversimplified to avoid having to explain Sarin's peculiar flavor to anyone without super-olfactory and super-gustatory senses.  It was like explaining green to someone who could only see in the ultraviolet.  Maybe it was like rancid olive oil?

"It seems the first step in finding a solution, an antidote, is determining the agent used.  Chemicals that inhibit the functioning of the M-R node are not unknown, after all, though the persistence of this particular agent does seem peculiar.  Moxinoquantamine, for instance, disrupts intranode signaling if administered in the appropriate dosage.  An experience with which you are all likely familiar."

Wilhelm was relying on reports from literature in describing the effects of Mox.  He'd never been in a Rashoud Facility, though Utopia agents had "encouraged" him to go with enough vigor that he'd felt the need to disappear into Central Asia for a while, and Mox had always reacted rather explosively with his personal biochemistry.  He hadn't the slightest idea what the chemical's effects would be like.  He didn't really want to find out either.

"A sample will have to be obtained.  You have collected residual samples of the gas used, correct?  If not, well, some portion of the agent must remain or else you would not be experiencing symptoms."

The MEDBOT mimicked Wilhelm's video-conferenced body language with its biopsy arm in a strangely human fashion, most likely under the control of some sort of haptic feedback system integrated into the Kraken suit.  The sample source Wilhelm intended to exploit was obvious.

"A few simple tests and you should know what you're up against, if not how to deal with it."

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
I've spent XP to add more Mega-Int and Medical Prodigy, which should hopefully be of some use here.

---

This message was last edited by the player at 02:25, Sun 30 Oct 2011.

"This is one hell of an opening play, Sol.  In one shot they eliminated or weakened the powers of 50 of the worlds most powerful novas.  Them being novas makes this unlikely to be the work of, say, the Michaelites, them using the dregs of the Columbian experiments speaks of some criminal connection.  Could it be someone in China, eager to weaken Utopia so that they can become dominant? Or perhaps some technologist who was shut down by our tech reg division?  Could it have something to do with that side project, Grav?  I haven't found anything that can get through my resistance to drugs and chemicals, not even the nova meds cooked up by Triton, could anybody make something like this without a significant support structure? Is it a nova whose body is a factory that produces chemicals that can even affect us? I know of one such young nova in the Terragen, and I haven't ruled him out, but it seems very unlikely that he would do this to 4 fellow Terats. Especially two who have reputations for doing violent things to those who hurt those they care about."
He raked a hand through his hair, "A significant part of me would rather die than to go back to the way I was before I erupted, to being short, weak, stupid, frail and ugly. To becoming an object of pity to be held up as an Icarus-like figure held up as an example to those who rise too far above the mewling horde. That being said, I will move Heaven and Earth to get to the bottom of this, and to make sure that this abomination cannot happen again.  Hopefully we can find a cure for this, novas have found solutions for things that seemed incurable since we erupted, we're not going to start now." He paused, looked conflicted, then determined, if Tasm was willing to put all her cards on the table then who was he to hold back.  "Sol, Grav, is this room secure from eavesdropping?"

"I may be able to help with the eavesdropping."  Without further explanation, 'Tasm manifested her green, ever shifting forcefield.  It was still unnerving, but somehow less intense; only the fear in the half seen faces kept it at its requisite level of disquiet.  Walking to the wall, she produced a construct that slithered across the walls, coating it like a layer of viscous slime mold.  Faces in the mold wailed and moaned for release, some of them almost familiar.  Those in the battles could see the chained figures of past psychic foes in the thick green miasma if they peered hard enough.  "Before I close this up Grav', did you want to bring Kraken here?  With an open electronic feed we can't really be safe can we?  I can absorb any ambient radiation with this wall, or Sol could do it even better, but that would cut off the 'bot feed."

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Kind of a weird stunt, but just creating a construct with psi resistance and spreading it over the entire room.  I'll push for it, and spend a will.  And pull on some of the chained psychics for this.

---

"I'm for it.  Kraken's not a bad guy."  He'd called off work on the moon.  Kraken techs had been scrambled with equipment to take care of his assignment and there'd been no repercussions.  KHI seemed to be under good management, and, after all, Kraken himself had never mocked or swindled Comstock.

Quentin nodded, "I can if he would like to be present in person for the remainder of this briefing." He'd leave personal attendence up to the other Terat. It might be that he'd already prepared for the contingency by giving the MEDBOT a set of autonomous responses in the event that he was unable to manipulate it directly. In either event, Quentin knew the bot was recording the entire event.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
If Kracken does want to come, assume Grav facilitates this without much issue

---

Wilhelm stepped through the portal with only slight nausea.  He understood intellectually that the portal was created through a simple application of de Broglie-Bohm pilot-wave theory, but he still found the experience ... unnatural.

"You needn't have worried about the MEDBOT.  Its communications links are quite thoroughly encrypted.  A necessity for FDA and EMA approval.  In all likelihood, anyone who could break the encryption either already knows and desires, for one reason or another, to keep matters quiet or has no desire to find out."

With the flick of a few switches, Wilhelm shut off the MEDBOT's remote functions and enabled its manual override.  He may have need of its medical equipment, so it would still be useful to keep around.

"If we're all in a sharing mood, I'll be needing medical records in addition to whatever research has been done.  There is no sense in reinventing the wheel, after all."

A small touchpad folded out of the MEDBOT and displayed release forms for electronic signature.  Wilhelm wasn't going to get hit with HIPAA penalties.  He figured that any tests undertaken in the past few months would have been non-invasive.  MRIs, EKGs, sonograms, and the like.  Worth looking at, but probably not containing the solution to the problem.  If the problem could've been solved with a scan and a few little, white pills it would have been thusly solved by now.  Little worth doing ever came without pain.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:22, Mon 31 Oct 2011.

"In the interest of full disclosure, when I was in chrysalis I experienced visions, some less than relevant to our discussion today, but there was a particularly vivid one, of Caroline being taken while she was under, and of them doing experiments on her, experiments so invasive that she had to chose between keeping herself alive or keeping our unborn daughter alive.  She chose the latter.  The last thing I remember from that image cascade is an old woman, i have a drawing of her here, taking baby Jenny, and saying that the drugs clearly aren't working on me.  I got the impression that she was taking Jenny as evidence that I can procreate, and that this act was what the drugs were supposed to stop.  If this human is indeed carrying out a pogrom of sterilization, and she realizes that her efforts are for naught, maybe she has upped her game to attempt to destabilize and damage our nodes." Imp was, to those who could read him, seemingly relieved that he had gotten this off his chest, and worried about what this disclosure could mean.

"Interesting.  Most probably unrelated given the discrepancy in time, but still..."

The MEDBOT had earlier deployed a whiteboard that now featured two entries in red dry-erase marker:  Node Disruption and Sterility?  The matter of procreation had quite honestly not occurred to Wilhelm with any frequency.  He knew of reports in the literature suggesting that nova birth rates were below what would be expected from demographics, but he'd always presumed there was a physical reason for the shortfall.  Certainly Wilhelm's early post-Eruption attempts in the field had been awkward affairs filled with flames and poison, both of which had a tendency to kill at least the mood if not things more biological.  He'd assumed similar factors governed the efforts of other novas.  An unwarranted bias, perhaps.  He could only anticipate the difficulties he would encounter in obtaining the data necessary to test the validity of his assumptions.  When the only tool you have is a biopsy needle...

"Any other symptoms that may not be in the medical record?  Anything else anyone can think to look into?"

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Ah, the whiteboard.  The one true sign that a nova has the Synergy enhancement.  I feel like I may start viciously belittling everyone in order to facilitate brainstorming and taking massive quantities of Vicodin at any moment.

---

This message was last edited by the player at 15:09, Mon 31 Oct 2011.

Comstock squirmed nervously, his body-language revealing everything that his rigid expression denied.  "I ... I've stopped dreaming.  The strange dreams of shapes and links.  I can't really see fields anymore, like x-rays and microwaves and radiowaves and whatever.  And I, uh, I'm having trouble with basic things.  Like math and stuff."

He really didn't seem himself.  He wasn't commanding or witty or engaging.  He seemed confused despite himself was pathetically easy to read, no more complex to puzzle out than any other baseline.  He was focusing very hard on sitting still.  But the worst was his shame at losing the meager personal accomplishments his eruption had brought him.

At the very least, his physique -- and the metal -- remained.  "I can try to let you take samples.  Like blood or ... spit or what you need."

Job done, Phantasm leaned against the wall, nervous energy preventing her from settling back down into her chair.  Comstock's revelation left her even more uneasy; this was her worst fear becoming reality right in front of her.  "What happens if we can't get this under control?  Who are we then?  Should we plan some sort of contingency, while were all... well, still here?  I mean, Grav and I at least are probably going to go all Flowers for Algernon on you guys.  I've got a 6th instar node myself, and some altered physiology... shit.  I really need to pull it together, sorry."  Words coming out in a flood, 'Tasm visibly calmed herself.

"Okay.  It looks like our abilities are going at a fairly constant rate across the board, but we're seeing it most in areas where we weren't all that exceptional.  'Stock wasn't ever a nova genius, no offense big guy, his intellect was more narrow, helping him work with chemicals and structures on an instinctual level. I wasn't ever a powerhouse, I was at the low end of agility and strength.  We've both lost those areas of our power.  I'm not thinking as fast or as clearly, but I've got more to lose there, so it isn't hitting as hard yet."

A moment of contemplation, then a meaningful look at Impetus.  They were talking recently about conspiracies and subterfuge.  How much of that did he want to reveal here?  Did he have more evidence?  How far did they want to go with their friends?

"I'm fine with more testing, but the data I handed over to Grav' has everything I've been able to figure out so far.  From everything I can tell it's reacting more like lupus or some other autoimmune disease, albeit at the quantum level.  Our patterns are fighting themselves.  But I can't actually see it happening, my senses don't go there.  Grav's do though.  And Zero's.  Man, I wish he were here right now..."

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
I have Phobia: Powerlessness in case anyone was wondering.

---

Gale stayed toward the back of the room.  She wasn't looking too well lately.  Her blue hair (darker somehow) was disheveled, her skin pale and wane, her wings no longer seemed to have that lustrous quality that so entranced the baselines.  And her hair and feathers were still.  No movement to them.  She was clearly trying to compensate with her eufiber, formed into a classy suit, and if anyone thought about it, she hadn't been making any public appearances lately.  Barely keeping up with the rest of the conversation, the winged woman offered her own experiences.  "I've almost fallen out of the sky a couple times.  It's...it's almost like I've forgotten how to use my wings.  I can glide ok for a little while, but actually moving them..."  She shook her head back and forth, at a loss for an explanation.

"I'm willing to donate any samples, too.  If it was the gas, I was the one who was exposed to the poison for the longest period, while I was trying to contain it."

"Its never lupis." Solitaire commented offhandedly. Still, she was at something of a loss as to what to do. She wasn't an overly smart nova and really only had a vague idea of what everyone was talking about from a clinical standpoint. She stated as much. "So, I'm not brilliant, but it seems to me comparing symptoms won't get us much progress when they seem to be as varied as we are. It seems to me we need to approach this on two fronts. You smart people need to figure out what the hell happened, and those of us that aren't need to find out who the hell did it. Phantasm, you seem to be both, so you can pick."

She paused her drumming on the table for a moment as her mind finally got around to processing Imps last statement. It was disquieting to note it had taken a little longer than usual to do so. She didn't have the brainpower to keep multiple trains of thought running constantly, but she could switch between one or two fast enough as made no difference.

"Wait. Caroline is dead!? Did I hear that right? Experimented on and dead?! She's Pantheon, why have we not found and crushed whatever the hell this is?"

One attack was bad enough, but this was putting Solitaire close to truly pissed. Cities tended to end up rubble when Solitaire was pissed.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:06, Thu 03 Nov 2011.

"Caroline was missing?"  He paused, confused.  "You mean that Caroline that we met at the Archon, right?  Not a different one?"

"They have our daughter, whoever they are.  If we go in full force she might die.  The only known child of nova parents in the world, might die.  I cannot risk that, Sol, which is why I told almost nobody." His eyes, normally bright and cheerful were fixed on the table in front of him, staring at something only he could see.  "Also, there is the war that Santiago sees coming, could us leveling whatever facility they're holding her in be the catalyst that sends us down the road to Hell."  He exhaled, trying to let go of some of the tension. He failed.
"Yes, 'Stock, you're right, it's the same Caroline.  The one who helped me to stop thinking with my penis and grow up.  She's still with me, somehow, or she was before this poison. Her mind was with me when her body died, and some trace of her lingers on in my own quantum field.  Her voice has been growing more faint ever since the incident, and she's become completely silent now, hopefully if we can purge ourselves of this she'll still be there."  He was silent for a while, then looked up and met her gaze with a look of pure anguish and rage, "There is one thing that I would like your help with, Sol.  I know the bastard who sold her out, and I'm going to kill him with my bare hands before i get too weak to do so.  Would you back me up on this in case I fail?"

Suzukaze remained quiet during the meeting. She was certainly not one of the more brilliant nova's. There was no way she could possibly help solve the issues going on with them. She worried about what would happen. Then almost out of the blue the meeting veered off course onto the subject of Caroline and Impetus's child. She turns her focus to Impetus and breaks her silence...

"I'll go and get your daughter for you." She looks him dead in the eyes as she speaks. "I don't know what will happen with these power issues we are having. If it just leaves us powerless then I can just live a normal life with my family. If it can kill us then I'm not going to let it take me down. I want to die in the field not of some poison. Either scenario I have things I need to get done. I want to see the end of the Assassins. Also Shiro went missing. Someone took his body, and I'm not going to stop until I find him. Your daughter is more important though. Those bastards are crossing a line they should never cross. She stands up. "You promise me you won't die going after this guy, and I promise I'll get her in your hands or die trying. At the very least I can recon the place. Have Binary rig me up with any type of sensor, recorder or tracking device he can come up with. If Paul clears Utopia's tests and joins the team we'll have a reliable porter who was not exposed to the gas. If I can get as far as locating her he'll be able to get her out and too you."

Comstock giggled like a frat boy.  "You're going to get her back?  Imp can't talk his way to her, Grav can't puzzle out where she is, and Sol hasn't heard anything, but you're just gonna go get her?"  He giggled some more.  "Sounds great.  Imp, you've got nothing to worry about now."

Suzukaze turns on Comstock. "If Imp knows the guy who sold her out he can find out to who. We can find out locations. I may have not been the best teammate, but I'm one of the best at what I do. As he said we can't go in full force. I have the speed and stealth needed to either recon the place or get in and find her. You all think I'm crazy, but I'm not. I'm determined. I have the experience in situations like this. And I have the killer instinct if any of those bastards get in my way. I also said that if I fail to get her out I can locate her. Add Paul into the mix and it should be a sure thing. He can finish the job, and If things go well I'll live as well. If I fail then I at least died doing some good." She turns back to Imp. "You can trust me on this. You find out what's needed I'll have Binary work on equipment. Let me do this for you. It's probally the only thing I can."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:25, Fri 04 Nov 2011.

"Whatever you say," Comstock shrugged and recomposed his face, shaking his head.

Phantasm looked at Suzukaze as she spoke.  The woman was unstable, but she was good, and she'd been there for Phantasm in the past.  'Tasm spoke slowly, and with cautious approval of 'Kaze's intentions.  "One thing she does have going for her is connections in special places.  Her past of course, but also what she's doing now... You're working with other people right now 'Kaze, I'm almost positive, and I think they may be part of the problem we're dealing with.  And that's a potential opening for us." Phantasm didn't even bother feigning surprise at anything that had come up in this conversation.  She'd known for a while that things were odd in Utopia, from the signs of black ops activities to the fertility information that Impetus had shared with her, it all fit together in a pattern that indicated her former employers.  But there was precious little proof.

"I think some element within Utopia is responsible for our problems, or some of them at least.  I don't know if they'd go so far as to take out their own team, but the issues with fertility and with Impetus' child, I think there's only a few people that could be responsible and Utopia is high on the list.  And from simply looking at 'Kaze's behavior, hours, and interactions, I think she knows more about the hidden side of Utopia than any of us do.  The problem for me right now is proof; without it, we're just shooting in the dark even if we know the general direction to aim.  If only we had something other than circumstantial evidence regarding Utopia's involvement..." She didn't bother to fill in too many blanks for people, though if they asked she would certainly share her observations over the years that had brought her to these conclusions.  She was more interested in answers.  Hopefully someone else here had them to give.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Hopefully people are okay with this little leap of logic, but I figure this lets us potentially open up dialog on proteus, slider, and anything else that has been festering on the side.  If people want to go there of course.

---

"Thanks Sue, it means a lot to me.  Frosty hinted at some stuff, the same stuff P mentioned, and if you can carefully, very carefully do some digging that would be awesome.
Be very, very careful though.  These people know who they're dealing with, and know what will happen if they are discovered.  They will kill to keep their secrets.  More likely poison, imprison and experiment on.  Also, since they went after Car, and have our child, they knew that they would have to deal with me, and they know how easily I can pull information from people.  They would be using double, triple or quadruple blinds.  Nobody they talk to will talk to people like the Judas.  Instead it will be many times removed.
 I also find it troubling that none of us heard anything about this, or of anti-nova poisons, and we should have.  Between us we know almost every nova operating on an international scale.  Going one step further to our associates and there is almost no major player we don't have knowledge of.  How we never heard a whisper of this alarms me.  I'm guessing that if these people are as good as they appear to be, then they will have all the information that Utopia has on us.  Further, they might accidentally leak it to other anti-Utoipa or anti-nova groups, who would then try to retro engineer this substance. This could be the final answer to the nova emergency." He looked drained.  The problem with the Judas is that he's almost as slick as I am, or was.  If I give him an opening he'll spin doctor me but good.  Grav, do you have a Mad Scientist machine that can pull information from a recently deceased brain?" he finished with a slight smile and the ghost of his usual pep.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:51, Fri 04 Nov 2011.