Quentin shook his head in the negative. "Even with nova science, an awful lot about the brain is still unknown. Could such a thing be created? Probably, though it'd depend on how long the subject has been deceased and would probably require several months to research and prototype before an even marginally functional device could be constructed. I would encourage those interested to pursue such a goal, but I fear I do not have that sort of time, presently."

He seemed to slump further into his chair, "As for secret organizations and all of that - its not really my area of expertise. I will say that I don't think it is impossible for there to be hyper-cognitive novas that are capable of operating on the world-stage that are not publicly known. It took some time after my eruption for me to develop to the point that I am at, but it is not unthinkable that someone might erupt directly to such a state. Fortunately, it is also, apparently, rare. Eruptions tend to be fairly chaotic and public, but that's not universal."

"I could probably get at some of your guy's memories, but I'm not sure I want to do what's necessary to make that happen.  Oh, and I believe you about Caroline still being with you by the way, in case you were wondering."  Her reply to Impetus was quiet and matter of fact, but it hid a deep revulsion for something.  Her attention quickly shifted to Gravitas.  "You also should remember that there are probably plenty of novas who reveal less than their full potential.  Novas that aren't who they really appear to be.  After all, I've been with you guys from the beginning, and only a few of you even know who I am..."

Phantasm would be powerless soon, if predictions held.  And what strategic faculties she had remaining suggested that now would be the optimal time to reveal her secrets, while the others were sympathetic and revealing hidden information of their own.  I hope they don't hate me too much...

Phantasm said nothing else, but followed her prior statement by slowly unlocking the quantum "muscles" she held clenched at all times, allowing her appearance to slide into it's natural state.  Mousy brown hair, a pretty but plain midwestern face, a runner's body with fewer curves and thicker features.  And instead of an ambiguously aged 20ish year old woman, a girl that could only barely be 18.

Quentin kept his expression tight. He knew enough about human behavior that he'd suspected for some time than Phantasm was not what she appeared. It was interesting to note how much was the same and how much was different. The analysis would have to wait for later. "Quite so," he said, instead, "Well illustrated." His gaze flicked around the room, noting any responses the others made. Despite his slowly declining powers, his eyes remained pitch black, at least for now.

"For my part, I've certainly concealed the full extent of my capabilities from Utopia, though most of you witnessed what I'd been hiding from them in Colombia. In both cases we see the same point being made: Novas can, and will, hide things about themselves from others - even those they consider close friends." Quentin sat forward, "So this raises a number of possibilities. Someone well-known might be behind the chemical or it might be someone unheard of. While Utopia puts forth quite a bit of effort to document novas via the Rashoud Facility network, Herr Förster," he gestured briefly, "is proof-by-example that not all novas visit one. Unfortunately, at this point it seems we need information more than speculations."

Gale's expression contorted with concern as she listened to the conspiracy theories flying around her.  The others all suspected Utopia as working against the novas?  A nova sterilization program?  People killing loved ones and stealing children?  It was a lot to take in.  She knew Utopia wasn't a perfect organization; they cared too much about image and publicity for her taste.  But...Utopia had been her savior.  They'd offered her a home when she had nowhere else to go, given her a purpose.  And if she hadn't joined Team Tomorrow, she probably wouldn't even be here right now, talking with her friends.  The conversation had taken quite an awkward turn for her.  But she didn't make any noises of protest.  The others were all much more experienced, much smarter than her.  If they thought something was wrong, there must be a reason.

Phantasm's transformation caused her immediately to push off from her spot on the wall.  "Oh, P..."  She went over and sat next to Phantasm, putting an arm and a wing around her younger friend in an attempt of a comforting embrace.

In reply to Phantasm (msg #29):

Angelo put all four legs of his chair on the floor and sat up in astonishment as Phantasm's true face at last came out.  He rose and stepped to her side opposite Gale, crouched down and took her hand.

"Bonita," he said, kissing her hand softly.  Then he rose again looking from face to face, suddenly blushing and ducking his way back to his seat.  I shouldn't even be here, he thought, much less interrupting things with my schoolboy romantic gestures.

El Dragón definitely doesn't look like himself.  The shape is the same, the lines are the same, but the impression he gives off is more like the baseline soldiers who man the base than the lively nova the team has come to know.

Imp, unsurprised by Phantasm's revelation, didn't even blink.  "I'm pretty sure all of us are going to undergo some pretty radical changes, P, there's nothing to be ashamed of.  Before I erupted I was 5'6 and 140lbs dripping wet.  I was also perhaps the most tragically geeky person you had ever seen.  Will I revert to that state, or will the gross physical changes I underwent during eruption stay with me?  Will they stay with any of us?  I don't know."

Distraction, Cognitive Deficits, Generalized Neurological Defects/Elevated Intracranial Pressure?  Wilhelm continued to write, largely ignoring the talk about Caroline.  He doubted he'd be much help in matters of vengeance.  If experience was any guide, he'd only make things worse.  As he wrote, Wilhelm was developing a hypothesis.  Many of the symptoms could easily be related to the mere presence of an M-R node inside one's skull.  It really was amazing that what was basically a tumor the size of a quail egg could persist for as long as it had in these people's brains without negative effects.  There were no symptoms just a few months previously, though.  What had changed in the interim?  A new structural abnormality, something that wouldn't necessarily show up on a static MRI image?  Changes in the composition of the cerebrospinal fluid?  Whatever the change, if a chemical agent was the cause then the blood-brain barrier would present a useful limit on the range of agents that would have to be tested for.  Most bacteria, viruses, other microscopic particles, and large, hydrophilic molecules could not pass through CNS vessel endothelium.  A hormone perhaps?  No, hormones wouldn't be persistent enough.  Nanoparticles, that would do the trick.  Hexadecylcyanoacrylate nanospheres doped with the appropriate chemical agent.  The large amount of blood flow to the M-R node would cause the nanoparticles to preferentially accumulate in the node, just where they would have greatest effect.  Kraken Pharmakon was developing a number of antineoplastic drugs for the treatment of gliosarcomas that were based on a similar theory.  All in all, it would be how Wilhelm would attack the M-R node if he were of a mind to do so.  Trying to keep the jargon to a minimum, Wilhelm related this line of reasoning to the others.  This would prove a relatively easy hypothesis to test, especially since the MEDBOT had an integrated atomic force microscope.  He would need a sample, though.

"Ho, ho, ho!  Mr. Amargosa, Gale, friends.  You misunderstand.  I'm afraid I'm going to need more than just a bit of blood.  Here..."

Wilhelm handed the pair a handful of circular stickers divided into black and white quadrants.

"...affix these to your heads.  I'll need to track the movement of your skulls.  And lean back.  I've found the quickest way to one's node is the transorbital route."

Wilhelm clucked quietly to himself as he assembled a clever little leucotome-like device, a slender metal tube and plunger into which a biopsy needle was fitted, out of parts taken from a compartment in the MEDBOT's chassis.  A feeling was niggling at him.  Perhaps he was being too blasé about the idea of pounding an instrument into a man's brain?  The procedure was an outpatient one with only a very limited possibility of adverse reactions so there was no reason anyone should object, but he still thought they might.  These feelings had been coming more frequently lately.  Wilhelm didn't know if he was increasingly viewing people simply as tools and data points or if he'd always done so and had just started caring about it recently.  Shaking his head, he forced down these misgivings.  He was here to provide results not introspection.

"Information not speculation, yes?  If I find what I'm looking for we should have precisely that.  Aum Shinrikyo made Sarin in plastic sacks on an Australian sheep ranch, anthrax makes more of itself if presented with nothing more than a flask of warm nutrient broth, but nanoparticles, nanoparticles require specialized equipment to synthesize.  Equipment that can be traced.  So, are we all ready for some science?"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:37, Sun 06 Nov 2011.

Comstock winced at the needle.  "Yeah ... that's probably not happening with that little thing."  There was no way he would keep calm enough, and there was no way the little needle had the oomph to pierce to where it needed.  "And electrodes get all funny on me."

"A question, Kraken, how many biopses have you done on novas?  Not that i don't trust your skills, but, well, i'm a little hesitant to getting a needle poked into something important."

"That's why I've got this."

Opening up a different drawer on the MEDBOT, Wilhelm withdrew a sterile, medical-grade hammer still in its plastic wrapping.  Turning again to the leucotome, Wilhelm demonstrated how it worked.  He pushed down on the device's plunger and a grooved needle slid out of the metal shaft.  Pushing down on the plunger still further, an annular blade slid out to sever the material trapped in the needle's grooves.

"So, you see, the shaft does most of the cutting, not the needle, and it's faced with sintered, yttria-stabilized zirconia.  That can hold a far sharper edge than any steel.  And those discs aren't electrodes, just stickers.  The MEDBOT's surgical suite tracks everything visually."

Wilhelm removed the basic biopsy attachment from one of the MEDBOT's arms and installed the leucotome in its place.  He socketed the hammer into one of the MEDBOT's other arms.  Depressing a button on the bot's side, three small cameras snaked out on fiber-optic leads.  Wilhelm held one of the stickers out in front of the cameras and shook it from side to side.  The leucotome tracked the motion exactly.  Turning to Impetus, Wilhelm continued.

"There's a first time for everything.  Mazarin and Rashoud used this method when they initially characterized the node, though, and they didn't report any more adverse reactions than is the normal in baselines with this procedure despite having more primitive equipment."

Wilhelm looked down on the bot with the pride of a new father, though his featureless plastic exterior obviously displayed nothing.  Maybe he should start naming the bots instead of just designating them.  They seemed more human than humans some days.  Beauty without vanity, strength without insolence, courage without ferocity, and all of the virtues of man with none of his vices.

"Much more primitive equipment.  The needle only takes a minute tissue sample, after all, and the tissue in this case is glandular, not white matter or gray matter."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:42, Sun 06 Nov 2011.

Apparently unconvinced and less than enthusiastic about the teflon man and his robot trying to poke at his brain with needles, Comstock demurred again.  "Try someone else first.  If you break the thing trying to get something out of my head, I don't want everyone angry at me."  He knocked on his own head for emphasis.

"Alright, use me as your first subject, it's either my node stops working, for who knows how long, or we get this sorted out."

“I’ve also had some major power fluctuations; occasionally my fire has no juice at all, or just smoke.  The first time it happened, I was unconscious for the rest of the day, but at the time I just thought I was tired. The healing has been a bit more stable, but I’ve had to make several attempts to use it at times.”

She shifted nervously in her seat, and seemed content to hide in her hoodie.  Her personality at least was much closer to being Sara Childe, than the nova she had become.

“Do you…do you think this could end up being permanent?”

Flare made sure to keep her voice even.  She’d never wish the loss of their powers on any of her friends, but she had a very different reaction to the lessening of her most potent ability.  She’d had an idea of what she wanted out of life before her eruption and while being Flare had been an amazing experience; she had felt elation mixed with fear when a fireball of hers had spluttered out.  Without her powers, she didn’t feel terrified, or pathetic, or even scared anymore.  If she was being honest, she wanted the life she was living before, even more now that she could look at it objectively.

“You can sign me up to go after Imp, I’ll do whatever I can to help everyone get their powers back.” She could help but send what she hoped was a supportive grin to the nova as well, “I’ll also do anything that might help get your daughter back.”

She thought about holding back, but as much as she might desire a return to her previous life, she’d never hold back on helping her friends, nor be less than forthcoming when even Phantasm had revealed herself.

“Kraken, I don’t think I’ve been having quite as trouble as some of the others.  This might just be that I’m less powerful than they are, but it might also be that healing is one of my major abilities.  If we’re looking for a cure, that healing might be able to help.”  Her smile was clearly nervous, the last time people, Utopia, had prodded her, she was gifted with chronic screaming night terrors.  She wasn’t too keen to let Kraken and his state-of-the-art can opener have a crack at her.

Quentin made a face. "I'll have to excuse myself from a procedure for the moment. My brain structure is not well-suited to node-biopsy given its distributed nature. I'm also not keen on discovering what other sorts of side effects might come from extra pressure on the various bits in my head."

He turned to Flare to address her question, "If the data points we have so far extend to the rest of us, there is some sort of permanent damage, though the extent is as yet unknown. The also assumes no intervention on our part. The total power loss aspect of it does not seem to be permanent."

"Whatever you think best."

If everyone here (aside from himself, of course) had been exposed to the gas, Wilhelm didn't care who was his subject.  Impetus would probably do quite nicely.  If he couldn't obtain results from the first sample he might turn to those more intimately exposed to the gas, but a lack of complaints was enough qualifications for the first try.  Instructing Impetus to lie back and relax, Wilhelm affixed the tracking stickers to his head, activated the force-feedback control system in his suit, and made sure that the MEDBOT was properly tracking the slight movements of Impetus' head.  It simply wouldn't do for unexpected head motion to scramble brain tissue, after all.  Wilhelm considered synthesizing a bit of cocaine hydrochloride in the tissues surrounding Impetus' eye for anesthetic and vasoconstrictive purposes, but thought that Impetus would likely prove resistant to the drug's effects.  The nova would just have to grin and bear it.  Everything checking out with the machines, Wilhelm began.  First selecting one of the bot's fine grasping arms, Wilhelm maneuvered it into position and retracted Impetus's upper eyelid.  Locking the grasping arm into position, Wilhelm switched to the leucotome arm and slid the instrument under the eyelid and behind the eye alongside the nose.  Pausing for a moment, he brought out the MEDBOT's fluoroscope to check the angle on the instrument and made a few slight adjustments.  A quick tap of the hammer and the leucotome was through the thin bone behind the eye and locked out.  The plunger was depressed and the biopsy needle went in with more of a sensation of pressure than of pain.  After only around five minutes all the instruments were out.

"There may be some bruising, but seeing as you are a nova I doubt it will last long."

"THERE NOW.  THAT WASN'T SO BAD, WAS IT?"

Following immutable preprogrammed routines, the MEDBOT dispensed an orange lollipop.  It's voice could probably use to be a bit less mechanical.  A bit less horrifying while it was at it, too.  Reshaping his graspers for better fine manipulation, Wilhelm removed the sample from the biopsy needle, carefully sectioned it into paper-thin slices with a scalpel, and inserted one of the slices into the atomic force microscope.  While the microscope scanned the sample, Wilhelm turned the bot's monitor around so that everyone could see and brought up a reference image of M-R node tissue from the literature.

"Now if there's nothing wrong with your node tissue then we should only see the noodly structure of M-R coils in the sample, like in the image on the left.  If you've been exposed to nanoparticles the M-R coils should be accompanied by a fine snow of particles.  The particles will be much smaller than the coil cells, only 80 nanometers or so in diameter, perhaps one tenth the diameter of a red blood cell.  If we zoom in close enough they should look like truncated icosahedrons.  Ah, it's done scanning.  Let's see what we've got here."

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
I'll be getting six extra dice on every medicine check for this diagnosis thanks to Medical Prodigy.  10 successes on the present roll.

00:25, Today: Hell Kraken rolled 1 success using 3d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 9,4,4. Imp Medicine, Mega Dice.
00:24, Today: Hell Kraken rolled 8 successes using 13d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 6,7,9,10,7,9,5,10,4,10,6,2,10. Imp Medicine, Regular Dice.
00:22, Today: Hell Kraken rolled 1 success using 3d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 7,6,2. MEGA INT, Medical Prodigy.
00:21, Today: Hell Kraken rolled 4 successes using 5d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 9,7,8,1,7. INT, Medical Prodigy (Correct # of Dice).

---

This message was last edited by the player at 07:29, Thu 10 Nov 2011.

Imp hadn't really felt any pain during the operation, thank goodness his nova physiology hadn't given up the ghost, but it had been most unsettling.  Very difficult to lie still for, and it would probably be quite some time before biting into an apple didn't remind him of the faintly juicy crunch of the needle going through his skull.  He took the proffered sucker and lay back, letting the sensation rippling out from his eye, and the strange oscillations of his quantum abilities to settle before sitting up.  He sucked pensively on the sucker and wondered how Kraken had known that his favorite flavor was orange. He looked at the screens, he may not have some of the others raw knowledge in medicine, or their brain power, but he was no slouch in either area.  This should prove illuminating.

All of those present are privy to interesting facts regarding the situation.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Most of you have an individual blurb below.  Read it, share what you like, keep whatever you don't want to share private.

---

[Private to Hell Kraken: Kraken. The initial analysis shows slightly elevated numbers of farahcytes within the M-R node.  While there is variance in node structure and composition, the number of farahcytes present represent a 5% increase over even the high end of expected farahcytes.  Analysis also indicates the presence of leukocytes; while not generally able to pass the blood brain barrier, these cells are able to cross in small quantity in limited circumstances, and are seen at much higher levels in cases of neuropathological disorders like multiple sclerosis or retroviral infection.  http://www.jleukbio.org/content/56/3/407.abstract

While a difficult and requiring advanced testing procedures, these findings should have been readily available for any of the utopia teams working on the problem.  Oddly, there is no mention of the presence of leukocytes in the data available.   Is data being repressed?

Finally, on a whim, you cary out a chemical analysis using your molecular abilities.  The results were... odd.  After a 5 separate attempts to isolate the problem, you find that roughly 3-5% of the farahcytes present have altered genetic structures, and are composed of slightly different materials, some of which are common to eufiber.  Structurally these cells are nearly identical, but they provide different levels of quantum conductivity, and may be responsible for the presence of leukocytes; the body is detecting foreign agents in the M-R node, though the immune system is having trouble differentiating between the native and foreign cells.  These cells wouldn't necessarily be detected under routine scans since they are nearly identical, and the structure/composition lead them to naturally partially attune to the novas physiology and quantum pattern.  Not completely, but enough to throw off tests.

The disruption is likely the result of several issues: 1) altered quantum conductivity and disruption of node pattern due to increased farahcytes and altered farahcyte composition; 2) the presence of leukosytes throwing off M-R node function and quantum conductivity; and 3) leukocytes attacking farahcytes within the M-R node and disrupting normal node functioning.

Edit: It is unclear whether the altered farahcytes are actually foreign, or some sort of mutation that is replacing the regular cells.  If it is the later, then it could replace the pre-existing farahcytes and allow for the quantum pattern to re-stabilize, albeit at a lower level of efficiency.

Sharing this information in full with the other hyper intelligent novas might provide further insights.  Not sharing it... could be of benefit to the teragen, and provide a weapon against Utopia.  And it could bump up Kraken's standings within the organization; some pantheon members aren't too keen on Grav, Sol and Imp, and would be more than happy to see them crippled.]
--
[Private to Suzukaze: Suzukaze.  You know that there is an organization within Utopia that handles the nasty stuff that Utopia can't do publicly.  You work for them, and by this point have been on multiple missions for them.  You also know that one of the opperatives at least, your initial contact, is a former T2M:A member (Logan) that was supposedly killed in the EQ wars.  All operatives of this organization are under orders to apprehend the former T2M agent Slider for further questioning.  Finally, a few of your missions have utilized your impeccable stealth skills to act against even T2Mers, removing evidence of your organization and working with telepaths like Freak to remove memories of certain events.]
--
[Private to Flare:
Flare, you've had nightmares about your time with at the Utopia facility for years now, dreams that they've done things to your mind.]
--
[Private to Impetus: Impetus, your research on nova infertility obtained from devries shows nova gametes are genetically dissimilar to the rest of the nova’sbody (with the potential to eventually become cancerous), and for this reason are quickly destroyed by the nova’s own leukocytes.  This is not telling in and of itself, but might have some relevance to the current situation.]

--

[Private to Solitaire: Solitaire.  Your contact with Slider left you in possession of damning data regarding the process by which novas are sterilized at Rashoud facilities when they first errupt.  This process involves the use of two retroviruses.  The retroviruses were designed so that they would specifically target and infect all the cells of a nova’s gonads within thirty minutes after exposure. Once there, the retroviruses attack two different targets in the nova’s DNA, both of which are involved in the genetic basis for nova capabilities. The first retrovirus directly attacks any and all existing gametes, altering the targeted DNA so that they carry what amounts to an encrypted genetic sequence. The second retrovirus alters the cells that produce gametes, ensuring that any gametes produced in the future will also carry the encrypted genetic sequence. Their dirty work accomplished, the viruses are then quickly eliminated from the nova’s system.

Further, the overheard conversation at the scene of the crime suggests a few things.  First, he had no reason to believe he was being observed, only someone of your perceptive abilities could have done so.  Second, he seemed to have a grudge against the Utopians, though he might also have been saying things to maintain influence over his brainwashed soldier.

Finally, your interaction with Slider, and her accusations that Corbin was assassinated, might be of interest to those present.  Though how far you want to go in revealing your contact with her and the reasons behind it is of course up to you.]

--

[Private to Gravitas: Gravitas, Phantasm.  Data collected from the scene of the crime, and from observing Utopia's response both internally and externally, does not provide sufficient evidence that this is a Utopian operation.  It may be involved, may be working with others, or uninvolved.  If the others reveal sufficient info about the sterility cocktail, you can eliminate "uninvolved", but they may still only be a tangential player.  Someone with your level of abilities could have discovered the sterility process, and then proceeded to used it for nefarious puruposes.  Or Shadow Utopia could be eliminating the world's most powerful novas.  More info is required.

Gravitas, your hyper-intelligence forces you to admit that you might have been the victim of telepathic tampering in the past.]

--

[Private to Comstock: Comstock.  In retrospect, I guess you're the one that really ended up going all "flower's for algernon" as opposed to Grav and 'Tasm.  That said, you do realize a few things: 1) your chemical senses, while you still had them, did detect something odd about the gas; 2) now that you are trying to remember it, the oddity was organic; 3) you have little holes in your memory that are only apparent because of the constant reminders coming from your friends.  Impetus' commentary on Caroline brings up a shadowed memory of being asked to go into a hostile environment to retrieve a shimmering coccoon, before the memory is repressed.  Mention of a shadow organization within Utopia brings memories of an argument with the director prior to Columbia regarding weak spots in the attack strategy that were painfully obvious; his reply, "we have people taking care of that, focus on your direct assault" was for some reason absent from your mind until now.  There were other incidents, numerous but fleeting.  Actually, you even remember having remembered before, and wishing you'd written some of it down, before forgetting again.]

--

[Private to El Dragon: Dragon.  Your mission, to provide the US with intelligence on Utopia, is the result of a deep mistrust for the organization within the US government.  That said, you aren't paranoid if they're really out to get you.  All this talk of shadow organizations is of fantastic interest to your superiors.]

--

[Private to Gale: Gale.  I don't have anything to say to you about this stuff.  But as an aside, Prodigal has continued to make overtures to you, and has offered further information regarding the "Utopian New World Order" for your perusal, on the condition that you come to see him at the church's headquarters.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:47, Fri 11 Nov 2011.

"Jeez, you could at least buy him a drink before you go sticking things in." Solitaire said, making a joke out of a operation that frankly creeped her out. She'd never liked medical stuff, all the poking and prodding and people smarter than she was mucking about inside people. She could rip a man in half without batting an eyelid, but needles... *Shiver*

"Still, this isn't the first time I've heard about weird stuff and Utopian Black Ops. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her right hand. "I don't think its related to out current concern. Whoever gassed us seemed to have a real grudge against Utopia. Then again, Slider is convinced it was Utopia that assassinated Corbin, and is now after her. She passed some interesting stuff my way, not that I have have any idea what it all means. I just don't think we should either fixate or ignore any players in this matter.

"Hmm.  No nanoparticles."

Wilhelm twisted a few knobs and scanned the image back and forth.

"But this could be just as useful.  You see this farahcyte?"

Wilhelm took a screenshot of the noodly cell before scanning to another.  The atomic force microscope produced a three dimensional image, albeit with a very shallow field of view, so Wilhelm could rotate the image and bring the second farahcyte into the same orientation as the first.  The first cell was distinctly more fibrous.

"Unless I miss my guess, I would say that that cell is partially made of eufiber.  Something very much like it at least.  Definitely not natural.  That would explain the node disruption as well as the inability of your immune system to successfully attack these cells.  These couldn't have passed through the blood-brain barrier, though.  They would have had to be synthesized on site.  A retrovirus perhaps?  I will need a more concentrated sample to run some tests."

Sticking another thin section of the sample under the MEDBOT's optical microscope, a lower resolution instrument than the atomic force microscope but capable of viewing in real-time, Wilhelm started sorting cells with optical tweezers.  Regardless of the fact that he was head down in the microscope hood and his attention was somewhat divided, he continued to converse without apparent difficulty, occasionally gesturing at the monitor to make a point.

"I do not think that it would be a bad idea for all of you to start taking antiretroviral medications immediately.  I cannot discount the possibility that whatever caused this has been engineered for resistance to the most common drugs, though.  What you should do is go up to Minneapolis and talk to Dr. Robert Vince at U of M and then go to Chicago and talk to Dr. Arun Ghosh at UIC.  They're both working on some interesting and novel antiretrovirals:  portmanteau inhibitors, protease inhibitors, etc.  I should know, I've spent enough money on it already.  Tell them Kraken sent you.  Oh, and if your skin falls off after you start taking whatever they give you, tell me immediately.  It could be important."

Scraping a portion of microscope slide contents to one side, Wilhelm carefully deposited it in a small vial.  He held the vial up to the light and shook it.  There wasn't much material, but it would probably be enough for a few tests.

"As far as who produced this, the list of candidates is rather short.  Someone like Anibál Buendia could probably just excrete the required materials.  Lacking such a nova, you'd probably need a lab capable of artificial gene synthesis.  There aren't many suitable labs around.  I know the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Maryland has one.  Maybe VECTOR State in Koltsovo, Porton Down, and Fort Detrick.  Vozrozhdeniya, though that was supposed to be abandoned in 1992.  There might be a few others.  If the active agent is a retrovirus, production could be somewhat easier, though the number of suitable facilities is still limited.  Any polio vaccine plant or the like would be adequate to the task.  Something to look into, I suppose.  Something else occurs to me.  Are any of you resistant to eufiber?  I know my biochemistry reacts explosively to the material.  It would be interesting to see if there are any differences in the progress of this disorder between someone resistant to eufiber and someone who can make use of it."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:27, Fri 11 Nov 2011.

"I've never had any luck with eufiber," Quentin put in. "It always dies not long after I attune to it. I've always suspected it was due to the power leakage from my quantum signature; I can't entirely contain it myself, so the eufiber itself fails to as well, and also dies in the attempt."

He sighed heavily. "I'm also forced to admit for the sake of transparency that I am capable of engineering this sort of thing. I wouldn't, normally, and I'd certainly not infect myself with it - but I could," he admitted. "That means that it is possible, though unlikely, that I could have been the subject of telepathic tampering. I'm normally pretty resistant to telepathy - I assume my unusual neural structure has something to do with it, but so does my enhanced memory. I'd notice any gaps unless they were filled in quite carefully and in great detail. Nevertheless, the possibility exists."

Comstock slapped Impetus on the shoulder, a gesture awkwardly between reassuring and jockish.

But as the conversation further transpired, he shuddered and turned grim again.  "I ... do ... okay, so, can any of you crawl around my head?  I got a bad feeling.  Like ... like we have a problem."  He struggled to remember more.  "Like, I used to be able to ask Zero but it bugged out and disappeared.  I always tried to keep sharp, you know, just do like P showed me to do.  Ssshit," he muttered.  "uh, Kraken, the uh ... the gas when I tasted it back in New York it had a kind of ... I don't know, organic?  Like an organic taste.  Not like a meth lab or a hospital but more like a ... I don't know, like a ... "

Gale winced as she watched Kraken perform the procedure on Impetus.  She was regretting now that she had volunteered for the procedure.  Definitely not looking forward to that.  "Kraken, if you're going to take a sample from me, you better do it quick before I change my mind."

Turning back to the conspiracy conversation, she made a mental note to try and find some things out for herself.  Later.  "You've seen Slider?  Is she ok?"

Gravitatas’ confession sparked a similar thought in her own mind.

“Grav, I think you might have hit on how this came about, though I wonder if there was more than one reason that this problem is only affecting members of T2M.”
She gave a heavy sigh and pushed her hair out of her face before launching into her conspiracy theory.

 “I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I was recruited for Utopia I, well, I think they did something.  I have flashes of experiments, or observations or something, and they still wake me up screaming in the night.  At first I thought it was just the experience of erupting, but now I’m almost certain that Utopia did something.  Actually, I’m not sure that they still aren’t doing something. “

Flare shifts in her seat a bit, nervous of sounding foolish, or even crazy.  “I think they might have started the problems we’re having long ago, perhaps to keep up in line.  Maybe the gas just kind of activated it.”

She can’t repress a self-depreciating smile, “Though I’m nowhere near as mentally apt as Grav, I am fairly resistant to mental things, so if we are tampered with either someone very powerful did it, or my mental shielding is a reaction to their tampering. I know it might sound a bit out there, and I really hope I'm being paranoid but we, well mostly you guys," gesturing at the more powerful of the group, "are each a major threat on your own, and several of you left Utopia to follow your own agendas recently.  Its not impossible that Utopia had a contingency plan for dealing with novas that decide to leave."

This message was last edited by the player at 00:41, Tue 15 Nov 2011.

"Slider is, well, alive, I guess. Good, considering her circumstances I suppose. Frightened and paranoid, but she was never a heavy hitter." Solitaire said, answering Gale. "Still, she's difficult to pin down, and knows how to call me if she needs to. I think she'll be all right until we get this shit sorted out."

"Anyway, it would be crazy for Utopia to be behind whatever this is. Or at least Utopia proper. If they had a weapon like this, they'd have used it on the Teragen ages ago and saved themselves the headache, not their own forces." Utopia was many things in Solitaire's considered opinion, but stupid was not one of them. Shortsighted, and with the wrong kind of vision yes, but not stupid. "Not to say we shouldn't investigate, but everyone is fixating on it. That's a mistake. What we should do is start with what we have. Those Colombians, somebody paid them and outfitted them. Anyone have the ability to hack the net to pieces to find the trail? Give me something to go on and I'll rip whatever organization did this apart."

Comstock was clearly interested in anything said about Slider, but wasn't making any comment on it yet.

"I know a few guys who could do the OpNet hacking thing.  But I don't know if we should be, like, bringing in that many outside people.  I'm not even sure some of us should be here."  He wasn't explicit, but he didn't have nova subtlety anymore.  Or even patience.  He didn't like Suzukaze, and he wasn't sure about El Dragón either.