| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Nissa is relieved that the clone is unconscious, at least to the extent that he didn’t explode. And really, it’s for the best she doesn’t need to keep working her charms on him.
“He consented to having the bomb in his neck surgically removed,” she tells the man. She’ll tell others that too… and probably admit he was under her charm at the time, but did he ever consent to having it put in him in the first place?—and can anyone argue that matters, since it’s a suicide bomb?
She also tells the man about the box in the back “full of bees bigger than me!” and asks, “What’s gonna happen to them?”
The cold brush of a pair of icy lips caresses Theo's ear. The now familiar voice of Dr. Kore Winterdown says, "Well done, half-sibling. Until next time ..."
Despite the 'all-clear' from his annoying half-sister, The Olympian continued to patrol MOTEL until Nissa and The French Team contacted him.
The fear of a Titan Invasion was too real for the godling.
Nissa is still talking with the French tactical team when Paris arrives with a couple other local heroes. They barely get onto the scene before the camera drones pop up from where they had apparently been waiting for permission to film.
She also tells the man about the box in the back “full of bees bigger than me!” and asks, “What’s gonna happen to them?”
"Their DNA will have to be catalogued at the Seedbank in your country as required by law. Otherwise, they'll likely be, umm, terminated," he shrugs. His English is quite good, and, unlike Paris, he seems happy to practise it.
“Well, let’s hope the non-termination requirements are met, then.”
Nissa appreciates the man in black speaking English. Oh, but now it’s like I’m that ugly American who expects it, she chides herself.
She then flutters to Paris and the other heroes. (She hopes Henri is prepared to translate.)
“Mission accomplished, Paris! Thanks for the help.” And to the others, “This is Henri Patineur, and I’m Nissa van Donk.” She makes sure to address the man in black as well, so he won’t feel left out of the conversation.
Unity pause and think for another moment. How much had they really known about PhDestruction? Was it possible that, even back then, the PhDestruction they'd known had been a clone? And was this clone suggesting that they got smarter in a group? Even all six of them hadn't seemed smart enough to do something like, well, create them.
"And why does PhDestruction care about Unity reigning?" they ask.
"I don't know. Disunity must be vanquished. The knowledge will reveal itself when the conditions are met," shrugs the clone.
"And just who set these conditions?" Unity ask.
They have a terrible suspicion who... it would be just like the madman to play some kind of sick game with his own clones. And who could say when it started? Maybe he went mad when he discovered a way to clone himself, and now he'd done it so much it was madness all the way down.
Henri trots back to the van after the sonic attack resolves.
"Sorry, Nissa, I didn't have a lot of choices in letting you know what was coming without telling him at the same time. It sounded like they were going to take him down nonlethally - is he doing all right?"
Paris gestures toward the heroes who had just arrived on the scene but doesn't make it clear which is which, "These are Doom, Zarathustra, and The Hex."
Zarathustra is probably the one dressed like an ancient priest, but it may be less clear whether Hex or Doom is the dark-haired witch or the tall man wearing black blindfold.
They all turn, look at you, and nod.
Henri trots back to the van after the sonic attack resolves.
"Sorry, Nissa, I didn't have a lot of choices in letting you know what was coming without telling him at the same time. It sounded like they were going to take him down nonlethally - is he doing all right?"
"He's unconscious. We are going to set up a medical tent in the crisis zone and see about disarming him. We'll bring you some blockers to prevent the ennui from getting to you. They're addictive, but taking them once or twice shouldn't be a problem," explains the blindfolded man, pointing to where the tent would best fit.
"And just who set these conditions?" Unity ask.
They have a terrible suspicion who... it would be just like the madman to play some kind of sick game with his own clones. And who could say when it started? Maybe he went mad when he discovered a way to clone himself, and now he'd done it so much it was madness all the way down.
"We don't know. We believe that this will be revealed when all conditions have been met. We could find out together if you'd like to try," offers the clone.
Henri trots back to the van after the sonic attack resolves.
"Sorry, Nissa, I didn't have a lot of choices in letting you know what was coming without telling him at the same time. It sounded like they were going to take him down nonlethally - is he doing all right?"
Nissa smiles at Henri. “He’s fine. And honestly, it’s a relief that he’s asleep now. I don’t know if he’ll be so nice to me when he wakes up, but he won’t have a bomb inside him… so maybe there’s hope?”
Regarding the blockers: “I don’t want any drugs in my system. Should Henri and I get back together with L.C.? Oh… and what about the bees, Paris?”
"And to find out we need a portal? That is why you were here?" Unity ask.
"Would any transdimensional portal do?" they query further. They're not sure they'd want to go through with this plan, but just having something possible to try to figure out just what PhDestruction was doing and why seemed wise.
Henri nods at the other heroes and addresses them in French, "Pleased to meet you. As she says, I am Henri Patineur. I would be interested in learning about this ennui effect and the blockers you use, but I will pass on their actual use for now. I may have unusual side effects, as you may understand."
He pauses, reaching out mentally to the ship.
"Gay Deceiver, has the Marshall indicated a plan for debriefing the PhDuhminion? Does she want us to be present for that, return to your location, something else?"
"And to find out we need a portal? That is why you were here?" Unity ask.
"Would any transdimensional portal do?" they query further. They're not sure they'd want to go through with this plan, but just having something possible to try to figure out just what PhDestruction was doing and why seemed wise.
The clone thinks, "To find out we need a portal, yes. But, also, we were seeking other worlds. Some of us were to go elsewhere, to start again, to try again to create Unity. I was to be one of them ... once on the other side, new secrets would be unlocked. You could let me go ... help me leave ... I only want to make more of you."
Henri nods at the other heroes and addresses them in French, "Pleased to meet you. As she says, I am Henri Patineur. I would be interested in learning about this ennui effect and the blockers you use, but I will pass on their actual use for now. I may have unusual side effects, as you may understand."
He pauses, reaching out mentally to the ship.
"Gay Deceiver, has the Marshall indicated a plan for debriefing the PhDuhminion? Does she want us to be present for that, return to your location, something else?"
G.D. communicates to Henri, "L.C. wants to take one of the clones back to Boston Theoretical, but I do not want aa exploding clone anywhere on me. I've been reading Nissa's personnel file and she's dangerous enough. L.C. disagrees though. What do you think Henri?"
L.C. communicates with Nissa and Henri over comms, "The EU superhero initiative got involved in the rounding up, but there were four who saw them coming. Four explosions; five non-clones killed, seven injured. No heroes injured. It's going to be all over the news. The EU intelligence agencies have dozens of clones to interrogate. I got permission to take one back to Scarlett."
One of the French heroe says to Nissa, "The bees will be terminated after their DNA is collected. Unless you have some other place to take them. Most places would not want highly aggressive, genetically altered, bees."
Nissa reports, “I got one to consent to having his neck-bomb removed. So yeah, nobody who isn’t me should be allowed to explode at Boston Theoretical.
“But we’re still on for dinner with the Prime Minster, right?”
“Oh, and they’re gonna terminate the bees unless we can provide a new home for them. I’m not sure if you know of a place… but given your knowledge of foreign worlds, I thought I should ask.” That, and L.C. seemed to be in favor of a solution that didn’t involve killing the bees.
The clone thinks, "To find out we need a portal, yes. But, also, we were seeking other worlds. Some of us were to go elsewhere, to start again, to try again to create Unity. I was to be one of them ... once on the other side, new secrets would be unlocked. You could let me go ... help me leave ... I only want to make more of you."
"There should never be more of us!" Unity snarl in unison. "There should never have been one of us." "Especially not at the cost it took to make us."
The clone thinks, "To find out we need a portal, yes. But, also, we were seeking other worlds. Some of us were to go elsewhere, to start again, to try again to create Unity. I was to be one of them ... once on the other side, new secrets would be unlocked. You could let me go ... help me leave ... I only want to make more of you.""There should never be more of us!" Unity snarl in unison. "There should never have been one of us." "Especially not at the cost it took to make us."
Tears well up in the clone's eyes, "It hurts to hear you say that. Creating you and bringing you home is why we were created. You are the reason for PhDestruction. In a way, it is you *sniffle* who created us."
Nissa reports, “I got one to consent to having his neck-bomb removed. So yeah, nobody who isn’t me should be allowed to explode at Boston Theoretical.
“But we’re still on for dinner with the Prime Minster, right?”
[dice=Pass Secret Message CD15]d20+6
“Oh, and they’re gonna terminate the bees unless we can provide a new home for them. I’m not sure if you know of a place… but given your knowledge of foreign worlds, I thought I should ask.” That, and L.C. seemed to be in favor of a solution that didn’t involve killing the bees.
L.C. agrees to dinner with the Prime Minister and, later that evening, a tour of Paris.
During this time, G.D. would fly to Greece and pick up the rest of the team.
Also during this time, a medical team will attempt to remove the explosive, only to find that it is grown into the clone and not something that can be removed without killing him. They do manage to defuse the device by draining the volatile chemicals from each bone-encased chamber. G.D. finds this an acceptable solution.
L.C. gazes down from a balcony on Rue St. Jacques and says to Nissa, "Last time, I was here we were chasing vampires. It feels safer now."
Nissa is oblivious to any subtle signs a girlfriend should look for.
“It’s beautiful here, L.C. I wish I could’ve been there for you, or that I could’ve somehow known I’d be gone that long, or that…“ She sits on the rail, leaning against L.C.’s relatively enormous hand. “…well, let’s face it. None of what happened could have been predicted.
“But y’know… I’m proud of you. You got very far in life without me. I’m touched that you kept thinking of me and sorry I had to change, physically, in order to come back at all.” She places a tiny hand on L.C.’s finger.
“I was, umm… thinking about you a lot when I was in Utopia.” She blushes, causing her golden glow to redden around her cheeks.
Tears well up in the clone's eyes, "It hurts to hear you say that. Creating you and bringing you home is why we were created. You are the reason for PhDestruction. In a way, it is you *sniffle* who created us."
"And this is why you shouldn't create thinking beings with an inbuilt purpose," Unity growl.
"But there's one thing we have figured out," they add. "Being a thinking being means you can decide on *your own* purpose. We are not tied down to the desires of our creator."
They look straight at the clone. "Are you?"
Unity will agree to go to Paris--though there may be issues with the clone they've captured. They don't have anything in particular they want to do while in Paris. If none of the rest of the team have something to do as a group, they'll visit a zoo or something similar if possible.
[dice=DC18 Sense Mo]d20+1
Nissa is oblivious to any subtle signs a girlfriend should look for.
“It’s beautiful here, L.C. I wish I could’ve been there for you, or that I could’ve somehow known I’d be gone that long, or that…“ She sits on the rail, leaning against L.C.’s relatively enormous hand. “…well, let’s face it. None of what happened could have been predicted.
“But y’know… I’m proud of you. You got very far in life without me. I’m touched that you kept thinking of me and sorry I had to change, physically, in order to come back at all.” She places a tiny hand on L.C.’s finger.
“I was, umm… thinking about you a lot when I was in Utopia.” She blushes, causing her golden glow to redden around her cheeks.
L.C. keeps staring down the street, "Utopia sounds interesting. A whole planet being reborn. Do you think they'd like a couple dozen giant bees? I guess there's always World 3 ... the Elves there will figure out how to make giant honey with them or something. Let's put them in stasis and take them to Tarokh next month for the meeting."
Tears well up in the clone's eyes, "It hurts to hear you say that. Creating you and bringing you home is why we were created. You are the reason for PhDestruction. In a way, it is you *sniffle* who created us.""And this is why you shouldn't create thinking beings with an inbuilt purpose," Unity growl.
"But there's one thing we have figured out," they add. "Being a thinking being means you can decide on *your own* purpose. We are not tied down to the desires of our creator."
They look straight at the clone. "Are you?"
Unity will agree to go to Paris--though there may be issues with the clone they've captured. They don't have anything in particular they want to do while in Paris. If none of the rest of the team have something to do as a group, they'll visit a zoo or something similar if possible.
"I'm only three years old, but I was under the understanding that people on this world search desperately for their purpose and invent gods to give reason to their existence. You have one. You were crafted by PhDestruction for some awesome purpose. And it can only be unlocked if you take a leap of faith and find us a gate to jump through," says the Clone.
He adjusts himself in his seat and shifts uncomfortably in his restraints, "You know, we had given up. We'd been watching you in the news, and then you disappeared. I was only a month old when you were last seen, but I remember the debriefing meetings ... some of my first. We gave up. Our cloners made dozens of similar chimera, but none remained sane ... only you."
"My group was going to split ... take over this gate and leap into the shuffle. One of those ones you killed was 5 and a half and had trained as a geneticist. He was going to start a new lab on another world."
"But, all is not lost. You can come with me now. No one will stop you. You are Unity."
G.D. arrives over MOTEL for the third time today, but the first time that didn't involve a time leap.
L.C. keeps staring down the street, "Utopia sounds interesting. A whole planet being reborn. Do you think they'd like a couple dozen giant bees? I guess there's always World 3 ... the Elves there will figure out how to make giant honey with them or something. Let's put them in stasis and take them to Tarokh next month for the meeting."
Nissa likes the idea of keeping the bees alive. She just nods to that.
“Utopia has a weird custom. They offered us, the guests, food, drink, a place to rest, attention from healers…” Nissa stops herself before she starts.
She her golden skin flushes to neon-rouge. “Haha, it’s not really the interesting part of the story. You already heard all the exciting parts at the debrief.”
"And if that purpose is horrible? Something that results in mass casualties or the like?" Unity ask, unmoved. "Opening a portal here would have unleashed a tide of monsters across Greece, which could easily have resulted in tens of millions of people dying. What purpose could be worth that?"
"Have you ever questioned your purpose? Questioned if it was right?" they ask. "Have you weighed the costs versus the benefits? How can you, when you don't even know what that end purpose is?"
The Olympian says goodbye to The MOTEL crew, thanking them for their help. As Gay Deceiver lands, the godling hops about.
"Titan Apocalypse Diverted! How'd things go in Par-ree?"
Zellgato fans in from his patrols with the arrival, coming to Unity to help with the prisoner. "3 years, 5 years. Are they created with full memory then Unity? That would make any moral quandries moot I imagine. Pre-decided."
"And if that purpose is horrible? Something that results in mass casualties or the like?" Unity ask, unmoved. "Opening a portal here would have unleashed a tide of monsters across Greece, which could easily have resulted in tens of millions of people dying. What purpose could be worth that?"
"Have you ever questioned your purpose? Questioned if it was right?" they ask. "Have you weighed the costs versus the benefits? How can you, when you don't even know what that end purpose is?"
"This isn't a religion. It's not a cult," he argues. "A holy warrior goes to extremes on pure faith. The follower of a cult leader drinks the Kool-Aid because they want to believe. We know. We were made for something. We know this. It's encoded in our DNA. We don't know what or by whom but we know we were made for a reason. You'll be happier when you accept this."
Zellgato fans in from his patrols with the arrival, coming to Unity to help with the prisoner. "3 years, 5 years. Are they created with full memory then Unity? That would make any moral quandries moot I imagine. Pre-decided."
"The minds of those who come before are imprinted upon ours, which gives us not so much memories as a great capacity to learn. Within our genes we have programs ... packages of instructions that are only unlocked once certain conditions have been met. Why not help us?"
L.C. keeps staring down the street, "Utopia sounds interesting. A whole planet being reborn. Do you think they'd like a couple dozen giant bees? I guess there's always World 3 ... the Elves there will figure out how to make giant honey with them or something. Let's put them in stasis and take them to Tarokh next month for the meeting."Nissa likes the idea of keeping the bees alive. She just nods to that.
“Utopia has a weird custom. They offered us, the guests, food, drink, a place to rest, attention from healers…” Nissa stops herself before she starts.
She her golden skin flushes to neon-rouge. “Haha, it’s not really the interesting part of the story. You already heard all the exciting parts at the debrief.”
"Oh, s#&@!" says L.C. "We're supposed to meet the team. G.D. should be landing any minute. Let's go"
It's like she doesn't even listen!
Henri nods at the other heroes and addresses them in French, "Pleased to meet you. As she says, I am Henri Patineur. I would be interested in learning about this ennui effect and the blockers you use, but I will pass on their actual use for now. I may have unusual side effects, as you may understand."
He pauses, reaching out mentally to the ship.
"Gay Deceiver, has the Marshall indicated a plan for debriefing the PhDuhminion? Does she want us to be present for that, return to your location, something else?"
The French heroes don't really know much about the blockers, but the ennui effect is the residue of an event now believed to be transdimensional in nature. Something drained the life, joy, hope, and even colour from a six-block radius. Once the area was evacuated, the greyzone stopped expanding and has begun to retreat. The cause is still unknown.
The Olympian says goodbye to The MOTEL crew, thanking them for their help. As Gay Deceiver lands, the godling hops about.
"Titan Apocalypse Diverted! How'd things go in Par-ree?"
G.D. is polite but quiet to Theo.
She puts the live interview with Tasha Gentry on the big screen in the cabin.
"Oh look," the time ship says, "You're famous".
"The minds of those who come before are imprinted upon ours, which gives us not so much memories as a great capacity to learn. Within our genes we have programs ... packages of instructions that are only unlocked once certain conditions have been met. Why not help us?"
"Implying that at random times you unlock new core memories or thoughts that were not your own but come from genes that become activated ala a viral package change? None of the you have bothered to try and read your own coding?"
It's like she doesn't even listen!
Nissa is obviously hurt. But why she’s hurt is not obvious since she didn’t say, and even if she did, L.C. seems to be in a different Paris right now.
“Okay…”
What did you expect? Even you thought it was weird when the Utopians offered you sex. What could you do with a normal-sized person that is safe and actually fun for both participants?
It isn’t sex that Nissa wanted out of the evening, but she wouldn’t hold me. She wasn’t really looking at me. I don’t know what I expected.
But I didn’t expect to be ignored.
“…let's go meet them then."
Unity make... a variety of noises. A snort combined with a sharp laugh from a different head?
"And that's supposed to be better? Knowing you've been programmed, molded, shaped by someone else for their own purposes?"
"Propaganda is bad enough. Having propaganda written into your genome is worse," they state firmly. "We choose our own will, not another's."
Unity make... a variety of noises. A snort combined with a sharp laugh from a different head?
"And that's supposed to be better? Knowing you've been programmed, molded, shaped by someone else for their own purposes?"
"Propaganda is bad enough. Having propaganda written into your genome is worse," they state firmly. "We choose our own will, not another's."
"Of course you do. You were meant to reign," agrees the clone. "We were made to ensure you had that opportunity. Unity will Reign."
"Implying that at random times you unlock new core memories or thoughts that were not your own but come from genes that become activated ala a viral package change? None of the you have bothered to try and read your own coding?"
"The minds of those who come before are imprinted upon ours, which gives us not so much memories as a great capacity to learn. Within our genes we have programs ... packages of instructions that are only unlocked once certain conditions have been met. Why not help us?"
"We can read the sequence of DNA, but not understand the message it is sending without it being triggered. We have not in our memory attempted to simulate a condition. That would be wrong."
Nods to Unity, "May not b e possible. But could always try sifting through their genome and see if we can get a handle on anything.. If we figure out how they are marked, we can try checking yours." checking his kits "That said. That is a high endevour at best, impossible for us at worse. I'm amicable to attempt given the time."
"And if we choose not to reign?" Unity ask, their tail lashing behind them. "Saying we will reign seems an awful lot like trying to dictate our will."
At the same time they look to Zellgato. "We have a lot of gene scans on file back at base that have been studied by everyone who thought they could learn anything from it. Most of what they told us is that we're impossible in any sane system of genetics."
L.C. greets the entire team as the gather together on G.D.
"So, we've heard the reports on what happened in Greece. Based on what you've learned, what caused the transdimensional breech in the other timeline."
"Well, all the evidence leans toward some of PhDestruction's clone setting off some vats of T-Radition, or something", Theo tries to explain. "Thankfully, Zell, Unity and I were able to thwart the clone's plans."
Nissa finds a shelf to sit on. She faces her Dad when she speaks. “I charmed the one who drove the bee van and we chatted while Henri outmaneuvered biker clones.” From her tired voice, it seems her magical charm has worn off.
"We did capture one of them. If we had to guess, one of them was going to detonate himself for some reason, which would have broken the containment they had for the transdimensional energy they'd been collecting, flooding the area with all of it at once, which probably would have been the cause of the portal opening," Unity explains.
"We did have a fascinating conversation with the only survivor," they add. "Apparently they're all obsessed with 'Unity reigning' and 'returning home'. They have some kind of genetic knowledge that gets released when certain triggers happen. From the sound of it any remaining ones are going to be focused on getting us to go with them through a portal."
"I don't believe the first one was going to originally explode. At least not intentionally. If that had been the plan. They would have done so sooner. Pondering briefly, " Excluding the possibility-that they avoided such due to Unity being there. That one ultimately did explode. So I still lean towards the idea they were not originally intending the explosion. But would attempt a breach-that clearly did not work properly."
Nissa replies, “It was fascinating to talk to the one I charmed. He asked for my DNA, and he was understanding when I politely said no to that. He didn’t think individuality was for him. He seemed to think himself similar to the bees—part of a hive.
“And he said he was ‘new.’” She also wonders if… “Oh! Unity, you might find this interesting. The PhDestruction I spoke to said something about the original.”
“…the First of Us came through a gate and that he is gone now. I know that another is now first. But, WE are PhDestruction…”
She recites the quote verbatim. “I wonder if the original First was even a villain. I think the clone that became the current First is your guy.”
"I don't believe the first one was going to originally explode. At least not intentionally. If that had been the plan. They would have done so sooner. Pondering briefly, " Excluding the possibility-that they avoided such due to Unity being there. That one ultimately did explode. So I still lean towards the idea they were not originally intending the explosion. But would attempt a breach-that clearly did not work properly."
"We know from the round-up of operatives throughout Europe that they will blow themselves up to elude capture. Is it possible the whole MOTEL thing was an accident?" asks L.C.
Nissa replies, “It was fascinating to talk to the one I charmed. He asked for my DNA, and he was understanding when I politely said no to that. He didn’t think individuality was for him. He seemed to think himself similar to the bees—part of a hive.
“And he said he was ‘new.’” She also wonders if… “Oh! Unity, you might find this interesting. The PhDestruction I spoke to said something about the original.”
“…the First of Us came through a gate and that he is gone now. I know that another is now first. But, WE are PhDestruction…”She recites the quote verbatim. “I wonder if the original First was even a villain. I think the clone that became the current First is your guy.”
"The Europeans have dozens of them and they all call themselves PhDestruction. How do we find out who's the first?" asks L.C.