Action, Adventure, Excitement, Part 7a
Chapter 1
Subject: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect
On Fri, 30 Mar 2001 14:25:23 -0500
Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00009693
It was a typical late afternoon at The Place. The drinks were
flowing, the conversations scattered about the bar floating along with
the current, the puns were flying, a day like any other.
Michael Seven sat at a table, doing card tricks as Tinkerbell,
her school bag sitting on the floor beside her, laughed happily. The
black, silk sleeves of his gi-like shirt and lapel-less electric blue
jacket were rolled up to just below his elbows, which rested on the
tabletop as his hands made the cards speed about between his fingers
in complex maneuvers. Tink applauded the act, the pair having arrived
just after she had "escaped" school for the day, she was still in the
black dress uniform the school had its students wear.
All was well enough with the world it seemed, at least within the
confines of Callahan's. To Mike and Tink's reckoning, it had been a
couple months since their last adventure, and that was about accurate
for those who frequented the bar, at least those not time-travellers
or dimension-hoppers in their own right.
"Now, for my best trick," Mike said, standing up and tucking the
deck of cards in the left pocket of his black slacks. He raised his
hands, showing them to the small audience in a semi-circle before him.
"Nothing up my sleeve," he said then made to grasp his hands
together, adding, "And presto-sto-sto-sto-"
The bar room door burst open with the sound of a Mack truck's
engine rumbling as a small, fortyish man in a linen suit and porkpie
hat ran in carrying what looked like the innards of a television
refashioned into a gun, the screen facing toward him, the other end
ending in a satellite dish. At the same time, Michael Seven and
Tinkerbell began to flicker in and out of existance, their last
quarter-second before repeating each time they reappeared.
The Doctor, the seventh one to be precise, fired his gun and a
stream of pastel colors streamed from the dish and were drawn to the
pair of flickering time travelers, encasing them in a dark sphere.
The Doctor scrutinized the screen of his gun, which displayed a
distorted image of the pair that constantly rippled and distorted, and
smiled almost childishly. Walking over to the sphere, which shimmered
like a black soap bubble, he squinted at its opaque surface as if he
could see inside, then flicked it with a finger. It resonated like
crystal.
"Excellent," the Doctor said in his soft Scottish accent, setting
the gun down on the bar, aimed toward the bubble of nontime, before
taking out a hankerchief and patting his face, "I thought I might get
here too late." He tucked his handkerchief away, then tipped his hat
to the bar at large.
"Hello, I'm the Doctor, and these are-" he said, as he gestured
toward the doorway, then stopped, "Well, I suppose you'd better
introduce yourself, actually."
The woman in the doorway smiled nervously. She was statuesque,
with fine, straight, naturally golden blonde hair and deep sky-blue
eyes. She looked a great deal like Michael's daughter, Molly, almost
like a sister or something.
As she stepped out of the way of the open door, a motorcycle was
visible behind her. The massive machine had two tires the size one
might find on a tractor-trailer rig on the front axle, and huge
hydraulic shocks, a V-12 engine behind it, handlebars the size of a
pickup's rollbar, and a seat made out of the lower half of two back
seats from a Volkswagon Bug.
More detail than that, however, wasn't clear as the door was
suddenly filled by a massive man squeezing through. Dressed in a denim
shirt that laced up at the collar and cuffs with thick leather cords
and an entire bolt of red and black tartan fabric worn like an ancient
kilt, with thick leather boots, the soles made of cut pieces of tire
like the ones on the bike outside, this ten and a half feet tall,
thousand pound, red-headed and bearded giant gave the rest of the room
a cursory glance, then his ruddy face crinkled into a sheepish smile
as he managed to finnagle his way through the door and stood up, head
nearly in the rafters, stepping behind the blonde woman, making the
floorboards creak alarmingly, and resting hands the size of dinner
plates on her shoulders. The woman patted his hand tenderly as he
rumbled with an Irish accent, "You kin do it, love."
"I'm Anna, Molly's mother," she said after a deep breath, "This
is Finn. And I need the help of the Callahanian Army of Light to save
Michael Seven."
OOC: And we're off like a shot! :)
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect
On Fri, 30 Mar 2001 14:48:35 -0800
Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00009696
>On Fri, 30 Mar 2001 14:25:23 -0500
>Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00009693
>
> It was a typical late afternoon at The Place. The drinks were
>flowing, the conversations scattered about the bar floating along
>with the current, the puns were flying, a day like any other.
Elsewhen, Roland Phoenix, aka Defender of the Champions of Earth-9,
was doing something uncharacteristically typical for a 'guy.' He was
tinkering.
Of course, this is Roland; he couldn't just be waist-deep in the
family car's engine. Instead, he was head-first up to his knees in the
Gate Key powered engines of the flying Champions Island. (An
unintended donation by their greatest enemy, Dr. Destroyer. 8^)
Quantum, his immortal teammate and former Son of Ether (honorary),
watched him with a mixture of amazement and amusement. "Oh, sure, you
have _no_ talent for technology. Right."
Roland blushed (tm), but fortunately he was hidden by the giant
repulsor generator. "Kirby-tech is _different._ Whole new set of
rules. With my powers, I can _feel_ how it works."
Quantum laughed. "It couldn't be you're a latent genius or
anything..."
"I'm a talented amateur," Roland replied emphatically. "You're our
resident tech-head, and I've learned a few tricks from you and what
Toryym left behind. That's all."
"Who?" Quantum asked, thrown.
"Destroyer's birth name, back in Atlan's time."
And in the Place, Morgan has brought the twins for a visit. With
Caitlin along to help, the two are at the center of a small group of
people generally acting foolish for the sake of the babies. At two
months, they are now more responsive, giggling at the antics of the
grownups. "Roland's obsessing over the island again," she sighs when
someone asks about his absence. "He's worried that Destroyer left
booby traps or some such." She smiles down at Liam, who's contentedly
curled up in her arms, sucking on her hand. His wide eyes are alert,
though, watching his surroundings. Rachel, on Caitlin's lap, is
experimenting with shaking the rattle attached to her wrist.
> "Nothing up my sleeve," he said then made to grasp his hands
>together, adding, "And presto-sto-sto-sto-"
> The bar room door burst open with the sound of a Mack truck's
>engine rumbling as a small, fortyish man in a linen suit and porkpie
>hat ran in carrying what looked like the innards of a television
>refashioned into a gun, the screen facing toward him, the other end
>ending in a satellite dish. At the same time, Michael Seven and
>Tinkerbell began to flicker in and out of existance, their last
>quarter-second before repeating each time they reappeared.
KLANG
"Big D!" Quantum's fists glowed with primal energy.
"I'm okay. Helmet saved my pride," Roland muttered, sliding out of
the giant Kirby-esque engine. "I just felt..." his fingers brushed
across the opposite gauntlet above his mini-lens. "...but the link
doesn't _get_ static..."
^Roland,^ Morgan sends, along with an image of what's happening, ^I
think you'd better come here.^ She calmly hands Liam to Caitlin and
opens a portal for them to the house. "Looks like we'll be busy for a
while," she says, using her Justice Legion Power Ring to change into
her "working cloths."
> "Excellent," the Doctor said in his soft Scottish accent,
>setting the gun down on the bar, aimed toward the bubble of nontime,
>before taking out a hankerchief and patting his face, "I thought I
>might get here too late." He tucked his handkerchief away, then
>tipped his hat to the bar at large.
At that moment, Roland appears in the Place, suited up in full
Defender mode with a Krull glaive (blades retracted) in one hand.
> "Hello, I'm the Doctor, and these are-" he said, as he gestured
>toward the doorway, then stopped, "Well, I suppose you'd better
>introduce yourself, actually."
"Doctor who?" Roland replied dryly, pun definitely intended.
Morgan, groaning, shot a stream of peanuts out of her hand without
even turning to look. Somehow, these managed to hit him in addition to
any others coming his way, by seeming to be in just the right places
so that any deflected nuts went _at_ Roland instead of _away_ from
him.
>The woman patted his hand tenderly as he rumbled with an Irish
>accent, "You kin do it, love."
/Wonder if he's related to Hagrid?/ Morgan quips.
> "I'm Anna, Molly's mother," she said after a deep breath, "This
>is Finn. And I need the help of the Callahanian Army of Light to save
>Michael Seven."
"Okay, I've given up on being able to tell the good guys from the
bad guys on sight. I Lent (sic) that to a friend. But last I heard,
you were trying to kill him, and unless I'm mistaken your doctor there
just blasted him--AND Tink--with something out of the 40s Superman
serial. Since this is the Place, I'll wait for an explanation."
Roland's eyes crackle faintly. "I imagine it's a doozy."
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect (longish)(sorry!)
On Fri, 30 Mar 2001 17:17:58 -0600
Martin and/or Dhyrclhanc Said As CAoL Message # 00009697
On Friday 30 Mar 2K1, "Michael Knight" Sent:
Congrats, Mike! This is some Great Writing. Between hanging
around you and Davey-Boy (aka R.J.), my writing has to improve,
eventually, I hope. ;^)
BTW, no offence intended Mr. McMillian.
> "I'm Anna, Molly's mother," she said after a deep breath, "This
>is Finn. And I need the help of the Callahanian Army of Light to save
>Michael Seven."
Dhyrclhanc, currently in his 21' tall form, had been engaged in some
heavy conversation with a couple of fellow Patrons, Bill Gawne and
Travis McGee -- to be precise -- well away from the Door to the Place.
Several of members of his "Cadre of Light" could also be seen enjoying
the comforts of the Place.
At least, Sythea had been talking animatedly to Josie Bauer about
something.
Also, in the corner a Darts game was being played between Nimrod (in
his more human-looking guise of "Nicholas Hunter"), Long-Drink
McGonnigle, and Ernie Shea and things were getting, well, weird.
However, the activity at the front of the Bar somehow drew his
attention away from the conversation and, between the appearance of a
certain renegade Galafreian Time-Lord of his acquaintance and the
phenomenon which was afflicting the Sevens, he almost instantly
disappeared from in front of the other two Patrons and then
re-materialized almost directly in front of the Doctor.
The only thing which marked his transference was a small noise which
sounded like a puff of escaping air.
"What have you done to Michael and Tinkerbell, Doctor?" he calmly asks
the former Prydonian in a surprisingly Kosh-like voice while fingering
a silvery oriental dragon pin attached to his Black-Watch Tartan
Shawl.
Tag, who's next?
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect
On Fri, 30 Mar 2001 16:39:20 -0800
Harlock - Bard Extraordinaire Said As CAoL Message # 00009699
>On Fri, 30 Mar 2001 14:25:23 -0500
>Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00009693
>
> "I'm Anna, Molly's mother," she said after a deep breath, "This
>is Finn. And I need the help of the Callahanian Army of Light to save
>Michael Seven."
A polychromatic portal pops open near the bar (and try saying that
three times fast ) and a youngish woman steps through. She is
blonde, wearing a green, vaguely medieval-looking gown. In stark
contrast to this, she carries an unstrung longbow bandolier-style, and
the attentive will note a bulge on her left hip under the gown. She
glances around, then frankly stares at the crystal encasing the
Sevens.
"Ah think ah must be in the raht place, then," she mutters softly.
Spying Roland, she strides up to him and taps him on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, Suh, but bah mah daddy's description, you must be Roland?
Mah name is Erindrea, and ah need yo' he'p, if you would."
Don't worry, this won't take long to settle, I just wanted an excuse
to introduce Erin to the CAoL. I'm still not quite sure how she wound
up with a southern accent, but...
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect (LONG!)
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 02:55:28 -0500
Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00009701
>On Fri, 30 Mar 2001 14:48:35 -0800
>Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00009696
>
>>On Fri, 30 Mar 2001 14:25:23 -0500
>>Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00009693
>>
>> "Hello, I'm the Doctor, and these are-" he said, as he gestured
>>toward the doorway, then stopped, "Well, I suppose you'd better
>>introduce yourself, actually."
>
> "Doctor who?" Roland replied dryly, pun definitely intended.
The Doctor arched an eyebrow slightly and replied softly, almost
under his breath, with a sly smile, "That's the question."
> "Okay, I've given up on being able to tell the good guys from the
>bad guys on sight. I Lent (sic) that to a friend. But last I heard,
>you were trying to kill him, and unless I'm mistaken your doctor
>there just blasted him--AND Tink--with something out of the 40s
>Superman serial. Since this is the Place, I'll wait for an
>explanation." Roland's eyes crackle faintly. "I imagine it's a
>doozy."
Anna looked as if she expected this, and yet was still
disappointed to hear it.
Finn squeezed Anna's shoulder gently, looking more hopeful at the
moment. He whispered, so only half the bar heard it, "Easy, ye got yer
foot in the door."
Then...
>On Fri, 30 Mar 2001 17:17:58 -0600
>Martin and/or Dhyrclhanc Said As CAoL Message # 00009697
>
>>On Friday 30 Mar 2K1, "Michael Knight" Sent:
>
>Congrats, Mike! This is some Great Writing. Between hanging around
>you and Davey-Boy (aka R.J.), my writing has to improve, eventually,
>I hope. ;^)
>
>BTW, no offence intended Mr. McMillian.
OOC: Thanks! And to think I wasn't happy with it. ;)
>"What have you done to Michael and Tinkerbell, Doctor?" he calmly
>asks the former Prydonian in a surprisingly Kosh-like voice while
>fingering a silvery oriental dragon pin attached to his Black-Watch
>Tartan Shawl.
OOC: As there's only so many ways to say "What's going on?" I'll go on
and spare everyone the trouble.
The Doctor smiled, "Well, to be succinct, I've encased them in a
bubble of nontime to halt, for a time, the effects of the temporal
wave front racing backwards through Michael Seven's timeline. Had we
not done so, a chain of paradoxes from his disappearance from multiple
timelines would have unpredictable results throughout the Multiverse.
The least of which being something akin to a case of the hives for
your friend, the Stardragon."
Anna speaks up now, "As for your doozy of a story, here goes.
Some time in the future, Tinkerbell monitored a temporal wavefront
forming in multiple realities. Attempting to track its epicenter, she
discovered it had been initiated in Michael Seven's home reality in
the year 1975. Suspecting the worst, she checked some of the locations
it was forming in and found them to correspond to places they'd
visited when they'd visited them or after. She alerted me and told me
to summon the Doctor as the temporal wave was beginning to erase their
effect on these places.
"Then it started to affect her. She was flickering in and out and
repeating the last quarter second of what she was saying. I summoned
the Doctor immediately."
The Doctor said, giving Fast Eddie a glance, "They'll want to
know why you weren't affected, though they can't ask."
Anna looked embarrassed, "Right, you know already but they don't.
As part of my time possessed as a child, I was exposed to some chronal
radiation that effectively made me immune to paradox. Finn only knows
of my family through me, so he's not affected either. It's the same
reason the Doctor isn't affected. To him, this is future events which
he only knows of through me."
"I have confirmed Tinkerbell's analysis, however... Possessed by
what would be also good to mention," the Doctor added, "It might
smooth some troubled waters."
A distinct look of distaste came over Anna's face, "Possessed by
the spirit of Rufus Mahloy, Michael Seven's long time enemy."
"I'm sorry, I know you don't like talking about that."
Anna nodded, "I know, but it's for a good cause that I say it."
The Doctor picked up the thread of the explanation now, his hands
busying themselves gesturing to illustrate key points, "The effect she
saw was the preparation for erasure, the universe attempting to
rectify conflicting events. At the moment, as was happening here
briefly, time was trying to decide which path of causality to follow,
the one where he existed, or the one where he didn't. That's why Tink
was affected as well. By encasing Michael in a sphere of nontime,
we've created a cork to cease its working its way further back down
the time line so as not to affect his interactions with the rest of
you.
"Now, for a bit of current events and then a history lesson.
"These past few months, I've been working in secret to relocate
the innocent Gallifreyians from their home planet before its
destruction at the hands of the clone their High Council created from
Michael Seven. This has been at his request, now that he had the exact
details of when and how it happened from the memories of that clone.
"In doing so, I witnessed a sole being escape, after a fashion,
from the destruction of that planet. I believe he is the cause for our
current crisis.
"Now the history lesson. A long time ago, on my home planet of
Gallifrey, two men built the entire basis and structure of current
Time Lord society. One was a stellar engineer, Omega, who designed the
original power source to fuel time travel experiments, a black hole
linked transdimensionally to every TARDIS and also to the planet
itself under the floor of the Panoptican in the capital city of
Gallifrey.
"The second architect, the one responsible for the Laws of Time
and the rest of Gallifreyian society's emergence from the Dark Times
was a man by the name of Rassilon. A fidted genious and extremely
powerful, his influence still shapes Gallifreyian society today.
"Now... as many of you know, the Multiverse is vast, and things
do not always happen the way they ought, creating worlds where just
about any set of circumstances could have occurred. The Gallifrey I've
just described is the one I know, full of stuffy old men with nothing
but time on their hands and no taste for adventure, change, or
anything that keeps a society growing and expanding.
"The Gallifrey Michael Seven knows is one such universe, where
things really chose a different route. Essentially, the Rassilon I
know was a great and powerful Time Lord, worthy of the respect and
admiration of every Lord and Lady of my home planet. The Rassilon
Michael Seven knows did not stop the Dark Times. He expanded them,
crowning himself Emperor Eternal of Gallifrey with the help of
warriors scooped out of time from various places around the
Multiverse. This is well beyond even current Time Lord technology on
my home world. I do my own travelling through a network of CVEs. So I
can only assume outside backing, but from where I don't know.
"It is my belief that Rassilon is at the root of our current
dilemna, seeking revenge from the destruction brought about by Michael
Seven and his clones by wiping his existance from the Multiverse. This
would most certainly play havok with his time line, but I expect he's
got a plan to circumvent his own rewriting of his past. After all,
even death couldn't stop the immortal Rassilon. I seriously doubt a
potential paradox will slow him down.
"From here, our course of action seems obvious. Return to 1975
and stop Rassilon at any cost. Miss Pendragon and Mister Culhaim," the
Doctor said, gesturing to Anna, who blushed, and Finn, who looked
impassive, "Will go with you, if you wish. I'll need to stay here and
monitor Michael and Tinkerbell's condition. For those sensitive to
time travel and such, it is in fact, 1975 at this very moment in
Michael Seven's home reality."
"I hope that was enough of a 'doozy' for you, Mister Phoenix,"
the Doctor said with an impish grin.
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 05:13:18 EST
Scott Osborne Said As CAoL Message # 00009702
>In a message dated 3/31/01 12:11:25 AM Pacific Standard Time,
>Mike Knight writes:
>
> "From here, our course of action seems obvious. Return to 1975
>and stop Rassilon at any cost. Miss Pendragon and Mister Culhaim,"
>the Doctor said, gesturing to Anna, who blushed, and Finn, who looked
>impassive, "Will go with you, if you wish. I'll need to stay here and
>monitor Michael and Tinkerbell's condition. For those sensitive to
>time travel and such, it is in fact, 1975 at this very moment in
>Michael Seven's home reality."
> "I hope that was enough of a 'doozy' for you, Mister Phoenix,"
>the Doctor said with an impish grin.
/"I don't know about Mister Phoenix, but it's not enough of doozy for
me, I'm afraid."/ Scott, who was sitting in the back of the Place,
stands. /"But that's because I made the acquaintance of a man who went
by the alias of 'Verbal' Kint once."/
Scott (and if the mini-lens is to be believed, this *is* the real
Scott Osborne) walks up to the group. "I'm not going to be able to
come on this little adventure, but I can offer a large number of
temporal stabilizers. They can't protect you if you prevent your own
existence, but they should allow you to operate without worrying too
much about split realities caused by temporal meddling." Scott pauses,
to let this sink in.
"I can also, if you wish, Doctor, set up a sort of Temporal Faraday
Cage. It'll protect Mr. and Ms. Seven, so you can remove the nontime
bubble, but they won't be able to leave the cage."
Scott waits for a reaction.
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect (LONG!)
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 07:08:54 -0800 (PST)
Ziactrice Said As CAoL Message # 00009705
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 02:55:28 -0500
>Mike Knight Said
>
> The Doctor smiled, "Well, to be succinct, I've encased them in a
>bubble of nontime to halt, for a time, the effects of the temporal
>wave front racing backwards through Michael Seven's timeline. Had we
>not done so, a chain of paradoxes from his disappearance from
>multiple timelines would have unpredictable results throughout the
>Multiverse. The least of which being something akin to a case of the
>hives for your friend, the Stardragon."
Ziactrice pauses on her way down the circular iron stair from the
roof with Nemo, and gives him a sideglance and a raised eyebrow,
"Wasn't that part sort of, um, obvious? Mike didn't stop them, after
all. Or do I just have an odd way of evaluating things?"
> "From here, our course of action seems obvious. Return to 1975
>and stop Rassilon at any cost. Miss Pendragon and Mister Culhaim,"
>the doctor said, gesturing to Anna, who blushed, and Finn, who looked
>impassive, "Will go with you, if you wish. I'll need to stay here and
>monitor Michael and Tinkerbell's condition. For those sensitive to
>time travel and such, it is in fact, 1975 at this very moment in
>Michael Seven's home reality."
Zia, who had opened her mouth to offer company since time-travel
was usually more trouble than it was worth for her, closes her lips on
the demur and nods. This fellow has done his homework.
> "I hope that was enough of a 'doozy' for you, Mister Phoenix,"
>the Doctor said with an impish grin.
"I think Roland was likely expecting it, at least half as much as
I was. Do we have time to talk any more intel, Doc, or should we just
go run into the adventure in our usual head-first way?" She pauses,
and grins. "I think I can feel Nemo gathering intel as we speak. That
is so WEIRD." She stretches up a bit to hug the taller man beside her.
Then she gives Roland a look.
"Oh, with all these diversions, I forgot to tell you. The Crown
of Amber granted me permission. I'm joining the CAoL 'officially'. Do
I have to like, use four colors and wear only spandex?" She giggles.
"Because some of the group doesn't, you know. And no initiation jokes
if you value YOUR existence, Roger." Roger not yet being present
doesn't seem to faze the petite Amberite.
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 10:07:22 -0500
Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00009706
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 05:13:18 EST
>Scott Osborne Said As CAoL Message # 00009702
>
>/"I don't know about Mister Phoenix, but it's not enough of doozy for
>me, I'm afraid."/ Scott, who was sitting in the back of the Place,
>stands. /"But that's because I made the acquaintance of a man who
>went by the alias of 'Verbal' Kint once."/
The Doctor frowned faintly, muttering under his breath, "I
thought it rather good, myself."
>Scott (and if the mini-lens is to be believed, this *is* the real
>Scott Osborne) walks up to the group. "I'm not going to be able to
>come on this little adventure, but I can offer a large number of
>temporal stabilizers. They can't protect you if you prevent your own
>existence, but they should allow you to operate without worrying too
>much about split realities caused by temporal meddling." Scott
>pauses, to let this sink in.
The Doctor scowled at the words "Temporal meddling" but said
nothing.
>"I can also, if you wish, Doctor, set up a sort of Temporal Faraday
>Cage. It'll protect Mr. and Ms. Seven, so you can remove the nontime
>bubble, but they won't be able to leave the cage."
>
>Scott waits for a reaction.
The Doctor checked his readings, "By my calculations, the sphere
should hold for nine days before the temporal energy becomes too great
for it." He looked at Roland as if to say it was his call on which
type of confinement Michael Seven and Tink would prefer.
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 09:37:40 -0800 (PST)
Rob N Said As CAoL Message # 00009707
The city was as quiet as a city gets at roughly 2 AM, after six hours
of snow. A dark alley lit up suddenly, as space warped, forming a
glowing donut. Then, a figure flew out of the wormhole, landing in a
snowbank.
The snow promptly collapsed on the new arrival, while the wormhole
closed with a "hiss-snap." Digging himself out, Rob cursed softly.
"I'll need dry clothes, soon. Or a hotel room." Walking out of the
alley, he glanced around, and paused.
The city felt different, in the way that New York feels different from
Copenhagen. [Even without reading anything, there's something unique
about most cities. Even if I can't explain it.] As for the street
signs, those are more informative. Slightly.
[That says...um..."ohmygodIcan'tpronouncethatStrasse." Which means
that I'm in a German-speaking city. I think. Mom would really laugh at
me for not taking the language classes that she suggested.] Glancing
around, he spotted a trash can, and a bin full of old newspapers.
[Newspapers! I might be able to find out what country I'm in.]
[Please, let there be something comprehensible here...'Prasident
Nixon'? Uh-oh. I think I took the wrong turn at Watergate. I hate it
when my wormhole pulls a timeslip. On the bright side, I probably
won't meet my younger self. Unless Germany won a world war.]
Fourteen hours, two Krugerrands, and a shower later, Rob was in the
middle of attempting to read the news, when...
>Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00009693
>
> "Now, for my best trick," Mike said, standing up and tucking
>the deck of cards in the left pocket of his black slacks. He raised
>his hands, showing them to the small audience in a semi-circle
>before him.
> "Nothing up my sleeve," he said then made to grasp his hands
>together, adding, "And presto-sto-sto-sto-"
"GK!" Rob curled around himself, his teeth clenched from unexpected
pain. A thread of blood curled down from his lip.
> The Doctor, the seventh one to be precise, fired his gun and a
>stream of pastel colors streamed from the dish and were drawn to the
>pair of flickering time travelers, encasing them in a dark sphere.
[Better. Ghidrah's wings, that hurt. What was that? Wish I could ask
somebody from the Army...um. A-duh? Mini-lens, Mr. Nishikawa?]
[That felt like it was tied to my dimension jumping, so...]
/Roland? Michael? Can somebody drop by my current space/time and run a
scan for temporal and spatial anomalies?/
Then information started flowing across the lens-link.
>Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00009701
>
> The Doctor smiled, "Well, to be succinct, I've encased them in a
>bubble of nontime to halt, for a time, the effects of the temporal
>wave front racing backwards through Michael Seven's timeline. Had we
>not done so, a chain of paradoxes from his disappearance from
>multiple timelines would have unpredictable results throughout the
>Multiverse. The least of which being something akin to a case of the
>hives for your friend, the Stardragon."
/Never mind. This sounds like a More Important Thing./ [And this may
explain what hit me. If Mike was erased, I'd be paradoxical just for
being within sight range of him, and CAoL members affected by him.
Combined with relative newness to the group, and the awareness of
space/time that I use to control the expansion of my wormholes, this
sounds BAD.]
> "It is my belief that Rassilon is at the root of our current
>dilemma, seeking revenge from the destruction brought about by
>Michael Seven and his clones by wiping his existence from the
>Multiverse. This would most certainly play havok with his time line,
>but I expect he's got a plan to circumvent his own rewriting of his
>past. After all, even death couldn't stop the immortal Rassilon. I
>seriously doubt a potential paradox will slow him down.
>
> "From here, our course of action seems obvious. Return to 1975,
>and stop Rassilon at any cost."
Rob's eyes returned to the newspaper. [Month and day are a struggle,
but "1975" is the same. And wasn't there something...]
/Ladies and gentlemen, we have a coinkydink. My German is more rotted
away than rusty, but I think a news story involving 'Gary Sieben' is
more than a little curious. First guess is that the paradox flux
dragged me off course. In any case, either I'm a universe ahead, or
I'm in need of a pickup./
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 12:13:18 -0600
Martin and/or Dhyrclhanc Said As CAoL Message # 00009709
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2K1, Scott Osborne Said
>
>>"Mike Knight" writes:
>>
>> "I hope that was enough of a 'doozy' for you, Mister Phoenix,"
>>the Doctor said with an impish grin.
>
>/"I don't know about Mister Phoenix, but it's not enough of doozy for
>me, I'm afraid."/ Scott, who was sitting in the back of the Place,
>stands. /"But that's because I made the acquaintance of a man who
>went by the alias of 'Verbal' Kint once."/
One of Dhyrclhanc's eyebrows peaks at this.
>Scott (and if the mini-lens is to be believed, this *is* the real
>Scott Osborne) walks up to the group. "I'm not going to be able to
>come on this little adventure, but I can offer a large number of
>temporal stabilizers. They can't protect you if you prevent your own
>existence, but they should allow you to operate without worrying too
>much about split realities caused by temporal meddling." Scott
>pauses, to let this sink in.
"As far as Temporal, or Reality, Stabilizers are concerned,"Dhyrclhanc
interjects, "I've long since discovered that I seem to be immune to
most forms of malicious-goaled temporal-manipulation, and the Personal
Reality Stabilizer that Fuzzy gave me, which I can only assume to be
similar to the Reality Stabilizers on the IOU Campus, has tended to
make up the difference. In addition, as far as Synthea, Nimrod, Max
and the rest of my 'Cadre of Light' is concerned, they each originate
from pockets of the Omniverse that are so far afield from the
alterverses that seem to be affected that I suspect that they are
likely to not to be affected as well."
"However, before I accept such gifts from anyone, I'd prefer to get
the Doctor's opinion on this matter."
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect (LONG!)
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 11:53:50 -0600
Martin and/or Dhyrclhanc Said As CAoL Message # 00009710
>On Sat 31 Mar 2K1, Mike Knight Said
>
>>Morgan and/or Roland Said
>>
>>>Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00009693
>>>
>>>The woman patted his hand tenderly as he rumbled with an Irish
>>>accent, "You kin do it, love."
>>
>>/Wonder if he's related to Hagrid?/ Morgan quips.
At which point, a few peanuts land in Morgan's hair coming from
Dhyrclhanc's direction
>> "Okay, I've given up on being able to tell the good guys from the
>>bad guys on sight. I Lent (sic) that to a friend. But last I heard,
>>you were trying to kill him, and unless I'm mistaken your doctor
>>there just blasted him--AND Tink--with something out of the 40s
>>Superman serial. Since this is the Place, I'll wait for an
>>explanation." Roland's eyes crackle faintly. "I imagine it's a
>>doozy."
"Basically -- what he said," adds the Immortal, Exhaulted,
super-annuated, adolecent hatchling Ruby fire dragon.
> "I have confirmed Tinkerbell's analysis, however... Possessed by
>what would be also good to mention," the Doctor added, "It might
>smooth some troubled waters."
>
> A distinct look of distaste came over Anna's face, "Possessed by
>the spirit of Rufus Mahloy, Michael Seven's long time enemy."
"Ah, obviously, yet another case where possession was, once again,
nine-tenths of the law." quips the Sentinel-Lensdragon, probably
garnering a harsh look from the Doctor.
To which he just shrugs.
The Doctor was then heard to say, to Anna,
> "These past few months, I've been working in secret to relocate
>the innocent Gallifreyians from their home planet before its
>destruction at the hands of the clone their High Council created from
>Michael Seven. This has been at his request, now that he had the
>exact details of when and how it happened from the memories of that
>clone.
>
> "In doing so, I witnessed a sole being escape, after a fashion,
>from the destruction of that planet. I believe he is the cause for
>our current crisis.
"That sole being being whom, exactly?
> "Now the history lesson. A long time ago, on my home planet of
>Gallifrey, two men built the entire basis and structure of current
>Time Lord society. One was a stellar engineer, Omega, who designed
>the original power source to fuel time travel experiments, a black
>hole linked transdimensionally to every TARDIS and also to the planet
>itself under the floor of the Panoptican in the capital city of
>Gallifrey.
>
> "The second architect, the one responsible for the Laws of Time
>and the rest of Gallifreyian society's emergence from the Dark Times
>was a man by the name of Rassilon. A fidted genious and extremely
>powerful, his influence still shapes Gallifreyian society today.
"Ah yes, Rassilion and Omega, the God and Devil of the Sole Galefreian
Theology"
> "Now... as many of you know, the Multiverse is vast, and things
>do not always happen the way they ought, creating worlds where just
>about any set of circumstances could have occurred. The Gallifrey
>I've just described is the one I know, full of stuffy old men with
>nothing but time on their hands and no taste for adventure, change,
>or anything that keeps a society growing and expanding.
FTW, this proves that this version of the Doctor is a direct
cognate for the {version/versions/incarnations} of the Doctor which
Dhyrclhanc used to occasionaly hang around with and/or occasionaly
{encountered/encounters}(Hey, when you're dealing with Time Travel and
Parachronics -- See GURPS Time Travel -- tenses do tend to get
mangled.).
> "The Gallifrey Michael Seven knows is one such universe, where
>things really chose a different route. Essentially, the Rassilon I
>know was a great and powerful Time Lord, worthy of the respect and
>admiration of every Lord and Lady of my home planet. The Rassilon
>Michael Seven knows did not stop the Dark Times. He expanded them,
>crowning himself Emperor Eternal of Gallifrey with the help of
>warriors scooped out of time from various places around the
>Multiverse.
/"War Games" anyone/ Dhyrclhanc sends over the link.
> "From here, our course of action seems obvious. Return to 1975
>and stop Rassilon at any cost. Miss Pendragon and Mister Culhaim,"
>the Doctor said, gesturing to Anna, who blushed, and Finn, who looked
>impassive, "Will go with you, if you wish. I'll need to stay here and
>monitor Michael and Tinkerbell's condition. For those sensitive to
>time travel and such, it is in fact, 1975 at this very moment in
>Michael Seven's home reality."
>
> "I hope that was enough of a 'doozy' for you, Mister Phoenix,"
>the Doctor said with an impish grin.
Dhyrclhanc remains impassive but his face takes on a look that seems
to say, 'Great, it's time to save the Omni-Verse, or some suitably
large portion of it, again.'
He then taps the oriental dragon pin on his tartan shawl and is
awarded a chirping sound similar to the Federation Communicator Badges
on which it was based.
"Red Alert, everyone." he says into the pin, while sending a similar
signal through the mini-lens-link, only this being more akin to a
Lensman's "Seven-Sector Call-Out".
Sythea and Nimrod excuse themselves and then rush to his side, the
Hunter Android shifting into his more familiar Magenta form, and a
Pickachu wearing a grey-colored vest appears on Dhyrclhanc's shoulder
in a transporter effect.
"Pica, Pica, Pica"
"'What we do every night, Pinky; try to save the world.'" the
Lendragon quips.
Synthea, Nimrod and Max, all wear similar pins to Dhyrclhanc's;
Synthea's being the sideways view of a Roman Legionnaire's helmet,
Nimrod's is a scallop-toped medieval shield (think of Captain
America's original shield) and Max's is a horizontal lightning bolt.
"Somehow, " continues Dhyrclhanc, I don't think I can fit the entire
CAoL comfortably in the Xavier. Does anybody else here have a Vehicle
capable of Parachronic Travel?"
Then, to the Doctor, "I don't want a repeat of what happened the last
time when I actually stepped into the TARDIS and I think that, even
with the trans-dimensional nature of your travel capsule, it's best
that the CAoL provide their own transport. In light of which, Doctor,
do you have the coordinates for the Time-Space locus where/when we
need to be traveling to?"
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect (LONG!)
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 13:38:23 -0500
Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00009711
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 07:08:54 -0800 (PST)
>Ziactrice Said As CAoL Message # 00009705
>
>>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 02:55:28 -0500
>>Mike Knight Said
>>
>> "I hope that was enough of a 'doozy' for you, Mister Phoenix,"
>>the Doctor said with an impish grin.
>
> "I think Roland was likely expecting it, at least half as much
>as I was. Do we have time to talk any more intel, Doc, or should we
>just go run into the adventure in our usual head-first way?" She
>pauses, and grins. "I think I can feel Nemo gathering intel as we
>speak. That is so WEIRD." She stretches up a bit to hug the taller
>man beside her. Then she gives Roland a look.
>
> "Oh, with all these diversions, I forgot to tell you. The Crown
>of Amber granted me permission. I'm joining the CAoL 'officially'. Do
>I have to like, use four colors and wear only spandex?" She giggles.
>"Because some of the group doesn't, you know. And no initiation jokes
>if you value YOUR existence, Roger." Roger not yet being present
>doesn't seem to faze the petite Amberite.
The Doctor shrugs helplessly, "I wish I knew more. The attack
will be in two days time, on the first of September, 1975, but from
what direction it will come I can't say. The location is a tourist
town in the Rhine river valley, around or on the Lorelei Rock. Mister
Seven will be nine months old on that day. I'd suggest making contact
with his family, beyond that, I can't really tell you where to begin.
I dared not go there beforehand, and don't think it a good idea even
without having to monitor their conditions for me to go now. Rassilon
is, well, out of my league."
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect (LONG!)
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 15:45:39 -0500
Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00009712
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 11:53:50 -0600
>Martin and/or Dhyrclhanc Said As CAoL Message # 00009710
>
>>On Sat 31 Mar 2K1, Mike Knight Said
>
>> A distinct look of distaste came over Anna's face, "Possessed
>>by the spirit of Rufus Mahloy, Michael Seven's long time enemy."
>
>"Ah, obviously, yet another case where possession was, once again,
>nine-tenths of the law." quips the Sentinel-Lensdragon, probably
>garnering a harsh look from the Doctor.
>
>To which he just shrugs.
The Doctor did indeed glare, but Finn's look could have melted
lead. He poked a finger as thick as a broom handle toward Dhyrclhanc.
"Listen yuh overgrown, fire-belching salamandar-" the giant
snarled.
"Finn, it's okay."
"No it's not, yur mum died given birth to ye and yur brother,
Anna, thanks to that Uther's neglect. Michael Seven saved you from
that man, gave ye a good home, with royalty able to help ye with yur
arm, which fell to a coup when ye were five. That day ye saw yur mum
die, got possessed by that damn dark spirit, makin' ye do terrible
things, only years later to be freed by Michael Seven, the man kind
enough to see it wern't yur fault, ye were just a child an not in
control. An this big snake's got the nerve to crack a joke at yur
misfortune--OOF!"
Anna's left hand, the one in a black glove, lowered from where it
had struck Finn in the gut, which registered with him as if he'd been
elbowed in the ribs, despite the force with which she'd used it.
"Finn, love, until -now-," Anna said in a sweetly tense tone,
"They didn't -know- that."
"Sorry, luv. Got carried away."
>> "In doing so, I witnessed a sole being escape, after a fashion,
>>from the destruction of that planet. I believe he is the cause for
>>our current crisis.
>
>"That sole being being whom, exactly?
The Doctor smiled, "I'm getting to that."
>"Ah yes, Rassilion and Omega, the God and Devil of the Sole
>Galefreian Theology"
The Doctor frowned now, "No, actually, they were founding
fathers, to use an American expression. Certainly wise and powerful,
but there's no more worship there than in the American worship of
their first presidents. Patriotic love, not theological."
> FTW, this proves that this version of the Doctor is a direct
>cognate for the {version/versions/incarnations} of the Doctor which
>Dhyrclhanc used to occasionaly hang around with and/or occasionaly
>{encountered/encounters}(Hey, when you're dealing with Time Travel
>and Parachronics -- See GURPS Time Travel -- tenses do tend to get
>mangled.).
OOC: Perhaps similar, but you certainly have some ideas I don't share.
;)
>Then, to the Doctor, "I don't want a repeat of what happened the last
>time when I actually stepped into the TARDIS and I think that, even
>with the trans-dimensional nature of your travel capsule, it's best
>that the CAoL provide their own transport. In light of which, Doctor,
>do you have the coordinates for the Time-Space locus where/when we
>need to be traveling to?"
The Doctor looks momentarily baffled and unsure of just how to
take Dhyrclhanc. "Uh, well, I'm not sure of what you mean, but yes, my
TARDIS would be a bad idea. I didn't risk bringing the TARDIS here for
fear of being trapped in this place's temporal nexus, my own twentieth
century earth is enough of a repeat draw for the TARDIS to fight, let
alone trying to fight this one as well, and I certainly would not want
to provide ready transport for Rassilon by travelling there." He takes
out a pen and scribbles a long string of coordinates in a spidery
handwriting, labeling it "epicenter of temporal wave front" onto a bar
coaster and then copies it onto a napkin, passing the coaster to
Roland and the napkin to Dhyrclhanc.
The coordinates break down into the usual universal coordinates
for where in the multiverse, interestingly out on the fringes where
most travellers don't go that often, then where in that universe,
where on earth, when on earth it happens and when it is now, two days
prior.
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 15:04:31 -0800
Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00009716
>On Fri, 30 Mar 2001 16:39:20 -0800
>Harlock Said As CAoL Message # 00009699
>
>>On Fri, 30 Mar 2001 14:25:23 -0500
>>Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00009693
>>
>> "I'm Anna, Molly's mother," she said after a deep breath, "This
>>is Finn. And I need the help of the Callahanian Army of Light to
>>save Michael Seven."
>
>"Ah think ah must be in the raht place, then," she mutters softly.
>Spying Roland, she strides up to him and taps him on the shoulder.
>"Excuse me, Suh, but bah mah daddy's description, you must be Roland?
>Mah name is Erindrea, and ah need yo' he'p, if you would."
Roland mutters something about raining and pouring. "The queue
forms behind the lady there," he says as politely as he can, gesturing
to Anna. "Though in the likely event you're not headed in the same
direction, I can send one of my duplicates with you." If Erindrea
looks confused, given her lower-tech dress, he adds, "It's a sort of
golem that I can use to help folks in other dimensions. I just can't
use one too close to myself, or the sensory input--er, the doubled
awareness of my surroundings throws me off."
> Don't worry, this won't take long to settle, I just wanted an
>excuse to introduce Erin to the CAoL. I'm still not quite sure how
>she wound up with a southern accent, but...
OOC-R: No offense, but I'm going to say "get in line" OOC as well.
Mike was here first, and I've got two (count 'em, two) writing
assignments for AEG currently. I'm certainly not complaining about
this--it's only my life's ambition becoming real--but I simply do
_not_ have the time to be team leader in two separate adventures.
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 17:03:16 -0800
Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00009720
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 09:37:40 -0800 (PST)
>Rob N Said As CAoL Message # 00009707
>
>[Please, let there be something comprehensible here...'Prasident
>Nixon'? Uh-oh. I think I took the wrong turn at Watergate. I hate it
>when my wormhole pulls a timeslip. On the bright side, I probably
>won't meet my younger self. Unless Germany won a world war.]
(OOC-R & M: In the RL timeline, Nixon resigned in '74 to avoid
impeachment. Ford's been president for about a year by August 30, 1975
[the CAoL's arrival date, assuming we get moving within 24 hours of
the Doctor's arrival]. Unless Mike's timeline and/or yours is/are
different--Watchmen, anyone?--he wouldn't be showing up as 'President'
Nixon.)
>[That felt like it was tied to my dimension jumping, so...]
>
>/Roland? Michael? Can somebody drop by my current space/time and run
>a scan for temporal and spatial anomalies?/
/One sec, Rob,/ Roland replies. /Mike isn't available at the
moment, anyway. Stay Tuned./
>/Ladies and gentlemen, we have a coinkydink. My German is more rotted
>away than rusty, but I think a news story involving 'Gary Sieben' is
>more than a little curious. First guess is that the paradox flux
>dragged me off course. In any case, either I'm a universe ahead, or
>I'm in need of a pickup./
/If Mr. Seven is in the news, you're either in a very different
timeline, or he's in very deep guano,/ Roland notes. /From what I
recall of his mission (admittedly from my old, beat-up Star Trek
Concordance), he's not even supposed to make a blip on history's
radar./
=================================
Subject: AAE 7a: Saddle up, Lock 'n Load (was Past Imperfect)
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 16:53:54 -0800
Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00009721
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 02:55:28 -0500
>Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00009701
>
>>On Fri, 30 Mar 2001 14:48:35 -0800
>>Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00009696
>>
>> "Doctor who?" Roland replied dryly, pun definitely intended.
>
> The Doctor arched an eyebrow slightly and replied softly, almost
>under his breath, with a sly smile, "That's the question."
"An answer would be nice," Roland replies dryly enough for people
to wonder if that's Eric under the armor. 8^)
> "It is my belief that Rassilon is at the root of our current
>dilemna, seeking revenge from the destruction brought about by
>Michael Seven and his clones by wiping his existance from the
>Multiverse. This would most certainly play havok with his time line,
>but I expect he's got a plan to circumvent his own rewriting of his
>past. After all, even death couldn't stop the immortal Rassilon. I
>seriously doubt a potential paradox will slow him down.
(OOC note: I'm going to assume that nothing said here sets off
Morgan's Bene Gesserit Truth Sense.)
(OOC-M: Which she _would_ have been using, given the circumstances.)
"Ouch," Roland says simply. "I imagine he's going to weave elements
from variant timelines together to create a patchwork history for
himself. I'd go on about the sort of power that would take, but I
suspect you already know, and it wouldn't be the first time the CAoL
has had to face a villain who can rearrange the cosmos."
The Krullish glaive vanishes, and the Defender armor melts into his
familiar "Freelance Immortal" guise of longcoat, T-shirt and jeans.
> "From here, our course of action seems obvious. Return to 1975 and
>stop Rassilon at any cost. Miss Pendragon and Mister Culhaim," the
>Doctor said, gesturing to Anna, who blushed, and Finn, who looked
>impassive, "Will go with you, if you wish. I'll need to stay here and
>monitor Michael and Tinkerbell's condition. For those sensitive to
>time travel and such, it is in fact, 1975 at this very moment in
>Michael Seven's home reality."
Roland mutters something about "temporal synchronization."
Meanwhile, Morgan's ears have perked up at the mention of Finn's
surname. "Ciamar a tha sibh, Tighern Culhaim?" Not only is she speaking Gaelic,
but those who would know such things would recognize is Medieval
Gaelic (in between Old and Early Modern, c. 1000-1400 CE in RL
history).
> "I hope that was enough of a 'doozy' for you, Mister Phoenix,"
>the Doctor said with an impish grin.
Roland nods emphatically. "Ohhh yes. My apologizes, Ms. Pendragon,
Mr Culhaim." He smiles wryly. "We get more than our share of allies
turning into enemies and vice-versa. Some days it's hard to tell the
players without a score card." Suddenly all business, his eyes
flicker, and the right sleeve on his longcoat grows a holographic
projector. There, a three-dimensional model that looks like a slow
moving variant of a (lightning ball) displays a series of readouts
below the slow-motion silver-blue lightning. "Ick. Not good. First
things first--gather the crew."
Then...
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 07:08:54 -0800 (PST)
>Ziactrice Said As CAoL Message # 00009705
>
> "I think Roland was likely expecting it, at least half as much
>as I was. Do we have time to talk any more intel, Doc, or should we
>just go run into the adventure in our usual head-first way?" She
>pauses, and grins. "I think I can feel Nemo gathering intel as we
>speak. That is so WEIRD." She stretches up a bit to hug the taller
>man beside her. Then she gives Roland a look.
>
> "Oh, with all these diversions, I forgot to tell you. The Crown
>of Amber granted me permission. I'm joining the CAoL 'officially'.
Roland STOPS, in the sort of way a car hitting a concrete barrier
stops. He blinks, then raises an eyebrow. "Are you," he says
neutrally. Then he looks at the shifting hologram, muttering "not the
time" to himself more than anyone else.
>Do I have to like, use four colors and wear only spandex?"
Morgan looks down at her own standard CAoL outfit, which is in muted
tones and decidedly _not_ spandex, and back at Zia with a grin.
Roland _does_ chuckle, at that, if only faintly. /"Okay, folx, CAoL
dress code--wear something, in areas where there are laws regarding
'indecent exposure.'"/
Then...
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 10:07:22 -0500
>Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00009706
>
>>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 05:13:18 EST
>>Scott Osborne Said As CAoL Message # 00009702
>>
>>"I can also, if you wish, Doctor, set up a sort of Temporal Faraday
>>Cage. It'll protect Mr. and Ms. Seven, so you can remove the nontime
>>bubble, but they won't be able to leave the cage."
>>
>>Scott waits for a reaction.
>
> The Doctor checked his readings, "By my calculations, the sphere
>should hold for nine days before the temporal energy becomes too
>great for it." He looked at Roland as if to say it was his call on
>which type of confinement Michael Seven and Tink would prefer.
Roland sighs.
^Back in the saddle again,^ Morgan sends with a grin.
^Yeah, but why can't it ever be a La-Z-Boy?^ Roland replies.
^You got ten months off, don't complain,^ Morgan teases.
^Oh, yeah, I 'only' had to deal with Mechanon, the Black Paladin,
the Scions of Caine, the Seeker barbecue disaster...^ Roland trails
off, but for all his grousing, he knows his duty. "I'm not sure what
Mike and Tink would prefer, but I do know that nine days of relative
certainty is better than an unknown technology that our enemy might be
better suited to dealing with. This 'Faraday Cage' will come in handy
as a backup if we run out of, er, time, though."
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 11:53:50 -0600
>Dhyrclhanc Said As CAoL Message # 00009710
>
>"Somehow," continues Dhyrclhanc, I don't think I can fit the entire
>CAoL comfortably in the Xavier. Does anybody else here have a Vehicle
>capable of Parachronic Travel?"
Roland laughs. Then he pulls up the sleeves of his longcoat
(causing the hologram to tap into the Cartoon Network and show old
Superfriends episodes at random) in a "nothing up my sleeves" gesture,
then points at a blank wall.
An X-Window comes into existence. (OOC-R: It's still blank, as they
don't have the coordinates yet.)
Roland smiles in a very satisfied way. "Anything else I can do you
for, sib?"
THEN...
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 13:38:23 -0500
>Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00009711
>
> The Doctor shrugs helplessly, "I wish I knew more. The attack
>will be in two days time, on the first of September, 1975, but from
>what direction it will come I can't say. The location is a tourist
>town in the Rhine river valley, around or on the Lorelei Rock. Mister
>Seven will be nine months old on that day. I'd suggest making contact
>with his family, beyond that, I can't really tell you where to begin.
>I dared not go there beforehand, and don't think it a good idea even
>without having to monitor their conditions for me to go now. Rassilon
>is, well, out of my league."
"Mmm." Those members on the link can almost literally hear the
gears turning in Roland's head. /"Let's see. A time-travelling
adversary of immense power will attack the nine-month-old Mike Seven
in two days in 1975 Germany. Instead of spawning a separate timeline,
his success will obviate all of the changes Mike has made to the
multiverse. Z'On'Dar succeeding is one of the more pleasant options in
this case.
/"If we're too open with our powers, we might cause a serious
paradox. Nass, some of us could cause a paradox by just being _seen._
Rassilon doesn't have this problem. We can't tell the elder Sevens
anything for the same reason. Both you, Doctor, and Dhyrclhanc are our
remaining Time Lord experts--and your two Gallifreys are very
different both from each other and from Mike's. From what I
understand, there aren't any 'secret powers' societies in the timeline
we're going to that could help--well, except for Mr. Seven's, proving
once again that God is an iron. And I don't even know how many of us
speak German."/
/"13th Century English and a little bit of Norse,"/ Morgan says with a
shrug. /"I don't know how much help that will be."/
Roland nods, as if satisfied. /"A pretty serious situation, even by
our standards. But I've seen worse. Sib, you and your crew are going
to have to do something about your, er, conspicuous appearance."/ He
looks up--way up--at Finn. /"As will you, Mr. Culhaim. I think mundane
20th Century humans topped out at 8 feet."/ He's in Leader Mode and
has a full head of steam now. /"If we're going to use weapons, we need
to make them look like guns or the equivalent. The appropriate
licenses--in German--will also be useful. An excuse for being there in
a group is vital, since the Cold War is positively glacial at that
point in time. Ah--we'll be Interpol agents, on the hunt for a
dangerous criminal. Close enough to the truth at any rate. Nemo, I
leave that last part in your capable appendages."/ His clothing shifts
again, making him look more...official. It's a bit unnatural.
/"I'll requisition a few Neuralyzers from MiB HQ, just in case,
assuming no one objects. Let's see...I'm pretty sure that covers
everything we'll need for starters. Did I miss anything?"/ Roland asks
the team.
After folx answer _that_ part...
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 15:45:39 -0500
>Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00009712
>
>>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 11:53:50 -0600
>>Dhyrclhanc Said As CAoL Message # 00009710
>>
>>>On Sat 31 Mar 2K1, Mike Knight Said
>>>
>>> A distinct look of distaste came over Anna's face, "Possessed
>>>by the spirit of Rufus Mahloy, Michael Seven's long time enemy."
>>
>>"Ah, obviously, yet another case where possession was, once again,
>>nine-tenths of the law." quips the Sentinel-Lensdragon, probably
>>garnering a harsh look from the Doctor.
Roland groans. oooYou aren't related to Seeker, are you, sib?ooo
> The Doctor looks momentarily baffled and unsure of just how to
>take Dhyrclhanc. "Uh, well, I'm not sure of what you mean, but yes,
>my TARDIS would be a bad idea. I didn't risk bringing the TARDIS here
>for fear of being trapped in this place's temporal nexus, my own
>twentieth century earth is enough of a repeat draw for the TARDIS to
>fight, let alone trying to fight this one as well, and I certainly
>would not want to provide ready transport for Rassilon by travelling
>there." He takes out a pen and scribbles a long string of coordinates
>in a spidery handwriting, labeling it "epicenter of temporal wave
>front" onto a bar coaster and then copies it onto a napkin, passing
>the coaster to Roland and the napkin to Dhyrclhanc.
/"Ah,"/ Roland reples, making another gesture to the X-Window. What
looks like a floppy drive grows out of one side. He reads the coaster
carefully, copying the information into his own timeline-monitoring
hologram, then feeds it into the 'floppy drive' in the X-Window.
The grayed-out screen comes to life, showing a beautiful green
valley through which a healthy river flows. (OOC: Morgan went looking
for information on that section of the Rhine. We got a view from
Lorelei Rock of the valley there. Wow. 8^)
> The coordinates break down into the usual universal coordinates
>for where in the multiverse, interestingly out on the fringes where
>most travellers don't go that often,
Roland takes a second look at these coordinates. "Kind of...out in
the boonies, for a Trek-verse, isn't it?"
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 17:07:21 -0800 (PST)
Driscoll Said As CAoL Message # 00009722
>On Fri, 30 Mar 2001 14:25:23 -0500
>Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00009693
>
> "I'm Anna, Molly's mother," she said after a deep breath, "This
>is Finn. And I need the help of the Callahanian Army of Light to save
>Michael Seven."
From the back of the Place comes a young looking man looking around
at the events unfolding rather quizically.
#Are we reading anything?#
#We are creating sensors now to attempt to. Such sensors were not
deemed neccisary for darts#
#Memory search for Doctor... Anna... Finn... in relation to Michael
Knight...Knightshift...Michael Seven... Cousin Tinkerbell...#
#Search beginning.#
Jim looks the newcomes over with a cocked head as this nanosecond
long conversation goes on amongst his Nanite colony collective. "We
are Jim and would be willing ot help Michael Seven, but are afraid we
are not understanding what has happened to him... May we be
enlightened?"
Ok for those who are really new or don't rememebr Jim... Here's
his story, also for posting on the website.
In the end of AAEII The Controller was being persued by the CAoL
After his failed attempt to take over the power of Chaos. During his
attempted flight, he ran into a Hello Nurse Nemesis split and used his
ability to control her and implant commands before trying to escape
through time nad being trapped by Michael Seven during the end days of
Quaren.
The Hello Nurse split went to a Controller lair as ordered and took
the cloned brain there and began to build a nanite body around it.
When it awoke, this Controller though wasn't filled with rage anymore
at ebing inhuman, feeling his humanity being completely restored. He
decided to settle down and begin life anew as Justin Fleish.
But Justin was different than other Nemesis split because of the fact
he was a brain inside a split. the split became self aware and called
itself Jim and considered itself Justin's offspring. When Justin
decided he should help stop The Controller that was still running
around, Jim helped him with the idea to form the Iron Man Identity to
go offer his aid to the CAoL.
Justin and Jim finally came up with a plan, catching the Controller
inside a special force field formed by Jim. Justing caused himself and
the other timeline Controller to make contact and formed a paradox
destroying them both, but leaving Jim behind.
Jim mourned Justin's death and pledged to seek out and destroy the
Contorller lairs in all the realities he had invaded to make sure that
Justin's sacrifice was not in vain.
He was last seen by the CAoL After the Amalgaverse when he had to
leave Jack at the Place for lack of someoen else to watch him so that
he could track down the Out of Controller and make sure he couldn't
bring back the regular Controller.
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Saddle up, Lock 'n Load (was Past Imperfect)
(LONG!)(sorry)
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 22:19:56 -0600
Martin and/or Dhyrclhanc Said As CAoL Message # 00009726
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2K1 Roland X Said
>
>>Mike Knight Said
>>
>>>Morgan and/or Roland Said
>>>
>>> "Doctor who?" Roland replied dryly, pun definitely intended.
>>
>> The Doctor arched an eyebrow slightly and replied softly,
>>almost under his breath, with a sly smile, "That's the question."
>
> "An answer would be nice," Roland replies dryly enough for people
>to wonder if that's Eric under the armor. 8^)
/Give him a break, Sib, it's not this often this particular
incarnation of the Doctor goes out of his way to do something
completely magnanimous. This *is* of course an exageration./
Dhyrclhanc sends, hoping that *this* Doctor is too busy to try and
telepathically tap into the lens-link. Besides, the link is shielded
at least twelve ways from Sunday and the Time-Lords that the
Lensdragon knew were _never_ that good, or powerfull, as teeps.
>Then...
>>Ziactrice Said
>>
>> "Oh, with all these diversions, I forgot to tell you. The Crown
>>of Amber granted me permission. I'm joining the CAoL 'officially'.
>
> Roland STOPS, in the sort of way a car hitting a concrete barrier
>stops. He blinks, then raises an eyebrow. "Are you," he says
>neutrally. Then he looks at the shifting hologram, muttering "not the
>time" to himself more than anyone else.
@Should we feel honored, Ms. Keenan?@ sends Dhyrclhanc @I mean more
than usual?@ and he adds the teep version of a grin to the message.
>>Do I have to like, use four colors and wear only spandex?"
>
>Morgan looks down at her own standard CAoL outfit, which is in muted
>tones and decidedly _not_ spandex, and back at Zia with a grin.
>
> Roland _does_ chuckle, at that, if only faintly. /"Okay, folx,
>CAoL dress code--wear something, in areas where there are laws
>regarding 'indecent exposure.'"/
/Is that how it works?/ Sends the draconic Lensman, with the mental
equivalent of a smirk.
>>"Somehow," continues Dhyrclhanc, I don't think I can fit the entire
>>CAoL comfortably in the Xavier. Does anybody else here have a
>>Vehicle capable of Parachronic Travel?"
>
> Roland laughs. Then he pulls up the sleeves of his longcoat
>(causing the hologram to tap into the Cartoon Network and show old
>Superfriends episodes at random) in a "nothing up my sleeves"
>gesture, then points at a blank wall.
>
> An X-Window comes into existence. (OOC-R: It's still blank, as
>they don't have the coordinates yet.)
>
> Roland smiles in a very satisfied way. "Anything else I can do you
>for, sib?"
DC shrugs, "Personally sib, I blame it on the fact that I spent my
formative years in a cognate of the Universe of the Lens. They tend to
be a bit on the Tech-Happy side there, too."
>THEN...
>>Mike Knight Said
>>
>> The Doctor shrugs helplessly, "I wish I knew more. The attack
>>will be in two days time, on the first of September, 1975, but from
>>what direction it will come I can't say. The location is a tourist
>>town in the Rhine river valley, around or on the Lorelei Rock.
>>Mister Seven will be nine months old on that day. I'd suggest making
>>contact with his family, beyond that, I can't really tell you where
>>to begin. I dared not go there beforehand, and don't think it a good
>>idea even without having to monitor their conditions for me to go
>>now. Rassilon is, well, out of my league."
"At least when there are only one of you to go around, eh Doctor?"
Dhyrclhanc asks in complete seriousness.
> "Mmm." Those members on the link can almost literally hear the
>gears turning in Roland's head. /"Let's see. A time-travelling
>adversary of immense power will attack the nine-month-old Mike Seven
>in two days in 1975 Germany. Instead of spawning a separate timeline,
>his success will obviate all of the changes Mike has made to the
>multiverse. Z'On'Dar succeeding is one of the more pleasant options
>in this case.
To which Dhyrclhanc makes the dracoinc equivalent of a shudder.
> /"If we're too open with our powers, we might cause a serious
>paradox. Nass, some of us could cause a paradox by just being _seen._
>Rassilon doesn't have this problem. We can't tell the elder Sevens
>anything for the same reason. Both you, Doctor, and Dhyrclhanc are
>our remaining Time Lord experts--and your two Gallifreys are very
>different both from each other and from Mike's. From what I
>understand, there aren't any 'secret powers' societies in the
>timeline we're going to that could help--well, except for Mr.
>Seven's, proving once again that God is an iron. And I don't even
>know how many of us speak German."/
>
>/"13th Century English and a little bit of Norse,"/ Morgan says with
>a shrug. /"I don't know how much help that will be."/
ooo^Between having at least two True-Lenses bearers in the group,
Sib," interjects Dhyrclhanc, sending a quick burst of info through the
link that the three immortals share, including a quick montage of
pictures of both himself and Zia, "and my natural, albeit
preternatural, talent with Languages, we just might be able to squeek
by.^ooo
> Roland nods, as if satisfied. /"A pretty serious situation, even
>by our standards. But I've seen worse. Sib, you and your crew are
>going to have to do something about your, er, conspicuous
>appearance."/
Dhyrclhanc shoots an unreadable look at his bro and then, after
shifting to his psuedo-T'Skrang form, toggles a switch on a
cylindrical device at his waist. His appearence shimmers, switching to
that which would be mistaken for Roland's twin-brother, well fraternal
twin anyway. The only real differences are the lighter eye and hair
color and the fact that Roland doesn't sport a beard that would've
made the old Commander Riker proud.
Similarly, the Dhyrclhanc's clothes shift from the Renaissance-era
swordsman's get up to dark-green turtleneck, a khaki-colored sweater,
an even darker green slacks and shiny black leather hiking boots.
Likewise, Nimrod shifts back into his "Nicholas Hunter" guise, only
the "Al Borland" flannel work clothes that the Hispanic Building
contractor usualy wears have been replaced by a set of clothes not
that different from Dhyrclhanc's only with a tad brighter colors and
what looks like a heavy cotton-blend shirt instead of a sweater.
"Pica, Pica" says Max, still perched on the former Lens-T'Skrang's
shoulder.
Dhyrclhanc gently grabs ahold of him and places him on the Floor of
the Place next to Synthea.
"Sis, your the only one here who needs a real change of clothes. Take
Max with you and, once you've changed, follow us through the
X-window."
"Max", he addresses the Picachu, "It's going to be too dangerous for
you to be seen with us so you're going to have to stay on the ship for
now."
"Pic-a" says Max, dejectedly, while he kicks away a non-exitant stone.
But then nods and allows Synthea to pick him up as if he were a child.
"Two to beam up, Dasher." says Sythea, tapping her comunicator pin,
before disapearing in a transporter effect.
Dhyrclhanc hits his own pin, which now appears to be invisible, and
says, "Dasher, once you 'port Synthea back here, use the Xavier's
Rift-Drive to transport the ship to these temporal co-ordinates." #{}#
he beams the information to the Xavier via PIXAR, still cloaked and
floating above his shoulder. "... And for Bahamut's sake, engage the
cloak once you get to that temporal locus. The Communists of that time
were paranoid and trigger-happy enough _without_ a First-Contact
situation."
"Will do, Boss"
Again, Dhyrclhanc shrugs. /I knew having a big entourage might somehow
be a draw-back./ he sends to no one in particular. "Oh and as much as
I hate pseudonyms, for now on everybody call me 'Derek', or 'Agent
Lancer' that should smooth out any other potential problem areas.
>He looks up--way up--at Finn. /"As will you, Mr. Culhaim. I think
>mundane 20th Century humans topped out at 8 feet."/ He's in Leader
>Mode and has a full head of steam now. /"If we're going to use
>weapons, we need to make them look like guns or the equivalent. The
>appropriate licenses--in German--will also be useful. An excuse for
>being there in a group is vital, since the Cold War is positively
>glacial at that point in time. Ah--we'll be Interpol agents, on the
>hunt for a dangerous criminal. Close enough to the truth at any rate.
>Nemo, I leave that last part in your capable appendages."/ His
>clothing shifts again, making him look more...official. It's a bit
>unnatural.
> /"I'll requisition a few Neuralyzers from MiB HQ, just in case,
>assuming no one objects. Let's see...I'm pretty sure that covers
>everything we'll need for starters. Did I miss anything?"/ Roland
>asks the team.
Uncannily, somehow, Nimrod causes first a M-16 and then a Kolishnikov
and then a M 1911 to grow out of his hands and then disapear back into
them.
"Is that subtle enough, 'commander'." Roland gets the feeling that the
Hunter Android is somehow pulling a joke at the immortal's expence.
"If my memory hasn't been too mangled by the things done to me to
bring about my 'conversion to humanity,'" the android continues,
Interpol, wasn't allowed to break any of the laws of the country that
they were operating out of. This means that we'll have to tread
extremely lightly, won't we?"
#Show-off# sends 'Derek' on a private cyber-psi link to Nimrod.
In turn, 'Nicholas' just smiles, eerily.
"What, exactly, kinds of weapons are we talking about here, Sib?" asks
'Derek' as a shoulder-holster with a .44 caliber revolver and several
full speed-loaders phase into existance around his torso.
>>Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00009712
>>
>>>Dhyrclhanc Said
>>>
>>>"Ah, obviously, yet another case where possession was, once again,
>>>nine-tenths of the law." quips the Sentinel-Lensdragon, probably
>>>garnering a harsh look from the Doctor.
>
> Roland groans. oooYou aren't related to Seeker, are you, sib?ooo
ooo^I don't know, your mentor and I will have to finish that very
discussion the next time I drop by Earth-9, Sib^ooo responds
Dhyrclhanc, dryly.
>> Anna's left hand, the one in a black glove, lowered from where
>>it had struck Finn in the gut, which registered with him as if he'd
>>been elbowed in the ribs, despite the force with which she'd used
>>it.
>>
>> "Finn, love, until -now-," Anna said in a sweetly tense tone,
>>"They didn't -know- that."
>>
>> "Sorry, luv. Got carried away."
At which point, Dhyrclhanc makes a respectful oriental bow to both
Finn and Anna.
"My appologies. I was simply thinking aloud, it was not my aim to
offend."
>> The Doctor looks momentarily baffled and unsure of just how to
>>take Dhyrclhanc. "Uh, well, I'm not sure of what you mean, but yes,
>>my TARDIS would be a bad idea. I didn't risk bringing the TARDIS
>>here for fear of being trapped in this place's temporal nexus, my
>>own twentieth century earth is enough of a repeat draw for the
>>TARDIS to fight, let alone trying to fight this one as well, and I
>>certainly would not want to provide ready transport for Rassilon by
>>travelling there." He takes out a pen and scribbles a long string of
>>coordinates in a spidery handwriting, labeling it "epicenter of
>>temporal wave front" onto a bar coaster and then copies it onto a
>>napkin, passing the coaster to Roland and the napkin to Dhyrclhanc.
Whoops! we'll just overlook that little problem with causality
and hope that Wrinkle was looking the other way when it happened!
};=8)
Dhyrclhanc does a double-take at the the Renegade Time-Lord and says,
simply, let's just say then that, like my friend Ernie over there..."
The Lucky Duck just waves, suddenly totaly engrosed in the goings ons
near the front of the Bar.
"When in my sphere of influence, the odds get even, well... odder."
> Roland takes a second look at these coordinates. "Kind of...out in
>the boonies, for a Trek-verse, isn't it?"
"I wouldn't know, Sib, last time I went there, I accidentally got in a
fight with _both_ Odo and Lt. Worf. Needless to say, it isn't a
portion of the Omniverse that I have visited with any great
regularity. Although, you can ask later if you want me to tell you
about those two nights were I tried to drink Dax under the table at
Quark's, both of her. They *were* non-consecutive nights, of course."
he hastly adds, "and they were two different Daxes on two different
nights, and it was way before Jadzia had married Worf."
=================================
Subject: OOC: Jim was Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 20:15:05 -0800
Fuzzy and/or Nemisis Said As CAoL Message # 00009729
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 17:07:21 -0800 (PST)
>Driscoll Said As CAoL Message # 00009722
I was afraid that I had not been perfectly Clear on this.
> Ok for those who are really new or don't rememebr Jim... Here's
>his story, also for posting on the website.
>
> In the end of AAEII The Controller was being persued by the CAoL
>After his failed attempt to take over the power of Chaos. During his
>attempted flight, he ran into a Hello Nurse Nemesis split and used
>his ability to control her and
While Nemisis has manifested Hello Nurse Splits,
This particular Hello Nurse was a Android(1),
Which Operated from the Hospital..
>Implant commands before trying to escape through time nad being
>trapped by Michael Seven during the end days of Quaren.
> The Hello Nurse split went to a Controller lair as ordered and took
>the cloned brain there and began to build a nanite body around it.
>When it awoke, this Controller though
Used Nanites to build a SilicaCompound Synthetic Body,
The Body contained Approximatly 1% by mass Nanites,
For Self repair and the Requested Dynamic Upgrade Capacity,
This is why it took Seconds to Minutes for a shape shift,
As opposed to Nemisis Splits Milli to Micro Second Shifts.
However this makes a more Consistant Enviroment,
For the safety of the Human component.
This synthetic body also had Nuerister based sensor chains (Nerve
Paths),
Which gave it Full human grade sensory capacity.
>wasn't filled with rage anymore at ebing inhuman, feeling his
>humanity being completely restored. He decided to settle down and
>begin life anew as Justin Fleish.
> But Justin was different than other Nemesis split because of the
>fact he was a brain inside a split. the split became self aware and
>called itself Jim and considered itself Justin's offspring. When
>Justin decided he should help stop
Entirely Possible,
The Hello Nurse Split would have tried to ensure that the Patient
Survived,
Even if the Diseased NeuroCulture did not,
So human Grade Computational and Data Storage would have been built
in,
Since it was un-needed for that pupose, and
Justin treated the Body with a degree of Anthropomorphisism(sp),
Via the Computer assisted engineering subsystem in the Self
Upgrade Functions,
The Learning systems could easily have grown a Mind.
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 20:11:38 -0800 (PST)
Rob N Said As CAoL Message # 00009730
>Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00009720
>
>>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 09:37:40 -0800 (PST)
>>Rob N Said As CAoL Message # 00009707
>>
>>[Please, let there be something comprehensible here...'Prasident
>>Nixon'? Uh-oh. I think I took the wrong turn at Watergate. I hate it
>>when my wormhole pulls a timeslip. On the bright side, I probably
>>won't meet my younger self. Unless Germany won a world war.]
>
> (OOC-R & M: In the RL timeline, Nixon resigned in '74 to avoid
>impeachment. Ford's been president for about a year by August 30,
>1975 [the CAoL's arrival date, assuming we get moving within 24 hours
>of the Doctor's arrival]. Unless Mike's timeline and/or yours is/are
>different--Watchmen, anyone?--he wouldn't be showing up as
>'President' Nixon.)
"Is it my fault that my author didn't let me read German? If he had, I
would have known that it was referring to _former_ President Nixon."
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 20:11:37 -0800
Harlock - Bard Extraordinaire Said As CAoL Message # 00009731
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 15:04:31 -0800
>Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00009716
>
> Roland mutters something about raining and pouring. "The queue
>forms behind the lady there," he says as politely as he can,
>gesturing to Anna. "Though in the likely event you're not headed in
>the same direction, I can send one of my duplicates with you." If
>Erindrea looks confused, given her lower-tech dress, he adds, "It's a
>sort of golem that I can use to help folks in other dimensions. I
>just can't use one too close to myself, or the sensory input--er, the
>doubled awareness of my surroundings throws me off."
Erin smiles slightly and reaches into the mass of hair cascading over
her shoulders, scratching...something. "Doubled awareness? Ah know how
that can trip a fellah up." She looks around a little more intently.
"Now that ah think about it, is eithah Nemo or Nemisis heah? From what
mah daddy said, they'd probably be moah..." she breaks off, looking
chagrinned. "Um...what ah mean to say is, you look busy, so if ah
could just speak to one of them?"
> OOC-R: No offense, but I'm going to say "get in line" OOC as well.
>Mike was here first, and I've got two (count 'em, two) writing
>assignments for AEG currently. I'm certainly not complaining about
>this--it's only my life's ambition becoming real--but I simply do
>_not_ have the time to be team leader in two separate adventures.
OOC: Adventure, heck. I figure this'll take maybe half-a-dozen posts
to resolve. The baddy that kidnapped Harlock didn't think to ward
against technological means of locating him, meaning Nemo (or NEMO, at
least) probably knows where he is already and Nemisis could locate him
easily enough just by sending off a couple dozen splits. Congrats on
the writing assignments, BTW.
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect (LONG!)
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 21:10:48 -0800
Dane Said As CAoL Message # 00009733
>Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00009711
> The Doctor shrugs helplessly, "I wish I knew more. The attack
>will be in two days time, on the first of September, 1975, but from
>what direction it will come I can't say. The location is a tourist
>town in the Rhine river valley, around or on the Lorelei Rock. Mister
>Seven will be nine months old on that day. I'd suggest making contact
>with his family, beyond that, I can't really tell you where to begin.
>I dared not go there beforehand, and don't think it a good idea even
>without having to monitor their conditions for me to go now. Rassilon
>is, well, out of my league."
/*"Well he's NOT out of MY league."*/ The Stardragon's 'voice' can be
'heard' to say. Those on the link can sense a rising level of both
anger, and an uncomfortableness that could easily be attributed to a
growing ITCH. /*"If he doesn't knock it off, I just might knock HIM...
out of the park. Him and whatever planet he's on."*/
/^Roland I will keep the child busy, but please do hurry. Once the
paradox reaches a critical level, it will act to 'scratch' the source
of its discomfort. By that time it will be too angry to listen to much
of anybody.^/ Oracle 'tells' Roland.
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Saddle up, Lock 'n Load (was Past Imperfect)
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 21:31:22 -0800
Dane Said As CAoL Message # 00009734
>Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00009721
>
> Roland nods, as if satisfied. /"A pretty serious situation, even
>by our standards. But I've seen worse. Sib, you and your crew are
>going to have to do something about your, er, conspicuous
>appearance."/ He looks up--way up--at Finn. /"As will you, Mr.
>Culhaim. I think mundane 20th Century humans topped out at 8 feet."/
>He's in Leader Mode and has a full head of steam now. /"If we're
>going to use weapons, we need to make them look like guns or the
>equivalent. The appropriate licenses--in German--will also be useful.
>An excuse for being there in a group is vital, since the Cold War is
>positively glacial at that point in time. Ah--we'll be Interpol
>agents, on the hunt for a dangerous criminal. Close enough to the
>truth at any rate. Nemo, I leave that last part in your capable
>appendages."/ His clothing shifts again, making him look more...
>official. It's a bit unnatural.
> /"I'll requisition a few Neuralyzers from MiB HQ, just in case,
>assuming no one objects. Let's see...I'm pretty sure that covers
>everything we'll need for starters. Did I miss anything?"/ Roland
>asks the team.
At this point Aurora appears in the bar. "*Roland I can provide
disguise modules to those that need them. The modules will provide a
human looking appearance to electro-magnetic, sonic, gravitic, and
mystic senses. They will be able to adjust their current appearance
quickly if needed. I can also provide translators. The wearer will
'hear' whatever language he or she is most comfortable with. Persons
within 'earshot' of the wearer will hear the wearer speaking in
whatever language that person is most comfortable with. Their function
is not unlike that of the Arisian lens.*" She says
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect (LONG!)
On Sun, 01 Apr 2001 05:59:30 GMT, In alt.callahans
Ziactrice Said As CAoL Message # 00009735
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 21:10:48 -0800
>Dane Said As CAoL Post # 00007557
>
>/*"Well he's NOT out of MY league."*/ The Stardragon's 'voice' can be
>'heard' to say. Those on the link can sense a rising level of both
>anger, and an uncomfortableness that could easily be attributed to a
>growing ITCH. /*"If he doesn't knock it off, I just might knock
>HIM... out of the park. Him and whatever planet he's on."*/
>
>/^Roland I will keep the child busy, but please do hurry. Once the
>paradox reaches a critical level, it will act to 'scratch' the source
>of its discomfort. By that time it will be too angry to listen to
>much of anybody.^/ Oracle 'tells' Roland.
Zia blinks. /Oh, dear. We seem to have a Seven-th Year Itch problem./
She puns. It's a good thing this is the Place, after all.
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect
On Sun, 1 Apr 2001 01:49:49 EST
Scott Osborne Said As CAoL Message # 00009736
>In a message dated 3/31/01 8:45:00 PM Pacific Standard Time,
>Harlock writes:
>
>Erin smiles slightly and reaches into the mass of hair cascading over
>her shoulders, scratching...something. "Doubled awareness? Ah know
>how that can trip a fellah up." She looks around a little more
>intently. "Now that ah think about it, is eithah Nemo or Nemisis
>heah? From what mah daddy said, they'd probably be moah..." she
>breaks off, looking chagrinned. "Um...what ah mean to say is, you
>look busy, so if ah could just speak to one of them?"
Scott walks up. "I don't know about them; but I could probably help,
if it's not too tricky a problem. What do you need?"
>OOC: Adventure, heck. I figure this'll take maybe half-a-dozen posts
>to resolve. The baddy that kidnapped Harlock didn't think to ward
>against technological means of locating him, meaning Nemo (or NEMO,
>at least) probably knows where he is already and Nemisis could locate
>him easily enough just by sending off a couple dozen splits. Congrats
>on the writing assignments, BTW.
OOC: Well, Scott is willing to go through the motions, if Erin is
willing to trust him.
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Saddle up, Lock 'n Load (was Past Imperfect)
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 23:54:03 -0800
Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00009737
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 22:19:56 -0600
>Martin and/or Dhyrclhanc Said As CAoL Message # 00009726
>
>>On Sat, 31 Mar 2K1 Roland X Said
>>
>> Roland _does_ chuckle, at that, if only faintly. /"Okay, folx,
>>CAoL dress code--wear something, in areas where there are laws
>>regarding 'indecent exposure.'"/
>
>/Is that how it works?/ Sends the draconic Lensman, with the mental
>equivalent of a smirk.
/Well, unless part of the op involves actually _getting_ arrested,/
Roland replies with a grin.
>>And I don't even know how many of us speak German."/
>
>ooo^Between having at least two True-Lenses bearers in the group,
>Sib," interjects Dhyrclhanc, sending a quick burst of info through
>the link that the three immortals share, including a quick montage of
>pictures of both himself and Zia, "and my natural, albeit
>preternatural, talent with Languages, we just might be able to squeek
>by.^ooo
ooo^The _rest_ of us don't _speak_ German, sib. OTOH, with you
translating, and those of you with True Lenses speaking for us, I
think we should manage. I'll know better when we get there.^ooo
ooo^OTOH,^ooo Morgan adds, ooo^If it's a tourist area, there's
probably a _lot_ of English speakers around. IIRC, it's one of the
more common 'second languages' among Germans.^ooo
>> Roland nods, as if satisfied. /"A pretty serious situation, even
>>by our standards. But I've seen worse. Sib, you and your crew are
>>going to have to do something about your, er, conspicuous
>>appearance."/
>
>Dhyrclhanc shoots an unreadable look at his bro and then, after
>shifting to his psuedo-T'Skrang form, toggles a switch on a
>cylindrical device at his waist. His appearence shimmers, switching
>to that which would be mistaken for Roland's twin-brother, well
>fraternal twin anyway. The only real differences are the lighter eye
>and hair color and the fact that Roland doesn't sport a beard that
>would've made the old Commander Riker proud.
/I'm flattered, sib,/ Roland says in all honesty.
/Maybe I should change to that 'Rolanda' form I used in Quaren,/
Morgan quips, not really serious. Triplets would be far more
conspicuous.
>Similarly, the Dhyrclhanc's clothes shift from the Renaissance-era
>swordsman's get up to dark-green turtleneck, a khaki-colored sweater,
>an even darker green slacks and shiny black leather hiking boots.
>
>Likewise, Nimrod shifts back into his "Nicholas Hunter" guise, only
>the "Al Borland" flannel work clothes that the Hispanic Building
>contractor usualy wears have been replaced by a set of clothes not
>that different from Dhyrclhanc's only with a tad brighter colors and
>what looks like a heavy cotton-blend shirt instead of a sweater.
/"That ought to do it."/
>"Pica, Pica" says Max, still perched on the former Lens-T'Skrang's
>shoulder.
/"Mmm. On the other hand..."/ Roland considers the Pokemon's
situation--and determines rather quickly that trying to disguise a
Pikachu would be a lost cause.
>"Oh and as much as I hate pseudonyms, for now on everybody call me
>'Derek', or 'Agent Lancer' that should smooth out any other potential
>problem areas.
And the light bulb goes off over Roland's head.
"ERIC. Duh. The man probably speaks every major language on the
planet, he certainly exudes authority, there isn't a weapon he doesn't
know inside and out, I don't think there's _anyone_ on my planet
better at hunting down dangerous things and keeping it quiet..." He
chuckles. "I think the hardest part will be keeping the names
straight, if he joins us. He'll probably be _glad_ to have folx
calling him 'Hunter,' come to think of it."
"Calling him 'The Hunter' might not be a good idea, but 'Hunter' as a
surname should be fine," Morgan opines.
>Uncannily, somehow, Nimrod causes first a M-16 and then a Kolishnikov
>and then a M 1911 to grow out of his hands and then disapear back
>into them.
>
>"Is that subtle enough, 'commander'." Roland gets the feeling that
>the Hunter Android is somehow pulling a joke at the immortal's
>expence.
"Unless you mean to be Interpol's equivalent to a SWAT member, no,
not really," Roland replies dryly. "I kind of meant 'handguns,' unless
you're dishing out massive amounts of mayhem in a short amount of
time. And in that case, I mean to avoid paradox as much as
possible...but if it comes to that, we defend ourselves to the best of
our abilities and clean up the mess afterwards."
And Roland steps up to Nimrod, steel in his eyes.
"Oh, and for the record. I didn't really _want_ to be the leader of
a bunch of rugged individualists, each with hir own way of doing
things. Herding cats is simple by comparison. But I take my role
seriously. I'm responsible for everyone's lives, and the success of
the mission--which, in some of this lot's cases, involves the fate of
multiple realities. I give folx free rein most of the time, because
that's how we work best. But I _am_ the CO here, make no mistake.
"Any questions?"
>"If my memory hasn't been too mangled by the things done to me to
>bring about my 'conversion to humanity,'" the android continues,
>"Interpol, wasn't allowed to break any of the laws of the country
>that they were operating out of. This means that we'll have to tread
>extremely lightly, won't we?"
Roland takes a step back and nods. "Yep. But I'm not even going to
_try_ to have us impersonate whatever West Germany's equivalent of the
FBI is. So we smile nice at the locals, don't try pulling any rank,
and go on about our business as quietly as possible. Unlike most of
our adventures, I don't want the _mice_ to know we were there after we
leave."
>"What, exactly, kinds of weapons are we talking about here, Sib?"
>asks 'Derek' as a shoulder-holster with a .44 caliber revolver and
>several full speed-loaders phase into existance around his torso.
"Like I said to Nimrod, handguns, mostly. Or at least, that's what
they should look like. Those'll do fine, though feel free to 'upgrade'
them in a way no one'll notice. If someone's searching us, we're in
too deep to worry about being inconspicuous," Roland comments.
"How widespread was the use of security measures like metal detectors
at that point?" Morgan asks.
"I don't think they were as paranoid as our time, love," Roland
replies, "but the 70s were when terrorism was really born. But
remember, we're _allowed_ to have guns. It'll just be an issue if they
examine the guns, and they're really TK projectors or something
inside."
>> Roland takes a second look at these coordinates. "Kind of...out
>>in the boonies, for a Trek-verse, isn't it?"
>
>"I wouldn't know, Sib, last time I went there, I accidentally got in
>a fight with _both_ Odo and Lt. Worf. Needless to say, it isn't a
>portion of the Omniverse that I have visited with any great
>regularity. Although, you can ask later if you want me to tell you
>about those two nights were I tried to drink Dax under the table at
>Quark's, both of her. They *were* non-consecutive nights, of course."
>he hastly adds, "and they were two different Daxes on two different
>nights, and it was way before Jadzia had married Worf."
Roland chuckles helplessly. "I just can't take you anywhere, can I,
sib?"
oooBy the way, did you win?ooo
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Saddle up, Lock 'n Load (was Past Imperfect)
On Sun, 01 Apr 2001 00:08:49 -0800
Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00009738
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 21:31:22 -0800
>Dane Said As CAoL Message # 00009734
>
>At this point Aurora appears in the bar. "*Roland I can provide
>disguise modules to those that need them. The modules will provide a
>human looking appearance to electro-magnetic, sonic, gravitic, and
>mystic senses. They will be able to adjust their current appearance
>quickly if needed. I can also provide translators. The wearer will
>'hear' whatever language he or she is most comfortable with. Persons
>within 'earshot' of the wearer will hear the wearer speaking in
>whatever language that person is most comfortable with. Their
>function is not unlike that of the Arisian lens.*" She says
"Hi, Aurora. Good idea, thanks. That'll come in handy," Roland
replies.
"Something we want to be careful of, though," Morgan says
thoughtfully, "is two people hearing us in different languages at the
same time. If two people realize that, for instance, one of them heard
German at the same time the other hears English, it could
cause...complications."
"Oog." Roland grows thoughtful. "Can they be set to only output one
language at a time, Aurora? Morgan has a very good point."
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect (LONG!)
On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 23:59:53 -0800
Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00009739
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 21:10:48 -0800
>Dane Said As CAoL Message # 00009733
>
>/*"Well he's NOT out of MY league."*/ The Stardragon's 'voice' can be
>'heard' to say. Those on the link can sense a rising level of both
>anger, and an uncomfortableness that could easily be attributed to a
>growing ITCH. /*"If he doesn't knock it off, I just might knock
>HIM... out of the park. Him and whatever planet he's on."*/
>
>/^Roland I will keep the child busy, but please do hurry. Once the
>paradox reaches a critical level, it will act to 'scratch' the source
>of its discomfort. By that time it will be too angry to listen to
>much of anybody.^/ Oracle 'tells' Roland.
Roland keeps his mind very, very quiet for a moment. Then he
replies, /Please remind him that a Family member lives there and is
nine months old. If the Stardragon destroys the planet, he'll only
make the paradox worse, and give himself the worst case of hives of
all time./
"Let's hope the Stardragon can hold out for two days."
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Saddle up, Lock 'n Load (was Past Imperfect)
On Sun, 1 Apr 2001 00:36:06 -0800
Fuzzy and/or Nemisis Said As CAoL Message # 00009740
>On Sat, 31 Mar 2001 21:31:22 -0800
>Dane Said As CAoL Message # 00009734
>
>At this point Aurora appears in the bar. "*Roland I can provide
>disguise modules to those that need them. The modules will provide a
>human looking appearance to electro-magnetic, sonic, gravitic, and
>mystic senses. They will be able to adjust their current appearance
>quickly if needed. I can also provide translators. The wearer will
>'hear' whatever language he or she is most comfortable with. Persons
>within 'earshot' of the wearer will hear the wearer speaking in
>whatever language that person is most comfortable with. Their
>function is not unlike that of the Arisian lens.*" She says
/Aurora,
I have encountered that particular booby trap before,
A better choice might be a techno-magic device from,
The Home Realm of 'The Scales of Concensus',
(Which replaced The Eye of Heavan,
When we realized that not only would it be simplest to have
The StarDragon eat it,
It also supplied The StarDragon with a Tasty little snack.)
It is called a Common Tongue Inducer,
The user is percieved as speaking the Language that,
The Majority of his auditors find most comfortable,
It is also Recordable in That Language./
=================================
Subject: Re: AAE 7a: Past Imperfect
On Sun, 1 Apr 2001 00:40:59 -0800
Fuzzy and/or Nemisis Said As CAoL Message # 00009741
>On Sun, 1 Apr 2001 01:49:49 EST
>Scott Osborne Said As CAoL Message # 00009736
>
>>In a message dated 3/31/01 8:45:00 PM Pacific Standard Time,
>>Harlock writes:
>>
>>Erin smiles slightly and reaches into the mass of hair cascading
>>over her shoulders, scratching...something. "Doubled awareness? Ah
>>know how that can trip a fellah up." She looks around a little more
>>intently. "Now that ah think about it, is eithah Nemo or Nemisis
>>heah? From what mah daddy said, they'd probably be moah..." she
>>breaks off, looking chagrinned. "Um...what ah mean to say is, you
>>look busy, so if ah could just speak to one of them?"
>
>Scott walks up. "I don't know about them; but I could probably help,
>if it's not too tricky a problem. What do you need?"
"I am here as well,
Though I welcome your assitance Scott."
>>OOC: Adventure, heck. I figure this'll take maybe half-a-dozen
>>posts to resolve. The baddy that kidnapped Harlock didn't think to
>>ward against technological means of locating him, meaning Nemo (or
>>NEMO, at least) probably knows where he is already and Nemisis could
>>locate him easily enough just by sending off a couple dozen splits.
>>Congrats on the writing assignments, BTW.
>
>OOC: Well, Scott is willing to go through the motions, if Erin is
>willing to trust him.
OOC: Nemisis is sure,
She can tell the Difference between Scott and any other...
So in the interests of playing PeaceMaker,
She wants to give him the Chance to "Prove Himself",
To the others anyway.
=================================