Action, Adventure, Excitement, Part 7b Chapter 1 Subject: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Tue, 5 Jun 2001 13:11:59 -0400 Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00010378 After the food's been had and mess cleaned up (Mike will deflect all questions during the meal, saying simply he'd rather not spoil dinner), and drinks are poured and everyone's back to feeling fairly comfortable with each other again, Michael Seven will rebroach the topic Dhyrclhanc originally suggested. "So, Dhyrclhanc, you want to discuss the prospect of bringing the rest of the Seven family back from the dead," Mike says, swirling the ice around in his third glass of Seven and Seven, "A difficult prospect at best. One I don't know how to do." The ex-Time Lord enforcer, now the last of those elite forces of the Dark Times of Gallifrey; master manipulators of events across time and space and dimension, all for their masters' personal gain; and one of only three fully human Renegades in that society, all cloned from his own DNA, sighed and set down his glass, "But, if we're going to try and undo it, then everyone should know the full nature of what happened. Some of which means knowing about my past as well." Tink came over and joined her grandfather in the large armchair he sat in, taking a seat on his lap and resting her head on his shoulder. He brushed his fingers through her hair gently. "It's not always pretty tale," he added unneccessarily, considering this group just fought with his old master and the top of the Gallifreyian hierarchy, Lord Rassilon, but it was not one he wanted to tell either, and the few moments of stalling allowed him the moments he needed to gather the wherewithal to continue. "But here we go..." "Once upon a time, twenty-five years after the birth of that 'cute baby' back there, a young man was walking down a dirt road in winter, his car having ran out of gas as he was heading out to a twenty-four hour New Year's celebration of the death of the over-hyped Y2K bug, starting from when the first bug would be due to hit the real world, and ending when it, he thought, circled the planet with no effect. Coincidentally, the first twelve hours of the next day would also mark his birthday, so that was another good excuse to celebrate. "Anyway, his car was out of fuel and he started walking to the nearest gas station. As he was walking, a truck pulled up beside him and offered a ride. As he met the driver's gaze, things went a bit hazy for him and for some unfathomable reason accepting seemed the safest and smartest thing to be done. Upon getting in the truck, he fell asleep and the rest was a blur of strange faces, operating theaters and odd voices, some from outside his head, some from within. "From that point on, his will was as much someone else's as his own. Brainwashing would be the kind term for what happened, but the man hardly ever looked back from then on, just followed orders, only resisting when they proved so contrary to his being that he could do nothing but. At first this was punished, but as the orders that made him resist were learned, they did gradually begin to avoid giving those commands. It was seen as a tradeoff for the strong mind they desired. And unknown to the man, there were others who would follow those orders without resisting, but refused other commands. "I'd never really known Mahloy until after I escaped. We had seemed two halves of the same coin, and knowing what I do now, the phrase couldn't have been more apt. He was a clone of me, but something went wrong and he was a far nastier sort than I ever was. Two-hundred and twenty-five years after I was first captured, having slowly grown ever more sick of the jobs I would be asked to do, I escaped in a stolen TARDIS, only to find Mahloy after me. I didn't recognize him at first, he was very good at disguise, and often preferred to stay hidden from me, apparently, and with the implants in my mind, I suspect my memories of him were being somewhat repressed as well. "I tried getting work with a group I thought would prove more open. In picking the Vorlons, I truly chose wrong. It only took seven years for me to figure out this, which does show I'm a rather slow learner at times. So I left them as well and came here. "From here most of the story you all know. We'll fast-forward to Quarren, after my first full-bodily regeneration and death at the hands of the Controller only a couple days later. I can only presume the Time Lords managed to somehow seperate and find a few live cells among my ashes. "From that, they cloned Voyd and through techniques I'd rather not go into, managed to convince her that the CAoL had betrayed her and I had taken her place and was living the life meant for her. I gathered this from her mind directly. She was foolish in her belief in the Time Lords, having absolutely no faith in anyone at all. I can only assume her mental state at the time of her death got worse, I was in a pretty depressed mood myself, and wondering if I was the same person anymore. For quite some time, I was convinced I wasn't. Seems touching Voyd's mind made me realize I was and that she was the one nothing like me, though I still find the resemblances terrifying. "Voyd's plan was insane, but simple, kill every version of me everywhere and get revenge on the Army of Light. To do that, she needed a ship and to escape Gallifrey. Using the recall circuit in the only TARDIS that would respond to her will as much as its owner's, she called Mahloy's TARDIS home. By that time I had killed the original Mahloy and he had jumped into another body. so neither were really me anymore, but they were close enough for a TARDIS that didn't have anything closer to work with. "Voyd stole some plans for a rudimentary version of Rassilon's monoblock gun, and convinced Mahloy, apparently not as versed in TARDIS technology as I was, that it would let her replace the link to the Eye of Harmony, a TARDIS's power source. But before Voyd planted the plans for Mahloy to find, she stole the Rod of Rassilon, the key that would open the link to the Eye of Harmony, a singularity inside a very specially modified black hole, under the Panopticon, part of the capital city. The Eye, unrestrained, proceeded to suck the planet through the gateway like one would a vanilla milkshale though a straw. Voyd and Mahloy drifted away in her TARDIS as this happened. "Rassilon died trying to retrieve the key, apparently setting his TARDIS to take to safety before it was too late should he fail, as he enevitably did, but his mind lived on as we all know, and went straight to the source of his killer, my homeworld, to wreak his vengence. "And he got his ass quietly kicked because I don't remember any of what happened and doubt my parents do, either," Mike muses, finally stopping to take a drink again and to catch his breath and thoughts together for the last of the tale. "Meanwhile, back in space, Voyd guided Mahloy in secret, leaving hints here and there in the vast databases of the TARDIS to get the latter to gather all the components needed for her device. Anna also did a great deal of spying on us when we were on Quarren, and was on Zia's and Gruber's homeworld when we were fighting the Greys, looking for a large ruby for a special laser integral to the device. On many of these missions, Molly came along, Anna only stopping by once a year, each time in the hope Molly would be more malleable to Anna's will through direct force or coercion. Molly's foster parents felt it was best she get to know her mother. I think we all know that went over like a lead balloon with Molly. "As time progressed, however, Anna became more and more suspicious about the convenience with which she was coming across all this information, but could not fathom how it was being implanted. She actually surprized Voyd by seeking out an alternate of me, not wanting to actually ask me for help, a man from D'ni (OOC: pronounced 'Duh-knee'), who suggested the spy was working right from within her own ship. "But, by that time, the device was ready. But Voyd wanted to gloat, and kill me directly, so she set about capturing; with the help of an alternate me, ironicly enough, from a Predator planet, a human raised as a hunter; my immediate family, ending with myself and Flarn, having followed me surrepticiously through the lens we shared in common. Much like Squee has been, apparently. "Through manipulating our common lens, Voyd managed to block events from the rest of you, as well as keep myself and everyone else in the family in the dark about what was going on, as well as unable to mentally communicate with each other. Except in sharing her voyeuristic view of everyone's deaths. It's a trick, though, only Voyd could do because our brains and minds were similar in makeup and past experiences." Tink shuddered when Mike mentioned sharing the views of everyone's deaths and Mike gave her a quick hug. "We won't go into details about how everyone died. It was violent in ways I'd hoped I'd never see. The bionics on us when we first got back were the results of Voyd's handiwork, as repaired by the Borg and altered by our holodoc, who actually saved us from the explosion of the TARDIS when Voyd managed to force the collapse of all the universes linked solely with my own, since mine had the only gateway to the rest of the normal multiverse. "I guess Seth and his wife had something to do with that. But, they couldn't have released them back into the multiverse because there wasn't time to free them from the monoblock machine. "Anyway, now we get down to the part that gave us fits trying to find a way to undo. We figure we can't act on anything we remember, so it would have to be a solely undercover job that won't be noticed by Voyd or Anna or myself. Every second after my own ship's arrival is accounted for until one second from detonation when we left only to land in front of a Borg Cube. Somehow, we'd have to take action in that one second, and there were no hallways we could burst out of and run to the controls in that amount of time, and transporting in would take up most of that second, if not more. The controls were on a different circuit than the rest of the ship, or I'd have had the ship shut the thing down. "Consequently, I'm stumped. Unless we can just land on the right sequence of buttons, there's no way I can see to undo the events. And even then, it'd only be a success where the rest of that micro-multiverse is concerned. What Voyd did to most of the family can't be healed by any technology I know of." Mike Callahan gave the ex-Time Lord a refill then went back behind the bar. Michael Seven stared into the glass, but didn't drink. From nowhere, Schroedinger landed in his lap and curled up between the chair's two occupants and purred. "Nice cat," Mike said with a smirk, then oofed as Eevee and Mew joined the pile. Mike looked back to the rest of the Army of Light. "Voyd escaped through my D'ni alternate's linking book, managed to deduce just enough of the method to escape what I'd thought was a prison, and on finding a Star Trek universe, coincidently the one Tink and I now live in, set herself up as Borg Queen, released a nasty nanovirus and tried to give Time Lord tech to the Borg. Between a 23rd century Gary Seven and myself, we put a permenant stop to her plans, and future, our mental duel leaving me with everything she knew, then he and Seven of Nine went to try and help the Collective break free from what was left of the link. I suspect they'll emerge eventually as a rather large force of individualists, given their teachers. "And that pretty much brings everyone up to date in my current affairs. I don't know what Anna-from-the-future's arrival here means, but as I can't picture Tink sending her to the wrong universe, and considering she's apparently alive, well and scarless after I saw her otherwise, I'd presume it may be possible to undo what I'd thought was done, but it is certainly outside my means to pull it off." Mike took a sip of his drink. "Any ideas?" ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Tue, 5 Jun 2001 15:05:23 EDT Scott Osborne Said As CAoL Message # 00010380 >In a message dated 6/5/01 11:17:53 AM Pacific Daylight Time, >technomagetimelord writes: > > Mike took a sip of his drink. "Any ideas?" Scott gets up. /"I have one simple one."/ /"You said there was only one second unaccounted for. I have something that might help with that."/ He reaches into one of his pockets, and pulls out a largish box. /"It's dead right now, but when it works, it distorts time around itself. It's interaction with a TARDIS might be... er, 'interesting', though. No way of knowing for certain, though. All I can be reasonably certain about is that it will keep the monoblock from exploding, and that, as far as anybody outside it is concerned, a period of at least one Plank instant[], and not more then ninety milliseconds, when the regulator device burns out, will have passed. On the inside, it appears to last until turned off, or until the regulator goes south, which takes just a hair more then seventy-three minutes and nine seconds."/ The packet attached along the lens-link describes what exactly a Plank instant is. [1/2 OOC: Correct me if I'm wrong, but here's the way I learned it: as a side effect of the combination of Plank's Constant and Heisenburg's Uncertainty Principle, it is impossible to measure time with infinite precision; there is a fundamental unit of time, and measuring any unit that is smaller is (depending on how you look at it) either impossible, or would have rather odd results (the example I was given was a black hole forming around the measurement instrument).] /"I can replace the regulator mechanism that's broken in this one quite easily. It will stop the monoblock from exploding, even if time starts passing normally in the TARDIS, or the TARDIS and the device interfere with each other, the two most dangerous results."/ Scott looks around. /"Questions, comments, concerns?"/ ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Tue, 05 Jun 2001 13:02:40 -0700 Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010383 >On Tue, 5 Jun 2001 15:05:23 EDT >Scott Osborne Said As CAoL Message # 00010380 > >/"I can replace the regulator mechanism that's broken in this one >quite easily. It will stop the monoblock from exploding, even if time >starts passing normally in the TARDIS, or the TARDIS and the device >interfere with each other, the two most dangerous results."/ > >Scott looks around. /"Questions, comments, concerns?"/ Roland considers a moment. /"Speed Force,"/ he says simply. /"You can't go faster than light with it without some...interesting risks, but super speed ought to allow us to get everything done in the time allowed. It should also avoid the risks involved with Scott's device, since it's an acceleration rather than a temporal force."/ He chuckles. /"Then again, depending on how close we end up having to cut it, the choice of the two options may be that of Scylla and Charybdis. And I only know of one connection to the Speed Force in this lot."/ He looks at Roger. /"Well, kiddo, this one's your call. Are you up to being the fastest centipede alive again?"/ (OOC notes: The 'centipede' comment refers to one of my favorite Roger moments, from 6d, IIRC. Also, Planck scales get a little...funny, around the edges of Roland's Halo. It has to do with taint; see Eric's explanation for details, or ask IC and Roland will [reluctantly] fill in the blanks. It won't affect the device, but it may make Roland look odd. 8^) ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Tue, 5 Jun 2001 21:06:54 EDT SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00010387 >In a message dated 6/5/01 2:17:53 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >technomagetimelord writes: > "Consequently, I'm stumped. Unless we can just land on the right >sequence of buttons, there's no way I can see to undo the events. And >even then, it'd only be a success where the rest of that >micro-multiverse is concerned. What Voyd did to most of the family >can't be healed by any technology I know of." > "And that pretty much brings everyone up to date in my current >affairs. I don't know what Anna-from-the-future's arrival here means, >but as I can't picture Tink sending her to the wrong universe, and >considering she's apparently alive, well and scarless after I saw her >otherwise, I'd presume it may be possible to undo what I'd thought >was done, but it is certainly outside my means to pull it off." > Mike took a sip of his drink. "Any ideas?" Roger sets down his mocha latte, having put the PGGBs aside at the beginning of Mike's tale, and produces a handful of various-denomination coins mixed with a variety of RPG dice. A quick, casual cast sends them bouncing down the table... Where they do NOT land on edge, or form I-Ching patterns, or spell out cryptic oracular comments, the kind of thing one would expect with Roger around. Instead, the dice all stand on one corner and keep spinning, while the coins continue to flop around like fish out of water, caroming off each other and kicking the dice onto new axes. The whole thing looks rather like a flea circus on LSD. "Well, one or two, Uncle Mike. Is there any reason we can't simply subvert the trap?" He takes in the general confusion engendered by this comment, and tries to elucidate: "I mean, given what we know now, does the Eye *have* to be a dead-end?" His concentration is sufficiently intense that he actually fails to note the unintentional pun. "Everyone aside from you, Tink, and Voyd were sucked into the Eye -- or were in the process of being so when you escaped. Is there any ironclad reason that we can't, um, 'boobytrap' the Eye *before* Voyd gets to it, in such a way that that last half-second or so changes the process? If we can force the Eye to convert into a recursive Einstein-Rosenberg Bridge, or just find ways to park all the victims in stable slowtime parts of the event horizon..." He trails off, aware of some rather intense stares. "Are you... speaking from benefit of hindsight?" someone asks rather delicately. Roger's eyes slide shut and he sways momentarily in his seat. "No. I'm...very deliberately not remembering anything connected with this from my subjective past. Which doesn't mean there isn't any leakage...but things are already divergent enough that depending on those memories would be risky." He opens his eyes and grins again, gamely. "Besides...*I'm* here now. And if that's not enough to derail destiny, I don't know what is..." ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Tue, 5 Jun 2001 21:20:00 EDT SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00010388 >In a message dated 6/5/01 4:13:18 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >rolandx writes: > > Roland considers a moment. /"Speed Force,"/ he says simply. > /"You can't go faster than light with it without some... >interesting risks, but super speed ought to allow us to get >everything done in the time allowed. It should also avoid the risks >involved with Scott's device, since it's an acceleration rather than >a temporal force."/ He chuckles. /"Then again, depending on how close >we end up having to cut it, the choice of the two options may be that >of Scylla and Charybdis. And I only know of one connection to the >Speed Force in this lot."/ He looks at Roger. /"Well, kiddo, this >one's your call. Are you up to being the fastest centipede alive >again?"/ Roger keeps a perfectly straight face, although a sudden rumbling under the table suggest he may have grown a few dozen extra feet.... "I'm up for it. But...well, two things: one, in order to be effective, even *with* the Speed Force, I'm going to need every detail of the situation and conditions that we can squeeze out of Mike's memory. Which means," he continues, turning to the ex-Time Lord Enforcer, "that we would need to go over...and over...those memories, preferably while linked, in as much detail as you can stand." His eyes are haunted, despite his the pedantic imperturbility of his voice -- he obviously knows what he's asking. "And Tink, too, if she's up for it. I'd rather not, but success or failure is going to hinge on having the best possible intelligence." "And second," Roger breaks eye contact with Mike, supressing a small surge of relief. "I can probably teach *you,* Dad, how to access the SF as well. Heck, *I* do it through Emulation of Wally's talent..." His eyes go wide. "Hey, waitaminnit! What about your old belt? The one that let you become Flash, or Robocop, or Nightshadow...is that in working order?" OOC: The belt in question comes from my vague memories of AAE...4? When the gang was in an alternate LA, after the Controller kidnapped, um, somebody... ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Tue, 05 Jun 2001 22:06:38 -0700 Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010391 >On Tue, 5 Jun 2001 21:20:00 EDT >SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00010388 > >>In a message dated 6/5/01 4:13:18 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >>rolandx writes: >> >>And I only know of one connection to the Speed Force in this lot."/ >>He looks at Roger. /"Well, kiddo, this one's your call. Are you up >>to being the fastest centipede alive again?"/ > > Roger keeps a perfectly straight face, although a sudden rumbling >under the table suggest he may have grown a few dozen extra feet.... > "And second," Roger breaks eye contact with Mike, supressing a >small surge of relief. "I can probably teach *you,* Dad, how to >access the SF as well. Heck, *I* do it through Emulation of Wally's >talent..." His eyes go wide. "Hey, waitaminnit! What about your old >belt? The one that let you become Flash, or Robocop, or >Nightshadow...is that in working order?" /"Shadowclaw,"/ Roland corrects absently, obviously deep in thought. /"Light, I went through a bunch of different stuff with that."/ He paused in thought. /"I think...my belt became part of the Defender armor. I'm not sure, though. A lot of what happened with the belt at the end is kind of fuz...er, vague. /"But that's not what I was thinking. My version of the Flash used the old 'vibrationally-accelerated molecules' schtick of the Silver Age anyway--no Speed Force."/ Roland looks at Roger meaningfully. /"You can't _lend_ that version of super-speed. If you emulate Wally's powers, then you can give people in relatively close proximity access to the Speed Force. A couple of dupes to spread the field around and..."/ The Freelance Immortal pauses. /"It ought to at least minimize how much Scott has to push his time compressor."/ He nods at Scott, then looks back at Roger. /"Can it work, and what would your risks be?"/ > OOC: The belt in question comes from my vague memories of AAE...4? >When the gang was in an alternate LA, after the Controller kidnapped, >um, somebody... OOC: Yes, he had the belt as far back as AAE II, but I sort of got rid of it during IV to make Roland a bit more...stable, powers-wise. 8^) Hmm, let's see...Flash, GL, the Pan, Just Roland, Blaze, the armor of many names (call it Defender now ;^), and Shadowclaw. ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Wed, 06 Jun 2001 01:38:39 -0700 Harlock - Bard Extraordinaire Said As CAoL Message # 00010392 >On Tue, 5 Jun 2001 13:11:59 -0400 >Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00010378 > > "And that pretty much brings everyone up to date in my current >affairs. I don't know what Anna-from-the-future's arrival here means, >but as I can't picture Tink sending her to the wrong universe, and >considering she's apparently alive, well and scarless after I saw her >otherwise, I'd presume it may be possible to undo what I'd thought >was done, but it is certainly outside my means to pull it off." > Mike took a sip of his drink. "Any ideas?" Harlock clears his throat. "I fear I can not help with the problem of the monobloc gun, whatever _that_ may be, but as for restoring your family, I am owed...several favors by the head of the church of Oghma on Faerun. Depending on how many individuals are involved, I may be able to call on him to resurrect them. All that is needed is some unambiguous method of identifying them, such as name and time and place of birth." ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Wed, 6 Jun 2001 15:37:06 -0400 "Xander Opal" Said As CAoL Message # 00010393 >On Tue, 05 Jun 2001 22:06:38 -0700 >Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010391 > > /"But that's not what I was thinking. My version of the Flash used >the old 'vibrationally-accelerated molecules' schtick of the Silver >Age anyway--no Speed Force."/ Roland looks at Roger meaningfully. >/"You can't _lend_ that version of super-speed. If you emulate >Wally's powers, then you can give people in relatively close >proximity access to the Speed Force. A couple of dupes to spread the >field around and..."/ The Freelance Immortal pauses. /"It ought to at >least minimize how much Scott has to push his time compressor."/ He >nods at Scott, then looks back at Roger. /"Can it work, and what >would your risks be?"/ Xander snaps hir fingers. "Foolish me, I almost forgot-- but then, I'm not in silicon-and-steel form right now. I've a module in my mechanical forms that can accelarate time for me by up to a factor of five; I'd be willing to either donate it to the cause, or go in and help myself, if a dragon-transformer is needed." ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Wed, 06 Jun 2001 13:56:07 -0700 Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010394 >On Wed, 6 Jun 2001 15:37:06 -0400 >"Xander Opal" Said As CAoL Message # 00010393 > >Xander snaps hir fingers. "Foolish me, I almost forgot-- but then, >I'm not in silicon-and-steel form right now. I've a module in my >mechanical forms that can accelarate time for me by up to a factor of >five; I'd be willing to either donate it to the cause, or go in and >help myself, if a dragon-transformer is needed." Roland considers. /"Anyone with technical know-how is gonna be handy on this caper, Xander. As for your accelerator, that depends on how well Scott's device 'plays well with others.' By itself, it won't nearly be enough, but if we can 'stack' a few different effects..."/ he looks over at Scott. /"Right now, Mr. Osborne, your device is the primary question mark, in terms of planning other methods of acceleration. Can it be made to work with other methods?"/ Another thought strikes Roland. /"And there's the primary question--is there any reason that one of the big guns can't just reach in with their phenomenal cosmic power and bring out the Sevens whole and healthy? Or did Voyd plan for that, you know, some sort of cosmic-level booby trap or defense system?"/ (OOC: The last question is to give you an out re: the cosmics, Mike, if you didn't have one already. 8^) ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Wed, 6 Jun 2001 18:49:19 EDT Scott Osborne Said As CAoL Message # 00010395 >On Wed, 06 Jun 2001 13:56:07 -0700 >Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010394 > > Roland considers. /"Anyone with technical know-how is gonna be >handy on this caper, Xander. As for your accelerator, that depends on >how well Scott's device 'plays well with others.' By itself, it won't >nearly be enough, but if we can 'stack' a few different effects..."/ >he looks over at Scott. /"Right now, Mr. Osborne, your device is the >primary question mark, in terms of planning other methods of >acceleration. Can it be made to work with other methods?"/ /"I'm not sure. Normally, there'd be no problem, as long as the source of the speed came from inside the field; but the combination of the TARDIS and the time compressor is already uncertain; adding in any method of acceleration dependent on space-time distortions is going to have even more unpredictable results. I'm not saying you shouldn't bring them along, just that you shouldn't depend on them working properly."/ Scott pauses. /"You already have a little more then an hour of accelerated time; why try and extend it even further?"/ ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Wed, 06 Jun 2001 17:33:45 -0700 Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010396 >On Wed, 6 Jun 2001 18:49:19 EDT >Scott Osborne Said As CAoL Message # 00010395 > >/"I'm not sure. Normally, there'd be no problem, as long as the >source of the speed came from inside the field; but the combination >of the TARDIS and the time compressor is already uncertain; adding in >any method of acceleration dependent on space-time distortions is >going to have even more unpredictable results. I'm not saying you >shouldn't bring them along, just that you shouldn't depend on them >working properly."/ /"Hmm."/ Roland begins to think on this one... >/"You already have a little more then an hour of accelerated time; >why try and extend it even further?"/ /"Primarily because I know someone's going to try to stop us. Not ESP, just experience. Besides, extension isn't as much my concern as system redundancy. You've noted the possibility of serious interference between the time compressor and the TARDIS; failure of the system would leave us with literally a fraction of a second to avoid becoming random bits of matter."/ The corners of Roland's mouth quirk down a touch. /"That would be...inconvenient for all of us, and terminal for several. The Speed Force only affects time when the wielder is deliberately attempting to do so, AFAIK, making it a more stable option--_if_ we can get a stable source."/ ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Wed, 06 Jun 2001 18:23:06 -0700 Rio Lancer Said As CAoL Message # 00010397 >On Wed, 06 Jun 2001 17:33:45 -0700 >Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010396 > > /"Primarily because I know someone's going to try to stop us. Not >ESP, just experience. Besides, extension isn't as much my concern as >system redundancy. You've noted the possibility of serious >interference between the time compressor and the TARDIS; failure of >the system would leave us with literally a fraction of a second to >avoid becoming random bits of matter."/ The corners of Roland's mouth >quirk down a touch. /"That would be...inconvenient for all of us, and >terminal for several. The Speed Force only affects time when the >wielder is deliberately attempting to do so, AFAIK, making it a more >stable option--_if_ we can get a stable source."/ "If you want redundancy," Rio pipes up, "I can help." She smiles. "Well, with the 'Time Lord' back in action, and all the other powers around here, even an adept of Time can feel a little redundant. I don't know how my abilities would interact with the other powers and tech people are talking about, but I'm willing to try adding my two cents. Maybe I could watch for conflicts, and help things interact in _good_ ways instead of 'oh shit' ones." ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Wed, 6 Jun 2001 21:26:46 EDT Scott Osborne Said As CAoL Message # 00010398 >On Wed, 06 Jun 2001 17:33:45 -0700 >Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010396 > > /"Primarily because I know someone's going to try to stop us. Not >ESP, just experience. Besides, extension isn't as much my concern as >system redundancy. You've noted the possibility of serious >interference between the time compressor and the TARDIS; failure of >the system would leave us with literally a fraction of a second to >avoid becoming random bits of matter."/ The corners of Roland's mouth >quirk down a touch. /"That would be...inconvenient for all of us, and >terminal for several. The Speed Force only affects time when the >wielder is deliberately attempting to do so, AFAIK, making it a more >stable option--_if_ we can get a stable source."/ /"Ah. Well, if the TARDIS and the compressor get to arguing, the compressor will give out first, almost immediately. I doubt that will happen; but if it does... Hrm. Mike, you're the resident expert on TARDISes and were there when things went sour, right? Here's a rough outline of how the time compressor works[]; we need an opinion here, how badly will it not work, if it fails?"/ [OOC: Desperately seeking a GM call of some kind here.] ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Wed, 06 Jun 2001 18:44:53 -0700 Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010399 >On Wed, 06 Jun 2001 18:23:06 -0700 >Rio Said As CAoL Message # 00010397 > >"If you want redundancy," Rio pipes up, "I can help." She smiles. >"Well, with the 'Time Lord' back in action, and all the other powers >around here, even an adept of Time can feel a little redundant. I >don't know how my abilities would interact with the other powers and >tech people are talking about, but I'm willing to try adding my two >cents. Maybe I could watch for conflicts, and help things interact in >_good_ ways instead of 'oh shit' ones." Roland snaps his fingers. /"That's it!"/ He smiles. /"Rio, your 'redundancy' is going to save our behinds. _You_can_see_TIME_distortions!_ Whenever time does something weird, you're aware of it. If something starts to interact poorly, you'll know it with--ah, time to spare."/ He smiles gamely at the unintended pun as (no doubt) a peanut bounces off his head from a vector matching his wife's direction. 8^) He can't help it; it's in his nature. /"So, Rio, think you can buy us some time?"/ "That depends," the Ecstatic says with a mischievous grin, "How much are you going to give me to spend?" ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Wed, 06 Jun 2001 19:05:09 -0700 Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010400 >On Wed, 06 Jun 2001 18:44:53 -0700 >Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010399 > > He can't help it; it's in his nature. /"So, Rio, think you can buy >us some time?"/ > >"That depends," the Ecstatic says with a mischievous grin, "How much >are you going to give me to spend?" /"Hm. _That_ is up to Scott's dingus and the TARDIS. I'm going to have to go with Scott here and throw this ball in your court, Mike,"/ Roland says, a bit reluctantly. (OOC: Rio can sense time weirdness, see into the past and future, speed and slow time, and even put small localized areas into suspended animation. If Scott's thingie goes poof, will she have enough, er, 'time' to react or let us do so?) ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Wed, 6 Jun 2001 21:55:12 -0500 Martin and/or Dhyrclhanc Said As CAoL Message # 00010401 >On Wed, 06 Jun 2K1, Roland X Said > > /"Primarily because I know someone's going to try to stop us. Not >ESP, just experience. Besides, extension isn't as much my concern as >system redundancy. You've noted the possibility of serious >interference between the time compressor and the TARDIS; failure of >the system would leave us with literally a fraction of a second to >avoid becoming random bits of matter."/ The corners of Roland's mouth >quirk down a touch. /"That would be...inconvenient for all of us, and >terminal for several. The Speed Force only affects time when the >wielder is deliberately attempting to do so, AFAIK, making it a more >stable option--_if_ we can get a stable source."/ At which point the present Dhyrclhanc pipes up, "I am unable to speak to the question of compatability here, sib, but the Galifreian Time-Lord tech Time-Ring that I have lets me speed up local-time so that I experience 10 seconds to everyone else's 1 second. The advantage to this is that it's least likely to interfere with the workings of Mike's old TARDIS as they are the same technology. The main disadvantage, however, is that this is not anything that I can "share"; it'll only work with the individual wearing it. I should be able to perform a mass-download via TP of the Time-Ring's instructions for operation into almost anyone if we decide that there's somebody else who would be able to make better use of it for this caper." Dhyrlhanc pauses, as if momentarily lost in thought... "I also have access to Tau-Field technology. The largest device of this nature would be the size of a 14-inch TV and would give everybody within a 20 yard diameter a two-hour grace period while everyone else would be stuck in the frozen local space-time. If this is overkill, the smallest Tau-Field unit is the size of a school-child's backpack and would give everyone inside of a 2 to 8-yard diameter a grace period of a half-hour." "There's no middle ground, unfortunately." he adds. There's a loud "pop" noise and full-sized Lensdragon appears behind the CAoL, all or most of whom probably turn around to see and whom will recognize as the one who traveled to 1970's Germany with them. "What are you doing here?" asks the newcomer. "You weren't here" replies the one in the Anla'Shok robes. "I'd forgotten how theatrical you could get." "Well, I'm here now." "Fine." The Lens-T'Skrang stands up, reaches one three-digited hand up the other arm's sleeve, fiddiling with something, and then, after being reduced to a rose-colored smear hanging in mid-air, disapears. The remaining Dhyrclhanc approaches the table around which the various members of the CAoL are gathered. When he arrives, he's shrunk down to about 30% of his normal size, now eye-to-eye with some of the taller Regulars present. Callahan meets him at the table with a Coke and Scotch in a tall glass, and the Lensdragon mimes a "Thank you" to the barkeep as he takes it from him. Looking around, Dhyrclhanc percieves the look on everyone's faces and asks, "So, we are down to the nitty-gritty of it now, are we?" ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Wed, 6 Jun 2001 22:25:57 -0400 Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00010402 >On Wed, 06 Jun 2001 18:44:53 -0700 >Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010399 > > Roland snaps his fingers. /"That's it!"/ He smiles. /"Rio, your >'redundancy' is going to save our behinds. _You_can_see_TIME_ >_distortions!_ Whenever time does something weird, you're aware of >it. If something starts to interact poorly, you'll know it with--ah, >time to spare."/ He smiles gamely at the unintended pun as (no doubt) >a peanut bounces off his head from a vector matching his wife's >direction. 8^) > He can't help it; it's in his nature. /"So, Rio, think you can buy >us some time?"/ > >"That depends," the Ecstatic says with a mischievous grin, "How much >are you going to give me to spend?" Mike looks over the information Scott sends. /"Right, my one concern is it acting with the machine itself. If you can get it to work with just people, it'll be good. If not, we'll want to try another option because we want the machines all working at the same speed. And, needless to say, if it got near the generator for the monoblock containment field, you'd have whatever fraction of a second was left to pull out."/ /"On the note of ressurection, here's {thought and written} a list of birthdates and places for everyone. Note the twins have two, time created and time where they became human. Also note I don't have a conversion for Molly's birthdate, it's on her homeworld, a post-apocalyptic earth, but she's not a native, I don't know where she was born exactly, only Anna would know that for sure."/ /"But, bear in mind what you're wanting to walk into."/ Mike smiles sympatheticly at Roger, who seemed to be the first to think of that angle, /"The bo-"/ Mike says, then restarts, unable to complete the word, /"There wasn't time to bury anyone. They'd all be just as Voyd left them."/ OOC: I have no enemies for this and no reason a cosmic couldn't do it, except where they wouldn't be allowed for their own reasons. Nemo's already mentioned why he couldn't do anything (I think, it's Leonard's call), it's in the past and he can't affect the past. Oghma would work, assuming the times were close enough, though in some cases, the bodies aren't in the best of shape, so dunno how that'd affect things. ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 02:08:48 EDT Scott Osborne Said As CAoL Message # 00010403 >In a message dated 6/6/01 7:35:54 PM Pacific Daylight Time, >technomagetimelord writes: > > Mike looks over the information Scott sends. /"Right, my one >concern is it acting with the machine itself. If you can get it to >work with just people, it'll be good. If not, we'll want to try >another option because we want the machines all working at the same >speed. And, needless to say, if it got near the generator for the >monoblock containment field, you'd have whatever fraction of a second >was left to pull out."/ /"I can modify it such that certain materials aren't effected by the field; do you know what the TARDIS in question used for electronics?"/ ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Thu, 07 Jun 2001 01:36:11 -0700 Harlock - Bard Extraordinaire Said As CAoL Message # 00010404 >On Wed, 6 Jun 2001 22:25:57 -0400 >Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00010402 > > /"On the note of ressurection, here's {thought and written} a >list of birthdates and places for everyone. Note the twins have two, >time created and time where they became human. Also note I don't have >a conversion for Molly's birthdate, it's on her homeworld, a >post-apocalyptic earth, but she's not a native, I don't know where >she was born exactly, only Anna would know that for sure."/ > /"But, bear in mind what you're wanting to walk into."/ Mike >smiles sympatheticly at Roger, who seemed to be the first to think of >that angle, /"The bo-"/ Mike says, then restarts, unable to complete >the word, /"There wasn't time to bury anyone. They'd all be just as >Voyd left them."/ Harlock shrugs. "As I understand the spell, physical remains are not necessary as long as the...subject can be uniquely identified in some way. Birthplace, date, and name are the most common identifiers, but hardly the only ones." He glances at the list. "With what you have given me, I can get all of them resurrected for you but Molly. For her...hmm...do you have access to a favored possession of hers? A ring, perhaps, or a childhood memento?" I'm looking at the spell "True Resurrection," from 3rd edition D&D. "This spell can even bring back creatures whose bodies have been wholly destroyed, provided you unambiguously identify the deceased in some fashion." So all Harlock needs to do is pop over to his version of Faerun with the list and spend a few days (and several thousand gold) in spellcasting. Or, rather, in hitting up the High Priest of Oghma for spellcasting...of a ninth level spell, yet. BTW, Mike, how many names are on the list? I'm afraid I've lost track of how many Sevens there are. ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 09:20:28 -0400 Martin and/or Dhyrclhanc Said As CAoL Message # 00010405 >On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 "Luc French" (aka Scott Osborne) Said > >/"I can modify it such that certain materials aren't effected by the >field; do you know what the TARDIS in question used for >electronics?"/ "That's a tricky question." interjects Dhyrclhanc, sipping his Coke and Scotch. "As all TARDISes are essentially constructed from 'pure-mathmatics'. The formulae is complicated but through something called "block transfer computation", the Galifreians, as well as other advanced races, were able to change mathmatical and/or phiosophical ideals into reality." "Mike, is there a simpler explanation for this?" ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 10:01:45 -0400 Martin and/or Dhyrclhanc Said As CAoL Message # 00010406 >On Thu, 07 Jun 2001 "Richard Bagnall" (aka Harlock - Bard >Extraordinaire) Said > >Harlock shrugs. "As I understand the spell, physical remains are not >necessary as long as the...subject can be uniquely identified in some >way. Birthplace, date, and name are the most common identifiers, but >hardly the only ones." He glances at the list. "With what you have >given me, I can get all of them resurrected for you but Molly. For >her...hmm...do you have access to a favored possession of hers? A >ring, perhaps, or a childhood memento?" "As much as I have a great deal of respect for the god Oghma, especially in his guise as the God of Knowledge and Technology on Aber-Toril," comments the Sentinel-Lensdragon, "I have this nagging suspicion that this isn't going to be quite that easy. Besides, Bard, I'm sure that, speaking for the group, we'd rather take the direct aproach on this matter." "Which reminds me, Roland?" "If you'd like, and not that I don't trust 'R.J.' or anything, but I was wondering if you'd mind if I momentarily jumped over a few alterverses? I could see if Wally, the man himself, wouldn't mind giving us a hand with this? I could try to find Walter but, personally, I don't like the man's ruthlessness and I sure this is something of a rush job." ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Thu, 07 Jun 2001 10:17:55 -0700 Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010407 >On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 10:01:45 -0400 >Martin and/or Dhyrclhanc Said As CAoL Message # 00010406 > >"As much as I have a great deal of respect for the god Oghma, >especially in his guise as the God of Knowledge and Technology on >Aber-Toril," comments the Sentinel-Lensdragon, "I have this nagging >suspicion that this isn't going to be quite that easy. Besides, Bard, >I'm sure that, speaking for the group, we'd rather take the direct >aproach on this matter." > >"Which reminds me, Roland?" /"Mmm?"/ Roland replies, still mentally reviewing options. >"If you'd like, and not that I don't trust 'R.J.' or anything, but I >was wondering if you'd mind if I momentarily jumped over a few >alterverses? I could see if Wally, the man himself, wouldn't mind >giving us a hand with this? I could try to find Walter but, >personally, I don't like the man's ruthlessness and I sure this is >something of a rush job." Roland shakes his head, smiling slightly. /"Ah, and how many Wallys were you planning on 'borrowing,' sib? The ones I'm familiar with couldn't cover the entire CAoL. Roger, OTOH, can, by way of his duplicates. I'm just not sure of how far that would stretch him. /"As for the direct approach, for something like this, my philosophy is 'whatever works.' I'm a little leery of spiritual 'resurrection,' but at this point we're talking about doing some serious fate-changing anyway. /"From a strategic standpoint, however, we've got two entirely different solutions--three, if NEMO or Aurora can just wave one of their respective appendages and bring them back. Assuming they can't, for whatever reason, we check in with Oghma--isn't he a Celtic god too, Morgan?" Morgan nods. "If he's the one we called Ogma Cermait* or Grian-aineach**, he was considered a god of literature and eloquence." She smiles at Harlock. "Just the sort to appeal to bards." (OOC: *of the honey-mouthed, *of the sunny countenance) "--and if that doesn't work, we go with Scott's device, with Roger and Xander working backup on the 'belt and suspenders' principle and Rio monitoring the time stream for trouble."/ Roland blushes (tm). For such a reluctant leader, he sure fell back into the role easily, didn't he? ;^) /"Ah, unless someone has a better plan--or another idea. And, of course, if everyone can cover what I've said they can cover. To quote my sib, 'Questions, comments, anyone want a mint?'"/ ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 15:01:04 EDT SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00010408 >In a message dated 6/6/01 3:47:23 PM Eastern Daylight Time, xander >writes: > >Xander snaps hir fingers. "Foolish me, I almost forgot-- but then, >I'm not in silicon-and-steel form right now. I've a module in my >mechanical forms that can accelarate time for me by up to a factor of >five; I'd be willing to either donate it to the cause, or go in and >help myself, if a dragon-transformer is needed." "We could probably use somebody with Bolo-grade reflexes," Roger remarks. "And loaning some Speed Force to one of your mechaforms should be doable. If we can get your accellerator and the SF to 'play nice,' that'll be icing on the cake. We'll have to do cross-compatibility check...." OOC: "Have your people call my people, they'll send each other memos setting us up to do lunch so we can talk about scheduling a meeting to write more memos..." ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 15:01:04 EDT SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00010409 >In a message dated 6/6/01 8:40:17 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >rolandx writes: > >/"That would be...inconvenient for all of us, and terminal for >several. The Speed Force only affects time when the wielder is >deliberately attempting to do so, AFAIK, making it a more stable >option--_if_ we can get a stable source."/ Roger throws his father a slightly offended look. "Hey, I'm as stable as...well, as anybody else in the CAoL." OOC: Which ain't sayin' much.... (:) ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 15:01:05 EDT SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00010411 >In a message dated 6/6/01 1:16:17 AM Eastern Daylight Time, >rolandx writes: > > /"But that's not what I was thinking. My version of the Flash used >the old 'vibrationally-accelerated molecules' schtick of the Silver >Age anyway--no Speed Force."/ Roland looks at Roger meaningfully. >/"You can't _lend_ that version of super-speed. If you emulate >Wally's powers, then you can give people in relatively close >proximity access to the Speed Force. A couple of dupes to spread the >field around and..."/ The Freelance Immortal pauses. /"It ought to at >least minimize how much Scott has to push his time compressor."/ He >nods at Scott, then looks back at Roger. /"Can it work, and what >would your risks be?"/ /"It should work -- the Speed Force should operate unaffected even in the event horizon of a singularity...although I don't recall anyone ever testing that theory. We'd probably get the best effect by pairing up each member of the strike team with one of me, but I'm going to be limited to about a half-dozen dupes. And with all those dupes acting primarily as SF conduits, my combat capabilities are going to be limited -- with so much of my concentration and multithreading tied up, you'll essentially have six inexperienced Flashes with basic TK powers."/ /"As for risks to me: minimal. As long as one of me makes it back, I'll survive. So I'm only really in danger if the mission turns into a total wipeout."/ He grins lopsidedly. /"And since I'm not a 'natural' speedster, I'm not in any danger of Becoming One With The Speed Force."/ He whips out a notepad and begins jotting notes. /"So, we'll need to mount cross-compatibility tests with the SF, Xander's accellerator, Scott's compressor, and whatever other time/speed gizmoes people may be bringing along. We'll also need to look into who's best suited for an op like this. *And* decide what our GTH plan is in the event everything drops in the pot.../" ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Thu, 07 Jun 2001 13:16:03 -0700 Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010412 >On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 15:01:04 EDT >SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00010409 > >>In a message dated 6/6/01 8:40:17 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >>rolandx writes: >> >>/"That would be...inconvenient for all of us, and terminal for >>several. The Speed Force only affects time when the wielder is >>deliberately attempting to do so, AFAIK, making it a more stable >>option--_if_ we can get a stable source."/ > > Roger throws his father a slightly offended look. "Hey, I'm as >stable as...well, as anybody else in the CAoL." /"I was referring,"/ Roland replies dryly, /"to your ability to lend Speed Force to several people at once while pushing your duplication powers to their limit. I don't know about you, but even I'd be leery of trying something similar with my energy powers."/ Then... >On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 15:01:05 EDT >SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00010411 > >>In a message dated 6/6/01 1:16:17 AM Eastern Daylight Time, >>rolandx writes: >> >>/"If you emulate Wally's powers, then you can give people in >>relatively close proximity access to the Speed Force. A couple of >>dupes to spread the field around and..."/ The Freelance Immortal >>pauses. /"It ought to at least minimize how much Scott has to push >>his time compressor."/ He nods at Scott, then looks back at Roger. >>/"Can it work, and what would your risks be?"/ > > /"It should work -- the Speed Force should operate unaffected even >in the event horizon of a singularity...although I don't recall >anyone ever testing that theory. /"Something I'd rather wait for more forgiving circumstances to do,"/ Roland replies with a dry smile. >We'd probably get the best effect by pairing up each member of the >strike team with one of me, but I'm going to be limited to about a >half-dozen dupes. And with all those dupes acting primarily as SF >conduits, my combat capabilities are going to be limited -- with so >much of my concentration and multithreading tied up, you'll >essentially have six inexperienced Flashes with basic TK powers."/ Roland 'hmms' thoughtfully. /"I don't suppose that one of your many 'uncles' is named Raymond Palmer? Each of your dupes being about the size of a G.I. Joe with the kung-fu grip ought to minimize their risks of being engaged in a fight. Losing a Speed Force field under these circumstance would be...unpleasant. The term 'catastrophic system failure' comes to mind."/ > /"As for risks to me: minimal. As long as one of me makes it back, >I'll survive. So I'm only really in danger if the mission turns into >a total wipeout."/ He grins lopsidedly. /"And since I'm not a >'natural' speedster, I'm not in any danger of Becoming One With The >Speed Force."/ Roland grins in mild relief. /"Which means, I presume, that none of us will be either?"/ > He whips out a notepad and begins jotting notes. /"So, we'll need >to mount cross-compatibility tests with the SF, Xander's >accellerator, Scott's compressor, and whatever other time/speed >gizmoes people may be bringing along. We'll also need to look into >who's best suited for an op like this. *And* decide what our GTH plan >is in the event everything drops in the pot.../" Roland nods to himself. /"Roger, Rio, you two should be able to handle that."/ He smiles faintly. /"And the two of you _do_ seem to...work together well. However, as I mentioned to Scott, I'm more concerned about having backup systems than stacking speed on top of speed. This is my idea. We start with the time compressor. If time runs low or the TARDIS decides to eat the time compressor, Roger will kick in his dupes and SF emulation. If you can 'shrink' those dupes, having one with each sub-group is probably a good idea, _if_ you can on 'standby' or something. Either way, you're going to have to have your own superspeed on pretty much all the time. Rio, Xander, your abilities--in tandem--are our last-ditch backup. You're also our early-warning system, Rio. /"However, we may need to stack effects if 'time' runs low, so I do want that compatibility test, Roger."/ Roland nods again in satisfaction. /"Does that about cover things so far?"/ (OOC: Okay, this is going to be a little tricky. Scott's already mentioned that his compressor-thing might become more unstable in tandem with the Speed Force or the other temporal effects. Xander's time booster, while powerful in combat, won't help too much by itself in this situation. Four dots in Time can boost speed at about the same scale as Xander's device, meaning the two stacked together are just barely enough [if multiplied rather than added] to buy the team 'scram' time if everything goes south. Rio can also place objects and areas into suspended animation, which adds a whole other dimension [pardon the pun] to the operation. Do folx want to work out the details among them/ourselves, or is a GM call [either Mike as current or mine as pseudo-meta-GM] desired here to speed things up?) ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 16:40:01 -0400 Martin and/or Dhyrclhanc Said As CAoL Message # 00010413 >On Thurs, 7 June 2K1, "David McMillian" (aka "SkyeFire") Sent: > > He whips out a notepad and begins jotting notes. /"So, we'll need >to mount cross-compatibility tests with the SF, Xander's >accellerator, Scott's compressor, and whatever other time/speed >gizmoes people may be bringing along. We'll also need to look into >who's best suited for an op like this. *And* decide what our GTH plan >is in the event everything drops in the pot.../" "Sounds like a plan." quips the near 21' tall, multi-hued superanuated adolecent Ruby Fire Dragon hatchling. "Or at least about as much of a plan as we ever have. On a slightly different subject, should I infer that we're going to keep my Tau-Field Generator in reserve in case we need a 'Plan-C', or whatever letter designation would be appropriate at this point?" ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 14:46:14 -0700 Squee Said As CAoL Message # 00010415 >On Tue, 05 Jun 2001 13:02:40 -0700 >Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010383 > > Roland considers a moment. /"Speed Force,"/ he says simply. > /"You can't go faster than light with it without some... >interesting risks, but super speed ought to allow us to get >everything done in the time allowed. It should also avoid the risks >involved with Scott's device, since it's an acceleration rather than >a temporal force."/ He chuckles. /"Then again, depending on how close >we end up having to cut it, the choice of the two options may be that >of Scylla and Charybdis. And I only know of one connection to the >Speed Force in this lot."/ He looks at Roger. /"Well, kiddo, this >one's your call. Are you up to being the fastest centipede alive >again?"/ Jim contemplates, "We are not, nor will we claim to be, the fastest around. however being partially computer components and having knowledge of both Time Lord and Borg technology from the Controller's files it could be possible to aid things along by seperating into nano worker packets for Roger to distribute to various places with each packet working on a secific task to the goal thus gving him many helping hands at once that are expendable if they fail..." ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Thu, 07 Jun 2001 17:43:33 -0700 Dane Said As CAoL Message # 00010416 >Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00010378 > "And that pretty much brings everyone up to date in my current >affairs. I don't know what Anna-from-the-future's arrival here means, >but as I can't picture Tink sending her to the wrong universe, and >considering she's apparently alive, well and scarless after I saw her >otherwise, I'd presume it may be possible to undo what I'd thought >was done, but it is certainly outside my means to pull it off." > Mike took a sip of his drink. "Any ideas?" /*"There are many possibilities. A little discussion may help to select an optimal solution to the problem."*/ Aurora says. ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 20:09:48 -0500 Martin and/or Dhyrclhanc Said As CAoL Message # 00010417 >On Thu, 07 Jun 2001, Roland X Said > > Roland blushes (tm). For such a reluctant leader, he sure fell >back into the role easily, didn't he? ;^) /"Ah, unless someone has a >better plan--or another idea. And, of course, if everyone can cover >what I've said they can cover. To quote my sib, 'Questions, comments, >anyone want a mint?'"/ At which, the draconic Lensman grins and says, "Close enough, bro. close enough." ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 21:02:49 -0500 Martin and/or Dhyrclhanc Said As CAoL Message # 00010418 >On Thu, 7 Jun 2K1, Richard O'Marro (aka"Jim) Said > > Jim contemplates, "We are not, nor will we claim to be, the fastest >around. however being partially computer components and having >knowledge of both Time Lord and Borg technology from the Controller's >files it could be possible to aid things along by seperating into >nano worker packets for Roger to distribute to various places with >each packet working on a secific task to the goal thus gving him many >helping hands at once that are expendable if they fail..." #/Two unwritten rules of the Callahanian Army of Light, Jim; one -- no one is expendable, two -- *everybody* comes home."/# Yes, that's redundant. So, what's your point? ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Thu, 07 Jun 2001 22:47:00 -0700 Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00010419 >On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 21:02:49 -0500 >Dhyrclhanc Said As CAoL Message # 00010418 > >#/Two unwritten rules of the Callahanian Army of Light, Jim; one >no one is expendable, two -- *everybody* comes home."/# Morgan facepalms, though it's with a smile. "Sib, if I understand this right, Jim sacrificing a few nanos is like if I had to cut off an inch of hair to free myself from something. It's no big deal, and even if someone handed me back the hair I'd lost, I wouldn't really have any use for it. It's not that important to save every single one." (OOC: He turned the _last_ set of unwanted rescuees into a Controller. Let's not give him any more excuses, OK? ) ================================= Subject: AAE7b: OOC Recap notes On Thu, 07 Jun 2001 23:23:22 -0700 Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00010420 OOC: For those who need a recap, I went back and found the posts where all this stuff happened to Mike's family in the first place. They can be found on the CAoL web site (URL in the sig). In AAE5, "Second stop", chapter 1: A Michael Seven Spin Off: Sudden Moves, 10 Mar 1999, Message # 00006607 In AAE5, "Second stop", chapter 2: A Michael Seven Spin Off: Gathering Moves, 15 Mar 1999, Message # 00006672 A Michael Seven Spin Off: Closing Moves, 16 Mar 1999, Message # 00006686 In AAE5, "Second stop", chapter 3: A Michael Seven Spin Off: Moving On, 17 Mar 1999, Message # 00006694 We now return you to your regularly scheduled mayhem ;-). ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Fri, 08 Jun 2001 03:27:35 -0700 Harlock - Bard Extraordinaire Said As CAoL Message # 00010421 >On Thu, 07 Jun 2001 10:17:55 -0700 >Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010407 > >>On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 10:01:45 -0400 >>Martin and/or Dhyrclhanc Said As CAoL Message # 00010406 >> >>"As much as I have a great deal of respect for the god Oghma, >>especially in his guise as the God of Knowledge and Technology on >>Aber-Toril," comments the Sentinel-Lensdragon, "I have this nagging >>suspicion that this isn't going to be quite that easy. Harlock interjects smoothly. "Actually, Gond is the God of Technology, insofar as most Faerunians understand the concept. And while Oghma is venerated for his Knowledge throughout most of Faerun, he is virtually unknown in Kara-Tur, Zakhara, or Maztica, all of which are still on Aber-Toril." At a _look_ from...well, several people present, he subsides with a mutter of "but that's beside the point." > /"As for the direct approach, for something like this, my >philosophy is 'whatever works.' The Bard smirks slightly. > /"From a strategic standpoint, however, we've got two entirely >different solutions--three, if NEMO or Aurora can just wave one of >their respective appendages and bring them back. Assuming they can't, >for whatever reason, we check in with Oghma--isn't he a Celtic god >too, Morgan?" > >Morgan nods. "If he's the one we called Ogma Cermait or >Grian-aineach, he was considered a god of literature and eloquence." >She smiles at Harlock. "Just the sort to appeal to bards." Harlock furrows his brow in thought for a moment. "I believe there are some epithets applied to Him in the ancient texts that nobody has ever managed to translate without the aid of magic. Those may be two of them, but I would have to see them written out to be sure. Celtic being not merely dead on Aber-Toril, but ne'er alive in the first place, to the best of my knowledge." Then the rest of Morgan's comment catches up with his brain, and he returns her smile. "Aye, and He is considered the patron god of bards in Faerun, e'en though some would consider Milil, Lord of Song, to be a more natural choice for us. But, as Milord pointed out to me when I asked, not all bards can sing and play. In fact, _this_ realm's most famous Bard, as far as I can determine, did neither." He looks around the room. "So, am I to go talk to Sedryk Tomekeeper, then? If so, I would appreciate an escort. The Harpers do a good job keeping Berdusk peaceful, but not even they can be everywhere." ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Fri, 8 Jun 2001 10:02:51 EDT SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00010422 >In a message dated 6/6/01 9:56:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 0 >rolandx writes: > > He can't help it; it's in his nature. /"So, Rio, think you can buy >us some time?"/ > >"That depends," the Ecstatic says with a mischievous grin, "How much >are you going to give me to spend?" Roger slings an arm around Rio's shoulder and grins at the world in general. "TimEx -- Never leave home without one." Roger -- Look, it's a bird! No, it's a plane! No, it's...SUPERPEANUT! ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Fri, 8 Jun 2001 10:02:55 EDT SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00010423 >In a message dated 6/6/01 10:35:54 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >technomagetimelord writes: > > /"But, bear in mind what you're wanting to walk into."/ Mike >smiles sympatheticly at Roger, who seemed to be the first to think of >that angle, /"The bo-"/ Mike says, then restarts, unable to complete >the word, /"There wasn't time to bury anyone. They'd all be just as >Voyd left them."/ Roger just nods once, somberly, in Mike's direction. "Which means we have a two-tier mission: a scoop&run to retreive the...Sevens...and our regular cosmic-grade save-several-universes gig." He pauses for a moment, looking reflective. "Gee, I wonder if I've been in this business too long? Anyway, those will be two seperate goals. I think....Xander, you've probably got the best combination of speed and capability, especially if one of your Autobot forms has anything like an ambulance rig." He fixes the two-headed dragon with an intense stare. "It'll have to be fast, delicate work, and it's going to be unpleasant. Will you have a problem with handling..." his eyes slip once towards Mike, and then resolutely away. "...Dead bodies? Keep in mind, there's quite a bit of blood and mutilation involved." His eyes and voice no more emoitonal than a computer. Only the slow, repetitive open-and-closing of one fist hints at the internal struggle to maintain his objectivity. ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Fri, 08 Jun 2001 08:53:30 -0700 Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00010424 >On Fri, 08 Jun 2001 03:27:35 -0700 >Harlock - Bard Extraordinaire Said As CAoL Message # 00010421 > >>On Thu, 07 Jun 2001 10:17:55 -0700 >>Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010407 >> >>Morgan nods. "If he's the one we called Ogma Cermait or >>Grian-aineach, he was considered a god of literature and eloquence." >>She smiles at Harlock. "Just the sort to appeal to bards." > >Harlock furrows his brow in thought for a moment. "I believe there >are some epithets applied to Him in the ancient texts that nobody has >ever managed to translate without the aid of magic. Those may be two >of them, but I would have to see them written out to be sure. Celtic >being not merely dead on Aber-Toril, but ne'er alive in the first >place, to the best of my knowledge." Morgan grabs a bar napkin and writes the names out, in both Gaelic and 'modern' forms, and hands it to Harlock. "It may just be interdimensional shadowing, but it certainly sounds to me like there's some sort of corelation," she shrugs. >He looks around the room. "So, am I to go talk to Sedryk Tomekeeper, >then? If so, I would appreciate an escort. The Harpers do a good job >keeping Berdusk peaceful, but not even they can be everywhere." As Roland considers this, there's apparently a brief burst of telepathic communication between him and Morgan. Then she smiles. "Sounds like the sort of thing I'd be good at," the Highlander says, brogue peeking through. "Ye'll have to help me out if it looks like I start making unwarranted assumptions, though; your world sounds close enough to mine that it'd be easy to do." (OOC: Roland commented this morning that, in 3E terms, Morgan's probably a 20th level fighter and a 20th level magic user :-). From my PoV, I haven't played D&D since 1E, so it'll be easy for me to play Morgan feeling like she almost but doesn't quite understand the ficton. Also, everything she knows about the ficton known as "Forgotten Realms" is what she [and I] learned from adventuring with Xzerrion.) (OOC2: Despite her skills, Morgan being Harlock's escort doesn't preclude anyone else going along. I can think of another person or two who might fit in and be interested, so don't let me going stop you :-). ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (ooc) On Fri, 08 Jun 2001 09:20:08 -0700 Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00010425 >On Fri, 08 Jun 2001 08:53:30 -0700 >Morgan Said As CAoL Message # 00010424 > >(OOC: Roland commented this morning that, in 3E terms, Morgan's >probably a 20th level fighter and a 20th level magic user :-). From >my PoV, I haven't played D&D since 1E, so it'll be easy for me to >play Morgan feeling like she almost but doesn't quite understand the >ficton. OOC: Oops . Roland saw the above and wrote back to me: Druid, dear. Druids can now be _any_ neutral alignment, you see... (Oh, and there are no more 'magic users.' There are 'wizards' and 'sorcerers.' Wizards, OTOH, _are_ the old Magic-User class, and sorcerers do magic through inspiration, intuition, and raw talent. Absolutely no similarities to the differences between DC Universe Wizardry and Sorcery, BTW. 8^) So, see what I mean about thinking I know what I'm talking about when I really don't? ;-) This could get interesting :-). ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Fri, 08 Jun 2001 09:32:50 -0700 Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010426 >On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 14:46:14 -0700 >Squee Said As CAoL Message # 00010415 > > Jim contemplates, "We are not, nor will we claim to be, the fastest >around. however being partially computer components and having >knowledge of both Time Lord and Borg technology from the Controller's >files it could be possible to aid things along by seperating into >nano worker packets for Roger to distribute to various places with >each packet working on a secific task to the goal thus gving him many >helping hands at once that are expendable if they fail..." Roland looks at Jim uncertainly. /"Are the nanites made from Speed Metal, or temporally accelerated, or such? Or are those for Roger to distribute because of his own super-speed?"/ ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Fri, 8 Jun 2001 17:49:14 -0400 Caprice/Legion Said As CAoL Message # 00010428 Legion sits with Essex, sharing a pot of tea. After listneing to the planning for a while, she looks over at him. "Feeling outclassed?" "Definately. And you?" "The same." "Going to volunteer anyway?" "Debating it. You?" "If you do. We could wait to be asked." Legion sighs, "We could be waiting a while." ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Fri, 08 Jun 2001 14:56:33 -0700 Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010429 >On Fri, 8 Jun 2001 10:02:55 EDT >SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00010423 > > Roger just nods once, somberly, in Mike's direction. "Which means >we have a two-tier mission: a scoop&run to retreive the...Sevens... >and our regular cosmic-grade save-several-universes gig." He pauses >for a moment, looking reflective. "Gee, I wonder if I've been in this >business too long? Anyway, those will be two seperate goals. /"Actually, Roger,"/ Roland replies, /"it looks like the others will be taking care of...ah...'retrieval.' If I've followed everything Mike's explained,"/ he adds, looking over at the remaining Sevens for a quick check, /"All we have to do is stop the monoblock gun. Between Harlock and Aurora, they're going to bring back Voyd's...more immediate victims."/ He smiles with a touch of pride. /"But your initial offer was very noble, son."/ ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Fri, 8 Jun 2001 17:33:09 -0700 Squee Said As CAoL Message # 00010430 >On Thu, 07 Jun 2001 22:47:00 -0700 >Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00010419 > >>On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 21:02:49 -0500 >>Dhyrclhanc Said As CAoL Message # 00010418 >> >>#/Two unwritten rules of the Callahanian Army of Light, Jim; one >>no one is expendable, two -- *everybody* comes home."/# > >Morgan facepalms, though it's with a smile. "Sib, if I understand >this right, Jim sacrificing a few nanos is like if I had to cut off >an inch of hair to free myself from something. It's no big deal, and >even if someone handed me back the hair I'd lost, I wouldn't really >have any use for it. It's not that important to save every single >one." Jim nods, "Expending undue exertion ot attemept a recuse of a few nanites is uneccisary and illogical. The nanites that are lost are lost in matter only. Their conciousness is still part of our conciousness and their sacrifice is not given in vain or ashly if that is what are are thinking Dhyrclhanc. They are forever rememerbed and immortalized in our memories. Roalnd was declaring he wished to stay behind in the castle because of knowledge of his immortality. Our nanites while they are not invulverable, share a similar immortality and thus do not fear destruction or disassembly, expecially if it is for a worthy cause. Despite our appearence, please rememeber we are mostly a machine, a tool. One that has grown beyond it's original programming true, but a machine still the same." >(OOC: He turned the _last_ set of unwanted rescuees into a >Controller. Let's not give him any more excuses, OK? ) ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Fri, 8 Jun 2001 17:44:18 -0700 Squee Said As CAoL Message # 00010431 >On Fri, 08 Jun 2001 09:32:50 -0700 >Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010426 > > Roland looks at Jim uncertainly. /"Are the nanites made from Speed >Metal, or temporally accelerated, or such? Or are those for Roger to >distribute because of his own super-speed?"/ Jim shrugs, "Current configuartion is simple nanite contruction devised for general work. Customized varients may be devised as needs. We were suggestion for Roger to distribute about at super speed to help with whatever tasks he might need interfacing with the mechanical and computer systems. However models could be formed with temporal modifiers to allow them to work outside of time. Danger is in the unsurity of the Controller's Technology interfacing with the other temporal modifying devices in use. Also a design can be made in which nanite speed is increased up to 10 times by modifying energy expendature by the nanites. However this will cause eventual burnout to the nanite structure. We would need a few moments for exact computations of thier expectancy after activation, but it should be over 1 minute at least..." ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Fri, 8 Jun 2001 23:44:12 -0400 "Xander Opal" Said As CAoL Message # 00010432 >On Fri, 8 Jun 2001 10:02:55 EDT >SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00010423 > > Roger just nods once, somberly, in Mike's direction. "Which means >we have a two-tier mission: a scoop&run to retreive the...Sevens... >and our regular cosmic-grade save-several-universes gig." He pauses >for a moment, looking reflective. "Gee, I wonder if I've been in this >business too long? Anyway, those will be two seperate goals. I >think....Xander, you've probably got the best combination of speed >and capability, especially if one of your Autobot forms has anything >like an ambulance rig." He fixes the two-headed dragon with an >intense stare. "It'll have to be fast, delicate work, and it's going >to be unpleasant. Will you have a problem with handling..." his eyes >slip once towards Mike, and then resolutely away. "...Dead bodies? >Keep in mind, there's quite a bit of blood and mutilation involved." >His eyes and voice no more emoitonal than a computer. Only the slow, >repetitive open-and-closing of one fist hints at the internal >struggle to maintain his objectivity. The two-headed dragon shakes said heads. "I'm afraid I've no ambulance mode--I've a robot version of my body, a giant robot version, Bolo-mode, and aircraft mode. I can, however, do some reconfiguring of my vehicle forms' cargo areas, especially if I could get Jim's help with the design-- I think he'd be far better than I in a 'life-support/rescue-chamber' design." Sie then takes a very deep breath. "Er... in mecha form, yes. As my 'brain' in those forms are basically Bolo combat unit computers, I'll be able to not allow squeamishness, and so forth interfere with the mission..." hir eyes take a rather strangely distant look, one of extreme regret. "I may need therapy afterwards, though, when I can switch back to good ol' carbon. I know I did... last time." ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Sat, 09 Jun 2001 01:51:11 -0700 Harlock - Bard Extraordinaire Said As CAoL Message # 00010433 >On Fri, 08 Jun 2001 08:53:30 -0700 >Morgan and/or Roland Said As CAoL Message # 00010424 > >>Harlock furrows his brow in thought for a moment. "I believe there >>are some epithets applied to Him in the ancient texts that nobody >>has ever managed to translate without the aid of magic. Those may be >>two of them, but I would have to see them written out to be sure. >>Celtic being not merely dead on Aber-Toril, but ne'er alive in the >>first place, to the best of my knowledge." > >Morgan grabs a bar napkin and writes the names out, in both Gaelic >and 'modern' forms, and hands it to Harlock. "It may just be >interdimensional shadowing, but it certainly sounds to me like >there's some sort of corelation," she shrugs. Harlock looks at the napkin, muttering "now if only I could remember whether that passage used the Thorass or the Espruar..." >>He looks around the room. "So, am I to go talk to Sedryk Tomekeeper, >>then? If so, I would appreciate an escort. The Harpers do a good job >>keeping Berdusk peaceful, but not even they can be everywhere." > >As Roland considers this, there's apparently a brief burst of >telepathic communication between him and Morgan. Then she smiles. >"Sounds like the sort of thing I'd be good at," the Highlander says, >brogue peeking through. "Ye'll have to help me out if it looks like I >start making unwarranted assumptions, though; your world sounds close >enough to mine that it'd be easy to do." A slow smile lights the Bard's face. "Aye to that. Like my first arrival here, when I assumed the television was a two-way device? I shall do my humble best as native guide, Milady." Looking around again, he asks "will there be anybody else joining us?" Come to think of it, who else is unassigned at the moment? Legion, Essex, and maybe Bazil are the only ones I can think of off the top. Could be interesting trying to stick Essex into a high-fantasy, low-tech universe...although, come to think of it, I've stated that Harlock's TSM gear works on Faerun, so Essex might be able to get away with the "sufficiently advanced technology" shtick. As a side note, I seem to recall 2nd edition rules mentioning somewhere that Oghma was not originally native to the Realms. It therefore follows that yes, we are talking about the same god. ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Sat, 9 Jun 2001 18:01:33 EDT SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00010434 >In a message dated 6/8/01 8:50:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >rolandx writes: > > /"Actually, Roger,"/ Roland replies, /"it looks like the others >will be taking care of...ah...'retrieval.' If I've followed >everything Mike's explained,"/ he adds, looking over at the remaining >Sevens for a quick check, /"All we have to do is stop the monoblock >gun. Between Harlock and Aurora, they're going to bring back >Voyd's...more immediate victims."/ /"Huh?"/ Roger responds intelligently, then grimaces good-naturedly. /"Geez, for somebody who spends as much time 'split up' as I do, you'd think I'd follow multi-track conversations better..."/ >He smiles with a touch of pride. /"But your initial offer was very noble, son."/ /"Awww, Dad...well, you know, it's a genetic thing..." ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Sat, 9 Jun 2001 18:07:27 EDT SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00010435 >In a message dated 6/8/01 11:46:43 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >xander writes: > >Sie then takes a very deep breath. "Er... in mecha form, yes. As my >'brain' in those forms are basically Bolo combat unit computers, I'll >be able to not allow squeamishness, and so forth interfere with the >mission..." hir eyes take a rather strangely distant look, one of >extreme regret. "I may need therapy afterwards, though, when I can >switch back to good ol' carbon. I know I did... last time." Roger makes a long arm and grasps the two-headed dragon sympathetically by one shoulder (or closest equivalent joint). "I understand. And believe me, we all appreciate your willingness to go the distance. Although," he adds, diverting a moment's attention to Roland, Morgan, and Harlock, "it appears it may not be necessary. Looks like someone's about to pull a deus ex pocketa..." ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Sat, 9 Jun 2001 22:20:49 -0400 "Xander Opal" Said As CAoL Message # 00010436 >On Sat, 9 Jun 2001 18:07:27 EDT >SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00010435 > > Roger makes a long arm and grasps the two-headed dragon >sympathetically by one shoulder (or closest equivalent joint). "I >understand. And believe me, we all appreciate your willingness to go >the distance. Although," he adds, diverting a moment's attention to >Roland, Morgan, and Harlock, "it appears it may not be necessary. >Looks like someone's about to pull a deus ex pocketa..." Xander looks /very/ relieved. "That's good-- thanks for pointing that one out, cousin." sie grins. "Which leaves us to, what blow things up? As a combat-oriented being, I believe I can /really/ hellp there." ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Mon, 11 Jun 2001 06:38:42 -0400 Caprice/Legion Said As CAoL Message # 00010437 >On Sat, 09 Jun 2001 01:51:11 -0700 >Harlock - Bard Extraordinaire Said As CAoL Message # 00010433 > >A slow smile lights the Bard's face. "Aye to that. Like my first >arrival here, when I assumed the television was a two-way device? I >shall do my humble best as native guide, Milady." Looking around >again, he asks "will there be anybody else joining us?" Legion and Essex exchange looks for a moment. Mischief, however, has appearently made up her mind as she launches herself into the air. The winged kitten gets just enough altitude to clear people's heads, before diving *plop* into Morgan's lap. She then looks up at Morgan and mews cutely. Legion laughs, "Okay, that's the deciding vote. Harlock, Essex and I will join you as escorts if you wish. We both have clothing that shouldn't be too outlandish stashed away. We'll just need a moment to retrieve them and our gear." Essex nods, "Indeed. We should also discuss how will we be travelling, and under what conditions? I'll pack differently if we are oh... travelling on horse back through the wilds, than if we are taking a carriage and staying at inns." Mischief just purrs happily. If she's being petted and fussed over, all is right with the world. ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Mon, 11 Jun 2001 10:02:37 -0700 Harlock - Bard Extraordinaire Said As CAoL Message # 00010438 >On Mon, 11 Jun 2001 06:38:42 -0400 >Caprice/Legion Said As CAoL Message # 00010437 > >Essex nods, "Indeed. We should also discuss how will we be >travelling, and under what conditions? I'll pack differently if we >are oh... travelling on horse back through the wilds, than if we are >taking a carriage and staying at inns." Harlock looks non-plussed for a moment, then nods thoughtfully. "To be honest, I don't _anticipate_ either, but Cedryk may want me to perform an additional service for him, given the number of resurrections I'm asking for. If that's the case, I rather expect it to involve horse-packing. There are very few roads of any length suitable for carriages in Faerun. Wilderness, however, we have aplenty." ================================= Subject: AAE 7b: Present Simple, Faerun signup On Mon, 11 Jun 2001 13:55:12 -0400 "Xander Opal" Said As CAoL Message # 00010439 As the planning and divving up of the herd of firelizards ensues, Bazil approaches Harlock. "Would I be welcome in the Faerun group? I'm sure my lightsaber can pass for a magical weapon-- I think it is one in part, anyway, and I should be able to handle whatever comes our way in the form of 'mundane' threats. I'm not sure about magic, but... that's what you're for, right?" He finishes in a confident note. ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Mon, 11 Jun 2001 15:57:15 EDT SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00010440 >In a message dated 6/9/01 10:12:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >xander writes: > >Xander looks /very/ relieved. "That's good-- thanks for pointing that >one out, cousin." sie grins. "Which leaves us to, what blow things >up? As a combat-oriented being, I believe I can /really/ hellp >there." Roger grins cheerfully. "Verily, cousin, let us venture forth and pay our proper homage to the patron goddesses of Destruction and Devastation (aka the goddesses of Massive Collateral Damage)." He winks at Xander. "And if I'm lucky, they'll think you're cute...." OOC: I shudder to think of the universe where Kei and Yuri end up becoming minor deities...but Biles did it, and made it *work.* Oy, vey... ================================= Subject: Re: AAE 7b: Present Simple, Faerun signup On Mon, 11 Jun 2001 15:55:12 -0700 Harlock - Bard Extraordinaire Said As CAoL Message # 00010441 >On Mon, 11 Jun 2001 13:55:12 -0400 >"Xander Opal" Said As CAoL Message # 00010439 > >As the planning and divving up of the herd of firelizards ensues, >Bazil approaches Harlock. >"Would I be welcome in the Faerun group? I'm sure my lightsaber can >pass for a magical weapon-- I think it is one in part, anyway, and I >should be able to handle whatever comes our way in the form of >'mundane' threats. I'm not sure about magic, but... that's what >you're for, right?" He finishes in a confident note. Harlock nods. "I and Lady Morgan, aye. But, an I may ask, what manner of weapon is a 'lightsaber?'" The Bard looks around once more, counting heads. "A group of five--six, and I beg your pardon, Mischief--should suffice, methinks. Gather 'round, then, and I believe I can get us there in a trice." ================================= [Ed. Note: At this point, the Faerun group posts are seperated out to their own file for ease of reading.] ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Mon, 11 Jun 2001 22:39:37 -0400 "Xander Opal" Said As CAoL Message # 00010444 >On Mon, 11 Jun 2001 15:57:15 EDT >SkyeFire Said As CAoL Message # 00010440 > > Roger grins cheerfully. "Verily, cousin, let us venture forth and >pay our proper homage to the patron goddesses of Destruction and >Devastation (aka the goddesses of Massive Collateral Damage)." He >winks at Xander. "And if I'm lucky, they'll think you're cute...." The two-headed dragon blinks. Loudly. "Er, okay... Though the amount of collateral damage, as you put it, would depend greatly on whether or not there's room enough for me to shift to full-sized mecha mode." ================================= Subject: AAE7b: Present Simple, TARDIS Ride Boards Here On Mon, 11 Jun 2001 23:22:35 EDT Scott Osborne Said As CAoL Message # 00010445 Scott walks up to the fireplace. /"Since Harlock is ready to go, those of you heading for the TARDIS should probably get together about now."/ /"Yes, I mean you. Unless- you want to hear- my William Shatner- impersonation. I'm not stable in these fields, for various reasons."/ Scott lifts up the device; it's the first clear view most of the people here have had of it. It's a rather simple black brick of a puzzle box, with two buttons, labeled "On" and "Off". /"This is ready to go. I've set it up to short out the monoblock gun; don't ask me how, if you value your sanity; just be warned that once the regulator stops working and the field shuts down, the gun will go off, unless you change the situation somehow. And now that I've just completed my run on sentence for the day, I can set up an X-Window for the second in question."/ Scott inhales. /"Questions, comments, concerns? Anybody want a mint?"/ Scott pulls out a pack of "Bueller" brand mints. [OOC: Apologies for the riff, Martin.] ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Mon, 11 Jun 2001 21:49:08 -0700 Dane Said As CAoL Message # 00010446 /*"It appears that everybody has chosen a task. Before I go about mine... are there any who wish to come face to face with That Which Creates? I must warn you, if you do He MAY want to judge you. However those that assisted in helping The Stardragon are unlikely to be judged harshly. That Which Creates OWES those as much as does The Stardragon itself."*/ Aurora says. ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple (You call this 'simple'!?) On Tue, 12 Jun 2001 08:25:36 -0700 Squee Said As CAoL Message # 00010449 >On Mon, 11 Jun 2001 21:49:08 -0700 >Dane Said As CAoL Message # 00010446 > >/*"It appears that everybody has chosen a task. Before I go about >mine... are there any who wish to come face to face with That Which >Creates? I must warn you, if you do He MAY want to judge you. However >those that assisted in helping The Stardragon are unlikely to be >judged harshly. That Which Creates OWES those as much as does >The Stardragon itself."*/ Aurora says. Jim cocks his head contemplatively, "If it would be alright, we would like ot send some of ourselves with you for this meeting. Such a thing would be a rare chance we are thinking, though with this group it is probably debatable. However because of our ties with The Controller judgement may move a risk. Please pause a moment as volenteers are requested." Literally a moment later, Jim begins to ripple and he holds a hand up to his chest. A silverly looking globule oozed forth from his chest and into the palmof his hand, then it begins taking on a shape, until soon there is a 8" tall version of Jim standing there. He leaps up inot the air on mini boot jetds, "We will go with you lady Aurora if you will permit it." ================================= Subject: Re:AAE7b: Present Simple, TARDIS Ride Boards Here On Wed, 13 Jun 2001 18:14:59 -0400 Mike Knight Said As CAoL Message # 00010462 >On Mon, 11 Jun 2001 23:22:35 EDT >Scott Osborne Said As CAoL Message # 00010445 > >Scott walks up to the fireplace. /"Since Harlock is ready to go, >those of you heading for the TARDIS should probably get together >about now."/ > >/"Yes, I mean you. Unless- you want to hear- my William Shatner- >impersonation. I'm not stable in these fields, for various reasons."/ Mike steps forward and takes the device. /"Only if I can do my McCoy impression."/ >Scott lifts up the device; it's the first clear view most of the >people here have had of it. It's a rather simple black brick of a >puzzle box, with two buttons, labeled "On" and "Off". Mike nods, looking the unit over. /"Oh good, I hate complex machinary."/ The smirk on his face makes it apparent he's joking. >/"Questions, comments, concerns? Anybody want a mint?"/ Scott pulls >out a pack of "Bueller" brand mints. Mike nods, using his own sense of perception on the device, /"Right, just to make sure I've got what you're doing right, tightbeam me how you're shorting out the monoblock gun. I don't want it going off prematurely, but having it go off safely is the plan."/ /"Folks, from what Roland relayed to me, Seth and Lilith are the force behind the Dreamtime, when all my people came together as a universal family, with a capital F, and they're what was responsible for the power we were tossing around when we were going up against Z'On'Dor and his buddies. We all got together and somehow used that power to grab onto a, well, Cosmic Sheaf works for a name, a bunch of universes we held dear and didn't want to see changed. We didn't understand the catastrophe, though, and it seems it took all Seth's power just to hold them where they were. /"Voyd went and captured the whole of the sheaf, though the one link to the rest of the multiverse, my home dimension. They were all collapsed into a single point in space and time... well, techinically, that's not what it was, but it's as apt a description in english as any. So, in the heart of that is Seth (and his lady and his dog) who we need to let out to put things right. /"Now, thanks to you all, I can go in and fix this mistake, but I'm glad to have you all along, cause I'm gonna need some extra strength when I walk through that X-window. For me, first and only order of business is that control panel. After that though, I'm going to have to put that TARDIS somewhere safe and, well, stow the bodies until I find out how this ressurection thing will work out in regards to them. /"Hugs will be free and frequent. There's a room nearby where they could be kept, with the door closed. I should be able to link up to the TARDIS itself and arrange the internals to move them en masse once I'm done with the gun, but anyone able can lend a volunteer hand if they want or need before then. For that matter, anyone who wants to wait in that anteroom may also feel free and I'll venture out on my own. /"I think that's the best I can prepare everyone, so queue up those that's going. And thank you for the support."/ Tink stepped forward, but Mike stopped her. She looked queasy but resolute. Mike looked resolute as well. He put his hands on her shoulders. ^I'm going,^ she said. ^No, I don't want you to remember them like that.^ ^But...^ ^Tink, do you -really- want to go?^ ^...no...^ ^Then don't go. For your Grumpa's sake, stay a kid just a little bit longer. We'll be in and back in no time. Besides, we've got a homecoming to prepare, remember? No one through there's going to stay dead for much longer. Wouldn't you rather your first sight of them in seven years be them alive?^ Tink nodded. ^Okay, go have a seat, play with the kitten and your pokemon. We'll be back soon.^ Mike watched Tink head over to the table with the cat carrier on it, where Schroedinger was batting at a bookmark tassle. /"Okay, we're moving out soon as we're ready."/ ================================= Subject: Re: AAE7b: Present Simple, TARDIS Ride Boards Here On Wed, 13 Jun 2001 18:29:10 -0700 Roland X Said As CAoL Message # 00010464 >On Mon, 11 Jun 2001 23:22:35 EDT >Scott Osborne Said As CAoL Message # 00010445 > >Scott walks up to the fireplace. /"Since Harlock is ready to go, >those of you heading for the TARDIS should probably get together >about now."/ > >/"Yes, I mean you. Unless- you want to hear- my William Shatner- >impersonation. I'm not stable in these fields, for various reasons."/ Roland "spocks" an eyebrow. "Why thank you..._Captain_...Osborne," he says in an impressive imitation of a younger Leonard Nimoy. 8^) >/"Questions, comments, concerns? Anybody want a mint?"/ Scott pulls >out a pack of "Bueller" brand mints. /"A few,"/ Roland comments dryly. /"As I recall, Mike has the monobloc gun covered; since it's 'his' TARDIS, or was, or...something like that...I figure he knows how to handle it. Does that handle our temporal acceleration without interfering with Mike's job? If so,"/ he comments, /"we're ready. You've got our primary source of fast-time, Roger's backup, Rio's early warning, and the rest of us are security detail. That about cover it?"/ (OOC: If Roland didn't miss anything) /"Okay, Scott, hit it."/ =================================