A small private island off the Bahamas, 1:00 PM local time:

Elspeth floated high above the island looking down at the clear blue sea lapping at the white beaches. The island was only two miles long by three quarters of a mile wide, but it was beautiful with a nice big hill rising up on one end, and at least half the island was covered with jungle. The cleared portion of the island contained a small resort able to host 30 guests, but several large tents had been set up close to the resort that would contain the catering and some of the other entertainment. From here Elspeth could see the monkeys scurrying about putting on the final touches for the party. Grrr, I really need to stop thinking about them like that. One of these days I'm going to slip up and say that at the wrong time and it will cause me no end of trouble in Sierra Leone. Elspeth sighed in frustration at herself. I'm thirteen now, I have been for a week, I need to stop behaving like a child now! She giggled at the thought but then became too serious again, most kids at thirteen were still barely more than children, but then most kids didn't have people dying in their name by the dozens because they refused to give up loyalty to her parents and to her. Not that she had ever done anything to prove herself worthy of that loyalty, but she would; someday very soon she would. But not today. Today I'm going to party and have fun and forget about responsibility and be just like any other monkey kid. Grrr, I did it again! Oh well, time for the party, people should be arriving now.

Swooping down to the island she soared over the sand volley ball courts and the kayaks, and the scuba equipment. She landed on the big deck that surrounded the resort's main building where several tables were set up and where people were appearing out of thin air. Teleportation; she loved that ability, couldn't imagine life without it. Actually having to take planes and cars and things to get around would really bite.

Walking up to the first guest she smiled in greeting, "Thanks so much for coming, I'm sure it's going to be a blast! There's massive piles of food over in the tents, and some live music." She points to the other tents and the beach, "Over there are games and scuba and massages and swimming and well, lots of stuff." She grins.

Connor disembarks the plane and smiles as the young hostess greets him and the others getting off the plane warmly. His smile was part friendly greeting, part sheer relief from no longer being confined in a small space with a man who smelled like Grapefruit. That odor got old very fast. "Thank you for having us all. It is a pleasure to meet you, I'm Connor." She's young and royalty, and a nova to boot. Connor plays it safe in his greeting and nods appropriately.

"It looks like it is definitely going to be an interesting and fun day."

After the earliest guests had arrived from the ether, another type of transportation arrived: the sea plane that Elsbeth had arranged had brought its first load of passengers. The second nova off was a stranger, a short, stocky man in shorts who looked around before letting the second nova off - a tall blond man who reached back into the plane and lifted someone out.

It took Elsbeth a moment to place the dark-haired nova who, after a brief argument, allowed the blond man to carry her to the dry sand. Others were exiting behind them, but there was a benefit to being the last onboard.

"E!" Infinity called, waving at the girl as she pulled her shirt straight and stood on her two feet. "Hi!" Infinity looked like a shadow that had gotten trapped in a sunbeam, but she didn't seem aware of how incongruous she seemed. Reaching into a shoulder bag, she pulled out a small gift. "Here, I hope you like it."

This place is a canvas, he noted, as he looked at the brightly lit island. With the white sand reflecting the sunlight, most of the pre-existing shadow would be muted. Deeper into the island, however, the shadows were in contrast to the bright sunlight. It was the beach that interested him.

As he prepared to deplane, he saw that they were a ways out from the island, and still on the ocean. Luckily, the plane was casting a weak shadow for him to use. He walked off the edge of the plane and into the shadows. With what looked like pseudopodia, the shadows pulled him in and surrounded him, like he was a speck of food to an amoeba. As the shadow cast by the plane returned to normal, Netherworld was gone.

A few seconds later, he appeared underneath a palm tree. Tendrils of shadows pulled away from him as he walked out of the shadows and towards the hostess. As he did, the sun glinted of his alabaster marble textured skin and hair. Breaking up the alabaster skin, was a purple dress shirt and black slacks. The top two buttons on the shirt were undone. On his feet were simple sandals. He looked like a clothed statue.

"Hello" was all he could manage to say to the hostess, as his attention was drawn to all the other nova around them.

The Lakota goddess waited for the rest of the little plane to disembark. Then, recovering the woven leather-and-wood disk from behind the last row of seat, she moved to the open door and set the disk on nothing more than thin air. A soft white aura came to life around the young woman, and her brown/black eyes began to glow azure blue. Stepping forward onto the "snowshoe", Ptesan-Wi rose several feet into the sky, moving with what seemed a graceful ease to the party grounds on the beach.

She landed not far from little hostess, things and people still popping in and out of existance around her. One of these days, she thought, I need to see if there's a way to do that with sub-quantum manipulation. A sudden envy flared, hot and raw, for the ease with which her "fellow novas" grabbed hold of the world around them and bent it to their will; the control given her by her strange divergent evolution was more subtle... and there were some things that it simply could not do. Like true flight, she rued. Her efforts at emulating the kind of free soaring that so many novas demonstrated had resulted in broken bones and massive bruises to both body and pride.

An exuberant voice broke her angry reverie, and Ptesan-Wi managed to push the resentment and envy from her mind to greet her young friend and student with a smile. *Hau, White Dove! Thank you for inviting me to your celebration.* Reaching into the small leather pack she had brought with her, the Indian woman pulled out a small object wrapped in leaves, handing it to the child nova. *This is for you; happy birthday, Elspeth.*

Elspeth beamed at all the attention and focused on each guest as they arrived. When the sea plane touched down she just shook her head and smiled. What a slow and uncomfortable way to travel, still she was glad they were coming no matter how they chose to do it. Already a dozen or so novas had arrived and were mingling about and helping themselves to the mounds of food. None of the ones so far were more than casual acquaintances though. She smiled brightly when she saw the ones disembark from the plane. Several of these were new novas that she'd recently met over the Optnet and she was eager to get to know them better.

First to exit the plane was the one known as Mech. He was totally hot and she'd seen a couple of his movies. Elspeth did her best not to blush when he introduced himself, but didn't completely succeed. There were thousands of teenage girls around the world that would die to be standing where El was right now. It was good to be a nova. She smiled prettily at him in turn and used her own not inconsiderable charm, "I'm Elspeth, thanks for coming to the party. I certainly hope it will be interesting! Boring would not be fun." She waves a casual hand toward the tents and beach, "Lots of stuff to do, lots of food. Be sure to find me later and we can be partners in some of the activities." She managed to wait just long enough for him to turn away before blushing brightly. I so didn't just say that! I think I'm going to die now!

She was saved from Death by Embarrassment by Infinity's arrival which gave her something to focus on other than Connor. "Hi Infinity, it's good to meet you at last. Who are your companions?" She waited through the introductions smiling and extending her hand to each in turn. They obviously didn't know the proper way to greet a lady, but the Japanese man was gallant in his own way if a bit arrogant, but El was used to that. One of her regular acquaintances was Prince Hisahito the Emperor's son. This guy couldn't compare even if he were a nova. El just smiled her usual charming smile and ignored the men in favor of Infinity's gift. She unwrapped it and beamed, it was a beautiful silk scarf, not too expensive, but a very nice present. She reached out and hugged Infinity impulsively, "thank you, it's lovely. Please get yourself something to eat and relax. The entertainment and stuff should get started in a little bit."

Next to come from the plane had to be Netherworld, a simple 'Hi' was all he said so distracted by all the other novas. El just grinned at him and said, "Hi, back at you. Thanks for coming, I hope you enjoy the party." She'd have to try and draw him out of his shell a bit later when there weren't so many people arriving and needing to be greeted.

Then Ptesan-Wi was coming floating gracefully forward on her snowshoe. El had wondered if she would actually make it. It had been so long since PW had been away from her home. She had been worried that the agrophobia or acrophobia or whatever it was called would be too much for her and she'd back out of coming to the party. People were still teleporting in and there was a line of other arrivals starting to queue up but El just squealed, "PW, I'm so glad you came! I've missed you, welcome to the party." White Dove... she seriously considering showing PW her newest nova trick by turning into a white dove, but thought better of it. No need to let everyone know about her new power. She opened the gift and squealed again in delight at the small white dove carving that was revealed. It was exquisite in it's detail and was carved out of some kind of antler that looked like ivory. It was beautiful and perfect. She hugged her PW tightly and nearly cried. PW had been like a mother to her since her own parents had died nearly three years ago now. Wiping a tear from her eye she said, "Thank you, I love it. Be welcome here mother of my heart."

Connor nodded and smiled. He honestly hadn't expected this reaction from her. He had never really had another nova react to him like that. "Anything for the birthday girl." He said with a genuine smile as he made his way to the tents she'd indicated the food was located in.

A man chewing gum approached the two greeting Terats. He was as handsome as a human was capable of being although he was somewhat lacking in the style department. He wore long surfing trunks and a bermuda shirt casually unbottoned. His hair was a bit unruly but he had apparently put in some work to look presentable in that department. He had a medium duffle slung over his shoulder as his flip-flops flip flopped with every step. He beamed a smile towards Elspeth and then his eyes dilated a few milimeters under raised eyebrows at the stunning Lakota woman.

Showing utter decorum he got down on one knee and bowed his head towards Elspeth, though when he raised his head back up it held a sort of playful mischief. In effect he showed porper respect while still letting her know that he knew this was a party.

"Your Highness," he smiled producing a giftwrapped cube.

"Happy Birthday." he said.

As Elspeth unwrapped that he stood smoothly and looked Ptesan-Wi directly in her eyes.

"You must be the Ptesan-Wi. So good to finally meet you. I'm Nodespark...ah, that's not like trademarked or anything. Just a net-handle at, least for the moment. You can call me Jordan, or JT."

He gracefully took one of her hands softly in his own. "You know, if I had known how beautiful you really were, I wouldn't have been so cautious to meet you..."

He brought her hand up as if to kiss the back of it but at the last second turned his wrist and kissed his own instead, giving her a mischevious wink. About that time he noticed Elspeth had opened the present, and was staring at it curiously. It was an acryllic cube, 6 inches to a side with one of the sides being attached to a silvery backing. Before Ptesan-Wi could respond he turned his attention back to Elspeth, still lightly holding on to Ptesan-Wi's hand.

"It's a holocube" Jordan said matter of factly. "Push the small depresion on the bottom."

When Elspeth did so, the cube flared to life, a holographic image filling the cube with a slowly rotating human brain. It sported a rather obvious node in between the two hemispheres. The whole thing was lit up in brilliant color, that moved and changed from active brain activity. "Now press it again." he said, and suddenly the image spiraled in, maginifying thousands of times and then more. The image zoomed dirextly into the node and further until individual neron-faracytes could be seen, bolts of lightning and electricity flowing through the neural condits of the brain.

He let go of Ptesan-Wi's hand, continuing to focus on Elspeth and her present.

"I designed the cube myself and snuck into one of the MRI labs to do an in depth scan of my Node. I hope that's not tacky, giving you a picture of me but I wanted to show you and I couldn't get any other Novas to sneak into school with me. I've heard your generation doesn't even have such a thing, so you might consider it to be a historical document."

He looked over at Ptesan-Wi and smiled.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?"

Elspeth was amused by the new nova's lack of fashion, but then he was a nova so he could dress however made him happy. The greeting was more than she would ever ask of another nova, but flattering nonetheless. Then he started flirting with PW right in front of her and she didn't know whether to be happy for PW or angry that she would be ignored in favor of another even if that other was her closest friend in the world.

Might as well open the gift. As she unwrapped it curiosity began to win out over other emotions, until finally Nodespark explained what it did and demonstrated.

She was impressed. Very impressed.

"This is marvelous! I've never seen a hologram this good!" She examined it closer then added, "The recording of your node is a very good idea as well, I'm sure it will be very valuable someday to scientists or even collectors. Thank you for the gift." She gave him a smile that conveyed her appreciation and left him staring at her for a moment. Elspeth quickly toned it down though, she certainly wouldn't want to get in the way of PW's interests.

Netherworld watched as more and more arrived for the young woman's party. They came in all shapes and sizes and coverings. When they walked away from Elspeth, he stared at their faces and bodies as they moved. As their various forms shifted relative to the sun, he scrutinized the way the shadows shifted across their bodies. Did she speak to me?

When Nodespark produced his Holo cube and turned it on, Netherworlds attention focused on it. To him it was more that just a hologram. It had forms and funcions. The way the brain curved around the primitive node. The hemispheres of the brian reminded him of a nut or seed. The seed of humanity's imagination, he quietly mused to himself.

In a low voice, but clearly audible, he adressed Elspeth; regardless of any current conversation whe was having. It was pretty obvious that Netherworld was socially inept.

"I am going to make your present today." he said in a stony smile. It suddenly occurred to him that there would be a large audience present. "You and the others can watch if you like."

From on high and cloudless skies, a bolt of lightning strikes down directly onto the beach and the shockwave of thunder being so close is intense enough to make everyone on the island cringe or cover their ears reflexively. In its wake is left a monster of a man, all rippling muscle and for those who can sense such things an aura of tremendous power. His face is feral, with pointed ears and pointed tusks jutting from his lower lip. Red eyes blaze with fury and striking red hair contrasts his otherwise asian features.

He reaches down picking up a hunk of the hot glass he is standing in and blowing on it. Slowly it begins to cool and he walks barefoot towards the cluster of Novas.

His towering presence is a fearsome one, and much of the crowd eagerly parts before him. It is difficult to tell if he is scowling or if that is just the way he looks. When he reaches the nucleus he nods down at Elspeth and opens his massive palm to her, showing the fulgurite crystal his arrival created.

"Petrified Lightning." he says gruffly by way of explanation, letting her take her gift.



"My youngest grandchild also sends this."

He reaches into his sleevless gi and produces a rolled up scroll tied with a piece of yarn. In it is the simple drawing of a child. The image in the center is clearly meant to be Elspeth, with a crown on her head and a dove flying in the air above. The deposed ruler is shown holding the hands of much younger children and all of them are smiling. Happy Birthday Elspeth is scrawled in crayon. It's actually pretty good for a 9 year old, better than stick figures but not so good that the child would have a precocious career in art.

Infinity wandered away from Elsbeth, her duty to the girl done. Her shadows remained firmly at her side, Katsuro lighting two cigarettes and offering her one while Stanley moved to stand upwind. Infinity took the cigarette, feeling a little weirded by the gesture. one of her favorite fuck buddies used to do that with her after sex. It was a little too intimate a gesture for her, now. "So, whadda folks wanna do?" she asked her group.

"Eat," Stanley said, eying the food tent.

"For once, I agree," Katsuro replied, turning toward the tent.

"Sure, let's chow down," Infinity answered. Maybe afterward, they could find someone to talk to.

Elspeth was just about to reply to Netherworld when lightning struck the beach and thunder rattled the house. Another nova arrival, and one arriving in style at that. She smiled in the direction of the approaching nova, but turned to reply to her previous companion first. "That would be lovely. I'm sure the guests would welcome any form of entertainment, and I like presents made by the giver better than any other kind. Much more personal." She put on a little bit of the charm for Neatherworld, then turned her attention to the mountain of a man, or rather nova, approaching and parting the crowd before him.

"Konichi-wa Raijin-san. Thank you for coming." She stared down at the gift of petrified lightning. It reminded her a little of opal and it was very pretty even if it was rough and uncut. It was like its creator that way, a perfect expression of something. What had Hisahito-san called it? Something about falling cherry blossoms... Oh well, I'll think of it later. "The gift is beautiful and it's spirit is like that of it's maker." She grinned at the drawing, it was child like and Elspeth loved children, not that she was much older than the girl herself, but it was difficult to be so young and be so intelligent. Understanding things with your mind but not with your heart... that was the hardest part of being who she was. That's why she loved children so much and why they made her sad at the same time. I'm just old enough to Know, but no old enough to Understand. She looked up at Raijin and smiled another of her many smiles, she was giving them out quite a lot today, and said, "It will be an honor to meet her, please tell her in the meantime that I love her gift and appreciate it."

Elspeth turned away for a moment and placed the gifts on a display table with the others in places of honor so that they could be admired by all, and wiped away a tear quickly and discreetly. This was a happy day. It would be a happy day. When she turned back to the others she was all smiles and happiness again. "I believe Netherworld was going to entertain us with his creation of my present. Please do." She let her hand rest on his arm for a moment to let him know that she appreciated the present and the entertainment.

Raijin grunted his approval. He had decorations of his own to offer but that could wait. He folded his arms across his chest, awaiting the alabastor nova's performance.

The look of content happiness that Ptesan-Wi maintained on her face held... barely. But as she carefully maneuvered the young nova - please no, please Wakan-Tanka, not a nova - off to the side, she felt her high hopes sliding into a chasm. The lack of the typical headache, the utterly passive eruption, the powers, everything that NodeSpark had described sounded so promising, so familiar... and then he had offered the world proof that it wasn't so, proof in bright 3-D display not five feet from her.

Unless that wasn't his. It was a flimsy straw, she knew, but she clung to it anyway. Throughout her early years, Ptesan-Wi - then known as Thoughtwave - had engaged in all manner of redirections and deceptions in a desperate attempt to maintain her claims of novaness. Could this be one such deception?

Jordan was still looking at her quizzically when she turned to face him, away from the others. There was a way to be certain, a way she had used time and time again to rule out possible candidates. Hoping against hope, she concentrated for the slightest of moments. Where she stood, it was as though someone had thrown a stone into a tranquil pond of subquantum particles, and waves rippled out from her in all directions. The ripples approached NodeSpark... and passed through as though he wasn't there.

Utterly crestfallen, Ptesan-Wi spoke with her voice rather than mind-to-mind. "I am sorry. I had hoped that you were like me. You see, novas with a dispersed node such as my own are rare among the first generation. Those who have such but cannot be detected by 'pinging' are... well, so far are unique." She glanced back to where Elspeth had set the cube while receiving the next series of gifts. "Your node image is lovely, and a fitting gift." Without waiting for a reply from Jordan, she turned and walked away from him and the rest of the party.

Slowly, and with great care, Citronic disembarked from the plane. It was no wonder that the others had rushed off as quickly as they could. As bad as the smell of fresh grapefruit must have been for them that scent had quickly been overwhelmed by the cloying stench of rotten grapefruit as Citronic had found himself susceptible to motion sickness only thirty minutes into the flight.

He found his way to the beach and quickly sank to his knees in the sand, reveling in the way the ground stayed put and didn't sway or buck. After a few minutes the scent of rotting grapefruit gave way to fresher smells and Citronic was able to make his way to the other novas and greet his host.

With a less than fully manic smile he introduced himself to Elspeth. "Happy Birthday. I am Citronic and this ..." he produced a small potted sapling from the bag he carried, "Is for you, to add to the beauty of this place. It is a Texas Ruby Sweet grapefruit tree. I hope you like it."

He was startled by the lightning and the new guest. The large man, who called himself Raijin, was an imposing sight and he seemed to exude violence. Not uncontrolled, brutish violence, but restrained and measured to be called up when needed. When Raijin reached down and pulled a piece of fused sand from where the lightning struck, Netherworld stared. While it was only a piece of glass, it was a thing of natural beauty; a small statue formed by physics and directed heat. Netherworld stared and marveled at its simplicity.

The woman who called herself Ptechas... seemed to be very troubled by the hologram of the nova's brain. When she explained that she had no node as a 'first generation' nova, Netherworld was even more confused. He didn't understand why it bothered her. But then again, the world was a new and strange place. It could be bringing back painful memories. Netherworld was curious about her reaction and wanted to ask her about it.



Before he could respond to Elspeth, the horrible smell from the plane returned and assailed his nostrils. One of the novas from the plane had approached. When he identified himself as Citronic, Netherworld understood. The man smelled like citrus fruit. Rotting grapefruit to be exact.

When Citronic left, he looked down at Elspeth's hand on his arm. He hadn't even felt her touching him. When she asked him to make her present, he frowned; her request that he make her present right now, was offensive. An artist works when he's ready, not when other's tell him to create. "No. It is too early. I can't just create something upon request." He tried to be polite in his response to Elspeth. "I am not ready yet. I need to...understand you. I have to watch the way you move, the way you use your arms, the curves of your body." Why am I explaining myself to her? An artist doesn't need to explain why he does anything. "You will just have to wait until close to sunset. You will like it. I promise."

"Hmmmm...very well then. If the ivory-skinned one is not ready I shall provide some additional ambience to our gathering."

Raijin made a wide sweeping gesture to one of the long sides of the island...and nothing happened.

Just when people thought nothing as happeneing, thin wisps of water began to swirl upwards several hundred meters off the coast. The vortex of spray incresed pulling more and more water until a dozen waterspouts towered hundreds of feet into the air. They danced together, spinning around each other in pairs. Then 3 sets of pairs rotated around a common axis and both triumverates rotated around one large central axis. It was a beautiful waltz of water, more primal and powerful than any synchronized fountain on Earth.

Jordan ran after the Ptesan-Wi.

"Hey wait up!" he cried settling into an easy walk next to but a respectful distance from.

"I...I'm sorry I turned out to be a dissapointment for you. From what you just said it must be lonely. I can understand that. But even if I'm not like you, doesn't mean we can't be friends right? So you are unique, that's an amazing gift! But it doesn't mean you are alone. You've got lots of friends here, and this is a party. I thought maybe you'ld like to visit the catering tent with me and I thought we could have a dance a bit later..."

Jordan was hopeful, naieve to the true cause of her siffering but it was clear he was attracted to her and making a gallant and pure attempt to save her from her distress.

The Lakota goddess swivelled and hit the young nova with a glare that almost literally pinned him to the spot.

*A GIFT?!?* The voice was a shout that he could not escape, rolling through his mind like a massive wave. *You know nothing of what it is to be "unique"! You have no perception of what it is to be alone, to be unable to truly and fully relate to anyone! But since you seem so convinced of it, I'll give you a taste of this "gift"!*

What washed over the hapless nova next could not so much be termed visions or memories. They came too quickly, were too blurred to provide factual context. But what he did feel - overwhelmingly, wrenchingly, soul-shakingly - was ten years of utter and complete isolation crammed into perhaps ten seconds. It defied description beyond a single, hauntingly painful word: alone.

When it had finally passed, with Jordan still reeling from the effect, Ptesan-Wi caught his face in a remarkably gentle hand and almost whispered, "Do not call this a gift." With that, she turned to walk away once more.

"AHHHH!" Jordan screamed out loud, grasping his head and bringing attention to them.

Just as soon however and the sudden invasion of his mind was over, leaving him reeling and breathless.

She held him softly for a moment and then was waling away again.

"FINE!" he shouted angrily after her. "THAT WAS UNCALLED FOR!"

Shortly thereafter and much softer though she could still hear him he added.

"It's your own fault you know...nobody forced you to hide in a cave..."

He turned away toward the food tent, dissapointed and spurned. It was one thing to be rejected by a beautiful woman, and quite another to have one's face shoved into the metaphorical mental mud.

His pleasant mood shattered, and with a lingering headache, he muttered to himself as he walked alone.

"Just thought she were pretty is all...Jesus...don't take crazy home, that's what they say...need a drink..."

Infinity jumped and dumped a sweet fruit drink down her shirt at the scream that rang out. Gratifyingly, both Stanley and Kitty-Kat jumped just high, though they weren't carrying anything that was now soaking into their shirts.

"What the FUCK?!" Infinity howled, setting the empty cup down and swatting at her wet clothing. Her bodyguards weren't freaking out at all, so she didn't crawl under a table or duck. She just brushed her dyed red hair out of her eyes and looked toward the origin of the cry. All she saw was a guy kneeling in the sand, with Ptesan-Wi tending to him. Then she stalked away from the guy, who didn't look any better for the gentle treatment Infinity had seen her giving him.

The guy got up and headed this way; Infinity approached him, peeling off her shirt, which was getting tacky anyway, and revealing a dark red bikini top with black pocka dots. "Jesus, man, are you ok?" she asked, looking concerned before running her teeth over her lip piercing. "You sounded like you were getting stabbed. Or shot," she added, remembering her own recent wound, which was covered by a white bandage. "You need to sit down or somethin'?"

Well, party was really getting started now... "Netherworld, I didn't mean to rush you. I thought you wanted to do your thing now. I'll be happy with it whenever you decide." She made sure the charm was on, wouldn't do to offend a guest unnecessarily.

Elspeth was totally distracted by Raijin's entertainment. Now this was what novas could do! For a brief moment she felt a little bad for the poor baseline entertainers that had been contracted. As good as they were, the were really just filler and to provide a backdrop. She giggled and clapped her hands in appreciation of Raijin's feat. Then she heard the scream and turned to see that PW was very upset. Oh heck! Looking to those around her quickly, "Excuse me for a moment."

She rushed over to PW, but waited just a little ways away. Never rush into a badgers den when it is riled up. PW had taught her that, and she'd never seen a more riled badger. She waited to see if PW needed a hug or needed to be alone.

Connor watches the spectacle of Raijin's abilities and overhears the outburst from Nodespark as well. Connor watches as the young man makes his way into the catering tent only to be stopped by Infinity. After watching her peel away her shirt as if it were nothing Connor shrugs and makes his way over to the two young novas. "Whatever ya did to piss her off man, I wouldn't do that anymore."

His following question echoes Infinity's of a moment before. "You gonna be alright?"

He didn't do a thing to deserve that. It was a quiet voice, a humane one, trying to restore something resembling reason in Ptesan-Wi's mind. Unfortunately, it wasn't winning. Pain and despair swirled in a deadly mix with megalomania, and the resulting turmoil bred anger more as a byproduct than anything else; the little voice of reason was drown out in the maelstrom.

Even so, she could help but feel the presence of little Elspeth approach, and that did take at least the worst edges off of the storm. Without turning around or slowing her walk, she sent - carefully editing her feelings out of the thought - *You should go back to your guests, White Dove. I am not fit company right now, and they have come a long way to be here with you. NodeSpark will be fine, and I... will be as fine as circumstances permit. Please let me be.*

He doesn't say anything right away. Instead Jordan just plops down onto a chair...amazingly plush for a beach party. In fact everything that was brought in was gourmet class...fit for royalty.

"Bartender! Whiskey...anything over 40 years old, Japanese if you got it."

"You wouldn't guess it but the Nihonjin can make a damn good licqor." he says to Infinity.

"And Bartender! Fill up a pint glass!"

"Stuff doesn't work the way it used to..." he offered by way of explanation.



"Oh right, yeah sure. No more compliments from me..." He takes a long swig off the pint glass and gacks as the fumes burn his sinuses. "I'll be fine. I've been turned down before, but not usually by someone who invited me out and never in the form of psychic overload..."

Jordan lights up a bit at that thought. "Interesting. So that's how mental powers feel. I bet I could work some shielding into my designs..." he says almost absentmindedly to himself.

His distraction doesn't last long however as he picks himself back up, extending a hand to Infinity first. "Sorry, I'm being rude. This is a party after all. Hi! Im Jordan. I post as NodeSpark."

Oh, god - him! Infinity remembered all too well the all-too-eager and discouragingly inelligent young man from the OpNet. "Yeah, hi, Jordan. I'm Infinity, also from the boards. And these are Katsuro and Stanley, my attack dogs." Stanley looked a little irritated. Katsuro smiled way too widely and looked a little too pleased with the description.

The waiter brings Jordan a pint glass of some dark liquid, and takes their orders. "Jamaican Sunset," Infinity said, shrugging as she realized the drinking had started. "Bud lite," Stanley requested. "Sake," was Katsuro's demand.

"So... I'd ask if you were having fun yet, Jordan," Infinity said as she tried to break the ice. She sat down in another chair while her bodyguards drifted to move behind her. "I think I know the answer though."

"So, you're a fan of 'Nihonjin' things, eh?" Katsuro asked when the drinks had come. He tossed the cup back in a smooth movement. His tone had been off, and his eyes glinted unpleasantly. Infinity looked nervous; she reached up and grabbed his hip, giving him a tight smile. "Are you a Nihonjin-phile, Jordan?"