Preston, if you could show yourself to whomever you wanted, and for the most part only those you wanted could see you. Would you show yourself to someone you did not want be seen by?

It is not that she does bad things. It is that she would for the most part rather avoid people she dislikes and doesn't have to deal with.

Tarot, I said that because unlike me she is not a forgiving person. The other would not think twice of ignoring you, or making you think you were a 13 year old girl. If you did see her, it would because she would want you to know why your life would seem so out of control. So, I said I would hope you don't see her, because if you did, it would mean bad things for you.

You are a private citizen with the luxury of having your civil liberties, such as free speech, protected. This allows you to act the bully and thug, especially to a young nova, barely erupted who I am sure is a terrible, terrible threat to you.
Act your age.

Being a cyberkinetic, moderately powerful psychic and occasional bitch, I would.

Now I know who to call!

Must.. resist... temptation...



Vannie, you need to get out more.

Saimhe, you may not want to go there. If you go around messing with novas' names, are you sure to what level some novas will be pissed off?

Better yet, admitting to being able to go there publically isn't always the best option.

LoL!

Yeah. She might call the California Department of Motor Vehicles and file a complaint.

Hmmm ... this must be Tarot's long experience with criminal endeavors speaking.

Please, Tarot, imagine for a second you are no longer on the mean streets of LA, but on a slightly larger stage. Please imagine how a nova attack on a state-wide database would fall under the perview of the Directive, not CHiPs or the CBI.

I was a juvenile. The records are sealed.

Have a nice day.

The intensity of your lack of imagination is breath-taking.

Of course it is Jager. How could it be anything but lacking in intensity when I'm not you?

All Hail.

Please don't confuse my motivations for yours, Tarot. I have no desire for you to be like me, for you to hold my views, or to exult you as some sort of raging asshole.

What should I have lied about what I know could happen? Would me saying nothing have made the fact that not everyone in this world cares equally about each other's "civil liberties"? As far as I care, Tarot is a pest, that couldn't harm anything or one I care I about. I just know,that I am more forgiving and understanding than those I share my life with.

But in the end, don't you think it is better that Tarot gets a few harsh words from someone over an opnet site,than to wind up face to face with someone who would be willing to kill him? Preston, you should be well aware that there are novas out there that will kill over silly words. I have stopped this once or twice, but neither I, nor people like me can be everywhere,all the time. No, this not a threat, as noted I find him a pest. Nothing more and Nothing less.

Of course you don't Jager. There can be only one.

All Hail.

Uh, Jager, everyone on the Goddess' good green earth knows I am a cyberkinetic, information manipulator, psychic and occasional bitch. Didn't you check out my T2M profile while I was with them?

I like Tarot. It's nice to see someone with a passion for the fine arts.

I know, hon, we gotta work on that portrait. I should let you know that some factors have now changed, so it's safe for me to come to Ibiza without humping strangers' legs.

I'll let this one slide.

No problem's Saimhe. Just don't like someone implicating you in any theoretical criminal endeavors.

I know that movie!

Jager is like Highlander?

Oh yes, I quite agree.





And then he broke my innocent little heart.

Saimhe, there's going to be some disappointed strangers but you're always welcome to drop by. This weekend I'm finishing up Valkyrie Glories, a lot of Norse mythos in my life right now, but after that I have a break coming up.

Stop on by. Bring the pale dude with you if you want.

I did WHAT, Slattern?

Vanguard, I never got the chance to thank you for arranging the meeting with The Other. It was...unique, for lack of a better term, and an experience for which I am profoundly grateful. It has given me a great deal about which to think, and some rather interesting options that are now available to me. I am in your debt.

Timeslip, I would have done the same to anyone who has half the soul you have.

Lets just say that Power corrupts and absolute power courpt absolutely....but if you get a power up in exchange of slime for skin, or as in my case the need to consume fresh meat even though I don't physiologically need to eat, then it should be fine. But mainly problems tend to make a syndrome and then you certainly have a problem.

In regards to node, I have a quite powerful node and I have no new problems since my range recently went up. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I seem to do with my brain, apparently it's quite addled but the "dead" areas seems to have been rerouted. I love the physics defying nova life.

Oh were I think Darwin would be spinning in his grave when it was agreed that Taint is a side effect of evolution. Isn't the idea of evolution that the down sides gets selected out in favour for the better sides. Since when were extreme "moods swings" and vestigial limbs an evolutionary advantage it is more than likely make you a target to the norms and Utopia as you start to become more and more scary to them. It's happened to me, no one trusts me I can't even intimidate anyone as they think if they do as I ask I will kill them and if they don't I will kill them, usually because "scary" vibe I get targeted first in a fight!

Just thought I'd throw this into the arena.

To sum up, if you are worried about taint then don't push yourself if you aren't push that boat all the way out.

Call it 'autoevolution.' Unlike 'evolution,' development doesn't occur slowly, as a result of viable variations being picked out by natural selection. Instead, it just happens - usually more or less according to our choice.

This means we get where we want to be, but in a totally unmediated way. There's nothing checking along the way to make sure that the change is totally advantageous, so unintended results occur. Whether these results are part of the process leading us to the new condition or actually the result of an unconscious choice is arguable, and perhaps there is a bit of truth to both.

Regardless, I think the thing to remember is that our 'taint' is there because we chose, on some level, to accept it - either as the price of power or as an expression of unvoiced desire. In the end, we might as well get comfortable with it.

I do not think you can call it "autoevolution" firstly as the word doesn't exist and secondly what you have described is basically mutation. I don't think you can look at the people who have suffered radioactive injures and as such disfigurement such as those in Russia in the 1980's and those children how were born from the Thaledidimide disaster that they are suffering from "autoevolution" they suffered from genetic mutation.

I still can't see you a silly voice and uncontrollable powers can really be considered a bonus evolutionary speaking mind you that and the fact we can't breed either does tend to be a problem in evolution as a species.

The point is that novas have the ability to mutate/evolve continuously within their own lifecycles. Now, that can lead them down some dead ends, or even fatal ends, but such is the risk when you are reaching for the infinite.

Jager that is unusually deep for you.

Evolution is not something that can happen in one person, that is mutation. Mutation is something that occurs within a population that may or may not be useful e.g. getting extra powers or getting the useless limbs of a foetus. Evolution is the historical development of a biological group (as a race or species)and or a theory that the various types of animals and plants have their origin in other preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successive generations
, which takes millions of years and requires a future persecutive as well as a future generation, so we need to breed somehow.

Wait a couple of hundred years (shortened from the millions of years because we are novas) then see what is evolution and mutation.

I agree that our mutations can be forced in the same way someone can purposely expose him/her self to a radioactive source similar the Galatar's and mutate their cell to from a lymphoma or (unlikely as it is) erruput themselves, that wouldn't be evolution. Novas and baselines are the same species (I really didn't want to go down this route because I know I will be opening of whole can of worms from you sphinxes) so evolution is not applicable to this topic.

Just don't forget to steer the boat.

Regarding evolution: Lot's of confusion over this because evolution can refer to things other than a biological process. Novas do grow and change in a way that emulates evolution, just as battle tactics can evolve in the face of new technology and enemies. The arguement that Novas are a seperate species seems to me to be a slightly different to the arguement that individual Novas can evolve.

It is not the ability to push the boundaries of Lemakian Evolution (as opposed to Darwin's methods) that concern me. No man is an island and I have to deal with concerns that arise if, and this is only to provide an example, Redback decides to take his fresh meat ala carnivore from my neighbors.

It changes how they look at me after they've watched a nova with shark-like teeth devour their beloved Betsy the milk cow.

We do not mutate. Mutation is simply the result of random genetic change, and is actually usually a part of Darwinian evolution, not 'I got exposed to radiation so now I'm a mutant.' Radiation injury is not mutation. It's injury. Children born of irradiated parents may be mutated, because radiation can damage (and thus change) genetic material. These situations are both radically different from what happens to us.

Our change is the result of choice, thus 'autoevolution.' The word isn't in the dictionary, but it still has meaning: 'auto,' indicating a reflexive action, and 'evolution' because that's the closest word we can use to describe what we do.

Rather than randomly changing and seeing if those changes kill us or not (that is, mutating), we actually grow in a direction which is theoretically beneficial. As Jager points out, there is still an analogue to the evolutionary dead end, but directed growth is still happening here.

And incidentally, saying that we can't be evolving because we're still human is ... really kinda bogus. Look at yourself. In what way are you 'still human?' You started out human, yes, but now you're different. Whether that's a form of evolution or not is a semantic issue which isn't terribly interesting to me.

I've received three PMs asking for an explanation of my comment of Lemarkian versus Darwinian evolution.

Jean Baptists Lamarck was a French botanist and invertebrate zoologist who formulated one of the earliest theories of evolution. He was the first to suggest that species developed from other species and postulated species transformed into more complex species through the inheritance of acquired characters and directional evolution. Thus, spontaneously generated microbes, over generations, became plants, lower animals, vertebrates and, finally, men. His beliefs have been summarized into four Laws:

First Law:
Lifeforms tend to continually increase their volume, complexity and perfection until they pass the term of their development.

Second Law:
The production of a new organ or part results from a new need or want, which continues to be felt over time, and from the new movement which this need initiates and causes to continue. This is sometimes referred to as the Psychical Factor.

Third Law:
A body part that is used more often will, over time, grow larger and become more complex. A body part that is not used will, over time, atrophy and become less differentiated until it is lost altogether. This is now known as the Law of Use and Disuse.

Forth Law:
All that has been acquired or altered in a lifeform over its life is passed onto its offspring. This is now known as the Inheritance of Acquired Characters. Although Lamarck was an enthusiastic proponent of the Inheritance of Acquired Characters, he did not originate this idea.

While many of Lemark's theories had fallen into disrepute in favor of Darwin's work, the advent of novas have brought a new examination of the underlying concepts.

The forth law there was the kicker. The common example is the idea that giraffes have long necks because they stretch their necks reaching for high branches ... and then pass on those 'learned' traits to their offspring. Which (for most characteristics of most animals) isn't so.

Of course, I don't think there's any evidence to suggest that novas pass on their abilities to their offspring (though I don't think there have been any public studies of that, either). Still, the general idea of evolution through individual development is relevant.

Due in part, one would suspect, to the very low fertility rate among novas. If you were to calculate the average would there have been even one birth a year since 2000?

Yes, I'm back.

Do none of you ponces ever stop to think that taint's just the quantum version of a horrible sports injury? You push your powers too far too fast and bad crap happens to you.

Ignore those Terat nutjobs and their "Ooh, it's evolution." attitude. Losing control of your powers isn't a good thing. Going full-on "Dahmer" insane isn't a good thing. Leaking taint from your skin and corrupting everything in a 10 mile radius isn't a good thing.

Listen to Big Daddy Sphere. He knows whats best for you little sphinx buggers.

Sphere,

I'm extremely thankful for the option developed by the "Terat nutjobs." In the wake of my...conversation (or perhaps conversion would be a better term), I have been able to mitigate further buildup of Taint, and am altogether pleased with the results. Indeed, a day may come when I can use this redirected Taint for personal improvement, and that certainly does not upset me in the least.

I've long believed that Novakind is simply an evolutionary step beyond homo sapiens. Now, I am coming to an understanding of Taint as merely an additional tool available to us, one that only just now are some of us coming to grasp and manipulate to our needs.

The associated aberrations are a different matter. That said, I have little doubt that, in time, the matter of aberrations will be dealt with and corrected (if not for us, then for our children). For now, I am coming to think of it as an issue that is part of the "breaking in" period for Novakind.

You're talking out of your fundamentals, mate. You might have been able to reduce the effects, but it's a finger in a dam that's cracking all the way down. I know a little about the zen tricks Mal's boys use and it's not stopped the majority of them being psychotic tentacleheads has it.

Stop trying to fool yourself with this evolution rubbish. We were a freak accident. Our bodies weren't designed to handle the stress our powers put them under. So every time we stretch too far we twist and break a little more.

You want to become some star-headed deity, then good luck. But you'll fail, you'll go nuts, and then someone like me will have to burn you down to save the planet.

It's become more like a hobby than a calling.

The bulk of your post is simply not worth dignifying with a response. That said....

This isn't a matter of deification, Sphere. It is simply an acceptance that we are an advancement beyond "baseline" humanity, and a proper reaction to that realization. If you want to think of yourself as a freak accident, that's fine...but be prepared to get out of our way, because we aren't going to come to a halt for your squeamish misconceptions.

TimeSlip, can you describe your conversion to us?