Okay. I'll try to post a new part each day or so. Enjoy.

PART I

Lucinda opened her eyes and looked up, the cool gray of the ceiling filling her view. With a soft sigh she slipped out of the bed and walked over to the window, her bare feet gliding almost silently across the floor. With a quick and graceful motion of her hand she parted the drapes slightly allowing her to peer out into the night. Her eyes danced across the various buildings of the facility, watching forms move past windows, people occasionally walking in and out of doors from building to building. Finally, Lucinda’s gaze settled upon a simple sign surrounded by landscaped mound. Small lights hidden within the plants illuminated the word “ODIN” on the sign.

“What have I gotten myself into?” she thought for a brief moment as she closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the windowpane. The glass, or whatever it may be, was cool, refreshing even. It was odd though, for the first time Lucinda could feel the miniscule vibrations in the pane from door opening and closing throughout the building.

“What is the matter Cin?” she heard a familiar voice ask in her mind.

“Nothing.” She thought back in reply. “I’m just not as tired as I thought.” she added.

“Not tired as you thought? You no longer require sleep. You know better than to lie to me. I am a mind-reader you know.” Lucinda heard once more in her thoughts, the semi-playful tone obvious.

“I know.” Lucinda said aloud as she turned around in one fluid motion and took a seat on the windowsill. A small shiver run up her back as sat, the thin fabric of her shirt doing little to insulate her otherwise bare bottom. In a way, Lucinda enjoyed the shiver. It reminded her she was still alive. Besides, it would take much colder temperatures than that to be harmful to her quantum infused body anymore.

As she sat Lucinda shifted her gaze to the bed and the slender form that reside there under the covers with one lithe arm resting under a pillow. A small, pleased smile graced Lucinda’s lips for a moment as she watched the form shift slightly.

“I.. I dunno. You know how I get. I look at all of this and wonder what I am doing here. Just a few years ago I was cleaning up botched Opps and taking the occasional contract. Now I’m supposed to be some sort of philosophical leader and fight the good fight. The irony of me being some sort of leader and saving lives almost kills me daily.” She stated as the form on the bed stirred a little more and finally sat up partially.

“I mean, on one level I look at all of this, at what I.. we.. have accomplished and hope it is just the beginning. Then, on another level, it all frightens me Genine. I didn’t like the options put before me and so I told myself there has to be something else. I never thought it would lead to all of this. Divergence… ODIN…” Lucinda sighed.

Genine yawned slightly and stretched, arching her back and clasping her hands together above her head before relaxing back into the pillows again. She frowned slightly as she looked as Lucinda’s silhouetted form in front of the window, her head hanging low. Even though Lucinda gazed down at the floor now, she could feel Genine’s eyes on her. It was an odd feeling, stronger than ever before, but she was becoming used to it ever since she returned from Australia.

“What am I supposed to say Cin? I try to comfort you, to assure you and it does no good. My advice would be to talk a walk about the facility, not as you, but as somebody else. Look at the good we are doing. Talk to people.” Genine said as she as she lifted a hand toward Lucinda, motioning for her to come over.

Lucinda caught the motion out of the corner of her eye and lifted her head. A moment later she was taking a seat on the edge of the bed and placing her hand in Genine’s. With a slight grunt of effort Genine leaned close and gave Lucinda a hug with all the strength she could muster in her lethargic state.

“Now go. I’ll be here when you get back.” Genine whispered before planting a small kiss on Lucinda’s shoulder. Lucinda nodded and stood once more, her shirt changing into jeans and a simple black shirt with the phrase “If I throw a stick, will you go away?” in white across the front. At the same time her body shifted as well, her fine features turning more average. With a small chuckle in her thoughts from Genine’s amusement due to her shirt, she opened the door and stepped out into the hall…

[ 09-02-2002: Message edited by: Cin ]

Part II


Lucinda wandered down the hall, not quite sure where she was going. The smell of coffee hung in the air from the lounge down the hall as she made her way toward it. She pushed the door open and stepped in. Relaxing in a chair around the central table was Chandler Deveraux, the man Lucinda was grooming to replace her. To his right was a large, muscular woman with bright red hair. Finally, to the woman’s right was young blonde man in a nice shirt and tie. All three of them were drinking coffee as they conversed and looked up to Lucinda briefly as she slipped in.

“So you see, you might be able to lift several tonnes and leap kilometers, but that doesn’t make you better than any non-nova. You can do things that “baselines” cannot, but I am also sure that there are things that they can do which you cannot.” Chandler said after he took a sip of his coffee.

“How can you even equate us to the baselines?” the woman asked. “We’re not even on the same scale anymore.”

“Oh? Can you.. I don’t know.. paint well?” Chandler inquired.

“Paint? You mean landscapes and stuff?” she asked in a bit of confusion.

Chandler nodded.

“Well, I took several courses when I was attending collage before my eruption.” The woman answered.

“Yes. But can you paint well?” Chandler asked again.

“Well, no. Not really.” The woman replied.

“So.. even though you took courses you cannot paint as well as some “baselines”? Even hundreds of years ago there were “baselines” that could paint better than you. Does that make them better that you? No. It makes them better at a certain things than you. There are only two traits that all novas share. A lump of flesh in our foreheads that allows us to channel Quantum energy and a higher resistance to disease and injury than “baselines”. That’s it. As a race, if you want to call us that, we are not superior to “baselines”. Can some of us do things better than they can? Yes. Can some of them do things better than us? Also yes. You need to understand Ingot, superiority and inferiority is a matter of perspective. That belief of being a “superior race” is what has led to some of the worst atrocities in history. When you think yourself superior, it is easy to rationalize doing things to others.” Chandler said before taking another sip of his coffee.

Ingot, the large woman, blinked a few times as she thought about Chandler’s words.

“Are we still “human”? That’s a matter of debate. We are no longer the same species, at least on a genetic and scientific level, only because we have an M-R node and a different genetic structure. I think being “human” is more than a matter of scientific classification though. That’s beside the point though. This philosophy is called Divergence because we believe that with your eruption you begin to diverge from the “baselines”. We are something different in various ways and it is in exploring what we are an becoming that we will discover who we are. Not just individually, but as a race as well.” Chandler added.

“I see where you’re coming from. And to tell you the truth, I never thought of it that way. It’s much easier to kill or simply have no regard for baselines when you consider yourself superior. Heck, that belief sure let a lot of Nazis sleep at night after a busy day of murdering Jews in concentration camps.” the blonde man said as he stirred a lump of sugar into his coffee.

“What about Taint? You said you have a way of curing it.” Ingot asked.

“Whoa. Hold on there. Cure? Not really.” Chandler corrected. “Divergence does being with it a way to deal with some of it though. Let me explain. First of all, Taint is the term used for that bit of Quantum that remains in our system after channeling a bunch of it. It’s like that last drop of soda that you can never really get out of the can. Well, if that drop sits there in that can, eventually bacteria and other nasties will grow in it. Taint is the same way. Taint is simply Residual Quantum. Your body can channel Quantum right? Well.. why can’t it channel that bit of Residual Quantum? Answer? It can. It just takes time and effort. It’s like combining several of those “last drops” in several soda cans to make one larger drop that you can more easily drink. That little bit of Residual Quantum can be stored up and when you have enough can be channeled into sometime relatively constructive which we call Reveling. It is kind of like another eruption which you use to diverge from the “baselines” and take another step toward self discovery.”

“Really? Well.. if you can do this, why do you teach it anybody who wants to know?” Ingot inquired.

“Simple. For you to be able to channel the Residual Quantum and Revel, then you have to be a very firm believer in the basics of Divergence. If you believe in Divergence, then you are most likely going to be putting the philosophy to constructive use. But even besides that, if you knew your people were suffering from a horrible illness and you had a way to help them, wouldn’t you give it out to save your people? I sure like to hope so.” Chandler explained.

“Hmm.. I see…” mumbled Ingot under her breath.

Lucinda smile softly to herself as she heard the comprehension set into Ingot’s mind…

[ 09-04-2002: Message edited by: Cin ]