Steve says,

"A Year!?! And basically yes, we work with and sometimes for Aeon. When you went all public, well, it was up to us to look into this. But a year? Please, tell me about it."

Somehow she trusted Steve and suddenly the words just seemed to pour out of her.

"I remember how I erupted, I remember being picked up by Aeon - I even remember their training and all the "we-must-be-careful-and-hide-our-true-natures-from-the-public-eye, until-the-day-comes-and-humanity-will-know-the-truth." speeches. I always thought what are my powers good for, if I'm not allowed to put them to do some good? I remember all these little things so well... as if they happened yesterday... but...but..." she struggles for words and seems to fail, tears welling up in her eyes.
Frustrated she starts anew.
"The next thing I remember is waking up with absolutely no clue - total black out. I found some personal stuff, which must've belonged to me, but it didn't make much sense and suddenly I started dating actors and producers in Hollywood... I feel so stupid now..." she is on the brink of crying.

Steve makes soothing sounds and says,

"Shh... It's ok. Really, it'll be ok."

Steve pauses, looks at Andrew, and says,

"Joani, right now I see three possibilities for what's happened here. That doesn’t mean there aren’t others, but I want you to think about these and see if any make sense. The first, well, it’s possible before you erupted your thoughts were normally pretty jumbled. Some people are like that. Eruption didn’t change that… until all of a sudden, it did. Your mind got its act together and boom, your thoughts are quantum powered now. Suddenly everything is obvious and you don’t understand what or why you acted the way you did before. If that’s the case then you’re basically a different person.”

“The other explanations are grimmer. Does dating actors and producers seem... out of personality for you?”

Steve waits and sees how Joani is taking this.

(London, England - bit past Noon)

They walked up the street from an alleyway two blocks down. Ulric kept the collar of his black trenchcoat upturned to both keep out the early afternoon shower as well as make it difficult for him to be identified. He held an umbrella up for himself and Cody. It was warm for a London day in winter, which was to say it was cold, raining, and miserable.

They came to the address. They had gained enough wear on them to fool the casual observer as to how they got this far in the city without a coach or cab. Ulric nodded to Cody then walked up to the door. He knocked on the door and waited for the servant to respond.

When the butler answered the door, Ulric met him squarely in the eyes.
"I am here to talk to Mathew Satterfield," he commanded imperiously. "Inform him it is a most important matter."
The butler almost stumbles back, his awe losing to Ulric's dominating presence.
"This way sir," the butler manages.
Once the butler takes them to a waiting room with a roaring fireplace, Ulric has one further command.
"Tell Herr Satterfield that I am someone important, but not who
I am. Are we clear?"
Again, his statement was not a request, but a command.

Cody folows behind Ulric, as if his gentleman. His attire had been carefully chosen to project the wealthy livery of a servant: classy, yet not to overshdow his "employer."

As always, the whispers of many minds float through his mind like ghosts, revealing intentions subliminally to Cody's 6th sense.

Upon entering the house, Cody does a scan of the entire premises, locating any and all minds within the household. Upon locating Mr. Satterfield Cody delves in fully, listening in on the man's thoughts in order to preempt any escape attempt.

With a heavy gulp Joani suppresses her impulse to cry and nods while she tries to access the information Steve asked for.

Her eyes frantically focus and unfocus until she gives in and with a burst starts to cry. "I can't!... It's all gone!... I... I..." she gasps for air, "I can only recall the last year (sobs), and even that only hazy. I can't remember ever being much into movies."

She stands up and turns away from the two men, embarressed by the total loss of selfcontrol. Slowly she calms down. "I'm sorry... I can't tell you what happened before my eruption... its... gone..." her voice sounding extremely sad as she realizes the truth.

With a heavy gulp Joani suppresses her impulse to cry and nods while she tries to access the information Steve asked for.

Her eyes frantically focus and unfocus until she gives in and with a burst starts to cry. "I can't!... It's all gone!... I... I..." she gasps for air, "I can only recall the last year (sobs), and even that only hazy. I can't remember ever being much into movies."

She stands up and turns away from the two men, embarressed by the total loss of selfcontrol. Slowly she calms down. "I'm sorry... I can't tell you what happened before my eruption... its... gone..." her voice sounding extremely sad as she realizes the truth.

Andrew remains within the flabby body he had crafted, No point in showing my face, as it is we may have a problem if the Sphynx has been manipulating her this far what with Steve's face now in her mind. Andrew sighs stands beginning to pace the small room as he listens to the rest of the young lady's story.

"Joani, I am sorry," he says finally, all traces of jovility out of his voice. He is genuinely sorry for this girl who has clearly been used by the somebody.

Andrew leans over to Steve, "join me outside for a moment?"

"Excuse us for a moment," he says to Joani and they exit the room.

Outside Andrew says to Steve, "Is she telling the truth? If so this Sphinx may be more powerful that we first assessed."

She watched the two men leaving the room contemplating her situation. No matter how hard she tried to remember what happened before her eruption she simply couldn't. It seemed almost as if she had no life, no parents, no origin before the incident.
Trying to calm down she wiped away the tears and closed her eyes to regain her composure.

Get yourself together, Joani. Gotta be strong now.
Still a little bit suspicious about everything she used her X-Ray-Vision to keep track of the two gentlemen and suppressed the urge to try to listen to what they were talking.
(Hi-End EM Scan active)

Only briefly stepping out with Andrew Steve replies,

"She is, and you should look up 'Scarface' in the data logs."

Steve steps back and says,

"Joani, when did you... 'wake up'? When did things become clear for you and when did you realize you'd been manipulated?"

Andrew gives Steve a confused look, "You mean that movie? The one with Edward James Olmos?" He shakes his head and reenters the room behind Steve.

OCC: I know it was Al Pacino, I figured Andrew's from an alternate world why not mix it up

"It felt like blacking out, shortly after I completed my training at Aeon. I should've been suspicious right away, but instead I thought it was a good idea to get involved in the moviebusiness, since I've changed." she looked down at herself and struck a little pose to emphasis how she changed.

"That's about a year ago. Lately I got bored with just dating actors and producers, so I decided to get involved in acting myself. I realized about two days ago that I had been setup. I woke up with a strange sense of dread - as if I spent the last year with doing nothing of real importance. Then I thought how stupid it was to violate one of Aeons directives and reveal myself to the citizens of New York by flying around at New Years eve. Ever since things kept getting clearer and clearer. I'm convinced that someone made me do all those stupid things."

After giving it a small pause she added "All that is sooo not like me. I would never do such things if I was in my right mind."

Steve winces and says, "Make that ScarCrow." *Lorean, would you please look up and tell Andrew about Scarcrow from my original reality. He was in the news in 2002 or so fighting Pax.*


Back inside, Steve sighs at what Joani says, this was what he'd been thinking and he's about to be the bearer of bad news. Steve says,

"OK... the good news is I think I know what happened. I could be wrong, I'm working off limited information and... well... I could be wrong. But... brace yourself."

Steve takes a breath,

"Normal domination, or mind control, is rare and it's effects are short term. It can't be done for long periods of time because it takes a lot of concentration and people need to eat, sleep, and answer the phone. Basically running two bodies is very hard."

"However, there's a rare varient which works differently. The controller doesn't need to run two bodies because they actually become the victim. They step inside and the victim's personality is submerged while this is happening."

"So... if you wanted to be in movies, you could take over someone who had a perfect body."

"There's a ethical telepath I work with. I had him mind probe you to find out what was going on. That was roughly two days ago. I think at that point whoever did this realized they were about to be caught and jumped ship."

Joani was shocked by Steves words and felt as if someone had hit her really hard in the stomach "I think I'm going to throw up..."

She looked at him helplessly trying to comprehend the extend of his statement while shaking her head in disbelieve.

Andrew looks confused until he receieves a communication from Lorean informing him about the Scarcrow, "Oh ... crap."

Andrew shakes his head, this is far worse than he had thought, granted he expected that this woman had been under some very powerful telepathic control or, more likely, a rider personality programmed in by this Sphinx person. Then again that could still be the case, best not to jump to too many conclusions.

Steve's actions flow as he smoothly steps over, picks up a waste paper basket, steps back and hands it to Joani. (Fast Tasks On)

He says, "Feel free."

As Steve watches Joani in concern and waits for her to get her balance, he mentions to Andrew,

"Crap indeed. And I don't think our Body Jumper is our Sphinx. Hanging out with the Hollywood crowd is hard to reconcile with a heavy involvement in politics and economics."

"And to make matters worse, she is still out there and will do it again. Heck, maybe she already has."


Steve does some node pings to see if there are any novas nearby.

She refused Steves offer and put the basket on the table.
"It's ok... I just remembered some dates which I rather wouldn't like to remember... god, those guys must've thought that I'm desperate." She shook her head, trying to get rid of some unpleasent pictures in her mind.

After regaining her balance she addressed both men "I'm not going to do nothing about this. You obviously are after this culprit, too and I'm much more than inclined to put this madness to an end. Whoever is responsible for this, he took my past and wasted a year of my life - I'm not going to let him get away with this."
Her voice sounding confident and determined.

*Hollywood*

You don't detect any novas except for yourselves and Joani. Andrew returns a very odd signature, but you are used to that, has to do with him not having any traditional organs. It's like his entire body is a node, although extremely diffuse.


*London*

(Only two other minds in the building, the butler and Satterfield, the butler is very excited to have the President of the EU in the house. Satterfield is unconcerned and reading the morning paper.)

The butler hurries into the kitchen where Satterfield is finishing his breakfast and addresses his gentleman. "Sir, I hate to disturb your breakfast, but the appointment you've been waiting for has arrived. I was not aware that it would be such an important personage, or I would have had our best dishes laid out and more than tea and scones prepared. Oh, and he asked that I not tell you his name in advance. I think he wants it to be a surprise."

Satterfield raises an eyebrow at his butler. "Thank you George, I will attend them directly. In the meantime you can serve them tea." He goes back to reading his paper until George leaves the room. Once George leaves, he takes out his pen and writes on the paper in a bold hand, 'Appointment about to commence, more when done,' and draws a box around the note several times as if trying to memorize what he is seeing. (Cody picks up his thoughts, excited by not agitated, he is following directions from the sphinx implanting a note in his own mind so that if those he is about to meet mess with his mind the sphinx will still know that the meeting occurred.)

After he is done he crumples the note and heads to the study where George is in the process of serving you tea and scones. When he walks through the door you notice that he is a tall man with dark hair and blue eyes and well dressed. He enters and his eyebrows raise in surprise as he sees Ulric, but he recovers quickly and takes a seat in on of the leather chairs set in a simi-circle around the fireplace. (Thoughts: Oh this is just ducky, this thing goes all the way up to the big cheese himself.)

"Genlemen, be welcome, I have been expecting a visitor, but I did not expect someone at your level Mr. President."

Steve answers,

"'He' is probably a 'she'. No point in switching sexes if you're planning on staying a while."

"And Joani... fair warning. You don't need to do this. The more you work with us, the more you learn about us, the more you'll enter our world. It'll be like tasting of the fruit of knowledge. If you enter our world, you'll never leave."

Andrew nods, his face very serious, "He's not kidding. There've been more than a few time I wish I hadn't taken the red pill ... err hadn't opened that door, so to speak. And if he's right and this is something else ... well this may get very dangerous before we get to the bottom of things."

Andrew is fidgety, the whole idea that somebody could jump into another person and ride them like a hand inside a puppet was disturbing. Add to that the fact that they might be bringing yet another person into their circle was concerning, this could all be a trap. He trusted Steve's judgement but nobody was infalible.

Steve sends,

*Lorean, tell Cody and Omar that Miss Walters was the victim of a ScarCrow and he's still out there.*

"I will make them aware Steve. If it is any consolation, the link implant should give some aid in preventing that from happening to any of the novas in the crew. Since the link operates on telepathic wavelengths it should provide some small interference against anyone trying to attack you telepathically. It may not be much and it may not prevent the attempt, but at the very least now that I am aware of it I can instantly determine if one of you becomes compromised or is attacked."

(To Ulric and Cody)
*Steve sends word that Ms. Walters was compromised by a ScarCrow-like nova. Sending details on that now.* (She gives the history of the ScarCrow from our original timeline. She also repeats for everyone else that the link will work as a detection system against telepathic attack.)

"Thanks for the warning but what would you do if we switched places? Besides that - I got nothing to go to and you guys are the only link I have. Maybe we can find a way to trace him back? Don't turn me down, please.", Joani pleaded.

Lorean sends to everyone over the link. *Given that Ms. Walters has been previously compromised, it might be prudent to either not give her a link or if so, not directly connect her the way the rest of you are. I fear that having been once breached, her mind might be more susceptible to future attempts. Of course, it may also mean that she is even harder to attack a second time, but lacking any way to test that, it would be best to proceed with caution.*

Andrew looks to Steve and shrugs, "You seem to have a knack for picking up strays my friend."

Turning to Joani, Andrew offers her his hand, "My name is actually Andrew, it's a pleasure." He hesitates for a moment and then figures, What the hell, she'll find out soon enough anyways, before shape shifting back to his normal appearance. In mid shake the fat and slightly repugnant Phineous is replaced by Andrew, his reddish hair lightly tousled, and his pale complexion beaming as he smiles warmly. The suit is replaced with a more comfortable set of cotton trousers and a sport coat.

"My apologies for the deception."

Ulric digested the information at super-human speeds, but none of it left him feeling any better. If anything, with the additional information provided by Cody, he was a downright grim man when Mathew arrived.

To Cody,
Change of tact here. I'm going to see if I can switch him. I'm going to try and convince him we know more than we do, yet we are still befriending him.

Ulric used the tea to give himself a moment to set the stage and breed a bit of tension in Satterfield.

"I want you to tell us what you know, Matthew. I want you to confirm what we already know about you and the rest."
A pause.
[Natural Agitator to bring about comraderie]
"But first I want to impress upon you how important this is. These matters, which you treat so cavalierly, are crucial in the fate of our world. I'm not talking about Presidents and Prime Ministers here! I am talking about Genocide and Global War."

"All great events start out with small actions. Your small action may have grave consequences for the future. For the future of you and people gifted like you, as well as the whole of humanity."

"You want to know what I'm about, undoubtably. I am about putting armies more under the control of citizens they draw their strength from. I about building hospitals and schools in the darkest, least advanced part of the world. I am for people like you and I being both happy, useful - if that's what you want, and safe."

"Safe? Yes safe, because you are being used and I don't think you truly understand, or have been told, the stakes of the game. For me, the fate our Nation-State is as important to me as ... as your life. You are a citizen I've sworn to protect, so I am here to try. I guaruntee you that the people using you have no such concern."

A sip of tea.

"Now, tell me what you know."

Joani gladly accepts Andrews apologies and instead of shaking his hand she gives him a little hug.

"Unfortunately I can't tell much about myself - you know my name already and we seem to have something in common. I think we should go somewhere less public. Do you know a place where I can stay?"

Omar frowns. The Scarecrow was a frightening nova. He could hide in anyone and use them to manipulate others. If they were dealing with such a nova, they might have to resort to more extreme measure. A non-violent approach might be doomed to failure.

"Lorien? Is there any other information on abilities or powers, other than the link, that would help us defend or detect posession by the Scarcrow or similar nova? How were they able to combat the Scarecrow in our original timeline?"

Omar realized that he was sweating from nervousness.

Satterfield hangs on your every word and considers carefully before answering, "I didn't realize things were so dire. I'll be happy to tell you what I know although it really isn't much." (Cody continues to scan his thoughts for dishonesty, but the man seems guinuinely awed by Ulric's speech and he seems to weigh the situation in his mind before deciding to cooperate.)

"About 6 months ago I was contacted by a man who said that he had proof of a conspiracy to control the world and that Aeon was behind it. I demanded to know his proof of course and he did prove it to my satisfaction, though he couldn't give any details who was behind it. That part seemed like a lot of conjecture to me. The conspiracy itself was obvious though, the media all began publishing and broadcasting the same sorts of information with almost no dissent, Politicians cooperating and not allowing partisanship to interfere in with change. Oh, it wasn't really that obvious at first, but once you know to look for the signs, it amazes me that others haven't spotted it." He stops to take a drink of the tea, "Of course all of the changes I have seen seem to be good so far, but as Harold says, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and once they have total control what is to stop them from abusing that power. Well, I did the only thing in my power to do, I have tried to expose our existence to the world. Once everyone knows 'they' will not be able to control us."

Swallowing hard he continues, "Well, that's what I thought anyway, Harold seemed to be very sure, it never occurred to me that he might be using me. Anyway, he said that an agent of the Conspiracy would contact me eventually, but I didn't expect it to be you sir." He smiles ruefully for a moment, "Or that perhaps it was we who were part of a conspiracy. If I had realized that you were part of what is happening I never would have doubted that things would turn out right."

(edited the post to correct the name of the Psiad, and to remove mention of Joani. I forgot that Satterfield only knew the Psiad.)

Steve sends back to Lorean, *Understood.*

(To Joani) Steve says, "Well, that's an answer and a decision."

Steve reaches forwards and attempts to take Joani's hand, assuming she lets him he shakes it and says,

"Welcome Sister. Call me Steve."

Steve smiles and says,

"He's talking about himself. Others too. Way back when I interviewed him, then a few days later he erupted. He's the third of my friends to erupt too. It would take an outrageous amount of skill and luck to find your body jumper, fortunately we have both."

Steve puts on his Professional Investigator hat,

"First we review and examine the last year of your life. That means reviewing everything you can remember. In addition I want to go through your things and see what Ms. X has purchased and used. The more insight we have into how her mind works and what her habits are the easier she'll be to find. Just knowing what kind of soap or underwear she likes might be enough to identify her in the next body."

"Then we'll bring in my telepathic friend and see if she left any traces he can run down. Then, and perhaps most importantly, we teach you how to shield your mind so this can't ever happen again."


(Activate E-Vision as appropriate, Fast Tasks, Lie Detector, & Investigative Prodigy are still on, Luck Roll please).

ANdrew arches an eyebrow toward Steve, professional detachment was one thing, but sometimes he had to wonder. "Woah there let's slow down just a touch. Firstly, Joani, where did you come to today? Let's start there gather what we can and then we can head someplace safe where you can talk to Steve and let him do his PI thing."