With a sense of making a good beginning the meeting broke up and each nova made their way out and toward their new tasks.

Weeks past and progress was made slow in some cases and fast in others. The Aeon Society began to prove itself to be a significant boon, tracking down rumors of meta-humans and unusual events and dealing with all but the most drastic of situations. This has made it possible for you all to do the things you chose to focus on. With each new meta-human discovered the Aeon Society has insured that they are not a danger to themselves or to society and given them the brief rundown on what they can expect and advice to not flaunt their abilities. Most importantly, it has insured that proto-novas are given accurate and graphic details about Taint and how it will effect them if they overuse their powers.

Michael Donnighal has put considerable effort into working with the Aeon Society and fostering a culture of 'responsibility'. Those who work with him get the distinct impression he is working to make up for what he did in the other timelines, and he is definitely putting all his efforts into prevention this time around. Of course only time will tell if he will remain on the straight and narrow.

Halloween 1923.

Max Mercer communicates to Lorean that there is a 'Situation' in Den Helder, in Northern Holland. Apparently, there was a fire that is in the process of burning half the town, and from the reports he has heard, it was started by a man who was made of living fire. He says that it will take his nearest Society folks hours to get there and being Halloween he has been unable to even contact them. "I believe this is a new meta-human possibly out of control and I would appreciate if you could check into it."

Following the message, Lorean askes everyone to assemble and if you agree she teleports you to the ship.

Andrew recieves the mental communique and smiles. As nice as it has been to immerse himself within the scietific community and work with many of the men whom he considered hereos growing up he has been forced to the realization that his intellect now outstrips many of them and his knowledge removes the joy of discovery from his endevours.

He closes the book he was reading and walks out into the foyer. William, his bulter, appears as though expecting him. "I'll be going out for a while William, please let any callers know that I will get in touch with them as soon as I return."

"Will you be needing me to call you a cab sir?"

"No I believe I will walk, I need to ... clear my head." Andrew accepted an offered Jacket and left, the door clicking shut behind him. Andrew walked briskley down the street until he was sure William would not see him and then ducked into a copse of trees and activated his communications device, "Ready for teleport."

In a flash of blue and white energy and the odd smell of peaches the copse disappeared and was replaced with the bridge of the ship. Andrew could no longer think of the ship as Lorean, too long had he interacted with he humanoid body for the mechanical construct to retain the personality, to him now it was simply 'the ship'.

Steve gets the message and mentally reviews his calendar and appointment book. Then he notified his secretaries* that he was going to be out for an unknown period of time and they should make adjustments. This wasn't the first time he'd done this, the first several times he'd even done it as a training excerise.

Steve stepped into his bathroom and then was aboard the ship. Oddly here he both felt his age and also younger. He'd never been able to put his finger on exactly why. Perhaps it was not having to wear as many masks here. On the Earth he was a somewhat out of place young man with far too much knowlege and wisdom for his age. Here he was a nova.

Or perhaps being on Lorean was being in a different era. Like most of them he'd aquired the habit of emotionally thinking of Lorean the woman and Lorean the ship as different people, sisters perhaps.

(* In this time secretaries are male and it's considered a position of great importance and class).

Omar was in a heated discussion, about the merits of democracy, with a group of tribal sheiks, when the message came over the intercom. Acting as if nothing had happened, he cut short the discussion, saying that he needed to think over what they said. Thanking each of them personally, he told them that he would call on them at a later time to finish their negotations.

"Leave me...please". Omar requested firmly but politely to the few remaining scribes and assistants. Once they left, he sent a message to his Iranian assistant in Persia by way of Lorien's communicators. Once hashing out a few minor issues, he left a message with his assistants to speak with Azimuddin if they have any questions. Once that stuff was out of the way, Omar sent his request to lorien for him to be brought aboard.

Once on board, he headed straight for the meeting room.

Inwardly Cody sighed. Living in the 20's meant having to do without many of the modern conveniences that would have eased his current...condition. In spite of how...tedious...language had become, he found that he missed the feel of sound vibrating in his body. Such a simple pleasure, now taken from him. And yet in its place was a vast new universe of communication. The scope and depth that telepethy allowed made the rudimentary and imprecise symbology of words feel like the broken stutters of an infant.

So in keeping up the ruse of their presence in this timeline Cody was forced to handle his brewing public affairs via the even more tedious and time consuming written word, or as was the case in this current moment, an "interpreter." The world wasn't ready for sub-vocal microphone technology..something he would need to speak with Andrew about.

Cody was deep in a meeting with his Foundation lawyers when the signal came from Lorean. He was aware of the incident the moment it had reached Lorean, as part of his mind was nearly always communing with the ship and her sensors. Perhaps more than anyone onboard, he could feel the Soul of their vessel growing as she explored her now dual nature and humanoid form. His feelings for her were confusing at best given the level of intimacy they shared. Not many people could understand the multi dimensional communication telepathy allowed. Only her and Donnighal had seemed open to exploring those depths, although the latter wasn't nearly as pleasurable coming more from an experimental rather than experiential framework. With Lorean he could go deep and her mind was organized along more holographic lines.

He sent a signal through the ship's mainframe and simultaneously the phone in his office rang. His secretary answered and informed Cody that there had been an emergency "at home."

--Gentlemen, I'm afraid you will have to excuse me-- Cody signed and his interpreter translated smoothly.
--I will contact you when I return and we can finalize the preparations. Thank you for your time.--

He signed to his staff. --I'll be taking the car-- and took the elevator down to the garage. The sleek "modern" sedan waited for him and with a mental cue its doors unlocked. Once inside, a secomd command brought him to the docking bay inside the ship.

Adjusting his cufflinks, Cody stepped out and made his way to the bridge.

After everyone had gathered Lorean presented a brief summary of what to expect in Den Helder. The modern city that was the base of naval operations for the country was not there yet. This 1920's Den Helder was a much smaller place and the 'old town' was half ablaze at this moment. Morgan stepped forward wearing a doctors coat and holding a medical bag. "Gentlemen, and lady, I will open a warp just at the edge of the downtown area, and while you are dealing with the new nova, Lorean and I will be seeing to the wounded and healing what injuries we can." Lorean smiled and straightened her nurses outfit and added, "We've moved into orbit above the town and I believe our fledgling is somewhere near the south end of town, but I don't have any more precise directions than that. Good luck."

Cody, mindful that they are now operating in the realm of possible public scrutiny, decides it prudent to unveil the "Ace up his sleeve." Only Courier had seen his friend in full battle dress before so it may come as a surprise to some of the other team members.

While still on the bridge, there appears around Cody a spatial distortion and within an instant his body has been wrapped in what appears to be sleek muscular metal. Inside the bio-titanium shell of the quantum powered armor a super dense myomer musculature moves and flexes in perfect harmony with his own. The eyes glow a very faint red as the onboard sensor suite comes online.

To blend more into the era, Cody then dons a double-breasted trench coat, scarf and fedora over his battlesuit, the better to conceal his bleeding edge tech and seem as one of the costumed adventurers of the day. It just wouldn't do, after all, for his new public persona as a benign philanthropist to be seen publicly as a meta-human.

Once through Morgan's warp, Cody nods acknoledgement to Lorean and opens his mind, scanning the indicated end of town for the nearest erupting Nova, hoping to pinpoint their precise location and also "check in" on on his or her's state of mind...

Andrew arches an eyebrow toward Cody as he dons a heavy coat to cover his armor. Looking down at himself Andrew is forced to sigh. In order to best look the part as a genious level scientist who spent more time locked in a lab than anywhere else, Andrew had spent much time slightly tweaking his standard appearance. Looking down at the pastey skin of his hands and the paunch above his belt Andrew shook his head. He was sure the thinning prematurly grey hair made the image that much worse.

He shrugged, "Cody, drop me a line, I'm going to do some recon." With that Andrew's form collasped into itself as he took the form of a kestrel and flew through the warp just ahead of the armor clad man. Taking to the skies above the burning town Andrew focused on locating the burning man, the faster he could do that the less damage he could do to the town, or at least Andrew hoped that was the case.

Andrew leapt through the warp and soared into the sky. His wings beat through the chill night air until he found a thermal climb cuased by the fires below. Gaining altitude her scanned about the town looking for the firebug who had caused all this destruction.

As he flew he opened his mind for Cody to contact so that he could lead the others to their quarry.

It had been awhile since Omar had seen everyone in one place. It reminded him that he was from a different place and time. The briefing from Lorien had been brief, if not detailed, and Omar suspected that it was because of the nature of the incident. Information was limited. The damage was not. Half of a town burn.

His eufiber shifted to a one piece wrestling outfit, similar to the circus 'strongmen' of the period. He waited for the others to assemble before giving them a brief outline of his plan. It was simple: Omar would listen for the location of the nova responsible for the fires. Once located, Omar would proceed to the target and try to force it into submission. On the way, Omar would coordinate with the others, on the rescue of anyone trapped in their homes and businesses by fires. They needed to rescue people and apprehend the out of control nova.

Hopefully, noone would get hurt.

Omar stepped through the warp and looked around; his muscles tensed in anticipation.

Steve glanced at Cody's outfit, and for that matter the rest of their outfits, with a grin. He comments "Clothes make the man", does it?

A thought occures to him and he asks Andrew and Lorian, "Do we have any Mox?"

Steve alters his eufiber into a "standard" trenchcoat and scarf, checked his hand gun and then stepped through the warp.

*Moxinoquantamine is a great idea,* Cody thought to the others. *Though given the nature of the eruption it may not be administrable. If that is the case, I believe I know what to do.*

Walter sheltered himself in a narrow alley, flames licking about him, on him, in him, through him. Smoke billowed about, a black migraine that made Walter's eyes water - or would have, if they weren't presently composed of fire.

Walter felt numb. Icy, he thought to himself, taking no joy in the morbid humour. Everything seemed to either happen too slow or too fast - a little girl, the side of her face flame-kissed and burning in an infinitely more horrible way than walter himself was. Scalp blackening, hair quivering like dewy spider silk in the morning's light, disturbed by an almost imperceptible breeze.

And then engulfed.

It reminded Walter of the fevers he would get as a sickly young boy. Everything too fast, too frantic, too disorienting. Eventually, though, he would fall asleep and dream of nothing.

Might be difficult, he thought, going to sleep with flaming eyelids. This time he did laugh. Might have laughed...

The fire got worse. So did Walter's migraine.

It wasn't difficult to find the mind of the erupting Nova. It resonated like a beacon with pain and fear and...heat.

Cody could hear the man's stream of thought, feel the horror of seeing the melting girl, the sense of resigned dark humor that provdided the last bastion of sanity against the burning ruins of his former existence.

Sifting through his mind, Cody had a name in a heartbeat.

*WALTER*

The voice was loud, clear and unmistakable not of his own consciousness and somehow when it spoke, the vlume of the flaming reality seemd to die into the background. As he felt the presence in his mind he caught the image of a melato man with striking angular features and silver-chrome orbs covering his eye sockets. Somehow he knew the man's name to be Cody Salvador.

*We are here to help you Walter. Our team is almost to your physical location but in the meantime lsiten to the sound of my voice. I know the world seems to have gone mad but there is an explanation.*

*Listen closely. A kind of tumor in your brain has opened up your body to the forces of the cosmos. It is the flow of that energy that makes the fire burn. You control that flow and you can shut it down. We have a medicine helps but can't deliver it because your body has been transmuted to living flame. I can help you if you are willing...*

*First, you need to focus. Feel that pounding headache? That's where the energy is being channeled through. Can you feel it? Streaming in as if through a third eye...energy from all around you, flowing into you and beccoming fire. Visualize that eye. It's wide open, dilated. Now see the pupil contracting, letting only a little light through.*

*Good. Now try and shut the eyelids closed...squeeze them shut as if keeping the boogeyman at bay. Squeeze hard. Think about your body. Your human body. Remember the flesh of your fingers and toes. The appearance of your face in the morning mirror.*

The telepath continues to walk towards Walter as he "talks," and monitors the progress he is making.

((OOC: Walter, feel free to interject wherever you need to. Welcome to the game!!))

Andrew circled over the the city and watched, he watched as the flames seemed to spread against the wind. Gotcha! Soaring down the thermal climbs Andrew shed speed and altitude as he circled the area. Tighter and tighter the circle became until he finally found the burning man huddled in an alley. Come on Cody, where are you? I've found him, let me lead you guys to him ...

Andrew alighted on the rooftop and looked down, the man's quantum born power had transformed him into living flame, Damn that's cool ... Andrew shook off the thought, Human Torch or otherwise this man was causing death and destruction in his wake. Hopefully they could find a way to stop him. If need be they could probably kill. Andrew knew well though that these powers were difficult to control at first, he might not be able to stop himself and revert back to normal. After three days in a bucket I can empathize with that ... he thought.

Andrew shrugged, ...Burn that bridge when we cross it I guess... he thought with a smirk. He took and moment and shifted his form. He took on a bipedal shape with legs optimized for running, leaping and falling. Around the otherwise human-like shape he wrapped a thick leathery skin that would help protect him from the heat and fire of this man.

Andrew dropped the three stories off the roof to the street level at the end of the alley. He put his open hands in front of him and began walking toward the burning man. "Don't be afraid, my name is Andrew, I am here with freinds to help you ..."

Walter snapped to attention so fast, he was surprised he didn't get mental whiplash. Someone was speaking in...his mind? He hadn't thought the day could get any madder, but apparently there were yet unplumbed depths of insanity to be reached.

And yet...

An explanation. Maybe not the most likely one, but it came from a very self-assured sounding voice in his head, and somehow he didn't think it was purely a figment of his overtaxed mind. He struggled past the pain and the confusion, struggled to focus on the this Cody Salvador's words. A few in particular.

Help me...tell me how to stop this. Please...

And Cody Salvador told him . Walter did his best to follow the instructions.




Walter held up a hand and said in Dutch, "Keep your distance. I'm trying to undo this damned madness but I could....I could hurt you very badly....Just give me a moment, I beg."

*That's great Walter. Keep it up...we're almost to you...*

Walter sees a man round the corner into the alley. Pale red eyes glow from within the shadows his high trench and fedora cast over his face, and his hands are visible in some kind of metallic gloves. Despite his menacing appearance, Walter knows instinctively that this is the man inside his mind. Following closely behind is another man also in a trench and scarf but who's dashing features are plainly visible and the enormous awe-inspiring bulk of a dark skinned circus strongman. ((...c'mon gang!))

*Greetings brother*

There is a new kind of warmth inside Walter's mind now. As he hears those two words there is also a sense of admiration, mixed with awe and an undercurrent of seriousness...the sort of feeling one has in the presence of a birth. The feelings are clearly a part of the shadowed stranger's communication, and he realizes that the "words" he "hears" in his mind are more holographic than mere language, more full of content and meaning.

*How's that energy valve coming along? I am going to help you further by sapping the stored energy out of your body. You've been transformed for some time now so when the juice runs out you should naturally revert back to normal...at least that should be the case provided you haven't developed any...complications. And don't be alarmed...the process won't harm you you in any way.*

Walter feels a a wavering in the energy flowing through his throbbing headache, a slight tug that tries to divert the steady stream of raw quantum forces fueling the inferno. Somehow, Walter instinctively feels like he could fight back if he wished, pulling the river of fire and force back into himself. Does he trust the stranger?

((Activate Quantum Energy Siphon. Not sure if Walter wants to (or can't help but) resist.))

Omar raced with Steve and Cody along the streets of the burning city. He suspected that Cody might be communicating with whomever was causing the inferno. If that was the case, the target would be informed of their arrival. Hopefully the target was in a frame of mind such that they could reason with it.

The burning buildings around Omar gave off a lot of heat, but his thick armored skin barely felt it. He wondered if the occupants of the buildings were able to get out safely. Sadly, he could see burning figures through the windows of their homes. Blackened bodies of people who had run from their homes while on fire, lie in the streets in macabre poses. Most of them still smoldered. Every so often, Omar thought he saw one of them move, grimly flopping in the dirt. He shuddered slightly when he saw them, and just as quickly put it out of his mind; he had a mission to complete. There would be time later to stop the fires and rescue victimes.

Omar stops as he sees a man made of living flame. A small figure lay near him, still smoking and twitching visibly. Omar choked back bile as he realized it was a child. When the figure noticed him, Omar gave him a sympathetic smile.

"It's Ok, we are here to help."

Meanwhile many blocks away Morgan and Lorean made their way through the streets looking for those who would need assistance. Stopping by the form of a burned woman holding a crying baby, he kneeled down and sent the flows of power into the child first. He was surprised that the baby didn't have a burn on her. The woman had sheltered the baby at the expense of her own health. Smiling he quickly placed his glowing hand on the woman's forehead and brought her the relief she sought. When he withdrew she was still covered with soot, but new skin scarred covered he face and arms and back. She looked up in amazement and gratitude, but before she could even offer thanks he had moved on with Lorean going before him doing triage and pointing out the most injured. She also worked to distract people so that as few as possible would notice the miraculous healing.

Back in the alley a huge gout of flame exploded from the building beyond where the fiery man sat just now looking up. The situation could become dangerous for those unable to cope with the heat and flames.

Steve looked around at all the fire and then watched Andrew shift and fly away. In theory he could hop from building to building looking for the fire bug and helping people. But while Andrew-the-bird could use his powers openly, Steve felt it would be pushing his luck to much to try.

Besides there was an easier and quicker solution that should work better than a random search. Using his super-human analytical powers he would... watch Cody. After a moment Cody's body language changed and from the direct way he was moving it was obvious he was on the "trail". Steve did the obvious and followed, letting Cody and his armor take the point.

Over the link Steve sent,

*I think Cody has a solid trail on this guy. Trust the telepath to just reach out and find him. I'm following.*

The fire and the smell brought back memories. Vietnam. Airplanes deliberately burning people alive. Making himself useful as a translator so he could stay off the front line... most of the time. You never really forget the smell of burning human flesh.

Steve glanced at someone who Morgan could probably save, glanced away, and glancing back noticed they were dead now. Across the street there was a hand print in the ash. It's size proclaimed it was from a seven year old. It's shape indicated the owner was hurt, when viewed in combination with the the matching two foot prints, the child had fled back into the fire. He was almost certainly dead in that building.

While Steve couldn't feel any heat, every wisp of fire stood out in full detail, every drop of blood screamed for his attention. Locations proclaimed corpses and their history.

Steve slowed down to get his bearings and Cody was a fair bit in front of him when he'd noticed that Cody had stopped. Closing he noticed the fiery man and was almost grateful he had something else to watch.

Andrew looked behind him and saw Cody, Omar, and Steve further back in the alley. He nodded to them and returned his attention to the burning man. He wanted to speak to him but the langauge barrier was preventing that, Cody was probably the only one who could reach this man. Andrew backed-up, awkwardly on his modified legs, to allow room for Cody to pass if need be. "Guys, what's the plan?"

Walter had little option BUT to trust him - them, rather. So far they were the only ones who seemed to have any idea of what's going on and how to stop it. Walter offered no resistance, allowing Cody to take as much of the....whatever it was, energy, out of him as he wanted. All the while he continued focusing on that imaginary eye, willing it shut with fierce strength of will.

And then the building exploded.

It's always something, Walter thought tiredly. The image of the burning girl floated up into his consciousness from the murky depths of dream and memory. Walter knew he had to stop what he'd started, and here was the means, right in front of him. His only hope lay in shutting down this...node. He would be of no use to anyone until that hellish energy ceased transforming his body. So he focused on his task, ignoring everything around him and turning completely inward.

This must end, Cody Salvador. You people do what you can (for surely you can do something) and I'll try to make myself less a problem. Right now that's all I can hope to do.

Cody holds a finger up, signaling the other's that he's got something in the works and to wait just a minute. It takes aproximately 20 seconds for Cody to absorb as much juice as he is able. He will wait another 30 seconds after. If Walter hasn't burned through through the residual energy of his transformation by then Cody will attempt more drastic measures. HE reflected that this was probably the least invasve way to help the man...best to not scare him any more than he already was...

Walter felt the energy trickling out of him and did his best to hurry it along. For a few moments he didn't feel that much different (hmm, still a man of flame standing here), but as the seconds pass, things....changed. His body shivered like it was in heat wave, flames billowing....and then, with a surprising suddenness, they went out. It was just Walter Toren standing there, fully human and mother-naked, his clothes having long since been burnt to a crisp.

Rather embarrassing, really. Walter was too tired to care.

Over the link to his comrades Cody sends,

*Apologies for not being more communicative earlier. It took my total concentration to talk him down. His name is Walter Toren and he is duely frightened. Just like we were during our first times. Does anyone else here speak Dutch? I'm not sure if the cyber-link through Lorean will bypass the language barrier the same way my thoughts can...*

Then back to their new brother,

*Well done Walter.*

As he spoke directly into the fledgling Nova's mind, Cody undid his long trench and wrapped it around the man, revealing his futuristic armor.

*We are all like you. Some of us, myself included suffered through similar agony during our eruptions. You will hear our stories soon, but for now, let us take you somewhere safe and comfortable.*

Cody motioned for Courier to come forward.

*This man here is my good friend Steve. That hypospray he is holding will inject you with a special drug called Moxinoquantamine. It will dampen your powers temporarily until we can teach you how to control them yourself, without hurting anybody.*

Over the link, Cody sends to Lorean.

*I've drained Walter's quantum reserves and he is now back to flesh and blood. We are going to administer the Mox and take him back to the ship for a thorough debriefing...better to lay the whole truth on him now while he is still in shock than to keep drawing out the surprises. My guess is his mind is pretty blown open already so the added shock of inter-temporal space travel should blend in with the rest of the surrealism.*

*How is it going with the crisis response? Do you and Morgan need a hand putting out fires? If need be we can take some of the wounded up to our sickbay for more medical attention from our qualified crew members...*

Lorean sends back, we will be here for quite a while working. Go ahead and take him aboard and we'll join you when we are done. Oh, and don't wait up, it's going to take all night.

Omar waved to Cody and the new nova, Walter as they headed off to Lorien. For now, however, there was a burning city to help, and Omar began running into partially burned domiciles looking to bring people out to safety.

Omar sent his intentions, and a possible course of action to the others over the link:

*I can tolerate the heat and flames. I will try and rescue people from their homes. It may not be possible to save those homes already burning, but it could save others if we stop the fires from spreading.

Omar runs towards the nearest partially burned structure. He will listen for cries of help in any of the others.

"I think he's already fully de-briefed," Andrew quips. He quickly sobers as talk turns to fighting the fires. Andrew dashes to catch up to Omar.

"I've got a plan ..." Andrews legs and skin return to normal but Omar observes his ears grow significantly and become fully articulated. "...I'll locate the victims and tell you where they are. That should save us some time..."

He listens for a moment and points to a nearby building, "Third floor in back, there's an unconscious woman and a small child ... hurry..."

Omar nods to Andrew in acknowledgement, and runs into the building. He smashes through any doors in his way. When he gets to their location, he gently puts the small child under one arm, and fireman's carries the other. Once outside, he deposites them in the street and follows the modified Andrew to the sounds of other victims.

Steve watches and is impressed by the way Cody is dealing with the situation. Then...Steve steps forward and holds up the hypospray. He says,

"In case you speak English I'm Steve Courier."

Steve attempts to gently grab the man's arm, press the hypno against it, and give him a dose.