Heck of a post Fox!

Or alternatively, Mike might have Mastery x2 on Telepathy... or even x3.

Anyone remember Warlock from Marvel Comics? The guy with the soul gem? As bad as dealing with his evil side was, dealing with his "good" side was worse.

Sorry I have been unable to post. I have been fighting off a bout of pneumonia- in addition to the problems that come with emergency surgery. (When it rains, it pours)

I hope to be able to make a post in the next day or so.

oy, sounds like Monsoon season for you ... get well and I hope you recover quick.

Hope you enjoy the revelation... Michael has been holding onto that secret for a long time. He caused the Caroline situation, he planned things to on a long scale and waited 80 years for you guys to leave so he could rule humanity and mold them in his image. He also made "Adjustments" to Cody to keep him from questioning anything he did and to give him access to cody's mind in the event he ever needed it. It's a good thing you came to this future timeline... the other versions of Michael out there might not have been so welcoming or so repentant.

I have been waiting for things to pick up on my end...looks like I have returned to a whopper...will post soon after I have absorbed everything.

Also, by "Michael has been holding on to that secret for some time" I take it to mean you have been Fox...

having caught up I must say that the part of me that is Cody is feling quite sick to his stomach and violated right about now. It's going to take me a bit to find his words to respond....

My compliments to Fox for making my jaw fall off.

Also, I find myself glad that I removed Andrew from the room despite the fact that it forces me to sit and wait. The alternative would likely have seen Andrew try to kill Mike ... I knew that bastard was no good!

That would've ended interesting because Joani would've intervened (or at least try to). This is going to be interesting nonetheless.

Fox,

"Code was the only one"? You mean Andrew, right?

Oh, and we posted at the same time but I'll leave mine.

Cody was the only one he made 'adjustments' to. Andrew's mind was not effected, he just had his Taint temporarily negated.

Oh, and for the record. Michael manipulated the Caroline situation in order to test you guys and see what you were really made of. When the situation evolved into you capturing Caroline he saw an opportunity to get into Cody's mind without detection. Cody actually opened his mind to Michael and invited him in... while inside and with Cody distracted he made some very small very minor adjustments to allow him greater access in the future. He also placed some triggers in Cody to allow him to make future adjustments if needed. Over time he also ensured that when the time for you all to leave came around that Cody would advocate your leaving and not questioning the fact that Michael was being left with everything necessary to take the reigns of power into his own hands.

He didn't feel that he needed to make adjustments to the rest of you since he could pretty easily breech your defenses if he wanted to. He also made adjustments to Lorean and programmed himself in some backdoor codes, like the one that Kyria used to teleport aboard without Lorean stopping her or raising defenses or alarms when Michael was put into a coma that time.

As for the present... he is an extremely powerful telepath among other things. He is capable of hearing the thoughts of anyone he chooses, in the case of strong thoughts or emotions, to him it is like shouting. Even those with defenses like you all have he can hear the 'loud' thoughts without eavesdropping.

For those using special abilities to evaluate the situation:
- He does seem quite sincere
- He honestly regrets his past manipulations
- He is deeply in love with Kara
- He was being honest when he said that it was the law that Andrew's taint had to be neutralized.
- He has not told a single lie in the things he said.

Of course, he could just be so good that you couldn't tell he was lying or manipulating you now, but that is up to you to decide.

One last thing. In terms of power, Michael and Kara both are off the scale. None of you have ever sensed anyone with quantum signatures as powerful as they have. 300 years is apparently enough time to really build some serious quantum strength. A couple of you guys are at Q6 and you are a candles next to the twin bonfires of Michael and Kara.

Btw, I hope you guys are enjoying the scene. A lot has come to light of what was going on behind the scenes in the last two chapters.

Mostly mad at myself for accidentally writing myself out of scene before all the good stuff happened ...

heh, sorry. You can always go back if you want. Lorean can pipe the view of the scene into your room to tempt you into going back.

yeah thanks but I think it would damage the scene for him to return considering how he left, I made my bed now I'll lie in it

I've been thinking for a while that they're Borg.

This would be a good time to spend those 10 nova points I gave you during the last chapter. You were just subjected to some very intense quantum fields and that justifies the expenditures.

For the record Kara and Michael are at or near Q10 and they were just using a good chunk of their power to probe Meri when they were blown back onto their asses. That much Q being used and released so suddenly could justify your spending of those NPs if you still have any left. On the other hand if you are saving the NPs to buy down your taint, be sure to hang onto it. Andrew is very close to the cure and it is only a matter of time before he decides he is ready to release the cure IC.

RE: Meri
Did we just lose her?

RE: 10 nova
+60 abilities, here I come.

Meri is still standing there. I don't want to write in her reaction to what has just happened, that's why I didn't mention her in the aftermath.


And just so there is no mistake, that is not 10 new nova points. I'm allowing you to spend the 10 I gave you during the last chapter for when we reached the 5000th post.

Is she aware of what happened, or did she blank out?

I'll leave that up to you. Which ever works better for your character.

Does this quantum wave hit Andrew as well? Being on the ship and all it's not clear to me ...

No, but Michael's 'adjustment' is justification for you to spend the nps if you want.

speaking of which ... what exactly did he do to me? Will is persist if we leave this timeline?

IMHO, it will if you pay for it.

Amber gained +1 Quantum and her taint increased but not enough for aberrations. Probably everyone has mega-perception and thus it's obvious.

Fox - Lorean the person is planet side right? does her getting buffeted by the quantum wave have any effect on the ship? Something that would clue Andrew in that maybe something weird was going on?

Lorean the person is planet side. It wouldn't effect the ship, but the ship would definitely know what was going on and alert you.

good enough, gives me reason to get back to the action

Fox Can I get a cross-matched Intelligence+Subterfuge roll? Andrew is trying to see if he can follow the path of manipulation that Mal had laid down before they left and specifically how much of this he engineered.

Mal?

yeah as in Divis Mal

There's a name I hadn't heard yet in this campaign. Hee.

What became of him?

It is pretty obvious that he and Kara being together was not part of his original plan. From what you all know and have been told he planned to be the one in charge when you all left. He pretty much accomplished his first objective the moment you all jumped out back in 2000. From that point the world was his to do with what he pleased.

Two issues interrupted his plan. Kyria left with you guys and that left him lonely for other companionship. Who else was there for him to associate with but the other two people that knew the whole story, Kara and Gabriel. Much to his own surprise he and Kara developed a bond that grew over the years. There is more to it than that of course, but that is the extent of your knowledge.

The result is that in this timeline he is not the benevolent tyrant that he became in other branches. He and Kara are more along the lines of first among equals rather than puppet masters.

Divis Mal is what Michael became in the original timeline, and in all other timelines other than this splinter that the group has caused to exist. In this timeline thanks to the group's influence he was mellowed quite a bit and thanks to forewarning he didn't go taint-mad.

or so you claim ... :p