Ulric looks at his watch. He has a few more hours before he has to be back at a series of Security Meetings with the British Authorities. He must maintain the excuse that drew him to England in the first place though he doesn't really want to leave at the moment.

Right now, his mind ruminates on how to best capture Harold and hopefully roll up the Sphynx's network of troublemakers. He also postulates on how best to talk to the team about a rapid move toward reveiling themselves to the public at large. He knows it will be a hard sell, but he continues to think that this part of the conspiracy is their weakest link. The world needs its heroes. He just needs to convince the rest.

Steve nods and says,

"I suppose trust has to start somewhere, and in general you get what you give. Just a moment."

Steve has Lorean freeze his hologram while he "sets things up".

*Lorean, everyone, I think the way to deal with our current power issue is to drop the cloak instead. Go land on a dead volcano or a beach somewhere, then drop the cloak and most life support. That would help a lot, wouldn't it?*

*And it looks we need to reorganize a meeting room into something like someone's quarters, I'll bring in some of our best food and 4 bottles of our best wine. Then we'll port her to me.*

*Think if it as a trust building measure. I think Andrew is working on a secret project that may be the key to all this, but please don't ask what it is. The fewer minds that know the better. And... I think Omar has the right of it on what's going on.*


Assuming arrangements can be made quickly, Steve changes his Eufiber into something you'd wear to meet the President and gets out some fine glasses, wine, and food.

*It will take about 25 minutes to do what you ask Steve, but I have to mention that doing so will put us inside the biosphere which means Matthew and Joani will become much easier to find if Harold happens to be a telepath and is looking for them.* There is a brief pause then Lorean continues, *Rather than setting up a room, I can just use one of the pre-existing crew quarters and shield it then teleport her in. That will reduce my energy reserves a bit further, but I can still give you at least a day of shielding.*

*If Lorien can handle it, we could just drop to the bottom of one of the world's ocean. We would not need a cloak there, and the chance of being discovered would be impossible.

An added benefit is that if our sphinx happens to figure out our location, and tells others, we can head out of the ocean, and into space. Additionally, it would discredit her claims. We could feed her what info we wanted her to know, saving the truth for ourselves. Make her look like she is crazy in the eyes of the world.

Cody gently places an arm around the distraught Joani and leads her around the consoles to one of the comfortable bridge chairs.

*Close your eyes. Allow your breath to soften. Easy. Just like that, breathing in and breathing out, listening to the sound of my voice.*

((Hypnosis roll, to calm Joani and clear her mind of the emotional panic, making it easier to access telepathically))

*Eeeaasy...*

While she focuses on breathing in and out Cody delves into her mind. She doesn't feel a thing, save the warmth of his palms on her own and the measured softness of her own breath. Before she even realizes she had been in a trance, he gives her hand a quick squeeze and says gently.

*That's it. We're done. Thank you very much.*

When she opens her eyes Cody gives her a reassuring smile.

*Well, I have good news and bad news. Let's get the bad news out of the way first. I can't retrieve your memories. They are gone, systematically wiped out in a way I have never seen, though there does not appear to be any physical damage to your neural tissues. The positive side of that is to say that your core identity and personality yet remain. Who you were when you were born is still who you are. What you choose to do from here on out will reflect that. Also, given your current company, the less preconceptions you have, the better you will probably be for it.*

*The good news is I was able to get several leads...* :



Telepathically relaying the images and numbers to Lorean, Cody speaks, again over the vox systems so that Joani can feel included.

*Lorean, please have aall of those accounts frozen and the money transfered into new secure accounts in Joani's name. Also, please use Harold's accounts to pull up any and all records we have on him.*

*Next I will need files on all of those movie producers and executives she spoke with. It is likely she tampered with their minds and placed suggestions. If I can track them down I can uncover more information and unravel her plotting there.*

*I am less concerned about the pamphlets. If we need to we can duplicate the pamphlets, have Andrew or someone begin ranting and distributing them on our own...then Ulric's people can move in and find our doomsday prophet to be mentally ill or using narcotics.*

*Thank you Joani. The next step is to interview Mr. Satterfield and glean a few more pieces of information. Then I can look for Harold.*

Cody stands, nods his head in a polite goodbye and says,

*Forgive me for being abrupt, but the situation at hand is most pressing. Once things have settled down perhaps you will join the crew and I for dinner and we can move onto the more pleasant and awe-inspiring factes of our fledgling association.*

Cody makes his way to Matthew's quarters. Along the way he telepathically asks Lorean, *What's the status of our Donnighal?*

"You know, the best way to undermine an idea is to co-opt it. Why don't we have our own movie made, based loosely on what this team has done with the villians being those who would steal their vision and replace it with a global tyranny? We could also use polling information from the movie to better help us gauge how soon we can have the Specials go public."

Already Ulric is thinking about writing this movie script.

"I can ask the British Intelligence Services to put a look out for a Harold Green coming into the country by air ~ I think he will maintain this rapid means of transit ~ and see what we grab up. Assuming Cody can't locate him."

"If Cody locates, we can have Omar and ... and Joani go pick him up. Once here, maybe he will be more amiable toward helping us."

Ulric is aware that Cody has been pushing himself a lot lately, but feels in his heart they are reaching the end of the race. If Cody can just hang tough a little longer ...

The there is the reality that both Omar and himself are need to helm two great states on the Earth below. There time here in space is not finite, nor is Steve with his own Think Tank. No one said a Global Conspiracy would be easy.

Steve reviews Lorean's current configuration and realizes his brilliant idea has been undone by a brutal face.

*Lorean, ok, redoing a crew room it is. Be sure and make it so I can't get out. I'll walk there and supervise.*

Steve removes his weapons, anything that could be used as a weapon, but does leave some old books there as well as a hologram fire (Fast Tasks as appropriate). He puts in place a global map on a sheet of glass, and chess board, and numberous issues of various political and economic newspapers. As mentioned he'll upgrade his threads.

When he's done it's something like a President's economic/political advisory meeting room linked to living quarters. A table with 4 excellent bottles of wine (2 from 1957) are out as are various foods raided from the main hall (only somewhat limited by no knives).

Steve says (mentally via Cody's telepathy)

*Cody, if she is as smart as she says, we could gain a great deal of insight from her. I think we could make a deal, say, her trading her time bomb in exchange for joining us, perhaps with myself as a hostage. Someone needs to offer a hand in friendship and extend trust to resolve this crisis.*

*Then Andrew can turn on the quantum nullifier and erase her, or you can force her out of my mind and deal with whatever dying body she has.*

*Lack of empathy, sociopathic behavior, lack of remorse, determination to conquor the world, over confidence, she's got several personality aberrations. IMHO Omar was right, this is taint insanity. We could keep her alive for several years but if she's already this rabid I don't see the point.*

*Lorean loses her shields in a day or so. I'll work with her, and if she reads my mind maybe she can see a deal that would let her live.*

A very grim Michael Donnighal joins Cody just outside the door to Matthew's room. "Good afternoon. Lorean has brought me up to speed on the situation." He pauses for a moment and then says over the link, *Good afternoon everyone, I have several thoughts to share on the current situation. First, I suspect that Harold is the one doing all of the leg work in this operation, being limited Joani's body for the last year, someone besides the lady had to be making the pamphlets, and whatever else has been done. It would also explain why Satterfield was contacted by Harold and not simply remote controlled long distance.*

He pauses for a mental breath before giving his next point, *Second, the actors and producers that Cody uncovered just now are likely to be sleeper agents who will activate either on command from Harold or at a preset time if not contacted by the Sphinx.*

*Finally, this woman is rabid. The only way you will be able to co-opt her is by getting into her mind and adjusting her own memories and basically doing unto her what she hath done unto Joani. Such is my opinion at least. Also, given that Cody wasn't able to get into her mind on their initial meeting, I think that a brute force method may be the only resort. It may damage her irreparably, but we must do whatever it takes to ensure the future security of the billions of people who will be effected if she somehow gets her way. I will assist Cody with breaking her defenses if you should so wish. I think that together we should be able to overcome whatever she may try.*

Michael smiles at Cody, "I will be happy to assist your delving of Matthew if you would like. Lend my mental muscles to the task as it were." Opening the door he makes a gentlemanly motion toward the room.

Inside Matthew stands to greet his visitors. "I am Matthew Satterfield, and you are?"

A little lost Joani sat where Cody just left her. She watched the men leave with tasks at hand to put this madness to an end.

Her past was gone, lost forever and she couldn't tell how she felt about it. She stood up and walked slowly to the stash of papers Lorean had put together. There in this small heap was who Joani Walters had been in a nutshell. She hesitated to pick it up and instead put one hand on it and stared at the folder. As if it took her an herculean effort she stepped away from the table - Joani Walters is dead she thought.

"Mr. President, I'm at your service. There is no reason for me anymore to delve into my past. That past is gone. I understand that I'm still who I am - she couldn't take that away from me and thats all I need to know." pausing for a little moment she added

"Its the first day of my new life and this time I want to make sure that I settle for something lasting." she smiled and looked around to see how well the others took her words.

*...
...
Well shoot. You're right. I guess that's an option we should hold in reserve. Don't worry though, when I explain why I'm not there I'll say I was overridden by the others. Fine, Hologram Steve comes again.*

Steve says to Lorean,

"Lorean, slight change in plan. I'll be doing the hologram bit again."

A thougth occurs to Steve and he sends,

*We have The Maid's former body, the one that she wanted back so badly, it's possible her contacts were with her. I.e. physically.*

*Lorean can we forward Joani's calls to her? And we should tell the hotel she's still around.*

Ulric nodded.
"Very well then. We keep moving forward."
"Miss Walters, you are one hell of an actress. Do you think you could convince others you are the Maid? If needed, that is. If needed, you could study her mannerisms here while she's talking with Steve. We could then use this knowledge to defuse her plot against us."

"In the long term, I want you to keep an mind on just how we will go public. Are you going to maintain both a public and private persona, or are you going to be totally exposed to the public? Who can you recruit to be with you, if you want to be part of some larger body of Specials? Aeon has plenty of profiles to look through."

In a serious voice he quietly tells her,
"It is best to keep the mind busy during stressful times like this. You must be confident that things will get better, this struggle will not be in vain, and we will prevail. It's what I do."

Lorean responds to Ulric, "I don't think that would work, if Harold is a Teep he will know instantly that anyone sent as an imposter isn't the real thing."

Over the link, *I can forward the calls Steve, any calls that come to Joani's room will be routed here.*

Joani agreed to Loreans assessment. "If Harold has any means of looking through my act I would be more a liability than of real help. You are again right, though, Mr. President. I must keep focused on what I can do. To be honest I'm not quite sure yet how I should go public and if so whether I should keep an secret identity or not. It feels like cheating on a matter which has no reason to be kept secret. Since I have no past and no Family I wouldn't be missing out on much. For the time being I'd prefer to stay totally exposed, maybe with time I'd change my mind about that, but that depends on how things work out." Joani shifted her stance from one foot to the other and continued with her thoughts.

"I can't keep thinking about the Sphynx. We must always consider that all that is happening right now is exactly what she had in mind. On the other hand it could totally immobilize our efforts - so I guess we must act and see how we get along." she searched for the Presidents eyes.

"Would you please excuse me one second? I'd like to clear a few things with Lorean, after that I'm absolutely at your disposal." she then turned to Lorean and walked a few steps away from the men.

"Could you please do me a favor or two? Are there any records in "your" future about me? And could you be so kind and research all data you got on this Superman and Supergirl from the future?" Joani gave Lorean a warm smile and nodded friendly to her before she went back to join with the President.

"Joani, I am sorry, but there are no future records of you since the events that occured to cause your eruption only happened on this timeline and we have not visited it's future. As for the second request, I will have all data on Superman and Supergirl ready for viewing whenever you wish."

Joani sighed and thanked Lorean. "I'll take a look at everything tonight, when we are finished with todays business. Thanks alot, you are a sweatheart."

Andrew looks up from the tablet he was working with, *That's a tall order Steve. We packed that thing up I think, I haven't looked at it since then. I don't have the facilities to work on it anyway. Can't fool with it up here without risking damage to Lorean, so it'll have to be sent to earth. I'll need remote control or a baseline assistant to work on it as I have no idea how it would affect me. Heck it could kill me for all I know.*

Andrew goes back to his work. The tablet is filled with prime sites for power generation facilities, Death Vally for a solar converter, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia for tidal harnessing, varios sites for wind turbines, the Colorado River and others for Hydro-dymanic generation, and a series of locations for high capacity nuclear generation. Andrew plans to press universities to take control of the nuclear generation and couple them with research needs for physics and particle sciences.

"Verdammnt," Ulric hisses. "We are all going to have to work on this telepathy-thing. Maybe we can make it part of Aeon's training program."

He shakes his head in disgust. Being powerless in this situation hasn't made him an overly happy man.

To no one in particular he says,
"Waiting for other people to succeed or fail is not my strong suit. I understand this craving for action is inappropriate, but it is in my nature to wrestle with problems personally, or at least direct a course of action."

"Still, I have things enough to do."
The rest goes on in his head. He has to set Matt up, be ready to help Joani if she asks, and begin strengthing Security Protocols for allowing the EU to better prosecute rouge Specials until such a time as the League and INTERPOL are ready to take over. Which reminds him ...

"Omar, I have something I want to talk with you about. What would you think about an International Police Force?"

All Omar can do at the moment is nodd in acknowledgement as his mouth is full of food. It was an important question, and it needed to be answered. Ulric didn't need to be covered with food pieces that flew out of Omar's mouth. Omar awallows the food that was in his mouth and adresses Ulric.

"An International Police Force is an interesting idea, but I don't know if the world's nations are ready. however, it is an idea that merits further discussion. What do you think?"

Steve steps back and reviews the heavily modified crew rooms.

• No weapons? Check.
• Personal items removed? Check.
• News and other informational material filtered? Check.
• Secure? Check.
• Psi-Screened? Lorean claims she'll put it up right before she's in.
• Filtered for high tech stuff? Sort of. A few high tech items as teaser samples locked in draws. Lorean will unlock them on request.
• Style? Check. Sort of a late 19th century President's economic/political advisory meeting room linked to living quarters. Genuine fake wood paneling on the walls. Even a fur rug and holographic fire.
• Excellent food? Yes but there's a number of historical abnormalities.
• Ditto the wine. 4 bottles.
• Chess board? Check.
• Working material? Check. Glass Global Map with markers, paper & pens,
• Anything I'm missing? Well, other than she's not here and I am?

Steve exits the room, and without letting the Maid know it's coming, has Lorean teleport her into the new room.

Steve (hologram) is already there and says,

"Well, this is a step in the right direction. The bad news is we aren't meeting face to face. I argued for it but was overruled. Sorry, later perhaps. All the wines are good, but I suggest 1957, it was a very good year. Many of the foods are 'modern' creations. Their style impact is mixed but it was handy and I thought you should be exposed to it."

Steve goes over the available foods and waits a bit for the Maid to get settled and reflects to himself. He thinks,

*'I thought you should be exposed to it' is obviously an excuse. 'Handy' is the word and that's true enough. The room has obviously been sanitized, and that's also true. The style may be formal 19th century Presidential but everything in this room is from the future. Genetically engineered fruit, fake wood, a holographic fire than gives off no heat. Plastic handled spoons. The tag on the fur rug says 2001. For someone as smart and perceptive as you the underlying message is we have a time machine around somewhere. At some point you'll realize, if you haven't all ready, if you go public we'll go back in time and pick up your people before they do.*

{If we've had a scene change Steve will reactivate Lie Detector, Mental Prodigy, & Luck is perm but will need a re-roll}

She looks up as Steve walks in, "I was just inspecting the accommodations when you arrived. I must say, I agree, this is indeed a step in the right direction. The food smells excellent even if spiced oddly." She takes a small piece of it and places it in her mouth as though testing, then smiles. "Very nice. I hope this is not my 'last meal' and you the confessor." She grins then sits down at the table and places a napkin in her lap and begins to eat in earnest. "I hope you don't mind, the maid had not eaten breakfast this morning. Please feel free to share whatever you wish while I quench a voracious appetite."

She looks up after a second mouthful, "You have convinced me that you are from the future, not that I had much doubt in the first place. How else could you have known I was inhabiting this body after all." She smiles ruefully and tears into another bite.

(She is not lying in anything she has said so far. Another thing you notice, she has a nova's appetite despite being in a human body.)

Cody nods gravely to Donnighal and listens to what he has to say before opening the door.

*Let's see what we can find out about this Harold...*

The two men walk in and there is an air of dread seriousness in the room.

Matthew no doubt recognizes Cody as Ulric's servant, though gone is the liveried suit and dark glasses. Cody must look strange in deed in his sci-fi duds and mirrored lenses.

*We meet again, Mr. Satterfield. Don't look so surprised..I am indeed mute, but the technology of our base allows me to make my thoughts audible. It was I who first tracked you down, though you should know it took every ounce of effort I had at my disposal.*

*The situation has now gotten far out of hand. We have captured the being behind all of this and it is fortunate I was able to find you when I did. This...creature is not even human anymore. It cannot exist without physical possesion of a host and in our brief interviews so far has proven to be criminally insane. We are talking extreme sociopathology and megalomania.*

*This is my associate, Michael. he has been of great help in our philanthropic works, and like myself has developed advanced faculties of the mind. We just need to check you out for any traces of possesion and see if there are any other clues to this Harold. He has become our next priority at the moment. I apologize for all of this. Rest assured that once this monster has been dealt with we will be in a position to give full disclosure, and I have no doubt that your awe and astonishment will more than make up for these minor inconveniences.*

*Now if you just make yourself comfortable we can begin...*



*WOW.* Both of Cody's eyebrows raise involuntarily as he looks at Donnighal. *That was...incredible! Wow! What a rush...*

*Do you realize what this means? We can crack the Sphynx. We can get everything we need from her to undo this thing completely. And after that...*

Cody opens the link to the rest of the command crew.

*Steve, everyone. We have enough now to go after Harold...but even more importantly, Donnighal and I appear to be...synergistic. I think that we can crack the Maid open now, nip this thing at the source.*

Steve smiles in sympathy to the Maid and with a touch of embarrassment says,

"Time Travel is this massive cheat isn't it? Replaying an event till it comes out the way you want it lacks a certain basic fairness. I mean, sure, we've done it. Someone gets killed to keep him silent, go back and pick him up before that happens, you know, that sort of thing."

"If it makes you feel better, if we hadn't been right there you would have... no, that's not fair. You gave us a pretty good run for the money. That's a good thing from your point of view, it means you have everyone's attention and you're a powerful piece on the chess board. If you signed up you'd make one hell of an asset for us. A world leader gets too far out of line, no fooling around with a minor adjustment to his memories. In theory you could jump him or her and boom, you correct things."

"Now that's the theory. What I'd like to do is to present that as your proposal to the others." Steve waits a moment for that to sink in then continues,

"But it's not going to fly if you have this dead man switch being held over them. You're interested in joining up AND you're also blackmailing them? It's not a tough sell, it's impossible. Especially with Omar, he has a very, very tribal view of the world. If you're threatening him, he's not going to think about anything other than breaking you. Switch sides and he'll think up things for you to do and believe it's his idea. That's the way to deal with him, let him have it your way."

"The others are easier. They're all modern types, they're squeamish about shedding blood, and with our advantages we've never needed to. They don't want to start now. But Omar has a very forceful personality and, well, ScarCrow was terrifying."

"We know you jumped Joani about a year ago. If we were to go back in time and deal with this at that point, everyone involved would lose a years worth of effort because we'd have to repeat everything from that point forward."

"If you could save everyone that year I think it'd send a real message."

Steve leans back and says, "Well, that's the situation as I see it. You could be a real asset, and I suspect you could teach me a heck of a lot. But... well... I guess it's your move."

*Give me a moment...*

She nods, "I can see that. So my big bargaining chip is not quite so big as I hoped, still, you've agreed to provide me with hosts, and that is something. I will save you your year in return for consideration and inclusion." She proceeds to tell you names of the people she has turned into sleeper agents and even gives you all you need to take out Harold and recover all the pamphlets that he created. Also, Harold is the one that created them and even printed them, he has a printing business that is a subsidiary of one of our own media outlets. She also explains that Harold did all her legwork in order to prevent anyone other than Joani to have a record of her mental signature.

After listening to Steve's interrogation of the sphinx, Michael speaks and sends over the link both, "I'm very impressed with your technique Steve! That was extremely well done, I did not think she would break short of telepathic interrogation. What are your impressions, do you think that she can be reformed? I have my doubts. Also if I may, I would like to suggest that Cody and I follow up just to ensure that she didn't forget to mention anything."

Andrew puts his tablet down, he looked out at the earth once more. Staring at the blue-green jewl he wondered once again just how damned they were for their actions, The road to hell is paved with good intentions, he thought.

"We're just laying the bricks as we go I guess," he said aloud to nobody in particular.

He sometimes wondered if they were doing the right thing. Everything seemed to be turning out ok but then this sphinx person shows up. Now it was hard not to wonder if all they had achieved was a more elaborate house of cards which would still topple under the weight of baseline/nova interactions. It was unlikely that the ideas of Divis Mal will have died with him, even though Micheal was doing quite well within Æon and the Cabal there had to be others out there with similar trains of thought.

Andrew shook his head, "At what point will it end? When will we be able to release the reigns and allow mankind to go free?"



Andrew is brought out of his thoughts, "You aren't suggesting you forcibly scan her mind are you?"