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  • Aberrant Pt. 03

Aberrant Pt. 03

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Previously, on Aberrant: Our heroes completed their training in the Rashound Facility and got themselves involved in an illegal technology smuggling ring - and the plot to stop them!

Starring

Lucithana as Vanessa Stacks

Kitty as Gillian Haynes

NathanRavenwood as Alexa Fairchild

Jason as Sean Toulman

Guardsman Griffin as Jared Vance

It was strange how quickly something could go from shocking to mundane. It's a curious quirk of the human mind - and the nova mind - that what was unthinkable could become normal. This had led to quite a few terrible things in human history - genocides once considered unimaginable were now something to hardly blink over.

But it had its upsides.

The third time Alexa woke up and realized that she was, in fact, capable of leaping through the window of her father's trailer, clear the three trailers between it and the exit of Cape Cod Village (a somewhat ironic name for a trailer park in the most landlocked part of Sunnyvale)...she stopped being stunned by it. Similar stories could be told about each of the group.

But there was one thing that was harder to get used to than their raw powers and abilities. The last week of school proved that: They went to school and weren't quite mobbed but each of them found that they, shockingly, were the most popular kids in school now. Girls and boys who wouldn't have been caught dead being seen with the group were now more than eager to share their table. It was exhausting, more so when combined with their finals.

Some of the group - Sean, for instance - had an easier time doing their tests than before. But it was a bit hard to, say, get a passing grade in woodshop when you could shatter a chunk of wood with your pinkie by accident.

But beyond the small sphere of their lives - and the looming meeting with Mr. Takai - each of the teenagers were aware of the news that came out. The current hot topic was torn between the election. They had all been a tad young to vote, but they had had plenty of choice between the Four candidates that had run. But no matter if they had supported Libertarian, Democratic or Republican candidates, they could all be glad the American Eagle party had lost, despite several close calls in the Deep South.

But while the press wasn't going insane over the election of a new Democrat President (though impossible after the sex scandals of the late 90s and early 'oughts), they were further going crazy over the double firsts, with the first nova President in the form of Randal Portman - famous for being the world's first publicly recognized nova - and the first black vice president in his running mate, Barak Obama.

But between the local coverage of the election, there was also a continuing spate of news stories about Andre Corbin, still the most wanted man on the planet. Utopia had been interviewed about several raids to try and capture the renegade Team Tomorrow member for his suspected (and now confirmed via DNA and other forensic evidence) murder of Jennifer "Slider" Landers. None of the raids had been successful, and at least one had caused the near maiming of a Nepalese boy, which was causing a great deal of negative flack for Utopia and T2M.

Still on the 14th of June, school had let out and the balmy warmth of summer vacation stretched out before the six teens...a vacation that would be shaped by their last week of school as much as by their actual plans.

Alexa had adjusted to her new powers as well. After testing her limits - she still couldn't believe she could lift a ton - she'd worked on her control, going to the scrapyard after exam sessions and hefting steel girders around under the proud eyes of her dad. She'd had an appearance for a local wrestling promotion booked before everything had happened, and she didn't want to skimp out on the obligation. Unfortunately, that had led to her learning that while every local wrestling manager she had been speaking to before her eruption was overjoyed, excited, thrilled to have a nova possibly starring at their fights...no one had actually taken the plunge and accepted a bout. The simple fact was that they weren't sure about her strength - it was hard enough to wrestle someone and not hurt them when they were both the same strength and toughness. What about when the other person was able to bench press a full metric ton?

This had left Alexa more than a bit frustrated. A growing irritation that boiled in the back of her brain - an incongruity between what she had expected novadom to be like...and...what it was. Where was the action? Where was the bare knuckle brawling? Thus far, the most exiting thing in her life had been a phone call with some criminals.

And so, she stewed and waited.

Meanwhile, Vanessa had gotten to work contacting local film crews about the use and abuse of her powers. Some people missed the West Coast being a movie mecca and were more than happy to have a living special effects warehouse to work with. It especially helped that unlike CGI, the actors didn't need to guess where a being's eyes were when she simply constructed a visual and auditory illusion. Granted, she wasn't working with big named studios, but being a nova she could skip out on sleep and then eventually got rid of her need for it entirely and when you could make your own sunlight, you could work a 4 AM shift as easily as noon. It hadn't quite made her rich yet, but considering she'd only been working a week, her business acumen was doing damned well on putting her on the fast track to getting there.

She'd also made it more than clear how eager she was to start working with foundations to help disabled children and teens, even if she was made slightly unpopular among some by saying she was a hundred percent behind getting people with disabilities fixed up to be closer to physically normal. She was well aware and still rather shocked some parents would rather keep their children disabled.

The tests and school finals had been a breeze for Gillian who completed everything with a frustrated but absentminded headspace the whole time. She was friendly enough when talking but given five minutes alone in class and she'd usually fall into a dull frown while looking out a window. The whole reason probably being that after class she'd usually venture out into the city to investigate. It was a constant itch now that she could do things most people couldn't. When she wasn't out and about with her hood drawn up tight Gillian was usually speaking with a Utopian rep in order to get her family a more comfortable home and a steady flow of support in exchange for help when possible. So it was a busy week with little sleep and plenty of running around- more so given her ability to create clones.

Leading to a tired and groggy choice to make plans to spend time out of the country for some of her vacation. The ability to teleport and travel at a whim made the choice easy, and without a real 'land' to choose she figured she'd settle and enjoy someplace eventually before coming home. She still carried a phone so anyone could keep in touch with her, though the burner nature of the device made it so she only gave the number to her friends and mother.

Jared had rediscovered, over the last week, just how much he'd come to love his privacy and why. He didn't even know half of these people now suddenly trying to be his best friend, much less like most of the rest of them, and so it felt like every single passing period and lunch break had been spent smiling and politely deflecting the next group of opportunistic high school peers rather than... well, shit, anything.

He'd barely had time to make some calls to the local precinct about the drug stash Mark had tried to get him and the others to go after before having to keep some of the social insanity from getting into his own apartment. "Thank fuck for good customers," Jay found himself thinking not for the first or even the twelfth time by the end of the week, thankful that his 'connections' could understand subtlety enough to keep from blabbing about the Nova topic.

It also didn't hurt that they were probably too high to worry about telling their friends their weed guy was a Nova after visiting, so hey. Small blessings.

It was only by the end of the week that Jay realized just how scarce he'd been making himself, even to his friends and better-liked teachers. If it wasn't for finals, he wouldn't be surprised if they thought he'd died in the last week of school.

While Sean had an easy time of the tests with how his own talents unfolded he was bothered by a lot more. Not that it showed during the day when he was polite and courteous with the entire school body, acting a bit as a buffer for those that now circled the group like vultures when before they were otherwise mostly ignored or in the case of some treated like rotten meat. Even if Sean sort of preferred it that way.

But behind that smile and countless excuses relating to the finals and new responsibilities, coupled with vague half promises about more time next year, his own gears were turning. He had continued contact with Utopia after their collective eruption over a number of things, most public was an announced charity auction for his own artwork being promoted by Utopia itself with the proceeds going to the school in the wake of the terrorist attack on it. Most of that contact had been through their short term trainer Ska, though honestly a lot of it was having someone to talk to at night.

Sean didn't sleep anymore and that was a dawning on him as to a difference in how one would live when the rest of the world passed out for a third of every day. The last thing he wanted to do was waste the time just browsing the Opnet during that time.

The inside of his room was something out of a bad crime drama, his projector put to good use with just layers upon layers of charts, names, and raw data as he seemed to be attempting to figure out something. Something more at home in a conspiracy nuts living room than that of someone who otherwise acted quite well mannered. And being that Sean had dismantled a black tech hack job and rebuilt the bike for Mark even better than it was new- perhaps it wasn't a sign of such madness but instead something reasonable.

As for the world at large and his day to day life, it didn't seem to change much at the moment. He didn't really stick his nose too far into politics, didn't let himself get dragged down by the latest dredging up of news about the most tragic death or most dangerous man, if you listened to the news, and focused on the days ahead. It was his mindset for the time being.

And so it was - with a mixture of privacy and openness, a mixture of eagerness to make money or an eagerness to push that trial off onto other people...there was one thing that could easily get them together.

Specifically, a house warming party.

Thanks to the arcologies in Los Angelous and the under-sea and bay-bottom housing projects in San Francisco, the insane prices of the pre-nova era in California had dropped to the point where a girl doing special effects work for indi studio houses...could get her own apartment.

Arriving via teleport, car, or just by walking very very very quickly, Jay, Gillian, Sean and Alexa walked up to the apartment building. A few people in the lobby looked at them - but they were heading up to the third story, room 369.

The door opened and they found the inside of the apartment was sparse, with loads of boxes and a very harried looking Octavia, glaring at the lot of them. "If any of you make a single joke, the house warming party is off, understand!?" She asked.

Alexa immediately closed her mouth and tried her best to look innocent.

"... Knock knock?" Jay offered, gently sarcastic.

"Joke about what?" Gillian asked, trying to peer outside. "I'd love to try and get a place in this area. A deep sea hab home would be slick."

"The thought wouldn't have crossed my mind." Sean said with a bit of a smirk and left it at that as he walked in.

"The undersea hab is coming in a week or two. But I wanted my own place as soon as possible." Vanessa said, moving up behind Octavia and kissing her cheek, wrapping her arms around the other woman. "Also, she's just sick of me making the same joke. Also, people who don't understand the word boundaries." She sighed, shaking her head, "Luckily I managed to get a pretty nice spread, so we should all actually be able to get full." She smiled brightly, pointing to a table heavy with food.

"I've been almost living out of the Utopia Cafe; This is amazing," Gillian said with a laugh, clapping her hands together.

"Foooooooood," Alexa said, licking her lips.

Octavia nodded, smiling slightly, whispering to her lover as the others walked in - finding it was a rather nice apartment, with a large kitchen and a pair of adjoining corridors, complete with rooms that looked like they might be made into libraries or workshops.

As she gestured them in, Octavia's phone started to jangle. Octavia scowled, then thrust out her palm - a concussive wave of sonic power flying out and smashing the phone into a thousand tiny pieces. She blinked. "Oh...dang it..." she muttered, quietly. "I...should have just turned it off, shouldn't i?"

"Who doesn't understand boundaries?" Jay's question was outwardly casual, but carried quite a bit of concern underneath. Then he hefted the plastic bag full of grocery store baked goods in one hand and twelve pack of soda in the other. "Also, where do I put the lazy peace offerings?"

Vanessa snickered, "Assuming you don't want me to spend more on phones than rent. Should we get you an unlisted number and I deal with things for you?" She sighed, kissing her lover again, "And you can put them by the table." She sighed, "As for who doesn't understand boundaries, I'm sure most of the same people who've been bugging you guys. BUT, I'm guessing most of you don't get to deal with the 'lovely' people also calling you aberrant dykes."

"Honestly, I don't know if I would have paid more to have the jokes, or to avoid them." Sean said honestly as he looked over the table and started picking out a few of his favorites. He wasn't going to refuse the effort, though did give Octavia a sideways look at the destruction of her own phone. "Looks like most of it is moved in, need a hand unpacking?"

Alexa snagged a soda from Jay's twelve pack as he set it down. "I mean, I've been called a dyke even before all this Nova business, so..."

Octavia sighed, kissing her lover back, then picking up the mangled mess of her phone. "Hey, the last one was less racist and just stuck to 'lesbian whores." She shook her head, frowning. "And no, no, no, Sean, you can't help us unpack." She said, sounding quite proud. "This is a party, not a chance to force you to work for us."

"Isn't that usually only by people whose asses you've kicked though, 'Lex?" Jay asked, also raiding his own contribution of soda. Then he looked over to Tavi and shrugged. "Hey, I'll work for food. I ain't like that."

Alexa shook her head. "No, the dyke remarks usually come pre asskicking."

"That comes when I try to get you all snared into my charity work." Vanessa snickered, "Which.. kind of amazing that sometimes getting into charity gets the people you're trying to help yelling at you.." She sighed, shaking her head.

Sean chuckled softly and popped a pig-in-a-blanket into his mouth. "I can understand that." He said with a nod.

Octavia shook her head. "There's a lot of very angry youtube videos with deaf people signing at them," she said, picking up some cracker and cheeses.

Vanessa raised an eyebrow, "You can? You can look at people who want to keep their children deaf and not want to smack the shit out of them?" She sighed, picking up a soda and drinking it casually.

Alexa frowned. "Why the hell would people ever want that?"

Gillian already settled into a seat with a plate of baked snacks and a whole liter of cola, "It's a weird thing I'll never get; wanting to keep your kids 'just like you'."

"I mean, I get it. I think it's bullshit, but I get it," Jay qualified.

"Their argument is that it's a cultural thing. They claim it's like trying to make black kids white because black people have severe economic and social disadvantages." Vanessa sighed, shaking her head. "Because other people being bigots is the same as you lacking a basic function..."

Jay opened his mouth for a moment. Then closed it. Looked down to a mocha-colored hand. Then just sighed and grabbed some more food. Tavi put her hand on Vanessa's shoulder, squeezing her gently.

"Not quite what I said." Sean teased. "More that I know some people are even more opinionated and rigid about things when they aren't paying for them. Charity work is enough to drive you up a wall." He explained, "though that people would refuse help, believing getting that help would mean something was wrong with them before." He started then shrugged.

Vanessa sighed, "It's partly America's ideal that all things worth the effort are things you earn by yourself. Which is mostly brought about by the wealthy not wanting poor and needy to bother them to help them out. You know, like Christians." She shook her head, then smirked at Jay, "So.. how are you keeping from taking a vacation in the deep south and scaring and beating the shit out of racists?"

"I'm down!" Alexa said, her face showing a frightening amount of eagerness at the suggestion.

"Yeaah, I'm good." Gillian said slowly, staring down at her plate - her eyes growing distant at the mention of violence. She scratched her nose before nudging the half-eaten collection away before folding her arms, "Going to just wander a bit."

Jay just rolled his eyes again. "They really worth my time? I'm worried a little more about getting set up so I can figure out my own life."

Tavi snorted, quietly. "You could pull an Andy Vance and just stand there while bigots wail on you," she said, grinning. "By the way, he dropped an e-mail, Vanessa."

"Shit, I'm a little more worried about the foster system than Jim Crow laws." Jay muttered, before shooting Gillian a curious look.

Vanessa smirked, "To be fair I'm just tempted to throw up a force field and watch them piss themselves." She blinked, "Oooo, really? What did he say?" She said to her lover excitedly. She had reason to be excited: Andy Vance was pretty famous - a superhumanly tough man who had erupted when homophobes in his native Tennessee had tried to beat him to death and he had literally laughed it off. Vanessa looked at Jay, raising an eyebrow, "Why are you worried about the foster system?"

Erupting had definitely enhanced Vanessa's ability to hold three conversations at once in her head.

"Because it's a mess worth worrying about?" Gillian offered with a shrug. "I know that much about it."

Sean continued to casually munch on his collection plate and followed along with a nod.

Tavi blushed. "Um...I smashed my phone, let me, uh..." She stepped back, hurrying into the back room. Once she came back, she nodded to her lover. "He just said that he was wondering if we wanted to visit a Queer-Nova Alliance he's going to be running in New York this weekend." She paused. "That won't get in the way of the Takai thing, will it?"

Vanessa shrugged, "Well, hopefully Portman's going to be using his influence to push through a lot of.. god damn it.." She sighed, "Yes, unfortunately it will, hun." She said to Octavia, sounding mildly annoyed.

Tavi frowned. "Stupid criminals..." she muttered quietly.

Under cover of the conversation, Jay slipped a little closer to his friend. "Gill, what's up?" he asked, quiet.

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