Heroes of Millaine IC 2 - Coming Soon to a Theater Near You!

[Llyarden]

Sean nodded, and reached out to collect the two unconscious Paradisians as they were handed to him. But then when the tip of Waterworks' coiling tendril passed through the barrier of his flight harness, he kinda...paused. "Wait," he said, somewhat abruptly. "You keep hold of them and I'll fling you guys first."

He could have given all manner of reasons to rationalise the request. He was stronger than Waterworks and probably had better control of his strength than she did. And it was, after all, his fault that they were in this situation in the first place, so perhaps it was only fair that he had the more dangerous role.

But he didn't.

"Please, Darla," he said, quietly.

[Zelphas]

Waterworks pauses as well at Sean's suggestion. She opens her mouth, a flood of justifications queuing up to be spoken--the Maelstrom was stronger than Sean, possibly strong enough to ignore the sun's gravitational pull entirely; Waterworks started the fight by blowing open one wall of the shuttle which can't have made it easy to steer, so the whole instigating incident was her fault, and therefore her responsibility; and--

"Please, Darla."

Waterworks wavers, a torrent of emotions flowing over her face. The alien sun shines through her for a moment, her true watery form showing as her emotional turmoil weakens even the minor concentration needed to hold her human form. Fun fact: being made entirely of water and having control over all the water in your vicinity has some strange side effects. For example, it is impossible to cry.

"...Fine. We don't have time to argue this," Waterworks says roughly, looking away from Sean.

[Llyarden]

For a moment or two, a warm, genuine smile spread over Sean's face as he met...well, where Waterworks' gaze should have been if she'd had eyes at the time. Then he turned his attention to the hole in the ship, waited for Waterworks to wrap her watery tendrils around the Paradisians...and then hurled her - and the Paradisians - out and away from the sun as hard as he could.

He waited for a moment to check they were safe and seemed to be escaping the sun's gravity...which, considering that the Paradisian shuttle was disintegrating around him, might not have been the best idea. He moved right to the edge of the hole in the shuttle, crouched, and jumped, pushing off after Waterworks and the Paradisians with enough force that he left a sizeable divot in the side of the shuttle.

Spoiler: OOC

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Standard: Brutal Throw to throw Waterworks and the Paradisians to safety, Power Attacking for 5; using the previous d20 roll gives me a 31, so I assume that works.
Extra Effort: Brutal Throw to throw Sean likewise (and damage the poor, innocent shuttle even further) vs DC24: (1d20+19)[35]

[Hyperbolic sine]

Declan, standing by at the door, watched in delight - and, as soon as he realised the Paradisian ship wasn't stopping, horror - as the drone was blown to smithereens. Then they lost contact with Waterworks, and he was already trying to compute how long he could endure the sun's heat if they had to go to the rescue...but luckily, all his worries faded away soon after, as he could see two shadows rapidly approaching.

Exhaling a sigh of relief, he leaned out, ready to grab them when they passed by.

[Quellian-dyrae]

And so, there in the vast empty expanse of outer space, hurtling at relativistic speeds towards the sun in a ship that was falling apart around him, with a friend prepared to sacrifice her life to get everyone else out, Sean Hyers acted to solve the problem by deploying the only two strategies that might possibly work:

Politeness, and throwing things.

Truly, we have achieved peak Heroes of Millaine.

And right in time. A few more seconds and the gravitational force of the sun might have been too much for even Sean's superhuman strength to overcome. But a few seconds at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light was still ample distance on any objective scale, and Sean managed to not just hurl Waterworks and the Paradisians clear, but also spring free and far enough that the adaptation harnesses were sufficient to counteract the solar gravity, allowing the momentum of Sean's throw to propel them inexorably away, until the Little Transport That Could swooped around for the pickup.

Leonard leaned heavily against the wall of the transport once he was aboard, nursing his injuries. Nuka Ellery, who had somehow managed to come through the entire battle completely unscathed, went over to check on him, before turning to look over the Heroes of Millaine. One might note that she had positioned herself between her injured companion and the rest of them, and her gaze had a certain quality of one staring down a pack of feral dogs.

"So...what happens now?"

Spoiler

Show

Sean and Waterworks, take a Hero Point for rescuing the Paradisians.

[Hyperbolic sine]

"Now? We bring you back to Aranth, obviously." Declan replied, matter-of-factly. "You forced our hand, but we didn't come here to fight. Stay put, and you'll be fine."

"...and seriously. Leave. F**king. APEX. Alone."

[Zelphas]

"They didn't force our hand," Waterworks cuts in tiredly, her form wavering and growing translucent. Greenish-blue light flows out of her and over everyone inside the transport, and everyone can feel their bruises and damage being washed gently away. "We didn't represent ourselves well, and misunderstood the ultimate goal of the research they planned to perform. The ultimate responsibility for this mess is on us... on me, not them."

Waterworks has become a glowing, slowly spinning vortex; it is impossible to tell where she is looking or the expression on her face. "They'll take you back down to Aranth, I promise; this should never have ended up like this, and I'm sorry. Whether you believe me or not, APEX is to dangerous to return to our planet... in any form."

[Hyperbolic sine]

"What? On you? Bulls**t."

Declan looked sternly at Waterworks's...face? Upper whirlpool?

"We told them no. They tried anyway. What could you have done more? Tie them to their beds? It's not your fault they're so hellbent on dooming Aranth. They -" he swept his gaze on the Paradisians "- are responsible for the consequences of their own choices, period."

[Zelphas]

"We didn't tell them no. We agreed that they could get the APEX Meteor for study. I even went along with them on their ship." Waterworks is still a swirling vortex of softly glowing green water. "It isn't their fault that none of us realized that what they meant by studying and testing APEX was... actually studying and testing APEX, with all of the ramifications of that. They were perfectly clear; we just didn't think. That's on us.

"And it's especially on me, because every single person who thinks that APEX can't be as bad as we claim can point straight at me as both 'proof' of their beliefs and an example of our enormous hypocrisy." Waterworks falls silent for a moment, her swirling waters slowing to an almost complete stop. "Which is why they will be making sure that you get home safely, Ms. Ellery."

[manwithaplan]

"No more lies."

Bastion swivelled around in the pilot's chair, shaking his head. One metallic finger reached over his shoulder to touch on the autopilot.

"Darla. These Dreamers are involved in a war with a national Ilessian organisation. They are attempting to acquire hazardous materials that, among other uses, can be weaponized against this organisation. I have come here, and so has Operative Reynolds, and I suspect so have Operative Hyer and Operative Mentallo, on an attack mission to deny their success. I have no animosity against these individuals and I found no pleasure in the operation, but I wilfully assaulted them, and if I had to, I would assault them again."

He continued to talk to her, but his steely helmet swivelled to face the Paradisians.

"They know this as well. Forestier flew to our country and defended the scientific value of his mission, knowing that his findings would be considered for use in shadow warfare against Ilessia. We lied as well, when we pretended to believe him. Everybody has been lying, due to the geopolitical subtleties and perils of a shadow war. Now that the enemy is beaten and at a disadvantage, there will be no more lies."

Silvery light rolled over Darla as his head turned back to her.

"If you do not want to return to Aranth, as extreme as that may be, it can be discussed. But do not let the lies cloud your judgement. Nobody has been betrayed or deceived today - or, if there was any deception, it was attempted by the Paradisians, who would have assumed we did not know the true nature of the battle. This was a mission to acquire dangerous resources, with intent to weaponise against our country, and we knowingly launched a counter-assault, with the approval of our military, to prevent it. Perhaps you have done something to deserve isolation, but it was not what you did today. And if you have long-standing negative feelings that have been amplified by this situation, that would make this an especially unwise time to make a long-term decision."

"Stand down."

[Hyperbolic sine]

"Yeah, what he sa- wait."

Declan shot bastion a "what the hell are you saying" look, then thought back on Waterwork's exact words...and her emphasis on "they". He looked at Darla again.

"What does he mean you don't want to return to Aranth!? More APEX bulls**t!?"

[Quellian-dyrae]

Spoiler: OOC

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Things seem to be slowing down some so if it's all the same to you guys I think I'm going to move things forward a bit.

Beep dee-beet came a series of digitized noises and flashing lights from the various panels and speakers on the Little Transport That Could.

Beep bipbeep bip bip. Bee deeep boop debeep If the door was still open by this point, it closed.

Beep bipbeep bip biiip bee deep booooop debeep There was a distinct hissing-clunking sound throughout the ship.

Biiiipboop deetiit weep boop woop bipbit ...And the engines hit low warp speed.

Beep boop

Spoiler: I mean, technically Maestro's the only one who gets this, but whatever.

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"Oh-ho-ho-ho no! If you piece of scrap sacks of varying degrees of juiciness think for one motherboard-crashing second you get to just hurl yourselves into space you've got another thing coming!"

"I have gone above and beyond that call of duty for your people! I have gone into crashing battle against stupidly crashing powerful enemies with nothing but a crashing repair torch and a crashing basic gun! Twice! That scrap is not my crashing job!"

"I am a crashing space transport! That means I have two - count them, two! - jobs! Job one is to take people into space. Job two is to BRING THEM BACK HOME!"

"So you are coming back to Aranth, missy! If you want to throw yourself into space, find some non-intelligent piece of scrap transport to take you. Because I have air-tight doors, vacuum sealing, and precisely zero crashing faucets!"

"Fight me."

[Llyarden]

Sean was quiet as the others spoke at first. He...pretty much totally ignored the Paradisians; Bastion had basically said anything he'd have mentioned. He'd been a little more circumspect than Bastion, sure, but he'd already made it quite clear what would've happened if they brought APEX back to Aranth and the Paradisians had ignored him, so he didn't...really have much sympathy for them.

And besides, there were kinda more important things to talk about. Even when the autopilot Bastion had just activated seemingly started doing things of its own volition (complete with a light show), he just looked at Darla - and it was still Darla, no matter how APEX-y she was looking at the moment.

"What about the people back on Aranth that care about you?" he asked quietly. "Your parents, the ACC, Lucas? Us? Did you tell anyone you weren't planning on coming back?"

[Zelphas]

Waterworks doesn't react immediately to Bastion or Declan's continuing words. As the LTTC suddenly locks everyone in and takes off, the swirling whirlpool... slumps slightly, but doesn't lose its shape. "I was going to ask if I was the only one who came up here honestly, but that might be hypocritical of me in this situation," she admits wryly.

"There are video emails to each of you, to Lucas, and to my family, set to be sent a week from now if I don't cancel them," Waterworks replies to Sean, her tone tired. "I've been sure APEX would be the death of me since the Meteor, but I was wrong twice already before this trip. I also wanted to avoid... this." She pauses for a moment, and small bubbles appear around the rim of the whirlpool. Those with sensitive hearing may have noticed that Waterworks hasn't taken a breath of air since she entered into the transport. The bubbles pop in an orderly fashion, releasing words. "But it looks like there's nothing for it, so here we go then.

"APEX didn't change me; not really. It just showed me what I'm going to be in a hundred years, or two hundred, or however long it takes.

"If you touch me, even when I look like Darla Sanders, your hand will come away wet. The face you know as Darla Sanders is the way she looked when she was 18 and had a dream of water; it hasn't aged, because I haven't aged. I am literally incapable of breaking a bone, straining a muscle, or tearing a tendon, because I don't have muscles, bones, or tendons. I cannot be an organ donor; I have no organs to donate. I don't eat or drink; I replace the water that evaporates from me with water that I transform, either consciously through my direct powers or unconsciously by simulating eating; since I have no stomach, whatever food I chew and swallow is simply converted to water and immediately added to my mass. I can't suffocate, and obviously I can't drown; the only reason I breathe is in order to speak, and this method is much simpler and uses less air. If I try to enter into any place that blocks Dreamer powers, I collapse into a puddle, because that is what I am. I am a puddle of water.

"I am not human. Honestly, I don't know if I ever was. I could be a girl who Dreamed and became water or water that Dreamed it was a girl; I can't tell the difference, and any trace of Darla Sanders has long since evaporated or washed out to sea. APEX turns living things into larger, angrier, more primal versions of what they are. When I absorbed APEX, I didn't become a giant who could control and become water; I became a hurricane."

The bubbles stop for a moment, and Waterworks seems to shrink in on herself, the whirlpool becoming choppier. "How long will it take before I forget what being human was like? Did I ever even know?" her voice is quiet, almost a whisper. "What are short, small human lives to a living storm? When will it stop mattering? APEX has only made it faster, more violent; maybe I would have become a river instead, or a small sea. I need to remove myself before it stops mattering, before I don't care anymore. APEX needs to go, and I need to go with it."

[manwithaplan]

Bastion tilted his head for a second. There was a faint metallic grinding as his hand slid down his metallic thigh, resting on his knee plate.

"Which of those?"

He was somewhere between empathetic reasoning and a genuine, perhaps morbid (or maybe sarcastic) curiosity.

"Biological immortality. No skeletal, muscular, nervous, or respiratory system. Bizarre anatomy, and...unusual digestive method. Likely dream-induced dysmorphia."

"Those are all of your conditions? According to current consensus Dreamer Studies, which of those conditions, exclusively experienced post-Dream, is incompatible with humanity? If you do not know which ones are incompatible with humanity, do you have any grounds, beyond emotional distress or confusion, to declare that you are not human?"

[Hyperbolic sine]

Declan let out a pained groan. There were a ton of things he'd have liked to say, yet he couldn't really place any of them into words.

"Darla..."

He struggled, but he had to say something. He sighed, resigned to his fate of poor speaker.

"Look, I don't want to be blunt. But that's bulls**t. Whatever it is that makes us human, it's not anything physical. Look at Wilson. He's like you, only he's made of nanobots instead of water. Would you say he's not human? Is there anything more human than doing the wrong thing for the right reason?"

[Zelphas]

"I at least have the memories of being raised by a therapist. I know the buzzwords; don't just throw them out like they solve anything," Waterworks responds to Bastion, her tone tired.

"Declan, you're always blunt." If she had a face at the moment, it sounds like Waterworks might have been smiling. "Let's talk about that, then. I have been trying to convince myself that I'm human every day. I wake up every morning and don't know why I'm in a box, with solids all around me that don't make sense; it takes me a while to figure out that I'm in my house. I don't know what it means to be sore, or stiff. I don't understand how people can walk around without thinking about keeping their shape, making sure that no bits drift off or splatter away. I have to remind myself, every day, that I don't need to knock you out, Declan, to prove my proper placement. I wonder if I can wear down your diamond coating ,and how long it would take; I know I have the time. I have to remind myself, every day, that Sean isn't a threat to my water. Whenever Maestro makes up a battle plan or gives orders, I have to consciously stop myself from rebelling, from forging my own channel. Bastion the outsider is in danger from me every time he opens his mouth."

Waterworks abruptly swirls away, drifting as far as she can in the cramped space of the transport. "And it doesn't stop. Letting the Maelstrom out, controlling its releases rather than simply bottling it up, eased the flow for a while, but it isn't enough. It keeps calling, every day, and it isn't someone else's voice. It's me; I'm arguing with myself every day. I'm made of water, and so is the Maelstrom; we're two liquids in the same space. If we were ever two different entities, if APEX did create a separate being inside me, that's no longer the case. There is no Waterworks separate from the Maelstrom, and there is no Maelstrom separate from Waterworks. We're so mixed together that it any differences are unimportant."

Waterworks is silent for a time. Then: "And the Maelstrom is a destructive force, a violent storm that is eager to spend its destructive power on anything nearby. The Maelstrom is a force of nature; it glories in its supremacy over tiny animals and plants. That's so mixed up in me that there is nowhere where it stops and I begin. If that stays on Aranth... if I stay on Aranth... I'm getting stronger. I'm stronger now than I was when I first got APEX, and it's not just because of the APEX that I'm stronger. Eventually, I'm going to have to be locked away or stopped. I was trying to take care of the danger that I am while I still had the ability to do so."

[manwithaplan]

"I was not trying to make you feel better."

Bastion waited for her to finish speaking, and then went on.

"Darla, with all respect, your feelings are irrelevant to this situation. They will not be irrelevant once this vessel is ashore - your well-being is of great significance. But right now, you are asking for extremely drastic action to be taken on the grounds that you, although being medically recorded as a born human being, do not currently possess personhood. It is very possible that no Dreamer in history has successfully argued this. I am asking you to make your argument, and so is Reynolds, and I am trying to steer you in the correct direction by referring to clinical standards. If you are not interested in engaging with clinical standards, considering relevant medical information, or referring to appropriate philosophical works - if you are not interesting in putting in the work - you will not be disembarking prematurely. I was..."

His head hung itself under the light of the control panels, which glowed over the contours of his armour.

"I was willing to let you die on that enemy vessel, because I believed that you had a good reason to do what you were doing. I am now quite confident that I was mistaken. If you want to get off this ship, then disprove your humanity, and do it with an argument that is not based on your personal feelings or experiences."

[Quellian-dyrae]

While this whole discussion was going on, the Paradisians who had been knocked out in the battle were coming to. If one was paying attention, the series of intense looks and changing facial expressions suggested they were involved in some manner of telepathic conversation. Eventually, though, Nuka Ellery huffed and rolled her eyes, and then Sabuko Forestier spoke up...a bit hesitantly, one hand lifting a bit as if to subconsciously request permission to speak. "Ah...if I may have a few moments to interject?"

Assuming he wasn't, you know, immediately told to shut up, or anything, he would continue, "I apologize if I am misinterpreting, as I was rather unconscious for the first half of this discussion and am going off of Nuka's overview, but I believe we were accused of waging war against Ilessia? One of its organizations, specifically? I...well, I suppose I can understand if that is how your organization has presented it to you, but really I rather think calling it a 'war' goes too far. I'm not sure what you have been told, but what is actually going on is that there are a number of powerful Ilessian and Limbran Dreamers who have been working to sabotage our Institute's work on colonizing the moon. They have made certain rather...aggressive efforts to this end and we have as a result needed to both step up our security protocols substantially and make some active moves of our own to sabotage their own efforts and resources... Certainly, an unfortunate conflict and one I should hope your countrymen will find the sense to stand down from, but we are by no means at war with Ilessia itself. I will not deny that several of the uses we see for APEX radiation would absolutely have value in this conflict, although of course, we would show the utmost caution in any project that would involve the potential weaponization of APEX energy in any form, and only ever even consider deploying it if the need were dire."

"We certainly did not intend any deception on this matter. This conflict is between our organization and a very specific group of Dreamers. We honestly had no idea that it would be a consideration for you. And while we are all cognizant of the military possibilities of APEX, as we explained to Miss Sanders aboard our transport before she tore a hole in the hull, for us they are largely secondary concerns. I will admit that the member of our team most interested in the prospects of APEX weaponization is Dervla, but as she didn't accompany us on your own recommendations, her point of view was likely not adequately represented during the discussion, which may be the reason for the appearance of deception. I do apologize for any confusion that may have caused." He sounded like he meant it too. Either the guy was uniquely capable of refraining from grudges, or he was under the impression that it was in his group's best interests to be unfailingly polite. One of those two for sure!

Spoiler: Sean

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The second. It's totally the second. Actually you get the sense that the whole discussion of Waterworks hopping off into space is kinda freaking these guys out. There's a certain amount of "if she'll do that to herself, what will she do to us?" factor here. That said, you can tell that he's being generally honest. He might be painting things in what he considers the most favorable light. And obviously he's equivocating some on the conflict between the BWI and the Circle, but you get the sense that that is more because he now believes you guys might have some connection to them so he's trying not to say anything too bad about them - he's trying to present the conflict in a more neutral, unbiased manner, rather than assigning the Circle the full force of the blame he actually feels their actions warrant. But he's not lying to you or intentionally withholding anything he feels would be relevant.

It does not, however, escape your notice that despite the thrashing your team gave his and the utter failure of their mission and destruction of their transport, he isn't referring to their plans for APEX in the past tense.

"Beyond all that...while I of course recognize that I am an outsider to your team and have no business at all intruding on what is...clearly a very sensitive internal matter, I would like to propose an idea of relevance to your argument. Miss Sanders, although Nuka could quote the relevant psychiatric terminology far more readily than I, your friends are correct that you are far from the first Dreamer who has doubted their own humanity, although sadly you are quite outnumbered by those who have been called inhuman by others. I realize I am living the cliche to say it...but before you go moving into outer space, please consider moving instead to Paradisia. One of the founding principles of our nation is that Dreamers - all Dreamers, whatever changes their powers have produced in them - are human beings first, foremost, and unequivocally. However, we are not Mundane human beings. We are different. We have different options and different needs that no country founded on Mundane principles can truly serve. Your Assembly of Dreams does good work for what it does, but it is still founded on the flawed principle that Dreamers and Mundanes must integrate into a single cohesive community. And there will always be tension there."

"Your situation would be much easier to understand in Paradisia. Our citizens also do not need to eat or drink except for the pleasure of it. We still breathe and age for now - although give it another decade or two and those inconveniences will be things of the past as well - but we only sleep for the fun of dreaming, and do not know the rigors of poison or disease. There are few normal hazards that can meaningfully harm us - even those of our citizens with no personal protective powers can shrug off bullets, let alone such things as muscle aches or sprains. And so many other things that are taken for granted in other countries are outdated and meaningless for us. We don't have roads and cars on Paradisia, because we can reach any place we wish to go in seconds. We have few phones, because we can speak mind to mind with anyone we wish to talk to. Our jobs are whatever it is we love to do, because we have little need for material wealth."

"What you are feeling...this sense of not fitting in with the society you were born into, that it grows more and more irrelevant to you with every passing month...that is not because you are no longer human, or losing touch with your humanity. It is because Mundane society is pointless to Dreamers. Mundane society formed from a complex interaction of mutual incentives and needs that Dreamers have no real impetus to care about. This...this is why Paradisia was founded in the first place. Just starting from a system that was not designed for us, that never could have accounted for us, and trying to fit ourselves within it...it doesn't actually work. Even organizations like your Assembly can only at best lessen the strain. What Dreamers truly needed, to remove the strain entirely and allow them to flourish was a new society, a new structure, one designed from inception to attend to the unique needs and capabilities of Dreamers. That is what Paradisia offers, and as one who has lived there since I was fifteen years old I can personally assure you that it delivers on its promise."

"And as I said before, I have little doubt that APEX can be purged with the right methodology. You have lived with it long enough that it may be harder, but even then...as powerful and destructive as the Maelstrom might be, this I can promise you - it will never be a threat that is beyond Paradisia to contain. We have Dreamers of mind-boggling power among our citizens, and nobody lives in fear of them. Least of all themselves."

[Hyperbolic sine]

"Dude."

Declan gave Forestier a blank look.

"Your conflict could be with the fu**ing Emperor of Haptarus. The utmost caution would still be not using fu**ing APEX. No APEX. You get it? No APEX. NOOO. AAAPEEEX." he then said, concluding with wide gestures and slow speech as if was talking to a slow-on-the-uptake-child, before turning his attention to Waterworks.

"You know, if I were in your shoes, I would likely have come to your same conclusion." Declan admitted. Not for the not feeling human part, but if he thought he would one day wake up as a wild killing machine? Absolutely. "Well, maybe not now, but before? Definitely. And if that's not enough to make you realise just exactly how stupid an idea killing yourself is, I'm also sure you would have tried to stop me."

"And you know, if you take out all the separationist drivel, what he" - he pointed at Forestier - "said has some merit. Maybe you should try going to Paradisia for a while once we're back. We can hold down the fort, and it wouldn't hurt to have someone keep the mad scientists in check..."

[Llyarden]

"Whether or not you and the Maelstrom are still separate doesn't change the fact that those are still two issues," Sean pointed out. "Like Bastion said, Dream-induced dysmorphia is pretty common among Dreamers whose powers alter their body, and it doesn't always occur immediately after someone Dreams. As for the APEX urges..."

He trailed off for a few moments, looking down at the floor of the transport. "My power is 'Predator Instinct.' You ever wonder why that includes a heightened sense of smell? It's not so I can find prey that hides, or track prey that flees. And it's not so I can tell what kind of pasta they had for dinner. All of that is just a side effect."

He looked back up, in a motion that was so swift you could almost have missed it if you'd blinked.

"I have that power so I can analyse someone and determine the best possible way of killing them."

"Whenever I just look at someone - never mind catching their scent, my powers tell me how to beat them. How to kill them. As far as my powers are concerned, I'm a predator and everything else is prey. And the most efficient way of killing prey is to not wait around for it to decide to fight back." His eyes glinted gold for a moment.

"I'm not...trying to equate the two," he added, more gently. "I know dealing with APEX has been harder for you than dealing with my powers has been for me, and I'm not saying you're necessarily wrong about being a danger in the future. But the instinct to fight, to kill? That doesn't make you inhuman any more than it does me."

Then he turned to the Paradisians. "Well, I was gonna put it a little less bluntly -" he glanced at Declan with something of a brief smirk "- but...don't get me wrong, we know you aren't the only ones at fault in this shadow war. But the thing is...even if we could trust you five not to try to weaponise APEX, what about the rest of the Better World Institute - like McManus, or people outside of this team?"

"I'd love to be able to trust you with APEX. When I said I hoped that your procedure could be used to help people I was being entirely genuine. But the fact that you've even considered the military applications of APEX is proof that you can't be trusted with it. Not now, and not in the future."

[Quellian-dyrae]

Forestier looked between Declan and Sean, with a little sigh. "You have all made your position exceedingly clear on that point," he said, just a bit dryly. "Rest assured that that message has been thoroughly received. It was the accusation of lying to you that I was trying to answer by bringing up why we did not explicitly include the possibility for weaponization or applications to our current larger conflict in our previous discussions. I do not seek to convince you that we can use APEX responsibly - I can see now that that would be a futile effort - I simply want to ensure it is clear that we were and continue to be acting in good faith."

[Zelphas]

"Bastion, did you ever take Speech or Debate in high school? Arguing to disprove something is almost always a losing fight. I'm not trying to 'disprove' my humanity; that's pretty much impossible. I'm proving I'm a threat to humans," Waterworks responds to Bastion, swirling slightly faster.

As Forestier, Declan, and Sean speak, Waterworks... wobbles oddly, her form whitening from the myriad of bubbles. The bubbles rise and pop, releasing--laughter. Dry, utterly mirthless laughter.

"I'm really not getting myself across, am I?" she says after her laughter subsides, though little bubbles pop out at odd times, releasing more laughter to underscore her words. "Dr. Forestier, thank you for your kind offer; I appreciate the sentiment behind it, and I want to believe that you don't have ulterior motives. So, thank you.

"But Declan... how can you, in the same breath, say 'No APEX' to Dr. Forestier and his crew and tell me to come back to Aranth--even tell me to go to Paradisia? I am APEX. I carry all the properties of APEX in myself--including the ability to infect others. We've seen that happen twice already, with Copycat and the Recruiter. Over nine thousand people are dead as a direct consequence of me being APEX, and that's just the death toll up to this point. Since we've decided that we can't trust Dr. Forestier with APEX, that means we can't trust him or his team with me. Dr. Forestier, feel free not to answer this, but can you honestly say that in Paradisia there would be no attempt to figure out how APEX works within me? No one would run any sort of 'purely observational tests, with or without my knowledge?

"Sean... at first, I would agree with you. The Maelstrom acted like a predator, focused on superiority and a hierarchy of power. That's been fading more and more, as it and I have become more and more mixed together. The problem isn't that I want to kill things; I don't care. I wake up as the start of a violent storm, and I want to spend my fury and destroy whatever's around me. As the Maelstrom, I would get just as much pleasure from turning a desert into a storm-tossed sea as I would reducing a city to rubble and crushing any living thing within it. It's no longer predator-prey for me; I--the Maelstrom--I have stopped caring about strength, except when it seems like it can stop my storm. Regular, unpowered Sleepers don't even register anymore unless I force myself to notice them."

[manwithaplan]

Bastion gestured to the girl, and looked to his comrades.

"Has anybody by now been persuaded that it is best to let her depart?"

"...Anybody? How about the foreigners? Are you convinced, yet?"

"Sooner or later, Sanders, you are going to have to start making some very good points, or you are not going anywhere. You refuse to argue against your humanity, and you are trying to suggest that you are dangerous, onboard a shuttle full of Paradisians who are closer to Nation-Class than you are. Are you aware of that, Operative Sanders? Are you aware that there are grades of Dreamer power beyond what you demonstrate? The Maelstrom, as it manifested on its first day, was Nation-Class, unlike you. Kay Jordan was stronger than that during her awakening, and even she still would have been defeated by General Commander Norway.

"Humanity marches on everyday, in the presence of hundreds and thousands of unstable, confused, or destructive Artillery-Grade Dreamers - you are just one more number who will never live up to an existential threat. You can dodge that point as well, if you please; by now, there are probably no words that will get you off this vessel."

[Hyperbolic sine]

"I...you...they...but..."

"..."

Point, set, match.

"Right. F**k Paradisia, then. Still, there's a solution to this that doesn't involve letting you space yourself. We just have to search for it. You're not getting off this transport until we land, period." Declan finally said, reinforcing Bastion's words by moving to stand between the whirlpool and the exit chamber.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"I...certainly cannot speak for all Paradisians and all possible futures. Even Leonard and Nuka working together could not do that. And certainly, I will not deny that the thought occurred to me that if you wished to allow us to study your conditions, it could be of benefit to us both, although given your position thus far I do not expect you would be willing to. But I could offer assurances that my own team would not attempt to conduct any studies or experiments on your APEX energy without your express permission, and of course there are options for limiting who knows of your arrival and what power you carry with you." He gave a little smile as he concluded, "As a scientist I can hardly claim absolute certainty of anything, but I would be willing to say with a high degree of probability that we could avoid any such inconveniences."

Spoiler: Waterworks

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Nuka's voice enters your mind. ~Since Sabuko's giving you the hard sell, I suppose I may as well also point out that unless you plan to fight past all of your friends and smash through the only space transport any of us have left, it doesn't...really look like your odds of getting your way here are that good. And I don't expect that once this transport lands you'll have a super-easy time of convincing anyone to give you another rocket for a one-way trip. But worse comes to worst, I mean...Paradisia does have a pretty robust space exploration program. I'm just saying.~

~...Actually, come to think of it, if you'd be interested in redirecting your self-imposed exile from the endless void to the moon, that is totally something that we would have a vested interest in helping you with. I mean...sorry if that sounds kinda "ulterior motivey" but, well, actually null that, mutual benefit is a plus as far as I'm concerned.~

[Zelphas]

"Of course; the fact that I when I snap and start destroying things, I'll only hurt and kill at most a couple dozen to a couple hundred people before being stopped makes it aLl BeTtEr," Waterworks snaps, the swirling vortex suddenly growing in size and becoming white with foam for a few seconds before stabilizing once more.

A sigh sounds out from the swirling water. "You're right; this conversation was pointless. It's why I didn't want to have it at all."

Spoiler: Response

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Honesty will get you farther than anything else, Ms. Ellery; thank you for being honest. Unfortunately, the moon may still be too close, especially if you and your associates are successful in founding a colony there.

[Quellian-dyrae]

The last time the Heroes of Millaine had returned from a mission in space, it was to an epic victory celebration, a raucous and wild night of cheers and speeches that would, in the end, lead to an Aranth that was for them, at least, forever changed.

This time it was just...awkward.

The argument hadn't been resolved, but also Waterworks hadn't gone Maelstrom and tried to smash her way out of the transport, so it ended up that was returned to Aranth whether she wanted it or not. The Paradisians just kinda...left. I mean, it wasn't like the Heroes couldn't stop them if they wanted to, but it also wasn't like they technically had anything to hold them on. The Little Transport That Could flew off with a string of beeps and boops that even one without the ability to comprehend machines could probably recognize as exasperated grumbling.

But you know what? At least one of the most disaster-prone scientific organizations hadn't brought any APEX stones back to Aranth. Sometimes you just take the win.

--

Spoiler: OOC

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I'm rolling with what's been discussed in the OOC, if anyone takes any issue with anything let me know and I'll retcon.

It was nineteen days since the space mission.

It was nineteen days since anyone had seen, talked to, or even heard from Waterworks.

After the first couple days, the other Heroes had received a series of increasingly concerned contacts from her parents and Lucas, asking if they had seen her or knew where she was. After Declan told them about what had happened...well. Melati had ended up suspending her sessions for a time, taking personal leave. They didn't pester the Heroes directly, aside from an initial...let's call it firm request that if any of them heard anything from her to let them know immediately. Still, any of the Heroes whose own parents were sharing an apartment complex with them might have gotten some trickle-down concerns. Over these past two weeks, it was safe to say that if anybody was looking for Osbourne or Melati Sanders, they could find them in the local Deionic temple.

Lucas, on the other hand, pestered them.

The director visited the base at least once a day, to ask if there was any news and report his own lack of findings. Lucas was evidently conducting a personal investigation. It was a little bit nonsense, considering Waterworks could step into the Istaline and be halfway across the world in seconds, but still. Lucas had never let his long odds of success stop him from using what little power he had to do the best he could. He sought leads, called in favors, even walked the streets of Millaine daily, reaching out with his mind in an effort to make telepathic contact.

He had apologized to the Heroes, once. Told them it was his own fault. "She tried to tell me and I didn't listen.
I didn't understand. I was stupid. So...so stupid!" Every time he came by, he looked more tired, more haggard. More defeated. For the first time since any of them had known him, the director who had faced down Solomon Tuff and a Haptaran kill squad and the Recruiter himself...was afraid.

But Waterworks would not be found if she did not want to be.

It was a few days ago that the media and the city at large started to really realize that there had been an odd lack of "PARKOUR!"s being shouted across the city lately. As always in Millaine, there were a few problems and dangers that required Heroic intervention during this time. Minor things, no more than a quarter of which would have qualified as a crisis in an average city. It wasn't like every single threat required the full force of the Heroes of Millaine to deal with. But not seeing Waterworks at any of them for over two weeks...people started to notice. "WHERE IS WATERWORKS?" had become both a headline and a hashtag.

And perhaps it was a question that would be helpful to answer soon, for on this day, the Heroes of Millaine received a notice on the Hero App calling them to report to the base for a mission. It was flagged as critically urgent.

Everyone Who Reports To The Base

A summons to base would be sent out by a fairly small group of people. Most of them were yourselves; the most common use for such a summons was to call the whole team together for something that was better handled with a coordinated response than immediate "rush the problem from wherever you are at the moment". Lieutenant Wilhelm had used the option a few times in the past, and both Interceptor and Stalwart had the necessary authorization, although neither had ever actually done it. In theory Magnus could have as well.

When you arrive, though, it is not one of your team members waiting in the war room. It is not Wilhelm, or Interceptor, or Stalwart, or Magnus.

It was a slight fellow who white hair and slightly sagging skin were truly starting to show signs of age. His light blue eyes were sharp and clear though. He was wearing an expensive, well-tailored grey suit, along with a metallic belt embedded with several softly-glowing power cells. All of the Heroes would recognize him on sight, either from having met him personally at the Hearing, or in Bastion's case, either from the news or some military functions.

Senator Arnold Halwick. AKA Filibuster.

"The Circle needs your help," the old Senator said simply.

(It was a matter for debate whether the weirdest thing about the statement was basically the driving individual behind the Hearing coming to you guys for help, the Circle being spoken of openly in plain speech, or the fact that flipping Filibuster used a sentence where a paragraph would do.)

Otherwise

Where are you and what are you doing (that is so important that you're just ignoring a critically urgent call to assemble )?

[manwithaplan]

Bastion was first to storm into the meeting room, his hard metal stomps echoed by leathery boot-falls coming from behind him. Evidently he and his follower had already been on-site. In his armoured hand was a heavy-duty rectangular briefcase, apparently made out of the same durable metal (and with the same blinking silver lights) as his suit. The person following behind him was Suhail Kader, breathing heavily, sweat drops glistening upon his greasy hairline.

As soon as the Senator spoke, Bastion became stock-still. For a moment he remained like a mannequin, standing and staring at a wall past Halwick's shoulder, but then he whirred around to face his accomplice. The heavy briefcase was passed over.

"Wait for me outside. Remember, I watch the windows. Do not mishandle this parcel; it is rigged to explode in the event of a security problem. Do you understand?"

Once Murderblade had departed, the warrior resumed his former stasis, staring dead-ahead as if there were no Senator in the room. The fingers of his right hand began to twitch, forming and breaking out of a fist. It appeared that he was on the verge of striking something, but for the time being he continued to remain still.

"No."

"The Heroes of Millaine just helped the Circle. It cost us an operator. If there is a disaster, we will involve ourselves, but we are not your agents and we will not engage on your behalf."

[Llyarden]

When it had become apparent that Waterworks had seemingly vanished, Sean had...kinda withdrawn a bit himself. Given his sense of smell, he could probably have made a good attempt at tracking her down (at least, if she'd stayed around Millaine.) But he never tried. As uncharacteristic as her disappearance was, he still trusted - and said as much to anyone that asked - that if she planned to disappear once and for all, she would at least come back to say goodbye.

(The fact that the videos she'd recorded for them all had obviously been cancelled before being sent also helped his confidence. Sure, she'd talked to him and the other Heroes on the LTTC, but there was no way she'd just abandon Lucas and her family without a word.)

On the day of the alert, arriving to find Halwick, of all people...that kinda caught him off guard.

"Uh..."

And then Halwick spoke.

Now, Sean had never had much respect for Halwick, ever since he realised that the Hearing had been conceived as much to assuage his niece's wounded pride and thirst for revenge as it had been to address any legitimate concerns. But he had pitied the man after Shara's murder.

It was fairly safe to say that whatever lingering pity Sean had felt for Halwick vanished the minute he said 'Circle.'

"'The Circle needs our help,'" he repeated, once Bastion had finished speaking, with a more scornful tone than he'd ever used before. Even his parents' shenanigans hadn't disgusted him this much. "Really? Well, come on, let's hear what the great and powerful Circle has brought on themselves that they can't just fix by manipulating people's lives behind the scenes." He pointedly glanced to the screen in the meeting room, which was still showing the alert that Halwick didn't officially have the authority to use.

As much as he rather relished the idea of the Circle needing the help of the Heroes, in reality, there was precisely one reason that he hadn't just turned around and walked out. And it wasn't anything to do with Halwick or the Circle.