Fallout

[Jensen James]

Jensen was taken aback by Aria's submission. He looked to the Ascendancy first for some sort of answer, but the man's stern expression made him hold his tongue. He glanced at Ivan next, as the only other man in the room that Jensen knew to any extent. Surely Ivan wouldn't impose something upon someone without their consent. Aria wasn't excited by the prospect of being touched with the Gift, but she did kind of consent. "I'd never do this without your approval. Free will is God's gift to humanity."


Aria was expectant, though. Jensen glanced at the Ascendancy briefly. The others were waiting, so he sighed and nodded his ascent. He closed his eyes a moment and the light gushed through him. That brief, threatening moment that he was nearly swept away by it grimaced his features, but it quickly faded. The Gift was a glorious thing, and he was constantly astounded by the sensation of power that filled him.

As he had twice before, he willed the flows into his mind. Soon the threads formed their massive, complex web and plunged into Aria. They filled her body with energy and gentle warmth. The warmth would spread throughout, like soaking in a pleasant, warm bath tub, or so it felt to Jensen.

Soon he became very aware of all her injuries. They touched them simultaneously. Her skin smoothed, the burns were replaced by silky, fresh skin. The broken bone was bended. The aches and pains would wash away, even her fatigue would brighten her cheeks with fresh energy. Jensen was aware of all of them at once, and strangely, he suddenly felt connected to her, like from then on he might always have a sense of her well-being like a sixth sense, but he couldn't focus on it now.

Her mind was not injured, not in the way that he'd sensed before. Yet something was broken inside, like a wall that had been destroyed and rebuilt with the wrong materials. No, that wasn't it. It was like a hole punched in her mind and patched with the wrong material. Almost like a wound cauterized by flames. It was completely wrong and out of place. The mind around the wall pinched and puckered. The Gift smoothed it all away. It etched out the wrongness and rebuilt the connections by nursing the proper growth of her own flesh to fill in the space rather than plug it with synthetic tissue.

He was far more tired when he was done than he had been after Ascendancy and Marcus. The flows were complex and difficult to follow, but yet they were easy to summon. He worked harder to accomplish far less, but this time, sleeplessness and fatigue were physical as well as spiritual. The gift was draining, but his body was just plain tired also.

He squeezed Aria's hand when he was done, and smiled gently. "How do you feel?"



(Aria's healing moded with perrmission)

[Aria]

The knowledge that her body was damaged once to receive healing, but now twice this time she was fully conscious to feel as her skin knit back together. The creeping of the skin as it formed itself across her body.

But it wasn't that caught her attention. Aria felt the moment that the world weighed down on her. It struck light lightning and she couldn't breathe. She gasped for air but nothing was preventing her from breathing. The world was light again. There was happiness and joy and a single tear slide down Aria's cheek as s he pushed it all away in the bubble of nothingness.

The returned sensations were too overwhelming and while she felt awake and ready to get moving she knew that could be a bad idea. Jensen asked how she was feeling. Aria smiled. "Better than I have in days."
Aria squeezed Jensen's hand in return. "You look like you need more than coffee now."

[Marcus DuBois]

Marcus listened silently to the exchange between James and the woman. He was curious about her and, judging from the look she gave him and her words, it was shared. Of course, she did not know he had saved her that night.

But over it all, Ascendancy stood. The healing would happen regardless of the risks to her, regardless of James' fear. A thrill of anticipation ran through him and he caught himself before he licked his lips. Soon, now. He needed to be ready. This could be his last opportunity- perhaps, if he did not get his way- to see this. The thrill was spoiled by a feeling of resentment and jealousy towards the officer- Sarkozy. The man had seen this twice. He suppressed the emotion. It wasn't useful at the moment, except to stoke the fires of his determination.

He seized the Force so as to clearly see what was about to happen. Emptiness surrounded him once the power had shrieked its cry of submission to his grip. He let go of the usual elation that accompanied the feat, pushed away the anticipation and exhilarated hope. It was as if he were encased in a bubble of emptiness. Such a state- coupled with his mentat mantra- heightened his perception and ability to concentrate- and toremember, as if he were amplifying his mental acuity, scouring away anything that might distract him. His mind was pure.

James' filled with the power and Marcus felt the room grow dark with the feel. This time, it was merely noticed and did not stir a reaction from him. Instead he watched in fascination as the man crafted his weaves of all five powers. The complexity was incredible. Lace was an understatement. As he watched, he kept trying to categorize, to study the knots and tangles, to see where they complemented each other, super-imposed themselves on each other to strengthen or cancel out the parts of the tool he was creating. His mind raced even as he memorized as much as he could, turning what he saw into Tau expressions he could hold on to. He felt his heart speed up, perception darting from place to place, watching how the weaves seemed to seep into the woman, to connect itself to every part of her body, every cell, every bundle of nerves and muscle tissue and ligament and lattice webbing of bone, even that glowing core that was the center and yet the whole of her.

The web seemed to pulse in some way, a pattern of varying colors that conveyed....what, exactly? It was all connected to James, as if he had grown a trillion little fingers and eyes and ears and noses, all probing and sensing and sampling her body's state, feeding him a flood of information. Marcus shifted his attention back and watched the whole. Comprehension would come from seeing the totality, holistically, not getting lost in the details. He had no hope of recreating the seemingly infinite number of skeins in their intricate lace one at a time. The larger picture was the key.

This time, the pulses seemed to go the other direction and the trillion little probes and fingers and eyes shifted shape. He could sense her body respond to the new forms of the threads, their reshaping, almost automatically, as if something had been kicked on. A thought skittered across the void. Were the threads activating DNA transcription, using the existing genetic programs in the histones or somewhere else to effect a repair? Was it reading the code and rebuilding to that pattern? The possibilities here were mind blowing and he quickly flicked the thoughts and feelings away. He needed to concentrate.

And then James' focused his threads inside the woman, whether in her core or her brain, he could not tell. He seemed to be probing, studying something specific. After a few moments, the pulses again shifted toward the girl and he...rebuilt things, this time with what seemed a conscious effort, a direct action rather than something more natural.

Marcus watched it all, tried to understand everything he could, storing it all away for later. It seemed as if his projects were about to multiply. Next to this, the work he was doing with metals and the Force was simple. And yet a comparison and contrast between the two would prove fascinating.

Finally, it was done and James let the power go. Through his own Force enhanced senses, Marcus could see the fatigue around the man's eyes. His face sagged. That one had taken the last bit of what had remained of his strength.

For a moment Marcus studied him. Where had he learned this? Was this instinct? The complexity here was far too much to have cobbled together over years of study. This was a talent of sorts. James was a Force-savant. There was no other word. Despite his tiredness, the threads and weaves themselves had formed almost instantaneously, as if without thought. It was only at the end that it seemed that James had consciously studied and formulated his plan.

No. He could not let the man go yet. Not yet.

He releases his grip on the Force and it fled from him in fear. The bubble that had surrounded him, that had existed for that eternity, popped and he was once again mundane. The room seemed quieter and muted. But the woman spoke and there was joy in her eyes. He had succeeded.

Malik smiled and looked at James with awe. It was unfeigned but the letting him see it was not. Then he looked at the woman and nodded. Now that he let himself feel again, he was churning with excitement and possibility. Part of him wanted to begin experimenting right away. But he reigned himself in. Time enough to find living test subjects later. First he needed to study the weaves he'd seen, figure out how they worked. Formulate them. Later would come practice.

[Ascendancy]

It was hard to know what to expect. Less than a year ago and Nikolai was ignorant of the presence of any godly powers but his own. The man at his side, Alric, was the first one he discovered. Since then, Michael, Nicholas, Baldir, Ivan, Marcus, Nox and so many others crossed his path. The recruits from the Facility were found across the CCD. Indeed, the world was filled with them. Despite their numbers, and the magnitude of strength a few represented, none approached the skill he himself possessed. When he told the world that he was the greatest and oldest among them, he had truly believed it.

What he beheld now... what this young man did... it was nothing short of astounding. Nikolai had never seen so complicated a weaving of power than what Jensen accomplished outside of his own constructs. Nor did it ever really occur to him that these powers could be used to mend flesh and restore the broken. Aria's was relatively simple to restore, as well. He could only imagine how the healing must have appeared when Jensen applied it to himself, holding hands with death as he had.

Although he had followed the complexity of the flows, Nikolai was not confident he could repeat them himself. In fact, he wondered if he could accomplish a fraction of what Jensen had. That beckoned a question. Were there other uses of this power he did not know? Were there uses of this power he could not perform? Experimenting was dangerous, but if he came away with nothing, it was that he needed to expand his creativity when it came to these powers. There were discoveries still to be made.

Just when he appeared to be done, the flavor of the healing changed slightly. Nikolai wasn't sure what shifted, other than recognizing the fact that he had, nor did he understand what was done, but Aria gasped and a tear slid down her cheek.

Nik glanced at Alric, then Marcus and Ivan but they offered no explanation. Whatever happened, Nikolai assumed it was related to the healing. Perhaps the sensation of it was overwhelming. He wouldn't know.

Jensen's task complete, Nikolai made a decision. Jensen could not be allowed to leave the country. For the time being, he could not leave the Kremlin. The soft spoken man was far too valuable.

He thanked Jensen for the demonstration, then issued his orders to the room. Aria and Jensen were to return to the Kremlin for the day, until the security of the situation could be assessed. Regus needed to be located as well for he had escaped. Aria was to aid the ZARS teams in finding Regus. They would formulate a plan and raid the Atharim headquarters as soon as possible. Nikolai was ready to wipe out the Atharim, as is, and rebuild them with Aria in charge, as he had promised her. Ivan and the rest of the Domovoi would help ZARS and Aria as needed. They were under her command. Marcus was to stay with Nikolai, and help conceal him on the way back to the Kremlin. Nobody could know his current state. He would reveal himself to the world unblemished and strong. They would work with Leonid and the others to right these wrongs, and turn the situation to their every advantage. People needed to see the strength in their government. They needed to see Nikolai as strong and adamantine as the Arch.

In the hallway, he relayed one last order to his Chief of Staff, Viktor. Jensen was to remain in the Kremlin and guarded at all times. His life was almost as valuable as Nikolai's own. Nothing could be allowed to happen to him. Meanwhile, the newly formed consulate on channeling oversight was to comb the registries for more valuable persons. Speaking of which, it needed a leader. Viktor quickly mentioned his short list of recommendations, and while Nikolai listened, he shook his head at all of them.

Thoughtful, his gaze finally fell to Aria's room in the distance and those filing out of it. "I elevate Marcus DuBois to the position of Consul, over the Consulate on Channeler Oversight."
Viktor swallowed, paling slightly. He was aware that Viktor didn't trust Marcus but as far as Nikolai was concerned, Marcus could prove his loyalty no more than he had that night. He was willing to die to save the Ascendancy. What else could one ask?

"Finally, Viktor. This word. Channeler Oversight. Where did the term originate? Channeler?"


Viktor quickly explained how he came by the term, from a young, random American Senator. A girl named Evelyn.

Nikolai nodded and asked to be sent a link to the speech to watch it on the route back to the Kremlin. It seemed the Americans had been busy the past few days.

With that, they made arrangements to secret him back to the Kremlin.

[Ivan Sarkozy]

For this third go around, the healing was more straightforward. The woman hadn't been hurt too badly. Now that he knew what he was looking at it, things fell more into place. Or maybe because it was simpler. Either way, he was kinda optimistic that he understood it pretty well. Oh, he'd have to think about it it, work it out in his mind. It wasn't gonna be like the Pastor and it being instinctual. But he had a mechanical mind and liked puzzles. The memory of that bike starting up after weeks of tinkering brought a smile to his face.

And then it was all over. Ascendancy left. He looked at the Sigma but the man seemed lost in thought. He could understand that. The looks he shot the Pastor, though....Ivan narrowed his eyes. There was a hunger there. Ivan make sure he stayed with the man as long as possible. It wasn't that he didn't trust the Sigma. Well ok. He didn't trust him. The man gave off...something. Like here he was all kind and friendly. But in the square with Oakland, he had radiated arrogance. So which was the real Sigma? And which was the act?

He went to the Pastor. "You did great, Mr. James."
He looked at the woman and the tear on her cheek. "God was working through you."
There were questions he had, of course. But it would have to be later. She and the Pastor would be headed to the Kremlin. And Ivan supposed he'd better see the Cap at Domovoi. The Sigma would be at the Kremlin too. Hmm....

He took his wallet and sent his contact to the Pastor. "If you need anything or want to talk, this is me."
As for the woman, he wasn't sure they'd meet again. Probably. Not that he was high up on the totem poll, though. And she being Atharim- former Atharim- she was probably going to be wrung out for information.

Well, he had an Atharim he worked with already. And it was time to see what was going on. He doubted things had gotten any better. The three miracles he saw today probably used up all the luck for the next few days.