Nolan Westcroft

Character Art by Brahahaga

Nolan Westcroft was once a superspy and one of the Union’s rising stars, but that was in a different life. After suffering a devastating loss, Nolan left the spy game behind. Ten years later, he’s now a humble psychologist who helps field agents overcome the horrors that Technocracy shields mankind from. But when a new mission calls him away from desk duty and back into the field, Nolan will have to remember everything he used to be if he wants to ever make it home.

## Background

* Had a career investigating terrorist psychology
* Became Enlightened shortly after 9/11
* Recruited almost immediately by the Technocratic Union and spent the next decade working with the N.W.O.
* After an incident in his life, he transferred to the Void Engineers (against the N.W.O.'s wishes)
* Has since become a spy-turned-therapist who counsels field agents
* Favours pacifistic methods of approaching situations such as psychological manipulation, chemicals and medication, and running away
* Approximately 42 years old as of the beginning of this chronicle
* In episode 4, Nolan was the first character to (botch and) suffer Paradox backlash.

## Character Biography

### Early Newlife

Shortly after transferring from the New World Order to the Void Engineers, Nolan had a meeting with Dr. Veda Bingham.  Skipping any pleasantries, Veda asked why he made the transfer request.  Nolan admitted he could not stand to break people or work in the field anymore.  After receiving a nod and sad smile from Veda, he went on to explain that he was compromised and would not be of any use without extensive time in the White Room. Veda acknowledged that he had had a hard time and they wanted him to succeed.  When Nolan pressed the matter, she amended her reply and clarified that *she* wanted him to succeed, even if others did not.  He took that in with some skepticism, saying his application had been met with much resistance.  He assured her he was not here to spy on her, though he admitted he had no way of proving that to her—or himself.  Veda replied that she would like to see him try, but appreciated the assurance. Nolan observed that she had not shook his hand when he came in, preventing him from planting any surveillance devices.  He also sensed a low-grade EMP running through the room at regular intervals, which he attributed to a dental filling, and guessed she had to adjust it before giving psychotherapy to any operatives carrying DEIs or other implants.

Veda told him she did not have to trust him to expect good work from him, particularly after she was the most vocal advocate for his application, and hoped he would come to trust her in time. Nolan assured her that he already trusted her.  He acknowledged the open admission was another sign of his poor espionage skills, but he’d found that trust worked both ways. Veda said she wanted him to use his skills—or, rather, the ones the N.W.O. left him—to help the various patients that came through the Descartes Institute.  Before he left to find his office, Nolan admitted he was extending his trust to Veda because ‘Mikaela’ spoke very highly of her.  Veda replied that she was giving him her trust for the same reason—even though he was a former N.W.O. agent.  She then revealed that they had no Room 101 and there were more opportunities here for casual attire than he might be used to.

As he left Veda’s office, he received an e-mail from an old associate, Creedence Von Cardon, that contained an encrypted file.  Decrypting the file revealed a URL for a familiar chat program.  Through the chat window, Credence told Nolan they had heard about ‘Mik’ and offered their sympathy.  Nolan claimed his phone had a low battery warning and would talk to him later before ending the chat.  He then entered his new office and assessed how much damage it could take. Determining the walls would not hold up to any abuse, he dropped his phone to the ground, stomped on it until the device was thoroughly destroyed and carefully swept the SIM card and hard drive into the dust bin.  He then logged onto his computer, only to see a suspiciously timely e-mail from Veda regarding equipment requisitions.

Some time after beginning his work at the Descartes Institute, Nolan was assigned to debrief Sophia Smith, who was notably tense and unhappy. After offering some refreshments, and turning on a metronome to break the silence, he asked why Sophia was here.  Sophia told him her team had encountered a Dimensional Anomaly while cleaning up a scene that had not been properly cleared.  She was required to submit to the debriefing before returning to work. She admitted feeling some impatience as her work was very important to her.  Sophia told Nolan that her last mission did not have a significant impact on her relationship with her family.  However, that was only because they were already unhappy with her work in general: not being read into her life with the Technocracy, they only had a vague idea that she had a science-related occupation that kept her away from family life. When asked to recount her experiences, Sophia recalled a great deal of pain, coupled with the sensation of coming apart, but had not experienced any nightmares.  As far as she recalled, the rest of her team had also survived the encounter without any side effects, but she admitted she did not know them well as she did not have a regular team.  Nolan probed further and learned Sophia’s team was clearing up a scene where a Marauder had previously visited, but had not encountered the Reality Deviant themselves.  Despite the experience, Sophia believed her team had cleaned up the scene and had left no psychoactive traces behind.
Nolan confirmed that Sophia did not have any gene modifications, but sometimes resorted to making and self-administering narcotics in the field.  He then gave her a stress ball to squeeze in time with the metronome while he ran some simple tests. Nolan felt Sophia needed additional counseling and scheduled her for another appointment.  Sophia reluctantly agreed, as she felt her colleagues needed her back in the field.  Nolan replied that the best agents were healthy in mind as well as body.  He also assigned her to desk duty and limited work hours until their next appointment, asking her to try to observe the latter. Sophia pointed out that there was always something that required Damage Control.

### DSRV Rogue

On an undisclosed date in the twenty-first century, the Technocratic Union submarine DSRV Rogue left Seattle for the Deep Sea Exploration Zone, a secret Void Engineers base located near the Marianas Trench.  The Rogue consisted of three decks or levels: the main level (which held the mess hall and most of the quarters were housed), an upper level (piloting, storage and other things), a lower level (mechanical equipment). Although the crew composition was almost exclusively Void Engineers, it had been assembled solely for the mission, rather than a pre-established crew with any working history.  After a week traveling in cramped quarters, dim lighting and stale air, nerves were starting to fray.  The captain, Aaron Gamble, quickly interceded before things got out of hand, but tensions were still running high.

Nolan joined the mission as he had received a phone call, from a dead-drop number used by his former N.W.O. handler twelve years ago, ordering him to report for a temporary reallocation of resources.  He complied with the order, but ignored the requirement to bring a sidearm.

While Nolan was a Void Engineer, he was not technically a member of the submarine crew.  As such, he did not have the clearance to enter certain areas of the Rogue such as the helm, Engineering, storage and the vents. However, he did enjoy free reign of the rest of the submarine as well as the unexpected benefit of his own room and a plentiful supply of books and medications.  Seeing the challenges Captain Gamble faced, he waited in one of the hallways to ‘accidentally’ meet him and present a proposal of providing occupational therapy to the crew.  Gamble accepted his offer, but warned that it might not be easy as some crewmates had encountered challenges working together.  He also warned him to leave the first mate, Tajima Yukiyo, and chief engineer, Sabian Knight, alone as they would not appreciate any interruption of their duties.

Nolan’s therapy sessions helped him make some friends, including a Border Corps Division operative named Samuel Kent.  He later witnessed Sam and a Research and Execution operative named Jordan having a private, but not heated, conversation.  A short time later, he noticed that the door to Gamble’s cabin was missing, followed by a later encounter where he overheard Gamble laughing to himself. At some point, Captain Gamble would publicly announce that his cabin door was missing and asked if anyone knew anything about the matter.  After the crew laughed, Gamble ordered a crewmate by the name of Devon to act as his new door.  Devon amiably complied, going so far as to maintain his new role until the door was returned.  The prank had a notable improvement on crew morale.

At some point, Nolan, Sophia and Tegan were eating in the mess hall when a ceiling hatch fell down from above.  Sophia managed to dodge the hatch in time. Nolan would have been hit, had Tegan not batted it out of the way.  Looking up, Nolan and Tegan saw Heather’s head sticking out of a ventilation shaft. Heather explained to Nolan and Tegan that she had been in the midst of fixing things.  She then confirmed to the mess specialist that the motor was fixed, which allowed her to start dinner.  After calling out that she was not a god, Heather opted to drop out of the ventilation shaft, into the mess hall… and landed on the head of Tegan, who was attempting to catch her.  The two wound up sprawled on the floor.  Heather helped Tegan up, but was less successful in removing the boot print from Tegan’s face.  Nolan quietly commented on the situation while Sophia worked on her tablet and ignored what was happening.

On the seventh day, Nolan and Tegan were occupying themselves when they heard Sophia screaming.  They ran over to find Heather knocking on Sophia’s door. Heather called out and asked if Sophia was okay. Sophia assured her that she was fine, but evaded her follow up question regarding why she screamed out loud. After confirming Nolan was a therapist, Tegan ignored Sophia’s assurances and used her phone to override the locking mechanism.  When Tegan insisted on seeing her, Sophia opened the door, pointed a taser at her, repeated her words and firmly closed the door.  By that point, several other crew members—including Captain Gamble—had arrived on the scene.  Gamble asked everyone to disperse and give Sophia some privacy, but asked them to reconvene in the dining area in twenty minutes. Tegan felt somewhat slighted, feeling that one should respond when hearing screams of distress. Nolan agreed, but pointed out that some people did not appreciate such wellness checks, no matter how well-intentioned.

Heather followed Nolan as he walked away, reminding him that Gamble wanted to hold a meeting.  Nolan explained he wanted to brush his teeth again after having some instant coffee.  Heather was shocked that he had found coffee.   Nolan pointed out that she had never asked, that this was the first conversation they ever had and offered to share his supply.  Heather promptly accepted, declaring he was her new best friend, and passed the time rambling about various parts of the submarine she fixed while they walked to his room and his supply of ‘magic juice’. Tegan walked behind them, as her quarters were in the same direction, but did not participate in the conversation. True to his word, Nolan gave Heather—and Tegan, when he saw her—some pods from Luna Coffee.

During their conversation about the various brands of coffee Nolan had, Tegan divulged the fact that some research teams were working on a stimulant that was more effective than coffee.  Nolan and Tegan shared a moment over their mutual appreciation of Spaceballs.  Heather and Tegan saw that Nolan’s room was extremely well organized—which spoke to past military experience, OCD or both—and expressed their appreciation.

The crew obeyed Gamble’s orders and convened in the dining area at the designated time.  He told them they had arrived two days ahead of schedule and thanked everyone—particularly the engineering team—for working so hard despite the circumstances. Gamble explained that the Deep Space Exploration Zone was now within range of their scanners.  They had determined that the base still had power and had not been destroyed, which came as a surprise given that the Technocracy had not received any communications in several months.  The Rogue had tried hailing the base multiple times, but had not received any response.  Their current working theory was that the crew of the base were all dead. Nolan sensed that something about the mission was deeply personal for Gamble and the possibility that the base crew were dead was painful to him.

As such, the Rogue would dock at the base and her crew would investigate.  Tegan offered to access the base computers and gather more information.  Gamble accepted her offer, recognizing she might have some tools that his Void Engineers lacked and how she had already proven her skills by helping various crewmates acquire internet access.  If there were no problems, the crew of the Rogue would proceed with retrieving data and other elements required by the Technocracy.  If problems arose, however, then they would be expected to deal with them.  Gamble handed out a list of the personnel assigned to the base, their roles and areas of study. Nolan used a Procedure to memorize the list in twenty seconds.  He saw the base crew included a few scientists from the Progenitors and Iteration X, some members from the Earth Frontier Division and a contingent of Border Corps Division. Nolan also noted that two of the personnel only had their first name listed. He passed it onto Heather, but soon asked to see it once more.  Using another Procedure and his own knowledge of various personnel, he realized that the base commander, Amelie Bessette, was Gamble’s wife.  He also saw that there was a redacted name on the list.

Gamble tasked some of the crew to unload supplies, while the rest were ordered to focus on data retrieval.  He then concluded the meeting, inviting anyone who wanted to work with the submarine scanners to accompany him. Heather, Nolan, Sophia and Tegan followed Gamble to the bridge, which was only occupied by the first mate, Tajima Yukiyo.  Heather helped Sophia and Tegan calibrate the equipment so they could conduct their scans. Sophia and Tegan noted out loud how the base defences were raised, as if they were reacting to the submarine.  Curious, Heather tried recalibrating the scanners and running her own analysis.  She was surprised to detect every kind of Enlightened Science she was familiar with, along with a few more forms.  Hearing this, Gamble took a look for himself.  He said the results suggested that some of the base crew was alive, but found the sheer amount of energy unusual.  Nolan asked if the scanners had taken any external readings of the base, citing hull integrity as an example.  Gamble replied that external scans had either come up clean or were inconclusive due to shield interference.  He advised them to prepare for the worst.

Everyone soon felt reverberations as the Rogue docked with the Deep Sea Exploration Zone.  Hoping the physical connection could bypass the shield interference, Sophia reached out with her senses.  She determined that the air quality and internal temperature was nominal. Curiously, she picked up two extra life signs that were not included in the base crew manifest: one human, one feline. The team speculated on the former, with possibilities including a pregnant operative, a spy and a clone.

### Deep Sea Exploration Zone

Gamble warned the team to be careful, as they did not know what to expect, before opening the airlock to reveal a starkly white hallway.  Two people were already waiting for them: a young woman sporting a ponytail and suit, and an unassuming man who looked them over like a security guard. Nolan subconsciously made an observation about the woman.  While he did not recognize the significance at the time, he knew enough to establish a telepathic mind link with the rest of the team.

The woman greeted them politely, explaining they had not expected any company.  Flustered, Gamble told them that the Technocracy had been trying to contact the base for months.  The woman replied that they had been sending reports during that time, wondered if there was a problem with the communication systems and invited them to the control room so they could speak to the commander.  Gamble exchanged looks with Nolan, surprised by her detached demeanour, but eventually accepted her offer.  He transferred command of the Rogue to Yukio in his absence.  Gamble, Heather, Nolan, Sophia and Tegan then followed the woman into the base.

Nolan found something uncanny about the man and wondered if the woman had been drugged or conditioned.  Sophia quietly told Nolan he was right about his suspicions, as the woman was the source of the extra life sign.  His recall of the crew list, his observations and Sophia’s warnings prompted Nolan to pay closer attention to their guide.  Before she turned away, he glimpsed the name Eva Walters on her name tag.  Thinking back to his N.W.O. training days, he recognized the name as a Syndicate operative assigned to the Special Projects Division… from a list of personnel who had vanished.  That prompted him to pop some pills into his mouth and raise a mind shield.  It took him a few more moments before he registered another observation: just as the airlock doors opened, he remembered seeing something black flicker across Eva’s eyes.  Putting that together, he began a running conversation with Eva, mentioning that one of his mentors, Carl Etheridge, had spoken highly of her.  However, he knew that the leading Man in Grey who died in 2006 during an onslaught at the Portland chantry.  The fact that Eva did not react was highly suspicious.

Through the mind link, Tegan told her other teammates that she would complete the data retrieval as quickly as possible, given the suspicious circumstances, and advised them to come find her if she did not return within fifteen minutes.  She then split off with Mateo and Jordan to head for the laboratories.

Gamble, Heather, Nolan and Sophia eventually arrived at the control room, where several people were bustling about.  As they looked through the reinforced windows and saw the Marianas Trench, Eva approached a middle-aged woman standing by one of the consoles, greeted her as Commander Bessette, and informed her that they had visitors.  Bessette casually dismissed them as she was busy.  A stunned Gamble spoke to her, calling her Amelie, but she did not respond.  He walked over and quietly spoke to her. Nolan started a Procedure to help him detect anyone who believed they were lying.

Sensing things were becoming increasingly suspicious, Nolan used the mindlink to telepathically tell his teammates everything he knew about the Special Projects Division—specifically that they were an infamous part of the Syndicate that regularly performed unauthorized research on demons, the Nephandi and other Reality Deviants… before vanishing after the emergence of the Dimensional Anomaly.  He also confirmed that Dr. Eva Walters was a high-ranking member of the Special Projects Division and she did not react when he deliberately used the name of a high-ranking N.W.O. agent, Carl Etheridge, who died after her disappearance. Nolan then added the observation of Eva’s eyes turning black.  Sophia revealed that she had also seen eyes turning black during her recent nightmare.  The song ‘Working for the Weekend,’ by Loverboy, began playing over the mindlink as Nolan’s stress levels got the better of him.  Tegan told them that she needed a little more time.

Heather and Nolan then realized, to their horror, that the observation of black eyes was one of the many descriptions they had read about Threat Null—one of the most terrifying adversaries that the Void Engineers had faced. Nolan recalled the various therapy sessions he had with operatives stressed about events they were not authorized to discuss.  He recognized that some of those events were centred around Threat Null. Furthermore, they were looking at the Threat Null counterparts of the Void Engineers, who no one had seen before.  Nolan began mentally laughing hysterically.

It was at that point that Gamble slammed his fist into the console, exclaimed that Amelie was his wife and demanded that she look him in the eye.  As everyone in the room froze, Sophia telepathically urged Heather to explain. Heather was horrified that Gamble would yell at Threat Null and initially conveyed the belief that they would all die momentarily.  She eventually recovered enough to tell Sophia and Tegan that Threat Null came from beyond the Dimensional Anomaly, should not be on Earth and should not exist as Void Engineers.  As Nolan tried to suggest to Gamble that they should run, Amelie coldly ordered her crew to kill them all.

Sophia fired her taser at Eva, recognizing that, even if it did not hurt Threat Null, it should hurt the host body.  Eva’s back arched as she broke out into spasms. Heather threw a canister of CLN-20 (a.k.a. ‘Fun House’) gas, causing half of the infected enemies to collapse. Tegan joined the others, assessed the situation and fired her LL/AP-15 Finger Guns.  She killed Eva with her first shot and hit Amelie with her second. Nolan moved past Amelie, then used a Procedure to make everyone else think they swapped places. Gamble was momentarily confused by Nolan’s actions, but saw through the illusion. He ordered his crew to return to the submarine.

Sophia pulled her pen from her jacket pocket, intending to stab a hostile and trigger its internal explosive if she could not escape.  Meanwhile, she began retreating to the submarine, planning to advocate for the base’s destruction as she felt its crew was infected and were beyond saving. Heather accessed one of the consoles and found the self-destruct sequence.  Calculating how much time the crew of the Rogue needed to return to the submarine, seal the door and disconnect from the base and set a countdown timer.  She then started the countdown and began to run. Tegan kept the infected base crew at bay.  She then ordered everyone to run back to the submarine, intending to be the last person to leave. Nolan activated a Procedure to improve their chances of success before retreating himself.

The submarine crew ran, with Gamble and Tegan bringing up the rear.  Sophia was the first to return to the Rogue.  Seeing the door was open, Sophia used her life sight to confirm none of the submarine crew had any shadows or signs of infection.  However, she did see the cat that she detected earlier, who had somehow made its way onboard.  Fearing it might carry the infection, she threw the animal off the submarine and explained her rationale to the team.  No one chose to question her motives.  The team was so eager to leave, none of them saw its tag, identifying it as a KIT Mark named Cupcake.  Tegan used her Enlightened Science on the door to seal the infected inside the base.  The Rogue then disconnected and began pulling away.

Everyone felt relieved to have escaped with their lives.  However, Heather then realized that she had failed to factor the blast radius of the base’s self-destruct into her calculations when she set the countdown. Before she could say anything aloud, the base exploded and the submarine was caught in the shockwave.  As they were flung about the corridor, the lights turned red, the alarms began to ring and they felt a strange pressure on their bodies.

The operatives tried to stand up, only to find themselves floating through the air.  They saw all the colours of the rainbow tear through the submarine, its beauty belied by the screams they—and their crewmates—made and the howling winds that seemed to blow through the halls.  One by one, they recalled all their memories—from both their oldlife and their newlife—before they slipped into unconsciousness.

### Beyond the Dimensional Anomaly

Nolan was rudely awakened when Sophia slapped him in the face. Sophia explained that they had crossed through the Dimensional Anomaly and that anyone surviving had taken some damage.  As such, she needed to perform a Procedure on Tegan, who was seriously hurt, but did not want to do so alone.  She added that everyone else was dead before turning her attention to Tegan.  Nolan asked Sophia how she was doing and was told she was not as hurt as Tegan. Exasperated, Nolan gave her a quick-dissolving strip of Vicodin (to counter the pain she felt) and stimulants, which he enhanced with Enlightened Science.  After accepting his drugs and feeling the pain recede, Sophia examined Tegan more closely.  She then straddled Tegan, who was still floating, and gave her a blood transfusion. Sophia also used a Procedure to transfer some of Tegan’s injuries to herself.

Grabbing Tegan’s face, Sophia warned her not to move. Once she had gotten Tegan’s attention, she abruptly removed the transfusion supplies.  She pressed down on the site to help the clotting process while Nolan administered Vicodin.  Tegan asked where they were.  Nolan dramatically announced they were in space.  Sophia simply said they were in a submarine full of corpses and abruptly declared she had to investigate another life sign.  Over her shoulder, she told Tegan that Heather was the first to wake and had left to restore life support before everyone else died.  When Tegan suggested her computer skills might come in handy, Sophia pointed her in the right direction.

Sophia left to follow the remaining life sign.  Left to his own devices, Nolan shoved all the dead bodies—many of whom were thoroughly shredded—into a closet.  He locked the door and left a warning sign. Shortly afterwards, he abruptly fell to the floor as, unbeknownst to him, artificial gravity had been activated.  He could also hear all the bodies fall down in the closet he’d just closed.  Over the mind link, Tegan apologized for turning the artificial gravity on, but found it curious that such a system existed in the first place.  Nolan needed a moment to process that, but eventually found that just as curious.

He then heard Tegan’s voice overhead announcing that she had turned on the PA and artificial gravity system, and apologizing again for any discomfort caused by the latter.  After observing that Tegan’s apology was somewhat inadequate, he heard air hissing through the hallway as the life support system came online.  He exhaled, and closed his eyes, in relief—only to be startled when the walls seemed to separate.  Nolan quickly realized that they were retracting window covers and he was looking into the blackness of space.  While he knew that *other* Void Engineers often traveled to and worked in space, he found the prospect of himself being there somewhat alarming.  After remembering his first meeting with Veda, he began to panic and shout out loud.

Heather’s voice came over the PA, asking him to report to the Engineering Room.  Nolan shouted back that there was a big hole.  He began answering Heather’s questions by giving a rough approximation of its dimensions and assuring that he was not being sucked out. During the conversation, Tegan tried to explain that she’d activated the windows.  At Heather’s and Tegan’s suggestion, Nolan tapped the window and confirmed it was made of glass, though it was much denser than standard windows. Tegan explained she had found, and restored, redacted code for windows.  Nolan apologized for distracting them with his inarticulate concerns.  Heather replied she was relieved that he had not been sucked out into the void of space. Nolan asked them how they would feel if that had happened.  Based on their responses, he declared they were in good mental health.  When Heather replied that she was in a great deal of pain, Nolan promised to visit her in Engineering and provide medication after he replenished his supplies from his room.
As he returned to his room, he heard Heather make a request over the PA for anyone alive and mobile to report to the cafeteria.  Sophia reported there were only five survivors and that she was in the mess hall.  Heather, Tegan and Nolan promptly asked for the identity of the fifth survivor and learned it was Mateo.
Nolan eventually arrived in Engineering and received a pop culture-laden greeting from Tegan.  When he offered drugs, Tegan pointed to Heather, who raised her hand plaintively.  After taking her pulse and assessing how much pain she felt, he injected her with a cocktail of amphetamines and painkillers, which he enhanced with his Enlightened Science. Feeling much better, Heather began assessing the integrity of the vessel, considering it endured an explosion that sent it through the Dimensional Anomaly, and ran scans to determine what systems needed repair.  Tegan pulled up a display of the vessel and began running diagnostics. Nolan then asked if there were any means of external communication, which they could use to contact any deep-space stations that had previously been cut off by the Dimensional Anomaly. As Heather began searching for any relevant systems, Tegan revealed that she had discovered an unlisted energy source located somewhere in the centre of the vessel.  Heather and Tegan wondered if it was a warp core.

Looking further, Tegan found some blueprints and put them on the display.  A light was pinging from a room located in the belly of the ship.  Heather was surprised, as her blueprints made no mention of such a room.  They were still pondering this discovery when they were interrupted by the sound of Mateo screaming, followed by Sophia shouting for Nolan.

Hearing her call, Nolan quickly rushed to the mess hall.  Sophia quickly told him Mateo was suffering from some kind of mental trauma.  He gave a quick assessment and asked Sophia to back up. Nolan considered his options before asking Sophia not to question his methods and pulling a plush llama from his coat, which he called a ‘trauma llama’.  Sophia was visibly surprised, but quickly recovered her composure. Nolan then removed a baggie from the llama’s head, which had been dipped in synthetic methamphetamines that were specially formulated for skin absorption, and pressed it against Mateo.  He enhanced the pharmaceuticals with Enlightened Science, so Mateo could process whatever mental health conditions he was experiencing. After some time, Mateo’s breathing and heart rate slowed down.  He stopped screaming and curled up with the plush llama.

Sophia asked whether Mateo was experiencing some kind of mental trauma or displaying the first sign of infection from what they encountered at the Deep Sea Exploration Zone.  Nolan admitted he could not answer without psychotherapy sessions, but his treatment should keep him calm, if not sleeping, for the time being.  He advised her to watch out for aggressive or uncharacteristic behaviour, though, as that could indicate something else.  Guessing he was referring to infection, Sophia told Nolan she would space Mateo if his eyes turned black.

A disturbed Nolan asked if Sophia had spaced anyone else.  Sophia replied she had not done so during this trip, as everyone else was already dead.  Nolan sought clarification that they had not died by her hands, as he was unconscious at the time.  Sophia assured him that she was also unconscious until Heather woke her up. When Nolan admitted his concerns about whether she was exhibiting some form of trauma response herself, Sophia explained that her trauma responses manifested as an inability to sleep.  She evaded his follow-up question on how she was currently sleeping.  Nolan offered another plush llama should she need it, but Sophia assured him she had her own remedies.

When Nolan offered the llama again, Sophia asked what it was coated in.  Nolan told her the plush contained chamomile… along with cannabidiol, cannabigerol and other substances.  Sophia then asked about the llama he used on Mateo, learning it was coated in synthetic methamphetamines, psychocilibin and certain compounds that were not public knowledge.  After Nolan explained the methamphematine countered the hallucinatory properties of psychocilibin, Sophia sought confirmation that he was not a Pharmacopoeist and asked why he was not one of the Progenitors.  He told her the Convention would not accept him, which he attributed to his lack of bangs.

Nolan then apologized that he could not help her with her desk duty.  Sophia was surprised, but accepted his apology.  He revealed that while her superiors wanted her back in the field, he had seen the detrimental—and sometimes lethal—consequences of such decisions and wanted to avoid that.  Sophia expressed her appreciation, as she preferred being uninjured and alive. Seizing the moment, however inappropriate it might be, Nolan asked who she had lost in her life (episode 1).

Not getting a response, Nolan wondered if the sub had coffee before proceeding on a meandering conversation that ended with a yawn and the suggestion that Sophia could use her abilities of heating water to make coffee.  Stifling her own yawn, Sophia conceded it was possible but she preferred not to use them on such trivial tasks.  Nolan expressed gratitude that he and Sophia had some kind of connection.  Sophia did not seem to know what to make of that statement.  Nolan continued rambing on, pausing only to give another yawn. He had been secretly running a psychological test to see if Sophia was paying attention by deliberately yawning and waiting for the sympathetic response.  After she failed to yawn the second time, he declared that he would go search for coffee.  Sophia agreed to accompany him.

Nolan found a kettle and began a largely one-sided conversation, though Sophia occasionally provided contributions.  The two then began rummaging through the kitchen, with Nolan finding coffee grounds and Sophia discovering a giant percolator.  After some more chatter, they began making coffee. Sophia asked Heather if she wanted coffee.  Nolan was so preoccupied that he did not realize Heather was present until Sophia told him she had joined them.   Heather told them she was looking for a secret power source but would happily take coffee first.  Sophia eventually confirmed that the secret power source was not on the blueprints they were given.  Tegan’s voice echoed from the tablet, startling Nolan and Sophia until Heather explained she’d established a communications link between Engineering and the tablet.  Tegan told Nolan and Sophia that she had unlocked a hidden operating system that said they were on the Nautilus and there was some kind of warp core or power source hidden onboard.  Sophia asked if they were on a submarine or a spaceship.  Tegan guessed both, but pointed out that she had discovered window controls and artificial gravity systems, both of which were incongruous to submarines.

At that point, Nolan announced that the coffee was ready.  Tegan was excited to hear they had coffee and, not dissuaded by Heather’s warning of its smell, asked for some.  Sophia found a travel flask and filled it with coffee.  She also suggested that someone should physically accompany Heather, noting the limitations of Tegan’s remote monitoring.  Heather was amiable to having either Sophia or Nolan accompany her.  Sophia decided to volunteer, as Mateo would not be going anywhere.  That prompted Heather to ask what was in the llama, a question that confused Tegan.  Nolan replied that the plush had been dipped in a cocktail of MDMA, psychocilibin and Tylenol-3 (with codeine).  Heather admitted that that explained why her hand hurt less.  Nolan asked if she needed drugs and began searching through his supplies.  Heather eventually accepted some extra-strength Tylenol, but not the LSD.  Tegan repeated her request for coffee and Nolan agreed to bring some over.  Heather began dragging things over to a vent with Sophia’s assistance.  She then climbed up, secured a rope and dropped it behind her so Sophia could follow.  Once Sophia joined Heather, they began crawling through the vents.

When Nolan arrived, Tegan thanked him for the coffee.  She then asked if his age (compared to her) meant he was familiar with Windows 98.  Bemused, Nolan replied that he had used it when he was a teenager.  Tegan admitted such operating systems were before her time and asked if he could get her access.  Nolan sat down and, after a few minutes, managed to access a desktop screen that had nothing but a start button and a single icon that said KIBO.  Tegan recognized it as an acronym for ‘Knowledge In, Bullshit Out’ and double-clicked on the icon.  Another icon appeared along the taskbar in the form of a black-and-white tuxedo cat with a purple bandana labeled with the word KIBO.  He looked at the Technocrats and offered to help.  After conversing with Nolan, Tegan asked KIBO for help, only to promptly refuse his offer to erase the hard drive.  When she asked to see the hard drive, the screen displayed an image that Nolan and Tegan recognized as a fractal.

The two quickly became distracted by songs, Spotify playlists, generational differences, how people could be tracked and whether the computer had the game Doom installed.  At that last point, KIBO reappeared and told them he could play Doom.  Tegan immediately decided to play the game. As the game loaded, Nolan began feeling uneasy about KIBO. He asked how Tegan was feeling and learned that, while she showed the damage sustained from traveling through the Dimensional Anomaly, she did not feel the pain.  Nolan then decided that KIBO was evil after he declared Clippy was his best friend.  His next request was for a stat block.  A card appeared with the KIBO icon and a series of words, one of which was ‘Jhor’.  Tegan asked what Nolan was doing.  Nolan replied he was hacking the database.

Heather called out to Tegan and asked where the item ‘that should not be’ on the vessel was located.  Tegan looked at their location and provided detailed directions. At some point after Heather and Sophia got close to their destination, Tegan began encountering static over the connection. Heather and Tegan tried to talk to each other, only to have trouble communicating. Tegan managed to enhance the communications link momentarily before losing it entirely. While Tegan toiled away, Nolan saw that KIBO was holding a red light in its mouth.  He realized it was some kind of alarm.

At that point, the ship shook violently.  Nolan asked what had happened, but Tegan had no available answers.  After blaming KIBO, Nolan used the computer mouse to pull him away from the alarm.  Tegan identified the red light as an alarm notification—one that was blinking faster.  Tegan wondered what was going on. Within seconds, Nolan and Tegan began smelling smoke.  They also noticed the red light was now blinking at a slower rate, as if the urgency had subsided, and the light that had represented Heather had returned to the screen.

Tegan began scanning the ship for any power surges, life signs and unexpected phenomena while Nolan continued to wrestle with KIBO.  After some searching, she determined there had been an explosion on the bottommost floor that created a hole in the wall and a fire.  The fire appeared to be suppressed.  Much to her surprise, she located Heather and Sophia inside a room that did not exist on the official blueprints.  For that matter, that entire area did not appear on the blueprints, as it had been cordoned off by wall panels—some of which were ten to fifteen years newer than the others.  A diagnostic revealed that the engines had been damaged, but were repairable.  Finally, there was no more power flowing to the device in the hidden room.  She reported her findings to Nolan.

Meanwhile, Nolan was still having trouble with KIBO.  Pulling out a laser pointer, he aimed it at the screen, employed a Procedure to make it as enticing as possible, pointed it at the Recycle Bin and released the mouse.  KIBO followed the laser pointer and disappeared into the Recycle Bin.  Nolan emptied the Recycle Bin and was satisfied that he had dealt with the program for now.  Nolan and Tegan decided to head downstairs to join Heather and Sophia. They made their way to the room, where they found Heather scanning a device that vaguely resembled a warp core and Sophia searching through boxes.

Nolan asked what was going on.  Heather warned them to stay back.  Sophia explained that a wall had exploded and led to a fire, which they had subsequently put out.  She admitted they were still in the preliminary stages of exploring the room.  In return, Tegan said that Nolan had deleted a cat and she had discovered an entire section of the ship that had been cordoned off, which indicated the vessel was larger than they thought.  Frustrated at this latest revelation, Nolan kicked the wall.  Tegan offered to help, but Heather told her to stay back. Sophia asked if Heather or Tegan was interested in the original blueprints to the ship.  Heather remained distracted, but Tegan readily scanned them with her DEI and uploaded a copy to the implant’s memory.

Heather reported that the device was no longer leaking radiation, which Tegan confirmed from her own scans.  She added that it had started to fail while passing through the Dimensional Anomaly, which meant that the device and the Dimensional Anomaly shared responsibility for killing most of the crew.  Finally, she identified it as a Wonder.  Nolan was shocked, as that meant the device came from the Traditions and not the Technocratic Union.  As the other Technocrats processed that information, Heather added one last detail: while the failure of the Wonder meant it was no longer leaking energy, she also believed they needed it operational in order to cross the Dimensional Anomaly and return home. Tegan wondered if their transit through the Dimensional Anomaly was an accident or whether someone wanted the Wonder destroyed.  Heather reminded them that they blew up the Deep Sea Exploration Zone, which could have triggered a chain reaction.  Tegan was more concerned at the possibility that someone had sent them out on a suicide mission.  Nolan asked how quickly they could repair the Wonder.

After some thought, Heather told the others that she could start repairing the Wonder, but revealed that it channeled energies that were not totally compatible with their Enlightened Science.  As such, she doubted she could bring it fully back online or use it to send them home.  Tegan said her scans revealed that the engines could be repaired, but Heather told them they would only allow the ship to move through space—not the Dimensional Anomaly.  She also pointed out that they did not presently know their actual location in space. Heather then added one more fact: they only had ninety days—eighty-nine, now—to get back before they discorporated and vanished.

Tegan was visibly concerned.  In an effort to take her mind off their impending demise, she told Heather and Sophia that they had found and deleted a virtual cat.  Nolan assured Sophia that he had taken all the steps necessary to fully delete it, but Tegan expressed doubts that it was actually gone.  After making pop culture references about cats, Tegan added that it was holding a red blinking light just before the explosion.  Heather suggested it could have been an alert, as she was sure the Wonder was about to explode on its own.

Nolan got everyone back on track by reviewing how the Nautilus was actually an Etherite vessel that had been repurposed into a Technocratic vessel.  Tegan suggested that they could explore the sections of the ship that had been secretly cordoned off.  Heather was more focused on how to repair the Wonder, as it used energies that were not quite Data or Dimensional Science.  After confirming that it might be the Mage equivalent, Nolan promptly identified the latter as Spirit Magick.  When Heather made a face, Nolan insisted that that was what Tradition Mages called those kinds of energies, even if they were wrong.  Heather insisted that it would be difficult to make Magick fit her Enlightened Science.  After debating whether discorporation was like The Blip (from the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and how painful it might be, Nolan, Heather and Tegan wondered if the vessel might actually be a Marauder or Nephandi ship.  Sophia thought it was improbable that the ship had passed through that many hands, but Nolan felt otherwise based on his knowledge of history and classified files.  The Technocrats decided to explore the hidden areas of the ship, but not before Heather applied duct tape to the parts of the Wonder that showed the most damage.

They did not travel far before reaching another wall, but only paused long enough for Heather to cut their way through with a plasma torch.  The Technocrats found themselves in a room with a window that gave them a clear view of the empty void. After looking at the blackness, Heather, Nolan and Sophia saw a flash of light that resembled the Aurora Borealis.  While it resembled outer space, they did not see any stars. Nolan began hearing whispers that almost sounded like screams, which reminded him of what he heard when he passed through the Dimensional Anomaly.  He began to suspect that he was actually looking at the Dimensional Anomaly. The other Technocrats were startled when Tegan dropped to her knees and screamed.  She soon indicated that whatever she experienced had passed.

Nolan told the others that they were looking at the Dimensional Anomaly itself.  After a brief discussion, he then insisted everyone be quiet and looked for a coffee cup.  After Sophia pointed to a thermos that she had left behind, Nolan retrieved it, drank the remaining coffee and placed it against his ear.  He then hit his fist against the wall and began counting. Nolan ran a Procedure and was surprised to learn they were in a region that most Technocrats did not acknowledge, with the possible exception of the Void Engineers, which Mages called the Null Zone.  This Null Zone acted as a conduit through which one could travel between realms.  However, technology did not normally work in the Null Zone—Magick did—which raised the question of how technology was functioning on the ship.

Using Cowboy Bebop as an analogy, Nolan explained that the Technocrats were somehow in the Null Zone, a place between realms that the Technocrats did not officially acknowledge.  He added that technology did not normally work in the Null Zone.  When Heather and Tegan asked how their technology was still functioning, Nolan theorized that it was for the same reason that they had accessed the Null Zone in the first place—the Nautilus was an Etherite vessel that employed Magick.  Furthermore, he realized where he had heard the name KIBO before: it was a Virtual Adept artificial intelligence or Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics program program from the late 1990s or early 2000s.  Following his train of thought, Heather and Tegan asked if that meant they had to learn Magick.  Heather refused to draw runes and scribbles on the wall to make the Wonder work.  Tegan pointed out there were no moon cycles to follow or crystals to extract.  Sophia stated that the mad science that Mages called Magick did not make any sense.  Heather allowed that if they all started chanting, they might hit the correct frequencies.  Tegan proposed a group orgy to generate the necessary energies, which Heather and Sophia firmly rejected.

Continuing his explanation, Nolan said past trials proved they could not learn Magick, as they knew (or believed) it would not work.  He then asked if they could move.  Tegan repeated that they could repair the engines, while Heather reminded everyone that the engines alone would not allow them to cross the Dimensional Anomaly.  Nolan said that while the Union had not colonized the Null Zone, the Traditions had.  Therefore, he proposed finding a Tradition Mage on their side of the Dimensional Anomaly and persuade them to help.  When Heather asked how to find one, Nolan jokingly suggested Tinder.  Heather had the idea of using her tablet, coupled with her Data and an Entropic effect, to access a cached webpage for singles and see if the internet was available and whether she could locate any Mages in the vicinity.

Heather announced that she had found KIBO.  After guessing the program had jumped to her tablet, she asked if he could help them find Mages.  KIBO helpfully told her that he was a Mage.  While Heather seemed confused, Sophia looked intently at the tablet and identified the presence of an Enlightened Genius or Avatar.  As Heather revealed her concern, KIBO pulled up a fractal image and said he was placed onboard to protect it.  Tegan identified the fractal as the item Nolan had found while she was playing Doom.  When Sophia asked if it could help them, KIBO said it contained everything known by ‘the Fisher Princess’.

Tegan asked if she could download the fractal.  KIBO admitted she could, but did not know what would happen.  Seeing no alternative, Tegan removed her implant—to Nolan’s disgust and Heather’s fascination.  Sophia told the others that the Fisher Princess was a Virtual Adept who used to run in the late 1990s and early 2000s before disappearing.  Nolan felt that made sense, as her departure coincided with the crash of the Digital Web.  Sophia warned that downloading the construct of a Virtual Adept into her head might be dangerous.  Tegan believed that it was worth the risk if it would help them return home.  Nolan intervened and gave her a Mind shield with a dose of LSD.  Thus fortified, Tegan plugged her DEI into Heather’s tablet and downloaded the fractal. She then hesitantly inserted her implant back into her eye.  After a moment, she passed out (episode 2).

Nolan nervously asked for water to splash on Tegan and flashed a light in her eyes to check her pupillary responses.  As Sophia and Heather began looking for water—or cups—he began a physical and—given her cybernetic status—technological examination.  He saw her human eye was dilating normally, but her DEI and brain were processing so much data that it overwhelmed Tegan.  Having concluded his exam, he reported his findings to the others. Nolan wondered if she was sealed and whether she’d ever eaten anything.  Heather thought she was, but could not remember seeing Tegan eat or drink anything.  Sophia, looking visibly unimpressed with her colleagues, pointed out that she’d had coffee and was sealed because she had blood.  Nolan was delighted to hear that and asked if she had retrieved any water.  Sophia explained she had not, as the mess hall was a fair distance away.  After Nolan pointed out that he was supporting Tegan’s head, Heather volunteered, emptied a coffee cup that one of her colleagues had put down and left to retrieve some water.

Sophia carefully guarded her coffee mug as Heather departed.  Nolan took out a container and told Sophia that it only contained painkillers.  Far from being reassured, Sophia told Nolan that the statement made her consider that he was lying.  Nolan replied that he would admit it if he was planning to drug Tegan, pulling out another container.  He idly commented that he was running low on pharmaceuticals, but was confident he could make more given a decently supplied chemistry lab.  The Technocrats agreed that synthesizing drugs was not difficult. Heather eventually returned and handed Nolan the water he requested.

Nolan added some painkillers to the water, as he was concerned Tegan’s cybernetics would not come back online with her biological systems and short circuit, sending her into an uncontrollable rage.  After pausing to label his containers, he poured the dosed water into Tegan and made her swallow it.  He left her a note explaining how much Tylenol he had given her, written in a scrawl that Heather found illegible and tucked it into her pocket.  He then asked how bad the situation was, given that Heather had given them eighty-nine days before discorporation.  When Heather confirmed her earlier statement, Nolan asked how time passed in the Null Zone and whether anyone was proficient with time.  Heather laughed nervously before admitting she was chronically late, while Sophia said she always met her work deadlines.  However, neither of them was proficient with the Enlightened Science of Time.  Nolan took a sip of his drink, was visibly dissatisfied with the taste, and asked how his colleagues were doing.  Heather admitted she was still in a great deal of pain, but set it aside to study the original blueprints of the ship on her tablet.

Sophia expressed her hope that Tegan would not wake up, reveal she was infected and attack.  Nolan pointed out Sophia could use her field training and experience to deal with Tegan, but was alarmed when Sophia interpreted his words as a suggestion to kill their cybernetically augmented colleague.  The two began arguing, with Nolan promoting the option of non-lethal force versus Sophia’s training and experience in using lethal force.  They began finding common ground over the possibility of disabling Tegan’s cybernetics.  Nolan asked Heather if she could create an EMP while Sophia considered using her Taser, which had been calibrated to incapacitate werewolves.  However, it took her some time before she responded.

After Nolan went on a conversational tangent on how to address deceased werewolves, he asked Heather if her command of Forces extended to creating an EMP.  Heather replied by pointing out the dangers of setting off an EMP on the ship.  Nolan and Sophia emphasized that they wanted one that would only extend to a very limited range.  When Heather asked why they needed one, Sophia explained it was for Tegan, in case there were any dangerous side-effects from downloading a Reality Deviant program.  Heather suggested tying her up instead.  While Nolan accepted the more analog solution, Sophia was concerned that Tegan would escape her bonds, attack them and infect the rest of the ship.  While Nolan and Sophia argued, Heather retrieved a rope from her kit, tied Tegan up and dragged her to a room to lock her inside.

Nolan belatedly broke off from his rambling to offer his assistance.  Observing her handiwork, he asked if Heather tied a lot of people up, as he did not remember anything in her file that would suggest such proclivities.  Heather explained that she was good at knots, citing a brief period of time in the Girl Scouts.  The conversation led to thin mints and whether they would make it back to Earth.  Heather admitted she did not know whether or not they would return, but felt it would be an adventure either way.  Nolan admired her optimism, which Heather mistook as him trying to flirt with her.  After confirming they were colleagues, but might become friends, Nolan finally understood the implications behind his earlier statements.  He insisted, repeatedly and emphatically, that he was not trying to make any romantic overtures. In addition, Nolan insisted he was basically sex-less and wordlessly gestured at his marriage ring.

At that point, Tegan began calling out and asking why she was tied up.  Heather explained they had taken precautions in case she woke up as a rampaging rage monster.  After she reassured Nolan that she was not feeling any more homicidal feelings than usual, she repeated her request to be freed.  Heather opened the door and untied her.  Tegan then noticed a note had been tucked into her pocket and read that Nolan had given her a thousand milligrams of Tylenol.  She realized the sheer amount of painkillers was probably why she felt unwell and pointed out that she did not feel pain like most people.  Nolan explained that the model of pain-dampening software she had was known to experience delays when rebooting and wanted to minimize any discomfort she might feel.  Under his breath, he added that it would provide a route for him to shut down her central nervous system—though his attempts at subtlety were promptly countered by Heather’s frank and audible explanation.  Tegan told them she was not thrilled about their open admissions about taking her down, which Nolan and Heather continued discussing.

Heather and Nolan learned that Tegan had received a vast quantity of memes and spoke to the fractal, which responded with vibrations that she felt in her bones.  Hearing the latter, Nolan examined his medications to double-check whether he had given her painkillers.  Tegan added that she acquired several files and revealed that KIBO was now in her brain.  Furthermore, she came across a paper that might discuss the function of the Wonder they had found.  Tegan then asked if they knew anything about Project Deepwater and whether they killed Sophia.  Nolan explained that Sophia had grown tired of their company, while Heather said she had not been killed recently (by either of them). Thinking hard, Nolan recalled hearing the term Project Deepwater.  Unfortunately, he did not remember anything beyond the fact that the name was vaguely similar to an animated television series and a gaming stream.

Tegan went on to reveal that she had uncovered the original crew manifest—three Etherites and a Virtual Adept who was, in fact, the Fisher Princess—and an audio log.  After reciting the crew names, Nolan recognized Captain Jenny Dekkar as an Etherite who had been very active in the late 1990s before vanishing.  When Tegan mentioned they were looking for Professor Emeritus Alexis Hastings, Nolan immediately recognized the name and asked if they were sent to kill her.  Tegan explained that she had gotten the impression that they were sent to find her.  While they had succeeded, they quickly regretted it, according to an ominous audio log.  Furthermore, KIBO had been offline for several years before he was turned back on sometime in the 2010s.  Heather and Tegan speculated that KIBO’s reactivation was due to the Nautilus’s discovery by the Technocratic Union.  By that point, Nolan had remembered enough to tell Heather and Tegan that Hastings was once the leader of the Etherites, but had vanished when the Dimensional Anomaly hit.

She added that the crew was traveling to Victoria Station, which Nolan also recognized, to see if it was still active, as the Traditions had not received any communications from them in several years.  Heather and Nolan felt that Victoria Station would only be active if it was haunted, though Heather conceded that it may have been active and staffed back then.

Now that Tegan had finished processing all the files in her DEI, she decided to find a computer station and start uploading them to the mainframe.  Heather and Nolan followed.  On the way, they passed by the infirmary where Sophia was happily sorting through boxes.  Tegan told her what they were planning, invited her to join them, and gave assurances that she was not a killer robot before they continued on their way. Nolan wanted to change his clothes.  Tegan was willing to wait until he returned and use the time to prepare an ad-hoc presentation.  The conversation turned to Powerpoint Olympics (Nolan was a fan, Heather and Tegan were not), deodorant (Heather offered some to Nolan, which he turned down, before using it herself) and how Nolan felt they were bonding.

Nolan came back and asked what Tegan was looking at.  Tegan explained that she had found a list of people who were being targeted by something called ‘Chulorviah’ as part of a project that was currently being funded by the Special Projects Division.  She pulled up a watch list, financial documents and some information on the Chulorviah, displaying the files on a computer screen.  Nolan was confused as the Special Projects Division was not currently being funded.  Heather speculated that the list was of people who had already been infected and were currently being monitored.  At that point, they realized that Sophia’s name was on the list, with a notation that she was a ‘Section 12 candidate’. When Nolan asked what the virus could do, Tegan explained that it could make cephalopods smarter and humans more bestial.  Nolan wondered if Sophia was part squid, while Heather asked if that explained the grumpy demeanour Sophia displayed before her morning coffee.

The other Technocrats asked Sophia if she had been squidded, bitten, injected or stared at computer screens for prolonged periods of time.  Sophia did not look impressed with their line of inquiry, but replied that she had never been squidded.  She conceded that she had received several bites—all of which had healed.  Tegan scanned Sophia with her Enlightened Science and determined she was not broadcasting or receiving any signals.  Sophia looked even less impressed.  Tegan pointed out that she woke up tied up in a room because they thought she was a killer robot, prompting Sophia to remind her that she downloaded a Reality Deviant program from a well-known Reality Deviant.  Put on the defensive, Tegan reminded her that her name was put on the watch list.

Heather, Nolan and Sophia saw that Tegan had found another list of names.  They all recognized two of the names: Amelie Bessette, the leader of the Deep Sea Exploration Zone base, and Sabian Knight, Chief Engineer of what they had originally called the DSRV Rogue. Nolan also recognized another name—Randall Lang. Tegan asked if anyone knew what T0 meant. With a start, Nolan remembered T0 was an early code name for a threat that the NWO dismissed but the Void Engineers had not: Threat Null.

Nolan asked Tegan where she got the files from, learning she downloaded several Iteration X files from Project Deepwater.  He then asked what they said about Randall Lang.  Tegan only knew his name was on a list marked T0.  Heather didn’t know what T0 meant.  Nolan told them a few years after the Anomaly, in the early 2010s, there were several reports concerning sightings of entities that were similar to, but different from, the Technocracy.  They were mostly unsubstantiated and subsequently denied, but the Void Engineers seemed to take them more seriously.  Sophia asked if they were like the threats they encountered at the Project Deepwater base.  Nolan confirmed that was why he asked them to run.  T0 was an internal code or tag for Threat Null.

He went on to claim that Randall Lang could not be part of a Threat Null: partly because he was a friend, partly because he was based on Earth and Threat Null had historically appeared in areas where the Dimensional Anomaly was weak.  Sophia suggested that, if he was Threat Null, he could have used a weakened section of the Anomaly to slip through.  Nolan added that he was a NWO handler and thought his inclusion on the T0 list was a mistake.  Tegan insisted Lang’s name was there.  Heather acknowledged that Knight’s name was there as well.  Sophia pointed out that Threat Null was not confined to deep space as they had encountered them underwater and suggested they had been infected at some point.  When Nolan told them Threat Null was not a virus or similar infection, Sophia recalled how everyone at the base exhibited black eyes.  Tegan remembered that Project Deepwater was trying to make some kind of virus based on the Chulorviah and wondered if they could mix it with Threat Null.  Nolan felt Threat Null using the Chulorviah as an infection vector made more sense.

Heather said out loud that the Nautilus—then known as the Rogue—and her crew was selected to travel to Project Deepwater, where Threat Null was already present.  She speculated that the chief engineer might have enough influence to make such arrangements.  In particular, she may have chosen the Nautilus/Rogue because of its secrets, most notably its ability to breach the Dimensional Anomaly.  Latching onto Heather’s references to Threat Null as ‘them,’ which Heather explained meant they were typically found ‘out there,’ Tegan found and played the last audio clip recorded by the Traditions crew for the others: there had been an attack, the recorder had to dump some data, there were no other survivors, KIBO’s help was required, and she regretted that they found her—or them.  The Technocrats agreed that the entities the Traditions had encountered were Threat Null.  They reviewed the fact that the Technocracy had acquired the Nautilus sometime after that recording and effectively disguised it by repurposing it into the Rogue.  Heather asked what Randall did and whether they would be involved in such a subterfuge.  Nolan allowed that it was possible, but felt Iteration X or the Void Engineers were more likely.

Sophia brought the conversation back to Threat Null, mentioning how Pentex had its fingers in a lot of pies.  Nolan said Threat Null had a few manifestations that were on the record.  He mentioned that Tradition Mages—or Reality Deviants—had certain impressions of the Technocrats, comparing them to Men in Black, the Borg and the Stepford Wives.  He then recalled a Void Engineer of his acquaintance who entered a subdimension that rearranged itself into a manifestation based on Valhalla and had regular contact with a Pan-Dimensional entity who thought it was one of the Norse gods.  On his last visit, he met someone in modern business wear claiming to be a legal representative for the gods.

Heather asked if the lawyer was a manifestation of Threat Null.  Nolan was unsure, as his acquaintance said he was someone who knew from college, who subsequently was recruited into the Syndicate’s Special Projects Division before it disappeared.  He concluded with the admission that he had to purge his acquaintance due to orders.  Tegan concluded that all evidence indicated that the Special Projects Division was alive and well.  The Technocrats wondered if they had been sent to Project Deepwater so Threat Null could acquire a means of reaching the surface.  Sophia darkly wondered if they were merely sacrificial lambs or agents who had outlived their usefulness.  Nolan reviewed what they could do, starting with his role in helping agents process trauma sustained in the line of duty so they could return to the field.  He recognized that Heather, while new, worked with mechanical equipment and had restricted access.  Heather agreed, but felt she had ruffled some feathers and had probably made enemies.  Nolan conceded that point, but felt she was low enough in the hierarchy to escape notice.  The two also recognized that Heather was specifically asked to join the expedition by Sabian.  Nolan moved onto the others, claiming that Sophia could be some kind of super agent and admitting he knew nothing about Tegan other than his overinflated fears of her being a killer robot.  Tegan replied with a citation of her computer skills, but eventually admitted she was recently promoted to work on the newest model of HIT Marks before being assigned to this mission.  Sophia still believed their situation felt like a setup.  At Tegan’s prompting, they began reviewing the list to determine who was on Earth.  Sabian was dead and Nolan believed Randall was based somewhere in the United States.  Tegan mentioned Amelie Bessette before Nolan speculated that the mug he was using belonged to Randall.  Heather wondered if drinking from Randall’s coffee mug would infect him with Threat Null.  Sophia pointed out something had happened because they ceased communications for months and the more logical means for Threat Null to reach the surface was to stay in regular contact.  That prompted Heather to ask Tegan where she went after leaving them.  Tegan explained she had gone to retrieve some files from the Project Deepwater base, which were not to be confused with the files she acquired from KIBO.

Nolan employed a Procedure and believed Tegan’s words were mostly true, but there was something false and he didn’t know what. Nolan asked Tegan was missing any periods of time from her memory.  Tegan was not aware of any lapses of memory.  Nolan explained that, under the circumstances, it was possible she had been compromised without her knowledge.  He asked Tegan to trust her and offered some coffee before asking how long she had her DEI and what happened to her original eye.  Tegan revealed she had lost it to a cougar attack when she was nineteen and would have died, as she could not afford the necessary surgeries, had the Technocracy not offered to pay her bills in exchange for her service.  Nolan felt she had survived and joined the Technocracy because she was a fighter with exceptional talents, which extended to piecing together things that had been omitted.  He asked her to recall what happened on the Project Deepwater base after she left her colleagues while performing exercises like looking out of both eyes or focusing on the tip of her nose. Nolan performed another Procedure to enable Tegan’s memory recall, based on the psychoanalytical principle that the brain was a perfect storage device.  His intent was to walk Tegan through her memories verbally for Heather’s and Sophia’s benefit, while deliberately encouraging conflicts between her organic and cybernetic components to expose any incongruities.

Tegan remembered separating from the rest of the group to collect some data, though she was accompanied by some colleagues who were delivering supplies.  She reached one of the labs and met a lab technician, whose name escaped her as she was more focused on the carpet, who told her there was a file on the computer to take.  Then she realized that he mentioned multiple files rather than just one.  She plugged her artificial eye into the USB port and selected a file labeled Iteration X.  It was at that point she realized that, somehow, she had also selected a hidden file with no name.  She saw herself transferring both files to the eye, reinserting it into her body, nodding to the lab tech and headed back to join the others to escape the base before it exploded.

Nolan asked Tegan to engage her Safe Mode and open the hidden file.  Tegan complied and was relieved to find it did not contain a virus.  The file was a series of documents from a loyal Technocrat holding out in a base of Threat Null, with the intent of hiding the information, returning it to the surface and warn everyone.  The documents indicated Nolan was right: they were using the Chulorviah as a vector to spread Threat Null.  Furthermore, they were trying to convert them into a computer virus.  While they might have achieved some success with the Chulorviah, they had not determined how to convert Threat Null into a computer virus.  Tegan also found an account from the unnamed Technocrat spanning several months before the Project Deepwater base went silent.  It detailed how people were exhibiting personality changes.  It mentioned how a member of the Special Projects Division had somehow appeared on the base one day and was responsible for cutting communications.  The Technocrat felt any response from the surface would be too late so he compiled the file as a backup.  Sifting through the documents, Tegan discovered a reference to decipher the numbering codes of the other files.  She also found a warning that the Kraken JPEG had an infected EXE file that contained the virus and should not be opened.  Finally, she came across a document that seemed to contain gibberish except for a series of words that stood out: Eater of Souls.

Nolan found the name Eater of Souls disturbing.  Tegan was relieved that she had not selected the JPEG.  Heather sought confirmation that Tegan was okay.  As they began wondering if the JPEG could be deleted, they realized that the files from Project Deepwater and the Nautilus were mixed together in Tegan’s head, which meant that KIBO could access it.  Tegan managed to quarantine the JPEG to prevent any unwanted access.  As she did so, she realized it was heavily implied that the Deep Sea Exploration Zone was not the only base that had been infiltrated.

Tegan recognized they needed to get back to Earth and remembered coming across a paper that might help.  Heather insisted on getting the paper now, had Tegan send it over to her tablet and declared that she would avoid everyone and study the paper until she understood it.  After announcing she would return to the room with the Wonder, she abruptly left. Tegan was concerned about having a potential virus in her head.  Nolan offered some reassurance while Sophia looked away as if silently saying she warned Tegan that this might happen.  Tegan decided to go over files while Sophia decided to check on Mateo.  Nolan groaned about saving the world again when he was retired.  She revealed she had overheard Nolan, leading him to realize he had spoken aloud and tried to deny the whole thing.  Nolan tried to reassure Tegan that she would be fine and not worry about what was in her brain.  Tegan admitted she was more worried about KIBO (episode 3).

Nolan went to the mess hall, retrieved his plush llama—who he called Larry—from Mateo, and applying a fresh coat of pharmaceuticals.  He saw that Mateo was still unconscious and—in a decision fuelled by boredom, an excess of caffeine and a lack of sleep—chose to telepathically enter his mind and see how he was doing.  After applying eyedrops to himself and LSD to Mateo… Nolan realized he mixed up his drugs.  Then he felt pain, like swallowing broken glass coating with salt.  He sensed copper and bile flooding his mouth as he screamed soundlessly in an empty room before something snapped inside him and everything went dark.  He saw a tower crumbling in the distance amidst a barren, cracked landscape and a green-tinged, sickly grey sky.  He ran towards the tower, but never grew closer, even as rain began to fall from the cloudless sky.  The sky began to blend and melt while the tower finally collapsed, leaving nothing but emptiness.  He fell to his knees and wept, fearing that whatever he lost could never be re-discovered again.

Then Nolan woke up and realized he was looking at himself through Mateo’s eyes.  He realized he had accidentally switched bodies with his colleague and joked that that was one way to lose weight.  Mateo—now in Nolan’s body—had a blank expression on his face and did not respond.  After ‘Nolan’ slapped him, ‘Mateo’ blinked and touched ‘Nolan’s’ face.  ‘Mateo’ slowly became more aware of his surroundings and showed increasing signs of confusion.  ‘Nolan’ explained that he had gotten them out of a ‘bad place’ with some unintended and hopefully temporary side-effects—all while delivering a constant stream of reassurances.  He then went to the comm and began to call for help, only to struggle when he realized that his voice was off—partly because he was speaking through Mateo’s body, partly because he discovered Mateo was trans.  ‘Nolan’ alternated between apologizing and wondering if the body swap was an improvement for ‘Mateo,’ who was muttering to himself.

Tegan responded first but got little more than a request, from the person she thought was Mateo, for someone other than her to report to the ‘infirmary’ as ‘he’ had done a ‘whoopsie doodle’. ‘Nolan’ then tried to guide ‘Mateo’ through some breathing and meditation exercises.  At that point, a curious Sophia arrived at the mess hall.  ‘Mateo’ told her he made a mistake. After ‘Mateo’ admitted he had to urinate and shower and ‘Nolan’ wonder if he was stuck, Sophia whistled sharply to get their attention.  She told ‘Nolan’, who she realized was Mateo, not to panic as they would fix what happened.  She also told Nolan, who had clearly swapped places with Mateo and was in their body, to shut up.  Nolan insisted that he was fine other than finding the situation weird.  Sophia expressed skepticism and told him that talking about being stuck and not knowing how to fix it was counterproductive and would cause panic.  After assuring both of them that they were physically okay, she asked if anyone else had experience with the Mind Sphere.  Nolan sheepishly admitted that he was the only one.  All Sophia could suggest was to meditate some more before trying to reverse whatever happened.  Nolan asked Mateo how much he remembered.  When Mateo mentioned a tower, Nolan guessed that he remembered everything, declared that they should not revisit that memory and might have to stay in their current bodies for the duration.

Mateo asked if he was supposed to feel empty inside.  Sophia guessed the answer was no, allowed that it might be understandable given the trauma he’d experienced and suggested the question was best answered by a therapist.  Nolan asked what he meant by ‘empty’.  Sophia took that as a sign to leave, but not before grabbing some coffee for herself.

Nolan complained he couldn’t find a pen and had issues with his coffee cup, but managed to ask how Mateo was doing, though.  Mateo admitted he felt scared and alone, like something was broken and he didn’t know how to fix it.  Nolan assured him that few things were broken beyond repair and encouraged him to drink some water with him, as he deduced both of them were dehydrated.  He probed for more details about Mateo's emptiness and learned he started feeling that way when he woke up.  Mateo said he felt like he had previously been filled up with something that was now gone.  Nolan tried to meditate and assure Mateo they would be fine, while convincing himself out loud that there was no alien egg in him.  Mateo appeared skeptical, but gradually seemed to accept Nolan's lies over time.

When Tegan arrived in the mess hall, shd saw Mateo and Nolan staring into each others’ eyes and repeating that everything would be okay.  ‘Nolan’ admonished Tegan for interrupting his session with his patient before asking if she had any familiarity with Life.  He was disappointed to learn that Sophia was the only Technocrat proficient with that Sphere, as he felt she was not interested in this situation.  At ‘Nolan’s’ request, Tegan tried to get their body temperatures but could not initiate any thermal scans with her artificial eye.

Tegan soon gave up on Nolan and asked how ‘Mateo’ was doing.  ‘Mateo’ admitted he was not doing well as he felt empty.  Tegan noted that he was tightly clutching an empty cup.  She soon decided to return to the helm, told ‘Mateo’ and ‘Nolan’ that Sophia was looking for Heather, and invited them to join her if they needed a distraction.  Then ‘Nolan’ had an idea.  Removing the glasses from his body, he told Mateo they would slap each other on the count of three.  At the point of impact, ‘Nolan’ engaged his telepathy and successfully transferred their minds back into their proper bodies.

Mateo and Nolan were relieved to be back in their bodies, though the former still felt something was amiss.  At Nolan’s prompting, Mateo realized he really did need to urinate and ran out of the mess hall.  Nolan thanked Tegan for being present should any extreme measure be required.  The two then went their separate ways (episode 4).

Eventually, Heather contacted her over the comms and asked her to come to what she called the Warp Core. Heather told Tegan (and Nolan and Sophia, when they arrived) that she had made the Wonder functional.  All it required was infusions of Data, Dimensional Science and Prime so it could take them home without exploding (probably).  She then proceeded to give them a series of tasks, including ordering Tegan to write some code and input coordinates. Nolan enacted another Procedure to prevent Heather, Sophia and Tegan from making any critical errors.

Tegan programmed some instructions based on Heather’s directions.  Heather forced Prime energy into the Wonder to jumpstart it, but saw it was struggling to complete what she wanted it to do.  Partway through, Heather realized the Wonder was exceeding its capabilities and made a split decision to have Tegan change the coordinates.  The Wonder flared to life briefly, blinding the Technocrats.  When their vision cleared, they realized they passed through something and wondered if they slipped through the Dimensional Anomaly as it didn’t hurt like the first time.

When they went to look out the window, they saw nothing but stars—though that was an improvement from the starless void of the Null Zone.  Tegan told them she was connected to the internet again.  Heather cautioned them from celebrating too quickly.  She admitted the Wonder was not powerful enough to take them to their intended destination, forcing her to switch coordinates.  Nolan felt even a partial success was worth recognizing.  Tegan wondered if they would still discorporate.  Nolan did not believe so, while Heather held off answering until she had verified their current location.  Tegan complimented the Technocrats for their accomplishment, though Sophia and Nolan recognized they still had to save the world from Threat Null.  However, Heather and Tegan voiced the need for sleep.  Nolan offered to stand watch while they rested (episode 3).

Nolan went to the helm and looked out the window at the vast expanse before him.  He was relieved to see stars instead of an empty void, but wanted Sophia to scan Mateo for alien larvae and other anomalies as he still did not understand what Mateo’s feelings of emptiness meant.   As he wandered around, he saw that Tegan had set up subroutines to monitor the ship’s systems.  She left notes explaining what she had done, instructed the reader to wake her up if there were any red flags and insisted they not tamper with anything.  Furthermore, he discovered that Tegan locked down the more temperamental systems.  Nolan tried to bypass her safeguards, only to get GIFs of a chibi Tegan admonishing him.

Foiled, Nolan scanned the area around the ship but detected nothing.  He looked out the window at the stars.  After a while, he noticed a gold glow wash over the stars, shortly before hearing a familiar voice in his head admiring the view.  After he mumbled his agreement, the voice expressed surprise that he had left Earth.  Nolan explained it was an accident and he was looking for her.  The voice suggested he had succeeded before the gold light coalesced into a trim Korean woman with black hair bundled up in a messy bun and tawny eyes—a woman Nolan recognized as his late wife Mikaela.  Startled, he admitted that he thought he was simply hallucinating and dropped his glasses.  Mikaela allowed that that was understandable and claimed she existed here.  She put a hand against the window to mirror Nolan, who did the same thing, and said it was good to see him again despite the unusual circumstances.  Nolan asked who ‘Mikaela’ really was.  She asked him whether it was wrong to show him what he wanted to see.  Nolan compared her to the lure of an anglerfish and said he wanted to see what the rest of her looked like.  The entity turned back into gold ephemeral light and showed him a series of visions and images.  He was not sure which ones were real and which ones were glimpses of the future, but he recognized the birth of the Milky Way and displays of war.  He also felt heartbreak as his history with Mikaela passed before his eyes.  The voice in his head suggested that someday she might show him everything before fading away.

Nolan protested her disappearance and tried to call her back to no avail.  Then he became convinced that the sensors could find her, if they had not logged any readings of her presence.  After failing to find anything, he decided to bypass Tegan’s safeguards and divert as much power as possible into the sensors.  Removing his tie and wrapping it around his head like a bandana, Nolan ripped open a panel, pulled out some wires, plugged them back in and reset various systems.

Boosted by the extra power, the sensors scanned far beyond their normal range and detected a huge surge of energy located a significant distance away… along with a smaller, repetitive surge of energy coming off of the ship.  Nolan was able to determine that the two energy signatures were different.  Opening a hailing frequency, he identified himself to the energy surge and explained he was talking to its vessel when they were cut off.  After several minutes, he received a burst of static. Nolan tried again and offered his friendship.  He received a string of short and long blips of static.  Nolan began puzzling out the response, determined it was Morse code and translated it into a five digit number followed by something like ‘Alder Street’.  He realized it was an address that corresponded to where he used to live.  It was only then that Nolan realized he was having trouble breathing and an alarm had been going off.  He had just enough time to recognize that the alarm had been sounding for some time before passing out.

Nolan finally came too when he was slapped in the face. Tegan asked Nolan why he rerouted all auxiliary systems—including life support—and bypassed her safeguards.  Nolan eventually came to his senses and said there was an alien entity or vessel that tried to make contact.  He claimed he wanted to make sure that more of them were not approaching the Nautilus and that the defences were operational, but was unable to reach her.  At his request, Tegan let go of him.

At some point, Heather and Sophia joined Nolan and Tegan.  While Sophia stood behind them and silently watched, Heather asked why there was a sudden influx of power and why there were logs of systems being shut down.  Tegan explained that Nolan decided to rewire the ship.  Heather observed that he rerouted CO2 recycling without affecting artificial gravity or the blast doors, which Nolan attributed to not knowing what various wire colours signified.  Tegan told Heather that Nolan was trying to contact aliens and sarcastically asked him if they responded.  Nolan explained he was trying to ‘star 69’ them, then realized Heather and Tegan were too young to understand the reference.

Nolan asked if Sophia was around.  Heather, Nolan and Tegan then realized that Sophia had been there the whole time.  Nolan marveled at Sophia’s stealth while Heather thanked her for healing some of her injuries.  Looking around, Nolan realized that Mateo was the only one who was not in the room.  Heather thought he might be in the mess hall, prompting Nolan to explain he accidentally swapped bodies with him.  Furthermore, Nolan had been contacted by some kind of telepathic alien entity while he was standing watch.  Heather was more distracted by the tie that had been turned into a headband.  Removing it and dropping it to the floor, Nolan added that it was a shapeshifter.  Heather wondered if it was really a shapeshifter if it could read his mind.  The two began talking about the productivity of their conversations, whether Heather was weird and how Nolan needed a haircut.

Nolan continued rambling about how the alien read his mind, left before he got its name and how he wanted to ensure it was not a threat.  Sophia speculated that the entity might have been what Reality Deviants called a spirit, it might be easier to contact out in space and it may have left as it viewed Nolan’s request for a name as an attempt to bind it into service.  Tegan pressed further and got Nolan to admit that the entity pulled memories of his mind and assumed the appearance of someone he wanted to see.  Heather and Tegan thought it might have been a way to communicate or negotiate, especially as the Nautilus had recently materialized.  Tegan then recalled the radio signal they had received as they were trying to sleep.

After some thought, Tegan told the others that she was still hearing the radio signal and that it comprised of a looping message that said “No unity without diversity.  No Ascension without freedom.  Enigma takes you where dogma cannot.  We do not create the path to Ascension; we explore it.”  The message continued with directions to go to a street address at a certain time and date, find the lost boy and retrieve him from Control.

Thinking back, Nolan realized the address Tegan rattled off was where he used to live in 2002.  At the time, he remembered doing linguistic cram session.  More importantly, as he had Awakened after 9/11, he was learning advanced interrogation procedures—specifically psychological and physical torture methods—for suspected terrorism activities.  While the Technocracy had wiped some of his memories, he believed he might have been in talks to join Panopticon.

Nolan clarified the street address and admitted it was his house, back when he was a new recruit.  Heather asked how long ago and learned it was 21 years ago.  Heather and Tegan noted that they were about two and five years old at the time, respectively.  Nolan allowed that he was somewhere in his twenties but declined to offer specifics.  Tegan idly speculated whether the signal they were receiving were from spirits.

Now that the address was no longer distracting him, Nolan thought about the wording of the message and felt it was similar to transmissions from the Rogue Council.  However, the last known transmission was in 2012, whereas this message originated in 2002. Nolan, Sophia and Tegan put some thought into the message and independently determined that it was being broadcast from somewhere nearby, it travelled 21 light years from its point of origin. However, Nolan became convinced that the message travelled through time itself. Tegan proposed that the message originated from 21 light years away, but Nolan was more inclined to believe time travel was involved and recommended they should invest in Apple.  Sophia quietly suggested the message came from something very close to them.

Heather mumbled that there were no planets anywhere, which unfortunately meant they were not in their solar system.   In addition, the giant energy signature was getting closer.  She was not sure whether they were still in the Milky Way Galaxy or another galaxy, as the scans did not match anything in their database.  Heather suspected they had materialized somewhere beyond Union-known space and were thus far away from Earth, which concerned Tegan greatly.  However, Heather also proposed the idea that they were in a parallel reality, which Nolan emphatically supported.  Sophia suggested they operate as if they were in their own reality for the time being.

Tegan was more concerned that the giant energy signature was approaching their position.  Heather showed her the analysis of the readings she had performed on her tablet.  Nolan offered to hail the energy signature.  Heather and Tegan vehemently said no, even though Nolan suggested it could give them a tow and Tegan was present to prevent him from disabling life support.  Sophia suggested waiting for the energy signature to contact them and reveal its intentions (e.g. whether it was hostile) rather than opening hailing frequencies and giving away their location.  Tegan reminded her that Nolan might have already given away their location.  Sophia conceded the point, but felt that repeated hails might draw its attention and pointed out she was far more familiar with battling threats on Earth than in space.

Nolan remembered to ask Sophia to check on Mateo, who had mentioned feeling hollow during the body swap.  He was not sure whether it was a side-effect of being in Nolan’s body or whether Mateo had been infested with an alien lifeform.  Heather wondered if Nolan was missing something while Tegan remembered the part of the message that referred to the lost boy.  Sophia decided to investigate by scanning Nolan’s body and discovered the only thing missing was his appendix.  After observing that Nolan was unlikely to have appendicitis, she left to find Mateo.

Given that the other Technocrats had had a full night’s sleep, Nolan asked if someone wanted to relieve him.  Heather and Tegan immediately raised their hands, with Tegan telling him to go and sleep.  Nolan asked if Heather could cut his hair, as she had told him she had shears in her inventory, but decided he would rather sleep first and reduce the risk of making any impulsive haircut decisions.  Before Nolan could leave, Tegan walked up to him and apologized for roughing him up earlier, brushing some dirt off and patting his shoulder. Nolan brushed it off, noting they were all tired, apologized for scaring her and assuring her that he would never consciously put any of them in jeopardy.  After promising to be less impulsive in the future, everyone agreed that Nolan needed some sleep. He returned to his room and fell asleep with his emergency helper: an IKEA Blahaj plush shark (episode 4).

Nolan had just fallen asleep when he was woken up by Sophia.  She warned over the comms that there was a HIT Mark in the infirmary and Tegan had to wake up immediately.  The message was followed by a loud, blaring alarm.  After complaining that he wanted a nap and wondering why a HIT Mark would be in the infirmary when it did not have organs, he grabbed a rubber ducky and stuffed it in his jacket.  He then ran out of his room and proceeded down the hall, hearing Heather’s voice over the comms asking why there was a HIT Mark in the infirmary.

He arrived in time to see Sophia slide to a stop in front of the infirmary door and stare at someone inside.  Taking a look for himself, he saw the unsettling-looking man who greeted them at the Deep Sea Exploration Zone.  From his past knowledge, he was certain the ‘man’ was actually a HIT Mark X.  Expressing his dismay, he asked Sophia if she had the situation under control.  Sophia was not sure.  After confirming the HIT Mark had hurt Mateo, he told the hostile being that his friend—referring to the rubber ducky he pulled out of his jacket—said the HIT Mark’s mother was a toaster.  In response, the HIT Mark tried to punch Nolan.  However, Sophia fired her taser just as the fist made contact—causing the HIT Mark to seize up.  Unfortunately, the contact allowed electricity to course into his body, sending him flying into the wall.  Seeing Heather arrive, he wheezed that the rubber ducky delivered the insult and threw it down the hall in the other direction.  Nolan then succumbed to his injuries and passed out.  He came to find Sophia crouched over him while holding a needle that was inserted into his chest.  Sophia apologized for her abrupt method of healing.

Moments later, everyone started floating off the ground.  Tegan then rematerialized in the infirmary and began to float as well.  She apologized for getting lost inside the ship’s computers and assured them she was here now. After shaking off his confusion, Nolan shouted at the HIT Mark, pulled out a flashlight and used a Procedure to turn it into an improvised targeting laser for Tegan.  The HIT Mark turned his weapon on Nolan and pulled the trigger… only to find he emptied his clip on the duck.  He demanded that the Technocrats return what they took from the base.  Given that he was in the middle of the hallway, he was unable to do anything else. Sophia Hypercrammed the knowledge to move in microgravity environments, maintained her grip on her taser—even though the weapon seemed to have minimal effect—and began moving back to the infirmary to look for some kind of weapon. Heather completed a Procedure to ensure the HIT Mark landed awkwardly when she restored gravity.

Tegan shouted out to the others, asking if there was a plan and revealing she could not fire on the HIT Mark while the artificial gravity was disabled.  Glancing over at Mateo, she saw the blank look on his tear-streaked face and recognized he had completely dissociated from the moment.  She told Nolan his services were required in the infirmary. Nolan asked the HIT Mark for more information on what he wanted and how he arrived on the ship.  The HIT Mark replied he followed the ship after the Technocrats left the Deep Sea Exploration Zone and eventually came aboard.  Before he could say anything more, Heather deployed a set of marbles underneath him and restored gravity.  The HIT Mark came down, slipped and fell to one knee.  Mateo crashed to the floor, but the other Technocrats landed on their feet.  Heather grabbed her tablet out of midair while Tegan shot the HIT Mark with one of her Finger Guns.  Sophia crouched down, ran into the infirmary, looked around and grabbed a crowbar. Tegan suddenly said hello out loud.  In between pauses, she mentioned the ship’s name and asked whether an answer could result in the ship’s destruction.  She then shot the HIT Mark with her other Finger Gun.

By that point, the HIT Mark looked seriously damaged.  Nolan asked again what the HIT Mark wanted and professed a preference for negotiation over further violence.  The HIT Mark stated that the Technocrats took files from his employer and demanded their return before transforming his fingers into claws and slashing Nolan.  Looking down, Nolan was dismayed to see his tie had been severed—ignoring his more physical injuries. Sophia was confused by the HIT Mark’s statement as they were all ostensibly part of the Technocracy.  She darted from the infirmary, told the HIT Mark they had taken files from Threat Null and not their mutual employer—the Technocracy—and hit him in the head with her crowbar.  The HIT Mark managed to look at her—eye twitching, sparks flying from his head, body jerking—before the light went out of his eyes and he slumped to the floor.

Now that combat was over, Sophia asked Heather if she could reprogram the HIT Mark.  Heather hesitated, feeling that would fall under Nolan’s area of expertise.  When Sophia expressed confusion, Nolan shakily admitted he had taken courses in artificial intelligence and artificial intelligence psychology.  Sophia felt reprogramming would require more computer knowledge, prompting Heather to admit she had limited experience in that field.  Nolan interrupted them to point out how much he was bleeding.  Sophia dragged him into the infirmary and stabbed him with another needle to administer further healing.

Tegan said her name out loud, said she was on the Nautilus and asked for the name of the person she was addressing.  She was clearly confused by the response. Turning to her companions, Tegan asked whether anyone recognized the name ‘Marianna of Balador’ or knew anything about a Pleasure Dome. Nolan knew Marianna of Balador was the leader of the Cult of Ecstasy before the Dimensional Anomaly appeared.  She vanished early in his career and had been subsequently placed on various all-points bulletins.  Furthermore, he recognized the Pleasure Dome as some kind of sub-dimension—though he was uncertain whether or not it was created by Marianna—that was supposedly destroyed. Nolan asked if Tegan could call out Marianna as a liar.  When Tegan refused, explaining Marianna was hailing the ship, Nolan decided he was Napoleon.  Sophia said Marianna had been on several all-points bulletins, had been missing for some time and was concerned that she might be very old and very powerful.  She added that Marianna was an Ecstatic.  Seeing that her colleagues knew more about her than she did, Tegan told Marianna she would redirect the call to the ship’s computers and asked her to wait.

While Tegan considered her options, she realized the communications signal was already broadcasting to the computers and she was simply acting as a relay—something that had not happened twenty minutes ago.  A confused Tegan then rerouted the call to the computers and speakers in the infirmary and told Marianna she was on speakerphone.

A woman’s voice came out of the speakers, confirming she was Marianna of Balador.  She asked to know who she was addressing, besides ‘Tegan Warner of the Nautilus’.  Heather and Nolan introduced themselves.  Heather wanted to know whether Marianna could see them.  A quick discussion established that there was no video connection, but one could be established from the bridge if it was necessary.  Marianna extended an invitation for the Technocrats to visit her Pleasure Dome and receive aid, as they seemed to be adrift in space.  Tegan confirmed her observation while Nolan asked for more details.  Marianna complied, telling the Technocrats they could dock their ship and avail themselves of any of the services within.  She promised that they would be safe as long as they did not harm anyone.   Aside from rest and relaxation, she offered the use of the Pleasure Dome’s drydock should the ship require repairs.

Nolan asked where she had been all this time.  Marianna replied that the fully story would take some time, but briefly explained that she had passed the time in her reconstructed Pleasure Dome as the original had been destroyed some time ago.

The Technocrats discussed their current supply of food and whether they could find someone more familiar with the Reality Deviant technology on their ship before Tegan muted the call.  After several tries, Tegan reminded Nolan of his earlier suggestion about finding a ‘Mage’ to help fix their ship.  Heather agreed someone on the Pleasure Dome might have more experience in repairing the Wonder.  Sophia wondered why would any Reality Deviant help the Technocrats.  Tegan admitted she deliberately used the original Etherite ship name and suggested they could mislead Marianna’s group into thinking they were affiliated with the Traditions.  Nolan agreed that they could try, but Sophia felt their façade would not hold up for long.  Recalling Marianna’s promise that no harm would befall them so long as they did not harm anyone else, Tegan felt it was a gamble they would have to take.  Sophia remained suspicious, while Heather and Nolan were intrigued.  Heather added that her ability to perform repairs would be significantly enhanced if the Pleasure Dome actually had a drydock.

Tegan unmuted the speakers and accepted the offer.  Amused, Marianna told them she would bring ship into dock.  When asked, she elaborated that she would use her magic.  Heather went from alarmed to wary to curious, asking Marianna to explain her process later.

While waiting, Nolan returned to his room.  Searching through his belongings, he found some clothes—and a tie—that were not bloodied or soiled.  After raising a Mind shield, he zipped open the lining on his suitcase and looked at its contents before closing the flap and suitcase.  At some point, Heather got on the comms and announced that she was temporarily disabling artificial gravity again. Shortly after, Sophia contacted him on the comms and requested a consult.

Nolan quickly joined Sophia in the infirmary.  She asked him if he ever came across something that could remove or block Genius.  Nolan began to reply that he had encountered the latter when Sophia interrupted, explaining her instruments indicated that Mateo was merely an Extraordinary Citizen, not a Technocrat.  Both of them knew that was unexpected, considering their original mission required the entire crew to be comprised of full-fledged Technocrats.  Nolan speculated that it might be possible if Mateo’s mind or will was damaged enough, but discounted the possibility that it was due to their recent body swap.  Sophia noted that Mateo had been in a dissociative state since his encounter with the HIT Mark, while Nolan revealed Mateo had been in some kind of hell during his telepathic scans.  She asked if there was any way to undo what had happened, as she believed it was responsible for Mateo’s current condition.  Nolan briefly considered a few options, but ultimately proposed that Marianna use her centuries of knowledge and magic to restore Mateo’s Genius, after which they could reindoctrinate him back into the fold.  He admitted it would violate several rules and likely result in some kind of reprimand, but felt it would be easier than any alternative.

Nolan got on the comms and asked Tegan if she thought Mateo would be allowed to board the Pleasure Dome for sexual healing.  Tegan thought it would be fine once they established Mateo was probably over the age of consent.  Oblivious to the discussion, Heather called out for Tegan’s help to adjust the HIT Mark’s arm so they could put him into temporary storage.

Nolan suggested the HIT Mark might have shapeshifting abilities that could be employed.  Tegan replied that Sophia had triggered an internal self-destruct when she hit him on the head that probably disabled such capabilities.  Moving back to the original topic, Nolan announced that he would bring Mateo over for whatever therapy was required.  When Tegan asked what was wrong, Nolan refused to reply—citing doctor-patient confidentiality—and ended the conversation. Moments later, the lights in the infirmary momentarily went out. Sophia let out a roar of rage that could be heard throughout the ship.

Nonplussed, Nolan asked Sophia for vitamins, anything with SSRIs, mood stabilizers, Valium, painkillers, caffeine and methamphetamines.  She looked through the medical stores and found ADHD medication and a copious supply of caffeine pills.  When he asked her to crush them into a powder, Sophia asked if Nolan wanted another injection.  He declined, given that she already stabbed him twice.  Sophia told him he was welcome and pointed out an injection was more effective than snorting any powder.  Conceding the point, Nolan used a Procedure to synthesize a chemical compound that would restore lost Willpower and injected it into his bloodstream.  Sophia finished her own compounds and administered them to herself in the same fashion.

After ten or fifteen minutes, the Rogue—or Nautilus—was pulled into a docking bay inside the Pleasure Dome.  Sensors soon indicated that an Earth-like atmosphere and gravity were being established.  The Technocrats assembled in the airlock and opened the hatch, finding that some people had wheeled over a boarding ramp so they could disembark.  Looking around, they saw they were in some kind of drydock that was filled with people who were hard at work.  The Technocrats were directed to a set of doors and were told that Marianna would meet them in the main hall.  Thanking them, Tegan led the way down the ramp.  Nolan initially struggled to carry Mateo before an exasperated Sophia hoisted him in a firefighter’s carry.

The Technocrats entered a large hall that resembled a grand cathedral.  They noted several doors and a row of Grecian columns surrounding a pool before realizing the hall was filled with people who were engaged in carnal activities, involved in public displays of affection, chatting or lounging.  In addition, they noticed the nightclub music playing in the background, sensing it was both out of place and strangely comforting.  A young black-haired woman in her late twenties and of Mediterranean descent approached them.  Extending a hand to Nolan, she introduced herself as Marianna of Balador (episode 5).

## Character Information

**Convention**:

* Void Engineers

**Methodology**:

* Descartes Institute of Mental Health

**Eidolon**: Primordial

**Nature**: Trickster

**Demeanour**: Contrary

**Attributes**:

* Physical: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2
* Social: Charisma 2, Manipulation (Emotional Appeals) 4, Appearance 2
* Mental: Perception (Astute) 4, Intelligence 2, Wits (Improvisational) 4

**Abilities**:

* Talents: Alertness 3, Awareness 3, Brawl 1, Empathy (Subtle Cues) 4, Subterfuge 3
* Skills: Drive 1, Etiquette 3, Firearms 1, Technology 1
* Knowledges: Computer 1, Subdimensions 1, Enigmas 2, Investigation (Deduction) 4, Medicine 2, Occult 1, Science (Psychology) 4

**Backgrounds**: Genius 3, Cloaking 2, Resources 3

**Enlightenment**: 3

**Spheres**: Entropy 3, Mind 3, Dimensional Science 1

**Willpower**: 8

**Merits**: Perfect Liar 2, Inner Knight 5

**Flaws**: Failure 2, Compulsion 1, Whimsy 1, Curiosity 2, Soft-Hearted 1

**Rank**: T2 - Agents and Operatives