New Vindicators Academy of Europe #29: The Son of Man (M&M 2E - IC)

[Gilliam]

Tamati "Taheka" Stevens
HP: 2
Condition: Normal

Otso crunched his brow in thought. "Could that be it? You and your uncle are the last onez left, right Randy? If Martin could adjust your dna to make you no longer 'viable' for your father to use in his pursuit of power... It wouldn't eliminate him as a threat, he worked with Faustus before, but it would keep him from coming after you. You'd be free Randy."

"But would that mean Randy is no longer Randy then?

Somehow it sounded better in his head before he actually saying it out loud.

[Flynnarrel]

Hubris’ jaw dropped as he looked at Fluxx. “Can you do that?”

Fluxx paused. "I.... admit I 'ad been giving zoughts in zat direction - systemic genetic modification. It would be intensive. Zere are 37.2 Trillion cells on average in a 'uman body. To modify every one...."

"Martin, are you saying you've taken it beyond zeory to actual practice? Are ze effects long-lasting? I was anticipating some sort of self-correcting mechanism at ze quantum level." Fluxx muses.

Tamati "Taheka" Stevens
HP: 2
Condition: Normal

Otso crunched his brow in thought. "Could that be it? You and your uncle are the last onez left, right Randy? If Martin could adjust your dna to make you no longer 'viable' for your father to use in his pursuit of power... It wouldn't eliminate him as a threat, he worked with Faustus before, but it would keep him from coming after you. You'd be free Randy."

"But would that mean Randy is no longer Randy then?

Somehow it sounded better in his head before he actually saying it out loud.

"Zat gets into philosophy of identity. 'E'd still possess ze memories and zinking patterns of Randy, but ze body and likely ze powers would be different."

"My philosophy is zat bodies are changing all ze time. No difference if ze blueprint for ze physical form is altered." Fluxx says with a shrug.

"But zen, I 'ave a unique perspective on ze malleability of ze physical form." Fluxx says breifly shifting into his golden gelatinous form then resolving as 'Fluxx' once again. In his peripheral vision he monitor's Martin's reaction to his shift.

[Gilliam]

Tamati "Taheka" Stevens
HP: 2
Condition: Normal


"Maybe but ... yeah " Tamati was honestly unsure how to respond, Martin's ability to be anything and everything yet still be himself was a convincing argument.

Then with a smile "Well if it is possible then that could solve your problem Randy."

[Michuru]

NVAE, WRECK ROOM (Fluxx, Greystone, Imago, Shiver, Taheka, Ursa; NPCs: Armorer, Backlash, Cacophony, Candyman, Capacitor, the Drifter, Eiron, Fach, Felsic, Fiore, Gae’bolg, Hubris, Kiln, Larrikin, Magnitude, Manticore, Martin, Maze, Parabola, Pict, Puck, Rheid, Singularity, Tantivy, Thorn, Vestige)
Fluxx paused. "I... admit I 'ad been giving zoughts in zat direction - systemic genetic modification. It would be intensive. Zere are 37.2 Trillion cells on average in a 'uman body. To modify every one...."

“...Is child’s play,” said Martin dismissively.

"Martin, are you saying you've taken it beyond zeory to actual practice? Are ze effects long-lasting? I was anticipating some sort of self-correcting mechanism at ze quantum level."

“Of course,” Martin said. “When I alter someone, I am altering zeir very genetic code. Ze effects are not ‘long-lasting’: they are permanent.”

Otso crunched his brow in thought. "Could that be it? You and your uncle are the last onez left, right Randy? If Martin could adjust your dna to make you no longer 'viable' for your father to use in his pursuit of power... It wouldn't eliminate him as a threat, he worked with Faustus before, but it would keep him from coming after you. You'd be free Randy."

Randy looked down at his hands in wonder.

"But would that mean Randy is no longer Randy then?” said Tamati.

"Zat gets into philosophy of identity. 'E'd still possess ze memories and zinking patterns of Randy, but ze body and likely ze powers would be different. My philosophy is zat bodies are changing all ze time. No difference if ze blueprint for ze physical form is altered." Fluxx shrugged. “But zen, I 'ave a unique perspective on ze malleability of ze physical form." Fluxx breifly shifted into his golden gelatinous form before resolving as 'Fluxx' once again.

Martin paid him no mind: his eyes were on several of the other students. “I don’t see any reason to not be the best version of ourselves we can be. For instance...” He put a hand on Rheid. The junior pulled back out of reflex and then froze.

“Wha-what the...? What did you do?”

Rheid turned. He had two eyes.

“What did you do to me‽”

Martin shrugged. “I made you better. I can help you all—remove your physical imperfections. You can shed disabilities or be ze gender you feel inside... It is really quite simple.” He looked to Fach. “‘Ere.” He reached out to her. “I can make you ze ideal body weight—make you less chunky.”

NVAE, BAND ROOM (Current; NPCs: Bottom)
"Why in the hell am I doing this?"

“Good day, I take it?” Bottom asked.

[Shock]

Violet Lear
HP: 2

"Yeah, altering DNA sounds like a bad idea. Who knows what could happen?" Violet shook her head. Then new Martin gave Rheid his eye back. Which was great until he insulted Tatjana. "Bollux. Tatjana is already pretty damn ideal. She doesn't need you botching her up."

[Michuru]

NVAE, WRECK ROOM (Fluxx, Greystone, Imago, Shiver, Taheka, Ursa; NPCs: Armorer, Backlash, Cacophony, Candyman, Capacitor, the Drifter, Eiron, Fach, Felsic, Fiore, Gae’bolg, Hubris, Kiln, Larrikin, Magnitude, Manticore, Martin, Maze, Parabola, Pict, Puck, Rheid, Singularity, Tantivy, Thorn, Vestige)
"Bollux. Tatjana is already pretty damn ideal. She doesn't need you botching her up."

“No offense meant,” said Martin, “but she’s... one-‘undered and seventy-eight centimeters? You must weigh every bit of sixty-five kilograms.” He seemed oblivious to how red the German was turning: her cheeks were almost the same shade as her hair. “It’s not bad. You’re only four or five kilograms away from your ideal body weight.” He sniffed the air. “Likely, zis is the result of the anti-depressants you are taking.” She looked even more embarrassed. “I could fix zat too. I could alter your body chemistry to fix whatever disorder plagues you.”

When Fach sprinted for the exit, crying, the Frenchman seemed not to notice. Instead, he turned to Eiron. “I could make you taller.” He sniffed the air again, and then turned to Greystone. “Or remove zat tumor.” He looked over the room. “I can make you all perfect.”

[EnigmaticOne]

Imago
HP: 3

All right, Dennis decided, even Lex wasn't this bad. "Perfection is in the eye of the beholder. And for now we limit the definition to what will make Randy safe from Robor while being acceptable to him."

[Michuru]

NVAE, WRECK ROOM (Fluxx, Greystone, Imago, Shiver, Taheka, Ursa; NPCs: Armorer, Backlash, Cacophony, Candyman, Capacitor, the Drifter, Eiron, Fach, Felsic, Fiore, Gae’bolg, Hubris, Kiln, Larrikin, Magnitude, Manticore, Martin, Maze, Parabola, Pict, Puck, Rheid, Singularity, Tantivy, Thorn, Vestige)
“Zere isn’t much ‘e would need to change. ‘E is already ze right colour, but ‘is ‘air... Red ‘air stems from ze protein MC1R. It does not bond wiz PTEN, which ‘ells fight cancer. I could change zat for ‘im... but zere are ozer issues you are not zinking about.

“On my world, zis is exactly ‘ow is started. I altered ze chemical makeup of Randy O’Shae and ‘is uncle and zen you lot delighted in telling Robor why zey were worzless to ‘im now. ‘E used a ritual to discern ‘ow zis was possible, found out about my abilities, and zen reasoned zat if I could make someone not be ‘is relative, I could make someone be ‘is relative.

“‘E took my beloved Emma and told me zat if I ever wanted to see ‘er again, I would do as ‘e said. Before Liz and ze Aurelius arrived, I ‘ad already transformed sixteen people into O’Shaes. I all but ‘elped to make zat man a god.”

[EnigmaticOne]

Imago
HP: 3

"Well, that begs the question - why did the Astrolabe choose to bring you here to a world with another Robor in it?" Dennis posed, reminded that Liz was often as much in the dark as they were about the planning and logic of that dimension hopping artifact.

[Shock]

Violet Lear
HP: 2

Violet couldn't help but think the real Martin was going to wish this other Martin hadn't made an appearance. "All that and you still haven't gotten the bloody idea to stop it?" She shook her head. "Bloody Hell, Martin."

[Arkrite]

Alex "Current" Murphy
HP: 1 CND: Normal

Lex flinched, as Bottom started talking. He hadn't seen him there.

"Well, nobody's dead yet, so there's that," Lex says, picking up a guitar and tuning it.

"We brought enough force to flatten the US, bad guy ran before we even got there, and the damsel in distress starts whining about how he wanted to be left to die," Lex raps his hand against the side of the guitar, "Every time, I swear, it's not how they want to fix things, it's about how they can't do anything."

"So here we are, throwing our lives into the meat grinder for-" Lex scowls then shrugs.

[Flynnarrel]

NVAE, WRECK ROOM (Fluxx, Greystone, Imago, Shiver, Taheka, Ursa; NPCs: Armorer, Backlash, Cacophony, Candyman, Capacitor, the Drifter, Eiron, Fach, Felsic, Fiore, Gae’bolg, Hubris, Kiln, Larrikin, Magnitude, Manticore, Martin, Maze, Parabola, Pict, Puck, Rheid, Singularity, Tantivy, Thorn, Vestige)

When Fach sprinted for the exit, crying, the Frenchman seemed not to notice. Instead, he turned to Eiron. “I could make you taller.” He sniffed the air again, and then turned to Greystone. “Or remove zat tumor.” He looked over the room. “I can make you all perfect.”

It was the healing of Rheid's eye that gave Fluxx a moment of mental spasm. He'd not been able to accomplish that feat and here this other version of him... this... better.... version of him... it was nothing to the man.

When Fach ran out Fluxx was snapped back and he veritably flowed out of the room after her. Her scent was ingrained and hew could follow it with ease.

<<"Tatanja, please, wait.">> he said in German. <<"Please, Violet was right, you are ideal the way you are, and we are working on the rest.">> Fluxx says. <<"*I* do not feel like he does. Please don't doubt that.">>

[Gilliam]

Tamati "Taheka" Stevens
HP: 2
Condition: Normal


"Taller" it was something Tamati wished he was, at only 5 and an half feet tall he was shorter than most of his peers. He knew he would probably have a growth sput in the next year or so but if there was an easier way ... "oh"

"So you would change people whether they wanted to or not and how do you know what is right for them?"

[McGuffin]

Ursa
HP: 1
Cnd: Fine

A look of disgust crossed Otso's face. Their Martin could be, blunt, at times, but this one was something else entirely. "Well, I don't need any further convincing that any body-modification ideas from you are bad. Imago has a point though, why did the Astrolabe bring you here then? You mentioned you'd powered up your Robor. Did the Aurelius stop him, maybe sharing that information is why you're here?" Or did they fail and your world is a verdant hellscape? Otso left the last part unsaid in his mind.

[Tattooedman]

Greystone:
[Jack Rexroth]
HP: 1
LP: 2

Jack watched as new-Martin insulted Tatjana to the point she broke down and left the room crying with 137-Martin following after her in an effort to undo the damage his double (?) had done.

Then without missing a beat new-Martin went on to offer to “fix” several others in the room, pointing out a list of “flaws” that could be “easily fixed”, himself included. While new-Martin’s choice of wording got Jack’s attention he didn’t get upset – his Aesirvision would have made such a thing obvious to the American every time he looked in the mirror. He suspected the “tumor” in question was likely the result of his eating the golden apple.

Still new-Martin’s demeanor left a lot to be desired and Jack had a stray thought about how to point that out to him in a very direct manner that the tattooed teen was known for, but Dennis and Otso both managed to question new-Martin in a manner that was probably more productive. So Jack simply kept quiet and waited for new-Martin’s answers.