Did You Get What You Wanted?

Samuel nods "While I appreciate the effort, my time has come and gone and right now, I am on barrowed time. Perhaps it is best I just live the rest of my life, content that I had a good run." he suggests.

Ness chuckles "If I accepted the hand that life delt me, I would have thrown in the towel long ago and all the people I've helped and will help, would be worse off." he says "Fate doesn't determine your destiny, you do." he points out.

There was something bugging Marcen "I've been thinking bout what you said and everything you've told us so far, would suggest that the person you were going to help, was already dead. But Sam isn't dead..." he says in a low voice.

Ness nods "That's correct. He is, at least for the moment, quite alive. In order for me to help him, he would have to be Not alive." he states "Not to worry, I know many painless and quick ways to end someone, should he seek my help." he, once more, says casually.

Natomi was understandbaly a bit weary about that aspect. It also unerved her a bit of being so casual about killing someone, even if it was to help. "If its an energy leakage issue, isn't it possible to just, I don't know, find a way that it replishes itself instead?"

Ness nods slowly "Yes...But remember, energy can neither be created nor destroyed, simply redirected and it'll have to come from somewhere and be of a similar type..." he says slowly.

Marcen frowns "In other words, someone's going to have to give up Their life energy so that Sam can life a long and full life. A life for a life. Is that about right?" he asks.

Ness nods "Yup. That about sums it up as far as energy transfers go." he says with a shrug "Well, it seems you three have a lot to think about and since I'm more than likely going to be here until Jack comes back, I'll need a room." he says.

Ness looks over to a wall panel "Hey Buddy, show me to my room." he says.

The lights on the floor light up, pointing in a direction "Absolutely your bossiness!" Buddy pipes up "I'll show you Right to your room." the computer hisses. The lights were leading Ness to the waste recycling unit.

Natomi did wonder why people clung to the laws of physics such as that as if they were absolute when it turned out their understanding of them was completely wrong. If the laws were accurate, many of the things on earth wouldn't even exist much less function. Too many things violated modern physics here and elsewhere. It wasn't to say they didn't exist, just they needed to be adjusted for this universe.

More importantly, the implied life energy thing did give her a startling realization but she put that aside with the Buddy thing. She had to play peace maker, no one else would either way. "Okay, time out real quick. Buddy, I know you two might not have gotten on the wrong foot but he did help bring you back. And Ness, you might not of meant anything but its all how you say things. Buddy doesn't like to be ordered around that, which sounded like it. He's not just a computer, he's our friend."

"So please, you don't have to like each other but just be civil."

There was a sigh coming from the speakers "I was never away and he didn't bring me back. What he did, was interrupt a diagnostic cycle that was only a little more then half way complete. There's nothing wrong with my sensors. So I don't know How the Outsider went undetected. The food replicators and showers? I couldn't tell you." Buddy says in a snippy mood.

Ness looks over to everyone "The Outsider, you said? The half upper and lower deity that likes to mess with people because he finds their daily lives 'Interesting', That Outsider?" he asks. "I thought that symbol looked familiar..." he mumbles.

Marcen nods "That's the one. What do you know of the Outsider, besides he's hald 'upper and lower deity'. Most of our resources have turned up blank." he says.

Ness nods "Not surprising. Chances are good that the Outsider isn't from This dimension. It's a good bet that he followed me here through one of my many trips and had Just now gathered enough power to interact with others here." he says.

Marcen frowns at this news "So, in away, this is Your fault. So, how do we get ri of his influence nd send him packing?" he asks.

Natomi didn't say anything, she was thinking at the moment. "We actually got a friend that got marked by them. Ramona's fiance."

Ness shrugs, ignoring Marcen's accusation "Get another deity, a stronger one, to chase him off or have Ramona's fiance declare himself a follower of an Actual God,Goddess, or Devil. Than the Outsider will lose all hold over them." he says.

"I'm assuming that the fiance Didn't accept the Outsider as his primary deity?" he asks.

Samuel nods "That is correct. From what we have heard, the Outsider appeared to Jerod after an, incident, and told him that he would give him the power to protect himself. This 'Gift', as the Outsider likes to call it, was forced upon him." Sam explains.

Ness nods "Good. That's what I wanted to hear. It mans there's a chance to send the Outsider packing. It just so happens, I know a couple of deities who Might be able to help... That's If Jerod is open to what I have to say." he point out. Meaning how this ended, depended entirely on Jerod.

"Ah, we'll he's in the room down to the far left at the end. But what do you mean an actual God or Goddess? I thought the Outsider was legit." Natomi said.

Ness nods. He figured it was probably best to get this out of the way as soon as he could. He looks over to Natomi "Oh the Outsider is legit alright. I was speaking about supposed Gods like the Christian God of Love and others like them." he points out.

Marcen frowns slightly. He was a Buddhist and if Ness was implying that his God wasn't real, he was going to get a bit upset by that implication. Ness looks over to Marcen "That's exactly what I'm saying. In all my travels, I've met Plenty of Gods, even here, but I have yet to meet the most popular ones." he points out.

Marcen scowls "I would kindly ask that you not read other people's thoughts without their permission. he says, trying to be polite.

Ness shakes his head "I didn't read your mind. I didn't have to. I read your body language, which was screaming just as loudly as your mind was." he says "A quick heads up, I can tune out casual thoughts, but loud or strong ones I can't ignore as well." he states.

He turns and starts off towards Jerod's room. He wanted to get this over with as soon as possible and he wasn't sure how receptive Jerod would be to his proposal.

Jerod opened the door before too long, Kimiko and Aiko were asleep and Ramona was reading a book. "Can I help you?"

Ness looks over at this Jerod fellow and shakes his head "No. But I can help you, if you're willing to let me." he says "Word around the base is you have a problem with a certain deity who had 'taken an interest' in you. I believe I can rid you of him." he states.

Jerod was at full attention at that. "I see. I'm listening then, unless its something to talk about in private?" It was a relief but he had a feeling it wouldn't be that simple. In truth getting powers from someone wasn't the problem as much as how they did it. The Outsider never built any trust, they just forced it on them and others. Worse, their actions and deeds further proved they Couldn't be trusted in his eyes.

Ness shakes his head "No, here's fine. The Outsider won't come around to bother you as long as I'm here." he says, confirming that he as hinting about "Your teammates explained the situation to me and I believe I can help, that's If you're willing to keep an open mind about what I have to say." he says.

"Walk with me." he says as he turns and starts off down the corridor, heading to one of the common rooms "The Outsider is a deity, but he's not from this dimension, so his influence and power base is Very limited." he starts.

"That's why he's marking people with his brand. To expand his power base. Now, the way you can get rid of him, since you never accepted him as your deity, is to accept a real deity to honor and worship. A powerful one..." he explains "And it just so happens that I know of a couple of powerful deities that will rid you of the Outsider and his influence, If you pick one of them." he states.

He doesn't wait for Jerod to reply "One of them is, well, he's the deity who has appointed me as his high cleric. His name is Randomonius: The God of Random Events. he says wth a sigh "He said to me one day that my life was on Massive random event and that I was the one who would best represent him. I didn't want anything to do with him at first, so he didn't force himself on me, rather he gave me a chance to earn his trust and disturbingly enough, he did. So now, I'm his high cleric." he says wth another sigh.

"Don't get me wrong, he's helped me a few times when I needed it an it never hurts to have a helpful God on your side if you get in a bind. But he's also not the easiest God to worship and pay tribute to. Random events don't just Happen by every week. Which brings me to my next deity." he rolls into another explanation.

"Now she's the one I wanted you to keep an open mind about. She's not a God, per say, but rather a 'Dark God' or more commonly known as a Devil. She's the Dark Goddess of Chaos and while she Might be a little difficult to get along with, she's really a very caring person who Personally looks after her followers who are in need." he explains "Plus, she's a Lot easier to pay tribute to." he finishes.

Ramona, making sure the two were tucked in came along as this was a rather important conversation that wouldn't just effect Jerod but their family as well. Not to mention Ness said it wasn't private.

Once Ness finished, Jerod wasn't sure what to think.

His first wife religion believed darkness was not always inherentily evil like commonly portrayed instead it was more like the other cycle of the day. In that sense it reminded him a bit of Taoism. She had been one of the most gentle people he knew and then there were his daughters; he knew enough by now not to judge by the surface.

"Do you know anything about them Ramona?"

The demi Goddess shook her head. "No..at least not a lot that isn't second hand."

Jerod mulled it over. "I could give it a shot. Though there is another young woman named Charity that has the same issue we helped earlier."

"And others. It doesn't solve the issue of the Outsider messing with people in this realm but one thing at a time Jerod. Focus on the now."

Ness shakes his head "No, chances are you wouldn't have heard of them. Either of them" he points out "But now that you're willing to to give them a try, the question now becomes, which one do I call out? Thing-1 or Thing-2?" he asks.

"I think we'll give this Dark Goddess a try." Jerod said after thinking about it.

Ness nods "Okay. I'll call her now. Chances are she won't meet with you in person and I really don't recommend it either. She can be...alluring, to most men. Even if they think they can resist her charms." he says carefully, not wanting to offend Ramona.

He excuses himself and finds an empty room and wanders in. He looks around "Eris." he says simply.

There was a sigh from behind him "I really wish you wouldn't use my real name. What's wrong with 'Regina', like everyone calls me?" the Dark Goddess called Regina asks, sitting on one of the couches.

Ness shrugs "Names have power." he says "I have someone who wants to become a follower of yours to ward off another deity wo had targeted him without his approval." he explains. It was best to be up front about these things wen dealing with a Goddess.

Regina nods slowly "So, he only wants my protection, huh? Well, nonetheless, he'll be a follower of mine and should he need 'devine intervention', I would be more than happen to supply is." she pulls out a ring with a slight glowing red gem in it and tosses it to Ness "Make sure he understands what is required of him." she says.

Ness nods slightly, a bit irritated that she considers him her messenger boy. But leaves. He wanders back to Jerod "Okay, I just talked to her and..." he pulls the ring out and tosses it to Jerod "She'll accept you as one of her followers. Should you need her, call her offer a prayer to her. She likes to be called 'Regina'." he explains.

"Also, very other odd day of the week, you'll need to pay tribute to her by doing something chaotic in her name." he says "Basically, you need to go to one of your holodecks, make a room with everyday objects like TVs, windows and the like, tell Regina that this chaos is for her and smash the ever loving Hell out of the place. he says with a shrug "See? It's easy to pay tribute to her. After your first offering of chaos to her, her protection will come into place and the Outsider will lose all hold, claim and influence over you." he points out.[/color][/color]

Jerod looked the ring over before putting it on. "I can do that. Is there anything else we should know?"

Ness nods "Yeah. Regina might pop in from time to time to checkup on you, usually when you're alone, and see if you need anything taken care of." he says "She'll offer, but she usually asks for something in return. She'll also try to steal you from your fiance, but not too hard. She's good about not messing up relationships...too much." he mumbles the last part.

"She's tall, fair skinned, long raven hair, with three red gems at the base of her neck and one on each wrist." he points out "She's very hard to miss. Plus, being one of her followers, there's a good chance that you'll be able to summon lesser creatures with your ring, should you feel like it. Don't. It comes with a cost that, in the long run, is pretty steep." he warns.

"Eh-Hem!" Buddy clears his throat over the PA system "Just a quick heads up, Manny's shuttle has just docked and he shall be entering the the main base presently." he says.

Ramona was beginning to dislike this Regina less and less, for obvious reasons. That aside she was more then grateful for Ness' help. "We'll thank you for the help, we couldn't have done it without you. If there's nothing else we'll let you go."

When Emanulle entered, he had no clue the 'powerful physyic' was Ness and the same man he had met some time ago when Michru had been in trouble.

Ness nods. He doubted that they couldn't have done anything without him, knowing they would have figured something out. Still, he took note of Ramona's general disposition about the situation and more specially, Regina "She may be a bit difficult to handle at first, but Regina's a good person and remember, she acts the way she does, because chaos is in her nature." he says, then heads out. He needed to contact his people.

Samuel was waiting for Emanulle at the entrance to the docks. As the Arkon had done for him once upon a time. Besides, friends welcome each other back "Welcome back, my friend." he says when he sees Manny "There has been quite a lot that has happened since you and Jack had left, which I will happily fill you in." he offers "However, I suspect you wish to take a shower and get something to eat before hand. So my explanation can wait."

Emanulle was curious, but it indeed could wait for him to get settled in. "I'm not hungry, but I do need to take a shower.Give me a moment."

It didn't take him too long, when he came back he was all cleaned up and ready for whatever news happened.

After Emanulle had taken care of himself, Samuel was waiting i one of the common rooms (there were three of them)), with a data pad about everything that had happened while Jack and Manny had left. He, of course, left out the part about him having a limited time on this here planet of Earth, feeling it wasm't relevant and although he said he wasn't hungry, Sam made him a little something to eat and drink while he was readying.

Emanulle did eat a little though he wasn't too hungry but after reading things something caught his eye. "Is this Ness person still here? Pretty sure I know them." He wanted to talk to them and it would be nice to catch up seeing a familar face.

Samuel nods "Yes. I'm quite certain he's still here. He said he would wait for Jack to return and hear him out." he says "I am certain that Buddy can find them easily enough." he suggests.

"Oh I can find him alright. He's in one of the common rooms, relaxing as if he owns the place. Pretty cheeky if you ask me." the base computer says, sounding a bit annoyed "Do you think Jack would be upset if I had the security drones rough him up a bit? Just a little?" the computer asks.