Round and Round

Manny, Monica and Ness arrived back in the prime dimension after the detour of Jack's in another alleyway. Monica was going to send a mental message to Regina to meet them so they could talk, and they would go from there. Regina was a busy woman so it be up in the air when or if she came though since she did like Monica it was a bit different then a random.

"So, does time pass differently when you go to different dimensions? It's been a year and some months at most here." Emanulle pointed out as the group went on their way.

Ness nods "Of course time passes differently for me. I'm not only hopping from one dimension to another, but I'm also going from one time to another." he explains "While it's been only a year and a handful of months for me *Not sure how he knew that...*, it's been about five years for me." he says.

He nods to Manny, then to Monica "It's always good to see ya, hot stuff. Take it easy." he says as he starts off in the direction of Paragon Corp.

After Ness left, the two headed back to Monica's apartment so they could unwind a bit after everything. Monica couldn't shake the fact Ness Knew something. She wasn't so sure what but she was certain, he was just too casual about it. Sure Anita and him weren't close but with what happened them be some type of sign.

"Well, I was going to say the trip wasn't a complete and utter waste of time except it sorta was. Save maybe Cedrick  and Calvine get to see Ness sooner so its something at least." Monica plopped down on the couch. "Ness said Lost does do things to get certain things instead of straight forward. How do we know this Isn't some long dragged out thing for whatever reason?"

"We don't. It's not like we would know. I understand you're frusterated I am to,  but we do need to focus. Whatever will be, will be as they say. Did you contact Regina?" Emanulle was wondering about a few other things, just he had nothing solid.

"I did mentally. Just have to wait when/if she comes. If this doesn't work? I don't know. We'll walk that bridge when it comes."

"Well, you won't have to wait long." the fallen goddess says as she appears in a swirl of fire "When one of my daughters calls, I answer. And speaking of, you Really should pay your Other sister some attention, you know, the one who Didn't abandon you." she says "Now, what can mother do for you?" she asks as she sits down, alluringly crossing her legs.

Surprisingly, Monica didn't react negatively or dismissive to what Regina had said. "I've been going back and forth on it, and think its probably time I put that behind me. But as to present, when we tried to visit Anita Ness' portal didn't work, and even Lee and Dino didn't. It just said 'dimension not available'. On top of that with everything else, something is going on but we just don't know what. So I was wondering if maybe you knew if something happened to her dimension or not."

Regina shakes her head "Not off the top of my head, no." she says, flipping her hair back, showing off her long, slender, sexy as hell neck and cleavage "And while I can't speak on behalf of this technology of Lee and Dino, I do know the kind of power Ness uses and if His portals didn't work, that would mean there's nothing to find or someone, or something, is blocking his energies." she explains.

This got a frown from Emanulle a bit. "..So either someone is actively blocking them on purpose, or the world isn't there anymore."

"I'm gonna bet Lost probably knows, but whether he'll talk is another story. Never mind how to find him." Monica grumbled. "That more or less confirmed what we were thinking then. I don't like the implications of either, but don't think there is much else I can do right now."

Regina frowns "Lost, that doddering old fool. It's always secrets within secrets with him." she says, shaking her head "No. If you want a straight answer, go to Nestor. He has all the answers you seek."

Monica frowned a bit. "If Ness knows, he was completely quite the whole time even when we used all that money. For whatever reason.  I guess it doesn't hurt to ask direclly to see what they say. But if they know and were quite, and don't have a good reason I'm going..I don't even know. But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt he's more then earned it."

Regina blinks "You're gonna... what? Beat it out of Nestor? Honey, you couldn't do that even before he died and came back, even stronger then before." she points out "Trust that what he does, he does to protect lives." she says as she gets up "He's at Paragon Corp, waiting for your sister to return." she says as she disappears in a swirl of fire again.

Monica wasn't going to try to beat them up, she wasn't stupid. Just she was going to be annoyed. But it was what it was. "I'm going to head there and see. You coming?"

Emanulle slowly shook his head. "..No. It's about time I returned the device and apologize for modifying it without their consent. If there is a way at all to where Anita is, its not through traditional means. It's just something we will have to come to terms with. I'll catch up with you later.."


"If you say so." Monica was having second thoughts on leaving for herself simply because of the situation with her family here. That said she felt bad still, he really could not catch a break in that particular area. Right now she'd see if she could get anything what so ever out of Ness.

When Manny heads to Christine's jewelry shop she's behind the counter reading a magazine, while Mondo was, once again and as usual, in the back room watching the x-games and eating his absolutely unhealthy foods.

* *

Over at Paragon Corp, Monica had to go through the usual Q&A to get in and she was informed that Miss Darkside wasn't in at the moment and that she would need an appointment for a meeting.

Manny wasn't too surprised Mondo was at the same spot doing what he usually since it was more or less a routine. "I'm back. I came to come return your transporter back and come clean with something. I went to Lee and Dino's to modify the device to make it recharge faster and take more people. Part of was it felt like a emergency since everyhing else was blocked, even this. I still shouldn't have it without your consent so I apolgozie if you're upset."

__

That was kind of a pain, but expected. She was here to see Ness and not Cedrick though she couldn't just come in being a random so she was just going have to wait.

Mondo takes the device "Huh. Well, okay. " he says as one of his sharp finger nails extends, almost a foot long, and he effortlessly slices the device in half "You should probably tell Jack about that and how many times in a 24 hour period you came and went." he says as he goes back to his program.

* *

After a security robot escorts her to Cedrick's office, her secretary lets the two of them in "Thank you for your patience." the NS-5 says "If you need anything, please feel free to use the replicator." it says as it leaves.

Ness was sitting in Cedrick's chair, going over the progress files and the financial records "Hey there. Fancy seeing you here." he says without looking up from his work "If you're here for Cedrick, she's currently off world, testing her new ship." he says "And if you're here for Calvine, he apparently left on his own journey about a month, or so, ago." he says.

Emanulle decided to do just that if Mondo was recommending it then he go for it.

__

At that bit, Monica shook her head. "I didn't come for them, I came to find out about the truth of what's going on. I talked to Regina and they said you likely had the answers. What's really going on with Anita's home? Is she dead? Is some type of uber enemy going to track down this dimension if Manny goes there? I just want the truth from some closure even if its a ugly one."

Ness thinks for a bit "Do you know the bad thing about being a power badass like me who can see into the future? It's when you see something that you don't like and you can't change it." he explains "You see, there are two types of future that I can see. Fluid futures where I can directly affect the outcome and predestined paradoxes where, no matter how hard I try, I just can't do anything to change a certain outcome. That's why I don't use my Foresight that often." he says.

He sighs "To answer your questions: No and Yes." he says "No, she's not dead. Yes, there's an incredibly powerful... individual, in her dimension whom I don't want them to track their way back here. That's why after my PK Vortex failed, I used my Foresight to see what was going on and then went to Lee and Dino's after you and Manny went to sleep and had them block access to Anita's dimension." he continues.

"The reason I didn't tell you two, is because if I did, you would have likely done whatever you could to get to Anita and take her away from whatever it was going on in her home." he points out "You might not want to hear this, but the needs of the many and all."

A Young Girl comes walking out of the back of Cedrick's office "Uncle Ness... I'm not feeling too good again..." she says, rubbing her eyes. She sees Monica "Huh? Uncle, who is your friend?" she asks "Mother never invites anyone over, not since Aunty Anita."

Ness quarks a brow "Masato, this is one of your mother's friends Monica..." he says, looking over to the young woman "Monica, this is Masato Darkside, Cedrick's, uh, daughter."

Monica was a bit upset with the fact Ness hadn't trusted them to behave like adults, when they didn't have those kinds of resources to Just spend and everything else. Before she could say anything a young girl came out and honestly she wasn't sure. But more then likely she was adopted since nothing else made sense to her.

She pushed her emotions aside and smiled at the young girl. "It's nice to meet you Masaoto. Maybe we can be friends."

Masato smiles at Monica "I would have liked that. If only I'd met you sooner. But I'm afraid I won't be around much longer..." she says with a smile.

Ness looks over to Monica "Masato's cellular structure is breaking down. Cedrick's trying to find a way to fix it, but, the only way she has wouldn't be good for Masato's mental health." he says.

Masato brightens up "Mother is great. She's always been there for me, ever since I could remember." she says, starting to sound tired. "You should come back when mother's here. I have a feeling you two, would be friends." she says as she doesn't stop smiling. It seemed talking about Cedrick makes Masato happy.

Monica had more questions to Ness about things, but that all took a back seat to what Masaoto had told them. She didn't understand genetics and that other stuff that flew over her head but she got the gist of what they were saying. "Genetic break down? There has to be something we can do to help that be good for her mental health too."

Ness shakes his head "The genetic stabilizer that Cedrick had made breaks down certain enzymes in the brain of a normal person and in someone like Masato, it can be devastating." he explains.

Masato nods "It's true. When my sibling was dying, mother injected them with that stabilizer and they lost their mind." she says.

Ness looks over to Masato "Masato Can fix this herself, but she refuses to." he says in a not so pleased tone.

The young child shakes her head "I can get better if I bond with someone, but I only want to bond with mother, but mother, despite saying to do so, doesn't want to bond with me, because she feels she would lose what makes her, her." she explains.

Ness looks over to Monica "This is probably a little confusing for you..." he says, looking over to Masato "You might as well show her." he says.

Masato frowns slightly, but nods. The girl lifts her shirt up as her stomach opens up, to reveal an android inside, with a red/black blob of goo nestled in a spherical, what can only be described , cockpit "That's Masato's true form. She's a symbiote that Cedrick created with her own blood. But, her calculations were off, even if slightly, and now, the symbiotes that were created are starting to die off, if they can't find a person to bond with."

Masato's stomach closes up and she lowers her shirt "Like I said, I won't bond with anyone else but mother, and mother doesn't Really want to bond with me. Even if she says she's okay with it." she says "But I don't blame mother. Because I know she'll find a way to fix me. After all, that's what mothers do, right? They make things better." she says with a smile.

Monica was going to possibly offer temporary as a host but Masato said she wasn't going to bond with anyone else. "I see. Well if there's anything I can do to help just let me know."

Ness shakes his head "It's very kind to consider being a temporary host, but, there's no half way here." Ness says "Once fully bonded, you can only remove a symbiote by force, which can prove fatal for both host and symbiote." he points out.

Masato shakes her head "I wouldn't dream of doing something that would cause harm to someone else." she says, sounding shocked.

Ness pats the girl's head "Don't worry. We weren't gonna put you in the position to do so." he assures her "Besides, for about an hour, or so, Cedrick let's Masato, uh, "cuddle" and that repairs Some of the damage, but it's not enough."

Hm. Well that kind of put a damper on things far as that idea went but there was probably something else. Even if that something wasn't the most obvious or easiest to get to. "Short of something like a genie or some wish granting artifact not sure what else could be done. And usually those probably too hard to get too among other things. I don't think either exist here, or maybe they do since a bunch of people came back to life.Three times now."

Ness shakes his head "Genies aren't real. At least not in this dimension." he says "There Are ways to get wishes granted. The Dragon Balls, the Tri-Force and everything that goes with is. The Infinity Gems, getting in good with a powerful devine being." he lists them off.

Masato shakes her head, placing a hand on Monica's shoulder, still smiling at the woman "Please don't worry about me. Mother will find a way to make everything alright. After all, that's what mothers do, right?"

Monica frowned slightly. "All right, if you say so. It just doesn't hurt to have other options." She was just going to let it drop in front of her, but she'd talk to Ness more about it later.