<div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=119103.msg5211017#msg5211017">Quote from: Wintercat on 15-09-2011, 02:37:42</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote"><br/><strong>Paradox (NYC)</strong><br/><br/>"Wait, what? You are saying humanity is about to be practically annihilated?" She stared at Paradox with the kind of a shock only news of impending destruction could bring. She seemed to become very tense for a moment, then staring at the machinery making that kind of racket, watching Paradox warily. "You could just be someone with ability to interface with machinery or something but it wouldn't explain your suit, and you have a physical, normal form underneath as far as we can tell at least, you must understand we are both puzzled and confused about all of this."<br/><br/>She sighed wearily, watching him at the time. "Fine, you will talk to Carter, I'll get him to talk with you instead. We just want to know what the heck are going, and frankly there are not that many 1st day Awakened that we have had a chance to talk with." Her tone was ice-cold at this. "So we need answers, at least some, but if you cant tell us anything then fine. We need to learn what we can, if you are from the future I am sure you can educate us about what you know about metahumanity in that age then."<br/><br/>"Already bullying our patient? You're a mean woman doc, not letting the poor man even eat in peace." Carter smirked as he walked up the hallway, holding another tray. Another patient.<br/><br/>Just then, J7 got through the securities in the computers, and in came a short term. <em>P.S.I, Clearance 8. Interview all 'D0' Awakened, investigate any anomalies affecting large systems or large amounts of people. Verify, and report directly to controlling officer or Proxy. Minimal co-operation with the military, released <span class="bbc_u">censored</span> findings, any breakthrough are to be considered State Secrets until re-evaluated by officer or Proxy.</em><br/><br/>That small bit of instruction was set into a computer in range now that he was in the hallway, at the nearby room marked 'Project Leader' in the door. The door itself seemed strengthened and physical security was quite remarkable, and the device had been operating quietly, so he had not found it at first. Only through screwing with the other systems had he picked up another computer when it tried to contact one of the other machines. Even then, the connection was severed almost as fast as it came, but it was long enough for J7 to get that bit of text.<br/><br/><em>There was no knowledge of any organization or project by the name P.S.I in what he had learned in other ages.</em><br/><br/><hr/><hr/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/><strong>Paradox (NYC)</strong><br/><br/>"<strong>On the contrary, Doc. You're the one who needs to learn this lesson. Just saying that at this point I don't like you, obviously I need you.</strong>" Paradox offers an olive branch. Sort of.<br/><br/>Right now he doesn't react to the PSI notice, wondering if 2012 would be pleased to know that Poker survives to the late 23rd Century. That's something he needed to see, he liked it even less.<br/><br/>"<strong>Though if someone brought the food, that would be very nice.</strong>" he remarks trying to keep things civil.<br/><br/>"<strong>Not practically. Extinction by 2350 at the latest. We're just taking a while to die. But for the event that really sails it home, The Half-Hour War, that doesn't happen until the 2070's. Almost ironic really. The most persecuted minority in those 60 odd years- and they almost save the species anyway.<br/><br/>But at the end of the day we call this part of history 'The Ragnorak Highway'. We consider humanity's annihilation something that's been more or less inevitable since the 1950's.<br/><br/>Fact 1- In 1900 about 90% of Americans would be considered Self-Employed by your standards. By 2050 it's about 2%.<br/><br/>Fact 2- In 1945 a corporation would pay about 50% in federal taxes. By 2050 it will be about 5% on paper and .2% in practice.<br/><br/>That's called Consolidation. Power and resources systematically being taken from individuals and put in the hands of a small number of corporations. When only a handful of people are the ones making the decisions, it's not hard to picture someone killing us all. Some head of state looks at some CEO the wrong way, some phonecalls are made, bombs fly- and we pay the price.</strong>" he adds, sad this time. Such a waste, the planet deserved better. These people deserved better.<br/><br/>Looking at the computers, search engines start to flare as if on their own.<br/><br/>"<strong>There are things I can't share obviously. Trying to figure out which ones are which as I go, but some things if I told you would be like giving a loaded gun to a small child while other things would shake you out of a pattern. I'll probably write a book about it.</strong>" he actually chuckles a bit in a morose way. And a bit of a jab at censoring things of course.<br/><br/>"<strong>Alright, first the amusing bit. Right now your Laws of Physics suggest that Time Travel is possible but highly unlikely- with travel to the Past only even possible if you want to go no further back then when the machine was turned on.</strong>" he starts, interfacing with one of the computers- kicking off what looks like a facial recognition scan on his own face.<br/><br/>"<strong>You're wrong. Nice try though. Not your fault though, you've never seen this happen before. For now, think of the meta-humans like inheritors of a mutation until the Physicists catch up. There's nothing sinister going on, just people being people that someone outside their control has happened to them. None of them has asked for this. Treat them accordingly.</strong>"<br/><br/>The image search ends showing faces the computers are convinced are J7's. One is a picture of a young man watching a V-E Parade in 1945 New York. Another shows J7 dressed as crewman on the Titanic. Another pair show J7 pack in the early days of photography, one as a Union Calvaryman and another as a Confederate Infantryman. In the background of a Hitler Speech. At the fall of the Berlin Wall. A secret serviceman at the attempted assassination of Reagan. At least a dozen more dead ringers for the man who claims to be a time traveler. Even a suspicious looking partial match on a fresco recovered from the ruins of Pompeii.<br/><br/>"<strong>Though I confess, it looks like we're wrong too. I crashed because I accidently created a timeline in which my ship exploded while it was still in the prototype stage. The fact that these pictures still exist is a pretty blatant paradox.<br/><br/>Actually, think I just came up with a codename. Metahumans at the dawn of metahumanity were prone to that sort of thing, why buck tradition?</strong>" he says with a confused but ultimately still amused giggle.