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aberrantangelsAnother real turning point. (A lot of this data courtesy of Aberrant: Project Utopia, of course.)
Nice summary, I think.
I think I've only mentioned Antaeus a few times, and only talking about Bounty and other matters relating to Project Eden. Until a few days after N-Day, Balmer was just a Mancunian eco-guerrilla. Then he got caught cutting the hydraulics on the tractors some Brazilian loggers were using to clear away swathes of the Amazon rainforest. The work crew were prepared to kill him on the spot and leave the corpse for scavengers to dispose of, but fear for his life caused him to erupt instead. His first, uncontrolled use of his powers over nature caused the earth to open and swallow the entire logging camp, leaving only Balmer himself safe.
He made his way to Manaus, one of Brazil's seaports, and thence back to Manchester. His powers let him dare hope to turn his dreams of eco-reform into reality. When Utopia came to talk to him, he wangled an interview with Laragione and sold the director on those dreams as well. And that's his answer to the question Aberrant asks players: "What would you do with the power of a god?"
Now, some say her name is Mercy and others say it's Lust. Her secret name is Isis. Her secret soul is dust.
— Roger Zelazy, Creatures of Light and Darkness
She was 59 then, but had gotten her bachelor's at 15 and two doctorates (Poli Sci and Psychology) by 21. For one of those, she wrote a dissertation on "The Complex Interplay of Government, Media Representation of Government and the Observing Human Mind". After she finished that dissertation, Æon (which had provided most of the grants and financial aid that underwrote her college years) tried to recruit her, as did the NSA; the latter apparently won out.
After five years of Internal Affairs work ("provincial") and recon data analysis, she left for various corporate positions in the US and Europe, none of which she stuck with for longer than a year. (And this phase, by my calculations, would've had to go on for a little over three decades. If she could still get jobs after all that bouncing around, it was probably only because of the Æon connection.)
From the inside, she started to see Utopia as "soft", as afraid to do what had to be done for Utopia's better world. She started working up the Thetis Proposal, and the rest is history.
1998
[Aberrant] Project Utopia, a multipurpose private foundation ("creating a brighter tomorrow with the power of today"), is formed under the joint guidance of the UN and the Æon Society. Utopia's goal, as stated by Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Æon director Lavielle, is "to utilize the vast powers of novas to better the quality of life for all, human and nova alike, on planet Earth." Membership and training are open to all interested novas, under the direction of Drs. Henri Mazarin and Farah Rashoud. Former assistant secretary of state and UN ambassador Justin J. Laragione is named director, but Mazarin and Rashoud hold most of the real authority.
Nice summary, I think.
Several prominent novas immediately volunteer for service with the Project, including Antaeus [Spencer Balmer], Steve Debow, Trudy Vandermann, Anthony "Lightning" Chang and Shelby "Caestus Pax" Eisenfaust.
I think I've only mentioned Antaeus a few times, and only talking about Bounty and other matters relating to Project Eden. Until a few days after N-Day, Balmer was just a Mancunian eco-guerrilla. Then he got caught cutting the hydraulics on the tractors some Brazilian loggers were using to clear away swathes of the Amazon rainforest. The work crew were prepared to kill him on the spot and leave the corpse for scavengers to dispose of, but fear for his life caused him to erupt instead. His first, uncontrolled use of his powers over nature caused the earth to open and swallow the entire logging camp, leaving only Balmer himself safe.
He made his way to Manaus, one of Brazil's seaports, and thence back to Manchester. His powers let him dare hope to turn his dreams of eco-reform into reality. When Utopia came to talk to him, he wangled an interview with Laragione and sold the director on those dreams as well. And that's his answer to the question Aberrant asks players: "What would you do with the power of a god?"
"Thetis" contacts her former Æon Society liaison and convinces him toemploy herget her employed as a quality-control regulator within Utopia's Internal Affairs division.
Now, some say her name is Mercy and others say it's Lust. Her secret name is Isis. Her secret soul is dust.
— Roger Zelazy, Creatures of Light and Darkness
She was 59 then, but had gotten her bachelor's at 15 and two doctorates (Poli Sci and Psychology) by 21. For one of those, she wrote a dissertation on "The Complex Interplay of Government, Media Representation of Government and the Observing Human Mind". After she finished that dissertation, Æon (which had provided most of the grants and financial aid that underwrote her college years) tried to recruit her, as did the NSA; the latter apparently won out.
After five years of Internal Affairs work ("provincial") and recon data analysis, she left for various corporate positions in the US and Europe, none of which she stuck with for longer than a year. (And this phase, by my calculations, would've had to go on for a little over three decades. If she could still get jobs after all that bouncing around, it was probably only because of the Æon connection.)
From the inside, she started to see Utopia as "soft", as afraid to do what had to be done for Utopia's better world. She started working up the Thetis Proposal, and the rest is history.
