by Matthew Notch » Thu Dec 05, 2013 1:18 am
Sorry about the whole... like, not updating thing. I've been very very busy with work, and I mean I haven't even started on the podcast. Here's a decently long writeup to make up for it.
The next few years for Morton were intense.
He was introduced to Mr. Homoro, who insisted that he meant Morton no harm. He said that he had been waiting for people like Morton to arise, and that he was himself gifted. He had the gift of lucidity; he could move freely in his dreams, and into others' dreams, and he could even change their minds by changing their dreams. He told Morton that he had been looking for him, because he was very special. Homoro then told him a story that Morton would have deemed ridiculous only a few weeks ago.
"Daddy! Daddy!"
"Ugh... ooh." Ayuma Homoro groaned as he was awakened from his sleep. He had been dreaming again, but he couldn't remember any of the details this time. "Okay Nobu. What can I do for you tonight?"
"Daddy, I had a bad dream."
"You're always having those, aren't you?" Ayuma smiled and shook his head. "Okay, tell me about this dream of yours."
"I dreamed that people could live forever."
"You... Nobu... why did you dream that?" Ayuma's face crinkled, searching his memory for any occasion he would have mentioned his dream to his son. He never told his wife when she was still alive, and he was sure he'd never mentioned it to Nobu. And yet...
"I don't know Daddy. I just dreamed it."
"Well son, why was that a bad dream? Isn't it good that people live forever?"
"Yes, but Daddy, there was a bad man. He didn't want the people to live forever. He was trying to kill everyone!" At this poor Nobu began to cry gently.
Ayuma wondered if now was the time to tell him. But he was so young! Would he be able to understand what was happening? What was going to happen? Could he wrap his little brain around something so complex? He looked at his son, crying quietly in his arms, and remembered the day his wife was killed, and how he was stoic like his own father, and how distant he was to his son at the time. There could be no more distance. Nobu needed a caretaker, and it was his duty to be that for him.
"Daddy, why would he want to kill people?"
"Son... it's hard to explain. Listen. Look into my eyes." Nobu wiped away the tears and did so obediently. "Son, we have gifts, you and I. The world is a dream, and you and I are awake in it. Do you remember the day your mother died?"
Nobu nodded, chin still quivering.
"Yes son. It's time you know the truth. I knew it was going to happen. I knew because I dreamed it. I knew it would happen because, all my life, when I dreamed something, it came true. It's how I made so much money. It's how we came to live in this house. Do you understand?"
Nobu nodded, but his face said no.
"Son, we aren't meant to know what will happen before it happens. I tried to protect your mother when I knew, but she kept telling me I was crazy for thinking anything bad could happen. Her life was so good, her world was so happy. She was—" The words caught in his throat. "Well anyway son, what's important is that I know you can see my dreams. Perhaps that's why you are always having nightmares. Can you see what I'm thinking now?"
Nobu shook his head.
"Okay. Listen to me now. No one else that I've met has these gifts. I believe we are the only ones on the planet who have these powers. But we won't be alone forever. I have foreseen it. Others will awaken from the dream, and they'll have the power to bring everyone to life. Together they will give the gift of immortality to the world. Son, when you grow up, if you remember nothing else about me, remember that."
Homoro would not explain how this would happen, but he told Morton that the powers he was seeing in himself and his friends were not natural, that they were an illness, and they needed to be cured. One person had to remain behind, still gifted and doomed to death, but that would be a responsibility Homoro would take on himself. He had lived a full life already, he said.
The next few months were full of training. Morton was taught how to access his power in the manner he'd brought it to bear in Shaw Clay's apartment; by merely recalling a memory, Morton could use the powers as if they were his own. He was introduced to a few other people from Sasordivad, which mysteriously was the only place in the world in which people were gaining powers: Dave Anders, who had previously disappeared, and could create pheromones that altered brain chemistry entirely by dictating what he ate; Phyllis Shenk, who had the same gift as Homoro, able to travel in dreams, but less cultivated by necessity; and Lawrence Oliv-lay, who could summon and control large groups of hive minded creatures as an extension of his own mental impulses, and who was anxious to return to Sasordivad. There were others to learn from, and according to Homoro it was imperative that Morton find them all and learn their gifts, by any means necessary, including force.
So it began that Morton was also trained how to fight, and how to incorporate his powers with his new skills. He was given reconnaissance from Homoro's agents in the field, and trained how to use a sidearm should his powers fail him. It was strange, because Morton, by necessity, made physical contact with Homoro a few times, but never got any readings from him. Morton was given only one strict instruction: stay AWAY from Shaw Clay. His power, Homoro advised, was unstable and dangerous. He was also advised that, from Homoro's visions, there was one more Empathic Intuitive out there, and he was advised to stay away from that person too; he would know the fellow by a feedback loop that would sound in his mind if they came in proximity with each other. If it happened, he was to report the individual to Agent Prodigo and then stay away.
At last Morton's training was complete. The years had been brutal but rewarding, and though he had been taken against his will, Morton had no other life to go back to, so he felt he was given a gift of sorts. He was brought before Homoro one last time.
"So you are ready, I understand?"
"I'm ready Mr. Homoro."
"I'm going to tell you the last piece of information, the piece that is incredibly important to this mission. Morton... by your efforts you will be able to bring immortality to the world. I will be honest, I don't fully understand it myself, and only know this from the snatches of information I was able to wrest from my father's dreams."
"I could understand it better if you would let me read you."
"I know Morton, but it isn't for you to learn. I need you to trust me on this."
"As you wish Mr. Homoro."
Homoro breathed in deeply, then smiled. "Your training is complete. You are ready." And Morton then woke up, in the bed he'd been left in when he was brought to Homoro's complex. He looked at the clock and calendar. It was ten hours past when he'd been taken, only one day later.
I have a meeting in about an hour, and when I get home I'll get the stats and so forth updated for Warriors. But you all now know that the powers are an illness, that Homoro means to give the world immortality, and that Morton is now one of his agents. It's up to you all whether he finds you and whether you agree to work with him and Homoro!
It's Dangerous to Go Alone
"I desperately want Jiggery Pokery now."-- Pikajew
"I do feel that if she happens to favour attractive, successful, intelligent men I will be at a disadvantage."--Anglerphobe
"I have a beautiful sphincter and Mexico is gonna pay for it."--Kate