aquius: certainly. i should actually warn you that the mer is not completely gone and that there is a good possibility that she is simply invisibly present right now. you should be aware that nothing you are doing is 100% guaranteed to be a secret. also keep in mind that her situation is temporary and she will most certainly be back.

neto: ha! most of the guests are now just coming back to "reality" after what appears to have been a harrowing ride for all involved. the maelstrom mer once again proves that friends can be more dangerous than enemies.

invisible mer: what?!!!! arrgh. (throws punch at neto's face" hand slides thru the air

neto: well. i'm sure that considering how much has been made available to mer in the past few days, including pretty much the whole of nova as a navigational tool, that she will have no problem with us checking in on the oracle. its the least she could offer considering the precarious state she has put me in with most of our powerful allies. and well, seeing as she isn't here to offer, we can just assume she'll have no issues. (neto smiles a mischevious grin)

invisible mer: @#$% @#$%^ @#$% (and other assorted expletives including horrendous ones she learned from the sindhavatar mainframe.) stay off my bridge! its mine! mine! you hear me?! (yelling until her vocal chords are raspy and tears stream down her face. she storms off the bridge in search of less challenging company and to beat the boys to oracle, in vain hope that she will materialize before the two have a chance to get their grimy terran meathooks on her prize ship)

aquius: i have been analyzing the information we have aquired in various excursions on the oracle and have made some startling discoveries about the sindhavatar themselves. interesting that i shouldnt be more aware of them. it seems that a large chunk of my own memory has been tampered with, perhaps while i was on cellion on even in the initial phases of my programing. i have been analyzing sindhavatar codes and am finding a lot less malevolence than i had previously thought. in addition, i have also picked up extra dimensional entity resonance that i'm sure you will find far more frightening. one of our illustrious guests might have a great deal of useful intelligence.

ikon: aiku. i was watching her the whole time. she's totally intense. i think she knows far more about the scenario than she lets on. there's no real need to pressure her here tho. it seems like she's attempting to be on vacation from an unspeakably challenging lifestyle. i have watched her hands tremor over her phaser swords and her eyes track things that i couldnt see. i even upped my UV glasses to see if it was simply a frequency my eyes couldnt pick up. nothing. she knows man. she knows.

neto: well, renzo certainly has some powerful tech. i bet he feels fairly embarassed about our little misadventure in 16th century earth.

who'd have known some simple sampling would have such a huge temporal distortion effect?

ikon: haha. you were so funny. that mustache you drew on solarion's face was pure adolescent genius. and wyk will probably never forgive you for what you did to her.

neto:(shudders). the "post meta" on this party is going to be a small eternity. i did notice that solarion was smiling and seemed to have a luminous glow around him.

aquius: solarion is the most important elf on board right now and he may not even be fully aware of it. his understanding of the strange flows and changes may be a key to the unfolding timeline scenarios. i think mer's potion had a profound effect on his organizational system. word is that his chief hyperbrarian is on the way here right now to meet me, seeing as i am unable to leave the ship, or mer, right now.

neto: interesting! have you ever met solarion's hyperbrarian (to ikon)

ikon: no. why?

neto: his nickname is scroll. until i met aquius, scroll was the living master at storing and organizing shards and information. he keeps tabs on a library of ridiculous magnitude. altho he does not know everything, he can help you access anything. database management techniques. add to this that he is, perhaps, the most serene being in the galaxy. i know he is not fond of space travel so i guess that he will have quite a challenging time on nova. i guess he will spend most of his living time on the elentari. go figure with all those gnomes. i hear he's allergic to earth mammals too so i guess the puppies will make him sneeze. isnt that right merlin? (little merlin has been tugging at neto's shoe straps and looks up at neto. tongue hanging out of his mouth. he looks at ikon and goes back to the intensity of chewing).

ikon: hey...did you notice that wyk seems waaaay less uptight? i think the nymphs had a resonant encounter with her, if you know what i mean?

neto: ahah. are you sure you weren't there too? or did you happen to notice it with your "double", or any of the various surveillance shards you have set up on board. i particularly like the ones that are shaped as flower vases. deviously nice touch.

ikon: hmmm. the double is proving to be a bit of a challenge right now so i took him offline. one of the unaccounted for probabilities was that the double would have a sentient personality but wouldn't want to conform to my wishes. lets say he was a bit too self willed to leave running loose. i deactivated him as he made a break for beta. i'm not sure i want him roaming the galaxy tarnishing my spotless rep.

neto: (laughing out loud). right. well i certainly do apologize for the tricks i played on you while i was 13. sorry about the wedgies and using nova's trajectory navigational array as a vidoegame.

ikon: its lucky that guardian happened to be close by or we would have decloaked in the middle of a sindhavatar convention.

nova: hey...you were actually pretty good. i forgot that you were that much fun. remember the games we used to play? sigh. the days before you had me running this terrifying elf tech. we used to cruise the sector shooting wamprats and voles. now the games are way less fun. i could have shut you down at the controls anytime while you ran amok as the 13 year old from hell. i was just getting all misty and nostalgik for the past.

neto: nova...you are certainly a unique computer. your logik circuits seem to be more emotional everyday. keep a close eye on that. i think the mer's emotional stream may be affecting your hard and logical judgement.

nova: that hurts neto..i am feeling defensive here. i need to process how this whole thing is affecting me. i need to access my spiritual authentik self and decide how i feel about your hardness!

neto: haha. right nova. whatever you say. i am totally in support of you getting in touch with your sensitive side. but keep this in mind. the real business starts now and i will need you to take your courageous calculations to the next level. the new age was aeons ago. this is the nununuskool and the sindhavatar probly won't care too much if they hurt your feelings.

nova: (pouting). o cruel fate!

ikon: is it just me or is everyone getting super duper weird.

elsewhere: (suddenly on the bridge, apparently materialzing out of nowhere) ya definitely weird. this has been perhaps the strangest encounter i have ever had.

neto: oh elsewhere..i apologize for this party.

elsewhere: what are you talking about? i had an unreal blast. so many nymphs. unspeakably meta elvish intelligence. asskicker demon slayers, perfectly resonant amplified soundsystems, metadimensional travel, the guardian, puppies, potions, rezin, pirates. what more could you ask for from a gathering? i just came to thankyou.

neto and ikon: (looking at each other in shock) deepest bows

elsewhere: bows to you guys. elves are meta, but you guys are next level. you do the terrans proud. a race could have no finer ambassadors. hey..here's a shard. if you EVER, have a party like this again, just set it in motion. but really, i'll probably find it anyways. good luck on your mission to save the galaxy. i'm sure it will work out better than you had imagined. o, and hey, keep an eye on the mer. she's crazy! peace out.... (elsewhere dematerializes in front of their eyes).

neto: that guy is something else man. wo. i always get the feeling he really is from elsewhere.

ikon: looking at his scan unit. as usual, he doesnt show up on any known lifeform pattern recognition scan. he's the enigma for sure.

neto: no doubt. (merlin jumps into his lap). well. things are pretty peaceful now. kind of eerie quiet eh aquius?

aquius: (sitting deep in thought on his lotus). you have no idea what is about to happen. i have been running extended future proabilty trajectories and i have calculated our survival odds. do you want to know them?

neto and ikon: no.

neto: our whole lives have been one big against the odds adventure. what makes you think we will heed the stats now?

aquius: hmmm. terrans are a complicated race.

ikon: dude. you should meet some real terrans.

neto: now...i have to loacte psilli and talk to him. crazy mer did a real number on his synapses. i hope he doesn't hold it against us. lets find him on our way to oracle.

aquius: ah yes psilli. i have some interesting information about spectra you may wish to know. also, be prepared for some spectra elves to arrive here shortly. as usual, i guess that they have mixed up their dates and assume the party hasn't happened yet.

neto: spectra. perhaps we should go there right away. i have a feeling the spores may lend some insight.

ikon: setting in a course.

neto: (in mock picard voice) ensign crusher, make it so!

ikon: don't call me crusher.

neto: haha. sorry dude.