Day 15: Aberrant: Splitting Time Like a Trident

Sales, Trinity Continuum

Onyx Path’s Month of Nightmares features games, stories, and more to celebrate the spirit of Halloween. Count down the days with us by reading our excerpts, participating in the discussion, or by taking advantage of our special offers leading up to a haunted Halloween.

Journal entry, Dr. Phylicia Cassant; February 2, 1999 The public is now fully convinced that the Galatea disaster is the link. A payload of radioactive isotopes, detonated in a spectacular explosion and spread via jetstream to every corner of the globe: The image has certainly caught on with the common man. “Radioactivity breeds mutation” — that’s all the explanation most people seem to need. I have to wonder, however, if the isotopes weren’t somehow charged with refined “quantum energy” during the process. Nothing in modern science explains how such a thing was possible — but then again, modern science is skating by with the barest excuses for how aberrant powers function, anyway. It seems more plausible to me that the genetic coding for the M-R node would be stimulated by focused quantum than by outright radiation; however, there’s no way to test this theory. Quantum is notorious for not remaining in the background long in concentrated quantities; short of having an already manifested aberrant there at the time, I suppose there’s no way we could ever have known for certain. Which is a damn shame, because otherwise, this conundrum may very well haunt me to my grave. I wonder: Since the most common source of focused quantum appears to be aberrant powers, is it possible that some mutant actually manifested a functioning M-R node before the loss of the Galatea? Is it possible that one of the men and women aboard was the first aberrant, and that he or she somehow engineered the explosion to create others like himself or herself? If so, then logically this aberrant would still survive; why sacrifice yourself, after all? The question is — where is he? Must look into this further, preferably by enlisting an aberrant with enhanced reasoning capacities. Are the rumors of psychometric powers true? Whatever the case, I’d better keep this to myself; no need to endanger my current position by earning a reputation as a crank conspiracy theorist. I can collect the Nobel after I’ve gotten proof.

The original Aberrant rulebook was published back in 1999. In its pages, it described a disaster — the explosion of the space station Galatea from the excerpt above — which occurred in 1998, which seemed to be the catalyst granting people powers beyond comprehension. The narrative picked up a decade later, in the “near future” of 2008.

Obviously, we’ve moved on a little from that point, and none of that happened. It doesn’t make sense for us to reuse the previous timeline, especially with the new core modern setting from the Trinity Continuum rulebook. So we’re dealing with a delicate balancing act: deciding which events happened as-is, and which events have yet to happen. Obviously anything directly pertaining to the emergence of novas will still be in the future, but what about other details? Does President Schroer’s 2000 rise and 2002 fall happen as originally described, or will he first decide to run for president in 2020? We know some things, of course. Our modern setting still has an Æon Society, with some recognizable research divisions such as Project Utopia, Project Pandora, and of course the Triton Foundation.

The Triton Foundation is a collection of some of the best and brightest medical minds in a well-funded think-tank. Did they develop an AIDS vaccine in late 2003 as originally described? We seem to be close to such a thing in our real world, so perhaps that sort of development could be assumed to hit the market a decade or so early in a world with Talents and an organization like Triton managing things. On the other hand, perhaps a full viable vaccine is a puzzle that could only be solved with the help of novas, either with novas on the research team, or as a result of Triton research on nova biology.

Regardless of the outcome, we’re having fun teasing apart the elements that made up the original Trinity Universe and seeing how they can apply to our vision of the Continuum.

Thanks for reading!

Aw heck, you guys have been kept waiting long enough. Here’s a small preview of the Triton Foundation section of the Allegiances chapter from the Trinity Continuum rulebook, written by the inimitable Jack Norris, a name that may be familiar to Green Ronin fans.

Triton Foundation The philanthropic arm of the Æon Society, the Triton Foundation focuses on two goals. First, it funds charities, medical research, and other efforts which advance humanity and civilization. These efforts take up the bulk of the group’s budget and is by far the most high profile of their efforts. Second, it seeks out, recruits, and funds individuals whose motivations and abilities push them to act in ways the Foundation sees as positive and heroic. These agents engage in a variety of activities worldwide with a more diverse operational mandate than the rest of Triton. Triton agents work to prevent assassinations of important dignitaries, protect important scientific and academic expeditions, and stop various secret societies and conspiracies devoted to tyranny and conquest. Though the Æon Society has multiple projects and subgroups, the Triton Foundation is among the most prominent and well-known in the modern day. The public may not always be completely aware of the strange and dangerous activities the group’s members engage in, but many know it as a major force in philanthropic circles. … Since their formation, the Triton Foundation has struggled to remain and positive and largely apolitical force in human advancement and development. They have reduced disease, suffering, and chaos worldwide through targeting and tireless efforts. Their primary public method of achieving these goals relies on new medical treatments for various diseases and driving social change through charity. However, they also recruit talented individuals and provide them with exceptional equipment, funding, and other benefits as long as they act in the best interests of the Æon Society, humanity, and civilization. For every vaccine or large scale aid operation Triton is responsible for, there are countless smaller but vital actions carried out by these rare and exceptional members. As the 21st century marches on, the Triton Foundation is preparing to assist other Æon groups with the implementation of various plans to cure various diseases, end world hunger, and bring a cessation of various hostilities around the world. However, to have any hope of accomplishing this they must fight the evils of today and yesterday to clear the way for a brighter future.

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