Baptized POC nee Peo Teese [t- drunk with fame, sacrificed on the altar of power. Se aC a cla: ut emcee Beware. Your legacy is our future.SETTING2008: THE NOVA AGE Nitertainment Niterview Ni the news Nisight Nitre nous ate fun N! games gal stutt We had the chance to sit down and talk with Randel Portman, “The Fireman,” in an exclusive N! interview. We discussed what it was like being a nova, how the world has changed since novas' arrival and what the future holds. + Ni: So, Mr. Portman, what is it like to be the first known nova? + Portman: It is a distinct honor, Actually it’s just luck, really. Fate just decided that I would erupt ina rather spectacular way, and I was lucky enough to save lives. In general, though, being a nova is a wonderful thing. Novas are simply people with special abilities. Yeah, those powers can make us seem weird or unapproachable, but really we are just people. + Nt: You may be understating the case a bit. Experts postulate that, in fact, novas have the ability to theoretically do just about anything. * Portman: The theory always sounds better than the actual facts. Novas’ powers stem from our ability to manipulate the fundamental forces of nature: gravity, electromagnetism, the strong nuclear force and the weak one, Assuming a nova had no limits in manipulating those forces, then he would effectively be God, but we all have our limits. The Project scientists tell me a lot has to do with how an individual nova sees his, abilities and how they emerged. + Ni: You emerged — erupted, as the saying goes — spectacularly, | saving a school bus full of children. How did that shape your abilities? * Portman: I was a fireman, which is how I got the nickname, and had | responded to a traffic accident. When we got to the scene, all I | could see was the outline of a school bus in the flames. Fire was coming out of every possible opening in the thing. It was awful. I heard all the little kids screaming, and I just sort of froze. I could feel something happening, and putting out the fire was all I could think of All of a sudden, my head felt like it was being hit by a sledgehammer. ‘The last thing I remember seeing was a huge gout of flame coming right toward me, After that everything is hazy. The next thing I know, I'm kneeling in a puddle of melted 2 keep reading,