VIgil: Return of the Geneva

[UncleWolf]

[Infirmary]

Oh no, she forgot what bacon is. How sad.
"Oh. Right. I only brought the cloak. I'm sorry, Alexia. I didn't think to bring any spare clothes." Not that he really owns that many girl's clothes. He'd probably have to take Lucy's or dig something of her old self from ages ago.
"If it helps I did get a coupon for a service of someone that helps change appearances but ah, I wouldn't really trust him." he says with a shrug. He's not sure what she wants right now. He figures that being someone else is pretty alarming.
It was for him at least, and it wasn't even anyone specific.

[Clinic]

Wenomir, who has been watching the exchange impassively, breathes out.

"We should have something at hand, yes. And it seems you were telling the truth. Though it still leaves us with many questions. But not ones you know the answer to, most likely."

Medical Facility

She seems to consider it for a few moments before looking back towards Wenomir. "Well, as much as I'd love to get out of here, I'm not entirely certain I'm going to be let go until either I have another face or we both get escorted to Delmah Phor to meet with the Matron." Alexia explains before turning to Sam. "There are...circumstances to my appearance that are going to limit my freedom until it gets changed I imagine. Why wouldn't you want to trust the one who does appearances?" Something seems to twinge inside one of the gauntlets and she gives a small grimace while rubbing and flexing it.

Outside the Barracks

Unfolding the very roughed up piece of paper and moving a hand in surprise when she notices she's touched a bit of spit-covered parchment, Blanche tries to parse the letter but doesn't entirely gleam much from it. So... Renee's asking her to dinner and/or a shooting range? Is... is this a date? That brings a slight tinge to her cheeks at the thought. I mean, she's not entirely sure how well the possibility might morally or ethically work out, but she isn't entirely sure if it is in the first place - and besides, Renee seemed like pretty rad person to hang out with.

"Er, sure. let her know I'll be there," Blanche informs

Outside the Barracks

Junior relaxes visibly and even gives a happy and not-so-little SKREEEEEEEEEEEEE of joy as Blanche gets the message. Then he just...sits there, staring at her with his glassy beady little eyes that feel akin to a multitude of maestroms leading to the vast abyss beyond this veil of reality...

But then he shudders and a pair of floppy wet butterfly wings pop out of his back. He starts to fan them, getting them dry so he can attempt to fly out of here. The wings did not look like they'd support his weight.

[B]

[Training Ground - Potential Student]

Quin nods, though a bit unsure.

"I need to refine my blade skills. Whether that's exclusive to using blades...well, I'm a little unclear, but anything that will help me be a better knight would probably help," the mecha-Navi explains, as he reaches into the shadow of his right shoulder-binder. The air around his hand seems to darken and then pixelates, as the hilt of a sword appears in his hand, and he makes a drawing motion, as the blade seems to appear out of the dark rift where his hand was. As the blade's tip passes the void, the pixelation ceases, and he stands hold a longsword sized for him, but that could be classified as a greatsword for most people. Despite its size, he seems to have little trouble wielding it one-handed. The sword itself isn't terribly ornate, but there's a regal air about the sword that suggests it's more than just a simple blade. Quin examines the blade for a moment, before offering it, hilt-first to Jezebel.

"Excalibur wishes for me to be a better hero, so that's what I'm aiming to be. Commander Wenomir thought your style of bladework might suit better than his own."

Training Ground - Potential Student

The lavender hued woman doesn't pay attention to the blade just yet, deciding to concentrate upon Quin's shape and form as she paces around him. She's frowning as she works it out in her head, and after she gets back around she'll take the offered blade for a moment to judge its weight and give it a light swing if possible. She's very much used to incredibly heavy weapons so even if the weapon weighs a lot she won't be too out of her depth. Once she's done, she'll offer it back to him. "If you can control its size and shape, the first thing I would very much advise is to go for a shorter blade if you can." She points out before gesturing at his chest. "Unless your reach and flexibility is greater than the depth of your chest, using a longer blade or attempting to use one in both hands is going to very much limit your range of motion."

[Deathkeeper]

[Medical Facility]

Sam breaks eye contact, looking sideways as he rubs the top of his mane.
"Well. Uh. It's the guy who made me this." he gestures at himself.
"He wanted to show me off to someone so I 'ported me there and gave me the coupon for my time. It wasn't...considerate. And I should note since you don't remember our conversation that this was not what I asked him for...but if I gave him a picture of you and told him 'just do this' it might go fine. Especially if I was there the whole time to keep him from doing anything stupid. But I don't know, he also gave me a pretty big chunk of cash back when I told him the body wasn't really the way I liked it...I dunno, I don't think it could be any worse than throwing you headfirst into Drow politics." Sam dated a drow girl once who was basically being held hostage by her dad’s family. He doesn’t want to know what the matriarchs of the Drow get up to.

[Hattish Thing]

[Wait, We Have a Science Division?]

Dr. Valiance continues to jog in place as he looks over Geneva. He raises a brow, and his smile narrows slightly. This woman seemed suspiciously like someone who'd work for 'the man'. Who was 'the man', one might ask? No one, 'the man' was an idea, not a person. It was the long arm of authority, come to assert its inherent squareness all over everything. What did this mean for Val? Bad vibes, bad vibes for sure. He could just feel her metaphysical self giving him the hairy eyeball. Stay strong, Dr. Valiance. Stick to your guns. Let your spirit shine through, soul brother.

His takes a second or so to respond, taking this opportunity to lean up against a nearby computer desk before performing a quad stretch. "Ah, sorry - one second, sister. Gotta keep the burn going, keep the muscles warm, warm as hell - you get it." There's a few grunts here and there, he's really giving that stretch his all. His form was pretty good for an older guy. Somewhere under all of that was the framework of a semi-talented dancer, albeit one far out of his element. "You mean the wrist-thingy? Yeah, yeah, uhh - it came in and all, just haven't had a second to really get in there with it, you know?"

Val starts stretching the other leg. "It's all good, all good, though! I'll get to it." He was fairly interested in it, actually. "You're saying you designed 'em? That's cool as hell, I'd love to take a look at the schematics. I got an email, if you like? If not, that's fine too - groovy cool." Then she mentions her name. Oh, right! He'd forgotten to introduce himself properly, that wasn't very nice. So, he'll stop stretching and instead offer a sweaty hand. "Good to meet ya, Gee. Hey, can I get you something? You want a drink?" He starts looking around the laboratory. Did he have anything left out? Hm, no luck.

"Oh, uhh - yeah! We're new, it's all pretty chill, though." This person felt way too interested in everything, down to specifics and all. Definitely felt fishy. "All of the above, hell yeah. Stuff for Cess, too." He'll start to jog in place again, eager to keep up his heart rate. "Uhh, yeah! That's all DAHL's stuff, he's the, uhh - computer."

"Hey, so - I'm actually in the middle of something, some cool as hell science fiction type stuff. You down to have a look?"

---

[A Scholarly Visit]

Val nods at that. "Alright, alright - sounds good."

"Meet me out on the lawn in like, thirty minutes?"

---

[MEDLAB II]

Okay, yeah - excellent work, Dr. Valiance.
Everything worked out just the way it was supposed to!

It somehow always does. Groovy cool.

--

Then, Svetlana opens her mouth. Numerous accusations and allegations follow, super salacious stuff. This was not groovy cool. He should have known she was too much of a square to make this easy, everything had to be difficult with people like her. Dr. Valiance is careful to avoid letting his unease show - he'll simply lean back against a nearby wall with a puzzled expression painted on his face. "Wow, okay. Okay, I see what's happening here." Other than his initial complaint, Dr. Valiance stays quiet until Svetlana's done. He'd only look guilty were he to lose his head here.

Careful, Dr. Valiance. This was some high stakes stuff, right here. "Frankly, Tanaka. I'm disgusted." He'll shake his head before turning his head to glance towards Cessie. Her eyes were boring straight into him. You know what, this was fine. Show no fear, soul brother. You've explained worse stuff to scarier bosses. "Ms. Mithar, this woman has had it out for me ever since we met. It bums me the hell out that I have to stand here and listen to this garbage." At this, he'll glance back towards Svetlana, his eyes narrowed. "What happened here is actually the perfect example of what I've been struggling with here at VIGIL."

Val licks his lips before continuing. There's been no attempt on Dr. Tanaka's part at communication, none at all! She's been nothing but nasty, and I'm not down for it." He speaks up a little louder now, clearly hitting his stride. "I came to VIGIL to get away from this kind of garbage, this kind of prejudice - to start a new life doing something worthwhile, something that really matters." He'll point a gloved finger towards Dr. Tanaka. "But you've been fighting me from the start! Talking down, all high and superior. Yeah, hell yeah - it's time I called you out!" The words are just coming now, its all instinct. Dr. Valiance turns back to Cessie. "You've seen it, my assistant's seen it, DAHL's seen it!"

"You know how disrespectful that is, being talked down to in your own space - in front of your own employees?" Val's cheeks have started to redden, he was really getting into it now - these were real issues. "It's absolutely not cool, its frankly unacceptable!" Now to really start carving things up. "Now, uhhh - let's get into exactly what the hell happened here today." He stands tall, now. "I discovered Ms. Obsidian wandering the grounds, saw she was hurt. Decided to take her in, you know. Run some tests, she seemed fine - but I knew better." Okay, keep going. "I was right, turns out. She was hurt, nasty wound - by all accounts she shouldn't have been on her feet. Thought I was tripping."

Keep going, keep going! "When I was digging around in there, I found something funky - some kinda parasite, definitely wasn't doing her any good." Right, sticking to the story. Always a good move. "I went ahead and stuck her with an advanced nitroimidazole." Good, doing great. "Now, this serum, it's not perfect. There's some side-effects, you know - namely hypertension. It can get pretty severe, especially if you're built like her." This was all making perfect sense. "Now, uhh - what that means in effect is that the myocardium is running overtime, struggling - you know. Your heart, its having to work three, four - five times as hard." With the set-up complete, time to finish the job.

"Stress, especially the kind of stress you feel when you're being interrogated by an adult, frankly a fairly intimidating one, and without a legal guardian at that, can cause a lethal spike in blood pressure." You're hitting it out of the park, Val. Swing for the friggin' fence. "It's even worse, you know - she'd just had her blood drawn, her immune system's been hard at work. Clearly she wasn't, you know, super okay on her own anyway, psychologically." Now for the great conclusion. "So yeah, when I see Dr. Tanaka hounding the hell out of a teenager with a temporary heart condition, I'm going to interfere. You know, it's lucky I even had the tranquilizer, the dip in pressure probably bought her just enough time!"

Accept responsibility, and point the finger. Oh yeah, it's all coming together. "I know, uhh - I know it wasn't the best course of action, but frankly, I panicked. If anything had happened to her, you know, I'd be partially to blame. It'd be awful." Now to focus on Svetlana, really drive it in there. "Frankly, none of this should have happened at all. Had Dr. Tanaka bothered to check in with me or even somewhat acknowledge my presence here at VIGIL Laboratories, she would have known about the serum." Dr. Valiance scoffs before frowning. "But of course, she didn't. And you know why? Because she refuses to view me as an equal, Ms. Mithar."

"You know, I would have been fine if it was just, you know - some superiority complex." There's a long sigh there. "But it's not, this is outright sabotage. All this about "errant nonsense", that's ridiculous, the scans are right there."

"Ms. Mithar... this is is absolutely sickening."

[Shadowcaller]

[A Scholarly Visit]

"I will be there." Presumably he indicates which lawn he wants to meet her in.
But she will be there around that time.

[Newcomer]

"Alright, if yer sure y'don't mind, I-" Atreyu pauses, cutting himself off as he glances down at his clothes.

He frowns and takes his jacket off for a moment, peering at it.

"Ah, one slight problem with that. This outfit ain't, ah, transformation-resistant, and I didn't have time to pack 'fore I got pulled here. I'd have to strip right down first, and I'm thinking that ain't exactly appropriate behaviour." He remarks with an embarrassed laugh. "That'll have t'wait until I've had a chance to settle in, and done a bit of shopping."

[Newcomer]

"Oh." She chuckles with him. "Yeah, that's kinda awkward. I get you, dude. Probably should do that soon. Y'know, so you can show off all your cool abilities." Anika nods. "But what other stuff can do you? Those elemental gizmos seem pretty useful." She gestures at his lighter.

[Hattish Thing]

[A Scholarly Visit]

It'd be difficult to miss the designated lawn, seeing as Dr. Valiance's garishly painted vehicle is recognizable even at a distance.
It is a great, bulky thing - an assemblage of several different motor vehicles strapped to futuristic components.

Murals are painted on its sides, each spray painting depicting a variety of science fiction themed pinups.

--

Dr. Valiance is leaning up against it, enjoying a smoke. He'll wave once he notices Ambrosia. "Yo, Rosie - what's happening?"

"Check out the sweet ride!"

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Newcomer]

"Ah, those? Mostly just useful little everyday things. Not to say I couldn't do something bigger with 'em, mind. Not sure how well the actual summoning part'd work here, but I s'ppose anyplace has gotta have some connection to elemental planes, right?" He shrugs, "I reckon that's about all I got, 'side from probably being able to help out with any gardening."

[Shadowcaller]

[A Scholarly Visit]

Ambrosia stops for a moment to properly take in Val's means of transportation.
It certainly was something and she couldn't help but to wonder what had inspired him to make it.
"Never seen anything like it." She admits as she turns to the doctor. "How did it came to be?"

[Newcomer]

Anika considers this for a moment. "Yeah, its up in the air right? So maybe it has a closer connection to wind elementals." An idea occurs and her eyes go wide as she gestures at the air ships. "Ohh! Maybe you can help with the ships. I heard they work through elementals so that could be a thing. Heck, maybe you could join that science slash (/) GM facility they set up. That'd be cool. They certainly wouldn't expect a druid like me to join up." She chuckles again. "Maybe you could turn that lighters into fire weapons or something." Anika certainly have a lot of ideas.

[Hattish Thing]

[A Scholarly Visit]

Dr. Valiance positively beams as Ambrosia takes it all in. She wasn't immediately horrified by it, which is good! He didn't usually get this far when it came to showing off his sweet ride. Val loved this thing more than he loved most of his drones, even. "Hell yeah, you're down with it! Like the custom job? Had a friend paint it for me, it's kinda like my baby." At this, he gestures with an excited look upon his face towards the grotesque spray mural of alien space babes painted upon all sides of the vehicle.

As for how it came to be? Well, that's a less fun thing to talk about. "Well, uhh - actually, this baby used to be, you know, just the ol' wagon. Then I drove it into a building, totalled the poor thing. Saved up for a few years, 'acquired' some salvage, and worked my ass off... and voila, she's reborn."

"Like a friggin' butterfly baby, hell yeah!"

[Shadowcaller]

[A Scholarly Visit]

She slowly nods while listening to Val's explanation. "I can tell you've put a lot of love into it." Her gaze meets his. "You know, objects like that can have their own spirit, their own personality, if they exist long enough. It would require an event to 'awaken' them first however. I've observed such spirits functioning as custodians and even helpers for their owners." Though that wasn't always the case.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Newcomer]

"Hey, if it does some good, I'm all fer it." Atreyu nods, "So I guess the question now is, how do I actually go about signing up? And do I gotta drag you along to plead my case, since it's soundin' like yer convinced." He remarks with a chuckle.

[Purple Eagle]

[MEDLAB II]

Svetlana turns to glare at Valiance when Cessie accusingly asks her question, hoping that he'd own up to his mistake and they can move on, but knowing that likely won't happen. The fact that he has the gall to look puzzled confirms the theory before he even opens his mouth.

"N-Nani?" What even... did her attempt at mending fences mean nothing? No, that's not it... he's ignoring that little detail to make her look as bad as possible. She purses her lips and lets him ramble on, saying nothing until he's finished with his lies. While he speaks, an interface opens up in her vision, and with a gesture of her wrist, holographically beams the interface above her wrist.

"Before I respond to that, I must apologize for recording things, but I am a rather paranoid person. Besides, you enlisted me to monitor Dr. Valiance, and this is one of the ways I am doing so." She selects a couple of video files and presses play.

Spoiler: The Apology

Show

File 1: Svetlana apologizing to Val and wanting to mend fences.

(The ellipsis "..." means there's more to the post, ofc)

[VIGIL LABS]

...

"Greetings, Dr Valiance. I am just here, supervising the movers."

The smile is replaced by a serious look, and she clears a throat that no longer needs clearing. "I must apologize for my actions yesterday, Dr Valiance. I zeroed in on the fact that you had worked with questionable individuals in the past, forgetting that you are a fellow scientist who could very well have been in dire straits." She measures her words carefully, trying her best not to accidentally offend him further with her blunt words. "You are here now, that is all that matters, and I look forward to working with you in helping this great organization. Do over?"

She still stands with her head held high, exuding an air of confidence and independence, but there is no condescension in sight. This is a woman speaking to her co-worker on equal terms. She stretches out her hand, offering a handshake.

Her grip will be firm, and her hand warm to the touch despite the cybernetics.

Spoiler: Meeting Obsidian

Show

File 2: Svetlana walking up to Obsidian and talking to her, a short popup showing that her heart rate is normal. The girl getting frustrated and starting to calm down when her speech starts to slur as a result of tranq overdose.

[Medical Facilities 2]

...

"I expected that you would be taller." Is Svetlana's response. She turns to look at Val, a look that says "Bringing the tranq was probably a good idea, after all." Looking back at Obsidian, she continues. "You are Obsidian? Dr Svetlana H. Tanaka. I hear you are a dragon, but I am not convinced. Prove it and become a dragon right now." If she wants to be taken so seriously, it should be no problem to change and reveal her draconic greatness.

...

She folds her arms, scanning the girl with her cyberware eyes for anything out of the ordinary.

(nothing out of the ordinary, incl heart rate)

[Medical Facilities 2]

Yes! She understands it! She is a dragon now, and she was bitten as a dragon, but it was different. Obsidian seems pleased she was able to convey that fact.

She opens her mouth, wanting to respond. No, she doesn't really realize what this means. Yes, she's kind-of used to being bitten but she's gotten better at avoiding it as she's gotten faster and stronger. No, there's no side effects because as far as she knows they're not accumulating or becoming harder to manage. In fact, each time it becomes easier. In fact, the more times she bites a zombie then the easier it is to recover from a bite from that type of zombie. This one was just a weird mushroom one so -

She gets hit by the tranquilizer dart and gets a massive overdose.
Obsidian moves all her weight to one leg, and waves her arms a little.
"I don't know if cules an leerl a thirng chlators all...all...is bean loar... Her eyes flutter a bit, she starts to lose balance, then her eyes roll back.
Obsidian falls.
She hits her head on a table, then bounces off, then hits the ground.

...
Tranquilizer overdoses are really serious, y'know?

Spoiler: Obsidian's readings

Show

File 3: Svetlana examining the unconscious Obsidian. Hypotension changes to hypertension after the first injection, and stabilizes after the second.

[Lab - Obsidian]

Since Valiance's in charge of the controls, Svetlana busies herself by analyzing whatever readouts are being produced by any machines close by, supplemented by her very own cybernetic scanners in order to monitor the girl's vitals.

She doesn't like what she sees. Her blood pressure and heart rate being so extraordinarily low confirms that she overdosed on the tranquilizer that her associate gave Obsidian. Her lips purse when Val lies as to the purpose of the first injection, but she doesn't say anything because of the beneficial effect it has. Hypertension, while dangerous, is much more preferable to hypotension. The next one he injects helps restore her to normal and rectify her blood pressure, also very good.

Of course, the readouts said nothing of her initial hypotensive state, so the doctors will be none the wiser.

...

"As you can see, Cessie-sama, I approached Dr Valiance with the intent to mend fences with him after my unprofessional performance yesterday. I reviewed the footage of our meeting and came to the conclusion I had not given him a fair chance. You can also see that he told me of his experience with Obsidian-chan, and I offered to help as a show of good faith." She turns to Dr Valiance, her face a mask of tranquil fury. "I wanted to like you, Dr. Valiance. I had hoped we could have become friends. Teammates, even. With your own mouth, you have ruined any chance of that happening." She hates him, now.

She turns back to Cessie. "What befell Obsidian-chan was a zombie bite. As you can see from the second file, she claims it is a regular occurrence, 'no big deal' as she put it. She was adamant that we were making a mountain out of a molehill. Indeed, the readings Dr Valiance showed me revealed that her immune system was strong enough to resist a zombie bite. I will admit that I could have handled the situation better, and I apologize for it. I will accept whatever punishment you see as just."

Back to the matter at hand. "It is all lies, Cessie-sama. Why he refuses to take responsibility for his part in the matter eludes me." She turns back to Valiance, hate in her eyes. "Surely, it would be much easier to own up to one's own mistakes and aim to do better, than to expend a lot of energy making up tall tales in a bid to evade responsibility." She steps closer to Dr Valiance and stares him down, silent for a moment. "The only saboteur here is yourself. You are a brilliant scientist, sabotaging your own success. I have no reason to seek your downfall, perhaps you are the one with an inferiority complex?"

[Rebonack]

[Wait, We Have a Science Division?]

Doctor Valence is nervous? Worried? Something. Something about Geneva is bothering him. She's doing her best not to snoop. Snooping is rude. Back home, in the Vault, they had all sorts of rules for esp etiquette. The chances of those rules being enforced out here where practically everyone is F-Class are close to zero but SHE can still uphold them! Even if it means not snooping. C'mon Geneva, you're good at reading people even if you aren't actually reading their prefrontal cortex.

He's uncomfortable about her demeanor. That's it, right? Their personality types are wildly different. She's very by the book. He's... not. He kind of reminds her of the beatniks but that isn't quite right. Maybe if she just reassures him that she isn't any sort of authority figure meant to cramp his cool?

Geneva subtly relaxes her posture, putting more weight on one leg and letting her hips jaunt to one side a little. Smile. Look casual.

"It's alright, I understand. Exercise is important. And yes, the 'wristy-thing'. I developed them during the skinwalker crises when infiltration of VIGIL was a very real concern. When a big worry is body snatchers a device that lets us all keep in communication with each other is paramount to safety. I have the schematics on my database back at the lab, but as I said earlier nothing down here is on VIGIL's network. I could bring you a hard copy later if you wanted to take a look?"

There. Just like that. Be personable.

Geneva shakes his hand, offering a genuine smile.

And then drinks? In a lab? Food and beverages in the lab are a pretty serious safety no-no. Her eyes briefly flick to the bandoleer of energy drinks Doctor Valance is wearing. Down. Up again. Smile a little more earnestly.

"Oh, ah, thank you for the offer, but no. I try to avoid that in the laboratory. Safety first, you know? I work with a lot of exotic mass and I don't want to, hahha*snort*heh get MORE exotic because some got in my coffee," Geneva replies, trying to soften things a bit with a joke. "You have to keep up good habits, after all. Break the rules once and then its easier to break them again and before you know it you accidentally swallowed some strangelets and it's all over."

Friends don't let friends do strangelets, kids.

"It is a general purpose lab then? That's great! Really wonderful. I've been set up in one of, well," Geneva crinkles her brow a bit as she corrects herself. "Three, technically. Three adjoining labs in the library section of the base for the past few years. I'm still pretty sore about my lab at the watchtower getting blown up. I had TRIED getting back there to save as much as I could but imps had destroyed all my notes!"

She throws her arms up in the air. UGH! Stupid imps!

"It still makes me mad just thinking about it. Make multiple backups of my work now, some off site. Now WAY I'm letting a bunch of gross imps ruin years of work again."

C'mon Geneva. No reason to get worked up. Deep breath, hand on your chest, in and out. Breath. Everything is fine. You had some great new ideas as a result of the old base getting blown up, everything is fine.

"I... suppose I could see about moving my things down here?" Geneva suggests, looking around the receiving lab again. "My main field of work involves the study, creation, and manipulation of Einstein-Rosen bridges and I'm sure it doesn't need to be explained how hazardous high energy experiments involving exotic mass can be. It took some doing to get my lab topside properly shielded. It might be too much of a hassle and I don't want to be a bother."

Geneva is pretty big on not being a bother. It's probably why some people forget she exists sometimes.

At the mention of testing Geneva does her best to avoid an expression of equal parts worry and skepticism. The Doctor WAS doing testing in there? ...while... exercising? That's... uh... worrying. A bit. But she doesn't know what he's working on. Maybe it's just something wholly non-hazardous and he felt safe relaxing standard laboratory safety measures a bit? That has to be it.

Just, hehe, testing some perfectly safe weapons! Nothing to be alarmed about.

"Sure, that sounds fascinating. Though if I do say so myself, if you're busy testing your science fiction equipment then it's rapidly becoming science fact!" Geneva says, laughing (and snorting) at her own lame joke. God she's such an incorrigible nerd. "I was actually doing some testing on the user interface for a short-range personal teleportation device when I heard about-"

She makes a sweeping motion with one hand.

"-all this. The adventurer I had roped into helping me, mister Stonehammer? He really wasn't feeling it so I decided to call it for the day and come check in on VIGIL's new applied sciences division. So yes! I would love to see what you're working on."

[Murkus]

[Gym]

Is Adir really that tired? It has been a long day she supposes. It's also admittedly been awhile since Ilpholin's felt tired. She doesn't miss the sensation, but it used to be nice to drift off during the afterglow of a good exercise.

"Yeah I saw them. They sent me here. Said you wanted to talk." Ilpholin says, finding a wall to lean against and crossing her arms. Cessie and Anika set them up! Better check to make sure the door isn't locked.

[Gym]

"Yeah..." Adir runs his hand up his face and across the top of his head, smoothing his hair back. He's quiet for a little while. "Where do I start...? I guess... from the beginning. I'm sorry about what happened back in Riverside, Ilpholin. Before the whole invasion. I didn't carry myself right on that night, and I let you think things that weren't true. I was being flirty because I thought it was fun... I hadn't gotten to feel like that in a while. It was stupid, and I'm sorry."

"I'm not gonna get on you about cracking me on the head after that. You can think it was right, or wrong, or trying to help me... I don't care. It doesn't matter now." Adir looks at her earnestly, his blue eyes cool and receptive. "I wanna know what happened after that. Where you really got taken to. Where you've been all this time. And how come you're so... different now."

[Recaiden]

[On the Edge - The Very Edge]

"It isn't strange in my world." Mia says. "Especially when you are in a high position like me or when you show of special skills early. Thought this happens like once a year at best."

"I can't say what he wants or desires. As I said I only knew him a day and there he was mostly unconsiouse."
Mia will give her a raw description of him, like hair color, the fact he got a robot hand etc.

"Oh. Still quite rare then."
And Mia should do what's best for her church, right? Surely?
"That's exactly why you need someone to talk to him."

Sophia listens to the description. Apparently Mia didn't think much of her more fanciful suggestions, huh?
"We've seen someone like that." Been around the Good League of Good, hasn't he?

[Shadowcaller]

[MEDLAB II]

Cessie can only look between the two as they argue back and forth. Had she been partly responsible for this? She knew they hadn't exactly gotten along at the start but she had no idea it would turn out this badly.
Her frustration was only growing as Svetlana starts playing her recordings. Hitting a peak as as she hears the last file. "So what happened there? Can you explain exactly why someone shot her with a dart?" The sorceress asks coldly. "Since it could indeed have been handled better. The fact you weren't even sure she was a dragon or not makes it even worse. I'm frankly not even sure where to start here." She looks to Svetlana. "I understand that you didn't have as big a role to play in this, but I had a feeling that Dr. Valiance could get some pretty bad ideas, which is why you were supposed to rein him in. But after hearing this I'm not sure I can trust you with that task anymore and fact that you now have such a strong dislike for one another only makes you even less suited for that role."

Then she turns to Val. "Do you have anything to say for yourself? You mentioned your assistant. Should I call her in for this?" She wasn't sure what difference it would make but the more information she got, the better.

[Newcomer]

"Hey, if it does some good, I'm all fer it." Atreyu nods, "So I guess the question now is, how do I actually go about signing up? And do I gotta drag you along to plead my case, since it's soundin' like yer convinced." He remarks with a chuckle.

[Newcomer]

Anika takes another smoke as she considers this question. Then she looks down at the cigarette. "First I'm afraid we gotta dump these. Some people see red when they catch you with them." She pause for another moment. "Then... uh, there's two people we can talk to. Wen or C-command. One is a warrior dude, the other is a mage. Which one sounds most fun to talk to? I got an in with both of 'em!"

[Reinholdt]

[Gym]

"Yeah..." Adir runs his hand up his face and across the top of his head, smoothing his hair back. He's quiet for a little while. "Where do I start...? I guess... from the beginning. I'm sorry about what happened back in Riverside, Ilpholin. Before the whole invasion. I didn't carry myself right on that night, and I let you think things that weren't true. I was being flirty because I thought it was fun... I hadn't gotten to feel like that in a while. It was stupid, and I'm sorry."

"I'm not gonna get on you about cracking me on the head after that. You can think it was right, or wrong, or trying to help me... I don't care. It doesn't matter now." Adir looks at her earnestly, his blue eyes cool and receptive. "I wanna know what happened after that. Where you really got taken to. Where you've been all this time. And how come you're so... different now."

[Gym]

Ilpholin finds a nice spot of floor to stare at. What was he apologizing to her for? She was the one who misunderstood. Big Dummy.

Smart enough to skip over the thing she'd never apologize for at least. She can indulge him with a story. She'd probably have to tell it a few times, might as well get it down now. "I went to intercept the Fire Golem heading for the Lotus Gardens. Me and Squiggles managed to take it down, at least temporarily or permanently. I wasn't able to confirm much cause one of AMEN's new flunkies was there bounty hunting me. A cabopionja. We had a tussle before I escaped into the sewers."

"There I ran into some of the weaker demons pretending to not be demons and coerced them into flying me to Westside where I realized the cloaked demon ship would be. Since there was fighting in Northside, Eastside, and Southside, it was the logical choice for a stealth ship that's trying not to get involved. But some horrid magical storm kicked up and we could barely get anywhere without being buffeted around or struck by lightning."

"So before it came to that, I invoked the power of my patron Oni to force the storm into a tangible form that could be destroyed. I admit I was envisioning something a lot sexier than giant flying mushroom of death. Would it kill the embodiment of a magical weather phenomenon to come with some thic thighs and nice abs?" That wasn't the biggest disappointment of the night but it definitely ranked in the top three.

"I guess I haven't mastered personifying concepts. Anyways, I was contemplating the best way to kill a fungus when it and the storm suddenly disappeared. I have no idea why, but it left me open to fly right into the side of the demon's ship. Unfortunately they also had cloaked demons which got a hold of me. I expect I could have taken the one that had me. I should have. But I was damaged and didn't know how many there were. I calculated my best chance was to shower the ship with a color spread of my nanites as a flare for help and you and Wenomir and the other Vigil people would come and destroy the ship and I'd be fine. Cost the last of my reserves unveiling the ship though and I passed out." There's a moment of hesitation from the nymph, where she considers whether to add her feelings on the result. Or even exactly how close she felt to death before desperately sending an SOS. It's not a point she's emphasized thus far in the tale.

"The next thing I can tell you I was having a dream. You weren't in it, but I was naked." It's the first time she's flashed Adir a grin, as if knowing exactly what he's missed out on. "That's where I met Tauron. He had rescued me from the demons, explained he was their enemy and that I was pretty bad off. Like emergency operations to keep me alive bad. He was impressed with the tech I had grafted into my body thus far and came to me in the dream to ask permission to upgrade said tech. I grilled him for traps, but I was still under his knife and clearly in need of such upgrades if Riverside showed me all I had to offer so I accepted. Later in a different dream I was given a tip by... A different ally that I was being held by AMEN. I figured Tauron was AMEN and I had been deceived though the only thing I could do about it was tell that ally he had permission to rescue me. I was asleep after all." That would be the King In Rags.

"They were wrong though. Tauron did as he promised. Made me stronger. Better. Compleat in so many ways I didn't know I was even missing. It was a miracle really..." Ilpholin's tone turns reverent, which is exceptionally rare for her. Even when talking about Lolth, there's a whiff of bitterness about being turned down to become a priestess. But what Tauron did to her? That was religious enlightenment. "I still needed some recuperation time though, and I didn't exactly finish before he gave me the heads up that AMEN had a duplicate me. I called you, but got Sakura, realized it was a trap for you guys. Came in. Cleared your escape route. You know the rest."

Ilpholin is quiet for a second before adding, "Uhh... Your turn?" It sounds unsure because she doesn't know if she should find out what he's been up to or let him ask questions about what happened to her first. There's probably a lot of potential questions.

[Morty]

[Infirmary]

"As long as you stop looking like our friend and regain your memories, I don't really know if it matters so much how it's done." Wenomir feels like he's lost track of things at some point, so he tries to think in straight lines and resolutions like he usually does. "This has all been... complicated."

[Hattish Thing]

[MEDLAB II]

Dr. Valiance jumps on the opportunity to respond to a few things, carefully noting Cessie's current line of questioning. First, he responds to Svetlana directly. "Apologize for recording things?" He scoffs at that, one eyebrow raised high. "You're tripping, uhh - you gotta be pulling my leg with that!" He continues, gesturing somewhat erratically. "This goes above and beyond 'recording things', sunshine - you're a walking, talking violation of privacy." Another thought stirs within the murk that is his mind. Spit it out quickly, keep hammering her! "Frankly, uhh - that computer in your head makes it impossible to trust a single damn thing you record!" He glances at Cessie at this, attempting to explain. "I mean, just - wow!"

"Give me literally ten minutes at the computer, and I can whip up all kinds of stuff - visual, audio! You name it!" He turns back to Svetlana at this point, gesturing with a sneer. "And Dr. Tanaka here, well - she's walking around with one in her head!" Now, on to the next point. This is also addressed to Svetlana. "You wanted to like me? That's ridiculous - sit on that." He goes on to reiterate. "You wanted me out of the project from the start, and you know it! Ms. Mithar knows it, my own damn assistant knows it - you know how embarrassing that is?" He's actually somewhat upset about this, which shows as he speaks. "And you know why?!" He raises a finger up in the air as if to jab at some invisible thing.

"'Cause you're an elitist hack! Always going on about cutting off hands and executing poor people, and all that!" He continues to jab, his cheeks reddening. "That's what your medieval ass 'slaughter all the criminals' drivel means, baby!" He goes on to explain, driving his finger into the palm of his other hand now. This reminded him of his rallying days, back in college. "People don't break the law for fun, sunshine! They have to, they're desperate - the system's to blame, and people like you just make it worse!" Val raises his hands up high. He's about to say more, but instead turns back to Cessie. Keep calm, Dr. Valiance.

"You can call Felicity in if you like, but hell - you've seen what Dr. Tanaka's like! This isn't new info, you dig?"

---

[Wait, We Have a Science Division?]

Geneva's attempts at coming off as slightly more approachable seem to work. Almost immediately, Dr. Valiance relaxes a little - a sideways grin forming upon his bearded face. "You know what? I'd love that, I don't get to work with my hands too much these days!" He continues to jog in place, raising a brow as she mentions something about laboratory etiquette. She didn't eat in the lab? What, was she some kind of turbo-square? "Ha, you gotta be yanking my chain! I mean, what if you get hungry? Gotta snack, you know - keep the brainwaves pumping, sunshine." Val scratches at his graying beard. Perhaps she just didn't eat all that much? Then she mentions something about general purpose. "Well, uhh - sorta? I mean, oh yeah! Welcome to the receiving lab, baby." At this, he starts to turn in place, waggling his hands. "Everything comes through here. Kinda like a general check in area, you dig?"

"Workspaces, uhh - computer access. Stuff gets sorted into departments." Best to just give her the run down before being asked, right? "We got three dedicated laboratories, uhh - weapons, robotics, and medical. Pretty cool, state-of-the-art type stuff." He'll gesture to various blast doors. "Two production centers, stuff gets built here - if necessary, uhh." He points to another pair of blast doors, each across the room from the other. "Specimen storage is that way, and uhh - finally! DAHL's crib, uhh. The mainframe, that is." He starts to do jumping jacks. Gotta keep that heart rate up, hell yeah! He was planning on eating a lot today! "Your stuff got blown up? Aw, man. That's a bummer, baby." Once she mentions being a hassle, Val just waves her away. "Nah, nah. You ain't no turkey, it's not a prob." If she wanted to move on down, that's all good. Might actually do some good, hell - she'd probably help clean up a little.

Then she says that bit about science fact. Man, that wasn't good. Just work through it, Val. "Ha ha, yeah. Science fact. That's, uhh - that's good." He offers a two finger salute before taking a deep breath. He stops exercising and instead starts squirting sports drink all over his face. "Hell yeah, hell yeah! Okay, right this way." Dr. Valiance will start heading towards the weapons laboratory. As they steps into the doorway, the interior comes into view. A comfortable looking swivel chair can be seen in a corner, surrounded by holographic computer panels. Each panel contains countless lines of data.

The laboratory has been cleared out to make way for rows of potted plants. Whatever they are, they're colorful and thorny. There's around twenty four pots in total. Enormous speakers have been set up throughout the room, with huge cables leading from the speakers to the enormous computer besides the swivel chair.

"Alright, G. I'd like to introduce you to the whole gang."

---

[A Scholarly Visit]

Dr. Valiance beams at that. He'll nod and open the door nearest to Ambrosia. "Sure did! Alright, come on in." The interior is just as colorful as the vehicle's exterior, complete with comfortable leather chairs, a complex set of controls, and pinup posters. "I think all that ghost stuff is pretty cool, cool as hell!"

"Where'd all that come from, for ya?"

[Purple Eagle]

[MEDLAB II]

"My apologies, Cessie-sama." Svetlana bows before Cessie. "I will step aside and let someone else take the job, if you wish." Cessie's right, she can't do her job properly if she hates the person she's working with.

"You are blaming me for recording things? Did you ignore the part of the video that showed you admitting to making a DAHL profile for me without my knowledge?" She asks, glaring at him as he rambles at her. To think that he would continue to point fingers, try and save himself. How callow! "You have no honour, Dr. Valiance, none at all!"

She scoffs and rolls her eyes when he claims to be able to replicate her video in ten minutes. Her world may be futuristic tech by the Nexus' standards, but that's just ridiculous. Even video games that look ultra realistic always require time and effort to make look nigh-indistinguishable from the real thing. Besides, neither he nor Cessie knows just why she has such extensive cybernetics, and she aims to keep it that way...

... but then Dr Valiance keeps talking, and all of that goes out the window.

In a flash, she has her katana out, sword drawn and pointed at Dr Valiance, so close to him she only needs to lunge to run him through. "Shut up, shut up, shut the -bleep- up you uncouth idiot!" She yells out loud, growling, her arctic fox ears and tail out. "Do you know why I hunt criminals? I was a happily pregnant newlywed, just gotten my Ph.D, and a runaway criminal hit our car. My husband, baby and pet fox, gone! My beautiful body and womb, gone! This is but a simulacrum, one that can't get pregant, leaving me nothing but a brain in a body-shaped jar!" The mask falls off, and her face is squeezed up in utter rage, despair and sorrow. For the first time since her appearance, she's also shedding tears. "So I killed them all, and I will continue to kill them before they steal the dreams of others." She takes a step forward, inching the blade closer. "You wanna -bleep-ing die, old man? I will happily grant your wish."

Gee, someone should stop her before she makes Dr. Valiance her next victim!

[Shadowcaller]

[MEDLAB II]

So Svetlana was claiming that Val had fabricated his results and now he was claiming she was fabricating the evidence of him fabricating things. The sorceress rubs her forehead tiredly as she listens to what Val has to say.
Why couldn't all intellectuals be more like Ambrosia, Dorota or Geneva? It was absolutely dreadful hearing these two spitting venom at one another.

She had been willing to simply stay quiet and listen to all his arguments up to the point of him calling her an 'elitist hack'. "Dr. Valiance, that's enough!"

But it seems like she already let it go too far.

As Svetlana pulls her katana, Cessie is quite willing to place herself right in front of the sword-wielding scientist and stare down at her as she suddenly seems taller. "Drop the weapon, now." She commands and while her body is literal lava (if somehow contained), her words are as cold as ice.

If Svetlana attempts to move around her, the sorceress will move in her way. Not going to let her get an inch closer to Val no matter how she was brandishing that katana. If she wanted to use it, she would have to use it on her first.

[Hattish Thing]

[MEDLAB II]

Unfortunately, Dr. Valiance is unable to take in Cessie's request for silence - the price of running almost entirely on adrenaline. He continues on to the bitter end, at least until blades are drawn. His face pales and he tenses up, sobered by what appears to be a genuine threat on his life. He does not respond, shocked and caught off guard.

Then, Cessie steps forward. Ah, some semblance safety. He starts to think again.

--

He had a dart or two left, the gun was in his coat. Could he reach it? Surely, Dr. Tanaka wouldn't harm one of the leaders of the very organization she's employed by. Then again, she seemed quite thoroughly insane. This was not a rational reaction, this went beyond irrationality, even - this was violence.

No, best stay quiet. Let Cessie handle this.

[Shadowcaller]

[A Scholarly Visit]

"Kayshuo, it's a region within the Hyshun empire, though I doubt you've heard of it. It isn't in the nexus." Neither of those names sound like they'd use the same language as the one that produced the name 'Ambrosia' curiously enough.
She looks around as she enters the van, noticing how consistent the decoration was with the exterior. "Did your friend put up as well or is this your work?" She idly wonders as she gestures at the posters.
There's no judgement in her voice, she was simply curious about his taste.

[Purple Eagle]

[MEDLAB II]

Svetlana doesn't let Cessie standing in front of her stop her from saying her bit, at least Dr Valiance has two working ears. She stares straight into Cessie's eyes once she's done, and then her eyes widen as she realizes what she's just done.

She pulled a sword on a harmless old man who wasn't even a violent criminal, fully intending to kill him. She promised herself and her dead husband that she'd stick to only violent scum, promised Wenomir even... Wenomir-sensei! He'd be so disappointed in her when he hears of this!

She sheathes her sword and places it back in her inventory, and a high-powered laser pistol appears in her hand instead. Though she continues to look in Cessie's direction, her gaze is more of a thousand-yard stare. Tears of shame stream down her face as she realizes what she's become. "By the dragon, he's right... Cessie-sama, Wenomir-sensei, I am so sorry." She breaks down and starts to sob.

Composing herself a little, she places the gun to her head. "Daisuke, my love, I disappointed you, I am so sorry... but I will see you soon."

Maybe someone should stop her before she kills herself.

[Shadowcaller]

[MEDLAB II]

As soon as Svetlana starts to pull the gun, Cessie assumes she's about to shoot someone. Something she had been at least a bit prepared for.
She doesn't quite work out she's about to pull the gun on herself but it didn't really matter to her at the moment. All that was important now was getting that weapon out of Svetlana's hand and she knew she couldn't bring herself to get into a physical fight with the scientist.

The elemental could however.

Her facial features immediately flattens as the sorceress stops 'possessing' the elemental and simply has it obey her mental commands. Its body also starts growing in size, taking on more inhuman proportions, while it springs into action.
The elemental is going to attempt to deliver a jab straight at Svetlana's nose with such force that its likely to break it before she can even put the gun to her head.
It's going to follow this up with a punch to the stomach and then attempt to grab the gun out of her hand and then crush it while it's aimed into the elementals hand.
If she does manage to hold onto it, it's simply going attempt to crush it in the same way while it's still in her hand, now along with her fingers.

[Hattish Thing]

[MEDLAB II]

Dr. Valiance stumbles back, leaning up against the wall before sliding down and pushing back. As he crawls into the corner, he retrieves his tranquilizer gun.
At this point, adrenaline has faded away entirely. It is replaced by something sour; fear. "Christ, h-have you lost your mind?!"

"Maniac, you - you're a maniac! What in the actual hell?!"

[Rebonack]

[Wait, We Have a Science Division?]

Oh good, he's relaxing. It worked! Great job, Geneva, you read that situation pretty well.

Wow he really just doesn't get why eating in the lab is dangerous? Some people are like that. Completely unable to weigh risk versus reward. Unable to rationally consider the consequences of their actions. Normally she would expect better of a scientist but scientists are people, too. And Doctor Valence does seem a bit... erratic.

"I just eat at meal times," Geneva admits. "Six am, noon, and six pm on the dot! Keeping to a schedule helps prevent over-eating and provides the day with structure."

He probably won't like that, best to clarify a little more.

"I grew up in a community fallout shelter. Resources were tight so 'snacking' really wasn't ever an option for me. I just carried on those habits into adulthood."

Maybe if he understood the reason why Geneva is like she is, then he wouldn't feel quite so intimidated by it. If she was a girl who endured and was shaped by hardships then she might be more relatable if she was just a person who liked rules and schedules and checklists just because. She's still into all of those things; rules and schedules and checklists are great. Be organized!

She looks at each of the labs in turn as Doctor Valence points them out, considering options. "Hmm... None of those really fit 'high energy physics' as a general category. Maybe it would be best to leave the lab where it is instead of breaking everything down. I'll admit robotics, bio-medical, and weapons really aren't my areas of expertise. The communicators were more of... well. A one-off thing that I had an existing design to build on. It's good to know one's limitations. That's why we have a science team instead of science individual! Like they say, there's no I in team! Unless you make the A a very specific shape so that you can form a lowercase I with the negative space but that doesn't count."

Of course that doesn't count meaningless semantics and all.

This is all going pretty well, all things considered! He's a bit strange but Geneva is pretty they can work through their personality difference. Just keep it up and why is he spraying sports drink all over his face.

Geneva is momentarily befuddled by this, her expression frozen in a strained smile. Why. What. Why.

"Haha. H-hell yeah?" she finally says, her enthusiasm admittedly a bit anemic.

Into the weapons lab...?

Oh! Holographic interface. That's fancy. "Holographics? That's an interesting choice. I mostly stick to augmented reality when I need floating displays," she says, tapping the computer bracer on her left forearm. "In my experience it's a bit less costly and far less finicky. The communicators actually have some AR capabilities since I based them on the PipGear I brought from my home world, so anyone wearing one would be able to see and interact with the same AR constructs."

And then plants.

And speakers?

Geneva raises an eyebrow at the... roses? Something colorful and pointy, anyway. She wasn't a botanist. Or even a gardener.

"They're lovely?" Geneva says, uncertain of what else to say. This was likely just an introduction before Doctor Valence began discussing the nature of her experiment. "You mentioned med-labs as well. Are you a biologist?"

[Purple Eagle]

[MEDLAB II]

Svetlana's in no state to resist, and takes the punch to the nose. Since it's metal, there's nothing to break, and she reflexively grips the gun pulls the trigger, sending a laser blast towards the ceiling. She's punched in the gut, the kinetic force absorbed by her adaptive nanite armour which is currently in the shape of the pink dress she wears under her labcoat. That, however, is what makes her let go of the gun. The force of the punch does send her flying, but she manages to get her bearings and stop her backwards trajectory.

Her gun is crushed to scrap metal! Her precious gun, which she picked off a criminal she killed whilst saving a family, her first hunt in the Nexus. "No! Let me die and be with my husband and child! Let me regain my honour!" She screams in angry despair, but before she can do anything else, Valiance yells in fear.

She falls to her knees in tears, her head slumping. "Just let me die." She whispers, but doesn't move. In fact, she says nothing more, remaining on her knees and staring at the ground with uncontrollable tears flowing down her pretty face.

[Shadowcaller]

[MEDLAB II]

The elemental seems unmoved by her tears. It positions itself so that its still standing between Svetlana and Val and then simply stands there staring at her unblinkingly.

However, unless she starts moving away from that spot it won't hurt her again.

---

Cessie have put out a call so more people will soon arrive at the medlab, she herself among them.
But while plenty of people will check on Svetlana, she will turn to Val. "Are you hurt, Dr. Valiance?" She asks in a neutral voice.

[Hattish Thing]

[MEDLAB II]

Once it becomes clear that the immediate threat was over, Dr. Valiance rises to his feet. He was going to need a drink or two, something to take the edge off, at least. Not now, though - he'll have to wait until all of this was over with. When Cessie approaches him, he just shrugs. "Yeah, yeah - it's cool. You know, don't worry about me." It's fairly clear by the tone of his voice that it was not, in fact, cool. He was quite visibly shaken by what had happened. There's a slight tremor to his hands. "You know, I think it's best that I not be here, right now. Not feeling it, I'll be honest." There's a short sigh, there.

Should he push a little? Hm, test the waters. "Being fair, you know - I don't, uhh." He blinks once or twice. Words weren't coming now, the adrenaline had worn off. "She would have killed me, Cess."

"Christ." A sobering thought.

---

[Wait, We Have a Science Division?]

Dr. Valiance sort of scoffs at her once she mentions something about not snacking. She doesn't snack? Not at all, not even a little bit? Who doesn't snack? "Man, that's pretty out there, Gee. Would cramp my style something fierce, I think. Bad vibes all around." Why deprive yourself of such a simple pleasure? Then she mentions something about a fallout shelter. "Oh, damn - well, that's a different story entirely, I guess. What a downer, though." He glances over towards her once again. She was tougher than she looked, it seemed. "Really sorry you, uhh - went through that." Hm, things were sort of awkward now. Best change the subject. "You want a hug?"

He gestures somewhat erratically with his arms. Sports drink was still sopping down his face, all into his beard. "It's totally copacetic if you don't, baby - I get it, I get it." Whatever her choice, he'll move on to the next topic at hand. "Yeah, yeah - this is more, like. Well, I mean - its weapons, mostly." He scratches at his beard before leaning over to one side and performing a triceps stretch. "You know, stuff for VIGIL to use in the field." Then she goes on and on about the team thing. This just baffles Dr. Valiance, he's entirely bewildered. Rather than bring it up, he just skips right along to the next topic.

"Holographics, yeah baby! They're slick as hell." Plants are brought up. Whatever they are, they certainly don't seem native to any known earth. Dr. Valiance starts to lunge as he explains just what he was doing here. "So, uhh - a while ago, I started working with something groovy. I've been calling it 'extra aural resonator' tech, EAR for short. You'll get the joke later." He'll start to grunt and cry out as he stretches. It's certainly awkward. "Ah, hell yeah - this is just killing my calves." Val continues as he stands up straight once again. "I probably don't need to tell you, but 'extra aural' means, like - uhh. Basically, its weaponized sound, baby.

He grins once more, that twisty sideways grin. "Get it? EARS? It's a pun, because its a sound-based, um... It's sort of like, well. You get it." That wasn't particularly smooth, oh well. "But, uhh - basically... an extra-aural sonic weapon focuses on bioeffects unrelated to hearing, so - you know, we're not looking at bursting eardrums or anything like that. We're looking at vibrating innards at such a grotesquely intense level that organs start popping like gushers." Dr. Valiance blinks once or twice. "Was that too graphic? Sorry." Likely, yes. It's easy to get carried away. "Obviously, you know, we're not in the business of gusher-popping here at VIGIL, so... I changed tactics."

Val starts rubbing his hands together. "I started focusing on muscles, rather than organs. You know, vibrating the suckers at just the right frequency, getting 'em to clench up and such, effectively paralyzing them." This was obviously preferable. "And, uhh - well, it worked." He positively beams at that. "Then I got my hands on this funky staff thing, you know - ran some tests. Started getting some ideas. You know, certain frequencies - they can actually manipulate the, uhh - autonomic system. You know, your heart beat, digestion - all that jazz." He glances over towards his speaker system, still grinning. "Turns out, if you get it just right, you can even mess around with the brain, you know?"

At this, he starts tapping his fingers against the speaker system. "I've got the machine calibrated to affect these babies, right now. But, uhh - I believe that can change. You wanna see?"

---

[A Scholarly Visit]

Kayshuo? The Hyshun Empire? These were funky words, weren't they? "Nah, nah - they sound cool as hell, though." He does note the naming difference, but thinks nothing of it. She seemed like a traveler, sort of like him - just better adjusted. "What's it like? The, uhh - Hyshun Empire?" Then, she starts mentioning pinup stuff again. "Oh yeah, nah - same artist."

A peculiar look forms on his face. "You know, I thought you'd hate 'em."

"It's silly, but they're actually pretty, uhh - important, to me."

[Purple Eagle]

[MEDLAB II]

Svetlana's in no state to move. It appears she's suffered a mental breakdown. Her eyes are staring off into space, and the tears have stopped flowing by the time she's checked on. One could even say she's momentarily 'shut down'.

In her head, however, she's retreated to her happy place, where she spending time with her husband and the little girl they could have had together. There's even unicorns and a castle, too.

Should anyone attempt to get her up and lead her away, she'll do so without complaint.