Vigil VII: Strife Amidst the Clouds

[Vahnavoi]

[Laboratory - clone]

"One shouldn't leave an injured foot untreated just because their colleagues aren't asking them to run. I hope we can agree on that, Doctor Bu. Same applies to disturbances of spirit."

[Ironsmith]

[Laboratory - Clone]

Eun calmly folds her hands in front of her and lets out a deep sigh. The metaphor, it seemed, was appropriate, as loathe as she was to admit it. He was right; she should see a psychic or a therapist or someone in the near future; if not for herself, then so she wouldn't be Vigil's weak link in the event of a psychic threat. "...Fine." She says at last. "I'll talk to someone about it. Unless you're volunteering?"

She hoped not. He was a little arrogant for her tastes. The last thing she wants is to give him unfettered access to her mind.

[Vahnavoi]

[Laboratory - Clone]

Star of Hope shrugs. "As said, I doubt I will ever have the time to teach you how to fix. You can talk as much as you want. I can listen. That's all I can do for now."

[Ironsmith]

[Laboratory - Clone]

Thanks for all your help. Eun pointedly doesn't say, pressing a few more buttons before stepping away from the console. "Well, then. I think I'm all done here." She says, stepping toward the door. "Once those wards are in place, have at it, I guess. If you need me, I'll be in a bunker."

[Earl of Purple]

Eun's Lab- Solving a Serum

Felicity takes the sample and rubs some into the back of her left hand and also her upper right arm. She avoids the face, just in case something goes wrong. If the gel creates sparks, she might ignite, but hopefully Eun's thought about that. "Well, if you do have to dissect a god, I'll be standing beside you to hand you the scalpel." Felicity intends that to be reassuring. It... might be? Earl doubts it.

Unless the gel creates a spark, there's not really going to be any reaction. Felicity has no allergies, and unless something creates fire or a spark or interacts with hydrocarbons or human flesh already, it won't do anything.

[Ironsmith]

[Eun's Lab - Solving a Serum]

Nothing of the sort. The gel doesn't even have its usual nanite content; in effect, Eun just gave her an abnormally sticky perfume.

Eun raises an eyebrow at Felicity's declaration, but she knows loyalty when she hears it. It's enough to get some redness in her ears. "Yes. Well." She coughs. "...Probably going to be a big scalpel." She jokes.

After the gel has sat for a moment, doing nothing, Eun will attempt to dissipate it via the usual method; a small electric shock. Which might present a problem.

[Earl of Purple]

Eun's Lab- Solving a Serum

Felicity smiles at Eun, trying to be reassuring- and then she's electrocuted, and the spark ignites her skin oils and sweat. Felicity squeaks slightly and moves back, to avoid burning Eun. Her fire-retardant clothing helps; elasticated sleeves provide enough of a seal to prevent her whole body burning, so it's just her arm/hand. "Uh, that was unexpected. There's a fire extinguisher in my satchel, or a fire blanket. Whichever's first." The satchel should be nearby, and it does indeed have both a small foam fire extinguisher and a fire blanket in it. Also spare clothes, a bottle of water, and a tablet computer.

[Vahnavoi]

[Laboratory - clone]

"Take care of yourself", Star of Hope says and bows to Eun as she leaves. Then he resumes standing at guard before the cloning vat, staring at the clone, arms crossed.

Why is this clone, the way it is? Presumably, Magtok Prime could've grown a younger and more handsome vessel for his spirit. Yet, he opted for this old, wrinkled form. Is it due to how Prime sees himself? Is this how he wants the world to see him? Or could it be he can only posses bodies that match his physical condition before his death?

All good questions, Star of Hope decides to ask as many of them as possible from the woken up clone, or from Prime himself. He feels there's an insight or two there that could help him defeat this adversary. What else? He looks around at Eun's instrumentation. What was Doctor Bu doing before he got back? Something to do with the clone's bones? He feels he missed something important there. Oh well. Not much he can do about it before Wenomir and Miranda get back with that other psychic.

[Ironsmith]

[Eun's Lab - Solving a Serum]

As it turns out, predictable disasters are still well within Doctor Bu's wheelhouse. As soon as the flame goes up, she reaches for Felicity's bag and quickly produces the fire blanket, wrapping it around Felicity's hand and patting it down, hopefully quickly extinguishing her.

Okay, crisis over. Now she can freak out.

Eun shakily drop the blanket and leans back against her desk, breathing heavily. "Damn!" She hisses to herself, slapping the surface with her hand. "I was hoping that wouldn't happen. I'll have to find a whole new extraction mechanism now. Assuming we still go the nanite route." She groans and puts her hands to her head. "But if we don't, how else are we supposed to get that kind of look at your marrow?!"

[Morty]

[Laboratory - clone]

Wenomir returns with Kalya soon. In the end, the laboratory will be warded by any influences coming to it from the outside. Star of Hope will be left inside to open the vat and free the clone, while Wenomir, Miranda and Eun will wait outside to see the results. Wenomir's hand remains firmly on his sword's pommel.

[Earl of Purple]

Eun's Lab- Solving a Serum

"Well, uh... we don't know if my bone marrow ignites when it hits air yet, do we? Like my blood does. So we prep somewhere with a nitrogen atmosphere or something, which won't burn. I'll breathe with an oxygen tank or something, which... uh, might be a little dangerous." Pressurised gas needed for burning next to a potential source of fire could go wrong. "And if it's in a non-flammable atmosphere, the spark won't cause a flame." Honestly somewhere with a special atmosphere is probably a good idea in case Felicity ever needs surgery for perfectly ordinary reasons.

[Vahnavoi]

[Laboratory - clone]

Star of Hope can feel the wards being placed around the room. He's not an expert in patha of binding, so he can't evaluate Kalya's work all that well. He can only hope it will hold.

He claps his hands together and rubs them. "Let's see... how does this work?" After a moment of thinking and fumbling about, he manages to open the top of the vat (hopefully not breaking it beyond repair in the process) and lifts the clone out of it, placing him on the floor.

Kneeling next to the clone's head, Star of Hope shakes him by the shoulders. "Mister? Mister! Time to wake up!"

[Ironsmith]

Eun's Lab- Solving a Serum

"Well, uh... we don't know if my bone marrow ignites when it hits air yet, do we? Like my blood does. So we prep somewhere with a nitrogen atmosphere or something, which won't burn. I'll breathe with an oxygen tank or something, which... uh, might be a little dangerous." Pressurised gas needed for burning next to a potential source of fire could go wrong. "And if it's in a non-flammable atmosphere, the spark won't cause a flame." Honestly somewhere with a special atmosphere is probably a good idea in case Felicity ever needs surgery for perfectly ordinary reasons.

[Eun's Lab - Solving A Serum]

"That would still require the services of someone who knows how to do traditional biopsies." Eun points out. "...Which could be me, in a few weeks, with enough practice. We have the benefit of this not being especially time-sensitive." She hugs herself as she ponders the implications of that kind of time delay, one hand going up to her chin contemplatively. "In the meantime, we'd need to set up said atmosphere, and a way to get you hooked up to an oxygen tank without making an impromptu bomb. Fortunately, I've already got some blueprints for that last one... it comes up more often than you might think." She gives Felicity a little smile. "I guess what I'm saying is, that particular avenue dead-ends for the moment. Which leaves the ingredients themselves. No matter how we go about this, we'll need to know what sort of anomalous effects they can have."

[Laboratory - clone]

Wenomir returns with Kalya soon. In the end, the laboratory will be warded by any influences coming to it from the outside. Star of Hope will be left inside to open the vat and free the clone, while Wenomir, Miranda and Eun will wait outside to see the results. Wenomir's hand remains firmly on his sword's pommel.

[Laboratory - clone]

Star of Hope can feel the wards being placed around the room. He's not an expert in patha of binding, so he can't evaluate Kalya's work all that well. He can only hope it will hold.

He claps his hands together and rubs them. "Let's see... how does this work?" After a moment of thinking and fumbling about, he manages to open the top of the vat (hopefully not breaking it beyond repair in the process) and lifts the clone out of it, placing him on the floor.

Kneeling next to the clone's head, Star of Hope shakes him by the shoulders. "Mister? Mister! Time to wake up!"

[Laboratory - Clone]

Eun spends this time fidgeting nervously, her fingers wrapped around an otherwise-useless gizmo designed explicitly for this purpose. She was still near the lab, instead of the promised bunker, more out of a sense of scientific curiosity than anything. She's never dealt with a psychic before and doesn't know what to expect; something of a double-edged fact, really.

Miranda's hands are also occupied, albeit because they're on the shoulders of her doctor and one of Vigil's leaders. If she was anxious about the results of waking up the clone, she wasn't showing it. In fact, her concerns were more along the lines of mollifying the other two; in all likelihood, she'd taken Magtok's warning to heart and wanted to make sure neither of them were giving off any signals that might set off the clone, even from outside the lab. Not that that was all that likely, but better safe than sorry.

[Earl of Purple]

Eun's Lab- Solving a Serum

"Right, yes." Felicity grabs the briefcase and puts it on the table, starting to empty it. "This is triffid venom. This isn't a lethal dose, but don't get it in your eyes." Even a less-than-lethal dose causes blindness, though that requires getting it in your eyes- which is where triffids generally aim, since they know human faces are generally undefended by clothes. "This is a sample of triffid seeds, probably infertile. Most triffid seeds are." They resemble sycamore seeds, but smaller. "This is refined triffid oil. I think it's made from the seeds? It's possible to produce it from triffids without the venom glands, but ones capable of stinging can produce more oil. Triffids are mobile predatory plants with three root-legs they can walk on, they don't like crossing hard surfaces, they've got two sticks they can rattle and a toxic sting they use to kill their prey and, when it's squishy enough, they use the same organ to eat the body." That's the one titbit on triffid oil production Earl recalls from the book. "This is the kid monster goo. I know they're predatory, they can walk on walls and ceilings, and they don't like light." It's probably the hardest one to get, too.

[Lord Magtok]

Laboratory - Clone

"Mister? Mister! Time to wake up!"

The clone opens his eyes and stares up at Star of Hope, a hopelessly confused and disoriented look on his face. Who knows what he was expecting to happen when he was decanted, but it certainly wasn't this. Feeble old hands try to push the man back, to make some space for himself. He affixes Star of Hope with the most cross and irritable look he can manage, opens his mouth to speak, and-

"Blyeeeaaurgh," comes the noise out of his mouth instead of the words he intended, as all the oxygenated vat fluid that had been keeping him comfortable and comatose pours out of his mouth. Hardly the most dignified introduction to the world, I'm afraid. I hope Star of Hope had the sense to take a few steps back if he doesn't want vat slime vomited all over his shoes.

[Vahnavoi]

[Laboratory - clone]

The swordsman was expecting this to happen, so he stands up and gives the clone some space when he looks like he's about to hurl. "Good morning. I hope you slept well. You must have a lot of questions in your mind, and so do I, so how about we take turns? Answer mine and I'll answer yours. Clear?"

[Ironsmith]

Eun's Lab- Solving a Serum

"Right, yes." Felicity grabs the briefcase and puts it on the table, starting to empty it. "This is triffid venom. This isn't a lethal dose, but don't get it in your eyes." Even a less-than-lethal dose causes blindness, though that requires getting it in your eyes- which is where triffids generally aim, since they know human faces are generally undefended by clothes. "This is a sample of triffid seeds, probably infertile. Most triffid seeds are." They resemble sycamore seeds, but smaller. "This is refined triffid oil. I think it's made from the seeds? It's possible to produce it from triffids without the venom glands, but ones capable of stinging can produce more oil. Triffids are mobile predatory plants with three root-legs they can walk on, they don't like crossing hard surfaces, they've got two sticks they can rattle and a toxic sting they use to kill their prey and, when it's squishy enough, they use the same organ to eat the body." That's the one titbit on triffid oil production Earl recalls from the book. "This is the kid monster goo. I know they're predatory, they can walk on walls and ceilings, and they don't like light." It's probably the hardest one to get, too.

[Eun's Lab - Solving A Serum]

Eun nods as each sample is produced, allowing Felicity to describe them uninterrupted. As she goes on, though, a small, frustrated frown develops on Eun's face, which only deepens as Felicity goes on. When she's finished, Eun gives a little nod. "Fantastic. That all sounds comprehensible enough." She says, stroking her chin. "Bodily fluids from various fantastic flora and fauna. Seems reasonable to me. Do you have any notes on their properties? As in, what role they might play in the serum?"

[Earl of Purple]

Eun's Lab- Solving a Serum

"Triffid oil is high in various nutrients and stuff. Omega-three, things like that." It's also pink, which Earl had forgotten. "Might be good for a carrier? Venom's a neurotoxin, I think. The goo is... I don't know, it's basically the thing's blood, but it's not iron or copper based." Kyldren have blood that uses carbon-based molecules in the place of haemoglobin/cyanoglobin. "It also keeps the larvae inside their bodies docile, awakening them when the monster is dead so they can find somewhere dark." Otherwise the maggots would eat their way out of the mature specimens, and that would be counter-productive.

[Lord Magtok]

Laboratory - Clone

"Yes, you're clear, and that was your first question," the withered old newborn grins back at Star of Hope, before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He shakily stands back up on his feet, narrowing his eyes at Star of Hope, peering intently into the man as if the secrets of the universe were hidden between Star's eyebrows.

"There's a hole in my head, isn't there? A gap in my mind, something you or your people did," the clone observes, opening his mouth to say something else before catching himself and realizing he's already asked his question. Better to keep quiet for now, until he's got some idea who he's talking to and what their agenda is.

[Vahnavoi]

[Laboratory - clone]

Star of Hope returns the clone's stare with a look of cool curiosity. Amidst the high tech equipment, he looks like an anachronism - as if someone cut an image out of a black-and-white samurai flick and pasted it on the set of a sci-fi movie. If there are any secrets behind his dark eyes, his looks would suggest them to be about extorting taxes from local peasants and cutting men with blades.

In response to the question, he shrugs. "We did a number of things, for your safety and ours. You'll have to ask the resident doctor for details later, I wasn't here for the whole process. I can tell you what I think was meant to fill that gap, but I really want to know how much you can figure out on your own before I do. Tell me, who do you think you are?"

[Lord Magtok]

Laboratory - Clone

"I am..." the clone pauses to consider, digging through its mental archives for the first time. There's a lot revealed all at once, but hardly any of it is relevant to the strange man in front of him, or the room he's being held in, or the questions he's being asked. How fiendishly peculiar. Is this a test of some kind, maybe? Was he kidnapped and taken away from the laboratory he was supposed to wake up in?

"I am your informant. You want to know everything about our, err, my glorious empire. You want to know how your petty rebellion can win. You also want to try to convince me you can guarantee my safety, which is laughable when I look into your eyes and see how hopelessly in the dark the both of us are," the old bastard lets out a single shrill bark of a laugh, before drumming his knuckles against his rib cage. It seems like he expected something spectacular to happen when he did that, because the utter lack of anything interesting at all takes him entirely by surprise.

"...would you look at that. Your surgeons are as thorough as they are desperate. Oh joy, I'm going to die in this room, aren't I?" the Sorta-Magtok remarks with a sort of bittersweet humor and levity. This isn't him turning into a useful informant and being kept safe from his imperial masters, this is an interrogation and torture session, isn't it? These are the grittier kind of rebels, and his story ends with a single bullet to the side of the head. God, what a short and miserable life this turned out to be, huh?

[Vahnavoi]

[Laboratory - Clone]

A smile spreads across the swordsman's face as the clone stops to think. It would sadly be false to call it warm or reassuring. By the time the clone gets to asking his question, the swordsman is struggling hard to not laugh. He fails.

"Hahaha! Take a breath and relax! It's not that bad", Star of Hope says, wiping a tear off the corner of his eye. He certainly needs a moment to collect himself.

After he manages to stop chuckling, he continues: "First, the bad news: you're right in that you're here to serve as an informant and that I will kill you without remorse if I think you pose a threat to myself and others. Now, the good news: my allies are determined to keep you well and healthy. That's why you're awake and in full control of your limbs right now - had it been up to me, you would've started this conversation unable to move anything but your eyes."

Such a charming thought for the clone to ponder.

"Now back to the bad news: based on what you just said, your body has been embedded with some degree of prior knowledge and loyalty towards a dead person we call Magtok Prime. So even though his evil spirit is absent and you are not him, I must consider you an enemy combatant, rather than an innocent. My apologies."

[Lord Magtok]

Laboratory - Clone

The clone studies Star of Hope's features carefully, hoping to find some tell that will reveal this entire infodump he just got was a big fat lie. Unfortunately, no such weakness presents itself, and the story sounds too...too messy and absurd to be a fabrication. Star of Hope is clearly the bad cop in this interrogation, and bad cops are never that imaginative.

"...you wouldn't be talking about him like that if he was actually gone and not making your life difficult, so I can infer that he's alive. Undead, rather. That poses a number of problems for me as his clone, successor, and rightful heir," the old man remarks blithely, who still needs to get his augmentations plugged back into his body, his infernal runic array re-carved into his bones, and signal his loyalists to launch a rescue mission against these disgusting revolutionaries. Wait, he does have loyalists in this empire, right? They surely outnumber these pitiful insurgents, and definitely wouldn't be taking orders from a ghost, would they?

"...God, today is just getting better and better. So rhetorical question, you're telling me that a peaceful transition of power from one dead Magtok to an identical living one, as mandated by Magtok Prime himself, is being suspended not just by you filthy rebels kidnapping me and ripping everything of value from my skull, but a ghost? My predecessor's ****ing ghost?" the Magtok scoffs. Apparently he's under the impression that he was ever meant for anything other than to be possessed against his will by a malevolent spectre. That might be what the memory files in his head say, or it could just be an elegant fantasy he concocted from what little his databanks have provided him. To be fair, it only makes sense that a clone as great and wondrous as he should rule the empire in Prime's stead, doesn't it? The tyrannical fascist empire that definitely exists and stretches across the entire Nexus and beyond.

"As for my actual question, what do I have to do to get my cerebral implant back?" We can't even begin to think about how we're going to crush this pathetic uprising until after we have UNLIMITED PSYCHIC POWER again. Sure, there's still a bit of juice left right now, but it's not TERRIFYING PSYCHIC POWER WITHOUT LIMIT. When stories are told of how we liberated ourselves from this misguided band of violent traitors, there ought to be drama, excitement, action, and heads bursting like overripe grapes! You can't get that kind of a show with what we have now, barely enough psychic energy to kill a horse without collapsing from exhaustion. We need the implant back, and we need to do or say whatever it takes to get it back.

[Vahnavoi]

[Laboratory - Clone]

Star of Hope keeps smiling, though his smile is becoming devoid of any real mirth. On one hand, it's fortunate this clone is so talkative - he's answering a lot of questions without the swordsman even having to ask them, whether he realizes it or not. On the other hand, the swordsman can't help pitying him - not only has he been grown to the old and ugly shape of Prime, his mind has been instilled with all of Prime's delusions and egomania as well.

"I can make no promises regarding your implant. For all I know, it may have already been disposed of. It's another thing you'll have to talk to our doctor about, and those who are in command here. I have one more question before I leave you to their care. However, before I do, I think you have the right to know a few things."

Star of Hope holds up his fist, then raises his fingers one by one. "One, I don't think this glorious empire you mentioned exists yet. I suspect Prime has embedded in you knowledge of things that have yet to come, things he may want to happen, but has not managed to achieve. Two, I dragged you, in that vat you see behind me, out of a burning building, after the death of Prime's previous cloned body and fleeing of his spirit. As far as I can tell, he abandoned you to die and likely has, by now, possessed another clone. Three, you aren't even the only clone who is awake independently. Another who calls himself Magtok was here already, to give us advice on how to deal with Prime's spirit."

Star of Hope lets his hand down and looks around. "There ought to be a mirror here somewhere. Take a good look at yourself. Your physical body is mimicry of Prime as he was when, I suspect, he first died. I see little point to you being so old and frail as you are. As far as I know, Prime could've given you a young and vital form, but chose not to. Even the other Magtok was in better shape than you. So, why have any loyalty towards someone like Prime?"

[Ironsmith]

Eun's Lab- Solving a Serum

"Triffid oil is high in various nutrients and stuff. Omega-three, things like that." It's also pink, which Earl had forgotten. "Might be good for a carrier? Venom's a neurotoxin, I think. The goo is... I don't know, it's basically the thing's blood, but it's not iron or copper based." Kyldren have blood that uses carbon-based molecules in the place of haemoglobin/cyanoglobin. "It also keeps the larvae inside their bodies docile, awakening them when the monster is dead so they can find somewhere dark." Otherwise the maggots would eat their way out of the mature specimens, and that would be counter-productive.

[Eun's Lab - Solving A Serum]

Eun nods slowly, considering the implications. These seemingly unrelated substances somehow combined into a serum that caused mutations and superpowers. Okay, sure. But she's having a hard time trying to imagine them synergizing for any purpose, much less something that weirdly specific.

"Okay, I might be able to work with that." She says finally. It'd help to get all the possibly-relevant information in front of her, most likely from her own analysis. "Last but not least... I don't suppose Doctor Payne left behind any notes?"

[Morty]

[Laboratory - Clone]

Wenomir is watching and listening intently from outside the lab. Star of Hope seems to have it in hand for now, but the clone's attitude is still something to watch out for. It seems Prime's clones are indoctrinated before they even emerge from their vats. Enough to believe he's already conquered the Nexus. Waking him up might have been a mistake, but there's nothing to be done now, save deal with it as it comes.

[Ironsmith]

[Laboratory - Clone]

"...I don't get it."

Miranda turns her attention to Eun as the scientist makes this observation. "Don't get what?"

"It's just... I mean, Prime intended to possess this body, right?" Eun begins. "And he had the option to tailor it however he wanted. He could have made him mindless, or not have any memories at all, but instead he goes through all the trouble of creating a sapient person and indoctrinating him while he's still in the tank. Why?"

"Maybe that makes him easier to possess?" Miranda offers.

"...Maybe. I don't know, though... a brainless puppet still makes more sense if ease is what he was going for."

"...You're right. Something doesn't quite add up here. Wenomir?"

[Lord Magtok]

Laboratory - Clone

"You're overlooking what seems to me a very obvious possible explanation for why this ghost has done what he has," the clone remarks, glancing over his shoulder at the cloning vat behind him. His reflection is pretty clear, and just what he expected it to be. This would be fine if he had his implant, though. No need for a powerful physique when everyone around can be ordered to obey your every whim, even at the cost of their own pathetic, meaningless lives. We just need to get it back somehow, need to convince them it's in their best interest for us to be restored to our former glory. Then we need to get rid of this 'other Magtok,' steal the secret of his youth and vitality and take our rightful place as the true and only Magtok.

"I don't know where or when your other Magtok was developed, but perhaps Prime can only do what he was already doing prior to the point where Omega threw a sedan at my-at his head. Prime just doesn't have the technology to create a younger form, or didn't when he made me, which the databanks say was fairly recently. Maybe a ghost can't grow as a person, they're just a caricature, a shallow imitation. It's a snapshot of what Prime was, just mindlessly focused on what he'd been doing the last few years. Whether or not it's the most optimal strategy, he's trying to be the old man we were, ruling and conquering and guiding impoverished peasants out of their hovels and into the modern era of peace and automation," Oldtok tries to explain, though his idea of 'peace' comes from the smoking barrel of a laser gun held by one of thousands of faceless robot soldiers, subjugating the masses and keeping them in line. And obviously Oldtok will be much better at it than Prime, as soon as he returns to power and takes back what is rightfully his own. He might even take a brief detour outside the Nexus to check up on the rest of the Empire (which is obviously real), arm himself accordingly, and then show these imbeciles and ingrates what their hubris has wrought.

"And for your information, I'm not loyal to him. I'm loyal to me, to the empire you provincial fools have somehow never seen, but which very much exists, whether or not we have added your sad little crossroads world to its majesty," he adds defensively, with a cold and spiteful little scowl.

[Vahnavoi]

[Laboratory - clone]

"Then I'd say your loyalty is misplaced - because your idea of you is a fabrication by that ghost, a shallow imitation of a shallow imitation", Star of Hope notes. The clone's words have, if not outright confirmed, at least strenghtened his suspicions of Prime's nature and limitations. Now he just needs to find a way to exploit them.

"Really, it would be best if I just killed you now and wished you better luck in your next life. But, it's not my call to make. I think my time's up. Time for you to talk to some other people." He walks around the clone to the laboratory door and gives it a knock, signalling for Wenomir or anyone else willing to step in.

[Earl of Purple]

Eun's Lab- Solving a Serum

"He's still alive, and very attached to his notes. Never let me see most of them. Just the results of different formulations, and stuff he'd done on a related note. One of his... uh, customers, goes by Spewer. He's got an enlarged duodenum which produces a secretion that triggers the fight-or-flight reflex, if it touches you. He also has enhanced throat muscles." Basically, he projectile vomits liquid fear. "Payne makes tablets which change the emotional influence of his bile." Magic is not as involved in that, but the powers are mostly the result of alchemy, not science. And these aren't the only substances Professor Payne uses, just the ones Felicity found easiest to source through Vigil.