Vigil VII: Strife Amidst the Clouds

[Vahnavoi]

[Laboratory - clone]

Star of Hope glances at Eun's hands and notes the tense tone in her voice. "If you say so", he replies and returns his attention to Wenomir and Miranda.

"Well, if you want to do this fast and and are willing to risk it, I volunteer to wake this man up. If not, I volunteer to remain here and guard him, while you go to fetch that warding expert of yours, or whatever other things you think need to be done. Don't let this", he waves at the clone vat, "tie you down more than it has to."

[Shadowcaller]

Safe Room
"Uh, I don't think so?" She does know someone who qualifies, but she doesn't yet know that person would qualify. "You're, uh, saying I need an advisor?" She does. She definitely does. "Uh, I guess that's right. I don't know, uh, anything about, uh, being a queen."

Safe Room

"Yes, we'd offer someone from our numbers but I'm not sure we have anyone with the right expertise." Cessie looks to her co-commander from her position at the overlooking glass room. "Right, Wenomir?"

[Ironsmith]

Eun's Lab- Solving a Serum

Felicity places the kylder blood-and-maggot in the centre of the area lit by the flood lamp; the liquid within is thick, black and viscous. The maggot is white, a pallid and soft-looking thing, bobbing around slowly.

She'll then take a sample of her blood and put it in the mass spectrometer. Earl thinks this is the spinny science toy? Earl isn't sure. Either way, science probably occurs, and Felicity's blood is mostly human blood, just with complex and unusual volatile hydrocarbons in the blood plasma. If Eun managed to seperate the red blood cells from the blood plasma, the red blood cells might not ignite when touching air. Which is probably a good thing, given the primary job of red blood cells.

[Eun's Lab - Solving A Serum]

Eun smiles as she runs through the analysis of Felicity's blood. "...Of course! That's why it doesn't... I don't know why I didn't see that before!" She grins and giddily makes her way back over to the monitor, typing furiously. "How did you take the serum? Intravenously? Intramuscularly? Orally? Intraosseously?" She asks, nigh-indecipherable coded text scrolling across her screen.

[Laboratory- Clone]

Wenomir sighs deeply, not deigning to say anything else to Magtok before he leaves.

"There is a lot of history between Magtok and me. And Magtok and Vigil. I was really hoping he was truly gone. But he keeps coming back." He shakes his head. "But I won't burden you with old grudges. We're no closer to deciding what to do with this clone than we were before he arrived. And for all his clownish posturing, he's not wrong about the danger of Prime's mental commands."

[Laboratory - clone]

Star of Hope glances at Eun's hands and notes the tense tone in her voice. "If you say so", he replies and returns his attention to Wenomir and Miranda.

"Well, if you want to do this fast and and are willing to risk it, I volunteer to wake this man up. If not, I volunteer to remain here and guard him, while you go to fetch that warding expert of yours, or whatever other things you think need to be done. Don't let this", he waves at the clone vat, "tie you down more than it has to."

[Laboratory - Clone]

Miranda opens her mouth to object, but then stops to consider the merits of what Star of Hope is proposing. He had psychic abilities and a resistance to the same. He didn't have a strong emotional connection to the clone that might set it off. And he went toe-to-toe with Prime himself; putting down the clone shouldn't be all that difficult in comparison. By any objective metric, he was a far better candidate for the job than she was.

The only real hang-up was that she wanted to be the one to wake up the clone.

Which, frankly, wasn't enough reason to turn down his offer. Though it was enough to make her feel bad about it.

She turns her head toward Wenomir, quietly nodding her approval on this latest iteration of the plan. But, as always, he has the last word.

Eun, meanwhile, returns to the work of disabling the clone's psionic amplifier and carefully sealing up the runes that made up the diabolism. These precautions might not be necessary if Star of Hope is the one to wake the clone, but there was no sense in not giving him every advantage she could.

[Earl of Purple]

Eun's Lab- Solving a Serum

"Intravenously. They always are. On one occasion Professor Payne had to inject into someone's gums because they already had skin stronger than iron." And that would have bent the needle! Also, Felicity's always wondered why they wanted more powers, though they did ask for a 'ranged' effect serum.

[Ironsmith]

[Eun's Lab - Solving A Serum]

Eun nods as she continues typing. "Not quite what I was expecting to hear, but..." She grins and taps the return key, bringing up an image of a human skeleton. "Look. In order to keep producing flammable blood, something has to have happened to the part of your body responsible for sythesizing it." She taps a few keys and the image zooms in, cutting open a cross-section of one of the skeleton's ribs. "Which is to say, your bone marrow. A small alteration there, and your whole circulatory system would be affected." She superimposes an image of said system for emphasis. "From there, the appropriate molecules would filter naturally into everything else. But, if the concentration ever got too high, well..." She taps a few keys, and the skeleton explodes. "...Well, technically not. You'd die of the poisonous effects long before then. But your body has some natural filters against that. Your kidneys and liver work out the excessive amounts, passing them on to your urine." She smiles. "And of course, you wouldn't have had any way to test for that. Who would be crazy enough to extract some of her own bone marrow on a hunch? It's not like you can just casually stick in a needle and draw some out. There's a whole procedure involved. The kind that you really wouldn't want to be awake for, and certainly shouldn't attempt on yourself." She shrugs. "If I'm correct, the only part that isn't explained is why your epidermis is so flame-resistant, but that could easily just be another modification. In theory, we could recreate both effects of the serum with extensive viral therapy; something a little closer to the realm of... I don't know, what do you call science that isn't mad? Sane science? Something like that."

[Earl of Purple]

Eun's Lab- Solving a Serum

"Ooh, you were expecting it to be into my bones! That... Doesn't that hurt an awful lot?" It might not, with Eun's super advanced future technology. "I'm... I never considered the possibility I might explode before, Eun. So, uh, thankyou for that." Not really. She's really disturbed by seeing a representation of her body exploding.

But that doesn't explain everything, though. "So that's why my blood and urine burn. What about my sweat and my tears? I've... not tested my lumbar fluid, because again, procedure I can't do on myself. Also pain." She smiles, though, because Eun's excited and that's cute.

[Ironsmith]

[Eun's Lab - Solving A Serum]

"I... well, yes, it would." Eun admits. "But it would also be the fastest way to go about it, if propagation through the marrow was the intent." She frowns and sighs, her fingers going up to the bridge of her nose. "...Which is still a big assumption on my part. Even if I'm completely right about what all the serum did, like I said, recreating the effects would take extensive viral therapy. Months of carefully-targeted treatments in a specific sequence, carefully monitored and adjusted as needed. Compressing that process into a single serum... would definitely take a miracle substance or twenty." She gestures to the ingredients Felicity brought. "And it's still a complicated series of reactions. Get any of the proportions wrong, treat it differently, or just pick the wrong day for it, and you could get a completely different effect." She gestures back to Felicity. "...Which you did. Kind of. And we already knew." She sighs and leans back against the table her computer is on. "...Still. It's a working hypothesis. That's better than where I was ten minutes ago."

[Earl of Purple]

Eun's Lab- Solving a Serum

"I... OK, can you do the bone marrow thing? I did use a lot of weird ingredients, and Professor Payne had refined some of them with his own, secret, methods." Known as alchemy, which- as it can also turn lead into gold, albeit in rather unhelpful quantities- somewhat regularly deals with miracles. Not that Felicity knows it, or Professor Payne admits it. "That does kinda sound like it, though. I mean, he's got several categories of serum. Physical enhancement, which I guess mine was, physical alteration, ranged and concealment powers." My notes actually have Felicity down as 'physical alteration', which probably made sense to me at the time.

[Ironsmith]

[Eun's Lab - Solving A Serum]

"Well, that makes sense." Eun nods. "A broad label for what each serum is supposed to do might just be as clear as he can make it, given the hypothesised internal variance." She switches the monitor off and turns to Felicity, a frown slowly working its way onto her face.

"...Are you certain you want that biopsy?" She asks. "I'm not... I'm still not that kind of doctor. We'd have to bring someone else in on the project. And we don't know how your body would respond to anesthesia; you might end up having to go without. Which in this case, would be extremely unpleasant. And I'm not sure it would even be safe apart from that; your blood is highly flammable, how do we know your marrow isn't?" The image of that exploding skeleton goes through her head again. "...We should play this more cautiously. This is your body we're talking about. I don't want to put you in a wheelchair or something."

[Earl of Purple]

Eun's Lab- Solving a Serum

"Right, that's a good point. If nothing else, there's going to be a lot of blood in my marrow, right? Because that's where it's made." It's also very hard to perform any surgical procedure without the patient bleeding, at least a little. "I know that the recipients of physical enhancement powers include a speedster and a biokineticist who can duplicate limbs, physical alteration recipients include a woman who can turn her flesh into any non-organic material she touches, ranged recipients include an electrokinetic, a telekinetic and... uh, Spewer, and the only concealment recipient I know of creates invisible forcefields that she can hide behind." Spewer's hard to explain in one or two words. Most of them are even more impossible than Felicity, so maybe it's good that Eun hasn't met, for example, Statuette, or Flicker, or Heavyhanded. "General anaesthetic was one of the first things I actually tested. There's no unusual chemical reactions when it's introduced to my sweat, snot, skin or blood, so I'm pretty sure it's safe for me to use it."

[Ironsmith]

[Eun's Lab - Solving a Serum]

"Thank heaven for small blessings." Eun smiles a little. "Still. We'd need a way to analyze your marrow, and any other parts you'd want tested, without setting you on fire. Practically speaking, that likely means without doing any surgery." She strokes her chin and her smile broadens. "See, things like this is how new technology gets made. There might be a hundred and one reasons why you might want to avoid cutting someone open, but still need to. If I do find a method, there will be some wide applicability." She pulls up some files on her monitor. "We could start with something basic. Medgel has been part of our technology for a while now. Nanomachines suspended in fluid. We use it to treat all sorts of conditions, both after the fact and as a preventative measure." She pulls up a graphic of one of the nanomachines in question. "They enter the body through mucous membranes and can therefore be used to treat internal injuries, as well. The hard part would be getting them to pull something out of your body... they usually self-destruct when we're done with them, into materials that get passed in the body's natural waste removal systems. For obvious reasons, we can't get any meaningful samples out that way." She cringes a little when she realizes what she just suggested, but doesn't amend her statement.

[Earl of Purple]

Eun's Lab- Solving a Serum

"Oh, that's fancy. I don't think I've encountered nanites before." Felicity has heard some horror stories, but presumably these ones aren't capable of turning somebody into a puddle of organic slurry. "No, my natural waste products are already flammable, and sometimes incendiary." Most of them aren't, Eun might be able to guess the exception. Felicity doesn't mind the conversation turning to such things; they're scientists, discussing a body. Her body, specifically, but... she knows for a fact that she produces waste.

[Morty]

[Laboratory- Clone]

Wenomir breathes out. What a mess this turned out to be. But he has no other ideas and they can't keep this clone in stasis indefinitely.

"Very well. I'll call Kalya here and have her prepare some wards. Then you'll wake him up. The rest of us will wait nearby to intervene if necessary. Neither of you are Vigil members, but for the purposes of this exercise we'll treat you as volunteers."

[Safe Room]

Wenomir shrugs.

"I can't really think of anyone. We do our best to stay out of politics and act accordingly."

[Shadowcaller]

[Safe Room]

"I can though." Cessie replies. "I'm going to at least call Jezebel to see if she can provide a few tips. I might too but I feel this is her expertise more than anyone else's."
The sorceress turns to look at the women by the portal. "I will just be a minute. Calling in help from, ah, my fiancee." That would take some time to get used to saying but she had to learn at some point.

Cessie then walks out the room and returns after about fifteen minutes. "She's coming over."

[Ironsmith]

Eun's Lab- Solving a Serum

"Oh, that's fancy. I don't think I've encountered nanites before." Felicity has heard some horror stories, but presumably these ones aren't capable of turning somebody into a puddle of organic slurry. "No, my natural waste products are already flammable, and sometimes incendiary." Most of them aren't, Eun might be able to guess the exception. Felicity doesn't mind the conversation turning to such things; they're scientists, discussing a body. Her body, specifically, but... she knows for a fact that she produces waste.

[Eun's Lab - Solving A Serum]

Eun, meanwhile, is just a bit embarrassed that she briefly considered asking Felicity to "pass" some of her bone marrow. That's just wrong.

"I'm surprised you haven't." Eun says, clicking open a few files. "They're slightly new-ish or centuries-old technology where I come from, depending on who you ask. If nothing else, I would have thought your old boss would have turned to nanites for such a complex task first, given how much more control we have over them than, say, a prepupatious horror movie monster." She smiles. "...Maybe we don't need to extract anything. I could try configuring them to give us a comprehensive view of your interior. It's a bit beyond their usual function, but I'm willing to try if you are."

[Vahnavoi]

[Laboratory - clone]

"Affirmative." Star of Hope looks around for a place to sit down, but decides to remain standing and resumes watching Eun's work over her shoulder.

"Doctor Bu. What kind of anesthetics do you have in hand? Would it be possible to wake this person up step by step, so that he regains consciousness but remains paralyzed and unable to speak?"

[Ironsmith]

[Laboratory - Clone]

"...I suppose so." Eun says, running her fingers over her display to bring up the relevant information and confirm her sedatives would work. "His physiology seems similar enough to ours...?" She pauses and takes a moment to look over Star of Hope, not entirely sure if he or the Magclone were full humans. The Nexus is weird like that. "...In any case, I should theoretically be able to do this with any mammal, so... yes. Are you... certain that's wise, though? It's unlikely he has experienced anything before this. His first few moments being an artificial case of sleep paralysis will be horribly traumatic. If we're trying to avoid an emotional response..."

Miranda turns such that she'll be encouraging Wenomir to look away from the two of them if he makes eye contact with her. "We should probably get out of the way." She says. "I don't know about you, but psychics and medicine are not my forte. Those two should be able to manage without us for the duration of a conversation."

[Earl of Purple]

Eun's Lab- Solving a Serum

"I never really found out much about where Professor Payne learnt his craft, but... He said he used to work for an organisation that was butchering the corpse of a dead god on an alternate reality to distil into flasks of superserum. He fled through an unstable portal when the dead god's companion found the facility and tried to destroy it. I don't know when he was born, in regards to the Nexus' own timeline, so if it's new-ish he might be from an Earth earlier in time." Though it's unlikely Eun's own Earth has had to deal with a pair of multidimensional crystalline space-whales arriving and granting superpowers for ineffable purposes. "He worked with what he knew, and that was really weird biology. I... don't think he's got any dead god in his lab, but... I'm not sure, he's got lots of weird stuff."

[Morty]

[Laboratory - Clone]

Before he leaves or answers Miranda, Wenomir turns around to face Star of Hope and Eun again.

"We will not be inducing paralysis in him. We'll take precautions, but within reason." His tone is level, but brooks little argument.

[Ironsmith]

Eun's Lab- Solving a Serum

"I never really found out much about where Professor Payne learnt his craft, but... He said he used to work for an organisation that was butchering the corpse of a dead god on an alternate reality to distil into flasks of superserum. He fled through an unstable portal when the dead god's companion found the facility and tried to destroy it. I don't know when he was born, in regards to the Nexus' own timeline, so if it's new-ish he might be from an Earth earlier in time." Though it's unlikely Eun's own Earth has had to deal with a pair of multidimensional crystalline space-whales arriving and granting superpowers for ineffable purposes. "He worked with what he knew, and that was really weird biology. I... don't think he's got any dead god in his lab, but... I'm not sure, he's got lots of weird stuff."

[Eun's Lab - Solving A Serum]

"...I suppose that makes sense." Eun replies finally, tapping out a few more keys on her device and opening her Hotbox to produce a tiny vial of red fluid. "Inasmuch as 'I chop up gods for a living' can make sense, I guess." She blinks and sighs, a gloved hand going to the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Good lord, that's my job now, isn't it? I mean, maybe not gods per se, but... well, you know." She pops open the vial, releasing a waft of strawberry-scented smoke, and hands it to Felicity. "Rub that on a patch of skin somewhere. Tiny portions. I want to make sure the gel itself won't react badly to you."

[bc56]

Safe Room
"Okay, uh..." Sekhmet shifts her weight awkwardly and waits, unsure of what is coming. Charcoal has her own question though. "Do you still need me, or may I go?"

[Vahnavoi]

[Laboratory - Clone]

Star of Hope is about to say something in response to Eun, but Wenomir's parting comment shuts him up. "... affirmative.", he says aks gives a slight bow to Miranda and Wenomir as they leave the room.

He turns back and looks at the clone, then Eun. "Well, that settles the matter for what I had in mind." There's a hint of disappointment in his voice. "Doctor Bu... apologies in advance for changing the subject, but... do you suffer from some disturbance of the spirit?"

[Ironsmith]

[Laboratory - Clone]

Well. Now that Wenomir had actually said it out loud, Eun felt a little bad for even considering it. Of course they weren't going to paralyze him. "Above all else, do no harm" and all of that.

"...What exactly do you mean by that?" She asks finally, working busily on disabling any other implants she could find. "I've been... disturbed, yeah, since we got here. The Nexus is a big, strange, confusing and dangerous place. But that seems like a mental thing. What do you mean by 'disturbance of spirit'?"

[Morty]

[Laboratory - Clone]

Having made things clear, Wenomir nods to Miranda and departs. He will go find Kalya and ask her to put up wards, which can happen off-screen.

[Vahnavoi]

[Laboratory - Clone]

"Where I'm from, the distinction between mental and spiritual is... well, it's sometimes useful in everyday speech, but once examined in depth, the distinction begins to disappear. I noticed your hands. You've been scrubbing them more than is necessary. Or healthy. Is that something you can ascribe to the shock of coming to... 'Nexus', or did it begin earlier than that?"

[Ironsmith]

[Laboratory - Clone]

Oh. He was asking if she had some kind of mental illness. That's what this stranger wanted to know. Lovely.

Eun frowns and continues typing, internally debating whether she should humor Star of Hope or not. She didn't like talking about this sort of thing. Most people were a bit... indelicate. But, if he'd picked up on it that quickly, she would probably be better off giving him the details than leaving him to guess. At least then he'd have some idea where her boundaries are.

"I've done that ever since I was a little girl." She says finally. "They never really feel quite clean enough, you know? It got worse when I learned what germs are. It got worse still after the first few viral attacks during the Terahn War." Huh. Weird to be talking about it in the past tense. "I usually end up washing seven to ten times every time I need to. And I need to a lot."

[Vahnavoi]

[Laboratory - Clone]

"Bad experiences usually make such symptoms worse. Exposure to evil spirits, even more so. That's why I brought it up. Think of it as a crack in your armor - a weakness exploitable by the sort of enemy we're preparing to face. If I had the time, I might be able to teach you how to fix it. But I doubt I ever will. You might want to talk about it with the other psychic, once you have a chance."

[Ironsmith]

[Laboratory - Clone]

Eun frowns. Maybe she shouldn't have shared that with him. Now he's offering to "fix" her, apropos of nothing but a bad handwashing habit? Ugh. Creepy.

"That's... very nice of you." She says diplomatically, wrestling down her instinct to pepperspray this man and run. "But I won't be anywhere near the vat when we open it. We've already established I'm too vulnerable to psychic attack."

[Vahnavoi]

[Laboratory - Clone]

"And that may suffice, for this single case. What about the future?"

[Ironsmith]

[Laboratory - Clone]

Eun grimaces. He had her there. She couldn't just avoid psychically active subjects all the time, now, could she?

Well... maybe she could. She'd managed to do it so far, aside from this one instance.

"...There won't be another case." Eun says finally, a little bitterly. "My specialty is spatial anomalies. I'm only on this particular assignment because Agent Cortez asked me. The odds of me running into another psychic are minimal."

Now if only she believed that.