Vigil VII: Strife Amidst the Clouds

[Ironsmith]

[Cognimorph Lab]

"You... could say that, I suppose." The tech concedes. A hunter. Yeah. That did sort of describe Dr. Khafir. She certainly had something of a predatory nature about her. "But yeah, I don't think you would have heard of her. She's not gotten much of a foothold in the organization yet, by my reckoning. She's... not been known to work well with others. Tends to foster suspicion and paranoia in the workplace. None of the departments keep her for very long as a result. Kinda see where they're coming from, honestly. She creeps me the [fudge] out most days, too."

"Sorry you feel that way."

The tech nearly jumps out of his skin as a stoic-faced woman in a lab coat emerges from behind him. "D-Doc! Don't you sneak up on me like that!"

"'Sneaking' implies you were using your ears, Max." The woman steps past him, stopping to stare at the new chimp, who looks back at her warily, slowly backing away. "...Sunfletcher, correct?" She says, without taking her eyes off the cage. "I understand you're responsible for our newest subject. Tell me, would you submit to some neural scans? We're low on data for theta-wave correlation studies."

[Shadowcaller]

[Cognimorph Lab]

He got caught in a social trap!
And Anika had even attempted to warn him of those!
It hadn't really been the kind of traps she had meant but it still applied!

She is almost caught as off-guard as he is but her sudden appearance though.
This despite her ears being much bigger so she had totally been sneaking, hadn't she? Classic hunters.

It also explained why she had so many animals here. It was probably her stable or whatever they called the place where they kept all their pets.

That was cool and all but she didn't like this hunter suddenly asking if they could 'scan' her after just sneaking up on them like that. "...so you were watching, huh? Don't you think it's pretty rude to just jump on people with questions like that?"

[Ironsmith]

[Cognimorph Lab]

"Observing." Dr. Khafir insists, her eyes staying on the chimp. "This is my laboratory. My third eye is always on it, for the purposes of gathering data." She straightens and folds her arms behind her back. "Which should not come as a surprise. This is my job, for which I am uniquely suited. And no, I don't believe in wasting time on introductions. Call it rude if you like, but know I prefer 'expedient'."

Dr. Khafir snaps a gloved finger in the tech's general direction, prompting him to come forward with a clipboard, this one with a waiver on it, which he hands to Anika wordlessly.

"The procedure is quite harmless, though according to VIGIL's archaic privacy policies, I require consent before we begin." The doctor explains matter-of-factly. Unsurprisingly, reading someone's mind and storing the data to be accessed later is something they'd want to regulate heavily.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cognimorph Lab]

Archaic? What did that mean?
Hold on, her uncle always used that term didn't he?
It meant old, right? No, that wasn't quite right...

"You're always watching your own workplace? Jeez, that sounds like a punishment to me." Talk about being obsessed.

She looks down at the waiver and recalls other times people had asked her to sign stupid papers. It had never worked out.

Then she recalled one of those people who had asked her to sign, a goblin, mentioning that term too. She had called her views that when she refused to sign.

Outdated.

That's what it meant.

Anika's eyes narrow as she keeps staring at the paper. "...why do you think they're that? Arc- outdated I mean." Anika prods as her gaze moves up to Dr. Khafir.

[Ironsmith]

[Cognimorph Lab]

Dr. Khafir looks up at Anika briefly, making eye contact with her over her forehead. "It allows for extreme pettiness on the part of our subjects." She says curtly. "For example, scanning your brainwave activity would be extremely helpful in understanding these cognimorphs. The sooner we can perfect a method for neutering them, the sooner we can move forward with introducing them to the general populace. The process will directly and indirectly save thousands of lives. Yet VIGIL's policies permit you to refuse to cooperate on the grounds that someone might catch a glimpse of you and miss Turath in the process of intercourse." The doctor turns her back to Anika, scribbling quietly on a clipboard. "Such an approach carries obvious flaws."

[Vahnavoi]

[Hallway]

"She's... nice." Eun begins hesitantly. "A bit of a risk-taker. Still a scientist at heart, but more adventurous." She keeps walking down the hall, slowing to a pace Illuminator could more easily match. "More to the point, she's abnormally compassionate and patient. You're still new to being around people; you'll want to meet someone with as high a tolerance for error as possible. My only caveat is that she also has a tendency to combust, and while your chasis is rated to withstand very high temperatures... well, it'd be best not to test that too much."

Hallway- Felicity's Lab

The most notable thing about the laboratory are a few signs outside the door, some rather odd ones. In addition to the somewhat normal 'No Naked Flames', there's also 'Do Not Feed the Plants', 'Remember Eye Protection' and 'No Sparks', over a sign of an electrical outlet with a line through it. There's also a little light on outside the metal door, showing the lab is currently occupied, though there's no signs suggesting Felicity doesn't want to be disturbed.

"Combust? Why would she combust?", the holographic girl wonders, blinking in confusion. "Humans don't usually do that, do they? I mean, Felicity is a human, right?"

The robot stops at the door. Having no hands and being prohibited from interfacing with other machines, it is reliant on Eun to alert Felicity to their presence and open the way. Well, maybe the robot could give the door a faint knock by ramming against it repeatedly. Or the holographic girl could shout, but that would be poor manners.

[Ironsmith]

[Felicity's Lab]

"I... we... we're sort of working on that." Eun explains sheepishly, knocking on the door (or ringing the doorbell equivalent if there's any kind of alert system in place). "I mean, we know why, in that we understand the combustion mechanism itself. But we're still trying to find the underlying biological alterations that enable it. The current hypothesis is that it's something in her marrow, but that's hardly a complete explanation." While she's waiting for Felicity to come to the door, Eun's printed off a set of goggles from her Hotbox and is now in the process of putting them on. She should be all geared up when the door opens.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cognimorph Lab]

Neutering them? Sounded kinda bad. Really, couldn't this woman speak plainly? Since Anika wasn't sure what she meant half the tim-

Hold on.

Miss Turath? Like, Blanche?
"Whoa, hold on there. How did you even know about Blanche and me? Jeez, lady. I get you want to do something nice but you're saying it in like the worst possible way." Then another idea occurs to her. "What about Wenomir and Cass? You know about them too? What about C-command and Jezz?" Wait, was she supposed to mention that last one? Ops.

[Ironsmith]

[Cognimorph Lab]

Dr. Khafir raises an eyebrow. "My understanding was that you and miss Tarath's copulations were something of an open secret." She replies curtly. "So of course I know about them. And about Wenomir and Cass. And C-command and Jezz. And everyone else who decided they just had to do it here, or in the restroom of my plane, or in the hotel I happened to be staying at, or under the bridge near my old home, or-"

She cuts herself off and takes a calming breath. "...It's normal. Natural. Animals mate. Intelligent as we are, we are still animals." She mumbles to herself. "It's not surprising to see the process in action every now and then. Especially when you believe nobody is watching, or can be watching." She waves a hand dismissively. "Neither here nor there. My point is, that information can be inferred with little difficulty. There is no reason to get apprehensive about someone finding confirmation among the data."

[Shadowcaller]

[Cognimorph Lab]

"Well, yeah, but I don't even know you lady. Nor do I know anyone that knows you. Besides Max I guess." She gestures at the lab technician.
But then something occurs to her.

"Does anyone else know you're doing this?" Since boy, considering how C-command reacted when she burst into the room that one time...

[Ironsmith]

[Cognimorph Lab]

"Of course they know. We went through all the hoops to get this project cleared with command." Dr. Khafir replies nonchalantly, impatiently tapping the clipboard, reminding Anika that the waiver has this far gone unsigned. "We wouldn't have recieved the necessary funds otherwise."

"Um... I think she means the curtain thing, doctor." The lab tech offers.

"Ah. So by 'this', you mean 'breathing'." Dr. Khafir stiffens. "I'm certain they know I'm clairvoyant. If they haven't grasped the implications of that ability, that's on them."

[Shadowcaller]

[Cognimorph Lab]

"Curtain? Nah, I meant the sex watching." Anika corrects. What did curtains have to do with anything? "But I think I'm going to have to think about that consent, doc. You really shouldn't be watching people either. That's gonna get you in a lot of trouble. I mean, even if the commanders knew about your abilities far from everyone did. Blanche might just come in here and put a boot up your ass if she knew and I don't even know what C-command would do."

[Earl of Purple]

Felicity's Lab

There is a doorbell, which 'dings' quite loudly. A few moments later, the door is opened. Felicity's on the other side; a shaven-headed young woman with blackish-grey skin, not quite a human shade, and purple eyes. She's wearing a pair of thick trousers, hi-vis yellow; they look a bit like the trousers a firefighter would wear, and she's paired it with a normal white t-shirt. She's also wearing thick plastic goggles, though they're a little heat-damaged. She's holding a metal watering-can. "Ah, Doctor Eun! And... a friend! Hi, come in. I was just preparing to check on my houseplants. Um, just in case there's an accident, you're watertight, right? Because I had to beef up the sprinklers in here." She pulls open the door, letting Eun and the hologram into a short corridor that looks a bit like an airlock, with thick glass walls and a heavy-duty blast door which is currently open. Felicity shuts the door behind the two of them and walks through the blast door into the lab proper.

Her lab is pretty standard, except everything flammable has been removed and replaced with things that don't burn, except a row of plants at the far end of the room set in a trough of earth. There's three fridges, two marked with symbols suggesting they contain flammable materials and two marked with biohazard symbols- one of the fridges has both. There's plenty of fire extinguishers dotted about the room. The plants are strange-looking things, quite large already. There's three of them, and space for two others. They have a thick stalk ending in a pod growing from a rootball set into the earth, two slender sticks rising up on either side of the stalk. The bud on the end looks a bit like a flower. They're also kept behind a chickenwire fence. There's a row of glass bottles on one of the counters, each filled with a yellowy liquid, marked with flammable symbols, and tightly stoppered, and another bottle in a fume cupboard is unstoppered and half-filled with dark red liquid, which is burning with a clean blue-white flame.

[Ironsmith]

[Cognimorph Lab]

"'Watching'. You make it sound so perverse." Dr. Khafir straightens. "I do not 'watch'. I simply see." She steps back from Anika far enough to make eye contact. "...If it makes you feel better, the devices that make my clairvoyance possible have also had a substantial impact on my neurochemistry. I do not experience elation, anger, disgust, secondhand embarrassment, arousal, or-"

"Doc. Too much information." The tech interrupts.

Dr Khafir stiffens slightly. "In point of fact, I simply do not care. I have no more interest in what you and miss Turath do on your off hours than the robins outside your window do. This was intended as an example. Nothing more." She straightens her lab coat and quietly withdraws the waiver. "Strange how you people get so sensitive about these things."

[Vahnavoi]

[Felicity's lab]

The tiny robot rolls into the lab, the golden holographic girl floating above it taking a quick look around with wide eyes. Then she fixes her eyes on Felicity. "Hello. I am 2nd Light-Bearer, a constructed intelligence. I've been assured my casing is water and heatproof to sufficient degree." Her introduction is accompanied by a bow to Felicity. "Sorry if I'm being rude, but you are really oddly colored for a human. I've been told you occasionally burst in flames. Are those connected?"

[Ironsmith]

Felicity's Lab

There is a doorbell, which 'dings' quite loudly. A few moments later, the door is opened. Felicity's on the other side; a shaven-headed young woman with blackish-grey skin, not quite a human shade, and purple eyes. She's wearing a pair of thick trousers, hi-vis yellow; they look a bit like the trousers a firefighter would wear, and she's paired it with a normal white t-shirt. She's also wearing thick plastic goggles, though they're a little heat-damaged. She's holding a metal watering-can. "Ah, Doctor Eun! And... a friend! Hi, come in. I was just preparing to check on my houseplants. Um, just in case there's an accident, you're watertight, right? Because I had to beef up the sprinklers in here." She pulls open the door, letting Eun and the hologram into a short corridor that looks a bit like an airlock, with thick glass walls and a heavy-duty blast door which is currently open. Felicity shuts the door behind the two of them and walks through the blast door into the lab proper.

Her lab is pretty standard, except everything flammable has been removed and replaced with things that don't burn, except a row of plants at the far end of the room set in a trough of earth. There's three fridges, two marked with symbols suggesting they contain flammable materials and two marked with biohazard symbols- one of the fridges has both. There's plenty of fire extinguishers dotted about the room. The plants are strange-looking things, quite large already. There's three of them, and space for two others. They have a thick stalk ending in a pod growing from a rootball set into the earth, two slender sticks rising up on either side of the stalk. The bud on the end looks a bit like a flower. They're also kept behind a chickenwire fence. There's a row of glass bottles on one of the counters, each filled with a yellowy liquid, marked with flammable symbols, and tightly stoppered, and another bottle in a fume cupboard is unstoppered and half-filled with dark red liquid, which is burning with a clean blue-white flame.

[Felicity's lab]

The tiny robot rolls into the lab, the golden holographic girl floating above it taking a quick look around with wide eyes. Then she fixes her eyes on Felicity. "Hello. I am 2nd Light-Bearer, a constructed intelligence. I've been assured my casing is water and heatproof to sufficient degree." Her introduction is accompanied by a bow to Felicity. "Sorry if I'm being rude, but you are really oddly colored for a human. I've been told you occasionally burst in flames. Are those connected?"

[Felicity's Lab]

"Hello." Eun greets with a little smile, quietly beating back the urge to explain that the right form of address would be either "Doctor Bu" or just "Eun". Felicity's been kind to her over their encounters, she's allowed to have a few eccentricies. Seeing the hologirl take the initiative on this encounter, she elects to let her say her piece before continuing.

And immediately regrets it.

Eun pales as the robot blurts out what she herself would consider to be a very embarrassing line of inquiry. She clears her throat awkwardly and tries to explain. "Sorry. Like she said, she is an AI. She was literally born yesterday, so I came here in the hopes that you could help me integrate her." Which meant she probably should have expected to see LB2 continue the tradition of kids saying the darnedest things, but that didn't make it any less mortifying.

[Earl of Purple]

Felicity's Lab

"Well, it's a pleasure to be the second person you've met." Felicity doesn't bow back, because she's got a different cultural background and doesn't realise she's perhaps supposed to. "They are related, yes, but I don't exactly burst into flames for no reason. I worked for six months with a man developing a method of giving people superpowers, and he gave me the opportunity to try creating one myself. I did, and tested it on myself as well. Animal testing is... pretty tricky when the solution is intended for people. Developing a solution that doesn't make mice explode is all very well until it works and the mice fly away, and the solution makes people explode instead." Not that Professor Payne ever actually made a mouse explode or fly. And melting into puddles of screaming oil proved trickier to solve than exploding. "The serum I developed and applied to myself changed my skin, eye and hair colour, and also completely altered my body chemistry. My sweat, urine, tears, and saliva all contain volatile hydrocarbons that ignite when exposed to naked flames or electrical sparks and rapidly approach extreme temperatures. My skin, musculature, eyes and other soft tissues- so far as I've been able to test, at least- are heat and fire resistant so that I haven't been able to burn myself yet, even when the trace sweat and oils produced by my skin have ignited or when dipping my hand in molten metal. My blood also contains hydrocarbons, but that ignites when it comes into contact with oxygen. And it seems to keep burning." She points over to the fume cupboard, and the flask burning in there. "That sample has been burning for three days so far, and hasn't run out of fuel."

Yes, what Felicity did to herself is impossible by all known laws of science. What Felicity doesn't know is that the science Professor Payne uses conceals a secret core of alchemy utilising rare and unusual reagents from a variety of supernatural sources.

[Vahnavoi]

[Felicity's lab]

"Superpowers? That sounds.... really inconvenient." The girl's expression moves from excitement to disappointment mixed with horror as Felicity's explanation goes on. She glances at the cupboard with the burning blood sample. "Wouldn't it have been easier to just make some kind of a tool to throw fire around?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Cognimorph Lab]

"'Watching'. You make it sound so perverse." Dr. Khafir straightens. "I do not 'watch'. I simply see." She steps back from Anika far enough to make eye contact. "...If it makes you feel better, the devices that make my clairvoyance possible have also had a substantial impact on my neurochemistry. I do not experience elation, anger, disgust, secondhand embarrassment, arousal, or-"

"Doc. Too much information." The tech interrupts.

Dr Khafir stiffens slightly. "In point of fact, I simply do not care. I have no more interest in what you and miss Turath do on your off hours than the robins outside your window do. This was intended as an example. Nothing more." She straightens her lab coat and quietly withdraws the waiver. "Strange how you people get so sensitive about these things."

[Cognimorph Lab]

As if not listening, Anika continues. "Oh yeah, you also just compared people to animals which is kinda creepy. As if you were my uncle having me watch two deer going about it while explaining it all in detail. Super-gross stuff." She makes a disgusted face. "I wouldn't want either you or my uncle watch me like that even if you aren't getting off on it, dude. Like, people live here and they don't like to be watched even while they don't have the sex. If you gotta watch something then just stare off into the sky or whatever." She gestures up at the ceiling.

[Ironsmith]

[Felicity's Lab]

Eun lets out a little sigh of relief. She should be used to Felicity being more okay with things than she was by now, but it still came as a surprise. The implication that they can discuss this subject candidly simplifies matter significantly. "...If I understand this right," she begins hesitantly, "getting fire-based powers, specifically, was not the intent. The serum used has a number of potential effects, so weighing the benefits of getting a particular power versus creating a machine for it is essentially an impossible task."

[Cognimorph Lab]

Dr. Khafir frowns slightly. Why was Anika getting upset at the animal comparison? The doctor was dehumanizing herself, if anyone. But then, Anika doesn't appear to be the brightest bulb in the box. "As I just explained; I do not watch any of you people." She replies calmly. "I simply see, as if through an unlocked door or an unshuttered window. My vision wanders, much like anyone else. It is simply more all-encompassing than most." Her fingernails rap against the clipboard as she explains this to Anika. "If I am to avoid seeing things that, to me, are as plain as if they were done in public, I must be looking specifically at something of interest. Which makes it fortunate I work in a place with such a robust science department." She flicks her gaze over to the animal enclosure, causing each of the animal-shaped thought-forms to recoil from her simultaneously. "You are a hunter, are you not? Is there no chance that you may decide to hunt something your superiors would find objectionable? Perhaps we should keep you locked in a box until such a time as you are needed." She frowns just a bit, uncertain if the analogy would stick. "That is what you are asking of me. To lock away a part of myself in a box because it frightens you. I would... rather not."

[Earl of Purple]

Felicity's Lab

"Yeah, the way the solution interacts with an individual's genetics is... a little unpredictable. All I knew was that it would be a power involving physical alteration. Another individual who inject the same solution as I did- or a close variant, made by the individual who taught me- has biokinesis and the ability to duplicate limbs, improving his strength, his ability to heal injuries, and growing extra arms or legs." Technically the 'biokinesis' is another example of the duplication; the man duplicates his existing muscle tissue rather than a full limb, and heals by duplicating healthy tissue to replace the injured area. Most duplicators can be in two places at once; Heavyhanded can only be in one place, but he can be in that place several times. "Passive abilities like the one I gained are... really unusual." None of the other supers whose powers stem from the same source have a passive power, at least none that have been displayed on screen.

[Vahnavoi]

[Felicity's lab]

"A thing that gives unpredictable volatile powers to humans? That sounds really bad", the holographic girl says bluntly, looking back and forth between Eun and Felicity. "There ought to be a rule against such a thing. I hope you have a rule against such a thing." She then resumes innocently looking around the room.

[Ironsmith]

[Felicity's Lab]

Eun shuffles uncomfortably. She's not sure if such a rule exists here at VIGIL; unlikely, given the number of empowered individuals here, but she can't actually be certain. On her homeworld, such a substance would doubtless be stigmatized, but too valuable to be banned outright; that was the prevailing view of cybernetic implants, after all. And it clearly wasn't banned on Felicity's world... right? Well, maybe, actually. Felicity's been mum on whether her work was legal or not.

"Uh... I don't think so?" Eun finally concludes, hesitantly.

[Earl of Purple]

Felicity's Lab

Unlike many, Felicity is a native. The Nexus is her world. "Yeah, there's rules about this kind of thing, in Inside and Riverside. But, um, that's why I went to Skyside. There's no rules there, except whatever is locally enforced by the nearest gang, company, superhero, or guild. I was in university in Inside, when Professor Payne advertised for a lab assistant online, where I saw the advert. It got taken down quite quick, but... I'd seen it, and the address, and I went." Vigil itself might also have a rule about it, but Felicity hasn't asked. She's trying to replicate it, but she doesn't necessarily want to use it.

[Vahnavoi]

[Felicity's lab]

"Sounds like a bad place, this Skyside. When something like this is introduced to a human population, it tends to cause trouble, but from the sound of it, this only got made because Skyside was already in trouble", the hologram muses idly. "This becoming common might cause even more trouble, though. Possibly end of a world, if it gives someone really wild powers."

[Ironsmith]

[Felicity's Lab]

Eun gives a semi-concurrent nod. Yeah, the serum would definitely be a transformative technology if it ever got into enough hands, but it wouldn't be the end of the world, right? People said the same thing about Hotboxes.

...Though in fairness, they were right about that.

"It would, um, really depend on how quickly and how widespread it became." Eun reasons. "If everyone gets powers, it might not be so bad; we'll kind of even each other out. If only a few trusted people get them, that might not be so bad, either. Anything in between, though..." She gives an awkward hiss. Yeeeeah, that could be bad.

[Earl of Purple]

Felicity's Lab

"Professor Payne sells them. For quite a lot of money, too. He doesn't advertise it much, and there's lots of people in Skyside with powers from other sources. And also he won't sell to anyone on somebody else's behalf; if you're buying it, he'll give you the power. So I can't ask you, Eun, to go buy a sample for me to study because as soon as he's got the money he'll inject you with the serum to apply the power. And he refuses to double-stack powers; apparently it's very dangerous to do. He's got several different types of serum, too. Physical enhancement, physical alteration, ranged, and concealment serums. Mine was enhancement, since that often causes the... least obvious physical mutations." Or at least mutations that can be turned off, like Heavyhanded's extra limbs.

There's also not so much of a market for them, or at least the people who want to buy them aren't able to do so for whatever reason.

[Vahnavoi]

[Felicity's lab]

"Sounds like this Professor Payne is well aware of how bad this invention is and is acting to limit and control its spread himself", the girl continues her musings. "It's not a stable situation, though, given you are trying to reverse-engineer his work. Or something could happen to him, leading to his work becoming lost. The latter might be a better option, really."

[Ironsmith]

[Felicity's Lab]

And once again, Eun finds herself pinching the bridge of her nose to cover up her sheer embarrassment. Yeah, that was a polite thing to say. We'd all be better off if your mentor was dead. Even in context, that sounded horrible.

"I'm really sorry about this, Felicity..." Eun mumbles quietly. This was not how she pictured LB2's first social interaction going.

[Earl of Purple]

Felicity's Lab

"I don't think that's his thoughts on the matter. I think he enjoys seeing what he can do with it. He'll offer a discount, if you agree to service or take out a loan from him, or provide an interesting biological sample. The money is to keep himself stocked, since the substances he uses come from a variety of sources that are exotic, dangerous, rare or more often several of those things. All I've got are some immature Triffids and occasionally a sample of kylder ichor. I know Professor Payne uses both of those, but he's got other stuff as well. Secretions from an Intellect Devourer, Atog stomach juices, Magma Cream, Dreugh Wax, and probably other stuff I don't know. I didn't work for him very long, and he was very careful about keeping some of the preparation he did secret. I think he likes seeing what effects he can create. I've not seen everything, obviously, but I think he could have made it more consistent than he actually has." Although Felicity is unaware that Professor Payne is an alchemist as well as a biochemist, whereas she's just a biochemist.