Caught Gold-Handed

Tue May 23, 2017 10:38 am

Where would one expect to find a relatively well-known Mad Scientist on the first day of summer? The beach? Studying the properties of ice cream, perhaps?

If you guessed the freezing tundra of The Realm of Black Spirits, better known to half of the known worlds as Inverse Hueco Mundo, you would be right. If you guessed a dinky little cabin, far away from civilization and any other kind of human contact, you would be right. Unfortunately for the Doctor, Kabuto Hebi, summer was not something that he would get to enjoy for at least a little while longer.

After all, he was too busy trying to keep the Planet Nebala and Realm of Black Spirits from noticing that they were now joined together. The number of individuals he had needed to displace, push away, made disappear... He was getting fairly tired of it. To try to remedy this situation, he had decided to refine the technology that had caused this problem in the first place.

Victor VI.

He had spent a significant amount of time trying to keep the technology a secret. He did not want any of the major organizations to find out about it; the amount of planning he had needed to perform to keep anyone from discovering what he had done... It exhausted even him. Which meant that unless someone was either looking for him specifically, which would require for them to know that he was currently absent from all major events, or was able to piece together the mystery of this now 'cursed' mountain... He would be able to continue in peace.

The door opened, and in the doorway stood a red cloaked man. The man had changed during the last few years, though the changes were hard for the average person to notice. He seemed to have aged a bit, perhaps because of raising the child that he was currently separated from. His hands were worn, but the ring that they bore still shone, a symbol of the one who had given it to him. His stance was no longer hunched over, though the madness still shone in his eyes. Perhaps because he felt that he no longer had to bear the weight of his own existence alone any longer.

The first prototype had been a gauntlet, covering the user's entire arm. The Doctor had managed to refine the technology, considering the punishment he nearly suffered the first time that he used it. He still could not get over that sensation of pain that he had felt when it occurred. True pain, pain which made him react like an animal. So I've limited it. He looked down at the glove that he had created. Small strings reached out from it, touching the body in as few places as possible. It looked more like a series of jewelry, golden in color. The snake-like chains were attached to each of the joints of his finger, clinging onto either side of them, but not wrapping all the way around. The rest of the chains were similar; there was no location on the Doctor's arm where a band reached all the way around. The material that made up the outside of the technology was actually gold... although that was only because the Doctor had a significant supply of it.

He was perfectly prepared to test out his new technology, the one that he had gone to great, inter-dimensional lengths to cover up. He should be able to proceed without any interruptions... So he began to take his stance, ready to kick off the summer with this experiment.

But things never really go as planned, do they?

Tue May 23, 2017 11:45 am

Artist: Savant - Song: Siren

You cannot conceive of a person who has seen both the beginning and the end of the macrocosm, and everything, in every direction, in between.

What's the point? The question she's asked herself ceaselessly since breaching the higher dimensions, overlooking literally everything from above. For a time when she vanished from the current universe, Nozomi had a jaunt through realms never quite meant to be traversed by mortal beings. From one single point, the entirety of a timeline could be observed. All knowledge and every event witnessed simultaneously in the same field of view. That was the reality of what she'd experienced then, and it was not something she could just simply communicate to another through words, or even images, or more primal messages. She doubted that anyone had the capacity to translate the information she memorized from that day—approaching infinity—and any she attempted to show would surely go mad if they even survived it. She had discovered more than any scientist would ever be able to achieve, but what was the point if she was the only one who could understand it?

It was so nonsensical, that it was hardly even worth mentioning it. But... it did provide some rather unique advantages. Oh, the fine 'doctor' trying as he might to keep others away from his new pet obsession, wouldn't even imagine the method she was using to spy on him. It was like imagining how a two-dimensional entity would ever realize the presence of a three-dimensional one, not an inch away from itself. He had a long, long way to go. His mind was a true treasure, but that was a comparison between a bird and a mass of worms, when the end goal was humanity. To think that he was still struggling with interdimensional travel, when Nozomi had already breached the technique before arriving to this universe.

What was she getting at here...? The fact that Nozomi was but a meter off from Doctor Hebi but in a dimension he could not perceive with his senses, as great as they were. She did not reveal herself until she noted that the man was going to attempt his second experiment with the device he'd created. The dimension in question... was time. So just as that moment was going to take place, Nozomi appeared just behind him and to the right, as if she'd been there the entire time. Her words were... less than conventional as a greeting: ''That's going to create a black hole.''

The face Hebi was greeted with if and when he glanced over to the blue-haired interloper who had interrupted his work, was rather straight-laced. It was not hostile in any regard but it did hold the earnestness of an individual who meant the words she just spoke. Noting that the sudden revelation might cause some confusion, she quickly elaborated in her chime-like voice. ''A small one, nonetheless, but even one of that size will take out the entire mountain. It's... not your fault, just watch where you aim it. Almost incidentally hit a shatterpoint. Your brute force method doesn't clash well with that natural law of the multiverse.''

It really was hard for her to make herself sound intelligible to others, but she hoped that the point got across. She only intervened to change the present timeline, so that Hebi would not run into such a catastrophic issue over a science he hadn't yet grasped. His design for the device on his arm would work as planned. But, if it was the boat upon which Hebi sailed, then shatterpoints were the storms that could approach without warning. Maybe someday he'd develop a way to detect these anomalous points. Without such a destructive return value.

''Uh, don't worry. You should be good now.''

Tue May 23, 2017 1:28 pm

What? What? What? What? What?

Concentration, shattered. The Doctor's planning, shattered. His machinations and attempts at subtlety and all the work he had thrown into them, worthless. The serenity and peace of mind he had been trying to maintain throughout the process… absolutely destroyed by this woman who could appear seemingly without warning or reason. A being who defied his expectations, one who had gone from being simply extremely powerful to… one that he could hardly grasp. There she was, throwing his carefully laid plans into disarray.

The Doctor's entire body froze when she appeared next to him. It was like the laws of physics and time and space suddenly switched themselves up, and the Doctor was once again struck by the difference. A war flashed through his mind. A war of shock, of reacting like an animal, a beast, a war against stress. The stress of surprise. One which has had devastating effects over the years. But the Doctor refused to bend to it. His mind would not be consumed by any single concept or idea. He did not obsess, he did not infatuate. The surprise shot into his mind, and he wrestled with it, causing his body to stiffen for an instant as his mental activity skyrocketed…

The Doctor turned his head over his shoulder, looking at her with wide eyes, his toothless smile unable to leave. The eyes were the only part that he was unable to completely ground again, which is why they were wide, almost like… an average human, one simple, one able to express emotions with their face.

And you're going to create… The Doctor's words trailed off inside his own mind, trying to find evidence of her method of travel, of how it disturbed the space around her. How is that possible? How does she move through space without any registration of it? Without any sign that she was there? A part of his mind would be distracted with that query for some time, until he had dissected it and come to a solution.

"No beach for you, Dimiqueen?"

The strange greeting was answered by an equally bizarre reply. But her comments about the way he would clash with the natural law of the multiverse made his toothless smile show the tiniest amount of teeth. "…Hearing that from you… the one who just shattered all the ones that I've been trying so hard to keep track of…" He couldn't help but enjoy that irony. "Shatterpoints… That's what you used to destroy Sunēkusunappu… not to mention my insides… right…?" He asked her in reply, referring to the Platinum Heart event. That was the last time that the two had come to 'blows'. In that conflict she had managed to destroy the Artificial Zanpakuto he made for himself, to the point where it could not be rebuilt. Such a fascinating concept… but one that the Doctor himself was not that interested in outside of its practical applications. After all, if he needed to break things, he would find a way. Part of the fun was coming up with those creative ways.

To him, it seemed dull to have a one-size-fits-all destruction move. But he supposed for an explorer, it would do just fine. The Doctor had relaxed by this point, his mental state returning to its calm. "Very well." He answered her, recalibrating in his mind his target. "…Or should I just try no methods altogether?" He inquired of her, taking two steps to the left before leaning down. "…I'm sure this is nothing compared to what you are capable of… but that would rather defeat the purpose. Even if I break things, I…" The Doctor looked directly at the blue-haired trespasser, a strange sense of earnestness that was usually absent from his voice entering it... "Will work with them... so that I may continue to study."

Hebi the white snake slid out from behind the Doctor, looking at Nozomi with its animal eyes. She likely knew that the snake and the Doctor were truly one and the same being, and that some part of his subconscious controlled the snake. Not to mention the snake being where he kept his soul.

The Doctor did not feel that he needed to say anything else. If anyone could understand the fact that he would hit that shatterpoint later regardless of her warnings, it was Nozomi. Now, though, he had an audience. An audience which would see the methods he had planned up until this point. Honestly, he did not know why she bothered to show up here, but to ask would likely ruin the very reason.

"Now…" The Doctor reached his fingers into the earth, pushing through it as he fed energy through the golden tubes. His eyes opened once more, his reiatsu flaring up as he used that particular gift to fuel his experiment. Where his fingers were reaching in, space was ripped and torn, before being reconstructed where it once was. A violation of space, piercing through dimensions as the Doctor moved the hand upwards. Once again, he felt it beginning to draw out too much of his energy, but instead of crashing and burning the various components hissed, his skin exploding in each of those places. It still took a massive amount of energy to create a human sized hole, but it would be usable without crippling the wielder.

The last chain hissed, detaching. The glove hung limply on the Doctor's arm, a reusable model based on the information he had gathered from the first trial. The gate was also more refined, taking up only the size of a person. He still felt drained, but containing the size in this manner had left him with plenty enough remaining. "There… hope I didn't violate any other… laws…"

While he was not about to ask her for any more spoilers about the results of his experiments, there was one thing which he was curious about, and hoped that he would be able to ask her, if this experiment worked as planned...

Tue May 23, 2017 3:28 pm

Artist: Savant - Song: Siren

A mad man was hard to pinpoint. Even knowing the Doctor in the way she did; as intimately as she did so that it was nearly uncomfortable for her, there were still some unpredictable points about him. Things, seemingly determined by random chance. For why he decided to acknowledge her with that set of words, she could not fathom. Knowing his thoughts before he even assumed them would not help. It would only allow her to know that they had nothing to do with the phrase that escaped his lips. And to that, she had no response to. To her, it was but a meaningless eccentricity. She'd sooner learnt the secrets of the multiverse than the truth behind it.

He, unsurprisingly, remembered what Shatterpoints were. With the impact that they had had on him as used by herself, she'd be surprised if he didn't maintain those memories of being undone and then put back together from the basest particles and energies. Shatterpoints: The wounds of the multiverse. These infinitesimal points represented only the imperfections of any given existence whether it be a corporeal construct or an ephemeral thought. Normally imperceptible and uninteractive with the world they inhabit, it takes a unbelievably focused effort in order to even manipulate one of these points... but once grasped, are easily destroyed, unmaking the object of which they scar. Most points are small and representative of the flawed nature of reality... but there are those points brought about by great instability which could cause calamity if triggered, like the one Hebi nearly destroyed.

She rose her arms up, open-palmed, as if to defend herself from Hebi's discerning gaze. ''Oh, no, my disturbance of your work has already altered the course of this timeline. You wouldn't be able to reproduce that trajectory if you tried now...'' She didn't bother explaining, not giving away precisely why it was impossible for him. As it was, the chance that Hebi would have damaged the shatterpoint was so astronomically low that it needed to be rendered in scientific notation... an unbelievable coincidence. But by now the variables have changed, and he didn't have nearly the exact measurement capabilities to reproduce the mistake, let alone track the Shatterpoint. ''I saved you a lot of trouble. Whether you care for this area or not, your experiment would not have gone unnoticed if a singularity had been formed.''

Almost in mirror stance to the snake-shaped appendage that crept from under the Doctor's cowl, Nozomi's shadow began to rise and move of its own accord. The ivory dust texture of a woman's skin emerged from the utter darkness, to show the playful face of Aera sticking her tongue out, as a snake might. It was perhaps a conversation of its own between them, apart from any significance. It had no bearing on the experiment about to take place, once again...

She offered no further assistance to the Doctor in his efforts to breach the realm of opposites, the Black World. She did not comment on just how rough the design of his device was, or the obvious damage it would cause to him and the fabric of space as a result. It was his crossing between the Inverse that created those shatterpoints in the first place; such grievous wounds in the flesh of the universe. She didn't, because that would take away what the Doctor desired from his experiments. He would lose the joy of performing science, and seeing that... indeed, he could open the rift and achieve his goal under his own work, despite the imperfection of it. When the way was opened between their universe and the inverse universe, a sharp gasp of awe came from behind Nozomi, attributed to Aera's wonderment at seeing her old realm again.

''Travel between realms has become commonplace, even a personal skill for some. It's not even a talking point anymore. But the crossing between different realms and different universes are two completely separate feats. You need to breach a much greater gulf in order to achieve that...'' She glanced over to him with a small grin pasted across her lips, arms crossed over her chest. The aura she was projecting admitted a sense of congratulations.
It was similar to a spiritual sort of applause, for the achievement being displayed. But those eyes of hers—the piercing red ones which had an effect all their own—stripped him of the comfort of seclusion his thoughts usually enjoyed. She was shameless in her ability to predict what he was thinking, answering questions only asked within the confines of his brain.

''I don't need to tell you that there are not many people with that kind of ability to break through. I could count them with only the fingers of my hands, Doctor. So when I sense the reverberations of someone doing exactly that, it's not hard to find.'' Perhaps there was some sort of hidden threat laced into the tone of her voice, with the way she said it... it was a fleeting anomaly that passed quickly. After a short pause, the First Quincy continued with her explanation. ''I also don't need to tell you that things can go terribly wrong with the misuse of that technology, so naturally I investigated it. I may have excused myself of the public eye for the most part, but I'm not dead. I need to make sure someone doesn't blow up a universe or say... accidentally create a black hole.''

Proceeding that, she took a strong leap of faith by stepping past Hebi and moving into the Inverse World using his portal. The transportation succeeded without a hitch, so that the woman could look back through the rift to the serpentine scientist, an approving expression gracing her face. ''Thankfully, everything seems to have worked out.''

Thu May 25, 2017 11:21 am

Awkwardness.

The Doctor always felt just a little bit of awkwardness when dealing with this woman, even when they were not dealing with anything of value. He was certain she knew it, too. Being near someone who already knew you to such an uncomfortable extent made playing the games that he usually did useless, a waste of time. Perhaps in some manner this awkwardness was what allowed for the Doctor to move faster with his research, when dealing with her.

"Well then… I'll be sure to watch out for any spontaneous cosmic phenomenon…" The Doctor replied almost sarcastically, but with that dry tone that did not intend to lie. "…What do you think is more interesting…?" The Doctor asked her, one eye sliding over, looking at the blue-haired Quincy. "…Keeping my secret… or finding someone who could still snoop it out…?" He inquired of her, indirectly pointing out that the manner that she had appeared in front of him was much more interesting than the fact that his cover had been blown.

"…if I must sacrifice something for my petty experiments to succeed… then I see no issue…" The Doctor was more than willing to blow his cover, or just about any other part of himself, to see his designs succeed. This was his life, after all. He lived or died by it. "…" Even so, she did preserve the hidden nature of his experiment, which meant that if someone else like her was to appear, the Doctor would have even more that he could potentially learn. "…my gratitude…"

Gratitude was not something that the Doctor was used to giving out. More awkwardness. The awkwardness did not stem from the fact that the Doctor was reluctant to grant his thanks… rather, that it was such a foreign concept to him, like most people would find skydiving.

Lovely, more variables. The Doctor contemplated, looking at Aera through Hebi's eyes. The snake actually moved close to her, brushing past either side of her face, but not touching. The Doctor had seen what could happen to things she touched. The snake did not seem displeased by her presence, almost amused that there was another 'shadow' for it to interact with.

The words and emotion she gave off, though… it seemed that she did understand what it was that the Doctor enjoyed about this work. His methods were obviously crass, compared with someone who was able to do what he was still trying to work out. But that was not what was important. What was important was the information gathered as a result of it, and what that information could one day become.

"Even so, I think that the gulf is the most important part…" The Doctor explained, stepping next to the portal, his eyes examining every bit of the gate. "How many people… can track or close such a gulf…?" He asked her, glancing back. It was obviously a rhetorical question, but it was the general thrust of why he was doing this research. Opening doors that could not easily closed… had all sorts of implications.

The way that she could read what he was thinking, though… it seemed like she already knew that he was going to ask that question. The way she spoke about monitoring things like this made him pause for a moment. "…And who gave you that job…?" The Doctor asked, glancing back at Nozomi. "Or is it just what you enjoy…?" While she could read most of what the Doctor thought, his intentions… there was much he did not know about her. The scientist within him was interested by this...

...As well as the hidden threat she presented to him and his experiments. That had not been enough to stop the Doctor in the past. In fact, there had been at least one occasion that he had directly requested for her to put a stop to his actions. The Doctor did not know what his little designs would have done to the realms of existence if not for people like her, who could put a stop to them when they went too far… and speaking of too far..

She brazenly walked through.

Without missing a beat, the Doctor observed, taking notes rapidly within his own mind. Everything seemed to have worked flawlessly… and where would he find a better quality test driver than the one whose piercing-red eyes beheld him now? Looking at his design, his feet reached forwards, stepping into it. He was struck by the tale of the man who walked on water. Except in this case, the Doctor was forced to place his faith in himself. Or perhaps his certainty?

The Doctor's foot passed in after her, and if everything went as planned, then there would be no problems with him walking onto the grassy field on the other side, where nothing could be seen for miles. The temperature changed suddenly, going from nearly freezing to warm summer. Hebi the Snake uncoiled itself from its master, stretching out in the warm air, the golden device hanging at the Doctor's side. "Now, to close it... this is the true test..." The Doctor muttered, reaching for the bloody spots on his arm. Closing his fingers around each one, he pinched his skin back into place without cry or complaint. He then affixed the first one to his hand, before tapping the snake-like wire. As if possessed, the device latched onto his skin just as it had been before. It would take a moment to prepare itself, and then the Doctor would be ready to begin.

Thu May 25, 2017 7:52 pm

Source: NieR: Automata - Song: Possessed by a Disease

She'd doubt his claim about that—about even caring about cosmic anomalies—if it wasn't for the fact that here they stood, dealing with interconnections of separate planes. For all of the Doctor's science preceding this point, spatial manipulations have never been a large focus of his. She remembered their first meeting, that had solidified the snake as a man of more... biological pursuits. She was glad to see him branching out. And, she wondered if her own influence over him had had any reason behind the change of interest. Though considering the destination... Maybe the Black World had enough of a merit of its own to inspire something in his twisted heart. Ah, she hadn't yet met Hebi's opposite yet, had she? At least, directly, she hadn't.

She chuckled at his question, placing a hand over her face in a poor attempt to hide it, despite the fact that her rising cheekbones could still be seen. One could wonder why she even bothered. Her shoulders shrug as she gives him an unorthodox answer. ''You pose the question to me, but it feels almost like you're asking yourself that. As for me, I'd rather answer the question you had not asked: It just seemed unfair for things to end in that way... I'll let you wonder the query tailored to that.''

Aera was the last thing he had to worry about, considering who held the leash. Yes, Aera, the Black World equivalent of Nozomi herself, whom was one of the first to discover the existence of the encroaching realm. As the First Quincy represented an agent of order, Aera was the antithesis, being a force of unbridled chaos. The two were meant to clash together in a calamitous fashion between primal notions, creating untold levels of desecration upon the Living World. That was fate's intended course, and yet such an event was never recorded in history even in the passing of the Black World Incursion. Nozomi proved Control to be superior to Chaos the moment she invaded the Black World itself and crushed her opposite in her larva stages. She did not even wish to imagine what Aera would have become if she'd gained the same amount of power... Now she was stuck in this child-like state, constantly suppressed by Nozomi so that she could never grow.

Doctor Hebi was more in danger of himself than he was Aera. In a fight, it would be completely one-sided in his favor.

How many people can... Really? Sometimes Nozomi wondered if he was just throwing these questions out for the sake of making conversation or if he truly wished for her to answer them for him, despite knowing exactly why. He posed it without expecting an answer, and she surely as hell would not be giving him one. Still, there was some part of him that desperately wished to know. No, not specifically the answer to that question. Just know, in general, the secrets that she possessed. Given the opportunity to put the Quincy on a dissecting table and tear her mind apart for the knowledge stowed away there, he'd take it in an instant and use her like a book. Perhaps one of the most prized bits of information he'd seek is the answer to why she associated herself with him so much, as she just tried to cling onto the most relatable ties she had to this world. Well, her problems were her own.

''Hmph... One-hundred percent of my actions have to do with my own interests, considering.'' Considering what she's seen. The end of time, of space. The structure of reality and its many fractures. She'd declare no action they made had any point or bearing if she wasn't trying to fasten herself to this one timeline that she could perceive normally. It gave a whole new meaning to the concept of fate. ''Crisis avoided, but I'm still here. I even told you that there was no longer any danger. That should have already answered your question. I'm here because I want to be.''

Following her example, Hebi soon walked through the portal into the Black World, where the two now stood looking back upon the plane they were familiar with. It had a different connotation to him than her, but still, both considered it their home. Her own universe had already deteriorated completely by this point... she'd been unable to save it.

''Wait,'' Nozomi interrupted, putting her hand on his arm and stopping him from closing it for the time being. Though she addressed him, her gaze was on the portal itself, to draw attention to it. ''Sure, we were able walk through unabashed. But what you're not seeing... the realm itself suffers our burden.'' She then moved her fingers up to the side of his head, pushing through the silver locks of hair to get to his skin. ''I'm going to have to ask you to open your mind to this one. I want to show you what I see, without making the effort of trying to break through the mental defenses you've been strengthening for my sake.''

The last comment was given with a twinkle of playfulness, but Nozomi became completely serious right after it. Through the physical connection she began sending the images, allowing him to share her sight so long as he accepted the mental influence. Provided he allowed it, their points of view would blend, slightly altered by the Quincy to allow Hebi to see it as if he had her eyes—no time lag, no distortion—it was as if he temporarily possessed the Arius. And what he saw? Like mutilated flesh swirling around the edges of the rift, and burnt scars around those, the great wound of space and time. He could see the shatterpoints, like silver points of light all interconnected to each other by nigh invisible threads. The closer one looked towards the portal the more there were, the brighter they shined, making it looked like cracked glass. Even the slightest influence might cause it to shatter. From this vision, Hebi could understand just how much damage his device was causing, and... even with his mad mind, the sheer clarity with which he could see the damage done to the fabric of the universe might even invoke a feeling of sadness.

''Functionally, your technology is incredible. Yet it is far from perfect. Every time you use it, whether to open or to close these rifts, this level of injury will be done. If you are to improve that device on your arm, go forth with this picture in mind.'' And then, the channel was closed. Hebi's vision would return to normal as she cut off the flow of images. The portal resumed its innocent guise, but its secret had been revealed. ''I'm not one to interfere with this community's advancement of sciences anymore, though. You are free to continue as you see fit, and I will only be there to ensure only the greatest of catastrophes are diverted.''

Without much ado, she stepped back and gestured with her hand to let him continue. In the meanwhile, Aera had detached from Nozomi's shadow with an excited squeal, to dance and to frolic around in the verdant field. This was her home... Even so, that didn't prevent her aura from turning the grassy ground beneath her feet into blackened sludge, or the air around her shifting gray and stale. She continued to drift further into the vast plains, leaving a path of not-even-death-but-permanently-annuled-matter. In a way, she was very much like a representation of this universe's entropic death... just in miniature form. It was disconcerting just how her cheerful tone contrasted with that.

Sat May 27, 2017 9:35 am

While the Doctor usually worked with bio-organics, he also dabbled within spacial manipulations. His stomach was a testament to that, as well as the basics of his summoning techniques. But it was also true that he did not dabble much outside of those two uses. After all, those two were intimately related to the other parts of his abilities, the way he worked. This experiment… not so much. This experiment was influenced partly by the presence of the Black World, and partly because of the abilities of individuals like the Dimensional Wanderer before him. A large part of why he began performing these experiments was due to the fact that the Black World was not a part of his home universe, and yet was known to exist. That way, even if it broke… well…

Perhaps that way of thinking was not exactly healthy.

Unfair, hmm…? The Doctor wondered, glancing past her hand and into her eyes instead. …This woman… She was one of the few people who could… put him off guard. But how am I ever supposed to return that kind of notion…? The Doctor wondered, in some small part of his mind. She was concerned about the unfairness of his technology failing after the work that he had put in… but the Doctor had no way of knowing how he could return such a care. Perhaps it is simply the way of things… or perhaps I still… am simply not trying hard enough.

Of course, the Doctor never expected for her to actually answer his rheotrical question. If she did, that would give him a huge amount of information on something that he had no business having. He was well aware of this, and honestly could care less about the answer. He was asking more to push the value of this technology. The Doctor still had yet to find a point at which he regretted the things that he did. However.. It was true that if he were to dissect her, much as he wanted to… and discovered the reason that she associated herself with him… It would likely shake him to his very core. The reason why was because of the kind of person that he had become, partly because of his interactions with her… with his son, with his wife… If the Doctor was aware of such things, he would think that he had gone soft.. But not in a way which was bad.

…Yes… Nozomi… is no slave. The Doctor thought to himself, a tiny bit of genuineness behind his constant half-smile. He remembered the first time they had met (and tried to kill each other), where she had played at being the princess of the forest. Or how during one of their more recent meetings (when they tried to kill each other), she had sent him off with that child of chaos and entropy. She did what pleased her, and while the Doctor might not understand why telling him about his mistakes made her happy…

Some part of him did enjoy having an audience, especially one who could understand the magnitude of what he was trying to do.

The Doctor's hand was outstretched, preparing to seal the gate again, before a word came to him from the side. …Hmm? He wondered, freezing for a moment. The number of people who the Doctor would listen to if they spoke that word… could be counted with two fingers. He froze even more when her fingers moved to the side of his head, the feeling of them pressing through the hair and along the scaly skin of the Doctor, Kabuto Hebi. "…Very well."

The opportunity to see things as she did, for no matter how brief a time, could not be passed up. The Doctor's mind began spinning in another direction altogether, and it was with the intent to analyze. "Of course, that assumes that I would try to strengthen them." The Doctor's voice passed through from the mental link, her access just as easy as it has always been. If the Doctor could be coy, she would feel it in that moment. The Doctor had always had the feeling that she could simply beat down defenses if he tried to make them stronger… so the solution was not brute force. Rather, he had spent more time developing the mental division technique he had displayed during their last conflict. It also had the benefit of allowing him to pick and choose what came through without any unpleasantness, such as she was likely expecting.

Then, his mind went into a mode of total focus. A true smile played out on his lips, unconcealed as he did what he enjoyed the most: recording information. He did not seem particularly debased by what she allowed him to witness. The comparison of the mutilated flesh held an even deeper meaning for a being like Kabuto Hebi.

This man was a Doctor, at his core. Seeing a wound did not bring him feelings of despair. That damage was a challenge. It made his heart speed up a bit to witness it, the possibilities it presented. More information, more possibilities, more room to study, to grow, to explore. The channel was then cut, the Doctor's mind now proliferating with possibilities. He wondered if she would attempt to pilfer the information that he had been gathering about the mental link itself… or leave him with it.

"…Dimensional body snatching…" The Doctor muttered, examining the device in his hand. The practice of body-snatching was one the Doctor himself had employed at times, where bodies were looted from graveyards and then sold off to anatomy schools, such as John Hunter's of London. "…I don't suppose… you have access… to any dead dimensions." The Doctor commented, contemplating the device on his arm. If he could create a portal to one where he could survive… then it would be possible for him to test it even further.

"Miss, your presence is a blight."

A voice stated clearly, its owner attempting to pause Aera in her tracks with an outstretched hand. Gray hair covered his eyes, and purple wing-like appendages pushed out of his back. His whole body was covered in armor, and he looked for all the world like a warrior. "So sit still, you're not helping anyone." He informed her, unable to hold back a lie or fail to say anything but the truth.

The Doctor paused, turning his head back at the man who was trying to stall the little being of the inevitable heat-death of the universe. "…Akat… go back inside." He said directly, looking at the man. Honestly, he was a bit embarrassed. He supposed something like this would happen. The man was Sir Akat, the Inverse of Doctor Hebi. He was uncreative, unable to tell lies, uninterested in intellectual pursuits… and enjoyed putting himself above others.

Then, without further ado, purple stitches snared around the winged being's lips, his arms following suit, the Doctor restraining him with their connection. The man was stuck kneeling on the ground, and the Doctor's gaze relaxed once again. "…Apologies… though… you may understand… I wonder what would have occurred, if yours had time to develop…" The Doctor muttered, mostly to himself, looking at the device in his hand and at Aera.

But that was one of those things that he felt Nozomi would always prevent him from being able to interact with, as interesting as it would be…

Mon May 29, 2017 8:43 am

Source: NieR: Automata - Song: Possessed by a Disease

Nozomi wished she could say that he didn't really want to know, even though the insinuation of immeasurable horrors only piqued his interest. Aera, given enough time, would have served as a new blight upon their universe. A force capable of sending all living things into an era of darkness. Her presence in the future was such a disturbance that Nozomi could feel it from the past. Someone like her, but with the aspect of control removed. Was not the dissolution before his eyes enough? It had to be, because a future in which Aera was fully-developed was not one she was going to allow to happen; not in her timeline.

Aera's curious eyes widened at the appearance of the vain knight, like a small child in wonder of something greater than her. She heard noises but did not translate them into words within her mind—too distracted by the shiny armor. She wanted to touch it. When the knight was bound and forced to kneel, it was the perfect time to. Her snow-white fingertips reached for him, desperately. Contact which had no good or evil sown into it... such ideals would become nothing in the form of dead matter. That was the fate of everything Aera touched...

Nozomi had always strongly represented order and control, reflected by her powers. She was not a pure representation of it, but likely the closest thing a mortal could become of it. Thus, when the Black World began to conceive of her antithesis, it began along the opposite path of chaos in Aera. The two were fated to fight during the conflux of the two realms, equal yet opposite; but that future was stolen away when Nozomi ripped the newborn from her own home and stripped her of the ability to grow into an equal. Such was the form she was seen in today. Yet upon that face was no frown, no emotions of sadness or anger. Aera looked upon nearly everything with adolescent glee, even though her fate has been perpetually resigned.

Because she was the opposite of control. She did not desire to keep everything under her oppressive thumb as Nozomi did. Quite the opposite: Aera merely wished to be taken by the flow of time, existing as fate would intend for her, rather than making it her own. That her existence was chained by Nozomi... it made her no less happy than had she grown into a terrible monster. Let everything be as it may—her own philosophy.

...

Aera's body was shredded on the spot. Ripped to pieces on an atomic scale before being pulled towards Nozomi's shadow as if by a powerful gravitational force. She was but centimeters from touching Sir Akat's armor before the First Quincy forced her back into the cage she lived in normally. As the girl moved about as she wished, the freedom she enjoyed was only an illusion. Besides, it did not seem as though they were going to stay here for much longer anyways. While the Black World was Hebi's destination, it was merely because he knew of no other universe he could reach. But... ''A dead dimension...?''

She considered the implications, though Nozomi's thought processes never took longer than a second's fraction. She had no real stock in preserving alternate timelines or alternate universes. It was pointless, and there were a countless number of them, even for her. She simply could see no end in them, and new ones were always being created. For one to go under for the sake of a little experimentation... hardly tugged at the Quincy's heart strings. No matter what either of them did, life would never end, and neither would time or space.

Her stance settled, the woman glanced to the side and waved her arm. It was so effortless that no amount of humility in Nozomi's character could make it not look like she was crafting a spectacle of it: A plane within the Black World was chosen at random by her Esper, to become the host of a rift between universes. Light seemed to twist and rip open as an infinitely fine point became a circular waygate. The world shuddered as the opposing physics and constants conversed with each other in the portal's threshold. On the other side of that hole was... an almost equally beautiful space. An ocean in the darkness of night, subject to a light shower of rain. The sound of a storm could be heard as the water's surface was battered, along with the feeling of moisture escaping through the portal.

Nozomi stepped through her own hand-crafted rift, holding the way open for Hebi behind her. There was no solid ground to be seen from horizon to horizon, and perhaps Hebi would quickly note the lack of oxygen as well. She explained the circumstances to him. ''Don't let the seeming lack of destruction fool you... This universe has never once held life. A universe as beautiful as ours, had living things never been birthed. I believe this planet is entirely a water-world.'' Nozomi sustained her elevation upon a platform of Esper, using discs of light as stepping stones as she crossed over the inclement ocean. Her boots were licked by the waves' peaks, while her uniform was whipped around wildly by the bitter winds.

''Honestly, every possibility is out there. If you asked for a universe with very specific parameters, I could find it for you, eventually. Even one with the slightest of changes from one we recognize, and it likely exists. It just would take time... even for me... to go through them all. You wish to refine your device, correct?''

She stopped her meaningless stroll, turning back towards the doctor. ''Oh and... please avoid the Sugiuran plane.''

Mon May 29, 2017 11:53 am

You know, maybe that is why I find her opposite so much easier to understand. The Doctor could witness the dissolution happening in front of him, but to him that was simply something else that he could study. Just as he was fascinated by Esper, to the point of calling it Victor III, he was interested in what allowed for her to make everything she touched so… different.

Perhaps he had let Sir Akat out on purpose… perhaps he had wanted for the girl to try to touch him. Akat was the only piece of himself vain enough to try to interfere with what she was doing, or try to get in her way. He was also the only one who could not understand the danger of what she represented, or what it was possible for her to do to a being like him. To him, the matters of good and evil, order and chaos… they were all rubbish. Sir Akat had time for only one thing, and that was the betterment of himself. He could not fathom being weakened or someone looking down on him.

The Doctor truly was interested to see what would happen if Aera tried to break someone like Akat. If Nozomi would allow for her to do so, especially since it would involve harming a part of the Doctor himself. "…Hmm. Seems we both feel the need to control our baser selves."

The words left the Doctor's mouth, soft and observant as he watched Aera be ripped absolutely to pieces. Sir Akat looked on in shock, for just a moment, before he relaxed in his bonds. Without further ado, he slid into the ground, melding back into the Doctor's consciousness.

The Doctor was interested by the pause that Nozomi seemed to have. She seemed to honestly be considering what he had said, as if he had posed her a challenge. But this brought them closer and closer to something that the Doctor had wanted to ask her about for some time. "I shall take that as a yes, then." His eyes were examining everything as it occurred, a single drop of blood sliding down his scaly-skinned cheek.

That was all it took for his Rinnegan to come into effect, helping him to analyze the opening. There truly was no comparison between these eyes and the Arius, but in some way that is what the Doctor enjoyed about them. He did not want the absolute best, but he wanted something that would do the job well enough. No matter how many times he observed the Esper at work, it was always a spectacle. The way that everything collapsed in on one point, before becoming a gate. …No, definitely cannot see them… but I can see that… He observed the changes in forces… before watching them balance. …Yes, it's much more refined then mine… balancing them out, instead of just forcing them both into equality… Hmm..

The information that the Doctor absorbed spun the gears inside of his mind, taking the series of chains in both hands. His eyes watched as the oxygen dissipated, his skin beginning to alter. This was part of the skin that he had developed with the aid of his wife… similar to how he was now being aided. The skin was developed to handle any difference in climate, and he had even gotten the opportunity to test it in space. Stepping in after her, he seemed to have no reservation about entering the space. That in and of itself displayed a peculiar kind of trust in the blue-haired Quincy. After all, if he were to die in this place… Hebi the snake would be unable to return home.

Once before, Nozomi had deconstructed and reconstructed his form. He did not depend on that, either. In his heart, the man did not know why she associated with him as much as she did. For him, it was like a human watching a garden snake slithering about, seeing where it would go. The difference was that she could follow the snake, even if it delved deep underground or beneath layers of foliage. …Why cannot she just let me hide away…

That was the thought he possessed as he crossed over the barrier, entering somewhere that looked very similar. "…Seems you were destined to visit the ocean after all." He commented, his mind racing. Hmm, how to prevent from falling in. This is problematic. My technology is currently based on the premise of solid ground. He would simply have to reach the ground then... and since he was currently on a course downwards regardless...

"Let us dive then… and test that theory." He told her with a smile… letting himself fall. His head was pulled forwards, hands slid into his lab coat pockets. His gray hair flitted and pressed into his scalp, preparing to test a hypothesis. Flames poured out along his body, spiritual flames. Hmm, no oxygen… no flames. Normally. Heat pressed into the water, forcing it to turn to steam as the Doctor's body continued to freefall.

"…Hmm, I wonder then. Have you ever run into another version of yourself?" He asked her as he continued to fall. The flames he was emitting increased in width, spinning about and evaporating more of the space. "Or are you what makes ours unique?" A hint of teasing was contained in that statement, the Doctor laughing with that insane laugh of his as he fell farther and farther down. He imagined that she could follow him with ease, not to mention hearing him. Even as the water began to crash down over where he had entered, the fact remained… she was the one he could not hide from.

"Very well…" He replied to her final request, still with that twisted grin on his face as he finally impacted with ground. The flames emitting from his body surged out, giving him room as he gripped into the earth. There it is… Now then… He would need some space to work… so he used his Earth element to push the earth outwards. He had used a significant amount of energy by this point, making him breathe hard due to still being in his sealed form. This would be much easier, considering.

Out of the ground, a colossal snake made out of earth began to rise, it's mouth opening as it took on more water. Where the top of the Doctor's flames had reached, a panel of Earth had appeared, and it was finally stretching him to his sealed limit just to keep that stable. Sweat dripped down the side of his head as he controlled the snake, pushing it up through the water… until it finally broke the surface.

Another spurt of flame grew at the core of the earthen plate, which now had considerably less pressure on it. Out of the center of flame, the Doctor's body stood, giving him a platform to work with that was connected to the plane's actual earth. "…There…" The chains rested in his hands now, and had his attention. Purple lines of energy emitted from his fingertips as he made calibrations, a look of intense concentration on his face. Finally, his eyes closed again, putting it back into place.

"So if we have multiple dimensions, theoretically infinite ones… then does the Crisis of Infinite Earths hold true?" He asked her, looking up at Nozomi. This was the thing that he had been wanting to ask her ever since she had appeared today. "Is there any action with any meaning… other than trying to destroy the world where all others stem from?" He asked her, kneeling down and looking at the ground he had summoned up. The Doctor's fingers reached into the hardened earth, simply taking the moment to feel it. His hands grew dirty from touching it, and his face was also littered with it. His voice was not sad, not in despair… it was alight with curiosity.

"For one who can see all of them, especially… Do these actions hold any meaning…? Any meaning at all…?"

Tue May 30, 2017 12:35 pm

Source: NieR: Automata - Song: Possessed by a Disease

Doctor Hebi's dive into the oceans of this yet named water planet was much like the nature of his technology. There was so much wasted energy, and unnecessary noise. His fire acted like a drill that burrowed itself into the ocean as he allowed himself to free-fall. With a sigh, she watched as the node of light continued to descend into the dark depths, as a problem began to arise. The water harmlessly transformed into steam at first... on the surface. Though the moment he was submerged, the process transformed unbeknownst to him. The water wasn't evaporating properly—there was no space for the steam to escape and too much pressure for the molecules to spread out. Nozomi predicted that he'd likely figure this out partway down, and start decimating the molecules entirely, but... she almost found it offensive. There was an issue she had with the way he operated, and now was as good as any time to finally point this out to him. With a roll of her eyes, she vanished from the spot she was currently hovering.

Hebi's path downwards would find itself obstructed... or perhaps opened, depending on how one perceived it. It started with a single ray of light emerging from the utter blackness he now found himself surrounded by. It quickly grew wider until his entire field of view was consumed by it except for one small hole behind him. Even if he tried to pull away from it he'd find a not-so-subtle pressure dragging him through into the blinding light.

Then he'd quickly find himself flung from water into a solid obsidian plateau with unforgiving force. The ground splintered beneath him and sent shards flying in every direction with the impact, and Doctor Hebi in the middle. Even amongst the confusion it would be obvious what had occurred; Nozomi had transported him to another area. As further confirmation, the Doctor only needed to take in his surroundings—the presence of two suns giving multi-colored daylight to barren landscape, the shift in gravity that made it several times more difficult to lift a finger, the immense altitude they now found themselves at without a single body of water in sight. As it was, they stood atop what one could only assume was a volcano overlooking an empty black and gray world of rock.

''Hebi, please,'' came Nozomi's voice from beside him as she threw out an exasperated gesture of her arms. She'd interrupted him for a reason, it seemed. ''I know. You don't want to ask for my help. You'd feel cheated if I did everything for you, but you need to properly determine when maintaining your self-reliance will serve your ideals and when it will only waste time.'' With another gesture of the arm, the obsidian material underneath Hebi coagulated and rose like a pillar to send the snake flying high into the air, just before the powerful gravity of the planet jerked him back down. Tough love, if only for the sake of teaching a lesson.

''I was right there, and had numerous ways to grant you the land you needed that you tried to acquire through more difficult methods. Asking me for help allows you to spend more time researching, and less time working for what you need in order to begin researching. In summation; efficiency.'' They were on another planet now, same universe. Now that she was able to glimpse what it was he required, she'd found a more suitable place for him to begin his work. Yet, it was an issue that his technology even required solid ground beneath his feet in order to function correctly. The end-goal would always be pure versatility; the ability to be used in any circumstance. ''Forsake me when it serves to condemn your work, but seek me when it will facilitate it.''

It was good to get that off of her chest, after witnessing how hard he pushed himself just to make independent progress. It was something that could practically be misconstrued with masochism; stupid. Hebi was better than that. And on that line of conversation, she knew what was bugging his mind as well. He was about to ask her a question that touched on something too close to home in her own mind. The multiverse; the higher dimensions. These were recent developments in her own work and some with rather unsettling implications. No... not implications, but an inescapable reality. However little she hated the truth, there was nothing she could do about it. So much for a being of absolute control...

She sauntered over to Doctor Hebi whether he had picked himself from the ground or not, and reached out to place a white-gloved hand on his head. Tilting her head and grinning, she responded to his question once he finally asked it, using a jovial tone. ''Well. Wouldn't you like to know? You are working on that device, are you not? Finish it. Find out the answer for yourself. I wouldn't deprive you of the surprise.'' This was exactly what she had been talking about: Answering this question would belittle his sciences, and so she would not grant him an answer. Besides, there was something else they could talk about while he worked.

''So, about our last meeting...''

Caught Gold-Handed

Caught Gold-Handed

Re: Caught Gold-Handed

Re: Caught Gold-Handed

Re: Caught Gold-Handed

Re: Caught Gold-Handed

Re: Caught Gold-Handed

Re: Caught Gold-Handed

Re: Caught Gold-Handed

Re: Caught Gold-Handed

Re: Caught Gold-Handed

Re: Caught Gold-Handed