Midsummer 15, 6107 RTR (Jun 10, 2008) Qing and Natasha participate in Dr. Pike's experiment involving 'Aeolun Cells'.
(Madame Natasha) (Qing) (Spheres of Magic) (Stonebarrow) (Sylvania)
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    Secure Laboratory
    Dr. Pike has several rooms dedicated to experiments within her crumbling castle, but this one is deemed the most secure: that is, secure against anything escaping. The door is made from a solid piece of ironwood, and the sides are angled to reduce gaps between it and the doorframe, which is also built to vault-like specifications. Light comes from glass-covered lanterns that lit from outside, where the air intake and exhaust vents are also located. Ventilation for the room itself involves very sturdy vent-covers, with openings so tight that only the smallest of insects could wriggle through.

At the center of the barren, somewhat cramped room is a table, and atop that is an ironwood cage that measures a yard in each direction. Suspended above the cage are two large upside-down bottles: one filled with a dark, sooty-looking liquid that runs through a hose into the cage itself, and the other filled with plain water that runs via another hose to a sprinkler head attached to the inner top of the cage.

Inside the cage itself, with the sooty-fluid tube snaked into its mouth (and probably down its throat and into the stomach) is a strange, seemingly dead reptile. It looks like a standard carnivorous cave lizard, except that patches of its flesh have become white, and its two middle limbs (it has six) have begun to sprout small feathers.

"What luck that you happened to be visiting just as I had finished setting everything up!" Dr. Pike enthuses to Mage Qing, including his guest in the greeting. "As you can see, the specimen is quite secure, and I have enough nutrient mix to hopefully complete the transformation. The water is to keep it cool, of course, since I expect the process would generate considerable metabolic waste heat without some sort of magical mediation… "

The witchdoctor nods slowly, eyeing the specimen and its attending machinery suspiciously, but not commenting on it. Instead, he hisses, "As I promised, doctor. It has been an enlightening past few days, and I come with their events fresh in my mind. My extended stay in Sylvania has challenged some long-held assertions while reinforcing others."

"Oh dear, nothing too traumatic I hope?" the Eeee woman asks, adjusting her thick glasses. Behind her, Igor stands ready to assist in whatever way he can. The patchwork Skreek smiles lopsidedly – but in a presumably friendly way – to the Khatta woman who came with Qing.

"For a woman who chooses to deny the power of magic, you seem to hold quite an interest in what it can do for you," Natasha can't help but comment after her few minutes of careful observation of the peculiar, dead lizard, "You would do well to attend a school of magic should you wish to make true progress." Natasha's only response to Igor is to raise her brow questioningly, then ask, "May I help you?"

Qing dusts at his spotless white mantle. "I persevere," he says, simply. "In any case, I am prepared to craft the spirit you requested to specifications. We shall see what your curious cadaver can tell us."

"Jutht thmiling, Mithtreth," Igor responds, and gives a little bow. Pike, however, notes, "My studies really don't mix with magic that much… or at least, not with cast magic. I'm hoping to discover an underlying connection… well… err… This is just an experiment to check some theories of mine is all."

"It makes me feel as if I remind you of someone," Natasha notes to the misshapen Skreek. Her ears flick and she says to Pike, "You are likely seeking to either find immortality, or … resurrect the dead. It is a common endeavor in these lands."

"For this test, I suppose a spirit that is… well, 'life-mimicking' would be best. Something with a definite form; limbs, senses, that sort of thing. But controllable, of course," Pike requests.

The bat actually blushes as Natasha guesses at her research. "Well… something like that," she admits. "Just without all the necromancy and wet bits."

"If you feel tired from today's events, I could try to summon my spirit familiar for this task. It has long acted as if it were a living creature," Natasha suggests. "However, the choice is yours."

Qing hisses, "A simple enough matter." He slithers in a ring around the chamber to pick out a spot to work, unshouldering a bundle of supplies he'd brought with him. "Seeking immortality, trying to raise the dead… folly, we are taught, and justly so for what comes of it, and the greedy reasons to seek them. Of late, however, I have begun to question what life is."

"Well, the usual definition includes 'it dies' in it," Pike notes. "So… really, I don't know if this alien flesh counts as being alive or not."

"So, why the desire to beat death?" Natasha asks as she slowly circles the secure room, her staff clicking lightly on the stone floor. "Do you fear dying? Do you have an incurable disease, perhaps?"

The Rokuga scratches at his chin and throat thoughtfully. "I do not know if the usual definition should suffice anymore. In Nagai, we do not believe in your Procession as it pertains to an afterlife. When you are dead, you are gone, and what remains is your legacy, that being how you live on after death." His lower sets of arms section out parts of the floor in chalk, adding streams of colored sand poured from a glass-eyed skull. "What do you believe, Dr. Pike? Madame Natasha?"

"I… um… I can't have children," Pike whispers to Natasha. "But the possibility of replacing damaged organs with golem ones is certainly worth looking into."

"As for an afterlife, or existence of a soul," Pike says, "I really can't say. I know that a spirit is a manifestation of how the world remembers a living being, but only if it can exist beyond the reach of magic can it truly be considered alive, I feel."

"Your actions in life leave a reflection on the world around you, much as how an author uses words to reflect a story to others," Natasha begins as she finally stops pacing. Her thumbs rubs against her timeworn staff for a bit before she continues, "So, I see life as a journey of trying to leave a beautiful reflection upon the world, be it through children or great acts. The passing of a person is a necessity, for without it, how would we ever progress? If there was no need to hurry, to do as much as you can in the few days you may have – well we would live in a much simpler world. Death, in my view, is merely a reminder to us that we should make something of ourselves and treat every moment as if it were precious. As for an afterlife; well, one ever truly dies so long as their memory continues on. Your legacy is your afterlife."

Igor remains notably silent on the whole subject.

"What does your servant feel on the matter? He is one who has lived far longer than most," Natasha notes as her eyes flick to the odd Skreek.

"Reasonable assertions, all," hisses Qing. "And commonly taught to correct the misconception that spirits and souls are the same, or that spirits are a form of life." He doesn't elaborate, his drawing bringing him closer to the center of the circle. A stylized form suggesting a body, limbs, and a head takes shape there, symbols linked within it to each other with carefully manipulated streams of sand. A small jar is held in one hand, and a bony finger is dipped in it, brought down to the figure to leave smears of red in different shapes by each symbol.

"I'm a firm believer in rethycling, Madam," Igor notes. "Philothophithing ithn't my thing – I prefer a more handth on approach to life and death."

"As long as you are not taking from the still-living, then I will have no issue with that," Natasha comments. "However, should you walk the path of mutilation, well … I think you can understand the repercussions well enough."

"My family hath therved thethe landth for a very long time, Mithtreth Natatha," Igor notes, standing up a bit straighter (well, reasonably straighter, given the hump). "If we did thuch thingth, we would not have thurvived thith long."

"Keep it that way," Natasha says almost coldly. "My life has had one Skreek with delusions of godhood. I will not suffer another."

Pike shudders for a moment. "Err, there are the… teeth… Igor," she reminds the man. "I know why you keep them, but… still… It's just creepy."

"Broken teeth are theriouth ithueth with rodent-bathed people, Doctor," Igor replies.

Qing does not contribute to this part of the conversation, though he half listens up to the point he looks satisfied with his markings and the candles spaced around the edges of the circle. Setting aside his tools except for the jar, he raises four of his six hands into the air, and begins murmuring in Imperial. Though the temperature doesn't actually change, it feels as though it begins to creep downward.

As Qing works, Natasha approaches the box and its odd tubing. She crouches down a bit to get a closer look at the strange creature.

The Eeee just mutters something about a fear of dentists.

The alien patches of flesh on the otherwise scaly green lizard resemble Rhian hide, although maybe with slightly longer fur. The feathers look normal at a causal glance, and the tufts of golden hair seem like those one would find on a Kiriga.

"It isn't dead," Pike whispers to Natasha, noting her interest. "Just… sort of paused… "

"It looks like a mutant Kiriga," Natasha finally says, "Reminds me of a few students I had once. Kiriga are rumored to be graceful and beautiful … yet they were not. They often smelled dead, yet were not. I hope one of them did not finally find a lover." Hard to say if she's joking or not, really.

"Well, I assure you this isn't in any way related to a Kiriga or any other form of life on this world," Dr. Pike asserts.

The Rokuga's droning takes on an almost hypnotic quality, constantly paced and pitched at the same level. The air around him seems to… thicken. Almost as if one can taste it, though maybe that's just the coppery tang from the crimson smudges on the floor. Cloudy shapes in the air that might at first seem imagined begin to coalesce, drawing together into a lump that Qing's hands thrust into and begin shaping like ghostly clay, stretching here, smoothing there, drawing a line in the air there which fills out into vein-like trails.

Igor finds this spirit-crafting process fascinating. Despite his supposedly long life, this level of Spirit Magic is seldom seen in Sylvania. Or at least those who have seen it didn't live long enough afterward to report on it.

"It could also be some creature created by the Babelite cultists. I have been told they dabble in peculiar things," Natasha comments. "You don't associate with any Babelites, do you?"

The Eeee just blinks. "Well, no, my group is composed entirely of Sylvanians… oh… wait, Dr. Festus is Chronotopian. Anyway, this is Exile in origin."

"Your group?" Natasha asks, brow arching slightly. She leans down to get another close look before saying, "Do you consider work on Exiles not necromancy, then?"

"Well, this particular Exile is unique as far as I know," Pike explains. "Mage Qing knows her, even. I assumed she was a very advanced golem myself, until it was reported that she traveled beyond the Gateway and kept on working."

"This is her child, then? It must have been a painful birth. Well, unless she was an egg-layer," Natasha notes as she reaches out to prod at the creature.

Qing doesn't seem to notice Igor's attention, but he doesn't make any attempt to conceal what he's doing. A vaguely lizard-like shape is formed out, with something akin to a skeleton seen through transparent 'flesh'. The Rokuga takes a moment to sit back in his coils, studying the hovering apparition, leaning forward again to adjust a few things, then thrusts one hand into the jar he's holding. It comes out soaked in blood, and he pushes his hand into the ghostly form and closes it around its 'heart'. Rather than simply dribble to the floor, the blood seems to slowly melt away, leaving the mage's hand clean. "It is done."

"No, this lizard took a bite out of her when she first arrived on our world, and… well, you can see what happened," Pike says, gesturing to the cave lizard. "What I hope to find out is if the process can be completed, and what other properties can be derived from this flesh… Oh! That looks like one of the diagrams in an anatomy text, Mage Qing!"

"Very imprethive," Igor comments.

The mage dusts his many hands together matter of factly. "Nothing unusual, and simplistic, but that suits our needs. When you are prepared, I will direct it into the cadaver."

Pike checks that the valve to the nutrient tank is open, and then nods to Qing. "Ready, Mage Qing!" she reports enthusiastically.

"He is too modest. That is still advanced crafting. Few can manage it effectively, even after much practice," Natasha comments as he looks towards Qing's construct. "Most crafters manage spheres of light and rather translucent images."

"Some of Mage Qing's techniques have been adapted for very advanced medical imaging and probing," Pike says to Natasha. "I have a whole book full of… well, very interesting things related to this experiment."

"Before you begin any sort of implant, please allow me to ward this room. As Mage Qing's talent lies in construct and control, mine is in containment and disassociation," Natasha explains as she steps back from the strange creature. "I can make quite certain it would not be able to escape the confines of this room."

The pallid snake crooks his fingers, and the lizard-like apparition jerks, then goes from dangling upright to 'standing' in the air on its belly. Qing's crabbed hand undulates, as if walking, and the lizard does the same, scurrying across the chamber to the inert cadaver on the table, and settling into it, disappearing from view. "It is gratifying that my work has gone beyond its original means," hisses Qing. "It seems to me that life, or what we can validly call life, is defined in the same way… something that can grow beyond itself. Spirits cannot, by themselves. Or so we are generally hold. Yes, Madame Natasha, if you would be so kind, I would feel much more at ease with your precautions in place."

With the spirit in place, Pike practically presses her nose to the side of the cage as she focuses her large ears on the lizard. "I heard a beat… there, again," she whispers. "About ten heart beats per minute so far. Igor, pay attention to the nutrient flow."

The Skreek turns one eye up to the markings on the side of the tank full of dark goo.

"A moment, then," Natasha says as she leans her staff against the nearby exam table. It's now the Khatta's turn to work and she does so by drawing out several sticks of colored chalk from her robe. She does not draw a ritual circle around the table, but instead slowly walks the circumference of the room, marking out intricate symbols along the walls. "Now, in a common case, a circle is placed around the intended spirit. However, that also limits the ability to examine it. By treating the entire room as the circle, we should be able to operate in it effectively with no fear of it escaping. Now, do please mind that creature while I get the wards in place." And with a glance to the Skreek she adds, "And do not do anything until I am done."

"Not anything?" Igor asks. Pike seems oblivious, her complete attention on the lizard – which doesn't seem to be doing anything either. So far its chest hasn't even moved to take a breath.

Qing, for his part, has let his myriad arms finally drop, folding most of them under his mantle except for the top pair, which has the palms threaded together as if being held at the ready to manipulate his creation. He listens quietly, tongue occasionally flicking.

With a small shake of her head, the Khatta resumes her slow work around the room. As she writes, she chants softly in Khattan. A sing-song and gentle tone; far different from the harsher and more forceful tone of Imperial. As each mark is laid, a ripple of light traces out each letter. Almost like a heartbeat itself, the shimmer of light traces out the letter as if re-writing it again and again over the next several minutes. Overall, it takes her a good fifteen minutes to circle the room in flowing script. With the way the glow flows over each letter, the illusion it presents is almost as if the words themselves were slowly circling the group. "That should be more than enough to contain a construct," she finally says, "Even should it find a way to increase its spiritual energy by an order of magnitude or more. Adaptive warding, a useful technique for handling complex spirits. Each aspect of the circle can affect the other and should a spirit assault it, the point assaulted alters other points to both lure the spirit away as well as bolster the defense to counter the form of spirit attack it may be employing," she explains.

"I think it took a breath!" Pike reports once the ward is in place.

"And apparently such holds no interest," Natasha mutters to herself as she walks back to the table to join the scientist and her faithful minion.

"I found it interethting," Igor notes. "Forgive the Doctor; thee hath a one-track mind at timeth."

"Well crafted, my colleague," hisses Qing. His tone is frank rather than voiced as praise, as is the snake's custom. "With these precautions in place, I will try to encourage the spirit and cadaver to intermingle, if Dr. Pike wishes… or would she rather let it simply take its course?"

"Well… would that speed things up?" Pike asks. "Or better simulate a living body?"

The witchdoctor hisses, "It would speed things up, using the spirit to encourage the body's processes to function. We call it 'innervating', to temporarily keep a body from dying, and is part of how a spirit animates a body. I could get it to breathe or its heart to beat. It is atypical of how bodies and their 'grown' spirits act, however.

"Well… I think it is appropriate in this case," Pike says. "Surely, the original infection spread quickly. Please proceed, Mage Qing."

"Whereas the natural ones act in a more symbiotic way with the body, existing as a reflection of each other instead of directly affecting," Natasha adds as a partial explanation. "It is common to what necromancers do to animate corpses. Desiccated muscles, afterall, cannot truly move on their own."

"Well, since this body isn't… dead… " Pike notes, "it won't be necromancy, right?"

The mage nods, and brings up the hands he had been holding in front of himself. "It is just as Madame Natasha says," he hisses, an open hand beginning to squeeze at the air, as if closing over the lizard's heart in regular strokes. "In this way, perhaps the specimen will be encouraged to take up its processes on its own, if it is truly as sensitive to spirits as you theorize."

This time, the body in the cage actually twitches for a moment, and a bubble oozes up through the tube to the nutrient tank. "It's working!" Pike says, clutching her hands to her chin and giggling like a little girl.

"Calm yourself," Natasha says softly. "Be objective."

It takes several more minutes before the transformation can be seen to have actually progressed some. The white patches have spread a fraction of an inch further, and the middle pair of legs is more visibly deforming into wings. Dr. Pike even reports she can hear the bones changing. At one point, Igor sprays the body down with water to keep it from overheating, and the nutrient goo is being depleted at a fairly steady rate.

"Are you certain you have enough nutrient for it?" Natasha asks as she walks around the table to get a better view from the other side.

Mage Qing seems to no longer need to stimulate the creature via the crafted spirit, and instead ventures close to the others to observe, his brow ridge creasing and furrowing. He flicks a tongue, uncertain quite what to make of the thing's steady transformation.

"Well… I made twice as much as I thought it would take, given the body mass," Pike notes. She uses a glass probe to lift one of the 'wings', which continue to develop. "Hmmm, this is interesting," she remarks. "The spirit construct didn't have wings. So, the transformation must not be following the form of the spirit exactly, which implies the flesh does have some sort of built-in blueprint to follow, even though nobody could find the mechanism for such."

"And what do you believe will happen once the spirit is removed, even if we allow this change to go to full term?" Natasha asks.

Qing rubs his chin, eyeing the creature mistrustfully. Sounding somewhat distracted, he hisses, "If I recall correctly, Dr. Pike theorizes the creature will become 'live' enough to develop its own spirit pattern like any other living creature of Sinai."

"Well, either it will maintain its own spirit, or… well, it won't," Pike notes. "And if it maintains a spirit, we need to see how much it has deviated from the original impression before trying to suppress it."

"And then what? Will you allow it to live? Raise it as a child?" Natasha asks next. She doesn't use a glass rod, she actually reaches over and lifts one of its limbs, feeling the flesh.

The skin is warm to the touch, and the still-reptilian fingers clench reflexively. Not all of the scales have been replaced on this particular leg – some of them have turned from green to gold, and mark the elbow and sections of the inner and outer leg, along with the backs of the talons.

"Well, then we'll see if it can be taught things!" Pike says with a grin. "It would be amazing! Artificial life from a living form… "

Qing seems dubious. "Artificial life? Or simply an offspring with the Exile as a 'parent', parasitizing this dead cave lizard? This would not be the first life form to reproduce by breaking apart… there are worms that do this, and fungi… though doubtless this would be the most advanced creature to do so."

The transformation doesn't look anything like an Aeolun to Qing, aside from the colors and textures. The body is remaining basically reptilian, although the limbs are changing into those more suitable to a saurian build, and the middle pair is already shifting towards the forward shoulders to become full-fledged wings. The once-short neck and blunt head are elongating into something more graceful as well.

"I think the tip of the tail is the only original part still… wait," Pike notes, moving to look. "It's sprouting hair. This looks different than what I was expecting! It's not replicating the original form nor is it simply replacing the lizard's flesh… "

"I believe Mage Qing is correct. It could simply be parasitic reproduction. Which means I would advise not injecting yourself with its blood or tissue," Natasha warns the strange Eeee scientist. "No matter how tempted you may be. Or that of Rey… "

"The whole point of trying this experiment was to avoid attempting an injection," Pike points out. "I could never do that to one of my animals! I mean… to be changed while… still being able to feel it?" The Eeee shudders.

"Rey is not one of your animals, nor are you. I have heard stories of people who experiment on themselves," Natasha points out. "But it is good to hear you do not wish to do that."

After a few more minutes, the lizard is most definitely gone – replaced by a miniature, white-furred and golden-scaled dragon of sorts. The eyes open, and focus on Mage Qing.

"Hm. Try withdrawing the crafted spirit now," Natasha suggests after its eyes open.

"It doesn't have a horn," Pike says when the eyes open. "It should have one, shouldn't it? How can it be awake unless the process has finished?"

The Rokuga stares back, peering at the creature over his smoked spectacles with crimson eyes. "It has a different body form than the Mage Exile… considerably different. I don't believe it has metamorphosed into the same species as her… this is something related but wholly different."

"Could it have drawn on the form of the lizard and… extended it?" Pike wonders.

Natasha snaps her fingers nearby to see if the creature reacts. "I wonder if it is aware?" she comments.

The golden eyes turn towards the snap, and the little pointed ears perk and swivel as well. The head itself hasn't moved yet, or any of the limbs, and the feeding tube is still in place.

"Is it still … eating?" Natasha asks Igor.

Qing tilts his head. "Should I withdraw the spirit? It could shock the body, I don't know if it has become acclimatized to the spirit already. Doing so in natural inhabitants of Sinai can knock them out."

"Try to make it move first, using the spirit," Pike requests.

The reptilian mage nods, and brings one spidery hand up again, crabbing it and twitching the fingers in an attempt to force the creature to move its legs slightly.

The Skreek taps on the nutrient tank, and says, "It doeth not theem to be drawing from the feedthtock any longer. Thall I remove the tube?"

The legs of the mini-dragon twitch in response to Qing's attempt.

"That is the Doctor's decision," Natasha tells Igor.

"Yes, Igor," Pike says. "Carefully. Mage Qing seems to be in control, but… you never know. There is a fine line between a golem and a homunculus."

This time Natasha extends her hand over the creature and starts chanting softly. Her fingertips dance as if she's touching it, but those fingers never quite contact its flesh.

The Skreek simply draws the tube out, since the creature isn't trying to bite down on it. A little tongue actually flicks out and licks up the bits of dark goo that dripped out onto its muzzle.

"No evidence of developing its own spirit. Yours is all that exists within it," Natasha says after a bit. "A construct."

The Rokuga betrays a certain fascination, his forked tongue flitting out more often, but his voice is guarded. "I must admit, this is remarkable… but the ramifications are not clear. This could allow us new avenues of research, but the potential for contamination of our world's life is clear… a spirit, pieces of this alien flesh, and sufficient nutrition seems ample catalyst."

"Which is extremely dangerous. What if a bite from this creature is enough to change another?" Natasha suggests.

"The nutrient blend is tricky," Pike notes. She watches the creature with furrowed brows. "I'm sure if that where possible, Madame Natasha, we'd have seen something like that from the original."

"Not necessarily," Natasha points out, "As this creature, you have clearly said, is not much like the original."

"Given the size of the lizard's mouth, and the feeding habits of cave lizards, I estimate it ingested at least an ounce of flesh that was already undergoing a transformation of some sort."

Qing taps his chin. "Similar, but different. As for whether such a thing is possible… Envoy has been many strange things, but I do not think she was inclined to bite anyone, or be violent, and thus may have restrained the possibility of contamination, if unwittingly. I do not know how aware she is of herself."

"Hmmm, do you want to begin the phythical tethting, Doctor?" Igor asks. He holds a long, glass probe with a knife-like cutting tip.

"You are not going to carve up a new life form," Natasha says quite plainly when she spots the probe. "Not before we understand if this creature is self-aware or not. To do less is akin to maiming a child."

"Ah, I'd forgotten," Dr. Pike comments, then nods to Igor. "It's just to test if the flesh retains the regeneration properties of the original Exile," Pike explains to Natasha.

"I'm very good with a thcalpel," Igor assures the Khatta, and reaches in with the instrument to make a small, superficial cut along one hind leg. The leg twitches, and there are a few drops of blood… and then the incision seals up like it had never been made.

At the twitch, Natasha notes, "I suspect it feels pain." She moves around and crouches to be eye level with the creature. Then she blatantly asks it, "Do you understand me at all?" She repeats that phrase in several languages.

The pale serpent looks faintly disturbed, or if not disturbed then deep in thought.

The dragon looks at Natasha, because she's moving, but doesn't otherwise appear to understand her at all.

"Well, rapid regeneration confirmed," Igor notes. "The body ith now likely 'immortal' in termth of durability."

So, Natasha holds out her hand to the creature to see if it will sniff or lick it. Ifs its jaws make any sudden moves, though…

"What do we know of Aeolun?" asks Qing. "I know they are few, and long-lived."

Pike nods, but still frowns a bit. "The head worries me," she says. "There should be a horn." The creature stares at the offered hand, but doesn't make any move towards it. It seems to lack instinctual responses - or else is not able to act beyond what the motivating spirit is capable of.

"Why do you so wish it to have a horn?" Natasha asks as she draws her hand back.

The witchdoctor shakes his head. "This thing is not Aeolun, that much I can tell from its body structure. It does not surprise me that it lacks a horn. It looks reminiscent of some other type of beast… "

"Because it was an important part, according to Envoy's own notes," Pike says. "It… well, it couldn't be probed like the rest of her during the major examination ritual that was conducted. In fact, there was a whole section of… oh, right." The Eeee seems lost in thought for a moment.

"The brain could not be examined beyond a thuperfithial depth," Igor explains. "It may not be compothed of the uthual thtuff, tho it wath alwayth a pothibility that it could not be reproduthed here."

"So, what will you do with it now?" Natasha asks.

"Well, we need to test if it stays animate after the spirit is withdrawn," Pike notes. "I also need to isolate how the tissue is able to preserve normal flesh. The lizard was in a suspended state for ten years without any sort of detectable preservatives or any signs of rigor or… well… death."

"Then it is time for Qing to withdraw the spirit," Natasha concludes as she draws back.

Qing nods. "When you are ready."

Pike steps back from the cage, and asks Natasha, "Your ward prevents spirits from passing in either direction, right?"

"Correct. Why do you ask? Do you expect an invasion?" Natasha asks as she backs up with the Eeee.

"No, just a precaution," Pike says, and gestures to the dragon. "I mean, if it doesn't have a spirit of its own, what's to stop one from just moving in? I will have to create a thistlebark helmet for it."

"Possession of a living organism is unlikely," Natasha points out. "The living affects spirits, whereas dead flesh does not."

"It isn't dead though," Pike reminds. "I mean, it doesn't seem able to die. It just goes inert."

"That is my point. The fact that it is alive makes it less likely to be possessed," Natasha explains.

"But… well, we'll see what happens when the imposed spirit is removed," Pike says.

"Indeed," Natasha agrees.

Qing waits a few more moments, then lifts one of his hands up, as if supporting something from underneath. He pauses like this for a moment, then makes his fingers more rigid and lifts. That cloudy lizard figure begins to rise out of the dragon creature's back.

As the spirit pulls out, the dragon's eyes close and it slumps back to the floor of the cage.

"So, it may seem without an animating spirit, the body is … useless," Natasha observes. "It did not appear to reach like people do if their spirit is torn from them."

Nose to the cage once more, Pike listens to the creature. "It's slowing down… " she says. "Stopped. No heartbeat. It's gone inert again."

"It probably thtill hath the original lizard'th brain inthtead of one that workth with the new body," Igor suggests.

Natasha smirks. "Now you just need to transplant in a new brain," she suggests to Igor.

"Hmmm, still… " Pike mutters, rubbing her chin. "It could host someone's living spirit, perhaps, while that person's body was recovering from trauma, or diseased or… well, dying."

"The point of which being?" Natasha asks Dr. Pike. "To torment the person who is dying? I do not believe someone would wish to watch their body waste away."

"Brain tranthplantth are a Babelite thpethiality," Igor notes with a sniff. "We don't do that thort of thing."

"I doubt they'd want to do that, but to have some mobility and life instead of being trapped in a useless body wouldn't be so bad," Pike notes. She opens the cage and lifts up the limp body now, turning it to and fro to give it a better examination. "No sign of genitals. At least that much we expected."

"Do any reptiles have evidence of genitals?" Natasha has to ask. "They are a vague species as a whole."

"This doesn't have any openings at all down there," Pike explains. "Not even for waste." After a moment, she says, "I wonder if putting a Sifran crystal into its brain would make a difference?"

Qing stands nearby, the lizardly apparition held over his one upraised hand, as if forgotten about. "I don't imagine that happening anytime soon. Rephidim lords over all such artifacts."

"We could try to put a real thpirit into it," Igor suggests. "Although I imagine that would require a conthtant thourth of magic to maintain."

"If it was a living person's spirit, yes. If it was not, it may not," Natasha notes. "It depends on the ties that bind the spirit."

"You mean a spirit that we can communicate with," Pike suggests. "Especially after it's removed again. Then we can find out what it's actually like to be transplanted into the body. It may be too alien for practical use like that, after all."

"It would make a novel familiar for a Mage," Igor notes, grinning a bit.

"I have a familiar who is already rather dragonish," Natasha notes, "Now, Mage Qing… "

"Though … I could try putting my familiar in it to see if it can tell us anything useful," Natasha concedes after some thought.

Pike whispers to Igor, "Make sure Gaspode never sees this body. And prepare a spirit-proof box for it too."

"Ah, we could try that," Pike says to Natasha, acting like she didn't just say something to Igor. "Err… that is, if you have very good control over your familiar. It wouldn't try to keep the body, would it?"

"I have complete control of the familiar. But, I defer to Mage Qing on the matter. What he wishes to do shall be done," Natasha says.

Qing seems to be deep in thought, refraining from comment until the question is given to him implicitly. "Mm… spirit transfers are a known quantity," he says, eventually. "It doesn't seem a far stretch to put someone's spirit within this construct… such an approach wouldn't even be unprecedented, I think. As for Madame Natasha's familiar, I would have complete faith in her ability. All of a classically trained mage's spirits are carefully tailored, and her familiar more intimately known than any other pattern she is accustomed to casting. Her control over it would be absolute."

"Well, then, if you want to try it… " Pike offers, setting the dragon back down into the cage.

"It might be informative, yes," Natasha agrees as she steps back, then settles herself down on the floor, cross-legged. There she closes her eyes and starts to chant softly. After a time, her fingers begin to dance in the air before her. A chill, much like the slow one that came with the crafting of Qing's spirit, returns in the small lab. Before her what first looks like ice crystals coalescing in the air becomes more serpentine, more … scaled. As minutes tick by, the translucent form of a diminutive Kiriga takes shape; a form Qing has seen before, certainly, when they discussed matters in the bath. Its head twists and looks about … and when it spots the furry mutant dragon thing, it comments, "You summoned me for that creature?"

"I will never get used to seeing things conjured up," Pike says, and adjusts her glasses again.

The 'Kiriga' looks Dr. Pike up and down, then asks, "You aren't a summoned house servant?" Natasha then taps the back of its head, commenting, "Behave." She lifts it up onto the table and sets it down near the cage. "Try to possess it," she instructs.

"You're sure you have control?" Pike squeaks after the spirit's comment.

"You give a familiar personality after a bit. It eases the long ours of solitary research," Natasha explains, "And yes, I do have complete control."

"I would prefer to buy it dinner first and perhaps take a boat ride under the Procession. Possessions are for the third date," the familiar starts to say … right up to the point Natasha taps her fingertips on the tabletop. "Nothing has less humor than a gathering of mages," the familiar is heard to mutter as it slinks into the cage, then tries to push itself into the body of the lizard.

Qing looks on quietly, the crafted lizard spirit he's holding staring blankly, the difference between it and Natasha's lively familiar stark.

The body in the cage jerks violently and strikes against the confines. Reptilian fingers spread, then scrape likes nails on a blackboard against the floor of the cage.

Pike covers her sensitive ears and says, "Ahhh, stop that!"

"It is a bit like Gathpode," Igor notes. "Perhapth that ith why the ornery little monthter obeyed her so readily."

"But … it's far more dramatic to be all violent and twitchy when possessing something," the creature suddenly complains in an oddly dual-toned voice where each word harmonizes. "Now, to be more … serious. Possession was simple. There was no resistance. I believe a description you would understand is … slipping on a well-worn glove?" It wiggles those small hands, adding, "So … this is how you feel the world. It is … very two dimensional."

"Intriguing," hisses Qing. "Through the stimulation and feeding provided, we have essentially created a puppet of meat. More or less a corpse but without the inherent drawbacks of decay."

"A clinical way to explain it, but a correct one," the creature agrees. "I do not feel as if this body has any real mind of its own. Or a few other things normal bodies have."

"Congratulations, you have created the perfect zombie," Natasha comments to Pike in a rather grim tone. "No rot, no resistance, and easily controlled."

"But it wasn't a person before," Pike points out.

"And that makes it better?" Natasha asks.

"Less disturbing, certainly," Pike argues.

"Can I keep it?" the animated reptile asks. "This is … most intriguing. When I move, I do not. How shall I describe this. When animating something, there is often an exertion of energy to make it move. With this body, I do not feel that drain. It is if … well, I believe a spirit could inhabit it indefinitely."

"Cuter," Igor offers.

Qing flicks his tongue. "Granted, it does not have the moral issues associated with creation of the undead," he hisses. "I would judge it essentially wholly artificial, even if it is organic in nature. For all its association with a true living thing, it might as well be made of stone."

"Can you feel pain while you're… wearing it?" Pike asks the familiar.

"As much as I do not like to discuss this aspect of myself … I understand enough of my nature that I know I have limited potential on my own. All spirits do, natural and constructed. A finite amount of energy to exert change on the world. But in this body … I can exert change without loss of … myself," the familiar explains as it prods at its cage. The question causes pause, then it admits, "I do not know. Try cutting." It sticks its forelimb out of the cage.

Igor steps forward and deftly creates a momentary cut, drawing a few drops of blood.

The creature jerks its arm back and clasps its other small hand over the already healing cut. "I felt that," it says, actually sounding surprised. "It was … I think it was pain. Is this how it feels to be like … one of you?"

"Oh my," Pike notes, and looks to Natasha and Qing. "If it can feel pain, and… well… everything else… then is it alive so long as it inhabits the body?" she asks.

Natasha for once looks at a loss for words. "I do not know," she admits as she looks down at the small reptile. "I cannot begin to explain what it is."

"Well then," Pike says, and moves closer to the familiar to ask it, "Tell me then, spirit; now that you have a body, do you feel any fear at the thought of losing it, or of experiencing more pain?"

Qing's many shoulders ripple in a multilayered shrug. "I have been asking myself this question for the past few weeks. Pain would not be the determining factor, however. Pain is a message from our bodies informing us of damage… an artificial construct can be made with this mechanism."

"There are … things I would wish to experience," the creature admits, its face actually contorting into a confused and somehow sad expression. "Tasha made me as a friend and as a servant. But, I have always known that I am made. When she unsummons me, everything simply ceases into nothingness until she calls me again. Be it years or a day, I know nothing of it. I have never minded this, it is what I am. But … for the briefest moment … I … well. There is appeal in not being a limited thing. In perhaps being more than just … I believe you call it a chance to grow? I do not begrudge that I am just a construct, understand. Do not feel sorrow for me."

The Rokuga nods slowly, impassively. "This is the difference between spirits and living beings. Spirits exist in the now, restricted in their scope, and their ability to expand beyond their initial conception is limited to direct influence by outside factors. They learn only by impression, arrive at conclusions only with what tools they were created with."

Pike reaches into the cage to rub the dragon behind its ears. "So, if this one can come up with new things on its own, would it be due to the body?" she asks. "Even Envoy had to sleep, but I remember her writing that she did not dream except under the influence of magic. So, since the familiar is magic, if it stayed in the body and went to sleep, would it dream?"

Natasha's mouth opens slowly and she reaches towards the cage. The creature inside raises its hand, saying, "No, please, do not. I should not dwell on what I should … cannot have. I am a construct, Tasha. I know we have been … allies for a long time, but I am still your creation." Its head turns towards Qing as he adds, "Given time in this … body. Somehow, I feel it may be possible to learn how to learn on my own. To grow. It is a strange feeling. It is … I think I should leave this body."

"Tempting?" Igor asks, trying to finish the spirit's thought.

Qing snaps his fingers. "That's it. That's the significance of this body."

"Yes," the creature admits.

Natasha's head jerks around to look at Qing. "What is?" she asks.

"It makes you want to grow?" Pike suggests.

The Rokuga points. "Dr. Pike, we have had it backwards. We expected this body to grow a spirit. As it turns out, we have made something else… we have made a body that a spirit can grow. Its brain is empty, but what the spirit is experiencing may become memories." He puts a hand to his head, pushing back his broad, bowl shaped hat. "This is startling and… chilling."

The Rokuga's brows lower over his crimson eyes. "It is created life, but the method we used has run in reverse. I am not sure what to think of this. I somehow hope I am wrong."

"It makes me feel that I can grow," the creature admits as it seems to slump down. "It makes me … want."

"You mean that if we put a spirit with a real mind into the body, in time it might cause it to develop a real brain?" Pike asks. "That means… Well, you could put a copy of your own spirit into it, and it would grow into an immortal version of yourself then."

"I would … that is … Mage Qing has said it correctly. Chilling," Natasha agrees. Frowning, she crouches down near the cage. Looking for a loss of what she should say, she just says, "I'm sorry."

The pallid snake seems to grow more agitated, all six hands clenching. "But… how can this be? The ramifications are staggering… it is not only that our understanding of magic will be flipped upside down, entire religions would be turned on their heads."

"But we only have the one," Pike says, deflating a bit. "If we could actually create more, then that would be world-changing. But… well, this is like working with a First Ones artifact, after all. We can't make another body the way this one was made! I mean… you'd need something like a Srinala to work from: a living body without a mind or… senses. Even my vegetable hybrids wouldn't be suitable."

As the tiny hand in the cage comes out and curls its fingers around Natasha's, she asks, "The question is … what do we do with this? Do we destroy it? Bury it away? Hide it? This beyond anything I have experienced."

"Plus… ah… the lizard was already in a state of transformation," the Eeee notes, as if looking for excuses not to experiment further into this area. "This one is done. Just eating the flesh won't do anything now."

"It ith a very valuable thpethimen," Igor says to the notion of destroying it. "Studying it could lead to medical breakthroughth."

"The trolls might be similar to this," Pike mutters. "At least we have a chance of understanding them."

Qing hisses to himself, an underlay to his voice when he speaks again. "Ssss… so then, it would not be able to parasitize another living thing as we had witnessed? It is just as well… this knowledge is already weighty. To be able to replicate it as easily as feeding a chunk to an animal… that would be too fast. What then of Envoy? What state was she in when her flesh was consumed?"

"There is one more test that may be worth doing," Natasha finally says. "Put a spirit in it, then take to to another world. See if it survives."

"She wrote that her flesh was consumed… by blood-flies," Pike recalls. "They didn't change or explode or anything. She called it 'her blood going stupid'."

"Wouldn't jutht walking through the ward have the thame effect?" Igor asks Natasha.

The Rokuga strokes his chin. "I theorize it would not survive… at least, not if it were taken immediately. The spirit is still the controlling factor in the body. It would have to exist in the body long enough for the memories it was forming to 'flesh' into a being capable of sustaining itself. It is at that point that I believe the body would sustain the spirit pattern, or form its own."

"There is … it is hard to imagine that your colleague might have been a key to a possible path of … immortality," Natasha admits to Qing. "And I agree with Qing's analysis. A spirit would need to inhabit it for a long time and … fuse with it, if even possible."

"There's only one way to test that," Pike points out. "We'd need to imbue it with the spirit of a person, and… leave it alone until you couldn't tell it wasn't possessed anymore, right?"

"Effectively, yes," Natasha tells Pike.

Qing nods as well. "As to Mage Envoy, I agree, it is difficult to imagine, but Envoy is a strange case. We would have to determine what made her blood 'go stupid', as she put it. And what that meant, exactly."

"Well … do we want to extract some samples from this body and see if it parasitizes another?" Natasha finally asks. "I must admit to curiosity, though I should probably avoid such thoughts."

"Without a spirit, though, the body remains inert and unchanging," Pike says. "So… there's no rush. I could try a few physical experiments to see if the flesh still remains active, or if there's some critical amount that's needed. A smaller body would require a smaller sample, perhaps… and I do have mice. I know how to sedate them so they wouldn't feel anything."

"There are also the town rabbits," Natasha suggests.

"The type of hotht body may have an effect on the final form, too," Igor suggests.

Qing stares quietly at the dragon creature. His expression is intense.

The creature stares back at Qing. Now inhabited, though small, there is the sign of intelligence behind those eyes.

"They would require a larger amount of tissue though… if it works at all," Pike notes. "I'll need to take a lot of samples, possibly expose them to shock trauma to see if it causes activation… "

"And of courthe, no one outthide of thith room mutht know of thith," Igor points out. "Until we know for thertain that thith can or cannot be reproduthed."

"Obviously," Natasha agrees.

The pale snake sounds distant now, but very intent when he speaks. "Yes… yes, we must take precautions. I would know if any further progress occurs. Dr. Pike, you will keep me appraised on whether new cultures of this flesh show the parasitizing effect and the potential to metamorphize. We should withdraw the spirit from this sample until such time as we know whether more can be produced."

"Oh… I just realized… " Pike comments, looking worried. "The enervating spirit, you mentioned it was what necromancers used to animate a corpse into being a zombie, right?"

The mages don't even have to try to withdraw the spirit. The small dragonish body shudders, then goes limp on the floor of the cage as Natasha's familiar sheds it like old skin. "Unless you will let me keep it, do not ask me to do that again," the familiar says rather stiffly, then hops off the edge of the table.

"Yes?" Natasha asks Dr. Pike.

Qing doesn't take his eyes off the dragonling while he answers, sounding as though he's reciting by rote. "A spirit is what animates or possesses a husk or body respectively. Innervation is a means by which a spirit stimulates a living body."

Qing adds, "Or a dead body enough to animate it."

Natasha rubs the top of her nose for a moment. "Mage Qing, a question, if I may?" she asks.

"Well, if I can coax the tissue into reverting to transformative mode… we really should see if it will work on animated, but dead, flesh," Pike says, trying not to shudder at the thought. "Even just recently dead flesh. I know it is a foolish idea to think about curing death, but… " The bat just shrugs. "After all, at that point, the assimilation wouldn't hurt."

"That treads dangerously close to necromancy," Natasha says darkly. "We should not do that."

"It… isn't likely that this will work again even on living flesh," Dr. Pike says with a sigh. "I mean, there have been plenty of attempts by Life Mages to coax this stuff into doing anything once it was separated from Envoy, and nothing ever worked. And can a spirit possess a chunk of cells that aren't even a body?"

"A spirit can be put in inanimate objects, Dr. Pike. Have you never heard of a spirit envoy?" Natasha asks.

"Well… no," Pike admits. "I'm not much of a scholar on crafted Spirit Magic. My studies have usually dealt with the sort that just occurs in Sylvania, or in a person. I really wish my great-uncle had left clearer notes on how he created homunculi. But it's all just weird symbols like he left down in the sub-basement."

Qing shakes his head. "A spirit can theoretically animate a table, but it's more like the spirit is simply pushing the table around rather than inhabiting it… the table does not have anything for the spirit to apply itself to other than rough wood. As for trying to get that culture to parasitize dead flesh, it would be a simple comparison to consuming it, even as we consume meat for sustenance. I do not think it works that way." He turns to Natasha. "What was your question, Madame?"

"Are your thoughts going to were I suspect they are?" the Khatta asks quite bluntly, then taps the Rokuga in the chest, against some object hidden under it.

The snake actually rears back as if struck, throwing a hand over his chest, spidery digits spread across the symbol of spirit emblazoned on his mantle. His eyes are shaded by his smoked spectacles. "… What are you insinuating?"

"Just reminding you to be careful of your thoughts," Natasha notes. "You are guarded, but you are not cold. There are wounds I know you would wish healed. I cannot tell you what to do; you have far outgrown being instructed. I can only say, as a friend, be careful."

The snake doesn't answer, lowering his head slightly until his broad hat hides most of his face but for the tip of his nose, and the hand over his chest momentarily curls over something, wadding the cloth of his mantle. He quickly drops his hand, and looks away. "I think we have learned enough for this evening."

"Oh, yes," Pike says, sensing a change in the mood of the room. "Now we have hundreds of questions to look into! I can already think of several dozen tests I'll need to run. And if one of you could return every so often to reanimate the dragon with a simple spirit, so that I can collect more tissue, I would really appreciate it."

Natasha reaches up and places her hand on one of the Rokuga's many shoulders. She squeezes it gently, then draws that hand away. "We should leave you to your experiments with samples. Let us know if you learn anything. If you have wish of more mage work, we can negotiate a fair price, be it knowledge or simple coin," she tells the Eeee.

"Oh yes," the Eeee says. Then she blinks, and asks, "I know you've been using the ritual chamber down below, and been studying the weird symbols. If I gave you my uncle's notes, do you think you could make any sense of them?"

"That is likely. Between the two of us I am sure we can uncover the meaning. I have some older books I can consult as well," Natasha says with a short bow of her head. "Along with Mage Qing's more recent experience and research."

"I'll have Igor gather then up for you," Pike offers. "They should still be in the Great Hall where Miss Weaver left them… "

The Rokuga nods. "Compile his notes, and we will go over them when we have some time. Perhaps there will be something to relate with what you are working on."

"Let us retire for a drink, perhaps, while the notes are gathered. Then we can take the notes when we leave," Natasha suggests.

Igor goes and opens the heavy door to the lab. "I can thow you out, if you like, Mathter and Mithtreth."

"I could use a drink!" Pike agrees, and leads the way out, turning from the hall to the kitchen.

"Could you loan me one of your handth, Mathter Qing?" Igor asks, before the Rokuga can follow the women out. "Ah, figuratively thpeaking, that ith," he quickly adds, holding up his own mismatched hands.

The mage angles to fall in with Igor, nodding brusquely. "Very well, perhaps I can get an impression of what we may be adding to our research."

In the Great Hall, there are several open boxes full of papers and notebooks, and a few still stacked on chairs. Igor moves to pack them up, and says, "It is no coincidence that you are here, Xhu-Ye." His lisp is gone entirely, probably because the Skreek is speaking in Imperial.

The mage's back stiffens in surprise, and he draws himself back, several arms unfolding from under his mantle. The spirit lizard he more or less had forgotten about livens up, suddenly alert and staring, along with the mage himself. "… A ruse? What treachery is this?" he demands, instinctively replying in the same language.

"No ruse," Igor says, still putting away papers. "Just advice. What you just saw could nod have worked anywhere but here. Old Orifice, the previous master of this castle, spent twenty years trying to find this place, and he accomplished things that should have been impossible. Pike lucked into things when she inherited the castle. But the chosen ones… this land calls them. There is something ancient here, something that I think wants to be made use of. Just remember that if you do answer its call, you may never be able to leave here."

The mage hesitates, then lowers his arms slowly. Grudgingly, he nods. "It… makes sense," he admits, coming closer to the box of papers. "The chambers below, the accumulation of power here… the symbols that were written in in the ways of the old Chigai cults half a world away. Who then, are you? I had been given to understand you were old, but I know less of you than I do this place, and that is precious little."

"I am old, but not that old," Igor notes. "I was not here when the land belonged only to the Skeeks, and I was not here when the other peoples of Sylvania eventually conquered them. I was not here when those invaders abused the Skeeks… and I was not here when the land called out to the Kadies, so that they would march across Sylvania from Tursdi to settle here… and liberate the Skeeks. I was here when the flood came, and the land called the Akwavi here – and who came with them, but the Champion of Nala? I was also here when a witch defeated a dragon." At this last bit, Igor glances quickly to a sleeping, dark Creen on a perch by the fireplace, wearing an eyepatch. "The land wants what it wants, for whatever reason. If it wants you, do not assume it is for the same things you might want. Be wary. Step cautiously. Do not risk what you cannot bear to lose."

The Rokuga nods again. "Fair enough. There is a reason that more spirit mages do not make what is outwardly the obvious choice to come here to study. We all know, in some capacity, that we will be tested in what we can handle, and challenged in the notions we hold. What is your stake in this, then? Are you content to serve your mistress and protect her from herself? Or is there another reason?"

"I come with the castle," Igor explains. "And do not confuse Stonebarrow with Sylvania in general. No necromancer has ever arisen here, although they have grown around us. The power in Stonebarrow is unique." He packs up the last of the boxes, and then asks, "Tho Marthter; honey or lemon in your tea?"

"Biscuits and knickers!" the Creen shouts suddenly as it wakes up with a snapping of its head.

"Mm," is all Qing says at this point, apparently given much to consider.

"I'll take that to mean 'honey' then, Marthter," Igor notes, and starts shuffling towards the kitchen.

Gaspode hisses at the spirit lizard still hovering next to Qing.

In the middle of Gaspode's hiss, Natasha's familiar comes padding through the room. He's sipping at his own imaginary cup of tea. His scaled ridge arches slightly at the display of reptilian dominance from the green. Unable to help himself and now cupping his 'teacup' in both hands, the familiar comments, "Your ferocity lacks something in that body, you know. You're nothing more than an overgrown sock puppet now; which only serves you right. You should better learn who to not annoy." Shaking his head, he continues on, muttering, "I think the only thing that is greater in abundance in this land other than strange … is stupid."


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GMed by BoingDragon

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