19 Ring 6107 RTR (Nov 17, 2009) Alptraum goes under the gaze of Doctor Twig's optodepthoscope!
(The Right Hand of Shadow) (Alptraum) (Sylvania)
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Dr. Twig's Laboratory
Wizz! Wirr! Pop! And entire wall of this room is covered with glass tubes that snake like vines through towers of strange machinery, all of it buzzing with electricity and frequent sparks and arc. The lights are also electric, and a second wall is nothing more than a giant rack for huge clay battery jars. There is a small examination table, suitable for use with animals, and many stools and chairs – some with wheeled feet – along with the occasional hanging Eeee perch in case the good doctor wants to hang upside down to help him think. The other walls are covered in cabinets running from floor to ceiling, along with a rail with a rolling ladder to access some of them.

The lack of a human-sized vivisection table is a minor setback for Dr. Twig in his examination of Alptraum. For the first part of the exam, he simply has the Eeee stand up in the middle of the floor and move around as needed. Blood is drawn from his left arm, and samples of saliva from his mouth. An attempt is made to isolate a piece of the shadow cloak into a test tube, but it was ultimately fruitless; the substance was just immaterial enough to make it impossible to cut.

Finally, the stripped-to-his-shorts Eeee is sat down in one of the regular chairs, while some rubber tubing is used to secure his armored right hand to the armrest. Igorina retrieves the ugliest hand-mirror ever from one of the high cabinets, and brings it back to Dr. Twig. Alptraum has never seen a live squid or octopus before, but this thing looked like four of them having an orgy around a circular mirror, with one particular plump one serving as the handle. The bodies and tentacles are the color of tarnished brass, while the bulging eyes are made from differently colored stones.

It's a good thing Alptraum doesn't mind blood, needles, being poked, or spitting, since all of the mid-morning seems to have involved at least one of these events. The attempts at garnering a bit of the shadow cloak causes him to laugh, though, since the blade just sort of slid off, around and deformed it. "It's like evil pudding," he even joked. Of course they had their revenge when they tied down his right hand while he was distracted. "Hey, is that necessa … holy Gods what in the name of Dagh is that hideous thing?! It looks like Gorphat farted out her intestines!" the Eeee declares.

Dr. Twig sniffs at the slight against his tool. "This is the optodepthoscope," he announces. "A Mystewious Awtifact of unknown owigin that has been in the Twig family for genawations."

"It looks like the kind of wedding gift that gets re-gifted for generations," Alptraum observes. "Please tell me that thing won't feel me up… "

"Ah… actually," Twig begins, and then just uncoils one of the tentacles. It stretches, and has a leaf-shaped tip covered in suckers, which he sticks to the middle finger of Alptraum's gauntlet. A second tentacle is pealed away and stuck to his right shoulder. That one, at least, causes a persistent tingle.

"Ack," Alptraum says as he finds regret that he can't actually pull his arm away now. "That tickles! I just know this thing is going to make me itch… " And that's when he realizes it has more tentacles … so he just has to ask, "Er, where do the others go?"

"Oh, just the two awe enough fowa a single limb," Twig notes, while Rina covers her muzzle to hide a giggle. The doctor holds the device over Alptraum's gauntlet, and starts twiddling with the 'eyes' on it. While Alptraum can see the mirror part turn transparent, he also notes that things immediately beneath the device turn transparent as well – it looks like a big chunk of the chitin casing and skin just vanished, exposing his muscles!

"Ack! Put my skin back!" Alptraum squeaks and jerks backwards (Well his head, anyway, his arm is stuck). When no pain comes … well, Alptraum starts flexing his fingers of that arm as curiosity starts to win out. "Er, well, you should also check the scar on my chest," he says nervously, "It's … related."

"Hmm, we'll get to that, certainly," Twig mutters. Rina notes, "It's just an illusion projected by the device, so it's not really making things invisible."

Feeling a bit better about that … Alptraum leans into get a closer look at his right hand.

Twig asks Alptraum to flex his fingers some more, so he can watch the muscles as he pans the device up and down, from fingertip to elbow. At least the muscles look normal, although they're definitely pinker near the elbow.

Alptraum rolls his fingers, spreads them, then makes a fist. "Is the color right? My hand looks a bit … gray," he notes.

"Yes, it does," Twig echoes. "No idea what that signifies yet," he admits, and then makes some adjustments to the ugly device. The muscles fade away to reveal bone and plumbing – and at this point things look strange. While the orb was still visible in the muscle scan, not it looks dimmer, but with a huge mass of tubing beneath it in a slowly throbbing mass. There are the red and blue of arteries and veins, plus black ones. A fourth sort of very thin tube glows silver and seems to spread out everywhere like a net, following the pale branches of what are probably Alptraum's nerves.

"What the heck is that … ?" Alptraum asks, feeling the pit of his stomach churning a bit in nervous tension. He flexes his fingers a bit and watches the mass, curious if it will react or not. Even his ears start to flick around as he leans a bit over to look sideways at his hand to see how deep the mass goes.

It seems to be clustered beneath the orb, although the tendrils reach out for some distance, coiling next to the natural blood vessels. Twig moves the scope towards the elbow, exposing more. The black tendrils thin out, but the silver ones do not. At the edge of the gauntlet itself, the black tendrils… writhe! The tips branch and try to extend further up the arm, only to whither away and be replaced. Only a few of the silver strands make it past into the upper arm.

"Fascinating," Twig mutters. "It really does act like a black heart might, but only over a limited area. And those silver nerves… energy conduits?"

"What is it doing?" Alptraum whispers, aghast. "Is it trying to spread?" He bites his lip worriedly as he watches the tendrils writhe about. "Doctor Twig," he says, "Want me to see if I can … ah, allow it to spread a bit further? I'm not sure I can, but I can try… "

"Hmmm, that might not be wise, if you are then unable to weverse the spwead," the other Eeee points out. "We should do some simple tests first. Wina, fetch a lizard please."

"Okay," Alptraum agrees with a small nod. "Maybe you should try to draw a sample from it by going through my wrist or palm with a needle," he suggests. "I don't think I'll feel it too much."

"I would like to obsewve the feeding pwocess before that," Twig notes, as Igorina brings up a cage and extracts a tree lizard from it. The reptile is probably about 2 lbs. at best. The Skreek holds it where Alptraum could clutch it without having to move his arm.

Alptraum closes his hand around the neck of the offered lizard. He doesn't go for shadow cloak absorption this time … instead his brow furrows and he tries to nudge his hand to 'eat' on its own…

Two of the black tendrils that lead from the pulsing mass to Alptraum's hand suddenly swell, quadrupling in size. The pumping motions increase, as the lizard starts to squirm and shrink. Twig quickly passes the scanner over the lizard as well, showing it to be full of branching black tendrils rooted in Alptraum's palm. Once the lizard is reduced to a bag of skin and bones, the silver network glows brighter – and now there are 'nodes' spread through it that have the strongest glow. The black vessels return to normal once the feeding is done.

"Amazing vawiation on vampiwism," Twig notes, sounding excited. "Is that how you always feed?" he asks.

Alptraum's eyes go huge and he jerks back away from his own hand. "Great Gods, I infected it somehow," he squeaks. The question is answered by a shake of his head, "No, there is a another way. You want to see that too, don't you?"

"Please, yes!" the mad scientist replies, and Igorina pulls out another lizard from the cage, tossing the used one onto the dissection table for later.

"Let go after I grab it," Alptraum tells Igorina. His fingers curl slowly (and nervously) around the next lizard's neck. There he waits until she does let go … and then Alptraum relaxes. It's almost like relaxed stretching in how the process feels at the beginning of him extruding the shadow cloak to envelop the lizard.

Extending the cloak involves many of the black tubes dilating, especially those near the invisible upper surface of Alptraum's hand. The darkness actually flows out from these, as if the Eeee were bleeding shadow blood, and flows out over the lizard. Even with the scanner, the creature is completely hidden – but it does show that the silver energy network is present in the shadow. It pulses with light, while the mass under the orb remains relatively inactive. The pulsing of the light stops when Alptraum feels that the lizard is completely absorbed.

Alptraum lets out a slow breath and retracts the shadow at about the same pace. Of course it may also be that he's feeling the after-effects of complete consumption … feeling a bit lizardly-lethargic. "That is the second way," he says, "It is not as dramatic… "

"Amazing!" Twig comments. "It's like… the pwey is convahted into spiwit enahgy and then absowbed." The glowing silver nerves are much more apparent now after the feeding, and Twig hovers the optodepthoscope over the dagger sheath now. It's clear that the silver tendrils are thickest here, running in a thick bundle between the orb and the dense network surrounding the sheath. "What is this stwuctuwe though?" Twig asks.

"Ah, my dagger fits into the sheath on the back of my hand," Alptraum explains with a fangy, sheepish, grin. "It is a spirit dagger, made by Aelfin, supposedly," he adds. "And acts as a conduit for the flow of spirit energy. Did you want to slot it and see what happens?"

"Awe you kidding?" Twig says in surprise. "I want to see evewything!"

"Rina, will you get my dagger from my clothes and bring it over?" Alptraum asks, "I'll even let you insert it… "

"Oooo," the Skreek says, as she finds the sheath in Alptraum's clothes. "I'm good at inserting things," she says proudly, and draws the black dagger, which actually gives her a moments pause. "Odd looking chitin," she notes as she brings it over. Then she has to pause again, since she can't see the actual sheath, just the network of elements surrounding it. "Doc, move the scope a bit," she asks.

"Ease it in slowly," Alptraum says as he leans a bit so he can watch Rina. "It's something I can feel, and fast tends to be a bit of a cold shock. "And it isn't chitin, it's dragon's blood… "

"Oh, sowwy," Twig says, and moves the monstrosity until the opening is visible again. Rina slides the dagger in carefully. Under the scope, the blade also has a silvery network across its surface, which starts to glow in sync with the one in the forearm. A few blood vessels glow in the blade as well, and several of the black ones in the arm link up to it. And then a hideous looking eye appears in the orb, spinning around and focusing on the Skreek and tall Eeee in turn.

"Ack!" goes Alptraum as that wasn't something he expected! After a moment of near hyper ventilation, the Eeee actually looks at the eye … and mentally compares it to Kaira's and Vorgulremik's…

"Is… uh… is it looking at us?" Twig asks nervously. The eye looks nothing like a dragon's – the pupil is an ugly, pulsating purple and black area floating on a red sclera. It isn't round, or slit… or symmetrical at all.

"Yes, probably," Alptraum admits, "I know a spirit in the dagger can see out of it when it it slotted … but I have no idea what that eye is. It looks like nothing I've ever seen!"

"Perhaps it is what a Shadow Dragon's eye looks like then, if that is the ultimate origin of this… growth," Igorina offers.

"They don't really have eyes," Alptraum notes, "I've seen a living one up close… "

"It is cewtainly offputting," Twig notes, and moves his finger around to see if the eye follows. Under the field projected by the device, it's just bone and blood, of course.

"Maybe it just looks that way because of the 'scope," Igorina suggests. "Alptraum has never seen it like this before, after all."

"I'm guessing that the … uh, growth … can't be removed, right? Well, outside of full amputation," Alptraum says. That last bit sounds like he really doesn't want that!

Something else changes: the black tendrils connecting the orb to the dagger are turning gold.

"Oh, hey, that's Kaira!" Alptraum points out cheerily. "The gold is, that is… "

"Oh… well, it seems pwetty dug in," Twig notes. "And some of those silvah tendwils extend up the awm so… ah… what's a Kaiwa?"

"A spell-spirit," Alptraum explains. There's a pause and he then asks, "So, uhm, even it the hand was completely removed it would spread?"

"I have no idea," Twig says. "We need to see if it is connected to anything cwitical elsewhah in yowa body."

"Well, it supposedly makes me more virile," Alptraum jokes.

"By the gods, it's Elmer Fudd on helium," comes a voice from the orb. The eye at least has turned into something more normal looking; a gray-green iris and pupil.

"Maybe you can bottle it then," Rina notes, and then sticks a finger into her ear. "Did you just hear something?"

"Be nice!" Alptraum chides the voice. "He is on my side and being helpful. He's examining my arm, if you must know. It's … uhm, well, you would have to see."

Twig moves the scanner aside, and when Alptraum's arm is fully revealed again a little glowing dragon's head can be see hovering over the glowing (but non-eyebally) orb.

"Is that your pet?" Igorina asks Alptraum.

"Partner," Alptraum corrects. "She doesn't like being called a pet.

The Skreek tries to tickle Kaira under the chin, but of course her finger passes right through. "Ahem," Kaira says, and asks, "You're tied down, Alptraum. Are you in trouble?"

"No, I'm fine. I agreed to this. They've actually been very good hosts," Alptraum claims. "Though my hand looks to be a horrible mess. There's something growing in it and trying to spread."

"Well, yeah, that's probably the Shadow part, I'd imagine," the dragon-head says. "The Barsunala is resisting it, of course, since it's partially a spirit manifestation."

"Is it dangerous? The shadow part, that is," Alptraum asks.

"Hmmm," Kaira muses, pursing her lips. "No idea. I suppose it acts like that because it's cut off from your own spirit by the Barsunala as well. So it has it's own spirit to compensate, which could be why it withers if you starve it of energy. Does anything from the forearm extend beyond that skirmish zone?"

"Just those few silvah tendwils," Twig notes.

"Some glowing tendrils … yes, those," Alptraum says.

"Might want to see where those end up," the dragon suggests.

"What are they?" Alptraum asks.

"Probably conduits for spirit energy," Kaira guesses.

"I can move the contact point to the othah shouldah to twy and follow them," Twig offers.

"Is it something dangerous? Are they, uhm, feeding something else? Alptraum asks and swallows. "Doctor Twig … use the scope to follow them and let Kaira watch, please?" he asks.

The Eeee doctor pulls the suckers free from Alptraum's chitin-clad finger, and reconnects that tendril to his left shoulder. Now both shoulders tingle, but the scope effect works on the upper arm now. Twig follows the silver tendrils past the shoulder and along the collarbone, right to the star-shaped scar on Alptraum's chest. There's a veritable knot of silver tendrils there, and they extend back to wrap around the Eeee's heart, connecting to a zigzag of black, pulsing tendrils that look like they're holding the two halves of the heart together.

"Yeah, probably not a good idea to sever those energy links," Kaira notes. "Your heart is being held together by shadow flesh, and those lines are keeping it fed."

"Amazing!" Twig declares. "Spiwit-based alloplasty!"

Alptraum blinks, then blinks again. "Ah … that looks really bad. If the link is cut, I would die, wouldn't I?" he says and sinks down in the chair a bit, "It was supposed to heal me. That doesn't look healed." The Eeee then frowns further and his ears slump.

Twig tries adjusting the scope some more, and manages to make the flesh of the heart itself vanish… but the shadow is still visible. "Ah, no way to tell if the flesh beneath the shadow mass is healed owa not," Twig finally notes. "It could be, and this mass is just the leftovah bandage… "

"So … we just don't know and the link has to remain," Alptraum actually whimpers. "I'm dependent on the shadow now, as it is on me… "

"Without the energy feed from the orb, the Barsunala spirit would destroy that stuff, bandage or not," Kaira opines.

"If the heart was healed … would the Barsunala attacking that harm me?" Alptraum asks.

"Well, it would sever the shadow's influence on your health, I think," the dragon says, although not sounding entirely confident. "That growth may be how it enhances your lifespan right now."

"Not that I plan on severing that link!" Alptraum hastily adds, "But, uhm, hypothetically … is it changing my flesh any to match itself, do you think?"

Twig has already moved on, following a single silver strand that works down from the main cluster behind the scar. It goes all the way down into Alptraum's nethers. "Ah, yes, you mentioned the enhanced viwility alweady," he comments.

"Ah, is there shadow flesh there?" Alptraum asks as he actually looks down.

"I don't think it can while the Barsunala is blocking it," Kaira notes. The scan doesn't show anything black or shadowy, just the silver network.

"So … it only permitted it to go where my life depended on it?" Alptraum reasons out.

"It seems to just be supplying spiwit enahgy to yowa… ahem… gonads," Twig announces.

"I have a dragon's virility!" Alptraum claims and actually laughs.

"Well, apparently it is extended to other important areas," Kaira notes. "But not to your brain, it looks like."

"No extensions into my head, right?" Alptraum clarifies. He won't be able to see, but Twig would.

The scanner moves up, and Twig announces, "I think you need to bwush yowa teeth mowa often. Wine can lead to tooth decay in vampiwes. But I don't see anything supahnatuwal in yowa noggin."

Oddly, with the scanner held before him, Alptraum can look through it and see Twig's brain floating in space.

Alptraum sticks out his tongue and waggles it at Twig. He does have to wonder if that looks like anything at all!

"Impressive auditory lobe you've got there, Alptraum," Kaira comments with a grin, just before Twig lowers the scanner.

"So … uhm, since we have a way to watch this," Alptraum says nervously, "Kaira, want to help reshape my hand more extensively so we can see what exactly changes? If not, I understand! I just thought with this mirror, well… "

"Sure, want to try and reduce the carapace again?" the dragon asks.

"Possibly. Hm," Alptraum muses, "Remember what I told you about happened when you were frozen? The dragon head?"

"Yeah, but I don't know what that looked like," Kaira notes.

"Like Vorgulremik's head, more or less," Alptraum offers by way of explanation, "At least inside the dagger. Outside was like he was embedded on the back of by hand, with his jaw bone underneath, along my palm. If I tried to direct it, could you read what I was doing and follow it?"

"That sounds disgusting, but if it's what you want, alright," Kaira agrees.

"Well, it depends on what my hosts want to see," Alptraum offers and looks between the Eeee and Skreek.

"Ah… hmm, you awe going to change the stwuctuwe of the fowawm?" Twig asks.

"I can try to, if you want me to. Would it be informative?" Alptraum asks.

"Vewy! I just need to find an appwopwiate spot for the tentacle," Twig notes, and pulls the one from Alptraum's left shoulder. It hurts, and there's a bit of blood on the suckers… which quickly gets sucked up through them!

"How about his thigh?" Igorina suggests.

"Ow!" Alptraum complains as the suckers come loose, "That hurt!" After a bit of glowering, Alptraum settles back, "Tell me when you're ready and I'll try for … the full dragon head. I'm not even sure it is possible or what will happen … so it will be new for all of us. And my thigh is fine if you think it'll work there… "

"Just needs to be in line with the scanning zone, and have blood available," Twig assures Alptraum, and plugs the tentacle onto his exposed thigh.

"Blood-sucking medical equipment," Kaira says with a laugh. "Cut out the middleman… "

"I'll suck on you later for enjoying this!" Alptraum threatens Kaira as he waits for Doctor Twig to reposition the scanner back over his right hand and forearm. Once in place, Alptraum sits back in the chair and breathes slow and deep. With each exhale he pushes at the shadow within that hand and in his mind he brings back the terrifying memory of his right hand being gone … and in its place the head of a steel dragon. He thinks back on its features, shape, and scale … and draws on his memories of seeing Vorgulremik huge and up-close for inspiration. He's careful, though, he doesn't want to push too hard and damage anything and hopes Kaira's deeper bond can help it work. "Tell me if I should stop, Kaira," he murmurs, "You have a better 'feel' for the state of my hand… "

"I'll warn you if anything starts going bad," the dragon assures. Twig works the scanner, shifting the 'depth' of the scan back and forth so the muscles and other elements can be seen in succession. This is a little disorienting at first. The least visible change is the carapace, as it alters into the dragon's skull. The gabs between the shell and the muscles are filled with black shadow-goo and the energy network. The muscles don't seem to change much at all, but become paralyzed so that the hand can't flex – which shows as a dimming of the energy network. The bones aren't changed at all. Throughout it all, it is mainly the shadow elements that change – the carapace and the skin – while the arm's natural structure is barely modified. Even the 'tongue slit' in the palm seems mostly shadow flesh, with very few actual veins and arteries feeding it – just the black ones.

"So it doesn't change my flesh much at all," Alptraum says in a rather distracted, but oddly relieved, voice. "So my flesh isn't badly affected at all, I guess? See? My hand isn't undead after all." He even grins weakly at that and tries to flex any part of the re-shaped appendage at all.

"Yeah, it's just maintained by energy from the shadow orb so that it doesn't rot and fall off because the Barsunala wants to reject it," Kaira says cheerfully.

"Why would it rot and fall off?" Alptraum asks, "It's not dead!"

"It's cut off from your own spirit," the dragon notes. "And you've seen it wither away when it runs low on energy."

"And I can't reconnect my spirit to it?" Alptraum asks. He looks back to Doctor Twig and Rina now. "Is there anything you want me to try? Another shape? Leave it like this? Something else?" he asks.

"Can you make it lick my face?" Rina asks, leaning forward and wearing a big grin.

Alptraum dutifully tries to make the tongue lick Rina's face. He remembers just how odd it was to use the tongue, so he knows roughly what to try…

"It's quite… unnewving, weally," Twig says. He uses the scanner again, and the shadow veins and energy net are really pulsing. "It seems to be using up powah too."

The Skreek cackles with glee as it tickles her.

"Yes, it does when I do anything extensive. Only the default state consumes little energy," Alptraum admits.

"I think Rina likes the tongue," Alptraum says with a smirk.

"I think Rina likes lots of weird things," Kaira comments.

"So … Doctor," Alptraum says as he licks over his lips and fangs. "What exactly am I now?"

"So these changes can't be pewmanent," Twig notes. The scanner is starting to look… pink.

"I'm not really sure. Can they, Kaira?" Alptraum asks. "And, ah, why is that mirror turning pink?"

"The more you try to alter your natural form, the more power it will require to maintain," Kaira notes. "Your powers aren't like those of a full shadow dragon, and even then… you have an easier time altering other flesh than your own."

"Oh, the scope is getting full," Twig explains. "It gets lethahgic when it's full."

"So … you're saying I could alter Rina or the Doctor permanently?" Alptraum says. The 'heheheh' laugh that follows and how he eyes the pair is a bit unnerving.

"Well, I don't know," Kaira notes. "You don't have full control over your shadow talents yet. Weren't you afraid to experiment with them?"

"I want … wings!" Igorina says.

"Smallah fangs," Twig suggests.

"I'm a little more willing now. You've been asking me to recently," Alptraum admits. He looks back at the Doctor and asks him directly, "What exactly am I, in your opinion? Am I alive? Some sort of strange zombie? Just a monster? Paranoid?"

"Well, a Hybwid cewtainly," Dr. Twig notes, and goes about disconnecting the scanner. "In some kind of twansitional state. So… yowa like a lawva still… maybe."

Alptraum sputters. "I'm still changing?" he blurts.

"Well, you cleahly awe twying to change," Twig notes. "But you awe eithah not weady owa being blocked by this legendawy spiwit; the Bawsunala."

"Changing into what, though?" Alptraum asks worriedly, "Some undead thing?"

"Well, you have to die befowa that can happen," Dr. Twig says with a chuckle. "You haven't died yet, have you?"

"Well, once when I was stabbed through the heart, but I got better! You saw the repair. And once in a dream," Alptraum explains.

"So … I don't think I've really died," Alptraum concludes.

"Stabbed through the heart?" Igorina asks, and immediately… licks… Alptraum's chest scar. "Did it hurt?"

Alptraum blinks. "Why did you just lick me?" he asks. "And it did, just not as much as you would think. I was forced to use the shadow to fix it before I actually died."

"Well… ah… the stowies of the black hahts do mention infection of living people, soht of," Twig notes. "They had to be willing though – followahs of a Necwomancah owa similah."

"Why not lick it?" Rina replies.

"But what is in me isn't a black heart, right?" Alptraum asks. To Rina he says, "Well, do you learn something by licking it?"

"I learn what it tastes like, of course," Igorina points out, giving Alptraum an odd look. "What else do you think I would find out?"

"What does it taste like?" Alptraum has to ask.

"I nevah got to study a black haht," Twig confesses. "But this doesn't match all of what I do know about them. So… it's mowa of a gwey haht… "

"Maybe I can make you a black heart," Alptraum jokes and waggles his brow.

"Eeee," Rina notes. "I thought there might be a tingle like when I lick the batteries… "

"I forbid you from making black hearts!" Kaira declares.

"I was joking, Kaira!" Alptraum tells the dragon. "I don't even think I can."

"That reminds me! Don't you need to scrape some of the carapace off to experiment on?" Alptraum asks the doctor.

"Oh my, yes," Twig says, and eyes the… dragon… that has replaced Alptraum's hand. "Twicky. Maybe I can pwy up a scale… " He turns to where Igorina was, and opens his mouth, but now she's behind him holding a tray of various surgical tools and pliers.

"I'll feel this, won't I?" Alptraum asks the floating head of Kaira. "Pain, for some reason, I always feel… "

"No idea, but I'll probably feel it," the dragon replies, as Twig tries to sneak up on the hand with a pair of tweezers in one hand and a wire-cutter in the other. And yes, it hurts… but the scale starts to dissolve as soon as it's separated from Alptraum. "Buggah!" Twig curses.

"Ow!" Alptraum complains. His cursing following the removal of the scale is far more creative than the Doctor's. My, he has been to a lot of ports… "So, no samples to test with," he finally grumbles and his ears splay out.

"The spiwit enahgy must be needed to keep the stuff in a matewial fowm," Twig speculates. "How will you get yowa hand back to its nowmal shape?"

"Just sort of nudge it to relax back to normal. Want me to do it now so you can watch and see its normal shape?" Alptraum asks the doctor.

"Natuwally!" Twig says, grinning from ear to ear. "The daggah is a cwitical piece in this, cowwect?"

"Well, somewhat, Alptraum explains, "But we may as well start from there. I warn you my hand isn't that pretty when it's normal. Kaira, I'll talk to you later. Thank you for being a good sport about this… "

"Okay, pulling the plug?" Kaira asks.

"Yes. I won't let the doctor vivisect me or Rina keep me, I promise," Alptraum claims as his hand goes to the hilt. He stops there, then looks to Rina. "Do you want to pull it out?"

The dragon vanishes, and Rina leans over to sniff at Alptraum's arm. "Will is spurt fluids when pulled out?" the Skreek asks.

"It's pretty nasty sometimes, yes," Alptraum claims.

"Sure!" the Skreek says, and tugs at the hilt. There's actually some resistance, and Alptraum remembers how the various tendrils connected to the dagger during his last hand-transformation. It's not as bad, but he can feel something pull away before the knife is completely out of the sheath.

"That always feels funky," Alptraum admits as he feels tugging and the squelchy release of the blade from its sheath, "Since I, well, grow into the blade when it is in there." He takes another few breaths, then nods, "Now, right, back to normal." If he had to describe it, it's like untensing a muscle when he releases control over the shadow. "No more dragon," he thinks, "Return to normal… "

The transformation is fast, especially without the influence of the dagger to maintain the forced shape. The dragon head flattens and returns to the overlapping, chitinous carapace, while the underside becomes loose, leathery gray skin.

"And that is that," Alptraum concludes as he waggles his fingers. "See? Not very attractive. The skin looks terrible… "

"It's like my tail, if it were squishy," Rina announces as she starts rubbing, tugging and squeezing the skin. She even tries to make faces with it.

"Unusual, and somewhat diseased looking, but… not dead looking," Twig notes, giving it a poke himself.

"Doctor, do you have a … well, something that can magnify the skin? Maybe we could get a closer look at it to confirm if it is still alive?" Alptraum asks.

"Ah, I have a good instwument wight hewa," Twig notes, wiggling his finger. "Yowa flesh isn't cold. Wawm flesh is living flesh. I could pwick it though… should get a blood sample anyway."

"Right. Go ahead," Alptraum agrees!

A needle is brought forth, alcohol applied, and blood drawn… but it looks unusual. Instead of being bright red, it'd dark – almost black. "Hmm," Twig mutters, and immediately brings the blood sample over to his microscope and prepares a slide.

"I wouldn'r recommend licking that blood. It tastes pretty nasty," Alptraum remarks to Rina. Of course, there's a drop left on his forearm from the prick if Rina decides to anyway…

The Skreek sniffs it, and pulls back. "That smells… rotten," she comments.

"Tastes rotten too. Try it," Alptraum offers.

"That's because it is," Twig announces from his microscope. "Wotten, I mean. It's dead. All of the blood cells awe bwoken."

"What?" Alptraum says and looks up. "I thought you said it was alive? How can it be alive with dead blood?"

"Well, it is pwobably like the dwagon said," Twig notes. "The enahgy extwacted fwom living pwey keeps it alive, aftah a fashion. We saw healthy blood vessels inside though, so it may just be the extwemities that awe affected."

"So … I have a zombified right hand," Alptraum concludes and his ears wilt. "Which explains why I can't feel much in it. And if those black vessels weren't being held back … would I end up completely like … that?"

"Ah, not enough data," Twig says. "The black stuff is shadow matewial, it appeahs. It may be mowa due to the awm being isolated fwom the west of you."

"So it might come back if the link was restored?" Alptraum asks next. "You have no idea, do you?"

The lab-coated Eeee scratches at his head. "Well… ah… maybe? Thewe must be some kind of undead, or appawently undead, element that is causing the blockage."

"So … I probably shouldn't try to let it spread further, right? Not even an inch?" Alptraum clarifies.

"Weally, without knowing why the Bahsunala spiwit is weacting like it does, it would pwobably be best to maintain the status quo," Twig notes.

Alptraum lays his head back. "The things I did for love," he remarks as he looks at the ceiling. "Ah well, Rose was worth it."

"Wose?" Twig asks, looking surprised.

"Speaking of love, we should get that sample too," Rina notes, as she cracks her knuckles.

"Yes, Rose. Rose Draco," Alptraum clarifies, "Your old college friend, I think… " Rina gets a bemused smirk from that as Alptraum remarks, "Only if I'm chained to your bed." He grins.

"Easily arranged!" Igorina cackles, while Twig just seems to stare off into the distance. "Ah, lovely Wose… " he sighs.

"She has deserved a lot more than the world has given her," Alptraum says to the Doctor and even smiles sadly. "I've tried in what ways I can to give her hope for the future. Something she has needed for a long time."

"But just think," Alptraum adds as Rina unties him and practically throws the Eeee over her shoulder, "You helping me. Helping fix that heart, also helps her. I obtained it for her and it was more than worth the cost to my body." The bat then sighs in a rather faux put-upon way as he adds, "I just hope I survive your assistant!"

---

GMed by BoingDragon

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Today is 15 days after Candlemass, Year 29 of the Reign of Archelaus the First (6128)