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 Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 9:03 am
"Of course," Malodore said with a nod and an open-beaked grin. "This prospect is as exciting for us as it is for you, believe me. I am no expert on the mind, but I am skilled with anatomy and physiology. Once you figure out what you desire in a new vessel... well." The plague doctor rubbed its hands together. "I will do my best to assemble one to match your greatest desires, signorina." It bowed again.
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Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:52 pm
Riley felt mildly distracted when Malodore spoke. There was so much passion involved when it came to this line of work - she caught herself staring. Just a little bit. Her eyes flickered down to Amrita, forcing herself to focus once more.
Malodore is correct, as always. We're very excited to see if we can manage to crack your puzzle for you, and successfully create a body to suit you. Call it.. a rare intellectual challenge. These are treasured, to us. You are in good hands. Her eyes crinkled at the sides in lieu of a smile, and she led Amrita to a seat.
Come, sit. Be comfortable. I have so many questions, but we should begin with some of the most obvious. Do you have any idea why you cannot leave your current body? You mentioned being able to remove an arm.. how incorporeal is your true self? Would you be able to repeat the process, if asked? Seeing exactly what occurred when a Vetala attempted to leave their body could yield the greatest amount of clues for their endeavor.
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Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:40 pm
It hadn't clued in until it was too late that Christof was about to leave her alone with two mostly strangers. Helpful strangers, but strangers nonetheless. Thus it was a great relief to her when he smiled and gave her his scarf, something she mostly clung to immediately, wrapping it tighter around her shoulders like a shawl. Now having to fend for herself, she focused her attention on the others; the more she listened, the more excited she was getting by the idea and the opportunity that was opening up to at least try.
"I...I want to look my age!" She told Malodore almost immediately; as proud as she had been of getting into this body, it was always a bit annoying to be thought of as a child. Before she could be greedy and ask for more, she was being seated and asked a whole lot of questions. Poor Riley received a wide-eyed near blank stare from the Vetala, whose rotting brain was trying very hard to keep up.
"Uhh...Y-yeah, I think I know why...Incorporeal? I could...try?" She answered as best as she could once the questions showed up, though she wasn't sure if she gave good enough answers. She was aware of one thing though; Riley wanted to see her try to get out. With a thoughtful hum she lifted her left arm a little bit from the scarf-shawl, looking at it.
"If...If I try I don't want to leave it for long, um, once I'm out of it it'll start to rot again and...I need this arm." For now anyway. That, and she technically hadn't been asked.
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Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 9:23 pm
The hunchback hurried to clean up, splashing his neck and face and hands before taking off the boots completely. He'd just have to set them by the door. He had been so thoughtless! Of course it needed to stay sterile.... No matter, he knew better now and... he wobbled, inhaling deeply through his nose as his jaw attempted a futile yawn. He was still running on adrenalin, and it was threatening to give out. He turned back out from the wash area, wiping his hands on his shirt as he rejoined them. His eyes locked on Amrita on the bed, and he stayed put, unsure of where he was needed.
Do you think it is possible, Mistress?
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Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 9:35 pm
"I can do that... given the right parts, I should be able to assemble anything. Since your own self and FEAR will be animating the form..." Malodore pondered. "Yes. Given the right parts, and I believe Christof is excellent at requisitioning such things." It glanced over at the patchwork and opened its beak in a smile.
"When you have had a chance to truly consider your desires, then we will plan details of my work... you must be sure, you see. I would not want to present you with something created based on spur-of-the-moment desires..."
As for the rotting... "We could conduct your attempts in a cold room, thus slowing decay as much as possible. There is no sense in ruining your current corporeal form!"
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Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:20 pm
Riley kept glancing at Amrita's body, as if looking for clues on her physical form. A mark, perhaps, or something that could be disabling her abilities. When Amrita piped up about her age, Riley curiously managed a quick How old are you, then? While she took Amrita's hand in her own and flipped it over to examine it.
She realized that a much more thorough examination was necessary to rule out her first theory. But first..
When we are testing later on, we should try it in a cold room. For right now, I simply need to see it for a single second. That shouldn't rot you too much, I hope. Her eyes turned crescent in a friendly manner.
After, I will ask you to come into the other room with me for a moment. I have a request that I'd rather ask you alone. As if to deter Malodore from worrying about it, she sent a quick explanation to the plague doctor's mind directly.
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Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:43 pm
It was pretty easy to meet her desires: a body that matched her age, that wasn't rotted...and perhaps with similar features to this one, as to not confuse her friends with a sudden and drastic change in appearance. Black hair and grey eyes should do it, right? Her hands and feet would flip backwards anyway, so there was still those defining markers. Still, Malodore was asking her to wait, and so she would wait and think about it even though she was sure it wouldn't change.
"Umm...Okay, I can do that." Think about it, of course. "My room is in the basement! It's bel---I'm fourteen." It was no secret that the basement of the undead dorm was well below freezing; that should be cold enough for experiments, right? However she cut herself off to answer Riley's question; there was quite a gap between the body's age and her own.
"...Okay?" What would Riley want her alone for? She had been watching the way her hand was being examined; the twisted wrists, the bruised fingertips, the backwards and reversed hands in general. When it was clear that she needed to do a demonstration though, she took her hand back and set to work.
Biting on what remained of her lip she rolled her shoulder back, extending the arm for a moment only to bed it again at the elbow; she looked like she was removing a tight fitting sleeve without fully removing the shirt. After a couple similar tries the corpse arm fell limp at her side, the wrist cracking, snapping and twisting back into it's proper place. What extended from the shoulder was an outstretched arm, pale and compeltely see through at the moment; the hand however, looked cleanly severed at the wrist, hovering an inch or two away from the forearm. More importantly the hand looked positioned correctly; it was not backwards at all.
Amrita looked thoroughly pleased with herself.
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Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:13 pm
The hunchback positively beamed at Malodore's recommendation, proud that he had confidence in his ability as a grave-robber. The moment subsided once the questions began, though...
F-f-fourteen? Christof's shock was palpable, even to the non psychics in the room. A fresh blush came to his face, caterpillar-like mouth squirming into a scowl of disbelief. But... but... she didn't look older than- but that's right, it wasn't her body was it? That was the point of the matter... If she had mentioned it before, it wasn't until that moment did things finally sink in. That... that meant she was only a year younger than him!
More important discoveries than her age were apparently at foot, though, as his Mistress requested Amrita show off her trick, and it wasn't until the hand snapped back into place did he snap out of his alarming discovery. It... it was right again! He stepped forward, eagerly reaching for the dangling, lifeless arm to examine it closer, checking to see if the wrist bones were broken.
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Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:24 pm
Malodore nodded, slightly, at Riley's quiet thought, then focused on Amrita. "Fascinating," the plague doctor murmured. "And you are having difficulty removing yourself? What about placing yourself into a new form? From the way you speak, and your desire for a new shape, I assume this vessel wasn't your first choice..."
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Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:54 pm
Quite a few things about Amrita's little performance intrigued Riley. As she mused about them, she did something rather strange. Instead of speaking to Malodore through the mind, she simply opened her mind to him. It was an exposing, intimate gesture, but it was easier than talking her thoughts through. Conjecture and theory occurred through the mind at a much faster rate than the spoken word could travel.
Riley mused about several notable ideas in rapid succession. The first was simply that Amrita's true form was absolutely what she'd assumed - an intangible spirit. This made things a little easier, in terms of possible methods of removal. Secondly, she found the reaction of the hand twist as well as the true form's severed hand both worth noting for further investigation. There would be much to discuss on this, when all the information was laid out on the table. Lastly, it was how she'd removed her arm in the first place that caught Riley's attention. The body fell away like clothing, but only after a few tries.. perhaps this particular set of 'clothing' was simply too tight on her. Stifling her, as it were.
All of this was still dependant on whether or not she could find any sort of markings on Amrita's body. Curses, spells, enchantments, any number of things could be causing her current predicament - and most would leave a mark to indicate their presence.
That's enough, Riley quickly said, both to Amrita to her own mind, as the connection was severed. Put it back in now, dear.
Riley straightened up, and held out her hand. May we use your room for a moment, Malodore? She asked, blinking up at him with an unknowingly affectionate gaze.
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Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:17 am
Christof would find that the wrist was unbroken; it was in perfect condition minus the bruises of natural decay, or the little tooth marks from various pet bites.
The next set of questions she was bombarded with made her visibly uncomfortable, to the point of squirming somewhat where she sat. She didn't answer, at least not right away...she did however, focus back on completely possessing the thing again, sliding her real arm back into the corpse one similar to putting a shirt sleeve back on. Like before the wrist started to snap and convulse until it twisted backwards and seemed to reverse itself, and this time she rotated her shoulder to get the arm to 'fit right'. Once she was comfortable, she gripped the scarf-shawl again to huddle in it.
"This...was the best I could do at the time." Amrita lamented, torn between the original pride she had and the embarrassment that she was now stuck. "I wasn't...wasn't strong enough to do anything better, I was so proud of this one, it...it was out of my league. But I...I think that's why I got stuck." The more she spoke the quieter she became, the fleshy side of her face flushed with embarrassment. It might also be the reason she was slowly being able to get out of the body; she had done a lot in her time here already, she was a lot stronger now than she had been when she first enrolled. "If I could get out completely...I could try..."
She wasn't sure why Riley wanted her alone, but she would follow her if she had to.
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Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:25 am
Christof flinched backward when the hand wrenched around once more, his face wrought with physical disgust at the movement. Hands were not supposed to face that way! He didn't have the same scientific understanding as his two Masters, but he did have an anatomical appreciation... one founded on parts facing how they were supposed to face. At least on other people. He reached to give his uneven, large shoulder a scratch as he listened to her explanation quietly.
At Riley's request, though, he remained planted at Amrita's side cluelessly.
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Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 9:27 am
Malodore stood still as it absorbed that stream of concepts from Riley's mind - that method of transference was strange, but also completely fascinating. Her theory about the vessel being akin to too-tight clothing made sense... hmm.
When Riley closed her mind to it again, the plague doctor shook its head quickly, then nodded to Amrita. "Don't be ashamed - you did what you could. Your tastes have changed now." Malodore shrugged, the movement making the blades on its back chime together gently. "That is all. And si - go ahead," it added, gesturing at the small side room. The curtain separating it from the main room was thick, and partially open now from Christof entering to wash.
Malodore then glanced at the patchwork. "The limb was undamaged, yes? The twisting must simply be a factor of the vetala possession, not an injury... hmm." Intriguing! Perhaps if they put the hands on the wrong way around to start with, they'd twist to be 'correct'?
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Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:47 pm
Riley took Amrita's hand, curling her own long claws around it, before leading her to Malodore's room. Thank you, she replied to Malodore, before holding the curtain up for Amrita, and then disappearing under it herself.
She led Amrita away from the doorway, and then released her hand. I have a theory, you see. I hope to disprove it, with your help - but it is perhaps a little uncomfortable of a request. Especially in front of, well.. you know. She waved her hands at the door and chuckled. I wanted to check your entire body for any kind of markings that would be left on you if something has been keeping you trapped. I'd like to get that theory out of the way before we begin, simply so I know what I'm dealing with. This would, of course, require that I do a full examination of your body. Her eyes crinkled slightly. It is an odd request, but I assure you my examination will be clinical and professional. You have nothing to fear from me.
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Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 11:17 pm
Malodore's reassurance made her feel a little better, but in the end, even if her tastes had changed, she was still mostly stuck. It was a pity, but there were quite a few people here who were willing to help her, and that meant a lot more to her. She managed a little smile at him before she was back on her reversed feet, Riley's claws around her twisted, bruised hand.
The scarf was pulled tighter around her shoulders for a moment, thoroughly nervous as to why she was alone with Riley. What the ghoul had to say was a little baffling, and she gave a look at the doorway that suggested she did not, in fact, know. Still, if it was something that meant they needed to be alone, there was a chance she'd understand shortly. She pondered it, and had an inkling.
"So you...need me to take this off?" Amrita questioned a little stupidly, picking at the dirty and singed-in-placed Sari she wore as a dress. "I...do not think I have any marking on me, though? I can't check my back but...I don't think so?"
The Vetala didn't seem worried about the idea of needing to disrobe, nor did she question that Riley would be professional about it. She just...wasn't sure if it was necessary.
Though, if Riley were to ask her again, she would not hesitate to take off Christof's scarf and her sari.
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