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 Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 4:57 pm
"Keep it for Godiva, then. It might be an interesting experiment all on its own - the fonic disruptions most likely won't do anything against that bile of hers, but..." A smile played across Nebilim's face. "That 'but' is always the most intriguing, isn't it?"
She nodded, then. "You are indeed a scientist. Most acceptable." He would be an excellent student. Lackey. Pawn. "Skillful work with the scalpel, understanding of laboratory conditions and the scientific method. I've yet to find a finer knowledge of such things among the common beasts that seem to make up the rest of this... this species." She snorted and glared at her own paws for a moment, then raised her gaze to meet Jabril's head-on. "A pleasure, indeed." And hopefully more tractable than other students I've had. If nothing else, she'd never been able to lead Jade around by his loins.
"Now... what do you have to show me, hm? Fair is fair, is it not?" She smiled, disarmingly.
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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 5:24 pm
"Oh! Oh, aye!" Jabril bounced in place.
The biologist wasn't sure if he was excited because someone had actually asked him about the meaning of his research, or because miss Nebilim was looking at him so intently. He chose not to dwell on it.
"Kitsu-sagi. Tha's a contradiction, yeh? Kitsune fer fox, an' usagi fer rabbit. It does'nae make any sense. Ye cannae ha' wee kits from a hare an' a fox. It does'nae work tha' way! They're too unrelated, an' liable to kill one another.""
He was starting to pace again, and the sway of his tails would have looked more like wild arm gestures on a human. It didn't take much to get him worked up.
"An' then we ha' kitsu like ye, an m'parents! Come round from another world! Most all o' em powerful in a pas' life, real characters o' importance."
Jabril pointed at Nebilim with the blade of his knife.
"Does tha' na strike ye as odd?"
He leaned in, gold-green eyes sparking in the flickering light.
"O'course it does!"
His manic grin exposed steel-bright fangs.
"T'is na a natural phenomenon, this m'gration o' souls. An' these forms are nae meant t'exist. So wha' did this? Why? I think it looks like t'is all an expirim'nt."
What else could it be? Who else but a scientist would care to make creatures like them, with the intellect of humans and the superior bodies of beasts? The Mountain and the Realm were perfect holding cells, isolated and idyllic.
"But I c'n make me own hybrids. I c'n figure out how t'is done. An' when I do," he chuckled, low and breathless, "When I do, I'll have all this place figur'd out, I will unnerstand how to repl'cate it, an' I will have c'ntrol."
The chuckle blossomed into full-bodied laughter. Was it not wonderful? Was it not grand? If Jabril could only touch the secrets of his universe, then he would never fear again, cowering in his mountainside, tip-toeing around his father and Mountain Spirits and every-bleedin'-other kitsusagi that had ever threatened his life through sheer power. He wouldn't be the weak little runt of his Mum's litter anymore. He would would be a true servant of the one he loved, his mistress Science, who he sometimes saw in Nebilim, but only in fractured glimpses.
"P'rfessor, I'd like ye t'meet m'projects."
He turned with a swirl of his tattered brown lab coat to pull a bell-string attached to the wall.
They came one by one at the sound of the tone. An awkward little rabbit with mole's paws and a lizard's tail inexpertly substituted for the limbs it was born with, riddled with amateurish stitch-marks. A snake with bird legs that acted as forarms seamlessly melded into its upper body. A hairy spider the size of a small terrier. A mouse with patches of feathers in place of fur. There had to be a dozen of them, each more freakish than the last.
The spider decided to crawl up Nebilim's hind leg and onto her back. Jabril happily patted it on the head.
"'ullo, Allaidh Five. D'ye like Daddy's friend? There's a good wee boyo."
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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 5:31 pm
Nebilim's smile broadened as Jabril monologued, and she sat back and listened with every appearance of interest. Yes, a fine young man indeed. "A noble goal, to be sure - and one I'm sure not many support or know about. But what is science but the pursuit of knowledge... the pursuit of power? The two are much the same at the highest levels."
Maybe Jabril was right, maybe he wasn't. If nothing else, Nebilim knew she was here by her own choice, and no one else's. The details were unimportant. If nothing else, unless she missed her guess, Jabril had told her something he wouldn't normally share. That level of trust so quickly... excellent.
She watched as he summoned his chimeras. "Interesting, very interesting... reanimated corpses, or a fusion done while the specimens were still alive?" She twisted lightly to try and peer at the one on her back. "What was your failure rate?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 9:39 am
Jabril's intentions had never been secret. Oh, he kept quiet about the projects that were sure to cause a fuss amongst the bleeding heart set, but he didn't see why his ambitions were anything to hide. He'd kept his little monologue close to his heart for quite some time, waiting for someone who'd ask the right questions.
The male was beaming so intently that he practically glowed.
"Corpses? There's nae any point t'that." Jabril reached out to shoo Allidh Fove the terrier-spider away from Nebilim. It was trying to anchor a new web off of one of her sticklike wings. "I've ha' an undead in 'ere b'fore. A kitsu femme, cold as a cadaver. Pr'aps t'is good she does'nae sleep or eat, but 'er system's inferior t'anythin' living. No self repair, no immune system, no veins an' arteries workin' t'spead injected subst'nes through th' body, no r'producin'- all tha' lovely c'mplexity, gone!"
The inquiry about his failure rates went conspicuously unanswered.
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 9:48 am
"Good, very good," Nebilim nodded approvingly, flicking the now webbed wing to get the stringy bits off. "Then your passion is life laid bare under the knife. A solid grounding in the physical before leaping into the theoretical; an admirable quality..."
She bent down to sniff at one of the hybrids with a smile. "Sadly, other than my own self, all of my projects remained behind. I will have to work hard to catch up to you here, at least in visible output. How... delightful." The smile turned predatory, pleased. That was an exciting proposition. An excuse to really settle down for some serious work, and possibly someone to help her do it (or at least watch starry-eyed). "I don't suppose this cave system has some... unexplored areas? Places where someone else could settle in and make another laboratory?" Her tails curled, delicately. "Any recommendations, for that, and for a supplier for the goods that make proper study so much easier?" She could vivisect with her paws alone, but it wasn't quite as nice.
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:03 am
Admirable? He was admirable? Jabril's ears perked. He'd never been called admirable/i] by a femme before, let alone one who was so knowledgeable that it made his head spin. He was aware that Professor Nebilim was using him to get herself settled, but he didn't much care. He wasn't used to feeling this flustered.
"Caves? Here!?" Jabril nearly squeaked with surprise. Then he rubbed the back of his neck with one paw. "Ahaha- oh, yuir. I see. In th'market, are ye? I cannae blame ye. T'is a bit o' an empty neighbor'ood. Nae much noise t'bother ye. Er."
Project the chimera-bunny butted against his leg, so he picked the hare up and settled it beneath his forepaws. The two-legged snake had been trying to eat Project again. Aa~h, his babies were so wonderful!
"Cave system 'round 'ere is 'uge, though I'll warn ye, there's some nasty stoof down 'ere. I think someone was livin' 'ere b'fore I was. Left be'ind some s'curity. But m'sure ye'd ha' no trouble wit' it. Supplies are easy enough t'find, if ye wait by that headquarters an' ye ask 'round. Knives r'useless t'most 'ere, so ye willnae ha' t'pay much, an'-"
The bunny head-butted him a second time, and he caught himself before he rambled further.
"-um, I do'nae think I could use 'em meself, but if ye wished to, er, collaborate, in th'future, an ye were around 'ere, an' ye felt yuir phonons could be useful t'e work, I mean, I'd be in yuir debt, yeh?" He blurted. "An' m'sure t'would be verrah pr'ductive! An' I've forgotten me manners. Would ye like a drink? Some o' tha' fresh fox? I do'nae think I'll be needing the one I brought fer dissection."
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Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:48 pm
"Nasty stuff, hmm. Sounds like fun." Nebilim grinned and brushed lightly past Jabril. "I'll investigate, then - and certainly, a snack sounds like a good proposition. Experiments always make me hungry."
Yes indeed. This was certainly looking good.
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