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Record 7.02.163
The NRGY Report

From the Desk of LabTechMK

The G-Virus, Mixed with the proper amount of
Zurg Energy, creates the unstable Mutagen known
as "DRKNRGY". Those infected by this mix of
Gaian and Zurg technology, often exhibit qualities
similar to that of the living dead and have an
uncontrollable urge to seek power and destruction.
Feelings in the infected are generally amplified
tenfold, and anything that even held a hint of
hatred ends up becoming the very drive for survival.

LGHTNRGY, unlike its polar opposite DRKNRGY,
is not created with the use of Zurg energy. It is
instead formed when two entities are fused with the
"perfect" G-Virus, and one of said entities is at
least half dead. The sacrifice of the healthy
being is taken into account on a higher level,
and the infected becomes a partially ascended being.
They become a single entity, that is very hard to
separate, as death remains a part of its very being.
Feelings of love, happiness, and the will to survive,
along with the drive to defend others, is what keeps
these beings going, and gives them the powers they hold.
Should they ever become taken over with anger, and sadness,
however, they can in rare cases change over to DRKNRGY,
and they will split from the person they first fused with.

If the host of both viruses were to infect a being in the same instance,
there is no telling what effects this may have,
or whether the being would even survive.
In theory, this victim would have the powers of both LGHT and DRK,
dubbed “GRYNRGY”, and would be at combined Stage 10.
Such an existence would be considered a God of sorts by comparison.

A wielder of NRGY is limited only to their creativity, skill, and stage of infection.
All of the infected also gain a telepathic link to those of the same polarity.
DRK infectees can communicate mentally with others, and the same for those of LGHT.
However, wielders of GRYNRGY can communicate with those of either polarity at will.

The host for either virus (the original infected) can start at any stage, depending
on the concentration of the secondary biological ingredients in said virus.
Those infected by the host, generally mutate themselves to the stage below that
of the host, but in lesser cases, can be even lower stages, all dependent on how the infection was spread to them.

Those infected by the infected who were not the original host often inhibit greater weaknesses,
as the degeneration in the viral strand rises from infection to infection.
In cases of mass infection, you are generally left with a high number of stage 1 victims,
who cannot focus well enough to do any real damage.
It is more or less, at that point, just concentrated rage/happiness in the victim.

A Deeper Look at NRGY

General Overview

With NRGY as a whole the level of infection comes in stages, a loose term to try and categorize both how much of an impact the infection has on it's bearer, but also how strong they are. There are no strict rules with this, it's more of a guideline to use when trying to suss out which abilities a person can use and how powerful they will be.

As said, a strong infection will also mean a stronger impact on the person's mind. In a DRK bearer this means that they will be further corrupted, more prone to destruction and more lost to their former selves on the whole. In LGHT this means that the infectee will lean toward optimism, altruism, and overall positivity.

Note: Every infection is different. Many variables come into play in terms of how a bearer is impacted both in their personality and their strength/abilities. Species, temperament/personality, level of infection and circumstances all play a role in defining the intensity of the hold the NRGY will have on them. It is also said that the lords can manipulate the way NRGY interacts with the infectees.

Kinship

NRGY bearers will find that, on the whole, those of their own polarity have a natural attraction, while those of others a natural repulsion. Those of opposite polarities can and do tolerate each other, in some cases even having close relationships, but the comfort level is significantly less than when around their own kind. Tolerances can be built up over time--the more one bearer is around an opposing one, the less it will bother them. There is also a tendency to place more trust on an infectee of their ilk. Loyalty to one's own NRGY and it's fellow bearers runs deep, especially in times of threat.

Though being among kin will not, in most cases, cloud judgment for either polarity beyond repair, the influence of shared polarities getting together can bring out natural instincts and amplify them. In the case of DRKNRGY, bearers may get into more chaos when working together than separately. With LGHT there is a greater community impact and the results are often beneficial not only to themselves but all around.

Ultimately each infectee is an individual, and kinship is more of a creature comfort than a defining factor in the decisions they will make. It is, however, influential in subtle ways. It can help in the corruption of a DRK bearer, and the purity of a LGHT bearer.

Living With NRGY

As a general rule, infectees will integrate smoothly with their polarity. It will often become a major part of their identity, and separation from it at the time will be met with resistance and general discord. There is an innate love for the NRGY they have, and an innate hate for the one they do not. At the very least there is a general mistrust between DRK and LGHT bearers, while GRY bearers will tend to lean toward the polarity their personality aligns them with most readily. This is all mostly instinct, and even with the application of reason and intervention from those with a clear mind it is a difficult feeling to ignore.

Being a bearer can in many cases be seen as having the wool pulled over one's eyes. Though they possess a great power, it comes at a varying cost as said power takes over their way of thinking. They will generally favor and glorify their own NRGY while being repulsed and put off by the opposite. The tendency will be to view their own NRGY as blameless--the cause of problems centering on their polar opposite's.

Those with an infection will rarely be able to understand the appeal of anything else, though they themselves will have very little chance of recognizing their own bias. Due to the insipid nature of NRGY, it's very difficult to realize what changes are taking place internally, or to put a stop to them. Once a polarity has settled in a person's mind, it's influence can spread and grow, embedding so deeply that their judgment, while appearing rational and necessary to themselves, will often be riddled in bias and clouded.

This is especially true of DRK bearers, who are more readily prone to corruption. In a DRK infectee amoral behavior may be rationalized or even coveted, the rationale of a normal or LGHT person seeming distant, skewed and fundamentally foolhardy. Even a weakly infected DRK bearer can fall victim to rationalizing bad behavior, though they may, depending on personal strength, be able to later see the error in their ways.

Those bearing LGHT are by no means angelic in opposition to their DRK counterparts. While their influence is one with good intentions, the methods used to reach their desired results can at times be questionable and even inhuman at times. The LGHT within them justifies their actions no matter the cost, and as a result they are just as capable as DRK users to hurt those they are trying to help. They can and are often blinded by the LGHT.

Generally speaking, a GRY user is a mediator between the NRGYs and is meant to act as neutral as possible to retain the balance between the two. Instinctly, they may lean a little more toward one side or the other depending on their own nature, but leaning too far in any one direction may force them out of neutrality and into a pure NRGY of LGHT or DRK. They neither love nor hate but instead help where it is deemed fit.

On the whole, a weaker infection will result in more lapses in judgment, whereas a stronger one will become increasingly constant. Their thinking, their actions, and their natures in some cases can all be twisted and tweaked, gradually or abruptly, by the NRGY they carry. No matter how it's spun and no matter what a bearer might say, NRGY is the driving force in any individual who has it, often to a fault.

Rejection

In several known cases, NRGY bearers have rejected one polarity in favor of another. Though inherently defying the nature of the infection, if a person is strong willed enough or simply cannot integrate with their polarity, they will knowingly reject it and seek out the opposite, or a neutralizing of their current. It is highly probable that those who reject their polarities have stronger wills and have managed to retain more of their true nature than others like them.

Balance

Conflicts are common amongst NGRY bearers of different polarities due to both NRGYs' needs to dominate the playing field. There is a natural competitiveness, the goal for both sides being to have the stronger influence. The more prolific one NRGY becomes, the more power it will crave in an act of total dominance. In this way with power comes corruption, regardless of the natural alignment.

Still, if DRK begins to dominate, LGHT bearers will make an effort to right it, and vice versa. Wars are not unheard of; the influence one polarity gets bringing the other sides' priorities into strict juxtaposition. The stronger infectees will be those to try and control the distribution of power between the NRGYs, particularly the hosts. Influence is primarily gained through the number of NRGY users on either side, and their strength of infection. In general, there is an air of constantly trying to one-up the other side and keep them in check.

Furthermore, even the closest friends of opposing polarities can become enemies when pitted against each other due to this power struggle. The need to assert dominance on behalf of a person's infection overpowers normal thought and emotion, rendering both little more than puppets to the NRGY they bear. While personality and the individual will always factor into this, it is highly unlikely that the impact of a person's polarity will not be felt, no matter their ability to control it. As soon as a person of NRGY feels threatened by their polar opposite, instinct will kick in.

In the end balance is the only sustainable prospect, though DRK and LGHT will always inherently seek to be rid of each other. If one side ever did become successful in wiping out the other, whether it was LGHT or DRK, the winning NRGY would become tyrannical and volatile, and all would be in danger. GRY can be considered partly responsible for ensuring that neither side gets too much power.

Known LGHTNRGY Abilities

LGHT bearers, while primarily focused on acts of good and healing, do have an assortment of powerful attacks in their arsenal. Still, where LGHT bearers have a natural tendency toward aiding others, they have fallen short in expanding abilities. This is primarily due to not sharing the same craving for power that DRK bearers have inherently. Also unlike DRK, interacting with LGHT on the whole will not be harmful for a non-user, though if attacked by the NRGY it can still be damaging.

LGHT Telepathy

LGHT users may communicate telepathically with their own kind only.

Teleportation

Porting is the primary mode of travel for LGHT users. Unlike DRK's portal-opening, LGHT porting is instantaneous. The user and anyone touching them will disappear in a flash of blue light, appearing at their destination in the same fashion. Travel by porting is not at all harmful to non-users, though it will hurt a DRK bearer. The intensity of the LGHT infectee's NRGY and emotion will factor in with how bright and powerful the burst of LGHT is upon porting, so it can sometimes be blinding.

Orbs and Light

At it's basic stages LGHTNRGY can be manipulated into spheres or just used as-is. Unlike DRK, LGHT does not naturally occur as a mist, being a denser NRGY, and so it will appear as light. Like with DRK, this is an ability almost any infectee can master, and it can develop into more powerful forms of attack.

Beams and Solid LGHT

When mastered, infectees can form high density beams of LGHT, or even create temporarily or permanently solid LGHT objects. Like DRK, the success and permanence of solid LGHT depends on skill and focus.

Domes and Other Barriers

LGHT lends itself much more readily to protection than DRKNRGY does. LGHT domes and barriers can not only protect their bearers, but non-users, without any negative effect. They are fashioned and put in place very similarly to their DRK counterparts. For a DRK bearer they can, as in the opposite case, prove very effective as traps. A DRK bearer inside of a LGHT barrier will feel blinded and burning.

LGHT Healing

Unlike DRK, LGHTNRGY is primed for the healing of non-users as well as infectees. It is much more naturally aligned with healing and so it comes faster and without as much difficulty or skill. However, attempting to heal a DRKNRGY being with LGHT will be extremely painful for the DRK bearer, perhaps even worsening the wound.

LGHT Pages and Scouts

Like with their polar opposites, LGHT infectees can summon LGHT creatures to do their bidding. They can function as spies, protection, messengers and aid in battle.

LGHT Transformation

For the most part, unlike early stage DRK bearers, LGHT bearers do not transform or take on a LGHT form. Under high stress situations they can exhibit slight changes, such as glowing eyes, however a proper transformation into a LGHT being is limited to only the highest stage infectees. Transformation is much more epic than a low-level DRK bearers', turning them into something akin to a lord or lady of LGHT. Also different from DRK is that a LGHT transformation will not tax the user of their own NRGY.

Items & Artifacts

NRGY objects can be created by their infectees with focus and patience. Some of these items can and do attain a certain level of importance and gain to those possessing them.

DRK objects are painful to LGHT bearers, offering a burning feeling to the touch. Those without the infection would feel a need to distance themselves, getting a strong negative vibe from the DRK item in question.

LGHT objects, while pleasantly warm and inviting to a non-bearer, burn painfully to the touch of a DRK infectee. Though several DRK items have been or are in circulation, no LGHT objects have been forged to date.

DRK Pendant

Created by Sennin Koth, it is a tear drop-shaped dark indigo necklace which was forged in and continues to emanate the power of the DRK realm. To a DRK bearer it is a power amplifier, connected not only to the realm but to Koth himself. For anyone without the infection it is a death sentence, the mere touch being enough to suck the air out of a person's lungs. While intended for Goosie, it was recently lost during an assault on her and was later discovered to now be in Zack Faux's possession.

Weapons

Several weapons crafted from DRK have been used in battle, including a DRK longbow and gun. None are presently available.

Some objects have been used to harness the power of the infections while themselves remaining neutral, like Sam Cruix's Silver Revolver, which fired LGHT bullets and was used to fend off DRK enemies. It has since been lost.

Lords of Power

The strongest of NRGY users are the Lords of Power. They possess the ultimate LGHT or DRK, which they can bestow on whoever they deem worthy of it. They also have the ability to take possession of a mortal's body and communicate through them. However, they do not need to rely on this skill as they can appear outside their tealms with bodies of their own when they choose.

The NRGY Lords tend to think of mortals as lower than themselves, quoted as saying 'Your kind is but a game to us', and the LGHT Lords refuse to get entangled in said mortal's affairs. The DRK Lord(s), however, had no qualms about stepping in and stirring things up further. Bearers will tend to be deeply affected in the presence of their lord(s); intimidated, awe struck, and gripped powerfully by instinct.

The DRK Lord has sometimes been known to speak as a disembodied voice in the Realm of DRKNRGY, and made a brief appearance during the climax of Cruix's bid for power. It is thought that since possessing her dying body during the final struggle and losing, the DRK lord has in turn also been defeated. It is unclear whether or not there will be a return of both the DRK lord and the Host.

The Abridged History of NRGY

Just a concept for an additional post that I will probably stick somewhere higher in the post line-up.

And don't you know that you, I know you better than this. I could be here when you call. I'll make you top of the list. And in the crush of the dark, I'll be your light in the mist. I can see you burnin' with desire for a kiss, psychobabble all upon your lips~

All eyes on me in the center of the ring just like a circus. When I crack that whip everybody gonna trip just like a circus. Don't stand there watching me, follow me, show me what you can do~