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 Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 2:51 pm
Malodore had told her that it would return when it had more to tell her. In turn, Cricket had been doing some small preparations of her own to look into things. Unlike a student, she couldn't look into Insanity as openly. There were eyes on her. She had 'status' and 'responsibility' and all of those things. So she had to be less overt.
It started with simple things at first - ordering a few items, looking into that arm that was stashed away in her desk, making notes of student curiosities as Malodore had pointed them out to her. However, the school itself also seemed to have a lot more insect activity than it had before.
She was listening - always listening. It was one of the few things she could do given the current situation. If she approached students, they would become even more wary. She was a teacher - an adult. They couldn't trust her as much as she would have liked. Never the less, she'd just continue things as she always had - for the time being.
Once she got more information, she would be able to continue her approach on things. Using her now-officially handled FEARhealing pupil as such a pair of eyes and ears would benefit them both. Which was possibly why she had such a diverse stack of books set aside on her desk - spines fresh. She hadn't even opened them. Brand new.
She had plans for them, but first she had to wait for the Plague Doctor to make its appearance.
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 4:19 pm
The strange mental cry that had so shocked Malodore the day before had also jolted it into action - not that it had been inactive before, but it was more than time for it to present its findings and move forward with real purpose. The plague doctor had gathered up and organized all its notes and, with its samples in tow, headed towards Nurse Cricket's office. It was strange... it had imagined this moment so many times, the moment when it would step through her door as an apprentice, not merely a patient. And yet, now that the time had actually come, it could not linger on what should have been counted a minor triumph. The apprentice designation was minimal. The work was all. When it arrived, though, it did take a moment to straighten its hat and make sure it presented a composed appearance before knocking. " Infermiera? It is Malodore," it called out, putting one hand uncertainly on the knob but not turning it.
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 6:04 pm
"I am never in a state where you need to let me know who you are, Malodore. Knock and then enter in the future." Cricket answered firmly, but not tersely. It was simply something that now the title 'Apprentice' was attached to it, Malodore was being allowed.
Favoritism for her pupil, simply.
Her hand went to rest on the pile of books she'd stacked up on her desk as she turned to look towards the door. Ginko was very excited about the door, pawing at it and scratching in an attempt to make it open.
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 7:09 pm
"Ah - grazie," Malodore said, opening the door with a sigh of mingled relief and pride. The little scareon caught its eye immediately, and it bent down to run one hand over Ginko's back before straightening and approaching Cricket. "It is an honor to learn from you," it said, simply, bowing to her. "I shall open head and heart to hear and honor your teaching. Ah... it is an old plague doctor tradition, said when one is accepted into an apprenticeship," it added, ducking its head a bit sheepishly. "I have brought my research to date..."
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 9:10 pm
Cricket nodded her head in turn to her apprentice before she slid the pile of books - six to be exact, all varying thicknesses- off of the desk and held them out to the Plague Doctor. "For you." she said simply.
One of the books was one Mal would likely recognize easily - Cricket had produced it for its year 1 exam over a year before, filled with various symptoms and diseases of different types. Another was one it had seen recently as well, a nice little hardback copy of 'Emergency Field Care 202'. One book was on unusual cures using minipets, probably not for the faint of heart. Another was on meditation, but a quick flip through it would show it also had a few chapters on pressure points and relieving stress. The fifth book was on tracking FEAR's flow through a body - both one's own and somebody else's.
The final book, and by far the thickest, had no words in it, but the illustrations seemed to say enough. It dissected through the bodies of various races and showed the working parts of said individuals and detailed their reconstruction. It was a body-building book, essentially.
"It is good to have you. I will confess I would have been disappointed if you had not approached me for an apprenticeship with how engrossed you have been since the beginning - that first class." she remembered the task with the sewing. It had been quite the task too - a finicky piece of cloth that did not like being sewn. Sometimes muscles and fibers were that way too, even if not tough.
With that out of the way, however, she took a moment to walk over to the door, locking it. They did not need students walking in at random (not everybody knocked, after all) to see what they were looking at. "Very well. Let me see what it is you have gathered thus far." she requested calmly - but there was a slight tense vibration to her tone.
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 9:35 am
"Ah-" Malodore was nearly rendered speechless by the pile of books; it remembered, vividly, when its first mentor Armida had given it its very first real book of medicine. " Grazie - thank you, Infermiera. I am honored that you have accepted me into your tutelage." When she locked the door, though, the plague doctor sobered and put down the book it had picked up. "Yes... this is gathered largely from my own personal experience and observations, and that of a few others whom I trust." It carefully slid its notebook out of its sleeve and held it out to her; when opened, it would reveal a series of sketches and diagrams, outlines and notes, all carefully organized. "I have... observed three stages to the Insanity infection, and marked their symptoms, along with theories as to catalysts for progression. My research is weakest when it comes to the initial infection - I myself had experienced the initial stages, as have many students, but only a small percentage have developed the more advanced strains. I do not know what prompts it to move from a temporary disruption to a more permanent affliction," it said, keeping its voice low. "I also have a working theory on the nature of Insanity itself, as a substance... and also these." It reached into its sleeve once more and produced a small vial of greyed-out scales, the ones Jericho had given it. Then it fell silent and waited for her to finish reading. demon_pachabel Mal's research is compiled here; this is all that it knows ICly to this point~ assume what's in the notebook is nicely organized and contains no personal interjections!
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 3:20 pm
Cricket looked over the notes that were written down, drawing her finger along them thoughtfully. However, she soon produced her own notebook and began to write things down as they seemed to strike her. Once she handed the notebook back to Malodore would it be able to see what she had written.Quote: Theory: that Insanity, as a substance, was related to both JOY and FEAR, as beings of both types had shown a vulnerability to it. Further: that its source was rooted in FEAR, that it was, in fact, a type of FEAR in and of itself, though greatly changed from its original form. Quote: Why is it rooted in FEAR and not JOY? We are susceptible to JOY, and it is possible that at Christmas their invasion infected us. It is also possible upon entry to Halloween they were infected.
Which is more likely?-- Find way to investigate if Insanity has spread in Christmas Town. Quote: Fact: Insanity could not be caused by simple dissipation and reformation; otherwise, the entire population of Halloween would have degraded and been lost long ago, save a few fortunate and well-protected souls. But they were always warned about being 'killed' too rapidly and too often, weren't they? There had to be a reason. Hypothesis: Insanity is the reason. Quote: The core of an individual will degrade and rebuild over time. If the core is broken too quickly and too repeatedly, complete reformation as something else can occur.
Such as a werewolf becoming a Pricolici.
If not, well...she was at least known enough.Quote: Theory: damaged by the process, these 'failures' were unable to re-form, and became part of the mass of Insanity. Quote: We reform around a core. So if they are unable to reform, it is because something has happened to their core. Quote: Hypothesis: that the Hunters were to blame. Quote: Hunters are the most aggressive dissipators of Denizens. Quote: Question: what causes lingering effects, 'permanence'? Quote: Is there anybody who has had and maintained a steady control over Insanity for more than half a year?
A calcified arm.
"Would this be something that would give you more to perhaps investigate cures with?" she inquired. Clearly she had some good practice from that book on body building, given she was holding her left arm with her left hand.....
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 3:43 pm
Malodore was startled - and gratified - when Cricket produced her own notebook and began writing as well. When she revealed her notes, the plague doctor made a soft hm in the back of its throat and read them. "JOY... it is true, the Christmas creatures did carry Insanity with them in droves... I have encountered it more in FEAR-rich areas, but if it is indiscriminate..." It nodded at her final point. If Insanity was a problem in other holiday-worlds, then... It made that hm again at the mention of Shehk, oblique though it was. "So rapid dissipation can harm the... the core? And if it is too damaged, then they cannot re-form, but this is... this is not the same as true death?" Her calm writing of Hunters surprised it, though it tried to hide the emotion. Showing her had been a risk of sorts, but it hadn't hesitated. It trusted her... it merely glanced her way for a moment and nodded very slightly before moving on to the next point. "Ah." It looked up, quickly. "There - yes. There is. Invictus, the Heir of... the... yes, Invictus," it said, stumbling over its words a bit. "And possibly the other, ah, original Horsemen who came here, though Invictus is the only one I've spoken to at any length, and even then... he was closer to Riley than myself, by far." It swallowed, then, as the arm appeared. It remembered, but it also had more to tell Cricket. Things that weren't in the notebook. "I, ah... do you recall, when I arrived here after... after the last field trip?" it said, quietly. "I have... confirmed that I do seem to be immune to Insanity. I found a way to test, and I believe it to be reasonably accurate, though the only way to be certain is repeated exposure... I believe it may be related to my natural immunity. I spent a great deal of time closely... close to Riley, and it is possible that my immunity adapted to defend against Insanity as well..." The plague doctor shook its head. "That is the first thing that is not written in full. The second was... very recently." It swallowed again. "I... I think Riley might be alive. I was so certain she was dead," it said, hurriedly, "her bond with Jericho dissolved, her marks on others vanished. I could not detect her with my empathic senses. But the other day, I - we, Jericho and I - we heard her. In our minds. Just... just screaming in pain." It twitched, feathers rasping against each other. "I do not know why, or how, but I am certain it was her..." It slumped, looking haggard.
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 4:06 pm
"The human world has an idea of the 'spirit'. Consider the core our body and our FEAR our 'spirit'. Without the core, our FEAR has nowhere to return to. A damaged core will rebuild - which will also make it stronger. It is part of why older individuals in halloween who have come under harm so many times grow to be able to withstand more damage. But a severely damaged core, while it will rebuild, will not rebuild the same way.
It will reform differently."
She took a moment to draw in her notebook while she was explaining it. "Let's take our Public Relation's rep for a minute. She was, at one point, a werewolf. That much is somewhat obvious.
However, at some point in time, something knocked her core either once very hard, or repeatedly very hard, causing her to dissipate over and over." she drew a circle and then several arrows into it to represent this.
Then she drew a cracked core with a larger circle around it which slowly turned into arrows being pointed into the cracks of the 'core'.
"That broken core took enough FEAR to recover that it regressed how much FEAR she has and ultimately altered what she is. This is how denizens of Halloween who are not originally a ghost or an undead may become one.
It is the closest to death they can get while still being able to reform.
It's a supercharged boost of what will cause a scareling to 'age' more or less to begin with." She wasn't sure if that made as much sense on paper as it did in her head, but it was a relatively good lesson for her to be teaching it anyways.
However, it seemed that this description of what Malodore was talking about also related to her little explanation. Cricket listened to the first one with some interest. "A method to test?" she inquired, wishing for more information on just that. After all, being vague about methods was not very scientifically accurate.
But the second piece of information caused her to look down her diagram, then to Malodore. A true expression actually crossed her face - curiosity. She was having a thought. Another drawing soon came in the notebook.
It was a circle, again, that was scribbled in to be darkened, and then the large circle around it meant to represent FEAR was drawn next to it, an arrow representing the displacement from around the core.
"Perhaps then, your Riley is in this state." she suggested.
FEAR without a core to reform around.
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 4:40 pm
Malodore watched avidly, nodding its head at appropriate intervals; it had produced a pen and was adding on to the notes in its own book as Cricket spoke. " Si, and this process of becoming undead or spectral - this modifies the memory, does it not?" Oh, dear, that was an awful thought in context, and it closed its eyes for a moment... But no, no; Riley had reached out to it and Jericho. She would not have done so had she not known them, surely. That thought dispatched, the plague doctor opened its eyes again and refocused. It had to concentrate, and not allow its emotions to come between it and its education. "Yes. Jericho, the Insanity has modified his FEAR somewhat, it seems. He can now produce flames of a grey tint, like that of the Insanity. When struck, the flames produce a temporary flare of Insanity in the subject. He tested it on others, with consistent results, and then on myself. I felt no psychological effect, just as I had not felt anything on the Four Isles when everyone else present suffered." It shook its head and sighed. The curious expression on Cricket's face stilled its tongue, and it leaned in closer, watching her carefully. "Then... but the core is her essence, is it not? Her foundation? So without a core... the FEAR cannot rebuild itself without a foundation. What happens to the FEAR then? Yes, that-" It flipped through its notebook again. " Si, it makes sense - the FEAR unanchored but still sensate, yes - what the Hunters did to the Horsemen was a terrible blow to multiple beings simultaneously, and if it destroyed their cores... the unanchored FEAR could bind together... but how could it think? The Insanity-apparition on the Four Isles had a sort of intelligence... if a core could be reproduced..." Cue furious scribbles.
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 6:33 pm
"Correct. A broken core will alter and remove most memories. Some very strong ones may linger, however." she'd confirmed.
The furious scribbling was something that she entertained with an amused look. It was starting to use its head like a healer did with the right amount of pushing. However, she was not sure how one would reproduce a core. Cricket had never even really grasped how to tangibly touch one. Even her FEAR barely brushed over it.
It was a zone she knew mostly the theoretical and the very very very taboo experimentation of. Only the truly dark had ever dared to dabble in actually testing how the core worked - trying to find it. She'd read and seen recordings of such efforts, most healers had, but.... it was dark. Truly dark to let someone test the limits of one's death. Cricket could not have been entirely removed from possibly dabbling in such research herself either. At least, it wouldn't have been surprising if she had.
"I imagine such a reproduction would have to be a highly condensed sort of FEAR. Perhaps even a specialized kind." she noted, "Perhaps the kind of thing that would be formed inside of a pumpkin."
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 7:41 pm
Malodore looked up from its scribbling, its head tilted to one side. "Jericho said that... Invictus had advised him and Riley to seek out a source of direct human FEAR... if human FEAR is what can create us, bring us to life so to speak, then perhaps FEAR specifically of the being as he or she currently is or... or once was, perhaps, can... serve as a secondary anchor? That would likely require a direct appearance to ensure the FEAR was properly attuned..." It could not frown, but its voice held the expression in its tone. "It is a complex problem," it admitted, after a moment. "Very complex indeed. I had thought only of treating the body, not the essence, but they are so closely mingled, are they not? The education I received in my youth was indeed lacking."
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 7:51 pm
"I am not sure, but a piece of anything that was left lingering could possibly also be used as a catalyst." Cricket suggested, "If you wanted to guarantee her resurrection rather than the creation of something new." Would it be possible to take any lingering piece of her FEAR and give it a gestation period?
Cricket was curious about that, looking at the arm on her desk with a thoughtful look on her face. She would have to look into something like that.
"If I am perfectly honest, not a lot of research has been put into bringing FEAR and a core back together. The research on the latter has been....well...reasonably outlawed, even if it would be grossly helpful at this point." she sighed. Medicine was such a limited field sometimes. So downtrodden by morals and the like. Shame.
"You have a fantastic foundation, Malodore. Do not worry about not knowing. You knew more to start with than I did. I started from scratch and had to put a lot of my own effort into my learning.
And I did not get to look at such..." she looked at the notebook with her thoughts written on it, brushing her fingers across the page. "Complex problems. Sometimes all you can do is have what you need to know thrust upon you."
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 8:16 pm
" Grazie," Malodore murmured. "I hope that I can do well by you, and by all who come to me for treatment... I know that, while this issue is at the forefront of my thoughts, it cannot occupy the entirety of my education, especially if it delves into more, ah, taboo realms. A doctor must also be knowledgeable in the practical applications, naturally." With obvious regret, it closed the notebook and folded its hands over it. "Where do I begin?"
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 8:34 pm
Cricket calmly pulled one book from the pile that she had given to it and placed it on the top of the stack: FEARstream; It Courses.
"This book is the most basic of things I learned before I could continue forward. While you have some experience in it, this book will be far more indepth than many things you could have gleaned from practical application of my open class." she explained. "First, read and start tracing your own body. Then find someone who will be willing to help you read it through theirs.
Once you can make FEAR relent to your wishes, you will be able to use it better in healing and moving it from point A to point B - the most basic of all things and perhaps it is at the center too of what it is you are truly wanting." That was, if Malodore did continue to look into thoughts on making a core.
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