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Although he'd only been part of the Pack for a short while, he'd quickly understood that it was expected he would come when called - as quickly as possible. It didn't matter if he were in the middle of something, he dropped whatever it was and high-tailed it to the meeting point. So when Labyrinthite called while he was Skyping with his Dad, he had to make excuses and book it. As much as he didn't want to, there were some things that he couldn't ignore.

As Pasi, he left his apartment and made it off the campus. As Aue he headed to where the General waited, the magical boost his magic gave him helping to cut the time down greatly.

Even so, he arrived winded - he would really need to find a gym or something and work out more, if he was going to keep this sort of thing up. It was another annoying aspect of this powered life he'd never signed up for, but Aue was a practical man and understood that this was how things were now...so he had to make the best of it.

Coming before Laby, Aue straightened his shoulders and tried to measure out his breathing some before speaking, "General."

"How can I be of assistance tonight?"

His shoulders say anger and violence. All of him is tensed and ready to unwind...today it is wise to be wary and respectful. More than usual. "A disruption?" Now that was truly surprising, enough that Aue wanted to ask about specifics immediately, though he was certain Labyrinthite would tell him everything the General wanted him to know...which was pretty much nothing. He bit his tongue and simply nodded.

"I have, General." A full status report had been expected, and so Aue was prepared at least for that much. "The being, Caedus, is an alien creature from a race that primarily uses various types and qualities of crystals in order to manipulate energy. These crystals operate in a similar fashion to Negaverse crystals, but also have several key differences." Aue produced the crystal he'd been given and held it out to Labyrinthite as he spoke.

"Caedus said that these cannot be ingested, unlike star seeds. They absorb energy in what I was told were fairly unlimited amounts by flesh-to-crystal contact. Energy can be transferred between the various crystal types though Caedus did not say how, nor did he demonstrate. I asked if he thought the Negaverse had taken it's crystal technologies from his people and received a negative answer." He paused a moment to wet his lips, then continued. "Also, apparently these can be crushed underfoot to release the stored energy, though that is an imperfect manner of harvesting.

Caedus was very timid and frightened, disinclined to speak at length of his 'secrets'. I was able to learn that his people are quite talented machinists and engineers in addition to their mastery of the crystals."

"In addition I tested the tolerances of the crystal's energy absorption through various barriers and recorded this information in a small journal." The senshi then produced a common spiral notebook that was filled with columns of data and notes about whether or not the crystal absorbed energy with the various barriers he'd chosen; some were cloth, others paper, and still others were things like glue or sealant. In every case the crystal failed unless it was directly touching flesh, and there were also notes about how long the crystal had been in contact with his skin, his energy state(s) before, during, and after...and any other things he felt were useful indicators.

"It glows faintly when draining energy. If you would like to see this in action, I would be pleased to show you."

Aue nodded; he hadn't expected the General's name to open doors, though he'd perhaps made a mistake in offering it to Quartz. It did no good to dwell on what was over and done, only to move forward with caution.

"Caedus was guarded about his origins, and skittish when pressed. As I preferred to have him stay and give whatever information he was willing, I was unable to obtain answers on either of those things. The most the alien would say was that he had been locked away since Beryl."

Once Labyrinthite had taken the notebook, Aue was free to fully remove one of his 'gloves' and tuck it into his sash for safekeeping - the General wanted to see what was going on, so he would give the man a clear view. Shortly after the crystal placed on the flat of his palm, it began to glow softly and with a little rhythm to it, not quite a heart-beat but similar.

"There is no pain or even a drawing sensation for me. Perhaps if I were smaller, or a child, it would. The drain of energy is slow and even after hours does not cause much affect. I hypothesize that these types of crystals are made with some sort of built in gauge that keeps the amount siphoned to a point the host's body can tolerate."

He would not remove the crystal until - and unless - Labyrinthite said he might. It did nothing untoward, so there was no point. "I did not test this on any creatures, but I imagine that it would work much the same if touched to bare flesh."

Truly it had been incredible that Caedus had given up as much information as he had, but perhaps the fact that Aue hadn't verbally attacked him about leading scores of White Moon aligned folks to their probable death had helped.

As for Beryl, Aue knew only that she was a person in the Negaverse that existed long ago; the name meant more to his General, clearly, but not that much more. "Centuries seems accurate with how desperate Caedus was to put the failed attack in place with no planning."

Being praised seemed to make Aue uncomfortable more than anything else that Labyrinthite had done the entire time he'd been working under him, so he focused on the next series of questions instead as he set the gleaming, perfect crystal into his General's waiting hand. "He should not, I requested it for experimentation and he said he had many. This one belongs to you now, General."

"Caedus said that his people used their various crystals to power their civilization and technology, much the way we use electricity as humans. He mentioned that his people were engineers as well. I do not believe that he has the capability currently to utilize his crystals to their maximum potential." The walking corpse NPC hadn't so much said such things, but it had been intimated by the way he'd spoken and behaved.

"There is a database the senshi have on the Negaverse, but it is woefully dated and uninformative. The last entries seem to be from more than four years ago. I have tried to pull this information and the Primer off my phone to turn in to you, but have not been successful.

My apologies for failing, General."

The starseed in General Labyrinthite's hand gleamed dully in the low light, drawing Aue's storm-grey eyes to it like a magnet. Considering how dangerous and demanding his general was, paying too much attention to the crystallized life source wasn't the most intelligent thing Aue could've done, but it was hard to tear his gaze away knowing that once that had been inside another person, causing their heart to beat and filling the meat-sack that was their body with life.

"No doubt you are correct, General." Labyrinthite's demand to see the Senshi Primer allowed Aue to focus elsewhere, and he summoned his phone from it's sub-space pocket and quickly thumbed the Mauvian technology smart phone to the appropriate application before offering the entire article to the whiskey-eyed man before him.

"I have, but not closely." Aue had seen starseeds before, because of his Packmates, but he'd not touched or held one, nor had he be able to inspect one of the glittering gems up close. Labyrinthite had a thoughtful, measuring aspect to his expression as he spoke about the effects of ingesting a starseed on a member of the Negaverse and then mused about what it might do to a member of the White Moon.

So, I am to be experimented on again? If he were asked and meant to respond honestly, Aue would have had to admit he was curious himself. "I am unsure, but if my General wishes to find out, I am willing." Best to be willing and proactive about such things, than allow the volatile man before him force the issue.

But instead of engaging in the science of what a star seed would - or would not - do, they were focusing on the magical senshi phone, which seemed to not work at all in the General's hands. Fascinating, is it the Chaos energy or the fact that it's not me? I shall have to test this out and see if the phone is keyed to me only or if it's the different auras affecting the functionality...

Aue wisely nodded and did as he was bade, scrolling through the application's information for Labyrinthite; he was very aware of the irritation radiating from the General and did his best to not add to that.

His General was wise to wish his education on starseeds and the Negaverse be furthered even before he himself became capable of extracting or utilizing them on his own. But with the obvious agitation thrumming through Labyrinthite, Aue held his tongue and merely nodded; one did not put spark to kindling unless one wished to start a conflagration, after all.

'And test a hypothesis.' Words from the General that slid across the senshi of lemon's thoughts like ice - what hypothesis? What seed had blossomed in the whiskey-eyed man's brain that would now require carried out, likely on Aue's person? "As you wish, my General." Naturally, he was not going to question orders - there was value to his life, after all, and Labyrinthite was a superior officer, was the Pack leader.

And the Pack was everything, now.

Aue banished the offending lemon yellow smart phone back to it's sub-space pocket as Ash had long ago shown him (a nifty trick, even if the space were extremely limited - he did actually keep a few emergency items there, including a first-aid kit, bottled water, and a few MREs) and refocused upon Laby. His brain, quick as it tended to be, shorted out and lost a few precious seconds parsing 'eat this'.

Aue blinked at the glittering gem in his General's hand. "Eat...a gem?" Even as his voice held question, he reached to take the starseed obediently. Will this crack my teeth? I cannot imagine this is like that rock candy...how can this even work. But they do this often enough - Caedus said too, they used crystals much this way as well. Also, breaking them. So it's possible.

He dared not waste much time, not with how Labyrinthite had been so mercurial and twitchy. Holding the starseed up briefly for a closer look, Aue popped it into his mouth and used tongue to guide it back to molars as though it were any hard candy. It tingled across his tongue in a slightly-less-than-pleasant way, as though his body knew it wasn't meant to be there, and then he crunched down resolutely.

The resultant flood of bitter metallic and increased saliva was not unlike what happened when one was about to be sick. Aue ground the pieces further, feeling his knees going a bit weak and adrenaline spiking through his chest. Labyrinthite was there. He knew. Watching and waiting expectantly. His experiment.

He swallowed.

It was a mistake.

Aue knew that almost immediately. His body violently rejected the starseed; it was everything he could manage just to be sick in a manner that avoided the General. He'd once, as a small child, taken one of his mother's SSRIs and gone into Serotonin Syndrome pretty badly - this was similar, but so much worse.

Once the last of the shattered starseed had been expelled, the retching calmed and he was capable of fetching that water bottle from sub-space so he could rinse his mouth out and even take careful sips. When he was certain he was only miserable, not likely to be ill again, Aue finished the bottle of water off.

"So-" The senshi's voice was rougher than usual, hoarse, "That didn't work out well."