|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 1:30 am
Nagyágite did not often do things that he considered unnecessary risks. Playing with a mad scientist who kept a laboratory table in her office in addition to her desk absolutely seemed like an unnecessary risk, but then, Amazonite outranked him and she was a very persuasive woman, in that Nagyágite absolutely believed that she would do whatever she wanted with or without his consent. So he showed up at her office on the appointed day, at the appointed time, and knocked politely on the door.
This was a terrible idea and he knew it, and there was a reason he hadn’t brought it up to Felicity. She would tell him he was a fool for agreeing, and she would be completely right, but it was that or constantly look over his shoulder, waiting for her to decide that she was tired of waiting, actually, and she just wanted to knock him out and figure out whatever she wanted to know. At least this way, he had a bit more control over the situation.
The knock at her door made Amazonite perk up, and she grinned eagerly. She stood up from her desk and moved to the door, humming as she did, and then pushed it open to greet her visitor.
“Lieutenant Nagyágite!” Her voice was bright, and she stepped aside to allow him in. He was such a fascinating case, exported from Hyderabad in India by his previous Negaverse branch, and now here he was in front of her, looking utterly fascinating. She wanted to reach out and touch, but. Not yet. There would be time for examinations later. Now, though, she beckoned him over to her laboratory table. “Sit down. I know it’s only so comfortable, but unfortunately I’ve sacrificed extra seating for experiment space.” As she directed him, she sat down on her desk, in a clear space between stacks of notebooks and papers.
“As you say,” Nagya said, simply, hauling himself up onto the table. He watched her with a wary sort of curiosity, frowning the entire time. He hoped that she took it as a general grumpiness, or that she perhaps didn’t notice. Not noticing would be the preferred ideal.
“What did you ask me here for, Captain?” He inquired politely, hoping that they could move th9is along as quickly as possible. The less time he spent in this strangely appointed office, the better. At least it didn’t feel entirely like a mad scientist’s lair--there were no straps on the table to hold him down, or any nonsense like that--but that didn’t exactly speak well for it. The office was cramped, with both the desk and the lab table, and there were notebooks and papers scattered about, as well as a small jar containing--ah.
Amazonite kept starseeds on her desk. Lovely.
Amazonite clapped her hands together, kicking her feet against the desk. “Straight to the point!” she said, brightly. “I like that!” She leaned forward, and regarded him with an unhindered interest, holding up her Negaverse tablet. She was so, so infinitely glad for its many functions, especially the audio recording--as much as she liked writing her notes, she liked talking out her theories even more, and it kept things going when she got very stream-of-consciuousness. It would, she knew, be useful for her process. “Let’s start from the beginning, shall we? Tell me about how you became a half-youma.”
Research interviews were a critical part of the process, and there was no better way to get information than to simply get it from the horse’s mouth. Or the serpent’s, in this case.
Nagya frowned. “Surely you’ve read the reports,” he said, “but I imagine you want it on the record for your notes.” She nodded, and he sighed, unhappily.
“In Hyderabad, I was making something of a name for myself on the Mixed Martial Arts circuit. That attracted the attention of one General Rajadrohite, who happened to be in the crowd for one of my matches. She approached me afterwards, and asked if I wanted to get even stronger. At first, I thought she was offering me steroids, and I refused--and then she powered up in front of my eyes and asked again.” Nafta chuckled darkly.
“That time, I said yes.” Because of course. Who wouldn’t, in his position. “Once I agreed, she teleported me to a locked warehouse and called up a youma--a giant cobra-beast--and told me to fight it or die.” Nagya inhaled, tensely. “I fought,” he said, grimly, “and...I’m not entirely sure what happened. It’s a bit of a blur, I’ll admit. We struggled, twisted up in each other, and it bit me, and I think...I think I went for its core. But whatever happened, it and I….merged, becoming something greater than the sum of our parts.” He smiled, the expression as grim as his tone.
“I stumbled out of the warehouse, and found Rajadrohite and someone who turned out to be an older, more experienced General, who was quite surprised to see what I had become. She was furious at Rajadrohite for her barbaric, wasteful training methods--apparently other Lieutenants had been threatened into silence, or outright killed--but they also...didn’t quite know what to do with me.” He grinned, bearing his fangs. “Not much call for monsters, there. So they sent me to Destiny City, where they hoped someone would find a use for me.”
Amazonite nodded along as he spoke, leaning in with wide eyes. It was too bad he didn’t understand the mechanics of his transformation more exactly; she would have loved to dissect it a bit more to really find out what had gone on, but considering the circumstances, it was likely his memory was more than a bit blurred by trauma, so she would be content to let it go.
Truly, though, the General he spoke of sounded like an idiot--Lieutenants were precious resources, in Amazonite’s opinion, not to be wasted willy nilly in silly tests of strength. But she wasn’t in Hyderabad, and it sounded like the Negaverse there resoundingly agreed with that assessment, so, fair enough.
“Thank you. Tell me a bit about your abilities, if you would?”
”They’re quite straightforward, for the most part,” Nagya said. “I’m capable of performing a sort of vocal hypnotism--easing people into wanting to listen to me and follow my orders. It only lasts for a short time, but it can be quite effective in dealing with people who refuse to back down any other way, or in bringing people closer for my other ability to take effect.” He grinned, quite proud of himself.
“The youma I merged with, you see, was quite like the king cobra--and just as venomous. And now I, too, have that venom, which can be delivered by bite, or, if I don’t want to or can’t get too close, by spitting, as other species of cobra are capable of.”
“Thank you,” Amazonite said, brightly, and she stood up, striding over to him. “This next part might hurt, and I am sorry about that, but I promise, it’s for the betterment of science.” Before he could ask her what she meant, or react in any other way, Amazonite snapped her hand out, sinking it into his chest and gripping his starseed. He hissed, cobra hood flaring out, and she yanked, pulling his starseed free from his chest before he could do anything to attack her. He slumped forward, and she very carefully caught him, then laid him down on the table.
Perfect. Now she had a bit of peace and quiet to examine him.
As she did, she narrated to herself, noting her findings and theorizing aloud about the hows and whys of the various bits of monstrous anatomy attached to the man on her table. She also took a few photos--of the serpent hood, the scales on his neck and cheeks, and of his fangs and forked tongue. All interesting data points that Amazonite felt as if she ought to record.
The starseed felt heavy and misshapen in her hand, but that would wait for a moment--first, she wanted to get a good look at his strange physical features. She started by gently winding one of his long dreadlocks around her hand, testing the feel and texture. It was definitely hair, and felt entirely like a person’s--absolutely fascinating that this, even with all the other alterations to his body, hadn’t changed.
She did wonder, briefly, if it had always been blond, and she briefly regretted not asking, but it was much too late now. All she could do was continue going forward with what she had, and try to suss out the other mysteries of his odd physique.
The inside of the hood was soft, as were the snake belly-like scales that covered his neck and torso. They had the velvety texture of a real serpent’s underside, even if the visible scales on the outside of his hood, and on his forehead and cheeks, were much rougher. She was careful of the clawlike attachments on the hood--no reason to assume they weren’t full of deadly, dangerous poison, since it wasn’t as if youma were bound by the normal laws of animal anatomy.
She gently tugged on his chin, opening his mouth so she could look inside. A forked tongue--such an interesting adaptation. Could he taste the air, she wondered, like a real snake? Once again, it was too bad she hadn’t asked, because after she ripped out his starseed for the sole purpose of acquiring information, she imagined he wouldn’t be too amenable to continuing to answer her questions.
People got so tetchy about that sort of thing.
But that was all the physical features she could--or, rather, was willing to--examine, and so the more interesting part was next.
She brought up the starseed, and gasped.
Amazonite had seen starseeds before. She had her little collection, in a jar on her desk. She had never in her life seen a starseed like Nagyágite’s.
She knew that half-youma starseeds were supposed to be distorted, but she wasn’t prepared for what she saw. The basic diamond shape itself was cracked, and there were strange protrusions coming out from it, like stones with the texture of a scaled inlay. She shook her head, slowly, eyes wide, as she turned it over in her hands.
“Incredible,” she whispered, utterly taken in by the absolutely fascinating facets of the gem in her hand. It was blue and red, with black cracks running through it, blending into the odd outgrowths, and she wasn’t sure where to let her eyes wonder next.
There wasn’t infinite time available to examine it, though, and she would have to be quick about getting it back in. So, she picked up her tablet again, and began to shoot photos, taking them from every angle available.
This was exactly the kind of data she needed.
When she was done, she casually pucked up the starseed, replacing it in his chest and taking a few steps back and away. No reason to be in spitting distance, after all.
Nagyágite jolted upright with a tight, shocked gasp. Of all the things he had expected this madwoman to do, grasping his starseed and extracting it with no warning and no opportunity to fight back...well, it probably should have been on the list. He hissed, angrily, whirling to fix her with a harsh, ice-cold glare.
”What, exactly, did you think you were doing, playing that kind of game?” He demanded, even though he knew he wasn’t likely to get a satisfactory answer. She didn’t care what he thought or what he wanted, he knew that. Still, he pushed himself off the table and began backing towards the door. “Whatever you intended, I hope you’re satisfied, Captain.”
”Oh, I am,” Amazonite replied, and she gave a perky, cheery little wave. “No need for you to hang around, either! I’ve gotten plenty of data, and I’m quite satisfied with my results. But, if you would--when you get promoted, would you be willing to come back? I’d like to see how your starseed has changed. And your abilities, and your various mutations. I think it would be quite interesting, don’t you agree?”
“No,” Nagya snapped, “I do not think it would be interesting.” He knew he was hissing and spitting at a superior officer, and that was likely a terrible idea, but he didn’t care. He whirled, and stormed towards the door, fury in every step.
He was a person, curse it. A real person, with feelings, and with the ability to make decisions about who got to touch him or not, and if this...this woman was going to violate that, Nagya refused to have any party in her experiments. If he got promoted, after all, they would be on the same level--and so she wouldn’t be able to compel or threaten him anymore.
Not that he harbored any illusions--he suspected that there were plenty of higher ups who would see her work as valuable. And he knew, deep down, that it was. But that didn’t mean he had to submit to being her bloody test subject.
Left alone in her office after Nagyágite's departure, Amazonite had nothing to do but think.
She had gathered so much fascinating data from the Lieutenant--she could take all of it and begin to construct some hypotheses. There were several to be considered, really; the biggest hurdle was the question of how representative she felt Nagyágite was of the greater half-youma population. He was an interesting case, certainly, but beyond only being one person, he was also only one of the two kinds of half-youma, and while case studies certainly were valuable, noteworthy research, Amazonite wasn't of the opinion that she wanted to base her entire theory of half-youma functionality off one. Especially when her case-study was resentful and didn't seem to want to be studied.
She supposed she could understand why. If she had been traumatically remade into some sort of half-human thing, the idea of being observed and dissected--metaphorically, of course, Amazonite would never waste Negaverse resources by actually dissecting a Lieutenant--would be fairly anathema to her, she imagined. She would jsut have to apologize, she supposed, for getting carried away, and attempt to win him back with a little bit of kindness. It couldn't be too hard, people did it all the time, and she was a genius.
Honestly, if this was going to be successful, Amazonite would have to get her hands on a half-youma Lieutenant that got that way by eating too many starseeds, and track their growth and progress as well, but she doubted that she would get approval to make one, and it wasn't as if they were easy to find. Alas, her data might have to be imperfect, since she could only work with what she had.
Still, what she had was quite a lot. She had her interview with Nagyágite, her notes on other youma, and her plans to work with Crocoite and Novus. All of that, Amazonite felt, would make for a solid foundation for her continuing research.
Yes, she was in quite the ideal position to move forward. There was so much ahead of her--so very, very much to learn.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 1:42 am
[Nagyágite WC: 1,010
Amazonite WC: 1,526]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
