[Nexus] Mithar Keep II: Electric Boobaloo

[Shadowcaller]

Lab

**** you and **** your threats! Cessie shouts back before getting some control over herself. I would destroy you before you could even enter their room.

[Lost_Deep]

Lab

Sure. If I try anything today. Tomorrow. This year. That's no fun; they're only babies. They barely know themselves yet... give them time to learn about themselves and each other. Let them get comfortable. Then, one day, one comes home green. And with four arms. And the wrong gender.

'Course, I'm willing to make deals. You know, I've never promised to never modify anyone? I'll make you this, exclusive, deal: I will never lay a hand on those two, literally or metaphorically, now or in the future, Without consent from you or a signed sheet from one of them that says that they begged me at length to do it.

If, of course, but before you tell me you don't care about my if please think hard about what I'm offering.

[Shadowcaller]

Lab

Unless of course I destroy you right here and now. Cessie replies. I don't think you realized what you did when you entered this lab. Once I closed that door, I sealed us both inside. She takes out what appears to be the broken remains of the key she used to enter the lab with and drops them on the floor.

Don't even bother go through the keyhole or the space between the planks, I made this lab to protect my family from my own experiments. Both me and my brother, who I just called over by the way, spent months making the wards around it. Without this key there is no way out and only he and Harnel got a spare. She explains to the grig. So I don't think I need to worry about you in any foreseeable future soon enough.

[Lost_Deep]

Lab

So your white knight comes and... what? Removes me surgically? Compels me out with magic? Hah. You can't intimidate me. Don't even try.

She moves up, into Cessie's torso. Specifically near her heart and lungs.

My thoughts on death is... if they can do it, they've earned it. Because I fight tooth and nail... especially in this case, where I have plenty of raw material.

Am I locked in here with you, or are you locked in here with a being that can make your body do whatever she wants it to?

For a moment, Cessie's right hand should become a claw. Only a moment, but a moment should be enough to communicate the point.

Come, now, as you've set it up, you can either deal with me and have some kind of say in what I do with you... or let me run wild with your body and leave you with no peace of mind.

Cessie's hands and mouth may become somewhat stiff now...

And before you try to magic me out yourself, keep in mind that I'm the one that can worm my way into your spinal column.

[Shadowcaller]

Lab

Cessie have been transformed and threatened enough by almighty beings she don't really panic when Vriveka turns her hand into a claw. She have figured a spirit entering her body might have this kind of effect.

You just threatened my children you bitch, I don't care what you do to me at this point. Whatever you do, I can easily undo. Remember Harnel? I undid that. So you don't have any real power over me and I don't think you have the guts to kill me. Too 'uninteresting'. I have met and dealt with beings far, far more powerful then some minor spirit like you so don't think you're something for getting in here.

[Lost_Deep]

Lab

Pfftha. Lots of people can undo things. Lots of fairys can undo things. I know that. I can work against that. The bit with Harnel... that was nothing. the color wasn't even me, and the gender was a simple job that anyone with a permanent swap spell could fix. If I do something to you, it'll be hard to undo. Dispelling won't work; everything I do, you would have to reverse manually... and I know tricks to make that as hard as possible.

But I won't, know why? Because you'll keep them. Because if you don't, I'll be the dark cloud over your kids. I'm giving you a chance to remove a risk from them, make them safer...

You assume that I'm going to do horrible things to you. I'm not. I'm going to give you a chance to set me limits, and then I will work within your limits, and as long as the changes stay intact I will never effect your children.

[Shadowcaller]

Lab

I don't find it very likely a wretch such as yourself could keep up any kind of promise. Nor do I want to make any kind of deals with something that threatens my family. Cessie says as she slowly moves her hand over to an ornate box just next to the container of Nevath. If you want to deal, it's between you and me, if you involve my family you and everything you say can go straight to the void since I won't listen to any of it.

[Lost_Deep]

Lab

On the inside of Cessie's body, Vriveka facepalms.

But... you... man, you don't work well under pressure.

Okay.

I am going to modify your body.

You have two choices.

Either, you can give me a set of rules in which I promise to operate,

OR,

I will have free reign over your body and do whatever I very well want.

I will make it hard to reverse, either way. It would take a professional years to fix it.

Your choice.

[Shadowcaller]

Lab

The sorceress takes a deep breath, Okay, maybe neither of us is thinking clearly right now. Consider this, if you start to change me, you might not leave this place alive. Ask yourself, is it really worth it? Why is this so important to you? She asks in a more gentle voice.

[Lost_Deep]

Lab

Because I'm cranky and not having fun and if I don't get anything out of this this day is absolutely lost. There's a negligible chance of making it out alive without shenanegins, at this point I'm hoping that the universe decides it doesn't hate me when I try to escape.

Vriveka is harumphing in there, arms crossed and crouched grumpily, but it's lost on the lack of audience.

[Shadowcaller]

Lab

Alright, you want to have fun by screwing with people. I understand that, but why in the world did you need to involve my children? You really don't understand mortals at all do you? She asks the Grig. What was even the deal supposed to do? I mean, if you can change me at will anyway?

[Lost_Deep]

Lab

Because I can change you at will, anyway! What's the point of it if there's no ART!?! If you give me a limitation, I have constraints to work in, and it's a challenge! I only brought your children in at all so I could convince you to play along. And I'll stand by the agreement, too, it's not like the gloaming games where you don't know you're playing until they've already nicked your hair. If you give me a set of constraints to work in, I'll stay in them, and not only will I never lay half a cell on your children I will spread the word that no fay with half a brain should touch them.

There. I caved. I will spread the word to not touch your kids.

You are the first person to ever make me cave.

[Shadowcaller]

Lab

I doubt my children were in much danger until you came along and frankly the last thing I want to do is entertain you after all this. So this isn't about me making a choice, it's about you. You can leave here bored, but safe or you can change me without limits and then get caught for changes I likely will be able to remove later with the help of some friends. Hannah came to mind even if she wasn't exactly friends with her she had offered her services earlier. So go on, make your choice, it won't wreck my life either way. The same thing can likely not be said about yours though.

[Lost_Deep]

Lab

She's quiet. She's quiet for a long time.

Because she's too smart to do anything stupid, too upset to do anything artistic, and too stubborn to admit she's lost.

[Shadowcaller]

Lab

Seems like it's the sorceress duty to break the silence then. My husband must have the same obsession as you, it's weird. Why do people like to be changed? She asks in a strangely casual tone.

[Lost_Deep]

Lab

You say that as if you've never thought of it. What else do you want to be? What else do you want to do? You can fly if you want, not just on magic but on your own power. You can do amazing things... but this isn't what you really want to know, is it?

You want to know why I change.

You have a lab... you discover, you work, you do whatever you want in here. You made that thing, aren't you? The big ugly thing that you had follow you around. Wasn't it cool, as it came to be? The feeling of, wow, I made that.

It's not just that I change, it's that I create. You see, small changes are easy. But... if you want to make something yourself, really, it's hard. You see, every body is a careful balance. If you change something too much, it breaks. I make it work; I make all the craziest things work. IT'S ART! It's getting harder to do new things.

Vriveka shifts somewhat. Something... new...

[Shadowcaller]

Lab

So you do it because you like to use your mind, your abilities, your skill to the fullest degree. But ultimately because you know you can do it. Cessie states and then after a pause adds. I can understand that. I think my brother is working exactly by that logic. I wouldn't be able to though, I believe you need to restrict yourself to be able to live with others.

[Lost_Deep]

Lab

Virveka shifts a bit. What if she were... sneaky? Set something up so that the body changes itself?

In your society, yes. In fairy society, anything goes. Making yourself look like you're controlled, or like you don't use all of your potential, makes you a target. Some are well-meaning, some want to know what you can really do... some know that you're not going to strike back as hard as she can.

As she talks, she thinks. Small changes, slight alterations to the genetics... not to the flesh. Psycho usually uses fairy magic to speed the changes, or make them at all, but if she can make small enough changes, the body will make them itself.

She plots, and thinks. If she does things small enough that the body will make them itself, it will take weeks. She could up and leave, and her work won't look like she did it.

She could get off scot-free.

[Shadowcaller]

Lab

That sounded rather barbaric to the sorceress, but she wasn't going to judge even if this being seemed... unstable. She was the product of a seemingly very unstable society after all.

And that's the reason I don't live in a fairy society, I couldn't live like that. Cessie replies, she doubted Sakura would be comfortable living like that either. Tell me though, do you only change physically or is it a mental change as well? I mean, everyone changes but such shifts can't really compare with the ones we're doing naturally during our lifetimes.

[Lost_Deep]

Lab

I can't change anyone mentally; that's completely beyond me. Well. Not directly. Sometimes people had odd reactions to my changes, but that's not me; that's them. And before you come to any conclusions, sometimes they are very happy.

I mean, it's not as if you've got the perfect body here. You said yourself about the natural changes, but are they what you want? You said you've been changed by others, you've had a taste of that, you must have said to yourself, "I kind of wish that such-and-such was different." Come on, do you want to be more athletic? More beautiful? Do you want to fly? Do you dislike sleep? I don't believe your happy with your body, no one really is, I mean, I'm not.

[Shadowcaller]

Lab

It would be shallow of me to change my body like that, I'm perfectly happy with the way I look and I know that a lot of other people are. My husband for instance. Except for Harnel's greed of course. And even if my body might not be perfect, it will never be either. No matter what I change there will always be something else. She knew it was the way Harnel had explained his greed.

[Lost_Deep]

Lab

Are you talking beauty-shallow or bone-shallow?

Sure, you could become absolutely beautiful, but what's the point? So that you're beautiful? pssht. Who cares? I'm not talking about cosmetics, I'm talking about useful things. Like better bones, denser muscles, silk production... something useful. Beyond something silly like... red hair. Come on, what was your favorite transformation? I'm not going to do anything, I'm not an idiot, I'm just curious.

[Shadowcaller]

Lab

I'm not interested in either of those things. Cessie replies. And you have to forgive me for not trusting the being who just threatened me and my children but I don't really feel up like discussing my transformations with you. She explains. Needless to say that while might have enjoyed a few for a while, I always changed back. This is what I feel the most comfortable as. The sorceress says while crossing her arms across her chest self-consciously as if trying to hide it (well it hide it even more.)

[Lost_Deep]

Lab

Well... that's a pity. Personally, I like to experiment. If I have something new to try, I'll try it for a bit, and then decide how much I like it.

Be careful. Be subtle. Vriveka's figured it out: changes to the genetic code in such a way that the body naturally cause them to take into effect. It may feel like Vriveka is moving around a bit... but nothing more. It's not as if there are any obvious changes to Cessie's body.

First, a bit of basics. It's fairly obvious that she doesn't get any exercise... which is a pity. A woman with twins is going to need to be able to keep up with them in a few years. Just set the genetics with a disposition toward muscle building... a very strong disposition. Do it right, and she'll be building muscle whether she wants to or not.

Albeit, I can pick and choose my add-ons. You don't have that kind of flexibility... well, you're a mage. I bet you could make some changes if you wanted to.

Hair is always fun to mess with... if you get creative, you can do all kinds of fun things. Convince the body that hair is made with muscles and some basic nerves... and, voila. Given time, Cessie will grow prehensile hair. Hmm... hair grows slowly. Just turn up the rate a bit, and the prehensileity will be coming in... maybe a month or two? Man, she forgot how slow the body was.

'Course, it's obvious now that you must really not want to. Some magical residue, buut... that's pretty much it.

From there, let's help her with the kids a bit. Just a tweak there...

...a bit more than a tweak. This is art, after all.

She tries to make the changes, without her being any wiser. None of them will come into effect right now, of course, the body needs time to realize what's "wrong" and fix it. As long as everything seems to have gone smoothly...

Okay, okay, I give up. I'm coming out. Any preferred method of exit?

[Halae]

[Dining Room]

"Alright then, thank you," Harnel says, eating a bit more of his casserole, and not entirely sure what to say next.

[Shadowcaller]

Lab

None, you will have to wait for my brother to let us out. Cessie replies, shifting uncomfortably as Vriveka moves around in her body. She didn't like that one bit. Better get herself checked up after this, having such a creature moving around in your body couldn't possibly be healthy.

But unless the Grig have much else to say the door is eventually slowly opened as a thin man enters the room. What happens after that is entirely up to Vriveka.

[Dining Room]

As they are talking Garn suddenly shows up and flutters up to Dorota and hands her a note.

In a elegant handwriting it reads:

You have to excuse my absence Dorota but thanks to my husband I can't really get out from my lab at the moment. Don't worry though, it's nothing dangerous. I just don't feel like myself at the moment. I can still be reached by the communicator however. So if you don't mind too much please help me have Garn and Sizewell interact even if I can't be there to see it.

-Cessie Mithar

I guess you could come up alone though if it's really important.

The last line seems to have been added in the last second apparently.

[Lost_Deep]

Lab

There he is! You said I would be let out without trouble if I didn't do anything. Or something like that. I can just up and leave now, anyway you want. Please tell him I'm coming out peacefully and to just let me leave?

The tension will be removed from her mouth and hands, leaving Cessie as she was (as far as she knows).

[Shadowcaller]

Lab

"Arik... it's okay, just let her leave and everything will be alright." Cessie ensures her brother who have stopped near the doorway, not saying a word.

[Morty]

[Dining Room]

Dorota reads the note quickly.
Alright... Cessie asks us to try to have Sizewell and Garn interact and inform her of our progress by the communicator. Since she can't come down here.

[The Bushranger]

[Dining Room]

"Aw...I was, like, hoping to meet her," Crissy protests, but sighs and nods in understanding. Although she still looks dissapointed.