RP Dissertations on The Dissections of Planets

[Ira]

There was a song.

There was always a song.

It wasn't a song the little she was particularly known for among her people. It was something new, something found in the lists among lists among lists of songs recovered from the Dreaming World. Cait had, along with a few recommendations, introduced Ira to something known as 'spoot-iffy.' It had so much music! Ira could barely contain herself.

Back in her short vacation in the 'Anomaly Containment Foundation,' Ira had acquired an 'old' piece of technology known as a 'radio.' The Foundation had provided it- well, no, that wasn't quite true. Isaac had given it to her as a gift. A treasured thing, Ira had recreated it here in her Waking World as an object of remembrance to her dear friend. But back in the Dreaming World, Ira had gooped -as Cait would put it- a complex mechanism into the old machine to parse and hijack local wifi signals for the purpose of pulling music tones from the world wide web.

It had worked, kinda, for a time. Ira found Nirvana that way. The Dead Goddess, Duet's 'pet' at this point, had taken a particular liking to the band with the ugly human baby on the front. But now that the Dreaming World was not as accessible to her, Ira needed a different access to new music. She loved her people. Ira really did. But their taste in music was esoteric at best and just downright not music at worst. But today wasn't about them.

Well, not entirely. Parts of it were. It was kinda about them. Ok it was a lot about them but not in a direct kind of way. They were involving in a- well- listen it's better if Ira just says it straight away correctly. Ira was going to help a researcher friend of Cait's dissect a planet. Cause that's what you did on Wednesdays. Today was the first Wednesday too, and what an exciting Wednesday it was going to be.

Ira walked toward the little entrance to the ACF's little location on her world. It was a tiny dot of mystery on a sphere otherwise filled with madness and hatred. The ground beneath her feet laid The-Sphere-That-Hates, the unkind, harsh world Ira had created to house her walking palace. It was a remembrance of the fight SHE and She and she had with Him before any of them were SHE or She or she or SHE and she and Cait and- That wasn't what today was about.

Focus Ira! Twirling in her thick, black, cotton skirt, Ira giggled. The entrance laid before her now, and she waved at the door with her little fingerless cotton gloves. Her shirt, a long sleeve black thing with white little bone eating-crabs embroidered across it, matched well with her black combat boots and her little indigo beanie hat. The surface of The-Sphere-That-Hates was cold, -50c on a warm day, and Ira knew that was entirely her fault.

She had killed the surface not too long ago, and everything that had been so unfortunate to be caught upon it and not buried under its flesh. Without a sun in the sky to warm the planet, the Sphere generated its own warmth from its super-massive beating heart and millions of aortal nodules. With so many of them dead so far from the center, it would take decades before the new skin and flesh grew to warm the surface once more.

Shaking her head, Ira cast these thoughts from her mind for the time being. Instead, she waved once more to the door and shouted, "Heyo! Come out come out! Joshua we have Wednesdays! It is time of day that we cut deep!" She knew they could see her and hear her from outside, it was quite literally impossible to ignore Ira. Here, without Cait close enough to touch, her voice was strong enough to crack minds and her mere presence stole the breathe from other's lungs.

But Ira was certain Cait knew that and had made preparations against it. Wouldn't want poor Joshua freezing to death or suffocating or losing his mind. Cait was smart, she definitively remembered to set up protections for Joshua. So certainly when he emerged, everything was going to great! Today was Wednesday!

 

[illirica]

Today was Wednesday. It was important to record these things properly, in case they ended up being relevant. As it was often unknown what was going to be relevant until a much later date, it was best to record as much information as possible, so that it could be referenced at some later date, possibly by some later researcher, as the original did not always survive the experiment.

Joshua was fully aware that this was a distinct possibility. The agreements granting relative safety to personnel in the Dimension didn't apply outside of the designated location, meaning that the instant he passed through the doorway, the only thing keeping him alive would be... preparation. He avoided thinking in such phrases as the will of the gods, less because it was inaccurate and more because it was entirely too accurate, and that made him uncomfortable.

He supposed a bit of discomfort was inevitable, as well as, undoubtedly, good for him. Challenges offered opportunity for growth, and growth was necessary to avoid stagnation. Growth and challenge were why he had signed on with the Locusts, after all. Growth, challenge, and-

"So, you ready?"

Ah, of course. Cait. It was no surprise that she was here. It was her Location, after all. The current room they were in was all too familiar, a recreation of the Locusts' apartment back at their previous location, almost exactly. Made, not grown. Most of the location had been grown of bones and sinews and other living bits, made to look like standard hallways and rooms. This one, though, she'd done specifically, one thing she had wanted to keep the same.

She looked much as she always did, which Joshua was fully aware was a choice that she was making. She could have looked like anything, which made the question to ask why she chose not to. This was, after all, Cait. Predictability had never been something she chose, yet she chose it now. Unpredictably.

"Undoubtedly not, but it remains to be seen how," he answered. He supposed he looked much the same as well, sensible medical scrubs that he could move in, a standard lab coat with enough mystical protections woven into it that he genuinely had no idea how they would interact with whatever it was they actually encountered. A bag, containing everything he thought he might need and several things he didn't.

"I made you coffee."

Joshua contemplated whether or not this was a threat. He did have quite a bit of experience with Cait's coffee, after all. She held out a mug, emblazoned with the statement

World's Best Researcher

. It did not specify which world, of course. The drink within looked much like coffee with milk, which could have meant anything. Cait offered a smile, and a shrug. "It'll keep you warm."

He raised his eyebrows, but he supposed it would be wrong to refuse a gift from a goddess - though whoever had originated that phrase had undoubtedly never been on the receiving end of Cait's attempts at coffee. He took the mug anyway, and took a careful drink, because it was undoubtedly an opportunity for growth, whether he wanted it or not.

It was, indeed, warm. He could feel it, not just on the inside, but on the outside. An... aura, perhaps, of warmth, persistent. Whether that was a divine machination or simply one of Cait's odd spells, he couldn't tell - or perhaps at this point there was no difference between the two.

Even more remarkably, perhaps, it tasted like coffee, with milk. "Huh." Perhaps she deserved a better answer than that. She was trying, after all, though Joshua doubted that she would like to hear that he was slightly disappointed that she had figured out how to make more or less normal coffee.

Well, normal except for whatever Eldritch nonsense she had wrapped into it, which... he supposed it was at least a little odd. Still, it didn't go gloop or have eyeballs, and he missed that, though if it had... well, if it had, he would have been hoping someone else would be drinking it, rather than himself. He would have been taking it apart, as usual.

Today was Wednesday, and he had other things to take apart. He took another drink of the coffee, which persisted in tasting just about right, and persisted in being... warm.

He noted her smile, which also seemed to be persisting to be warm, or at least making its best attempt. He walked with her through the hallway, knowing that the appearance of plaster and drywall was skin, and that if he cut into it the wires beneath would be veins or tendons, a living thing. He had, of course. He wasn't the only one. It was a proper Location, after all, with proper researchers.

For now, he left the walls alone, pausing at the doorway to the outside, the one that was marked only with the ominous word Exit. There were no other warnings, no other signs. Anyone who made it this far was assumed to be intelligent enough to know what they were doing.

Joshua chose to believe that he was intelligent enough to know that he had absolutely no idea.

"Thank you." He didn't specify what for, nor wait for an answer before he pushed the door open and stepped outside. There was a girl waiting, after all. Not Cait, but... someone a little bit like she had once been, he thought.

"Good day, Miss Ira." He contemplated what to ask her, and couldn't think of anything better than what she had asked, just a little while ago. "Are you ready?"

 

[Ira]

Look at him.

LOOK LOOK LOOK LOOK OMHMAHGAWD!

He really came! Ira squealed with joy and excitement as the man, dressed in medical scrubs and a lab coat emerged from the location that she was not permitted inside. He carried with him a bag of some sort, perhaps filled with all manner of useful and useless things! Ira desired nothing more than to tear him apart inside and out to see what made him- him!

But she held herself back, it would not be proper to let her excitement get the better of her. In an instant, she was before him. It was a strange picture, she was tall now. In her mind, every researcher was taller than she was. But reality was crashing in a wonderful way into Ira's world. Joshua, researcher Joshua, stood a few inches shorter than Ira. At nearly six feet tall, she did not tower over the other man, but she was 'taller.'

Giggling, Ira flooded the other man with word vomit as her fingers traces mere centimeters over his skin. "Wonder wonder how lovely wonderful! Cait has watched-looked for you I see! Warmth of __________ flows through you-" Ira said- something. It had been a word, sound had emerged, but no meaning came alongside it. Realizing the error, Ira corrected, "Warmth of that-which-beats, the 'heart' of world. " Another giggle.

There were, are, and always will be, words that exist in the language of the Denizens of the Waking World that cannot be understand by humans. It was not that humans could not hear them, nor that they could not understand the sounds, it was not even necessarily 'eldritch.' Rather- it was not 'eldritch' in the sense of unknowable horror from beyond time and space. However, it was 'eldritch' in the very real sense that it was truly unknowable because humans did not possess the faculties to understand the meaning. That is, humans could not 'feel' meaning conveyed directly to them through the emotional current strings that flowed through the Waking World.

There were translations though, 'that-which-beats' was one such crude example. There were many things, many 'stop gaps' and 'makeshifts' made precisely for humans in order to exist in places such as this. One such example, one that Ira had not even noticed herself, was Joshua's coat. Until Cait arrived, until Cait did 'Cait' to this world, magic did not exist. It did not work in any way, shape, or form. But Cait changed that, much to HER chagrin. Magic was not natural, it was a wild perversion of nature that created from nothing, had strange and unpredictable forms, and could only be used by the truly eccentric.

Magic was so beautifully Cait. So Cait had done magic to Joshua's coat. Whether he realized it or not, it possessed Cait's spells so that Joshua might not come to unintentional harm. Ira's very presence, her words, her existence, was unintentionally harmful. Being this close to Ira would annihilate even a hardened Demi-God Denizen of the Waking World. Yet here Joshua stood before her, probably feeling nothing more than a little electric tingle. Cait looked out for her friends.

Ira stopped as her fingers, still close but not touching Joshua, neared his eyes. Suddenly, she was aware that he had not seen her- that he could not see her. The researchers, before knowledge was properly bestowed upon them by Cait, once called Ira's Waking World the 'Dark Dimension.' It was not inaccurate. Her Waking World, her Waking Universe, was not merely 'dark.' It was devoid of light. There were no stars, no fires, nothing but the occasional bioluminescence and miasmas to create any sort of light.

And in this place, this moment, there was truly nothing at all. "Goodness! See- you cannot see! Joshua, dearest small thing, I tear apart your face. Form within the eyes-that-see. I can do this. I will do this?"

 

[illirica]

The fingers of a god reached out above him. A little god, to be fair, or a not-so-little god, one who was not as small as she had once been. He could tell, because her arm was not stretching up. She must be at least near his height, then, Joshua supposed. Something that Cait had never achieved. He could tell by the nearness. The human body knew, when something approached it. Instinct, perhaps. Godlike, she offered to tear apart his face - politely, though, he noticed. His head shook once, quite firmly, and his voice carried a little sternness to it as he reached up to nudge her questing hand aside with the back of his arm.

"That would contaminate the experiment, Miss Ira."

His rationale was solid, of course, but perhaps she hadn't thought about things like that - or perhaps she had. Joshua didn't know how much of a proper scientific background she had - that seemed an oversight, really.

He decompressed the reasoning, explaining patiently as he would to any new lab assistant. "How the researcher perceives the data presented is part of the process. If you change the perception of the researcher, then that introduces another variable into the equation. Is what I observe that way because that is the way it is? Or am I merely observing the change in myself? Can I trust the data I observe, or is it invalidated by the observation process?"

He smiled, which she would see because that was her natural way of perception, and he would not but would observe other ways. "Have you ever worn gloves? It was an easy enough example that worked well for most newcomers, and he hoped at some point in her tenure at the earlier location, someone would have let her experiment with them. "You can feel things with your fingers, even if you are wearing gloves - but they feel differently than they would if you were not. If you had never worn them and I gave you an object to feel, but had you put on gloves before you touched it, would you be able to tell me how the object felt? Or would you be distracted or confused by the feeling of the gloves? You should attempt to control as many variables as possible, when performing scientific analysis."

"Now, that being said, I assure you this will not be the first time my team has gone into something blind. I will observe with what senses I may, and for that which I cannot observe - that is why I have an assistant, with different perceptions than my own, is it not?"

 

[Ira]

Ira listened intensely as Joshua spoke. When he moved to brush aside her arm, she had gently pulled back as not to touch him. While Cait had expertly slipped in protections to keep the scientist safe, it was still extremely dangerous for him to make direct contact with Ira and his delicate human flesh.

His words about the gloves made perfect sense to Ira. Well- it didn't make 'perfect' sense, but it made sense in a weird sort of way. Ira had never worn gloves. But Ira had worn the skin of Dea back when Ira was two and to come home was to become one. It was akin to floating in the internal sea of The-Sphere-That-Hates's blood. Sound was muffled, feeling muted, and experience nearly silenced. It was a thing Ira would not mind to do again and a thing Ira would never do again.

Indeed, to experience something new while similarly restricted would be detrimental to learning. Ira understood. Simultaneously, she understood it was also her job in this moment to provide for Joshua where his senses could not provide him perfect perception. At first, Ira simply nodded, then she remembered he could not see her. Giggling, she replied,

"Yes yes! Understood and understand. Scientist-Researcher Seimar. Doctor? By what name shall I call you? Ah- more questions. Many more, sorry. The world-Sphere we visit- it- ah, requires distances closed. How shall we travel? By ship or by step? I do not wish- erm, to 'contaminate.'"

Then, after a moment's hesitation, Ira smiled and added, "Thank you, for your- patience. I am, excited."

 

[illirica]

Scientist-Researcher? Joshua rather liked the sound of that. Doctor was fine as well, very official. That was how the Foundation tended to prefer it - short, unambiguous, but often that was necessary. The nuances of things were important, of course, and no one denied that they were, but there was a time for nuance and there was a time for brevity, and sometimes brevity had to be the determining factor, particularly when an apocalypse loomed ever closer, which was all too frequently.

Or, perhaps, from a certain standpoint: not frequently enough. He did miss having Cait around - but he would see what would happen with Ira, and it would be... interesting, certainly. Whatever else it would be was yet to be determined, but it would certainly be interesting.

"You don't need to apologize for asking questions. Curiosity should be celebrated." He had said the same thing to Cait, once, a long time ago - but she'd been so hesitant at first, and then the questions had started tumbling out of her and... simply never stopped. He hoped that she never did. "I like 'Scientist Researcher,'" he admitted, since she had asked, "Either is, however, acceptable. And what would you like me to call you?" She had, as he was aware, multiple names - but he wondered if he had ever chosen one for herself.

"Let's take a ship. The, ah, step-process is much faster, but perhaps we can discuss things along the way, since I am not sure how much research training you have had so far."

 

[Ira]

Ira giggled at Joshua's question. What to call her? Ira? Wasn't it obvious? Twirling around and stepping away from him by roughly a foot, Ira responded as respectfully as her aloofness would allow.

"To call me? By name? Silly! You know it! Ira is fine- no no- Ira is perfect. Sound it is, excellence embodied, perfection crafted imperfectly. Ira. Ah, experience! I have none! Teach me, and I shall learn!"

He said it would be better to take a ship, and Ira nodded in agreement. She knew he couldn't see it, but surely he would assume she had agreed with him. If she hadn't agreed, she would have said something. Ira was not the type to quietly sit through things she disagreed with- NOT ANYMORE. Ira would plainly state her opinions and desires, it was only right.

With a smooth motion, Ira drew her hands in toward her own body, curling her fingers and running her knuckles along her sternum. Then, as a lotus, Ira's arms, hands, and fingers moved as if they were blooming from her own body. To Dr. Seimar, he would likely not feel much other than a gentle charge of electricity in the air. To the denizens, however, Ira's emotional call rode along the waves of the heart to spread across millions of miles of space in an instant.

Seconds later, the tension in the air would shift as a vessel responded to Ira's call. It would be visible to Dr. Seimar, as gentle bioluminescence glowed and pulsated along the vessel's sides and underbelly. It was undoubtable a vehicle. It was undoubtably an animal. It was, undoubtably, alive. It resembled something close to a whale in shape, with a few sets of eyes in the places eyes were expected to be on a whale, and a dozen fins on each side of its body. It was also, at least, a thousand feet long.

Waving up at the beast-vessel, Ira called out to it, "Dearest! Accept love of your Mother-Creator! Permit us entrance!" And it responded with a baritone, extraordinarily loud lowing. It vibrated bones and, if Joshua were not already properly protected, it would have boiled his blood. Thankfully, the vibratory noise felt no more than a warm breath upon the two as the great beast practically floated down to the surface of The-Sphere-That-Hates.

The beast, having set itself down, revealed a small door of bone covered by a thick layer of retractable blubber. Similar to a massive eyelid with no eye behind its socket, Ira approached it as it opened. Without looking back, she told Joshua, "This great-large one- I sell-sold-er no, 'selected' for you! Light-within-flesh burns inside him, good for you. For your eyes to 'see.' Yes? "

 

[illirica]

Very well, then. She was to be just 'Ira.' It had been a research question, as they all were, of course. Dr. Seimar had been curious if there was another form of address she might use, or whether she tied different nomenclatures to different situations. The lack of change was also an answer. He did not yet know what it meant, but he didn't mind that. She was a fascinating research subject, and would continue to be so for some time.

Static pricked on his skin for a moment, a charge taken note of - mentally, for now, though he would write it all down later, properly. Documentation was all-important, after all, otherwise experimental results became lost, and repeating them did not guarantee the same results, especially if the subject remembered that they were being repeated.

Something approached. He could feel that, as well, through minute shifts in the air, and - mostly - through observation or Ira calling out. Sources of information should not be discounted merely because they were obvious. He noted the change in the way she spoke, creator-to-creation rather than scientist to test subject.

Now, which one of them was the scientist and which one of them was the test subject, that was yet to be determined. As with the most interesting experiments, it was undoubtedly both. Quarantining adverse influences was often necessary, of course, but without allowing at least a little bit of influence, so much information was lost. It was a fine line, though. Too much, and it was the researcher who was lost, and that often took quite a lot of information along with it.

The creature had vocal cords, though if it was capable of speech, it was not one that Joshua recognized. There was a warmth in it as well, which implied either a warm-blooded creature or one with some way of creating its own internal heat. Chemical reactions, perhaps - he would not know without a proper dissection, and as tempting as that was, he had other things he was more interested in dissecting at the moment.

Ira beckoned him forward, into the belly of the beast - or at least somewhere beyond its dermal layers, and Dr. Seimar followed her with a murmur of "Bioluminescence, Ira. Though, light-within-flesh is an apt descriptor." Certainly, it was better than some that he had heard from research students over the years.

"How much science did Isaac teach you?"