Re: Caught Gold-Handed

Tue May 30, 2017 1:16 pm

So she's going to interrupt me after all. The Doctor had seen this as a possibility, in fact he had viewed it as a very likely one. He did not believe that Nozomi was the type of person to sit back and watch when she believed there was a faster method. That was what made her so brutally efficient. But at the same time, her actions were getting in the way of the conversation that he wanted to have with her. "Hmm."

A slightly hesitant noise left his throat as he was flung bodily into an obsidian pillar. He was now plainly somewhere else, all the water was gone, and there were even two suns in the sky. While the Doctor would normally take a moment to absorb his surroundings, the topic at hand had the majority of his attention. The gravity was much heavier here; the Doctor could feel it as he began to right himself again, standing up on the pillar. "…" Her words passed into his mind, but there was still that reluctance… and then he was bodily flung from the pillar once again. So when I do it, I'm wasting time. He thought sarcastically to himself. I wonder if she gets a kick out of this… His thoughts were interrupted from smashing down into the other side of the volcano, black dust covering his face and arms.

Seems that she still… can't trust me, not in the least. Or… she finds it to have no merit. The Doctor's eyes remained level, the half-smile that he usually wore dispersed. After all, it did no good with her; she could see right through it. Her hand reached down for his head, and the Doctor stood there, looking right into her eyes. "…I know. But I was attempting to make a point, no different from the way you just slammed me bodily into a volcano." His eyes closed for a moment, before opening again and looking at her. I was using that as an opportunity to set a basis for that question. I was well aware of the wasted effort, the lack of necessity of it all. But it was a dynamic choice, a very wasteful choice, one with a lot of effect on that space… and therefore, I was going to use it to better illustrate my question.

That sense, the thoughts that the Doctor himself did not fully understand, his subconscious… those pieces of information that Nozomi was privy to, she and she alone, because of what she had accomplished in the past. The Doctor was not even necessarily angered by this course of events… he was more simply disappointed. Perhaps for better, perhaps for worse.

She was certainly correct that he had a reservation about asking for assistance. Despite that, he had asked her if she was aware of any dead dimensions. Now, it seemed she was giving him freer reign, so it would be easier for him to ask for assistance.

"Hmm… would I?" He asked her at last, still looking at those crimson eyes of hers, that smile she was putting on. Was it sarcastic? Was it genuine? Was it condescending? Did it matter? He had not intended to ask her an objective question, he had meant for it to be subjective. If she thought that actions were meaningless or not. As for the Doctor… well, while he still did not know the answer for certain, he was not so sure that he would care.

"During… the Platinum Heart Tournament?" He asked curiously, turning back to the chains, beginning to refine them further. "Really… hmm… that was a variety of dimensions as well, wasn't it…" He commented, tuning another part of the gauntlet. With the shifts that he had made, it would now attempt to create a series of fine points. Instead of ripping and tearing away a large chunk, it would now attempt to merge the edges, balancing the 'lines' more. While it was still far from perfect, it would be less.. Brutal.

"Or… do you mean the discourse we began then? About Order and Chaos?" The Doctor seemed more a bit more talkative now; working seemed to have brought him to a more neutral state of mind. Leaning back, he took a deep whiff of the gold specks in his hood, and that helped him focus further, as well. "About how chaos needs to exist, but where or not it must be controlled?... I don't believe we finished that conversation."

Making a final adjustment, he leaned down, his Rinnegan eyes attempting to scan the landscape. …Guess I'll have to ask after all. Turning back to her, he clipped the device back onto his arm and fingers, the bloody patches smearing a bit along the golden finish. "…Could you let me know if I get too close to one of those points, then...? The area should be about two thirds what it was before…"

He was requesting her assistance directly, now, to try to avoid potential catastrophe. The Doctor was not an enemy of efficiency, and while he did enjoy the process of his work… he was not alone with it right now. He could accept that. As long as he could do his own work with the information that she could provide, he could accept that. That smile on her face was still in his thoughts, when she told him to finish his research and find it for himself. …Then I suppose I'll keep going… until I find what that look on her face was for…

Mon Jun 05, 2017 6:56 pm

Source: NieR: Automata - Song: Possessed by a Disease

Emotions were healthy to possess, but the ones coming from Hebi seemed particularly petty. Her good intentions twisted in his mind, whether from his distorted point of view or his lack of insight on Nozomi's own character. He was certainly right to question his own beliefs on the matter, at least. While his complaints stemmed from his disappointment in not being able to do things his way, he did not presume to believe his first assumptions were correct. Perhaps there was more to it than he believed or even... perhaps it was just as she said, and he was overthinking the actions. She stopped prying into his inner sanctum at that point, letting his sour surface thoughts ramble on as they may.

She sighed softly and reached up to take her hat off, scratching the top of her head with the other while she could. ''The doorway will remain open as long as you need it, and this universe does not present any danger to someone like you. Should you want to conduct any lesser experiments than rending the fabric of space with this new canvas of yours... save it. While I am here, don't waste my time on such things when there is a much more significant subject for us to work on.''

At that, her crimson hues shot directly at Hebi with an unblinking glare. It was a blatant signal about her presence here; she was testing him, definitely. The way she worded the last part of her statement came off as suddenly crude for someone who had been casually friendly just a few minutes ago. The first knee-jerk reaction one might have was to bite back, calling Nozomi on her 'bullshit'. "But you're the one who came and interrupted me in the first place!" That would be continuing the theme of petty righteousness, of course, and in turn showing her what the Doctor valued more here. What the unspoken gift between them was was an opportunity from Nozomi, and how he chose his words here would determine whether he lost or gained.

She was acting like her old self; the Quincy that the Doctor was most familiar with in their dealings. That version of herself was not Nozomi anymore, but she had always been good at impressions, and she'd do it for someone like him. Like this, they could work on this problem together with him as the curious experimenter and she as the guiding sage. It begged to imagine the possibility of progress they could make if they collaborated in their unique, unorthodox fashion. And so, in summation, she was asking Hebi to take from her what he could while she was offering, even if it be unpleasant for the time being. There would always be time in the future for everything else, after all...

Her hat was replaced on her head, and fastened tightly with both hands. They were both moving on now; to the next subject, and to their next course of action. The hostility emanating from the First Quincy was all but gone now, irregardless of the choice Hebi made. She watched now as he proceeded with his experiment, utilizing the solid ground beneath his feet to stabilize himself before he tested his equipment. It seems there was some tinkering to do first.

''There you have it. You remembered,'' she said simply as her thoughts too rewound back to that incursion. Nozomi never did end up reaching the Platinum Heart that had been the catalyst of the event, as for still unexplained reasons the tournament terminated prematurely and the reward had vanished. ''I'd been quite the show-off back then, more than I am usually. The claims I'd made were rather incredible... if you could see what was going on in my head then...'' Her tone grew nostalgiac, and she was almost rambling on about it as her eyes wandered, looking at nothing.

Then suddenly: ''Turns out I was wrong.'' She shrugged, passing off what she just said as a casual announcement. For someone like her to declare that she was incorrect about something was... uncommon, to say the least. Yet, there was knowledge about the way that the multiverse worked she couldn't possibly know before those statements. A person couldn't conceive of the truth without going through what she had gone through. ''And I just wanted to apologize for that. I'm sorry.''

And with that, she gave him a thumbs up, to him know that he no longer had to worry about the implications of what she said back then. It was almost... not worth paying any mind to.

Or maybe she was just letting him know that he wasn't going to hit any shatterpoints with his tech.

Sat Jun 10, 2017 10:09 pm

…She took her hat off.

The Doctor's thoughts came to a small halt, as his attention had finally been grabbed. Almost all of his attention, his eyes stopping to look over at her. He was giving her his full attention. After all, this was an action that she was taking to be given attention. Therefore, he felt like he had to look over at her. "…" Slowly, his eyes closed, before looking down at the gauntlet in his hand.

"I……… apologize." It took a moment, the Doctor's head having whirled around like a tornado. He could understand what she meant. Perhaps he had underestimated her time, her purpose. …Even this is gathering information… Letting go of the negative emotion… or at least, the negative emotion flowing around the front of his mind. There was always those emotions in the back of his head, swirling and screaming in fear and pain. The Doctor knew how to deal with those, keeping them out from the front of his mind. Honestly, he was not upset by the fact that she interrupted him. If she valued what he was doing here to that extent, it most likely meant… that what he was moving towards was going to be interesting.

He wanted to see where that interest lead. "I will… maintain my focus." The Doctor's words informed her, reaching up to the side of his head. His hand moved lightly to the left, before moving lightly to the right. A blank look passed over his face for a moment, before moving it one more degree. While the action seemed… peculiar, one could think of it as a meditative technique, or perhaps force of habit. If a being examined the Doctor's soul, they would see a peculiar screw extending out of where his head should be. That peculiar screw was what the Doctor was mimicking the manipulation of.

Within the Doctor's mind, all of his other voices began to dim, falling down to whispers. Those whispers gradually became hoarse as their owners tried to roar and scream at him for making them so quiet. The only one who was intelligent enough to adjust his psyche… the Doctor, Kabuto Hebi. Across his face, his common grin returned, as that question returned to him again. Patience. The more excited by something I become, the more impatient I am… That animalistic part of me… gets in the way… doesn't it…

"Personally, I found it productive." He replied, thinking of the things that he was able to experiment with it, including the way she made him hit his special eyes with his own attack. The fact that they became consumed in his own fire, a condition normally impossible… was just the catalyst that the Doctor had needed for their evolution. The Doctor's eyes were still fixed on his device as he calibrated it rapidly. "I accept your apology… Would you like to discuss that hypothesis further, then?" By hypothesis, he was referring to what she had talked about when they spoke last. She may have learned the truth by now, but he supposed it was also possible that she had gained new questions herself as a result of that revelation. While the Doctor may not know what the revelation itself was, he was curious if it could have puzzled the Primordial Quincy.

The Doctor showed a response to her statement, leaving a door open to her if she wanted to continue the conversation. Now that he had handled one door… it was time to deal with another. "Beginning." Leaning his hand down, he slid two fingers into the ground. Golden light shone around his arm, a small amount of air blowing away from his arm. His hood was slid back, resting down on his shoulders. Leaning back, the rend began to slide through, rising in the air as small holes appeared, swirling about in the air before him. The small tears created less strain as golden light began to consume the targeted space, before dispersing.

Where the golden door was, a small space seemed to appear that was different from the rest. On the other side, green plains expanded into every direction, as the Doctor attempted to access the Demon World of this universe. If that was where they already were, the technology would instead access Earth, or the equivalent of it. In a way, he was probing, but he was attempting to use relative coordinates to reach another plane. He figured that while it would be interesting to examine the Soul Society or Hueco Mundo of a place like this, it would possibly cause trouble due to the lack of life within this universe. A Primordial Soul Cycle.. or maybe something alternative. He wondered what would happen if he died here.

If it led to the Demon World, then they would be greeted by a peculiar sight. In this place, a single volcano rose, large enough to be seen from any location. The closer that one got to the volcano, the more dark and red the ground became. The farther one reached, the more normal and loamy the ground was. It was if the plane was constantly expanding, pushing outwards from a single point.

Hmm. Reminds me a bit of my own research. The Doctor thought to himself as he looked through the door. "How does this gateway compare?" He asked her, analyzing it the best that he could. Drops of blood began to fall from his arm onto the ground, more than before. That was the cost of a more finite control as this. The Doctor figured that if Nozomi was willing to give him this collaboration, then he would push himself to his own limits, as well. Part of it was technique, and part of it was the instrument. However, this portal should be of significantly higher quality than the last one, interfering less with its surroundings on each side. Once the Doctor had received input of it, he would then walk through, his feet pressing onto the stone on the other side. .

Fri Jun 16, 2017 10:28 pm

Source: NieR: Automata - Song: Possessed by a Disease

As much as she enjoyed their conversations, there would always be time for them later; Always. Yet how often was Nozomi willing to play the assistant to his work? And what value might this aid reach? After all, it shouldn't be discounted the knowledge she possessed. She'd been there, done that, and had all the capability to manifest a perfected version of the technology Hebi was trying to delve into. Yet she wasn't just giving him the answer in the form of a blueprint—established as a negative to a scientist like him—rather choosing to leave a bread crumb trail for him to follow while still allowing his invention to remain mostly his own. She was giving him the treat of seeing his work come to fruition, without the frustration of wasted time, and with all the lessons that came with normal research. He finally did come to this understanding.

It was a good thing, in layman's terms.

''Sure... through conflict an entity develops by learning from its mistakes, but one of us has already suffered through the pains of this science, and I never took you for a masochist, Doctor.'' She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest as she quickly suppressed her old self in favor of her new, wiser frame of mind. ''Besides, now knowing what I believed back then to be incorrect... it means that if I somehow influenced you that day, it was for the worse. I may have swayed you in the wrong direction. Considering if I had been right... would have such implications that we'd lead a rather inconsequential life.''

How to discuss this without revealing the truth that was eons beyond the level anyone else was at, currently? The information would have an impact on anyone she told it to. Even if Hebi's mind was already shrouded by madness, it would still have an influence on his behavior, and that effect would reverberate to everything around him—much like the butterfly effect. Even if told to be kept a secret, there would be no stopping the way she altered this world... and she rather liked this world. Well... not this one specifically but the one dominated by the Platinum Heart, from which she adopted as her new home.

''You want me to elaborate on what the old me thought on the matter?'' she inquired, figuring that such a conversation would only serve to titillate Hebi's mind with the conversation itself. The hypothesis was rather moot by now. Her efforts were only to show that there was more order in this world than there was chaos, for order was the superior aspect. At the same time, she'd believed herself an avatar of order in some fashion. Despite her vast intellect at the time, it was not enough to realize how great a display of conceit this was: The title was nothing more than self-proclaimed, with a basis only so far as her eyes could see. The Arius was still blind to so much at the time.

Nozomi had felt some form of security from her beliefs, which was nothing more than vanity. Neither was she a person who benefit from the security either—it was not something she needed. Perhaps in that moment more than any other, she was a mess of a human being. But then she found the Platinum Heart at the core of the universe, and then she opened a gateway to the higher dimensions, completely reconstructing her viewpoint from the sights she witnessed. ''Perhaps...''

Her eyes glazed over as she stared into the newly-opened rift, noting that he was trying to access a separate realm within an alternate universe based on his understanding of their own universe. Things didn't entirely line up, however, considering the number of parameters that had to be considered. His device seemed to stall out for a long while, with a portal leading into an utter vacuum—the surrounding atmosphere was breathed in at astounding rates as the two were tugged at by an intense force. Nozomi found herself having to anchor her body to the spot with a wirework of Reishi lest she be ripped from the ground and sucked in. Yet... after some time the device finally completed its search and auto-corrected its coordinates to lead into an entirely unexpected destination: A realm unique to this universe with no name. Normality was restored.

Continuing as if nothing had happened: ''Perhaps in the Platinum Heart's universe, order is indeed the dominant force. That... rock sustains the entire plane of existence and has a powerful effect on anything residing within its dominion. Even Aera's ability to invoke vacuum decay upon anything she touches has no effect on it, which defies the very laws that it itself created. This is a case in which the aspect of order has completely trumped chaos despite being equal magnitudes of power. Yet, in the Black World, the opposite is true. A corrupted Platinum Heart, which sustains it. It might not seem too different from our universe, but provided the same example, an equivalent force of chaos would always defeat order.''

Despite not exactly being the Demon World, the landscape of this discovered realm was just as hellish. Whatever sky this world would have possessed was blocked out by a thick layer of smoke and ash pretending to be clouds. The source of this bleak atmosphere was a supermassive volcano, imposing over the rest of the area. Still, on the horizons Nozomi could see patches of land relatively unmarred by the volcano's reach. The air there was fresher, and clearer. ''An honest improvement over the previous, though your operation of the device would have put any other individuals in serious danger. You tried to use our universe as a basis for your assumptions. Alternates realms are not a constant through the multiverse, and the machine was forced to recalculate its destination for a dozen plus seconds just trying to find the nearest otherworld from your original point. It would have overheated and caused an impressive amount of destruction to the fabric of space if it didn't find anything within the minute.''

Needless to say, this experiment too came with a great many imperfections, as this section of space now found itself riddled with shatterpoints.

Sun Jun 18, 2017 10:38 pm

"Well, if you absolutely want to know…" The Doctor let the comment drop off after that, not bothering to finish the sentence. "I believe I told you this once, Nozomi…" He paused for a moment, tilting his head to the side. "As long as this world keeps having things for me to examine… as long as individuals like yourself continue to create and experiment, creating new things to dissect and learn about… I will be eternally content."

The Doctor did not often sound… comforted by the words that he spoke, but those ones had a strange air of familiarity to them. "Perhaps not so much what she thought… but rather what lead to her thinking that way. You do not need to." He reassured her, knowing that he was only prying out of his own curiosity. He could not prevent himself from at least trying. With each result, there was a path to reaching that result. That path was infinitely more interesting to a man like the Doctor than the result itself.

Shortly after, the Doctor was attempting to open another rift. It took a moment for it to level, causing the Doctor to pant slightly from maintaining his grip. So that detection feature proved useful after all… though… A small smile was on his lips, smaller than normal. On his arm where the device was attached, his skin had gone from being pale to extremely red.

"…" The Doctor was silent, absorbing the statements that she made. They were things that he had hypothesized, though he never had the opportunity to examine them. The idea that chaos would have no effect upon the Platinum Heart was interesting to hear… because it meant that there could be exceptions. There could be a core to a universe. …So then, it's theoretical for project Desavarsit…

The Doctor was silent about that matter, before replying about it in a different manner. "So a corrupted Platinum Heart would be unaffected by any being's order? Or that may not be known yet." He inquired of her, looking at the device on his hand. "…Not sure if you should tell me the answer to that… though." He followed his statement with, a peculiar emotion radiating from his body. There was a sense of conflict there. The Doctor wanted something like that, wanted it very badly. But… that was why there were people like Nozomi in the world. To prevent someone like the Doctor from obtaining something that could have that ability.

"Then perhaps I should…" The Doctor took a minute, recalibrating the device on his arm. It contained information about his present dimension, namely the traits which made it unique, especially compared to the last location. This is partly what the machine used to 'anchor' itself to its locations. Studying the information, the Doctor was able to obtain the method by which to access the previous dimension. "Create a device which helps identify one's location within this kind of space… A map of some kind." He muttered, already getting an idea for a blueprint within his mind. Huzzah, more things with which to science.

"If this space is as loaded with shatterpoints as the previous attempt, would you mind moving us to a safe distance, still in this realm?" He asked her, continuing to fiddle with the device. So the hypothesis that other realms would have analogous locations has proven to be incorrect. This raises multiple questions about how the multiple dimensions manage to form themselves, how they are all connected. How could this plane be connected to the one we were just on?

It was a mystery to the Doctor, one he was looking forwards to solving. "So then, let's say that I'm trying to locate the relation between some plane and this one…" He began, still fiddling with the device. That last step appeared to have been one in the correct direction, judging from her positive reaction. His research was now beginning to lean into another direction, one that he felt was vital towards the development of this technology. "Obviously I would need to start by understanding the plane I'm beginning on pretty intimately…" The Doctor was almost muttering now, the pace of his words increasing as his fingers worked faster and faster on the device that was attached to his arm.

"From there, I would need to make a series of experiments, to attempt to work out a formula that I could implement with this technology… If you would be willing to assist me for just a bit longer, I believe I can utilize this dead space for one thing more."

Those words were the last that he gave her for now, pushing and pressing on the device all over. If there was something Nozomi could provide to speed up that process, he would be welcome to it; but he was not expecting it. He thought of that as a different affair, and therefore thought it important to ask once again for her cooperation. He was aware that he still had not mastered the actual art of the travel, but that was something he could work on simultaneously.

Occasionally, his arm twitched a bit. It was not enough to disturb his research, but it was a definite reminder of the importance of what he was now attempting to discover. If the Doctor was not able to master this aspect, the consequences would increase. The red soreness could be worse, a soreness that could harm even someone like him. What if he was desired by his research?

Then perhaps that simply means I am not the one who is meant to complete it. That it could be bigger than me… how exciting.

But perhaps, something here would be disturbed by what they were doing. Perhaps something lived within that volcano… something which had been sealed away within it… Perhaps something sensed their presence, and was beginning to stir itself while they discussed, something that had no form or inherent consciousness.