[Video and then Audio] First Network Dive

[thelasttsviet]

[When the feed clicks on, it initially shows a young girl, maybe nine or ten years old, with red hair and unnaturally blue, almost glowing, eyes. She is sitting outside, on the steps of what some people might recognize as the front porch of one of the De Chima import houses. After a few seconds of filming her eyes narrow, as if she just noticed that the camera turned on, and she makes a faint, annoyed noise under her breath, and then opens her mouth, perhaps to say something, but changes her mind. Instead, after a few seconds of searching, she clicks the feed off.]

[A short while later, the feed resumes, audio only.]

My name is Shelke the- [She cuts off, and there's a brief beat before she continues.] Shelke Rui.

[Her voice is flat, not quite emotionless but very close. And she sounds tired. There's a small pause as she gathers her thoughts again.]

I am looking for anyone familiar with manipulating forms of life energy. Or anyone familiar with the term 'mako', though I suppose that is...unlikely. Or anyone who has worked with genetic manipulation. Or genetic degradation and...wasting diseases. Or any genetics.

[She draws in a frustrated breath to stop herself from just listing off fields of science. The problem with not knowing how things work in another universe is having no idea who can help you.]

Conversion of magical energy might also apply. I have not found much evidence of magic as a concept in this world, though. I am uncertain the life stream even exists here, I haven't found any reference to it, as impossible as that-

[She trails off.]

Sorry. Never mind.

[Another tired breath.]

If anyone can assist, please let me know. It is an...urgent request.

That's all.

[There's a pause as she starts to hang up, then realizes she's probably supposed to say something else.]

Thank you.

[Click.]

Comments

Audio;

[homerunning]

Uh...hey there.

[Oh boy, what is he getting into with this.]

I'm no expert at it but...one of my powers is transferring life energy. Mostly mine to someone else who might need it.


....You're new, right? Haven't heard your name around here before.

Audio;

[thelasttsviet]

Yes. I only arrived yesterday.

[There's a pause as she thinks over what he is saying.]

I'm not...entirely sure what you're describing.

Audio;

[homerunning]

Well, welcome to your new home for the next 'whenever', yeah? Don't worry, the food's at least good here.

[Now here comes the hard part.]

Ah yeah...I'm not really sure how it works either.

It's like healing, but using my own life force to do it. It can fix wounds, regenerate life, keep something from dying...


You know, stuff like that. [He won't exactly mention that it takes away from his own just yet.]

Audio;

[thelasttsviet]

[She'll just make a noise that shows exactly how much she approves of being stuck here.]

You...it sounds like cure magic. [Hm.] Is there materia here?

Audio;

[homerunning]

[And that tone turns innocently baffled in the span of a second.]

Uh...never heard of her.

video;

[23wishes]

[She's waited MONTHS for this day. Finally, someone from home. Someone who knows what mako is! And it's not a coincidence like Six's chocobo; that little girl clearly has mako eyes--

But... Why does a little girl have mako eyes?

It's been so long, Aerith's nearly forgotten how reprehensible Shinra were. They experimented on another little girl, didn't they? Of course it was never just her.]

Those are mako eyes, aren't they? Were you with Soldier?

[She tries to look and sound friendly enough, even if it's almost ridiculous a little girl would have been a Soldier recruit. But, of course, with Shinra, nothing's ridiculous enough to be completely out of the range of possibility.]

video;

[thelasttsviet]

[There's a delay before she answers, because how in the world is a dead woman appearing on this phone thing? Finally Shelke actually turns the video feed on, as if that will clarify things, when it clearly doesn't. But there she is with her mako eyes again.]

Yes, they are. [She hesitates.] And no. Not exactly.

[A beat.]

Who...are you?

[Maybe it was just a weird coincidence.]

permavideo;

[23wishes]

I'm Aerith. [A pause.] Aerith Gainsborough.

[She doubts it, but maybe the girl had heard of her...? Unlikely, but if they were both with Shinra once, who knows? It's worth a shot.]

I'm-- [What? The last Cetra? Another Shinra experiment? All of the things that have become so easy to admit to her friends and peers here suddenly seem impossible to say.] I'm glad to see someone else from Gaia, finally.

permavideo; also private now

[thelasttsviet]

[Shelke knew who she was. She could recite complete lists of everyone remotely associated with Avalanche or Vincent Valentine or Meteorfall, and she had been on it. Prominently.]

No, I...

[Shelke hesitates, and then disappears for a moment, fiddling with something. She'd seen a setting earlier...ah! And then the conversation was just them.]

You cannot be Aerith Gainsborough. I do not understand.

video;

[doubleblind]

Geneticist, checking in. Never heard of mako before or the life stream? Is that what it's called? I'd love to hear about them, though. Maybe I can still help.

video;

[thelasttsviet]

Maybe. I don't know.

[She doesn't really know how to be positive.]

It is a difficult problem to explain, the science in this world seems...different.

The life stream is the...life energy current of the world I come from. Mako is what happens if you harvest it to use as an energy source.

video;

[doubleblind]

You're right. The science is definitely different. Is the life stream, an actual physical thing? Can you see it? Why would anyone think harvesting something like that is a good idea?

video;

[thelasttsviet]

Because it made them powerful.

[She says this like it is the most obvious thing in the world.]

But yes, it is a physical thing, if you know where to look. And sometimes it bubbles to the surface and crystallizes in places also.

text/private; ID reads CAPTIVE PRINCESS

[fedoration]

[ he's not actually sure he can be of any help, but the request about genetic manipulation has definitely gotten his attention. ]

I don't know much about genetic manipulation myself, but I am the results of experimentation with it. What is it exactly you're seeking?

text/private

[thelasttsviet]

I need to recreate a substance I have with me. That treats a condition caused by genetic manipulation.

text/private

[fedoration]

I see. I apologize then, as I'm unable to help you with that.

[ he feels compelled to inquire further, though. ]

Would it be detrimental to you to go without?

text/private

[thelasttsviet]

[Not really surprising. She isn't expecting a lot but she's a huge pessimist so...]

Yes.

video;

[fistofthejoestar]

[Jonathan contemplates whether to mirror the post by using video or audio for a moment or two before settling on video. regardless of the reason, anyone asking after the fields that Shelke was would want to gauge the people answering as thoroughly as possible.]

I'm afraid that I'm unfamiliar with most of the terms you've listed, but I do have the ability to manipulate life energy. I'd be happy to help however I can.

[he can't know what she needs, of course, but he's willing to give anything within his capacity.]

[thelasttsviet]

[Shelke sticks to audio, and doesn't answer for a few minutes, contemplating him on the screen before she answers.]

Manipulating it how, do you mean?

[fistofthejoestar]

Ah, it's a bit difficult to explain without an example.

[he inhales deeply before pressing his hands together; energy crackles along his arms like sparks, as deep yellow as the sun. when Jonathan pulls them apart slightly the energy coalesces into something between a flame and electricity, shimmering in his gentle grasp.]

It's called ripple. By regulating my breathing, I can channel the power of the sun - of life - through my body. It has almost unlimited uses, including to heal.

[it's an assumption, but he imagines that would be the aspect Shelke would be most interested in.]

[thelasttsviet]

[If Shelke was surprised by what he did, she made no sound of it. She did watch it intently though...it reminded her of magic, in a sense, but it was clearly different. Hm.]

Can you convert it into other forms or only utilize it?

text;

[circulets]

I'm not unfamiliar with the idea of magic - but mako and life energy is a new one. I take it that it's something rather unique in your own world.

text;

[thelasttsviet]

It seems so.

Which is bizarre.

text;

[circulets]

Being in a new world itself is strange - though, amazing all the same.

text;

[thelasttsviet]

Yes.

But even if this is another world, the basic laws of science should still be the same. Yet they aren't.