towerofanimus

Entry tags:

[002]

Characters: Kuja and whomever wants to pester him.
Setting: ~~Different places! ;A;~~ Various; see cuttext.
Format: Starting with action, I'll match you.
Summary: Kuja's finding it harder to readjust as usual; more discomfort arrives as he explores the full possibilities of the Tower.
Warning: Minor self-harm? Scratching. Also vomiting.

Kuja woke with a start, but the paralysis wouldn't let him leap from bed, wouldn't let him move at all, wouldn't let him breathe. Sheer panic consumes him during that time, robbing his breath further. Once he can move he sits up, sucking air into his lungs, his lungs, his trachea, his mouth, his lips. For a few moments, Kuja huddles over, hands covering his face and nails digging into his scalp. His face, his nails, his scalp, his pain. He is Kuja, he has a soul, he was from Terra, and he is not like those other guys.

From the back of his throat Kuja can feel a choking sensation, his diaphragm twitching. He knows what it is. Stumbling as he gets out of bed (thankfully dressed in his nightshirt), he ignores everyone as he rushes to the nearest bathroom, not bothering to close the stall door behind himself before dropping to his knees and getting sick.

After that awful, wretched dream, tasting his own stomach acid is almost a confirming relief

((ooc: threads for this will be first come, first serve chronologically. I'll assume Kuja remains sick for a while and others hear him from outside))

[Kuja had been coming regularly for meals, oddly unperturbed by the bland fare offered by the Tower. If he finds it unpleasant, he makes no sign; makes no sign of anything much, in fact. His face is a carefully blank face, expressive as a stone. Right now he has about a third of a bar missing on his plate, his posture one of boredom but his face clear as ever. He pokes around a crumb but isn't otherwise eating.]

[For someone so prim, Kuja seems to have no reservation about sprawling on a couch, staring out into the swirling fog. He seems to have ~~stolen~~scrounged up some pants from somewhere: they're dark and ill-fitting, but there, under his White Robe. Right now Kuja is on his stomach, his face is buried in his crossed arms.]

[In the same outfit as the day before, Kuja is neatly sitting against a wall. Next to him is a thick water column of jellyfish and pufferfish and even a blue-ringed octopus. Should he really be sticking his hand in like that..?]

[Kuja must really like those pants. He's only wearing the white undershirt of his usual outfit this time around. Rather dangerous considering he seems to be fussing with some contraption, a pile of colored bottles and an assortment of dull rocks arranged on the counter around him. He seems a bit less morose this time around.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He adjusts his glasses. He looks over the ore, then the synthesizer, without saying anything at first.]

To make jewels. [His tone as he repeats this isn't incredulous. It's a simple repetition, without any real emotion attached.]

Then this device, when functioning, should theoretically be capable of the transmutation of matter? Or is it that this substance in particular contains the potential to become a jewel but lacks a specific catalyst?

[At least he's reasonably intelligent.]

The synthesizer can create a new object out of two others, but in this case, the Ore I hold, while plain, has the potential to become a gemstone. The work of millions of years of pressure and heat and chemistry... in a moment.

[He leans in a little closer.] Fascinating. The chemical reaction it causes can be put to other uses.

Can it synthesize both organic and inorganic matter?

[He tends toward the organic in his own studies, but he doesn't limit those studies. Knowledge should have no limits.]

Do you have a purpose in mind for these jewels? [He wouldn't be likely to ask 'why create jewels', since science for its own sake makes perfect sense to him, but he wonders if the jewels are an end in and of themselves, or if there is more.]

Depends on the matter and combination. I'm not an expert on this by any means: it's a technical skill usually taught to apprentices.

[With the intelligent questions, Kuja is defrosting. This was proving to be a good distraction after all.]

Not particularly. They can be used to channel certain energy, or teach certain abilities, but I really wanted to test out the synthesizer, and jewels are some of the simpler items to mix.

Mm, so it is quite versatile. So much potential.

Apprentices of what trade? We can fuse certain objects in my world, but we do not have a synthesizer so varied in its uses. I'm impressed.

[It is a device from this person's world, then, but not of their design (not that Hojo has paid very close attention to Kuja himself). To meet the inventor of such a device would be quite a pleasure, but he is content to speak about it as well; he will talk shop, as it were, in almost any situation. He nods his understanding and approval.]

Best to begin with a simple experiment. [Not that he always follows this advice himself.] Jewels are useful items, then. I know of similar objects. I would like to observe, if I may.

Of synthesizing, of course. As you might imagine, it can be a delicate process.

[Oh yes, Kuja really likes talking shop with someone who knows what they're going on about. His suggestion is good, if obvious.]

Of course.

[Pop in the Ore here, pour in the potion here, fiddle around, and........ Kuja plucks out the result, holding it out.]

Ta-da! An opal. When equipped, it can grant one Blizzara.

[He's not gonna mention its eidolon potential yet. Without a summoner it's useless.]

Of course, that is self-evident. I did not know whether it was a part of a greater craft.

[Hojo watches Kuja very carefully as he works, remaining silent until he is finished.]

Impressive. Its structure appears to have been completely altered.

Blizzara. An ice elemental attack. So these jewels are like Materia. [This is murmured, but then he adds, in a firmer voice:] They sound very like the objects I mentioned, which we create and fuse, if with very different equipment. Though I have no such equipment with me. It is not my specialty.

How is the device powered? And may I inspect it more closely?

The process sounds similar, at least. Jewels are the least of what I could create, but like I said, such processes are more complex. Ore, at least, already has the building blocks of gems sleeping in their hearts.

[Sorry Hojo, Kuja's prone to poetry, science or not. He steps away from the synthesizer.]

It can vary... a forge, a Mist engine, any sort of power source really. In this case, the machine seems to have been adapted for the electricity this Tower seems to fsvor.

And if you could, if the complexity were no issue, what is the greatest thing that you could create? For instance.

[He steps in closer and leans down to look, his hands moving over the device.

He's willing to ignore the poetry for the time being, as the wording amuses him, for private reasons.] Sleeping within, yes. That hidden potential that must be brought out. [He laughs. It reminds him of his own work.]

Electricity is what I'm most familiar with. [Even though it is also power that comes from souls like Mist, hurrah!] Mist engine? And what is that?

Oh, all sorts of things, from basic jewelry to even famous weapons like the Masamune.

[Fuck yeah power from leftover soul bits! Kuja is all about recycling that by-product.]

Mist is a substance found on the most populous Mist Continent. While it can produce power with special engines, it creates monsters in high concentrations. It's not the most salubrious substance, either.

The Masamune? [He pauses.] I know someone with a weapon of that name... But weapons don't particularly interest me. [He had some with him, but that was a matter of protection. It wasn't his field.] Anything other than jewels and metals and the like?

[Leftover souls make the best fuel!]

Mist Continent? An interesting power source indeed. My own electricity came from a power source that had mutagenic properties. A liquid extracted from the earth. Quite potent and worthy of study.

Yes, many jewels. Peridots, diamonds, rubies.... All sorts of gems in many colors and abilities. In fact, there was even a fad where one would get a fortune and buy a jewel that was "lucky".

[What else would they be good for amirite]

Yes, the largest of the four. What did you call such a fuel? From whence did it come?

Lucky jewels. [Hojo laughed a little at this.] I have no use for luck. [Yes, some said it could be augmented, but he would rather rely on skill, and his own genius. What need did he have for luck?]

And this device was brought here with you?

We have three continents, many islands. No Mist, not as you describe. Our electric power comes from Mako, which is harvested from the Planet by reactors. It glows with a green light.

No, I didn't have the synthesizer with me, I just happened to find it here. Maybe my arrival did prompt this.

[Mako, huh? That sounds extremely familiar.]

I've never heard of that before. Could you tell me more about it? What sort of mineral is it? Or is it a gas?

That well could be. If they bring us and our belongings, why not devices from our world? In fact, the objects and non-sentient beings here appear to be from a variety of worlds as well.

[Hojo nods.]

I could tell you a great deal about it. It is a liquid, in fact, in both its refined and unrefined forms. Liquid energy. It can be crystallized, creating the jewel-like objects I spoke of before. It does rise to the surface naturally in springs, here and there, but our power comes from reactors. It also crystallizes naturally at the springs, but such formations are relatively rare.

I certainly hope so. I would despair if all traces of my life's work has vanished from me.

[A liquid in the planet that rose in springs and could naturally crystallize? It sounds like a sort of low-melting mineral. In theory it sounds like lava turning into obsidian. Actually...]

You make it sound like igneous rock. Do you have any Materia with you? I'd love to see it for myself.

My life's work is also something I would rather not lose. But then, I carry it with me.

[He may mean in his mind, or he may mean Jenova--or both.]

Ah, there are some superficial similarities, but ultimately, they are not similar. The crystallization process is not a matter of cooling, and Mako is quite unlike magma. The natural formation of Materia, even at springs, is very rare. The actual catalyst is unknown. Materia is not a mineral, and there is a distinct difference in its molecular structure, which is not what I would call--precisely stable. Actually, there are many differences.

[He hesitates, not at all sure he wants to share one of his defenses with this unknown person. Well, why not? This is one of the few apparently scientifically minded people he's met here, and at this point he has little to lose.]

I do have one, yes. If I might examine the jewel--?

It might do us both well to commit to paper our knowledge, then.

[That's very interesting... no known catalyst? Perhaps people were more interested in extracting the Mako than waiting for nature to take its course. Kuja couldn't blame them.]

Go ahead, take it. Only fitting that we have a mutual examination.

I've no intention of committing all my work to paper. If some of it dies with me, then so be it. It will die. Some of my results, at least, will live.

[The natural Materia were on the whole, rare and powerful, and comparatively little was known about them, for they were seldom seen.

After a moment of adjusting his equipment, Hojo removes a single Materia and hands it to Kuja: Heal. A little larger than a marble and as smooth as one, with an almost silvery sheen, it holds a very faint green glow within. As he offers it, he takes the jewel in his own hand, examining it closely.]

[Ugh, how needlessly fatalistic. Either he valued his knowledge so little, or had too large an ego for anyone else to handle his data.]

That's something at least. I have no reservations, so I'll allow you access to it if you'd like.

[Kuja takes the materia in his hand and finds a familiar sensation in examining it. The green glow reminds him faintly of the depths of the Iifa Tree, but he can detect the faintest sort of whisper that thundered elsewhere. Not quite Mist, but the traces of old and muddle souls are still held within. The effect is like the dusts of dead skin compared to a healthy body, but there's no mistaking its origin.

The question is: does Hojo know? Or does he only know of the shell of latent magic within?]

You say you drew this from the depths of your planet?

[It could well be the ego thing. He also has his enemies here, and there are things he cannot allow them to know. In his world, his work is done. All that's left are the results.]

I will write what can be written. My research regarding the Tower--that I will share readily. [More or less.] I'd be most interested in reading your work and accessing your materials. What is your primary area of study?

[He looks from the jewel in his own hand to the Materia in Kuja's, thoughtfully. He'd dosed himself with Jenova cells before arriving in the Tower, and he wonders if he should give himself something like the Mako radiation treatment as well.

Jenova wants more power. Always. He must find her some.]

It comes from the Planet, yes. There is a great deal of power within the Planet.

Oh, magic and artificial life, mostly.

[No kidding. If Kuja could tap into the cycle of souls on Gaia... it staggers the imagination. Mist was only a byproduct, after all, so Kuja can only imagine what Hojo's civilization has accomplished. Time to test his theory out.]

Yes, because it too is a living thing, fueled by its inhabitants. One could say this materia is made from its lifesblood.

Magic, hmm...

[Hojo considered the term "magic" a superstitious one used to describe those phenomena science had not yet explained, but he wasn't in the mood for that argument.]

What kind of artificial life? Robotics?

Ah, yes! [He brightens somewhat. Kuja has become more interesting in his eyes.] Very perceptive. The Lifestream, it's called. From whence Mako and Materia come.

[Hojo had wanted to give it all to his son. Though perhaps he could take it for himself... Though he is not on Gaia now, and he's not sure of his results.]

And how were you able to perceive this fact?

No, I had my own method of giving life to creatures of flesh and blood. Monsters are the easiest, but I could make sentient bipeds with the right materials.

[None of which are present in the Tower. Not that Kuja really feels compelled to make a Black Mage. Aside from being needless effort, he doesn't think others would take kindly to it.]

Lifestream? That makes sense... Ah, it's related to my work. You might call it my legacy.

[Because causing an immense flood of souls requires one to at least be somewhat perceptive of them. One of Kuja's more unique, if subtle, talents.]

Fascinating! New biological life forms.

[Now Kuja is singing Hojo's tune.]

What is it you need to make them, and what is your method? Have you made any attempts here? I'm very interested in new forms of life. And monsters, making monsters. It's quite a subject, quite a study. One meets so few who embark upon it.

[He nods. He would certainly take kindly to any such experiment.]

Your work? Yes, I see. My own legacy is... New life, you could say.

[002]

I am happy to be able to oblige! <3

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I almost wrote "shop" as "ship"

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Makin' shit up woooo

Makin' shit up is COOL

Esp. with rich worldbuilding already in place =3

yes, exactly!

I need to finish ff7

you should! :3

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I'm giggling over the "MAGIC ISN'T REAL" thing 83

Hojo: dares to disbelieve in magic as an FF character!

You're in the wrong genre, dude.

Maybe that's why he's so bitter.

He should go to a scifi story instead