The Tale of a Jerk and a Scientist

[denigrator]

Characters: Hojo and YOU
Setting: Throughout the tower. Pick a floor, any floor.
Format: Action to start, but I'll match prose, too
Summary: After some time spent wandering his ruined world like a ghost, Hojo has returned to the Tower. His first priority? Research.
Warnings: A complete lack of scientific ethics, which may come up.


[A great deal has gone on in Hojo's absence--he's been gone months!--and this has had the unfortunate effect of upsetting so much of his research. He has absolutely no idea what's happened while he's been gone.

So what's a scientist to do? Make his way through all the floors he had been so carefully studying, trying to salvage what he can. Sometimes he talks to himself. Sometimes he hums. Off-key or tunelessly. Sometimes he scowls and stops to take notes. Sometimes he smiles. And stops to take notes again. He grits his teeth, doing his best to ignore the cold. He's worked in cold (very cold) climates before. Fortunately, he has a Fire Materia, which provides some warmth.

One might find him in the cafeteria, taking samples of the oatmeal.

In the observatory, he spends a long time looking out, studying the strange creatures visible through the glass.

He takes soil samples in the graveyard, and biological samples on floor Forty-One, collecting insects. He plucks a few blossoms in the meadow (Twenty-Five) and in the garden (Twenty-Nine).

He stops in the clinic to deal with a few of the wounds he's sustained along the way.

He pauses to enjoy the morgue (Twenty-Six) and the laboratory (Twenty-Seven), looking for traces of his old research with Fuhito. He doesn't find much, though what he finds, he gathers up. What a shame. So much work lost. All the more reason to work more, and harder.]

So much to do, so much...

Comments

[denigrator]

Try taking off only one wing, or different parts of them. See what happens. Or perhaps instead of pulling the wings off you can remove them in some other fashion. With a knife or other implement, or with fire.

You might even be able to think of something better. Far be it from me to limit you.

[blackwitch]

Don't you think doing something like this with your own hands is always the most fun? [ Sure, she can think of creative ways too that could be fun as well, but nothing can get to this level in her opinion.. ]

[denigrator]

You'd still be doing it with your own hands. Your hands would be holding the knife.

If doing the same thing again and again is what pleases you, then by all means. I'm not particularly interested in mindless, purposeless repetition. I'm more interested in results.

[blackwitch]

The results are so bo-ring, though! [ There's almost something childlike about her, really - matching her appearance. Despite all the apparently needless cruelty. ]

It's all about the way you do it! Nobody cares about a corpse, they only care about what happened to it..! Kyahaha, there's nothing better than causing some great death all by yourself!

[denigrator]

[Hojo has to laugh himself, at this.] Hahahaha...

Of course it's about the way you do it. That's why I suggest you vary your technique.

If it's death you want to cause, there are limitless ways to accomplish that goal. You can make it slow or quick, kill individuals one by one, or on a grand scale.

Though I think a corpse can be very interesting. It depends on the corpse.

[blackwitch]

He-y, you don't have to lecture me on something as basic as that.

[ She lets go of the half-wounded butterfly in her hands, letting it fall on the ground. As she stands up and dusts off her skirt, it changes into a much more elaborate purple outfit instead - like a witch's, and a golden staff appears in her hand. ]

I'm used to that already..!

[ And as she swings her wand, a huge cake appears in the air and falls on the butterfly, pulverizing it. ]

[denigrator]

[Hojo laughs again.] Hahaha, I see you are. That's better, if not so scientific.

Much better. That's what I mean by varying technique.

You're able to create or manipulate matter. [He's sure this is going to have something to do with "magic", a term he prefers to avoid. It's really just poorly explained science.] How else would you kill them?

[Really, he's just curious.]

[blackwitch]

You want to see..? [ She giggles like a child right before playtime.

Then the cake fades away into nothing, and the butterfly flies up again as if it's been revived from its inevitable death. But then she summons spears raining down from the heaven on the butterfly, impaling it. Another wave and the spears disappear and the butterfly flies up again..

It repeats a few times with various kind of things. She makes it boil in a very small sea of hot chocolate, she makes a rabid teddy bear kill it, there's a whole variety of things. And the girl seems cruel yet in the cruelty almost playful in the way she giggles maniacally. As if she doesn't even care that someone's watching. ]

[denigrator]

Yes, yes, show me.

[Hojo watches. He's quite enjoying himself, in his way. It's interesting, seeing one person kill a butterfly in so many different ways. This child has a great deal of power. He can appreciate that.]

And what is your purpose in doing this? Is it only enjoyment?

[blackwitch]

Of course, what else would it be? [ She giggles more before she just makes the butterfly lie there broken after her last attempt, instead spinning around on her heels to look at him. ]

If you see something, don't you just feel like you want to break it?!