Naoto's Heart

[dramatispersonae]

You find yourself falling through a black abyss, the air cold around you, although not bitingly so. Just as your eyes begin to adjust to the darkness on every side, you're dropped through a chute and tossed out into a brightly-lit area...


((#hardwired))

Comments

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

"Oh? Do tell."

Re: Management

[lifeistooshort]

Back home, the higher ranking officers in the military were alchemists-- those who could harness their scientific knowledge well enough to know how to transmute one material into another. [a beat] I don't know exactly how alchemy works because I haven't gotten that skill back yet, but I know it involves harnessing the flow of energy of the objects, and manipulating their molecules and atoms to turn them from one substance to another. It's the ability to turn coal into gold, and back again. Except turning material into gold was illegal, so you had to use it to create other things.

[puffs up again] I happened to be one of those alchemists.

[also reaching for that heart again while he talks]

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

She looks fascinated.

"Really? But what about the conservation of matter?"

Re: Management

[lifeistooshort]

The number one rule when it comes to alchemy is simple: every exchange must be equal. Alchemists can't create something out of nothing. They can only manipulate whatever already exists. It puts limitations on what an alchemist can do, but a good one knows how to make the most of what they have.

Matter is not created nor destroyed, merely rearranged.

[trying to pull the heart out of the cavity again. . .]

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

"But there has to be some force of energy for the rearrangement on a molecular level..."

You can.

Re: Management

[lifeistooshort]

[success! inspecting the metal heart as he speaks, trying to see how anatomically correct it is, or whether it looks like it belongs to the manikin outside or not]

That's what the alchemists are for. They're the ones who act as the catalysts for the chemical reactions.

Er, I don't know exactly how that works, unfortunately. You can blame the Personae for stealing my skills.

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

It totally has the same metallic makeup as the manikin outside. Meanwhile, Naoto looks highly distracted.

"A human being acting as a catalyst... there must be some unique property there."

Re: Management

[lifeistooshort]

[hangs onto the heart for now, then]

Some innate talent. If I remembered more, I'd tell you.

[pauses for a moment]

As an alchemist, it would be hypocritical of me to ignore the most basic principle of my discipline. In exchange for finding you a new, better heart, and in exchange for telling you everything I know about alchemy, can I take this?

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

"A new, better heart...?"

She considers this.

Re: Management

[lifeistooshort]

As a fellow scientist, I'd hate to leave your prototype unfinished. Especially after you've worked so hard on it.

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

"I'll accept it on one condition--you leave something of yours here with me, that I can hold onto as insurance to guarantee your return."

Re: Management

[lifeistooshort]

[reaches up and touches the crystal hanging from his neck, before tugging it off]

Here. Nimue gave this to me, for protection. It's important. I don't like going anywhere without it.

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

She takes it.

"Very well. Be back soon."

Re: Management

[lifeistooshort]

You have my word that I will be.

[nods at her, and heads out, back into the hub]

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

What shall you do now?