6988/Data-Driven Solutions

Data-Driven Solutions
Date of Scene:	15 January 2020
Location:	The System
Synopsis:	Lezard meets with Theurgus about Mikoto Shimizu. Plans are made.
Cast of Characters:	1103, Lezard Valeth

---

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    Diamond, Locus, City of Magic. The source of many innovations both magical and mundane. A place where Science meets Magic, and all the explosions that entails.

    An LDF member greets Lezard at the entry platform, and guides him to a shuttle-airship which ferries him as high on the great central tower as it can go. "Just take the elevator across from the platform to the top. Lady Diamond Soul is expecting you."

    The LDF member then turns the shuttle away and scoots off into the gathering gloam as the day/night cycle begins to flip.

    The elevator ride is rather swift, and opens to an engineer's mess of a workship and lab space. The DCC is standing with hands clasped behind her back, eyes shadowed by the brim of her pointed hat. "Welcome to Locus... we have things to dicuss."

Lezard Valeth has posed:
    Lezard is always interested in the workings of his fellow mages, especially those with exotic abilities and environments. The City of Magic is absolutely one of those places. The Sorceror of Midgard holds something of an academic interest in the location as he passes through, the man almost sanguine as he follows the guide to the airship, to the tower. He nods to the LDF member. "Thank you. Good work." He says, praising them as he follows the directions.

    As he arrives, stepping out of the elevator with a dramatic flare of his cape, he gives a florid bow to Theurgus. "Greetings, Lady Diamond Soul." He says, using the formal title. "It is a pleasure to meet you in your wonderful city." He straightens, smiling pleasantly. There's not a hint of the usual ominous /villain/ behavior that he makes use of constantly elsewhere. He seems to be wanting to be on his best behavior... As best as it can be, anyway. "You have been seeking me for some time. I apologize for the delay. Please, do tell me how I can be of assistance."

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    Theurgus lifts the brim of her hat, and smiles warmly. She then speaks two words. "Mikoto Shimuzu." Spoken as if that's all the explanation required. The Mad Magician turns to one of the workbenches and plucks a shimmering crystal from an examination dias, the field suspending it shutting off a moment later.

    "I heard you were working on assisting her with the threat her own powers pose. I offered her my own assistance, and training in the use of Magicks. She suggested I reach out to you." she says eventually, turning back to the Sorceror while the crystal floats above her palm.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
    Lezard's expression immediately lights up in recognition at the name. "Aha, so you have taken an interest in her... condition as well, then? Wonderful." His eyes follow the movement of the crystal and he tilts an eyebrow curiously, but says nothing immediately about it.

    "Indeed, I have been working to research her condition and that of the related entities known as 'Witches'. Her situation is... complex." He sighs. "It is deeply ingrained into her spiritual composition. But you undoubtedly have questions about it. Is there anything in specific that interests you, or any specific point that you would like to begin with?" He glances over at the crystal once more. "I am guessing the artifact you hold will feature in your proposed treatment plans."

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    "You are as astute as your reputation suggests." remarks Theurgus, "It does... however without properly understanding the situation, any suggestions I have would likely be either a temporary patch, or even a detriment." the DCC approaches, making a quick gesture with the hand holding the crystal. The item vanishes in a flicker of code fragments, and is replaced by a book. It's a volume on Geomantic magic, onmyouji rites and magicks. "I realize it is of a spiritual nature, so I endevoured to recover a tome missing from my collection on magicks relating to that field." It is, indeed, the same book she took from the library that she and Tamamo raided several weeks prior. "Tell me, what do you know of the nature of her situation, and her relation to the Witch phenomenon."

Lezard Valeth has posed:
    Lezard chuckles for a moment, enjoying the praise quote obviously. Still, he flicks a hand, reaching into a ripple in space, a little tuck and fold that hides something near him. He withdraws... A book without title. With another flick of the hand, it opens, and dozens of pages flick up, pulling out of the book to hang nearby. Each is covered in writing and complicated diagrams. "These pages hold my detailed research on the state of Mikoto's soul and the nature of her affliction, as well as the results of the initial experiment. Feel free to copy them for your archives."

    He turns and looks to the book of Geomancy, and smiles. He doesn't seem to indicate whether it might help or not. Instead, he turns, stepping around Diamond Soul and indicating various pages as he speaks, as if he was giving a lecture. "Mikoto's magic is heavily influenced by the nature of her soul. A receptacle of emotional force and will, her Soul Gem is the container and visible representation of her state. As she expends the energy of her spirit, parts of her soul undergo an entropic reaction that begins to infect her. Miss Rook likened it to a 'fuel rod' and from my knowledge of the reaction, it is apt."

    He turns, pointing to another page. "I have found that harvesting the 'higher' emotional energy from a person and transferring it to Mikoto will forestall the process, but there is only so much 'room' in a soul. The negative energy must go somewhere. The debts must be paid. Even I cannot contravene that law."

    He pauses, and smiles, adjusting his glasses as they gleam ominously. "I simply find ways to make the best deals." He then goes back to the pages. "The donors, regardless, lack the will or capacity to deal with the accumulated entropic force and quickly succumb. Their psyche collapses in on itself and they transform into the Witch-entity."

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    Theurgus lets her own book float beside her, and she opens a holographic screen which begins to emit a 'scan beam', copying the contents of the pages provided into a locally entangled form. "So it isn't a case of running out of processor runtime, it's a buildup of waste processes that must be purged." the DCC likening it to a local problem. "The gem needs some way of releasing the negative energy to restore balance. I take it there is a local, yet inefficient way of doing so... It seems doubtful that any system requiring such would not have a built in method."

Lezard Valeth has posed:
    Theurgus finds that the information is very, very thorough, albeit recorded from the understanding of an alchemist and necromancer. There is an utter lack of moral or ethical boundaries, apparently, the only restraining concern being the well being of Mikoto herself. The others, well... Not so much.

    But he does nod. "That seems accurate." He says to Theurgus. "If there was an efficient way to provide her with more... runtime, as it were, it would make the problem less immediate, but with her reaction to the prior experiment I have not taken to propose attempting to graft additional full souls into her." A pause. "She might find the experience disturbing."

    He turns to the book and flips a bit more, more pages appearing. This time, there is a diagram of Witch's Grief Seed. "These containers seem semi-analogous to the Soul Gem Mikoto uses. They are, however, entirely powered by the entropic energy that Mikoto generates, allowing them to effectively 'break the rules' of their magic, as it were. Destroying a Witch, however, allows Mikoto to drain off the energy into the Witch receptacle, purifying Mikoto's Gem. Traditionally, then the Grief Seed is handed over to the entity that she pacted with."

    Lezard shrugs at this. "It is efficient... But mostly beneficial for the pactbeast." He shrugs. "Finding an alternative would be extremely useful, but I lack the ability to experiment to find such... At the moment, at least."

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    "Do we have an example of this. 'Grief Seed'?" asks Theurgus as her holoscreen continues to copy and collate information. She doesn't seem to mind the lack of empathy, or indeed doesn't even register it. One of her comrades in the Concord is in danger. All other concerns are secondary at best. "I have experience with creating energy containing items, as you are aware." she summons the gem once more. "Resource Crystals contain a large amount of System Resource for use outside of The System proper... Containing this 'entropic' energy may be within my power to achieve. What we then do with these 'artificial Grief Seeds' is open for debate. My priority is protecting our comrade."

Lezard Valeth has posed:
    "I concur. Mikoto's protection would be paramount. Even if she finds the process..." A pause. "Distasteful." He shrugs at that. "Regardless, I do not have an example of a Grief Seed. The one I had created with my expriments ended up being acquired by Lilian Rook. She is ever keen to take advantage of an opportunity." Lezard sighs. "I would be most interested to see if you can succeed in such a thing. However, we would need to acquire a sample to base your reseach on." He taps a chin. "Mikoto is seeking out Witches again. Mayhaps we can have her donate her next claim to us for research purposes? Else..." A small smile. "We could always attempt to manufacture a Witch if one does not appear..."

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    "That will be our Plan B." stresses Theurgus, in regard to 'manufacturing' a Grief Seed. "If the reports from Mikoto's world are to be believed, Witches are a regular, relatively common and existentialthret. We can likely wait for one to appear and appeal to Mikoto to provide the Seed for our research." The Mad Magician does seem to have some qualms about needlessly causing harm, but she's not against the idea.

    "Another way we could approach this is to bypass her Soul Gem entirely, provide her with a whole-cloth power-set which does not require her to expend her own internal power supply... that is what I was going to suggest with the Resource Crystal."

Lezard Valeth has posed:
"Very well." Lezard nods. Plan A is less disruptive anyway, and there's no need to rock the boat further at this point. Especially since there's a number of other boats being rocked by the Sorceror at the moment.

    The Necromancey shakes his head at the proposal to use a new power source. "Her soul is changed on a fundamental level. I am not sure if she is capable of drawing on other power sources anymore. It would be dangerous for me to attempt to undo the changes..." He taps his chin. "Still, One supposed /attempting/ would not hurt. But for now, teaching her efficient use of her resources is the main path of improvement at this point. I expect a land like this, with such a focus on innovation amidst having to maintain your own semi-limited resources, would possibly be able to show her some useful techniques."

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    "Indeed, however I would like to have a way of restoring spent resources before attempting any kind of training. It would be catastrophic should she need to defend herself and be low or spent of resources." replies the Magician, tapping her chin. "I shall leave acquisition of a Grief Seed to your care. You are in a far better position than I. Meanwhile I shall begin designing a storage medium to contain this 'Entropic Energy', so a device can be constructed afterwards to act as the absorption point once a Seed is available to reverse engineer."

Lezard Valeth has posed:
There is another laugh. "Ah, I get the field work. Very well. I have been wanting to leave my laboratory behind of late regardless." Lezard doesn't seem put out at that, at least. "I will work with Mikoto to acquire a Seed and deliver it to you. Be cautious, however. My experiences with this force shows that it does not... /appreciate/ being isolated. It will attempt to bond to whatever positive forces it can. It would be very... regrettable, were it to break free and begin contaminating the Resource of this land. Use the utmost precautions."

    He looks out over the lab. "But I will say this. The aesthetics of this place are quite fascinating. I do not think I would ever get tired of watching the flow of the energy." He chuckles for a moment. "Is there anything else you would like to discuss?"

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    "Of course. I will set aside an isolated sub-partition to contain it. I did much the same with the Elemental Plates from Kord's world once we acquired them." replies Theurgus. "We are quite adept at containing such things. They are little differnt to the Viruses we must combat... though caution will of course be the watchword. Only myself shall be allowed access to the containment site, lest a leser Program fall victim to the corruptive influence."

    Theurgus turns away, and walks through a rather large amalgamation of seemingly 'junk'. It parts around her like water, leaving only the spot she's standing in uncovered by its mass. "I have heard you took an interest in a crystal tower on Eorzea." she says carefully, turning back to look over her shoulder. "What do you plan, should you secure control of it?"

Lezard Valeth has posed:
    "You are as wise as I hoped." Lezard says approvingly. "Then I can rest easy and look forward to your success."

    He turns, his eyes following Theurgus intop the pile of Stuff. "The Crystal Tower? Yes, I had taken possession... somewhat... of the location. I plan to make use of the location and use it as a research envirionment into the magitechnology of Allag. Why do you ask?"

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    Theurgus strikes a pose, covering her face with her hand, spreading fingers so only one eye is visible. "I would ask to join you in that research. Magitechnology is, as evidenced by my workshop, a pet hobby of mine, and the base upon which my Drive's defense forces are built." she sweeps her other arm, to encompasse the 'junk' pile she's stood in.

    Doing so causes it to 'assemble' rapidly into a quartet of disjointed, but aggressive looking constructs. "Learning of new ways to utilize such would be highly beneficial."

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard chuckles at that, the dramatic pose matched by another dramatic flare of his cape. "Very well. You may join me in our research. However, I think we will have... Even /greater/ feats of magitechnology to investigate."

    He leans in, his glasses gleaming. "How would you like to research the prison of a god?"

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    Theurgus chuckles. It's slightly unhinged... she /is/ Mad, after all. "A prison that can hold a deity would be intriguing, of course. Yes. Let us do this, together."

    Then she begins to cackle. KUKUKUKUKU WAHAHAHAHAHA.