2381/Stage Fermentation

Stage Fermentation
Date of Scene:	04 June 2015
Location:	Danbur <DB>
Synopsis:	Staren, Rory and Lyria literally get their hands full when the Magnum Opus is in sudden peril!
Cast of Characters:	Staren, Lyria Mason, 673, 741
Tinyplot:	The Great Work

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Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    Days have passed without word from the Athanor mansion. There can be many explanations for that though, as Pius had stated that there would be more than enough to do now that the reagents have finally been gathered. There's a body to recreate, which means he and Diane have been busy and have had their hands full.

    Summons are sent out however to those who have assisted them before and expressed an interest in the process that involves alchemy on a high level.

    The rain is pouring down today, yet smoke rises from the chimney of the mansion. The door is unlocked, and any who arrive will be met by Alexa, the homunculus housekeeper who hasn't learned any new words since the last time any Elites were visiting.

    But they are still welcome indeed, and shown to the workshop in the back of the first floor. It is filled to the brim in here today.

    Large tanks create a wall through the room, there's a metallic smell of blood in the air and electricity seems to dance through some nearby jars that are filled with what looks like dark red clumps of meat. Standing by a workbench and working on something is Pius, and he doesn't seem to notice people yet as he is hitting some of the metal ore with a large hammer to crush the material into fine powder.

Staren has posed:
    Rain! Huh. Staren arrives at the front door with a plastic poncho over his clothes, eager nontheless to get inside. Once inside he doffs it. He tries to talk to Alexa, unsure whether she's an automaton or just has a speech problem.

    "Wow..." Staren looks around the workshop, then approaches Pius. Waiting for him to finish his current task before greeting with a cheerful "Hi!"

Rory White (673) has posed:
    Rory ends up skipping most of the trip by beaming down directly to the Athanor manor... or rather, within a hundred feet of the front door or so. From there it's just a short trip on in. This time she's far less bewildered by Alexa, who gets treated to a polite greeting on the way in regardless of her oddities.

    Eventually though she reaches Pius' workshop and seats herself politely on a chair, waiting for him to finish with whatever he's doing while avidly studying everything around with wide-eyed curiosity. "This is how one creates a body without starting from an embryo?"

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason has not heard a thing from Pius in sometime and has come to see what's going on. she's arrived a bit after the rest of the others and follows up Rory for a moment. she stares for a mment not certain what to think of what's going on other than.

"Never seen anything like this."

Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    When Staren speaks up it seems to startle Pius, who jerks his head up and turns to look at the cat boy. "Oh. Hello! Is it the afternoon already?" He could have sworn it was just lunch! But it does appear he has guests. So he turns away from the mess he is making, looking at Rory. "Yes... considering we aren't making a new life, but restoring a lost one, we can't use an embryo for many reasons. Not only is it unethical, but to place somebody in a body unlike the one they died in could possibly be traumatic, no? How would you react if you woke up in a greatly different body tomorrow, Miss White?"

    Though he does smile, looking pleased. These guests will always be welcome here in his mind. "Thank you for coming! As you can perhaps see we are well on the way to making the various components of the body, and today we are going to piece it all together! Though as Miss Mason says, nobody has seen anything like this before. This is all experimental, though the theory is solid, I assure you all of that. Now... where is Diane?"

    He seems to realise something, peering towards the door. How weird. "She hadn't come home yet when you three arrived?" he asks, looking rather worried all of a sudden.

Staren has posed:
    Staren smiles at Pius and listens attentively... but when he asks Rory how she'd like to wake up in a different body he snrrrrks and bursts out laughing. It's /almost/ a mad cackle. "Aheheheh!" After a moment, he'll point out, "That technology I told you about came from an alternate version of /her/ world."

    Once it emerges that Diane is missing, though... "Does she have a radio? Any device which could be used to track her? When did you last see her?"

Rory White (673) has posed:
    Rory blinks upon being asked that. "It happens commonly enough where I'm from that the shock probably wouldn't last more than an hour! ... Probably." This coincides with Staren's laughter, which draws a somewhat sheepish expression from her. "I understand the implications though! ... But this IS the exact circumstance that cloning is for. Regardless.... it's your project, Mr. Athanor. If I can help somehow, just say how!"

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason Says "I see, yes you'd be displacing a new life if you did an embryo wouldn't you? So you need to make a body from scratch with no chance ot it to claim a soul of it's own but be able to take the soul you intend ti put into it? Or am I miss understanding it? She halts for a moment at Rory's comment and just has a what moment as she stares.

"Wait what body swapping?"

Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    There's quite a serious look on Pius's face when Staren laughs and points out that the technology that they discussed a few days ago did originate from Rory's world. "You should understand the point I was making nonetheless!" The alchemist is a serious man most of the time, for sure. "It does not matter if it is a different body, as long as it is familiar enough for the poor essence who had departed its body. Though we will only know for sure once my Magnum Opus is complete," he sighs.

    Pius looks at Staren, then reaches up to scratch as his chin. "Diane does not have a radio. And no, nothing to track her by. She was just stopping by the village to--"

    A loud noise echoes throughout the house; the front door being slammed.

    Hurried footsteps follows, and soon enough Diane is standing in the door leading to the workshop, her cloak still dripping with water. She is clearly out of breath too, her face panicked. "Pius! It..." Her brother steps forward, looking confused at first. "Diane, what is wrong? Didn't they have everything you went to get? Take a breath..." The distraught girl shakes her head however, and she reaches out to grab at his arm. "Mister.... Mister Wyenth is coming!"

    It looks as if all the blood drains from Pius's face, and he turns to Lyra, Rory and Staren. "You! Hurry! We have to get all of these things up to the upstairs workshop. NOW!" And yes. He's pointing at all of the materials around the workshop.

Staren has posed:
    When Pius doesn't appreciate the joke, Staren just nods. "Of course. I just found who you asked that... ironic."

    When there's a mysterious door slam, Staren's hand goes for his laser pistol, but doesn't draw it. And then... it's Diane! "Who's Mister Wyenth? Why does the work have to be interrupted for him?" Still, Staren's looking around. With the telekinesis amulet from before, blue-white tendrils of energy reach out from the amulet and snag anything under 40 pounds or so that he doesn't see anyone else going for -- he'll lead the trail of objects carefully up the stairs, but he does look like he's expecting an answer.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    "Wyenth?!" Sensing the urgency in Pius' voice and seeing what Staren's up to, Rory does the best she can to scoop up and carefully carry what the others don't get to.

    "I'm suspecting this person isn't friendly..."

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason Says "So they don't freak out about thing right? Humm Diane I wonder how she's do...."

She hears the nosise and shw wonders for a moment as the mention of Mister Wyenth is coming. She's not sure about the freak out bit but she gets an idea. She looks to Staren.

"You heard the man start moving this we will get an answer later!"

She's getting to work at this point and she's not even going to argue about this. She'll bother Rory about things later. She's already moving to work now quick and carefully as she can.

Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    For the moment Pius is busy supporting Diane, who is visibly shaking. And he takes the liberty to answer for her. "Wyneth... is one of the village elders," he says with obvious panic in his eyes. "If he sees what we are working on, he will surely report this to the State! And if we don't finish my Magnum Opus in time, we---!" That is all he says. Staren should know all too well what he is talking about as Pius clutches at something hanging from his neck under the safety of his shirt.

    Diane too is incredibly stressed, and she hurries into the workshop to begin carrying some of the smaller jars with her. "This way!" she urges, leading the way up the old stairway, the wood in them creaking from the added weight and urgency in Diane's steps.

    "He is most likely here to check up on a project I am working on for him," Pius says without bothering to hide his displeasure. "Those pesky villagers, bothering us with their petty issues...! When we can make real progress and advance the art of alchemy! AUGH!" He too hurries after Diane, carrying some of the written notes with him. "Be careful with the muscle containers! If you can't get them upstairs, then... then carry them in cloth! But don't allow them to dry out!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren sighs. "Seriously? And this guy gets to be in charge of you? Sheesh... Once you've done this, I'm sure you can set yourself up in the Multiverse, away from troublesome... people who don't get it. I wonder if it'd be simpler to tell him there was, like, a release of dangerous gas down here and you need special gear to clean it up so don't come in..." he sighs again.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    Hoisting things isn't one of Rory's specialties but she decides to take one of the larger and heavier jars. She's got the strength!

    ... Just needs to go a bit slower to make sure she doesn't trip. "... I'm trying!"

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is working as hard as she can, she nods she's not sure about things but well he's been keeping up his end to help the villiage and Pius has been sticking to his ethics on the project such as making a body in a way that it's not at the expense of someone else. Right? So 2ork away she goes. She looks to STaren for a moment.

"Not now, Staren!"

She kepe moving.

Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    "He isn't stupid, Staren!" Pius calls as he hands his paperwork to Diane as she is about to hurry down the stairs again. Both Athanor siblings are clearly distressed. "If I say that, then he will call the State anyway for an inspection, which will be just as worse! Alchemical labs are to be kept secure, lest the entire area gets destroyed!"

    It's one hell of a chaotic mess. The stairs are not all that wide, so it's hard for two people to walk past each other. When said people are carrying items? It's even harder. And as they are about to begin on their third trip upstairs...

    ... a knock comes on the door.

    "Ah, already?! That old bastard has better legs than I remembered...!" Pius cusses, then heads towards the front door. "You four! Carry things as best as you can, or try to hide them! I'll do my best to stall him!" There's still a fair bit of items to bring upstairs at this rate...

Staren has posed:
    Levitating so many objects is an unusually large drain on Staren's mana reserves for noncombat use... but he doesn't have to keep it up for long, since they aren't moving things far. He nods to Pius, "Good luck!" He wonders, maybe if someone /could/ social this, or maybe even convince the elder it's okay, but since noone's volunteering, he doubts it.

    On the bright side, now that he's been to both rooms? His mapping software has precisely mapped the house and is tracking his exact position. With this data, he's able to precisely use his teleporter, picking up a load of supplies and jumping directly to the upstairs room. The teleporter takes several seconds to execute each jump, but still, it's one less person crowding the stairs!

Rory White (673) has posed:
    Rory is tireless but not especially quiet. Carrying huge things on an old wooden floor is probably not doing the effort too many favors, but being able to carry heavy loads at all probably is. She's left stunned at Staren's trickery though! It certainly leaves the stairwell clearer. "I anm very glad this is not where I work. The people seem to not have a very civilized community spirit."

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is moving and having to slow down and she's going to do her best to hide everything she seems oddly skilled. Given her family have a totally legit shipping company. She seems to know what to be doing as she's working for a moment. She looks to Rory for a moment and notes.

"You must not get out much people tend to fight agianst pushing the edge of understanding."

Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    There loud voice of Pius can be heard from the front porch.

    "... of course, Sir! Aaaah, the weather is dreary. You walked here ALL by yourself? Oh my, you must be so tired. Perhaps you should sit down?"

    "Out here, Athanor? You must be out of your mind!"

    Diane scurries around Rory, letting out a sigh of relief once she realises that Staren can use his powers to teleport between the work shops. "Be careful with the eyes there, Lyria!" she cautions Lyria. As Lyra begins carrying some jars up the stairs, the contents inside shift... and two floating eyes almost seem to stare at her from inside the dark liquid. "Rory, keep the jar of lightning together with those bottles! Please, don't drop them!"

Rory White (673) has posed:
    With all the pressure, Rory's face starts turning expressionless. Too much other things to focus on. Only hints of panic show through! Instead she's focused on keeping a grip on far too many jars without dropping any. Thankfully, she IS good at carrying basic things around. It's the stairs that slow her down every time. She's not used to stairs at all!

    "Pushing the boundaries is what the Argonauts are all about." She contests.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason does take care as best she can with the cargo she has given they are the eyes. There's just so much to move. She's also trying to not /look/ back at the eyes. It's creepy but Pius' attuide of doing this without a decent into darkness has been a major factor in why she's been helping. She looks to Rory for a moment seriously and tilts her head.

"There are somethings in this vast world, best left burried but generally pushing understanding is quite good. Even if half my world likes to drag it's heels."

Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    By now most of the items have been brought upstairs, and Diane dumps some of the meaty bits in her skirts, carrying them with her upstairs as quickly as she can. "Aaaah, the fluids are spilling on the floor!" she half wails, biting down on her lower lip.

    And just as she has gotten upstairs, the front door opens, and a rather round and stout man enters through the front door, Pius following closely behind him. "But Wyneth, I told you, it won't be ready until two weeks! These things take time, you know and--"

    "Nonsense, I heard that my neighbor got his mixture yesterday, and I ordered mine before him! I should file a complaint, I really should!" the man grumps, heading off towards the workshop with the alchemist hurrying after, throwing a nervous glance up to the stairs. Are Diane and the others done yet? "Aaah, can I bother you with a cup of tea before we get to business? I could dry off your clothes?" Pius tries to offer, which makes his unwelcome guest turn in his path, glaring up at Pius from under the brim of his wide hat. "Oh, NOW you are suddenly welcoming me? In the years you have been our village alchemist, you have NEVER offered me tea! NEVER!" he admonishes, waving his walking stick at Pius.

    If anybody is in the workshop, they better hurry. NOW.

Staren has posed:
    Staren looks up towards the door to the workshop. He tucks the thing he's carrying in the crook of his arm and pulls his staff from his bag. "Alright, I can take a couple extras! Get in close, we need to touch!" He activates the staff, and then teleports one last time from the workshop to the upstairs room.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    Rory's only just gotten back down into the workshop when Staren appears. EASILY hearing the commotion above and glancing around, she makes a rather consternated face. "This would have worked out far better had... well... no.... it wouldn't."

    She really has no choice here! An apologetic look's given to Diane, but she grabs everything left she can and huddles up against Staren! "Please don't break anything!"

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason has managed to get up there. She will help clean up but for now she need to do for a moment. She's thankfully got her last load out of the work shop. She can hear the man being well a jerk. His town gets what it wants finally and he's still being put off some people are never happy about things. She was lucky to be not heading back down like Staren and Rory.

Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    Even as Wyneth is getting up in Pius's face, Diane is caaaaaaarefully sneaking down the stairs. Please wooden boards, don't betray her here! She is light on her feet when she needs to, and she gets back into the workshop, whispering to the others. "Wh-what are you doing?" she asks, but she does grab onto one of the larger tanks, gritting her teeth at the sheer weight of it! But she does head up close to Staren, hoping that whatever he is about to do will work!

    The footsteps of Wyneth come closer...

    "Why, I even ought to pay you less for your services when you're being so unreasonable, Athanor!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren and the staff begin to glow, a glow which spreads over the others as they touch him... energy charges for a few seconds, and then in a flash of light, they're upstairs! It's a pretty reliable teleporter at this point.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    "Hopefully taking a short--" Rory's probably not going to finish that in time! Because GLOW!

    ... "...Cut... that worked!"

Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    When Wyneth actually enters the workshop, Pius looks momentarily stunned, just looking at the room that was filled with so many jars, boxes, vials and bottles of materials just a minute ago. They... they did it?

    "So where do you have that potion of mine, Athanor?"

    "Oh!" Pius snaps out of his surprise, then heads over to the cabinets where several bottles are stored. "Here... though I can't promise it is fully rested yet, I would wait until tomorrow if I were you," he cautions the shorter man.

    "Nonsense, I will be fine! I've had this one before, right?" Wyneth does seem rather irritated, but now that he has his potion, he does glance about the workshop. Suddenly his eyes glance to the spot where Diane had rushed off with the flesh pieces...

    "You really ought to drag less rain in during weather like this," he huffs and heads out towards the exit door.

    Upstairs in the attic Diane lets out a startled gasp as they materialise with the last of the materials and reagents, and she looks around. "We... did it!" she exclaims in surprise, then rushes forward and /hugs/ the other three, laughing! "We did it!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren sets his last item down, then the staff collapses and he stuffs it back in his bag. "Sheesh. What a senseless tragedy it would have been to be this close and then lose his sister because of some closedminded fool. I suppose if they don't accept it even after she's restored, he'll be able to find a more understanding community somewhere in the Multiverse..."

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is just doing her thing at htis point and tyring to not look so imporant at this point. She's away she's out of the blast zone at this point. She is listening for a moment the very surly guiest for a moment. She looks to Staren for a moment she goes to open her mouth and then halts.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    Being suddenly hugged while holding thigns is a surprise! Rory's quite surprised, but ends up smiling... and taking the first available moment to set things down. RELIEF finally shows and her expressions return somewhat. "very frustrating, this situation. Having to hide a project seems... so.. silly!"

Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    Staren's words do make Diane swallow nervously. "Yeah... we're so close! In just one week we..." Her voice cracks slightly, and she looks at the various jars, heaps of materials and vials.

    Can you really make a human body out of all these things?

    After a minute or so Pius rushes up the stairs, then lets out a sigh of relief. "You actually did it! Oh, thank the powers that be! You saved my Magnum Opus! And our sister!" he declares, biting his lower lip as he clutches his hands in front of him. Then he too dives forward and seeks to hug them all, one by one!

    Then he takes a deep breath. "We might as well finish all of this up here, as I would hate to put further stress on the materials by carrying them down again!" It's probably better for their backs too. "Now come on, I will show you how to put these parts all together. Rory, you will test the mineral with the essence of lightning! Staren, you will heat up and use the dragon blood to connect the muscles to the skeleton that Lyria will help me construct. Diane, you will oversee the whole process, I am counting on you! And last... we must create the brain and housing for the essence. THAT is where the reagents come in," he explains. "It will take all night... but by dawn, we will be done."

    Everybody present better like coffee.

Staren has posed:
    Staren nods to Diane. Pius gets a pat on the back at the sudden hug. He nods assent at the suggestion that they finish here. "I'd like to document the whole process, if you don't mind." Tiny, insect-size surveillance drones fly out of his bag and find out-of-the-way spots in the room to record from. "Hmmm... yes. Building a meat machine is closest to my specialty, I suppose... though I do wonder how you make that brain..." He takes a moment to pull on his goggles, button up his labcoat, and put on proper gloves. He looks a bit more the mad scientist part, now.