Scene #1776: We're Idiots Doing Dumb Things

Owner	Pose
Guest Psyber	Who's ready for some ill-advised experimentation!? On top of a deserted parking garage that is Someone Else's Problem, Psyber has agreed to meet Mordred for what can, in its most basic definition, be called 'Plan: Let's Swing a Shajem-Killing Sword At Mordred'. Sovereign is here, sheathed, but looking better than it did before. The scabbard looks a bit less worn, the hilt looks downright usable. The blade is not drawn, mostly because it's best for the incredibly reckless science if we wait till later. And, in fairness to Mordred for volunteering, Psyber also has a bag with a Bacon Cheeseburger and some Onion Rings in it.
Mordred	Mordred does not arrive by foot but rather just appears, forming out of wisps of red and blue mana on the roof across from Psyber. It seems that, smartly enough, she is in her armor, sans helmet, arms crossed. No sword out, and no Abstractum, because THAT would get violent regardless of outcome. The offering of cheeseburger (well, food in general) will more than make up for this. She's unconcerned with the information it'll yield as anything but a fun aside and distraction, but it might be useful to Elliana, so, you know. "Man that sword looks like shit. I mean it's not THAT bad but that doesn't look like a super-powerful god-killing sword, you know?"
Guest Psyber	"It was buried in a pile of rocks for a couple centuries, most swords would look like shit after that. It's why so many swords from your era didn't survive to the modern age: Dumbasses kept putting them in lakes and idiotic places and they turned to shit." Psyber says off-handedly, keeping the weapon in his hands, "On Sunday, though, it was able to cut the entire leg off of the mountain turtle despite looking way worse." "So you're pissed off at Lute, by the way? Is it for the same thing Bedivere is?" Psyber asks. He MIGHT be trying to wake up the Shajem just a little bit before he gets started. Further evidenced by him saying, "In my idiotic opinion, and it's just that, ignorance... I feel like Arturia could do way worse than Bedivere. At least you'll know he's not going to ever..." Psyber pauses, thinking of a good word to use, "... deceive your father. Arturia deserves a measure of happiness." "I'll draw the sword when you're ready, by the way," Psyber notes, shifting his stance and gripping the hilt. He still hasn't learned how to draw out its power yet, but hey, he'll wing it.
Mordred	"Well maybe if dumbass fairies and gods stopped hanging out in lakes people would stop throwing swords into 'em figuring it's going to do jack shit," Mordred comments, adding: "There's some video game where if you throw shit in a pond some water thing offers you fucking axes, I don't know where they got the idea if you throw something in the water it does anything except rust." She huffs at the mention of Lute, spitting ungracefully to the side. "Asshole humiliated my father. That's MY privilege, if anyone's at all. If Bedivere doesn't murder him first, I fucking will. And fuck you, don't you start with that too, I didn't buy it from Lute and I'm not buying it from you. No way would father lower himself to that." Oh boy. Mordred puts the RAGE to good use and allows the LORD OF RAGE to come to the surface. Not all the way out, but she's likely already giving off the aura and heat. She also puts goggles on. Because safety first. "Let's find out how it feels about your sword instead of talkin' 'bout that shit."
Guest Psyber	"Hey, fine," Psyber says, putting up a hand defensively, "Just remember one thing: You wanna talk about your problems, I'm here for you. No harm, no foul, no judge." Psyber notes, not saying anything else about Saber's dating life or Mordred's problem with Lute. He has enough on his plate without diving into THAT. "Here we go." Psyber slowly draws the sword out. Despite the beaten exterior, when drawn, it looks like the sword is in usable condition. Not flawless, but he's only had the chance to repair it once with just a little bit of energy. He's unsure how the Shajem will react to it just being drawn. "You feel anything?"
Duet Fortuna	Just drawing the weapon has minor effects for both. Sovereign flares to life, but much less dramatically this time. Now that Psyber's had a chance to use it, the blade can be felt 'attaching' to his hand, as if searching for something. It isn't doing anything special beyond glowing a gentle blue, though. The Lord of Rage's reaction is anger, predictably, but it notably has a burst of greater than normal anger. Nothing Mordred can't keep under wraps if she wants.
Mordred	The sight of Sovereign activating would surely be something, if Mordred did not have to fight back Anger McDragonPants. She'll find him a better name eventually, yes, but that's aside the point. "Fucker is angry as hell. More than usual. Doesn't seem to be afraid. Might not be able to even feel fear for all I know, but... ngh." Mordred attempts to breathe more slowly, but she might just let the damn thing out if it won't stop squirming like that. She does not produce her sword, still, but the heat and aura of rage is starting to build up. "Let's get this over with so I can stuff it back in its box ASAP. Threaten me and make that shit EXTRA convincing. I have access to its magic reserves so as long as you don't mortally wound me I'll be fine." Battle Continuation does help with that.
Guest Psyber	Like Psyber said earlier, he actually doesn't take enjoyment from the idea of hurting Mordred. A punchclock hero by nature, and arguably a 'Genuinely nice guy', Psyber frowns a bit when Mordred tells him to come at her. He's still getting used to just wielding the sword. Him being chosen was nice, in concept, but with the implications of having the sword he couldn't fully be comfortable using it. After all, what if it was still alive in there? "Here we go," Psyber notes. And then he steps in towards Mordred, going against better instinct and moving info that aura of heat and rage. He Swingst he sword in an upward motion, aiming to bring it towards her shoulder and try to sever the arm with an upward swing.
Duet Fortuna	Again, Sovereign bursts into a brighter light. This isn't nearly as intense as the time against the Behemoth... largely because it's starting to adapt to Psyber. All it really means is that the blade briefly appears gloriously intact and fine, with a shimmering blue aura that trails feathers of energy behind it. The Lord of Rage's reaction is... much, much more intense. That anger burns even more intensely, like a roaring volcano, yet at the same time it seems to /retreat/ within the seal of Mordred's body. It can't exactly be called fear, it's too raw and alien to the being for that. An instinctive withdrawal, would be the best description. Surprisingly one emotion /does/ come to the fore, much more intact. An intense, violent /revulsion/ from the Shajem.
Mordred	What Mordred expected was for the Lord of Rage to surge out. To take over and to defend itself. That would have been the easy way out, but the obvious one. When the Shajem becomes ANGRY, she readies herself for hijacking-- that does not happen at all. The Shajem instead withdraws behind the safety of the seal? Mordred's instincts take over, and Clarent flares into existence, the fairy-forged silver blade clashing with Sovereign and preventing it from reaching her shoulder at all, in a brief burst of absurd speed. The heat and rage dies down, and Mordred frowns. "It's DISGUSTED. It's ANGRY, and DISGUSTED, and actually withdrawing into the god damn seal. PSYBER YOU MADE MY FUCKING RAGE GOD COWER BACK INTO ME," she barks, not quite angry so much as venting the leftovers out aggressively. She pushes back into Psyber's sword, but not to harm, just to send the half-angel back a few feet and reset positions. "What the fuck ever."
Guest Psyber	Psyber's blade isn't enough to bypass Clarent, more likely than not. It feels a bit more natural in his hand to wield, a bit more easily carried. But he can't use it at full power yet, and he can tell that. He doesn't even try to resist Mordred's parry and push. Instead, as he is pushed back, he scowls a bit and immediately sheaths the weapon, "Puzzling. Upsetting." It doesn't seem like Mordred's rage bothers him. To Psyber, it's equivalent to her just casually greeting him. Like a big, prickly hug with words, sort of. "This is a troubling development. I will need to research this a great deal. If Himei is correct, I would like to save it if possible. If it cannot be saved, I don't know what to do, but I would need to heavily think about using this blade." He looks to Mordred and says, "I'm sorry for upsetting your Shajem."
Mordred	Huff. Mordred finally calms down, and shrugs it off. "Bastard's always angry, what are you gonna do? Took me by surprise, that's all. I expected the opposite to happen." Though, this way, nobody had to have their arm cut off for science. She takes the goggles off, Clarent disappearing along with her armor. She IS wearing the coat you got her, see? With jeans and a white tank top, which she feels pretty comfortable in. And not girly. "Okay, so, your sword disgusts my Shajem and Wrathborn pisses his pants at the sight. Starting to think it MIGHT be made of babies. Or kittens. Not sure I'd call Shajem people, more like beasts. So these're cubs, at best." Very debatable, though. And irrelevant to the concept. Mordred moves towards Psyber's FOOD, helping herself to the onion rings right away. "Okay so what's the next step, we slam that shit in a scanner and it pings twice if there's babies in it and once if there isn't?"
Guest Psyber	"Something like that, yeah, I imagine," Psyber says seriously, "Scan some Shajem energy, scan a Shajem, scan the sword." Psyber notes, gripping the sheathed weapon in his hand. He does smile when he spots her wearing the jacket. At least know he knows she liked it, "Well, So Rage and Nightmares both fear something. That's a pretty sound vote in the realm of it being at least a little fucked up." Psyber looks at the sheathed weapons. "The questions that I think are worth answering from here are: If it IS an unborn Amethyne or Shajem, can it be awoken if I give the sword enough energy? Or is it basically dead now? And was this the cause of the Shajem hyper-aggression? And personally, if it can't be saved, I wanna see what this sword can do." He tilts his head a bit and doesn't stop Mordred from going after food. That is all hers, "I think we can, at the least, agree that every time we think Terra Majora can't get more fucked up, it lowers the bar."
Mordred	"Sounds too easy," Mordred replies to the idea of just scanning it. It really does sound too convenient if you can just do that, but then they just did science by swinging a sword, so... Chomping on food, the Servant shrugs at the further guesses, unsure herself. But she does have more bad ideas. "Here, let's try something different. Hand me the sword, let's see if it gets grumpy at me or not. And no, I'm not going to try to corrupt it. I'm not even sure my Shajem can do that, honestly." It'll be an idle check, to see if it reacts to being in her hand or not. She'll hand it back afterwards if it doesn't, no big. "But yeah, shit be fucked. Who knows, maybe you can turn the sword into somethin' again, but that's like saying, here's a tiny crushed corpse, turn it into people again."
Guest Psyber	"If nothing else, and if it can't be saved, I have an ultimate plan for it. But I can't reveal that quite yet," Psyber says to Mordred, "Not out of wanting to keep you in the dark, but it's dumb and you'll make fun of me for it." Psyber notes, making sure Mordred realizes that he's not obfuscating truths. And then he shifts his grip on the sheathed weapon, turning it around in his grip so the handle is facing towards Mordred as he walks towards her. He trusts her, but he's ready to grab back the sword in case Shit Goes Very Wrong.
Duet Fortuna	No, the sword doesn't get corrupted. That was a very special case. Mordred touching it does cause a throb of a burn to rush through her hand, but it's brief before the sword seems to acclimate somewhat. The bright aura fades to a dull glow instead, subdued. A roiling twinge of anger is deep within the Servant hints that the Shajem is pretty... disturbed. There's no real direction to it, though, since they aren't sapient.
Mordred	It'll take more than a bit of burning to make Mordred lose grasp on a blade, or she'd never be able to swing Clarent around seriously. Still, her discomfort is obvious, and after a moment she just hands the thing back to Psyber without resistance. "Burns a bit. Makes the Shajem... man, I don't know. How do you describe the emotions of someone stuffed inside you? Disturbed, I guess? Uncomfortable? It's angry, too. Mostly angry. Definitely somethin' going on with this thing. Maybe I should try master if I can hold Backbiter for a bit, see if it does the same or if Wrathborn fucked it beyond recognition." Come to think of it... "Didja think to ask what he thought about Backbiter when he first settled into her? Might be worth shaking the answer outta him. And eh, whatever, keep your plan then. I probably wouldn't laugh 'cuz I'm pretty sure what we just did right now is dumb in the first place."
Guest Psyber	"I don't know his feelings when he first settled into the body, actually," Psyber agrees with Mordred, taking back the sword and then settling it at his side. He places a hand atop it as a casual gesture. Mordred would understand the natural swordsman stance behind it. "I know that, even corrupted as it is now, he dislikes the presence of the weapon. He told me as such. I think, if nothing else helps, going into his dreams once more could be helpful." Psyber muses the point over and then looks to Mordred. Shifting gears, he holds out his hand to her, "Are you going to be okay with all your own personal problems? Do you need me to get out the boxing gear for you and book the ring on Thursday?"
Mordred	"Ugh. Some boxing could be good. Might stop me from beheading an ally and the ensuing paperwork," Mordred complains. She's angry, sure, but not quite so much as to kill Lute and want to deal with the fallout. He's an idiot, it's not entirely his fault he says dumb shit without realizing it. "And yeah maybe. I'd sooner nobody go trample in her head again, no offense. Try askin' 'em, but if he won't give the answer I guess we can go temple-delving again. Shouldn't take too long and it oughta be risk-free." Back to the food, for now. Science sure is exhausting. "Guess you should tell Hall or somethin' 'bout this."