text; un: eriks

[underbluesky]

I understand that our blood carries power in this place it didn't have before.

Is there a way to know what it does without risking spilling it out in the open?
I'd rather not have any unpleasant surprises.

[. . .]

I only want my blood tested for "magic". Nothing else.
I'm not willing to be strapped into any equipment, either.

Thanks in advance.

Comments

text; un: stanford

[cryptograms]

I may be able to be of some assistance.

Are you just trying to discover what type of blood you have? Or are you interested in learning the subsets of magic your blood in particular may be useful for?

text; un: JustD

[distant_one]

I can identify two of the blood types without blood being spilled. The other three with only a drop.

But what each person gets from their blood seems different.

Text - UN: Onerthes

[onerthes]

I see you've got a couple offers. Both will likely be able to assist. But I can at least narrow it one at present. Those with paleblood have been having some difficulties with their senses.

Have you been experiencing any difficulties with your normal senses?

And I rather understand not wanting to shed blood. Bad things can happen when I do that.

[underbluesky]

Both.

[Less what it's useful for and more what it's capable of, honestly. Vash already knew the destruction he could cause before he apparently had his body changed without his knowledge. He's terrified of how much more of a monster he might turn out to be.]

What are you planning to do?

[cryptograms]

Extracting your blood and observing it directly would be the most straightforward. Most types have distinct colors, or respond in distinct ways when exposed to air. But there's equipment and rituals that can determine your type while it's still inside you as well.

[ Normally Ford would be all about jumping right in to the direct but more reckless side of science, but he's still pretty subdued this month despite the brief joy brought to him by volunteers for blood experimentation. ]

But the only way I know of to learn what it's most useful for is to experiment with it directly.

text; un: lady

[dohaeris]

None of them can do any harm on their own if you only prick your finger.

Coldblood and Vileblood might show in your face if your skin is light. Coldblood looks blue, and Vileblood is a sort of green.

Sometimes when we first arrive our blood is so strong that we do magic by accident. If you have done any I could tell you what kind it is.

1/3

[acidjail]

2/3

[acidjail]

[ Eugh. ]

text | un: woe | private | 3/3

[acidjail]

This is precisely how people end up strapped to equipment.

[underbluesky]

[Equipment is vague, and "ritual" is vaguer still. He weighs the options--he is afraid of what might happen if the blood leaves his body, but he is also afraid of becoming a science experiment. He does not want to die the way Tesla did.

There's no reply for perhaps an uncomfortable period of time.]

If you can extract it safely, I'd prefer that.

[underbluesky]

If you know a safe location, a drop is fine.

The specifics are what I'm most concerned about, though.

[underbluesky]

My senses have been normal, as far as I can tell. So I guess that's one down. Thanks.

What happens when your blood spills, if you don't mind talking about it?

[He would like to know what scale of damage he needs to worry about, these days.]

[onerthes]

Part of the strange power that I possess is that my blood is acidic. When it's spilled, it can do considerable damage before it's expended itself.

Does make me very safe from vampires, however.

[underbluesky]

I haven't done any yet. That's why I would like to know now, before anything happens.

[He's already a weapon of mass destruction, the last thing he needs is to learn that even more of his physiology is dangerous now.]

[distant_one]

Knowing what type you are gives you a place to start looking at least.

[D sends a map with the location he uses for the staging point in Crenshaw.]

[cryptograms]

[ Fortunately (?) Ford is used to people not responding well to being told that blood magic is a thing they just have to deal with in Trench, so the pause doesn't bother him. ]

I can. I regularly take blood draws for my work, so I know how to work with each type.

[ (It does not occur to him that perhaps people also react poorly to being told that he works with blood, like, all the time.) ]

Experimentation may be more complicated, however. Blood that's never been used for a ritual before has some unique and valuable properties. I'd recommend using the first draw to make something useful, then taking another to discover it exact affinities.

[underbluesky]

...It's possible, I know.

[He did spend a month debating whether or not to ask, after all. This is the kind of question that can only be answered by a scientist, and that opens the door to becoming a science experiment. He is aware, and not unafraid. (He is a little touched that she cares to be concerned about it.)

But he is equally afraid of the truth of himself, and he is afraid of being forced to find out the same way he did at Juneora Rock.]

But if I assume that'll happen to me and avoid it, the outcome might be worse than if I took the risk.

[Unfortunately for Mercy's stringent avoidance of Feelings, Vash is definitely the sort of person who would find the death or injury of others to be a worse outcome than anything bad that could happen to him.]

Thank you for the warning, all the same.

[acidjail]

You might as well be dipping yourself in viscera and swimming out in that hideous ocean.

'I only want my blood tested for "magic"' - the very first thing I'd do with it now is look at it for everything else!

[underbluesky]

[For his work...? Vash's breath quickens despite himself, and the Omni shakes slightly in his hand. He waits for it to steady before he starts typing again.]

Are you a doctor?

[Please, please let it be as innocent as that. Doctors are important. It doesn't necessarily mean anything.

The explanation that his blood is more valuable before it's been used for anything makes him vaguely want to be sick, though; it makes him want to hurry up and get it over with so that it's back to whatever the ordinary potency of blood is around here, but he doesn't dare do that without knowing, either. He's not sure he could take destroying another city. It's too much.

At length:]

I don't want to spill it before I know what it does. You can have the first use, if you want, as long as I can leave whenever I choose.

[Weird how he keeps emphasizing that part, huh,,]

[dohaeris]

The safest way is with a little needle. It doesn't even have to be your finger. I suppose you could try biting your lip.

[underbluesky]

[. . . . .]

The people I've met so far have been kind to me.

[Believe it or not, that includes u, Mercy]

I'd prefer not to believe people would go out of their way to ignore my wishes.
Especially since they'd have no way to know if I didn't say anything, right?

[acidjail]

Of course they have been, you credulous baby. No one is going to just tell you they plan to abduct you for sinister ends, are they?

[ Except her. ]

I really don't know why I say anything.

[underbluesky]

[It's not that she's wrong, necessarily. But something about how she says it strikes a strange chord.]

Did someone hurt you like that?

[underbluesky]

[Shit.]

It must be difficult all the same, knowing how dangerous your body could become in an instant.

[He knows how that feels, he doesn't say.]

[acidjail]

No.

Because unlike you, I don't advertise my greatest weaknesses and most interesting biological traits, and I endeavour to be on the other side of sinister ends whenever possible!!