un: trienemybest; video

[droptheious]

[The video feed opens in Varian's creepy basement lab where health and safety regulations go to die. The boy himself isn't looking that great, his skin has a grey-ish tinge to it and he looks more exhausted than usual. But that's fine, he's fine. He turns the camera around to take in some sapphires on his workbench. Some are soaking in various chemical substances, some are under a microscope, some are in various steampunk-y machines: it's clear some testing has been going on. ]

So, Flynn was kind enough to give me some of the crystals that grew on his corpse during...whatever weird new thing death is here. [He doesn't sound as excited about this as his usual projects and anyone who knows about his deeply unfortunate past will know why.] I have experience in creepy, magical death rocks -no...no I'm not going to elaborate on that- so I decided to study them. They seem to be crystalising the actual cells of the body- so not just a separate coating. I also found traces of warmblood within the crystals themselves, which I think is what Flynn is? A-anyway, it seems they're working on a cellular level, like they're what jumpstarts the reversal of the cell degeneration after death- so- so it's possible they're what reverses then entire process.

Anyway, moral of the story is, they're probably super important in resurrecting people so maybe don't mess with the process when it's happening? Of course, without having any other samples to compare this to, it's all conjecture right now.

[A beat, he turns the camera back to himself, grimacing.]

Sorry, I forgot who I was talking to. Please don't take that as encouragement to get yourselves killed in the name of science.

[Another beat, then he waves a hand airily.]

Thaaaaaat said, this is October, so statistically, there's a high chance that a not-insignificant portion of the population will be dead by the end of the month. So...if you wanna donate your death crystals for science then, that would be less...morally grey. Probably? Probably.

Comments

[zib]

I take it that you're not a fan of that kind of thing... then again, I guess I could see that: I'm not really enthusiastic about something if there isn't some kind of explanation that can be found for it either.

[droptheious]

YES! Exactly! [Oh, Zib, you're his favourite.] Magic is just... unpredictable. I've tried to study it, but it doesn't follow any natural laws and it drives me crazy.

[zib]

Like, don't get me wrong, magic can be really cool, and sometimes I think I can see an explanation for it, like... incantations could be arguably seen in the same way a voice-activated device operates, depending on how you look at them. But then there's stuff that people explain away as "just because" without even attempting to try understanding it and it's very annoying.

[There's a pause, before he does however relent--]

That said, there are a few times when science probably sounds similar when attempting to explain it to other people. Or, god forbid, any time Zim would open his mouth to explain how he managed to do half the things he does.

[Like... somehow turning a person into baloney??]

[droptheious]

...I guess you have a point. That would explain the incantations back home. After all, they seemed to connect to the people who possessed their power?

[He lets out a low groan.]

Trust me, I got that too. Trying to explain science to a farming village is the worst. For most of my life, the villagers back home just assumed I was a wizard and that was that.

[zib]

I didn't live in a farming village, but the town I lived in was... well, I don't want to call everyone stupid, but... this was the same town who took one look at a green alien that screams loudly about world domination as "just some weird kid with a skin condition", which made attempting to expose proof that he was an alien ridiculously difficult. Regardless of how "scientific" my sources were, since even my Dad couldn't see through such a cheap disguise either for some reason.

[droptheious]

[...Okay that's a whole special level of denial. Not even Corona was ever that bad, and they were good at ignoring stupid things. Like the whole black rock situation.]

That really awful, I'm sorry to hear it, that must have been really frustrating. I think I would have snapped ages ago dealing with that.

[zib]

Yeah... it wasn't great.

[This is the part where Zib remembers he is on screen right now and... has to restrain the urge to just fucking LAUGH at that statement, and instead try to keep a flat expression.]

But it was still my planet, so I still try to deal with keeping it safe, even if it is just me that cares enough about it like this.

[droptheious]

[Great restraint there, kiddo.]

Well. That's uh- that's pretty selfless of you? Trying to protect people from...well, essentially themselves isn't easy.

[zib]

[Don't get used to it, he will have less restraint the longer he is here.]

Well yeah, I mean... it's the right thing to do, isn't it? Protecting the Earth and being a hero? Or at least that's what I think.

[droptheious]

Pretty much! I mean, you definitely don't want to do the opposite of that. But it can be exhausting too.

[zib]

Oh yeah, it is exhausting, don't get me wrong on that.

But it'll be worth it in the end.

[It has to be, because otherwise... otherwise, thinking that everything he is doing is pointless is not a desirable train of thought.]

[droptheious]

Well... I really hope it works out for you, Bud.

[He hasn't really got the heart to tell Zib that so long as he's here, the likelihood of him doing anything to protect his world again is pretty damn slim. ]