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

video | un: sharpshooter

[azurestar]

[Since October started, he's had a nonstop headache, so Lance looks pretty haggard himself and isn't even fully looking at the screen as he rubs at his forehead.]

Sure thing. If I die you get a piece of my crystal, I'll put it in my will and everything… but hey, you think they're worth anything?

voice | un: givemeyourown

[unsheathedfromreality]

[Oh, this is interesting. The scientific aspects of it are well out of Illarion's ambit, but when it comes to death...]

Forgive me if I am misunderstanding the ways of death here, but does anything worse come of it than the dying itself? [Dying is awful; he would know.] That is--these crystals and your fine research on them aside--do those who die come back changed?

[imaglyphwitch]

[Ok, good grief, where to start, where, with all of this.

She wants to concentrate on that dump of super cheerfulness she just heard. The whole idea was enough to have her screaming into the night, or at least to go back to the tree and think about what all of that means. The ramifications of...of the idea that you could now actually stop the reforming process if you felt inclined was horrifying and Luz was really glad that sleep was working again. Usagi's Kirugimi was going to be fantastic for killing any nightmare fuel that would offer.

BUT ALL OF THAT is coming second to Varian looking the way he did, and she felt it necessary to put that first].

VARIAN. How much sleep have you been getting? It October, you don't have an excuse now.

[droptheious]

I'm gonna hold you to that. Given your track record back in Deerington, you'd be a safe bet.

...

No offence. [Probably. ] You don't look so hot, Bud.

text; un: doublehedgedsword

[laminae]

[Fern is a little less concerned with what the weird crystals do and a little more concerned with Varian doing so much work on them given, you know, the whole amber trauma. And the whole moonrock trauma.

Maybe he should just keep Varian away from anything geology for like six months, because he isn't looking so good.]

cool now that you're done informing everyone of this super important info you can take a break

text; un: lowell

[vibing]

the parts under the crystals weren't as rotten
this tracks

squid ink crystals
thats what was left
made a huge mess
little squid was in the middle of all that ink

i dont know if death was reversed
more like starting something new

[ varian needed this, right? ]

thanks for looking into it

[droptheious]

[Varian's always one for validation, so having his work be called fine research does lift his spirits, despite the subject matter.]

Nope, judging from what Flynn has said, he had no side effects. Which- which is really weird because the last place we were in really made you suffer every time you were resurrected. It wasn't an easy process.

[droptheious]

[The ramifications are deeply unpleasant and he doesn't like them at all. At least in Deerington the bodies just...vanished. No corpse left behind. This has given a whole new level of uncertainty to the entire process.

Whiny:]

I did sleep! Maul came and did some...some Force thing to my head and I definitely slept for hours. I don't know why I'm still tired.

[droptheious]

[There's a whole lot of trauma going on here and Varian's doing his best to ignore it because that's obviously the best way to handle it. Obviously.]

You're almost as bad as Luz, you know that. Fine, fine, I'll take a break. Not that it'll do anything, but fine.

[imaglyphwitch]

¡Varian, te ves como caca! How many hours, Varian?

[She'd thank Darth Maul later, of course, but first thing was first].

Have you eaten? WELL?

[droptheious]

That makes sense then. So the crystals seem to be encouraging new growth...or... I guess returning us to the squid form we apparently default to now. Great.

[Varian absolutely needed this. As much as he hates having to work with magical crystals (and oh, how he hates it) this is at least some sort of help he can provide. It makes him feel less helpless. ]

Don't mention it. Honestly, I should be thanking you guys- at least this gives us some answers to move forward from.

[laminae]

[Obviously!!]

Luz is right and getting like a dozen high fives for it later

it'll help
you're looking pretty bad and i don't think it's from the mood lighting in your lab

text - UN: IceCream

[threelayers]

One, get some sleep you ghoul.
Two, now that I've pretended to be your mother for a hot second, good to know death isn't permanent here still.
So, instead of turning to dust, we rot fast and turn into weird crystal things.

Whattaya wanna bet people make death jewelry out of them?
Use 'em to make those lunar orb things or something else needlessly horrific?
Maybe if you get a spare lunar orb you should compare them?

You know, after a nap.

Oh, and no promises on not stabbing people.
It's October, and I know better than to promise that this month.

[azurestar]

Dude, my track record was still better than Vira's, that's gotta count for something. And maybe I'm turning over a new leaf in this stupid new life.

[He's definitely more defensive than he needs to be. And grouchy. But it's clearly not really directed at Varian.]

And neither do you, but I wasn't gonna point it out.

[droptheious]

Marginally better, Lance. And I really hope so, I think you've died enough for all of us at this point.

[He lets out a soft groan.]

Yes, I know. My housemates keep bugging me about it. I figured out how to get some sleep, but it's not doing a whole lot of good right now and I don't know why.

[droptheious]

Uhhhhh I don't know? Seven? Enough that I shouldn't be tired.

[Give him a nice gift basket of skulls. ]

Yes, I have, indeed, eaten. Well is a matter of opinion.

[droptheious]

I don't like this ganging up on me. It's really unfair.

I don't know what it is. Maul got me to sleep so I've definitely done that now. I just still feel tired and weird. I don't get it.

[droptheious]

1. Rude. I have? Maul managed to get me to sleep finally but I still feel tired. For once I genuinely did sleep!

["For once" being the key phrase here. ]

2. Not just crystals! After the crystals, there's this whole...ink thing and then we turn back into squids. So I'm guessing squid is our default form now. Which is definitely not what I signed up for.

Oh no. Oh god you're so right. People are so weird here, they're absolutely gonna do that. [Varian, you're weird enough to do that.] But maybe you're right. I should try and see how they correlate to a lunar orb- just in case.

I know that one. Don't you find it weird it's still RELATIVELY calm? It's windy, sure and I can't shake the feelings someone's watching me but there's no blood tides yet.

[imaglyphwitch]

Maybe have some more then. It helps to catch up.

[What...would Darth Maul do with...wait, they lived with Fern. Who was she to judge]?

Ok, so lets make it well then. Are you hydrated?

[azurestar]

She's got two whole deaths more than me. [Well, if he doesn't count the time he died before Deerington.] And it's not that big of a deal, anyway.

[Then he frowns with some concern poking through.]

What'd you do to finally fall asleep? And how long are you sleeping, for that matter? A full eight hours is the only way to get proper beauty rest, you know. Without it you just look, well, like you.

Video; UN: EternalMoon

[lightthedarkness]

[It is not Usagi who is on this call, it is, in fact, Sailor Moon. She smiles warmly and brightly at Varian.]

Thank you so much for finding this out for everyone, Varian.

Now, go to bed or I suspend you in mid-air again until you do.

[vibing]

definitely a squid in there

[ it's sort of comforting. they're all the same. and the squid doesn't seem to actually die, not like they would

its kind of like a phoenix, but instead of rising from the ashes, the squid rises from the ink ]

i didnt do anything except clean up the mess

[unsheathedfromreality]

"The last place we were in." Yes, I have been hearing about that, here and there. Are there other things that have been turned on their heads, aside from resurrection?

[Then, a thoughtful pause.]

If death is only an inconvenience, what is the trouble with killing ourselves for research?

[thinkfirst]

That's a lie and you know it. According to Varian's findings it's very possible that had you really done nothing, I wouldn't have come back.

voice; un: yuuki

[siriusly]

That...sounds like a weird take on cryostasis...