[Day: Thursday, June 16th. Time: 11:15 p.m.] [About two hours ago, MC2 fought Homestar Runner. Oh, and some man- sized wingless pterradactyl. Chie got shot up and Rei got frozen solid, so after taking the former to the hospital and the latter to the ice cream store... ah, thawing out the latter, they stuck around for a while to make sure everything was okay, then took off, leaving you guys alone in Norii's lab.] [Mini start] Hey, kiddo. You feeling better? Want me to turn up the heat? * Rei nods, still wrapped in blankets. By now, color's returned to her skin. "I'm okay. Chomei's gonna get it, though." She makes a face. * Norii punches buttons on the thermostat. ( rei now has green skin ) (Well, that's... different.) ...you look positively photosynthetic. Light, give me light! * Rei falls over. Too bad you aren't, really. I could *do* things with that. * Rei sticks her tongue out at Norii. "Oh yeah, make fun of me and my unsuitable genetic material, why don't you. Speaking of which." She reaches behind her and pulls the end of her tail to the front. "I recently got, um, a new body. Yeah." Woo! ... Woo? ...though I already have Smorfy samples. * Rei sweatdrops. How'd that happen? Get your brain reversed with someone elses? Run into a mad scientist? Uh, well... I got sucked into this glowing blue stone while astral projecting again, only instead of sucking me in and it hurting like a bitch, it hurt like hell and I couldn't return to my body, which apparently died, and I was saved by my mother - I mean, my genetic mother - who just so happens to be a Smorfy, only I didn't know either of those at the time, and then we went to Smorfilia or Nero or whatever you call it to get my body back. *blink* ...funny how I've never had any problems when projecting. Everyone else seems to get in trouble one way or another. * Rei takes a deep breath. "And now I've got a different one with a tail and Smorfy powers, and I also happen to have some sort of killswitch because this creepy guy with wings showed up, and whenever he wanted I was pretty much crippled with pain, and he said they were gonna use me to get Dad to do whatever they want, and the next day we find out Dad's missing!" ( Norii never dealt with the evil stone. ) (Lucky her. x.x) Aw, man. Shiggy's in trouble again? And see, I figured you could help, 'cause you identified me and maybe even found me when I was a baby, I don't know, but at least run tests or something and get rid of this damned killswitch! Please? * Rei bites her lip, then nods. Hmm. Well, it depends. If it's some sort of biochemical process, I have no doubt I can fix you right up. * Rei winces. "Maybe... figure out how it works?" she asks in a quieter voice. "Or something?" Unfortunately, these things are usually magical. And while I do have some experience with biomagic and magical genetics, I don't really have any way to counteract pure magic. ...well, not directly, at least. * Norii stands up and grabs Rei by the arm, dragging her back into the lab. Aieee! * Rei is pulled. Is there, like anything you can do that would trigger this switch? Or does it seem to be entirely a manual thing on his part? * Rei shakes her head. "I dunno. I just hurt when he wanted me to." * Norii sticks a loooooong needle in Rei, and draws a big tube of blood. He- he pretty much said he could kill me that way. I dunno if- ow! Hmm. * Norii eyes Rei speculatively. Let's see. * Rei rubs at her arm, a sour look on her face. I'll need hair, fingernails, stool, urine, and an aura scan. Well, you already got the blood sample. Right, but if it's some sort of drug or chemical reaction, we need to look at other, uh, places that residue might be found. We'll leave the more... invasive biopsies for later, if we need to do them. * Rei makes a face. "Okay." * Norii hands Rei a large cup. "Fill this, please." [And so whatever needed to be done was done. Spare us the details.] All right. * Rei is perched on a table now, swinging her feet back and forth. She watches Norii. * Norii fires up the gene sequencer, the mass spectrograph, the drug sniffer, and the biohazard disposal incinerator. Tell me about this... killswitch. What does it feel like? * Norii switches glasses and puts on a plastic labcoat. * Rei shudders involuntarily. "It hurts all over. Kinda like being eaten up by the inside... it hurt to move, and it hurt not to move. And then it got worse when the winged guy wanted it to." So basically it's just pain. Lots and lots of pain. Not outside pain. Does it start in one spot, or all over? All over, all at once. ...not "outside"? Nope. Like, if someone hit your foot with a hammer, that'd be from the outside. So it feels like it's radiating out from inside you. * Rei nodnods. That... kind of limits things. Hmm. * Norii smiles as Mr. Gene Sequencer goes *ding!* Toast is done! * Norii switches glasses again to page through the printout that spews from the device. Hmm. Mmmm. Heh. That tail sequence is nifty. Maybe I could use it in... Hey, that's my tail we're talking about! It's a nice one, too. Mmm. ... Really? I kinda like it. Cutting holes in your pants to give it room is a real pain, though. Well, nothing pops out at me here. ... That sucks. * Norii walks over to the mass spectrometer, which long ago finished its sampling run, but is still chewing through the data processing side. Let's see if there's anything obvious in your blo- whoa. * Rei blinks. What? How long ago was the last time this happened to you? * Rei hops down from the desk to look around Norii at the pretty readouts. "Last time what happened to me?" This "killswitch". Was used. Uhm. Yesterday night. Uh-huh. Why? What happened? Okay, well, you've got traces of a pretty nasty toxin in your bloodstream. * Rei blinks. "A toxin? I'm poisoned? I don't feel poisoned. I don't remember him putting anything in me, but since that was right after I got my new body, which was in some funky green liquidy stuff... uh..." This stuff would kill a human - Smorfies have a slightly different biochemistry, though, and apparently you're able to metabolize it. * Rei blinks a couple times, then shakes her head. "Wait. Kill a human?" Probably. Don't donate blood, okay? ^^ * Rei shudders a bit. "Okay." Anyway... at the level it is now, you don't feel anything. But if the concentration got over a certain threshold, it would start frying some types of nerve cells. ...which would hurt. * Norii looks over at Rei. A lot. So... somehow, a big jolt of this shit is getting delivered every time this sadist wants to smack you around. * Rei opens her mouth, then closes it. She nods. "So, is there something in me that can make the toxin on demand, to bring it up to that level?" Unless he's sticking you with needles...? I don't remember needles, nope. He snapped his fingers or something, and then I hurt more. Um. * Norii ponders this for a minute or so. ...yeah, it's probably some sort of magical trigger. But it's not pure magic, since it's using a chemical process. Okay. Is there any way to cancel the process? * Norii wanders back over to the gene sequencer console and starts typing frantically. * Rei watches like a good patient. There are a couple of possibilities... *clicketyclickety* * Norii blinks, and momentarily projects over to the spectrometer. The ghostly image of Norii peeers at the readout, then blinks away. Yeah. *clicketyclickety* * Rei tilts her head. [The sequencer abruptly coughs up a single sheet of paper.] Ah ha. What? You found something? * Rei perks. Okay, you've got a gene built into you that churns out his stuff. ...but what makes it trigger? * Norii grimaces. A gene? Great. *That's* easy to get rid of. This could take a long time to figure. * Rei fidgets. "I don't have a long time. We're going to Shanghai the day after tomorrow." What? Oh, I could schedule you for some gene therapy and get rid of it... but it would take months of treatment and you'd probably be sick as a dog the whole time. Technically it would be easy. But lots of time, and lots of vomiting. In the next couple of days...? Um. Throwing up is the way of the future! But I'd rather not. * Norii leans back in her chair, tosses her glasses onto a countertop, and thinks hard. ...the key, I guess, is reducing the toxin levels when you want to. Yeah. Like they increase them when they want to. * Rei sits back on the table, looking to Norii. It's times like this I'm glad I didn't skimp on my chemistry... I wanted to just take genetics, but noooo, the adviser knows best... Okay. Here's what I can do for you: ( And he was right! ) (Yes, he was! Remember, kids, always listen to your advisor.) I can whip up a batch of a specialized protein that will stimulate your liver, more or less forcing it to commit its entire energy budget to metabolizing this toxin. * Rei blinks. "Uhm, that'd be kinda... what about food and things?" Indeed. It's not something you could take continuously. * Rei nods slowly. You could only use it when you needed it. So only take it when I think I'm gonna run across Asahara and its evil goonies. An you would need to inject it directly into the liver. * Rei shudders. Yes, dear, it will hurt a bit. A *bit*? You're talking about sticking a needle in my liver! ( Ewww.... ) ( Well, that's our Norii. ) * Norii goes back to a far cabinet and digs out a shoebox-sized, shrinkwrapped carton. Well, yes, but you wouldn't need to do it manually. * Rei scoots away from the carton, eyeing it like it's going to bite her or something. Uh huh. * Norii unwraps the box and pulls out what looks like a hockey puck with buttons on it. ...okay... * Norii then fishes out what can only be described as a body harness. * Rei stares. The way this works is you wear this autoinjector next to the skin. It's stabilized over the right spot by these straps. When you need a dose, you tap the code sequence on the control panel, and it delivers it. ... Okay. It'll hurt, won't it? Yeah, but probably not as much as you think. Certainly not as much as that toxin does. * Rei nods. That's what's important, after all. "How long would it last, and what's the side effects?" * Norii pushes the box over to Rei. Read the instruction manual. * Rei stops it and pulls out the manual, flipping it open. ...well... the enzyme I'm thinking of would pretty last for a couple of hours, and then tail off over another hour or two. * Rei reads. "So three to four hours, then?" Right. Multiple doses would lengthen that, but you shouldn't use them unless it's really critical. Yeah. What happens if I do it? The side effects... you might experience a little diarrhea after using it. It depends when and what you last ate. * Rei makes a face. "Guess it's better than not using it and maybe dying." If you use it continuously, your body would not be able to properly digest food, and also would not be able to clear other natural toxins out of the bloodstream. * Rei nods. Probably you'd die of blood poisoning before you died of malnutrition. I think that just means don't overuse it. Which I'm not gonna, anyway. You'd feel especially tired after a day, be unconscious in maybe two, dead in three or four. Yeah. Sure. I'm just warning you. The injector... it's relatively sturdy, but I've heard of them getting smashed. Like I said. Read the manual for the general use instructions, and I'll get to work whipping up a batch of the enzyme for you. * Rei nods and goes back to reading. "How much of it are you gonna give me?" Mmm? I can make enough for half a dozen doses tonight, and more as you need it. Overnight, rather. The little bugs need time to do their thing. * Rei grins at Norii. "Thanks. You're a lifesaver... literally, maybe." Anyway, given enough time, I may be able to trace the chemical trigger sequence further up, and block it more easily. * Norii smiles. Hey, whoever did this is a real sadistic shit, okay? Kill him a few times for me. * Rei chews on her lower lip, then nodnods. * Norii stops smiling. Or call me, and I'll kill him for you. O- okay. It's scary stuff. I... didn't realize how scary it was until... And let me know if there's anything I can do to help Shiggy. He saved our asses enough times... well. ( You saved him more than he saved you! ) * Rei trails off and looks back at the manual. "Yeah. Hopefully we'll find him." (Shigeru needed a *lot* of saving.) I suppose we saved him a few too, but it's the spirit of the thing that matters. * Norii smiles. * Rei grins a little and nods. ...I wish I could have gotten Keiji into this incarnation of Mystery Club. The school wasn't sure about having a construct join the student body, tho. Stupid bigots. Anyway. * Norii trails off. Okay. * Rei swallows, then puts a smile on her face. "Thanks for everything." Hey, this is what I do. I'm sorry I can't help with the magical side of it, though. Let me know how it goes, okay? Okay. * Norii reaches over and ruffles the kid's hair. It'll work out. It always seems to. * Rei acks and tries batting Norii's hand away. I hope you're right. [It's over!]