|
Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2016 18:42:30 GMT
The Mansion In The Woods Power Level At time of posting: 127,185! However, this thread is meant to take place shortly after Noxa began wandering the world, so... I'm imposing an artificial power level on myself here: Heavy weights ACTIVE! Ki Setting; ACTIVE Current PL: 14,296!
The dead of night within Mt. Paozu was as lively as one would expect from an Earthly wilderness. Chirps and cricketing of wildlife worked in unison with the occasionally whistling wind to create a perfect orchestra. The scarlet progenitor had spent nearly all of her days listening to said orchestral; she found it beautiful. This planet’s ecosystem understood the cycle of life — something its inhabitants and long forgotten. They banded together to purposefully stave off the natural cycle of things.
Noxa had come to learn a lot about humans within the time she had spent away from Katsu — just like as he suggested. She learned what humans were: greedy, mischievous, machiavelli, creatures that banded together only for the safety in numbers. They were cowards. Ants that colonized in order to become something greater than themselves. Noxa firmly believed that, as a cognitive collective, humans believed themselves to be entitled to some sort of godhood. They believed themselves to be above all of creation. They fed on flesh but were outraged at the thought of falling prey themselves. They played the game of life, but the idea of ‘losing’ angered them — it was truly something else.
Humans were also spirited; kind; protective; endearing. They oozed an arcipluvian array of traits — both good and bad. Outside of their instinct for outrage, Noxa had not seen a pattern of human personality. She, over time, had come to appreciate the individual human, despite being unable to stand the zeitgeist of humanity. More than the odd human, however, Noxa had come to appreciate the general culture. From bars, to clubs, to shops, to restaurants — Noxa loved it all. Or, at least, more than most of ‘it all’.
Katsu and his mission were prominent within her mind tonight; she was heading directly to his home. The GPS Katsu had given her was once again revived, thanks to some luck and much patience. With the batteries replaced Noxa had been able to find the path to his home; she could now ‘feel’ his presence. Noxa could not yet sense ki, but his aura was unmistakably dead ahead. A few miles at most.
The scarlet streak zoomed through bamboo and foliage, paying little mind to the life around her. None of it interested her now; Noxa was near completion of her mission. With the wind howling at her ears and tugging at her mane, Noxa sprinted on all fours; the wild woman came to a sudden halt at a spot where the canopy above was weakest. She broke through the leaves and twigs with relative easy. A scarlet aura enveloped the virago, bathing the surrounding area in a neon glow. The crimson light Noxa emitted clashed with that of the silvery gleam of the full moon above. As beautiful was it was, her eyes focused on the horizon.
Yonder, in the distance, a building clearly stood out amid the natural spatial language of Mt. Paozu. It was a grand, ornate mansion. Just by looking at it Noxa could tell one thing: Katsu was not lying about his status. The mansion was massive! Easily seen from this distance. Noxa leaned forward, a burst of air sending the woman rocketing towards the mansion at supersonic speeds. The closer Noxa got the more details she could see. The tall, gothic steps; the beautifully erected statues that seemed to watch over the land from the roof. This was clearly the home of a man who knew his worth.
The woman's approach came to a grinding halt. Eventually, her heel-like footwear would push down into the lush grass just outside of the mansion's’ grounds. Noxa began to walk forward — not run. The Progenitor could very well remember her last encounter with Katsu; the last thing Noxa wanted was for one of his bodyguards to attack her, thinking she was attempting to invade his territory. Oddly enough, Noxa couldn’t spot a single one of his robots. As she saw it, there were two options:
One, Katsu knew he was coming; he expected her, so he turned off his security. Or, two, this was the wrong place.
Fearing it was the latter, Noxa retrieved the GPS device. Her hair unraveled from behind her. Noxa looked to the side as an LCD display was brought to her peripheral vision by her writhing mane. The glowing display simply read: ‘YOU ARE HERE’.
“Well then…” Noxa mumbled under her breath, managing to rule out the second possibility.
The woman’s hair retracted, bringing with it the Bio Woman's GPS device, which was once again hidden beneath her voluminous hair. The woman, none the less, traversed the courtyard with much care; she paid little mind to the ornate fountains of granite, glowing endlessly with water; she paid little mind to the moss-covered statues; Noxa focused on not getting ‘surprised’ by any potential tests.
Should nothing intercept her path Noxa found her feet ‘clicking’ against the rocky stairway that led up to the mansion’s reception room. The inside of the place was just as extravagant and lavish as the outside. Upon pushing a set of polished wooden double doors Noxa was greeted with the sight of a light pink carpet that did little to clash against the posh wooden walls of the home’s interior. The main room was devoid of light, despite the heavy chandelier that dangled above; only the shafts of moonlight that permeated within gave any light.
Noxa watched as dust danced in the air; she peered over the railings of the stairs leading upwards into the home — on desks and other furniture. This place was covered in a healthy layer of dust. She knew Katsu was home, but it wasn’t clear just how long he had been here.
The woman found herself raising her Ki, letting Katsu know that she was here. Her voice, confident and with a healthy volume spoke into the home.
“I thought humans were into ‘spring cleaning’. Either Earth’s seasons last a lot longer than I was led to believe, or you haven’t been here for a long while.”
Noxa’s strode further into the home. She climbed stairs; she scoured corridors; plundered rooms. She kept searching until Katsu was found.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2016 2:11:20 GMT
▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼ Base Powerlevel: 62,100 | Transformation: Heavily Weighted, Suppressed | Current Powerlevel: 7,500 | Gain Bonuses: Heavy Weights, T3 House | @noxa |
The first thing that Noxa might notice as she continued her trek through the beautiful environment around her was that the closer she got to the Mansion the... quieter it seemed to become. It wasn't that there were less creatures or that they were any less quiet when they gave voice to the night; they merely seemed to keep quiet of their own accord. It was like entering a Cathedral; the very presence one felt in that area moved one to silent contemplation; of quietly trying to find something you didn't know was there until that very moment. All of the animals in this area experienced such an awe fill their minds when they reached this area. Some animals hated the sensation; mostly hungry predators who had to focus all their minds towards their next kill to stay alive, but many of the less aggressive animals basked in the sensation, enjoying the lack of predators in the area as well.
In fact Noxa might notice a further change in these creatures. They would watch her. From the smallest of Chipmunks to the largest Barn Owl the creatures would all be awake and watching as Noxa made her swift path through the foliage. The smaller animals, especially those who were prey for others, would stare at Noxa, their eyes wide and their stance ready to flee if she so much as diverted her path an inch towards them. Yet unless she did they would stay and continue to watch her pass. They were... curious. Despite every natural instinct telling them to flee they wanted to know what had invaded their home, to see what it was. And their eyes... they weren't normal somehow. They were...sharper, more focused. There was some kind of intelligence behind their eyes. Something was aware of Noxa, there was no doubt about that, but was it Katsu or something else here? Were these animals his early warning systems, or were they a mere byproduct of his presence in the area?
By the time Noxa would reach the front Courtyard of the Mansion there would be almost total silence; the animals here were completely mute, only the bubbling of the marble fountain, which was of a shapely woman with long wavy hair, a scholar's gown adorning her body and a large tome in her right hand, reached up into the sky with her left, trying to grab the stars themselves. Remarkably it was free of the filth that tended to accrue on statues, no bird waste could be seen anywhere on it, even though a few birds perched upon the book and her outstretched fingers. Further into the Courtyard Noxa would come across a single Black Panther, simply laying across the walkpath leading to the front door. It was unremarkable for the most part, excluding the book that lay open in front of it. The book was big and heavy, a normal human would take both hands to carry it easily, and the Panther was staring at it, his long sleek tail twitching in amusement as he apparently read the book before him. When Noxa neared the Panther had just finished a page, a single long claw unvelveting long enough to turn the page deftly before being sheathed once more, and the creature looked up from its book. As the big cat looked at Noxa she would note that those eyes were incredibly sharp, and seemed to look her over as keenly as a master Martial Artist, taking in her whole form in a glance.
A quick look to the book once more, perhaps marking his page? Before the Panther used his whole paw to close the book and stand it up on one edge. It stood in one smooth motion, grabbing the book gently between its jaws and simply padding off into the night, presumably to go find a better place to read its book in peace. If Noxa continued forward into the house she would encounter no other animals, but she might yet feel them still watching, waiting for something else to pique their curiosity...
The inside of Katsu's home would be completely deserted; at least when one examined it from the front of the house. No light, not even so much as a flickering candle flame, lit the vast expanse of the Mansion. The dust of the front rooms was thick upon the floor, and seemed reluctant to stir even as Noxa stepped deeper into the home, quickly settling back to the floor after it was trod upon by her heeled feet. That same sensation of walking through a Cathedral would nibble at the edge of Noxa's mind as she moved deeper into the halls and corridors. There however would be something familiar about this area that if Noxa paid attention she could pick up on. Katsu's scent.
Katsu and Noxa had gotten thoroughly acquainted with each other during their last encounter, their close encounter would certainly have left Noxa capable of recalling his scent when it hit her nose once more. Yes Katsu's scent was here, very lightly in these front rooms, and old, but as Noxa would travel about the big building looking for him she would note that his scent was weakest at the front left hand side of the building, while getting much stronger at the back right hand section of the building. When finally Noxa would hit upon a set of steps leading up to the second floor she would be able to catch a newer scent. Days old instead of weeks. Katsu did live in this home, it seemed.
Up the stairs Noxa would find the rooms here were clean; the dust that enveloped the rest of the home was absent here, and any doors she opened were much quieter; they had been oiled recently and did not creak or squeak. Katsu's scent was even stronger and fresher, Katsu had been there within the last day or so. Noxa would easily find the place he used as his kitchen, an art gallery room that had been converted to hold his fridge and pantry as well as a few sinks for running water. A table in one edge of the room was obviously where Katsu ate his meals, a datapad left on it.
Noxa might be a bit disappointed at this point. Katsu had such a large home, but he still lived like a typical bachelor in an apartment, if much cleaner. Also he still didn't seem to be in this area either. If Noxa continued on she would find that Katsu's scent lead her to a long hallway, five doorways placed along it. The first two doors would be empty bedrooms, the furniture posh and fancy but obviously unused. The second set of doors would be a mixed bag. The door on the right was like the first two doors, empty and unused. The one on the left had a very old scent in it, and the room looked like it had been used at one point, but not for a while. The scent from inside was unknown to Noxa, smelling somewhat of Saiyan biology. There was one more door along the hallway, right at the end, and Katsu's scent was thick and heavy there.
Opening that final door would greet Noxa with the knowledge that she had found Katsu's bedroom. There was a large bed taking up the center of the room, the bed mostly made but looking a bit disheveled, as if someone had gotten in but hadn't pulled the covers up yet before getting back out. The covers and curtains that surrounded the bed were navy blue, calm dark colors to soothe the mind to sleep. In fact the room had a very close feeling to it. The windows were heavily curtained so no light could reach into the room, and the walls and floor were equally as dark as the bed, only the ceiling having a fluffy cloud motif painted on it with blue sky between. There was so much of Katsu's scent here that it drowned out most of the other smells in the place, and it was laced with the various hormones that a man gave off over time.
This was where Katsu slept; this was his nest so to speak. Noxa was perhaps in the most private place that belonged to Katsu, how might that knowledge make her feel? Either way it would become clear quickly that there was light coming from another room off from the bedroom, a closed door leaking the light from the gap underneath. It wouldn't take long for that door to slowly open, a cloud of steam pouring into the room and Katsu, wearing his dark blue silk pajamas, would ease into the room, a towel scrubbing furiously at his hair to dry it.
The towel was soon tossed into a nearby hamper, and Katsu looked at Noxa as if having a half-naked woman creep through his house in the dead of night trying to find him ws completely normal, “You would arrive just as I was about to go to bed, wouldn't ya? Spose I should be grateful a beautiful woman comes to visit me in the night... Anyway, Yo, Noxa. Welcome to my home, did you have fun searching through the place for me?” Katsu yawned wide as he completed these last words, looking Noxa's form over, checking for anything new she might have gained in their time apart...
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2016 4:00:32 GMT
The strange sight of a panther reading completely washed over Noxa. She didn’t see anything wrong with it. She wasn’t necessarily familiar with the wildlife of Earth to the point of discerning sentience and the lack thereof from animals just by their sight. The task was made especially hard considering just how many zoanthropes there were running about. The most noticeable thing Noxa discerned towards the animal, however, was the fact it seemed to simply take it’s time, gather it’s belongings, and walk off at the sight of Noxa. Intelligent figure or not the Bio Android found that incredibly rude. Noxa found herself snorting towards the sassy panther, before making her way into the home.
Noxa’s search had led her through out most of the mansion. All of the easily accessible rooms that she could have simply wandered into had no doubt been visited by the woman before she finally found Katsu. It wasn’t a matter of finding a way to track him — the man’s scent was unmistakable; Noxa’s scenes far too sharp to mislead her in such a small space. However, Noxa also had a little desire to explore. The idea of looking around and peering into and out of rooms was something that truly enticed her. In fact, the entire expedition the woman embarked in seemed to swiftly bear fruits!
The woman found herself standing at a doorway, eyes washing over the darkness-clad room. There was a faint glow emanating from atop a dinner table. Noxa made her way over, heels ‘clicking’ within the polished kitchen floor. She recovered the pad and brought it to her face. She would begin going through it, though her search didn’t stop. Noxa attempted to read whatever she could as she resumed her adventures through the house. It was very possible that the pad was locked or encrypted; if that was the case her attempts would have been futile and she would simply have held onto the device.
When Noxa finally tracked down Doctor Katsu she was careful to enter his room. This was, after all, his private space — his nesting area. Noxa soon met the man’s eyes. She rose the data pad as for him to see it, before tossing it over to the bed. The same fate was met by the GPS.
“I have to say it was a little harder than I expected. The thing died on me halfway here; I had to stop by East Capitol and fix it up… They were having some sort of huge city-wide party or parade, so finding a technology-inclined store was a pain.”
Noxa crossed her arms, leaning against the door’s frame. Her figure was the same as when he had met the woman, albeit her Ki was noticeably higher, despite the heavy suppression of her weights.
“That being said, this place is wonderful. A lot of life around here, though I question your choice in pets.” Noxa’s tone was fluent and far more confident compared to their last encounter. “I’ll admit, I took a few longer routes to get here. Had a few little adventures on the way here.” The woman nodded, “But that doesn’t matter.” She waved her hand in dismissal, “I’m here because there of what you said in regards to sensing Ki. I’ve begun to develop the skill, but it’s like looking up from beneath a pond of murky water and trying to see the stars; my skill isn’t perfect, I can only get a rough idea as to presences.”
One scarlet strand broke free from the rest of her mane, it’s sharp head reached just north of Noxa’s naval, scratching mindlessly at an itch. “I’ve also found a way to make myself weaker, somehow… Like collapsing all my strength unto itself. I can’t help but shake the feeling it has something to do with the skill you proposed.”
At that moment, Noxa demonstrated the comment she made. Katsu, the man whose ki-sense was like second nature, would detect the sudden nose dive in power; Noxa had effortlessly suppressed her Ki.
[Ki Suppression activated; Noxa's Power Level now set to 115 in an attempted to make a point.]
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2016 16:54:57 GMT
▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼ Base Powerlevel: 62,100 | Transformation: Heavily Weighted, Suppressed | Current Powerlevel: 7,500 | Gain Bonuses: Heavy Weights, T3 House | @noxa |
It seemed that Noxa was mostly unchanged from her wanderings in the world, although Katsu did note the change in her vocal mannerisms, a bit less bestial; a bit more refined. Noxa at least sounded as if she could pass for human if she ever decided to wear normal clothes instead of her carapace armor. Her first words were of course about her journey, as might be expected, and Katsu gave a small smile as he moved over to the bed, picking up the thrown down datapad. It had been indeed locked down and encrypted before, and Noxa's fiddling would have only engaged the security protocols to cut contact with the database. It'd take Katsu a few minutes to re-establish contact in order to use this datapad again, so for now he merely switched it off and placed it on a nightstand.
“That makes sense. I did not expect you to take so long in coming here, but I think perhaps it was a good thing you opted to explore a bit more rather than focus on just SCAR business. After all you learned a bit about human technology at the least, and I can tell by your strength you found a number of other benefits.” Katsu turned his attention to the GPS, popping open the front of the device in order to restore the functions that he had locked when he had originally given Noxa the device. It involved reconnecting the circuitry back into it's proper locations; something that Katsu knew how to do with this device only because it was such a simple one. He couldn't do the same for his lab computers for example.
Once the device was properly dealt with Katsu tossed it back to Noxa, who might be able to note that it was fully functional this time. She could access all of it's functions, including programming new locations to track, deleting old ones, all your basic tools for figuring out where you were and how to get to the place you wanted to go...on Earth at least. It wasn't programmed to deal with anything beyond a Planet's scale.
Katsu followed the device back towards Noxa at a much more sedate place, his hands rising to shoo Noxa out of his room, "Before we continue our conversation... Out. Bedrooms are made for sleeping or having sex; you're obviously not in the mood to sleep and your body isn't ready for the other one so. Out. Let me get some suitable clothes on and I'll cook you something in the kitchen.."
Ensuring that the door was closed behind Noxa, Katsu would move to his dresser, pulling out some more casual clothes than he usually wore. Blue Jeans with a Black Tee that had "No Scrapes, No Scars, No Proof" in white lettering on the front. Katsu noted with a quick frown that it was a bit small, clinging tightly to his torso, but was still relatively comfortable. He must have grown more than he thought; this shirt was only a few years old. Shrugging Katsu donned it anyway, throwing his pajamas on his bed. It felt a little strange to wear clothing besides his usual slacks, white tee, and labcoat, but this wasnt going to be a formal sort of conversation with Noxa involved.
Leaving the room Katsu headed over towards the kitchen, adjusting the neckline of his shirt so it was on properly without choking him, and looked about for Noxa. He completely expected her to move to the kitchen to await some free food and what she had come here for in the first place; to learn. That last thought made Katsu a little happy. He liked it when others had the same ideas as him; to grow and prosper was only natural for all living creatures in his opinion. Whether or not Noxa was present Katsu would begin looking through his pantry and fridge for some ingredients. He wanted to try giving Noxa something she hadn't had yet; to broaden her tastes. Just when he was thinking a run to the store might be in order Katsu remembered something he had saved away!
Some Lobsters, Crab, and Salmon were all packed away in a stasis field in the pantry. The best way to preserve certain foods was simply to halt all interactions with stimuli; preventing even a single cell from breaking down due to decomposition. Taste was perfectly preserved; this seafood was going to be as fresh as the day it was taken from the sea. Katsu remembered doing exactly that himself. Smiling, Katsu got to work preparing the meal. To go along with the lovely seafood Katsu also included some Rice Pilaf; Rice baked with onions, garlic, butter, chicken stock broth, and seasonings. It was a good heavy carb dish that complimented the high protein and low fat content of fish, and tasted great with crustaceans.
While he was cooking Katsu continued their conversation, assuming Noxa was in the room, "Oh, by the way, I don't keep any pets Noxa. Any creature in the area is free to come and go as it likes. Even the creatures that are part of my experiments are here by their own will; they merely realize the benefit of allowing me to further improve upon their base design. Don't attack any of them please."
The crustaceans were in a pot; the fish was being broiled, and the pilaf was in the oven. Leaning against the wall near the cooking food Katsu turned to look at Noxa, "Ki Sensing is an integral skill to a lot of more advanced skills and abilities that you'll probably want to learn later down the line. It's also akin to another sense that can give you critical information to survive in a stressful situation. In order to understand how to sense Ki Properly you need to understand what Ki is... are you ready for a lecture before we get to the fun stuff?" Katsu gave a quick smile as he spoke the last line. Noxa was obviously someone who preferred doing over waiting; practice over theory-crafting. This first part of her lesson might very well be the most difficult for her to handle, but Katsu had a feeling she'd know it was important enough not to complain... too much anyway...
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2016 18:59:28 GMT
“Yeah — it was great advice, really... The 'go explore' order.” The woman responded as Katsu fumbled with her device. “It helped me understand a lot about humanity and Earth’s culture. I don’t agree with a lot of it, to be honest... But it has definitely broadened my perspective on things. I feel like…” Noxa hesitated, thinking of the right words to say. That might have been another sign as to the developments she underwent. Before Noxa would simply say the first thing that popped into her head; before Noxa socialized off instinct, just like how she fought. Now it seemed she was thinking before she spoke. It seemed as though she was considering the impact of her words and the meaning they conveyed. “... I feel like I’m able to put myself in their shoes, even if just a little. Try and kind of understand their perspective. Like I said, I don’t agree with most human's perspectives, but I can at least see where they are coming from. If feel like I would be able to pass myself off as a human, should the need ever present itself. Which is important, considering this IS Humanity's cradle.”
Unfortunately, Noxa hadn’t learned much about Earthly technology — or any tech in general. Most of her adventures had so far involved human interaction and Earth culture, not tech. The closest thing she had done to interacting with technology was fixing the GPS, and even then that was simply done by pushing it onto someone who actually knew how to handle it. Once the device was returned to Noxa the woman simply had her hair retrieve it and bring it back to its little hiding place within her mane. She knew if she fiddled with it in front of the doctor she would likely only end up making a fool of herself.
Then came the shooing — something Noxa wasn’t expecting. The woman reluctantly walked out, listening to Katsu’s little ramble about the room’s purpose. She couldn’t help but feel slightly offended — wasn’t he aware what she was built for? Surviving. She could do most things better than other organisms. With that in mind the idea that she ‘wasn’t ready’ for something kind of peeved her off. That naturally earned her features a nice, stiff, frown. Once the door closed behind Noxa she simply turned around, facing the door. The woman crossed her arms, giving it a good ol’ deathly stare towards the wooden obstruction before marching off into the mansion’s darkness-clad halls.
Noxa found her way into the kitchen, sitting down exactly where she had found the data pad earlier. Her legs spread widely to give her more room with which to lean towards the table — which was a ways off considering how far back she had pulled the chair. Her arms crossed over the table; her chin found rest against her forearms. The woman remained there in the darkness; eyes glowing; talons drumming against the wooden table, eventually causing knife-point like dents. Noxa fully expected Katsu to return with some nice silky pajamas for her — when he mentioned clothing her mind instantly went back to the nice pair he had offered her back at the magic-made catacombs. Truth be told that was something she had tried to replicate since — the wonderful feeling of the silk against her skin. Between the gangly get up she wore in West City; the ragged clothes offered to her by a Zilyanian hunter; or even the business outfit she once wore in Satan City — none of it felt as posh or comfortable.
With Katsu’s arrival would watch as a pair of glowing eyes snapped to him from within the darkness of the kitchen. Noxa couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed to see that he hadn’t fetched her anything to wear. She wouldn’t really show it physically — it was something trivial, but the hope had been there none the less. It could easily have been the fact that Noxa had ruined the last pair by using it to sleep in a chimney, riddling the delicate cloth with soot and charcoal. Either way, she found the Doctor's casual look to be a little unsettling. Somewhere in the back of her mind she had cemented Katsu's personality as 'strictly business; strictly formal'.
Noxa sat in silence, watching as Katsu rummaged through his pantry. The scarlet-haired virago was more than comfortable sitting in the sound of silence. She much liked the comfortable void of conversation that had grown. She watched Katsu begin to cook. She kept her distance — she remained seated and her head down… But her other senses were keenly aware of what he did to the food. Katsu’s cooking ability was very fresh in her mind. His nutrient-enriched meals had been a satiated delight, though as Noxa had grown in power she had felt that desperate need for nutrients dwindling down. Now she hoped he focused more on taste instead of nutritional value, just as he had on their second meal.
Noxa’s ears twitched, eyes widening a bit; Katsu breaking the silence had once again captured her attention. “So you did experiment on the wild life… I had a feeling that was the case. I haven’t met a lot of wild predators that would sit down with a book. Well, present company excluded. Which, by the way,” Noxa stood up straight, hands pressing against the edge of the desk; her brow once again tightening as she glared at Katsu, “You have some really uppity neighbors — that panther that keeps loitering outside is kind of a sassy jerk.” The woman’s arms crossed beneath her ample chest; her full legs crossed one over the other. “I wasn’t going to attack them, for the record… Unless I got hungry, but oddly enough I haven’t had the feral flare for food lately.” The comment on her changing desires was passing, though it could have possibly reflected on just how much of a shift Noxa had gone through. Could it be that her basic instinct was beginning to adapt to Earthly life?
“But I have to ask… What have you been doing to them? They are clearly smarter, but...” Noxa began to nibble at the inside of her mouth, narrowing her eyes as she gave it some, though. “You wouldn’t waste resources or man hours just messing with the wildlife if it didn’t provide any benefit to you. So, what’s the catch? Do you use them as some kind of early warning system for intruders?”
Noxa gave a nod, her hair curling up over her shoulders and coming to cascade over her chest. Noxa reached up, running her talons through its mane. The hair shuddered as though it was a cat being given attention. There were no knots to be had; the quasi-sentient quality of her hair kept it from giving Noxa any trouble with anything of the sort. It did, however, give her something to do instead of staring dead-set at the Doctor.
He had a point, of course. Ki Sense was a crucial ability. “I know just how important it is. I was nearly killed recently because of my inability to access the situation and size myself up against my opponents. If it wasn’t for a woman — Zucceta, if I recall her name correctly — I would have been a goner. She, along with a superhero named ‘Captain Nova’, saved me. At the time I was disguised as a human woman; if you are up to date on the events of Satan City then you’ll be well aware of what happened. That girl — who was kidnapped — that was me.”
A swift glance was shot towards the Doctor; fallen lids and focused eyes. Her eagle-like scrutiny could have easily been mistaken for coquettish behavior, it would depend on Katsu’s disposition towards Noxa, who in reality simply wanted to capture his body language. The information she gave would come as a shock or just as an inevitability of her ignorance towards other opponents and their abilities. Or, at least, that’s what the woman figured. Either way, Katsu’s reaction would give her insight into his character for sure.
[ Noxa's power level no longer suppressed; returned to its normal Heavy Weight-inhibited level ]
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2016 14:49:51 GMT
▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼ Base Powerlevel: 62,100 | Transformation: Heavily Weighted, Suppressed | Current Powerlevel: 7,500 | Gain Bonuses: Heavy Weights, T3 House | @noxa |
(OOC: Due to the fact that the DE between Etoru and Zucceta isn't finished yet, can't speak too much on that thread)
When Noxa had brought up the concept of being able to understand humans a bit more, and perhaps being able to emulate them, Katsu almost immediately dismissed humans with a few words, “Humans are just animals acting through instinct more than the sentience they've been gifted with, in my opinion.” and then immediately dropped the subject. Katsu had studied psychology extensively in his childhood in an attempt to understand why he was so different from those around him. His final conclusion was that humans in general merely acted how their instincts told them to act, and that it was a good thing he was different from them. This late at night, just before he was going to bed, Katsu was irritable enough to let his minor disdain for humanity stain his speech.
Moving forward to their conversation in the kitchen Katsu could only smile at Noxa's estimation of Katsu's reasoning for improving the animals, as well as he mentioning the sassy panther. “Don't mind Bagheera the Panther. He enjoys reading in the front courtyard by moonlight and you just happened to come by just as he was enjoying his latest book. Normally no one interrupts him because it's...you know... night...when humans and most Terran animals sleep...” At that point Katsu gave Noxa a pointed stare, to remind her of the fact that she had showed up at the perfect time to ruin his own sleepy time. There wasn't any malice in his look however, and before he looked away Katsu gave a small grin. The meal he was cooking was beginning to turn out pretty well, the delicious scent of the rice in the oven was beginning to waft out into the room. The crustacean's didn't give off much of a scent due to the flesh cooking in their shells, but the fish was broiling up nicely and it's scent was combining with the rice dish well. Even Katsu's mouth was beginning to water at the thought of digging into the dishes he was making.
“I like to experiment Noxa. I told you my thirst for knowledge was stronger than my survival instinct, did I not? Yes, there are benefits reaped from my experiments with the animals. From refining my gene splicing skills and ensuring the local animals are all non-hostile towards me, to having a first line of defense in case of attack and disproving a certain colleague in genetics who disliked the concept that the various Zoan races may have started off as genetic experiments by humans thousands of years ago...a lot of benefits, but to me, the only reason I needed...
“Was to know if I could pull it off. Could it be done? Could I do it? What growth and progress would the animals use their newfound intelligence to obtain?” Noxa would note that Katsu's voice became slightly more energetic and full of vitality and life as he continued to speak on the subject. Noxa had touched upon the reason Katsu existed once again, and his passion was sparked. A datapad literally flew into the room from somewhere, Katsu having telekinetically summoned it to his hand, and he let his fingers fly across the keys, bringing up a bunch of data before flinging it over towards Noxa.
The device would float to a halt about a foot from her head, the screen pointing towards her, a variety of data flitting across the screen, accompanied by Katsu's voice to explain what Noxa was seeing on the device, “The squirrels and small rodents began setting up a security and early-warning system, using basic tools to construct gongs and drums. When a predator enters their area they drop a stone from a tree onto the gong, alerting all the other rodents in the area who flee to the safety of their dens. They've even become capable of a rudimentary ability to sense power levels. The reason there were so few rodents on your way here was that they sensed your approach, felt your power, and promptly all hid themselves. The few remaining were left in case you attacked one area to draw your attention from the other dens and nests.
“The birds have begun developing new sounds and vocalizations that are growing in complexity and apparent meaning, forming a more robust language than ever before. I'm still trying to decode what many of the new sounds mean, but eventually outright face to face communication will be possible!
“Bagheera is by far the most successful of the experiments thus far. Not only can he now understand human speech and read English texts, his ability to learn and adapt has increased a thousandfold. If you had attacked him...well, you might have found yourself with a gaping hole in your chest if you weren't careful. I've seen him rip the heart out of a T Rex that wandered into the area with nothing but a Kiai, a concentrated roar that pushed the organ right out of the beast's chest. He's that strong now.” Katsu was smiling wide as he continued to speak. Noxa hadn't really asked about any of this, not directly, but Katsu loved the various effects of his experiments thus far on the animals near his home. He had helped his local wildlife progress and grow far beyond their original limits; he had made them more than they were. Evolution in action. It was Katsu's greatest desire; of course he was going to be excited over this.
In fact in his excitement Katsu had neglected to pay attention to the food that he was cooking, and a whiff of smoke alerted him to the condition of the rice in the oven! A telekinetic grab ripped open the oven, the pan of rice flying out of the inside in a tiny plume of smoke. Katsu's reaction times were better than the average human and his telekinetic powers were much faster than trying to open the oven manually. His quick timing saved the dish, only a heavy brown crust on the top, which would be promptly scraped off and placed aside in its own bowl. It wouldn't taste good to humans, but plenty of creatures would love to eat it anyway, no need to waste. Likely it wouldn't make it past Noxa's stomach anyway.
Giving a sigh of relief Katsu checked the rest of the food he was cooking, adjusting what needed adjusting and getting the extra things ready, like the melted butter sauces and the lemon wedges. The rice was properly fluffed to separate the grains of rice from one another, the steam coming off the food exploding into the air, making the scent even more mouth watering.
Katsu was still listening, and when Noxa mentioned Zucceta he had to quirk an eyebrow at that one, “Zucceta saved you? Saiyan female, long hair, prone to bragging a bit? No, I can tell it's the one. How odd. Zucceta normally isn't known for saving anyone, she's more known for killing planets with her Tree of Might... Hrm. I'll have to research that at some point. I was hoping to murder her at one point or another...” Katsu frowned as if displeased that Zucceta had saved Noxa, but it wasn't that. He just didn't like Zucceta acting so out of character. If Zucceta had turned over a new leaf; then there would be even more people who would attempt to stop Katsu from removing her head from her shoulders. Needless complications! “Well, either way you're fine, which is far more important.”
Sighing Katsu would begin setting out the food on the table, the crustaceans and fish joining the rice on their own platters, the smells wafting all of the food were absolutely amazing! Katsu carried the last tray, with the lobster on it, and set it down before pulling a chair to sit directly next to Noxa on her left side. “Before you eat a thing. Stop. I need to teach you how to eat crustacean's properly in order to get the best taste out of them. There's places on them that taste good but other places taste horrible and it's different for each species. On crabs the meat of the legs has all the taste, but their exoskeleton just tastes like bone. So, you break open the legs and pull the meat out, like this..” Katsu would proceed to tell Noxa how and what to eat off the delicious crustaceans. He told her about the mud vein and the knuckle meat for the lobsters, and he removed all of the indelible parts of the crab, explaining why it wasn't good to eat for humans and then placing it off to the side. It could be recycled into the feed for some of his experiments who had a wider palette than a human after all.
During all this Katsu remained directly at Noxa's side, one step away from hand feeding her, showing her how the dipping sauces were best used, commenting on the tastes, and generally being companionable as they ate together. For now at least it seemed Katsu was more interested in spending time with Noxa than getting down to the business at hand.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2016 23:43:35 GMT
Noxa found herself doing little until Katsu had finished his first bout or two of dialogue. She knew he liked talking, so naturally interrupting him every other sentence wouldn’t have been the most productive way to interact with him. Noxa bid her time, patiently awaiting her turn to speak. Sitting back against the table, legs crossed.
Finally, it was her turn. At Doctor Katsu’s dismissive attitude Noxa found herself with little choice other than politely disagree. “I can’t say that’s true.” Noxa began, crossing her arms as she awaited. “I am nothing but instinct. That’s something I know — my imprints tell me I was meant to do little other than be a commando survival unit; follow orders and behave off instinct. I feel like if humans were truly just fully feral and based their actions only off of primal impulses… Well, I would have been able to fit in well. I wouldn’t have been hunted off Zilyana. Granted, it was for the best, but…” Noxa found herself shrugging, “They do a lot of things I don’t understand fully, still. Things that don’t make instinctual sense.” The Progenitor found herself voicing her disapproval through body language: furrowed brows; a slight shake of her head; a wriggle of her nose; and quite a bit of uneasy foot tapping. She wasn’t entirely sure how Katsu would respond to her disagreement; it was very possible that he would lash out — that was how some people reacted, after all.
At the mention of the panther sass, master Noxa found herself snorting. Despite the logical explanation for its behavior, she still didn’t like it; she felt that ‘Bagheera’ was rude, and that was that. In the back of her mind, Noxa felt as though there was a voice of logic and reason, slowly building up. That voice, telling her that there may have been something more to it — that the little black predator didn’t mean to be rude in the slightest, but before she could give it more thought there came a glance over at her. Noxa looked up just in time to see Katsu’s narrow little gaze. It was sharp, and it had an air of danger. Noxa couldn’t exactly tell what it was about, so naturally, she was put on edge. Her eyes widened just a fraction; her hair began lively, slithering and snaking outwards as her locks probed the air for any possible danger or trap. It’s not that Noxa didn’t trust the Doctor, it’s that Noxa trusted her instincts a lot more — and that was something she didn’t entirely have control over. Either way, Katsu may or may not have noticed the change in demeanor; he had clearly made Noxa far more alert. The two antenna over her head twitched as it scanned the area for any potential harm.
Naturally, not much was reported back. Still, she didn’t exactly relax right away, but once the smell of the fresh seafood began… Her belly rumbled; her torso rose as the woman took in a lungful of the aroma of steaming crustaceans. Noxa wasn’t entirely aware if she had ever had crustaceans — or anything from the sea that came in shells. She had fish, of course, but that was only due to how cheap the meat was. It was something that Noxa had found aplenty in shops and restaurants here on Earth. The low value, thanks to just how plentiful it was, meant that she didn’t have to worry about yet another possible rejection from Dirty Dan’s credit card.
When Katsu began to explain his motives behind his toying with the wildlife Noxa found herself a little estranged. There was there lingered a tenebrous truth to his tone. The credence that he spewed with such conviction — the vermillion vixen didn’t buy it. Survival was the apex principal onto which all life was formed; the virago didn’t doubt his fealty to science. She did, however, doubt just how objective Doctor Katsu was being when speaking of his own drive and purpose. There wasn’t an iota of uncertainty in the skeptic woman’s mind; she firmly held to her faith that should Katsu be truly faced with a life or death situation he would not hesitate to save himself, despite just how visceral those consequences may be. The grotesque truth was that no one could escape their imprinted design. However, that wasn’t something she would contest with the doctor; Noxa very well understood just how dangerous that line of questioning could be. People became defensive when their innermost drivers were questioned.
Talk about rodents and birds had Noxa simply listen. In reality everything that he said and showed her entered one ear and left out the other. None of it was really of interest to her. It was simply Doctor Katsu going into excessive depth about his reasoning. By now, Noxa had no only managed to relax from her earlier warning; she had begun to nearly doze off. That fact wasn’t exactly visible, but anyone capable of monitoring her vitals could have noticed a lulling heartbeat and dropping blood pressure. It wasn’t until his comment about Bagheera that her eyes were once again filled with life. What did he say? That some two-bit forest-stalking predator could ‘tear a hole in her chest’? Noxa’s crimson eyebrows pushed together as her face tensed with slight irritation.
“What are you talking about?” She asked, “There is no way that panther could beat me in a fight — I-I AM the apex, here! Me! Summit; progenitor, all of that!” The woman began to huff and puff, finding herself flustered faster than the dinner was able to cook. She was in absolute denial; nothing Katsu could say to her now would affect that, which was interesting considering in her mind that was exactly what she figured he would have done moments ago, should she have brought up her doubts about his jettison of instinct.
If it wasn’t for her already found mood the woman likely would have leaped at the sudden lash of the oven’s door. That or completely decimated the contraption for having startled her — not out of spite, but in an involuntary knee-jerk reaction. It wouldn’t have been the first time it happened. Still, the intensity of the food’s aroma increased. The wonderful smell tugged at Noxa’s consciousness, attempting the pry the woman away from any thought of resentment as to the Doctor’s earlier comments. The salivation caused the woman to swallow, her will for anger being completely swayed by the presentation Katsu pulled; a delightful main dish of seafood served alongside spiced rice and plenty of sauce. It was exactly the kind of high-class dinner that Noxa had yearned over the past few weeks. Every attempt at satiating that desire was met with dismissal, as the woman either didn’t have the money to pay for the meal or was deemed ‘unfit’ to be served at the restaurant, for reasons that were never directly explained to her — but the blushing busboys who escorted her out were an indication. Eventually, Noxa would come to puzzle that one together, but it wouldn’t have been tonight.
A certain hungry , slightly peeved-off lady found herself pulling her chain in closer to the table, which would be made to meet her belly. The Doctor’s talk of Zucceta was something that seemed a little too out of character to be true. From Noxa’s experience, the woman was a firm, yet fair character. A leader, by the way that she seemed to conduct the symphony of fighters that had gathered to stop the Konastian monster’s rampage in Satan City. To hear that she had effectively neutralized planets…
“Tsk…” Noxa sucked her teeth; a brief comment to his ‘you’re fine’. Noxa seethed, glaring down at the plate laid before her. Although impossible to really ‘kill’ the woman’s appetite, the conversation’s turn seemed to have at least distracted her a little from the theatrics of it all, which managed to completely alter the dinner experience. Noxa was, after all, all about theatrics. Her expression softened; the ire dissipated when the intricacies of eating this meal were explained to Noxa. As much as she loved ‘theatrics’ there was a lot of unnecessary steps to all this. Well, at least for Noxa. She wasn’t human, so the experience would be entirely different. Just by smelling and observing the organic nature of the shell and waste the woman understood that she could absorb whatever she couldn’t eat. In her hands, nothing would really go to waste, but simply shoving Katsu aside like that would have been unnecessarily rude. Not to mention the woman, unlike her first time with Katsu, was interested in actually tasting this meal, not simply siphon off the nutrients and metabolize the calories.
Still, Noxa paid attention to all Katsu showed her. The woman waited until he fully left her side to begin eating; once she did her process would be nearly exactly the same that Katsu had displayed — with a few minor differences. The woman, being a bit more different than Katsu, found herself eating with her talons. She didn’t need to use any of the utensils to crack carapaces or extract meat. Her talons were sharp enough to pierce; her muscles strong enough to extract. The woman first worked on cracking open everything she was going to eat. It was evident a small pleasure was taken from her activity; she worked silently and diligently to make sure the meal was undressed. Once all of the white meat had been placed alongside the woman’s portion of rice and sauce, the woman reached over to the small mount of chitin that had gathered. Her own carapace would melt into her flesh, exposing her dainty, fleshy fingers. Her left hand clamped down against the exoskeleton graveyard. The line between flesh and carapace began to give. Noxa had begun to absorb the natural was of her meal, absorbing every last splinter of shell until there was nothing left. Once she was done there wasn't even an iota of the mount’s juices on the table. It was then that her carapace faded back into her hand, forming the gauntlet she seemed to always have on.
The meat that had piled up was white, mushy, and succulent. Hints of red-rimmed the fringe of the chunky flesh. The scent was delicious. Thankfully, the woman didn’t simply smash her naked fist down on the plate and absorb everything. Instead, the middle finger and thumb’s talons came down. Much like chopsticks, Noxa found herself eating the meal through portions small enough to be balanced in the makeshift cutlery.
The woman was sure to clear the heaping pile of carbs and protein that had been loaded into her plate. If the expectation was that Noxa would reach for seconds, then it would fall flat; instead, Noxa found herself bringing each of her claws into her mouth, thoroughly cleaning up whatever tasty grease there would be left at their tips. Noxa understood that Katsu wouldn’t be done eating for quite some time. His ‘superman’ serum leaving him with a ravenous appetite that greatly eclipsed her own. Still, while Noxa wasn’t exactly satiated, she had a more pressing matter in mind.
While the Doctor ravaged his meal, Noxa spoke up:
“Tell me more about ki sensing.” On pressed the woman, finding herself far more intrigued by that topic than the meal at hand. It wasn’t a slight to Katsu’s cooking, it simply wasn’t as rewarding as the possibility of finally piecing together a puzzle she had nearly completed. “I can ‘feel’ rough outlines, or presences, but I can’t exactly gauge them like you seem to be able to. I know there is more to this technique, but I’ve only just scratched the surface, and being just ‘on the bring’ is leaving me with this…” The woman felt herself pausing, leaning against the table with her left forearm as her talon tapped away rapidly, mirroring just how she felt. “Unbearable itch.”
Finally, the woman reiterated her point. “What am I missing here?! I am so close!”
This took me six hours to write. If you have any criticisms or spot any mistakes PLEASE forward them to me.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2016 23:14:22 GMT
▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼ Base Powerlevel: 62,100 | Transformation: Heavily Weighted, Suppressed | Current Powerlevel: 7,500 | Gain Bonuses: Heavy Weights, T3 House | @noxa |
Part of being a Scientist was being able to take information and ideas that were counter to your own with grace and dignity. If a scientist flew off the handle at every thing that was opposed to his own theory he would not get very far in his profession, at least from an academic perspective. Katsu was aware of those many “scientists” who relied on political maneuvering in order to get Grants to support their research. He had little respect for such people who were more interested in the money than the science they were supposedly trying to expand. In his opinion they were not true scientists at all, merely politicians who wore labcoats.
Anyway, Katsu viewed himself as a scientist, and thus he was fully capable of taking in Noxa's words, her disagreement with his broad judgment of humanity, and merely find amusement in them. His own experience with humanity had been at the time of his life when his morals and ethics were being formed; of when he was attempting to make sense of the world. For Noxa she already had her own views and judgments on the universe at large and she found Humanity to be something different to the instinct-driven world she had known. To Katsu, they were one and the same, even if the way most humans acted seemed a bit less kill or be killed. In the end it was all driven by the same instincts. Countries fought wars over resources, men and women fought each other on more personal levels for the same thing. Competition at every level, from a quick game of checkers amongst two old men to the International BattleBall Final Match, was all about resources. Whether it be social standing, money, or sexual partners humans actions were almost completely focused on getting such resources. Just like the most primitive animals. In the end it was still a less lethal version of Kill or be Killed...Conquer or be Conquered, if you will.
Of course disputing this conversation piece wasn't going to help Noxa grow as a person; not right now. It would be much more efficient for Katsu to simply launch into his lessons on Ki, and so he did, completely ignoring most of the interim words that Noxa had been speaking with him about. Well, he did catch her words about being a progenitor, and he had to smile as he spoke, ”The reason you might be having trouble finalizing your ability to sense Ki is because you lack a bit of knowledge on the nature of Ki itself. Now, bear with me, this might get terribly complex, but you'll need to stick with it for me to help you properly..”
Concentrating Katsu began to focus his energy in the palm of his left hand; a tiny ball of light expanding from it and rising into the air a few inches. When the ball was roughly a foot in diameter he moved his hand away, the glowing ball staying in ts original placement, humming gently with the rapid oscillation sound most Ki attacks generated. Tiny sparks of lightning seemed to float along the sphere's surface, arcing off into the air a few inches before dissipating. Noxa would be able to sense the hairs on her body standing up slightly from the electromagnetic charge in the room becoming more intense. It was basically a ball of lightning!
With his right hand Katsu continued his efforts, his energy flooding to his right hand. This time the ball was not of light, at least not directly. Scorching red flame burst into life in Katsu's palm, expanding and rising up to join the ball of light in the air, also reaching about one diameter in size, although the constant licking of the flames distorted it's shape often. The heat coming off of the flaming ball was affecting the entire room. The pieces of crab shell on Katsu's plate floated up into the air at Katsu's command, and as they got even near to the orb they began to crack and deform, eventually bursting into flames themselves before being rapidly consumed, a strange smell of seawater boiling and rocks burning filling the air.
There was still more to come it seemed, for Katsu continued to gather energy, but this time the object that appeared in his hands was much different than the two previous. Instead of being lightning or fire this appeared to be a metallic and rocky sphere. Pure silver this sphere grew the absolute slowest amongst the spheres grown, and the sound of wind could be heard the entire time as Katsu pulled in matter to supplement the sphere. It took nearly a minute of concentration before the sphere was a foot in diameter, and Noxa wouldn't really be able to feel much about the object. Not like the two other spheres that were so easy to tell what they did.
One more to go! Katsu took both hands to concentrate on this last one, but it was much faster than any of the other three. A sudden blackness filled his hands, quickly forming into a sphere roughly a foot in diameter. It was complete blackness, no color or light at all. Even the light of the lightning and fire ball didn't illuminate it, and in fact the light in the room seemed to get just a bit less under the influence of that dead-black orb. Another thing to notice was the sensation of being pulled towards it. Instead of joining the first three orbs it was sent high up to near the ceiling of the room, and the force pulling Noxa and Katsu down towards the ground lessened until it felt as if they were in freefall.
A tiny tap against his seat sent Katsu floating up into the air at a very slow ascent, and he turned himself about to speak to Noxa. “You can feel the effects of these right? They're four examples of energy in the universe. The lightning and light is Electromagnetic Energy in action. You can sense them because the light particles hit your eyes, which are designed to turn the information into what you see. The orb of flames is an example of Thermal Energy, a type of kinetic energy that is stored into a physical object. You can feel the fire because it radiates its heat against your skin, warming you up. Here, hold this for me.”
With a wave of his hand Katsu sent the silvery steel orb floating towards Noxa. Should she grab it as Katsu asked she would find that as soon as she touched it she couldn't let go! The orb was incredibly heavy as well, resisting any change in position, floating in front of Noxa defiantly. It would take a great deal of Noxa's strength to pull herself free of the orb, and even once she did she might notice that her palms would be raw for a moment before she began to regenerate. The strength of the orb was so strong it had ripped the top layers of her skin off when she had pulled herself free! Of course even if Noxa hadn't touched it at all Katsu would still continue, and would float the orb back into the position he had placed it in first, next to the fire orb.
“That orb is an example of the Nuclear Force, the force that acts on things very very close to each other. It's what helps hold us all together instead of flying apart whenever we move. It's such a part of us we never think to sense it, but try it now and I bet you can. Without it we would simply dissolve into particles too small to see.
“The last example I have is Gravity, the black orb near the ceiling.” Katsu pointed up to the orb in question, kicking off of the surface beneath him to speed his ascent. He flipped over in midair, his feet landing on the ceiling as if he had jumped down from a table to the floor. The orb floated to his hands, and Katsu gently nudged it towards the other three balls. The first to be affected was the fire orb, which seemed to be pulled into the black orb bit by bit, a long string of fire forming for a few long moments before the entire object was absorbed, not a speck left of it. The second to be affected was the steel orb, which also floated towards the black ball, but did not deform at all. It merely collided with and sank into the black orb, vaguely visible on the inside of the darkness. Lastly Katsu had to send the lightning ball at the gravity ball with a wave of his hand, the light and lightning discharging over the surface of the metallic sphere causing the entire orb to light up with the energy. Light contained within darkness.
Katsu made a crushing motion with his hands, and the black orb suddenly collapsed into a single visible point, taking the light, heat, and matter along with it, crushing it down. The end result was a single tiny bead of pure black steel, hot to the touch and steaming. Katsu floated to the floor, righting his orientation as he did so, and snatched the tiny object. He didn't seem affected by the intense heat of the object and handled it casually. “Ki is just like my examples. A form of energy; a force carrier that causes every interaction that allows things to exist as they do. Without Ki we would not exist. It should also be noted that Ki is a little unique amongst the Energy types. While many of the other energy types are 'stuck' as energy, Ki energy can be very easily switched into a physical object by one who can manipulate it to a fine degree. Which is why many Ki attacks you may have encountered have physical mass. Cutting discs, whips and vines, swords; Ki can be formed into just about any shape you desire if you have the skill. The greater your skill the more durability and hardness you can give your creations, based upon how finely you can regulate the energy to mass conversion process. It is also the reason why Ki Users can reinforce their bodies with Ki, strengthening the Nuclear Force that holds our bodies together to increase durability and survive attacks that would turn a normal human into a fine pink mist on the wind.
“Our sensory system can easily sense all the types of energy. Our nerves can sense light, heat, smells, gravity, air pressure, Nuclear Forces, electricity... you name it, we have an organ designed just to sense it. Some organs are in your head, like your eyes, ears, tongue, and nose. Some of them are spread throughout your body, namely your nerves. The organs we have for sensing Ki are similar to our nerves, and are simply called the Ki Channels. They pull double duty as well so to speak, because they also are the main way in which we channel and control our Ki inside our body. Like the nerves they are spread throughout our entire body, but unlike nerves they are so small we cannot even see them with the unaided eye.” Katsu trailed off for a bit, apparently thinking of how best to help; the tiny orb that he held in his hands had cooled apparently, for it no longer steamed or radiated heat, although the temperature in the room had risen at least 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
With a seeming spark of a new idea in his head Katsu began to approach Noxa in his casual manner, placing the tiny black orb he had made away in a pocket. He reached up with his hands and spoke as he slowly reached for Noxa's form, “Perhaps all the words won't help without a better example for you. I'm going to place my hands on your shoulder and hip and then stimulate your Ki Channels with my own Ki. It should give you a great comparison to the sense of your own Ki in your body. When you can feel the difference in sensation between my energy and yours let me know and I'll stop..”
Assuming at that point that Noxa would let him do as he wanted, he would carry out his words. His left hand on her right shoulder, his right hand on her left hip, just above her dermal armor plates. He would grasp a firm hold before Noxa would feel a strange warmth enter her body from Katsu's hands. It was soft and gentle, like a small wave lapping against a shore, and it would slowly adjust itself to Noxa's body, beginning to spread from the points of contact. It would seem to flow along her blood vessels and across her muscle fibers. Up and down her bones and even into the strands of her hair, the sensation of gentle warmth spreading to every part of Noxa's body without ever becoming to the point of being hot. Sweat beaded on Katsu's brow however as he concentrated, apparently some kind of straing being placed on him as he continued to gently pour his energy into Noxa until she could feel the difference between his and her own Ki within her body...
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2016 7:26:50 GMT
The termagant sitting down across Katsu had little knowledge of interest in Earthly politics; the extent Noxa cared for in terms of the relationships of the people of Earth started and stopped at the point of her being hunted or exiled. If she were to suddenly start giving a damn about every which whim a man with zeni wished to flaunt his money or sway public interest then she wouldn’t be fulfilling her primordial directive — or, rather, she would have, but not directly. The only reason Noxa was here was to secure an alliance she hoped to form; an alliance that would directly influence her ability to survive. The painful reality the redhead came to learn was that friends in high places were important — friends who pulled the strings from the shadows even more valuable still. Yet, she had yet to completely link that realization with the idea of politics; Noxa wasn’t aware of just how contradictory her emotions were. The duality of her character at war with itself in yet another way, it seemed.
S.C.A.R. was not the only reason Noxa had come here, of course; the virago had also the intention of pursuing another vital technique — the ability to gain another sense. As a predator, she was well aware of just how invaluable of a boon this would be. She couldn’t imagine living without sight; she couldn’t imagine living with hearing — the same could be said about any of her other input systems. Lacking a sense, to Noxa, would be analogous to attempting to be missing a layer of dimensions. Someone without eyesight attempting to combat a fully abled being would have been like a 2-dimensional being attempting to comprehend a 3-dimensional world; it simply couldn't be done. At hand the issue being that this was precisely the situation Noxa found herself in; it was with that insight that Noxa found herself still at this dinner table — well, the most important reason, anyway. With the vital technique of sensing the presence of living creatures — regardless of barriers — the woman found that the shadowy syndicate’s importances, as well as the food laid before her, suddenly dwindle into insignificance. Should Doctor Katsu not have pressed her onward to this knowledge soon it was likely she would become increasingly pushy towards the subject.
It was all the best that it seemed as though the good Doctor finally good a move on things; Noxa had just begun to grow impatient.
”The reason you might be having trouble finalizing your ability to sense Ki is because you lack a bit of knowledge on the nature of Ki itself. Now, bear with me, this might get terribly complex, but you'll need to stick with it for me to help you properly..”
Despite his plea, it was exactly what happened; the scarlet-haired Virago grew impatient and — slightly — belligerent.
“Of course I don’t understand it, Doctor! That’s exactly what I'm here for; to get help with this whole ‘ki sense’ thing. It’s frustrating the everliving hell out of me! Do you know how insane it is to just barely be able to taste something, but be denied the full satisfaction of fully embracing it?!”
The woman’s fists smashed into the table; causing a few of the dishes to momentarily be tossed airborne; vivid cracks rushed outward from the posh wooden table, splintering every which way. She shot to her feet, the sudden straightening of the back of her knees sending the chair skidding away.
Before the woman was able to go on yet another tirade she found herself stopping dead in her tracks. Doctor Katsu seemed to be-be in the middle of something; she could see his process; she could feel the gathering of power at his palm. Her xanthic gaze found itself fixing on the expansion of a ki sphere; it hovered over his palm. Her multitude of senses caused her to feel alarmed as the little ball began to give off a rather tangible magnetic field as it neared her — creeping her way across the table. The tell-tale sound of ki told her — as if her other senses weren’t well-endowed enough — that this was just some everyday ki orb, though it seemed Katsu had some something to it; altered its properties just enough to add its own special ‘zing’ to the technique. Her heavy right hand rose before smacking away at the ball of energy; she was surprised to find a pleasurable jolt of energy arching through her body, sending her every neuron and nerve alight with excitement. Her eyes widened for a moment — it wasn’t just ki! It was electricity! How did he do that?!
“N-no way… You’re able to imbue ki with different properties?! Something more than just explosive or to just augment your own physical properties?!” Her eyes narrowed. Now that Noxa had been exposed to this kind of advanced, forward-thinking technique… A whole new world of possibilities had been opened up to her. A world where finesse and tactics seemed infinitely more valuable to a warrior than the simply brute force and instinct-driven combat she had relied on up to this point.
The Bio Android’s auriferous focus soon turned to this other limb; her eyes gazed into his right hand as yet another surprise seemed to be taking place. Up came an unstable flame of bright plasma; the shifting of the flames causing the Bionic Woman to have a hard time pinning down its properties — even with her artificially enhanced senses. It seemed to simply be some form of fire, likely using Katsu’s own ki as a form of fuel and heat. Just as she thought she had figured out the nature of this orb, however, something else took place: the object began to wrap the gravity flow around it. The redhead was left to watch as her dinner — or what was left of what she would eventually eat — began to float towards the black and pink flames. Awe-stricken; her features were suddenly twisted into something of shock and surprise as she watched as the ball began to forcible erode and pull-apart the matter it had lured.
“Amazing! That thing, if you use it on a large enough scale it could destroy just about anything!” It seemed her patience was paying off; not only was she learning more about ki sense, but the predator was also given a front row seat to an array of techniques she could employ herself somewhere down the line! Add even more firepower to her own arsenal!
That wondrous display was swiftly forgotten as another one had begun to brew. Doctor Katsu, whom Noxa was now fully regarding as a genius, found himself forming what seemed to be a rock-solid sphere of matter. Should it not be for the fact she could sense the ki flowing up until the point it vanished, Noxa would likely have dismissed this as not having anything to do with Ki. However, at this point, things were far too off the rays for her to begin doubting the Doctor. Between what he had just shown her and what they both experienced the day she was admitted into SCAR… Noxa simply made a mental note: Ki could be forcibly solidified into what kind of matter one wished. She doubted that this kind of behavior would be easy enough to enact — years of dedication and experience surely awaited ahead of her if her intention was to mimic this display. Thankfully, for Noxa, this level of mastery was not on her bucket list.
Another gravity sphere, however, seemed to be created by Katsu for his grand finale. This opaque orb was of absolute darkness; from what little Noxa understood of the namesake, she decided to dub this one was ‘black hole’. She was well aware of the astrophysical objects whose gravity were so intense that not even light could escape it. It seemed to describe the sensation of dread that had fallen onto her as she was tugged into its tidal force perfectly: a black hole. The orb gravitated upwards into the ceiling, eventually tugging Noxa and The Doctor towards it. Although they did not feel there was a distinct sensation of weightlessness; it was as though they had been in space with no artificial gravity — or in free fall. This one seemed to have much less use compared to the first two ki balls that the Doctor had generated; it seemed to distort gravity, albeit in a mostly innocuous manner, whereas the second orb did the same, but also absolutely obliterated whatever became tidal locked with it.
She listened intently as the man began to describe how each of the little displays her put on for her had some sort of elaborate meaning; how each represented something on a grander scale. Apparently, one was meant to represent electromagnetic energy; another was meant to represent thermal energy; another was meant to represent gravity; another was meant to represent Nuclear Force; and, the final one, gravity.”
For the vast majority of the orbs, it seemed as though they all had been mostly self-explanatory. One was hot; one tempered with the natural order of gravity; one was clearly designed to deal with electricity;, and the other one seemed to deal with a concept Noxa didn’t fully understand. Katsu’s own words sailed mostly overhead as Noxa was given the amalgam of rock and metal to hold.
“Ggyaaah~!” Yelped the woman, finding as though a sudden magnetic lock had been placed into her hands.
Instead of managing to fight off the tug of the orb the redhead simply formed a ki blast of her own. The immense power in her hand was more than enough to utterly vaporize whatever magical delight this scientist had conjured up. His orb, representing ‘Nuclear Force’ was reduced to nothingness in a matter of seconds. It left Noxa glaring upwards at the man that oh-so-condescendingly floated above her.
‘Condescendingly’. Noxa was able to catch the feeling of resentment and adjust it. It wasn’t Katsu that she should feel ill will towards; he was, after all, simply giving her a lesson — a lesson she begged him for, to boot. She would do well in pushing her personal feelings aside and giving this one close attention.
He went on to note that that was an example of ‘blah blah’. Despite all that he was saying — and just how interesting all that he showed her was — none of it really directly answered her questions about sensing ki, much less gave her any real advice on how to proceed with adapting herself to that sensation.
Katsu would go on to further detail every single one of the orbs. All of them seemed to irritate Noxa further. It wasn’t until he reached for Noxa that she found herself having just enough of his lessons. Trying to find a way to leave this place without burning bridges Noxa found herself stepping away, reaching for the datapad that Katsu had previously unlocked for her.
“I think I need some air. I’ll be back soon.” She said under her breath.
She wasn’t going to come back; she needed to find this out for herself. Maybe a fight against that supposedly killer panther would reveal what she yearned to know.
Noxa was, after all, more of a hands-on student.
If that ‘Bertha’, or whatever the hell name Katsu had given the feline was anywhere near half as strong as he claimed it was then Noxa would surely be able to learn a thing or two from that fight. Whatever happened, however, she was sure it would have been better than simply sitting here listening to the Doctor’s lectures about ki and other universal forces.
Damn it, Noxa wasn’t going to try out for nuclear physics or whatever the hell kind of bullshit he was trying to pull! She just wanted to have this damned puzzle click so she could go on with her life! Of course, this simply called more questions into light, shedding insight on the fact that power was a ‘means’ not an ‘end’; shedding light on the fact Noxa still had no idea of what she wanted from her existence aside from ‘to simply not die’.
Those armor-piercing existential crises would have to wait; Noxa had been absolutely through with the farce she had just had to sit through. She still respected the doctor — and owed him her life, however, it as more than time that she began to seek her own answers; beat her own path. He couldn’t help her the way she needed to be helped, so her fate was out of his hands. There was little in this topic that the man could offer her, it seemed.
The virago had managed to get her metallic little carapace-covered claws on a means to hopefully learn more about Katsu, the world, and possibly keep in contact with SCAR. As far as she cared every single basis she came here to accomplish had been covered — save the most important one , which was what she planned to do now. Just shy of the doorway noxa found herself pausing. Her head craned back as she looked back to the scientist who had been standing near where she sat; frozen in place as though her sudden decision to get up and move away was not what he expected.
“Thank you for the lessons, Doctor Katsu; thank you for the food. However, I need to forge my own way, so I bid you adieu.”
And with that her posture returned; she looked dead ahead, eyes piercing through the darkness of this mansion’s prolonged hallways. Noxa then took a few steps forward, leaving Katsu’s sight as she melded into the veil of blackness that laid beyond the door.
Something tugged at the pit of the woman's stomach. She wasn’t sure why, but something told her that this would have been the very last time she stepped foot in this mansion.
Katsu has quit. I attempted to wrap this up as neatly as I could — give a reason for Noxa's separation as well as a way for her to remain in contact with SCAR.
|
|
|
Post by Etoru on Nov 30, 2016 19:59:44 GMT
You've earned 6,966 PL! 204,160 + 6,966 = 211,126 PL
|
|