An Experiment within an Experiment within an Experiment...
Who: Transtech!Shockwave and Putress
What: Moral ambiguity and sciencey discussion.
When: A bit ago, when Putress was returning from his escapade Off-world.
Where: Shockwave's secret layer, outside of the Nexus
Notes: Finished, Closed. In which Putress receives 1 virus, a bit of funding, and gets to keep some memories.
Shockwave
This one...was an interesting one, he had long since noted.
It did not register to any scans of lifesigns, whether he had adapted the sensors towards organic beings or metallic beings, and yet it still displayed sentience and a drive towards achievements...and towards discovering, amusingly enough, that which had not been yet discovered. This was particularly impressive, since many of his learnings were in areas with which Shockwave, himself, was unfamiliar...and this was yet unheard of.
However, it was also easily rectified...especially since this 'Putress' was, in fact, a part of his experiment...
But it did mean that he had a few queries that he would like to place, before simply returning him out to the streets to wreak his particular brand of havoc.
The creature had just returned from a foray into a previously unknown universe which Shockwave had deported him to in order to explore...
And though he'd already extracted the data from his memories (a process that was extraordinarily difficult with a well-preserved but fragile brain,) there was nothing quite so interesting as hearing tales recounted, personally.
He activated the berth Putress was lying on, releasing the restraints and returning him to consciousness. A formidable creature, yes...but also one that he could handle should the need arise.
He suspected that it wouldn't.
Putress
The first thing Putress noticed - even before re-lighting his eyes -
was that he was missing his armor and mask, stripped down to
unenchanted cloth. 'Cold' was something he had long ago forgotten,
save as distant memory, but the metal he was lying on likely held that
attribute.
Dark eyesockets ignited with fel-fire as the Forsaken raised himself
to his elbows and then to his feet. If he was uncomfortable, it didn't
show on his revealed face, as patched as his body. The apothecary
flexed his claws, taking stock of himself. Of course he had been
stripped of his potions and elixirs - that was only to be expected.
But the blood he had drunk of Varimathras was as potent as ever; he
was not so helpless as might be thought.
"You are fortunate," he informed the room. "It is always a danger to
render Forsaken lesser than myself unconscious - one never knows who
will be controlling the body that awakens." It was a petty statement,
even unwise, but Putress's calmness was only the thing his seething
anger concealed itself behind. "I assume there is a point to this
charade?"
Shockwave
Shockwave observed with a passive intensity, his single enhanced optic glowing from where he sat to observe on a lab stool in the corner. The subject was barely awoken, and already he had provided very interesting data...a stream of which was filtered and written into a special cache to be scrutinized more closely, later.
"Indeed I shall make note of this, Grand Apothecary. Though you seem to be the only of your rather unique breed to walk within the Nexus." He did not move on the chair, for all that he spoke. "...not so much in the world you were just visiting, however. But yes, there is, in fact, a point."
"...you come from a world well versed in a concept called 'magic.' I wish to understand it better, and, perhaps, what part it plays in animating you."
Putress
"You would have done better to procure a mage, in that case," Putress
retorted. "Or a necromancer, if that is the thrust of your inquiry."
As he was watched, so was Putress watching in return - indeed, he
walked closer on the berth to get a better view. This was a rare
opportunity for him to study one of the Transtech creatures in
relatively close quarters, and he intended to take full advantage of
it.
Shockwave
"If only those options were available to me. Yet it seems, for the time being, that I am stuck without."
The majority of the lights in the room were centered upon the berth that housed the 'doctor,' allowing Shockwave to observe more easily while remaining, himself, less well seen. However, he did not entirely discourage the subject from watching him, allowing for the extra variables and, admittedly, curious to how Putress would react. "I have watched your control over those 'lesser forsaken' as you put it. So, if you would indulge me...what is it that controls you?"
Putress
"My will," Putress responded shortly, briefly touching his chest.
"One's own, if one controls oneself, or the will of the reanimator if
not." The Forsaken gauged the distance from the edge of the berth to
the floor, unwilling to remain a passive object of study if another
option was available. "What is the purpose of your inquiry? I would
not think you to need undead servants."
Shockwave
"Its a long way down, Apothecary." Shockwave nearly purred from his stool, despite that the jump was one Putress probably could have made with relatively little harm. "And as my guest I would be most displeased should you attempt to leave too soon." There would be the slightest hint of movement from another part of the room, a place concealed in absolute dark rather purposefully, several sets of optics blinking to life and then back again to shadows. "As would my companion."
He resettled, and the room returned to silence on both fronts.
"My purpose, Putress, is simply to learn." He curled a reptilian hand around his datapad, and reached another one out for a cup of tea sitting nearby. "...to discover the secrets of other worlds, and use them to enhance our own. Something I am sure that you could understand...?"
Putress
Putress was exceptionally unimpressed with the attempts at
intimidation, and it showed. He was an apothecary and a Forsaken: fear
was something he had left far behind him. He had defied far greater
things than mere automatons, no matter how powerful they believed
themselves to be. "Perhaps. Greater than that, though, is my desire to
return to Azeroth. I am not unwilling to share what I know in exchange
for a timely return."
Shockwave
"This may not be feasible, Apothecary, unless I am so inclined to acquiesce...which at this moment I am not. As you are some subsidiary of scientist, surely you know of the importance of retaining a subject even after its believed that no more can be learned from it...one never knows what information you'll find out, too late, that you are lacking. However, if it is an exchange that you are interested in..."
Shockwave...considered. This one was intelligent, and he had no small appreciation for such things...just as he had no small appreciation for a creature that held its emotions so tightly under check. There could easily be a mutually beneficial situation lying in wait, especially since this provided an opportunity for allowing someone else to conduct experiments, record the data, return it to him, and, most importantly....take the blame, should anything go wrong.
Oh, most fortuitous, indeed.
"...am I wrong in assuming that you've been having some difficulties securing a suitable environment for your work to progress in? This, if I've been observing correctly, has put you somewhat behind schedule."
Putress
Putress's eyes flared brighter, lips drawing downwards. It was the
only outward sign that he had decided the fate of Axiom Nexus in his
own mind. If this being had been willing to return him, Putress would
have not gone too far out of his way to see the world destroyed
as he left. Now, though, its destruction would not only serve his
vengeance, but also as his surest way back to Azeroth, Venomblight,
and the Lich King.
That resolution did not cloud his mind unduly, though. Putress
considered the offer with care. There would of course be no question
that they would monitor any work he did in their laboratory - it would
be entirely unsuitable for work upon the plague he intended to visit
upon /them./ And it would not do to have them see too much of his
methods in any case. "Merely an inconvenience. I anticipate fewer
difficulties with my new location."
Shockwave
"Of course." Shockwave stood to his full height, crossing the room to press his hand against a small pad in the wall. A compartment slid open with a hisss, the slight amount of escaped vapor indicating a cold and sterile environment inside. "Then I can, it seems, give you something else." He reached in, picking up a tiny, completely sealed vial between two claws.
"In studying some of the content carried on your person, I and my colleagues have arrived at this." The door slid shut once more, and Shockwave crossed the room to offer Putress the container. "You may take as long as you desire to study it, yourself--and I admit it is somewhat faulty, having been hastily constructed--but it has the interesting effect of duplicating some of your 'deceased' effects while leaving the user still alive." He stepped back. "Therefore, while I regret to inform you that your stay might remain extended--perhaps you could find some of the activities here...worthwhile."
Putress
"If I /must/ stay, then I would be remiss not to continue my work."
Putress accepted the vial delicately. "And this, then, in return for
what information I know on the subject of magics? A pittance, as you
yourself say it is flawed. But be that as it may." Less than a
pittance, in truth - Putress had no use for a plague that did not
/kill./ To duplicate the effects of undeath while leaving the subject
alive was marginally interesting, but not anywhere near as interesting
as a chance to study how /these/ creatures designed their toxins. He
would hardly get a perfect example from them, but he would make do
with what he had.
Shockwave
"You must stay, for a time. But seeing as you cannot die...once I have completed my own work, it may be feasible to return you to the point from which you left." Shockwave returned, slowly, to his chair, unrushed. "And I look forward to seeing what you might be able to achieve, within that spance." And also to pinpointing what, precisely, allowed him to function...but that was better left unsaid. "Further viruses will be provided for your study, as they are produced...but that will depend on what you do with this one."
Putress
Putress chuckled. Kept as a tame researcher, then? He had made
seemingly-worse bargains in his time. And the opportunities from this
one were nigh infinte. "You should have said as much at the outset,"
he chided, amused. "What do you require?"
Shockwave
"My aim was not to improve your countenance, although the suggestion has merit towards expediting future...arrangements." Once seated, he recorded a few more notes onto his datapad. "Once we have finished here, you will be released back into the Nexus to continue as before." It would even be beneficial to leave him with his memories, this time, since he would have to observe him with excruciating closeness either way, if he was to see what methods Putress chose to utilize in altering the virus. "While we are here...please. Do tell me more about the Forsaken, and about the magics of your world." This was turning out to be rather profitable, indeed.
Putress
"A simple enough request." Gesturing, Putress began telling the story
of the Forsaken: the plague that swept the Eastern Kingdoms, the
resurrection of the dead, the corruption of Lordaeron's Prince Arthas,
the rise of the Lich King. He did not spare the more horrific details:
the bloated, disease-sodden land, the undead insectile Nerubians that
Arthas brought under his sway, the necropoli and the plague wagons. He
explained, briefly, the rebellion of the Forsaken, and the reception
they had in human lands, and concluded with an explanation of their
self-chosen name, the discovery by their risen priests and former
paladins that the Light would no longer answer their calls. From
there, the Forsaken explained the basic tenets of various magics: the
holy powers of the Light, the darker influences of the Shadow, the
elemental forces that shamans called upon and the arcane power that
mages summoned. He touched on the superstitions of trolls and
shape-changing druids, but he was no expert on the subject and
admitted as much. The runes and frost of the death knights received
somewhat more attention, if a slightly dismissive one. He finished
with the warlocks, those who made their deals with demons and drank
their blood for a portion of their power, though he saw no need to
mention the bargains he had made with Varimathras the dreadlord. Nor
did he describe too closely the abilities of all those beings unless
asked - the warlocks' curses and shadowy fires, shamanistic totems or
druidic dreaming, the judgments of paladins or priests' bolstering of
spirit. It would not do to give away /too/ much, after all. And may
the Shadow help them if they asked for a /demonstration./
Shockwave
Shockwave would have, indeed, been very interested in demonstrations of all sorts, of anything that Putress was willing to provide or was knowledgeable in. He accepted facts of all degrees of specificity, though when he could get details those were probed for, deeply, especially in subjects to which Putress was an expert. This experimental subject was, indeed, very useful to his plans, and would likely be asked back, later...
For now, though, he would only be allowed to keep the bare minimum knowledge of the conversations that had transpired, and Shockwave did not mind dropping several large hints that it might not have, in fact, occurred in the same universe as the Nexus, since Putress was still in the limbo of world-hopping. The disease, however, was his--as per their agreement, and Shockwave held no small interest in seeing what the 'scientist' developed from it (especially with diagnostic nanites waiting within the brew to record each action that was done.)
An experiment...done by an experiment...within an experiment.
The factors were increasing, but the knowledge gained would be well worth the cost.
What: Moral ambiguity and sciencey discussion.
When: A bit ago, when Putress was returning from his escapade Off-world.
Where: Shockwave's secret layer, outside of the Nexus
Notes: Finished, Closed. In which Putress receives 1 virus, a bit of funding, and gets to keep some memories.
Shockwave
This one...was an interesting one, he had long since noted.
It did not register to any scans of lifesigns, whether he had adapted the sensors towards organic beings or metallic beings, and yet it still displayed sentience and a drive towards achievements...and towards discovering, amusingly enough, that which had not been yet discovered. This was particularly impressive, since many of his learnings were in areas with which Shockwave, himself, was unfamiliar...and this was yet unheard of.
However, it was also easily rectified...especially since this 'Putress' was, in fact, a part of his experiment...
But it did mean that he had a few queries that he would like to place, before simply returning him out to the streets to wreak his particular brand of havoc.
The creature had just returned from a foray into a previously unknown universe which Shockwave had deported him to in order to explore...
And though he'd already extracted the data from his memories (a process that was extraordinarily difficult with a well-preserved but fragile brain,) there was nothing quite so interesting as hearing tales recounted, personally.
He activated the berth Putress was lying on, releasing the restraints and returning him to consciousness. A formidable creature, yes...but also one that he could handle should the need arise.
He suspected that it wouldn't.
Putress
The first thing Putress noticed - even before re-lighting his eyes -
was that he was missing his armor and mask, stripped down to
unenchanted cloth. 'Cold' was something he had long ago forgotten,
save as distant memory, but the metal he was lying on likely held that
attribute.
Dark eyesockets ignited with fel-fire as the Forsaken raised himself
to his elbows and then to his feet. If he was uncomfortable, it didn't
show on his revealed face, as patched as his body. The apothecary
flexed his claws, taking stock of himself. Of course he had been
stripped of his potions and elixirs - that was only to be expected.
But the blood he had drunk of Varimathras was as potent as ever; he
was not so helpless as might be thought.
"You are fortunate," he informed the room. "It is always a danger to
render Forsaken lesser than myself unconscious - one never knows who
will be controlling the body that awakens." It was a petty statement,
even unwise, but Putress's calmness was only the thing his seething
anger concealed itself behind. "I assume there is a point to this
charade?"
Shockwave
Shockwave observed with a passive intensity, his single enhanced optic glowing from where he sat to observe on a lab stool in the corner. The subject was barely awoken, and already he had provided very interesting data...a stream of which was filtered and written into a special cache to be scrutinized more closely, later.
"Indeed I shall make note of this, Grand Apothecary. Though you seem to be the only of your rather unique breed to walk within the Nexus." He did not move on the chair, for all that he spoke. "...not so much in the world you were just visiting, however. But yes, there is, in fact, a point."
"...you come from a world well versed in a concept called 'magic.' I wish to understand it better, and, perhaps, what part it plays in animating you."
Putress
"You would have done better to procure a mage, in that case," Putress
retorted. "Or a necromancer, if that is the thrust of your inquiry."
As he was watched, so was Putress watching in return - indeed, he
walked closer on the berth to get a better view. This was a rare
opportunity for him to study one of the Transtech creatures in
relatively close quarters, and he intended to take full advantage of
it.
Shockwave
"If only those options were available to me. Yet it seems, for the time being, that I am stuck without."
The majority of the lights in the room were centered upon the berth that housed the 'doctor,' allowing Shockwave to observe more easily while remaining, himself, less well seen. However, he did not entirely discourage the subject from watching him, allowing for the extra variables and, admittedly, curious to how Putress would react. "I have watched your control over those 'lesser forsaken' as you put it. So, if you would indulge me...what is it that controls you?"
Putress
"My will," Putress responded shortly, briefly touching his chest.
"One's own, if one controls oneself, or the will of the reanimator if
not." The Forsaken gauged the distance from the edge of the berth to
the floor, unwilling to remain a passive object of study if another
option was available. "What is the purpose of your inquiry? I would
not think you to need undead servants."
Shockwave
"Its a long way down, Apothecary." Shockwave nearly purred from his stool, despite that the jump was one Putress probably could have made with relatively little harm. "And as my guest I would be most displeased should you attempt to leave too soon." There would be the slightest hint of movement from another part of the room, a place concealed in absolute dark rather purposefully, several sets of optics blinking to life and then back again to shadows. "As would my companion."
He resettled, and the room returned to silence on both fronts.
"My purpose, Putress, is simply to learn." He curled a reptilian hand around his datapad, and reached another one out for a cup of tea sitting nearby. "...to discover the secrets of other worlds, and use them to enhance our own. Something I am sure that you could understand...?"
Putress
Putress was exceptionally unimpressed with the attempts at
intimidation, and it showed. He was an apothecary and a Forsaken: fear
was something he had left far behind him. He had defied far greater
things than mere automatons, no matter how powerful they believed
themselves to be. "Perhaps. Greater than that, though, is my desire to
return to Azeroth. I am not unwilling to share what I know in exchange
for a timely return."
Shockwave
"This may not be feasible, Apothecary, unless I am so inclined to acquiesce...which at this moment I am not. As you are some subsidiary of scientist, surely you know of the importance of retaining a subject even after its believed that no more can be learned from it...one never knows what information you'll find out, too late, that you are lacking. However, if it is an exchange that you are interested in..."
Shockwave...considered. This one was intelligent, and he had no small appreciation for such things...just as he had no small appreciation for a creature that held its emotions so tightly under check. There could easily be a mutually beneficial situation lying in wait, especially since this provided an opportunity for allowing someone else to conduct experiments, record the data, return it to him, and, most importantly....take the blame, should anything go wrong.
Oh, most fortuitous, indeed.
"...am I wrong in assuming that you've been having some difficulties securing a suitable environment for your work to progress in? This, if I've been observing correctly, has put you somewhat behind schedule."
Putress
Putress's eyes flared brighter, lips drawing downwards. It was the
only outward sign that he had decided the fate of Axiom Nexus in his
own mind. If this being had been willing to return him, Putress would
have not gone too far out of his way to see the world destroyed
as he left. Now, though, its destruction would not only serve his
vengeance, but also as his surest way back to Azeroth, Venomblight,
and the Lich King.
That resolution did not cloud his mind unduly, though. Putress
considered the offer with care. There would of course be no question
that they would monitor any work he did in their laboratory - it would
be entirely unsuitable for work upon the plague he intended to visit
upon /them./ And it would not do to have them see too much of his
methods in any case. "Merely an inconvenience. I anticipate fewer
difficulties with my new location."
Shockwave
"Of course." Shockwave stood to his full height, crossing the room to press his hand against a small pad in the wall. A compartment slid open with a hisss, the slight amount of escaped vapor indicating a cold and sterile environment inside. "Then I can, it seems, give you something else." He reached in, picking up a tiny, completely sealed vial between two claws.
"In studying some of the content carried on your person, I and my colleagues have arrived at this." The door slid shut once more, and Shockwave crossed the room to offer Putress the container. "You may take as long as you desire to study it, yourself--and I admit it is somewhat faulty, having been hastily constructed--but it has the interesting effect of duplicating some of your 'deceased' effects while leaving the user still alive." He stepped back. "Therefore, while I regret to inform you that your stay might remain extended--perhaps you could find some of the activities here...worthwhile."
Putress
"If I /must/ stay, then I would be remiss not to continue my work."
Putress accepted the vial delicately. "And this, then, in return for
what information I know on the subject of magics? A pittance, as you
yourself say it is flawed. But be that as it may." Less than a
pittance, in truth - Putress had no use for a plague that did not
/kill./ To duplicate the effects of undeath while leaving the subject
alive was marginally interesting, but not anywhere near as interesting
as a chance to study how /these/ creatures designed their toxins. He
would hardly get a perfect example from them, but he would make do
with what he had.
Shockwave
"You must stay, for a time. But seeing as you cannot die...once I have completed my own work, it may be feasible to return you to the point from which you left." Shockwave returned, slowly, to his chair, unrushed. "And I look forward to seeing what you might be able to achieve, within that spance." And also to pinpointing what, precisely, allowed him to function...but that was better left unsaid. "Further viruses will be provided for your study, as they are produced...but that will depend on what you do with this one."
Putress
Putress chuckled. Kept as a tame researcher, then? He had made
seemingly-worse bargains in his time. And the opportunities from this
one were nigh infinte. "You should have said as much at the outset,"
he chided, amused. "What do you require?"
Shockwave
"My aim was not to improve your countenance, although the suggestion has merit towards expediting future...arrangements." Once seated, he recorded a few more notes onto his datapad. "Once we have finished here, you will be released back into the Nexus to continue as before." It would even be beneficial to leave him with his memories, this time, since he would have to observe him with excruciating closeness either way, if he was to see what methods Putress chose to utilize in altering the virus. "While we are here...please. Do tell me more about the Forsaken, and about the magics of your world." This was turning out to be rather profitable, indeed.
Putress
"A simple enough request." Gesturing, Putress began telling the story
of the Forsaken: the plague that swept the Eastern Kingdoms, the
resurrection of the dead, the corruption of Lordaeron's Prince Arthas,
the rise of the Lich King. He did not spare the more horrific details:
the bloated, disease-sodden land, the undead insectile Nerubians that
Arthas brought under his sway, the necropoli and the plague wagons. He
explained, briefly, the rebellion of the Forsaken, and the reception
they had in human lands, and concluded with an explanation of their
self-chosen name, the discovery by their risen priests and former
paladins that the Light would no longer answer their calls. From
there, the Forsaken explained the basic tenets of various magics: the
holy powers of the Light, the darker influences of the Shadow, the
elemental forces that shamans called upon and the arcane power that
mages summoned. He touched on the superstitions of trolls and
shape-changing druids, but he was no expert on the subject and
admitted as much. The runes and frost of the death knights received
somewhat more attention, if a slightly dismissive one. He finished
with the warlocks, those who made their deals with demons and drank
their blood for a portion of their power, though he saw no need to
mention the bargains he had made with Varimathras the dreadlord. Nor
did he describe too closely the abilities of all those beings unless
asked - the warlocks' curses and shadowy fires, shamanistic totems or
druidic dreaming, the judgments of paladins or priests' bolstering of
spirit. It would not do to give away /too/ much, after all. And may
the Shadow help them if they asked for a /demonstration./
Shockwave
Shockwave would have, indeed, been very interested in demonstrations of all sorts, of anything that Putress was willing to provide or was knowledgeable in. He accepted facts of all degrees of specificity, though when he could get details those were probed for, deeply, especially in subjects to which Putress was an expert. This experimental subject was, indeed, very useful to his plans, and would likely be asked back, later...
For now, though, he would only be allowed to keep the bare minimum knowledge of the conversations that had transpired, and Shockwave did not mind dropping several large hints that it might not have, in fact, occurred in the same universe as the Nexus, since Putress was still in the limbo of world-hopping. The disease, however, was his--as per their agreement, and Shockwave held no small interest in seeing what the 'scientist' developed from it (especially with diagnostic nanites waiting within the brew to record each action that was done.)
An experiment...done by an experiment...within an experiment.
The factors were increasing, but the knowledge gained would be well worth the cost.