11th Blastia: Nursing herself and preparing for fight

[famed_mage]

*Since the Kerrigan incident, Rita has been limping around the castle. She is still hurting from being impaled by all those spikes, but that hasn't stopped her. She has been working of her Spell cards, fine tuning her Energy Sword(trying to turn it into a whip), researching in the libary, and making new potions and devices. She will also try to

Comments

[yagokoro_eirin]

*Eirin flags Rita down near her lab. Inside, there's quite a pile of different organ samples from Zerg remnants.*

... Rita, I could use some opinions on something I've been working on.

[famed_mage]

Sure, be happy to help. Are you feeling better though? I mean, you only just got cured, thanks to Urd and yourself.

[yagokoro_eirin]

... That's part of the thing. The psychic components are disabled... But I actually avoided removing the biological components, for the moment. It provides for some handy samples in the meanwhile.

They'll necrose and decompose over time, so I don't need to worry. Kerrigan's hive structures were largely built for short generations - very well suited for fast evolution, but not so convenient for studying structures trying to produce a controlled emulation of their biological achievements.

[famed_mage]

Have you thought about deep freezing samples, so you can study them over a long period of time?

[yagokoro_eirin]

Loosely, but the freeze-thaw process can damage the cells... Plus, I'm close to the desired intent.

See, after I was infested, I thought about things, and saw the writing on the wall. Kerrigan had to rather strongly force her will onto Reisen to get her to do something Reisen full well knew wouldn't mean much. The odds of her succeeding... I was probably overly generous on them, being under it's influence and thus biased. In particular, she missed one critical potential of the hivemind... A potential that might just be the biggest leap we can make the next time we have to fight.

[famed_mage]

........

Um... you aren't thinking of doing what I think your thinking of, are you?

[yagokoro_eirin]

... Not as you're thinking it, I don't think.

The trick is, hiveminds are an ideal combat structure, up to a certain size limit. But, it's too easy for a controller to become megalomaniacal... But, why do you need one? You only do if we're talking a non-sentient-based system.

In other words, you can link up a group of, oh, five people, and with a little practice, they'll be able to fight in perfect synchronization, playing to each other's strengths and weaknesses exceptionally... Without any real control being involved.

[famed_mage]

But still, that is a bit, out there. I mean, even if you have good intentions, there is still a limit to what we should do.

Plus, just the sergery to do that would be extremely dangerous.

[yagokoro_eirin]

... Consider who we could be up against, Rita. We're up against the likes of Doctor BT. We can afford morality, but to ignore potential at a time like this...

And, fortunately, I've figured the surgery issue out... Or rather, found a way to largely eliminate the need for it.

*She pulls out a strange nerve structure.* I have to figure out a way to make purely artificial versions of this, and I'll also need to shape it into a collar or something... But basically, if this is close enough to specific points along your spinal cord, it can communicate with your brain. This version only emits a tiny, telltale buzzing noise, but when perfected, it can automatically associate with a few others grown in the same way.

Plus, I can make it have a safety that way - a clasp that needs to be closed for it to work or similar, for example.

[famed_mage]

Even aginst monsters like Dr. BT, we can't resort to plays like this.

And even if you make something that works, there is no telling what the side effects could be. I mean, with something that close to the spin, there is a very high risk of paralysis. Plus, the brain is a very complicated thing, just one little short circuit, and the person could go brain dead, go cray, or even die.

Plus, while we may look very similar, a lot of people come from different worlds. I may look like you, but there is no telling how different our brains work. What might work for me might kill you or Reisen!

[yagokoro_eirin]

.. A worry, yes, but what I've researched on physiological issues so far, from other issues, implies a surprising level of similarity - more than enough for these issues.

The complexity issue... You have a point there. The brain, however, is pretty good at working around the issues. If it's input and output are controlled, we can prevent the risk of override paralysis - you only need to link to nerves that go to the brain, not to ones that cover the rest of the body. As long as we choose the correct minds...

[famed_mage]

Listen to yourself. While everything sounds like it COULD work... it still sounds like we are on the edge of morality. As a scientist, I agree that there is much potential, but I have seen first hand what putting devices into people can cause... and it's not pretty.

[yagokoro_eirin]

... O-oh?

*Eirin quickly figures out that this must have been from Rita's home...*

I see. I...

*Eirin trails off, caught off-guard by this.*

[famed_mage]

The way you are thinking of using this... is a way Blastia can also be used. Hermes Blastia was the main blastia used for these experiments. But, it often killed the users, and caused one in particular to go more insane then he normally was.

Fact is, even if you know everything about the brain and the technology... you still can't predict what would happen if you tried... Who knows, you might even create a new Kerrigan.

[yagokoro_eirin]

... I...

You have some powerful points. It's just...

Are we to learn nothing from the Kerrigan incident? Are we to mark a science of such vast potential as something to avoid, even where the risks can be controlled?

The potential here is the very potential that the Lunarian Empire once had for the Moon Rabbits... Like Reisen.

[famed_mage]

I am not saying we learn nothing from the Kerrigan incident. I just think jumping into that is just too dangerous. We can however use other things.

You mean to say Reisen was once under a control like this before on the moon? ... And you wonder why she ran?