09 // text // private to Sofia

[40410]

[The message is pretty elementary to hack. There's nothing worth hiding in it; Alex just doesn't feel like spamming the entire network. Not that he really expects any of this to get through.]

is the comm working yet

Comments

[VIDEO/PRIVATE]

[echo_of_utopia]

[Yes, she did receive your 537 messages in intelligible English, but she's not going to get her hopes up just yet.]

...

Alex?

[ACTION]

[echo_of_utopia]

Did-

[ Ah, but first things first. No need to wait with ]

You may close the door. It will be staying outside.

[ Lamb steps further into the room, looks at the screen and now back to that first sentence fragment. ]

Did something happen?

[ACTION]

[40410]

[He closes the door, redoes the locks, hardly has to think about the actions any more. When they're done:]

...He's even more dangerous than I thought.

[Alex's voice has that flatline, dissociated tone reserved for talking about the Operator - but it's terser than usual, has a flicker of anger.]

[ACTION]

[echo_of_utopia]

[ Alex in that condition will only prompt Sofia to get up from her comfy couch sooner or later, so she's not even going to bother sitting down this time.

"What happened?" would of course be the next question, but for now she's just looking, waiting to see if he'll tell her without the verbal prompt. ]

[ACTION]

[40410]

And his size... will be a problem.

I need to make the ice thing stronger. I need to know how much it's safe to train it, and if there's a faster way to do that than just using it over and over.

[Oh, Alex. So naturally forthcoming.]

[ACTION]

[echo_of_utopia]

Training can only do so much I'm afraid. Your speed and your aim may improve, but there is a limit to the amount of ice your body can generate in one burst and its strength and durability will always remain on the first- on the same level.

[ Oh my, what a terrible slip-up. Quick, a subject change! ]

Did you say his size? He appeared fairly human to me, if only in that regard.

[ACTION]

[40410]

[I'm sure that was entirely accidental and in no way carefully calculated!]

First? If this - [he lifts his right hand a little, the plasmid still inactive, as his Exhibit A] - is the first level, what are the others?

[If you think it's counter-intuitive to be having this conversation before the 'splicer' one, then... you're probably right, but after the conversation with Masky this is the one fresh in his mind.]

[ACTION]

[echo_of_utopia]

[ Anyone up for bets on how many rounds of 'Dodge the question with another question!' Alex and Sofia can play before one of them actually gives an answer? ]

Why do you believe your current Plasmid will not do?

[ Distraction? Sure. But also legitimate question here. You were ecstatic before, so what changed? ]

[ACTION]

[40410]

Sof.

[...no, actually, okay, that's a legitimate question.]

Okay. It only lasts for a few seconds, and it can't have frozen more than... than four feet. [Overly conservative estimate is go.] And the EVE runs out like that. ["That" is accompanied by a finger-click, and nothing says brevity like a click of the fingers.]

Four feet's not enough. He can... grow.

[ACTION]

[echo_of_utopia]

[Did somebody order the 'considering the situation while staring at Alex worriedly in silence'? No?

Too bad!

~STARES~]

[ACTION]

[40410]

[He holds her stare. His own is an entreatment, a demand, an impenetrable defence.

...it gradually occurs to Alex that he might be coming across as a little overstrung. He lowers his hand, and tries to relax a little, at least outwardly; success could generously be described as mediocre.]

[ACTION]

[echo_of_utopia]

[ And then she looks away and speaks and it sounds an awful lot like being forced to give a presentation held at gunpoint. ]

Most Plasmids have one or two advanced versions. Their exact properties depend on the original Plasmid, but they generally increase its strength, radius and duration.

You think you are running out of EVE quickly now? That is nothing compared to the amount required to use advanced Plasmid models.

Re: [ACTION]

[40410]

[A pause. He doesn't like to make her uncomfortable. And he can guess at why she's reluctant to tell him about them.]

...How much more risky are they to have?

[ACTION]

[echo_of_utopia]

The effects the advanced model has on the body hardly differ from its basic form. However...

[ Here she moves over to the closet. Sales pitch is go! She opens it and pulls out a bottle. You may remember its shape and red colour from 'Getting Alex Spliced Up - The Movie'. ]

This is Winter Blast - Version 3.

[ The bottle is set down on Alex's desk. Lamb returns to the closet and fetches not one, not two, but three more bottles, same design, lovely blue colour this time. She puts them down on the desk one after one. ]

And this is the minimum amount of additional tonics you will require to make proper use of it.

[ACTION]

[40410]

[ Holy... All right, that's a lot.

He can't help staring at them. They're kind of beautiful. (They're kind of appetising, but he pushes that thought down as soon as it appears. That's something he expected, something he can deal with, and he is gonna do this logically.) ]

...Okay, what do they do, and is it safe to have that many?

[ACTION]

[echo_of_utopia]

[ She names them, pointing at the individual bottles as she does. ]

EVE Upgrade, EVE Saver 1, EVE Saver 2. The first increases the amount of EVE your body can hold at the time, the other two decrease the amount of EVE required to use your Plasmid.

The Tonics themselves don't require a constant supply of EVE and the strain they put on the body is minimal compared to Plasmids; three would [here her voice becomes hesitant] in fact be a small number, but...

You spliced up less than a month ago and if your craving for ADAM is this intense already... how much will you ask me to give you next week? Next month? Next year?