Extreme Makeover: Keeliai Edition - March Log

[wrathfulkhan]

Characters: Everyone who's interested in pitching in!
Date: Throughout March, until the 21st
Location: The Palace of Landed Sky and surrounding environs
Situation: Let's tear this bitch down.
Warnings/Rating: Drug addiction/withdrawal references in the Dust threads, most likely

The demolition is now in full swing and will last until late March, largely run by Zanru and the Metalworkers (as part of the deal), though individual Foreigners can be hired to help (and the help would likely be appreciated, as the Foreigners are going to get some of this too). Hired Foreigners will report to Xuiyu, as Zanru herself is too busy to be on-site. Gene can be found helping with the destruction, in his armor more often than not, over the course of the demolition project, and answering questions and taking suggestions from Foreigners and kedan about what to do with the newly freed land.

However, from the 4th to the 11th, there is Dust contamination, which is sickening some of the workers - Foreigner and kedan alike. It's not too much of a hindrance, and the demolition seems to be on track to finish on-schedule, by March 21st.

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OOC Note: If you need a big-name NPC, please contact the mods directly! Kedan workers can be NPCed by anyone. If you want Gene specifically, please make a note in the subject line and I will throw him at you! (Also, I apologize for not getting to last month's starters; February got away from me. Please feel free to reuse them!)

Comments

[highprofilerichkid]

Glad she's reasonable about something. [Eyeroll. He is on slightly better terms with Zanru these days, but now complaining about her has just become a habit.]

How long are you going to have to run these scans? Is there anything I can do to help identify the compound?

[looksfine]

Currently, the scans are purely diagnostic. There is little more they can do besides provide me with the necessary information my own scanners are not reliable in accessing at this time.

[In other words, she had no definitive answer on that one.]

...however, if you were to perhaps obtain and isolate a small sample of the virus as it currently exists inside my physical form, there is a chance you may be able to identify any organic elements that the technological scans are not capable of recognizing.

[highprofilerichkid]

Sure. The analytical equipment here is pretty lame, but it's a start. How, uh... How do I take a sample? [He can't exactly draw blood or take a biopsy.]

[looksfine]

I will consciously weaken the solidity of my current construct form. That should give you ample access to the wires with the highest probability of infestation.

[It was dangerous in her current condition, if only because there was little guarantee she would have the strength to re-solidify herself. Maintaining her form was easier than having to create an entirely new construct.]

[It was also something that required a great deal of trust, as this was Aya leaving herself at her most vulnerable.]

Once the infestation has been located, a sample of the infected wire may be removed with minimal damage. Repairs will be easy upon complete recovery.

[...that much, at least, was entirely true. She had suffered far worse physical damage, and recovered adequately.]

[highprofilerichkid]

Okay, that sounds easy enough.

[He wouldn't be nearly so sanguine if she voiced her concerns about being able do re-solidify. But for now, he remains blissfully ignorant.]

How will I know which wire to cut?

[looksfine]

[...which may or may not play a primary factor as to why she wasn't saying anything.]

It should not be difficult.

Once my wires are exposed, the next scan will register their surface area and better register the most affected areas. You may cut those.

[highprofilerichkid]

[Tony would be very upset if he knew... and do exactly the same thing, if their positions were reversed.]

Got it.

[He waits for her construct form to fade - an alarming thing to watch, even though he knows she can reconstitute herself - and watches the next scan closely.

He selects one small wire from an especially brightly highlighted section, and carefully (very carefully) snips it out. He drops it in an empty test tube and stoppers it.]

That should do it. You doing alright?

[looksfine]

[There was not an immediate response. Her construct eyes--still transparent--were closed. No signs of movement. Not even a tell-tale rise and fall of her chest, as she did not require breathing.]

[After a full three seconds of this, however, her form soon re-solidified. Flickering slightly for a moment before she was her full self again. Only then did her eyes flicker open, turning towards Tony.]

Yes.

My condition has stabilized. There has been no deterioration since shortly before Gene brought me here.

[highprofilerichkid]

[Tony breathes an inward sigh of relief and grins. That had been a long three seconds, waiting for Aya to re-solidify.] Cool. You had me worried there, for a second.

[He shakes the test tube, and the little segment of wire clinks in its new home.] So I'll take a look at this under the microscope and run some chemical tests. Hopefully that'll bring something up. [A look of annoyance crosses his face, and he sighs - out loud, this time.] Do you think Zanru will let me use the lab here? Would that still count under your maintenance clause?

[looksfine]

[If she were familiar with the gesture, Aya would have shrugged.]

I am not certain.

Locally speaking, it is an extension of proper diagnostics regarding my personal, present condition. Once the situation is explained, I can think of little reason for it to be an issue.

[highprofilerichkid]

I'll ask. [Tony doesn't sound optimistic. He's not sure Zanru's logic is enough to overcome her dislike of him and her general stinginess with SI facilities.]

And there's some things i can do without the SI lab equipment. If it's a microorganism I could... try to culture it? [He looks dubious. He doesn't have a ton of experience in microbiology.] I should take it to one of the magic users to analyze, too. You said you stabilized right before you got here - where were you before?

[looksfine]

[Well, so long as right before included the entrance to the main building. Away from the source.]

Gene located me at the construction site. I was brought directly here once he noticed visible symptoms.

[highprofilerichkid]

The construction site. Hmm. [Tony narrows his eyes.] The contaminant could be from there. That makes a lot of sense. I mean, who knows what kinds of nasty stuff Malicant might have left behind? I'll check things out over there, too.

[Tony's been fine and he spends a ton of time at the work site - but then, he's often in the suit, and Extremis boosts his immune system when he isn't. Come to think of it, he has heard some mentions of people getting sick. Maybe it's not just a bug going around: maybe it's related to this.]

[looksfine]

It would be wise to take an additional number of precautions. These contaminates were able to penetrate my exterior physical shielding, and it was designed to be impervious.

[highprofilerichkid]

That points to something magical, doesn't it? [He winces and shrugs.] If it could get through your shielding, I don't know what precautions we can take. Except to just stay away. And I don't think that will go over very well. At least whatever it is doesn't look like it's causing anything too serious. [Pause.] Unless it just takes a while for more serious symptoms to show up.

[looksfine]

I hope not.

This has already proven far more inconvenient than any setback I have ever experienced previously. Including the Yellow Crystals.

[highprofilerichkid]

Me too. But we probably shouldn't count on it. You know— if it does get worse, my Pod should still be hooked up to your vital signs [for lack of a better term.]. Unless you unlinked it yourself. Stuff was so crazy back then, I totally forgot about it. It'll still alert me if you experience any more serious interruptions or go offline.

[looksfine]

[It would have been a lie to say she had forgotten. But that one little tidbit had...strangely enough...momentarily slipped her mind. Another sign she was not yet back at 100% functioning capacity.]

[She checked.]

The connection is still secured. You will be alerted, in the event my systems do not recover.

[highprofilerichkid]

Good. But I'd rather figure this out before that becomes necessary. Does this lab have a decent microscope?

[looksfine]

This room does not. However, there is one of several approximately three doors down to your immediate left, and across the hallway.

You should have no issues with access.

[highprofilerichkid]

Great. I'll go check it out. Hold tight.

[He returns a while later, bearing a notebook and an extra test tube.]

There's definitely something in there, I'm just not sure what. Some kind of crystalline material, or maybe spores of something? The microscope isn't strong enough for me to get a good look. But I sketched what I could see [he tilts the notebook to show several meticulous, intensely detailed reproductions of what he'd seen through the microscope] and I'll incubate a sample to see if anything grows.

[He doesn't have high hopes for the culture tube - even if it is spores from something living, guessing what culture medium and incubation environment it likes is a total shot in the dark. And then there's the issue of cross-contamination on top of that. But maybe he'll get lucky. Or, unlucky. He thinks he'd prefer a chemical contaminant over a biological one.]

[looksfine]

I see.

[She did, if nothing else; the infection had certainly not hampered her visual receptors any. Which meant, presumably, it was not attacking any neurological functions. Only her energy resources. Which were stabilized now.]

The genetic composition of these crystalline spores is not dissimilar to those of the Yellow Crystals. Perhaps that is why they are able to affect me. Their properties are near enough to one another that it is as if I were infected with Yellow Crystal dust.

Which means that, until the last particle is cleared from my system, I will continue to feel this way. Are there any elements it might be drawn to that could aid in the process?