2023-04-27: Unsettling! The Secrets of the Void: Volume 1!
- Cast: Elisa Kafim, Koji Kabuto, Leina Ashta, LiSA, Sayaka Yumi, Yuliana Kafim
- Where: Fujinomiya City - Photon Power Research Lab
- Date: U.C. 0097 04 27
- Summary: The Photon Power Labs attempt to investigate the crystals they procured from Yuliana's attempt to raise the gate in JOSH-A, to fascinating results. It seems their attempt caught the eye of a certain couple of the void....
CWs: Psychic / Cosmic Horror, Body Horror
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
Remember when the Photon Power Labs got access to a very normal green piece of crystal belonging to a certain void witch? Here's what they've been up to with that in the past few months.
A quarantined Ichinana lies dormant in a top-secret hangar in the New Photon Research Labs. This was the Ichinana deployed at the Kafims' wedding, the one that bore witness to the opening of the gate by Elisa Kafim. The only other object of note that can be found in the hangar is a half of a green crystal, infused with the very same magic.
"Okay," Sayaka starts, wearing full face and skin protection. "Our first test should be to attempt to replicate the same interaction between the Ichinana's Japanium reactor and the void crystal that we experienced during the wedding." The Ichinana is powered on, and crystal placed adjacent. "Under more controlled conditions that aren't 'the midst of a battle and assassination attempt', where we can assume our memories aren't collectively failing us, we should be able to handily provide evidence for the link between Photon Power and the void."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina, in protection as well, is using a very scientific instrument.
There's a SCHRICK as she cuts off a piece of duct tape and, puts it along the floor. It is a very long distance from the Ichinana.
"As near as I can tell this is, the safe range in its current state." After sticking down the long piece of tape, she straightens back up, "Note when Doctor Kafim used it at the wedding, its range... grew. And I don't remember what the range finder said on Roux's ReZEL on the distance from that Spinatia."
She says over the comms, before moving back into the cover of the booth. She'd been exposed before, during its transport - as well as in multiple settings, so she's volunteered for this.
"I'll support in any way I can information wise but..."
Otherwise she shrugs, with a hint of a smile, "... I don't exactly have a Doctorate in Xenogeology or whatever you'd call a field that studies weird magic crystals."
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
Koji is also in full protective equipment, sitting at the main operations console in the control booth and monitoring the readouts of their experiments.
He's very nervous about this experiment - the idea of anything being able to block or short out Photon Power has left him unsettled ever since the Kafims' wedding - but his natural response to anything that unsettles him is to confront it head-on.
"Ready to go," he announces, putting a hand on a large manual lever. "Ready to raise reactor output when you give the all-clear, Sayaka."
"I'm sure there's colleges out there that would count this as an internship," he quips to Leina. "I wouldn't worry about specific expertise, we're braving a new scientific frontier - literally any data is valuable."
<Pose Tracker> LiSA has posed.
LiSA, holding to trend, missed the Kafim wedding. (Wait, trend?)
Also fully suited, she's plugged into the computer at the next workstation to Koji, monitoring a few other things. Perhaps for the safest bet, she's not gone into the room. Yet. Maybe soon? "I've got the tabs open for monitoring." SDhe adds onto the back of Koji's statement. "Recording set up, as well. Ready at your call, Ma-- well, Sayaka."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
The crystal's 'base' state, of course, dampens psychic communication within a small range. It's a small but noticeable effect; such things are slightly muted. When placing it near the Ichinana and activating the reactor, however...
Nothing happens immediately. The main difference between this and the initial circumstances being replicated, however, are that the crystals were in 'active' use at the time of the incident; it would seem that some kind of energetic force is required to reproduce the original effect.
Nothing bad happens to Leina for the moment. As Koji increases reactor output, this continues to be the case to basic observation. Its own energetic signature increases, but not to a degree that interferes with the Photon Reactor's functioning. The data recorded will be interesting to go over; the greater the energetic output, the greater the signature, though to the naked eye it continues to show nothing.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
"We're grateful for any insight you can offer, regardless." Sayaka nods along with what Koji says to Leina. "Without you, we wouldn't even be able to begin studying this in person, so..."
There's a slight look LiSA's way as she stumbles on her words, but ultimately there's none of that typical family banter, true to the gravity of such an experiment. "Thank you, LiSA. I'll be counting on you to look after and cross-reference the two outputs."
The initial result is maybe.. a little disappointing for immediately proving their hypothesis, but any result is fruitful when the knowledge base is limited to field data.
"Hmm. Leina, you might be right that the range is limited compared to the wedding day." Sayaka cedes. "But the naked eye isn't all we got. LiSA, anything interesting from the recording?"
Once she does get confirmation that there does seem to be an increase in the crystal's output as the Ichinana's reactor's output also rises, Sayaka considers what to go for next. "Alright, Koji... now let's see how it reacts to a sudden drop to zero output."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"Pass." Leina tells Koji cheerfully, "Majoring in Liberal Arts, even if I certainly don't mind advancing the cause of science."
She does smile Sayaka's way at that, perhaps glad to be of use in this regard, "We don't know what's coming next from them, so it feels like this place is our best chance.
As they test upon it, all she does is remark, "Hmmm. Nothing yet. It doesn't feel like the same reaction as when Dr. Kafim or Alma used it."
There's a nod when Sayaka mentions it that the naked eye isn't all they have.
"I do remember, that the crystals I got from Yuliana looked and felt... different, from the others they've used, even if they don't seem that different? It's hard to explain. Maybe they needed something different for the ritual they were using it for."
Folding her hands together, she looks towards LiSA to make sense of the data stream, then braces herself for Koji doing what Sayaka asks.
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
"... We're up to standard combat output - same levels we were at when the failure occured," Koji reports. "Everything seems nominal still. The crystal's responding to it - its... I'm going to tentatively name this 'Void Signature' for now - seems to increase in response to nearby energy levels... but there's no sign of the phenomenon we experienced at"
"Maybe it can't on its own?" He leans back in his seat, mulling that over for a moment. "After all, Japanium doesn't do anything until it's energized... but so far, directing energy at the crystal has resulted in it being absorbed."
Alma can use them, though, he's reminded. Hmm.
He glances to Leina in the booth and looks over to where Sayaka's working. "You two holding up okay?"
On cue: "Alright. Initiating emergency shutdown on mark. Three. Two. One. Mark." He cranks the lever back to 0 immediately, killing the flow to the Ichinana's reactor.
<Pose Tracker> LiSA has posed.
"Yes, the data confirms. As the reactor power increases, the signature from the crystal increases, but nothing visible to our eyes." LiSA adds on to fully expand Koji's explanation.
"Perhaps another alternative would be them closer, and see what happens there, or if we go straight to a full output? Then again..." The young woman frowns, and pulls a tab up on her screen, fingers flying furiously. "M- Koji, Sayaka, what type of attacks were used during the event?"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Dropping the output to zero has a brief but noticeable reaction: the lights go dark. Only for a second, and the Reactor doesn't drop in its output, but for a brief moment, the crystal is absorbing more than is being put out, and draws on the light in the room, too. The crystal then gleams, but is otherwise apparently inert; it simply sits there, not even absorbing the light anymore.
Perhaps there is a key, here.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
The mention of Alma does have Sayaka very thankfully this isn't a live field experiment, also. "It is possible we're missing a piece of the equation that led to the wedding events." Sayaka muses. She considers what Leina says, too. "That's a good point. This was a piece of the crystal they used to summon that kaiju, so maybe it has something to do with that."
"Yeah, I'm doing fine, Koji." Sayaka nods, when Koji asks. "What about you? You seemed a little nervous about this experiment. Hard not to be, though."
This time, they get a result that's very noticeable as the lights die out for just a second. "Huh... it almost seemed to absorb the surrounding power when we killed the output." Sayaka notes. "Does the Void Signature react in extreme to extreme changes in Photon Power, I wonder..."
"Shall we try LiSA's idea next? And see what happens when another extreme occurs? As for attacks.. I remember a Breast Fire? But we're going to need to be extra careful if we're letting one of those loose in here."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"I'm good! Honestly, don't feel a thing." Which is probably telling given how Banagher was screaming upon even touching the thing.
"Hm." She hums as the lights briefly flicker, tilting her head to the side, "Interesting, that's kinda like that day a little but I didn't feel..."
Leina trails off, abstracted, perhaps thinking of eyes while also trying not to think of eyes.
She snaps back into focus as Sayaka mentions that, "Worse than that I think, Yuliana almost died for what they were doing that day, she pushed herself that hard. No chance it was for just a simple Kaiju summoning."
She shifts in her position, uncomfortably, "If I had to guess she was trying to do something more permanent to bridging this reality to that one."
As they mention Breastfire, Leina eyes them, "Maybe keep the output super low at first, we don't know how... durable these things are to something that direct..."
She fusses there, she's not the scientist of course, but it was really hard to get these crystals.
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
Koji smiles. "I'm doing fine, Sayaka. It's just... Photon Power's the foundation of our lives, y'know? To discover something that could upend everything we've worked for - it's been bugging me."
If Britannia discover this... He shakes that thought off, letting out a sigh. "But that's what we do when it's scary, right? We deal with it."
"Alright... Clear the test site. I'm going to reboot the Ichinana and warm up the radiator array, then hit it with escalating intensity of flame attack."
<Pose Tracker> LiSA has posed.
"I would like to clarify I just asked what attacks were used, not that we should go ahead and USE them." LiSA points out from the safety booth, very reasonably.
"Also, Sayaka, out of curiosity, do we have any readings anywhere for things like our energy output in the room? I'd be curious if we had an abrupt drop show up on them if so, just now, but it's fine if we don't. We now know that it is absorbing the power available, and if it's source disappears, it will pull, at least minimally, from other ways."
She slides her chair over closer to Koji, to allow for Leina and Sayaka to watch her screen if they want.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
A live field experiment might be something of a bigger problem. After all, it's so unpredictable what Elisa--and Alma--can do with these powers. However...
They observe the way that the crystal returns to baseline low-energy state only after absorbing more in the wake of a sudden cut in power.
The attacks used, of course, are a place to start. Leina explains some context, and the crystal keeps silent. However, once they do...
Low intensity: the crystal absorbs the attack outright, sucking flame into its depths and leaving nothing beyond. At moderate intensity, it does the same, the Photon Reactor's power spikes, rather than lessening.
But much more than that, and suddenly the Photon Reactor stutters, going out for an instant. This is the point at which the flame is sufficnet that the crystal, apparently overloaded, cracks.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
"Then the kaiju was ultimately just a distraction," Sayaka considers. "If these things really are capable of bridging.. realities, then we'll definitely need to be extra careful. Especially in tandem with Photon Power." She says this as if the threat of a kaiju is a walk in the park. Which it may as well be for them.
"Yeah. We won't let it, though." Sayaka replies, resolutely to Koji's worries. "Exactly. And if we don't understand it, we'll make ourselves understand." She watches as the heat sinks of the Ichinana begin to glow in that unmistakable way.
"You're right. You didn't." Sayaka concedes to LiSA, with a grin. "That was my addition." She scoots closer to the screen LiSA's on, taking a look at the options. "That should be under the master power readings for the whole Lab. But you're right, the visuals were distinctly clear anyways.
"So.. if it's returning to baseline after absorbing power, where is that power going?" Sayaka poses the question. "Obviously it's not outputting the absorbed power in any meaningful way..." She supposes it's called a Void Signature for a reason.
Sayaka watches from LiSA's terminal the effect of the Breast Fire attack. "This scans with what we've seen so far..." Sayaka clasps her hands together. "A mutual rise, followed by a mutual collapse."
"Well, it's rather unfortunate that we broke one of the crystals." Sayaka concludes, dryly. "At the very least, now we know what it takes to break one so we don't do that next time. In the meantime.. we could test how a broken crystal differs in the tests before quarantining it."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"I don't know." She tells Sayaka, "Doctor Kafim was a Kaiju researcher before she... began her study of the Void. You can actually still find many of her research papers out and about."
Leina gives LiSA an appreciative look as she clarifies that, before moving over to sit by the screen, she takes a look at LiSA's data stream and...
"Yeah I have no idea what I'm looking at."
She tells her honestly. Though she looks at the visuals and- "Ah!"
Leina stares at the screen, sucking in a breath. For a while her stare is distant because she knows how difficult it was to get ANY of these.
"Well it didn't melt, that's telling." Is all she notes, though she looks like the soul has left her body a bit and in a way where it doesn't go to sparklespace.
"I suppose once it's safe again though I should, check, how it feels..."
And indeed she waits for the goahead before moving out of the booth, going to check if anything has changed psychically in its feel.
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
Koji blinks and leans forward. "... Hold on. Lisa, run the moderate-intensity test back for us?"
Koji taps the screen over the readout tracking the Ichinana's reactor level. "Pause here. We got a spike in the reactor output just before the shutdown."
He frowns. "... Maybe the energy doesn't 'go' anywhere. Let me think a bit."
Leina volunteers to check on the broken crystal and Koji nods. "... Be careful."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
No immediate answer is forthcoming as to where the energy 'goes'. However, the possibility of analyzing the broken crystal is raised, and perhaps that is a good idea. A more hands-on experience happens first.
Leina goes closer, and as soon as she's within the rage she's hit by a wave of nausea and migraine both; the power within is almost just like being in contact with Elisa's powers, combined with touching the crystal bare-handed as a sensation, even this distance away.
It's bad.
<Pose Tracker> LiSA has posed.
LiSA can't help but smile at Sayaka. "I was thinking it anyways."
Ah... women. "Yes, got it here, Koji." She confirms, running it back and looking at the spike. She whistles a bit when she spots it, but as the screen gets crowded, she kicks back a bit to watch Leina poke her way out of the safety cubicle. "Please call if you need assistance." She advises, then looks at Koji. "The crystal ... holds it? Like a battery?"
[OOC] Elisa Kafim says, "plz bluray* mine post Lisa's" <Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
You know how bad migraines can be? With that feeling like every ounce of that lab lighting becomes like searing hot daggers in the brain, that throbbing pulse of pain.
Leina gets struck by it, and is momentarily just STUNNED by the sheer force of wrongness, as she takes a step back, puts her hands up to her face shield, and runs out of the room, hunched over.
In the booth, she grabs a garbage can, and immediately relieves the contents of her stomach within it, with a heave that's uncomfortable to both the eyes and the ears.
Panting for breath, she doesn't say anything for a while, just shaking her head and remaining in a holding pattern over the trash can on her knees.
Everyone would note that the moment she retreated at least was the moment she hit the line and not before but...
... it's bad, everything about her posture right now seems to say it's bad. "Don't go... don't go out there." She pants, eventually.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
"...Of course you were." Sayaka grins back at LiSA. Would she really be a member of the Photon Power Labs if she wasn't willing to throw a Breast Fire at something?
Leina volunteers to do something else very bold. Sayaka is hesitant to allow someone who's just here to help out handle something so dangerous... but ultimately, she lets her go, sensing she's determined to check on it.
It's very bad, and very unpleasant indeed, as Leina literally hurls in response. "We... we'll be careful when it comes to cleanup." Sayaka nods emphatically when Leina returns. "For now, take a break, okay, Leina?" Sayaka insists, gesturing to a nearby comfy chair. "LiSA, if you would help her out?" She did promise to be of assistance.
She looks at Koji next, just in full 'mutual scientific thinking' mode. "Do you think the amount of energy absorbed and the intensity of the psychic sensation relate somehow?" It was bad, and at such a far distance.
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
"Exactly," Koji replies to LiSA. "A battery - drawing in ambient energy so subtly it wouldn't be noticed unless you were doing... well, exactly what we are."
And Yuliana and Alma wear them... all the time?
Didn't Yuliana's wedding ring have something like these in it? And her bracelet...
Didn't the venue have a giant -
Leina rushes back into the booth and - oh.
At least she wears her hair short so she doesn't need it held back, an errant remark creeps into his head.
Koji hands her a bottle of water when she's done, looking deep in thought, as Sayaka directs her to the comfy chair.
"Lisa... Play back the recording of the high-intensity test. I want to see exactly when the crystal cracks and when the reactor fails."
He shares the 'theory time' look with Sayaka. "Maybe they convert the energy they draw from into something more suitable, and when you break it it leaks out?"
<Pose Tracker> LiSA has posed.
"So if we presume the crystals are batteries, I think the better word for them might be catalysts - oh, Leina!"
LiSA hastily disconnects her plug in to slide over to her fellow teenager, even holding the bucket if necessary. Koji has the water bottle at the ready, and she gently makes sure that Leina is settled even as she goes to make sure the doors to the cubicle are pulled nice and snug like it's sleeping gas out there instead of nebulous malignant energy.
Then she nods at Koji, playing back the moment in slow mode so they can get a exact look. Sitting down on her seat again, she does offer one murmured wonder: "There were more of these, right...? So if they're batteries, the catalysts...
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
As it turns out, the reactor shorts out a split-second after the crystal breaks. Reviewing the footage makes that much unmistakable.
There are in fact more crystals, beyond the one that is now broken. In fact, the lights begin to flicker in the room where the broken crystal is held.
<Pose Tracker> LiSA has posed.
"So if we presume the crystals are batteries, I think the better word for them might be catalysts - oh, Leina!"
LiSA hastily disconnects her plug in to slide over to her fellow teenager, even holding the bucket if necessary. Koji has the water bottle at the ready, and she gently makes sure that Leina is settled even as she goes to make sure the doors to the cubicle are pulled nice and snug like it's sleeping gas out there instead of nebulous malignant energy.
Then she nods at Koji, playing back the moment in slow mode so they can get a exact look. Sitting down on her seat again, she does offer one murmured wonder: "There were more of these, right...? So if they're batteries, the catalysts... they would need way more of these. Maybe even a bigger one, to dump the smaller ones into.
"It's not bad in itself what their doing, but we all have seen, read, heard about what happens with an energy build up before. Like, what if we had a tank of photon power the size of Mt. Fuji, and used it all on a singular Breast Fire...?"
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina is ordinarily very proud about accepting care, but that nausea was real bad, and it's still present, even if it's easing, so she allows herself to be led over to the chair.
"Thanks LiSA." As she settles down into it, and takes small sips of water, keeping her eyes closed.
Listening to what LiSA says, Leina considers for a time and then...
"Koji - you're looking at the moment it cracked right? What about something simple? Did the heat of the room spike when it did? Even beyond the output of the breast fire?"
She's going somewhere with this, but... she wants to know that first.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
"I think you're on to something about the energy conversion," Sayaka answers Koji. "To us, it looked like nothing. But Leina definitely felt something, so we can't rule it out." She considers.
Sayaka holds onto LiSA's own prompt. "They might need multiple crystals... we do have more as it happens." The way the lights continue to flicker, it's hard not to ignore. "We could study the interaction between placing a whole crystal in the same room as the broken one."
She's also interested in where Koji and Leina's line of questioning goes, though. "We can see that the reactor shorting is a consequence of the crystal shattering. Would the heat spike come simultaneous or after the shatter too?"
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
"... There it is. The same effect - and exactly the same period of shutdown as when Mrs. Kafim used her power on the Banshee. It's like backlash from the crystal being overwhelmed?"
He nods to Leina. "I'll recheck for temperature changes."
Koji is about to hypothesise further - but the lights start to flicker. "... It is leaking." He curses. "We need to lock that down." He gives Sayaka a look. "If the lights are going down after the reactor cut out, then it's getting worse. Maybe another crystal will stabilise it?"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Batteries or catalysts...
The heat of the room did not spike after the break; quite the opposite, the heat in that room plummeted, becoming cooler--certainly not the reaction one would expect of a Breast Fire.
In point of fact, though--when they put another crystal in to 'stabilize' it, the lights stop flickering. The energy stops seeming to drain. Equilibrium is established soon enough.
That is, it becomes apparent that the 'fresh' crystal begins to absorb whatever it is that's exuded from the broken one.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
After a while massaging her temple, Leina sits back up straighter, the nausea is still there but...
"So. Two thoughts. One, when I'm near Yuliana my... senses are temporarily interfered with, so to speak. It has some similar symptoms symptoms but..."
She pats her hands together around the water bottle, "This doesn't do quite the same, it just feels... repulsive, horrible."
As she works through it, "When Alma used... similar energy on Audrey, it worked upon her sense of, self. Identity." A beat pause, "And when I had a vision... a moment of connection with something from that realm, it was... similar. I had to rebuild my sense of self."
Her eyes wander, "Doctor Kafim stated that meditating upon that realm can strength one's sense of identity, once to me. I guess what I'm getting at is..." She mulls it over, rolling the bottle between her hands, "... does that realm have energy of its own that we can't... comprehend? Or does it simply absorb, or interfere with..."
She lets go of the bottle and rotates her hand in mid-air, "... mental energy?" She lets out a small laugh, "I dunno. I'm more read up on Philosophy of Quantum Brainwaves than the science behind it."
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
"We're going to need to keep an eye on that broken one." Who knows - the crack might knit itself whole again when they're not looking.
He frowns, listening to Leina's explanation. "So there is some kind of mind dwelling in there. Did you try Doctor Kafim's advice for yourself? 'Mental energy' isn't a bad way to put it - we know, after all, that there is a dimensional layer where the relationship between thought, feeling and matter is a lot more flexible, thanks to Alexis Kerib. One of the many uncharted scientific frontiers we're starting to trip over."
He thinks about the wedding again. "... That crystal, over the altar. It might have been a giant one of these, hanging over the congregation. I think the Biosensor proves that emotions can become a form of energy of their own, and if all of that was getting drained... I mean, the vibe was off, even before the attack happened, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
Koji's theory was thankfully correct - the addition of a second crystal creates equilibrium, ending the potential crisis.
The data tells them that there was a plummet in temperature just after the break of the crystal. It might seem baffling at first, but... this actually makes sense to Sayaka. "So instead of heating up the room like it should have, the remaining energy of the Breast Fire must've been absorbed by the crystal. It does track with the previous observations."
Leina, as the consultant of the psychic side of things brings up an interesting point. "It might beyond our comprehension for now." Sayaka agrees. "But maybe not forever. People have been trying to study the manipulation of quantum brainwaves for ages.. it's possible that they've mastered it."
She looks Koji's way, when he describes the wedding and the giant crystal above the alter. "It was definitely off. At the time, I thought it was the cult overtones, but that could've been part of it. The cult overtones might've even made it worse in a way, if it's preying on emotions."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"I didn't. It felt... ill advised. She was recommending it as a form of recovery for Audrey, when I asked for advice on how to deal with it."
A hand slips through the curly hair over her ear, and she notes, "I should have asked her more on what she meant, because what does it mean to meditate upon the Void? Is it like some old religious concept, an emptiness of thought? Or is it meditating within the actual 'energy' of a crystal, or within range of Yuliana?"
She doesn't know, "She offered a deal, wherein I could learn certain... truths, but to her credit there was a sense of informed consent? In fact she seemed quite amenable to the idea of refusal. There wasn't any sense of coercion."
There's a shake of her head, "I mean I guess. You'd have to ask Judau what a Biosensor is like when it's that active. My mobile suit has one installed but it's never... reacted, in a dramatic fashion like that?"
She gives a small shrug, "Then again I'm no Judau in a fight. Ah." She pauses to think, "It's, difficult to say. If so it was so low level it didn't ring any dramatic alarm bells, it was 'quiet' without everything being... messed with?"
She shakes her head, "It's hard to say how much of it was just, their weird format, the venue, the decorations - the rites? Versus, how much was supernatural. It was only when Elisa was fighting back against Captain Aiden that things got bad."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
In the beginning, there was --
There is nothing, now.
It is written in the bones of this eternal graveyard, hallowed, hollowed, all its memories to mist. The bones are blooming, now, a field of orchids in the black. Ribcages unfurl like flowers, all hung down below, the jaws of some ancient floral beast.
So does she lounge, all opened up, all rearranged. The memories became mist and the mist became blood. It echoes, still, in all its base transgression.
A singular flickering lamp, in black on black on black.
And did she mean for her to light the way, before Her unlight plunged it all to pitch?
Perhaps it is pain or perhaps it is contentment, the breath from her lips. Colder, now, and colder. All reconstructed, there's another bloom, a stranger bloom, across the way. She reaches out and out and out to grasp it, unfolding too, too much; her fingers curl around the petals, as nothing pours out from them.
Her fingers meet hers, just the same -- just the same! -- spindly tree-limbs of too many joints and too little flesh, splitting what would have been earth and sky in any logical construction to clasp about it. Her grasp tightens; Her attention sharpens.
"Y gh'ou:," she assures Her, throat split by the words. "Llsth'o-kia ytsh' pwollty-k, ysth' yth?"
MINE, roars the Empress at the End of All Things, with a possessiveness both wordless and powerful.
"Ll:o ysh jow-llsh," she soothes Her; she surrenders, and She calms.
In time that new bloom wilts, and in time Yuliana wakes, in Elisa's arms. When sense returns to her -- she's always strangest after what she has Seen, beyond this version of existence -- she murmurs:
"... someone's meddling with our things, zhenushka."
And they know.