A Scientific Ledger (Joint Training/Social, NDE, R...maybe)

[MrDoctorDo]

It was a lovely, sun soaked day in the Seireitei. Throughout all the Spirits' domain, a warmth seemed to nestle on those who wandered about. Even though the dawn was still young, barely cresting over the distant fade, the glow gave color and life to all. Mika...hated it. Despite a thick coat of black foundation; the sun's rays tore into Mika's eyeballs like heated skewers. Each time he mistakenly glanced upwards, the sear left him reeling. One might look at him and suspect, "Mika must really abhor the outside world". Shame that such speculation would be wrong. Quite contrary to reality, actually. See...the burgeoning biologist adored the outside! It was where he could see less civilized life fend for itself beyond systems and constraints. Trees growing tall, and mighty.

Uprooting roads and walls in their ascension. Birds flocking to the ground below; unearthing wormy treats before competition arrives. Weeds eating other flora from the inside out...parasites burrowing too deep for beak or claw to excavate. Ah, life in it's thriving activity. A splendid thing to behold. So what stirred ire towards that gleaning ball of gas? "Version 3, second test. Component failure in early morning light. Increased refraction due to sun positioning causes reduced focusing of necessary UVs. Treated, receptor area too limited to account for reduced intensity. Component trigger unsatisfied. Transition not incite..." Slowly Mika's words stopped. Where before the glare had asserted his failure; now it began to wane. Slowly, but surely, transition took effect.

The outskirts of his eyes began to darken, as if a tinted lens were forming beneath the cornea. Soon it spread to the rest of the sclera, and in time it left his eyes colored gray. As the process took hold, so did the light cease to burn his delicate pupils. "Delayed. Transition delayed, but not impaired by heightened filtration. Test success. No need to transplant receptors into forehead epidermis." With the receding of the pain, came the shiver of joy. He was not a fool, this test had yielded results. There was fear he might have miscalculated, and such fear made him quake with physical agony. Now, that agony had been settled and put aside. "Schedule forehead receptor test; 13th, 6:20am."...and, nothing learned from it.

Mika grinned with a sickly pride, considering the fun of running more invasive tests.The thrill of completion quickly fueling the anticipation for new challenge. Either way. Mika found himself, and his test, surrounded this particular morning. No, the Shinigami had not gotten up early to conduct his examination. Then again, neither did he get up. Can't rise from a rest that was never had. Mika was actually outside at this auspicious sunrise thanks to another success. A name drop. One which lead to his recommendation for an expedition into the Human World. Mika and 13 other fortunate, braver souls were all collected for a field trip! Not only was he getting a trip to the mortal realm, authorization free, but his latest muse was a success. Oh yes, this was going to be an exceptional day.

"Listen here!" Mika's eyes shuttered. "Form up, and keep quiet." Before his startle could resolve. Before his eyes could pop open in surprise. All around the scientist, fellow Shinigami began pushing in and collecting. Their sudden contact and crowding had Mika's mind in a whirl! "What the h*ll! Back off! Why are you pushing so clo...what am I touching?!"The obscenities might have flowed from his lips like a romantics poetry...

Had it not been for the commander's cold tone. Slicing his tongue with the keen edge of indoctrination. "Eyes forward.” The gathering of Shinigami continued to murmur their previous conversations. Their attentions simply shifted forward. ”Quiet!" Quiet, tch. It didn't do much for his problems if they were quiet. The coiled mass of bodies had all gathered in per order, but also to better hear. Even in silence they sti..."OK...the f*ck am I touching?!"

No sooner had the question left his li..."I said quiet!" Mika sank beneath the shoulders and limbs of those closest. Shrivelling away at the superiors directed aggression. Still he could feel her eyes. The expedition's commander was a woman Mika had dealings with once or twice before. A real ice queen. Matsushita Yuki. Thankfully he was slim and puny...made hiding way easier. Yuki-san's menacing eyes did not spot him as the "outspoken one". "Good. Now. We are travelling to the human world today."

"For many of you, this is not a new experience. You know the dangers and procedures." That was Mika; though he did not speak up of this fact. Several times now he had earned the right to travel to the material plane. Excelling marks in the Academy offered him many of his past excursions. This trips had been nothing like the real deal. They were always carefully planned and managed. Not to mention closely monitored. Still, all of them informative. Now would be yet another day trip in the bustling realm. A journey lacking all the extended precautions of school trips.

"The rest of you are new to this, and that means you will heed every syllable I utter." Mika was already shivering with delight. Yuki’s cold tone could do nothing to break him of his anticipation. No matter what she said, or advice she gave. None of it was getting through. It had been: 8 weeks, 5 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes, and 9.00486 seconds since he last stepped foot in the humans’ domain. Since the last time he was there, he had plenty of time to cook up new questions.

So all that nonsense, ”You will all need to stick to you blah-blah-blah, contact is imperative blee-blee-blah. Your assignments have been issued through your wargle-widdle-whop.” Tuning out was becoming harder now...what was she saying? ”Squad 3 claimed the incident to be a systems error, but we should remain on our guards and in our assigned groups. This is for your protection, not my pleasure. Do so at your own behest, and know I’ll kill you myself if you don’t.

Ok, murder was always a lively ending to a briefing. Even if it was fictitious and bluffed. Still, what did he not hear? ”What was that she sa…” Mika queried, stopping as soon as he saw the half dead stare of the person to his left. ”Did you hea…”, before yet stopping again...witnessing the person to his right turn from him rather intentionally. ”No cooperation. This is why we lose war-”Alright! Let’s move out!” No sooner did the words leave her lips, were the rows of Shinigami pushing forward. Surely Mika wasn’t the only one caught off guard in all the hurry, but he was definitely the least satisfied. ”Back...off! Stop touching me!”

Forward the crowd of assistants went. Each of them garbed in particular robes for todays assignment. For this was no ordinary journey, or routine patrol. This assembly had been gathered with the purpose of collecting samples from the Jureichi. Or, as many had taken to calling it in the Seireitei, Karakura Town. Yes, that’s right. It is actually supposed to be referred to as Jureichi by members of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. The human name for the location is irrelevant, and paints an improper picture. The significance of that plot of soil has nothing to do with the natives who inhabit it, or their names and culture. That area is only relevant because it is the current residence of a spiritual anomaly. That is what this team was being sent to investigate.

Well, not investigate. The grounds had been established there for hundreds of years now. what was being done today was collection. Collection of anything important or useful for a new batch of research being conducted within the SRDI. Apparently there were new theories regarding the connectivity of the Soul Society to the Jureichi. Apparently...there were some concerns regarding it’s security. Hmm, or so the faceless names upstairs would have you believe. Mika had his own thoughts on the territories increased significance. Thoughts and theories of his own; which also gave special interest to a spiritually active, material environment. Thus, every step he took towards the Senkaimon...was a step towards answers and new mysteries. Oh, what a day this would be!

Snow. Snow...f*cking everywhere. The world of the living was quite a different place from the Soul Society. It chose today to prove that point in the grandest of fashions. The warm and pleasant morning that they had left behind, was now replaced by a flurry of biblical proportions. Snowflakes the size of eyeballs were swirling and collapsing all around. How did Mika know they were the size of eyeballs?

”Ah! My eye!” Call it insider’s perspective. Too bad those bionic sunglasses weren’t actual glasses. Seriously though...snow. The worst of weather conditions. Just...terrible for the biologist. Not only would his movements be slowed, but his mind would be hazed by the discomfort. Worst still was the subject matter of his interests. It is not a biologists ideal scenario...to have his work environment covered in a gossamer of frozen ice. Collecting anything would require him to dig and shovel. Physical labor being only half of the punishment.

The other half being uncertainty and misfortune. After all, few plants thrive in the cold. Fewer still are interesting in even the slightest facets. Well, for Mika’s current purposes. Even the plans he considered, his fallbacks, were going to be ruined. Animals are never active during such weather conditions. They always seek shelter and rests. Even the species that do find such conditions pleasant...they don’t even f*cking live in this area! Glancing around hastily. Thick puffy clouds of breath began to quicken from his chest.

Lips curled and bore his teeth; a truly disgruntled expression. Eyes broadened as they surveyed, even the pinkish one that still ached from a snowflake assault. ”No. No no no. I won’t find anything in this! Everything will be dead or contaminated by a freezing casing. D*mn it my eye hurts!” As the huddled mass finished crawling forth from the spiritual gateway, the numbers quickly began breaking off. Small groups of three and four were being formed. Too quickly and efficiently to not be planned.

This...this is what he had missed before. Oh...wow. This was embarrassing for the would-be genius. Something as important as assigned groupings would certainly not go unnoticed. His desire to slip away from the crowd, and conduct his own sample collecting, was now in danger. They had taken his name before, yes. They knew he was here. They had given him an assignment more specific than he expected. Now he was expected to find the other cohorts put to the same task. This was bad. All of this was turning out awful. The worst field trip, ever. Ah, but science never favors the lucky...it favors the prepared. When the time come that the crowd was working itself down to the minimus; Mika did the only pertinent thing to do. He would follow a group that was already full.

So long as they didn’t notice him, and his group didn’t know exactly who he was...it was perfect! ”Are you...Kurosawa?” ”No…” The scientist turned without a word; to find an taller fellow eyeing him down with unsatisfied curiosity. ”My name is Konda.” The fellow said, giving off a faint sense of irritation. ”I believe you are in my detachment.” Shit...he had been caught. Now he was staring up at this large, possibly equally annoyed Soul Reaper. Thoughts were firing in his head. He needed to get away, not get caught up in their stupid “field survey”. A way out. That’s what he needed. Something to give this Reaper the slip, and discourage him from following. Discourage all of them from following. What would work?

Attack him? Woo him? Start running and hope he didn’t have the ability to keep up?! As the seconds ticked, and Konda’s face glare intensified...Mika realized he would have to act quickly if he wanted to be spared a confrontation! So with his face as plain as he could make it. No funny expressions, or developing drops of stress sweat...Mika stated. ”Nope.” Konda blinked surprised, and then Mika began to walk. There were a few moments as Mika trailed after another group...that he feared he might be chased down. Konda never came. Instead, Mika could hear the deep baritone of his voice far behind, ”Are you Kurosawa? Are you?” There were 18 more members, at least, to interrogate. Mika slipped off before they all could be wrangled and question.

Mika’s field boots sloshed through the ice and slush. Green, rubbery stompers that were decorated with frog faces on the front. A bit childish, but more comfy than the alternatives...and just as stable. Sadly the snow was getting so high that the tails of his white, lab coat were become damp and dirtied. The hate seething in him at this loss of cleanliness kept him quite warm. Even at his usual, comfy pace; Mika was able to put great distance between himself and the rest of the collective. Breaking away from the other party he had followed, he was now free to wander the Jureichi at his leisure. Or...until he was found, he supposed. Better make the most of it...what there was to make of a sh*tty, sleety day like this one. ”I so hate the snow…”

[Hebika Nara]

Hebika was hardly pleased at the sudden... abrupt appearance of the Shinigami in the area. Even with their rather pitiful ability to sense she was anything but a normal human, she still felt...uneasy around them. Of course, in the old days, she would have killed to use a human body, but that was back when her abilities were more....constricted to the mass of her body. What with that limit no longer applying to her, she felt more than comfortable parking her Body somewhere safe whilst she took her old toy form. She'd of course done a number of modifications since she now had hands to work on it wit. It was much more smooth, mobile and dexterous. She didn't plan on occupying it very long, just long enough to wait out the presence of the shinigami. Of course, as she slithered around the vicinity of her body, not quite comfortable just abandoning it's proximal area. Well she didn't exactly have to wait long until she noticed one of the shinigami approaching. She narrowed her eyes, already her energy flaring just a little, already prepared. The very ground shifted, a subtle quake rippling out throughout the surrounding area as she preemptively made herself a guardian to....deal with the shinigami, if they so chose to endanger her body whilst she crept. 

SPOILER: Click to show

{Digger Guardian}

Of course she didn't have it emerge just yet, no she kept her little creation dwelling hideen beneath the ground, naught but it's face showing above the ground, a suspicious slab of mottled rock she rested upon as she leered at the approaching....shinigami? She was actually a bit dumbfounded at the odd attire the shinigami was so enshrouded within, that she almost began to think it was just some hapless human approaching her. But well.... better safe than sorry. She remained quite still, coiled up in an aggressive pile with her head raised menacingly as she watched the boy approach. She said nothing, for now, and simply watched him, her tail rattling warningly as he came closer and closer to her location, the 80 ton deathbrute still lying in wait beneath the ground. Of course she could feel it in her mind. The blasted thing was feeling curious, she could almost SMELL it, the urge it had to pull itself out of the ground and sniff the boy. She sighed internally. The exchange she had for greater power, her creations had wills of their own. Which wasn't a bad thing she supposed, simply. Actually the thoughts floating around it's mind were kinda cute, but alas, now was not the time for cute.

[MrDoctorDo]

What warmth is there in winter...any textbook can tell. None from the sun; the tilted world's crest displaces. Rays of vigor and desire, crossing unnoticed by the disinterested face. Certainly none comes from the wind; which desperately pursues heat's empty shadow. No. Warmth comes from within. It comes from what horde we might gather. Only fires that our innards stoke, keep us moving or afloat. That is why our natures' cling. Why we scrape and hide. All of us. The strong and the cultured, the smallest and most wild.

We all know such winters await us. That cold horizon on the road ahead. So we garb, and we grab. Thinking only for ourselves. Knowing only we can survive the darkness of the light-empty chill. Mmm, so the textbooks might say. Yet, not all written words are correct. Nor are all correct words writ. There are truths which do not exist, until the day we feel them for ourselves. Ideas that escape description, and persist only in certain perspectives. It is in such experiences we find new answers...to what fires in winter grow. It is in experience that we discover, there is another way for us to forget the snow.

First comes the touch, a blessed thing. Charming and infrequent; yet powerful beyond compare. There is the heat that can be exchanged between those willing to share. This warmth comes as comfort. It comes often as need, and sometimes even love. Bodies which stored what heat they could claim, offering to those who might dare draw near. This...in Mika's experience, was a lie. A ruse of the flesh, that managed to deceive the mind. In time of need and expectation; thoughts wander to desperate places. Mammals huddled in caves, turning to others for reprieve. What we feel to be vital, what we know to be ours...taken.

How long did it require; before creatures valued contact over the theft? At what point did the heat we exchange fall lower than the contact that supplied the trade? The young man wondered this, even as his arm clung savagely to himself. With each stroke of jacket, cloth, and skin...he hoped to build a friction that might once have come from kin. Superior or not, the boy didn't fare half as well as the Neanderthals of old. Now that was a sore circumstance. Someone with such pride in advancement, bested by instinctual nativity. Were his spine not shivering before, a most unsettling ripple would now ascend. What if he were wrong in his view of man?

No. Lies is what it was. Comfort in company. Of this he had to assure himself. Alone in this wintry hell. Isolated by "intelligent" design. Standing at the precipice of a possible mistake. Wouldn't you know it; the ground was slippery as ice. No, such thoughts had to be lies. Like the warmth one feels before the numb. That sensation of comfort and relief, before the end's betray finally wins. That's all interaction was. Restitution before repose. "I would prefer hypothermi...” A sudden stop. The boy stood there. Alone. In the cold...all the while his eyes ready to pop from his head. though he stared off into nowhere, it was hard to say he was looking at anything in particular. He just stood...and stood...and, ”AAACHUU!”

The boy nearly left the ground as he gave out a tremendous sneeze. Back arched, head flung forward. There was a moment where his feet seemed to leave the ground. Given the cold weather, his mucus wasn’t in any sort of solid way. So with the force escaping his nostrils, so too did thick globs of snot. As soon as he reeled back from the full-body contortion, he gave out a grimacing gasp. ”Great wintry hell!” Holding himself forward, keeping his bodily fluids from finding it’s way onto his clean clothes. Desperately he began gripping for the pockets of his tightly bound coat. Seeking out a hanky. Fortunately…he found one. ”Why...why don’t we track the weather in this world?!”

Continuing on as he had been before; the young Reaper found his head quite light. It was if he rustled something loose with that last expulsion. Worse. Mika's nose was peeking from behind his foundation. The dark coloration giving out just enough to show the darkened skin tone beneath. Made more apparent by the pink flush that the cold tinted it with. Poor kid, no one needs so much playing against their looks. Especially one so conscious of it. Honestly...who else out there knows what it is like to obsess over appearance? Enough so that the meticulously work and toil on every aspect of their body. Knowing the many aspects that can be changed. The functions which can be honed. The qualities that can be achieved with extra work. Some looking for more utility...others looking for an intimidating facade. There are reasons to it all. Not that any of those things matter when one's nose is leaking. Such a crippling sight ruins any form of charm or clout that any could muster.

Certainly his was in shambles. A benefit for the momentous opportunity that was merely a foot drop away. Having travelled a few more meters, Mika found himself deeply lost in suffering contemplation. Something he made clear with pointless, external thoughts. "I swear. It is pathetic we cannot predict weather patterns. How hard is it to build a barometer? Set up a camera to watch it? We pocket protectors that can communicate trade stupid, digital pets across fluxuating pan-dimensional energy fiel..." Mika's foot stopped in midair. Inside the green froggy slickers. From the ball of his heel, shooting up his leg and into his spine. A cold chill rippled throughout all of his form. Body feeling unnervingly cold...in the middle of a flurry. It was the same feeling people find in front of cameras. The sensation of approaching a cliff's edge. That dreadful notion...that if danger were a snake...it could bite you.

Struck silent and motionless, the bucktoothed lad simply stared. Eyes dilating to almost normal diameters. Once pinpoint pupils now drawing in the vast details of his surroundings. Of the slushy snow littering the ground. The bitter wind swirling in from the east. The coiled snake...patiently awaiting his unsuspecting foot. Its black, pearlescent glittering scales resting calmly. Head poised and eyes trained. Spiritual pressure fluxing with contemptuous subtlety. Mika was no savant with sensing. Actually! The boy lacked all knack with that particular aspect of spiritual existence. The meditation and focus of mind needed to perceive such mute methods of stimulation...they were beyond him. Not surprising. Scientists are often thought to be governed by the overtly apparent truths. So when it came to noticing something like a jet black serpent, piled up on a suspicious patch of wet rock; Mika had only his eyes.

Which were currently busy examining the success of his latest biological development. A product his reptile friend might notice with eye contact. Both his oculars, sclera and all, were blackened slightly with a strange film. Like those her cousins might use to navigate beneath water. Secondary, tinted lids. Heh. Cool as internal sunglasses might be, they didn't do anything to spare his sudden fright. After all...snakes often lead to the downfalls of true greatness. "Eeee...eeeeasy now." Froggy boot pulling away, ever so delicately. "Everything is fine. Everything is calm. Calm." By now he hoped to have his foot back, and further than its twin.

To Mika, this was a real snake he had impeded upon. Since he couldn't feel the pressure. Since there were no utterance of words. This creature gave him no reason to suspect the unnatural. It sat, without movement or instigation. Mika wanted it to stay that way. For he saw a venomous bite as most problematic at this time. Not only was this a species he didn't recognize, it was so terribly col...wait..."The hell kind of snake are y..." Slap! Hand crashing down over his mouth. A reaction that seemed justified, but was senseless. For a moment he worried his tone might alert the creature. That his elevated voice would ruin the stillness he tried to build. How right might he be with that?

Answer or not, Mika was set on inspecting Hebika's form. After all..she was a snake in a snowstorm! Those aren't exactly common. Add the fact that her appearance was strikingly peculiar for a species that he didn't know. Biology was his specialty. It was his life's passion. It was a scholarly pursuit dating back hundreds of years for him. If there was a variety of serpent with such a exceptional coloration; he would know of it. Such a rich, dark base. Spectacular texture. Fabulous reflectivity, and shimmer. Not to even mention...constitution needed to remain alive in such weather. A cold blooded champion. Something this unique...he would know something of it.

It was everything he wanted to see in his own life, "Just what are you?" Head tilting, voice dropping decibels unbelievably fast. Such inquisitive looks he gave; all while keeping a few feet in distance. This is what she would render him too...assuming she upheld her silence. A tortured spectator; mixed with feelings of dread and curiosity. Too fearful of reprimands to approach without more knowledge, but too dedicated to prospect of discovery to abandon his post. What might she do...when he reached in his satchel? How alarming would it be to see a Shinigami scouring for a recording device in his bag?

[Hebika Nara]

She almost could smell his curiosity before his voice confirmed it. The way he was looking a her with hungry eyes, as if his mind were chomping at the bit to get at her, to understand her, to somehow comprehend how it was that she was here. And naturally he was quite right to be fascinated. Of course, reason would direct her to slowly settle herself as he spoke soothingly, those teeth still bared, that was until he blurted out. The slap to his face was meaningless as she chose to simply dart forward. 

She knew he was suspecting her, and the Digger Guardian shifted slightly, only very subtly so, that it would likely go unnoticed what with a snake darting towards the boy. She herself had a clear goal in mind as she raced forward, heading straight for his leg as she aimed to slither around, and then up the boy's leg and under his coat to climb up and wind around his thigh. The warmest spot on him. OF course she kept her face away from his groin and simply settled it on his hip. Hopefully fear would keep him compliant. Sure her body was hardened and well, rubbery, but she did feel the cold. She had the ability to feel what was going on, and whilst it wouldn't kill her, the warmth was actually something she appreciated. IF he started trying to dig at her, she'd just have Digger stomp him into the ground and she'd warm herself around his leg until he went cold. Either way she won, right?

Of course she figured that he did seem intelligent, if still somewhat skittish. It was entirely possible that he'd simply freeze and either try to waddle off with her attached, or stand very still until help arrived. Perhaps not the most ideal of situations, but she was playing by Ear. Digger would need to stay behind with her body, at least for as long as it could. If he tried to separate her from the area well...that would be a bit of a problem. No matter how scared she was she would NOT sacrifice her body for her cover. That much she had already decided. But for now she was not entirely in danger of separation, so she waited for his reaction.

[MrDoctorDo]

There had been many reasons to panic in his former situation. encountering an unknown species, from a genus quite populous with deadly relatives...it was not a pleasant moment. Made worse by the realities that came crashing into his mind with each flittering second of terror. The realities that the creature wrapped about him was not at all what she appeared. More than an agile predator. More than a lightning fast, possibly poisonous unknown species. This entity possessed a level of spiritual awareness.

A fact made clear to him in the most terrible of ways. Ding-a-ling-ding-a-ling-ding-a-ling. A very dainty alarm gave rise. It beeped incessantly, pouring off his only wrist. There, hidden beneath long sleeves and heavy mittens was a tiny...watch. Well, that is what it appeared as at a glance. The truth was it was a very simple scanner. One that worked no differently than a barometric monitor. Except that it detected faint shifts in spiritual pressure within the immediate area.

The alarm was a function the overly cautious Mika put into place shortly after conceptualization. A warning that might just ring in time to urge him to escape an impending doom. It took a significant pressure shift to trigger it, but it was always enough to give Mika reason to run. Too damn bad this was the first time it ever successfully triggered. A time when running wasn’t an option. Not even an idea. All the boy had was a vocal retreat. ”No no no. That’s just my watch. Nothing nefarious...just...a...watch.” Quickly his arm began to shake and thrash. In small circles, certainly nothing that could be interpreted as a threat.

No sooner did he perform this little gesture did the ringer stop. Certainly he wouldn’t need to explain himself outloud? It seemed pretty clear that his effort was one of necessity. How else would a man with one hand turn off a typical watch? Certainly wasn’t going to press buttons on it. ”You can understand me...can’t you?” Though it should be rhetorical, there was still the presence of uncertainty in his voice. Not a product of stupidity, but one of delighted hope. It was equally wonderful to find such a specimen...even without the gift of speech. Still, that little caveat would not ruin the curiosity which electrified his neurons. ”I should really be asking...why aren’t you answering?”

It would take some time for Mika’s heart to settle down. The frail chest that surrounded it feeling quite sore from the strain both his pulse and breath. Though the serpent might have found his hips a great source of heat...the surroundings would not be so comfy cozy. There was the empty, soft shihakusho that covered his body. Around that was the warm, insulating blanket of white that was his SRDI robe. What made all of this uncomfy was the countless pockets his robe had been modified with.

Several layers and layers of pockets meticulously hemmed; with interwoven stitching for maximum strength. Within them a varied arrangement of glass, metal, and plastic. Various tools and containers. Assortments of little kits and useful amenities. All of these contents would shuffle about and bang into one another with gentle thuds when he moved. However...when he was forced to remain still...they pressed down onto his body from every angle. The discomfort for him was low.

Thick, cloth clothing to cushion the weight. For the stowaway who rode his hips, there was no such luxury. Still worried over the likelihood of venom, Mika did what he could to lean the coat away from the tag along. A horribly awkward maneuver considering how his feet must remain planted into the soil. ”I’m not usually one for such closeness.”, the boy’s tone being quite placid. ”I don’t let people touch me.”, and there was the bluntness.

Following it was a brief pause in thought, and then, ”I guess my record remains flawless.” Being the serpent that his new find was, she didn’t actually compromise his claim. Oh goody. ”I really wish you would answer questions. I am dying to know the source of your peculiarity…” Boy. How bad was it that he kept speaking to himself? Cause he couldn’t tell himself. Mika had been holding conversations with himself since he was a child. This was nothing new. Well, nothing except for the possibly life threatening serpent currently gripped about him…

With a strong breeze lifting up; a flurry of snow was sent the researcher’s way. It pelted him, and stuck to him. Leaving the majority of his figure whiter than it had been before. His little, frog booties now matching his coat! Following the wind’s exit, he gave out an uncontrollable shiver and groan. A very angry sounding sigh, that honestly expelled more heat than the wrath generated. ”Why is it snowing so much...this far south!”

Glaring about through his goggles, examining the snow that whirled between the buildings. ”Damn this world’s inconsistencies.” One last curse as he tucked his arm around his torso. Clenching his robe more closed. Trying to generate some friction heat while he was at it. The snake passenger having skillfully dodge this most recent upwind. Fortunately...with the suffering, came a realization. The chilliness of the snake’s form. Even for a cold blooded animal; the reptile felt more like an ice cube through his protective garments.

”Well, you found your warmth. Now...how long do you think it will hold up?” Mika tried to hold back the chuckle. Imagining the serpent as smart enough to actually contemplate was a delight. In his mind, the creature immediately transformed like that lovable feline from the human world cartoons. The one always found in the printed news. Kevin and Hodge? Something. A story of a boy and his companion, a fearsome tiger. That no one else could interact with...because it was a toy.

With both eyes widening behind the lenses; Mika dropped his head down. A glare pierced through the layers of robe that separated them, and the young man examined the snake mentally. All the while tearing through the deep reservoir of knowledge he had hoarded over the years. Tracing back to all the interesting footnotes, and rare mentions. One particular name kept popping up. One that constantly related to the oddities he had yet observed. A project, now canceled, that had provided eerily similar results as those of Hodgekiss. Hopkins. Horton. Whatever...

”Might the secret to your slithering presence, be related to the modular qualities of your soul.” Mika’s voice emphasizing vehemently. ”How rare your kind are…” With his voice coiling into a soft coo, there came an echo of a sound through the city. Sounding as a voice. Muddled by the whipping winds. Still, it was enough to catch Mika’s ear. Bringing the scientist to twist his neck, and gaze over his shoulder with suspicion and focus. It could possibly be the rest of his research team. They could have noticed his disappearance.

A little quicker than he would have guessed. It was possible they were coming to seek him out. If so...they would have no trouble in the pursuit. Worse still, it might not be his group. Instead it could have been the diluted roar of a nearby Hollow. Oh how that would put a damper on the party. ”Well my new cohort, we will need a place to hide.”, now his tone dropping low and secretive. ”I don’t want anyone else finding you. Who knows what might happen.” With a wide grin that caught several flakes of snow as they passed, ”There are some real monsters out there.”

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

+255 to both participants