voidtreckernet | Nebula 16

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Nebula 16

VIDEO|CW: ZOMBIE RELATED STUFF

Alright. Alright. One of those opinion posts.

[For those that don't know Murphy, the man on the screen outright just looks likes Voltaire wet dream, complete with red skin, Satan aesthetic, black suit with a red shirt and he's got the voice of a story-telling podcaster.]

Moral Quandary Time! Where do you draw the line in killing people? Are you a 'no, never' person? A 'only in self-defense person'? A 'the world'd be better without this person' person? Maybe even a 'You killed my father, prepare to die!' type. Or, maybe? All it would take is something that'll line your pockets.

Maybe the setting counts. Somewhere like my world, where billions of undead roam hungry and the living trample each other to survive. Definitely one where even the softest heart would be hard-pressed to stay their hand. Or you go to one of those colorful, magical places where the grass looks like astroturf and there are rainbows with no clouds. But you found out all the cute, adorable fuzzy things there were slowly going to cause the extinction of five other species.

This isn't just a question about murder philosophy. Missions are tough and some just want to help and some of us are desensitized. You might need someone who can easily do what you'd struggle with. Then again, you might need someone with a little more patience so you don't snap someone's neck.

[Murphy withholds the question about whether someone would rather him get information one way or the other if it came down to a choice. He'll wait on that one 'cause he's sure the initial answer would be, 'I would rather you do neither.]

Also hello to the new people! Hiiii. Yeah. You might get mindfucked. There's a lot of that recently. I'm sure someone else with a healthy dose of PTSD can fill you in on how that went.

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I don't mind talking about it in private. But it is normally a kinda place where saying anything but "all lives matter" will get you into trouble. And then you gotta go, "Nah, sometimes you gotta prioritize lives." Sad, but true.

Anyway I'm just bored and in my cabin. Where are you?

All lives matter but some are more important than others, and there's the issue of scale. If saving a man's life means thousands of people die, well, how much does his life matter really, in comparison to theirs? The gym with all the mats, practicing a little. I can come to you if you'd like.

I'll head to the gym. [He tries to avoid his roommates, not out of hate, but the Murphy generality of being annoyed by people he doesn't know all that well by default. It's a massive character flaw that he gives not even the slightest fuck about having.]

[He then leaves to go to the gym, as promised, making no effort to change or anything.]

[And as advertised, Xehanort's there!

It's not easy to get an actual workout on the train, with the glaring absence of anywhere to run or weights to work on, but he's doing his best with what he has, at least up until Murphy arrives.

He's worked up to more visible sparks and zaps, but it's still.. small amounts of electricity.]

What brought on the questions about murder? Some time to kill, so rile up the kids?

A little bit. [He makes a so-so motion as he wanders up, watching the electrical performance.] You're getting better with it.

[He finds a seat to watch, lazily crossing his legs.]

Part of it was that I want to know who would stop me if I was able to mind-control someone that might need to be killed otherwise. Or who would prefer if I just hacked off their head and dug out their brain.

But you can't really be direct about that kinda thing, not in mixed company.

Edited 2021-10-17 00:27 (UTC)

Takes a lot of work. I guess we can't replicate twenty years of experience into a month or two.

[Which he accepts; so be it. It gives him something to work on, something to focus on -- and he was otherwise badly lacking in focus most of the time.]

Is it obvious when you take control of someone or more subtle? If it's subtle just don't tell them.

That's what I've done so far. But, y'know... sometimes it's nice to be needed and have someone ask for help? It's just one of those things.

[Meaning that, yes, Murphy has absolutely already done that with his powers.]

Subtle, usually. If I don't leave a bite mark on them. I used a syringe last time. [Though in his worst days, he'd practically used the bite as a brand. That was a hell of a phase he went through.] Keep it up, I'm sure it'll come in useful. Especially if we keep coming to places that fuck with our heads.

[Xehanort might need to knock someone the fuck out.]

If such a situation ever arises, I won't hesitate to ask for aid. Although I admit I hope it won't become necessary, less for the ability used and more for ... not much liking situations that dangerous.

[Xehanort's moral compass tends to wildly tilt depending on the situation, if brainwashing or zombie mind control is needed to get through something, that's JUST FINE, worse can certainly happen.

That it's Murphy is definitely a big part of it.]

How is it transmitted? [Electric practice is paused for the moment, it seems.] Blood? Saliva? A mix of the two? Sheer willpower?

Bodily fluids. A bullet passing through me infected someone else once. It doesn't take much. That's why I've been avoiding any physical entanglements with someone who's human.

[He'll use 'physical entanglements' 'cause Teddy still feels Son Enough that saying 'fucking them' feels weird. Can't do it. Too hard.]

I used a syringe before but if I have to I will absolutely bite. But so far it has to be someone mostly human or similar enough that my virus will affect them, too.

...Is this something you can reverse, if you so choose, or is once infected always infected?

[Uhoh, that science curiosity is cropping up again. There's going to certainly be an alarming question or two soon.]

Yeah, I have a vaccine for myself in the medical car fridge. But there's only twenty some samples of it. My virus can negate any other infection. So if there was an outbreak, I could protect maybe twenty-some people and be able to break my connection to them later.

Most people don't complain about the connection because I can protect them. [And to some extent he can provide them mental stability.] But I know how people would react to me maintaining some kind of psychic link to someone.

[And he's self-interested enough that he'd rather not have people use him as an excuse for their heroic small-dick-syndrome. He gets enough of that back home and they're not superpowered. Just armed.]

If you can spare it, I'd like one of those samples. There's a reasonable chance we may be able to replicate it, and having something that eliminates all disease would be very handy to have.

[He sounds confident in the idea, but how much could his world really know about that level of biology and pathology? Maybe more than it seems! Maybe magic would help!]

Of course, only if you're comfortable with it. I don't really care what other people think.

I do actually know the formula. I can special request it. But finding willing test subjects is always the hard part, and I have some self-preservation.

[He has a lot of self-preservation, actually, and if he were caught sneaking around with his abilities he'd absolutely be dead, as has been his concern. It's a pain in the ass because he knows they can be useful.]

I can get you some of my blood and explain the formula needed. Even with a lab the set-up to expirement sucks. I miss having Ghost. [He mutters.]

I'm willing to give it a try sometime.

[It's not the first time he's experimented on himself, and it won't be the last.]

It'll certainly be more beneficial than second-hand commentary on what it does, when an insider perspective could be far more invaluable, and offer some reassurance to any panicky trainmates who might be concerned you're going to try to take over or something.

[Plus, he trusts Murphy with such a thing. If the man had wanted to cause undue harm he already would have.]

[It's a very logical assumption. There's no reason to bide his time and other than the mind-control, he's not kept a lot of secrets about who he is. That mind-control, though... Pity people didn't see the benefits in it.]

[The ultimate in therapeutic hypnosis if he wanted it to be. The perfect way to, with a command, optimize someone's attack. And the most definite way to make Murphy give a damn about you.]

I've not had someone with a magical eye take a look at my blood anyway. I have no magic in my world, I'd love to know why healing magic harms me.

Oh, we already know that one.

[Xehanort eyes a target dummy for a long moment, debating if he dares try a proper, if small, lightning bolt.

Not yet.]

Healing magic doesn't.. encourage the body to mend itself, it takes the power of life from the healer, the world around you or the subject and uses that to do the mending. When you are dead or your powers deeply and irrevocably involve death, it can only encourage the natural process to continue itself, or try to. Usually towards decay or true death. In your case, there's something in your blood, isn't there, that says 'this is dead' even though you are not? The power of life is attempting to complete its cycle, but with you and those inflicted with proper undeath that goes.. awry.

[He knows these things, they were studied once upon a time as a curiosity and nothing more. It's said with a confidence that belies his very short history. Who would ever think they'd come across a zombie or a vampire or such?]

I'd be more than happy to double-check that you fit this pattern. If it's true, you simply need necrotic power, or a water-based healer to mend you instead. 'Holy', 'light' and 'life' magic divorced from an aquatic source will likely all do damage, but water and death as often go hand in hand as water and life. Metaphorical nonsense is important in magic, sometimes.

Maybe if we find you something conductive you can arc it too, what can we use as a rod-

[Murphy looks around, but he's listening as Xehanort goes through the whole showdown.]

Well, when necromancers try things around me, it makes me cramp up. I think my body might want to listen to them but I'm not letting it, that's my best guess anyway. I am willing to give that water thing a try.

[Water seems to be the jam of a good many people who can do magic around here.]

[There's some metal objects here and there he could use, and they're duly considered before he simply picks up the nightmarishly jagged thing tucked neatly out of the way (which is SUPPOSED to be in the armory, by its appearance, but clearly isn't).]

This is metal enough to do the job maybe.

[The eye on it seems to be quite content to radiate a constant feeling of watching.]

How many necromancers have you encountered? If there's one on the train, it might be useful to find out if they have any related 'healing' magic of their own instead of just experiencing unintended side effects too.

Just the cultivators. [Like Wuxian.]

So not many. But I did get a book on necromancy. The rules on it are kind of all over the place, though. I'm gonna have to expand my repertoire.

[And maybe if he gets it right he can heal himself. For now, though, he steps back to see how Teddy does on a test with a little lightning rod of sorts.]

How many of them are there? Two? Three?

[Six or seven? Did they all have the same skill set? He didn't know, and wasn't yet willing to ask.]

More importantly, are their skills something others might be able to learn? You should find out, if so. You'll have as long as I have, if I remember how undeath generally works, so there's plenty of time to figure it out.

[How DOES No Name work as a lighting rod?

Just fine it seems, by the hot surge of blue-white electricity sent snapping down its jagged length - downside, lightning doesn't much like being directed beyond wherever it wants to go and the small bolt promptly discharges itself into the nearest tall object - in this case, a discarded pair of boots someone left behind.

They promptly catch fire.]

Hm, well.

Oh, look. A pair of boots spontaneously caught fire. Who would have thought such a thing would happen. [He says casually.]

I'll go get a garbage bag. I'm assuming you've got some magic to handle that.

[And he goes to get into a sundries closet to find the bags (which he never uses because he never does chores so it takes him a minute) before he returns.]

I can lend you the book if you're interested.

[Murphy's dry sarcasm draws a briefly terribly guilty look from Xehanort, who is not broadly into rampant destruction without good reason to be.]

Not particularly, no.

[Which, it seems, isn't going to stop him at all, he has another way to handle small fires. Namely, stomping. It's effective enough!]

I need better aim.

[Offering a BOOK to someone like xehanort is rather akin to offering an addict their fix, and the guilty look almost fades.]

... I don't suppose it's small enough where making a digital copy won't wipe out most of the memory on my tablet..?

I'm playing innocent for comedy, I swear. [He sees the guilty look cross his face, not really having intended that.] Who leaves their boots where magical people practice anyway? People who are gonna get stuck in sandals, that's who.

[But he shrugs.]

I dunno. Maybe? Depends on what generation tablet you have. [Technology pretty much stopped in 2016 for him.]

But you can hang onto the book for a while. I've went over it a bunch of times in the past couple of months. I trust you with it.

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Nebula 16

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Didn't get a notif and had to go back and check

OH NOES

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