Destiny Village ~ Chip's Lab

[Negrek]

Nate laughed. "Yeah, that's what I heard, too. At least in my world, that's what they designed porygon for. Don't get your hopes up too much, I guess, but I'm thinking we might need to go look and see what's going on with the fucking moon, you know?"

Rocky was back a few seconds later, tucking a jar into his satchel. "Well, I guess that's everything," Nate said. "Thanks again, Chip. Good luck with the mewtwo. We'll do our best to figure out what's going on with him--dunno what good it'll do. But we'll try."

"Bye, Chip," Rocky chirped. "Thanks for the shade!"

<><><>​

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave didn't exactly feel great in the morning, but he was able to string a thought together, and that thought was the fucking parasite.

He downed a glass of dissolved painkiller, hung around on Brisa's advice pacing until it started to kick in just about enough, and then made his way to the lab with her. It wasn't just one, even, two of them. The one from the Mewtwo, too. If they could just work out what the fuck these creatures were and the will driving them...

"Chip?" he called as he entered the lab. "Where are you keeping the parasites? Found out anything?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Same room as before, but this time with extra security and two rooms!" Chip replied cheerfully, floating out from the right hall. "Did you want to see that? Waiting for anyone else to show up, too?" He leaned left. "Owen showed up here a little while ago, but he was feeling anxious looking at two of them at once, so he decided to take a mental health break before trying again."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Lexx slowly emerged from under one of the desks, his semisolid hair looking somewhat disheveled. He didn't need to sleep, really, but having a nap after staying up all night reading just felt like a fitting thing to do.

His attention was caught by Dave walking in looking at least somewhat alive. "Oh hey, I was wondering if anyone else would be coming to check those things out. Yeah, Chip added a bunch more security, it's pretty great." He turned to Chip and added, "Go on and show him, yeah?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa kept eyeing Dave, hoping her help would make a difference for him, playing out the merits of removing all alcohol from the house. It wasn't fun worrying about him, but at least it was grounding.

"Howdy, Lexx," she said, quietly, wondering whether the familiar gave much of a shit about how goddamn fucked up what the parasites had done was, or if he was purely interested in studying them.

She remembered the corrosive touch of the parasite that had been in Owen's mind, the way her soul had felt sick and bruised afterwards. Would a familiar feel anything like that?

"So, let's see 'em."

 

[Dragonfree]

“Yes, we want to see them. Why the fuck else would we be here? Nothing to report?”

He figured more people might be showing up, but whatever, not hanging around for them. This’d already waited long enough.

 

[Namohysip]

Chip nodded and drifted down the hall. There were still signs of ruin from before, but the vast majority of damage had already been repaired, and most of the dents that were still being buffed out from Chip's body had come from Astrid than Mewtwo.

The chamber had been divided in two, revealing the Parasites that they had grabbed. One was smaller and had been associated with Maple, reddish-purple in color with streaks of black spiraling around. The other was larger and fat and mostly a dark, oozing color, leaving behind trails of slime that disappeared into nothing, like it had never been there.

"From what Owen told me when he was here," Chip said, "they look the same to you as they do to me. Which means this is the closest I'll ever get to seeing what you all mean when you say you can see Blacklight... I've taken so many notes!"

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave took a deep breath, staring at the parasites. "Can they hear us?" Was it a stretch to think they'd understand speech? Well, it'd seemed a stretch with Squiggly too. Real question was, would they play dumb even if they did.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"I wonder how they behave when they ain't saturated with Blacklight corruption," thought Brisa out loud.

She walked up to the glass and watched their movements, wondering if she'd react fast enough if one made a break for her.

 

[Namohysip]

It happened instantly; the Parasite lunged at Brisa and she would see its five-sided face split open to reveal a single mouth in the palm, nothing like what Eternatus presumably behaved like. It spat a strange liquid that was black and red, but all it did was slide to the ground, evaporating again into nothing.

"Hoo, look at that one go. So full of energy!" Chip was giddy. "It's a shame it's unethical to procure test subjects for this one, but right now all we can do is observe. They don't seem to talk or have any form of sapience, if they used to. They're just aimless... and probably hungry."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa shuddered, Radiance cascading off her fur. She winced at the searing pain in her skin, but at least she could put up a shield in a flash.

She briefly considered volunteering for Chip's testing, remembered Starr spewing invective and raining down fire on her, and reconsidered.

"Vicious li'l fucker," she muttered.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave started with a jolt as the parasite lunged towards Brisa, even knowing it was safely behind glass. His heart pounded uncomfortably for a few seconds afterwards. Christ.

If Chip asserted they weren't sapient, hopefully he'd done his due diligence on that. Was it a completely lost cause to think he might be able to smell anything...? He concentrated on his nose.

Dave used Odor Sleuth!

 

[Chibi Pika]

Lexx made a face as Brisa jumped back from the glass. "Yeaahhh, they do that." He didn't look too concerned, but it wasn't like there was any danger of that thing getting out.

"By the way, they only do that with you guys. Couldn't care less about us familiars." To demonstrate, he went right up to the glass and reclined against it. The parasite inside the cell didn't react. "Haven't actually tested if they'd be just as chill with a familiar inside the glass, but y'know... if the experiment went wrong, I'd hate for Zekrom to blame Chip." That was partially true, at least.

 

[Namohysip]

"I was thinking maybe if we wanted, we could bring Maple and she could warp then out with a portal, but nooo, apparently that risked it coming out through the same portal." Chip pouted. "I hate when that Charizard gives me that disappointed look. Who does he think he is?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Have y'tried offerin' 'em other kinds of sustenance?" asked Brisa, still staring at the creatures. "Have y'put Red in th'same space as 'em, t'see if he can commune with 'em same as 'mon? What about exposin' 'em to various elemental an' exotic energies?"

Her claws tensed as she recalled the voice in her mind when she'd whiplashed the one that had been in Owen.

"I'm not convinced there ain't a mind in there," she muttered.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave’s ears perked. He hesitated a moment. "Well, if they haven't got minds, no reason to keep them around. Might as well destroy them, right?" He watched the parasites for reactions out of the corner of his eye.

 

[Namohysip]

The Parasite to the left, the one that was bigger and darker, made what might have been a hissing noise, spitting a fluid that evaporated into ether, but something in Dave's instincts told him that it was corrosive to his very spirit. The smaller one curled up, just barely, like it was ready to lash out at any perceived approach.

"Well, mind or not, they're hostile and voracious. They don't respond to food except to destroy it. As far as I can tell, these things feed off of the aura. Spirits. Energy of that nature, the same way it has for Owen, Mewtwo, even Maple." Chip drifted closer. "In fact, it seems like it feeds off of strife and pain in particular. Inner turmoil. At least, that's something Diyem chipped in when he visited. I don't really have any metrics for that."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Well that's fuckin' disturbin'," muttered Brisa.

She thought for a second, brow furrowing in consternation.

"Don't suppose bein' possessed of sufficient peace an' positivity would act as a shield against 'em, by any chance?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Well, that depends. That Owen fellow seemed like as upbeat and positive as they come, and even he was vulnerable to it. In fact, it was in him the whole time..." Chip sighed. "I don't really know if that's reliable."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Owen has plenty of inner turmoil to trouble him," replied Brisa. "Then again, I suppose just about everyone must do. Even the shaymin could be Shadowed."

She turned to Chip and cocked her head. "So, what d'you suggest, fella?"