Experiment Log 04: Symbiosis

[mementomoritz]

[So, anyone who's been in Medic's lab recently may have noticed some... changes. A tank full of increasing large marimos, for one thing. Another, substantially larger tank in the back covered by a sheet, for another.]

[Also, she's been transporting a bizarrely large amount of food there, none of which seems to be the kind of thing she usually eats. The need to donate food to Gula put that on pause for a bit, but it ramped back up as soon as the layer's troubles were under control.]

[When she sends out a mass video call to her fellow Executors, the giant tank at the back is uncovered. And open. And empty.]

Good news! [Medic herself pops into view, smiling cheerfully and waving at the camera. She looks more or less the same as ever, but she's wearing what appears to be some kind of thick black glove that covers her entire arm, up onto the shoulder.] I made a new friend!

[She lifts up her gloved arm, and all at once the seamless back material surges off of her, forming into a roughly spherical shape that puddles comfortably on the table in front of the camera.]

I wasn't sure if it would be possible to create new life in a place that fundamentally contains no living beings, but it worked!

Meet my new bioengineered mycological organism. I named it Mantle! Say hello to everybody, Mantle- [She pats the top of the blob on the featureless lack of a head. It makes a happy-sounding "blup" noise.]

[Medic makes another gesture and Mantle obligingly slides back onto her arm, settling down until it could be mistaken for simple, unliving armor.]

[Until she flexes her hand and her armored fingertips abruptly sharpen into claws.]

I'm really happy with their stability and responsiveness, and they're ready for field testing now! I think it could be super useful in combat.

If anyone wants to drop by and help me test them, feel free to contribute to science!

[Yes, fellow Executors, you're seeing this right: your team's mad scientist has created a discount Venom suit.]

[This is your fault for leaving her unsupervised.]

Comments

[emberserker]

That's what you've been working on?

[mementomoritz]

Yep! [She currently appears to be holding the phone with a small tendril of Mantle's amorphous body, in order to leave both her actual hands free to write down more lab notes.]

Well, mostly I've been working on training and durability- I've had a stable base for a while, but if I didn't make it strong enough to take a hit, fieldwork would be a kind of a problem!

Also, getting it to read human bioelectric signals well enough to respond to unspoken intent instead of verbal commands was a little tricky. ...Especially since I'm not actually sure we even have bioelectricity, now that we're dead.

[emberserker]

...I see. Well, it is you. What sort of field testing did you have in mind?

[mementomoritz]

[Wolfsbane is such a good friend.]

Do you want to help me see how well it can work with other people? I think I can get it to hold an axe shape for you, if you want!

[Translation: do you want to beat something up with the Venom suit, Wolfsbane.]

I'm especially curious to see if you can channel your power through it. Mine is more biological, but if yours works too then it should be able to work with almost anything!

[Translation: do you want to use the fucking Venom suit to cast longer-range fireballs, Wolfsbane.]

[These girls are a fucking menace.]

[emberserker]

[Wolfsbane's expression twists into some kind of demented Dreamworks face.]

I certainly wouldn't be opposed. The way this layer is going, I think I might just need to.

[mementomoritz]

[Medic's own grin is much more innocently cheerful, but probably no less unsettling.]

Meet me in the Invidia lab, then- I'll clear out some space so you can practice a little before we try taking it down to the Underside.

[At least she has just enough common sense to test her new weapon before using it in live combat.]

[emberserker]

[Wolfsbane shows up sooner or later, already transformed and carrying one of those potato spirals on a stick, which she drops onto the table in front of Medic.]

Here, I doubt you've eaten since you went into the laboratory. And if I got you one of the stranger food items, you'd probably try to study it instead. Now, where is this wonder of yours?

[mementomoritz]

Ooh, thanks! That looks tasty~ [Yes please, she hasn't eaten in over twelve hours, give her the carbs.]

Who wants a treat~? [And she's just answering Wolfsbane's question by breaking off a small chunk of potato and tossing it to the excited sphere of amorphous black goo that comes rolling up at top speed when it hears the word "treat".]

[Mantle extends a small tendril of itself up to catch the piece of potato out of the air and absorbs it seamlessly into the mass, making a happy bubbling sound. Medic rests a hand gently on the top of it.]

Mantle, this is Wolfsbane- she's going to try working with you, okay? Just like you practiced with me! [She smiles and motions Wolfsbane over with her free hand.] Here, you can just touch it and it'll start getting used to you.

[If Wolfsbane does touch it, she'll find that despite its gooey appearance, Mantle is mercifully not wet or slimy. It feels soft, oddly like suede, with a consistency similar to modeling clay.]

[emberserker]

[Wolfsbane reaches a hand out. She blinks in surprise at the texture and lets it move around her hand.]

So it gets accustomed to the user, then? And that allows it to change like you demonstrated?

[mementomoritz]

That's right! It works sort of like... [She pauses for a moment, trying to think of how to simplify several months worth of mad science into a coherent explanation.] You know how when you move your body, your brain sends signals to your muscles that tell them what to do?

When you're touching Mantle, it can "hear" that kind of signal in your nervous system. So if you picture what you want it to do in your head, it can understand that- at least for simple things like "grab that" or "make this shape".

[It's a wonder of impossible science, but also like... it's mold. It can only understand so much.]

If you aren't touching it, then you have to rely on verbal commands, and it doesn't understand those as much. [She gives Mantle another couple slow, comforting pats and then withdraws her hand completely, leaving Wolfsbane the only one touching it.] For most people, their nervous systems all follow the same basic design, so it just needs a few moments to adapt to a new partner.

It should be getting the hang of things by now... Trying thinking about what you want it to do.

[emberserker]

Very well. Allow me.

[She concentrates and wills Mantle to cover her arm, like Medic had demonstrated, and then sort of form a shape on the arm, a shield in somewhat of a raindrop shape on the outside.]

Impressive.

[mementomoritz]

Offense and defense at the same time, that's smart- try striking with it, see how it holds up.

[That does explain why she has a rather battered-looking punching bag hanging up in her lab, at least.]

[emberserker]

Naturally!

[She charges the bag with the shield arm and bodychecks it, sending it back. Managing to stay on her feet, she deflects the bag when it comes swinging back.]

How is the stability so far?

[mementomoritz]

Looking good! [Medic gives her a cheery thumbs-up.] Mantle's retaining the shape you gave it without bending or deforming, that's an excellent sign. See if you can try switching between shapes while you attack, next time!

[The biggest advantage of it is the flexibility, after all.]

[emberserker]

With pleasure!

[She keeps Mantle as a shield, but when the bag comes back, has a spike protrude from the centre in an attempt to batter the bag. Probably puncture it, but Medic can probably fix that anyway.]

That's useful!

[discutio]

I have never in my (after?)life been so grateful to be unable to see something.

What, how, and above all else: why.

[mementomoritz]

Mold, bioengineering, and science!

[Well, that does cover all three questions.]

Fungal samples were most of what I had to work with, so I decided to lean into that, for my current project. And I wanted something that could help all of us, so it needed to be adaptable enough that anyone could use it! [How... thoughtful?]

[discutio]

I would also like to revisit the 'created life' point. Is it actually alive, or is it 'alive' in whatever sense the rest of us are, which is 'on a technicality' at best?

[mementomoritz]

That's an excellent question! I have absolutely no idea.

[She's definitely looking forward to figuring it out, though.]

I mean, it's not as though it has what we'd consider normal human vital signs. It reacts the way I'd expect living fungal matter to react, but our bodies react like I'd expect living bodies to, up until they don't.

If it's the same way, I haven't found the "don't" part for Mantle, yet.

[alcahest]

Um... Is it sentient?

[mementomoritz]

Absolutely! It responds visibly to stimuli and everything, see? [Medic gives the blob some affectionate scritches. It burbles happily.]

It's not sapient, though- I'd say it's roughly as smart as a dog, if you had a pretty well-trained dog. Maybe like a border collie? Those are smart enough to herd sheep and everything!

[So, because Medic is the kind of pedantic nerd who insists on the difference between "sentient" and "sapient": it's definitely "alive" and capable of feeling things, but it's not a person.]

[alcahest]

Does it feel pain...?

[ you can't take a sludge dog into combat!!! :( ]

[mementomoritz]

[Achilles is two dogs and we take him into combat all the time??? It's fine, probably.]

It could if it was injured badly enough! I think it would need to lose about sixty percent of its total biomass before it started experiencing any form of physical discomfort. But I made it really durable- the kind of hits we take in a fight shouldn't bother it at all!

[Just cheerfully answering like that's not a terrifying thought.]

And it knows to retreat back to a less-exposed position if it gets hurt, because it's a smart little buddy who learns really well, aren't you? Yes you are, yes you are~ [Yeah, she's just cooing over the sludge dog now. It seems like it's enjoying the attention.]

[alcahest]

I think I'd feel bad about taking a dog into combat, though...

[mementomoritz]

I mean, a normal dog would be a bad idea, but so would a normal person? Mantle isn't normal, and neither are we! We can do this.

[syrinfacet]

My Apologies If This Sounds Clueless, However...



What

[mementomoritz]

[This is unfortunately who you work with now, Lilac.]

Oh, that's right, I haven't shown you yet- [Medic pans her phone camera around the room, showing off her makeshift laboratory.] I like to experiment with the biological sciences!

[There's a contender for understatement of the decade.]

They're just so fascinating. There's so much beauty in life- and in death, too!

[syrinfacet]

There Are Studies For Things Like This? How Fascinating....

[ look she's just concentrated magic back in her world and her body breaks like an amethyst geode would, this is completely fascinating ]

[phantasmagorial]

. . .

I had absolutely no idea something like this was even possible. In fact, I'm almost completely sure it shouldn't be.

[ But Medic made it happen anyway! That's their friendly neighbourhood mad scientist. ]

Is it... alive?

[mementomoritz]

I know, isn't it exciting! [Medic is just genuinely so happy to be here, warping the laws of God and man.]

It's hard to say... I think it definitely isn't any less alive than we are, right now. But, well, we're dead! So that skews the data a little bit. Are the plants that grow in Purgatory alive, or are they dead? They exhibit all the signs of life, but they're growing where only the dead should go.

At least half the samples I used for it were from people I know are dead, but you can make life out of unliving materials pretty easily, if you know the right recipe!

[phantasmagorial]

[ ... Oh there are so many ethical and biological quandaries here to object to that Rei doesn't even know where to start. This absolutely should not be possible and yet, Medic has gone and made it possible.

Nope. She immediately decides she's going to stop thinking about this before she gets a migraine. ]

I-I suppose that makes sense... It's not really that much different than the horse Ruin used to summon... When I think of it like that, it's basically just a familiar...

[ It sounds like the person she's trying hardest to convince of that is herself. ]

[mementomoritz]

[Excuse you, Medic loves her new fungal friend and is going to give it love and headpats, she sees nothing ethically wrong with this whatsoever.]

A trainable domestic animal would be the best equivalent for intelligence, so a horse isn't a bad comparison. Or a dog! [A beat.] A normal dog, I mean- the smartest dog I know is Achilles, and it definitely isn't that smart.

[phantasmagorial]

... And technically, Achilles is two dogs, so I don't know if we can use him as a point of comparison...

[ SHE SAID THE LINE ]

[mementomoritz]

That would throw off a lot of my measurements- I'd have to recalibrate everything just to take vital signs! [She's actually thinking about this now.]

[phantasmagorial]

Well, so long as it doesn't grow a second head it shouldn't cause too much trouble...

[ A pause. ]

It's not going to grow a second head, right?

[mementomoritz]

That would be pretty impressive, since it doesn't even have a first one!

[It doesn't really have... any body parts, it looks like? It's all just blob.]

I did use some tissue samples from Achilles to make it, though. [HE LET HER WALK OFF WITH AN ENTIRE SEVERED WING. It was like mad science Christmas.] It's where I got the idea for something that could change shape!

[phantasmagorial]

Well, so long as it doesn't cause anybody any trouble, I suppose it's fine... maybe it's worth taking some time to train before we make our way down to the next Underside with it? I wouldn't want anyone to be caught off guard if they're not used to using it yet.

[ yall get in enough trouble as it is without a weird mould dog in the mix ]

[mementomoritz]

You're always welcome to come over, if you want! [For science or just, like. To hang out.]

[Rei's a friend, her creepy lab is always open to her.]

[phantasmagorial]

Is that really alright...? Laboratories are supposed to be kept sterile, aren't they?

[ she says, with her her entire knowledge of science coming from like. books from invidia she's read and also, medic herself. ]

[mementomoritz]

The parts where you're actively working definitely should be! But if you're just hanging out nearby and not going into anywhere with open containers, then it's fine.

At least in my lab, right now. I don't have the equipment to work on anything more volatile here, anyway!

[That's probably for the best.]