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hugtopia2020-08-07 04:26 pm
original_is_best) wrote in hugtopia2020-08-07 04:26 pm
Entry tags:
[Audio]
M.E. 723-V-3rd
2-Achtom-7th
While we are all aware of the monetary benefits of physical contact, I would like to better measure the precise amount of that benefit.
For that reason I will require the following:
1. Volunteers who can arrive for scheduled appointments in a timely and consistent manner.
2. Volunteers who can keep an accurate record of their contact.
I will be measuring a number of variables, the main ones being whether different forms of contact generate a greater reward, or if contact with multiple bodies at once changes the amount. Types of contact will vary over separate spans of time so they can be compared. I will start with contact between hands.
Post here if you are able to assist.
2-Achtom-7th
While we are all aware of the monetary benefits of physical contact, I would like to better measure the precise amount of that benefit.
For that reason I will require the following:
1. Volunteers who can arrive for scheduled appointments in a timely and consistent manner.
2. Volunteers who can keep an accurate record of their contact.
I will be measuring a number of variables, the main ones being whether different forms of contact generate a greater reward, or if contact with multiple bodies at once changes the amount. Types of contact will vary over separate spans of time so they can be compared. I will start with contact between hands.
Post here if you are able to assist.
private af lol | text.
While I kept no records of my contact, I had a sudden change in established routine that provided useful data to me:
The first month I engaged in non-intimate physical contact on a daily basis I noted an exponential increase in my earnings.
The first month I added intimate physical contact to my routine there was no statistically significant change in my earnings.
The only evidence I can supply are the financial records I've kept.
My conclusion has been that so long as there is physical contact it matters naught what said physical contact is, so long as it is non-violent.
I would be interested in seeing the results of your experimentation once you've gathered enough information.
[Audio]
private | text.
[ she lists each of the past 10 month with their respective month earnings. ]
My routine is consistently average throughout each month, though I occasionally will have severely limited contact for a short period which shows itself in my finances.
In short: while limited, the data is quite reliable evidence to support that simple touch is given the same value as sexual intimacy.
[ After a moment of thought, Era sends along another message shortly after the last: ]
Verstael,
Aside from your allegiance to Niflemheim, may I ask what you have done to make the Lucians dislike you so?
[Audio]
[He could use it along with his own financials as some basis, though he didn't yet know of anyone who had kept exact times.
With a slight quirk of his brow he hummed at the next part, not particularly offended nor worried. It was no great secret he didn't get along with the Lucians particularly well, and beyond the consequences for the Empire or his current situation he didn't really care. He'd never been one who was out to be loved by everyone.]
I would say their dislike of me is heavily related to my allegiance. I am a researcher for the army, and in the future it is my research that will fell Insomnia. I am the one who discovered and freed Ardyn Izunia, as well as the one who develops the MT infantry, and the one who discovers how to create and weaponize daemons. The boy himself is one of my future creations, stolen from my labs by the Lucians.
[He didn't sound sorry about it. After all, that was his job.
However, things had changed since his initial arrival.]
It may be that the future has changed. However, I will stand firm in my allegiance regardless of how many Lucians I am surrounded by. The sun of Solheim will rise once more.
no subject
Why does Nifleheim fight Lucis? I would like to hear your perspective of things, if you are willing.
Did you only seek to weaponize daemons, or were you also searching for a cure once you found the cause? I find immunology particularly interesting, though my education in the subject is limited by textbooks.
May I ask what it is you dream of? If there was no Nifleheim or Lucis. No kingdoms or empires and their associated allegiances. Do you have any idea what you would wish to make of yourself?
My apologies for the probing questions. I have met imperial scientists in my own world before who were not wholly dissimilar to yourself, but never had the opportunity to understand their motivations.
[Audio]
Two millennia ago daemons first came to be known to the world. But they weren't separate entities, precisely. Rather, daemons came to be when a parasite afflicted animals and humans, twisting them into unrecognizable forms. There were two brothers of House Caelum - One was Ardyn, and one was Somnus. Ardyn sought to cure the disease. Somnus dealt with the disease by razing any towns where it surfaced.
We know little of the time after that. Niflheim, Accordo and Tenebrae were not founded until hundreds of years later. For its part, Niflheim has sought to revive Solheim, an ancient civilization that ruled over the lands of Eos and excelled in magiteknology. It was an era of peace and prosperity before the War of the Astrals that led to its ruin.
It is perhaps these beginnings that would ultimately lead to conflict. Lucis has claimed lands that belonged to Solheim. Beyond that, Lucis honors and obeys the very gods that destroyed Solheim. I won't claim that there is no religion in Niflheim - naturally people hold many beliefs, and there are those that still venerate the gods. However, I would dare to say these beginnings were bound to place Lucis and Niflheim at odds with each other, though it can be hard to say how or when it started. Those of Niflheim live quite a distance of those from Lucis, and it must have taken some time for us to rise from our humble beginnings to becoming the most advanced nation in the world.
After that... I am not a foolish man. The reasons for the war have likely varied over time. Battles over resources, scarcity, famine, power, expansion, differences of beliefs... Noctis Lucis Caelum, who is present in this very city, is to be the 113th King of Lucis. I'm sure each of the many dozens of kings and emperors had their own reasons that addressed more immediate concerns than the distant feuds of the past. At the time of my birth we had been engaged in war for many hundreds of years already. It is likely difficult for many to imagine not being at war.
[At the next part his tone shifted to excitement. This was a subject he could really get into. Again, he showed no hint of apology. It was his job. It's what he was supposed to do.]
I sought to weaponize the daemons. Their strength is astounding, and with their abilities under our control we would easily be able to defeat the Lucians. [The answer was thrilled, automatic, obviously something he didn't need to think about.
But then he did think about it. Things had changed, and while he was still wild for research about daemons, he recognized that his goals had to change, too. As loathe as he was to do it.]
I'm afraid the research may need to be terminated. It would appear that the research goes well... for a time. Much as I would like to continue it, for the sake of the empire I shall bring it to an end.
[And that was genuine. He really was giving up something. Maybe other people wouldn't understand his fascination with daemons, nor the research he'd been interested in since he was a child, but it held lifelong importance to him and ultimately bringing it to an end was a major move in his life.]
Were there no war I would still be a researcher. Perhaps my goals would have been different. Space travel, dimensional travel, teleportation, upgraded transportation, virology, there are many things I could have concentrated on. Even my first achievement had little to do with war itself - I addressed the famine afflicting our nation. No matter the circumstances there will always be more to learn, and that is what I would have been doing with my time regardless.
no subject
Shocking facts. More uncomfortable parallels with her own world. ]
Thank you for the information.
In my world there was once a war that went on for a thousand years between the Holy See of Ishgard and the Dravanians. Ishgard lied about what prompted the war, and so for a thousand years there was pointless bloodshed. When the truth came out many of the people refused to believe it. They didn't want to think all that they lost was for naught. That the cause their loved ones died for was based upon lies. Then there were also those who could not fathom no longer being at war.
Having been privy to far too many feuding nations, I have learned that wars are wasteful. Stupid. Ceaseless. Unless they choose to be better than their forefathers and rise above violence and greed and oppression, all nations and empires will fall — even the grandest of them.
Chasing after ghosts is a folly. I imagine your empire could be greater than Solheim ever was if it were to take a step back and re-evaluate its priorities.
Please make no mistake that while I consider myself a friend of Lucis, I am not speaking as one now. I speak only as someone who concerns herself with the people who make up a nation, not those that govern them, and as someone who has no first-hand knowledge of what your world is like.
Had you ever considered the possibility that finding a cure for the Scourge would afford Nifleheim more power than weaponizing them ever could? One of my worlds had a plague similar to the Scourge, though its alignment was to Light. One nation had a ruler who had a method to control our 'daemons', and rather than weaponize them he used them to solidify his power. People willingly flocked to him. There was no need for war when people came from malms away to prostrate themselves at his feet.
[ Having experienced the Scourge via the Echo, Era finds the concept of weaponizing it even more repulsive than she would have otherwise. Eulmore was horrific as well, albeit more insidiously so. But if she can plant more fervent desire to find a cure into Verstael's head, and should he happen to return to his timeline with his memory intact... A cure could spare lives and buy precious time. ]
Can you tell me more about the Starscourge? I am aware that it is a bloodborne pathogen that turns people into mindless creatures, and has an elemental affinity toward Darkness. I know nothing beyond that.
no subject
The Oracle is able to cure the scourge with divine power. However, she is only one. We've not had another cure as of yet, though I have theories on how to go about it.
[Many had told him already that no one had ever figured it out. Surprisingly, he was an optimist. He would figure it out. Because he was himself, and if he put his mind to it he would accomplish it.]
The scourge comes from a mutant strain of plasmodium malariae. It's precise origins are unknown. Some say it was punishment from the gods. It is possible. I prefer the theory that it came from the Meteor of the Six. Certainly something otherworldly could cause such havoc. They are photophobic parasites which dispense a light-absorbing miasma. Certainly a difficult foe, but not invulnerable.
no subject
[Audio]
no subject
Or even just a full blood transfusion prior to the Scourge reaching muscle tissues.
I haven't the faintest idea how to cure those whose minds are lost and bodies transformed, but for non-magical/'divine' methods those are the first to come to mind. This is under the presumption that the infection does not take root too deeply within the first twenty-four hours.
no subject
He wasn't exactly a doctor, but he was very familiar nonetheless.
He stayed silent for a moment, because it was rare for others to pitch ideas like this to him. Fortunately, he was not one to overlook input from others.]
You are an intelligent woman.
[He could respect that. He did respect that.]
Being separated from my world I am unable to test any methods - unless it is possible to convince Ardyn to assist. However, there would be time to treat those afflicted. It normally takes weeks for them to be fully transformed. [When Ardyn wasn't accelerating the process.] I doubt the ability to save those who have been fully consumed exists - their bodies are far too twisted and malformed. Even if the scourge was cured I'm afraid they would be long dead.
no subject
I explained the concept of immunity to him once, as I have a strong suspicion that I am immune to the Starscourge. But even if my theory is correct it would be of little use to your world, and I will hardly put my brother through unnecessary duress.
I cannot think of a reasonable way to create immunity amongst Eosians.
There is no cure for Sin Eaters in my realms. Once the body is fully transformed the soul is destroyed along with it. There is no reversing that process. The kindest fate for those transformed by Scourge or Blight would be death.
[Audio]
Tell me of your immunity. I tend to find that there is always a way when one puts one's mind to it. It may take ten thousand failures, but that doesn't mean that the ten thousand and oneth attempt won't succeed.
no subject
My likely immunity. It is impossible to replicate. Your world has the Scourge, which is a disease of Darkness that infects the body. The Blight was an illness of Light that infected one's aether and soul.
The most succinct summary I can offer is that I absorbed vast quantities of the Blight unto myself, similarly to Ardyn. Unlike Ardyn, I had a divine blessing that largely shielded me from it. Eventually I expended most of the corrupted Light defeating an enemy of Darkness.
It is a matter of elemental balance — Light and Darkness can neutralize one another and create equilibrium.
no subject
no subject
Regardless, it is an imbalance of aether. It is not something visible by any means, unless the symptoms progress to a point beyond what my infection is capable of.
no subject
[Oh, there would be a lengthy list of "What about this?", but he wasn't about to go crazy when he needed to her to be willing.]
no subject
» A few strands of hair
» One scale
» Saliva
» A single, standard-sized vial of blood
The conditions will be:
» I will be present during testing
» Samples will be destroyed once testing is completed. If more samples are required at a later date, request it and I will consider it.
If it appears anywhere it would be within the blood or saliva.
Infrared would be unreliable for detecting it, but admittedly I would be interested in seeing the results of such a test all the same. If nothing else, I will see if Ardbert would join me in indulging the request for an infrared check as it would be pretty neat to compare our results.
no subject
Then as I have greater access to equipment I shall let you know. As you can imagine, it takes time to rebuild a lab from scratch.
There is nothing disagreeable about your presence. Perhaps we will be able to discuss the results. [Because he saw nothing particularly personal about the tests. It was simply gathering knowledge, and were he testing on himself he would discuss the results fairly easily.]
Your cooperation is appreciated.
no subject
If there are particular components that need to be forged you are welcome to contact me. I have experience in metalworking ranging from clockwork parts to large swords.
I will be wed in the coming weeks so shall be preoccupied until then, however it should not be difficult to find time before then.
[ And shortly after: ]
Ardbert is agreeable to the terms I set. We can arrange something at your convenience, provided we are allowed to play with the infrared a little bit.
no subject
I would certainly like to involve myself in more precision work again.