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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.

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Okay. How often did you want to meet?

[Besides what seems like monthly events, there's enough downtime in between them for things like this.]

An hour a day should be sufficient. The main objective is to be consistent, though an increase in the amount of time would mean earning a greater amount in the meantime.

Are afternoons acceptable for you?

That's fine. The physical contact's with you?

[Just checking. Not that there's anything wrong with it either way.]

Yes, unless you are able to keep an accurate log of your encounters and keep them uniform. Otherwise it would be easiest for me to test this on myself.

I can have the contact with you since it's for your research. You can manage the controls that way.

I cannot volunteer, though I have information that may be worth noting all the same.

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.

[The video is extra important for obnoxiously waving his hand in the air as if he's a student being called on in class.]

Oh, meeeeee~! Pick me!

Excellent. Then if you meet me at noon each day, you can place a hand on my shoulder for an hour. That should do well enough.

Regardless if they're exact records, anything would be helpful. While I would like to establish precise financial benefits, we've have been here for an extended period of time and should have some inkling of the results. I would simply like to verify.

[Hmm, it had been a while. Verstael still held his suspicions, but they wouldn't be important in this sort of research. He had no reason to believe the natives would care about this.]

Will you be able to adhere to a schedule? It is important to keep variables the same save for those we wish to test.

Where should I meet you? Is it all right to ask for your name?

[He thinks he should at least have a name or that much information before he goes off touching someone's shoulder.]

[Ah, he was used to be recognized. Particularly by voice. But that was fine.]

Research Chief Verstael Besithia of the Imperial Army. I spend my time at the Information Center during the day. The doors are unlocked.

Then I shall attach the data of my monthly earnings.

[ 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?

It is appreciated.

[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.

I understand the weight of allegiances. Whether your empire is truly worthy of your allegiance is something only you can decide.

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.

Sure, I guess. Just not on cafe days.

[Maybe getting into some science will cheer her up. It's not like she doesn't have the free time.]

I've got a record of routine tardiness but I'm willing to help out!

Also, when you say accurate record, how accurate are you looking for?

I'm sorry, but how, exactly would you be measuring these variables, and just whom would we be touching?

Thank you. I can meet you there. When did you want to start?

[He should visit soon though since it sounds useful to have around in a foreign place like this one.]

History has long since been obscured by the the tides of time. Records have long been destroyed or forgotten. We could only surmise why Lucis and Niflheim began to quarrel, though due to my discovery of Ardyn I was able to learn much that had long been forgotten.

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.

Edited 2020-08-09 23:55 (UTC)

Excellent. Would you be able to control and monitor the type of contact you have for a period of time?

[That's not promising.]

I would like to keep results within a few minutes of each other.

The first major variable would be time. It is simple enough, it simply needs to be recorded.

The second is the type of touch. That, too, can be controlled.

The third is the payment amount, which we will record over a period of time in order to assess the amount of payment for the type of contact.

If someone were able to keep a record of their own results whilst using only one form of contact for a period of time, it would matter little whom they touched. I will be using myself as a test subject since I don't predict there will be many who control their contact to that extent.

I can track it a while. How long are you gonna do this study?

[ She takes her time responding, reading over the rather detailed information shared with her. It is enlightening, useful, and shockingly unbiased. Simple facts.

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.

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