12 [hologram]; Czeslaw Meyer Schemes, Enterprises, And Seeks To Change Locations

[czes]

[Oh, how cute is little 'Benjamin' in a little labcoat and a bow tie? He's looking very smiley with a clipboard that seems oversized in his hands.]

So, Valentine's Day is coming up. And I've noticed kind of a trend around holidays. I'm sure some of you have been in that situation - you go out on Valentine's Day, or around Christmas, or Canada Day or whatever, and suddenly you meet a total stranger and just think he's the cat's pajamas. Or worse, you find your honey pitching woo to the milkman! It's not your fault, right? There's always spells, and potions, and strange airborne substances manipulating your heart... and everything else. If you've lived very long in Siren's Port, chances are you might feel powerless to the effects of the occasional mischeivous love spell.

I've come up with a solution.

[He shows off a small glass vial.]

This is an elixir that will ward off all enchantments, airborne aphrodiacs, drugged-up free food samples, the projections of empaths and everything in between. One dose lasts about 30 hours and has no long-term side effects. If you'd like a vial to ingest in preperation of what will likely the toxic mindfield of Valentine's Day, I'll sell you one for a special Newcomer discount of $225. That's $25 off retail price.

I know that this whole thing might not seem credible, coming from a kid and all, but I'm a trained alchemist and I've been doing this kinda thing basically since I learned how to read. I've done extensive testing and I guarantee this elixir will work.

That being said - serious inquiries only, please. And if you've got a reputation as a psycho or a crook, I'm not giving you anything. So keep that in mind.

[pause]

While I've got your attention, who's in charge of the boarding house I used to live at? It used to belong to Minako, and then it moved to Rin... I'm not sure who's in charge of it now. [slight frown]

I wanted to know if I could have my old room back.


[OOC: So here's the deal! The anti-love potion will indeed do what's on the tin - it will protect you from any kind of love spells, mind or emotion altering effects of drugs or psychic abilities, and other such thing. The thing is that it does this by elimating emotion entirely for 30 hours. So yeah, you'll be guaranteed being protected from any unwanted feelings of love or lust... or anything else.

Keep an eye out, because there could be some problem when he releases this elixir to the general public!]

Comments

[czes]

At times it is challenging. Even my own kind often have difficulty remembering I've lived nearly as long as they have - and a difference of ten or thirty years in age is hardly any at all, when we've all lived nearly three hundred. [He shakes his head a little.]

But I am accustomed to it, though I hate having my hair ruffled. An immortal's head is a very sensitive place, because it is from touching palm to head that we can eat one another. But overall, I am more concerned that I will be used and tortured again.

[dr_orpheus]

Are any of them here with you now? Can you at least draw that comfort from being around those who know your situation?

How very interesting. Do you mean that quite literally, or is it a more spiritual consuming of the other?

[czes]

No. The only other immortal is from another batch that was made rather recently. He's pretty much a child by mortal standards, and the Core brought him here just before he was going to meet me. So even though we are like family later on, he does not know me now. [Czeslaw goes a little quiet. He stares at the palm of his hand.]

It's definitely physical. To eat another immortal is to suck them out soul-first, they lose all their vitality and become withered, then crumple like a husk, bones snapping, and all of it disappearing into the one who eats.

They continue to exist - their memories and the whole of their knowledge - within the person who ate them.

The demon seemed to want this so that an immortal could live on, even after they felt their natural life had ended. But one of our kind saw it as a way to gain powerful knowledge he wouldn't otherwise get. To him, the horrific act was pleasurable.

[dr_orpheus]

It sounds positively horrifying. Your deepest secrets and most hard-won knowledge, consumed like SO MANY SHRIMP AT AN ALL-YOU-CAN EAT BUFFET. Although I imagine there would come a point when you would wish to seek the sweet release of nothingness after centuries of life.

[Whereas before, Orpheus was openly interested and engaged, his expression becomes more guarded.]

This is all quite fascinating to me, but I have to ask why you are trusting me with this knowledge. Is there some payment you will try to exact?

[czes]

Don't all the modern doctors say you're supposed to talk about your problems to make them all better? [That's quite a sharp, sarcastic tongue he has.]

Here's the deal. Sooner or later, something big is going to happen here. I mean bigger than all the ridiculous crap that happens on a daily basis.

I like to know that there are folks around with a good head on their shoulders, whose knowledge reaches beyond the every day.

Later down the line, knowing you could be useful, or vice-versa. Not to mention you're, what, a necromancer? That's just plain cool. I was never all that good with the occult side of the arts.

[dr_orpheus]

If you have seen enough of me on this network to be aware of my profession, then you must also be aware of my insistence on not taking the use of my skills lightly. I will not, as I told young Mr. Loki, be raising a zombie army for anyone.

[czes]

Of course not. I don't take mine lightly either.

Is it really so hard to believe I might just want to be friends? You never know. You might need someone with small hands to get something for you somewhere narrow, someday...

[dr_orpheus]

No, even the very powerful have a need for friendship and those they can confide in. My Master did not seek such things and it gave him some odd predilections. I will be sure to keep you in mind the next time I have need of someone with your talents, whether they be small hands or otherwise.

[czes]

Right.

It's been very enlightening talking to you... what's your name again? Bryan?

[dr_orpheus]

Dr. Byron Orpheus, at your service.

[czes]

It's nice to meet you, Byron. I'm glad we could talk.

[dr_orpheus]

Always a pleasure.