Good Idea / Bad Idea

Good Idea / Bad Idea
Date of Scene:	05 January 2013
Location:	Goug
Synopsis:	Good idea! ---Go shopping for healing items. Bad Idea-- Let your curiosity get the better of you for the better glory of SCIIIIENNNCE.
Cast of Characters:	Sable, Rhiannon Zellen

---

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
The City of Goug.

The mining city where moogles worked day in and day out to unearth ancient wonders of technology.

And also the place where Shinra has marked as it's new base of operations. And it was quite telling really. More modernized buildings and tech being visible amongst the stone and wood that was originally present. It was here, right outside Shinra's Headquarters actually, that a certain woman stepped outside.

The long white coat clearly placed her as a scientist and considering where she had come from, it wasn't hard to guess that she was with Shinra. But the question remained; why on earth was she out here? Scientists were usually rather busy being holed up in their labs, working on whatever madness drove them.

"...Hmn, no not that one...not that one either...That one is too big...that one is too small..." The black haired young woman tapped her cheek thoughtfully as she watched people pass by on the sidewalk, apparently keeping an eye out for someone or something.

Sable has posed:
TIME FOR --- shopping?

Oh yes. It is that time again. Time when even great adventurers (of the non-desert variety) to go forth from their dark places of sanctuary to buy healing items just in case the tides turned against them on the next assignment.

This has indeed no actual bearing on the fact that the adventurer in question, with his Hearts Interwined jacket, is in any way paranoid. Far from it.

But--- eh. Even paranoids have enemies.

Or.. you know. Reize.

The mill of the crowd goes completely undisturbed. People pass back and forth on their errands and nobody seems to take any heed of the teenager weaving through the crowd with a backpack over his shoulder. Nothing much to tell him from the rest of the crowd. He stops every so often, one step placing him slighty out of the flow of traffic as he scans the way ahead. He stops not too far away from the scientist in one of these momentary halts, frowning slightly as he digs into a pocket to withdraw a small notebook.

He flips a few pages, shrugging the backpack a little more firmly up on his shoulder as he takes a look around again. He briefly regards Rhiannon and then looks away at the nearby landmarks.

He couldn't possibly be lost. Nope. He would disavow such a thing. Publicly.

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
"No...No.....No....Not that one...Hmn."

Crossing her arms, her huffed a little in disappointment at the procession of people passing by. None of these subjects were adequeate! None at all-wait a moment. Rhia's eyes briefly meet Sable's, and then she grins. "Aha~!" Apparently seeming to have found whatever the heck it was she was after, the scientist immediately set forth, walking after the boy.

"You there! May I have a moment of your time if you would please?" Putting on her best flowery smile, Rhia walked around to Sable's front, her arms folded in front of her within her coat's sleeves. "I have been looking for someone like you for a while now!"

...But for what exactly? Her smile belied any ill intentions she may have had, but...one couldn't be too safe now, could they?

"Care to listen to my request? I promise you, it will be well worth your while."

Sable has posed:
Alert. Bologna has exceeded expected threshold level of (More than 1--) yes. It's set that low for a reason)

Sable clears his throat, the teenager closing the book with a faint but noticable 'snap' as he stuffs it into the back pocket of his jeans. He readjusts the backpack on his shoulder, shaking his head in denial. "No, thank you. I'm just passing through." although he doesn't continue moving or attempting to shoulder past her so the denial isn't a firm one.

He might still be convinced, or maybe he's waiting until he remembers where he actually is before making a quick escape. Who is to say.

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
Unlike most people, Rhia isn't deterred that easily. Grinning in amusement, she proceeded to follow along after the boy. "Ohhhh reaaaally?" The cheshire cat would be proud of the smile that was currently on this woman's face. It was almost creepy. No, scratch that. It WAS creepy. Did she even realize it herself?

"For just passing through however...your course seems to be awfully erratic. Are you sure that you are not simply hopelessly lost?" A glance ahead, and then upwards at the rising buildings and then she turned her gaze back to him. "This IS a rather big city...I suppose someone like you wouldn't be able to grasp it so easily after all."

Rhia's smile lessened back to normal as she removed an arm from her sleeves, wagging a finger as she spoke further. "What exactly are you looking for now? Perhaps we can...make a deal~?"

Sable has posed:
Sable has this feeling at the back of his head, sort of an itch like he would like very much to start laughing in the woman's face but he can't quite bring himself to do it because that would break character.

A corner of his mouth twitches very slightly though as he regards her. Her words, every single one of them, make him even LESS likely to listen instead of more-- but she doesn't seem to be aware of that.

The teenager taps a sneakered foot twice and crosses his arms with faint sigh. "Alright." he accedes with only faint alacrity. "Go ahead. What do you want?"

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
Pause.

She came to a stop, clapping her hands together rather happily. "Good, good! I'm glad you finally came around~" He didn't come around, you madwoman, he just said he'd listen! Regardless, such logic seemed to escape her and she cheerfully began to explain just what it was she needed from him "It is actually rather simple! I require a test subject! But not just any test subject."

...A test subject? Wait a second...

"I need someone that is juuuuust the right age and build for the experiment at hand. Thankfully, I found you~" Continuing to smile all too happily, Rhia went on to explain further. "You see, I am currently experimenting with...a materia compound."

Sounds suspicious.

"Something that will enhance human capabilties to a major degree, but I hit a wall since there was no test subject to use~"

Sounds incredibly suspicious. Especially the way she mentioned test subjects.

Sable has posed:
Yeah. The 'bologna' meter which Sable has finetuned over the last couple of months was now pegging the scale. The little handwriting at the red end of the scale reads 'Seriously?' as though this was in fact a great and terrible blandishment.

The teenager shifted his stance, moving his weight from one foot to another as his eyes flicked just past her. He favors her with a polite smile, but all the other body language cues are pretty much in the same territory as 'Edge very carefully away from the crazy lady'

"That seems like valuable and neccessary testing." the teenager taps the sidewalk twice with the top of a sneaker. "Although-- It would work better with a volunteer? You know-- /not/ somebody yanked off the street? That might screw things up."

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
"Ohhhh, details." Rhia replied rather dismissively, shrugging her should rather nonchalantly as well. Nevermind the fact that no one ever volunteered for her experiments.

Probably for good reason.

"Whether they volunteer or get 'yanked off the street', does it really matter now? In the end, if I find the right person, the results will be the same, yes?" Her smile turned into a rather creepy grin again as she leaned forward, poking the boy's cheek in a playfl, yet mocking fashion.

"I promise, you will not wake up to find all your internal organs replaced with mechanical parts!" She glanced away then, frowning somewhat. "I am still working on the particulars for that project-" And then a rapid shake of the head. "I MEAN-yes! No danger here! None at all~!"

Sable has posed:
Sable raises his fingers to the bridge of his nose, rubbing at that spot. 'Oh my god' he thinks to himself with chagrin. 'She's worse than Ember. I didn't think that was possible.' but-- as always, searching the worlds for adventure and shopping often comes with unexpected and terrible knowledge.

In a lower voice he asks. "Do you really think this is going to work?" he raises his eyebrows as if he actually cannot believe what it is that he is hearing. "Do you even.. listen, to what you are saying? I mean." he gestures vaguely.

"You aren't.. well.. selling the idea very well. What could I possibly have to gain by going along with whatever you have planned.. uh.." at this he trails off as if expecting at least a name to go with the crazy.

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
"Of course it will work! I have never steered anyone wrong!"

Total lie.

"Oh? Selling the idea? Is that what I should be doing now?" She glanced upwards then, tapping her cheek with a finger thoughtfully. "I did not realize that I should have had to do such a thing. Hmmmn...." Apparently lost in thought for a couple moments, she eventually snapped back to reality.

"Aha! What will you gain? Quite simple!" Smiling pleasantly again, she raised a hand, finger extneded as she began to explain. "You will have gained a measure of knowledge, as well as the good feeling of know that you have done an admirable service to the world of science!"

Real sound reasoning there.

And no. She didn't give out a name. Whether or not she missed the introduction cue or ignored it. It wasn't quite apparent.

She probably ignored it though.

Sable has posed:
This is actually sort of painful to Sable.

To paraphase his internal mental processes. 'I'm groaning so hard internally I may actually rupture something at some point. You are causing me PHYSICAL PAIN by being this awful.' Although science would probably come up with some really snazzy words for the condition.

The teenager lowers his eyes to the ground and then squeezes them shut, shaking his head slightly and shoulders shaking once or twice. Finally he can't contain it anymore.
% Sable just starts laughing, starting slowly and building up to an amusement that draws attention and curious glances from the people who are passing by on the street. "Oh come ON, lady. You can't possibly be serious."

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
Alas, if Rhia knew how much PHYSICAL PAIN she was putting Sable through right at this very moment...she'd have laughed. Maybe she did, and she was intentionally turning up the awful on purpose. "...Oh?" She smiled, watching as the boy finally just gave up and started laughing it up. While he did so, the scientist simply tilted her head, smiling with her own amusement.

"Hmn, I wonder now." Was her cryptic and terrible answer. "Why don't you come back with me and find out whether or not I am being serious for yourself?" Just what was that supposed to mean now?

Sable has posed:
Sable eventually gets a hold on himself.

The chuckling fades off to a few scattered coughs. He shakes his head, looking at her with something chagrin. He knows that it's a bad idea to give this woman even an inch of his time or attention, but he is sort of fascinated by what has to be an obvious-- but no. Trying to pick out whether this is an obvious fabrication or someone actually being this awful (which he has had experience with both)

"I know I am going to regret this, but I'm sort of curious now what you are up to. So-- consider your mission accomplished. I would like to know your name however before bowing to whatever terrible fate you have in store."

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
"Hm? My name? Ohhhh.....what was my name again?" Rhia pondered, crossing her arms and frowning in what looked to be a serious bout of thought. Of course she couldn't actually be serious about this but she was putting on a good show regardless. "...Oh right! My name is Rhiannon Estellise Zellen. But you can just call me Rhia~"

Sable was given a cheerful smile and a pat on the shoulder afterward before the just introduced scientist walked behind him, beginning to push him along by the shoulders, in the direction of Shinra's HQ. "Now then, come along! Time is wasting! There is oh so much we need to do! Ehehehe~" And then an ominous giggle escaped from her. Oh boy.

"Today is going to be wonderful day!"

Sable has posed:
Sable sighs. He's so completely going to regret having anything in the way of curiosity.

He suffers the pat and the smile with the patience of the long suffering, shrugging his backpack onto his other shoulder as he is pushed, prodded and poked in the direction of Shinra HQ.

The teenager looks up at the massive building and nods to himself. Yep. This is SUCH a bad idea.

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
Only smiling in the face of Sable's misgivings, Rhia pushed Sable into the building, utterly ignoring the greetings of the receptionist as she made her way through to the lab areas. "Annnnnd here we are~" She announced in a singsong voice, sliding an ID card along a slot in a door, causing it to slide open, revealing...

A mess.

There were mechanical parts, tools, half finished experiments, vials and vials of unknown fluids, and books. Books everywhere. Was that part of a Mecha over there? "Ahaha, don't mind the mess. I have been meaning to clean up. I just...have yet to get to it!" She sure didn't much sorry about it however and moved past the boy, gesturing for him to come in as well.

Sable has posed:
In for a penny, in for a pound.

Sable smiled at the receptionist on the way by, looking around at the interior of the Shinra HQ. Although he has some serious misgivings about Rhia and this whole situation, he is still taking the opportunity to smell the roses so to speak. Or at least stare curiously at the Mecha.

Sable looks at the tools, experiments and fluids. He looks at some of the books, reading the titles. "Yeah. I'm guessing science gets-- extremely messy when you are the one who is doing it."

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
"Messy? Perhaps so." Rhia answered rather cryptically, walking through the lab and over to a desk area and with some chairs. She sat down at the desk, plopping into a swiveling office chair and then reached over to produce a syringe from a rack of them. Each contained...a strange colored liquid of differing color. It looked rather shifty.

"Now then, come along. We'll begin immediately." She spoke to the boy with a smile, waving the syringe rather playfully. As if there wasn't some strange experimental substance contained within that may or may not cause problems in the long run.

"This is my experiment~" Rhia decided to mention casually, waving the syringe again.

...Well, it was rather underwhelming really.

Sable has posed:
Annnnnd here is where i get off the crazy train.

Sable certainly was interested in what Rhiannon was up to, but this point is where questions need to be brought up. "You don't actually get many volunteers, do you?" he asks with a eyebrow raising chagrin. He doesn't actually seem very concerned about Rhiannon and her myserious syringe.. and maybe he should be, but he's still thinking he can talk his way out of the situation he has allowed to crop up around him.

"Also. This is the part where I ask 'What are you actually trying to find out? Because if it's 'Is someone stupid enough to let a random stranger stick them with mysterious glowing goo?' I think the answer in this case is 'no.'"

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
"Ohhhh....not particularly." Rhia admitted, shrugging her free shoulder nonchalantly. "After all, people are always afraid of the unknown. It is human nature after all." She then smirked rather ominously as she posed a question of her own. "What causes one to transcend their humanity and actively seek out the unknown? Is it a gene isolated within the human genome? Or perhaps it is a psychological thing that is imposed upon our minds by society? I wonder I wonder~"

And all throughout, Rhia was waving that syringe of obviously unsafe material, tapping her cheek with her free hand rather whimsically. "Though, if you must know just what it is that I am doing here. I want to find out if it is possible for humans to...transcend their apparent humanity. To become something...greater."

How vague, really.

"And to that purpose, I have devised this experiment here. You have little need to worry however. I alreadt used myself as the test subject for the prototype now." Wait, she used HERSELF as a test subject? Talk about crazy. "This version is much more stable~"

Sable has posed:
Vagueness levels: TILT

Sable shakes his head. "And this company lets you do that. " Apparently he doesn't know Shinra. They'd probably bottle it and sell it in trendy bottles but Sable doesn't know this.

What he does know is Rhia is obviously crazy in more than one way. It was vague as to HOW crazy. "Okay. That-- is not creepy at all." he did have to hand it to her. She has been refreshingly upfront with the crazy. There is at least that for this conversation.

"You did this to yourself, whatever this is-- and was the crazy there /before/ this or after."

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
"Crazy? Wherever did you get that from?" She asked, smiling in an amused fashion. "If you mean my endless pursuit of knowledge, then I suppose you could say that..." Trailing off, Rhia glanced upwards in thought for a few moments before finally giving an answer. "...I suppose you could say that I have been 'crazy' since I was a child~"

A creepy giggle followed that answer and she did nothing to muffle it. "As for what I did to myself...It has had absolutely no effect on my mental state whatsoever!"

Are you sure about that now?

"Now then, are you prepared?"

Sable has posed:
Sable really has nothing to say to that.

So. A time of shopping and adventure leads to-- him following a creepy lady with the syringe into a strange laboratory and. Hm.. what was he expecting. Exactly what he has found, apparently.

He nods to her very slowly and-- then bolts for the door.

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
"..........."

Rhia watched as Sable turned tail and ran for it.

She did not give chase.

"Ah, what a pity. I suppose I will have to put this one on hold for now then~" And with a shrug, the scientist, set the syringe back onto the rack and stood up, walking over to the partially finished mecha in the corner and staring at it idly. "One day though. Ehehehehe~"

Well, she sure took things in stride.