A Researcher's Inquiry I

A Researcher's Inquiry I
Date of Scene:	23 May 2013
Location:	Traverse Town - VALKYRI HQ
Synopsis:	Halting her research for the moment, Rhia departs from Shinra HQ and travels in order to gather additional information. First on her list; Avira.
Cast of Characters:	Avira, Rhiannon Zellen
Tinyplot:	A Researcher's Inquiry

---

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
Ah, Traverse Town. A haven for lost souls displaced from their original worlds. THe place was cobbled together with no real clear plans and obvious deviated from it's original plans. With more people coming in from the worlds every day, it was a wonder how the town kept up with the flow of refugees!

It was on this day...night...whatever, that a certain Shinra scientist could be seen strolling through the streets at a casual pace. Her gaze swept about, taking in the details of what she saw and what kind of people were around. Her expression altered slightly with each person she laid eyes upon, smirking somewhat all the while.

It was Rhiannon Zellen and while this loon usually never left her lab in Goug...today was an exception. Why? For research of course! And it was for this exact same research that the oriental woman found herself standing in front of VALKRYI HQ. "I do believe this is the location." She muttered quietly to herself, reaching for the door handle and attempting the gain entry after.

Avira has posed:
The door to the VALKYRI HQ has been replaced! Again! Sometimes one has to wonder why they even bother with doors anymore and don't just put up a curtain. (Well, because sometimes the VALKYRI sleep in there and they want their privacy.)

Right now, the door is unlocked because one of the members is within-perhaps expecting company today. Back and forth Avira paces, clearly in some degree of agitation. She cycles between tidying up things around the guild hall and preparing some kind of duffle bag upon one of the beds. Upon closer observation, she seems like she's packing for a trip.

Avira pauses once the door opens and looks down the hall to spot the unusual-looking woman entering. Confusion flashes upon her face before she adopts a smile. "Hello there." she greets politely, "Welcome to VALKYRI. I'm Avira...is there something I can help you with today?"

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
Upon entering, Rhia took a moment to have a brief look about her immediate surroundings. Rather basic living quarters. Nothing she could complain about. Expected of normal people in the end. She nodded to herself after that, just in time for Avira to come into sight. Bingo. Just the one she was looking for too. And Rhia was prepared to go through tiresome social niceties in order to get to her target.

"Hello, hello. I must apologize for intrusion." The scientist spoke, smiling graciously at Avira's question. "I came to see you specifically, Avira was it?" Asking that, Rhia closed the door behind herself and strode a little deeper in, pausing to wait before attempting further entry. "I have some questions I want to ask you, if you don't mind?"

The woman tilted her head slightly at that, braids swaying at the movement. "Unless this is a bad time?"

Avira has posed:
This woman seemed friendly enough-not immediately armed, not teeming with horriblehelldarknesschaos or whatever it was those arrayed against her lately felt like packing. (Seriously it felt like a new thing every day). But since this is a guest that she was facing, Avira adopts a more formal, more polite stance with her hands clasped behind her back.

An eyebrow lifts as this woman professes that she was here to speak to none other than Avira herself. Rhia slips in closer and Avira moves forward from deeper within the guild hall to meet her. "You did?" Body language seems to indicate that she has no issues with Rhia being inside.

"No, this isn't a bad time at all." Her trip could wait a little longer, couldn't it? "What are your questions?"

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
Satisfied that it didn't seem like she was going to be immediately shooed out, Rhia relaxed a little and removed a tablet device from her lab coat, powering it on before producing a stylus pen. "Thank you for your cooperation then. I suppose I should introduce myself." Continuing to smile, Rhia glanced back to Avira, indicating herself vaguely as she spoke.

"My name is Rhiannon Estellise Zellen. I happen to be a scientist in the employ of Shinra. You may or may have heard of us. Perhaps. But I'm not arrogant enough to be sure that you have." Leaving that aside, the scientist looked back down to her tablet, moving things around with her finger before bringing up a notepad app. "Getting to the proverbial point of my visit, I am currently in the middle of some research. But I have hit a wall. Thus, I've come out to collect a bit more information before moving forward."

That said, Rhia turned her attention back to Avira. "Now, according to my information, there were two periods of time where you were...not exactly yourself. Perhaps less in mind and more in body. Am I right?" Asking that rhetorical question, she went on. "My questions are regarding those periods of time."

Avira has posed:
Rhiannon will notice Avira's body tensing just a little bit when ShinRa is mentioned. That moment is quick to pass as she forces herself back into neutrality shortly afterwards, silently hoping that this visit wasn't /actually/ about Maira. Not only had Maira professed to know about Shinra in the past, but there had been an unusually large number of creeps making her life difficult lately. Not that she'd pegged Rhia as a creep already.

Still, couldn't be too careful. "I have indeed heard of ShinRa. It's hard not to for people who travel throughout the worlds. Now..." she seems appreciative that Rhia is so swift to arrive to the point of her visit.

Though learning what it is brings visible discomfort to her. "You must mean when I was a mutate." she concludes. "Not the best time of my life, but yes. Go on."

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
Hm. Interesting. Her body language was most interesting. The way she tensed at the mention of Shinra. Though not strongly, it was enough to tell her that she had heard of them. And perhaps it was not good. No matter. She was here to ask her questions and continue her research, not to defend her employer, whom really, she couldn't care any less about than she already did.

"So I can imagine. The term is 'Mutate' then. I'll note that down." Rhia took a moment to do just that before turning her attention back to Avira. "In any case, I suppose the most pertinent question would be; how exactly did that sort of thing happen to you? Since there were two separate occasions, I suppose I should expect two different answers." Or none, depending on Avira's willingness to answer.

Either way, the woman's eyes her trained directly onto Avira, watching her every movement. And though she smiled pleasantly, her eyes seemed to lack a certain...light. Almost as if she was looking at the huntress as a thing rather than a person. It was an eerie feeling really. Still, Rhia hardly seemed to be the type to jump to violence.

Avira has posed:
"Yes, that is the technical term for that...um...effect." Condition? It felt bad to call it a condition since she knew that there were mutates living as they were in the Labyrinth. Still, it wasn't a form that Avira had wanted to keep at the time. "Well...the first time and I believe technically the second, the source was a mutagen created by an amoral geneticist that had been researching Heartless. I was injected unwillingly during an altercation and the substance was activated when I was exposed to a large amount of darkness." she says honestly.

She still has those research notes too, but this fact goes unsaid.

"On both accounts." she adds, "The condition was cured by the God of Death, Hades. His magic clearly trumped genetics."

The way she was looking at her definitely made her very...uncomfortable. At the moment, Avira couldn't place why.

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
"Darkness, I see..." Yes, Rhia had come to that conclusion herself, which is why she was even standing here right now. But verifying this information was of the utmost importance. "So it was caused by a manufactured substance. Interesting..." Nodding to herself, she noted this down, making scribbles and other notes in her own way. It'd probably be a huge, indecipherable mess to anyone else who tried to read it.

"So it was man made, but cured by a god's magic. Hmn." That caused her to frown. Magic always muddled things up. No logic to the good majority of it. Especially those of higher beings. Seriously. Gods were irritating. But despite her thoughts, Rhia smiled still. "Well than allow me to ask. When you were in that form, did your basic biological makeup change?"

Tapping the pen against her lips, the scientist thought up a way to say this in laymen's terms. "I suppose what I am trying to ask rather is; did the vast volume of darkness introduced affect your internal functions? Such as breathing, blood flow, senses, those sorts of things." And as she asked, Rhia's eyes slowly moved up and down, examining Avira's form as if she were under a microscope. Not very subtle.

Avira has posed:
"It was very interesting, in retrospect, but also very painful." Avira continues to reflect, putting a hand to her chin, "The darkness was not compatible with me at all. Or at least not that particular...darkness. There are many kinds of darkness, though you might already know that from your research."

Her cheeks redden a little as she thinks about the whole ordeal. She was fortunately free of Hades's debt, but the shame of the whole deal still remained in her mind. "Well, yes, it changed quite a bit. Diet, in particular, stood out and it became difficult to eat in a non-carnivorous way." she pauses as Rhia re-explains the question.

"...I'm not sure. I think the animal DNA had more of an effect on me than the darkness." Avira takes a step backwards, as if it could give her more personal space from Rhia's prying eyes.

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
"I see, I see...so you weren't compatible. I suppose that makes sense in the grand scheme of things." She mused aloud, quickly scribbling down notes. Her smile widened a tad, amused at Avira's reactions. People made such interesting subjects really. "A change in diet though..." Well, that was useless. She was not researching the animal parts of this particular situation.

Nodding to herself, thinking that were was little left to ask Avira, the scientist began to power down her tablet, tucking the implement back into her lab coat. "Well, I must thank you for your time. This has been rather enlightening." Normally, she would have asked for a sample of her blood as well, but...there was little point is taking a blood sample from someone who was incompatible to begin with. That was useless to her.

"I should apologize for taking up your time. But I believe that my inquiries have been dealt with. Once again, thank you for your cooperation." Turning around, Rhia then began to move towards the door leading out, opening it a tad before glancing back.

"I will be on my way now. Unless there is something you wish to ask me before then?"

Avira has posed:
Well that was simple enough, if a little uncomfortable. She seemed quite focused on the 'incompatibility', though that gave her hope that the focus was absolute and perhaps these questions would end soon. "Oh, it was no problem at all, you hardly took any of my time." she says politely, making no comment about topic.

"Well, I do. A question and a warning. Why would Shinra interest themselves in implanted darkness? I think such research can only end in tragedy so I caution you against pursuing it so recklessly."

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
"Shinra?" A pause as Rhia tilted her head slightly. After a moment of thought, her smile widened a tad. For what reason though, it remained to be seen. "This has nothing to do with Shinra. This is my own personal research. I desire...knowledge. Knowledge of all things. Light, darkness, technology, magic, biology, psychology..."

Calmly rattling off different fields of study, she didn't bat an eye despite the warnings. "As for the dangers and alleged tragedies you speak of...those sorts of outcomes only take place because those of weak minds were at the helm, no?" She seemed pretty sure of that fact even. People with weak minds would fall victim to their own research time and time again. It was inevitable.

"Nevertheless, one cannot discover what lies within the great unknown...what lies within the boundary without being willing to step forward without a guiding light." And those were the words that Rhia would leave Avira with as she stepped on through the door.

"Farewell~"

And with that, the door closed, leaving Avira by her lonesome again.

Avira has posed:
"Then I wish you safety in your work." Avira says evenly, scrutinizing the woman even closer now. Was she the type who would capture random people off the street for her experiments? It was...hard to tell, actually. Avira's not a spectacular judge of character that can see these things.

Avira follows the woman as she leaves their guild hall, as if to determine that she really is leaving. Once she has left, Avira elects to lock the door and shudders. "And to think, I wanted to be a scienist one day too."