Science! Technology! Really Wild Things!

[empiricalpride]

Who: A whole posse of ~seekers of truth~...
Where: Radiant Garden
When: Some time post-'KH2'ish/P4Arena
What: SCIENCE. Poking Shadows, Heartless, and all that good stuff...
Warnings: Only for confusing shenanigans.

Slowly but surely, Radiant Garden is returning to normal. Something close to it, at least. Outside, in the city, buildings being restored. In the castle, new recruits taking up the guards' uniform. And in the basements...

It has been a long time since the laboratories had been fully functional. A long time since they'd been put to their old use.
But today, that's changing. Nothing so ... extreme as had once been studied, back in Xehanort's day. Darkness involved, yes, but no need to touch a human heart with it.
Time, today, to study what the human heart had managed to bring forth in two different worlds.

Even's gaze scans slowly over the two cages on the table, where two creatures are being held. The first: it could be at home here. Could even have been born here. A small humanoid creature, pure black, hitting out at its cage and trying to escape into an inky puddle.
A Heartless - a Shadow of the heart.
The other, a larger cage: something that this world had yet to see until now. The creature inside ignores him as he passes, looking more like it's ready to strike out at his gathered colleagues - new and old.
A Shadow of the psyche.

Quietly, he makes notes for a moment, before turning to the rest of the group.
"Very well, then. It would appear to be time for us to begin."

Comments

[abidingstoic]

All three of them have been interested in this subject for a while, now. Even has had far more opportunity to pursue the question, with the laboratory he's occupied in the television world being so deep in the heart of Shadow territory. He, on the other hand, has been a relative newcomer to the issue, and even Naoto hasn't known about the Heartless for long, and certainly not in much depth. As for Ienzo.....

Well, Aeleus can't help but feel a little bad for him; he hasn't had much time to even be introduced to the topic at all, let alone had any first-hand experience with it. He simply hasn't been awake for long enough.

They don't have time for pet projects, Dilan has argued. With Xehanort's thread looming on the horizon, and the restoration efforts in full swing, everyone needs to devote all of their energy to rebuilding and preparing. Even has countered--persuasively, Aeleus feels--that this itself is an excellent form of preparation. After all, with so many of them having been put through the TV world now, and so many of them having been exposed to Shadows of their own..... well, how different are Shadows and Heartless, really? Can Persona users possibly fell them as effectively as Keyblade wielders? If so, then that would be a huge boon, and an easy way to take the strain off of Sora and the others. They would be able to do more, in more different places, if they could be sure that their abilities could be adequately relied on.

Any possible plans they could rely on, though, depend on being able to gain enough knowledge first. That's what Even is for--no, that's what all four of them are here for. Naoto is their consummate expert on the Shadows, while Even is undisputed master of these laboratories; together, the four of them should be able to find some answers in good time. He already knows his way around the Heartless, himself; it's the Shadow that his gaze lingers on, even as Even scans them both and jots down his observations. Aeleus nods in agreement, poised and serious. "Of course. Just tell me what you need."

[wefallinsilence]

To be quite honest, it irritates Ienzo to be left straggling at the bits and pieces left behind. He's been informed of the television world, of course, by both Even and Aeleus and with varying levels of apologies for the fact that he hasn't been able to be present. Still, he has a basic level of understanding and if he's stubbornly pushed his way into this particular affair it's only because of the threw them he's the one who most understands how the mind works. He's had to learn, in fact. His power over illusions has demanded it if nothing else.

Besides, he's been left aside too long already. He might not have been awake in time to properly visit the other world that has already become part and parcel of what they're dealing with, but he isn't going to simply let that stand any longer.

Not that his frustrations show, of course. This is no time for petty grudges, and so he has his lexicon open before him, ready to take any notes that may be made. Or to better be able to cast any spells, if the explorations happen to take a turn in that direction. As things currently stand, where things go is quite entirely in Even's hands, and so he nods not long after Aeleus does.

"I believe things are as ready as we can make them at this point."

The only question now is whether the data collected will bear out the theory that's been proposed.

[shiroganefortune]

Naoto's quite aware that she's the outsider in this group. While this certainly isn't the first time they've worked together, thus far she has never been considered as one of them. Until now, they've been two separate groups working on their own separate missions and only crossing paths where it has most been necessary. But with the larger threat looming, the unknown entity seeking to corrupt Persona users and return them to Shadow, now more than ever it pays to know the similarities and differences between their worlds, between their foes, and for that Naoto has had to leave her friends to plan amongst themselves while she investigates this avenue.

It's meant calling in some favours with Mitsuru, of course. She herself had not been best placed to secure a Shadow for examination but the Kirijo group had means and resources that, given the circumstances, Mitsuru had been willing to share on the understanding that Naoto remained part of the study.

The Shadow isn't what interests her here, however. Shadows, she's seen plenty of and even as she knows it's her presence as a Persona user that agitates it, she's far more concerned with the Heartless. In definition, very similar to Shadows only gifted a different name. She wonders, briefly, if there was scope for Heartless to be transformed into something more positive just as Shadows could become Personas, but certainly it won't be found in this Heartless here.

"By all means." She's eager to see this progress, fascinated by the science and the logic in this study even as she's trying not to let that show. Age already stands against her, as does her ignorance in much of what she's seeing, but she's not going to let that impact any more than it has to. "If this proves at all any connection between what you have faced and the threat to all Persona users, we should determine it as soon as we are able."

[empiricalpride]

So many threats coming from so many directions... it's hard to tell where to begin, sometimes. And even if a threat to their fellow Persona users might seem specific? Everyone, every mind, has the potential to cast a Shadow. A threat to those who have faced theirs down could turn into a threat to more.

Even knows that as well as any - knows the damage an uncontrolled Shadow can cause better than most. His gaze - one rendered inhuman by the damage that his own Shadow caused, optics that shine the same green his eyes once had - lands in Naoto's direction for a moment, and he nods. "Indeed. It is very probable that whatever we find out here will have repercussions for all worlds." A large statement to make, but not one he's making unfounded.

Turning back to the others, he speaks on- "My personal hypothesis is that the largest distinction between the two categories of being is in how they are generated. A Heartless requires the severance of the heart and body: but a Shadow requires the two to remain intact. It reflects an elsewhere-existing heart rather than embodying it. If a heart cannot access a mind, there is nothing that can form a Shadow." Or in turn, a Persona. He's seen what happens to a Persona-user rendered truly Nobody, after all: struggling, summoning Heartless where his heart should have freely and fluidly given rise to his power...

"Still. I'll suggest we begin with our standard scans: we have performed enough on Heartless, so our newer subject should be the focus first."

[abidingstoic]

Ienzo and Naoto are at distinct disadvantage here, he can tell. Their youngest geniuses, set apart by age and inexperience, denied the knowledge that would make this whole affair sensible. Still, they need them both, for their individual areas of expertise. Who better to understand the Shadow and Persona than Ienzo, who had spent so long studying (and manipulating) the human mind? They're surpriingly alike in some ways, really--it's almost amusing to have the pair together in a room like this; they'll surely get along, once they're able to talk freely.....

That's why he needs to make sure the pair of them are as free to make observations as possible, so they can process all the data fully. If anyone will make headway with this, it's those three--they must be, beyond a shadow of a doubt, some of the most intelligent people he knows. That's why he's moving to handle the equipment, even as he nods along in understanding to Even's theory. If they're to begin with their standard scans, then he'll be able to handle running this first battery of tests practically on autopilot. Obviously the spectrometer needs to be run, first.....

[wefallinsilence]

It's entirely possible they will, once they get more familiar with each other. As things stand, he simply settles into the all-to familiar routine of working with his fellow scientists - with Aeleus handling the equipment and Even already running scans, the only thing left for him to be is the designated note taker. After all, his Lexicon stores a great many things, and they aren't all various spells stored away for further use. Not when its being uniquely attuned to him makes it remarkably easy to cross-reference to anything he's stored away amongst its pages.

"We already have a baseline for the average Heartless of this variety, but for the sake of accuracy we should likely take the appropriate measurements for this particular specimen as well as subject it whatever is deemed appropriate for its fellow."

As he speaks, he's already calling the average data for this variant of Heartless onto a blank page of his Lexicon - once Aeleus and Even are done with their respective tests he'll update the average to better represent this Heartless in particular.

[shiroganefortune]

As the trio all move to their familiar places, Naoto can't help but feel a little superfluous. She knows, of course, that she's there for a specific purpose, that this is really no different to when she works alongside specific police departments as a consultant, but this feels a little different. Perhaps it's that here she's not sure how much she can bring that isn't already covered and that makes it harder for her to determine her role. Whatever the case, she's resigned to being little more than an observer for now.

Which isn't to say she can't offer up an observation or two of her own. "It may also be worth considering any differences in how they choose to attack, assuming there are any, and whether there's any connection to how they are generated. Though I admit, my experience with Shadows in a real-world environment is lacking." And the Kirijo group hadn't been in a hurry to share their research, though they did at least provide the baseline statistics for the Shadow they'd been lent.

Which, really, is another reason to be here. There had, after all, been a very real risk once that the entire city would have been turned to Shadow and she has to wonder how that would have worked out for those who had acquired their Personas - doubtless they would have stood out like a beacon amidst the Shadows of the people they once knew and that surely couldn't end well.

[empiricalpride]

"Valid points," Even says, barely glancing up towards the younger members of the group as he aims the spectrometer at the Shadow, seeing its reactions to the probing light rays as the data starts to flood in. A comment like that from him, he might as well be baking them cookies.

Naoto's remark, however, gets a further response. "None of us have any meaningful experience with Shadows in the 'real world' past your own. These will be new discoveries for us all..." He pauses for a brief moment. "However, if you wish to closely study a Heartless' attack and generation, you are welcome to any of our data you desire, including my recent recordings." His stored viewpoint on the Investigation Team's only true encounter with Heartless... and of its unfortunate consequences for their unprepared numbers.

"For now, come here - do you believe that you can handle the operation of the scanners, if I instruct you? My attention will ...be elsewhere shortly."