September 2nd, OE 102
Luna, Subterranean Maintenance Shafts
11:10 AM
Romme strode through the familiar, dust filled corridors of the old Directory lunar underground with uncharacteristic glee. He was finally home after such a long few weeks and was looking forward not only to replacing his beaten and battered rags of what used to be his clothes, but to finalize his first study into the nature of his body and the alien cells which constitute it. There was only so much to be found with his own cells as the only sample to work with. Even now Romme could hear, or indeed feel, the primitive, primordial muttering of the fauna he had gathered from the Swordian's biome. This being said, Romme did wistfully muse at what he could have done had the young woman, EATER Velvet, not disappeared during the conflict on the Swordian. Even a sample from that brutish, crazed fellow would have done nicely had he not saw fit to consign himself to some corner of that extradimensional hellspace that he had crossed the black vessel into.
Romme chuckled to himself. His recent studies would make up for this lack of EATER samples for sure, verified hypothesis or not.
Brushing away a strand of spider silk spanning the doorframe, a hardly uncommon occurrence in the dusty deaths of Luna, the Scholar entered into his laboratory. Evidently Lucretia had followed her orders and cleared out in the event of a prolonged absence, though Romme noted she seemed to have taken some of the furniture for herself and made the already spartan room just that more barren. Stepping out of the lobby and into the lab space proper, Romme found no other such observable changes and continued deeper into the facility to drop off his prized samples and grab a new set of travel clothes. Donning his fresh attire and dark, gilded cloak, the Scholar pushed up his right sleeve and flexed his forearm slightly. He smiled as he lay eyes once again on the cross-like shape rising out of his flesh, quietly celebrating the return of his freedom to travel. A blue light enveloped the Scholar for a moment before he disappeared.
- - -
11:15 AM
Luna, Albedo Place, Devere residence.
Romme traipsed out of the shaded woods that covered the road leading to the home of his assistant. Lucretia was not much for the socialite life, much like Romme himself, but unlike the Scholar his old friend would be more likely to be found at home than in a lab. Indeed, even as children it would be the future High Scholar who would make his way here to call upon the young Lady Lucretia. The heiress of house Devere was of notably weak constitution, something Romme would often remark could be alleviated if she would cater less to her sweet tooth, so it was only natural that the bookish young lad would hit it off with the shut in. Their respective houses have had history since the founding of the Lunar kingdom, and many older members of the trees were waiting somewhat impatiently for the two to finally get something started and tie the trees together so to speak.
Romme came up to the front entrance and noticed a house servant tending a row of flowers. 'Hello, Miss," he called out as he approached, adjusting his gait back to more nominal human levels. "Would you happen to know where I might find Ms. Lucretia?" The woman turned up from the plants and regarded the Scholar oddly. "Lady Lucretia? She's at the Tycho estate in White Vista." Romme raised an eyebrow at this. 'Boucher's residence? What in the Queen's name could dear Lucretia be doing there,' he thought to himself. "And may I ask who is inquiring should I see milady before you, Sir...?"
Romme regarded the servant quizzically before a look of enlightenment came upon him. "Ah, you must be a new hire," he said self affirmingly. "I am Romme Kalas, the High Scholar." With that, Romme gave a short bow and turned to be on his way, completely missing the stunned face of the servant, the color draining from it as if she had seen a ghost.
- - -
11:30 AM
Luna, White Vista
It had been quite a some time since Romme had been to Sir Bouchard's land; it was a wonder the Dagger fragment had still managed to take him back. There was little of interest about the man even after snooping around his files and documents, so the Scholar never followed up for anything. However, his assistant being here instead of at home was very much of interest to Romme. The gates to the estate were open, much to Romme's relief; his sudden appearance would be less notable. As he made his way up the path to the main building, Romme noted the remarkable bustle of people on the grounds. Various servants and workers hauled crates and boxes while others directed them or surveyed a side building or plot of land.
The commotion grew as Romme neared the front of the manor. Many workers had stopped what they were doing to look at him or mutter to each other while peering in his direction. Not exactly a new experience for the Scholar given the rarity of his public excursions, much less on these lands. Romme stopped his approach as the large doors of the manor swung open; there in the doorway was one Ms. Lucretia R. Devere, stiffly staring at the Scholar. Romme smiled in his well rehearsed manner at the sight of her, noting the rather fine dress she wore in comparison to her usual flat but fine casual clothes he would always see her in while at the laboratory.
"Lucretia, dearest, I have need of your assistance in my latest studies," Romme called out. Slowly, Lucretia made her way down the front steps and stopped with a lurch some distance from Romme. Her eyes remained fixed on him while her hands clutched the front of her dress tightly. "..
Where were you?" Romme heard an odd shortness in Lucretia's voice but answered to the point. "Hm? On my trip with sir Derrick. Though as you can tell a rather sudden turn of events set us back a number of weeks," he said, skipping over any details about the mechanical beasts that now walk on Mars or the extradimensional terrors he had faced down with a band of his alien kin. Romme gave a laugh as he continued, saying, "I don't suppose you've taken my absence as leave to start courting with Sir Bouchard, it's hardly been-"
A resounding clap rang across the courtyard as Lucretia's hand met the Scholar's cheek. Romme was so off guard that his skin hadn't even hardened against the blow. Reeled to the side from the hit, Romme measuredly turned to face Lucretia once more. "Is something wrong, Lu-"
"It's been six months!"
In stunned silence the two stood opposite each other; solemn, genuine confusion on one's face and barely repressed tears on the other. "Six months? But... no, perhaps...." Romme reached out and grabbed Lucretia earnestly by the shoulders, startling Lucretia and snapping her momentarily from her sorrowful anger. "Lucretia listen to me. If what you say is true than it is imperative that you return with me to my laboratory," He said measuredly before lowering his voice so only she could hear. "The time that I've been away should be no more than a single month at most. The things I discovered on my excursion may be key in understanding this major discrepancy in the time that i experienced in comparison to what you may have, but I need to you to help me, Lucretia."
Lucretia looked into Romme's eyes and listened to his grave tone. Rarely had she ever seen her childhood friend so serious, but more than that she could hear the urgentness of his words and perhaps even more than that feel the flame of scientific fervor rise up within him. This wasn't just the High Scholar who went missing six months ago, this was the curious young boy she had always admired. Lucretia silently nodded in affirmation to Romme.
- - -
Luna, Subterranean Maintenance Shafts
12:00 PM
As the Kalas' land was far from Tycho, Lucretia had her servants prepare a car to take them there. Romme took in the sights of Luna as they passed, both new and old. Lucretia, meanwhile, did her best to explain everything that happened since Romme had left. However, once they had descended into the tunnels it was Romme's turn to speak.
"As you may know, house Devere is responsible for preventing the untimely deaths of many of my relatives. Any Kalas who had the health detection system put into them died mysteriously some number of hours to days later; this is because we all have the same discrepancy in the system that warrants such a quiet execution. Had the clerical trickery of the Devere not hidden this discrepancy from being caught by the detection system, house Kalas would have lost all credibility for not having it."
"That being said, this discrepancy is truly something worth hiding, even before the expedition I knew as much. It is this secret that I will now entrust to you."
The two eventually arrived at the laboratory and Romme ushered his assistant inside.
"This secret starts with my progenitor, that is, my father. While much of the maiden voyage of the Hiryu is declassified at this time, very little of it is the complete report. What the crew aboard that ship found was a great, black vessel, and within this vessel they discovered alien lifeforms. These lifeforms exist in as many forms as one can find on earth, both flora and fauna, but most crucially they exist at a single cellular levels. The crew of the Hiryu was for all intents and purposes attacked by these cells, the alien life violently attempting to supplant their own biology with itself. Were it not for my father many would have surely succumbed to this process, but this is not where this ends. The Hiryu managed to return, and though much care was taken in this with thorough quarantine and decontamination, you can't simply erase a person's cells even if they aren't their own."
"My father who boldy operated on and aided the crew of the Hiryu was no less a victim to the cells than any of the lives he saved. While likely dormant, these leftover cells continue their spread to this day, both in those in contact with him and other such individuals as well as in his children. While I suffered no such adverse reactions as the crew on that expediton, the cells no less did their work within my body. The Romme you see before you is not the Romme you met as a child. In effect, I am no longer human; I haven't been for several years. What you see before you is a VOL organism, but as I was once a human I bear a specific designation: EATER."
"While I had gathered much of this in my own research, my findings were cemented when I came upon the very same vessel my father did. Within that ship is an entire ecosystem of VOL, a purpose made biome just to house them. Here too I discovered the nature of myself as an EATER as well as my new cells. VOL communicate through a sort of primal language, as if the cells themselves could speak. I see you're getting the picture. These cells can be transmitted simply by contact, and beyond my own family there's only one person I've been in contact with more than anyone else. I can hear the cells in you, Lucretia, slumbering but continuing to multiply. There's no set length of time for this process, it may never even happen in your lifetime, but as an EATER I am at the apex of these beings and I believe I can awaken your cells myself- but only if you wish."
Lucretia stood stunned. It was all so much to take in yet it made sense of several things she had questioned but dismissed for the past few years. The gravity of Romme's secret continued to grow, and now the weight shifted to hee. Romme was no longer human and someday she may follow suit, but now...
"I want to share this with you. This new life, the energy I feel. As time has passed it has almost been like this form is becoming a shell, a disguise for the new me- and I revel in it. Lucretia, would you join me?" The EATER reached out his hand. Lucretia froze and swallowed hard. She had been shaken so much in such a short time. It seemed like Romme had been building up to now for some time. Years of research culminating in a simple proposal. It felt to Lucretia that she too had been waiting for this, whether the alien cells within her were stirring at the presence of a superior being or that she herself wanted to see the world like Romme did. Lucretia stepped closer and took the Scholar's hand.
Quickly her skin began to shiver at the touch, the ripple then proceeding to travel throughout her body. Heat began to well up as her heart raced. She felt faint yet exhilarated. Lucretia tensed as she felt her flesh shift in amd out of place, bone morphing and curving. Sparks of light filled her vision as she felt a new warmth behind here eyes. Face twitching and wrenching, Lucretia brought her hands up to cover it and felt new and strange things.
Romme remembered well the rapid, thrilling agony of his sudden transformation and worked to guide Lucretia's cells to be more steady in their process for her, willing them to take care with the nerve endings and be gentle with the sinews.
Lucretia seemed to instinctively know when her transformation had finished, but continued to cower from Romme. Her body was still her's to move yet she was scared to use it, afraid to see it. Romme gently took Lucretia's hands away from her face. "Beautiful." Romme could feel his cells calling out in greeting just as Lucretia's called in reply. The new EATER opened her eyes- all four of them. A rich, deep and dark color filled her new vision, pouring out from the Scholar, billowing out like a black sun from the eye in the center of his forehead. Lucretia looked at Romme, shaken but smiling, and the senior EATER returned a genuine grin for the first time in a very long while.
Luna, Subterranean Maintenance Shafts
11:10 AM
Romme strode through the familiar, dust filled corridors of the old Directory lunar underground with uncharacteristic glee. He was finally home after such a long few weeks and was looking forward not only to replacing his beaten and battered rags of what used to be his clothes, but to finalize his first study into the nature of his body and the alien cells which constitute it. There was only so much to be found with his own cells as the only sample to work with. Even now Romme could hear, or indeed feel, the primitive, primordial muttering of the fauna he had gathered from the Swordian's biome. This being said, Romme did wistfully muse at what he could have done had the young woman, EATER Velvet, not disappeared during the conflict on the Swordian. Even a sample from that brutish, crazed fellow would have done nicely had he not saw fit to consign himself to some corner of that extradimensional hellspace that he had crossed the black vessel into.
Romme chuckled to himself. His recent studies would make up for this lack of EATER samples for sure, verified hypothesis or not.
Brushing away a strand of spider silk spanning the doorframe, a hardly uncommon occurrence in the dusty deaths of Luna, the Scholar entered into his laboratory. Evidently Lucretia had followed her orders and cleared out in the event of a prolonged absence, though Romme noted she seemed to have taken some of the furniture for herself and made the already spartan room just that more barren. Stepping out of the lobby and into the lab space proper, Romme found no other such observable changes and continued deeper into the facility to drop off his prized samples and grab a new set of travel clothes. Donning his fresh attire and dark, gilded cloak, the Scholar pushed up his right sleeve and flexed his forearm slightly. He smiled as he lay eyes once again on the cross-like shape rising out of his flesh, quietly celebrating the return of his freedom to travel. A blue light enveloped the Scholar for a moment before he disappeared.
- - -
11:15 AM
Luna, Albedo Place, Devere residence.
Romme traipsed out of the shaded woods that covered the road leading to the home of his assistant. Lucretia was not much for the socialite life, much like Romme himself, but unlike the Scholar his old friend would be more likely to be found at home than in a lab. Indeed, even as children it would be the future High Scholar who would make his way here to call upon the young Lady Lucretia. The heiress of house Devere was of notably weak constitution, something Romme would often remark could be alleviated if she would cater less to her sweet tooth, so it was only natural that the bookish young lad would hit it off with the shut in. Their respective houses have had history since the founding of the Lunar kingdom, and many older members of the trees were waiting somewhat impatiently for the two to finally get something started and tie the trees together so to speak.
Romme came up to the front entrance and noticed a house servant tending a row of flowers. 'Hello, Miss," he called out as he approached, adjusting his gait back to more nominal human levels. "Would you happen to know where I might find Ms. Lucretia?" The woman turned up from the plants and regarded the Scholar oddly. "Lady Lucretia? She's at the Tycho estate in White Vista." Romme raised an eyebrow at this. 'Boucher's residence? What in the Queen's name could dear Lucretia be doing there,' he thought to himself. "And may I ask who is inquiring should I see milady before you, Sir...?"
Romme regarded the servant quizzically before a look of enlightenment came upon him. "Ah, you must be a new hire," he said self affirmingly. "I am Romme Kalas, the High Scholar." With that, Romme gave a short bow and turned to be on his way, completely missing the stunned face of the servant, the color draining from it as if she had seen a ghost.
- - -
11:30 AM
Luna, White Vista
It had been quite a some time since Romme had been to Sir Bouchard's land; it was a wonder the Dagger fragment had still managed to take him back. There was little of interest about the man even after snooping around his files and documents, so the Scholar never followed up for anything. However, his assistant being here instead of at home was very much of interest to Romme. The gates to the estate were open, much to Romme's relief; his sudden appearance would be less notable. As he made his way up the path to the main building, Romme noted the remarkable bustle of people on the grounds. Various servants and workers hauled crates and boxes while others directed them or surveyed a side building or plot of land.
The commotion grew as Romme neared the front of the manor. Many workers had stopped what they were doing to look at him or mutter to each other while peering in his direction. Not exactly a new experience for the Scholar given the rarity of his public excursions, much less on these lands. Romme stopped his approach as the large doors of the manor swung open; there in the doorway was one Ms. Lucretia R. Devere, stiffly staring at the Scholar. Romme smiled in his well rehearsed manner at the sight of her, noting the rather fine dress she wore in comparison to her usual flat but fine casual clothes he would always see her in while at the laboratory.
"Lucretia, dearest, I have need of your assistance in my latest studies," Romme called out. Slowly, Lucretia made her way down the front steps and stopped with a lurch some distance from Romme. Her eyes remained fixed on him while her hands clutched the front of her dress tightly. "..
Where were you?" Romme heard an odd shortness in Lucretia's voice but answered to the point. "Hm? On my trip with sir Derrick. Though as you can tell a rather sudden turn of events set us back a number of weeks," he said, skipping over any details about the mechanical beasts that now walk on Mars or the extradimensional terrors he had faced down with a band of his alien kin. Romme gave a laugh as he continued, saying, "I don't suppose you've taken my absence as leave to start courting with Sir Bouchard, it's hardly been-"
A resounding clap rang across the courtyard as Lucretia's hand met the Scholar's cheek. Romme was so off guard that his skin hadn't even hardened against the blow. Reeled to the side from the hit, Romme measuredly turned to face Lucretia once more. "Is something wrong, Lu-"
"It's been six months!"
In stunned silence the two stood opposite each other; solemn, genuine confusion on one's face and barely repressed tears on the other. "Six months? But... no, perhaps...." Romme reached out and grabbed Lucretia earnestly by the shoulders, startling Lucretia and snapping her momentarily from her sorrowful anger. "Lucretia listen to me. If what you say is true than it is imperative that you return with me to my laboratory," He said measuredly before lowering his voice so only she could hear. "The time that I've been away should be no more than a single month at most. The things I discovered on my excursion may be key in understanding this major discrepancy in the time that i experienced in comparison to what you may have, but I need to you to help me, Lucretia."
Lucretia looked into Romme's eyes and listened to his grave tone. Rarely had she ever seen her childhood friend so serious, but more than that she could hear the urgentness of his words and perhaps even more than that feel the flame of scientific fervor rise up within him. This wasn't just the High Scholar who went missing six months ago, this was the curious young boy she had always admired. Lucretia silently nodded in affirmation to Romme.
- - -
Luna, Subterranean Maintenance Shafts
12:00 PM
As the Kalas' land was far from Tycho, Lucretia had her servants prepare a car to take them there. Romme took in the sights of Luna as they passed, both new and old. Lucretia, meanwhile, did her best to explain everything that happened since Romme had left. However, once they had descended into the tunnels it was Romme's turn to speak.
"As you may know, house Devere is responsible for preventing the untimely deaths of many of my relatives. Any Kalas who had the health detection system put into them died mysteriously some number of hours to days later; this is because we all have the same discrepancy in the system that warrants such a quiet execution. Had the clerical trickery of the Devere not hidden this discrepancy from being caught by the detection system, house Kalas would have lost all credibility for not having it."
"That being said, this discrepancy is truly something worth hiding, even before the expedition I knew as much. It is this secret that I will now entrust to you."
The two eventually arrived at the laboratory and Romme ushered his assistant inside.
"This secret starts with my progenitor, that is, my father. While much of the maiden voyage of the Hiryu is declassified at this time, very little of it is the complete report. What the crew aboard that ship found was a great, black vessel, and within this vessel they discovered alien lifeforms. These lifeforms exist in as many forms as one can find on earth, both flora and fauna, but most crucially they exist at a single cellular levels. The crew of the Hiryu was for all intents and purposes attacked by these cells, the alien life violently attempting to supplant their own biology with itself. Were it not for my father many would have surely succumbed to this process, but this is not where this ends. The Hiryu managed to return, and though much care was taken in this with thorough quarantine and decontamination, you can't simply erase a person's cells even if they aren't their own."
"My father who boldy operated on and aided the crew of the Hiryu was no less a victim to the cells than any of the lives he saved. While likely dormant, these leftover cells continue their spread to this day, both in those in contact with him and other such individuals as well as in his children. While I suffered no such adverse reactions as the crew on that expediton, the cells no less did their work within my body. The Romme you see before you is not the Romme you met as a child. In effect, I am no longer human; I haven't been for several years. What you see before you is a VOL organism, but as I was once a human I bear a specific designation: EATER."
"While I had gathered much of this in my own research, my findings were cemented when I came upon the very same vessel my father did. Within that ship is an entire ecosystem of VOL, a purpose made biome just to house them. Here too I discovered the nature of myself as an EATER as well as my new cells. VOL communicate through a sort of primal language, as if the cells themselves could speak. I see you're getting the picture. These cells can be transmitted simply by contact, and beyond my own family there's only one person I've been in contact with more than anyone else. I can hear the cells in you, Lucretia, slumbering but continuing to multiply. There's no set length of time for this process, it may never even happen in your lifetime, but as an EATER I am at the apex of these beings and I believe I can awaken your cells myself- but only if you wish."
Lucretia stood stunned. It was all so much to take in yet it made sense of several things she had questioned but dismissed for the past few years. The gravity of Romme's secret continued to grow, and now the weight shifted to hee. Romme was no longer human and someday she may follow suit, but now...
"I want to share this with you. This new life, the energy I feel. As time has passed it has almost been like this form is becoming a shell, a disguise for the new me- and I revel in it. Lucretia, would you join me?" The EATER reached out his hand. Lucretia froze and swallowed hard. She had been shaken so much in such a short time. It seemed like Romme had been building up to now for some time. Years of research culminating in a simple proposal. It felt to Lucretia that she too had been waiting for this, whether the alien cells within her were stirring at the presence of a superior being or that she herself wanted to see the world like Romme did. Lucretia stepped closer and took the Scholar's hand.
Quickly her skin began to shiver at the touch, the ripple then proceeding to travel throughout her body. Heat began to well up as her heart raced. She felt faint yet exhilarated. Lucretia tensed as she felt her flesh shift in amd out of place, bone morphing and curving. Sparks of light filled her vision as she felt a new warmth behind here eyes. Face twitching and wrenching, Lucretia brought her hands up to cover it and felt new and strange things.
Romme remembered well the rapid, thrilling agony of his sudden transformation and worked to guide Lucretia's cells to be more steady in their process for her, willing them to take care with the nerve endings and be gentle with the sinews.
Lucretia seemed to instinctively know when her transformation had finished, but continued to cower from Romme. Her body was still her's to move yet she was scared to use it, afraid to see it. Romme gently took Lucretia's hands away from her face. "Beautiful." Romme could feel his cells calling out in greeting just as Lucretia's called in reply. The new EATER opened her eyes- all four of them. A rich, deep and dark color filled her new vision, pouring out from the Scholar, billowing out like a black sun from the eye in the center of his forehead. Lucretia looked at Romme, shaken but smiling, and the senior EATER returned a genuine grin for the first time in a very long while.
Last edited: