PC - JLATCH

[maladied]

NOW we need the workplace meme.

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WK4, Thursday

[sideline]

[ however long it takes for everyone to be settled and taken care of before curfew. they can all corner fran in his lab. ]

Do you want to tell me more about what you saw?

[heartofcorundum]

[He falls quiet from where he's tucked against a wall.]

Finis. A child named Finis, and talks of a Philosopher's Child.

[sideline]

[ ?? ???? ]

Finis being the Philosopher's Child?

[anaxagoreia]

[ Over here, having woken up for a bit, sitting. He doesn't look all that well still...but it is what it is. ]

Yes, it appeared that was the case.

He was artificial - had to be - considering he had no normal heartbeat. The whispers spoke about 'something almost becoming complete', 'if only they had the correct person" and then "Filius Phosophorum" also being mentioned.

Then there was that odd, deranged man that appeared in a child's body - Isaac, was his first name. He was talking about forcing a war with his children. We met him in a room filled with disturbing...body parts in tanks.

[hymned]

[ ... ]

How similar was it to the room we arrived back in?

[anaxagoreia]

...Somewhat close.

There was also a collection of blue crystals being used as a source...amongst the tanks, and those were connected with a variety of plugs, as well as the tanks themselves.

The difference is the lack of dust, toys, chair, and the off-putting doll. Not to mention, there were no blue crystals in the room we arrived - as far as I can tell.

[ Anyway he is making a face as he says this...he is not interested in wandering into such a room again. Just because of the vibes. ]

[sideline]

[ i see. we are just going right for it unknowingly because fran is absolutely going to wish anaxa didn't share all of this information with him. but, he asked for this, and because he asked he needs to live with what he has learned.

and you know, suppose this is one of those times where it's like "i wish i never met my idols" sort of situation here because there are a lot of things clicking into place that he really didn't need the confirmation for. ]

Isaac.

[ hm. ]

Isaac Beckford. Was that his full name?

[hymned]

[ Oh, so it's that kind of child abuse. ]

[heartofcorundum]

Aye. That was him.

Finis had accompanied us by then. He did not react well to the man.

[atouts]

[ CAN WE ASSUME THE ZICTERIUM HAS BEEN CONTAINED ]

From what I can gather, the entire ordeal was focused very much on your discoveries...

[sideline]

[ THERE WAS NONE TO OBTAIN!!! rather, it turned into something else when you all left.

but also?? that information isn't going to make him very happy to know or learn. though, for a hot second, he's going to hope that it isn't what he think it is. haha? ]

I've discovered many things in my life so far, but I have a feeling it's something specific.

[atouts]

What Ludger and I witnessed focused on your discovery of zicterium, I'm afraid. We...

[ There's a pause, and he has to look away, down, for a moment, grimace, to recover himself, but when he continues, it's still just him. ]

...we saw the outcome. We started in the queen's palace, and then went to your larger lab, the one you had before here, and then. [ The pause here this time is more over the horror of what was seen, and he tries to think of how to put it. ] Then the... where it was tested, on all of those people.

[chromatized]

[ Ludger will just. pull the doll and its flower out of the box he's been carrying around. ]

... This was at the field.

[hymned]

The... was it a battlefield, then?

[sideline]

[ neither the doll or the flower will not be instantly recognizable to fran. he'll have an idea thanks to context clues but it anything, it'll just make him more anxious. ]

Oh.

I'm sorry that you had to see all of that.

[sideline]

[ he might have already said it to ludger but it doesn't change things here. it's a sight that fran has forgotten about nor will it ever be something he'll forget for as long as he's alive. ]

I'm sorry...that you had to see that. That it was something you had to experience.

[ BUT ALSO WHY? ]

[robopriest]

[Hey there, Victor. What's happening.]

....We saw your friend, Lupin. He helped us. [...] And also heard about your "princess". Cardia.

[sideline]

[ so much has been happening...and the absolute state of his mental health right now where he can't decide on if he wants to have be happy or sad. but he'll settle on "happy" mainly because of what julius told him earlier. ]

Did he? [ we're. gently going to avoid cardia. ] What kind of trouble were you guys getting yourselves into?

[robopriest]

Eh, just going around London, enjoying the sights. We tried to get in to see the king at one point. He was disguised as a guard.

[Classic thief things.]

How did you meet a guy like that?

[atouts]

I hate to imagine you two let loose on London... Was it still in one piece when you were done?

[sideline]

[ ....

well. it's kind of a funny story except?? ]

I was helping Cardia escape from some people who wanted to sell her, then Lupin thought that I was going to hurt her and came to her defense.

[hymned]

The circumstances of one miss Cardia Beckford, it seems, before she left wherever it was she was told to remain. A bit of your London, the circumstances that led to your becoming a fugitive.

... one of your friends, apparently.

[ We'll start off with this before we get into all the blue, blue, blue, and what it means about Cardia. ]

[sideline]

[ fugitive....

look, "running from the law" was on his profile. they shouldn't have been too surprised when it was not a hyperbole. that said, he'll focus on the things that are pleasant. he was already a wet cat in public the first time. ]

That's...quite an interesting thing to see.

[hymned]

Interestingly pointed too, that I'm assuming our locations were related mostly because of the person involved rather than... the subjects? Covered, like with the others.

[ Well. It sounds like what Ludger and Childermass saw might have just related to Fran more, but. ]

... I'll be blunt. Miss Cardia Beckford. How is she related to the blue stones, or whatever it is Thancred has brought up about the Philosopher's Child? I don't think it's coincidence that her touch supposedly has the same effects as those other products of alchemy mentioned.

[sideline]

[ he. really doesn't want to describe her like this but for the sake of clarity and for them to understand, he will. let's start with some basics first. ]

Cardia Beckford is a homunculus—an artificial lifeform—that Isaac Beckford created and is given life thanks to a blue gem in the shape of a flower on her chest. A Horologium. I have no way of confirming this but I suspect that the blue stones that were seen were also Horologium.

My invention, Zicterium, was the unrefined version of that gem.