Jachra
===============
In the confines of the old mining barracks, Sif finds herself looking up at the camera, her heart pounding in her chest. Behind her, the stove burns with its coals and the rain pounds at the walls and the old roof, leaking in places.

Elsewhere, not so far away, a large cylindrical casing holds a massive stack of three-dimensional crystal matrix. Alive and alert in her own way, Kin-and-Six studies the intruder and elects to alert her Creator.

{Seshat? There is a teenage girl in the Hendrickson building.}

A tired Seshat, after a long day of dealing with Wetzstein, frowns and accepts the video feed, the image popping up in her vision. Her heart races a little as the recognizes the person on the other end, a series of thoughts snapping together all at once.

"Fantastic - she found me out." She rubs the bridge of her nose and fetches her mask, affixing it so that it bonds to her skin.

Signalling a group of Ahlat, she sends two warriors out, two scarabs to scout the air, and her bike - empty of herself.

~

Back in the barracks, a heavy knock comes at the door. As if this were her home, and not some abandoned building.

Solana
Sif climbs to her feet, still shivering but less from the cold than her own chronic illnesses. She bites her lip to resist calling out, to resist screaming for help. Right now, she really wish her clothes weren't draped over a bed frame, soaking wet. With only the thick, silver blanket of acrylic material for modesty, she makes her way toward the door, listening intently with her ear against the wood. She tries to see if she can get a glimpse of whatever's outside, but the windows just aren't angled like that, and by now it's the middle of the night.

Slowly, ever so slowly, she eases the door open, peering out through the crack.

Jachra
A pair of women stand outside - no, as her eyes adjust to the pour lighting, she can see a pair of lioness-headed women, each clad in shimmering white scale armor and carrying spears, which almost makes her laugh and think of Black Panther, but she controls herself. Bands of alien hieroglyphics in glowing blue mark their wrists, necks, upper bodies, and their equipment. One flicks her tail, amused, but it's the other who speaks.

"Hello. You look like you're in some distress."

She catches a glimpse of a jeweled scarab hovering above in the light, the rain pattering off it.

Solana
". . . one might say that." She says, pushing the door aside, standing there in the night air with her blanket wrapped around her, the loose material tugged up over her head like a hood. Right now her paranoia is at an all time high, but fuck it. She almost died. She could sense it.

"Yeah, I - I'm Sif."

Solana
"Sif Adalfieri."

Jachra
"I'm Seshat - but I think you already know that."

With a gentle hum, a lovely bike floats up. Wheelless, it has a heavy, flat base and more of those interesting symbols wrapped around it. The seat adjusts slightly.

"I don't normally take visitors, but I make exceptions when they're cold and shivering on my front door."

Solana
"I don't really know what to say." She murmurs weakly. "I'll be right back with my stuff?"

Jachra
"Go right ahead. The one to your right will take your bags."

Solana
"I've just got the one." She says, retreating back into the warm but disgusting bunkhouse. She returns a short while later with her tiny dufflebag, which now only carries her drenched clothes. she hugs it to her chest over the blanket before approaching the hover bike, eyeing it cautiously. She stretched out a foot, placing the tips of her toes down first before pulling herself over.

Jachra
It shifts slightly with her weight, but adds resistance, seeming to respond to her almost like a living thing. Indeed, the motions of her creations are quite lifelike.

Settling onto the seat, she's pattered by the rain, but it takes off with smooth acceleration, moving in a low circle while the lionesses trot alongside.

It's not long before she's brought to a mine entrance, gaping open into the night with numerous caution signs, warnings, and threats of legal action. Several swing away to admit them, and then she's brought to a large, grungy-looking elevator.

Despite the outward appearances, it descends smoothly, and anxiety and maybe a bit of unintended claustrophobia filters in. She's made it - it feels almost like a dream, descending into Seshat's hidden base, a gamble she made with her life and yet somehow won.

When it comes to a stop, she finds herself facing a large set of doors, Egyptian writing dense on them, and even those open to reveal a strange temple. Dozens of little cat statues maneuver around, working on little items near large forge-like structures, and at one end, on a golden throne, the superhero Seshat sits like some long-forgotten goddess in her full outfit.

Jachra
"Welcome. Come in."

Solana
"This isn't quite what I was expecting." Sif says, making her way down off the platform, approaching the throne.

"Erm. . . am I supposed to kneel?"

Jachra
"Hah!" She rises to her feet, a cable detaching from the back of her neck and retracting. The throne dims a little, and a sign on an obelisk goes dark - it's filled about a quarter of the way, with signs running from top to bottom like some weird battery light. She smiles brightly, the cat mask molding to her expressions.

She comes down before her and looks her over. She's taller than the hero by six inches, and she can't help but note how Seshat fashioned her armor with suggestion of more hip and bosom than she has (which is to say, any at all.)

"I suppose there's no point in the masquerade, but I wanted to meet you in full costume, so to speak. She reaches up, detaching her mask. She sets it on a hip. "It's been a while, Sif. I lost track of time, all things considered."

Jachra
"What brought you down here?"

Solana
She stares into the girl's eyes for a moment, and it's almost difficult to imagine the feeble girl in front of her is her friend from the internet. On the surface, she can't tell what's changed, she just seems more fractured in person.

"It's stupid." Says. "I - I should have tried to get in touch with you normally."

She looks to the cave, the great works being undertaken here. What was she thinking? Sam wasn't some teenage girl whose house she could crash. She's a super, she has important things to deal with.

"Could I use your phone? I'll just call my parents and go home, I won't tell anyone where I was, or what I saw, if you take me back to the city."

Jachra
Sam gives her a quiet look of disbelief, then a flicker of comprehension. She shakes her head slightly.

"If you really want, I can, but I'd really rather not. You went through a lot of trouble to find me, uncovered my secret identity - I want to know what this is about. You're in some kind of trouble?"

Solana
She nods. "It's about my health." She pauses. "I think I have a shard."

Solana
"Is there - somewhere I can sit?"

Jachra
"Ah. Of course."

She gestures her along, and leads her up to what must have been a break room. It's a break room once again, with a coffee maker, a bed in the corner, a desk with a comfy chair and a very weird computer, as well as numerous artistic and mechanical tools and wonders. A pair of cat people bring up a stool, and Seshat sits on it, leaving her the comfy chair. Outside the window, Sif can see a large, cylindrical machine covered in hieroglyphics sitting immobile in a large vat of what's probably coolant. Seshat glances out.

"That's Kin-and-Six, one of my more - surprising creations. I'll probably tell you about her soon."

A little cat brings her a cup of water, and another comes up and holds a tray for her with a sandwich. PB&J.

"So... you think you have a shard. Why don't you start from the beginning?"

Solana
"You want me to share my entire life's story then." Sif says, taking the water and the sandwich, careful to only hold one at a time, lest she lose her grip on the blanket.

"I've been sick my whole life, Sam. You know that story already. The constant doctor visits, the chronic pain. The. . . episodes."

Solana
"I keep trying and no one, not one doctor, understands what's wrong with me. They prescribe medicine and it never does anything. Then a couple of days ago? I heard my parents talking in the kitchen."

Solana
"They were talking about selling the house, because they can't afford to take care of me. Because I'm a burden. I couldn't - I can't keep doing that to them."

Solana
She sips from her water and sighs.

"I was thinking about shards when I head about Ken the other day. And I thought - but if I have a shard, then how come I don't have super powers?"

Solana
"The answer seems pretty simple, not everyone with a shard is blessed. The government—the YPA, the GRF—they want the world to think everyone with a shard is destined to be some great hero. Fated, to be the great defenders of the status quo."

Solana
She shakes her head. "But we're not part of the status quo. We upset it, just by existing. It's a lie, and one inconvenient enough to cover up. That's why I've been sick my whole life. That's why no one can figure out why. Their tools are mundane, and they aren't equipped to perceive the supernatural." She finishes off her sandwich.

"And then I saw that YPA ad with you. Wearing that mask of yours, but - dressed like you, still. I couldn't figure it out at first, but then I checked Masquerade and. . ." She turns away.

Solana
"Everything just kind of fell into place all at once, and I realized - this is someone who understands shards, knows how to manipulate it. If anyone can see what's happening to me, it's her. So I - tricked myself into going on some epic quest from Vermont to New Jersey, nearly got myself killed in a rainstorm, and now I'm sitting in your batcave with nothing but a blanket and a bag of soaking clothes."

Jachra
Seshat listens intently. She mostly ever talked about her artistic and engineering projects, but Sif was always aware that she was an extremely intelligent young woman.

"I'm really sorry to hear all of that, Sif," she says empathetically. "And by some massive cosmic coincidence - yeah, I think you've come to the right place. I do know how to perceive and manipulate shards on a level that no one else, as far as I'm aware, can, and if I can help you with that, I will. If you don't have a shard... then I'm still going to help you, because I don't like the thought of you coming down this far empty-handed."

Solana
She swallows, pressing back against the wall. "T-thanks." She murmurs.

Solana
"I - actually brought my medical papers with me, but then when I thought I was going to die, I burned them to ignite some coal."

Jachra
"Ouch, I'm sorry." She folds one knee over the other. Silently, she sends a message to Ishte asking for her presence.

"Quick question... your folks." She scratches her cheek. "They don't know you're here. Do you want to let them know you're okay?"

Solana
Sif considers that, staring down at her feet.

Razoric
Ishte responds that she's on her way. She was probably watching tutorials again.

Solana
"I want them to know I'm okay, but not where I am."

Jachra
"I can arrange that." She scoots her stool over and rubs her back.

"You'll be okay. If my power is good for anything, it's helping people - and if my growing list of contacts is good for anything, it's finding someone who can if I can't."

Solana
Her muscles seize up when she touches her, and Sif flinches away, jaw tight.

Solana
". . . Sorry. It's been a couple of days since my last episode. I'm kind of overdue."

Jachra
She pulls her hand back, wincing. "Right - those."

Solana
It's not sudden onset, like in the movies. No seizures, or convulsing. The pain comes in slow, like an old friend, and Sif grimaces whenever the tips of her fingers touch the glass, the tendons throbbing. Her mind feels stuffed with cotton, and her muscles are stretched so tight across her frame, she feels like she can barely breathe.

Razoric
After a moment, Sif notices someone new has arrived from one of the doors in the back. But something is strange - this young woman with vibrant blue hair and a white, classic-era-super bodysuit is difficult not to look at.

Not that she's brilliant or anything, but her eyes seem to just... glaze over to something else that happens to be in her field of vision - as if it was more interesting - and she has to concentrate to keep her vision fixed. It's even worse once she stops moving.

"...she can see me," she points out. Though to Sif, her voice sounds ... far away, like she's talking quietly from the other room.

Jachra
"Ah shit..." she says as Sif starts to stiffen. "Let me help you to the bed," she suggests, worried.

Once Ishte arrives, her head snaps up. "...well that's a high probability hit right there," she says, speaking to the person that Sif has trouble perceiving, like she just doesn't want to acknowledge she exists. "Does my friend here have a shard?"

Solana
"Why wouldn't I be able to see you?" She asks, grimacing, teeth bared, but not aggressively. When Seshat asks her question, she turns her head toward her.

Solana
"I'll be fine. Just - please don't touch me."

Razoric
"The world abhors my presence, and resists me acting change upon it. The vast majority of people cannot see me - though Seshat is able to perceive me with complete clarity."

At the question, though, she reaches up to brush some of her blue hair from her forehead, and begins to look at her intently. "... ...yes, many? No. Not many... one in many locations."

Jachra
Seshat is taken aback by that and she frowns. "I'll have to get a look in the sensory deprivation chamber... still, look at that. You were right, Sif."

Solana
"Wonders never cease." She grimaces, climbing to her feet. "So - what do I do now? How do I fix this?"

Razoric
"I am unsure how this could have happened. But given what you tell me of the one you call Hound-8, not unprecedented. But in this case, it seems far more than just a split."

Jachra
"Fixing it - that's... a complicated question. I've recreated shards, I've never manipulated one in-situ - but that doesn't mean I can't if I try. We don't even know for sure what's wrong, yet, but thankfully there's a way to find out."

She looks her over, frowning. "I need to get to the sensory deprivation tank at my house. I've got a tunnel running there - my mom can fix you up with something to eat, let you take a shower or a bath."

Solana
"I still don't even have any clothes." She scoffs. "And does your Mom know about all this?"

Jachra
"Yeah, I came out to her after the event downtown." She nods, then looks distracted for a moment. "I've put in an order to the Shabti downstairs for some outfits for you. They'll deliver them to the house."

Solana
"What's a Shabti?" She asks.

Jachra
"Oh, it's a word that means a little clay figure used to create a servant in the afterlife." She picks up the one with the tray, beaming with the sort of pride only an artist could have. The little cat-statue gets irritated and shakes her, hopping back down and licking a paw dismissively. "...and of late they've been weirdly touchy."

Jachra
"Basically, I made a hundred or so of them to act as my workshop assistants. They do manual dexterity tasks, mostly, whatever the forges can't handle."

Jachra
"And deliveries and the like."

Solana
"Okay." She nods. "I don't mean to be rude, but can we get going, then?" Perhaps unsurprisingly, her assistants aren't the only ones getting touchy. It takes a moment to remember that she's probably in extraordinary pain.

Jachra
Sam's enthusiasm fades. "Right - follow me, please. Ishte, thank you for coming promptly - I might need your help soon." She gestures her along, heading down a set of steps. The little army of statues works away in the main room while they head for a tunnel entrance. There, they find a waiting cart, with room enough for four people, facing off into the dark.

"I've sent a message from a dummy e-mail to your folks. If they send anything back, I'll let you know."

Solana
"Thanks." She says, a bit dazed by that. It's rather hard to think, but she nods. "Really. Sorry. Don't mean to be impolite. Why are you hanging out with someone who - offends the world?"

Razoric
Ishte goes on ahead - hopping down along the tracks and vanishing into the darkness, leaving little motes of blue light behind near her feet.

Jachra
"Ishte?" She settles down while the cart hums ahead, rolling down the tunnel. The walls - smoothed and reinforced - have been painted with lines that form interesting patterns as they go, and fiber optic cables run along the upper corners.

"Well - thing is, she isn't from this dimension, near as we can figure. She comes from wherever the shards come from, and she came to me because I can see her, and so I can help find her siblings. It's what led to the whole Ken Cedilla thing - I would ask you not be too forthcoming about that, though. Ishte can exactly when and roughly where a shard will hit. It's why her brother was taken in the first place."

Jachra
"She can also discern their names, though I have no idea what they mean yet. Mine is Almunashi."

Solana
"They have names?" She asks, leaning in a bit at that, her pain somewhat forgotten. ". . . What else can you tell me about the shards?"

Jachra
She considers. "I know that my writing is directly related to them in some fashion - almost like some bizarre extension of protein folding, where the pattern sets the behavior of the shard. Every shard has its own unique pattern, its size, its energy. I can, with Ishte's help and by silencing my senses, watch them emerge into our dimension, and see them as they land. Once I see yours, I'll stream you some video so you can see." She taps the implant in the back of her neck.

Jachra
"The tattoos we get are directly related to the function, as I've found I can copy them, though it's usually messy when I do. If I just copy them straight up, my whole network - my Infrastructure, as I call it - is exposed to it. I need to learn to manage them somehow."

Solana
"Sounds - pretty complicated." She says, struggling to make sense of any of that. "What about why they're appearing now?"

Jachra
She shakes her head slightly. "I don't know - neither does she. The frequency has been increasing lately, though. Even Cedilla eluded to it when he tried to recruit me - mind, he's gotten the idea that he needs to start clearing out the unseeded, so, you know, dunno what to make of that." She glances towards the disappearing, reappearing Isthe. "Her sister is the one who reports back to wherever the shards are. I'd imagine only they know, whoever they are."

Jachra
The cart slows, and comes to a stop. The doors open to reveal the basement of a family home. An increasingly cluttered one, with a workstation, a weird black stone container, and a pair of watchful guards.

"Mom! I'm home! And I've got an unexpected guest!"

Solana
Sif lingers at the threshold, waiting to be formally invited inside.

Is she a vampire? Maybe her shard's made her into a vampire.

Razoric
"A guest?" A dark skinned woman - she looks rather like Seshat, of Egyptian descent, though naturally older and more womanly over all - appears at the top of the stairs, peering down at what is becoming an increasingly cluttered basement full of superhero 'stuff' Layla doesn't want to poke at in case it does... a thing. So long as the washer and dryer don't change location/appearance.

"..she looks soaking wet! It's raining cats and dogs outside."

Jachra
"Yeah - this is Sif, she's an old friend from online. She sort of showed up at my doorstep. I've got some clothes coming for her, but she needs a hot shower and hot food, I think." She glances her way. "Maybe throw in some Tylenol."

Razoric
"Oh, dear, you poor thing... please, come, come on up. I'll run you a hot bath."

Solana
Sif brushes her hair back, and wraps the blankets a bit more tightly about herself, following Sam inside.

"Thanks, erm. . . Ms Wright?" She hazards.

Jachra
"Ms. Hammad," she whispers, starting to take off her things and hand them off to a waiting servant. "Come in, come in - we don't bite, promise." Upstairs, the home is far more normal for the area. It's nice, roomy - obviously lonely with just two people in it, being a home meant for a much larger family.

Jachra
Much of the decoration consists of Arabic art, and many pieces of Sam's own making.

Razoric
"I go by my maiden name these days, Hammad, though my passport still says Wright... but what can you do. But you can call me Layla." She gestures down the hall before heading out to the washroom herself to prepare the water.

Solana
She's hardly in a state to be enjoying artwork, muscles worrying away at her bones the way they are. She wants to shout, to stamp her feet angrily, and demand they do something about things now.

But she's past that point in her life. She's got a handle on things. Really she does.

"Thank you for inviting me into your home, Ms. Hammad." She says, her voice tight. She studies some of the art anyway, out of politeness more than anything else.

Jachra
Sam comes up, sliding a tablet - really, a block of smoothed, thin stone with a quartz screen - out and handing it over. A metal cat with the mannerisms of a domestic housecat comes down to perch on the stairs and look at her, paw poised questioningly.

"I'm going to go put myself under. You can keep in touch with me with this."

She gives her a sympathetic look. "We'll work this out."

Solana
She accepts the tablet with a glance, hugging it to herself.

"Thanks. I - guess I'll go get that bath?" She looks up at the stairs. "Assuming your cat lets me?"

Jachra
"I think that's good. Mystery! Be a good cat and let her up."

Her cat ignores her at first, but then saunters along on her own. Sam rolls her eyes fondly. "One time, I used her as a test subject for a shard tattoo and thought I'd failed. I found out it worked when she came for pets and trapped me in a sort of time stop effect for like ten minutes without me noticing. She got all pissy when I took the power away, still hasn't forgiven me."

Solana
"I don't know how I feel about you fiddling with souls like that, but hey - who am I to question you at this point?" She asks, looking to Layla so she can direct her.

Jachra
She gives her a curious look as she goes, letting her mom handle her for now. For her part, Seshat gets down to a bathing suit and climbs into her sensory deprivation chamber, letting the soundproofed container close over her.

{Okay, going dark for a bit.}

Razoric
Layla motions down the hallway, and from there Sif can be guided by the sound of water filling the tub. "It's right this way."

Solana
Sif nods, closing the door behind her. It's a pretty decent bathroom at least, and she finally lets the blanket drop, inspecting herself for the first time since everything went wrong. To be perfectly honest? She looks like shit. More so than usual. She started hormones a few months ago, as soon as she turned 14, and so never had much masculinizing from puberty, but that doesn't exactly help her feel better about her body when she still has all the wrong parts.

With a grunt of discomfort, Sif flicks the lights off, cutting back on the stimulation invading her brain, and climbs into the bathtub with the tablet. Is the thing waterproof? Considering the state of her other toys, it probably should be.

At least the hot water helps her muscles ease, even if just slightly. Nothing on the screen so far, so she closes her eyes and concentrates, forcing herself to drift.

Jachra
A video feed pops up on the tablet as Sif goes to seclude herself in the tub. At first, it's just darkness with sporadic flashes. After a moment she realizes that she's basically seeing what Sam is seeing, which is an intimate thing to behold, but she doesn't seem to mind.

As it turns out, it is waterproof. Indeed, as far as she can see, it doesn't seem to be electronic.

Jachra
Eventually, there is something - a hazy image starting to form.

Razoric
It's a strange sort of area... Samantha is standing on a sort of platform floating up over a swirling vortex of dark clouds. Orbitting it are three large circular platforms, floating in this dark void.

Standing on one, even at this distance - having seen her dad's pictures enough times - she recognizes the large form of what seems to be Ken Cedilla, standing next to a smaller, red figure.

On the second, she recognizes that blue color, where the girl named Ishte is standing.

On the third, is an... anomaly. It's like a person clad in green is trying to exist, but can't manage it, seeming to form and fragment apart.

Samantha - on a little disc in the very middle - has stairs that lead to blue and green, though has no access to red.

Solana
Her own attempts to block out the pain are long forgotten at the sight of this.

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Jachra
Samantha climbs up the stairs, a little floaty in this strange, vivid dreamscape.

Climbing up onto the blue next to the image of Ishte, she sits on the edge of the platform, legs dangling over the vortex.

"All right... time to get to work."

Concentrating, she focuses on Sif's shard. Might as well start there - she can poke around Fia's in a bit.

Razoric
It takes a bit of work, but slowly the vortex begins to stop swirling, beginning to come still. The clouds part, and within, an image begins to form. It's Sif's house, seen from above, as if by an airplane or drone or something. But the image is cracked, like a piece of glass hit by stone.

It zooms around wildly before making a beeline for the house. At the very last moment, however, the image then shatters fully. There's an individual frame - seen from many different angle, little triangles of vision - of Ruby Adalfieri, heavily pregnant in a rocking chair.

Then the image goes dark and the clouds re-assert themselves.

Jachra
"Well that isn't normal! Ishte, what do you make of that?"

Solana
Sif doesn't make anything of it either, dipping down below the water with tablet in hand, still studying the screen as the water burns her eyes. Still hurts less than everything else.

"Tell me." She concentrates. "Tell me what's wrong! If she can do this, then I can! I have a shard, too!"

Razoric
"The event came damaged, somehow," the metaphysical Ishte - who is coming in nice and clear this time, because this is a recreation of a vision. "I would hazard a guess that it was pierced, prior to appearing."

She turns to Seshat. "It then shattered at what you would call the impact, but still reached its target. She should have been seeded by the event."

Jachra
Rocking the "footage" back, Seshat examines the shard in detail through its flight. She seems entranced by it, studying it with great interest, watching the pieces fly.

It's a little like if Sif were watching a crime scene recreation of a bullet tearing through her body - the knowledge that this thing is hers, that it's beautiful and belongs to her, but someone shattered it, damaged it.

Solana
Impact, Seeded, the distinction doesn't seem to clear to her so far, and she's left to puzzle that in the tub, wishing she could ask questions herself, wishing she could charge the platforms, do something. Anything.

Jachra
Then she shifts focus. "Okay - I've gotten as much as I can from that. Let's have a look at Fia's, then. I wanna see the vampire princess' shard."

Razoric
A cliffside Bhutanese township from some 150+ years ago, on a bright and sunny afternoon. There's a gaggle of young women and teenage girls working rice fields near the village, including a rather familiar face. The angle seems rather wide-lensed - similar to what struck C-Shell, indicating increased size, though not on quite the same scale.

It moves in a mechanically manner, and people are already looking up before the image cuts out on a surprised Fia's face.

Jachra
"Mm. Worth studying. For now, friend."

The image fades as Samantha shakes herself out of the trance, then writing appears on it, handwritten text.

{You saw? I've studied it - it looks like it got shattered as soon as it hit you.}

Jachra
{Implying brokenness all right.}

Solana
She re-emerged from the water, frowning, eventually figures out how to type on her end. {I saw. I fail to see how this is supposed to help us fix things. If you wanted to know whether or not I was broken, I could have told you that I am.}

Jachra
{I needed to see how. It's given me some ideas. I'll dry off, you can come find me downstairs when you're ready.}

Solana
{Still don't have any clothes.}

Jachra
A little waist-high rap comes at the door.

Jachra
Popping it open a crack, Sif finds one of the little servants there, holding a bundle of mysterious clothes above its head.

Solana
Sif frowns, setting the tablet aside before climbing out, wrapping a towel around herself before answering the door.

Solana
". . . Thanks." She says, more tersely than she'd like. At least the bath helped with the pain, even if she feels no closer to figuring out what's going on with her. And what the hell was the deal with that Kingdom Hearts platform-zone? None of this was making any sense to her.

Solana
Once she's had time to get dry, she drains the tub and puts everything back, gets dressed, looks herself over, and heads back down toward the basement.

Jachra
The clothing is fairly simple - similar to what she's had on before, only if anything it fits a lot better, emphasizing her shape just so, and the colors are brighter. It's soft as well.

By the time she gets downstairs, she finds Seshat up, sketching madly on a large quartz board, a larger version of the one she gave her. Something is taking shape there. She frowns, sliding back in her seat, and pulls one up for Sif.

"I've been studying how it struck." She taps different parts of the model - it shows Sif's body as a baby illuminated for just a split second in the impact of the shard, with the pieces here and there. "I think I can locate the shards in your body, and then the next question is how I bring them together. I might be able to rig something up, with Ishte's help."

Solana
". . . You really think so?" Sif asks, grateful for just a little bit of hope. She massages her hands and wrists - after all, her mother isn't around to do that anymore.

Solana
She glances from her and then up to the board, brow-furrowed. "You can really tell all that, just from what we saw?"

Jachra
"I've got pretty strong intuition when it comes to these things. Flashes of insight - seems to be part of the package deal." She taps her heart. There's a rumble behind the doors, and a servant emerges, carrying a sort of harness. Samantha takes it and pulls a long stylus from her clothes, one that looks like a golden version of what ancient scribes might have used to mark up papyrus, and extends a little bright beam from one end with a short focal point. She cuts into the material of the harness, rapidly forming signs. "See, this right here normally takes me hours, but when the idea just starts... burning inside of me, I can't get it all out fast enough. All this will do is study your insides to try and see what's going on with the shard, if I do it right."

Jachra
She offers it to her. "Just slide it on."

Solana
She shies away from it, lifting a foot as if preparing to bolt.

"You want me to wear - that?" She asks.

Solana
She's not even sure why she feels apprehensive, it's an instinctive response, bubbling up from inside of her. Considering all she's already been through, she should be all about the golden harness.

Jachra
"Just for a bit." She gives her an encouraging smile.

Jachra
"What's wrong?"

Solana
"I don't know." She says, hesitating again before taking it. "Just being stupid, I guess."

It takes her a few tries before she figures out how to slip it on.

Solana
"So - how long's a bit?"

Jachra
Once it's snug, she turns back to the board and tilts it forward on the arms that connect it to the wall, so they can both see it clearly. A version of Sif appears there, a silhouette of her, and then it fills with chaotic energy.

"Letting it scan and sort out the signal from the noise."

Jachra
"If all goes well, it should resolve your shard."

Jachra
"...hell if it works that would be amazing, I could use this to look at Impacted shards in situ."

Solana
"What's 'Impacted', and what's 'in situ'?"

Razoric
It ends up not being quite that simple. Oh, sure, blasting Sif with Ishte-like radiation reads stuff, and detects stuff, but the result isn't exactly just a chart. Turns out a broken shard is both its pieces and its connections, not only to itself but to the body it's inhabiting (and it's not connected to a body in any logical pattern either.) It's further complicated by the fact Sif's is broken apart.

So Seshat turns her Sif-chart into a spiderweb of lines and vertices, and finds herself with a nice brainstring puzzle to solve to get the full picture. Still looks solvable, though.

Jachra
"In situ means 'in place.' Impacted is the other way people get shards - me, I'm seeded. I was affected as an unborn child, and so my shard kind of grew out into me, forming a tattoo. Some people are Impacted, like that Asian girl you saw in my mind. Hit later in life, it works differently, usually resulting in more external powers as the person controls its energy."

Jachra
She crosses her legs, frowning as she turns the image over, rotating it around to get a look.

Jachra
"I notice that there's a slight - pressure.'

Jachra
"Like everything's getting pulled subtly."

Jachra
"Almost like a kind of gravity."

Solana
She sits down on a stool, studying the display, but it's more than gibberish to her.

Solana
Less 'Greek' and more ancient alien hieroglyphs, as far as she's concerned.

Solana
"And your shard lets you build stuff." She says. "Stuff like this?"

Jachra
"Yeah. Perceive, understand, build. It kind of came to me late - I had a dream of the words flowing up from a lotus on an ocean void."

She frowns. "Can you tell me when your pain was? I might be able to map something out."

Solana
"No. Because they're usually daily." She says.

Solana
"So I can't."

Jachra
For a long time, Seshat stares at the chart. Watching her lapsed friend, Sif remembers all of the times she'd get like this, and then spit out something entirely brilliant - often some absurd leap of logical deduction or even just an intuitive sense of what a thing was. She never bragged about it, but there's a real genius in her. Whether that was in her all along or whether it was the shard, it's shaped her whole life.

"This is insane, but - I was thinking about how, over the time we knew each other, you often seemed to go through some... I dunno, I guess I'd call them shifts in personality, and I kind of tracked them for my own interest, and I couldn't really make sense of it. I've been thinking about it again and my AI back - " She pauses, glancing back at her. "...you didn't hear anything about me having a volitional AI. Ahem. Well, she pointed me to some correlations and I noticed that a lot of the times, your swings would correspond to the relative positions of astronomical bodies. Transits, that sort of thing. It doesn't make a lot of sense - but shards can have really strange influences sometimes."

Solana
"Okay." Sif says quietly.

Solana
"What does that mean in layman terms? How does that help me?"

Jachra
"As in..."

Jachra
She shifts over. "Imagine that your shard fragments are getting pulled around - the connections between them aren't severed, they're just wrong, and when you change their positions you change how they work - and in turn, that changes how you work."

Jachra
"Like iron filings being moved around the body."

Jachra
"Except in your case they're fourth-dimensional shrapnel."

Jachra
"I mean, admitting astrology has an influence on anything is a little weird for me, but maybe that's why you're so into it?"

Jachra
"It would literally speak to you."

Solana
"I guess so. Again. How does this help me get better?"

Solana
"Because if you have a way to do it, right now I really don't care in the slightest how you do."

Solana
"You may as well share the marvel of the circulatory system with someone who has a fucking knife in their chest."

Jachra
Seshat deflates a little. "Well... all right. I need some time to work on it, then."

Jachra
"You can leave off the harness for now."

Solana
She shrugs it off immediately, placing it as gently as she can manage onto a nearby table, hands twitching every so often.

"So, what happens to me in the meantime?"

Jachra
"I was thinking about that, actually." She folds her legs. "Obviously, you can stay here - but it occurs to me that maybe we could help you out with some other issues, like - well, if you were interested, we might be able to do something about your biological sex."

Solana
She flinches visible, leaning back against the wall. "Yeah I. . . I did try to say something earlier, but you seemed pretty caught up in your - thing."

Solana
"I mean - if you created all of this, how hard could it possibly be for her to make something that would fix that?"

Solana
"That was my reasoning."

Jachra
"Which is pretty good reasoning, but I'm actually a lot more limited than it seems - I've never been able to work out how to create effects that directly influence biology. However, as it happens, I have close connections with a medical tinker, one of the leading figures in the field actually."

Jachra
Her fingers twitch. "I really want his tattoo..."

Jachra
"...but at the least, I could set you up with an appointment with Pharmacon."

Solana
"Sure, I mean - yeah. Yes." She nods emphatically. "Please, I'd love to meet him."

She stretches, trying to work the stubborn stiffness from her muscles. The worst of her pain seems to be dying down. At least for now.

Solana
"You really know Pharmacon?"

Jachra
"My dad knows him better, but he's one of my mentors and, best of all, he stuck this in me." She pulls her hair back to reveal a very subtle silicon cover.

"Well, he made the casing, I made the delicious filling."

Jachra
"It's like an extension of my brain."

Solana
"Delicious. . ." She repeats, her expression a bit green. "Right."

Jachra
"You mentioned earlier that I was 'fiddling with souls.'"

Jachra
"What did you mean by that?"

Solana
She takes a seat, frowning.

"Could we get in touch with him first, see if he wants to meet me, and then I can explain on the way?"

Solana
"Or if he doesn't, that's fine - I'll just tell you then."

Jachra
"...not sure he's awake at this hour, but I'll give it a whirl. Guy like that might have cut out his need for sleep to make room for everything."

She sends a request to his office.

Jachra
"Worst case, there's the morrow."

Solana
"It's like, 10PM." She huffs. "Who goes to bed that early?"

Jachra
She grins

Jachra
{I have a friend who is hurting and really needs to speak with you, Dr. Bardem. I can cover any charges and time.}

Razoric
{That sounds rather serious.}

Razoric
{I am able to make time as needed.}

Solana
She peeks over Sam's shoulder and lets out a little squeak of delight.

"Pharmacon is making time to see me!"

Solana
She coughs, stepping back a pace.

Looks like she's in one of her manic phases.

"Erm, sorry."

Jachra
{I'll drive her over. Thank you for your time.}

She offers her a slight smile, getting to her feet and going to find her outfit. "Give me a bit to get armored up. You should grab your coat."

Solana
"I don't have a coat, that's back at the. . . lab? Hideout? Lair?"

Solana
"We'll call it a lair."

Jachra
She grins a little. "Temple, but Lair is nice. I've sent a command to bring it over, along with someone to get the guest room upstairs ready - the one down here is being used by Ishte - but for now, you can use one of mine."

She heads up to a hall closet and returns with another of her personally-made outfits, this one a water-proof coat with a hoodie.

Solana
"Can't I just borrow one of your coats? It's not like you're gonna use it, Ms. Seshat."

Jachra
She shakes it at her. "Coaaat."

Solana
She rolls her eyes and sighs, taking it.

"Look! Your language was unclear, okay? I couldn't tell if you were insisting on waiting for me to get my rain-soaked coat back, which definitely needs to be washed."

Solana
She slips it on, and frowns a bit at the shoulders. Happily, for all that she's much taller than her, she's still emaciated. Starvation is just the best.

Solana
"Alright, I am ret to go." She says, standing by the stairs.

Jachra
Seshat's armor clicks onto her, the scales bonding together, and she finishes it up with her mask.
"By now, Mom knows I come and go like a cat. Let's head out - guh, I really need, like, a proper Catmobile or something, the bike is really inconvenient with just two people, but it'll have to do."

Jachra
She laughs

Solana
Wherever they're going, whatever they're taking, Sif follows along like a lost foal, keeping close to Seshat. "So - you wanted to know what I meant, earlier?"

Jachra
"I do," she says, climbing up onto her bike and relying on the cover of rain and darkness to slip out onto the public roads, the bike deploying a shield that covers them both in a protective bubble of light.

Solana
"Honestly, I forget the context of the statement, I - oh wait. You were talking about Mystery, and something about a tattoo."

Solana
"And - apparently, everyone who's ever been seeded has a tattoo - or at least some obvious physical deviation from the norm?"

Jachra
"Right."

Solana
"I don't believe in occult stuff, really. It's - complicated." She says, gripping the vessel nervously. She's still new to this.

Solana
"I don't believe the average person has a soul - but you do."

Solana
"For the rest of us? We have a brain. A really complex and beautiful brain, but it's just a piece of meat, at the end of a lifetime. We die, we vanish forever."

Solana
"For that matter, I wouldn't have believed in magic before, either. I'm sorry - I don't usually get asked to vocalize my feelings like this. The last time I had this conversation it was with erm. . . with my dad."

Jachra
"It's fine." She frowns a little, glancing back at the way they came. "I'm uncomfortable with the idea for a variety of reasons, not least because two of the people I'm closest to in the world are my mother and my brother, neither of whom are sharded, but I don't know what ot think of it in general."

Jachra
"From my perspective, a lot of tihngs are transient - but I also recognize that I just don't know

Solana
"Well, I've got more to say!" She blushes.

Solana
"I was pausing for effect."

Jachra
"Oh do go on."

Solana
Sif watches the city below as they zoom on by, blinking at the rain as it bounces off the translucent light. How many countless lives down there were languishing in mundanity?

"What do you know about gnosticism?"

Jachra
"A bit. More, if I take some time to research."

Solana
"You know then, how Sophia breathed divinity into humans. Other myths do that, too. The Mayans, the Norse. In 'proper' Norse mythology, Odin and his brothers didn't create humanity, they improved them. His brother Villi - meaning Will, imbued humans with his namesake. The youngest brother, Ve, is more complicated. His name usually translates to a kind of shrine kept around in early Norse and Germanic households."

Solana
"But a gnostic interpretation would be that Odin brought Mann knowledge, Ve gave them power, and Villi gave them the will to use both."

Solana
"Do you follow so far?"

Jachra
"I do, yeah."

Jachra
Unsurprising, steel trap of a mind. For all Sif knows, she's googling on her head-computer now.

Solana
She's almost definitely is.

Solana
"Magic to me is an otherworldly phenomenon. I may not be up on all the top-tier scientific terminology, but I've read enough speculation and and reports on it that I have a pretty good understanding of what the shards can do, and what the shards can't do."

Solana
"For instance, I know that when the shards bind not only with humans, but also with non-human animals, and sometimes plants. These are usually possessed with knowledge, power, and a will to use both. They're stronger, faster, larger, more social, whatever. It depends on the circumstances. Divinity isn't purely order based, and it isn't always comforting."

Solana
"I also know that children imbued with shards at or before birth are different from ones later in life. Now I have words for it - Seeded and Impacted."

Solana
"To that end," she continues after having waited a moment for Seshat to interject. If she'd rather research and listen, Sif's fine with just talking.

Jachra
Seshat is listening.

Solana
"A human being with an impacted shard is a human being that carries magic inside of them."

Solana
"A human being with a seeded shard, is a human being who has magic woven throughout them. They don't just have magic. They are magic."

Solana
"It's your shard - your soul - that allows you to do all of the things that you do. When a shard touches down in the world and there's nowhere for it to go, it saturates the landscape, changes how things work."

Solana
"In other words, you have a soul, and therefor you can experience, influence, and interact with other soul-things, whatever you want to call this element, this phenomenon."

Solana
"So when you do things - like take a 'tattoo' from one person and copy it.

Solana
"You're copying a soul. And when you gave that tattoo to mystery, allowing her to use magic, you essentially gave her a soul - and then took it away."

Solana
"So yes, I imagine she is fairly pissed off at you."

Solana
"And that's what I meant by fiddling with souls."

Jachra
"Mm. I see," she considers. "I have a concern with that, which is that, as far as I've understood it to this point - and I acknowledge that there's a good chance we're wrong - we've never seen the shards of dead people linger in any particular sense."

Solana
"I wouldn't know about what happens to them after death, I haven't seen it." She says. "Nothing I've heard or read suggests they just dissipate like an expended crystal in some anime, though."

Solana
"As far as my beliefs go? This isn't the first time 'shards' have rained down on the world like this. It happened in the past, pre-recorded history. That's where you get all the gods, the monsters. Almost every culture has a mythical golden age when humanity and the gods interacted."

Solana
"I think the ones who survived, the ones who persisted? Changed even more than you've changed now, and returned to whatever world the 'shards' came from."

Jachra
She glances back at her. "I've often considered that I might fairly be considered a goddess," she admits. "I don't feel I trade in souls, but I guess we'll see as I copy people's powers more." She chews. "Another private thing, between you and me - my father and I share our shard, and I know for a fact we've shared ideas, too, without any possible way for those ideas to have been shared. I think it's influenced how I look, too, though I have no proof."

Solana
"It's not unheard of in mythology for two individuals to share a soul."

Solana
"Albeit rare in the case of a father and his daughter."

Jachra
"I was pretty pissy about it at first, considering what he did to my mom and my brother's mom, but I try not to fight their battles anymore. He's tried to move past that and I try to make my own relationship with him, especially as it seems we've got this bond."

Solana
"I'm not going to be the morality police and tell you not to 'copy' "Powers", but I will say - it makes me uncomfortable, and I wish you wouldn't. We're both very young, and don't even have the mundane stuff figured out."

Solana
"Far as I'm aware? You are the only one who can do what you do, with the tattoo thing."

Solana
"And maybe one day that will be very important to your responsibilities. But an experiment is only an experiment if you have a theory to test out, something you're trying to achieve. It's play when you're just doing whatever you can because you can, and seeing what works."

Jachra
"If I start getting complaints about it or detect undue influence, I will reconsider." She frowns. "I need the edge, though. Especially if I can develop a universal language."

Solana
"That - sounds like a lot of family drama to unpack." She admits.

Jachra
"Is a bit," she says quietly. They come to a tree-lined road, the night sky pouring outside of their bubble.

Solana
"What does copying powers have to do with a universal language?"

Jachra
And run up along a building all in shining white, a very medical sort of place just by looking at it.

Jachra
They glide across puddles and grass without issue, and slide to a stop near the front. She glances back at her, then rubs a finger along the writing on the bike.

Jachra
"Language are symbols."

Jachra
"If I can figure out the language behind shards, I could do anything."

Solana
Sif leans forward, taking in the trees with some relief - not a big-city type of girl, apparently.

"It's nice that you can still find little pockets of beauty, even down here." She says.

Solana
"The night helps."

Jachra
She offers her a little cat-smile.

Jachra
"Yeah."

Solana
She snickers, prodding Seshat's waist.

Solana
"You're a little bit Odin. I'll have to keep my eye on you."

Solana
"As for trying to learn the language of the shards, try impaling yourself with a spear while hanging from a dead oak tree by the neck for - 9 days?"

Jachra
"I mean my staring into the void of a sensory deprivation chamber comes pretty fucking close to that."

Solana
"Explains the androgynous thing, too. See? When you take current events in the context of old-world mythology, things just 'click'."

Solana
"Very easily."

Jachra
"Hah hah I better not lose an eye then~"

Jachra
"Though I could replace it with a very nice implant."

Solana
"Odin didn't 'lose' an eye, he gave it away." She says as the bike comes to a stop.

Jachra
"Fair."

Jachra
She settles them near the door and lets the field drop.

Solana
"That's something else I'd try to impress on you - all knowledge has a cost."

Jachra
"I'll wait in the lobby. I can work on things pretty much anywhere."

Jachra
She nods slightly

Solana
She takes Seshat's hands and squeezes them gently.

"Thanks for going out on a limb like this, but then - I guess that's what you super heroes do, right?"

Jachra
She smiles more and squeezes them back. "That's what friends do. I'm sorry I left you in the lurch, I meant to get back but I'm genuinely awful at time management."

Solana
"That's a little ironic, don't you think?" She hops off the bike and heads for the doors, hands clasped behind her back, her voice raised in a sing-song tone.

Too bad she can't be more like this all the time. Hopefully this will help with that, however moderately. In the meantime - Seshat has work to do.

Jachra
"Partly why I got the implant."

Jachra
"Though the main reason is that I wanted to be closer to what I create."

Jachra
"I hated the distance." She opens the door for her and joins her inside.

Solana
~~~

Razoric
Pharmacon's private practice is an interesting space. It's like one of those high tech research institutes, though on a much smaller case. It's clean, high tech, modern and top of the line. The lobby has been given a warmer feel than most hospitals with their oppressive whites, however - there's dark wood moulding and the front desk is some sort of pale wood. Still uses tiles and easily disinfected wall and ceilings, however - it's still a medical facility.

There's a sign in the back with arrows pointing towards a surgical ward, diagnostics office, a recovery ward, and a research and development section - as well as a green house.

When Seshat was here previously, there was a secretary at the front desk, but given they opened specifically for Sif, right now it's Cassidy sitting on top of the desk, sipping at a large coffee. Miguel Bardem himself - Pharmacon - is leaning against the desk as well. He's updated his outfit from the last time Sif saw a picture of him - the mexican descent young man wearing a pale, close knit overvest that gives him a in-uniform-for-the-GRF-but-still-doctor look. He's also let his hair grow out a little from his YPA days.

He glances up when the two girls come inside. "Ah, Seshat, hello. And friend - welcome."

Razoric
Cassidy - dressed in a more typical nurse outfit, in white, is a cute looking redhead, a few freckles on her cheeks. She has her hair tied up tightly behind her head in a bun.

Solana
Sif freezes up a little, doing her best to somehow appear smaller while Seshat finds somewhere to sit, like at a small desk or the like.

"Oh, yeah." She says in a high nervous tone. "Huh? Oh yeah! Seshat's definitely my friend. It's erm - nice to meet you."

Somehow, she finds the strength to walk over, hugging her arms around herself defensively. "My name's Sif?"

Jachra
"Hello, Dr. Bardem," she says with a small smile.

Razoric
"Then please, be welcome, Sif. I am Doctor Miguel Bardem, though I go by Pharmacon in the media." Given the secrecy, urgency, and her body language, he seems to get that there's some sense of privacy involved. "Maybe you'd like to talk in my office? I can make some tea."

Jachra
"Good luck. I'll be right here if you need anything," she offers, going to find a seat and pull out a curious gun-looking thing, cracking it open to work on it.

Solana
"Yeah!" She says a bit too loudly, clapping her hands over her mouth.

". . . I mean 'yes'. Please. And also thank you."

Solana
She steps after him, casting a worried look back at Seshat as she goes.

Jachra
She gives her an encouraging wave.

Razoric
He leads the way along, and they pass by a window that overlooks the greenhouse. There's a lot of plants of various colors in there - and she knows most of it is medicinal, hybrids and custom new species he's made himself for extracts.

The office he leads her to is a pretty warm looking place to - Miguel seems to like wood and warm colors a lot! The chairs are thick and cushy, and the computer he has looks quite nice. Clearly, he's putting his government grants and private consultation/procedure money to good use.

"Please, have a seat." He opens a cupboard that slides a platter down, and he starts to set up a tea set. "Herbal, flowery or sweet?" he asks.

Solana
"It's a very beautiful building." She says, trying to arrest the silence as they go, tapping her finger tips together as they walk. "Much nicer than any of the places I've been."

"I like chamomile." She says, looking around before settling into a leather - faux leather? - armchair.

Razoric
Feels a bit more like faux. Still good and plush, though. The doctor reaches inside a container in the back and flips through a few bags until he produces one with a familiar white flower on it to produce a couple tea bags from within. He runs a little tap to fill the teapot part way, then sets it on its heater pad.

"Hospitals often don't have the luxury of being comfort-conscious. I aim to change that, starting with my practice."

Solana
"I know." She says. "I read."

She pauses, watching the water as it heats up.

"If my mom and dad could see me right now they'd be freaking out. That - probably requires some unpacking. I've been sick ever since I was born, I've been to doctors - lots of doctors - and I've even learned a lot from the experience. Now days I. . . spend most of those visits explaining to them how their machines work, or what those blood tests mean. If they ever thought we had a chance of meeting with you, though, they'd probably have taken down everyone in the their way en route."

Solana
"Eventually I just started trying to understand things on my own, why this was all happening to me, so - yeah, I've read some of your study summaries. Read your book, things like that."

Solana
"You're a regular modern-day Ixchel."

Razoric
That makes him look rather sad. "Were that I could meet with everyone that needs me. But, you flatter me, to compare me to a goddess of medicine."

He chuckles and takes the teapot up, pouring a couple of cups. He then brings them out to the desk, laying one down on Sif's side before sitting behind his desk. "I'd like to make up for not being available now that I can be."

Solana
She accepts hers, stirring the liquid briefly with her finger, skillfully avoiding burns. There's a silence between them as she waits, expecting him to ask questions - what did she mean by 'sick'? What were her symptoms like? What's her history like in general? Or even the most basic: So what brings you to my office?

Failing that, she frowns. Not much of a bedside manner, this one, but one supposes that's not necessary when you're one of the best doctors in the world.

Solana
"Right." She says, softly, in a distant tone. "So."

Solana
"I have a shard, like you and Seshat, but it was broken, shattered, whatever, when it found me."

Razoric
His brows come up at that. "A broken shard? SRI would have vested interest in hearing about that.

"I take it, then, that it's caused you more problems than abilities."

Solana
"In terms of abilities, I have none." She explains. "Instead, I have chronic pain issues - these erm. . . episodes, where my muscles just lock up, my hands barely work, and, yeah. I believe it's also negatively impacted my overall health, because I'm sick, all the time."

Solana
"When Seshat helped me detect it - them - they were scattered through my body like shrapnel from a. . . from a bullet, breaking on entry? Only the pieces have drifted further apart as I got older."

Razoric
"I would run some sample tests and see for myself, with your permission, but how I approach it ... I think it would be best to begin by treating your symptoms.

"I have medicinal options I've grown in-house, or I could prepare a bio-implant that will keep your blood cell count monitored and regulate any nervous signal to prevent spikes."

Razoric
"One would require surgery and some after care, but would be significantly more decisive."

Solana
"That's - actually not why I came here." She blushes brightly. "But I appreciate the offer. I want to see how Seshat's method goes, first, and taking your treatment and her treatment could muddy the waters, make it unclear which stimuli yielded results. Besides that, I've dealt with it my whole life, so I can manage awhile longer."

She weighs him a moment longer, squeezing her knees with her palms. "I uh - came here because uh - other problem, and Seshat says she can't help with it."

Solana
"Because it's biology related and I guess her machines only go so far - and no farther."

Razoric
"I can respect that," he says to the former. "The option will be here." He smiles. Once she carries on, however, he listens intently.

"Mh, she did mention that limitation. Well, I want to assure you that your privacy will be respected." He motions towards her. "What is this additional problem?"

Solana
Her eyes shift away no matter how much she tries to keep them focused on him, and she sighs, finishing off her tea with one long sip.

"I'm transgender." She says. "I mean - I came out to my parents when I was like, 4 or 5, but there's only so much you can do in this country before you're 18, and. . ." She trails off. "I have been on hormones since June, but when I saw everything Seshat could do, I asked if she could make anything that could fix me. She said no." She swallows. "And then she offered contacting you."

Razoric
"That is a topic I'm quite familiar with, it just so happens," he assures with a smile. "In part because our country is very behind the times.

"I've performed several sex-reassignment surgeries, and I have hormone delivery implants, so a combination of those options is open to you.

"The other would be my RCR tech. Essentially, it would see us applying genetic drivers to rewrite cell commands and, with a Rapid Cellular Regeneration treatment, make your body do the transition itself to what it should be."

Solana
Her eyes widen a bit, and she's a little impressed with herself that she was able to follow all of that.

"I mean, if you could do the latter why even bring up he former?" She blushes. "It's like, telling someone how they did eye surgery in ancient Rome, and then being like: "And here's this other option, which is actually modern!"

Solana
"I mean -" she blushes brighter. "Not trying to be a brat about this or anything. But if I could do the second one I'd be pretty over the moon."

Razoric
He laughs softly. "RCR has its critics. Much like stem and genetic drivers before it, it is a significant physiological change - but more significantly, it is a tech that only people who have the superpower to create it and understand it can make. Much like no one can replicate Shui Kikou's batteries and engines.

"So I offer the option, to those who it would scare off."

Solana
"Well, erm. Sold." She blushes. "How soon could we do that?"

Razoric
"I can take samples tonight and take the night to write the drivers. We let the commands replicate over the afternoon, and begin regeneration treatment that evening. There is a rest period inbetween, so a bath once per evening until we've reached the point where it is no longer helping. I anticipate a week.

"Throughout the regeneration process, and after it, you'll undergo a period of rapid development as your body plays catch up. It may come with discomfort, itching, temporary swelling, and an increased metabolism and an increased need for hydration until your body can self-regulate. I'll provide you with supplements to add to food and drink to help alleviate some of those symptoms."

Solana
She snickers. "Funny, I was picturing you just putting me in a vat and leaving me there for like - a week or something. I guess your method makes more sense, though."

Razoric
"I designed it so I would not be able to do that." He chuckles. "Oh, sure, it's less convenient on the short-term, but letting your body acclimate during the procedure, eating and drinking, while you lose unnecessary tissue and organs and gain new ones, makes the long term acclimation period a lot easier to manage for the patient."

"I hope to refine the tech so that the period is shorter, or even unnecessary."

Solana
She nods.

Razoric
"Well, if you're willing to sign off on all of that, why don't we get you to the general lab? We can gather up those cell samples."

Solana
Sif climbs to her feet, massaging her hands at the joints. "I do so sign off - as much as a 14 year-old can be said to do so." Her eyes widen. "Wait, shit - do we actually need to get my parent's permission for this?"

Razoric
"Ah ..." He pauses, and she can see him running through the math in his eyes about ways to get away with it through the ethics boards and the GRF. "... You're right. I cannot perform an invasive procedure on an underage civilian without a signed form." He brushes a hand in his hair. "I'm so used to superheroic bureaucracy, I didn't even think about it."

Solana
She crosses her arms, eyes shifting as her mind powers through the problem, searching for a solution. It's - actually a bit like seeing Sam do the same, but on a vastly different scale. Finally, Sif smiles, and looks back across at him.

"I've got a shard, right?" She asks. "And it stands to reason that once it's fixed, I'll have powers."

Solana
"At least, that's what you and Seshat keep implying. If that's the case, I could register with the YPA, and that would give the YPA Provisional Guardianship Status."

Solana
"Which means that you would be able to provide consent." She says smugly, looking proud of herself.

Razoric
"...hah." He breaks into a grin as well. "Well, under GRF policy, it's actually unethical of me to refuse a sanctioned cape important medical treatment."

Solana
"Then I'll fill out the paperwork." She says.

Razoric
He splays his hands. "You'll be coming in at a good time. Seshat is really turning the YPA on a new leaf." He motions to the door. "Shall we?"

Solana
She nods vigorously, following after him.

Razoric
The Diagnosis office ends up being a lot more what she'd expect for a hospital, with a wall full of instruments for analysis and sample taking. The redheaded nurse joins them for this to assist.

Bone marrow aspiration - that one stings a bit, but it's nothing compared to her usual episodes - blood sample, skin, a bit of body hair and nail for completeness' sake. By the time they're done a little while later, he's got a full board of colorful packets full of Sif-y stuff.

Solana
She spends most of the time in-between samples filling out the paperwork provided by the nurse.

Name: Sif Adalfieri
Alias:

It gets her thinking for awhile. A 'cape name' is not something she ever considered before. Sure, other children in elementary school would posture and claim to be super heroes, coming up with elaborate titles and backstories, but that was never for Sif. She was always sick, and harbored no illusions of her ever being a super anything.

A super outpatient, that was her aspiration.

After a few more moments, she pens in 'Zosime', and nods with a small amount of satisfaction. If she's going to be a demigod, she may as well pick a name with some dignity.

Powers:

She stares at the entry for a bit.

'Undisclosed'.

Razoric
They'll probably grill her to actually disclose - or demonstrate - once she's actually in front of a governmental agent. Hopefully Seshat does gather some results out of her before that happens! Though between Pharmacon and Seshat's own connections, they'll hopefully be able to delay it long enough.

Solana
Once the form is filled out, and the samples collected, Sif passes the papers over to Dr. Bardem, settling her hands on the table in front of her.

Razoric
He gives them a look over with a nod of his head. "This should do it." He sets both aside. "I'll take this to my lab for analysis, and bring your papers out to Reception at YPA Haven tomorrow."

"I will send you a message once I'm ready, though we'll make an appointment for 11, if that's alright with you and Seshat." He smiles down at her. "Anything else you would want to bring up?"

Solana
She shakes her head slowly, slipping her hands into her coat, and pulling it in for warmth.

"Nothing, no. Thank you again for helping me."

Razoric
"You are most welcome, then, Zosime. It's my pleasure. If you feel any complications at any time, let me know."

Razoric
He looks down at her hands, however. "In the meantime, though, maybe I could interest you in a complimentary heatpack? It's a container of squishy gel that heats up with friction."

Solana
She shakes her head. "I'm not actually cold, according to the doctors. It's a - weird neurological thing." She climbs to her feet.

"Until tomorrow, then?"

Razoric
"Very well. Until tomorrow, then. Rest well."

Solana
~~~