Hotel Transformania (Malakhi/Cassius/Ulysses)

[jarahamee]

The WDSA workroom had been set up before either Malakhi or Ulysses had arrived.

A number of antique beakers, small boilers and Bunsen burners attached to glass loops and tubes were arranged on top of a large central table in what seemed to be a very precise arrangement. The configuration lay on top of a carefully drawn magical sigil interlocking with two other sigils, perhaps to enhance the power of whatever was created here.

Many vials of various fluids in unappealing colors were set in front of the device, along with two jars of powder, an industrial bucket of something that steamed slightly, and a unit of fresh human blood.

Malakhi entered the room, holding it open for Ulysses. He eyed the archaic array once, appearing to be unimpressed by what he saw, but made no comment. Instead, he adjusted his glasses and waited patiently by the door for their host to greet them.

Thankfully, he was not waiting long. Within moments, the far door opened, and a large, scarred man made his way in, pushing a metal cart laden with the biggest metal boiler of all.

The man paused, looking up at the two newcomers and smiled in a way he might have hoped was friendly. It was in fact quite toothy, and the scar that extended the right side of his mouth made it disquietingly lopsided.

“Oh. You came early. Well, I am set up. Dr. Dziban, Dr…? Ode?”

He seemed unsure as he addressed Ulysses, but not put off. He had witnessed much stranger things in his time.

Malakhi leaned on his cane with his left arm, gesturing with his right as if to dismiss pleasantries.

“Good. Thank you for your time. We are here to test some of Dr. Ode’s physical properties. I want to know if this body of his /can/ be transmuted at all, or if there is something innate that will prefer it from a proper temporary or permanent transmutation.”

“Captain Lucidius.”

Offered Agent Lucidus, tipping his head, as if he was tipping a hat. His dark eyes glinted as he surveyed the two of them, full of curiosity and perhaps a touch of interest.

“Transmutation is a dangerous business. Especially permanent transmutation. I would recommend caution and thorough testing before you pursue anything that would affect all of him.”

Malakhi’s expression changed, becoming tense;

“I plan to.”

[beastly]

Ulysses followed Dr. Dziban in, a bit more impressed by what he was seeing than the other man. The plant monster was curious about the more magic side of things. As he had regained his mind and memories, Ulysses was able to appreciate that magic was...Different to what he was used to. From his understanding, this was alchemy? He made no move to investigate, but he did peer over at the strange devices. He had a feeling he'd find out what they did.

In walked a man with a cart. He appeared human, but Ulysses had figured out that not everything was what it seemed. Little lights in the hollows of his face settle on him. He gave a nod at his name.

His gaze shifted from Dr. Dziban, then back to Captain Lucidus as they spoke. It was a potentially dangerous thing they were doing. Ulysses didn't want to 'die', whatever that would mean for him now. If they could find a way for him to occasionally hug his husband or child without them having to hold their breath or change their shirts, he would be happy with that. If not, he was still gifted with the fact that he was still there with them instead of being truly dead.

Ulysses nodded with Malakhi.

"Thank you, Captain Lucidus. That is what we're here to do, yes?"

He was pondering how they would test parts of him. He healed fairly easily, they could take a piece of him. ...Which pieces, however, would be the question. He was composed of a lot of things. How would the few bones they thought were his react? He didn't think those would heal.

[jarahamee]

Captain Lucidus nodded, moving in closer to assess Ulysses. He frowned a little bit as he got a closer look at what made up the strange creature. Organic components, decaying components. Some of the plant matter looked ‘living’, and that was likely what made up the ‘core’ of this being.

“I read through the file but I don’t think any of the analyses really know how any part of you will respond to either magic or alchemy.”

He looked at the “living” part of Ulysses. That was likely the part that would be most apt to take transmutation. He’d have to see how ‘living’ it was, and if it was the only ‘living’ part of him in his entire structure.

“Can…you hand me some of the plant matter? I want to look at it under the microscope.”

Dr. Dziban crossed his arms, without interjecting that he could do exactly that, and probably do a better job of it than the WDSA Agent could. Instead he looked up to Ulysses;

“It does not hurt when you remove some of that material, does it?”

[beastly]

Ulysses nodded at the scarred man, then looked at Dr. Dziban.

"Pain isn't quite the same as it was before I died. Damage to the, ah, plants doesn't hurt, as far as I have experienced."

Bits of him had been caught in doors, snagged on furniture, ripped by an over enthusiastic Penny. It felt like a pinch, a bit of a 'sting', maybe. It was a comfort he was unlikely to be snatched away from his family in an accident, newly durable. He hadn't ever been put in a position where he'd had large portions damaged, and hoped he wouldn't be.

The cold had hurt.

The plant monster lifted his 'arm' and took a small clump of vegtable material from his other 'arm', setting it carefully over by the scarred man. The plants visibly started growing back immediately, filling the gap where the sample had been taken. After a moment of thought, he reached within what would be his chest on a human and added some kelp and seagrass to the sample for Captain Lucidus to look over.

He wondered what exactly he would be looking for under the microscope. What made something good for alchemy? The lights in his face moved briefly to Dr. Dziban before settling back on Captain Lucidus.

[jarahamee]

Agent Lucidus took all three samples, mixing each one with some of the off-color liquid in the vials next to him. He swirled each one, and then used a pipette and took a small sample of each one, placing it on a glass slide to examine under the microscope.

He spent a few minutes examining each drop, closing one of his eyes as he moved his view field, adjusting the settings. Eventually he seemed satisfied and looked up from the samples.

“The plant tissue is alive. It even regenerates. This means it must be the ‘living’ portion of you, though I do not know what has made it ‘decide’ to form the whole of you morphologically.”

Which also meant that it might be dangerous to try to transform him if the transformation was not even enough. Useful information for Agent Lucidus for his personal reasons, and essential information for any experiments that might take place.

“Do you have any…surviving remains of you when you were…human? If you do not, I have some…samples that we can use, if it does not offend you.”

Dr. Dziban in the meantime crossed his arms, and glanced over at the equipment. There must be other, more sophisticated ways of determining what constituted Dr. Ode’s body, and if it could be reconstructed by a small sample.

“I have..another question. When a part of you is separated from your body, does it perish?”

Asked Malakhi, tapping his fingers on his arm.

[beastly]

The plantman watched captain Lucidus observe the samples under the microscope. He wondered what the liquid was, what purpose it served in the man's investigation. So, the plants were the living portion of him? Yes, they were alive, did he mean that's where his 'soul' was? What was a soul? Where was his undead self in all of that? Questions for later.

"Hm. Yes, I have bones."

Ulysses stuck his vine-hand inside his chest, deeper this time, and felt around. The room hadn't smelled exactly pleasant with the plant monster full of decaying plant and animal matter, but as layers of plant life was pushed aside the smell of decomposition and rot grew stronger.

Ulysses found the bone he was looking for, and pulled it free from the spot it was occupying in his body. He made a noise that was like a grunt, but different without lungs. It didn't hurt exactly but it felt weird. The rib was cracked and worn, and apparently was irradiated enough it had no viable DNA, but he hoped it would work for the alchemist's purposes.

He offered it to captain Lucidus, wondering what he would do with it.

"After a time, yes," he gave a faint nod to Malakhi," I lost some of me in the back door, and eventually it wilted."

He hadn't done any experimenting to see how long it took, but it was something he could try. It quite literally didn't hurt to investigate.

[jarahamee]

Ulysses immediately had the sense that Cassius had a better nose than Dr. Dziban did. While Malakhi was unmoved by Ulysses’ compost smell worsening, Agent Lucidus’ lip curled briefly as he grimaced. It was a micro expression which was gone almost as quickly as it appeared, replaced by a neutral expression of objective interest.

“Interesting.”

Captain Lucidus reached forward to take the rib-bone, examining it carefully.

He took a few minutes to clean it with a brush and water, then dipped it in one of the solutions in front of him, which removed most of the remaining dirt and debris. Finally, the specimen cleaned and presentable, he broke off a small fragment of rib. After spending a few minutes crushing the resulting mixture, he added it to one of the liquid vials, shaking the resulting solution gently.

After taking a moment to stare at the resulting mixture, he poured one single drop on a piece of the plant material that had been harvested from Ulysses and waited.

Malakhi moved over to join him in staring at the plant material, which fizzled and then…began to ooze blood, forming misshapen chunks of pinkish tissue.

Cassius smiled. The expression was even worse when he was pleased.

“Oh. Good. It’s viable.”

[beastly]

The plantman was unable to smell himself, not in a meaningful way. He was only aware that his scent was foul due to the reactions of those around him. Which was the whole damn reason he was here. It didn't make it less embarrassing.

Ulysses leaned over to see the chunks of flesh that had formed from the plants. Disgusting, but fascinating. The plant monster ran a hand over his 'arm' where he had taken the samples from. A twinkle of hope sparked where he thought his heart should be, but he scolded himself for getting eager so early.

"That is extraordinary. Is it creating my flesh?"

Chunks of flesh on the counter was different from a whole man, of course, and simply turning the plants that made up his flesh would not make him human again. There was probably a second step. And third. He chased away the image of 'flesh vines' from his mind.

[jarahamee]

Agent Lucidus looked over his shoulder at Ulysses, his uneven smile remaining on his lips as he spoke;

“Yes. It is. This is human flesh. Most likely your flesh, but we will have to do more processing and a little more testing to make sure.”

Malakhi had made his way to Ulysses’ other side, opposite Cassius. He stared at the tissue, thoughtful but not unimpressed. After all, this might look like tissue but it could be a lot of things that weren’t Ulysses Ode. Like another animal. Or even another human.

“How do you know this is a human?”

Cassius’ gaze suddenly became very flat, and his smile became tight-lipped as he stared back at the surgeon;

“Human bones have very particular properties, which I am sure you are quite aware of, Dr. Dziban. Beyond that, my nose is keen, and I can smell the living man in this blood. Does that answer your question?”

To that, Malakhi merely nodded. It was not enough to make him feel good about doing anything drastic, but it was a step.

Agent Lucidus continued;

“I will need to do some refining, and two tests. If things look good, I will transmute myself into this human for twenty-four hours. You will need to help me confirm this is your body. I will likely need another person to positively identify you as well for the paperwork here. Does that sound acceptable to you, Dr. Ode?”

[beastly]

Ulysses gave a very slow nod, still looking at the flesh. He allowed himself to hope it was his own flesh, he was pleased that it was at least human. He could sense that Captain Lucidus and Dr. Dziban were not close friends and he was inclined to side with the doctor although he couldn't pinpoint what the disagreement was about beyond Dr. Dziban asking questions. It was always important to ask questions.

Captain Lucidus could smell the human blood, was he not human himself? He must be if he could be so sure without a test. Or have an incredible knowledge of the human body. Ulysses's little pinpricks of light settled on the man. He couldn't tell just by looking at him if there was anything more than human there.

"If all is right, you will become the human. I see," The concept that he could just do that was incredible, Ulysses gave a tilt of his head, "I can ask my husband to help confirm that what you turn yourself into is in fact me. It sounds like an acceptable plan. What two tests must you do, if you don't mind me asking?"

[jarahamee]

“This test proves two things; one: that this material is alive and can be transmuted, and two, that this bone is a human bone, which can still be used for transmutation.”

Cassius explained carefully. He understood this was likely not a well-known process to most. It was an ancient pre-science and a sort of pre-magic, which allowed many otherwise impossible things to be possible, so long as the proper components, and the proper energies were provided.

“The possibilities for what we can achieve are infinite, but not every outcome is possible, if that makes any sense to you, Dr. Ode.”

His eyes flickered up to the huge entity’s eyes.

“The first test is to ensure there is enough vitality left in this sample to allow me to construct a full human from it, and the second is to ensure that no foreign contamination remains after refinement. When I am sure, it will be ready to test. That is the first part of this project.”

He shifted his stance, scars highlighted in shadow by the harsh lamp light.

“The second will be to ensure both that you can be considered one entity, or made into one, and that you will be stable when transformed. If so, we could permanently transfigure you.”

Dr. Dziban shifted his foot and artificial leg together with a soft click, still leaning on his cane.

“It sounds like it may work, but those are a lot of things that could not go well.”

Agent Lucidus merely looked up with a grimace-like smile,

“The possibilities are infinite. This is only one path.”

And the agent turned back around to set up a new, clean area for his refinement process. He started with grinding up a small piece of the rib, then added it to a mixture to dissolve it entirely. The resulting liquid was filtered and subjected to titration with what Ulysses could only guess was human blood.

When he was done, the mixture was deep, deep red, and very thick.

[beastly]

Ulysses nodded his head in understanding. There were steps to this, it was a process. Things had to be right before they jumped into them. The man seemed to know what he was talking about, and Dr. Dziban had suggested him (even if he didn't seem to be his biggest fan), so he would trust he knew what he was doing.

The possibilities are infinite. Hm.

"I see. Well. We will see then."

Hopefully, whatever he was wasn't... too odd. Hopefully the bones were his. Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully.

He watched Dr. Dziban's face for a moment, trying to gauge what he was thinking about all this. The man was more familiar with magic and magic science than he was, and he knew him better than the scarred man.

The plantman was paying attention though when the agent started grinding up the rib- his rib? Grinding it up and adding it to some liquid that dissolved it. He liked watching the process, there was something deeply fascinating of watching the alchemist work. He was observing the whole process, until out of the corner of his eye he saw a telephone.


He forgot about the alchemy. Wandering over, he had his sights set on the emergency telephone. It was perfect- the speaker within would be exactly what he needed for The Thing he was building- he'd started over, he needed new parts. It was very important that he gather the new pieces so that he could properly bring it into the world. Just as he was having that thought, the lights in his eyes landed on the intercom. Oh. Oh that was even better, the speaker there was much better. He reached up with a vegetable limb, and started deftly unscrewing the bolts keeping the metal covering over the pieces he really wanted.

The clang of a screw was what knocked him back to reality. He realized, with great shame, he was dismantling things on government property. His 'shoulders' sagged, and he knelt to pick up the dropped screw. Highly embarrassing, but he hadn't actually damaged anything at least. He screwed the piece back in, and prayed the other men would be too polite to comment on it.

[jarahamee]

Agent Lucidus tracked Ulysses movement across the room with the corner of his eye. It was instinctive. He did not think that the unknown entity was aggressive or even potentially harmful, but it was hard to dissuade his body from believing the same thing. His unconscious hyperawareness pervaded every bit of his mind, stretching out and telling him, here and there, where to shelter himself to avoid potential snipers, alerting him to the movement and activity of persons in the peripheries who might pose a danger.

He ignored the information. They needed to do some of his initial testing now. Neither the phones nor the intercom here were important.

Dr. Dziban watched the progress of the…purified mixture’s creation, seemingly holding back asking him exactly what was happening and why. It was very likely that the agent would not be able to explain everything through ordinary, garden-variety science anyways, as much as he would have liked to know what this all meant. And whose blood was that anyways? Was it human blood?

“Does Dr. Ode have any health conditions to be concerned about?”

Asked the agent, staring down at Dr. Dziban with a slight frown. He would hope that he knew, or at least could remember something about the man’s medical history, given that he was his physician, at least of sorts.

Malakhi shook his head, staring down at one of the vials as if it would give him answers.

“No, nothing of note from what we found either officially or in his home records. He was an otherwise healthy man.”

Cassius nodded, swirling the reddish solution. It had a distinct smell, and the thickness was unpleasant, but he was used to it by now. In fact, he used it regularly for his missions when he could not appear as himself.

“Good. Then we can begin…”

He took a heavy drought of the potion, draining the entire flask in a single swig. The feeling afterwards was never pleasant, but he had gotten used to it. He wondered, vaguely, if there was any formulation that wasn’t painful, and settled on a resounding ‘no.’ There was always some sacrifice involved with the creation of any important magical process, and most of those involved pain.

The gold badge pressed under his right eye, and with a gentle push, the entire globe came out in his hand, revealing an empty socket. In its back was a single eye-light, not unlike Ulysses,’ which fluttered around as what was likely his actual eye moved to follow Dr. Dziban.

Malakhi looked surprised. And why wouldn’t he be? The false eye had been realistic enough he had not suspected it was artificial. Perhaps it was enchanted that way, and he had no means to see it.

“What did you do?”

He asked, almost hesitantly.

Agent Lucidus shrugged, then smiled. He looked even more grotesque, and perhaps a little undead with his deep, ragged scars, and now missing eye.

“I…tested it…We need to see if his partner can identify this body as positive confirmation before we can go further.”

Within moments, his shape changed, though not much. The man was smaller than him in bulk and height but overall they were similar enough it did not pose much of a concern with his uniform. The belt needed to be adjusted, but that was all. His skin lightened, his hair lengthened, and most of his scars disappeared. Most disconcerting, he grew another eye where Agent Lucidus had lacked his own.

Malakhi’s eyes widened, and he drew a sharp breath. It certainly did /look/ like the pictures he had seen of Dr. Ode.

“…It looks like the photos, but I suppose you are right. We do need a positive identification…”

He glanced over at Ulysses, and noticed that he was replacing some of the screws in the speaker. Oh, it was that again. That was alright. He was sure Agent Lucidus was preoccupied with whatever other matters right now.

And he was right.

Agent Lucidus-Ode stretched, and blinked slowly, before craning his neck to look around.

“…Oh. His eyesight is poor…”

[beastly]

Ulysses finished putting the screws back in time to turn around and see... The stranger that was both himself and captain Lucidus. Even though he had regained some of his memories, when he saw himself in pictures it was still hard to project himself onto the man with the large round glasses and slightly wild black curls. Seeing the man he was supposed to be, or had once been, in the flesh was disorienting and it made him feel like there was television static in his head. There should be familiarity. Maybe there was?

Removing his own feelings from it all, what had just happened here was incredible. Captain Lucidus had been one man a moment ago and when Ulysses had turned around, he was entirely different. Had every cell in his body changed? He was a smaller man than the captain, where had the rest of the man gone? had it been consumed to facilitate the process? But if that was the case, when he returned to himself where would that mass come from? If the potion was using his DNA, how did the scars that Dr. Ulysses Ode have carry over? Charles had told him the scar on his lip was a result of Ulysses trying to show off for him when they had been young men.

"That is...Amazing." Ulysses drew closer, inspecting the man he half extended a limb, but thought better of it. "That does look like me."

The plant monster thought a moment.

"I'm afraid I did wear glasses. I think I was near sighted, is that what you are experiencing? Er. Perhaps my husband can bring my spare glasses when he comes to verify that is the right person...That really is something."

Oh, Charles... Hopefully this wouldn't bee too stressful on him.

[jarahamee]

Malakhi inclined his head towards Ulysses. He himself seemed to be contemplating the very unscientific changes, like the scar, and the set age of this body. There would always be time to ask, however.

“Actually, we’ll be driving to see him. I think that is easier on Cinnamon and Penny, and we should return you home for the day.”

He reached into his pocket and began to tap out a message to Charles Ode;

Dear Mr. Ode,
We have successfully tested the first phase of this project, but will need you to positively identify this appearance as belonging to Ulysses Ode.
Can we come by to have you verify this for us?
Thank you.
Dr. Malakhi Bin Dziban, MD, PHD, FACS.

Agent Lucidus-Ode pressed on the socket under his right eye, as if considering something, but decided better of it, and instead put his hands in his pockets. While he would probably see better without Mr. Ode’s faulty eye, the process of removing an eye was painful enough he did not want to unless it was absolutely necessary.

Instead he sighed.

“I will only need to borrow them for the next 12 hours. I will try to conduct the rest of the necessary experiments to see if you have the stability to be permanently transformed, or even safely temporarily transformed.”