There is a pattern here and I am seeing it (Shizzilicious)

[Anonymous]

Devi was going to think of him as a monster as long as she was allowed too. Though it was starting to shift a little in her mind. The monster confused her. He had shown up like some terrifying creature pulled from the nightmare of a psychopath, scarred her then tortured her. And then proceeded to carefully clean and bandage the scar and talk calmly to her about what she was to expect here as he gave her at tour.

And was now giving her advice on how to help shield her mind. It was all very strange. And while she still thought of him as a monster, it wasn't really with the same anger and vigor as she had before. She didn't like him, she just didn't really know what to feel about him.

Devi took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind and fill it with silence. She wanted to get this. She wanted to protect her mind. Though she had spent so many years thinking in terms of walls. And as Dyerlich brushed along her mind, he could feel the walls she had erected to black out her object reading. Those were always up, to prevent her from being overwhelmed and there were quite powerful. But they didn't extend to the rest of her mind.

At his comment about her ability, the girl flushed lightly, oddly pleased. He seemed, well impressed was too strong a word, but interested that she had the ability. And it felt rather good to have made someone as obviously powerful as he was interested was flattering. And her ego had gotten bruised enough, it was nice to have a bit of a bandaid for it.

"You do? Like what? The older it is, the stronger the readings tend to be. But sometimes there is so much there its hard to take it all in." Devi had no idea how uncommon or common a gift it was. She had never known other physics before. She had started to say something else, then trailed off, her words forgotten as she took in the hanger.

The girl had never seen anything like it before. It was more then a little intimidating. Unconsciously, she moved a little closer to the pilot as she gazed around her in wide eyed fascination, "I-I thought pilots rode dragons..."

[Anonymous]

To think if he had been nice and just introduced himself normally, she wouldn't think he was a monster. Instead he had to go over the top and have a little fun. Would he ever tell about that? Probably not for a year or so. Let her believe he was a monster. Heh. Even better, tonight he would invade her dreams and let her think he was all in her mind. Ah hah hah, that would be hilarious.

He'd have to think on that.

He waited, listening to her mind. Still he could hear it. The silence wasn't there properly. It had been created in such a way that it wasn't subtle. It was rough, it was letting things through. Hm. He'd have to make her dig through the ground so he could show her strata layers, and then she would understand. Later though. For now, he would let her keep trying.

Many a candidate had come and gone through the candidate program, and not a lot of them had the ability to object read, which really fascinated him. He of course had to learn how to stop himself from leaving an impression on objects. He had mastered it, he could implant fake impressions, which he was still trying to perfect. People could disassemble the fakes after all, they just had to look for the inconsistencies. He was getting better though, at least, he'd find out eventually with his new candidate.

It would be training for the both of them.

"Well, it's my old candidate uniform, at least a hundred and thirty years old, but I do have some other odds and ends. Old gold coins, a somewhat tarnished silver dagger, even a strange bronze sprocket." Which was an odd thing to find, considering it dated back five thousand years. He could only imagine what imprint was left on it. Just what had created it? What used it? Ah, it made him giddy thinking about it.

Dyerlich gave a laugh as he approached the hanger with her. "We do of course, but there are places you can't ride a dragon. Space and what not. We have to make do up there. So we learn to use other weapons." He explained to her as he opened the smaller hanger door to usher her inside. It led to a hallway, which didn't seem like a very good place really. It led them to some stairs, letting them go up into a room that overlooked the strike crafts and various flying implements of death. "You should see some of these in action. They can drop a bomb at four times the speed of sound. The time the bombs hit a building, the bombers can be miles away."

[Anonymous]

Devi was still struggling to control the silence, but she was very much a novice at shielding anything but readings from objects. She still tended to think in terms of walls and gates. So having a layer of silence was a little hard for her. She wanted to try and visualize it, which didn't work so well.

"I can try and read those, if you want." She wasn't really sure she wanted to read the emotions and imprints on the uniform. Who knew what was on there. But it would be rather interesting. "What is a sprocket?" Not having really attended school meant that Devi's vocabulary could be painfully small at times.

And the candidate was feeling quite overwhelmed and highly confused. It was hard to connect the pilot talking to her now with the monster that had frightened her so badly and tortured her just a little while ago. He was polite and informative. And it was very much messing with the girl. She wasn't used to someone who could switch on and off like that.

At the hallway, Devi hesitated slightly. The weapons made her a little nervous and being around them with Dyerlich made it that much worse. Devi wasn't a stranger to violence, but it was always a personal violence. It made sense in her head. She wasn't used to mass destruction from far away. And here the walls were lined with it.

"Oh....uh. That's.....interesting. I suppose." Then she blinked, realizing what he had said earlier. She had known that pilots went into space, but it hadn't really clicked yet, "So wait, that means that someday I'll get to go into space?"

[Anonymous]

It was a good attempt, anda  first try, and at least she /was/ trying right? He hadn't expected her to want to try right away, and he was impressed that she had a basis for the idea down. She just wasn't able to really focus on it being a layer. There would be time to teach her over the next three years, and she would no doubt try and excell in it.

"A sprocket is basically like...a cog almost. A little wheel with teeth basically. From the time period that it's from, I could only because to imagine what it might be from." Nothing back then NEEDED sprockets or cogs. Why there would be any just lying around was beyond him. Now with an object reader, he might be able to figure out just who had made it and for what reason. It had been a curious thing to find, he just assumed it was from a later period of time, but then when he got it dated, it was much older.

Dyerlich could only smile as he probed along her mind. She was nervous then...and she didn't much care for the mass destruction vehicles that were in this bay. That he could understand. He didn't care for them because they were less personal. You dropped the bomb and you were gone, there was no having to listen to the screams, to feel pain, and watch death strike. It was all very impersonal, insulting to the people that you had to dispatch. You owed them at least the decency of knowing who killed them.

His little belief anyway.

"Yes of course. Eventually we'll have to go up there again I'm sure." The little war with Libra wasn't over, oh no, it was far from over at this point. It had just began, and they didn't back down, just had to do a tactical retreat. Pity really. Though, whatever they might have done with Libra was beyond him. "I've been to space only a few times. Found it...interesting. I would have rather gone beyond the normal range of the solar system. Seen further out." He gave a sigh as he shook his head. He had heard it was magnificent further out. Seeing nebula and gas giants up close, that sort of thing.

[Anonymous]

The candidate nodded, still half focusing on trying to make the silence layer work. Though she didn't really have a proper visual for it yet. She kept thinking of it as another wall between her and someone else's mind, just a funny one. So it only half worked.

"Oh. I've....never heard of anything like that." That got a small, slightly nervous smile from the girl, "Might be interesting to see what it has to tell me." This wasn't so bad. Keep him happy and Dyerlich wasn't such a bad guy. But her wet hair, throbbing shoulder and still sore lungs told her another story. Devi had never had to deal with some like him before and it had thrown her for a loop.

"I...don't think I like those bombs much. Sorry..." She flinched, unsure if she was allowed to say that or not. She quickly tried to recover and avoid getting in trouble for it, babbling slightly in her fear, "It just doesn't seem right. To kill from so far away. That's all. I mean...pilots do that a lot I suppose!" A shaky laugh, "Not saying they were bad or anything. Not at all! I just always felt that death should be...personal. That you should remember the people you've killed."

And Devi did remember. You didn't spend 5 years in a gang and not get a bit of blood on your hands. But she wasn't proud of killing anyone. It had just happened in fights, kill or be killed. But she remembered the faces of all of them.

"I'm...babbling. Sorry...I'll shut up now..." Devi trailed off, glancing away, worried and embarrassed. She needed to be silent now before she got into more trouble.

Subject change. Good plan, "I would like to see space. I bet its beautiful." That was one thing she was actually looking forward too. Her chances of seeing space were pretty nonexistent before getting into the program.

[Anonymous]

"It's old technology. There are much more efficient things than cogs and sprockets." Dyerlich told her with a small shrug. "However, who ever created it was a machinist I'm guessing. Created some sort of machine for it. That's the only thing I can think of." Dyerlich would have to take her back to his office, have it delivered there so she could get a reading from it.

Dyerlich looked to her with a small smile. "We share a similar sentiment. I believe death should be...somewhat like that. I think people should at least know who it is takes their life. It's unfair to have your life taken from you and not know the face, the shape, the look of your killer. If you were to take a life, you should at least be decent about it." Be efficient, be quick, be proper, let them know their death wasn't impersonal. You had to have the guts to do it, to be face to face with someone as you released their life from their own hands.

A powerful thing to do.

"No, it's quite alright, I understand." Dyerlich told her with a small smile as he reached out and ran his hand through her hair a few times, messing it up a little bit. He did love to do that, because it was just hilarious. People were so focused on things like hair, he was too of course, but not many could reach his head to tussle up his hair.

All was fair if you had the natural height to your advantage. People just had to grow taller or in the very least learn to jump or hover, something like that.

"It is rather beautiful up there. Space is a lot quieter even. The world up there is a lot more colourful really...it's actually a lot more colourful than the world down here. The natural world anyway. Nebulaes and super novas...I would love to go on a big trip there one day. Perhaps when I tire of Aedolis after a couple thousand years." Escaping would be hard to do perhaps, but he'd just have to be really quick. Not that he was thinking actively about such a thing. He was still very pleased about living in Aedolis.

[Anonymous]

"Oh. Well, it seems interesting. I would like to try reading it." And Devi was curious to see what she could get off of it. She had never tried to get a reading off anything that old before. It might be good practice. She had no one to help teach her how to use her power that she was still very raw with it. So much had been self taught, with very little guidance or advice. Which was why she was better at blocking her power then she was at using it. If you didn't learn to close it down you would go insane, picking up images, memories, emotions from everything you touched.

At the monsters next comment the girl's step actually faltered, staring up at the strange creature in wide eyes shock. She quickly regained her composure, falling back into step with him. She really hadn't expected to hear that from the nightmare made flesh. That was the last thing she had expected to hear from him in fact. Well, it was at least high on the list.

"Um. Yeah. That's how I feel. It's...it's not right to kill someone like that. Death is so final. You shouldn't kill lightly or carelessly. Though..." She glanced back at the crafts they had just passed, "I guess I'll have to get used to it." That was a thought she really didn't like. "It just seems so cowardly to drop a bomb and leave. You can't remember their face that way. You just push a button and fly home for dinner."

The girl trailed off, flinching slightly as he touched her hair, doing her best to not jerk away. She might be having confused feelings about how she felt about him at the moment, but she was still afraid of him. He could still be planning on hurting her at any moment. Though she had really not expected such a...gentle gesture from the much taller alien. It was creepy.

It wasn't hard to mess her hair up. The bright pink hair was starting to dry and it was fluffing out. And sense she hadn't been able to style it, the ends were going to start curling. Which Devi hated. But there wasn't a lot to be done about it. Though she did give Dyerlich's hair a glance, the mental image of her being able to jump high enough to mess up those spikes flashing through her mind for just a moment.

Dyerlich's comments about space just surprised the girl that much more. Did her mentor have some weird multiple personality disorder? The creature talking about how beautiful and quiet space was, how he wanted to see super novas and nebulae didn't really seem like the same horrific monster that had ripped his way into the room and then tortured and terrorized her.

It was like she had fallen into some strange hell. Nothing made sense and everything was wrong. And Devi felt very, very alone. The only person she knew here was her mentor, she hadn't met any of the other candidates yet. And she had no idea when she was going to be able to talk to family again, let alone friends. And what if everyone was like the monster here? One minute frightening and hurting her, the next ruffling her hair and telling her he agreed with her views on killing and wanted to see more of the stars.

"I....really? You really...er...don't seem like the type that wants to go see the stars. I donno...I just mean, that, well, um, you just seem like you must have seen it already. But I guess that's silly. Nothing has seen every thing." She glanced up, as if expecting to catch a glimpse of the stars, "So...I will get to see space then? I can fly out in the stars?"

[Anonymous]

"If what you say is true about the older it is, then it should be easy to get a reading from it." He couldn't wait to see what she came up with. He'd have to enter her mind so he could take that reading directly, just in case she couldn't put it into words. He really couldn't see any reason she would lie, so that was ruled out, but he wanted an accurate description of what she saw. He did wonder what might happen if her blocks were to fail. It might drive her completely insane. It was probably best not to remove it without reason, punishment for example.

That would work out to be an excellent one.

"Death is not as final as you may think. There is always something beyond." He knew this well. There were many places a soul could rest after death. How could he not believe in a soul, considering his birthplace was...well so bizarre to say the least. He couldn't help but to think that people went...somewhere. There were many theories, heaven, hell, the abyss, the ether, so many places out there. He wasn't sure what he believed in, but he believed in SOMETHING at least.

Not something one would expect from Dyerlich. The creature who could be violent and cold, to warm and gentle. That was probably a little odd when it came to him. However, it was just Dyerlich, it would take a while to get used to his odd mannerisms.

He smirked slightly at her thought suddenly flashing through his mind. Just the idea of her messing up his hair, he'd actually not be mad for that matter, considering it was no small feat. He'd be impressed by her ability, but she'd have to either get a chair, take a run at the wall and jump from it, or climb up him like a monkey of some sort. She'd probably be able to get him if she attacked from behind, caught him by surprise.

The large creature almost wanted to laugh at her thoughts. "Not in hell my dear, or am I suffering from multiple personality disorder." He told her, his eyes flashing as he looked to her. They had a slight twinkle to them for a moment. He was smiling under that cowl of his. She'd be shocked no doubt to know that he could smile and frown and everything under the sun.

"There is so much more to see really...and I find it to be a beautiful in such a strange way. I can't really put it into words but...just the complex designs, the array of colours, it's amazing out there." Dyerlich told her with a small shake of his head. He looked to her for a moment, focusing on her mind so she could see a picture. It was of a cosmic cloud, with beautiful verdant greens and hues of violets just sitting peacefully amongst dots of white.

"Oh yes, one day you will get to go out there." Perhaps not for a pleasure trip, but for war but...she would still be out in space. He should probably keep that to himself, he didn't want to ruin her dreams after all. "You have to pass the program first of course."

[Anonymous]

The girl nodded, "Oh yeah. It shouldn't be hard to get a reading at all. Old things pick up a lot. It might take time to sort through it all though. With so many memories and emotions to go through it can get a bit over whelming. And I assume you want to know about the earlier stuff then the fact that you felt pleased to find it, or whatever it was you felt, when you first picked it up." The girl smiled at that, relaxing a little around the monster.

And she still was thinking of his as monster, but it was losing the angry edge it had earlier. It was becoming less of an insult and more of a nickname, even if she hadn't quite realized that herself yet.

At his next comment Devi nodded, "Oh, I know. I believe that the soul has somewhere to go. I mean....every religion can't be wrong, right? I don't think we just stop...that's just not right. But...you've still taken someones life. They can't come back from that. And you've stolen someone from the people who care about them." She paused then, trying to shift through her thoughts, trying to find the right words, "It's still something you can't take back. Not really. I mean....I've heard that there is magic and stuff that can make a corpse move again, but it's not the same."

She then shook her head, chewing on her lower lip, "I donno. I just feel it isn't something you can do lightly. And I think I'm babbling again. Sorry. I...do that when I'm nervous." Then she suddenly glanced up at her mentor, "Um...have you...like...seen the other side?" Because if anyone Devi had ever met, he seemed like the one who would actually have seen where souls went after death.

Devi was still having trouble remembering that people could read her thoughts, so she hadn't realized yet that he knew she wanted to mess his hair up. Though once she had the idea, it continued to grow in her mind. She rather liked the idea of one day sneak attacking Dyerlich's hair and mussing up the spikes. Though...only if she was pretty sure her punishment wouldn't be too horrible.

Then she flushed all the way to her large, pointed ears, looking quite embarrassed, "Ah...er...I didn't mean...I just....you....er.. ..shit." Devi looked away, not really sure what to say to that. And she wouldn't have believed it if she had realized he was smiling at her.

As the image entered her mind, the teen gasped, her eyes going wide. They were so beautiful! Devi had never seen anything like it, not really. She hadn't thought that space would be so colorful. And she could only wonder what it must have been like to be close enough to have seen it, with her own eyes.

At his last statement, the girl focused back on her mentor. A fierce grin spread over her face her dark metallic gold eyes lighting up, "Oh, don't worry about that. I'm passing this fucking program. I didn't get dragged out of my life and stuck here just to end up in some reject farm at TRIM." Devi didn't like to lose.

[Anonymous]

"Now now, that's just being silly. I already know what I felt when I picked it up. The earlier stuff would be nice to know. Like who created it, and why they did so." He told her with a small shrug. It had to have been some very interesting person. Maybe just a bored smith looking to make something interesting, an artist perhaps with too much time on their hands...who really knew at this point. Well, soon enough Devi would at least know, and then he would know as well.

In time perhaps.

"This is very true, there must be something out there after all." Dyerlich chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. He couldn't say for sure of course, not that it was illegal or anything like that. He just didn't know for sure. He believed though, all that power from the Eddy in which he was created had gotten it not only from the people who suffered on Earth but something else. Something greater and unknown. The thought of another life after this was exciting for him however.

Dyerlich just smiled at her as she apologized once more for babbling. He hadn't expected her to be THIS scared really, she was truly frightened when it came to messing up wasn't she? IT was adorable. He loved it really. "There was a time, many...many years ago where I had been shot...right here..." He raised his hand and pointed to the left side of his body. "It missed my heart by an inch or so but...as I waited for medical treatments I was bleeding out. Stunned, dazed, my brain becoming oxygen starved, I had believed for the most part that I died right there. I thought I had seen something...but...t he memory is so fuzzy." Dyerlich recalled this incident as if it were recently, and he talked about it so casually too. He hadn't died after all, and he was always prepared to meet the reaper. Well. Almost always. He didn't so much want to die at this time of course.

"Don't worry about it. You'll learn to keep your thoughts from leaving your brain." He didn't delve too far into people's mind, only when he really needed information or really wanted to screw with them. Not to mention that usually candidates didn't even hide their minds all that well. It was adorable really.

He could have showed her a multitude of different pictures, from different places, and of different cosmic mysteries but this one was so...different. It was so colourful and yet...not a thing disturbed it really. That was true peace, and he wished he could be out there with such a peace. Instead they were in Aedolis and they had to make that peace here on the land.

He grinned at her as he looked toward that very determined Devi. "I'm glad to hear it, I'd hate to have any of my candidates fail." Not that it would be a blemish on his record, which it would, but he would genuinely miss them, and he would feel like he had instead failed them. That was a feeling he didn't much care for, because he did his best for them, he tried to urge them on so they would pass, so they could become pilots like himself.

He only hoped of course he'd be able to handle his current assignments. Three females none the less. He had thought in his earlier days males had been hard to train but, but females were a whole different story really. And these were his first candidates in twenty years, he only hoped he hadn't gotten rusty!

[Anonymous]

"I might not be able to tell you why it was created." Devi chewed absently on her lip, thinking, "It all depends on what the person who made it was thinking about when he held it. But I can generally tell the purpose of something. It can be kind of abstract sometimes." Devi was actually starting to really get excited about getting to touch the stuff. She didn't normally get to try her skill on things that old. She should practice a bit before then though. So she didn't totally embarrass herself.

Oh...wait. He probably heard that. Ack! No! Silence. Silence. Calm.

Devi struggled to spread the silence out over her thoughts. She kept trying to mask her thoughts under it instead of having it between her thoughts and Dyerlich's. And she still threw up her normal walls, her ears going pink again.

As Dyerlich spoke of getting shot, the girl's blush faded as she watched him with awe tinged with fear. He was so strange. He frightened her and made her feel....safe walking next to him like this all at the same time. And he ruffled her hair the same way her mother did. And he didn't bat an eye as he held her head under the water as she flailed and struggled to breathe.

And now she was talking to him about the after life, how he had almost died. She snorted softly, a light smile teasing up the corners of her lips, "It doesn't seem right that you can get shot. You seem like someone should need some magical blade or spell to be able to kill you. Like in all the stories." Heroes always needed magic or special weapons to slay the monster.

Though even after almost drowning her and carving up her shoulder, Devi was still finding herself enjoying her mentors company. Not a lot of people talked to her like this and she rather liked it. Though he still frightened the pants off her. All....tall and creepy and...elbow spiky.

"Well, I ain't failing, that's for damn sure. I want to see space. I want to feel what it must have been like at that cloud." She reached up, tugging at a strand of damp, lightly curling pink hair, picturing the cloud in her mind again, so pretty and still.

[Anonymous]

"Well, anything would really be nice. Even who or what created it. I want to know what sort of genius or perhaps insane driven artist thought this device up." It would be nice to see more of the past. It was so littered with inaccuracies and such. So many questions left unanswered for that matter. "Then perhaps after I'll let you look at the coins well. I know whoever had them liked to clink them together, perhaps jingle them in their hands. That's about all I could really...see. Just a hand, jingling them, and a feeling of merriment from the sound they made." And really, he actually liked to jingle them as well.

Yes, Dyerlich was a strange one to say the least. He didn't have supernatural healing abilities really. He had to take it a little easy after being shot, and he had jumped at any rather energetic sounds, anything that might have been another shot. He didn't much like getting in the way of any projectile shots again, that did not sound like a good time.

He gave a chuckle and a start at her mention of needing a magical weapon or something along those lines to kill him. What a notion really. Still, he wished it were just as true too. "Right, because Monsters don't die that easy. No, they always come back, when you think you've killed them, there is another, or perhaps it was able to slither away and survive." He didn't sound angry at her assumption either, he actually thought it would be a novel idea. He could remember a story about a Goddess who protected her child from everything by getting them to agree to not harm him. Though she overlooked the...tow missile had it been?

It ended up killing her son after it had been fired at him. Or...something along those lines. He hadn't really paid attention to the old tale that much, but just the thought of having only one weakness, it was an amusing idea.

He was pleased though that she did not fear him as much anymore. He stuck to barely listening to her, to enjoying the sound of silence and the few thoughts he could hear murmur through. It wasn't strong, he could break it, he could rid her of the silence and let all her thoughts draw out but...he was impressed she had the ability to even do anything of this calibre.

"Good that you think so then Devi. You will see space if you keep a rational head, I promise you." He started to walk again, now leaving the room and going back to the stairs. Enough of the strike craft for the time being. It was best not to focus on all these impersonal weapons anymore.

"Come, we'll go find my office, I have at least two coins in the desk there." He told her as he started to go down the hall, getting back outside into the outside, to have to walk across the campus back to the main ATC complex.

[Anonymous]

If Devi could have read Dyerlich's mind then, she would have laughed at the idea that such a frightening creature would enjoy clinking coins together. As it was, she just eagerly nodded her head at the mention, "Yeah! I would love too. I love getting that stuff from objects. So often it is always the negative emotions, violence, pain, rage, grief that came strongest with things. But there was something about that warm feeling she got from things that had been loved, that had brought joy.

She was smiling now, a bright, happy smile, just from thinking about it. And she was almost glowing at having seemed to impressed Dyerlich at least a little with her talent. She was proud of her skills and liked getting to show them to people. And another physic might really get it, unlike her friends back home who only sort of understood what she was doing.

She actually laughed at his comment about monsters, though her cheeks were tinged slightly less pink then her hair, "Yeah, you're right about that. And it just seems to easy to be able to take you out with a gun. Anticlimactic and all that."

This seemed to be going alright. She was actually....teasing Dyerlich. Sort of. But it was kind of fun. Though she was still a bit wary, unsure if she would suddenly cross into the boundary of not allowed, time for another punishment. And Devi wanted to know full well when she was going into that area, not trip into it by accident.

"Alright then. Though I am holding you to that promise. If I pass and become a pilot, then you make sure I can see space." She hurried to keep up with her mentor as he started walking out of the hanger, his longer strides covering much more ground then hers did.

"Really? I can see the coins now? Sweet!" She clapped her hands, her smile coming back. Then she blinked, "You....have an office? With a desk?" She tried to picture Dyerlich sitting at some normal desk in some normal little office and it was just wrong. Granted, she had pictured him dressed a bit like an accountant and that was really kind of funny.

[Anonymous]

Just because he could be so big and scary, didn't mean that he couldn't' entertained by something as simple as that. It just sounded good to the ears, so light and musical. He enjoyed music after all, docile tones and all that. The techno music was a little strange, and there were some really...loud music out there but he preferred the lighter music. The one you could listen to quietly and not have anyone look at you funny. Well. More funny than seeing a seven foot tall white skinned creature in a cowl listening to music.

The girl could really blush couldn't she? Her hair was a close colour to her cheeks, or perhaps it was the other way around. It was such a fun thing though. He could probably make her blush even more if he really thought about it. After all, he was a monster. Sexual predator might make her scream a bit more though.

Best to not go that route.

"It's a deal. If you pass, I will escort you into space myself." And he wouldn't just shoot her into the atmosphere in a broken shuttle. He'd actually be nice and genuine about it! Imagine that! Small wonder really. He had his arms literally folded behind his back, the elbow spikes sticking out for a moment before he remembered this was a bad idea. He just had one hand clasped in the other now, keeping his spikes mostly against his own skin.

He didn't want to have someone lose an eye or anything.

"Yes, I have them in my desk. Just for fun." He told her with a small grin. Heh, she couldn't see that though, no one really could. Unless they could see through the cowl of course. Heh. "Yes...I have an office with a desk." Dyerlich told as he rolled his eyes. People were just silly like that. Still the thought of him in an accountant suit was...not a really fun thought really. He could never imagine that himself, it really just wasn't him.

Dyerlich took her inside to the main complex of the ATC, heading for his office. He hadn't used it that much lately but he could never forget where it was. It had always been in the same place. "So really, am I still the really bad monster that you had first believed, or have I changed a bit in your eyes?"

[Anonymous]

"Good." Devi looked pleased that she had gotten the promise from him. She wanted to see space, she had always wanted too. Dyerlich showing her the image of the cloud just made her want it that much more.

It was a little scary walking near him with those elbow spikes out. He seemed to realize rather quickly though and he adjusted his arms, "So....um...how come you can't make those go in? Like your fingers." Though the mention of his claws made her shiver a little, remembering the pain on her shoulder and her hand lifted to lightly touch the wound.

"I don't know...you and a desk don't seem to fit. What do you even do there?" It was just too weird to think of Dyerlich sedately doing some mundane paper work. Devi shook her head, "Too weird."

The next question made Devi pause, startled enough to stumble as she walked. She quickly caught herself and and blushed again, "I....don't know. I mean...you are scary. Not just cause you look a bit scary." And Devi was going to have nightmares about when he had busted into the room, siren screaming, sparks flying, "But...shit. You almost burst my damn lungs in the first 10 minutes and you didn't even bat an eye as you mutilated me."

Devi was pretty sure there was no point in lying to him, he would probably be able to tell without much effort, "But, well, I donno. You seem nice right now. Well, okay, not nice, but, I like talking to you. It's nice. Most people don't...I donno...talk to me like this very much."

Shitshitshitshit. She was babbling again. And her face was giving her hair a run for its money, "So, um, yeah. You're still fuckin' freaky, but I guess you have changed. Only a little....I am so shutting up now..."

[Anonymous]

"My fingers are different. There is a lot more elastic around the joints. I can basically use my muscles to slide the bone which has two parts...normal connecting parts then a sort of flat part that goes down the length of my finger. The muscles slide the bones out of place, and down to connect into a slot on my knuckles. Then a chemical is released from this action, allowing the skin to harden into a very strong texture. Then I can retract them at will, which stops the flow of the chemical." And to think this was naturally imbued in him. No modifications at all. They also had to push up for the back to extend a different piece to make them a bit more armoured and protected, but it all hardened into that tough texture that could slice up metal.

He looked to his spikes though, suddenly bringing them around to the front of his body, completely turning his arms around to have the spikes at the front and his hands facing the wrong way. "The spikes are like the horn of a...a...type of whale. They're bone that just keeps growing outwards. When I were a younger man, and I was imbued with magic, these were actually serrated blades instead of spikes. However, when I activated my mind to use the psychic powers, they changed into spikes. I miss the blades more." He told her wistfully, shaking his head. He did so wish he could slice and cut people with his elbows once more.

Those were days gone by though.

"Heh heh, I'm glad you think so. Yes, one has to be strong Devi. No regrets, and never stop what you've started. Never. You have to be strong and follow through." Of course, Dyerlich really hoped that she didn't take to that idea if she ever decided to kill him. It could happen of course. Just so long as she finished the job, or he was able to subdue her.

"I see polite and cordial, I understand. That is because there is no point to being rude, short tempered, irritable. It would be wrong, and it would give the very wrong impression of me. Well. Mostly wrong. It's complicated, like me and my thought process." He wanted to show that while yes, he could be violent, and he could be very stern, but he was also nice, he wasn't a monster, he could be reasoned with, he could even be talked to. He wanted all his candidates to be able to talk to him with any problem.

"Heh heh, talk as much as you want. You awkward little minx you." She was trying, and it was funny. They arrived finally at his office and he slid his hand over a small button on the wall, the door sliding open and letting them inside. It was a rather...interestin g office. It had a few abstract paintings hanging on the doors, some of them were more traditional paintings with people in lounging chairs in a medieval setting. The large wooden desk, aged oak stained dark with some papers scattered here and there, and a rather fancy looking computer on the desk. It was a projection computer, it would create a screen and a keyboard. Oddly enough, his writing utensil seemed to be a rather beautiful and colourful feather. Thin however, with an intricate design running up the shaft of the feather.

"Alright, let me find them." He walked inside, heading to the desk and taking a seat in the luxurious leather chair. He pulled open the desk drawers and began to hunt through them. "Have a seat, this might take a minute." He gestured to one seat that was covered with some papers. "Just put them on the ground somewhere, out of the way."

[Anonymous]

Dyerlich's technical description had gone right over Devi's head. But she nodded and listened even if it made almost no sense to her. Why not just say extend claws?

"Imbued with magic? What do you mean? Were you not always....like this then?" She made a vague gesture with her hand at all 7 something feet of the pilot, "And there were blades? What? That is...freaky dude. Freaky."

She smiled again, nodding, "I do my best to be strong. I like to think I succeed for the most part." Her blush began creeping back before it had fully faded, "Then I end up getting my head dunked in a toilet..."

Devi ducked her head, looking down at the floor, chewing on her lip again. She gave a small laugh, "Yeah, I'll agree that you are complicated and I can't even begin to guess what your thought process looks like."

Then the blush that had been slowly creeping back hit with full force, all the way to her ears and down into the collar of her uniform, "Awkward little minx!?" Her head snapped up to blink stupidly at Dyerlich. Had he just given her a pet name? And what was a minx? "What the hell is a minx?"

Devi hadn't thought Dyerlich had pet names in him. Though he seemed to be much more complex then she was really aware. And his odd sense of humor took a little bit to get used too, though Devi was finding it oddly endearing.

"Wow. It's, well, um....nice in here." Devi looked around, moving over to study one of the paintings in more detail. She turned her attention to the paper strewn chair and carefully took the papers off, keeping them together as she set them under the chair.

"Wow. Have you never heard of file cabinets?"

[Anonymous]

He didn't want to treat her like she was stupid but apparently his technical description was too much for her. Even he wasn't sure he was explaining it all properly. He had it explained by a medic here once but...that was over a hundred and seventy years ago. That man was looong dead by now. Pity too, he had been fun. No matter.

"Oh no...you misunderstand. This was always my physical look. Always this tall and always looking like this. I was created exactly...well alright, the spikes were blades so not exact but overlooking that detail I was just the same." He told her simply. Of course she would think that he looked freaky. She was mostly human, or, a humanoid that usually existed here on earth at least.

He gave a small nod of his head at that. "Well, the toilet thing was just an off the top of the head sort of thing. You were strong through it, you lasted a lot longer than I thought you would." Dyerlich told her with a small grin. She had, though, he wondered how long she could have lasted had she known he was planning on doing that sort of thing. Probably a bit longer, he'd have to test that out later.

"It's..." How did you explain that to her then? Well...he could really make anything up if he so wanted. "It's just a pet name. It doesn't have to make much sense." Dyerlich just shrugged his shoulders. It didn't matter, it really didn't. He'd find something else to call her soon enough. Something different. It'd be fun to figure out what though. Heh heh.

"No need to make fun now. I am a busy sort of person you know." Mostly a busy person. He was busy of course...he had people to look after, reports to file and such things. Most of the paper work was just...odd since really, they used such better means. He could pretty much do his paperwork with a thought or two, using his dragon.

"I understand those are those big metal things. I can't say I have much use for them. This paper work will all be removed soon anyway. I don't even know why I keep around, we do everything with computers after all." However he liked the look of the papers because it made his office look cluttered. However, his dragon told him it didn't look professional. It made him seem silly and not very serious. Which he had to have some level of at least.

"Ah, here we go." He pulled out some beat up looking disks from the desk drawers, they could fit easily in the palm of the hand, and the once bright luster of gold no doubt had changed, become quite a bit duller. It was almsot impossible to tell what was written on them anymore, just a few bumps and a vague face on them. He put them on the desk, making a musical little jingling sound before he slid them over for her to look at. "There you go."

[Anonymous]

"Oh, well, that's weird that you lost the blades then. They turned into spikes...when you got physic powers?" Devi had to repress the urge to reach up and touch the jewels that had grown into her forehead, "Physic stuff can be totally weird, huh?"

Her eyes wondered as she spoke, taking in the room, her legs swinging lightly under her chair. It was strange to see such a cluttered office, it wasn't how she had pictured it at all. She had guessed it would have been perfectly neat and utterly immaculate. And the paintings were a little bland for her tastes, but pretty enough.

"Yeah, well, I don't think I'm going to be able to pee without some weird flashback for a week now." And she was avoiding that bathroom in particular. Then she turned so she could make a face at him, "Oh? Really? How long did you think I was going to last?"

Her face fell a little when Dyerlich didn't explain what a minx was. Fine then, she would just look it up later. But she didn't stay disappointed for long, her face splitting into a wide grin, "A pet name huh? That mean you like me then?"

That pleased Devi actually. That Dyerlich liked her enough to give her a pet name, "And does that mean I can give you one?"

Though as he pulled the coins out, Devi's attention focused on his hands. She reached over, taking the coins into her hands and closing her eyes. A deep breath and as she exhaled, she began to carefully take down the walls around her power.

Devi was rather untrained in most aspects of her physic powers, but not this. This she had honed to a fine art in the years she had lived with it. It was that or go crazy. And she had built up a rather impressive amount of layers, one after the other that she slowly began to peel away, letting the images in carefully.

It started with the earliest ones, Dyerlich jingling the coins in his hands to make the pretty sounds. More layers carefully came down. It was rather impressive to watch, her control over the shields. Devi's eyes moved rapidly behind her eyes as she watched the images flicker past. Back farther, deeper into the coins 'memories.'

[Anonymous]

"Yes, psychic stuff can be completely weird. Lots of things happen when the brain activates in certain places, it's almost like a second puberty...or something that happens along with puberty." Which of course can always be twice as weird. Sure you're growing hair in places, but also you're able to lift the couch up off the ground with a single thought. How do you get help for that? Well, most countries have their ways...enrolling people into special programs to work for the government and all. At least he had some idea of what he was doing when he changed from magical or psychic. Still, he missed the blades, they were a lot more efficient.

Dyerlich gave a small smirk as he shrugged his shoulder. "Not very long. I figured you'd try and pass out just under twenty seconds." However she hadn't, though no doubt her body had been wanting to. His little...messages to her no doubt helped to keep her awake, the fear and adrenaline stopping her from passing out. After all, he was a monster, who knows what he could have done to her.

"It means I tolerate you. And no. I already have enough trouble with some calling me Dyerling." Which made it sound like they were calling him darling, and that was a sign of affection, which he was sure Phenyo would disagree to. Lartech did of course, but only because he was her Pilot, and they had spent quite a bit of time together. Which had been nice of course. Maybe Phenyo's pet name would be one of affection in the years to come. An interesting thought none the less.

Dyerlich spread his mind out to hers, so he would be able to see what she was seeing. He wished he could read the imprints of items, but his talents were focused elsewhere for the time being. She might be able to teach him how to unlock the right part of his mind to try and start getting impressions. It would be nice, being able to finally see all the memories left on objects. What had been fought over, what had been treasured deeply, what had been killed for...ah...

Such thoughts.

He smirked slightly at the first thought that passed by him. The one of him jingling the coins. There was amusement there of course, and a relaxed feeling as well. He could get that. Further though. He wanted her to go back even more, to see whatever might be there.