From one winged being to another (mdu)

[Anonymous]

[OOC Kind of short, sorry o.O]

A slight flexing of the wings was the only indication that Erela was happy. On the outside she looked calm and business like but inside she was as excited as little girl with a puppy. She was getting a new specimen to play with today. Considering her particular area of expertise, new specimens for her were rare. The less choosy doctors had a good supply of broken psychics and mordecai to work with but she had to be patient and make sure she didn’t break her current subjects too much. Doctor Erela Tamasa was a specialist in non-human humanoids and even she herself was one. She didn’t know exactly what though. All she knew was she had a pair of large white wings, some weak psychic abilities and paler than normal blue eyes.

     Giggling on the inside she walked briskly down the corridor to where her new specimen was being held. Had she not been hiding her emotions, there would have been a definite spring in her step. She brought up the specimen’s file on her wrist computer. They were a harpy, a very old harpy. She would have been happy with a young harpy though, she had never had one of those as a specimen before.

     As she reached the door, she allowed her smile to emerge before she entered, best to appear friendly. She typed her pass code into the keypad and stepped inside.

     “Good morning,” she said cheerfully, “I am Doctor Tamasa and you will be in my care for the entirety of your stay here.”

[Anonymous]

Thousands of years ago Vyne had been a proud and powerful warrior. The testament to this was that people still knew what a harpy was. For thousands of years Vyne had devoted her life to fighting to save the planet from the parasite that was the human race. Her and her annoying, vain sister had fought for years, side by side, and failed. All those years of effort had been wasted when the humans had destroyed her homeland for a second time: Earth.

The once beautiful globe was now an uninhabitable wreck filled with poisonous gases and next to no atmosphere. The only thing that kept the diseased planet alive was the torment conducted by these foul creatures and their hybrid-dragon pets. Disgusting. They weren't content with destroying the planet, they had to let it suffer while they sucked the rest of what they could out of it.

And to think, her sister Demya had turned traitor so that she could "teach" these piteous creatures to care for the planet. A great deal of good that had done, any humans that were interested were either too stupid or too weak to do anything about it. Needless to say, her sister's attempts had failed.

Vyne had broken off all contact with her sister after the bitch had turned traitor. They had a fight and Vyne had flown off. What really angered and confused Vyne though was that Demya had been able to keep going even after she had failed so many times. The two had always thought that Vyne was the stronger one, though it had been she that had broken down and gone into hermicy. Now, when she had finally decided to begin the fight anew, she had been sent to TRIM: a semi-deliberate action designed to contact others who would aid her.

Vyne went back to pacing the room and turned when the door to her cell opened. She raised a red eyebrow at the winged woman. At least the woman wasn't human. She would reserve her judgement on this one.

'Greetings Doctor, I am Vyne. What should I expect while I reside here?'

[Anonymous]

Erela was a little surprised by Vyne’s response. Usually specimens were dragged kicking and screaming and then would try and attack her. This one hadn’t however. Maybe with age really did come experience and the harpy had enough sense not to attack the person who ultimately controlled her destiny whilst she was at TRIM. Which was until she died…or until Erela died anyway. If the harpy’s age was anything to go by she was pretty resilient and probably would outlive the winged woman.

     Appearance wise, ‘Vyne’ was as she expected a harpy to look, bird-like but at the same time human and slightly grotesque. Still, commenting on this was probably not a good idea. Most creatures hated thinking they weren’t unique and calling the harpy ugly was probably not a good way to start their relationship. There would be plenty of time for Vyne to despise her later.
 
    “Whilst you are here I will be conducting various experiments and studies to determine the basic biology, physiology, anatomy, behaviour and life-span of the harpy. I hope you will cooperate in this endeavour as I imagine you may be able to provide me with a lot of this information.”

     If the harpy did cooperate, then great. If she didn’t, then Erela would have to do things the hard way. Not that she would tell Vyne this. No, Vyne would find this out if she did dare impede the doctor’s research.

[Anonymous]

The woman's wish to study harpies was strange but it did not surprise Vyne. Humans were always curious about how things worked, though in their case it usually involved destroying the very things they craved to know more about. This woman did not appear to want to destroy her in the process, which was at least one step above human intelligence.

'My decision to help you will be based on your means and reasons for studying me,' she said in a stoney voice. Harpies were creatures of legends. They did not belong in this age, so far after the destruction of the earth. That would be different if her good-for-nothing sister was still tooting the "save the humans with love and learning" horn. If that was the case then this might be a way for humans to find out how to annihilate Demya. Vyne wasn't sure if it would work but she wouldn't mind if they tried. Perhaps if the girl came down a peg or two she would realise how futile and stupid her actions were.

Vyne asked a seemingly random question that would help her both judge the doctor's reasons and personality, 'do you like fairy tales?' She expected the woman would be slightly shocked into giving off some truth and it would help her know what the creature thought of her.

[Anonymous]

“In order to study to you I will simply be observing your behaviour, as well as conducting x-rays, body scans, psychological testing, questioning and other non-invasive analysis. I may also use my own psychic abilities to get a better read-out of your psychic capabilities and magic.”

     She was a little confused that the harpy wanted to know her reasons for wanting to study her though. Couldn’t she just be interested?

     “As for my reasons…well, I’m curious. Humanoids fascinate me and I want to learn as much as I can about them to help better understood humanity and myself. Is that a satisfactory answer for you?”

     If it wasn’t then tough. The harpy was sort of like a pet to her. She wouldn’t hurt Vyne more than necessary but she wasn’t too fussed about small-talk unless she was actually going to learn something from her.

     However it seemed the harpy did want to talk and actually asked her a very unusual question. Did she like fairy tales? What was the meaning of asking it?

     “…I believe they have some basis in fact and that they are moral observations…”

     She had never really pondered on fairy tales before, and it was such an odd thing for the harpy to ask on a whim…

     “Fairy tales are fantastical views on real life I think…Why do you ask?”

[Anonymous]

The doctor's means seemed respectable, Vyne decided she might even help the woman with searching around her mind. There was a lot of information that would be useless for research and it would take ages for a psychic to search through it. As for being curious, it was not a crime so long as the means were not harmful. Vyne was already gaining a respect for this woman. It was good to see intelligence in an age obviously lacking in it. 'Your answer is satisfactory, if vague,' was all Vyne said.

Vyne relaxed her wings and settled down onto the floor. She trusted this woman somewhat, at least enough to believe that she was in no immediate danger. If the woman wanted to study her in a non-harmful way, then it was unlikely she was going to attack.

'Your answer gave me insight into your personality, as well as your interest in my reasons for asking.' She might as well give her reasons now. If the woman wanted to study her there was no harm in explaining herself.

The woman did not appear shocked by the question, but she was curious: she was able to keep her emotions in check and act on thought instead. The woman obviously had to think about the answer, which meant she did not follow fairy tales or legends. That was good because it meant Vyne would not be dealing with someone who thought harpies were raving, bloodthirsty tyrants and sexual deviants. The unfortunate thing was that the woman did not believe in fairy tales, she did not realise their historical significance, that many were in fact real and that they still held relevance.

[Anonymous]

Erela has not been lying with her reasons for studying the harpy and her answer, she had to admit, had been vague. A more specific answer would have been she was studying humanoids to find out just exactly what she was. It was an answer she had no clues to and her parents hadn’t known what they were either. They were now dead and she was the only one of her kind that she knew of, apart from the small possibility of her daughter.

     The harpy accepted the answer as satisfactory which was a good sign that she would cooperate. But apparently it had been a sort of test for the harpy to judge her personality. Maybe Vyne would be a more interesting subject than she had anticipated, not that she had thought she would be boring.

     Erela opened a Dictaphone software on her wrist computer and clicked record.

     “Alright Vyne, I wonder if you could start by telling me roughly how old you are.”

     There was some information in the harpy’s file but it was always best to check. If Vyne have lived through several calendars changes her age may be difficult to judge but an approximation would be useful.

[Anonymous]

Alright Vyne, I wonder if you could start by telling me roughly how old you are.

That was an easy question, one that Vyne had spent a lot of her time in hiding pondering over. She had never really gone by human calanders since they tended to change. It hadn't been until roughly 1900AD that humans had known the length of a year exactly. Vyne just went by changes in the earth and rock, similar to how archaeologists determined the age of kilns based on how they were magnetically aligned. It was one of the perks of being a geomancer, earth mage, earth bender or whatever humans these days called her.

The woman had asked the wrong question though. A few changes in the wording would have given her a better answer. She decided to answer the better question instead. 'I hatched roughly fifteen thousand years ago,' she said.

Vyne had stopped aging in her sexual prime but her sharp, beaky features along with the scars won from her sister made her look older. The fact that she didn't care for her hair more than hacking it at the shoulder when it got too long didn't help either. Vanity was wasted on Vyne, who was more like a hawk than a canary. Making herself attractive to a species she did not belong to was a waste of valuable time and effort, which was of better use for training and keeping her mind focused.

The way Vyne portrayed herself made her look a few human years older than a harpy was meant to look, perhaps into her late twenties by human standards. These days it was considered young but in other times she would have been called an old spinster.

[Anonymous]

Fifteen thousand years was very impressive. Historians could probably learn a lot from Vyne as well as scientists, if she could remember things well that was. If she knew how old she was that was a good indication that her memory was fine.

     “Interesting,” Erela replied, “And are you the only harpy in existence or are there more of you?”

    If there was she would definitely have to send someone to go look for them, but if Vyne was the oldest of them then she was probably the most useful harpy specimen she were likely to get.

[Anonymous]

The woman's question confirmed that she was not using Vyne to get at Demya. That was neither good nor bad. Demya was a traitor and a failure.

'There is one other in existence. She would be of no use to you, nor anyone.'

Hopefully the woman wouldn't question her further about her sister. The human-loving twit was annoying to think about: a useless waste of thought.

[Anonymous]

So there were only two but Vyne had not said whether she was the elder one. Her comment on them was strange though, she must really not like them. Well if she distanced herself from them it wasn’t likely they could use Vyne to find them. But if they were found Erela was not going to complain, having the only two harpies in existence as subjects would be fantastic. But she could always resort to cloning Vyne.

     “Do you have any specialist abilities like magic or telepathy?”

     She had heard that harpies generally were mages but that could be false.

[Anonymous]

This was possibly the easiest interrogation session Vyne had ever encountered. The jump between question subjects was unusual though, perhaps it was to put her off balance. She may be playing with another tactician.

'I was born with earth wielding abilities,' Vyne said in her usual tone. She did not mention her psychic abilities for several reasons. First, she wanted to know how much the Mordecai and her people had told this institution. Second, to see if the woman would ask about it or just accept it as false. Third, if nobody knew about it, it may give her some leverage later.

She decided to ask a question of her own, which hopefully the doctor would answer. 'What wards do you have against magic?'

[Anonymous]

Though Erela’s questions might have seemed rather random and ever-changing, there was a purpose to them. The first question was to determine how useful Vyne could be as a subject, the older she was, the more she had seen and therefore the more useful she could be. The second question was to determine if there were other harpies and if Erela should send someone to find them and the third was simply for her to gauge just how much information Vyne was willing to divulge as well as for security reasons. The real interrogations would come later.

     Erela already knew from the information the Mordecai had given them that Vyne was a mage and a psychic but the harpy may have admitted to other abilities she would need to take into account for security reasons.

     However it seemed Vyne was not going to reveal everything at once, she hadn’t mentioned she was psychic, she hadn’t said she wasn’t either though. Still if Vyne was hiding things it would make things difficult for Erela and she in turn could make things difficult for the harpy.

     “The cells have safeguards specific to those contained in the cells, magic guards for mages…psychic blocks for psychics,” Erela replied using telepathy.

[Anonymous]

Vyne was grateful to the woman for not going into her mind. Being a telepath generally went with being a deep prober. For the woman to ask questions instead of barging into other's minds meant a lot to Vyne. This act of kindness, self-control or respect gave Vyne an increased sense of respect for the woman.

You have my gratitude for both your information and your means of collecting mine. Vyne sent in return. Am I to assume you know I am a psychic?

Vyne was not a fool. She had not given away the information by mistake. She had given the information as a sign of respect, something that she valued highly. She also guessed that what the woman had said was to indicate that she knew Vyne was a psychic without saying it straight out. The reason she had said it the way she had said it was probably so that Vyne knew about the woman's abilities. That too was fine with Vyne.

So long as you do not force your way, I will show you what you wish. She would of course, be showing the good doctor things that Vyne wanted her to know as well.

[Anonymous]

The main reason Erela had told the harpy about the safeguards to let her know there was really no way out. ‘Means of collecting’ probably referred to the way Erela had asked questions instead of reading her mind but the truth was that Erela was very poor at reading minds. She could do it a little but really her psychic abilities only extended to telepathy and a little bit of telekinesis.

     “Yes, the Mordecai informed us that you were both a psychic and a mage.”

     She hadn’t wanted to reveal to Vyne that she didn’t know what she was thinking but when Vyne said she would ‘show her what she wished’ that became a bit trickier.

     “I cannot read minds, so questioning will have to do unless you can project images into the minds of others.”

    If the harpy could that would certainly be useful.

[Anonymous]

The thought of projecting amused Vyne slightly, not that anyone would be able to note any change in her appearance. Vyne had had rocks to not-talk to for centuries, the thought of projecting to someone was strangely amusing. 'I have had very little practice with projection,' she said.

She brushed up against the woman's mind again and focused her thoughts on two images: one of the river mouth north of Ancient Ketra and the other of the same place after the humans had destroyed the Earth the second time. The waters of the second one were stagnant and had gasses floating off. The air was thick and grey. Vyne tried adding other sensations: fresh air verses human waste, warm winds verses intense heat and stinging skin and bird calls versus the gurgling of the water.

She had no idea what would happen at the other end. The images could superimpose themselves, become blurry, only one may come across or they may not get to the surface of the woman's mind at all. Vyne did not like the idea of going into someone's mind so the woman would have to come out. What do you see? she asked.

'You do not have others who could do it for you?' she asked. If she could project to others, it meant she could also project false images. She had no plans to lie or mislead the woman but it was good to know. Knowing of others with the abilities meant that others may be in the same position as her: cooperating until opportunity struck.

OOC: feel free to choose what Erela sees. I haven't decided on Vyne can and can't do yet (except not being able to do telekinesis), though it won't be much.