shiningworld | 2nd Transmutation-Botany

Yes but, there was no soil around when I found it and with the weather changing unexpectedly it might not be enough.

[Points at the drawing] If I can use this transmutation circle, I can prevent the plant from dying off by restoring some of the cells until it can be replanted again.

...Transmutation?

[He looks back down at the book, flipping through a few pages quickly, then shakes his head.]

Transmutation on it's own is too vague of a keyword. You'll have to be more specific on the type of transmutation.

Oh--I'm sorry. You see, I specialize in plant-based alchemy. A transmutation can allow the user to accelerate the growth of the plant, that way it will live longer. However, I can't keep it alive forever.

[Thoughtful pause] Um, what do you mean by keyword?

Alchemy?

Interesting... Alchemy is a functional science where you come from?

[He seems pretty surprised by that, but shuts the book. This is far too much to look up now, but he makes a note to go back to it later when he has more time. It might come in handy.]

I need keywords to narrow down entries into something manageable.

Otherwise I end up spending hours or days just reading and I have a bad habit of forgetting to eat or sleep if no one is around to stop me.

[He nods.] Yes. It is how we construct new matter and alter things from it. You seem to know a lot, do you study different things often?

[There is a look of concern on his face after hearing that]

Oh no, that's no good. You'll starve if you skip meals like that. Eating and sleep are important for staying healthy!

Hnn... Interesting. Most entries on the subject seem to be unlocked. I'll have to look into it further.

Knowing things, and being able to get information is part of my job as a detective.

[Philip frowns a bit, taking his phone from the pocket of his jacket and checking it. Good, it's still early. He tucks it back into his pocket.]

I admit, it's a bad habit. But time is an abstract thing and there's no signs of it's passage in the Bookshelves, so I tend to lose track on my own. At home I had my partner, but he's not here.

Tendou's gotten upset with me for how often I've gotten sidetracked, so I'm trying to be better about it now, since he's been so nice to me.

Oh, you're a detective?

[Fletcher sighs, accepting the explanation but he still doesn't feel right knowing that the young man spends so much time in his studies like that. It reminded him of how caught up Russell was with their research back home.]

I think your friend is right to be worried about you. I-If you need, I can help you keep track of time better. [He's clearly nervous, but too worried to stop himself.]

Half of a detective.

[Philip corrects him very plainly, as if it were a simple mistake. He looks over at Fletcher a moment, but then smiles and shakes his head.]

No.. Tendou said something recently that I think is correct. I'm far to dependent on a partner, and having someone look after me. So I want to at least try and do this myself if I can.

Shotaro managed without me for a year. So I should be able to do the same, even if it's not an option I like.

Oh--okay, I-I'm sorry.

[That was a long time to be separated from someone.]

You...weren't scared to be all by yourself without your partner?

It's okay. It's not an ordinary situation.

I wasn't exactly... alive during the year he spent without me, so I'm not sure I was capable of being afraid. It's difficult to describe. I existed, and I was aware, but I wasn't alive. But I knew that when the year was up, I would be able to go back to him, and that was all that mattered.

[He looks back to the plant and the transmutation circle. He's still very interested in it, and in alchemy, and he wants to know more. But it's such a broad thing that he's not sure what question to ask first.]

...Most accounts of Alchemy that I can find refer turning a common metal, like lead, into a precious metal like gold... It doesn't seem to say anything about plants.

[That was a good way of thinking. He didn't exactly understand completely, but he thought he should wait.]

[Clearly he was very knowledgable and Fletcher was really impressed by how many things he already knew.] You're right. But while there is the process of transmuting matter, there is also plant based alchemy which involves things like plants and trees. Its not as popular as basic alchemy though, as there aren't many botanical alchemists around, where I'm from at least.

[He's actually looking a lot of this up on the fly. He's never looked up alchemy specifically, but certain things remind him a lot of the sciences back home that were involved in Museum and the Gaiamemories.

He's trying not to focus too much on reading the entries he's digging up, since it would distract from the conversation, but over the few years he's been with Shotaro, he's masters skimming while having a discussion.]

Hnn... Interesting. I guess in comparison to making gold, it's not a route most would take...

What exactly is it used for?

[He lowers his head]...It isn't. I've seen an entire town abandon its agriculture just for gold.

It will speed up the plant's growth, restoring the wilted, dead parts of the leaves. Almost like treating an injury. As long as it isn't dead yet, I can help this plant re-grow but, once it dies off, it can't be brought back.

[Philip frowns a bit, thinking back to the dopants they fought.. Money specifically.]

...I've seen things like that myself.

[He turns his attention back to the plant, seeming very interested.]

Hn... If that's possible, you'd think it would be something more people would look into. It would solve a lot of problems int he farming industry.

[He looks at the plant sympathetically] Its kind of depressing to know that things like this are easily tossed aside when promises of money are involved. But I guess money is important, since its hard to take care of yourself or family without it.

Yes but, I'm unsure of what kind of sciences are dominant and used most in other places. You know, you can also simply grow plants and gardens without this method. But, people seem too busy often for that.

[He lays his palm to the inner part of the circle.]

The priorities of human beings seem to, very often, be rather out of line with what one might expect... I've seen more than enough of that to know.

[He takes what appears to be a USB drive, a rectangle of green plastic with a label bearing a stylized "C", and looks at it, tapping a small button near the bottom, a voice from the item letting out a cry of "Cyclone!"]

I'm not sure what I would call the science involved in these... Maybe in a way, it is not that different from alchemy. It is hard for me to say. Really, they break a lot of laws of physics, so I am really unsure.

...Honestly, with how involved these are in my life, you'd think I'd have already looked into explaining this better.

[He looks very interested in the man's possession, although the object is foreign to him.]

Um, what is that? Does it have a name? [So many questions piling in his head~]

Well, you do seem to be busy studying so much, maybe you just haven't had the chance to research it thoroughly yet.

It's a Gaiamemory. Cyclone. I also have Heat and Luna with me, though all three don't amount to much more than chucks of plastic since Shotaro isn't with me.

[Still, holding Cyclone is comforting. This was his connection to Shotaro. So long as he had Cyclone, and Shotaro had Joker, they were still Double.]

I've done a lot of researchon memories themselves... Their psychological effects, as well as physical effects. I could build one. But the actual raw science is something I've never thought to look into.

It never seemed to matter before...

A gaiamemory? I've never seen something like that. Is it really possible to make more?

[A smile forms on his face]

It sounds like you have memories of your own. With your friend, and that is a keepsake, even if it you can't use it...I think its what keeps you connected to your friendship with Shotaro.

[He may not have been knowledgable about as many things like Philip was, but he could see that the young man and his partner had been an influence on each other, no matter how small it might have been.]

[In truth, "small" is the exact opposite of the impact he and Shotaro have had on each other. Philip can't remember a time without Shotaro. He knows those years, and what happened in them, but the actual memories are long gone.

He turns the device over in his hand a few times and nods with a small smile.]

Shotaro and I are a single detective, one Kamen Rider. Even if we're separated, we're still partners.

You're very perceptive for your age...

...Kamen Rider?

[He tugs on one of his flaps out of habit] Oh, well, t-that's more because I spent most of my time studying with brother. We had to grow up and learn things on our own.

We protect the city we live in... That's part of our job. The job we inherited from Shotaro's mentor.

[Philip ticks the Cyclone Memory back into his jacket next to Heat and Luna.]

...You have a brother? ...What's it like? Being with a sibling? I never really got to know my sisters that well.

Oh. That's such a big responsibility.

Hm? [Nods.] Its nice, because you have someone to look out for you whenever you're in trouble. Even if you don't always agree with them or you argue, they'll always be there for you. I'm all my brother has left, so I'll keep keep looking out for him like he does for me and never abandon him.

[Hesitantly~] Did something happen?

It is... But it's okay. We can do it. We have help, and we're strong. Fuuto is our home, so we don't mind protecting it.

[Philip laughs a bit.]

Shotaro always says it's our job to make sure no one in our city ever cries. But I think he just likes to sound cool.

[He listens as Fletcher talks about his brother, frowning a bit. It sounds more like Shotaro and Akiko and Terui than it does Saeko and Wakana. But then again, in the end... Hadn't they come through for him? It was because of Wakana that he was alive now.

Still, saving his life... Did that really make up for all of the people they had hurt? They'd killed Terui's entire family. Moral conflicts are hard and Philip really does not like them.]

...My sisters, my old family as a whole, were not good people. They were what Shotaro and I were fighting against.

But they're gone now, and I have a new family.

Ohh... [he lowers his head]

[Sheepishly] I'm...I'm sorry.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject