networkinthenight | first experiment; 9:53 PM

For our more vampiric population, I come to you with a solution for your dietary problems.

I've invented artificial blood. A substance you can consume without harming others, but that will sustain you much as food and water. I owe a debt to Elena for helping me test them.

Unfortunately, it cannot yet be used in a medical sense-- for blood transplants, which are, by the by, a very important part of medical knowledge, which makes up the second part of this announcement.

If you do not know your blood type, come see me, and I can at least determine it. Blood types are a vital bit of information in a place where one routinely gets cut to bits. Transfusing blood-- that is, the act of giving one's blood to another-- can save a life in many cases. However, if the wrong sorts of blood interact, the result can be deadly.

Many of you do not know your blood type. This will, inevitably, come back to bite you.

So. I suggest you come by my lab within the next few days and find out, before you nearly die of an injury, manage to make it back to town, and then die of your original blood sensing the invader and killing off the cells that came to theoretically heal you. What a horrible, ironic death that would be.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'll stop by later.
How are you feeling? Are you sure you should be working with those injuries?

Quite frankly, the last thing I wish to do is stay idle.

I'll tell you the extent of my injuries if you tell me yours, Riku.

Fair, on both counts. I think you're gonna find I'm doing better than the last time we saw each other.
I have to do a few things first. Want me to bring you anything?

You would have to be, wouldn't you? But good.

Food would be pleasant, if you've time to stop at the Invincible. Anything high in sugar; blood letting is tiring work.

Got it. I think I know just the thing.
I'll see you later.

[It's nicer than the last time he came here, that's for sure. The laboratory is covered by a tarp, and there's scratches on the doorway, the door hastily reattached. Rosalind herself has looked better, with an eyepatch over her left eye and a long scar from the curve of her cheek down her neck, but. She's alive.]

Hallo, Riku.

[She's so tired, but his company is welcome.]

[ Nicer for a lack of spirits hunting for them; the damage done to her lab makes Riku wince at the memory, and at least he has the sense and restraint not to do the same when he sees the marks left on her.

He certainly doesn't speak his mind on the matter, that her scars and what her courage took from her only serve to punctuate the formidable presence she already had. Nor the thought that follows, about her Robert, and how this place hasn't just separated them, it's now made her different from that other self in a way that can't be erased.

He's important to her. Part of him wonders if that bothers her more than the injuries themselves. Riku, for his part, looks fine. There's a small, puckered scar at the center of his throat that wasn't there before, and a thermos in his hand. ]

Hope you like hot chocolate. And- uh, peanut butter sandwiches.

[ He's not a cook, okay? ]

[Hot chocolate is a little sweet for her tastes, but a peanut butter sandwich is always welcome. And frankly, she's hungry enough she'll take anything. Her eyes dart over his face, but when he doesn't visibly flinch, she nods just once. Takes a sandwich, then sits.]

Take a seat.

Did you make these yourself?

[ Coffee would've probably been better - Riku hasn't figured out the ratio, yet, so it either comes out looking like dirty water or so bitter and thick nothing short of half a cup of sugar could make it palatable.

He pauses at her question, the corner of his mouth twitching into a smile when he sits. ]

Yeah. Fortunately, even I can't screw up peanut butter on bread.

[ If this comment doesn't inspire great confidence, no one would blame her. ]

Thanks for coming up with a solution for people like Elena. Since she got here, I kept wondering what we were gonna do. She doesn't seem like the type to complain even if she's suffering.

If she's starving, more like.

[She says it with no small amount of exasperation: not necessarily towards Elena so much as . . . oh, life. Beacon population in general. Her own personal grief. It's a lot.]

In any case: it was a pleasant thought exercise, if nothing else, and gave me a rather decent perspective on our current vampiric population. Many of whom are rather suspicious of my intentions, naturally.

[ It's not really a contrast, that Riku closes his eyes and exhales quietly through his nostrils in a sigh at Rosalind's exasperated correction. He's guilty of this, too. Being aware of his shortcomings isn't exactly the same as doing everything he can to overcome them.

But he does what he can.

Elena, he knows, tries hard to help everyone. If there's someone who deserves a little security in one essential aspect of her life, Elena definitely qualifies. ]

I can imagine. People aren't usually kind to those that are different from themselves. In any world.

first experiment; 9:53 PM

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