text ; @Qubit (backdated prooooobably a week-ish?)

[superposition]

[ AND NOW IN THE RIGHT COMM... ]

Qubit here. Keeping this quick: I need a few volunteers to provide blood samples for testing purposes. These will need to come from both sick and healthy individuals, please. Contact me if you're interested. Thanks in advance.

Comments

[abheirrant]

A fair question, I suppose. And charitable of you to help.

[He means 'help' in a loose sense, obviously.]

→ private

[superposition]

[ He's... honestly not sure how to take the compliment? (Is it a compliment?) So he'll just change the subject. ]

By the way, I've got the test results from the bile on your clothing.

[abheirrant]

[Was it a compliment??? The world may never know.]

Should I be excited or apprehensive of the results?

[superposition]

Well, it's mostly blood.

[abheirrant]

Apprehensive, then. I suppose calling it the black blood is more accurate.

Should I be worried that I have been expelling that from my body for the majority of my life?

[superposition]

In fairness, it's not all blood. I found a significant amount of epithelial tissue as well.

But yes, I'd say so. I'm no doctor, but chronically vomiting blood and bits of stomach lining for decades is generally not considered a good sign.

[abheirrant]

[He does not want to know exactly what "epithelial tissue" involves. He's sure it's not good.]

Seventeen years. Not decades. But your point stands. The twice-cursed do not live long, and I suppose not every reason for that is magical in nature.

[superposition]

[ would you like that epithelium original recipe or extra squamous ]

Or at least not wholly magical. It'd make sense for the bleeding to be caused by magic, though of course I've got no way of testing for that. Was it always black, even when you were alive?

[abheirrant]

Always. The wound I sustained that caused my affliction has darkened over time, though. It looked no different than a terrible scar, initially.

[superposition]

Interesting... Where's it located, if that's not too personal?

It's odd because normally blackened tissue like that is associated with necrosis, but the cells in black bile aren't technically necrotic. They're intact, but inert. Not breaking down, but not performing any metabolic functions, either. Almost as if they're in stasis.

[abheirrant]

The wound is across my abdomen: four scars, just below my rib cage. I can show you if necessary. They looked quite normal at first, albeit a grim sight. Over the years, they grew darker and darker, from a deep violet to almost black in the end. And now, they are dimly lit from within with magic.

I assume that magic is why I am in relative stasis. It happens on occasion with gifted and powerful mages where I come from, their magic sustaining them for well beyond a natural lifespan. It can be quite tragic when it occurs to loved ones, and some casters are known to cease practicing their craft entirely so they don't outlive their families.

[superposition]

[ The abdomen, just below his rib cage... oh. ]

It was hurting you. When we were caught in the Redshift, I mean. [ It's the first time he's mentioned that incident since it happened. ] Eventually I'd like to take a look, yes.

So the mere use of magic draws out their lifespans? Do they know why? Is it - [ No, wait, he might actually know this one. ] You've said the term eksth'alva translates to both "life" and "magic," interchangeably. So the two of them, life and magic - they really are quite closely related, aren't they?

[abheirrant]

[Oh, Qubit is going to take him up on that offer to see the scars. Carlisle had expected he'd decline, but it seems Qubit noticed how he reflexively clings to the old wounds when they act up. Thankfully, his discomfort doesn't show in text.]

I believe so, yes. Though I know not exactly how they correlate. Most from my world have at least some capacity for magic, though their potential varies widely from person to person.

I had two uncles, for example, close brothers. One was an immensely powerful mage, well learned in several schools, able to harness more magical energy in a moment than many could in an entire lifetime. My other uncle, on the other hand, could not activate even the most basic of glyphs, not even those he wrote himself. He hadn't a drop of magic in him, and we all knew it.

[superposition]

Hm. So it's not heritable, or at least not reliably so. [ Granted, if it were consistent and reliable, it wouldn't really be magic, would it. ] Is there any pattern that you know of? Any factors that correlate to who can use magic and who can't?

[abheirrant]

Not that I know of. One would think if there were a pattern or some way of passing down either the use of magic or talent in a particular school, there'd have been more healers in our bloodline. I assume that could have come from my mother's side.