10. Video. Laptop.

[flamberge]

[When Karl's face pops up, something looks distinctly different. Could it be new clothes? Nah. Could it be a new hair cut? Nope. Could it be the gigantic black eye he's now sporting and that's impossible to miss? Yup. Given the size and the intensity and the puffiness, whoever got him in the left eye got him good and recently so. Anyone in or around the police station at 5 pm yesterday would have seen a random man march up to Karl as he was leaving and just slug him as hard as possible. Karl, oddly enough, didn't do anything to him.]

Should any of you still wish to test magic and its effects on plastics or other materials, I've recently gained a new form of it which can be used for the experimentation.

[Time for a quick demonstration (once again, inside his own apartment because true scientists don't dwell on details like property damage when testing things)! Karl rolls the chair out of view so to give everyone a nice view of a rubber boot by a door frame. Nothing happens for a few seconds. Then suddenly, a bolt of lightning (complete with thunder sound effects) strikes it. Out of nowhere. Inside an apartment. Yup.

Once magical lightning show is over, Karl rolls back into view. He almost opts ending the message here, but instead, very clearly hesitates before speaking up once more.]

There's also a question I've been meaning to ask. Does anyone here remember being older than what is possible for humans? If so, do you recall how it was possible or the details of why the aging process had been abnormal? Was magic or odd technology inv--

[Asking about the details behind potential agelessness gets cut off by the sudden vibration of his phone. A quick glance down at it happens before Karl sighs and answers with a 'Ja, Mutti?'. A nice little exchange made up mainly of ja-ing and mutti-ing follows, with a final 'yes, I promise, this weekend' in German before finally closing his phone. Seconds after the conversation ends, the phone vibrates again. Thankfully, it's only a text. It still succeeds in getting another sigh.]

As one final note, I will be traveling outside Locke City to Boston on the 29th and will remain there until the 5th. Pulses may no longer fully vanish outside the city, but still be cautious in contacting me during this time.

[And just ending here. People should get the jist of the aging thing even if it got cut off, right? Right.]

Comments

action

[stopinthenameofawe]

[Melissa was chilling on the bed, being amused at all the phone calls, but, well...]

How did your mom get my number? [And why is she now in charge of making sure you don't chicken out??]

action

[flamberge]

My mother isn't someone to be underestimated.

[For all Karl knows, she could have found someone to magically hack into Karl's own phone. Probably didn't happen, but there's always that slim chance.]

What did she say?

action

[stopinthenameofawe]

Something about me being in charge of you actually going and also making sure I have a nice dress? [she has no idea why that's important......]

video

[goldenguitar]

You're welcome.

[Well, here's one difference: his version of a shit-eating grin is a tad more cocky than his dad's.]

video

[flamberge]

I'm mailing your father my phone bill for this month.

[Just you wait, Pierce. One day, all the weed in your house will magically vanish over might. Every day. For a month.]

voice

[needsmorezippers]

[WOW that looks like it hurt.]

What the hell happened?!

voice

[flamberge]

[It DID in fact hurt. Hurt his pride, too. Twice the damage for the price of one.]

I attempted to win a boxing match against a kangaroo.

Voice

[sjokolade]

Uh...I think we have more important things to talk about than stuff about plastic magic!

What happened to your eye?!

Voice

[flamberge]

An unfortunate accident involving a skateboard and a flight of stairs.

[Is it obvious that this is a lie? Because it ought to be.]

[Audio]

[professorwolf]

[Lyall is a bit concerned by the eye and the lightning, but he has an answer for the actual question, too.]

The other fellow was at least three hundred years old. I am fairly certain it's a werewolf thing. I'm also fairly certain he was something close to undead, given what I know of the transformation process and what's changed in me thus far, so that's the best explanation I have.

[Okay, he has to ask it:]

Are you quite all right, Karl? Who, or what, is responsible for that lovely eye you're sporting?

[Audio]

[flamberge]

[Ah, Lyall has to deal with annoying age stuff? The guy definitely doesn't deserve it, especially if it's getting to him like it is to Karl.]

Is it a slowed aging process or an entirely halted one, are you aware? What changes have you experienced to make you believe that?

[As for the question, should it get proper answer or a made up excuse? Eh, Lyall can get something a little more proper.]

It's nothing. Just... something I should have seen coming.

[Voice]

[dominateartimus]

[That bruise on Karl's eyes was concerning, but he figured that Karl could take care of it with his healing ability before the thought was promptly forgotten about due to the display of magic. That was fairly interesting and considerably loud.

What catches his attention is the question about living longer than humans. He recalls a few memories that were set in the past and several that were in the present.]

I recall that my 'other self' has been alive for quite a while due to the drastic change in surroundings from the few memories I've received. As for how... I think it has something to do with vessels.

[Voice]

[flamberge]

[Xander, too, huh? Nice as it is to know it isn't just him, the fact others have to deal with this sort of a burden, simply put, sucks.]

Do you have any idea how long?

[Wait, what was that last part? Confusion can be clearly heard in Karl's voice.]

Vessels?

[What does that mean? Chances are it doesn't have anything to do with blood vessels.]

[evowhisperer]

*Cesar is so excited he almost breaks into audio.*

Fascinating! Did you just use magic to create a strong enough potential difference between you and that rubber boot that it caused a cascading ionization effect? How did you influence the charge of the two areas from a distance?

[flamberge]

Potentially, however I have yet to look into the specifics of how it works myself. All that's required for the spell is focusing on a target and reciting an incantation.

[Video]

[radiantchicken]

I remember being alive when the dinosaurs ruled the planet, as well as being alive in a more modern time like today. I suspect that I was actually older than it is possible for a human to live.

[The parrot sounds more thoughtful at this than anything, not like he's disturbed at the possibility of having been millions of years old.]

I am not sure why this would have been so, however.

[Video]

[flamberge]

[From dinosaurs till now? That has even him beat age wise. Karl also doesn't miss that thoughtfulness. Is he really okay knowing this?]

You don't sound particularly bothered by this knowledge.

Video

[buildyourworld]

So, what is it with you and your inability to grasp the effect of using destructive magic indoor?

[ He's not discussing age problem with you, he's already dealing with Melissa being a vampire and more than likely immortal. He doesn't need reminder for that. So he settles for nagging your lack of common sense. ]

Video

[flamberge]

I had taken precautions this time and used a material with the smallest probability of being destroyed.

[Rubber and electricity and all. Sure, magical electricity may have blown it to high hell anyway (and maybe the boot is kinda smoking) but the point is it didn't. Clearly this makes it okay.]

[testsonseashells]

Member of alien species with shorter lifespan; wouldn't be surprised if species with longer lifespans existed. Suppose human aging could be delayed with genetic modification, but would increase cancer risk astronomically; pointless exercise, in the end.

[flamberge]

What is the average lifespan of this species? Do you think present day testing can help in determining by what means the modification was done?

Video

[onecream_fivesugar]

Woaaaaaaaaaah you can make lightning!? That's soooooo cool!

What else can you d-Woah-What happened to your face!?

Video

[flamberge]

Aside from the lightning, I'm presently capable of fire magic, healing magic and some extreme form of light magic.

[Pointedly ignoring the second part yup yup.]

text;

[show_my_cannons]

probably a lot older.

hard to tell though.

it's vague.

text;

[flamberge]

If the details are vague, why do you believe you were far older?