- THE LEVIATHAN -

Of the spawn from the latest cycles, there were a few he hardly knew. Orthoclase-Alpha's last batch had been almost entirely under the Orthoclase's supervision, with Vargas taking half-absent notes only in passing. He'd had other things on his mind, but it had struck him recently that perhaps he'd been too absent.

The Labradorite had intense potential. Zoisite, as well; though he seemed to see it less and less. He hoped that his Overseer was training them well, but either way, he had work for the third of them. V-Selenite-One had hands, sort of. While nowhere near its lifegiver's bulk, it was still large enough to be useful. It had matured into a tall, muscled thing, armored and dextrous. Though Vargas didn't know what the Orthoclase had chosen to train it for, he could find that out easily enough. He was hoping that it might prove useful for another task he had at hand.

Kethri and Doctor, the two not-quite-Chaos birds among them, had been working on medicines, toxins and antidotes for quite some time. With their relocation to Draco, they had apparently begun their work almost from scratch. Vargas intended to send someone to aid them with whatever needed doing; their help, after all, ought to be provided for if not outright thanked. If they were working together, he intended to make that work happen together, and not leave them wanting for what was really ample aid. He had enough creatures sitting about with nothing to do, after all.

"Selenite-One?" he called, his voice ringing over the oilstained rock. He reminded himself mentally of what he wanted to do: first, to ask it what it had trained in, and what it had been training for recently; second, to see whether it had any ongoing tasks that Vargas would be interrupting by giving it an assignment; and third, if it agreed, to send it to the Overseer for approval before it began. He didn't want to step on Alpha's toes, here; delegation required some measure of independence in those delegated to, after all.

@V-Selenite-One

Vargas not particularly knowing this one wasn't any fault of his or the Overseer's. It was a reclusive one, watching from afar with wide eyes rather than actually engaging with other members of the Forge. On occasion, it'd venture into Pegasus and come back with a gift for Zoisite or its very large Vargas-siblings, but... that was about it. Oh, and the rare trip out to Leo to spend time with Talys.

Independent was a good word for it. Much more positive than flaky. Let them plop that word on Nidhogg instead.

Presently, it was curled up inside one of the pockets of the Womb, about four rows up. It'd been quite a climb, but the digs were comfortable (and, somehow, the feeling of stone pulsing behind it was assuring) and it could be relatively undisturbed. The monstrous humanoid'd been fiddling with its shard of diamond again, taking another stone to it and trying—and failing—to chip off chunks so the edges were sharper. Blood from meals had already begun to stain the relatively blunt edge.

Ears pricked first at the Leviathan's voice. Pupils expanded to fill its eyes as it peered over the edge, spotting his massive bulk not too far off.

"Coming," it barked, then put its knife in its mouth and started to climb down. It was rather agile and skillful with its handholds, trusting gravity and its own reflexes more than once to let go and drop. The only fumble was towards the end, where it landed heavily on all sixes and nearly collapsed. It recovered quickly, though, and padded towards Vargas.

Tail lashing a slow circle, Selenite peered up at him, head tilting. Palming its knife again, it huffed, "yes, Master Vargas?" It was... a little out of breath, for sure.

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

Vargas eyed the Selenite over, running it over in his mind in a rapid, calculating manner. Armored. Bipedal. Medium-large, not enormous and certainly nothing to the monsters of old. But perhaps agile. Dextrous with its hands. ...And out of shape, apparently. Notes made, he moved on to business.

He offered one stern nod, drawing himself up.

"Selenite-One, I have a task I wonder if you would be suited for. It is nothing glamorous," and his warning was bluntly honest, "but it needs to be done, regardless. First allow me to ask you these questions. First, what have you been trained in thus far, overall? Second, are you currently assigned any particular task? And third," he added, with realization that he'd missed something important, "what are the plans for your future training--that you're aware of?"

@V-Selenite-One

Ears perked up at the prospect of a task, and went down only a little at it being "nothing glamorous." Did that imply that it was dirty work, then? Bloody or nasty? Selenite hesitated over that thought for a moment. It was hoping... not. (If only it knew...)

Cyan eyes blinked. What had it been trained in? Selenite nibbled its lip instinctively, tail flicking. "How to hunt... ? Like, a target." That was a basic thing, though. "I've been... um, by myself." Quills quivered slightly and it lowered itself into a squat. "Exploring a lot. There's a warm cave with a lot of water and plants. And a big mountain." But, that wasn't among the questions. The Overseer hadn't really done anything meaningful with it—and was that bad? It's fault? No... it was just focused elsewhere, right? There'd been the one thing...

"I don't... have any assignments. The Overseer was going to have me go to... uh, Eridanus? To learn how to make and use weapons. Said there was someone with hands in there." That was about it, though. "I don't know about the future."

Was that bad? Selenite fiddled with its impromptu knife a moment, then twisted its palm to hold it up. "I've been working on this. Making it sharp." See? I've been keeping myself busy even with being away a bunch! The monstrous humanoid dropped its arm after a moment. It instead fidgeted with the knife, using its bottom set of hands: half-formed handle in one, blade in the other.

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

Well, that was fucking endearing. ...Useless! But endearing.

Vargas grunted, eyes travelling to the little knife, then back to Selenite-One. "Very good," he said, though it was more perfunctory rather than overflowing with warm approval or anything. Not dismissive, simply... acknowledging, and little more. "Have you seen the two birds here-? Doctor, and the owl; you may remember them from the tunnel in which you were hatched? They will be working to create toxins and methods of healing and harming. Ways to aid the Forge, and to advance our knowledge, and science. They have expressed a desire to V-Chaos-Two to create a garden in Pegasus to this end. I will ask you to go to them, tell them I have sent you to lend aid in whatever they need. Do not put your life in danger, but if they require protection while searching for plants or hunting Lessers, that would be a good task for you, hm? Particularly if you have been taught the basics of the hunt--Lesser or otherwise--and know Pegasus, some. -That is the warm cave," Vargas added, in explanation. "I would like them to be aided, rather than leaving them alone and unguarded in their work."

"Check with Overseer Alpha, and find out if this will interrupt its plans. If it will, send it to me to sort something out." Vargas paused, eyeing the Selenite, for a moment. "Now, please repeat back what I've said, if you understand? If you do not, ask any questions that you wish. -Ask them anyway," he added. Questions were good, even if they were unrelated, even if the Selenite did understand. Questions implied a desire to learn, a keen and open mind.

Vargas paused, for a beat, again. He then nodded to the knife. "And that is good: weapons are good. Dexterous hands are a strength. It would be wise to use them."

@V-Selenite-One

- THE LEVIATHAN -

He waited, and the child seemed to be thinking. That was good.

It boded well for a decent future, at least. Now was the time for questions, and Vargas would let it take all the time it needed.

exiting due to inactivity