The Road Less Traveled (Lyla)

Mount Five Element. Superstition and folklore galore surrounded it; legends that told of spirits crossing over from the other side to roam Earth, IF they could withstand the divine fire that filled the bellows of its furnace. The furnace was real - that was proven. Whether or not it actually held some sort of residual magical power from a society and age long past, was not proven. There'd be a few fringe studies on the construct, but nothing academically worth a dime. It was hard to convince the government to grant funds to research something that most chalked up to mumbo jumbo.

Lyla decided that it'd be the perfect place to investigate next after her little outing at the renamed 'Mount Puccino.' Her current equipment was ill-suited for tackling anything beyond hard science. The EASY solution would be finding existing magitech and adapt it to her own ends - supposedly some infamous hybrid Tuffle who had been SAIYAN monarch for a stint had mastered it - but Lyla couldn't find any more information on the elusive woman than that. Besides, she had no magical talent. No... she'd need to treat this like theoretical physics. Figure out a way to observe the unobservable and catalog it for proper study and review.

She'd been smart enough to bring a heavy coat, humbled from the heat the South had wrought. Alpha and Beta hovered around her shoulders as Lyla stepped down from her hovercycle, glancing at the seemingly mundane mountain. Alpha chirped a familiar sound, Lyla frowning: "A battle power that high? Here?" Unusual. It didn't take long for her to discover the owner, witnessing a disgruntled man tumble to the ground as if thrown like a ragdoll. "Local legend holds that only the worthy may enter The Furnace of Eight Divisions." She'd stop above Sen, offering a hand to help him up. "Though how much of that is due to it supposedly being guarded by magic, I can't say. The winds are certifiably overpowering, though."

Lyla shrugged. "Ask the locals. I find their legends interesting enough to explore, and perhaps such stories even contain a grain of truth." The stranger immediately started trying to pick apart the machinations of the mountain in a logical, hard-science way. Admirable. "Neither. I've come in search of answers." She held up a strange pronged rod device, complete with a screen that seemed to be monitoring... something ambient in the atmosphere around them. "As irritating as it is to admit, I know next to nothing about how magic actually works. It is real, no doubt, but the logical part of me cannot accept it is simply all-powerful and infinite. If that were the case, it would have long surpassed technology in common use."

Lyla slid her goggles on, engrossed in her own rambling. "There is strong evidence by credible sources to suggest that an alternate energy exists in the fabric of space-time. Similar to Ki but far more volatile. We know that spirits can physically manifest themselves, and that certain beings like Devils and Demons come from a different realm and claim to be naturally attuned to 'magic'... perhaps it is simply their version of Ki. Yet if that were the case, I must wonder why it is so much more versatile than Ki. And... I have no answer. Thus, my frustration."

She'd pause, frowning. "That being said. I do believe magic in some shape exists and intend to catalog it in a scientific manner, but that does not necessarily mean this mountain is magical. It could be, just as you said, elaborate tricks."

"I tend to agree. It is by the same logic and principle that, if magic indeed does exist, I believe it can be thoroughly explained and understood, as well as any field of science." From the sound of it, Sen also had issues with Ki. THAT piqued her interest; Ki was one of the more widely accepted phenomena of the universe. A sort of invisible energy that every living being had, an energy that correspondingly grew in predictable amounts when measured, leading to battle power.

"No conflation. This is a wholly different type of energy at play from what I have personally witnessed. So far, I have yet to discover concrete evidence that any of the happenstances that are claimed to be magic ARE such, hence my continued exploration into the subject." Lyla spared a glance at the mountain, frowning. "Though, as per usual, from a glance, it seems entirely mundane."

Blood rubies? "I've heard rumors about such rubies. Apparently, they are compact sources of energy, perhaps similar to the crystals found on Namek and Konats. I can't imagine they'd be inherently magic." Ah, so Sen had also heard of Puccino. "Puccino. That one I've been to in person. A seemingly impossible landscape of endless and perfectly sanitized dessert. Nobody seems to know who is responsible for the area's transformation. I must say your itinerary sounds quite agreeable. Provided any joint activity on researching Mount Five goes well, perhaps we can work together again in the near future."

Was it really that ridiculous to suggest a simple field partnership these days? His immediate conclusions jumping to assistants and solo work clearly indicated that he was not a team player - or even used to working well in a group environment. Lyla knew it would be practical to simply accept the denial and look elsewhere, but she'd give it one last try before throwing in the towel; studied minds were increasingly rare these days.

Assistant, she was not. "Mm." Lyla tended to forget most scientists were folly to politics. Stealing findings? She wasn't after fame or fortune - though, given how suspicious this man was, simply saying that (even if it was the truth) wouldn't help her case. "Lyla Chi. I've two doctorates from acclaimed universities on Earth, one from the Center of Science in Hatchi, and a lengthy tenure working as assistant head researcher of anomalous materials at the same establishment. I was born on Earth, but my lineage is split between it and Plant. As little as it will do to assuage your worries, I can safely say that whatever political aims you seek through research of potential magic phenomena will not be in conflict with me."

Of course, she had no reason to suspect Sen himself was a Tuffle due to his height and thorny demeanor - her recital of credentials was wholly truthful and intended to demonstrate her own capabilities.

"The pride and joy of the Centre, yes. I would estimate a good seventy percent of my work during my tenure was focused on it. Despite having just pushed out the field-ready material, the lab was focused on refining it further in an attempt to bring its conventional strength closer to Katchin as a mass-producible substitute." Her lips curled into an annoyed sneer. "We made little progress." As expected. Tudium itself was a revolutionary invention; it wasn't ego that made Lyla disappointed she couldn't improve it, just annoyance that she could potentially miss being there when (or if) the Centre was ever successful.

"Termel..." She mulled over the name for a moment. "They had a portrait of him up in the employee hall of fame. As far as I know, he was no longer employed by the time of my arrival." This felt less like a friendly connection and more like an interrogation, though Lyla seemed nonplussed. "My primary professor was Doctor Durran. He was my mentor in anomalous materials and an excellent teacher. My overseer during my actual tenure was Tangira. Only two years into the position, so I heard." Alpha and Beta seemed almost offended at the implication, bright lenses staring at Sen intently.

"The SPARK Drone platform is of my own design. While anomalous materials were my main concern while on Plant, my previous and supplementary education includes robotics and theoretical physics."

"81.56%," Lyla stated matter-of-factly. "It was considered to be a blisteringly fast development. At the purity and strength we're dealing with, I suppose I'm compelled to agree." Waste of talent. A funny though. "I've never been beholden to the ideals or expectations of others. My pursuit of science has and always will be wholly devoted to knowledge and the satisfaction of discovery and innovation. The possibility of magic existing and existing to a degree where it could become a learned subject instead of mythical nonsense spouted in legend is enticing."

The conversation moved to the unfortunate topic of Hatchi's repeated assaults: "I was there for both. At the time, my unimpressive battle power and lack of personal defense drones made me more of a civilian than a potential fighter. You know how the Centre is built. Deep underground, winding development, a nearly required transit system. Trying to evacuate it is a logistics nightmare. We were lucky enough to remain untouched during Lottus' first attack, but the second..." She grimaced, fingers rubbing an ugly scar across her nape.

"It mainly remained intact. Few personnel were lost, many were injured. Some of the high-clearance experimental labs were breached. Our shielding systems were calibrated for Oozaru, not 'Super Saiyans.'" She grimaced. "Nothing was leaked or stolen by the Saiyan military, as far as we know. They seemed entirely unconcerned with raiding the exposed stockpile of knowledge."

"He's here?" Surely not. There'd be a partially destroyed city or news of a bloody battle. Lyla opted to not mention her one encounter with the fabled world eater himself on Plant, chalking it entirely up to luck that she walked away unscathed AND more knowledgeable than before. Lottus was a man who sought entertainment. "Have you alerted the authorities? Supposedly, President Derry made an impressive showing at the Imperial Open - as did the flaming woman, Jackie, at Namek. Together, they might be able to thwart him." As currently indifferent as she was to Lottus being dead or alive, she ALSO didn't want to be at ground zero of planetary destruction if the Super Saiyan got bored.

The woman's goggles came down and coat zipped up as Sen urged them to continue with their stated mission, Lyla nodding. "Right." While blunt, she thought the same of Sen: someone who seemed to be useful to her at the moment. Lyla didn't expect him to treat her like a friend, even if they had commonalities. Alpha and Beta zipped around her to assist with the Tuffle's scouting of any potential sensors - coming up short. Nothing. She hummed, scribbling a short note before trailing after Sen. "I can only truly conduct my research once we reach the furnace proper."

She pulled out her atmospheric scanner again, allowing Sen to briefly see it before tucking it away, safe from potential snowstorms. "As loathe as I am to rely on it, process of elimination seems the most conclusive way to go about the initial search. Testing for and either confirming or denying the possibility that certain methods were used in a smoke and mirrors display. If every known trick, gadget, and illusion is ruled out, it means one of two things. One: the mountain's curators have employed technology that is either too advanced or too obscure for learned scientists to know about. Two: there is indeed some sort of alternative force natural to the area that warrants research. Of course, that is a gross oversimplification of the situation."