Elemental Mutations

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji was in the lab, or what was like a lab. It was basically the little office he was given in order to do his work for the moment. He was sure there was an actual lab he could work at that was not in the science lab. It didn't really matter to Seiji either way, it was not like he got many guest over to his office, still new to the whole position at the school. His desk was cleared off and had his various lab equipment on it, his floor near the corners had stacks of books, and a whole two walls were dedicated to his research and findings. He had been recently been asked by a friend of his a very interesting question. One that he would not share with anyone unless she gave him the okay, but he could still look it up and find out all that he could relating to the subject. She had an elemental mutation for lack of a better word at the moment. He knew that he meant that she had a power which allowed her to control over an element.

His friend controlled ice and she had an interesting question that she had asked of him, one of which he was now trying to figure out himself. He currently had a couple of rats and mice in cages sitting on the floor on a large fire proof blanket. Seiji was going to have to run some test after having done a lot of reading on the different elements and knowing about the elements in general. He got the basics of how certain elements effected the users and the people around them, but there was still the more detailed...well details that he had to look at. "Don't even think about it." Seiji said to Saphire who was sneaking closer towards the cage of rats and mice. He knew where she was at all time since they were connected. Having brought her along for company and for the fact she was the only snake he had a bond with that was poisonous.

"Come in." Seiji then said to the person that was coming towards his door, knowing being Saphire had informed him of vibrations in the floor directed in the direction of his office. He was not really sure who it was but it had to have been a student or someone just lost as saw the light on in his office. Either way it did not matter, they were welcome. Seiji was sitting on the floor, reading up book but would look up as the door would be opened.

[Dr. Tyler Malone]

Tyler opened the door carefully. He knew better than to enter such areas quickly. Most researchers, especially early in their tenure, as far as Tyler had experienced, tended to scatter their work about until they streamlined their process enough to get organized. Today he was excited. He'd finally gotten the chance to visit the new research project opened up by the Academy. It was a project he, himself, would have loved to head but prior commitments, as they are wont to do, kept him at his current position.

Tyler's eyes slid over the room before coming to rest upon Seiji. The old teacher smiled at his former student and pushed the door open enough to step inside. "Good afternoon, Mister Lockard." He said, his tone indicating the greeting of a colleague, not a student. "Sorry to barge in unannounced but when I learned of this projects' formation I couldn't help but stop by, see how things were going, and offer any assistance I can provide." He moved fully into the room, his hands tucking into his pants pockets as he all but beamed to Seiji. Tyler felt no absence of pride in the young man at having advanced far enough in the science field to obtain such a position.

[Seiji Lockard]

Saphire didn't like men, at all; unless they were Seiji. Dr. Tyler was not Seiji and therefore she did not like him. She was not going to outright attack him no, she knew better than that, but she was going to stay away from him and do her own thing. She had been asked by Seiji to go read over some papers on the other side of the room. No she could not really read, but Seiji was able to see though her eyes so all she had to do was look at the words, and send it to Seiji with the use of his power so he could in a way look at too things at once. A headache did occur from this if he tried to read two things at once, so normally he would focus on skimming over both of them back and forth. That way he was in a way of reading over two things at once, without having to actually go too far and also not having to worry about holding to books or craning his head to read anything.

Seiji did however did keep his friendly smile that turned a little bit excited at seeing an old teacher that he had at his time at the school. "Hey Dr. Malone. How have you been? It's been ages." Seiji asked, and it did feel a little weird to be called by his last name by someone who used to be his teacher. They were colleagues yes, but Seiji still had a lot of respect for Tyler. That and Tyler was a Dr., where Seiji was not. He was still in college, but at the rate he was going he too might end up with the Dr. title, but only time would tell. "Oh, no problem. I would greatly appreciate your help." Seiji responded as he kind of looked around his office for a moment before standing up and going over to Tyler and offering his hand out to shake. "Call me Seiji by the way Dr. Malone. It's too odd to be called by Mr. Lockard from you." Seiji said with a small chuckle as he gestured around his office at what he had up so far, mainly about how nature was with the elements.

"As I'm sure you have heard and can see; I'm focusing on mutants with elemental control at the moment. I have black boxes each able to mimic the certain elements and I was going to test it on the mice first and then the rats. Would you care to help out with the testing and discuss what you personally know about mutants with power over elements?" Seiji asked, speaking fast like normal, but clear enough that if someone was actually paying attention and listening they would be able to pick up what he was saying.

[Dr. Tyler Malone]

"Oh, you know." The doctor couldn't help smiling as he moved further into the area, being careful to give anything that could be sensitive a wide berth, he was no stranger to navigating laboratories. "Still collecting academic achievements like they were handed out in cereal boxes." He chuckled at what was surely a dry attempt at humor since among the staff Tyler's stack of degrees was seen as a bit of a running gag in spite of few finding it very amusing. "And what of yourself?" Tyler asked, as always turning the topic of conversation over to others. "How far along on your academic journey are you now? I'm sure you've finished your Master's."

"Very well, Seiji." Tyler had no problem referring to his former student on a first name basis. After all, the young man was not the first of his pupils to enter a career in science and earn the right to be looked upon as a colleague within the profession. Seiji, though, had always been destined for great academic pursuits, Tyler had thought. Although, Tyler did not spend a year in med-school to be called anything other than 'Doctor'. Soon, though, he suspected Seiji would earn the same title.

"How fascinating." Tyler shifted to look at the boxes Seiji had set up closer. "It would be my honor to assist you in any way I can." He said, eyeing the arrangement with a practiced eye. "Have there been any preliminary findings yet?" He didn't wish to delve into his thoughts on the subject until he knew what, if anything, Seiji had found. Tyler hadn't done any formal research on the topic yet so it made sense to defer to the one who had.

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji gave a small chuckle at Dr. Malone, or Dr. Tyler. It all depended on what Tyler preferred to be called but Seiji had always called him Dr. Malone so that was most likely what he was going to stick with. The joke was a bit dry yes, but Seiji had understood it well enough. Tyler had been teaching at the school for a very long time and he was a very intelligent man. It didn't surprised Seiji at all that his old teacher was still around and still winning awards for his different levels of academic achievements in and probably outside of his science field. The question was turned back on him causing Seiji have to think for a small moment after being distracted with what Sapphire was doing. "I actually am nearing completion of my Bachelors. I didn't go to college right away after school and spent some time working and then came back here to enroll in college. I recently acquired this position that I am in now." Seiji informed Tyler and he rubbed the back of his head and gave a small chuckle. He would be going for his Masters, but he was still up in the air if he wanted to go through the schooling to be a doctor.

He smiled when Tyler basically said that he was going to call him by his first name, which made Seiji feel a lot more at ease. Not that he would have become too uneasy about being called by his last name or anything. He did have jobs where people called him by his last name. If anything many people called him by his last name since they were always worried about butchering his first name. Seiji never was bothered by if someone said it was wrong and he was happy to help them pronounce it if need be. Seiji was smart, but he didn't feel like he was smart enough to be a doctor, not yet. He still had things to learn and was more ready for the hand on experience then the whole reading books and taking test. He would do it because it was necessary but he found greater joy in the work he was doing at the school over then what he was doing in the college. "That would be great. It would be nice to have an extra set of hangs over fangs and a long body." Seiji said making his own joke about all he really ever had to help him with things were his snakes, and that was fine as well.

"The only thing that I have found so far is the common link between mutants that control elements. Thank common link being that they are not personally affected by their power. That is exceptions of course, but in the test of genetic makeup, their DNA has modified in such a way that, say they control fire, they have a less chance of actually being burned by it. There is also the little interesting fact that some can create their own from nothing while other have to manipulate current existing matter." Seiji said speaking a little fast as he tried to convey his finding in the right way. He was not used to sharing such information so the way he was communicating it might have been a little off. He just hopped that Tyler would understand what he was getting at. Either way he moved over to the first box after picking up one of the mice out of the cage.

"This first box here easily recreates the low temperatures a mutant with control over ice can create within themselves. I clearly know that a mouse cannot survive such conditions but I like to monitor every small aspect of how its body shuts down in the cold." Seiji explained again as her pet the mouse, Sapphire seeing it as a waste of a yummy mouse.

[Dr. Tyler Malone]

"Bah." Tyler waved a hand dismissively. Even though he collected academic accolades like they could be purchased from the corner store he still didn't put as much faith in them. "Your mind is one that, I am certain, will exceed the mental acuity needed in order to be handed a largely meaningless slip of paper." He said, moving to get a closer look at Seiji's work. "There's only so much one can learn from books and in your field, there's only so much that should be learned from them." His eyes shifted to Seiji. He always liked the young man even as a student. "A researcher, should you continue along that path, should be the one making the discoveries that will go into future editions of textbooks, not stuck learning what's already been discovered." If he, himself, hadn't been tapped for this project, he was glad Seiji had.

The accolades Tyler sent Seiji weren't lost at the explanation of the young man's preliminary findings, although it was more than enough to pull Tyler's attention in that direction. "Fascinating. Given the variables, have you located any genetic traits common with the mutations? Are these genetic anomalies the same regardless of the controlled element?" He glanced to Seiji, curious as to what he found.

[Seiji Lockard]

"Those slips of papers do make a difference in someone’s ability to get a job and how much their paycheck gives them at the end of the week." Seiji pointed out, but he still understood where Tyler was coming from. He was all for the whole show what you could do and it didn't matter what the papers said. However, those papers were earned because you showed what you could do multiple times and proved that you had the skills without having to show them. Seiji felt like even the awards were important in a certain way. It at least would provide his work with like a backbone to it all. His words when he would make findings or discoveries would carry more weight than Seiji's would. Seiji smiled and nodded several time in agreement to Tyler's statement that you could only learn so much from text books. That was all very true. Books could only teach you so much, going out and being able to do it was where the real skill was. You could graduate from Harvard and not know how to make a pot of coffee from scratch.

Seiji rubbed the back of his head a little bit embarrassed about Tyler's words. Sure Seiji would like that his work to be published someday, but most of the work involved medication and poison cures. That work was alright to have published and put into text books. The real work with mutants that he enjoyed could not be put into official books however. Hidden ones yes, but not out for the public with how humans were. With Seiji's work they could try to twist it around, try to identify mutants via their blood, which was already able to do. Seiji just feared a little that people might find out about what he would do and try to use him. Use him to find ways against mutants, which would be easy enough for him to do. "You flatter me Dr. Malone." Seiji said giving a small chuckle as he looked at the mouse he held in his hand and worked on putting it in the special box.

"I have, well not the precise location as it is different in each person depending on their mutation. However I found that people with the elemental control mutation have it in the same area but not the exact spot. Since you know added count to the DNA or less depending on the mutation." Seiji gave a small ramble as he tried to break down what he already knew about how DNA was affected by the mutation, but there were just so many differences even for people who had similar mutations. "I did find that say those who have power over fire that they can create themselves have a closer DNA mutated section then those who can only manipulate existing fire." Seiji added as he locked the mouse in the first box which would simulate the different level of cold a mutant with power over ice would deal with outside their bodies as well as inside. Having small cameras and monitors to record all the data right away on his computer. Also getting information from his snakes that was able to detect other things in the mouse.