[Windlily: Protoblood.... Now here is an interesting substance. Wonder if perhaps it is a primitive hive mind, each cell aware of the others? ..........
Flare: Do you have any suggestions on what Thodin's comment - "he's been de-carbonised" - might mean?]

[ See Taking Tea with the Dragon for the full discussion.]

Flare:
       I really feel that there's more to this "de-carbonised" than just a way out of a scripting mistake. Thodin's young sidekick suggests that Kai is "inorganic" - so what has his organic body been replaced with!? (and would it be compatible with Zev's flesh and blood........?)

Windlily:
       huum...well, Thodin's reply to 'inorganic' was more of a 'no, just de-carbonised' to American ears. Okay, did you notice that the weapons platform that fired on Thodin and his crew when they were climbing the scaffolding had the same kind of shield effect? Were they decarbonised also? Okay...more thoughts on de-carbonisation...I wouldn't think that you could totally de-carbonise a human body...perhaps just the empidermis? And yes, it would have to be replaced with something...perhaps reflective of energy weapons...we have seen that it doesn't do squat against edged weapons...huum...

Flare:
       Aaaargh!! I simply hadn't made that connection!! [Sound of energy being beating herself up......]

       OK - I'll email some Brit Lexxians and see what they think the dialogue meant!

[See Poll! for the results......]

Windlily:
       (and would it be compatible with Zev's flesh and blood........?)
       [laugh] I'm sure she'll find a way to make it so...if she's given a chance...

Flare:
       A thought - is it actually possible for Kai to finally cease to be? If his body is no longer "human", would he die when the protoblood runs out, or just slip into stasis? Can his body be finally destroyed? Disintegrated/burned up/atomised? Or would the sub-atomic parts just reassemble? Or am I way off into flights of obscure and ridiculous fantasy here?

Windlily:
       OK: I think Kai's body is still human, just modified. It seems to be a logic in this show..... don't do any more work than possible... and I'm not sure how modified it is. HDS seemed certain that he could destroy Kai, though, right? And he would be the one to know... a thing about the protoblood... when it runs out, he might slip into stasis... but... Kai did say that he had almost 'gone' in Eating Pattern. And coming back after he 'runs out' in Giga Shadow seemed almost painful. Maybe the 'soul' starts to slip away also? Huum...and I think that when the protoblood runs out and isn't replenished within a reasonable amount of time, his body would start a normal decomposition, just like if one lost all one's blood and 'died'. Though when the protoblood is still viable, then who knows how much damage Kai could take and still pull himself back together! I do think that if you blew him into little tiny bits [see Windlily put Kai in a big food processer and turn it on..."Okay, regenerate from that, you!"... wink] that he wouldn't be able to pull it off. Okay, this is just what I think. though. I could be totally off base..... [laugh]

Flare:
       I don't think protoblood 'expires'. I think it's the DO's analogue of fuel: it's simply used up in activating the life (pseudo-life?) processes. It doesn't have an expiry date as such......

Windlily:
       Huum...then I wonder where Stan got that 10 days......

Flare:
       Well, there are several possible alternatives:-
       1) Perhaps it's general knowledge that a full tank of protoblood gives you - what? 11 days? 12 days? 10 days worth from the beginning of SN, anyway.

Windlily:
       That sounds reasonable.....

Flare:
       2) Perhaps it's not general knowledge, but sneaky Stan has found out anyway.......

Windlily:
       I think that's even better!

Flare:
       3) Or perhaps he had something to do with the assassins in the past (he was formerly a Class 2 Security Guard, after all.......)

Windlily:
       Huum...interesting observation! [another fanfic pops into Wind-chan's brain..."Back, Back!"...]

Flare:
       4) Or he may just have been pulling numbers out of the air! Maybe in a vain attempt to convince Zev that a dalliance with Kai ain't worth it.

Windlily:
       Huum...well, he sounded like he knew...

Flare:
       You're right - he did. And Stan doesn't seem to be much of a good liar, so let's assume he did know - somehow...... Perhaps he got to clean the Morgue, and watched and listened (as you do) at what was going on there? Just a thought. (My first one was that maybe he did some sort of undercover work for the Heretics, but that seems unlikely. Courier, yes - not too much danger. Active agent - Naaaw!!)
       On the subject of 1) - some random thoughts......
       If I'm right, and protoblood is like fuel, do you suppose it runs out more quickly if more is demanded of it? E.g. - in SN Kai had to repair a pretty major injury, and again in EP. By the time we get to GS, he says his time is really limited, even before half of his protoblood gets spilt.....

Windlily:
       That would work nicely! And don't forget the slice and dice in IWHS. And now he's got a nice big container of protoblood. And not just any ol' protoblood, but concentrated protoblood. Lots and lots of protoblood (well, we'll assume a years worth...)

Flare:
       I agree - it's definitely the 'super' variety! You can tell just by comparing Kai's old (clearish and watery) pb and the new, thick and gungy stuff......

[Windlily laughs out loud, holds up the protoblood container and goes into info-mercial mode..."Our newest product! This highly concentrated form of protoblood - straight from the Giga Shadow itself! - is guaranteed to keep you perking along for three times as long as the old product!"]

Flare [chuckling]:
       It's interesting that Stan actually does know that the protoblood is going to run out - which is why I wonder how widely known that knowledge is......

Windlily:
       Well, that does support your thought about him perhaps having contact with the assassins!

Flare:
       Which generates a whole other series of questions - How much strength does it confer (quite a lot, obviously: Kai pulls Stan single-handed (eurgh - sorry! bad 2-way pun.....) ....

Windlily [chortle]:
       ...Humm...true. Is he as strong as Zev? Or should that be, who is stronger?

Flare:
       .... up into the Memory Catacomb's 'filing cabinet' in SN: but you would think that if a whole bunch of heretics got hold of an assassin, all they'd have to do would be to lock him up or force him to fight until the protoblood ran out......)? [Flare forgets the whole other load of questions ..... brain's in overdrive .... No doubt you'll remind me!!]

Windlily [giggling and jotting a mental note]:
       That sounds very, very reasonable to me. The problem would be surviving the attempt to get such an assassin locked up or fighting with him until he conked out, neh? Could you imagine a whole force of protoblood-driven assassins sent out to wipe out a colony? Very scary....

Flare:
       And I'm sure your freezer idea is right - that's why Kai has to go into Cryo-freeze when not in use [eurgh again.... sorry!] - it must close down the action of the protoblood (fits in neatly with your 'hive creature' idea, ne?) thus prolonging its pseudo-life.

Windlily:
       Yup! That works! Though, do they have another freezer working? Or does Kai just keeps it in there with him...huum...

Flare:
       This was emailed from Tribs:
       Just as an aside... could protoblood be used for healing the injuries of normal humans without corrupting their spirits? And has anyone explored the vampiric aspect of protoblood?

Flare:
       Well, regarding the first question, I would say definitely not. I think protoblood and human blood are mutually incompatible, and any human risking using it would risk being subsumed. As for the second - I'm still thinking about it. However.....
[Flare grins and hands the teacup to Newkate...]

Newkate:
       About a vampiric properties of protoblood... Only two kinds of creatures we saw seem to be able to steal memories - the host of HDS essence and the protoblood-driven assassin. (Giggerota ate brains without any memory flux from them) So protoblood, like the HDS essence, could be able to give a human some abilities of insect... For instance, abilities of memory vampire...
       Healing properties of protoblood, hmmm... Well, Yottskry's spirit did not seem to be corrupted before he touched the brain. But is his body still functional in normal human way? If not, he would very soon start to rot walking, because his body cells could not not be fed and will not renew. Unless the protoblood has preserving abilities, too. Still, I have to rewatch "Giga shadow" to clear some dark spots... [Newkate widely grins with pleasant anticipation...]

Flare:
       So, does anyone else have any ideas?

[February 9, 99]
Flare:
       Mira emailed this to me:
       Over the years I have seen quite some shows with vampires and their transformation rituals and I've gotten the impression the vampire and it's victim (the future vampire to be so to speak) must both taste each other's blood and then of course some killing is suppose to be part of it, isn't it?. In LEXX His Shadow does sort of 'eat' Kai's inner being and sort of replaces it with protoblood that does originate from the Giga Shadow (right?). Which brings me to wonder if His Shadow himself has been transformed into a 'vampire' that enslaves other assassins, or is just a mere extension of the Giga Shadow? There must be a vampire that started it all as there must be something that made The Giga Shadow and His Shadow pop up.
       And then what about the Yottskry thing.. what did His Shadow 'eat' from him?

Flare:
       Hmm..... Thanks, this adds a different slant to things. Any ideas, anyone?