Phantasy Star Universe – Lessons in Practice and Application; Dumans
A/N: Hello! This story is a kind of reference for PSP2I, which I'm working on.
Outline:
~ SEED Cells
SEED Cells, Their Nature and Effect
~ Disadvantages
Physical
Mental
~ Advantages
Physical
Mental
[This represents words that are not part of the lecture.]
[(This represents actions, both that are a part and not a part of the lecture)]
Lecture by: Little Wing Mercenary, Duman Kotone Yuki Junan
Recorded by: Little Wing Mercenary, CAST Vasque
Good morning class. Take out your notebooks; we'll be starting with a lecture today. This will be the only lecture that you will receive this week, so open the books, now. Good, very nice. Title this lecture The Nature of SEED Cells. [Put that cell phone away Miss Anderson before I destroy it, please?] As you can likely tell, we will be starting with the genetics and structure of cells that now make up our body. [For the last time Miss Anderson, put your cell phone away. I wasn't kidding about destroying it.] Good. The first part of this is going to be very simple. SEED Cells are similar to both plant and animal cells. We'll start with plant cells.
First, our cells actually do preform 'photosynthesis' of a sort. [(The sudden crunching of metal and clattering is heard.) I did tell you to stop, Miss Anderson.] Now, because we produce about half of our own energy, we need to eat less that other species. It also devotes more energy to being more 'attractive,' I suppose the word for it is. Other than that, our cells are like animal cells, though we have a higher mitochondria count per cell. That is where the similarities end.
The differences that SEED Cells generate are difficult to explain. One of those changes is a more flexible cell. Normal cells do not have as elastic of a membrane as ours do, for one. [(At this point, Miss Junan bends backwards into a perfect inverted 'v' shape, to the amazement of the class)] Our cells are capable of stretching to a degree that other cells cannot, and it protects us from most large surface impacts. It also makes our minds slightly more flexible, and 'losing' brain cells is not very possible. [Fool girl, don't make me destroy his phone as well. (The student whose phone was taken quickly takes his back, stuffing it away.)] It also allows us to go on for longer periods of time, as our cells have that much more stamina and do not 'tear' as easily. The flexibility allows us to store energy and release it as an Infinity Blast, similar to the Nanoblast system.
You may have already noticed, but it also affects our hair. [(Miss Junan brushes her hair out, showing them the gradient-like strands.)] These are an extension of our body, so cutting your hair is not recommended unless you know how to cut off your SEED energy to the area. They have no pigment because all newly born SEED have only one outstanding feature on their bodies, and that is the color of our eyes. One will always be 'SEED' Blue, while the other will remain the color we had before the change. However, it is possible to change our pigment consciously, but only our pigment at this point in time. We – that is, the older Dumans – are still testing the boundaries. The rest of our bodies will grow to more attractive forms, if slightly altered because our genetics are read somewhat differently than before. Understand? Good. However, if you are like me, born to a human and another species, you likely will hit a secondary growth spurt. It is uncomfortable because the second growth spurt happens in a matter of hours to even minutes. [You there, come here. If you cannot stay awake, please leave. I have no desire to teach idiots.]
Because of these changes, we are classified as a 'predator' to other species. Our SEED genetics give off an aura that can be anything from pleasant to evil, depending on our mood and responsiveness to the imprint of the SEED within.
Alright class, make another Page, and Label this one Inner SEED. I'll give you two explanations; the one that you can use for ordinary conversation, and the other the more technical version. So here it goes. [Mister Terra, if you would like, I could destroy your phone.]
The Inner SEED is an echo of a mind, a separate being that is mostly mindless, but can safely be trained. A long period alone with an untrained Inner SEED is deadly, as they are, when not actively fighting or working in some manner, the more dominant mind.
The explanation before is not truly correct, but it will suffice for any non-Duman. The truth of the matter is much more difficult. In reality, the Inner SEED is another mind and consciousness, one that originally, before the destruction of the crystals, would force us to serve Dark Falz. Now that they are unbound, they are a more violent, less philosophical version of us. We do not become aware of them until some months after the change. If we were to otherwise, we would likely become mad.
Everyone finished? Good. [Ah, Mister Terra, you dropped this.] Now class, I want you to label this particular page The Disadvantages of Being a Duman. I'm sure you don't really want to hear this, but if I start on the good stuff, you little brats wouldn't bother paying attention to the stuff that could get you killed. Now, make a bullet-point list for this, and then I'll explain each one.
~ Low physical health
~ Easily injured
~ Low immune system
~ Constant competition from Inner SEED
I think that low physical health is fairly explanatory, but just in case, I'll tell you anyways. [Write this down, Mister Devi, I know you're a clever man.] We bruise very easily, and if injured too deeply will bleed to death. Our blood does not clot easily, and our bones, for all their flexibility, snap very easily.
Our immune system is very delicate, and even a mild cold can put us in the hospital. [Pay attention Mister Alexander, this is important. (Another voice.) It's Alex.] We are also susceptible to SEED Diseases that are still around.
Finally, our Inner SEED will constantly attempt to gain control of our bodies. This will be covered in depth next week.
Alright, you can label this one The Advantages of Being a Duman. This will be covered in bullet points.
~ Physical augmentation
~ Increased Photon absorption
~ Immunity to brainwashing
~ Ability to change pigment
Despite, or because of our frailty, we are immensely strong, though most of our skill is only available to us when we learn how to gather and infuse our cells with energy. That topic will be covered next week as well. We are faster and more agile, due to our flexible cells, similar to how I demonstrated earlier. The other one, as you have noticed, is physical attractiveness. We are predators; technically we have no need to look pretty. However, we are made to draw and entice in prey. Our voices are also meant to draw in prey, and our ability to change pigment comes with a side effect. [(Miss Junan lifts a hand, shows it to them, before walking over to the lights and shutting it off.)] Observe and write down what you see. [(Her hand begins to glow blue, but remains only a bare glow. She shuts down the ability, and after a second, her hair lights up, dimming as it reaches down to her waist and towards the non-affected hair follicles.)] One of the downsides is that we cannot change the color of the glow unless immensely angry, and when we are asleep, it will activate automatically until you have made peace with your Inner SEED. [(The glow fades and she is soon returned to normal.)] Save your questions until the end please, I will answer all that I can.
This ability to glow never leaves our SEED-enhanced eye, and is one of the reasons that we tend to cover it with an eye patch or contact lenses, though the lenses do eventually degrade and dissolve. [(The lights are turned back on.)] I'm going to skip around a bit, so feel free to shuffle the bullet-point list.
I mentioned it fairly briefly earlier, but our ability to change pigment is a direct result of this. Unlike the glow, we can change pigment to any color we please. [(Miss Junan's hair turns black, before turning silver, quickly shifting to a wide variety of color and then fading.)] This is something that will take training your Inner SEED to master, like most of the things that we can do, and can only affect you. So no, you can't pull a prank on someone using this technique.
For all the trouble our Inner SEED give us, they do allow us one boon. They give us the skill to resist truth serums and brainwashing of all forms. They however cannot tell you if others lie, only keep you from being drawn into the lie.
That is all for today. Any questions can be asked now.
Q: So is there a limit on the pigment change?
A: As far as we can tell, a cell can only be one color at a time, along with the glow effect.
Q: Could you change the color of the overlying skin to change the color of the glow?
A: An interesting question, but no. The glow is a form of pigment in the body that is directly above the standard pigment layer.
Q: Can you project the glow?
A: Quite possibly. Any blood spilled when your body is glowing continues to glow until the energy within it fades.
Q: What did you mean when you said that you couldn't change the body? Does that mean we can't fix our eyes remotely?
A: Another interesting question, but the change should have fixed that unless you were entirely blind, of which only your SEED eye would have been fixed.
Q: What does the glow do?
A: My, my, quite a few questions on the aspect of pigment, huh? The glow is a way of ID from one SEED-Form to another, and it scares off all monsters, as well as potential girlfriends/boyfriends.
Q: Is there a limit to the amount of energy someone can store in a cell?
A: Yes, actually. You can store about four times more energy in your body than a Beast, but the downside is that the energy cannot be held for very long before you spontaneously combust, unless you learn to release energy constantly to match your mitochondrial production, which you won't learn until you gain an Infinity Blast of your own..
Q: What happens if we manage to store more without spontaneous combustion?
A: There are only two Dumans in existence that are capable of that, one of which would be our very own Nagisa, and the other being GUARDIANS employee Ethan Waber. They're more instructed in that, and should you become able to do so in the tests next week, you will attend to them once a week.
Q: Why can't you do that?
A: I was resurrected by Mika. Until I work off her energy, I will only be able to use a limited amount.
Q: What happens if we need to cut our hair for a ritual?
A: If that should happen before you learn to numb your body's senses, dipping your hair and head in ice water and using an ice Photon blade to cut your hair will suffice for now.
Is that all the questions? Alright then, class dismissed!
End of Recording
Teachers Notes: Hello Class. Welcome to the first Class of Gurhal 101. This class is on the basics of Dumans, and I'm debating whether or not to do one for the Communion and the AMF. Tell me what you think, or just ask Questions!
Student Shoutout: Devi stands for Devifoxx, who was the lovely man that made the PSP2I game guide! and one to Squall 'Tabukia' (?) Lione in her Alexander from one of the PSP2I novelizations!
Until Next Class,
Kotone Junan
