Match of the Millennium

There was an incident in Metro City similar to the one in Southtown, Japan. Face contorted in horror but otherwise healthy. I was hired by Emily Collins' parents to see if I could find something out about it. Found that comatose patient's energy was connected to the nurse. Didn't want to sheer the energy connection and risk harming the patient.

Passing familiarity with that case.

After consideration have sent a competitive offer to whoever the caregivers are [Southtown case only] with some Long-term care options. On/if accepting then I should have access to files and treatment logs/notes with which to make a more informed call. Doing no harm and nothing irreparable was the wisest of courses. Nothing yet life threatening has happened with the victim of the first case it might be hasty to assume there is time pressure or a threat to the victims lives overall.

Of more concern is the staffing problem. The medical records could be unreliable if tampered with; obfuscation of some negative status that is going unreported and worsening; or some aspect of the patient being preyed upon.

There CAN be non-malicious contact such you've experienced in similar places. No guarantee's you've not encountered something less than harmful that's merely hostile because you are an considered an intrusive threat.

Recommendation: Do what you do and Investigate. Might turn something up, might give them time necessary to acclimatize to your presence.

If you can get those, that would be a great help to me. When I was at the hospital, the doctor had mentioned that he was about to go on a web conference with the Southtown doctor. You'll probably get access to the notes for here as well.

The staffing is of concern for me as well. Based on first impressions, the doctor seems like he's on the up and up and the nurse seems shady. Especially when you consider that strange thread of energy between them. Speaking as an illusionist, I feel qualified to say that not everything is always what it seems. I'll do what I do. Who knows? Maybe if I jostle a few hives, I'll get some buzzing.

I had agreed to participate in an SNF and upon finding out that it would be for testing out the V-Gage, I almost told them to kick rocks bargain was sweetened by paying for my trip to Japan, allowing me to see if there was anything to find out about the case Southtown, and by them being contractually obligated to keep my data from being saved. They gave me a free unit and having only planned on using it to order food, I ended up feeling my energy in the unit.

I did some research and apparently Lee has finally gotten past the stumbling block of not being able duplicate chi attacks in the Combot 2.0 model. And while showing this off, Lee Chaolan had announced another King of Fighters with the commercial and legal rights to the technology belonging to the winning team. On one hand, obvious trap is obvious trap. On the other hand, I still need make sure technology like that doesn't fall into the wrong hands.

I see.

I thought perhaps you might be a bit more cautious in any further interactions on that front. Your dear friend was placed in the position she is now from the recordings of her fights and brief occasional connection to the units only as required in her matches. Hurdles you will NOT be able to avoid if you're competing. After certain technological limitations are noted as no longer being a factor.

No matter how thoroughly you think or plan in advance you are conspiring against the tournaments architect and hoping the appearance of fair play will protect you. If that weren't enough by itself! You've antagonized the man before face-to-face.

Making all of these events very personal, prodding the beast and then obviously entry into the tournament with the intent of thwarting or financially ruining the man. On reflecting any of these points does this seem less, or more sound and well-reasoned?

To be fair, the 'beast' was the one who prodded me. I was going to just blow the match off until the opportunity to travel to Japan came along. That being said, the fact remains that something like that shouldn't be in just anyone's hands regardless. Honestly, it seems like it's anything but well-reasoned, but the tournament at the moment is my only way of getting at it, legitimately. For now.

There are other factors. He'd probably want me in the tournament as long as possible to keep me from doing anything overt to attack him since he could eliminate me from the tournament and I lose any rights to claiming the prize in the open.

Even in reflection this sounds like a really bad idea but inaction isn't an option. I am open to suggestions as to what to do. Maybe you see this situation from a different angle.

I'll skip over what I think and feel for both our benefits. If you're committed. You should at least take the same precautions your friend never got to.

Trademark your style, image and appearance. Ideally get yourself the best laywers you can and you'd really have a rush job to get this done in the time available, and countries required. This would at least allow you to field a cease and desist or require you be involved in anything involving your brand.

If it gets so far as intellectual property rights then the fact that his technology is based on brain scans and recording of fights then you might have him backed into a corner. With martial arts however? A strong and defensible case could be made for imitation of existent styles, animals and the incorporation new knowledge or technology being a cornerstone of martial arts. Even with a trademark or brand you would probably still be forced into a hell of a legal battle.

On the subject of his technology and the hands it remains in: I don't think anyone has quite realized the problems that man has just invented and invited upon himself. Unless he has. Which might explain why he is willing to pass the aftermath and rights off onto the fortunate 'winners' at the tournament conclusion.

And I should probably end up having any prospective teammates do the same as far as trademarking. My style is based mostly on brawling so that may not be easy to trademark. My spells however are mostly unique to me. That being said it would probably be a painful process since I'd have trademark the spells both with and without the cards as well as the ritual required to store my particular energy into an alternate location without destroying the objects being used to store it.

Before your email, I might have responded with the difference is I was going in knowing that I'd be recorded but thinking about the process to trademark my magic made me realize something that Chaolan may not know enough about me to realize. He probably will have no way properly containing my power and trademarking my energy storage ritual will take that particular process off the table for him. His tech utilizes radioactive metals and my energy is dangerous enough on its own. Him copying my card spells will either be useless at best or at worst be the same potential scenario as him copying my non card spells turning any of my Combots into ambulatory nukes. Inaction isn't an option but neither is participation.

Not a train of thought I am unfamiliar with.

Worst case scenario he manages to replicate that unusual power of yours but from what I have seen that is incredibly unlikely. You may not be overly familiar with the concept of 'Wells' as per needing to draw upon them for more power. Very similar to the same theory as your cards but the Chi needs to be kept in better condition; else it could be corrupting or cause sickness in a healthy host who is reabsorbing or channeling it. Chi, like health does deteriorate, a better quality well will increase the amount they can store but also keep the energy well preserved.

I can assure you! a device capable of holding enough to imitate your power output would be unmistakeably large. Your friend and former teammate carried at least a couple of wells on her person. Small things that would provide her an edge in a fight (Perfectly acceptable accessories for a girl her age and in her style.)

The fact he seems to be gathering energy or samples though this V-Gauge device alleviates some of my worries since it shows no sudden breakthrough in absorbing ambient energies, they should have a fixed amount stored. My concern is, effectively each one of these things could be turned INTO something like your cards. All that is required is the circuit to keep the chi moving so it doesn't stagnate, the charge and a trigger which will then appropriately expend the energy for the desired result. [On a much larger scale since it's an entire 'battery' charge of however much was stored] Your description of an ambulatory nuke was unfortunately apt. Only the scale limitations with the well would probably keep any reaction much smaller. A miniaturized nuclear reactor would be more efficient a power source and have a larger effective radius. (There was some kerfuffle awhile back about those Ultratech Fulgore units and their reactors as 'security' devices.)

It's curious that he has managed to fit devices capable of absorbing chi from living humans into his entertainment devices. I wonder if the same technology is incorporated into the robots themslves, or is it too fragile or dangerous to do so.

What scares me is Chaolan's tendency to fly too close to the sun. Without having the schematics of even this particular model of Combot, there's no way of me telling if it has some type of reactor in the vein of the Fulgore unit. I wouldn't be surprised if in the process trying to understand how to absorb ambient energies he accidentally sets off whatever reactor is in there. That was the basis of my concern about ambulatory nukes.

It could even be problematic if he wasn't selective enough about the chi the units absorb be it through the V-Gage or externally. One of my opponents in the Killer Instinct tourney had chi that manifested in the form combustive blood and corrosive sweat. The other concern is that he'd still find a way to make it compact. Granted, my deck loses power since there is some loss from the transfer of energy and there's also some loss from the parts of the ritual used in the enchanting of the deck to keep the energy from destroying the deck itself, it still is a lot of power in a very compact form.

Him having someone on his payroll that understands rituals and what have you is a cause for concern in and of itself.

Theres nothing wrong with flying a little too close to the sun so long as you can survive the fall. The line between genius and madman is pretty much the same one that divides success and failure. There are forces on this world that correct for unchecked ambition. When legions of powerful mages or warriors try to conquer nations and spread dominion across the world they have a pretty good chance of bumbling into or awakening any number of things; old, hungry and more powerful than they are. Beginning a lifelong footrace race against the creeping and inevitable doom they've brought upon themselves.

Assuming you live a long enough I may introduce you to one or two beings that fall into that category. (I suggest being very polite and no less than charming if you do.)

I concern my interests to these events because it's involving my associates and of the lasting harm these events could cause in any number of ways. There are all manner of inhospitable if not outright fatal spots and places where creatures or people; Entire locations have been poisoned or twisted by the fallout of thoughtless or desperate acts of Magic.

Oh! On the topic of wounds and healing. I recently had my own staff run some tests and had those newly compiled results couriered out to me. Their body is in a perpetually heightened state of alertness. Tachycardia, increased respiration and the rigid muscles, just based on those I would assume it's some form of absence seizure since it checks all the boxes.

Ongoing treatment at the moment is basically related to symptoms of fatigue and getting some nutrients and antibiotics into them for lack of anything else to do. Nothing harmful and there's been no further sharp declines. The bad news however is that we are definitely on a timeline. This is a slow but steady decline where they could live a few more weeks or half a year.

At some point I'll be back in town and at least able to look in on them personally. For now my hands are tied and there are other things that need my attention.