Deduction 1 - [ written ]

[notquiteheartless]

[Sherlock Holmes has been on bedrest for about 48 hours.

However, when his doctor decides to go out for supplies and to see if any of the detective's clothes have shown up (it was either that or let the man get up and see himself, and apparently that was not going to be allowed)... the patient lets himself get up. Not much, just enough to make it into the sitting room.

Which is just as white-washed as the bedroom. Damn it.

Once he can stand to be on his feet for more than ten minutes at a time, those walls are getting painted or papered or something.

He's had time enough to read his Journal and the Guide it contains, and the system itself is straightforward enough. Something like a computer but not quite as efficient. Still, it's something.

It doesn't matter to him that his Journal is in his bedroom and John's is sitting out. It's John's he grabs and a pen nearby that he writes with, unaware of what was broadcast over the journals the previous day.]

I am aware that damage to the wings is ill-advised. However, I am curious: Seeing the distinct disadvantage that they pose, has anyone attempted to surgically remove them? Not ripping or merely cutting-- a proper medical procedure. An amputation. Has it been attempted? If it has, to what end?
SH


[After he's written out all of that, he starts on another project. To some, it may just be evidence of extreme boredom. Others... Well. Others might recognise it.]

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Comments

[written]

[hisapprentice]

[IT'S A CODE PUZZLE.

Challenge accepted!

In careful handwriting, please accept this reply:]

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[written]

[notquiteheartless]

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[Written]

[shadedsunlight]

[Some might see random dots and dashes on the page. Ginia sees Morse Code and it brings a small smile. It takes a few minutes to translate the message, but when she does, she smiles a little.]

I can't imagine removing a wing even under a proper medical procedure would be any different than ripping it off. Inconvenient, yes, but consider it akin to another limb. Besides, even if you do remove it, it'd only grow back.

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[Written]

[notquiteheartless]

Limbs can be surgically removed without killing a patient.

[The wonderful thing about writing, and especially about Morse... Sarcasm can be either read into everything or nothing, and there's no good way for her to know how it's meant:]

-... .-. .- ...- --- .-.-.-

written;

[consultsdetective]

[ ... 8I

brb leaving your code alone because he does what he wants. ]

I'd assume it reached the end of a dead body and a few wasted hours. [ Forceful punctuation included free of charge. ]

written;

[notquiteheartless]

[Even without the picture, he's glanced at too many reports not to know that handwriting. So there's a pause before he replies.

A bit of caution.]

The proper amputation of a limb does not result in that, so why should this vary? Perhaps a death or two while the process is perfected, but it would simply need to be practised.

[written]

[wise_maiden]

[And yet another new feather mentioning surgically removing the wings. It's almost as if they missed reading the part where losing them causes injury and death.]

Any damage to the wings -- surgically or otherwise -- will cause you to become ill or worse, die.

[written]

[notquiteheartless]

Slicing off a limb or having it ripped from one can cause death. Surgical removal has a different result.

I asked if it had been attempted. Has it?

[written]

[truthin_bones]

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That said, as far as I am aware, actual amputation has not yet been conducted on the wings. However, I have been in contact with a doctor who claims to know of someone possessing the skill necessary for the medical procedure.

[written]

[notquiteheartless]

[...Excuse him a moment, Bones. Your message just inspired the closest thing to admiration he's felt for any woman (and most people) in a very long time. And he checks the picture twice to make sure this cannot possibly be Irene Adler.

No, no, certainly not.

Well. All the more remarkable, then.]

I believe I also know someone capable of the task.


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[written]

[thatmadbastard]

[Oh, come on. How can he resist? This is the man that used three levels of coding in his outburst at the library. He cheerfully scratches out a response.]

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[written]

[notquiteheartless]

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[written]

[tellmejohn]

If it has not, would you be the first subject?

[written]

[notquiteheartless]

With my choice of surgeon-- yes.

[written]

[jewitch]

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And I'm pretty sure surgery would still count. I mean, as far as the dead thing goes. This place seems like it would have the loopholes covered.

[written]

[notquiteheartless]

Yes, yes. "Accept what you are told without any evidence or attempts to the contrary." I quite get what the average mindset is.

Boring, all of you. Boring and predictable.

[written] private to sherlock

[sooochangeable]

[How could he ignore this?]

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[Underneath it:]

♥

[written] private to james

[notquiteheartless]

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[Written] [Locked: 80%]

[fleurdesel]

To my knowledge, no attempts have been made. Most would consider it ill advised.

[A moment to recall her old notes on the code, but. Not terribly difficult to reply in kind.]

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[Written] [Locked: 80%]

[notquiteheartless]

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[lostpunk]

Hey, I think I know what that is.

Those dots and such are usually done with flashing lights, right? Peter tried using it with us for a while, but we all got bored of it.

[Or rather, Peter got bored of it and forgot about it, and things were only important so long as their leader gave a damn.]

[notquiteheartless]

Lights or sounds, usually. It has its uses.

[Voice]

[chibiremlover]

[Don't mind the small child who doesn't think to grab a pen and respond. Actually, he was excited at first to talk to someone in morse code as it's been a bit since he practiced it. Then he reads the message.]

Hey! That's not nice! You shouldn't call people names like that!

[Voice]

[notquiteheartless]

When did I claim to be nice?

[written]

[redjacketthief]

[Congratulations--you are now one of the few who can identify this man's handwriting.]

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btw, jackets are awesome. wear one if you don't like the wings. not red. that's mine.

[written]

[notquiteheartless]

["btw"? Who writes "btw"?

Now he almost wants to find a red jacket, just to piss this one off. What, does he think only one person could ever own a jacket of a certain colour?]

I think I'll rely on my own fashion sense, thank you.

[Written]

[lostinmyway]

[It's been quite some time even by her standards since she has travelled to a world with Morse code, and even longer since she's had to use it herself. It comes back eventually, though, and when she works out his message, she presses her lips together. Then she reads through the other, numerous responses.

Finally, in perfectly neat handwriting, she replies.]

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[She isn't going to bother to address his other, non-coded foolishness. It simply isn't worth her time.]

[Written]

[notquiteheartless]

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[ written ]

[markofthebrave]

[Considering the number of wings that she's ripped off others in drafts, Katara is somewhat sickened by this suggestion. Her handwriting, kindly translated by the journal, is neat if somewhat cramped, suggesting someone who had learned to write without having much access to parchment.]

That would be a very bad idea.

[Frankly, in the face of that idea, she doesn't even care about the squiggly lines which are probably some kind of code.]

[ written ]

[notquiteheartless]

Has it been attempted?

[Voice]

[deathsdoctor]

[Hn. That's a nice wager you got going there.

As for the rest, he's going to be absolutely blunt about this. And eyeing the other people on this post who have similar notions of utter foolishness.]

Removing both wings is fatal, no matter how it's done. Death is excruciating and practically immediate.

And no, no one has done it in this enclosure. [Note the slight stress on 'this'.]

[Voice]

[notquiteheartless]

And the record of it being surgically done elsewhere can be found where? I should like to look at it myself.

[written]

[selfinteresting]

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As for the wings, I prefer to keep mine covered under a coat. It keeps them out of the way well enough.

[written]

[notquiteheartless]

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[written]

[ctrlaltdemons]

[Hoooo boy did that coding get Atsuro excited. Challenge accepted, Sherlock!]

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Regardless of them being removed through a proper medical procedure or not, they're still vital and we can't live without them. It would have the same effect as just ripping them off. [Except it'd probably be less painful. But the end result would basically be the same.]

[written]

[notquiteheartless]

Has it been tested in a proper medical environment with the results documented?

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[written]

[cop_an_attitude]

[Staring. Lots and lots of alarmed staring. And then:]

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[written]

[notquiteheartless]

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[geniustheveil]

[She doesn't include her answer in Morse; after all, the comment written in it had been a throwaway, likely a simple test.

Others had also probably warned him about the wings by now. She has more to say.]

Although the wings can't be removed, feathers have been analyzed before.

[notquiteheartless]

Wonderful. Not what I asked, but very interesting, of course. [Sarcasm? Probably.]

[voice]

[iratus]

[There is an amused chuckle as the wraith concludes his translation. It was incredible the things one could learn while in temporary command of an Earth vessel with its databases at his disposal. He answers in voice because writing with an object like a pen is such a clumsy form of communication. His voice, as it happens, has a strange alien echo to it.]

Is this truly a measure of intelligence for your kind? A laughable demonstration.

As for your question, I could think of more useful ways for you to bring about your own termination. But a single wing amputation is said to be survivable, if not incredibly painful. You won't mind if others wish to watch, will you?

[voice]

[notquiteheartless]

As I've said to others by this point-- this is the first step. A way to establish a sort of baseline. Definitive results cannot be judged from a single attempt of a single method.

[voice.]

[folklorist]

It c-can't be done. [ His voice is barely above a whisper and it's honestly borderline mortified. Having both of his ripped off on a draft proved that much. Not surgically no, but even so these wings have proven to be vital in the fact that without them on Helios did not make it and spent an entire four months paying for his death. He doesn't want anyone to go through that sort of pain. So seeing this entry made him go completely pale and if he had to explain, well, he would. ]

You shouldn't try to do it...at all.

[voice.]

[notquiteheartless]

Another verse with the same chorus. I suppose you'll remind me that removing one is highly painful and removing both ends in death. Even though, to my understanding, no one has recorded an attempt to do it under medical conditions.

Yes, yes, all very nice. Let's try to at least be clever with the explanation, shall we?

[nothing] 1/2

[endgames]

[His world actually doesn't have morse code. But with no shortage of examples to go off of in this entry? Shikamaru's starting to figure it out. He loves a good puzzle. So when he finally gets the hang of it...

...huh. Just a test, then? Well that's disappointing. And boring. 8|

Then again, he guesses he shouldn't have been expecting fantastic things coming from a guy talking about chopping - sorry, amputating - his wings off.

Shikamaru probably would've left it at that, but he doesn't skip over the entry without checking for filters he can hack, like he usually does. And... hello there, that's interesting.]

[voice]

[endgames]

[Well all right then, for curiosity's sake, he'll give this a shot.]

Aa... that some kind of code?

[eyesofstrength]

[Well, Sherlock, at least that little code at the end gave Leonhardt something to do since it was evident it was a code from the other responses. His world has a similar one that he's used during missions, so it was merely a matter of some research and examining the samples and he had the idea.

Though to be safe, he's going to disguise his handwriting and cover the journal's camera.]

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I am most curious to hear the results of your experiment, if you go through with it, that is. I can be most patient if needed.

[Yeah, doesn't care one bit what someone wishes to do to themselves. It is Sherlock's choice to make, not his.]

[notquiteheartless]

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voice

[deadlyjuliet]

If you're aware, then why consider surgically removing them? Then again, I suppose you maybe tired of hearing this after all these others have so thoroughly demonstrated the point, hm?

voice

[notquiteheartless]

Because surgical removal is not simply slicing them off with a knife.

I want to know if it's been tried, and I have my answer.