Genkai (solo)

"How long has he been like that?" The little gray man at the doorway asked. Mik didn't wait for the response before he sat down in the chair next to the hunchback. Bryce's head was bent over the terminal looking over the data on the screen. For a moment it seemed as if he hadn't heard his friend's question, but he gave a small grunt of acknowledgement. His regular arm and tentacle were manning the keyboard as he read the information. There were several screens in front of the shorter man. One of which gave a view of what was happening in the chamber, the rest were read showing how well the device was working. Enough screens that room was lit with a soft blue glow. The hum of the computers along the side wall were the only sounds in the room for several seconds before Bryce looked up from his work.
"It's been two hours I think." he finally answered as he stretched his arms and gave a yawn. "I thought he was asleep, but his levels are normal." the man gazing at the screen He stifled a yawn then turned to Mik. The other man was too busy looking over the terminals now. This was but the control room the apparatus that he had created. To call it an apparatus was not giving it justice. The item in question was some bauble or gadget, but a gargantuan of a room that measured several hundred feet long and wide. It had taken many many years to build. Thankfully the longevity of the shinigami was a definite bonus when it came to such research. A chamber that large would never have been completed in a normal lifetime. Stone by stone piece by piece. Mik was filled with pride to see his machine up and running. He stared at the screen with the red haired man in the middle of it. A black and scarlet spot on the field of white that was the large room.
"Come on, you can do it." Mik muttered.

The man in the room of course didn't hear the encouragement, but he was trying to keep himself going in his own way. He was sitting cross legged in the middle of the floor with his eyes shut. His sword was across his lap with his hands grasping the sheath. While the little gray man had explained the theory behind the chamber Arawn wasn't ready for the experience. As Mik told it the room was designed to pul out a shinigami's latent power. A method for them to drawn forth the spirit from within their zanpukto. At the moment the detail escaped him as he struggled to maintain some degree of focus. It felt like a sauna. The air was heavy and his skin felt warm. He was sweating as the temperature seemed to rise. Truth be told it wasn't that hot it was his reiryoku reacting to the chamber itself. The chamber was indeed drawing out his energy; it was draining him. Arawn had worked with sekkiseki before so he knew the feeling of his spiritual energy being drained. But this was different. At first he attributed the feeling to scale of the room, but the heat he felt. Resonance? His reiryoku was was reacting then being pulled. As if the frequency of the drain was made especially for him and him alone. It was like a mircowave oven, agitating his energy. But the energy leaving his body was vanishing. Even in his current state he could feel his own reiatsu. The weight of his own power wasn't new to him. Still it was taking it's toll. Every second felt like and hour. Already his breathing had become shallow as the heat seemed to rise. Despite all of this he couldn't feel Huang Long. It was just him. The blade in his lap was quiet, but he thought he felt a stirring deep within his gut. That alone was the only reason he endured the chamber. Just a bit more. He told himself, his eyes still closed. The feeling only continued to grow. He could feel the heat of his body only increase.

Arawn thought about standing only to realize his body would not respond. It was then he noticed the unfathomable weight that was pushing against his body. In his trance like state he had missed ignored the pressure of his own reiatsu. His own power turned against him? This was insane. Yet the burden wasn't so much as trying to flatten him as he felt himself being squeezed from all sides. It seemed the chamber worked well. Maybe too well if he had this much difficulty. His eyes snapped open. The air was vibrating around like so many times when he released his reiatsu. He gave a small smile, the most he could manage under the current circumstances. This looked as good of time as any to end the testing. Marshaling what little power remained in his body he focused on his arm. Even as he began to pool his energy and concentrate he fell the flow ebb. It was taking everything just to make his right hand release it's grip on the sword. He had been clasping the weapon so tightly that his knuckles were white. The shaky limb rose from it's resting place rose over Arawn's head. Once there he waved it three times.

Back in the booth

"There's the signal." Bryce said to Mik who was still looking at the power reading for his chamber. He really wanted to think up a name for it. Just calling it 'Chamber' seemed rather bland. His thoughts of names were chased away as Bryce repeated his comment. "Arawn's ready to stop." The gray man nodded and went to the keypad and began the shut down sequence. The power couldn't just be cut off, rather it was a series of stops and slow down of the system itself. There was a high pitched whine as the machine powered down and began to decrease it's functions.
"No feedback." he commented as the machinery continued to shut down. "Releasing statis" Just in case of an accident they had employed a spiritual statis field they used for Human world activities. Using it now was should the system overload. Although they were deep underground an explosion might cause Seireitei some damage.
Back inside the chamber Arawn groaned as he felt the pressure around him lessen until he felt nothing at all. His body began to cool down, but he was still covered in sweat. It was being tossed into a cold bath after a long work out. Refreshing at first, then very chilling. He hadn't noticed that he was taking deep long breaths once the system stopped. When had he stopped breathing? This air felt fresh and cool to his tongue. As he rose his zanpukto fell to the ground and rattled across the floor. Arawn almost toppled over. As weak as a newborn kitten still he managed to keep his balance. After a moment he felt his strength return enough for him to bend over and retrieve the weapon. Doing so made him light headed, but he stood back up and tucked the sheath into his belt. There was a hiss as the door to the chamber opened. Walking slowly Arawn exited the white room. The air felt even better outside. Now with the heat of his body gone he was cold. He began rubbing his arms and chest trying to gain some warmth as he made his way to the control room. The chill was gone by the time he reached Bryce and Mik.
"So how was it?" The short man asked him as he emerged through the doorway.
Arawn hid his grimace as the entered the cold room. With some many computers they needed the lower temperature. "I feel like I've been thrown through a wheat thresher." He said flatly. Mik laughed, but was happy that the device hadn't simply exploded as many had theorized. "I'm going to feel this in the morning." the red haired man said as he dropped into a chair. He noticed how happy the small man was. "No results." he said tapping his sword." But the smile didn't vanish from the other man's face. Arawn had seen that face before; excitement. He didn't noticed that he too was smiling.
"I'm not worried." Mik replied already looking at the printouts of the recent session. "I think we're on the way." Arawn could only shrug. Maybe this would be worth his time after all. Still he wondered about that feeling in his stomach that had vanished moments ago.