View source for Z-SOB01 (Jun 18, 2023)

<span style="font-size: 40px;"><strong><center>Z-SOB01</center></strong></span>
__TOC__
<h1>Puzzle</h1>
<p style="text-align:center;font-size: 20px">“Not quite thinking out loud.”<br>
See: Z-TWH05 | 3 Words</p>
<h1>Clue</h1>
<span style="font-size: 20px"><strong>Hover over the clues if you require!</strong></span><br>
<span style="font-size: 20px">Clue 1: <span class="spoiler-text">What, if not out loud, is Mercutio thinking in?</span></span><br>
<span style="font-size: 20px">Clue 2: <span class="spoiler-text">He's Thinking In...well, something.</span></span><br>

<h1>Answer and Explanation</h1>
<span style="font-size: 20px">Answer: <span class="spoiler-text">Thinking In Pen</span></span><br>
<span style="font-size: 20px">Explanation: <span class="spoiler-text">That's what Mercutio's doing in Z-TWH05.</span></span>
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<span style="font-size: 20px; color:orange"><strong><center>⚠️BEWARE: THIS IS DECLASSIFIED INFORMATION. WARY EYES ONLY. ENTER AT OWN RISK.⚠️</center></strong></span><br>
<h1>Summary of Receipt</h1>
<span style="font-size: 20px">Mercutio explains what he knows about Blood, with a capital B, based on his former credentials as a member of Division Juliett. Blood is a magical concept - originally called 'Blut' - that exists in a symbiotic relationship with the soul, both influencing and being influenced by it. Somehow, this Blood can enter a liquid state at times, though that's a topic for a far more secure channel. Other than that...well, that's it. Knowledge of Blood is fairly scarce.</span>
<h1>Transcript</h1>
<span>Receipt: Z-SOB01<br>
Author: Mercutio<br>
Status: Secret<br>
Subject: Kings Cult<br>

Blood. Such a strange thing, no? At least my expertise can finally be of use. For those unaware or oblivious to the meaning of my name—Mercutio—before joining the former Cafe and Diner and concurrent to my time in this, well, no better term for it than a misguided pati, eh? I primarily work for Division Juliett, the Magical Research Division of the Astoria 23rd Agency. And while the Pathologist might not have studied the intricacies of Blood, I assure you I have. I suppose the first hurdle when it comes to Blood is the intentionally confounding name. I will try my best to refer to Blood, the magical concept, always with a capital B, and blood, the oxygenating substance, with a lowercase b. But, then again, I am not perfect, and neither is the CaDCom Autocorrect.

So, I suppose the first mystery of Blood is the name itself. The most commonly accepted belief is that it was Dr. Henricus Khunrath who first coined the term Blut. It is my personal belief that it was two parts obfuscation and one-part eugenics or other such nonsense. A lot of Alchemy was unfortunately built on the back of outdated ideas, no? And the name Blood has stuck around in the magic community for centuries, and once a name sticks, it is hard to change. Though another reason it is still so commonly called Blood is, well, there is no better term to describe it, for we do not know exactly what it is.

Blood is a part of the soul. It isn’t the soul itself, but it exists in a sort of symbiotic relationship with the soul. It is both influenced by and influences the soul. There is some push to use the more academic term, Spiritual Energy Resonating Unique Matrix or SERUM, but then, well, the interesting thing about Blood is that in some cases, it enters a tangible liquid state… which I suppose “serum” would also cover, but Blood is a much more engrossing term. Though, to discuss liquid Blood I believe I will need to both up the security of this report and double-check some of the research on it.</span>