Liana (Ravnica)

For The Planeswalker from Minorad, see Liana.

Liana (Ravnica)
Details
Race	Human
Birthplace	Ravnica
Lifetime	Mending Era
Relatives	Deceased father
Sources

Liana is a Simic researcher and former apprentice to Florin Ozbolt, the scientist who became Experiment One. She was much younger than him, as he was the same age her deceased father would have been.

History

Liana was interested in compatible philosophy, and Florin Ozbolt's name was put forward as a possible mentor. Liana's philosophy was that the power the Simic wielded over life was staggering, and they had a responsibility to create more with it than just biological curios. They could make things like Florin's lighting system made of green bioluminescent globes, that could improve people's lives. They could give medical treatments unlike any others, and make life in the city better for everyone. Master Florin seemed to agree and thus accepted her as an apprentice.

The pair spent their first time together working on an innovative limb-replacement therapy, using injured rats to test results. They were using a mimetic ooze to read and ultimately recreate the pattern of the missing limb. Unlike the forbidden use of cytoplast to transfer genetic material, the ooze itself wasn't contributing or transferring anything, and it was thus legal to experiment on according to the new Simic law.

As they often did, the two sat down and discussed philosophy. They agreed that natural life included sentient life and that it was unethical to experiment on other sentient beings. Florin promoted the idea that experimenting on oneself for the greater good was a noble cause. When seeking to improve the world, start by improving yourself, and when you improve yourself, you may change in ways your prior self would find surprising, or even disturbing. Florin asked Liana if she was ready for such a thing, and she reluctantly agreed. Satisfied, Florin permitted Liana to go see her love interest Jovan.

The next day, the rat's ooze-graft had started to grow, and within a week, it was scampering around on four paws, one of them gelatinous. When Liana showed this to Master Florin, he smiled bigger and brighter than she'd ever seen. The scientist was now ready to proceed with the cryptic test that he called Experiment One.

A few days later, Liana returned to the lab to find it seemingly abandoned, although the bioluminescent lights had been left on. Liana was struck by a foreboding feeling, and nervously examined her surroundings, only to notice that the ooze in the tank was moving. She carefully peered into the tank and noticed human organs and ribs inside. Suddenly, the ooze launched itself out of the vat, and Liana jumped back, shouting for her master.

Then the shape opened its eyes, and she understood. The ooze had taken Florin's shape, just as it had taken the shape of the rats' missing limbs. It had recreated the dome of his head, gelatinous, hairless, and two translucent arms hefted his bulk above a tangled mass of ooze. Through the surface of the thing's skin, she could see bones and a dissolving web of organs. But the face... the face was unmistakably his, and the eyes were as bright as ever.

Then the thing that had been Florin Ozbolt spoke, and it held her master's familiar rasp. It greeted Liana, and when she asked what he had done, he told her he had bettered himself, just as they had spoken of in their debates. He could think better now, his glands were gone, he could scrape sustenance off the floor as he moved, and he had no hunger, no adrenaline, no lust, and no fear. He told her the real problem of humanity is the frailty and folly of their natural organs, especially the brain.

Liana backed away, telling him he was sick and needed healing, but he kept slithering towards her, bidding her to go into the vat herself, to remake herself as they would remake the world. He lurched forward, reaching out for her.

Liana turned and stumbled through the darkened lab, out the door, down the street. She kept running, and she did not look back.

Story appearances

Title	Author	Publishing date	Set	Setting (plane)	Featuring
Experiment One	Kelly Digges	2013-02-18	Gatecrash	Ravnica	Liana, Florin Ozbolt