Remnants of the Earth
SPACE STATIONS => TRIM => Topic started by: Anonymous on June 12, 2008, 06:24:56 pm
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((OOC: I left the message open; I have little idea who'd even be sending it. :D )
Tetra had been pacing Wing Alpha for quite a while, mainly to unnerve the experiments. Every so often he would cast a condemning glance into one of the cells, causing some occupants to scowl or curse under their breaths, others to cower, and some to pay absolutely no attention, still writhing or scratching or being otherwise tormented by the effects of Tetra's latest failed viruses. Watching Mae perform tests on subjects whom he didn't like usually put Tetra in a good mood, but he was put off to no end now that he had to find a different subject for his virus. Number 616037564—or Hendrik, as Mae insisted on calling him—had been a perfect specimen. However, he was almost completely useless now; vampires were not susceptible to viruses, and Tetra could think of no more efficient mechanism by which to alter DNA. Such a pity...
He ran one hand through his hair and sighed. He was a bit more than halfway through the wing, and yet hadn't found a suitable subject. His other hand clutched a syringe and a fresh hypodermic needle, some cotton balls, and a few bandages. No latex gloves, however... he had never had any luck with them. Claws did tend to pierce through things... however, he had gotten very good at avoiding caustic substances, and was a difficult one to infect due to his variable body temperature. I was made to work in such a facility as this, he thought proudly.
He looked dispassionately into a few more cells, and a thought hit him. Edanith. He smirked rather malevolently and turned around, increasing his pace to a speed which most species would consider "running". Why should I waste my time meandering around Wing Alpha when I could just go ask?
He arrived at the main hub of TRIM in something close to record time. "You," he said, confronting a woman at a video screen. She turned around, looking startled. "Have we received any transmissions from Edanith, regarding possible test subjects?"
The woman held a button on the headset she was wearing. "Indeed, Doctor Zarovia. We received one this morning, as well as the mage that goes with it. He is designated '102379', and being held in Wing Alpha..." She turned and made a few quick keystrokes. A compact printer-slot embedded in her console spat out a map. "...Right here. Would you like to see the transmission, or..."
"Of course," said Tetra, drumming his nails on her desk. "It would be impolite to just borrow someone's mage without telling him." The woman called up the message and handed Tetra a headset. Ill-fitting though it was, he put it on. She struck a key, and the transmission began. Tetra watched it to the end, pleased at his good fortune. He held the same button the woman had held earlier. "Reply," he commanded. The woman touched a key and a recording screen popped up. She moved out of the way as Tetra thought about what he would say. It would definitely be interesting if they remembered my name. He snickered to himself. Tetra Zarovia, the son of the excommunicated Edanithian geneticist. He pushed the record button.
"Thank you for choosing TRIM, the most secure and trusted torture facility in the known universe since it was founded. We are grateful to have your troublesome mage here. We will definitely instill a sense of respect in him over the course of his stay here..." he smiled unnervingly, "and we promise he will return to you a changed man. One way or another. Rest assured that he will be returned to you in perfect working order. He is presently in the care of Senior Geneticist Tetra Zarovia." Tetra twisted a lock of hair around one of his fingers. "We will return him upon request, otherwise we will run a few tests on him and then give him back. Again, thank you for your patronage of our research."
Tetra pressed the button again and silently handed the headset back to the woman, wandering off toward Wing Alpha.
He found the cell with a minimum of difficulty, opened the door, and quickly stepped in. "Good news, 102379. You didn't get one of the crazy scientists." He set out his instruments on a small table in the corner of the room, which was far too short. "Good afternoon. I am Doctor Tetra Zarovia... but you may call me sir."
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Three months prior, 102379 had been forced to fight a bloodsucking mage. When he had not produced his master's desired outcome had been beaten and mentally tortured across his mind-link. His master had been repromanded and 102379 had been removed from service.
102379 had been in the hospital since the mage had escaped and was now at a level where he could be sent back to work. He was expecting to be reassigned any day now. Since being here he had been healed to a level that he had not been in seven years. It nolonger hurt to move, he had regular feeding times, excersize that didn't involve being beaten, he nolonger wore the headband that had been drilled into his head and he had not been tortured since coming here. He still looked undernourished and still had scars criss-crossing his body but he was stronger than he had ever been.
As grateful as he was for all the kindness the staff had shown him, he truly believed that he deserved the treatment his master gave him.
102379 was now naked in a warm, white cell within the hospital wing. He heard footsteps coming towards his cell so he uncurled himself from the corner of the room, stood up and saluted. There were voices yelling.
'No, I will not allow it. Please tell him that Zelo isn't ready,' shouted a female voice.
'Stand down mage. Doctor, control your mage,' said an authorative voice.
'Emma, settle. It is not our business what the captain wants done with Zelo,' said a calmer, older voice. Probably the Doctor.
'But, but TRIM. He's only just back to normal mental levels, and he still flinches when anyone says the Captain's name. What's he done to deserve that?' protested Emma.
'It is for Captain Kaenos to decide,' said the authorative man.
102379 cowered and stepped back as the door was open. He would obey whatever was decided. He stiffened and looked ahead.
'Are you 102379?' asked a man in full uniform.
102379 nodded. A shift was pulled over his head and he was chained up. He looked ahead and followed obediently as he was pulled from the room.
'Is that really nessecary?' asked the doctor.
'Captain's orders.'
102379 was teleported to the from desk at TRIM. By then he was trembling with fear and had to control his breathing to keep from crying out. He had heard terrible stories about what they did here, mainly from his master. After the soldier pulling him and the man behind the front desk finished talking he was taken to a small cell. When he was unchained and locked in he curled up in the corner. What were they going to do to him? Remove his organs, inject him with various chemicals to see how much pain he could handle before dryin, force him to enhance his own pain or use his own elementalism against him? Make him freeze the water in his blood or set fire to his own heart? After what he did, he truly deserved anything they did to him.
He remained curled up in the corner, shaking and sweating with fear before he heard the door click. He stood up and salulted obediently. A tall and well, twisted man came in.
Good news, 102379. You didn't get one of the crazy scientists. The man placed some tools on the table next to 102379's chart. Good afternoon. I am Doctor Tetra Zarovia... but you may call me sir. He was the type of man that looked like he was going to enjoy what he did to 102379. 102379's knees buckled and he went into a full bow. He placed his head in front of the man's feet so that if the scientist wished, he could be kicked more easily. He closed his eyes, waiting for some sort of torture to begin.
'Y-y-yes, Ssssssir,' muttered 102379. His voice almost cracked with fear, hopefully the scientist wouldn't take it as disobedience that he had fallen.
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Tetra was impressed, without a doubt. The mage saluted automatically as the door was open, and the mere sound of his voice (or the sight of his face; it could have been either) caused his knees to lose strength. He looks like he's never seen a lucidius before.
The scientist knelt, noticing that this mage was quite short, even for a human. That is probably due to the way they treat mages on Edanith. I've seen worse cases than this. He took the young man's chin in his hand, scratching his cheek with one long claw. "You're certainly a submissive one, aren't you?" He rose to his feet, still hunched over. "Stand."
Tetra took the thin vial containing the virus from his coat pocket. "This is a standard DNA-altering virus. Symptoms: itching, inflammation, dizziness, double vision, fainting, and utterly insane headaches. If it works properly, you should be a mage and a psychic by the end of the week." He gave Zelo a smile like an axe murderer, which, if it weren't for Tetra's pointed teeth, would have looked more like a used-vehicle-salesman smile. "If it doesn't, that is, if I slipped up once or twice over the past three days, which is quite possible, you could wind up a mage and a female." He registered the horrified look on his subject's face. "Just kidding. I've done that one before, and never repeat such miserable failures... at any rate, I assure you the antivirus will work properly."
"Now," he said, leaning over the table and attaching the hypodermic needle to the syringe, "this is the less crazy part. We can infect you today, but you're quite undernourished. We'll put you on a proper feeding schedule, at least for the duration of the infection." He uncapped the vial and stuck the needle in it, drawing back the end of the syringe. "What an ironic situation. You see, twenty-two years ago, I too was sent to TRIM from Edanith!" He snickered to himself. "Oh, what tangled webs we weave... sit down, so I can inject you."
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When his new master grabbed hold of his chin, 102379 lifted his head slightly and opened hos eyes. He took care not to look into his master's face, his previous master had said that mages should not look upon their betters without permission. 102379 believed it.
You're certainly a submissive one, aren't you?
'Yes, Sir.'
102379 obeyed the command, still trying not to look at his master. He listened to his master, unsure why he was being given information. Was he allowed to know anything about what would happen to him? He would probably be tested on this information later. 102379 was terrified, he was already an abomination in the eyes of the gods, why would anyone want to create a disease that produced it? He nodded his head slightly to show he understood, though much of what his master said sounded foreign.
102379 shuffled over to the chair and offered his arm out to be injected. This was better than being with his previous master, for that he felt grateful. He opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it. What if he said thankyou and the scientist thought he was being sarcastic or rude?
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Tetra smiled calmly. This was much easier than the previous subject would have been. He took hold of 102379's arm and aimed the needle carefully. "Don't move, or I'll have to stick you again." The needle went in smoothly, and Tetra pressed steadily on the back of the syringe, slowly releasing the virulent solution into the mage's bloodstream. "I'd tell you not to try anything that might infect me, but you don't seem like the type."
Tetra pulled the needle out and walked back over to the table, taking about two steps to cross the room. He took one of the cotton balls and a bandage, and extracted another vial from his pocket, this one containing clear liquid. He went back over to 102379 and poured some of the liquid onto the cotton ball. This was one of Tetra's favorite antibiotics, partly because of how effective it was and partly because it burned like hell when it touched a wound. He swabbed it over the hole the needle had left, and covered it with the bandage. "Perfect," he said, in the monotonous voice used by doctors since time immemorial.
He collected his instruments from the table and turned back to his subject. 102379 was indeed undernourished; if he was not kept healthy, the symptoms alone might kill him. "Have you eaten today? Or, you know, this week?" He shook his head. "Better question. When was the last time you had a decent meal?"
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OOC: You seem to be a little confused about his name, sorry. My bad. His number is 102379 and his name is Zelo. It has both on his chart but he only thinks of himself as mage number 102379. He will answer to both though. Oh, and when should the symptoms start setting in and how severe are they?
Don't move, or I'll have to stick you again.
102379 was unsure if he should reply or not. He diceded to stay quiet. He had not dirrectly been ordered to speak and speaking out of turn was probably the worst offence of the two.
The liquid on the cotton ball stung, then as it sank into the skin it bagan to burn. 102379 clenched his teeth and winced. Mages deserve their pain, I deserve this pain, he thought. He had not been expecting it to hurt.
'I'm sorry, Sir,' it was his fault he was undernourished. If he had been able to serve his previous master better he would have been fed more often. 'I have been fed twice a day for three months. Before that...'
The memories of the day his had been removed from service still made his mind sting, far more than the liquid was stinging his arm. He groaned and hung his head lower. 'I'm sorry,' he muttered in a quieter voice.
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((OOC: Numerical designations are the norm at TRIM anyway. Tetra wouldn't care anyway... for third-person's sake, I'll call him Zelo.
The itching and inflammation will be first, increasing in severity as the week progresses, followed by the dizziness, double vision, and, as that gets worse, fainting, which should be the next day. Headaches start about halfway through the week, leading up to the worst one in about five days, which should open the psychic pathways in the brain, or whatever. Feel free to skip time/have this go horribly wrong.))
"I'm sorry, sir..." Not being psychic, Tetra had very little idea of why Zelo was apologizing. It makes sense for such a servile slave-mage to take everything as his own fault, however. "I have been fed twice a day for three months. Before that..." Tetra understood from the video message that Zelo had not been in his master's care for some time before he was sent to TRIM. I wonder what he did. "I'm sorry."
I didn't expect him to remember his feeding schedule from while he was in servitude. He probably didn't have one. "Twice a day sounds reasonable, but we'll have to increase the portion size. You look like a drowned feline." He ran a hand through his hair, feeling more like a babysitter than a geneticist. "I'll come back in a few hours to log your progress, with a plate of food. If your behavior stays satisfactory, your meals will remain regular. I don't feel like dealing with another obstinate subject..."
Tetra opened the door and slipped out silently, heading back to his office to deposit his things.
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102379 nodded to show he understood. He felt ashamed at his appearance and tried to cover himself a bit more by wrapping his arms around his body. At least he was allowed to wear the shift. When his new master opened the door he stood up promptly and saluted, his eyes were straight ahead.
Once his new master was gone he went back into the corner and curled up. He placed his head on his knees and closed his eyes. Was he imagining it or was his skin beginning to itch? He rubbed his arms to try and stop them from itching. Other than that, he just continued to try not think of things that were goingto happen to him. The side effects didn'tseem all that nice.
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((OOC: Skip!!))
Tetra stood at his cluttered desk in the medical facility of Wing Alpha, inserting a few small vials into a machine. He had been hard at work for the past five hours, taking advantage of his fully-wakeful hours in whipping up an anti-virus. This is the easy part, thought Tetra. I know which genes to target, and what I've done to them. Now to create a virus that resets everything. He pressed a button on the machine, and its input screen dimmed. A light began glowing softly yellow, and the machine came to life, purring like a large metal cat.
Now he had to wait. This was always less agonizing when an experiment was in progress. He gently kicked his office chair out of his way, grabbing a notepad and pen on his way out. The notepad already had some writing on the first page: the date and time of the initial injection. Tetra shut the door to his office and walked briskly into the residential area, and the kitchen. He opened the common refrigerator, hoping someone had gone out for groceries recently. The refrigerator, thankfully, was relatively full. Humans are omnivores, he reminded himself. He grabbed a fruit; he had once known what they were called, because his neighbors on Edanith had grown them. He closed the refrigerator and opened the freezer, and took out a package of meat. Poultry, he thought, probably from Aedolis. Tetra had no idea how much humans normally ate; it was never any concern of his. He would have served himself most of the package, so he took about half of that portion and put it on to cook. He added a few spices, though not as many of the spicy ones as he would have used normally. This mage is lucky I'm not one of those scientists who can't cook. I never understood them at all. He cooked the meat conventionally, rather too lazy to be creative, and set it on a plastic dish, along with the fruit. As an afterthought, he took part of a loaf of bread and added it to the plate. That seems about right. He set off, with his notepad, pen, and plate of food, back to Wing Alpha.
The mage was asleep when Tetra arrived. In light of this, he slammed the door, smirking at Zelo's reaction. "Are you awake now?" He set the plate of food on the table he had used earlier and leaned against the wall. "I brought your food."
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102379 was curled up in a ball in in the corner of the room, fast asleep. The door slammed and his head banged loudly against the wall. It took him a few moments to realise what had happened. When he did he jumped to his feet and saluted his master. 'Sorry Sir, yes Sir,' he said. His voice rushed out so it probably didn't make any sense.
He hung his head back down to its normal position and walked over to the food. He scratched his arm, the itchiness was getting worse. He winced when he scratched his arm, it had gone puffy where he had been scratching. He looked at the food and his stomach growled. Was he allowed to eat it? He hadn't been given permission so he just sat there looking at it and waiting for him master to tell him to do something.
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Tetra noticed Zelo scratching his arm and was about to begin writing observations, but... he was just standing there. Normally Tetra would have had to hold the subject at arm's length to keep him from just taking the plate by force. This is still preferable to that, though. "Go ahead," he said, "eat it. Must I tell you to do everything? Unless you don't like what I brought, which is a possibility. I have no idea what humans prefer to eat..."
He positioned his notebook and pen, scribbled the date and time, and waited a bit for Zelo to finish chewing. This will be the difficult part, as the only words of which he has demonstrated knowledge yet are "yes", "no", "I'm sorry", and "sir". "So, how do you feel this afternoon? Show me that arm." Oh, wait... he hasn't said "no", has he? Interesting.
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Must I tell you to do everything?
'It-it's fine, thankyou sir,' 102379 said. He hesitated before picking up the apple and staring at it. 'I'm sorry Sir. I don't understand.' He then bit into the apple.
So, how do you feel this afternoon? Show me that arm.
Now he was really confused. Why was his master being kind to him? Mages were supposed to be there to be tested, punnished and obey commands. TRIM especially, his previous master had sent more image of TRIM torture methods than 102379 could count. He wasn't there to be cared for.
'I feel fine, Sir,' he muttered. He put down the apple and offered up his arm.
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Tetra didn't respond, content with the fact that the subject was eating. He waited a few seconds. Again, irregular. Maybe he's complacent with my having told him he'll be fed twice a day. Most subjects would have jumped on that plate like beggars after a stray coin...
"I feel fine, sir."
The scientist would have rolled his eyes, were he given to that sort of reaction. He made a sound that was halfway between a disappointed sigh and a growl. "That is not what I meant. I didn't take time out of my insanely social schedule to make small talk with a test subject." He tapped the back of his pen restlessly against the notepad. "I came to record the progress of your symptoms. It's a formality, really, but if this isn't painfully accurate, I'll never be able to tell if I've botched it again and given you something that alters the part of your DNA that tells you to breathe, or some such thing." He slumped against the wall, a look on his face like he was thinking up more painful testing procedures a mile a minute. I'm not being paid enough to work with such utter fools. I should have stayed in research, and had some other test-tube-pushing idiot do the menial labor. "Let's try this again. This time, I want to hear any slight changes, drastic changes... something worth the ink I'll be using to write it down. How do you feel since I injected you with the virus?"
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102379 went straight to the floor and bent his head down to his knees. 'I'm sorry master. I-I.. I'm sorry,' he whimpered, waiting to be struck or some such. When nothing happened he hesitated and pushed himself into a sitting potistion. He drew a breath and said, 'Sorry, Sir. My skin itches, especially my arms. They are also starting to swell and they sting a bit.'
102379 hoped his symptoms pleased his master. He was already failing his new master by speaking out of turn and questioning him. It was not even his right to know why his master was being kind. He was a mage and that was all. His life was there to obey and obey alone.
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((OOC: I probably won't timeskip irregularly in this thread. Tetra will come in twice a day until the end of four days or something goes wrong.))
Tetra looked down at the cowering subject. He rather liked being called master out of fear like that... "There's no reason to apologize for the first offense. It's when you do something I've already told you not to do that you'll need to suck up." He quickly wrote the symptoms on his notepad, his handwriting nigh-indecipherable to most people. If his superiors wanted to see anything from him, he'd have to type it out. Not that typing with claws is any easier for me. "Your arm's all red, too. Good."
"You may continue eating," he said dismissively. "I'll be back tomorrow morning. Not that you'll know what time it is. I hope your caretakers on Edanith won't be too angry if you come back nocturnal." He stood in the doorway a bit, thinking. "No, they wouldn't be. I'm sure there will be worse wrong with you by that time. Good night." Tetra stepped out the door and walked down the hall in the direction of his office. I hope he understands I'm only being civil to him because my virus will not. He smirked. He has no idea what awaits him over the next four days...
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102379 got to his feet and saluted as his master left and closed the door while inside he fought the urge to cower in the corner. Once the door was closed he grabbed the bread and curled into the corner yet again. Mages had no right to use furniture unless they were ordered to.
He began eating the bread but could not finish it. He hoped his master wouldn't find it disobedient to leave food uneaten. He tried to force more down just in case but began to feel nausious. He placed the bread down and tried to sleep.
102379 had no idea what time it was or how long until his master returned. He reached for the bread but felt too sick to eat and placed it back down. He groaned as his senses came to him. The darkness around him seemed to be swimming. He put his head to the floor and groaned again, this time closing his eyes and holding his head. He felt like everything was spining and he tried to crawl over to the toilet in the other corner. He got half way before collapsing on the floor and vomitting up bile. He lifted a hand to try and wipe away some of the liquid. His face was puffed up and sore to touch. He lay there in his own vomit, waiting for the the pain to stop or his master to return.
The pain did not stop.
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Tetra awoke rather late the next morning, having actually changed for bed for the first time in four days. At first he didn't really feel like getting up and dressed, but then he remembered that today would be one of the more... interesting days for his newest subject. He slipped into his clothes and finger-combed his hair until he decided it looked presentable. When was the last time I took time off? He remembered vaguely. He had gone on a space-cruise, but couldn't go to Aedolis, wouldn't go to Teinar, and had no reason to go to Edanith, and so stayed on the ship the whole time. I am a horrible vacation planner. That must have been years ago.
He walked quickly to his office, a habit only overridden when he really didn't want to do something, and pushed his chair aside. Another habit of Tetra's: standing up to use the computer. He pulled up a window linked to a surveillance camera in Zelo's room, thanking whoever was involved that they had finally gotten the link set up. He saw the subject in question, lying there in a pool of... something. "When did that happen?" Tetra asked out loud, scrolling through the video history. He managed to pinpoint the time: earlier this morning, about four hours ago. He spotted the notepad he had been using, and scribbled down the time. He took a roll of paper towels and a bottle of cleaning solution from a high cabinet and made his way toward Zelo's cell.
The cell door clicked and swung open, and Tetra walked in singlemindedly. He dropped the notepad and pen near the door and knelt to clean the mostly-dried vomit off the floor. "Disgusting, no doubt, but progress often has to be." The subject stirred next to him, and he paused in his almost-frantic cleaning. "Good morning." He resumed scrubbing the floor. "Bad choice of words. I admit it was rather thoughtless of me to bring food so late yesterday, considering I knew this was coming. If you can stand, go wash yourself. If not, try to move yourself closer to the sink... which is that way." He pointed in the direction of the sink and toilet; the subject was inevitably disoriented.
Tetra finished cleaning the floor to the best of his ability, resolving to send someone in later that day. Being at best an unbearably fastidious person, he had managed not to get anything on his skin or clothing. "Now, if you can talk, I want to hear how you felt when you woke up." He picked up the notepad and pen, and tore a page out of the back. "If not, I hope you can write. Failing that, draw pictures, and I'll do my best. Failing that, I see why they sent you here."
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102379 had not slept since he had vomitted the first time. How could he when his stomache felt like it was pulling itself apart? He heard the door and moved to stand up. His eyes didn't seem to be able to focus on anything and he swayed dangerously before tripping and landing on the floor. He pushed himself up again and clung to the wall. He raised one hand in salute. His master said somethin but his head was spinning too much to undertand. He lifted his head to try to hear better and saw his master pointing. He used the wall to push himself over to where his master had pointed. He found the sink and held onto it. He fell to the floor, hit his head on the sink and clutched at his head. He shuddered and groaned, at least there was nothing trying to pull his mind apart again.
He pulled himself over the sink and clung to it like it was the only thing holding him to life. He clutched the baisin with his body and an arm and cluthed the tap with the other. He tried turning it but it wouldn't budge. He hung there trying to think but his mind was not focused enough. He continued trying until his master gave him another order.
Now, if you can talk, I want to hear how you felt when you woke up.
102379 opened his mouth but instead of talking, nausia flooded through his body and he dry wretched into the sink. He couldn't write; he had never been taught to read either. His previous master had prohibitted him from learning anything that might jepodise his usefulness.
When the wretching finished he tried to speak again, 'hurts.' He groaned and clenched his eyes shut as a flood of pain swept his body and he fell to the floor. How useless he was, he couldn't even speak properly without doing something stupid. 'Everything hurts.'
He focused harder on the questions. That wasn't the answer his master would want. This was a report, his master would want as much detail as possible. 'Nausia first, couldn't eat, sorry sir. Head spinning then vomitted. Head hurts. Wont stop hurting, as bad as last time.' He curled up tighter as he remembered the day his master had rippeed his mind apart. 'Head hurts,' he repeated. Then he repeated it again.
OOC: If he keeps vomitting he will need to go on an inter-arterial saline (and probably nutrient) drip. I suggest doing it before he gets any worse otherwise he will have to be carried out. LOL, I keep thinking of what procedures would be used on him. You might eveen need to put a tube down his throat so that he doesn't vomit all over the surgery lab. ECG, blood pressure finger-tip pulse rate etc might be useful too as you want to make sure he doesn't die.
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((OOC: Is that... personal experience? o_o I'll... yeah.
They wouldn't be in the surgery lab until after the symptoms had calmed down. Unless they wanted brain scans, that is.))
Tetra watched with an odd mixture of pity and incredulity as Zelo insisted on standing as he walked in, and failed miserably. It's not standard protocol to medicate test subjects, but I find myself wanting to sedate this one. Poor conditioned thing. He wrote the symptoms down, and walked over to turn the tap on. "Don't drown yourself." Ha! I've told him not to now, so he can't! Ugh, Mae is rubbing off on me.
He tapped the pen against the notepad, walking a safe distance from the sink. He closed his eyes and sighed. I'm glad his head hurts so—that sounds awful of me, not that I care—but why is he so nauseous? "The nausea seems too severe. Do you have a history of severe nausea?" If not, this is a warning sign of a screwup on my part, which would just be the icing on the coffin.
Something struck Tetra as odd; he hadn't noticed before, as he was either cleaning vomit off the floor of the cell—they ought to just assign me an intern-lackey to do such things—or writing things down. "What did you mean, last time?" He quickly thought better of asking another question, considering the sorry state the subject was in. "Don't answer that. If you mean psychic torture, then you can expect more of the same." Like what flies do to rotting meat, he thought without speaking. Only the fly is my virus, dissolving tunnels into your brain.
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OOC: Biomed student, (which is why my location is set to cadava lab). Also, the nausia could be a symptom and the test could still be running properly. He is a little more undernourished and ill than most subjects. Also, I have an idea of how vampirism may work: eukariotic plasmids. It would be present in all mucosal secretions (milk, vaginal wall=STD, saliva) and in blood (so would be passed from mother to child during birth). Will the virus be pulling 102379's mind apart at all?
'Thank you master,' he muttered. 102379 climbed up to the sink and clung to it a moment before doing anything. He cupped one hand and began to drink. He then splashed his face, hair and neck. The cool water helped alleviate the swelling, or at least the feel of it. Once he had finished he allowed himself to fall to the floor then rolled over into a bow.
Do you have a history of severe nausea?
'No sir.'
He wrapped his arms around his head and pulled his legs up in front of him. 102379 started whimperring as another wave of pain made him wretch again. This time nothing came up. He tried not to thnk of how much worse this would get. He would just have to wait for it to subside and hope it didn't kill him.
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((OOC: Nifty! I'm in a TRIM thread with a med student! This helps because my latest biology teacher had no idea what she was doing. I'll reclaim the thread in Plots & Plans because That's What It's For.))
"No, sir." Tetra put his pen down momentarily and massaged his temple with his free hand. He is quite undernourished. A healthy subject could have shaken this off more easily. He flipped to the next page on the notepad and scribbled "get the mage checked out," so he would remember. "The good news is, the antivirus should be done by this afternoon. The bad news is, I'm having you examined, and evaluated for health. If you're determined to be too undernourished, we'll have to use said antivirus, and spend a few weeks bringing you back up to standards—if you've ever been there in the first place, that is." He paused, and sighed. "That may not be such bad news for you, but it certainly is for me. The really bad news, for you, is, it'll feel just the same the second time around."
He paced around the room, nerves getting the better of him. The experiment itself may be running smoothly, but as a whole this is not going well at all. "Let me assure you," he said, as much out of nerves as the fact that Zelo was just... radiating fear, "you won't die. We wish nothing but the highest standards in physical health for our subjects... this is my fault." Your constant cowering isn't helping this at all, mage. If anything, it's freaking me out. He stared at Zelo, quickly developing a headache himself. He's been nothing but obedient to me, though. In the eyes of a Mordecai, his very existence is a punishable offense, but, for TRIM Geneticist Tetra Zarovia, I need a justifiable reason before I do something like that.
"I need to go arrange your examination, but I won't leave you totally miserable." Tetra knelt down in front of Zelo, still a head or two taller. "Take deep breaths," he said calmly. "Don't focus too hard on anything; it makes it worse." I learned that with the last subject. He was certifiably insane, and didn't have much of a problem with unfocusing his mind... except when I asked him to talk. "Let your thoughts wander, and just breathe. Okay?"
-
102379 understood little of what was happenning: he was going to be treated, the pain would go away and the experiment hadn't gone well. Thank you master, thank you. He had no idea if he had said it or whether he was conherent. He uncurled from the ball and tried thanking his master again. When he saw that his master was in front of him and very close, he panicked and shied away before realising what he had done and started apologising. His head hurted so much and everything was so cunfusing. All he could do was apologise and hope he wouldn't be punished for being a failure.
-
The subject spoke, and Tetra could almost understand him. However, it wasn't long before he went all... panicky and lapsed back into apologies, which quickly became incoherent as well. I get to look forward to more of this for the next few weeks, apparently. Lucky me. "It's not a federal offense to look at me, you know." I'd say I don't bite, but I don't tend to lie to subjects. Tetra sighed. "I tried." He stood up and left the room. "I'll be back shortly. Just breathe, and don't focus on anything."
Tetra walked back down the hallway toward the main deck very quickly, blowing past a few guards on the way, who tried to follow him running. "Oh, relax," he said exasperatedly. "The wing's not on fire or anything, I just have to get somewhere." They stopped, and would have scratched their heads if they weren't wearing helmets, and then walked back to their posts. He walked past the medical facility, then doubled back. A few people were standing idly in the hallway outside one of the surgery rooms. "Are either of you doctors? Like, hospital-type doctors?"
A woman spoke up. "I am. What do you—"
He cut her off, holding his hand out to shake hers. "Tetra Zarovia, from Genetics. I need a checkup on a subject. It's absolutely urgent. He's testing a virus that's supposed to give the infected psychic abilities, but he may be too undernourished for it to work without killing him. I can't do it myself; I need to finish the antivirus."
"Can you bring him in?" the woman asked. "If not, I think I can—"
"No, it's fine," said Tetra, cutting her off again. "I'll bring him in." He disappeared back around the corner and into Wing Alpha.
The door to Zelo's cell swung open, more force behind it than usual. "Can you walk?" Tetra asked hurriedly. "If not, I'm carrying you."
-
102379 calmed down and took deep breaths. His master wasn;t angry at him. 'Thankyou sir,' he said as his master left. His master must be one of those kind people, the ones that thought of mages as almost human rather than the abominations that they were. Perhaps he could help his new master. Perhaps he could...
102379 groaned. Not thinking was something he poor at. His previous master had always needed to disipline him over all the irritating thoughts that flowed across the mind-link. He started to control his breathing again and let his mind wander until his master would return.
It turned out that it was very shortly.
Can you walk?
Without thinking, 102379 went to obey his master. His strength to get up failed and he fell back to the floor before trying again. He must obey his master. To let himself be carried would be an atrocity. He tried again and managed to hold onto the sink for support.
-
Tetra watched the subject try to stand, fail, and try again, this time clutching the sink as if for dear life. He lowered his eye membranes momentarily, in lieu of rolling his eyes. I wonder if he knows how sad that looks? Not in a sympathetic way, but in a "silly mage, stop trying" sort off way. "Fine. Yeah, I guess." Tetra walked over. "Lean on my shoulder, if you insist on walking." Maybe he's got a fear of pointy people or something. Aichmoanthropophobi a. Things like that seem to be common among Edanithian mages. I saw one when I was a kid with a fear of books. Always a good thing for a slave.
-
102379 obeyed his master and wrapped his arms around the man. He tried to say thankyou but it didn't come out properly. He focused on trying ot speak but the pain in his head intensified. He tried again but ended up letting go of his master and clutching at his head. He screamed and fell to the floor. Without realising it, he had feinted. I'm sorry master. I didn't mean it. Master Kaenos, I'm sorry. His master was attacking his mind, ripping at his thoughts and forcing him to relive his memories. Not just the bad memories either.
-
The subject clung to Tetra and tried to speak. That's probably not such a great idea. now... Before Tetra could start walking, the mage let go, screaming and holding his head. A particularly painful surge... that's definitely irregular. If he's experienced psychic torture before, he should at least know what to expect... The mage lay on the ground, unresponsive. Tetra kicked him lightly in the stomach. "Unconscious," he said aloud. "At least now he doesn't have to trudge down the hall." Tetra picked him up—he is indeed light..., opened the door and left the cell at the same speed he had come in.
The lady doctor seemed shocked to have Tetra come back so soon, not to mention leave so fast. They entered one of the surgery rooms and Tetra lay the mage on the hospital cot. "He's having severe headaches. The last one knocked him out, apparently."
The woman looked concerned. "I can take his blood pressure and heart rate, maybe weigh him, and get a blood sample if you need one. Do you need a brain scan?"
Tetra did the membrane thing again. "I gave him the virus, ma'am. I know what it's doing to his brain. I want to know if he's fit enough to take it without dying of malnutrition. A blood sample appears to be in order, and if you could put him on an IV... he hasn't eaten since he arrived yesterday morning." He looked uneasily at his unconscious subject, clenching and unclenching one hand. He did not want this one to die. He did not want to have to find another subject, or worse, borrow one from another scientist. Most of the other scientists are either neophytes or freaks. Better to fix the one he had. "I'll stay with you until he wakes up. Then I need to go work on that antivirus."
The woman sighed and went to work. Most of the scientists here are freaks...
((OOC: You can skip to when Zelo wakes up, or w/e. :3 ))
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OOC: I have no idea what w/e stands for so I'll just have the woman do what tests would normally be done on an unconcious patient (or at least what I can think of). I'm not exactly sure what the virus would do so I'll go with what an extreme phobic response might be.
BIC: 102379 was laid out on a bed and his shift cut from his body, which revealed the many scars that covered 80+% of his skin. The most important things came first: controlling his breathing then pulse rate.
His tounge was pulled flat and a flexible tube was inserted through his pharanx (throat)and into the top of his larynx (adams apple area). This was connected to a ventilator so that his breathing would be deeper and continue on a more normal rhythm.
The medical doctor then stuck a 3 lead ECG to his heart to check the pulse rate. The electrical impulses were strong but rapid. He would need something to slow heart rate - an injection of beta blockers (stop adrenalin and similar compounds) straight into a vein. This would probably also help with the migaines and nausia caused by the virus.
Next, an inter-arterial saline drip and a nutrient drip were used ot increase blood pressure and give his body some energy for the repair work. The poor creature looked worse than the prisoners of war that needed medical treatment before becoming test subjects. She gave him a closer look and noticed the plugged up drill holes in his scull; he was an Edanith mage.
She then checked both cutaneous and core body temperature. Cutaneous was fairly low but that was probably normal due to how lightly dressed he had been. The core body temperature was interesting, he had a fever: possibly due to the flight-or-fight response. Best to keep an eye on that.
'Doctor Zarovia, do you have any records from before you gave him the injection? The drugs will take at least half an hour to work, unless you'd prefer me to do a cardio-thoracic injection,' said the doctor. 'I suggest coming back then.'
She turned back to her patient. He reaked of vomit so she ordered someone over to bathe him. There would be little use getting him stable if he was going ot die of an infection.
-
((OOC: That'd be "whatever". :D ))
Tetra thought a moment; the last few hours had been a blur to him. "I do," he said, "I left them in his cell. I'll go get them." He sighed. "He should be alright for half an hour. If I work quickly, I should be able to finish the antivirus in that amount of time." He left the room, looking a wreck.
He went by the cell first; no one had been by, so the door was still open. He picked up the clipboard with the mage's information and records on it, as well as his notepad and pen. He shut the door and returned to the surgery room. Hopefully this information is accurate enough, considering I didn't do it myself. He handed the clipboard to the woman. "This is what I have. If anything goes wrong, call me on the intercom. I can be back here in a matter of seconds." He left the room and nearly ran to his office.
---
Around forty-five minutes later, Tetra stood outside the door to the surgery room with the vial containing the antivirus, a syringe and hypodermic needle, a few cotton balls, and a bandage. He tried to knock on the door, but his hands were full. "I'm back, ma'am," he said, hoping she could hear him through the door. Or that she'd let me in, anyway. The medical staff tends to hate me for sending them all these diseased subjects...
-
The first thing 102379 felt when he woke up was a tube down his throat. He tried to lift his hands but they were strapped down. The pain in his head and mind began again and he started pannicking. He tried to scream but the tube down his throat prevented anything other than air coming out. He struggled before realising this was probably something his master wanted so he relaxed once more. He turned his head to the side and saw that he was hooked up to a large machine with lots of buttons and writing on it
-
The woman walked over to the door and opened it. Tetra nodded in thanks, and looked around for an empty counter to put his things on. "Is he awake?" he asked, rather more interestedly than usual.
She walked back over to the cot, and saw that he was, and panicking. "Yes. Everything's fine, Zelo," she said, using the name she had seen on the records sheet. "You're in a surgery room, you should be feeling better soon."
"Is he ready to be injected with the antivirus?" Tetra asked. There was a note of urgency in his voice. Anxiety, almost. This is a pain. Why am I so worked up over this subject?
"Yes, you can go ahead," the woman said. Should I leave you two alone for a while?
Thankfully, Tetra was not psychic. He attached the needle to the syringe and opened the vial, drawing a good amount of the solution from it. He re-capped the vial and put some cleaning solution on a cotton ball. "Don't twitch," he advised, and swabbed the area he was going to stick with the cotton ball; same spot, different arm. He aimed the needle carefully and pushed it in, then pushed down on the end of the syringe. Once all of the solution was safely in the mage's bloodstream, he drew the needle out and walked over to dispose of it, returning with the bandage. "There. That should hunt down the virulent cells and replace the altered DNA." He stepped back. "Blink twice if you understood that at all."
-
102379 saw his master and moved around in his bed to try and get up. His arms were still held down so he could not salute. He listened to his master, who was here to remove the virus. He blinked as ordered after his master injected him. He went to say thankyou but the tube was still down his throat.
OOC: coughing is the best way to get the tube loose while another person pulls it out. It won't hurt, it's just very uncomfortable.
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Tetra watched the mage piteously as he tried to move his arm, to salute, no doubt. He's all shaken up because his routine's been interrupted. Like a displaced fish, almost. H turned to the lady doctor. "The antivirus should be through him by the end of the day. Do you think it's safe to take the tube out of his throat?" That way at least he can tell me how sorry he is for the whole thing, and thank me for fixing him even though the whole thing was my fault and we'll try again in a few weeks.
She nodded. "It should be fine, now." She walked over, and Tetra stepped out of the way. She stood at the side of the cot, near the mage's head. "Cough, please."
-
102379 did as he was ordered and was shocked when he saw the long tube being being pulled out of his throat.
'Cough again, please.'
He did so and the last length of tubing was removed. As soon as it was out he tried to speak. His throat was too dry so the doctor helped him to sip some water down before she went to do other work.
'Master? I'm sorry for ruining your project.' 102379's voice was husky from having the tube down it. He wanted to apologise for fainting, having to be carried, being weak, being undernourished and being a general failure. He wanted to obey his master. Servitude was the only reason he was born.
'Sir, I can. I can...' His voice dropped as guilt stopped him from saying that he could enhance his master's abilities. He looked down at the floor beside the bed and tried to make himself as small as possible. He made a slight whimper and closed his eyes as the pain in his head increased. He wanted to curl up tighter but the straps were preventing him, they kept digging into his wrists as he pulled. 'I'm sorry, sir.'
-
Tetra was leaning against the wall nearest the foot of the mage's cot, listening to him apologize over and over. The subject strained against his restraints and whimpered in pain. He sighed, frustrated at the lost time, and stood up, walking over to the side of the cot, where he could see the man's face. "How many times must I tell you?" he asked rather harshly, but with a calm, almost kind look on his face. "It's not a big deal. You're not the first subject I've ever had to cancel an experiment on, and you won't be the last."
He reached over to loosen the restraints; being stuck in one position was never good for pain. The Mordecai treat their mages so horribly. This one must have expected much worse than I gave him. Contrary to popular belief, not everything we do here is brutal and inhumane. "Just rest for now. We'll try again in a couple weeks." He stroked the mage's hair reassuringly. "Stop worrying, above all. That'll only make it worse."
-
102379 tensed when his master cam over and almost wet himself when his master began stroking his hair. The machine behind his started beeping when his heart rate increased. He's not going to beat me. He's not going to beat me. It left him shaking in pure terror. The terror started off another migraine and he clutched at his skull and groaned. He pulled his head towards his chest and his legs up so that he was ina ball.
He tried to follow his master's orders to unfocus his mind and not worry. He tried to relax his muscles and lay normally. Eventually he was able to relax and his heart rate decreased, so long as he didn't look anywhere near his master. He started mutterring apologies and thanks.
-
Tetra noticed how the mage responded to touch; he could sense the fear around him, and feel him shaking under the hand of the taller man. He moved his hand away, but not before another headache struck the mage, and he grabbed his head and curled up. Pitiful thing. I don't think I could mess him up further than he is already if I tried. He walked back over to the wall. Well, maybe if I really applied myself.
After a while, the subject was able to relax somewhat, and his heart rate slowed down. Tetra watched the heart monitor intently from his preferred spot against the wall, the mage apologizing and thanking him for who-knew-what, still not looking at him. That's no concern of mine, aichmoanthropophobi c or not. "You seem coherent enough now," the scientist said, loudly enough that the mage could hear him. "Would you prefer to spend the remainder of the day and night here, insofar as the room isn't needed by anyone else, or be taken back to your cell? I have no opinion on the matter." Had I expressed one, he'd have given me the "it's the master's decision" routine. Tetra yawned silently, the hectic activity of the day thoroughly tiring him. Little does he know I don't care.
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OOC: Unless there are nutrient solutions in the cell, he should probably stay here.
"Would you prefer to spend the remainder of the day and night here, insofar as the room isn't needed by anyone else, or be taken back to your cell? I have no opinion on the matter."
His master was getting him to decide, that wasn't normal. 102379 frowned and tried to think of the most apropriate answer. His master was trying to get him better so that he would be well enough to be tested. In the hospital was the best place for him to become strong enough. 'If it is your wish, sir, I would like to stay here,' he said. He left the reply as open ended as possible so that he would not seem bold or rude.
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((OOC: I thought of that slightly after I posted... orz How do you want to do the rest of this thread?))
That was a very unoffensive response, Tetra thought, unsurprised. "Very well, then." He sighed. "I'm glad your health is improving. I'll leave you here, then, and probably return later today or tonight." A thought occurred to him, and he smirked. "If I come back and you're dead, I will be quite angry."
He opened the door and checked the sign-out sheet on the other side. No one had signed the room out for today, so Tetra wrote his own name down, for the remainder of the day. And if anyone has a problem with that, I'd be quite happy to take it up with him or her in person. He left the surgery room and walked out toward the residential area. I need coffee if I plan on staying awake the rest of the day.
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OOC: no idea. You're the doctor, or Tetra rather. I can offer a couple of ideas: go along with the research, use him for others after, use his enhancing abilities, test his enhancing abilities or send him back (once you think the thread is dead). LOL to saying the angry at being dead thing. That was quite amusing.
102379 nodded and continued looking away until his master left. He relaxed himself into the bedcovers and eventually stopped shaking. He kept one arm up around his head and allowed the other to fall loose around his thin chest. Gradually he fell into a normal sleep.
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((OOC: I meant in terms of skipping time, and how much of the recuperation period we should do before the fun stuff starts again.))
Later in the evening, Tetra came back into the surgery room to check on the mage. He was fast asleep, and Tetra didn't want to interrupt his recuperation, so he just sat in the room until the mage woke up, nearly falling asleep a few times himself. Some weeks, I really wish I had more to do. Clearing my schedule for the week was right up there with "start testing early" on the list of Things Tetra Shouldn't Have Done. At length, he did awaken, and Tetra stood up and rubbed his eyes. "So, how are you feeling? You should be halfway healed, by now."
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OOC: Feel free to jump whenever you think you should, you're the mistress of this thread. I'm trying something a little different in this post, more to how 102379 really thinks of himself. I'll go back to normal next post.
Mage No. 102379 opened its eyes and cringed at the sight of its master. In the inferior way that mage's felt emotion, the mage felt guilty. It realised its error and hung its head down. This position made it easier for its master to strike it across the back of the neck, if that is what its master wished. It apologised for its behaviour and listened to its master's orders.
The mage opened its mouth to say it was fine. Using its inferior thinking abilities, it then realised that it had upset its master when it had said such a thing. Its master did not call on it to be social. 'My symptoms have subsided, sir,' it said. 'Thank you, sir.'
The mage felt ashamed of its mangled body and pulled the bed linen closer around itself. It could feel its master watching it. If its will to obey had been any weaker, it would have crawled into a corner and cowered, such was its fear of this and previous masters. To the mage, its whole life was an abomination and its only purpose was to obey and be diceplined.
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((OOC: That's actually kinda cool. I'll skip through the recuperation stage.))
"That's good, then," replied Tetra tiredly. "Hopefully that means you'll be well enough tomorrow to eat regular food." He would have brought up the fact that other people needed the surgery room, but that would have elicited another unwanted apology. He already understands that he's a burden to the world... now he just needs to lighten up about it. Not that his master would appreciate that as much as he should. He's probably one of those insecure, overbearing dominant types.
He stood up and watched the mage, who clutched at the sheet he had been given, trying to cover himself. "You're certainly a pitiful being. I've always thought mages are." He crossed his arms. "However, I haven't hit you yet, and probably won't unless you try to start a fight, or escape, or deliberately knock things over." He thought of Mae's most recent subject, a few hallways over. "I've dealt with much worse than you."
Tetra walked to the door and opened it. "Tomorrow morning, after you wake up, you will be taken back to your cell. For now, go back to sleep." He exited to his dormitory, too exhausted to work on anything.
-
102379 apologised once for being pitiful and thanked his master for not hitting him. He then relaxed as his master left the room, again confused as to why he hadn't been beaten yet. He curled up and tried to get back to sleep. He had to sleep; it was his master's wish so he had to obey.
It took him only a short time to fall asleep. His previous master had always been paranoid and drugged him to sleep. Even if it hadn't have worked 102379 would have been too scared to not fall asleep as ordered.
-
A few weeks later, Tetra walked down the hall from his office to the mage's cell. His health had improved over the given recuperation period, due in part to increased food portions and—dare I think it?—better living conditions, and in part to the fact that Tetra had ordered the mage to heal properly. Well-being is at least fifty percent mental, thought Tetra wryly. More so for an Edanith mage. He carried the same set of supplies as he had the first time he'd gone in, along with a pleasant smile and a better knowledge of how best to manipulate his subject's emotions. He's been such a docile subject, too. I hope this works.
He opened the door to the cell and was greeted by the mage's customary salute. "Good afternoon. I trust you've been dreading today." He set his things down on the table next to the sink. "Well, you shouldn't. It'll definitely be less intense than the first time." He was half talking to himself as he readied the syringe and hypodermic needle. "Now you're better-equipped to handle it, hopefully. Unless I'm a complete failure, which is possible. At least you've been fed today." Tetra turned around. "Ar you ready, or would you prefer to wait a bit?"
-
102379 got to his feet and saluted as his master entered. He was indeed healthier than when he had entered but he was still overly scarred and thin. After saluting he dropped his hand and looked at the floor. He was still servantile and fearful of his master but he nolonger cringed or cowered when his master came close.
He listened to his master speak and waited patiently for his master to give an order. 'I will do whatever you wish, sir,' he said, still not looking up. By now he had learnt that his master did not like for him to have to be ordered to do everything; he had to guess what his master wanted of him. He came over to the table and sat where he had sat the first time his master injected him.
102379 lifted his sleeve and stretched out his arm so that it would be easier for his master to inject him. His forced himself to look calm but inside he was beginning to get sick with fear. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing.
-
If the mage was at all fearful, he was careful not to show it. that's good, thought Tetra. Far better than constant cowering. The mage came over and sat next to the table, extending his arm to be injected. Tetra could sense his fear, though; he hadn't listened. "Trust me, it won't be as bad as last time. It will be more gradual, and the headaches that knocked you out last time will only happen at the end of the virus's cycle through your system." He waved his hand dismissively. "Worrying will only make it worse.."
Tetra held on to the mage's arm, careful not to cut the skin with his claws, and stuck the needle in quickly but precisely. He injected the fluid into the mage's bloodstream, and removed the needle. setting it back on the table. He swabbed the area with the antiseptic solution, and covered it with a bandage. "There, done."
-
102379 nodded and tried harder to hide the fact that he was scared. He had listened but some habits and fears are hard to dissuade. It wasn't so much the pain he was afraid of, he was used to a lot worse. He was scared of how last time he had thought his mind had been pulled apart again. He did deserve it though so he should not be worrying, especially after his master had ordered him not to on many occasions.
He tried to stop worrying but began to feel guilty for worrying. He closed his eyes as the antiseptic was rubbed in. It hurt as much as last time but he had learnt since then not to show any fear. Fear upset his master. 'Thank you sir,' he muttered before trying to let his mind go blank.
-
Tetra shook his head. I don't care how straight you sit, or whether you grit your teeth until they crack. I can tell. "If you're worried about losing your mind or something, it's a necessary risk. Mind you, I hope that doesn't happen, if only for the fact that I'd be punished roundly if I rendered you unfit for service, and probably have to pay to replace you. Also, you're not such a bad guy, as TRIM rats go. You'll be pleased to know your mind was perfectly alright last time; the antivirus set you straight. I trust it will again."
He gathered his instruments, then thought about it again. "Would you prefer that I stay, or leave? I have nothing pressing to work on today." He stood far enough from the mage that he wouldn't be agitated by the scientist's presence.
-
102379 listened to his master and nodded. He must not let himself get broken, he must not let his master be punished for a mage's failure to survive. 'Thankyou, sir,' he said again. The fact that people could care for him beyond being fit for service was still beyond 102379's comprehension. After all the conditioning he had been through to get to this point, it seemed he was not allowed to be thought kindly of.
The nurses had given 102379 clothes earlier that week, to which he had bent to the floor and burst out into sobbing "thankyou"s. One of the nurses had gone over to him and rubbed his back until he stopped crying. He was now wearing the clothes and looked less like a wraith and more like a human. When his master went to gather his instruments, 102379 pulled down his sleeve and moved to the floor so that he could sit.
'I'm sorry, sir. I don't know,' he said when offered the choice of company. He felt very guilty about the offer and even more so for not being able to answer or obey. He wanted to say that he had no right to choose but that would upset his master. Either way felt too much like disobedience.
102379 thought of his abilities and shifted awkwardly. He bit his lip before finally speaking up, 'Sir? I-I'm sorry, sir, but I have a skill. I can..' His bravery faltered and his voice dropped back to the level it was earlier that week, 'I can enhance people's abilities.'
He hung his head and curled up tight. He felt guilty for not telling his master sooner, talking out of turn and having the ability in the first place. He rubbed at his arm in an anxious manner and stared at the brand that his previous master had claimed him with. It had been the first time one of his masters had harmed him intentionally.
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Tetra shrugged and went back to cleaning up after the mage gave his nonanswer, disconnecting the needle from the syringe and placing it in an airtight bag, along with the used cotton ball and the wrapper from the bandage. He was about ready to leave when the mage spoke again. "Sir? I-I'm sorry, sir, but I have a skill. I can..." his voice trailed off at the end, which was certainly a feat considering how quietly he had already been speaking. "I can enhance people's abilities."
The scientist's ears perked up visibly. "Really, now?" He set his things down and leaned against the wall, genuinely intrigued. "There's one I haven't heard before. You mean by magic?" He ran through procedures in his head. Mae still has that imprinter, doesn't she? Unless she's killed him already... which is unlikely. This could be a useful skill indeed. I almost don't want to send this one back. "That really is interesting... tell me more."
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102379's heart started racing again but he physically relaxed. His master wasn't angry at him. He uncurled himself and lifted his head from how it was hanging, not do much that he would seem proud or that he would see into his master's eyes though.
There's one I haven't heard before. You mean by magic?
'Yes, sir.
That is really is interesting... tell me more.
'I'm classed as an elemental but, but I can enhance people. I can make their skills better. My previous master used to have me enhance his physical strength.' He had to keep going, he had to. It must not have been put on his chart so he would have to explain it himself. The thought of speaking for such a long time frightened him but he would do it.
'I can make people better at whatever they order me to: magical, physical or mental,' he shifted again as he spoke and clenched his hands around the edge of the sleeve. 'I can also negatively enhance people. The Mordacai didn't go through with the testing because my master forbid it. He forbid me from using it unless he ordered so I only used it in battle.'
He started to panick as memories of his last day of service flowed through his conscious mind. That was as far as he could push himself to speak. 'I'm sorry, sir. I'm sorry.'
OOC: yet another longer one.
-
Tetra listened intently to his explanation, at length sitting down on the floor with his back against the wall. "That is rare." He smiled. "We should run you through some minor tests, at least, once this is done. As it is, however," he said brightly, "we may not have to do the major testing on you."
The mage was apologizing again, as usual. "You have nothing to apologize to me for; rather, giving me more work to do is a good thing." He lapsed into soliloquy for a few seconds. "If I don't have work, I get fired, and then I work as a professional sociopath until I die..." He brightened up quickly. "You're a far more interesting specimen than I originally assumed!"
-
102379 started shaking and cowered closer into the corner as he tried to get away from the memories flooding into his mind. It took a few minutes for the thoughts to abate and for him to raise his head. 'I'm sorry, sir. Thankyou for - for the... Thankyou.'
Slowly he was able to relax again so that his master wouldn't be angry at him. He wanted very much to obey his master, to not stress his master. To be loyal to his master. Whatever the testing involved, he would not flinch. He would be grateful for every test he was put through.
-
Tetra smiled at the prospect of more work for him to do; rather a profitable discovery, this one. I'm not usually the marketing man, but if I can pinpoint the gene sequence that enables this enhancement ability, and successfully replicate it in other mages... every Mordecai on Edanith will want one. His expression faltered a bit. That's a bit of a scary thought, though. Naturally, if one side has it, the other side will want it as well... the large-scale implications are certainly interesting.
Of course, along with my research on implanting magical or psychic genes into normal people... let's not get ahead of myself. If everyone had enhanced abilities, no one would. Such is the fate of every ingenious technological advance, weapons especially.
He got up from the floor and collected his instruments yet again, depositing most of them in the pockets of his lab coat. "I should probably bring you some food now, instead of waiting until the symptoms set in like a complete idiot," he said, mocking his previous actions in a deadpan voice. The mage looked a bit shell-shocked. Must be a side effect of his treatment on Edanith. Couldn't have been me. "I'll be back shortly, with food." He smiled neutrally at the mage, and left the cell.
-
102379 remained huddled in the corner and waited for an order, anything he could obey. He shifted to a more comfortable position and started looking at his hands. They were heavily scarred and skeletal. He felt embarressed and covered them in his shirt. His master wasn't speaking so he still had no orders to obey. he pulled up his sleeves again and looked back at his hands. He turned one over and rubbed the brand on his wrist. He did not know what it said but his previous master's name. The same thing had been branded on his shoulder, only larger. He was too scared to reach back and touch it so he covered his hand and lay on the floor.
'Thankyou, master,' he said when his master offered food. He crawled onto his hands and knees and bowed to his master. 'Thankyou.' 102379 remained in a bowing position until his master left then tried to sleep. Sleeping and eating were the only things he had to do and he had not been ordered to do anything else.
-
------
He returned about fifteen minutes later, with a plate of food almost identical to the one he had brought the first time he attempted he experiment. Hopefully he'll be able to eat it this time, and have it do him some good before the next stage of the virus. He opened the door and stepped inside the cell, closing it quickly behind him as was customary. Not like he needed to worry about this one getting away, at least not for a week.
"I've brought your food." He set it on the ground next to the mage, where it seemed he preferred to sit. "You ought to eat it before the nausea sets in," he said, his tone making at least himself feel like less of an oppressor. "Is there anything else you'd like, while you're still coherent?"
-
102379 had not yet fallen asleep when his master returned. He got to his feet and saluted his master. His master had brought a plate of food and set it down next to him.
You ought to eat it before the nausea sets in.
'Thankyou, sir,' he said before sitting down. He picked up the apple and took a small bite out of it. His master was being kind. 102379 still could not comprehend why anyone would be kind to him. He understood that he needed to be healthy for his master but his master was treating him like a human. He felt like he should ask for clarification but last time he had done so, it had made his master angry. He should not anger his master.
His master was offerring him more, offerring him anything he wanted. He looked towards his master without looking dirrectly at him, just in case it would be considered offensive. he felt uncomfortable: he should not get his master to do things for him but he should not turn his master down either. What was the most obedient answer? Even if he did answer, he stil had no idea what to ask for. He was not supposed to want things, other than to obey his master's wishes.
He bit his lip then put the apple down. He bent down to hands and knees again and looked at the floor. It was the only thing he knew how to reply with.
'No thankyou, sir.'
OOC: a whole lot of nothing.
-
Tetra watched as the mage contemplated his question. That wasn't a great idea. Now he's probably just trying not to make me angry, or whatever. The subject had been looking up at Tetra, which was a step above his normal cowering. In some societies it's considered rude not to look at the person you're talking to. Telling him that would just freak him out, though. Better that he does what comes naturally. The mage looked down again. "No thankyou, sir."
Tetra shrugged his shoulders. "If you're sure. If you need water, use the sink." He moved to the door. "Again, I'll return later this evening to check on you." He smiled in a way that was half concern, half dread at the prospect of having to try this same experiment a third time. "Good luck." He opened the door and left.
-
102379 thanked his master once more and stayed on his hands and knees until his master left. He then picked up the apple and sat back against the corner. He needed to eat the food. His master had given it to him and he needed to be healthy so that he wouldn't cause the experiment to fail. When he finished the apple he put the core on the plate and went for the bread. He felt full very quickly but continued eating. He needed more nutrients if it was going to work.
Once he was finished he went to the tap and had a small drink then sat down under the sink. He felt uncomfortable there so he got up and walked around his cell. It was the most walking he had done since coming here and he was a little unstable on his feet.
He sighed and went back to the corner. He couldn't eat the chicken, he hoped that wouldn't seem disobedient. He would try to finish it later.
-
-----
Tetra returned after he had eaten that evening, with the same notepad and pen he had used for the previous trial. Again, he had written the date and time of injection at the top of a blank page, and again, he knew what to expect. It was almost laborious, documenting the initial stage of the experiment again, but it was proper procedure, and he needed something to keep his hands busy.
He got to the cell door, and a thought flashed through his mind of how terribly inconsiderate it was of him to just waltz in every twelve hours and wake the mage from whatever state he may have been in. He opened the door anyway, having learned long ago to disregard his conscience when it came to the subjects. It's twelve hours. If he can't adjust his sleep schedule to accommodate that, he's a failure of a mage. He stepped inside, examining the sleeping mage, curled up on the cot. Looks well-adjusted enough. "102379," he said, calling the subject by his numerical designation for the first time in quite a while. "I'm back."
-
102379 blinked and found himself on a bed. He never slept on beds. he'd never been allowed. He must have been on the bed without permission. Saw his master on the bed and realised that his master had called him. 102379 scrambled off the bed and onto the floor repeating apollogies in a frenzy-like pace.
He saw that the food was still there. He had not finished it. That meant that he had been asleep at the wrong time, slept on the bed without permission and had not finished his food. He had done three discrepencies within one day! He deserved to be beaten or have anything done to him for that. he closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, his master did not like it when he paniced. He would not disobey his master again. He would not be disloyal. He would now anger his master.
-
((OOC: Damn, I really set him up, huh?))
Tetra was startled, as much by the subject's abrupt waking as by his mile-a-minute apologies. Wow. What does he think he did this time? "Calm down. I don't like waking up either, but seriously..." he chuckled to himself. Maybe he had no empathy whatsoever anymore, but there was something unbelievably funny about someone so thoroughly fucked-up that they wake up apologizing. Yes, it appears I'm a sociopath.
He tapped the pen against the notepad and watched the mage go into full-on panic mode. "I'm not mad at you for anything, if that's what you're wondering." He leaned against the wall. "However, I would like to know whether or not you've experienced any symptoms. I can stay here for a bit, while you wake up... it's kind of hard to relate experiences when you've been unconscious."
-
I must calm down. I must calm down. I must calm down, 102379 thought. He also whispered it under his breath, which was returning to normal. He must not let his master wait. It was kind that his master was giving him time to soothe himself but he it was kindness he did not deserve. He had been a flithy, disloyal mage. If a mage was not loyal they were worth less than nothing. He was worth less than nothing.
'I'm sorry, master,' he said slowly. 'I don't have any symptoms. I'm sorry.'
He was failing his master again, this time he was not showing symptoms. That could not be good. It would be his fault if this experiment failed, it would be due to his failure to produce symptoms or change into a psychic.
'Master?'
He lifted his head to that he was looking at about his master's knee level and clenched his fists. He opened his mouth but it took a few tries to get anything out, 'I'm sorry I slept on the bed, I'm sorry I didn't finish the food and I'm sorry I wasn't awake.'
102379 remained perfectly still and waited for his master to react. He would not panic, he would not upset his master.
OOC: He will show symptoms next time Tetra comes.
-
Tetra jotted a few words down in the notebook. That's different already. He looked over at the mage, who was still panicking over something. "It's not your fault. Rather, I was intrigued that you did show symptoms so fast the first time."
The mage forced himself to calm down a bit. "Master?" he said, looking up a bit. Tetra waited silently for the mage to spit out a fully-formed sentence. "I'm sorry I slept on the bed, I'm sorry I didn't finish the food and I'm sorry I wasn't awake."
The scientist shook his head at the mage's cowering, waiting to be whipped for his transgressions or something. "I thought we'd been over this. First, the bed is for sleeping on; that's why it's here. Not that it's the peak of sleeping technology or anything; it's probably the comfortability equivalent of a stretcher, but it's still better than the floor.
"Second, I'm perfectly capable of waking you if you're asleep when I walk in, as I demonstrated today. In fact, with most subjects I prefer that they be asleep when I enter their rooms. Imagine if behind your cell door, instead of you, was something twice my size, clawed, winged, two-headed and fire-breathing... and asleep." He paused for effect. "I wouldn't want it to be ready to meet me head-on as I walked in, now, would I? That's why you can't hear me when I walk down the hall outside. You just happen to be one of the nice ones I don't mind awake."
He ran a hand through his hair tiredly. "Third, you should probably have gathered by now that I'm not the type to exact physical punishment on my subjects, unless they're deliberately trying to make me. Mostly, it's company policy to be nice to the subjects. Also, if we had to corporally punish a subject every time he forgot something, we'd have to take on a whole new staff division in charge of it." He smirked dryly.
"Last, I am a bit saddened that you didn't finish your food. However, it's been a while since you last ate, so you should be able to finish it now." He threw up his hands theatrically. "See? Problems solved." He smiled, not like the mage could see from down there. I wish I could make my coat hem look a little bit happier, so he'd stop thinking I was mad at him all the time. Maybe Mae's right, and my voice really doesn't sound any different between emotions.
-
He should not upset his master. 102379 remained perfectly still while his master spoke, not even breathing too loud in case it made him appear scared. His master was being kind and speaking to him as though he was a human; he should be appreciative.
His master was trying to soothe him. 102379 had seen other masters doing this back at Edanith but had never experienced it himself. His previous master had always prefered him to be terrified into submission. He was unsure how he was meant to behave to being treated like a human. He felt grateful and ... different to frightened. How was he meant to react to this?
Once his master had finished speaking he bowed his head to the floor. 'Thankyou, sir.' After saying it, he regretted it; something didn't seem right. He hoped he hadn't done anything to upset his master or made a mistake.
He went over to the chicken as instructed (or so he thought), pulled off a chicken leg and began to eat. He felt uncomfortable about eating in front of someone; it was rude to eat when others weren't. He should have eaten the chicken earlier, or at least most of it. He wasn't going to be able to fit a whole chicken in but his master had said that he should. He must eat the chicken.
-
((OOC: I'm sorry this SUCKS.))
The feeling of fear around the mage was dissipating, and Tetra was glad. Maybe I'm finally getting through to him after all. The mage bowed, his head touching the ground. "Thankyou, sir." Tetra smiled piteously at him, not like he could see. "You're welcome."
The mage ripped the leg off of what, retrospectively, seemed like an awful lot of chicken for such a small human, and set about eating it, with uneasy glances every so often at Tetra's coat-hem. The scientist got the message, and opened the door to leave. "I'll be back tomorrow morning... you have twelve hours to yourself. Good day," he said, and left the room. This experiment had better work properly this time, if only for the fact that I don't like his self-blame.
-
102379 turned and bowed to his master as he left, waiting until the door was shut to turn back to the food. He ate as much as he could without feeling sick. He must finish it before his master returned but he must also remain healthy for his master. If he ate too much or too little it could be taken as disloyalty.
Once he had finished eating he found that yet again he had no orders to obey other than to remain healthy and survive the experiment. How should he go about that? Did that mean he should exercise or conserve his energy so that he wouldn't die when the experiment got worse? Perhaps he should take the middle road and just walk until he was more stable on his feet.
He pushed himself to his feet and kept his hand on the wall as he walked around in circles. He could only last about a quarter-hour at a time before he would get dizzy and need to sit. After several tries he began to feel guilty, if he didn't get stronger he might become worthless to his master. He must serve his master, he must not fail him.
He started to get pannicky so he began thinking the rules his previous master had forced into him.
I must not disobey my master. I must not touch my master. I must not look upon my master. I must not want anything. I must not make requests. I must not speak without permission. I must not eat, bathe, urinate or deficate without permission. I must not ask for persmission to do anything. I must not do anything without permission. I must not be disloyal. I must not sleep without permission. I must be punished. I must not protect myself without permission. I must protect my master. I must accept anything my master gives me. I must not dissapoint my master. I must be loyal to my master's thoughts.
And so on.
Eventually his legs began to hurt from walking too much. He went over to the corner and curled up while he continued repeating these thoughts for several hours while he waited to serve his master. Eventually his arms began to turn red and itchy. He was not sure if he was allowed to scratch them. He had not been told he was allowd to and scratching might cause him harm so he tried to ignore it.
-
-----
Tetra woke up late again the next morning. Later than usual, even, to the point that he basically threw on his lab coat, grabbed his notebook, and walked doubletime to 102379's cell, hoping his observations wouldn't be skewed by morning grogginess. For a while he lost himself in Wing Alpha, and one of the guards had to direct him to the right corridor, but eventually he made it.
He opened the door to the cell, and closed it behind him, missing the button the first time. "Ugh... good morning... afternoon, 102379." He ran a hand through his hair and leaned against the wall. "How go your symptoms?"
-
102379 stood up as soon as he heard the door click and was saluting even before the door had fully opened.
'Ugh... good morning... afternoon, 102379.'
102379 dropped his head back down and bit his lip. Was he supposed to reply to this or not? On one hand it was not a direct question so he might not be allowed to answer. On the other hand it might seem rude if he didn't.
'How go your symptoms?'
He extended his arms to that his master could see that they were red and were beginning to swell. Much of the rest of his body was red too but it was not swelling. 'They are going well, sir. My body is itchy but the arms are worse,' he replied. He hoped this would appease his master.
He had been able to hold off from scratching, only because the thought of disobedience frightened him. If his master let him, he would probably have scratched patches of skin off by now.
-
((OOC: Aargh, I'm sorry~))
The man's arms certainly were inflamed. Tetra looked at them, and jotted a short description down in his notes. "Right... that's good. Relatively, I mean." It was certainly odd hearing the subject refer to his symptoms as "going well" with a straight face. He was unsure whether to snicker evilly or act sympathetic. No reaction is as good as any, I guess.
His eyes fell on the plate, still where he had set it the previous day. He walked over to pick it up; no doubt it was unsanitary to leave it so long. The mage had eaten most of it, which was good. "Are you hungry at all?" He placed his pen in his pocket and looked down at the mage, waiting for an answer. I'll bring him food anyway... it's unhealthy to go too long without.
-
102379 turned his head and averted his eyes as his master came over and picked up the - still unfinished - chicken. He muttered an apology for not having finished it, still. He should have finished it. His master probably wasn't going to beat him but he still felt guilty for what he'd done. He finally lowered his arms
"Are you hungry at all?" He could feel his master looking at him. It made him uncomfortable but he didn't make any movements to show his discomfort.
'I'm sorry, sir. No, sir.'
-
"Don't be sorry," Tetra said, examining the bones and remaining meat on the plate. "I probably gave you too much anyway." He chalked it up to inattentiveness. He could have eaten that much, but the mage was much smaller, human, and not accustomed to much food. He smiled a bit as the subject lowered his arms, amicably, not showing teeth.
The mage looked away, out of respect or subservience, or something. Tetra sighed. "I'm getting you something anyway. I don't want you to be too malnourished when the virus really starts taking over. Don't overfeed yourself, either..."
He walked to the door with his pad and paper. "I'll be back shortly. You don't have to eat what I give you right now, but at least you'll have food when you get hungry." He pressed the button and walked out.
-
His master's sighing upset 102379. He was upsetting his master and he didn't know how. Was it because he hadn't finished the food, because he always averted his eyes or because he hadn't accepted what his master was offering? Perhaps he should have said that he was hungry and accepted it like a good servant. He couldn't say that either though, it would be lying to his master.
102379 remained still while his master spoke and remained that way when he left. His master would be back shortly so there was no point sitting down again. His master might find it offensive if he wasn't standing to attention.
-
Tetra returned to the cell carrying various packaged foods. Plain crackers would help calm his stomach once the virus reached that stage again, mixed nuts had protein, applesauce... various things Tetra himself wouldn't have touched, but the human interns found palatable. "I'm back," he said, somewhere close to unenthusiastically.
He set the things down on a table and turned to face the subject. "You're welcome to eat any or all of this. You don't have to; I won't be angry if you do not. Now... I am leaving again, and will be back in twelve hours... though I trust you know that already." He waved his hand and opened the door again. "Goodbye, 102379." He stepped out and headed back to his office.
-
OOC: Ok, it was early afternoon in the last visit (about 26-30 hours since injection, depending on just how late in the afternoon it was). When Tetra comes back it will be... 38-42h (which would make it about 2-6am-ish).
When his master returned, 102379 was rubbing his arm. It stung from the virus but he knew it would only get worse if he scratched it. What if it did and his master got angry at him? Self inflicted pain would be the same as disobeying his master's order to survive. He had to be healthy to obey his master. He stopped rubbing his arm and muttered an apology then said thank you for the food, bowing slightly.
His eyes flicked upwards when his master waved, only long enough to resister the moment, before he looked back at the ground between his master's feet. 102379 was unsure what to make of his master's gesture and he shifted awkwardly. He raised his hand, which trembled slightly, then pulled it straight back to his side.