A Whole Different World

Participants:

brennan2_icon.gif melissa_icon.gif

Scene Title A Whole Different World
Synopsis Melissa and Brennan attempt to get some Amp, the legal way, but a discovery is made that others… have already come that way before. Just not so legally.
Date February 19, 2011

Suresh Center


Malcolm's outright refusal to go to the Suresh Center wasn't that surprising but the agreement made that Melissa would go with Brennan and the Amp would be procured so that hopefully, it would give him what strength he would require to bring the dome down. After nearly a month in here, Brennan - along with others - was more than ready for this to happen.

The physician had been mostly silent on the return, feet shoved into shoes too small for his own clodhoppers, but better than none and things were a bit chilly for both him and Melissa by the time they made it back to the Suresh Center though the tunnel and back to Roosevelt. The upside was that at least, someone had driven his car back after it had been found and that could be used to get them as close as possible on the return trip before having to resort to traveling on foot again.

When all was said and done, Brennan resurfacing after that strange and fated phone call, Melissa was looked over, sling offered for her shoulder and scratches attended to. Brennan's arm after an hour was good as new, bullet removed and stitched back up. Both with some clean clothes on them and food in their stomach, he was leading her towards where the more valuable drugs were kept.

The sling is refused. Not only does Melissa not think she'll need it, but if she does, she has a much more stylish one at home. Along with a coat and shoes and nice warm socks. All the things she's going to need, if only to get out of here and go someplace with running water and electricity.

As she walks along with Brennan, she shakes her head. "All this because the guy was scared because of what the government's doing. Fucking robots. But then…I guess you probably knew something about that, huh?"

"This is the first time I've heard about robots Melissa. Contrary to the popular belief that they conduct experiments here and torture evolved, they actually don't. This place really is here to help those who are positive and their families. Though, institute has their fingers in it, mostly for information. They have far less public places to do their far less savory things"

Brennan had had to ask for a set of key's to the drug closet, his own somewhere that no one could figure out where.

"I look after people, I run the medical lab here, and any experiments are all legal and ethical, or you wouldn't find me in this job and I'd be back at my practice pinching the cheeks of little kids and making men turn their heads and cough"

"I know the Institute has their fingers in here. And I do work here, remember? I just don't work for the Institute," Melissa says dryly. "And the Institute does do illegal and unethical experiments. I've seen them. And I know that not everything that goes on here can be strictly legal either. It's the Institute. They're immoral. Together, them and Humanis First are the twenty-first century's Nazis. Purging and experiments," she says, shaking her head.

"Anyway, let's just get the drugs so I can deliver them and we can get the fuck out of here. I want a hot shower and eight hours uninterupted sleep."

"Melissa, I said they don't do them here and I mean it. It's not done here" He points out, not bothering after that to get into an argument with the woman who's security clearance is far lower than his. He's flipping through the keys when they come to the door with a little more security than most of the rest of the place. He swipes his own keycard, the light turning green, door opening to admit him, a gesture for her to wait outside. Desperate situation, she's not authorized to enter, and he's not about to let her.

The door closes behind him, leaving her in the hallway to wait. Which she'll get to do until there's a woman in jeans and a sweater, hurrying down the hallway with a not so happy look on her face. "Excuse me! Excuse me!" Not someone who Mel generally, usually, interact with on her volunteer basis. 'Have you seen Dr. Brennan?"

When she's told to wait outside Melissa arches a brow then sneers, shaking her head. "Whatever." Yeah, she's lost a lot of the respect she used to show for Brennan. The woman who comes up gets a quick look over from Mel before she jerks her good shoulder in a shrug. "He's around."

When Melissa turns out to be of no help, She's already reaching for the door. As if asking her was really in the end a rhetorical question. A swipe of her own keycard turn the light from red to green, power on for right now. The door is jerked open, held open and the dark haired woman poking her head in, then standing in the doorway.

Mel can see around her, see Brennan with another key and opening a glass fronted cooler, vials and bottles with little labels, scientific names on them measurements. Little, small, some just syringes filled with fluids of varying colors. Everything in here tightly controlled, access limited. "Dr. Brennan, You're back. Margene says you borrowed her keys, what were you looking for? We're about to turn the generators off"

Brennan looks over, bruised and weary. "I need a dose of Amp"

"Why are you turning the generators off?" Melissa jumps in, brow furrowing. "There are people here who need help, and you're going to turn the generators off? That's…ridiculous, to put it nicely, and I'm not feeling very nice at the moment." Of course, while she's snapping at the woman, she's looking about discreetly. Hoping she can spot amp or negation drugs.

The woman turns her head, looking over at Melissa. "Conserve what we have Miss…" She doesn't look condescendingly at Melissa, but brows do raise. "We turn them on at set periods of time. Our capacity is not infinite. Certain parts of the building have it full time. Dr. Brennan, why do you need the Amp?" Her attention back to the Doctor who's not yet opened the glass fronted cooler where inside, is the precious black liquid, though not in sight of Melissa. Nor can she negation drugs.

"We may have found a person capable of bringing down the dome." He doesn't say that they've found the person responsible. "I was going to sign out a dose of Amp, see if we can't do this. God knows when we'll find the person actually responsible"

Which doesn't sit well with the woman at the door. "I'm sorry Dr. Brennan, we're under orders to not dispense any unless the person is here at the center" She doesn't sound so sorry, but in truth, orders are orders and they have to be followed.

"Oh sure, so you're happy with keeping us all stuck in here indefinitely because of orders? Man, you guys are seriously brainwashed," Melissa says, sounding disgusted. "I don't know about you, but I've been in here long enough. I'd steal the damn stuff if it meant getting out of here. I'd steal the damn stuff for a shower at this point. So just let the man take the stuff and get this fucking thing down already." No, she's not nearly as polite as she can be normally. Blame the head injury.

"Melissa" It's a warning tone from Brennan, who's suddenly not happy. Well, no more happy than he was before. Neither is the woman who's just doing her job as evidenced her step into the room proper and the levering of the door closed and thereby cutting Melissa off from any access or listening in to what's about to go down in the room.

She can see in though, Brennan and the woman engaging in conversation, dulled sound but unable to make out words. Gestures to the cooler, a shaking of heads followed by Brennan being passed over a radio and speaking into it, switching the conversation from human present to one on the other end while she takes the keys and actually unlocks the cooler.

"Oh yes, that's so mature, closing the door in my face," Melissa says, getting more and more disgusted with each passing minute. "This is the place that's supposed to be here to help people? Yeah, right. Nazis," she mutters, while she waits.

Something's changing though, inside. Brennan's head jerking from talking into the radio to the cooler, quick steps over joining the woman and reaching in while she reaches for a clipboard that's been used as the record keeping for removing drugs since a computer can't be used. The two confer, looking back and forth, fingers tapping spots then back into the cooler.

All told, it's five minutes before Brennan and the woman are locking up the cooler and emerging from the closet, locking the door behind them. "-asn't her. She's had a concussion, she's understandably unhappy with the situation but I can assure you that Ms. Pierce is not responsible"

Which might explain the security that seems to be rounding the corner. "She didn't take it, we just got up here when you came." Brennan seems to be defending… Melissa? Against what?

"Oh great. So someone stole something from in there and now you think I did it? Look lady, I work here. I wouldn't be stupid enough to actually steal anything from a place I work," Melissa says, shaking her head. "Besides, in case you couldn't tell, I don't have much of anything on me anyway. I came here to get patched up after Humanis First attacked and kidnapped me."

"Melissa…" Brennan holds a hand up, a silent urging for her to shut up before she does something or says something she just might regret. "Now's not the time to mouth off…" He looks over to the woman and then Security before back to Melissa. "Amp is missing"

"Check me if you want. I have no drugs on me, and no needle marks where I could've injected myself," Melissa says dryly. "And if I had taken it, why in the hell would I stick around, much less right outside the room where it's kept? I'm impulsive, not stupid."

Whatever the woman is about to say, Security standing nearby, it's Brennan who acts. He hasn't been searched, and isn't likely to be searched since he's trusted. But Melissa is Melissa, no security clearance and just a volunteer though at the moment, volunteer's are really even just guests still at the Suresh Center.

He hand comes around her upper arm on her good side.

"I'll deal with this. Thank you, and I'll let you know what I find out and keep everyone updated" It's not a kind grip and he's goosestepping her down the hall towards the stairs.

"You will shut your mouth until we are outside and not near people who will toss you into a room and lock the door because they think you stole some Amp or know something. Do you understand me Pierce? Just shut your mouth till we get outside, then you can mouth off all you like"

"Brennan. If you don't get your hand off of me now, you will lose it and the arm its attached to," Melissa says, her tone dangerous, but low. "And now that I know how things really work around here, you can bet your ass that I'll be doing everything I fucking can to keep people away from here." But at least she waited until they were away from the others before speaking.

"You don't have a single clue about how things really work around here Melissa. You really don't, you just think you do and I'm serious, I don't care if you don't like it. I'm the only thing just now that kept you from being thrown in a room to be interrogated, so shut it. Nothing under this dome is cut and dry anymore" Whether she does or not, who knows and he doesn't bother paying attention, just keeping an eye behind them and heading down the stairs and eventually, out of the building, where he does let go of her.

"someone stole a dose, maybe more, of Amp"

Well duh. Only, it's not him, there's no fishing through his pockets for the stuff to pass it over or even looking remotely guilty. "I don't know who, they don't either. So you're going to have to go find whomever it was that did, and see if you can't sweet talk it off of them. Either way, Get the hell out of here, I need to go in and deal with this now, without you there lipping off and making things worse"

"I'm not doing anything for you, Brennan. And if I do get the Amp? I'm sure as hell not giving it to you or anyone else who works in this place," Melissa says, lip curling in a sneer. "And you never, never touch me without permission again, or all your negation won't save you," she says, before turning to stalk off.

Well, considering that Brennan wasn't wanting the amp to return to the cooler, is likely a moot thing. He just stands there, watching the retreating for the of the pain manipulator. Never touch her, well, that too will always forever be up in the air. Things happen, people get hurt. When she's well and gone though, he's turning, heading back into the Suresh Center. Maybe, if he reasons enough, he might be able to get a dose.

Maybe

But this is the dome and under the dome, it's a whole different world.


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