Participants:
| Scene Title | Home Sweet Hospital |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Jet and Dema arrive at their new place of residence and employment: the State Island Hospital. Dr. Sheridan is there to welcome them. |
| Date | May 1, 2010 |
The snow is coming down hard and heavy, its soft whiteness gathering into a crushing, fatal weight on an already straining city. With no end in sight, and no reason yet accounted for, Dr. Sheridan has made the executive decision to move her latest hires to the relative safety of the Staten Island Hospital facility. The move is not difficulty. The very few worldly possessions Jet and Dema have gathered under their shared roof are packed into boxes and loaded into the backs of great, dark SUVs fitted with massive snow tires. Somber, bland-faced men of ambiguous but clearly institutional origins serve as both moving crew and escort team. They barely speak to Dema and Jet, beyond verifying their identity and informing them of their immediate relocation.
Dema adopts his protective posture as soon as their space, their private place, is intruded upon, and stays by her at all times. When they are, themselves, led into the dark vehicles and borne off into the black and white photonegative bleakness of the snowy night, he keeps an arm around her for the entire ride, along otherwise impassible streets, across bridges, to a private ferry that chugs across the slushy water of the harbor, over to Staten Island: their new home.
It becomes very clear that Dr. Sheridan has latched her chariot to a much more powerful horse this time. Jet can recall, from her stay in the facility, the ad hoc-ness of the operation, the relative ease of the guards, the barebones equipment indicating a limited budget. This time, the men that guide them are all business, and the building they are taken to is vast - not some out of the way warehouse, but a great repurposed hospital, its lights glowing with the power of its own generators. They are ushered through the doors, and told that their possessions will be taken to their quarters - right now they are to meet with Dr. Sheridan herself, the erstwhile Madame, for their orientation.
Dr. Sheridan is waiting for them in a minimally decorated office that likely once belonged to a branch head at the hospital. The wooden shelves are bare, and the large desk has only a computer monitor, keyboard, a stack of files, and a plastic case. Sitting in a generously padded chair is the Doctor herself, quite a sight different than the black-garbed ghoul that oversaw so many injections. She wears a button-down forest green blouse with a white lab coat, and her pocket bears an identification card, just like a normal doctor. Closer now than ever before, Jet can see that Dr. Sheridan is a pretty woman, barely over thirty if that, with longish red hair and an agreeable smile that she turns towards the two newcomers as they enter her office. She motions with one hand to a pair of seats in front of the desk. "Dema, Juliet, please. I'm sorry for the short notice, but if we hadn't moved you now, I don't know if we ever could have. It's a nightmare out there, as you've just seen."
Jet keeps her fingers laced with one of Dema's hands, but she gives the woman a slight smile and a nod, "The snow is nuts, I agree. We should move to Florida. Sunny there." And then the pleasantries on her part are over, just standing there infront of the woman. Waiting. Her free hand moves to her neck, unraveling the orange scarf from around her neck.
The red headed doctor laughs at Jet's joke, either with genuine mirth or an indistinguishable counterfit. "Please, have a seat," Bella urges, glancing to Dema for a moment, wondering if it is /he/ that maybe decides if they sit or not. She has not puzzled out the intricacies of this particular relationship, though it may be in her best interests to gain a fuller understanding. "I'll try and be brief. Your specific duties are up to other members of staff, but as I've worked with you before, I thought it only right that I handle your welcome and orientation." She steeples her fingers, elbows resting on the arms of her chair. "Our work here is highly classified, so your comings and goings, what little, I'm afraid, there will be of them, will be monitored. Simple security precaution. On the plus side, this whole facility is heated and lit, at least the parts that are in active use are, and you're as safe here as you could ask to be." Another glance at Dema. It is he, after all, who is at greatest risk in the outside world. Chained to his body, if he's recognized by the wrong person, he's dead. Dema doesn't give her the satisfaction of a reaction, however. And he waits for Jet to decide if they will sit or not. He remains implacable, as if carved from stone.
"Thank you." Giving Dema's hand a squeeze she releases it however so they can both sit without complications, her hands giving a small rubbing together as if chilled. "I understand. Classified. Little in the goings, security. Are you going to mark me or track me in anyway? I could just as easily possess a worker here, and walk out of here. Are you just going to trust me?" A perk of her brow to Bella at this, "And thank you for welcoming us. We're not picky."
Bella's smile becomes sly, conspiratorial, as if Jet has just brought up a little secret that's theirs and theirs alone. She even leans forward, affecting a confidential disclosure. "Well, there /have/ been some tizzies upstairs about the security hazard you present, it's true. But you and I know that there's more to gain from mutual trust. I don't intend to give you any reason to betray me, and I have no intention of breaking our agreement - I understand that all relationships are built on a mixture of faith and self interest, and both are in play in our circumstances."
Dema nods, speaking with a gravity only the taciturn can employ, "We will keep each other's faith, yes? You and we, and she," he reaches out, touching his hand to Jet's shoulder, "And I. As long as we are kept together, you have my trust."
"Of course. It is the depth of your feelings that originally convinced me to pull Juliet out of testing," Bella says, treating the horror of the experiments with a lightness that suggests bygones are bygones, "Which brings us to the project this facility is undertaking. The details are, as I believe I mentioned, classified, but as assistants you should know the tools we will be using. Here," she reaches out and opens the plastic case, revealing a set of three syringes filled with a murky substance, "This is the augmentation drug. It enhances Evolved abilities temporarily. It is one of our chief devices." Which means, of course, yet more human testing. Some things haven't changed.
Leaning forward Jet reaches out as if to touch the vial of the substance, lips pursing for a moment at this. "I do not understand. I mean I do. But say you used it on me, do you have any suspicions about how it would effect me?" Her hand lifts to rest on Dema's on her shoulder, but it's clear she's curious, almost giddy with the knowledge this could contain. "Have you ran any experiments yet?"
Bella leans back in her chair again, hands meeting fingertip to fingertip. "We have done some preliminary trials. And no, I have no idea what effect it would have on an unquantified ability such as yours. And while I'm /curious/," the doctor smiles with good humored reassurance, necessary as her comment elicits a narrowing of Dema's eyes, "I'm hesitant to suggest you take any. It's a poison pill, at this stage. A single dose already induces a variety of unpleasant side effects: nausea, headaches, fever, accelerated heart rate. In larger quantities there have been cases of hallucination, temporary psychosis and dangerous heart arrhythmia. Death by cardiac arrest is the invariable result of reaching its very low fatality threshold. As such, handling its application is a matter of extreme care and delicacy."
Listening to all Bella has to say, the female is silent for a moment before looking to Dema, then back to Bella. "This body I stole from the hospital. She was a vegetable. Her parents did not want to give up hope that she would one day come back, but I have not yet felt her stir. I would be willing to undergo it, with the risk of death, as this is just a shell. It's not who I am. We would just have to find me another host." A faint quirk of her lips at this, "I want to see what it does. I don't see how I could possibly strengthen my ability, but I'm curious."
This is not music to Dema's ears. He doesn't find it easy to contradict or impose on Jet, and he is not sure what to say at first, so when he does speak, it comes out in his mother tongue. What he says, neither women can be sure, but his tone is clear enough: the prospect alarms him. He finds his English shortly after. "Too great a risk!" he declares, turning to Bella, as the authority and the keeper of the drug, "You do not know the-" he pauses, stumbling over his words, "How this thing works. You say, 'preliminary'. You say 'no idea the effect'. If this works on Evolved, maybe it work on the part-" again, words fail him, and he turns to Jet, beseeching, "Please, do not do this, not unless it is known to be safe."
Bella is surprised at the outburst - she's never seen such a reaction from Dema. Despite being called on for an opinion, the doctor does not yet give one. She would very much like to test the drug on Jet - and her enthusiasm and consent are things she doesn't wish to dampen. But Dema has a point, and without his agreement, Jet's own might not be guaranteed. She keeps her peace, waiting to see how this plays out between the couple.
Turning towards Dema she moves so that her hands can be put in his own, holding them as she gazes at him. "She's going to test it on people Dema. At least I can inhabit another body. Besides, she did not say death, just some sickness, and you're a nurse. You'll be by my side if I need medical help. Right?" A slight smile to him at this before looking at Bella. "Right? Full medical staff, and Dema gets to be there."
"Medic," Dema corrects. He's not precisely defensive about being labelled a nurse. In fact, nurses are better trained than former Soviet medics. He's hardly at ease, but Jet's words do sooth him to some extend. He /will/ be there, you can bet your life on that. He takes her hands and squeezes, lightly, making no more protests, but letting her know through his expression alone that he has grave misgivings.
Bella, called upon, steps in to secure Dema's confidence. "We will use the utmost caution should we place Juliet in a trial, you have my word. Neither I, nor anyone involved in this project, has any interest in risking the life of an employee such as Juliet, especially someone - if you'll forgive my pragmatism - with such an unusual and fascinating talent. Anything less than the greatest care would not only be ungrateful, it would be counter to the interests of the project."
A return squeeze to Dema's hands before she lifts them to her lips and kisses all of his knuckles one by one before turning her attention to Bella. "Then if those things are met, you can call upon me as you see fit." A glance to Dema, then back to her. "Is there any other business we need to discuss at this time? If not, I'd like permission to go out tomorrow night, out last date night in a long time before we settle down in our life here. I need to stock pile some magazines as well. And movies. Then I'll be set."
Bella lifts a brow, "Most things in the city are closed, so I don't know how much luck you'll have," she says, "But I shouldn't naysay. Of course you can have one last evening out. We have a very robust internet connection here. Use one of our staff consoles to find a good holdout, and I'll try and justify the expense of driving you as 'morale building'," the psychiatrist actually tips Juliet a small wink, "When they find out it was your morale I was building, I'm sure there will be no further questions." Jet is a one in a million case, and Bella is sure that exceptions and special treatment can apply, if made to seem necessary. "Nor do I have further comments. You know what you are handling, and you know what you may be called on to do. All the nitty gritty stuff you'll learn from relevant staff members. You can pick up your IDs at the nurses' station. Welcome to the team!"
A flash of a smile to Bella as she speaks and welcomes them to the team, before looking to Dema and giving his hand another squeeze. "I expect you to carry me over the threshold in our new home." A teasing smile from her at this before looking back to Bella. "Thank you for this meeting and letting up stay here. You know where we are if you need us." A glance back to Dema, "Ready to see our home and unpack?"