Participants:
| Scene Title | Signs of Wellness |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Brynn gets a visit from an Agent checking on her health and wellness. |
| Date | September 14, 2020 |
Williamsburg: The Lanthorn
One of the others had alerted Brynn that someone was here to see her. A woman dressed in a nice suit, with her hair pulled back, the woman looks quite put together but also unfamiliar as she stands in the doorway of the Lanthorn room that’s still getting repaired. Good Afternoon, Miss Ferguson.
Her ASL isn’t perfect, there’s almost an accent to it, even. There’s a hint of another sign language that wants to predominate.
I am Agent Sommerfield. I have been sent to check on your condition. We are very concerned about the welfare of you and the other victims of the plane crash and want to make sure that you are well. Do you have a few moments to answer questions?
She makes all the gestures right, including silent speaking as she signs. But she isn’t actually speaking. Not that Brynn would know for sure.
It took a few minutes for Brynn to arrive in the foyer where the agent was kept waiting while someone texted the deaf young woman. As she descends the stairs of the firehouse, her gray eyes are shuttered with wariness — she wasn't expecting company. She doesn't really hang out with people other than her siblings all that often. Doodlebug accompanies her down the steps, holding his position at her heels as she stops at the bottom of the staircase.
I suppose. The petite brunette gestures toward the living room off the side of the foyer — the murals on the walls in here are in brilliant colors, and they continue on the walls of the living room as well. Although her body language betrays a bit of reluctance and some defensiveness, Brynn makes her way toward a chair and perches on the edge of it, gesturing for the agent to go ahead and have a seat, then pulling the cuffs of her hoodie down over the heels of her hands and tucking them into her lap with a questioning look. She merely waits for the questions to begin.
Good. My Agency is very interested in your wellbeing and wanted to personally check on how you were doing under these trying circumstances. The woman continues to sign and make all the right gestures, but there’s still that something off about it. Emmie Sommerfield is very skilled, though, there’s no doubt about that. As she moves to sit, she takes out a pencil and paper, holding the pencil in her left hand. Perhaps that was part of why her signing had been off— dominant left hand wasn’t as common as dominant right.
Her clip board has a hole for the pencil, so she can sign the questions and pick the pencil back up between questions to write down notes, but it may have been more convenient if she had asked for one of Brynn’s friends to sit in and translate instead. Perhaps this agent took pride in doing this in person.
It’s just a few basic questions. Nothing to worry about. How has your appetite been since the accident? Has it returned to normal?
The young woman pulls in a slow breath and considers her reply. When her hands come out, she signs deliberately for the agent, because it's clear that though she's fluent enough, Sommerfield isn't precisely comfortable with it.
I feel fine. Nothing wrong with my appetite or anything else that I've noticed. Aside from the obvious, of course. The change in SLC status is jarring enough on its own.
The notations that Agent Sommerfield makes are very small under the first question, as she nods and smiles, pleased with the answer. After a moment, her hands are free again to sign. I am glad to hear it. Then you are also sleeping well and not having any bad dreams?
If the loss of her ability were the only side effect, then perhaps these rounds of questions would go very quickly.
Nodding slightly, Brynn signs back, Well enough. Being snatched out of your bed while you're sleeping and waking up on a plane with no clue how you got there is a little hard on the nerves. The tone could have been snarky or completely sincere — the agent doesn't know the girl well enough to assume one or the other. Disadvantages of no vocal tones.
She waits for the next question, absently scratching behind Doodle's ear.
Quite understandable. Agent Sommerfield responds, looking around the living area for a moment with a tilt of her head. There’s still signs of construction, but it’s in progress, and a lot of the Safe Zone was still under construction even in the best of areas. But she could still imagine sleeping in the same circumstances one had been taken under would be… daunting. Have you been able to return to your day to day activities once again? Able to do most of the things you used to be able to do— minus the loss of your ability, of course.
Yes, Agent Sommerfield. There is nothing wrong with me except my ability is gone. I do everything I usually do and aside from wondering why … and worrying about it happening again… I'm perfectly fine. Even If she weren't, she isn't sure she would say very much to the agent. She'd go find Aunt Lynette. All this government interest in her with no clear explanation and no obvious investigation makes her leery.
That is a good way to look at things. The Agent signs with a smile on her face, looking pleased with the response. There’s a moment where Emmie Sommerfield pauses to write something down, a quick notation, before she looks back up and resumes signing and mouthing the questions. Have you ever felt like someone is watching you when you know no one is around?
A single brow quirks upward. There is a wariness to the young woman now that perhaps wasn't there before. I don't know how to answer that. You do know how I grew up? Because well… paranoia is rampant in her family. Preparation is a way of life. Agent… I'm deaf. At any given moment, I worry that I'm being watched or spoken to and I'm missing something. That question doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
With a thoughtful nod, Agent Sommerfield writes down a few more notations, but does not seem to address the question itself, or even the young deaf woman’s answers really. Maybe that’s not the important part, really, but it doesn’t seem she’s upset by the answer either. Or embarrassed by the question for that matter.
Until a few years ago, I lived in the United Kingdom. So I do understand how it feels, to never know when someone will knock on your door. And not to sell something, either, obviously.
Do you ever feel like you see things that are not there and that others do not seem to see?
Now Brynn frowns outright, and her weight shifts in the chair. There's a flash of anger. Sarcasm is perhaps not the easiest thing to convey in sign, so she doesn't bother snarking. But it is evident in the way her gray eyes narrow that the question is taken personally.
I'm assuming you're asking if I have hallucinations, Agent. And the answer is no.
Of course she sees things other people don't! She's pretty sure few people see the world the way she can! These are weird as crap questions too. But she gives simple answers without taking it out on the agent.
It is common for people who go through traumas to have after effects such as minor visual hallucinations. The woman signs after making a quick note about the response, so that the girl knows what part of the purpose was. Perhaps it’s true, perhaps not.
Perhaps everything that was being asked had an ulterior motive behind it. It was hard to know sometimes. Sommerfield looks apologetic, perhaps due to noting the narrowing of the eyes, the body language given at the possible offense taken.
You seem to be doing as well as can be expected. SESA and the other Agencies will continue to monitor your progress and do our best to get to the bottom of what happened to you and the others. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to go personally to your local SESA office and file a report.
Right. Because they'll be able to do a damn thing when they can't even figure out how this happened. Brynn doesn't voice her skepticism and aside from a smoothing of her expression from annoyed to more neutral, she doesn't really show it either.
There can't be that many companies in the world doing bleeding-edge genetics work, can there? I mean… that's kind of what this had to be, unless they exposed us to someone like Sylar who could take an ability. Do you have any leads at all?
I’m afraid I don’t have any information to share with you at this time involving your case. Sommerfield signs, looking quite apologetic as she mouths the words along with the signs, showing that she means it as much as possible at the very least. It doesn’t make things better, however.
Because it isn’t the answers that anyone wants. The notepad is put away, dropped into a small purse that rests on her shoulder and she gets to her feet again. But you’re right. There aren’t many who are capable of doing what happened to you. Not that we know of, at least. But there are also a lot of— areas of the world that are no longer monitored in the way that they used to be, unfortunately. Everything that can be done, will be done.
Which is just another way of saying 'nothing we can do.' Brynn grimaces faintly but nods, her hand dropping to stroke Doodle's head. Then she signs, Well, sorry to be of no help to you, agent.
No, you were very helpful. This was to find out your current well-being. This is about how you are doing now, not what happened to you before. Even if what happened to her before is what they are still investigating. The current state is just as important, though. Thank you for your time.
With that, Emmie Sommerfield moves to leave, carefully stepping around the floor so as not to accidentally step on anything on her way out.
Brynn watches her go, a multitude of questions running through her mind. Sommerfield never said which agency, but based on something else she said… it's not SESA. So who is she? Why does she know anything at all about what happened? And what the hell is with those weird questions? Her brows beetle slightly over her nose and she purses her lips, then she pulls out her phone to text a group text to the others.
Anybody else get a weird visit from someone who didn't say exactly who they were with and asked bizarre questions about how they were eating, sleeping, and whether they were hallucinating?