Let's see how far we've come, let's see how far we've come
ALIAS
Anna
POWER
Hemoconsumptive Augmentation with Magnetoreception
Civilian
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Post by CBE-177/"Anna" on Dec 17, 2017 4:06:46 GMT
Well, it didn't look like Laboratory 1, anyway. The taxi pulled away and 177 was left standing on the sidewalk outside a dull brick-and-glass building that, according to the card in her hand, was where she was supposed to spend the next hour or two. Not that it had been her idea. The idea of a medical check at the local MRNU was the last thing that 177 would have chosen for herself. As far as she was concerned, she'd had enough of doctors and science types to last her three lifetimes. If they were so interested in how she ticked, they could go dig up wherever it was in Siberia Masushita had buried his notes. But Jack was her employer, now, and if he wanted her to do this, so be it. But that didn't mean she'd like it. She stood outside the building for some time, studying it. She wore jeans and tennis shoes and a pinkish white blouse and her baseball cap that said “Dawnbreak Security”. Her hair was done in two bunches, which had begun as an abortive attempt at replicating the plaited hairstyles she remembered from her youth and was now being kept as was. She hadn't realized that Americans considered it a children's hairstyle, and combined with her height it had gotten her more than one sideways glance. The reactions amused her, so for the time being she kept her hair as it was. At times like this, she wished her magnetic sense was more sensitive. It would have made her feel better to go inside with a knowledge of what their. She'd have to content herself with a few minutes of study. Plenty of windows, at least, so escape routes wouldn't be lacking. Well. She couldn't stand here forever. She wasn't going to get any more ready. She found the waiting room without much trouble, pausing at the door to examine it. Exits were two doors and a window, with one of the doors leading further inside. Four other people were there already: a woman with a baby, a woman by herself, and a man who sat in one corner and stared at the ceiling without blinking. Near the door that led further into the building was a window with a woman sitting behind it in a strangely colorful thin-clothed outfit. Some sort of uniform in this place? The woman clearly wasn't a nurse; she lacked the proper hat. The place smelled awful. It smelled of too many human bodies passing through and latex and talcum and disinfectant and some sort of fake floral scent ineffectively covering up the rest. If by some chance she had come here of her own accord, the smell would have driven her away instantly. It was too much like Laboratory 1. Yet it lacked some smells she remembered from there: the smell of decay, and mildew, and sewage improperly disposed of, and acidic poisons that left their own strange marks on the air. Too much like- but also quite unlike. She wanted out of this as soon as possible. 177 walked towards the glass window where the woman in the colorful uniform sat. She tapped it with one of her knuckles and slid a card that Jack had given her to the woman behind the glass. The woman read the card, and her eyes lit up. “Oh! Miss Trotsky. Right this way.” 177 had to resist rolling her eyes. Her fake ID identified her as “Anna Trotsky” (did her employer think that was funny?) and her date of birth as September 20, 1994. The name still sounded stupid every time she heard someone say it. She followed the woman through the door that led deeper into the building, turning right and proceeding about a hundred steps down a hall. The room the woman led her to had two chairs, a desk with a computer, a padded table, a counter with a sink and some cabinets. Exits were the door she came in through and a window that looked out over a three story drop or so, which she could handle if she needed to. “Just have a seat and someone will be here shortly,” said the woman. She left, closing the door behind her. When she was gone 177 went up to the window and tapped the glass with one of her fingers. It wasn't her preference to be here, but she took comfort in the fact that she could escape easily if she needed to. She went over to the counter where the sink was and tried the cabinets under the sink. They were locked. Some glass jars on the counter contained sticks that could be used to gouge an eye out or could be broken to serve as weapons in their own right, but there was nothing in sight that looked exceptionally dangerous. The cabinets above the sink were unlocked but her height precluded her from seeing what was inside while she stood on the ground. Undeterred, she hopped onto the counter, and that was where she was when the man walked in. Nathan Havelock calico |
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
Dec 18, 2017 13:53:57 GMT
Post by Nathan Havelock on Dec 18, 2017 13:53:57 GMT
 The Best Medicine Getting contacted by Jack was certainly a surprise. It was even more of a surprise to be informed at 3 AM that Jack had covertly adjusted his schedule for the next day. They wanted him to look somebody over – a girl Jack had met by chance who now seemed to be employed by them, after a fashion. Nate had long adjusted to the fact that Jack was not your typical seventeen-year-old, but it still amused him to catch glimpses of how they chose to spend their time. Apparently their hobbies included adopting mute relics of the Soviet Union.
Some additional details had followed which Nate managed to look through in the morning. She was a meta-human – exceptionally strong and skilled in combat – and had been involved in some kind of secret super soldier program. A quick google of “све-177” revealed nothing, of course, but it had been worth a shot.
The most concerning piece of information was that this woman seemed to be reliant upon consuming blood. She had demanded a litre of blood a week – it was unclear as to whether this was the minimum she needed for staying alive or if this went towards fuelling her abilities.
He’d rolled his eyes once he finally saw the fake name Jack had provided for the poor girl. It wasn’t quite as bad as Sue Denim, but did they really have to settle for Trotsky?
Bethan passed him in the hall, smiling broadly. “Your next patient is waiting for you,” she said sweetly, apparently unconcerned that she’d just left a powerful meta-human alone in Nate’s consulting room. He thanked her hurriedly, quickening his pace and opening the door with more force than he’d intended.
He was greeted by the sight of a child – no, was it her? – firmly planted on the sink counter and taking a look at the contents of the cabinets before her. She was very short and wearing bunches, but Nate could only assume that this was in fact his patient. He couldn’t rule out that this was Jack’s idea of a hilarious practical joke, but for now he was settling for “Anna Trotsky”.
“Find anything interesting in there?” he asked, shutting the door and moving close to her, arms raised slightly in preparation to catch her if she slipped. As if slipping from a counter-top was going to be much concern to a Soviet super-soldier.
“Why don’t you take a seat? My name’s Dr. Havelock, by the way,” he said, offering a hand to help her down from the counter. “I could call you Anna Trotsky but I have strong suspicions that’s not actually your name.” He offered a teasing grin, trying to gauge her reaction. You tended to pick up pretty quickly on which patients did and didn’t have a sense of humour. With those bunches, Nate was counting on her to at least crack a smile.
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Let's see how far we've come, let's see how far we've come
ALIAS
Anna
POWER
Hemoconsumptive Augmentation with Magnetoreception
Civilian
|
Dec 18, 2017 19:28:48 GMT
Post by CBE-177/"Anna" on Dec 18, 2017 19:28:48 GMT
Footsteps going by outside the door lulled her into complacency, and when one of them finally stopped and someone touched the handle, she had less than a second to decide what to do. Her first instinct was to bail, leap to the floor, sit and act like she'd done nothing unusual, but she suppressed the idea. In the first place, it would probably have made noise, and a cabinet slamming shut just as the doctor walked in would have cast doubt on her attempts to feign innocence, to say the last. And if that wasn't an option, he next best choice was to play cheerful. She had long ago learned that there was a kind of power in fulfilling the expectations people had for you. If you were in a box- and, "Small happy mute girl" was certainly a box that people had- then they thought you were safe, and they let their guard down. She had played the mute fool more than once in her life, and had found the role useful in a variety of contexts. And... there was something else. She might not trust Jack on a personal level, but when it came to business she doubted he would deliberately throw her into danger. She wanted to test that. Give them a chance to respond when she was caught somewhere she probably shouldn't be. She had found that the worse someone acted when you crossed their rules, the worse of a person they were likely to be. Good people could handle a change or two; bad ones saw themselves as the center of the universe. She wasn't sure she believed in good people... But perhaps some part of her did. Or perhaps it only wanted to test the hypothesis. Either way, she stayed where she was. Besides, she had a better angle on the window from here then from the floor. The man who came in was tall (well, everyone was taller than her, but he was taller than average, anyway) and dark-haired, with a smile that surprised her in disarming pleasantness. She let herself smile back, just a little. She sensed this was the sort of man who thrived on positive feedback, and she had no reason to alienate him just yet. She'd be cautious, yes, and she'd keep an eye out for any sign of treachery, but sitting sullen wasn't the way to deal with him. Still on the counter, she looked him over from head to foot, a slightly amused expression on her face, then sat down on the counter and dropped to the floor (without taking his offered hand) before looking him over again. She tapped on her phone and showed him. She took one of the chairs and sat facing him. Truth be told, she'd rather him call her Anna than 177. Having a doctor use that designation for her was an association that could make her queasy if she let it. Nathan Havelock |
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
Dec 19, 2017 16:46:27 GMT
Post by Nathan Havelock on Dec 19, 2017 16:46:27 GMT
The Best Medicine Nate couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle – toned down considerably from the laughter that would have erupted from him if he wasn’t concerned about seeming just a little professional – at the first message CBE-177/Anna showed him. The height difference between them certainly added to her point.
“Well you need to invest in a good pair of platform boots, then,” he suggested with a wry smile. “Although develop a hard enough stare and you can take down anyone, right?”
She definitely had a bit of a smile to her face right now, which was encouraging, but Nate was absolutely sure of the girl’s capacity to intimidate anyone with a stone-cold glare. Just knowing the things she was capable of, and likely all the traumatic things she’d seen, would give anyone that power. Nate personally wasn’t great at that kind of thing – he wasn’t even really a “kill them with kindness” guy. Maybe “prod them viciously with kindness” at worst.
They moved to the chairs at Nate’s desk. He hadn’t exactly been surprised by the fact that she’d ignored his offer of assistance when climbing down from the counter, but it had been a pleasant surprise that she’d taken a seat without even a hint of protest. She obviously wasn’t determined to give him a hard time; a pleasant change from some of his patients.
He read the second message, a pang of sadness twisting his mouth into a frown.
“We can stick with Anna,” he agreed, turning to grab his notebook and writing her fake name at the top of the page.
He looked up at her. “How are you settling in? Made any friends, seen any sights? San Francisco is probably a far cry from… you know.” Nate gestured vaguely in the direction of where he thought Russia might be from here. “It must have been quite the shock to wake up on the other side of the world in a new century.”
He could hardly imagine it, and could only guess at the piles upon piles of risk factors she had collected for a number of mental health issues. Even before he started looking into her metahuman abilities and her rather unnerving dependence on blood, Nate wanted to make sure that she had some kind of grounding in the world. Maybe he could find out if she had any surviving relatives. He jotted that idea down on the side of his page while he waited for her to finish typing.
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Let's see how far we've come, let's see how far we've come
ALIAS
Anna
POWER
Hemoconsumptive Augmentation with Magnetoreception
Civilian
|
Dec 19, 2017 18:35:37 GMT
Post by CBE-177/"Anna" on Dec 19, 2017 18:35:37 GMT
She grinned at his suggestion of platform boots, genuinely amused, and raised herself up on her toes to a still-not-impressive height just over five feet. She made a "what can you do" gesture and came back to the floor. Internally, she snorted at his idea of a "hard enough stare"; clearly he was trying to come to grips with her abilities by collapsing them into a "hard stare". That was good, though. It meant he was off-balance around her, which made him less likely to try anything she would have to make him regret. She took her seat. She felt a twinge of relief as he agreed to call her Anna, though she carefully kept it off her face. Her expression was neutral but open, not exactly excited about what lay ahead but not throwing up any deliberate barriers, either. His question caught her off guard. She'd never really thought about how she was "fitting in". What did that even mean? She'd never "fit in" much of anywhere, as far as she could see. No doubt it was one of those questions intended to assess her mental state, but she sensed a genuine concern despite the obviois ulterior motive. It was... strange. She felt a surprisingly strong desire to be honest with this man. She looked down at her phone, clicking her teeth as she considered. Truth be told, she'd had the rug torn out from her so many times in her life that finding herself in a future United States had hardly seemed out of the question. What did "quite a shock" mean, anyway? As if there was any road that went between living and dying. What was there besides one or the other? She stared at her phone, conscious that he was watching her, suddenly angry at him for putting her on the spot and herself for not being better prepared. He'd unbalanced her. Perhaps he hadn't meant to, but he had, and that was dangerous. Sometimes you couldn't afford to stop and think. Sometimes you just had to move. She began typing. Nathan Havelock |
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
Dec 21, 2017 13:10:08 GMT
Post by Nathan Havelock on Dec 21, 2017 13:10:08 GMT
The Best Medicine Even crouching slightly in response to the girl’s – “Anna”, for now – attempts to reach an acceptable human height did nothing to really narrow the gap to anything other than a ridiculous height difference. Nate laughed at her dramatic shrug as she descended once more. “I’m still gonna recommend the boots,” he chuckled, visibly relieved that she was already somewhat willing to joke and play around with him.
She definitely didn’t grin in response to his probing. “Anna” typed for a long time and Nate tried his best to occupy himself with some light note-taking. He couldn’t help it though; he kept tilting his head up to watch her – trying to pull anything from her expression. There wasn’t much to go on but she didn’t exactly seem pleased to have to be discussing the personal details of her new life.
Eventually the screen was shown to him, and Nate read it through as quickly as possible – not wanting to deprive her of her only source of communication for too long.
It was… surprisingly encouraging, all things considered.
“That sounds pretty good,” he said happily. “I’m sure you can get a lot of your bearings just from reading and watching TV. Jack introduced you to the internet yet? Plenty of friends to be made online if you know where to look.”
Nate stopped himself, feeling a little patronising. “Choosing to live is very important. That attitude will have you up to speed in no time.” He scribbled a few short notes down on his paper, then looked up again. “Do you have any questions for me, Anna? Has Jack told you why they asked me to see you?”
He was entirely unsure as to the nature of Jack’s relationship with “Anna”. It was unlikely that Jack would leave her completely to her own devices, but he wasn’t sure how much time they were spending with her outside of a more professional environment. They were intelligent. Nate was sure they were doing what they could to ensure their employee was healthy; both physically and mentally. Opportunities to socialise with others would come in time, he hoped.
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Let's see how far we've come, let's see how far we've come
ALIAS
Anna
POWER
Hemoconsumptive Augmentation with Magnetoreception
Civilian
|
Dec 21, 2017 17:39:12 GMT
Post by CBE-177/"Anna" on Dec 21, 2017 17:39:12 GMT
The way the man was treating her pulled her in two directions. On the one hand, he was friendly, and she wanted to like him. On the other hand, he was a doctor, and worse, a doctor at a government facility for studying people like her. Her heart sped up and she glanced at the window, reminding herself she had an easy escape. She wanted to be reassured, but how could that happen when you barely trusted the person who was assuring you? Still, she didn't have to be reassured to gain something from this encounter. Perhaps this man, against all odds, could be counted on to do something good. At the mention of the internet her face twisted in a look of disgust. She typed: She didn't put too fine of a point on it, but no doubt he'd catch the implication that she'd had a bad experience with doctors and government laboratories. Nathan Havelock |
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
Dec 22, 2017 15:01:06 GMT
Post by Nathan Havelock on Dec 22, 2017 15:01:06 GMT
The Best Medicine This time Nate had even longer to wait while Anna-177 typed. On the one hand, he was excited to see that she had so much to say and so much that she was willing to share with him. On the other, it meant he needed to fill the time with something other than staring as she wrote her response on the phone. He flushed out his notes a little – though there wasn’t much to go on yet – and began jotting down some ideas for any tests Jack might want him to undertake.
Finally, the phone was handed to him once more, and Nate blinked in surprise at the wall of text before he began reading.
“Wikipedia is definitely a good place to start. News sites, too. And uh yeah… You don’t have to worry about acquainting yourself with pornography,” he said quickly, only feeling an ever-so-slight red tinge to his cheeks. “Plenty of people who agree with your views on the subject.”
He read on.
“You can find friends on forums? Sites for particular hobbies or interests are good, and there’s also online gaming if that kind of thing appeals to you. Beware of angry thirteen-year-olds in that situation though… Maybe better to stick to forums.” Nate chuckled, recalling his youth for a moment. He’d played a lot of games with his friend Tyler when they were younger, but they’d both grown out of them pretty quickly once they started paying more attention to girls and parties.
“Okay, well I can probably do a quick physical check for you, it’s not really my speciality but I can cover the basics. I’d quite like to see if you have any surviving family too, if that’s alright with you. Some long-lost cousin’s grandchild might be living next-door for all we know!”
It was saddening to read about how she had been treated before. Quite horrifying, really, but he didn’t want to linger on that kind of thing in case it triggered something. Also, it was making his guts squirm a little just to think about vivisection.
He looked down at the final line, then back up at her with a smile. “This place is the MNRU, Metahuman Neurological Research Unit. It’s officially a government research unit for studying metahuman neurology but there are those of us, like myself, who work here as doctors to help people to control and manage their powers. I work across neurology and psychiatry, helping people with disorders of the brain and spine as well as those with mental health issues. Sometimes I get dragged in to help with research but, eh, not really my thing. Kind of a higher security level that what I’m normally allowed to see, anyway.”
Nate shrugged, a grin still on his face. He really wasn’t the biggest fan of a lot of the MNRU research, if the rumours he heard were true, so it was a relief not to be involved too much. “The highest I get is working with a colleague who does Hero work. I just check up on her really, make sure she’s not burning herself out.” A trickier job than it might seem, unfortunately. Girl had a terminal case of total people-pleaser.
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Let's see how far we've come, let's see how far we've come
ALIAS
Anna
POWER
Hemoconsumptive Augmentation with Magnetoreception
Civilian
|
Dec 22, 2017 20:14:25 GMT
Post by CBE-177/"Anna" on Dec 22, 2017 20:14:25 GMT
The man's blush when she mentioned the images she had found on the internet made her smile again. She found herself genuinely liking this man, despite his choice of occupation. He didn't view her as simply another project; he seemed, refreshingly, to see her as a real person. She had visited a few news sites, but the idea of forums was new to her. So much to learn! But if there was a way to make friends using the internet, where one could communicate in writing (though she couldn't see how), there would be tremendous benefit in that. She felt a little queasy when he said that he would do a physical but suppressed the feeling. It probably had to happen one way or the other, and it would be better to know if Laboratory 1 had left her with any unpleasant surprises. She'd lived through Masushita, and she certainly wouldn't let anything less bad hinder her. She tilted her head when he mentioned finding family related to her. It caught her completely off guard, and she was surprised by the emotions it raised in her. She had assumed for years that her family was dead, or as good as it. Having that hope raised again... But he had no idea how unlikely it was, knew nothing of how bad things had been. No, she had no more family; this she knew for certain. His description of the MNRU did not put her worries about the place to rest in the slightest. It was cleaner than Laboratory 1, perhaps, and with nicer employees like this doctor, but she would never trust labs to have the interest of those like her at heart- especially if there were high security areas! Oh, she had seen high security areas, that was for sure. The only bright spot was his affirmation of his own low position in the organization. It helped resolve the tension in her mind between his apparent kindness and her distrust of his employer. No doubt he knew nothing of their real activities. He was one of those people who were usefully earnest, enjoying their own work without suspecting the larger schemes at work. It let her respect him while maintaining her suspicion of the organization. His mention of a metahuman that he worked with caught her interest. She wondered what the other metahuman was like. Suddenly she saw a chance to have many questions about this place and its people answered. She began typing. Nathan Havelock |
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
Dec 27, 2017 16:36:46 GMT
Post by Nathan Havelock on Dec 27, 2017 16:36:46 GMT
The Best Medicine “Billboards – you mean ads? Trying to sell you stuff usually, right? Yeah they can be distracting. I’d be happy to show you what a forum looks like though!”
Nate turned to the computer, wondering idly if the system would flag it up as inappropriate usage. He pulled up Google, typed in “forum” and then turned back to Anna.
“Any particular interest? Baking, dancing? Forum for the vertically-challenged?” He stuck his tongue out a little between his teeth, unable to quite resist poking the rather dangerously powerful metahuman. She shouldn’t have been standing on his sink or he would never have had to address her tiny stature. Anna was broad for her height though – quite stocky and obviously strong. She seemed sweet enough but Nate should probably know better than to pick on her too much.
“I can get that check done ASAP, no problem. I take it you haven’t been suffering from any illness since you… arrived in San Francisco?” She seemed perfectly healthy from the outside. “Any aches or pains?” Apart from Jack Fontaine, of course?
He scrambled around under his desk, reaching a pile of fairly dusty textbooks that a well-meaning consultant had obviously left there in case people needed to review content that couldn’t just be found in a simple search online. He pulled up Kaufman’s Clinical Neurology for Psychiatrists, which had a few handy diagrams on the front to vaguely hint at what neurology entailed. He gestured to the cover, holding it out just in case Anna wanted to bore herself silly.
Nate frowned in thought. “I’ll see what I can do about tracking down family, maybe I can get in touch with you later this month if I find anything. You never know, we may be able to recover some memories in the process,” he added hopefully.
He nodded understandingly at Anna’s interest in Claire. It could potentially be a very healthy and productive meeting for the two of them – Anna’s low-intensity conversation pace matched Claire’s natural quietness pretty perfectly. “I can certainly try to get you back there to meet her – I think Jack has put you into the system at quite a high security level, just because they could, I bet.”
Nate tried to recall Claire’s schedule – he was fairly sure that today was a low-intensity day for her. True days off were few and far between but he’d managed to stress the value of giving the young Hero a chance to rest and recharge. He may have slightly exaggerated the negative impacts of not giving her rest days when drawing up his report; they were far more likely to listen to his concerns over her wellbeing if he phrased it as matter of efficiency.
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Let's see how far we've come, let's see how far we've come
ALIAS
Anna
POWER
Hemoconsumptive Augmentation with Magnetoreception
Civilian
|
Dec 28, 2017 14:07:24 GMT
Post by CBE-177/"Anna" on Dec 28, 2017 14:07:24 GMT
She watched him at the computer with interest, still getting used to the idea of such small computers with so informative screens. She still found them fascinating. She rolled her eyes when he made another crack about her height, ready for that joke to be over. Though it was probably her own fault. Was was she interested in? The question caught her off guard. She hadn't had much time to develop interests while a prisoner, and since she'd arrived here things had been a blur of required acts and learning. She hadn't had much time that was only for herself. She had to confess she didn't know what she was interested in. He asked if she'd been having any problems since she'd arrived. She indicated an area below her belly button, then put her hands on her hips and twisted her torso left and right. She touched a spot on her right side. He pushed the Neurology book to her and she flipped through it, skimming a few of the pages before pushing the book back. Clearly she needed more background before she understood it, but it seemed harmless enough, mostly a description of how nerves and brains worked. She flipped to the table of contents but didn't see anything about brainwashing, so she felt all right about it. Realizing she'd forgotten to give the doctor some sort of emotional signal, she smiled at him again. She tilted her head in assent when he mentioned trying to find her family, secretly doubting he would be able to find anything but willing to let him make the attempt. She smiled when he said he could try to give her a meeting with his friend, though his mention of security yet again concerned her. Why did they need security if this was a good place? Still, that was one concern she decided to keep to herself for now. Nathan Havelock |
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
Dec 30, 2017 17:31:53 GMT
Post by Nathan Havelock on Dec 30, 2017 17:31:53 GMT
The Best Medicine Nate scrolled through the search results. He didn’t know why he was surprised that there were so many forums dedicated to baking - it was an exceptionally popular hobby after all. It felt incongruous to an existence on the internet somehow, as though baking enthusiasts needed to stick to swapping handwritten recipes. He wrote down a couple of the urls, then moved onto “forum dancing”, which also had several results.
“You’ll have to let me know if you end up becoming a cake-baking ballerina,” he said with a smile. “That could be fun, and I bravely volunteer to sample any baked goods you come up with, of course.” If Nate had a true weakness when it came to food, then it was probably freshly baked bread. Maybe he should take note of some of the baking forums for his own interests.
“forum short people” did actually pull up a few successful hits too. Nate noted the subreddit in particular. “There’s a lot of interesting stuff on reddit,” he explained as he circled the URL on his page. “Lots of material to avoid too but, hey, that’s the internet for ya, right?”
He held back from laughing too hard at Anna’s experience of being short. As it was, with her comically childish bunches and strong, stocky build, she probably wouldn’t look too out of place in a circus herself.
Her response to his enquiry about aches and pains was worse than he’d been hoping for. It wasn’t exactly surprising that she’d failed to escape years of experimentation and torture trauma-free, but there were obviously some fresher scars that would need addressing. Nate noted that down now, but thought it best to leave that discussion until after the physical exam. Maybe he could arrange some regular home visits with Jack or something.
“I’m sorry to hear about how frightening that loss of control was,” he said softly. “What they did to you in that laboratory must have been horrible - not your fault that you have some lingering triggers.”
As far the strange poking inside, that left him with wide eyes. “I might be able to arrange for a scan on that,” he said, concern evident in every cell of his body.
It was indescribably elating to see her smiling though, despite everything. She was the very picture of resilience.
“We can start with the basic vitals,” he said, pulling out his stethoscope and a blood pressure cuff from the top drawer. There was probably a thermometer somewhere too. “Let’s start with a height and weight check, then we can see how your blood pressure’s doing. Have you ever seen one of these before?” He dangled the cuff before her. “It won’t hurt, I promise.”
He stood up and moved to the scales. He wasn’t really concerned about her weight, but best to have all the measurements just in case something came up later. “Just stand on these please!”
It was hard to judge her weight just by looking, so Nate was genuinely intrigued as to what numbers would come out.
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Let's see how far we've come, let's see how far we've come
ALIAS
Anna
POWER
Hemoconsumptive Augmentation with Magnetoreception
Civilian
|
Post by CBE-177/"Anna" on Dec 31, 2017 4:09:51 GMT
He wrote down the names of some forums on a piece of paper. She read them, then folded the paper and put it in her pocket. She couldn't speak, but she could type as well as anyone else, and that would probably be useful later. The doctor seemed concerned by both her mental complaints and the poking she'd felt in her side, which was a good sign. She got the impression that this was not a man who hid his emotions very well. That was fine with her; it helped her trust him. Still, his sudden lowering of his voice made her a little uncomfortable, and she looked away and shrugged. It wasn't a topic she wanted to get into with him just then. In the end, what had happened to her was just an event, nothing more. She had suffered, certainly, but lots of people suffered, some more than her and some less. It was a fact of life, and it was best to treat it like a fact of life, not as some unclean thing to be tiptoed around. She wasn't sure what to make of his statement that having some lingering triggers wasn't her fault. Surely he wasn't saying she should just accept them as a way of life? She wrote it off as a language or cultural barrier and stood to follow him over to the machines. She nodded when he asked if she had seen the device for measuring blood pressure before. She didn't know the English word for it, but she was familiar enough with the device's function. At his instruction she stood on the little metal plate and the device revealed her weight to be 127 pounds, including clothes. She had weighed a little less at laboratory 1, but that had been stark naked. She sat on the padded table so he could listen to her heart and test her blood pressure. Her heart beat 37 times a minute, on par with Olympic athletes, and her blood pressure was perfect. When it came time for the thermometer she grimaced slightly, not liking the thought, but she more or less trusted Havelock by this point and figured it was best to get it over with. Obediently she rolled onto her stomach, hiked her pants and underthings down to her knees, and waited. It was the only way thermometers were used that she remembered. Nathan Havelock |
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
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Post by Nathan Havelock on Jan 2, 2018 18:51:27 GMT
The Best Medicine “What are you-”
Anna pulled her underwear down.
“No, no, no - no need to do… don’t do… you can, um!”
Nate shook his head, flustered at the bare arse before him. Her expression was one of quiet, unquestioning obedience. Obviously her previous examiners had exclusively taken rectal thermometer readings which was… fine, but not necessary here. An oral temperature reading would be close enough - all her measurements so far had been exactly what someone would expect of a woman of her size at peak physical fitness, so Nate wasn’t too concerned about any benefits the rectal thermometer reading may have in terms of accuracy.
“Pull those up,” he said, doing his best to sound gently amused rather than completely taken aback. “I’m just going to put the thermometer in your mouth today.”
He twirled it deftly in his fingers - only showing off just a little bit - while he waited. It was a distraction as much as it was a gentle exercise in fine motor skills. Nate had done the same once with a mercury thermometer back in high school and his lab partner had smacked it out of his hand unexpectedly, causing it to shatter and causing them both to stay behind in class for the rest of the year tidying the lab as punishment.
“Say ‘ah’,” he instructed quickly, thermometer poised.
Once he’d compiled a picture of Anna’s vitals, it was time to think of some of the other considerations Jack would have for their new employee. He’d probably need a few blood samples, maybe a urine sample too.
“Sorry about that earlier misunderstanding,” he chuckled. “That all looks great though, Anna, thank you. I’d just like to take some samples for testing - blood and urine, if that’s okay.” He pulled up the relevant pot and held it before her. “Bethan at reception will be able to show you where the bathrooms are if you get lost, but they’re just on the other side of the waiting room. Can’t miss them.”
He made sure to get that detail out the way quickly so Anna didn’t pull her underwear down again.
“While you do that I can see if there are any nurses available to help take a scan of your abdomen and find out what’s causing that… poking. Or I could check on Claire’s availability and we could visit her?” he added. “Your choice.”
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Let's see how far we've come, let's see how far we've come
ALIAS
Anna
POWER
Hemoconsumptive Augmentation with Magnetoreception
Civilian
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Post by CBE-177/"Anna" on Jan 4, 2018 19:09:36 GMT
That he was flustered she picked up right away, but what he was flustered about took several seconds longer. If he was a doctor, surely he'd seen- oh. Oh. You could take them that way? For almost the first time since coming to this new place she felt genuinely embarrassed. With as much dignity as she could manage she restored her clothing and sat up. Her face was an almost perfectly blank mask. Only the slightest tinge of redness in them indicated anything was amiss. Careful of making further mistakes she did the closest thing she could to saying "Ah", resulting in a hissing sound of air rushing past her cheeks. After that he wanted some samples, which she supposed was to be expected, even if the term made her slightly queasy. She took the pot without objection and followed her nose to the toilet room, returning with her face composed and the container full. She held out the phone with the message she'd typed while out. When he asked the question she typed. Nathan Havelock |
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