[Nathan Havelock]

The Best Medicine

Nate accepted the pot of urine with a grateful smile – years of practice leaving him rather numb to such experiences. A sudden exposure of bare bottom was another thing entirely, but urine? Urine he could deal with.

He decided to wait until he had a nurse at hand before drawing any blood samples. They performed the task with far greater regularity and precision than any of the doctors, Nate included, and he wanted Anna to be as comfortable as possible with it. After all, she hadn’t exactly seemed delighted that providing samples was on the agenda, and he could only assume that she provided a great deal – necessary or otherwise – during her time in that Soviet laboratory.

Handing over the pot with one hand, her other held up a message of apology. He considered briefly that he could bat away her apology and assure her that his reaction had been ridiculous and her actions had been perfectly understandable, but he decided against it. Better to afford her the dignity she had so lacked previously and (somewhat) graciously accept apologies she deemed necessary to make.

“That is A-Okay, dude,” he said with a grin. “Hey, now you know!”

It didn’t surprise him too much to find that she wanted to visit Claire. Nate liked the idea of introducing the two of them anyway – it wasn’t like either of them had much in the way of a broad and varied social circle. Hopefully she’d be available and willing to say hello. He imagined the tiny woman with the cute bunches would bring at least a hint of a smile to that pale, serious face.

“We can pick you up a visitor’s badge that allows you the appropriate level of access, just in case we run into security,” he explained as they made their way out of the room and towards reception. “Anna Trotsky” was in the system after all, and Bethan didn’t even bat an eyelid at Nate’s request for the badge. He was strangely excited, as though he were the main character in some heist movie.

“She actually lives on the side of the building – they hooked her up with her own, self-contained apartment. It’s pretty sweet,” he added. Nate was keeping his voice a little lower than usual. By some miracle, they hadn’t crossed paths with any of the security team, but he wasn’t going to raise awareness to their unscheduled presence.

They reached Claire’s front door. “Here it is. Go ahead, knock and see if she’s home!”

CBE-177/"Anna" | Claire Elliot

418 words

ψ

[CBE-177/"Anna"]

The doctor took her apology a bit more lightly than she would have liked, but frankly she was more interested in moving on than anything else and so only smiled gratefully.

She sat on the padded table and waited for the nurse to come to draw blood, tapping her nails on the vinyl. After the thermometer incident, she harbored some hope that this wouldn't be as bad as she remembered, but her hope was disappointed. Drawing blood apparently worked the same everywhere.

The nirse who came to do the drawinf turned out to be a fat, dark-skinned woman who smelled nice and had a friendly voice. 177 managed a smile as she gave her arm over to the larger woman, despite a rising tension in her own body that surprised her.

Frustrating. She had thought she was at peace with the past, having achieved equanimity and control. And yet, inside her and without her consent, some circuit in her body clicked and she felt her flight or fight reflex rising, preparing to smash her way out of the room the moment she needed to. She did a calming breathing exercise as the nurse the equipment, which the nurse noticed. She smiled. "A little nervous about the needle, are we?"

No. Not in the slightest. She could take a thousand needles without blicking if she needed to. It was the place far more than it was the pain. 177 stared unblinking at the nurse as she took the blood. The woman gave a nervous smile. "Almost done."

177 forced herself to look away. The deed was completed and her arm was bandaged. She pulled the bandage off as soon as the nurse was gone; the bleeding had stopped almost instantly. She healed quickly. Seeing her blood taken had made ber hungry, but she knew she had a day or two before she needed to feed again.

All right. I'm ready.

She accepted the badge Havelock got for her, clipping it to the edge of her shirt after looking it over. There were no visible marks on it to be scanned. She knew about punch cards, but this kind of scanning technology was new to her. Something about magnets, she seemed to recall? But it didn't stick to the doorknobs that they passed.

As they walked, she took in the hallways and the security that they walked through. The doors needed hers or Havelock's card to open, but many of them were simply glass that could be smashed open even by a normal person. Cameras everywhere, which still disturbed her even though she was coming to realize the United States had far more of them than her home. You would have to cut the building's power to deal with those, maybe, or come in disguise. They saw no guards, though 177 would have relished the option to size them up.

But this was no dungeon or prison, she was coming to see. The peolle here disproved that. They were relaxed about the security, people who saw it as a mundane safety measure rather than keeping in the dangerous. No one challenged Havelock on walking through there with a stranger, which in any reasonably secure place would have happened a dozen times. For all their technology, the people here were clearly unused to thinking like they were in a highly secure area.

She preferred that to the alternate, she supposed.

She didn't like Havelock's description of "her own, self-contained apartment". It still sounded too much like a prison for her. In a place like this a room freely given could easily become a prison, as she well knew.

Still, she at least didn't see any 6x6 concrete cells.

The door seemed normal enough, compared to the other apartments she'd seen. At Havelock's instruction, she gave the door a vigorous knock. It felt like there was metal under the wooden vineer.

Nathan Havelock
Claire Elliot

[Deleted]

WORDS: 341

TAGS: Nathan Havelock , CBE-177/"Anna"

Call it a bit of a rebellious stage. She'd finished her portfolio that had been requested by Dr. Williams far earlier than expected. The more she walked, the more she remembered. The more she remembered, the easier the sketches became. Now she was onto something that came from her own head instead of some structured, detail-oriented asset for a case. A quiet speaker played in the back - some unknown Pandora station she'd discovered - and set the mood.

When she pinned the paper up, she ended up taping three together side-by-side. Whatever it was, she wanted it to be big. Though she hadn't exactly come up with what on earth it was going to be, she'd already started on a lower corner with thick lines and dramatic shadows. Not knowing was the most relaxing part. The feeling of being able to hold the raw charcoal stick without caring of smudges as her fingers often hit the paper's rough surface rejuvenated her. She set her dirtied hand to the page again-

*Knock knock*

Claire almost thought she'd been hearing it in her head. The only ones that knocked were Dr. Havelock and her deliveries (groceries, laundry, the like); neither of which were scheduled today. Anyone else, Dr. Williams, security, they would've walked in already. With pale-blue hands covered in black, Claire set the stick down and jogged lightly to the radio to mute it before heading to the door and opening it up with her fingers covered by the hem of her shirt. Only a hesitant few inches.

"Nathan?" she asked curiously as the door opened further, the man's optimistic and carefree face not an unwelcome surprise by any means- "Oh," she blinked and became slightly more rigid and cautious at the sight of the stranger beside him. "Hello. Um." As her eyes drifted back up to the doctor, half of her bottom lip pulled inwards between her teeth. "Did you need something?"

NOTES: Who dat?
WEARING: Here (same, figured she's pretty plain indoors at the center).

＃ENY ADOXOGRAPHY

[Nathan Havelock]

The Best Medicine

There was a noticeable difference in the way Claire was holding herself now that Nate was accompanied by a stranger. It was strange to think how far they’d come over the time they’d been working together – how she used to eye him with that same wary stare. As he was making this observation (a habit by profession), he noticed the sleeves pulled over her fingers. She liked her hands to be cosy, but this was a little excessive by her usual standards. Maybe a nervous habit.

“Mind if we step inside? This is Anna, she’s come to see me today and I figured it might be nice for her to meet a fellow meta.”

It was a relief to be inside the apartment, away from the potential prying eyes of security, and Nate walked into the room with the comfortable air of somebody who had visited a thousand times. Which, admittedly, felt pretty true. Certainly Nate had spent a lot of time in this elegant, simple apartment – even if not quite a thousand. Maybe just nine hundred and ninety-nine trips into Claire’s humble abode.

“Woah, what’s going on here?”

There was a blank expanse of paper pinned up before him, with strong dark marks making their way out of one of the corners.

“You better not be working,” he teased. “What’s this? Looks like fun.”

He glanced back to check on Anna, hoping she and Claire were able to properly introduce themselves to each other without much further prompting. Eh, he could always step in if things got really awkward.

“Claire does a lot of sketches for her Hero work, but this looks like our resident art pro has got more creative juices flowing today!”

He looked hopefully at Claire for confirmation, elated to see her indulging in her hobby on such a large scale.

CBE-177/"Anna" | Claire Elliot

305 words

ψ

[CBE-177/"Anna"]

The woman who answered the door was thin, almost painfully so. 177 guessed that the woman was at least five kilos lighter than her despite being several centimeters taller. She smelled of dusk, ink, and disinfectant. And she had a hesitant, nervous manner, with almost a hint of listlessness in it. 177 had seen that expression before. It was the expression of a person who, somewhere deep inside, had given up on something. It was a resignation to let what would come, come.

If they're hurting you, thought 177, I will end them. All of them.

But she kept the thought off her face. Instead she smiled, trying to be pleasant, and extended her hand in greeting. Havelock was energetic and outgoing, as always, which compared to the obviously quiet woman who had opened the door seemed almost offensive. But they seemed to know each other, and you could never quite tell with friends.

She stepped into the apartment, glad to see that at least it wasn't a bare cell. The air smelled slightly of tea. Her eyes were drawn to the windows immediately, the part of her mind that always processed that information noting them as a potential point of egress and exit. She saw a small kitchen, a place to sit, a bathroom, bookcases. On the whole it was rather like any other apartment. Better, in fact, than most in the Moscow she remembered.

That was sixty years ago. She wondered what they were like now.

In the center of the room was an easel with the beginnings of a drawing on it. Pinned to the walls here and there were other sketches as well. 177's eye lingered on one- a portrait of someone she didn't recognize- admiring the artistry of it.

So. A nervous woman, living in a well-furnished apartment with a metal door with all the comforts of home and painting to amuse her. What did that add up to? Havelock had mentioned “work” twice, so clearly they had her doing something. She wanted to know more, wanted to understand this place and wanted desperately for it not to be what she feared it was. She wanted to hear the other woman say that she was healthy and happy and doing what she wanted to do. She wanted to believe that what went on here was good and nothing at all like what had happened to her. Wanted to believe it so, so, badly. Yet- whatever she saw- how could she ever trust such a place again?

Still smiling at Claire, she pulled out her phone and typed.

Pleased to meet you. I was visiting today, and Dr. Havlocke was kind enough to offer to introduce us. You can call me Anna. Did you make these pictures? They're quite lovely.

@nathan
Claire Elliot

[Deleted]

WORDS: 470

TAGS: Nathan Havelock , CBE-177/"Anna"

Through Nathan's explanation, her tenseness seemed to gradually subside. In fact, after he was done with a brief introduction, Claire even felt a small swell of pride at the realization that he'd come here for support in helping another - one of his patients - that she'd long ago offered to be willing to do in any way she could, whenever she could. "Hi," she half-smiled over to the short woman, still a little surprised, and looked down to the extended hand. "Oh! I'm err..." an amused huff left her as she looked down at her charcoal-covered hands, "A little dirty. Sorry. I'll wash up- come in!"

Standing back to allow them both space to enter, Claire lightly jogged to her small and efficient bathroom, turning on the sink to lather her hands with soap and scrub the charcoal away. It didn't take too long, but she heard Nathan's question from behind further into her apartment and opted to answer him with an answer spoken loudly over her shoulder (well, a 'Claire' version of loudly). "I couldn't tell you," and there was such a sense of freedom and peace in that fact. "Don't know what I want it to be yet. Got done with work early. I'm open to hearing ideas for it," other people always saw shapes, shadows, and lines in incredibly different ways. One pair of eyes simply wasn't enough when creating a piece this large.

When she came back out, she was happy to reach her hand out to Anna again for a shake, the same soft smirk still on the side of her lips. "I'm Claire." After, she stood by Nathan's side to look at the freshly started canvas along with him, hands on her hips with the posture of someone determined to finish what they'd started. It was a healthy day; practicing her art, helping new people. "Claire does a lot of sketches for her Hero work, but this looks like our resident art pro has got more creative juices flowing today!"

"Pro, please," she shook her head and looked over to the phone extended to her. For a moment she thought it strange, but in seconds understood. Either mute or deaf. If it was the latter, she made sure to face the woman so she could see her lips - sensitive to the communication. "Oh, wow. Thank you. Yeah, these are mine, heh. I draw people and places to help investigate," she explained briefly, a bony shoulder shrugging up. "Did either of you want any tea? I've been trying some of that stuff from your friend," she nodded over to Nathan, already walking to the kitchen to at least pour herself a cup.

NOTES: Catching a bit of relief.
WEARING: Here (same, figured she's pretty plain indoors at the center).

＃ENY ADOXOGRAPHY

[CBE-177/"Anna"]

177 kept smiling as she took another step into the apartment, even as her eyes shifted rapidly to take in her environment. Two exits- the door and the window, though the window locked sturdier than the one in the other room had been.

She focused on the woman Claire, eyes catching the slight movement as the other woman shifted her body to face her better and realizing what it meant. She studied the woman's body, looking for marks or pain of movement that might suggest they were hurting her, and saw nothing. A good sign, though she wasn't prepared to release her suspicions just yet. At the offer of tea she nodded and came a little further into the apartment. She glanced at the pictures again, drawing closer to one which hung from the window. She made a show of studying it, and genuinely did for at least a moment. Surreptitiously she tapped a knuckle on the window as she stood there. Thick glass, of the sort often erroneously called bulletproof. The slightest of frowns crossed her face. Claire seemed all right, but if this was all above board, why the metal door? Why the secure windows? She didn't see any cameras, but that might not mean anything.

She needed to understand this place better. Turning, she saw Claire was distracted in the kitchen, and typed on her phone before tapping Nathan's arm and showing him.

Please tell her that I am only mute, and not deaf. It is due to an accident when I was young that cut my vocal chords- she can see the scar if she likes. Also tell her that I would like to hear how she came to live in this place.

Nathan Havelock
Claire Elliot

[Nathan Havelock]

The Best Medicine

The caution that had been so evident in Claire’s stance before now melted away. She responded well to the sense that she was important to somebody in need. She had a huge protective streak, Herculean in its strength, which seemed capable of overriding her ordinarily quiet and careful state. There was almost a spring in her step as she jogged to the bathroom to clean her hands for a friendly handshake with Anna.

Nate stared up at the canvas, amused that the series of strokes on the page had no particular purpose or meaning just yet. He squinted and tilted his head, trying to make some sense of it that could formulate an attempt at an interpretation of Claire’s artwork.

“All those thick lines… It reminds me of sprawled fingers. You know?” Nate demonstrated as best he could, dropping his shoulders and spreading his arms in a wide, relaxed position – fingers splayed lazily. “Like somebody’s passed out on the couch and their hand is wide open. Maybe their cellphone is here.” He gestured to the empty space below the canvas with a grin.

“Total pro!” he insisted. In that moment, Anna handed her phone to Claire to read, and so he stepped back to observe the exchange. As Claire replied, it was clear that she was enunciating more clearly and obviously than usual. It was heart-warming to see her respond so positively to her visitor. Maybe Nate was going to have to incorporate these kinds of trips more often… It was a shame Jack wanted as few traces of CBE-177 as possible as he’d have liked to have written this visit up in Claire’s notes.

“Harriet will be so excited to hear that,” Nate said warmly. “I’ll definitely have some!”

As Claire busied herself with the tea preparation, Anna typed something up on her phone for Nate to read. He looked through, almost tempted to just show it to Claire himself, but realising that such a move would have taken away Anna’s voice. She’d chosen to instruct him this way, and he would do best in honouring her by following what she’d said.

“Oh, Claire?” He moved towards the kitchen. It wasn’t a huge flat, but he wanted to make sure she could hear him over the noise that came with making tea. “Anna isn’t deaf – she’s mute. Her vocal chords were damaged in an accident.” He glanced back towards her as he said the next part, “She said you can see the scar if you want.”

He thought a little about the final part of Anna’s message.

“She also said she wants to hear how you ended up living here.” He gave Claire an apologetic smile. There was no pressure for her to tell either the long version, the short version, or a complete falsehood if she felt so inclined. Nate hoped she understood that from the look in his eyes alone.

Claire Elliot | CBE-177/"Anna"

483 words

ψ

[Deleted]

WORDS: 468

TAGS: Nathan Havelock , CBE-177/"Anna"

Her hands were occupied with work in the kitchen already, pulling out some of the new boxes she'd been given from Nathan's family friend. Harriet had been a very kind woman, more than willing to share her love and knowledge of tea with a fellow enthusiast. It was becoming quite the enjoyed hobby for Claire; simple, relaxing, good in nature. It helped ground her. A kettle rested on the stove, almost near boiling, and whistled quietly just as she'd finished unpacking the leaves.

Now steeping in three mugs behind her on the counter, Claire turned around to listen to Nathan's surprisingly involved suggestion and looked at the picture with a new set of eyes thanks to his perspective. Where she'd seen a tilted, broken dock with legs reflecting in the water, he saw something more human in nature. "Hmmm..." she hummed thoughtfully, walking back over to it with her thin arms crossed over one another, "That's pretty neat," she took a step back again, leaning on her hip to tilt back slightly and see a wider view. Sure enough, she could see the outstretched hand having fallen asleep and dropping the phone once-held.

With a thankful nod and a half-smile, she showed her wordless gratitude towards Nathan's contribution before returning to the tea to pull out the filters of crushed leaves. 'Oh, Claire?' "Hmn?" The explanation came and she looked over her shoulder, stopping at the second mug of tea. "Oh. I'm sorry," she scrunched her mouth apologetically. The second half of the explanation caught her a bit off guard. "Ummm, no, that's alright. I believe you," it was a half-joke with an awkward smirk and half-discomfort. She'd only had a brief second to turn around, grab two mugs, and face them before the next bit came from her apologetic friend.

It was obvious on her face for a brief moment at least that it wasn't the most fun question to answer. There were so many things at play, so many reasons 'why' and 'how'... It was obvious Nate was only playing loyal messenger, so she gave him an understand side smile and then looked to Anna, offering her one of the mugs in her hand while setting the other on the counter in front of Nate. "Well... I can see a lot of things people can't. It's really useful, and when something's really useful, sometimes the wrong people go looking for it. So..." a bony shoulder shrugged and she turned to grab her own mug, back facing the new acquaintance, "Here I get to help and they keep me safe." There. That was a simple answer. Hopefully it was enough of one, too.

NOTES: Catching a bit of relief.
WEARING: Here (same, figured she's pretty plain indoors at the center).

＃ENY ADOXOGRAPHY

[CBE-177/"Anna"]

The woman seemed nervous, uncomfortable with 177's questions. Perhaps it was a delicate subject- the doctor seemed to treat it as such. 177 sighed internally. She was going about this all wrong; too directly. Perhaps if the doctor hadn't been there- but he was, and there was no way of getting around it. It wasn't that such thought he was malicious, it was more that... well, he could too easily be a pawn of the enemy to be trusted. There were certain people, and perhaps Havelock was one, whose guilelessness made them easy prey for the predators. No, she would have to be more careful about this. Try to understand by other means...

She took the tea she was offer and smiled gratefully, exposing teeth longer and sharper than a normal person's if Claire cared to look. She sniffed the tea out of force of habit, taking a moment to try and place the flavors and mixtures, then sipped it while she watched Claire. The woman was very thin. Were they feeding her enough? For all that had happened to her there, Laboratory 1 had at least never starved her. If only the doctor wasn't there, so she could ask questions in peace.

Best to start over, perhaps. She tapped at her phone, then pushed it in the middle of the table to be seen.

I am sorry, I seem to have made you uncomfortable. Forgive me; this is new to me and I am still learning. This tea is quite good; thank you.

Nathan Havelock
Claire Elliot

[Nathan Havelock]

The Best Medicine

Nate was enjoying watching Claire play hostess, particularly delighted in the care she took of the tea preparation. He would have to let Harriet know about it the next time she was in town – although the girl was such a globe-trotter at the moment that he had no idea when that would be. He was amazed she’d had the time to share her love of tea with Claire but… then again, maybe Harriet always had time for tea.

Claire’s succinct summary of how she came to be a resident at the MNRU was short and entirely avoiding addressing any emotional aspects. It was true, she was kept safe, but Nate felt like she was only being kept as safely as she was due to the influence of people like him working to keep Joyce Williams from burning her out.

“Claire helps a lot from what I’ve heard,” he added, a little pride creeping into his voice, tainted slightly by his concern that her “a lot” was bordering on “too much”. “She does all kinds of confidential Hero work. Yet she still finds time to be an exceptional artist and tea connoisseur on the side. If you want some more ideas for hobbies, Claire’s your gal.”

He sipped the tea – still not yet a convert away from coffee but definitely understanding how Claire and Harriet found it so satisfying.

“This is amazing tea,” Nate said, echoing Anna’s words. He breathed it in for a moment, enjoying it. “We should probably go after this, we were luckily to evade security on the way here and I think I’d like to achieve a similar feat on the way out.”

He paused. He could see so much potential benefit from these two interacting more. Nate tilted his head in thought. “Call this a crazy idea, I don’t know… Do you have a phone, or email or something?” he asked Claire. He genuinely wasn’t sure how much outside contact she was allowed.

“If not, I guess you could always use me as a penpal messenger guy. But I think it would be neat if you guys could stay in touch after this. Right?” He looked between the two of them – two strangers – seeking approval. He felt horribly like his mother trying to set him up with yet another rich socialite’s daughter, but he was hoping that this matchmaking effort might have a little more success. If not, no harm in trying, right?

Claire Elliot | CBE-177/"Anna"

407 words

ψ