Einladung Hospital

[Voidus]

"Professor Esserethel" He said clearly, speaking into an intercom on the outside of the hospital doors. "Just here to follow up on some research."

The nurse hadn't even bothered to wait for the answer properly, as soon as they'd heard his voice the door had buzzed and clicked open. He gave the intercom a smile before heading in, giving a short wave to the nurse once he was inside and asking him if he'd like a coffee.

"No thanks." The nurse said with a yawn. "Almost change of shift for me and it'll be hard enough to sleep through the festival without caffeine."

The Professor gave him a sympathetic smile before heading on to the cognitive wards. Sometimes he'd check in on some of the patients in the Physical wards, but the combinations of Resealers, Artifabrians, Radiants, Epics, Elantrians and doctors could deal with most physical ailments so easily that there was barely a need to ask them what had happened. Diagnostics were criminally undervalued in the Professors opinion. Just because you could fix something didn't mean you should stop trying to understand it, who knew how many observations had been missed because someone in the Physical department had simply scribbled an Aon Ien over someone. The Professor rarely went there anymore unless he had some specific research in mind.

"Ah well." He muttered to himself as his footsteps echoed down the silent hallways. "The cognitive wards are more interesting anyway."

Mental problems were much harder to deal with, even utilizing Investiture could only get you so far. But even beyond the complexities of the psychological analysis there, the Professor had derived many interesting insights from those in the Cognitive wards. Some of them had a very... unique way of looking at the world. But those unique outlooks could be useful for reexamining basic assumptions and arriving at new conclusions.

Mostly though, the Professor just found them more interesting company than other people.

He gave a small wave at the nurses station as he passed it, receiving some unsurprised expressions in return along with a few requests for coffee from those who weren't due to finish their shifts for a while longer.

"You could at least pretend that you didn't expect me." He said with mock outrage as he saw the row of cups already lined up and waiting on the desk. 

"Too tired to pretend." One of them said back, eyes fluttering closed. "Caffeine first, then I'll pretend to be super surprised."

Shaking his head as he left, the Professor made his way to the staff kitchen and set about preparing the various cups before pulling two extras from one of the cupboards. With practiced motions he went down the line, pausing for a moment to remember if Emily took sugar in hers. She hadn't been at the station but her cup had been out, so he assumed she was on shift.

Shrugging to himself he put one teaspoon in and hoped he'd be forgiven if he'd butchered her usual drink. Though generally they seemed to be tired enough to drink anything with caffeine in it so perhaps she wouldn't even notice.

"Anything new?" He asked as he made his way back and began setting the cups in front of those who'd asked for them.

"Nothing too exciting." Sam replied. "Not by your standards anyway. Couple of new patients in but you'll need to come in properly if you want to see them."

The Professor gave an understanding nod. Letting him in to see patients he'd spoken to before was one thing but even for him there were limits, they wouldn't just give him a new patients medical records without reason.

"I'll be heading in for a chat then." He said. "Give my apologies to Emily when she gets back if I ruined her coffee."

Still in good humor, he made his way down to a familiar door and gave a soft tap on the door frame.

"Vivica?" He asked, gently by firmly enough to be heard. "Are you still up? I've got coffee for us, sorry none for you though Bennington."

@ZincAboutIt

[kenod]

Hazel and Karin walked towards the entrance of the hospital. "So, remind me," Hazel asked, looking at Karin, "What's so special about this one?"
"You know mum gave us a briefing on this before we left, right?" Karin replied with a sigh. Still, she expected it. Hazel never paid attention to the briefings if she knew she was joining her, since Karin not only had a much better memory, but a direct link in case she needed more information.
"A nurse, Emily, was recovering memories. Mum sent something to deal with that. That was the reason we had to cut short our trip to the festival. Completely standard case, nothing special. Except for the fact that the minion was destroyed. And not only that, but in a way that left mum with no clue regarding how or even who did it." She spoke calmly, but deep down she had to suppress a shiver. Even if Aylitha didn't directly control the Faceless, she could still perceive everything it perceived, and destroying a Faceless' senses was almost impossible as long as it still existed, and killing a Faceless instantly was near impossible.
"Ah," Hazel said, falling silent in thought, having picked up on the undertone in Karin's voice. "We have no clues or theories? And you two are sending me in as well?"
Karin shrugged. "You're the best we have for finding out what happened. Besides, current theory is that whatever happen severed it's link to mum, not destroying it instantly. So first case, I can hold them off for long enough for you to get out. If it did get instantly destroyed, you'll be further back than me, and your powers would still work, so you can escape that way."

Hazel nodded silently, and the two of them walked through the front door to the receptionist. "Can I help you?" He asked.
Hazel looked at him, and pulled a memory from his head, a co-worker, and altered his vision to disguise herself. "Yeah," she said with a nod, altering her voice. "I heard something happened to Emily, do you know where she is?"
He nodded. "Yeah, poor girl," he said. "Got found this morning with a concussion in the Cognitive ward. They decided to leave her there, let her recuperate. I think I've got the room somewhere?" He went through a small pile of files next to him, before pulling one out and showing it to her. "Here," he said. "Think you can find it?"
Hazel smiled and nodded. "Yes, that should work," she said, and started to walk in that direction, while she erased his memory of her with a small wave of her hand. Karin followed her, and the two of them left behind a bemused receptionist who was wondering why he was holding a file on Emily.

Finally the two arrived at Emily's room, and paused in front of it, both of them feeling nervous. "Got anything?" Karin asked.
Hazel didn't reply, and instead closed her eyes, focussing on what she assumed was the room behind the door. She tried to drown out the mental noise around her, all the various mental patients around her. Instead, she closed in on the one presence that was sane, and looked through her recent memories, and frowned.
"Found her," she said in a quiet tone. "Her memories are somewhat hazy, but it seems someone else was the culprit. Hit it with... something. Something dark. Simply melted it away, though not instantly. I don't think he's here right now though." She shuddered. "Do you know of anything that could do that?"
Karin shook her head. "That sounds like someone cut off the investure flow as well. I knew of someone who could disappear things, but he couldn't just block things like that. Besides, that power... Well, it shouldn't exist in this world. And I've never heard of something similar in this world. Maybe mum knows." She shook her head. "Still, it could just be an Epic ability. Weirder ones exist after all."
"Right," Hazel said. She shook herself, trying to focus, and walked into the room, and, noticing nobody else was there, closed the door behind her. A few minutes later she came out again, and nodded to Karin. "Let's go,"  she said. Karin simply nodded back, and the two of them quietly left the hospital, heading back into the alleys.

***

Deep inside the alleys Aylitha replayed the memory Hazel had handed to her once she got back. "Something has happened," she muttered into the empty void of her mind. "Why now? The last with that ability vanished so long ago. Why show up again now?" Memories from long ago come back to her, people who were long gone. Times when she worked together with others, their only goal being the advancing of science, no matter its form. The only memories she believed she could be certain off that they were true.
"It doesn't matter," she told herself. It wasn't her job to deal with these things. And there would be no need to tell her daughters about it either.

[18th Shard he/him]

Emily played with a young girl on the playground. They swung on the swings together, and she jumped from the swing at the peak of its arc. As she landed, she felt a sudden jolt run through her legs. She woke up with a start. Emily lay in bed for a couple of moments. She felt well-rested, like she’d finally gotten enough sleep. She sat up, and then immediately regretted it. Her inner ear was telling her that her head was still laying down, while her eyes were telling her she was sitting up. Emily leaned forward and sat until her ears and eyes stopped yelling different things.

She looked around. She was in one of the rooms in the Cognitive ward. They’d left her a large water bottle and some blueberry muffins. She’d have rathered they left her some coffee, but the responsible side of her reminded her she probably shouldn’t have caffeine for a little bit. There was a note on the table next to the bed.

Emily, you were found asleep with a concussion in Sanax’s room this morning. He said you’d had a headache and fell and hit your head (then he started saying his usual crazy things about tar demons and stuff). We ran some basic tests, and, besides the normal side-effects of a concussion, you don’t have anything out of the ordinary going on that we could see. You can go ahead and check on patients if you get bored, just let us know where you’ll be so we can check in every so often and make sure you’re doing okay. Get feeling better soon!

Tar demons. That had been some kind of hallucination, surely. She’d been checking in on Sanax when she’d gotten a terrible headache, and then the room had started spinning. She’d fallen, hit her head, and started hallucinating. Sanax must have heard her talking about it when she’d hit her head, and just repeated it to the other nurses. That was the most likely explanation for what had happened. You don’t normally hallucinate when you get concussed unless there’s serious brain damage, Emily. They would have mentioned serious brain damage in the test results.

Maybe she had a fever? Sometimes that could cause hallucinations if it was high enough. Emily held still for a moment and Read her temperature and pulse. 37.1° C and 62 BPM. That was close to normal for her resting rate, and the temperature was definitely below fever levels.

The only other medical causes that she could think of was a delirium caused by sleep deprivation. She wasn’t quite ready to consider any more serious conditions – she was fairly sure she didn’t have any psychological disorders. The hospital required Cognitive ward nurses to have bi-annual psychiatric evaluations, and nothing had been noted on her last one.

Emily got out of bed slowly, surprised to find herself feeling fine. No dizziness at all. She pulled over the computer and logged in, checking through some of the results on the tests they’d run on her. According to the tests, she should be perfectly fine. Her blood sugar was just a little low, but she also hadn’t eaten for a little while before her accident, so that wasn’t too surprising. That leaves some Investiture-based Cognitive effect, or an illusion of some kind.

Emily could feel a tightness in her neck, which was usually a sign she was starting to get a headache. She turned off the screen and sat back down on the bed. Picking up the water bottle, she took a drink, then started eating a muffin.

[+Sorana she/her]

Walking along the tunnel Aons started to glow in a soft while light when he neared them, illuminating the dark path. The air smelled moist, a little too much for his liking and he stopped standing close in front of a wall, touched his finger to a single drop of water. Frowning he watched it, as it ran along his skin, over the little bumps that marked his joints. Water. Underground tunnels had a tendency to be a little damp, but to see water running down it, was annoying.

He pulled out his device and snapped a picture, send it with a sad looking face to the quartermaster. Better to take a close look early on. The man would know what to do. And if not - if not he could always take care of it all by himself. Turning his head towards the ceiling he inspected the stone there, anoticed with annoyance another wet spot. Whoever was tasked with maintaining this path was obviously doing a lously job. Slowly he continued onwards, eyes never quite leaving the walls. The rest was dryer, a little damp, but he expected them to be damp. Still, the two water drops irked him. They hinted at a hidden imperfection, at a silent laziness that had crawled into someone's mind, that had been given into. Two, not one but two and where two were, many others would follow.

Quickening his steps again when he recalled that he was leading a recruit along and not around to inspect the place he headed straight for the heavy door at the far end of the tunnel.

"If you touch your tattoo to it," he lifted his arm to demonstrate, "it will open. Same as the safe house." The door unlocked with a quiet clicking sound and despite it being heavy it swung open easily. He stepped into a brightly lit room, with several doors leading away into adjacent ones. Most contained typical hospital equipment for lighter wounds, but two were obviously on intensive care standards. "Welcome to the hospital." he shot Fadran a smile and sketched an exxagerated bow. "Please take a seat, while I fetch the ink. This should be over soon and then you can go whereever you want to."

@Channelknight Fadran

[Channelknight Fadran]

11 hours ago, Sorana said:

Walking along the tunnel Aons started to glow in a soft while light when he neared them, illuminating the dark path. The air smelled moist, a little too much for his liking and he stopped standing close in front of a wall, touched his finger to a single drop of water. Frowning he watched it, as it ran along his skin, over the little bumps that marked his joints. Water. Underground tunnels had a tendency to be a little damp, but to see water running down it, was annoying.

He pulled out his device and snapped a picture, send it with a sad looking face to the quartermaster. Better to take a close look early on. The man would know what to do. And if not - if not he could always take care of it all by himself. Turning his head towards the ceiling he inspected the stone there, anoticed with annoyance another wet spot. Whoever was tasked with maintaining this path was obviously doing a lously job. Slowly he continued onwards, eyes never quite leaving the walls. The rest was dryer, a little damp, but he expected them to be damp. Still, the two water drops irked him. They hinted at a hidden imperfection, at a silent laziness that had crawled into someone's mind, that had been given into. Two, not one but two and where two were, many others would follow.

Quickening his steps again when he recalled that he was leading a recruit along and not around to inspect the place he headed straight for the heavy door at the far end of the tunnel.

"If you touch your tattoo to it," he lifted his arm to demonstrate, "it will open. Same as the safe house." The door unlocked with a quiet clicking sound and despite it being heavy it swung open easily. He stepped into a brightly lit room, with several doors leading away into adjacent ones. Most contained typical hospital equipment for lighter wounds, but two were obviously on intensive care standards. "Welcome to the hospital." he shot Fadran a smile and sketched an exxagerated bow. "Please take a seat, while I fetch the ink. This should be over soon and then you can go whereever you want to."

@Channelknight Fadran

"Great, thanks." Fadran frowns. "You have a name?"

[+Sorana she/her]

12 hours ago, Channelknight Fadran said:

"Great, thanks." Fadran frowns. "You have a name?"

Sitting down next to him, the man placed the ink and the tools he needed on a table close to them. "Of course I do." he replied with another grin of his and pulled the table a little closer. "Call me Azrael the second." His eyes winked at Fadran while he opened a bottle with disinfectant.

"Not the first, the first Azrael is someone else. I'm just his replacement, never quite able to step out of his shadow. He has many names, but I always liked Azrael best. Has this hint of history, of a legend attached to it, if you know what I mean?"

Carefully he spilled some disinfectant on a fluffy pad. "Where do you want your tattoo to go?" He asked and offered Fadran the pad. "If you don't mind, please clean the spot a little bit and then we're good to start."

[Channelknight Fadran]

8 hours ago, Sorana said:

Carefully he spilled some disinfectant on a fluffy pad. "Where do you want your tattoo to go?" He asked and offered Fadran the pad. "If you don't mind, please clean the spot a little bit and then we're good to start."

Fadran taps his wrist. "Does here work?"

[BringerOfLight]

7 hours ago, Channelknight Fadran said:

Fadran taps his wrist. "Does here work?"

Drane stood in the corner of the room, hidden by shadows, and completely unnoticed. He wasn't even sure that Azrael knew he was there. He was filling his duraluminminds.

Azrael had brought a new recruit. Drane kept silent, Soothing the awareness of the other occupants in the room. His curiosity was spiked- he wanted to see what the kid could handle. 

Quote

Could someone fill me in as to what's going on? Is it ok if I join the RP?

 

[Channelknight Fadran]

Fadran swabs down his wrist with the fluffy pad, casting a wary eye about the room. You could never be sure with the Ghostbloods.

You see anyone? Fadran asks telepathically.

Well, I could, Icona replies, but provided metaknowledge would make you an OP character and therefore a rulebreaker of the Alleyverse RP, so no can do.

Fair enough. Fadran keeps watching nonetheless.

[+Sorana she/her]

7 hours ago, BringerOfLight said:

Could someone fill me in as to what's going on? Is it ok if I join the RP?

Quote

We're rping Fadran joining the Ghostbloods. That's it basically. I'm using an NPC, as my only GB character this Era is Althea who's on her way to a bar with your other character. (Please tell me we're not waiting for me and I missed a post of yours. If I did - sorry for that!)

And of course, you can join, I'm not quite sure where this will end and how long it will go on after he has the tattoo, but maybe we can come up with something.

"It does." Azrael nodded and took the man's wrist place it on the table between them, oblivious to the man observing the two of them. "It might hurt and burn a little." he warned him, his left hand closing around the handle of the tool. "I chose a medium sized needle, it usually works best. If you prefer, I can switch to smaller or a thicker one - that's totally up to you."

With a soft hum he leaned forward and set to work. He'd done this so often he'd lost track of the exact number, but he still enjoyed when new people joined. Some had questions, some were excited, looking forward to be a part of something great. This one, he was a special case, with his announcement to leave as soon as the guild didn't serve his own goals anymore, with his strong self-confidence. It wasn't a bad trait, but he might end up in conflict with some higher ups at one point or the other.

A grin at his own thoughts touched his lips, while he moved the needle over the skin, leaving a dark line behind. He might, or he might not. And if he did - it would only be interesting for everybody else to watch.

"As you might have guessed already the ink is a special one." he started to explain after a while, when he realized that the recruit probably didn't know that. He might have deduced it from the fact that is opened door, but you never knew. The door could also have a scanner that reacted to the shape of the sign. "Apart from allowing you to enter safe houses and the like it can also serve as a very easy communication device to other members. Using it correctly take some practice, but after a while you should be able to contact other members. I would still advice you to move long and complicated conversations to something that is speciliazed on transporting sound, but if you need help, or want to call some others, it usually does its job."

Lifting the tool he swiped over the arm and checked his work, before finishing it quickly. "If you have a moment I can only recommend you to take a look at Oasis, the city I mean. We control a quarter or two there, and it's like our headquarter. Then we have our headquarters here in the city, where we train younger recruits, offer housing to those who need it, have some training grounds and of course control some of the operations."

@Channelknight Fadran

Edited July 1, 2020 by Sorana

[Channelknight Fadran]

9 hours ago, Sorana said:

"It does." Azrael nodded and took the man's wrist place it on the table between them, oblivious to the man observing the two of them. "It might hurt and burn a little." he warned him, his left hand closing around the handle of the tool. "I chose a medium sized needle, it usually works best. If you prefer, I can switch to smaller or a thicker one - that's totally up to you."

With a soft hum he leaned forward and set to work. He'd done this so often he'd lost track of the exact number, but he still enjoyed when new people joined. Some had questions, some were excited, looking forward to be a part of something great. This one, he was a special case, with his announcement to leave as soon as the guild didn't serve his own goals anymore, with his strong self-confidence. It wasn't a bad trait, but he might end up in conflict with some higher ups at one point or the other.

A grin at his own thoughts touched his lips, while he moved the needle over the skin, leaving a dark line behind. He might, or he might not. And if he did - it would only be interesting for everybody else to watch.

"As you might have guessed already the ink is a special one." he started to explain after a while, when he realized that the recruit probably didn't know that. He might have deduced it from the fact that is opened door, but you never knew. The door could also have a scanner that reacted to the shape of the sign. "Apart from allowing you to enter safe houses and the like it can also serve as a very easy communication device to other members. Using it correctly take some practice, but after a while you should be able to contact other members. I would still advice you to move long and complicated conversations to something that is speciliazed on transporting sound, but if you need help, or want to call some others, it usually does its job."

Lifting the tool he swiped over the arm and checked his work, before finishing it quickly. "If you have a moment I can only recommend you to take a look at Oasis, the city I mean. We control a quarter or two there, and it's like our headquarter. Then we have our headquarters here in the city, where we train younger recruits, offer housing to those who need it, have some training grounds and of course control some of the operations."

@Channelknight Fadran

Fadran glances over his arm, nodding at the tattoo.

It looks nice. Icona remarked.

Thanks. Fadran replied. "You said 'using it correctly.' Is there a way to use it incorrectly?"

[+Sorana she/her]

14 hours ago, Channelknight Fadran said:

Fadran glances over his arm, nodding at the tattoo.

It looks nice. Icona remarked.

Thanks. Fadran replied. "You said 'using it correctly.' Is there a way to use it incorrectly?"

"Ahhh." Azrael leaned back in his chair comfortably. "That's a very good question." He nodded, considered his next words for a moment. "Well, for once it needs a little bit of practice. Opening door is rather easy, should take you only a couple of times to figure that out. Communication - I'd recommend you look for a more experienced member to train with. Can be a little tricky, but once you get the hang of things it should work just fine."

Getting up he strechted and then stored the tools away with a note that they needed to be cleaned. Walking over to a cupboard he unlocked it with his finger as well as the tattoo and retrieved a small device, looking a little like a thin, black box. Carefully he closed the cupboard again and then offered it to Fadran. "For you. It can map you a way around the city, if you know where you need to go. You can contact those in the headquarter, ask for help or direction, or an update on your orders." he swiped his hand across it, turning it on. "You need to spend a while on the settings and the like, calibrate it to you as well, set some passwords, the usual things. It shouldn't do much harm in the hands of an enemy, but if possible destroy it before it does. Makes it easier for for those cleaning up afterwards."

"Otherwise - you'll be contacted by the higher ups if they have an assignment, you can join a squad or a unit specialized on something, but otherwise we're done here. Welcome to the Ghostbloods."

Edited July 2, 2020 by Sorana

[BringerOfLight]

Drane rolled his eyes when the newbie asked such... such newbie questions. He made a note to tail him. He wanted to keep up to date on the other members of the Ghostbloods. In the meantime, Drane headed back to base.

Edited July 3, 2020 by BringerOfLight

[18th Shard he/him]

A nutritionist opened the door to Sanax’s room. The lights were off, and she seemed surprised he was awake. Sanax wasn’t sure why. It was the safest policy when the light itself might be lying to you. Sanax didn’t like the nutritionist. She seemed to think a Lifeless body required calories instead of quanta of Investiture. Plus, she didn’t smell good.

“Miss food dictator, where is Emily? She was nicer than you are. At least she listened to me. You just want to pretend you know what a dead person should eat, and then tell the people hiding in the walls I’m eating enough..” Sanax narrowed his eyes. “How do I know you aren’t telling the tar people where I am?”

The nurse folded the blanket he’d put on the table and put it on a cart outside the door.  That was good. Sanx had counted on her obsessive controlling-ness that she wouldn’t leave his table messy. He’d hidden the soul of a fork inside. The fork hadn’t been very nice to the spoon she’d given him. It kept trying to take the spoon’s pudding, which was ridiculous. You can’t eat pudding with a fork. Forks were for vegetables and meat and pitch and rivers. She didn’t answer him, choosing to ignore him. The nutritionist, of course, not the fork. He’d taken the fork’s soul, so of course it didn’t talk anymore.

“Miss culinary tyrant, I believe I asked you a question. Would you answer if I had my sword? Sometimes, people talk more when I have a sword.” He looked around the room for his blade. It wasn’t here. He looked back up at her. “Can you get me my sword?”

The dietician continued to ignore him as she placed food on the table. It looked like Hallandren-style seafood. That would probably taste good. He’d told Emily he really liked it earlier in the day (or maybe it was last week, or tomorrow - he liked tomorrow, traveling there was always nice, though it took a long time, and sometimes you missed and just ended up today), and she’d said she’d see if she could get him some. Why wasn’t she the one doing this instead of the deaf lady here? He could see the little machine in her ear that was supposed to amplify sounds. Sanax’s eyes lit up. Maybe her machine wasn’t working and she really was deaf! That was an easy fix. Sanax pointed at the window, gesticulating wildly for her to open the blinds. She shook her head, and moved past the bed to open them.

As she turned her back, Sanax darted for the open door, locking it behind him. She’d left a tray on a seat next to the door. There was a metal chopstick for one of the other meals - it looked MaiPon. Fortunately, it was a tin chopstick. Sanax was pretty sure they tried to hide the more dangerous metals in case someone who was actually crazy checked into the hospital. He held the chopstick out, and the darkness ate it, leaving it pointed. He’d been training the darkness to eat his food. He didn’t like all the boring food they’d been giving him. Too many genetically modified vegetables, not enough Stormlight grown ones. The deaf lady pushed the door behind him, but Sanax knew the locks would hold. He and the door had a deal now - they only locked and unlocked when told to, unless the tar people came back. Sanax had given the lock permission to ignore tar people, and it had agreed as long as Sanax promised to give it a triangle. 

Sanax darted down the hall to his next door neighbor. The man lay in bed, unconscious. His chart had said he was on a forkroot dosage to keep him from destroying the hospital. That was ridiculous. Forkroot would just keep the guy from using saidin to destroy the hospital. Most people could destroy it a couple of ways. Using only forkroot was sloppy work. Plus, this guy said he could feel the aliens attacking his brain - that was a kind of situation to put in quarantine. Sanax took a quick look at the room, memorizing where everything was, and then wrapped a towel around his head. Aliens weren’t getting in his mind.

He opened the door, darting in, and quickly and efficiently slid the tin chopstick through the man’s ear, neatly piercing the concha cymba. It was one of the nicest bindpoints, and one of the few that wouldn’t cause permanent bodily harm. Plus, it stole human hearing (and hearing from basset hounds), which was nice and symmetric since it was on the ear. Ears were good things to have working if you were a nutritionist - how many times would you miss hearing someone tell you they didn’t want your gross food, or the sounds of the souls of spoons, or… Sanax had a thought. The man who was missing his hearing struggled to sit up, reaching for Sanax. Sanax could hear him fumbling for him, and stepped away from the bed. Couldn’t be too careful with brain-aliens. He signed, “Good luck with your brain monsters,” then walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. What if the deaf person was deaf so she wouldn’t hear the light whispering to her, lying? He’d have to make sure she wasn’t hiding from the light with her broken ears. He unwrapped the towel, and sat down on the chair by the door. The dietician - ician was kind of a fancy decorator title, wasn’t it? Mathematicians took numbers and then made them look more interesting, physicians did the same things with particles, rhetoricians, morticians - maybe that’s why the food was so bad: it was just supposed to look good, not taste good.The dietician had finally made it past the door. It looked like she was angry at the door. Sanax would have to talk to it later about manners. She walked over to him.

“I’m really sorry about the door, miss. I’ll talk to it about having better manners tonight. But, I got you a treatment! As long as you don’t mind the light being able to lie to you, I took some hearing from the guy with the crazy brain aliens, and so you won’t be deaf anymore!” Sanax beamed, then realized he should probably have signed that instead. He started signing out what he’d said when she interrupted him with a yell. 

“What are you thinking? What is wrong with you? You refuse to eat your food, lock me in your room, call me deaf, and then assault another patient with my chopsticks! No, I don’t know where Emily is, no, I don’t know where your sword is, and no, I wouldn’t give it to you if I did. I am not dealing with crap like this anymore, I quit!” She stormed down the hall toward the exit.

Sanax gaped at her. She wasn’t deaf? That wasn’t very nice, to pretend like that. “You probably shouldn’t yell. It might scare the crazy people,” he called after her. He looked down at his chopstick. He should probably hold onto it, make sure no one else wanted it before he got rid of it. He walked back to his room and sat back down on his bed. He stared out the window for a while at some birds. They weren’t very interesting. He kept the lights off. He liked it dark.

Behind him the door opened. “Sanax? How are you doing?” Emily stepped into the room. “I heard Brittany quit while she was up here. She said something about you locking her in here and then attacking another patient? That doesn’t sound like you. Do you want to explain that one to me?”

Sanax sighed. He turned toward Emily. “She wasn’t a very good listener, so I figured she just had to be deaf. So I made this to help her, but she wasn’t actually deaf and she wasn’t very happy with me.” He held up the chopstick. Emily took it carefully. 

“And how was a metal chopstick going to help a deaf person?” she asked.

“It’s tin. If you have tin, you can help most sensory problems. That’s how Hemalurgy works.” 

Emily dropped the chopstick. “They didn’t say you’d killed a patient!” She looked horrified.

“I didn’t! I just took his hearing through his ear. He’ll be fine. Deaf, but fine. Besides, he’s crazy. It’s better if his hearing went to someone normal, like me or you, or the cranky dietary despot.”

Emily carefully picked up the chopstick again. “You’re right, but make sure you talk with a nurse before you try to do something like this again. You don’t know if there might be complications or situations you don’t know about. I’m gonna take this spike and see if there’s anyone in the hospital who could really use it, okay?”

Sanax nodded. “You’re not gonna quit cause I made it, are you? That would be really sad.”

Emily smiled. “No, I’m going to keep working here, don’t worry.” She wrapped the chopstick in a napkin, then stood up and walked to the door. “Bye, Sanax.” He waved as she shut the door again.

He started watching the birds again. He liked watching the fun birds.

[Rushu42 she/her]

Aln crept carefully toward the hospital, the glow of her Stormlight now suppressed. She couldn't see any immediate defenses - either a good sign or a very bad one. Her optimistic side hoped for the former, but she couldn't shake the fear that it was some sort of a trap.

"They can't be omniscient, these foes," sent Pel. "It's possible that they're truly not expecting you to put the puzzle pieces together."

Aln was less than convinced, but there didn't seem like much of a way to check, at this point. She ran a quick, discreet lap around the building, then ducked back to the street corner where the others were hopefully waiting. "We're going to need some sort of a plan before charging in," she said, doing her best to whisper. "I don't see any guards, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any."

A moment of concentration allowed her to summon an illusory image of the hospital's exterior. Even with her latest power upgrade, it took her several tries; with Folorian around, using Investiture felt like swimming through syrup. I'll have to measure exactly how much his presence inhibits efficiency, a part of her noted. I suspect the amount has increased, though the swearing of the Third Ideal complicates that assessment somewhat. She ignored that voice. At another time, perhaps, she would have started jotting down observations then and there - but they seemed to have more pressing matters to attend to.

"There are several different points of entry, even disregarding windows," she began, gesturing at the relevant parts of her illusion. "The front doors are the most obvious, but there's also a side service entrance, and a door at the back for the staff. I propose that we split up, as my surges will be largely ineffectual in Folorian's vicinity. The most obvious course of action seems to be that two of us - perhaps Poller and Folorian - enter in the front way, and attempt to cause some sort of a distraction, while the third - in the scenario, myself - uses Lightweaving to slip in the back unnoticed. From that point, it's a matter of searching for anomalies. If you prefer, Folorian and I could switch roles, but I'm rather inhibited in the area of inter-personal deception. Ideally, I'd prefer to enter without lying to or endangering any hospital staff, because they're most likely not directly involved with the Dark Alley, but we of course have no way of knowing that, so under the circumstances we'll probably have to do things that I would otherwise consider morally questionable -"

Aln realized she was starting to ramble, and cut herself off before too much of her nervousness could bleed through into her speech. "Well, anyway, what do you two think?"

@mathiau @Ashbringer

[Random Bystander she/her]

3 minutes ago, Rushu42 said:

Aln crept carefully toward the hospital, the glow of her Stormlight now suppressed. She couldn't see any immediate defenses - either a good sign or a very bad one. Her optimistic side hoped for the former, but she couldn't shake the fear that it was some sort of a trap.

"They can't be omniscient, these foes," sent Pel. "It's possible that they're truly not expecting you to put the puzzle pieces together."

Aln was less than convinced, but there didn't seem like much of a way to check, at this point. She ran a quick, discreet lap around the building, then ducked back to the street corner where the others were hopefully waiting. "We're going to need some sort of a plan before charging in," she said, doing her best to whisper. "I don't see any guards, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any."

A moment of concentration allowed her to summon an illusory image of the hospital's exterior. Even with her latest power upgrade, it took her several tries; with Folorian around, using Investiture felt like swimming through syrup. I'll have to measure exactly how much his presence inhibits efficiency, a part of her noted. I suspect the amount has increased, though the swearing of the Third Ideal complicates that assessment somewhat. She ignored that voice. At another time, perhaps, she would have started jotting down observations then and there - but they seemed to have more pressing matters to attend to.

"There are several different points of entry, even disregarding windows," she began, gesturing at the relevant parts of her illusion. "The front doors are the most obvious, but there's also a side service entrance, and a door at the back for the staff. I propose that we split up, as my surges will be largely ineffectual in Folorian's vicinity. The most obvious course of action seems to be that two of us - perhaps Poller and Folorian - enter in the front way, and attempt to cause some sort of a distraction, while the third - in the scenario, myself - uses Lightweaving to slip in the back unnoticed. From that point, it's a matter of searching for anomalies. If you prefer, Folorian and I could switch roles, but I'm rather inhibited in the area of inter-personal deception. Ideally, I'd prefer to enter without lying to or endangering any hospital staff, because they're most likely not directly involved with the Dark Alley, but we of course have no way of knowing that, so under the circumstances we'll probably have to do things that I would otherwise consider morally questionable -"

Aln realized she was starting to ramble, and cut herself off before too much of her nervousness could bleed through into her speech. "Well, anyway, what do you two think?"

@mathiau @Ashbringer

Zaria was walking back to the Emporium, but she seemed to have taken a few wrong turns along the way. 

"Zaria! Look! Aren't those the people who helped us earlier?"

Zaria attuned Confusion. "I think they are. And they are with someone else. Do you think we should see if they are okay?"

"Well, they helped you. It's the least you could do."

With that, Zaria walked over to the three people, and Orb followed behind her.

[18th Shard he/him]

Emily checked the tin… spike - I guess that’s what it is now - into the hospital invested storage room. Unlike many hospitals back on her Earth, this one routinely needed to store items that were invested. Patients’ personal items, like Sanax’s Shardblade, that were deemed too dangerous to allow the patients to keep, or items removed in surgery. There was a whole box of items with half-broken Forgeries on the back shelf - usually something that had had multiple Forgeries changing it from one object or shape to another before one failed painfully. There was another bin full of metalminds that no one could figure out who they belonged to. Once a year, they emptied out that bin and had the metalminds melted down and sold for scrap.

Emily opened one of the aluminum lined lockers on the right wall, sliding the tin spike into a small bag of blood. Dr. Shultz had said he was unsure if they could restore Dalomin’s hearing without simply placing the spike Hemalurgically, and even that was risky until Dalomin stabilized. The channeler had been driven insane through his excessive channeling, and so far, hadn’t shown any signs of being curable. None of the channelers in the hospital were powerful enough to heal his madness, so they kept him shielded and dosed with forkroot to prevent any outbursts. Dr. Schultz wasn’t sure if spiking him would provide a way for him to bypass a shield. There was a lot they didn’t know about Hemalurgy. 

Emily closed the door and engaged the lock. That’s why it is so odd for a mental patient to be able to spike out a sense in a few minutes perfectly, without damaging the other patient very much. Sanax was a mystery to her. He’d mentioned spikes before, but that was common enough among the mental patients. Actually spiking someone - that was new. She walked to the staff break room, since she probably wouldn’t be back on this side of the hospital for another few hours, and grabbed a cup of coffee. She’d been having really odd dreams the past week - although she couldn’t remember them once waking, the feeling of wrongness persisted. She kept having headaches too - they’d start small but then grow until she had difficulty focusing her eyes. She’d had a CAT scan, but the technician said there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. That seemed to be the theme in her life since her concussion. All symptoms, nothing “out of the ordinary” to cause it. Emily stirred a couple extra packets of sugar into it. Caffeine did seem to help with the headaches a little bit, keeping her up and awake longer before she’d have to take a nap. She’d converted a spare room in the mental ward to a makeshift bedroom where she could crash when the headaches got bad.

Emily checked in on Josie once she got back to the mental ward. “How’s it going, Josie?” The little girl dropped her notebook and pencil and looked up at the corner nearest the door. It took a little getting used to talking to Josie - she could only see from her peripheral vision, so she usually looked to the side of you instead of right at you - but the six-year-old was adorably energetic. 

“Look, look, look! I got my glasses today!” Josie jumped up and grabbed the pink frames from the table. “They didn’t put the glass part in yet, but look at how pretty these are!” Josie put the frames on and gestured excitedly at them. “Mom is worried I’m gonna break them if I keep wearing them, but I’m gonna wear them every day once they work, so I wanna get used to them now!” Josie grabbed Emily’s hands. “What do you think? Aren’t they awesome?”

Emily smiled. “Super awesome. Almost as awesome as the little girl wearing them.” Josie laughed, and then pulled Emily over to her notebook. “Look, here’s me and Mom going back home, and here’s my glasses. And I colored them really good, I didn’t get outside the lines almost at all!” She pointed all over the picture, pointing out the details of the drawing. “Mom drew the trees for me before she left for work today, cause mine didn’t look very good, but I colored them! And I drew a momma bird in her nest here with a couple of eggs and a baby bird.” Emily sat and listened as Josie showed her some of the other pictures she’d drawn.

[Ashbringer he/him]

17 hours ago, Rushu42 said:

"There are several different points of entry, even disregarding windows," she began, gesturing at the relevant parts of her illusion. "The front doors are the most obvious, but there's also a side service entrance, and a door at the back for the staff. I propose that we split up, as my surges will be largely ineffectual in Folorian's vicinity. The most obvious course of action seems to be that two of us - perhaps Poller and Folorian - enter in the front way, and attempt to cause some sort of a distraction, while the third - in the scenario, myself - uses Lightweaving to slip in the back unnoticed. From that point, it's a matter of searching for anomalies. If you prefer, Folorian and I could switch roles, but I'm rather inhibited in the area of inter-personal deception. Ideally, I'd prefer to enter without lying to or endangering any hospital staff, because they're most likely not directly involved with the Dark Alley, but we of course have no way of knowing that, so under the circumstances we'll probably have to do things that I would otherwise consider morally questionable -"

Aln realized she was starting to ramble, and cut herself off before too much of her nervousness could bleed through into her speech. "Well, anyway, what do you two think?"

"I think... that sounds good," replied Poller. "I'd prefer if I could actually get checked in; I want to see how they react to a false remember-er. But one of us being... eh... under the radar would be more likely to get constructive results. Besides, they might have something new to help my sleep. That's a fair enough reason for me to stay a night even if they say my brain checks out."

Not that anything they'd given had ever helped before. Nothing had, ever since he started leaning on bronze. He'd have to ask them more about that... Aln and Folorian were scholars, right? They'd have some idea what Sentry-ism would be.

17 hours ago, Random Bystander said:

Zaria was walking back to the Emporium, but she seemed to have taken a few wrong turns along the way. 

"Zaria! Look! Aren't those the people who helped us earlier?"

Zaria attuned Confusion. "I think they are. And they are with someone else. Do you think we should see if they are okay?"

"Well, they helped you. It's the least you could do."

With that, Zaria walked over to the three people, and Orb followed behind her.

A few footsteps sounded behind them. Poller turned.

"Er... hello?" Then suddenly he recognized the girl. "You were at the Trader's Heaven, weren't you? When it..."

@mathiau

[Random Bystander she/her]

2 minutes ago, Ashbringer said:

"I think... that sounds good," replied Poller. "I'd prefer if I could actually get checked in; I want to see how they react to a false remember-er. But one of us being... eh... under the radar would be more likely to get constructive results. Besides, they might have something new to help my sleep. That's a fair enough reason for me to stay a night even if they say my brain checks out."

Not that anything they'd given had ever helped before. Nothing had, ever since he started leaning on bronze. He'd have to ask them more about that... Aln and Folorian were scholars, right? They'd have some idea what Sentry-ism would be.

A few footsteps sounded behind them. Poller turned.

"Er... hello?" Then suddenly he recognized the girl. "You were at the Trader's Heaven, weren't you? When it..."

@mathiau

"When it was on fire? Yes. Yes I was." She attuned curiosity again. "I was headed to the Metallurgy shop, but... well... I got lost. Orb over here told me that I should see if you all needed help. After all, you did help us. I wanted to see if I could pay it forward!" 

Orb buzzed. "Yes. Helping is good! It makes her feel happy."

[mathiau he/him]

17 hours ago, Rushu42 said:

"There are several different points of entry, even disregarding windows," she began, gesturing at the relevant parts of her illusion. "The front doors are the most obvious, but there's also a side service entrance, and a door at the back for the staff. I propose that we split up, as my surges will be largely ineffectual in Folorian's vicinity. The most obvious course of action seems to be that two of us - perhaps Poller and Folorian - enter in the front way, and attempt to cause some sort of a distraction, while the third - in the scenario, myself - uses Lightweaving to slip in the back unnoticed. From that point, it's a matter of searching for anomalies. If you prefer, Folorian and I could switch roles, but I'm rather inhibited in the area of inter-personal deception. Ideally, I'd prefer to enter without lying to or endangering any hospital staff, because they're most likely not directly involved with the Dark Alley, but we of course have no way of knowing that, so under the circumstances we'll probably have to do things that I would otherwise consider morally questionable -"

Aln realized she was starting to ramble, and cut herself off before too much of her nervousness could bleed through into her speech. "Well, anyway, what do you two think?"

@mathiau @Ashbringer

Folorian going somewhere alone was rarely a good idea so him staying with Poller while Aln searched for information would be best

1 minute ago, Ashbringer said:

"I think... that sounds good," replied Poller. "I'd prefer if I could actually get checked in; I want to see how they react to a false remember-er. But one of us being... eh... under the radar would be more likely to get constructive results. Besides, they might have something new to help my sleep. That's a fair enough reason for me to stay a night even if they say my brain checks out."

Not that anything they'd given had ever helped before. Nothing had, ever since he started leaning on bronze. He'd have to ask them more about that... Aln and Folorian were scholars, right? They'd have some idea what Sentry-ism would be.

A few footsteps sounded behind them. Poller turned.

Sleep issue? Wait, he was leaning on an orange walking stick could it be bronze? He had no way to know without focusing on it and it'd be a bad idea now

"Poller I have a very weird question, what investiture do you have and was it exactly the same in your other version?"

His idea was probably wrong, but if the original Poller was a Ferruchemical savant maybe the side effects would end up affecting him as the Forgery weakened

Quote

"Er... hello?" Then suddenly he recognized the girl. "You were at the Trader's Heaven, weren't you? When it..."

Folorian followed Poller's gaze and recognized Zaria, the Radiant that had tried to help them in the Traders Heaven. Folorian moved so he could see Aln, Poller and Zaria at the same time, he hoped there wouldn't be a fifth people joining the conversation, focusing on three people was hard enough that he would miss all the non-verbal communication and could miss some of the thing said things but if a fourth arrived it would be a could

"You're here to help us? I though you were headed for the Cognitive wings, amnesia and Nightwatcher's banes are things they see literally all the time so they might to be able to help you and your spren..." He had forgotten to count her spren in the number of people to focus on, there were actually four, meaning he had to chose between focussing on all of them and miss some of the things everyone said or not focus and Zaria spren and miss everything the spren would say

Spren often choosed to only speak to they're Radiant so he decided on the latter

2 hours ago, 18th Shard said:

She’d had a CAT scan

Quote

Is this something that actually exists or a joke with the PET scan

[Random Bystander she/her]

1 minute ago, mathiau said:

Folorian going somewhere alone was rarely a good idea so him staying with Poller while Aln searched for information would be best

Sleep issue? Wait, he was leaning on an orange walking stick could it be bronze? He had no way to know without focusing on it and it'd be a bad idea now

"Poller I have a very weird question, what investiture do you have and was it exactly the same in your other version?"

His idea was probably wrong, but if the original Poller was a Ferruchemical savant maybe the side effects would end up affecting him as the Forgery weakened

Folorian followed Poller's gaze and recognized Zaria, the Radiant that had tried to help them in the Traders Heaven. Folorian moved so he could see Aln, Poller and Zaria at the same time, he hoped there wouldn't be a fifth people joining the conversation, focusing on three people was hard enough that he would miss all the non-verbal communication and could miss some of the thing said things but if a fourth arrived it would be a could

"You're here to help us? I though you were headed for the Cognitive wings, amnesia and Nightwatcher's banes are things they see literally all the time so they might to be able to help you and your spren..." He had forgotten to count her spren in the number of people to focus on, there were actually four, meaning he had to chose between focussing on all of them and miss some of the things everyone said or not focus and Zaria spren and miss everything the spren would say

Spren often choosed to only speak to they're Radiant so he decided on the latter

Zaria shook her head. "Orb and I were talking... I think we figured out how my memories come back. The memory loss isn't induced by the seizures, it brings memories back!" She grinned. "It reminds me of how people used to go out into the mists on Scadrial, and it would bring out their allomantic powers!" She smiled. "But yes. If I can help, I will."

[Ashbringer he/him]

11 minutes ago, mathiau said:

Sleep issue? Wait, he was leaning on an orange walking stick could it be bronze? He had no way to know without focusing on it and it'd be a bad idea now

"Poller I have a very weird question, what investiture do you have and was it exactly the same in your other version?"

His idea was probably wrong, but if the original Poller was a Ferruchemical savant maybe the side effects would end up affecting him as the Forgery weakened

"Uh... yeah. Just Feruchemical Bronze. I've had it ever since I can remember... but that's it. Well, I have the staff, but it's really just a big metalmind that can do some..."

Poller paused. Do what?

"Aln- either- do any of you know what can you do with a metalmind besides store or tap in it? I have a feeling I did something else with it... anyway, I don't have any other Investiture now. Maybe I did before the Forging or whatever this is, but I haven't gotten any memories of anything else. But I definitely had the staff before, so I should have still been a bronze Ferring. I think... but I don't think you can fight with bronze so maybe there was something else. A Ferring at least. Probably bronze. Maybe another Investiture or something. I don't know, sorry."

12 minutes ago, Random Bystander said:

Zaria shook her head. "Orb and I were talking... I think we figured out how my memories come back. The memory loss isn't induced by the seizures, it brings memories back!" She grinned. "It reminds me of how people used to go out into the mists on Scadrial, and it would bring out their allomantic powers!" She smiled. "But yes. If I can help, I will."

"Wait... so are you just undoing the Forgery with... seizures?" Poller said, eyebrows furrowing. He tapped a bit more bronze. "Or... did you say something about memories earlier?"

[Random Bystander she/her]

2 minutes ago, Ashbringer said:

"Uh... yeah. Just Feruchemical Bronze. I've had it ever since I can remember... but that's it. Well, I have the staff, but it's really just a big metalmind that can do some..."

Poller paused. Do what?

"Aln- either- do any of you know what can you do with a metalmind besides store or tap in it? I have a feeling I did something else with it... anyway, I don't have any other Investiture now. Maybe I did before the Forging or whatever this is, but I haven't gotten any memories of anything else. But I definitely had the staff before, so I should have still been a bronze Ferring. I think... but I don't think you can fight with bronze so maybe there was something else. A Ferring at least. Probably bronze. Maybe another Investiture or something. I don't know, sorry."

"Wait... so are you just undoing the Forgery with... seizures?" Poller said, eyebrows furrowing. He tapped a bit more bronze. "Or... did you say something about memories earlier?"

Zaria attuned confusion. "Forgery? What is that?" She shook her head. "No. I lost my memory in Scadrial a few months back."

[Rushu42 she/her]

14 hours ago, Ashbringer said:

"Aln- either- do any of you know what can you do with a metalmind besides store or tap in it? I have a feeling I did something else with it... anyway, I don't have any other Investiture now. Maybe I did before the Forging or whatever this is, but I haven't gotten any memories of anything else. But I definitely had the staff before, so I should have still been a bronze Ferring. I think... but I don't think you can fight with bronze so maybe there was something else. A Ferring at least. Probably bronze. Maybe another Investiture or something. I don't know, sorry."

Aln looked quickly back and forth between people, trying to follow a conversation where someone was out of her line of sight at all times. She had jumped and summoned her Shardshield when Zaria had shown up, half-expecting an attack, but at this point it was clear the woman was an ally. Poller's question, thankfully, gave her something to focus on and she jumped to answer. "Perhaps you were a compounder? Although that still wouldn't give you a particular skill in combat. A different type of Twinborn could be the answer, or even another system of Investiture entirely - it's hard to say without more to go on."

Then she looked at Zaria. "You're experiencing memory recovery, you say?"

@Random Bystander @mathiau

Edited February 24, 2021 by Rushu42

[Random Bystander she/her]

Just now, Rushu42 said:

Aln looked quickly back and forth between people, trying to follow a conversation where someone was out of her line of sight at all times. She had jumped and summoned her Shardshield when Zaria had shown up, half-expecting an attack, but at this point it was clear the listener was an ally. Poller's question, thankfully, gave her something to focus on and she jumped to answer. "Perhaps you were a compounder? Although that still wouldn't give you a particular skill in combat. A different type of Twinborn could be the answer, or even another system of Investiture entirely - it's hard to say without more to go on."

Then she looked at Zaria. "You're experiencing memory recovery, you say?"

@Random Bystander @mathiau

"I'm not. Orb is."