((OOC: Backdated to the same evening as this post; therefore, before this post.))
Sofia. Are you there?
[Alex's voice is a monotone; it's the flat, resigned dread of someone preparing to go into battle, driven only by a reluctance to admit that the odds are hopeless.]
[Alex is very conscious of not letting the upcoming unpleasantness discourage him. He nods, and sits uncomfortably on the arm of the squashy sofa; that unloved piece of furniture finally came in useful for something other than making Lamb stand up from it.]
Intravenous or in my shoulder?
[ACTION] You meant to say 'brilliant decision'. Oh you and your silly subject line mistakes...
[He gives the syringe a look that says why the hell are you so big?]
...I guess I'll get used to the size.
[It's warm in the room, with all the cameras humming away, and he's wearing short sleeves. Finding a vein is as easy as glancing at the crook of his elbow.
He holds his left arm flat against his knee, underside up, trying not to tense it quite so much. The muscles are flexing convulsively; it's trembling a little. Signs of fear.
Well, he won't be afraid much longer, he thinks with savage satisfaction as he lines up the needle. (Crap, that really is a really big needle.) He grits his teeth, then pushes it in and quickly presses the plunger.
Alex is braced for slight unpleasantness, a bit of discomfort, maybe that dizziness and nausea she mentioned. What he's not prepared for is pain, spreading quickly from the injection site and through his entire body, like something is chewing through flesh and bone. Alex snatches the needle out, flinching. He swears he can hear the cracking and crunching.]
Aaaah - is it supposed to h-aa-aaaahhh--
[His vision is suddenly red, veiny, as though blood or the plasmid has flowed into his eyes, and the pain keeps getting worse. He can see the veins of his hands and arms glowing, and waves of blue flowing over his skin like the beginnings of frostbite. Oh god, did something go wrong? Then Alex drops the needle and doubles over, eyes screwed shut, because the pain feels like it's filleting every one of his bones.]
Gh - aaah -- aaaaaaaaagh!
[He stands, then stumbles, collapses onto one knee, then - it's gone, the pain is gone, draining away. The dregs collect as aches and stings and ripples of cold across his skin. His hands feel tight; they keep flexing and twitching independantly of him.
Alex stays where he is for several long moments, stunned, his breathing quick and shallow.]
[When Alex puts the needle in position Lamb takes a few steps back, watching the rest of the scene from a safe distance.
She throws in a few helpful hints along the lines of 'It's okay Alex, that's all perfectly normal, just keep breathing', but she expects them to go largely unnoticed.
For now at least it seems he has taken the 'keep breathing' advice to heart, which is a very good start, better than can be said for some. Hey, not everyone can hold their ADAM, did she forget to mention that?
Anyway, it's looking good so far, but let her observe quietly for a little while longer, she wants to make sure the transformation is done before approaching.]
[He breathes, then breathes, then says shakily, incredulously:]
What the hell was that.
A little unpleasant!
[...and folds his hands on the floor into fists to stop them from clenching and shaking. The skin feels stiff, raw. Like an ice burn.
Alex opens his eyes. He focuses on his hands. And he stares at them, at the frost they're dusted with, at the semitransparent icicles that have shoved their way out, at the little flecks of blood that came out with the ice and then froze to his skin.]
[She scans the room for objects that can be easily replaced. The cameras would make a terrific target, but she feels that Alex might not appreciate the suggestion. Her gaze finally stops on a potted plant near his bed.]
[Alex pushes himself to his feet, slowly, unable to tear his eyes away from his own two hands. He moves his fingers slowly, mesmerised by the glinting icicles, the way the tips of two of them clink together as he curls his palm.
Thus distracted, he misses a fine opportunity to glare at Sofia. No harm done, though - rather she understate this than any of the really important stuff, right? (...that's what happened, right?)]
Yeah. Yeah.
[He pulls experimentally on one of the icicles - it's firmly rooted, and he finds himself shuddering with disgust and excitement.
...he'll actually give it said try in a moment, hang on.]
[He follows her gaze to the pot plant. Then he lifts his right hand, holding it as though he's aiming a gun - no, he thinks better of that, and he shifts his stance so that he looks as though he's about to karate chop the air.
Then he flicks his wrist purposefully, and a thick frost clouds into the air, headed in a coil for the plant. Next instant, the whole thing - leaves, stalk and pot - is coated in ice, and it's left shaking from the impact.
Alex gapes, then straightens - then actually chuckles, very slightly, with awe and shock and the sense that now he has a goddamn fighting chance.]
[ACTION] OH GOD, NOT PLANT BOB! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~!
She could probably make a generic comment or give applause, but this is not a FPS tutorial and she would rather wait to react to Alex's own evaluation (although the chuckle is a very telling start, at least).
On second thought, perhaps she should make an elaborate attempt at getting the conversation started. Alright, alright, so...]
[He hasn't lowered his hand, and though he's talking to her, his eyes are fixed on the plantsicle. He steps forwards, reaches down, pushes against one of the leaves - it snaps in two.]
Oh wow.
[Alex's face, his voice, his whole posture show a marked change from the dead demeanour he was putting across earlier. His shoulders are straight, his body occasionally twinging with odd pains that feel like the snap of electricity, more like a trophy than a drawback. His expression is focused, and more than a little awed. When he speaks, it's not the monotone of a condemned prisoner; it shudders with life. He can do this. He really feels like he can do this.]
...I wouldn't have minded living where you come from.
[Non-committal smile aaaand that's as much as she can say without launching into a long-winded speech littered with quotes from her own book. But no, no, now's not the right time, so let's just move on to some basic maintenance routine.]
Now, the derivative of ADAM used to fuel this little trick is called EVE. You use EVE whenever you use your ability, so you will need to-
[Three slightly smaller injectors filled with a blue liquid are quickly produced from the cupboard and put on Alex's desk.]
-replenish your supply eventually. Coffee and cigarettes will provide the same effect, although to a lesser degree.
If you wish to practice your aim I can leave you more, but for defence this amount should suffice perfectly for now.
[ACTION] Oh, please. I've seen you with those buckets of Kentucky Fried Chums.
[...Alex's future looks as full of needles as a hedgehog is of spines. He's not sure how he feels about that. He's not getting any cravings yet, but he guesses they'll kick in sooner or later, a lot like the coffee ones do around 3am. Whatever, he can handle that.
It's worth it. He actually feels confidence, like he's gotten a second wind. Glancing from the EVE hypos to Lamb:]
I can grab them out the closet myself, can't I?
[His eyes are dragged back to his hands. He can't help fiddling with them. Like a kid playing with his new braces, he keeps running his thumb along the protruding shards of ice, feeling his skin stick to them, the cold coming off them in waves. The frosty skin around them is tender and a little swollen.]
...Hope it doesn't hurt as much the second time.
[ACTION] THOSE WERE ONLY FRIEND-SHAPED VEGGIE STICKS, I SWEAR!
I heard it gives people trouble when they request items they had no knowledge of prior to their arrival in Wonderland, but perhaps that is just a rumour. If it works, please, do help yourself.
[She hopes it doesn't She'd like to keep an eye on his intake for now.]
[No, wait, he can't open closet doors with his hands like this. For a nasty moment, he realises that he doesn't even know if he can get rid of the icicles. They came out of his hand, so he focuses on pulling them back inside, putting the power away - and they oblige, snapping back into his hand with a bone-deep ache and a noise like a sword being drawn.
He shakes his hands out. The frost is gone too - they're back to normal. Only pinpricks of white remain on his skin to show where the ice stabbed out and withdrew.]
Wow.
[He heads to the wardrobe and pulls it open, reaches inside - and pulls out a thin, modern hypodermic syringe, full of something dull and blue that clearly isn't EVE.]
...Oh.
[ACTION] OF COURSE YOU'D SAY THAT, PLANT MURDERER!!
[This narration doesn't like the way that narration is laughing. 8|]
Doc who?
[He takes the EVE, nodding slowly, and dumps the other syringe into the bin with a sense of faint annoyance that he couldn't pull the right thing out. He knows Sofia means well and all, but he's not amazingly keen to be reliant on any one person.
At least he's got a buffer supply and a bit of a backup plan.]
...Yeah.
Am I watching the EVE too, or is it just the ADAM I need to regulate?
Yeah. [He only hesitates slightly before saying it, because there are a couple people who aren't bad but whom he doesn't relish the idea of sticking together with. But hey, the sentiment makes sense, theoretically.
And he's pretty glad that she's still talking about them sticking together, even after that one incident that he still feels bad about.
Then he asks, as it suddenly occurs to him:] Wait, what's with the Bible names?
[You're not a very sociable narration, are you? While you answer that, have Lamb shrug non-committally. She can't imagine why that would be an important, after all they're just]
Brand names, hardly extraordinary, although fitting for a city thought of as Paradise.
[Eh, he was just curious. Thought it seemed a bit random to name superpower drugs after the first humans. Or - maybe not random, but subtle.]
Fair enough.
[He chnks the ice out again, just out of his right hand this time, just to see if he can do it one-handed. It's delightfully easy, just like flexing a muscle he never had before; but he does hiss sharply at the not-wholly-dulled pain of the damn things stabbing out.]
What was it like?
[He looks at Sofia curiously, fiddling with the ice again with his left thumb.]
[Wet? No, Lamb supposes it's about time she coughs up something more substantial. Well, slightly more substantial at least.]
Rapture was a city built at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean. It was one man's vision of Paradise, a metropolis with no Gods or Kings.
[She is of course quoting those last words, but there is an audible hint of mockery and disdain in her voice... which quickly fades and turns into melancholy.]
It had such genius, such... potential.
[ACTION] where doin this bro. where makin this hapen.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
[ACTION] I think this thread might earn him a whole new tag for really bad decisions.
Intravenous or in my shoulder?
[ACTION] You meant to say 'brilliant decision'. Oh you and your silly subject line mistakes...
[She takes the syringe and draws up the red liquid. Rapturian monster needles are easy to handle, even with one arm. She walks over to the sofa-]
Intravenous.
[-and hands Alex the injector.]
[ACTION] ...that can have a tag too. Happy?
...I guess I'll get used to the size.
[It's warm in the room, with all the cameras humming away, and he's wearing short sleeves. Finding a vein is as easy as glancing at the crook of his elbow.
He holds his left arm flat against his knee, underside up, trying not to tense it quite so much. The muscles are flexing convulsively; it's trembling a little. Signs of fear.
Well, he won't be afraid much longer, he thinks with savage satisfaction as he lines up the needle. (Crap, that really is a really big needle.) He grits his teeth, then pushes it in and quickly presses the plunger.
Alex is braced for slight unpleasantness, a bit of discomfort, maybe that dizziness and nausea she mentioned. What he's not prepared for is pain, spreading quickly from the injection site and through his entire body, like something is chewing through flesh and bone. Alex snatches the needle out, flinching. He swears he can hear the cracking and crunching.]
Aaaah - is it supposed to h-aa-aaaahhh--
[His vision is suddenly red, veiny, as though blood or the plasmid has flowed into his eyes, and the pain keeps getting worse. He can see the veins of his hands and arms glowing, and waves of blue flowing over his skin like the beginnings of frostbite. Oh god, did something go wrong? Then Alex drops the needle and doubles over, eyes screwed shut, because the pain feels like it's filleting every one of his bones.]
Gh - aaah -- aaaaaaaaagh!
[He stands, then stumbles, collapses onto one knee, then - it's gone, the pain is gone, draining away. The dregs collect as aches and stings and ripples of cold across his skin. His hands feel tight; they keep flexing and twitching independantly of him.
Alex stays where he is for several long moments, stunned, his breathing quick and shallow.]
[ACTION] Well, it's a start.
She throws in a few helpful hints along the lines of 'It's okay Alex, that's all perfectly normal, just keep breathing', but she expects them to go largely unnoticed.
For now at least it seems he has taken the 'keep breathing' advice to heart, which is a very good start, better than can be said for some. Hey, not everyone can hold their ADAM, did she forget to mention that?
Anyway, it's looking good so far, but let her observe quietly for a little while longer, she wants to make sure the transformation is done before approaching.]
[ACTION]
What the hell was that.
A little unpleasant!
[...and folds his hands on the floor into fists to stop them from clenching and shaking. The skin feels stiff, raw. Like an ice burn.
Alex opens his eyes. He focuses on his hands. And he stares at them, at the frost they're dusted with, at the semitransparent icicles that have shoved their way out, at the little flecks of blood that came out with the ice and then froze to his skin.]
...oh my god.
[ACTION]
It does take a little getting used to.
[She scans the room for objects that can be easily replaced. The cameras would make a terrific target, but she feels that Alex might not appreciate the suggestion. Her gaze finally stops on a potted plant near his bed.]
Would you like to give it a try?
[ACTION]
Thus distracted, he misses a fine opportunity to glare at Sofia. No harm done, though - rather she understate this than any of the really important stuff, right? (...that's what happened, right?)]
Yeah. Yeah.
[He pulls experimentally on one of the icicles - it's firmly rooted, and he finds himself shuddering with disgust and excitement.
...he'll actually give it said try in a moment, hang on.]
[ACTION]
Take your time.
When you are ready, aim and give it a flick of your wrist.
[ACTION]
[He follows her gaze to the pot plant. Then he lifts his right hand, holding it as though he's aiming a gun - no, he thinks better of that, and he shifts his stance so that he looks as though he's about to karate chop the air.
Then he flicks his wrist purposefully, and a thick frost clouds into the air, headed in a coil for the plant. Next instant, the whole thing - leaves, stalk and pot - is coated in ice, and it's left shaking from the impact.
Alex gapes, then straightens - then actually chuckles, very slightly, with awe and shock and the sense that now he has a goddamn fighting chance.]
[ACTION] OH GOD, NOT PLANT BOB! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~!
...
She could probably make a generic comment or give applause, but this is not a FPS tutorial and she would rather wait to react to Alex's own evaluation (although the chuckle is a very telling start, at least).
On second thought, perhaps she should make an elaborate attempt at getting the conversation started. Alright, alright, so...]
Well?
[ACTION] CHEER UP! THINK OF THE PLANT ICE-CREAM!
[He hasn't lowered his hand, and though he's talking to her, his eyes are fixed on the plantsicle. He steps forwards, reaches down, pushes against one of the leaves - it snaps in two.]
Oh wow.
[Alex's face, his voice, his whole posture show a marked change from the dead demeanour he was putting across earlier. His shoulders are straight, his body occasionally twinging with odd pains that feel like the snap of electricity, more like a trophy than a drawback. His expression is focused, and more than a little awed. When he speaks, it's not the monotone of a condemned prisoner; it shudders with life. He can do this. He really feels like he can do this.]
...I wouldn't have minded living where you come from.
[ACTION] I WON'T EAT MY BEST FRIEND! NOT AGAIN!
[Non-committal smile aaaand that's as much as she can say without launching into a long-winded speech littered with quotes from her own book. But no, no, now's not the right time, so let's just move on to some basic maintenance routine.]
Now, the derivative of ADAM used to fuel this little trick is called EVE. You use EVE whenever you use your ability, so you will need to-
[Three slightly smaller injectors filled with a blue liquid are quickly produced from the cupboard and put on Alex's desk.]
-replenish your supply eventually. Coffee and cigarettes will provide the same effect, although to a lesser degree.
If you wish to practice your aim I can leave you more, but for defence this amount should suffice perfectly for now.
[ACTION] Oh, please. I've seen you with those buckets of Kentucky Fried Chums.
It's worth it. He actually feels confidence, like he's gotten a second wind. Glancing from the EVE hypos to Lamb:]
I can grab them out the closet myself, can't I?
[His eyes are dragged back to his hands. He can't help fiddling with them. Like a kid playing with his new braces, he keeps running his thumb along the protruding shards of ice, feeling his skin stick to them, the cold coming off them in waves. The frosty skin around them is tender and a little swollen.]
...Hope it doesn't hurt as much the second time.
[ACTION] THOSE WERE ONLY FRIEND-SHAPED VEGGIE STICKS, I SWEAR!
[~SMILE~]
I heard it gives people trouble when they request items they had no knowledge of prior to their arrival in Wonderland, but perhaps that is just a rumour. If it works, please, do help yourself.
[She hopes it doesn't She'd like to keep an eye on his intake for now.]
[ACTION] VEGGIE STICKS DON'T SCREAM LIKE THAT.
[No, wait, he can't open closet doors with his hands like this. For a nasty moment, he realises that he doesn't even know if he can get rid of the icicles. They came out of his hand, so he focuses on pulling them back inside, putting the power away - and they oblige, snapping back into his hand with a bone-deep ache and a noise like a sword being drawn.
He shakes his hands out. The frost is gone too - they're back to normal. Only pinpricks of white remain on his skin to show where the ice stabbed out and withdrew.]
Wow.
[He heads to the wardrobe and pulls it open, reaches inside - and pulls out a thin, modern hypodermic syringe, full of something dull and blue that clearly isn't EVE.]
...Oh.
[ACTION] OF COURSE YOU'D SAY THAT, PLANT MURDERER!!
No. No, that may pass inspection in Doc Hollcroft's product line, but I cannot recommend it to you with good conscience.
[*internal victory pose*]
If you are interested I believe the vendors behind the mansion offer a broader selection than your furniture, but-
*external pulling out of another ~GENUINE EVE INJECTOR~ and handing it to Alex with a smile*]
-why purchase what you can have for free?
[ACTION] STOP TRYING TO PASS THE BLAME!
Doc who?
[He takes the EVE, nodding slowly, and dumps the other syringe into the bin with a sense of faint annoyance that he couldn't pull the right thing out. He knows Sofia means well and all, but he's not amazingly keen to be reliant on any one person.
At least he's got a buffer supply and a bit of a backup plan.]
...Yeah.
Am I watching the EVE too, or is it just the ADAM I need to regulate?
[ACTION] NEVER! *POINTS FINGER OF BLAME AT YOU*
EVE is a processed form of ADAM. Its concentration is much lower, but you would be wise to make do with as little as possible.
[ACTION] ...I read that as "nevar". I've been internetting too hard. :(
[He won't be able to spam attacks, then. Better get a tennis ball and start working on his aim.
He looks at Lamb with undisguised gratitude.]
You might've saved my ass, you know.
[ACTION] 01010010010011110100011001001100010000110100111101010000010101000100010101010010
Wonderland is a challenge of its own. The people here at least should stick together.
[The good people at least, you know, the ones like us who don't go around assaulting other people.]
[ACTION] 001110110101111100111011
Yeah. [He only hesitates slightly before saying it, because there are a couple people who aren't bad but whom he doesn't relish the idea of sticking together with. But hey, the sentiment makes sense, theoretically.
And he's pretty glad that she's still talking about them sticking together, even after that one incident that he still feels bad about.
Then he asks, as it suddenly occurs to him:] Wait, what's with the Bible names?
[ACTION] 001010100110010001100101011100100111000000101010
Brand names, hardly extraordinary, although fitting for a city thought of as Paradise.
[ACTION] 0100100001110101011100100111001000101110
Fair enough.
[He chnks the ice out again, just out of his right hand this time, just to see if he can do it one-handed. It's delightfully easy, just like flexing a muscle he never had before; but he does hiss sharply at the not-wholly-dulled pain of the damn things stabbing out.]
What was it like?
[He looks at Sofia curiously, fiddling with the ice again with his left thumb.]
Where you come from? It sounds pretty awesome.
[ACTION] 010001000111010101110010011100100111001001110010
Rapture was a city built at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean. It was one man's vision of Paradise, a metropolis with no Gods or Kings.
[She is of course quoting those last words, but there is an audible hint of mockery and disdain in her voice... which quickly fades and turns into melancholy.]
It had such genius, such... potential.
[ACTION] where doin this bro. where makin this hapen.
What happened?
[ACTION] I have no more subject line to spare.