Just Fake It (Paradox) - [M]

[Ivory]

Mai stared at him again, and then shook out the uniform to eye it critically.

"You do realize I'm going to look like a four-year-old dressing up in Mommy's work clothes, don't you?"  She knew just how short she was, although she liked to think her attitude more than made up for it.  However, a tall attitude wasn't going to help her fit into these clothes...  She tossed the outfit aside with a disgusted sound.  "Let me see what I can do."

Turning away from him, she began to dig into her closet.  She didn't actually have a social life, but she knew she had something tucked away somewhere...

"If I do this, you're going to owe me."  She dug through the outfits in her closet vigorously, taking her annoyance out on the poor hangers as she swept them aside.  "And if we get caught, I'm blaming you, Chief.  I didn't want any part of this to begin with."

Ah, there it was...  Her fingers deftly went to work on the bottoms of her top, half-turning to regard Runako with a scalding look before she had finished.  "Turn around!"  Once he had, she harrumphed and returned to the task of dressing.

And ranting.

"Just what the hell do you think we're going to find down there, anyway?  Except a crazy person and possibly some terrible flesh-eating disease.  What do you really think you're going to learn?"  There was the click of heels on the floor, and she added, "You can turn around."

She had wasted no time in changing into a black skirt and silken white blouse that looked almost professional.  Her hair had been twisted into a quick bun and secured with a red ribbon.  The entire ensemble was complemented with the white lab coat Runako had provided, which, she sighed, was still a little big but would have to do.

[Paradox]

Runako looked down helplessly at the borrowed uniform and simply said, "Oh." He'd completely forgotten how small Mai was for a human because he'd shrunk and now she looked taller! "Well, I guess you could just roll up the sleeves and- " ,he started to suggest lamely before she cut him off. He frowned when she tossed the outfit aside and turned her back on him.

Though her words confused him. So, she was going to help?

He nodded, "Yes, understood." Owe her? He couldn't imagine what she'd need from him, but they'd get to that bridge when they crossed it. When she snapped at him, ordering him to turn away, he put his back to her. Then she proceeded to rant at him. He shrugged his shoulders to all of her questions and simply said, "I don't know. Probably more questions than answers,"  What did she expect?"

Now that she had informed him that he could turn around, he did. He nodded his approval. She looked the part. This would work to get them past the rookies at the door anyway.

He shook his head, "But if you didn't want any part in this, then why did you go digging around Adams's lab to begin with ? You could have easily lied to me."


   

[Ivory]

A look of vague amusement crossed Mai's features.  "Is that what you think I do?  Lie to you?"  She laughed wryly.  "And, yet, I'm still on your security team.  I think you may need to look into your hiring policies."

She adjusted the badge carefully on the lapel of her coat, hoping it didn't look as out of place as she felt it did.  At least the lab coat hid her tessen well enough...  Small blessings, she supposed.

"I went into Adams's lab, because that's where the evidence was.  I...also didn't realize it was occupied."  Well, that had worked out, hadn't it?  She looked up from her outfit to give Runako a critical once-over, as though sizing him up for a fight.  "I follow orders, Chief.  Sure, I stir up trouble sometimes, but have I ever failed to complete my mission?"  That trouble was sometimes on purpose and sometimes accidental...  She just couldn't help it!

"You think you're serving the greater good, and that's sweet."  And naive.  "I'm looking out for myself here, and I don't mind you knowing that.  Being useful to you keeps me alive, and that's all that matters to me."  She tucked the coat around her slim frame, then looked up at him.  "You ready?"

[Paradox]

Runako chose to ignore most of her sass. If anything was to get done here before she changed her mind, it was better to just let her run her mouth. Sure, her words rubbed him the wrong way a bit, but her cruelty was straightforward. It wasn't served beneath a layer of convincing but feigned compassion. It didn't twist his heart and mind, confuse him and manipulate him, leave his heart aching with care and wanting for affection. It didn't remind him of how alone he really was or make him wish that her feelings were the opposite of what he knew them to truly be.

"I was waiting on you" He told her flatly, "Let's go."   They left together, moving towards the stairwell that led down to the main floor. As they descended , Runako handed her a clipboard. "You will need this. These papers contain all the information regarding Carrington's and Adams's current research project. The information that's immediately necessary is, "He pointed to a number scrawled in ink in the uppermost right hand corner of the page. "That's the security code for the second door once we've cleared the outer door and the guards. "

They reached the bottom of the stairs, "These guards were rookies . They're not familiar with the staff yet. Red Floor security is not my in my jurisdiction. I wonder why Graves didn't post any experienced members down there. They probably don't get much trouble down there is my guess. If you go in there without a bio-suit , it's hazardous. "

They went down another flight of stairs , moving to the gray floor. And down another flight to the red floor.

"Doctor Adams, Doctor Carrington. I was wondering when you'd be back!" The guard shift leader greeted the pair of them. He grinned and eyed Mai up as if he'd just seen something  good to eat.

"Team's here. Open the door."

The guard quirked a brow, " Code?"

Runako sighed , mimicking Adams's exasperation and spoke his code. The guard nodded and turned to Hazuko, " I'll let you pass for free." He winked at her .

"That's rather unprofessional , don't you think?" Runako snapped. It was difficult to say if he was acting in-character or if he was offended because protocol was being ignored.

The guard blinked and replied, "Er...sorry, sir. I was just- "

"Stop babbling, idiot, and open the damned door. I don't have all night and Doctor Graves doesn't either. He expects results within the hour. " He snorted and crossed his arms, tapping his foot impatiently. Yep, he was pretending to be Adams and he was doing a really good job of it. I have been here way too long for my own good.    

That got the guards to open the doors quickly.

"That's more like it. " Runako said as he passed through the doors that slid open before him, stepping into a small, enclosed room with lockers lining either side . The door quickly slid closed behind him and Runako fished two keys out of his coat pocket and handed one to Mai. "Works on all the locks. Doesn't matter which one you open. They all have bio-suits in them. Put one on. It'll protect you from catching any disease that's in the room beyond this one. "

He selected a locker near to him off on the right side of the room and opened it and proceeded to pull the suit on.

[Ivory]

Mai wasn't overly familiar with Carrington and her mannerisms, but she knew enough of the woman to let "Adams" take command of the situation.  Her reaction to the guard was neither inviting nor discouraging; she seemed only to accept it coolly, and, indeed, almost expect his attention and his remarks.

Once the guard was dealt with and put back in his place, she followed Runako inside.  Before the door closed, she glanced over her shoulder, and her dark eyes met the guard's for just an instant.  It was a neutral look -- but men often took such things for encouragement, and there was some benefit to stoking the fires of hope...

Once the pair were alone in the room, her expression changed.  "Fantastic," she muttered.  Another guessing game.  Hopefully, she wouldn't choose a suit sized for Runako -- his usual self, anyway.

Brushing her back, she chose a locker at random and began to pull out the suit.  What seemed first too large, however, could be adjusted to her slight frame -- and, in fact, seemed somehow to adjust on all its own, for the most part.  She looked at it, impressed, then glanced to the Chief to see how he was faring.

"Do you come down here often, Chief, or are you just a lucky guesser?"

[Paradox]

"Neither, " Runako replied as he watched the tiny bio-suit slowly stretch larger to accommodate his frame, " Doctor Graves is a mage. When I was young, he placed an enchantment on my clothing so he wouldn't have to keep making me a new outfit. He said I grew too fast. He leaves the outfitting of the Phoenix Guard and the Seraph to Melinda because she asked him to . She likes to make clothes. " Melinda was about as old as Runako was but had not aged a day. Elves.

He shook his head , "Doctor Graves made the bio suits himself. That was...a long time ago. " The memories were so foggy. He could hardly remember. He shook his head and secured the bowl-like helmet over his head. He looked ridiculous.

[Ivory]

"Oh."  Mai blinked a few times, looking pensive.  Well, that certainly explained a few things, didn't it?  She supposed she had never given it much thought before -- she had never truly had a reason to.  It didn't really matter, though, in the end.  She watched Runako, then lifted her helmet over her head as well.

It slipped into place with a soft click, and it took a second for Mai to realize she had been holding her breath.  Slowly, experimentally, she exhaled softly and looked relieved when she could breathe.  Of course she could -- it was silly to expect anything else.  That didn't make it any less weird, however.

"So," she began, her own voice sounding a bit tinny in her ears.  "How bad is it in there?  Do they all look normal, or are there boils and pus and body fluids?  I guess what I'm asking is: should I take my helmet off and throw up my dinner now?  I'm not sure I'll met it to the end of the tour if I have to look at that in there."

[Paradox]

He watched her put her helmet on and couldn't help but stare. Why was she...? He blinked several times and shook his head. So strange sometimes, Hazuko.

Runako shrugged, " Well, I don't know. I've never been in there and the paperwork doesn't go into detail. Adams's research hints that through his research, he was only involved with two subjects recently that are comatose but can project their thoughts to the nearest being subconsciously.  Their numbers are twelve and thirteen.  I've heard rumors from some of the Phoenix Guard about seeing people with more than one head or all of the things you've described but I honestly think they're just making things up to gross people out.  "

At least he hoped not!

"Was that a serious question?" He frowned at her.

[Ivory]

Mai gave him a sideways look.  The helmet made it even more difficult than usual to read her facial expression.  "I have a nervous stomach."

With one last examination of the suit, she picked up her clipboard again and tucked it under her arm.  She felt she looked the part -- but having no idea what lay on the other side of the door made her feel uneasy...and she was not a difficult woman to ruffle.

"Chief, if all hell breaks loose in there, what do we do?"  Standing orders -- something, anything to direct her.  If she didn't receive any -- or, if they were not to her satisfaction, she'd probably wind up hitting something.  Really, was that so terrible?

[Paradox]

"If all hell breaks loose? " Runako stared at her and then frowned, "I doubt anything like that will happen. Just follow whatever instructions that I give you and it should be fine. At the worst, someone will see through our little ruse and we'll probably be detained for questioning. If that happens , you do whatever you're told by the staff down here and the Phoenix Guard when they're called. Cooperation with them will keep you out of any real trouble. "
Unless something truly bad was down here that they weren't supposed to know about.

There were rumors and now there were Kypri's ominous words.
"We should keep our heads low as much as possible, find this Walt and see if we can get him to talk about whatever he knows and then get out." He finished making adjustments to his suit and then ,tucking the clipboard under his arm he strode towards the doors and pushed them open...

Nothing could have prepared him for what waited on the other side.

"What is...this?"

They entered a large , dark room dimly lit with rows upon rows of cylinder tanks. Runako approached one of the tanks and stared at the lifeless body inside of it. Even with his face pressed up against the glass, Runako couldn't tell if the being inside there was alive or not.  It was a human man , but there was something wrong with his face and his back. The spine had odd fan-like fins protruding from it and there were gaping holes in his checks and neck. His skin was yellowed and spotted green, his hands and feet webbed. It almost looked as though the flesh had been burned or eaten by something.
"There are...so many of them and they're just...there."

[Ivory]

Mai shrugged lightly.  "You're the boss."  Besides, she wanted to stay out of trouble as much as possible, please and thank you!

Nothing, however, could have prepared her for the sight on the other side of the door.  She had expected a dormitory, or, perhaps, something similar to the floors with tougher security.  Instead, what they had stepped into was a lab containing...

"What is...this?"  Runako's voice made her glance in his direction.  He had taken the words right out of her mouth...

Suppressing a shudder, she muttered, "Let's just find what we're looking for and get out of here."  They weren't supposed to be down here.  And she was starting to see why...

[Paradox]

"Are they...alive?" Runako moved closer to one of the tanks. He didn't press his face against the glass , but his nose was close enough that it just barely touched the cold surface. He thought about tapping the glass with a finger and then turned away at Mai's words, but it was difficult for him not to look because he'd never seen anything like this in all his years of being here.

He'd known there were things about this place that he didn't know , but this wasn't the unknown that he expected and it disturbed him . Nodding, he lifted the clipboard and looked at it as if he needed to retrieve the information from the paper. Really, he just looked to distract himself from the disturbing images.

"Right so, we're looking for ..." He turned right and moved on, passing by one tank after another and each occupant was even less human looking than the last. They finally reached the end of the row and exited the room, coming into a narrow hall with a closed door on either side , each labeled with a symbol and a number. Runako paused suddenly and brought out a key, fitting it into the lock. It gave a satisfying click and he pushed the door open.

The room before them was small, dark and dimly lit. They could make out a large , humanoid shape sitting on the floor across the room. "Walt? Is that you?"

The figure stirred slightly and they heard an inhuman growl, followed by the sound of heavy clinking chains, "Ah..." A deep, beast-like voice greeted them with a chuckle, "Nine, I haven't seen you in decades."

"My name is Runako. You are Walt, correct?"

Another chuckle, "So he's giving you all names now, is he? How cute. I have always been referred to as Experiment Number Three or Test Subject Number Three , but I do seem to recall a few of the so-called doctors calling me Walt."

Runako took a step closer, " I spoke with a psychic named Kypri. He said you something about me."

Walt stood up now , his stature looming well above Runako. He took three steps forward, coming to stand before his visitors. In the dim light of the candle , Runako almost thought he was looking in a mirror. Except the reflection was wrong because the creature he saw was nearly identical to what he used to look like. 

"You...are like me?"

"No, you are like me." Walt corrected him.

"We're the same species? But Doctor Graves said that I was the only one of -"

"He wasn't entirely lying." Walt replied, " But you're not the one he said that too either. "

"What?"

"Before we continue this conversation there are two things you need to do. First, I think you ought to take a tour of this place to understand what you've gotten yourself into. Secondly, I want you to do me a favor."

Runako frowned , "We don't really have ti-"

"Then get out."

[Ivory]

(OOC: Language warnings!)

Mai had let Runako do all the talking up until now.  This was his errand, after all, and she was only here because he needed a second body to convince the guards outside...

This little hang-up, however, was pressing on Mai's last nerve.  Being dragged out of bed in the middle of the night on a fool's errand made her grouchy, and finding herself surrounded by unknown creatures in massive tubes made her angry...but it was this Walt's games that finally triggered the bitch switch.

"And just what the hell do you expect us to see that we haven't already?" she growled from the doorway as she stepped forward.  It was only two steps, but, somehow, the petite girl made the movement look threatening.  "We've seen the freak show out there.  Why don't you just sum it up for us?  And why don't you tell us whatever the hell else you want while you're at it?  I am sick and tired of all this cryptic fucking bullshit!"

[Paradox]

(( Potty mouth, Mai! ))

Runako frowned at his companion's outburst, but he couldn't deny that deep down he would have liked to make some demands of his own. "I think she means to say that we've already seen enough, but you seem to know more about this place than we do. " He placed a restraining hand on Mai's shoulder, but whatever strength he'd had in his natural form was gone. "If there's a point to your request, it would be nice if you made it rather than dragging this out and wasting time."

Walt glanced at Mai and the look he gave her seemed to welcome death, " You think threatening me will change my mind?There's nothing either of you can do to me that he hasn't done to me already. If you want answers, you do things my way. Otherwise, get out.  "

((Sorry. Kind of a crappy post. Let me know in messenger or pm if you need me to write more. FYI, I am not against Mai using a little violent persuasion!))

[Ivory]

Mai accepted the hand on her shoulder for what it was, even without the Chief's former strength backing it up.  She glared at Walt, however, in temporary silence, as if picturing the number of ways she might take him apart.

Instead, she turned her eyes towards the Chief.  "Well?" she demanded expectantly.  "I don't really care what the hell he has to say.  You want to crawl around the basement on your belly because he told you to, that's your business."  She crossed her arms and glared at Walt some more.  "No favor is worth humiliating myself."

[Paradox]

Runako frowned at the pair of them, but he wasn't going to protest. Either way, he knew he wasn't on the winning side of the situation here. Only one of them could potentially help him understand what was going on here. He glanced at Walt and nodded, "What's this favor?"

"I'll tell you after your tour."

"Alright, but if you play me false..." he left the threat open ended but Runako was not the type to make threats carelessly. He then regarded Mai, " I don't need you any more so you can stay here , if you want. I'll be back." He moved out the door.

((Make a short post if she decides to stay behind and I'll try to make my next post a long one.))

[Ivory]

The corners of Mai's lips twitched upwards in response to the threat, as though hoping he might try to screw Runako over...and enjoying the thought.

She nodded slightly in response to the Chief and leaned back against the wall with her arms folded and her eyes continuing to bore dark holes into Walt.

"Sure, Chief.  See you soon."

Mai didn't mind playing guard dog.  In fact, she preferred it to wandering around out there, trying to pretend the grotesque display didn't bother her...  This, though...  This was easier.  And right up her alley.

[Paradox]

(( ugh...my last reply was devoured the day SotE went nutters. So, so depressed and I am so sorry that you must suffer the ultimate horrors of a baby-man post now. ;-; ))

"Most of the people down here are clones," Walt admitted as soon as Runako was gone. Do you know what a clone is?" He didn't wait for her to answer, "An identical biological copy of a living thing. Yes, the Doctor makes clones of other patients. Of you ,even. Or, are you a clone? It's difficult for me to tell these days because he's perfected his technique over the years and you're one of the younger additions, aren't you? What you saw out there were the failed cloning attempts. Beautiful, aren't they? They're still alive too. Some of them. They just sit in those tubes ...until he has need of them. I can hear them screaming sometimes in my mind. They have no voices, but you can hear their cries if you listen."

He dared to take a step closer to her, "I wanted him to get a good look because he's one of the most delusional among you. He needed to see in order to believe. I could have just told him, but it wouldn't mean anything. My word against the Doctor's lies. Who do you think he would believe? "

[Ivory]

"Oh, I agree the Chief needs someone to dump a bucket of ice cold water over his head," she answered with a nasty grin at the thought.  Being what he was -- what he had been -- Mai assumed he would hate it more than most.  No one was quite as delusional as he was...  Plus, the grin helped her to hide the shudder that involuntarily went through her at Walt's description of the clones...

"You know," she added as she regarded the man.  If her tessen were accessible, she, no doubt, would have been flashing them at the man now to ensure he kept his distance.  Instead, she shifted her weight slightly; she had perfected an intimidating posture a long time ago, and she used it now to its fullest effect.  (Or tried to, anyway!)  "For a man used to having no company, you sure don't know how to shut up."

Because he was quite chatty!

"Let me explain this to you, so I don't have to listen to you talk yourself hoarse.  I'm here only because the Chief needed me to be.  I don't care about what you think the Doctor's doing or about those things out there.  You can't bring people to crazy-land who just don't care."

(OOC: I am so sorry!  D:  Mai is kind of mean!)

[Paradox]

"He's not the only one," Walt smiled back at her, as though he were enjoying himself in that knowledge.

His grin widened to nearly take in his ears, " I'm not alone. I'm never alone. Can you not hear them? "

He burst out laughing in her face. "Too late, Hazuko. You've been riding on this train since you got here and you are just as clueless as he is as to where it's headed. The difference between the two of you is that where he trusted the driver, you never did but you accepted blindly that you couldn't stop where the train is going. Now that he's starting to have doubts...he'll try to stop the train and what will you do? "

((It's fine. Walt's too crazy to care. :) ))