Among the Dolls - Chapter 4
Title: Among the Dolls
Author: claudia6913
Rating: R
Warnings: language, nudity, violence
Pairing: Paul, all cast
Disclaimer: I’m just playing in the fields of Joss’ imagination. They have unicorns here.
Spoilers: Up to 1.08 - Needs (and any future episodes should they spark my muse - I will update spoiler warning as needed.)
Summary: Paul’s hard work finally pays off and he makes it into the Dollhouse, just not in the way he imagined it would happen.
Distribution: fandeyth, dollhousefics, blank_dolls other’s ask.
Author’s Note: This bunny bit me and I cannot let it go. Unbeta’d thus far, all mistakes are my own. Please point out any glaring errors. Chapter 1 answers dollhousefics Challenge 008 - Difference.
[ Chapter 1]
Among the Dolls - Chapter 4
“He should not be allowed as an implant any longer,” Laurence says. He hates repeating himself, but this point must be reiterated, it must be documented, should something happen, that he stands firm in his belief on this matter.
“And yet again I must remind you, Mr. Dominic, that your concerns have been heard and effectively dismissed,” Adelle says. She crosses her arms and leans against her desk. “Mr. Brink has been monitoring our dear Paul Ballard and assures me that there is no threat.”
The security liaison and sometimes handler snorts in derision.
“Is that all?” Adelle asks icily.
Nodding, realizing he is defeated, Laurence leaves the office in silence.
**********
“Do we have some insight, Mr. Brink, into our newest implant’s actions?” Adelle asks. Amusement turns the corners of her mouth as she watches Topher jump and squeak at her unannounced visit.
“Mr. Ballard, FBI Agent Extraordinaire?” Topher asks, getting over his initial scare.
“That would be the one.”
“He is who he is. Even I can’t change that.” Walking around his lab, Topher brought up Paul’s encoding and looked it over. “His obsession was the Dollhouse. His life was nothing more than seeking us out to bring us down. There are residual desires to do so, even now.”
“Can you not … weed them out?”
“It’s not as simple as that. There are subtleties, differences between what makes him tick without that desire, and what makes him tick with that desire.” Adelle gives him a blank stare. “It’s like trying to make an orange not an orange. Not by changing the way it’s shaped, or the color, or even the texture of it, but by changing the juices that run through it.”
His fingers move rapidly over the keyboard, pulling up nuances and personality traits, separating them into categories. Before his eyes was the very essence of Paul Ballard, laid out in little one’s and zero’s.
“Would this trait be inherent even if we were to only use portions of his implant?” Adelle asks. The math, the science - it is all lost on her. She is a business woman - shrewd, cruel, and precise.
“It would have to be. Otherwise the orange becomes an orangutan and useless for our purposes.”
“Indeed,” Adelle says, walking out of the office. It seems that Mr. Ballard may prove more trouble than he is worth. Her superiors need to be informed, though she did not relish the idea of having to tell them that he may need to be placed in an inactive status until further notice.
Author: claudia6913
Rating: R
Warnings: language, nudity, violence
Pairing: Paul, all cast
Disclaimer: I’m just playing in the fields of Joss’ imagination. They have unicorns here.
Spoilers: Up to 1.08 - Needs (and any future episodes should they spark my muse - I will update spoiler warning as needed.)
Summary: Paul’s hard work finally pays off and he makes it into the Dollhouse, just not in the way he imagined it would happen.
Distribution: fandeyth, dollhousefics, blank_dolls other’s ask.
Author’s Note: This bunny bit me and I cannot let it go. Unbeta’d thus far, all mistakes are my own. Please point out any glaring errors. Chapter 1 answers dollhousefics Challenge 008 - Difference.
[ Chapter 1]
Among the Dolls - Chapter 4
“He should not be allowed as an implant any longer,” Laurence says. He hates repeating himself, but this point must be reiterated, it must be documented, should something happen, that he stands firm in his belief on this matter.
“And yet again I must remind you, Mr. Dominic, that your concerns have been heard and effectively dismissed,” Adelle says. She crosses her arms and leans against her desk. “Mr. Brink has been monitoring our dear Paul Ballard and assures me that there is no threat.”
The security liaison and sometimes handler snorts in derision.
“Is that all?” Adelle asks icily.
Nodding, realizing he is defeated, Laurence leaves the office in silence.
**********
“Do we have some insight, Mr. Brink, into our newest implant’s actions?” Adelle asks. Amusement turns the corners of her mouth as she watches Topher jump and squeak at her unannounced visit.
“Mr. Ballard, FBI Agent Extraordinaire?” Topher asks, getting over his initial scare.
“That would be the one.”
“He is who he is. Even I can’t change that.” Walking around his lab, Topher brought up Paul’s encoding and looked it over. “His obsession was the Dollhouse. His life was nothing more than seeking us out to bring us down. There are residual desires to do so, even now.”
“Can you not … weed them out?”
“It’s not as simple as that. There are subtleties, differences between what makes him tick without that desire, and what makes him tick with that desire.” Adelle gives him a blank stare. “It’s like trying to make an orange not an orange. Not by changing the way it’s shaped, or the color, or even the texture of it, but by changing the juices that run through it.”
His fingers move rapidly over the keyboard, pulling up nuances and personality traits, separating them into categories. Before his eyes was the very essence of Paul Ballard, laid out in little one’s and zero’s.
“Would this trait be inherent even if we were to only use portions of his implant?” Adelle asks. The math, the science - it is all lost on her. She is a business woman - shrewd, cruel, and precise.
“It would have to be. Otherwise the orange becomes an orangutan and useless for our purposes.”
“Indeed,” Adelle says, walking out of the office. It seems that Mr. Ballard may prove more trouble than he is worth. Her superiors need to be informed, though she did not relish the idea of having to tell them that he may need to be placed in an inactive status until further notice.